# Protests in Syria



## High_Gravity

Syrian forces break up Damascus protest









> DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Security forces wielding batons dispersed 150 demonstrators who had gathered in central of Damascus on Wednesday in the most serious protest against Syria's ruling hierarchy since revolts spread in the Arab world.
> 
> Scores of plainclothes security officers charged the demonstrators assembled outside the Interior Ministry to demand the release of political prisoners, a Reuters witness said.
> 
> One demonstrator suffered a gash on his head, others were beaten and at least 15 were detained, including leading political activist Suhair al-Attasi.
> 
> Attasi had said Syrian authorities would not be able to escape the tumult shaking the Arab world by refusing to open the country's political system and allowing free expression.
> 
> "They pulled Suhair by her hair and took her away," one demonstrator said.
> 
> Among those arrested were Tayyib Tizini, 69, a professor of philosophy at Damascus University, and the sister and son of Kamal Labwani, a doctor jailed for "weakening national morale" and "inciting a foreign country to invade Syria."
> 
> The gathering in Marjeh square, an Ottoman-era square in the centre of the capital, had been silent, with protesters raising pictures of imprisoned relatives and friends, before security forces started hitting them with their batons.



Syrian forces break up Damascus protest | World | Reuters


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## High_Gravity

Officers Fire on Crowd as Syrian Protests Grow



> DAMASCUS, Syria  Protesters set fire to the ruling Baath Partys headquarters and other government buildings in the southern city of Daraa on Sunday, as protesters rallied and clashed with the police for a third straight day, witnesses said.
> 
> Police officers fired live ammunition into the crowds, killing at least one and wounding scores of others, witnesses said. But the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, also made some conciliatory gestures in an apparent attempt to stop the cycle of public anger that has fueled uprisings in other Arab countries in the past three months.
> 
> Syria, a police state known for its brutal suppression of any public protests, seemed immune to the wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab world until the past week, when demonstrations took place in several cities. The southern town of Daraa, where citizens were outraged by the arrest of more than a dozen schoolchildren, has seen the largest protests by far. Thousands took to the streets on Sunday, as they have for several days now.
> 
> Mr. Assad sent a delegation to offer condolences to the families of those killed in the clashes in Daraa, including the deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, and Tamer al-Hajeh, the minister of local administration.
> 
> Thousands gathered in and around the Omari mosque in Daraa, chanting their demands: the release of all political prisoners; trials for those who shot and killed protesters; the abolition of Syrias 48-year emergency law; more freedoms; and an end to pervasive corruption. No fear after today, the crowd chanted, according to witnesses and human rights activists.
> 
> Even as a group of prominent Daraa citizens sat down for talks with Mr. Assads delegation, there was pandemonium in the streets. As the protests grew heated, the police sprayed tear gas, further angering the protesters, who began tearing down a poster of Mr. Assad in the main square of Daraa. The police then opened fire into the crowd, witnesses said.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/world/middleeast/21syria.html?ref=middleeast


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## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest
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> DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Security forces wielding batons dispersed 150 demonstrators who had gathered in central of Damascus on Wednesday in the most serious protest against Syria's ruling hierarchy since revolts spread in the Arab world.
> 
> Scores of plainclothes security officers charged the demonstrators assembled outside the Interior Ministry to demand the release of political prisoners, a Reuters witness said.
> 
> One demonstrator suffered a gash on his head, others were beaten and at least 15 were detained, including leading political activist Suhair al-Attasi.
> 
> Attasi had said Syrian authorities would not be able to escape the tumult shaking the Arab world by refusing to open the country's political system and allowing free expression.
> 
> "They pulled Suhair by her hair and took her away," one demonstrator said.
> 
> Among those arrested were Tayyib Tizini, 69, a professor of philosophy at Damascus University, and the sister and son of Kamal Labwani, a doctor jailed for "weakening national morale" and "inciting a foreign country to invade Syria."
> 
> The gathering in Marjeh square, an Ottoman-era square in the centre of the capital, had been silent, with protesters raising pictures of imprisoned relatives and friends, before security forces started hitting them with their batons.
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> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest | World | Reuters
Click to expand...


Are the leaders of Syria part of the "religion of peace"?  There you go!  There is your sign!


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## High_Gravity

Where are the US Cruise missiles and French jets?


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## dilloduck

High_Gravity said:


> Officers Fire on Crowd as Syrian Protests Grow
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> 
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> DAMASCUS, Syria  Protesters set fire to the ruling Baath Partys headquarters and other government buildings in the southern city of Daraa on Sunday, as protesters rallied and clashed with the police for a third straight day, witnesses said.
> 
> Police officers fired live ammunition into the crowds, killing at least one and wounding scores of others, witnesses said. But the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, also made some conciliatory gestures in an apparent attempt to stop the cycle of public anger that has fueled uprisings in other Arab countries in the past three months.
> 
> Syria, a police state known for its brutal suppression of any public protests, seemed immune to the wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab world until the past week, when demonstrations took place in several cities. The southern town of Daraa, where citizens were outraged by the arrest of more than a dozen schoolchildren, has seen the largest protests by far. Thousands took to the streets on Sunday, as they have for several days now.
> 
> Mr. Assad sent a delegation to offer condolences to the families of those killed in the clashes in Daraa, including the deputy foreign minister, Faisal Mekdad, and Tamer al-Hajeh, the minister of local administration.
> 
> Thousands gathered in and around the Omari mosque in Daraa, chanting their demands: the release of all political prisoners; trials for those who shot and killed protesters; the abolition of Syrias 48-year emergency law; more freedoms; and an end to pervasive corruption. No fear after today, the crowd chanted, according to witnesses and human rights activists.
> 
> Even as a group of prominent Daraa citizens sat down for talks with Mr. Assads delegation, there was pandemonium in the streets. As the protests grew heated, the police sprayed tear gas, further angering the protesters, who began tearing down a poster of Mr. Assad in the main square of Daraa. The police then opened fire into the crowd, witnesses said.
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> http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/21/world/middleeast/21syria.html?ref=middleeast
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they need UN protection.


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## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Where are the US Cruise missiles and French jets?



They must wait until Al Jazeera says the protesters are calling for the USA to save them.


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## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
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> Where are the US Cruise missiles and French jets?
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> They must wait until Al Jazeera says the protesters are calling for the USA to save them.
Click to expand...


Theres no oil contracts in Syria though.


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## FuelRod

Hey Syria - You just made Barry's "death list"


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## dilloduck

High_Gravity said:


> logical4u said:
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> High_Gravity said:
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> Where are the US Cruise missiles and French jets?
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> They must wait until Al Jazeera says the protesters are calling for the USA to save them.
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> Click to expand...
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> Theres no oil contracts in Syria though.
Click to expand...


Doesn't matter--the UN is agggresively protecting civilians from internal conflicts these days.


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## High_Gravity

dilloduck said:


> High_Gravity said:
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> logical4u said:
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> They must wait until Al Jazeera says the protesters are calling for the USA to save them.
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> Theres no oil contracts in Syria though.
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> Click to expand...
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> Doesn't matter--the UN is agggresively protecting civilians from internal conflicts these days.
Click to expand...


Really? when are the US cruise Missiles and French Fighter Jets heading to Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and Zimbabwe?


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## dilloduck

High_Gravity said:


> dilloduck said:
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> High_Gravity said:
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> Theres no oil contracts in Syria though.
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> Doesn't matter--the UN is agggresively protecting civilians from internal conflicts these days.
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> Click to expand...
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> 
> Really? when are the US cruise Missiles and French Fighter Jets heading to Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and Zimbabwe?
Click to expand...


From what I understand these people just need to ask for help. What a great organization that UN is !


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## High_Gravity

dilloduck said:


> High_Gravity said:
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> dilloduck said:
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> Doesn't matter--the UN is agggresively protecting civilians from internal conflicts these days.
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> Really? when are the US cruise Missiles and French Fighter Jets heading to Bahrain, Yemen, Iran and Zimbabwe?
> 
> Click to expand...
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> 
> From what I understand these people just need to ask for help. What a great organization that UN is !
Click to expand...


Oh ok, next time Iranian protestors are being raped and protestors in Zimbabwe are getting their heads smashed open with billy clubs, they should email the UN and the US Cruise Missiles and French jets will be there in a jiffy.


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## High_Gravity

Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village



> DAMASCUS, Syria  Protests spread in southern Syria Tuesday as hundreds of people marched to demand reforms in a previously peaceful village, witnesses and activists said.
> 
> In a nearby city, troops and protesters faced off outside a mosque where demonstrators have taken shelter.
> 
> The government sought to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world's political unrest by firing the governor of the southern province of Daraa, where security forces killed seven protesters in the main city of Daraa over the weekend.
> 
> The governor's dismissal failed to quell popular anger and the protests reached the village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms, an activist told The Associated Press.
> 
> The activist said troops were trying to reach the mosque in Daraa's historic center where protesters have sought protection. He said protesters placed large rocks in the streets near the al-Omari mosque to block the troops.
> 
> There was a heavy security presence and most of the shops were closed elsewhere in the old quarter of Daraa, witnesses said.
> 
> A clip posted on YouTube showed several hundred villagers in Sanamein, near Daraa, chanting "Freedom!" while another showed dozens gathered in the Hajar Aswad neighborhood of the capital.
> 
> Syrian activists who reported the protests said they took place Monday evening. The activists spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared government reprisals. The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
> 
> Protests also spread Monday to the towns of Jasim and Inkhil near Daraa, witnesses said.
> 
> Many demonstrators demanded the departure of provincial governor Faisal Kalthoum after security forces used tear gas, water cannons and later live ammunition to disperse the crowds, which first gathered on Friday.
> 
> Enraged residents then set fire to several government buildings in a startling outburst of unrest in one of the Middle East's most repressive countries.




Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village - Yahoo! News


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## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DAMASCUS, Syria  Protests spread in southern Syria Tuesday as hundreds of people marched to demand reforms in a previously peaceful village, witnesses and activists said.
> 
> In a nearby city, troops and protesters faced off outside a mosque where demonstrators have taken shelter.
> 
> The government sought to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world's political unrest by firing the governor of the southern province of Daraa, where security forces killed seven protesters in the main city of Daraa over the weekend.
> 
> The governor's dismissal failed to quell popular anger and the protests reached the village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms, an activist told The Associated Press.
> 
> The activist said troops were trying to reach the mosque in Daraa's historic center where protesters have sought protection. He said protesters placed large rocks in the streets near the al-Omari mosque to block the troops.
> 
> There was a heavy security presence and most of the shops were closed elsewhere in the old quarter of Daraa, witnesses said.
> 
> A clip posted on YouTube showed several hundred villagers in Sanamein, near Daraa, chanting "Freedom!" while another showed dozens gathered in the Hajar Aswad neighborhood of the capital.
> 
> Syrian activists who reported the protests said they took place Monday evening. The activists spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared government reprisals. The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
> 
> Protests also spread Monday to the towns of Jasim and Inkhil near Daraa, witnesses said.
> 
> Many demonstrators demanded the departure of provincial governor Faisal Kalthoum after security forces used tear gas, water cannons and later live ammunition to disperse the crowds, which first gathered on Friday.
> 
> Enraged residents then set fire to several government buildings in a startling outburst of unrest in one of the Middle East's most repressive countries.
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> Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village - Yahoo! News
Click to expand...


Do you think they are getting tired of Sharia?


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## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DAMASCUS, Syria  Protests spread in southern Syria Tuesday as hundreds of people marched to demand reforms in a previously peaceful village, witnesses and activists said.
> 
> In a nearby city, troops and protesters faced off outside a mosque where demonstrators have taken shelter.
> 
> The government sought to contain the first serious intrusion of the Arab world's political unrest by firing the governor of the southern province of Daraa, where security forces killed seven protesters in the main city of Daraa over the weekend.
> 
> The governor's dismissal failed to quell popular anger and the protests reached the village of Nawa, where hundreds of people marched demanding reforms, an activist told The Associated Press.
> 
> The activist said troops were trying to reach the mosque in Daraa's historic center where protesters have sought protection. He said protesters placed large rocks in the streets near the al-Omari mosque to block the troops.
> 
> There was a heavy security presence and most of the shops were closed elsewhere in the old quarter of Daraa, witnesses said.
> 
> A clip posted on YouTube showed several hundred villagers in Sanamein, near Daraa, chanting "Freedom!" while another showed dozens gathered in the Hajar Aswad neighborhood of the capital.
> 
> Syrian activists who reported the protests said they took place Monday evening. The activists spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared government reprisals. The authenticity of the videos could not be independently verified.
> 
> Protests also spread Monday to the towns of Jasim and Inkhil near Daraa, witnesses said.
> 
> Many demonstrators demanded the departure of provincial governor Faisal Kalthoum after security forces used tear gas, water cannons and later live ammunition to disperse the crowds, which first gathered on Friday.
> 
> Enraged residents then set fire to several government buildings in a startling outburst of unrest in one of the Middle East's most repressive countries.
> 
> 
> 
> 
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> Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village - Yahoo! News
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> Click to expand...
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> 
> Do you think they are getting tired of Sharia?
Click to expand...


Who knows, I don't think the Assad regime is religious though, Bashars dad put down a religious uprising in Syria and they allow drinking and night clubs there, I don't think Syria is that religious to be honest.


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## ekrem

Assad jr. is in power for a decade and has initiated market-reforms.
He has no serious opposition within the country.
What currently happens in Syria is small in nature, and although some people have died, these incidents pose no threat to 'survival' of Assad jr. and Syrian authorities will restore order.

In all the other countries it was Shiite-vs-Sunnite (Bahrein), 
Muslim-Brotherhood vs Mubarak (Egypt), 
Enahda vs. Anti-religious Tunisian System,
East vs West tribes in Libya.

Assad's only threat was Bush till 2005.


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## High_Gravity

ekrem said:


> Assad jr. is in power for a decade and has initiated market-reforms.
> He has no serious opposition within the country.
> What currently happens in Syria is small in nature, and although some people have died, these incidents pose no threat to 'survival' of Assad jr. and Syrian authorities will restore order.
> 
> In all the other countries it was Shiite-vs-Sunnite (Bahrein),
> Muslim-Brotherhood vs Mubarak (Egypt),
> Enahda vs. Anti-religious Tunisian System,
> East vs West tribes in Libya.
> 
> Assad's only threat was Bush till 2005.



People were saying the same thing about Libya how Ghaddafi had no serious opposition.


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## ekrem

High_Gravity said:


> People were saying the same thing about Libya how Ghaddafi had no serious opposition.



I've not read something like that in case of Libya. 
Assad's biggest opponent is his uncle's son, who has been exiled by Assad's father. 
There is no organization or tribal structure within Syria that is able to replace Assad.


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## ekrem

There are from time to time Kurdish related demonstrations or uprisings, but those also don't pose a threat to Syria.
USA was the biggest threat.

Syria is backed by Iran, Russia and Turkey.
Syria also is the land-bridge for Turkey's trade with Arabian peninsula.

If it is not the Americans who bring trouble (they won't bring), there won't be trouble.


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## High_Gravity

ekrem said:


> There are from time to time Kurdish related demonstrations or uprisings, but those also don't pose a threat to Syria.
> USA was the biggest threat.
> 
> Syria is backed by Iran, Russia and Turkey.
> Syria also is the land-bridge for Turkey's trade with Arabian peninsula.
> 
> If it is not the Americans who bring trouble (they won't bring), there won't be trouble.



Yeah, just like the Americans didn't bomb Libya.


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## High_Gravity

Syria's Revolt: How Graffiti Stirred an Uprising









> The words have been repeated from Tunisia to Egypt, from Yemen to Bahrain. "The people want the regime to fall"  the mantra of revolution. And so, last week, after 15 kids wrote those words on a wall in the agricultural town of Dara'a in southern Syria, the local governor decided to come down hard. The young people  all under 17  were thrown in jail. The punishment stunned the town and, suddenly, Syria  so confidently authoritarian  got its first strong taste of rebellion in what is called the Arab Spring.
> 
> Syria remains a closed and walled-off nation. But descriptions of the uprising in Dara'a were dramatic. The alleged details included dozens of young men pelting a poster  in broad daylight  of a smiling President Bashar al-Assad; a statue of his late father and predecessor Hafiz al-Assad, demolished; official buildings including the ruling Baath Party's headquarters and the governor's office burned down. "There is no fear, there is no fear, after today there is no fear!" hundreds of men chant, captured in shaky mobile phone footage allegedly taken on Monday. Over the weekend, provincial security forces opened fire on the marchers, killing several.
> 
> President Assad responded immediately. Sending a high-ranking delegation to deliver his condolences to the families of the dead. The governor was cashiered and the 15 kids released. But, according to at least two dissident websites, protesters have given the Syrian government until Friday morning to meet a list of demands relayed back to the President by his delegation. If not, they threaten that this Friday will become the "Friday of the Martyrs" not just in Dara'a and its province, Hauran, which shares a border with Jordan, but throughout the country.




Read more: Syria's Revolt: How Graffiti Stirred an Uprising - TIME


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## High_Gravity

Security Forces In Syria Kill At Least 6 People 








> DAMASCUS, March 23 (Reuters) - Syrian forces killed at least six people on Wednesday in an attack on the Omari mosque in the southern city of Deraa, site of six days of unprecedented protests challenging Baath Party rule, residents said.
> 
> Those killed included Ali Ghassab al-Mahamid, a doctor from a prominent Deraa family who went to the mosque in the city's old quarter to help victims of the attack, said the residents.
> 
> It was not immediately clear whether the protesters had any weapons.
> 
> The attack, which occurred shortly after midnight, brought to 10 the number of civilians killed by Syrian forces in confrontations with protesters calling for political freedoms and an end to corruption.
> 
> No comment was immediately available from President Bashar al-Assad's government.
> 
> The attack occurred a day after the U.N. Office for Human Rights said the authorities "need to put an immediate halt to the excessive use of force against peaceful protesters, especially the use of live ammunition".
> 
> The protesters, who erected tents in the mosque's grounds, said earlier they were going to remain at the site until their demands were met.
> 
> Before the attack, electricity was cut off in the area and telephone services were severed.
> 
> Cries of "Allahu Akbar (God is the greatest)" erupted across neighbourhoods in Deraa when the shooting began.



Security Forces In Syria Kill At Least 6 People


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## ekrem

High_Gravity said:


> Syria's Revolt: How Graffiti Stirred an Uprising



The 15 kids who had been detained will be released.
The Syrian government has set-up a coalition to investigate the incidents. 
The residents have submitted their demands to the commission. 
They demand the Governor of the town to be fired, the central bus-station relocated, gasoline prices decreased etc.

msnbc.com


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## High_Gravity

Thousands March to Protest Syria Killings



> Thousands of people gathered in protest at funerals in the southern city of Daraa on Thursday, despite a major crackdown by Syrian security forces that suggested that the countrys leaders would not tolerate pro-democracy protests like those that have swept other Arab nations.
> 
> Arab World Uprisings: A Country-by-Country LookAn assault on the central mosque there early Wednesday, and subsequent attacks by security forces, left an unknown number of deaths, some of which appeared to be documented in bloody videos posted on YouTube. An American official who would speak only on background about intelligence reporting said that about 15 people were killed by forces of the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad. Reuters quoted an unnamed hospital official in the city as putting the death toll at 37. Various Web sites were collecting names of those believed to be killed.
> 
> No violence was reported in the huge gatherings around the funerals for the dead on Thursday.
> 
> Information has trickled out slowly and incompletely from Syria, one of the most closed and repressive nations in the Middle East, which is closely allied both to Iran and the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah. But as the death toll from the Daraa crackdown rose, Mr. Assad faced growing pressure both internally, as the protests spread around the south, and from other nations.
> 
> After calling the protesters grievances justified, one of Mr. Assads top advisers, Bouthaina Shaaban, announced a series of reforms that have been demanded by the protesters, including possibly suspending the long state of emergency rule, reducing corruption, establishing political parties and opening up the media.
> 
> Her statements came after Britain, France, Germany and the United Nations all condemned the violence.
> 
> Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, speaking on Thursday during a visit to the Mideast, said the Syrian government should learn from the example of Egypt, where the military played the role of broker during the popular uprising there that toppled the Mubarak government.
> 
> What the Syrian government is confronting is in fact the same challenge that faces so many governments across the region  and that is the unmet political and economic grievances of their people, Mr. Gates said during a news conference at the Israeli Ministry of Defense.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/25/world/middleeast/25syria.html?ref=middleeast


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## High_Gravity

As Protests Mount, Is There a Soft Landing for Syria?








> The Baathist regime that has ruled Syria for 48 years is on the ropes. Even President Bashar al-Assad himself seems to have been shocked by the level of violence used by Syria's security forces to suppress demonstrations that began a week ago, and on Thursday afternoon his office announced unprecedented concessions to popular demands. But the question of whether those concessions assuage protesters' concerns or prove to be too little too late may be answered on the streets after Friday prayers.
> 
> The protests began a week ago in the dusty agricultural town of Dara'a, near the border with Jordan, over the arrests of high school students for scrawling antigovernment graffiti. Those demonstrations quickly spun out of control, with thousands joining in, inspired by the wave of revolutions that have rocked the Arab world, to demand political freedoms and an end to emergency rule and corruption. The government responded brutally, killing over 30 demonstrators and wounding many more, according to activists. Gruesome videos of the crackdown, disseminated via the Internet in recent days, have enraged Syrians from one end of the country to the other.
> 
> 
> On Thursday, the regime began to try a different tack, with Assad's spokeswoman Buthaina Shaaban offering the President's condolences to the people of Dara'a and acknowledging their "legitimate" demands, even as she insisted that reports of the scale of protests and the number of casualties had been exaggerated. Oddly, the President has himself not appeared on TV since Syria's political troubles began, apparently hoping to protect himself from criticism. But Shaaban insisted that Assad was completely against the use of live fire in suppressing the demonstrations. She emphasized that she had been present in the room when the President ordered the security agencies to refrain from shooting at protesters  "not one bullet."
> 
> But the only promised concessions that can be taken to the bank are pay rises for state employees of up to 30%, and the release of all activists arrested in the past weeks. Other reforms, which the regime undertook to study, are job creation, press freedom, permitting the formation of opposition parties and lifting emergency law. Should they be implemented, those changes would be nothing short of revolutionary. But many activists have already dismissed Assad's offer as a stalling tactic to make it through the next few days of funerals and, most importantly, Friday prayers. The opposition has called for Syrians to assemble in large numbers in mosques for a day of "dignity" and demonstrations.



Read more: Syria: Can the President's Concessions Pacify Protesters? - TIME


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## ekrem

Syria has announced that it will implement democratic reforms. 
Emergency law will be abolished as 1st step.


Turkey warns Syria it must implement reforms quickly


> ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey has urged neighbouring Syria to quickly apply reforms to meet legitimate demands in the country, which has been shaken by violent protests against its autocratic regime.
> The Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Syria must apply reforms "without losing time."


Turkey warns Syria it must implement reforms quickly - Yahoo! News

PM Erdogan has advised Assad to approach Syrians with a democratic attitude


> I told him to take lessons from what has been happening in the region, he said. Assad should find a different way than the other leaders in the region, by approaching his people with a democratic attitude, Erdo&#287;an said.


Turkey anxious over protests in Syria - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review


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## High_Gravity

ekrem said:


> Syria has announced that it will implement democratic reforms.
> Emergency law will be abolished as 1st step.
> 
> 
> Turkey warns Syria it must implement reforms quickly
> 
> 
> 
> ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey has urged neighbouring Syria to quickly apply reforms to meet legitimate demands in the country, which has been shaken by violent protests against its autocratic regime.
> The Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Syria must apply reforms "without losing time."
> 
> 
> 
> Turkey warns Syria it must implement reforms quickly - Yahoo! News
> 
> PM Erdogan has advised Assad to approach Syrians with a democratic attitude
> 
> 
> 
> I told him to take lessons from what has been happening in the region, he said. Assad should find a different way than the other leaders in the region, by approaching his people with a democratic attitude, Erdo&#287;an said.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Turkey anxious over protests in Syria - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review
Click to expand...


Will this be enough to appease the protestors? how can you drop emergency law when there are riots and people being shot in the streets?


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## Ropey

ekrem said:


> Syria has announced that it will implement democratic reforms.
> Emergency law will be abolished as 1st step.
> 
> Turkey warns Syria it must implement reforms quickly
> 
> 
> 
> ANKARA, Turkey - Turkey has urged neighbouring Syria to quickly apply reforms to meet legitimate demands in the country, which has been shaken by violent protests against its autocratic regime.
> The Foreign Ministry said on Friday that Syria must apply reforms "without losing time."
> 
> 
> 
> Turkey warns Syria it must implement reforms quickly - Yahoo! News
> 
> PM Erdogan has advised Assad to approach Syrians with a democratic attitude
> 
> 
> 
> &#8220;I told him to take lessons from what has been happening in the region,&#8221; he said. Assad should find a different way than the other leaders in the region, by approaching his people with a democratic attitude, Erdo&#287;an said.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Turkey anxious over protests in Syria - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review
Click to expand...


Turkey needs to admit their genocide in the past and their attempts to genocide the Kurds in the present. And more. Until then, they just open their mouths with blabber about other countries. 

See how that works ekrem?




Historic Armenia has no Armenians left. Where did they all go?  




Historic Turkey has no Armenians either.  Where are all the Kurds going?  

Underground? Like the Armenians ekrem?



ekrem said:


> I've demanded my account to be deleted.



You stand to your word and honor in the same way Turkey stands to its word and horror.


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## Jos

What would you known of word and honor Canadian, but israeli firster


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## ekrem

Chief of Intelligence Organization has been sent to Syria.
We have a border of 800 kilometers [with Syria] and we have family relations. We cannot remain silent.

Turkey urges reforms in Syria, dispatches intelligence chief - Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review


Erdogan said, "we did not receive a negative answer when we urged Mr Assad to listen to the voice of people. I hope he makes the announcement today or tomorrow." 
Turkish PM expects Assad to announce reforms soon | Diplomacy | World Bulletin


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## High_Gravity

Syria Protests: Two Americans Detained During Demonstrations 








> CAIRO -- Syrian authorities have detained two Americans amid an unprecedented wave of protests in the repressive Middle East nation, relatives and state media said Saturday.
> 
> Syria's state news agency Sana alleged that a man with dual U.S.-Egyptian citizenship had "confessed" to selling photos and videos of demonstrations to a Colombian woman. He was later identified by relatives as Mohammed Radwan, 32, of Austin, Texas.
> 
> Syrian government television has been blaming foreigners, among others, for the unrest that began more than a week ago.
> 
> Radwan's cousin, Nora Shalaby, told The Associated Press that she last heard from him on Friday when he tweeted that he was at a mosque in Damascus where security forces were clashing with anti-government protesters.
> 
> Shalaby said her cousin was an engineer and had been working in Syria.
> 
> The state news agency said Radwan also confessed to visiting Israel. Syria is formally at war with the Jewish state, and visiting Israel is considered taboo. The accusation is sometimes used as a hint that they believe the person is a spy.
> 
> Meanwhile, a Vermont man said his 21-year-old son Pathik "Tik" Root  who had been missing since March 18  has been found to be safe in Syrian custody.
> 
> Tom Root said his son, a Middlebury College student who had been studying Arabic in Damascus as part of a program through Damascus University  was detained during a demonstration in the capital.
> 
> Root said in a message posted Saturday on Middlebury's website that he believes his son was watching, and not participating, in the demonstration.



Syria Protests: Two Americans Detained During Demonstrations


----------



## High_Gravity

In Syria, a test for Bashar Assad








> Reporting from Cairo Syrian President Bashar Assad tried to retain control of his protest-roiled nation on Sunday, sending troops to the site of recent clashes and promising through subordinates to remove a controversial emergency law used to detain dissidents without trial.
> 
> But there were signs that the unrest continued to test the political skill of Assad, who came to power in 2000 after his father's 29-year rule. Political analysts pondered the regional implications of the stress being placed on his regime.
> 
> A presidential advisor told reporters Sunday that Assad would address the nation on state television "within 24 to 48 hours." The president has largely remained out of view since his forces first fired on unarmed protesters in the southern city of Dara on March 18. The death toll from such clashes has climbed past 60.
> 
> Assad's remarks were expected to detail his pledge to remove the 1963 emergency law, which strictly limits Syrians' ability to assemble or voice opposition to the regime. The government first signaled a willingness to relax the law on Thursday, but it did not give a timetable or scope for the pullback, and the pledge failed to stem widespread protests.
> 
> Army troops were sent Sunday to the small coastal city of Latakia, the site of the latest clashes with protesters. Government officials blamed "armed gangs" for violence there. News reports said six people have died and more than 100 have been injured.
> 
> Witnesses said the violence began when protesters set fire to a building housing the ruling Baath Party on Saturday, an event that was especially brazen because the Assad family's political and business connections run deep in the city.
> 
> Damascus, the capital, was skittish Sunday. Citizens received text messages from the government warning them not to go to Umaweyeen Square where security forces apparently fretted protesters would reemerge. The city buzzed with reports about detained foreigners, including Muhammad Bakr Radwan, a dual U.S.-Egyptian citizen who was accused of selling photographs to international outlets.



Syria protests: President Bashar Assad tries to maintain control - latimes.com


----------



## Sunni Man

President Assad, and the other rulers, plus the military of Syria are non Muslims known as Alawite's.

Syria is around 10% Alawite and 1% Druse

Alawite's and Druse are such a far out Islamic "cult" that even the Shiite's don't claim them.

The rest of the population is 74% Sunni Muslims, 10% Jewish, and and 5% Christian.

Hopefully the Sunni people of Syria will rise up and expel the corrupt Assad government from power.


----------



## Trajan

The BBC has reports via one of their translators that farsi speaking blokes ( Quds force compliments of Iran)  are cracking heads, and Hezbollah has sent ion some of their goons. 

*shrugs* its all good, Vogue got their shot in before the outbreak of .......the _unpleasantness_.

hey a little light reading... those  publishers certainly do love providing equal  coverage don't they? 


Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert

Asma al-Assad, Syria&#8217;s dynamic first lady, is on a mission to create a beacon of culture and secularism in a powder-keg region&#8212;and to put a modern face on her husband&#8217;s regime.

Asma al-Assad is glamorous, young, and very chic&#8212;the freshest and most magnetic of first ladies. Her style is not the couture-and-bling dazzle of Middle Eastern power but a deliberate lack of adornment. She&#8217;s a rare combination: a thin, long-limbed beauty with a trained analytic mind who dresses with cunning understatement. Paris Match calls her &#8220;the element of light in a country full of shadow zones.&#8221; She is the first lady of Syria.

more unfortunately at- 
Asma al-Assad: A Rose in the Desert - Vogue Daily - Vogue






looks like he instructing his son on the standard art of munitions and detonation training. 
( hat tip WS)


----------



## High_Gravity

Sunni Man said:


> President Assad, and the other rulers, plus the military of Syria are non Muslims known as Alawite's.
> 
> Syria is around 10% Alawite and 1% Druse
> 
> Alawite's and Druse are such a far out Islamic "cult" that even the Shiite's don't claim them.
> 
> The rest of the population is 74% Sunni Muslims, 10% Jewish, and and 5% Christian.
> 
> Hopefully the Sunni people of Syria will rise up and expel the corrupt Assad government from power.



So you support the Syrians over throwing Assad, but you are against the Bahraini people in their protests?


----------



## Sunni Man

High_Gravity said:


> So you support the Syrians over throwing Assad, but you are against the Bahraini people in their protests?


Take a look at my username.

That should answer your question.


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> So you support the Syrians over throwing Assad, but you are against the Bahraini people in their protests?
> 
> 
> 
> Take a look at my username.
> 
> That should answer your question.
Click to expand...


But Shia and Sunny love each other. Don't they Sunni Man?  Both Muslims? Killing each other in this religion of peace.

Yeah, it shows.


----------



## High_Gravity

Sunni Man said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> So you support the Syrians over throwing Assad, but you are against the Bahraini people in their protests?
> 
> 
> 
> Take a look at my username.
> 
> That should answer your question.
Click to expand...


It sounds like the people in Bahrain and Syria have similar problems, the people in Bahrain are Shite but they are still Muslims, I thought you would have more empathy for them.


----------



## Sunni Man

High_Gravity said:


> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> So you support the Syrians over throwing Assad, but you are against the Bahraini people in their protests?
> 
> 
> 
> Take a look at my username.
> 
> That should answer your question.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It sounds like the people in Bahrain and Syria have similar problems, the people in Bahrain are Shite but they are still Muslims, I thought you would have more empathy for them.
Click to expand...


The only time I cheer for the Shia is when they are kicking Israeli posterior like they did in Lebanon.


----------



## High_Gravity

Sunni Man said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> Take a look at my username.
> 
> That should answer your question.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It sounds like the people in Bahrain and Syria have similar problems, the people in Bahrain are Shite but they are still Muslims, I thought you would have more empathy for them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The only time I cheer for the Shia is when they are kicking Israeli posterior like they did in Lebanon.
Click to expand...


When did that happen? I don't recall the Shia beating the Israelis at anything.


----------



## Sunni Man

JERUSALEM, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- An Israeli military assessment of Hezbollah's defense capabilities suggests the Shiite militant group may be the better force, Hezbollah noted.

Hezbollah on its al-Manar news station highlights an Israeli military report that states the militant group had better intelligence than Israel during the 34-day conflict in 2006.

"Hezbollah had better intelligence information than Israel and better control of its forces during the Second Lebanon War," the report said.

The report, written by Israeli Lt. Col. Robi Sandman in the latest issue of Ma'arahot, a monthly journal on military issues, asked Israeli officials to rank Israeli and Hezbollah military capabilities on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score.

Hezbollah outscored the Israeli military on a range of assessments, including intelligence, training and tactical command.

The officers briefed for the report said Hezbollah had greater motivation to win a military engagement than did Israel, giving the Shiite group a score of 8 compared with Israel's score of 4, al-Manar boasted.

If another conflict should break out between Hezbollah and Israel, Sandman noted Israel may be unprepared for engagement.

"We need to recognize that the Israeli army with its current structure cannot provide a response to the unbelievably well-equipped force that is rising up to destroy the state of Israel," he wrote.

Hezbollah beats Israel in military scores - UPI.com


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> Take a look at my username.
> 
> That should answer your question.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It sounds like the people in Bahrain and Syria have similar problems, the people in Bahrain are Shite but they are still Muslims, I thought you would have more empathy for them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The only time I cheer for the Shia is when they are kicking Israeli posterior like they did in Lebanon.
Click to expand...






​
*Lebanon Before Kicking Israel's Posterior:*





Lebanon After Kicking Israel's Posterior:









Now this is posted by Lebanon.


A win?  

Israel After Lebanese Crushing defeat of Israel:


----------



## High_Gravity

Sunni Man said:


> JERUSALEM, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- An Israeli military assessment of Hezbollah's defense capabilities suggests the Shiite militant group may be the better force, Hezbollah noted.
> 
> Hezbollah on its al-Manar news station highlights an Israeli military report that states the militant group had better intelligence than Israel during the 34-day conflict in 2006.
> 
> "Hezbollah had better intelligence information than Israel and better control of its forces during the Second Lebanon War," the report said.
> 
> The report, written by Israeli Lt. Col. Robi Sandman in the latest issue of Ma'arahot, a monthly journal on military issues, asked Israeli officials to rank Israeli and Hezbollah military capabilities on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score.
> 
> Hezbollah outscored the Israeli military on a range of assessments, including intelligence, training and tactical command.
> 
> The officers briefed for the report said Hezbollah had greater motivation to win a military engagement than did Israel, giving the Shiite group a score of 8 compared with Israel's score of 4, al-Manar boasted.
> 
> If another conflict should break out between Hezbollah and Israel, Sandman noted Israel may be unprepared for engagement.
> 
> "We need to recognize that the Israeli army with its current structure cannot provide a response to the unbelievably well-equipped force that is rising up to destroy the state of Israel," he wrote.
> 
> Hezbollah beats Israel in military scores - UPI.com



Nasrallah himself said that if he knew Israel was going to respond with such overwhelming force, he wouldn't have taken the 2 Israeli soldiers hostage. That doesn't sound like someone who kicked anyone ass.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> JERUSALEM, Sept. 30 (UPI) -- An Israeli military assessment of Hezbollah's defense capabilities suggests the Shiite militant group may be the better force, Hezbollah noted.
> 
> Hezbollah on its al-Manar news station highlights an Israeli military report that states the militant group had better intelligence than Israel during the 34-day conflict in 2006.
> 
> "Hezbollah had better intelligence information than Israel and better control of its forces during the Second Lebanon War," the report said.
> 
> The report, written by Israeli Lt. Col. Robi Sandman in the latest issue of Ma'arahot, a monthly journal on military issues, asked Israeli officials to rank Israeli and Hezbollah military capabilities on a scale of 1 to 10, with 10 being the highest score.
> 
> Hezbollah outscored the Israeli military on a range of assessments, including intelligence, training and tactical command.
> 
> The officers briefed for the report said Hezbollah had greater motivation to win a military engagement than did Israel, giving the Shiite group a score of 8 compared with Israel's score of 4, al-Manar boasted.
> 
> If another conflict should break out between Hezbollah and Israel, Sandman noted Israel may be unprepared for engagement.
> 
> "We need to recognize that the Israeli army with its current structure cannot provide a response to the unbelievably well-equipped force that is rising up to destroy the state of Israel," he wrote.
> 
> Hezbollah beats Israel in military scores - UPI.com
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Nasrallah himself said that if he knew Israel was going to respond with such overwhelming force, he wouldn't have taken the 2 Israeli soldiers hostage. That doesn't sound like someone who kicked anyone ass.
Click to expand...





Sunni Man has never been there, cares not for the deaths of Muslims and only cares about pretending that this was a win for Muslims. 

That's why they never win. They call a loss a win and accept it as a win.



Special Ed class is open down the street Sunni Man. I wonder if you are the best and brightest of your bunch?


----------



## Sunni Man

*Israel can't defeat Hezbollah: Israeli expert*

(Reuters) - Israel cannot defeat Hezbollah in a direct engagement and the Lebanese guerrilla group would inflict heavy damage on the Israeli home front if war broke out, a former Israeli national security adviser said Thursday.

Though outnumbered and outgunned, Hezbollah held off Israel's advanced armed forces in a 2006 war and fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israeli territory. The group has a domestic political base and has since bolstered an arsenal that Israel describes as a strategic threat.

Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah's Iranian and Syrian backers have stoked expectations of renewed violence in Lebanon.

"Israel does not know how to beat Hezbollah," said Giora Eiland, an army ex-general who served as national security adviser to former prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert.

"Therefore a war waged only as Israel-versus-Hezbollah might yield better damage on Hezbollah, but Hezbollah would inflict far worse damage on the Israeli homefront than it did 4-1/2 years ago," he told Israel Radio.

Israel can't defeat Hezbollah: Israeli expert | Reuters


----------



## Ropey

And he grasps at straws. Sunni? How else can they create the demand for greater responses?

Know?

And those greater responses? Look to 2015.


----------



## High_Gravity

Sunni Man said:


> *Israel can't defeat Hezbollah: Israeli expert*
> 
> (Reuters) - *Israel cannot defeat Hezbollah in a direct engagement and the Lebanese guerrilla group would inflict heavy damage on the Israeli home front if war broke out, a former Israeli national security adviser said Thursday.*
> Though outnumbered and outgunned, Hezbollah held off Israel's advanced armed forces in a 2006 war and fired more than 4,000 rockets into Israeli territory. The group has a domestic political base and has since bolstered an arsenal that Israel describes as a strategic threat.
> 
> Tensions between Israel and Hezbollah's Iranian and Syrian backers have stoked expectations of renewed violence in Lebanon.
> 
> "Israel does not know how to beat Hezbollah," said Giora Eiland, an army ex-general who served as national security adviser to former prime ministers Ariel Sharon and Ehud Olmert.
> 
> "Therefore a war waged only as Israel-versus-Hezbollah might yield better damage on Hezbollah, but Hezbollah would inflict far worse damage on the Israeli homefront than it did 4-1/2 years ago," he told Israel Radio.
> 
> Israel can't defeat Hezbollah: Israeli expert | Reuters



I don't get the first sentence, how do you have a direct engagement with Hezbollah? last time I checked they are a guerrilla force right? they don't fight head to head conventional battles, this is similar to the insurgencies in Iraq and the Taliban in Afghanistan.


----------



## Ropey

Ropey said:


> Sunni Man has never been there, cares not for the deaths of Muslims and only cares about pretending that this was a win for Muslims.
> 
> That's why they never win. They call a loss a win and accept it as a win.



Bears repeating as it is systemic to the culture.


----------



## Sunni Man

The Muslims can lose a hundred times in a row and come back to fight the 101st time.

But Israel only has to lose once and it's all over.


----------



## Ropey

I have seen the ramp up HG. America has the ability to disguise much of their military tamping up but Israel is tiny, and I often visit.  I follow the long term military strategies and penciled in as well as the more indelible choices if not timelines of the west.

The choices have been made and unless interim issues (which can always appear, and especially in the middle east) change the timeline then all is seeming to be moving in that direction.

Islam is losing in Africa at the moment as well. It most certainly is not increasing. Look at Sudan. The split was not to the Norths liking. All the oil is in the South and the South Sudan Christians who control 85% of thaty oil rich portion of the country. Not Islam. 

No, the changes are being seen all over the world. It does not look good for the flow. It looks more like an ebb response to the attack on the flow.

It's what I see at any rate.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> I have seen the ramp up HG. America has the ability to disguise much of their military tamping up but Israel is tiny, and I often visit.  I follow the long term military strategies and penciled in as well as the more indelible choices if not timelines of the west.
> 
> The choices have been made and unless interim issues (which can always appear, and especially in the middle east) change the timeline then all is seeming to be moving in that direction.
> 
> Islam is losing in Africa at the moment as well. It most certainly is not increasing. Look at Sudan. The split was not to the Norths liking. All the oil is in the South and the South Sudan Christians who control 85% of thaty oil rich portion of the country. Not Islam.
> 
> No, the changes are being seen all over the world. It does not look good for the flow. It looks more like an ebb response to the attack on the flow.
> 
> It's what I see at any rate.



The split in Sudan surprised the hell out of me, I never in my life thought the North would let them succede, let alone have all that oil.


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> The Muslims can lose a hundred times in a row and come back to fight the 101st time.
> 
> But Israel only has to lose once and it's all over.



That kind of stupidity can be countered with more stupidity.

Intermediate low level tactical nuclear devices shot by tank, jet and submarine can deal with indiscriminate sweeping death.



> The neutron flux (Neutron flux - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) can induce significant amounts of short-lived secondary radioactivity in the environment in the high flux region near the burst point. The alloys used in steel armor can develop radioactivity (Radioactive decay - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) that is dangerous for 24-48 hours. If a tank exposed to a 1 kt neutron bomb at 690 m (the effective range for immediate crew incapacitation) is immediately occupied by a new crew, they will receive a lethal dose of radiation within 24 hours.



Bunker busting fuel --> air explosive devices suck all the air out of tunnels and even mountain emplacements which are also extremely vulnerable to the Bunker Buster II which I think will be quite effective with the new fatbody guided missile.  Guided by the BBII. An all in one device which once launched will guide it's incoming missile behind and envelop it in the protection of the thrust.

At any rate, the above is stupid ranting to show you that I can rant stupidity as well as you can. Normally I stay out of that stupid stuff.  It accomplishes nothing.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have seen the ramp up HG. America has the ability to disguise much of their military tamping up but Israel is tiny, and I often visit.  I follow the long term military strategies and penciled in as well as the more indelible choices if not timelines of the west.
> 
> The choices have been made and unless interim issues (which can always appear, and especially in the middle east) change the timeline then all is seeming to be moving in that direction.
> 
> Islam is losing in Africa at the moment as well. It most certainly is not increasing. Look at Sudan. The split was not to the Norths liking. All the oil is in the South and the South Sudan Christians who control 85% of thaty oil rich portion of the country. Not Islam.
> 
> No, the changes are being seen all over the world. It does not look good for the flow. It looks more like an ebb response to the attack on the flow.
> 
> It's what I see at any rate.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The split in Sudan surprised the hell out of me, I never in my life thought the North would let them succede, let alone have all that oil.
Click to expand...


The world dynamic has moved rather quickly in the last five years HG. No one suspected the behind the scenes American machinations in response because as they usually do, they hide the buildup.

It's happening again.

America is not Blitzkrieg. America is buildup and explode. They learned this from WWII.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have seen the ramp up HG. America has the ability to disguise much of their military tamping up but Israel is tiny, and I often visit.  I follow the long term military strategies and penciled in as well as the more indelible choices if not timelines of the west.
> 
> The choices have been made and unless interim issues (which can always appear, and especially in the middle east) change the timeline then all is seeming to be moving in that direction.
> 
> Islam is losing in Africa at the moment as well. It most certainly is not increasing. Look at Sudan. The split was not to the Norths liking. All the oil is in the South and the South Sudan Christians who control 85% of thaty oil rich portion of the country. Not Islam.
> 
> No, the changes are being seen all over the world. It does not look good for the flow. It looks more like an ebb response to the attack on the flow.
> 
> It's what I see at any rate.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The split in Sudan surprised the hell out of me, I never in my life thought the North would let them succede, let alone have all that oil.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The world dynamic has moved rather quickly in the last five years HG. No one suspected the behind the scenes American machinations in response because as they usually do, they hide the buildup.
> 
> It's happening again.
Click to expand...


I am happy for the brothers in South Sudan and I hope that in 10 years, they can have a stable country free of war.


----------



## Sunni Man

High_Gravity said:


> The split in Sudan surprised the hell out of me, I never in my life thought the North would let them succede, let alone have all that oil.



The Muslim and Christian Sudanese got along quite well for many generations.

But when oil was discovered in the christian south.

Various Western interests supplied the southern people with weapons and convinced them to break away and form a new country.

It was the christians in the south who starting attacking the legitimate government of Sudan.

And brought on the civil war

Naturally, the U.S. and Europe backed the Sudanese southern Christian terrorists.

In exchange for the oil and natural gas drilling contract from the new Southern Sudan government..


----------



## Ropey

HG said:
			
		

> I am happy for the brothers in South Sudan and I hope that in 10 years, they can have a stable country free of war.



Oh, they will. Indeed they will. Look to the South of Sudan to become a jewel of the area.

@Sunni Man.

Deal


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> HG said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am happy for the brothers in South Sudan and I hope that in 10 years, they can have a stable country free of war.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, they will. Indeed they will. Look to the South of Sudan to become a jewel of the area.
> 
> @Sunni Man.
> 
> Deal
Click to expand...


People are going to doubt them, looking at their neighbors in the region people will expect them to be a failure like Somalia, Eritrea, etc. but they have the oil so if they are smart, things will go well. I hope so anyways.


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> But when oil was discovered in the christian south



G-d must have put it there for them then.  Just as He must have for the Arabs. What they are doing with it has been of a rather limited value it seems.



High_Gravity said:


> [People are going to doubt them, looking at their neighbors in the region people will expect them to be a failure like Somalia, Eritrea, etc. but they have the oil so if they are smart, things will go well. I hope so anyways.



I think there will be a fine military jumping point in the South Sudan. America will help and support them as will Israel and other countries. 

Arabian support? 

Who cares?


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> But when oil was discovered in the christian south
> 
> 
> 
> 
> G-d must have put it there for them then.  Just as He must have for the Arabs. What they are doing with it has been of a rather limited value it seems.
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> [People are going to doubt them, looking at their neighbors in the region people will expect them to be a failure like Somalia, Eritrea, etc. but they have the oil so if they are smart, things will go well. I hope so anyways.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I think there will be a fine military jumping point in the South Sudan. America will help and support them as will Israel and other countries.
> 
> Arabian support?
> 
> Who cares?
Click to expand...


I saw some pics of South Sudan, it is very raw with very little infrastrucure, their Military are mainly militiamen who have been fighting the North for decades. They will need to start from the ground up, invest in education, job training, quality of life, etc. since they have oil, the foreign investment will be there. People won't ignore them like Somalia and the Ivory Coast because of that.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> I saw some pics of South Sudan, it is very raw with very little infrastrucure, their Military are mainly militiamen who have been fighting the North for decades. They will need to start from the ground up, invest in education, job training, quality of life, etc. since they have oil, the foreign investment will be there. People won't ignore them like Somalia and the Ivory Coast because of that.



And also they want South Sudan to do well. They wanted all of Sudan to do well, but clearly Bashy old boy was having none of that with his imposition of Sharia Law and the Arabic language. 

This will be so much better than the years of civil wars. The South will have its protection from the horde and the West will add it as another bastion against the horde. Thus will it be supported. 

So, it is in interesting times that we watch HG. I also enjoy wondering about this "democracy"  movement in the ME.  It's quickly becoming clearer though.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I saw some pics of South Sudan, it is very raw with very little infrastrucure, their Military are mainly militiamen who have been fighting the North for decades. They will need to start from the ground up, invest in education, job training, quality of life, etc. since they have oil, the foreign investment will be there. People won't ignore them like Somalia and the Ivory Coast because of that.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And also they want South Sudan to do well. They wanted all of Sudan to do well, but clearly Bashy old boy was having none of that with his imposition of Sharia Law and the Arabic language.
> 
> This will be so much better than the years of civil wars. The South will have its protection from the horde and the West will add it as another bastion against the horde. Thus will it be supported.
> 
> So, it is in interesting times that we watch HG. I also enjoy wondering about this "democracy"  movement in the ME.  It's quickly becoming clearer though.
Click to expand...


The US Africa commmand, AFRICOM, needs a central base in Africa, right now they are based in Stuttgart Germany. Hopefully South Sudan can be that area, because if they get AFRICOM headquarters there they will get alot of financial rewards and incentives, not to mention Military help and training for them to get started. I started a thread for South Sudan on the Africa boards, I am rooting for them to do well.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Cabinet Resigns Amid Unrest 









> Syria's Cabinet resigned Tuesday to help quell a wave of popular fury that erupted more than a week ago and is now threatening President Bashar Assad's 11-year rule in one of the most authoritarian and closed-off nations in the Middle East.
> 
> Assad, whose family has controlled Syria for four decades, is trying to calm the growing dissent with a string of concessions. He is expected to address the nation in the next 24 hours to lift emergency laws in place since 1963 and moving to annul other harsh restrictions on civil liberties and political freedoms. More than 60 people have died since March 18 as security forces cracked down on protesters, Human Rights Watch said.
> 
> State TV said Tuesday Assad accepted the resignation of the 32-member Cabinet headed by Naji al-Otari, who has been in place since September 23. The Cabinet will continue running the country's affairs until the formation of a new government. The resignations will not affect Assad, who holds the lion's share of power in the authoritarian regime.&#65533;The announcement came hours after hundreds of thousands of supporters of Syria's hard-line regime poured into the streets Tuesday as the government tried to show it has mass support.
> 
> Protests that began March 18 and ensuing violence has brought sectarian tensions in Syria out in the open for the first time in decades, a taboo topic here because the country has a Sunni majority ruled by minority Alawites, a branch of Shiite Islam. Assad has placed his fellow Alawites into most positions of power in Syria. But he also has used increased economic freedom and prosperity to win the allegiance of the prosperous Sunni Muslim merchant classes, while punishing dissenters with arrest, imprisonment and physical abuse.




Read more: Syrian Cabinet Resigns Amid Unrest - TIME


----------



## logical4u

Sunni Man said:


> The Muslims can lose a hundred times in a row and come back to fight the 101st time.
> 
> But Israel only has to lose once and it's all over.



Israel has been persecuted (lost) since Jacob wanted to marry Racheal.  They have been enslaved, captured, murdered, droughted, diseased, and yet, they are still here.  Can you name any other culture that has survived those odds/challenges, and is still producing world leaders (many winning Noble prizes, when it still meant something), in every field of human endeavor  (just maybe, you might want to rethink that "belief" that they are not the Lord's chosen, how else could they have survived?).  Feel free to list all those great accomplishments of the "culture" that conquered and pillaged for its wealth, and claims it is "most civilized" and educated.  Don't go Persian empire, that was before the "culture" of death and destruction.


----------



## Ropey




----------



## Sunni Man

logical4u said:


> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Muslims can lose a hundred times in a row and come back to fight the 101st time.
> 
> But Israel only has to lose once and it's all over.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Israel has been persecuted (lost) since Jacob wanted to marry Racheal.  They have been enslaved, captured, murdered, droughted, diseased, and yet, they are still here.  Can you name any other culture that has survived those odds/challenges, and is still producing world leaders (many winning Noble prizes, when it still meant something), in every field of human endeavor  (just maybe, you might want to rethink that "belief" that they are not the Lord's chosen, how else could they have survived?).  Feel free to list all those great accomplishments of the "culture" that conquered and pillaged for its wealth, and claims it is "most civilized" and educated.  Don't go Persian empire, that was before the "culture" of death and destruction.
Click to expand...

The Jews lost their "Chosen People" status a long, long  time ago.  

They are referred to as the members of the "synagouge of satan" in the New Testament.


----------



## Ropey

Awww.

Poor Sunni Man. 

It's da Joos...


----------



## Ropey

*Got it before you deleted it Sunni Man.  *



Sunni Man said:


> These are fine young men who have their priorities correct.



Yes, I agree that this is what Muslims think and teach their children Sunni.   This brings what comes...

*Let the world see what Muslims teach their young.*


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> WillFranklin said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am tired of the Jews making us think that THEY have something for us. LONG LIVE PEACEFUL IRAN!!!
> 
> 
> 
> Welcome to the board
Click to expand...


Sock is now banned Sunni.


----------



## Ropey

Looks like sock and Sunni left at the same time.


----------



## logical4u

Sunni Man said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Muslims can lose a hundred times in a row and come back to fight the 101st time.
> 
> But Israel only has to lose once and it's all over.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Israel has been persecuted (lost) since Jacob wanted to marry Racheal.  They have been enslaved, captured, murdered, droughted, diseased, and yet, they are still here.  Can you name any other culture that has survived those odds/challenges, and is still producing world leaders (many winning Noble prizes, when it still meant something), in every field of human endeavor  (just maybe, you might want to rethink that "belief" that they are not the Lord's chosen, how else could they have survived?).  Feel free to list all those great accomplishments of the "culture" that conquered and pillaged for its wealth, and claims it is "most civilized" and educated.  Don't go Persian empire, that was before the "culture" of death and destruction.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The Jews lost their "Chosen People" status a long, long  time ago.
> 
> They are referred to as the members of the "synagouge of satan" in the New Testament.
Click to expand...


Then why did Yeshua (one you claim as one of your prophets) tell the Canaanite woman that He was here to save the Jews?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests Blamed On 'Conspirators' By President Bashar Assad 








> DAMASCUS, Syria  Syrian President Bashar Assad blamed "conspirators" Wednesday for an extraordinary wave of dissent against his authoritarian rule, but he failed to lift the country's despised emergency law or offer any concessions in his first speech since the protests began nearly two weeks ago.
> 
> Within hours of Assad's speech, residents of the port city of Latakia said troops opened fire during a protest by about 100 people  although it was not immediately clear whether they were firing in the air or at the protesters. The residents asked that their names not be published for fear of reprisals.
> 
> Assad said Wednesday that Syria is facing "a major conspiracy" that aims to weaken this country of 23 million. The Assad family has ruled Syria for nearly 40 years, using the feared security services to monitor and control even the smallest rumblings of opposition. Draconian laws have all but eradicated civil liberties and political freedoms.
> 
> "We don't seek battles," Assad, 45, said in an unusually short, televised speech before legislators who cheered for him and shouted support from their seats. "But if a battle is imposed on us today, we welcome it."
> 
> He made only a passing reference to the protesters' calls for change, saying "we are for reform" and promising that certain measures were being studied.
> 
> Social networking sites immediately exploded with activists calling on Syrians to take to the streets.
> 
> Assad's speech was surprising not so much for what he said but for what he left out. His adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, said last week that Syria had formed a committee to study a series of reforms, including lifting the state of emergency laws, which have been in place since 1963 and give the regime a free hand to arrest people without charge.
> 
> Assad had been widely expected to formally announce the changes. But the fact that he failed to mention any of them was a major disappointment for thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets since March 18. Human rights groups say more than 60 people have been killed as security forces cracked down on the demonstrations.
> 
> Assad, who inherited power 11 years ago from his father, appears to be following the playbook of other autocratic leaders in the region who scrambled to put down popular uprisings by offering minor concessions coupled with brutal crackdowns.



Syria Protests Blamed On 'Conspirators' By President Bashar Assad


----------



## Ropey

Of course Syria blames it on others. It is the Muslim way. That way they can turn themselves into *Muslims being mistreated* and enforce a jihad. 

Then they can kill their own who are against their Allah.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> Of course Syria blames it on others. It is the Muslim way. That way they can turn themselves into *Muslims being mistreated* and enforce a jihad.
> 
> Then they can kill their own who are against their Allah.



These old dictators have made their careers blaming all their problems on Israel and the US, that way the peoples anger will be directed outside, not internally.


----------



## ekrem

Stratfor Video:

Dispatch: Uprisings in Syria | STRATFOR


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> Of course Syria blames it on others. It is the Muslim way. That way they can turn themselves into *Muslims being mistreated* and enforce a jihad.
> 
> Then they can kill their own who are against their Allah.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These old dictators have made their careers blaming all their problems on Israel and the US, that way the peoples anger will be directed outside, not internally.
Click to expand...


It's their way. You can see how they blame everyone outside of their country. It's their way but be clear, the pattern of acting in a way that creates an attack in which they take the response by unbelievers allow them to wage their "Peaceful Islamic Jihad" (sarcasm intended).

It's all part of their systemic and endemic method.  It can't be the leaders, so who can it be?


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> Of course Syria blames it on others. It is the Muslim way. That way they can turn themselves into *Muslims being mistreated* and enforce a jihad.
> 
> Then they can kill their own who are against their Allah.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> These old dictators have made their careers blaming all their problems on Israel and the US, that way the peoples anger will be directed outside, not internally.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's their way. You can see how they blame everyone outside of their country. It's their way but be clear, the pattern of acting in a way that creates an attack in which they take the response by unbelievers allow them to wage their "Peaceful Islamic Jihad" (sarcasm intended).
> 
> It's all part of their systemic and endemic method.  It can't be the leaders, so who can it be?
Click to expand...


Its easier to blame others than solve problems, I was in Kuwait and they used to blame all of their problems on Saddam for years until we invaded Iraq. It was always "Oh Saddam is going to invade again" or "oh no Saddam", even though he was never going to do it with US Troops on the ground. Now that Saddam is gone the Kuwaitis are scrambling and paying off their people basically, all the Kuwaitis got a $5000 cash pay out a few months ago, unfortunatly for countries like Syria they don't have the funds to do something like that so they must face the fire.


----------



## Ropey

It doesn't help that Assad is a fringe Shia group, not Sunni and all those he controls are Sunni.

Not an easy fix.

They can blame the Jews all they want, but they kill each other. That's the proof.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> It doesn't help that Assad is a fringe Shia group, not Sunni and all those he controls are Sunni.
> 
> Not an easy fix.
> 
> They can blame the Jews all they want, but they kill each other. That's the proof.



Syria has a huge problem, it is a mainly Sunni country and like you said he is not Sunni, it is similar to Bahrain where the rulers are Sunni and the people are Shite.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria President Bashar Assad Orders Study On Emergency Laws 








> DAMASCUS, Syria -- Facing a massive protest movement demanding reform, Syria's president set up a committee Thursday to look into replacing decades-old emergency laws that give the regime a free hand to arrest people without charge.
> 
> The move appears to be a carefully designed attempt by President Bashar Assad to show he will not be pressured to implement reform  instead, he will make changes at his own pace. On Wednesday, he dashed expectations that he would announce sweeping changes, blaming two weeks of popular fury that has gripped Syria on a foreign conspiracy.
> 
> It was not immediately clear whether the move would succeed in pacifying a growing protest movement in one of Mideast's most autocratic regimes, with thousands of Syrians calling for change. Activists have called for massive demonstrations across Syrian provinces on Friday, dubbing it "Martyrs Day."
> 
> The day could prove to be a turning point in the country's future.
> 
> The state-run news agency said the committee would complete its study by April 25.
> 
> Syrian TV said the ruling Baath Party's regional command formed the committee made up of legal experts to study legislation that would "guarantee the country's security and dignity of Syrians and combat terrorism."
> 
> "This would pave the way for lifting the state of emergency laws," it said.
> 
> Assad fired his 32-member Cabinet on Tuesday in a move designed to mollify the anti-government protesters, but the overture was largely symbolic. Assad holds the lion's share of power in the authoritarian regime, and there are no real opposition figures or alternatives to the current leadership.
> 
> The protests were touched off by the arrest of several teenagers who scrawled anti-government graffiti on walls in the southern city of Daraa. They spread to other parts of the country last week, and human rights groups say more than 60 people have been killed since March 18 as security forces cracked down on the demonstrations.



Syria President Bashar Assad Orders Study On Emergency Laws


----------



## High_Gravity

Israel fears the alternative if Syria's Assad falls








> Reporting from Jerusalem As popular unrest threatens to topple another Arab neighbor, Israel finds itself again quietly rooting for the survival of an autocratic yet predictable regime, rather than face an untested new government in its place.
> 
> Syrian President Bashar Assad's race to tamp down public unrest is stirring anxiety in Israel that is even higher than its hand-wringing over Egypt's recent regime change. Unlike Israel and Egypt, Israel and Syria have no peace agreement, and Syria, with a large arsenal of sophisticated weapons, is one of Israel's strongest enemies.
> 
> Though Israel has frequently criticized Assad for cozying up to Iran, arming Lebanon's Hezbollah movement and sheltering leaders of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, many in Israel think their country might be better off if Assad keeps the reins of power.
> 
> "You want to work with the devil you know," said Moshe Maoz, a former government advisor and Syria expert at Hebrew University's Harry S. Truman Institute for the Advancement of Peace.
> 
> Several Israeli government and military officials declined to speak in depth about Assad, fearing any comments could backfire given the strong anti-Israel sentiments in the Arab world. That's what happened when some Israeli officials attempted to bolster Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak before he resigned Feb. 11.
> 
> "Officially it's better to avoid any reaction and watch the situation," said Maj. Gen. Amos Gilad, the Defense Ministry's policy director. He predicted Assad's regime would survive the unrest.
> 
> Privately, Israeli officials confirmed that although Assad is no friend, he's probably better than the immediate alternatives, which could include civil war, an Iraq-style insurgency or an Islamist takeover by the Muslim Brotherhood.
> 
> Israel is worried about what might happen to Syria's arsenal, including Scud missiles, thousands of rockets capable of reaching all of Israel, chemical warheads, advanced surface-to-air systems and an aging air force.
> 
> After spending billions of dollars in recent years to bolster its army in a bid to catch up to Israel's military capability, Syria was reportedly pursuing a nuclear program until Israel bombed its suspected reactor facility in 2007.
> 
> Despite Syria's ambitions, Assad has been a predictable foe and something of a paper tiger, analysts say. He did not retaliate for the 2007 airstrike and, like his predecessor and father, Hafez Assad, has been careful to avoid direct confrontation with Israel, preferring instead to arm anti-Israel militias such as Hezbollah and Hamas.
> 
> Assad has even flirted with peace talks with Israel, though he insists that Israel return the Golan Heights, which Israel seized during the 1967 Middle East War.
> 
> "Despite problematic aspects, Bashar maintains a stability," said Eyal Zisser, head of Mideast studies at Tel Aviv University. "The border is quiet. You know where you stand with him. On the other hand, when you go toward the unknown, it is really unknown."
> 
> If Assad were to fall, many in Israel say, the best-case scenario would be a government of moderate Sunni Muslims. Syria's Sunni majority has long resented rule by Assad's Alawite-minority family, and some hope that a Sunni-led government would break Syria's ties with Iran.
> 
> "A Sunni regime would clearly distance itself from the Shiite Iran and Hezbollah," Zisser said. "Any other regime would be less committed to such an alliance."



Israel and Syria unrest: Israel quietly roots for Bashar Assad to retain power in Syria - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Demonstration in support of protests in Syria staged in Prague



> Prague, April 1 (CTK) - Some 20 people Friday met outside the Syrian embassy in Prague to support current protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Baath governing party.
> 
> The demonstrators carried banners with appeals for freedom and democracy. They pointed out that many people died at demonstrations in Syria in the past few days.
> 
> "We are here to say it aloud, as Syrians who are living here in the Czech Republic, that we are support for those at home and that we do not agree with what is happening there," a young man, who works in Prague as a programmer, told CTK.
> 
> He recalled that at the beginning of the unrest people in the Syrian town of Dara went to the streets to protest against a brutal police raid on local children.
> 
> According to the demonstrators in Prague, the protests in Syria have claimed up to 250 lives and their number further increased Friday.
> 
> Outside the embassy in Prague, the demonstrators called on the Syrian government to terminate violence against civilians and allow people to live in freedom in their country.
> 
> Sharp protests against the Syrian government and president arose in the capital of Damascus and another three towns after afternoon prayers Friday. The police allegedly used tear gas against the protesters on the outskirts of Damascus.
> 
> Syrian activists called Friday the Day of Martyrs and invited inhabitants to take part in mass rallies in memory of the victims.
> 
> Al-Assad faces the most serious protests during his 11-year rule that broke out on March 18 and then spread all over the country. On Wednesday he blamed external forces for trying to destabilise the country. On Thursday he set up a legal committee to assess lifting the state of emergency, valid since 1963, by April 25.



Demonstration in support of protests in Syria staged in Prague | Prague Monitor


----------



## High_Gravity

Amid ongoing protests, Syria opposition says Assad wants talks 









> Syrian opposition groups leading anti- government protests based in the country on Tuesday said authorities have offered to meet with them.
> 
> "High-level security figures gave the green light for mediators to set dates for separate meetings with opposition figures inside the country," an opposition source told the German Press Agency DPA.
> 
> Activists said they were ready to take up the offer for talks, provided "it is serious, and not to buy time."
> 
> But some activists, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the offer could be a ploy by security forces to find out more about the various opposition groups coordinating the protests.
> 
> Opposition groups were holding a series of public rallies in honor of those killed in recent crackdowns on demonstrations calling for reform.
> 
> On Tuesday, thousands of protesters gathered in the southern city of Daraa, according to the Facebook page of one of the groups, Youth Syria for Freedom.
> 
> "The regime is using the most brutal means to quell the protests," one activist told dpa by phone.
> 
> "They are arresting anyone without evidence, even children whose ages vary between 12 and 14," he said. The activist said security forces removed the nails of some of the children, in "torture" sessions when the demonstrations first started in mid-March.
> 
> "The world is only hearing 10 percent of what is really happening on the ground in Syria and the oppression this regime is exercising," he said.
> 
> Another Facebook group, Syrian Revolution 2011, which has some 100,000 supporters, has called for a rally against the ruling Baath Party, outside its Damascus headquarters Thursday.
> 
> In Damascus, prime minister-designate Adel Safar is holding consultations to form a new cabinet, the Syrian Al Watan newspaper reported Tuesday.
> 
> The newspaper, which is the mouthpiece of the government, said that the new cabinet will likely be formed next week.



Amid ongoing protests, Syria opposition says Assad wants talks - Haaretz Daily Newspaper | Israel News


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests Leave 3 Dead: Reports








> AMMAN (Reuters) - Syrian security forces killed at least three pro-democracy demonstrators in the southern city of Deraa as protests against the rule of Bashar al-Assad flared in a number of towns after Friday prayers, witnesses said.
> 
> In the east, thousands of ethnic Kurds demonstrated for reform despite the president's offer this week to ease rules which bar many Kurds from citizenship, activists said.
> 
> Security men opened fire on thousands of protesters in Deraa, where protests first erupted last month before spreading across the country over the past three weeks. Local residents contacted by Reuters said at least three people were killed.
> 
> "I saw pools of blood and three bodies in the street being picked up by relatives in the Mahatta area," said one of the witnesses, who spoke to Reuters by telephone.
> 
> "The were snipers on roofs. Gunfire was heavy. The injured are being taken to homes. No one trusts putting his relative in a hospital in these circumstances," he added. Many protesters fear they would be arrested if taken to clinics.
> 
> Protests also erupted in the western city of Homs and gunfire was heard in the Damascus suburb of Harasta. The suburb of Douma, where protests have been sustained in recent days, was largely out of contact due to phone lines being cut, local activists said. Media are heavily restricted in Syria.



Syria Protests Leave 3 Dead: Reports


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's Military Appears Loyal To Government Ahead Of Pro-Democracy Protests 








> CAIRO -- Unlike the armies of Tunisia and Egypt, Syria's military will almost certainly stand by the country's leader as President Bashar Assad faces down an extraordinary protest movement.
> 
> Assad, and his father before him, stacked key military posts with members of their minority Alawite sect over the past 40 years, ensuring the loyalty of the armed forces by melding the fate of the army and the regime.
> 
> The power structure means there could be darker days ahead in Syria if the struggle for reform gathers steam. Analysts say the army would likely use force to protect the regime at all costs, for fear they will be persecuted if the country's Sunni majority gains the upper hand.
> 
> "If there is going to be a change in Syria, it is going to be a bloody change," said Hilal Khashan, a political science professor at the American University of Beirut. "Assad has the army, the intelligence and security agencies. These are strong agencies and they are specialized in internal oppression."
> 
> The uprising in Syria is one of the more astonishing in the region, given that the Assad family has kept an iron grip on power for 40 years, in part by crushing every whisper of dissent. But more importantly, they filled the country's most vital posts with Alawites, a branch of Shiite Islam that represents only about 11 percent of the population. Syria is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.
> 
> At least 80 people have been killed as security forces cracked down on three weeks of demonstrations that echo the uprisings spreading across the Arab world. In Egypt and Tunisia, the armies sided with demonstrators seeking to overthrow their entrenched leaders and provided the fatal blow each time.
> 
> However, Syrian protesters cannot count on such support. Nevertheless, activists have called for protests to continue this week to honor the "martyrs" who have died.
> 
> Human rights activists already have criticized the security forces' response to the protests. Human Rights Watch says the regime is using "unjustified lethal force against anti-government protesters."
> 
> "For three weeks, Syria's security forces have been firing on largely peaceful protesters in various parts of Syria," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Instead of investigating those responsible for shootings, Syria's officials try to deflect responsibility by accusing unknown 'armed groups.'"



Syria's Military Appears Loyal To Government Ahead Of Pro-Democracy Protests


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests At Funeral For Those Killed 








> BEIRUT -- A rare demonstration by hundreds of Syrian university students turned violent Monday when security forces beat up and arrested several protesters who were shouting for freedom and unity as the country's three-week uprising gathered strength despite a government crackdown, witnesses said.
> 
> Video footage posted online showed what appears to be plainclothes security forces beating protesters and forcefully pulling others away as they marched inside the campus of Damascus University. An activist in touch with students who witnessed the demonstration corroborated the footage, but he spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> "The Syrian people are one!" the students shouted in the video.
> 
> Protests erupted in Syria more than three weeks ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms to President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime.
> 
> More than 170 people have been killed, according to human rights groups.
> 
> International and Arab reaction to the violence in Syria had been relatively subdued, and U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has suggested America would not be getting involved.
> 
> She said late last month that Assad is a a "different leader" than Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, and that many members of Congress who have visited the country "believe he's a reformer."
> 
> But with the mounting casualties, others in the international community have begun voicing criticism.
> 
> France on Monday strongly condemned the violence in Syria, calling it "unacceptable," and called for immediate reforms.



Syria Protests At Funeral For Those Killed


----------



## High_Gravity

Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests 








> BEIRUT  Thousands of Syrian women and children holding white flags and olive branches blocked a main coastal highway Wednesday, demanding authorities release people detained during a crackdown on opponents of the regime, witnesses said.
> 
> The crowd  unusual because it was dominated by women and young children  demanded release of hundreds of men who have been rounded up in the northeastern villages of Bayda and Beit Jnad and surrounding areas in recent days.
> 
> "We will not be humiliated!" the crowd shouted Wednesday, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. They were gathering along the main road between the coastal cities of Tartous and Banias.
> 
> Protests erupted in Syria almost one month ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms. President Bashar Assad's government has responded both with brute force and promise of reforms.
> 
> More than 200 people have been killed during nearly four weeks of unrest, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration.
> 
> In an apparent attempt to calm the women's demonstration, authorities released about 100 of the detainees and brought them to the area where the protesters gathered, prompting cheers and cries of triumph, a witness said.
> 
> The protester, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said the sit-in will continue until all the men are released.
> 
> Also Wednesday, activists said student protesters gathered at Damascus University in the capital and in Aleppo University in the country's north. Another protest was reported outside the state-run news agency's offices in the capital.
> 
> The reports lacked detail and they could not be immediately confirmed. Syria has expelled most foreign reporters and limits access to trouble spots.



Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Thousands of Syrian women and children holding white flags and olive branches blocked a main coastal highway Wednesday, demanding authorities release people detained during a crackdown on opponents of the regime, witnesses said.
> 
> The crowd  unusual because it was dominated by women and young children  demanded release of hundreds of men who have been rounded up in the northeastern villages of Bayda and Beit Jnad and surrounding areas in recent days.
> 
> "We will not be humiliated!" the crowd shouted Wednesday, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. They were gathering along the main road between the coastal cities of Tartous and Banias.
> 
> Protests erupted in Syria almost one month ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms. President Bashar Assad's government has responded both with brute force and promise of reforms.
> 
> More than 200 people have been killed during nearly four weeks of unrest, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration.
> 
> In an apparent attempt to calm the women's demonstration, authorities released about 100 of the detainees and brought them to the area where the protesters gathered, prompting cheers and cries of triumph, a witness said.
> 
> The protester, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said the sit-in will continue until all the men are released.
> 
> Also Wednesday, activists said student protesters gathered at Damascus University in the capital and in Aleppo University in the country's north. Another protest was reported outside the state-run news agency's offices in the capital.
> 
> The reports lacked detail and they could not be immediately confirmed. Syria has expelled most foreign reporters and limits access to trouble spots.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests
Click to expand...


It would be interesting to hear what the ME women really thought about these demonstrations, "democracy", and the islamic influenced governments poised to take power.


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Thousands of Syrian women and children holding white flags and olive branches blocked a main coastal highway Wednesday, demanding authorities release people detained during a crackdown on opponents of the regime, witnesses said.
> 
> The crowd  unusual because it was dominated by women and young children  demanded release of hundreds of men who have been rounded up in the northeastern villages of Bayda and Beit Jnad and surrounding areas in recent days.
> 
> "We will not be humiliated!" the crowd shouted Wednesday, according to witnesses who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. They were gathering along the main road between the coastal cities of Tartous and Banias.
> 
> Protests erupted in Syria almost one month ago and have been growing steadily, with tens of thousands of people calling for sweeping reforms. President Bashar Assad's government has responded both with brute force and promise of reforms.
> 
> More than 200 people have been killed during nearly four weeks of unrest, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group, the Damascus Declaration.
> 
> In an apparent attempt to calm the women's demonstration, authorities released about 100 of the detainees and brought them to the area where the protesters gathered, prompting cheers and cries of triumph, a witness said.
> 
> The protester, who asked not to be identified for fear of reprisals, said the sit-in will continue until all the men are released.
> 
> Also Wednesday, activists said student protesters gathered at Damascus University in the capital and in Aleppo University in the country's north. Another protest was reported outside the state-run news agency's offices in the capital.
> 
> The reports lacked detail and they could not be immediately confirmed. Syria has expelled most foreign reporters and limits access to trouble spots.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thousands Of Women Block Highway In Syrian Protests
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It would be interesting to hear what the ME women really thought about these demonstrations, "democracy", and the islamic influenced governments poised to take power.
Click to expand...


Yeah no doubt, but I doubt many people over there give a damn what they think.


----------



## Douger

They all look so friendly !


----------



## Sunni Man

logical4u said:


> It would be interesting to hear what the ME women really thought about these demonstrations, "democracy", and the islamic influenced governments poised to take power.



They would be thankful that their nation was returning to an Islamic based government.

Where they could once again assume their position as covered women who are protected under Islamic law.


----------



## logical4u

Sunni Man said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> It would be interesting to hear what the ME women really thought about these demonstrations, "democracy", and the islamic influenced governments poised to take power.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They would be thankful that their nation was returning to an Islamic based government.
> 
> Where they could once again assume their position as covered women who are protected under Islamic law.
Click to expand...


Are you a woman that lives in the ME?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Forms New Cabinet; President Releases Hundreds Of Detainees 








> BEIRUT  Syria's president ordered the release Thursday of hundreds of detainees involved in a month of protests seeking to wrest political freedoms from one of the Middle East's most repressive governments.
> 
> The order, announced by state TV, signaled an attempt by President Bashar Assad to calm weeks of growing protest anger and pre-empt what is expected to be another day of large demonstrations on Friday.
> 
> Protests erupted in Syria a month ago and have steadily increased, with tens of thousands calling for sweeping political reforms from Assad's authoritarian regime. More than 200 people have been killed during in the government's crackdown, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group.
> 
> The state TV announcement did not say how many protesters would be released or how many authorities were holding. It said the release order did not apply to those involved in "criminal acts" but that most of those taken into custody would be freed.
> 
> The country's new prime minister, meanwhile, announced his Cabinet two weeks after Assad fired the previous government in an earlier gesture that failed to contain the unrest.
> 
> Violence continued Thursday in a major port city where the government has waged a crackdown on several days of protests.
> 
> The state-run SANA news agency reported that snipers fired on a Syrian military patrol in Banias, killing one soldier and wounding another.
> 
> Syria's government and its state-run media have sought to cast the unrest as a foreign conspiracy perpetrated by armed gangs targeting security forces and civilians. Reform activists, however, say their movement is peaceful.
> 
> The SANA report had few other details about the shooting, and because of severe restrictions on independent journalists it was not possible to verify the information.



Syria Forms New Cabinet; President Releases Hundreds Of Detainees


----------



## Trajan

hes pissing in the wind, they will smell weakness, does he have his da-da in him? they are gonna make him prove it or....


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> hes pissing in the wind, they will smell weakness, does he have his da-da in him? they are gonna make him prove it or....



I agree, hes trying to be kind to the protestors and appease them, history shows that doesn't work.


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Forms New Cabinet; President Releases Hundreds Of Detainees
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syria's president ordered the release Thursday of hundreds of detainees involved in a month of protests seeking to wrest political freedoms from one of the Middle East's most repressive governments.
> 
> The order, announced by state TV, signaled an attempt by President Bashar Assad to calm weeks of growing protest anger and pre-empt what is expected to be another day of large demonstrations on Friday.
> 
> Protests erupted in Syria a month ago and have steadily increased, with tens of thousands calling for sweeping political reforms from Assad's authoritarian regime. More than 200 people have been killed during in the government's crackdown, according to Syria's leading pro-democracy group.
> 
> The state TV announcement did not say how many protesters would be released or how many authorities were holding. It said the release order did not apply to those involved in "criminal acts" but that most of those taken into custody would be freed.
> 
> The country's new prime minister, meanwhile, announced his Cabinet two weeks after Assad fired the previous government in an earlier gesture that failed to contain the unrest.
> 
> Violence continued Thursday in a major port city where the government has waged a crackdown on several days of protests.
> 
> The state-run SANA news agency reported that snipers fired on a Syrian military patrol in Banias, killing one soldier and wounding another.
> 
> Syria's government and its state-run media have sought to cast the unrest as a foreign conspiracy perpetrated by armed gangs targeting security forces and civilians. Reform activists, however, say their movement is peaceful.
> 
> The SANA report had few other details about the shooting, and because of severe restrictions on independent journalists it was not possible to verify the information.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Forms New Cabinet; President Releases Hundreds Of Detainees
Click to expand...


Not too much getting out of Syria on this, is there?


----------



## waltky

Bashar blinks...

*Syria's al-Assad: Emergency laws 'to end next week'*
_16 April 2011 - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says he expects a state of emergency to be lifted next week, after weeks of anti-government protests.  He made the comments in a televised speech to his newly formed cabinet._


> The lifting of the 48-year-old emergency law has been a key demand of the protesters.  On Friday, tens of thousands of demonstrators rallied in the capital, Damascus, in one of the biggest turnouts since protests began.  While he repeated his view that his country was facing a conspiracy, Mr Assad said he did not believe the lifting of the state of emergency would destabilise Syria.  The Syrian leader told the cabinet a legal commission asked to examine the lifting of the law had come to its conclusions.
> 
> "I think the commission has finished its work, on Thursday, and the recommendations will be given to the government so that they become law immediately. I don't know how many days it will take you and I think that the maximum deadline for the lifting of the state of emergency will be next week," he said.  The law bans public gatherings of more than five people.  New security legislation would be introduced in place of the emergency law, he said, adding that the new government should also study ideas for a multi-party system and greater press freedom.  The question now is whether the measures will be enough to persuade the demonstrators to go back to their homes, says the BBC's Owen Bennett Jones in neighbouring Lebanon, or whether they will simply encourage more protests in the hope of securing more reforms.
> 
> Batons and tear gas
> 
> Friday's protests in Damascus and other cities were among the largest in a month of unrest that has reportedly seen some 200 people killed.  The unrest is the biggest challenge to the rule of Mr Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000.  Security forces used tear gas and batons to disperse tens of thousands of protesters - some calling for reform, others calling demanding the overthrow of Mr Assad - in Damascus.  Thousands of people reportedly demonstrated in a number of other Syrian cities - including Deraa, Latakia, Baniyas and Qamishli - where violence has been previously reported.
> 
> More BBC News - Syria&#039;s al-Assad: Emergency laws &#039;to end next week&#039;


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests Spread As Forces Open Fire On Demonstrators 








> BEIRUT  Witnesses say at least five Syrian protesters have been killed during clashes with security forces.
> 
> Security forces fired live bullets and tear gas Friday at tens of thousands of people shouting for freedom and democracy in several areas across the country.
> 
> Witnesses said they saw at least five corpses at the Hamdan hospital outside the capital. All suffered gunshot wounds.
> 
> The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> Security forces have launched a deadly crackdown on a monthlong uprising against Syria's authoritarian regime. More than 200 people have been killed.
> 
> THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
> 
> BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian security forces fired live bullets and tear gas Friday at tens of thousands of people shouting for freedom and democracy, wounding about 10 people on a day that could be a major test of whether President Bashar Assad's promises of sweeping reform will quell the monthlong uprising.
> 
> Protesters flooded into the streets after prayers Friday in at least five major areas across the country.
> 
> "The people want the downfall of the regime!" shouted protesters in Douma, a Damascus suburb where some 40,000 people took to the streets, witnesses said. It is the same rallying cry that was heard during the revolutions in Egypt and Tunisia.



Syria Protests Spread As Forces Open Fire On Demonstrators


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Detains Dozens Of Opposition Activists, Human Rights Watch Calls For U.N. Inquiry Into Crackdown 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces detained dozens of opposition activists and others in raids Sunday launched less than a week after President Bashar Assad's regime abolished emergency laws used for decades to crush dissent, a human rights activist said.
> 
> The police sweeps, which began late Saturday, reinforce opposition claims that the repeal of the nearly 50-year-old state of emergency codes offers no protection against blitz-style detentions by Assad's forces.
> 
> Also Sunday, the watchdog group Human Rights Watch called for a U.N. inquiry into Syria's widening crackdown on opposition protesters that has left more than 120 dead people in recent days.
> 
> Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, said the arrests concentrated on the capital Damascus and suburbs as well as the central city of Homs, which has been a hotbed of demonstrations against Assad's authoritarian rule.
> 
> "These people are not being arrested in a legal way. They are being kidnapped," Qurabi said, claiming the plainclothes security agents did not have formal arrest warrants.
> 
> Qurabi did not have full figures for those detained, but said at least 20 people were arrested in Homs. A resident in the Damascus suburb of Douma, said at least five people were taken into custody and authorities cut Internet and telephone connections.
> 
> One leading activist, Daniel Soaud, was among those taken into custody, but was released Sunday.
> 
> Qurabi said most of the detainees are expected to be brought before judicial authorities Monday and charged with demonstrating without permission.
> 
> Under the new rules that replaced the emergency laws on Thursday, Interior Ministry approval is needed to stage protest marches  which is widely interpreted as simply creating a de facto ban on demonstration.



Syria Detains Dozens Of Opposition Activists, Human Rights Watch Calls For U.N. Inquiry Into Crackdown


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's Assad: What Forces Can He Count On to Survive?








> The last time Syrians took on their ruling Baathist regime it was 1982. The protesters then were Islamists from the Muslim Brotherhood and they were not peaceful. Hafez Assad was President. And there was no such thing as a camera phone. Assad mercilessly crushed the revolt in the city of Hama, killing perhaps 10,000 (the exact figure is not known) and, according to local lore, turned one mass grave into a car park, such was his contempt for those who dared defy him. On Monday morning, reports said tanks had rolled into and opened fire in the city Dara'a, the epicenter of the uprising; Syria also closed the nearby border with Jordan.
> 
> In 2011, Hafez's son and political heir Bashar Assad seems to be following in his father's footsteps, responding to calls for greater freedom with crushing force. Yet Syria 2011 is not Syria 1982. The regime is still ruthless, but this time the rebellion is not restricted to one city or one sect. The constant stream of amateur video spilling over social media is also documenting events  despite the regime's best efforts to smother information by banning journalists  and suggesting that, if there is not a future reckoning, there will at least be a future record.
> 
> There are other differences. While the father had time on his side (the Hama massacre was preceded by four years of on-off clashes), the son doesn't. The volume of international condemnation is rising, and domestically he may not be able to continue his ferocious crackdown without cracks in his regime or the military.
> 
> Minor divisions have already surfaced with the weekend resignation of two lawmakers and a mufti from the southern city of Dara'a, where the uprising began more than a month ago. Still, Assad won't lose sleep over the largely symbolic departures. "Threats to the regime can only come from the army and the security services," Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria, told TIME from Cairo. "They will not resign or try to change things because they are the ones committing the massacres."
> 
> The Assads, both father and son, have appointed co-religionists from their minority Alawite sect to the top positions in the military's brass, ensuring a close-knit protective shield based on kinship and shared interests. When protests erupted in Dara'a in mid-March, for example, it was the 4th Armored Division, led by Bashar's younger brother, Maher, that was deployed to quell the unrest. The fates of many senior officers are closely tied to that of the regime. Still, according to Radwan Ziadeh, a Washington-based Syrian dissident and visiting scholar at the Institute for Middle East Studies at George Washington University, lower-ranking officers are defecting. "They're not following orders," he told TIME. "The regime knows who it can rely on: the 4th and the Presidential Guards. We hope that the military will play a role," he added, "but if senior politicians don't resign, it won't encourage military commanders to do the same." There are at least 15 different security agencies, and so far they are showing few signs of abandoning Assad.



Read more: Syria's Bashar Assad: What Can He Count On to Survive? - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crackdown Continues As Death Toll Passes 400 








> BEIRUT  Residents of the southern Syrian city of Daraa braved sniper fire Tuesday to pull the bullet-riddled bodies of the dead from the streets and hide them from security forces, a day after a brutal government crackdown on the popular revolt against President Bashar Assad, witnesses said.
> 
> As heavy gunfire reverberated through Daraa, a Syrian human rights group said authorities detained dozens of people across the country, mainly in several Damascus suburbs, including the town of Douma and in the northern coastal city of Jableh.
> 
> A relentless crackdown since mid-March has killed more than 400 people across Syria, with 120 dead over the weekend, rights groups said. That has only emboldened protesters who started their revolt with calls for modest reforms but are now increasingly demanding Assad's downfall.
> 
> The Syrian army, backed by tanks and snipers, killed at least 22 people in a raid launched before dawn Monday on Daraa, where the uprising began more than a month ago. Security forces also conducted raids in the towns of Douma and Jableh.
> 
> World leaders expressed concern at the mounting bloodshed, with the United States starting to draw up sanctions against Assad, diplomats hoping to send a strong signal to Damascus from the United Nations, and the prime minister of neighboring Turkey telephoning the Syrian leader to urge restraint.
> 
> The assault on Daraa appeared to be part of new strategy of crippling, pre-emptive action against any opposition to Assad, rather than reacting to demonstrations.
> 
> It took more than a day for residents of Daraa to start pulling many of the bodies off the streets of Daraa, with rooftop snipers and army forces firing on people who dared to leave their homes. One man, Zaher Ahmad Ayyash, was killed as he tried to retrieve the bodies of two brothers, Taysir and Yaser al-Akrad, said a resident, who asked to be identified only as Abdullah for fear of reprisal.
> 
> The corpses were hidden away after they were retrieved from the streets, Abdullah said, suggesting that residents might face reprisal if troops discovered they had taken the bodies. As he spoke on the phone, gunfire popped in the background.
> 
> "We can't bury the dead in the cemetery because it's occupied by Syrian soldiers," said Abdullah. "We are waiting to find another place to bury them."



Syria Crackdown Continues As Death Toll Passes 400


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Christians fear for religious freedom









> BEIRUT: Syrias minority Christians are watching the protests sweeping their country with trepidation, fearing their religious freedom could be threatened if President Bashar al Assads autocratic but secular rule is overthrown.
> 
> Sunni Muslims form a majority in Syria, but under four decades of rule by Assads minority Alawites the countrys varied religious groups have enjoyed the right to practice their faith.
> 
> Calls for Muslim prayers ring out alongside church bells in Damascus, where the apostle Paul started his ministry and Christians have worshipped for two millennia.
> 
> But for many Syrian Christians, the flight of their brethren from sectarian conflict in neighbouring Iraq and recent attacks on Christians in Egypt have highlighted the dangers they fear they will face if Assad succumbs to the wave of uprisings sweeping the Arab world.
> 
> Definitely the Christians in Syria support Bashar al Assad. They hope that this storm will not spread, Yohana Ibrahim, the Syriac Orthodox Archbishop of Aleppo, told Reuters.
> 
> Protests erupted in Syria two months ago, triggered by anger and frustration at widespread corruption and lack of freedom in the country ruled with an iron fist by the Assad family for nearly half a century.
> 
> Although some Christians may be participating in the protests, church institutions have not supported them.
> 
> Christians contacted by Reuters said they backed calls for reform but not the demands for regime change, which they said could fragment Syria and give the upper hand possibly to Islamist groups that would deny them religious freedom.
> 
> The Christians in Syria  whether Orthodox, Armenians, Maronites, Anglicans, Assyrians or Catholics  consider themselves first (Syrian) citizens, the sons of the land, said Habib Afram, president of the Syriac League.
> 
> The general atmosphere from the churches positions and from Christian figures is fixed on stability and security because religious freedom is absolutely guaranteed in Syria, he said.



Syria Christians fear for religious freedom | | DAWN.COM


----------



## High_Gravity

Bashar Assad Sanctions Announced By U.S. 








> WASHINGTON  The United States slapped sanctions on Syrian President Bashar Assad and six senior Syrian officials for human rights abuses over their brutal crackdown on anti-government protests, for the first time personally penalizing the Syrian leader for actions of his security forces.
> 
> The White House announced the sanctions Wednesday, a day before President Barack Obama delivers a major speech on the uprisings throughout the Arab world. The speech is expected to include prominent mentions of Syria.
> 
> The Obama administration had pinned hopes on Assad, seen until recent months as a pragmatist and potential reformer who could buck Iranian influence and help broker an eventual Arab peace deal with Israel.
> 
> But U.S. officials said Assad's increasingly brutal crackdown left them little choice but to abandon the effort to woo Assad, and to stop exempting him from the same sort of sanctions already applied to Libya's Moammar Gadhafi.
> 
> In a letter to congressional leaders, Obama said he issued the new sanctions order as a response to the Syrian government's "continuous escalation of violence against the people of Syria."
> 
> Obama cited "attacks on protesters, arrests and harassment of protesters and political activists, and repression of
> 
> democratic change, overseen and executed by numerous elements of the Syrian government."
> 
> The sanctions will freeze any assets Assad and the six Syrian government officials have in U.S. jurisdiction and make it illegal for Americans to do business with them. The U.S. had imposed similar sanctions on two of Assad's relatives and another top Syrian official last month but had thus far refrained from going after Assad himself.
> 
> "The actions the administration has taken today send an unequivocal message to President Assad, the Syrian leadership and regime insiders that they will be held accountable for the ongoing violence and repression in Syria," said David S. Cohen, Treasury's acting under secretary for terrorism, said in a statement.



Bashar Assad Sanctions Announced By U.S.


----------



## Ropey

> Russian president says Syria must be allowed to settle its own affairs





> Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev says that Moscow won't support any United Nations resolutions that would open the way for interference in Syria's internal affairs.



The Canadian Press: Russian president says Syria must be allowed to settle its own affairs

Russia, Iran, Turkey, Syria are allied against the West. This is no surprise.  Russia uses these strategic alliances in order to extract their own concessions from the West. Iran, Turkey, Syria are also part of one block attempting to destroy the American Middle Eastern  Oil Hegemony. Then there is the Sunni Saudi block that is caught between the middle and their own desires to create a Wahhabi caliphate. Iran wants to create their own caliphate and Turkey envisions another Empire.


----------



## High_Gravity

SYRIA: Assad regime denounces sanctions, says they serve Israel








> A day after the Obama administration tried to tighten the screws on Syria by announcing new sanctions directly targeting President Bashar Assad and his top aides amid a bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators, regime mouthpieces came out swinging,  insisting the penalties are part of some imperialist American plot to dominate the Middle East and serve Israel's interests.
> 
> "The U.S. measures are part of a series of sanctions imposed by successive U.S. administrations against the Syrian people as part of a regional scheme, aimed primarily at serving Israel's interests," the official Syrian Arab News Agency reported on Thursday (link in Arabic), quoting an unnamed official source.
> 
> "Any aggression against Syria is akin to US support for Israeli aggressions against Syria and the Arabs," added the report.
> 
> Syria's government-controlled Watan newspaper depicted the sanctions as part of a vast conspiracy targeting Syria for its relations with Iran and Lebanese Shiite militant group Hezbollah,among other groups.
> 
> A piece published in the newspaper on Thursday said the sanctions were aimed at trying to pressure Syria into cutting ties with the Islamic Republic, Hezbollah, and Palestinian Hamas.
> 
> "The United States and its allies are wasting no time in putting pressure on Syria to force it to change its regional policies," it read, according to a report compiled by Now Lebanon. "What is happening in Syria is part of a U.S. plan aimed at weakening Syria and cutting off its alliance with the resistance," a reference to the bloc consisting of Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas.
> 
> Obama is scheduled to deliver a major speech Thursday addressing the political changes across the Arab world.



SYRIA: Assad regime denounces sanctions, says they serve Israel | Babylon & Beyond | Los Angeles Times


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Troops Fire During Protests; 3 Killed 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces opened fire on protests around the country Friday in the latest sign the conflict could be moving toward a long and bloody stalemate as President Bashar Assad shrugs off tighter sanctions and U.S. calls to step aside. Activists said at least nine people were killed.
> 
> The clashes indicate neither side appears able to tip the scales in the two-month uprising. Assad's forces have waged a relentless crackdown on the opposition, but protesters continue to face down security forces with marches seeking to break the Syrian leader's authoritarian rule.
> 
> Human rights groups say more than 850 people have been killed in the clashes and clampdowns.
> 
> Witnesses reported protests Friday in the central cities of Homs and Hama, as wells the Mediterranean ports of Banias and Latakia.
> 
> In Banias, one witness said security forces dispersed protesters with gunfire and sticks. Several people were wounded from beatings, including a woman who was taking video of the march, he said.
> 
> Like most witnesses contacted by The Associated Press, he asked that his name not be used in fear of reprisals from the government.
> 
> Syria has banned foreign journalists and prevented local reporters from covering trouble spots, making it nearly impossible to independently verify witness accounts.
> 
> Last week, mass arrests and heavy security kept crowds below previous levels seen during the uprising, suggesting Assad's sweeping campaign of intimidation was working. But the marches Friday suggested that opposition forces could be trying to regroup.
> 
> Friday's death toll was reported Friday by one of the Local Coordination Committees in Syria, which help organize the protests. The groups said at least seven people were killed in Homs, one in the Damascus suburb of Daraya and one in the village of Sanamein in southern Syria.



Syria Troops Fire During Protests; 3 Killed


----------



## High_Gravity

Hezbollah Supports Syria Leader Bashar Assad 








> BEIRUT  The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group stood firmly behind his allies in Syria on Wednesday in his first comments on the country's uprising, saying that toppling the Damascus regime would serve only U.S. and Israeli interests.
> 
> Hezbollah has much to lose if Syrian President Bashar Assad is deposed. Besides receiving money from Syria, Hezbollah also is believed to receive Iranian weapons shipments through the country.
> 
> "Overthrowing the regime in Syria is in the American and Israeli interest," Sheik Hassan Nasrallah said in a speech marking "Liberation Day," which celebrates the withdrawal of the Israeli army from southern Lebanon in 2000 after 18 years of occupation. "They want to overthrow the regime and replace it with a moderate regime."
> 
> Nasrallah spoke during a time of great upheaval in the region, including the uprising in Syria and a May 15 march by Palestinian refugees on Israel's borders, as well as two highly contentious speeches by the Israeli prime minister and American president Barack Obama.
> 
> While praising uprisings that toppled longtime dictators in Egypt and Tunisia, Nasrallah urged the Syrian people to "protect their country" and give a chance for the Syrian leadership to implement reforms.
> 
> "We are worried about what is being plotted for the regime in Syria and the Syrian people," Nasrallah said, echoing Assad's claims that the events in Syria were a foreign conspiracy aimed at weakening the country's leadership.
> 
> Nasrallah rejected U.S. and Western sanctions on Syrian leaders.
> 
> "We should all cooperate so that Syria may emerge strong and immune," he said.
> 
> "President Bashar Assad believes in reform and is serious and ready to go a long way toward reforms, but in a calm and responsible manner," he said.



Hezbollah Supports Syria Leader Bashar Assad


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Gunmen Used To Crush Protests 








> BEIRUT  The Syrian regime is unleashing shadowy, mafia-style gunmen to carry out some of the most brutal attacks on dissent as the country's 10-week uprising threatens President Bashar Assad's once-unshakable grip on power.
> 
> The gunmen belong to a pro-Assad militia called "shabiha," which runs protection rackets, smuggling rings and other criminal enterprises while providing muscle for the regime.
> 
> Recruited from the ranks of Assad's Alawite religious community, the militiamen enable the government to distance itself from direct responsibility for the drive-by shootings, bloody executions and waves of intimidation and robbery that have made Syria's revolt one of the deadliest of the Arab Spring.
> 
> More than 1,000 people have been killed in the crackdown in Syria, many of them at the hands of the shabiha, human rights activists say. As the uprising has gained momentum in recent weeks, the gunmen appear to have taken on a more central role.
> 
> Syrians who have encountered the shabiha say they flaunt weapons, clutch rolls of cash and whiz through checkpoints with guns sticking out of their car windows.
> 
> "They always, always get what they want," a 38-year-old Syrian man told The Associated Press in an interview after he fled the besieged town of Banias and crossed into Lebanon.
> 
> "If they like your car, it's theirs. If they want your apartment, it's theirs. It's shameful to say it, but if they like a girl, she is also theirs," he said.
> 
> He, like all witnesses, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals against relatives still inside Syria.
> 
> In many ways, witnesses say, the shabiha are more terrifying than the army and security forces, whose tactics include shelling residential neighborhoods and firing on protesters. The swaggering gunmen, they say, are deployed specifically to brutalize and intimidate Assad's opponents.



Syria Gunmen Used To Crush Protests


----------



## High_Gravity

Fresh fatalities as Syrians brave crackdown 








> At least three people have been killed in Qatana, a suburb of the capital Damascus, after Syrian security forces used live fire to disperse hundreds of anti-government demonstrators, activists say.
> 
> According to Al Jazeera's Zeina Khodr reporting from neighbouring Lebanon, there were also reports of five protesters being shot dead in Dael, a southern town located 10km from Deraa, and one other in Zabadani, a town not far from the Lebanese border.
> 
> The killings came amid renewed demonstrations after midday prayers on Friday, dubbed "day for the Guardians of the Homeland" by pro-democracy advocates in an effort to reach out to the army to join their 10-week uprising.
> 
> As prayers ended, demonstrations were reported to be taking place in Idlib, in the country's north west, in Deir al-Zur in the north east, and in Qamishli, Amouda and Ras al Ain in the Kurdish areas in Syria's north.
> 
> *Bid to win over army*
> 
> An eyewitness to the early morning attacks in Dael told Al Jazeera that the secret police opened fire on a crowd of around 3,000 locals who were returning to town from a peaceful march to the army barracks on the outskirts.
> 
> He said the crowd was chanting, "The people and army are one hand".
> 
> The march had passed off peacefully, until the secret police opened fire on the crowd as tanks entered the town, he said.
> 
> Khodr, our correspondent, said the number of casualties had been low in comparison to previous Friday protests, "a sign that the Syrian government is realising that it cannot stop these protests by relying [only] on a security option" without dialogue.
> 
> She has been reporting from Beirut as Al Jazeera is banned from entering Syria.
> 
> She said pro-democracy activists viewed the latest protests as a success since people took to the streets in cities like Homs and Baniyas despite a military siege.
> 
> But the demonstrators did not achieve any of their goal, which was to "get the army to switch sides" and stop shooting at protesters, she said.
> 
> The fresh violence came amid a brutal military crackdown on protests, that have swept the country for weeks and shaken the one-party rule of president Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> More than a 1,000 people are believed to have been killed in the crackdown to date.
> 
> The harsh crackdown has triggered international outrage and US and European sanctions, including an EU assets freeze and a visa ban on Assad and nine members of his regime.
> 
> Amnesty International, the human rights group, has accused Syrian security forces of deliberately killing hundreds of demonstrators in the city of Deraa.



Fresh fatalities as Syrians brave crackdown - Middle East - Al Jazeera English


----------



## Trajan

this, vs. Yemen the unease in Bahrain?  I just don't see wasting time on Libya. If Syria is destabilized, this drops Irans influence in the Levant a far worthier venture than Libya.....


----------



## georgephillip

Robert Fisk is writing that the Turks are rapidly losing patience with Assad "because he twice promised to speak of reform and democratic elections - then failed to honor his word."

Assad's lies are hardly shocking but Turkey's response may well be:

"Watching the hundreds of refugees pouring from Syria across the northern border of Lebanon, the Turkish government is now so fearful of a repeat of the great mass Iraqi Kurdish refugee tide that overwhelmed their border in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf war that it has drawn up its own secret plans to prevent the Kurds of Syria moving in their thousands into the Kurdish areas of south-eastern Turkey. 

"Turkish generals have thus prepared an operation that would send several battalions of Turkish troops into Syria itself to carve out a 'safe area' for Syrian refugees inside Assad's caliphate. 

"The Turks are prepared to advance well beyond the Syrian border town of Al Qamishli  perhaps half way to Deir el-Zour (the old desert killing fields of the 1915 Armenian Holocaust, though speak it not)  to provide a 'safe haven' for those fleeing the slaughter in Syria's cities."

*Is the Arab Spring heading into a long, hot summer?*

Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? | Common Dreams


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> this, vs. Yemen the unease in Bahrain?  I just don't see wasting time on Libya. If Syria is destabilized, this drops Irans influence in the Levant a far worthier venture than Libya.....



Theres no oil in Syria though.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Military Renews Attacks In Heartland 








> BEIRUT  The Syrian military used heavy machine guns and artillery in renewed attacks on a town in the country's turbulent heartland Tuesday. At least one person was killed and many others wounded, activists said.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees in Syria, which helps organize and document the country's protests, said heavy gunfire was heard in Rastan, a few miles (kilometers) north of the central city of Homs and under attack since Sunday.
> 
> The committee said Ibrahim Salmoun perished in the Tuesday attacks. His death raises to 16 the number of people killed in the three-day crackdown in Homs province, scene of some of the largest anti-government demonstrations in recent weeks, activists said.
> 
> The Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad is determined to crush the ten-week old revolt against his rule. The government claims the uprising is the work of Islamic extremists and armed gangs.
> 
> Details coming out of Syria are sketchy because the government has placed severe restrictions on the media and expelled foreign reporters, making it nearly impossible to independently verify accounts coming out of the country.
> 
> The committees said the army was shelling Rastan from four directions using Russian-made T-72 tanks. Activists said the military also shelled a field hospital, destroyed the entrance to the city and its industrial zone.
> 
> State-controlled media quoted a Syrian military official as saying army units and security forces in Rastan arrested members of "armed terrorist groups who terrorized citizens and destroyed public and private property." The official said the military also confiscated a large number of arms and weapons.
> 
> Two soldiers, including an officer, were killed and four others wounded Tuesday, it said.
> 
> Mohammad Said Bkheitan, assistant secretary general of the ruling Baath party, said the protest movement nationwide amounted to no more than 100,000 people.



Syria Military Renews Attacks In Heartland


----------



## Trajan

High_Gravity said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> this, vs. Yemen the unease in Bahrain?  I just don't see wasting time on Libya. If Syria is destabilized, this drops Irans influence in the Levant a far worthier venture than Libya.....
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Theres no oil in Syria though.
Click to expand...




there aint much in Yemen either bro....


----------



## Trajan

georgephillip said:


> Robert Fisk is writing that the Turks are rapidly losing patience with Assad "because he twice promised to speak of reform and democratic elections - then failed to honor his word."
> 
> Assad's lies are hardly shocking but Turkey's response may well be:
> 
> "Watching the hundreds of refugees pouring from Syria across the northern border of Lebanon, the Turkish government is now so fearful of a repeat of the great mass Iraqi Kurdish refugee tide that overwhelmed their border in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf war that it has drawn up its own secret plans to prevent the Kurds of Syria moving in their thousands into the Kurdish areas of south-eastern Turkey.
> 
> "Turkish generals have thus prepared an operation that would send several battalions of Turkish troops into Syria itself to carve out a 'safe area' for Syrian refugees inside Assad's caliphate.
> 
> "The Turks are prepared to advance well beyond the Syrian border town of Al Qamishli  perhaps half way to Deir el-Zour (the old desert killing fields of the 1915 Armenian Holocaust, though speak it not)  to provide a 'safe haven' for those fleeing the slaughter in Syria's cities."
> 
> *Is the Arab Spring heading into a long, hot summer?*
> 
> Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? | Common Dreams



interesting.....

from the article; why do you suppose, the media difference exists? 

But the Qataris are also attracting Assad's venom. Al Jazeera's concentration on the Syrian uprising  *its graphic images of the dead and wounded far more devastating than anything our soft western television news shows would dare broadcast * has Syrian state television nightly spitting at the Emir and at the state of Qatar. The Syrian government has now suspended up to £4 billion of Qatari investment projects, including one belonging to the Qatar Electricity and Water Company.


----------



## georgephillip

*The differences between western media and Al Jazeera?*

I'm not sure where Assad gets most of his weapons.
If a substantial percentage come from western corporations...?

What did you make of Fisk's speculation on a "Third Intifada"?

"*If there's an 'intifada' in Syria, why not a Third Intifada in 'Palestine'?* 

"Not a struggle of suicide bombers but of mass, million-strong protests. 

"If the Israelis have to shoot down a mere few hundred demonstrators who tried &#8211; and in some cases succeeded &#8211; in crossing the Israeli border almost two weeks ago, *what will they do if confronted by thousands or a million*. 

"Obama says no Palestinian state must be declared at the UN. But why not? 
*Who cares in the Middle East what Obama says?* 

"Not even, it seems, the Israelis. 

"The Arab spring will soon become a hot summer and there will be an Arab autumn, too. By then, the Middle East may have changed forever. What America says will matter nothing."

Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? | Common Dreams


----------



## Trajan

georgephillip said:


> *The differences between western media and Al Jazeera?*
> 
> I'm not sure where Assad gets most of his weapons.
> If a substantial percentage come from western corporations...?
> 
> What did you make of Fisk's speculation on a "Third Intifada"?
> 
> "*If there's an 'intifada' in Syria, why not a Third Intifada in 'Palestine'?*
> 
> "Not a struggle of suicide bombers but of mass, million-strong protests.
> 
> "If the Israelis have to shoot down a mere few hundred demonstrators who tried &#8211; and in some cases succeeded &#8211; in crossing the Israeli border almost two weeks ago, *what will they do if confronted by thousands or a million*.
> 
> "Obama says no Palestinian state must be declared at the UN. But why not?
> *Who cares in the Middle East what Obama says?*
> 
> "Not even, it seems, the Israelis.
> 
> "The Arab spring will soon become a hot summer and there will be an Arab autumn, too. By then, the Middle East may have changed forever. What America says will matter nothing."
> 
> Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? | Common Dreams



I was asking a mainly rhetoric question George but in any event the media here is in the tank, thats the answer. 

frankly as far as the US being a broker etc and having any power to affect anyone's thinking that was exploded after oslo,  or that is thats what it meant to me. 

obama stuck himself in a bind and has totally lost abbas's confidence, not that abbas was the answer either imho, but he was better than th alternatives. obama told Rice to vote no on the last UN res. and that was tha,  abbas describes obama as having left him up a tree and taken the ladder.

 Obama should never ever ever have made settlement freezes as part of a condition for negotiations, when he did that he told abbas hey I am on your side, he then saw that fall apart and now hes scrambling and no one believes him, he has as fisk said ( and so has sympathetic dems) screwed it up, we are done there.

 Even the gaza pullout was made out as a sop. It just took from Oslo to now to see it all for what it is. 

 With the changes taking place now, fisk,  and I never thought I'd say this,  is spot on, our influence is over and done, now and  forever, unless, we make the only play left; which  is to take sides straight out in what will come to pass - the greater sunni shiite struggle which is to come. 

We align with the sunnis and come what may.

you didn't need to add snips from the article george, I read it.....


----------



## georgephillip

More divide and conquer?

It has worked well for all Western empires since the Ulster Plantation early in the 17th Century.

It's chances for long term success are about as likely as a "good" emperor, imho.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Troops Pound Town WIth Artillery; At Least 43 Dead 








> BEIRUT  Syrian government troops pounded a central town with artillery and gunfire Thursday, renewing attacks in a restive area that has been largely cut off from outside contact for six days. At least 15 people died, bringing the total killed there to 72 since the onslaught began, activists said.
> 
> What started as street demonstrations calling for reforms evolved into demands for President Bashar Assad's ouster in the face of the violent crackdown, especially in Syria's south and center, where the challenge to his family's 40-year-rule is seen as strongest.
> 
> Activists say more than 1,100 people have died in the crackdown and 10,000 have been detained. But it hasn't slowed the protests, which take place nearly daily and swell into the thousands each Friday.
> 
> A resident of Rastan, a protest stronghold in central Syria, said the town's electricity was cut and it was by tanks. He said troops bombed the water supply as well as a mosque and the sports complex.
> 
> "We have become refugees in our own country," said the man reached by telephone, who said he fled his home in the town center to escape arrest and was sleeping in the woods.
> 
> "My family and sisters are still there, and I don't know how they are doing," he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> He said army units entered some neighborhoods Wednesday evening and were making arrests.
> 
> The Syrian government on Wednesday freed hundreds of political prisoners in an amnesty and the president set up a committee for national dialogue in an effort to end the 10-week uprising, but concessions have been coupled with deadly attacks on the towns seen as the greatest threat to his power. Electricity and telephone lines were cut Saturday in Rastan and some nearby towns, and the government attacks have been unrelenting ever since, activists say.
> 
> A movement consisting mostly of Syrian exiles met in Turkey on Thursday, trying to find a unified voice and coherent response to the violence.



Syria Troops Pound Town WIth Artillery; At Least 43 Dead


----------



## georgephillip

Any reports of Syria's Kurds entering Turkey in large numbers?


----------



## High_Gravity

georgephillip said:


> Any reports of Syria's Kurds entering Turkey in large numbers?



Thats a good question, I have not heard anything about the Kurds in Syria and where they stand in this conflict, I am assuming they want Assad gone but who knows?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Internet Cut Off In Some Regions As Central Town Pounded 









> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces opened fire during one of the largest anti-government protests so far in the 10-week revolt, killing at least 27 people, as tens of thousands of Syrians poured into the streets after the Friday prayers, a human rights group said.
> 
> Security forces fired on at least two of the demonstrations demanding President Bashar Assad's ouster, renewed their assault on towns seen as key to the revolt against the regime's 40-year rule. The regime also cut Internet service across most of the country, activists said, a potentially dire blow for a movement that motivates people with graphic YouTube videos of the crackdown and loosely organizes protests on Facebook pages.
> 
> The Internet shutdown, if it continues, could also hamper the movement's ability to reach the world outside Syria, where the government has severely restricted the media and expelled foreign reporters, making it nearly impossible to independently verify what is happening there. Still many activists found alternate ways to log on and upload vidoes, such as satellite connections.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said tens of thousands of people were protesting in Hama when security forces opened fire. He said the Hama protest was among the largest yet in the 10-week uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime.
> 
> Syria's state-run TV said three "saboteurs" were killed when police tried to stop them from setting a government building on fire in Hama. The Syrian government blames armed gangs and religious extremists for the violence.
> 
> As the Friday Muslim prayers ended, worshippers left the mosques and marched in cities, towns and villages. Syrian security forces dispersed some, mostly using batons, tear gas and water cannons and fired live ammunition in at least two locations in southern and northeastern towns.
> 
> Rights groups say more than 1,100 people have been killed since the revolt against Assad erupted in mid-March.
> 
> An eyewitness in Hama reached by The Associated Press said unprecedented numbers of people took part in Friday's protest in Hama.
> 
> He described a chaotic scene, with security forces firing tear gas and live ammunition and snipers shooting from the rooftops as people fled. He said there were around 150,000 demonstrators.



Syria Internet Cut Off In Some Regions As Central Town Pounded


----------



## georgephillip

High_Gravity said:


> georgephillip said:
> 
> 
> 
> Any reports of Syria's Kurds entering Turkey in large numbers?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thats a good question, I have not heard anything about the Kurds in Syria and where they stand in this conflict, I am assuming they want Assad gone but who knows?
Click to expand...

*From a recent Robert Fisk article:*

*"Watching the hundreds of refugees pouring from Syria across the northern border of Lebanon*, the Turkish government is now so fearful of a repeat of the great mass Iraqi Kurdish refugee tide that overwhelmed their border in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf war that it has drawn up its own secret plans to prevent the Kurds of Syria moving in their thousands into the Kurdish areas of south-eastern Turkey. 

"Turkish generals have thus prepared an operation that would send *several battalions of Turkish troops into Syria itself* to carve out a "safe area" for Syrian refugees inside Assad's caliphate. 

"The Turks are prepared to advance well beyond the Syrian border town of Al Qamishli  perhaps half way to Deir el-Zour (the old desert killing fields of the 1915 Armenian Holocaust, though speak it not)  to provide a "safe haven" for those fleeing the slaughter in Syria's cities."

Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? | Common Dreams

How do you think Assad or Bibi would feel about thousands of Turkish troops invading Syria?


----------



## High_Gravity

georgephillip said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> georgephillip said:
> 
> 
> 
> Any reports of Syria's Kurds entering Turkey in large numbers?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Thats a good question, I have not heard anything about the Kurds in Syria and where they stand in this conflict, I am assuming they want Assad gone but who knows?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> *From a recent Robert Fisk article:*
> 
> *"Watching the hundreds of refugees pouring from Syria across the northern border of Lebanon*, the Turkish government is now so fearful of a repeat of the great mass Iraqi Kurdish refugee tide that overwhelmed their border in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf war that it has drawn up its own secret plans to prevent the Kurds of Syria moving in their thousands into the Kurdish areas of south-eastern Turkey.
> 
> "Turkish generals have thus prepared an operation that would send *several battalions of Turkish troops into Syria itself* to carve out a "safe area" for Syrian refugees inside Assad's caliphate.
> 
> "The Turks are prepared to advance well beyond the Syrian border town of Al Qamishli  perhaps half way to Deir el-Zour (the old desert killing fields of the 1915 Armenian Holocaust, though speak it not)  to provide a "safe haven" for those fleeing the slaughter in Syria's cities."
> 
> Who Cares in the Middle East What Obama Says? | Common Dreams
> 
> How do you think Assad or Bibi would feel about thousands of Turkish troops invading Syria?
Click to expand...


If the Turks go into Syria all hell is going to break loose.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Ambush Leaves 40 Police Dead In Tense North 








> BEIRUT  Armed groups ambushed Syrian security forces in a tense northern city, killing 40 policemen and security forces in a region where the army has carried out deadly operations against anti-government protesters for days, Syrian state television said Monday.
> 
> Syria's military has been attacking the town of Jisr al-Shughour as part of a nationwide crackdown on an uprising calling for an end to President Bashar Assad's regime. Human rights groups say at least 35 people have been killed there since Saturday.
> 
> Communications appeared to have been cut to the area on Monday, but there have been unconfirmed reports in the past by residents and activists of Syrians fighting back against security forces.
> 
> Monday's state television report said the officers were ambushed as they responded to calls from residents for protection from the armed groups. It said 20 policemen were initially killed, and then the groups blew up a post office and killed a number of other security forces.
> 
> The report said the armed groups were hiding in homes and firing at soldiers and civilians alike, using residents as human shields in an ongoing shootout.
> 
> The TV reports could not be independently confirmed. The Syrian government has severely restricted the media and expelled foreign reporters, making it nearly impossible to independently verify events.
> 
> Details of the operations in Jisr al-Shughour and nearby Khan Sheikhoun have been sketchy and attempts to reach residents of the town were unsuccessful.
> 
> Human rights groups say more than 1,200 people have died in the brutal crackdown against anti-government protesters since March.



Syria: Ambush Leaves 40 Police Dead In Tense North


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria, Claiming 80 Officers Killed, Hints at Retaliation



> CAIRO  Syrias state news agency reported Monday that armed gangs had killed 120 police, security personnel and civilians in multiple attacks in a northwestern town, and that residents were pleading for the army to intervene. The reports could not be independently verified, but regardless of whether the numbers are inflated, they appear likely to presage an even harsher crackdown on antigovernment protesters.
> 
> The reported number of dead ballooned over the course of the day  from 28 to 40 to 80 security, then another 40 civilians  as state media described escalating violence in the town of Jisr al-Shughour by the unspecified armed fighters, including an ambush of police, the bombing of a post office and gunfire from rooftops.
> 
> By the end of the day, state media said police and security forces were clashing with hundreds of armed men who had taken control of some areas of the town. But the state broadcaster showed no images from the town, despite scrolling text on Syrian television that spoke of a massacre.
> 
> Protesters could not be immediately reached in the area, but opposition activists repudiated any suggestion that antigovernment protesters had mounted such attacks. I have seen no evidence of organized violence by protesters against the regime, said Wissam Tarif, a Syrian human rights activist currently outside the country. Protesters do not have weapons they could even use against tanks and helicopters, which the regime is using.
> 
> Syria has been gripped by a popular uprising against four decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family since mid-March, but the government has blamed the unrest on what it calls Islamic extremists and foreign conspirators bent on destroying the country and its fragile balance of ethnic groups and religious denominations. However, even supporters of the government have said the unrest in Syria is far too widespread to validate the official explanation.
> 
> Fears of anti-government retaliation have grown, but no reports have suggested such high tolls before.
> 
> The reports came a day after demonstrators and rights activists said Syrian military forces using helicopter gunships and armored cars mounted with machine guns had killed at least 25 people in the town over the weekend. At least 13 others died in nearby villages.
> 
> Syrian state media said police officers and security personnel heading to Jisr al-Shughour were ambushed by the armed gangs. In what appeared to be a separate attack, eight guards in the town were reportedly killed when pipe bombs exploded in a post office.
> 
> Later, state media said that at least 37 people were killed in a security station where residents had taken shelter from the armed gangs. The reports said the gangs were firing from rooftops and behind barricades.
> 
> Even before the reports of violence, security forces appeared to redeploy on Sunday from other towns to join the harsh crackdown in the northern province of Idlib in a swift effort to put down the latest flare-up in the uprising against the government of President Bashar al-Assad. The number of protesters in Idlib swelled in recent weeks, said Mr. Tarif, the rights activist.
> 
> Government tanks were reported to have pulled back slightly from the city of Hama on Sunday, a day after they were sent in to confront mourners for the 65 protesters killed Friday. The city was the site of a 1982 massacre when security forces commanded by President Hafez al-Assad, the current presidents father, bombarded it in a siege that killed at least 10,000 people.
> 
> The uprising began in the southern town of Daraa and quickly spread, after residents there rose up against the Assad regime following the arrest and torture of a group of school children accused of spray painting anti-government graffiti on a school house wall. The children, aged eight to fifteen, were badly beaten and had their fingernails pulled out, activists said.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/07/world/middleeast/07syria.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrians Flee Town Of Jisr Al-Shughour, Where Scores Of Security Men Were Killed, As troops approach 








> (Reuters) - Syrians fled a restive town toward the Turkish border, fearing bloodshed as troops with tanks approached, under orders to hit back after the government accused armed bands there of killing scores of its security men.
> 
> Though accounts of days of killing in Jisr al-Shughour ranged from an official version of gunmen ambushing troops to residents' reports of an army mutiny, it triggered international alarm that violence may enter a new and bloodier phase after three months of popular unrest that has left over 1,000 dead.
> 
> France and Britain, allies in the war against Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, took a lead in pushing U.N. moves against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. But Russia, citing NATO's inconclusive bombing of Tripoli, said it would veto intervention against Syria in the United Nations Security Council.
> 
> French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, at U.N. headquarters in New York, said it was "a question of days, maybe hours" before the Council voted on a resolution condemning Syria. A draft circulated last month does not propose military intervention.
> 
> At Jisr al-Shughour, home to tens of thousands of people, residents said they were taking cover and bracing for attacks.
> 
> "The army is taking up position around Jisr al-Shughour," one anti-government activist told Reuters by telephone, saying residents have seen troops approaching the northeastern town from Aleppo, Syria's second city, and from Latakia on the coast.



Syrians Flee Town Of Jisr Al-Shughour, Where Scores Of Security Men Were Killed, As troops approach


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> If the Turks go into Syria all hell is going to break loose.



More Muslims killing Muslims and it's all the damned Joos fault.


----------



## High_Gravity

I really don't think the Arabs want Israel to go anywhere, if the Jews left who would they use for their boogeyman when things don't go their way? The Jews are blamed for earthquakes, the weather, and for these uprisings.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian-American gay blogger missing in Damascus



> BEIRUT -- A Syrian-American lesbian blogger known for her frank posts about her sexuality and her open criticism of President Bashar Assad's autocratic rule was detained after weeks on the run in the Syrian capital, her cousin and an activist said Tuesday.
> 
> Amina Arraf wrote a blog called "A Gay Girl in Damascus," a mixture of erotic prose and updates about Syria's uprising, including her participation in anti-regime protests.
> 
> Her cousin, Rania Ismail, said Arraf was last seen Monday being bundled into a car by three men in civilian clothes. The car, Ismail wrote in a post on her cousin's blog, had sticker depicting Assad's late brother Basel, according to a friend who was nearby and saw what happened.
> 
> Ismail said Arraf was detained as she and the friend were on their way "to meet a person involved" with the Local Coordination Committee, an activist group which helps organize and document the protests calling for an end to the Assad regime.
> 
> An activist with the Local Coordination Committees also said Arraf was taken but gave no details.
> 
> "We are hoping she is simply in jail and nothing worse has happened to her," Ismail wrote. She added that Arraf had previously sent her texts to post should something happen to her, but she was holding off in hopes of hearing further word from her cousin.
> 
> The day before she was detained, Arraf wrote: "I am complex, I am many things; I am an Arab, I am Syrian, I am a woman, I am queer, I am Muslim, I am binational, I am tall, I am too thin; my sect is Sunni, my clan is Omari, my tribe is Quraysh, my city is Damascus," she wrote in A Gay Girl in Damascus a day before being detained.
> 
> "I am also a Virginian. I was born on an afternoon in a hospital in sight of where Woodrow Wilson entered the world, where streets are named for country stars."
> 
> Since the uprising against Assad began in mid-March, a government crackdown has left about 1,300 people dead and more than 10,000 detained, according to human rights groups. Several activists who were briefly detained during the revolt said they were tortured, humiliated and forced to sign pledges to avoid anti-regime activities.
> 
> In one post, Arraf wrote about taking part in a Damascus protest that was broken up by security forces.
> 
> "Busloads of secret police armed with batons - thousands of them - met us around Abbasiyeen Square and began to assault the edges of the crowd," she wrote. "Teargas was lobbed at us. I saw people vomiting from the gas as I covered my own mouth and nose and my eyes burned. ... We broke and were scattered."
> 
> But she gained prominence after writing on April 26 about two plainclothes security agents who came to her home to detain her and were argued into leaving by her father. Soon afterward, Arraf and her father went into hiding, changing location frequently in Damascus, the Syrian capital.



Read more: Syrian-American gay blogger missing in Damascus - Technology - MiamiHerald.com


----------



## Ropey

> Syrians flee to Turkey, fearing retribution
> 
> Assad's regime has vowed to avenge the death of 120 security personnel in Jisr al-Shughur, located near the Turkish border. The UN Security Council votes today on a resolution condemning Syria.





> Syria's President Bashar al-Assad has launched a vicious military assault on antigovernment elements in recent months, causing 1,300 deaths according to rights groups, and courting a UN Security Council condemnation that will come to a vote today.








> A group of Syrians head towards Turkey from inside Syria as they wait for the authorization to cross the border near Turkish village of Guvecci in Hatay province, Turkey, on June 8.




RELATED: Syria 101: 4 attributes of Assad's authoritarian regime 

Syrians flee to Turkey, fearing retribution

But it's the damn Joos killing Arabs?


----------



## High_Gravity

Londoner says missing Syrian blogger stole her identity








> The reported disappearance of a gay Syrian-American blogger has attracted skepticism after a London woman claimed the photos published by news organizations worldwide are of her, not of the blogger, and that the blogger stole her identity a year ago.
> 
> Amina Arraf, known for her criticism of Syrian President Bashar Assad and her open posts about sexuality on a blog called "A Gay Girl in Damascus," was last seen Monday evening being forced into a car in Syria's capital, her cousin, Rania Ismail, said. News sites, including msnbc.com , reported the 36-year-old writer's disappearance on Tuesday, along with a photo of her.
> 
> On Wednesday, a London publicist said photos circulating are actually of Jelena Lecic, a Croatian woman who works as an administrator at the Royal College of Physicians in London. Lecic believes her identity has been used before by Arraf.
> 
> 
> Jelena Lenic, who lives in London, said her photo was used alongside stories about a missing Syrian blogger. The blogger has previously claimed photos of Lenic were of her, she said. "Just over a year ago, a friend called Jelena up and said, 'Do you have another identity up on Facebook? Because there's someone else who has your pictures up but not your name," publicist Julius Just told msnbc.com. "She and her friend complained, and Facebook removed it, and she believed it was the end of the matter."
> 
> But when news of Arraf's disappearance broke, Just said Lecic saw her photo alongside the story in London's Guardian newspaper. It was one of the same photos her friend had spotted on Facebook a year ago under a different profile name: Amina Abdalla Arraf.
> 
> Lecic called The Guardian to request the photo be taken down, only to find it replaced with another photo of her.
> 
> I pray that Amina is safely returned to her family but I want to make it quite clear that I am not her despite my photographs being attached to this story, Lecic said in a press release.



Londoner: Syrian blogger stole my identity - World news - Mideast/N. Africa - msnbc.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Leaders Brother Seen as Enforcer of Crackdown








> As reports mount of defections in the Syrian military and the government staggers from the killing of soldiers and police officers in a northern city this week, President Bashar al-Assad may turn increasingly to his brother, Maher, whose elite units in a demoralized army could prove decisive to his governments survival, activists and analysts say.
> 
> Maher al-Assad heads the Syrian Armys elite Fourth Division and Republican Guard, while wielding great influence in Syrias powerful intelligence services, analysts say. In the nearly three-month uprising, he has emerged as a lightning rod of dissent over his perceived role in the ferocious crackdown that has led to the deaths of 1,300 people, by activists count, and the arrests of more than 10,000.
> 
> To many, Maher al-Assads power has underscored the narrow circle his brother presides over  a circle that relies on connections of clan, family and friendship, and that has proved far less tested by crisis than the ruling elite their father cultivated over three decades.
> 
> The presidents brother is so much at the center of that clique that many Syrians fervently believe he is the unidentified man who is shown taking potshots at demonstrators in a sensational video now in wide circulation.
> 
> Though neither the video nor the gunmans identity could be independently verified, the fact that so many Syrians believe it to be he is a telling insight into the power and fear he has cultivated.
> 
> According to Bassam Bitar, a former Syrian diplomat who now lives in exile in Virginia, Maher al-Assads control of Syrias security apparatus makes him first in command, not second in command.
> 
> Since childhood, Bashar al-Assad has had a reputation in his family as the weaker, more hesitant personality, Mr. Bitar said.
> 
> Sometimes I think Bashar means it about reform, Mr. Bitar said. But his brother wont take it.
> 
> In many ways, Mr. Bitar said, the relationship between President Assad and his younger brother mirrors the relationship of their father, Hafez al-Assad, with his younger brother Rifaat, who served as the government enforcer and was the architect of the 1982 Hama massacre, in which at least 10,000 people were killed.
> 
> If you look back at the uprising from 79 to 82, Rifaat was the nasty guy, the killer, Mr. Bitar said. And now history repeats itself, and Maher is a nasty guy.
> 
> The bloody events this week seemed to have marked a decisive moment in an uprising that has posed the gravest challenge to the familys 41-year rule.
> 
> On Monday, the government claimed that 120 soldiers and police officers had been killed in a town called Jisr al-Shoughour by armed gangs  a common euphemism for protesters. Some residents and opposition activists claimed some of the soldiers had been killed by their colleagues for defecting, though it was impossible to verify either account.
> 
> If the residents accounts are true, it would mark an extraordinary fissure in a government that has so far maintained the relative unity of the armed forces and the state in the face of the uprising. Though lower-level defections have been reported for weeks, nothing has approached the level of Mondays bloodshed in Jisr al-Shoughour.
> 
> Now there are clashes between the soldiers on one side and security men and young people on the other, said Omar, 28, a resident there reached by phone on Monday night. Tens of soldiers began to stand with civilian protesters and families. The civilians are presenting first aid to some soldiers who get shot by the secret police.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/08/world/middleeast/08syria.html?_r=1&hpw


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Refugees Flooding Into Turkey








> KARBEYAZ, Turkey  The Turkish government said Thursday that it was planning to build a second camp to house Syrian refugees, after 1,050 more people crossed the border over the last 24 hours, the semiofficial Anatolian Agency reported, and a top United Nations official appealed to Damascus to stop the bloodshed that has led people to flee.
> 
> In Geneva, Navi Pillay, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights, called on Syria to stop the assault on its own people.
> 
> It is utterly deplorable for any government to attempt to bludgeon its population into submission, using tanks, artillery and snipers, Ms. Pillay said in a statement. I urge the government to halt this assault on its own peoples most fundamental human rights.
> 
> Ms. Pillay said reports suggested that more than 1,100 had been killed, and 10,000 or more detained.
> 
> Since violent clashes broke out last weekend in Jisr al-Shoughour, a northern Syrian town close to this border, more Syrians have been fleeing into Turkey, some bearing tales of black-clad gunmen opening fire on protesters without warning. Many other Syrians, camped out in scrubby fields within sight of the Turkish border, are ready to follow them at the first sign that security forces are pursuing them, those who have crossed say.
> 
> Some preferred to seek shelter at the refugee camp in Yayladag, Turkey.
> 
> It is really very bad in Jisr al-Shoughour, said a man who looked to be in his 50s. There are many security forces, heavy army, tanks  they are all around. As he spoke near the fence, a Turkish police patrol asked him to move inside.
> 
> There are more coming here, it is not possible to stay there, he said, walking away. They are killing everyone, the children around him added.
> 
> Speaking Thursday on Turkish radio, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his concern about the growing violence on Turkeys 500-mile border with Syria, but sought to reassure the world that the crossings would remain open, NTV, a private television station, reported. It is impossible for us to close down the border, Mr. Erdogan said.
> 
> He added that he had spoken with the Syrian president, Bashar al-Assad, three days ago, and that Turkey was following events in Syria with concern.
> 
> Syrians began crossing into Turkey after the protests against Mr. Assads rule began in April. Many have taken advantage of a porous border and the relaxed border controls put in place last year. Some have gradually returned to Syria on their own; Turkish officials have also provided assistance to nearly 260 people sheltered in a tent city less than 40 miles from Hatay, in Turkeys southeast.
> 
> Even Syrian citizens who had entered Turkey legally were not being granted access to search for their friends and relatives.
> 
> I am in charge of the security of these people here, how can I be sure that these Syrians who are trying to get in are not from Syrian intelligence? a senior policeman in civil outfit asked, behind the bars at the main entrance of the Yayladag camp.
> 
> Around the corner, towards the back of the compound, dozens of people  children, women and men  were wandering around trees and tents. Children played on swings in a small outdoor playground.
> 
> Residents of nearby villages said that there are thousands camping in Syria just over the borderline, and that many had penetrated through several unofficial crossings. Many of the villages were split between the two countries by borders drawn in the 1920s.
> 
> The military police is now registering around 55 people who have crossed into my land, which is basically an arm length away from Syria, said Siddik Donmezer, 42, the owner of a small farm. Describing the situation just over the border in Jisr al-Shoughour, he said, The regime security forces cut their electricity and randomly storm into their homes in search of youngsters, and once they are taken you never hear back from them. He said that his cousin, who lives in the Syrian town, describe tanks rolling in the streets.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/10/world/middleeast/10syria.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## Ropey

This boy was so tortured and disfigured that his father passed out when he saw the boy.




Syria to Probe 'Torture, Murder' of 13-Years-Old Boy as 3 Dead in Crackdown - Naharnet



> Three civilians were shot dead on Tuesday by Syrian security forces at Rastan in the center of the country and in the southern region of Daraa, a rights activist said on condition of anonymity.
> 
> "Ibrahim Salhum was killed today at Rastan" near the city of Homs, as the military attempted to quell anti-regime protest there for the third straight day, the activist said.
> 
> He added that at Hirak, a town in the flashpoint southern province of Daraa, two people were shot dead overnight and at dawn as "security forces entered Hirak and carried out search operations."
> 
> Meanwhile, state television reported that an investigation will be launched into the death of a 13-year-old Syrian boy who was allegedly tortured and killed by security forces in Daraa



Assad has denied Kurds citizenships for decades and now they go to Iraq beg Maliki to convince Kurdistan president Barzani to talk to the Kurds so they do not to join demonstrations?

Assad is a serial killer in a leaders clothing.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> This boy was so tortured and disfigured that his father passed out when he saw the boy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria to Probe 'Torture, Murder' of 13-Years-Old Boy as 3 Dead in Crackdown - Naharnet
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Three civilians were shot dead on Tuesday by Syrian security forces at Rastan in the center of the country and in the southern region of Daraa, a rights activist said on condition of anonymity.
> 
> "Ibrahim Salhum was killed today at Rastan" near the city of Homs, as the military attempted to quell anti-regime protest there for the third straight day, the activist said.
> 
> He added that at Hirak, a town in the flashpoint southern province of Daraa, two people were shot dead overnight and at dawn as "security forces entered Hirak and carried out search operations."
> 
> Meanwhile, state television reported that an investigation will be launched into the death of a 13-year-old Syrian boy who was allegedly tortured and killed by security forces in Daraa
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Assad has denied Kurds citizenships for decades and now they go to Iraq beg Maliki to convince Kurdistan president Barzani to talk to the Kurds so they do not to join demonstrations?
> 
> Assad is a serial killer in a leaders clothing.
Click to expand...


Bashar Assad is the Syrian version of John Wayne Gacey.






John Wayne Gacy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> I really don't think the Arabs want Israel to go anywhere, if the Jews left who would they use for their boogeyman when things don't go their way? The Jews are blamed for earthquakes, the weather, and for these uprisings.



You forgot to mention those vicious 'spy sharks' Israel sent to spy on the muslims, too!


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Bashar Assad is the Syrian version of John Wayne Gacey.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> John Wayne Gacy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Too bloody right.


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I really don't think the Arabs want Israel to go anywhere, if the Jews left who would they use for their boogeyman when things don't go their way? The Jews are blamed for earthquakes, the weather, and for these uprisings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You forgot to mention those vicious 'spy sharks' Israel sent to spy on the muslims, too!
Click to expand...


Oh of course, can't forget the Israeli trained sharks.


----------



## Ropey

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I really don't think the Arabs want Israel to go anywhere, if the Jews left who would they use for their bogeyman when things don't go their way? The Jews are blamed for earthquakes, the weather, and for these uprisings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You forgot to mention those vicious 'spy sharks' Israel sent to spy on the Muslims, too!
Click to expand...


This is what happens when a people marry their first cousins and first nieces. Yes, it is allowed to marry and produce children with one's brother's daughter in Islam.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I really don't think the Arabs want Israel to go anywhere, if the Jews left who would they use for their bogeyman when things don't go their way? The Jews are blamed for earthquakes, the weather, and for these uprisings.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You forgot to mention those vicious 'spy sharks' Israel sent to spy on the Muslims, too!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> This is what happens when a people marry their first cousins and first nieces. Yes, it is allowed to marry and produce children with one's brother's daughter in Islam.
Click to expand...


Inbreeding is disgusting and destructive.


----------



## Ropey

high_gravity said:


> ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> you forgot to mention those vicious 'spy sharks' israel sent to spy on the muslims, too!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this is what happens when a people marry their first cousins and first nieces. Yes, it is allowed to marry and produce children with one's brother's daughter in islam.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> inbreeding is disgusting and destructive.
Click to expand...


qft


----------



## High_Gravity

Inside Syria's Slaughter: A Journalist Reports from Deraa, the 'Ghetto of Death'








> DERAA  Al-Balad, a neighborhood in the city's historic district, has become the ghetto of death. Since the end of March, it's been on permanent lockdown, surrounded by the Syrian army. From rooftops and balconies, soldiers shoot those who try to get in or out of the neighborhood. Deraa is the hotbed of the Syrian uprising, and Al-Balad its core. It was in this poor neighborhood that the "Syrian spring" came to life on March 16. People rose out of indignation and anger after the military police tortured a dozen teenagers caught painting graffiti imitating the Egyptian revolution and reading: "The people want the regime to fall."
> 
> Al-Balad went up in flames and the rest of the city followed. In the following weeks, the uprising spread north to Latakia, Banias, Homs, Hama...and even to the suburbs of Damascus. To crack down on a revolt that was gaining ground, Bashar Al-Assad's regime wanted to show the country what would happen to those who would resist him. As a result, Al-Balad is suffering under a merciless siege.
> 
> Electricity, water and phone lines have been cut. Without access to supplies, milk and essential foods have run out. The 15,000 residents under lockdown are facing famine. Everyday, during the evening prayer, thousands of voices rise above the neighborhood for the rest of the city to hear: "Milk! Water!" they scream, their voices barely muted by bursts of gunfire.
> 
> Nearby villagers tried to break the siege on April 29, arriving at Deraa's gates with gallons of water and olive branches for the soldiers. According to Human Rights Watch, that day more than 200 people died. Residents of nearby neighborhoods are worried about their "besieged" neighbors and the imminent sanitary disaster. There is no hospital in Al-Balad, and pharmacy shelves are close to empty.
> 
> "I haven't seen my family in two months," says Ali, 19. "They're trapped in Al-Balad. I know my mother can no longer feed my two brothers and three sisters. I would like to help them, but I'll be killed if I get close." Hassan, a friend he grew up with in Al-Balad, was shot on May 18 as he was trying to bring supplies to his family.
> 
> Ali was wounded after being shot by a hidden sniper. "Bashar says Islamist mercenaries working for Saudi Arabia and the West want to take control of Syria," he says clenching his fists. "It's not true! These are not Islamists in the streets, it's us! We, the Syrians of Deraa!"
> 
> Deraa has been under siege since early April, surrounded by a belt of automatic weapons, surface-to-air missiles and tanks  all with their barrels facing the city. Tanks have also taken over the streets. Soldiers patrol the smallest streets and stand in groups of three at crossroads. A curfew is in place from 7pm to 7am.
> 
> Al-Balad is just 15 minutes away from the vegetable market in downtown Deraa. Streets are blocked by sandbag bunkers, behind which heavily armed soldiers are posted. Others are posted on high balconies. People can still walk on the sidewalks facing the sandbag bunkers but not on the streets reserved for official vehicles. Passed that border, only silence.



Read more: Inside Syria's Slaughter: A Journalist Sneaks Into Deraa, the 'Ghetto of Death' - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Gay Girl in Damascus Blogger Admits to Writing Fiction Disguised as Fact








> Six days after a post on the blog A Gay Girl in Damascus triggered panic among its readers by suggesting that the blogs author, who claimed to be a Syrian-American lesbian caught up in the protest movement, had been detained in the Syrian capital, a new entry appeared on Sunday that described the entire online diary as a work of fiction by an American man.
> 
> The new post, headlined Apology to Readers, was signed by Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old graduate student, who identified himself as The sole author of all posts on this blog. That would include four months of what appeared to be diary entries from Amina Abdallah Arraf, a self-described 35-year-old lesbian born and raised in the United States but now living in Damascus, and two posts attributed to Rania O. Ismail, a cousin of Ms. Arrafs, who relayed news of her arrest to the blogs readers last week.
> 
> In a telephone interview with The Lede on Monday morning, Mr. MacMaster, who is currently in Turkey, said, I sort of by accident created something that had a lot more interest than I had ever possibly expected and then when I tried to shut it down it just kept getting bigger. He explained that he had initially created Amina, his Arab lesbian character, as a handle he would use when he wanted to contribute comments to online discussions. His aim, he said was to use the character to present a perspective that doesnt often get heard on the Middle East and that was also a challenge for me, as somebody who has aspirations as a novelist, to write in a voice of a character who is absolutely not me.
> 
> He got the idea to start a blog in the guise of his character, he said, when a Web site called Lez Get Real published two long comments about Syria that he had submitted in Aminas name in February. That Web site published a long apology on Friday, explaining that its editors had helped to start the Gay Girl in Damascus blog. In the comment thread beneath that apology, one of the editors of the site explained that the bloggers 135 contributions to Lez Get Real in recent months had all seemed to come from computers located in Scotland, not Syria. Mr. MacMaster moved to Scotland from the U.S. last year to study history.
> 
> Before Sunday, Mr. MacMaster had denied that he was the blogs author when reporters from two publications, The Washington Post and The Electronic Intifada, confronted him with circumstantial evidence that seemed to connect him to Amina Abdallah Arraf. Both reporting teams had discovered that someone who claimed to be Ms. Arraf had asked several years ago for mail to be delivered to a house in Stone Mountain, Ga. which was owned by Mr. MacMaster at the time. (An old invitation to a barbecue at the house, posted on Facebook by Mr. MacMaster in 2008, is still online.)
> 
> Mr. MacMaster initially told The Post, Look, if I was the genius who had pulled this off, I would say, Yeah, and write a book.
> 
> After he published his apology on the blog on Sunday, Mr. MacMaster confirmed to Ali Abunimah and Benjamin Doherty of The Electronic Intifada, a pro-Palestinian Web site, that he was indeed the blogs author. His wife, Britta Froelicher, who is pursuing a degree in Syrian studies, later hinted to N.P.R. and confirmed to The Guardian that her husband was the blogs author in an e-mail.
> 
> As part of an investigation led by Andy Carvin, N.P.R. had discovered that photographs of Syria sent by the author of the Gay Girl in Damascus blog to a Facebook friend in Canada recently had been posted online in 2008 by Ms. Froelicher. Contacted by N.P.R. on Sunday, Ms. Froelicher pointed the broadcaster to the new apology posted on the Gay Girl in Damascus blog and said that the couple was still on vacation in Turkey, and just really want to have a nice time and not deal with all this craziness at the moment.



&#039;Gay Girl in Damascus&#039; Blogger Admits to Writing Fiction Disguised as Fact - NYTimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Refugees In Turkey Seek Safety From 'Savagery' 








> GUVECCI, Turkey -- Syrians streamed across the border Monday into neighboring Turkey, finding sanctuary in refugee camps ringed by barbed wire and offering a frightening picture of life back home where a deadly crackdown on dissent is fueling a popular revolt.
> 
> Turkey's prime minister has accused Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime of "savagery," but also said he would reach out to the Syrian leader to help solve the crisis. Still, many of the nearly 7,000 refugees in Turkey say they expect their government to inflict only more violence and pain.
> 
> Refugees were pouring across the border to flee a crackdown Sunday that sent elite forces backed by helicopters and tanks into Jisr al-Shughour, a northern town that spun out of government control for a week. Troops led by Assad's brother regained control of Jisr al-Shughour on Sunday, and residents ran for their lives.
> 
> In Guvecci, two Syrians gave a bleak picture of life across the frontier.
> 
> "There are 7,000 people across the border, more and more women and children are coming toward the barbed wires," said Abu Ali, who left Jisr al-Shughour. "Jisr is finished, it is razed."
> 
> Turkey and Syria once nearly went to war, but the two countries have cultivated warm relations in recent years, lifting travel visa requirements for their citizens and promoting business ties.
> 
> Turkey and Syria share a 520-mile (850 kilometer) border, which includes several Syrian provinces. Refugees and relatives on both sides appeared to be crossing unimpeded around the village of Guvecci.
> 
> Syrian refugees staged open-air noon prayers behind wire fences Monday at the Boynuyogun refugee camp inside Turkey. At another camp in the town of Altinozu, refugee families flashed V for victory signs as police guarded their compound.
> 
> Turkish authorities have blocked the media from entering the camps. Turkey appears to be trying to limit the publicity of the crisis even as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won a landslide victory in Sunday's general elections, says he will speak to Assad soon.



Syria Refugees In Turkey Seek Safety From 'Savagery'


----------



## High_Gravity

Straight Guy in Scotland








> It has to be said: The life of Amina Arraf was a good story. On a website called "Gay Girl in Damascus," this purportedly Syrian-American lesbian blogger wrestled with issues surrounding her national identity, her sexuality, her faith, and the future of her country at a time of open revolt. At a time when most of the information coming out of Syria comes in the form of choppy, graphic YouTube videos or breathless tweets about the Assad regime's crackdowns, here was a young woman writing from Damascus in flawless English about her country's social and political turmoil.
> 
> And then it all fell apart. Following a post on Amina's blog by her "cousin" reporting that she had been arrested and that her whereabouts were unknown, journalists and readers sprung into action, emailing one another and looking for friends and contacts who might know where she had been taken. Oddly, there were no real leads. None of the many people who had befriended her online had ever met her in person, pictures allegedly of Amina turned out to be a Croatian woman living in Britain, and an old blog written by the same person was self-described as a blend of fact and fiction -- "and I will not tell you which is which."
> 
> 
> On June 12, Amina finally came out -- as Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old American man who is currently pursuing a master's degree at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In an initial apology post that included a hint of defiance, MacMaster admitted that Amina was fictional, but that "the facts on this blog are true and not misleading" about the events in Syria. Finally, facing international opproprium, in a more contrite June 13 post, MacMaster donned sackloth, writing, "I feel like I am in some ways the worst person in the world."
> 
> This conceit gives MacMaster too much credit. It does not take an evil genius to launch a fictional blog. MacMaster is certainly a fool (and one hopes there's no Jayson Blair-esque book deal in the offing), but the more important question is why this particular fool was able to mislead so much of the Western media, and the public it serves. Part of the reason is that media standards have yet to catch up with the realities (and temptations) of instant online publishing: Tools like e-mail, Twitter, blogs, and Facebook may represent a digital revolution, but they also can conceal an author's identity -- and, in this case, a lie that would have easily been exposed with a quick phone call.
> 
> But MacMaster's hoax has implications that go beyond the damaged credibility of the New York Times and CNN, two of the many media outlets that reported on Amina over the past several months. The story played perfectly into Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's effort to portray the domestic revolt as one guided by shadowy outsiders -- indeed, Syria's official government mouthpiece prominently featured a profile of MacMaster, claiming that the hoax "aimed at enhancing continuous fabrications and lies against Syria in term of (sic) kidnapping bloggers and activists."



Straight Guy in Scotland - By David Kenner | Foreign Policy


----------



## voice4HR

High_Gravity said:


> Straight Guy in Scotland
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It has to be said: The life of Amina Arraf was a good story. On a website called "Gay Girl in Damascus," this purportedly Syrian-American lesbian blogger wrestled with issues surrounding her national identity, her sexuality, her faith, and the future of her country at a time of open revolt. At a time when most of the information coming out of Syria comes in the form of choppy, graphic YouTube videos or breathless tweets about the Assad regime's crackdowns, here was a young woman writing from Damascus in flawless English about her country's social and political turmoil.
> 
> And then it all fell apart. Following a post on Amina's blog by her "cousin" reporting that she had been arrested and that her whereabouts were unknown, journalists and readers sprung into action, emailing one another and looking for friends and contacts who might know where she had been taken. Oddly, there were no real leads. None of the many people who had befriended her online had ever met her in person, pictures allegedly of Amina turned out to be a Croatian woman living in Britain, and an old blog written by the same person was self-described as a blend of fact and fiction -- "and I will not tell you which is which."
> 
> 
> On June 12, Amina finally came out -- as Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old American man who is currently pursuing a master's degree at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In an initial apology post that included a hint of defiance, MacMaster admitted that Amina was fictional, but that "the facts on this blog are true and not misleading" about the events in Syria. Finally, facing international opproprium, in a more contrite June 13 post, MacMaster donned sackloth, writing, "I feel like I am in some ways the worst person in the world."
> 
> This conceit gives MacMaster too much credit. It does not take an evil genius to launch a fictional blog. MacMaster is certainly a fool (and one hopes there's no Jayson Blair-esque book deal in the offing), but the more important question is why this particular fool was able to mislead so much of the Western media, and the public it serves. Part of the reason is that media standards have yet to catch up with the realities (and temptations) of instant online publishing: Tools like e-mail, Twitter, blogs, and Facebook may represent a digital revolution, but they also can conceal an author's identity -- and, in this case, a lie that would have easily been exposed with a quick phone call.
> 
> But MacMaster's hoax has implications that go beyond the damaged credibility of the New York Times and CNN, two of the many media outlets that reported on Amina over the past several months. The story played perfectly into Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's effort to portray the domestic revolt as one guided by shadowy outsiders -- indeed, Syria's official government mouthpiece prominently featured a profile of MacMaster, claiming that the hoax "aimed at enhancing continuous fabrications and lies against Syria in term of (sic) kidnapping bloggers and activists."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this was a shame. i understand he wanted to do it for a "good cause", but there was plenty other TRUE stories out there waiting to be told
Click to expand...


----------



## High_Gravity

voice4HR said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Straight Guy in Scotland
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It has to be said: The life of Amina Arraf was a good story. On a website called "Gay Girl in Damascus," this purportedly Syrian-American lesbian blogger wrestled with issues surrounding her national identity, her sexuality, her faith, and the future of her country at a time of open revolt. At a time when most of the information coming out of Syria comes in the form of choppy, graphic YouTube videos or breathless tweets about the Assad regime's crackdowns, here was a young woman writing from Damascus in flawless English about her country's social and political turmoil.
> 
> And then it all fell apart. Following a post on Amina's blog by her "cousin" reporting that she had been arrested and that her whereabouts were unknown, journalists and readers sprung into action, emailing one another and looking for friends and contacts who might know where she had been taken. Oddly, there were no real leads. None of the many people who had befriended her online had ever met her in person, pictures allegedly of Amina turned out to be a Croatian woman living in Britain, and an old blog written by the same person was self-described as a blend of fact and fiction -- "and I will not tell you which is which."
> 
> 
> On June 12, Amina finally came out -- as Tom MacMaster, a 40-year-old American man who is currently pursuing a master's degree at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. In an initial apology post that included a hint of defiance, MacMaster admitted that Amina was fictional, but that "the facts on this blog are true and not misleading" about the events in Syria. Finally, facing international opproprium, in a more contrite June 13 post, MacMaster donned sackloth, writing, "I feel like I am in some ways the worst person in the world."
> 
> This conceit gives MacMaster too much credit. It does not take an evil genius to launch a fictional blog. MacMaster is certainly a fool (and one hopes there's no Jayson Blair-esque book deal in the offing), but the more important question is why this particular fool was able to mislead so much of the Western media, and the public it serves. Part of the reason is that media standards have yet to catch up with the realities (and temptations) of instant online publishing: Tools like e-mail, Twitter, blogs, and Facebook may represent a digital revolution, but they also can conceal an author's identity -- and, in this case, a lie that would have easily been exposed with a quick phone call.
> 
> But MacMaster's hoax has implications that go beyond the damaged credibility of the New York Times and CNN, two of the many media outlets that reported on Amina over the past several months. The story played perfectly into Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's effort to portray the domestic revolt as one guided by shadowy outsiders -- indeed, Syria's official government mouthpiece prominently featured a profile of MacMaster, claiming that the hoax "aimed at enhancing continuous fabrications and lies against Syria in term of (sic) kidnapping bloggers and activists."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> this was a shame. i understand he wanted to do it for a "good cause", but there was plenty other TRUE stories out there waiting to be told
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I know and now hes killed the credibility for any other person in the Middle East who tries to use the internet to speak out, there will always be questions about the credibility, I personally think a man who logs on a computer and pretends to be a woman has something wrong in his head.
Click to expand...


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Tanks, Troops Extend Reach In Border Areas 








> BOYNUYOGUN, Turkey  Syrian tanks and the government's most loyal troops pushed into more towns and villages Tuesday, trying to snuff out any chance that the uprising against President Bashar Assad could gain a base for a wider armed rebellion.
> 
> Facing the most serious threat to his family's 40-year ruling dynasty, Assad has abandoned most pretenses of reform as his military seals off strategic areas in the north and east  including the town of Jisr al-Shughour, which was spinning out of government control before the military moved in on Sunday.
> 
> "The (Syrian forces) damage homes and buildings, kill even animals, set trees and farmlands on fire," said Mohammad Hesnawi, 26. He fled Jisr al-Shughour over the weekend and spoke to The Associated Press from this border area of Turkey, where some 8,000 Syrians are seeking refuge in camps.
> 
> Pro-democracy activists, citing witnesses, said the military also surrounded al-Boukamal, along the Iraqi border, an area that was a major smuggling route for insurgents and weapons into Iraq in the 2000s. Syrian officials have expressed concern over a reverse flow of arms into Syria, and in March security forces seized a large quantity of weapons hidden in a truck coming from Iraq.
> 
> Activists say more than 1,400 Syrians have died and some 10,000 have been detained in the government crackdown since the popular uprising began in mid-March, inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.
> 
> Assad initially responded with vague promises of reform, but the increasingly deadly government crackdown has only added fuel to the movement. Thousands of protesters across the country now vow to continue until Assad leaves power.
> 
> There is no sign of that, however. The crackdown has obliterated a view held by many in Syria and abroad of Assad as a reformer at heart, one constrained by members of his late father's old guard who were fighting change, especially privileged members of the Assads' minority Alawite sect.
> 
> An offshoot of Shiite Islam, the Alawites represent about 11 percent of Syria's population, which is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim. The sect's longtime dominance has bred resentments, which Assad has worked to tamp down by pushing a strictly secular identity in Syria.
> 
> But Assad is now relying heavily on his Alawite power base to crush the resistance, particularly amid rumors that Sunni army conscripts have been refusing to fire on civilians.



Syrian Tanks, Troops Extend Reach In Border Areas


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Oppression: How the Elite Are Hanging Tough Together








> Nowadays, Damascus is full of posters saying "I'm with the Law"  admonitions to the citizens of the Syrian capital to behave and be loyal to President Bashar Assad. But walking along a busy street on a recent morning, a woman in her early 60s tugged at my sleeve as she passed. We stopped; she looked around, pointed her thumb to the ground and said, "Down, down, down, Assad," then carried on her way.
> 
> Such open dissent in the capital is still rare, and it is surprising given the powerful interlocking power interests that make up the regime  interests bigger than the President himself.
> 
> The interlocking of regime interests is particulary evident in the media. In addition to the state television channels and newspapers, private companies such as United Group and Addounia TV, owned by men close to Assad, have apparently joined hands with the government to provide media tools crucial to spreading the official line and messages of fear in a crisis that, in its third month, seems to grow only more and more tenacious.
> 
> Government messages denouncing al-Jazeera, BBC and CNN and asking Syrians to watch only state and private Syrian channels cover advertising boards owned by United Group. Proregime demonstrations held outside the Qatari embassy (funders of al-Jazeera) and the French embassy (the most vocal European country criticizing the regime) were reportedly organized and attended by staff from United Group.
> 
> The regime is now in full overdrive, with government sources appearing on state and private channels like Addounia TV to spread messages of fear. They warn Syrians of the need for stability to prevent internal sectarian conflict and to fight foreign interference intent on "weakening national spirit." Only dead army or security men receive the accolade "martyr," while dead civilians are referred to as members of "armed gangs" or "conspirators." While a few protesters have recently taken up arms, many Syrians tend to believe that the "conspirators" they see in the government footage were unarmed and gunned down without warning. Few, however, are willing to say so aloud.
> 
> Recent government propaganda is just the tip of an iceberg of fear that affects and cripples every part of Syrian society. Even in government, workers are often too afraid to make decisions, lest they receive a visit from the notorious scrutiny committees. If someone makes a decision that goes against a regime man, he or she may face demotion, withdrawal of pension or, if the accuser happens to be of ministerial status, the loss of a standard-issue black Lexus.



Read more: Assad Regime Deters Protests in Syria with Media Control - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Troops Seize Another Town; Protests Go On 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops backed by tanks and helicopter gunships seized control early Friday of another northwestern town, activists reported, as fresh accounts emerged of summary executions to suppress the pro-democracy movement.
> 
> Thousands of Syrians took to the streets again after the opposition called for a day of massive demonstrations, pressing on with their three-month-old campaign to topple authoritarian President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Troops in large numbers poured into Maaret al-Numan, 28 miles (45 kilometers) from the Turkish border, said Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso. He said other forces were now massing around Khan Sheikhon, to the south, where gunmen attacked army forces earlier this month.
> 
> Omar Idilbi of the Local Coordination Committees, which is documenting the protests, said government forces had taken full control of Maaret al-Numan, a town of 100,000 on the highway linking Damascus with Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo. Many of its residents had fled as troops swept through Idlib province in recent days.
> 
> There was no immediate word on casualties.
> 
> The attack on Maaret al-Numan and protests throughout Syria come as France and Germany called Friday for strengthening the sanctions against Assad's regime.
> 
> Since the protests erupted in mid-March, Assad has unleashed the military to crush street demonstrations. Human rights activists say more than 1,400 Syrians have been killed and 10,000 detained. Some 9,600 others from the northwest have sought refuge in camps in neighboring Turkey.
> 
> One of those refugees, asking to be identified only as Mohamed, said he fled with his family as the military besieged Jisr al-Shughour, a rebellious town it recaptured last Sunday.
> 
> "I saw people who were beheaded with machine-gun fire from helicopters," and a man tortured to death when security forces "poured acid on to his body," he told The Associated Press.



Syrian Troops Seize Another Town; Protests Go On


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Refugees In Turkey Seek Safety From 'Savagery'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GUVECCI, Turkey -- Syrians streamed across the border Monday into neighboring Turkey, finding sanctuary in refugee camps ringed by barbed wire and offering a frightening picture of life back home where a deadly crackdown on dissent is fueling a popular revolt.
> 
> Turkey's prime minister has accused Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime of "savagery," but also said he would reach out to the Syrian leader to help solve the crisis. Still, many of the nearly 7,000 refugees in Turkey say they expect their government to inflict only more violence and pain.
> 
> Refugees were pouring across the border to flee a crackdown Sunday that sent elite forces backed by helicopters and tanks into Jisr al-Shughour, a northern town that spun out of government control for a week. Troops led by Assad's brother regained control of Jisr al-Shughour on Sunday, and residents ran for their lives.
> 
> In Guvecci, two Syrians gave a bleak picture of life across the frontier.
> 
> "There are 7,000 people across the border, more and more women and children are coming toward the barbed wires," said Abu Ali, who left Jisr al-Shughour. "Jisr is finished, it is razed."
> 
> Turkey and Syria once nearly went to war, but the two countries have cultivated warm relations in recent years, lifting travel visa requirements for their citizens and promoting business ties.
> 
> Turkey and Syria share a 520-mile (850 kilometer) border, which includes several Syrian provinces. Refugees and relatives on both sides appeared to be crossing unimpeded around the village of Guvecci.
> 
> Syrian refugees staged open-air noon prayers behind wire fences Monday at the Boynuyogun refugee camp inside Turkey. At another camp in the town of Altinozu, refugee families flashed V for victory signs as police guarded their compound.
> 
> Turkish authorities have blocked the media from entering the camps. Turkey appears to be trying to limit the publicity of the crisis even as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who won a landslide victory in Sunday's general elections, says he will speak to Assad soon.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Refugees In Turkey Seek Safety From 'Savagery'
Click to expand...


Look for more atrocities in these 'refugee' camps.


----------



## Sunni Man

voice4HR said:


> this was a shame. i understand he wanted to do it for a "good cause", but there was plenty other TRUE stories out there waiting to be told


There are no homos in Syria.

That's why the guy had to invent one.


----------



## Ropey

^^



Sunni Man said:


> There are no homos in Syria.



^^ Yes, you are such a clear thinking person.




^^ Arab inbreeding.


----------



## Sunni Man

I really think is is bad form to make fun of people like that Ropey.

Reguardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.

Just saying.........


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> I really think is is bad form to make fun of people like that Ropey.
> 
> Reguardless of race, religion, or ethnicity.
> 
> Just saying.........





Sunni Man said:


> I am not anti-semitic at all.
> 
> And actually worry that people will finally get fed up with the Jews and cause them harm.
> 
> History has shown this to be the case over and over;
> 
> as Jews have been killed and driven out of countless countries throughout history.
> 
> My solution to the Jewish problem.
> 
> Would be to round them up world wide and find and island to quarantine them on.
> 
> There are several islands in the world that could easily contain the 13 million Jews that currently reside in various nations and Israel.
> 
> This way the Jews could build the ultimate Hebrew society they have always dreamed of.
> 
> Several gun boats would patrol the waters around the island to prevent any Jews from trying to escape.
> 
> This way the Jews could be protected from harm; and the world could finally have peace and security.
> 
> Thus a  Win = Win for both Jews and Gentiles



And this is good form?

Eat it.


----------



## Sunni Man

Every race and nation has handicapped and deformed people.

They are still G-d's creations.

Even though they don't meet your standards.

Very bad form Ropey; very bad indeed.


----------



## Ropey

Not at all.

You call for ridding humanity of my people.

And then whine about Arabian inbreeding as bad form.

You fucking goof.


----------



## Sunni Man

Ropey said:


> Not at all.
> 
> You call for ridding humanity of my people.
> 
> And then whine about Arabian inbreeding as bad form.
> 
> You fucking goof.



It would be easy to Google up pictures of Jewish people who are mentally retarded or deformed and post them.

But I would never do that.

Because no people or race is immune for having people afflicted this way.

But to make fun of them or use them for political capital is Hitlerian and just classless.

You should be ashamed Ropey.


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not at all.
> 
> You call for ridding humanity of my people.
> 
> And then whine about Arabian inbreeding as bad form.
> 
> You fucking goof.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It would be easy to Google up pictures of Jewish people who are mentally retarded or deformed and post them.
> 
> But I would never do that.
> 
> Because no people or race is immune for having people afflicted this way.
> 
> But to make fun of them or use them for political capital is Hitlerian and just classless.
> 
> You should be ashamed Ropey.
Click to expand...


Not at all. Google Muslim Inbreeding. See the pictures and information?  Muslims even marry their brothers and sisters daughters and sons. That's what the picture shows. Muslim inbreeding and statements like Syria has no gays. You are not a convert. You are clearly mentally deficient if you believe your crap.

Fucking inbreds. 

inbreeding muslims - Google News

No gays in Syria? No gays in Iran? Because Muslim inbreeds are killing them whenever they admit they are gay?

Fuck you and your Muslim morals.


----------



## Sunni Man

Looks like you forgot to take your meds today.


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> Looks like you forgot to take your meds today.



Yet you are the one who says there are no gays in Syria.





Sunni Man said:


> There are no homos in Syria.


----------



## Sunni Man

Anyway, I am going to take leave of posting on this thread.

Your exploiting poor souls like the one you pictured is disgusting.

And you are always the one talking about humanity........

Bye


----------



## Ropey

Sunni Man said:


> Anyway, I am going to take leave of posting on this thread.
> 
> Your exploiting poor souls like the one you pictured is disgusting.
> 
> And you are always the one talking about humanity........
> 
> Bye





Sunni Man said:


> You are on my ignore list Ropey
> 
> For your making fun of retarded and deformed people on another thread.
> 
> A very pathetic display of hatred indeed.
> 
> Bye



Then stop inbreeding them.  

And calling for the removal of my people from humanity. 

Goof!

I'll believe that when you don't come back in this thread.

Let's see if you can stand to your own word better than that post where you said you would not be back in and came back in two posts later.

Word!

http://www.usmessageboard.com/race-...d-haters-why-not-post3149969.html#post3149969


----------



## Jos

> in the mid-50s, 1.4% of ashkenazis were married to either a first-cousin or were part of an uncle-niece marriage. on the other hand, 8.8% of sephardi jews were married to a first-cousin or were in an uncle-niece marriage.
> 
> then, in the late-60s, a study done in Petah Tiqwa found that 1.3% of ashkenazis were in a consanguineous marriage, while 14.3% of non-ashkenazi jews were in a consanguineous marriage.



jewish inbreeding « hbd* chick


----------



## Ropey

^^ That is proof that inbreeding is not a good thing to do. The Jews were placed under edicts to not integrate.

With four generations the proof of inbreeding was clear and Jews still carry this coefficient.  This was the reason for the mass Jewish movement from that arena in the mid 1800's - 1900's.

This is not the same as the 1,400 years of Arab inbreeding. The Arab governments not only allow this inbreeding, they further it by high support.

You make my point Jos.


----------



## Jos

You make your own point, I make mine 


> &#8220;Israel, with its many inbred ethnic groups, has proven a rich human laboratory for genetic detectives. It&#8217;s far easier to trace genetic anomalies in groups with homogeneous pedigrees.&#8221;





> Jews are afflicted with their own particular disorders. Ashkenazim, who until some 40 years ago largely married within the group, carry a dozen recessive genetic anomalies in a relatively high frequency. The most widely known is Tay&#8209;Sachs, a fatal neurodegenerative affliction that causes *blindness*, mental retardation and death, usually around age five.
> 
> One in 40 Ashkenazim carries the mutation that causes Canavan&#8217;s disease, which ravages its victims with failed mental development, weakened muscles and inability to speak, and victims usually die by age 10. About one in 100 Ashkenazim carry type A or B Niemann&#8209;Pick disease, a crippling neurological disintegration that ends life well before the teens.
> 
> Familial dysautonomia, which leaves people unable to control their autonomic (involuntary) and sensory nervous systems, is carried by an estimated one in 30 Ashkenazim. One in 15 carries the mutation for Type 1 Gaucher, which is debilitating but not fatal. Mucolipidosis IV, cystic fibrosis, torsion dystonia, Fanconi anemia, Bloom syndrome and Von Gierke disease, all rare but utterly devastating, also appear more frequently among Ashkenazim than any other ethnic group.


Jewish Genetic Diseases - My Jewish Learning
I think research should continue to develop these disorders



> Albert Einstein's second wife was Elsa Einstein, whose mother Fanny Koch was the sister of Albert's mother, and whose father Rudolf Einstein was the son of Raphael Einstein, a brother of Albert's paternal grandfather. Thus Albert and Elsa were first cousins through their mothers and second cousins through their fathers


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Einstein_family


----------



## voice4HR

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Where are the US Cruise missiles and French jets?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They must wait until Al Jazeera says the protesters are calling for the USA to save them.
Click to expand...


sadly true. but the question is then: should the US intervene? many would say no we should not get involved especially in the middle east, others would say it is our moral duty to help.


----------



## logical4u

voice4HR said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Where are the US Cruise missiles and French jets?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They must wait until Al Jazeera says the protesters are calling for the USA to save them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> sadly true. but the question is then: should the US intervene? many would say no we should not get involved especially in the middle east, others would say it is our moral duty to help.
Click to expand...


The USA should not intervene in any more muslim conflicts until those we are pledging support to, denounce Sharia law, and PUBLICALLY vow to adopt the Bill of Rights as part of their govenment.  How they set up the rest is up to them, but the right of the individual should be our first concern (all that bad stuff happens when people are not treated as individuals).  Keep the 'pillars' and the spiritual part of islam if they want, but eliminate the Sharia.


----------



## Sunni Man

Since Syria does not have any oil.

 I doubt that we will be helping them.


----------



## Ropey

Jos said:


> You make your own point, I make mine
> 
> 
> 
> &#8220;Israel, with its many inbred ethnic groups, has proven a rich human laboratory for genetic detectives. It&#8217;s far easier to trace genetic anomalies in groups with homogeneous pedigrees.&#8221;
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jews are afflicted with their own particular disorders. Ashkenazim, who until some 40 years ago largely married within the group, carry a dozen recessive genetic anomalies in a relatively high frequency. The most widely known is Tay&#8209;Sachs, a fatal neurodegenerative affliction that causes *blindness*, mental retardation and death, usually around age five.
> 
> One in 40 Ashkenazim carries the mutation that causes Canavan&#8217;s disease, which ravages its victims with failed mental development, weakened muscles and inability to speak, and victims usually die by age 10. About one in 100 Ashkenazim carry type A or B Niemann&#8209;Pick disease, a crippling neurological disintegration that ends life well before the teens.
> 
> Familial dysautonomia, which leaves people unable to control their autonomic (involuntary) and sensory nervous systems, is carried by an estimated one in 30 Ashkenazim. One in 15 carries the mutation for Type 1 Gaucher, which is debilitating but not fatal. Mucolipidosis IV, cystic fibrosis, torsion dystonia, Fanconi anemia, Bloom syndrome and Von Gierke disease, all rare but utterly devastating, also appear more frequently among Ashkenazim than any other ethnic group.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Jewish Genetic Diseases - My Jewish Learning
Click to expand...




			
				Jos said:
			
		

> I think research should continue to develop these disorders



I  think you expressed confusion above as we've more than enough disorders in this world that are developed by man already. Anyway,...

Your point is that Jews have also inbred.  My point is that inbreeding is bad so I agree our points are different.

But I don't confuse some generations of European Jews in Russia and Germany who were not allowed to interbreed with non-Jews, with the Muslim allowance, NAY encouragement for the same form of inbreeding for ~1400 years.

Here's my link.

Genetic Diseases in Jews



> Albert Einstein's second wife was Elsa Einstein, whose mother Fanny Koch was the sister of Albert's mother, and whose father Rudolf Einstein was the son of Raphael Einstein, a brother of Albert's paternal grandfather. Thus Albert and Elsa were first cousins through their mothers and second cousins through their fathers


Einstein family - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

From the same link of yours:

There were no children from that marriage. It was a marriage born of youthful love repatriated when all the children and marriages to non relatives were complete.

Edit:

Excuse my theft of your thread HG.


----------



## Ropey

> Syria's President Bashar al-Assad, facing over three months of demonstrations against his rule, acknowledged for the first time on Monday the existence of protesters with legitimate demands, but continued to blame recent violence on "saboteurs" and a foreign plot.








> "We must repair what has been destroyed and reform the destroyers," Mr. Assad said. He praised Syrians for their awareness of foreign conspiracies and their patriotism, thanking them for defending their towns against attacks on policemen and military members and preventing the situation in Syria from being "much worse than it is now."
> 
> Wearing a black suit and dark grey tie, Mr. Assad appeared tense, stumbling on his words several times in the hour-long speech, in contrast to two previous public addresses made since the start of Syria's uprising. He started the speech by dismissing "rumors" related to his absence in public, saying the delay in addressing the public was due to extensive meetings and consultations with local delegations, including the youth.



Assad Addresses Protests, Sticks to Hard Line - WSJ.com

Meanwhile:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2kRAkEiaw6M&feature=player_embedded]YouTube - &#x202a;Syrian army cuts supply lifeline for refugees&#x202c;&rlm;[/ame]

Pretty clear.


----------



## High_Gravity

Stories of Mass Rape: Sifting Through Rumor and Taboo in Syria








> Everybody, it seemed, had heard the stories, and could relay the same horrific details about Syrian soldiers allegedly raping women and girls with cruel impunity. There were ugly accounts, told by many refugees from the northern Syrian town of Jisr al-Shughour, some of whom had crossed into nearby Turkey, and by others who remained in a strip of Syrian territory hugging the Turkish border.
> 
> Soldiers had abducted several beautiful young women from the town, they said, enslaved them in the sugar refinery, raped them and forced them to remain naked and serve them tea and coffee. There were other, uglier stories of several women reportedly mutilated after being gang-raped by soldiers, their breasts sliced off in a final sadistic act. But few had encountered any of the alleged victims, and fewer still knew their names.
> 
> That's hardly surprising. Sexual assault is a difficult subject to raise in any society, but especially so in conservative rural Arab communities  like those of northern Syria  where a family's honor is often tied to the virtue of its women. The mere suggestion of compromised chastity, even if it was stolen, is a shameful stain, one that can make the victim and her entire family outcasts. The refugees on the Syrian side who spoke of these acts said they heard the victims had been taken to a particular Turkish camp. Calls to several camp residents seemed to confirm the claims. They had heard that there were raped women among them.
> 
> It's not usually that difficult to get into a refugee camp, but these days, there is nothing about covering the Syria story that is not difficult. Barred from the tightly controlled country, foreign journalists have been forced to rely on telephone calls, tweets, Facebook posts, YouTube videos and stray secondhand testimony in a bid to piece together what has been happening since antigovernment protests first erupted in mid-March.
> 
> So when thousands of Syrian refugees started streaming into southern Turkey recently, the opportunity to conduct face-to-face interviews, to hear firsthand testimony and see how it was conveyed was just what we had been waiting for. Turkish authorities, however, have different ideas. They have blocked media from entering the refugee camps in southern Turkey's Hatay province on grounds of protecting the privacy of the more than 9,500 Syrians quartered there.




Read more: Syria: In Search of the Rape Victims Among the Refugees - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Sunni Man said:


> voice4HR said:
> 
> 
> 
> this was a shame. i understand he wanted to do it for a "good cause", but there was plenty other TRUE stories out there waiting to be told
> 
> 
> 
> There are no homos in Syria.
> 
> That's why the guy had to invent one.
Click to expand...


No gays in Syria? if anything the gay people in Syria are scared to come out because they will be jailed or killed.


----------



## High_Gravity

Bashar Assad Demonstrations End In Deadly Clashes In Syria 








> BEIRUT  Government supporters and opponents clashed in at least two Syrian cities on Tuesday, leaving three people dead, activists reported, as President Bashar Assad's regime sought to counter a 3-month-old pro-democracy uprising with mass demonstrations.
> 
> The Local Coordinating Committees, which tracks the Syrian protest movement, said two people were killed in the central city of Homs and one in the eastern city of Deir el Zour.
> 
> Assad's authoritarian regime mobilized tens of thousands of people to wave flags and pictures of Assad in several major cities on Tuesday, a day after he offered a vague plan for political reform in a speech that was rejected by opposition supporters who took to the streets shouting, "Liar!" He had shown no sign of readiness to end his family's long political domination in Syria, a key opposition demand.
> 
> An eyewitness in Homs told The Associated Press a pro-Assad protest with some 10,000 participants "descended" on the city on Tuesday. "Nobody knows them, they are strangers to the city, they were asking for directions," he said.
> 
> Anti-government demonstrators then emerged in Homs neighborhoods, gunfire broke out, and two people were killed and six wounded, he said.
> 
> "The security forces arrested the wounded. They stepped on them on the ground and arrested them," said this informant, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal, and who said gunfire continued.
> 
> Tens of thousands of Syrians took part in boisterous pro-regime demonstrations on Tuesday, shouting, "The people want Bashar Assad!" and releasing black, white and red balloons  colors of the Syrian flag.
> 
> The largest gathering appeared to be in Damascus, but Syrian state TV showed similar demonstrations in the northern cities of Aleppo and Latakia, Hasaka in the northeast, and the southern city of Daraa.
> 
> Assad's speech  and Tuesday's pro-regime display  showed the president clearly intends to try to ride out the wave of pro-democracy protests, showing the steely determination that has kept the Assad family in power for 40 years.



Bashar Assad Demonstrations End In Deadly Clashes In Syria


----------



## Ropey

Syria's leaders have been a family dictatorship for 40 years, and for much of that time these 'leaders' meddled in Lebanese politics through murder, terror, etc. to keep control of their little neighborhood. 

I see a Syria that will be run by the Islamists who want both war with Israel (once again and regardless of any peace with some Arabs living in Gaza/West Bank). The Islamists  plus wrapping all the women in black and shutting down their schools, no music or displays of affection, etc. 

Syria has very little real economy or future in the 21st century, so it would be worth it to hope that the demonstrations result in some improvement for the citizens and their economy. This is a kinship-based governing system, without a rule of law or government accountability; this is the fundamental problem in many Arab countries. 

The ruling tribe continues to rule the other tribes and the others get very little. This culture predates Islam just as does their leadership sponsorship of first cousin marriage.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> Syria's leaders have been a family dictatorship for 40 years, and for much of that time these 'leaders' meddled in Lebanese politics through murder, terror, etc. to keep control of their little neighborhood.
> 
> I see a Syria that will be run by the Islamists who want both war with Israel (once again and regardless of any peace with some Arabs living in Gaza/West Bank). The Islamists  plus wrapping all the women in black and shutting down their schools, no music or displays of affection, etc.
> 
> Syria has very little real economy or future in the 21st century, so it would be worth it to hope that the demonstrations result in some improvement for the citizens and their economy. This is a kinship-based governing system, without a rule of law or government accountability; this is the fundamental problem in many Arab countries.
> 
> The ruling tribe continues to rule the other tribes and the others get very little. This culture predates Islam just as does their leadership sponsorship of first cousin marriage.



I also see the Islamists taking control of Syria, and the minority Alawite sect that Bashar Asad is from will be massacred and chased out of the country. Iran and Hezbollah are backing Asad in this for sure, Syria is the direct line from Beirut to Tehran.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> I also see the Islamists taking control of Syria, and the minority Alawite sect that Bashar Asad is from will be massacred and chased out of the country. Iran and Hezbollah are backing Asad in this for sure, Syria is the direct line from Beirut to Tehran.



Ever has been the Muslim way.

One tribe slaughters its way to power and then subjugates all the other tribes. This is why they inbreed. To keep all of the power in the tribes within the tribes.

Regardless if they birth large portions of inbred morons from marrying their first cousins for ~1,400 years. All that is being done is helping them change tribes to begin slaughtering anew.

This inbreeding and tribalism predates Islam by the way.  Add that to the mix of Islam though and this is what comes of it.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Foreign Minister Lashes Out








> (BEIRUT)  Syria's foreign minister vowed Wednesday to present "an unprecedented example of democracy" in the country within three months, an extraordinary promise in a nation facing an uprising against an authoritarian system in place for decades.
> 
> Speaking during a televised news conference, Foreign Minister Walid Moallem's comments were the latest attempt by the regime to blunt three months of widespread street protests against President Bashar Assad's autocratic rule.
> 
> "We will offer an example of democracy," Moallem said, when asked about his vision for Syria in three months. "There will be social justice, equality before the law and accountability."
> 
> The news conference appeared designed to portray regime confidence and to cast doubt on the opposition at a time when Assad is coming under increased attack at home and abroad.
> 
> Moallem lashed out at the government's critics, particularly Europe, which imposed sanctions on Assad and members of the leadership over its deadly crackdown on protesters.
> 
> The opposition estimates more than 1,400 Syrians have been killed and 10,000 detained as Damascus unleashed military and other security forces to crush the protest movement, which sprang to life in March inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.
> 
> The U.S. also has imposed sanctions, but the European move was a personal blow to Assad, who studied in Britain and made a high priority of efforts to bring Syria back into the global mainstream.
> 
> "We will forget that Europe is on the map and we will look east, south and towards every hand that is extended to us," Moallem said. "The world is not just made up of Europe."
> 
> He also denied that Syrian allies Iran and Hezbollah are helping the regime put down unrest. The U.S. has accused Iran of sending reiforcements and equipment to Syria.
> 
> "There is Iranian and Hezbollah political support for Syria to transcend this crisis and support for the reforms announced by President Bashar Assad," he said. "But there is absolutely no military support on the ground."



Read more: Syria Foreign Minister Lashes Out at Critics - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists 








> GUVECCI, Turkey -- Syrian activists said Thursday that troops backed by tanks and snipers have entered a village along the Turkish border as the regime expands its crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that has posed the gravest challenge to President Bashar Assad's rule.
> 
> Thousands of Syrian refugees have been flooding into Turkey as the government tries to crush the 3-month-old uprising. The regime blames foreign conspirators and thugs for the unrest, but the protesters deny any foreign influence in their pro-democracy movement.
> 
> The Local Coordinating Committees, which track the Syrian protest movement, said Thursday that tanks had entered Khirbet al-Jouz and snipers were spotted on rooftops. The group cited residents on the ground in the village.
> 
> Syria has banned foreign journalists and restricted local media, making it nearly impossible to independently confirm the accounts.
> 
> On Thursday, AP Television News journalists on the Turkish side of the border saw armed men near the village and an armored personnel carrier on its outskirts. It was not possible to see inside the village to confirm the activists' reports.
> 
> Nearly 100 Syrians who were living in makeshift tents on the Syrian side of the border fled into Turkey as the village was surrounded and Turkey deployed guards along the frontier.
> 
> The opposition estimates 1,400 people have been killed and 10,000 detained in the Syrian crackdown, drawing international condemnation and sanctions.
> 
> On Wednesday, the Syrian regime lashed out at European governments for threatening a new round of sanctions and accused the West of trying to sow chaos and conflict in the Arab nation.
> 
> But Foreign Minister Walid Moallem also reiterated the president's call for national dialogue and spoke of democracy over the horizon  a bold assertion after more than four decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family and months of bloody reprisals.



Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GUVECCI, Turkey -- Syrian activists said Thursday that troops backed by tanks and snipers have entered a village along the Turkish border as the regime expands its crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that has posed the gravest challenge to President Bashar Assad's rule.
> 
> Thousands of Syrian refugees have been flooding into Turkey as the government tries to crush the 3-month-old uprising. The regime blames foreign conspirators and thugs for the unrest, but the protesters deny any foreign influence in their pro-democracy movement.
> 
> The Local Coordinating Committees, which track the Syrian protest movement, said Thursday that tanks had entered Khirbet al-Jouz and snipers were spotted on rooftops. The group cited residents on the ground in the village.
> 
> Syria has banned foreign journalists and restricted local media, making it nearly impossible to independently confirm the accounts.
> 
> On Thursday, AP Television News journalists on the Turkish side of the border saw armed men near the village and an armored personnel carrier on its outskirts. It was not possible to see inside the village to confirm the activists' reports.
> 
> Nearly 100 Syrians who were living in makeshift tents on the Syrian side of the border fled into Turkey as the village was surrounded and Turkey deployed guards along the frontier.
> 
> The opposition estimates 1,400 people have been killed and 10,000 detained in the Syrian crackdown, drawing international condemnation and sanctions.
> 
> On Wednesday, the Syrian regime lashed out at European governments for threatening a new round of sanctions and accused the West of trying to sow chaos and conflict in the Arab nation.
> 
> But Foreign Minister Walid Moallem also reiterated the president's call for national dialogue and spoke of democracy over the horizon  a bold assertion after more than four decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family and months of bloody reprisals.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists
Click to expand...


Wonder where all those muslim demonstrators are in the western countries?  If some one said a quran was disrespected, they would be out by the thousands.  When it is some muslim dictor murdering their own, the silence is deafening.???


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GUVECCI, Turkey -- Syrian activists said Thursday that troops backed by tanks and snipers have entered a village along the Turkish border as the regime expands its crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that has posed the gravest challenge to President Bashar Assad's rule.
> 
> Thousands of Syrian refugees have been flooding into Turkey as the government tries to crush the 3-month-old uprising. The regime blames foreign conspirators and thugs for the unrest, but the protesters deny any foreign influence in their pro-democracy movement.
> 
> The Local Coordinating Committees, which track the Syrian protest movement, said Thursday that tanks had entered Khirbet al-Jouz and snipers were spotted on rooftops. The group cited residents on the ground in the village.
> 
> Syria has banned foreign journalists and restricted local media, making it nearly impossible to independently confirm the accounts.
> 
> On Thursday, AP Television News journalists on the Turkish side of the border saw armed men near the village and an armored personnel carrier on its outskirts. It was not possible to see inside the village to confirm the activists' reports.
> 
> Nearly 100 Syrians who were living in makeshift tents on the Syrian side of the border fled into Turkey as the village was surrounded and Turkey deployed guards along the frontier.
> 
> The opposition estimates 1,400 people have been killed and 10,000 detained in the Syrian crackdown, drawing international condemnation and sanctions.
> 
> On Wednesday, the Syrian regime lashed out at European governments for threatening a new round of sanctions and accused the West of trying to sow chaos and conflict in the Arab nation.
> 
> But Foreign Minister Walid Moallem also reiterated the president's call for national dialogue and spoke of democracy over the horizon  a bold assertion after more than four decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family and months of bloody reprisals.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Wonder where all those muslim demonstrators are in the western countries?  If some one said a quran was disrespected, they would be out by the thousands.  When it is some muslim dictor murdering their own, the silence is deafening.???
Click to expand...


No doubt, if Bashar was a Christian killing Muslims the uproar would be off the charts. But since he is a Muslim, they are fine as long as he keeps it in house.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Opposition Meet In Damascus 








> BEIRUT  Nearly 200 critics of President Bashar Assad met Monday in the Syrian capital for the first time during the three-month uprising against his rule, in a government-sanctioned gathering some activists complained would be exploited to give legitimacy to the regime.
> 
> The session began with the Syrian national anthem, followed by a minute's silence in honor of Syrians who have been killed in the protests.
> 
> Participants, some of them prominent opposition figures long persecuted by the regime, said that though the meeting was approved by authorities, it wouldn't include government representatives.
> 
> "We are meeting today ... to put forward a vision about how to end tyranny and ensure a peaceful and secure transition to the hoped-for state: the state of freedom, democracy and equality," Louay Hussein, a prominent writer and one of the organizers, said in an opening speech. Assad's regime should "perish," he added.
> 
> But some opposition figures and activists, both inside Syria and abroad, dismissed the meeting of 190 critics as an opportunity for the government to convey a false impression it's allowing space for dissent, rather than cracking down.
> 
> The opposition says some 1,400 people have been killed  most of them unarmed protesters  during the government crackdown on months of street protests.
> 
> "This meeting will be exploited as a cover-up for the arrests, brutal killings and torture that is taking place on daily basis," said opposition figure Walid al-Bunni. He told The Associated Press he was not invited to the conference because authorities had "vetoed" some names.
> 
> "We would have been happier if the organizers of the conference were free to invite whomever they wanted. As it is, this is not an opposition conference," he told the AP from Damascus.
> 
> An activists' group, the Coordination Union of the Syrian Revolt, also denounced the conference, calling it a "cheap ploy" that the government wants to exploit.



Syria Opposition Meet In Damascus


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia Urges Syria to Implement 'Real' Reforms








> Russian envoy says Moscow wants Syria to implement "real" reforms and "put an end to violence" that has shaken the country since the start of a pro-democracy uprising in March.
> 
> Mikhail Margelov made the comments after meeting with a group of exiled Syrian opposition activists in the Russian capital on Tuesday.
> 
> The activists urged Russia to pressure Syrian President Bashar al-Assad into stopping a violent crackdown, now in its third month, on nationwide protests against his 11-year autocratic rule.
> 
> Margelov said Russia is "seriously concerned" about the situation in Syria and does not want it to descend into a Libya-style civil war. Russia has been a major supplier of weapons to Syria since the Soviet era.
> 
> Radwan Ziadeh, who heads the Syrian opposition delegation, is a Washington-based visiting scholar at George Washington University. He also leads the Damascus Center for Human Rights Studies.
> 
> Russia has rejected Western-led efforts to pass a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Syria over the crackdown.
> 
> Last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the Syrian opposition should focus on entering talks with the Assad government on proposed reforms.
> 
> The Assad government allowed more than 150 Syria-based intellectuals and opposition activists to hold a rare meeting in Damascus on Monday to discuss how to end the violence in the country.
> 
> It was the first such meeting since the uprising began and received coverage in the Syrian state-run media.



Russia Urges Syria to Implement 'Real' Reforms | News | English


----------



## High_Gravity

SYRIA: Brutal crackdown ravages northern cities, brings several casualties








> Seven civilians were killed Wednesday as security forces stormed two northern towns in the larger governorate of Idlib, Agence France-Presse reported, citing a human rights activist.
> 
> Ammar Qarabi, president of the Syrian National Human Rights Organization, told Reuters that Syrian security troops, still loyal to the Syrian President Bashar Assad, entered the town of Rama and used tank machine guns against civilians, killing four.
> 
> Wissam Tarif, director of human rights organization INSAN, said "a military operation" was going on in Idlib and that the army entered three more towns early  in the morning.
> 
> The northern town of Jabal Zawiya along the Syrian-Turkish border -- one of the first towns to participate in the months-long uprising against the 11-year rule of Bashar Assad --  also was the scene of nighttime security crackdowns.
> 
> "All of this violence comes a day after the regime said they would invite political opponents to discuss a framework for political reform in July. We do not accept invitations from murderers," said a member of the Syrian Local Coordination Committee, the uprising's main activist group, who preferred to remain anonymous.
> 
> Rami Abdel Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told AFP that soldiers were deployed in the villages to conduct house raids.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees reported Wednesday that Syrian security forces also launched attacks on schools and universities breaking for the annual summer vacation.
> 
> Amateur footage posted on the Internet allegedly shows high school students protesting in the towns of Saqba, Homs, Madaya, Dara and Deir Ezzor on Wednesday demanding the overthrow of the regime.
> 
> In the video posted above, senior high school students take to the streets in Saqba.
> 
> "Leave us alone, we don't like you," they chanted, addressing the Syrian president. One banner in the large crowds reads, "Death rather than humiliation."
> 
> The Syrian official state news agency, SANA, reported "scores" of protesters from the  General Union of Arab Students gathered in front of U.N.'s  Damascus headquarters to "condemn" Western interference in the nation's internal affairs.
> 
> The uprising has dealt a damaging blow to the Syrian economy. The Syrian pound has fallen 15% in three months, Reuters reported Wednesday. Diplomats and businessmen reported that the staggering economy may be what makes or breaks Assad's chances for political survival.



SYRIA: Brutal crackdown ravages northern cities, brings several casualties - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Iran Foreign Ministry Says West is Exploiting Syria








> Iran's foreign ministry spokesman says Western nations are exploiting Syria's uprising to protect Israel.
> 
> Ramin Mehmanparast says the U.S. and its allies are directing Syrians' complaints against the government to "break the foundations of any opposition" to Israel.  He also denied Iran's role in helping to crackdown on Syrian protesters.
> 
> The comments come as the United States imposed sanctions against a Syrian police unit and key Iranian security officials in connection with Syria's brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters.
> 
> The U.S. Treasury Department announced Wednesday it has targeted the Syrian Political Security Directorate - one of the country's four main security services - and the head of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, Major General Jamil Hassan, for human rights abuses.
> 
> Washington also designated the chief of Iran's Law Enforcement Forces, Ismail Ahmadi Moghadam, and his deputy, Ahmad-Reza Radan, for providing expertise to aid in the Syrian government crackdown. Radan in April allegedly traveled to Damascus, where he met with Syrian security officials.
> 
> The sanctions freeze any assets those designated may have in the U.S. and prohibit any dealings with them by American citizens or companies.
> 
> State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the sanctions have a broad reach because they limit the ability for other international companies to do business with the targeted entities.
> 
> Syria has been in turmoil for three months as pro-democracy forces press President Bashar al-Assad's government to reform.
> 
> Rights activists say at least 1,400 civilians have been killed since the uprising began in March. The Syrian government says hundreds of Syrian security forces also have died in violence it blames on terrorist groups.



Iran Foreign Ministry Says West is Exploiting Syria | Iran | English


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Forces Take Mountainous Province Near Turkish Border, 11 Killed 








> BEIRUT, Lebanon -- Syrian army forces spread through a restive mountainous area near the Turkish border on Thursday as the death toll from a two-day military siege rose to 19 people, according to activists and a witness.
> 
> The action by Syrian troops in the northwestern area of Jabal al-Zawiya appeared to be aimed at preventing residents from fleeing to Turkey, where more than 10,000 Syrians have already taken shelter in refugee camps, activists say. The refugees have been a source of deep embarrassment to Damascus, one of the most tightly controlled regimes in the Middle East.
> 
> "They fear there will be sympathy for the people who are fleeing, and they are frightened that this will cause international pressure to mount on the regime," said Mustafa Osso, a prominent Syrian-based human rights activist.
> 
> Only five Syrians made it across the border Thursday, the lowest number in days, said Turkish officials. Over the past week, more than 10,000 Syrians rushed across, fleeing their army's violent crackdown against demonstrators.
> 
> Syrian activists say more than 1,400 people have been killed as President Bashar Assad tries to crush three months of nationwide protests. The regime disputes that death toll and says "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators are behind the unrest.
> 
> In Thursday's operations, Syrian forces were consolidating their hold on the Jabal al-Zawiya after two days of heavy shelling in the area, particularly in the village of Rameh, said Osso. That assessment was repeated by Lebanon-based activist Omar Idibi and an eyewitness who spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing reprisals.
> 
> They said most people were killed Wednesday and early Thursday. Idibi said the death toll was likely to rise as people were pulled out of rubble from smashed homes in some areas.
> 
> Idibi said part of the fighting was prompted by Syrian forces trying to hunt down several dozen comrades who abandoned their arms. Some rebelled while in Rameh village, while others split away from the armed forces in earlier fighting this month in the nearby town of Jisr al-Shughour.
> 
> "They haven't been able to flee to Turkey," Idibi said. "They are fleeing from the advance of the Syrian army," he said. Idibi said eyewitnesses told him that Syrian forces were trying to seal gaps in the border with Turkey to prevent people from escaping.



Syrian Forces Take Mountainous Province Near Turkish Border, 11 Killed


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest 








> BEIRUT  Syrian activists say government troops have killed three more people in the northwest while tens of thousands have taken to the streets in the country's east, shouting for President Bashar Assad to leave office.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says the three were killed during a military operation early Friday in the Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border.
> 
> Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso says tens of thousands have staged protests on Friday in several eastern towns and cities, chanting: "Leave."
> 
> Syrian rights groups say more than 1,400 people have been killed in three months of nationwide protests. The regime disputes the toll, blaming "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators for the unrest.



Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syrian activists say government troops have killed three more people in the northwest while tens of thousands have taken to the streets in the country's east, shouting for President Bashar Assad to leave office.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says the three were killed during a military operation early Friday in the Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border.
> 
> Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso says tens of thousands have staged protests on Friday in several eastern towns and cities, chanting: "Leave."
> 
> Syrian rights groups say more than 1,400 people have been killed in three months of nationwide protests. The regime disputes the toll, blaming "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators for the unrest.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest
Click to expand...


Did you see the President has sent drones into Somalia?  I wonder when they will be in Syria (unless Russia made an agreement with the President that Syria is theirs)?


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syrian activists say government troops have killed three more people in the northwest while tens of thousands have taken to the streets in the country's east, shouting for President Bashar Assad to leave office.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, says the three were killed during a military operation early Friday in the Jabal al-Zawiya region near the Turkish border.
> 
> Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso says tens of thousands have staged protests on Friday in several eastern towns and cities, chanting: "Leave."
> 
> Syrian rights groups say more than 1,400 people have been killed in three months of nationwide protests. The regime disputes the toll, blaming "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators for the unrest.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Did you see the President has sent drones into Somalia?  I wonder when they will be in Syria (unless Russia made an agreement with the President that Syria is theirs)?
Click to expand...


I don't know if we will put the drones into use in Syria, these drones are good at precision strikes on certain groups of terrorists but it is not enough to bring down a government, it takes a full scale invasion to do that like we did with Iraq, air strikes alone will not topple a tyrant, we can see that now in Libya. Using the drones in Syria at this time will probably cause more harm than good.


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Forces Kill 3; Tens Of Thousands Protest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Did you see the President has sent drones into Somalia?  I wonder when they will be in Syria (unless Russia made an agreement with the President that Syria is theirs)?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I don't know if we will put the drones into use in Syria, these drones are good at precision strikes on certain groups of terrorists but it is not enough to bring down a government, it takes a full scale invasion to do that like we did with Iraq, air strikes alone will not topple a tyrant, we can see that now in Libya. Using the drones in Syria at this time will probably cause more harm than good.
Click to expand...


Makes you wonder why the President sent drones into Libya and Somalia, it doesn't seem to be a good plan?  It seems more like poking a hornet's nest?


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Did you see the President has sent drones into Somalia?  I wonder when they will be in Syria (unless Russia made an agreement with the President that Syria is theirs)?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know if we will put the drones into use in Syria, these drones are good at precision strikes on certain groups of terrorists but it is not enough to bring down a government, it takes a full scale invasion to do that like we did with Iraq, air strikes alone will not topple a tyrant, we can see that now in Libya. Using the drones in Syria at this time will probably cause more harm than good.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Makes you wonder why the President sent drones into Libya and Somalia, it doesn't seem to be a good plan?  It seems more like poking a hornet's nest?
Click to expand...


I don't know what the drones are doing in Libya but in Somalia they are there to kill high value terrorist targets, thats all. Drone strikes alone will not bring a regime to its knees.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Forces Advance Into Hama, Killing 11 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to the regime shot dead 11 people Tuesday as residents erected roadblocks to prevent the advance of tanks ringing the city of Hama, which has become a flashpoint of the uprising against autocratic President Bashar Assad, activists said.
> 
> Hama residents burned tires, set up sand barriers and other obstacles to block the military, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> 
> "There is an open civil defiance in Hama," Abdul-Rahman told The Associated Press. "There is a kind of determination not to submit to any tanks or military vehicles."
> 
> He said at least 11 people were confirmed dead, citing accounts from doctors and witnesses.
> 
> On Monday, Syrian forces sealed off Hama and blocked the roads leading in, an apparent attempt to retake the city one month after security forces withdrew from it. About 300,000 people protested against the regime in Hama last week, a sign the city was spiraling out of government control.
> 
> Hama, which has a history of militancy against the Assad regime, was targeted by Assad's father and predecessor in a major government crackdown nearly three decades ago.
> 
> In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered his troops to crush a rebellion by Sunni fundamentalists, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights groups say.
> 
> The 14-week uprising against Assad has proved remarkably resilient despite a deadly government crackdown that has brought international condemnation and sanctions. Assad is facing the most serious challenge to his family's four decades of rule in Syria.
> 
> Activists say security forces have killed more than 1,400 people  most of them unarmed protesters  since mid-March. The regime disputes the toll, blaming "armed thugs" and foreign conspirators for the unrest.
> 
> Assad has promised a series of reforms that would have been unthinkable before the uprising, which was inspired by the revolutions sweeping the Arab world. He lifted the country's reviled emergency law, which gave the state a free hand to arrest people without charge, and said a national dialogue would start soon.
> 
> But the protesters, enraged by a growing death toll, are increasingly calling for nothing less than the downfall of the regime.



Syria Forces Advance Into Hama, Killing 11


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria War Crimes Investigation Should Be Sent To Court: Amnesty 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces may have committed crimes against humanity during a deadly siege of a western town in May, Amnesty International said Wednesday, citing witness accounts of deaths in custody, torture and arbitrary detention.
> 
> The London-based rights group called on the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court.
> 
> The security sweep in Talkalakh, which lasted less than a week, contributed to a growing sense of desperation over the government's brutal crackdown on protests as the nationwide uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime gained traction.
> 
> Amnesty's report came a day after Syrian security forces and gunmen loyal to the regime shot dead 14 people as troops advanced on the central city of Hama, which has become a flashpoint of the country's uprising. Activists said the troops opened fire Tuesday on residents who set up roadblocks made of sand barricades and burning tires to prevent tanks from ringing the city.
> 
> Hama has a history of militancy against the regime and was targeted by Assad's father and predecessor in a major government crackdown nearly three decades ago. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered his troops to crush a rebellion by Sunni fundamentalists, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights groups say.
> 
> At the time of the operation in Talkalakh, The Associated Press interviewed residents who told of a catastrophic scene in the town of about 70,000, including sectarian killings, gunmen carrying out execution-style slayings and the stench of decomposing bodies in the streets.
> 
> Some activists have said the death toll from the May siege was as high as 36 people.
> 
> "The accounts we have heard from witnesses to events in (Talkalakh) paint a deeply disturbing picture of systematic, targeted abuses to crush dissent," said Philip Luther, Amnesty International's Middle East and North Africa Deputy Director.
> 
> The Amnesty report, issued Wednesday, said the attacks "appear to be part of a widespread, as well as systematic, attack against the civilian population," which would constitute crimes against humanity.



Syria War Crimes Investigation Should Be Sent To Court: Amnesty


----------



## Ropey

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dr-AXpBGCdU]YouTube - &#x202a;Syria a Syrian protester shot by a sniper 22.4.11&#x202c;&rlm;[/ame]

Yet PF cares only about the Arabs called Palestinians.

Why?  Because it's not concern. It's simply a platform to further his agenda.

To end Israel and any Jewish power in the Middle East.  

Care about Arabs?  Not so much.

Not one post in any of the forums where Arabs are killing their own.

For shame.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> YouTube - &#x202a;Syria a Syrian protester shot by a sniper 22.4.11&#x202c;&rlm;
> 
> Yet PF cares only about the Arabs called Palestinians.
> 
> Why?  Because it's not concern. It's simply a platform to further his agenda.
> 
> To end Israel and any Jewish power in the Middle East.
> 
> Care about Arabs?  Not so much.
> 
> Not one post in any of the forums where Arabs are killing their own.
> 
> For shame.



He'd probably just say its Israels fault that Syria is melting.


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> YouTube - &#x202a;Syria a Syrian protester shot by a sniper 22.4.11&#x202c;&rlm;
> 
> Yet PF cares only about the Arabs called Palestinians.
> 
> Why?  Because it's not concern. It's simply a platform to further his agenda.
> 
> To end Israel and any Jewish power in the Middle East.
> 
> Care about Arabs?  Not so much.
> 
> Not one post in any of the forums where Arabs are killing their own.
> 
> For shame.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> He'd probably just say its Israels fault that Syria is melting.
Click to expand...


Arab concern for each other is clear by all those charity dollars pouring into the Palestinians from those "wealthy" Arab nations (where poverty is like 80 percent).
The muslims want to say the west is evil, but when it comes time for action, who do they call?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Accuses U.S. Of Inciting Unrest








> BEIRUT -- Tens of thousands of Syrians carrying olive branches and shouting for the downfall of President Bashar Assad's regime streamed Friday into a flashpoint city where the U.S. ambassador traveled to show his solidarity with protesters, witnesses said.
> 
> Two witnesses told The Associated Press that crowds were swelling in Hama, a central city that has become a focal point of the uprising and has drawn the largest crowds since the revolt began nearly four months ago.
> 
> "People are chanting, 'We only kneel to God,' one of the witnesses told the AP by telephone, as the sound of the crowd was heard in the background. He asked for anonymity, fearing for his personal safety.
> 
> Hama poses a potential dilemma for the Syrian regime because of its place as a symbol of opposition to the rule of the Assad family. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered troops to crush a rebellion by Islamist forces, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights activists say.
> 
> A major offensive could make the city a fresh rallying cry for the opposition, but Assad's regime also does not want a repeat of last Friday's stunning rally, when an estimated 300,000 people protested.
> 
> U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford's trip to Hama on Thursday drew condemnation from the Syrian government, which said the visit was unauthorized and a clear sign that Washington was inciting unrest in the Arab nation. Relations between the U.S. and Syria are chronically strained over Assad's close ties with Iran.
> 
> "The presence of the U.S. ambassador in Hama without obtaining prior permission from the Foreign Ministry as stipulated by instructions distributed repeatedly to all the embassies is clear evidence of the U.S. involvement in the ongoing events in Syria," the state-run news agency reported Friday, citing an unnamed "official source" at the Foreign Ministry.
> 
> The U.S. is trying to "aggravate the situations which destabilize Syria," the statement said.
> 
> In Washington, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said Ford "spent the day expressing our deep support for the right of the Syrian people to assemble peacefully and to express themselves."



Syria Accuses U.S. Of Inciting Unrest


----------



## georgephillip

"In June 1957 (Uri) Avnery suggested that Israel aid Palestinians in overthrowing the Hashemite monarchy in Jordan (a 'product of imperialism'); *Israel would then form a federation with the new Palestinian Jordanian state*.[11] 

"In the late 1950s Avnery was among the founders of the group Semitic Action, which argued for a *regional federation of Israel and its neighbors.*"

The overthrow of a Syrian tyrant today, combined with the creation of a Palestinian state in September, might form the nucleus for a 21st Century regional federation that doesn't require Semites to kill each others' children for Wall Street profits???


----------



## Ropey

Wake up George.

It's 2012.


----------



## georgephillip

I'm not the one trying to take back land my ancestors allegedly possessed two thousand years ago.

If it works for Jews, why not for Cherokee?

What cosmic sense of entitlement makes the Jew think he's the "chosen one?"


----------



## High_Gravity

georgephillip said:


> I'm not the one trying to take back land my ancestors allegedly possessed two thousand years ago.
> 
> If it works for Jews, why not for Cherokee?
> 
> What cosmic sense of entitlement makes the Jew think he's the "chosen one?"



Cherokees? what the fuck does this have to do with riots in Syria?


----------



## georgephillip

High_Gravity said:


> georgephillip said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not the one trying to take back land my ancestors allegedly possessed two thousand years ago.
> 
> If it works for Jews, why not for Cherokee?
> 
> What cosmic sense of entitlement makes the Jew think he's the "chosen one?"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cherokees? what the fuck does this have to do with riots in Syria?
Click to expand...

Human rights?

War crimes?

"Hama poses a potential dilemma for the Syrian regime because of its place as a symbol of opposition to the rule of the Assad family. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered troops to crush a rebellion by Islamist forces, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights activists say."

Hafez Assad would have found a way to profit from the Trail of Tears.

Syria Accuses U.S. Of Inciting Unrest


----------



## Ropey

georgephillip said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> georgephillip said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm not the one trying to take back land my ancestors allegedly possessed two thousand years ago.
> 
> If it works for Jews, why not for Cherokee?
> 
> What cosmic sense of entitlement makes the Jew think he's the "chosen one?"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Cherokees? what the fuck does this have to do with riots in Syria?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Human rights?
> 
> War crimes?
> 
> "Hama poses a potential dilemma for the Syrian regime because of its place as a symbol of opposition to the rule of the Assad family. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered troops to crush a rebellion by Islamist forces, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights activists say."
> 
> Hafez Assad would have found a way to profit from the Trail of Tears.
> 
> Syria Accuses U.S. Of Inciting Unrest
Click to expand...


Like you care. All you want to do is condemn people with the hate of your inner angst George.

That's why you get red marks all over this forum. It's not that you have a side.

Any side that will allow you to spew out the inner hate you have is usable for you.


----------



## Ropey

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GUVECCI, Turkey -- Syrian activists said Thursday that troops backed by tanks and snipers have entered a village along the Turkish border as the regime expands its crackdown on a pro-democracy movement that has posed the gravest challenge to President Bashar Assad's rule.
> 
> Thousands of Syrian refugees have been flooding into Turkey as the government tries to crush the 3-month-old uprising. The regime blames foreign conspirators and thugs for the unrest, but the protesters deny any foreign influence in their pro-democracy movement.
> 
> The Local Coordinating Committees, which track the Syrian protest movement, said Thursday that tanks had entered Khirbet al-Jouz and snipers were spotted on rooftops. The group cited residents on the ground in the village.
> 
> Syria has banned foreign journalists and restricted local media, making it nearly impossible to independently confirm the accounts.
> 
> On Thursday, AP Television News journalists on the Turkish side of the border saw armed men near the village and an armored personnel carrier on its outskirts. It was not possible to see inside the village to confirm the activists' reports.
> 
> Nearly 100 Syrians who were living in makeshift tents on the Syrian side of the border fled into Turkey as the village was surrounded and Turkey deployed guards along the frontier.
> 
> The opposition estimates 1,400 people have been killed and 10,000 detained in the Syrian crackdown, drawing international condemnation and sanctions.
> 
> On Wednesday, the Syrian regime lashed out at European governments for threatening a new round of sanctions and accused the West of trying to sow chaos and conflict in the Arab nation.
> 
> But Foreign Minister Walid Moallem also reiterated the president's call for national dialogue and spoke of democracy over the horizon  a bold assertion after more than four decades of iron-fisted rule by the Assad family and months of bloody reprisals.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Troops Enter Turkish Border Village: Activists
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Wonder where all those muslim demonstrators are in the western countries?  If some one said a quran was disrespected, they would be out by the thousands.  *When it is some muslim dictator murdering their own, the silence is deafening.???*
Click to expand...


Indeed.


----------



## georgephillip

Ropey said:


> georgephillip said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Cherokees? what the fuck does this have to do with riots in Syria?
> 
> 
> 
> Human rights?
> 
> War crimes?
> 
> "Hama poses a potential dilemma for the Syrian regime because of its place as a symbol of opposition to the rule of the Assad family. In 1982, the late Hafez Assad ordered troops to crush a rebellion by Islamist forces, killing between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights activists say."
> 
> Hafez Assad would have found a way to profit from the Trail of Tears.
> 
> Syria Accuses U.S. Of Inciting Unrest
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Like you care. All you want to do is condemn people with the hate of your inner angst George.
> 
> That's why you get red marks all over this forum. It's not that you have a side.
> 
> Any side that will allow you to spew out the inner hate you have is usable for you.
Click to expand...

*"The Trail of Tears* was the relocation and movement of Native American nations from southeastern parts of the present-day United States. *It has been described as an act of genocide*, by modern historians."

My side doesn't condone genocide.
Your side seems to believe your "god" gives license for genocide and worse.
That's inner hate.

Trail of Tears - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


----------



## Ropey

Your side is any side that will allow you to attack the other side with hate.

Your hate is exclusive of a platform George.  That's why you get all the red marks all over the forum. You just need a platform to spew your inner hate out. 

Death shall follow those who follow it. It shall take it's followers down a winding mundane path of mental dissolution.

That's why I never respond to your questions. No response is useful because you just want to vomit it out and take nothing in. 

Sad that.


----------



## Ropey

Jos said:


> What would you known of word and honor Canadian, but israeli firster



I have told you that if there ever was a war between Canada and Israel, I would be on the side of Canada and that I am a Canadian first who identifies as a Canadian Jew who is an Israeli citizen since I transferred from the Canadian Armed Forces to support Israel in 1973.

A war between Canada and Israel's not likely to happen, in my lifetime at any rate, so you defame me anyway. 

That's your choice.


----------



## georgephillip

Ropey said:


> Your side is any side that will allow you to attack the other side with hate.
> 
> Your hate is exclusive of a platform George.  That's why you get all the red marks all over the forum. You just need a platform to spew your inner hate out.
> 
> Death shall follow those who follow it. It shall take it's followers down a winding mundane path of mental dissolution.
> 
> That's why I never respond to your questions. No response is useful because you just want to vomit it out and take nothing in.
> 
> Sad that.


The sooner your side goes the way of Moses, Mohammed and Jesus the sooner the rest of humanity becomes free.

Your slave faith ensures any response you offer would be another lie.

Like the life you vomit across these threads.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Troops Storm City Of Homs, Wounding 20 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian troops stormed into the country's third-largest city with armored personnel carriers and heavy machine guns, a rights activist said Monday, as dialogue over possible government reforms moved into a second day in Damascus. At least two people were killed and 20 wounded in the attacks in Homs, activists said.
> 
> The clashes in Homs in central Syria suggest the regime of President Bashar Assad will not ease its four-month-old crackdown on the opposition despite proposing some political changes.
> 
> Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa called Sunday for a transition to democracy in a country ruled for four decades by the authoritarian Assad family dynasty. But the talks, which wrap up Monday, are boycotted by the main anti-government factions and are unlikely to produce any breakthroughs to immediately end the bloodshed.
> 
> The two days of meetings, however, were seen as a major concession by Assad's regime after the most serious challenge to its rule. Some 1,600 civilians and 350 members of security forces have been killed since demonstrations began in March, activists say.
> 
> In Homs, an activist in the city told The Associated Press clashes occurred after security forces killed on Sunday the son of an anti-regime tribal leader. The unrest lasted until 5 a.m. (0200 GMT) Monday.
> 
> Street lights were turned off then troops started entering neighborhoods, shooting with heavy machine guns atop Russian-made armored personnel carriers, said the activist, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisals.
> 
> He said some people cowered in their bathrooms during the height of the assault. At least one person was killed and 20 wounded, the activist said.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the London-based director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said forces pushed into parts of Homs.
> 
> Also Monday, the state-run news agency SANA reported that Assad named Anas Abdul-Razzaq Naem as a new governor of the central city of Hama, that has been out of government control since early June.
> 
> Naem replaced Ahmed Khaled Abdul-Aziz, who was fired earlier this month as apparent punishment for allowing protesters to stage a huge rally in the city earlier this month.



Syrian Troops Storm City Of Homs, Wounding 20


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria U.S. Embassy Attacked By Bashar Assad Regime Supporters 








> BEIRUT -- Witnesses say Syrian pro-government protesters have attacked the U.S. embassy compound in Damascus, causing damage.
> 
> The witnesses said the protesters smashed windows and raised a Syrian flag on the compound on Monday. They also wrote anti-US graffiti referring to the U.S. ambassador as a "dog," the witnesses said.
> 
> The protests were over visits by the U.S. and French ambassadors last week to the opposition stronghold of Hama in central Syria.
> 
> THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
> 
> BEIRUT (AP)  A witness in Syria's capital says security guards at the French Embassy have fired into the air to drive back protesters taking part in two-pronged demonstrations outside the French and American embassies in Damascus.
> 
> The protests Monday come days after the U.S. and French ambassadors visited the opposition stronghold of Hama in central Syria. The witness says crowds were not allowed to get near the U.S. Embassy.
> 
> The witness, Hiam al-Hassan, says about 300 people had gathered outside the French Embassy. Hundreds others were at the American diplomatic compound.
> 
> The protests coincide with government-organized talks in Damascus on possible political reforms after four months of unrest against the regime of President Bashar Assad.



Syria U.S. Embassy Attacked By Bashar Assad Regime Supporters


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. Embassy In Syria Stormed By Protesters 








> WASHINGTON -- American diplomats at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus are shaken, but not wounded, after their heavily secured compound was stormed earlier today by a mob of angry protesters.
> 
> "A television station that is heavily influenced by Syrian authorities encouraged this violent demonstration," a State Department spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters.
> 
> The statement continued, "We strongly condemn the Syrian government's refusal to protect our embassy, and demand compensation for damages. We call on the Syrian government to fulfill its obligations to its own citizens as well."
> 
> "We consider it pretty fucking severe," said one person inside the compound at the time, via email to The Huffington Post. "It was a rough day. Still is."
> 
> No Americans were wounded in the assault, according to the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity as individuals within the embassy were unauthorized to comment.
> 
> The Syrian attackers managed to penetrate several layers of embassy security by climbing a high fence that guards the fortress-like compound. Some managed to get onto the roof of a few of the embassy buildings and rip down embassy signs, replacing the American flag with a Syrian one.
> 
> "I watched a guy with a two-by-four try to break one of the windows of [the] Ambassador's office," the witness said.
> 
> The attack on the embassy comes amid growing diplomatic discord between the United States and Syria, and soon after American Ambassador Robert Ford paid a visit last week to the northern city of Hama, where anti-government protests have grown despite a heavy crackdown.
> 
> Over the weekend, the State Department issued a rebuke to the Syrian ambassador in the U.S. after reports emerged that he may have participated in efforts to suppress or monitor anti-government protests by Syrians within the United States.
> 
> The main defenders of the embassy compound are Syrian nationals who patrol the streets outside and control access to the building.
> 
> It is also guarded by a small contingent of Marines, which represent an internal layer of security and never leave the compound armed. The outer perimeter is heavily guarded by Syrian security forces, who have foiled past attempts to attack the compound, including an attempted car bomb in 2006. This has raised questions about how an unarmed crowd was able to penetrate such tight security, and led to early suspicions that the Syrian regime allowed the breach to occur.
> 
> According to the witness, the Marines managed to secure the compound without opening fire or directly confronting the individuals who had made their way onto the roof.
> 
> Eventually, the intruders left on their own, the insider told HuffPost.
> 
> The Associated Press reported that the embassy of France and the residence of the American Ambassador were also targeted in the assaults yesterday.
> 
> A State Department spokesman was not immediately available for comment.



U.S. Embassy In Syria Stormed By Protesters


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian President Bashar Assad Has 'Lost Legitimacy,' Says Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton 








> WASHINGTON -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has "lost legitimacy" as a leader interested in reform as the United States formally protested an attack on the U.S. Embassy and the American ambassador's residence in Damascus.
> 
> Clinton's comments fell short of demanding that Assad leave power but were some of the strongest public criticism yet by a senior U.S. official and demonstrated Washington's anger not only at the embassy attack but the Assad regime's continuing crackdown on opponents.
> 
> "From our perspective, he has lost legitimacy," Clinton told reporters at the State Department in a joint news conference with European Union foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton. "He has failed to deliver on promises he has made, he has sought and accepted aid from the Iranians as to how to repress his own people."
> 
> Clinton said there was a "laundry list of actions" that the Assad regime should be held accountable for. And she condemned the attacks on the U.S. and French embassies while demanding that Syria uphold its international treaty obligations to protect foreign diplomatic missions.
> 
> Earlier, the department summoned a senior Syrian diplomat to register the U.S. complaints in person and said it would seek compensation for damage caused when a mob of what it described as about 300 "thugs" breached the wall of the embassy compound before being dispersed by U.S. Marine guards.
> 
> Clinton cautioned Assad and his supporters that there was no truth to suggestions by some that the U.S. wanted to see the current regime stay in power for stabilities' sake.
> 
> "President Assad is not indispensible and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power," she said.
> 
> State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said it appeared a government-controlled television statement had instigated the violence, and Clinton warned Assad that he could not distract the international community from its brutal crackdown on protesters demanding reforms.
> 
> "By either allowing or inciting this kind of behavior by these mobs against American and French diplomats and their property, they are clearly trying to deflect attention from their crackdown internally and to move the world's view away from what they are doing," Clinton said. "It just doesn't work."
> 
> Nuland called the embassy attacks "absolutely outrageous." She said the mob had not breached the chancery building but had gotten onto its roof, spray painted graffiti and broken windows and some security cameras. In addition, she said protesters lobbed fruits and vegetables at the compound.
> 
> She said that Syrian security forces who are supposed to guard the mission were slow to respond to the attack. There were no injuries reported to embassy personnel, who are all accounted for, officials said.
> 
> After the crowd at the embassy was dispersed, the protesters moved to the residence of U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and attacked it, causing unspecified damage, Nuland said.
> 
> Witnesses said the protesters smashed windows at the embassy and raised a Syrian flag on the compound. They also wrote anti-US graffiti referring to the U.S. ambassador as a "dog," the witnesses said. The protests were over visits by the U.S. and French ambassadors last week to the opposition stronghold of Hama in central Syria.



Syrian President Bashar Assad Has 'Lost Legitimacy,' Says Secretary Of State Hillary Clinton


----------



## High_Gravity

Obama Sharpens Rhetoric Against Syrias Assad








> U.S. President Barack Obama says Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is losing legitimacy in the eyes of his people, and has missed opportunity after opportunity to present genuine reforms.
> 
> Mr. Obama told CBS News Tuesday the Syrian government has perpetrated what he called an unacceptable degree of brutality on peaceful demonstrators protesting Mr. Assad's authoritarian rule.
> 
> Syria has sharply criticized similar remarks by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, saying her comments were further evidence of blatant U.S. interference in Syria's internal affairs.
> 
> Clinton said Monday that Mr. Assad has lost legitimacy and is not indispensable. She also said the U.S. has nothing invested in him remaining in power.
> 
> Meanwhile, residents in eastern Syria say a bomb exploded late Tuesday in Tayanah near the Iraqi border, damaging a gas pipeline. State television said there were no casualties and only minor damage from the blast.
> 
> Also Tuesday, the United Nations Security Council condemned in the strongest terms this week's attacks against the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus.
> 
> In his CBS interview, Mr. Obama said the U.S. has sent a clear message that nobody can be messing with our embassy. He said Syria has been warned that Washington will take whatever actions necessary to protect its overseas missions.
> 
> On Monday, loyalists to Mr. Assad mobbed the embassy compound, broke windows and briefly raised a Syrian flag. The U.S. State Department said Tuesday the embassy is operational, and U.S. and Syrian officials are working to repair the damage.
> 
> Security guards at the French embassy fired shots into the air on Monday to keep demonstrators from entering the grounds. Officials said three embassy staffers were injured during the unrest.
> 
> The incidents took place after U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and French Ambassador Eric Chevallier traveled to the flashpoint city of Hama last week to show solidarity with residents facing a military crackdown on dissent.
> 
> In another development, Syria wrapped up a three-day session of a government-organized national dialogue on Tuesday. The state news agency says the participants issued a statement in which they said stability and a greater commitment to reforms are high priorities.
> 
> Syria's main opposition groups did not participate in the talks.
> 
> Rights groups say Syrian security forces have killed at least 1,600 civilians during the crackdown, while the government blames the violence on terrorists and Islamists who it says have killed hundreds of security personnel.



Obama Sharpens Rhetoric Against Syria&#8217;s Assad « VOA Breaking News


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests Leave 8 Dead: Activists 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces opened fire from their cars Thursday on thousands of protesters demanding President Bashar Assad's ouster, killing at least two people, activists said.
> 
> The violence in Deir el-Zour, near the border with Iraq, brings the death toll to nine after two days of military operations across the country. Military sweeps began Wednesday in the capital, the northern Idlib province, the central city of Homs and near the Turkish border.
> 
> "All the shops have closed, we have announced a general strike, maybe even civil disobedience," said an activist in Deir el-Zour, who spoke to The Associated Press by telephone. He asked that his name not be published for fear of retribution.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of sources on the ground across the country, said at least two people were killed and ten others wounded. The activist confirmed the figure to the AP.
> 
> At least one of the victims was a 45-year-old man, but there were no further details.
> 
> Activists also reported partial strikes in several towns and cities, including Homs and the Damascus suburb of Douma. The strikes increase economic pressure on the regime, which already is struggling to keep the business community and prosperous merchant classes afloat.
> 
> If business comes to a halt, private enterprises go bankrupt and government cannot pay state employees, there will be very little to prop up the regime.
> 
> Syria has banned most foreign media and placed tight restrictions on reporters, making it nearly impossible to independently confirm accounts out of Syria.
> 
> Assad is trying to crush a four-month-old uprising that refuses to back down, despite a deadly government crackdown that activists say has killed some 1,600 people since the middle of March. The government disputes the toll and blames the bloodshed on a foreign conspiracy and "armed gangs."
> 
> Syria's state-run news agency SANA, a mouthpiece for the regime, said masked gunmen tried to cut roads in Deir el-Zour Thursday and forced shop owners to close their stores. It added the gunmen terrorized people and vandalized some shops whose owners refused to close.
> 
> The regime accuses thugs and foreign conspirators  not true reform-seekers  of being behind the country's unrest. SANA's reports often contradict witness accounts.
> 
> Elsewhere in Syria, at least seven people were killed late Wednesday during army raids in the Jabal al-Zawiya region in the northern Idlib province, said Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso.
> 
> The province has been the scene of military operations for weeks, apparently aimed at preventing residents from fleeing into refugee camps in neighboring Turkey. The sight of thousands of Syrians seeking refuge in Turkey has been a source of deep embarrassment to the Assad regime.
> 
> Ammar Qurabi, head of the National Organization for Human Rights, said security forces broke up a peaceful anti-government protest in Damascus on Wednesday evening, beating some protesters and arresting Syrian intellectuals, actors and artists.
> 
> The protest coincided with a pro-regime demonstration in the same area, with some activists reporting scuffles between the two sides. But only the anti-regime protest was broken up.
> 
> Qurabi said the arrests were proof that the regime is escalating its crackdown against anyone who dares protest and that the promises of reform were merely "ink on paper."
> 
> The protests in Syria typically spike on Friday, which has become the day for demonstrations during the Arab Spring. But in recent weeks, Syrians have held large protests nearly every day, followed by nightly sit-ins, suggesting that the movement is gaining momentum.



Syria Protests Leave 8 Dead: Activists


----------



## High_Gravity

Iran-Syria Aid Could Be In The Billions: Tehran Think Tank 








> (Reuters) - Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei backs offering $5.8 billion in aid to Syria to bolster its economy, a French newspaper said Friday, citing a report by a Tehran think-tank linked to Iran's leadership.
> 
> Damascus has long been Tehran's main ally among otherwise mainly hostile Arab states. After four months of popular unrest, Syria's economy is reeling under the weight of strikes, reduced oil exports, scaled-back trade and international sanctions.
> 
> Its troubles have prompted Iran's leadership to consider offering $5.8 billion in financial help, including a three-month loan worth $1.5 billion to be made available immediately, French business daily Les Echos said.
> 
> It added that Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has backed the idea of the aid, which was outlined in a secret report by the Center for Strategic Research, a think tank linked to the Iranian leadership.
> 
> It was not possible to verify the report Friday.
> 
> Iran, Les Echos said, could also provide 290,000 barrels of oil to Syria each day over the next month while helping to boost border controls to stop Syrians from fleeing the country for Lebanon with cash.
> 
> After four months of civil uprising in Syria, human rights groups report that more than 1,400 civilian have been killed, drawing a chorus of condemnation from around the world.
> 
> International sanctions are only targeted at Syria's leaders, not its banks and companies. But France and the United States are pressing for tougher penalties and a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning the crackdown, after the embassies of both countries in Syria were attacked.



Iran-Syria Aid Could Be In The Billions: Tehran Think Tank


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protest Largest Yet: Hundreds Of Thousands Demonstrate, 17 Killed








> BEIRUT -- Hundreds of thousands of Syrians mounted the largest protests Friday since the uprising began more than four months ago, pouring into areas where the government crackdown has been most intense in a sign that security forces cannot break the revolt.
> 
> Syrian authorities fired on the crowds, killing at least 17 people and wounding more than 100, activists said.
> 
> In a significant show of the uprising's strength, thousands turned out in the capital, Damascus, which had seen only scattered protests. Until now, much of the dissent against President Bashar Assad has been in impoverished, remote areas.
> 
> "This is the heart of the regime," said David Schenker, director of the Program on Arab Politics at The Washington Institute for Near East Policy. "So I think if these protests (in Damascus) continue and gain strength, it will be the beginning of the end of the regime."
> 
> Massive rallies also were reported in areas that have come under military siege since the uprising began in March, with tanks and snipers trying to crush dissent. But the protesters have returned to the streets unbowed, defying the crackdown in a remarkable show of resilience.
> 
> Friday's protests stretched from Damascus and its suburbs to Hasakeh and Idlib provinces in the north, Daraa in the south and Latakia on the coast. Thousands converged on the flashpoint cities of Homs and Hama in central Syria, among other areas across the nation of 22 million.
> 
> Crowds chanted "We don't love you Bashar!" and "Leave Bashar!" before security forces and pro-regime gunmen opened fire with bullets and tear gas. Young men threw stones at security forces and shouted for the regime's downfall as they ran for cover.
> 
> "All hell broke loose, the firing was intense," an activist in Daraa, where the uprising began in March, told The Associated Press. He asked that his name not be used, fearing reprisals.
> 
> Activists say the crackdown has killed some 1,600 people, most of them unarmed protesters. The government disputes the toll and blames a foreign conspiracy for the unrest, saying religious extremists  not true reform-seekers  are behind it.
> 
> Assad has acknowledged the need for reforms, but the opposition has been unwilling to negotiate while security forces fire on protesters.
> 
> Assad, 45, inherited power in 2000, and many believed the lanky, soft-spoken young leader might transform his late father's stagnant and brutal dictatorship into a modern state.
> 
> Over the past 11 years, however, hopes dimmed that Assad was a reformist at heart. As his regime escalates a brutal crackdown, it seems unlikely that he will regain political legitimacy.
> 
> "We have said that Syria can't go back to the way it was before, that Assad has lost his legitimacy in the eyes of his people because of the brutality of their crackdown, including today," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Istanbul, Turkey.
> 
> One of the largest protests Friday took place in Hama, Syria's fourth-largest city and an opposition stronghold that has a history of dissent.
> 
> Assad's late father and predecessor, Hafez, crushed a Sunni uprising in 1982 by shelling the town in a massacre that has been seared into the minds of Syrians, contributing to the pervasive sense of fear that silenced nearly every rumbling of dissent for decades.



Syria Protest Largest Yet: Hundreds Of Thousands Demonstrate, 17 Killed


----------



## logical4u

Maybe those TSA pat downs are discouraging the radicals so much they are ratcheting up their activities in the ME?  It doesn't look like these will be stopping any time soon.  I am wondering when Iran will get their demonstrations to overthrow that gov?


----------



## waltky

Syria gettin' ready to go into Iraq?...

*Syrian Troops Mass Near Border Town as Tensions Mount*
_July 17, 2011 - Syrian forces have surrounded a town on the Iraqi border as the country's opposition took a step closer to forming an alternative government that would challenge President Bashar al-Assad's grip on power._


> About 1,000 troops flown in by helicopter and backed by tanks and armored vehicles massed Sunday around the troubled eastern town of al-Boukamal near Iraq's Sunni heartland. The pro-government al-Watan newspaper reported that the situation in the poor, border town is "explosive," and that a military operation is imminent.  The extra security forces arrived after military intelligence agents in al-Boukamal killed five protesters, including a 14-year-old boy, on Saturday. The killings drove thousands into the streets, overwhelming Mr. Assad's forces.
> 
> Residents say about 100 Syrian troops in the border town, including dozens of Syrian Air Force personnel and the crew of at least four armored vehicles, defected to join the four-month-old anti-government uprising.  Syria's state news agency (SANA) said "terrorist gangs" killed three security members in al-Boukamal on Saturday.  Sunni tribes in the area wield great influence and have extended relations with their Iraqi brethren across the border. Sunni Muslims comprise the majority of Syria's population. But Mr. Assad's clan, part of the minority Shi'ite Alawite sect, has governed for four decades.
> 
> Elsewhere, about 2,000 soldiers in armored vehicles entered the western town of Zabadani, on the Lebanese border, detaining at least 70 people early Sunday.  The moves came as Syria's fractured opposition made its first attempt to unite, forming a 25-member National Salvation Council composed of Islamists, liberals and independents at a meeting in Istanbul on Saturday.  The Wall Street Journal reported that the group called on opposition activists inside Syria to elect another 50 board members, with plans to eventually form a transitional government.
> 
> In a separate development, authorities detained the leading opposition figure, Ali Abdullah, after a raid on his home Sunday in the Damascus suburb of Qatana. The 61-one-year old dissident was released in May as part of a government amnesty after spending four years in prison for supporting calls for democratic reforms.  Also Sunday, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul Rahman, said at least 30 people were killed in the past 24 hours in the central city of Homs when clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government supporters.
> 
> Source



See also:

*Syria opposition unity bid thwarted by Assad regime's brutal crackdown*
_July 17, 2011 - But Syria's opposition in exile met in Istanbul anyway, electing what it called a National Salvation Council this weekend._


> Members of Syrias opposition in exile met this weekend and elected a council they say will challenge the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. But the groups plan to hold a video conference with opposition leaders inside Syria, who have been leading an uprising that has now entered its fifth month, fell through after Syrian security forces attacked the neighborhood where the leaders were gathering in Damascus.
> 
> The meeting came after a bloody Friday in which Syrian security forces opened fire on large protests around the country. At least 28 people were killed on Friday, according to activists, who also say the regime has killed about 1,600 people since the protests against Mr. Assad and his authoritarian regime began in March.
> 
> The planned gathering of opposition activists Saturday was canceled after Syrian forces attacked protests in the neighborhood where it was to be held, killing at least 15 protesters, reports The Washington Post. That kept the conference of exiled opposition figures in Istanbul from achieving its goal of connecting with the internal opposition and coming up with a unified strategy to oust Assad.
> 
> Yet the group in Istanbul went ahead and elected what it called a National Salvation Council, reports Reuters. Though the 25-member council includes Islamists, liberals, and independents, it is unclear how much support it has from protesters on the ground in Syria. It is mostly made up of aging figures who left Syria years ago.
> 
> MORE


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Activists: Dozens Killed in 24 Hours








> (BEIRUT)  The discovery of three mutilated corpses set off a wave of sectarian bloodshed that killed up to 30 people over the weekend in central Syria, a dangerous escalation in violence stemming from the country's four-month-old uprising, activists said Monday. >The killings were a troubling sign that the revolt against President Bashar Assad's regime is enflaming tensions among Syria's volatile mix of religions. Most Syrians are Sunni Muslim, but Assad and the ruling elite belong to the minority Alawite sect.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the violence began Saturday after the dismembered bodies of three Alawite government supporters were dumped in Homs, a city that has become a focal point of the uprising.
> 
> 
> The next day, six bodies from various sects were found dumped in the city, apparently in revenge attacks, a Homs resident said. Pro-government thugs called shabiha then went on a rampage, the resident said, opening fire in predominantly Sunni neighborhoods in Homs. Up to 40 shops were vandalized or burned, he said. "It was a catastrophe, the situation could easily have slipped out of control," he said, adding the situation calmed down Monday but tensions were high.
> 
> Another activist said the dead included a 27-year-old mother of three, who was shot as she left her home, and a man in his 50s who was struck by a bullet on his balcony. "I was at the man's funeral yesterday, all he did was go out on his balcony," he said, adding that civilians have started setting up roadblocks to protect their neighborhoods.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a Syrian activist in Homs put the death toll at 30 and said they have the names of the victims. But another activist in Homs said he's not certain if the death toll was as high as 30. He suggested the real number may be about half. The activists in Homs spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
> 
> Human rights group say more than 1,600 people, most of them unarmed civilians, have been killed in Assad's crackdown on protesters calling for regime change. The government disputes that toll and blames the unrest on gunmen and religious extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife. Some 350 soldiers and policemen also are believed to have died in the unrest.
> 
> In many ways, sectarian warfare is the worst-case scenario in Syria. The country is home to more than 1 million refugees from neighboring Iraq, who serve as a clear testament to the dangers of regime collapse and fracture in a religiously divided society. They also see the seemingly intractable sectarian tensions in Lebanon as a cautionary tale. But the opposition movement in Syria, still struggling to find a unified voice, has been careful to paint their movement as free of any sectarian overtones.
> 
> Several opposition members have expressed frustration that the regime is trying to play off of sectarian fears  all the while using the shabiha and elite Alawite military forces to terrify protesters into submission.




Read more: Syrian Activists Say Up to 30 Killed in 24 Hours - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

waltky said:


> Syria gettin' ready to go into Iraq?...
> 
> *Syrian Troops Mass Near Border Town as Tensions Mount*
> _July 17, 2011 - Syrian forces have surrounded a town on the Iraqi border as the country's opposition took a step closer to forming an alternative government that would challenge President Bashar al-Assad's grip on power._
> 
> 
> 
> About 1,000 troops flown in by helicopter and backed by tanks and armored vehicles massed Sunday around the troubled eastern town of al-Boukamal near Iraq's Sunni heartland. The pro-government al-Watan newspaper reported that the situation in the poor, border town is "explosive," and that a military operation is imminent.  The extra security forces arrived after military intelligence agents in al-Boukamal killed five protesters, including a 14-year-old boy, on Saturday. The killings drove thousands into the streets, overwhelming Mr. Assad's forces.
> 
> Residents say about 100 Syrian troops in the border town, including dozens of Syrian Air Force personnel and the crew of at least four armored vehicles, defected to join the four-month-old anti-government uprising.  Syria's state news agency (SANA) said "terrorist gangs" killed three security members in al-Boukamal on Saturday.  Sunni tribes in the area wield great influence and have extended relations with their Iraqi brethren across the border. Sunni Muslims comprise the majority of Syria's population. But Mr. Assad's clan, part of the minority Shi'ite Alawite sect, has governed for four decades.
> 
> Elsewhere, about 2,000 soldiers in armored vehicles entered the western town of Zabadani, on the Lebanese border, detaining at least 70 people early Sunday.  The moves came as Syria's fractured opposition made its first attempt to unite, forming a 25-member National Salvation Council composed of Islamists, liberals and independents at a meeting in Istanbul on Saturday.  The Wall Street Journal reported that the group called on opposition activists inside Syria to elect another 50 board members, with plans to eventually form a transitional government.
> 
> In a separate development, authorities detained the leading opposition figure, Ali Abdullah, after a raid on his home Sunday in the Damascus suburb of Qatana. The 61-one-year old dissident was released in May as part of a government amnesty after spending four years in prison for supporting calls for democratic reforms.  Also Sunday, the head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, Rami Abdul Rahman, said at least 30 people were killed in the past 24 hours in the central city of Homs when clashes broke out between pro- and anti-government supporters.
> 
> Source
> 
> 
> 
> 
> See also:
> 
> *Syria opposition unity bid thwarted by Assad regime's brutal crackdown*
> _July 17, 2011 - But Syria's opposition in exile met in Istanbul anyway, electing what it called a National Salvation Council this weekend._
> 
> 
> 
> Members of Syrias opposition in exile met this weekend and elected a council they say will challenge the rule of President Bashar al-Assad. But the groups plan to hold a video conference with opposition leaders inside Syria, who have been leading an uprising that has now entered its fifth month, fell through after Syrian security forces attacked the neighborhood where the leaders were gathering in Damascus.
> 
> The meeting came after a bloody Friday in which Syrian security forces opened fire on large protests around the country. At least 28 people were killed on Friday, according to activists, who also say the regime has killed about 1,600 people since the protests against Mr. Assad and his authoritarian regime began in March.
> 
> The planned gathering of opposition activists Saturday was canceled after Syrian forces attacked protests in the neighborhood where it was to be held, killing at least 15 protesters, reports The Washington Post. That kept the conference of exiled opposition figures in Istanbul from achieving its goal of connecting with the internal opposition and coming up with a unified strategy to oust Assad.
> 
> Yet the group in Istanbul went ahead and elected what it called a National Salvation Council, reports Reuters. Though the 25-member council includes Islamists, liberals, and independents, it is unclear how much support it has from protesters on the ground in Syria. It is mostly made up of aging figures who left Syria years ago.
> 
> MORE
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


Shit why not? Turkey goes into Iraq all the time to go after the Kurds and Iran just went in there the other day for the Kurds as well, the Syrians might as well come, the more the merrier.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Forces Kill 10 During Night Of Intense Gunfire In Homs 



> BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces shot dead at least 10 people overnight in a central city where dozens have been reported killed since the weekend, activists and witnesses said.
> 
> Mohammed Saleh, a resident of Homs, said smoke was billowing over the city after a night of intense gunfire.
> 
> The death toll was confirmed by Syrian rights activist Mustafa Osso and the Local Coordinating Committees, which organize and track the protests. Damascus-based Abdul-Karim Rihawi, head of the Syrian Human Rights League, also said there were casualties in Homs but he did not have an exact figure.
> 
> Syria has been trying to crush a four-month-old uprising that has posed the gravest challenge to the 40-year ruling dynasty of the Assad family.
> 
> Human rights groups say more than 1,600 people, most of them unarmed civilians, have been killed in President Bashar Assad's crackdown on a largely peaceful protest movement. The government disputes that toll and blames the unrest on gunmen and religious extremists looking to stir up sectarian strife.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and Saleh, the activist in Homs, said a wave of sectarian fighting killed up to 30 people there over the weekend. Both said they have the names of the victims.
> 
> Witnesses said the violence began Saturday after the corpses of three Alawite government supporters were dumped in Homs with their eyes gouged, prompting revenge attacks by pro-government militias.
> 
> But other activists said the toll was lower and blamed security forces for the killings.
> 
> The opposition accused Assad's minority Alawite sect of trying to stir up trouble with the Sunni majority to blunt the growing enthusiasm for the uprising. The protesters have been careful to portray their movement as free of any sectarian overtones.
> 
> Syria has banned independent media coverage, making it difficult to confirm accounts from the ground.
> 
> The pro-government daily Al-Watan blamed the violence in Homs on terrorists and said the army was deploying there.
> 
> Saleh, the Homs-based activist, said there was intense shooting all through the night until Tuesday morning in some areas of Homs. He saw smoke billowing from the area amid cracks of gunfire.
> 
> "People who don't have important work to do are staying at home," Saleh said.



Syria Forces Kill 10 During Night Of Intense Gunfire In Homs


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Warns U.S., French Ambassadors Not To Leave Capital 









> BEIRUT -- Syria warned the American and French ambassadors Wednesday not to travel outside the capital without permission, two weeks after they angered the regime by visiting a city that has become the center of the country's four-month-old uprising.
> 
> If the U.S. and French envoys disobey the order, Syria will ban all diplomats from leaving Damascus, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said during a lecture at Damascus University.
> 
> "We did not evict the two ambassadors because we want the relations to develop in the future and in order for their governments to review their stances toward Syria," al-Moallem said.
> 
> "If these acts are repeated, we will impose a ban preventing (diplomats) from going more than 25 kilometers (15 miles) outside Damascus," he said.
> 
> Syria has come under withering international criticism and sanctions for its crackdown on dissent, which activists say has killed some 1,600 people, most of them unarmed protesters.
> 
> The regime has banned nearly all foreign media and restricted media coverage, making it nearly impossible to independently verify events on the ground.
> 
> On July 7 and 8, U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and French Ambassador Eric Chevallier traveled to Hama in separate trips to express support for the Syrian people to demonstrate peacefully. The State Department said friendly Syrians welcomed Ford and lavished his car with flowers and olive branches.
> 
> Hama residents told The Associated Press that the visits helped prevent attacks by security forces.
> 
> But the regime seized on Ford's visit to insist that foreign conspirators are behind the unrest, not true reform-seekers. Relations between the U.S. and Syria are chronically strained over Assad's ties with Iran. Within hours of the visit being made public, regime supporters attacked the U.S. and French embassies in Damascus, smashing windows and painting graffiti.
> 
> Three French Embassy workers were injured.
> 
> Also Wednesday, Syrian security forces swept through restive neighborhoods, detaining dozens of people  including a key opposition figure, activists said.
> 
> Security forces targeted suburbs of Damascus and the central city of Homs, which has seen some of the most intense and sustained violence in recent days. Up to 50 people have been killed there since Saturday, according to activists and witnesses. The figure could not be verified.
> 
> George Sabra, who heads the outlawed National Democratic Party, was picked up from his home in the Damascus suburb of Qatana, said the Local Coordination Committees, which help organize and document the protests in Syria. It was the second time that Sabra has been arrested since the uprising began.
> 
> In Homs, a father and his four sons were among those pulled from their homes overnight, said an activist in the city. He asked that his name not be published for fear of reprisals.
> 
> He added that soldiers and armored personnel carriers were patrolling the city, along with plainclothes security agents carrying automatic rifles.



Syria Warns U.S., French Ambassadors Not To Leave Capital


----------



## logical4u

Have you seen the administration wants to impose sanctions??????  That country must be really "evil".  Oh wait, this administration wants to impose sanctions against.........................
wait for it ....................
wait for it ....................
Iceland!

Yes, it appears hunting whales is far more damaging to this country than radical islam.  Be on guard, some "radical" whale hunter might be in your neighborhood with harpoons.  They try to "blend in", so be really careful, because you just never know when you could get harpooned.  Those whales go everywhere, and those whale hunters, well they are not as careful as they should be.

Maybe we should move some whales to Syria, and let those Icelandic hunters fix the ME!


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> Have you seen the administration wants to impose sanctions??????  That country must be really "evil".  Oh wait, this administration wants to impose sanctions against.........................
> wait for it ....................
> wait for it ....................
> Iceland!
> 
> Yes, it appears hunting whales is far more damaging to this country than radical islam.  Be on guard, some "radical" whale hunter might be in your neighborhood with harpoons.  They try to "blend in", so be really careful, because you just never know when you could get harpooned.  Those whales go everywhere, and those whale hunters, well they are not as careful as they should be.
> 
> Maybe we should move some whales to Syria, and let those Icelandic hunters fix the ME!



Wait a minute, I thought we already put sanctions on Syria? not that it will do any good, but I thought it was done.


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Have you seen the administration wants to impose sanctions??????  That country must be really "evil".  Oh wait, this administration wants to impose sanctions against.........................
> wait for it ....................
> wait for it ....................
> Iceland!
> 
> Yes, it appears hunting whales is far more damaging to this country than radical islam.  Be on guard, some "radical" whale hunter might be in your neighborhood with harpoons.  They try to "blend in", so be really careful, because you just never know when you could get harpooned.  Those whales go everywhere, and those whale hunters, well they are not as careful as they should be.
> 
> Maybe we should move some whales to Syria, and let those Icelandic hunters fix the ME!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wait a minute, I thought we already put sanctions on Syria? not that it will do any good, but I thought it was done.
Click to expand...


I was implying how silly the sanction on Iceland must appear to the ME (who judge by strength and power).  How important can the sanctions on Iran or Syria be if simple whale hunters can be sanctioned?  What is next, santioning other countries that don't offer pink and yellow lemonaide at the restaurants?


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Have you seen the administration wants to impose sanctions??????  That country must be really "evil".  Oh wait, this administration wants to impose sanctions against.........................
> wait for it ....................
> wait for it ....................
> Iceland!
> 
> Yes, it appears hunting whales is far more damaging to this country than radical islam.  Be on guard, some "radical" whale hunter might be in your neighborhood with harpoons.  They try to "blend in", so be really careful, because you just never know when you could get harpooned.  Those whales go everywhere, and those whale hunters, well they are not as careful as they should be.
> 
> Maybe we should move some whales to Syria, and let those Icelandic hunters fix the ME!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Wait a minute, I thought we already put sanctions on Syria? not that it will do any good, but I thought it was done.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I was implying how silly the sanction on Iceland must appear to the ME (who judge by strength and power).  How important can the sanctions on Iran or Syria be if simple whale hunters can be sanctioned?  What is next, santioning other countries that don't offer pink and yellow lemonaide at the restaurants?
Click to expand...


To be honest I think sanctions are a joke anyways, sanctions never hurt the people who run those countries anyways, we had sanctions on Saddam for 12 years and he was still eating lobster and steak and building milliond dollar mansions. We have had sanctions on Iran for decades and their leaders are still living like Kings, sanctions only effect the average Joes in those countries thats it, sanctions on Syria won't do a damn thing.


----------



## High_Gravity

New Loyalties and Old Feuds Collide in Syria








> HOMS, Syria  On the birth of his daughter this month, a young activist in this central city bestowed on her a name that had little resonance until not so long ago. Daraa, he called her, the namesake of the southern Syrian town where the antigovernment uprising began.
> 
> Syria is awash in such stories of solidarity these days, bridging traditional divides that have colored the countrys politics for generations. But far from disappearing, the old divisions of geography, class and, in particular, religious sect are deepening.
> 
> Syrians offer different explanations. Protesters blame the cynical manipulation of a government bent on divide and rule, and the government points to Islamist zealots seeking to impose a tyranny of the majority.
> 
> Which prevails  new loyalties born of revolution, or old rivalries entrenched in smaller identities  may decide the fate of Syrias four-month revolt.
> 
> Colliding along the front lines of the uprising, and especially here in Homs, these forces suggest a grim reality of the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad: the longer his government remains in power, the less chance Syria has to avoid civil strife, sectarian cleansing and the kind of communal violence that killed at least two dozen people in Homs last week. Unlike in Egypt, and despite the protesters hope and optimism, time is not necessarily on their side, a point that some of them admit.
> 
> If the government keeps playing the sectarian card, theyre going to get what they want, said Iyad, 27, the activist who named his daughter after the cradle of the uprising. If this regime lasts, theres absolutely going to be a civil war, absolutely.
> 
> That is not to say that anyone really knows what kind of state the protesters want. In Homs last week, pious activists debated the differences between an Islamic and civil state, both of which they said should rely on religious law. Minorities fear militant currents within the Sunni Muslim majority. Sunnis seethe at the injustice of living for decades under a state endowed with a remarkable capacity for violence and led by the Alawite minority, a heterodox Muslim sect. Even some activists celebrating the unity that the revolt has brought warn that repression is breeding strife.
> 
> The government is going to push us in the direction of violence, said a former Republican Guard officer who has joined the ranks of protesters in Homs, Syrias third-largest city, with a Sunni majority and Alawite minority. A lot of guys think its almost over, but I dont. The situation, very regrettably, is going to become a crisis, by which he meant bloodshed.
> 
> As was the case in Iraq, a sectarian lens is often unfairly imposed on Syrias diversity, with its sizable communities of Christians, Alawites and ethnic Kurds. Other divisions are no less pronounced  between cities like Damascus and Aleppo, among classes, between the countryside and urban areas and within extended clans, especially in eastern Syria. Residents of Hama said they long felt discriminated against, especially in the military, which carried out a brutal crackdown there in 1982. Hama and Homs were traditional rivals in central Syria.
> 
> These days, chants ring out in protests that suggest a growing sense of nationalism, often reinforced by virtual communities that disseminate information.
> 
> At the Khalid bin Walid mosque, a center of dissent in Homs, protesters chant, With our souls and blood, we sacrifice for you, Daraa. Solidarity with Homs, the scene of a persistent crackdown, is heard in Hama, where activists say they have sometimes traveled back and forth in an effort to build what one activist called a culture of protest.
> 
> This is the beauty of the revolution, said Ahmed, a 28-year-old smuggler and protester, sitting with others in a safe house near Homs. He didnt know him, he didnt know him and he didnt know him before the protests, he said, pointing to his friends. This is the result of the regimes oppression. Now were ready to defend each other.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/25/world/middleeast/25syria.html?src=me&ref=world


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Troops Kill 8 Near Damascus: Rights Group 








> BEIRUT -- A human rights group says Syrian security forces have killed eight people in an attack on a Damascus suburb.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says residents of the southern Kanaker suburb tried to stop the advancing troops by throwing stones and closing roads with burning tires.
> 
> The group says Wednesday's raid also wounded a number of people who are being treated in mosques. It says the raid occurred after electricity and telephones were cut off in the area.
> 
> President Bashar Assad's regime has unleashed a brutal crackdown on the four-month-old uprising. Activists say more than 1,600 people have been killed. The government blames the unrest on terrorists and foreign extremists.
> 
> THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
> 
> BEIRUT (AP)  Syria's state-run news agency says the government has endorsed draft legislation that would enable newly formed political parties to run for parliament and local councils.
> 
> The move is part of President Bashar Assad's promised reforms aimed at ending a four-month-old uprising against his rule. Protest leaders say they won't accept anything short of Assad's ouster.
> 
> The SANA news agency reported Wednesday that draft was approved by the Cabinet late Tuesday and will have to go before parliament where approval is likely. Assad's Arab Socialist Baath Party has been in control of parliament for four decades.
> 
> The Cabinet earlier paved the way for the formation of political parties.



Syrian Troops Kill 8 Near Damascus: Rights Group


----------



## High_Gravity

Ibrahim Qashoush, Syria Protest Songwriter, Gruesomely Killed 








> BEIRUT -- Ibrahim Qashoush's lyrics moved thousands of protesters in Syria who sang his jaunty verses at rallies, telling President Bashar Assad, "Time to leave." So when his body was dumped in the river flowing through his hometown, his killers added an obvious message: His throat was carved out.
> 
> Qashoush's slaying underlines how brutal Syria's turmoil has become as authorities try to crush a persistent uprising. His fellow activists are convinced he was killed by security forces and fear it could mark a new campaign to liquidate protest leaders.
> 
> An estimated 1,600 civilians have died in the crackdown on the largely peaceful protests that have been raging around Syria for more than four months, most from shootings by troops on anti-Bashar rallies. Qashoush's case was a rare, targeted killing of a prominent activist  made more chilling by the clear intention to send a bloody message.
> 
> The 42-year-old Qashoush, a father of three boys, was a fireman in the central Syrian city of Hama who wrote poetry in his spare time, said a close friend, Saleh Abu Yaman. Before the uprising began in mid-March, he'd write about love or hard economic times.
> 
> "All the poems and songs he wrote were by instinct. He used to be sitting with his friends and then start reciting a poem," Abu Yaman said.
> 
> But once the protests erupted and spread, Qashoush turned his pen to the uprising. Hama became one of the hottest centers of the demonstrations. In early June, security forces shot dead 65 people there, and since than it has fallen out of government control, with protesters holding the streets and government forces ringing it, conducting overnight raids into the city.
> 
> The hometown son's star rose with the city. At nearly every protest, the crowds were singing his most popular lyric, "Come on, Bashar, time to leave." It was put to a bouncy tune, and his poems rang with a down-to-earth, jokey
> 
> "Screw you, Bashar, and screw those who salute you. Come on, Bashar, time to leave!" hundreds of thousands sang behind a singer on stage in Hama's central Assi Square during a rally at the beginning of the month. "Freedom is at our doors. Come on, Bashar, time to leave!"
> 
> Two days later, on July 3, Qashoush disappeared.
> 
> Abu Yaman says he was told by witnesses that Qashoush was walking to work in central Hama when a white vehicle stopped, several men jumped out and muscled him into the car. They then sped away.
> 
> "We immediately knew he was captured by security agents," Abu Yaman told The Associated Press.
> 
> Early the next day, residents found his body in the Orontes River, which cuts through Hama. His throat had been cut away. YouTube footage of his body shows him being put on a bed, his head flopping loosely to show a gaping, bloody wound on the front of his neck where his throat used to be.
> 
> "This is a purely criminal act," said Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, which track the protests in Syria. "They executed him."
> 
> Repeated calls to Qashoush's home by the AP were unanswered over the past days. It is nearly impossible to independently verify the claims on either side of the conflict in Syria, where the government has banned most foreign journalists and restricts coverage by reporters inside the country.



Ibrahim Qashoush, Syria Protest Songwriter, Gruesomely Killed


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Uprising Leaves 3,000 People Missing: Report 









> BEIRUT  A global campaigning organization said Thursday that one person disappears in Syria every hour and that almost 3,000 people have gone missing since the start of the uprising against President Bashar Assad more than four months ago.
> 
> The online activist group Avaaz.org said its investigation has identified 2,918 Syrians who were arrested or abducted by force by security troops and whose whereabouts are now unknown.
> 
> The group published the results of its probe in a statement, which was e-mailed to The Associated Press. It also kicked off a campaign called "Save Syria's Disappeared" on its website Thursday.
> 
> "Hour by hour, peaceful protesters are plucked from crowds by Syria's infamously brutal security forces, never to be seen again," said Ricken Patel, executive director at Avaaz.
> 
> The group called on the international community to step up demands for the release of the disappeared and for a transition to democracy in Syria.
> 
> Syrian activists say more than 1,600 people  most of them unarmed protesters  have been killed by security forces since the revolt against Assad's rule erupted in mid-March.
> 
> Although the uprising began with calls for reform, the steadily climbing death toll and slow pace of reform has enraged the protesters' movement. Now, many of them say they won't accept anything short of Assad's ouster.
> 
> Avaaz said it has identified 1,634 who were killed in the crackdown since March 15. Moreover, 26,000 have been arrested, and many of them were beaten and tortured. Some 12,617 are still in detention, the group said.
> 
> It said it worked with Syrian human rights organizations to document the names and photos of each disappeared case.
> 
> Assad has tried to deal with the extraordinary revolt against his family's 40-year dynasty through a security crackdown, but has also acknowledged the need for reform. He has lifted the decades-old state of emergency laws and this week endorsed draft legislation that would enable newly formed political parties to run for parliament and local councils.
> 
> The government also endorsed a draft law that it says will allow the formation of political parties alongside the Baath Party  something that had been a key demand of the protest movement.
> 
> Still, opposition figures dismissed the moves as maneuvering tactics, insisting they want regime change.
> 
> A group of government opponents known as the Change in Syria Conference on Thursday said the moves were "desperate attempts at cosmetic change," coming from a regime that has lost national legitimacy.
> 
> "The regime's attempts to blunt international pressures through these two draft bills and others will not help and will not turn back the clock," the group said in a statement.
> 
> The military crackdown continued this week, with Syrian troops opening fire Wednesday on scores of people in the Damascus suburb of Kanaker, killing at least eight people.
> 
> On Thursday, some 400 security members deployed at the city's entrance as people prepared to bury the dead, activists said.
> 
> Also Thursday, security forces swept through the Barzeh neighborhood of Damascus, raiding homes and arresting more than a 100 people, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.



Syria Uprising Leaves 3,000 People Missing: Report


----------



## High_Gravity

Hama Shelling Reported By Activists In Besieged Syrian City 








> BEIRUT  Tanks took over a main square in the besieged Syrian city of Hama and electricity and telephone phone lines were cut off Wednesday as President Bashar Assad's regime showed no signs of halting the intense military assault against an uprising now in its fifth month, activists said.
> 
> At least three tanks took up position in Hama's central Assi square, which had been thronged by hundreds of thousands of anti-regime protesters in the weeks before the latest crackdown in some the largest demonstrations against Assad's rule.
> 
> For the past four days, Syrian troops have tightened their siege on Hama, sending residents fleeing for their lives. The death toll since Sunday has reached around 100 people, but the exact figure is difficult to verify, according to activists.
> 
> Activists reported a new military push into the city early Wednesday, with fresh explosions and machine gun fire heard in many parts of the city.
> 
> "We are being subjected to shelling, machine gun fire, snipers fire, everything you can think of," said activist Omar al-Hamawi.
> 
> Electricity and telephone lines were cut Wednesday morning but mobile phone lines appeared to have been partially restored by early afternoon.
> 
> Al-Hamawy, reached by phone, said the shelling was mostly targeting al-Hader neighborhood. He said sporadic tank and gunfire was also heard in various other parts of the city. He spoke briefly saying he had to save his phone battery to call and check on relatives.
> 
> Telephone calls to other activists and Hama residents were not going through.
> 
> "Early this morning people heard the sound of bombs," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "Then the phone lines were cut."
> 
> He says residents on the outskirts of Hama reported seeing lines of tanks heading toward the city early in the day, and the blasts were heard soon after.
> 
> The observatory relies on a network of sources on the ground throughout Syria.
> 
> The Hama operation has drawn a fresh wave of international condemnation against a regime defying the growing calls to end its crackdown on anti-government protesters.
> 
> Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton on Tuesday met with U.S.-based Syrian democracy activists as the Obama administration weighed new sanctions on Syria. Congressional calls also mounted for action against Assad's regime.
> 
> Italy recalled Tuesday its ambassador to Syria "in the face of the horrible repression against the civil population" by the government, which launched a new push against protesters as the Muslim holy month of Ramadan began Monday.
> 
> It was the first European Union country to pull its ambassador, and the measure came a day after the EU tightened sanctions on Syria.
> 
> The mounting international outcry has had no apparent effect so far in Syria, an autocratic country that relies on Iran as a main ally in the region.
> 
> About 1,700 civilians have been killed since the largely peaceful protests against Assad's regime began in mid- March, according to tallies by activists.
> 
> Syria has banned independent media coverage and has prevented most foreign journalists from entering the country, preventing independent assessments of the events.
> 
> Hama, the focus of the crackdown, has a history of defiance.



Hama Shelling Reported By Activists In Besieged Syrian City


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Hama Siege: 'People Are Being Slaughtered Like Sheep' 








> BEIRUT -- Gunmen in plainclothes are randomly shooting people in the streets of the besieged Syrian city of Hama and families are burying their loved ones in gardens at home for fear of being killed themselves if they venture out to cemeteries, a resident said Thursday.
> 
> Military forces on Sunday launched an offensive against anti-government dissent in Hama and at least 100 people have been killed since, according to human rights groups. Phones, Internet and electricity have been cut or severely hampered for days. The resident told The Associated Press people are being forced to ration food and share bread to get by during the holy month of Ramadan, when many Muslims fast from dawn to dusk then celebrate with large, festive meals after sundown.
> 
> "People are being slaughtered like sheep while walking in the street," said the resident, who spoke by phone on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals. "I saw with my own eyes one young boy on a motorcycle who was carrying vegetables being run over by a tank." He said he left Hama briefly through side roads to smuggle in food supplies.
> 
> The resident said around 250 people have been killed since Sunday. Hozan Ibrahim, of the Local Coordination Committees which tracks the crackdown on protesters, said up to 30 people may have been killed in Hama Wednesday only based on reports from fleeing residents. But neither of those numbers could be immediately verified.
> 
> Families have resorted to burying their loved ones in home gardens or roadside pits "because we fear that if we go to the cemetery, we will end up buried along with them," the resident said.
> 
> He said the army and pro-government gunmen known as "shabiha" have been shooting randomly at people and keeping food supplies from entering the city. He said he knew they are allied with the military because they sometimes walk behind soldiers and talk to them.
> 
> Activists have expressed concern about worsening humanitarian conditions in Hama, saying medical supplies and bread were in short supply even before the latest siege. Phones and Internet in Hama have been cut or severely hampered for at least two days. Electricity has been out or sporadic since Sunday.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the London-based Observatory for Human Rights, said some 1,000 families have fled Hama in the past two days, most of them to the village of Mashtal Hilu west of Hama and al-Salamieh to the east.
> 
> The siege of Hama is part of a new government offensive to put down the country's uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule. Now in its fifth month, the protests have been gaining momentum in defiance of the military crackdown.
> 
> Hama, a city of 800,000 with a history of dissent, had fallen largely out of government control since June as residents turned on the regime and blockaded the streets against encroaching tanks. But Syrian security forces backed by tanks and snipers launched a ferocious military offensive that left corpses in streets Sunday and sent residents fleeing for their lives, according to residents.
> 
> In 1982, Assad's father, Hafez Assad, ordered the military to quell a rebellion by Syrian members of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood movement there. Hama was sealed off and bombs dropped from above smashed swaths of the city and killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights groups say.
> 
> In other parts of Syria, security forces killed at least seven protesters overnight when they went out to demonstrate after special nighttime prayers for the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, activists said.



Syria Hama Siege: 'People Are Being Slaughtered Like Sheep'


----------



## logical4u

I saw headlines that they are leaving the dead lay in the streets.  What a "loving" culture.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Protests: Hama Shelled By Tanks 



> BEIRUT -- Syria's government proclaimed Friday that it was succeeding in crushing the uprising in the city of Hama, the epicenter of anti-regime protests, showing TV images of burned buildings and rubble-strewn streets. Under a suffocating siege, residents of the city warned that medical supplies were running out and food rotting after six days without electricity.
> 
> Across the country, tens of thousands of protesters marched through cities, chanting their solidarity with Hama and demanding the ouster of President Bashar Assad. They were met by security forces who opened fire, killing at least 13 people, activists said.
> 
> Their numbers were lower than previous Fridays, when hundreds of thousands nationwide turned out for protests  likely because this was the first Friday in the holy month of Ramadan, when Muslims fast from dawn until dusk and go outside less, particularly in the summer heat. That could augur disappointment for protest leaders, who had hoped to escalate the uprising during the month and even mark a turning point in the quest to topple the 40-year Assad family dynasty's rule.
> 
> Government forces began their siege on Hama on Sunday, cutting off electricity, phone services and internet and blocking supplies into the city of 800,000 as they shelled neighborhoods and sent in ground raids. It appeared to be an all-out attempt to take back the city  which has a history of dissent  after residents all but took over, barricading it against the regime. Rights group say at least 100 people have been killed so far while some estimates have put the number as high as 250.
> 
> The tolls could not be verified because of the difficulty reaching residents and hospital officials in the besieged city, where journalists are barred as they are throughout Syria.
> 
> Tanks shelled residential districts starting around 4 a.m. Friday, just as people were beginning their daily fast  mirroring a round of bombardment the evening before at sunset when they were breaking the fast, one resident told The Associated Press.
> 
> "If people get wounded, it is almost impossible to take them to hospital," the resident said by telephone, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation.
> 
> Syrian state media on Friday proclaimed that army units are "working to restore security, stability and normal life to Hama" after it was taken over by "terrorists."
> 
> For the first time since the siege began, government-run TV and the state news agency aired images of ravaged streets in the city, strewn with debris, damaged vehicles and makeshift barricades set up by protesters. One image showed a yellow taxi with a dead man in the driver's seat and bloodstains on the door. A tank cleared away a large cement barrier and a bus with shattered windows.
> 
> There were no reports of protests in the city during the day Friday  a contrast to previous weeks when hundreds of thousands in the city participated in the biggest marches in the country.
> 
> A citizen journalist from Hama working with Avaaz, an online global activist group with a network of activists inside Syria, told AP that people were now too afraid to go to the mosques, which were being targeted by the military.
> 
> The man who identified himself as Sami described the humanitarian situation as "catastrophic." Everything was closed, including bakeries and pharmacies, he said.
> 
> "There are sick people, people with diabetes who have run out of insulin ... the food has spoiled because there's no electricity," he said. "You cannot imagine how tired and terrified people are," he said.
> 
> Hama has seen government crackdowns before. In 1982, Assad's father, Hafez Assad, ordered the military to quell a rebellion by Syrian members of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood movement there. Hama was sealed off and bombs dropped from above smashed swaths of the city and killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people, rights groups say.
> 
> Although there has been a near-total communications blackout in Hama, witnesses have painted a grim picture of life in the city. "People are being slaughtered like sheep while walking in the street," a resident said Thursday, speaking by phone on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> There were also fears of an intensified assault on a second city, the oil center of Deir el-Zour in the east, where tanks have been deployed at entrances since earlier this week. Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the London-based Observatory for Human Rights in Syria, said a quarter of the city's population of 600,000 have fled recently.
> 
> Friday has become the main day for protests in Syria, despite the near-certainty that tanks and snipers will respond with deadly force. Protests on Friday spread from the capital, Damascus, to the southern province of Daraa, the central city of Homs and in Qamishli, near the Turkish border. Some 20,000 people protested in Deir el-Zour, lower than the hundreds of thousands of previous weeks, likely due to the flight of a large part of the population.



Syrian Protests: Hama Shelled By Tanks


----------



## rhodescholar

Where is that prick, spineless empty-suit "president" we have? 

It is like 1938 all over again - we have a chance to stop a holocaust, and this awful, fake regime right here in the US remains silent while thousands are arrested, tortured, and killed. 

Is this how one "earns" a nobel prize - sit silently, doing NOTHING? Has obama no shame, no humanity? 

What kind of person, let alone leader of the free world, remains completely invisible while the tanks of the ass-ad criminal dictatorship machine gun and shell unarmed civilians? What is he waiting for?


----------



## logical4u

rhodescholar said:


> Where is that prick, spineless empty-suit "president" we have?
> 
> It is like 1938 all over again - we have a chance to stop a holocaust, and this awful, fake regime right here in the US remains silent while thousands are arrested, tortured, and killed.
> 
> Is this how one "earns" a nobel prize - sit silently, doing NOTHING? Has obama no shame, no humanity?
> 
> What kind of person, let alone leader of the free world, remains completely invisible while the tanks of the ass-ad criminal dictatorship machine gun and shell unarmed civilians? What is he waiting for?



Hey, leave him alone, he has an undocumented birthday to celebrate!


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> Where is that prick, spineless empty-suit "president" we have?
> 
> It is like 1938 all over again - we have a chance to stop a holocaust, and this awful, fake regime right here in the US remains silent while thousands are arrested, tortured, and killed.
> 
> Is this how one "earns" a nobel prize - sit silently, doing NOTHING? Has obama no shame, no humanity?
> 
> What kind of person, let alone leader of the free world, remains completely invisible while the tanks of the ass-ad criminal dictatorship machine gun and shell unarmed civilians? What is he waiting for?



So what do you suppose we do? we have our hands full in Iraq, Afghanistan not to mention bombing the pants off of the Libyans. We already have sanctions in place on Syria even though I do admit sanctions are pretty much useless against the people running the country, do you suggest we send troops in Syria, or bomb the shit out of it? I am heavily against both of these options.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Defense Minister Reportedly Replaced 



> BEIRUT -- Syria's defense minister was replaced Monday by the army chief of staff in the midst of a brutal military crackdown on a 5-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad, the state-run news agency said.
> 
> The SANA report said Gen. Ali Habib, the country's defense minister since 2009, was removed because of health problems. Assad appointed Gen. Dawoud Rajha as the new defense minister as part of a shake-up of a number of key posts, SANA said.
> 
> The army has played a key role in the crackdown on protesters, along with the security services and armed thugs known as shabiha. On Monday, the military renewed its assault on Deir el-Zour, unleashing artillery fire the eastern town, a day after at least 42 people were killed there.
> 
> The intensifying government crackdown has drawn sharp condemnation from abroad, and Arab nations joined the growing international chorus against Assad's regime Monday, with Bahrain, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia pulling out their ambassadors.
> 
> The international community has imposed sanctions and demanded an immediate end to the attacks. France and Germany renewed their condemnation Monday.
> 
> But in a sign of growing outrage, Syria's Arab neighbors joined the mounting criticism, voicing their concerns about a crackdown that intensified on the eve of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan  a time of introspection and piety characterized by a dawn-to-dusk fast.
> 
> Late Sunday, Saudi Arabia's king  whose country does not tolerate dissent and lent its military troops to repress anti-government protests in neighboring Bahrain  said he was recalling his ambassador in Damascus for consultations, and demanded "an end to the killing machine and bloodshed."
> 
> "Any sane Arab, Muslim or anyone else knows that this has nothing to do with religion, or ethics or morals; spilling the blood of the innocent for any reasons or pretext leads to no path," King Abdullah said in a statement.
> 
> Bahrain, a U.S. ally that hosts the Navy's 5th Fleet, recalled its ambassador to Syria "for consultation," Foreign Minister Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa announced on his official Twitter feed Monday. Bahraini officials couldn't immediately be reached for further comment.
> 
> Bahrain has faced the Gulf's largest uprisings since the start of the Arab Spring. Its larger Gulf neighbors, led by Saudi Arabia, sent in additional security forces to help Bahraini authorities put down widespread street protests under special emergency powers earlier this year.
> 
> Kuwait also recalled its ambassador to Syria, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheik Mohammad Sabah al-Salem Al Sabah said in a brief statement carried by the state news agency KUNA. He said Gulf foreign ministers planned to meet soon to discuss the situation in Syria.
> 
> In Deir el-Zour, about 280 miles (450 kilometers) east of the capital Damascus, machine-gun fire and artillery blasts resumed early Monday, according to the Local Coordinating Committees, which help organize the protests and track the uprising.
> 
> Deir el-Zour is in an oil-rich but largely impoverished region of Syria known for its well-armed clans and tribes whose ties extend across eastern Syrian and into Iraq. At least 42 people were killed Sunday in a pre-dawn raid, said Abdul-Karim Rihawi, the Damascus-based chief of the Syrian Human Rights League, and Ammar Qurabi, who heads the National Organization for Human Rights in Syria.
> 
> Syrian troops also stormed Maaret al-Numan in the northern province of Idlib at dawn, activists said.
> 
> "Forces entered the city from its eastern side and they are preventing the residents from entering or leaving the city," the LCC said in a statement.
> 
> More than 300 people have died in the past week, the bloodiest in the five-month uprising against Assad's authoritarian rule.
> 
> The government crackdown on mostly peaceful, unarmed protesters demanding political reforms and an end to the Assad family's 40-year rule has left more than 1,700 dead since March, according to activists and human rights groups. Assad's regime disputes the toll and blames a foreign conspiracy for the unrest, which at times has brought hundreds of thousands of protesters into the streets.



Syria Defense Minister Reportedly Replaced


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> So what do you suppose we do? we have our hands full in Iraq, Afghanistan not to mention bombing the pants off of the Libyans. We already have sanctions in place on Syria even though I do admit sanctions are pretty much useless against the people running the country, do you suggest we send troops in Syria, or bomb the shit out of it? I am heavily against both of these options.



NATO, with Turkey leading the way due to its proximity, historical ties to syria, etc., should bomb all military assets of the regime including weapons depots, tanks, aircraft, air force bases, etc., until their ability to conduct war against the civilian population is terminated.

There is no other option to save thousands more syrian lives.


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> So what do you suppose we do? we have our hands full in Iraq, Afghanistan not to mention bombing the pants off of the Libyans. We already have sanctions in place on Syria even though I do admit sanctions are pretty much useless against the people running the country, do you suggest we send troops in Syria, or bomb the shit out of it? I am heavily against both of these options.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NATO, with Turkey leading the way due to its proximity, historical ties to syria, etc., should bomb all military assets of the regime including weapons depots, tanks, aircraft, air force bases, etc., until their ability to conduct war against the civilian population is terminated.
> 
> There is no other option to save thousands more syrian lives.
Click to expand...


NATO is already coming up short in Libya and has a stalemate going on there, do you think they would fair any better in Syria? NATO could barely even admit they want Gaddafi gone.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests Descend Into War Of Attrition 









> BEIRUT -- Despite five months of blistering attacks on dissent, the Syrian regime has yet to score a decisive victory against a pro-democracy uprising determined to bring down the country's brutal dictatorship.
> 
> President Bashar Assad still has the military muscle to level pockets of resistance, but the conflict has robbed him of almost all international support.
> 
> Even Saudi Arabia this week called for an end to the bloodshed in Syria, the first of several Arab nations to join the growing chorus against Assad.
> 
> The Syrian leader is being watched carefully at home and abroad to see how long his iron regime  which is still strong but wobbling  will continue to use tanks, snipers and security forces on hundreds of thousands of fervent, overwhelmingly young protesters who keep coming back for more.
> 
> "Syria is not burying the revolution," said Nabil Bou Monsef, a senior analyst at the Arabic-language An-Nahar newspaper. "Protests are resuming everywhere, even in areas that were subject to crackdowns."
> 
> He added: "It is difficult for one of the sides to win. Syria has entered a war of attrition between the regime and the opposition."
> 
> There is little to stop Assad from calling upon the scorched-earth tactics that have kept his family in power for more than 40 years. A longtime pariah, Syria grew accustomed to shrugging off the world's reproach long before the regime started shooting unarmed protesters five months ago.
> 
> A military intervention has been all but ruled out, given the quagmire in Libya and the lack of any strong opposition leader in Syria to rally behind. The U.S. and other nations have little power to threaten further isolation or economic punishment of Assad's pro-Iranian regime  unlike in Egypt, where President Barack Obama was able to help usher longtime ally Hosni Mubarak out of power.
> 
> International sanctions, some of which target Assad personally, have failed to persuade him to ease his crackdown. There had been hopes, since dashed, that European Union sanctions would prove a humiliating personal blow to Assad, a 45-year-old eye doctor who trained in Britain.
> 
> Until the uprising began, Assad had cultivated an image as a modern leader in a region dominated by aging dictators. He was seen around Damascus with his glamorous wife, Asma, who grew up in London and was the subject of a glowing profile in Vogue just before the protests erupted. The couple's three small children added to their luster as youthful and energetic.
> 
> But the relentless military assaults on rebellious towns have only grown more deadly. The latest wave of bloodshed started a week ago, on the eve of the holy month of Ramadan, when tanks and snipers laid siege to Hama, a city in central Syria that had largely freed itself from government control earlier this year.
> 
> Residents were left cowering in their homes, too terrified to peek through the windows. The city is haunted by memories of the regime's tactics: In 1982, Assad's father and predecessor, Hafez, ordered the military to quell a rebellion by Syrian members of the conservative Muslim Brotherhood movement there, sealing off the city in an assault that killed between 10,000 and 25,000 people.
> 
> Since the start of Ramadan, more than 300 people have been killed in cities including Hama and Deir el-Zour, an oil-rich but largely impoverished region known for its well-armed clans and tribes whose ties extend across eastern Syria and into Iraq.



Syria Protests Descend Into War Of Attrition


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> NATO is already coming up short in Libya and has a stalemate going on there, do you think they would fair any better in Syria? NATO could barely even admit they want Gaddafi gone.



And you think their effort in Libya is serious?  Obama backed out of it as fast as that spineless toad could.

Had the US kept the major bombing campaign up, ghadafi would have been gone in a few days, if that.

The regime in syria needs to be removed, asap.  The only thing propping it up is iranian loaned murderous thugs, russian cynicism for its soviet-era client and russia's desire to keep the few remaining friends it has, with access to its submarine base intact.


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> NATO is already coming up short in Libya and has a stalemate going on there, do you think they would fair any better in Syria? NATO could barely even admit they want Gaddafi gone.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And you think their effort in Libya is serious?  Obama backed out of it as fast as that spineless toad could.
> 
> Had the US kept the major bombing campaign up, ghadafi would have been gone in a few days, if that.
> 
> The regime in syria needs to be removed, asap.  The only thing propping it up is iranian loaned murderous thugs, russian cynicism for its soviet-era client and russia's desire to keep the few remaining friends it has, with access to its submarine base intact.
Click to expand...


Assad is an asshole and the regime definently needs to be removed but who will take his place? Syria is a country teeming with Islamic Militants just waiting for their day in the sun, like I said Assad is a fuckin toad but with him we know what we are getting and he has kept the peace with Israel for the most part, if the Syrian regime collapses god knows what will rise up and take control of that country, if we learned anything from Iraq its better the devil you know than the devil you don't.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests: Turkey Talks To Assad Regime About Ending Violence 








> BEIRUT  Turkey's foreign minister said he met President Bashar Assad for more than six hours on Tuesday to discuss "concrete steps" Syria should take to stop its violent crackdown on anti-government protesters.
> 
> Meanwhile, the Syrian army launched a series of new raids around the country, which activists said killed 22 people.
> 
> Ahmet Davutoglu, speaking to reporters on his return to Turkey from Damascus, said the talks were cordial but did not say what steps they had discussed or whether Assad had agreed to consider them.
> 
> "We discussed ways to prevent confrontation between the army and the people in the most open and clear way," the Turkish foreign minister said.
> 
> Assad is facing growing international condemnation over the regime's deadly crackdown on a 5-month-old uprising. Envoys from India, Brazil and South Africa are also headed to Damascus to press for an end to the violence.
> 
> The visit by Davutoglu is significant because Ankara until recently had close ties to Damascus. But Turkey has become increasingly critical of its neighbor over the bloodshed.
> 
> Syria's state-run SANA news agency said Assad told Davutoglu the Syrian government will be relentless in its pursuit of "terrorist groups" to safeguard stability and security in the country. Syrian authorities blame the unrest on extremist and terrorist groups seeking to destabilize the country, as opposed to true-reform seekers. But the protesters being killed are mostly unarmed and peaceful.
> 
> SANA said Assad also pledged to press ahead with reforms. But promises reform have rung hollow, especially since they have been coupled with a bloody campaign against civilians.
> 
> Human rights groups said Tuesday that at least 22 people, including several children, were killed across Syria Tuesday.
> 
> Tanks stormed villages outside the besieged city of Hama and two towns in Idlib province, which borders Turkey, activists said.
> 
> A rights activist near Hama said military operations in the town of Tibet el-Imam just north of the city killed at least five children, four of them from the same family.
> 
> "They were playing in the fields when they were struck by gunfire," the activist said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> There was heavy machine-gun fire and reports of at least three deaths in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, which also has been a flashpoint in recent days. Four people were also killed in the town of Binnish in the north, and several others in the central city of Homs.
> 
> The reports were confirmed by the activist network the Local Coordination Committees and the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> 
> The LCC said a total of eight children were killed across the country Tuesday.
> 
> Syria has blocked nearly all outside witnesses to the violence by banning foreign media and restricting local coverage that strays from the party line that the regime is fighting thugs and religious extremists who are acting out a foreign conspiracy.
> 
> In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner lauded Davutoglu's visit and said Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton had spoken with the Turkish foreign minister.
> 
> "They did talk about the situation in Syria, you know, and we believe it's another opportunity to send yet another strong message to Assad that this crackdown on peaceful protesters cannot stand," Toner said Monday.
> 
> Egypt's Foreign Minister Mohammed Amr joined Arab countries in warning Damascus, saying: "The situation in Syria is heading to the point of no return." In a news conference in Cairo Tuesday, Amr urged Syrian government to carry out nationwide reforms and ending the crackdown.



Syria Protests: Turkey Talks To Assad Regime About Ending Violence


----------



## logical4u

Looks like the "Arab Spring" is turning into the world-wide summer.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests: Saraqeb Stormed By Army, Activists Say 








> BEIRUT  The Syrian army stormed a northwestern town near Turkey's border on Thursday, a day after authorities declared the military pulled out of the region, activists said.
> 
> The early morning assault on Saraqeb reflected the determination of President Bashar Assad to crush the five-month old uprising despite mounting international condemnation. The U.S. imposed new sanctions on Wednesday, and a flurry of foreign diplomats have rolled through Damascus urging Assad to end a campaign of killing that rights groups say has left about 1,700 dead since mid-March.
> 
> The attack on the town is particularly noteworthy because it sits in a province bordering Turkey. The area has witnessed intense protests against Assad's regime, forcing hundreds of Syrians to flee across the border. Turkey's foreign minister on Wednesday, a day after meeting with Assad, renewed his condemnation of the attacks.
> 
> In the latest incursion, troops stormed Saraqeb and detained at least 100 people, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Explosions and gunfire reverberated through the area after the army rolled in, said the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group that helps organize and document the protests.
> 
> The military action came a day after the information ministry ferried local journalists to Idlib, the province in which Saraqeb sits. A senior army officer told reporters that troops were withdrawing to their barracks, leaving residential districts in the province's cities.
> 
> On the same day, Syrian security forces shot dead at least 15 people in the central flashpoint city of Homs, according to the LCC.
> 
> The government justified its attacks on various cities by saying it was dealing with terrorist gangs and criminals who were fomenting unrest.
> 
> The uprising was inspired by the revolutions and calls for reform sweeping the Arab world, and activists and rights groups say most of those killed have been unarmed civilians. An aggressive new military offensive that began with the Ramadan at the start of the month killed several hundred people in just one week.
> 
> The London-based observatory said authorities on Wednesday night detained opposition figure Hassan Zahra during a raid in a Damascus suburb. Zahra, a 67-year-old member of the Communist Action Front, was detained at least once since the uprising began, it said.
> 
> International condemnation over the crackdown has been strong, and growing more forceful.



Syria Protests: Saraqeb Stormed By Army, Activists Say


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests: Troops Reportedly Open Fire On Thousands Of Protesters In Deir El-Zour 








> BEIRUT  Syrian soldiers opened fire on protesters in at least one flashpoint city and deployed across the country Friday as President Bashar Assad's embattled regime tries to crush a 5-month-old uprising despite broad international condemnation.
> 
> Activists said military raids earlier in the day killed two people.
> 
> Friday has become the main day for demonstrations in Syria, despite the near-certainty of a government crackdown with bullets and tear gas.
> 
> Syrian troops opened fire on thousands of protesters in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour after Friday prayers in two mosques, according to two main activist groups.
> 
> There was no immediate word on casualties in Deir el-Zour. But activists said Syrian troops killed two people during raids in the northern Idlib province and the suburbs of the capital, Damascus.
> 
> The protest in Deir el-Zour was significant because government forces took control of the city, along with Hama in central Syria, during deadly military assaults this week. Both cities had seen some of the largest protests in recent weeks before the government unleashed tanks and sniper to put down the revolts.
> 
> In Hama, Syrian troops surrounded mosques and set up checkpoints to head off any protests.
> 
> "There are security checkpoints every 200 meters (655 feet), they have lists and they're searching people... the mosques are surrounded by soldiers," a Hama-based activist told The Associated Press by telephone, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> He said tens of soldiers were stationed in the Assi square in Hama, which had been the main converging point for hundreds of thousands of protesters in recent weeks. Snipers were stationed on rooftops.
> 
> Syria has banned most foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it impossible to get independent confirmation of the events on the ground. The government has justified its crackdown by saying it was dealing with terrorist gangs and criminals who were fomenting unrest.
> 
> The military offensive reflects Assad's determination to crush the uprising against his rule despite mounting international condemnation, including U.S. and European sanctions.
> 
> In Washington, presidential spokesman Jay Carney stopped just short of calling for Assad's ouster, saying that Syria "would be a much better place without him."
> 
> "We believe that President Assad's opportunity to lead the transition has passed," Carney told reporters traveling on Air Force One with President Barack Obama to Michigan.
> 
> On Friday, Syrian activists said troops and tanks stormed the town of Khan Sheikhon in the northern province of Idlib amid heavy gunfire that killed one woman.
> 
> The raid is part of a military operation in the restive area near the Turkish border in the past few days. Intense protests in the region triggered a harsh government response in June and forced thousands of Syrians to flee across the border to Turkey.
> 
> Many of those who fled are still living in several refugee camps across the border.
> 
> A flurry of foreign diplomats have rolled through Damascus urging Assad to end a campaign of killing that rights groups say has left about 1,700 civilians dead since mid-March.
> 
> But Assad has brushed off the reproach. In a continuing nationwide campaign of arrests, Syrian activists said security forces detained Abdul-Karim Rihawi, the Damascus-based head of the Syrian Human Rights League. A longtime rights activist, Rihawi had been tracking government violations and documenting deaths in Syria.



Syria Protests: Troops Reportedly Open Fire On Thousands Of Protesters In Deir El-Zour


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests: Troops Reportedly Fire At Fleeing Families In Latakia 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops besieged residential areas of two key cities Monday, firing on residents as they fled for safety and killing at least two people during broad military assaults to root out dissent against President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime, witnesses said.
> 
> Assad has dramatically escalated the crackdown on a 5-month-old uprising since the start of the holy month of Ramadan, a time of piety and reflection when many Muslims fast from dawn to dusk. Despite blistering international outrage, the regime is trying to establish firm control in rebellious areas by unleashing tanks, snipers and  in a new tactic  gunboats that fire from the sea.
> 
> The military assault in the port city of Latakia was in its third day Monday after gunboats joined ground troops Sunday for the first time in the uprising. Nearly 30 people, and possibly more, have been killed in the city since Saturday, activists say.
> 
> Soldiers also stormed the area of Houla in the central city of Homs, which has seen massive protests in recent months. A sniper killed an elderly man, according to the London-based Observatory for human rights, which has a network of activists on the ground in Syria.
> 
> The group said more than 700 people have been arrested in and around Homs since the beginning of August.
> 
> The regime has banned foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it difficult to verify accounts on the ground.
> 
> The attacks in Latakia, which started Saturday, were the latest wave of a brutal offensive that show Assad has no intention of scaling back despite international outrage and new U.S. and European sanctions.
> 
> As the gunships blasted waterfront districts Sunday, ground troops and security forces backed by tanks and armored vehicles stormed several neighborhoods, sending terrified women and children fleeing.
> 
> The Observatory said troops opened fire Monday as a group of fleeing residents approached a checkpoint in the Ein Tamra district of Latakia. One person was shot dead and five were wounded.
> 
> A Latakia resident confirmed the account, saying troops fired as scores of people, many of them women and children, were fleeing. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, an activist group that helps organize protests in Syria, also confirmed troops fired at fleeing families. It said random gunfire erupted Monday in addition to a campaign of raids and house-to-house arrests.
> 
> Troops later entered small neighborhoods in the al-Ramel Palestinian refugee camp, warning people to leave or risk their houses being destroyed, the LCC said. A witness said security forces were rounding up young men in the area and detaining them in a sports stadium nearby.
> 
> Amateur videos posted online by activists showed smoke rising from the al-Ramel district, the sound of heavy gunfire and people shouting, "God is Great!"
> 
> A Syrian military official on Monday denied as "absolutely baseless" reports that gunboats had fired on Latakia. The official, whose comments were carried by state-run news agency SANA, said the gunboats were patrolling the coast "on a routine mission to prevent weapons smuggling into the country."
> 
> On Sunday, SANA said troops were pursuing "gunmen using machine guns, hand grenades and bombs who have been terrorizing residents in the al-Ramel district."
> 
> The regime blames the unrest on a foreign conspiracy and often issues reports on its state-run media that contradict widespread witness accounts and video footage provided by witnesses.
> 
> The security forces appear to be intent on crushing dissent in Latakia, which has seen large anti-Assad protests since the Syrian uprising began in mid-March. On Friday, as many as 10,000 marched there, calling for the president's ouster.



Syria Protests: Troops Reportedly Fire At Fleeing Families In Latakia


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Dozens Detained In Overnight Raids 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops detained dozens of people in a Damascus neighborhood and the coastal city of Latakia in overnight raids as President Bashar Assad's regime tried to forcefully end a five-month uprising, activists said Wednesday.
> 
> The latest arrests came as Syrian neighbors Jordan and Turkey urged Damascus to stop the crackdown and pull out army troops from cities.
> 
> In the northwestern Idlib province, a bullet killed a man as he stood on his balcony, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of people on the ground. Troops were carrying out raids in the area at the time.
> 
> Earlier Wednesday, a woman died of her wounds two days after she was injured in Latakia, according to the observatory and The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group. The LCC said a man was killed in the city late Tuesday.
> 
> The Damascus raids concentrated in the predominantly Kurdish neighborhood of Rukneddine where dozens were detained after electricity was cut in the area, the observatory said. The area has witnessed intense anti-regime protests in the past weeks.
> 
> In Latakia, hundreds of security agents conducted house-to-house raids in the al-Ramel neighborhood, the observatory and LCC said. Al-Ramel is home to a crowded Palestinian refugee camp where many low-income Syrians also live.
> 
> The Mediterranean city had been subjected to a four-day military assault that left at least 37 people dead and forced thousands to flee their homes.
> 
> Amateur videos posted online showed Syrian soldiers in SUVs and pick-up trucks as they drove in a street apparently in Latakia. The troop were greeted in al-Ramel by Assad supporters chanting "our souls and our blood we sacrifice for you Bashar."
> 
> Another video showed a military helicopter flying over the coast.
> 
> The Associated Press could not verify the videos. Syria has banned most foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it impossible to get independent confirmation of the events on the ground.
> 
> Assad has dramatically escalated the crackdown on the uprising in August at the start of the holy month of Ramadan. Hundreds of people have been killed and thousands detained. Despite broad international condemnation, the regime has unleashed tanks, ground troops and snipers in an attempt to retake control in rebellious areas.
> 
> The military operations have targeted Latakia, the opposition stronghold of Hama, the central city of Homs, and the eastern city of Deir el-Zour.
> 
> The regime insists its crackdown is aimed at rooting out terrorists fomenting unrest in the country. But various human rights groups have accused Syrian troops of firing on largely unarmed protesters and say more than 1,800 civilians have been killed since the uprising erupted in mid-March.
> 
> The foreign ministers of Turkey and Jordan renewed their call on Damascus to immediately end its crackdown.
> 
> In a joint news conference held on the sidelines of an Islamic nations' meeting to discuss famine in Somalia, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said: "The bloodshed must stop, all soldiers must be withdrawn from the cities and life in these cities must return to normal."



Syria: Dozens Detained In Overnight Raids


----------



## High_Gravity

Obama: Syrian President Assad Must Step Down 



> After months of stepping gingerly around calls that he firmly reject the rule of Syrian President Bashar Assad, President Obama today joined other world leaders in demanding that Assad step down.
> 
> "The future of Syria must be determined by its people, but President Bashar al-Assad is standing in their way," Obama said in a statement this morning. "His calls for dialogue and reform have rung hollow while he is imprisoning, torturing and slaughtering his own people. We have consistently said that President Assad must lead a democratic transition or get out of the way. He has not led. For the sake of the Syrian people, the time has come for President Assad to step aside."
> 
> For the past several months, the Assad regime has launched military strikes against civilian protesters in a number of cities around the country as part of an effort to crush an anti-regime uprising. Thousands of civilians have been reportedly killed in the process.
> 
> Obama was joined by half a dozen other world leaders who released simultaneous statements condemning Assad and calling for him to leave office.
> 
> A statement from the leaders of the UK, France and Germany said:
> 
> Our three countries believe that President Assad, who is resorting to brutal military force against his own people and who is responsible for the situation, has lost all legitimacy and can no longer claim to lead the country. We call on him to face the reality of the complete rejection of his regime by the Syrian people and to step aside in the best interests of Syria and the unity of its people.
> Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper also put out a call for Assad to leave office:
> 
> Canada reiterates its strong condemnation of the ongoing violent military assault by the Assad regime against the Syrian people. This campaign of terror must stop.
> The Assad regime has lost all legitimacy by killing its own people to stay in power.
> 
> I join with President Obama and other members of the international community in calling on President Assad to vacate his position, relinquish power and step down immediately. The Syrian people have a right to decide for themselves the next steps for Syria's future.



Obama: Syrian President Assad Must Step Down


----------



## High_Gravity

U.N. Syria Mission Finds Systematic Human Rights Violations 








> GENEVA  Government forces in Syria may have committed crimes against humanity by conducting summary executions, torturing prisoners and targeting children in their crackdown against opposition protesters, a high-level U.N. human rights team said Thursday.
> 
> Their report recommends that the U.N. Security Council refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for prosecution of alleged atrocities, a move that is likely to be discussed by the council at a closed-door session in New York later Thursday.
> 
> "The mission found a pattern of human rights violations that constitutes widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population, which may amount to crimes against humanity," the U.N. investigators said in their 22-page report.
> 
> Crimes against humanity are considered the most serious of all international human rights violations after genocide.
> 
> The report's findings comes as President Barack Obama and a slate of European leaders called on Syria's President Bashar Assad to step down, saying his brutal suppression of his people had made him unfit to lead.
> 
> Among the specific atrocities mentioned in the report are the alleged execution of 26 blindfolded men at a football stadium in the southern city of Daraa on May 1; indiscriminate firing of live ammunition at peaceful demonstrators using snipers and helicopters, resulting in the death of hundreds of people including women and children; and the killing of injured protesters in hospitals  including by locking people in morgue refrigerators alive.
> 
> "Children have not only been targeted by security forces, but they have been repeatedly subject to the same human rights and criminal violations as adults, including torture," the report found. It cited the case of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib from the southern village of Jiza, whose mutilated body, with his penis severed, was delivered to his family weeks after he disappeared April 29.
> 
> Eyewitnesses provided the investigators with names of 353 people who were summarily executed, and corroborated accounts of Syrian security forces posing as civilians who acted as 'agents provocateurs,' causing unrest during demonstrations, the report said.
> 
> The U.N. team, led by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang, was denied access to Syria itself, but conducted interviews March 15 to July 15 with witnesses in the region, including protesters and former members of the security forces who had deserted and fled the country.
> 
> The investigators also examined video evidence and photographs of alleged abuses, and invited comment from the Syrian government on the allegations.
> 
> They concluded that at least 1,900 people had been killed in the unrest by mid-July, a figure the Syrian government confirmed but said included at least 260 members of the security forces.
> 
> The Syrian government told the U.N. team that it had instituted several political reforms in response to protesters' demands, and set up investigations into alleged abuses. But the government of President Bashar Assad claimed media organizations had distorted facts about the events in Syria, and accused the U.N. team of bias for referring to the Alawite sect  of which Assad is a member  as a "repressive minority."
> 
> The authors of the report said they have compiled a confidential list of 50 alleged perpetrators at "various levels" of Assad's government, who could face prosecution before the International Criminal Court. Syria hasn't ratified the Rome Statutes, which would give the ICC automatic power to prosecute alleged abuses. But the U.N. Security Council can also refer countries to the Hague, Netherlands-based tribunal.



U.N. Syria Mission Finds Systematic Human Rights Violations


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> U.N. Syria Mission Finds Systematic Human Rights Violations
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GENEVA  Government forces in Syria may have committed crimes against humanity by conducting summary executions, torturing prisoners and targeting children in their crackdown against opposition protesters, a high-level U.N. human rights team said Thursday.
> 
> Their report recommends that the U.N. Security Council refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for prosecution of alleged atrocities, a move that is likely to be discussed by the council at a closed-door session in New York later Thursday.
> 
> "The mission found a pattern of human rights violations that constitutes widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population, which may amount to crimes against humanity," the U.N. investigators said in their 22-page report.
> 
> Crimes against humanity are considered the most serious of all international human rights violations after genocide.
> 
> The report's findings comes as President Barack Obama and a slate of European leaders called on Syria's President Bashar Assad to step down, saying his brutal suppression of his people had made him unfit to lead.
> 
> Among the specific atrocities mentioned in the report are the alleged execution of 26 blindfolded men at a football stadium in the southern city of Daraa on May 1; indiscriminate firing of live ammunition at peaceful demonstrators using snipers and helicopters, resulting in the death of hundreds of people including women and children; and the killing of injured protesters in hospitals  including by locking people in morgue refrigerators alive.
> 
> "Children have not only been targeted by security forces, but they have been repeatedly subject to the same human rights and criminal violations as adults, including torture," the report found. It cited the case of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib from the southern village of Jiza, whose mutilated body, with his penis severed, was delivered to his family weeks after he disappeared April 29.
> 
> Eyewitnesses provided the investigators with names of 353 people who were summarily executed, and corroborated accounts of Syrian security forces posing as civilians who acted as 'agents provocateurs,' causing unrest during demonstrations, the report said.
> 
> The U.N. team, led by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang, was denied access to Syria itself, but conducted interviews March 15 to July 15 with witnesses in the region, including protesters and former members of the security forces who had deserted and fled the country.
> 
> The investigators also examined video evidence and photographs of alleged abuses, and invited comment from the Syrian government on the allegations.
> 
> They concluded that at least 1,900 people had been killed in the unrest by mid-July, a figure the Syrian government confirmed but said included at least 260 members of the security forces.
> 
> The Syrian government told the U.N. team that it had instituted several political reforms in response to protesters' demands, and set up investigations into alleged abuses. But the government of President Bashar Assad claimed media organizations had distorted facts about the events in Syria, and accused the U.N. team of bias for referring to the Alawite sect  of which Assad is a member  as a "repressive minority."
> 
> The authors of the report said they have compiled a confidential list of 50 alleged perpetrators at "various levels" of Assad's government, who could face prosecution before the International Criminal Court. Syria hasn't ratified the Rome Statutes, which would give the ICC automatic power to prosecute alleged abuses. But the U.N. Security Council can also refer countries to the Hague, Netherlands-based tribunal.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> U.N. Syria Mission Finds Systematic Human Rights Violations
Click to expand...


Hold onto your hats, here goes another islamic dictatorship biting the dust to be replaced with something just as bad, if not worse.


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> U.N. Syria Mission Finds Systematic Human Rights Violations
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> GENEVA  Government forces in Syria may have committed crimes against humanity by conducting summary executions, torturing prisoners and targeting children in their crackdown against opposition protesters, a high-level U.N. human rights team said Thursday.
> 
> Their report recommends that the U.N. Security Council refer Syria to the International Criminal Court for prosecution of alleged atrocities, a move that is likely to be discussed by the council at a closed-door session in New York later Thursday.
> 
> "The mission found a pattern of human rights violations that constitutes widespread or systematic attacks against the civilian population, which may amount to crimes against humanity," the U.N. investigators said in their 22-page report.
> 
> Crimes against humanity are considered the most serious of all international human rights violations after genocide.
> 
> The report's findings comes as President Barack Obama and a slate of European leaders called on Syria's President Bashar Assad to step down, saying his brutal suppression of his people had made him unfit to lead.
> 
> Among the specific atrocities mentioned in the report are the alleged execution of 26 blindfolded men at a football stadium in the southern city of Daraa on May 1; indiscriminate firing of live ammunition at peaceful demonstrators using snipers and helicopters, resulting in the death of hundreds of people including women and children; and the killing of injured protesters in hospitals  including by locking people in morgue refrigerators alive.
> 
> "Children have not only been targeted by security forces, but they have been repeatedly subject to the same human rights and criminal violations as adults, including torture," the report found. It cited the case of 13-year-old Hamza al-Khatib from the southern village of Jiza, whose mutilated body, with his penis severed, was delivered to his family weeks after he disappeared April 29.
> 
> Eyewitnesses provided the investigators with names of 353 people who were summarily executed, and corroborated accounts of Syrian security forces posing as civilians who acted as 'agents provocateurs,' causing unrest during demonstrations, the report said.
> 
> The U.N. team, led by Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Kyung-wha Kang, was denied access to Syria itself, but conducted interviews March 15 to July 15 with witnesses in the region, including protesters and former members of the security forces who had deserted and fled the country.
> 
> The investigators also examined video evidence and photographs of alleged abuses, and invited comment from the Syrian government on the allegations.
> 
> They concluded that at least 1,900 people had been killed in the unrest by mid-July, a figure the Syrian government confirmed but said included at least 260 members of the security forces.
> 
> The Syrian government told the U.N. team that it had instituted several political reforms in response to protesters' demands, and set up investigations into alleged abuses. But the government of President Bashar Assad claimed media organizations had distorted facts about the events in Syria, and accused the U.N. team of bias for referring to the Alawite sect  of which Assad is a member  as a "repressive minority."
> 
> The authors of the report said they have compiled a confidential list of 50 alleged perpetrators at "various levels" of Assad's government, who could face prosecution before the International Criminal Court. Syria hasn't ratified the Rome Statutes, which would give the ICC automatic power to prosecute alleged abuses. But the U.N. Security Council can also refer countries to the Hague, Netherlands-based tribunal.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> U.N. Syria Mission Finds Systematic Human Rights Violations
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Hold onto your hats, here goes another islamic dictatorship biting the dust to be replaced with something just as bad, if not worse.
Click to expand...


The sad thing is the Assad regime was not that religious, women didn't have to cover up, they sell alcohol and have night clubs in Damascus. My money is on a religious dictatorship rising up and covering up the women, pouring all the booze down the drain and shutting down the club.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Security Forces Shoot At Thousands Of Protesters 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces fired at thousands of protesters who poured into the streets throughout the country Friday, killing at least 10 people one day after the United States and its European allies demanded that President Bashar Assad step down, activists said.
> 
> Soldiers, tanks and armored personnel carriers were deployed in restive cities, despite Assad's assurances to U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon that military and police operations had stopped. The harsh statements by President Barack Obama and European leaders also appeared to have no immediate effect.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and The Local Coordination Committees, a group that documents anti-regime protests, said demonstrations took place in the capital Damascus, the central city of Homs, the southern province of Daraa, the coastal city of Latakia, the eastern city of Deir el-Zour and other areas.
> 
> The observatory said five people were killed in the southern village of Ghabagheb, three in the nearby village of Hirak and one each in Homs and the southern village of Inkhil. LCC said that 12 people were killed in different areas, mostly south of the country.
> 
> It was impossible to independently verify the death toll because Syria has banned foreign reporters and restricted coverage by local media.
> 
> There also was a wave of arrests Friday.
> 
> Protests also erupted Thursday night  part of a growing trend of evening protests when security forces tend to thin out. The observatory and The LCC said shootings on Thursday killed one person in a Damascus suburb and another died of his wounds early Friday in the central city of Homs.
> 
> Syrian state TV said gunmen shot dead one policeman and wounded four in the Damascus suburb of Harasta while four policemen were wounded in Inkhil on Friday.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the observatory, said there was wide security deployment including armored personnel carriers.
> 
> "I've seen soldiers walking through the streets of the city," said an activist in Homs who asked that her name not be mentioned for fear of government reprisals. "But I can't hear gunfire, and I don't believe they are shooting."
> 
> Assad is coming under mounting criticism for his crackdown on a 5-month uprising. Human rights groups and witnesses accuse Syrian troops of firing on largely unarmed protesters and say more than 1,800 civilians have been killed since mid-March.
> 
> Activists posted an amateur video online Friday showing two soldiers in uniform slapping and kicking about a dozen detainees inside a bus and forcing them to chant "our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you Bashar," and "God, Syria and Bashar only."
> 
> The Associated Press could not verify the videos.
> 
> On Thursday, Obama said Assad has overseen a vicious onslaught of his people as they protest for freedom. It was Obama's first explicit call for Assad to step down.



Syria: Security Forces Shoot At Thousands Of Protesters


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia Against Western Calls For Assad To Resign 








> MOSCOW  Russia's Foreign Ministry on Friday cautioned the West against encouraging the Syrian opposition, and said it doesn't support Western calls for President Bashar Assad to resign.
> 
> Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said in a statement that Russia believes Assad must be given sufficient time to fulfill promises of reform as he has already made "some significant steps"  including lifting the state of emergency and issuing a decree allowing peaceful demonstrations.
> 
> He added that Russia disagrees with the United States and the European Union, who have urged Assad to step down.
> 
> Lukashevich said Russia is concerned about the situation in Syria, and reports of "people dying there."
> 
> He described Syria as "one of the fulcrums of the Middle East," adding that "its destabilization would have the gravest consequences for the entire region," and called for the international community to give Syrians a "clear and unequivocal signal about the need to end all kind of violence."
> 
> His call for an end to the violence, however, was not just aimed at Assad.The opposition, he said, must be encouraged to "enter a dialogue with authorities and disassociate itself from the extremists."
> 
> "Our deep belief is that radical forces that are stirring up tensions in Syria mustn't be encouraged from the outside," Lukashevich said.
> 
> Russia, which had close political and military ties with Syria during Soviet times, has opposed a Western push for sanctions against Assad's regime.
> 
> Moscow also has continued to provide Syria with weapons despite U.S. and Israeli protests. On Thursday, the chief of Russia's state arms trader Rosoboronexport, Anatoly Isaikin, said Moscow will keep supplying combat jets and other military gear to Syria under contracts totaling about $3.5 billion (euro2.43 billion).



Russia Against Western Calls For Assad To Resign


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protesters: Gaddafi Is Gone, Assad Will Follow 



> BEIRUT  Taking inspiration from the rapid unraveling of the regime in Libya, thousands of Syrians poured into the streets Monday and taunted President Bashar Assad with shouts that his family's 40-year dynasty will be the next dictatorship to crumble.
> 
> Assad, who has tried in vain to crush the 5-month-old revolt, appears increasingly out of touch as he refuses to acknowledge the hundreds of thousands of people demanding his ouster, analysts say. Instead, he blames the unrest on Islamic extremists and thugs.
> 
> But many observers say Assad should heed the lessons of Libya.
> 
> "Gadhafi is gone; now it's your turn, Bashar!" protesters shouted in several cities across the country hours after Assad dismissed calls to step down during an interview on state TV. Security forces opened fire in the central city of Homs, killing at least one person.
> 
> "Leaders should know that they will be able to remain in power as long as they remain sensitive to the demands of the people," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, according to Turkey's Anatolia news agency.
> 
> Turkey, a former close ally of Syria and an important trade partner, has grown increasingly frustrated with Damascus over its deadly crackdown. The violence has left Syria facing the most serious international isolation in decades, with widespread calls for Assad to step down.
> 
> Human rights groups say more than 2,000 people  most of them unarmed protesters  have been killed in the government's crackdown on the uprising.
> 
> Britain's Defense Secretary Liam Fox told BBC radio that Assad would "be thinking again in light of what has happened in Tripoli overnight."
> 
> "There is an unavoidable change in the area  and I think the message to those in that region is that if you do not allow change to be a process it can become an event," he said.
> 
> Syria presented a different case than other Arab nations swept by unrest this year.
> 
> A military intervention has been all but ruled out, given the quagmire in Libya and the lack of any strong opposition leader in Syria to rally behind. The U.S. and other nations have little leverage to threaten further isolation or economic punishment of Assad's pro-Iranian regime.
> 
> With neither side in the conflict showing any signs of backing down, many fear a drawn-out and bloody stalemate.
> 
> "What is so shocking is that the Syrian people have been really resilient, determined to continue to fight the regime for almost half a year and this is something, I believe, (Assad) did not count on," said Labib Kamhawi, a political analyst in Jordan.
> 
> Assad has had four public appearances since the uprising began in March, the latest one on Sunday night. His remarks have stayed remarkably similar even as the uprising gained momentum, with the president trying to convey a sense of confidence while insisting his security forces were fighting a foreign conspiracy to stir up sectarian strife.
> 
> He has also pledged reforms, but the opposition says the promises are empty.
> 
> Assad told state-run TV Sunday that he was not worried about security in his country and warned against any Libya-style foreign military intervention.
> 
> On Monday, the state news agency said Assad formed a committee to pave the way for the formation of political groups other than his Baath party, which has held a monopoly in Syria for decades. The opposition rejected Assad's remarks, saying they have lost confidence in his promises of reform while his forces open fire on peaceful protesters.
> 
> Also Monday, a witness said several thousand people converged on the main square in Homs known as Clock Square after they heard that a U.N. humanitarian team was to visit the city. He said security forces opened fire on the protesters, killing one and wounding several others.
> 
> "Simply, without any introductions, they started shooting at them," he said, asking that his name not be used for fear of government reprisals.
> 
> Syria granted a U.N. team permission to visit some of the centers of the protests and crackdown to assess humanitarian needs, but activists and a Western diplomat have accused the regime of trying to scrub away signs of the crackdown.



Syria Protesters: Gaddafi Is Gone, Assad Will Follow


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Tanks Reportedly Storm Deir El-Zour 








> BEIRUT  Syrian activists said tanks stormed an eastern city and made sweeping arrests there Wednesday as the regime faced international threats of an arms embargo and new sanctions.
> 
> Citing witnesses, the activist group called the Local Coordination Committees said tanks rolled into Deir el-Zour early Wednesday. Deir el-Zour is an oil-rich but impoverished region known for its well-armed clans and tribes whose ties extend across eastern Syria and into Iraq.
> 
> The uprising in Syria has lasted for more than five months and shows no signs of stopping. With President Bashar Assad's forces cracking down on the protests, the overall death toll has reached 2,200 since March, the United Nations said this week.
> 
> On Tuesday, European nations and the U.S. circulated a draft U.N. Security Council resolution seeking an arms embargo and other sanctions aimed at stopping the crackdown. Syria already is under broad sanctions from the U.S. and European countries, but there are calls for stricter measures now.
> 
> Assad has shrugged off broad international condemnation and calls for him to step down, insisting that armed gang and thugs are driving the violence, not true reform-seekers.
> 
> Syria has banned foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it impossible to independently confirm events on the ground. While widespread witness accounts and amateur video footage describe a brutal crackdown by security forces, Syria's state-run news agency says security forces are the real victims of well-armed gunmen and religious extremists.
> 
> On Wednesday, the official news agency, SANA, released gruesome pictures of 14 decomposing corpses, saying "armed terrorist groups" kidnapped and tortured them in recent days and dumped their bodies around Homs, a city in central Syria that has been a hotbed of protests.



Syria: Tanks Reportedly Storm Deir El-Zour


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Crackdown Continues Despite International Pressure 








> BEIRUT  Syrian gunmen attacked a renowned anti-regime cartoonist early Thursday in Damascus and left him bleeding along the side of a road, human rights activists said.
> 
> Ali Ferzat, who is in his 60s, was hospitalized after passers-by found him "heavily beaten and physically abused," said Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group that helps organize and track the 5-month-old uprising in Syria.
> 
> Idilbi said security forces carried out the attack, although Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the identity of the attackers could not immediately be confirmed.
> 
> Syria has banned foreign journalists and restricted local coverage, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground during a time of great upheaval in the country.
> 
> Ferzat has said he had great hopes for President Bashar Assad when he became president in 2000, but in recent years he has become a vehement critic of the regime, particularly as the military launches a brutal crackdown on the country's protest movement.
> 
> Human rights groups said Assad's forces have killed more than 2,000 people since the uprising against his autocratic rule erupted in mid-March, touched off by the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world.
> 
> Activists said at least 11 people were killed on Wednesday, most of them in the central city of Homs.
> 
> Assad has shrugged off international condemnation and calls for him to step down, insisting that armed gang and thugs are driving the violence, not true reform-seekers.
> 
> The crackdown has led to broad international condemnation and sanctions, although French President Nicolas Sarkozy on Wednesday ruled out intervening in Syria without international backing.
> 
> "As for Syria, the conditions for a military intervention are not in place ... France will not intervene without an international resolution. That's the basis," Sarkozy said during a news conference in Paris with Mahmoud Jibril, the head of Libya's opposition government.
> 
> "That doesn't mean that we can let the Syrian people get massacred by a regime that disqualifies itself from one day to the next," he said.
> 
> Also Wednesday, the European Union imposed sanctions against an elite unit of Iran's Revolutionary Guard, saying the Quds Force is providing equipment and other support to help Assad crush the revolt.
> 
> The sanctions broadened the international pressure against Syria by directly targeting its key ally Iran, which the U.S. and other nations have accused of aiding the crackdown.
> 
> The EU's official journal, which published the statement, said the Quds Force "has provided technical assistance, equipment and support to the Syrian security services to repress civilian protest movements."
> 
> Other new targets of the sanctions include several Syrian generals and close associates of Assad's younger brother, Maher, who is believed to be in command of much of the crackdown. Hassan Turkmani, a former defense minister and special envoy for Bashar Assad, also was named.
> 
> The EU blacklist on Syria now contains 50 people and nine entities who face asset freezes and travel bans as punishment for one of the deadliest government crackdowns of the Arab Spring. Syria already is under broad sanctions from the U.S. and European countries, but calls for stricter measures have been on the rise.



Syria: Crackdown Continues Despite International Pressure


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia, China resist U.N. Syria sanctions push: envoys



> (Reuters) - The U.S. and European push to impose U.N. Security Council sanctions on Syria for its bloody crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators is meeting fierce resistance from Russia and China, U.N. diplomats said.
> 
> The United States, Britain, France, Germany and Portugal circulated a draft resolution that calls for sanctions against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, influential members of his family and close associates. They said they wanted to put the draft to a vote as soon as possible.
> 
> The measures are not as severe as U.S. sanctions in place and a proposed expansion of European Union steps against Damascus that would forbid the import of Syrian oil.
> 
> Diplomats said there are no plans for a vote yet.
> 
> Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin has hinted that Moscow would use its veto power to knock down the draft if it was put to a vote at the present time. Western diplomats said that Russia and China were refusing to discuss the draft.
> 
> "The Russians say they have no instructions," a diplomat told Reuters on Friday on condition of anonymity.
> 
> As a result, Western diplomats in New York said their capitals would have to get involved to persuade Moscow and Beijing to join negotiations on the draft resolution to reach a consensus among the 15 Security Council members.
> 
> "Clearly we need this to be unlocked at the capital level because there is very strong resistance from Russia and China," a diplomat said.
> 
> Brazil, India and South Africa have also been reluctant to sanction -- or even condemn -- Syria, whose five-month crackdown on demonstrators has killed at 2,200, according to U.N. figures from earlier this week.
> 
> But one diplomat said that the three powerful developing countries, all three of which aspire to one day become permanent members of an expanded Security Council, were now "constructively engaging on the text."



Russia, China resist U.N. Syria sanctions push: envoys | Reuters


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Troops Kill 7 Despite Start Of Muslim Holiday 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces killed at least seven people, including a 13-year-old boy, as thousands of protesters poured out of mosques and marched through cemeteries Tuesday at the start of Eid al-Fitr, a holiday when pious Muslims traditionally visit graves and pray for the dead.
> 
> The three-day holiday marks the end of the holy month of Ramadan, a time of introspection that many protesters had hoped would become a turning point in the 5-month-old uprising. Instead, the government crackdown on dissent intensified and the conflict has become a bloody stalemate.
> 
> "They can shoot and kill as much as they want, we will not stop calling for regime change," an activist in Daraa told The Associated Press by telephone, asking for anonymity out of fear of reprisals.
> 
> In Washington, the Obama administration announced a new set of sanctions on Syria. The regulations ban Americans from doing business with President Bashar Assad's foreign minister, Walid al-Moallem, and two other senior officials, senior adviser Buthaina Shaaban; and Ali Abdul Karim Ali, Syria's ambassador to Lebanon. The Treasury Department's action Tuesday also blocks any assets the Syrian officials may have in the United States.
> 
> Tuesday's bloodshed was in the southern province of Daraa, the central city of Homs and the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs. Amateur videos posted by activists online showed protesters calling for the downfall of the regime and even the execution of Assad  a sign of how much the uprising against Assad has grown in both size and anger over the past five months.
> 
> The uprising began with modest calls for reform in Syria, an autocratic state that has been ruled by the same family for more than 40 years. But as the government crackdown escalated, so too did the protesters' demands. Now, most protesters are demanding nothing less than the downfall of the regime.
> 
> In the northern province of Idlib, a few hundred protesters marched with flower wreaths decorated with the Syrian flag and pictures of dead relatives. Many shouted: "Bashar, we don't want you!"
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said six protesters were killed in Daraa province and one in Homs. An activist in Daraa confirmed the six deaths in Daraa, saying four were killed in the village of al-Harra and two others in Inkhil.
> 
> The deaths in al-Harra included a 13-year-old boy, they said.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported heavy gunfire in the Qaboun district of the capital Damascus, with five people injured.
> 
> State-run news agency SANA said Assad performed Eid prayers in the Hafez Assad Mosque in the capital, named after Assad's father, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for three decades until his death in 2000.
> 
> The U.N. says more than 2,200 people have been killed since the uprising erupted in March, touched off by the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world.
> 
> The government crackdown escalated dramatically at the start of Ramadan, when Muslims typically gather in mosques during the month for special nightly prayers after breaking the dawn-to-dusk fast.



Syria: Troops Kill 7 Despite Start Of Muslim Holiday


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. Sanctions On Syria Announced Following Raids, Arrests By Security Forces 









> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces searching for anti-government protesters raided houses in central Syria and made arrests, activists and residents said Wednesday.
> 
> The troops, backed by tanks and military vehicles, entered districts in Homs and Hama as part of efforts to crush five months of street protests against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Wednesday's raids come a day after security forces killed seven people as thousands of protesters poured out of mosques and marched through cemeteries at the start of Eid al-Fitr, a holiday when Muslims traditionally visit graves and pray for the dead.
> 
> The three-day holiday, which started on Tuesday, comes at the end of Ramadan. The Muslim holy month has been marked by intensified military operations and a deadly crackdown in several Syrian flashpoint cities.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 473 people were killed during Ramadan, including 360 civilians and 113 members of the Syrian military and security forces. Among those killed, 25 were under 18 years of age, it said.
> 
> Twenty-eight others died under torture or in detention during the holy month, the group said.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees activist network said security forces on Wednesday set on fire the homes of two activists in Houla, in the Homs province. They also threatened their families with arrest if the activists fail to turn themselves in, it said.
> 
> The Observatory said at least 16 people were arrested in Houla on Wednesday.
> 
> The activists also said the military carried out raids in districts in Hama. The military withdrew from Hama earlier this month following a weeklong military siege and military operations in the city, a hotbed of dissent against the regime.
> 
> Human rights groups said more than 2,000 civilians have been killed in the crackdown on the protest movement that erupted in mid-March.
> 
> Amnesty International said it believed that at least 88 people, 10 of them children, have died in detention in Syria during the past five months.
> 
> Some of the victims were as young as 13, it said Tuesday. It said that in recent years the annual number of deaths behind Syrian bars has been about five.



U.S. Sanctions On Syria Announced Following Raids, Arrests By Security Forces


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrias Sons of No One








> It was past 11 a.m., and Abdullah was finally waking up. The night before had gone late, he and his friends challenging and daring and fleeing from the feared mukhabarat, Syrias secret police, who for the past five months have been bent on crushing dissent here in Homs. With a few hours of sleep behind him, Abdullah rolled off his mattress and began tapping out details of their exploits on his laptop. The clashes had been fierce and lasted hours, past the muezzins call to prayer at dawn. We wont bow to anyone but God, the protesters declared. The mukhabarat replied with tear gas, buckshot and bullets. Hot was how Abdullah described it as he typed.
> 
> As safe houses go, the room he slept in was lavish. A wide-screen television shared space on the wall with framed Koranic verses, rendered in sloping gold script. The hot wind of the Syrian summer billowed the thick drapes like sails in a storm. There was a mattress for each of the four men, all in their 20s, who slept surrounded by their smartphones and laptops and satellite phones and speakers.
> 
> Abdullah, a 26-year-old computer engineer and pious Muslim, is a wanted man. He joined the first protest in Homs in March, and since then he has emerged as one of the dozen or so leaders of the youth resistance. His savvy with technology has made him a target for the police, and this was the fifth place he had slept in in less than a week. He hadnt been to his familys home in two months. Around his neck he wore a tiny toy penguin that was actually a thumb drive, which he treated like a talisman, occasionally squeezing it to make sure it was still there. I sat next to him on the mattress and watched as he traded messages with other activists on Skype, then updated a Facebook page that serves as an underground newspaper, then marked a Google Earth map of Homs with the spots of the latest unrest. If theres no Internet, Abdullah said, theres no life.
> 
> The other young men in the room began to stir. Abdullahs friend Iyad (last names of the activists will not be used, in order to protect their identities), brought in tea and emptied ashtrays. They all soon started talking with an excitement that belied the danger to which they have grown accustomed. By day, a measure of normal life unfolds in Homs: stores and government offices are open, and people go about their business. Checkpoints have proliferated, though, and the most active youth try to stay off the streets, worrying that they are easier to identity in the daylight. By night, they gather in scores, sometimes in the hundreds, in open defiance of the regime. In Iyads living room, they bragged about spreading nails in the streets to flatten the tires of security-force vehicles and described to me how they load onions into plastic pipes and fire them by igniting hair spray. When security forces surged toward one of their comrades, they shouted to him: Youve got 20 guys around you! Blow yourself up!
> 
> They just fled, Abdullah said, smiling as he recalled the security forces retreating in fear from the imaginary explosives.
> 
> The Syrian uprising began in mid-March in the hardscrabble town of Daraa, about 160 miles from here, after 15 teenagers were arrested for writing antigovernment graffiti on school walls. The teens were reportedly beaten, and some of them had their fingernails pulled out. Their mothers were threatened with rape. The revolt spread quickly from Daraa throughout the country and has become the most violent in the Arab uprising, rivaled only by Libya, but Libya was a civil war. More than 2,200 Syrians have been killed and thousands more arrested in the relentless government crackdown. Protests after Friday prayers have become ritual, and in response to them the military and security forces have assaulted many of Syrias largest cities  Latakia, Homs, Hama, Deir al-Zour and, of course, Daraa  the violence so pronounced that the United States and European countries have demanded President Bashar al-Assad end his 11-year reign.
> 
> Iyad, a young father who named his newborn daughter after Daraa, showed off a bandaged right knee that was grazed by a bullet. Abdullah pulled up a picture on his computer of one of Homss first martyrs, a 19-year-old named Amjad Zantah, who was killed during the governments attempts to crush the earliest protests in the city. Id been covering the uprising since its beginning, but the question that still eluded me was how the Syrian youth  the shabab  keep fighting in the face of such withering violence. How can laptops and cellphones and bags of nails and pipes that shoot onions be any match for one of the Arab worlds most fearsome police states? And how can an eclectic array of leftists, liberals, conservatives, nationalists, Islamists (themselves diverse) and the disgruntled and downtrodden prove unified enough to bring it down?



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/04/magazine/syrias-sons-of-no-one.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: U.S. Embassy Slams Assad Regime 








> BEIRUT -- The U.S. Embassy in Syria said Tuesday that President Bashar Assad is not fooling anyone by blaming terrorists and thugs for the unrest in his country as security forces try to crush the uprising by unleashing a brutal crackdown that has killed more than 2,200 people in nearly six months.
> 
> In comments posted on the embassy's Facebook page, U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford said it was clear Assad's regime has no capacity for reform.
> 
> "Peaceful protesters are not 'terrorists,' and after all the evidence accumulated over the past six months, no one except the Syrian government and its supporters believes that the peaceful protesters here are," he wrote.
> 
> Ford's comments came the same day that U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon leveled some of his strongest criticism yet at the Syrian regime, saying Assad must take "bold and decisive measures before it's too late."
> 
> The statements were a reflection of the exasperation felt by the international community at the relentless crackdown that the U.N. says has killed 2,200 people since March, when the Syrian uprising began.
> 
> Nearly six months on, the unrest has descended into a bloody stalemate with neither side willing to back down. Assad has sealed the country from foreign journalists and most international observers, insisting that foreigners are meddling in his country and serving an outside conspiracy to destabilize the nation.
> 
> Ban had won a pledge from Assad in a phone call in mid-August to end the violence, but the killings continued.
> 
> Ford acknowledged that security forces have been killed. The regime estimates around 400 have died.
> 
> "But the number of security service members killed is far, far lower than the number of unarmed civilians killed," he said. "No one in the international community accepts the justification from the Syrian government that those security service members' deaths justify the daily killings, beatings, extrajudicial detentions, torture and harassment of unarmed civilian protesters."
> 
> On Tuesday, security forces opened fire from a checkpoint near the restive central city of Homs, killing two people, including a 15-year-old boy, activists said. They also said five unidentified corpses, including that of a woman, also were found dumped around the city center.
> 
> A longtime political activist and resident of Homs said it was not clear if the killings had sectarian motives. "The situation is very tense, people are very scared," he told The Associated Press. He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> The discovery in July of three corpses with their eyes gouged set off a sectarian killing spree that left 30 people dead. The opposition has long accused the president's minority Alawite regime of trying to stir up trouble among the Sunni majority to blunt the growing enthusiasm for the uprising.



Syria: U.S. Embassy Slams Assad Regime


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian forces raid cities in possible manhunt








> Government tanks, state security agents and plainclothes loyalist militiamen known as shabiha raided cities in northern and central Syria on Sunday, in what residents said was a manhunt for one of the highest-ranking officials yet to defect to the opposition. Activists reported 14 people killed Sunday by government forces seeking to crush the nearly six-month uprising against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Most of the day's government attacks on civilians occurred in the cities of Hama, Homs and Idlib and the suburbs of Damascus, the Syrian capital, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria opposition coalition.
> 
> Residents in and around the northern city of Idlib and the central city of Hama said government forces had launched a massive manhunt for Adnan Mohammad Bakkour, the chief government prosecutor in Hama. Bakkour appeared in videos last week in which he said he had resigned because of a massive government campaign of killing and torture in Hama. The government responded that Bakkour had been kidnapped and forced to issue the statement.
> 
> The offensive in one town "has been one of the most barbaric I have ever heard of; tanks are on the streets trying to coerce residents to divulge information about Bakkour," said Moustafa, a farmer in Idlib, a city on the border with Turkey. He spoke on condition he not be identified further, for fear of retaliation.
> 
> Amateur video posted on the Internet on Sunday showed tanks positioned in the narrow neighborhood streets of Idlib.
> 
> In the Bab Amr district of Homs, the lawyer's hometown, security forces stormed in, accompanied by plainclothes security forces.



Syrian forces raid cities in possible manhunt - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Troops Reportedly Snatch Wounded From Hospitals 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces "forcibly removed" patients from a hospital and prevented doctors from reaching the wounded during a military siege in the restive central city of Homs this week, a leading human rights group said.
> 
> In a report released late Thursday, New York-based Human Rights Watch cited testimony from witnesses, including doctors. The report came as Syria was bracing for yet another day of anti-government protests Friday.
> 
> "Snatching wounded people from the operating room is inhumane and illegal, not to mention life-threatening," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. "Cutting people off from essential medical care causes grave suffering and perhaps irreparable harm."
> 
> Wednesday's military operation in Homs killed at least 20 people. It was among the most severe crackdowns on an urban center during the country's 6-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad. The U.N. estimates that some 2,200 people have been killed in the crackdown since March.
> 
> A doctor at the al-Barr said security forces seized some of the wounded from the hospital.
> 
> "When we tried to help the wounded who needed urgent medical care, the security forces pushed us back, saying these were criminals and rapists," the doctor told HRW. "They were beating the wounded as they moved them out of the hospital."
> 
> There have been other reports of security forces targeting hospitals and rounding up the wounded in Syria and in Bahrain, where there were widespread protests this year led by the country's Shiite majority against the long-ruling Sunni monarchy.



Syria: Troops Reportedly Snatch Wounded From Hospitals


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Russia Keeps Up Support For Assad Regime 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops mounted deadly new raids against dissent Monday as President Bashar Assad's embattled regime won key support from longtime ally Russia, which said a U.N. resolution on Syria must not contain sanctions.
> 
> The U.N. said Monday that the death toll has reached at least 2,600 from the government's violent crackdown on protests over the past six months.
> 
> Although the crackdown has brought widespread international condemnation, Assad's authoritarian regime has the support of Russia and China, permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with veto powers.
> 
> Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Monday that Moscow believes any U.N. resolution on Syria must be aimed at both the government and the opposition.
> 
> "Russia proceeds from the assumption that it's necessary to approve a resolution on Syria that will be tough, but well balanced at the same time that would address both parties to the conflict  President Bashar Assad's government and the opposition," Medvedev said. "Only in that case could it be successful."
> 
> "The resolution must be tough, but it mustn't automatically involve sanctions," he said. "There is absolutely no need now for any additional pressure."
> 
> Both Russia and China oppose a draft U.N. Security Council resolution backed by European nations and the United States that would impose an arms embargo and other sanctions on Syria. Moscow has introduced a rival resolution calling for Assad's government to halt its violence against protesters and expedite reforms.
> 
> The raids around the central city of Hama began after security forces cut all roads leading to the area along with electricity and telephone lines.
> 
> The death toll from Monday's raids around Hama and violence elsewhere was not immediately clear.
> 
> The activist network called the Local Coordination Committees said there were civilian casualties from Monday's raids but there was no exact figure.
> 
> Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso says at least five people were killed.
> 
> Another group, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said one person also was also killed in the Damascus suburb of Douma when security forces opened at a funeral.
> 
> Syrian protesters are increasingly calling for some sort of outside help  although not necessarily military action like the NATO intervention that helped topple the Gadhafi regime in Libya. Instead, they are calling for observation missions and human rights monitors who could help deter attacks on civilians.
> 
> The U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said Monday that the new death toll of 2,600 is based on "reliable sources on the ground."



Syria: Russia Keeps Up Support For Assad Regime


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Troops Attack Mourners Of Rights Advocate After U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford's Visit 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops fired tear gas at a gathering of mourners just hours after U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford and other Western diplomats expressed their condolences to the family of a rights advocate killed last week, activists said Wednesday.
> 
> The incident could increase already high tensions between Washington and Damascus, which has accused the United States of helping incite violence in Syria. Authorities have also criticized two earlier visits by Ford to the country's central and southern regions.
> 
> The Syrian regime is trying to crush a 6-month-old uprising with deadly force that has killed some 2,600 people, according to U.N. estimates.
> 
> Also Wednesday, Syrian troops conducted raids in the northwestern province of Idlib and the central region of Homs, the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said one person was killed in Idlib and two others in the central province of Hama in Wednesday raids.
> 
> The violence came a day after more than 20 people were killed throughout Syria, according to the Observatory and Mustafa Osso, a Syria-based rights activist.
> 
> Osso and the Local Coordination Committees said the attack on mourners occurred on Tuesday night, after Ford and several other ambassadors had left the gathering in the Damascus suburb of Daraya.
> 
> Osso said troops fired tear gas at the tent with mourners and relatives of Ghayath Mattar but no one was hurt.
> 
> Mattar was detained on Sept. 6 and his body was returned to his family over the weekend.
> 
> A U.S. embassy official confirmed Ford's visit, saying he was accompanied by other diplomats. An amateur video posted on YouTube showed Ford and several other Westerners at a gathering as verses from the Quran, Islam's holy book, blared from loudspeakers.
> 
> Another video showed the half dozen diplomats heading from the gathering to their cars as residents chanted, "the people want the president (Assad) executed." Another man shouted to them, "welcome, welcome to Syria."
> 
> According to captions on amateur videos posted by activists, the French and Japanese ambassadors to Syria were among the visiting diplomats.
> 
> Last month, President Barack Obama demanded Syrian President Bashar Assad resign because he had lost legitimacy as a ruler. Major U.S. allies such as Britain, France, Germany and the European Union have made similar moves.
> 
> Washington and the EU have also imposed sanctions on some Syrian officials because of Assad's crackdown.
> 
> A trip in July by the U.S. and French ambassadors to the central city of Hama to express support for protesters drew swift condemnation from the Syrian government, which said the unauthorized visits were proof that Washington was inciting violence in the Arab nation. Authorities then warned both ambassadors not to travel outside the capital without permission.



Syria: Troops Attack Mourners Of Rights Advocate After U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford's Visit


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Opposition Council Reportedly Set To Be Announced 








> ISTANBUL  A group of Syrian opposition activists announced Thursday the creation of a council designed to present a united front against President Bashar Assad's regime, which has waged a bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters during the past six months.
> 
> The Syrian opposition consists of a variety of groups with often differing ideologies, including Islamists and secularists, and there have been many meetings of dissidents who say they represent the opposition. But activists said the new "Syrian National Council," formed during a meeting in Turkey, is the most serious initiative aimed at bringing revolutionary forces together.
> 
> It groups some 140 opposition figures, including exiled opponents and 70 dissidents inside Syria, said Bassma Kodmani, a Paris-based academic. Kodmani added that the council "categorically opposes" any foreign intervention or military operations to bring down Assad's regime.
> 
> "We are in agreement over the peaceful nature of the revolution," she said.
> 
> A popular uprising began in Syria in mid-March, amid a wave of anti-government protests in the Arab world that have already toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Assad has reacted with deadly force that the U.N. estimates has left some 2,600 people dead.
> 
> The meeting in Istanbul took place as Syrian troops carried out raids in the suburbs of the capital Damascus, the central province of Homs and the northwestern region of Idlib that borders Turkey, activists said.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said one person was killed and five were wounded when security forces opened fire during raids in the Damascus suburb of Zabadani. The group said a paramedic who was wounded last week also died in hospital on Thursday.
> 
> The new opposition council aims to "convey the Syrian people's just problems on the international platform, to form a pluralist and democratic state," a statement said. It also hopes to bring down the "leadership that is ruling through dictatorship, and to unite the prominent politicians under one umbrella."
> 
> The reason it took so long to form the council is that "we wanted to make sure everyone was on board," said Adib Shishakli, an opposition member based in Saudi Arabia. Shishakli said the council would elect a leader at a later time.
> 
> Ahmad Ramadan, another opposition member, said the council would form 10 bureaus, including a foreign relations office dedicated to "relaying the demands of the revolution, the people's requests to the outside world." He said it would also work to form a television station to help overthrow the regime.
> 
> Louay Safi, a U.S.-based academic, said the council is broad-based and includes Sunnis, Shiites, Alawites, Kurds and members of the Muslim Brotherhood. It is "open to everyone unless they are against democracy," he said.
> 
> The emphasis on unity comes amid fears of civil war between Assad's ruling minority Alawite sect and the country's Sunni Muslim majority.
> 
> Also Thursday, Syrian state TV aired excerpts of a video showing army Lt. Col. Hussein Harmoush, one of the first officers to defect after the uprising began. The pro-government daily Al-Watan said he was detained during "a special operation" in Idlib.
> 
> Harmoush, of the so-called Free Officers Movement, has previously appeared in videos calling on the army to stand by the people instead of the regime.
> 
> Meanwhile, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he dreamed that one day young Syrians will have the same opportunity as young Libyans have for democracy. He made his remarks from Tripoli during his first official visit to Libya since rebels ousted dictator Moammar Gadhafi.
> 
> "The best I can do is dedicate my visit here in hopes that everyone in Syria also benefits," he said.
> 
> In France, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said Syrian opposition members are meeting in Paris with French officials on Thursday and Friday, though he did not identify the figures or elaborate on the meetings.



Syria: Opposition Council Reportedly Set To Be Announced


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Security Forces Reportedly Storm Schools, Detain Students 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces moved against several schools around the country Wednesday and detained students who demonstrated against President Bashar Assad's regime, while troops shot dead at least four people in central Syria, activists said.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, an activist network, said dozens of students were detained in the southern village of Jassem. Also, security forces surrounded several schools in the Damascus suburbs of Harasta, Arbeen and Zamalka.
> 
> Students have been demonstrating against Assad's regime since Sunday, the first day of the school year.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said security forces killed three civilians in the central city of Homs and one in the nearby town of Rastan.
> 
> It reported that the bodies of three other people who disappeared last week were also either found or handed to their families by authorities in the northern province of Idlib and the central region of Hama.
> 
> President Barack Obama called on the U.N. Security Council to impose sanctions on Syria because of the deadly crackdown. He told the U.N. General Assembly Wednesday, "There is no excuse for inaction."
> 
> Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said his country is considering sanctions and is coordinating its policy with the U.S. Turkey neighbors Syria and is a key trading partner. Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency quoted Erdogan as saying. "We never wanted things to arrive at this point, but unfortunately, the Syrian administration has forced us to take such a decision."
> 
> The Syrian uprising began in mid-March, during the wave of protests in the Arab world that toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. President Bashar Assad has responded with a brutal crackdown that the U.N. estimates has killed some 2,600 people.



Syria: Security Forces Reportedly Storm Schools, Detain Students


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Zainab Al Hosni Believed To Be Killed In Custody 








> BEIRUT -- An 18-year-old Syrian woman whose mutilated body was discovered in a morgue is believed to be the first female to die in custody during the country's 6-month-old uprising, Amnesty International said Friday.
> 
> The family of Zainab al-Hosni found her corpse by chance as they searched for her activist brother's body in the restive city of Homs, the New York-based rights group said. The family said she had been decapitated, her arms cut off, and skin removed.
> 
> "If it is confirmed that Zainab was in custody when she died, this would be one of the most disturbing cases of a death in detention we have seen so far," said Philip Luther, Amnesty's deputy director for the Middle East and North Africa.
> 
> Amnesty said Zainab was abducted by plainclothes individuals believed to be members of the security forces on July 27, apparently to pressure her activist brother Mohammad Deeb al-Hosni to turn himself in.
> 
> The deaths of Zainab and her brother bring to 103 the number of people who have been reported killed in Syrian custody since the uprising began in March, Amnesty said.
> 
> Overall, the U.N. estimates 2,600 people have been killed since the revolt began in March, and there is no sign of either side giving up.
> 
> The protest movement has proved remarkably resilient, although the opposition has no clear leadership that could offer an alternative to President Bashar Assad, whose family has ruled Syria for more than 40 years.
> 
> On Friday, Syrian security forces opened fire on thousands of protesters calling for the opposition to unite against Assad's regime. Friday protests have become a weekly ritual in Syria, despite the near-certainty that security forces will respond with bullets and tear gas.
> 
> The protests came as the European Union agreed on an investment ban in the Syrian oil sector to put more pressure on Assad to end his deadly crackdown.



Syria: Zainab Al Hosni Believed To Be Killed In Custody


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Troops Storm Rastan, Activists Say 








> BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian troops firing machine guns mounted on tanks stormed a rebellious town in central Syria before dawn Tuesday as part of military operations aimed at crushing the six-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad, activists said.
> 
> The offensive in Rastan, located just north of the central city of Homs and on the highway to Turkey, began overnight and continued through the morning, leaving at least 20 people wounded, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> 
> Rastan has emerged as a hotbed of dissent against Assad's autocratic regime during six months of anti-government protests, and alleged army deserters have frequently clashed there with the military and security forces in the past.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees activist network, the Observatory, and other groups reported Tuesday's attacks in Rastan. They said the tanks and armored vehicles entered Rastan early Tuesday and dozens of troops have deployed on the town's streets.
> 
> The United Nations estimates that more than 2,700 civilians have been killed in the government's crackdown on the uprising that began in mid-March, inspired by the Arab revolutions that have toppled autocratic rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
> 
> The Syrian government's bloody crackdown has prompted the international community, including the United States and European nations, to impose stiff sanctions on the regime.
> 
> Assad insists the unrest is being driven by terrorists and Islamic extremists acting out a foreign conspiracy to fracture Syria.
> 
> Ignoring the mounting death toll from his government's bloody crackdown, Syria's Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told the United Nations Monday that external critics were to blame for the violence and for causing delays in Assad's plans for democratic reforms.



Syria: Troops Storm Rastan, Activists Say


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Electronic Army: Cyber Warfare From Pro-Assad Hackers 








> BEIRUT -- While Syrian protesters and security forces are engaged in a war of attrition on the ground, a different kind of battle is emerging online.
> 
> Pro- and anti-government activists in Syria are increasingly turning to the Internet, hacking and defacing websites in an attempt to win a public relations victory.
> 
> Shadowy online activist groups have hacked into at least 12 Syrian government websites in recent days, replacing their content with interactive maps and statements detailing atrocities by security forces against protesters.
> 
> The groups say their actions are in response to the regime's tactics.
> 
> Since early in the uprising, a group of pro-government hackers known as the Syrian Electronic Army has used the Internet to attack opposition activists and their perceived backers, flooding Facebook and other social networking sites with pro-regime messages like 'I love Bashar' or other. often threatening, statements.
> 
> On Monday, pro-Assad hackers briefly defaced Harvard University's website, replacing the home page with an image of Assad together with a message accusing the U.S. of supporting the uprising against him and threatening retaliation.
> 
> The hackers posted a message claiming "Syrian Electronic Army were here."
> 
> Harvard spokesman John Longrake said the attack appeared to be the work of "a sophisticated individual or group."
> 
> Other websites or Facebook pages reportedly targeted by the group include those of Oprah Winfrey, Newsweek magazine and Brad Pitt. Pitt's partner, Angelina Jolie, is a U.N. goodwill ambassador who visited thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey in June.
> 
> "The Syrian Electronic Army has been trying to root out prominent activists in Syria and recent evidence suggests it has begun waging cyber-war against entities from countries that oppose the regime," said Anthony Skinner, associate director at Maplecroft, a British-based risk analysis company.
> 
> The Syrian Electronic Army claims on its Facebook page that it has no affiliation with the Assad regime and was founded by ordinary Syrians who want to defend the country against "fabrications and distortions of events in Syria."
> 
> But anti-government activists say they are certain the group was formed by Syrian intelligence agents and die-hard Assad supporters and volunteers.
> 
> Assad praised their efforts in a speech in June in which he lauded the role of young people in the effort, describing the group as a "real army in a virtual reality."
> 
> The group's actions were damaging at first, said Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, a grass roots anti-government activist group. But the impact of the online attacks has been limited since counterattacks were launched by the hacker group Anonymous as well as two other loose groupings of hackers made up mostly of Syrian activists, the so-called Free Hackers Union and RevoluSec.
> 
> "It is an electronic war. It's legitimate. As long as it isn't hurting anyone, we are ready to wage it until the end," Idilbi said.
> 
> He said the difference between the tactics of anti-government hackers and the Syria Electronic Army was that the latter publishes threats against anti-government activists along with their phone numbers and addresses, putting their lives in danger.
> 
> RevoluSec and Anonymous said Monday they were behind the latest attacks targeting the websites of several Syrian government ministries and some major Syrian cities.
> 
> The activists said they replaced the websites with caricatures of Assad and messages that read: "Don't let Bashar monitor you online."
> 
> They also published interactive maps detailing casualty figures since the start of the uprising.
> 
> Skinner said Monday's hacking shows that the Syrian government has not erected sufficient defensive safeguards, despite reported training from its ally Iran on how to deal with the protest movement and mounting a sophisticated response.



Syrian Electronic Army: Cyber Warfare From Pro-Assad Hackers


----------



## High_Gravity

EU Powers Drop UN Call For Fresh Sanctions Against Syria 








> Proposals mooted for immediate sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad's government have been dropped from a new draft UN resolution on Syria.
> 
> The document, championed by Britain, France, Germany and Portugal and supported by the US last month, has been scaled-back in the hope of securing the agreement of China and Russia.
> 
> Last month the EU proposed blocking the delivery of banknotes to Damascus and imposing travel bans on officials linked to the regime. However, China and Russia have opposed sanctions and intervention in Syria at the UN, and threaten to veto any such proposals against Assad's regime.
> 
> The new draft resolution still "demands an immediate end to all violence", but will now only threaten sanctions "in the event that Syria has not complied with this resolution, to adopt targeted measures, including sanctions". A vote on the draft is expected in the next week.
> 
> The push for a resolution comes against the backdrop of a deteriorating situation in Syria. The UN high commissioner for human rights said last week that more than 2,700 people have been killed since Syria's violent crackdown on dissent began.
> 
> On Wednesday, Alistair Burt, Minister for the Middle East expressed his deep concern at the government's military campaign against its citizens in the city of Rastan:
> 
> Syrian troops, firing machine-guns and backed by helicopters and tanks, have been besieging that city. If ever there was a stark reminder that the UN must take further action, this is it.



EU Powers Drop UN Call For Fresh Sanctions Against Syria


----------



## High_Gravity

Robert Ford, U.S. Ambassador To Syria, Pelted With Tomatoes 








> BEIRUT  Supporters of President Bashar Assad stoned the convoy of the U.S. ambassador to Syria as he arrived for a meeting with a leading opposition figure on Thursday, then pelted him with eggs and tomatoes and tried to break into the building while he was inside, the opposition activist and a U.S. official said. The American envoy was trapped in the office for three hours by the angry mob outside.
> 
> Ambassador Robert Ford, an outspoken critic of Assad's crackdown on the 6-month-old anti-government uprising, was unharmed and eventually escorted out by Syrian security forces, who showed up more than an hour after the attack began. He was meeting with Hassan Abdul-Azim, who heads the outlawed Arab Socialist Democratic Union party.
> 
> "Now that security forces are here, I believe his life is not in danger," Abdul-Azim told The Associated Press.
> 
> Ford has angered the Syrian regime in past months by visiting a couple of the protest centers outside of Damascus in a show of solidarity with the anti-government uprising. The latest incident could further raise tensions between Washington and Damascus, which has accused the United States of helping incite violence in Syria. In August, President Barack Obama demanded Assad resign, saying he had lost his legitimacy as a ruler.
> 
> "A crowd of demonstrators tried to assault Ambassador Ford and embassy colleagues today as they went about doing the normal work of any embassy," U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington. He said the ambassador went to a meeting with "a well-known Syrian political figure," adding that Ford and his staff were back safe at the U.S. Embassy.
> 
> "The mob was violent. It tried, unsuccessfully, to attack embassy personnel while they were inside several embassy vehicles, seriously damaging the vehicles in the process," said Toner. "Syrian security officers finally assisted in securing a path from the ambassador's meeting for him and his aides back to the embassy."
> 
> Syria's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. Embassy informed the ministry that Ford was confronted by protesters when he visited Abdul-Azim. The statement added that the ministry immediately contacted security authorities, who "took all measures needed to protect the ambassador and his team and secured their return to their work in accordance with Syria's international commitments."
> 
> Abdul-Azim said Ford was inside his office when the Assad supporters tried to force their way in, breaking some door locks. Office staff prevented them from rushing in, but the ambassador was trapped inside for about three hours by the hostile pro-government protesters outside.
> 
> University student Majd Mutlaq, 21, stood outside Abdul-Azim's office with a bag of eggs and tomatoes, saying he came after he heard the ambassador was inside the building.
> 
> "We don't want him anywhere in Syria and if I ever see him, I will throw at him whatever I am carrying," he said.
> 
> The attack on Ford came five days after government supporters threw eggs and stones at France's ambassador as he left a meeting in Damascus with a Greek Orthodox patriarch. Ambassador Eric Chevallier was unharmed.



Robert Ford, U.S. Ambassador To Syria, Pelted With Tomatoes


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Robert Ford, U.S. Ambassador To Syria, Pelted With Tomatoes
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Supporters of President Bashar Assad stoned the convoy of the U.S. ambassador to Syria as he arrived for a meeting with a leading opposition figure on Thursday, then pelted him with eggs and tomatoes and tried to break into the building while he was inside, the opposition activist and a U.S. official said. The American envoy was trapped in the office for three hours by the angry mob outside.
> 
> Ambassador Robert Ford, an outspoken critic of Assad's crackdown on the 6-month-old anti-government uprising, was unharmed and eventually escorted out by Syrian security forces, who showed up more than an hour after the attack began. He was meeting with Hassan Abdul-Azim, who heads the outlawed Arab Socialist Democratic Union party.
> 
> "Now that security forces are here, I believe his life is not in danger," Abdul-Azim told The Associated Press.
> 
> Ford has angered the Syrian regime in past months by visiting a couple of the protest centers outside of Damascus in a show of solidarity with the anti-government uprising. The latest incident could further raise tensions between Washington and Damascus, which has accused the United States of helping incite violence in Syria. In August, President Barack Obama demanded Assad resign, saying he had lost his legitimacy as a ruler.
> 
> "A crowd of demonstrators tried to assault Ambassador Ford and embassy colleagues today as they went about doing the normal work of any embassy," U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said in Washington. He said the ambassador went to a meeting with "a well-known Syrian political figure," adding that Ford and his staff were back safe at the U.S. Embassy.
> 
> "The mob was violent. It tried, unsuccessfully, to attack embassy personnel while they were inside several embassy vehicles, seriously damaging the vehicles in the process," said Toner. "Syrian security officers finally assisted in securing a path from the ambassador's meeting for him and his aides back to the embassy."
> 
> Syria's Foreign Ministry said the U.S. Embassy informed the ministry that Ford was confronted by protesters when he visited Abdul-Azim. The statement added that the ministry immediately contacted security authorities, who "took all measures needed to protect the ambassador and his team and secured their return to their work in accordance with Syria's international commitments."
> 
> Abdul-Azim said Ford was inside his office when the Assad supporters tried to force their way in, breaking some door locks. Office staff prevented them from rushing in, but the ambassador was trapped inside for about three hours by the hostile pro-government protesters outside.
> 
> University student Majd Mutlaq, 21, stood outside Abdul-Azim's office with a bag of eggs and tomatoes, saying he came after he heard the ambassador was inside the building.
> 
> "We don't want him anywhere in Syria and if I ever see him, I will throw at him whatever I am carrying," he said.
> 
> The attack on Ford came five days after government supporters threw eggs and stones at France's ambassador as he left a meeting in Damascus with a Greek Orthodox patriarch. Ambassador Eric Chevallier was unharmed.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Robert Ford, U.S. Ambassador To Syria, Pelted With Tomatoes
Click to expand...


I guess this will be the "Arab four seasons"!


----------



## Ropey

More Obama organizing from his back side as had he not recommended and appointed Robert Ford Ambassador to Syria when Congress was in recess, he would not have been approved. 

We are lucky they did not use bombs!  Until Obama's machinations with appointing Ford, we had not had an ambassador to Syria since 2005.

Sheesh!  What kind of politicking is going on with Obama?   *Maybe making nice?  *



> The appointment comes almost six years after Washington withdrew its ambassador to Damascus, Margaret Scobey, in the wake of the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in a car bomb in Beirut...
> 
> The appointment of Ford "shows that President Obama wants to work with Syria even if we don't agree on every issue," a US embassy source said.





> *It should be noted, however, that Syria is not only culpable for the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, it is also to blame for many of the bombing attacks currently plaguing Iraq, including today's attack: *



Yes, Obama making nice with terrorists.

The Obama Report


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> More Obama organizing from his back side as had he not recommended and appointed Robert Ford Ambassador to Syria when Congress was in recess, he would not have been approved.
> 
> We are lucky they did not use bombs!  Until Obama's machinations with appointing Ford, we had not had an ambassador to Syria since 2005.
> 
> Sheesh!  What kind of politicking is going on with Obama?   *Maybe making nice?  *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The appointment comes almost six years after Washington withdrew its ambassador to Damascus, Margaret Scobey, in the wake of the February 2005 assassination of Lebanese ex-premier Rafiq Hariri in a car bomb in Beirut...
> 
> The appointment of Ford "shows that President Obama wants to work with Syria even if we don't agree on every issue," a US embassy source said.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *It should be noted, however, that Syria is not only culpable for the assassination of Rafiq Hariri, it is also to blame for many of the bombing attacks currently plaguing Iraq, including today's attack: *
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yes, Obama making nice with terrorists.
> 
> The Obama Report
Click to expand...


We need to get the Americans out of Syria and close the Embassy, isn't that the protocol when a country is going through a revolt like this?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Seven Soldiers Killed In Rastan 



> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces opened fire on protesters Friday killing at least six people as thousands rallied across the country to call for the downfall of President Bashar Assad's regime, activists said. Troops also clashed with armed anti-regime forces in central regions for a third straight day.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said six people were killed in the central cities of Hama and Homs as well as the central town of Rastan, where the clashes between troops and army defectors has been raging for days. Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso put the death toll at 11.
> 
> It was impossible to resolve the discrepancy or to independently verify the death toll.
> 
> The protests spread from the capital, Damascus, and its suburbs to the southern province of Daraa, the northwestern province of Idlib as well as Hama and Homs.
> 
> Many of the protesters expressed solidarity with residents of the rebellious town of Rastan just north of Homs.
> 
> Amateur videos posted online by activists showed thousands of people shouting in support of the rebellion in Rastan, where fighting continued Friday.
> 
> "Rastan will overthrow the regime," read one banner waved by protesters in the Damascus neighborhood of Qadam. Many of the protesters there covered their faces with scarves or masks to hide their identities.
> 
> The Syrian government has banned foreign journalists and placed heavy restrictions on local media coverage, making it difficult to independently verify events on the ground.
> 
> The U.N. says some 2,700 people have already died in the government crackdown against the uprising that began in mid-March.
> 
> The protests on Friday followed the week's main Muslim prayer services and were similar to demonstrations held across Syria every Friday for the past six months since the uprising against Assad erupted in the country's south.
> 
> A military official said Friday that two days of clashes between Syrian troops and anti-Assad forces in Rastan killed seven soldiers and policemen.
> 
> The official said 32 Syrian troops were also wounded in the fighting as government forces conducted a "qualitative" operation on Thursday and Friday in an effort to crush "gunmen" holed up inside the town.
> 
> The government describes its armed opponents there as "terrorist armed groups," not army defectors.
> 
> The official said the gunmen had terrorized citizens, blocked roads and set up barriers and explosives, and were responsible for the deaths of the seven troops. The comments by the unidentified official were carried by state-run news agency, SANA, on Friday.
> 
> Rastan has witnessed some of the fiercest fighting in the six-month uprising against Assad, pitting the military against hundreds of army defectors, according to activists.
> 
> The town, from which the Syrian army draws many of its Sunni Muslim recruits, has seen some of the largest numbers of defections to date. A prominent human rights activist estimated there were around 2,000 defectors fighting in Rastan and nearby Talbiseh as well as in the Jabal al-Zawiyah region in the northern Idlib province.
> 
> He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject.
> 
> The defectors, as well as reports that once-peaceful Syrian protesters are increasingly taking up arms to fight the six-month old government crackdown, have raised concerns of the risk of civil war in Syria.



Syria: Seven Soldiers Killed In Rastan


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Detains 3,000 In Rastan, Activists Say 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops going house to house have detained more than 3,000 people in the past three days in a rebellious town that government forces recently retook in some of the worst fighting of the 6-month-old uprising, activists said Monday.
> 
> The activist group Local Coordination Committees said fighting has stopped in the central town of Rastan, which the government retook Saturday. The military operation there left dozens dead and more than 3,000 in custody, the group said.
> 
> A Rastan-based activist confirmed the number, telling The Associated Press by telephone that the detainees are being held at a cement factory, as well as some schools and the Sports Club, a massive, four-story compound.
> 
> "Ten of my relatives have been detained," said the activist, who asked that he be identified only by his first name, Hassan, for fear of retaliation. He said was he speaking from hiding in Rastan.
> 
> "The situation in the town is miserable," he said, adding that the population of some 70,000 was heavily bombed for five days starting Tuesday when the army launched an offensive.
> 
> Syrian activists say the fighting in Rastan pitted the Syrian military against hundreds of army defectors who sided with the anti-regime protesters calling for President Bashar Assad's ouster. The clashes in Rastan were among the worst the country has seen since the uprising began in mid-March and raised fears Syria is sliding toward a Libyan-style civil war.
> 
> Rami Abdel-Rahman, who heads the London-based Syrian Human Rights Organization, said many people have been arrested in Rastan, but the numbers are difficult to confirm. He said the number could be between 500 and 2,000.
> 
> Communications with Rastan have been cut for the past few days and were spotty Monday. The Syrian government has banned foreign journalists and placed heavy restrictions on local media coverage, making it difficult to independently verify events on the ground.
> 
> Hassan said that as of Sunday, the regime brought thousands of workers to Rastan to clean the streets and rebuild damaged areas in what appeared to be an attempt to cover the damage caused by intense shelling. He added that food was also brought into the town.
> 
> Syrian state-media said troops took control of Rastan after hunting down "armed terrorists" holed up inside. But the fighting there highlighted the increasingly militarized nature of an uprising started months ago by peaceful protesters.
> 
> The uprising began in mid-March amid a wave of anti-government protests in the Arab world that have so far toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Assad has reacted with deadly force that the U.N. estimates has left some 2,700 people dead.
> 
> Also Monday, funeral processions were held for the 21-year-old son of Syria's top Sunni Muslim cleric, who was killed a day earlier in an ambush in a restive northern area.
> 
> The cleric, Grand Mufti Ahmad Badreddine Hassoun, is considered a loyal supporter of Assad's regime. He told hundreds attending the funeral at a mosque in the northern city of Aleppo that the opposition should stop working against Syria from abroad.
> 
> "Come and say whatever you want here and if anyone rejects it, I will be with you in the opposition," said Hassoun, his voice shaking, in an apparent reference to steps taken by Assad to allow the formation of political parties and promises of free elections. "You want freedom, you want justice? Then come here and build it with us in Syria."
> 
> Hassoun, who has echoed regime claims that the unrest is the result of a foreign conspiracy, blamed fatwas or religious edicts by clerics living abroad for the death of his son. He did not name the clerics or say where they were based.
> 
> "My brothers who were misguided and carried arms, you should have assassinated me because some clerics issued such fatwas. Why did you kill a young man who did nothing and harmed no one," Hassoun, holding back his tears, said in a sermon aired on Syrian TV stations.
> 
> In other developments, a member of Syria's outgoing parliament dismissed a broad-based national council set up by the opposition, saying it will not be able to overthrow Assad's regime. Khaled Abboud told the AP that those who announced the formation of the council in Istanbul a day earlier are "deluding themselves."
> 
> Syrian dissidents met in Istanbul Sunday and formally established a national council designed to overthrow Assad's regime, which they accused of pushing the country to the brink of civil war. The council appeared to be the most serious step yet to unify a deeply fragmented dissident movement, and many Syrians in the southern and central regions of the country took to the streets in celebration, singing and dancing.
> 
> Abboud dismissed the opposition move, saying: "It's a dream that will never come true."



Syria Detains 3,000 In Rastan, Activists Say


----------



## logical4u

Apparently, it is spreading.

The Obama Media Helps Launch Van Jones Revolution
October 3, 2011
 The Obama Media reports Van Jones has planned an October revolution calling it an "American Autumn." More

Blog: The Obama Media Helps Launch Van Jones Revolution


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia, China Veto Syria Sanctions 









> UNITED NATIONS (AP)  Russia and China vetoed a European-backed U.N. Security Council resolution Tuesday that threatened sanctions against Syria if it didn't immediately halt its military crackdown against civilians.
> 
> It would have been the first legally binding resolution adopted by the Security Council since President Bashar Assad's military began using tanks and soldiers against protesters in mid-March. Its defeat reflects the deep divisions in the U.N.'s most powerful body over how to address the ongoing violence in Syria, which the U.N. estimates has led to more than 2,700 deaths.
> 
> The European sponsors of the resolution tried to avoid a veto by watering down the language on sanctions three times, to the point where the word "sanctions" was taken out, but they failed.
> 
> The vote was 9-2 with four abstentions  India, South Africa, Brazil and Lebanon.
> 
> It was the first double veto by Russia and China since July 2008 when they vetoed proposed sanctions against Zimbabwe. In January 2007, they also vetoed a resolution calling on Myanmar to release all political prisoners, initiate a wide-ranging dialogue and end military attacks and human rights abuses.
> 
> Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the council after the vote that his country did not support the Assad regime or the violence but opposed the resolution because it was "based on a philosophy of confrontation," contained "an ultimatum of sanctions" and was against a peaceful settlement of a crisis. He also complained that the resolution did not call for the Syrian opposition to disassociate itself from "extremists" and enter into dialogue.
> 
> China's Ambassador Li Bandong said his country is concerned about the ongoing violence and wants to see speedy reforms but opposed the resolution because "sanctions, or threat of sanctions, do not help the situation in Syria but rather complicates the situation."
> 
> Supporters of the resolution expressed disappointment and outrage.
> 
> France's U.N. Ambassador Gerard Araud called the veto "a rejection of the extraordinary movement in support of freedom and democracy that is the Arab Spring" and commended "all of those who fight against the bloodthirsty crackdown in Syria."
> 
> Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said the veto "will be a great disappointment to the people of Syria and the wider region that some members of this council could not show their support for their struggle for basic human rights."
> 
> "By blocking this resolution, the onus is now on those countries to step up their efforts and persuade the Syrian government to end the violence and pursue genuine reform," he said.
> 
> U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said "the courageous people of Syria can now clearly see who on this council supports their yearning for liberty and human rights  and who does not."
> 
> "Those who oppose this resolution and give cover to a brutal regime will have to answer to the Syrian people  and, indeed, to people across the region who are pursuing the same universal aspirations," she said. "The crisis in Syria will stay before the Security Council, and we will not rest until this council rises to meet its responsibilities."
> 
> Rice accused Russia and China of wanting to sell arms to the Syrian regime rather than stand with the Syrian people  an accusation vehemently denied by Russia's Churkin.
> 
> From the outset of the Syrian uprising, the council has been split.
> 
> Western members, backed by some African and Latin American nations, demanded an end to violence, and when it was not heeded they pushed for Security Council action, including the threat of sanctions. On the other side, Russia, China and the newly emerging global powers  Brazil, India and South Africa  pressed for more time for the Assad government to implement reforms and for political dialogue with the opposition and strongly opposed even mentioning sanctions.
> 
> It took four months of arguments between supporters and opponents of Assad's regime for the Security Council to issue a presidential statement in August condemning the escalating violence.
> 
> Britain, France, Germany and Portugal, backed by the United States, then pressed for a council resolution calling for an immediate arms embargo and other sanctions aimed at stopping the Assad government's crackdown on protesters.



Russia, China Veto Syria Sanctions


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Rastan Mosques Cordoned Off, Activists Say 








> BEIRUT  Syrian activists say masked gunmen have shot dead a prominent Kurdish opposition figure in northeastern Syria.
> 
> A spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees, Omar Idilbi, says Mashaal Tammo was killed Friday by gunmen who raided a home in the predominantly Kurdish city of Kamishli.
> 
> Tammo is a well known activist who headed a political party called the Kurdish Future Current.
> 
> Idilbi says Tammo's son was wounded in the attack.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights confirmed Tammo's assassination.
> 
> His killing took place on a day of violence throughout Syria.
> 
> Security forces opened fire on protesters in several parts of the country, killing at least eight people and wounding scores.
> 
> THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
> 
> BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian security forces opened fire at protesters in several parts of the country on Friday, killing at least eight people and wounding scores, while a leading opposition figure was beaten up by pro-government gunmen and rushed to a hospital in Damascus, activist said.
> 
> The developments came as tens of thousands marched in the streets of several Syrian cities, towns and villages, calling for the downfall of President Bashar Assad's regime.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least four people were killed and 25 were wounded in the central city of Homs, Syria's third largest city. It also reported intense shooting in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour near the border with Iraq, and the Damascus suburb of Douma.
> 
> In Douma, the Observatory said at least three people were killed and several were wounded, while five were wounded in the northern town of Maaret al-Numan.
> 
> Syria-based rights activist Mustafa Osso said one person was also killed in the town of Zabadani near the border with Lebanon.
> 
> Meanwhile, Riad Seif, a former lawmaker who became a leading opposition figure and outspoken critic of Assad's regime, was beaten up outside a mosque in the central Damascus suburb of Midan, according to two Syria-based activists.
> 
> Osso and Omar Idilbi, a spokesman for the activist group Local Coordination Committees, said Seif, who suffers from cancer and had been detained earlier this year, was rushed to hospital after the beating but that the extent of his injuries was not immediately known.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees also reported heavy shooting in the village of Jassem in the southern province of Daraa, where the uprising against Assad's regime began seven months ago.
> 
> Since mid-March, the Syrian government crackdown has left at least 2,900 people dead, including members of security forces, according to the U.N.'s human rights office. The figure rose by at least 200 since the beginning of September.



Syria: Rastan Mosques Cordoned Off, Activists Say


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: NATO Will Not Intervene 








> DUBAI, United Arab Emirates  In shaky videos posted on the web, some protesters in Syria have begun flashing signs appealing for international help. "Where is NATO?" some messages ask amid crackdowns that have claimed nearly 3,000 lives.
> 
> The answer: Waiting on the sidelines with other world powers and showing no willingness to open a Libyan-style military offensive against the regime of Bashar Assad.
> 
> "No intention whatsoever," emphasized NATO's secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, earlier this week in Brussels.
> 
> The reason is a brew of international political complications, worries over unleashing a civil war and plausible risks of touching off a wider Middle East conflict with archfoes Israel and Iran in the mix. In the end, Assad has more powerful friends and carries far more wild cards than Moammar Gadhafi's Libya, analysts say.
> 
> "The Syrian regime is much more capable of causing trouble for the region and its allies," said Shadi Hamid, director of research at The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. "There's a real risk of a major spillover effect."
> 
> Prime targets are right on Syria's borders: U.S.-backed Israel and NATO-member Turkey.
> 
> Assad and his main Mideast backer, Iran, could launch retaliatory attacks on Israel or  more likely  use proxy Hezbollah fighters in Lebanon or Palestinian militant allies for the job. To the north, Turkey has opened its doors to anti-Assad activists and breakaway military rebels, which also could bring Syrian reprisals.
> 
> But some see even greater dangers if Assad falls without a clear successor, such as the transition administration built by Libya's former rebels.
> 
> Syria has an array of competing factions and allegiances, including some Sunni groups falling behind Saudi Arabia pitted against Assad's Alawite minority with ties to Shiite power Iran. Assad has tried to exploit fears of a bloody unraveling in Syria by portraying himself as the only power capable of keeping peace.
> 
> "Israel is more worried if there is civil war," said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born regional analyst based in Israel. "During the chaos, Iranian-backed factions could take the opportunity to strike Israel. The last thing Iran wants is a Saudi-allied regime emerging in Syria. Iran will not sit by as spectators."
> 
> Assad also still carries favor in Moscow and Beijing, which on Tuesday vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution that would have condemned Syria for its crackdowns on pro-reform protesters. A divided Security Council puts an effective stranglehold on any discussions about military options.
> 
> Like Iran, both Russia and China worry that the downfall of Assad will be a severe blow to their interests in the Middle East.
> 
> Russian President Dmitry Medvedev on Friday defended Russia's veto, saying the resolution would have opened the door to future resolutions allowing military action. NATO launched its air campaign in Libya after a U.N. resolution authorizing countries to use military force  short of occupation  to enforce a no-fly zone and protect civilians.
> 
> Video clips that appeared Thursday showed protesters in Damascus holding a banner mocking the Russian "bear," Chinese "dragon" and describing Assad as a bloodthirsty lion  the meaning of his name in Arabic. "Animals of the same kind," it read.
> 
> In Geneva, the U.N.'s human rights office raised its tally of people killed during seven months of unrest in Syria to more than 2,900, including members of the security forces.
> 
> Sporadic individual calls for international military action have begun to arise among Syrian protesters. But most protesters and Syria's opposition leaders have so far resisted the idea. At a rare opposition meeting in Damascus on Thursday, banners read: "Yes to the collapse of the tyrannical security regime" and "No to foreign military intervention."
> 
> Assad's government permitted the meeting in a possible attempt to show tolerance to some degree of dissent as long as it comes from within Syria.
> 
> "We firmly believe that history will bear out which nations were right and which were on the wrong side in this vote," said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland after the Security Council stalemate. "Countries have to take responsibility for the decision that they made ... and any implications it might have on the ground in Syria."
> 
> Yet no one in Washington or elsewhere is raising the option of airstrikes  such as NATO's campaign in Libya  or other types of military action to try to cripple Assad's regime.
> 
> Libya shows another likely reason why: Gadhafi's security forces battled for six months against rebels despite being hammered by NATO strikes, and they continue to fight in pockets a month after the fall of Tripoli.
> 
> Syria is believed to have a much stronger and cohesive military than Gadhafi's. Its arsenal includes Russian-made MiG warplanes and modern air defense systems.



Syria: NATO Will Not Intervene


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Security Forces Kill 4 In Homs, Activists Say 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces killed three people and arrested dozens more in house-to-house raids Tuesday in the flashpoint city of Homs, activists said, while a senior regime official accused foreign powers of seeking to incite civil war to topple President Bashar Assad's government.
> 
> Homs, located some 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of Damascus, has been a hotbed of dissent and mass protests since the popular uprising against Assad's regime began in mid-March. It has also been the scene of heavy fighting between army defectors and security forces  most recently on Monday  underscoring the difficulty the regime faces in snuffing out protests despite a bloody crackdown that the U.N. says has left nearly 3,000 people dead.
> 
> Security forces launched a new assault on Homs over the weekend, and the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group, said shooting has not stopped in the city since late Sunday. An amateur video posted by activists online showed an armored personnel carrier driving through an empty Homs street and firing randomly from a heavy machine gun on top.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said two people were killed when troops in Homs opened fire on their car at a checkpoint, while a third was killed by a random bullet. A fourth person died of wounds suffered Monday during a raid by security forces, Abdul-Rahman said.
> 
> He added that security forces were snatching suspect protesters from their homes, and detaining people at checkpoints set up on Homs' streets.
> 
> Syria's state-run news agency SANA said authorities detained 144 people and confiscated large amounts of ammunition and assault rifles in Homs Tuesday.
> 
> The uprising against Assad began amid a wave of anti-government protests in the Arab world that toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Syria's opposition movement has until now focused on peaceful demonstrations, although recently there have been reports of protesters taking up arms to defend themselves against military attacks. The trend toward militarization of the uprising has raised fears that Syria may be sliding toward civil war.
> 
> The Syrian government has staunchly defended its crackdown in the face of increasing international pressure to end the bloodshed.
> 
> Speaking in Malaysia on Tuesday, Syrian presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaban said the government's offensive was aimed at curbing armed groups sponsored by foreign parties to create chaos in Syria. She did not name elaborate, but sought to stress that Damascus will be able to keep Syria from sliding into civil war.
> 
> Syrian officials frequently have said their country is the target of a conspiracy because of Damascus' support for anti-Israeli groups such as Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas.
> 
> Shaaban said the government will "confidently" press ahead with all political reforms, including plans to rewrite the constitution by the end of the year and calling for parliamentary elections in February.



Syria: Security Forces Kill 4 In Homs, Activists Say


----------



## GogUndMagog

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PLmtWVHHgYU&feature=channel_video_title]Meet the Enemy: Osama&#39;s Handler: the CIA&#39;s Michael Scheuer - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Pro-Assad Demonstrations Mobilizes Tens Of Thousands 








> DAMASCUS, Syria  Tens of thousands of Syrians thronged a main square of the Syrian capital and nearby streets Wednesday in a show of support for embattled President Bashar Assad, as he struggles to quell a 7-month-old uprising. Opponents charge such rallies are staged by the regime.
> 
> International pressure is building on Assad to step down over his regime's bloody crackdown on anti-government protests. The U.N. says nearly 3,000 people have been killed.
> 
> Wednesday's demonstration was intended to show that Assad still enjoys the support of many Syrians. The gathering was huge in comparison with frequent, almost daily anti-regime protests across the country since March which are often met by tear gas and gunfire from police and security forces.
> 
> The uprising in Syria has posed the most serious challenge to the Assad family's 40-year ruling dynasty, but it has yet to bring out the middle- and upper-middle classes in Damascus and Aleppo, the two economic powerhouses.
> 
> Organizers said the Damascus rally was also meant to thank Russia and China for blocking a U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Syria for its brutal crackdown. Their vetoes last week drew heavy criticism from the U.S.
> 
> In rare public comments on the situation in Syria, China on Tuesday urged Assad to move toward faster political reform.
> 
> "We oppose the use of violence and do not wish to see more bloodshed. We believe the Syrian government should swiftly enact their reform commitments ... and resolve problems through dialogue and negotiations," said a statement by Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin.
> 
> The statement coincided with a visit to Beijing by Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin Tuesday.
> 
> The demonstrators converged on the Sabaa Bahrat Damascus square early Wednesday, waving Syrian flags and pictures of Assad. A man suspended by rope from a helicopter flew over the crowd, carrying Russian and Chinese flags.
> 
> "America, out, out, Syria free, free," the crowds shouted.
> 
> Some wore white T-shirts with a photo of Assad with the Arabic word "minhibbak," or "we love you." Previous "Minhibbak" pro-Assad demonstrations have been mocked by the opposition and dismissed as staged events.
> 
> Speakers, including school children, read poetry in praise of Assad.
> 
> "We support our leader and we do love him," said Lamia Kinani, a 50-year-old housewife, adding that the newly formed opposition Syrian National Council does not represent the Syrians.
> 
> The Syrian National Council, formed last week in Turkey, includes most main opposition factions. No country or international body has recognized it as a legal representative of the Syrian people.
> 
> Demonstrator Annas Assad, 23, a university student, denounced the council as a "group of traitors and is a tool of the West."
> 
> "Assad will remain in power against their will," he said.
> 
> Assad still has the firm loyalty of the armed forces, key to his remaining in power.
> 
> His main base of support also includes Syrians who have benefited financially from the regime, minority groups who fear they will be targeted if the Sunni majority takes over, and others who see no clear and safe alternative to Assad.
> 
> The Assad regime charges its opponents are foreign-backed terrorists and agitators rather than true reformers. The government claims it is the target of a foreign conspiracy because of its support for anti-Israeli groups like Lebanon's Hezbollah and the Palestinian Hamas, whose leadership is based in Syria.



Syria: Pro-Assad Demonstrations Mobilizes Tens Of Thousands


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Defectors Clash With Regime Troops, Activists Say 








> RASTAN, Syria  Syrian troops clashed Thursday with armed men believed to be military defectors in a southern village and a northwestern town, killing at least 13 people in the latest sign that the 7-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad is becoming increasingly militarized, activists said.
> 
> In an attempt by the regime to show it still had the upper hand, the government took journalists on a tour of a central town where the most serious insurrection in recent weeks drew a crushing response. Many buildings in Rastan were burned, shops were shuttered and soldiers manned military checkpoints.
> 
> Several residents told of gunmen who they said terrorized the area. And government escorts displayed rifles and other light weapons they insisted had been seized from gangs or terrorists, rather than army defectors.
> 
> Despite the spiraling violence and continuing protests, Assad said Syria has "passed the most difficult period" and is now working to become "a model to be followed in the region." He was apparently referring to promised political reforms, most of which have yet to be delivered. The comments, to a visiting Lebanese delegation, were reported by the official news agency.
> 
> Assad, initially regarded as a potential reformer in the Arab world when he came to power upon the death of his father in 2000, responded with a harsh military crackdown when the wave of Arab uprisings reached the tightly controlled country in mid-March. The U.N. says nearly 3,000 people have been killed.
> 
> After months of mostly peaceful protests, the growing involvement of military defectors in confrontations has raised fears that Syria may be sliding toward a civil war. There have also been reports of protesters taking up arms to defend themselves against military attacks.
> 
> In the latest clashes, troops stormed the northwestern town of Binnish with more than 50 vehicles on Thursday. The sound of explosions and gunfire could be heard. The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, said five people were killed.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, who heads the observatory, said six soldiers and two defectors were also killed Thursday in the southern village of Harra in Daraa province, where the uprising began. He said an army force appears to have been ambushed in Harra's main square.
> 
> Syrian authorities have prevented journalists from independently visiting places of confrontation in the uprising and have banned all but a few foreign journalists from entering the country.
> 
> On Thursday, the government organized a trip for local reporters to the rebellious central town of Rastan, which is home to about 70,000 people.
> 
> Troops backed by tanks retook the town on Oct. 2 after five days of heavy fighting with defectors.
> 
> Many shops, homes and government buildings bore the scars of heavy fighting. Some buildings were entirely blackened by fire; others were marked with a spray of bullets.
> 
> A clock tower in the center of Rastan was surrounded by sand bags.
> 
> The governor of the province of Homs, where Rastan is located, said nearly half of all government institutions in the town were damaged and telephone and electricity lines were cut by armed groups.
> 
> Governor Ghassan Abdul-Aal told reporters the situation is getting better in the area, pledging that reconstruction work will be finished by the end of this month.
> 
> He denied the armed men who had controlled Rastan were defectors. He said those gunmen arrested were Syrians. The government has largely blamed "terrorists" and foreign plotters for the country's unrest.
> 
> Journalists were also shown weapons that authorities say they seized, including nearly 200 shotguns, assault rifles, pump-action rifles, military uniforms and rocket-propelled grenades.
> 
> Mohammed Syouf, a 24-year-old Shop owner, told an Associated Press reporter that "armed groups stormed banks, military centers and ransacked them," adding that residents appealed to the army to enter the city "to rid it of those gunmen."
> 
> Mohammed Najjar, 18, said the gunmen were from inside and outside Homs.
> 
> "They torched public properties, terrorized people and prevented residents from going to their jobs," he said.
> 
> Since the uprising began, Assad made promises of sweeping reforms but most have not been carried out and the opposition says they will accept nothing short of his departure.



Syria: Defectors Clash With Regime Troops, Activists Say


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: UN Human Rights Commissioner Calls For 'Immediate Measures' To Protect Civilians 








> BEIRUT  Activists say Syrian security forces have opened fire on protesters in three different parts of the country, killing at least seven.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a second activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, both reported one person killed in the Damascus suburb of Saqba and another killed in the northern village of Andan on Friday.
> 
> The observatory said seven people were also killed in the southern village of Dael, while the coordination committees put the death toll there at five.
> 
> Thousands protested throughout Syria Friday calling for the downfall of President Bashar Assad.
> 
> The U.N. estimates that over 3,000 people have been killed in Syria's seven-month uprising and the ensuing government crackdown.
> 
> THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
> 
> BEIRUT (AP)  Thousands of Syrians poured into the streets Friday calling for the downfall of President Bashar Assad and expressing support for army defectors fighting the regime, as the U.N.'s top human rights official urged the international community to take "immediate measures" to protect civilians in Syria, activist said.
> 
> The protests were the most explicit show of support offered so far by the country's protest movement to army defectors who have reportedly clashed with loyalists in northern and central Syria in an increasing militarization of the seven-month-old uprising.
> 
> Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso and the Local Coordination Committees, an activist group, said the protests spread from the suburbs of the capital Damascus to the southern province of Daraa, the northern provinces of Aleppo, Idlib and Hassakeh, and the central regions of Homs and Hama, as well as to other areas.
> 
> The opposition had called for protests after the Muslim Friday prayers in support of the "Free Officers", in reference to army defectors who have been fighting regime troops over the past weeks. Clashes between troops and gunmen believed to be defectors left at least 25 people dead on Thursday, according to the London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> 
> The uprising against Assad's regime began in mid-March amid a wave of anti-government protests in the Arab world that toppled autocrats in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Assad has responded with a fierce crackdown.
> 
> In Geneva, Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, warned that the unrelenting crackdown by the government of President Bashar Assad could worsen unless further action is taken. She said the death toll from seven months of anti-government unrest in the country rose above 3,000.
> 
> "The onus is on all members of the international community to tale protective action in a collective and decisive manner, before the continual ruthless repression and killings drive the country into a full-blown civil war," Pillay said in a statement.
> 
> She didn't elaborate on what measures the international community could take beyond the sanctions already imposed on Assad's regime.
> 
> Her spokesman, Rupert Colville, told reporters in Geneva that it was up to the U.N. Security Council to decide what action was appropriate.
> 
> But he added: "What has been done so far is not producing results and people continue to be killed every single day."
> 
> "Just hoping things will get better isn't good enough, clearly," Colville said.



Syria: UN Human Rights Commissioner Calls For 'Immediate Measures' To Protect Civilians


----------



## hipeter924

I have been cracking up at Russia Today's coverage of the Syria protests. 



> The Syrian capital has been the scene of a massive show of support,  the biggest for months, for embattled President Al-Assad, with calls for  him to be given more time to make the promise of reform a reality.
> Thousands of people gathered in the heart of Syria to show their  support and loyalty to President Bashar Al-Assad. He is still struggling  to quell a nationwide uprising despite promises of reforms.But his  supporters say the government needs more time to push through change.


Pro-Assad rally draws thousands to Syrian capital &mdash; RT
Remind you of a certain leader in Libya? 

I think this has caught RT out, Russian propaganda at it's stupidest.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Gaddafi Death Inspiration For Protesters 








> BEIRUT  Inspired by the scenes of euphoria in Libya, Syrian protesters poured into the streets Friday and shouted that President Bashar Assad's regime will be the next to unravel now that ousted Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi is dead.
> 
> Syrian forces fired on protesters Friday, killing up to 14 people, activists said.
> 
> "Gadhafi is gone, your turn is coming, Bashar," protesters shouted on Friday in the central city of Hama, long a hotbed of resistance to the regime.
> 
> The Syrian uprising has proved remarkably resilient over the past seven months, but has shown some signs of stalling in recent weeks as the government forges ahead with a bloody crackdown that the U.N. estimates has killed more than 3,000 people.
> 
> Although the mass demonstrations in Syria have shaken one of the most authoritarian regimes in the Middle East, the opposition has made no major gains in recent months, it holds no territory and has no clear leadership.
> 
> Now the armed uprising in Libya that drove Gadhafi from power  albeit with NATO air support  appears to have breathed new life into the Syrian revolt.
> 
> "Our souls, our blood we sacrifice for you, Libya!" Syrian protesters chanted Friday.
> 
> Others held signs linking Assad's fate to those of other deposed Arab leaders. Tunisia's Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been driven into exile, and Egypt's Hosni Mubarak is in jail and facing charges of complicity in the deaths of more than 800 protesters in his country's uprising.
> 
> "Ben Ali fled, Mubarak is in jail, Gadhafi is killed, Assad ... ?" read one banner.
> 
> Gadhafi's death Thursday, after he was dragged from hiding in a drainage pipe, begging for his life, decisively ended the nearly 42-year regime that had turned the oil-rich country into an international pariah and his own personal fiefdom.
> 
> In many ways, the Syrian uprising has taken cues from the Libyans recently.
> 
> Syria's opposition formed a national council like the Libyans' National Transitional Council, hoping they could forge a united front against Assad that Syrians and the international community could rally behind.
> 
> And with the successes of armed Libyan revolutionaries present in their minds, many Syrian protesters say they are starting to see the limits of a peaceful movement, particularly when compared to the armed uprising in Libya. Some Syrians are now calling on protesters to take up arms and inviting foreign military action, hoisting signs that say "Where is NATO?" and urging the world to come to Syria's aid.
> 
> For the most part, Syrian opposition leaders have opposed foreign intervention.
> 
> There is no central call to arms by the opposition, in part because there is no clear leadership in the movement.
> 
> The Syrian opposition is disparate and fragmented, with various parties vying for power as they seek an end to more than 40 years of iron rule by Assad and his late father, Hafez.
> 
> There have been some clashes in border regions between Syrian forces and apparent defectors from the military, but they have not been widespread.
> 
> Still, the growing signs of armed resistance may accelerate the cycle of violence gripping the country by giving the government a pretext to use even greater firepower against its opponents. Authorities have already used tanks, snipers and gangster-like gunmen known as "shabiha" who operate as hired guns for the regime.
> 
> The regime has sealed off the country and prevented independent media coverage, making it difficult to verify events on the ground.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group based in Britain, put Friday's death toll at 14 nationwide. Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso said six people were killed in the central city of Homs, and there were reports of casualties in other areas as well.



Syria: Gaddafi Death Inspiration For Protesters


----------



## Katzndogz

This is following the Libyan line almost word for word.  Al Quaeda is dancing in the streets right now.


----------



## High_Gravity

Tipsycatlover said:


> This is following the Libyan line almost word for word.  Al Quaeda is dancing in the streets right now.



Dancing in the streets? shut the fuck up you have no clue what you are talking about.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's uprising creeps across Lebanese border 








> A growing number of cross-border incursions by Syrian troops into Lebanese territory has aggravated political rivalries in Lebanon between those who oppose the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and those who support it.
> 
> Since the beginning of October, Syrian soldiers have penetrated Sunni-populated areas along Lebanons remote and poorly marked eastern border on a number of occasions, reportedly killing and abducting several people.
> 
> Unlike Syrias stronger neighbors  Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Israel  Lebanon has long lived under Syrias shadow and is more vulnerable to interference as the Assad regime pursues its crackdown on the Syrian opposition, elements of which have begun to arm themselves and fight back.
> 
> People here have grown used to [Syrian] violations, but what is worrying us is a large operation by the Syrians in Arsal. We are almost positive it is going to happen, says Ali Hojeiry, the mayor of Arsal, a town of 40,000 Sunnis tucked into barren mountains along Lebanons eastern frontier with Syria.
> 
> *Repeated incursions, an abduction in Beirut*
> 
> Two weeks ago, Syrian troops backed by tanks attacked isolated buildings six miles east of Arsal, where farmers cultivate orchards of almonds, apricots, and pears. Days later, a Syrian national was killed on Lebanese soil near Arsal.
> 
> Since then there have been further incursions reported elsewhere along the border.
> 
> On Tuesday, Syrian troops shot and killed a dual Lebanese-Syrian national and captured another man on the border as part of a security clampdown on towns and villages south of the flashpoint city of Homs, which lies just 20 miles north of the Lebanese frontier. On Wednesday, gun battles between Syrian security forces and army defectors erupted in the border area.
> 
> There were mixed reports on the number of casualties (one report said two officers and six soldiers, all deserters, were killed) and the precise location of the incident. Much of Lebanons eastern border with Syria is unmarked and, during calmer times, easily accessed in places by residents of both countries.



Syria's uprising creeps across Lebanese border - CSMonitor.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford Leaves Country 



> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces killed four people in the restive central city of Homs on Monday, while government troops clashed with gunmen believed to be defectors from the military, activists said.
> 
> The U.S., meanwhile, pulled its ambassador out of Syria, saying threats against him make it no longer safe for him to remain. Ford has been the target of several incidents of intimidation by pro-government thugs, and enraged Syrian authorities with his forceful defense of peaceful protests and harsh critique of a government crackdown that the U.N. says has killed more than 3,000.
> 
> The opposition movement driving Syria's 7-month-old uprising has mostly focused on peaceful demonstrations, although recently there have been reports of protesters taking up arms to defend themselves against military attacks. There have also been increasing reports of defections from the military, highlighting a trend that has raised fears that Syria may be sliding toward civil war.
> 
> The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clashes Monday pitting Syrian troops against army defectors left casualties on both sides, but there was no precise death toll. The fighting happened in Houla, which is comprised of several villages in the Homs province.
> 
> About 25 miles (40 kilometers) away in the city of Homs, security forces killed four people, the observatory said. Syria's third-largest city, Homs has seen some of the most severe violence in the past months.



Syria: U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford Leaves Country


----------



## freedombecki

Apparently, Ford has been critical of Assad's government. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/25/w...ves-damascus-amid-threats-to-safety.html?_r=1


> A State Department spokesman, Mark C. Toner, said Monday in a statement  that the timing of Mr. Ford&#8217;s return to his embassy &#8220;will depend on our  assessment of Syrian regime-led incitement and the security situation on  the ground.&#8221;



Ambassador Ford has only been in Syria this year, and we had no ambassador in Syria since 2005.


----------



## freedombecki

The U. S. State Department issued a request for Americans in Syria to depart on September 29, 2011:



> *Syria *
> 
> *September 30, 2011*
> 
> The  U.S. Department of State continues to urge U.S. citizens in Syria to  depart immediately while commercial transportation                         is available. Given the ongoing uncertainty and  volatility of the current situation, U.S. citizens who must remain in  Syria                         are advised to limit nonessential travel within  the country. U.S. citizens not in Syria should defer all travel to Syria  at                         this time. Effective September 29, 2011, the  Department of State is lifting the Ordered Departure status for U.S.  government                         employees at the U.S. Embassy in Damascus. The  Embassy continues to provide passport services, as well as other  emergency                         services to U.S. citizens. As staff levels at  the Embassy remain restricted, our ability to assist U.S. citizens in an  emergency                         is limited and may be further constrained by the  fluid security situation. This Travel Warning supersedes the Travel  Warning                         for Syria issued on September 15, 2011, to note  the lifting of Ordered Departure status at the U.S. Embassy.
> Since  March 2011, demonstrations throughout Syria have been violently  suppressed by Syrian security forces, resulting in thousands                         of deaths, injuries, and detentions.  Demonstrations, and violent government reactions to them, can occur with  little or no                         warning anytime and anywhere. Recent  demonstrations have occurred on university campuses, main streets,  public squares, mosques,                         and other places of public gathering. On July  11, 2011, the U.S. Embassy and other embassies in Damascus were  violently attacked                         by people participating in a pro-government  demonstration, resulting in the U.S. Embassy closing for one day. We  remind U.S.                         citizens that even demonstrations intended to be  peaceful can turn confrontational and escalate into violence. U.S.  citizens                         are urged to avoid the areas of demonstrations  if possible, and to exercise caution if within the vicinity of a  demonstration.
> Several cities, including Damascus, have been placed under heightened security.



I don't think the State Department has updated its message since Ambassador Ford left over the weekend.

It is my prayer that in the last 3 weeks, Americans have been leaving Syria as requested, as now, there is no ambassador there to deal with American issues. Seems once before when ambassadors left a country, messages were left for Americans to seek help from another country's ambassadors, but I am not seeing that in the present state department. Hopefully they will be placing where Americans can go momentarily or at least within a few hours.


----------



## freedombecki

I just found that in Iran, Americans can contact the Swiss embassy. I'm not certain who to contact in Syria, but FWIW, here's the Swiss Embassy info in Syria. At least, until the State Department decides who will help Americans stranded in Syria since the Ambassador left.

My prayers for Americans in the Middle East.


----------



## JStone

Tipsycatlover said:


> This is following the Libyan line almost word for word.  Al Quaeda is dancing in the streets right now.



Islam prohibits dancing.


----------



## freedombecki

Oops! Scrub that. Switzerland left Syria very recently also, as it said Syria is too violent.

Syria sounds like it is a powder keg this week.

Where is High Gravity when you need him?


----------



## High_Gravity

freedombecki said:


> Oops! Scrub that. Switzerland left Syria very recently also, as it said Syria is too violent.
> 
> Syria sounds like it is a powder keg this week.
> 
> Where is High Gravity when you need him?



I am here.


----------



## freedombecki

High_Gravity said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oops! Scrub that. Switzerland left Syria very recently also, as it said Syria is too violent.
> 
> Syria sounds like it is a powder keg this week.
> 
> Where is High Gravity when you need him?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am here.
Click to expand...


Glad you are. I just ran into a link from Drudgereport on a Senator on the Armed Services Committee:



> "Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed  focus on what practical military operations might be considered to  protect civilian lives in Syria," McCain told a World Economic Forum  meeting in Jordan.  US Senator John McCain raised the prospect  Sunday of possible armed intervention to protect civilians in Syria  where a crackdown on pro-democracy protests has killed more than 3,000  people. Breitbart


I sure hope Americans heeded the warning and got out of Syria in the last 3 weeks.

Iran had a severe warning issued Oct 21 for Americans to get out.


----------



## High_Gravity

freedombecki said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Oops! Scrub that. Switzerland left Syria very recently also, as it said Syria is too violent.
> 
> Syria sounds like it is a powder keg this week.
> 
> Where is High Gravity when you need him?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am here.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Glad you are. I just ran into a link from Drudgereport on a Senator on the Armed Services Committee:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed  focus on what practical military operations might be considered to  protect civilian lives in Syria," McCain told a World Economic Forum  meeting in Jordan.  US Senator John McCain raised the prospect  Sunday of possible armed intervention to protect civilians in Syria  where a crackdown on pro-democracy protests has killed more than 3,000  people. Breitbart
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I sure hope Americans heeded the warning and got out of Syria in the last 3 weeks.
> 
> Iran had a severe warning issued Oct 21 for Americans to get out.
Click to expand...


Americans really should not be in those countries right now, its not rocket science. Anyone who has a television can see whats going on, Americans make easy targets during these revolts in Muslim countries.


----------



## freedombecki

High_Gravity said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am here.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Glad you are. I just ran into a link from Drudgereport on a Senator on the Armed Services Committee:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Now that military operations in Libya are ending, there will be renewed  focus on what practical military operations might be considered to  protect civilian lives in Syria," McCain told a World Economic Forum  meeting in Jordan.  US Senator John McCain raised the prospect  Sunday of possible armed intervention to protect civilians in Syria  where a crackdown on pro-democracy protests has killed more than 3,000  people. Breitbart
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> I sure hope Americans heeded the warning and got out of Syria in the last 3 weeks.
> 
> Iran had a severe warning issued Oct 21 for Americans to get out.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Americans really should not be in those countries right now, its not rocket science. Anyone who has a television can see whats going on, Americans make easy targets during these revolts in Muslim countries.
Click to expand...

Libya sounds frightening lately with Gadhafi's body rotting while factions fight over the outcome of his remains and Iranian type fundamentals are seizing power.

As Lily Tomlin might have said, it's just one ringy-dingy after another.


----------



## High_Gravity

freedombecki said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Glad you are. I just ran into a link from Drudgereport on a Senator on the Armed Services Committee:
> 
> I sure hope Americans heeded the warning and got out of Syria in the last 3 weeks.
> 
> Iran had a severe warning issued Oct 21 for Americans to get out.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Americans really should not be in those countries right now, its not rocket science. Anyone who has a television can see whats going on, Americans make easy targets during these revolts in Muslim countries.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Libya sounds frightening lately with Gadhafi's body rotting while factions fight over the outcome of his remains and Iranian type fundamentals are seizing power.
> 
> As Lily Tomlin might have said, it's just one ringy-dingy after another.
Click to expand...


The smart money is on Libya becoming a Islamic third world shit hole, but I hope they can go against the grain and make something better. Time will tell whether they can or not.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's Kurds: Are They About to Join the Uprising Against Assad?



> "I am sick, I cannot sleep," says Hervin Ose, fighting back tears as she remembers her friend and fellow Syrian Kurdish activist, Mashaal Tammo. "Till now I cannot believe he is not here. Sometimes I even try to call him, sometimes I wait for him to call me."
> 
> On Friday Oct. 7, Hervin met Tammo at a friend's house in Qamishli, a Kurdish-majority town in northeastern Syria, just across the border from Turkey. "He had a sadness about him," she recalls, speaking via Skype. Tammo, one of the few Syrian Kurdish leaders to have openly called for the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al Assad, had recently escaped an assassination attempt. Now he spoke as if he was going away on a long trip. "My message is finished in this life," he told her. Before taking his leave Tammo even snapped a few pictures of his friend. "I wondered," says Hervin. "He'd never taken a photo of me before."
> 
> It was the last time she was to see him alive. Hours later, according to reports, masked assailants gunned down Tammo inside his Qamishli home, leaving his son and another Kurdish activist wounded. Hervin, who insisted on being quoted by her real name  "I am a wanted person already... I am tired of being afraid," she says  has no doubts as to who ordered her friend's murder. "Bashar," she says, "he made this decision."
> 
> The day of the funeral, after going to see Tammo's body at the morgue, Hervin joined tens of thousands of people  as many 100,000, she says, though most observers put the figure at 50,000  on the streets of Qamishli. It was, by any count, the largest protest in the northeast since the beginning of the popular uprising against the Assad regime. It too ended in bloodshed when Syrian security forces began to spray the mourners with gunfire, killing at least two people.
> 
> Although protests have been taking place in the north since the early spring, they now show signs of escalating, observers say. (Since Tammo's funeral, they have continued every day, one activist told me.) According to Henri Barkey, a Lehigh University professor and former State Department official, the fresh wave of demonstrations may well mark the Syrian Kurds' long awaited entry into the popular revolt against Assad. "After Tammo's murder, [the Kurds] are now a party to the conflict," says Barkey. As he sees it, "increased mobilization" in the Kurdish northeast, one of the poorest and least developed regions of Syria, now appears to be imminent.
> 
> Of course, were Syria's Kurds to rise up en masse, the numbers of protesters would be much higher, acknowledges Hervin. (Syria is home to 2 million Kurds, or about 10% of the population.) What stands in the way, she says, is the disconnect between a number of local political parties and the people on the street, particularly young Kurds. "The young people understand the responsibility they have, they understand that the Syrian revolution needs their help," she says. "The normal people support, they have joined ... but the parties haven't made up their mind."



Read more: Syria's Kurds: Are They About to Join the Uprising Against Assad? - TIME


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## freedombecki

High_Gravity said:


> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Americans really should not be in those countries right now, its not rocket science. Anyone who has a television can see whats going on, Americans make easy targets during these revolts in Muslim countries.
> 
> 
> 
> Libya sounds frightening lately with Gadhafi's body rotting while factions fight over the outcome of his remains and Iranian type fundamentals are seizing power.
> 
> As Lily Tomlin might have said, it's just one ringy-dingy after another.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The smart money is on Libya becoming a Islamic third world shit hole, but I hope they can go against the grain and make something better. Time will tell whether they can or not.
Click to expand...

<you must spread some reputation around before you give some to High Gravity again>

I hope Libya learns to become a good neighbor to the world in the near future. The trouble with brutal dictatorships is that people living in them get so used to the killings and brutality as normal and pass it on once they're free of it. It's a vicious cycle.


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## High_Gravity

freedombecki said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> freedombecki said:
> 
> 
> 
> Libya sounds frightening lately with Gadhafi's body rotting while factions fight over the outcome of his remains and Iranian type fundamentals are seizing power.
> 
> As Lily Tomlin might have said, it's just one ringy-dingy after another.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The smart money is on Libya becoming a Islamic third world shit hole, but I hope they can go against the grain and make something better. Time will tell whether they can or not.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> <you must spread some reputation around before you give some to High Gravity again>
> 
> I hope Libya learns to become a good neighbor to the world in the near future. The trouble with brutal dictatorships is that people living in them get so used to the killings and brutality as normal and pass it on once they're free of it. It's a vicious cycle.
Click to expand...


This is very true, Libya has alot of potential though only 6 million people in a country that size with all that oil, if they play their cards right they can have a pretty good thing going on over there.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests: China Sends Envoy 









> BEIJING  China said Tuesday that it was sending an envoy to Syria after blocking a U.N. resolution earlier this month that threatened sanctions, and reiterated that it wants a political solution to the country's ongoing crisis.
> 
> Wu Sike, China's special envoy on the Middle East, will visit Syria and Egypt from Wednesday through Sunday, the Foreign Ministry said.
> 
> The uprising in Syria has proven remarkably resilient even though the government has tried relentlessly to crush the revolt. The United Nations says more than 3,000 people have been killed in the government crackdown on the protests, and international pressure has been building for Syrian President Bashar Assad to step down.
> 
> Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said Tuesday that Beijing wants all parties in Syria to resolve the crisis peacefully.
> 
> "We believe the Syrian government should deliver on its reform pledges, respond to the people's appeals and that all parties should, in a constructive manner, actively participate in the political process," Jiang said in a regular briefing.
> 
> China and Russia vetoed the already watered-down Security Council resolution criticizing the Syrian government for suppressing protests because they objected to language that left open the possibility of sanctions against Syria.
> 
> The opposition movement driving Syria's 7-month-old uprising has mostly focused on peaceful demonstrations, although recently there have been reports of protesters taking up arms to defend themselves against military attacks. There have also been increasing reports of defections from the military, highlighting a trend that has raised fears that Syria may be sliding toward civil war.
> 
> The United States has pulled its ambassador out of Syria, arguing that his support for anti-Assad activists put him in grave danger. Syria responded quickly Monday, ordering home its envoy from Washington.



Syria Protests: China Sends Envoy


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## High_Gravity

Syria: Arab Mission Visit Desperate Attempt To Start Dialogue 








> BEIRUT  Senior Arab officials visiting Syria pressed President Bashar Assad on Wednesday to start a dialogue with the opposition, hours after tens of thousands packed a Damascus square to show support for their embattled leader, state TV reported.
> 
> The Arab ministerial committee led by Qatar's prime minister began a meeting with Assad later in the afternoon, but prospects for the mission's success were dim. The opposition's refuses any dialogue with the regime, particularly while it continues its military crackdown on protesters, which the U.N. says has killed 3,000 people since March.
> 
> Activists said at least nine civilians were killed Wednesday in military operations across the country, six of them in the flashpoint central city of Homs.
> 
> The Arab officials' visit follows a meeting in Cairo last week by the 22-nation Arab League, which gave Syria until the end of the month to end military operations, release detainees arrested in the crackdown, and start a dialogue with the opposition.
> 
> Bassma Kodmani, spokeswoman for the broad-based opposition group, the Syrian National Council, said it is "impossible" to talk about a dialogue within the current security crackdown.
> 
> "And even if the right conditions for dialogue prevail, the only thing to discuss would be a roadmap for the peaceful transfer of power," she told The Associated Press.
> 
> Paris-based Kodmani echoed the feelings of Syrian anti-government protesters, many of whom expressed disappointment with the Arab League and called for suspending Syria's membership.
> 
> "Russia gives Bashar international protection, Iran gives him weapons, and Arabs give him time," read a banner carried by protesters in northern Syria Tuesday evening. "No dialogue with the killer of children," read another.
> 
> The SNC had said in a statement Tuesday it was worried that the Arab League's initiative "did not distinguish between the victim and the executioner."
> 
> It also called for international protection for civilians, and for Arab and international observers to be allowed immediately into Syria to monitor the situation.
> 
> Human Rights Watch also called on the Arab ministers to demand that the government allow independent, civilian monitors into Syria to observe the behavior of security forces.
> 
> Tens of thousands of Syrians carrying white, red and black flags and posters of Assad gathered at Damascus' Omayyad square in a rally timed to coincide with the Arab ministers' visit.
> 
> The opposition says authorities regularly stage massive rallies in support of the embattled leader even as his regime becomes increasingly isolated.
> 
> Assad, however, still has significant support among many Syrians, including those who benefited financially from the regime, minority groups who fear they will be targeted if the Sunni majority takes over and others who see no clear and safe alternative to the president. He also still has the loyalty of the bulk of the armed forces, key to his remaining in power.
> 
> Damascus appears to have grudgingly agreed to the Arab mission even though it refuses to have outsiders interfere in what it considers its internal affairs.
> 
> Gulf countries seeking to suspend Syria's membership in the Arab League because of its bloody crackdown on protesters failed to gain enough support for the move at the Oct. 16 meeting in Cairo.
> 
> Human Rights Watch also quoted Syrian activists as saying at least 186 protesters and residents have been killed in Syria since the Cairo meeting.
> 
> The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other rights groups said nine civilians were killed Wednesday in shootings by security forces nationwide, including six in the restive city of Homs. The Observatory also reported nine soldiers were killed in Hama province when the bus they were traveling in was hit by a rocket propelled grenade.



Syria: Arab Mission Visit Desperate Attempt To Start Dialogue


----------



## High_Gravity

Slapping at Syria, Turkey Shelters Anti-Assad Fighters








> ANTAKYA, Turkey  Once one of Syrias closest allies, Turkey is hosting an armed opposition group waging an insurgency against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, providing shelter to the commander and dozens of members of the group, the Free Syrian Army, and allowing them to orchestrate attacks across the border from inside a camp guarded by the Turkish military.
> 
> The support for the insurgents comes amid a broader Turkish campaign to undermine Mr. Assads government. Turkey is expected to impose sanctions soon on Syria, and it has deepened its support for an umbrella political opposition group known as the Syrian National Council, which announced its formation in Istanbul. But its harboring of leaders in the Free Syrian Army, a militia composed of defectors from the Syrian armed forces, may be its most striking challenge so far to Damascus.
> 
> On Wednesday, the group, living in a heavily guarded refugee camp in Turkey, claimed responsibility for killing nine Syrian soldiers, including one uniformed officer, in an attack in restive central Syria.
> 
> Turkish officials describe their relationship with the groups commander, Col. Riad al-Asaad, and the 60 to 70 members living in the officers camp as purely humanitarian. Turkeys primary concern, the officials said, is for the physical safety of defectors. When asked specifically about allowing the group to organize military operations while under the protection of Turkey, a Foreign Ministry official said that their only concern was humanitarian protection and that they could not stop them from expressing their views.
> 
> At the time all of these people escaped from Syria, we did not know who was who, it was not written on their heads I am a soldier or I am an opposition member,  said a Foreign Ministry spokesman, who spoke on the condition of anonymity in keeping with diplomatic protocol. We are providing these people with temporary residence on humanitarian grounds, and that will continue.
> 
> At the moment, the group is too small to pose any real challenge to Mr. Assads government. But its Turkish support underlines how combustible, and resilient, Syrias uprising has proven. The country sits at the intersection of influences in the region  with Iran, Hezbollah in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia and Israel  and Turkeys involvement will be closely watched by Syrias friends and foes.
> 
> We will fight the regime until it falls and build a new period of stability and safety in Syria, Colonel Asaad said in an interview arranged by the Turkish Foreign Ministry and conducted in the presence of a foreign ministry official. We are the leaders of the Syrian people and we stand with the Syrian people.
> 
> The interview was held in the office of a local government official, and Colonel Asaad arrived protected by a contingent of 10 heavily armed Turkish soldiers, including one sniper.
> 
> The colonel wore a business suit that an official with the Turkish Foreign Ministry said he purchased for him that morning. At the end of the meeting, citing security concerns, the colonel and a Foreign Ministry official advised that all further contact with his group be channeled through the Turkish Foreign Ministry.
> 
> Turkey once viewed its warm ties with Syria as its greatest foreign policy accomplishment, but relations have collapsed over the eight months of anti-government protests there and a brutal crackdown that the United Nations says has killed more than 3,000.
> 
> Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey was personally offended by Mr. Assads repeated failure to abide by his assurances that he would undertake sweeping reform. Turkish officials predict that the Assad government may collapse within the next two years.
> 
> This pushes Turkish policy further towards active intervention in Syria, said Hugh Pope, an analyst with the International Crisis Group. He called Turkeys apparent relationship with the Free Syrian Army completely new territory.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/28/w...ng-antigovernment-syrian-militia.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Security Forces Fire on Rallies, Killing 30



> BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian security forces opened fire Friday on protesters and hunted them down in house-to-house raids, killing about 30 people in the deadliest day in weeks in the country's 7-month-old uprising, activists said.
> 
> The popular revolt against Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime has proved remarkably resilient, with protests erupting every week despite the near-certainty the government will respond with bullets and tear gas. The U.N. estimates the regime crackdown on the protests has killed 3,000 people since March.
> 
> Much of the bloodshed Friday happened after the protests had ended and security forces armed with machine guns chased protesters and activists, according to opposition groups monitoring the demonstrations. Authorities disrupted telephone and Internet service, they said.
> 
> The Syrian opposition's two main activist groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordinating Committees, gave figures for the protesters killed on Friday ranging from 29 to 37.
> 
> The flashpoints were Homs and Hama in central Syria, where opposition to the regime is strong. Hama is the site of a massacre nearly 30 years ago which has come to symbolize the ruthlessness of the Assad dynasty.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the observatory, said security forces in Homs were firing machine guns as they conducted raids in search of protesters and activists. In Hama, there were heavy clashes between the army and gunmen believed to be army defectors.
> 
> Syria has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground. Key sources of information are amateur videos posted online, witness accounts and details gathered by activist groups.
> 
> Communications were spotty Friday in the Damascus suburb of Douma and in Homs. The move appeared to be an attempt to cut off the opposition's ability to organize and report on the protests.
> 
> "There was a very fierce reaction to the protests in Homs today," said Syria-based activist Mustafa Osso. Syrian forces opened fire as some 2,000 people gathered for protests, he said.
> 
> "There are many injured as well. Hospitals are having a hard time coping with the casualties," Osso told The Associated Press.
> 
> Majd Amer, an activist in Homs said sporadic gunfire could be heard as protesters poured out of mosques following Friday prayers.
> 
> It is difficult to gauge the strength of the revolt in Syria, a country of 22 million people. The crackdown does not appear to have significantly reduced the number of protests, but neither does the regime appear to be in any imminent danger of collapse.
> 
> The regime appears to lack sufficient numbers of loyal troops to garrison all the centers of unrest at the same time, so government forces will often sweep through an area in the wake of protests, breaking up new gatherings and hunting activists, before being deployed elsewhere.
> 
> The result has been a monthslong stalemate. Still, the capture and subsequent death of Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, under still-unclear circumstances, has energized the opposition. Last week, thousands of Syrians took to the streets shouting that Assad will be next.
> 
> The protests come amid efforts by the Arab League to end the bloodshed, and debates within the opposition on how to bring international pressure to bear on the regime.
> 
> On Friday, many protesters said they wanted a no-fly zone established over Syria to protect civilians in case the Syrian regime considers attacking protesters from the sky, the activist groups said.



http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2011/10/28/world/middleeast/AP-ML-Syria.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Opposition Struggles To Unite








> BEIRUT  In a country ruled for more than four decades by an autocratic regime, the Syrian uprising has brought forth an abundance of opposition figures jostling for their first real taste of power.
> 
> Seven months on, the opposition is struggling to overcome infighting and inexperience, preventing the movement from gaining the traction it needs to present a credible alternative to President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Time is not on their side  the U.N. estimates that the military assault on protesters has killed some 3,000 since the uprising began in March and Assad's regime shows no sign of giving in to demands that he step down.
> 
> The divisions are tied to issues at the heart of the revolution: Whether to request foreign military assistance and accept dialogue with the regime and what ideology should guide a post-Assad Syria.
> 
> "There is fairly little experience in a movement whose members have been denied politics as a process for half a century," Murhaf Jouejati, a Syria expert at George Washington University in the United States told The Associated Press.
> 
> Unlike Libya's National Transitional Council, which brought together most factions fighting Gadhafi's regime and was quickly recognized by much of the international community, Syria's opposition has no leadership on the ground.
> 
> Regime opponents in Syria are a diverse group, representing the country's ideological, sectarian and generational divide. They include dissidents who spent years in prison, tech-savvy activists in their 20s, former Marxists, Islamists and Paris-based intellectuals.
> 
> Communication between those abroad and those in the country is extremely difficult. Political activists in Syria are routinely rounded up and imprisoned. Many have gone into hiding, communicating only through Skype using fake names, and the country is largely sealed off to exiled dissidents and foreign journalists.
> 
> After months of negotiations, the majority of opposition groups from inside and outside the country came together in a broad-based, 230-seat Syrian National Council announced in Istanbul in September to forge a united front against Assad and a rallying point for Syrians and the international community.
> 
> The council's leadership  currently headed by Burhan Ghalioun, a professor at the Sorbonne in Paris  will rotate every three months, reflecting the absence of a single popular leader who stands out among the country's disparate groups.
> 
> The council's formation is a remarkable achievement given Syria's complex sectarian and ethnic makeup.
> 
> But the group has yet to gain the recognition of any countries other than Libya and faces criticism from opposition groups that declined to join, accusing it of trying to monopolize the movement.
> 
> Haitham al-Maleh, an 80-year-old lawyer who was imprisoned for years for his political activism, also accused the SNC of sidelining major figures and said the group never consulted him.
> 
> "We have a 50-year history of struggle against this regime, while nobody had heard of these people before," he said of the SNC leaders.
> 
> Bassma Kodmani, another Paris-based academic and a spokeswoman for the council, rejected the accusations and said the SNC was open for all Syrians. "We did not exclude anybody," she said, insisting the council represented the majority of Syrian society.
> 
> An attempt in July to hold a dual meeting in Damascus and Istanbul was canceled when security forces besieged the conference location in Damascus a day before it was scheduled to begin and shot dead 14 protesters in the area.
> 
> Foreign leaders have welcomed the formation of the SNC, but say the opposition needs more work to become an effective political force.
> 
> "The opposition must still improve its organizational and outreach efforts," said U.S. Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford, who returned to Washington this week over security concerns.
> 
> He said developing consensus around a specific political and economic plan would help persuade Sunni business elites and other Syrians still on the fence to defect from the regime.
> 
> "There is a huge need for the council to explain what exactly they will bring to Syria," Ford said during an address this month to The Washington Institute for Near East Policy.
> 
> A key sticking point is whether to ask for foreign intervention like the NATO airstrikes that helped oust former Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.
> 
> The SNC's founding statement rejects foreign intervention, but its members are calling for "international protection for civilians," an ambiguous statement that leaves the door open for interpretation. The NATO action in Libya was carried out under a U.N. mandate to protect civilians but ultimately proved key to the rebel victory that led to Gadhafi's death.



Syria: Opposition Struggles To Unite


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## OldCountry

I think the best thing for Syria is that Bashar remains. These countries need a strong leader to keep them from plummeting into the same situation as in Iran. You need to remember, these are not Americans, or Westerners in general for that matter. It´s a completely different culture and mentality.


And if people are willing to not only die for their cause, but also kill, then you pretty much have to let them die.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Reportedly Plants Landmines Along Lebanon Border 








> SERHANIYEH, Lebanon -- Syria is planting landmines along parts of the country's border with Lebanon as refugees stream out of the country to escape the crackdown on anti-government protests, officials and witnesses said Tuesday.
> 
> The exodus to neighboring Lebanon and Turkey has proven a deep embarrassment for increasingly besieged President Bashar Assad, who warned over the weekend that the Middle East will burn if foreign powers try to intervene in his country's conflict.
> 
> A Syrian official familiar with government strategy claimed the mines are meant to prevent arms smuggling into Syria. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition that his name not be published because of the sensitivity of the matter. Witnesses on the Lebanese side of the border also told the AP they have seen Syrian soldiers planting the mines in recent days in Syrian territory in the restive province of Homs.
> 
> "Syria has undertaken many measures to control the borders, including planting mines," said the Syrian official.
> 
> More than 5,000 Syrians have fled to Lebanon since the crisis began in March.
> 
> The landmines are the latest sign of just how deeply shaken the Assad regime has become since the uprising began nearly eight months ago. Assad, a 46-year-old eye doctor who trained in Britain, still has a firm grip on power, although the cost has been mighty: The U.N. says some 3,000 people have been killed by security forces.
> 
> Syria is a regional nexus, bordering five countries with which it shares religious and ethnic minorities and, in Israel's case, a fragile truce. Its web of alliances extends to Lebanon's powerful Hezbollah movement and Iran's Shiite theocracy. Turkey, until recently an ally, has opened its borders to anti-Assad activists and breakaway military rebels.
> 
> Mining the Lebanese border is a sign of the country's increasing isolation.
> 
> The crackdown has eviscerated Assad's reputation, canceling out widespread hopes when he took power in 2000 that he might transform his late father's stagnant dictatorship into a modern state. Instead, Assad has reverted to the same tactics that have kept his family in power for more than 40 years, using fear and brute military force to try to break the popular revolt against his autocratic rule.
> 
> Three residents of the Lebanese border village of Serhaniyeh showed an AP reporter a long sand dune barrier along the frontier where they said Syrian troops laid mines. Ahmed Diab, 26, said several trucks carrying about a 100 soldiers arrived in the area on Thursday and spent the entire day planting mines on the side of the barriers that is toward Lebanon.
> 
> "Since they planted the mines, no one dares to go to the border line," said Diab, as he sat on his motorcycle near his home that overlooks parts of the Syrian province of Homs. Homs has seen some of the worst violence of the uprising.
> 
> Many Syrians cross the border into Lebanon regularly, some of them to flee the violence in their country. And the mines are the latest in a number of signs that Syria is working to prevent Lebanon from becoming a safe haven for the Syrian opposition.
> 
> There have been at least three cases this year of Syrian dissidents being snatched off the streets in Lebanon and spirited back across the border, Lebanese police say. The abductions have raised alarm among some in Lebanon that members of the country's security forces are helping Assad's regime in its crackdown on anti-government protesters, effectively extending it into Lebanon.
> 
> Syria had direct control over Lebanon for nearly 30 years before pulling out its troops in 2005 under local and international pressure. But Syria still has great influence, and pro-Syrian factions led by the militant group Hezbollah dominate the government in Beirut. At the same time, Syria's regime is becoming increasingly more isolated internationally.
> 
> There also have been reports of Syrian troops crossing into Lebanon to pursue dissidents. In September, the Lebanese army said in a statement that Syrian troops briefly crossed the border and opened fire at people trying to flee the violence in Syria.
> 
> A senior Lebanese security official confirmed that Syrian troops are planting mines on the Syrian side of the border, but said Beirut will not interfere with actions on Syrian territory.
> 
> "What concerns us are violations of Lebanese territories and Syrian troops pursuits of people on the Lebanese side of the border," the official said on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
> 
> Syria and Lebanon share a 230-mile (365-kilometer) long border, although it appears the landmines have been planted in Homs province  where some of the worst violence of the uprising has occurred  just across the border from Serhaniyeh, Lebanon. Mines also have been planted in the Baalbek region, which borders Homs and the Damascus countryside, witnesses say.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/11/01/syria-mining-lebanon-border_n_1069024.html?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Arab League Proposal Accepted 








> CAIRO (AP)  Syria accepted an Arab League proposal calling for it to withdraw armored vehicles from the streets and stop violence against protesters in a bid to end the country's seven-month-old political crisis that has led to the deaths of some 3,000 people.
> 
> The agreement was announced by Qatar's Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim, who urged Damascus to follow through with action on the ground. Syria has continued its bloody crackdown on anti-government protesters despite international condemnation and previous promises of reform.
> 
> In the latest violence, machine-gun fire and explosions erupted inside a city at the heart of Syria's uprising as activists reported two grisly attacks that killed at least 20 people in the past 24 hours, although it was not clear who was behind the latest attacks.
> 
> Syria agreed to withdraw all tanks and armored vehicles from the streets, stop violence against protesters, release all political prisoners and begin a dialogue with the opposition within two weeks, according to the proposal.
> 
> Syria also agreed to allow journalists, rights groups and Arab League representatives to monitor the situation in the country.
> 
> "We are happy to have reached the agreement and we'll be happier if it is carried out," bin Jassim said. "Now it is important for the Syrian side to carry out this agreement because it is what will allow the situation to quiet down and the crisis to be resolved."
> 
> "We hope that there will be serious follow-through, whether regarding violence and killing or regarding prisoners," he said.
> 
> It remains unclear if the agreement will make a difference on the ground.
> 
> Nor did the proposal state where the dialogue between authorities and the opposition is to take place. Arab diplomats involved in the process said they had suggested Cairo while Syrian insisted that all dialogue take place in the capital Damascus.
> 
> Syria's opposition has refused to enter into any dialogue as long as President Bashar Assad remains in power.
> 
> The proposal was presented by a council of Arab foreign ministers. Notably, Syrian Foreign Minster Walid al-Moallem did not attend the meeting. Instead, Syria's ambassador to Egypt and the Arab League, Youssef Ahmed, delivered Syria's response.
> 
> The U.N. says some 3,000 people have been killed since the revolt began in March.
> 
> U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Wednesday he supported the agreement.
> 
> "I hope that this agreement will be implemented without delay," he told reporters in Tripoli, Libya, but noting that Assad has not kept past promises.
> 
> The fresh bloodshed, which apparently started late Tuesday, suggests Syria is sliding toward chaos amid increasing signs that the crisis was exacerbating religious and sectarian tensions.
> 
> The violence shook residents across the city of Homs, which has endured the brunt of the Syrian government's brutal crackdown on dissent. It was not clear who was behind the latest attacks, and there were .
> 
> The Syrian opposition's two main activist groups said gunmen attacked factory workers in the Houla district on Wednesday, killing 11 people. Majd Amer, a local activist, said some of the men were decapitated and others shot in the head, their hands tied behind their backs.
> 
> Amateur videos posted online showed the men, bound and gagged, lying on the ground.
> 
> The killing spree amounted to a "massacre," said the activist groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist network.
> 
> Amer and activist Mohammad Saleh in Homs said gunmen also attacked a bus carrying workers from the nearby village of Jib Abbas as they were returning from their jobs, killing nine passengers. They said the gunmen stopped the bus, released the women passengers, then killed the others.



Syria: Arab League Proposal Accepted


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Arab League Proposal Accepted, Yet Tanks Open Fire In Homs 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian tanks mounted with machine-guns fired Thursday on a city at the heart of the country's uprising, killing at least four people one day after Damascus agreed to an Arab League plan calling on the government to pull the military out of cities, activists said.
> 
> The violence does not bode well for the success of the Arab League initiative to solve a crisis that has endured for nearly eight months already  with no sign of stopping  despite a government crackdown that the U.N. estimates has left some 3,000 people dead.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the Baba Amr district of Homs came under heavy fire Thursday.
> 
> At least four people were killed in Homs, he said, citing witnesses in the city.
> 
> Syria has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground. Key sources of information are amateur videos posted online, witness accounts and details gathered by activist groups.
> 
> Under the Arab League plan announced Wednesday, Damascus agreed to stop violence against protesters, release all political prisoners and begin a dialogue with the opposition within two weeks. Syria also agreed to allow journalists, rights groups and Arab League representatives to monitor the situation in the country.
> 
> Najib al-Ghadban, a U.S.-based Syrian activist and member of the opposition Syrian National Council, was skeptical that Syrian President Bashar Assad would hold up his end of the deal, and called the agreement "an attempt to buy more time."
> 
> "This regime is notorious for maneuvering and for giving promises and not implementing any of them," he said.



Syria: Arab League Proposal Accepted, Yet Tanks Open Fire In Homs


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria peace deal close to collapse amid tank and mortar fire








> An Arab League plan to end eight months of violence in Syria appeared close to collapse Thursday less than 24 hours after the Syrian regime agreed to implement the proposal. As many as 20 people were reportedly killed in the flashpoint city of Homs in central Syria and fighting was also reported in the town of Tel Kalakh near the border with Lebanon, according to opposition activists.
> 
> The renewed violence appeared to shatter hopes that the Arab League deal would prove to be a breakthrough after months of trying to end internal unrest that has now left more than 3,000 people dead since mid-March  Syrian activists say the death toll is as high as 4,000.
> 
> The proposal called on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's government to withdraw its military forces from cities, release all detainees imprisoned since the uprising began, and to begin a dialogue with members of the Syrian opposition. The plan offered no deadline for its implementation, which raised skepticism among Syrian opposition activists that it would be honored.
> 
> Assad is a master at playing for time. He has no intention of implementing this proposal because he knows it would be the beginning of the end for him, says Ahmad, a young Syrian dissident who has been living in hiding in the north Lebanon city of Tripoli since August. I can assure you that if the army really withdraws from the cities, the protestors will be at the gates of Assads palace the next day.



Syria peace deal close to collapse amid tank and mortar fire - CSMonitor.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Massive Protests Called By Activists To Test Regime's Commitment To Arab League Plan 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces killed nine people Friday in strikes against thousands of protesters who took to the streets to test whether President Bashar Assad's regime would abide by an Arab League plan to end violence, activists said.
> 
> The bloodshed was a blow to the 22-nation Arab League, which announced Wednesday that Damascus agreed to a broad plan that included an end to violence against demonstrators.
> 
> Opposition groups called for a large turnout in Friday's protests to challenge whether the regime would make good on the agreement to refrain from using deadly force. Gunfire erupted shortly after the protests began, in the same pattern as previous Fridays for months.
> 
> "This regime is not serious about ending its brutal crackdown," said Mustafa Osso, a Syria-based human rights lawyer. "Today was a real test for the intentions of the regime and the answer is clear to everyone who wants to see."
> 
> Thousands of protesters braved cold and rainy weather to stage anti-Assad demonstrations.
> 
> "Arab League, beware of Bashar Assad," read one banner carried by protesters in the central city of Homs. "Which dialogue are you talking about?" read another.
> 
> Most opposition leaders refuse to meet with Assad because of his brutal crackdown, which has killed about 3,000 people in nearly eight months of protests, according to the U.N. Instead, protesters demand that Assad resign.
> 
> Two main activist groups, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordinating Committees, said at least nine people were killed Friday, most of them in Homs and suburbs of the Syrian capital.
> 
> Under the Arab League accord announced Wednesday in Cairo, the Syrian government agreed to pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, stop violence against protesters and release all political prisoners. Syria also agreed to allow journalists, rights groups and Arab League representatives to monitor the situation in the country.
> 
> "The regime is playing for time and has absolutely no intention of abiding by the agreement," Osso said.
> 
> Activists said Friday's rallies were largest in Homs, Syria's third-largest city and home to some 800,000 people, where the crackdown has been deadliest.
> 
> On Thursday, at least 18 people were reported to have been killed in a security crackdown in Homs.
> 
> A resident of Homs said mass marches formed after Friday prayers in most districts of the city, despite the heavy security presence and violence of the past days.
> 
> "They are big, they are calling for the downfall of the regime and they aim to show that the Arab League agreement is a joke," he said on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> Demonstrations were also reported in the southern province of Daraa and in the eastern cities of Deir el-Zour and Qamishli.
> 
> In the coastal town of Banias, security forces beat worshippers as they came out of the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq mosque. Then they blockaded dozens more inside the building so that they could not join the march, activists said.
> 
> The government has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, making it difficult to confirm events on the ground. Key sources of information are amateur videos posted online, witness accounts and details gathered by activist groups.



Syria: Massive Protests Called By Activists To Test Regime's Commitment To Arab League Plan


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: International Intervention In Homs Necessary, Opposition Says 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops stormed a defiant neighborhood of the embattled city of Homs on Monday, kicking in doors and making arrests after nearly a week of violence pitting soldiers against army defectors and protesters demanding the downfall of President Bashar Assad, activists said.
> 
> It was not immediately clear if government troops had regained control of the Baba Amr district, where the government is reportedly facing armed resistance from defectors who have taken refuge in the neighborhood and in surrounding districts.
> 
> More than 110 people have been reported killed in the past week in Homs, a city of about 800,000 that has turned into one of the main centers of protest and reprisal during the nearly 8-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad, according to Ibrahim Hozan, a spokesman for the Local Coordination Committees activist network.
> 
> The violence comes despite claims by Syria that it is complying with an Arab League-sponsored plan to end the crackdown.
> 
> Activists said two people were killed in the city and the surrounding province on Monday, pushing the death toll from the past 24 hours to at least 18.
> 
> It was impossible to verify the death toll. Syria has banned most foreign journalists and restricted coverage, making independent confirmation nearly impossible.
> 
> Much of the violence of the past few days is reported to have involved members of the military who defected to the protesters and were fighting to protect civilians, according to Syrian activist groups.
> 
> "There is a major campaign of arrests going on in some of the toughest neighborhoods of the district," an activist in Homs told The Associated Press by telephone. He spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear for his personal safety.
> 
> Over the course of the uprising, government troops have cracked down repeatedly on Homs, Syria's third largest city, and have imposed a tight siege in the past five days.
> 
> Activists say that government forces have employed live fire to break up unarmed protests, and have used tank guns and other heavy weapons indiscriminately in residential areas. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Monday's dead included an 8-year-old girl who died in random gunfire from a security checkpoint in the Houla district.
> 
> A key Syrian opposition group declared Homs a "disaster area" and appealed for international intervention to protect civilians and for sending Arab and international observers to oversee the situation on the ground.
> 
> "For the fifth consecutive day, the Syrian regime is imposing a brutal siege on the brave city of Homs, aiming to break the will of its residents who have dared to reject the regime's authority," the Syrian National Council said in a statement on Monday.
> 
> The group said the latest siege was preventing medical supplies and food from getting into Homs and preventing families from moving to safer areas.
> 
> Violence in Syria has continued unabated, though Damascus agreed to an Arab-brokered peace plan to halt its crackdown on the uprising that the U.N. says has left 3,000 people dead.
> 
> The violence prompted Qatar's prime minister to call for an emergency meeting Saturday to discuss the Syrian government's failure to abide by its commitments.
> 
> Egypt's official news agency MENA reported Sunday that Sheik Hamad Bin Jassem Bin Jabr Al Thani called for the meeting "in light of the continuing acts of violence and the Syrian government's noncompliance" with the terms of the Arab plan.
> 
> Under the Arab League plan, Syria's government agreed to pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, release political prisoners and allow journalists and rights groups into the country.
> 
> Arab League deputy secretary general Ahmed bin Heli told reporters Monday that the League had received a message from Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem about "measures adopted by the Syrian government to implement the Arab league plan to solve the Syrian crisis."



Syria: International Intervention In Homs Necessary, Opposition Says


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Violence: Troops Kill 2 More In Homs 



> BEIRUT -- The death toll from the eight-month Syrian uprising has reached 3,500, the U.N. said Tuesday, as activists on the ground reported that fresh attacks by Syrian troops killed two people in a rebellious central city where the military has struggled to consolidate control.
> 
> The toll provided by the U.N. human rights office is based on figures gathered outside the country, and includes dozens killed since the brokering of a peace plan by the Arab League last week and during a major Muslim holiday on Sunday.
> 
> After the uprising against President Bashar Assad erupted in mid-March, inspired by the revolts in Tunisia and Egypt, the government has largely sealed off the country from foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting, but amateur videos posted online and details gathered by activist groups have been filtering out.
> 
> Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, told reporters in Geneva that "more than 60 people are reported to have been killed by Syrian security forces since Syria signed the peace plan" sponsored by the Arab League. She said the latest tally also includes 19 killed on Sunday during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, also known as the Feast of Sacrifice.
> 
> The U.N. figures are conservative and based on "credible sources on the ground" though the agency itself has no one posted in the country, Shamdasani said.
> 
> As the U.N. tally came out, Syrian activist Salim al-Homsi, based in the rebellious central city of Homs, said a man and a woman were killed by security forces' fire Tuesday morning in the city's neighborhood of Baba Amr.
> 
> Violence in Homs has spiraled out of government control with the presence of anti-regime military defectors resisting a weeklong government offensive.
> 
> Al-Homsi said troops control large sections of the district after the defectors pulled out, but security forces were still conducting raids and operations in other areas. Electricity, water and phone lines to Baba Amr have been cut for a week.
> 
> "They think they can control Baba Amr like they did other areas but they are wrong, we are not afraid of them," he told The Associated Press by phone. "We will keep protesting."
> 
> The regime is scrambling to clear out Baba Amr, a major center of resistance and reprisal, as Damascus faces potential fallout from the Arab League for defying a peace plan brokered by the 22-nation body with persistent violence.
> 
> According to activists, more than 110 people have been reported killed in the past week in Homs, Syria's third-largest city, including more than 40 from Baba Amr. Syrian activists and rights groups often give conflicting casualty figures, and the discrepancy in the death toll with the U.N. figures could not be immediately reconciled.
> 
> The government reportedly has been facing strong resistance from army defectors who have taken refuge in the Baba Amr and surrounding areas in Homs, which has a population of some 800,000 and is some 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the capital, Damascus.
> 
> An amateur video posted online Tuesday showed a small group of alleged defectors from the group known as the Syrian Free army driving through Baba Amr on Monday with automatic rifles and shoulder-carried RPGs.
> 
> "We are here to protect the peaceful, unarmed protesters in Baba Amr," said a soldier who identified himself as a member of the Al-Farouk brigade. "We will teach them a hard lesson," he said, referring to the military offensive.
> 
> A key opposition group, the Syrian National Council, declared Homs a "disaster area" on Monday and appealed for international intervention to protect civilians and for sending Arab and international observers to oversee the situation on the ground.



Syria Violence: Troops Kill 2 More In Homs


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Wave Of Violence Kills 90 In 1 Day, Activists Say 









> BEIRUT -- Dozens of soldiers and security forces were gunned down by suspected army defectors in southern Syria, a deadly ambush that comes as President Bashar Assad increasingly appears unable to manage the crisis, activists said Tuesday.
> 
> Monday's hours-long clash in the southern province of Daraa came on a particularly bloody day in Syria, with as many as 90 people killed across the country. The brazen attack by the army defectors suggested a new confidence among troops who have sided with the protesters and highlighted the potential for an armed confrontation to escalate.
> 
> The U.N. estimates the regime's military crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising has killed 3,500 people in the past eight months. November is shaping up to be the bloodiest month of the revolt, with well over 300 people killed so far.
> 
> The latest death toll was compiled by sources including British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Local Coordination Committees activist coalition and morgue officials.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the observatory, confirmed that 34 soldiers were killed in an ambush in Daraa, the birthplace of the uprising that began in mid-March, inspired by successful revolts in Tunisia, Egypt and later Libya.
> 
> Although activists say the protests have remained largely peaceful, with demonstrators calling for the regime's downfall, an armed insurgency has developed in recent months targeting Assad's military and security forces.
> 
> Assad is facing the most severe challenge to his family's four-decade rule in Syria, with former allies as well as Western nations using increasingly harsh rhetoric in urging him to stop his bloody crackdown. On Tuesday, Turkey said it no longer has confidence in the Syrian regime and warned Assad that his brutal crackdown threatens to place him on a list of leaders who "feed on blood."
> 
> Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan's comments were a blow to Syria, because the countries once cultivated close ties. But Turkish leaders have grown increasingly frustrated with Damascus over its refusal to halt the attacks on protesters.
> 
> On Monday, Jordan's King Abdullah II said Assad should step down for the good of his country, the first Arab leader to publicly make such a call.
> 
> That prompted pro-government protesters to converge on Jordan's embassy in Damascus, with three of them scaling the fence and ripping down the Jordanian flag  the latest in a string of attacks on foreign missions. Jordan's Foreign Ministry spokesman Mohammad Kayed said no one entered the embassy and no injuries occurred.
> 
> Monday's bloodiest attacks were in Daraa province, along the Jordanian border, including the attack that killed 34 soldiers. According to the observatory, 12 defectors and 23 civilians also killed in the area.
> 
> A resident near the town of Khirbet Ghazaleh in Daraa province said he heard more than four hours of intense gunfire. He asked that his name not be used for fear of government reprisals.
> 
> Another witness, who is an activist in the area, said he counted the bodies of 12 people, believed to be civilians killed by security forces' fire.
> 
> "I saw two army armored personnel carriers, totally burnt," he told The Associated Press by telephone. He also asked for anonymity out of fear for his safety.
> 
> In the restive city of Homs, the morgue received 19 corpses, all of them shot.
> 
> Other activist groups had slightly different figures of those killed, a common occurrence because the Syrian government has prevented independent reporting and barred most foreign journalists. Details gathered by activist groups and witnesses are key channels of information.
> 
> Syria's crackdown has brought international condemnation, but Damascus generally had been spared broad reproach in the Arab world. That changed Saturday, with a near-unanimous vote by the 22-member Arab League to suspend Syria, and the situation appeared to be spiraling out of Assad's control.
> 
> Earlier Monday, Syria struck back at its international critics, branding an Arab League decision to suspend its membership as "shameful and malicious" and accusing other Arabs of conspiring with the West to undermine the regime.



Syria: Wave Of Violence Kills 90 In 1 Day, Activists Say


----------



## JStone

Syria was a much better place when Christian.  Let's deport those muslime pieces of garbage and repopulate Syria with good Christians.


----------



## logical4u

The Arab neighboring nations are beginning to call for an end to this.


----------



## High_Gravity

logical4u said:


> The Arab neighboring nations are beginning to call for an end to this.



They have to start dealing with Syria the same way they dealt with Libya if they are really serious about changing things.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Defectors Attack Military Bases Near Damascus 








> BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian army defectors attacked military and intelligence bases near the capital and an army checkpoint Wednesday during a spate of assaults, killing at least eight soldiers and security forces, activists said.
> 
> Attacks on regime forces by renegade troops have been escalating in recent days as the country's political crisis appears to be spiraling out of control. The Arab League was meeting Wednesday in Morocco, where the 22-member group was expected to formally suspend Damascus over its bloody crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising.
> 
> Although activists say the anti-government protesters have remained largely peaceful, an armed insurgency has developed in recent months, targeting Assad's military and security forces.
> 
> Wednesday's deadliest attack was in the central province of Hama, where army defectors killed at least eight soldiers and security forces in an assault on a checkpoint in Kfar Zeita village, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> 
> Also, Syrian army defectors said they launched several attacks on Assad's military and intelligence bases near the capital before dawn Wednesday.
> 
> The Free Syrian Army said in a statement that its main pre-dawn attack targeted a compound run by Air Force Intelligence in the Damascus suburb of Harasta. Defectors also hit military checkpoints in the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Qaboun and Arabeen and Saqba.
> 
> Wednesday's attacks could not be independently confirmed, and the Free Syrian Army released no details about the fighting or possible casualties.
> 
> A Syrian opposition figure said the operation in Harasta was carried out by defectors who attacked the compound from three sides with automatic rifles and rocket-propelled grenades. He added that the administrative building was damaged, and the attackers made sure not to hit a nearby building where detainees were being held.
> 
> The opposition figure, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss military operations, said all the defectors' troops returned safely. He quoted residents in the area as saying that ambulances rushed to the military compound after the attack.
> 
> Attacks by army defectors have been rare near Assad's seat of power in Damascus, although there have been growing reports of the clashes in the northwestern province of Idlib, the central region of Homs and the southern province of Daraa.
> 
> The Syrian government has largely sealed off the country, barring most foreign journalists and preventing independent reporting. Details gathered by activist groups and witnesses, along with amateur videos, have become key channels of information.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 11 people were killed elsewhere Wednesday, including seven in the central province of Homs. It said that four others, including three defectors, were killed in the central province of Hama after they were ambushed by troops loyal to Assad.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group said six people have been so far killed on Wednesday, three in Homs, two in Idlib and one in the Damascus suburb of Zabadani.
> 
> Also, the observatory said Syrian security forces stormed the University of Qalamoon, north of Damascus, where students were holding an anti-regime sit-in. Dozens were reported to have been detained.
> 
> The unrest comes against the backdrop of increasing pressure on Assad from the West and from his Arab neighbors.
> 
> French government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse said Wednesday that Paris is working with the Syrian opposition "to try to develop a political alternative" to Assad's government.
> 
> The Arab League was expected Wednesday to formalize its weekend decision to suspend Syria for failing to end its crackdown against anti-government protesters.



Syria: Defectors Attack Military Bases Near Damascus


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: France Recalls Ambassador 








> PARIS (AP) - France's ambassador to Syria says the government in Paris has ordered him home in the wake of recent attacks against diplomatic missions and a crackdown by Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.
> 
> Ambassador Eric Chevallier said by phone Wednesday he "was aware" that he had been ordered back but declined to provide details. He deferred all questions about the reasons to the Foreign Ministry.
> 
> The ministry declined immediate comment.



Syria: France Recalls Ambassador


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria: France Recalls Ambassador
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> PARIS (AP) - France's ambassador to Syria says the government in Paris has ordered him home in the wake of recent attacks against diplomatic missions and a crackdown by Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime.
> 
> Ambassador Eric Chevallier said by phone Wednesday he "was aware" that he had been ordered back but declined to provide details. He deferred all questions about the reasons to the Foreign Ministry.
> 
> The ministry declined immediate comment.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: France Recalls Ambassador
Click to expand...


Syria was a highly advanced civilization in ancient times when known as Aram, populated by the Aramaens.   After, it succeeded as a Greek country when conquered by Alexander the Great.  After, it succeeded as a Christian country.

When the muslimes conquered Syria, it turned to shit like every muslime shithole


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Arab League Observers 'In Principle' Welcome 








> BEIRUT  Syria agreed in principle Friday to allow dozens of Arab observers into the country to oversee a peace plan, a significant concession from a hardline regime that loathes any sort of outside interference.
> 
> But critics said the regime is only stalling, trying to defuse international pressure while continuing its bloody crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising which the U.N. estimates has killed more than 3,500 people.
> 
> The acceptance came after surprisingly heavy pressure from the Arab League, which brokered the peace plan and this week suspended Syria from the 22-member organization for failing to abide by it. On Wednesday, the league gave Damascus three days to accept an observer mission or face economic sanctions.
> 
> Further international pressure was mounting on Syrian President Bashar Assad. Britain appointed a senior diplomat to be its pointman in dealing with Syria's opposition over the crisis, and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on the U.N. Security Council to strengthen sanctions against Assad's regime. However, Russia, which holds veto power in the council, urged caution in moving against Damascus.
> 
> Violence has escalated in Syria the past week, as army dissidents who sided with the protests have grown more bold, fighting back against regime forces and even assaulting military bases. Activist groups said security forces on Friday killed at least 16 anti-government protesters in what has become a weekly ritual on Fridays, the main day for protests in Syria as thousands of people stream out of mosques following afternoon prayers.
> 
> The Arab League observer mission aims to prevent violence and monitor a cease-fire that Damascus agreed to last week in the league peace plan but has been unwilling  or unable  to implement.
> 
> In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. has seen no signs that Syria's government will honor the Arab League proposal.
> 
> "They've lost all credibility and that's why we believe Assad needs to step down and allow for a democratic transition to take place," he told reporters.
> 
> Deep questions remain over how effective Damascus will allow the mission to be.
> 
> A senior Syrian official said Friday that the government had agreed to the observer mission in principle but was "still studying the details." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is so sensitive.
> 
> Nabil Elaraby, the head of the Arab League, said in a statement Friday that he received "amendments" to the mission from Damascus, which the League is studying. He gave no details on the changes Syria seeks.
> 
> The original league proposal had been for a 500-member observer mission but the number has dropped to 40, said Ibrahim el-Zaafarani, an Egyptian member of the Arab Medical Union who is expected to be part of the team for Syria. He said he was not clear on why or on whose behest the number was reduced.
> 
> "Our presence there will be protection for civilians," el-Zaafarani, in Cairo, told The Associated Press. He said the mission will include doctors, activists, lawyers and military experts.
> 
> The Syrian opposition was deeply skeptical.
> 
> "We have warned in the past and we warn again that these are the methods of the regime to waste time," said Omar Idilbi, a Beirut-based member of the Syrian National Council, an umbrella group of regime opponents.
> 
> But Louay Hussein, a prominent dissident based in Damascus, said allowing observers in was "a small step that can be built on and developed."
> 
> "The presence of observers constitutes a protection, however small, for civilians," he said. Their presence, he said, can help "expose the regime's lies."
> 
> The regime has depicted the uprising as the work of "armed gangs." On Friday, the state news agency said "terrorists" blew up an oil pipeline in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, causing a fire and four-hour disruption in oil pumping.



Syria: Arab League Observers 'In Principle' Welcome


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria: Arab League Observers 'In Principle' Welcome
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syria agreed in principle Friday to allow dozens of Arab observers into the country to oversee a peace plan, a significant concession from a hardline regime that loathes any sort of outside interference.
> 
> But critics said the regime is only stalling, trying to defuse international pressure while continuing its bloody crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising which the U.N. estimates has killed more than 3,500 people.
> 
> The acceptance came after surprisingly heavy pressure from the Arab League, which brokered the peace plan and this week suspended Syria from the 22-member organization for failing to abide by it. On Wednesday, the league gave Damascus three days to accept an observer mission or face economic sanctions.
> 
> Further international pressure was mounting on Syrian President Bashar Assad. Britain appointed a senior diplomat to be its pointman in dealing with Syria's opposition over the crisis, and French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe called on the U.N. Security Council to strengthen sanctions against Assad's regime. However, Russia, which holds veto power in the council, urged caution in moving against Damascus.
> 
> Violence has escalated in Syria the past week, as army dissidents who sided with the protests have grown more bold, fighting back against regime forces and even assaulting military bases. Activist groups said security forces on Friday killed at least 16 anti-government protesters in what has become a weekly ritual on Fridays, the main day for protests in Syria as thousands of people stream out of mosques following afternoon prayers.
> 
> The Arab League observer mission aims to prevent violence and monitor a cease-fire that Damascus agreed to last week in the league peace plan but has been unwilling  or unable  to implement.
> 
> In Washington, State Department spokesman Mark Toner said the U.S. has seen no signs that Syria's government will honor the Arab League proposal.
> 
> "They've lost all credibility and that's why we believe Assad needs to step down and allow for a democratic transition to take place," he told reporters.
> 
> Deep questions remain over how effective Damascus will allow the mission to be.
> 
> A senior Syrian official said Friday that the government had agreed to the observer mission in principle but was "still studying the details." The official spoke on condition of anonymity because the issue is so sensitive.
> 
> Nabil Elaraby, the head of the Arab League, said in a statement Friday that he received "amendments" to the mission from Damascus, which the League is studying. He gave no details on the changes Syria seeks.
> 
> The original league proposal had been for a 500-member observer mission but the number has dropped to 40, said Ibrahim el-Zaafarani, an Egyptian member of the Arab Medical Union who is expected to be part of the team for Syria. He said he was not clear on why or on whose behest the number was reduced.
> 
> "Our presence there will be protection for civilians," el-Zaafarani, in Cairo, told The Associated Press. He said the mission will include doctors, activists, lawyers and military experts.
> 
> The Syrian opposition was deeply skeptical.
> 
> "We have warned in the past and we warn again that these are the methods of the regime to waste time," said Omar Idilbi, a Beirut-based member of the Syrian National Council, an umbrella group of regime opponents.
> 
> But Louay Hussein, a prominent dissident based in Damascus, said allowing observers in was "a small step that can be built on and developed."
> 
> "The presence of observers constitutes a protection, however small, for civilians," he said. Their presence, he said, can help "expose the regime's lies."
> 
> The regime has depicted the uprising as the work of "armed gangs." On Friday, the state news agency said "terrorists" blew up an oil pipeline in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, causing a fire and four-hour disruption in oil pumping.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Arab League Observers 'In Principle' Welcome
Click to expand...


What Arab League?  The sand rats have been killing each other since there were sand rats.

Burak Bekdil, Hurriyet, Turkey: Golda Meir Was Right Why Golda Meir was right - Hurriyet Daily News


> It has been more than two and a half years since Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdo&#287;an told to Israeli President Shimon Peress face, You (Jews) know well how to kill. Prime Minister Erdo&#287;an has also declared more than a few times that the main obstacle to peace in this part of the world is Israel, once calling the Jewish state a festering boil in the Middle East that spreads hate and enmity. In this holy month of Ramadan full of blood on Muslim territories, lets try to identify who are the ones who know well how to kill.
> 
> As the Syrian death count clicks every day to come close to 2,000, the Turkish-Kurdish death count does not stop, already over 40,000 since 1984, both adding to the big pool of blood called the Middle East. Only during this Ramadan, the Kurdistan Workers Party, or PKKs, death toll has reached 50 in this Muslim Kurds vs. Muslim Turks war. This excludes the PKK casualties in Turkey and in northern Iraq due to Turkish military retaliation since they are seldom accurately reported.
> 
> Sudan is not in the conventional Middle East, so lets ignore the genocide there. Lets ignore, also, the West Pakistani massacres in East Pakistan (Bangladesh) totaling 1.25 million in 1971. Or 200,000 deaths in Algeria in war between Islamists and the government in 1991-2006.
> 
> But a simple, strictly Middle East research will give you one million deaths in the all-Muslim Iran-Iraq war; 300,000 Muslim minorities killed by Saddam Hussein; 80,000 Iranians killed during the Islamic revolution; 25,000 deaths in 1970-71, the days of Black September, by the Jordanian government in its fight against the Palestinians; and 20,000 Islamists killed in 1982 by the elder al-Assad in Hama. The World Health Organizations estimate of Osama bin Ladens carnage in Iraq was already 150,000 a few years earlier.
> 
> In a 2007 research, Gunnar Heinsohn from the University of Bremen and Daniel Pipes, director of the Middle East Forum, found out that some 11 million Muslims have been violently killed since 1948, of which 35,000, (0.3 percent) died during the six years of Arab war against Israel, or one out of every 315 fatalities. In contrast, over 90 percent who perished were killed by fellow Muslims.
> 
> According to Mssrs. Heinsohn and Pipes, the grisly inventory finds the total number of deaths in conflicts all over the world since 1950 numbering around 85 million. Of that, the Muslim Arab deaths in the Arab-Israeli conflict were at 46,000 including 11,000 during Israels war of independence. That makes 0.05 percent of all deaths in all conflicts, or 0.4 percent of all Arab deaths in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
> 
> In another calculation ignoring small massacres like the one that goes on in Syria and other deaths during the Arab Spring, only Saddams Iraq, Jordan, the elder al-Assads Syria, Iran-Iraq war, the bin Laden campaign in Iraq, the Iranian Islamic revolution and the Turkish-Kurdish conflict caused 1.65 million Muslim deaths by Muslims compared to less than 50,000 deaths in the Arab-Israeli conflict since 1950, including fatalities during and after Operation Cast Lead which came after the Heinsohn-Pipes study. For those who dont have a calculator ready at their desks, allow me to tell: 50,000 is three percent of 1.65 million.
> 
> Golda Meir, the fourth prime minister of Israel, or rather the Mother of Israel, had a perfectly realistic point when she said that peace in the Middle East would only be possible when Arabs love their children more than they hate us.


----------



## High_Gravity

Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Bashar Al Assad Must Step Down 








> BEIRUT  Turkey's prime minister said Tuesday that Syria's president must step down over the country's crackdown on dissent, ratcheting up the pressure on the increasingly isolated Bashar Assad.
> 
> Turkey's call came as Syrian activists reported that five people  including four children  were killed Tuesday.
> 
> "For the welfare of your own people and the region, just leave that seat," Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey said in a televised speech.
> 
> He reminded Assad of the bloody end of Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and those of past dictators, including Adolf Hitler.
> 
> "If you want to see someone who has fought until death against his own people, just look at Nazi Germany, just look at Hitler, at Mussolini, at Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania," he said. "If you cannot draw any lessons from these, then look at the Libyan leader who was killed just 32 days ago."
> 
> World leaders are turning on Assad in quick succession. The military crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising against Assad's regime has killed nearly 4,000 people.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, a key activist network, and the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said four children, between the ages of 10 and 15, were killed by gunshots fired at random from a military checkpoint near the town of Houla in the restive Homs province. A fifth person was killed by security forces in the district of Khaldieh, the groups said.
> 
> The LCC said Syrian forces backed by tanks and armored vehicles stormed the area of Houla and were besieging the district of Bayada in Homs, a hotbed of dissent against President Assad's regime.
> 
> Syria places severe restrictions on the work of journalists and bans most foreign journalists from the country, making confirmation of events on the ground difficult.
> 
> Erdogan's warning came the day after Syrian soldiers opened fire on at least two buses carrying Turkish citizens, witnesses and officials said, apparent retaliation for Turkey's criticism of Assad, whose military crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising against his rule has killed nearly 4,000 people.
> 
> "To protect travelers, espcially those returning from the hajj, is a country's honor," Erdogan said, referring to the annual Muslim pilgrimage to Mecca in Saudi Arabia.
> 
> Erdogan's call signals a definitive end to Turkey's once-close ties to the Assad regime. Turkey was an important trade partner for Syria, and Erdogan had cultivated a close friendship with Assad. But Turkish leaders have grown increasingly frustrated with Damascus over its refusal to halt the crackdown on the opposition protests.
> 
> As it emerges as a regional power, Turkey has taken a leading role in calling for changes in Syria.
> 
> Erdogan said last week that the world must urgently "hear the screams" from Syria and do something to stop the bloodshed.
> 
> Turkey has allowed Syrian refugees and military defectors to take refuge on its soil, and Syria's political opposition has used Turkey as a place to meet and organize.
> 
> Saudi Arabia, which has also criticized the crackdown, announced on Tuesday that one of its citizens, Hussein bin Bandar bin Khalaf al-Anzi, was killed in Homs while visiting relatives Monday. A government statement on the Saudi Press Agency demanded an explanation from Syria on the circumstances of his death and said the Saudi government regarded the incident with grave concern. It did not provide further details or say how he was killed.
> 
> Syria's state-run SANA news agency said security forces on Monday carried out a "qualitative" operation in the Bayada district of Homs in which they killed four terrorists and confiscated their weapons. It said a "top terrorist" nicknamed Bandar was among them.
> 
> It was not immediately clear if the man referred to by SANA was the Saudi man. But Syria's Al-Watan newspaper, which is close to the Syrian government, said a Saudi was among gunmen killed by security agents in Homs. The paper said the Saudi was of Syrian origin, dismissing media reports that he was killed while on a visit to family in Homs.
> 
> Relations between Syria and Saudi Arabia are already tense. Last week, angry pro-Assad protesters attacked the Saudi Embassy in Damascus after the Arab League suspended Syria's membership in the bloc over its failure to abide by an Arab peace plan to end the bloodshed.
> 
> Saudi Arabia withdrew its ambassador to Damascus in August over the brutal crackdown.
> 
> Assad's deepening isolation and the growing calls for his ouster are a severe blow to a family dynasty that has ruled Syria for four decades  and any change to the leadership could transform some of the most enduring alliances in the Middle East and beyond.



Recep Tayyip Erdogan: Bashar Al Assad Must Step Down


----------



## High_Gravity

Arab League: Syria Sanctions Approved 








> BEIRUT  In an unprecedented move against an Arab nation, the Arab League on Sunday approved economic sanctions on Syria to pressure Damascus to end its deadly suppression of an 8-month-old uprising against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> But even as world leaders abandon Assad, the regime has refused to ease a military assault on dissent that already has killed more than 3,500 people. On Sunday, Damascus slammed the sanctions as a betrayal of Arab solidarity and insisted a foreign conspiracy was behind the revolt, all but assuring more bloodshed will follow.
> 
> The sanctions are among the clearest signs yet of the isolation Syria is suffering because of the crackdown. Damascus has long boasted of being a powerhouse of Arab nationalism, but Assad has been abandoned by some of his closest allies and now his Arab neighbors. The growing movement against his regime could transform some of the most enduring alliances in the Middle East and beyond.
> 
> At a news conference in Cairo, Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said 19 of the League's 22 member nations approved a series of tough punishments that include cutting off transactions with the Syrian central bank, halting Arab government funding for projects in Syria and freezing government assets. Those sanctions are to take effect immediately.
> 
> Other steps, including halting flights and imposing travel bans on some, as-yet unnamed Syrian officials, will come later after a committee reviews them.
> 
> "The Syrian people are being killed but we don't want this. Every Syrian official should not accept killing even one person," bin Jassim said. "Power is worth nothing while you stand as an enemy to your people."
> 
> He added that the League aims to "to avoid any suffering for the Syrian people."
> 
> Iraq and Lebanon  important trading partners for Syria  abstained from the vote, which came after Damascus missed an Arab League deadline to agree to allow hundreds of observers into the country as part of a peace deal Syria agreed to early this month to end the crisis.
> 
> Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said the bloc will reconsider the sanctions if Syria carries out the Arab-brokered plan, which includes pulling tanks from the streets and ending violence against civilians.
> 
> The regime, however, has shown no signs of easing its crackdown, and activist groups said more than 30 people were killed Sunday. The death toll was impossible to confirm. Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting inside the country.
> 
> The Local Coordinating Committees, a coalition of Syrian activist groups, praised the sanctions but called for a mechanism to ensure compliance.
> 
> "The sanctions leave open the opportunity for the regime to commit fraud and strip the sanctions of any substance, thereby prolonging the suffering of the Syrian people at the hands of an oppressive and brutal regime," the group said.
> 
> The Arab League move is the latest in a growing wave of international pressure pushing Damascus to end its crackdown. The European Union and the United States already have imposed sanctions, the League has suspended Syria's membership and world leaders increasingly are calling on Assad to go. But as the crisis drags on, the violence appears to be spiraling out of control as attacks by army defectors increase and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves.



Arab League: Syria Sanctions Approved


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Sanctions Are 'Declaration Of Economic War' 








> BEIRUT -- The Arab League's newly approved sanctions against Damascus amount to "a declaration of economic war," Syria's foreign minister said Monday, betraying deep concern about the effects of the measures on the embattled regime.
> 
> But in a clear sign of defiance, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem insisted that the Syrian people will be the ones to suffer  and the regime will survive.
> 
> "Let them study the history of Syria very well," al-Moallem told reporters at a televised news conference. "Neither warnings nor sanctions will work with us."
> 
> In an unprecedented move against a fellow Arab state, the 22-member Arab League approved sanctions Sunday to pressure the regime to end its suppression of an 8-month-old revolt. The crackdown has killed more than 3,500 people and deepened Syria's international isolation.
> 
> The sanctions by Syria's Arab neighbors include cutting off transactions with the Syria's central bank, and are expected to squeeze an ailing economy that already is under sanction by the U.S. and the European Union.
> 
> Damascus' response is that Syria is the victim of a foreign-supported insurgency by armed gangs. In an attempt to bolster that contention, al-Moallem showed reporters videos of charred and bloodied corpses.
> 
> "I'm sorry for these gruesome pictures, but they are a gift to the members of the Arab League who still deny the presence of these armed gangs," he said.
> 
> The European Union and the United States already have imposed sanctions, the League has suspended Syria's membership, and world leaders increasingly are calling on President Bashar Assad to go.
> 
> But as the crisis drags on, the violence appears to be spiraling out of control as attacks by army defectors increase and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves.
> 
> The sanctions are among the clearest signs yet of Syria's growing international isolation. Damascus has long boasted of being a powerhouse of Arab nationalism, but Assad has been abandoned by some of his closest allies and now his Arab neighbors.
> 
> Still tens of thousands of government supporters flocked to main squares on Monday in almost all cities, including the capital Damascus, to denounce the Arab League decision. State TV quoted demonstrators as saying that the sanctions target all segments of the population.
> 
> Arab League Secretary General Nabil Elaraby said the bloc will reconsider the sanctions if Syria carries out an Arab-brokered plan that calls for pulling tanks from the streets and ending violence against civilians. The regime, however, has shown no signs of easing its crackdown, and activist groups said more than 30 people were killed on Sunday alone.
> 
> The death tolls are impossible to confirm independently because Syria has banned most foreign journalists.



Syria: Sanctions Are 'Declaration Of Economic War'


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crackdown Condemned By Activists, Rights Groups 



> NEW YORK -- As the death toll in Syria's bloody government crackdown rises to more than 3,500 since mass protests began last March, the international community is ratcheting up pressure to end the violence and hold President Bashar al-Assad's regime accountable.
> 
> This week, two groups released reports blasting human rights violations carried out by Syrian security forces.
> 
> On Monday, the U.N. released a scathing report detailing "crimes against humanity" committed by Syrian troops since March, when the government crackdown began.
> 
> Among the harrowing details, the report includes mention of the killing of at least 256 children -- some of whom were sexually tortured -- and accounts that troops were ordered to "shoot to kill" to quell anti-government demonstrations. The report found torture "rampant" in several detention facilities. From the report:
> 
> Testimonies were received from several men who stated they had been anally raped with batons and that they had witnessed the rape of boys. One man stated that he witnessed a 15-year-old boy being raped in front of his father. A 40-year-old man saw the rape of an 11-year-old boy by three security services officers.
> On Wednesday, Catherine al-Talli, a Syrian lawyer and human rights activist, spoke to a group of journalists in New York about her detention in Damascus last May.
> 
> She recalled witnessing security forces open fire on peaceful crowds of protesters, shooting them to death on several occasions. During protests in Duma, she recounted how snipers targeted a 50-year-old man riding a bicycle with his 10-year-old daughter. She said that although he was not involved with the protests, the snipers shot him from a roof. When another man ran to his assistance, the snipers shot him as well, she said.
> 
> On Sunday, the Arab League agreed on unprecedented sanctions on Syria, including tough economic measures such as cutting transactions with the Syrian central bank and freezing government assets. Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said, "The Syrian people are being killed but we don't want this. Every Syrian official should not accept killing even one person," according to the Associated Press.
> 
> How the international community will proceed in addressing Syria's assault on civilians remains unclear. Different groups have offered different approaches, including further sanctions, no-fly and buffer zones, and a U.N. Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court.
> 
> Ms. al-Talli, a member of the Syrian National Council, an opposition group formed in Istanbul this September, has called for buffer zones and no-fly zones at Syria's borders to end the "river of blood." While she applauded the Arab League's sanctions, she reiterated that sanctions alone were not enough.
> 
> Amnesty International stops short of calling for the use of military force in enforcing buffer or no-fly zones, but the human rights organization has called for the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
> 
> Amnesty accuses Syria's security forces of "extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and the torture of people suspected of dissent," and has also urged the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo and freeze the assets of al-Assad.
> 
> Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, are likely to oppose a referral to the ICC. Indeed, in October, Russia and China rejected a European-sponsored resolution threatening sanctions if Syria continued its crackdown.
> 
> Ms. al-Talli is spending three days in New York to meet with representatives from delegations that have not offered their support in sponsoring a U.N. resolution, including South Africa, India, Brazil and Russia's first deputy permanent representative, Alexander Pankin.



Syria Crackdown Condemned By Activists, Rights Groups


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crackdown Condemned By Activists, Rights Groups
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NEW YORK -- As the death toll in Syria's bloody government crackdown rises to more than 3,500 since mass protests began last March, the international community is ratcheting up pressure to end the violence and hold President Bashar al-Assad's regime accountable.
> 
> This week, two groups released reports blasting human rights violations carried out by Syrian security forces.
> 
> On Monday, the U.N. released a scathing report detailing "crimes against humanity" committed by Syrian troops since March, when the government crackdown began.
> 
> Among the harrowing details, the report includes mention of the killing of at least 256 children -- some of whom were sexually tortured -- and accounts that troops were ordered to "shoot to kill" to quell anti-government demonstrations. The report found torture "rampant" in several detention facilities. From the report:
> 
> Testimonies were received from several men who stated they had been anally raped with batons and that they had witnessed the rape of boys. One man stated that he witnessed a 15-year-old boy being raped in front of his father. A 40-year-old man saw the rape of an 11-year-old boy by three security services officers.
> On Wednesday, Catherine al-Talli, a Syrian lawyer and human rights activist, spoke to a group of journalists in New York about her detention in Damascus last May.
> 
> She recalled witnessing security forces open fire on peaceful crowds of protesters, shooting them to death on several occasions. During protests in Duma, she recounted how snipers targeted a 50-year-old man riding a bicycle with his 10-year-old daughter. She said that although he was not involved with the protests, the snipers shot him from a roof. When another man ran to his assistance, the snipers shot him as well, she said.
> 
> On Sunday, the Arab League agreed on unprecedented sanctions on Syria, including tough economic measures such as cutting transactions with the Syrian central bank and freezing government assets. Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said, "The Syrian people are being killed but we don't want this. Every Syrian official should not accept killing even one person," according to the Associated Press.
> 
> How the international community will proceed in addressing Syria's assault on civilians remains unclear. Different groups have offered different approaches, including further sanctions, no-fly and buffer zones, and a U.N. Security Council referral to the International Criminal Court.
> 
> Ms. al-Talli, a member of the Syrian National Council, an opposition group formed in Istanbul this September, has called for buffer zones and no-fly zones at Syria's borders to end the "river of blood." While she applauded the Arab League's sanctions, she reiterated that sanctions alone were not enough.
> 
> Amnesty International stops short of calling for the use of military force in enforcing buffer or no-fly zones, but the human rights organization has called for the U.N. Security Council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
> 
> Amnesty accuses Syria's security forces of "extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, and the torture of people suspected of dissent," and has also urged the U.N. Security Council to impose an arms embargo and freeze the assets of al-Assad.
> 
> Russia and China, both permanent members of the Security Council, are likely to oppose a referral to the ICC. Indeed, in October, Russia and China rejected a European-sponsored resolution threatening sanctions if Syria continued its crackdown.
> 
> Ms. al-Talli is spending three days in New York to meet with representatives from delegations that have not offered their support in sponsoring a U.N. resolution, including South Africa, India, Brazil and Russia's first deputy permanent representative, Alexander Pankin.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crackdown Condemned By Activists, Rights Groups
Click to expand...


Syria was a much better place when run by the Greeks.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: UN Rights Chief Urges ICC Referral Of Assad Regime For Crimes Against Humanity 








> GENEVA  Syrian authorities cracking down on opposition protesters have killed at least 307 children, the United Nation's human rights chief said Friday, urging world powers to refer these and other allegations of Syrian "crimes against humanity" to the International Criminal Court.
> 
> Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, said fresh reports from Syria  including the updated death toll for children from less than a week ago  reinforced the need for the Security Council to submit the situation in the country to the Hague-based court.
> 
> "In light of the manifest failure of the Syrian authorities to protect their citizens, the international community needs to take urgent and effective measures to protect the Syrian people," Pillay told an emergency meeting of the U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva.
> 
> Syria's President Bashar Assad  trying to defeat an 8-month-old revolt challenging his autocratic rule  faces widespread international condemnation at the growing death toll.
> 
> A draft resolution backed by African, European, Asian, Arab and American members of the 47-nation rights council calls for the establishment of a special investigator on Syria, but leaves open the issue of whether the Security Council, the U.N.'s most powerful arm, should refer the country to the ICC.
> 
> The council's session Friday comes amid mounting international pressure on Syria. The U.N. says the nation is on the verge of civil war, and the Arab League, European Union, Turkey and the United States have all approved measures to sanction the Syrian economy, which relies on oil and tourism.
> 
> Russia and China have held back support for the resolution. The two permanent members of the Security Council have condemned the bloodshed, but are staunchly resisting further international pressure on Syria.
> 
> Russia's ambassador Valery Loshchinin, whose nation has sold arms to Syria, claimed Friday that opposition groups are getting weapons from outside forces.
> 
> Loshchinin did not provide further details, but another council diplomat told The Associated Press it is commonly known the arms are coming through Turkey. The diplomat spoke on condition of anonymity.
> 
> "Now, we hear, unfortunately, that the conflict in Syria continues to be fueled by outside forces who are interested in further destabilizing the situation," Loshchinin told the council.
> 
> "Armed terrorist and extremist groups are being armed and organized, supplied with weapons and money from abroad," he said. "The situation in Syria must be resolved in strict observance of international law and the provisions of the United Nations Charter."
> 
> Turkey's ambassador Oguz Demiralp said the nation has become a "major threat to peace and stability" and Assad should step down. "We want to see the bloody quagmire in Syria come to an end," he told the council.
> 
> British ambassador Peter Gooderham  whose nation is one of the Security Council's five permanent members with veto power  told the AP that the sanctions imposed on Syria by the Arab League and its lead in calling for the special session were crucial for putting pressure on the Assad regime.
> 
> "We know that the situation on the ground is deteriorating," French ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattei told the AP. "So we have to fully mobilize all the instruments at our disposal, and the Human Rights Council is part of what we can do."
> 
> Mattei said France, another permanent Security Council member, supports referring the situation in Syria to the ICC and failure to do so would be "a pity and a shame for the international community."
> 
> Two other veto-wielding Security Council members, China and Russia, have usually blocked these types of actions based on a recurring argument that too much international pressure can inflame crises and Western nations are too eager to encroach on nations' sovereignty.



Syria: UN Rights Chief Urges ICC Referral Of Assad Regime For Crimes Against Humanity


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrians Say They Are Feeling the Grip of Economic Sanctions








> DAMASCUS, Syria  The walls are suddenly closing in around enterprising young Syrians who bought into the idea of a modernized economy promised by President Bashar al-Assad  their simplest money transfers are blocked, and their credit cards useless outside Syria as the growing list of international sanctions darkens their financial future.
> 
> The owner of a handicrafts business who this week tried to transfer $450 to the Lebanese bank account of one of her suppliers found the transaction rejected because it originated in Syria. She had to hand deliver the cash instead. Then another client, the investor in a new Abu Dhabi hotel for whom she is designing furniture, asked her to export whatever was completed immediately lest the entire shipment get stuck.
> 
> This is not the solution, to end the uprising, said the woman, pulling her fashionable black wool coat tighter against the sudden winter chill hitting this superficially calm but beleaguered capital. This is a way to make us starve to punish the president.
> 
> Nearly nine months after a sustained popular uprising erupted against the Assad government, Syria finds itself increasingly isolated, with even one-time allies condemning its use of lethal force. Turkey, the Arab League, the European Union and the United States have all imposed economic sanctions. They are already biting in ways evident to a reporter during a brief, rare visit allowed by the government, which was seeking to draw attention to its claim that that the Arab League sanctions in particular amounted to economic war.
> 
> The crucial question, for President Assad, the international community, and the tens of thousands who rose up against the regime, is whether such financial pain will produce sufficient pressure to induce the government to halt the violent suppression of antigovernment protests. The sanctions are already unraveling the most significant change of President Assads tenure: linking Syria to the global economy, allowing private banks and opening economic opportunity for young people in nation where about three-quarters of the population is under the age of 35.
> 
> Optimists think the pressure could work, largely because the biggest tycoons are close to the president, especially his cousin, Rami Makhlouf, and some dozen sons of his fathers closest henchmen. (Mr. Makhlouf gobbled up so many state enterprises put up for sale that Syrians wryly dubbed the privatization process Ramification.)
> 
> Pessimists worry that the regime, including the scions of the old guard, will beggar the nation to cling to power.
> 
> Up until the last minute I did not believe the Arab League would take such a decision, said Mohammed Ghassan al-Qallaa, the president of the Damascus Chamber of Commerce, his office filled with Assad paraphernalia including a small gold bust of the former president, Mr. Assads father. It was like a poke in the eye.
> 
> Good statistics remain a rarity here. But trade and investment activity is already off by 50 percent, said financial analysts in Damascus, and estimates on how much the economy will shrink this year range from 12 to 20 percent. The higher estimates kick in if sanctions  like a flight ban still being debated by the Arab League  are toughened.
> 
> Layoffs are rampant, with unemployment estimated up to 22 percent. The tourism sector, which amassed some $6 billion in 2010, a boom year, has been decimated.
> 
> Hotel managers report an occupancy rate of 15 percent or lower, if they will divulge them at all, and numerous restaurants have gone broke. Financial analysts said the luxury Four Seasons chain tried to shutter its once booming Damascus hotel, an effort rejected by the government, which owns an estimated 50 percent share.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/03/w...rip-of-economic-sanctions.html?ref=middleeast


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria, Under Siege Inside and Out, Does Not Budge








> DAMASCUS, Syria  During his most recent news conference, Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem interrupted the flow of questions by waving a small white piece of paper indicating that he had important news.
> 
> I just received a note from the committee advising on the new constitution! said the portly, white-haired minister, announcing only that one new provision bans discrimination between political parties.
> 
> Such creaky political theater spoke volumes about the way President Bashar al-Assads government has been handling the crisis engulfing Syria since March.
> 
> Rather than responding to the motivations and demands behind the antigovernment uprising, opponents and political analysts say, the government has stubbornly clung to the narrative that it is besieged by a foreign plot. The government offers meager crumbs of political change, they say, avoiding the sweeping reforms that might defuse public anger and ease its international isolation.
> 
> At the same time, its violent efforts to combat the uprising have pushed a once peaceful opposition to take up arms, analysts here said.
> 
> Nine months into this crisis the government has nothing to offer except a military, security solution, said Hassan Abdel Azim, a 79-year-old war horse among Syrian dissidents, sitting in his cramped office, decorated only with a photograph of the Egyptian Arab nationalist leader, Gamal Abdel Nasser.
> 
> Senior government officials  including Mr. Assad  and their supporters reel off a strikingly uniform explanation for the uprisings, blaming foreign agents and denying official responsibility for the violence.
> 
> Most of the people that have been killed are supporters of the government, not the vice versa, Mr. Assad said in an interview with ABC News broadcast on Wednesday. In the interview, Mr. Assad denied ordering a crackdown. We dont kill our people, he said. No government in the world kills its people, unless its led by a crazy person.
> 
> Virtually no one in the Syrian government links the uprisings to the sentiment inspiring revolutions across the Arab world, to a public fed up with the status quo. Instead, they say the United States and Israel, allied with certain quisling Arab governments, are plotting to destroy Syria, to silence its lone, independent Arab voice and to weaken its regional ally, Iran. To achieve this aim, they are arming and financing Muslim fundamentalist mercenaries who enter Syria from abroad, Syrian officials say.
> 
> Syria is one of the last secular regimes in the Arab world, and they are targeting Syria, said Buthaina Shaaban, a presidential political and media adviser, warning that the West would rue the day that it enabled Islamist regimes. She rejected the idea that any true Syrian could rise against the government, saying, Colonialism has always found agents inside the country.
> 
> But that view does not seem to explain events unfolding on the streets.
> 
> The seemingly routine flow of life in central Damascus could leave the impression that there is no crisis, or that the security approach is effective. Yet beneath the mundane, unease grips the capital as fear of civil war supplants hopes for a peaceful transition to democracy. Damascus residents describe the restive suburbs as severed from the city by government checkpoints, and while the security forces control those areas by day, the night belongs to the rebels. A request to visit the suburbs was denied for your own safety by a Syrian government official.
> 
> Protesters hold flying demonstrations inside the city, trying to subvert the security forces, with a few people gathering briefly to be filmed shouting antigovernment slogans. Damascenes say that they have become so accustomed to hearing slogans chanted in the background, given the almost daily pro-government rallies organized by the government, that it takes a few minutes to register that people are cursing Mr. Assad. By the time they seek the source, the protesters have faded away.
> 
> Yet security forces seem omnipresent, usually materializing in minutes. Government critics say myriad supporters have been recruited into the shabiha, or thugs, as the loyalist forces are known.



http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/08/w...fficials-dismiss-protests.html?_r=1&ref=world


----------



## JStone

Everything is cool in Syria...
TRANSCRIPT: ABC's Barbara Walters' Interview With Syrian President Bashar al-Assad - ABC News


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Protesters Killed, Including 2 Children 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces fired on anti-government demonstrations across the country on Friday, killing at least nine people  including two children  as the regime tries to choke off a 9-month-old uprising, activists said.
> 
> Some of the worst violence was reported in Homs, a city in central Syria that has emerged as the epicenter of the revolt against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> "The earth was shaking," a Homs resident told The Associated Press by telephone, saying explosions and cracks of gunfire erupted in the early morning. "Armored personnel carriers drove through the streets and opened fire randomly with heavy machine guns."
> 
> He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
> 
> Despite the relentless bloodshed, Assad has refused to buckle to the pressure to step down and has shown no signs of easing his crackdown. The United Nations estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed in the military assault on dissent since March.
> 
> Two boys, ages 10 and 12, were hit by stray bullets Friday near government checkpoints in Homs, according to activists.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the 10-year-old was shot as he crossed the street in the Bab Sbaaa neighborhood. The 12-year-old was struck as he walked in a crowd exiting a mosque, Abdul-Rahman said.
> 
> Anti-government demonstrations traditionally peak after Friday's midday prayers, although witnesses say there appeared to be a concerted effort to prevent any gatherings this week. Troops were deployed heavily and, in many cases, locked down areas before prayers even began.
> 
> Security forces also reportedly fired on protests in the Damascus suburbs, the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, Idlbi province near Turkey and elsewhere.
> 
> In the southern town of Daraa, activists said telephone and Internet lines were cut.
> 
> The reports could not be confirmed because Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting. Accounts from activists and witnesses, along with amateur videos posted online, provide key channels of information.
> 
> The death toll was compiled from reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an activist coalition called the Local Coordinating Committees.
> 
> Assad is under growing international pressure to curb the bloodshed.
> 
> Turkey, the Arab League and the European Union have imposed sanctions aimed at squeezing the ailing economy.
> 
> On Friday, Turkey urged Assad to punish his security forces and accept an Arab League observer mission if he is "sincere" in his repudiation of violence against civilians.
> 
> "If he is sincere he will punish the security forces, he will accept the Arab League observers and help change the atmosphere," Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday. "He still has the opportunity to do this."
> 
> Turkey, meanwhile, moved to suspend a 2008 free trade agreement with Syria, which will lead to the imposition of taxes of up to 30 percent on some Syrian goods, authorities said.
> 
> The move  like most of the economic measures taken against Syria  is likely to hit the Syrian business class, which until now has been one of the main props of the regime.
> 
> Syria already unilaterally suspended the free trade agreement, but Turkey's Cabinet needed to approve the suspension so it can collect the taxes.



Syria: Protesters Killed, Including 2 Children


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Syria: Protesters Killed, Including 2 Children
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces fired on anti-government demonstrations across the country on Friday, killing at least nine people  including two children  as the regime tries to choke off a 9-month-old uprising, activists said.
> 
> Some of the worst violence was reported in Homs, a city in central Syria that has emerged as the epicenter of the revolt against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> "The earth was shaking," a Homs resident told The Associated Press by telephone, saying explosions and cracks of gunfire erupted in the early morning. "Armored personnel carriers drove through the streets and opened fire randomly with heavy machine guns."
> 
> He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
> 
> Despite the relentless bloodshed, Assad has refused to buckle to the pressure to step down and has shown no signs of easing his crackdown. The United Nations estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed in the military assault on dissent since March.
> 
> Two boys, ages 10 and 12, were hit by stray bullets Friday near government checkpoints in Homs, according to activists.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the 10-year-old was shot as he crossed the street in the Bab Sbaaa neighborhood. The 12-year-old was struck as he walked in a crowd exiting a mosque, Abdul-Rahman said.
> 
> Anti-government demonstrations traditionally peak after Friday's midday prayers, although witnesses say there appeared to be a concerted effort to prevent any gatherings this week. Troops were deployed heavily and, in many cases, locked down areas before prayers even began.
> 
> Security forces also reportedly fired on protests in the Damascus suburbs, the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, Idlbi province near Turkey and elsewhere.
> 
> In the southern town of Daraa, activists said telephone and Internet lines were cut.
> 
> The reports could not be confirmed because Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting. Accounts from activists and witnesses, along with amateur videos posted online, provide key channels of information.
> 
> The death toll was compiled from reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an activist coalition called the Local Coordinating Committees.
> 
> Assad is under growing international pressure to curb the bloodshed.
> 
> Turkey, the Arab League and the European Union have imposed sanctions aimed at squeezing the ailing economy.
> 
> On Friday, Turkey urged Assad to punish his security forces and accept an Arab League observer mission if he is "sincere" in his repudiation of violence against civilians.
> 
> "If he is sincere he will punish the security forces, he will accept the Arab League observers and help change the atmosphere," Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday. "He still has the opportunity to do this."
> 
> Turkey, meanwhile, moved to suspend a 2008 free trade agreement with Syria, which will lead to the imposition of taxes of up to 30 percent on some Syrian goods, authorities said.
> 
> The move  like most of the economic measures taken against Syria  is likely to hit the Syrian business class, which until now has been one of the main props of the regime.
> 
> Syria already unilaterally suspended the free trade agreement, but Turkey's Cabinet needed to approve the suspension so it can collect the taxes.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Protesters Killed, Including 2 Children
Click to expand...


You know Assad's in trouble when Iran steps back from supporting him.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Protesters Killed, Including 2 Children
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces fired on anti-government demonstrations across the country on Friday, killing at least nine people  including two children  as the regime tries to choke off a 9-month-old uprising, activists said.
> 
> Some of the worst violence was reported in Homs, a city in central Syria that has emerged as the epicenter of the revolt against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> "The earth was shaking," a Homs resident told The Associated Press by telephone, saying explosions and cracks of gunfire erupted in the early morning. "Armored personnel carriers drove through the streets and opened fire randomly with heavy machine guns."
> 
> He spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.
> 
> Despite the relentless bloodshed, Assad has refused to buckle to the pressure to step down and has shown no signs of easing his crackdown. The United Nations estimates more than 4,000 people have been killed in the military assault on dissent since March.
> 
> Two boys, ages 10 and 12, were hit by stray bullets Friday near government checkpoints in Homs, according to activists.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the 10-year-old was shot as he crossed the street in the Bab Sbaaa neighborhood. The 12-year-old was struck as he walked in a crowd exiting a mosque, Abdul-Rahman said.
> 
> Anti-government demonstrations traditionally peak after Friday's midday prayers, although witnesses say there appeared to be a concerted effort to prevent any gatherings this week. Troops were deployed heavily and, in many cases, locked down areas before prayers even began.
> 
> Security forces also reportedly fired on protests in the Damascus suburbs, the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, Idlbi province near Turkey and elsewhere.
> 
> In the southern town of Daraa, activists said telephone and Internet lines were cut.
> 
> The reports could not be confirmed because Syria has banned most foreign journalists and prevented independent reporting. Accounts from activists and witnesses, along with amateur videos posted online, provide key channels of information.
> 
> The death toll was compiled from reports by the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and an activist coalition called the Local Coordinating Committees.
> 
> Assad is under growing international pressure to curb the bloodshed.
> 
> Turkey, the Arab League and the European Union have imposed sanctions aimed at squeezing the ailing economy.
> 
> On Friday, Turkey urged Assad to punish his security forces and accept an Arab League observer mission if he is "sincere" in his repudiation of violence against civilians.
> 
> "If he is sincere he will punish the security forces, he will accept the Arab League observers and help change the atmosphere," Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Friday. "He still has the opportunity to do this."
> 
> Turkey, meanwhile, moved to suspend a 2008 free trade agreement with Syria, which will lead to the imposition of taxes of up to 30 percent on some Syrian goods, authorities said.
> 
> The move  like most of the economic measures taken against Syria  is likely to hit the Syrian business class, which until now has been one of the main props of the regime.
> 
> Syria already unilaterally suspended the free trade agreement, but Turkey's Cabinet needed to approve the suspension so it can collect the taxes.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Protesters Killed, Including 2 Children
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You know Assad's in trouble when Iran steps back from supporting him.
Click to expand...


The writing is on the wall, Assad should step down now before he becomes the next Gaddafi or Saddam.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Major Battle Between Troops And Defectors As Municipal Vote Starts 








> BEIRUT (AP) - Fierce clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors spread to new areas Monday after a major battle in the south raised new fears the 9-month-old conflict was spiraling toward civil war, activists said.
> 
> The uprising against President Bashar Assad has grown increasingly violent in recent months as defecting soldiers fight back against the army and once-peaceful protesters take up arms to protect themselves against the military assault.
> 
> The U.N. says more than 4,000 people have been killed since March. The revolt has raised concerns of a regional conflagration, given Syria's strategic role in the Middle East with alliances in Iran and with the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.
> 
> The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says new clashes between soldiers and defectors were reported Monday in the northwestern region of Idlib, and that fighting continued for a second day in the southern province of Daraa.
> 
> Also Monday, Syria's state media reported that voting started in scheduled municipal elections, but witnesses say turnout was low. The opposition does not consider the vote a legitimate concession by the regime because it coincides with the deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.
> 
> Since the uprising began, Assad has made several gestures of reform. But after nine months, the opposition is demanding nothing less than the downfall of the regime.
> 
> It is almost impossible to verify events in Syria, because the regime has banned most foreign journalists and prevented local reporters from moving freely. Accounts from activists and witnesses, along with amateur videos posted online, provide key channels of information.
> 
> On Sunday, army defectors set several military vehicles ablaze in a prolonged battle in Daraa province. Sunday also marked the start of calls for a general strike in Syria to push the government to stop its bloody crackdown. The strike was open-ended, until the regime pulls the army out of cities and releases detainees.
> 
> Because of the restrictions placed on reporters, it was difficult to gauge how many people were abiding by the strike. But activists said few people were out in Daraa on Monday.
> 
> Assad has refused to buckle under Arab and international pressure to step down and has shown no sign of easing his crackdown. Economic sanctions, however, could chip away at the regime in the long-run and erode his vital support base in the business community.



Syria: Major Battle Between Troops And Defectors As Municipal Vote Starts


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## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Ropey said:
> 
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> 
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> High_Gravity said:
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> Syria: Protesters Killed, Including 2 Children
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> Syria: Protesters Killed, Including 2 Children
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> 
> 
> You know Assad's in trouble when Iran steps back from supporting him.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The writing is on the wall, Assad should step down now before he becomes the next Gaddafi or Saddam.
Click to expand...


Did Assad's father step down after slaughtering 20,000 Syrians in Hama?  Like father, like son


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## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> You know Assad's in trouble when Iran steps back from supporting him.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The writing is on the wall, Assad should step down now before he becomes the next Gaddafi or Saddam.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Did Assad's father step down after slaughtering 20,000 Syrians in Hama?  Like father, like son
Click to expand...


You have a point.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Death Toll Passes 5,000, 11 Killed In Latest Attacks 








> (Reuters) - More than 5,000 people have been killed in nine months of unrest in Syria, the U.N. human rights chief said, as an insurgency began to overshadow what had initially been street protests against President Bashar al-Assad's 11-year rule.
> 
> Navi Pillay reported the death toll to the U.N. Security Council as 1,000 higher than the previous toll just 10 days ago. It includes civilians, army defectors and those executed for refusing to shoot civilians, but not soldiers or security personnel killed by opposition forces, she said.
> 
> The Syrian government has said more than 1,100 members of the army, police and security services have been killed.
> 
> Syria's actions could constitute crimes against humanity, said Pillay, issuing a fresh call for the council to refer the situation to the International Criminal Court.
> 
> "It was the most horrifying briefing that we've had in the Security Council over the last two years," British Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said after the session, which was arranged despite opposition from Russia, China and Brazil.
> 
> The sharp rise in the death toll is bound to lend weight to those arguing for increased international intervention to stop the bloodshed in Syria.
> 
> Assad, 46, whose minority Alawite family has held power over majority Sunni Muslim Syria for four decades, faces the most serious challenge to his rule from the turmoil which erupted in the southern city of Deraa on March 18.
> 
> A violent security crackdown failed to halt the unrest -- inspired by popular uprisings in Tunisia, Egypt, Yemen and Libya -- which turned bloodier in the last few months as defecting soldiers join armed civilians in fighting back in some areas.
> 
> DAWN BLOODSHED
> 
> In the latest violence around dawn on Tuesday, security forces shot dead 11 people and wounded 26 others in Idlib, a northern protest hotbed, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
> 
> At the flashpoint central province of Homs, an explosion set a gas pipeline on fire on Monday, the second reported pipeline blast in the area in a week. "The fire lit the night sky," said a resident who gave his name as Abu Khalaf.
> 
> State news agency SANA said the pipeline, near the town of Rastan, supplied gas to an electricity power plant.
> 
> SANA also said border guards foiled an attempt by "an armed terrorist group" to cross into Syria from Turkey on Monday, the second such reported incident in a week. It said they shot dead two of the 15-strong group.
> 
> The Observatory said a pro-Assad armed group was holding 17 workers seized in Homs on Saturday.
> 
> Despite the spiraling violence, Syrian authorities held local elections on Monday as part of what they say is a reform process, but Assad's critics described the voting as irrelevant.
> 
> Monday was also the second day of the opposition's "Strike for Dignity," but its success was hard to gauge in some cities where violence has kept many residents in their homes.
> 
> Though the strike has found support in protest strongholds around the country, it has not taken hold in central parts of the capital Damascus or the business hub of Aleppo.
> 
> Syria has barred most independent journalists, making it hard to assess conflicting accounts of events there.



Syria Death Toll Passes 5,000, 11 Killed In Latest Attacks


----------



## High_Gravity

Razan Ghazzawi, U.S.-Syria Blogger, Arrested 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian security forces fired on a funeral procession in a restive northwestern border region, killing two people and raising Tuesday's death toll to at least 28, activists said.
> 
> The flare-up of violence in Idlib province highlighted how Syria's uprising, which earlier this year involved mostly peaceful demonstrations in small towns and cities, has become a virtual insurgency in the countryside along the Turkish border.
> 
> In Damascus, a prominent U.S.-born Syrian blogger and press freedom campaigner was charged Monday by Syrian authorities with trying to incite sectarian strife, her organization said.
> 
> The Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Expression in the Arab World said Tuesday that Razan Ghazzawi also was charged with spreading false information and weakening national sentiment  a charge often leveled against those who challenge the Syrian regime.
> 
> The charges could carry a prison sentence of up to 15 years. The statement issued Tuesday by the SCM, where Ghazzawi worked, said she denied the charges.
> 
> She was arrested Dec. 4 at the border while on her way to Jordan for a conference on press freedom.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, and other Syrian activists said thousands of people were taking part in the funeral in the city of Idlib of civilians killed there earlier in the day when the gunfire erupted.
> 
> Regime forces swept through villages in the area near the Turkish frontier and attacked infiltrators at the border, and anti-regime fighters staged a retaliatory ambush and assassinated a senior officer earlier Tuesday, the reports and Syrian media said.
> 
> Military defectors known as the Free Syrian Army have found shelter alongside thousands of Syrian refugees on the Turkish side, making use of mountainous terrain, local smuggling networks and support among villagers on the Syrian side to stage cross-border attacks.
> 
> President Bashar Assad's forces have responded with stepped-up border patrols and reprisal raids on villages where anti-regime protests have been frequent.
> 
> The bloodshed in Syria, which the U.N. said Monday has left at least 5,000 dead, has resulted in increasing pressure on the Assad regime, including sanctions by the United States, the E.U. and the Arab League.
> 
> Some key nations have resisted the measures. Russia's foreign minister on Tuesday rebuffed calls for Moscow to back the sanctions and slammed the West for ignoring violence by the Syrian opposition.
> 
> The deadliest incident in the past two days took place in two villages near the Turkish border early Tuesday, after security forces entered and shot two civilians dead, said Rami Abdul-Rahman of the British-based Syrian Observation Center.
> 
> Residents of Maaret Musreen and Kfar Bahmoul responded by closing a main road to the Syrian troops, who then opened fire at random, he said, killing 11 civilians died and wounding 26.
> 
> The observatory said security forces also killed three other people in the provincial capital of Idlib and two in the central province of Homs.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, gave a similar death toll.
> 
> "These are intentional killings by the terrorists gangs of the regime," said Abu Mohammed, a resident of the nearby town of Maaret al-Numan, said.



Razan Ghazzawi, U.S.-Syria Blogger, Arrested


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Deadly Attack By Rebel Troops 








> BEIRUT  Syrian army defectors killed at least 27 government forces in clashes in the southern province of Daraa on Thursday, activists said. It was one of the deadliest spates of attacks by rebel troops since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime began nine months ago.
> 
> Citing witnesses on the ground, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three separate clashes erupted at dawn in Daraa, where the uprising began in March.
> 
> Attacks by army defectors have been escalating in recent weeks, raising concerns the country is headed toward civil war. Sanctions by Western powers and the Arab League have added to the growing pressure on Assad from within Syria.
> 
> There was no immediate claim of responsibility for Thursday's attacks. But the Free Syrian Army, a Turkish-based defector group, has in the past claimed similar attacks.
> 
> The Obama administration is predicting Assad's downfall. State Department official Frederic Hof told Congress on Wednesday that Assad's repression may allow him to hang on to power, but only for a short time.
> 
> "Our view is that this regime is the equivalent of dead man walking," said Hof, the State Department's point man on Syria. He said Syria was turning into "Pyongyang in the Levant," a reference to the North Korean capital. He said it was difficult to say how much time Assad has left in power but added: "I do not see this regime surviving."
> 
> In an apparent bid to promote defections, Hof warned Syrian troops and Assad's top aides that their president may be setting them up for possible war crimes or criminal charges by claiming in an interview with ABC News last week that the army was not his to command.
> 
> "It's difficult to imagine a more craven disclaimer of responsibility," Hof told members of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. "Perhaps it is a rehearsal for the time when accountability will come."
> 
> The U.N. raised its death toll for the Syrian uprising substantially this week, saying more 5,000 people have been killed since the start. Assad's regime is growing more isolated with the mounting international sanctions to punish his regime for its bloody crackdown that has mostly targeted unarmed, peaceful protesters.
> 
> Also Thursday, Human Rights Watch issued a report alleging that dozens of Syrian military commanders and officials authorized or gave direct orders for widespread killings, torture, and illegal arrests during the wave of anti-government protests.
> 
> The 88-page report by the New York-based group is based on more than 60 interviews with defectors from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies. It identifies 74 commanders and officials behind the alleged abuse.
> 
> "Defectors gave us names, ranks, and positions of those who gave the orders to shoot and kill, and each and every official named in this report, up to the very highest levels of the Syrian government, should answer for their crimes against the Syrian people," said Anna Neistat, associate director for emergencies at Human Rights Watch.
> 
> All of the defectors interviewed said their commanders gave standing orders to stop the overwhelmingly peaceful protests throughout the country "by all means necessary." They understood the phrase as an authorization to use lethal force, especially because they had been given live ammunition instead of other means of crowd control.
> 
> About half the defectors interviewed by HRW said the commanders of their units or other officers also gave them direct orders to fire at protesters or bystanders and reassured them that they would not be held accountable.
> 
> The report quotes defectors as saying that in some cases, officers themselves participated in killings. It said the abuses constitute crimes against humanity and that the U.N. Security Council should refer Syria to the International Criminal Court.



Syria: Deadly Attack By Rebel Troops


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## High_Gravity

Syria: 'Shoot to Kill' Commanders Named 








> (London) &#8211; Former Syrian soldiers identified by name 74 commanders and officials responsible for attacks on unarmed protesters, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report names commanders and officials from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies who allegedly ordered, authorized, or condoned widespread killings, torture, and unlawful arrests during the 2011 anti-government protests. Human Rights Watch has urged the Security Council to refer the situation in Syria to the International Criminal Court (ICC) and impose sanctions against the officials implicated in abuses.
> 
> The 88-page report, &#8220;&#8216;By All Means Necessary!&#8217;: Individual and Command Responsibility for Crimes against Humanity in Syria,&#8221; is based on more than 60 interviews with defectors from the Syrian military and intelligence agencies. The defectors provided detailed information about their units&#8217; participation in attacks, abuses against Syrian citizens, and the orders they received from commanders and officials at various levels, who are named in the report.
> 
> &#8220;Defectors gave us names, ranks, and positions of those who gave the orders to shoot and kill, and each and every official named in this report, up to the very highest levels of the Syrian government, should answer for their crimes against the Syrian people,&#8221; said Anna Neistat, associate director for emergencies at Human Rights Watch, and one of the authors of the report. &#8220;The Security Council should ensure accountability by referring Syria to the International Criminal Court.&#8221;



Human Rights Watch: Syria: 'Shoot to Kill' Commanders Named


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Arab League Deal Signed 








> BEIRUT  Syria signed an Arab League initiative Monday that will allow Arab observers into the country, on a day when activists said more than 100 people were killed, making it one of the bloodiest days in the nine-month uprising.
> 
> Activists reported up to 70 army defectors were killed by security forces who fired at them as they were deserting their military posts near the Turkish border. At least 30 other people died in other incidents across the country, the activists said.
> 
> Syria has placed severe restrictions on journalists, and the reports by the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Syrian Revolution General Commission activist group could not be independently confirmed.
> 
> The signing at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo followed increasing world pressure on Syria alongside a wave of armed clashes between Syria's military and defectors from the army, raising fears of an imminent civil war.
> 
> The regime's acceptance of observers after weeks of delays came after a warning from Arab leaders that they would turn to the U.N. Security Council for action to try to end President Bashar Assad's crackdown that the U.N. says has killed at least 5,000 people.
> 
> The U.N. General Assembly on Monday condemned human rights violations by Assad's government, calling for an immediate end to violence and implementation of the Arab League plan "without further delay." The vote on the nonbinding resolution was 133-11 with 43 abstentions.
> 
> By signing, the Syrian regime stands to gain more time and to avert  for now at least  the possibility of wider international involvement in the crisis. But critics were skeptic the regime would actually allow the observers full, unrestricted access to trouble spots and said it was likely a delaying tactic.
> 
> Burhan Ghalioun, the leader of Syria's main opposition group the Syrian National Council, accused the Assad regime of lying and said the signing was "worthless" in light of the brutal crackdown under way daily in Syria.
> 
> "The Syrian regime is maneuvering and wants to buy time," he said in Tunisia, where the group has been holding a three-day conference aimed at unifying Syria's fragmented opposition.
> 
> Ghalioun called for Arab military intervention to protect Syrian civilians and the creation of humanitarian corridors to deliver aid.
> 
> Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem rejected accusations of Syrian stalling tactics and said the delay was caused by the Arab League's refusal until now to accept amendments Syria requested. He did not say what they were.
> 
> "The signing of the protocol is the beginning of cooperation between us and the Arab League, and we will welcome the Arab League observers," he told reporters in Damascus.
> 
> He said that the observers will have a one-month mandate that can be extended by another month if both sides agree. The observers will be "free" in their movements and "under the protection of the Syrian government," he said, but will not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites.
> 
> The Arab League's plan calls for removing Syrian forces and heavy weapons from city streets, starting talks with opposition leaders and allowing human rights workers and journalists into the country, along with Arab League observers. Despite agreeing last month to the initiative, Syria then posed conditions that the Arab League said made implementation impossible.



Syria: Arab League Deal Signed


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Troops Attack Northwest Town, Killing At Least 100: Reports 



> BEIRUT  Government forces surrounded residents of a restive Syrian village in a valley and killed all those trapped inside  more than 100 people  in a barrage of rockets, tank shells, bombs and gunfire that lasted for hours, a witness and two activist groups said Wednesday.
> 
> The attack on Tuesday pushed the death toll for two days of violence across Syria to more than 200, and was one of the deadliest single events of the entire nine-month uprising against President Bashar Assad's authoritarian rule.
> 
> The White House reacted by renewing its call for Assad to step down, saying his regime does not deserve to rule.
> 
> The offensive targeted the village of Kfar Owaid, about 30 miles from the northern border with Turkey. It is part of the rugged mountainous region of Jabal al-Zawiyah, which has been the scene of clashes between troops and army defectors and intense anti-government protests for weeks. Syrian troops began attacking the region on Saturday, residents said.
> 
> "It was an organized massacre," said Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. "The troops surrounded people then killed them."
> 
> Syrian officials have not commented on the allegations.
> 
> The White House said Assad's regime has no credibility and has "flagrantly violated" its commitment to end violence. The statement said the Obama administration is deeply disturbed by continued reports of government-backed violence against the Syrian people.
> 
> One villager who is an anti-government activist told The Associated Press by telephone that scores of residents and activists fled Tuesday morning to the nearby Budnaya Valley, where they were completely surrounded by troops. The forces bombarded them with tank shells, rockets and heavy machine gun fire. The man, who identified himself only as Abu Rabih for fear of government reprisal, said troops also used bombs filled with nails to increase the number of casualties.
> 
> "What happened yesterday was a crime against humanity," Abu Rabih said. He said 110 people were killed in the attack and 56 of the dead were buried in Kfar Owaid on Wednesday. Others were buried in villages nearby.
> 
> According to activists, all of those in the valley were unarmed civilians and activists, there were no armed military defectors among them.
> 
> Abu Rabih said the Jabal al-Zawiyah region has been under intense attack by government forces since Saturday.
> 
> Assad agreed Monday to allow foreign monitors under an Arab League plan aimed at stopping the bloodshed. But the huge toll from the crackdown on Monday and Tuesday has reinforced opposition suspicions that Assad is just playing for time to stall a new round of international condemnation and sanctions. The crackdown has already left Assad internationally isolated and under tremendous pressure from the Arab world as well as the west.
> 
> The Arab League plan calls for Syria to halt its crackdown, open talks with the opposition, withdraw military forces from city streets and allow in human rights workers and journalists
> 
> Despite intensified violence, the Arab League appeared to be going ahead with its plans to send the monitors.



Syria Troops Attack Northwest Town, Killing At Least 100: Reports


----------



## High_Gravity

Arab League Syria Observers Head To Country, Day After Regime Troops Kill 200 









> BEIRUT (AP) - Arab League delegates traveled to Syria Thursday to arrange the deployment of foreign monitors under a plan aimed at ending the regime's deadly 9-month-old crackdown on dissent. They arrive in the midst of a new international uproar over activist reports that government troops killed more than 200 people in two days, with Turkey condemning President Bashar Assad over the "bloodbath."
> 
> The opposition suspects Assad's agreement to allow hundreds of Arab League monitors in after weeks of stalling is only a tactic to buy time and ward off a new round of international sanctions and condemnation.
> 
> "The Syrian regime has exploited signing the Arab League initiative to escalate the brutal military campaign against revolting towns and cities," said Burhan Ghalioun, leader of the Syrian National Council, Syria's main opposition group.
> 
> In a statement, Ghalioun called on the U.N. to "urgently intervene" to stop the bloodshed, saying the Arab peace initiative was no longer enough.
> 
> Fresh raids and gunfire by government forces on Thursday killed at least 19 people, most of them in the central city of Homs and northern Idlib province, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees.
> 
> Activists have accused government troops of a "massacre" on Tuesday in Kfar Owaid, a village in the rugged mountains near Syria's northern border with Turkey. A witness and activist groups said military forces surrounded about 110 unarmed civilians and trapped them in a valley, then proceeded to systematically kill all of them in an hours-long barrage with tanks, bombs and gunfire. No one survived the onslaught, the activists said.
> 
> Turkey, which before the uprising was a close ally of Syria, said the violence flew in the face of the spirit of the Arab League deal that Syria signed and raises doubts about the regime's true intentions.
> 
> "We strongly condemn the Syrian leadership's policies of oppression against its own people, which are turning the country into a bloodbath," the Turkish Foreign Ministry said. It added that that no administration "can come out a winner from a struggle against its own people."
> 
> On Wednesday, the Obama administration said it was "deeply disturbed" by Tuesday's attack on Kfar Owaid and accused the government of continuing to "mow down" its people. The French foreign ministry said everything must be done to stop this "murderous spiral."
> 
> The United Nations says more than 5,000 people have died since March as Syria has sought to put down the uprising - part of the Arab Spring protests that have toppled long-serving, unpopular leaders in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya.
> 
> Activists said given the high death toll of the past few days, the Syrian government appears to be furiously trying to control the situation on the ground before the full Arab League monitoring team arrives.
> 
> Indeed, activists said government forces appeared to have gained full control of the rebellious Jabal al-Zawiya region, where Kfar Owaid is located, as of Wednesday evening.
> 
> Many of them blamed the Arab League for giving the Syrian regime a lifeline and a chance to kill more people and called for nationwide protests on Friday against the observer mission. "Protocol of death, a license to kill," was the slogan for the planned protests, a reference to the protocol of the Arab League plan signed by Syria this week.
> 
> In addition to the monitors, the Arab League plan calls for Syria to halt its crackdown, open talks with the opposition, withdraw military forces from city streets and allow in human rights workers and journalists. The 22-member Arab League has also suspended Syria's membership and leveled economic and diplomatic sanctions.
> 
> Sameer Seif el-Yazal, the assistant Arab League secretary general who is leading the advance team to set up the monitoring mission, said they will work with the Syrians on defining locations to send the observers. An observer team of around 20 experts in military affairs and human rights will head for Syria on Sunday, led by Lt. Gen. Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa of Sudan.
> 
> "We will carry out some necessary preparations to receive the mission on the ground including housing, transportation and communications and security," el-Yazal told reporters in Cairo before leaving for Damascus.
> 
> Another team of 100 observers will leave for Syria within two weeks, according to the Arab plan. A total of 500 observers are planned.
> 
> That attack on Kfar Owaid was among the deadliest so far in Syria. The mountainous region of Jabal al-Zawiyah has been the scene of clashes between troops and army defectors, as well as weeks of intense anti-government protests.
> 
> "Thousands of soldiers and special forces have deployed, there are tanks and checkpoints every few meters, snipers everywhere," an activist in Kfar Owaid told The Associated Press by telephone Thursday,
> 
> He said he was on the run and spoke on condition of anonymity, fearing for his own safety.



Arab League Syria Observers Head To Country, Day After Regime Troops Kill 200


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Twin Suicide Bomb Blasts Rip Through Damascus, Killing At Least 30 People 








> DAMASCUS, Syria  Twin suicide car bomb blasts ripped through an upscale Damascus district Friday, targeting heavily guarded intelligence buildings and killing at least 40 people, Syrian authorities said.
> 
> The blasts came a day after an advance team of Arab League observers arrived in the country to monitor Syria's promise to end its crackdown on protesters demanding the ouster of President Bashar Assad. Government officials took the observers to the scene of the explosions and said it backed their longtime claims that the turmoil is not a popular uprising but the work of terrorists.
> 
> The blasts were the first such suicide bombings in Syria since the uprising began in March, adding new and ominous dimensions to a conflict that has already taken the country to the brink of civil war.
> 
> "We said it from the beginning, this is terrorism. They are killing the army and civilians," Deputy Foreign Minister Faysal Mekdad told reporters outside the headquarters of the General Intelligence Agency, where bodies still littered the ground. State TV said initial investigations indicated possible involvement by the al-Qaida terror network.
> 
> Alongside him, the head of the observer advance team, Sameer Seif el-Yazal, said, "We are here to see the facts on the ground. ... What we are seeing today is regretful, the important thing is for things to calm down."
> 
> An opposition leader raised doubts over the authorities' version of events, suggesting the regime was trying to make its case to the observers.
> 
> Omar Idilbi, a member of the Syrian National Council, an umbrella group of regime opponents, called the explosions "very mysterious because they happened in heavily guarded areas that are difficult to be penetrated by a car."
> 
> "The presence of the Arab League advance team of observers pushed the regime to give this story in order to scare the committee from moving around Syria," he said, though he stopped short of accusing the regime in the blasts. "The second message is an attempt to make the Arab League and international public opinion believe that Syria is being subjected to acts of terrorism by members of al-Qaida."
> 
> The blasts went off outside the main headquarters of the General Intelligence Agency and a branch of the military intelligence, two of the most powerful of Syria's multiple intelligence bodies. Outside the two buildings, mutilated and torn bodies lay amid rubble, twisted debris and burned cars in Damascus' upscale Kfar Sousa district. Bystanders and ambulance workers used blankets and stretchers to carry bloodstained bodies into vehicles. All the windows were shattered in the nearby state security building, which was targeted by the other bomb.
> 
> The two blasts went off within moments of each other at 10:15 local time (0815GMT) Friday, a weekend day, echoing across the city.
> 
> "The explosions shook the house; it was frightful," said Nidal Hamidi, a 34-year-old Syrian journalist who lives in Kfar Sousa. He said gunfire was heard immediately after the explosion and said apartment windows in a 200-yard (meter) radius from the explosions were shattered.
> 
> A military official told reporters that more than 40 people were killed and more than 100 wounded. He spoke to reporters on condition of anonymity in accordance with military rules. Earlier, state TV said most of the dead were civilians but included military and security personnel.
> 
> Maj. Gen. Rustom Ghazaleh, who heads the targeted military intelligence department, said the attacks were proof of a foreign project to strike at Syria. "We will fight this project until the last drop of blood," he declared.
> 
> A Syrian military official said the explosion targeting the military intelligence building, the bigger of the two blasts, weighed more than 660 pounds (300 kilograms) and gouged a crater into the ground that was 2 yards deep and 1.5 yards wide. It killed 15 people, among them a retired brigadier general.
> 
> The blasts came as the Syrian government escalated its crackdown ahead of the arrival Thursday of the Arab League observers. More than 200 people were killed in two days this week.
> 
> David Hartwell, Middle East political analyst at IHS Jane's in London, said the timing "is certain to be viewed with suspicion by the opposition."



Syria: Twin Suicide Bomb Blasts Rip Through Damascus, Killing At Least 30 People


----------



## Alien786

I think , President Assad will face the same fate as of Gadhafi


----------



## High_Gravity

Alien786 said:


> I think , President Assad will face the same fate as of Gadhafi



I hope so.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Army Withdraws Tanks From Homs After Days Of Attacks 








> BEIRUT -- Syria's army suspended days of punishing attacks on the restive city of Homs and began withdrawing its tanks Tuesday just as Arab League monitors visited the area, activists and officials said. Huge crowds poured into the streets shortly after the pullback, shouting defiantly that they will not be cowed by the crackdown.
> 
> Amateur video showed tens of thousands flooding the streets of the city, which had been under siege for days, to march in a funeral. They carried the open casket overhead with the exposed face of an older man with a white beard.
> 
> "Listen Bashar: If you fire bullets, grenades or shells at us, we will not be scared," one person shouted to the crowd through loudspeakers. Many were waving Syria's independence flag, which predates the 1963 ascendancy of President Bashar Assad's Baath party to power.
> 
> About 60 Arab League monitors  the first Syria's regime has allowed in during its nine-month crackdown on an anti-government uprising  began work Tuesday. They are there to ensure compliance with the League's plan to halt violence against mostly unarmed, peaceful protesters and the pullback in Homs was the first tangible sign Assad was implementing any of the terms.
> 
> After signing on to the plan early last week, Assad's regime had only intensified the violence, rather than easing up, and it was condemned internationally for flouting the agreement. Government troops killed hundreds in just the past week. On Monday, security forces killed at least 42 people, most of them in Homs.
> 
> Amateur video released by activists showed residents of Homs' tense Baba Amr district speaking to the Arab monitors.
> 
> "We are unarmed people who are dying," one resident shouts to an observer. Seconds later, shooting is heard from a distance as someone else screams: "We are being slaughtered here."
> 
> In another exchange, a resident tells a monitor: "You should say what you just told the head of the mission. You said you cannot cross to the other side of the street because of sniper fire."
> 
> The observer points to the head of the team and says: "He will make a statement." The resident the repeats his demand, and the monitor, smoking a cigarette, nods in approval.
> 
> The British-based activist group Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said as the monitors visited Homs, tens of thousands of protesters gathered in some neighborhoods to "reveal the crimes committed by the regime."
> 
> Later, the Observatory said some 70,000 protesters tried to enter the tightly secured Clock Square as security force fired tear gas and later live bullets to prevent them from reaching the city's largest square. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said security forces were shooting at protesters trying to reach the central square.
> 
> The Arab League plan demands the government remove its security forces and heavy weapons from city streets, start talks with opposition leaders and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country. Before Tuesday's redeployment of at least some tanks, there had been no sign that Assad was implementing any of the terms, much less letting up on his brutal crackdown.
> 
> Homs, Syria's third largest city, has a population of 800,000 and is at the epicenter of the revolt against Assad. It is about 100 miles (160 kilometers) north of the capital, Damascus. Many Syrians refer to Homs as the "Capital of the Revolution."
> 
> Opposition activist Mohammed Saleh said the heavy bombardment of Homs since Friday stopped in the morning and tanks were seen pulling out. Another Homs-based activist said he saw armored vehicles leaving early on a highway leading to the city of Palmyra to the east. He asked that his name not be made public for fear of retribution.
> 
> "Today is calm, unlike pervious days," Saleh said. "The shelling went on for days, but yesterday was terrible."
> 
> The British-based Observatory said some army vehicles pulled out of Homs while other relocated in government compounds "where (they) can deploy again within five minutes."



Syria: Army Withdraws Tanks From Homs After Days Of Attacks


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Protesters Killed By Security Forces 








> HOMS, Syria  Syrian security forces opened fire Thursday on tens of thousands protesting outside a mosque in a Damascus suburb, close to a municipal building that members of the Arab League monitoring mission were visiting. Activists said at least four people were killed.
> 
> The ongoing violence, and new questions about the human rights record of the head of the Arab League monitors, are reinforcing the opposition's view that Syria's limited cooperation with the observers is nothing more than a farce for President Bashar Assad's regime to buy time and forestall more international condemnation and sanctions.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said about 20,000 people were protesting outside the Grand Mosque in the Damascus suburb of Douma when troops opened fire. Some Arab League monitors were visiting a municipal building close to the mosque, he said.
> 
> The 60 Arab League monitors, who began work Tuesday, are the first Syria has allowed in during the nine-month anti-government uprising. They are supposed to ensure the regime complies with terms of the Arab League plan to end Assad's nine-month crackdown on dissent. The U.N. says more than 5,000 people have died in the uprising since March.
> 
> The plan, which Syria agreed to on Dec. 19, demands that the government remove its security forces and heavy weapons from cities, start talks with the opposition and allow human rights workers and journalists into the country. It also calls for the release of all political prisoners.
> 
> Syria has allowed the monitors in, released about 800 prisoners and pulled some of its tanks from the city of Homs. But it has continued to shoot and kill unarmed protesters and has not lived up to any other terms of the agreement.
> 
> Syria's top opposition leader, Burhan Ghalioun, told reporters in Cairo after meeting Arab League Chief Nabil Elaraby that the aim of the mission is not only to observe, but to make sure that the Syrian government is "stopping the killing and shooting." He added that the Syrian government is holding more than 100,000 detainees, "some of them held in military barracks and aboard ships off the Syrian coast." He added: "There is real danger that the regime might kill them to say there are no prisoners."
> 
> State-run TV said monitors also visited the Damascus suburb of Harasta, the central city of Hama and the southern province of Daraa, where the uprising against Assad began in March.
> 
> The Observatory said a total of 16 people have been shot by security forces and killed so far on Thursday, most of them in several suburbs of Damascus. The Local Coordination Committees, another activist group, said 28 people were killed. The differing death tolls could not be immediately reconciled as Syria bans most foreign journalists and keeps tight restrictions on the local media.
> 
> Leading opposition members are calling on the Cairo-based Arab League to remove the Sudanese head of the monitoring mission because he was a senior official in the "oppressive regime" of President Omar al-Bashir, who is under an international arrest warrant on charges of committing genocide in Darfur.
> 
> The head of the mission, Lt. Gen. Mohamed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi, is a longtime loyalist of al-Bashir and once served as his head of Sudanese military intelligence.
> 
> Amnesty International said under al-Dabi's command, military intelligence in the early 1990s "was responsible for the arbitrary arrest and detention, enforced disappearance, and torture or other ill-treatment of numerous people in Sudan."
> 
> In Germany, Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle demanded "unhindered access" for the Arab League observers to all key points in Syria, his ministry said Thursday. That includes not just cities such as Homs, but "also the possibility to speak unhindered with representatives of the opposition, civil society and with prisoners of the regime," a ministry statement said.
> 
> Westerwelle "expects from the observer mission a thorough approach and a clear, unvarnished picture of the situation," it added.
> 
> The Syrian government organized a tour to the restive central city of Homs, where one team of monitors has been working for the last three days. A Syrian official in Homs said six observers were there on Thursday.



Syria: Protesters Killed By Security Forces


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Frees 755 Detained During Protests



> (BEIRUT)  The Syrian government released Wednesday 755 prisoners detained over the past nine months in the regime's crackdown on dissent as observers toured a flashpoint city to see whether authorities were complying with an Arab plan to stop the bloodshed that has killed thousands.
> 
> The prisoners' release, reported by the state-run news agency SANA, followed accusations by Human Rights Watch that Syrian authorities were hiding hundreds of detainees from the observers now in the country.
> 
> The New York-based group said the detainees have been transferred to off-limits military sites and urged the observers to insist on full access to all sites used for detention.
> 
> HRW's report, issued late Tuesday, echoes charges made by Syrian opposition members that thousands of detainees were being transferred to military sites ahead of the observers' visit.
> 
> Syrian officials have said the Arab League monitors will have unrestricted access to trouble spots but will not be allowed to visit sensitive military sites.
> 
> "Syria has shown it will stop at nothing to undermine independent monitoring of its crackdown," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch. She said it was essential for the Arab League "to draw clear lines" regarding access to detainees, and be willing to speak out when those lines are crossed.
> 
> SANA said the prisoners released Wednesday did not include those with "blood on their hands."
> 
> Last month, Syrian authorities released 2,645 prisoners in three batches but activists and critics say thousands more who were picked up in the past months remain in jail.
> 
> The Arab observers kicked off their one month mission in the violence-wracked country with a visit on Tuesday to Homs  the first time Syria has allowed outside monitors to the city at the heart of the anti-government uprising.
> 
> A local official in Homs told The Associated Press that a team of four observers were in the city on Wednesday as well, touring various districts. He declined to give his details and spoke on condition of anonymity for security reasons.




Read more: Syria Frees 755 Prisoners Detained in Crackdown - TIME


----------



## JStone

Antioch, Syria was once a stronghold of Christianity.  It was one of the earliest visits the Apostle Paul made 2000 years ago when he received a message from Jesus Christ on the road to Damascus, according to the Gospels.

islime is the ruination of syria


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Protests: Death Toll Increases During Clashes 








> BEIRUT, Dec 30 (Reuters) - Clashes erupted in Syria on Friday as hundreds of thousands filled the streets to demonstrate against the government of President Bashar al-Assad and activists said at least 10 people were shot dead.
> 
> Demonstrators determined to show the strength of their movement to Arab League monitors deployed in hotspots across the country threw rocks at security forces in the Damascus suburb of Douma where troops tear-gassed the chanting crowds.
> 
> Five people were shot dead in the city of Hama and five in the city of Deraa in the south.
> 
> "Five were martyred today and at least 20 wounded when the Syrian security forces opened fire," the British-basedd Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported, referring to Hama.
> 
> It said security forces fired at tens of thousands of protesters in the northern province of Idlib, wounding 25.
> 
> At least two dozen were injured in the Damascus suburb of Douma, activists said. One report said army defectors in Douma were engaged in armed clashes with troops. There were no further details.
> 
> Some 250,000 gathered after Friday's Muslim prayer in the northern province of Idlib at 74 different locations, according to the Observatory, an opposition network relaying activist reports.
> 
> "This Friday is different from any other Friday. It is a transformative step. People are eager to reach the monitors and tell them about their suffering," said activist Abu Hisham in Hama.
> 
> In Homs, the city at the centre of nine months of revolt, Al Jazeera television showed a huge crowd of dancing protesters who appeared to be in the thousands.
> 
> "Revolution, revolution Syria, revolution of glory and freedom Syria," they shouted.
> 
> In the Damascus suburb of Barzeh, where large crowds had also gathered, protesters held up signs saying "The Monitors are witnesses who don't see anything," and shouted, "Bashar we don't want you, Syrians raise your hands."
> 
> Activists in the city of Idlib said the army had put its heavy weapons out of sight.
> 
> "Security forces have moved some of their tanks out of the neighbourhood streets and have put them behind buildings further out," said Manhal, a member of the local coordination committee. "They have also moved the tanks out of main streets. Some of them they moved into dugouts."



Syria Protests: Death Toll Increases During Clashes


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: In Neighboring Beirut, A Daily Struggle For Credible Information 








> BEIRUT -- Shortly after midnight one night last week, two 20-something Syrians huddled over a computer, trying to sort out exactly what had happened that day at Damascus University.
> 
> Online reports suggested that three students had been shot at the school. Syrian State TV, meanwhile, put the number at five and implied that the shooter was a disaffected member of the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
> 
> This seemed suspiciously convenient, in the opinion of the two Syrians, who had friends attending the university and who asked not to be identified by name. Currently living in Beirut, both are refugees of a sort: One had come to the city to escape compulsory military service, the other had fled his hometown in Syria after receiving threatening phone calls.
> 
> As they sat in a small basement studio in East Beirut, scouring the few accounts of the shooting in secure online chat rooms and speaking with friends on Skype, useful information was proving difficult to find.
> 
> "We don't know anything," the young man who had fled threats in Damascus said in frustration. "Maybe tomorrow we will know something about what happened today."
> 
> Every day in Beirut, there is a struggle to find reliable information about Lebanon's troubled neighbor next door, where a deadly anti-government uprising is now in its tenth month.
> 
> The United Nations recently estimated that at least 5,000 protesters have been killed since March, and the Assad regime has all but banned foreign journalists from visiting the country.
> 
> Throughout the crisis, dozens of journalists, activists and Syrian dissidents have used Beirut as an observation post of sorts, hoping to snare glimpses and the occasional firsthand account of what most outside observers judge to be a brutal and unrelenting crackdown by the military forces of President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> The Assad regime, for its part, claims that it is engaged in a struggle for survival against Islamist militants conducting a proxy war on behalf of Sunni nations like Saudi Arabia. The state maintains that it is responding to "terrorist armed groups" that have killed more than 1,000 of its security forces.
> 
> Independently verifying any of this -- the death tolls, accounts of individual incidents, even fundamental questions about how Syrian society at large views the uprising -- has proven virtually impossible, or exceedingly dangerous.
> 
> Only a handful of independent journalists have seen the situation firsthand, having braved Syrian border patrols and overnight motorcycle rides to have themselves illegally smuggled into the country. Their accounts of besieged towns like Homs and Idlib are consistently dire, describing protesters being attacked by the government, dwindling medical supplies and food, and a growing armed insurgency that threatens to reshape the uprising, if not completely overwhelm it.
> 
> The few reporters who have been let into the country officially have found themselves closely chaperoned by government minders.
> 
> This leaves those in Beirut, and the rest of the world, to siphon whatever information they can get second- and thirdhand.
> 
> "It's very frustrating," says Shakeeb al-Jabri, a Syrian activist in Beirut who has taken on a role as a media coordinator for the revolution. "For me, as someone who is supposed to always be in the know, it's frustrating to not have good information. So I can only imagine what it's like for the journalists."
> 
> Al-Jabri, 30 years old, is one of a handful of individuals who are central to the dissemination of information about Syria within Beirut. He and a few others work to confirm reports of clashes and body counts, for distribution to reporters and activist groups.
> 
> He spends almost his entire day online, chatting with activists and residents he trusts in hotbed Syrian cities like Homs and Hama and relaying their accounts on his Twitter page.
> 
> Like many others who funnel information out of Syria, al-Jabri insists that he will not pass along news about any incidents unless he finds video or has multiple dependable sources. Some reports can never be confirmed. (A week after the incident at Damascus University, al-Jabri told The Huffington Post that the shooting itself "has been confirmed, but the details are still sketchy.")



Syria Crisis: In Neighboring Beirut, A Daily Struggle For Credible Information


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Authorities Release 552 Prisoners Accused Of Anti-Regime Activities 









> BEIRUT -- An activist group accused the Syrian regime on Thursday of torturing hundreds of people to death in overcrowded prisons, jails and illegal detention centers across the country since an uprising began in March.
> 
> Avaaz, an online global activist group, issued a report saying 617 people have been confirmed killed under torture by President Bashar Assad's forces as they cracked down on the revolt.
> 
> "Assad's henchmen have tried to break the pro-democracy movement in these torture chambers, but brave Syrians are still standing up for their rights," said Stephanie Brancaforte, Campaign Director at Avaaz.
> 
> The alleged torture victims are among 6,874 people killed since the uprising began, Avaaz said, giving a significantly higher toll than the estimate of 5,000 given several weeks ago by the United Nations.
> 
> Avaaz said it verified each death by three independent sources, including a family member of the deceased and the imam who performed the funeral procession. The group said it works with a team of 58 human rights monitors in Syria.
> 
> The group encouraged Arab League monitors in the country to "visit these torture chambers and ensure the regime immediately end these atrocities."
> 
> Syria generally does not respond to criticism about its human rights record. But the regime has long contended that the turmoil this year is not an uprising by reform-seekers but the work of terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs. Most international observers dismiss that claim as an attempt by an autocratic regime to terrify its citizens into abandoning the revolt.
> 
> Avaaz's figures are impossible to independently confirm, with Assad's regime continuing to bar almost all foreign journalists or human rights groups from entering Syria.
> 
> Syrian state-TV reported Thursday that authorities have released more than 500 prisoners accused of involvement in anti-regime activities. The move appeared to be another gesture to comply with an Arab League plan to end the regime's 9-month-old crackdown on dissent.
> 
> Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said this week that Syria had released about 3,500 detainees in recent weeks. And state television said Thursday another 552 had been released.
> 
> But Avaaz said Thursday that 37,000 people remain in detention.
> 
> The Arab peace plan, being monitored by about 100 Arab League observers now in Syria, requires Assad's regime to remove security forces and heavy weapons from cities, start talks with opposition leaders and free political prisoners. The League claims it has won some concessions from Syria, including the pullout of heavy military weaponry from cities and the release of thousands of prisoners.
> 
> However, Syria's opposition is accusing the regime of misleading the monitors by taking them to areas loyal to the government, changing street signs to confuse them, painting army vehicles blue to look like those of police and sending supporters into rebellious neighborhoods to give false testimony.
> 
> An Arab League official said the observers have not reported or complained about being misled by the regime. He said the Syrian opposition is making pre-emptive statements, fearing the regime might try to mislead the monitors.



Syria: Authorities Release 552 Prisoners Accused Of Anti-Regime Activities


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Runs Torture Chambers, Activists Say 








> BEIRUT (AP) - An activist group accused the Syrian regime on Thursday of torturing hundreds of people to death in overcrowded prisons, jails and illegal detention centers across the country since an uprising began in March.
> 
> Avaaz, an online global activist group, issued a report saying 617 people have been confirmed killed under torture by President Bashar Assad's forces as they cracked down on the revolt.
> 
> "Assad's henchmen have tried to break the pro-democracy movement in these torture chambers, but brave Syrians are still standing up for their rights," said Stephanie Brancaforte, Campaign Director at Avaaz.
> 
> The alleged torture victims are among 6,874 people killed since the uprising began, Avaaz said, giving a significantly higher toll than the estimate of 5,000 given several weeks ago by the United Nations.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, an opposition group that tracks the deaths in Syria, said up to 20 people were killed in Thursday violence.
> 
> In its report, Avaaz said it verified each death by three independent sources, including a family member of the deceased and the imam who performed the funeral procession. The group said it works with a team of 58 human rights monitors in Syria.
> 
> The group encouraged Arab League monitors in the country to "visit these torture chambers and ensure the regime immediately end these atrocities."
> 
> Syria generally does not respond to criticism about its human rights record. But the regime has long contended that the turmoil this year is not an uprising by reform-seekers but the work of terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs. Most international observers dismiss that claim as an attempt by an autocratic regime to terrify its citizens into abandoning the revolt.
> 
> Avaaz's figures are impossible to independently confirm, with Assad's regime continuing to bar almost all foreign journalists or human rights groups from entering Syria.
> 
> Syrian state-TV reported Thursday that authorities have released more than 500 prisoners accused of involvement in anti-regime activities. The move appeared to be another gesture to comply with an Arab League plan to end the regime's 9-month-old crackdown on dissent.
> 
> Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said this week that Syria had released about 3,500 detainees in recent weeks. And state television said Thursday another 552 had been released.
> 
> But Avaaz said Thursday that 37,000 people remain in detention.
> 
> The Arab peace plan, being monitored by about 100 Arab League observers now in Syria, requires Assad's regime to remove security forces and heavy weapons from cities, start talks with opposition leaders and free political prisoners. The League claims it has won some concessions from Syria, including the pullout of heavy military weaponry from cities and the release of thousands of prisoners.
> 
> However, Syria's opposition is accusing the regime of misleading the monitors by taking them to areas loyal to the government, changing street signs to confuse them, painting army vehicles blue to look like those of police and sending supporters into rebellious neighborhoods to give false testimony.
> 
> An Arab League official said the observers have not reported or complained about being misled by the regime. He said the Syrian opposition is making pre-emptive statements, fearing the regime might try to mislead the monitors.



Syria Runs Torture Chambers, Activists Say


----------



## JStone

Saint Paul is shitting right now.  It was on the road to damascus that the Apostle Paul saw Jesus and was converted to Christianity and it was in Syria that he set up his first Christian ministry.

The religion of peace muhammadan must stop their slaughter of their own religion of peace'ers allahu akbar


----------



## High_Gravity

Arab League's Syria Meeting Begins



> CAIRO, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Arab League urged the Syrian government on Sunday to stop its violence against protesters and allow Arab monitors in the country to work more independently, but stopped short of asking for United Nations experts to bolster its peace mission.
> 
> 
> The arrival last month of Arab monitors in Syria to see if the government was honouring a pledge to end a crackdown on a popular revolt has not ended the violence, in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed.
> 
> 
> After a progress meeting in Cairo on Sunday, the Arab League group on Syria said the government had only partly implemented a promise to stop the crackdown, free those jailed during the crisis and withdraw its troops from the cities.
> 
> 
> In its closing communique, the League said it would increase the number of monitors from the present 165 and give them more resources, ignoring calls to end what pro-democracy campaigners say is a toothless mission that buys more time for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to suppress opponents.
> 
> 
> Arab League officials said the continuation of the mission, which is due to make a full report on Jan. 19, depends on the Syrian government's commitment to ending violence and honouring its promises. Arab League foreign ministers will discuss the findings on Jan. 19-20.
> 
> "If the ... report comes out saying the violence has not stopped, the Arab League will have a responsibility to act on that ... We have to be clear and honest with the Syrian people," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference after the meeting.
> 
> He did not say what the Arab League might do, but Assad's failure to abide by the peace plan resulted in Syria's suspension from the 22-member regional body in November.
> 
> The Arab plan also called for Assad's government to permit peaceful protests, start dialogue with political opponents and allow foreign media to travel freely to the country. Syria agreed, but the pledge remains unfulfilled.
> 
> Qatar, which chairs the group and has been critical of the mission's performance, had proposed inviting U.N. technicians and human rights experts to help Arab monitors assess whether Syria was honouring its pledges. The League said it had not asked for monitors.
> 
> 
> 
> "We have not yet agreed to send individuals," Sheikh Hamad said. Asked if this could happen in the future, he said: "it depends on how events develop."



Arab League's Syria Meeting Begins


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Arab League's Syria Meeting Begins
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CAIRO, Jan 8 (Reuters) - The Arab League urged the Syrian government on Sunday to stop its violence against protesters and allow Arab monitors in the country to work more independently, but stopped short of asking for United Nations experts to bolster its peace mission.
> 
> 
> The arrival last month of Arab monitors in Syria to see if the government was honouring a pledge to end a crackdown on a popular revolt has not ended the violence, in which the United Nations says more than 5,000 people have been killed.
> 
> 
> After a progress meeting in Cairo on Sunday, the Arab League group on Syria said the government had only partly implemented a promise to stop the crackdown, free those jailed during the crisis and withdraw its troops from the cities.
> 
> 
> In its closing communique, the League said it would increase the number of monitors from the present 165 and give them more resources, ignoring calls to end what pro-democracy campaigners say is a toothless mission that buys more time for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to suppress opponents.
> 
> 
> Arab League officials said the continuation of the mission, which is due to make a full report on Jan. 19, depends on the Syrian government's commitment to ending violence and honouring its promises. Arab League foreign ministers will discuss the findings on Jan. 19-20.
> 
> "If the ... report comes out saying the violence has not stopped, the Arab League will have a responsibility to act on that ... We have to be clear and honest with the Syrian people," Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani told a news conference after the meeting.
> 
> He did not say what the Arab League might do, but Assad's failure to abide by the peace plan resulted in Syria's suspension from the 22-member regional body in November.
> 
> The Arab plan also called for Assad's government to permit peaceful protests, start dialogue with political opponents and allow foreign media to travel freely to the country. Syria agreed, but the pledge remains unfulfilled.
> 
> Qatar, which chairs the group and has been critical of the mission's performance, had proposed inviting U.N. technicians and human rights experts to help Arab monitors assess whether Syria was honouring its pledges. The League said it had not asked for monitors.
> 
> 
> 
> "We have not yet agreed to send individuals," Sheikh Hamad said. Asked if this could happen in the future, he said: "it depends on how events develop."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Arab League's Syria Meeting Begins
Click to expand...


The arab league that embraces the butcher of Darfur.  Perfect for dealing with the butcher of syria
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/03/arab-league-emb/


----------



## High_Gravity

Bashar Assad Refuses To Step Down From Power, Blames Foreign Conspiracy For Unrest In Syria








> BEIRUT (AP) - Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed Tuesday to respond to threats against him with an "iron hand" and refused to step down, insisting he still has his people's support despite the 10-month-old uprising against him.
> 
> In his first speech since June, Assad repeated claims that a foreign conspiracy and terrorists are behind the unrest - not true reform-seekers.
> 
> "Our priority now is to regain security which we basked in for decades, and this can only be achieved by hitting the terrorists with an iron hand," Assad said in a two-hour speech at Damascus University, where he stood at a podium flanked by Syrian flags. "We will not be lenient with those who work with outsiders against the country."
> 
> Assad also lashed out at the Arab League, saying the Cairo-based bloc failed to protect Arab interests. The League has suspended Syria and sent a team of monitors to assess whether the regime is abiding by an Arab-brokered peace plan that Assad agreed to on Dec. 19. The moves were humiliating for Syria, which considers itself a powerhouse of Arab nationalism.
> 
> "The Arab League failed for six decades to protect Arab interests," Assad said. "We shouldn't be surprised it's failed today."
> 
> The president has made only four public speeches since the anti-government uprising began in March, inspired by the revolutions sweeping the Arab world. The regime's crackdown on dissent has killed thousands and led to international isolation and sanctions.
> 
> Tuesday's speech differed little from his previous appearances, in that Assad struck a defiant tone and reiterated claims of conspiracy.
> 
> Assad, 46, inherited power 11 years ago from his father and has adopted tactics similar to those of other autocratic leaders in the region who scrambled to put down popular uprisings by offering claims of conspiracy while unleashing a crackdown on their people.
> 
> The formula failed in Tunisia and Egypt, where popular demands increased almost daily - until people accepted nothing less than the ouster of the regime. But Syria's conflict has gone on far longer, and the death toll is mounting daily.
> 
> "We will declare victory soon," Assad said. "When I leave this post, it will be also based upon the people's wishes," he added.
> 
> Regime opponents denounced the speech.
> 
> "Bashar is completely removed from reality, as if he is talking about a country other than Syria," said a Syria-based activist who identified himself by his nickname, Abu Hamza, because of fear of reprisals. "After 10 months of bloodshed, he comes out and talks of a foreign conspiracy."
> 
> Also Tuesday, Assad also accused hundreds of media outlets of working against Syria to "push us toward ... collapse."
> 
> "They failed, but they have not given up," he said in the speech, which was broadcast live on state television.
> 
> Since the start of the uprising, Assad has blamed a conspiracy and media fabrications for the unrest - allegations that the opposition and most observers dismiss. The regime has banned most foreign news outlets and prevented independent reporting.
> 
> In recent months, Syria's conflict has turned increasingly violent as army defectors turn their weapons on the regime and some protesters take up arms to protect themselves.
> 
> Syria agreed in December to an Arab League-brokered plan that calls for an end to the military crackdown on protesters, but killings have continued.
> 
> About 165 Arab League monitors are in Syria to determine whether the regime is abiding by the plan to stop violence and pull heavy weapons out of the cities.
> 
> The U.N. estimated several weeks ago that more than 5,000 people have been killed since March. Since that report, opposition activists say hundreds more have died.
> 
> Adnan al-Khudeir, head of the Cairo operations room that the monitors report to, said more observers will head to Syria in the coming days and the delegation should reach 200. He said the mission then will expand its work in Syria to reach the eastern province of Deir el-Zour and predominantly Kurdish areas to the northeast.



Bashar Assad Refuses To Step Down From Power, Blames Foreign Conspiracy For Unrest In Syria


----------



## JStone

The fun of being an arab dictator is not having to step down unless pharaoh obama forces you to do so


----------



## High_Gravity

Violence In Syria: 400 Killed Over The Past 10 Days, U.N. Official Says 








> UNITED NATIONS -- An estimated 400 people have been killed in Syria since an Arab League mission arrived in the country to monitor the uprising against the government of President Bashar Assad, a top U.N. official said Tuesday.
> 
> United Nations political chief B. Lynn Pascoe provided the latest figures in a closed-door report to the 15-member Security Council on the Syrian uprising that has already claimed more than 5,000 lives since it began almost 10 months ago, diplomats said.
> 
> U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said the rate of killings, an average of 40 a day, was even higher than before the monitors arrived.
> 
> "That is a clear indication that the government of Syria, rather than using the opportunity of its commitment to the Arab League to end the violence and fulfill all of its commitments under the protocol is instead stepping up the violence, despite the presence of monitors, and carrying out further acts of brutality against its population, even often in the presences of those monitors," Rice said, calling on Assad to step down and make way for a more democratic regime.
> 
> Syria's U.N. Ambassador Bashar Ja'afari blamed the killings on incitement by western powers.
> 
> "These victims are falling in Syria because of those who are still insisting on instigating and inciting violence. And I am sure you have heard a lot of these incitement calls from the same countries, from the same representatives who have just spoken to you," Ja'afari told reporters following comments by Rice and the ambassadors from Britain, France and Germany.
> 
> "Allow me to remind you that a couple of weeks ago, the spokesperson of the (U.S.) State Department advised the Syrian armed groups not to give up their weapons and not to engage in the nation dialogue," he added.
> 
> Western nations and the U.S. are demanding a resolution and threatening sanctions if the violence doesn't stop and condemning Assad's crackdown.
> 
> But Russia and China, which have closer ties to Assad's regime, believe extremist opponents of the government are equally responsible for the bloodshed and oppose any mention of sanctions.
> 
> On Tuesday, western diplomats accused Russia of stalling after introducing a draft resolution at the end of December that many here felt was insufficient.
> 
> "Unfortunately, after a bit of show last month of tabling a resolution, the Russians are inexplicably AWOL in terms of leading negotiations on the text of that resolution," Rice said.
> 
> Russia's U.N. Ambassador Vitaly Churkin denied any stalling, saying his country was working on the draft resolution "all the time," but added "members of the council continue to remain rather far apart."



Violence In Syria: 400 Killed Over The Past 10 Days, U.N. Official Says


----------



## High_Gravity

Israel, Expecting Syrian Collapse, Braces for Refugees



> JERUSALEM  Israels military chief said on Tuesday that the army was preparing for a potential influx of refugees into the Golan Heights from Syria with the demise of the government of President Bashar al-Assad, which he said was inevitable.
> 
> Addressing a closed meeting of the Israeli Parliaments Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee, the chief, Lt. Gen. Benny Gantz, said that Israel was preparing to absorb the refugees in a buffer zone between Syria and the Golan, a strategic area that Israel seized from Syria in the 1967 war, and which remains an area of disputed sovereignty. The plans included defensive measures and humanitarian assistance for those in flight, including thousands from the ruling Alawite sect, the small minority to which Mr. Assad belongs.
> 
> I am not sure all the Alawites will run toward Israel, General Gantz was quoted as saying, but he said he could not rule out the possibility that some would. He added that Mr. Assad could not continue to rule Syria, but he did not specify how much longer he thought the Assad government would survive.
> 
> Israel has tried to keep a low profile and not take sides in the struggle in Syria, a country that is hostile to Israel, but officials here have been increasingly open in their assessment that the Assad government is in dire straits.
> 
> The defense minister, Ehud Barak, told the same parliamentary committee on Jan. 2 that the Assad familys prospects were worsening. Though it is difficult to put an exact date on when the government will fall, the trend is clear, and every day that passes brings the government closer to its end, Mr. Barak said, according to a statement from his office. He added, The cracks in the Syrian leadership are deepening, the economic situation is deteriorating and the military is having a hard time dealing with the opposition and the army deserters.
> 
> Despite the uncertainty about who will take over in Syria in the event of a government collapse, and about the ascendancy of Islamic parties in other countries in the region, many Israeli officials and analysts said they would not shed any tears over Mr. Assads demise. Instead, Israel sees a potential benefit, saying that the collapse of his government would deal a severe blow to the radical axis of enemies, including Iran, the Lebanese Shiite organization Hezbollah and Palestinian militant groups like Hamas.
> 
> Though Syria has mostly maintained quiet along its frontier with Israel for more than 30 years, it has forged an alliance with Iran and provided vital support to Hezbollah.
> 
> Israel has held inconclusive negotiations with Syria in the past for a peace treaty based on the return of the Golan Heights, which it conquered in the 1967 war. Israel has extended its law to the area, but for the 20,000 or so Syrians of the Druze religious sect who live there, it remains Syrian territory. Most refused to take Israeli citizenship, and might not tolerate thousands of Alawites trekking through their territory.
> 
> A more likely spot is the village of Ghajar, which straddles Israels frontier with Lebanon, sits close to the Syrian border and is home to more than 2,000 members of the Alawite sect. The village came under Israeli control along with the Golan Heights. When Israel annexed the area in 1981, the villagers chose to become Israeli citizens.
> 
> The Golan poses other potential problems for Syrian refugees. The border area became a scene of deadly confrontation last year when Israeli forces shot pro-Palestinian protesters from Syria as they tried to breach the frontier and enter Israeli-controlled territory twice in three weeks. As many as 26 protesters were killed.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/11/w...n-event-of-syria-collapse.html?ref=middleeast


----------



## High_Gravity

Gilles Jacquier Dead: Graphic Video Reportedly Shows French Journalist Killed In Homs, Syria 








> The Syrian TV channel Addounia.tv released footage on Wednesday claiming to show the aftermath of a grenade attack in Homs that killed French journalist Gilles Jacquier and injured several others. France-2 Television cameraman and award-winning journalist Jacquier was killed during a government-authorized tour of Syria's restive city.



Gilles Jacquier Dead: Graphic Video Reportedly Shows French Journalist Killed In Homs, Syria


----------



## High_Gravity

Riad Al Asaad, Syria Rebel Army Chief, Calls For International Intervention As Bloodshed Continues 








> BEIRUT, Jan 17 (Reuters) - A Syrian rebel army chief urged the world on Tuesday to protect civilians in Syria, saying Arab peace monitors had failed to curb President Bashar al-Assad's violent response to a 10-month-old revolt against his rule.
> 
> Big powers have also proved unable to stop the bloodshed in Syria, where U.N. officials say more than 5,000 people have been killed and Damascus says its security forces have lost 2,000 dead.
> 
> Riad al-Asaad, Turkish-based commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, called for international intervention to replace the Arab observer mission, which has just days to run.
> 
> "The Arab League and their monitors failed in their mission and though we respect and appreciate our Arab brothers for their efforts, we think they are incapable of improving conditions in Syria or resisting this regime," he told Reuters by telephone.
> 
> "For that reason we call on them to turn the issue over to the U.N. Security Council and we ask that the international community intervene because they are more capable of protecting Syrians at this stage than our Arab brothers," Asaad said.
> 
> Iran condemned what it called foreign interference in the affairs of its closest Arab ally, Syria, and praised reforms President Assad has promised as "problem-solving".
> 
> "We are fundamentally against interfering in the affairs of other countries. We think it does not solve the problems but will only make them more complicated," Foreign Ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast told a news conference.
> 
> Assad, while proffering reform, has vowed to crush his opponents with an "iron fist", but Syrians braving bullets and torture chambers appear equally determined to add him to the list of the past year's toppled Arab leaders.
> 
> Army deserters and other rebels have taken up arms against security forces dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect, pushing Sunni Muslim-majority Syria closer to civil war.



Riad Al Asaad, Syria Rebel Army Chief, Calls For International Intervention As Bloodshed Continues


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia On Syria Uprising: Nothing Could Justify Foreign Military Intervention 








> BEIRUT  Syria's powerful ally Russia said Wednesday it would block any attempt by the West to secure U.N. support for the use of force against the regime in Damascus, which is under intense international pressure to end its deadly crackdown on dissent.
> 
> It was one of Moscow's strongest statements of support yet for authoritarian Syrian President Bashar Assad. And as one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Russia can veto any council resolution that would authorize military intervention in Syria.
> 
> Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his country's draft of a U.N. Security Council resolution on the violence in Syria, which was circulated at the U.N. on Monday, aimed to make it explicitly clear that nothing could justify foreign military interference. However, Western diplomats said the draft fell short of their demand for strong condemnation of Assad's crackdown on civilians.
> 
> "If some intend to use force at all cost ... we can hardly prevent that from happening," Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow. "But let them do it at their own initiative on their own conscience. They won't get any authorization from the U.N. Security Council."
> 
> Russia has been a strong ally of Syria since Soviet times, when the country was led by the president's father Hafez Assad. Nevertheless, Russian officials last fall hosted prominent Syrian opposition leaders in Moscow in a bid to sponsor talks.
> 
> Syria's regime has grown increasingly isolated over the past 10 months as it waged a brutal military crackdown on an anti-government uprising inspired by the Arab Spring revolts across the region. The U.N. says the violence has killed more than 5,400 people since March.
> 
> The Security Council has been unable to agree on a resolution since the violence began because of strong opposition from Russia and China, another permanent, veto-wielding member of the Security Council. In October, both countries vetoed a West European draft resolution backed by the U.S. that condemned Assad's attacks and threatened sanctions.
> 
> As diplomats debated, opposition activists said Syrian troops shelled the mountain resort town of Zabadani near the border with Lebanon, which has come under the control of army defectors. They said living conditions were deteriorating there after six days of a military siege.
> 
> There have been several other instances when the opposition or defectors have gained control of a town or city, but ultimately the Syrian military recaptured them.
> 
> The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Zabadani was hit with heavy machine gun fire early Wednesday.
> 
> A resident and activist in Zabadani described the town as a "war zone." He said dozens of anti-government army defectors are deployed at the entrances to prevent any attempt by forces loyal to Assad to storm the area.
> 
> The man, who identified himself only as Fares for fear of government reprisal, told The Associated Press by phone that the town was shelled with mortars shortly before noon Wednesday. He added that two security buildings inside Zabadani are still under government control but there have not been any clashes with the forces there.
> 
> Fares said food is running out and fuel for heating is very scarce in Zabadani, where it snowed earlier this week.
> 
> The anti-Assad revolt, which began as a peaceful uprising by mostly civilian, unarmed protesters has turned increasingly militarized in recent months with growing numbers of army defectors who clash with troops.
> 
> The Observatory said there were also clashes between defectors and regular troops in the northwestern province of Idlib, near the border with Turkey. It added that security forces shot dead a civilian in the province.
> 
> The Russian foreign minister also addressed reports that a Russian ship had recently delivered munitions to Syria in violation of a European Union arms embargo. He said Russia doesn't feel a need to explain or offer excuses.


 
Russia On Syria Uprising: Nothing Could Justify Foreign Military Intervention


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria-Russia Relations: Russia Reportedly Selling Combat Jets To Syria 



> MOSCOW -- Russia has signed a contract to sell combat jets to Syria, a newspaper reported Monday, in apparent support for President Bashar Assad and open defiance of international condemnation of his regime's bloody crackdown.
> 
> The respected business daily Kommersant, citing an unidentified source close to Russia's Rosoboronexport state arms trader, said the $550-million deal envisions the delivery of 36 Yak-130 aircraft. A spokesman for Rosoboronexport refused to comment on the report.
> 
> If confirmed, the deal would cement Russian opposition to international efforts to put pressure on Assad's regime over its attempts to snuff out the country's uprising. The U.N. says more than 5,400 people have died over 10 months. The report of the sale comes the same day that Human Rights Watch called Russia's backing of the Syrian regime "immoral."
> 
> The Yak-130 is a twin-engined combat trainer jet that can also be used to attack ground targets. The Russian air force has recently placed an order for 55 such jets.
> 
> Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said last week that Moscow doesn't consider it necessary to offer an explanation or excuses over suspicions that a Russian ship had delivered munitions to Syria despite an EU arms embargo.
> 
> Russia was acting in full respect of international law and wouldn't be guided by unilateral sanctions imposed by other nations, he said.
> 
> Lavrov also accused the West of turning a blind eye to attacks by opposition militants and supplies of weapons to the Syrian opposition from abroad and warned that Russia will block any attempt by the West to secure United Nations support for the use of force against Syria.
> 
> Russia has been a strong ally of Syria since Soviet times when the country was led by the president's father Hafez Assad. It has supplied Syria with aircraft, missiles, tanks and other modern weapons.
> 
> Igor Korotchenko, head of the Center of Analysis of the Global Arms trade, an independent think-tank, said the jet deal apparently reflected Moscow's belief that Assad would stay at the helm.
> 
> "With this contract, Russia is expressing confidence that President Assad would manage to retain control of the situation, because such deals aren't signed with a government whose hold on power raises doubts," Korotchenko was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying. "It's another gesture by Moscow underlining its confidence that Damascus will remain its strategic partner and ally in the Middle East."
> 
> Another Moscow-based military analyst, Ruslan Pukhov, said, however, that Russia might be too optimistic about Assad's prospects.
> 
> "This contract carries a very high degree of risk," Pukhov told Kommersant. "Assad's regime may fall and that would lead to financial losses for Russia and also hurt its image."
> 
> Human Rights Watch warned Russia that by supporting Assad it is repeating the mistakes of some Western governments during the Arab Spring, saying they were too slow to recognize the popular desire for democratic change in places like Egypt and Bahrain.
> 
> "Armed elements shooting at government soldiers is materially different from government representatives shooting deliberately at unarmend civilians," Carroll Bogert, the group's deputy executive director, said at a news conference in Moscow that followed the release of HRW's annual report.



Syria-Russia Relations: Russia Reportedly Selling Combat Jets To Syria


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. Mulls Closing Embassy In Syria








> The U.S. is considering closing its embassy in Damascus amid concerns about the security of the staff there, The Huffington Post has confirmed.
> 
> The Washington Post and Foreign Policy magazine first reported Friday afternoon that American officials have been in discussions with the regime of Bashar al-Assad regarding security arrangements around the U.S. embassy.
> 
> A U.S. official told the Post that the Obama administration will close the embassy and evacuate all personnel unless the Assad regime provides enhanced protection.
> 
> American officials recently scaled down the presence of U.S. diplomats at the embassy in Damascus.
> 
> The embassy came under attack in July by protesters thought to be affiliated with the government, and the U.S. ambassador was briefly recalled to the United States in October, amid growing diplomatic tensions between the two countries.
> 
> Nevertheless, State Department officials have repeatedly defended their decision to send an ambassador to Syria in the first place and to keep the embassy fully functioning amid the unfolding turmoil in the country. They have said that having a diplomatic presence there allows the U.S. to best express its political views to the regime, and to understand conditions on the ground.
> 
> The reports come as a highly controversial Arab League observer mission to Syria was said to be considering extending its mission by another month, despite complaints by Syrian protesters that the mission failed to quell violence or government attacks on demonstrations.
> 
> A U.S. official told Reuters that the administration has made no final decision yet. "We want something to happen sooner rather than later," the official said.
> 
> The U.N. estimates that at least 5,400 people have died in the Syrian regime's crackdown on an uprising that began last March.



U.S. Mulls Closing Embassy In Syria


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crackdown Will Continue, Foreign Minister Says 








> BEIRUT  With Arab pressure mounting to end 10 months of bloodshed, the Syrian regime vowed Tuesday to solve its own problems even if "half the universe" is conspiring against it.
> 
> The remarks signaled that Arab League efforts to stem the violence are collapsing  something that could pave the way for the U.N. Security Council to step in, even though Russia is firmly opposed to punitive measures against its longtime ally.
> 
> Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem brushed off the threat of referring the issue to the Security Council  a move that could lead to tougher sanctions  rather than trying to resolve it regionally. The prospect of U.N. involvement has raised fears in Syria that an international intervention could be next.
> 
> "If they go to (U.N. headquarters in) New York or the moon, as long as we don't pay their tickets, this is their business," al-Moallem said at a news conference in Damascus.
> 
> He was reacting to an appeal by the Gulf Cooperation Council for the U.N. Security Council to take all "necessary measures" to force Syria to implement an Arab League's ambitious peace plan announced Sunday to create a national unity government in two months. Damascus has rejected the plan as a violation of national sovereignty.
> 
> "The decision was made after careful and thorough monitoring of events in Syria and the conviction by the GCC that the bloodshed and the killing of innocent people there is continuing," the statement by the six-nation GCC said.
> 
> It also announced its six member nations  Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman and the United Arab Emirates  were withdrawing the 52 monitors they had contributed to an Arab League observer mission that has been heavily criticized for failing to stop the crackdown since it entered the country in late December. That would leave only about 110 observers on the ground, League officials said, a major blow to an effort that many see as the only hope for a regional solution to the crisis.
> 
> Several members of the 15-member council agreed Tuesday that it was time for the full group to take action.
> 
> "This council should fully support the Arab League's efforts to broker an end to the bloodshed and a peaceful transition to democracy in Syria," U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said during the council's monthly debate on the Middle East.
> 
> British Ambassador to the U.N. Mark Lyall Grant expressed concern about weapons proliferation via sales to the Syrian government or illegal smuggling to the regime or opposition.
> 
> But the potential for U.N. involvement is a highly charged issue. Any resolution would have to get past veto-wielding Security Council members Russia and China, which already rejected one Western-backed draft that threatened an arms embargo. The two countries argued that NATO misused a previous U.N. mandate authorizing use of force in Libya.
> 
> The U.N. estimates more than 5,400 people have been killed since Syria's uprising began in March, inspired by the wave of revolutions sweeping the Arab world. The conflict has turned more violent in recent months, as army defectors and some protesters take up arms to fight the regime's forces.
> 
> Syria has a volatile sectarian divide, making civil unrest one of the most dire scenarios. The Assad regime is dominated by the Alawite minority, an offshoot of Shiite Islam, but the country is overwhelmingly Sunni Muslim.
> 
> Violence continued Tuesday, with an overall death toll that ranged from 15 to more than 43, based on reports from the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, the Local Coordination Committees and other activists on the ground.
> 
> Syria's powerful allies in Russia, China and Iran have shielded Damascus in some ways from a slew of condemnation and sanctions by the U.S., the European Union, Turkey and others.
> 
> Russia reportedly has signed a contract to sell combat jets to Syria, according to a Monday report in the business daily Kommersant. The $550-million deal is for 36 Yak-130 aircraft, according to an unidentified source close to Russia's Rosoboronexport state arms trader.
> 
> Asked about the report, Russian Middle East envoy and Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said he was not up to date on the issue but insisted that Russia is not violating any international conventions.



Syria Crackdown Will Continue, Foreign Minister Says


----------



## High_Gravity

Gulf states withdrawing monitors from Syria and urge U.N. action








> Reporting from Damascus, Syria, and Beirut
> 
> An Arab League peace plan for Syria appeared to be near collapse Tuesday as six Persian Gulf nations announced their intention to withdraw monitors from the country and urged the United Nations Security Council to take "all needed measures" to pressure Syrian President Bashar Assad to relinquish power.
> 
> The gulf monarchies, including regional giant Saudi Arabia, said in a statement that Assad's government had failed to comply with demands by the 22-member regional bloc designed to curb months of bloodshed in Syria. The six nations  which also include Kuwait, Qatar, Oman, Bahrain and the United Arab Emirates  contributed 55 of the 165 monitors sent to Syria.
> 
> On Monday, Syria rejected as a "flagrant violation" of its sovereignty a proposed Arab League political road map that called for Assad to transfer power to a deputy and for the establishment of a national unity government within two months. Supervised parliamentary and presidential elections would follow, according to the proposal.
> 
> Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem was defiant Tuesday at a news conference in Damascus, the Syrian capital, assailing the league's political plan and denouncing "a plot against Syria" abetted by Arab nations. Syria, a close ally of Iran, has repeatedly alleged that it is the victim of a conspiracy backed by Washington and other Western nations in alliance with Arab states.
> 
> Moallem said the government has a duty to suppress what he described as armed terrorist gangs, signaling that Syrian authorities have no intention of ending a violent crackdown against a 10-month uprising.
> 
> He was dismissive of any effort to refer Syria to the Security Council, saying the Arab League could take the issue "to New York or to the moon, as long as we don't have to pay for their ticket."
> 
> Syria is counting on two Security Council allies, Russia and China, to block any U.N. effort to pressure the Assad regime. Last year, Russia and China jointly vetoed a Security Council resolution that would have condemned Damascus' crackdown on antigovernment protests.
> 
> Both Russia and China are wary of the Libya precedent, in which a U.N. resolution last year opened the way for armed Western intervention against the government of the late Moammar Kadafi. Western nations have denied any intention to intervene militarily in Syria.
> 
> "Russia will not agree on the foreign interference in Syria's internal affairs, and this is a red line," Moallem said Tuesday.
> 
> But Western and Arab diplomats have voiced the hope that Syria's rejection of the league's political demands could highlight what they call Damascus' intransigence and weaken Russian and Chinese resolve, leading to some U.N. move against the Assad regime.



Gulf states withdrawing monitors from Syria and urge U.N. action - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Troops Storm Damascus Suburb Of Douma, Activists Say








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops stormed a flashpoint suburb of Damascus on Thursday, rounding people up in house-to-house raids, while tens of thousands of backers of President Bashar Assad poured into the streets of several cities in a show of support for his embattled regime.
> 
> Just days after pulling out of the suburb of Douma following intense clashes with anti-regime fighters, government troops pushed back in early Thursday from all directions, meeting no resistance, activists said.
> 
> "They are entering homes, searching cars and stopping people in the streets to check identity cards," activist and Douma resident Mohammed al-Saeed told The Associated Press, saying the soldiers had lists of wanted people. "There is very little movement in the streets and nobody is allowed to leave or enter Douma."
> 
> The suburb has become a tension point in recent months, with large protests against Assad that security forces crushed by force. The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 200 people were detained Thursday in Douma.
> 
> Just 10 miles (16 kilometers) away in downtown Damascus, thousands of people waved Syrian flags and shouted support for Assad  a sign of the deep divisions over the country's 10-month-old uprising. Similar pro-regime rallies were held in Aleppo in the north, according to state-run media.
> 
> The Syrian revolt began last March with largely peaceful anti-government protests, but it has grown increasingly militarized in recent months as frustrated regime opponents and army defectors arm themselves and fight back against government forces.
> 
> The government crackdown has killed more than 5,400 people since March, according to estimates from the United Nations.
> 
> Assad's regime claims terrorists acting out a foreign conspiracy are behind the uprising, not protesters seeking change, and that thousands of security forces have been killed.
> 
> After 10 months of violent conflict, the unrest has reached something of a stalemate with many Syrians calling for change but also fearing a descent into civil war as the country's myriad sectarian and religious groups turn on each other.
> 
> International pressure on Damascus to end the bloodshed so far has produced few results.
> 
> The Arab League has sent observers to the country as part of a plan to the end the crisis, but the mission has been widely criticized for failing to stop the violence. Gulf states led by Saudi Arabia pulled out of the mission Tuesday, asking the U.N. Security Council to intervene because the Syrian government has not halted its crackdown.
> 
> Following the withdrawal of the Gulf state monitors, the observer mission is likely to draw to a close soon, despite Syria's extending the mission's mandate on Tuesday for another month, said the risk-analysis company Maplecroft.
> 
> "Despite the limited impact of the mission, violence is likely to increase as inspectors are withdrawn," the Britain-based group said. "Division amongst the armed resistance may also lead to a spike in attacks against regime forces as different factions attempt to assert authority through success on the battlefield."
> 
> Despite the calls from some Arab states for decisive action from the U.N., that prospect appears unlikely because Russia, a strong Syrian ally, has opposed moves like sanctions.
> 
> Violence, meanwhile, has continued unabated in Syria.



Syria Troops Storm Damascus Suburb Of Douma, Activists Say


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Activists: 'Terrifying Massacre' In Homs 








> BEIRUT (AP) - Armed forces loyal to President Bashar Assad barraged residential buildings with mortars and machine-gun fire, killing at least 30 people, including a family of women and children during a day of sectarian killings and kidnappings in the besieged Syrian city of Homs, activists said Friday.
> 
> The violence erupted Thursday, but important details were only emerging a day later. Video posted online by activists showed the bodies of five small children, five women of varying ages and a man, all bloodied and piled on beds in what appeared to be an apartment after a building was hit in the Karm el-Zaytoun neighborhood of the city. A narrator said an entire family had been "slaughtered."
> 
> The video could not be independently verified.
> 
> Heavy gunfire erupted for a second day Friday in the city, which has seen some of the heaviest violence of the 10-month-old uprising against Assad's rule. Activists said at least 10 people were killed across the country, four of them in Homs.
> 
> Elsewhere, a car bomb exploded Friday at a checkpoint outside the northern city of Idlib, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, citing witnesses on the ground. The number of casualties was not immediately clear.
> 
> In an attempt to stop the bloodshed in Syria, the U.N. Security Council was to hold a closed-door meeting Friday to discuss the crisis, a step toward a possible resolution against the Damascus regime, diplomats said. The U.N. says at least 5,400 people have been killed in the government crackdown since March, and the turmoil has intensified as dissident soldiers have joined the ranks of the anti-Assad protesters and carried out attacks on regime forces.
> 
> Details of Thursday's wave of killings in Homs were emerging from an array of residents and activists on Friday, though they said they were having difficulty because of continuing gunfire.
> 
> "There has been a terrifying massacre," Rami Abdul-Rahman, director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, told the AP on Friday, calling for an independent investigation of Thursday's killings.
> 
> Thursday started with a spate of sectarian kidnappings and killings between the city's population of Sunnis and Allawites, a Shiite sect to which Assad belongs and which is the backbone of his regime, said Mohammad Saleh, a centrist opposition figure and activist resident of Homs.
> 
> There were also a string of attacks by unknown gunmen on army checkpoints, Saleh said. Checkpoints are a frequent target of dissident troops who have joined the opposition.
> 
> The violence culminated with the evening killing of the family, Saleh said, adding that the full details of what happened were not yet clear.
> 
> The Observatory said 29 people were killed, including eight children, when a building came under heavy mortar and machine gun fire. Some residents spoke of another massacre that took place when shabiha - armed regime loyalists - stormed the district, slaughtering residents in an apartment, including children.
> 
> "It's racial cleansing," said one Sunni resident of Karm el-Zaytoun, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal. "They are killing people because of their sect," he said.
> 
> Some residents said kidnappers were holding Alawites in the building hit by mortars and gunfire in Karm el-Zaytoun, but the reports could not be confirmed.
> 
> Thursday's death toll in Homs city was at least 35, said the Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees, an umbrella group of activists. Both groups cite a network of activists on the ground in Syria for their death tolls. The reports could not be confirmed.
> 
> Syria tightly controls access to trouble spots and generally allows journalists to report only on escorted trips, which slows the flow of information.
> 
> The Syrian uprising began last March with largely peaceful anti-government protests, but it has grown increasingly militarized in recent months as frustrated regime opponents and army defectors arm themselves and fight back against government forces.



Syria Activists: 'Terrifying Massacre' In Homs


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Are Captured Iranians Military Men or Engineers? 








> Claims that Iranians and Lebanese Hizballah members are aiding President Bashar Assad's troops in their ferocious crack down against dissent are almost as old as the 10-month Syrian uprising. Yet despite the thousands of amateur videos that have captured so much of the gruesome, bloody repression, precious little evidence has emerged to back the allegations of foreign assistance, beyond the assertions of antigovernment activists and the testimony of Syrian refugees fleeing the violence.
> 
> On Thursday, al-Jazeera, the Arabic-language satellite channel, broadcast amateur footage purportedly showing five of seven Iranians captured by Syrian military defectors belonging to the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the besieged central city of Homs. A Syrian rebel who gave his name as Abu Bassem told the channel that the seven were nabbed by the FSA's Farouk Brigade on two separate occasions. Five of the men were allegedly Iranian soldiers, operating as snipers under the direct supervision of Syria's much feared Air Force Intelligence branch in Homs, Bassem told al-Jazeera in a phone call from the city, while the other two were civilians working at a local power plant in Jandar, near Homs.
> 
> Five of the men are shown in a six-minute, 20-second snippet. Bearded and cloaked in black, they sit against a white wall, with a lone rifle propped up between the second and third man. A scrolling red ticker on the screen says that they are Iranian Revolutionary Guards and calls on "all Iranian Revolutionary Guards to immediately withdraw from Syrian territory." One of the five men holds up a laminated photo identification card. The Enduring America website posted a Farsi-to-English translation of his comments: "My name is Sajjad (Haider Ali) Aminan and I am a member of the revolutionary armed forces of Iran. I am leader of a five-member special team. I entered Syria on Oct. 16, 2011. The others entered Syria on different dates."
> 
> The men then all state their names: Ahmad Aziz Askari, Hasan Hasani, Majid Qanbari, Kyumars Qobadi. One says that they have killed "many civilians in the city of Homs, including many women and children."
> 
> The footage then cuts to two laminated photo ID cards, showing their back and front, as well as three passports. The pages are flipped, one by one, including all of the blank pages.
> 
> Is this proof of Iran sending military reinforcement to prop up its main Arab ally? Or could something else be happening there? On Dec. 21, Syrian state media reported that eight foreign engineers, including five Iranians, were abducted "by terrorists" as they traveled on a company bus to their place of work, the Jandar power plant on the outskirts of Homs. The nationalities of the other three engineers were not stated. Shortly afterward, Iran's Press TV reported that "two more Iranian experts, who were trying to clarify the situation of the five abducted engineers," were kidnapped. Their whereabouts are unknown. On Jan. 2, an unknown group called the Movement Against the Expansion of Shiism in Syria sent a claim of responsibility for the abductions to the Agence France-Presse office in Nicosia, Cyprus.
> 
> The men in the video bear a resemblance to the five engineers abducted in December, as portrayed in a photo circulated in the Syrian and Iranian press. Their names also appear to match. The men, who are all dressed casually in jeans, jackets and track pants pose alongside a man identified as their Syrian cook. They are not the only Iranians nabbed in Syria. "Eleven Iranian pilgrims traveling by road to Damascus were kidnapped by an unknown group," Ramin Mehmanparast, spokesman of the Iranian Foreign Ministry, was quoted as saying on Thursday by the state news agency IRNA. "We call on the Syrian government to use all means ... to release the Iranian nationals," he said.



Read more: Syria: Are Captured Iranians Military Men or Engineers? - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Army, Protesters Battle In Damascus Suburbs 



> AMMAN/BEIRUT, Jan 29 (Reuters) - Syrian soldiers killed 19 people in fighting to retake Damascus suburbs from rebels on Sunday, activists said, a day after the Arab League suspended its monitoring mission in Syria because of mounting violence.
> 
> Around 2,000 soldiers in buses and armoured personnel carriers, along with at least 50 tanks and armoured vehicles, moved at dawn into the Ghouta area on the eastern edge of Damascus to reinforce an offensive in the suburbs of Saqba, Hammouriya and Kfar Batna, activists said.
> 
> The army pushed into the heart of Kfar Batna and four tanks were in its central square, they said, in a move to flush out rebels who had taken over districts just a few kilometres from President Bashar al-Assad's centre of power.
> 
> "It's urban war. There are bodies in the street," said one activist, speaking from Kfar Batna. Activists said 14 civilians and five insurgents from the rebel Free Syrian Army were killed there and in other suburbs.
> 
> The Arab League suspended the work of its monitors on Saturday after calling on Assad to step down and make way for a government of national unity. It said Arab foreign ministers would discuss the Syrian crisis on Feb. 5.
> 
> Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby left for New York on Sunday where he will brief representatives of the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday to seek support for an Arab peace plan that calls on Assad to step aside after 10 months of protests.
> 
> He will be joined by Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, whose country heads the league's committee charged with overseeing Syria.
> 
> Speaking shortly before he left Cairo for New York, Elaraby said he hoped to overcome resistance from China and Russia over endorsing the Arab proposals. "There are contacts with China and Russia on this issue," he said.
> 
> A Syrian government official was quoted by state media as saying Syria was surprised by the decision to suspend operations, which would "put pressure on (Security Council) deliberations with the aim of calling for foreign intervention and encouraging armed groups to increase violence."
> 
> Assad blames the violence on foreign-backed militants.



Syria Army, Protesters Battle In Damascus Suburbs


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia Supports Assad, Syria, Last Friend In Middle East 









> MOSCOW -- Russia's defiance of international efforts to end Syrian President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protests is rooted in a calculation that it can keep a Mideast presence by propping up its last remaining ally in the region  and has nothing to lose if it fails.
> 
> The Kremlin has put itself in conflict with the West as it shields Assad's regime from United Nations sanctions and continues to provide it with weapons even as others impose arms embargoes.
> 
> But Moscow's relations with Washington are already strained amid controversy over U.S. missile defense plans and other disputes. And Prime Minister Vladimir Putin seems eager to defy the U.S. as he campaigns to reclaim the presidency in March elections.
> 
> "It would make no sense for Russia to drop its support for Assad," said Ruslan Pukhov, head of the independent Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies. "He is Russia's last remaining ally in the Middle East, allowing it to preserve some influence in the region."
> 
> Moscow may also hope that Assad can hang on to power with its help and repay Moscow with more weapons contracts and other lucrative deals.
> 
> And observers note that even as it has nothing to lose from backing Assad, it has nothing to gain from switching course and supporting the opposition.
> 
> "Russia has crossed the Rubicon," said Igor Korotchenko, head of the Center for Analysis of Global Weapons Trade.
> 
> He said Russia will always be marked as the patron of the Assad regime regardless of the conflict's outcome, so there's little incentive to build bridges with the protesters. The U.N. estimates that more than 5,400 people have been killed since the uprising began in March.
> 
> "Russia will be seen as the dictator's ally. If Assad's regime is driven from power, it will mean an end to Russia's presence," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the magazine Russia in Global Affairs.
> 
> Syria has been Moscow's top ally in the Middle East since Soviet times, when it was led by the incumbent's father, Hafez Assad. The Kremlin saw it as a bulwark for countering U.S. influence in the region and heavily armed Syria against Israel.
> 
> While Russia's relations with Israel have improved greatly since the Soviet collapse, ties with Damascus helped Russia retain its clout as a member of the Quartet of international mediators trying to negotiate peace between Israel and the Palestinians.
> 
> After Bashar Assad succeeded his father in 2000, Russia sought to boost ties by agreeing to annul 73 percent of Syria's Soviet-era debt. In the mid-2000s, Putin said Russia would re-establish its place in the Mideast via "the Syria route."
> 
> Syria's port of Tartus is now the only naval base Russia has outside the former Soviet Union. A Russian navy squadron made a call there this month in what was seen by many as a show of support for Assad.
> 
> For decades, Syria has been a major customer for the Russian arms industries, buying billions of dollars' worth of combat jets, missiles, tanks and other heavy weapons. And unlike some other nations, such as Venezuela, which obtained Russian weapons on Kremlin loans, Assad's regime paid cash.
> 
> The respected newspaper Kommersant reported this week that Syria has ordered 36 Yak-130 combat jets worth $550 million. The deal, which officials wouldn't confirm or deny, may signal preparations for even bigger purchases of combat planes.
> 
> Korotchenko said Syria needs the jets to train its pilots to fly the advanced MiG-29M or MiG-35 fighter jets it wants to purchase: "It's a precursor of future deals."
> 
> Korotchenko said Syria's importance as a leading importer of Russian weapons in the region grew after the loss of the lucrative Iraqi and Libyan markets.
> 
> Russia, whose abstention in a U.N. vote cleared the way for military intervention in Libya, later voiced frustration with what it described as a disproportional use of force by NATO.
> 
> The Kremlin has vowed not to allow a replay of the Libyan strategy in Syria, warning that it would block any U.N. resolution on Syria lacking a clear ban on any foreign military interference.
> 
> Moscow accuses the West of turning a blind eye to shipments of weapons to the Syrian opposition and warns it won't be bound by Western sanctions.
> 
> Earlier this month, a Syria-bound Russian ship allegedly carrying tons of munitions was stopped by officials in Cyprus, an EU member, who said it was violating an EU arms embargo. The ship's captain promised to head to Turkey but then made a dash to Syria.



Russia Supports Assad, Syria, Last Friend In Middle East


----------



## Hugidwyn

The failure of the "Arab spring" in Syria






The fact of the failure of the U.S. plan to "Arab spring" in Syria is virtually certain.

The main reason for the failure of the American project is that the Syrian rebels failed to win over the military, the backbone of control which consists of representatives from the Alawite sect, to which the Assad and the president himself. The opposition is simply not enough forces in the embodiment of their ideas. This is the most important feature that distinguishes Syria from Egypt, Tunisia and, of course, Libya, where much of the military refused to defend their country.

Syrian President Assad said: "Russia is a strategic support. Russia will be with us in this confrontation and will not retreat from this position. They tell us it's confirmed. "

In Syria, the founder of the army deserters were shot

DAMASCUS, Jan. 30. Syrian security forces have shot Colonel Hussein Harmusha, who was the founder of the Free deserter Syrian Army - the main armed opposition groups.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Ban Ki-Moon Urges Security Council To Unite On Resolution 








> AMMAN, Jan 31 (Reuters) - U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said on Tuesday he hoped the Security Council would reflect international will when it deliberates a draft resolution calling on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit power.
> 
> Spurred by Assad's brutal crackdown on anti-government protesters, the Arab League, backed by the United States, France and Britain, will ask the Council on Tuesday to adopt the resolution. Russia, one of Syria's few allies, has objected to it on the grounds it could pave the way for military intervention in Syria.
> 
> "I sincerely hope the Security Council will be united and speak in a coherent manner reflecting the wishes of the international community," he told reporters in the Jordanian capital. "This is crucially important."
> 
> China, which like Russia has a veto in the council, also has reservations about the draft. Russia and China vetoed a European-drafted resolution in October that condemned Syria and threatened it with sanctions.
> 
> "I don't think we can go on like this," Ban said.
> 
> Syria's crackdown on protesters and anti-government fighters had gone on despite a now-suspended Arab League monitoring mission and action was needed to stop the bloodshed, he said.
> 
> "Even with the monitoring missions having been there, more than a few hundred have been killed ... every day tens of people are killed ... this should stop immediately," Ban said. "It is crucially important for the Security Council to act on this."



Syria Crisis: Ban Ki-Moon Urges Security Council To Unite On Resolution


----------



## Hugidwyn

Moscow Looks Set to Veto UN Syria Resolution

Russia indicated on Tuesday it will veto a draft resolution on Syria that calls on President Bashar Assad to step down and provides for further measures if he refuses.

Russia will not support anything that is imposed on Syria, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with an Australian television news show, Lateline.

China to support Russian draft resolution on Syria

The Xinhua news agency on Wednesday quoted him as saying China is categorically against the use of force to change the regime in Syria as this violates the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter and the basic norms governing the international relations.

The Chinese ambassador also backed Russias offer to the Syrian authorities and all opposition groups to send their representatives to Moscow for consultations without any preconditions.


----------



## High_Gravity

Its cute how the Russians are trying so hard to stay relevant.


----------



## Katzndogz

They are trying to do more than that.

The muslim brotherhood is behind the protests is Syria like they were behind the protests in Egypt.  The goal is to totally destablize the middle east and destroy Israel.  Assad, as bad as he was intended to keep the peace, which meant no support for the arab palestinians.  The muslim brotherhood intends to change that.

Brotherhood would cancel Camp David Agreement, says Hezbollah official

One by one, the current governments in the middle east will come under the control of terrorists, or be removed and replaced by one that will.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> They are trying to do more than that.
> 
> The muslim brotherhood is behind the protests is Syria like they were behind the protests in Egypt.  The goal is to totally destablize the middle east and destroy Israel.  Assad, as bad as he was intended to keep the peace, which meant no support for the arab palestinians.  The muslim brotherhood intends to change that.
> 
> Brotherhood would cancel Camp David Agreement, says Hezbollah official
> 
> One by one, the current governments in the middle east will come under the control of terrorists, or be removed and replaced by one that will.



Assad does support Hamas and Hezbollah already, in fact the headquarters for Hamas is located in Damascus.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Russia Will Not Stop Arms Sales To Assad Regime 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces fanned out in Hama on Thursday as protesters splashed red paint symbolizing blood in the streets to mark the 30th anniversary of a notorious massacre carried out by President Bashar Assad's father and predecessor.
> 
> The Hama massacre of 1982, which leveled entire neighborhoods and killed thousands of people, has become a rallying cry for the Syrian uprising that began nearly 11 months ago in the hopes of ending four decades of the Assad family rule.
> 
> Hundreds of troops and security forces were in Hama on Thursday, closing off public squares and setting up checkpoints.
> 
> "There is a checkpoint every 100 meters," said Ahmed Jimejmi, a Hama resident.
> 
> Activists painted two streets in Hama red to symbolize blood, and threw red dye in the waters of Hama's famous and ancient water wheels.
> 
> Graffiti on the walls read: "Hafez died, and Hama didn't. Bashar will die, and Hama won't."
> 
> Assad's father, Hafez, ordered the scorched-earth assault on Hama 30 years ago to put down an uprising against his rule. Amnesty International has claimed that 10,000-25,000 were killed, though conflicting figures exist and the Syrian government has never made an official estimate.
> 
> For the next two decades, until his death, Hafez Assad ruled uncontested and the massacre was seared into the minds of Syrians.
> 
> Now, as the country faces a far larger revolt against Bashar Assad, the U.N. estimates more than 5,400 people have been killed in the government crackdown.
> 
> Also Thursday, a top defense official said Russia will not stop selling arms to Syria as Moscow stands by its longtime ally despite mounting international condemnation over the Syrian regime's bloody crackdown.
> 
> Russia's Deputy Defense Minister Anatoly Antonov said his country is not violating any international obligations by selling weapons to Damascus.
> 
> "As of today there are no restrictions on our delivery of weapons," he told journalists in Russia, according to the country's state news agencies. "We must fulfill our obligations and this is what we are doing."
> 
> Moscow has been one of Syria's most powerful allies  along with Iran  as Syria tries to crush the revolt against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Moscow's stance is motivated in part by its strategic and defense ties, including weapons sales, with Syria. But Russia also rejects what it sees as a a world order dominated by the U.S. Last month, Russia reportedly signed a $550-million deal to sell combat jets to Syria.
> 
> U.N. ambassadors this week are trying to overcome Russia's opposition to a draft resolution at the Security Council calling for Assad to surrender power. Moscow says it would veto the draft because it believes it opens the way for eventual international military action.



Syria Crisis: Russia Will Not Stop Arms Sales To Assad Regime


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Children Tortured By Security Forces, Report Says 



> BEIRUT  Syrian forces have detained and tortured children as young as 13 as President Bashar Assad's regime tries to crush a nearly 11-month-old uprising, Human Rights Watch said Friday, as fresh clashes erupted between regime troops and rebels in the country's south.
> 
> Friday's fighting in Jassem, in the southern province of Daraa, killed at least one soldier and wounded five, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In the north, a roadside bomb killed two boys in the province of Idlib, state media and activists said.
> 
> The Syrian conflict has grown more militarized in recent months as army defectors have joined the uprising against Assad and formed a guerrilla force. The armed resistance has in turn provoked a heavier regime assault on areas where the defectors are fighting.
> 
> The United Nations estimated in January that at least 5,400 people have been killed in the crackdown, including soldiers who defected and those who refused orders to fire on civilians. But the U.N. has been unable to update its tally since because the chaos in the country has made it difficult to cross-check the latest figures.
> 
> On Friday, Human Rights Watch said in a new report that it has documented at least 12 cases of children detained under "inhumane" conditions and tortured, as well as children shot in their homes or on the street.
> 
> "Children have not been spared the horror of Syria's crackdown," said Lois Whitman, children's rights director at the New York-based group. "Syrian security forces have killed, arrested, and tortured children in their homes, their schools, or on the streets. In many cases, security forces have targeted children just as they have targeted adults."
> 
> The report quoted a 16-year-old boy from the town of Tal Kalakh near the Lebanese border as saying he was detained for eight months during which he was held in seven different detention centers, as well as the Homs Central Prison.
> 
> The boy, whom HRW referred to as Alaa, said security forces first asked him how many protests he participated in, and then cuffed his left hand to the ceiling and left him hanging there for about seven hours, standing on his toes.
> 
> "They beat me for about two hours with cables and shocked me with cattle prods. Then they threw water on the ground and poured water on me from above," he said.
> 
> In another case, the parents of a 13-year-old boy from the coastal city of Latakia told HRW that in December security officers arrested him and held him for nine days. According to his parents, he was accused of burning photos of Assad, vandalizing security forces' cars and inciting other children to protest.
> 
> Security officers burned him with cigarettes on his neck and hands, the parents said, and threw boiling water on his body.
> 
> An adult former detainee told the rights group that some children were raped while in detention.
> 
> Also Friday, activists reported protests across Syria, including in the central provinces of Hama and Homs, the northern region of Idlib, in towns and villages in the south as well as areas around the capital, Damascus.
> 
> The Observatory said more than 20,000 people marched in the streets of the southern villages of Dael and Nawa where security forces opened fire to disperse the crowds. The report could not be independently confirmed.



Syria Children Tortured By Security Forces, Report Says


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crackdown: Homs Bombarded, Dozens Killed 








> BEIRUT, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded Homs on Monday, killing 50 people in a sustained assault on several districts of the city which has become a centre of armed opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian National Council opposition group said.
> 
> The bombardment came a day after the United States promised harsher sanctions against Damascus in response to Russian and Chinese vetoes of a draft U.N. resolution that would have backed an Arab plan urging Assad to step aside.
> 
> "The tally that we have received from various activists in Homs since the shelling started at six this morning is 50, mostly civilians," Catherine al-Talli of the Syrian National Council told Reuters.
> 
> The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said it had the names of 17 people killed so far, adding it expected the death toll to rise. Arab satellite television channels broadcast live footage showing smoke rising from buildings, with explosions echoing in the background.
> 
> "This is the most violent bombardment in recent days," said one activist in Syria who was in touch with Homs residents. Another activist said forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad were using multiple rocket launchers in the attack.
> 
> Activists said more than 200 people were killed on Friday night when tanks and artillery blasted the Khalidiya neighbourhood of Homs. It was the highest reported death toll in a single day since the uprising against Assad's rule, inspired by uprisings across the Arab world, erupted last March.
> 
> Damascus denies firing on houses and says images of dead bodies on the Internet were staged. State media said on Monday "armed terrorist groups" were firing mortars in the city, setting fire to tyres and blowing up empty buildings to give the impression that Homs was under fire from Assad's forces.
> 
> Reports from activists and authorities are hard to verify because Syria restricts access for independent media.
> 
> The latest assault appeared to be widely targeted, with explosions in Khalidiya, Baba Amro, Bayada and Bab Dreib neighbourhoods, the activists said.
> 
> "They want to drive the Free Syrian Army out," said Baba Amro resident Hussein Nader by telephone, referring to the rebel force of army deserters and gunmen who have controlled parts of the city for months.
> 
> "Rockets are falling seconds apart on the same target."
> 
> Activists said an explosion ripped through an oil pipeline feeding a main refinery in Homs, the second attack on the pipeline in a week, and said the opposition-held town of Zabadani, near the Lebanese border, came under fire on Monday.
> 
> Syrian army defectors announced they were organising a new "Higher Revolutionary Council" to supersede the Free Syrian Army (FSA) as the main armed force battling Assad's rule. The new body would be commanded by General Ahmed al-Sheikh, the highest-ranking officer to defect to Turkey from government forces.



Syria Crackdown: Homs Bombarded, Dozens Killed


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Children Tortured By Security Forces, Report Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syrian forces have detained and tortured children as young as 13 as President Bashar Assad's regime tries to crush a nearly 11-month-old uprising, Human Rights Watch said Friday, as fresh clashes erupted between regime troops and rebels in the country's south.
> 
> Friday's fighting in Jassem, in the southern province of Daraa, killed at least one soldier and wounded five, according to the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. In the north, a roadside bomb killed two boys in the province of Idlib, state media and activists said.
> 
> The Syrian conflict has grown more militarized in recent months as army defectors have joined the uprising against Assad and formed a guerrilla force. The armed resistance has in turn provoked a heavier regime assault on areas where the defectors are fighting.
> 
> The United Nations estimated in January that at least 5,400 people have been killed in the crackdown, including soldiers who defected and those who refused orders to fire on civilians. But the U.N. has been unable to update its tally since because the chaos in the country has made it difficult to cross-check the latest figures.
> 
> On Friday, Human Rights Watch said in a new report that it has documented at least 12 cases of children detained under "inhumane" conditions and tortured, as well as children shot in their homes or on the street.
> 
> "Children have not been spared the horror of Syria's crackdown," said Lois Whitman, children's rights director at the New York-based group. "Syrian security forces have killed, arrested, and tortured children in their homes, their schools, or on the streets. In many cases, security forces have targeted children just as they have targeted adults."
> 
> The report quoted a 16-year-old boy from the town of Tal Kalakh near the Lebanese border as saying he was detained for eight months during which he was held in seven different detention centers, as well as the Homs Central Prison.
> 
> The boy, whom HRW referred to as Alaa, said security forces first asked him how many protests he participated in, and then cuffed his left hand to the ceiling and left him hanging there for about seven hours, standing on his toes.
> 
> "They beat me for about two hours with cables and shocked me with cattle prods. Then they threw water on the ground and poured water on me from above," he said.
> 
> In another case, the parents of a 13-year-old boy from the coastal city of Latakia told HRW that in December security officers arrested him and held him for nine days. According to his parents, he was accused of burning photos of Assad, vandalizing security forces' cars and inciting other children to protest.
> 
> Security officers burned him with cigarettes on his neck and hands, the parents said, and threw boiling water on his body.
> 
> An adult former detainee told the rights group that some children were raped while in detention.
> 
> Also Friday, activists reported protests across Syria, including in the central provinces of Hama and Homs, the northern region of Idlib, in towns and villages in the south as well as areas around the capital, Damascus.
> 
> The Observatory said more than 20,000 people marched in the streets of the southern villages of Dael and Nawa where security forces opened fire to disperse the crowds. The report could not be independently confirmed.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Children Tortured By Security Forces, Report Says
Click to expand...


Mention "children" and the west is supposed to crumble into a wet spot.   I'll bet those "children" as young as 13, were combatants in the streets, not two year olds in their beds.  Although, Syrian forces would not be above killing two year olds in their beds.    The goal of the muslim brotherhood is to create one massive islamic empire capable of waging war against the west.  They are taking over these individual countries not for democracy and determination of each nation, but to bring them into the fold.  That's why China and Russia both oppose the take over of Syria.  Both countries have serious issues with muslims already.  The last thing they will accept is a fanatical recreation of the ottoman empire.  For all of it's faults, the old ottoman's were not led by madeists.

Assad, as bad as he is, is mild compared to what his father did to cement his control.


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. Embassy In Syria Closed: Reports 








> CNN reports that the United States has closed its embassy in Syria and withdrawn its staff.
> 
> ABC News confirms that U.S. embassy officials have left the country amid increasing violence.
> 
> "We have serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Damascus," the State Department said in a written statement last month, according to Reuters.
> 
> U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford left Syria in October following threats to his safety, however he returned to the country in December.
> 
> According to CNN, 17 embassy officials, including Ambassador Ford, left the country Monday morning. Most reportedly traveled by convoy to neighboring Jordan.
> 
> Last week, the UN Security Council failed to approve a resolution condemning Bashar al-Assad's regime crackdown after Russia and China cast vetoes.



U.S. Embassy In Syria Closed: Reports


----------



## ScienceRocks

Time to air drop about 100,000 guns, rocket lauchers, ect into syria for the free syrian army. Let them beat the thug!


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## theliq

Matthew said:


> Time to air drop about 100,000 guns, rocket lauchers, ect into syria for the free syrian army. Let them beat the thug!


BUT were they NOT part OF THE THUGGERY IN THE FIRST PLACE FOR YEARS,and got PAID WELL FOR.just saying theliq


----------



## theliq

High_Gravity said:


> U.S. Embassy In Syria Closed: Reports
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CNN reports that the United States has closed its embassy in Syria and withdrawn its staff.
> 
> ABC News confirms that U.S. embassy officials have left the country amid increasing violence.
> 
> "We have serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Damascus," the State Department said in a written statement last month, according to Reuters.
> 
> U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford left Syria in October following threats to his safety, however he returned to the country in December.
> 
> According to CNN, 17 embassy officials, including Ambassador Ford, left the country Monday morning. Most reportedly traveled by convoy to neighboring Jordan.
> 
> Last week, the UN Security Council failed to approve a resolution condemning Bashar al-Assad's regime crackdown after Russia and China cast vetoes.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> U.S. Embassy In Syria Closed: Reports
Click to expand...

 Grav,what's the point or authority of the UN if Russia,China or the US for that matter can veto whenever it suits them,even if everyone else there wants the opposite?????????Totally Pointless Organisation or United Nothingness.stavros


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## High_Gravity

theliq said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> U.S. Embassy In Syria Closed: Reports
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CNN reports that the United States has closed its embassy in Syria and withdrawn its staff.
> 
> ABC News confirms that U.S. embassy officials have left the country amid increasing violence.
> 
> "We have serious concerns about the deteriorating security situation in Damascus," the State Department said in a written statement last month, according to Reuters.
> 
> U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford left Syria in October following threats to his safety, however he returned to the country in December.
> 
> According to CNN, 17 embassy officials, including Ambassador Ford, left the country Monday morning. Most reportedly traveled by convoy to neighboring Jordan.
> 
> Last week, the UN Security Council failed to approve a resolution condemning Bashar al-Assad's regime crackdown after Russia and China cast vetoes.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> U.S. Embassy In Syria Closed: Reports
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Grav,what's the point or authority of the UN if Russia,China or the US for that matter can veto whenever it suits them,even if everyone else there wants the opposite?????????Totally Pointless Organisation or United Nothingness.stavros
Click to expand...


I think the UN is a sad hypocritical joke, its just a stage for tin pot dictators from third world shit holes to be able to get out there and insult Western nations and beg for money.


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## High_Gravity

Matthew said:


> Time to air drop about 100,000 guns, rocket lauchers, ect into syria for the free syrian army. Let them beat the thug!



I agree.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Clashes: Homs Assaulted By Government Forces As Russian Foreign Minister Visits 








> BEIRUT  Syrian forces renewed their assault on the flashpoint city of Homs Tuesday as Russia's foreign minister stressed the need for reform and dialogue during talks in Damascus with President Bashar Assad about the country's escalating violence.
> 
> Sergey Lavrov's visit comes days after Syrian allies Russia and China vetoed a Western- and Arab-backed resolution at the United Nations that would have condemned the Assad regime's crackdown on dissent and calling on him to transfer some of his powers to his deputy. The Syrian government had rejected the Arab plan as intervention in Syria's internal affairs.
> 
> Thousands of Syrians cheered Russia's foreign minister Tuesday as he arrived in Damascus.
> 
> "Necessary reforms must be implemented in order to address legitimate demands of the people striving for a better life," Lavrov later told Assad, according to Russian state-run news agency ITAR-Tass."
> 
> Lavrov also said Assad is ready for dialogue with the opposition.
> 
> "It's clear that efforts to stop the violence should be accompanied by the beginning of dialogue among the political forces," he said. "Today we received confirmation of the readiness of the president of Syria for this work."
> 
> Repeated efforts by the Arab League and Russia to broker talks have been rejected by the Syrian opposition, which refuses to hold talks amid the crackdown and says it will accept nothing less than the regime's downfall.
> 
> The violence, meanwhile, continued with regime forces keeping up an assault on Homs, Syria's third largest city. Activists reported that at least 15 people, including a 15-year-old boy, were killed in violence across the country.
> 
> More than 5,400 people have been killed in Syria since the uprising began in March, the U.N. said early last month. Hundreds more are believe to have been killed since then, but the U.N. says the chaos in the country has made it impossible to cross-check the figures.
> 
> Syria has blocked access to trouble spots and prevented independent reporting, making it nearly impossible to verify accounts from either side. The Assad regime says terrorists acting out a foreign conspiracy to destabilize the country are behind the uprising, not people seeking to transform the authoritarian regime.
> 
> Diplomatic efforts to end the bloodshed suffered a setback over the weekend when efforts by the U.S. and its allies in the U.N. Security Council to condemn the violence in Syria were blocked by Russia and China.
> 
> A series of European countries, including France and Italy, announced they had recalled their ambassadors to Syria, a day after the U.S. closed its embassy in Damascus. The diplomatic moves were a clear message that Western powers see no point in engaging with Assad and now will seek to bolster Syria's opposition.
> 
> Turkey's Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan also called the Security Council veto a "fiasco" and said his country cannot remain silent about the massacres in Syria and will continue to support the Arab League efforts.
> 
> "We will launch a new initiative with countries that stand by the Syrian people instead of the regime," Erdogan said without elaborating.
> 
> It was not clear what kind of steps Turkey might be planning. But Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has called for "friends of democratic Syria" to unite and rally against Assad's regime, previewing the possible formation of a group of like-minded nations to coordinate assistance to the Syrian opposition from outside the U.N.
> 
> The central city of Homs was the site of the deadliest assault of the uprising on Saturday, when more than 200 people were killed in an overnight bombardment hours before the U.N. vote.
> 
> An activist said tanks were closing in on the rebel-held Baba Amr district in Homs, tightening a months-long siege of the area.
> 
> "The shelling has been going on for days and the siege is getting worse. We are short of everything including food and medical supplies," said an activist who identified himself only by his first name, Omar. "People here have not slept for days."
> 
> The British-based Observatory for Human Rights said troops were attempting to storm the Baba Amr, Khaldiyeh and Bayada districts and said at least nine civilians were killed in the shelling. It also reported that a 15-year-old boy was shot to death by security forces who stormed the town of Houleh, in Homs province.



Syria Clashes: Homs Assaulted By Government Forces As Russian Foreign Minister Visits


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## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Matthew said:
> 
> 
> 
> Time to air drop about 100,000 guns, rocket lauchers, ect into syria for the free syrian army. Let them beat the thug!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I agree.
Click to expand...


How did that work out in Libya?  Or Egypt for that matter!  

Is it to our benefit to support the muslim brotherhood and the taliban in their take over of these independent middle eastern nations?   I can understand the need to get rid of a thug ruler, Lord knows we have one right here, right now.  What I can't understand is replacing a thug ruler with a worse thug to be ruler.

Now that the "free" Egyptians, and yes I mean that sarcastically, has told the state department that they not only won't negotiate for the release of the Americans held, they won't even meet with our state department at all.   It might be worth pointing out that those who were arrested are from NGO organizations who went to Egypt to help the newly freed Egyptians form a democracy.  What would happen if the son of obama's transportation secretary is tried and found guilty of anti government agitation and publicly beheaded for You Tube?    It might take that to hammer through the density of the president's head that he's been wrong all along.   The president is proving himself a "black hole" in its truest sense.   A mass so dense that light cannot escape.  

It's worked SO WELL, Surely we need to do it again in Syria.

Only the Russians and the Chinese have it right.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Matthew said:
> 
> 
> 
> Time to air drop about 100,000 guns, rocket lauchers, ect into syria for the free syrian army. Let them beat the thug!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I agree.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> How did that work out in Libya?  Or Egypt for that matter!
> 
> Is it to our benefit to support the muslim brotherhood and the taliban in their take over of these independent middle eastern nations?   I can understand the need to get rid of a thug ruler, Lord knows we have one right here, right now.  What I can't understand is replacing a thug ruler with a worse thug to be ruler.
> 
> Now that the "free" Egyptians, and yes I mean that sarcastically, has told the state department that they not only won't negotiate for the release of the Americans held, they won't even meet with our state department at all.   It might be worth pointing out that those who were arrested are from NGO organizations who went to Egypt to help the newly freed Egyptians form a democracy.  What would happen if the son of obama's transportation secretary is tried and found guilty of anti government agitation and publicly beheaded for You Tube?    It might take that to hammer through the density of the president's head that he's been wrong all along.   The president is proving himself a "black hole" in its truest sense.   A mass so dense that light cannot escape.
> 
> It's worked SO WELL, Surely we need to do it again in Syria.
> 
> Only the Russians and the Chinese have it right.
Click to expand...


You make some good points, however with Syria in their pocket Iran has a direct line all the way through from Iraq to Syria and Lebanon, I would like to see that chain broken, and the Russians and Chinese are only looking out for their own interest, same as ours.


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## Katzndogz

That's where you are wrong.  Assad as dictator protected his own interests above that of Iran, just like his father did.  Just like all the other despots being replaced in the middle east did.  These dictators are being replaced by the muslim brotherhood that IS Iranian power.  

Unlike the United States, both China and Russia have serious bloody muslim insurgencies going on and they are not hiding it by coming up with the religion of peace nonsense.   Because they do not have religion of peace propaganda shoved at them, they would not assume the peaceful intent, nor support a pan islamic caliphate with one huge army under the control of the Ayatollahs.

Russia has a large naval base in Tartus, Syria.  If Iran, through the muslim brotherhood, topples the Syrian government it will have that base at their disposal.  Russia is showing every indication of keeping out of this conflict and letting the parties fight it out between them knowing that whoever wins, everyone but Iran loses.  But, there will be fewer of either.


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> theliq said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> U.S. Embassy In Syria Closed: Reports
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> U.S. Embassy In Syria Closed: Reports
> 
> 
> 
> Grav,what's the point or authority of the UN if Russia,China or the US for that matter can veto whenever it suits them,even if everyone else there wants the opposite?????????Totally Pointless Organisation or United Nothingness.stavros
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I think the UN is a sad hypocritical joke, its just a stage for tin pot dictators from third world shit holes to be able to get out there and insult Western nations and beg for money.
Click to expand...




That was a great line.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Forces Attack Homs, UN Condemns 'Appalling Brutality' 








> AMMAN/BEIRUT, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded opposition-held neighbourhoods of the city of Homs with rocket and mortar fire on Thursday, activists said, as divided world powers struggled to find a way to end the violence.
> 
> The United Nations chief condemned the ferocity of the government assault on Homs, heart of a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad that broke out nearly a year ago and is getting bloodier by the day.
> 
> "I fear that the appalling brutality we are witnessing in Homs, with heavy weapons firing into civilian neighbourhoods, is a grim harbinger of things to come," U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon told reporters after briefing the Security Council.
> 
> Activists and residents report hundreds of people killed over the last week as Assad's forces try stamp out opposition in Homs, and as dawn broke on Thursday, rocket and mortar fire rained down again on Baba Amro, Khalidiya and other districts. Armoured reinforcements also poured into the eastern city.
> 
> Concern was growing over the plight of civilians and the United States said it was considering ways to get food and medicine to them - a move that would deepen international involvement in a conflict which has wide geopolitical dimensions and has caused division between foreign powers.
> 
> Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said before flying to Washington for talks on Syria that Turkey, which once saw Assad as an ally but now wants him out, could no longer stand by and watch. Turkey wanted to host an international meeting to agree ways to end the killing and provide aid, he said.
> 
> "It is not enough being an observer," he told Reuters, though Russia and China have warned against "interference".
> 
> Foreign ministers of the Arab League, which the U.N.'s Ban said was planning to revive an observer mission it suspended last month because of the violence, are due to meet in Cairo on Sunday. They may want to hear other governments' ideas by then.
> 
> U.S. officials said they expected to meet soon with allies to discuss ways of helping Syrian civilians. And China, cool to Western lobbying for international involvement, nonetheless reported its first formal contact with the Syrian opposition.



Syria Forces Attack Homs, UN Condemns 'Appalling Brutality'


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Bombs Hit Security Headquarters In Aleppo 








> BEIRUT  Two explosions struck security compounds in the Syrian city of Aleppo on Friday, killing 25 people and wounding 175, state media reported, in a major city that has largely stood by President Bashar Assad in the nearly 11-month-old uprising against his rule.
> 
> The blasts come as escalating violence between regime forces and an increasingly militarized opposition has raised fears the conflict is spiraling toward civil war.
> 
> A Syrian offensive aimed at crushing rebels in the battered city of Homs continued Friday, with soldiers who have been bombarding the city for the past six days making their first ground move to seize one of the most restive neighborhoods.
> 
> State TV blamed "terrorists" for the blasts in Aleppo  the first significant violence in Syria's largest city  saying they were proof the government is facing a violent enemy. Anti-Assad activists accused the regime of setting off Friday's blasts to discredit the opposition and avert protests that had been planned in the northern city on Friday.
> 
> Along with the capital Damascus, Aleppo is Syria's economic center, home to the business community and prosperous merchant classes whose continued backing for Assad has been crucial in bolstering his regime. The city has seen only occasional protests.
> 
> Three earlier bombings in Damascus in December and January that killed dozens prompted similar exchanges of accusations. Nobody has claimed responsibility for any of the attacks.
> 
> Outside one of the compounds hit, the Military Intelligence Directorate, a weeping correspondent on state-run TV showed graphic footage of at least five corpses, collected in sacks and under blankets by the side of the road.
> 
> Debris filled the street and residential buildings appeared to have their windows shattered. But the location did not appear to be closed off, as local residents milled around the site, with few uniformed police around. No emergency vehicles or ambulances were visible in the footage and there was no sign of wounded, as earth-moving equipment was seen clearing the rubble.
> 
> The presenter said the blast went off near a park and claimed children were among the dead, although none were seen in the TV footage.
> 
> The second blast went off outside the headquarters of a police force in another part of the city. State television cited the Health Ministry as saying 25 people were killed in the two blasts and 175 were wounded.
> 
> Mohammed Abu-Nasr, an Aleppo-based activist, blamed Assad's regime for the explosions, insisting the opposition would not carry out bombings in residential areas.
> 
> "The opposition and the Free Syrian Army don't kill civilians," Abu-Nasr said, referring to the force of army defectors that frequently attacks regime military forces.
> 
> Abu-Nasr said the blasts came on a day when activists were planning wide protests in the city after the Friday prayers. "Despite the blasts, we will go out and protest today," he said.
> 
> So far, Assad's opponents have had little success in galvanizing support in Aleppo, in part because the business leaders have long traded political freedoms for economic privileges. The city of around 2 million also has a large population of Kurds, who have mostly stayed on the sidelines of the uprising since Assad's regime began giving them citizenship, which they had long been denied.
> 
> The Aleppo blast was the latest in a string of bombings that the regime has sought to blame on the opposition, which denies any role. On Jan. 6, a suicide attack in the capital Damascus killed 26 people. Two weeks earlier, 44 people were killed in twin suicide bombings that targeted intelligence agency compounds in Damascus.
> 
> Assad's crackdown has killed more than 5,400 people since the uprising began in March.
> 
> The regime's crackdown on dissent has left it almost completely isolated internationally. But Assad has political backing from Russia and China, which delivered a double veto over the weekend that blocked a U.N. resolution calling on him to leave power.
> 
> On Friday, Saudi King Abdullah said the failure of the U.N. to take action has shaken the world's confidence in the international organization. The speech was his first public comment on Syria. Saudi Arabia and five other Gulf countries have pulled their ambassadors from Syria to protest the violence by regime forces.
> 
> The assault on Homs began last Saturday after unconfirmed reports that army defectors and other armed opponents of Assad were setting up their own checkpoints and taking control of some areas.
> 
> Hundreds of people are believed to have been killed in the past week in Homs from relentless shelling and gunfire on several rebellious neighborhoods in the city, an operation activists said aimed to soften up the areas before moving in.
> 
> On Friday, soldiers backed by tanks pushed into the neighborhood of Inshaat. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops were going house to house detaining people. Inshaat is next to Baba Amr, a neighborhood that has been under rebel control for months. Activists said at least four people were killed in the shelling in Baba Amr on Friday.
> 
> "They are punishing the residents," said the Observatory's chief Rami Abdul-Rahman, who added that food supplies were dwindling in the area.
> 
> Troops shelled parts of the city with tanks and heavy machine guns through the night until daylight Friday, said Majd Amer, an activist in Khaldiyeh, one of the targeted districts. He said troops nearby appeared to be preparing to move into Khaldiyeh as well.
> 
> Mohammed Saleh, a Syria-based activist, said the regime appears to be trying to take over rebel-held areas in Homs and the northwestern restive province of Idlib before Feb. 17, when Assad's ruling Baath party is scheduled to hold its first general conference since 2005.
> 
> The conference is expected to move on reforms that Assad has promised in a bid to calm the uprising. During the conference, Baath party leaders are expected to call for national dialogue and announce they will open the way for other political parties to play a bigger role in Syria's politics.
> 
> The opposition has rejected such promises as insincere and said it will not accept anything less than Assad's departure.



Syria Crisis: Bombs Hit Security Headquarters In Aleppo


----------



## High_Gravity

In Rare, Blunt Speech, Saudi King Criticizes Syria Vetoes



> The king of Saudi Arabia inserted himself directly into the Syria crisis on Friday, castigating Russia and China for vetoing a United Nations Security Council resolution over the weekend aimed at ending the Syrian governments deadly repression of a nearly year-old uprising.
> 
> We are going through scary days and unfortunately what happened at the United Nations is absolutely regrettable, King Abdullah said in a short nationally televised address.
> 
> The Saudi king rarely speaks so publicly and bluntly, and his remarks appeared to reflect new concern in Saudi Arabia about the deepening sectarian parameters of the conflict in Syria, where a majority of the population are Sunnis and the government of President Bashar al-Assad is controlled by the minority Alawites, a heterodox Muslim sect. Saudi Arabia considers itself the spiritual beacon of Sunni Islam.
> 
> King Abdullah did not single out Russia and China by name, but he was clearly referring to both countries, which used their veto powers as permanent Security Council members to derail a resolution that supported the Arab Leagues proposal to resolve the conflict in Syria. The resolution would have required, among other things, that Mr. Assad turn over some powers to a vice president.
> 
> Both Russia and China have been loyal supporters of Mr. Assad but they also value their relationships with many other countries in the Arab world, so the Saudi kings remarks amounted to a further sign that those relationships have suffered some damage.
> 
> No matter how powerful, countries cannot rule the whole world, the king said in his speech, as translated by Agence France-Presse. The world is ruled by brains by justice, by morals and by fairness.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/11/w...-saudi-king-criticizes-syria-vetoes.html?_r=1


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Turkey Inches, Somewhat Reluctantly, To The Forefront 








> WASHINGTON -- When Turkey's Foreign Minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, arrived in Washington late last week, he came with a clear and direct message about the deteriorating situation in Syria.
> 
> "We have to focus on how to make humanitarian access possible for the Syrian people," he said at one of a series of public events and private meetings with journalists he held on Friday. "What we need today is to send a strong message to the Syrian people that they are not alone, to the Syrian regime that they cannot use these measures forever, to international community that we have solidarity with the Syrian people."
> 
> As a major Middle Eastern power that shares its longest -- and now increasingly porous -- border with Syria, Turkey has the most to lose from seeing the Syrian crisis unfold unabated. There are already thousands of Syrian refugees in Turkey, many of them military defectors, and willingly or not, Turkey has become a base for the nascent Free Syrian Army.
> 
> On Monday, Davutoglu will meet with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, where he is expected to discuss possible next steps in mitigating the Syrian crisis. With a possible United Nations resolution blocked by Russia and China, Clinton and others have said they hope that some sort of international body could be formed to expedite assistance to the Syrian opposition.
> 
> Most analysts expect that the Americans will seek to put the Turks at the forefront, at least rhetorically, of any plans that emerge in the coming days, a process that has already seen Vice President Joe Biden laud Turkey for being "a real leader" on the issue.
> 
> But, as Davutoglu indicated in his appearances last week, any course of action -- especially one that might lead to increased regional strife or even military intervention -- comes with a strong dose of discomfort or even disappointment.
> 
> After all, Turkey has long prided itself on being a regional peacemaker and a beneficent bridge between East and West. Just last year, it described its regional foreign policy as "zero problems with neighbors" -- a project that included a determined, and briefly flourishing, effort to open trade and diplomatic relations with the Assad regime.
> 
> Much of that is now in tatters as the region seems increasingly on the verge of division along old Cold War lines and sectarian ones -- Syria's allies in Iran, Lebanon and Iraq are Shia, while Turkey and the Arab League leaders are Sunni. Davutoglu said on Friday that Turkey has repeatedly sought to avoid such a fragmentation, but analysts say that, by taking stronger actions against Assad's regime, the country risks firmly implanting itself on one side of the growing divide.
> 
> "I think ambivalence is the right way to put it," said Bulent Aliriza, the director of the Turkey Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, of Turkey's reluctant entrance into the Syria fray. "Even if, subjectively, Turkey rejects that split and doesn't want to be defined as the Sunni part of a Western-led conflict, nonetheless, objectively, it is in danger of being seen as such by the Shia bloc."
> 
> In his meeting with reporters on Friday, Davutoglu showed signs of diverging with some of outsiders' most ambitious plans for Syria. He shrugged off questions about arming the opposition, and reiterated that Turkey was not yet prepared to support a role for NATO.
> 
> "There should not be something like the Libyan case," he said, referring to last year's full-scale military intervention in which Western air power was utilized to end the reign of Muammar Gaddafi. "We don't want anything based on a military presence or a clash," he added.
> 
> And in one important break from the stated goals of the Americans, Davutoglu even signaled that Turkey might be satisfied with a resolution to the crisis that does not involve the complete dismantling of the Assad regime, even though Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan has already called for the president to step down.
> 
> "We will have a strategy for the future: a new Syria, a free Syria," Davutoglu said. "This is our strategic objective. We are not there to talk about regime change, but that the Syrian people should decide for themselves, not Bashar Assad on his own."
> 
> Indeed, people close to Davutoglu say that even as he prepared to propose a new international body to take steps in Syria, he agonized over the exact language used to describe it -- "friends" or a "coalition" or a "contact group" each bringing with it different levels of implied action or force.
> 
> "I think the Turks are petrified about this turning into something much bigger than it already is," said Joshua Walker, a Turkey expert at the German Marshall Fund. "They're worried that Syria is the igniting flame for something growing along sectarian lines. If Syria goes down the same path, this can ignite nasty things in Lebanon, nasty things in Iraq, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia -- it's a regional problem that makes it so dangerous for Turkey."
> 
> Walker also pointed out that Turkey faces domestic limitations to its role in Syria as well, because much of the country would be opposed to wider intervention.



Syria Crisis: Turkey Inches, Somewhat Reluctantly, To The Forefront


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Arab States Call For International Peacekeepers, Security Forces Bombard Homs 








> AMMAN/BEIRUT Feb 13 (Reuters) - Syrian forces bombarded districts of Homs and attacked other cities on Monday after Arab states pledged support for the opposition battling President Bashar al-Assad and called for international peacekeepers to be sent to the country.
> 
> Tank fire was concentrated on two Sunni Muslim neighbourhoods that have been at the forefront of an 11-month-old uprising against Assad, activists said.
> 
> "Mortar rounds and bombardment from BTRs (infantry fighting vehicles) are heavily hitting Baba Amro. We do not have numbers for any casualties because there is no communication with the district," activist Mohammad al-Hassan told Reuters from Homs.
> 
> 
> Activists said 23 people were killed on Sunday, adding to a toll of more than 300 since the assault on Homs began on Feb. 3.
> 
> The renewed barrages served as an emphatic response to Arab League moves to boost the opposition campaign against Assad, who is resisting calls to step down after 11 years of authoritarian rule.
> 
> Meeting in Cairo on Sunday, Arab League ministers proposed a joint United Nations-Arab peacekeeping force for Syria and pledged to provide political and material aid to the opposition.
> 
> However, the plan faces all kinds of obstacles. World powers are divided over how to resolve the crisis and Russia and China, who vetoed a U.N. Security Council resolution on Syria on Feb. 4. are unlikely to welcome foreign intervention.
> 
> In Moscow, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Russia was studying the Arab proposal for a peacekeeping mission but wanted more details. He said violence should end before any such mission takes place and international pressure should focus on the Syrian opposition as well as the government.
> 
> "In other words, it is necessary to agree to something like a ceasefire but the tragedy is that the armed groups that are confronting the forces of the regime are not subordinate to anyone and are not under control," Lavrov said.
> 
> China's Foreign Ministry on Monday backed what it termed the Arab League's "mediation" but offered no clear sign of support for its call for peacekeepers.
> 
> "Relevant moves by the United Nations should be conducive towards lessening tension in Syria, pushing political dialogue and resolving differences, as well as maintaining peace and stability in the Middle East, rather than complicating things," ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told a regular news briefing.
> 
> Russia and China were both heavily criticised by the West for blocking the draft U.N. resolution that backed an Arab League call on Assad to step down.
> 
> But the United States and European powers are reluctant to get dragged in militarily, fearing this would be more risky and complicated - given Syria's position along crisscrossing fault lines of Middle East conflict -- than the NATO-led air support that helped Libyan rebels oust Muammar Gaddafi last year.
> 
> British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Monday any peacekeeping troops in Syria should come from non-Western countries. "I don't see the way forward in Syria as being Western boots on the ground in any form, including in any peacekeeping form," he told reporters in South Africa.



Syria Crisis: Arab States Call For International Peacekeepers, Security Forces Bombard Homs


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Arab Nations Reportedly Consider Arming Opposition








> BEIRUT Feb 14 (Reuters) - Government forces and opponents of President Bashar al-Assad clashed in cities and countryside across Syria on Tuesday and Arab officials confirmed that regional governments would be ready to arm the resistance if the bloodshed did not cease.
> 
> The western city of Homs, heart of the uprising against Assad's 11-year-rule, suffered a bombardment of pro-opposition neighbourhoods for the 11th day running.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported 20 people killed across Syria on Tuesday, including opposition supporters, civilians, and five government soldiers shot in clashes with rebel fighters in Qalaat al-Madyaq town in restive Hama area.
> 
> With Assad seemingly oblivious to international condemnation of his campaign to crush the revolt, Arab countries led by Saudi Arabia prepared for a new resolution at the United Nations in the next few days which would support a peace plan forged at a meeting in Cairo on Sunday.
> 
> But Arab League diplomats said that arming the opposition forces was now officially an option.
> 
> A resolution passed at the meeting urged Arabs to "provide all kinds of political and material support" to the opposition.
> 
> This would allow arms transfers, they confirmed to Reuters.
> 
> "We will back the opposition financially and diplomatically in the beginning but if the killing by the regime continues, civilians must be helped to protect themselves. The resolution gives Arab states all options to protect the Syrian people," an Arab ambassador said in Cairo.
> 
> The threat of military support was meant to add pressure on the Syrian leader and his Russian and Chinese allies but it also risks leading to a Libya-style conflict or sectarian civil war.
> 
> "I suspect we will see a further militarisation of this conflict, with potentially quite widespread and dangerous consequences," said analyst Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Doha Center.
> 
> Smuggled guns are already filtering into Syria but it is not clear if Arab or other governments are behind the deliveries. Weapons and Sunni Muslim insurgents are also crossing from Iraq into Syria, Iraqi officials and arms dealers said.
> 
> Assad, whose Alawite-minority family has ruled the mainly Sunni Muslim country for 42 years, is trying to stamp out pro-democracy demonstrations and insurgent attacks. He dismisses his opponents as terrorists backed by enemy nations in a regional power-play and says he will introduce reforms on his own terms.



Syria Crisis: Arab Nations Reportedly Consider Arming Opposition


----------



## Katzndogz

Arming terrorists is a capital idea.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: President Bashar Assad Sets Referendum On New Draft Constitution 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered a referendum for later this month on a new constitution that would allow political parties other than his ruling Baath Party, the centerpiece of reforms he has promised to ease the crisis, even as the Syrian military on Wednesday besieged rebellious areas.
> 
> The opposition quickly rejected the move, saying that the regime was stalling and that Syrians in the uprising would accept nothing less than Assad's ouster. The referendum call also raises the question of how a nationwide vote could be held at a time when many areas see daily battles between Syrian troops and rebel soldiers.
> 
> Amendments to the constitution once were a key demand by the opposition at the start of Syria's uprising, when protesters first launched demonstrations calling for change. But after 11 months of a fearsome crackdown on dissent that has left thousands dead and turned some cities into war zones, the opposition says Assad and his regime must go.
> 
> "The people in the street today have demands, and one of these demands is the departure of this regime," said Khalaf Dahowd, a member of the National Coordination Body for Democratic Change in Syria, an umbrella for several opposition groups in Syria and in exile.
> 
> Top Syrian ally Russia has presented Assad's promises of reform and dialogue as an alternative way to resolve Syria's bloodshed after Moscow and Beijing earlier this month vetoed a Western- and Arab-backed resolution at the U.N. Security Council aimed at pressuring Assad to step down.
> 
> The referendum, announced on Syrian state TV, was set to take place Feb. 26. The current Syrian constitution enshrines Assad's Baath Party as the leader of the state. But according to the new draft, obtained by The Associated Press, "the state's political system is based on political pluralism and power is practiced democratically through voting."
> 
> The draft also says the president can hold office only for a maximum of two seven-year terms. Assad, who inherited power from his father, has been in power for nearly 12 years. His father, Hafez, ruled for 30 years.
> 
> The vetoes at the U.N. infuriated the West and Arab states, which are now considering giving greater support to the Syrian opposition. Russia says it rejects any U.N. calls on Assad to step aside because they would prejudice attempts to find an internal solution  even as the opposition says that promises of reform and dialogue are a dead end.
> 
> In the Netherlands, Russia's foreign minister said he will meet his French counterpart in Vienna on Thursday and discuss a plan to rework the U.N. Security Council resolution.
> 
> Sergey Lavrov said Wednesday he could not comment on the French plan without having seen the language of the proposed resolution. French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said earlier Wednesday that his country is trying to rework the resolution to overcome Russian resistance. France has been on of the harshest critics of Assad's crackdown.
> 
> Lavrov praised the referendum call, saying "a new constitution to end one-party rule in Syria is a step forward ... It is coming late unfortunately but better late than never." He said the international community should press on the opposition to enter negotiations with Assad.
> 
> The Syrian revolt started in March with mostly peaceful protests against the Assad family dynasty, but the conflict has become far more violent and militarized in recent months as army defectors fight back against government forces.
> 
> Many observers fear it is taking on the dimensions of a civil war. U.N. human rights chief Navi Pillay told the General Assembly this week that more than 5,400 people were killed last year alone, and that the number of dead and injured continues to rise daily in Syria.
> 
> Wednesday's referendum announcement came during one of the deadliest assaults of the uprising. The government has been shelling the rebellious city of Homs for more than a week, and the humanitarian situation was deteriorating rapidly. Activists say hundreds have been killed, and there was no way to treat the wounded.
> 
> The violence continued Wednesday. Thick black smoke billowed out of what appeared to be a residential area of Homs in amateur video posted online, after an attack on an oil pipeline that runs through the city.
> 
> Activists accused regime forces of hitting the pipeline. It runs through the rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr, which has been shelled by regime troops for the past 12 days, according to two activist groups, the Local Coordination Committees and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> 
> The state news agency, SANA, blamed "armed terrorists" for Wednesday's pipeline attack. It said the pipeline feeds the tankers in the Damascus suburb of Adra, which contribute in supplying gasoline to the capital and southern regions.



Syria: President Bashar Assad Sets Referendum On New Draft Constitution


----------



## JStone

Syrians protest against one dictator in favor of, what, a new dictator?


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> Syrians protest against one dictator in favor of, what, a new dictator?



Probably.


----------



## High_Gravity

Homs Shelling: Syria Troops Target Restive Central City, Activists Say 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops intensively shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in the restive central city of Homs Friday and killed at least five people, activists said. Britain and France urged the opposition to unite and said it needs more international support to resist the deadly government crackdown.
> 
> Activist groups said tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets after Friday prayers from Daraa in the south to Aleppo and Idlib in the north and Deir el-Zour in the east to areas around the capital Damascus. The Local Coordination Committees said security forces opened fire on some protests.
> 
> "What is happening in Syria is appalling," British Cameron Prime Minister David Cameron told a joint news conference in Paris with French President Nicolas Sarkozy. "I'm not satisfied that we are taking all the action we can." The two leaders spoke a day after the U.N. General Assembly condemned human rights violations by President Bashar Assad's authoritarian regime.
> 
> "We cannot bring about a Syrian revolution ... if the Syrian revolution does not make an effort to rally together and organize so that we can better help them," Sarkozy said. He insisted, however, that "the revolution will not be brought about from outside, it will be brought about from the inside."
> 
> Cameron said Britain and France are working "to see what more we can do" to help the Syrian opposition.
> 
> In a joint statement, Cameron and Sarkozy pledged that their countries "will continue to increase their engagement with the Syrian opposition, including encouraging the opposition to work together and to support the vision of an inclusive, prosperous and free Syria. "
> 
> They urged the European Union to adopt new sanctions against the regime by Feb. 27 and offer "substantial" aid to Syria if and when Assad leaves.
> 
> Cameron also said Britain is sending food rations for 20,000 people and medical supplies for those affected by fighting in Homs and elsewhere in Syria.
> 
> The aid will include emergency drinking water and essential household items for refugees forced to leave their homes because of fighting in areas where humanitarian agencies are struggling to work freely amid government restrictions on movement.
> 
> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said shells slammed into the Homs neighborhoods of Baba Amr, Bayadah, Khaldiyeh and Inshaat, killing at least five people. Syrian troops have been attacking the neighborhoods since Feb. 4. Amateur videos showed at least one tank shelling Baba Amr from close by.
> 
> Homs, a province in central Syria that stretches from the border with Lebanon in the west to the frontiers with Iraq and Jordan in the east, has been one of the key centers of the 11-month-old uprising against Assad. As the uprising has become more militarized in recent months with army defectors battling regime forces almost daily, the rebels have taken control of small parts of the province including neighborhoods in the city of Homs and the nearby town of Rastan.
> 
> The Observatory said security forces opened fire at protesters in the Damascus neighborhood of Mazzeh, killing one person and wounding 12. The group said another protester was shot dead in the province of Aleppo. It added that one of the biggest protests was in the southern village of Dael, where more than 10,000 marched calling for Assad's downfall.
> 
> The Observatory also reported clashes between troops and defectors in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, saying one civilian and one of the regime forces were killed.
> 
> State-run news agency, SANA, quoted Assad as telling visiting Mauritanian Prime Moulaye Ould Mohamed Laghdaf that political reforms in Syria "will move in parallel with restoring security and stability." It was another clear sign that Assad's regime will continue in its crackdown.
> 
> In neighboring Lebanon, security officials said two Lebanese farmers were wounded in the border village of Qaa after they were hit by bullets coming from the Syrian side.
> 
> On Thursday, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon accused the Syrian regime of committing "almost certain" crimes against humanity. The U.N. General Assembly also overwhelmingly voted for a resolution that strongly condemns human rights violations by Assad's government. According to the U.N., more than 5,400 people have been killed since March in the regime's bloody crackdown.
> 
> The 193-member U.N. General Assembly voted 137-12 on the Arab-sponsored resolution calling on Assad to hand power to his vice president and immediately stop the crackdown. There were 17 abstentions.
> 
> Though there are no vetoes in the General Assembly and its resolutions are nonbinding, they do reflect world opinion on major issues. Russia and China, who recently vetoed a similar resolution in the U.N. Security Council, voted against the General Assembly measure along with North Korea, Iran, Venezuela, Cuba and others who heeded Syria's appeal against the measure.
> 
> Thursday's high number of "yes" votes was the strongest international condemnation so far of Assad.
> 
> "Today, the U.N. General Assembly sent a clear message to the people of Syria: The world is with you," U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice said. Assad "has never been more isolated. A rapid transition to democracy in Syria has garnered the resounding support of the international community. Change must now come."



Homs Shelling: Syria Troops Target Restive Central City, Activists Say


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrians protest against one dictator in favor of, what, a new dictator?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably.
Click to expand...


IMO?

An Arab dictator in control of Arabs. Not a Shia dictator in control of Arabs.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrians protest against one dictator in favor of, what, a new dictator?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> IMO?
> 
> An Arab dictator in control of Arabs. Not a Shia dictator in control of Arabs.
Click to expand...


Thats basically whats going to happen, and thats gonna piss Iran off because with Assad in power they have a direct link all the way through to Lebanon.


----------



## JStone

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrians protest against one dictator in favor of, what, a new dictator?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> IMO?
> 
> An Arab dictator in control of Arabs. Not a Shia dictator in control of Arabs.
Click to expand...

  




Can you say when shiite/sunni rabs have ever not had a dictator in the last 1400 years or not been at war with each other?  I didn't think so.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Homs Opposition Die Without Food, Medicine And Supplies 








> BEIRUT, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Struggling to survive after two weeks of withering bombardment by Syrian forces, people in the Baba Amro district of Homs are packed four or five families to a house, relying on collected rain water and watching their wounded friends and relatives die for lack of medicines, residents say.
> 
> Some say starvation is a real threat and accuse the world of abandoning them to army shelling which they say has killed dozens of people and wounded 2,000 in the rebel stronghold of an 11-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> With no chance to flee, many families have abandoned their houses on the outskirts and retreated further into the heart of the battered neighbourhood in the central western city of Homs, cramming dozens of people into small houses and apartments.
> 
> Those who survive the shelling face shortages of food and water which they say have been deliberately aggravated by government snipers shooting at water tanks. They are terrified to leave their homes and shelters.
> 
> "We are collecting rain water in jars and casseroles," said Abu Bakr, a resident of Baba Amro sheltering with 25 people in a two-room house.
> 
> "We take turns in sleeping -- some during the day and others during the night because we do not have enough space," he said.
> 
> Women who recently gave birth are unable to feed their babies because their breast milk has dried up from shock, he said. "Some women have volunteered to breast feed those babies but until when? Their lives are in danger."
> 
> The shelling destroyed many houses in the poor neighbourhood of 80,000 people and the few field hospitals erected months ago are in ruins, activists say. At least two doctors and two nurses were killed in the shelling, leaving Baba Amro with just two or three doctors, they say.
> 
> *"FRIENDS AND RELATIVES DYING"*
> 
> Some houses were turned into makeshift hospitals but the lack of medical supplies and staff mean there is little help for the wounded.
> 
> "We are watching the wounded die. All we are doing is using pieces of clothes to cover their wounds then watch them die," said another resident of Baba Amro, who declined to be named.
> 
> "We have lost many people and every day we have friends and relatives dying before our eyes, there is nothing we can do."
> 
> The government says it is fighting armed militants intent on overthrowing Assad who are funded and armed from abroad while the residents say the crackdown is aimed at crushing pro-democracy protesters and those opposed to Assad.
> 
> The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told Reuters that it was negotiating with Syrian authorities and opposition fighters on a "cessation of fighting" to bring life-saving aid to civilians hardest hit by the conflict.
> 
> Diplomatic sources said the ICRC was seeking a two-hour halt of hostilities in hotspots including Homs, a major industrial centre and Syria's third largest city, next to Damascus and Aleppo.
> 
> In some areas of Homs, the Free Syrian Army rebels set up checkpoints to try and block access to soldiers and Shabbiha militia loyal to Assad.
> 
> In Baba Amro, where many residents are farmers and traders, the massed troops on the outskirts of the district mean farmers are prevented from harvesting their crops.
> 
> "If people do not die of the shelling they will die of starvation soon," said an activist, who used the name Marx.



Syria Homs Opposition Die Without Food, Medicine And Supplies


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Homs Opposition Die Without Food, Medicine And Supplies
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT, Feb 20 (Reuters) - Struggling to survive after two weeks of withering bombardment by Syrian forces, people in the Baba Amro district of Homs are packed four or five families to a house, relying on collected rain water and watching their wounded friends and relatives die for lack of medicines, residents say.
> 
> Some say starvation is a real threat and accuse the world of abandoning them to army shelling which they say has killed dozens of people and wounded 2,000 in the rebel stronghold of an 11-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> With no chance to flee, many families have abandoned their houses on the outskirts and retreated further into the heart of the battered neighbourhood in the central western city of Homs, cramming dozens of people into small houses and apartments.
> 
> Those who survive the shelling face shortages of food and water which they say have been deliberately aggravated by government snipers shooting at water tanks. They are terrified to leave their homes and shelters.
> 
> "We are collecting rain water in jars and casseroles," said Abu Bakr, a resident of Baba Amro sheltering with 25 people in a two-room house.
> 
> "We take turns in sleeping -- some during the day and others during the night because we do not have enough space," he said.
> 
> Women who recently gave birth are unable to feed their babies because their breast milk has dried up from shock, he said. "Some women have volunteered to breast feed those babies but until when? Their lives are in danger."
> 
> The shelling destroyed many houses in the poor neighbourhood of 80,000 people and the few field hospitals erected months ago are in ruins, activists say. At least two doctors and two nurses were killed in the shelling, leaving Baba Amro with just two or three doctors, they say.
> 
> *"FRIENDS AND RELATIVES DYING"*
> 
> Some houses were turned into makeshift hospitals but the lack of medical supplies and staff mean there is little help for the wounded.
> 
> "We are watching the wounded die. All we are doing is using pieces of clothes to cover their wounds then watch them die," said another resident of Baba Amro, who declined to be named.
> 
> "We have lost many people and every day we have friends and relatives dying before our eyes, there is nothing we can do."
> 
> The government says it is fighting armed militants intent on overthrowing Assad who are funded and armed from abroad while the residents say the crackdown is aimed at crushing pro-democracy protesters and those opposed to Assad.
> 
> The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) told Reuters that it was negotiating with Syrian authorities and opposition fighters on a "cessation of fighting" to bring life-saving aid to civilians hardest hit by the conflict.
> 
> Diplomatic sources said the ICRC was seeking a two-hour halt of hostilities in hotspots including Homs, a major industrial centre and Syria's third largest city, next to Damascus and Aleppo.
> 
> In some areas of Homs, the Free Syrian Army rebels set up checkpoints to try and block access to soldiers and Shabbiha militia loyal to Assad.
> 
> In Baba Amro, where many residents are farmers and traders, the massed troops on the outskirts of the district mean farmers are prevented from harvesting their crops.
> 
> "If people do not die of the shelling they will die of starvation soon," said an activist, who used the name Marx.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Homs Opposition Die Without Food, Medicine And Supplies
Click to expand...


Thankfully the modern world doesn't have tribal warfare to deal with.  Well,  not our own. Some choose to emigrate and bring it here.

That's another ball of wax though.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Homs Shelling Kills 2 Western Journalists 








> BEIRUT (AP)  A French photojournalist and an American working for a British newspaper were killed Wednesday by Syrian government shelling of the opposition stronghold of Homs, France's government said.
> 
> Activists said at least two other Western journalists were injured in barrages that claimed at least 19 lives.
> 
> In Paris, French government spokeswoman Valerie Pecresse said those killed were French photojournalist Remi Ochlik and American veteran war reporter Marie Colvin, who was working for Britain's Sunday Times. France's Foreign Minister, Alain Juppe, said the attacks show the "increasingly intolerable repression" by Syrian forces.
> 
> The Syrian military has redoubled its attacks on Homs in the past few days, aiming to retake neighborhoods that have come under control of the opposition and armed rebels  many of them military defectors. The seizure of territory and nearly daily clashes between the rebels and regime forces have pushed Syria to the brink of all-out civil war.
> 
> The Obama administration opened the door slightly Tuesday to international military assistance for Syria's rebels, with officials saying new tactics may have to be explored if President Bashar Assad continues to defy pressure to halt a brutal crackdown on dissenters that has raged for 11 months and killed thousands.
> 
> The White House and State Department said they still hope for a political solution. But faced with the daily onslaught by the Assad regime against Syrian civilians, officials dropped the administration's previous strident opposition to arming anti-regime forces. It remained unclear, though, what, if any, role the U.S. might play in providing such aid.
> 
> A Homs-based activist, Omar Shaker, also said two other Western journalists were wounded. including a photographer for the Sunday Times and a Spanish reporter.
> 
> There was no immediate comment from the Sunday Times or Ochlik's photo agency.
> 
> He said the journalists were killed when several rockets hit a garden of a house used by activists and journalists in the besieged Homs neighborhood of Baba Amr, which has come under weeks of heavy bombardment by forces from Assad's regime. At least 19 people were killed in Wednesday's shelling, including the journalists, activists said.
> 
> Shaker said the bodies were taken to a makeshift hospital in Baba Amr.
> 
> The U.N. estimates that 5,400 people have been killed in repression by the regime of President Bashar Assad against a popular uprising that began 11 months ago. Syrian activists, however, put the death toll at more than 7,300.
> 
> He added that intense Syrian troops shelling with tanks and artilleries began at 6:30 a.m. and was continuing hours later. He said the apartment used by journalists was hit around 10 a.m.
> 
> An amateur video posted online by activist showed what they claimed were bodies of two people in the middle of a heavily damaged house. It said they were of the journalists. One of the dead was wearing what appeared to be a flak jacket.
> 
> In Geneva, the International Red Cross said it was holding talks with members of the opposition Syrian National Council. The ICRC called Tuesday for a daily two-hour halt to fighting in Syria so it can bring emergency aid to affected areas and evacuate the wounded and sick.
> 
> Head of ICRI operations for the Middle East, Beatrice Megevand-Roggo, told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the ICRC had almost no contacts with opposition figures inside Syria.
> 
> The journalists' deaths came a day after a Syrian sniper shot dead Rami al-Sayyed, a prominent activist in Baba Amr who was famous for posting online videos, Shaker and the Local Coordination Committees activist group said.



Syria Crisis: Homs Shelling Kills 2 Western Journalists


----------



## Ropey

> Iran sent two warships steaming through the Suez Canal to Syria Monday &#8212; boosting embattled President Assad&#8217;s regime and flexing military might amid rumors of a looming Israeli attack.
> 
> Iran also launched military exercises in the central desert to improve the protection of its nuclear sites.
> 
> &#8220;The grandeur and mightiness of the country&#8217;s Armed Forces is a deterrent element against enemies&#8217; recent aggressions and threats,&#8221; Major Gen. Mohammad Ali Jaffari told Iran&#8217;s Fars news agency.
> 
> Iran insists it is enriching uranium for the generation of civilian power generation, but U.S. experts believe the nuclear program is gearing up to make weapons.
> 
> Israel says it won&#8217;t wait for a weapon to appear before striking Iran&#8217;s nuke facilities





> Joining the geopolitical chess match, China&#8217;s influential People&#8217;s Daily warned Monday that any Western support for Syria&#8217;s rebels would stir up a &#8220;large-scale civil war.&#8221;





> China and Russia are Syria&#8217;s last powerful allies.





> Syrian security forces have killed at least 5,000 people in the sputtering yearlong uprising against Assad&#8217;s rule, human rights groups say.



Iran dispatches warships through Suez Canal to aid Syrian dictator Bashar Assad* - NY Daily News


----------



## kiwiman127

What is going on in Syria is terrible. Assad is no better than Saddam was, he's killing his own people and he has supported terrorism.

And everybody just sits on their hands, while displaying token outrage.  Sad.

It seems that only CNN is really focused on what's going on in Syri from what I have seen.


----------



## High_Gravity

kiwiman127 said:


> What is going on in Syria is terrible. Assad is no better than Saddam was, he's killing his own people and he has supported terrorism.
> 
> And everybody just sits on their hands, while displaying token outrage.  Sad.
> 
> It seems that only CNN is really focused on what's going on in Syri from what I have seen.



Not everyone is sitting on their hands, China and Russia have not been shy about their support for the Assad regime, they are vetoeing everything at the UN and are fully backing the Syrian regime with money and weapons, Iran has also done the same thing, the only people sitting on their hands is us and the other Western countries.


----------



## High_Gravity

The U.S. and Other Friends of Syria Still Search for a Strategy to Oust Assad









> It is time we gave them the wherewithal to fight back and stop the slaughter, said Senator John McCain on Monday, referring to Syrias opposition amid the carnage being wrought by the Assad regimes efforts to quash a year-old rebellion. But McCains call is unlikely to be heeded by the Obama Administration or other Western governments as they prepare for Fridays inaugural meeting in Tunis of a Friends of Syria forum established to coordinate an international response to the crisis. Thats because Western decision-makers are not quite sure just who the Syrian opposition would be  there is no single leadership that speaks on behalf of those fighting the regime on the ground in cities across Syria, and there are certainly signs that its ranks may include elements deemed hostile to the West. And also, because its far from clear just how arming rebel forces would, in fact, stop the slaughter and not intensify it.
> 
> The problem confronting international stakeholders as they grapple for a response to the slow-moving bloodbath is that there at least three different narratives playing out at the same time in Syria, each of them complicating the others. Theres the narrative of the brutal authoritarian regime confronted by a popular citizens rebellion that it has been unable to crush despite a year of slowly escalating repression  a crackdown that has wrecked the countrys economy and made it impossible for the regime to restore stability, much less regain its legitimacy. (Nobodys expecting the constitutional referendum to be staged by the regime on Sunday to yield a credible popular mandate for Assads rule.)
> 
> 
> Then theres the narrative of sectarian warfare, in which Syrias ethnic and confessional minorities  the ruling Alawites who dominate the regime and its security forces, but also the Christians, the Kurds, the Druze and smaller sects  shudder in the face of a predominantly Sunni rebellion in which they see a specter of sectarian retribution that prompts many of them to remain on the sidelines or support the regime for fear of the alternative.
> 
> And finally, there are the geopolitical stakes, as the Sunni monarchies of the Gulf see an opportunity to hobble their Iranian nemesis by helping their indigenous allies overthrow a Tehran-backed regime. Syria also becomes an arena for China and Russia to block the expansion of Western influence in the Middle East through toppling regimes.
> 
> On arming the Syrian opposition, then, its probably going to happen regardless of what Western powers decide  itll be undertaken largely by Gulf powers such as Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which played a major role in boosting the Libyan rebel forces on the ground in the battle to oust Muammar Gaddafi. And the Russians will continue to arm the Assad regime, unwilling for their own geopolitical reasons to countenance his ouster. Russia has declined an invitation to attend Fridays discussion in Tunis, giving as its reason the fact that the Syrian government was not invited. China has yet to respond, but it, too, has supported seeking a political solution through dialogue with the regime, rather than forcing it out of power.
> 
> For Western and Arab powers  as well as the main exile-based opposition group that they appear to be moving towards recognizing as as an alternative, the Syrian National Council  the time for negotiating terms with Assad has passed. Obviously, Assad doesnt agree, nor do his backers in Moscow and Tehran. And his forces sustained bombardment of rebel-held suburbs of the city of Homs despite a U.N. General Assembly resolution demanding a halt to repression is a sign that the regime is still trying to crush the rebellion through a massive concentration of force. Instead, however, the uprising appears to be spreading, with protests last weekend reaching into previously passive, well-heeled neighborhoods in Damascus. Still, despite the slow but steady decline of its control over all of Syria, the regimes security forces remain dominant: they are unable to eliminate the rebellion, nor are they in any immediate danger of disintegrating.



Read more: The U.S. and Other &#8216;Friends of Syria&#8217; Still Search for a Strategy to Oust Assad | Global Spin | TIME.com


----------



## kiwiman127

High_Gravity said:


> kiwiman127 said:
> 
> 
> 
> What is going on in Syria is terrible. Assad is no better than Saddam was, he's killing his own people and he has supported terrorism.
> 
> And everybody just sits on their hands, while displaying token outrage.  Sad.
> 
> It seems that only CNN is really focused on what's going on in Syria from what I have seen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not everyone is sitting on their hands, China and Russia have not been shy about their support for the Assad regime, they are vetoeing everything at the UN and are fully backing the Syrian regime with money and weapons, Iran has also done the same thing, the only people sitting on their hands is us and the other Western countries.
Click to expand...



Russia and China have alot invested in Iran and Syria and have a strong foothold within those two countries,,it's very similar to the old Cold War days, they want their presence in the ME and they'll do all they can to preserve their presence.  The fact that Syrian citizens including children are dying isn't that important for either Russia or China.


----------



## High_Gravity

kiwiman127 said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> kiwiman127 said:
> 
> 
> 
> What is going on in Syria is terrible. Assad is no better than Saddam was, he's killing his own people and he has supported terrorism.
> 
> And everybody just sits on their hands, while displaying token outrage.  Sad.
> 
> It seems that only CNN is really focused on what's going on in Syria from what I have seen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not everyone is sitting on their hands, China and Russia have not been shy about their support for the Assad regime, they are vetoeing everything at the UN and are fully backing the Syrian regime with money and weapons, Iran has also done the same thing, the only people sitting on their hands is us and the other Western countries.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> Russia and China have alot invested in Iran and Syria and have a strong foothold within those two countries,,it's very similar to the old Cold War days, they want their presence in the ME and they'll do all they can to preserve their presence.  The fact that Syrian citizens including children are dying isn't that important for either Russia or China.
Click to expand...


Oh hell Russia and China wouldn't piss on those Syrian children if they were on fire, they don't care about anything but their own interests and have said so many times.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Hit List Targets Thousands








> A 718-page digital document obtained by Mother Jones contains names, phone numbers, neighborhoods, and alleged activities of thousands of dissidents apparently targeted by the Syrian government. Three experts asked separately by Mother Jones to examine the documentessentially a massive spreadsheet, whose contents are in Arabicsay they believe that it is authentic. As Bashar Al-Assad's military continues a deadly crackdown on dissent inside the country, the list appears to confirm in explicit detail the scale of the regime's domestic surveillance and its methodical efforts to destroy widespread opposition.
> 
> The document does not contain any identifying government markings. But the experts consulted agree that its organization and contentwhich they say is striking in scopeare characteristic of lists used by intelligence services in the Middle East. A link to the document, which surfaced in mid January in discussions about Syria on Twitter, was provided to Mother Jones by a self-described hactivist who tweets frequently in Arabic and English, and whose identity is unclear. A redacted sample of the document is below; Mother Jones is not publishing the full document or revealing the names of individuals in it because we cannot definitively confirm its authenticy nor predict how the document might be used if more widely disseminated.
> 
> But the experts who examined the document say it shows what many observers have strongly suspected: In addition to relentless bombing of cities such as Homs and Hama, the Assad regime is tracking down thousands of its own people for interrogation, coercion, or far worse. Joshua Landis, a scholar on Syria who has consulted for the State Department and other US government agencies, said he thinks the document merges the records of several Syrian intelligence agencies in order to better coordinate the crackdown. "This is what a secret service does," he said. Actions allegedly taken by individuals in the documentsuch as setting up a roadblock near Homs, or issuing instructions about how to attack a Syrian military outpostare "the kind of thing that people get whacked for all the time, or at least tortured for."
> 
> According to Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syria expert and fellow at the conservative Foundation for Defense of Democracies, the document contains the names of people wanted by the government's military and security services. It lists many of them with specific contextthe year of their birth, names of their relatives, and descriptions such as, "he leads rallies in the Sakhaneh neighborhood." The list also includes military defectors, and their units and ranks, Abdulhamid said. "This kind of info on this scale cannot be available to the general public, or faked."
> 
> The hactivist who alerted Mother Jones to the online document said that it was posted by members of an activist organizing committee inside Syria, but declined to provide any details confirming that, citing security concerns. It's conceivable that the document involves deception by the Syrian regime or counterintelligence operations by its adversaries; the United States, Israel, and other Western powers are known to have run sophisticated covert operations against Syria and Iran for many years.
> 
> Andrew Tabler, a Syria expert and fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, agrees that the list appears to be authentic, despite that there is no way to know for sure. "The way it's organized looks similar to other documents I've seen," he said, citing a hit list he saw when he was in Syria in 2006. (That list, he said, also did not contain identifying government markings.) "It organizes people in such a way that it would allow the security services to be able to track them down." Tabler also said the document is longer than any he's previously seen; it allows the Syrian government to "more effectively round up these folks and choke them off as part of the crackdown."



Syria Hit List Targets Thousands | Mother Jones


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Violence: Homs Hit With Shells, Rockets Ahead Of 'Sham' Vote 








> AMMAN, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Syrian artillery pummelled rebel-held areas of Homs on Monday before an expected government announcement that a vote - decried as a sham by the opposition and the West - has approved a new constitution proposed by President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> Shells and rockets crashed into Sunni Muslim districts of Homs that have already endured weeks of bombardment as Assad's forces, led by officers from his minority Alawite sect, try to stamp out an almost year-long revolt against his 11-year rule.
> 
> "Intense shelling started on Khalidiya, Ashira, Bayada, Baba Amro and the old city at dawn," opposition activist Mohammed al-Homsi told Reuters from the city on the Damascus-Aleppo highway.
> 
> "The army is firing from the main thoroughfares deep into alleyways and side streets. Initial reports indicate at least two people killed in the souk area," he said.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said later at least seven people had been killed by shellfire in Baba Amro. The accounts of opposition activists were echoed by those from other observers, including the Red Cross.
> 
> At least 59 civilians and soldiers were killed on Sunday in a violent backdrop to a referendum on a constitution that offers some reforms, but could enable Assad to keep power until 2028.
> 
> The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has said conditions in parts of Homs are worsening by the hour, has failed to secure a pause in the fighting to allow the wounded to be evacuated and desperately needed aid to be delivered.
> 
> "We are still in negotiations. Since the beginning, the objective has been to go in and evacuate people and bring in assistance. Every hour, every day makes a difference," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva.
> 
> 
> *QUEST FOR ACCESS*
> 
> The relief agency has been pursuing talks with the Syrian authorities and opposition forces for days to secure access to besieged neighbourhoods such as Baba Amro, where local activists say hundreds of wounded need treatment and thousands of civilians are short of water, food and medical supplies.
> 
> Four Western journalists are trapped in Baba Amro, two of them wounded. American reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed there on Feb. 22.
> 
> French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he hoped the journalists could be rescued soon. "It's very tense, but things are starting to move, it seems," he told RTL radio.
> 
> The ICRC evacuated 27 people, seven of whom were badly wounded, from Baba Amro on Friday.
> 
> The ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers distributed aid supplies in Hama, another restive city under army attack, on Monday for the first time in six weeks, the ICRC spokesman said.
> 
> The outside world has proved powerless to halt the carnage in Syria, where repression of initially peaceful protests has spawned an armed insurrection by army deserters and others.
> 
> Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin again warned the West against military intervention in Syria, Moscow's long-time ally, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear there was no enthusiasm in Washington for war. Russia and China have blocked action against Syria by the U.N. Security Council.
> 
> 
> There were signs of rhetorical escalation in the international confrontation over Syria - Clinton's description last week of the Russian and Chinese veto as "despicable" earned her a reproach from Beijing's foreign ministry that such language was "totally unacceptable".
> 
> A Chinese newspaper, noting the chaos in Iraq after the U.S. occupation, accused Washington of "egotistical super arrogance".
> 
> Sarkozy said, however, that Western powers hoped diplomacy could change minds: "We are putting pressure on the Russians first and the Chinese afterwards so that they lift their veto.
> 
> "You can't continue to massacre a people. The next Syrian government is not up to us but things can't continue like this."
> 
> The European Union agreed a further round of economic sanctions on Monday, targeting the Syrian central bank and some ministers, curbing gold trading and banning cargo flights.
> 
> Assad's government, which is also backed by Iran, says it is fighting foreign-backed "armed terrorist groups".



Syria Violence: Homs Hit With Shells, Rockets Ahead Of 'Sham' Vote


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Violence: Homs Hit With Shells, Rockets Ahead Of 'Sham' Vote
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AMMAN, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Syrian artillery pummelled rebel-held areas of Homs on Monday before an expected government announcement that a vote - decried as a sham by the opposition and the West - has approved a new constitution proposed by President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> Shells and rockets crashed into Sunni Muslim districts of Homs that have already endured weeks of bombardment as Assad's forces, led by officers from his minority Alawite sect, try to stamp out an almost year-long revolt against his 11-year rule.
> 
> "Intense shelling started on Khalidiya, Ashira, Bayada, Baba Amro and the old city at dawn," opposition activist Mohammed al-Homsi told Reuters from the city on the Damascus-Aleppo highway.
> 
> "The army is firing from the main thoroughfares deep into alleyways and side streets. Initial reports indicate at least two people killed in the souk area," he said.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said later at least seven people had been killed by shellfire in Baba Amro. The accounts of opposition activists were echoed by those from other observers, including the Red Cross.
> 
> At least 59 civilians and soldiers were killed on Sunday in a violent backdrop to a referendum on a constitution that offers some reforms, but could enable Assad to keep power until 2028.
> 
> The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has said conditions in parts of Homs are worsening by the hour, has failed to secure a pause in the fighting to allow the wounded to be evacuated and desperately needed aid to be delivered.
> 
> "We are still in negotiations. Since the beginning, the objective has been to go in and evacuate people and bring in assistance. Every hour, every day makes a difference," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva.
> 
> 
> *QUEST FOR ACCESS*
> 
> The relief agency has been pursuing talks with the Syrian authorities and opposition forces for days to secure access to besieged neighbourhoods such as Baba Amro, where local activists say hundreds of wounded need treatment and thousands of civilians are short of water, food and medical supplies.
> 
> Four Western journalists are trapped in Baba Amro, two of them wounded. American reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed there on Feb. 22.
> 
> French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he hoped the journalists could be rescued soon. "It's very tense, but things are starting to move, it seems," he told RTL radio.
> 
> The ICRC evacuated 27 people, seven of whom were badly wounded, from Baba Amro on Friday.
> 
> The ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers distributed aid supplies in Hama, another restive city under army attack, on Monday for the first time in six weeks, the ICRC spokesman said.
> 
> The outside world has proved powerless to halt the carnage in Syria, where repression of initially peaceful protests has spawned an armed insurrection by army deserters and others.
> 
> Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin again warned the West against military intervention in Syria, Moscow's long-time ally, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear there was no enthusiasm in Washington for war. Russia and China have blocked action against Syria by the U.N. Security Council.
> 
> 
> There were signs of rhetorical escalation in the international confrontation over Syria - Clinton's description last week of the Russian and Chinese veto as "despicable" earned her a reproach from Beijing's foreign ministry that such language was "totally unacceptable".
> 
> A Chinese newspaper, noting the chaos in Iraq after the U.S. occupation, accused Washington of "egotistical super arrogance".
> 
> Sarkozy said, however, that Western powers hoped diplomacy could change minds: "We are putting pressure on the Russians first and the Chinese afterwards so that they lift their veto.
> 
> "You can't continue to massacre a people. The next Syrian government is not up to us but things can't continue like this."
> 
> The European Union agreed a further round of economic sanctions on Monday, targeting the Syrian central bank and some ministers, curbing gold trading and banning cargo flights.
> 
> Assad's government, which is also backed by Iran, says it is fighting foreign-backed "armed terrorist groups".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Homs Hit With Shells, Rockets Ahead Of 'Sham' Vote
Click to expand...


Arabs Democratically voting?  
Chinese caring if the people who are not voting die? 
Russians concerned with halting a war in the Middle East?

No to all three.


----------



## theliq

High_Gravity said:


> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Security forces wielding batons dispersed 150 demonstrators who had gathered in central of Damascus on Wednesday in the most serious protest against Syria's ruling hierarchy since revolts spread in the Arab world.
> 
> Scores of plainclothes security officers charged the demonstrators assembled outside the Interior Ministry to demand the release of political prisoners, a Reuters witness said.
> 
> One demonstrator suffered a gash on his head, others were beaten and at least 15 were detained, including leading political activist Suhair al-Attasi.
> 
> Attasi had said Syrian authorities would not be able to escape the tumult shaking the Arab world by refusing to open the country's political system and allowing free expression.
> 
> "They pulled Suhair by her hair and took her away," one demonstrator said.
> 
> Among those arrested were Tayyib Tizini, 69, a professor of philosophy at Damascus University, and the sister and son of Kamal Labwani, a doctor jailed for "weakening national morale" and "inciting a foreign country to invade Syria."
> 
> The gathering in Marjeh square, an Ottoman-era square in the centre of the capital, had been silent, with protesters raising pictures of imprisoned relatives and friends, before security forces started hitting them with their batons.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest | World | Reuters
Click to expand...

  Thanks for the post Grav,steve


----------



## theliq

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Homs Hit With Shells, Rockets Ahead Of 'Sham' Vote
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AMMAN, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Syrian artillery pummelled rebel-held areas of Homs on Monday before an expected government announcement that a vote - decried as a sham by the opposition and the West - has approved a new constitution proposed by President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> Shells and rockets crashed into Sunni Muslim districts of Homs that have already endured weeks of bombardment as Assad's forces, led by officers from his minority Alawite sect, try to stamp out an almost year-long revolt against his 11-year rule.
> 
> "Intense shelling started on Khalidiya, Ashira, Bayada, Baba Amro and the old city at dawn," opposition activist Mohammed al-Homsi told Reuters from the city on the Damascus-Aleppo highway.
> 
> "The army is firing from the main thoroughfares deep into alleyways and side streets. Initial reports indicate at least two people killed in the souk area," he said.
> 
> The London-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said later at least seven people had been killed by shellfire in Baba Amro. The accounts of opposition activists were echoed by those from other observers, including the Red Cross.
> 
> At least 59 civilians and soldiers were killed on Sunday in a violent backdrop to a referendum on a constitution that offers some reforms, but could enable Assad to keep power until 2028.
> 
> The International Committee of the Red Cross, which has said conditions in parts of Homs are worsening by the hour, has failed to secure a pause in the fighting to allow the wounded to be evacuated and desperately needed aid to be delivered.
> 
> "We are still in negotiations. Since the beginning, the objective has been to go in and evacuate people and bring in assistance. Every hour, every day makes a difference," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan said in Geneva.
> 
> 
> *QUEST FOR ACCESS*
> 
> The relief agency has been pursuing talks with the Syrian authorities and opposition forces for days to secure access to besieged neighbourhoods such as Baba Amro, where local activists say hundreds of wounded need treatment and thousands of civilians are short of water, food and medical supplies.
> 
> Four Western journalists are trapped in Baba Amro, two of them wounded. American reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik were killed there on Feb. 22.
> 
> French President Nicolas Sarkozy said he hoped the journalists could be rescued soon. "It's very tense, but things are starting to move, it seems," he told RTL radio.
> 
> The ICRC evacuated 27 people, seven of whom were badly wounded, from Baba Amro on Friday.
> 
> The ICRC and Syrian Arab Red Crescent volunteers distributed aid supplies in Hama, another restive city under army attack, on Monday for the first time in six weeks, the ICRC spokesman said.
> 
> The outside world has proved powerless to halt the carnage in Syria, where repression of initially peaceful protests has spawned an armed insurrection by army deserters and others.
> 
> Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin again warned the West against military intervention in Syria, Moscow's long-time ally, but U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton made clear there was no enthusiasm in Washington for war. Russia and China have blocked action against Syria by the U.N. Security Council.
> 
> 
> There were signs of rhetorical escalation in the international confrontation over Syria - Clinton's description last week of the Russian and Chinese veto as "despicable" earned her a reproach from Beijing's foreign ministry that such language was "totally unacceptable".
> 
> A Chinese newspaper, noting the chaos in Iraq after the U.S. occupation, accused Washington of "egotistical super arrogance".
> 
> Sarkozy said, however, that Western powers hoped diplomacy could change minds: "We are putting pressure on the Russians first and the Chinese afterwards so that they lift their veto.
> 
> "You can't continue to massacre a people. The next Syrian government is not up to us but things can't continue like this."
> 
> The European Union agreed a further round of economic sanctions on Monday, targeting the Syrian central bank and some ministers, curbing gold trading and banning cargo flights.
> 
> Assad's government, which is also backed by Iran, says it is fighting foreign-backed "armed terrorist groups".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Homs Hit With Shells, Rockets Ahead Of 'Sham' Vote
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Arabs Democratically voting?
> Chinese caring if the people who are not voting die?
> Russians concerned with halting a war in the Middle East?
> 
> No to all three.
Click to expand...

   Thanks Ropie good post.steve


----------



## High_Gravity

theliq said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Security forces wielding batons dispersed 150 demonstrators who had gathered in central of Damascus on Wednesday in the most serious protest against Syria's ruling hierarchy since revolts spread in the Arab world.
> 
> Scores of plainclothes security officers charged the demonstrators assembled outside the Interior Ministry to demand the release of political prisoners, a Reuters witness said.
> 
> One demonstrator suffered a gash on his head, others were beaten and at least 15 were detained, including leading political activist Suhair al-Attasi.
> 
> Attasi had said Syrian authorities would not be able to escape the tumult shaking the Arab world by refusing to open the country's political system and allowing free expression.
> 
> "They pulled Suhair by her hair and took her away," one demonstrator said.
> 
> Among those arrested were Tayyib Tizini, 69, a professor of philosophy at Damascus University, and the sister and son of Kamal Labwani, a doctor jailed for "weakening national morale" and "inciting a foreign country to invade Syria."
> 
> The gathering in Marjeh square, an Ottoman-era square in the centre of the capital, had been silent, with protesters raising pictures of imprisoned relatives and friends, before security forces started hitting them with their batons.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest | World | Reuters
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks for the post Grav,steve
Click to expand...


You are slowly becoming a better poster.


----------



## theliq

High_Gravity said:


> theliq said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest | World | Reuters
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the post Grav,steve
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You are slowly becoming a better poster.
Click to expand...

 Thanks for that Grav,coming from you I know you mean it(anyway being a habitual dickhead does not suit me really) I will add though from Ropies post re Democratically elected,... that the Palestinians did have a democratic vote at the behest of the US and Israel but it was split between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority which has created yet more problems for Israel.steve just saying in finishing the Syrian Government are complete SHITS


----------



## theliq

kiwiman127 said:


> What is going on in Syria is terrible. Assad is no better than Saddam was, he's killing his own people and he has supported terrorism.
> 
> And everybody just sits on their hands, while displaying token outrage.  Sad.
> 
> It seems that only CNN is really focused on what's going on in Syri from what I have seen.


 Hi Kiwiman,I would point out that although Saddam was a shit with minorities in Iraq,the average Iraqi was pretty well off,in particular women did not have to cover themselves up...and in general wore western dress,moreover they were allowed to work in society and were very well educated and worked as Engineers,Doctors,etc., now what for them????steven


----------



## High_Gravity

theliq said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> theliq said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for the post Grav,steve
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are slowly becoming a better poster.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Thanks for that Grav,coming from you I know you mean it(anyway being a habitual dickhead does not suit me really) I will add though from Ropies post re Democratically elected,... that the Palestinians did have a democratic vote at the behest of the US and Israel but it was split between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority which has created yet more problems for Israel.steve just saying in finishing the Syrian Government are complete SHITS
Click to expand...


You have come along way since you started posting here, keep it up homie.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> theliq said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> You are slowly becoming a better poster.
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for that Grav,coming from you I know you mean it(anyway being a habitual dickhead does not suit me really) I will add though from Ropies post re Democratically elected,... that the Palestinians did have a democratic vote at the behest of the US and Israel but it was split between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority which has created yet more problems for Israel.steve just saying in finishing the Syrian Government are complete SHITS
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You have come along way since you started posting here, keep it up homie.
Click to expand...


^^ Slowly though.  


Democracy doesn't work in the hands of fascists. To take a vote Democratically and then fight with the other parties (to the death) is NOT Democracy.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Elite Troops Pound Homs 








> BEIRUT, March 1 (Reuters) - Elite Syrian forces trying to destroy rebels besieged in Homs pounded the shattered district of Baba Amro on Thursday, despite international alarm at the plight of civilians trapped there.
> 
> Snow blanketed the city, slowing down the military assault, but also worsening conditions for civilians, activists said.
> 
> "We have not seen such snow in Homs in years. The bombardment on Baba Amro and other parts of the city is continuing but the fighting has subsided after the army was repelled yesterday," activist Abu Imad said from Homs.
> 
> He said casualties on both sides had been heavy, but no tally was available because of the fighting and bad weather.
> 
> Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is increasingly isolated in his struggle to crush an armed insurrection that now spearheads an almost year-long uprising against his 11-year rule.
> 
> But Russia, China and Cuba voted against a resolution, adopted overwhelmingly by the 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council in Geneva, that condemned Syria for violations that may amount to crimes against humanity.
> 
> A senior official in the rebel Free Syrian Army told Reuters that outgunned fighters in Baba Amro were fending off more than 7,000 government troops. Opposition forces had promised to step up attacks elsewhere in Syria to try to relieve the pressure.
> 
> "Baba Amro will be the straw that will break the regime's back," Mohaimen al-Rumaid said from an area in Turkey near the Syrian border. "All of Syria is turning into Baba Amro."
> 
> Heavy shelling resumed overnight after several hours of sporadic bombardment, opposition sources in the city said.
> 
> The exile opposition Syrian National Council said on Thursday it had formed a military council to oversee and organise armed anti-Assad groups under a unified leadership.
> 
> "The creation of the military council was agreed upon by all armed forces in Syria," SNC leader Burhan Ghalioun told a news conference in Paris. "We will be like a defence ministry."
> 
> The SNC has been under pressure from within Syria for not overtly backing the armed struggle led by the Free Syrian Army, made up of army deserters and other insurgents.
> 
> With Assad's forces closing in rebels in Homs, the SNC appealed for help late on Wednesday, urging the U.N.-Arab League envoy on Syria, Kofi Annan, to go to Baba Amro "tonight".
> 
> Annan said in New York he expected to visit Syria soon and urged Assad to engage with efforts to end the turmoil.
> 
> Syria, which denied entry this week to U.N. humanitarian aid chief Valerie Amos, adopted a guarded approach to Annan's role.



Syria Crisis: Elite Troops Pound Homs


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Rebels Say They Are Withdrawing From Enclave








> BEIRUT, Lebanon  After a bruising, 27-day siege under intensifying bombardment, rebels holed up in the shattered Baba Amr neighborhood of the central Syrian city of Homs announced a tactical withdrawal on Thursday, apparently handing victory to forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad but raising concerns about the plight of civilians there.
> 
> A campaign of raids and arrests began almost immediately in the area, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, which said 17 people had died in Baba Amr on Thursday.
> 
> Later on Thursday, the International Committee of the Red Cross said in a statement that Syrian authorities had granted it a green light to enter the battered neighborhood and bring much-needed assistance including food and medical aid and to carry out evacuation operations.
> 
> Baba Amr had become an emblem of resistance with fighters maintaining their defiance despite daily reports of a pounding by artillery, sniper and tank fire as government forces encircled them. The announcement of a rebel pullout, a day after government forces seemed to crank up military pressure on the neighborhood, came as Western and Arab nations pressed to deepen the diplomatic isolation of the Damascus authorities.
> 
> A statement from the fighters within the neighborhood, the Revolutionary Brigades of Baba Amr, said they were making a tactical retreat because of the drastic humanitarian situation for the residents who are lacking food, medicine, water, electricity and any means of communication.
> 
> The government shelling, which began on Feb. 4, had practically leveled Baba Amr, the statement said, and the government forces enjoyed an overwhelming superiority in firepower from helicopters to tanks to mortars.
> 
> With about 4,000 residents left, the statement held the government soldiers responsible for the safety of those left and called for international humanitarian organizations like the Red Cross to be allowed to deploy in the quarter.
> 
> There are widespread concerns that the army units might exact revenge on the residents for holding out for a month  not least because the Syrian government has a history of murdering the residents of rebellious neighborhoods as it did in nearby Hama in 1982.
> 
> We warn the regime against any acts of revenge that would target civilians, the rebel statement said on Thursday. They are responsible for the security and the safety of the people living there.
> 
> Despite its overwhelming strength in arms, the Syrian military has been hard-pressed to deploy all the units it needs to put down the fires of the uprising that have erupted across the country. Instead they have had to address rebellious cities one at a time. Once Homs is considered under control, the military is expected to address the uprising in Hama and particularly Idlib, where villages spread over a wide area have declared themselves free of the government.
> 
> But, analysts said, the nagging question for the authorities is whether they will be able to hold on to cities captured at such a high cost once the military moves on. The fighting is also drawing increasingly strident condemnation from the West and some Arab countries.
> 
> In Geneva, the United Nations Human Rights Council voted on Thursday to condemn Mr. Assads government for widespread violations of human rights in the almost year-old crackdown on its opponents and to demand an end to violence that has become the bloodiest of the so-called Arab Spring.
> 
> The nonbinding measure, calling on the Syrian authorities to permit humanitarian access to opposition enclaves, was approved by 37 nations including the United States at a Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, with China, Cuba and Russia voting against it. Ecuador, India and the Philippines abstained, and four members of the 47-nation council did not participate.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/02/w...ght-in-syrian-city-activists-say.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## theliq

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> theliq said:
> 
> 
> 
> Thanks for that Grav,coming from you I know you mean it(anyway being a habitual dickhead does not suit me really) I will add though from Ropies post re Democratically elected,... that the Palestinians did have a democratic vote at the behest of the US and Israel but it was split between Hamas and the Palestinian Authority which has created yet more problems for Israel.steve just saying in finishing the Syrian Government are complete SHITS
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You have come along way since you started posting here, keep it up homie.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> ^^ Slowly though.  better than not at all Ropie,I'll take this opportunity(see below)
> 
> 
> Democracy doesn't work in the hands of fascists. To take a vote Democratically and then fight with the other parties (to the death) is NOT Democracy.
Click to expand...

 TO THANK YOU PERSONALLY for all your help.steve


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Red Cross Headed For Homs Amid Rumors Of Execution Style Killings 








> BEIRUT -- The Red Cross dispatched an aid convoy to an embattled neighborhood in the Syrian city of Homs Friday, and the U.N. said it was alarmed by reports of execution-style killings after the Syrian army seized the area from rebel forces.
> 
> The seizure of Baba Amr by the Syrian army was a blow to the rebels seeking to overthrow the regime of authoritarian President Bashar Assad. The central city of Homs, Syria's third largest, has emerged as a key battleground in the 11-month-old anti-Assad uprisings.
> 
> Before government forces stormed the area Thursday, it had been under a tight siege and daily shelling for nearly four weeks. Activists said hundreds were killed and many lived for days with little food and no electricity or running water.
> 
> A spokesman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said Friday the agency had received unconfirmed reports of "a particularly grisly set of summary executions" involving 17 people in the area after government forces entered.
> 
> Rupert Colville did not provide details but said his office was seeking to confirm the reports and called on both government and rebel forces to refrain from all forms of reprisal.
> 
> The International Committee of the Red Cross said it sent a convoy of aid trucks to Baba Amr from the capital Damascus early Friday after getting permission from the government.
> 
> Khalid Arqsouseh, a spokesman for the Syrian Red Crescent in Homs, said the seven 15-ton trucks were carrying food, milk powder, medical supplies and blankets. They were expected to reach the area early afternoon, despite snow along the route.
> 
> Also Friday, a French journalist wounded last week in a rocket attack in Baba Amr last week that killed two other Western journalists is expected to fly home to France from Beirut, said a senior Lebanese security official, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations.
> 
> Activists smuggled Edith Bouvier across the Lebanese-Syrian border Thursday and she is being treated at Beirut's Hotel-Dieu de France hospital.
> 
> The attack that wounded Bouvier also injured British photographer Paul Conroy and killed American reporter Marie Colvin and French photographer Remi Ochlik. Conroy and Spanish reporter Javier Espinosa were smuggled out of Syria this week. Another French reporter, William Daniels, was traveling with Bouvier.
> 
> Activist videos posted online Thursday showed the burials of Colvin and Ochlik in Baba Amr early this week. The Syrian government said it dug up the bodies after taking Baba Arm so they could be repatriated.
> 
> Syria has faced mounting international criticism over its bloody crackdown on the uprising, which started with peaceful protests but has become increasingly militarized.
> 
> The U.S. has called for Assad to step down and Hillary Rodham Clinton said he could be considered a war criminal.



Syria Crisis: Red Cross Headed For Homs Amid Rumors Of Execution Style Killings


----------



## Hugidwyn

Syrian army regular forces captured more than a hundred French troops during an operation to suppress the rebellion in the city of Homs.
 Were captured 18 officers and 100 troopers from France, and about 70 Lebanese fighters who fought in Homs, reports the Internet version of the Egyptian newspaper "Al Ahram"

 With the capture by government troops quarter of Bab Amr in Homs Syrian military phase of the conflict is over.

 We can say that the crisis is now behind us. After stripping Homs Idlib time.

 Of course, all will be faced with several pockets of armed resistance, acting with the support of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but it will take less than a month to deal with them.


----------



## High_Gravity

Hugidwyn said:


> Syrian army regular forces captured more than a hundred French troops during an operation to suppress the rebellion in the city of Homs.
> Were captured 18 officers and 100 troopers from France, and about 70 Lebanese fighters who fought in Homs, reports the Internet version of the Egyptian newspaper "Al Ahram"
> 
> With the capture by government troops quarter of Bab Amr in Homs Syrian military phase of the conflict is over.
> 
> We can say that the crisis is now behind us. After stripping Homs Idlib time.
> 
> Of course, all will be faced with several pockets of armed resistance, acting with the support of Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but it will take less than a month to deal with them.



You are a fucking idiot, this crisis is far from behind us.


----------



## High_Gravity

John McCain Calls For U.S.-Led Airstrikes On Syria 









> WASHINGTON -- Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) on Monday knocked the Obama administration for being too passive in its response to Syrian violence and called for U.S.-led airstrikes on President Bashar al-Assad's military forces.
> 
> "The time has come for a new policy," McCain said during remarks on the Senate floor. "The United States should lead an international effort to protect key population centers in Syria, especially in the north, through airstrikes on Assads forces. To be clear: This will require the United States to suppress enemy air defenses in at least part of the country."
> 
> McCain, the ranking Republican on the Senate Armed Services Committee, said the goal of airstrikes should be to create safe havens in the country for opposition forces to plan their own political and military attacks against Assad. The benefit of the United States leading the military effort, he said, is that it would allow the U.S. to better empower Syrian groups that support U.S. interests to move toward a democratic transition.
> 
> "If we stand on the sidelines, others will try to pick winners, and this will not always be to our liking or in our interest," he said.
> 
> McCain is the first U.S. senator to publicly call for a military attack on Assad's regime. During his floor remarks, he said more than 7,500 lives have been lost in Syria amid the uprising and that the United Nations has declared Syrian security forces guilty of crimes against humanity.
> 
> For weeks, McCain has been ratcheting up calls for a U.S. military intervention in Syria. He said in early February that the U.S. should begin thinking of arming the opposition, though he also warned of the risks of doing so. By mid-February, he said the U.S. should consider sending diplomatic and military resources to the groups. The State Department has resisted doing so, though it has been planning ways to get humanitarian aid to the rebels.
> 
> During his Senate remarks, McCain noted that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton argued just last week that the U.S. continues to oppose providing military assistance because the identities of the rebels are unclear and U.S. aid could end up aiding terrorist groups like al Qaeda or Hamas. But in the meantime, McCain said, the U.S. has made "not much" of an effort to meet and engage directly with the rebels.
> 
> He cited other concerns by the administration that providing military assistance could enable a "bloody and indiscriminate" sectarian civil war. "This is a serious and legitimate concern, and it is only growing worse the longer the conflict goes on," McCain said, which means the U.S. needs to step in to end the fighting sooner than later. Furthermore, the risks of sectarian conflict will exist in Syria whether we get more involved or not."



John McCain Calls For U.S.-Led Airstrikes On Syria


----------



## Hugidwyn

Putin said that McCain fought in Vietnam and to his credit enough blood of innocent civilians. In addition, Putin added that the senator was not just in prison, and put him into a pit, and from that he was crazy fucker.






The poster says:
McCain, a pit in Vietnam you learned nothing.


----------



## High_Gravity

Hugidwyn said:


> Putin said that McCain fought in Vietnam and to his credit enough blood of innocent civilians. In addition, Putin added that the senator was not just in prison, and put him into a pit, and from that he was crazy fucker.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The poster says:
> McCain, a pit in Vietnam you learned nothing.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Smell Of Death Filled Baba Amr 








> BEIRUT, March 6 (Reuters) - Residents of Baba Amr who fled to Lebanon said the smell of decomposed bodies, sewage and destruction filled the air in the Syrian city of Homs as troops seeking to crush a revolt against President Bashar al-Assad bombarded it into submission.
> 
> With aid workers still blocked from reaching the former rebel stronghold and most foreign journalists banned from Syria, witness accounts from residents who fled across the border portrayed a grim picture of conditions in Homs.
> 
> "The smell of death was everywhere. We could smell the bodies buried under the rubble all the time," said Ahmad, who fled to Lebanon last week.
> 
> "Bodies are in the streets, many are decomposed but we could not bury them," he said, speaking at a relative's house in Lebanon, looking tired with dark circles around his eyes.
> 
> "We saw so much death that at the end the sight of a dismembered body of a relative or a friend stopped moving us."
> 
> Residents knew the end was near when, after a month of shelling, the Syrian army blew up a 3-km (2-mile) tunnel they had used to smuggle in essentials keeping them alive.
> 
> After that fighters of the Free Syrian Army, citing lack of ammunition and many casualties, urged people to leave.
> 
> Men fled to Lebanon, women and children to villages in Homs province. But some did not make it. Activists said last week at least 62 people were killed when they tried to leave Baba Amr.
> 
> Those who left said heavy bombardment had razed most of the neighbourhood. Many buildings and houses were flattened, water pipes were blown up and sewage and litter filled the streets.
> 
> "I stopped feeling anything when I see people I know dead... Many people started feeling like that - the atrocities we saw were beyond our imagination," said another former resident, speaking from a secret location as his presence was illegal.
> 
> Syrian state television reported residents were returning to Baba Amr, airing footage on Tuesday of dozens of men, women and children walking through grubby streets, passing pock-marked and semi-destroyed buildings.



Syria Crisis: Smell Of Death Filled Baba Amr


----------



## Hugidwyn

Meanwhile, in Syria, made &#8203;&#8203;the ceremonial laying of the well for McCain. The pit will be located in the central square of Damascus.






  Permission to conduct excavations in the center of the city gave the head of the architectural bureau in Damascus Abdul Rauf al-Casma. Opening the asphalt began to personally Bashar al-Assad. At the opening of the pit has gathered nearly 550 thousand inhabitants.






According to the project, the pit will be an exact copy of the Vietnamese well, in which McCain has spent the most memorable years of his youth. Draft prepared by the College of Architecture and Fine Arts of Damascus, whose representatives have returned two weeks ago from a special trip to Vietnam to conduct all the necessary measurements.


----------



## High_Gravity

U.N. Syria Aid Plan To Feed 1.5 Million 








> GENEVA, March 8 (Reuters) - The United Nations said on Thursday it was readying food stocks for 1.5 million people in Syria as part of a 90-day emergency contingency plan to help civilians deprived of basic supplies after nearly a year of conflict.
> 
> "More needs to be done," John Ging of the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Assistance (OCHA) told a one-day Syrian Humanitarian Forum in Geneva.
> 
> "The U.N. side of the humanitarian community is looking at the process of additional food stocks pre-positioned to target 1.5 million people," said Ging, who is chairing the meeting.
> 
> 
> He described the situation in Syria as "very fluid" and said the capacity of Syrian health services to provide trauma care and medicines must be restored. Water systems damaged during shelling of residential areas must be repaired.
> 
> The world body, which has been shut out of Syria, has drawn up an initial three-month aid plan of $105 million which is likely to translate into a funding appeal to donors, diplomats and U.N. sources told Reuters.
> 
> The U.N. estimates more than 7,500 civilians have died during Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's crackdown on a popular uprising.
> 
> Top U.N. aid official Valerie Amos is midway through a three-day visit to Syria, where she made a brief visit on Wednesday to the shattered Baba Amr district of Homs.
> 
> The International Committee of the Red Cross, the only international agency to deploy aid workers in Syria, is also taking part in the meeting.
> 
> "The political process is getting very complicated but the Syrian people cannot wait. Humanitarians have to step in," Claus Sorensen, director general of the European Union's aid department ECHO, told the talks.
> 
> "The purpose of this meeting is to give an answer to the immediate suffering...It is about getting access, access and access -- that is a precondition for actually providing any type of relief," he said.
> 
> Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, Syria's ambassador to the U.N. in Geneva, took the floor to reject the Geneva forum as having been convened "contrary to the U.N. Charter".
> 
> "Syria is not undergoing a humanitarian crisis," Hamoui said, accusing some media of trying to "prepare the ground for foreign mlitary intervention".



U.N. Syria Aid Plan To Feed 1.5 Million


----------



## High_Gravity

Abdo Husameddine, Syria Deputy Oil Minister, Defects 








> BEIRUT  Syria's deputy oil minister defected and posted his parting words to President Bashar Assad in a video on YouTube Thursday, calling the regime criminal and urging his colleagues to also abandon the "sinking ship."
> 
> Abdo Husameddine's defection came at the height of international pressure against Assad's regime as it tries to suppress an uprising now morphing into an armed insurgency, with the U.S. considering options for military intervention.
> 
> The deputy minister is the highest ranking civilian official to abandon the regime since the revolt against Assad's iron-fisted rule began a year ago.
> 
> "I don't wish to end my life servicing the crimes of this regime," Husameddine said in the video, dressed in a suit and tie and apparently reading from a piece of paper. "This is why I have chosen to join the voice of righteousness, knowing that this regime will burn my home, persecute my family and come up with a lot of lies. I advise my colleagues who have been silent in the face of crimes for a year to abandon this sinking ship which is about to drown."
> 
> It was not clear when or where the video was made and he did not disclose his current location. There was no comment from the regime in Damascus.
> 
> "I declare that I am joining the revolution of the dignified people," Husameddine said.
> 
> "You have inflicted on those you claim are your people a full year of sorrow and sadness, and denied them their basic rights to life and humanity and pushed the country to the edge of the abyss with your intransigence and detachment from reality. The economy of the country has reached near collapse," he added.
> 
> Husameddine identified himself as an engineer and assistant to the oil minister. He said he was member of the ruling Baath Party, but was now quitting, and added he had served 33 years in various government positions. Cabinet ministers in Syria may have several assistants known as deputies.
> 
> Assad's regime has suffered a steady stream of army defectors, who have joined a group of dissidents known as the Free Syrian Army, now numbering in the thousands. But civilian government officials have remained largely loyal.
> 
> That made Husameddine's defection all the more rare.
> 
> Among numerous military defections recently was that of Brig. Gen. Mostafa Ahmad al-Sheik, who fled to Turkey in January, becoming the highest ranking officer to bolt. In late August, Adnan Bakkour, the attorney general of the central city of Hama, appeared in a a video announcing he had defected from the regime. Authorities reported he had been kidnapped and said he was being kept against his will by gunmen. He has not been heard from since.
> 
> International pressure on Assad reached a new peak Wednesday when a senior U.S. military commander said President Barak Obama was assessing options for military intervention in Syria.
> 
> Although there are widespread concerns that military action could cause a regional upheaval in the Middle East, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee that Obama has ordered up a Pentagon review of options.
> 
> Dempsey said the options to be examined include enforcing a no-fly zone and humanitarian airlifts. He added that the military would study the situation and report back on points like Syria's sophisticated air defenses and its extensive stockpile of chemical weapons.
> 
> The U.N. says more than 7,500 people have been killed in the year since the uprising began. Activists put the death toll at more than 8,000.
> 
> On Wednesday, the U.N. humanitarian chief, Valerie Amos, got the first independent outside look at the Baba Amr district of Homs following a deadly monthlong siege. The military took control of Baba Amr on March 1, but Amos was allowed in only Wednesday.
> 
> She said Thursday she was struck by the devastation she saw in the shattered neighborhood. She found it mostly empty after residents fled the fighting. Activists charge that Syrian forces conducted cleanup operations there, including executions and arrests.



Abdo Husameddine, Syria Deputy Oil Minister, Defects


----------



## hipeter924

Depends if Assad goes, if he doesn't expect those defectors to be wiped out. Like Saddam did with his, especially through assassinations.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's Homs Under Fire Ahead Of Kofi Annan Mission 








> AMMAN, March 9 (Reuters) - Syrian tanks fired on opposition districts in Homs on Friday, killing four people, activists said, ahead of a mission by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan to end a year-long conflict edging into civil war.
> 
> Opponents of President Bashar al-Assad said they were planning to show their strength in the streets after weekly Muslim prayers, but the tankfire kept many indoors in Homs.
> 
> They said nationwide protests would mark the anniversary of Kurdish unrest in northeastern Syria in 2004 that was crushed by security forces with about 30 people killed.
> 
> Annan has called for dialogue to reach a political solution, but opposition figures chided him for a proposal they said would only give Assad's forces more time to crush his foes.
> 
> Rifts among big powers have blocked any U.N. action to resolve the crisis, with China and Russia firmly opposing any measure that might lead to Libya-style military intervention.
> 
> China welcomed the former U.N. chief's mission. "We hope that Mr Annan uses his wisdom and experience to push for all sides in Syria to end their violence and start the process of peace talks," Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said.
> 
> China, which despatched an envoy to Syria this week, said on Friday it would send an assistant foreign minister to the Middle East and to France to discuss the crisis. Beijing has told other powers not to use humanitarian aid to "intefere" in Syria.
> 
> Russia, an old ally of Damascus and its main arms supplier, has defended Assad against critics of his bloody crackdown, twice joining China in vetoing U.N. resolutions on Syria.
> 
> "We shall not support any resolution that gives any basis for the use of force against Syria," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov tweeted late on Thursday.
> 
> A Russian diplomat said Assad was battling al Qaeda-backed "terrorists" including at least 15,000 foreign fighters who would seize cities if government troops withdrew.



Syria's Homs Under Fire Ahead Of Kofi Annan Mission


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Killings: Many Civilians 'Massacred' By Pro-Government Gunmen In Homs, Activists Claim 








> BEIRUT, March 12 (Reuters) - Dozens of civilians were killed in cold blood in the Syrian city of Homs, opposition activists and Syrian state media said on Monday, although they disputed responsibility for what both sides called a massacre.
> 
> The carnage in Homs, as well as a military assault on the northwestern city of Idlib, coincided with a weekend peace mission by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, who left Damascus on Sunday without agreement on a truce or humanitarian access.
> 
> "The terrorist armed groups have kidnapped scores of civilians in the city of Homs, central Syria, killed, and mutilated their corpses and filmed them to be shown by media outlets," state news agency SANA said on its website.
> 
> Footage posted by opposition activists on YouTube showed men, women and children lying dead in a blood-drenched room.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees of Syria, a grassroots opposition network, said at least 45 women and children had been stabbed and burned in the Homs district of Karm al-Zeitoun.
> 
> It said another seven people were slain in the city's Jobar district, which adjoins the former rebel bastion of Baba Amr.
> 
> 
> Activists contacted in Homs accused Alawite "shabbiha" militia loyal to President Bashar al-Assad of carrying out the killings under the protection of regular Syrian military forces.
> 
> Waleed Fares, an activist in Homs's Khalidiyah district, which is about one km from Karm al-Zeitoun, said that 30 to 40 tanks had arrived in Karm al-Zeitoun on Sunday night.
> 
> "We know now that four families have been killed by shabbiha. We have 21 names and we are trying to confirm the names of the rest," he told Reuters via Skype, adding that the victims were all from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority.
> 
> "It's quiet now but I have been hearing gunfire all night."
> 
> Fares said most of the killings occurred in Karm al-Zeitoun, but some took place in other districts. "The Free Syrian army helped move the bodies to one place. Otherwise the regime forces would have hidden the evidence," he said.
> 
> Syrian government restrictions on the media have made it hard to assess conflicting reports by the authorities and their opponents since an uprising against Assad began a year ago.
> 
> SANA said the Homs killings "perpetrated by the armed terrorist groups and aired by (satellite TV channels) Al Jazeera and Arabiya ... coincide with today's U.N. Security Council session to call for foreign interference in Syria".
> 
> In the southern city of Deraa, scene of sporadic street fighting between Free Syrian Army rebels and Assad's troops, a car bomb killed a schoolgirl and wounded 25 others at a girls' school. An opposition activist said members of the school had taken part in anti-Assad demonstrations.



Syria Killings: Many Civilians 'Massacred' By Pro-Government Gunmen In Homs, Activists Claim


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Activist: Defectors Kill Soldiers In Ambush








> BEIRUT, March 13 (Reuters) - Syrian army defectors killed at least 10 soldiers in an ambush in the northern town of Idlib on Tuesday, a rights activist said, with international efforts to ease the crisis appearing to make little headway.
> 
> Fighting was also reported in the eastern city of Deir al-Zor as a year-long uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad increasingly resembled a full-blown civil war.
> 
> A special U.N. Security Council meeting on the "Arab Spring" uprisings on Monday showed the five permanent members were no closer to breaking their impasse over Syria, with Russia and China continuing to back a defiant Assad.
> 
> With growing numbers of refugees seeking to flee the fighting, advocacy group Human Rights Watch said Syrian forces were laying landmines near the borders with Lebanon and Turkey, along routes used by families to escape the violence.
> 
> Idlib province backs onto Turkey and has been a focal point of clashes between government forces and the lightly armed Syrian Free Army (SFA), which has vowed to topple Assad.
> 
> "At least 10 Syrian soldiers have been killed by army defectors in the northern town of Idlib," said Rami Abdelrahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group that works in conjunction with activists inside Syria.
> 
> "They were killed during an early morning ambush on a government checkpoint," he added. Reports from Syria cannot be independently verified as the authorities have repeatedly denied access to rights groups and journalists.
> 
> The Syrian National Council (SNC), an umbrella opposition group whose leadership lives abroad, said on Monday it was preparing to arm the anti-government rebels, but the dissident movement remains fragmented and often ineffectual.
> 
> SNC representatives were due to meet U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan in Turkey later on Tuesday. Annan held talks with Assad on Saturday and Sunday, but there was no indication his initiative would end the bloodshed.



Syria Activist: Defectors Kill Soldiers In Ambush


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Video Allegedly Shows Young Boy Shot In Back In Homs 



> Extremely disturbing footage out of Homs purports to show a young boy shot in the back by a sniper on one of the city's streets.
> 
> In the video, the boy tries to pull himself up after being shot in the back. When another teenager tries to pull the boy off the street to safety, the sniper fires again. The boy eventually crawls onto the sidewalk, his back covered in blood. "God is great," one of the cameramen filming the incident cries out in despair.
> 
> The harrowing video was posted on YouTube but could not be independently verified.
> 
> Dozens of civilians were killed in Homs over the weekend in what both opposition activists and Syrian state media described as a massacre.
> 
> Activists attributed the killings to militias loyal to the Assad regime. Opposition groups posted footage on YouTube showing dozens of bodies lying in a room in a Hom's apartment. An opposition network said at least 45 women and children had been stabbed and burned in the Homs district of Karm al-Zeitoun, according to Reuters in the video above.
> 
> The government blamed the violence on armed terrorists.
> 
> "The terrorist armed groups have kidnapped scores of civilians in the city of Homs, central Syria, killed, and mutilated their corpses and filmed them to be shown by media outlets," state news agency SANA said on its website, according to a Reuters translation.



Syria Video Allegedly Shows Young Boy Shot In Back In Homs (WARNING: GRAPHIC CONTENT)


----------



## Katzndogz

Who was the genius who thought it was a good idea to overthrow the government and no one would get hurt?


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> Who was the genius who thought it was a good idea to overthrow the government and no one would get hurt?



You might want to ask some Syrians that question, things must be pretty shitty there if it came to this.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Tortures Detainees, Group Says 








> BEIRUT (AP) -- Syrian security forces routinely torture people detained during the country's year-old uprising against authoritarian President Bashar Assad, Amnesty International said in a report released Wednesday.
> 
> The London-based group said detainees are beaten with sticks, cords and rifle butts and sometimes suspended inside tires for further beatings. Others are sexually assaulted or killed.
> 
> Since protesters first took to the streets in Syria one year ago to call for political reform, security forces have cracked down hard, deploying snipers, troops and pro-government thugs to quash all signs of dissent.
> 
> As the protest have spread and some in the opposition have taken up arms to protect themselves and attack government troops, Syria's uprising has evolved into one of the bloodiest of the Arab Spring. The U.N. says more than 7,500 have been killed, most of them peaceful demonstrators.
> 
> Amnesty based its report on interviews in mid-February with dozens of Syrians who had fled to neighboring Jordan. Twenty-five said they had been tortured or ill-treated, the group said.
> 
> Torture appears to be part of a strategy to punish and intimidate dissidents, the group said. It calls on the International Criminal Court in the Hague to investigate charges of crimes against humanity against Syrian officials.
> 
> "Torture and other ill-treatment in Syria form part of a widespread and systematic attack against the civilian population, carried out in an organized manner and as part of state policy and therefore amount to crimes against humanity," it said.
> 
> The group said it has documented 276 cases of death in detention since the uprising's start. But given the large number of people who have been detained, it says the number of those killed is likely much higher.



Syria Tortures Detainees, Group Says


----------



## hipeter924

Assad is following the lead of his father, expect the death toll to rise above 10,000.


----------



## High_Gravity

hipeter924 said:


> Assad is following the lead of his father, expect the death toll to rise above 10,000.



The Syrian rebels aren't getting any real support while Assad has the full backing of China, Russia and Iran, Assad has the upper hand and should put down this rebellion.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's Armed Opposition No Threat To Regime, Says U.S., Which Plans To Provide Nonlethal Aid to Civilians








> WASHINGTON -- On the one-year anniversary of the uprisings in Syria, U.S. intelligence agencies have concluded that the armed resistance is not able to mount a credible military threat to the regime of Bashar al-Assad, senior U.S. intelligence officials told The Huffington Post.
> 
> The powerful, Russian-armed Syrian army remains firmly in control behind the Assad regime, senior intelligence officials say.
> 
> That assessment underlies the Obama administration's reluctance to become more actively involved in the uprising against Assad that began on March 15, 2011. After a year of sporadic and inconclusive violence against the regime, the White House has flatly ruled out providing arms to the opposition and instead is focusing on coordinating international pressure against the Assad regime and providing humanitarian relief.
> 
> The White House has authorized providing medical supplies and nonlethal equipment to civilian Syrian groups that would transport the supplies, according to a source close to the administration's deliberations on Syria.
> 
> But the failure of the armed opposition to take advantage of defections from the Syrian armed forces or coordinate its actions into a meaningful security challenge of the regime appears to leave the United States and other critics of the regime without a long-term strategy for ousting Assad. By contrast, in Libya last year, a relatively well-organized and armed opposition eventually drew Western military support, and the country's strongman, Muammar Gaddafi was overthrown and killed last fall.
> 
> Syria ranked high on the agenda when President Barack Obama met Wednesday with British Prime Minister David Cameron. "Right now we are focused on getting humanitarian aid to those in need," Obama said after the White House meetings. International economic, political and diplomatic pressure is becoming stronger, Obama said, vowing, "Assad will leave power. It's not a question of if, but when."
> 
> Cameron agreed on the nonmilitary approach. "What we want is the quickest way to stop the killing -- that is, through transition, rather than through revolution or civil war," he said at a White House news conference.
> 
> White House officials reiterated this week that sending arms to the opposition has been ruled out. "We believe it could heighten and prolong the violence in Syria," said White House spokesman Jay Carney.
> 
> Brutal onslaughts by the Syrian military against mostly unarmed civilians have captured the world's attention, most recently the shelling by artillery and tanks of urban neighborhoods in Homs and Idlib.
> 
> Clearly, Syrian civilians are being bludgeoned by the Assad regime. More than 8,000 Syrians have died in assaults by Syrian forces, according to the United Nations. Some 200,000 Syrians have been forced from their homes and an additional 30,000 Syrians have fled across the borders into Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey, the United Nations reported.
> 
> A senior U.S. intelligence official told The Huffington Post that the Free Syrian Army and other rebel groups are able to mount only sporadic hit-and-run attacks and anti-regime demonstrations in a handful of mostly urban neighborhoods and isolated villages.
> 
> Other intelligence officials have said despite the appearance of an increasingly broad-based armed resistance, the rebels have been unable to coordinate their attacks or work in concert with Syrian civilian opposition groups outside the country. The intelligence officials spoke on condition that they not be identified by name or agency.
> 
> Reports suggesting widespread attacks by armed Syrian rebels are exaggerated, these officials said.
> 
> Reuters reported Wednesday, for instance, that fighting "raged unabated across Syria in recent days." Reports from Syrian opposition groups and others do show fighting on Wednesday in seven of Syria's 14 provinces, suggesting a thriving nationwide insurgency.
> 
> A closer examination, however, shows a different picture. The violence reported in the province of Hama, for instance, consisted of shelling by Syrian forces on Tuesday in three neighborhoods in the provincial capital, Hama. The provinces of Aleppo and Daraa were listed as sites of fighting; one person was killed in each provinces, the opposition groups reported. In Raqqah province in northern Syria, one person died in a skirmish.



Syria's Armed Opposition No Threat To Regime, Says U.S., Which Plans To Provide Nonlethal Aid to Civilians


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Uprising: On First Anniversary, Army Controls Idlib, Rallies Planned








> BEIRUT, March 15 (Reuters) - Syria marked the first anniversary on Thursday of an increasingly bloody uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, with recent army gains unlikely to quell the revolt and no diplomatic solution in sight.
> 
> Official media announced government forces had cleared "armed terrorists" from the northwestern city of Idlib and said supporters of Assad would hold rallies across Syria.
> 
> But opponents of Assad's regime show no sign of backing down and there were reports of continuing clashes in areas around Idlib, as well as close to the central city of Homs, which has been pummeled by the army in recent weeks.
> 
> Amid dire warnings that Syria is sinking into a protracted civil war, the U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan has demanded further clarification from Damascus over its response to proposals aimed at ending the violence.
> 
> He is due to report back to a divided U.N. Security Council on Friday. Russia and China remain behind a defiant Assad while exasperated Western powers push for regime change.
> 
> The United Nations estimates that more than 8,000 people, mostly civilians, have died in the fighting. Some 230,000 Syrians have been displaced from their homes, including 30,000 who have fled abroad, raising the prospect of a refugee crisis.
> 
> Turkey said 1,000 refugees had crossed into Turkey from Syria in the last 24 hours, bringing the total of registered Syrian refugees in Turkey to some 14,000.
> 
> An official said: "We expect this to continue as long as the operation goes on in Idlib."
> 
> Britain's Guardian newspaper has published what it believes to be genuine emails sent and received by Assad and his wife between June and February.
> 
> The emails appeared to show that Assad had taken advice from Iran on countering the uprising, that he had branded some of his promised reforms as "rubbish", and that his wife had placed orders for expensive overseas goods as the violence escalated.



Syria Uprising: On First Anniversary, Army Controls Idlib, Rallies Planned


----------



## High_Gravity

Majority of Americans oppose intervening in Syria, new poll finds



> Almost two-thirds of Americans oppose any form of U.S. military intervention in Syria, according to a new poll released Thursday by the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press.
> 
> The findings may reflect the public's wariness about wading into what it perceives as a protracted civil war between the regime of President Bashar al-Assad and Syrian rebels. The year-old Syrian uprising and crackdown has killed an estimated 8,000 people.  The results also appear to reflect Americans' war-weariness more than a decade after the September 11 terrorist attacks.
> 
> Sixty-two percent of Americans surveyed expressed opposition to bombing the Syrian military, an idea recently proposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Arizona), the new Pew poll found. Almost the same number--63 percent--said they oppose sending weapons to Syrian groups fighting the Assad regime.
> 
> Notably, the poll found little difference among Republicans and Democrats. "Majorities of Republicans and Democrats say the U.S. does not have a responsibility to get involved, and reject airstrikes or the shipment of arms to anti-government forces," the Pew pollsters wrote in an overview of their latest findings.



Majority of Americans oppose intervening in Syria, new poll finds | The Envoy - Yahoo! News


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Clashes Near Capital Damascus, Activist Say









> BEIRUT  Syrian troops clashed with army defectors in several areas near the capital Damascus in the first significant battles there since President Bashar Assad's forces regained control of the suburbs weeks ago, activists said Friday.
> 
> The fighting came just hours before tens of thousands of people held protests in many Syrian towns and cities after Friday prayers, the activists said. The protests spread from the northern city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, to the central regions of Hama and Homs, southern province of Daraa.
> 
> Also Friday, Turkey urged its citizens in Syria to return home, saying some consular services will be halted in Damascus next week. The Foreign Ministry said in a statement that developments in Syria have brought about serious security risks for Turkish citizens and they are "strongly urged to come home."
> 
> The statement said the Turkish embassy in Damascus will remain open. On Thursday, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Bahrain had said they will close their embassies in Syria, months after they withdrew their ambassadors from Damascus, the state-run Saudi Press Agency said.
> 
> The clashes in Damascus suburbs highlight the shifting nature of the Syrian conflict, with rebel fighters igniting new fronts soon after the regime turns its attention elsewhere.
> 
> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the clash in Tal, on the outskirts of the capital, lasted until the early hours of Friday. The Observatory and the Local Coordination Committees said there were also clashes in other areas near Damascus, including Dumair and Qatana on Thursday night.
> 
> Both groups also reported clashes between troops and army defectors known as the Free Syrian Army in the eastern oil-rich province of Deir el-Zour that borders Iraq. They said one person was killed.
> 
> In early February, Assad's troops launched a major military campaign during which regime forces put the suburbs surrounding capital under government control. The attack on the Damascus countryside was followed by a regime offensive to expel rebel forces from the Baba Amr district of Homs and Idlib in northern Syria.



Syria Crisis: Clashes Near Capital Damascus, Activist Say


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Forces Press Idlib Offensive 








> BEIRUT, March 16 (Reuters) - Syrian forces pressed their military offensive in the northern province of Idlib, driving 1,000 refugees across the Turkish border as the bloody revolt against President Bashar al-Assad entered a second year with no sign of political solution.
> 
> Forty-five civilians were killed in the frontier province, including 23 whose bodies were found with their hands tied behind their backs, as well as five army deserters, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights monitoring group reported.
> 
> The bloodshed and continued flow of refugees prompted Turkey to suggest it might support a "buffer zone" inside Syria, a move likely to enrage Damascus.
> 
> Four members of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) announced the closures of their embassies in Syria in protest against its violent crackdown, the Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said, quoting a statement by GCC Secretary General Abdullatif al-Zayani.
> 
> Kuwait, Oman, United Arab Emirates and Qatar were to close their embassies, after Saudi Arabia and Bahrain, the other two GCC members, announced embassy closures on Wednesday.
> 
> In an orchestrated show of support for Assad, huge crowds took to the streets of Syria's cities on Thursday, the first anniversary of unrest which started as largely peaceful protests against four decades of iron rule by the Assad dynasty.
> 
> Opposition activists said pro-Assad forces shot at crowds in various locations when they tried to protest against the 46-year-old leader, but residents reported that demonstrators did gather in the smart Shaalan district of Damascus to voice their anger.
> 
> The U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan was due to brief the United Nations Security Council on Friday about his talks in Damascus and proposals to end the violence.
> 
> "The door of dialogue is still open. We are still engaged with Syrian authorities over Mr. Annan's proposals," Annan's spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said in Geneva. "He's been in telephone contact with the Syrian foreign minister during the course of the day ... as well as with international actors, member states with influence."
> 
> Western diplomats expressed pessimism in private over Annan's chances of success.
> 
> Syria said on Wednesday it had given a "positive" response to Annan's approach. A Middle Eastern diplomat characterised the reply from Damascus as "not a 'No'". But a senior Western diplomat in the region said Damascus had spurned Annan's ideas.



Syria Forces Press Idlib Offensive


----------



## Ropey

> The bloodshed and continued flow of refugees has prompted Turkey to suggest it might support a buffer zone inside Syria, a move likely to enrage Damascus and Assad will see such a move as a declaration of war.



Now why does Turkey want this buffer zone?





^^ Buffer Zone in Red? ^^^




It seems rather clear to me and disingenuous of Turkey (Erdogan).


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> The bloodshed and continued flow of refugees has prompted Turkey to suggest it might support a buffer zone inside Syria, a move likely to enrage Damascus and Assad will see such a move as a declaration of war.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Now why does Turkey want this buffer zone?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ^^ Buffer Zone in Red? ^^^
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It seems rather clear to me and disingenuous of Turkey (Erdogan).
Click to expand...


Good catch Ropey, so far the Kurds in Syria have stayed out of the rebellion, they are not sure if the new regime that takes Assad's place will be better for them, alot of them think they will treat the Kurds worse.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Good catch Ropey, so far the Kurds in Syria have stayed out of the rebellion, they are not sure if the new regime that takes Assad's place will be better for them, alot of them think they will treat the Kurds worse.



I am not at all convinced Assad is going anywhere. Look at the cities under attack by Assad and then look at the map showing Kurdish populations.

It becomes far clearer if you look at this map.








> There are also sizable Kurdish populations in Southern Turkey, Syria and Iraq.



Turkey and Iraq

Syria, Iraq, Iran and Turkey will work in concert on this genocide that still comes (imo).


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's Security Forces Clash With Gunmen In Damascus



> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces clashed Monday with gunmen in an upscale neighborhood of the capital Damascus that is home to embassies and senior officials in one of the worst confrontations in the tightly-controlled city center in the country's yearlong uprising. At least three people were killed.
> 
> The clash deep in Mazzeh district in west Damascus shows the shifting nature of the conflict in Syria, and suggests that rebels might be trying to offset government morale gains from recent successful offensives against opposition strongholds areas in the north and center of Syria by striking close to where senior regime members live.
> 
> Damascus has been largely free of the daily shootings and deaths reported across the country since the uprising against Assad began in March last year. But in addition to gunbattles in Mazzeh and in the suburbs, the capital has witnessed several major bomb attacks targeting security facilities, most recently on Saturday. The government blames "terrorists" for the bombings but the opposition says that the regime itself may be carrying them out to discredit the uprising.
> 
> Monday's fighting broke out when security forces stormed an apartment used as a hideout by an "armed terrorist" group in Mazzeh after evacuating the building of all inhabitants, the state-run news agency SANA said.
> 
> It added that the forces killed two of the gunmen and arrested the third while a member of the security forces also lost his life. SANA gave no further details.
> 
> A resident of the western Mazzeh district said automatic rifles and machine guns were used in the two-hour clash that ended at about 4 a.m. local time. "We also heard three strong explosions," said the man who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of government reprisal.



Syria's Security Forces Clash With Gunmen In Damascus


----------



## Warrior102

Syria's dictator has ONE HOT wife ... 

Syria: 'I am the real dictator', declares Asma al-Assad - Telegraph


----------



## High_Gravity

Warrior102 said:


> Syria's dictator has ONE HOT wife ...
> 
> Syria: 'I am the real dictator', declares Asma al-Assad - Telegraph








Yes she's pretty attractive.


----------



## High_Gravity

Why Syria Won't Get the Libya Treatment from the West








> One year ago, on March 19, 2011, Western leaders, alarmed by the disaster unfolding in Libya, voted in the U.N. Security Council to intervene militarily with "all necessary means," arguing that they could not stand by and watch civilians get massacred. As a result of the U.N. resolution, NATO launched a bombing campaign, led by Britain, France and the U.S., and flew about 10,000 bombing sorties over Libya, helping to obliterate Muammar Gaddafi's 42-year dictatorship in just seven months.
> 
> So, could it happen in Syria? Probably not, according to two reports out on Monday. Both suggest that the Western powers would face significantly bigger challenges in intervening against President Bashar Assad, both politically and militarily, than they did in Libya. Says the British military think tank Royal United Services Institute for Defence and Security Studies (RUSI) in a report marking the anniversary of the U.N. vote: "The Libya intervention took place in a singularly unique moment where the international stars, as it were, were aligned in a set of propitious circumstances."
> 
> Unlike Gaddafi, Assad has hugely upgraded his air- and sea-attack capabilities since the revolt against him erupted a year ago, according to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), which tracks the opaque defense industry. In its yearly report on global arms transfers, also to be published on Monday, SIPRI lists billions spent by Assad on state-of-the-art Russian systems, much of which has been delivered during the past year. "This is a major upgrade," says Paul Holtom, SIPRI senior researcher on arms transfers. "Any discussions about an air attack on Syria would be more challenging than it would have been previously."
> 
> Last year, Russia delivered as many as 36 Pantsyr-SI antiaircraft missiles to Syria, according to SIPRI. Lightweight and mobile, the medium-range missiles can be mounted on the back of trucks, making them difficult for combat jets to target. In addition, the organization believes Russia has recently delivered upgraded versions of the MiG-29 combat aircraft to Syria. And it has upgraded hundreds of T-72 tanks every year since 2007, fitting them with far more modern weapons; in recent weeks, opposition activists in the besieged city of Homs filmed video footage showing T-72 tanks in action during the assault on the city.



Read more: Why Syria Won't Get the Libya Treatment from the West - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Interesting.

Russia Troops In Syria? Report Claims Military Unit Arrives At Syrian Port 








> According to ABC News, Russian news reports claim that an Iman tanker carrying an "anti-terror squad" from the Russian Marines has arrived in Syria.
> 
> Al Arabiya writes that DEBKAfile, an open-source military intelligence website based in Israel, has reported that two Russian ships have arrived in Syria's port of Tartus.
> 
> However, ABC also points out that Russia's Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov has denied the reports.



Russia Troops In Syria? Report Claims Military Unit Arrives At Syrian Port


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Opposition Torture And Execute Prisoners, Says Human Rights Watch








> BEIRUT, March 20 (Reuters) - Armed opposition groups in Syria have kidnapped, tortured and executed members of the security forces and supporters of President Bashar al-Assad, the New York-based advocacy group Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.
> 
> The rights group condemned the tactics by opposition fighters, who have long accused government troops and loyalists of carrying out similar abuses.
> 
> "The Syrian government's brutal tactics cannot justify abuses by armed opposition groups," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at Human Rights Watch, in an open letter to dissident groups including the official opposition body the Syrian National Council (SNC).
> 
> "Opposition leaders should make it clear to their followers that they must not torture, kidnap or execute under any circumstances," she added.
> 
> Syria's armed opposition is highly fragmented and many militias do not appear to belong to an organised command structure or to be following SNC orders.
> 
> The year-long uprising in Syria, in which the United Nations says more than 8,000 people have been killed, started as a peaceful protest movement. But it has become increasingly violent with daily clashes between rebels and security forces around the country.



Syria Opposition Torture And Execute Prisoners, Says Human Rights Watch


----------



## Katzndogz

Russian troops have been in Syria for many years.  There is a Russian Naval base there.  There are nuclear submarines stationed there.   The Russians will not stand by while the muslim brotherhood replaces Assad.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> Russian troops have been in Syria for many years.  There is a Russian Naval base there.  There are nuclear submarines stationed there.   The Russians will not stand by while the muslim brotherhood replaces Assad.



If push comes to shove, will Russian troops intervene on Assads behalf?


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Russian troops have been in Syria for many years.  There is a Russian Naval base there.  There are nuclear submarines stationed there.   The Russians will not stand by while the muslim brotherhood replaces Assad.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If push comes to shove, will Russian troops intervene on Assads behalf?
Click to expand...


Of Course!   They aren't going to willingly give up a major military base to keep a bunch of fundamentalist clerics happy.   If the coalition of Al quaeda and the muslim brotherhood topples Assad, the next battle will be to force the "infidels" out.  Only in this case, it's Russian infidels.  I would suspect that the Russians have already intervened on Assad's behalf.  The Russians don't really want to start slaughtering Syrians, they'll help Assad do it.  No way will the Russians let that base fall into opposition hands.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Russian troops have been in Syria for many years.  There is a Russian Naval base there.  There are nuclear submarines stationed there.   The Russians will not stand by while the muslim brotherhood replaces Assad.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If push comes to shove, will Russian troops intervene on Assads behalf?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Of Course!   They aren't going to willingly give up a major military base to keep a bunch of fundamentalist clerics happy.   If the coalition of Al quaeda and the muslim brotherhood topples Assad, the next battle will be to force the "infidels" out.  Only in this case, it's Russian infidels.  I would suspect that the Russians have already intervened on Assad's behalf.  The Russians don't really want to start slaughtering Syrians, they'll help Assad do it.  No way will the Russians let that base fall into opposition hands.
Click to expand...


I just asked cause the Russians are always critical of intervention in other countries affairs, like they were with Iraq and Libya, but of course they have no problem doing it for their own interests. Hypocrites.


----------



## Katzndogz

I should have paid better attention.  As you posted, Russian Troops are already helping Assad.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> I should have paid better attention.  As you posted, Russian Troops are already helping Assad.



Will Russians actively come out into the streets and start killing Syrians? will they go that far to keep their base? they may have to.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> I should have paid better attention.  As you posted, Russian Troops are already helping Assad.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Will Russians actively come out into the streets and start killing Syrians? will they go that far to keep their base? they may have to.
Click to expand...


Would we?   Of course, if nothing else, then by covert operations.  Russians have the same special forces we do.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> I should have paid better attention.  As you posted, Russian Troops are already helping Assad.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Will Russians actively come out into the streets and start killing Syrians? will they go that far to keep their base? they may have to.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Would we?   Of course, if nothing else, then by covert operations.  Russians have the same special forces we do.
Click to expand...


They are probably already out there doing it than.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Will Russians actively come out into the streets and start killing Syrians? will they go that far to keep their base? they may have to.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Would we?   Of course, if nothing else, then by covert operations.  Russians have the same special forces we do.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> They are probably already out there doing it than.
Click to expand...


Count on it.   Look at it from a Russian perspective.   The fundamentalists topple Assad, then target the military base.  The Russians will either have to start slaughtering on a wholesale basis or take a chance that weapons will go to... to.... you can guess.   Fundamentalist muslims in Chechnya!


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Would we?   Of course, if nothing else, then by covert operations.  Russians have the same special forces we do.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They are probably already out there doing it than.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Count on it.   Look at it from a Russian perspective.   The fundamentalists topple Assad, then target the military base.  The Russians will either have to start slaughtering on a wholesale basis or take a chance that weapons will go to... to.... you can guess.   Fundamentalist muslims in Chechnya!
Click to expand...


Well if Assads government falls the Russians will be asked to leave, just like in Bahrain in the government there falls, we can kiss the 5th fleet goodbye.


----------



## ekrem

Katzndogz said:


> I should have paid better attention.  As you posted, Russian Troops are already helping Assad.



Russia doesn't have any ships stationed in Syria or in the Mediteranean in general. The facility in Syria is just a supply/replenishment center.

This so-called "Russian troop" landing in Syria is just a civilian-ship guarded by Army personnel onboard,  passing Syria on its way to Gulf of Aden to provide Russian Naval ships which are engaged in Anti-piracy operations with fresh food and supplies.
Russia Denies Warship Report, MEP Demands Syria Inquiry | World | RIA Novosti


----------



## Trajan

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> They are probably already out there doing it than.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Count on it.   Look at it from a Russian perspective.   The fundamentalists topple Assad, then target the military base.  The Russians will either have to start slaughtering on a wholesale basis or take a chance that weapons will go to... to.... you can guess.   Fundamentalist muslims in Chechnya!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Well if Assads government falls the Russians will be asked to leave, just like in Bahrain in the government there falls, we can kiss the 5th fleet goodbye.
Click to expand...


and the Saudis will lose their influence there.


----------



## Trajan

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Would we?   Of course, if nothing else, then by covert operations.  Russians have the same special forces we do.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They are probably already out there doing it than.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Count on it.   Look at it from a Russian perspective.   The fundamentalists topple Assad, then target the military base.  The Russians will either have to start slaughtering on a wholesale basis or take a chance that weapons will go to... to.... you can guess.   Fundamentalist muslims in Chechnya!
Click to expand...


looking at it form the Russian perspective, supplying Syria is payback for obama screwing them on Libya.


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Count on it.   Look at it from a Russian perspective.   The fundamentalists topple Assad, then target the military base.  The Russians will either have to start slaughtering on a wholesale basis or take a chance that weapons will go to... to.... you can guess.   Fundamentalist muslims in Chechnya!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well if Assads government falls the Russians will be asked to leave, just like in Bahrain in the government there falls, we can kiss the 5th fleet goodbye.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> and the Saudis will lose their influence there.
Click to expand...


The Saudis are already backing the Syrian rebels with arms and cash.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: UN Security Council Agrees On Statement Backing Annan Peace Plan









> UNITED NATIONS (AP)  The previously divided U.N. Security Council sent a strong and united message to the Syrian government and opposition on Wednesday to immediately implement proposals by international envoy Kofi Annan to end the yearlong bloodshed.
> 
> A nonbinding statement approved by the 15 council members and read at a formal meeting spells out Annan's six proposals which include a cease-fire first by the Syrian government, a daily two-hour halt to fighting to evacuate the injured and provide humanitarian aid, and inclusive Syrian-led political talks "to address the legitimate concerns of the Syrian people."
> 
> Annan, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, appealed to the Security Council last Friday for its backing, saying the stronger and more unified the message, the better the chances of shifting the dynamics of the conflict.
> 
> The U.N. estimates that well over 8,000 people have been killed over the past year.
> 
> Britain's U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant, the current council president, said the council statement sends "precisely the strong and united message to the Syrian government and all other actors in Syria that they need to respond, and respond quickly and immediately, to the six-point plan."
> 
> In a bid to win support from Russia and China, which have twice vetoed European and U.S.-backed resolutions condemning President Bashar Assad's crackdown on protesters, France watered down the statement to eliminate possible consideration of "further measures" which could include sanctions or military action.
> 
> Instead, the presidential statement now asks Annan to update the council regularly on the progress of his mission and says that "in the light of these reports, the Security Council will consider further steps as appropriate."
> 
> A presidential statement, which needs approval from all council members, becomes part of the council's permanent record. It is stronger than a press statement, which does not. But unlike resolutions, neither statement is legally binding.
> 
> Russia and China had called the earlier resolutions unbalanced, saying they only blamed the Syrian government and demanded an end to government attacks, not ones by the opposition. Moscow also argued that the resolutions promoted regime change in Syria and expressed fear of outside intervention to support the rebels, as happened in Libya.



Syria Crisis: UN Security Council Agrees On Statement Backing Annan Peace Plan


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well if Assads government falls the Russians will be asked to leave, just like in Bahrain in the government there falls, we can kiss the 5th fleet goodbye.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> and the Saudis will lose their influence there.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Saudis are already backing the Syrian rebels with arms and cash.
Click to expand...


The Saudis also want to break Shite Iranian influence in the region as well, since Syria hosts Iran-funded Hezbollah and Hamas. 

This is no Arab spring of Democracy in Libya, Syria, Egypt, etc. and in all event possibilities, one thug regime will replace another just as in those other countries.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6cLuFpbS1Y]SAUDI ARABIA ARMS SYRIAN REBELS? - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> and the Saudis will lose their influence there.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Saudis are already backing the Syrian rebels with arms and cash.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Saudis also want to break Shite Iranian influence in the region as well, since Syria hosts Iran-funded Hezbollah and Hamas.
> 
> This is no Arab spring of Democracy in Libya, Syria, Egypt, etc. and in all event possibilities, one thug regime will replace another just as in those other countries.
> 
> [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6cLuFpbS1Y]SAUDI ARABIA ARMS SYRIAN REBELS? - YouTube[/ame]
Click to expand...


Of course the only question is if the new regimes will be less thuggish than the ones before, looking at Libya and Egypt as example they have gotten worse, Libya in regards to how they are treating Black Africans and Egypt with how they fuck over the Christians and their women, shit in Syria the Kurds are not fighting with the rebels because they are scared they will massacre them once Assad is out. If the rebels can get the aid of the Kurds, that may tip the plate over.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Saudis are already backing the Syrian rebels with arms and cash.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Saudis also want to break Shite Iranian influence in the region as well, since Syria hosts Iran-funded Hezbollah and Hamas.
> 
> This is no Arab spring of Democracy in Libya, Syria, Egypt, etc. and in all event possibilities, one thug regime will replace another just as in those other countries.
> 
> [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6cLuFpbS1Y]SAUDI ARABIA ARMS SYRIAN REBELS? - YouTube[/ame]
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Of course the only question is if the new regimes will be less thuggish than the ones before, looking at Libya and Egypt as example they have gotten worse, Libya in regards to how they are treating Black Africans and Egypt with how they fuck over the Christians and their women, shit in Syria the Kurds are not fighting with the rebels because they are scared they will massacre them once Assad is out. If the rebels can get the aid of the Kurds, that may tip the plate over.
Click to expand...




> urkish Kurd militants threatened on Thursday to turn all Kurdish populated areas into a "war zone" if Turkish troops entered Syria, a sign the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has allies in Syria may be taking sides in the conflict there.
> A renewed alliance between Damascus and the PKK would anger Turkey and could prompt it to take an even stronger line against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his brutal repression of anti-government protesters.



It's not against Assad though as it's a flanking of the Kurds and with the support of Damascaus.  This is a lie and it is the Kurds who will die.  They can not defend themselves against the might of Turkey and that buffer zone?

That's where Kurdistan once had a majority population. (when they had a country) 






> There should be an Independent Kurdistan, much larger than the current Iraq Kurd area. There should also be an Independent Pastunistan, since 2/3 of Afghanistan&#8217;s area is Pashtun populated, Pashtuns number over 40 Million and have no home country. There should be an Independent Balochistan, with over 7 Million population, and over 45% of the Pakistan country lands. The Durand Line that cut up parts of Central Asia in 1893, and other political divisions were wrong.
> 
> The Durand Line.



The Durand Line is a good read with regards to a decent outcome in this event rather than genocide imo.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Saudis also want to break Shite Iranian influence in the region as well, since Syria hosts Iran-funded Hezbollah and Hamas.
> 
> This is no Arab spring of Democracy in Libya, Syria, Egypt, etc. and in all event possibilities, one thug regime will replace another just as in those other countries.
> 
> SAUDI ARABIA ARMS SYRIAN REBELS? - YouTube
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Of course the only question is if the new regimes will be less thuggish than the ones before, looking at Libya and Egypt as example they have gotten worse, Libya in regards to how they are treating Black Africans and Egypt with how they fuck over the Christians and their women, shit in Syria the Kurds are not fighting with the rebels because they are scared they will massacre them once Assad is out. If the rebels can get the aid of the Kurds, that may tip the plate over.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> urkish Kurd militants threatened on Thursday to turn all Kurdish populated areas into a "war zone" if Turkish troops entered Syria, a sign the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) which has allies in Syria may be taking sides in the conflict there.
> A renewed alliance between Damascus and the PKK would anger Turkey and could prompt it to take an even stronger line against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over his brutal repression of anti-government protesters.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's not against Assad though as it's a flanking of the Kurds and with the support of Damascaus.  This is a lie and it is the Kurds who will die.  They can not defend themselves against the might of Turkey and that buffer zone?
> 
> That's where Kurdistan once had a majority population. (when they had a country)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There should be an Independent Kurdistan, much larger than the current Iraq Kurd area. There should also be an Independent Pastunistan, since 2/3 of Afghanistans area is Pashtun populated, Pashtuns number over 40 Million and have no home country. There should be an Independent Balochistan, with over 7 Million population, and over 45% of the Pakistan country lands. The Durand Line that cut up parts of Central Asia in 1893, and other political divisions were wrong.
> 
> The Durand Line.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Durand Line is a good read with regards to a decent outcome in this event rather than genocide imo.
Click to expand...


Ah I see what your saying, if the Kurds join in on this the Turks will fuck them up with the blessings of Damascus, and the Turks want these "buffer zones" to be in the predonimantly Kurdish areas, my thats awfully convenient eh?


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Ah I see what your saying, if the Kurds join in on this the Turks will fuck them up with the blessings of Damascus, and the Turks want these "buffer zones" to be in the predonimantly Kurdish areas, my thats awfully convenient eh?



You've got it but even if they don't join against Syria, Turkey is creating the buffer to do them in regardless.  This is one layer of the Kurdish Onion that Turkey wishes to peel as they have peeled before.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ah I see what your saying, if the Kurds join in on this the Turks will fuck them up with the blessings of Damascus, and the Turks want these "buffer zones" to be in the predonimantly Kurdish areas, my thats awfully convenient eh?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You've got it but even if they don't join against Syria, Turkey is creating the buffer to do them in regardless.  This is one layer of the Kurdish Onion that Turkey wishes to peel as they have peeled before.
Click to expand...


I don't blame the Kurds for sitting this one out, all the countries in the arena seem to have the deck stacked against them.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ah I see what your saying, if the Kurds join in on this the Turks will fuck them up with the blessings of Damascus, and the Turks want these "buffer zones" to be in the predonimantly Kurdish areas, my thats awfully convenient eh?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You've got it but even if they don't join against Syria, Turkey is creating the buffer to do them in regardless.  This is one layer of the Kurdish Onion that Turkey wishes to peel as they have peeled before.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I don't blame the Kurds for sitting this one out, all the countries in the arena seem to have the deck stacked against them.
Click to expand...


There's no sitting out for them though. Turkey is planning their slaughter regardless of what they do. Hence the buffer zone.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> You've got it but even if they don't join against Syria, Turkey is creating the buffer to do them in regardless.  This is one layer of the Kurdish Onion that Turkey wishes to peel as they have peeled before.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't blame the Kurds for sitting this one out, all the countries in the arena seem to have the deck stacked against them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There's no sitting out for them though. Turkey is planning their slaughter regardless of what they do. Hence the buffer zone.
Click to expand...


Very true, I think its only a matter of time now, this was all timed in step with US Troops leaving Iraq imo.


----------



## hipeter924

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> You've got it but even if they don't join against Syria, Turkey is creating the buffer to do them in regardless.  This is one layer of the Kurdish Onion that Turkey wishes to peel as they have peeled before.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't blame the Kurds for sitting this one out, all the countries in the arena seem to have the deck stacked against them.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There's no sitting out for them though. Turkey is planning their slaughter regardless of what they do. Hence the buffer zone.
Click to expand...

 Turkey has been at war with its minorities for centuries, unfortunately for the Turkish political elite, demographically Kurds will soon outnumber 'Turks' to the extent they can no longer keep control over the country. 

Turkey is the sad case of a failing nation-state, that has to cling to power by government propaganda in schools, silencing and jailing dissidents, state sponsored killings, as well as appealing to islamo-fascists and extreme nationalists. Its economic growth hides political instability, poverty, ethnic-religious conflict and racism, that hasn't gone away since Ottoman times.


----------



## High_Gravity

hipeter924 said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't blame the Kurds for sitting this one out, all the countries in the arena seem to have the deck stacked against them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There's no sitting out for them though. Turkey is planning their slaughter regardless of what they do. Hence the buffer zone.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Turkey has been at war with its minorities for centuries, unfortunately for the Turkish political elite, demographically Kurds will soon outnumber 'Turks' to the extent they can no longer keep control over the country.
> 
> Turkey is the sad case of a failing nation-state, that has to cling to power by government propaganda in schools, silencing and jailing dissidents, state sponsored killings, as well as appealing to islamo-fascists and extreme nationalists. Its economic growth hides political instability, poverty, ethnic-religious conflict and racism, that hasn't gone away since Ottoman times.
Click to expand...


Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria just need to cut the bullshit and just let the Kurds have their own country, the Kurds have their own language, culture and traditions and obviously the Turks, Arabs and Persians can't stand them, the Kurds having their own country is the right thing, the thing that boggles my mind is the Kurds are Muslims are still despised and loathed by their neighbors.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Fierce Clashes Across Country 








> BEIRUT  Syrian government forces fired machine guns and mortars Friday in fierce clashes with rebel army defectors in a town near the Turkish border, a Syrian activist group reported, as European Union foreign ministers imposed sanctions on the wife and three other close relatives of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Eight government ministers will also be targeted in the latest round of sanctions aimed at stopping the violent crackdown on the Syrian opposition, several officials said. They spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss a decision that will be announced later Friday.
> 
> The EU has imposed 12 previous rounds of sanctions against the Syrian regime, so far with no appreciable effect on its behavior. The crackdown has only intensified.
> 
> Asma Assad, 36, the president's wife, was born in London, spent much of her life there, and has British citizenship. Britain's Home Office said that a British citizen subject to a EU travel ban could not be refused entry into the country.
> 
> International condemnation of Assad's regime and high-level diplomacy have failed to ease the year-old Syria conflict, which the U.N. says has killed more than 8,000 people.
> 
> But diplomatic pressure appears to be mounting. In Geneva, the U.N.'s top human rights body sharply condemned Syria's bloody crackdown, and extended the mandate of a U.N. expert panel tasked with reporting on alleged abuses in the country.
> 
> The 47-member U.N. Human Rights Council's resolution condemned "widespread, systematic and gross violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms perpetrated by the Syrian authorities" including summary executions, torture and sexual abuse of detainees and children, and other abuses.



Syria Crisis: Fierce Clashes Across Country


----------



## hipeter924

High_Gravity said:


> hipeter924 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> There's no sitting out for them though. Turkey is planning their slaughter regardless of what they do. Hence the buffer zone.
> 
> 
> 
> Turkey has been at war with its minorities for centuries, unfortunately for the Turkish political elite, demographically Kurds will soon outnumber 'Turks' to the extent they can no longer keep control over the country.
> 
> Turkey is the sad case of a failing nation-state, that has to cling to power by government propaganda in schools, silencing and jailing dissidents, state sponsored killings, as well as appealing to islamo-fascists and extreme nationalists. Its economic growth hides political instability, poverty, ethnic-religious conflict and racism, that hasn't gone away since Ottoman times.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria just need to cut the bullshit and just let the Kurds have their own country, the Kurds have their own language, culture and traditions and obviously the Turks, Arabs and Persians can't stand them, *the Kurds having their own country is the right thing*, the thing that boggles my mind is the Kurds are Muslims are still despised and loathed by their neighbors.
Click to expand...

 They don't even have to go that far, the only reason why Kurds are at war with Turkey is because they are repressed (genocide and massacres included) by the government, and denied their human rights. Even people designated 'Turks' by the government are persecuted if they dare discuss the genocide, if they try to convert to Christianity then they can end up dead.

If Turkey just opened its door to freedom of speech and expression, and embraced multiculturalism, then the war would be over. But the way things are going the Kurds will likely get their own state, because the people running Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq can't see sense.


----------



## High_Gravity

hipeter924 said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> hipeter924 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Turkey has been at war with its minorities for centuries, unfortunately for the Turkish political elite, demographically Kurds will soon outnumber 'Turks' to the extent they can no longer keep control over the country.
> 
> Turkey is the sad case of a failing nation-state, that has to cling to power by government propaganda in schools, silencing and jailing dissidents, state sponsored killings, as well as appealing to islamo-fascists and extreme nationalists. Its economic growth hides political instability, poverty, ethnic-religious conflict and racism, that hasn't gone away since Ottoman times.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Turkey, Iran, Iraq and Syria just need to cut the bullshit and just let the Kurds have their own country, the Kurds have their own language, culture and traditions and obviously the Turks, Arabs and Persians can't stand them, *the Kurds having their own country is the right thing*, the thing that boggles my mind is the Kurds are Muslims are still despised and loathed by their neighbors.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> They don't even have to go that far, the only reason why Kurds are at war with Turkey is because they are repressed (genocide and massacres included) by the government, and denied their human rights. Even people designated 'Turks' by the government are persecuted if they dare discuss the genocide, if they try to convert to Christianity then they can end up dead.
> 
> If Turkey just opened its door to freedom of speech and expression, and embraced multiculturalism, then the war would be over. But the way things are going the Kurds will likely get their own state, because the people running Turkey, Syria, Iran and Iraq can't see sense.
Click to expand...


The people running Iraq, Iran, Syria and Turkey see the Kurds as a burden and don't want to be bothered with them, the Kurds need and deserve their own country.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Uprising: Turkey Closes Embassy, Recalls Ambassador As Forces Shell Homs 









> BEIRUT -- Syrian troops shelled rebel-held neighborhoods in Homs on Monday, the latest barrage in a bombardment that has lasted several days and appeared to be the groundwork for an assault to push the fighters out of the country's third largest city.
> 
> Also Monday, Turkey closed its embassy in Damascus and recalled its ambassador as relations between the former allies continue to deteriorate.
> 
> The outlawed Muslim Brotherhood meanwhile announced that if President Bashar Assad were overthrown it would work for a "modern" democratic state. The Brotherhood statement was an overture by one of the largest organizations representing the country's Sunni Arab majority, which also dominates the Syrian opposition, toward placating Syrian minorities who have until now gravitated towards the regime.
> 
> The Turkish embassy closure comes amid rising diplomatic pressure on Assad. Ankara, once close to Damascus, is now one of Syria's most vocal critics.
> 
> Activities at the embassy in the Syrian capital are being "temporarily suspended," but Turkey's consulate in Aleppo will remain operational, a brief statement posted on the embassy's website said Sunday night.
> 
> The embassy is being closed because of the poor security situation in Syria, a ministry official said on condition of anonymity in line with ministry regulations. The Turkish ambassador and other diplomats will be returning to Turkey, he said.
> 
> Other countries including the U.S., France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have also closed embassies. This and other forms of diplomatic pressure have left Damascus isolated, but have so far failed to stop the year-old Syria crisis, in which more than 8,000 people have been killed, according to the U.N.
> 
> The U.S., Europe, Turkey and many Arab states have called on President Bashar Assad to stand down, but Russia and China have protected Syria from condemnation by the United Nations Security Council. Syria is Moscow's last remaining ally in the Middle East and is a major customer for Russia's arms industry, but Russia has recently shown impatience with Assad.
> 
> Turkey continues to be a host to Syrian exiles, including rebel groups.
> 
> In Damascus, the state-run news agency, SANA, said Syrian troops foiled an attempt by an "armed terrorist group" to infiltrate the country from Turkey. The troops killed and wounded some of them and seized their weapons, SANA said.



Syria Uprising: Turkey Closes Embassy, Recalls Ambassador As Forces Shell Homs


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Accepts Peace Plan Offered By U.N. Envoy Kofi Annan 








> BEIRUT  Syria has accepted a peace plan by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan that includes a cease-fire by the Syrian government, but the bloodshed persisted as intense clashes between government troops and rebel fighters spilled across the border into Lebanon, officials said.
> 
> Syrian troops did not physically cross the border, according to two Lebanese security officials, but bullets whizzed across the frontier into a rural, sparsely populated area.
> 
> "There is no Syrian military presence on the Lebanese side of the border," the military official said.
> 
> The U.N. says more than 8,000 people have been killed in Syria's uprising, which began last March with mostly peaceful protests against the regime. But the government swiftly unleashed its military tanks, snipers and machine-guns to break up protests, which many opposition members say drove them to take up arms.
> 
> Now, as the conflict spirals toward civil war, there are concerns that the bloodshed could cause a regional conflagration by pulling in neighboring countries.
> 
> A diplomatic push to end the crisis has largely failed, but Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Annan, said Tuesday that the Syrian government has accepted the envoy's six-point plan to end the bloodshed. The plan includes a cease-fire and inclusive talks about a political solution.
> 
> Syrian opposition member reacted with skepticism, however.
> 
> Rami Jarah, who was attending an opposition meeting Tuesday in Turkey, said President Bashar Assad is trying to stall for time.



Syria Accepts Peace Plan Offered By U.N. Envoy Kofi Annan


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Accepts Peace Plan Offered By U.N. Envoy Kofi Annan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syria has accepted a peace plan by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan that includes a cease-fire by the Syrian government, but the bloodshed persisted as intense clashes between government troops and rebel fighters spilled across the border into Lebanon, officials said.
> 
> Syrian troops did not physically cross the border, according to two Lebanese security officials, but bullets whizzed across the frontier into a rural, sparsely populated area.
> 
> "There is no Syrian military presence on the Lebanese side of the border," the military official said.
> 
> The U.N. says more than 8,000 people have been killed in Syria's uprising, which began last March with mostly peaceful protests against the regime. But the government swiftly unleashed its military tanks, snipers and machine-guns to break up protests, which many opposition members say drove them to take up arms.
> 
> Now, as the conflict spirals toward civil war, there are concerns that the bloodshed could cause a regional conflagration by pulling in neighboring countries.
> 
> A diplomatic push to end the crisis has largely failed, but Ahmad Fawzi, a spokesman for Annan, said Tuesday that the Syrian government has accepted the envoy's six-point plan to end the bloodshed. The plan includes a cease-fire and inclusive talks about a political solution.
> 
> Syrian opposition member reacted with skepticism, however.
> 
> Rami Jarah, who was attending an opposition meeting Tuesday in Turkey, said President Bashar Assad is trying to stall for time.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Accepts Peace Plan Offered By U.N. Envoy Kofi Annan
Click to expand...


Qur'an 66:1 "Allah has already sanctioned for you the dissolution of your vows."


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Blasts And Bullets Despite Assad's Acceptance Of Peace Plan 








> BEIRUT, March 28 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces kept up heavy weapons fire and siege tactics against opposition strongholds on Wednesday despite President Bashar al-Assad's acceptance of a peace plan calling for the army to withdraw to its barracks, activists said.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported military action against towns and villages from the southern province of Deraa to the Hama region 320 kms (200 miles) to the north.
> 
> Shelling was also reported in parts of Homs, Syria's third largest city, where Assad on Tuesday toured the devastated streets of a rebel bastion overrun by his troops earlier this month after weeks of bombardment.
> 
> "Military forces accompanied by dozens of armoured vehicles stormed the town of Qalaat al-Madiq and nearby villages (in Hama)," the activist website reported. "This comes after weeks of heavy gun and mortar fire and several failed attempts to invade the town."
> 
> "The regime has been shelling our town for 18 days, they are destroying our ancient fort," said one activist calling himself Abu Dhafer. "Thousands of people have fled and nearby villagers have gone to homes in safe areas. They are cramming people into their homes, a dozen to a room, men women and children."
> 
> "The rebels have left the town, it is surrounded and being shelled and we don't have enough weapons to fight back."
> 
> Syria has accepted a U.N.-sponsored peace plan calling for the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from cities ahead of peace talks between Assad and his opponents, special envoy Kofi Annan said on Tuesday.



Syria Crisis: Blasts And Bullets Despite Assad's Acceptance Of Peace Plan


----------



## JStone

Not a peep from Sheikh Obama


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Clashes: Arab League Summit Presses For Peace Plan 








> BAGHDAD, March 29 (Reuters) - Fighting between Syrian security forces and rebels killed at least 13 people on Thursday as Arab leaders gathered at a summit in Baghdad to press Damascus for rapid implementation of a peace plan that President Bashar al-Assad has said he can accept.
> 
> Arab leaders, who appear to have backed away from their call on Assad to step aside and hand over to a deputy, remain split over how to deal with the continuing violence.
> 
> Pre-empting the summit, Syria said on Wednesday it would reject any initiatives from the Arab League, w hich suspended Syria in November, and said it would deal only with individual Arab states.
> 
> In Istanbul, Syrian opposition representatives met to try to settle deep internal disputes before the arrival of Western foreign ministers for a "Friends of Syria" conference on Sunday to map out where the year-old uprising is heading.
> 
> The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence, reported that eight members of the security forces were wounded in a clash with armed defectors in Dael, in the southern province of Deraa.
> 
> In the town of Kherbet Ghazaleh, surrounded by the army and security forces, loud explosions were heard. In northern Hama province, an army convoy was ambushed and two soldiers killed. In Idlib province three people died when the army launched a raid in a rural area east of the town of Maarat al-Nuaman.
> 
> The Observatory reported clashes between army and defectors near the town of Zabadani, near the Lebanese border. In rural Damascus province explosions were heard and smoke was seen rising from building in the town of Harasta.
> 
> Syria's state news agency SANA said that two colonels were assassinated in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday.
> 
> "Four terrorists shot Abdul Karim al-Rai and Fuad Shaaban ... while they were on their way to work," SANA said.
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also attending the meeting in Baghdad, has said Assad's acceptance of the Annan deal, which has met with strong scepticism in the West, "is an important initial step that could bring an end to the violence."
> 
> He urged Assad to "put those commitments into immediate effect."
> 
> U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday that Assad "has not taken the necessary steps to implement" the peace plan of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, now special Syria envoy for the U.N. and Arab League.
> 
> Syria's major-power backers Russia and China have inched up the pressure on Assad by endorsing the Annan plan, with the unspoken implication that if he fails to act on it, they may be prepared to back action by the U.N. Security Council.
> 
> But Russia is also pressing the opposition Syrian National Council to formally accept the Annan proposals, which do not meet their demand that Assad step down immediately.



Syria Clashes: Arab League Summit Presses For Peace Plan


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Clashes: Arab League Summit Presses For Peace Plan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BAGHDAD, March 29 (Reuters) - Fighting between Syrian security forces and rebels killed at least 13 people on Thursday as Arab leaders gathered at a summit in Baghdad to press Damascus for rapid implementation of a peace plan that President Bashar al-Assad has said he can accept.
> 
> Arab leaders, who appear to have backed away from their call on Assad to step aside and hand over to a deputy, remain split over how to deal with the continuing violence.
> 
> Pre-empting the summit, Syria said on Wednesday it would reject any initiatives from the Arab League, w hich suspended Syria in November, and said it would deal only with individual Arab states.
> 
> In Istanbul, Syrian opposition representatives met to try to settle deep internal disputes before the arrival of Western foreign ministers for a "Friends of Syria" conference on Sunday to map out where the year-old uprising is heading.
> 
> The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the violence, reported that eight members of the security forces were wounded in a clash with armed defectors in Dael, in the southern province of Deraa.
> 
> In the town of Kherbet Ghazaleh, surrounded by the army and security forces, loud explosions were heard. In northern Hama province, an army convoy was ambushed and two soldiers killed. In Idlib province three people died when the army launched a raid in a rural area east of the town of Maarat al-Nuaman.
> 
> The Observatory reported clashes between army and defectors near the town of Zabadani, near the Lebanese border. In rural Damascus province explosions were heard and smoke was seen rising from building in the town of Harasta.
> 
> Syria's state news agency SANA said that two colonels were assassinated in the northern city of Aleppo on Thursday.
> 
> "Four terrorists shot Abdul Karim al-Rai and Fuad Shaaban ... while they were on their way to work," SANA said.
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, also attending the meeting in Baghdad, has said Assad's acceptance of the Annan deal, which has met with strong scepticism in the West, "is an important initial step that could bring an end to the violence."
> 
> He urged Assad to "put those commitments into immediate effect."
> 
> U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said on Wednesday that Assad "has not taken the necessary steps to implement" the peace plan of former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan, now special Syria envoy for the U.N. and Arab League.
> 
> Syria's major-power backers Russia and China have inched up the pressure on Assad by endorsing the Annan plan, with the unspoken implication that if he fails to act on it, they may be prepared to back action by the U.N. Security Council.
> 
> But Russia is also pressing the opposition Syrian National Council to formally accept the Annan proposals, which do not meet their demand that Assad step down immediately.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Clashes: Arab League Summit Presses For Peace Plan
Click to expand...


The Arab League that warmly embraces the Butcher of Sudan, Omar Bashir, an indicted war criminal for the genocide in Darfur...
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2009/03/arab-league-emb/

Syria is so fucked.


----------



## High_Gravity

Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria' 








> The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime. The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime.
> 
> Syrian-American hip-hop artist Omar Offendums new song "#Syria" opens with one of the most powerful political slogans of the year. The chant has reverberated from the streets of Tunis to Libyas Benghazi to Egypts Tahrir Square, echoing the demands of millions for their countries rulers to step down.
> 
> Offendums new song -- which has lyrics both in English and Arabic -- is a testament to the deep crisis in the artists native Syria.
> 
> Stand in solidarity with all your fellow citizens/ Peacefully protesting for an end to all the militance/ Torture & imprisonment/ Murdering of innocence/ Proving that this lying/ lion leaders rule is illegitimate.
> 
> The songs video compiles footage of shattered houses, massive protests and injured civilians in Syria. Over the past year, more than 9,000 Syrians have been killed in a merciless crackdown on protesters by the regime of President Bashar Assad, according to UN estimates.
> 
> I held back for a long time [commenting on Syria], Offendum explains, but I felt that after a year, with all the talk on Russia, China, proxy wars, sanctions, people are losing sight of the human suffering.
> 
> Offendum was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Washington, D.C. His mother is originally from the Syrian capital Damascus and his father was born in Hama, the town where troops loyal to then-president Hafez Assad massacred thousands of residents. Offendum works from the U.S. and shares his music through Facebook and Twitter.
> 
> When it gets politically complicated we sometimes forget that there are people there, and we just cant afford to do that, Offendum says.
> 
> In Syria, songs have played an important role in keeping up the spirit of the protests. An anonymous and undercover journalist for Al Jazeera followed demonstrators throughout the country and found that people have taken old national songs and made their own revolutionary versions. The journalist explains how these songs are passed on from town to town.
> 
> You hear a core of the same songs all over the country, wherever you go, he says in the Al Jazeera documentary "Songs Of Defiance." It created this unique subculture, where every night you go out and sing the same songs. They are in your head all the time during the day, little kids know them as well.



Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime. The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime.
> 
> Syrian-American hip-hop artist Omar Offendums new song "#Syria" opens with one of the most powerful political slogans of the year. The chant has reverberated from the streets of Tunis to Libyas Benghazi to Egypts Tahrir Square, echoing the demands of millions for their countries rulers to step down.
> 
> Offendums new song -- which has lyrics both in English and Arabic -- is a testament to the deep crisis in the artists native Syria.
> 
> Stand in solidarity with all your fellow citizens/ Peacefully protesting for an end to all the militance/ Torture & imprisonment/ Murdering of innocence/ Proving that this lying/ lion leaders rule is illegitimate.
> 
> The songs video compiles footage of shattered houses, massive protests and injured civilians in Syria. Over the past year, more than 9,000 Syrians have been killed in a merciless crackdown on protesters by the regime of President Bashar Assad, according to UN estimates.
> 
> I held back for a long time [commenting on Syria], Offendum explains, but I felt that after a year, with all the talk on Russia, China, proxy wars, sanctions, people are losing sight of the human suffering.
> 
> Offendum was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Washington, D.C. His mother is originally from the Syrian capital Damascus and his father was born in Hama, the town where troops loyal to then-president Hafez Assad massacred thousands of residents. Offendum works from the U.S. and shares his music through Facebook and Twitter.
> 
> When it gets politically complicated we sometimes forget that there are people there, and we just cant afford to do that, Offendum says.
> 
> In Syria, songs have played an important role in keeping up the spirit of the protests. An anonymous and undercover journalist for Al Jazeera followed demonstrators throughout the country and found that people have taken old national songs and made their own revolutionary versions. The journalist explains how these songs are passed on from town to town.
> 
> You hear a core of the same songs all over the country, wherever you go, he says in the Al Jazeera documentary "Songs Of Defiance." It created this unique subculture, where every night you go out and sing the same songs. They are in your head all the time during the day, little kids know them as well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
Click to expand...


The Syrians should move to Brooklyn, NY, where half of Syria already lives.


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime. The People Want The Downfall Of The Regime.
> 
> Syrian-American hip-hop artist Omar Offendums new song "#Syria" opens with one of the most powerful political slogans of the year. The chant has reverberated from the streets of Tunis to Libyas Benghazi to Egypts Tahrir Square, echoing the demands of millions for their countries rulers to step down.
> 
> Offendums new song -- which has lyrics both in English and Arabic -- is a testament to the deep crisis in the artists native Syria.
> 
> Stand in solidarity with all your fellow citizens/ Peacefully protesting for an end to all the militance/ Torture & imprisonment/ Murdering of innocence/ Proving that this lying/ lion leaders rule is illegitimate.
> 
> The songs video compiles footage of shattered houses, massive protests and injured civilians in Syria. Over the past year, more than 9,000 Syrians have been killed in a merciless crackdown on protesters by the regime of President Bashar Assad, according to UN estimates.
> 
> I held back for a long time [commenting on Syria], Offendum explains, but I felt that after a year, with all the talk on Russia, China, proxy wars, sanctions, people are losing sight of the human suffering.
> 
> Offendum was born in Saudi Arabia and raised in Washington, D.C. His mother is originally from the Syrian capital Damascus and his father was born in Hama, the town where troops loyal to then-president Hafez Assad massacred thousands of residents. Offendum works from the U.S. and shares his music through Facebook and Twitter.
> 
> When it gets politically complicated we sometimes forget that there are people there, and we just cant afford to do that, Offendum says.
> 
> In Syria, songs have played an important role in keeping up the spirit of the protests. An anonymous and undercover journalist for Al Jazeera followed demonstrators throughout the country and found that people have taken old national songs and made their own revolutionary versions. The journalist explains how these songs are passed on from town to town.
> 
> You hear a core of the same songs all over the country, wherever you go, he says in the Al Jazeera documentary "Songs Of Defiance." It created this unique subculture, where every night you go out and sing the same songs. They are in your head all the time during the day, little kids know them as well.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The Syrians should move to Brooklyn, NY, where half of Syria already lives.
Click to expand...


Damn I didn't know Brooklyn had that many Syrians.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hip-Hop And The Arab Revolts: From '#JAN25' To '#Syria'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The Syrians should move to Brooklyn, NY, where half of Syria already lives.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Damn I didn't know Brooklyn had that many Syrians.
Click to expand...


Large Syrian community.  Very successful, too.  Heavy into electronics.

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?pagewanted=all


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## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Syrians should move to Brooklyn, NY, where half of Syria already lives.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Damn I didn't know Brooklyn had that many Syrians.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Large Syrian community.  Very successful, too.  Heavy into electronics.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?pagewanted=all
Click to expand...


Hmm very interesting, thanks for the link.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Damn I didn't know Brooklyn had that many Syrians.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Large Syrian community.  Very successful, too.  Heavy into electronics.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?pagewanted=all
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Hmm very interesting, thanks for the link.
Click to expand...


A few miles away in Great Neck, NY is a large Persian Jewish community, also, very successful.  They own half of Great Neck. 
http://www.longislandpress.com/2011/02/17/after-the-revolution-a-look-at-great-necks-iran-town/


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> Large Syrian community.  Very successful, too.  Heavy into electronics.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/14/magazine/14syrians-t.html?pagewanted=all
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hmm very interesting, thanks for the link.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> A few miles away in Great Neck, NY is a large Persian Jewish community, also, very successful.  They own half of Great Neck.
> After The Revolution: A Look At Great Neck&#8217;s Iran Town | Long Island Press
Click to expand...


I'm in the middle of the article on the Syrian Jews, man those guys are doing very well, they came to the US with nothing and now are millionares and running excellent businesses.


----------



## High_Gravity

Friends Of Syria Conference: U.S. Among Countries To Fund Syrian Opposition 








> ISTANBUL  A coalition of more than 70 partners, including the United States, pledged Sunday to send millions of dollars and communications equipment to Syria's opposition groups, signaling deeper involvement in the conflict amid a growing belief that diplomacy and sanctions alone cannot end the Damascus regime's repression.
> 
> The shift by the U.S. and its Western and Arab allies toward seeking to sway the military balance in Syria carries regional risks because the crisis there increasingly resembles a proxy conflict that could exacerbate sectarian tensions. The Syrian rebels are overmatched by heavily armed regime forces.
> 
> The summit meeting of the "Friends of the Syrian People" follows a year of failed diplomacy that seems close to running its course with a troubled peace plan led by U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan.
> 
> Indeed, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other participants at the conference in Istanbul uniformly expressed concern that Annan's plan might backfire, speculating that Syrian President Bashar Assad would try to manipulate it to prolong his hold on power.
> 
> Clinton said she was waiting for Annan's report to the U.N. Security Council on Monday on the status of his peace plan.
> 
> "There cannot be process for the sake of process. There has to be a timeline. If Assad continues as he has, to fail to end the violence, to institute a cease-fire, to withdraw his troops from the areas he has been battering ... then it's unlikely he is going to ever agree," she said. "Because it is a clear signal that he wants to wait to see if he has totally suppressed the opposition. I think he would be mistaken to believe that. My reading is that the opposition is gaining in intensity, not losing."
> 
> Clinton said the United States is providing communications equipment to help anti-government activists in Syria organize, remain in contact with the outside world and evade regime attacks.
> 
> The Syrian regime agreed last week to Annan's plan, which calls for an immediate cease-fire, humanitarian access to besieged civilians and a political negotiation process led by Syrians. Since then, there have been daily reports of violence, including shelling Sunday in the central city of Homs that activists said killed more than two dozen people.



Friends Of Syria Conference: U.S. Among Countries To Fund Syrian Opposition


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Red Cross Pressing For Aid Access 








> BEIRUT -- The International Committee of the Red Cross pressed Syria Tuesday to give aid workers access to civilians endangered by shelling and armed clashes while fresh violence raised doubts that President Bashar Assad's regime will adhere to a U.N. peace plan.
> 
> Syria has accepted an April 10 deadline to comply with the conditions laid out by international envoy Kofi Annan, which include withdrawing government forces from populated areas and observing a cease-fire  first by the regime, then by the rebels  and talks by all sides on a political solution.
> 
> The plan also calls for an immediate daily two-hour halt to fighting so humanitarian aid can reach suffering civilians, as well as unhindered access for aid groups and journalists.
> 
> Opposition activists have blasted the plan as too little, too late and for not stipulating that Assad must leave power. They also accuse him of stalling so he can continue his crackdown on dissent.
> 
> On Tuesday, ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger held talks with Syria's foreign minister and the head of the Red Cross' local branch, and was to meet later with the health and interior ministers.
> 
> He said before his visit he would appeal for greater access to the sick, wounded and displaced, as well as for the two-hour daily halt to the fighting to allow aid access.
> 
> Western leaders have cautiously accepted the April 10 deadline, saying Assad's regime must be judged by its actions.
> 
> The regime has verbally accepted other peace plans in recent months only to ignore them on the ground. An Arab League effort that included sending in monitors to promote a cease-fire collapsed in violence in November.



Syria Crisis: Red Cross Pressing For Aid Access


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Red Cross Pressing For Aid Access
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT -- The International Committee of the Red Cross pressed Syria Tuesday to give aid workers access to civilians endangered by shelling and armed clashes while fresh violence raised doubts that President Bashar Assad's regime will adhere to a U.N. peace plan.
> 
> Syria has accepted an April 10 deadline to comply with the conditions laid out by international envoy Kofi Annan, which include withdrawing government forces from populated areas and observing a cease-fire  first by the regime, then by the rebels  and talks by all sides on a political solution.
> 
> The plan also calls for an immediate daily two-hour halt to fighting so humanitarian aid can reach suffering civilians, as well as unhindered access for aid groups and journalists.
> 
> Opposition activists have blasted the plan as too little, too late and for not stipulating that Assad must leave power. They also accuse him of stalling so he can continue his crackdown on dissent.
> 
> On Tuesday, ICRC president Jakob Kellenberger held talks with Syria's foreign minister and the head of the Red Cross' local branch, and was to meet later with the health and interior ministers.
> 
> He said before his visit he would appeal for greater access to the sick, wounded and displaced, as well as for the two-hour daily halt to the fighting to allow aid access.
> 
> Western leaders have cautiously accepted the April 10 deadline, saying Assad's regime must be judged by its actions.
> 
> The regime has verbally accepted other peace plans in recent months only to ignore them on the ground. An Arab League effort that included sending in monitors to promote a cease-fire collapsed in violence in November.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Red Cross Pressing For Aid Access
Click to expand...


Half the fun of being an arab dictator is being dictator for life.  Why rain on assad's parade?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Government Claims Troop Pullout, Activists Deny 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops clashed with army defectors and shelled rebellious districts in the central city of Homs Wednesday, killing at least 11 civilians a day after the government claimed it had begun a troop withdrawal ahead of the deadline to implement an international truce plan.
> 
> Activists said the latest deaths included a man and his son who died in gunfire during fighting in the Qusour district of Homs. They said the renewed violence proved President Bashar Assad's regime was not serious about implementing the cease-fire brokered by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.
> 
> Russia, a key ally of Assad, warned other nations not to arm the Syrian opposition, saying it would only escalate hostilities. Saudi Arabia and Qatar, two Sunni-ruled nations, have backed the idea of arming the rebels fighting government forces, but the West remains opposed. Western nations however did create a multimillion dollar fund for the opposition at a meeting in Istanbul.
> 
> "Even if they arm the Syrian opposition to the teeth, it won't be able to defeat the Syrian army," Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said. "The carnage will go on for many years."
> 
> Assad agreed earlier this week to an April 10 deadline to implement the plan put forward by international envoy Kofi Annan. It requires regime forces to withdraw from towns and cities and observe a cease-fire. Rebel fighters are to immediately follow by ceasing violence.



Syria Crisis: Government Claims Troop Pullout, Activists Deny


----------



## JStone

Well, to be fair to assad, his old man slaughtered "only" 20,000 syrians in hama, so, the kid has improved since then


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Violence: Despite Cease-Fire Agreement, Government Troops Launch Assaults On Several Towns 



> BEIRUT  Syrian troops launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.
> 
> The operation in Douma, along with other offensives around the country, bolstered the opposition's claim that President Bashar Assad is only intensifying violence ahead of the April 10 deadline to implement the truce. Activists say Assad wants to make gains on the ground before the cease-fire is supposed to take effect.
> 
> There are other signs as well that the government has no intention of abiding by the truce deal brokered by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.
> 
> The pro-government daily Al Watan quoted an unnamed official saying the government is not bound by Tuesday's deadline for a cease-fire because that day marks "the beginning of army units' withdrawal and not the end. It is not a deadline by itself."



Syria Violence: Despite Cease-Fire Agreement, Government Troops Launch Assaults On Several Towns (VIDEO, PHOTOS)


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Violence: Despite Cease-Fire Agreement, Government Troops Launch Assaults On Several Towns
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syrian troops launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.
> 
> The operation in Douma, along with other offensives around the country, bolstered the opposition's claim that President Bashar Assad is only intensifying violence ahead of the April 10 deadline to implement the truce. Activists say Assad wants to make gains on the ground before the cease-fire is supposed to take effect.
> 
> There are other signs as well that the government has no intention of abiding by the truce deal brokered by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.
> 
> The pro-government daily Al Watan quoted an unnamed official saying the government is not bound by Tuesday's deadline for a cease-fire because that day marks "the beginning of army units' withdrawal and not the end. It is not a deadline by itself."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Despite Cease-Fire Agreement, Government Troops Launch Assaults On Several Towns (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
Click to expand...


Arabs have been killing each other for 1400 years.  Welcome to their world


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Despite Cease-Fire Agreement, Government Troops Launch Assaults On Several Towns
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syrian troops launched a fierce assault on a Damascus suburb Thursday, days ahead of a deadline for a U.N.-brokered cease-fire, with activists describing it as one of the most violent attacks around the capital since the year-old uprising began.
> 
> The operation in Douma, along with other offensives around the country, bolstered the opposition's claim that President Bashar Assad is only intensifying violence ahead of the April 10 deadline to implement the truce. Activists say Assad wants to make gains on the ground before the cease-fire is supposed to take effect.
> 
> There are other signs as well that the government has no intention of abiding by the truce deal brokered by former U.N. chief Kofi Annan.
> 
> The pro-government daily Al Watan quoted an unnamed official saying the government is not bound by Tuesday's deadline for a cease-fire because that day marks "the beginning of army units' withdrawal and not the end. It is not a deadline by itself."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Despite Cease-Fire Agreement, Government Troops Launch Assaults On Several Towns (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Arabs have been killing each other for 1400 years.  Welcome to their world
Click to expand...


Their world is totally fucked up.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Despite Cease-Fire Agreement, Government Troops Launch Assaults On Several Towns
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Despite Cease-Fire Agreement, Government Troops Launch Assaults On Several Towns (VIDEO, PHOTOS)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Arabs have been killing each other for 1400 years.  Welcome to their world
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Their world is totally fucked up.
Click to expand...


It used to be arab custom to bury their female babies alive because they reflected poorly on the father's "manhood"  Today, they murder their children in honor killings


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Violence: Government Forces Step Up Offensive In Damascus Suburbs 









> BEIRUT  Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad shelled two restive central cities and sent tanks and snipers into battle against rebels in the capital's suburbs on Friday, broadening an offensive that appeared aimed at crushing pockets of opposition less than a week before an internationally sponsored cease-fire is to take hold, activists said.
> 
> With fighting escalating, the stream of Syrians fleeing to neighboring Turkey picked up considerably this week. Turkey's disaster management agency said more than 2,700 refugees arrived on Thursday and early Friday, pushing the total to nearly 24,000.
> 
> Thick black smoke billowed from a residential area in Syria's central city of Homs as the sounds of heavy gunfire and explosions could be heard. "Intense shelling by Assad's gangs," a man could be heard saying while filming what appeared to be a house on fire. "May God help us."
> 
> Regime forces also struck the town of Rastan, just north of Homs, with heavy machine-guns and mortars, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Ground troops later tried to push their way into the city, clashing with opposition fighters, the group said.
> 
> The government has been laying siege to Rastan since rebels took control of it in late January. Rebels are in control of Rastan town  but not the strategic Rastan bridge, which is the main link to the country's north. Over the past year, the rebels have tried repeatedly to overrun the bridge and break the siege.
> 
> Government forces also broadened an offensive in the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Saqba and Arbeen, exchanging fire with rebels, activists said. The Observatory said three members of the military were killed.
> 
> Tanks patrolled deserted streets in the sprawling Douma district, about 8 miles (12 kilometers) outside Damascus, said activist Mohammed Saeed. Snipers set up positions atop a 12-story medical building.
> 
> Troops had entered Douma on Thursday in what activists described as one of the most violent raids near the capital since the uprising against Assad began more than a year ago.
> 
> Plumes of smoke rose above Saqba, and activists said regime forces torched at least one house.



Syria Violence: Government Forces Step Up Offensive In Damascus Suburbs (VIDEO)


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Violence: Government Forces Step Up Offensive In Damascus Suburbs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad shelled two restive central cities and sent tanks and snipers into battle against rebels in the capital's suburbs on Friday, broadening an offensive that appeared aimed at crushing pockets of opposition less than a week before an internationally sponsored cease-fire is to take hold, activists said.
> 
> With fighting escalating, the stream of Syrians fleeing to neighboring Turkey picked up considerably this week. Turkey's disaster management agency said more than 2,700 refugees arrived on Thursday and early Friday, pushing the total to nearly 24,000.
> 
> Thick black smoke billowed from a residential area in Syria's central city of Homs as the sounds of heavy gunfire and explosions could be heard. "Intense shelling by Assad's gangs," a man could be heard saying while filming what appeared to be a house on fire. "May God help us."
> 
> Regime forces also struck the town of Rastan, just north of Homs, with heavy machine-guns and mortars, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Ground troops later tried to push their way into the city, clashing with opposition fighters, the group said.
> 
> The government has been laying siege to Rastan since rebels took control of it in late January. Rebels are in control of Rastan town  but not the strategic Rastan bridge, which is the main link to the country's north. Over the past year, the rebels have tried repeatedly to overrun the bridge and break the siege.
> 
> Government forces also broadened an offensive in the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Saqba and Arbeen, exchanging fire with rebels, activists said. The Observatory said three members of the military were killed.
> 
> Tanks patrolled deserted streets in the sprawling Douma district, about 8 miles (12 kilometers) outside Damascus, said activist Mohammed Saeed. Snipers set up positions atop a 12-story medical building.
> 
> Troops had entered Douma on Thursday in what activists described as one of the most violent raids near the capital since the uprising against Assad began more than a year ago.
> 
> Plumes of smoke rose above Saqba, and activists said regime forces torched at least one house.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Government Forces Step Up Offensive In Damascus Suburbs (VIDEO)
Click to expand...


Ah, the masked Arab gunman.  Always, a reassuring sign of good things to come


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Government Forces Step Up Offensive In Damascus Suburbs
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Troops loyal to Syrian President Bashar Assad shelled two restive central cities and sent tanks and snipers into battle against rebels in the capital's suburbs on Friday, broadening an offensive that appeared aimed at crushing pockets of opposition less than a week before an internationally sponsored cease-fire is to take hold, activists said.
> 
> With fighting escalating, the stream of Syrians fleeing to neighboring Turkey picked up considerably this week. Turkey's disaster management agency said more than 2,700 refugees arrived on Thursday and early Friday, pushing the total to nearly 24,000.
> 
> Thick black smoke billowed from a residential area in Syria's central city of Homs as the sounds of heavy gunfire and explosions could be heard. "Intense shelling by Assad's gangs," a man could be heard saying while filming what appeared to be a house on fire. "May God help us."
> 
> Regime forces also struck the town of Rastan, just north of Homs, with heavy machine-guns and mortars, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Ground troops later tried to push their way into the city, clashing with opposition fighters, the group said.
> 
> The government has been laying siege to Rastan since rebels took control of it in late January. Rebels are in control of Rastan town  but not the strategic Rastan bridge, which is the main link to the country's north. Over the past year, the rebels have tried repeatedly to overrun the bridge and break the siege.
> 
> Government forces also broadened an offensive in the Damascus suburbs of Douma, Saqba and Arbeen, exchanging fire with rebels, activists said. The Observatory said three members of the military were killed.
> 
> Tanks patrolled deserted streets in the sprawling Douma district, about 8 miles (12 kilometers) outside Damascus, said activist Mohammed Saeed. Snipers set up positions atop a 12-story medical building.
> 
> Troops had entered Douma on Thursday in what activists described as one of the most violent raids near the capital since the uprising against Assad began more than a year ago.
> 
> Plumes of smoke rose above Saqba, and activists said regime forces torched at least one house.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Government Forces Step Up Offensive In Damascus Suburbs (VIDEO)
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Ah, the masked Arab gunman.  Always, a reassuring sign of good things to come
Click to expand...


Yup, when you see that things are heading in the right direction.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Refugee Spillover Causing Major Burdens For Neighboring Countries








> WASHINGTON -- With the crisis in Syria showing little sign of abating, the State Department has begun to step up its efforts to assist the tens of thousands of refugees who have spilled into neighboring countries over the past year.
> 
> Last weekend, after an international conference of nations supporting the Syrian uprising in Istanbul, the U.S. announced that it was effectively doubling its levels of humanitarian assistance to the region.
> 
> But much of that additional funding appeared to be directed to programs inside Syria, or toward efforts to deliver aid and non-lethal supplies to the civilian opposition there, rather than to the refugees who have streamed into host communities in places like Lebanon, Jordan, and Turkey.
> 
> In a phone interview on Wednesday, Kelly T. Clements, U.S. Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for Population, Refugees, and Migration, said that there has been a similarly enhanced effort to deliver funds and supplies to refugees and host communities outside Syria, including a recent $6.5 million contribution to a new $84 million appeal by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
> 
> In a recent visit to Turkey and Jordan to assess the refugee crisis, Clements met with government officials dealing with the refugee onslaught, as well as many of those who have taken refuge there.
> 
> "We had a chance to talk to Syrians in two camps" in Turkey, Clements told HuffPost. "It happened to be the 20th anniversary of the previous violence in Idlib [Syria], which is just across the border from where the camps are in Turkey, so the feeling in the area was quite tense. There was a lot of anxiety, you could even say desperation among the refugees. They didn't see any end to the violence and were very worried about their friends who were still in and around Idlib."
> 
> The State Department estimates that some 50,000 Syrians have fled the country as refugees, while another 300,000 have been internally forced from their homes. Exact tallies of the refugees are hard to come by, especially since border crossing counts by individual host countries tend to far outstrip the official registration numbers published by UNHCR.
> 
> In Jordan, for instance, local officials have put the number of incoming refugees at approximately 90,000, while UNHCR has only registered about nine thousand.



Syria Refugee Spillover Causing Major Burdens For Neighboring Countries


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Uprising: Assad's Forces Shoot At Refugees In Turkey








> KILIS, Turkey (AP) - Syrian forces fired across the border Monday into a refugee camp in Turkey, wounding at least five people as a U.N.-brokered plan to end more than a year of violence this week all but collapsed, authorities said.
> 
> Syrian activists said two people were killed, but the reports could not be immediately confirmed.
> 
> The Syrian soldiers were believed to be firing at rebels who tried to escape to the refugee camp after ambushing a military checkpoint, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, citing a network of sources on the ground.
> 
> Turkey shelters thousands of refugees who have fled Syria as the government tries to crush a revolt against President Bashar Assad. The U.N. estimates some 9,000 people have been killed in Syria since March 2011, when the uprising began.
> 
> Monday's shooting bolstered fears that the uprising could spark a broad conflagration by sucking in neighboring countries. There have been similar cross-border attacks into Lebanon, although Monday's shooting was believed to be the first inside Turkey.
> 
> The incident began at about before dawn on Monday when rebel fighters attacked Syrian soldiers manning a checkpoint near the Turkish border, killing six soldiers, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, a spokesman for the Observatory.
> 
> The troops then kept firing as eight wounded rebels escaped to the camp that is just across the border in Turkey, sending bullets whizzing across the frontier into the camp, he said.



Syrian Uprising: Assad's Forces Shoot At Refugees In Turkey


----------



## JStone

10,000 syrians have been slaughtered and hardly a peep from the international community.  Maybe, they're used to arabs slaughtering each other.  Boring!


----------



## Trajan

Of course they want new conditions........they will always want new conditions because they don't on fulfilling them anyway and they are quite familiar from having watched it ala Iraq,  and Saddam the PLA etc. of the meaingless 'make work' busy bee back and forths the UN loves to enage in...till whatever massacre or particular horrible they are pretending they can fix is over with. 

They know that the UN is useless, further-more,  now that Kofi Anann, the former Oil for Food Pimp is running around padding the Assad per diem account we are assured ala Rwanda, of absolutely nothing getting done with plenty of Syrian bloodshed to come....



Syria Demands New Conditions 
    * Updated April 10, 2012, 8:08 a.m. ET

BEIRUTSyria's Foreign Minister introduced new preconditions to a United Nations endorsed peace plan Tuesday, casting a pall over hopes to resolve the crisis peacefully as Syrian forces continued to shell civilian neighborhoods in violation of a cease-fire.

Walid Muallem demanded that a cease-fire be simultaneous with the deployment of an international monitoring mission, according to state news agency Sana. The new demand is the latest blow to the U.N.-backed peace plan, which would have seen Syrian forces lay down their arms early Tuesday morning and rebel groups follow 48 hours later.

more at-

Syria Demands New Conditions - WSJ.com


----------



## JStone

Those wacky arabs.  The mirth never ceases


----------



## Jos

> Walid Muallem demanded that a cease-fire be simultaneous with the deployment of an international monitoring mission


Sounds reasonable


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Urges Regime To Halt Violence In 48 Hours 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops defied a U.N.-brokered cease-fire plan Tuesday, launching fresh attacks on rebellious areas, but special envoy Kofi Annan said there was still time to salvage a truce that he described as the only chance for peace.
> 
> More than a year into the Syrian uprising, the international community has nearly run out of options for halting the slide toward civil war. On Tuesday, Annan insisted his peace initiative remains "very much alive"  in part because there is no viable alternative.
> 
> The U.N. has ruled out any military intervention of the type that helped bring down Libya's Moammar Gadhafi, and several rounds of sanctions and other attempts to isolate President Bashar Assad have done little to stop the bloodshed.
> 
> "If you want to take (the plan) off the table, what will you replace it with?" Annan told reporters in Hatay, Turkey, where he toured a camp sheltering Syrian refugees.
> 
> Facing a Tuesday deadline to pull back its tanks and troops, the Syrian government had said it was withdrawing from certain areas, including the rebellious central province of Homs. But France called the claims a "flagrant and unacceptable lie," and activists said there was no sign of a withdrawal.
> 
> Residents of Homs reported some of the heaviest shelling in months.
> 
> "Hundreds of mortar rounds and shells were falling around all day," resident Tarek Badrakhan told The Associated Press. He said a makeshift hospital housing wounded people and dozens of corpses was destroyed in the shelling.
> 
> "It's now on the ground," he said.
> 
> In a letter to the U.N. Security Council, obtained by The Associated Press, Annan said Syria has not pulled troops and heavy military equipment out of cities and towns, and that the regime's last-minute conditions put the entire cease-fire at risk.
> 
> The council strongly backed Annan, with all 15 members  including Syrian allies China and Russia  approving a press statement expressing "deep concern" at the failure by Damascus to withdraw its troops and heavy equipment.
> 
> "Obviously, members of the council are unified in their grave concern that this deadline has passed and the violence has not only continued but over the last 10 days has intensified," said Susan Rice, U.S. ambassador to the U.N.
> 
> According to the deal, the pullback of Syrian forces was supposed to be followed by a full cease-fire by all within 48 hours. The halt in fighting would then pave the way for an observer mission and talks between both sides over the country's future.
> 
> After 13 months of bloodshed, a revolt that began as a mostly peaceful movement against Assad's stagnant and entrenched regime has morphed into an insurgency.



Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Urges Regime To Halt Violence In 48 Hours


----------



## Ropey

Trajan said:


> Of course they want new conditions........they will always want new conditions because they don't on fulfilling them anyway and they are quite familiar from having watched it ala Iraq,  and Saddam the PLA etc. of the meaingless 'make work' busy bee back and forths the UN loves to enage in...till whatever massacre or particular horrible they are pretending they can fix is over with.
> 
> They know that the UN is useless, further-more,  now that Kofi Anann, the former Oil for Food Pimp is running around padding the Assad per diem account we are assured ala Rwanda, of *absolutely nothing getting done with plenty of Syrian bloodshed to come*....
> 
> Syria Demands New Conditions
> * Updated April 10, 2012, 8:08 a.m. ET
> 
> BEIRUTSyria's Foreign Minister introduced new preconditions to a United Nations endorsed peace plan Tuesday, casting a pall over hopes to resolve the crisis peacefully as Syrian forces continued to shell civilian neighborhoods in violation of a cease-fire.
> 
> Walid Muallem demanded that a cease-fire be simultaneous with the deployment of an international monitoring mission, according to state news agency Sana. The new demand is the latest blow to the U.N.-backed peace plan, which would have seen Syrian forces lay down their arms early Tuesday morning and rebel groups follow 48 hours later.
> 
> more at-
> 
> Syria Demands New Conditions - WSJ.com



AFP: Syrian Violence Kills 17 on Deadline Day: Monitors



> Deadly violence on Tuesday killed 17 people across Syria, including at least seven civilians, on the day the government is expected to pull out from protest hubs as per a UN-Arab League peace plan, monitors said.
> Six civilians were killed in shelling that hit the old district of Khaldiyeh, in Homs, and another was shot dead in the neighbourhood of Bab Tadmur, also in the central city, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> The Britain-based centre said regime forces shot four people in the village of Kfar Zeita, in the central Hama province, where troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad carried out arrests.
> It did not specify whether the dead were civilians or rebel fighters.
> The centre had reported earlier that unidentified gunmen killed six soldiers in the northeastern province of Hassakeh, in an attack that occured between the villages of Masaada and Marqada.
> It also reported clashes between forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and rebel fighters in the area of Mzeyreeb, in the southern province of Daraa, the cradle of the dissent movement launched a year ago.



http://img.ibtimes.com/www/data/ima...ists-say-were-killed-by-the-syrian-govern.jpg

^ Serious Disclaimer - Violent Deaths

All the while Syria demands...


----------



## JStone

Jos said:


> Walid Muallem demanded that a cease-fire be simultaneous with the deployment of an international monitoring mission
> 
> 
> 
> Sounds reasonable
Click to expand...


The Syrian govt murdering 10,000 Syrians sounds reasonable.


----------



## Jos

Reasonable is the deployment of an international monitoring mission and
a cease-fire be simultaneous They should try this in Israel/Palestine
2012/02/03 is the date on ropeys photo,
JStone, your Fake concern for the fate of the Syrian people is fooling no one, you just hate Arabs

http://www.google.es/search?q=gaza+...w&biw=1024&bih=615&sei=BSuFT5aiFeSq0QWDt_S7Bw
^ Serious Disclaimer - Violent Deaths In Gaza

How is this repression different from the slaughter of the people in Gaza by the IDF


----------



## JStone

To be fair to the kid Assad, he's only half as brutal as the old man who slaughtered 20,000 Syrians in Hama some years ago.

Islam, the religion of pieces


----------



## Jos

You love Syrians now?


----------



## JStone

Jos said:


> You love Syrians now?



The fewer Arabs in the world, the better.


----------



## Katzndogz

Assad has no intention of a cease fire.  He will accept terms with a cease fire in the future.  Use the time to kill more Syrians, and then not accept the cease fire.   He will do this as many times as necessary.

Meanwhile, he is just about sterilizing the country of Syrians!   Would a rebel surrender stop it at this point?


----------



## JStone

The only solution for Syria is the total depopulation of Arab and muslime excrement in Syria and repopulating it with non-Arab Christians and Jews.


----------



## Jos

JStone said:


> The only solution for Syria is the total depopulation of Arab and muslime excrement in Syria and repopulating it with non-Arab Christians and Jews.



The final solution?


----------



## JStone

Iran Iraq War, 1 million dead
Lebanese Civil War, 250,000 dead
Algerian Civl War: 300,000 dead
Bangladesh Civil War: 500,000 dead
Black Sept., Jordan's King Hussein murders, expells 80,000 Palestinians
Syrian army kills 20,000 Syrians at Hama
Iraq gases hundreds of thousands of Kurds
1400 year conflict between Sunnis and Shiites
Fratricide between Hamas and Fatah
Syria/Hizballah assassinate Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri

Winston Churchill...


> How dreadful are the curses which Mohammedanism lays on its votaries! Besides the fanatical frenzy, which is as dangerous in a man as hydrophobia in a dog, there is this fearful fatalistic apathy.
> 
> The effects are apparent in many countries. Improvident habits, slovenly systems of agriculture, sluggish methods of commerce, and insecurity of property exist wherever the followers of the Prophet rule or live.
> 
> A degraded sensualism deprives this life of its grace and refinement; the next of its dignity and sanctity. The fact that in Mohammedan law every woman must belong to some man as his absolute property, either as a child, a wife, or a concubine, must delay the final extinction of slavery until the faith of Islam has ceased to be a great power among men.
> 
> Individual Moslems may show splendid qualities, but the influence of the religion paralyses the social development of those who follow it.
> 
> No stronger retrograde force exists in the world. Far from being moribund, Mohammedanism is a militant and proselytizing faith. It has already spread throughout Central Africa, raising fearless warriors at every step; and were it not that Christianity is sheltered in the strong arms of science, the science against which it had vainly struggled, the civilization of modern Europe might fall, as fell the civilization of ancient Rome.
> 
> Amazon.com: The River War (9781598184259): Sir Winston S. Churchill: Books


----------



## Katzndogz

Jos said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> The only solution for Syria is the total depopulation of Arab and muslime excrement in Syria and repopulating it with non-Arab Christians and Jews.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The final solution?
Click to expand...


It's obviously Assad's solution.   He gets a cease fire, then moves into an area and systematically murders everyone he can find.   He doesn't take prisoners.   Haven't you noticed?   Germany had concentration camps.  Assad doesn't even go that far.  His soldiers hunt Syrians by helicopter.

Not every Syrian is a rebel.  Some of them were loyalists.  Yet the entire population is being slaughterd as if they were.  Not even a chance to surrender.

Assuming that at some point, the last Syrian will be killed (or get out of the country), Syria will be vacant land, who will live there?


----------



## JStone

Katzndogz said:


> Jos said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> The only solution for Syria is the total depopulation of Arab and muslime excrement in Syria and repopulating it with non-Arab Christians and Jews.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The final solution?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's obviously Assad's solution.   He gets a cease fire, then moves into an area and systematically murders everyone he can find.   He doesn't take prisoners.   Haven't you noticed?   Germany had concentration camps.  Assad doesn't even go that far.  His soldiers hunt Syrians by helicopter.
> 
> Not every Syrian is a rebel.  Some of them were loyalists.  Yet the entire population is being slaughterd as if they were.  Not even a chance to surrender.
> 
> Assuming that at some point, the last Syrian will be killed (or get out of the country), Syria will be vacant land, who will live there?
Click to expand...


Give Syria over the the Jews in Israel and they'll turn that Syrian shithole into an oasis, too.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Kofi Annan Seeks Iran's Help In Solving The Crisis; Fresh Violence Reported









> TEHRAN, Iran  Special envoy Kofi Annan said Wednesday in Tehran that Iran could help solve the crisis in Syria, where activists reported fresh violence near the capital Damascus a day before an international cease-fire is supposed to take effect.
> 
> Iran is one of Syria's strongest allies, and former U.N. chief Annan went there to bolster support for his faltering plan to stop the country's slide toward civil war.
> 
> "Iran, given its special relations with Syria, can be part of the solution," Annan said during a news conference with Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi. "The geopolitical location of Syria is such that any miscalculation and error can have unimaginable consequences."
> 
> The conflict in Syria is among the most explosive of the Arab Spring, in part because of the country's allegiances to powerful forces including Lebanon's Hezbollah and Shiite powerhouse Iran. The uprising that began more than a year ago seeks the ouster of authoritarian President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Iran has opposed any foreign intervention in the crisis and Salehi insisted that "change in Syria" should come under the leadership of Assad.
> 
> Syria's regime defied the Tuesday deadline to pull out troops from cities and towns that was set in the deal brokered by Annan and launched fresh attacks on rebellious areas.
> 
> But Annan insists there is still time to salvage the truce by 6 a.m. Thursday, the deadline for government and rebel fighters to cease all hostilities.
> 
> "We've been in touch with them (Syrian rebels) and have had positive answers from them. ... I think by 6 in the morning on the 12th, Thursday, we should see a much improved situation on the ground," Annan said.
> 
> "It is possible to do it and it should be in the interests of the people of Syria," he added.
> 
> Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay, who met Annan on Tuesday, said the international envoy "appeared worried to me." Atalay told Turkey's TV 24 channel that the Syrian regime is not fulfilling its promise and while withdrawing its forces from one area, it is deploying them in an another.
> 
> He added that if Annan's plan does not succeed in ending the violence in Syria, "the world will rethink. This time, the U.N. Security Council will have no excuses. It will be more difficult to use their veto right." He was referring to Russian and Chinese vetoes of two past Security Council resolutions condemning Assad's regime for the crackdown on protesters.
> 
> There was more violence on Wednesday, putting the chances of a truce even deeper in doubt. Syrian troops took control of large parts of villages and towns near the border with Turkey.
> 
> Syrian state-run news agency SANA said gunmen shot and killed army Brig. Gen. Jamal Khaled in the Damascus suburb of Aqraba on Wednesday morning. It added that Khaled's driver, a soldier, was also killed in the attack.



Syria: Kofi Annan Seeks Iran's Help In Solving The Crisis; Fresh Violence Reported (VIDEO)


----------



## Trajan

merged


----------



## Trajan

kofi anan is a UN Uber hack, pimp, there fore hes the perfect useful ( but not altogether stupid) idiot  for this crap...no one buys it anyway but the chattering class can convince themselves that they have taken action....meanwhile ala the Balkans time drags, people die...and on the 20th floor of the UN in the Plowshare Lounge, they pass the brandy and cigars.....

Obama does not realize ( nor does he want to ) that this is to coin a phrase, the field of decision.
 Libya was some lazy backwater whose global significance had already been reduced heavily and hey if I recall the 'civil' war in Libya was no where near this bloody..... HERE is where decisiveness can really make a difference by helping bring down Assad...which means? Obama has taken a powder...so much for 3 years of stroking assad, and another foreign affairs 'victory'.....when Iran gets the bomb he'll have swept the aboard.


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> kofi anan is a UN Uber hack, pimp, there fore hes the perfect useful ( but not altogether stupid) idiot  for this crap...no one buys it anyway but the chattering class can convince themselves that they have taken action....meanwhile ala the Balkans time drags, people die...and on the 20th floor of the UN in the Plowshare Lounge, they pass the brandy and cigars.....
> 
> Obama does not realize ( nor does he want to ) that this is to coin a phrase, the field of decision.
> Libya was some lazy backwater whose global significance had already been reduced heavily and hey if I recall the 'civil' war in Libya was no where near this bloody..... HERE is where decisiveness can really make a difference by helping bring down Assad...which means? Obama has taken a powder...so much for 3 years of stroking assad, and another foreign affairs 'victory'.....when Iran gets the bomb he'll have swept the aboard.



Annan has his head in the clouds, thinking the Iranians will help negociate is cease fire is fucking stupid, the Iranians are in bed with Assad and helping him crush the uprising, so how are the Iranians in the position to ask the rebels to do anything? as far as Libya goes Gaddafi was considered a pariah by pretty much the rest of the world and he did not enjoy the luxury of having hardcore support from Iran, China, and Russia, all those countries are arming the Syrians as we speak, hell Russia has a Navy base in Syria. Syria also has anti air craft systems in place, something the Libyans did not have which presents a major obstacle for anyone trying to bomb Syria, we could lose air crafts if we tried to bomb them.


----------



## ekrem

Trajan said:


> kofi anan is a UN Uber hack, pimp, there fore hes the perfect useful ( but not altogether stupid) idiot  for this crap...no one buys it anyway but the chattering class can convince themselves that they have taken action....meanwhile ala the Balkans time drags, people die...and on the 20th floor of the UN in the Plowshare Lounge, they pass the brandy and cigars.....
> 
> Obama does not realize ( nor does he want to ) that this is to coin a phrase, the field of decision.
> Libya was some lazy backwater whose global significance had already been reduced heavily and hey if I recall the 'civil' war in Libya was no where near this bloody..... HERE is where decisiveness can really make a difference by helping bring down Assad...which means? Obama has taken a powder...so much for 3 years of stroking assad, and another foreign affairs 'victory'.....when Iran gets the bomb he'll have swept the aboard.



Obama has moved out of Iraq.
In Syria there would be just little less problems than there were in Iraq, and anyone thinking he's able to transform Syria would have to commit itself for years to this task.

There needs to be legitimacy to intervene and legitimacy only the world communty can give. At long as we're not at that point there can and will only be management of the refugee-situation.


----------



## JStone

ekrem said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> kofi anan is a UN Uber hack, pimp, there fore hes the perfect useful ( but not altogether stupid) idiot  for this crap...no one buys it anyway but the chattering class can convince themselves that they have taken action....meanwhile ala the Balkans time drags, people die...and on the 20th floor of the UN in the Plowshare Lounge, they pass the brandy and cigars.....
> 
> Obama does not realize ( nor does he want to ) that this is to coin a phrase, the field of decision.
> Libya was some lazy backwater whose global significance had already been reduced heavily and hey if I recall the 'civil' war in Libya was no where near this bloody..... HERE is where decisiveness can really make a difference by helping bring down Assad...which means? Obama has taken a powder...so much for 3 years of stroking assad, and another foreign affairs 'victory'.....when Iran gets the bomb he'll have swept the aboard.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Obama has moved out of Iraq.
> In Syria there would be just little less problems than there were in Iraq, and anyone thinking he's able to transform Syria would have to commit itself for years to this task.
> 
> There needs to be legitimacy to intervene and legitimacy only the world communty can give. At long as we're not at that point there can and will only be management of the refugee-situation.
Click to expand...


Too bad the ottoman turks aren't around to occupy syria and prevent arab independence as they did for 400 years, right?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place 








> BEIRUT  A fragile cease-fire brokered by the U.N. took hold in Syria on Thursday with regime forces apparently halting widespread attacks on the opposition. But there were reports of scattered violence and the government defied demands to pull troops back to barracks.
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the onus was on President Bashar Assad's regime to keep the peace.
> 
> "As of this moment, the situation looks calmer," he told reporters in Geneva. But the cease-fire is "very fragile" and a single gunshot could derail the process, he added.
> 
> Ban will now ask the U.N. Security Council for speedy deployment of an observer mission, said special envoy Kofi Annan, who brokered the truce.
> 
> In the hours after the 6 a.m. deadline, a civilian was reported killed and the state-run news agency said "terrorist groups" launched a roadside bomb that killed a soldier. But there was no sign of the heavy shelling, rocket attacks and sniper fire that have become routine.
> 
> If the truce holds, it would be the first time the regime has observed an internationally brokered cease-fire since Assad's regime launched a brutal crackdown 13 months ago on mass protests calling for his ouster.
> 
> However, troops intensified searches at checkpoints, tightening controls ahead of possible large-scale protests Friday called by the opposition and meant to test the regime's commitment to the plan.
> 
> There was deep skepticism that the regime would halt its fire for long, given that Assad has broken promises in the past. Also, the regime said Wednesday, on the eve of the truce deadline, that it reserves the right to respond to any aggression, potentially a pretext for breaking the truce.
> 
> Annan's plan calls for the deployment of international observers and talks on a political transition once a truce is in place. The initiative has broad international support, including from Assad allies Russia, China and Iran, and is widely seen as the last chance for diplomacy to end the violence. The increasingly militarized uprising has been veering toward an armed insurgency.
> 
> Analysts said the apparent halt in government attacks suggests Assad's allies are pressuring him for the first time, after shielding him from international condemnation in the past. Annan has visited Russia, Iran and China to get the broadest possible backing for the plan.
> 
> The West and its allies doubt the sincerity of the regime's pledges to comply with the truce plan, which calls on the Syrian government to allow peaceful protests. A prolonged cease-fire could threaten the regime by encouraging large numbers of protesters to flood the streets, as they did at the start of the revolt against the four-decade rule of the Assad clan. The government met those demonstrations with a harsh crackdown, and more than 9,000 people have died since, according to the U.N.



Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place


----------



## JStone

ekrem said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> kofi anan is a UN Uber hack, pimp, there fore hes the perfect useful ( but not altogether stupid) idiot  for this crap...no one buys it anyway but the chattering class can convince themselves that they have taken action....meanwhile ala the Balkans time drags, people die...and on the 20th floor of the UN in the Plowshare Lounge, they pass the brandy and cigars.....
> 
> Obama does not realize ( nor does he want to ) that this is to coin a phrase, the field of decision.
> Libya was some lazy backwater whose global significance had already been reduced heavily and hey if I recall the 'civil' war in Libya was no where near this bloody..... HERE is where decisiveness can really make a difference by helping bring down Assad...which means? Obama has taken a powder...so much for 3 years of stroking assad, and another foreign affairs 'victory'.....when Iran gets the bomb he'll have swept the aboard.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Obama has moved out of Iraq.
> In Syria there would be just little less problems than there were in Iraq, and anyone thinking he's able to transform Syria would have to commit itself for years to this task.
> 
> There needs to be legitimacy to intervene and legitimacy only the world communty can give. At long as we're not at that point there can and will only be management of the refugee-situation.
Click to expand...


You turkeys denied legitimacy to arabs for 400 years.  Or, do you deny the history of the ottoman empire along with denial of your role in the Armenian Genocide?

Eminent Middle East Historian, Ottoman Empire Authority Bernard Lewis, Author, "Istanbul and the Civilization of the Ottoman Empire"

Ottoman [Turkish] Conquest of the Arab Lands


> A swift campaign in 15-17 destroyed the tottering Mamluk Sultanate and swept Syria and Egypt into the Ottoman Empire.  With them the Ottomans also acquired some measure of control over western Arabia with the two Holy Cities of Mecca and Medina.  From Egypt, Ottoman control was extended southwards down both shores of the Red Sea and westwards along the Barbary Coast to the borders of Morocco.  In the East, the Ottomans succeeded in wresting Iraq from its Persian masters and extending Ottoman power to the shore of the Persian Gulf.
> 
> With the exception of ther Sultanate of Morocco, and of a few mountain and desert fastnesses where Arab independence still survived, the whole Arab world was now within the Ottoman Empire.
> 
> The Ottoman Empire included the heartlands of Islam---the holy cities in Arabia, the seats of the great caliphs of Medina, Damascus, Baghdad and Cairo.  The Sultan of Egypt had gone.  The Ottoman Sultanate alone remained as the orthodox ruler of an Islamic state.
> 
> In the preamble to thekanuns of Suleyman the Magnificent [1520-66], the Sultan describes himself as "Sultan of the Arabs and Persians and Rum"  Suleyman is thus claiming sovereingty over the three major peoples of classical Islam.
> 
> The Arab revolt against Ottoman rule was well-placed, well-planned and well-timed. The Arab revolt was launched in the Hijaz in Arabia, in a semi-autonomous province governed by a hereditary Arab ruler, the sharif Husayn, in a territory that was purely Arab and Muslim, and included Mecca and Medina, the two holiest places of Islam.  It had the further advantage of being remote from Ottoman centres of power and easy of access for the British in Egypt.
> 
> The Arab rebels also had something useful to offer to the British and it was after long and careful secret negotiations that in 1917 the sharif first proclaimed the independence of Hijaz from Ottoman ruleand lter proclaimed himself "King of the Arabs"
> 
> The military significance of a few thousand Bedouin irregulars, in battles involving vast regular armies, may have been minor, but the moral significance of an Arab army fighting the Turks and, still more, of the ruler of the holy places denouncing the Ottoman Sultan, was immense.
> 
> The Arab revolt was auspiciously timed and coincided with the major retreat of the Ottoman forces in all the Arab provinces.


 
Arab Historian Albert Hourani, "A History of the Arab Peoples"


> "In 1916 Husayn, the sharif of Mecca of the Hashimite family (1908-1924), came out in revolt against the Ottoman sultan, and an Arab force, recruited partly from beduin of western Arabia and partly from prisoners or deserters from the Ottoman army, fought alongside the allied forces in the occupation of Palestine and Syria. This movement had followed correspondence between the British and Husayn, acting in contact with Arab nationalist groups, in which the British had encouraged Arab hopes of independence


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  A fragile cease-fire brokered by the U.N. took hold in Syria on Thursday with regime forces apparently halting widespread attacks on the opposition. But there were reports of scattered violence and the government defied demands to pull troops back to barracks.
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the onus was on President Bashar Assad's regime to keep the peace.
> 
> "As of this moment, the situation looks calmer," he told reporters in Geneva. But the cease-fire is "very fragile" and a single gunshot could derail the process, he added.
> 
> Ban will now ask the U.N. Security Council for speedy deployment of an observer mission, said special envoy Kofi Annan, who brokered the truce.
> 
> In the hours after the 6 a.m. deadline, a civilian was reported killed and the state-run news agency said "terrorist groups" launched a roadside bomb that killed a soldier. But there was no sign of the heavy shelling, rocket attacks and sniper fire that have become routine.
> 
> If the truce holds, it would be the first time the regime has observed an internationally brokered cease-fire since Assad's regime launched a brutal crackdown 13 months ago on mass protests calling for his ouster.
> 
> However, troops intensified searches at checkpoints, tightening controls ahead of possible large-scale protests Friday called by the opposition and meant to test the regime's commitment to the plan.
> 
> There was deep skepticism that the regime would halt its fire for long, given that Assad has broken promises in the past. Also, the regime said Wednesday, on the eve of the truce deadline, that it reserves the right to respond to any aggression, potentially a pretext for breaking the truce.
> 
> Annan's plan calls for the deployment of international observers and talks on a political transition once a truce is in place. The initiative has broad international support, including from Assad allies Russia, China and Iran, and is widely seen as the last chance for diplomacy to end the violence. The increasingly militarized uprising has been veering toward an armed insurgency.
> 
> Analysts said the apparent halt in government attacks suggests Assad's allies are pressuring him for the first time, after shielding him from international condemnation in the past. Annan has visited Russia, Iran and China to get the broadest possible backing for the plan.
> 
> The West and its allies doubt the sincerity of the regime's pledges to comply with the truce plan, which calls on the Syrian government to allow peaceful protests. A prolonged cease-fire could threaten the regime by encouraging large numbers of protesters to flood the streets, as they did at the start of the revolt against the four-decade rule of the Assad clan. The government met those demonstrations with a harsh crackdown, and more than 9,000 people have died since, according to the U.N.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place
Click to expand...


If this is just another stalling tactic, then we'll know soon enough.  I hope it's a full cease.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  A fragile cease-fire brokered by the U.N. took hold in Syria on Thursday with regime forces apparently halting widespread attacks on the opposition. But there were reports of scattered violence and the government defied demands to pull troops back to barracks.
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the onus was on President Bashar Assad's regime to keep the peace.
> 
> "As of this moment, the situation looks calmer," he told reporters in Geneva. But the cease-fire is "very fragile" and a single gunshot could derail the process, he added.
> 
> Ban will now ask the U.N. Security Council for speedy deployment of an observer mission, said special envoy Kofi Annan, who brokered the truce.
> 
> In the hours after the 6 a.m. deadline, a civilian was reported killed and the state-run news agency said "terrorist groups" launched a roadside bomb that killed a soldier. But there was no sign of the heavy shelling, rocket attacks and sniper fire that have become routine.
> 
> If the truce holds, it would be the first time the regime has observed an internationally brokered cease-fire since Assad's regime launched a brutal crackdown 13 months ago on mass protests calling for his ouster.
> 
> However, troops intensified searches at checkpoints, tightening controls ahead of possible large-scale protests Friday called by the opposition and meant to test the regime's commitment to the plan.
> 
> There was deep skepticism that the regime would halt its fire for long, given that Assad has broken promises in the past. Also, the regime said Wednesday, on the eve of the truce deadline, that it reserves the right to respond to any aggression, potentially a pretext for breaking the truce.
> 
> Annan's plan calls for the deployment of international observers and talks on a political transition once a truce is in place. The initiative has broad international support, including from Assad allies Russia, China and Iran, and is widely seen as the last chance for diplomacy to end the violence. The increasingly militarized uprising has been veering toward an armed insurgency.
> 
> Analysts said the apparent halt in government attacks suggests Assad's allies are pressuring him for the first time, after shielding him from international condemnation in the past. Annan has visited Russia, Iran and China to get the broadest possible backing for the plan.
> 
> The West and its allies doubt the sincerity of the regime's pledges to comply with the truce plan, which calls on the Syrian government to allow peaceful protests. A prolonged cease-fire could threaten the regime by encouraging large numbers of protesters to flood the streets, as they did at the start of the revolt against the four-decade rule of the Assad clan. The government met those demonstrations with a harsh crackdown, and more than 9,000 people have died since, according to the U.N.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> If this is just another stalling tactic, then we'll know soon enough.  I hope it's a full cease.
Click to expand...


I doubt it Ropey, Assads goons are going to give the resistance any room to regroup, re-arm and stregthen themselves.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If this is just another stalling tactic, then we'll know soon enough.  I hope it's a full cease.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I doubt it Ropey, Assads goons are going to give the resistance any room to regroup, re-arm and stregthen themselves.
Click to expand...


It's the historical pattern since a Hudna is not a Western Style Ceasefire.  Hudna/Ceasefire is the same dichotomous interpretation as much as Peace/Submission is within the Koran.

Hudna


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> If this is just another stalling tactic, then we'll know soon enough.  I hope it's a full cease.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I doubt it Ropey, Assads goons are going to give the resistance any room to regroup, re-arm and stregthen themselves.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's the historical pattern since a Hudna is not a Western Style Ceasefire.  Hudna/Ceasefire is the same dichotomous interpretation as much as Peace/Submission is within the Koran.
> 
> Hudna
Click to expand...


There has never been a ceasefire ever honored in the Arab world.


----------



## Ropey

High_Gravity said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I doubt it Ropey, Assads goons are going to give the resistance any room to regroup, re-arm and stregthen themselves.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's the historical pattern since a Hudna is not a Western Style Ceasefire.  Hudna/Ceasefire is the same dichotomous interpretation as much as Peace/Submission is within the Koran.
> 
> Hudna
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There has never been a ceasefire ever honored in the Arab world.
Click to expand...




> Guns silent in Syria, but truce terms not fully met says Annan





> Syria has not fully complied with the terms of a peace plan, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Thursday as a fragile cease-fire appeared to be holding.
> Annan urged the 15-nation body to demand the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from towns, according to an official who was present.
> Aside from a shooting at a checkpoint in Hama, Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after a U.N.-backed cease-fire took effect at dawn on Thursday, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days.
> Annan told council members that Syria's fragile truce needs support and called for the swift deployment of a first wave of unarmed observers to monitor implementation of his six-point peace plan, to be followed by a second wave of observers later, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.



It's not happening yet, but there's movement. It would be good to see the Shia pushed out of Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Gaza. The Arabs changed the name of Persia to Iran and Persians to Iranians. They changed the language name from Persian to Farsi.  

The Iranians are still pissed off as it disconnected them from their claim to the Babylonian Empire.


----------



## High_Gravity

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> It's the historical pattern since a Hudna is not a Western Style Ceasefire.  Hudna/Ceasefire is the same dichotomous interpretation as much as Peace/Submission is within the Koran.
> 
> Hudna
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There has never been a ceasefire ever honored in the Arab world.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Guns silent in Syria, but truce terms not fully met says Annan
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria has not fully complied with the terms of a peace plan, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Thursday as a fragile cease-fire appeared to be holding.
> Annan urged the 15-nation body to demand the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from towns, according to an official who was present.
> Aside from a shooting at a checkpoint in Hama, Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after a U.N.-backed cease-fire took effect at dawn on Thursday, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days.
> Annan told council members that Syria's fragile truce needs support and called for the swift deployment of a first wave of unarmed observers to monitor implementation of his six-point peace plan, to be followed by a second wave of observers later, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's not happening yet, but there's movement. It would be good to see the Shia pushed out of Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Gaza. The Arabs changed the name of Persia to Iran and Persians to Iranians. They changed the language name from Persian to Farsi.
> 
> The Iranians are still pissed off as it disconnected them from their claim to the Babylonian Empire.
Click to expand...


If I were Assad I would not do a cease fire, I can't afford to let the rebels get more organized and collect more arms and give them room to plan ops against me, I would tell the international community whatever they want to hear, give them lip service about improving human rights, democracy blah blah and than I would go back to bombing the rebels.


----------



## JStone

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT &#8212; A fragile cease-fire brokered by the U.N. took hold in Syria on Thursday with regime forces apparently halting widespread attacks on the opposition. But there were reports of scattered violence and the government defied demands to pull troops back to barracks.
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said the onus was on President Bashar Assad's regime to keep the peace.
> 
> "As of this moment, the situation looks calmer," he told reporters in Geneva. But the cease-fire is "very fragile" and a single gunshot could derail the process, he added.
> 
> Ban will now ask the U.N. Security Council for speedy deployment of an observer mission, said special envoy Kofi Annan, who brokered the truce.
> 
> In the hours after the 6 a.m. deadline, a civilian was reported killed and the state-run news agency said "terrorist groups" launched a roadside bomb that killed a soldier. But there was no sign of the heavy shelling, rocket attacks and sniper fire that have become routine.
> 
> If the truce holds, it would be the first time the regime has observed an internationally brokered cease-fire since Assad's regime launched a brutal crackdown 13 months ago on mass protests calling for his ouster.
> 
> However, troops intensified searches at checkpoints, tightening controls ahead of possible large-scale protests Friday called by the opposition and meant to test the regime's commitment to the plan.
> 
> There was deep skepticism that the regime would halt its fire for long, given that Assad has broken promises in the past. Also, the regime said Wednesday, on the eve of the truce deadline, that it reserves the right to respond to any aggression, potentially a pretext for breaking the truce.
> 
> Annan's plan calls for the deployment of international observers and talks on a political transition once a truce is in place. The initiative has broad international support, including from Assad allies Russia, China and Iran, and is widely seen as the last chance for diplomacy to end the violence. The increasingly militarized uprising has been veering toward an armed insurgency.
> 
> Analysts said the apparent halt in government attacks suggests Assad's allies are pressuring him for the first time, after shielding him from international condemnation in the past. Annan has visited Russia, Iran and China to get the broadest possible backing for the plan.
> 
> The West and its allies doubt the sincerity of the regime's pledges to comply with the truce plan, which calls on the Syrian government to allow peaceful protests. A prolonged cease-fire could threaten the regime by encouraging large numbers of protesters to flood the streets, as they did at the start of the revolt against the four-decade rule of the Assad clan. The government met those demonstrations with a harsh crackdown, and more than 9,000 people have died since, according to the U.N.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire Deadline Observed, Assad Regime Forces Remain In Place
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> If this is just another stalling tactic, then we'll know soon enough.  I hope it's a full cease.
Click to expand...


Stalling? If?


----------



## JStone

Ropey said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> It's the historical pattern since a Hudna is not a Western Style Ceasefire.  Hudna/Ceasefire is the same dichotomous interpretation as much as Peace/Submission is within the Koran.
> 
> Hudna
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There has never been a ceasefire ever honored in the Arab world.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Guns silent in Syria, but truce terms not fully met says Annan
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria has not fully complied with the terms of a peace plan, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Thursday as a fragile cease-fire appeared to be holding.
> Annan urged the 15-nation body to demand the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from towns, according to an official who was present.
> Aside from a shooting at a checkpoint in Hama, Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after a U.N.-backed cease-fire took effect at dawn on Thursday, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days.
> Annan told council members that Syria's fragile truce needs support and called for the swift deployment of a first wave of unarmed observers to monitor implementation of his six-point peace plan, to be followed by a second wave of observers later, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's not happening yet, but there's movement. It would be good to see the Shia pushed out of Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Gaza. The Arabs changed the name of Persia to Iran and Persians to Iranians. They changed the language name from Persian to Farsi.
> 
> The Iranians are still pissed off as it disconnected them from their claim to the Babylonian Empire.
Click to expand...


Persians do not call themselves Iranians, at least, not the Persians I know.  Cyrus the Great, the most illustrious figure in their history, founded the Persian Empire, spoke Aramaic and belonged to the Zoroastrian faith that has common ground with Judaism


----------



## Ropey

JStone said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> There has never been a ceasefire ever honored in the Arab world.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria has not fully complied with the terms of a peace plan, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Thursday as a fragile cease-fire appeared to be holding.
> Annan urged the 15-nation body to demand the withdrawal of troops and heavy weapons from towns, according to an official who was present.
> Aside from a shooting at a checkpoint in Hama, Syrian troops held their fire in the hours after a U.N.-backed cease-fire took effect at dawn on Thursday, casting a silence over rebellious towns they had bombarded heavily in recent days.
> Annan told council members that Syria's fragile truce needs support and called for the swift deployment of a first wave of unarmed observers to monitor implementation of his six-point peace plan, to be followed by a second wave of observers later, diplomats told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's not happening yet, but there's movement. It would be good to see the Shia pushed out of Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Gaza. The Arabs changed the name of Persia to Iran and Persians to Iranians. They changed the language name from Persian to Farsi.
> 
> The Iranians are still pissed off as it disconnected them from their claim to the Babylonian Empire.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> *Persians do not call themselves Iranians*, at least, not the Persians I know.  Cyrus the Great, the most illustrious figure in their history, founded the Persian Empire, spoke Aramaic and belonged to the Zoroastrian faith that has common ground with Judaism
Click to expand...


But everyone else calls them Iranians and this pisses most Iranians off to no extent. 

There's no "P" in Arabic.   There is in Farsi.


----------



## JStone

Ropey said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> It's not happening yet, but there's movement. It would be good to see the Shia pushed out of Syria, Yemen, Lebanon and Gaza. The Arabs changed the name of Persia to Iran and Persians to Iranians. They changed the language name from Persian to Farsi.
> 
> The Iranians are still pissed off as it disconnected them from their claim to the Babylonian Empire.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> *Persians do not call themselves Iranians*, at least, not the Persians I know.  Cyrus the Great, the most illustrious figure in their history, founded the Persian Empire, spoke Aramaic and belonged to the Zoroastrian faith that has common ground with Judaism
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> But everyone else calls them Iranians and this pisses most Iranians off to no extent.
> 
> There's no "P" in Arabic.   There is in Farsi.
Click to expand...


If you ever make a salient point, we'll have a parade up Fifth Avenue to celebrate.  Sound good?


----------



## Ropey

JStone said:


> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> *Persians do not call themselves Iranians*, at least, not the Persians I know.  Cyrus the Great, the most illustrious figure in their history, founded the Persian Empire, spoke Aramaic and belonged to the Zoroastrian faith that has common ground with Judaism
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But everyone else calls them Iranians and this pisses most Iranians off to no extent.
> 
> There's no "P" in Arabic.   There is in Farsi.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> If you ever make a salient point, we'll have a parade up Fifth Avenue to celebrate.  Sound good?
Click to expand...


It would be lost in your spam anyway.


----------



## JStone

Ropey said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Ropey said:
> 
> 
> 
> But everyone else calls them Iranians and this pisses most Iranians off to no extent.
> 
> There's no "P" in Arabic.   There is in Farsi.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If you ever make a salient point, we'll have a parade up Fifth Avenue to celebrate.  Sound good?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It would be lost in your spam anyway.
Click to expand...


Oh, SNAP, you really got me with your brilliant retort.  Take the rest of the day off.   

A parade up Fifth Ave. might be a bit over the top.  How about a nice fireworks display if you ever make a salient point?  Better?


----------



## High_Gravity

A Tale of Two Revolutions: Syrian Refugees in Libya Compare Uprisings








> He has purple, bruiselike depressions beneath his eyes. She stares at the floor. The faces of their three young children are covered in mosquito bites. Together, they sit on a pair of thin, donated mattresses on the floor of their temporary home. He does all the talking.
> 
> By the time the family fled Homs two months ago, the city had become Syria's most infamous killing field. Residents say President Bashar Assad's forces lobbed shells and bullets at besieged residents like they were animals in a cage. Massacres begot funerals and demonstrations that begot more massacres. Mohamed (whose name has been changed to protect the loved ones he left behind) remembers he dropped to the ground at one such funeral as Syrian forces opened fire  only to feel the bodies of those who were slower fall lifeless on top of him. "They didn't fall fast enough and they killed them," he says, his voice cracking.
> 
> 
> The family's escape several weeks later was no less harrowing. The shelling barely missed them  four adults and six children  as they abandoned their home and fled south for the Jordanian border. Now they're safe, they say, because they're nearly 1,000 miles (1,600 km) away from Homs, in Benghazi, Libya.
> 
> Syrian refugees have fled to Libya in the thousands in recent months, although no official figures are available. In the eastern Libyan city of Benghazi, Yahya al-Jamal, who helps run the Union of Syrian Revolutionaries there, a humanitarian outreach group, says he registered more than 700 new Syrian families in March alone.
> 
> Most of them fled the southern Syrian cities of Homs and Hama as the Assad regime shelled and shot at civilian areas where residents had staged protests and the rebel Free Syrian Army had found strongholds. But those who have made the long trek to Libya say that the North African state  currently going through its own tumultuous transition since the revolution that toppled the 42-year regime of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi last year  has been far more welcoming than most.
> 
> Libya's transitional government was one of the first foreign governments to formally recognize the opposition Syrian National Council, and it said in February that it would donate $100 million to the Syrian opposition. Across the country, Syrian refugees say that Libya has not only offered them a safer haven than Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan, but that local volunteers have also helped keep them off the streets. "No one is living in refugee camps," says Mohamed Tarek Ziad, a young activist from Homs, who escaped a death sentence from the regime and settled in the eastern Libyan city of Darnah. "People have offered us houses and are working to get us assistance," he says. "Even the imams in the mosque  in each prayer, they pray for Syria. And sometimes they join us in demonstrations."



Read more: Syrian Refugees in Libya Compare the Two Uprisings - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Ceasefire Tested By Protesters 








> BEIRUT  A Syria cease-fire was largely holding Friday as tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets in the first major test of the U.N.-brokered truce. Activists said regime forces fired live bullets and tear gas in some locations, killing at least five people, but stood back in other areas where demonstrators beat drums and chanted anti-regime slogans.
> 
> President Bashar Assad's forces halted the large-scale shelling attacks on opposition strongholds that have pushed the country toward civil war over the past 13 months. But security forces backed by tanks, snipers and plainclothes agents maintained an intimidating presence in the streets and scattered violence was reported.
> 
> The U.N.-Arab league envoy, Kofi Annan, hoped to dispatch an advance team of up to 30 observers to Syria as quickly as possible to start monitoring the truce, and the U.N. Security Council was to vote on his request later Friday. If the relative calm holds, a beefed-up mission of up to 250 members was to follow quickly.
> 
> But Western distrust of the regime's intentions runs deep. French President Nicholas Sarkozy told a French TV station Friday that Syria's government must be closely monitored.
> 
> "I don't believe Bashar Assad is sincere," he said. "I don't believe in the cease-fire, sadly."
> 
> The truce, which formally took effect Thursday, is at the center of Annan's six-point plan to stop the bloodshed and launch talks on Syria's political future. The uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful protests but became increasingly militarized in response to a brutal crackdown by the regime. The fighting has killed an estimated 9,000 people.
> 
> Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Friday that the peace plan has been "relatively respected."
> 
> However, the regime has ignored at least two major points in the plan  to send forces back to their barracks and to allow peaceful demonstrations. Troops remain in towns and cities, and the regime insisted that demonstrators seek government permits.
> 
> On Friday, Syrian forces tightened security in public squares and outside mosques after opposition leaders called for widespread protests to test the regime's commitment to the Annan plan.
> 
> Tens of thousands poured into the street in cities and towns across the country after noon prayers in mosques, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, an activist group that mains a network of monitors on the ground. The turnout was higher than in recent weeks, when a government crackdown and heavy security presence discouraged demonstrators.
> 
> Security forces fired live rounds, tear gas or beat protesters in some areas, but amateur videos showed large peaceful and seemingly cheerful anti-government rallies in other locations.



Syria Ceasefire Tested By Protesters


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Ceasefire Tested By Protesters
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  A Syria cease-fire was largely holding Friday as tens of thousands of protesters poured into the streets in the first major test of the U.N.-brokered truce. Activists said regime forces fired live bullets and tear gas in some locations, killing at least five people, but stood back in other areas where demonstrators beat drums and chanted anti-regime slogans.
> 
> President Bashar Assad's forces halted the large-scale shelling attacks on opposition strongholds that have pushed the country toward civil war over the past 13 months. But security forces backed by tanks, snipers and plainclothes agents maintained an intimidating presence in the streets and scattered violence was reported.
> 
> The U.N.-Arab league envoy, Kofi Annan, hoped to dispatch an advance team of up to 30 observers to Syria as quickly as possible to start monitoring the truce, and the U.N. Security Council was to vote on his request later Friday. If the relative calm holds, a beefed-up mission of up to 250 members was to follow quickly.
> 
> But Western distrust of the regime's intentions runs deep. French President Nicholas Sarkozy told a French TV station Friday that Syria's government must be closely monitored.
> 
> "I don't believe Bashar Assad is sincere," he said. "I don't believe in the cease-fire, sadly."
> 
> The truce, which formally took effect Thursday, is at the center of Annan's six-point plan to stop the bloodshed and launch talks on Syria's political future. The uprising began in March 2011 with peaceful protests but became increasingly militarized in response to a brutal crackdown by the regime. The fighting has killed an estimated 9,000 people.
> 
> Annan spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said Friday that the peace plan has been "relatively respected."
> 
> However, the regime has ignored at least two major points in the plan  to send forces back to their barracks and to allow peaceful demonstrations. Troops remain in towns and cities, and the regime insisted that demonstrators seek government permits.
> 
> On Friday, Syrian forces tightened security in public squares and outside mosques after opposition leaders called for widespread protests to test the regime's commitment to the Annan plan.
> 
> Tens of thousands poured into the street in cities and towns across the country after noon prayers in mosques, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory of Human Rights, an activist group that mains a network of monitors on the ground. The turnout was higher than in recent weeks, when a government crackdown and heavy security presence discouraged demonstrators.
> 
> Security forces fired live rounds, tear gas or beat protesters in some areas, but amateur videos showed large peaceful and seemingly cheerful anti-government rallies in other locations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire Tested By Protesters
Click to expand...


Qur'an 66:1 "Allah has already sanctioned for you the dissolution of your vows"


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Violence: Government Troops Shell Neighborhoods In Homs As U.N. Monitors Begin Truce Mission








> BEIRUT  U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday the Syrian government is responsible for guaranteeing U.N. observers full freedom of movement to monitor the country's tenuous cease-fire, which appeared to be unraveling as regime forces pounded the opposition stronghold of Homs, activists said.
> 
> Even though the overall level of violence across Syria has dropped significantly since the truce took effect Thursday, the government's shelling of Homs over the weekend raised fresh doubts about President Bashar Assad's commitment to special envoy Kofi Annan's plan to end 13 months of violence and launch talks on the country's political future.
> 
> An advance team of six observers arrived in Damascus late Sunday and quickly set about negotiating the mission's ground rules with Syrian authorities.
> 
> Ban, speaking to reporters in Brussels, called on Assad to ensure the observers are not impeded in any way in their work.
> 
> "It is the Syrian government's responsibility to guarantee freedom of access, freedom of movement within the country," he said Monday. "They should be allowed to freely move to any places where they will be able to observe this cessation of violence."
> 
> He called the cease-fire "very fragile," but said it was essential that it hold so that an "inclusive political dialogue can continue." He said opposition forces "should also fully cooperate."
> 
> The U.N. plans to increase the advance team to 30 people, all of them unarmed, Ban said, adding that the Security Council is expected to authorize a formal monitoring team of about 250 people later this week.
> 
> The advance team, led by Moroccan Col. Ahmed Himmiche, met Monday with Syrian Foreign Ministry officials to discuss ground rules, including what freedom of movement the observers would have, according to Annan's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi.
> 
> Although the Security Council has demanded full access for the U.N. team, Assad's regime could try to create obstacles. The failure of an Arab League observer mission earlier this year was blamed in part on regime restrictions imposed on the monitors, including having to travel with government minders.
> 
> Fawzi said in a statement issued in Geneva on Monday that the mission "will start with setting up operating headquarters, and reaching out to the Syrian government and the opposition forces so that both sides fully understand the role of the U.N. observers."



Syria Violence: Government Troops Shell Neighborhoods In Homs As U.N. Monitors Begin Truce Mission


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Violence: Government Troops Shell Neighborhoods In Homs As U.N. Monitors Begin Truce Mission
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday the Syrian government is responsible for guaranteeing U.N. observers full freedom of movement to monitor the country's tenuous cease-fire, which appeared to be unraveling as regime forces pounded the opposition stronghold of Homs, activists said.
> 
> Even though the overall level of violence across Syria has dropped significantly since the truce took effect Thursday, the government's shelling of Homs over the weekend raised fresh doubts about President Bashar Assad's commitment to special envoy Kofi Annan's plan to end 13 months of violence and launch talks on the country's political future.
> 
> An advance team of six observers arrived in Damascus late Sunday and quickly set about negotiating the mission's ground rules with Syrian authorities.
> 
> Ban, speaking to reporters in Brussels, called on Assad to ensure the observers are not impeded in any way in their work.
> 
> "It is the Syrian government's responsibility to guarantee freedom of access, freedom of movement within the country," he said Monday. "They should be allowed to freely move to any places where they will be able to observe this cessation of violence."
> 
> He called the cease-fire "very fragile," but said it was essential that it hold so that an "inclusive political dialogue can continue." He said opposition forces "should also fully cooperate."
> 
> The U.N. plans to increase the advance team to 30 people, all of them unarmed, Ban said, adding that the Security Council is expected to authorize a formal monitoring team of about 250 people later this week.
> 
> The advance team, led by Moroccan Col. Ahmed Himmiche, met Monday with Syrian Foreign Ministry officials to discuss ground rules, including what freedom of movement the observers would have, according to Annan's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi.
> 
> Although the Security Council has demanded full access for the U.N. team, Assad's regime could try to create obstacles. The failure of an Arab League observer mission earlier this year was blamed in part on regime restrictions imposed on the monitors, including having to travel with government minders.
> 
> Fawzi said in a statement issued in Geneva on Monday that the mission "will start with setting up operating headquarters, and reaching out to the Syrian government and the opposition forces so that both sides fully understand the role of the U.N. observers."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Government Troops Shell Neighborhoods In Homs As U.N. Monitors Begin Truce Mission
Click to expand...


Average Monday in the Arab world.


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Government Troops Shell Neighborhoods In Homs As U.N. Monitors Begin Truce Mission
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said Monday the Syrian government is responsible for guaranteeing U.N. observers full freedom of movement to monitor the country's tenuous cease-fire, which appeared to be unraveling as regime forces pounded the opposition stronghold of Homs, activists said.
> 
> Even though the overall level of violence across Syria has dropped significantly since the truce took effect Thursday, the government's shelling of Homs over the weekend raised fresh doubts about President Bashar Assad's commitment to special envoy Kofi Annan's plan to end 13 months of violence and launch talks on the country's political future.
> 
> An advance team of six observers arrived in Damascus late Sunday and quickly set about negotiating the mission's ground rules with Syrian authorities.
> 
> Ban, speaking to reporters in Brussels, called on Assad to ensure the observers are not impeded in any way in their work.
> 
> "It is the Syrian government's responsibility to guarantee freedom of access, freedom of movement within the country," he said Monday. "They should be allowed to freely move to any places where they will be able to observe this cessation of violence."
> 
> He called the cease-fire "very fragile," but said it was essential that it hold so that an "inclusive political dialogue can continue." He said opposition forces "should also fully cooperate."
> 
> The U.N. plans to increase the advance team to 30 people, all of them unarmed, Ban said, adding that the Security Council is expected to authorize a formal monitoring team of about 250 people later this week.
> 
> The advance team, led by Moroccan Col. Ahmed Himmiche, met Monday with Syrian Foreign Ministry officials to discuss ground rules, including what freedom of movement the observers would have, according to Annan's spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi.
> 
> Although the Security Council has demanded full access for the U.N. team, Assad's regime could try to create obstacles. The failure of an Arab League observer mission earlier this year was blamed in part on regime restrictions imposed on the monitors, including having to travel with government minders.
> 
> Fawzi said in a statement issued in Geneva on Monday that the mission "will start with setting up operating headquarters, and reaching out to the Syrian government and the opposition forces so that both sides fully understand the role of the U.N. observers."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Violence: Government Troops Shell Neighborhoods In Homs As U.N. Monitors Begin Truce Mission
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Average Monday in the Arab world.
Click to expand...


Pretty much.


----------



## Katzndogz

Did you see what happened?  The tanks were left with the military in place.  They waited for 24 hours for the cease fire then immediately began shelling again.

It is startig to look like Assad intends to sterlize the country.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> Did you see what happened?  The tanks were left with the military in place.  They waited for 24 hours for the cease fire then immediately began shelling again.
> 
> It is startig to look like Assad intends to sterlize the country.



There is no such thing as a "cease fire" in the Arab world, they don't honor them and they think the whole concept is a joke.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Did you see what happened?  The tanks were left with the military in place.  They waited for 24 hours for the cease fire then immediately began shelling again.
> 
> It is startig to look like Assad intends to sterlize the country.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There is no such thing as a "cease fire" in the Arab world, they don't honor them and they think the whole concept is a joke.
Click to expand...


Well, that's true.

A cease fire is a sign of weakness and a signal to press the attack.  Normally in the arab world, a cease fire is used to rearm.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Did you see what happened?  The tanks were left with the military in place.  They waited for 24 hours for the cease fire then immediately began shelling again.
> 
> It is startig to look like Assad intends to sterlize the country.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There is no such thing as a "cease fire" in the Arab world, they don't honor them and they think the whole concept is a joke.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Well, that's true.
> 
> A cease fire is a sign of weakness and a signal to press the attack.  Normally in the arab world, a cease fire is used to rearm.
Click to expand...


In that part of the world the people respect brute strength, things like "cease fire" and "winning hearts and minds" are looked at as signs on weakness in that part of the globe, they think we are fucking bleeding pussies for those ideas.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> There is no such thing as a "cease fire" in the Arab world, they don't honor them and they think the whole concept is a joke.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Well, that's true.
> 
> A cease fire is a sign of weakness and a signal to press the attack.  Normally in the arab world, a cease fire is used to rearm.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> In that part of the world the people respect brute strength, things like "cease fire" and "winning hearts and minds" are looked at as signs on weakness in that part of the globe, they think we are fucking bleeding pussies for those ideas.
Click to expand...


Frightening isn't it?   Not so much that they are the way they are.  The way we choose to deal with them is what's frightening.  Winning hearts and minds is our policy and it is wrong and deadly.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well, that's true.
> 
> A cease fire is a sign of weakness and a signal to press the attack.  Normally in the arab world, a cease fire is used to rearm.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In that part of the world the people respect brute strength, things like "cease fire" and "winning hearts and minds" are looked at as signs on weakness in that part of the globe, they think we are fucking bleeding pussies for those ideas.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Frightening isn't it?   Not so much that they are the way they are.  The way we choose to deal with them is what's frightening.  Winning hearts and minds is our policy and it is wrong and deadly.
Click to expand...


In Afghanistan we act like we are dealing with Americans the way we conduct business over there, it was the same way in Iraq, we act like we are helping struggling Westerners who want to adopt American customs and ideals and that is NOT what those people want.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> In that part of the world the people respect brute strength, things like "cease fire" and "winning hearts and minds" are looked at as signs on weakness in that part of the globe, they think we are fucking bleeding pussies for those ideas.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Frightening isn't it?   Not so much that they are the way they are.  The way we choose to deal with them is what's frightening.  Winning hearts and minds is our policy and it is wrong and deadly.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> In Afghanistan we act like we are dealing with Americans the way we conduct business over there, it was the same way in Iraq, we act like we are helping struggling Westerners who want to adopt American customs and ideals and that is NOT what those people want.
Click to expand...


Islam is arabic for submission.  Nowhere in islimic literature is freedom of thought or of actions sanctioned.  It's all about being a slave to allah.

"Israel" is Hebrew for struggle with God, reflecting the Jewish view of freedom of thought and of actions provided they are ethical 

Torah: "Proclaim Liberty Throughout The Land"


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Ceasefire: Assad Troops Break Truce, Shell Cities, Says Opposition 








> BEIRUT  The Syrian regime widened shelling attacks on opposition strongholds Tuesday, activists said, targeting a second town in a new sign that a U.N.-brokered cease-fire is quickly unraveling despite the presence of foreign observers.
> 
> The truce is part of an international plan to launch talks between President Bashar Assad's regime and those trying to topple him. An uprising against Assad erupted 13 months ago, but became increasingly violent in response to a regime crackdown.
> 
> Regime compliance with the cease-fire has been partial, and the latest escalation further lowered expectations that the key element of special envoy Kofi Annan's plan can stick. Mortar shells struck the central city of Homs at a pace of one a minute Tuesday morning, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group.
> 
> Annan, joint emissary for the U.N. and the Arab League, was briefing the Arab League in Qatar on the situation in Syria on Tuesday.
> 
> The envoy's plan has the backing of Syria's allies, including Russia, and despite setbacks is seen as the only way forward. Western military intervention is unlikely at this point, and economic sanctions, while starting to bite, seem insufficient to pressure the regime.
> 
> Leaders of two Syrian opposition groups said Tuesday, a day after meeting Russia's deputy foreign minister in Moscow, that they have sensed a shift in Russia's stance and hope Moscow will crank up pressure on Assad.
> 
> "Russia has all the necessary levers to apply pressure on Assad's government and help Annan's mission," said Haytham Manna of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, an activist group.
> 
> Russia twice shielded Assad from U.N. Security Council condemnation, but has become more critical of the regime.
> 
> In Paris, diplomats and finance ministry officials from the Arab world, the West and elsewhere were meeting Tuesday to coordinate sanctions against Syria. Diplomats say a string of EU, U.S. and other sanctions have affected Assad by curbing Syria's ability to export oil and the ability of his cronies to do business abroad.
> 
> In Syria, the overall level of violence is down since the cease-fire formally took effect Thursday, but the regime has gradually stepped up attacks. The number of people killed every day has also risen steadily since a brief lull that coincided with the start of the truce.



Syria Ceasefire: Assad Troops Break Truce, Shell Cities, Says Opposition


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Ceasefire: Assad Troops Break Truce, Shell Cities, Says Opposition
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  The Syrian regime widened shelling attacks on opposition strongholds Tuesday, activists said, targeting a second town in a new sign that a U.N.-brokered cease-fire is quickly unraveling despite the presence of foreign observers.
> 
> The truce is part of an international plan to launch talks between President Bashar Assad's regime and those trying to topple him. An uprising against Assad erupted 13 months ago, but became increasingly violent in response to a regime crackdown.
> 
> Regime compliance with the cease-fire has been partial, and the latest escalation further lowered expectations that the key element of special envoy Kofi Annan's plan can stick. Mortar shells struck the central city of Homs at a pace of one a minute Tuesday morning, said Rami Abdul-Rahman, the head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist group.
> 
> Annan, joint emissary for the U.N. and the Arab League, was briefing the Arab League in Qatar on the situation in Syria on Tuesday.
> 
> The envoy's plan has the backing of Syria's allies, including Russia, and despite setbacks is seen as the only way forward. Western military intervention is unlikely at this point, and economic sanctions, while starting to bite, seem insufficient to pressure the regime.
> 
> Leaders of two Syrian opposition groups said Tuesday, a day after meeting Russia's deputy foreign minister in Moscow, that they have sensed a shift in Russia's stance and hope Moscow will crank up pressure on Assad.
> 
> "Russia has all the necessary levers to apply pressure on Assad's government and help Annan's mission," said Haytham Manna of the Arab Commission for Human Rights, an activist group.
> 
> Russia twice shielded Assad from U.N. Security Council condemnation, but has become more critical of the regime.
> 
> In Paris, diplomats and finance ministry officials from the Arab world, the West and elsewhere were meeting Tuesday to coordinate sanctions against Syria. Diplomats say a string of EU, U.S. and other sanctions have affected Assad by curbing Syria's ability to export oil and the ability of his cronies to do business abroad.
> 
> In Syria, the overall level of violence is down since the cease-fire formally took effect Thursday, but the regime has gradually stepped up attacks. The number of people killed every day has also risen steadily since a brief lull that coincided with the start of the truce.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire: Assad Troops Break Truce, Shell Cities, Says Opposition
Click to expand...


Bring back the Ottoman Empire!  Those Turks knew how to keep the Syrians in line.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Ceasefire: Troops Pound Homs Despite Peace Plan 









> BEIRUT -- Syrian forces fired a barrage of mortar shells at an opposition stronghold Wednesday even as the foreign minister promised the regime would respect a week-old cease-fire and withdraw troops from urban centers in line with an international peace plan.
> 
> A troop pullback is a key provision of special envoy Kofi Annan's six-point plan to end 13 months of bloodshed in Syria, but the regime has ignored last week's deadline of getting tanks and troops off the streets.
> 
> Instead, Syrian soldiers continued to pound rebellious areas with artillery after an initial lull at the start the truce a week ago Thursday, raising growing international concerns that Annan's plan will fail.
> 
> In the latest violence Wednesday, activists said regime forces fired mortar shells at the central city of Homs, killing at least two civilians and sending thick gray smoke into the air as loud booms rang across residential areas.
> 
> The state news agency also said two separate roadside bombs killed 10 members of the security forces and a civilian in northern Syria. SANA reported that six soldiers were killed and 11 wounded in a blast in the village of Mastouma in Idlib province, while a second explosion in the Aleppo region killed four members of the security forces and a civilian.
> 
> The attacks were a sign that both sides have violated the cease-fire and could prompt the regime to intensify its assault on rebellious areas. Syria's government has portrayed the uprising as a foreign-led conspiracy by terrorists and thugs.
> 
> Despite persistent violence, the international community is reluctant to declare the cease-fire dead, in part because it is seen as the only way to end bloodshed triggered by an uprising against President Bashar Assad. As part of Annan's road map, a halt to fighting is to be followed by political talks between Assad and Syria's opposition.
> 
> Other options, such as foreign military intervention, arming Assad's opponents and economic sanctions, have either been discarded or offer no quick solution. A deadlocked international community would be hard put to offer an alternative if it were to acknowledge the collapse of the cease-fire.
> 
> Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem insisted Wednesday that Syria is keeping its commitments. Syria will "continue to cooperate" with Annan's efforts, the Chinese Foreign Ministry quoted Moallem as saying after he met with his Chinese counterpart in Beijing.
> 
> Syria will "honor and implement Annan's six-point proposal, fulfill its cease-fire, troop withdrawal and other relevant commitments and begin cooperation with the U.N. monitoring team," Moallem said according to the statement.



Syria Ceasefire: Troops Pound Homs Despite Peace Plan


----------



## High_Gravity

Oh noooose its the UN Monitors, I am sure that will get Assad to clean up his act.

U.N. likely to send full slate of Syria monitors








> BEIRUT  The United Nations Security Council is expected to authorize deploying a full mission of 250 monitors to Syria after it takes up the issue Wednesday, but Secretary-GeneralBan Ki-moon questioned whether even that number would be sufficient.
> 
> "I think this is not enough, considering the current situation and considering the vastness of the country, and that is why we need very efficient mobility of our observer mission," he said Tuesday.
> 
> He said he had discussed with European Union leaders whether the EU could provide helicopters and airplanes for that mobility.
> 
> Six members of a U.N. mission to monitor implementation of a peace plan began setting up headquarters in Syria on Monday, and 25 additional observers are expected to arrive in Damascus, the capital, in coming days.
> 
> Ban said U.N. military action was not under consideration.
> 
> "At this time, the situation is so complicated that we are not contemplating any  introduction of military protection," he said. "This is the responsibility of the Syrian authorities."
> 
> Violence has persisted in parts of Syria since a cease-fire began Thursday, leading some to declare the peace plan a failure.
> 
> Shelling continued in the battered city of Homs, and the government has intensified an offensive in the northwestern province of Idlib, activists say. Reports Tuesday said almost 70 people had been killed, most of them in Idlib, in tank and helicopter attacks over the last two days.
> 
> One activist, Khalid Mahmoud Qbiesho, was reported killed in Idlib when a tank ran over him, according to the Local Coordination Committees, a coalition of opposition groups. Others were killed execution-style, activists said.
> 
> Meanwhile, in Paris, representatives of 60 governments belonging to the group Friends of the Syrian People met to reinforce sanctions imposed on the Syrian regime amid the 13-month uprising, which the U.N. estimates has taken more than 9,000 lives.



U.N. likely to send full slate of Syria monitors - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. Syria Policy a Nod to Assad's Firm Grip








> (BRUSSELS)  Despite oft-repeated U.S. demands that Syrian President Bashar Assad step aside, the Obama administration's policy now reflects a consensus that Assad has a firm hold on power and that nothing short of an outside military strike will dislodge him quickly.
> 
> With rebel forces poorly armed and disorganized, efforts to pay them by Arab Gulf states failing, and sectarian divisions looming in Syria, the U.S. and its allies seem prepared to leave Assad where he is. Even if he could be ousted, the near future in Syria would involve civil war among ethnic groups now under Assad's boot, or a slow and bloody war with rebels or proxy fighters armed from the outside.
> 
> 
> The U.S. has edged toward supplying the rebels with communications gear and other nonlethal aid but has ruled out either a military assault or a supply of heavy weaponry for rebel forces.
> 
> "We are at a crucial turning point," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Wednesday.
> 
> Either a United Nations-brokered cease-fire takes hold "or we see Assad squandering his last chance before additional measures have to be considered," Clinton said.
> 
> But even as she suggests further action, as she has many times before, Clinton is not expected to announce a shift in the U.S. stance during a diplomatic huddle on Syria in Paris on Thursday.
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said late Wednesday he believes there is an opportunity for progress in Syria and recommended the Security Council approve a 300-strong U.N. observer mission.
> 
> In a letter obtained by The Associated Press, Ban told the council he will consider developments on the ground, including consolidation of the cease-fire, before deciding on when to deploy the expanded mission, which is larger than the 250 observers initially envisioned. The Security Council was scheduled to discuss Ban's letter and recommendations at a closed meeting Thursday morning.
> 
> The United States backs the cease-fire between Assad's forces and rebels, but the deal also represents recognition that Assad remains in control of the armed forces and holds the power to suspend attacks on civilians and rebels.
> 
> The week-old cease-fire was supposed to allow greater humanitarian and other relief to enter the country.
> 
> Syria has violated key provisions. Tanks, troops and widely feared plainclothes security agents continue to patrol the streets to deter anti-government protests, while the regime resumed its assault on rebellious Homs, Syria's third-largest city, over the weekend after only a brief lull.
> 
> U.S. officials regularly say Assad is no longer a legitimate leader, but they hold no direct leverage to make him leave, or even make him listen to international condemnation.
> 
> "Assad must step down," U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said this week. "I mean, we continue to take that position. At the same time, I think, we believe that we have to continue to work with the international community to keep putting pressure on Assad."
> 
> Even relatively harsh new sanctions on Syria are a tacit admission that Assad isn't going anywhere anytime soon. And the rebels are no closer to ridding the country of him despite 13 months of fighting and 9,000 mostly civilian deaths.



Read more: U.S. Syria Policy a Tacit Nod to Assad's Firm Grip - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: UN Observers Visit Damascus Suburb Of Zabadani 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops armed with heavy machine guns killed dozens in the central city of Hama Monday, activists said, just a day after chanting protesters welcomed a visit by a U.N. team sent to observe a shaky cease-fire.
> 
> The day's violence, the city's worst in months, added a dangerous new aspect to the U.N. team's work: that the Syrian regime might exact deadly revenge against opponents who feel empowered by the observers' presence to spill into the streets.
> 
> Observance of the truce, which was supposed to begin April 12, has been spotty at best. The main manifestation has been a temporary halt to fighting between President Bashar Assad's troops and rebel forces in locations where observers are present.
> 
> Skepticism about the cease-fire remains high, but world leaders say the current plan to stop more than a year of hostilities might be the last chance.
> 
> The U.N's political chief B. Lynn Pascoe told the Security Council that the Syrian government is still using heavy weapons and has failed to implement the peace plan brokered by former Secretary General Kofi Annan.
> 
> Pascoe said Syria's compliance with other elements of the plan, like releasing detainees and allowing peaceful demonstrations, is "clearly insufficient."
> 
> Some details of Monday's events in Hama remained murky, though different activists said the attacks started early in the morning and stopped a few hours later after dozens of people had been killed.



Syria Crisis: UN Observers Visit Damascus Suburb Of Zabadani


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: UN Monitors Visit Douma, Bloodshed In Damascus And Hama 








> BEIRUT  Syrian troops heavily shelled a suburb of the capital Tuesday, and satellite imagery showed that Syria has failed to withdraw all of its heavy weapons from populated areas as required by a cease-fire deal, an official said.
> 
> The shelling came hours after rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad killed three regime officers in separate attacks around Damascus, activists and state media said, the latest violence targeting the security forces used by the government to quash dissent.
> 
> A bomb hidden in an army truck also exploded in the capital, wounding several people.
> 
> The persistent bloodshed has tarnished efforts by a U.N. team of observers to salvage a truce that started to unravel almost as soon as it began on April 12. Despite the violence, the international community still sees the peace plan put forward by envoy Kofi Annan as the last chance to prevent the country from falling into civil war  in part because there are no real alternatives.
> 
> Despite the bombardment, U.N. monitors visited the restive Damascus suburb of Douma on Tuesday, their second visit in two days.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees activist group called Tuesday's barrage the "most violent shelling" of Douma since the crisis began adding that the violence left eight people dead and more than 100 wounded. The group also said that troops shelled the nearby suburb of Harasta.
> 
> Amateur videos posted online showed smoke rising into the sky as a result of the shelling.
> 
> "We are dying," shouted Douma-based activist Mohammed Saeed through Skype. "The observers are conspiring against us. Yesterday they refused to go with us to show them where the tanks are being hidden."
> 
> Annan, who was giving a speech in Sweden and briefing the U.N. Security Council in New York, called on the Syrian government to fully implement its commitments under the truce, his spokesman Ahmad Fawzi told U.N. reporters in Geneva.
> 
> "This means withdrawal of all heavy armory (weapons) from population centers and (sending them) back to the barracks. They are claiming that this has happened. Satellite imagery, however, and credible reports show that this has not fully happened, so this is unacceptable," Fawzi said.
> 
> Fawzi added that Annan is aware that when the U.N. monitors enter conflict areas in Syria that "the guns are silent," then "when they leave, the exchanges start again." He added there appear to be cases of Syrians being targeted by authorities after approaching U.N. observers monitoring the truce. Fawzi called the situation "totally unacceptable."



Syria Crisis: UN Monitors Visit Douma, Bloodshed In Damascus And Hama


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Tells UN Syria Failed To Withdraw Weapons 








> BEIRUT, April 25 (Reuters) - Syrian security forces shot dead four civilians on a bus in the northern province of Idlib on Wednesday, dissidents said, as international pressure built on Damascus to honour ceasefire pledges to order soldiers and tanks back to barracks.
> 
> In the latest violence to undermine the flaky 13-day-old truce, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the four were killed at a checkpoint on the main road from Aleppo to the capital.
> 
> Internet video that activists said was shot soon after the incident showed the bodies of two women and a wounded man lying on stretchers.
> 
> There was no mention of the shooting in Syria's rigidly controlled media or comment from the authorities in Damascus, which has barred most foreign journalists during 13 months of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> The bus attack, occurring two days after 31 people were killed in Hama city immediately after U.N. ceasefire monitors left the area, may prompt more diplomatic pressure on Damascus.
> 
> Former U.N. Secretary-General and ceasefire broker Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Tuesday that Syria had failed to withdraw weapons from population centres in violation of the terms of the April 12 truce.



Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Tells UN Syria Failed To Withdraw Weapons


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Tells UN Syria Failed To Withdraw Weapons
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT, April 25 (Reuters) - Syrian security forces shot dead four civilians on a bus in the northern province of Idlib on Wednesday, dissidents said, as international pressure built on Damascus to honour ceasefire pledges to order soldiers and tanks back to barracks.
> 
> In the latest violence to undermine the flaky 13-day-old truce, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the four were killed at a checkpoint on the main road from Aleppo to the capital.
> 
> Internet video that activists said was shot soon after the incident showed the bodies of two women and a wounded man lying on stretchers.
> 
> There was no mention of the shooting in Syria's rigidly controlled media or comment from the authorities in Damascus, which has barred most foreign journalists during 13 months of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> The bus attack, occurring two days after 31 people were killed in Hama city immediately after U.N. ceasefire monitors left the area, may prompt more diplomatic pressure on Damascus.
> 
> Former U.N. Secretary-General and ceasefire broker Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Tuesday that Syria had failed to withdraw weapons from population centres in violation of the terms of the April 12 truce.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Tells UN Syria Failed To Withdraw Weapons
Click to expand...


Where'd they dredge up Kofi Annan?  He wouldn't want his nice Brioni suits to get dirty in Syria.  The Syrians are really fucked


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Tells UN Syria Failed To Withdraw Weapons
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT, April 25 (Reuters) - Syrian security forces shot dead four civilians on a bus in the northern province of Idlib on Wednesday, dissidents said, as international pressure built on Damascus to honour ceasefire pledges to order soldiers and tanks back to barracks.
> 
> In the latest violence to undermine the flaky 13-day-old truce, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the four were killed at a checkpoint on the main road from Aleppo to the capital.
> 
> Internet video that activists said was shot soon after the incident showed the bodies of two women and a wounded man lying on stretchers.
> 
> There was no mention of the shooting in Syria's rigidly controlled media or comment from the authorities in Damascus, which has barred most foreign journalists during 13 months of an uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> The bus attack, occurring two days after 31 people were killed in Hama city immediately after U.N. ceasefire monitors left the area, may prompt more diplomatic pressure on Damascus.
> 
> Former U.N. Secretary-General and ceasefire broker Kofi Annan told the Security Council on Tuesday that Syria had failed to withdraw weapons from population centres in violation of the terms of the April 12 truce.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Tells UN Syria Failed To Withdraw Weapons
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Where'd they dredge up Kofi Annan?  He wouldn't want his nice Brioni suits to get dirty in Syria.  The Syrians are really fucked
Click to expand...


HA Good point, Kofi Annan is nothing but a corrupt empty suit and Bashar knows it, he is smiling at him.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Tells UN Syria Failed To Withdraw Weapons
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Kofi Annan Tells UN Syria Failed To Withdraw Weapons
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Where'd they dredge up Kofi Annan?  He wouldn't want his nice Brioni suits to get dirty in Syria.  The Syrians are really fucked
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> HA Good point, Kofi Annan is nothing but a corrupt empty suit and Bashar knows it, he is smiling at him.
Click to expand...


An empty $5,000 suit.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Hama Bomb Killing 16 Blamed On Opposition By Assad Regime 








> BEIRUT  U.N. observers on Thursday inspected the site of a deadly explosion that flattened a block of houses in the central Syrian city of Hama a day earlier and killed at least 16 people.
> 
> The government and the opposition traded blame for the blasts. Syrian state-run media said rebel bomb-makers accidentally set off the explosives, while anti-regime activists said intense shelling by government forces caused the extensive damage. It was impossible to independently verify the conflicting accounts because President Bashar Assad's regime, facing a 13-month-old uprising, has restricted access for journalists and other outside witnesses.
> 
> The spokesman for U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, Ahmad Fawzi, said observers visited the site but there was no immediate word on what they saw. A pair of U.N. observers is stationed in Hama, part of an advance team of 15 that is to be expanded in the coming weeks to up to 300 as part of a truce plan to end the Syrian crisis.
> 
> A U.N. official said Thursday the United Nations has so far negotiated for countries to provide 100 unarmed truce monitors to be on the ground in Syria, in addition to civilian support staff, within 30 days of the April 12 cease-fire. But he said differences between politicians and military officials in potential contributing nations have slowed the negotiations for more troops. He did not elaborate.
> 
> The official said the U.N. will announce Friday that Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood is being appointed to lead the team of U.N. observers. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made.
> 
> Amateur videos said to be of Wednesday's blasts in Hama showed a large cloud of white and yellow smoke rising from a neighborhood surrounded by green fields. In a later video, dozens of people are searching the debris, including huge chunks of cement and broken cinderblocks. Another clip shows the bloodied body of a little girl being carried through a crowd of wailing men.
> 
> The state-run Syrian news agency SANA said rebels mishandling explosives triggered a blast that killed at least 16 people and severely damaged at least six houses.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists, said the destruction was caused by intense shelling from government tanks, and denied that rebels were responsible for the blast.
> 
> A second group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the cause of the destruction was not immediately clear. The Observatory initially cited reports by local residents that they had come under attack from regime forces.
> 
> However, the head of the group, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said he cannot be sure those reports are accurate, and called for an investigation by U.N. observers.



Syria Crisis: Hama Bomb Killing 16 Blamed On Opposition By Assad Regime


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Hama Bomb Killing 16 Blamed On Opposition By Assad Regime
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT &#8212; U.N. observers on Thursday inspected the site of a deadly explosion that flattened a block of houses in the central Syrian city of Hama a day earlier and killed at least 16 people.
> 
> The government and the opposition traded blame for the blasts. Syrian state-run media said rebel bomb-makers accidentally set off the explosives, while anti-regime activists said intense shelling by government forces caused the extensive damage. It was impossible to independently verify the conflicting accounts because President Bashar Assad's regime, facing a 13-month-old uprising, has restricted access for journalists and other outside witnesses.
> 
> The spokesman for U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, Ahmad Fawzi, said observers visited the site but there was no immediate word on what they saw. A pair of U.N. observers is stationed in Hama, part of an advance team of 15 that is to be expanded in the coming weeks to up to 300 as part of a truce plan to end the Syrian crisis.
> 
> A U.N. official said Thursday the United Nations has so far negotiated for countries to provide 100 unarmed truce monitors to be on the ground in Syria, in addition to civilian support staff, within 30 days of the April 12 cease-fire. But he said differences between politicians and military officials in potential contributing nations have slowed the negotiations for more troops. He did not elaborate.
> 
> The official said the U.N. will announce Friday that Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood is being appointed to lead the team of U.N. observers. He spoke on condition of anonymity because the announcement has not yet been made.
> 
> Amateur videos said to be of Wednesday's blasts in Hama showed a large cloud of white and yellow smoke rising from a neighborhood surrounded by green fields. In a later video, dozens of people are searching the debris, including huge chunks of cement and broken cinderblocks. Another clip shows the bloodied body of a little girl being carried through a crowd of wailing men.
> 
> The state-run Syrian news agency SANA said rebels mishandling explosives triggered a blast that killed at least 16 people and severely damaged at least six houses.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, a network of activists, said the destruction was caused by intense shelling from government tanks, and denied that rebels were responsible for the blast.
> 
> A second group, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said the cause of the destruction was not immediately clear. The Observatory initially cited reports by local residents that they had come under attack from regime forces.
> 
> However, the head of the group, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said he cannot be sure those reports are accurate, and called for an investigation by U.N. observers.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Hama Bomb Killing 16 Blamed On Opposition By Assad Regime
Click to expand...


Hama is where the old man assad slaughtered 20,000 syrians.  Dejavu all over again.


----------



## hipeter924

Don't worry the human rights council will solve everything, they were up Gaddafi's ass the whole last decade, praising him for how he managed his country.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Bomb Blast: Suicide Bomber Hits Damascus, Killing At Least 5








> DAMASCUS, Syria  A suicide bomber blew himself up across the street from a mosque in the Syrian capital Friday, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 30, state TV said. Thousands of Syrians protested elsewhere to denounce persistent violence by President Bashar Assad's regime.
> 
> The blast was the latest blow to a peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan that called for a cease-fire to go into effect two weeks ago. The truce has been roundly ignored on the ground, and the U.N. has only 15 monitors in Syria who are trying to salvage it.
> 
> Syrian cities have been hit by a wave of blasts in recent months that the regime often blames on "terrorists" trying to destabilize the country. Opposition activists usually deny that, blaming government forces for carrying out the attacks as a way to tarnish the uprising that began in March 2011.
> 
> The violence, including continued government shelling of opposition strongholds, comes despite a diplomatic push to end the year-old crisis. An uprising against Assad that began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests has morphed into an armed insurgency.
> 
> The blast in the capital's Midan neighborhood went off across the street from a mosque.
> 
> Syrian TV aired footage of white smoke billowing from under a bridge as people streamed out of a mosque. The streets were stained with blood.
> 
> State TV reported that nine people were killed and 30 wounded. Health Minister Nader al-Halqi confirmed at least eight dead and said they included seven policemen.
> 
> Midan has been the site of frequent anti-government protests in the past. In January, an explosion in the same neighborhood killed at least 26 people and wounded 63.
> 
> The anti-government protests, which usually take place on Fridays across the country, typically begin following noon prayers as worshippers stream out of mosques.



Syria Bomb Blast: Suicide Bomber Hits Damascus, Killing At Least 5


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Bomb Blast: Suicide Bomber Hits Damascus, Killing At Least 5
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DAMASCUS, Syria  A suicide bomber blew himself up across the street from a mosque in the Syrian capital Friday, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 30, state TV said. Thousands of Syrians protested elsewhere to denounce persistent violence by President Bashar Assad's regime.
> 
> The blast was the latest blow to a peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan that called for a cease-fire to go into effect two weeks ago. The truce has been roundly ignored on the ground, and the U.N. has only 15 monitors in Syria who are trying to salvage it.
> 
> Syrian cities have been hit by a wave of blasts in recent months that the regime often blames on "terrorists" trying to destabilize the country. Opposition activists usually deny that, blaming government forces for carrying out the attacks as a way to tarnish the uprising that began in March 2011.
> 
> The violence, including continued government shelling of opposition strongholds, comes despite a diplomatic push to end the year-old crisis. An uprising against Assad that began in March 2011 with largely peaceful protests has morphed into an armed insurgency.
> 
> The blast in the capital's Midan neighborhood went off across the street from a mosque.
> 
> Syrian TV aired footage of white smoke billowing from under a bridge as people streamed out of a mosque. The streets were stained with blood.
> 
> State TV reported that nine people were killed and 30 wounded. Health Minister Nader al-Halqi confirmed at least eight dead and said they included seven policemen.
> 
> Midan has been the site of frequent anti-government protests in the past. In January, an explosion in the same neighborhood killed at least 26 people and wounded 63.
> 
> The anti-government protests, which usually take place on Fridays across the country, typically begin following noon prayers as worshippers stream out of mosques.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Bomb Blast: Suicide Bomber Hits Damascus, Killing At Least 5
Click to expand...


It's TGIF in Syria so they're prolly just "blowing off" a little steam


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Suicide Bombers Attack Hotel And Military Compound In Idlib








> BEIRUT  Two suicide bombers blew up cars rigged with explosives near a military compound and a hotel in a city in northwestern Syria on Monday, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 100, state media said.
> 
> The blasts, which also tore two large craters in the ground, were the latest setback for troubled United Nations efforts to end Syria's 13-month-old crisis. A team of U.N. observers is already on the ground to salvage a cease-fire that went into effect April 12 but has been widely ignored by both sides. U.N. officials have singled out the regime as the main aggressor in violations of the truce.
> 
> Monday's powerful bombs went off in the city of Idlib, an opposition stronghold that government troops recaptured in a military offensive earlier this year.
> 
> The state-run news agency SANA said security forces and civilians were among those killed, while state TV said that many of the nearly 100 wounded were civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist network, put the death toll at more than 20 people.
> 
> Syria's pro-government al-Ekhbariya TV aired footage of the aftermath from the blasts, showing torn flesh, smashed cars, twisted debris and blood stains on the pavement. The force of the explosions tore the facade off one multistory building, shattered windows in the area and sent debris flying for hundreds of meters (yards). Pro-government websites said five buildings damaged.
> 
> There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. State media blamed "armed terrorists," a term it uses for rebels trying to topple the government. Activists claimed the regime was behind the bombings to discredit the opposition.
> 
> The bombers detonated their explosives near a military compound and near the city's Carlton Hotel, SANA said.
> 
> A local activist, who only gave his first name, Ibrahim, for fear of repercussions, said the two sites are several hundred meters apart and that the explosions went off within five minutes of each other after daybreak Monday.
> 
> Two members of the U.N. observer team toured the site of the bombings, SANA said. Ibrahim said the observers have been staying at the Carlton, and a pro-government website reported that the hotel sustained some damage.
> 
> Earlier Monday, gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at the central bank and a police patrol in the capital of Damascus, wounding four officers and causing light damage to the bank, SANA said.



Syria Crisis: Suicide Bombers Attack Hotel And Military Compound In Idlib


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Suicide Bombers Attack Hotel And Military Compound In Idlib
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Two suicide bombers blew up cars rigged with explosives near a military compound and a hotel in a city in northwestern Syria on Monday, killing at least nine people and wounding nearly 100, state media said.
> 
> The blasts, which also tore two large craters in the ground, were the latest setback for troubled United Nations efforts to end Syria's 13-month-old crisis. A team of U.N. observers is already on the ground to salvage a cease-fire that went into effect April 12 but has been widely ignored by both sides. U.N. officials have singled out the regime as the main aggressor in violations of the truce.
> 
> Monday's powerful bombs went off in the city of Idlib, an opposition stronghold that government troops recaptured in a military offensive earlier this year.
> 
> The state-run news agency SANA said security forces and civilians were among those killed, while state TV said that many of the nearly 100 wounded were civilians. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an activist network, put the death toll at more than 20 people.
> 
> Syria's pro-government al-Ekhbariya TV aired footage of the aftermath from the blasts, showing torn flesh, smashed cars, twisted debris and blood stains on the pavement. The force of the explosions tore the facade off one multistory building, shattered windows in the area and sent debris flying for hundreds of meters (yards). Pro-government websites said five buildings damaged.
> 
> There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attacks. State media blamed "armed terrorists," a term it uses for rebels trying to topple the government. Activists claimed the regime was behind the bombings to discredit the opposition.
> 
> The bombers detonated their explosives near a military compound and near the city's Carlton Hotel, SANA said.
> 
> A local activist, who only gave his first name, Ibrahim, for fear of repercussions, said the two sites are several hundred meters apart and that the explosions went off within five minutes of each other after daybreak Monday.
> 
> Two members of the U.N. observer team toured the site of the bombings, SANA said. Ibrahim said the observers have been staying at the Carlton, and a pro-government website reported that the hotel sustained some damage.
> 
> Earlier Monday, gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades at the central bank and a police patrol in the capital of Damascus, wounding four officers and causing light damage to the bank, SANA said.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Suicide Bombers Attack Hotel And Military Compound In Idlib
Click to expand...


It's just another manic Monday in the Arab Middle East   


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lvSN4_0b8kc]The Bangles - Manic Monday (Original Audio + Lyrics In Description) - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Mishmishan Violence Kills At Least 7, Opposition Activists Say 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian forces fired mortar shells at a farming village in the country's north Tuesday, killing at least seven people, many from the same family, according to activists.
> 
> In one video posted online, a bearded man storms into a clinic and yells, "Film me! Film me!"
> 
> Counting on his fingers, he says the attack killed his mother, sister, two of his brothers and a nephew.
> 
> "That's my son!" he says, pointing to a wounded boy with white bandages on his legs, arms and back. "That's my brother and that's my nephew!" he says, pointing to a body on the floor in a pool of blood and another on a gurney.
> 
> The fresh violence in the village of Mishmishan underlines the continual unraveling of a U.N.-brokered cease-fire that was supposed to begin on April 12 but has never taken hold. The truce is part of a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan to allow for talks by all parties on a political solution to the country's conflict.
> 
> The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed since an uprising against President Bashar Assad began in March 2011, prompting a brutal crackdown by government forces.
> 
> The shelling of Mishmishan, an agricultural area near the border with Turkey, also highlights the huge challenge facing a 16-person U.N. team that is trying to monitor the truce in a country slightly larger than North Dakota, where violence is widespread and often in relatively isolated areas.
> 
> Video posted online of a funeral in Mishmishan show hundreds of people marching through the village, then lining up to pray over the bodies, which lie in the back of three white pickup trucks. The videos list seven dead.
> 
> Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said 10 people were killed in the attack, seven of them when a mortar fell on their house. The three others died elsewhere in the village, he said.
> 
> Activist claims and videos could not be independently verified. The Syrian government rarely comments on specific events in the country and bars most media from independent reporting  despite agreeing to do so in accepting Annan's plan.



Syria Crisis: Mishmishan Violence Kills At Least 7, Opposition Activists Say


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Troops Guilty Of War Crimes, Rights Groups Says 








> BEIRUT  Syrian activists said government forces clashed with army defectors in the country's north on Wednesday, causing casualties and further enflaming an area near the Turkish border where rebel fighters have tried to seize territory.
> 
> An opposition group said 15 members of the security forces and two defectors died in the violence, but the figure could not be independently confirmed.
> 
> Syria's persistent bloodshed has tarnished efforts by a U.N. team of observers to salvage a truce that started to unravel almost as soon as it began on April 12.
> 
> A report by an international human rights group accusing Assad of war crimes during an offensive ahead of the truce further throws into doubt his commitment to a peaceful solution to the uprising that his government has been brutally suppressing for over a year.
> 
> Despite the violence, the international community still sees the peace plan as the last chance to prevent the country from falling into civil war  in part because no country wants to intervene militarily.



Syria Troops Guilty Of War Crimes, Rights Groups Says


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Troops Guilty Of War Crimes, Rights Groups Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Syrian activists said government forces clashed with army defectors in the country's north on Wednesday, causing casualties and further enflaming an area near the Turkish border where rebel fighters have tried to seize territory.
> 
> An opposition group said 15 members of the security forces and two defectors died in the violence, but the figure could not be independently confirmed.
> 
> Syria's persistent bloodshed has tarnished efforts by a U.N. team of observers to salvage a truce that started to unravel almost as soon as it began on April 12.
> 
> A report by an international human rights group accusing Assad of war crimes during an offensive ahead of the truce further throws into doubt his commitment to a peaceful solution to the uprising that his government has been brutally suppressing for over a year.
> 
> Despite the violence, the international community still sees the peace plan as the last chance to prevent the country from falling into civil war  in part because no country wants to intervene militarily.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Troops Guilty Of War Crimes, Rights Groups Says
Click to expand...


Like father, like son.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Aleppo University Raided By Regime, 4 Killed, Say Activists 








> BEIRUT  Syrian security forces stormed dorms at a northwestern university to break up anti-government protests there, killing at least four students and wounding several others with tear gas and live ammunition, activists and opposition groups said Thursday.
> 
> Around 1,500 students had been protesting in student quarters next to Aleppo University's main campus late Wednesday when security forces and pro-regime gunmen swept into their residences, firing tear gas at first, then live ammunition to disperse them.
> 
> The raid followed an attack on the protesters by pro-regime students armed with knives, activists said.
> 
> Student activist Thaer al-Ahmed said panic and chaos ensued as students tried to flee.
> 
> "Some students ran to their rooms to take cover but they were followed to their rooms, beaten up and arrested," he said. "Others suffered cuts and broken bones as they tried to flee."
> 
> Raids and intermittent gunfire continued for about five hours through early Thursday, he said, adding that dozens of people were wounded, some critically, and around 50 students were arrested at the state-run university.
> 
> Aleppo, Syria's largest city and economic hub, has a population that has remained largely loyal to President Bashar Assad and has been largely spared from the violence that has plagued other Syrian cities.
> 
> But university students  many from rebellious areas such as the northern Idlib province  have been staging almost daily protests calling for the fall of Assad's regime. Al-Thaer, a law student, said the campus and dormitories have been raided before, but Thursday's raid was the most violent.
> 
> The student quarters  known as the University City  comprise 20 dormitories that house more than 5,000 students next to the university campus. Students there often shouted out anti-Assad slogans from their rooms at night, al-Thaer said.
> 
> An amateur video showed a large number of security forces apparently storming the dorms Wednesday night. Another showed a students protest earlier Wednesday, during which protesters shouted: "We don't want you, Bashar!"
> 
> The authenticity of the videos could not be confirmed.



Syria Crisis: Aleppo University Raided By Regime, 4 Killed, Say Activists


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria peace plan 'on track' despite violence









> The peace plan for Syria negotiated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is "on track", despite reports of ceasefire violations, his spokesman says.
> 
> Ahmed Fawzi told a news conference in Geneva that a crisis which had been going on for over a year was "not going to be resolved in a day or a week".
> 
> But he acknowledged there were "no big signs of compliance on the ground" with the ceasefire which began on 12 April.
> 
> Activists said at least 23 people were killed by government troops on Friday.
> 
> The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network, put the nationwide death toll as high as 37, including 10 people in the Damascus suburbs of Tadamun and Kafr Sousa, and seven in Idlib province.
> 
> A couple and their child were also killed by pro-government Shabiha militiamen in the northern city of Aleppo, it reported.
> 
> The violence came despite the deployment of 40 unarmed observers from the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), which is tasked with verifying the implementation of Mr Annan's initiative.
> 
> Up to 300 observers are expected to be in place by the end of May.



BBC News - Syria peace plan 'on track' despite violence


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria peace plan 'on track' despite violence
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The peace plan for Syria negotiated by UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan is "on track", despite reports of ceasefire violations, his spokesman says.
> 
> Ahmed Fawzi told a news conference in Geneva that a crisis which had been going on for over a year was "not going to be resolved in a day or a week".
> 
> But he acknowledged there were "no big signs of compliance on the ground" with the ceasefire which began on 12 April.
> 
> Activists said at least 23 people were killed by government troops on Friday.
> 
> The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an activist network, put the nationwide death toll as high as 37, including 10 people in the Damascus suburbs of Tadamun and Kafr Sousa, and seven in Idlib province.
> 
> A couple and their child were also killed by pro-government Shabiha militiamen in the northern city of Aleppo, it reported.
> 
> The violence came despite the deployment of 40 unarmed observers from the United Nations Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS), which is tasked with verifying the implementation of Mr Annan's initiative.
> 
> Up to 300 observers are expected to be in place by the end of May.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BBC News - Syria peace plan 'on track' despite violence
Click to expand...


Does assad relax over the weekend and take a rest from mass slaughtering and plundering?

Even maniacal tyrants need some time off.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Parliamentary Election Dismissed By Opposition 



> DAMASCUS, Syria  Syrians cast ballots Monday in parliamentary elections billed by the regime as key to President Bashar Assad's political reforms, but the opposition dismissed the vote as a sham meant to preserve his autocratic rule.
> 
> There were scattered reports of violence, including accounts from activists and witnesses that security forces launched deadly attacks on villages in central Syria where opposition supporters were refusing to vote. The reports could not be indepedently confirmed.
> 
> The voting for Syria's 250-member parliament is unlikely to affect the course of Syria's popular uprising, which began 14 months ago with largely peaceful protests. The regime responded with a violent crackdown, pushing many in the opposition to take up arms.
> 
> The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in Syria's turmoil, which many observers fear is rapidly descending into a civil war.
> 
> Voters lined up and dropped white ballots in large, plastic boxes after polls opened at 7 a.m. Election officials say more than 7,000 candidates are competing seats in the legislature in a country of almost 15 million eligible voters out of a population of 24 million.
> 
> The opposition has called the elections a farce and says it will accept nothing short of the fall of Assad's regime.
> 
> As the voting got under way, regime forces stormed several poor farming villages in central Syria where residents were boycotting the elections, shooting randomly and torching homes, two witnesses said. One resident who asked to be identified only by his first name, Zakariya, said at least four people in his village of Qabr Fidda were killed  including a father and his two daughters, who were burned alive.
> 
> "They also shot at people who fled in to the farms but we don't know anything about what happened to them," Zakariya told The Associated Press by telephone from the village, 30 kilometers (50 miles) northwest of Hama.



Syria Parliamentary Election Dismissed By Opposition


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Elections: Opposition Boycotts, US Says Vote 'Borders On Ludicrous' 








> DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria said counting was under way Tuesday after parliamentary elections that the opposition boycotted and the U.S. described as bordering on ludicrous.
> 
> Monday's election for the 250-member parliament is unlikely to change the trajectory of the revolt in Syria, which has become a grim cycle of crackdown and reprisal. Parliament is considered a rubber stamp in a country where the president holds the real power.
> 
> Special envoy Kofi Annan is to brief the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday about the situation in the country, where about 40 U.N. observers are trying to calm the situation. U.N. officials hope to deploy a larger force of up to 300 observers.
> 
> World powers have been unable to stop the bloodshed, and a truce that was scheduled to begin April 12 has never really taken hold. The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in 14 months of turmoil.
> 
> President Bashar Assad's regime praised Monday's election as a milestone in promised reforms and said officials were counting ballots Tuesday. But the opposition boycotted the polls and said they were designed to strengthen Assad's grip on power.
> 
> U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday that balloting in the current atmosphere in Syria "borders on ludicrous."
> 
> "It is not really possible to hold credible elections in a climate where basic human rights are being denied to the citizens and the government is continuing to carry out daily assaults on its own citizens," he said.



Syria Elections: Opposition Boycotts, US Says Vote 'Borders On Ludicrous'


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Elections: Opposition Boycotts, US Says Vote 'Borders On Ludicrous'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria said counting was under way Tuesday after parliamentary elections that the opposition boycotted and the U.S. described as bordering on ludicrous.
> 
> Monday's election for the 250-member parliament is unlikely to change the trajectory of the revolt in Syria, which has become a grim cycle of crackdown and reprisal. Parliament is considered a rubber stamp in a country where the president holds the real power.
> 
> Special envoy Kofi Annan is to brief the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday about the situation in the country, where about 40 U.N. observers are trying to calm the situation. U.N. officials hope to deploy a larger force of up to 300 observers.
> 
> World powers have been unable to stop the bloodshed, and a truce that was scheduled to begin April 12 has never really taken hold. The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in 14 months of turmoil.
> 
> President Bashar Assad's regime praised Monday's election as a milestone in promised reforms and said officials were counting ballots Tuesday. But the opposition boycotted the polls and said they were designed to strengthen Assad's grip on power.
> 
> U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday that balloting in the current atmosphere in Syria "borders on ludicrous."
> 
> "It is not really possible to hold credible elections in a climate where basic human rights are being denied to the citizens and the government is continuing to carry out daily assaults on its own citizens," he said.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Elections: Opposition Boycotts, US Says Vote 'Borders On Ludicrous'
Click to expand...


That's about all the UN is capable of: Observing mass murder!


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Elections: Opposition Boycotts, US Says Vote 'Borders On Ludicrous'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DAMASCUS, Syria -- Syria said counting was under way Tuesday after parliamentary elections that the opposition boycotted and the U.S. described as bordering on ludicrous.
> 
> Monday's election for the 250-member parliament is unlikely to change the trajectory of the revolt in Syria, which has become a grim cycle of crackdown and reprisal. Parliament is considered a rubber stamp in a country where the president holds the real power.
> 
> Special envoy Kofi Annan is to brief the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday about the situation in the country, where about 40 U.N. observers are trying to calm the situation. U.N. officials hope to deploy a larger force of up to 300 observers.
> 
> World powers have been unable to stop the bloodshed, and a truce that was scheduled to begin April 12 has never really taken hold. The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in 14 months of turmoil.
> 
> President Bashar Assad's regime praised Monday's election as a milestone in promised reforms and said officials were counting ballots Tuesday. But the opposition boycotted the polls and said they were designed to strengthen Assad's grip on power.
> 
> U.S. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said Monday that balloting in the current atmosphere in Syria "borders on ludicrous."
> 
> "It is not really possible to hold credible elections in a climate where basic human rights are being denied to the citizens and the government is continuing to carry out daily assaults on its own citizens," he said.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Elections: Opposition Boycotts, US Says Vote 'Borders On Ludicrous'
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> That's about all the UN is capable of: Observing mass murder!
Click to expand...


The UN couldn't even disarm an angry group of girl scouts.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Elections: Opposition Boycotts, US Says Vote 'Borders On Ludicrous'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Elections: Opposition Boycotts, US Says Vote 'Borders On Ludicrous'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's about all the UN is capable of: Observing mass murder!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The UN couldn't even disarm an angry group of girl scouts.
Click to expand...


In NY, the UN diplomats observe menus of the best restaurants and observe getting tickets for illegal parking that they don't pay because they don't observe the law.


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> That's about all the UN is capable of: Observing mass murder!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The UN couldn't even disarm an angry group of girl scouts.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> In NY, the UN diplomats observe menus of the best restaurants and observe getting tickets for illegal parking that they don't pay because they don't observe the law.
Click to expand...


The UN Headquarters needs to be relocated to the Nuba Mountains in the Sudan.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> The UN couldn't even disarm an angry group of girl scouts.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> In NY, the UN diplomats observe menus of the best restaurants and observe getting tickets for illegal parking that they don't pay because they don't observe the law.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The UN Headquarters needs to be relocated to the Nuba Mountains in the Sudan.
Click to expand...


Did you hear the latest, that the UN says the US must return its land to the Native Americans?  They must have made this decision during happy hour on the East Side.


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> In NY, the UN diplomats observe menus of the best restaurants and observe getting tickets for illegal parking that they don't pay because they don't observe the law.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The UN Headquarters needs to be relocated to the Nuba Mountains in the Sudan.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Did you hear the latest, that the UN says the US must return its land to the Native Americans?  They must have made this decision during happy hour on the East Side.
Click to expand...


Interesting, how does the UN suppose they are going to enforce this? they couldn't even make an unruly 5 year old girl go to bed on time.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> The UN Headquarters needs to be relocated to the Nuba Mountains in the Sudan.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Did you hear the latest, that the UN says the US must return its land to the Native Americans?  They must have made this decision during happy hour on the East Side.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Interesting, how does the UN suppose they are going to enforce this? they couldn't even make an unruly 5 year old girl go to bed on time.
Click to expand...


The UN is a ball-less debating society


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> Did you hear the latest, that the UN says the US must return its land to the Native Americans?  They must have made this decision during happy hour on the East Side.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Interesting, how does the UN suppose they are going to enforce this? they couldn't even make an unruly 5 year old girl go to bed on time.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The UN is a ball-less debating society
Click to expand...


The UN are a bunch of corrupt empty suits that can't do anything unless the US Military backs them.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Roadside Bomb Targets Military, 6 Soldiers Wounded 








> DARAA, Syria  A roadside bomb struck a Syrian military truck Wednesday, wounding six soldiers just seconds after a convoy carrying the head of the U.N. observer mission passed by.
> 
> An Associated Press reporter who was traveling in the U.N. convoy said the blast cracked the military truck's windows and caused a plume of black smoke. The U.N. convoy was not hit.
> 
> The attack was "a graphic experience that the Syrian people live with every day," the head of the U.N. observer mission, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, told reporters.
> 
> He said the observers' work will continue as usual.
> 
> The blast went off after Mood headed into this southern city, the birthplace of the Syrian uprising, with a convoy of monitors and journalists. The explosion was more than 100 meters (330 feet) behind the convoy.
> 
> "We were driving behind the U.N. convoy as protection when a roadside bomb exploded, wounding a 1st Lieutenant and five troops," a soldier who asked to be identified only by his first name, Yahya, told The Associated Press at the scene.
> 
> At least three bloodied soldiers were rushed away.
> 
> Mood said he does not know whether the blast was meant to target the observers or the military.
> 
> "For me the important thing is really not speculating about who was the target, what was the target, but it is to make the point that this is what the Syrian people (are) seeing every day and it needs to stop," he said. "Whoever is doing it and whoever is supporting it."
> 
> It's not clear who was behind the bombing.
> 
> But Syria's rebel leader, Col. Riad al-Assad, threatened to resume attacks because the government has not honored a cease-fire, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat newspaper reported Wednesday. Al-Assad told the paper that "our people are demanding that we defend them."



Syria Crisis: Roadside Bomb Targets Military, 6 Soldiers Wounded


----------



## High_Gravity

Looks like alot of those guys Syria let flow into Iraq to use IED's and become suicide bombers against US Troops are now back in Syria, the chickens are coming home to roost.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Looks like alot of those guys Syria let flow into Iraq to use IED's and become suicide bombers against US Troops are now back in Syria, the chickens are coming home to roost.



Iran is a bad actor, too  Mullen: Lethal Iranian weapons entering Iraq - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looks like alot of those guys Syria let flow into Iraq to use IED's and become suicide bombers against US Troops are now back in Syria, the chickens are coming home to roost.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Iran is a bad actor, too  Mullen: Lethal Iranian weapons entering Iraq - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times
Click to expand...


I find it very ironic that the same weapons and bad actors Syria was letting flow into Iraq to kill US Troops are now coming back to Syria to kill Assads soldiers, its almost funny in a morbid sort of way.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Looks like alot of those guys Syria let flow into Iraq to use IED's and become suicide bombers against US Troops are now back in Syria, the chickens are coming home to roost.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Iran is a bad actor, too  Mullen: Lethal Iranian weapons entering Iraq - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I find it very ironic that the same weapons and bad actors Syria was letting flow into Iraq to kill US Troops are now coming back to Syria to kill Assads soldiers, its almost funny in a morbid sort of way.
Click to expand...


It's impossible to tell the difference between the bad guys and the good guys.  I see them all bad guys until shown otherwise


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> Iran is a bad actor, too  Mullen: Lethal Iranian weapons entering Iraq - Navy News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Navy Times
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I find it very ironic that the same weapons and bad actors Syria was letting flow into Iraq to kill US Troops are now coming back to Syria to kill Assads soldiers, its almost funny in a morbid sort of way.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> It's impossible to tell the difference between the bad guys and the good guys.  I see them all bad guys until shown otherwise
Click to expand...


The people fighting Assad are now using suicide bombing and IED's, similar to the people we fought against in Iraq. I definently don't see any good guys over there either.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I find it very ironic that the same weapons and bad actors Syria was letting flow into Iraq to kill US Troops are now coming back to Syria to kill Assads soldiers, its almost funny in a morbid sort of way.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's impossible to tell the difference between the bad guys and the good guys.  I see them all bad guys until shown otherwise
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The people fighting Assad are now using suicide bombing and IED's, similar to the people we fought against in Iraq. I definently don't see any good guys over there either.
Click to expand...


Most of the good guys left long ago and now live in New York and elsewhere in the US.  The biggest mansions in Brooklyn and Deal, NJ are owned by the good Syrians


----------



## High_Gravity

JStone said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> It's impossible to tell the difference between the bad guys and the good guys.  I see them all bad guys until shown otherwise
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The people fighting Assad are now using suicide bombing and IED's, similar to the people we fought against in Iraq. I definently don't see any good guys over there either.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Most of the good guys left long ago and now live in New York and elsewhere in the US.  The biggest mansions in Brooklyn and Deal, NJ are owned by the good Syrians
Click to expand...


I remember reading a link on that, the piece I read about the Syrian Jews in Brooklyn was very interesting.


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> JStone said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> The people fighting Assad are now using suicide bombing and IED's, similar to the people we fought against in Iraq. I definently don't see any good guys over there either.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Most of the good guys left long ago and now live in New York and elsewhere in the US.  The biggest mansions in Brooklyn and Deal, NJ are owned by the good Syrians
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I remember reading a link on that, the piece I read about the Syrian Jews in Brooklyn was very interesting.
Click to expand...


Different article here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/25/nyregion/25deal.html


----------



## High_Gravity

Red Cross: 1.5 Million in Syria Lack Basics









> (GENEVA) Fighting in parts of Syria has morphed into local guerrilla wars, the Red Cross said Tuesday, where the number of prisoners remains unknown and 1.5 million people need help getting food, water, shelter, power and sanitation.
> 
> Fighting in the central city of Homs, where U.N. observers helped halt weeks of artillery attacks, and in the northern Syrian town of Idlib are now non-international armed conflicts, said Jakob Kellenberger, president of International Committee of the Red Cross.
> 
> "The type of the violence has changed a little bit," Kellenberger told a news conference at ICRC headquarters in Geneva. "At least in recent weeks, you have no longer these big battles like one had in Homs in the second half of February. You have more guerrilla attacks and bomb attacks."
> 
> Tens of thousands of people are living in public buildings or other people's homes, and the Red Cross and Syrian Arab Red Crescent is feeding about 100,000 "particularly vulnerable" Syrians, he said.
> 
> Kellenberger spoke ahead of international envoy Kofi Annan's assessment of the revolt in Syria to the U.N. Security Council later Tuesday.
> 
> He also said ICRC has gained permission to visit detainees at Aleppo's central prison from May 14-23 and is pushing for access to others.
> 
> What began as a largely peaceful protest movement has evolved into more Syrians taking up arms in the face of President Bashar Assad's violent crackdown on dissent. The U.N. says more than 9,000 people have been killed in the past 14 months since Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000, began his crackdown.
> 
> The U.N., meantime, it is appealing for $27 million to quickly scale up aid.



Read more: Red Cross: 1.5 Million in Syria Lack Basics - TIME


----------



## High_Gravity

The chickens are home and they are roosting.

Syria Bombing: Dozens Killed In Twin Damascus Bomb Blasts








> DAMASCUS, Syria  Two suicide car bombs ripped through the Syrian capital Thursday, killing 55 people and shaving the facade off a military intelligence building in the deadliest explosions since the country's uprising began 14 months ago, the Interior Ministry said.
> 
> Residents told an Associated Press reporter that the blasts happened in quick succession during morning rush hour, with an initial small explosion followed by a larger bomb that appeared aimed at onlookers and rescue crews arriving at the scene. Paramedics wearing rubber gloves collected human remains from the pavement as heavily damaged cars and pickup trucks smoldered.
> 
> There was no claim of responsibility for Thursday's blasts. But an al-Qaida-inspired group has claimed responsibility for several past explosions, raising fears that terrorist groups are entering the fray and exploiting the chaos.
> 
> In addition to the 55 dead, the ministry also said there were 15 bags of human remains, meaning the death toll was likely to rise.
> 
> More than 370 people also were wounded in the attack, according to the ministry, which is in charge of the country's internal security. It said the explosives weighed more than 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds).
> 
> Central Damascus is under the tight control of forces loyal to President Bashar Assad but has been struck by several bomb attacks, often targeting security installations or convoys, since the revolt against him began in March 2011.
> 
> But the previous attacks happened on a weekend when many people stay home from work, making it less likely for civilians to be killed. Thursday's blast was similar to attacks waged by al-Qaida in Iraq, which would bolster past allegations by top U.S. intelligence officials that the terror network from the neighboring country was the likely culprit behind previous bombings in Syria. That raises the possibility that its fighters are infiltrating across the border to take advantage of the political turmoil.
> 
> A shadowy group called the Al-Nusra Front has claimed responsibility for some of the attacks in statements posted on militant websites. Little is known about the group, though Western intelligence officials say it could be a front for al-Qaida's Iraq branch.



Syria Bombing: Dozens Killed In Twin Damascus Bomb Blasts (PHOTOS, VIDEO)


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: New Bomb Attack Foiled In Aleppo, Regime Says 








> BEIRUT, May 11 (Reuters) - Syrian forces foiled an attempted suicide car bombing with 1,200 kg (2,640 pounds) of explosives in the northern city of Aleppo on Friday, state television said, a day after two bombs in the capital Damascus killed at least 55 people.
> 
> The would-be bomber was killed in the al Shaar district of Syria's largest city which, like Damascus, has seen increasing street protests against President Bashar al-Assad and rising levels of bloodshed after months of relative calm.
> 
> Twin bombings in southern Damascus killed 55 people and wounded more than 300 on Thursday, the deadliest attacks since the uprising against Assad erupted 14 months ago, inspired by revolts against autocratic rulers elsewhere in the Arab world.
> 
> The blasts further undermined a tattered ceasefire agreement repeatedly violated by the army and rebels since it was brokered by international mediator Kofi Annan four weeks ago. The deal has been overseen by nearly 150 unarmed U.N. observers in Syria.
> 
> Syria said the attacks showed that it faced foreign-backed terrorism - an argument it made from the start of peaceful protests against Assad in March last year - while the opposition blamed authorities for the blasts.
> 
> Syria's Ikhbariya television showed U.N. monitors inspecting a white mini-van in Aleppo on Friday which an army officer told them had contained enough explosive to kill 500 people. The bloodied body of the van driver lay crumpled in the front seat, behind a windscreen riddled with bullet holes.
> 
> The officer told the U.N. observers the driver, who he said was not Syrian, was shot before he could detonate the bombs.
> 
> There was no claim of responsibility for the Damascus bombings. Syrian authorities blamed foreign-backed terrorists. Opposition activists denied any involvement. Some analysts have speculated that recent bombings could be the work of al Qaeda-linked Islamists with skills honed by years of activity in Iraq.
> 
> Protests erupted in several Syrian cities on Friday after weekly Muslim prayers. Opposition activists said security forces fired on demonstrators in Damascus, Homs, Hama and Aleppo.



Syria Crisis: New Bomb Attack Foiled In Aleppo, Regime Says


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Syrian Army, Opposition Fighters Clash In Rastan 








> AMMAN, May 14 (Reuters) - Rebels killed 23 Syrian soldiers on Monday, according to a rights group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, in battles around the town of Rastan that further undermined a sagging U.N.-backed ceasefire.
> 
> The fighting on the outskirts of Rastan followed heavy army shelling of the town in which opposition sources said at least nine people were killed, including a local rebel commander.
> 
> Rastan, 25 km (15 miles) north of Homs city, has slipped in and out of government control several times since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011.
> 
> Shelling began on Sunday and intensified overnight, activists said, a new blow to a ceasefire declared by peace envoy Kofi Annan a month ago and which U.N. monitoring mission on the ground are observing.
> 
> "Shells and rockets have been hitting the town since three a.m. (midnight GMT) at a rate of one a minute. Rastan has been destroyed," a member of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA)in Rastan who declined to be named told Reuters by satellite phone.
> 
> He said among those killed was Ahmad Ayoub, an FSA commander whose fighters were battling the army forces which he said were made up of elite units and members of Military Intelligence.
> 
> The British-based Observatory said fighting began at dawn on Monday and that rebels destroyed three armoured personnel carriers and seized two others, capturing around 15 soldiers.
> 
> Syria's uprising began as a peaceful protest movement but has become increasingly militarised as rebels fight back against Assad's violent crackdown. Syria restricts media access, making it difficult to verify accounts of the unrest.
> 
> Syria's Sunni majority is at the forefront of the uprising against Assad, whose minority Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Assad's government says it is fighting a terrorist attempt to divide Syria.



Syria Crisis: Syrian Army, Opposition Fighters Clash In Rastan


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Syrian Army, Opposition Fighters Clash In Rastan
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AMMAN, May 14 (Reuters) - Rebels killed 23 Syrian soldiers on Monday, according to a rights group opposed to President Bashar al-Assad, in battles around the town of Rastan that further undermined a sagging U.N.-backed ceasefire.
> 
> The fighting on the outskirts of Rastan followed heavy army shelling of the town in which opposition sources said at least nine people were killed, including a local rebel commander.
> 
> Rastan, 25 km (15 miles) north of Homs city, has slipped in and out of government control several times since the uprising against Assad erupted in March 2011.
> 
> Shelling began on Sunday and intensified overnight, activists said, a new blow to a ceasefire declared by peace envoy Kofi Annan a month ago and which U.N. monitoring mission on the ground are observing.
> 
> "Shells and rockets have been hitting the town since three a.m. (midnight GMT) at a rate of one a minute. Rastan has been destroyed," a member of the rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA)in Rastan who declined to be named told Reuters by satellite phone.
> 
> He said among those killed was Ahmad Ayoub, an FSA commander whose fighters were battling the army forces which he said were made up of elite units and members of Military Intelligence.
> 
> The British-based Observatory said fighting began at dawn on Monday and that rebels destroyed three armoured personnel carriers and seized two others, capturing around 15 soldiers.
> 
> Syria's uprising began as a peaceful protest movement but has become increasingly militarised as rebels fight back against Assad's violent crackdown. Syria restricts media access, making it difficult to verify accounts of the unrest.
> 
> Syria's Sunni majority is at the forefront of the uprising against Assad, whose minority Alawite sect is an offshoot of Shi'ite Islam. Assad's government says it is fighting a terrorist attempt to divide Syria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Syrian Army, Opposition Fighters Clash In Rastan
Click to expand...


I guess they didn't have a happy Mother's Day.


----------



## ERGO

It is now a matter of established public record that the &#8220;Libyan rebels&#8221; the US, through the UN and NATO, funded, armed, trained, recognized politically, and even provided special forces and air support for, were in fact led by the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), listed by the US State Department (page 1 links below) as a &#8220;Foreign Terrorist Organization.&#8221; Two West Point reports confirm that LIFG was formally joined with Al Qaeda with many of its top leaders 
constituting the core of Al Qaeda&#8217;s upper echelons.
Land Destroyer: Al Qaeda LIFG leader Abdul Belhaj writes column for Guardian!
http://www.state.gov/documents/organization/65479.pdf

In the wake of growing international anger toward Wall Street, London, and its NATO forces, led by Russia and China&#8217;s vetoing of their UN Security Council resolution designed to tip off another foreign military intervention, this time in Syria, the corporate media is now reportingthat Al Qaeda has called on its supporters to &#8220;join the uprising against Assad&#8217;s &#8220;pernicious, cancerous regime.&#8221;" We are expected to believe that Al Qaeda allegedly depraved, beheading, civilian bombing, trade tower-toppling modern-day Huns had pinned their hopes on the UNSC to resolve the Syrian conflict through the mechanisms of &#8220;international rule of law&#8221; and are only just now mobilizing their forces to act after the &#8220;disappointing&#8221; Russian and Chinese veto. It is a narrative as bizarre as it is contradictory.
We are also expected to believe that as large swaths of the global population begin turning against what is obviously fraudulent human rights concerns masking naked global military conquest by the West, the extremist ranks of Al Qaeda whom the West was supposedly locked in mortal combat with for over a decade are one of their few remaining allies. Considering that the West, and more specifically, the CIA, created Al Qaeda in the mountains of Afghanistan in the first place, it seems as if the terrorist organization has and still is executing US foreign policy covertly and illegally, when the US military and its NATO allies cannot.
Land Destroyer: Syria: NATO Genocide Approaches
Land Destroyer: The War on Terror is a Fraud


----------



## JStone

Arabs must leave the planet


----------



## ERGO

JStone said:


> Arabs must leave the planet



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cYBsDwjezQI]Top Rabbi Exposes Jewish Racism! - YouTube[/ame]
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GlpmRMximW4&feature=related&skipcontrinter=1]The Racial Supremacist State of Israel - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## JStone

The world would be a far better place without arabs and muslimes.

Iran Iraq War, 1 million dead
Lebanese Civil War, 250,000 dead
Algerian Civl War: 300,000 dead
Bangladesh Civil War: 500,000 dead
Black Sept., Jordan's King Hussein murders, expells 80,000 Palestinians
Syrian army kills 20,000 Syrians at Hama
Iraq gases hundreds of thousands of Kurds
1400 year conflict between Sunnis and Shiites
Fratricide between Hamas and Fatah
Syria/Hizballah assassinate Lebanese PM Rafik Hariri

Alexis de Toqueville...


> I studied the Koran a great deal. I came away from that study with the conviction there have been few religions in the world as deadly to men as that of Muhammad. So far as I can see, it is the principal cause of the decadence so visible today in the Muslim world and, though less absurd than the polytheism of old, its social and political tendencies are in my opinion to be feared, and I therefore regard it as a form of decadence rather than a form of progress in relation to paganism itself.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Regime Targets Patients And Doctors, Doctors Without Borders Says 








> BEIRUT  The U.N.'s observer mission in Syria was caught up in a burst of violence Tuesday captured on video, with a roadside bomb damaging its cars just minutes after witnesses said regime forces gunned down mourners at a funeral procession nearby.
> 
> The mission confirmed its vehicles were hit by a bomb shortly after they met with Syrian rebels, and said there were no injuries.
> 
> It was not clear how close the observers were to the funeral shootings, but if confirmed, a regime attack on a civilians directly in front of the observer mission could put pressure on them to describe publicly what they are seeing in Syria. They report back to the U.N. but have not publicized their findings.
> 
> The attack in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun is at least the second time that U.N. observers have been caught up in Syria's violence. Last week, a roadside bomb struck a Syrian military truck in the south of the country just seconds after the head of the U.N. observers team drove by in a convoy.
> 
> A video of the bomb attack was posted by activists online. "The front of a U.N. car took a direct hit," activist Fadi al-Yassin, who witnessed the incident, told The Associated Press. "Everyone ran in panic but the observers stayed in the car. People tried to talk to them but they wouldn't even open their windows."
> 
> Just minutes earlier, Syrian forces fired on a funeral procession, activists said. Al-Yassin and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that as many as 20 people may have been killed and said many others were wounded, some of them in serious condition. It was impossible to independently confirm the toll.
> 
> "This is a real massacre and it took place in the presence of U.N. observers," Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Observatory, said of the attack on the funeral. He called for an international investigation and for the monitors to state publicly what they saw.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...tors-without-borders_n_1517315.html?ref=syria


----------



## JStone

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Regime Targets Patients And Doctors, Doctors Without Borders Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  The U.N.'s observer mission in Syria was caught up in a burst of violence Tuesday captured on video, with a roadside bomb damaging its cars just minutes after witnesses said regime forces gunned down mourners at a funeral procession nearby.
> 
> The mission confirmed its vehicles were hit by a bomb shortly after they met with Syrian rebels, and said there were no injuries.
> 
> It was not clear how close the observers were to the funeral shootings, but if confirmed, a regime attack on a civilians directly in front of the observer mission could put pressure on them to describe publicly what they are seeing in Syria. They report back to the U.N. but have not publicized their findings.
> 
> The attack in the northern town of Khan Sheikhoun is at least the second time that U.N. observers have been caught up in Syria's violence. Last week, a roadside bomb struck a Syrian military truck in the south of the country just seconds after the head of the U.N. observers team drove by in a convoy.
> 
> A video of the bomb attack was posted by activists online. "The front of a U.N. car took a direct hit," activist Fadi al-Yassin, who witnessed the incident, told The Associated Press. "Everyone ran in panic but the observers stayed in the car. People tried to talk to them but they wouldn't even open their windows."
> 
> Just minutes earlier, Syrian forces fired on a funeral procession, activists said. Al-Yassin and the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that as many as 20 people may have been killed and said many others were wounded, some of them in serious condition. It was impossible to independently confirm the toll.
> 
> "This is a real massacre and it took place in the presence of U.N. observers," Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Observatory, said of the attack on the funeral. He called for an international investigation and for the monitors to state publicly what they saw.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/...tors-without-borders_n_1517315.html?ref=syria
Click to expand...


Maybe, Hamas islamonazis can help with intimidation of doctors.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NeymPZifhsk]WIDE ANGLE | Gaza E.R. | Excerpt | PBS - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: 'Foreign Mercenaries' To Be Shown To World, Says Assad 








> BEIRUT  In his first interview since December, Syrian President Bashar Assad insisted Tuesday his regime is fighting back against foreign mercenaries who want to overthrow him, not innocent Syrians aspiring for democracy in a yearlong uprising.
> 
> The interview with Russian TV showed Assad is still standing his ground, despite widespread international condemnation over his deadly crackdown on dissent.
> 
> "There are foreign mercenaries, some of them still alive," Assad said in an interview broadcast Wednesday on Russian state news channel Rossiya-24. "They are being detained and we are preparing to show them to the world."
> 
> Assad also cautioned against meddling in Syria, warning neighboring nations that have served as transit points for contraband weapons being smuggled into the country that "if you sow chaos in Syria you may be infected by it yourself."
> 
> He did not elaborate, but rebels and anti-regime activists say Syrian forces have mined many of the smuggling routes where weapons flow into Syria  mainly from neighboring Turkey and Lebanon.
> 
> Assad, who inherited power from his father in 2000, still has a firm grip on power in Syria some 14 months into a revolt that has torn at the country's fabric and threatened to undermine stability in the Middle East.
> 
> The U.N. estimated in March that the violence has killed more than 9,000 people, and hundreds more have been killed since then as a revolt that began with mostly peaceful calls for reform transforms into an armed insurgency.
> 
> A group known as the Free Syrian Army is determined to bring down the regime by force of arms, targeting military checkpoints and other government sites.
> 
> A U.N. observer team with more than 200 members has done little to quell the bloodshed, and some even have been caught up in the violence themselves.
> 
> Six observers had to be evacuated from a northern town controlled by the opposition Wednesday, a day after a roadside bomb hit their convoy and left them stranded overnight with rebel forces. None of the observers was wounded, and it was not clear who was behind the attack.
> 
> The shooting started as the convoy arrived in the opposition area, said Ahmad Fawzi, spokesman for international envoy Kofi Annan.



Syria Crisis: 'Foreign Mercenaries' To Be Shown To World, Says Assad


----------



## High_Gravity

UN Observer In Idlib Shown Fleeing Gunfire In Footage Uploaded By Activist 








> New footage uploaded to YouTube purportedly shows a UN observer under attack in Idlib, Syria.
> 
> The convoy of a team of UN observers came under attack on May 15, 2012, in the province of Khan Sheikhoun. While none of the observers were injured, they were stranded and forced to spend the night with rebel forces, Reuters reports.
> 
> The footage below allegedly shows a member of the UN observer team during the attack in Khan Sheikhoun. The videos, tweeted on Thursday by user @HamaEcho, could not be independently verified.
> 
> In the first, a man wearing a blue UN observer vest army-crawls away from the fire before being pulled from the street by two men.



UN Observer In Idlib Shown Fleeing Gunfire In Footage Uploaded By Activist


----------



## High_Gravity

Beirut Clashes: 2 Killed In Street Battles As Syria Conflict Spills Over 








> BEIRUT -- Street battles between pro- and anti-Syrian groups in the Lebanese capital killed two people overnight and wounded 15 as the spiraling conflict in neighboring Syria spilled across the border.
> 
> Some Beirut residents kept their children home from school following the fighting, which was among the worst the Lebanese capital has seen in four years. Gunmen fired rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns in battles that lasted more than four hours.
> 
> The streets were calmer Monday, but some shops remained closed.
> 
> The violence in the predominantly Sunni neighborhood of Tariq Jadidah erupted hours after an anti-Syrian cleric and his bodyguard were shot dead at a checkpoint in northern Lebanon, an incident that instantly spiked tensions.
> 
> Authorities braced for the possibility of more violence Monday in the north, where Sunni cleric Sheik Ahmed Abdul-Wahid and his bodyguard were to be buried. Gunmen carrying automatic rifles shouted for the downfall of the Syrian regime in the cleric's hometown of Beireh, where he was to be buried later in the day.
> 
> The fighting underscores how the bloodshed in Syria, where President Bashar Assad's regime is cracking down on an uprising against his rule, can fuel violence across the border in Lebanon.
> 
> Lebanon has a fragile political faultline precisely over the issue of Syria.
> 
> There is an array of die-hard pro-Syrian Lebanese parties and politicians, as well as support for the regime on the street level. There is an equally deep hatred of Assad among other Lebanese who fear Damascus is still calling the shots here. The two sides are the legacy of Syria's virtual rule over Lebanon from 1976 to 2005 and its continued influence since.
> 
> On Monday, a gunman in Beireh shouted "Down with Bashar!" and said the Syrian leader was trying to "transfer the crisis to Lebanon."
> 
> Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries, which can easily turn violent. Last week, clashes sparked by the Syrian crisis killed at least eight people and wounded dozens in the northern city of Tripoli.
> 
> The revolt in Syria began 15 months ago, and there are fears the unrest will lead to a regional conflagration that could draw in neighboring countries. The U.N. estimates the conflict has killed more than 9,000 people since March 2011.



Beirut Clashes: 2 Killed In Street Battles As Syria Conflict Spills Over


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Prisons Are 'Human Slaughterhouses,' Ex-Detainee Says








> AMMAN, Jordan -- A prominent Palestinian writer who was jailed in Syria for nearly three weeks described the facilities as "human slaughterhouses," saying security agents beat detainees with batons, crammed them into stinking cells and tied them to beds at night.
> 
> Salameh Kaileh, 56, was arrested April 24 on suspicion of printing leaflets calling for the ouster of Syrian President Bashar Assad, who is fighting a 15-month-old uprising against his rule. Kaileh's story offers a rare inside glimpse into the conditions faced by detainees held by the country's feared security services.
> 
> "It was hell on earth," Kaileh told The Associated Press on Sunday, nearly a week after Syrian forces released him and deported him to Jordan. Speaking at his friend's home in an Amman suburb, Kaileh had bluish-red bruises on his legs, which he said were the result of beatings with wooden batons that were studded with pins and nails.
> 
> "I felt I was going to die under the brutal, savage and continuous beating of the interrogators, who tied me to ropes hung from the ceiling," said Kaileh, a soft-spoken man with a shock of white hair who appeared frail, barely able to stand on his feet.
> 
> Born in Birzeit, West Bank, Kaileh has suffered under the regime in Damascus before. He was imprisoned by the Syrian government in 1992 for eight years because of his alleged links to underground Syrian communist and leftist opposition groups. A well-known leftist, he has written books on subjects ranging from Marxism to Arab nationalism.
> 
> This time, he was held in at least four detention centers after security forces arrested him at his home in Damascus, the Syrian capital where he's lived for more than 30 years.
> 
> Kaileh denied printing the leaflets, which he said angered the regime because they read: "For Palestine to be free, Syria's regime has to fall."
> 
> Syria often has touted its support of the Palestinian cause to boost its credentials as a bastion of Arab nationalism.
> 
> Kaileh's detention caused an outcry by Arab intellectuals, who called for his release and lashed out at Assad  whose crackdown has not spared other intellectuals and artists.



Syria Prisons Are 'Human Slaughterhouses,' Ex-Detainee Says


----------



## High_Gravity

The Syria Paradox








> It took a month of protests to depose the president of Tunisia and 18 days to remove Hosni Mubarak from power in Egypt. Libya took longer. Rebels there spent more than eight bloody months fighting Muammar el-Qaddafi before defeating him. But Syria  where protests began at roughly the same time as in Libya  remains in a vicious civil war, and the fighting seems very far from over. One reason for this is simple: Syrias economy was designed to all but prevent a broad coalition from forming against Bashar al-Assads regime. This is, of course, awful news for most Syrians. But it also calls into question some Things We Thought We Knew About Revolutions  the most important being that countries with diverse economies and a growing middle class are supposed to be better at overthrowing despotic rulers than petrocracies like Libya or Iraq.
> 
> Once you drive beyond the wealthiest enclaves of Damascus and Aleppo, Syrias population becomes very poor very fast. Heres a rough breakdown of the countrys class structure, with some help from Joshua Landis, a professor of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of Oklahoma.
> 
> Before I visited Syria in 2003 and 2004, I expected it to look like North Korea with souks. But I was surprised to find that Damascus and Aleppo  the two major commercial centers  contain truly affluent neighborhoods. Many locals drove sports cars, wore fancy watches, ate at top-notch restaurants and generally made me feel like a broke hick. And I met a lot of people in the big cities who made a decent living as engineers, doctors, shopkeepers, even artists. They may not have been rich, but they led far more comfortable lives than folks I encountered in neighboring countries like Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.
> 
> Syrias economy is, within the context of the Middle East, unusually diverse. Agriculture, which employs roughly half the rural population, contributes around 20 percent to gross domestic product. Oil represents another 25 percent. Before the crisis, tourists  especially Arabs, but also some Europeans and the occasional American  visited its beautiful, ancient cities and seaside towns. While it has never been a major global player in manufacturing, Syria has a modest industrial sector that churns out clothes, packaged foods, beverages and, lately, inexpensive cars. Lastly, the country has major phosphate deposits, a mineral thats in increasing demand as a fertilizer.
> 
> When the Baath Party took command of Syria in 1963, its leaders intended to centralize control of the economy, much as Stalin did in Russia or Mao in China. But it didnt work. The Alawite ethnic and religious minority, which eventually assumed leadership of the party, was made up of poorly educated people from mountain villages who knew nothing about running a country or an economy, says Joshua Landis, a pre-eminent Syria watcher and a professor at the University of Oklahoma. The Alawites, he notes, had been given a role by the French colonial government in the military precisely because they had few ties to the majority Sunnis in the big cities: They were very unsophisticated, and they didnt have a deep community of cosmopolitan people from which to draw.
> 
> So Hafez al-Assad, father of the current president, allowed a handful of wealthy Sunni and Christian businesspeople to continue running their own factories, shops and restaurants. His son, Bashar, came to power in 2000 and opened up the country a bit more, allowing entrepreneurs with no regime connections to start their own businesses (as long as they gave the government a cut). Some opened boutique hotels or small-scale factories; others imported things like hospital equipment or auto parts. Anything American has been especially popular, one Syrian trader told me. In 2001, Bashar sought membership in the World Trade Organization (still pending), and three years later, Syria had its first private banks. Theres even a modest stock market now, the Damascus Securities Exchange, where wealthy Syrians can buy shares in a couple dozen companies, most of them banks or insurance firms.
> 
> This entrepreneurial openness in the cities, however, coincided with a multiyear drought, which has made the miserable conditions of Syrias farmers even worse. Those who couldnt make ends meet in the fields moved to crowded suburban slums or to poorer, second-tier cities. The uprisings began in these areas, and theyre where most of the violence is today.
> 
> From the outside, it can be hard to see how Assad keeps his grip on the country. In Egypt and Tunisia, powerful militaries ditched their political leaders when they saw a coalition of urban middle class and wealthy people joining poor, rural protesters. But in Syria, the military is far more loyal to the political leaders. And even though the urban elite may not like the Assad regime, and even though they realize that life would be better in a country that doesnt stifle free expression or support radical political elements in neighboring Lebanon, theyre afraid of what their lives would look like in a revolutions chaotic aftermath.
> 
> As Landis notes: They look out at the countryside and think: What if these people win? Are they going to respect capitalism? Are they going to preserve our wealth? Or are they going to come by and say, Oh, youve been a collaborator for 40 years, and were going to take everything you own? They dont know.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/27/magazine/the-syria-paradox.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Violence: Syrian Security Forces, Opposition Fighters Continue To Commit Gross Human Rights Violations, UN Reports 








> GENEVA, May 24 (Reuters) - Syrian forces and opposition fighters continue to commit gross human rights violations in an "increasingly militarised context" despite a shaky six-week-old ceasefire, United Nations investigators said in a report on Thursday.
> 
> Syrian army and security services committed most of the crimes documented since March, including heavy shelling and executions, as part of military or search operations in areas known to host defectors or fighters, it said.
> 
> Armed rebels executed or tortured captured soldiers and pro-government supporters and abducted civilians in an apparent bid to secure prison exchanges or ransoms, it said.



Syria Violence: Syrian Security Forces, Opposition Fighters Continue To Commit Gross Human Rights Violations, UN Reports


----------



## Trajan

the Syrian revolt are catching hell, an arty barrage blew away over 90 , happened in the last 24 hours..........the UN has 'condemned' Assad etc...big fucking whoop.


----------



## Trajan

what a tool. he doesn't even have the stones to call out assad directly. typical. 


    * Updated May 28, 2012, 8:59 a.m. ET

Annan Makes Syria Plea 



BEIRUT&#8212;Special envoy Kofi Annan on Monday called on "every individual with a gun" in Syria to lay down arms, saying he was horrified by a weekend massacre that killed more than 100 people, including women and small children.

Mr. Annan arrived in Damascus Monday for talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and other senior officials in the wake of the bloodshed Friday night in Houla, a collection of villages in the central province of Homs.

"I am personally shocked and horrified by the tragic incident in Houla two days ago, which took so many innocent lives, children, women and men," Mr. Annan said as he arrived in the Syrian capital.

He called on all sides of the conflict to end the bloodshed, saying "this message of peace is not only for the government, but for everyone with a gun."

more at-
Annan Makes Syria Plea - WSJ.com


----------



## ERGO

*US, Israeli and Saudi-funded Terrorists Destabilizing Syria Now Under Fire in Lebanon*

Source link:http://orientalreview.org/2012/05/15/us-israeli-and-saudi-funded-terrorists-destabilizing-syria-now-under-fire-in-lebanon
/

According to a 2007 New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh, The Redirection, the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia had been assembling a region-wide army of extremist-mercenaries to battle Hezbollah in Lebanon, destabilize and overthrow Syria, and create a united front against Iran. The forces recruited for this effort would come from the ranks of the CIA-created Arab foreign legion, Al Qaeda itself extremist groups fresh back from fighting US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, including listed terror organizations like the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) from Libya.

Hershs 2007 report exposed the groundwork for the very violence unfolding in Syria today, and now Lebanon. Forces to destabilize Syria were primarily to be staged in northern Lebanon, as explained in the article, and indeed the heaviest fighting over the last year has been seen in the Syrian city of Homs, just across the border from northern Lebanon. Syrias President Bashar al-Assad and his government have been, since the beginning of the violence, attempting to illustrate just this  explained in detail in 2007, and demonstratively being carried out today, with responsibility for deadly bombings being claimed by terrorists, the Pentagon itself admitting Al Qaeda is present in Syria, and reports indicating foreign fighters, weapons, and cash are flowing over Syrias borders.

Seymour Hersh's article: Annals of National Security: The Redirection : The New Yorker

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzSdDFJpbUI&feature=related]Syria - The REAL Story -- MUST SEE - part 1 - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_orfcGnaseE&feature=related]Syria - The REAL Story -- MUST SEE -- CIA & MOSSAD Death Squads Exposed - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> According to a 2007 New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh,



Re-posting the same garbage in multiple threads is a forum rules violation, along with the fact that seymour hersh is a piece of lying shit with ZERO journalistic credibility.


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> According to a 2007 New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Re-posting the same garbage in multiple threads is a forum rules violation, along with the fact that seymour hersh is a piece of lying shit with ZERO journalistic credibility.
Click to expand...


*Would you care to cite example's of Seymour Hersh's "lies" that you claim gives him " ZERO credibilty".

Just because you say he's a " lying piece of shit with ZERO journalistic credibility" doesn't make it so. Give examples...show the proof that he's a Journalist with ZERO credibility otherwise you're just blowing smoke up people's arse's with your knee-jerk sophomoric reactions.

*


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> Would you care to cite example's of Seymour Hersh's "lies" that you claim gives him " ZERO credibilty".



Stephens: Iran, Syria&#8212;and Seymour Hersh - WSJ.com

* Iran, Syria&#8212;and Seymour Hersh
Why won't the New Yorker reporter debate me? *

"When does a half-cooked notion, a conspiracy theory or a tissue of vaguely sourced and improbable claims become an item of journalistic "fact"? If you're a person of normal intelligence, the answer is: never. If, however, you're a faithful reader of the New Yorker, it happens roughly every time investigative reporter Seymour Hersh commits a word to print, presumably after having undergone the rigorous review of the magazine's world-famous fact-checking department.

So it was with some anticipation that I agreed last week to debate Mr. Hersh on CNN about his latest bequest to what the magazine likes to call its "Annals of National Security": Several thousand words in the June 6 edition on the subject of "Iran and the Bomb," along with the portentous subtitle, "How real is the nuclear threat?"

For readers who fail to grasp Mr. Hersh's point from the subtitle alone, his central contention is that there exists no "irrefutable evidence of an ongoing hidden nuclear-weapons program in Iran"&#8212;which is surely right, since the word "irrefutable" allows for no ambiguity. As for his subtext, this too was clear: By taking an increasingly hard line on Iran, the Obama administration risked blundering into another Iraq-style intelligence fiasco.

Might this be true? Who knows: Mr. Hersh loves to affect the air of a journalist who has been brought into the loop of the most sensitive national security secrets. His expectation of readers is that they will take him at his word that the typically anonymous sources for his most explosive claims&#8212;often concerning highly specific descriptions of CIA operations in enemy nations&#8212;are credible and sober government officials (or former officials) who would never compromise vital secrets to our enemies. Yet these same insiders, Mr. Hersh would have readers believe, would gladly see those secrets disclosed in the pages of the New Yorker.

To get a better sense of Mr. Hersh's record, I turned from the Iran article to some of his earlier work. In January 2005 he wrote that Donald Rumsfeld would play the starring role in President Bush's second term. In fact, Condoleezza Rice did. In April 2006 he suggested that President Bush had all but made up his mind to bomb Iran before it started enriching a single kilo of uranium. All Mr. Bush did was pursue sanctions at the U.N. and support European efforts to engage Tehran diplomatically.

In March 2007, Mr. Hersh reported that the U.S. had provided "clandestine support" to the Lebanese government, which in turn had aided a Sunni terrorist group called Fatah al-Islam. Shortly thereafter the Lebanese government went to war against Fatah al-Islam. In February 2008, Mr. Hersh claimed that the mysterious Syrian facility Israel bombed the previous September "apparently had little to do with . . . nuclear reactors." Last month, International Atomic Energy Agency Director General Yukiya Amano wrote that "the Agency concludes that the destroyed building was very likely a nuclear reactor." In April 2009, he returned to Syria to write a hopeful piece about the prospects of a U.S.-Syria rapprochement, strongly hinting that Damascus could gradually be peeled away from Tehran. The evidence of the past two months suggests otherwise.

More recently, Mr. Hersh gave a speech in Qatar alleging that Gen. Stanley McChrystal was a member of a religious order known as the Knights of Malta, and that senior U.S. officers seek to "change mosques into cathedrals." The retired general denies the allegation categorically.

How, then, does this bear on Mr. Hersh's current reporting about Iran? The article makes much of a 2007 National Intelligence Estimate that found that in 2003 Iran had halted its nuclear-weapons program. And he hints that an as-yet unreleased 2011 NIE says much the same thing.

Yet what's mainly remarkable about Mr. Hersh's reporting is that it makes no mention of what the IAEA itself says about Iran's most recent nuclear progress. "As previously reported by the Director General," goes the May 24 report, "there are indications that certain of these [undisclosed nuclear related] activities may have continued beyond 2004."

Among those activities: "producing uranium metal . . . and its manufacture into components relevant to a nuclear device"; "testing of explosive components suitable for the initiation of high explosives in a converging spherical geometry"; "experiments involving the explosive compression of uranium deuteride to produce a short burst of neutrons"; "missile re-entry vehicle redesign activities for a new payload assessed as being nuclear in nature."

It is in the nature of the journalistic enterprise that most of what we think we know is subject to amendment and revision. In this sense, Mr. Hersh is no different from his peers. But it is also the invariable mark of a crackpot to believe that truth, by its very nature, must be hidden; and that the simplest explanation is always suspect. Through this device, Mr. Hersh has led generations of readers&#8212;and policy makers, too&#8212;to believe fantasies while missing dangers that stand in plain sight.

As for that TV appearance, Mr. Hersh, according to a CNN producer, backed out at the last minute on grounds that he would not debate me. Should he change his mind, I'm ready any time he is."


----------



## rhodescholar

« The Deceits of Seymour Hersh Commentary Magazine

"In no fewer than six feature-length New Yorker articles published during the Bush administration, Hersh claimed that the United States was going to launch a war against the Islamic Republic. The first such article appeared more than seven years ago. In &#8220;The Coming Wars,&#8221; published in January 2005, Hersh wrote: &#8220;In my interviews, I was repeatedly told that the next strategic target was Iran.&#8221; He quoted a &#8220;former high-level intelligence official&#8221; who said: &#8220;Next, we&#8217;re going to have the Iranian campaign.&#8221; In April 2006, Hersh alleged that the Bush administration &#8220;increased clandestine activities inside Iran and intensified planning for a possible major air attack.&#8221; That piece made the stunning charge that the U.S. was contemplating a tactical nuclear first strike against Iran. Three months later, in an article entitled &#8220;Last Stand,&#8221; Hersh relayed the tale of how &#8220;senior commanders&#8221; in the military were heroically challenging Bush&#8217;s order that they prepare for a &#8220;major bombing campaign in Iran.&#8221;

In November 2006, after the midterm elections restored Democratic control of Congress, Hersh reported that the administration had decided to refocus its plans for an attack on Iran by throwing support to a Kurdish terrorist organization rather than prepare for an extensive bombing run. In March 2007, the &#8220;realists&#8221; within the administration must have weakened, because Hersh wrote that Bush had ordered a list of Iranian targets to be bombed, a decision that &#8220;brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran.&#8221; An attack could come as early as &#8220;this spring,&#8221; Hersh wrote, according to one of his innumerable &#8220;former senior intelligence officials.&#8221; When spring came and went, with no attack on Iran, Hersh returned with a piece in October, alleging now that &#8220;the emphasis is on &#8216;surgical&#8217; strikes on Revolutionary Guard facilities in Tehran and elsewhere, which, the Administration claims, have been the source of attacks on Americans in Iraq.&#8221; 

* Needless to say, the United States never went to war against Iran during the Bush administration.*  And there is no evidence that the administration had ever prepared for a war&#8212;certainly less evidence than exists for the suspicion that Iran is working towards the ability to produce a nuclear weapon, which Hersh loudly warns anyone and everyone from concluding. Indeed, according to a 2009 report in the New York Times, President Bush rejected a request from Israel the previous year that it be allowed to attack Iran&#8217;s main nuclear facility, which would have required flying over Iraqi airspace. * That Hersh&#8217;s reporting on Iran has repeatedly been exposed as inaccurate never once dissuaded him from repeating his same fantastical assertions over and over again. *

Indeed, if there is one thing that Hersh&#8212;known to every aspiring journalist as the greatest investigative reporter of his generation&#8212;* has been consistent on, it&#8217;s his uncanny ability to be utterly wrong."*


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Massacre Victims In Houla Were Mostly Executed, Says UN 









> BEIRUT  The U.N.'s human rights office on Tuesday added grim new details about the massacre of more than 100 people in a rural area in Syria last week, saying that most of the dead were shot at close range, some of them women and children killed in their homes.
> 
> The brutality of the Houla killings, documented in gruesome amateur videos of scores of bodies laid out before burial, sparked widespread international outrage and raised new questions about the ability of an international plan to end 15-months of violence in Syria.
> 
> The U.N. said that at least 108 people, including 34 women and 49 children, were killed in an attack that began on Friday and continued through the night on Houla, a group of poor farming villages northwest of the central Syrian city of Homs.
> 
> On Tuesday, spokesman Rupert Colville of the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said U.N. monitors who visited the area found that fewer than 20 of the dead were killed by artillery fire. The rest appeared to have been shot at close range.
> 
> "What is very clear is this was an absolutely abominable event that took place in Houla, and at least a substantial part of it was summary executions of civilians, women and children," he told reporters in Geneva. "At this point, it looks like entire families were shot in their houses."
> 
> Colville said information from U.N. observers and other sources indicated that many of the victims were killed in the village of Taldaw in two separate incidents. Locals blamed the killings on pro-regime militias known as shabiha, which sometimes act "in concert" with government forces, he said.
> 
> He said a fuller investigation was needed before he could comment on that, and called on Syria to allow free access to U.N. investigators.
> 
> The killings have emerged as a potential turning point in Syria's conflict, prompting the strongest condemnation yet from Russia, a staunch Syrian ally.
> 
> International envoy Kofi Annan met with Syrian President Bashar Assad in Damascus on Tuesday, Syria's state new agency reported without giving further details.
> 
> Annan is trying to salvage a peace plan for Syria based on a cease-fire that was supposed to begin on April 12 but has never really taken hold, casting doubt on the rest of the plan.
> 
> Anti-regime activist posted videos online of explosions in the villages of Houla, dismembered bodies lying in the streets, then row upon row of dead laid out before being buried in a mass grave. Some of the videos showed dozens of dead children, some with gaping wounds.



Syria Massacre Victims In Houla Were Mostly Executed, Says UN


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Massacre Victims In Houla Were Mostly Executed, Says UN



Ass-ad has signed his and his family's death warrant, it's a matter of when, not if.


----------



## Trajan

ERGO said:


> *US, Israeli and Saudi-funded Terrorists Destabilizing Syria Now Under Fire in Lebanon*
> 
> Source link:http://orientalreview.org/2012/05/15/us-israeli-and-saudi-funded-terrorists-destabilizing-syria-now-under-fire-in-lebanon
> /
> 
> According to a 2007 New Yorker article by Seymour Hersh, The Redirection, the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia had been assembling a region-wide army of extremist-mercenaries to battle Hezbollah in Lebanon, destabilize and overthrow Syria, and create a united front against Iran. The forces recruited for this effort would come from the ranks of the CIA-created Arab foreign legion, Al Qaeda itself extremist groups fresh back from fighting US troops in Iraq and Afghanistan, including listed terror organizations like the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) from Libya.
> 
> Hershs 2007 report exposed the groundwork for the very violence unfolding in Syria today, and now Lebanon. Forces to destabilize Syria were primarily to be staged in northern Lebanon, as explained in the article, and indeed the heaviest fighting over the last year has been seen in the Syrian city of Homs, just across the border from northern Lebanon. Syrias President Bashar al-Assad and his government have been, since the beginning of the violence, attempting to illustrate just this  explained in detail in 2007, and demonstratively being carried out today, with responsibility for deadly bombings being claimed by terrorists, the Pentagon itself admitting Al Qaeda is present in Syria, and reports indicating foreign fighters, weapons, and cash are flowing over Syrias borders.
> 
> Seymour Hersh's article: Annals of National Security: The Redirection : The New Yorker
> 
> Syria - The REAL Story -- MUST SEE - part 1 - YouTube
> 
> Syria - The REAL Story -- MUST SEE -- CIA & MOSSAD Death Squads Exposed - YouTube



ole SeeMore had us bombing iran back inotr the stone age too, well its been what,  7 years since that revelation....and?


----------



## Trajan

the Obama way to manage Foreign affairs...
Leading from behind baby!!




    Updated May 29, 2012, 8:57 a.m. ET

Western Nations Expel Syrian Diplomats 

Several Western countries said they were expelling Syrian diplomats in protest at the killing of civilians, including the deaths of 108 people shot in their homes last week.

The move comes as Western powers attempt to press Russia, a strong backer of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, to support a negotiated political change to force Mr. Assad from power.

Western Nations Expel Syrian Diplomats - WSJ.com


----------



## High_Gravity

You know the shits hitting the fan if Russia is condemning Syria.

Russia Condemns Syria Over Massacre Of 108 At Houla 








> BEIRUT -- A weekend massacre of more than 100 people emerged as a potential turning point in the Syrian crisis Monday, galvanizing even staunch ally Russia to take an unusually hard line against President Bashar Assad's government.
> 
> Analysts said Russia may be warning Assad that he needs to change course or lose Moscow's support, which has been a key layer of protection for the Syrian government during the uprising that began in March 2011.
> 
> Russia has grown increasingly critical of Damascus in recent months, but Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov's latest comments were unusually strong. Although he said opposition forces have terrorists among them, he put the blame for 15 months of carnage primarily on Assad's government.
> 
> "The government bears the main responsibility for what is going on," Lavrov said in Moscow following a meeting with British Foreign Secretary William Hague. "Any government in any country bears responsibility for the security of its citizens."
> 
> Alexei Malashenko, a Middle East expert with the Carnegie Moscow Center, said Lavrov's comments suggest Russia may be backing away from its long-standing support for Damascus.
> 
> "Bashar Assad is driving himself and Russia into a corner," Malashenko said. "Bashar has definitely gotten the sense that he may lose Russia's sympathy, and he may step back a bit."
> 
> It is not clear whether Assad's forces were exclusively to blame for the slaughter of 108 people Friday in Houla, a collection of poor farming villages in Homs province. The United Nations said 49 children and 34 women were among the dead; some had bullet holes through their heads.
> 
> The U.N. Security Council blamed Syrian forces for artillery and tank shelling of residential areas, but it did not clearly state who was responsible for the close-range shooting deaths and "severe physical abuse" of civilians.
> 
> Activists from the area said the army pounded the villages with artillery and clashed with local rebels. They said pro-government gunmen later stormed the area, doing the bulk of the killing by gunning down men in the streets and stabbing women and children in their homes.
> 
> The Syrian government rejected that account entirely, saying soldiers were attacked in their bases and fought back in self-defense without leaving their bases.
> 
> Russia blamed both the government and the rebels for the Houla massacre.
> 
> "Both sides have obviously had a hand in the deaths of innocent people, including several dozen women and children," Lavrov said. "This area is controlled by the rebels, but it is also surrounded by the government troops."
> 
> He said Russia has no interest in propping up Assad but wants Syria to guide its own transition under a plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan.
> 
> "We don't support the Syrian government; we support Kofi Annan's plan," Lavrov said.



Russia Condemns Syria Over Massacre Of 108 At Houla


----------



## Trajan

wheres the left in this country on this? seriously?

if this were a Turkish bath house getting shut down in Plano Tx.  due to some local morals code they'd be wearing out the keys on their KB's pounding out the outrage......


----------



## Trajan

High_Gravity said:


> You know the shits hitting the fan if Russia is condemning Syria.



yea but it won't mean squat. we fucked putin over the libyan gig, he'll throw a few bones like this but he will never sign on doing anything about it........


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> wheres the left in this country on this? seriously?
> 
> if this were a Turkish bath house getting shut down in Plano Tx.  due to some local morals code they'd be wearing out the keys on their KB's pounding out the outrage......



I don't think a diplomatic solution is going to work in this instance, Assad needs to fall like Gaddafi did but I don't think any country in the UN has the will to go in there.


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> You know the shits hitting the fan if Russia is condemning Syria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> yea but it won't mean squat. we fucked putin over the libyan gig, he'll throw a few bones like this but he will never sign on doing anything about it........
Click to expand...


I don't see anyone doing anything about this, nothings going to change unless some international involvement is put in.


----------



## Trajan

High_Gravity said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> wheres the left in this country on this? seriously?
> 
> if this were a Turkish bath house getting shut down in Plano Tx.  due to some local morals code they'd be wearing out the keys on their KB's pounding out the outrage......
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think a diplomatic solution is going to work in this instance, Assad needs to fall like Gaddafi did but I don't think any country in the UN has the will to go in there.
Click to expand...



Obama is on it though, notice the coalition building going on, notice the aircraft carrier in place off the Lebanese coast that could with Turkish bases and air assets transferred from nato  etc. easily enforce a no fly zone?

Nope, me neither....


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> wheres the left in this country on this? seriously?
> 
> if this were a Turkish bath house getting shut down in Plano Tx.  due to some local morals code they'd be wearing out the keys on their KB's pounding out the outrage......
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think a diplomatic solution is going to work in this instance, Assad needs to fall like Gaddafi did but I don't think any country in the UN has the will to go in there.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> Obama is on it though, notice the coalition building going on, notice the aircraft carrier in place off the Lebanese coast that could with Turkish bases and air assets transferred from nato  etc. easily enforce a no fly zone?
> 
> Nope, me neither....
Click to expand...


Syria is a hot spot though, I don't know if I necessarily want our boys going in there, but I don't think anything short of international intervention will bring down Assad.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Diplomats Expelled By Governments Around The World








> PARIS -- Governments around the world expelled Syrian ambassadors and diplomats Tuesday, an unusual, coordinated blow to Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime following a gruesome massacre that the United Nations said involved close-range shootings of scores of children and parents in their homes.
> 
> The United States, Britain, Canada, Australia, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Bulgaria and the Netherlands took action Tuesday against Syrian diplomats. Britain's foreign secretary said the countries involved in Tuesday's expulsions would also push for tougher sanctions against Syria.
> 
> The moves came after the killings Friday in Houla, a collection of farming villages in Syria's Homs province  one of the deadliest single events in a 15-month-old uprising against Assad that has killed thousands.
> 
> A U.N. report Tuesday said 49 children and 34 women were among the 108 people who died, but it did not decisively say who carried out most of the killings.
> 
> "This is the most effective way we've got of sending a message of revulsion of what has happened in Syria," Australian Foreign Minister Bob Carr said in Canberra. In a statement, he called the Houla killings a "hideous and brutal crime" and said Australia would not engage with the Syrian government unless it abides by a U.N. cease-fire plan.
> 
> Diplomats at the U.N., the European Union and the Arab League have been working since the Houla massacre to coordinate new action against Syria's government, French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero said.
> 
> The expulsions up the pressure on Syrian allies such as Russia. Russian President Vladimir Putin is traveling to Germany and France this week and is likely to come under even greater criticism of his Syria-supportive stance.
> 
> "We have to continue our work with the Russians," British Foreign Secretary William Hague said. "We will continue to discuss this with Russia. Russia has particular leverage on the regime and therefore has a particular role in this crisis."
> 
> Hague said that the situation in Syria is more complicated than what international powers faced in Libya last year, when the United Nations approved intervention against dictator Moammar Gadhafi's regime.
> 
> The U.S. State Department said Tuesday that the charge d'affaires at the Syrian Embassy has been given 72 hours to leave the United States. Syria has not had an ambassador in the U.S. since the previous envoy left last year to take another post.
> 
> State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the U.S. holds "the Syrian government responsible for this slaughter of innocent lives."



Syria Diplomats Expelled By Governments Around The World


----------



## rhodescholar

Trajan said:


> wheres the left in this country on this? seriously?
> 
> if this were a Turkish bath house getting shut down in Plano Tx.  due to some local morals code they'd be wearing out the keys on their KB's pounding out the outrage......



Forget the left, they're worthless, discredited trash.  If an Israeli barber did an uneven bowl cut on a 6-year old arab kid - within 10 minutes ISM, AI, HRW, UN, EU, and the US State Dept. would issue condemnations, with Turkey threatening another flotilla.

The left in this country are fucking garbage, the syrian people were crying out for help and support ages ago, marching peacefully and chanting "peaceful, peaceful" - yet the anti-war/far left crowd of assholes in the US: code stink, international answer, CAIR, and all of the others did not utter a fucking peep.

The Left in the US is worth less than the piece of dogshit.


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> Syria is a hot spot though, I don't know if I necessarily want our boys going in there, but I don't think anything short of international intervention will bring down Assad.



NATO will be in there after the next massacre, figure another 2-4 weeks' time.


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria is a hot spot though, I don't know if I necessarily want our boys going in there, but I don't think anything short of international intervention will bring down Assad.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> NATO will be in there after the next massacre, figure another 2-4 weeks' time.
Click to expand...


So far 0 countries have come forward with any kind of operations, to take out the air defense systems, establish a no fly zone, nothing, there is a Russian Naval Base in Syria also, you really think their just going to sit there if NATO starts bombing Assads troops?


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> So far 0 countries have come forward with any kind of operations, to take out the air defense systems, establish a no fly zone, nothing, there is a Russian Naval Base in Syria also, you really think their just going to sit there if NATO starts bombing Assads troops?



The public pressure to act will be overwhelming, there is no way the Western governments will be able to withstand it.  Ass-ad will be given a choice: allow a safe have in the Western part of the country, or be liquidated under a massive Serbian-type assault.

I may sound overconfident, but the US' latest radar detection systems can obliterate the syrian air defenses without much difficulty.  It isno accident that israel buzzes ass-ad's palaces at will when they feel like it, and took out the nuclear reactor rather easily in '07.  That's a good example where the US financial aid investments in israel come in quite handy.

Also, in 1999 Turkey threatened ass-ad and he backed down quickly, since he understands one thing only - force.  Another massacre and you will see Russian leverage vanish; already they are talking about replacing ass-ad.  Notice how no one mentions the chinese anymore?

Ass-ad is out of options, and he has pinned himself into a corner from which there is only one eventual option; the Hague, unless the rebellion captures and kills him first, which is also a possibility.


----------



## ERGO

*Unholy Alliance Forming Against Syria*
*Washington, Tel Aviv, Ankara, Brussels, Arab puppet regimes, Extremist Wahhabis, Al-Qaeda*

Syria is bracing for more political chaos as all antagonistic forces appear to have entered into an unholy alliance to bring the government to its knees *by ingeniously choreographing massacres and attributing them to Syrian government, thereby turning the country into fertile soil for US-led invasion. *
What deserves due attention in the carnage that happened in Houla is that many were shot dead at close range, many were *Shia Muslims* and many were women and children. In other words, *these atrocities are conjectured to have been carried out at the hands of the extremist Wahhabis and al-Qaeda elements who are notorious for targeting women and children in their terrorist operations. *
*Syrian authorities on Sunday denied having a hand in the carnage.*
Washington is funding the rebel groups in Syria. A report reveals that the rebels in Syria &#8220;have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States&#8221; 
Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors&rsquo; money, U.S. coordination - The Washington Post

Source article: Unholy Alliance Forming Against Syria

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mx_LsPzlIvA]Webster Tarpley: NATO-Backed "Syrian National Council" Breaking Apart... - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> So far 0 countries have come forward with any kind of operations, to take out the air defense systems, establish a no fly zone, nothing, there is a Russian Naval Base in Syria also, you really think their just going to sit there if NATO starts bombing Assads troops?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The public pressure to act will be overwhelming, there is no way the Western governments will be able to withstand it.  Ass-ad will be given a choice: allow a safe have in the Western part of the country, or be liquidated under a massive Serbian-type assault.
> 
> I may sound overconfident, but the US' latest radar detection systems can obliterate the syrian air defenses without much difficulty.  It isno accident that israel buzzes ass-ad's palaces at will when they feel like it, and took out the nuclear reactor rather easily in '07.  That's a good example where the US financial aid investments in israel come in quite handy.
> 
> Also, in 1999 Turkey threatened ass-ad and he backed down quickly, since he understands one thing only - force.  Another massacre and you will see Russian leverage vanish; already they are talking about replacing ass-ad.  Notice how no one mentions the chinese anymore?
> 
> Ass-ad is out of options, and he has pinned himself into a corner from which there is only one eventual option; the Hague, unless the rebellion captures and kills him first, which is also a possibility.
Click to expand...


You really think its a good idea for us to get involved in another war though? would NATO get involved in this like they did with Libya? I see alot of apprehension from the Euros about bombing Damascus.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Turkey, Japan Expel Syrian Diplomats In Wake Of Houla Massacre 









> BEIRUT  U.N. observers have discovered 13 bound corpses in eastern Syria, many of them apparently shot execution-style, the monitoring mission said Wednesday.
> 
> The announcement comes days after a massacre in Houla, in the central Homs province, which killed more than 100 people and prompted worldwide condemnation against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed "armed terrorists."
> 
> The latest killings apparently happened in Deir el-Zour province. The corpses were found with their hands tied behind their backs, according to a statement by the U.N. mission. Some appeared to have been shot in the head from a short distance.
> 
> The head of the U.N. observer team, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, said he was "deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act."
> 
> The violence in Syria is spiraling out of control as an uprising against Assad that began in March 2011 has morphed into an armed insurgency.
> 
> In the wake of the Houla massacre, the United States and several other countries expelled Syrian diplomats to protest the killings. Survivors blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage in Houla.
> 
> The U.N.'s top human rights body planned to hold a special session Friday to address the massacre. Violence also continued elsewhere unabated. Syrian forces bombarded rebel-held areas in the same province where the Houla killings occurred, although no casualties were immediately reported, activists said.
> 
> Damascus had said it would conclude its own investigation into the Houla deaths by Wednesday but it was not clear if the findings would be made public.
> 
> Syria's state-run media on Wednesday denounced the diplomatic expulsions as "unprecedented hysteria."



Syria Crisis: Turkey, Japan Expel Syrian Diplomats In Wake Of Houla Massacre


----------



## ERGO

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Turkey, Japan Expel Syrian Diplomats In Wake Of Houla Massacre
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT &#8212; U.N. observers have discovered 13 bound corpses in eastern Syria, many of them apparently shot execution-style, the monitoring mission said Wednesday.
> 
> The announcement comes days after a massacre in Houla, in the central Homs province, which killed more than 100 people and prompted worldwide condemnation against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed "armed terrorists."
> 
> The latest killings apparently happened in Deir el-Zour province. The corpses were found with their hands tied behind their backs, according to a statement by the U.N. mission. Some appeared to have been shot in the head from a short distance.
> 
> The head of the U.N. observer team, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, said he was "deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act."
> 
> The violence in Syria is spiraling out of control as an uprising against Assad that began in March 2011 has morphed into an armed insurgency.
> 
> In the wake of the Houla massacre, the United States and several other countries expelled Syrian diplomats to protest the killings. Survivors blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage in Houla.
> 
> The U.N.'s top human rights body planned to hold a special session Friday to address the massacre. Violence also continued elsewhere unabated. Syrian forces bombarded rebel-held areas in the same province where the Houla killings occurred, although no casualties were immediately reported, activists said.
> 
> Damascus had said it would conclude its own investigation into the Houla deaths by Wednesday but it was not clear if the findings would be made public.
> 
> Syria's state-run media on Wednesday denounced the diplomatic expulsions as "unprecedented hysteria."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Turkey, Japan Expel Syrian Diplomats In Wake Of Houla Massacre
Click to expand...



I don't think that it was the Syrian Army that was responsible for this massacre. I believe it was the Saudi and Bahrain (NATO) backed Wahhabi and Al Queda mercenary forces that were responsible for this. Syria was slated for take down a long time ago. U.S. and NATO, just as in Libya, send in agent provocateurs to stir up trouble which leads to violence and the government reacts. Libya is in way worse shape today than it was under Gaddaffi.
The victims of the Houla massacre were Shia Muslims and the agent provocateur mercenaries are from the Sunni sect which are enemies of the Shia Muslims. Sunni's terrorists are indiscriminate in their terror operations. Iran is mostly Shia and the vast majority across the Persian Gulf are Sunni. This is a proxy war and a campaign to destabilize Syria and the road to Tehran is going through Damascus.
The Houla Massacre: A War Provocation by NATO Death Squads in Himmler's Gleiwitz Operation Tradition - YouTube


----------



## High_Gravity

ERGO said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Turkey, Japan Expel Syrian Diplomats In Wake Of Houla Massacre
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  U.N. observers have discovered 13 bound corpses in eastern Syria, many of them apparently shot execution-style, the monitoring mission said Wednesday.
> 
> The announcement comes days after a massacre in Houla, in the central Homs province, which killed more than 100 people and prompted worldwide condemnation against the regime of President Bashar Assad. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed "armed terrorists."
> 
> The latest killings apparently happened in Deir el-Zour province. The corpses were found with their hands tied behind their backs, according to a statement by the U.N. mission. Some appeared to have been shot in the head from a short distance.
> 
> The head of the U.N. observer team, Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, said he was "deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act."
> 
> The violence in Syria is spiraling out of control as an uprising against Assad that began in March 2011 has morphed into an armed insurgency.
> 
> In the wake of the Houla massacre, the United States and several other countries expelled Syrian diplomats to protest the killings. Survivors blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of the carnage in Houla.
> 
> The U.N.'s top human rights body planned to hold a special session Friday to address the massacre. Violence also continued elsewhere unabated. Syrian forces bombarded rebel-held areas in the same province where the Houla killings occurred, although no casualties were immediately reported, activists said.
> 
> Damascus had said it would conclude its own investigation into the Houla deaths by Wednesday but it was not clear if the findings would be made public.
> 
> Syria's state-run media on Wednesday denounced the diplomatic expulsions as "unprecedented hysteria."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Turkey, Japan Expel Syrian Diplomats In Wake Of Houla Massacre
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think that it was the Syrian Army that was responsible for this massacre. I believe it was the Saudi and Bahrain (NATO) backed Wahhabi and Al Queda mercenary forces that were responsible for this. Syria was slated for take down a long time ago. U.S. and NATO, just as in Libya, send in agent provocateurs to stir up trouble which leads to violence and the government reacts. Libya is in way worse shape today than it was under Gaddaffi.
> The victims of the Houla massacre were Shia Muslims and the agent provocateur mercenaries are from the Sunni sect which are enemies of the Shia Muslims. Sunni's terrorists are indiscriminate in their terror operations. Iran is mostly Shia and the vast majority across the Persian Gulf are Sunni. This is a proxy war and a campaign to destabilize Syria and the road to Tehran is going through Damascus.
> The Houla Massacre: A War Provocation by NATO Death Squads in Himmler's Gleiwitz Operation Tradition - YouTube
Click to expand...


How would a small number of foreigners be able to have this much influence over a large swath of the Syrian population? are you trying to tell me Bashar Assad is the Syrian Aberham Lincoln or Mahatma Gandhi?


----------



## ERGO

High_Gravity said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Turkey, Japan Expel Syrian Diplomats In Wake Of Houla Massacre
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Turkey, Japan Expel Syrian Diplomats In Wake Of Houla Massacre
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think that it was the Syrian Army that was responsible for this massacre. I believe it was the Saudi and Bahrain (NATO) backed Wahhabi and Al Queda mercenary forces that were responsible for this. Syria was slated for take down a long time ago. U.S. and NATO, just as in Libya, send in agent provocateurs to stir up trouble which leads to violence and the government reacts. Libya is in way worse shape today than it was under Gaddaffi.
> The victims of the Houla massacre were Shia Muslims and the agent provocateur mercenaries are from the Sunni sect which are enemies of the Shia Muslims. Sunni's terrorists are indiscriminate in their terror operations. Iran is mostly Shia and the vast majority across the Persian Gulf are Sunni. This is a proxy war and a campaign to destabilize Syria and the road to Tehran is going through Damascus.
> The Houla Massacre: A War Provocation by NATO Death Squads in Himmler's Gleiwitz Operation Tradition - YouTube
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> How would a small number of foreigners be able to have this much influence over a large swath of the Syrian population? are you trying to tell me Bashar Assad is the Syrian Aberham Lincoln or Mahatma Gandhi?
Click to expand...


You're misunderstanding the situation. In 1953 the CIA went into Iran to organize a coup ( a takeover) The operation, was code-named TP-AJAX and it was the blueprint for a succession of CIA plots to foment coups and destabilize governments. Look it up.
The plan was to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddeq and replace him with
Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
This planned coup was the result of Mosaddeq nationalizing Iran's oil and thus reducing western oil companies control and profits. 
With Syria, it's their relationship with Iran and their proximity to Israel that has them slated for takeover. Israel and the U.S. want to take Iran out,but they don't want to have  Assad in power when they attack Iran because Assad is friendly with the Iranian regime.
With Assad out of the way and a western puppet in there, Israel and the region has less to be concerned about. 
This isn't about pushing for "democracy" in Syria. NATO, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain are co-operating to try and paint Assad in the worse possible light because they want him out of the way for the attack on Iran. Look up the CIA's project AJAX because it's the basic blueprint for takeover of regimes the West doesn't like.


----------



## High_Gravity

ERGO said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't think that it was the Syrian Army that was responsible for this massacre. I believe it was the Saudi and Bahrain (NATO) backed Wahhabi and Al Queda mercenary forces that were responsible for this. Syria was slated for take down a long time ago. U.S. and NATO, just as in Libya, send in agent provocateurs to stir up trouble which leads to violence and the government reacts. Libya is in way worse shape today than it was under Gaddaffi.
> The victims of the Houla massacre were Shia Muslims and the agent provocateur mercenaries are from the Sunni sect which are enemies of the Shia Muslims. Sunni's terrorists are indiscriminate in their terror operations. Iran is mostly Shia and the vast majority across the Persian Gulf are Sunni. This is a proxy war and a campaign to destabilize Syria and the road to Tehran is going through Damascus.
> The Houla Massacre: A War Provocation by NATO Death Squads in Himmler's Gleiwitz Operation Tradition - YouTube
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How would a small number of foreigners be able to have this much influence over a large swath of the Syrian population? are you trying to tell me Bashar Assad is the Syrian Aberham Lincoln or Mahatma Gandhi?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You're misunderstanding the situation. In 1953 the CIA went into Iran to organize a coup ( a takeover) The operation, was code-named TP-AJAX and it was the blueprint for a succession of CIA plots to foment coups and destabilize governments. Look it up.
> The plan was to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddeq and replace him with
> Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
> This planned coup was the result of Mosaddeq nationalizing Iran's oil and thus reducing western oil companies control and profits.
> With Syria, it's their relationship with Iran and their proximity to Israel that has them slated for takeover. Israel and the U.S. want to take Iran out,but they don't want to have  Assad in power when they attack Iran because Assad is friendly with the Iranian regime.
> With Assad out of the way and a western puppet in there, Israel and the region has less to be concerned about.
> This isn't about pushing for "democracy" in Syria. NATO, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain are co-operating to try and paint Assad in the worse possible light because they want him out of the way for the attack on Iran. Look up the CIA's project AJAX because it's the basic blueprint for takeover of regimes the West doesn't like.
Click to expand...


I have a question for you though, do you think most Syrians are happy with their leadership? because if that were the case, this kind of conspiracy should never be able to work without the people buying in.


----------



## ERGO

High_Gravity said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> How would a small number of foreigners be able to have this much influence over a large swath of the Syrian population? are you trying to tell me Bashar Assad is the Syrian Aberham Lincoln or Mahatma Gandhi?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're misunderstanding the situation. In 1953 the CIA went into Iran to organize a coup ( a takeover) The operation, was code-named TP-AJAX and it was the blueprint for a succession of CIA plots to foment coups and destabilize governments. Look it up.
> The plan was to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddeq and replace him with
> Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
> This planned coup was the result of Mosaddeq nationalizing Iran's oil and thus reducing western oil companies control and profits.
> With Syria, it's their relationship with Iran and their proximity to Israel that has them slated for takeover. Israel and the U.S. want to take Iran out,but they don't want to have  Assad in power when they attack Iran because Assad is friendly with the Iranian regime.
> With Assad out of the way and a western puppet in there, Israel and the region has less to be concerned about.
> This isn't about pushing for "democracy" in Syria. NATO, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain are co-operating to try and paint Assad in the worse possible light because they want him out of the way for the attack on Iran. Look up the CIA's project AJAX because it's the basic blueprint for takeover of regimes the West doesn't like.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I have a question for you though, do you think most Syrians are happy with their leadership? because if that were the case, this kind of conspiracy should never be able to work without the people buying in.
Click to expand...


There are a lot of them that aren't happy with their leadership just as in the U.S. and Israel. As happened in Iran in 1953 and in Libya last year the people are subjected to cleverly  crafted propaganda, their source for information is purposely misinforming them.
The people really don't have any control over outside agent provocateurs coming into the country. Just as here in the U.S. people are divided... Democrat vs. Republican.  It would be like if outside forces, agent provocateurs, came in and tried to stir up shit between the Dems and Repubs. to get a civil war going. 
Let me ask you something, if outside forces came into the U.S. blowing things up and killing innocent civilians do you think the U.S government would sit idly by?
Assad is certainly no angel, but the Syrian government has a right to fight back against these foreign invaders who are wreaking havoc on their country. The reaction of the Syrian government to these foreign invaders is being distorted in the press. This is by design, again, powerful western interests want Assad out of the way and they need to justify  to the world that a military intervention is required in Syria under the guise of humanitarianism and democracy. This is what they did to Libya.


----------



## High_Gravity

ERGO said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> You're misunderstanding the situation. In 1953 the CIA went into Iran to organize a coup ( a takeover) The operation, was code-named TP-AJAX and it was the blueprint for a succession of CIA plots to foment coups and destabilize governments. Look it up.
> The plan was to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddeq and replace him with
> Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
> This planned coup was the result of Mosaddeq nationalizing Iran's oil and thus reducing western oil companies control and profits.
> With Syria, it's their relationship with Iran and their proximity to Israel that has them slated for takeover. Israel and the U.S. want to take Iran out,but they don't want to have  Assad in power when they attack Iran because Assad is friendly with the Iranian regime.
> With Assad out of the way and a western puppet in there, Israel and the region has less to be concerned about.
> This isn't about pushing for "democracy" in Syria. NATO, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain are co-operating to try and paint Assad in the worse possible light because they want him out of the way for the attack on Iran. Look up the CIA's project AJAX because it's the basic blueprint for takeover of regimes the West doesn't like.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have a question for you though, do you think most Syrians are happy with their leadership? because if that were the case, this kind of conspiracy should never be able to work without the people buying in.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There are a lot of them that aren't happy with their leadership just as in the U.S. and Israel. As happened in Iran in 1953 and in Libya last year the people are subjected to cleverly  crafted propaganda, their source for information is purposely misinforming them.
> The people really don't have any control over outside agent provocateurs coming into the country. Just as here in the U.S. people are divided... Democrat vs. Republican.  It would be like if outside forces, agent provocateurs, came in and tried to stir up shit between the Dems and Repubs. to get a civil war going.
> Let me ask you something, if outside forces came into the U.S. blowing things up and killing innocent civilians do you think the U.S government would sit idly by?
> Assad is certainly no angel, but the Syrian government has a right to fight back against these foreign invaders who are wreaking havoc on their country. The reaction of the Syrian government to these foreign invaders is being distorted in the press. This is by design, again, powerful western interests want Assad out of the way and they need to justify  to the world that a military intervention is required in Syria under the guise of humanitarianism and democracy. This is what they did to Libya.
Click to expand...


The thing is so far foreign powers seem reluctant to get involved, no countries have stepped forward with a Military solution and seem to be twiddling their thumbs, why haven't they jumped all over this thing with air strikes already if this were true?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: 13 Bodies Found With Hands Tied, Head Of UN Observers Says 








> BEIRUT, May 30 (Reuters) - U.N. observers said on Wednesday 13 bodies had been discovered bound and shot in eastern Syria, days after a massacre of 108 civilians, nearly half of them children, ignited a world outcry.
> 
> Syrian activists said the victims were army defectors killed by Assad's forces, but it was not possible to verify their accounts.
> 
> Outrage at last Friday's mass killings in the Syrian town of Houla, documented by U.N. monitors, prompted a host of Western countries to step up pressure on Syria on Tuesday by expelling its senior diplomats, and to press Russia and China to allow tougher action by the U.N. Security Council.
> 
> Wednesday's observer report underlined how a peace plan drafted by international envoy Kofi Annan has failed to stem bloodshed or bring Syria's government and opposition to the negotiating table.
> 
> Major-General Robert Mood, the Norwegian head of the observer mission, said the corpses had been found with their hands tied behind their backs and signs that some had been shot in the head from close range.
> 
> "General Mood is deeply disturbed by this appalling and inexcusable act," a statement issued by the observer mission said. "He calls on all parties to exercise restraint and end the cycle of violence for the sake of Syria and the Syrian people."
> 
> The U.N. observers said the 13 dead men had been found on Tuesday evening in Assukar, about 50 km (31 miles) east of the city of Deir al-Zor.
> 
> Video footage posted by activists shows the bodies face down on the ground, hands tied behind their backs, with dark pools of what could be blood around their heads and torsos. Mood did not apportion any blame for the killings.
> 
> U.N. peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous said in New York on Tuesday that the Syrian army and "shabbiha" militiamen supporting Assad were "probably" responsible for massacring 108 people in Houla with artillery, tanks, small arms and knives. Syria denied any responsibility and blamed Islamist "terrorists" - its term for rebel forces.
> 
> Trying to save his seven-week-old peace plan from collapse, U.N.-Arab League envoy Annan told Assad in Damascus on Tuesday that Syria was at a tipping point, but there was no let-up in violence, with more than 100 people killed the same day, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.



Syria Crisis: 13 Bodies Found With Hands Tied, Head Of UN Observers Says


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Massacre: Houla Child Witness Describes Mother's Murder



> In a new amateur video uploaded to YouTube, a young Syrian boy describes witnessing the murder of his family during last week's horrifying massacre in the town of Houla.
> 
> The boy says his uncles and brothers were taken by security forces. He claims his mother was shot five times in the head after she shouted at soldiers who entered their house. The boy survived, he says, because he 'played dead' after he was shot himself.
> 
> The video could not independently be verified.



Syria Massacre: Houla Child Witness Describes Mother's Murder (VIDEO)


----------



## ERGO

High_Gravity said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have a question for you though, do you think most Syrians are happy with their leadership? because if that were the case, this kind of conspiracy should never be able to work without the people buying in.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There are a lot of them that aren't happy with their leadership just as in the U.S. and Israel. As happened in Iran in 1953 and in Libya last year the people are subjected to cleverly  crafted propaganda, their source for information is purposely misinforming them.
> The people really don't have any control over outside agent provocateurs coming into the country. Just as here in the U.S. people are divided... Democrat vs. Republican.  It would be like if outside forces, agent provocateurs, came in and tried to stir up shit between the Dems and Repubs. to get a civil war going.
> Let me ask you something, if outside forces came into the U.S. blowing things up and killing innocent civilians do you think the U.S government would sit idly by?
> Assad is certainly no angel, but the Syrian government has a right to fight back against these foreign invaders who are wreaking havoc on their country. The reaction of the Syrian government to these foreign invaders is being distorted in the press. This is by design, again, powerful western interests want Assad out of the way and they need to justify  to the world that a military intervention is required in Syria under the guise of humanitarianism and democracy. This is what they did to Libya.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The thing is so far foreign powers seem reluctant to get involved, no countries have stepped forward with a Military solution and seem to be twiddling their thumbs, why haven't they jumped all over this thing with air strikes already if this were true?
Click to expand...


There are foreign powers involved covertly...by proxy, the Wahhabi, LIFG and Al Qaeda terrorists inside Syria are being funded by NATO...U.S. through Saudi Arabia and Bahrain INDIRECTLY. They say the funds are just for medical supplies and food which is bunk. They're supplying them with military hardware.

Countries need a public justification for attacking another country. This justification is needed to galvanize internal support for the war, as well as gain the support of potential allies.

In theory international law today allows only three situations as legal cause to go to war: out of self-defense, defense of an ally under a mutual defense pact, or sanctioned by the UN.

This is why there is a propaganda campaign against Syria.There are powerful western interest's along with the Saudi's and Israel that are trying to manufacture a situation that permits them to militarily (officially) attack Syria. A casus beli 
NATO, being led by the U.S., attack on Libya was actually in violation of international law when they attacked Libya. This R2P, right to protect, was something that was cooked up to be used more like misused... as an excuse to attack another country for economic reasons or for strategic future war planning reasons, under the guise of "humanitarianism" and "Democracy"






.[/IMG]


----------



## Trajan

ERGO said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are a lot of them that aren't happy with their leadership just as in the U.S. and Israel. As happened in Iran in 1953 and in Libya last year the people are subjected to cleverly  crafted propaganda, their source for information is purposely misinforming them.
> The people really don't have any control over outside agent provocateurs coming into the country. Just as here in the U.S. people are divided... Democrat vs. Republican.  It would be like if outside forces, agent provocateurs, came in and tried to stir up shit between the Dems and Repubs. to get a civil war going.
> Let me ask you something, if outside forces came into the U.S. blowing things up and killing innocent civilians do you think the U.S government would sit idly by?
> Assad is certainly no angel, but the Syrian government has a right to fight back against these foreign invaders who are wreaking havoc on their country. The reaction of the Syrian government to these foreign invaders is being distorted in the press. This is by design, again, powerful western interests want Assad out of the way and they need to justify  to the world that a military intervention is required in Syria under the guise of humanitarianism and democracy. This is what they did to Libya.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The thing is so far foreign powers seem reluctant to get involved, no countries have stepped forward with a Military solution and seem to be twiddling their thumbs, why haven't they jumped all over this thing with air strikes already if this were true?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There are foreign powers involved covertly...by proxy, the Wahhabi, LIFG and Al Qaeda terrorists inside Syria are being funded by NATO...U.S. through Saudi Arabia and Bahrain INDIRECTLY. They say the funds are just for medical supplies and food which is bunk. They're supplying them with military hardware.
> 
> Countries need a public justification for attacking another country. This justification is needed to galvanize internal support for the war, as well as gain the support of potential allies.
> 
> In theory international law today allows only three situations as legal cause to go to war: out of self-defense, defense of an ally under a mutual defense pact, or sanctioned by the UN.
> 
> This is why there is a propaganda campaign against Syria.There are powerful western interest's along with the Saudi's and Israel that are trying to manufacture a situation that permits them to militarily (officially) attack Syria. A casus beli
> NATO, being led by the U.S., attack on Libya was actually in violation of international law when they attacked Libya. This R2P, right to protect, was something that was cooked up to be used more like misused... as an excuse to attack another country for economic reasons or for strategic future war planning reasons, under the guise of "humanitarianism" and "Democracy"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .[/IMG]
Click to expand...


so, you're stance appears to be, that western anti shia agents and org's, funded by US et al are responsible for the uprising and the concomitant violence over the last year and a half?


----------



## Trajan

ERGO said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> You're misunderstanding the situation. In 1953 the CIA went into Iran to organize a coup ( a takeover) The operation, was code-named TP-AJAX and it was the blueprint for a succession of CIA plots to foment coups and destabilize governments. Look it up.
> The plan was to overthrow the government of Mohammad Mosaddeq and replace him with
> Mohammad Reza Shah Pahlavi.
> This planned coup was the result of Mosaddeq nationalizing Iran's oil and thus reducing western oil companies control and profits.
> With Syria, it's their relationship with Iran and their proximity to Israel that has them slated for takeover. Israel and the U.S. want to take Iran out,but they don't want to have  Assad in power when they attack Iran because Assad is friendly with the Iranian regime.
> With Assad out of the way and a western puppet in there, Israel and the region has less to be concerned about.
> This isn't about pushing for "democracy" in Syria. NATO, Israel, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain are co-operating to try and paint Assad in the worse possible light because they want him out of the way for the attack on Iran. Look up the CIA's project AJAX because it's the basic blueprint for takeover of regimes the West doesn't like.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have a question for you though, do you think most Syrians are happy with their leadership? because if that were the case, this kind of conspiracy should never be able to work without the people buying in.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There are a lot of them that aren't happy with their leadership just as in the U.S. and Israel. As happened in Iran in 1953 and in Libya last year the people are subjected to cleverly  crafted propaganda, their source for information is purposely misinforming them.
> The people really don't have any control over outside agent provocateurs coming into the country. Just as here in the U.S. people are divided... Democrat vs. Republican.  It would be like if outside forces, agent provocateurs, came in and tried to stir up shit between the Dems and Repubs. to get a civil war going.
> Let me ask you something, if outside forces came into the U.S. blowing things up and killing innocent civilians do you think the U.S government would sit idly by?
> Assad is certainly no angel, but the Syrian government has a right to fight back against these foreign invaders who are wreaking havoc on their country. The reaction of the Syrian government to these foreign invaders is being distorted in the press. This is by design, again, powerful western interests want Assad out of the way and they need to justify  to the world that a military intervention is required in Syria under the guise of humanitarianism and democracy. This is what they did to Libya.
Click to expand...


you are grossly mischaracterizing and conflating several issues situations and ideologies all at once to lend your view some verisimilitude. 

Obama has done his level best to stay afar, the insurgency of sunni's inside Syria was homegrown, now that it has lasted this long, violent factions who breed and feed on any situations like this have penetrated Syria, so what, same happened in Libya. 


now, would the sauds, israel and us, be benefactors of an overthrow of assad and in installation of  a sunni majority gov? sounds good, but one never knows, its like playing with fire and obama would never sppt. something so loosely concocted, even if we thought it would work out our way and do Iran and hezbollah damage which would benefit israel and us, he doesn't have the vision nor the game to do so.


----------



## ERGO

Trajan said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> The thing is so far foreign powers seem reluctant to get involved, no countries have stepped forward with a Military solution and seem to be twiddling their thumbs, why haven't they jumped all over this thing with air strikes already if this were true?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There are foreign powers involved covertly...by proxy, the Wahhabi, LIFG and Al Qaeda terrorists inside Syria are being funded by NATO...U.S. through Saudi Arabia and Bahrain INDIRECTLY. They say the funds are just for medical supplies and food which is bunk. They're supplying them with military hardware.
> 
> Countries need a public justification for attacking another country. This justification is needed to galvanize internal support for the war, as well as gain the support of potential allies.
> 
> In theory international law today allows only three situations as legal cause to go to war: out of self-defense, defense of an ally under a mutual defense pact, or sanctioned by the UN.
> 
> This is why there is a propaganda campaign against Syria.There are powerful western interest's along with the Saudi's and Israel that are trying to manufacture a situation that permits them to militarily (officially) attack Syria. A casus beli
> NATO, being led by the U.S., attack on Libya was actually in violation of international law when they attacked Libya. This R2P, right to protect, was something that was cooked up to be used more like misused... as an excuse to attack another country for economic reasons or for strategic future war planning reasons, under the guise of "humanitarianism" and "Democracy"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .[/IMG]
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> so, you're stance appears to be, that western anti shia agents and org's, funded by US et al are responsible for the uprising and the concomitant violence over the last year and a half?
Click to expand...


*YES!*

*NATO Using Al-Qaeda to Destabilize Syria*

Infowars Paul Joseph Watson is joined by Syrian Girl, an outspoken activist against NATOs campaign to use Al-Qaeda terrorists as a means of destabilizing the Assad regime. In this interview, Syrian Girl reveals the true intentions behind NATOs agenda in Syria as well as discussing other topics such as the charge that she is a pro-Assad mouthpiece, women in the truth movement, the Arab Spring and more.
» NATO Using Al-Qaeda to Destabilize Syria Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!

NATO Using Al-Qaeda to Destabilize Syria - YouTube

*Syrian Rebels are Foreign-backed Terrorists 
*
Update: March 19, 2012 - It is now confirmed that Saudi Arabia is shipping arms to foreign fighters and Syrian rebels operating out of Jordan. The Australian reports in their article,Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian"Bombs in Syria as Saudis 'send arms to rebels'," that "Saudi military equipment is on its way to Jordan to arm the Free Syrian Army," quoting an Arab diplomat. Of course, as reported below, the "Free Syrian Army" is led not by Syrians, but by NATO-backed Libyan militants from the US State Department-listed terrorist organization, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
Land Destroyer: Syrian Rebels are Foreign-backed Terrorists

*It must be noted that Saudi Arabia in turn, receives its weapons and a significant amount of military funding from the United States.*
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/washington/28weapons.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> Infowars Paul Joseph Watson



Fucktard monkey still using fake news "sources" like this fraud as reliable...yawn......


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> You really think its a good idea for us to get involved in another war though? would NATO get involved in this like they did with Libya? I see alot of apprehension from the Euros about bombing Damascus.



It is better than continuing to allow the heinous iran/syria axis to obtain nukes, foment wars and terrorism across the middle east, and slaughter people.  I may dislike arabs, but even I have a conscience, and when I see small children being murdered - those two regimes, both of whom are complicit in these massacres - have no right to exist.

Neither does the current russia or chinese ones either, and unfortunately wars could not remove those without a major world war, so I'll just hope their populaces grow some brains and remove those dictatorships.

And yes, NATO could initiate a massive air strike campaign against both syria and iran, as the more I think about it, the more I realize that both need to be eliminated, particularly iran's, or that cancer will just continue to foment problems with whatever new government is established in syria.

Bush's biggest mistake was attacking the wrong country; had iran's regime been eradicated, iraq would have been FAR easier to deal with.  And the reckoning for that diseased, filthy, cancerous regime of thugs and murderers that is iran is near...


----------



## ERGO

Trajan said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I have a question for you though, do you think most Syrians are happy with their leadership? because if that were the case, this kind of conspiracy should never be able to work without the people buying in.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There are a lot of them that aren't happy with their leadership just as in the U.S. and Israel. As happened in Iran in 1953 and in Libya last year the people are subjected to cleverly  crafted propaganda, their source for information is purposely misinforming them.
> The people really don't have any control over outside agent provocateurs coming into the country. Just as here in the U.S. people are divided... Democrat vs. Republican.  It would be like if outside forces, agent provocateurs, came in and tried to stir up shit between the Dems and Repubs. to get a civil war going.
> Let me ask you something, if outside forces came into the U.S. blowing things up and killing innocent civilians do you think the U.S government would sit idly by?
> Assad is certainly no angel, but the Syrian government has a right to fight back against these foreign invaders who are wreaking havoc on their country. The reaction of the Syrian government to these foreign invaders is being distorted in the press. This is by design, again, powerful western interests want Assad out of the way and they need to justify  to the world that a military intervention is required in Syria under the guise of humanitarianism and democracy. This is what they did to Libya.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> you are grossly mischaracterizing and conflating several issues situations and ideologies all at once to lend your view some verisimilitude.
> 
> Obama has done his level best to stay afar, the insurgency of sunni's inside Syria was homegrown, now that it has lasted this long, violent factions who breed and feed on any situations like this have penetrated Syria, so what, same happened in Libya.
> 
> 
> now, would the sauds, israel and us, be benefactors of an overthrow of assad and in installation of  a sunni majority gov? sounds good, but one never knows, its like playing with fire and obama would never sppt. something so loosely concocted, even if we thought it would work out our way and do Iran and hezbollah damage which would benefit israel and us, he doesn't have the vision nor the game to do so.
Click to expand...


You're just flat out wrong and you don't know what you're talking about. There is overwhelming evidence to support my assertions.
I've placed plenty information to backed up what I have stated with links and videos. It appears that you are not comprehending what is taking place. 


The insurgency inside Syria is not homegrown...there is plenty of evidence that this insurgency in Syria is being perpetrated by foreign agent provocateurs. Why don't you do some research into the situation there with the links I provided and/or do google searches and you will find out I know what I am talking about!

The Houla Massacre: A War Provocation by NATO Death Squads in Himmler&#39;s Gleiwitz Operation Tradition - YouTube


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> The thing is so far foreign powers seem reluctant to get involved, no countries have stepped forward with a Military solution and seem to be twiddling their thumbs, why haven't they jumped all over this thing with air strikes already if this were true?



LOL, whatever facts and logic you try to apply with a fucking moron against their absurd conspiracy theories will just lead to them morphing the conspiracy to try and twist it to fit.

Its a ridiculous circle that no matter how much reasoning you apply that crushes the CT, the dog will just keep chasing its tail.  Don't bother.


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> There are foreign powers involved covertly...by proxy, the Wahhabi, LIFG and Al Qaeda terrorists inside Syria are being funded by NATO...U.S. through Saudi Arabia and Bahrain INDIRECTLY. They say the funds are just for medical supplies and food which is bunk. They're supplying them with military hardware.



Asshole, what is fucking hezbollah? Or hamas?  Or islamic jihad?

Those aren't proxy armies of iran and syria?  Or in your tiny, putrid brain only the anti-israel/anti-US animals get to use terrorism and war to achieve political goals?

Explain to us, you fucking idiot asshole, why you have a problem with the US helping overthrow mossadegh, but have no problem with iran/syria doing far worse in lebanon.


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> Infowars Paul Joseph Watson
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fucktard monkey still using fake news "sources" like this fraud as reliable...yawn......
Click to expand...


It quite apparent you are incapable of engaging in an honest intellectual debate. You can only resort to childish sophomoric ad hominem. 
You have failed to prove my sources are fake and furthermore you have failed to refute the information because it is clear you are an intellectual juvenile who is intellectually lazy.
What I put up is beyond your comprehension and ability to disprove, probably because you have what appears to be the I.Q. of a doorknob.

Your childish...juvenile stupidity doesn't bother me because I know you're the one that is  deficient in mental capacity!


----------



## Trajan

ERGO said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are foreign powers involved covertly...by proxy, the Wahhabi, LIFG and Al Qaeda terrorists inside Syria are being funded by NATO...U.S. through Saudi Arabia and Bahrain INDIRECTLY. They say the funds are just for medical supplies and food which is bunk. They're supplying them with military hardware.
> 
> Countries need a public justification for attacking another country. This justification is needed to galvanize internal support for the war, as well as gain the support of potential allies.
> 
> In theory international law today allows only three situations as legal cause to go to war: out of self-defense, defense of an ally under a mutual defense pact, or sanctioned by the UN.
> 
> This is why there is a propaganda campaign against Syria.There are powerful western interest's along with the Saudi's and Israel that are trying to manufacture a situation that permits them to militarily (officially) attack Syria. A casus beli
> NATO, being led by the U.S., attack on Libya was actually in violation of international law when they attacked Libya. This R2P, right to protect, was something that was cooked up to be used more like misused... as an excuse to attack another country for economic reasons or for strategic future war planning reasons, under the guise of "humanitarianism" and "Democracy"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> .[/IMG]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> so, you're stance appears to be, that western anti shia agents and org's, funded by US et al are responsible for the uprising and the concomitant violence over the last year and a half?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> *YES!*
> 
> *NATO Using Al-Qaeda to Destabilize Syria*
> 
> Infowars Paul Joseph Watson is joined by Syrian Girl, an outspoken activist against NATOs campaign to use Al-Qaeda terrorists as a means of destabilizing the Assad regime. In this interview, Syrian Girl reveals the true intentions behind NATOs agenda in Syria as well as discussing other topics such as the charge that she is a pro-Assad mouthpiece, women in the truth movement, the Arab Spring and more.
> » NATO Using Al-Qaeda to Destabilize Syria Alex Jones' Infowars: There's a war on for your mind!
> 
> NATO Using Al-Qaeda to Destabilize Syria - YouTube
> 
> *Syrian Rebels are Foreign-backed Terrorists
> *
> Update: March 19, 2012 - It is now confirmed that Saudi Arabia is shipping arms to foreign fighters and Syrian rebels operating out of Jordan. The Australian reports in their article,Cookies must be enabled. | The Australian"Bombs in Syria as Saudis 'send arms to rebels'," that "Saudi military equipment is on its way to Jordan to arm the Free Syrian Army," quoting an Arab diplomat. Of course, as reported below, the "Free Syrian Army" is led not by Syrians, but by NATO-backed Libyan militants from the US State Department-listed terrorist organization, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group.
> Land Destroyer: Syrian Rebels are Foreign-backed Terrorists
> 
> *It must be noted that Saudi Arabia in turn, receives its weapons and a significant amount of military funding from the United States.*
> http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/28/washington/28weapons.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
Click to expand...


so AQ et al went to Syria and fomented this uprising? no, I am sorry thats not it....


----------



## Trajan

ERGO said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> There are a lot of them that aren't happy with their leadership just as in the U.S. and Israel. As happened in Iran in 1953 and in Libya last year the people are subjected to cleverly  crafted propaganda, their source for information is purposely misinforming them.
> The people really don't have any control over outside agent provocateurs coming into the country. Just as here in the U.S. people are divided... Democrat vs. Republican.  It would be like if outside forces, agent provocateurs, came in and tried to stir up shit between the Dems and Repubs. to get a civil war going.
> Let me ask you something, if outside forces came into the U.S. blowing things up and killing innocent civilians do you think the U.S government would sit idly by?
> Assad is certainly no angel, but the Syrian government has a right to fight back against these foreign invaders who are wreaking havoc on their country. The reaction of the Syrian government to these foreign invaders is being distorted in the press. This is by design, again, powerful western interests want Assad out of the way and they need to justify  to the world that a military intervention is required in Syria under the guise of humanitarianism and democracy. This is what they did to Libya.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> you are grossly mischaracterizing and conflating several issues situations and ideologies all at once to lend your view some verisimilitude.
> 
> Obama has done his level best to stay afar, the insurgency of sunni's inside Syria was homegrown, now that it has lasted this long, violent factions who breed and feed on any situations like this have penetrated Syria, so what, same happened in Libya.
> 
> 
> now, would the sauds, israel and us, be benefactors of an overthrow of assad and in installation of  a sunni majority gov? sounds good, but one never knows, its like playing with fire and obama would never sppt. something so loosely concocted, even if we thought it would work out our way and do Iran and hezbollah damage which would benefit israel and us, he doesn't have the vision nor the game to do so.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You're just flat out wrong and you don't know what you're talking about. There is overwhelming evidence to support my assertions.
> I've placed plenty information to backed up what I have stated with links and videos. It appears that you are not comprehending what is taking place.
> 
> 
> The insurgency inside Syria is not homegrown...there is plenty of evidence that this insurgency in Syria is being perpetrated by foreign agent provocateurs. Why don't you do some research into the situation there with the links I provided and/or do google searches and you will find out I know what I am talking about!
> 
> The Houla Massacre: A War Provocation by NATO Death Squads in Himmler's Gleiwitz Operation Tradition - YouTube
Click to expand...




> _that this insurgency in Syria *is* being perpetrated by foreign agent provocateurs._




IS ....you see, as in IS....?

I said already that there are elements that feed on this, most certainly they have arrived and as RS said there are and have been proxy elements from early on, Assad calling oon Iran how dispatched Hezbollah and armed sppt. from  Russia et al. 

I don't find your sources convincing. 

And I do read, I read a great deal and have followed this from day 1, you are searching for and assembling various slight sources that taken alone mean little, any hypothesis can be sptted by a huge number of apparently and conveniently, purposefully  connected actions,  there after to fit an agenda, but that doesn't make them coordinated plans that were laid and hatched here to fore. 

Was the Homs issue in Hafez al-Assad's day, an outside fomented rebellion too?


----------



## ERGO

Trajan said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> you are grossly mischaracterizing and conflating several issues situations and ideologies all at once to lend your view some verisimilitude.
> 
> Obama has done his level best to stay afar, the insurgency of sunni's inside Syria was homegrown, now that it has lasted this long, violent factions who breed and feed on any situations like this have penetrated Syria, so what, same happened in Libya.
> 
> 
> now, would the sauds, israel and us, be benefactors of an overthrow of assad and in installation of  a sunni majority gov? sounds good, but one never knows, its like playing with fire and obama would never sppt. something so loosely concocted, even if we thought it would work out our way and do Iran and hezbollah damage which would benefit israel and us, he doesn't have the vision nor the game to do so.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're just flat out wrong and you don't know what you're talking about. There is overwhelming evidence to support my assertions.
> I've placed plenty information to backed up what I have stated with links and videos. It appears that you are not comprehending what is taking place.
> 
> 
> The insurgency inside Syria is not homegrown...there is plenty of evidence that this insurgency in Syria is being perpetrated by foreign agent provocateurs. Why don't you do some research into the situation there with the links I provided and/or do google searches and you will find out I know what I am talking about!
> 
> The Houla Massacre: A War Provocation by NATO Death Squads in Himmler's Gleiwitz Operation Tradition - YouTube
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _that this insurgency in Syria *is* being perpetrated by foreign agent provocateurs._
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> IS ....you see, as in IS....?
> 
> I said already that there are elements that feed on this, most certainly they have arrived and as RS said there are and have been proxy elements from early on, Assad calling oon Iran how dispatched Hezbollah and armed sppt. from  Russia et al.
> 
> I don't find your sources convincing.
> 
> And I do read, I read a great deal and have followed this from day 1, you are searching for and assembling various slight sources that taken alone mean little, any hypothesis can be sptted by a huge number of apparently and conveniently, purposefully  connected actions,  there after to fit an agenda, but that doesn't make them coordinated plans that were laid and hatched here to fore.
> 
> Was the Homs issue in Hafez al-Assad's day, an outside fomented rebellion too?
Click to expand...


I've shown you my sources and will show you some more...but, you haven't put up any sources of your own. You stated you read a lot, what do you read and where do you get your information from? 
Why don't you find the sources I've listed convincing?
*
General Wesley Clark Wars Were Planned - Seven Countries In Five Years
*

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oXS7IsOdu-A]General Wesley Clark Wars Were Planned - Seven Countries In Five Years.mp4 - YouTube[/ame]

United States Army, Wesley K. Clark rose to the rank of four-star general as NATO&#8217;s Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Since retiring from the military in 2000, he has taken on the roles of investment banker,alternative energy leader,author,cable network television military analyst and businessman.
*
France, US arming Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles &#8211; report*

France, US arming Syrian rebels with anti-aircraft missiles
*
Same Old Spring: 'US training & arming rebels in Syria'*

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehlI6p0eSjU]Same Old Spring: 'US training & arming rebels in Syria' - YouTube[/ame]

*NATO and CIA Covertly Arming Syrian Rebels in Order to Weaken Iran *

NATO and CIA Covertly Arming Syrian Rebels in Order to Weaken Iran

*MUST SEE:*
GGN: Syrian Rebels Behind Suicide Bombs, UN/NATO Confirm Arming Rebels, US Funds Yemeni Al Qaeda
[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LRZGPkRW7oA]GGN: Syrian Rebels Behind Suicide Bombs, UN/NATO Confirm Arming Rebels, US Funds Yemeni Al Qaeda - YouTube[/ame]
*
Syria massacre: Rebels share blame, says Russia's Lavrov*

BBC News - Syria massacre: Rebels share blame, says Russia's Lavrov


----------



## Trajan

we already know who is supplying what, hello, these events started over a year ago, your links of events this past February mean nothing in this context.....as I said they and you are taking facts now, then fitting  ( and not many btw) and much supposition of past events to render a planned agenda NOW. and I am sorry but truth out is not what I would call a source that I can trust, read it as a spectator with no dog in the fight and you can see what they are doing.....


and they appear to disregard a great deal, as they never address it- example; here to fore assad gave much help to insurgents IN Iraq to fight US, AQ etc., yet you have them , oh 2 years ago which they would need to plan this,  then starting 18 months ago moving to take Assad down, it is counter to past events and logic. 


my sources are not in question, I won't post any until you supply a source that has some heft and reliability.


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> You have failed to prove my sources are fake and furthermore you have failed to refute the information because it is clear you are an intellectual juvenile who is intellectually lazy.



You're a weak fucking idiot loser racist trash turd with no brains or future.  You rely upon fake, disreputable "news" sites run by raving psychotics who make nonsensical claims - and then turn around and attack forum posters for not being able to "prove them wrong":

"John Doe declares the sun is green!" And yes, we can list 5,000 respected MSM news sites stating that is wrong, but fanatic idiots like you with no intelligence whatsoever, either mentally ill or trolling, will repetitively argue that your BS sites are more accurate.

That is why few here respond to your garbage posts, or will do so in the future.

And moron, as soon as you claim that the entire syrian uprising is only due to outside terrorist groups like a fucking bashar ass-licker - you are OVER.  Any hope to be taken seriously after that is a fantasy.


----------



## theliq

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> You really think its a good idea for us to get involved in another war though? would NATO get involved in this like they did with Libya? I see alot of apprehension from the Euros about bombing Damascus.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It is better than continuing to allow the heinous iran/syria axis to obtain nukes, foment wars and terrorism across the middle east, and slaughter people.  I may dislike arabs, but even I have a conscience, and when I see small children being murdered - those two regimes, both of whom are complicit in these massacres - have no right to exist.
> 
> Neither does the current russia or chinese ones either, and unfortunately wars could not remove those without a major world war, so I'll just hope their populaces grow some brains and remove those dictatorships.
> 
> And yes, NATO could initiate a massive air strike campaign against both syria and iran, as the more I think about it, the more I realize that both need to be eliminated, particularly iran's, or that cancer will just continue to foment problems with whatever new government is established in syria.
> 
> Bush's biggest mistake was attacking the wrong country; had iran's regime been eradicated, iraq would have been FAR easier to deal with.  And the reckoning for that diseased, filthy, cancerous regime of thugs and murderers that is iran is near...
Click to expand...


U R A F'ING IDIOT


----------



## theliq

rhodescholar said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> You have failed to prove my sources are fake and furthermore you have failed to refute the information because it is clear you are an intellectual juvenile who is intellectually lazy.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're a weak fucking idiot loser racist trash turd with no brains or future.  You rely upon fake, disreputable "news" sites run by raving psychotics who make nonsensical claims - and then turn around and attack forum posters for not being able to "prove them wrong":
> 
> "John Doe declares the sun is green!" And yes, we can list 5,000 respected MSM news sites stating that is wrong, but fanatic idiots like you with no intelligence whatsoever, either mentally ill or trolling, will repetitively argue that your BS sites are more accurate.
> 
> That is why few here respond to your garbage posts, or will do so in the future.
> 
> And moron, as soon as you claim that the entire syrian uprising is only due to outside terrorist groups like a fucking bashar ass-licker - you are OVER.  Any hope to be taken seriously after that is a fantasy.
Click to expand...



U R A F'ING IDIOT


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Uprising: Troops Shelling Houla Days After Massacre, Say Activists 








> BEIRUT  U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called on Syria on Thursday to stop its attacks, saying the U.N. observers monitoring the cease-fire were not there to watch the killing of innocent people. The warning came as activists reported that Syrian troops again shelled the country's central region of Houla where more than 100 people were massacred last week.
> 
> The latest shelling and sniper fire killed at least one person and made scores flee in fear of more government attacks.
> 
> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees activist groups said government troops unleashed heavy machine guns but also used mortars Thursday in Houla, a collection of poor farming villages in the central Homs province. Both groups said a young man was killed by sniper fire.
> 
> Survivors of the Houla massacre have blamed pro-regime gunmen for at least some of carnage that began Friday and left 108 people dead, many of them children and women. The Syrian government denied its troops were behind the killings and blamed "armed terrorists."
> 
> Activists from Houla said government forces last Friday first shelled the area after large demonstrations against the regime earlier in the day. That evening, they said, pro-regime fighters known as shabiha stormed the villages, gunning down men in the streets and stabbing women and children in their homes.
> 
> The Houla massacre was one of the deadliest incidents since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime started in March last year. The U.N. said several weeks ago that more than 9,000 people have been killed in the past 15 months while activists put the number at about 13,000.
> 
> The Observatory reported that Houla residents were fleeing Thursday to nearby towns and villages "fearing a new massacre."
> 
> Speaking in Istanbul, Ban said that "the massacre of civilians of the sort seen last weekend could plunge Syria into a catastrophic civil war  a civil war from which the country would never recover." He added that a united international community demands that the Syrian government act on its responsibilities to its people.
> 
> "We are there to record violations and to speak out so that the perpetrators of crimes may be held to account," Ban told a summit of the Alliance of Civilizations, a forum promoting understanding between the Western and Islamic worlds.
> 
> "The more the international community knows," Ban said, "the more likely it is that we can advance on our most important goal: to help find a political solution, a solution that safeguards the lives and interests of all the Syrian people."
> 
> "Let me state plainly, however: The U.N. did not deploy in Syria just to bear witness to the slaughter of innocents," he said. "We are not there to play the role of passive observer to unspeakable atrocities."
> 
> Nearly 300 U.N. observers have been deployed around Syria to monitor a cease fire that went into effect on April 12, as part of a peace plan negotiated by international envoy Kofi Annan. Despite the cease fire, violence continued almost daily.



Syria Uprising: Troops Shelling Houla Days After Massacre, Say Activists


----------



## Trajan

arron klien reports directly from the area, the long war journal et al offer explanations for those recent deaths, many children among them, which were NOT due to artillery fire, but close range gunshots.

choices;
-Syrian soldiers
- Syrian gov. police 'shabiha' ( thugs like the folks how shot Nadia in Iran ) 
- AQ.......

I rule out the soldiers, any of tyhe other 2 are perfectly believable. 

Kofi Annan of Oil for Food fame, is useless, ( we knew that but hey..its the UN,  douche bags like him never really lose their ability to fool other fools),  he was a failure as UN head honcho and this ( his) peace 'initiative' only gave initiative to Assad and some breathing space. He should just stfu. 

Next stop? a litany of Srebrenicas, tit for tast etc. until the rebellion dies out of exhaustion, is crushed  or assad falls.... ....


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> arron klien reports directly from the area, the long war journal et al offer explanations for those recent deaths, many children among them, which were NOT due to artillery fire, but close range gunshots.
> 
> choices;
> -Syrian soldiers
> - Syrian gov. police 'shabiha' ( thugs like the folks how shot Nadia in Iran )
> - AQ.......
> 
> I rule out the soldiers, any of tyhe other 2 are perfectly believable.
> 
> Kofi Annan of Oil for Food fame, is useless, ( we knew that but hey..its the UN,  douche bags like him never really lose their ability to fool other fools),  he was a failure as UN head honcho and this ( his) peace 'initiative' only gave initiative to Assad and some breathing space. He should just stfu.
> 
> Next stop? a litany of Srebrenicas, tit for tast etc. until the rebellion dies out of exhaustion, is crushed  or assad falls.... ....



Kofi Annan is a corrupt empty suit, he's a pussy and is just buying Assad breathing room at this point just like he did for Saddam in the 1990's, if the Syrian peoples lives depend on him they are totally and completely fucked.


----------



## High_Gravity

I don't think any real outside help is coming for the Syrian people, if they have a way out of the country do it NOW.


----------



## High_Gravity

Houla Massacre: Russia's Tipping Point On Syria? 








> MOSCOW, May 30 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin resumed the Russian presidency declaring a moral right to promote Kremlin power on the world stage. A massacre in Syria could now press him towards abandoning his closest Middle Eastern ally, but any backdown would have to be carefully engineered to protect Russian interests and save face.
> 
> International envoy Kofi Annan said the massacre of 108 people, half of them children, in the town of Houla showed Syria at a 'tipping point'. He urged President Bashar al-Assad to halt the killing that the West blames squarely on his troops.
> 
> "I think there may be changes in Russia's position, because Russia has lost its ability to manage the situation," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs and a foreign policy expert with Kremlin connections.
> 
> With Western and Arab League pressure on both Syria and Russia after the Houla killings, he said, a Russian shift "is more likely than before - but there is no decision yet."
> 
> Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after talks with British foreign minister William Hague, blamed both sides, government and rebels, for the Houla massacre; but he appeared to move a degree towards Western and Arab League positions in acknowledging Assad bears overall responsibility for security.
> 
> Putin flies to Berlin and Paris this week for talks he had hoped would be led by economic projects to modernise Russian industry. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande may have other ideas.
> 
> "He did not want to talk about Syria, where Russian influence is overestimated," said German political scientist Alexander Rahr. "If the West decides Putin is defending Assad, that will spoil his chances to develop partnership with Germany and France, which are very important for him."
> 
> 
> Russia has helped Assad play for time through more than a year of bloodshed in which the United Nations says government forces have killed more than 9,000 civilians. The government says thousands of police have been killed by 'terrorists'.
> 
> 
> Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters nobody had "unambiguous information" about Houla. "One should not give in to emotion at such an important moment."
> 
> "Russia is a country with a consistent foreign policy and pressure is hardly appropriate."



Houla Massacre: Russia's Tipping Point On Syria?


----------



## theliq

High_Gravity said:


> Houla Massacre: Russia's Tipping Point On Syria?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MOSCOW, May 30 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin resumed the Russian presidency declaring a moral right to promote Kremlin power on the world stage. A massacre in Syria could now press him towards abandoning his closest Middle Eastern ally, but any backdown would have to be carefully engineered to protect Russian interests and save face.
> 
> International envoy Kofi Annan said the massacre of 108 people, half of them children, in the town of Houla showed Syria at a 'tipping point'. He urged President Bashar al-Assad to halt the killing that the West blames squarely on his troops.
> 
> "I think there may be changes in Russia's position, because Russia has lost its ability to manage the situation," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs and a foreign policy expert with Kremlin connections.
> 
> With Western and Arab League pressure on both Syria and Russia after the Houla killings, he said, a Russian shift "is more likely than before - but there is no decision yet."
> 
> Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after talks with British foreign minister William Hague, blamed both sides, government and rebels, for the Houla massacre; but he appeared to move a degree towards Western and Arab League positions in acknowledging Assad bears overall responsibility for security.
> 
> Putin flies to Berlin and Paris this week for talks he had hoped would be led by economic projects to modernise Russian industry. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande may have other ideas.
> 
> "He did not want to talk about Syria, where Russian influence is overestimated," said German political scientist Alexander Rahr. "If the West decides Putin is defending Assad, that will spoil his chances to develop partnership with Germany and France, which are very important for him."
> 
> 
> Russia has helped Assad play for time through more than a year of bloodshed in which the United Nations says government forces have killed more than 9,000 civilians. The government says thousands of police have been killed by 'terrorists'.
> 
> 
> Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters nobody had "unambiguous information" about Houla. "One should not give in to emotion at such an important moment."
> 
> "Russia is a country with a consistent foreign policy and pressure is hardly appropriate."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Houla Massacre: Russia's Tipping Point On Syria?
Click to expand...


Grav,this morning the Syrian Foreign Minister had the gall,the fucking gall, to blame the "rebels" for the killings......these bastards have more front than Macys shop windows.

These are evil bastards.steve


----------



## High_Gravity

theliq said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Houla Massacre: Russia's Tipping Point On Syria?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> MOSCOW, May 30 (Reuters) - Vladimir Putin resumed the Russian presidency declaring a moral right to promote Kremlin power on the world stage. A massacre in Syria could now press him towards abandoning his closest Middle Eastern ally, but any backdown would have to be carefully engineered to protect Russian interests and save face.
> 
> International envoy Kofi Annan said the massacre of 108 people, half of them children, in the town of Houla showed Syria at a 'tipping point'. He urged President Bashar al-Assad to halt the killing that the West blames squarely on his troops.
> 
> "I think there may be changes in Russia's position, because Russia has lost its ability to manage the situation," said Fyodor Lukyanov, editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs and a foreign policy expert with Kremlin connections.
> 
> With Western and Arab League pressure on both Syria and Russia after the Houla killings, he said, a Russian shift "is more likely than before - but there is no decision yet."
> 
> Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, speaking after talks with British foreign minister William Hague, blamed both sides, government and rebels, for the Houla massacre; but he appeared to move a degree towards Western and Arab League positions in acknowledging Assad bears overall responsibility for security.
> 
> Putin flies to Berlin and Paris this week for talks he had hoped would be led by economic projects to modernise Russian industry. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande may have other ideas.
> 
> "He did not want to talk about Syria, where Russian influence is overestimated," said German political scientist Alexander Rahr. "If the West decides Putin is defending Assad, that will spoil his chances to develop partnership with Germany and France, which are very important for him."
> 
> 
> Russia has helped Assad play for time through more than a year of bloodshed in which the United Nations says government forces have killed more than 9,000 civilians. The government says thousands of police have been killed by 'terrorists'.
> 
> 
> Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told Reuters nobody had "unambiguous information" about Houla. "One should not give in to emotion at such an important moment."
> 
> "Russia is a country with a consistent foreign policy and pressure is hardly appropriate."
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Houla Massacre: Russia's Tipping Point On Syria?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Grav,this morning the Syrian Foreign Minister had the gall,the fucking gall, to blame the "rebels" for the killings......these bastards have more front than Macys shop windows.
> 
> These are evil bastards.steve
Click to expand...


Of course they are going to say that, they can't admit openly to the world they are butchering their own citizens.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Killings: 11 State Workers Killed In Factory 








> BEIRUT -- Gunmen killed 11 workers at a state-owned fertilizer factory in a volatile central Syrian province, activists said Friday, the second execution-style shooting reported in Syria in less than a week.
> 
> The shooting near the town of Qusair in Homs province occurred Thursday as the workers were on their way to their jobs in a bus that came under fire, said the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> 
> A pro-government Facebook page, the Homs News Network, posted photos of 11 men on the floor of what appeared to be a classroom. It blamed the rebel Free Syrian Army, saying the workers were killed for being state employees. The opposition blamed the government.
> 
> Syria has grown increasingly chaotic in recent months, possibly spiraling toward civil war, making it difficult to determine responsibility for much of the bloodshed. The government restricts journalists from moving freely, making it nearly impossible to independently verify accounts from either side.
> 
> On Thursday, 13 bound corpses, many apparently shot execution-style, were found in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour near the Iraqi border. The men were believed to be workers for an oil company. It was unclear who killed them.
> 
> The uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March last year with largely peaceful protests calling for reform. A fierce government crackdown prompted many in the opposition take up arms, transforming the conflict into an insurgency.
> 
> The U.N. said in March that more than 9,000 people have been killed during the crisis. Activists put the toll far higher, saying 13,000 have died.



Syria Killings: 11 State Workers Killed In Factory


----------



## MuhammadDog

Islam very peaceful.


----------



## Jos

*THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government" *


> In the weekend of May 25, 2012, at about 2 PM, big groups of fighters attacked and captured the town of Al  Hula of the Homs province. Al-Houla is made up of three regions: the village of Taldou, Kafr Laha and Taldahab, each of which had previously been home for 25-30 thousand people.
> 
> The town was attacked from the north-east by groups of bandits and mercenaries, numbering up to 700 people. The militants came from Ar-Rastan (the Brigade of al-Farouk from the Free Syrian Army led by the terrorist Abdul Razak Tlass and numbering 250), from the village of Akraba (led by the terrorist Yahya Al-Yousef), from the village Farlaha, joined by local gangsters, and from Al Houla.
> 
> The city of Ar-Rastan has long been abandoned by most civilians. Now Wahhabis from Lebanon dominate the scene, fueled with money and weapons by one of the main orchestrators of international terrorism, Saad Hariri, who heads the anti-Syrian political movement Tayyar Al-Mustaqbal (Future Movement). The road from Ar-Rastan to Al-Houla runs through Bedouin areas that remain mostly out of control of government troops, which made the militant attacks on Al Hula a complete surprise for the Syrian authorities.
> 
> When the rebels seized the lower checkpoint in the center of town and located next to the local police department, they began to sweep all the families loyal to the authorities in neighboring houses, including the elderly, women and children. Several families of the Al-Sayed were killed, including 20 young children and the family of the Abdul Razak. Many of those killed were guilty of the fact that they dared to change from Sunnis to Shiites. The people were killed with knives and shot at point blank range. Then they presented the murdered to the UN and the international community as victims of bombings by the Syrian army, something that was not verified by any marks on their bodies.


THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government"


----------



## rhodescholar

Jos said:


> THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government"



Oh look, the useless idiot with her requisite drive by trolling post with a link to a fake source, thanks for sharing with us, twat-faced idiot.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Rebels No Longer Committed To Annan Peace Plan 









> BEIRUT, June 4 (Reuters) - Syrian rebels are no longer committed to a U.N.-backed peace plan that has failed to end violence in the country and have launched attacks on government forces to "defend our people", a spokesman said on Monday.
> 
> "We have decided to end our commitment to this (plan) and starting from that date (Friday) we began defending our people," Major Sami al-Kurdi, a spokesman for the rebel military council, told Reuters, referring to a deadline of Friday they gave to President Bashar al-Assad to end violence or face consequences.
> 
> Kurdi also said rebels wanted a U.N. observing mission in the country to be turned to a "peace enforcing mission" or the international community should take "bold" decisions and impose a no-fly zone and a buffer zone to help bring Assad down.



Syria Rebels No Longer Committed To Annan Peace Plan


----------



## Jos

rhodescholar said:


> Jos said:
> 
> 
> 
> THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh look, the useless idiot with her requisite drive by trolling post with a link to a fake source, thanks for sharing with us, twat-faced idiot.
Click to expand...


THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government"


----------



## ERGO

*SYRIA: NATO DEATH SQUADS DRIVING FEARED CIVIL WAR* 

*Syria Finds 800-Man Death Squad Guilty of Houla Massacre: Putin Warns of Extreme Danger While Hollande Drifts Towards Warmonger Camp.*

A Syrian government investigation into the Houla massacre has shown that anti-Damascus armed groups were responsible for the killings in the Syrian town.
The leader of Russias Communist Party says the massacre in Houla, which killed over 100 people, is an intelligence plot concocted by Western politicians.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QqwJ4b_GICc&feature=player_embedded]Syria Finds 800-Man Death Squad Guilty Of Houla Massacre - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> ]Syria Finds 800-Man Death Squad Guilty of Houla Massacre: Putin Warns of Extreme Danger While Hollande Drifts Towards Warmonger Camp.A Syrian government investigation into the Houla massacre has shown that anti-Damascus armed groups were responsible for the killings in the Syrian town.The leader of Russias Communist Party says the massacre in Houla, which killed over 100 people, is an intelligence plot concocted by Western politicians.



Douchebag, no one, no where accepts this fucking garbage you moron.

Why doesn't your friend ass-ad allow journalists into the country?  Why doesn't he allow freedom of speech or assembly?

I laugh at twat fucking trash assholes like you who rail against Israel for the slightest fucking thing - who then deflect / divert and excuse away the monstrous murders and terrorism by fake, illegal regimes like this.


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> ]Syria Finds 800-Man Death Squad Guilty of Houla Massacre: Putin Warns of Extreme Danger While Hollande Drifts Towards Warmonger Camp.A Syrian government investigation into the Houla massacre has shown that anti-Damascus armed groups were responsible for the killings in the Syrian town.The leader of Russia&#8217;s Communist Party says the massacre in Houla, which killed over 100 people, is an intelligence plot concocted by Western politicians.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Douchebag, no one, no where accepts this fucking garbage you moron.
> 
> Why doesn't your friend ass-ad allow journalists into the country?  Why doesn't he allow freedom of speech or assembly?
> 
> I laugh at twat fucking trash assholes like you who rail against Israel for the slightest fucking thing - who then deflect / divert and excuse away the monstrous murders and terrorism by fake, illegal regimes like this.
Click to expand...


 You have your head up your ass and are sight seeing as usual! Man!..you're such a pompous brainwashed ASSHOLE! The violence in Syria was instigated by forces outside of Syria known as _agents provocteurs_ the mercenary Sunni and Wahabi extremists who have historically been at war with Shiite Muslims. The Assad regime is an ally of the Iranian regime, Shiite Muslims. Perhaps that beyond your comprehension because it's apparent you have the I.Q. of a door knob! NATO, which is dominated by the U.S. whose foreign policy is ran by Zionist Jews like AIPAC and the Brookings Institute's, a very influential "think tank" financed by Supremacist Zionist Jews like Haim Saban who has a center named after him the Haim Saban Middle East Policy Center. Haim Saban is a Billionaire Israeli Zionist media mogul who donates large sums of money to U.S. politicians who will support the Zionists agenda of Eretz Israel, the expansionist Israeli policies. What is going in Syria is a plan to take out a regime that is friendly with the Iranian regime and replace the Assad government with a puppet to NATO's and hence Israel's liking. With the Assad government out of the way there will be less to be concerned about when Israel, U.S. and a coalition of the foolish attack Iran.
The feigned concern about the welfare of the Syrian people by the likes of that witch Hillary Billary Clinton and the other frauds that call themselves diplomats is a front for an agenda for the Middle East. What Hillary Clinton and O'Bullshitter are engaged in is called diplomacy by deception. Setting things up by covert and overt operations to create a "humanitarian crisis" and aided by a complicit spin-doctor Zionist controlled press that then tries to sell a military intervention to the U.N. security council and the world. What Hillary, O'Bullshitter and the other western "diplomats" are engaged in with their friends in the lap dog media is perception management. You need to stop drinking the kool-aid that the *controlled * lap dog media is feeding you. They've been caught numerous times in Libya and Syria misrepresenting and spin doctoring events...basically lying about the situations there.
*I look forward to more of your childish sophomoric know-nothingisms in the future.*


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis Causes Spike in Draft-Dodging



> (TRIPOLI, Lebanon)  Approaching his 18th birthday, Hamza, a merchant sailor from Syria, resigned himself to the fate awaiting him when he reached adulthood: A year and a half of mandatory military service.
> 
> Then last year, the uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad erupted with demonstrations calling for change. Troops dispatched by Syria's autocratic regime shot protesters and shelled opposition towns, killing thousands of civilians.
> 
> That altered the plan for Hamza, and for a growing number of young Syrians who are dodging the draft out of fear that military service will force them to kill their countrymen  or get killed themselves.
> 
> "I couldn't go because the army is supposed to protect people, but all this army does is protect Assad," said Hamza, now a wispy-bearded 19-year-old with thick biceps from his work at sea. He fled Syria this year to Tripoli, a city on Lebanon's Mediterranean coast. Unable to work, he lives in hiding in a small apartment here with six other draft-dodgers.
> 
> Young Syrians have long avoided the draft by traveling abroad, cooking up medical excuses or using connections and bribes to get their names off the rolls. But anti-regime activists in and outside Syria say the number has shot up during the 15-month conflict that the U.N. says has killed more than 9,000 people.
> 
> Some hide out in opposition areas in Syria, avoiding checkpoints where they could be jailed or conscripted. Others flee the country, opting, at least for now, for an impoverished existence far from their families.
> 
> The extent of all this is hard to gauge since the Syrian government does not comment on its military. But in a hint that the army is under strain, Assad issued an amnesty this month: He gave draft-dodgers inside the country 90 days to report for duty without punishment, and 120 days to those abroad.
> 
> The government has not said how many have accepted the offer.
> 
> So far, the drop in conscripts has not noticeably lessened the state's advantage over the opposition Free Syrian Army, largely because draftees are less committed than professional soldiers.
> 
> "The guys they call up now are not the guys who are going to stick by them," said Joseph Holliday, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War who is studying the Syrian army. "Anyone they can get to fight for them loyally is already taking part."
> 
> Others warn that efforts to replace draft-dodgers with regime loyalists will exacerbate sectarian strife. The opposition is mostly Sunni Muslim, while Assad's regime and security forces give outsized power to Assad's sect, the Alawites.
> 
> Both sides use sectarian appeals to rally their forces, raising the risk that Syria's violence could mirror that which has torn apart its neighbors Lebanon and Iraq in recent decades.
> 
> "This revolution, which is turning into a civil war along sectarian lines, is only going to become more sectarian as time goes on," said Syria expert Joshua Landis at the University of Oklahoma.




Read more: Syria Crisis Causes Spike in Draft-Dodging - TIME


----------



## ekrem

ERGO said:


> You have your head up your ass and are sight seeing as usual! Man!..you're such a pompous brainwashed ASSHOLE! The violence in Syria was instigated by forces outside of Syria known as _agents provocteurs_ the mercenary Sunni and Wahabi extremists who have historically been at war with Shiite Muslims. The Assad regime is an ally of the Iranian regime, Shiite Muslims. Perhaps that beyond your comprehension because it's apparent you have the I.Q. of a door knob! NATO, which is dominated by the U.S. whose foreign policy is ran by Zionist Jews like AIPAC and the Brookings Institute's, a very influential "think tank" financed by Supremacist Zionist Jews like Haim Saban who has a center named after him the Haim Saban Middle East Policy Center. Haim Saban is a Billionaire Israeli Zionist media mogul who donates large sums of money to U.S. politicians who will support the Zionists agenda of Eretz Israel, the expansionist Israeli policies. What is going in Syria is a plan to take out a regime that is friendly with the Iranian regime and replace the Assad government with a puppet to NATO's and hence Israel's liking. With the Assad government out of the way there will be less to be concerned about when Israel, U.S. and a coalition of the foolish attack Iran.
> The feigned concern about the welfare of the Syrian people by the likes of that witch Hillary Billary Clinton and the other frauds that call themselves diplomats is a front for an agenda for the Middle East. What Hillary Clinton and O'Bullshitter are engaged in is called diplomacy by deception. Setting things up by covert and overt operations to create a "humanitarian crisis" and aided by a complicit spin-doctor Zionist controlled press that then tries to sell a military intervention to the U.N. security council and the world. What Hillary, O'Bullshitter and the other western "diplomats" are engaged in with their friends in the lap dog media is perception management. You need to stop drinking the kool-aid that the *controlled * lap dog media is feeding you. They've been caught numerous times in Libya and Syria misrepresenting and spin doctoring events...basically lying about the situations there.
> *I look forward to more of your childish sophomoric know-nothingisms in the future.*



Syria "being allied" to Iran has not helped them regain their territory occupied by Israel.
Moreover, their territory will be drilled for Oil by Israel:
Government secretly approves Golan Heights drilling | The Times of Israel

Syria's "alliance" to Iran has not brought anything else than economic stagnation and the incapability to regain their territory.
The system in Syria uses the available Syrian "wealth" & "capabilities" to sustain minority rule over the country. Nothing more, nothing less.


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> The violence in Syria was instigated by forces outside of Syria known as _agents provocteurs_



You are a lying, stupid fucking idiot.  The people living there started the marches, and if you knew anything about these events you'd know that at the beginning they were chanting "peaceful, peaceful" and then started to get shot at.  Syria is a huge gulag, with one of the world's most repressive state security repression systems in place, giving NK and East Germany a run for their money.  But armchair anti-israel/anti-Western morons like you don't care about 40 years of crushing repression, all scumbag far leftists like you care about is that they are anti-Western.



> ...NATO, which is dominated by the U.S. whose foreign policy is ran by Zionist Jews like AIPAC



So now the scumbag turd is showing its true colors: a stormfront moron.  Bubye, idiot.


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> The violence in Syria was instigated by forces outside of Syria known as _agents provocteurs_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are a lying, stupid fucking idiot.  The people living there started the marches, and if you knew anything about these events you'd know that at the beginning they were chanting "peaceful, peaceful" and then started to get shot at.  Syria is a huge gulag, with one of the world's most repressive state security repression systems in place, giving NK and East Germany a run for their money.  But armchair anti-israel/anti-Western morons like you don't care about 40 years of crushing repression, all scumbag far leftists like you care about is that they are anti-Western.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ...NATO, which is dominated by the U.S. whose foreign policy is ran by Zionist Jews like AIPAC
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> So now the scumbag turd is showing its true colors: a stormfront moron.  Bubye, idiot.
Click to expand...


You're a juvenile asinine sophomoric gullible twit who doesn't know when they're being propagandize by a lying Zionist ran media and they do run the media and they brag about it you fool.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iN_zYkJFXjo]American Mass Media is controlled by Zionists! - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> who doesn't know when they're being propagandize by a lying Zionist ran media and they do run the media and they brag about it you fool.



You're a fucking idiot, plain and simple.  You are THE first person claiming that the entire syrian uprising was completely not indigenous.  Congratulations idiot asshole, you are now laughed at, and ignored.


----------



## ERGO

*PRESSURES ON RUSSIA:* *US Attempts to Mass-Murder Its Way to Victory in Syria.
US to Russia: "Give Up" or Swim in Sea of Syrian Blood*

As revelations emerge that the violence in Syria has been premeditated by Western planners years before the Arab Spring unfolded, and as the facade of "democratic aspirations" Land Destroyer: Syrian War: The Prequelcollapse in the face of a sectarian-driven bloodbath,Land Destroyer: Bloomberg: Syria Violence is SectarianUS officials and Western think-tank policy makers speaking with Bloomberg have stated that their final message to Russia in order to begin regime change is essentially this: the violence will continue to be purposefully escalated until regime change is accomplished - Russia can capitulate now and have a say in how a transition occurs, or capitulate later and suffer exclusion as was the case in Libya.

Brookings Institution's Middle East Memo #21 "Assessing Options for Regime Change ," makes no secret that the humanitarian "responsibility to protect" is but a pretext for long-planned regime change.

http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/3/15%20syria%20saban/0315_syria_saban.pdf

Just how close the US is, or believes it is to actually overthrowing the Syrian government is a matter of varied opinion. What is not opinion is the fact that the US has openly conspired to "bleed" Syria to death to either perpetually limit its geopolitical influence throughout the Middle East, or to eventually precipitate the fall of the government. This was stated very clearly in Brookings Institution's "Middle East Memo #21 "Assessing Options for Regime Change 

Source link: PRESSURES ON RUSSIA: US Attempts to Mass-Murder Its Way to Victory in Syria.


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> who doesn't know when they're being propagandize by a lying Zionist ran media and they do run the media and they brag about it you fool.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're a fucking idiot, plain and simple.  You are THE first person claiming that the entire syrian uprising was completely not indigenous.  Congratulations idiot asshole, you are now laughed at, and ignored.
Click to expand...


You're the the fucking idiot you jackass lowlife piece of shit for brains scumbag!! You don't know when you're being propagandized because you have the I.Q. of a rock you DICKHEAD!


----------



## ERGO

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_3imGm0LG0U&feature=related]Houla massacre sparks Zionist Media Frenzy - YouTube[/ame]

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p4PQ7CT51Mo&feature=related]&#39;Rebels behind Houla massacre, US plan to destabilize Syria in full swing&#39; - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## rhodescholar

For the non-mentally ill, a GENUINE and respected source:

Syria activists: 78 killed in village - CNN.com

* Syria activists: 78 killed in village *

"(CNN) -- At least 78 people were killed in one Syrian village Wednesday, with at least half of the dead women and children, Syrian opposition activists said.

The deaths happened in Qubeir, a small farming village of 200 people in Hama province, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. It blamed the deaths on Syrian government forces."


----------



## theliq

rhodescholar said:


> For the non-mentally ill, a GENUINE and respected source:
> 
> Syria activists: 78 killed in village - CNN.com
> 
> * Syria activists: 78 killed in village *
> 
> "(CNN) -- At least 78 people were killed in one Syrian village Wednesday, with at least half of the dead women and children, Syrian opposition activists said.
> 
> The deaths happened in Qubeir, a small farming village of 200 people in Hama province, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. It blamed the deaths on Syrian government forces."



What about the thousands of Palestinians the Israelis have murdered???? you little shit


----------



## ERGO

*'US wants chaos within Islamic world' *

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=PbRrDHKSmhs


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> For the non-mentally ill, a GENUINE and respected source:
> 
> Syria activists: 78 killed in village - CNN.com
> 
> * Syria activists: 78 killed in village *
> 
> "(CNN) -- At least 78 people were killed in one Syrian village Wednesday, with at least half of the dead women and children, Syrian opposition activists said.
> 
> The deaths happened in Qubeir, a small farming village of 200 people in Hama province, according to the Local Coordination Committees of Syria. It blamed the deaths on Syrian government forces."



*Danny caught lying about Syria on CNN, but nothing happens, the machine goes on... (No other MSM comments on their competitor's shame.)*

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3lWB5ssifTg]Caught: Staged CNN Syria Interviews Faked By Activist Danny - YouTube[/ame]

*Danny Abdul Dayem : Liar Desired and Hired by the Anti-Syrian Media *

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EQhKPOAmEI&feature=related]Danny Abdul Dayem : Liar Desired and Hired by the Anti-Syrian Media - YouTube[/ame]

*CNN WAR SCAM and Truth About Danny Abdul-Dayem Syrian Danny *

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KmCG1xArSMM&feature=related]CNN WAR SCAM and Truth About Danny Abdul-Dayem Syrian Danny - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## rhodescholar

To the non-mentally ill, it looks like the fake, illegitimate and illegal cancerous mafia regime of ass-ad is guilty of yet another massacre given that they are blocking monitors from visiting the site.

It could not be more obvious that these scumbag animal filth are guilty of murdering dozens more children - a regime with nothing to hide would not be blocking monitors and inspectors.

The time when ass-ad and his regime will be militarily deposed - with the animals responsible for these massacres hanged at the Hague - is growing very near.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/w...new-massacre-nations-press-syria.html?_r=1&hp

Syria Said to Be Blocking Site of Reported Massacre
By ALAN COWELL and RICK GLADSTONE
Published: June 7, 2012

LONDON &#8212; The commander of United Nations monitors seeking to gain access to the site of a reported mass killing in central Syria said on Thursday that his forces were being blocked by army checkpoints and civilians in a standoff that seemed to mirror a looming diplomatic stalemate over the crisis.


----------



## rhodescholar

theliq said:


> What about the thousands of Palestinians the Israelis



Deflective nonsense / thread derailment.  Either address the thread topic, or I will make sure the admins aggressively deal with you.


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> theliq said:
> 
> 
> 
> What about the thousands of Palestinians the Israelis
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Deflective nonsense / thread derailment.  Either address the thread topic, or I will make sure the admins aggressively deal with you.
Click to expand...


Wow! You really are a mentally disturbed brainwashed PUSSY!


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> To the non-mentally ill, it looks like the fake, illegitimate and illegal cancerous mafia regime of ass-ad is guilty of yet another massacre given that they are blocking monitors from visiting the site.
> 
> It could not be more obvious that these scumbag animal filth are guilty of murdering dozens more children - a regime with nothing to hide would not be blocking monitors and inspectors.
> 
> The time when ass-ad and his regime will be militarily deposed - with the animals responsible for these massacres hanged at the Hague - is growing very near.
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/w...new-massacre-nations-press-syria.html?_r=1&hp
> 
> Syria Said to Be Blocking Site of Reported Massacre
> By ALAN COWELL and RICK GLADSTONE
> Published: June 7, 2012
> 
> LONDON  The commander of United Nations monitors seeking to gain access to the site of a reported mass killing in central Syria said on Thursday that his forces were being blocked by army checkpoints and civilians in a standoff that seemed to mirror a looming diplomatic stalemate over the crisis.



*New York Times beats drum for war in Syria  and beyond*

April 23, 2012

In a cynical and duplicitous editorial Saturday, the New York Times stepped up its campaign for US political subversion and military action against Syria, while demanding Washington adopt a more aggressive posture against Russia and China. The editorial, headlined Assads Lies, is itself a compendium of lies, as the newspaper reprises its role in the run-up to the US invasion of Iraq, when it peddled the Bush administrations lies about supposed Iraqi weapons of mass destruction in order to neutralize the widespread popular opposition to the war.

The Times indicts Assad for cruelty and blindness, which would hardly make him unique in the region. Virtually all the US allies and client states in the Middle EastBahrain, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, the military dictatorship in Egypt, the Netanyahu government in Israeldisplay those characteristics. This week, for example, has seen violent repression of anti-government protests in Bahrain and Tunisia, both right-wing regimes closely tied to the United States, along with saber-rattling threats by Israeli officials of a unilateral attack on Iran, an action that would represent a war crime of monstrous proportions.

The Times editorial is written in its typically hand-wringing tone, bemoaning the bloodbath in Syria and the danger of a wider war, although the policy advocated by the newspaperand carried out by the Obama administrationleads inexorably to both outcomes. The Times would like its readers to forget the fact that the US government is directly or indirectly arming the opposition in Syria, using both American Special Forces and US proxies like Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Moreover, where does the danger of wider war come fromthe beleaguered Assad is hardly likely to invade any of his neighborsif not from the intervention of a US-led coalition along the lines of the NATO operation against Libya last year.

Source link: New York Times beats drum for war in Syria &hellip; and beyond


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Said to Be Blocking Site of Reported Massacre









> LONDON  The commander of United Nations monitors seeking to gain access to the site of a reported mass killing in central Syria said on Thursday that his forces were being blocked by army checkpoints and civilians in a standoff that seemed to mirror a looming diplomatic stalemate over the crisis.
> 
> If verified, the massacre, reported on Wednesday, would be the fourth in less than two weeks, threatening to inject a new surge of angry momentum into the growing international effort to isolate President Bashar al-Assad and remove him from power.
> 
> But efforts to establish what happened in the village of Qubeir, the site of the reported killing of as many as 78 people, suffered a severe setback on Thursday as United Nations monitors were thwarted in their attempts to visit, warned that their safety was at risk and even shot at, United Nations officials said.
> 
> The monitors were being stopped at Syrian Army checkpoints and in some cases turned back, said Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the observer team, in a statement issued by the United Nations office in Geneva.
> 
> Some of our patrols are being stopped by civilians in the area, the statement said, an apparent reference to armed militiamen controlled by the government and known as shabiha.
> 
> General Mood also said that while United Nations observers were still trying to gain access, we are receiving information from residents of the area that the safety of our observers is at risk if they seek to enter the village.
> 
> Later at the United Nations headquarters, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had learned that the monitors, who are unarmed, had been shot at with small arms. The developments on the ground echoed a deepening standoff in international diplomacy, suggesting that hitherto intractable differences over the crisis were likely to endure or worsen.
> 
> Speaking in Istanbul on Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton intensified her criticism of Mr. Assad, blaming him for the bloodletting and insisting that he leave the country.
> 
> But even as she castigated the Syrian leader, China, one of Mr. Assads leading allies along with Russia, reiterated its opposition on Thursday to any effort to oust him outside an existing plan by the special envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League, Kofi Annan, to end the fighting, seeming to limit prospects for any breakthrough at new talks scheduled later in the day at the United Nations.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/w...new-massacre-nations-press-syria.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## ERGO

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Said to Be Blocking Site of Reported Massacre
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LONDON &#8212; The commander of United Nations monitors seeking to gain access to the site of a reported mass killing in central Syria said on Thursday that his forces were being blocked by army checkpoints and civilians in a standoff that seemed to mirror a looming diplomatic stalemate over the crisis.
> 
> If verified, the massacre, reported on Wednesday, would be the fourth in less than two weeks, threatening to inject a new surge of angry momentum into the growing international effort to isolate President Bashar al-Assad and remove him from power.
> 
> But efforts to establish what happened in the village of Qubeir, the site of the reported killing of as many as 78 people, suffered a severe setback on Thursday as United Nations monitors were thwarted in their attempts to visit, warned that their safety was at risk and even shot at, United Nations officials said.
> 
> The monitors were &#8220;being stopped at Syrian Army checkpoints and in some cases turned back,&#8221; said Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the observer team, in a statement issued by the United Nations office in Geneva.
> 
> &#8220;Some of our patrols are being stopped by civilians in the area,&#8221; the statement said, an apparent reference to armed militiamen controlled by the government and known as shabiha.
> 
> General Mood also said that while United Nations observers were still trying to gain access, &#8220;we are receiving information from residents of the area that the safety of our observers is at risk&#8221; if they seek to enter the village.
> 
> Later at the United Nations headquarters, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had learned that the monitors, who are unarmed, &#8220;had been shot at with small arms.&#8221; The developments on the ground echoed a deepening standoff in international diplomacy, suggesting that hitherto intractable differences over the crisis were likely to endure or worsen.
> 
> Speaking in Istanbul on Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton intensified her criticism of Mr. Assad, blaming him for the bloodletting and insisting that he leave the country.
> 
> But even as she castigated the Syrian leader, China, one of Mr. Assad&#8217;s leading allies along with Russia, reiterated its opposition on Thursday to any effort to oust him outside an existing plan by the special envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League, Kofi Annan, to end the fighting, seeming to limit prospects for any breakthrough at new talks scheduled later in the day at the United Nations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/w...new-massacre-nations-press-syria.html?_r=1&hp
Click to expand...


*Syria's Bloody CIA Revolution - A Distraction?
*
While the mainstream media is going to great lengths to convince the world that events in Syria are the result of yet another 'people's revolution', the facts point clearly to yet another US government-sponsored bloody 'regime change'. Given that the US has been a de facto global empire for at least 60 years, with all of the power, infrastructure and influence that entails, how difficult do we think it would be for agents of the empire to manufacture a 'revolution' in any given country? The answer, surprisingly, is 'not so easily'. But it is doable, as long as the empire is willing to murder innocent civilians to create the impression of a brutal regime in need of removal. And the USA has never balked at murdering a few hundred, a few thousand, or even a few million civilians to ensure it gets its geo-political way, to the delight of psychopaths in power everywhere.

Consider the fact that the one of the leaders of the 'rebel' assault on Tripoli and the current military governor of Tripoli (more or less the commander-in-chief of the Libyan military) is Abdelhakim Belhadj. Belhadj has an interesting past. After a stint as a Mujaheddin fighter (trained and funded by the US) in the Soviet-Afghan war, Belhadj travelled across the Middle East and then came back to Libya in the early 1990s. There he joined the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) and tried to overthrow Colonel Gaddafi before being forced to flee in 1998. He then moved to Afghanistan and joined the Taliban. In 2002, after the September 11 attacks and Gaddafi's reconciliation with the West, an arrest warrant was issued for Belhadj by the Libyan authorities. In it, it was alleged that Belhadj had developed "close relationships" with al-Qaeda leaders, and specifically Taliban chief Mullah Omar. Based in Jalalabad, he is alleged to have run and financed training camps for Arab mujaheddin fighters. According to the former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar, Belhadj was suspected of complicity in the 2004 Madrid train bombings. As a virtual CIA asset, he was being tracked by the agency and was arrested in Bangkok and rendered to a secret prison in Libya in 2004. He stayed there until last year when he escaped and became a CIA-funded leader of the Libyan revolution. 

In case you are a little confused by all that, let me spell it out: the CIA is using 'Muslim terrorists', i.e. people against whom America is waging the 'War on Terror', to bring 'freedom and democracy' to states that 'harbor Muslim terrorists'. 


*Cut-throats, Thugs and Hired Hitmen 
*

In April 2011, Syrian state television aired the testimonies of three men arrested on suspicion of being involved in attacks on civilians and Syrian security forces. Anas al-Kanj, who presented himself as the head of an "armed terrorist group" is heard saying in a taped broadcast that he received "arms and money" from Lebanese MP Jamal Jarrah through an intermediary, Ahmad al-Uda, who identified himself as a member of Syria's banned Muslim Brotherhood. 


*In April 2011, Syrian state television aired the testimonies of three men arrested*:Lebanon news - NOW Lebanon -Syrian media touts confessions of foreign aid to protestors

Kanj said he was instructed "to incite people to protest, particularly outside the Ummayad Mosque in Damascus" and in the flashpoint protest towns of Daraa, Latakia and Banias, to "incite protests to topple the regime and to carry out acts of sabotage". Agence France-Presse, citing Syria's Ath-Thawra newspaper, said that Kanj was instructed "to open fire on protesters in order to sow disarray and lead people to believe that the security forces was shooting on the demonstrators."

*Agence France-Presse, citing Syria's Ath-Thawra newspaper:*Syria says suspects admit getting money, arms to fuel protests - Brusearch News

This is an EXCELLENT article that explains what going on in Syria and the Middle East in general.Go to this site and get an education I back up what I tried to explain to you High Gravity.

Source link:Syria's Bloody CIA Revolution - A Distraction? -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net


----------



## High_Gravity

If the CIA is really pulling this off they are some bad ass motherfuckers, just sayin.


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> If the CIA is really pulling this off they are some bad ass motherfuckers, just sayin.



CIA?  Give me a break.  This is the alawite militias, with hezbollah filth and iranian republican guards.


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> If the CIA is really pulling this off they are some bad ass motherfuckers, just sayin.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CIA?  Give me a break.  This is the alawite militias, with hezbollah filth and iranian republican guards.
Click to expand...


I believe you.


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> If the CIA is really pulling this off they are some bad ass motherfuckers, just sayin.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CIA?  Give me a break.  This is the alawite militias, with hezbollah filth and iranian republican guards.
Click to expand...


You don't know what the hell you're talking about! You and High Gravity must love being lied to and fooling yourselves into believing you actually know what's going on. You both are delusional propagandized fools.

US ambassador to Syria since 2010 was Robert Stephen Ford. Before Syria, Ford was Political Counselor to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2004 until 2006 under 'Mr. Death Squad' John Negroponte. Before his recent departure and the closing of the US embassy, Ford temporarily left Damascus in October 2011 over fears for his safety after he was attacked with eggs by Syrians and accused by the Syrian media of overseeing the use of death squads in Syria. Having successfully overseen the establishment of his death squads in Syria, Ford is reportedly heading back to his old stomping ground, Iraq, to take command of the US embassy there. 

The Syrian 'revolution' proper began in March 2011 when fighting broke out in the relatively small town of Daraa on the Jordanian border, rather than in large cities like Damascus or Homs. Since then, the mainstream media has systematically misrepresented the sizes of the anti-government demonstrations and relied on biased reports for casualty counts. 

For example, almost all of the first reports from fighting in Daraa in March made reference to police attacks on 'anti-government' protestors. Yet other reports point to more police being killed than demonstrators. So who, exactly, in this supposedly 'peaceful demonstration' was able to shoot and kill 7 policemen? And what exactly did anyone expect the Syrian government to do in response? After seeing what US police do to actual peaceful protestors, like the OWS movement, we can only imagine what the US government would do if US cops came under fire from protestors. 


In June 2011, Syrian state media reported that at least 120 members of the country's security forces were killed in a battle with what it called "armed organizations". According to NPR's Deborah Amos: 
"Syrian state television described a heated battle in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, near the Turkish border. Gangs armed with machine guns attacked security forces and set fire to government buildings, according to Syrian state TV. In the broadcast, a frantic resident called the evening news program to ask the government to save the town." 

If you read the report you will notice that the reports of the most serious fighting come from border towns, which is indicative of incursions by armed groups from Turkey to the north, Jordan to the south and, of course, US-controlled Iraq to the east. Indeed, the main 'centers of unrest', as they're being called, are Daraa near Jordan, Talkalakh, Homs, Talbiseh and Al-Rastan near Lebanon, and Jisr ash-Shugur near Turkey, all located along Syria's borders. In November 2011, Albawaba reported that 600 fighters had already gone from Libya to Syria in order to support the newly established 'Free Syrian Army'.

Source link:Syria's Bloody CIA Revolution - A Distraction? -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net


----------



## Katzndogz

Anything from NPR is automatically suspect as being false.


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> You don't know what the hell you're talking about!



This is the one time i will respond to this fucking douchebag, and not to this asshole - but as a general post.

This rebellion is homegrown, as all of the demonstrations early on were syrian citizens marching in the streets, who were then shot at at close range.  There are some 50,000 videos on the web showing this.

Second, syria is a tightly-run dictatorship, it would not have been possible to smuggle in large numbers of al qaeda/terrorists and weapons 18 months ago when ass-ad's regime had total control over the country.

This poster is clearly a fucking moron, and will continue to be ignored.  Not surprising that hardly anyone even notices this turd is here.  Hopefully soon, it will recognize this and leave.


----------



## High_Gravity

ERGO said:


> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> If the CIA is really pulling this off they are some bad ass motherfuckers, just sayin.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> CIA?  Give me a break.  This is the alawite militias, with hezbollah filth and iranian republican guards.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You don't know what the hell you're talking about! You and High Gravity must love being lied to and fooling yourselves into believing you actually know what's going on. You both are delusional propagandized fools.
> 
> US ambassador to Syria since 2010 was Robert Stephen Ford. Before Syria, Ford was Political Counselor to the U.S. Embassy in Baghdad from 2004 until 2006 under 'Mr. Death Squad' John Negroponte. Before his recent departure and the closing of the US embassy, Ford temporarily left Damascus in October 2011 over fears for his safety after he was attacked with eggs by Syrians and accused by the Syrian media of overseeing the use of death squads in Syria. Having successfully overseen the establishment of his death squads in Syria, Ford is reportedly heading back to his old stomping ground, Iraq, to take command of the US embassy there.
> 
> The Syrian 'revolution' proper began in March 2011 when fighting broke out in the relatively small town of Daraa on the Jordanian border, rather than in large cities like Damascus or Homs. Since then, the mainstream media has systematically misrepresented the sizes of the anti-government demonstrations and relied on biased reports for casualty counts.
> 
> For example, almost all of the first reports from fighting in Daraa in March made reference to police attacks on 'anti-government' protestors. Yet other reports point to more police being killed than demonstrators. So who, exactly, in this supposedly 'peaceful demonstration' was able to shoot and kill 7 policemen? And what exactly did anyone expect the Syrian government to do in response? After seeing what US police do to actual peaceful protestors, like the OWS movement, we can only imagine what the US government would do if US cops came under fire from protestors.
> 
> 
> In June 2011, Syrian state media reported that at least 120 members of the country's security forces were killed in a battle with what it called "armed organizations". According to NPR's Deborah Amos:
> "Syrian state television described a heated battle in the northern town of Jisr al-Shughour, near the Turkish border. Gangs armed with machine guns attacked security forces and set fire to government buildings, according to Syrian state TV. In the broadcast, a frantic resident called the evening news program to ask the government to save the town."
> 
> If you read the report you will notice that the reports of the most serious fighting come from border towns, which is indicative of incursions by armed groups from Turkey to the north, Jordan to the south and, of course, US-controlled Iraq to the east. Indeed, the main 'centers of unrest', as they're being called, are Daraa near Jordan, Talkalakh, Homs, Talbiseh and Al-Rastan near Lebanon, and Jisr ash-Shugur near Turkey, all located along Syria's borders. In November 2011, Albawaba reported that 600 fighters had already gone from Libya to Syria in order to support the newly established 'Free Syrian Army'.
> 
> Source link:Syria's Bloody CIA Revolution - A Distraction? -- Puppet Masters -- Sott.net
Click to expand...


Fools huh? I was trying to have a rational discussion with you about the horse shit you were posting but you want to go the name calling route now? Fuck you, mother fuck you and the horse you rode in on biatch.


----------



## theliq

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Said to Be Blocking Site of Reported Massacre
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> LONDON  The commander of United Nations monitors seeking to gain access to the site of a reported mass killing in central Syria said on Thursday that his forces were being blocked by army checkpoints and civilians in a standoff that seemed to mirror a looming diplomatic stalemate over the crisis.
> 
> If verified, the massacre, reported on Wednesday, would be the fourth in less than two weeks, threatening to inject a new surge of angry momentum into the growing international effort to isolate President Bashar al-Assad and remove him from power.
> 
> But efforts to establish what happened in the village of Qubeir, the site of the reported killing of as many as 78 people, suffered a severe setback on Thursday as United Nations monitors were thwarted in their attempts to visit, warned that their safety was at risk and even shot at, United Nations officials said.
> 
> The monitors were being stopped at Syrian Army checkpoints and in some cases turned back, said Gen. Robert Mood, the head of the observer team, in a statement issued by the United Nations office in Geneva.
> 
> Some of our patrols are being stopped by civilians in the area, the statement said, an apparent reference to armed militiamen controlled by the government and known as shabiha.
> 
> General Mood also said that while United Nations observers were still trying to gain access, we are receiving information from residents of the area that the safety of our observers is at risk if they seek to enter the village.
> 
> Later at the United Nations headquarters, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said he had learned that the monitors, who are unarmed, had been shot at with small arms. The developments on the ground echoed a deepening standoff in international diplomacy, suggesting that hitherto intractable differences over the crisis were likely to endure or worsen.
> 
> Speaking in Istanbul on Thursday, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton intensified her criticism of Mr. Assad, blaming him for the bloodletting and insisting that he leave the country.
> 
> But even as she castigated the Syrian leader, China, one of Mr. Assads leading allies along with Russia, reiterated its opposition on Thursday to any effort to oust him outside an existing plan by the special envoy for the United Nations and the Arab League, Kofi Annan, to end the fighting, seeming to limit prospects for any breakthrough at new talks scheduled later in the day at the United Nations.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/08/w...new-massacre-nations-press-syria.html?_r=1&hp
Click to expand...


Not just reported Grav...FACT 78 villagers slaughtered,brains splattered,bodies hacked to peices,children,women infact an entire community........the mental rabid state of these pro-Assad rable must have been completely manic.....not only all the people but every living animal was slaughtered.

This regime is completely debase,cunning and heinous

I trust you'r well Grav. steve.


----------



## theliq

rhodescholar said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> You don't know what the hell you're talking about!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is the one time i will respond to this fucking douchebag, and not to this asshole - but as a general post.
> 
> This rebellion is homegrown, as all of the demonstrations early on were syrian citizens marching in the streets, who were then shot at at close range.  There are some 50,000 videos on the web showing this.
> 
> Second, syria is a tightly-run dictatorship, it would not have been possible to smuggle in large numbers of al qaeda/terrorists and weapons 18 months ago when ass-ad's regime had total control over the country.
> 
> This poster is clearly a fucking moron, and will continue to be ignored.  Not surprising that hardly anyone even notices this turd is here.  Hopefully soon, it will recognize this and leave.
Click to expand...


Terrible as this situation is,but the above post from someone like you is totally sickening.

As you proudly in other threads openly want to kill,maim and murder all Arabs inparticular Palestinians.

You are a fucking hypocrite and liar,to read your crocodile teared summation above,clearly shows a cretin,with NO MORALITY WHATSOEVER.

Fuck off to whence you came...to infect Gravs very serious and sensible debate here by you,is tantamount to insult to Grav himself.

And I just ain't having it from such a wonton LIAR like YOU who calls himself scholar,nothing could be from the truth.


----------



## bobgnote

logical4u said:


> Are the leaders of Syria part of the "religion of peace"?  There you go!  There is your sign!




You are quoting yourself.  Quote this:

The Assad regime is headed by Bashar, son of former dictator Hafez.  The Assads and presumably the core of the Baath Party are Shiites, ruling a Sunni majority.  There is a Russian military base, in Syria, so the Russians support Syria and Shia Islam, which the Sunnis have been running down, since after the death of Muhammed, 632 C.E.

The US is an ally of Turkey, where Sunni Islam originated.  So the US supports Sunni tyrants, like Saddam and King of Bahrain, over Shiite majorities.  CIA clients Saddam and UBL de-stabilized that shaky relationship, since the US supports Israeli apartheid excesses, to completely destabilize the Middle East, and allow US standing army clause violations, wholesale, from fabricated need, for false security and defense interests.

The Sunnis will fight the Assad brothers, since their regime is not only tyrannical, it is murderous.  The UK destabilized the Middle East, by poor administration, after WWI.  The US learned how empire can be manipulated, to profitable unrest, by conspiring to unsettle that part of the world, with the UK, over the course of the 20th Century.

No wonder foreign Muslims don't like Americans.  So few of us are smart.  So many are assholes.


----------



## rhodescholar

bobgnote said:


> The US is an ally of Turkey, where Sunni Islam originated....No wonder foreign Muslims don't like Americans.  So few of us are smart.  So many are assholes.



History of Islam - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

"Following its origin in Mecca and Medina, the Islamic world..."

LOL, I'll assume you'll include yourself as the latter... 

"The word "Sunni" is Arabic - a language not even spoken in Turkey.  BWaahahahaahah...good job monkey.


----------



## Jos

*Analyst: Zionists employing three-track strategy to destroy Syria*


> &#8220;Israel is following a tripartite plot in order to topple Bashar Assad and destroy Syria under the guidance of [such figures as] Haim Saban: 1. make donations to political parties (e.g. funding and arming rebels and Wahhabi terrorists in Syria) 2. establish think tanks (e.g. setting up centers such as the Zionist Saban centers in Washington and Doha and formulating effective strategies to bring down the Assad government) and 3. control media (blacking out Arab and Western media from delivering honest and unbiased reports on the Syrian situation),&#8221; the author noted.
> 
> Elaborating on the role of Saban, he went on to say that in 2002, the influential Zionist &#8220;founded the Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution, in Washington, D.C. which is affiliated to the powerful Zionist lobby in America notoriously known as AIPAC.&#8221;
> 
> &#8220;Three ways to be influential in American politics are to make donations to political parties, establish think tanks, and control media outlets,&#8221; Salami quoted Saban as saying during a conference in Israel.
> 
> The political analyst further singled out two other Zionist figures, Martin Indyk &#8212; Vice President and Director of Foreign Policy at Brookings Institution &#8212; and Shadi Hamid &#8212; &#8220;the director of research at the Brookings Doha Center and Fellow at the Zionist Saban Center for Middle East Policy at the Brookings Institution&#8221; &#8212; for devising plans to subvert the Assad government.
> 
> &#8220;In fact, these centers are secretly tasked with formulating strategies and exploring effective ways to destabilize any regime in the Middle East which proves hostile or detrimental to the interests of Israel,&#8221; he said.


Analyst: Zionists employing three-track strategy to destroy Syria | _


----------



## Trajan

Jos said:


> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Jos said:
> 
> 
> 
> THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh look, the useless idiot with her requisite drive by trolling post with a link to a fake source, thanks for sharing with us, twat-faced idiot.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> THE HOULA MASSACRE: Opposition Terrorists "Killed Families Loyal to the Government"
Click to expand...


First;  I take nothing for granted, especially in the ME, so this very well may have happened this way, BUT this anna news service is a closed loop, I vetted 4 pages of google looking for the agency and all I find was their link back via their hyper link to Marat Musin here;

Syria: ANNA News Journalist Marat Musin about Houla Massacre - SyriaNews

select their politics link and ALL of it is  pro Syrian gov.  

this is one man, anything is possible including a complete fabrication. *shrugs* show me something with some heft.


----------



## rhodescholar

Jos said:


> Analyst: Zionists employing three-track strategy to destroy Syria



Fucking hilarious.  If it rains in Montana, they arab muslims and jew-hating dogshit will blame the jews... 

Sorry fucking douchebag skunt turd moron on your best fucking day, there's only 4 million jews in the mideast, can't blame them for the arab muslim failures - or this shit either.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Conflict Is Civil War, Says Herve Ladsous, U.N. Peacekeeping Chief 








> UNITED NATIONS, June 12 (Reuters) - The 15-month-old conflict in Syria has grown into a full-scale civil war in which the government is attempting to recapture large swathes of urban territory it has lost to the opposition, the U.N. peacekeeping chief said on Tuesday.
> 
> "Yes, I think we can say that," U.N. Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous said in an interview with Reuters and one other reporter when asked if the Syrian crisis could now be characterized as a civil war.
> 
> "Clearly what is happening is that the government of Syria lost some large chunks of territory in several cities to the opposition and wants to retake control of these areas," he said.



Syria Conflict Is Civil War, Says Herve Ladsous, U.N. Peacekeeping Chief


----------



## Katzndogz

And Russia is sending Assad forces attack helicopters.

US: Russia sending Syria attack helicopters - WTOP.com

Told ya!  I told you how many times?  

What sort of stupidity will obama do?  He can't be stupid enough to confront Russia directly.  At least I hope not.  The United States has one option, now that the UN has declared this a civil war, step back on the grounds that we do not interfere in purely internal civil wars, but will offer aid to refugees.     Don't pay attention at all to the claims of childen being killed because BOTH sides are doing that.

This is a proxy war with Russia on one side and an  Al Quaeda/muslim brotherhood coalition on the other.   Russia is not going to let that base go without a fight.

The worst thing I can imagine would be for some rumor to start going around about who obama has chosen as the latest targets on his list.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> And Russia is sending Assad forces attack helicopters.
> 
> US: Russia sending Syria attack helicopters - WTOP.com
> 
> Told ya!  I told you how many times?
> 
> What sort of stupidity will obama do?  He can't be stupid enough to confront Russia directly.  At least I hope not.  The United States has one option, now that the UN has declared this a civil war, step back on the grounds that we do not interfere in purely internal civil wars, but will offer aid to refugees.     Don't pay attention at all to the claims of childen being killed because BOTH sides are doing that.
> 
> This is a proxy war with Russia on one side and an  Al Quaeda/muslim brotherhood coalition on the other.   Russia is not going to let that base go without a fight.
> 
> The worst thing I can imagine would be for some rumor to start going around about who obama has chosen as the latest targets on his list.



Probably best to stay out of it at this point.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> And Russia is sending Assad forces attack helicopters.
> 
> US: Russia sending Syria attack helicopters - WTOP.com
> 
> Told ya!  I told you how many times?
> 
> What sort of stupidity will obama do?  He can't be stupid enough to confront Russia directly.  At least I hope not.  The United States has one option, now that the UN has declared this a civil war, step back on the grounds that we do not interfere in purely internal civil wars, but will offer aid to refugees.     Don't pay attention at all to the claims of childen being killed because BOTH sides are doing that.
> 
> This is a proxy war with Russia on one side and an  Al Quaeda/muslim brotherhood coalition on the other.   Russia is not going to let that base go without a fight.
> 
> The worst thing I can imagine would be for some rumor to start going around about who obama has chosen as the latest targets on his list.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably best to stay out of it at this point.
Click to expand...


Which makes you more qualified to be president than the current crack pot.  Thank goodness we have only a few more months to go of this amateur.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> And Russia is sending Assad forces attack helicopters.
> 
> US: Russia sending Syria attack helicopters - WTOP.com
> 
> Told ya!  I told you how many times?
> 
> What sort of stupidity will obama do?  He can't be stupid enough to confront Russia directly.  At least I hope not.  The United States has one option, now that the UN has declared this a civil war, step back on the grounds that we do not interfere in purely internal civil wars, but will offer aid to refugees.     Don't pay attention at all to the claims of childen being killed because BOTH sides are doing that.
> 
> This is a proxy war with Russia on one side and an  Al Quaeda/muslim brotherhood coalition on the other.   Russia is not going to let that base go without a fight.
> 
> The worst thing I can imagine would be for some rumor to start going around about who obama has chosen as the latest targets on his list.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Probably best to stay out of it at this point.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Which makes you more qualified to be president than the current crack pot.  Thank goodness we have only a few more months to go of this amateur.
Click to expand...


You want US Boots on the ground?


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Probably best to stay out of it at this point.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Which makes you more qualified to be president than the current crack pot.  Thank goodness we have only a few more months to go of this amateur.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You want US Boots on the ground?
Click to expand...


Heavens no.  What we should be doing is bringing everyone home to prepare for the shitstorm that's coming.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> Which makes you more qualified to be president than the current crack pot.  Thank goodness we have only a few more months to go of this amateur.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You want US Boots on the ground?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Heavens no.  What we should be doing is bringing everyone home to prepare for the shitstorm that's coming.
Click to expand...


Well I at least want our guys out of Afghanistan for starters, that place is a shit hole and we should leave.


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> Well I at least want our guys out of Afghanistan for starters, that place is a shit hole and we should leave.



What do you propose if al qaeda regroups, retakes afghanistan, and uses it as a base again - with the help of the pakistani ISI, of course?  How can the US stop these shitholes from becoming terrorist planning/operations/launching bases?


----------



## Trajan

If true, the gunship delivery moves this from a strict internal beef to a major Foreign outside interest backing Assad straight away. yes they had soviet russian equipment when it started, and shipments of bullets and rifles in one thing, this, is steps way past this.


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia Sets Out Tough Terms for Resolving Syrias Civil War









> The notion that Russia might soon abandon Syrian President Bashar Assads regime may prove mistakenly optimistic: Moscow is now supplying attack helicopters to Damascus. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton announced on Tuesday that the U.S. confronted Russia about the new arms deliveries, but Moscow insisted that the shipment was unrelated to Syrias political conflict. The news was confirmed by the U.N.s deputy head of peacekeeping, Hervé Ladsous. Clearly what is happening is that the government of Syria lost some large chunks of territory, several cities to the opposition, and wants to retake control, he told reporters. Now we have confirmed reports not only of the use of tanks and artillery but also attack helicopters.
> 
> There is, of course, no U.N. authorized arms embargo against Syria, and Russia is legally entitled to continue arming the regime. But the news suggests an escalation and, indeed, Ladsous called the conflict a civil war. The distinction between a popular rebellion and a civil war in Syria is more than semantics, because a civil war is resolved not simply by settling the fate of the leader of one of the sides but must also address the fate of the community that fights on his behalf. The situation in Syria appears nowhere near the point of a mediated settlement, despite fears that a civil war could imperil regional security and the reluctance of Western powers to accept the burden of de facto ownership of an unraveling Levant by intervening militarily to change the balance of power.
> 
> All along, Russia has made it clear that, while it is willing to see the departure of Assad if thats what the Syrians agree to at the end of a peaceful political dialogue, its not prepared to countenance the armed overthrow of that regime  hence Moscows blocking of U.N. authorization for an intervention in the Syrian conflict and its continued arms supplies to the regime. It also consistently challenges those outside powers, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, supplying weapons to rebel forces. Russia joined with Western and Arab states in backing special envoy Kofi Annans six-point plan for a cessation of hostilities and political dialogue in April, but that plan has never been implemented, and both sides continue to violate its cease-fire provisions.
> 
> The Assad regime has clearly opted to fight a sectarian civil war rather than open up democratic political space for its opponents and engage in a dialogue that would threaten his political survival. Rallying the Alawites, Christians and other minorities to back a vicious crackdown on the basis of fear of an Islamist Sunni rebellion clearly appeared the safer bet to Assad. But the rebellion has proved resilient: in almost a year and a half, some 15,000 Syrians have reportedly been killed in what has become an increasingly vicious sectarian civil war. Massacres like the one in Houla have claimed the headlines, but they dont tell the full story of daily cycles of communal retribution at local levels and mounting fears on both sides that are fueling even greater violence. Syria, in short, is being torn apart, and the inevitable Bosnia comparisons contain within them a chilling portent: the collapse of a single polity composed of multiple ethnicities and sects into separate ethnic and sectarian fiefs.



Read more: Russia Sets Tough Terms for Resolving Syria's Civil War | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well I at least want our guys out of Afghanistan for starters, that place is a shit hole and we should leave.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What do you propose if al qaeda regroups, retakes afghanistan, and uses it as a base again - with the help of the pakistani ISI, of course?  How can the US stop these shitholes from becoming terrorist planning/operations/launching bases?
Click to expand...


I don't know how to answer that, us staying there indefinently doesn't seem to be making life better for us or the Afghans.


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia and Iran Accuse the United States of Arming Syrian Rebels



> TEHRAN  Russia and Iran, Syrias staunchest allies, on Wednesday accused the United States of sending weapons to opposition forces battling President Bashar al-Assad and his army.
> 
> Irans foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, told reporters that it was the United States and its allies  not Russia and Iran  that are seeking to destabilize Syria.
> 
> The U.S. is sending weapons to the opposition in Syria, which are being used against the government of that country, Mr. Lavrov said.
> 
> Mr. Salehi said that besides weapons, foreign troops had been sent into Syria to aid the armed opposition to Mr. Assad. They have some of their forces operating inside Syria, Mr. Salehi said, without specifically naming the United States or any other country. They say they want to prevent massacres but at the same time send weapons  these are double standards.
> 
> The Russian foreign minister reiterated Russias longstanding denial of American accusations that his country is sending helicopter gunships to Syria, which will help government troops to fight the opposition. Mr. Lavrov said that Russia is honoring military contracts with the Syrian government, but only sending antiaircraft weapons.
> 
> We are not like the U.S., giving weapons to the opposition, he said. He also said the United States and its allies were determined to follow the Libyan model, in which NATO countries armed the opposition, provided them with information and bombed government targets from the air.
> 
> Syria as a country is an axis of stability, Mr. Lavrov said. We do not support the government; we are supporting the people and the country.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/w...-the-us-of-arming-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&hpw


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Well I at least want our guys out of Afghanistan for starters, that place is a shit hole and we should leave.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What do you propose if al qaeda regroups, retakes afghanistan, and uses it as a base again - with the help of the pakistani ISI, of course?  How can the US stop these shitholes from becoming terrorist planning/operations/launching bases?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I don't know how to answer that, us staying there indefinently doesn't seem to be making life better for us or the Afghans.
Click to expand...


Russia controls all of the supply lines into Afghanistand and Iraq.  We will stay until Russia gives us other orders.

obama wanted a post American world.  This is what it looks like.  We may never fully recover from what obama has done to us.

The best course of action now would be for the US to stop arming the rebels and let the Russian backed Assad reassert control.   The only effect we are having is to increase the death toll.

obama imagines that Assad is fighting the same war in Syria that we are fighting in Afghanistan, battle on to a stalemate then declare peace.   Assad means total victory.  He is not interested in winning hearts and minds.  Which is a totally stupid way to wage war to begin with.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> What do you propose if al qaeda regroups, retakes afghanistan, and uses it as a base again - with the help of the pakistani ISI, of course?  How can the US stop these shitholes from becoming terrorist planning/operations/launching bases?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know how to answer that, us staying there indefinently doesn't seem to be making life better for us or the Afghans.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Russia controls all of the supply lines into Afghanistand and Iraq.  We will stay until Russia gives us other orders.
> 
> obama wanted a post American world.  This is what it looks like.  We may never fully recover from what obama has done to us.
> 
> The best course of action now would be for the US to stop arming the rebels and let the Russian backed Assad reassert control.   The only effect we are having is to increase the death toll.
> 
> obama imagines that Assad is fighting the same war in Syria that we are fighting in Afghanistan, battle on to a stalemate then declare peace.   Assad means total victory.  He is not interested in winning hearts and minds.  Which is a totally stupid way to wage war to begin with.
Click to expand...


Well I have to admit you are spot on about that, trying to win hearts and minds while you are dropping bombs on people and sending our Troops in on search and destroy missions makes no fucking sense whatsoever.


----------



## Katzndogz

obama intends to "confront" Putin in mexico about the Syrian arms sales.   Vladimir Putin is a real guy type man, former head of the KGB.  obama isn't going to get anywhere telling a man like Putin that if obama doesn't get his way, Putin is a racist.  World affairs doesn't work that way.   obama is so far out of his league this has gone beyond amusing.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> obama intends to "confront" Putin in mexico about the Syrian arms sales.   Vladimir Putin is a real guy type man, former head of the KGB.  obama isn't going to get anywhere telling a man like Putin that if obama doesn't get his way, Putin is a racist.  World affairs doesn't work that way.   obama is so far out of his league this has gone beyond amusing.



Maybe Biden can talk some sense into Putin?


----------



## Katzndogz

The fact that obama is presidebt is proof that there is a God and he's really pissed at us.


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> Russia and Iran Accuse the United States of Arming Syrian Rebels
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TEHRAN  Russia and Iran, Syrias staunchest allies, on Wednesday accused the United States of sending weapons to opposition forces battling President Bashar al-Assad and his army.
> 
> Irans foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, told reporters that it was the United States and its allies  not Russia and Iran  that are seeking to destabilize Syria.
> 
> The U.S. is sending weapons to the opposition in Syria, which are being used against the government of that country, Mr. Lavrov said.
> 
> Mr. Salehi said that besides weapons, foreign troops had been sent into Syria to aid the armed opposition to Mr. Assad. They have some of their forces operating inside Syria, Mr. Salehi said, without specifically naming the United States or any other country. They say they want to prevent massacres but at the same time send weapons  these are double standards.
> 
> The Russian foreign minister reiterated Russias longstanding denial of American accusations that his country is sending helicopter gunships to Syria, which will help government troops to fight the opposition. Mr. Lavrov said that Russia is honoring military contracts with the Syrian government, but only sending antiaircraft weapons.
> 
> We are not like the U.S., giving weapons to the opposition, he said. He also said the United States and its allies were determined to follow the Libyan model, in which NATO countries armed the opposition, provided them with information and bombed government targets from the air.
> 
> Syria as a country is an axis of stability, Mr. Lavrov said. We do not support the government; we are supporting the people and the country.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/w...-the-us-of-arming-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&hpw
Click to expand...


So fucking hilarious, those Iranian chimps...and WTF are they doing in lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan?


----------



## Trajan

looks like the ole reset its not working very well eh? even after selling allies out on the missile defense shield, telling medvedev to tell putin obama will give him leeway after his re-election  etc. etc....useful idiots...

unreal. 


[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0GdLClHAMB0]U.S. Gift to Russia Lost in Translation - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## ThirdTerm

Russia is reported to be making arms shipments such as attack helicopters to Syria and a Cold War situation is developing in Syria and Russia is ready to fight a proxy war by arming Assad. Putin cannot abandon Assad because Russia's strategic interests in the region are at stake and Russia and Syria signed a lease for a Syrian port which can host nuclear submarines and if Assad decides to attack the protesters from the air, NATO is likely to impose a no-fly zone to protect civilians but the civil war in Syria would never end until the number of casualties reaches an unacceptable level for the Syrians.


----------



## Trajan

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> What do you propose if al qaeda regroups, retakes afghanistan, and uses it as a base again - with the help of the pakistani ISI, of course?  How can the US stop these shitholes from becoming terrorist planning/operations/launching bases?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know how to answer that, us staying there indefinently doesn't seem to be making life better for us or the Afghans.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Russia controls all of the supply lines into Afghanistand and Iraq.  We will stay until Russia gives us other orders.
> 
> obama wanted a post American world.  This is what it looks like.  We may never fully recover from what obama has done to us.
> 
> The best course of action now would be for the US to stop arming the rebels and let the Russian backed Assad reassert control.   The only effect we are having is to increase the death toll.
> 
> obama imagines that Assad is fighting the same war in Syria that we are fighting in Afghanistan, battle on to a stalemate then declare peace.   Assad means total victory.  He is not interested in winning hearts and minds.  Which is a totally stupid way to wage war to begin with.
Click to expand...


you mean Russia has bribed the people who control the routes.. we have bribed a few back btw....


----------



## Trajan

ThirdTerm said:


> Russia is reported to be making arms shipments such as attack helicopters to Syria and a Cold War situation is developing in Syria and Russia is ready to fight a proxy war by arming Assad. Putin cannot abandon Assad because Russia's strategic interests in the region are at stake and Russia and Syria signed a lease for a Syrian port which can host nuclear submarines and if Assad decides to attack the protesters from the air, NATO is likely to impose a no-fly zone to protect civilians but the civil war in Syria would never end until the number of casualties reaches an unacceptable level for the Syrians.



nato won't do shit. they want/need us to lead, aint happening, obama has other things to do, he could barely stay awake during the Qaddafi deal.......


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Russia and Iran Accuse the United States of Arming Syrian Rebels
> 
> 
> 
> 
> TEHRAN  Russia and Iran, Syrias staunchest allies, on Wednesday accused the United States of sending weapons to opposition forces battling President Bashar al-Assad and his army.
> 
> Irans foreign minister Ali Akbar Salehi, and his Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, told reporters that it was the United States and its allies  not Russia and Iran  that are seeking to destabilize Syria.
> 
> The U.S. is sending weapons to the opposition in Syria, which are being used against the government of that country, Mr. Lavrov said.
> 
> Mr. Salehi said that besides weapons, foreign troops had been sent into Syria to aid the armed opposition to Mr. Assad. They have some of their forces operating inside Syria, Mr. Salehi said, without specifically naming the United States or any other country. They say they want to prevent massacres but at the same time send weapons  these are double standards.
> 
> The Russian foreign minister reiterated Russias longstanding denial of American accusations that his country is sending helicopter gunships to Syria, which will help government troops to fight the opposition. Mr. Lavrov said that Russia is honoring military contracts with the Syrian government, but only sending antiaircraft weapons.
> 
> We are not like the U.S., giving weapons to the opposition, he said. He also said the United States and its allies were determined to follow the Libyan model, in which NATO countries armed the opposition, provided them with information and bombed government targets from the air.
> 
> Syria as a country is an axis of stability, Mr. Lavrov said. We do not support the government; we are supporting the people and the country.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/14/w...-the-us-of-arming-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&hpw
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> So fucking hilarious, those Iranian chimps...and WTF are they doing in lebanon, Iraq and Afghanistan?
Click to expand...


Lebanon is basically a client state of Iran, it is a Hezbollah strong hold and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards have a base there. The Iranians basically followed us into Iraq and Afghanistan after we invaded them to fuck shit up.


----------



## High_Gravity

Hillarys Little Startup: How the U.S. Is Using Technology to Aid Syrias Rebels









> Abu Ghassan looks more like a hipster than a revolutionary. Decked out in a pink shirt and black jeans, he clutches a pack of cigarettes and begins to talk hesitantly about his activities. He is eager to get back to the beleaguered city of Homs in Syria  but quickly warms to questions about how he learned to fight Bashar Assad with an AK-47, a video camera and the Internetand how Americans helped turn him into a cyberwarrior.
> 
> Abu Ghassan (not his real name) told TIME on June 8 that he has been a two-fisted warrior for a whilewith the scars to show for it. While filming an antiregime demonstration in December in Homs, he heard a blast and was told that two government tanks were headed toward the crowd. Abu Ghassan, 26, had to decide: Keep filming or pick up a weapon? He decided to do both, grabbing an AK-47 from his car and setting down his video camera in an elevated spot to catch the action. As he ran ahead, an armored Land Rover swerved in front of the crowd, and regime soldiers opened fire. Abu Ghassan and fighters with the Free Syrian Army, the rebel force protecting the demonstrators, fired back to allow the civilians to scramble for cover. As bullets whizzed back and forth, Abu Ghassan was clipped in the shoulder by shrapnel. I dont know how I didnt get more injured or killed, he says.
> 
> As the opposition was then just learning to do, Abu Ghassan uploaded the combat video to the Internet. Soon after, local dissident leaders picked the former engineer to go abroad for even-more-sophisticated training in computer encryption, circumvention of government firewalls and secure use of mobile phonescourtesy of the U.S. State Department. The training has helped give the rebels the upper hand in one front in the battle against Syrias President. Even as the Assad regimes army crushes the opposition on the ground, the dictator has been losing the war online.
> 
> In the process, the Obama Administration has tiptoed across an invisible line. Washington has said it will not actively support the Syrian opposition in its bid to oust Assad. Officially, the U.S. says it abides by the U.N. process led by Kofi Annan and does not condone arms sales to opposition groups as long as there are U.N. observers in Syria. Nevertheless, as U.S. officials have revealed to Time, the Obama Administration has been providing media-technology training and support to Syrian dissidents by way of small nonprofits like the Institute for War & Peace Reporting and Freedom House. Viral videos of alleged atrocities, like the footage Abu Ghassan produced, have made Assad one of the most reviled men on the planet, helping turn the Arab League against him and embarrassing his few remaining allies almost daily. If the [U.S.] government is involved in Syria, the government isnt going to take direct responsibility for it, says Lawrence Lessig, director of Harvards Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics. The tools that you deploy in Internet freedom interfere with tools deployed by an existing government, and that can be perceived as an act of aggression.



Read more: Hillary&#8217;s Little Startup: How the U.S. Is Using Technology to Aid Syria&#8217;s Rebels | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Amnesty International Accuses Army Of War Crimes 








> LONDON, June 14 (Reuters) - Syrian government forces are killing civilians in organised attacks on towns and villages that amount to crimes against humanity, Amnesty International said on Thursday, citing evidence from over 20 locations in the country's northwest.
> 
> The rights group repeated its call for the United Nations Security Council to refer Syria to the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, and to impose an arms embargo.
> 
> Amnesty's findings, detailed in a 70-page report, add to reports of massacres elsewhere in Syria as a 15-month-old uprising against President Bashar al-Assad moves closer to a civil war.
> 
> Its researchers visited 23 towns and villages in the Aleppo and Idlib provinces between April and May, conducting interviews with more than 200 people, including many whose relatives had been killed or whose homes had been destroyed.
> 
> Amnesty adviser Donatella Rovera told Reuters TV she had found repeated examples of brutality against civilians during two months of unauthorised visits to northwest Syria.
> 
> "Wherever I went, in every town, in every village, there was a very similar pattern - soldiers who went in, in very large numbers, for very short but very brutal incursions where they extra-judicially executed young men, burned down their homes. Those who they arrested were then tortured in detention," she said.
> 
> "And that was really repeated in every town and every village that I visited ... The bulk, the overwhelming majority of the violations are being committed by the government security forces and their paramilitary militia against the civilian population," she added.
> 
> A peace plan brokered by former U.N. secretary-general Kofi Annan has failed to end bloodshed that has cost the lives of more than 10,000 people.



Syria Crisis: Amnesty International Accuses Army Of War Crimes (VIDEO)


----------



## Katzndogz

Atrocities are committed by both sides.   What's an atrocity to us, is normal warfare for them.  If we would stop arming terrorist rebels like the muslim brotherhood, Assad would dispatch them quickly and it would be over.   Instead, the US will continue to facilitate the import of foreign fighters to greatly increase the misery of the Syrian people. 

This is another fight that we cannot win.   We did not win in Libya and made things much worse in Egypt.   We have no concept of what victory is.   Russia does.  Assad does.   They aren't interested in fighting to a stalemate and keep fighting until the other side gives up in boredom.   There is no idea that somehow wars can be won by winning hearts and minds.  It's ludicrous to even imagine such a method of warfare.

Hillary telling Assad to engage in a peaceful transition is the single most stupid comment that any politician has made at any time in human history.   His answer was real, get attack helicopters from Russia.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> Atrocities are committed by both sides.   What's an atrocity to us, is normal warfare for them.  If we would stop arming terrorist rebels like the muslim brotherhood, Assad would dispatch them quickly and it would be over.   Instead, the US will continue to facilitate the import of foreign fighters to greatly increase the misery of the Syrian people.
> 
> This is another fight that we cannot win.   We did not win in Libya and made things much worse in Egypt.   We have no concept of what victory is.   Russia does.  Assad does.   They aren't interested in fighting to a stalemate and keep fighting until the other side gives up in boredom.   There is no idea that somehow wars can be won by winning hearts and minds.  It's ludicrous to even imagine such a method of warfare.
> 
> Hillary telling Assad to engage in a peaceful transition is the single most stupid comment that any politician has made at any time in human history.   His answer was real, get attack helicopters from Russia.



Well just to be clear the whole hearts and minds thing was started during the Bush Administration, Obama did not invent the hearts and minds bullshit.


----------



## High_Gravity

Suicide bomber injures 14 outside Syrian capital








> BEIRUT--A bomb-laden car driven by a suicide attacker exploded Thursday near a major Shiite shrine outside the Syrian capital of Damascus, injuring 14 people and damaging part of the shrine, according to Syrian state media and news agency  reports.
> 
> It was the latest in a series of car bombs that have killed scores of Syrians and elevated tensions in Syrias two largest cities, Damascus and Aleppo, where the bombings have been the most dramatic manifestation of the 15-month insurrection.  Authorities have blamed Al Qaeda-linked Islamic militants from Syria and other nations, including neighboring Iraq and Jordan,  for previous suicide bombings.
> 
> The Associated Press reported that it was unclear if the intended target of Thursdays strike was a nearby police station or the  golden-domed Sayyida Zainab shrine, one of Shiite Islams holiest and most magnificent sites and a favored  destination of Shiite pilgrims, especially Iranians. The shrine is said to be the burial place of a revered grand-daughter of the prophet Mohammed.
> 
> The blast Thursday shattered shrine windows, knocked down chandeliers and ceiling fans, and cracked mosaic walls inside the religious site, AP reported.
> 
> Official Syrian state media said 14 people were injured in Thursdays explosion , which occurred inside a parking lot. State media displayed photos from the scene showing  destroyed vehicles, a shattered cement building and a crater where the bomb car apparently detonated.



Suicide bomber injures 14 outside Syrian capital - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Spike In Violence Derails Monitor Mission, Head Of U.N. Observers Robert Mood Says








> BEIRUT  The head of the U.N. observers in Syria said Friday a recent spike in bloodshed is derailing the mission to monitor and defuse more than a year of violence and could prompt the unarmed force to pull out.
> 
> The observer mission is the only functioning part of an international peace plan that Kofi Annan brokered two months ago. Western powers have pinned their hopes on the plan, in part because there are no other options on the table. There is little support for military intervention, and several rounds of sanctions have done little to stop the bloodshed.
> 
> "Violence over the past 10 days has been intensifying willingly by the both parties, with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers," Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told reporters in Damascus. "The escalating violence is now limiting our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue and stability projects."
> 
> Mood also said there was a concern among the states providing observers that the risk is approaching an unacceptable level for continuing the mission. He did not provide further details.
> 
> Mood's comments were the clearest sign yet that Annan's peace plan is disintegrating. The regime and the opposition have ignored a cease-fire that was supposed to go into effect April 12.
> 
> On Friday, the Syrian regime kept up a ferocious offensive on rebel areas around the country in one of the most serious escalations in violence since Annan brokered the truce.



Syria Crisis: Spike In Violence Derails Monitor Mission, Head Of U.N. Observers Robert Mood Says


----------



## rhodescholar

Obama the dog is too busy fundraising in NYC to care that hundreds, if not thousands, of children have been murdered to do something useful.

The only item of importance to him is the next dollar raised - while ass-ad the turd murders women and children by the truckload.

On a different note, I do find it quite interesting that the scum of the earth filth like eots, tin-douche, loincloth, etc., that posts in the other sections railing against Israel are VERY quiet regarding syria's mass slaughter...very interesting...


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Crisis: Security Forces Used Sexual Violence Against Men, Women, Children, Group Says








> BEIRUT, June 15 (Reuters) - Government forces have used rape and other sexual violence against men, women and children during the Syrian uprising, Human Rights Watch said on Friday.
> 
> The U.S.-based group said it had recorded 20 incidents from interviews inside and outside Syria with eight victims, including four women, and more than 25 other people with knowledge of sexual abuse - including medical workers, former detainees, army defectors, and women's rights activists.
> 
> "Sexual violence in detention is one of many horrific weapons in the Syrian government's torture arsenal and Syrian security forces regularly use it to humiliate and degrade detainees with complete impunity," said Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director at HRW.
> 
> "The assaults are not limited to detention facilities - government forces and pro-government shabiha militia members have also sexually assaulted women and girls during home raids and residential sweeps."
> 
> Cases were reported all around Syria, but most of all in Homs province, an epicentre of the revolt.
> 
> HRW quoted a man who said he had been held in the Political Security branch in Latakia in a cell with over 70 other people. He said young boys were treated worse than adults, brought back to the cell raped and with their fingernails pulled out.
> 
> "One boy came into the cell bleeding from behind. He couldn't walk. It was something they just did to the boys. We would cry for them," the man said.



Syrian Crisis: Security Forces Used Sexual Violence Against Men, Women, Children, Group Says


----------



## Katzndogz

rhodescholar said:


> Obama the dog is too busy fundraising in NYC to care that hundreds, if not thousands, of children have been murdered to do something useful.
> 
> The only item of importance to him is the next dollar raised - while ass-ad the turd murders women and children by the truckload.
> 
> On a different note, I do find it quite interesting that the scum of the earth filth like eots, tin-douche, loincloth, etc., that posts in the other sections railing against Israel are VERY quiet regarding syria's mass slaughter...very interesting



What should he do?   Go to war with Russia over it.

He should stop funding the al quaeda and muslim brotherhood fighters.  BOTH sides are killing the children and women and anyone else they find and each side of wanton killers is blaming the other.


----------



## High_Gravity

Not bad, I wouldn't mind eating her pussy.

Sheherazad Jaafari, Bashar Al-Assad's Former Aide, Speaks Out








> The young woman who achieved notoriety for a short stint as media adviser to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad downplayed the significance of her role in the brutal regime, telling The Daily Telegraph she had been made a scapegoat.
> 
> "Any ambitious American girl would do the same thing I did, Sheherazad Jaafari told The Daily Telegraph. You get an interesting offer, you challenge yourself and you go for it.
> 
> Jaafari, who is the daughter of Syria's ambassador to the United Nations, reportedly spent three months working for al-Assad, during which she helped set Barbara Walters up with an exclusive interview with the dictator.
> 
> While Jaafari maintains she was just an intern with minimal responsibility, she was apparently close enough to al-Assad to write "hey handsome" and "I love u" in emails obtained by CNN.
> 
> "This man is loved by his people," she gushed in another. She emailed al-Assad 118 times between August 2011 and January 2012, according to The Daily Telegraph.
> 
> Jaafari was recently accepted to Columbia's School of International and Public Affairs, where she will start as a graduate student in the fall. Barbara Walters, who advocated on behalf of Jaafari in emails to a Columbia University journalism professor, has since apologized for intervening.
> 
> Syrian rights groups have demanded Columbia University rescind Jaafari's admission. We are outraged with what is happening, a spokesman for the National Alliance for Syria, Sarab al-Jijakli, told the New York Post. Columbia and Barbara Walters must ensure that they right the wrong and not accept someone from the inner circle of the al-Assad regime into their university."
> 
> In an email to Fox News, Jaafari said contrary to reports, she was not an aide to al-Assad. "My duties were limited to fulfill instructions related to communicating with some English-speaking media reporters under the supervision of the media advisers," she wrote. I volunteered as an intern in the Syrian media and communication circles... During these three months I was never on payroll.



Sheherazad Jaafari, Bashar Al-Assad's Former Aide, Speaks Out


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Russia Reportedly To Send Marines To Syria 








> MOSCOW  Two Russian navy ships are completing preparations to sail to Syria with a unit of marines on a mission to protect Russian citizens and the nation's base there, a news report said Monday. The deployment appears to reflect Moscow's growing concern about Syrian President Bashar Assad's future.
> 
> The Interfax news agency quoted an unidentified Russian navy official as saying that the two amphibious landing vessels, Nikolai Filchenkov and Caesar Kunikov, will be heading shortly to the Syrian port of Tartus, but didn't give a precise date.
> 
> The official said the ships will carry an unspecified number of marines to protect Russians in Syria and evacuate some equipment from Tartus, if necessary.
> 
> Each ship is capable of carrying up to 300 marines and a dozen tanks, according to Russian media reports. That would make it the largest known Russian troop deployment to Syria, signaling that Moscow is becoming increasingly uneasy about Syria's slide toward civil war.
> 
> Interfax also quoted a deputy Russian air force chief as saying that Russia will give the necessary protection to its citizens in Syria.
> 
> "We must protect our citizens," Maj.-Gen. Vladimir Gradusov was quoted as saying. "We won't abandon the Russians and will evacuate them from the conflict zone, if necessary."
> 
> Asked whether the air force would provide air support for the navy squadron, Gradusov said they will act on orders.
> 
> The Defense Ministry had no immediate comment, and an official at the Black Sea fleet declined to comment.
> 
> Asked if the Pentagon is concerned about the plan, officials in Washington said it depends on the mission. They had no comment on the stated goal of protecting Russian citizens and the Russian military position there, something the U.S. would do in a foreign country if in a similar situation.
> 
> "I think we'd leave it to the Russian Ministry of Defense to speak to their naval movements and their national security decision-making process," said Capt. John Kirby, a Pentagon spokesman, adding that it's not the business of the U.S. Defense Department to "endorse or disapprove of an internal mission like that."
> 
> What would greatly concern the U.S., he said, is if the Russian naval ships were taking weapons or sending people to support the Assad regime in its crackdown.
> 
> "The secretary of defense (Leon Panetta) remains concerned about any efforts by external countries or external organizations to supply lethal arms to the Syrian regime so that they can turn around and use those to kill their own people," Kirby said.
> 
> Tartus is Russia's only naval base outside the former Soviet Union, serving Russian navy ships on missions to the Mediterranean and hosting an unspecified number of military personnel.



Syria Crisis: Russia Reportedly To Send Marines To Syria


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Russia Reportedly To Send Marines To Syria[/url]



My expectation is that putin is simply sending troops to protect the russian advisors already there as they leave.  If he plans on using them for actual combat to intervene on behalf of ass-ad against the FSA/rebels, he is a bigger psychopath than even I'd thought.


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Russia Reportedly To Send Marines To Syria[/url]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> My expectation is that putin is simply sending troops to protect the russian advisors already there as they leave.  If he plans on using them for actual combat to intervene on behalf of ass-ad against the FSA/rebels, he is a bigger psychopath than even I'd thought.
Click to expand...


I think the Russians are already doing that behind the scenes.


----------



## High_Gravity

Putin Rules Out Intervention to Stop the Syrian Rebellion



> SAN JOSÉ DEL CABO, Mexico  President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia said Tuesday that the fate of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria should be left to the hands of the Syrians, saying that no one country has the right to tell another people whom their leader should be.
> 
> Appearing at a freewheeling news conference here at the close of the Group of 20 summit meeting of world leaders, Mr. Putin expounded on a range of issues. He discussed the London Olympics (he plans to attend and said he was excited about watching the judo matches) as well as the agenda next year when Russia hosts the Group of 20 economic conference in St. Petersburg (he said he was worried about the strength of the United States dollar and Americas debt).
> 
> His handlers seemed to try to end the news conference several times, but a smirking Mr. Putin would extend it for one more question.
> 
> With a grin, he said, Lets not look like we are so professionally organized. He appeared to enjoy the give-and-take with the reporters, some of whom cheered for him at the news conferences close.
> 
> He was asked if he had made the case to President Obama during their meeting the day before that Congress should hurry up and grant trade benefits to Russia now that Moscow has acceded to the World Trade Organization. I didnt make any case, he replied. What case do I need to make? If the Congress decides to adopt this new law, thats up to them.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/20/w...s-must-decide-assads-fate.html?_r=1&ref=world


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Pilot Defects to Jordan with Plane



> (BEIRUT)  A Syrian fighter pilot flew his plane to Jordan on Thursday and asked for political asylum, the first defection of an air force pilot with his plane during the 15-month uprising against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Jordanian Information Minister Sameeh Maaytah confirmed that the pilot had defected.
> 
> Initially, three Jordanian officials said the Russian-made MiG-21 made an emergency landing at the northern King Hussein Air Base in Mafraq, 70 kilometers (43 miles) north of the Jordanian capital and near the Syrian border.
> 
> The confusion underlined Jordanian concern about upsetting the Assad regime and being dragged into the Syrian conflict. The defection could have serious repercussions on relations between the two neighbors, who so far have maintained their business ties despite political tensions between them.
> 
> Jordan has taken in 125,000 Syrian refugees, including hundreds of army and police defectors, which Syria has desperately sought their extradition.
> 
> Syria is one of Jordans largest Arab trade partners, with bilateral trade estimated at $470 million last year. Also, 60 percent of Jordanian exports of mainly fruits and vegetables are routed through Syria for onward shipping to Turkey overland or to Europe via Syrias Mediterranean coast.
> 
> Maaytah, the information minister, said the plane landed in Jordan at 1045 local time (0745 GMT).
> 
> The official Petra news agency quoted an unnamed security official as saying the Syrian plane belonged to the countrys air force.
> 
> A spokesman for the rebel Free Syrian Army, Ahmad Kassem, also confirmed that the plane had defected to Jordan and that its pilot was seeking political asylum. He said the group had encouraged the pilot to defect and monitored his activity until the jet landed safely in Jordan.
> 
> He said the pilot was based in Syrias southern region and identified him as Col. Hassan Merei Hammadeh.



Read more: Syrian Pilot Defects to Jordan with Plane | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Massacre: At Least 25 Killed In Darat Azzah Village, State TV Blames Terrorists 








> BEIRUT  A video emerged Friday showing more than a dozen bloodied corpses in Syria, some of them piled on top of each other and in military uniforms, in what the government said was a "massacre" by rebels in the northern province of Aleppo.
> 
> The circumstances of the killings were not immediately clear. But in the video  which The Associated Press could not independently verify  the narrator said the dead were members of the "shabiha," or pro-regime gunmen.
> 
> Syria's state-run news agency, SANA, said terrorist groups had killed and mutilated at least 25 people in Daret Azzeh, a rebel-held area in the Aleppo countryside.
> 
> The government refers to rebels as terrorists.
> 
> "The terrorist groups in Daret Azzeh committed a brutal massacre against the citizens, whom they had kidnapped earlier in the day," SANA said.
> 
> The report said at least 25 people were killed, but others were missing.
> 
> Although the city of Aleppo, Syria's largest, has been relatively quiet since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March last year, towns and villages around it have witnessed intense clashes between troops and opposition fighters. Activists say more than 14,000 people have been killed since the uprising began.
> 
> Daret Azzeh has endured intense government shelling over the past two weeks as Assad's forces try to regain areas taken by rebels.
> 
> Also Friday, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said four senior army officers have defected from the regime. The group provided a video purporting to show two brigadier generals and two colonels who declared they were joining the opposition.



Syrian Massacre: At Least 25 Killed In Darat Azzah Village, State TV Blames Terrorists


----------



## ERGO

*CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria *

As West berates Syria for "killing civilians" Western weapons flow into terrorist hands from NATO. 

The New York Times in their article, "C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition," confirms what many have already long known - that the West, led by the US and its Gulf State proxies, have been arming terrorists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, while berating the Syrian government for "violating" a UN mandated ceasefire and for "failing to protect" its population.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all


The Muslim Brotherhood has been combated by nations across the Arab World to stem the tide of their sectarian extremism, violence, and their targeted erosion of secular nation-states. Ironically, the US which has claimed to have been fighting the forces of sectarian extremism and "terrorism" for over a decade now, have been revealed as the primary enabler of the most violent and extreme terrorist organizations in the world. These include, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Libya, Baluch terrorists in Pakistan, and the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) currently based in Iraq and being used as proxies against Iran.

Land Destroyer: West Point Terror Center Confirms Al Qaeda in Libya

Land Destroyer: It Begins: US Starting the Baluchi Insurrection

*CONFIRMED: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military *
Land Destroyer: CONFIRMED: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military

*The New York Times claims that, "the C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks*, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said," a unsubstantiated claim that was similarly made in Libya before Al Qaeda flags were run up poles in Benghazi by rebels flush with NATO cash and arms used to collapse the government of Muammar Qaddafi. In fact, it is confirmed that Libyan LIFG rebels, led by Al Qaeda commander Abdul Hakim Belhaj, have now made their way by the hundreds to Syria.

*Benghazi declares autonomy, raises Al-Qaeda flag. McCain seeks to spread terrorist empire to Syria. *

Land Destroyer: John McCain: Founding Father of the Terrorist Emirate of Benghazi

*Libyas new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels *

Libya&rsquo;s new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels - Telegraph

Source link:CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria


----------



## High_Gravity

ERGO said:


> *CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria *
> 
> As West berates Syria for "killing civilians" Western weapons flow into terrorist hands from NATO.
> 
> The New York Times in their article, "C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition," confirms what many have already long known - that the West, led by the US and its Gulf State proxies, have been arming terrorists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, while berating the Syrian government for "violating" a UN mandated ceasefire and for "failing to protect" its population.
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
> 
> 
> The Muslim Brotherhood has been combated by nations across the Arab World to stem the tide of their sectarian extremism, violence, and their targeted erosion of secular nation-states. Ironically, the US which has claimed to have been fighting the forces of sectarian extremism and "terrorism" for over a decade now, have been revealed as the primary enabler of the most violent and extreme terrorist organizations in the world. These include, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Libya, Baluch terrorists in Pakistan, and the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) currently based in Iraq and being used as proxies against Iran.
> 
> Land Destroyer: West Point Terror Center Confirms Al Qaeda in Libya
> 
> Land Destroyer: It Begins: US Starting the Baluchi Insurrection
> 
> *CONFIRMED: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military *
> Land Destroyer: CONFIRMED: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military
> 
> *The New York Times claims that, "the C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks*, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said," a unsubstantiated claim that was similarly made in Libya before Al Qaeda flags were run up poles in Benghazi by rebels flush with NATO cash and arms used to collapse the government of Muammar Qaddafi. In fact, it is confirmed that Libyan LIFG rebels, led by Al Qaeda commander Abdul Hakim Belhaj, have now made their way by the hundreds to Syria.
> 
> *Benghazi declares autonomy, raises Al-Qaeda flag. McCain seeks to spread terrorist empire to Syria. *
> 
> Land Destroyer: John McCain: Founding Father of the Terrorist Emirate of Benghazi
> 
> *Libyas new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels *
> 
> Libya&rsquo;s new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels - Telegraph
> 
> Source link:CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria



So? Russia, China and Iran are arming Assads goons and rapists, but I don't hear a peep from you about that.


----------



## ERGO

High_Gravity said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> *CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria *
> 
> As West berates Syria for "killing civilians" Western weapons flow into terrorist hands from NATO.
> 
> The New York Times in their article, "C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition," confirms what many have already long known - that the West, led by the US and its Gulf State proxies, have been arming terrorists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, while berating the Syrian government for "violating" a UN mandated ceasefire and for "failing to protect" its population.
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
> 
> 
> The Muslim Brotherhood has been combated by nations across the Arab World to stem the tide of their sectarian extremism, violence, and their targeted erosion of secular nation-states. Ironically, the US which has claimed to have been fighting the forces of sectarian extremism and "terrorism" for over a decade now, have been revealed as the primary enabler of the most violent and extreme terrorist organizations in the world. These include, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Libya, Baluch terrorists in Pakistan, and the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) currently based in Iraq and being used as proxies against Iran.
> 
> Land Destroyer: West Point Terror Center Confirms Al Qaeda in Libya
> 
> Land Destroyer: It Begins: US Starting the Baluchi Insurrection
> 
> *CONFIRMED: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military *
> Land Destroyer: CONFIRMED: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military
> 
> *The New York Times claims that, "the C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks*, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said," a unsubstantiated claim that was similarly made in Libya before Al Qaeda flags were run up poles in Benghazi by rebels flush with NATO cash and arms used to collapse the government of Muammar Qaddafi. In fact, it is confirmed that Libyan LIFG rebels, led by Al Qaeda commander Abdul Hakim Belhaj, have now made their way by the hundreds to Syria.
> 
> *Benghazi declares autonomy, raises Al-Qaeda flag. McCain seeks to spread terrorist empire to Syria. *
> 
> Land Destroyer: John McCain: Founding Father of the Terrorist Emirate of Benghazi
> 
> *Libyas new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels *
> 
> Libya&rsquo;s new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels - Telegraph
> 
> Source link:CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So? Russia, China and Iran are arming Assads goons and rapists, but I don't hear a peep from you about that.
Click to expand...


 And I've never seen you acknowledge the U.S.'s, NATO's, the Saudi's or the other GCC countries involvement in financing and arming terrorist agent provocateurs who were provoking the Syrian government into action with violate attacks on civilians that were blamed on the Syrian government back in March 2011 to begin with!


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> And I've never seen you acknowledge the U.S.'s, NATO's, the Saudi's or the other GCC countries involvement in financing and arming terrorist agent provocateurs who were provoking the Syrian government into action with violate attacks on civilians that were blamed on the Syrian government back in March 2011 to begin with!



You're a lying fucking moron, as typical of those who defend ass-ad.  The protestors were peaceful for MONTHS while marching in streets being sniped at.  It was only after being shot at for months did they finally begin arming themselves.

I won't even get into how ass-ad's fake regime has been running death camps/gulags for decades against its political opponents, and helping baath / al qaeda terrorist groups into iraq to attack US troops there.  You're a fucking moron.


----------



## ERGO

rhodescholar said:


> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> And I've never seen you acknowledge the U.S.'s, NATO's, the Saudi's or the other GCC countries involvement in financing and arming terrorist agent provocateurs who were provoking the Syrian government into action with violate attacks on civilians that were blamed on the Syrian government back in March 2011 to begin with!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're a lying fucking moron, as typical of those who defend ass-ad.  The protestors were peaceful for MONTHS while marching in streets being sniped at.  It was only after being shot at for months did they finally begin arming themselves.
> 
> I won't even get into how ass-ad's fake regime has been running death camps/gulags for decades against its political opponents, and helping baath / al qaeda terrorist groups into iraq to attack US troops there.  You're a fucking moron.
Click to expand...


*You're talking out of your ASS as usual!*


----------



## rhodescholar

ERGO said:


> You're talking



Another fucking weak poster permeating this forum like sewage:

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/09/17/w...rotesters-killed-in-syria.html?pagewanted=all

"Syrias uprising has become more violent in the countrys most restive regions, in what may signal the start of a protracted armed struggle after six months of largely peaceful protests in the face of a ferocious government crackdown, diplomats, activists and officials say."

...

"Since they erupted in mid-March, the protests have demonstrated a remarkable resilience, despite the bouts of repression, among the most ferocious in the region. But these days there is a sense of desperation, as moments that seem decisive come and go, and what seem to be limits of peaceful protests become clear to some."

Go buy some facts you weak fucking scumbag idiot asshole.


----------



## rhodescholar

Syrian Protesters Shot Down while Shouting

"Syrian Protesters Shot Down while Shouting &#8220;We Are Peaceful&#8221;"


----------



## rhodescholar

Massacre of peaceful protesters in Syria : the (...) - FIDH

"Massacre of peaceful protesters in Syria : the International Community must act urgently"


----------



## High_Gravity

ERGO said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ERGO said:
> 
> 
> 
> *CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria *
> 
> As West berates Syria for "killing civilians" Western weapons flow into terrorist hands from NATO.
> 
> The New York Times in their article, "C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition," confirms what many have already long known - that the West, led by the US and its Gulf State proxies, have been arming terrorists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, while berating the Syrian government for "violating" a UN mandated ceasefire and for "failing to protect" its population.
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all
> 
> 
> The Muslim Brotherhood has been combated by nations across the Arab World to stem the tide of their sectarian extremism, violence, and their targeted erosion of secular nation-states. Ironically, the US which has claimed to have been fighting the forces of sectarian extremism and "terrorism" for over a decade now, have been revealed as the primary enabler of the most violent and extreme terrorist organizations in the world. These include, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Libya, Baluch terrorists in Pakistan, and the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) currently based in Iraq and being used as proxies against Iran.
> 
> Land Destroyer: West Point Terror Center Confirms Al Qaeda in Libya
> 
> Land Destroyer: It Begins: US Starting the Baluchi Insurrection
> 
> *CONFIRMED: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military *
> Land Destroyer: CONFIRMED: Terrorist Organization Trained on US Soil by US Military
> 
> *The New York Times claims that, "the C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks*, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said," a unsubstantiated claim that was similarly made in Libya before Al Qaeda flags were run up poles in Benghazi by rebels flush with NATO cash and arms used to collapse the government of Muammar Qaddafi. In fact, it is confirmed that Libyan LIFG rebels, led by Al Qaeda commander Abdul Hakim Belhaj, have now made their way by the hundreds to Syria.
> 
> *Benghazi declares autonomy, raises Al-Qaeda flag. McCain seeks to spread terrorist empire to Syria. *
> 
> Land Destroyer: John McCain: Founding Father of the Terrorist Emirate of Benghazi
> 
> *Libyas new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels *
> 
> Libya&rsquo;s new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels - Telegraph
> 
> Source link:CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So? Russia, China and Iran are arming Assads goons and rapists, but I don't hear a peep from you about that.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> And I've never seen you acknowledge the U.S.'s, NATO's, the Saudi's or the other GCC countries involvement in financing and arming terrorist agent provocateurs who were provoking the Syrian government into action with violate attacks on civilians that were blamed on the Syrian government back in March 2011 to begin with!
Click to expand...


I don't want us involved in that conflict, its Muslims killing Muslims, Assads goons are fighting a Syrian Resistance movement consisting mainly of Sunnis and other bad actors coming in from other countries to do suicide bombings, plant IED's etc and they are doing this to other Muslims, not American Troops. I am fine with leaving things as is to be honest although I do know we are at the very least arming the resistance, I am fine with that up to a point, I don't want Americans going into Syria to do anything.


----------



## High_Gravity

Opening the Weapons Tap: Syrias Rebels Await Fresh and Free Ammo









> Its an open secret along the Turkey-Syria border. For weeks, Syrian rebel commanders from key units operating in northern Syria and further south have been waiting for a second major batch of new weapons to arrive at the border. The first large consignment was handed over more than two months ago and was distributed to select groups operating in and around Idlib, Hama, Homs and the outskirts of Damascus. Each area received several hundred rocket-propelled grenade launchers (with 10 grenades per launcher), Kalashnikov rifles, BKC machine guns and ammunition, according to several sources. There have also been two smaller deliveries since the initial consignment. We werent asked what we needed, says one rebel commander responsible for an area of northern Syria who had been promised supplies, but we will take whatever we can get.
> 
> In recent weeks, there have been reports, mainly citing Western diplomatic sources, that rebels were receiving weapons supplied by Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Almost as many stories  largely based on the testimony of some rebels  have denied this. Meanwhile, both the New York Times and the Wall Street Journal have reported that CIA officers are on the ground in southern Turkey, helping decide which Syrian opposition fighters receive the arms.
> 
> Many of the new weapons are being funneled through a Lebanese intermediary, rebel groups say. The Lebanese politician, who opposes the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad and has set up an office in Istanbul, declined to be interviewed. He is the main tap, so to speak, while a handful of Syrians are the distributors. TIME tracked down a man believed to be the main distributor, a 31-year-old who says he commands some 1,500 rebels along the Syrian coast but is not part of the Free Syrian Army  the loosely organized network of military defectors and armed civilians  or any other group like the Muslim Brotherhood. He spoke on condition of complete anonymity and insisted that even his geographical area of operation be withheld from publication.
> 
> He was extremely reluctant to speak. He denied that the support was sponsored by foreign governments but admitted that the weapons that entered recently all went through me. He said he distributed weapons to almost all of the provinces but that everything that went in was not more than 5,000 rifles, although there were a lot of bullets, 700,000 bullets. He brushed off questions about new RPGs and denied receiving antitank missiles. When the sun rises, everybody will see it, he said.
> 
> TIME also found another alleged distributor, one of the four purported representatives of the rebellion in the capital, Damascus, and its outskirts. This man too said the distributors are neither FSA or Muslim Brotherhood. He did say the weapons are from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. Its not what you think, he said from Istanbul, where he has recently based himself after leaving Syria. It was just small amounts. Bullets, rifles, RPGs, and not in huge numbers. We were promised weapons that could take on a tank, but we havent got them yet.



Read more: Syria's Rebels Await Weapons Shipments from Sources Abroad | World | TIME.com


----------



## Katzndogz

The worst part of arming the terrorist rebels is that we are perpetuating this insane war.  It would have been over by now had we stayed out of it.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> The worst part of arming the terrorist rebels is that we are perpetuating this insane war.  It would have been over by now had we stayed out of it.



I don't know, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Muslims are doing the most arming and financing, not us. The Sunnis really want Assad gone, and this is their chance.


----------



## High_Gravity

Why the CIA Wont Relish Its Syria Mission








> According to the New York Times, the CIA now has people deployed in Turkey trying to sort out which Syrian rebels should be armed, and which shouldnt. That comes as no real surprise, in light of Syria spinning into worse chaos and violence, and the Obama Administration running out of good options. Isnt the CIA always called in when nothing else works?
> 
> Ill go out on a limb here and guess that, right now, the last situation the CIA wants to get into is Syria. Like the rest of the world, it knows next to nothing about the Syrian opposition, which is a mares nest of secular and religious groups. There is no one predominant figure, which leaves the CIA to sort out competing claims to political leadership and support. And, as these things usually go, it will take a lot of time to sort out the swindlers and the frauds from the real thing. A large number of Syrian exiles are in it for the money, rather than supporting, much less representing the fighters dying on Syrias battlefields.
> 
> It should also be remembered that the CIA has had a long, unhappy history playing Syrian politics. In the 1960s, one of its operatives was accused of trying to foment a coup, and was hanged in Damascuss central square. After Syria put down the Hama rebellion in February 1982, it found U.S.-made radio equipment in the rubble, and wrongly accused the CIA of having supported the uprising. Both State Department and the CIA came to an informal understanding that the CIA would keep away from the Syrian opposition  and it, in fact, did just that for the following three decades. So right now, the CIA is playing catch-up.
> 
> Turning the CIA on Syria is a sign that the Administration has been put in a corner not of its own making. Thats because there are no easy or obvious solutions to the Syrian conflict. When the Arab Spring first reached Syria in March 2011, the Washingtons hope was that Syrian President Bashar Assad would open up Syria to some sort of democracy and defuse dissent. Then, when the power struggle turned violent, the Administration latched on to the hope that a Syrian general would overthrow Bashar.
> 
> But what Washington missed was that the minority-led Alawite regime from the beginning was blinded by a siege mentality that didnt allow for any dissent. Either youre with us or youre against us was the mentality. Sacrificing Bashar  no matter how badly hed botched it  would be tantamount to surrender.
> 
> As the military confrontation escalated, the regime decided to hand out weapons to the so-called shabihah  irregular militas made up of Alawites and Christians, set loose on Sunni communities supporting the uprising. The regime never had any illusions it could control such groups, or restrain them from waging pogroms against civilians. But the arithmetic was compelling: There simply werent enough loyal units in the army to hold all the territory being contested by the rebels.
> 
> To add to the mess the CIAs been handed, all of the Syrian opposition groups and rebels are already spoken for in one way or another. Turkey has its favorites, as does Jordan. The most militant Islamic factions are supported by Qatar, where Syrias Muslim Brotherhood long ago set up shop. The Qatari authorities may know the Syrian Brotherhood better than anyone, but it doesnt mean Qatar will open its files to the Americans.



Read more: Why the CIA Won&#8217;t Relish Its Syria Mission | World | TIME.com


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> The worst part of arming the terrorist rebels is that we are perpetuating this insane war.  It would have been over by now had we stayed out of it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Muslims are doing the most arming and financing, not us. The Sunnis really want Assad gone, and this is their chance.
Click to expand...


They want Syria to turn into another Egypt.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Why the CIA Wont Relish Its Syria Mission
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> According to the New York Times, the CIA now has people deployed in Turkey trying to sort out which Syrian rebels should be armed, and which shouldnt. That comes as no real surprise, in light of Syria spinning into worse chaos and violence, and the Obama Administration running out of good options. Isnt the CIA always called in when nothing else works?
> 
> Ill go out on a limb here and guess that, right now, the last situation the CIA wants to get into is Syria. Like the rest of the world, it knows next to nothing about the Syrian opposition, which is a mares nest of secular and religious groups. There is no one predominant figure, which leaves the CIA to sort out competing claims to political leadership and support. And, as these things usually go, it will take a lot of time to sort out the swindlers and the frauds from the real thing. A large number of Syrian exiles are in it for the money, rather than supporting, much less representing the fighters dying on Syrias battlefields.
> 
> It should also be remembered that the CIA has had a long, unhappy history playing Syrian politics. In the 1960s, one of its operatives was accused of trying to foment a coup, and was hanged in Damascuss central square. After Syria put down the Hama rebellion in February 1982, it found U.S.-made radio equipment in the rubble, and wrongly accused the CIA of having supported the uprising. Both State Department and the CIA came to an informal understanding that the CIA would keep away from the Syrian opposition  and it, in fact, did just that for the following three decades. So right now, the CIA is playing catch-up.
> 
> Turning the CIA on Syria is a sign that the Administration has been put in a corner not of its own making. Thats because there are no easy or obvious solutions to the Syrian conflict. When the Arab Spring first reached Syria in March 2011, the Washingtons hope was that Syrian President Bashar Assad would open up Syria to some sort of democracy and defuse dissent. Then, when the power struggle turned violent, the Administration latched on to the hope that a Syrian general would overthrow Bashar.
> 
> But what Washington missed was that the minority-led Alawite regime from the beginning was blinded by a siege mentality that didnt allow for any dissent. Either youre with us or youre against us was the mentality. Sacrificing Bashar  no matter how badly hed botched it  would be tantamount to surrender.
> 
> As the military confrontation escalated, the regime decided to hand out weapons to the so-called shabihah  irregular militas made up of Alawites and Christians, set loose on Sunni communities supporting the uprising. The regime never had any illusions it could control such groups, or restrain them from waging pogroms against civilians. But the arithmetic was compelling: There simply werent enough loyal units in the army to hold all the territory being contested by the rebels.
> 
> To add to the mess the CIAs been handed, all of the Syrian opposition groups and rebels are already spoken for in one way or another. Turkey has its favorites, as does Jordan. The most militant Islamic factions are supported by Qatar, where Syrias Muslim Brotherhood long ago set up shop. The Qatari authorities may know the Syrian Brotherhood better than anyone, but it doesnt mean Qatar will open its files to the Americans.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Read more: Why the CIA Wont Relish Its Syria Mission | World | TIME.com
Click to expand...


Democracy again!   It's like democracy is something to be proud of!   It isn't, get over it.  We just saw democracy in Egypt and Libya.  It isn't so pretty is it?


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why the CIA Wont Relish Its Syria Mission
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> According to the New York Times, the CIA now has people deployed in Turkey trying to sort out which Syrian rebels should be armed, and which shouldnt. That comes as no real surprise, in light of Syria spinning into worse chaos and violence, and the Obama Administration running out of good options. Isnt the CIA always called in when nothing else works?
> 
> Ill go out on a limb here and guess that, right now, the last situation the CIA wants to get into is Syria. Like the rest of the world, it knows next to nothing about the Syrian opposition, which is a mares nest of secular and religious groups. There is no one predominant figure, which leaves the CIA to sort out competing claims to political leadership and support. And, as these things usually go, it will take a lot of time to sort out the swindlers and the frauds from the real thing. A large number of Syrian exiles are in it for the money, rather than supporting, much less representing the fighters dying on Syrias battlefields.
> 
> It should also be remembered that the CIA has had a long, unhappy history playing Syrian politics. In the 1960s, one of its operatives was accused of trying to foment a coup, and was hanged in Damascuss central square. After Syria put down the Hama rebellion in February 1982, it found U.S.-made radio equipment in the rubble, and wrongly accused the CIA of having supported the uprising. Both State Department and the CIA came to an informal understanding that the CIA would keep away from the Syrian opposition  and it, in fact, did just that for the following three decades. So right now, the CIA is playing catch-up.
> 
> Turning the CIA on Syria is a sign that the Administration has been put in a corner not of its own making. Thats because there are no easy or obvious solutions to the Syrian conflict. When the Arab Spring first reached Syria in March 2011, the Washingtons hope was that Syrian President Bashar Assad would open up Syria to some sort of democracy and defuse dissent. Then, when the power struggle turned violent, the Administration latched on to the hope that a Syrian general would overthrow Bashar.
> 
> But what Washington missed was that the minority-led Alawite regime from the beginning was blinded by a siege mentality that didnt allow for any dissent. Either youre with us or youre against us was the mentality. Sacrificing Bashar  no matter how badly hed botched it  would be tantamount to surrender.
> 
> As the military confrontation escalated, the regime decided to hand out weapons to the so-called shabihah  irregular militas made up of Alawites and Christians, set loose on Sunni communities supporting the uprising. The regime never had any illusions it could control such groups, or restrain them from waging pogroms against civilians. But the arithmetic was compelling: There simply werent enough loyal units in the army to hold all the territory being contested by the rebels.
> 
> To add to the mess the CIAs been handed, all of the Syrian opposition groups and rebels are already spoken for in one way or another. Turkey has its favorites, as does Jordan. The most militant Islamic factions are supported by Qatar, where Syrias Muslim Brotherhood long ago set up shop. The Qatari authorities may know the Syrian Brotherhood better than anyone, but it doesnt mean Qatar will open its files to the Americans.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Read more: Why the CIA Wont Relish Its Syria Mission | World | TIME.com
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Democracy again!   It's like democracy is something to be proud of!   It isn't, get over it.  We just saw democracy in Egypt and Libya.  It isn't so pretty is it?
Click to expand...


Democracy? now that the Muslim Brotherhood has power there won't be elections in Egypt again, thats not democracy.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> The worst part of arming the terrorist rebels is that we are perpetuating this insane war.  It would have been over by now had we stayed out of it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Muslims are doing the most arming and financing, not us. The Sunnis really want Assad gone, and this is their chance.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> They want Syria to turn into another Egypt.
Click to expand...


Well as long as Sunnis are in power, yes, but whats going on the ground right now in Syria is 30 times worse than in Egypt.


----------



## Unkotare

Well, now we know katzndouche is anti-democracy.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I don't know, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and other Muslims are doing the most arming and financing, not us. The Sunnis really want Assad gone, and this is their chance.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They want Syria to turn into another Egypt.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Well as long as Sunnis are in power, yes, but whats going on the ground right now in Syria is 30 times worse than in Egypt.
Click to expand...


Assad isn't Mubarak.   If Mubark were 30 instead of old and sick, Egypt would have been another Syria.

It's up to Russia.


----------



## Unkotare

Another failure by our bumbling, incompetent, spineless soon-to-be-former President.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Warned By Turkey Against Military Moves After Plane Shot Down 








> ANKARA, June 26 (Reuters) - Turkey will treat any Syrian military units which approach its border as a threat and a military target, Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Tuesday.
> 
> Erdogan also said Turkey was totally in the right over Syria's shooting down of a Turkish plane and that Ankara's rational response to the incident should not be mistaken for weakness.
> 
> "Everybody should know that Turkey's wrath is just as strong and devastating," Erdogan said in a speech to his ruling AK Party deputies in parliament.
> 
> The army's rules of engagement along the two countries' border had now changed, he said.
> 
> "Every military element approaching Turkey from the Syrian border and representing a security risk and danger will be assessed as a military threat and will be treated as a military target," he said.
> 
> Turkey has demanded backing from its NATO allies over the shoot down and has called a meeting in Brussels under Article 4 of the alliance's charter, which provides for consultations when a member state feels its territorial integrity or security is under threat.
> 
> Turkey has rejected assertions from Damascus that its forces had no option but to fire on the F-4 jet as it flew over Syrian waters close to the coast on Friday and has branded the shooting an "act of aggression". It says the aircraft was an unarmed reconnaissance plane flying over international waters.



Syria Warned By Turkey Against Military Moves After Plane Shot Down


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's Chemical Weapons: How Secure Are They? 








> As Syria slides into ever worsening violence and parts of the country begin to slip out of control of the state, Syria's chemical and biological weapons arsenal, air defense systems, and ballistic missiles could be up for grabs  a potential bonanza for radical militant groups and a massive challenge for the West in attempting to check proliferation.
> 
> Hard data on Syria's chemical and biological warfare capabilities is scarce, but the country is believed to have one of the largest chemical agents stockpiles in the world, including VX and Sarin nerve agents. It also has an impressive number of surface-to-surface missiles, such as Scud-Ds which can be fitted with chemical warheads, and modern Russian anti-aircraft missile batteries, including portable shoulder-fired systems.
> 
> "This is unknown territory," says Charles Blair, senior fellow for State and Non-State Threats at the Washington-based Federation of American Scientists. "We have never been through the potential collapse via a very bloody ethnic civil war of a country that is likely armed with a very large stockpile of chemical weapons.
> 
> RELATED: Who's who in Syria: 5 key factions
> 
> Syria is not a signatory to the Chemical Weapons Convention and denies having a chemical or biological weapons programs. But Western intelligence agencies believe Syria began developing a nonconventional arsenal in the 1980s with the assistance of the Soviet Union in a bid to achieve strategic parity with arch-enemy Israel.
> 
> They believe Syria has amassed sizable quantities of blistering agents, such as mustard gas  widely used in World War I and in the 1980-88 Iran-Iraq war  as well as Sarin and VX. The chemical agents are designed to be fitted to an array of delivery systems, from Scud-D short-range ballistic missiles to a projectile as small as an artillery shell.
> 
> Syria also is suspected of having a biological warfare program, possibly involving anthrax, although few details are known and the scale is thought to be small.
> 
> According to a recent report by the US-based James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, there are five identifiable chemical agent manufacturing plants in Syria. They are located in the following areas: Al Safir, southeast of Aleppo; Latakia, on the Mediterranean coast; near Dumayr, 16 miles northeast of Damascus; Khan Abu Shamat, 22 miles east of Damascus; and Al Furqlus in Homs province.



Syria's chemical weapons: How secure are they? - CSMonitor.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Turkey Relations: Turkey Deploys Troops, Anti-Aircraft Guns On Syrian Border 








> ANKARA, June 28 (Reuters) - Turkey is deploying troops along its border with Syria after one of its jets was shot down by Syria over the Mediterranean last week, a Turkish official said on Thursday.
> 
> "I can confirm there are troops being deployed along the border in Hatay province. Turkey is taking precautions after its jet was shot down," the official said on condition of anonymity.
> 
> He said he did not know how many troops or vehicles were being moved but said they were being stationed in the Yayladagi, Altinozu and Reyhanli border areas of Turkey's southern Hatay province. He said anti-aircraft guns were being stationed along the border.



Syria Turkey Relations: Turkey Deploys Troops, Anti-Aircraft Guns On Syrian Border


----------



## Unkotare

So much the better.


----------



## High_Gravity

Hamas: Militant Killed in Damascus



> (GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip)  Hamas said Thursday that one of its members was assassinated in his home in the Syrian capital, Damascus.
> 
> An official in the Palestinian militant movement said Kamal Ghanaja was a former aide to Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, a senior commander who was himself assassinated in Dubai in 2010.
> 
> The official said Hamas had been informed that a group of people entered Ghanajas home, killed him and took some files. He said a senior member of the movement has gone to Damascus to follow the official investigations.
> 
> He spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the issue.
> 
> Hamas in a statement posted on its website that it was working to identify the assassin and that Ghanajas noble blood shall not be shed in vain.
> 
> Although Hamas, the movement that rules the Gaza Strip, did not explicitly blame anyone for the killing, suspicions immediately arose that Israel was involved. Israel has waged a long and bloody conflict with Hamas and is widely believed to have killed al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel in 2010, though it has never confirmed or denied involvement.



Read more: Hamas: Militant Killed in Damascus | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Damascus Bombing Rocks Capital Outside Palace of Justice 









> DAMASCUS, Syria  A strong explosion rocked the Syrian capital Thursday near a busy market and the country's highest court, wounding at least three people and sending clouds of black smoke into the sky.
> 
> The blast came as tensions threatened to spread across the region. Neighboring Turkey deployed anti-aircraft guns and other weapons alongside its border with Syria, nearly a week after Syrian forces shot a Turkish military plane out of the sky, Turkish state TV said Thursday.
> 
> Major world powers will meet Saturday in Geneva for talks on Syria, but few observers expect a major breakthrough. Syria has the protection or Russia, a veto-wielding member of the U.N. Security Council, and has so far been impervious to international pressure.
> 
> Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Thursday that Moscow will not endorse a call for Assad to give up power.
> 
> "We are not supporting and will not support any external meddling," he said. "External players must not dictate ... to Syrians, but, first of all, must commit to influencing all the sides in Syria to stop the violence."
> 
> It was not clear who was behind Thursday's blast in Damascus.
> 
> Much of the violence that has gripped Syria since the uprising began has been sanctioned by the government to crush dissent. But rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several massive suicide attacks this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the fray.
> 
> An Associated Press reporter at the scene of the blast said some cars were charred and many had their windshields blown out.
> 
> "I did not see any wounded people, but cars and nearby shops were damaged," said Fawaz Mishhim, a witness who was in a nearby market when he heard the explosion.
> 
> Syria's state-run TV said the explosion was in the parking lot of the Palace of Justice, a compound that houses several courts. The blast happened at 1 p.m. near the capital's famous Hamidiyeh Market, an area crowded with families stocking up on food and other supplies for the weekend, which begins on Friday in Syria.
> 
> Witnesses reported hearing one blast, but state-run TV said two explosions struck the area. The report also said a roadside bomb was found but did not explode.



Syria Crisis: Damascus Bombing Rocks Capital Outside Palace of Justice


----------



## Unkotare

This would be a good time for us to have an actual leader.


----------



## High_Gravity

Unkotare said:


> This would be a good time for us to have an actual leader.



I don't want us doing anything over there. Radical Muslims are coming into Syria to suicide bomb and plants IEDS against Assads goons and rapists, I say let them have at it.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> I don't want us doing anything over there..



Too late for that: US was "doing something" in Syria way before it started the war on Libya! And now US continuing its "democratising" efforts there.


----------



## Hollie

High_Gravity said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> This would be a good time for us to have an actual leader.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I don't want us doing anything over there. Radical Muslims are coming into Syria to suicide bomb and plants IEDS against Assads goons and rapists, I say let them have at it.
Click to expand...


I'm with you on that. 

Let that loud sucking sound which is the vortex of Arab / Moslem hate, incompetence and ineptitude become a black hole that consumes them.


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> Too late for that: US was "doing something" in Syria way before it started the war on Libya! And now US continuing its "democratising" efforts there.



The day that ass-ad started allowing the iraqi ba'ath party members / al qaeda to use syria as a launching point / safe haven from which to attack US troops in iraq, I could have told you his regime's days were numbered.

The day after he did that, I can guarantee you as a professional myself that there were clandestine servicemen inside syria initiating the embers of a revolution.

Whatever advisor advised ass-ad and thought it would be a good idea to try and tie up the world's mightiest power with some terrorists in iraq is a complete imbecile.  I don't know who is less intelligent; the advisor for thinking it would be a good idea and would not lead to massive blowback from the US, or ass-ad for being stupid enough to take that advice.

From that moment, ass-ad became persona non grata as far as the US was concerned, and a primary target of the US political and military establishment.


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Too late for that: US was "doing something" in Syria way before it started the war on Libya! And now US continuing its "democratising" efforts there.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The day that ass-ad started allowing the iraqi ba'ath party members / al qaeda to use syria .
Click to expand...


Would it be the same Baath party the US brought to power in Iraq many moons ago?

And would it be the same Islamists (you can call them Al-Q) whom the US aided during the war against Serbia? Same Al-Q on who's side US fought during war against Libya? Same Al-Q that is now posing as "Syrian freedom fighters" supported by the US?

And what was the "fault" of Libya?
Listen from 1:20
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...lvmODQ&usg=AFQjCNGVtfoYZLTkgoBBqZg8dkABHnq7dQ


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> Would it be the same Baath party the US brought to power in Iraq many moons ago? And would it be the same Islamists (you can call them Al-Q) whom the US aided during the war against Serbia? Same Al-Q on who's side US fought during war against Libya? Same Al-Q that is now posing as "Syrian freedom fighters" supported by the US? And what was the "fault" of Libya?



Like every nation, the US has interests and allies - until they cease to be allies.  What the US does or may have done 50 years earlier has no relevance to today.

This is the same garbage we hear about iran from the morons: "oh, since you overthrew mossadegh, the iranians have every right to attack you!" as if the US is allowed to nuke the UK today since they burned down the white house 200 years ago.  It's called a third-grade comprehension of political events.


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Would it be the same Baath party the US brought to power in Iraq many moons ago? And would it be the same Islamists (you can call them Al-Q) whom the US aided during the war against Serbia? Same Al-Q on who's side US fought during war against Libya? Same Al-Q that is now posing as "Syrian freedom fighters" supported by the US? And what was the "fault" of Libya?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Like every nation, the US has interests and allies - until they cease to be allies.  What the US does or may have done 50 years earlier has no relevance to today.
> 
> This is the same garbage we hear about iran from the morons: "oh, since you overthrew mossadegh, the iranians have every right to attack you!" as if the US is allowed to nuke the UK today since they burned down the white house 200 years ago.  It's called a third-grade comprehension of political events.
Click to expand...


How can you say "What the US does or may have done 50 years earlier has no relevance to today", if in the previous post you suggested USA marked Syria for supporting Baath party?!

And correct me if I am wrong, but didn't US go on a rampage around the world in the name of the "War on Terror" against the very same Islamic militants the US is actively supporting in Serbia, Russia, Libya and Syria?!


----------



## Trajan

don't worry everyone....Hillary and Koffi Anan are meeting in Geneva this weekend...



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDAmPIq29ro]Animal House - All Is Well! - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> How can you say "What the US does or may have done 50 years earlier has no relevance to today", if in the previous post you suggested USA marked Syria for supporting Baath party?!



Uhhhh, when did the syrians support and aid the iraqis against the US in iraq?  A LOT more recent that 50 years ago 



> And correct me if I am wrong, but didn't US go on a rampage around the world in the name of the "War on Terror" against the very same Islamic militants the US is actively supporting in Serbia, Russia, Libya and Syria?!



I would imagine that the US is not aiding or supplying the islamic terrorists in syria, but the FSA.  One would hope that they learned their lesson after afghanistan.  It would be Qatar or Saudi Arabia that might be working with the islamists.

And who is the US supporting against Russia?

And why do people like you have an issue with the US stepping into involvement with syria - but raise no issue over iran and russia using it as a client/vassal state?


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> How can you say "What the US does or may have done 50 years earlier has no relevance to today", if in the previous post you suggested USA marked Syria for supporting Baath party?!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Uhhhh, when did the syrians support and aid the iraqis against the US in iraq?  A LOT more recent that 50 years ago
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And correct me if I am wrong, but didn't US go on a rampage around the world in the name of the "War on Terror" against the very same Islamic militants the US is actively supporting in Serbia, Russia, Libya and Syria?!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I would imagine that the US is not aiding or supplying the islamic terrorists in syria, but the FSA.  One would hope that they learned their lesson after afghanistan.  It would be Qatar or Saudi Arabia that might be working with the islamists.
> 
> And who is the US supporting against Russia?
> 
> And why do people like you have an issue with the US stepping into involvement with syria - but raise no issue over iran and russia using it as a client/vassal state?
Click to expand...


I am not even asking what the US/UK was doing in Iraq: but you mentioned that the US marked Syria for destruction on the grounds it was supporting Baath party. The same Baath party the US brought into power in Iraq a few years previously.

You can imagine whatever you like, but the fact remains: the US went on a rampage a
round the world under the cover of "war on terror" while politically supporting, financing and arming terrorists and Islamic militants in former Yugoslavia, Serbia, Russian Federation, Libya, Syria.

Yes, SA and Quatar are currently functioning as a money bag, and they pursue their own ambitions now, but they still do it under the US umbrella.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Observer Chief Says Violence Unprecedented








> (DAMASCUS, Syria)  The violence in Syria has reached unprecedented levels, the head of the countrys U.N. observer mission said Thursday, insisting there must be a cease-fire in order for his teams to resume their work.
> 
> About 300 U.N. monitors were sent to Syria to provide an unbiased look at the violence, but they have been confined to their hotels since June 15 because of the bloodshed.
> 
> The escalation of violence, allow me to say, to an unprecedented level, obstructed our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue, Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood told reporters in the Syrian capital Damascus.
> 
> More than 14,000 people have been killed since the Syrian uprising began in March 2011, according to activists. As the conflict grinds on, the violence has become widespread and chaotic. Besides the government crackdown on dissent, rebel fighters are launching increasingly deadly attacks on regime targets, and several massive suicide attacks this year suggest al-Qaida or other extremists are joining the fray.




Read more: Syria Observer Chief Says Violence &#8216;Unprecedented&#8217; | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Troops And Helicopters Advance On Khan Sheikhoun 








> BEIRUT, July 5 (Reuters) - Syrian troops backed up by helicopters advanced on Thursday into the rebellious northern town of Khan Sheikhoun, activist residents said, one of many fronts being contested by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and pro-democracy rebels.
> 
> "(Syrian forces) have entered the town from the southern side. They are burning houses and farms," activist Abu al-Ghaith al-Khani said by Skype, adding that 80 percent of the town's residents had fled.
> 
> Rebel fighters suffered heavy loses during battles late on Wednesday night in Khan Sheikhoun, a town in rural Idlib province that straddles the strategic western highway linking Damascus and Aleppo.
> 
> Activists said government forces had bombarded the town with mortar bombs on Wednesday night in advance of their assault. They gave an initial death toll of nine people but added that more people might be dead as communication with the area was difficult.
> 
> Abu Hamam, a resident of Khan Sheikhoun, said 100 armoured vehicles, tanks and missile launchers had approached the outskirts of the town at dawn and resumed their bombardment.
> 
> "Rebels have inflicted major damage on Assad's troops. But at the same time rebels have lost ground," Abu Hamam said.
> 
> Rami Abdelrahman, a human rights activist who monitors and records violence in Syria, said in a email that 97 people had been killed on Wednesday in fighting across Syria. Over the past few weeks, daily death tolls of over a hundred have become common.
> 
> Western and Arab states who want Assad to step down to help end the crisis meet in Paris on Friday as the "Friends of Syria", a group that excludes Assad's main backer, Russia, and fellow U.N. Security Council veto-holder China.
> 
> Diplomatic efforts by a divided international community have so far been ineffective in stopping the violence.
> 
> Residents said mortar bombs were exploding in central districts of Homs, Syria's third largest city, where whole neighbourhoods have been destroyed. Despite repeated assaults by Assad's forces, rebels have still managed to keep a foothold.
> 
> A resident of the battered Khalidiya district in Homs said that the city was surrounded by artillery and troops.
> 
> "The regime has imposed a crippling siege in most of the anti-government areas of Homs," Saif al-Arabi said by Skype. "We can't get the wounded out."



Syria Crisis: Troops And Helicopters Advance On Khan Sheikhoun


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Diplomats Call For Global Sanctions Against Assad








> PARIS -- The United States and its international partners called Friday for global sanctions against Bashar Assad's regime, seeking to step up the pressure after the defection of a top general dealt a major blow to the Syrian leader. Washington urged countries around the world to pressure Russia and China into forcing Assad to leave power.
> 
> A Western official told The Associated Press that Syrian Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass had abandoned Assad's regime. Tlass was a member of the elite Republican Guards and a son of a former defense minister. The official wasn't authorized to divulge the information and spoke on condition of anonymity.
> 
> Tlass' whereabouts were unclear. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and other opposition websites claimed he had fled to Turkey, while other reports said he came to Paris, where he has a sister and where diplomats from around the world gathered Friday for a conference to bolster the Syrian opposition and pressure Assad.
> 
> The new defection is the highest profile departure from the Assad regime in 16 months of brutal government crackdowns and civil war. The Paris conference buzzed with talk about the departure.
> 
> A member of Syria's opposition National Council, Hassem Hashimi, told the AP in Paris that Tlass has defected, describing him as a powerful figure in the Assad regime. "The defection of Tlass will encourage a lot of similar people to defect as well," he said.
> 
> Also in Paris, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton joined senior officials from about 100 other countries to win wider support for a Syrian transition plan unveiled last week by U.N. mediator Kofi Annan. Joined by America's allies, she called for "real and immediate consequences for non-compliance, including sanctions," against the Assad regime.
> 
> But with neither Moscow nor Beijing in attendance, much remained dependent on persuading the two reluctant U.N. veto-wielding powers to force Assad into abiding by a cease-fire and the transition strategy. Clinton urged governments around the world to direct their pressure toward Russia and China, as well.
> 
> "What can every nation and group represented here do?" Clinton asked. "I ask you to reach out to Russia and China, and to not only urge but demand that they get off the sidelines and begin to support the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people."
> 
> "I don't think Russia and China believe they are paying any price at all  nothing at all  for standing up on behalf of the Assad regime," she added. "The only way that will change is if every nation represented here directly and urgently makes it clear that Russia and China will pay a price. Because they are holding up progress, blockading it. That is no longer tolerable."



Syria Crisis: Diplomats Call For Global Sanctions Against Assad


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Russia Arms Sales To Syria Halted, Says Official








> MOSCOW  Russia on Monday signaled that it would not sign new weapons contracts with Syria until the situation there calms down.
> 
> The country will continue with previously agreed exports, but will not be selling new arms to Syria, Vyacheslav Dzirkaln, deputy chief of the Russian military and technical cooperation agency, told Russian news agencies on the sidelines of the Farnborough air show southwest off London.
> 
> Putting it in conflict with the West, the Russians have blocked the U.N.'s Security Council from taking strong, punitive action against the Assad regime and are seen as the country's key arms supplier. Syrian activists say that about 14,000 people have been killed in an uprising in the country since March 2011.
> 
> Russia has been providing Syria's army with spare parts and assistance in repairs of the weapons supplied earlier, Dzirkaln said. He insisted that Russia does not sell helicopters or fighter planes to Syria.
> 
> British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday said he welcomes the decision, but added that Britain "would like to see a halt of all deliveries of weaponry to a regime that has embarked on the killing of so many of its own people."
> 
> U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton last month issued a harsh reprimand to Russia, saying that Moscow "dramatically" escalated the crisis in Syria by sending attack helicopters there. The State Department acknowledged later that the helicopters were actually refurbished ones already owned by the Syrian regime.
> 
> Russian President Vladimir Putin earlier on Monday said that Russia is still committed to a peace plan by U.N. envoy Kofi Annan, saying that the Syrian government and opposition groups should be "forced" to start a dialogue.
> 
> Annan's six-point peace plan was to begin with a cease-fire in mid-April between government forces and rebels seeking to topple Assad, to be followed by political dialogue. But the truce never took hold, and almost 300 U.N. observers sent to monitor the cease-fire are now confined to their hotels because of the escalating violence.



Syria Crisis: Russia Arms Sales To Syria Halted, Says Official


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Refugee Camp In Jordan To Accomodate Those Fleeing Violence








> MAFRAQ, Jordan  Jordan opened a new refugee camp Tuesday near the border with Syria to accommodate the growing number of people fleeing the deadly violence in the neighboring country, days after the U.N. refugee agency appealed to the kingdom to make more room to meet the surge in the cross-border flow.
> 
> Authorities here have been reluctant to set up refugee camps, possibly to avoid angering Syrian President Bashar Assad's autocratic regime by showing images at his doorstep of civilians fleeing his military onslaught against them.
> 
> A separate camp, which was to host the UNHCR and the agency's own tents, was set up months ago in the town of Ribaa Sarhan near the Syrian border, but has remained unused while Syrian refugees stayed in heavily-guarded housing compounds in several towns along the border.
> 
> Jordan's Information Minister Sameeh Maaytah said Tuesday the new camp in the northern border town of Mafraq had to be set up because Syrian refugees could no longer be absorbed into border communities.
> 
> "We had to move quickly to make extra room for the refugees, whose numbers swelled in recent days," he told The Associated Press.
> 
> Since the uprising in Syria broke out in March 2011, Jordan has provided shelter for 140,000 Syrian refugees. Lebanon hosts about 30,000 Syrians and Turkey has taken in tens of thousands of others.
> 
> Aid workers have said that a sudden surge of 3,600 refugees last week increased pressure on Jordan, though the numbers tapered off over the weekend because of a Syrian military onslaught that hampered the movement of civilians trying to make their way to Jordan.
> 
> The Interior Ministry said as many as 1,000 refugees crossed over each day last week, four times the previous daily average of 250 people. The discrepancy in the numbers could not be immediately reconciled.
> 
> Andrew Harper, the U.N. refugee agency's representative to Jordan, said that as the Mafraq camp opened, bulldozers were digging the ground in the bleak Jordanian desert at the nearby Zaatari village for a second camp.
> 
> It was not immediately clear when that camp would be finished or whether Jordan would eventually use the third camp, at Ribaa Sarhan.
> 
> Maaytah said the camp at Zaatari will be an "emergency camp," where health and other services will be provided. He also said the International Organization for Migration will establish its own separate camps to shelter non-Syrians fleeing Syria on their way home or to third countries.
> 
> He said the decision to open the camps was taken in a Cabinet meeting late Monday. It followed an appeal last week from UNHCR's Harper, who called on the government to open a camp for Syrian refugees because the existing state-run housing compounds were overcrowded.



Syria Refugee Camp In Jordan To Accomodate Those Fleeing Violence


----------



## High_Gravity

Nawaf Al Fares, Syria Ambassador To Iraq, Reportedly Defects








> BEIRUT, July 11 (Reuters) - Syria's ambassador to Iraq defected on Wednesday in protest at the military crackdown by President Bashar al-Assad's forces against a 16-month uprising, Syrian opposition sources said.
> 
> Nawaf al-Fares, who has close ties to Syrian security, would be the first senior diplomat to quit the embattled government. There has been no comment from Damascus or Baghdad.
> 
> 
> A veteran of Assad's rule who held senior positions under the late president Hafez al-Assad, Fares is from Deir al-Zor, the eastern city on the road to Iraq which has been the scene of a ferocious military onslaught by Assad forces.
> 
> 
> "This is just the beginning of a series of defections on the diplomatic level. We are in touch with several ambassadors," said Mohamed Sermini, a member of the main opposition umbrella group, the Syrian National Council.
> 
> The defection of Fares, a Sunni, could be a major blow to Assad, who wants to convince a sceptical world that he is conducting a legitimate defence of his country against foreign-backed armed groups bent on toppling the government.
> 
> Fares' decision to jump ship follows the high-profile flight from Syria last week of Brigadier General Manaf Tlas, also a Sunni and once a close friend of Assad, whose minority Alawite sect has relied on Sunni allies to maintain control of Syria's majority Sunni population.
> 
> Tlas fled to Paris and has not spoken since of his intentions. Opposition sources said Fares was leaving Iraq but it was not clear where he would go.



Nawaf Al Fares, Syria Ambassador To Iraq, Reportedly Defects


----------



## mememe

*SYRIA WILL RECEIVE FROM RUSSIA defence systems and repaired HELICOPTERS as per  EXISTING CONTRACTS*

July 11, 2012 | 17:05

Today at the Farnborough Air Show a representatives of the Federal Service for Military-Technical Cooperation confirmed that Moscow has no intention of introducing embargo on arms deliveries to Damascus.

http://echo.msk.ru/news/908144-echo.html


----------



## High_Gravity

Nawaf al-Fares, Top Syrian Envoy, Defects And Urges Army To Revolt Against Bashar Al-Assad 









> BEIRUT, July 12 (Reuters) - Syria's ambassador to Iraq has defected and urged the army to "turn your guns on the criminals" of President Bashar al-Assad's government, giving the anti-Assad uprising one of its biggest boosts in 16 months of bloodshed.
> 
> Nawaf al-Fares, who has close ties to the Syrian security services, was the first senior diplomat to desert Assad, following hard on the heels of Manaf Tlas, a brigadier general in the elite Republican Guard and a close friend of Assad.
> 
> Assad's swift and bloody crackdown on what began as a broad, peaceful pro-democracy movement helped turn it into an armed rebellion. But the insurgents cannot match the army's firepower, and instead need to erode the loyalty and conviction within Assad's establishment to loosen its hold on power.
> 
> Tlas, the son of a veteran former Syrian defence minister, has made no public comment since fleeing to Paris. But Fares posted a video statement on Facebook on Wednesday that repeatedly said government forces had been killing civilians.
> 
> "I declare that I have joined, from this moment, the ranks of the revolution of the Syrian people," he said.
> 
> "I ask ... the members of the military to join the revolution and to defend the country and the citizens. Turn your guns on the criminals from this regime ...
> 
> 
> "Every Syrian man has to join the revolution to remove this nightmare and this gang," he said, accusing the Assad family and its allies of corruption and "destroying society" for 40 years.
> 
> The defection was seized on by Assad's opponents, but also by Western and Sunni Arab powers who insist, like the opposition, that Assad must leave power in any political settlement for Syria.
> 
> In Damascus, a terse government statement said: "The Syrian foreign ministry declares that Nawaf al-Fares has been relieved of his duties and he no longer has any link to our embassy in Baghdad or the foreign ministry. They embassy in Iraq will continue carrying out its normal duties."



Nawaf al-Fares, Top Syrian Envoy, Defects And Urges Army To Revolt Against Bashar Al-Assad


----------



## Lipush

*Syrian Carnage in Hamma, *

Over 250 people killed today, 400 injured, most of them children.


----------



## rhodescholar

Lipush said:


> Syrian Carnage in Hamma, Over 250 people killed today, 400 injured, most of them children.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/13/w...ys-defecting-ambassador-is-fired.html?_r=1&hp

That fucking empty suit pos fake president sitting in the white house is doing what, playing basketball?

The fucking war criminal animal ass-ad is slaughtering people, and barack useless is silent - not even a fucking speech condemning these Crimes Against Humanity...


----------



## High_Gravity

Will Syrias Conflict Spill Over into War-Weary Iraq?








> For months, Syrian opposition groups have smuggled weapons and fighters into the country across the borders of Turkey and Lebanon. Now another of Syrias influential neighborsIraqsays its territory is being used as a base for al-Qaeda attacks against the regime of President Bashar Assad. Speaking to a handful of reporters in Paris on Thursday morning, Iraqs Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said both U.S. and Iraq believe that Al Qaeda operatives are sneaking into Syria across Iraqs western border, despite the fact that the U.S. military during the Iraq War turned that remote desert area into the countrys best-secured frontier. It is very, very difficult to control 680 kilometers of borders, Zebari said, claiming that Al Qaedas infiltration into Syria was now a fact. For jihadis, he said, Syria is a good environment, because of the lack of security, the lack of control of the government.
> 
> The possibility that al-Qaeda might be involved in the Syrian revolt is hardly surprising, since al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri last February called on supporters to go join the fight. But Zebaris statement about Al Qaedas infiltration from Iraq was his second such warning in just six days. That is a measure, perhaps, of Iraqs mounting anxiety that the Syrian turmoil might increasingly be playing out within its own war-weary country, which is still digging out from the eight-year Iraq War; the last U.S. combat soldiers left just seven months ago. If Zebaris assessment is correct, it could greatly increase the chances of Iraq being dragged into Syrias 17-month conflict, with the upheaval spreading far further across the region. Zebari said Iraqi officials had told U.N. envoy Kofi Annan in Baghdad earlier this week that they feared the spillover from the Syrian crisis.
> 
> Until now, Iraq has claimed to be neutral in the crisisa stark contrast to its eastern neighbor Iran, which is one of Assads most crucial allies, and an ever-closer ally of the Shiite-dominated government in Baghdad. Iraqs southern neighbor Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, is backing Syrias revolution. Zebari said Iraq backed Annans plan for a transitional government in Syria, through dialogue between the opposition and the regime. Yet when TIME asked him whether Assad should leave, he said only, It is up to the Syrian people to determine their future and to choose their leaders.
> 
> But Iraqs stated neutrality is eroding. Instead, the spillover from the Syrian crisis might already have begun, as the devastating violence next door deepens Iraqs existing sectarian divisions, including those between Shiites and Sunnis. Earlier this week, al-Qaedas Iraqi affiliate claimed on its website that it was responsible for several bombings last month, which targeted largely Shiite sites, and in which hundreds were killed. There are those who support the [Syrian] regime and those who dont, says Salman Shaikh, director of the Brookings Institutions Doha Center. There is a real scenario here whereby the two conflicts [in Syria and Iraq] will feed off each other, he says. The Syrian conflict will expose Iraqs divisions more and more, the longer this goes on. That scenario, says Shaikh, is already at work in Lebanon, where ethnic conflicts have revived by the chaos within Syrian.
> 
> Far from Iraqs government being neutral over Syria, Shaikh believes Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki is under pressure from his Shiite allies in Iran to assist Assad where he can. Zebari, a Kurd serving in a heavily Shiite government, denied that Iran was calling the shots. They have influence, there is no doubt about that, he says. But when it comes to matters of Iraqi national interest, we act independently.



Read more: Will Syria&#8217;s Conflict Spill Over into War-Weary Iraq? | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Is the Syrian Regime Using Rape as a Tactic of War?








> According to a New York Citybased womens-rights organization, the Syrian government isnt just using artillery strikes and snipers to crack down on the uprising in its midst. Reports started coming in a few months ago: a Facebook post from a young girl; a shrouded woman in hijab telling her story on YouTube; foreign journalists recounting horrors whispered in refugee camps. These were the stories of women and children raped and abused by Syrian government soldiers and paramilitaries loyal to the embattled Syrian President Bashar Assad. The reports range from tales of groping to gang rape to women being held captive as sex slaves. Some include horrific accounts of womens genitals being burned or exposed to rodents.
> 
> For the past three months, Women Under Siege, an affiliate of Gloria Steinems Womens Media Center, has gathered data on sexual violence in Syria, spotlighting assaults carried out by Syrian government personnel. The group released its findings on Wednesday with a crowdsourced map that it hopes will be an effective tool to catalog and publicize how rape has become a weapon in war. A lot of that kind of information has been lost to history because of shame, stigma and even death, says Lauren Wolfe, one of the founders of the project.
> 
> The groups research includes 81 stories of sexual assault reported since the onset of the Syrian uprising in March 2011, with most of the alleged culprits being the regimes soldiers or shabiha (plainclothes militia). Almost 70% of attacks against women have been by Syrian government personnel, 90% of the women assaulted were raped and 42% of the women attacked were gang-raped. Young boys were also assaulted, with many of these attacks occurring while the boys were held in government detention. It remains unclear whether the culprits were acting on direct orders or of their own accord, but some of the reports include men claiming that they were told to rape the women they capture. Its suspected that many of the victims have some ties to the Syrian rebellion; their bodies have become another battlefield of the countrys bloody civil war. Some reports claim that rebel fighters have been forced to watch their wives and daughters be repeatedly raped.
> 
> Women Under Siege proposes a three-pronged solution to the problem. The map was one of the biggest parts of the project  a visual aid to make people connect with an issue that many may simply turn from in disgust. It really, literally is putting womens stories of suffering in war on a map. I think its caused people to look more closely at what might be going on as opposed to seeing a story and just turning the page, Wolfe says. Second, the group hopes to pinpoint hot spots of sexual violence so that aid organizations working in Syria can focus their relief efforts in those areas. Finally, it hopes to gather enough concrete evidence that can eventually be brought to bear before a war-crimes tribunal.



Read more: Syria: Is the Assad Regime Using Rape as a Weapon of War? | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

The Rebels: We Need Intel More Than Arms








> It took Twitter five years to hire a Washington lobbyist. That was quick compared to Apple, which took 25 years to begin paying someone to represent its interests in the capital.
> 
> Violence had been raging in Syria for 14 months before the Free Syrian Army, the largest force in opposition to Bashar al-Assads regime, hired Brian Sayers to represent their interests in Washington. Of course, their needs are much more dire.
> 
> By United Nations estimates some 10,000 people have died since the Arab Spring reached Damascus and the violence has only increased in recent months with arms flowing in to both sides (as Simon Shuster explores from Moscow in this weeks print edition, and here). But, while Moscow arms Assads regime  though theyve pledged no new sales, some $4 billion in contracts are outstanding  the opposition is not seeking the same from the U.S.
> 
> The FSA is getting plenty of arms and cash from the Qatari, Saudi Arabian and, to a lesser extent, the Emirati governments, according to U.S. sources. What they want from Washington is a smarter way to use these weapons. Everyone says, just give them a bunch of weapons. Well, rocket propelled grenades are fine but ultimately what they need is intelligence support in order to bring down the regime, says Sayers, because ultimately the regime has more sophisticated weaponry. The FSA has nowhere near that kind of capacity. And so heres where the U.S. could do a huge amount of support and it could be done very covertly.
> 
> Currently, the U.S. is only providing Syrian political groups  not armed ones like the FSA humanitarian aid, communications equipment and training. The State Department is carefully vetting these opposition groups to ensure they have no terrorist links. The U.S. stamp of approval then opens the floodgates for other countries such as Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the UAE to provide lethal aid as well.
> 
> Some say thats not nearly enough. If the U.S. is only going to be a facilitator of arms flows into the country, thats not enough to be stabilize things, to end the violence, says Ammar Abdulhamid, a Syrian dissident who has been in exile in Washington since 2005. In fact, it only makes things worse.
> 
> Adbulhamid wants Washington and NATO to impose a no-fly zone as they did over Libya and Iraq. But U.S. officials say there is little chance of that happening given Assads advanced anti-aircraft weaponry. The notion that we could pursue a military intervention and that would make the situation go away would not be one wed sign on to, says Ben Rhodes, deputy national security adviser.
> 
> Theres not an option that would make the situation better, he says. Not just because of the lack of a United Nations mandate, but because of the nature of the conflict. In Libya, you had huge swathes of the country that could be cordoned off by air power. Not so in SyriaAlso theres not a simple process where we could pick one group and arm them and that would tip the scales.



Read more: The Rebels: We Need Intel More Than Arms | Battleland | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

Lipush said:


> *Syrian Carnage in Hamma, *
> 
> Over 250 people killed today, 400 injured, most of them children.



Yeah, "children". Yet another lie. In Hamma Syrian Army was conducting an anti-terrorist operation. The same as in other Syrian towns. Successful operations! That's why the West is getting hysterical.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Is the Syrian Regime Using Rape as a Tactic of War?



O!!!!! And I was wondering, when will we be treated to "rape" twaddle? And there it is!

WW2? -- RAPE by Russian brutes on Viagra!
Serbia? -- RAPE by Serbian brutes on Viagra!
Iraq? -- RAPE by Iraqi brutes on Viagra!
Libya? -- RAPE by Libyan brutes on Viagra!

And now -- Syria! -- RAPE by Syrian brutes on Viagra!

And the most fascinating is -- YOU SWALLOW ALL THAT TRIPE! Your propaganda merchants don't even need to vary their mould!


----------



## MHunterB

Would you like to explain where you're getting your 'info' from that it's all 'terrorists' and such?

How did they manage to fool the Norwegian general who's in charge of the UN observer group ?


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> Yeah, "children". Yet another lie. In Hamma Syrian Army was conducting an anti-terrorist operation. The same as in other Syrian towns. Successful operations! That's why the West is getting hysterical.



Idiot assholes like this are so fucking stupid, I'm not even sure if its worth correcting them.


----------



## Trajan

Egyptians forces in  Yemen in the 60s's used gas, Saddam used gas on his own, Hafez Assad daddy to the present day butcher killed approx. 20K in Hama in 82 and used cyanide gas, so the apple may not fall far from the tree. Estimates now put the deaths at approx. 15k-20K, so hes in the ballpark. 

If he decides to start using gas whats to be done? Will Koffi wring his hands some more? 


Updated July 13, 2012, 10:12 a.m. ET

U.S. Concerned as Syria Moves Chemical Stockpile 

WASHINGTON&#8212;Syria has begun moving parts of its vast arsenal of chemical weapons out of storage facilities, U.S. officials said, in a development that has alarmed many in Washington.

The country's undeclared stockpiles of sarin nerve agent, mustard gas and cyanide have long worried U.S. officials and their allies in the region, who have watched anxiously amid the conflict in Syria for any change in the status or location of the weapons.

American officials are divided on the meaning of the latest moves by members of President Bashar al-Assad's regime.

Some U.S. officials fear Damascus intends to use the weapons against the rebels or civilians, potentially as part of a targeted ethnic cleansing campaign. But other officials said Mr. Assad may be trying to safeguard the material from his opponents or to complicate Western powers' efforts to track the weapons.


more at-
U.S. Concerned as Syria Moves Chemical Stockpile - WSJ.com


----------



## mememe

MHunterB said:


> Would you like to explain where you're getting your 'info' from that it's all 'terrorists' and such?
> 
> How did they manage to fool the Norwegian general who's in charge of the UN observer group ?



"The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group with contacts in Syria" is a dude of Syrian descent who never been to Syria and live by running a fast-food joint in London provides most "reports" from Syria while sitting in London -- is "the Norwegian general"?!

Use common sense: there is Assad and the government -- all supported by the vast majority of Syrian population as the elections showed. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, that very same Assad and that very same government decide to go and murder the very same population that supports them?!

There is no "peoples uprising" in Syria; as there was no "peoples uprising" in Libya. There are groups of mercenaries and terrorists recruited from all sides of the ME, some came from Libya. They are armed and directed by Western advisers and SF; Qatar and SA providing finances; Turkey provides most of the training and the bases.

But the difference between Libya and Syria is that while Gaddafi relied largely on armed population, Assad does have a well trained Army. And that Army was highly successful in destroying pockets of terrorists which prompted the West to send Annan in with his "initiative". To delay "civilised" attacking his country, Assad had to go along with Annan's proposals; but the "rebels" didn't. And now Assad had to re-start anti-terrorist operations!


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yeah, "children". Yet another lie. In Hamma Syrian Army was conducting an anti-terrorist operation. The same as in other Syrian towns. Successful operations! That's why the West is getting hysterical.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Idiot assholes like this are so fucking stupid, I'm not even sure if its worth correcting them.
Click to expand...


Didn't "civilised community" use the same rhetoric to work up home support for the war on Serbia, Iraq, Libya? And then go and DELIBERATELY target CIVILIAN POPULATION and bomb them to ashes!

How dumb one should be to fall for the same script every time!


----------



## mememe

When the US will finally fall (and it will happen sooner then later), I hope the whole of its population will be put on trial for crimes against humanity -- for well meaning stupidity is no excuse for mass murders!


----------



## mememe

General Staff of Turkish armed forces on Friday issued a statement which rejected earlier version put forward by Ankara that on June 22 Turkish reconnaissance aircraft was shot down by Syrian air defences.

In other words, Turkey is making it clear it is not ready to become US/Qatar battering ram by going to war against Syria.


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> Use common sense: there is Assad and the government -- all supported by the vast majority of Syrian population as the elections showed. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, that very same Assad and that very same government decide to go and murder the very same population that supports them?!



You ask people to use "common sense", and you tout the results of an election in one of the most oppressive dictatorships on the planet?  Are you THAT fucking stupid, or just trolling for lulz here?

Fucking shit for brains, if the majority of the population is sunni, and sunnis do not support the ass-ad fake regime, than BY DEFINITION he does not enjoy majority support.  For those with brains, it really isn't too hard to figure out.

I just cannot help but laugh at reading posts like this, all of a sudden the anti-Western assholes are big putin fans, just too funny.


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> Didn't "civilised community" use the same rhetoric to work up home support for the war on Serbia, Iraq, Libya? And then go and DELIBERATELY target CIVILIAN POPULATION and bomb them to ashes!  How dumb one should be to fall for the same script every time!



I should be polite to an idiot troll, one who is pretending that small children and women are not being massacred?  Fuck you idiot, I'd just as soon put a piece of unintelligent trolling dogshit like you on ignore, don't even try to lie / troll like this on the forum you fucking douchebag. 

"Deliberately target the civilian population"...yes folks, we have Exhibit A of internet trolling by a likely 16 year old pimple faced dipshit in her mother's basement using a 10-year old eMachine.


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Use common sense: there is Assad and the government -- all supported by the vast majority of Syrian population as the elections showed. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, that very same Assad and that very same government decide to go and murder the very same population that supports them?!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You ask people to use "common sense", and you tout the results of an election in one of the most oppressive dictatorships on the planet? .
Click to expand...


Says WHO?????!!!!!!! The US and assorted "civilised community"?! 

Who the hell are you to pass judgements on how other nations choose to govern themselves?! I understand why your elites are washing your brains with tripe designed to justify their murderous spree across the globe! But YOU?! Are you out of your mind?!


----------



## Trajan

mememe said:


> MHunterB said:
> 
> 
> 
> Would you like to explain where you're getting your 'info' from that it's all 'terrorists' and such?
> 
> How did they manage to fool the Norwegian general who's in charge of the UN observer group ?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based group with contacts in Syria" is a dude of Syrian descent who never been to Syria and live by running a fast-food joint in London provides most "reports" from Syria while sitting in London -- is "the Norwegian general"?!
> 
> Use common sense: there is Assad and the government -- all supported by the vast majority of Syrian population as the elections showed. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, that very same Assad and that very same government decide to go and murder the very same population that supports them?!
> 
> There is no "peoples uprising" in Syria; as there was no "peoples uprising" in Libya. There are groups of mercenaries and terrorists recruited from all sides of the ME, some came from Libya. They are armed and directed by Western advisers and SF; Qatar and SA providing finances; Turkey provides most of the training and the bases.
> 
> But the difference between Libya and Syria is that while Gaddafi relied largely on armed population, Assad does have a well trained Army. And that Army was highly successful in destroying pockets of terrorists which prompted the West to send Annan in with his "initiative". To delay "civilised" attacking his country, Assad had to go along with Annan's proposals; but the "rebels" didn't. And now Assad had to re-start anti-terrorist operations!
Click to expand...




> Use common sense: there is Assad and the government -- all supported by the vast majority of Syrian population as the elections showed.



According to results released on 26 April 2007, the National Progressive Front won 169 seats, while independents won the other 81 seats.[4] Turnout was 56.12% of the 11.96 million eligible voters, and 30 female candidates were elected, exactly as many as in 2003.[5] Opponents of the government and human rights activists claimed fraud and a turnout of at most 10 percent.[6]


Syrian parliamentary election, 2007 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

the alawites of which Assad is one, makes up approx. 3 million out of the 21 million people in Syria.....


you don't have the slightest clue dude....you're just throwing shit at the wall.


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> "Deliberately target the civilian population"...yes folks, we have Exhibit A of internet trolling by a likely .



I am not going to remind you about Dresden and Hiroshima with Nagasaki -- cities with "0" military value; or Vietnam where US burned peasants with napalm! I would like to remind you of a more recent history:

In Serbia and Iraq US used Depleted Uranium in HEAVILY POPULATED AREAS!!!!! It was  not about "combat". It was about MURDER of CIVILIANS!

In Libya "civilised" used mustard gas against the CITY!!! 
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...xZjrBA&usg=AFQjCNFI2dckcRmQyZrQOJUQ3B7-SoMj2A

In Serbia, Afghanistan and Iraq US and its "civilised community" used white phosphorus on the CITIES! 


Why did NATO bomb CHEMICAL PLANTS that has nothing to do with the military. 
Why if not to cause an echological disaster?

Was Chinese embassy a "military target"?

TV?

Hospitals that, again, had nothing to do with military?

Farms? Markets in daylight when they are full of people?

NATO bombings in Serbia and Libya were targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure. 

Less then 500 military killed, 11 planes and few tanks; but around 1500 civilians, destroyed hospitals, chemical plants (which led to ecological disaster), bridges, schools, appartment buildings, old peoples' homes, sanatoriums, factories, TV station, Chinese embassy, town markets, and uranium pollution of the land...
1500 Serbs (CIVILIANS!!!) directly killed in NATO bombings, and God only knows how many affected by DU and WPH is an auwful lot of "Ooops" even for NATO to accept as an excuse.
Milosevich giving up to save Serbian CIVILIANS (since military was not that much affected by bombings) was taken as a proof that "a war can be won by air power alone" (who said it?)

That was the whole point: to bomb the population into submission and the leadership into surrender without direct engagement.

The same tactic was used in Libya: everything was bombed: hospitals, schools, roads, gas stations, water towers... And at the same time leaflets were dropped on the suffering people telling them "look, Gaddafi is living a good life hiding behind your backs! Turn on Gaddafi and we will stop bombing you". But Libyans saw the whole of Gaddafi family fighting side by side with ordinary Libyans, they saw NATO murdering Gaddafi's grand children in their own home! And Libyans put up a SIX MONTHS fight against NATO and the rabble US and Qatar hired across the ME (including Al-Q!).

And now it is all repeating in Syria: hired, armed and directed by the West, multinational "freedom fighters" (some came from Libya) are used to terrorise Syrian civilians in order to either bully Assad into surrender, or justify a direct NATO attack.


----------



## mememe

Trajan said:


> According to results released on *26 April 2007*,
> you don't have the slightest clue dude....you're just throwing shit at the wall.



Sorry, I thought you knew Syria just held elections...


----------



## Unkotare

mememe said:


> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Use common sense: there is Assad and the government -- all supported by the vast majority of Syrian population as the elections showed. And all of a sudden, out of the blue, that very same Assad and that very same government decide to go and murder the very same population that supports them?!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You ask people to use "common sense", and you tout the results of an election in one of the most oppressive dictatorships on the planet? .
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Says WHO?????!!!!!!! The US and assorted "civilised community"?!
> 
> Who the hell are you to pass judgements on how other nations _choose to govern themselves?! _
Click to expand...



What was that last part again, shitforbrains?


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> Says WHO?????!!!!!!! The US and assorted "civilised community"?! Who the hell are you to pass judgements on how other nations choose to govern themselves?! I understand why your elites are washing your brains with tripe designed to justify their murderous spree across the globe! But YOU?! Are you out of your mind?!



Huh?  You mentally retarded ape, how many thousands of defectors are there now, including the ambassador to iraq this past week?

How about the UN monitors who filmed the animal shabiha thugs attacking college students?  Or the thousands of videos of people marching chanting peaceful, peaceful, and being shot at by government snipers?

Are all those thousands and thousands "brainwashed" you fucking trolling asshole?  STFU, you sound like some paid crack whore sucking ass-ad's ass for $5.


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> I am not going to remind you about Dresden and Hiroshima with Nagasaki -- cities with "0" military value; or Vietnam where US burned peasants with napalm! I would like to remind you of a more recent history:.



Oh boy, a psychotic just slipped on its straight-jacket and landed in our humble forum... 

Let's just wait until this gust of wind blows by and sanity returns to the thread and USMB.


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Says WHO?????!!!!!!! The US and assorted "civilised community"?! Who the hell are you to pass judgements on how other nations choose to govern themselves?! I understand why your elites are washing your brains with tripe designed to justify their murderous spree across the globe! But YOU?! Are you out of your mind?!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Huh?  You mentally retarded ape, how many thousands of defectors are there now, including the ambassador to iraq this past week?
> 
> .
Click to expand...


And why "defectors", and ESPECIALLY those BOUGHT by US/Qatar (like high ranking ones) should decide for the MAJORITY?!

And if I will ask you "how many "thousands"? You will not be able to reply outside of vague "many"! And where do you get your information about it? From your media that is serving the needs of the elites interested in doing to Syria what they already done to Yugoslavia, Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya!


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> How about the UN monitors who filmed the animal shabiha thugs attacking college students?
> 
> Or the thousands of videos of people marching chanting peaceful, peaceful, and being shot at by government snipers?
> 
> .



How about the first lot of "monitors" who delivered a verdict: supported by the West, Qatar and SA rebels are guilty of terrorism and escalation of violence?! Do you remember what happened to them? They were dismissed after their report!

And the current lot of "monitors" DOES NOT GO into the places of the reported massacres WITHOUT the PRESENCE of the SYRIAN ARMY! What does it tell you? Nothing? But it should tell you that the massacres are committed BEFORE the Syrian Army gets to the place!


As for the "thousands of videos" with "chanting people", let me remind you of "thousands of videos of chanting people" from all over ME and Africa that were presented on the net as those from Libya; let me remind you of "Qatar Hollywood" where Western "news" on Libya (including a taking of Tripoli) were made. Let me remind you of the NEWS on violent protests in Moscow filmed in Greece! And here are "documentary footages" from Georgian-Ossetian war, -- staged-managed by the leading news companies:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...6J2vBw&usg=AFQjCNGEKmSne-IcHNwN32q_Tum-vWJbzg

Remember "news" of massacre in Srebrenica? You were shown mass graves of SERBS massacred by Bosniacs, and presented to you as "mass graves of Muslims murdered by Serbs"! There the FIRST filming in Srebrenica, before "civilised" hatched up their idea:
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...0vTZAg&usg=AFQjCNEvY7FmC3kGuaV5A37117W3_grwbw


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> I am not going to remind you about Dresden and Hiroshima with Nagasaki -- cities with "0" military value; or Vietnam where US burned peasants with napalm! I would like to remind you of a more recent history:.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh boy, a psychotic just slipped on its straight-jacket and landed in our humble forum...
> 
> Let's just wait until this gust of wind blows by and sanity returns to the thread and USMB.
Click to expand...


Is that all you have to say on US using depleted uranium, white ph., mustard gas as well as bombs and rockets on CIVILIANS in target countries?

Well...


----------



## Unkotare

Is this mememe scumbag on Assad's payroll or something? What a fucking low-life piece of shit.


----------



## rhodescholar

mememe said:


> And why "defectors", and ESPECIALLY those BOUGHT by US/Qatar (like high ranking ones) should decide for the MAJORITY?!And if I will ask you "how many "thousands"? You will not be able to reply outside of vague "many"! And where do you get your information about it? From your media that is serving the needs of the elites interested in doing to Syria what they already done to Yugoslavia, Serbia, Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya!



The 30,000 people in camps in Turkey were all "bought" by the West?  You're a bigger fucking idiot than words can describe.

This cocksucking, lowlife moronic turd sounds like a plant from syria trying to defend the fake regime...I think it should be banned.


----------



## rhodescholar

Unkotare said:


> Is this mememe scumbag on Assad's payroll or something? What a fucking low-life piece of shit.



And you are understating it, by a wide margin.


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> The 30,000 people in camps in Turkey were all "bought" by the West?  You're a bigger fucking idiot than words can describe.
> 
> a plant from syria trying to defend the fake regime...I think it should be banned.



30 000 (I am not even asking where your figures came from and who is included in them) people in camps in Turkey? WHEN did they run there: BEFORE "civilised" started a coloured revolution in Syria, or AFTER?
Oh, and they are not "defectors", but *REFUGEES*!!!!!!!

Of course, I should be banned! After all, HOW DARE I do not tread US official line on events?! You are pathetic in your hysterical responses.


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> The 30,000 people in camps in Turkey were all "bought" by the West?  You're a bigger fucking idiot than words can describe.
> 
> a plant from syria trying to defend the fake regime...I think it should be banned.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 30 000 (I am not even asking where your figures came from and who is included in them) people in camps in Turkey? WHEN did they run there: BEFORE "civilised" started a coloured revolution in Syria, or AFTER?
> Oh, and they are not "defectors", but *REFUGEES*!!!!!!!
> 
> Of course, I should be banned! After all, HOW DARE I do not tread US official line on events?! You are pathetic in your hysterical responses.
Click to expand...


_Of course, maybe it's about time for *mememe*, to break down Syrian demographics, such as how many Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, and other factions live in Syria.  You are a Shiite Muslim, aren't you, *mememe*?  Let's hear about it!

Some media claim Assad regime-affiliated Sunnis tend to be accompanied, by an Alawite or a group of these Shiites, since regime-aligned Sunnis are apparently defecting, etc.

Of course you will be ranted down, but before that happens, I think you should enlighten us, as to why you claim the Assad regime is democratically elected, when anybody can see the Alawites control all media, while they are supported less and less, by the Iranians.  The Russians still have the blinders on, since they have a base in Syria.

But the Assads and Alawite thugs controlled EVERYTHING, since Haffez Assad ruled.

WTF do you think you are doing, pretending any election proved anything in Syria, or that any election in Iraq, during the time of Saddam proved anything, in Iraq, or any election, if any is ever held, proves anything, in Bahrain?

It's time for the Assad regime to GO, dude.  Start copping, to what's happening, or keep posting your usual rants, and get heckled, fine with me._


----------



## Katzndogz

Terrorists are hiding within the civilian population.  That's enough to keep the west from bombing civilian population centers.  It is not enough to keep people in the middle east culture from bombing civilian population centers.  They'll do it.  

The United States refuses to admit that the muslim brotherhood is a terrorist organization whose goal is to control the entirety of the middle east.   So far, only Russia is stopping them.  obama supports the terrorists.


----------



## mememe

bobgnote said:


> _Of course, maybe it's about time for *mememe*, to break down Syrian demographics, such as how many Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, and other factions live in Syria.  _



Just answer me one question: how many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?


And also listen to this from 1:10
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...ztmoBw&usg=AFQjCNG_LKHGsAnQcUkCmbtIj0LeXHpvfg


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> Terrorists are hiding within the civilian population.  That's enough to keep the west from bombing civilian population centers.  It is not enough to keep people in the middle east culture from bombing civilian population centers.  They'll do it.
> 
> The United States refuses to admit that the muslim brotherhood is a terrorist organization whose goal is to control the entirety of the middle east.   So far, only Russia is stopping them.  obama supports the terrorists.



Terrorist are expendable. Qatar buys them dozen to a dollar from around the world. Last week Syrians caught few Afghans that were under impression they were in Israel fighting for Palestinian cause!

As soon as the US elites will make their decision, terrorists will be bombed alongside the civilians. On the 20-s of this month US and Russia both will present their "Syrian resolutions" to the UN Council. Everyone understands, that neither will be adopted. But, the time is getting tight for the US and it must do something radical. Clinton already voiced the idea that veto is an outdated concept, and UN Council must "modernise". So, either veto will be abolished, or some outrageous massacre will take place that will be pinned on "Assad's regime" and will allow US to start bombing under the "pressure" of Western public opinion.


----------



## Katzndogz

Veto when used by Russia is outdated, veto when used by the US isn't outdated.   obama has been outmaneuvered and out foxed by the head of the KGB who has more experience in out maneuvering and out foxing.  Among world leaders, the United States has already become an afterthought.   obama will not confront Russia.  We might whimper about human rights but no one will do anything about it.   In supporting terrorist organizations against the Syrian government, we started out on the wrong side.


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> Veto when used by Russia is outdated, veto when used by the US isn't outdated.   obama has been outmaneuvered and out foxed by the head of the KGB who has more experience in out maneuvering and out foxing.  Among world leaders, the United States has already become an afterthought.   obama will not confront Russia.  We might whimper about human rights but no one will do anything about it.   In supporting terrorist organizations against the Syrian government, we started out on the wrong side.



It's not that simple.

Since Gorbachev, the US created a SYSTEM of control of Russia. When the US "advisers" went home in mid 90-s, they left behind a class of oligarchs whose finances and very existence as class depends on US and UK. 

Since then, oligarchic class became split on more comprador and less comprador wings. Compradors have recently grouped around Medvedev as a figure-head. By mid December 2011 they already formed a government in preparation for the victory of the coloured revolution and the dismemberment of Russia. That coloured revolution flopped. The next one is pencilled down for this Autumn...

The less comprador elites grouped around Putin (for now) have full support of the absolute majority of the Russian population in hope that Putin will revive Russia and restore its territory. But, Putin is part of oligarchy, and as such is not free from the US control. True, a few months ago he ordered every member of the Security and Law enforcement to dispose of any property they have abroad and to move their finances into Russia... Still, there is a good chance that US can squeeze Putin's (and oligarchic clans') "golden balls", and manipulate their decisions...


----------



## Katzndogz

The US might, obama - not a chance.  He's a fool and Russia knows it.


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> The US might, obama - not a chance.  He's a fool and Russia knows it.



Obama is nobody. But he is a front for the same elites that governed US since the end of WW2 (at least).


----------



## mememe

There are your "children":

BBC:
"The purpose of the attack on Tremseh appear to have been home by *rebels and deserters*," - said the representative of the UN mission."
Google Translate


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Damascus Clashes Reported By Activists 









> BEIRUT  Syrian rebels fired at tanks in Damascus residential districts, armored vehicles blocked the main entrances to a neighborhood and protesters briefly barricaded a main highway into the city with bricks and burning tires, leaving hundreds of cars backed up in some of the worst clashes to hit the tightly controlled capital since the uprising began 16 months ago.
> 
> The scenes from the second straight day of fierce clashes in Damascus, unfolding in amateur videos posted online, were the latest evidence that Syria's conflict is fast devolving into a civil war that is moving ever closer to the seat of President Bashar Assad's power.
> 
> Plumes of black smoke drifted over the city skyline and gunfire could be heard throughout the capital, even in the upscale cafes in downtown frequented by members of Assad's regime. The fighting left many streets deserted in a string of neighborhoods on the city's southwest corner where the fighting was focused. Many families have fled, and fear grips many who remain behind.
> 
> "It is a war here, a war," said a woman reached by phone in the Midan neighborhood who said her 5-year-old son had not stopped screaming since the clashes started. She didn't give her name for fear of repercussions from Syrian security.
> 
> "It seems there is a new strategy to bring the fighting into the center of the capital," Mustafa Osso, an activist inside Syria, told The Associated Press, referring to the rebels who fight under the banner of the Free Syrian Army. "The capital used to be safe. This will trouble the regime."
> 
> The violence in Syria has grown increasingly bloody and chaotic in recent months as the uprising has morphed from a peaceful revolt into an armed insurgency aimed at toppling Assad's regime.
> 
> In Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov accused the West of using blackmail to secure a new U.N. Security Council resolution that could allow the use of force in Syria. A Chapter 7 resolution authorizes actions to enforce sanctions that can ultimately include the use of military force, which U.S. administration and European officials  for now  are playing down as a possibility.
> 
> U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan was expected in Moscow to discuss the Syria crisis with Russian leaders on Monday. The meeting  the latest in Annan's efforts to save his faltering peace plan  comes a day after the conflict crossed an important symbolic threshold, with the international Red Cross formally declaring it a civil war, a status with implications for potential war crimes prosecutions.



Syria Crisis: Damascus Clashes Reported By Activists


----------



## mememe

Just love Western journos:

 "It is a war here, a war," said a woman reached by phone in the Midan neighborhood who said her 5-year-old son had not stopped screaming since the clashes started. She didn't give her name for fear of repercussions from Syrian security.

...had not stopped screaming since the clashes started -- *16 months ago* (as stated in an earlier paragraph)?

...said a woman reached by phone in the Midan neighborhood -- a RANDOM woman, a woman receiving US/Qatar grants for being part of a fifth column, or a FICTITIOUS "woman" thought up by a journo to give his "report" credibility?

... She didn't give her name for fear of repercussions from Syrian security -- 1) repercussions for what? For saying that there is a fighting going on in Syria? What, is it a state secret? 
2) more likely, "she didn't give her name" is a euphemism for journo's "I can't be bothered to even come up with some "Fatima", Western propaganda consumers are  going to swallow my report anyway..."

The bottom line is: financed, directed, armed and supported by the West/Qatar terrorist rabble is terrorising the population of Syria in order to provide an excuse for the US/UK/civilisedcommunity to destroy Syria in a direct military intervention.

As for "Annan's efforts", that bast*rd is going to burn in hell for his part in the charade. Thanks to his "initiative", a string of SUCCESSFUL operations against terrorist groups was halted by the Syrian government giving terrorists a much needed chance to re-group, replenish their ranks and re-arm.


----------



## High_Gravity

Annans efforts? what effort is that? dude is nothing but an empty suit.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Annans efforts? what effort is that? dude is nothing but an empty suit.



You are right about the "empty suit". But he lent his voice and his status to help advance anti-Syrian campaign.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Annans efforts? what effort is that? dude is nothing but an empty suit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are right about the "empty suit". But he lent his voice and his status to help advance anti-Syrian campaign.
Click to expand...


None of these peace talks mean anything to Assad and his goons, he will say whatever we want to hear while he continues to butcher his people.


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _Of course, maybe it's about time for *mememe*, to break down Syrian demographics, such as how many Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, and other factions live in Syria.  _
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just answer me one question: how many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?
> 
> And also listen to this from 1:10
> http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...ztmoBw&usg=AFQjCNG_LKHGsAnQcUkCmbtIj0LeXHpvfg
Click to expand...


_What you just did is called DEFLECTING, *mememe*.

You didn't answer my question, so maybe you are some kind of ball-suck Russian, since Russians don't like to admit, how they don't like Turkey, which is where Sunni Islam originated, and Russians had beef in Chechnya, Afghanistan, and other places, so Russia supports Shiites, where possible.

The US supports Sunnis, wherever possible, until guys like Saddam or UBL turn on the US government, which is bound to happen, since AIPAC and Israel own US politics.

You didn't admit the Assads are Alawites, a Shia sect.  You ducked the rest of my prod, to name the breakdown of factions, according to religion or any other criteria, if you want to, but hey!  You are probably a lousy, Russian schmuck, over here, trolling.

I didn't say you had to reveal everything about yourself, but you are giving up clues, so quit being a deflecting bitch, and reply to issues, raised, before you put up propaganda._


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> None of these peace talks mean anything to Assad and his goons, he will say whatever we want to hear while he continues to butcher his people.



"Peace initiatives" were designed to stop annihilation of terrorist "opposition", they were voiced at the time when Syrian government was making a good progress in returning stability to Syria.

"Annan's peace initiatives" required BOTH sides to stop military actions. But it was clear to everyone that while a legitimate government is easy to monitor, a disjoint and without any centralised command "opposition" can not be monitored or forced to comply!

It was also clear from the US rhetoric of the time that only acceptance of the "initiatives" by Assad can stand between Syria and an open military intervention. Thus, Syrian government was forced to stop anti-terrorist operations; while terrorists continued with their actions; they were given time to rebuilt their strength and rearm.

Before calling Syrian government "goons", please, tell me what would be the actions of the US government if on its territory gangs of armed, financed and directed by .......(any nation).... will start conducting terrorist operations with a view of overthrowing the legitimate government?
Please, answer this question!

As for "butcher his people", -- this accusation comes only from those who are interested in destroying Syria, as they previously did to Yugoslavia, Serbia, USSR, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.


----------



## mememe

bobgnote said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _Of course, maybe it's about time for *mememe*, to break down Syrian demographics, such as how many Shiites, Sunnis, Christians, and other factions live in Syria.  _
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Just answer me one question: how many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?
> 
> And also listen to this from 1:10
> http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...ztmoBw&usg=AFQjCNG_LKHGsAnQcUkCmbtIj0LeXHpvfg
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> _What you just did is called DEFLECTING, *mememe*.
> 
> You didn't answer my question, so maybe you are some kind of ball-suck Russian, since Russians don't like to admit, how they don't like Turkey, which is where Sunni Islam originated, and Russians had beef in Chechnya, Afghanistan, and other places, so Russia supports Shiites, where possible.
> 
> The US supports Sunnis, wherever possible, until guys like Saddam or UBL turn on the US government, which is bound to happen, since AIPAC and Israel own US politics.
> 
> You didn't admit the Assads are Alawites, a Shia sect.  You ducked the rest of my prod, to name the breakdown of factions, according to religion or any other criteria, if you want to, but hey!  You are probably a lousy, Russian schmuck, over here, trolling.
> 
> I didn't say you had to reveal everything about yourself, but you are giving up clues, so quit being a deflecting bitch, and reply to issues, raised, before you put up propaganda._
Click to expand...


Please, answer my question: *how many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?*


----------



## rhodescholar

Does this scumbag actually think anyone gives a shit about its trolling post bullshit?  Only the mentally ill and asshole trolls at this point are defending the fake ass-ad dictatorship of thugs and murderers.


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> Does this scumbag actually think anyone gives a shit about its trolling post bullshit?  .



 You obviously do! Promised to put me on your ignore list, but can't keep yourself away from me! 

Honestly, your hysteria only betrays your luck of arguments.


----------



## rhodescholar

High_G, the only issue at this point is if the US fleet in the gulf/one of the nearby bases will also launch a strike against both iran and syria simultaneously.

At this point, russia has lost all of its credibility, it could have acted intelligently and with some responsibility, but now it is despised in the arab world, the EU has lost all faith in putin, and when ass-ad falls in the near future, will not even have a seat at the table to divvy up the spoils.

Most of syria despises russia and would want their naval base at tartus closed, so russia has, yet again, fucked itself and found itself on the wrong side of history.  It will have even less of a say in the new syria than it has in libya - the definition of bad leadership.  Had Medveded, who is a thoughtful, rational and intelligent leader stayed in power, Russia would have cut ass-ad lose, let him fail, and had a seat at the table up front.  Now they won't even be allowed in the same house - putin is a small man, in both stature, intelligence, and judgement.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> None of these peace talks mean anything to Assad and his goons, he will say whatever we want to hear while he continues to butcher his people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Peace initiatives" were designed to stop annihilation of terrorist "opposition", they were voiced at the time when Syrian government was making a good progress in returning stability to Syria.
> 
> "Annan's peace initiatives" required BOTH sides to stop military actions. But it was clear to everyone that while a legitimate government is easy to monitor, a disjoint and without any centralised command "opposition" can not be monitored or forced to comply!
> 
> It was also clear from the US rhetoric of the time that only acceptance of the "initiatives" by Assad can stand between Syria and an open military intervention. Thus, Syrian government was forced to stop anti-terrorist operations; while terrorists continued with their actions; they were given time to rebuilt their strength and rearm.
> 
> Before calling Syrian government "goons", please, tell me what would be the actions of the US government if on its territory gangs of armed, financed and directed by .......(any nation).... will start conducting terrorist operations with a view of overthrowing the legitimate government?
> Please, answer this question!
> 
> As for "butcher his people", -- this accusation comes only from those who are interested in destroying Syria, as they previously did to Yugoslavia, Serbia, USSR, Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya.
Click to expand...


Assads government must pay you well. Will you do a 360 and try to get a job with the new Syrian government habibi?


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> High_G, the only issue at this point is if the US fleet in the gulf/one of the nearby bases will also launch a strike against both iran and syria simultaneously.
> 
> At this point, russia has lost all of its credibility, it could have acted intelligently and with some responsibility, but now it is despised in the arab world, the EU has lost all faith in putin, and when ass-ad falls in the near future, will not even have a seat at the table to divvy up the spoils.
> 
> Most of syria despises russia and would want their naval base at tartus closed, so russia has, yet again, fucked itself and found itself on the wrong side of history.  It will have even less of a say in the new syria than it has in libya - the definition of bad leadership.  Had Medveded, who is a thoughtful, rational and intelligent leader stayed in power, Russia would have cut ass-ad lose, let him fail, and had a seat at the table up front.  Now they won't even be allowed in the same house - putin is a small man, in both stature, intelligence, and judgement.



Indeed, if Assad does fall the Russians little Navy Base in Syria is totally fucked, and Hamas and Hezbollah can kick their headquarters in Damascus goodbye also.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria's top defector says Assad not afraid to use chemical weapons








> As fighting continued for a third day in the capital of Damascus, the highest-level politician to defect from the Syrian regime warned today that President Bashar al-Assad would not hesitate to use chemical weapons if cornered.
> 
> During an interview with the BBC in Qatar, former Syrian Ambassador to Iraq Nawaf Fares was asked about Mr. Assad's willingness to use chemical weapons against the Syrian people.  "There is some information, unconfirmed information of course, that chemical weapons have been used partially in Homs," Mr. Fares said through a translator.  "However, I have absolute conviction that if the circle of the people of Syria becomes tighter on the regime, the regime will not hesitate to use chemical weapons."
> 
> The BBC's Frank Gardner, who interviewed Fares, notes in a separate article that the ex-ambassador only offered his convictions as evidence of his chemical weapons claims. "I have built my opinion based on my knowledge of the regime's mentality and the government's mentality," Fares told Mr. Gardner.
> 
> Syria is thought to have the largest chemical arsenal in the Arab world, and the civil war has stoked international concern that the weapons could be seized by rebel or terrorist forces, or damaged and dispersed by the fighting, The Christian Science Monitor reports.
> 
> Hard data on Syria's chemical and biological warfare capabilities is scarce, but the country is believed to have one of the largest chemical agents stockpiles in the world, including VX and Sarin nerve agents. It also has an impressive number of surface-to-surface missiles, such as Scud-Ds which can be fitted with chemical warheads, and modern Russian anti-aircraft missile batteries, including portable shoulder-fired systems.
> 
> "This is unknown territory," says Charles Blair, senior fellow for State and Non-State Threats at theWashington-based Federation of American Scientists. "We have never been through the potential collapse via a very bloody ethnic civil war of a country that is likely armed with a very large stockpile of chemical weapons.



Syria's top defector says Assad not afraid to use chemical weapons - CSMonitor.com


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Assads government



Oh, and please, STOP RE-POSTING MEDIA CR*P about "clashes in Damascus"! THIS MORNING people called their family members there and were told THERE ARE NO ANY CLASHES OR BATTLES!!!!!!!

And all Western "reports" about Assad and chemical weapons are as much of a lie as Western "reports" on WMD in Iraq.

God! What will it take for Westerners to wise up and stop swallowing any tripe thrown their way?! Have you all undergone a lobotomy with severe side effects in the past 20 years?!


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Assads government
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Oh, and please, STOP RE-POSTING MEDIA CR*P about "clashes in Damascus"! THIS MORNING people called their family members there and were told THERE ARE NO ANY CLASHES OR BATTLES!!!!!!!
> 
> And all Western "reports" about Assad and chemical weapons are as much of a lie as Western "reports" on WMD in Iraq.
> 
> God! What will it take for Westerners to wise up and stop swallowing any tripe thrown their way?! Have you all undergone a lobotomy with severe side effects in the past 20 years?!
Click to expand...


I will post whatever I damn well please faggot.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> I will post whatever I damn well please
> faggot.::



I am glad you came out of the closet with your sexual orientation.

I do apologise, of course it was wrong of me to ask you to stop crayoning and mlarring. There, have your pretty red laboon and a nice scream


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I will post whatever I damn well please
> faggot.::
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I am glad you came out of the closet with your sexual orientation.
> 
> I do apologise, of course it was wrong of me to ask you to stop crayoning and mlarring. There, have your pretty red laboon and a nice scream
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

This morning from Damascus:

"... Everything that happens in Damascus: shooting and explosions, happens strictly locally and in no way affects the lives in other parts of city. We went to town yesterday and saw that everything is fine, but after 11 pm, even the heart of the city became deserted. Military initiated anti-terrorist operations in Damascus, now their informants are embedded in all structures of the bandits, so the guys are doing their work well with minimal losses to themselves and dozens of dead and the surrendered terrorists. A to to  prevent bandits from getting re-enforcements from outside, ALL buses entering Damascus undergo a full search and verification of documents of the passengers.

Qatar offers ANY ambassador to Syria for deserting one million dollars plus a monthly pension of 25 thousand dollars plus a house in Qatar. Defected Syrian Ambassador in Iraq sold himself for ownership of the company located on the territory of Saud.

As for "Chemical General", everyone is silent, no one writes or says anything, even the rebels. And here it is well known that the bandits have chemical weapons; we even know where they got them from --  from Libya..."


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> This morning from Damascus:
> 
> "... Everything that happens in Damascus: shooting and explosions, happens strictly locally and in no way affects the lives in other parts of city. We went to town yesterday and saw that everything is fine, but after 11 pm, even the heart of the city became deserted. Military initiated anti-terrorist operations in Damascus, now their informants are embedded in all structures of the bandits, so the guys are doing their work well with minimal losses to themselves and dozens of dead and the surrendered terrorists. A to to  prevent bandits from getting re-enforcements from outside, ALL buses entering Damascus undergo a full search and verification of documents of the passengers.
> 
> Qatar offers ANY ambassador to Syria for deserting one million dollars plus a monthly pension of 25 thousand dollars plus a house in Qatar. Defected Syrian Ambassador in Iraq sold himself for ownership of the company located on the territory of Saud.
> 
> As for "Chemical General", everyone is silent, no one writes or says anything, even the rebels. And here it is well known that the bandits have chemical weapons; we even know where they got them from --  from Libya..."



You got a link for this drivel Cindy? or did you pull it from a blog from one of Assads goons and rapists?


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just answer me one question: how many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?
> 
> And also listen to this from 1:10
> http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...ztmoBw&usg=AFQjCNG_LKHGsAnQcUkCmbtIj0LeXHpvfg
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _What you just did is called DEFLECTING, *mememe*.
> 
> You didn't answer my question, so maybe you are some kind of ball-suck Russian, since Russians don't like to admit, how they don't like Turkey, which is where Sunni Islam originated, and Russians had beef in Chechnya, Afghanistan, and other places, so Russia supports Shiites, where possible.
> 
> The US supports Sunnis, wherever possible, until guys like Saddam or UBL turn on the US government, which is bound to happen, since AIPAC and Israel own US politics.
> 
> You didn't admit the Assads are Alawites, a Shia sect.  You ducked the rest of my prod, to name the breakdown of factions, according to religion or any other criteria, if you want to, but hey!  You are probably a lousy, Russian schmuck, over here, trolling.
> 
> I didn't say you had to reveal everything about yourself, but you are giving up clues, so quit being a deflecting bitch, and reply to issues, raised, before you put up propaganda._
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Please, answer my question: *how many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?*
Click to expand...


_The Assad regime core is built around the Baath Party, featuring Alawite Shiites, which I seem to remember are about 11% of the Syrian population, you Russian weasel.
The Sunnis and Christians are coming loose, by degree.  So Assad is killing.  The US isn't killing, Russian anus!

The Syrian regime since Haffez Assad is a minority tyrant, vadgy *meme*.  

No Syrian elections were meaningful.  The ruling Shiites let their other Shiite buddies in Hezbollah cut breaks, but the split between Muslims, since the Prophet died has hamstrung Islam, and YOU don't want to report this fact.  YOU don't want to notice, how the Assads and their dominant sect are able to depend on Russian weaponry, since you are a ball-sucking RUSSIAN.

Eat shitsky, Nitsky!  YOUR country is fucking up, for once.  Enjoy the piss, on your face.  No amount of your deflection will help you, you shit-eating, ball-sucking GEEK.

Thanks for getting a signature, by Stalin, which clears things right up, asshole.  Your Assad regime is a MINORITY TYRANT, and I don't know why you won't admit how YOUR NATION HAS A BASE THERE, AND YOUR NATION GAVE WEAPONS, TO THE ASSADS.  Eh?_


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> rapists?



The West is REALLY becoming tiresome with its sexual perversions!

Syrian military are not "goons"; and they are SYRIANS. Whom are they suppose to rape: their sisters, mothers, neighbours? 

Try to engage your brain before repeating idiotic statements.

confused: do you have brain? )


----------



## mememe

bobgnote said:


> _The Assad regime core is built around the Baath Party, _


_


*How many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?*_


----------



## mememe

"WASHINGTON (AP) August 24, 2011 - No one can be sure who controls the Libyan government's weapons stockpiles, a stew of deadly chemicals, raw nuclear material and some 30,000 shoulder-fired anti-aircraft rockets that officials fear could fall into terrorists' hands in the chaos of Moammar Gadhafi's downfall or afterward..."

----------------------------------------

"The armed Syrian opposition has got their hands on chemical weapons, which they acquired from Libya, a media report claims. They allegedly plan to use it against civilians and pin the atrocity on the Bashar al-Assad regime.
The report by DamPress claims the opposition group in possession of the weapons is being trained in its use inside Turkey. ..

The chemical framing plot allegations comes days after British journalist Alex Thomson from Channel 4 news accused a Syrian opposition group of trying to set him and his crew up to be killed by government forces. He said a western journalist death would give bad publicity for Damascus..."
http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...pZTnBw&usg=AFQjCNGsBHtpLbDwrjHHTxeTa0UahMH1Iw


US and Qatar are in need of some outrageous provocation to force their resolution on Syria through the UN and to justify their military intervention. And it has to be done sooner rather then later: Turkey is already indicating its desire to pull out of active involvement in Syria, and SA would not be able to pull it off by itself especially with unrest within it and a power struggle among its clans.


----------



## ERGO

*Hillary Clinton Must Resign*
*Irresponsible warmongering leaves US credibility irrevocably damaged.*

Cites false reports regarding Syria "massacre" to call for UN Chapter 7. Irresponsible warmongering leaves American credibility irrevocably damaged. 






*US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has attempted on numerous occasions to leverage fabricated atrocities to stampede UN resolutions through the Security Council to allow the same destructive, tragic military campaign against Syria that was waged against Libya. Her latest outburst was so overtly fraudulent and patently false, her continuation as Secretary of State risks a permanent and exponentially accelerating decline in US legitimacy worldwide. *

The unhinged state of US foreign policy is exemplified best by this week's Tremseh, Syria "massacre." Before any confirmations could be made, and based solely on "activist" accounts, Hillary Clinton penned a US State Department statement that read:Assad Regime Massacre in Traymseh
The Security Council of course would be putting its "full weight" behind Kofi Annan's "peace plan" with Chapter 7 provisions in place::http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/afp_world/view/1211989/1/.html- meaning that sanctions and military intervention, as it was in Libya, would be subsequently implemented.

What US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton attempted to do, was propose a UN Security Council resolution authorizing military intervention (and by consequence, long sought after regime change), *then used fabricated reports to sell the resolution in the court of global public and diplomatic opinion. It constitutes an overt crime against peace, and conspiracy to wage aggressive war -both Nuremberg offenses.*

*Tremseh was a Battle, Not a Massacre  *

As the facts emerge as to what really happened in Tremseh, Syria, it becomes evidently clear the US State Department, along with its British, French and Australian counterparts, has attempted to sell yet another NATO war of aggression based on a patently false pretext. The New York Times in their article,http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/15/world/middleeast/details-of-a-battle-challenge-reports-of-a-syrian-massacre.html?_r=1 "New Details of a Battle Challenge Reports of a Syrian Massacre,"reported that "activists," the so-called "Free Syria Army" (FSA), and the Western-backed "Syrian National Council" (SNC) all gave conflicting reports. 

What could be verified by UN monitors who arrived at the scene, is that the vast majority of those "massacred" were men of fighting age, with some opposition figures conceding that they were indeed militant fighters. The number "200" that Clinton cited, was actually the number of militants that had gathered in Tremseh to plot the next leg of their terrorist activities. Locals had passed the information on to the Syrian Army which surrounded the area and neutralized the fighters during a pitched battle the FSA ultimately lost. Tremseh killings targeted rebels

*Not only that, but the UN confirms that Syrian security operations targeted "specific" rebel locations rendering Clinton's accusation that government forces "deliberately murdered innocent civilians" a bold-faced lie. *

*In other words, Hillary Clinton falsified her statement*, given before the entire "international community," claiming "200 men, women, and children" were deliberately massacred, when in reality it was the Syrian military restoring order in the face of armed terrorists. After the military secured the Tremseh area, they put on display a vast cache of weaponry found in the area, as well as captured FSA militants including both Turkish and Libyan fighters - meaning that those not killed in the fighting, were not "executed" as earlier reports falsely stated.

source link:Hillary Clinton Must Resign


----------



## rhodescholar

bobgnote said:


> The Assad regime core is built around the Baath Party, featuring Alawite Shiites, which I seem to remember are about 11% of the Syrian population, you Russian weasel.The Sunnis and Christians are coming loose, by degree.  So Assad is killing.  The US isn't killing, Russian anus!
> 
> The Syrian regime since Haffez Assad is a minority tyrant, vadgy *meme*.
> 
> No Syrian elections were meaningful.  The ruling Shiites let their other Shiite buddies in Hezbollah cut breaks, but the split between Muslims, since the Prophet died has hamstrung Islam, and YOU don't want to report this fact.  YOU don't want to notice, how the Assads and their dominant sect are able to depend on Russian weaponry, since you are a ball-sucking RUSSIAN.
> 
> Eat shitsky, Nitsky!  YOUR country is fucking up, for once.  Enjoy the piss, on your face.  No amount of your deflection will help you, you shit-eating, ball-sucking GEEK.
> 
> Thanks for getting a signature, by Stalin, which clears things right up, asshole.  Your Assad regime is a MINORITY TYRANT, and I don't know why you won't admit how YOUR NATION HAS A BASE THERE, AND YOUR NATION GAVE WEAPONS, TO THE ASSADS.



Will you guys stop feeding the trolliing scumbag asshole?  It is a worthless teenage turd trolling for lulz, obviously.  Just put it on ignore like I did, you won't see the douchebag's posts anymore.


----------



## mememe

rhodescholar said:


> Just put it on ignore like I did, you won't see the douchebag's posts anymore.



Better yet, stick your fingers in your ears, shut your eyes and scream as loud as you can: "ASSADGADDAFIPUTINSERBIAIRAQIRANAFGHANISTANRUSSIASYRIALIBYAAREALLSCUMBAGDICTATORS!!!!!!!!!!! THEUSSTANDSFORFREEDOMSDEMOCRASYANDSHOULDBOMBTHEMALLINTOLIBERTY!!!!!!!" -- and it all will become a reality...


----------



## Artevelde

mememe said:


> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just put it on ignore like I did, you won't see the douchebag's posts anymore.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Better yet, stick your fingers in your ears, shut your eyes and scream as loud as you can: "ASSADGADDAFIPUTINSERBIAIRAQIRANAFGHANISTANRUSSIASYRIALIBYAAREALLSCUMBAGDICTATORS!!!!!!!!!!! THEUSSTANDSFORFREEDOMSDEMOCRASYANDSHOULDBOMBTHEMALLINTOLIBERTY!!!!!!!" -- and it all will become a reality...
Click to expand...


Try to grow up.


----------



## mememe

artevelde said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> just put it on ignore like i did, you won't see the douchebag's posts anymore.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> better yet, stick your fingers in your ears, shut your eyes and scream as loud as you can: "assadgaddafiputinserbiairaqiranafghanistanrussiasyrialibyaareallscumbagdictators!!!!!!!!!!! Theusstandsforfreedomsdemocrasyandshouldbombthemallintoliberty!!!!!!!" -- and it all will become a reality...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> try to grow up.
Click to expand...


ok'


----------



## Lipush

*defense minister, head of intelligence, and the minister of interior, all killed in suicide bombing attack in Syria, an hour ago*

*Head of intelligence, was Bashar Al-Assad's brother in law.*


----------



## rhodescholar

Lipush said:


> *defense minister, head of intelligence, and the minister of interior, all killed in suicide bombing attack in Syria, an hour ago*
> 
> *Head of intelligence, was Bashar Al-Assad's brother in law.*



This is wonderful, fantastic news - the rebels have reached the inner circle, and it looks like we're at the end of the assad mafia gang regime's existence. I cannot be happier, and so are the Syrian people.

Soon ass-ad, then iran in a few days/weeks, then hezbollah...the dominoes are all falling, and obama has timed it all perfectly.

If he removes the iranian regime - I'll even vote for him in November.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> Just put it on ignore like I did, you won't see the douchebag's posts anymore.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Better yet, stick your fingers in your ears, shut your eyes and scream as loud as you can: "ASSADGADDAFIPUTINSERBIAIRAQIRANAFGHANISTANRUSSIASYRIALIBYAAREALLSCUMBAGDICTATORS!!!!!!!!!!! THEUSSTANDSFORFREEDOMSDEMOCRASYANDSHOULDBOMBTHEMALLINTOLIBERTY!!!!!!!" -- and it all will become a reality...
Click to expand...


You are a fucking joke.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> rapists?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The West is REALLY becoming tiresome with its sexual perversions!
> 
> Syrian military are not "goons"; and they are SYRIANS. Whom are they suppose to rape: their sisters, mothers, neighbours?
> 
> Try to engage your brain before repeating idiotic statements.
> 
> confused: do you have brain? )
Click to expand...


Nope Assads followers are mostly goons and rapists, deal with it faggot.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _The Assad regime core is built around the Baath Party, _
> 
> 
> 
> _
> 
> 
> *How many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?*_
Click to expand...

_

Assads father massacred tens of thousands of Syrians in Homs you fuckin dickhead._


----------



## Lipush

rhodescholar said:


> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> *defense minister, head of intelligence, and the minister of interior, all killed in suicide bombing attack in Syria, an hour ago*
> 
> *Head of intelligence, was Bashar Al-Assad's brother in law.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is wonderful, fantastic news - the rebels have reached the inner circle, and it looks like we're at the end of the assad mafia gang regime's existence. I cannot be happier, and so are the Syrian people.
> 
> Soon ass-ad, then iran in a few days/weeks, then hezbollah...the dominoes are all falling, and obama has timed it all perfectly.
> 
> If he removes the iranian regime - I'll even vote for him in November.
Click to expand...


We are now following the events from Israel, constantly

Syria is officially blaming Israel, the USA and Saudi Arabia for the "crime".Said all involved will "pay a price" for the "brutal killing". Some will say that the events in syria might directly bring insecurity to Israel. So we follow all the time.


----------



## Lipush

rhodescholar said:


> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> *defense minister, head of intelligence, and the minister of interior, all killed in suicide bombing attack in Syria, an hour ago*
> 
> *Head of intelligence, was Bashar Al-Assad's brother in law.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is wonderful, fantastic news - the rebels have reached the inner circle, and it looks like we're at the end of the assad mafia gang regime's existence. I cannot be happier, and so are the Syrian people.
> 
> Soon ass-ad, then iran in a few days/weeks, then hezbollah...the dominoes are all falling, and obama has timed it all perfectly.
> 
> If he removes the iranian regime - I'll even vote for him in November.
Click to expand...


Although, I think you might be mistaken on a few things. First, the Assad regime, gladly, is falling. But the rebels are not by any means, better than the dictator. They are responsible for the same amount of innocent civilians being killed. Most of them are nothing but puppets of Radical Islamic organizations, and the common thing to all of them is their hatred to the west (USA and Israel). none of them are pure, but the poor babies and children who got into this. None of us will be sad when the killer Assad falls down, but who knows what might come out instead.

This needs to be considered, as well.


----------



## Lipush

The latest news as came to our sources in Hebrew forums-

&#1513;&#1512; &#1492;&#1502;&#1493;&#1491;&#1497;&#1506;&#1497;&#1503; &#1492;&#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497;: &#1511;&#1496;&#1488;&#1512;, &#1506;&#1512;&#1489; &#1492;&#1505;&#1506;&#1493;&#1491;&#1497;&#1514;, &#1496;&#1493;&#1512;&#1511;&#1497;&#1492; &#1493;&#1497;&#1513;&#1512;&#1488;&#1500; &#1504;&#1493;&#1513;&#1488;&#1493;&#1514; &#1489;&#1488;&#1495;&#1512;&#1497;&#1493;&#1514;, &#1493;&#1492;&#1503; &#1497;&#1513;&#1500;&#1502;&#1493; &#1506;&#1500; &#1492;&#1508;&#1513;&#1506; &#1492;&#1494;&#1492;"​
From Ynet.co.il (BBC news)-

"&#1502;&#1513;&#1512;&#1491; &#1492;&#1492;&#1505;&#1489;&#1512;&#1492; &#1492;&#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497; &#1492;&#1488;&#1513;&#1497;&#1501; &#1488;&#1514; &#1488;&#1512;&#1510;&#1493;&#1514; &#1492;&#1489;&#1512;&#1497;&#1514; &#1493;&#1497;&#1513;&#1512;&#1488;&#1500; &#1489;&#1495;&#1497;&#1505;&#1493;&#1500; &#1489;&#1499;&#1497;&#1512;&#1497; &#1492;&#1502;&#1513;&#1496;&#1512; &#1489;&#1500;&#1489; &#1491;&#1502;&#1513;&#1511;.
 &#1491;&#1497;&#1493;&#1493;&#1495;&#1492; &#1499;&#1497; &#1492;&#1502;&#1513;&#1512;&#1491; &#1492;&#1493;&#1491;&#1497;&#1506; &#1499;&#1497; "&#1489;&#1512;&#1493;&#1512; &#1513;&#1492;&#1502;&#1514;&#1511;&#1508;&#1492; &#1506;&#1500; &#1499;&#1493;&#1495;&#1493;&#1514;&#1497;&#1504;&#1493; &#1504;&#1493;&#1489;&#1506;&#1514; &#1502;&#1502;&#1491;&#1497;&#1504;&#1497;&#1493;&#1514; &#1489;&#1512;&#1493;&#1512;&#1492;, &#1500;&#1508;&#1497;&#1492; &#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497;&#1492; &#1488;&#1502;&#1493;&#1512;&#1492; &#1500;&#1499;&#1512;&#1493;&#1506; &#1489;&#1512;&#1498; &#1493;&#1500;&#1513;&#1512;&#1514; &#1488;&#1514; &#1492;&#1502;&#1504;&#1496;&#1500;&#1497;&#1493;&#1514; &#1492;&#1488;&#1502;&#1512;&#1497;&#1511;&#1504;&#1497;&#1514; &#1493;&#1492;&#1497;&#1513;&#1512;&#1488;&#1500;&#1497;&#1514;".​


----------



## Lipush

The Syrian regime calls for youngsters to get drafted and join the forces.


----------



## Lipush

A high contact man between the Iranian and Russian regimes also died today.

His name, Hisham Bah'tiar

&#1575;&#1606;&#1576;&#1575;&#1569; &#1593;&#1606; &#1605;&#1602;&#1578;&#1604; &#1605;&#1607;&#1606;&#1583;&#1587; &#1575;&#1604;&#1593;&#1604;&#1575;&#1602;&#1575;&#1578; &#1575;&#1604;&#1587;&#1608;&#1585;&#1610;&#1577; &#1575;&#1604;&#1573;&#1610;&#1585;&#1575;&#1606;&#1610;&#1577; &#1608;&#1585;&#1574;&#1610;&#1587; &#1605;&#1603;&#1578;&#1576; &#1575;&#1604;&#1571;&#1605;&#1606; &#1575;&#1604;&#1602;&#1608;&#1605;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1587;&#1608;&#1585;&#1610; &#1575;&#1604;&#1604;&#1608;&#1575;&#1569; &#1607;&#1588;&#1575;&#1605; &#1576;&#1582;&#1578;&#1610;&#1575;&#1585;

&#1495;&#1493;&#1505;&#1500; &#1488;&#1497;&#1513; &#1492;&#1511;&#1513;&#1512; &#1492;&#1489;&#1499;&#1497;&#1512; &#1489;&#1497;&#1493;&#1514;&#1512; &#1489;&#1497;&#1503; &#1488;&#1497;&#1512;&#1503; &#1500;&#1512;&#1493;&#1505;&#1497;&#1492;​


----------



## High_Gravity

Lipush said:


> rhodescholar said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> *defense minister, head of intelligence, and the minister of interior, all killed in suicide bombing attack in Syria, an hour ago*
> 
> *Head of intelligence, was Bashar Al-Assad's brother in law.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is wonderful, fantastic news - the rebels have reached the inner circle, and it looks like we're at the end of the assad mafia gang regime's existence. I cannot be happier, and so are the Syrian people.
> 
> Soon ass-ad, then iran in a few days/weeks, then hezbollah...the dominoes are all falling, and obama has timed it all perfectly.
> 
> If he removes the iranian regime - I'll even vote for him in November.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Although, I think you might be mistaken on a few things. First, the Assad regime, gladly, is falling. But the rebels are not by any means, better than the dictator. They are responsible for the same amount of innocent civilians being killed. Most of them are nothing but puppets of Radical Islamic organizations, and the common thing to all of them is their hatred to the west (USA and Israel). none of them are pure, but the poor babies and children who got into this. None of us will be sad when the killer Assad falls down, but who knows what might come out instead.
> 
> This needs to be considered, as well.
Click to expand...


Point taken there.


----------



## High_Gravity

Lipush said:


> The Syrian regime calls for youngsters to get drafted and join the forces.



They always do though right? I have met Syrians in Kuwait who left the country to avoid being drafted.


----------



## High_Gravity

Daoud Rajha, Syria's Defense Minister, Killed In Suicide Blast, State TV Says









> BEIRUT -- A suicide bomber struck the National Security building in the Syrian capital Wednesday, killing the defense minister and wounding the interior minister in a brazen attack on the seat of government power, state-run TV said.
> 
> Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha, 65, a former army general, is the most senior government official to be killed in the Syrian civil war as rebels battle to oust President Bashar Assad. Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar was in stable condition, state-run TV said.
> 
> Although it was unclear who was behind the attack, the high-level assassination could signal a turning point in the 16-month conflict as the violence becomes increasingly chaotic.
> 
> The capital also has seen four straight days of clashes pitting government troops against rebels - an unprecedented challenge to government rule in the tightly controlled capital.
> 
> Rajha was the most senior Christian government official in Syria. Assad appointed him to the post last year. His death will resonate with Syria's minority Christian population, who make up about 10 percent of Syria's population and have generally stood by the regime.
> 
> Christians say they are particularly vulnerable to the violence sweeping the country of 22 million people, and they are fearful that Syria will become another Iraq, with Christians caught in the crossfire between rival Muslim groups.
> 
> Wednesday's attack struck the National Security building in Damascus during a meeting of Cabinet ministers and senior security officials. State-run TV said some of the officials were seriously wounded.
> 
> Damascus-based activist Omar al-Dimashki said Republican Guard troops surrounded the nearby al-Shami Hospital where some officials were taken for treatment.
> 
> The blast came on the same day the U.N. Security Council was scheduled to vote on a new resolution aimed at pressuring the Syrian regime to comply with a peace plan.
> 
> But Russia remained at loggerheads with the U.S. and its European allies over any mention of sanctions and Chapter 7 of the U.N. charter, which could eventually allow the use of force to end the conflict in Syria.



Daoud Rajha, Syria's Defense Minister, Killed In Suicide Blast, State TV Says


----------



## Lipush

Baruch HaShem


HEAD of ISLAMIC JIHAD *KILLED* IN SYRIA!


----------



## High_Gravity

Lipush said:


> Baruch HaShem
> 
> 
> HEAD of ISLAMIC JIHAD *KILLED* IN SYRIA!



Good.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Rebels Launch Operation To 'Liberate Damascus' 








> BEIRUT, July 17 (Reuters) - Rebels will intensify attacks inside the Syrian capital and target sensitive security installations in what they call an operation to "liberate Damascus", a rebel commander said on Tuesday, after three days of fierce fighting in the city.
> 
> Colonel Qassem Saadeddine, spokesman of the joint command of the Free Syrian Army inside Syria, told Reuters via Skype that many fighters arrived in Damascus from several provinces 10 days ago to take part in the operation and more would be sent soon.
> 
> "There is no going back. The Damascus battle has priority for us. We have started the operation to liberate Damascus," Saadeddine said, adding the rebels had called their operation "Damascus volcano and Syrian earthquake".
> 
> 
> For three days rebels and government troops have clashed in the streets of Damascus in the fiercest fighting in the capital since the revolt against President Bashar al-Assad erupted last year, but neither side seems to able to deliver a decisive blow.
> 
> "This has been planned for some time now. We sent many groups and fighters to Damascus and its suburbs 10 days ago. We have sent at least 50 groups, each with around 50 fighters," Saadeddine said.
> 
> "We will hit security buildings. There is major coordination between all military councils regarding this. We will not stop, there is no return."
> 
> A Free Army officer taking part in the fighting in Midan district, the scene of some of the heaviest clashes in the past three days, said the situation was "really excellent".
> 
> The officer, who declined to be named, said the fighters were in control of Midan and succeeded in repelling army attempts to break into the neighbourhod.
> 
> A video uploaded by opposition activists, aired on al-Jazeera television on Monday, showed men in jeans hiding in sandbagged alleyways, firing rocket-propelled grenades and machineguns.
> 
> The rebels said they were bracing for a conflict that could last a month. Although they lacked ammunition, they said they had enough weapons to hold their ground and were seizing more arms from Assad's forces across the country.
> 
> Activists' videos showed rebels seizing tanks and armoured vehicles in the city of Talbiseh, north of Homs, on Tuesday.



Syria Crisis: Rebels Launch Operation To 'Liberate Damascus'


----------



## High_Gravity

The rebels are siezing tanks now? pffft Assad is in some serious shit.


----------



## Trajan

High_Gravity said:


> Daoud Rajha, Syria's Defense Minister, Killed In Suicide Blast, State TV Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT --* A suicide bomber struck the National Security building in the Syrian capital *Wednesday, killing the defense minister and wounding the interior minister in a brazen attack on the seat of government power, state-run TV said.
> 
> *Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha, 65, a former army general, is the most senior government official to be killed in the Syrian civil war* as rebels battle to oust President Bashar Assad. Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar was in stable condition, state-run TV said.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Daoud Rajha, Syria's Defense Minister, Killed In Suicide Blast, State TV Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have bolded all that matters.
> 
> this is big, it tells Assads inner circle he may not be able to protect them , even in the heart of the capital at the Defense Ministry.
> 
> 
> we are going to see just what kind of grit he and they have. Is he his daddy? Will he make an example of a small to medium size city and gas them? There is absolutely nothing to hold him back except conscience.....(Even if he did, would that work? I don't think so. )
> 
> there is  no reason why he has to fear anything outside the country, the UN is doing what they do,  running around trying to make beleive they actually have an effect on any of this and are a viable org. that has any tangible value whatsoever, the US by virtue of clumsy foreign policy and its self imposed 'silences' most especially in that region and at the strangest times, is neutered.
> 
> Russia (and newcomer china) has/have more influence in the ME right now since Yom Kippur war and they were the USSR.
> 
> 
> 
> Will his people start deserting? ...I can almost hear the  *thump, snap* of those attache cases filled with bullion closing........the movers and shakers of the alawite minority are looking for transport...Russian vessels?
Click to expand...


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Daoud Rajha, Syria's Defense Minister, Killed In Suicide Blast, State TV Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT --* A suicide bomber struck the National Security building in the Syrian capital *Wednesday, killing the defense minister and wounding the interior minister in a brazen attack on the seat of government power, state-run TV said.
> 
> *Defense Minister Dawoud Rajha, 65, a former army general, is the most senior government official to be killed in the Syrian civil war* as rebels battle to oust President Bashar Assad. Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar was in stable condition, state-run TV said.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Daoud Rajha, Syria's Defense Minister, Killed In Suicide Blast, State TV Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have bolded all that matters.
> 
> this is big, it tells Assads inner circle he may not be able to protect them , even in the heart of the capital at the Defense Ministry.
> 
> 
> we are going to see just what kind of grit he and they have. Is he his daddy? Will he make an example of a small to medium size city and gas them? There is absolutely nothing to hold him back except conscience.....(Even if he did, would that work? I don't think so. )
> 
> there is  no reason why he has to fear anything outside the country, the UN is doing what they do,  running around trying to make beleive they actually have an effect on any of this and are a viable org. that has any tangible value whatsoever, the US by virtue of clumsy foreign policy and its self imposed 'silences' most especially in that region and at the strangest times, is neutered.
> 
> Russia (and newcomer china) has/have more influence in the ME right now since Yom Kippur war and they were the USSR.
> 
> 
> 
> Will his people start deserting? ...I can almost hear the  *thump, snap* of those attache cases filled with bullion closing........the movers and shakers of the alawite minority are looking for transport...Russian vessels?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> If I were Assad I would not use WMD's, that would get too much international attention and start reminding people of Saddam. However I would start to pound the rebel areas into submission with whatever air power I have.
Click to expand...


----------



## bobgnote

rhodescholar said:


> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> *defense minister, head of intelligence, and the minister of interior, all killed in suicide bombing attack in Syria, an hour ago*
> 
> *Head of intelligence, was Bashar Al-Assad's brother in law.*
> 
> 
> 
> This is wonderful, fantastic news - the rebels have reached the inner circle, and it looks like we're at the end of the assad mafia gang regime's existence. I cannot be happier, and so are the Syrian people.
> 
> Soon ass-ad, then iran in a few days/weeks, then hezbollah...the dominoes are all falling, and obama has timed it all perfectly.
> 
> *If he removes the iranian regime* - I'll even vote for him in November.
Click to expand...


_The problem with Iran is the same as in any other country, which the CIA has been fucking with, since 1948 or whenever they started fucking with things, best left alone.

The CIA and MI6 installed the Shah, in 1953, preceding the removal of nationalization, of Iranian oil, while BP was chartered.

President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad was a student, during the Iranian revolution.  He was against taking the US Embassy, but Iran went for taking the US Embassy, to establish closer relations, with the former Soviet Union.

The US has too much obnoxious hegemony, in favor of Israel and minority Sunni tyrants, to get anywhere, with Iran.  Black Obamney isn't enough of a leader, to get anything like what you want done, since what he does is copy Republicans, which gets him in trouble, but not enough trouble, to lose an election, outright.

What will happen in Iran is MAYBE the Iranians can see sense, in Syria, since Assad has to go, and MAYBE Iran can get some kind of sense, from the US, to minimize damage, by the tyrannical King of Bahrain, a Sunni tyrant, ruling a Shiite majority.

MAYBE white Obamney will release his tax returns and win, in November.  But even though the National Review has called on Meat to get out his returns, what looks like is happening is Meat continued at Bain, lied about it, so now, he's a liar, about to lose, in November.  So you get black Obamney, in the White House, no matter how you vote._


----------



## High_Gravity

In Syria, Rebels Celebrate Stunning Assassinationsand Send More Forces to Damascus








> A TIME reporter was in Syrias restive Idlib province when news broke that Defense Minister Daoud Rajiha and deputy army chief, Assef Shawkat  who is also President Bashar Assads brother-in-law  had been killed in a dramatic attack in one of the most secure areas of Damascus, the countrys capital and the heart of the regime.
> 
> Celebratory gunfire filled the air even as some fighters admonished their comrades to Save the bullets! We will need them. To which came the reply, Not today!
> 
> There was reason not to draw too much attention, however. The town is surrounded by regime tanks and one fired off a shell in response to the armed merriment. The Assad loyalists had been through the community of 50,000 people several months agowith the burnt out remains of shops and homes in painful evidence. Many of the shops have not reopened since, their gates warped and broken even as they shutter their wares.
> 
> Nevertheless, the celebration over the deaths of the dreaded officials in Damascus soon became an impromptu parade, with people marching behind several pick-up trucks. A local mosque blared out the news as well, sending a message to the loyalist troops just outside the town: You are out brothers! Join us!
> 
> Despite being ravaged by the regimes army, Idlib has been trying to propel the uprising in Damascus. According to Free Syrian Army sources, the province has responded to requests from rebels in the capital by sending 1,500 fighters to Damascus. The request was specifically for ex-soldiers, not civilians. More apparently are on the way.



Read more: In Syria, Rebels Celebrate Stunning Assassinations&#8211;and Send More Forces to Damascus | World | TIME.com


----------



## ERGO

*SYRIA: Criminal Propagandists: Killing Civilians as Part of a "Humanitarian Mandate" *
*
Claim "UN blames regime forces for Syria massacre ," admits "neither activists' claims nor the videos could be independently verified."*

Surely if nothing "activists" have so far said about latest so-called "massacre," in Tremseh, Syria can be verified, it is impossible to "blame" anyone for the alleged deaths that are said to have occurred. Nevertheless, the Associated Press, Reuters, AFP, and many other mainstays of the West's corporate-run media machine ran with titles such as, "UN blames regime forces for Syria massacre" (AP), "Syrian regime condemned for Tremseh massacre" (Reuters), "Syria crisis: Tremseh 'massacre'" (Guardian), and "Syria unrest: Kofi Annan shocked at Tremseh 'atrocities'" (BBC).




*                              Unarmed civilians? From the US State Department and outward through its tentacles across the corporate media, the so-called "Free Syrian Army" is continuously referred to interchangeably as "civilians" and "activists." In reality they are heavily armed, foreign-backed, and include amongst their ranks a sizable proportion of foreign fighters - betraying the very name Free "Syrian" Army. Even by "activist" accounts however, the recent "massacre" in Tremseh, Syria appears to be in fact a battle militants lost, with the vast majority of the deaths being armed fighters, not civilians. *

And even below these deceitful titles, clearly implicating the Syrian government and its security forces in what is portrayed as a callous act of mass murder against defenseless civilians, each report concedes, buried toward the end, that Tremseh was in fact the site of a vicious battle between heavily armed NATO-backed "Free Syrian Army" militants and the Syrian military. Under the deceitful headlines and beyond the first several paragraphs purposefully loaded with manipulative Goebbelsesque propaganda, what the Western corporate-media is actually reporting is terrorist forces being defeated by the Syrian military in violence growing SOLELY because the West continues to funnel cash, increasingly advanced arms, and even foreign fighters into the country.

Saudi, Qatar paying salaries to Syria rebels: diplomat:Saudi, Qatar paying salaries to Syria rebels: diplomat - World news - Mideast/N. Africa - NBCNews.com

Libyan fighters join "free Syrian army" forces:Libyan fighters join "free Syrian army" forces | Al Bawaba

So despite even the "activists" themselves admitting they attacked the Syrian military first and simply lost the subsequent battle which appears to have led back to their base of operations in Tremseh, the Western media decided to spin it as a calculated, mass murder of civilians, as the Guardian puts it, "timed" for "boosting morale of Assad's armed supporters and scuppering attempts to find a political solution,"  quoting a member of the overtly Western-backed "Syrian National Council" (SNC).

Perhaps the most ridiculous display put on however, was performed by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton who claimed, "accounts of the attack on the village of Tremseh, including the use of artillery, tanks and helicopters, provide indisputable evidence that the regime deliberately murdered innocent civilians." Clinton, unhindered by the fact that she herself used the word "accounts" rather than "documented evidence," claims that the incident, described by even the rebels as a pitched battle between Syrian troops and FSA militants, was a deliberate mass murdering of civilians. 

Libya&#8217;s new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels:Libya&rsquo;s new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels - Telegraph

Syrian Rebels Admit Terrorist Bombing Campaign:Land Destroyer: Syrian Rebels Admit Terrorist Bombing Campaign

Source Link:http://globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31897

Covert War Waged Against Syria:  Chossudovsky: Covert War Waged Against Syria - YouTube!

Bowie: 'UN Should Investigate Arms Smuggling into Syria' :Bowie: 'UN Should Investigate Arms Smuggling into Syria' - YouTube!

Arms & Cash Flow to Syria Rebels Must Stop to End Violence:Arms & Cash Flow to Syria Rebels Must Stop to End Violence | Global Research TV


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _The Assad regime core is built around the Baath Party, _
> 
> 
> 
> _
> 
> 
> *How many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?*_
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> _
> 
> Assads father massacred tens of thousands of Syrians in Homs you fuckin dickhead._
Click to expand...

_

First of all, it was not in Homs, but in Hama. I understand that to an edumacated American it makes no difference: Iraq or Iran; Austria or Australia, but still...

Please, tell me what would be the actions of the US government if a bunch of armed people will stage an uprising in one of the US states?

Second point: if in your opinion, a government of a country (any country) has no right to restore peace on its territory by killing rebels/insurgents/terrorists, then what do you think of US committing massacres in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now -- in Syria?

Third point: Hama happened in 1982, if memory serves my right, why the US did not go after Syria then? 
What 1982 military operation against rebels have to do with Syria of now?
In 1993 the US government of the time committed massacre of Davidians. Did anyone call for "civilised international community" to bomb the US into democracy?


So, let me repeat my question: *HOW MANY MASSACRES HAPPENED IN SYRIA BEFORE THE US LED "CIVILISED COMMUNITY" GOT THEIR HANDS ON SYRIA????????
*_


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> *How many massacres happened in Syria BEFORE US led "civilised international community" got its hands on Syria?*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Assads father massacred tens of thousands of Syrians in Homs you fuckin dickhead.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> First of all, it was not in Homs, but in Hama. I understand that to an edumacated American it makes no difference: Iraq or Iran; Austria or Australia, but still...
> 
> Please, tell me what would be the actions of the US government if a bunch of armed people will stage an uprising in one of the US states?
> 
> Second point: if in your opinion, a government of a country (any country) has no right to restore peace on its territory by killing rebels/insurgents/terrorists, then what do you think of US committing massacres in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now -- in Syria?
> 
> Third point: Hama happened in 1982, if memory serves my right, why the US did not go after Syria then?
> What 1982 military operation against rebels have to do with Syria of now?
> In 1993 the US government of the time committed massacre of Davidians. Did anyone call for "civilised international community" to bomb the US into democracy?
> 
> 
> So, let me repeat my question: *HOW MANY MASSACRES HAPPENED IN SYRIA BEFORE THE US LED "CIVILISED COMMUNITY" GOT THEIR HANDS ON SYRIA????????
> *
Click to expand...


I already answered your question you little drama queen.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Nope Assads followers are mostly goons and rapists, deal with it faggot.



I didn't know Pentagon was in Syria!  http://www.usmessageboard.com/military/228897-pentagon-to-recognize-gay-troops.html


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Nope Assads followers are mostly goons and rapists, deal with it faggot.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't know Pentagon was in Syria!  http://www.usmessageboard.com/military/228897-pentagon-to-recognize-gay-troops.html
Click to expand...


Irrelevant.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Crisis: Rebels Launch Operation To 'Liberate Damascus'



They launched this operation three days ago! News travel fast in the West.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Rebels Launch Operation To 'Liberate Damascus'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They launched this operation three days ago! News travel fast in the West.
Click to expand...


Funny, wasn't your bitch ass on here saying nothing was going on in Damascus?


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Assads father massacred tens of thousands of Syrians in Homs you fuckin dickhead.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> First of all, it was not in Homs, but in Hama. I understand that to an edumacated American it makes no difference: Iraq or Iran; Austria or Australia, but still...
> 
> Please, tell me what would be the actions of the US government if a bunch of armed people will stage an uprising in one of the US states?
> 
> Second point: if in your opinion, a government of a country (any country) has no right to restore peace on its territory by killing rebels/insurgents/terrorists, then what do you think of US committing massacres in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now -- in Syria?
> 
> Third point: Hama happened in 1982, if memory serves my right, why the US did not go after Syria then?
> What 1982 military operation against rebels have to do with Syria of now?
> In 1993 the US government of the time committed massacre of Davidians. Did anyone call for "civilised international community" to bomb the US into democracy?
> 
> 
> So, let me repeat my question: *HOW MANY MASSACRES HAPPENED IN SYRIA BEFORE THE US LED "CIVILISED COMMUNITY" GOT THEIR HANDS ON SYRIA????????
> *
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I already answered your question you little drama queen.
Click to expand...



So -- NONE!

Thank you. Exactly my point: all massacres in Syria started as soon as the US led European "leaders" moved to attack Syria.

The latest jubilations of Western media at the successful TERRORIST ATTACKS are a direct proof of the West standing behind terrorism.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Nope Assads followers are mostly goons and rapists, deal with it faggot.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't know Pentagon was in Syria!  http://www.usmessageboard.com/military/228897-pentagon-to-recognize-gay-troops.html
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Irrelevant.
Click to expand...


Very relevant in light of your accusations.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Crisis: Rebels Launch Operation To 'Liberate Damascus'
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They launched this operation three days ago! News travel fast in the West.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Funny, wasn't your bitch ass on here saying nothing was going on in Damascus?
Click to expand...


Them LAUNCHING an operation is not the same as them actually conducting it in Damascus!!!!!

Localised shootings with Syrian military chasing the odd ones around was not part of their operation, as far as I understand.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> They launched this operation three days ago! News travel fast in the West.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Funny, wasn't your bitch ass on here saying nothing was going on in Damascus?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Them LAUNCHING an operation is not the same as them actually conducting it in Damascus!!!!!
> 
> Localised shootings with Syrian military chasing the odd ones around was not part of their operation, as far as I understand.
Click to expand...


LMAO yeah whatever motherfucker, its the same thing.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> First of all, it was not in Homs, but in Hama. I understand that to an edumacated American it makes no difference: Iraq or Iran; Austria or Australia, but still...
> 
> Please, tell me what would be the actions of the US government if a bunch of armed people will stage an uprising in one of the US states?
> 
> Second point: if in your opinion, a government of a country (any country) has no right to restore peace on its territory by killing rebels/insurgents/terrorists, then what do you think of US committing massacres in Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya and now -- in Syria?
> 
> Third point: Hama happened in 1982, if memory serves my right, why the US did not go after Syria then?
> What 1982 military operation against rebels have to do with Syria of now?
> In 1993 the US government of the time committed massacre of Davidians. Did anyone call for "civilised international community" to bomb the US into democracy?
> 
> 
> So, let me repeat my question: *HOW MANY MASSACRES HAPPENED IN SYRIA BEFORE THE US LED "CIVILISED COMMUNITY" GOT THEIR HANDS ON SYRIA????????
> *
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I already answered your question you little drama queen.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 
> So -- NONE!
> 
> Thank you. Exactly my point: all massacres in Syria started as soon as the US led European "leaders" moved to attack Syria.
> 
> The latest jubilations of Western media at the successful TERRORIST ATTACKS are a direct proof of the West standing behind terrorism.
Click to expand...


America must be very powerful to coerce the Syrians into slaughtering each other.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> I didn't know Pentagon was in Syria!  http://www.usmessageboard.com/military/228897-pentagon-to-recognize-gay-troops.html
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Irrelevant.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Very relevant in light of your accusations.
Click to expand...


No your a faggot, its fact not fiction.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Funny, wasn't your bitch ass on here saying nothing was going on in Damascus?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Them LAUNCHING an operation is not the same as them actually conducting it in Damascus!!!!!
> 
> Localised shootings with Syrian military chasing the odd ones around was not part of their operation, as far as I understand.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> LMAO yeah whatever motherfucker, its the same thing.
Click to expand...


Really???!!!

In your opinion, "launching" and actually conducting it is the same?! I mean, they launched an operation "Liberation of Damascus", but were not permitted to do it in Damascus -- and  you think, it's all the same?! 

Darling, that article you brought on a site, was written from the WORDS of US paid "activists". It has nothing to do with reality: reported battles that made baby cry for 16 months DID NOT TAKE PLACE!

I told you, stop rummaging in the rubbish bins, but you insist...


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I already answered your question you little drama queen.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So -- NONE!
> 
> Thank you. Exactly my point: all massacres in Syria started as soon as the US led European "leaders" moved to attack Syria.
> 
> The latest jubilations of Western media at the successful TERRORIST ATTACKS are a direct proof of the West standing behind terrorism.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> America must be very powerful to coerce the Syrians into slaughtering each other.
Click to expand...


Re-read this thread from the very beginning. After you will do that, we can move onto the next stage of your education.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> So -- NONE!
> 
> Thank you. Exactly my point: all massacres in Syria started as soon as the US led European "leaders" moved to attack Syria.
> 
> The latest jubilations of Western media at the successful TERRORIST ATTACKS are a direct proof of the West standing behind terrorism.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> America must be very powerful to coerce the Syrians into slaughtering each other.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Re-read this thread from the very beginning. After you will do that, we can move onto the next stage of your education.
Click to expand...


Yeah sure faggot.


----------



## Katzndogz

The US is backing the islamic jihadists in Syria the same way we did in Libya and Egypt.   What I find puzzling is that the Syrian government is taking the stockpile of chemical weapons out of storage AND our state department says the Assad regime could fall in a matter of hours.

It certainly doesn't sound like the government is toppling, but they are going to engage in some pretty serious mayhem instead.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> No your a faggot, :



Very interesting feat of grammar! American language?


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> faggot. ::



You repeated this word so many times, that any doubt someone had of your "orientation" were dispelled...

It's OK'... you can join US military now.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> No your a faggot, :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Very interesting feat of grammar! American language?
Click to expand...


You are boring me.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> faggot. ::
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You repeated this word so many times, that any doubt someone had of your "orientation" were dispelled...
> 
> It's OK'... you can join US military now.
Click to expand...


Ok faggot.


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> the Syrian government is taking the stockpile of chemical weapons out of storage



They didn't.

Hysteria in Western media is designed to prepare Western public opinion for when the "opposition" will use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya, in order to pin the atrosity onto Syrian government.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> the Syrian government is taking the stockpile of chemical weapons out of storage
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They didn't.
> 
> Hysteria in Western media is designed to prepare Western public opinion for when the "opposition" will use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya, in order to pin the atrosity onto Syrian government.
Click to expand...


Yes you faggot, they did indeed take the chemical weapons out of storage, You have your tongue jammed so far up Assads ass you can't even see straight.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> No your a faggot, :
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Very interesting feat of grammar! American language?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You are boring me.
Click to expand...


Yes, I can tell, English language was not your favourite subject at school...


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Very interesting feat of grammar! American language?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are boring me.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yes, I can tell, English language was not your favourite subject at school...
Click to expand...


No it wasn't.


----------



## Katzndogz

mememe said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> the Syrian government is taking the stockpile of chemical weapons out of storage
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They didn't.
> 
> Hysteria in Western media is designed to prepare Western public opinion for when the "opposition" will use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya, in order to pin the atrosity onto Syrian government.
Click to expand...


I'm not going to disagree with you.  We'll have to wait and see who uses them.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> the Syrian government is taking the stockpile of chemical weapons out of storage
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They didn't.
> 
> Hysteria in Western media is designed to prepare Western public opinion for when the "opposition" will use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya, in order to pin the atrosity onto Syrian government.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> they did i:
Click to expand...


...reported the same US paid "activists" that previously reported on battles in Damascus and a baby that cries for 16 months now...


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> the Syrian government is taking the stockpile of chemical weapons out of storage
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They didn't.
> 
> Hysteria in Western media is designed to prepare Western public opinion for when the "opposition" will use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya, in order to pin the atrosity onto Syrian government.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I'm not going to disagree with you.  We'll have to wait and see who uses them.
Click to expand...


The reports on Libyan weapons (including chemical weapons) falling into the hands of Islamic militants were published as far back as Summer of 2011. 

And now, Western media hysteria around "chemical weapons" magically coincided with the presence of Libyan "freedom fighters" in Syria.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> They didn't.
> 
> Hysteria in Western media is designed to prepare Western public opinion for when the "opposition" will use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya, in order to pin the atrosity onto Syrian government.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> they did i:
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> ...reported the same US paid "activists" that previously reported on battles in Damascus and a baby that cries for 16 months now...
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


>



Brilliant idea -- you can adopt it as your signature!


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Brilliant idea -- you can adopt it as your signature!
Click to expand...


You should make that your avatar.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> You should make that your avatar.



I was never into plagiarism.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> You should make that your avatar.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was never into plagiarism.
Click to expand...


Liar liar pants on fire.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> You should make that your avatar.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I was never into plagiarism.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Liar liar pants on fire.
Click to expand...


I love you too.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> I was never into plagiarism.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Liar liar pants on fire.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I love you too.
Click to expand...


I knew it, queer.


----------



## mememe

Back on topic...

"...The current attack , of course, does not equal that of 911, but nevertheless it is already clear that the preparation for it was meticulous and thorough. Attack of the militants on Damascus, an unscheduled meeting of the outer circle of management (more on that later), and coordinated attacks at a meeting of security officials and Republican Guard headquarters means that the nature of planning was that of variability - Plan A, Plan B and so on. Depending on the turn of events. This is a demonstration of the highest quality planning characteristic of a limited number of special services. The perpetrators received instructions at the last moment - that's why there was no leak.

Terrorist attack against the top management was planned very intelligently. In any country, and even more so in authoritarian, there are several levels of decision-making. For Syria, this means - the highest leadership of the country, the so-called inner circle - it consists literally of a dozen people. It is Bashar Assad himself, his brother, Maher, and their mother - the widow of Hafez Assad Anis (nee Mahlyuf), Anisa Mohammed Mahlyuf brother and his son Rami. The last two - big businessmen. According to various sources, the family Mahlyuf controls up to 60% of the Syrian economy.

The outer circle is a creation of these people. First of all, law enforcement officers. Various law enforcement agencies are under the control of each member of the inner circle. In fact, this outer circle is the major transmission link between senior management and the entire control system. Murder of the Defence Minister, Interior Minister (who reportedly died in hospital after all), the two heads of intelligence agencies - Ash-Shawkat and Hafez Mahlyuf, serious injuries of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and many others rapidly and substantially disrupt the process of making operational decisions. Therefore, the level of planning and quality of performance is clearly beyond the scope of any thugs who hastened to take responsibility. Despite the legendary Arab messiness and carelessness, to smuggle explosives into the room of this level is possible only in the presence of a traitor who has full access. Penetrate into the barracks and the headquarters of the Republican Guard - the problem is also not for people from the street.

In other words - it's about the ties of one or several of the leading Syrian clans with Western intelligence agencies. According to common understanding, only one clan comes to mind - Clan of Tlass. And it's not even about the recently defected representative of this clan. It's about its head - former Minister of Defense Mustafa Tlass, who now lives in Paris.

Mustafa Tlass is one of the most influential, intelligent and highly capable people of the Syrian elite. Actually, it was he who brought to power Bashar al-Assad and helped him overcome a very strong resistance of the elite. Tlass stands behind several coups in the Arab world in the last half-century.

Today there is no more influential person outside of Syria. It is logical to assume that with him the West is conducting negotiations or at least negotiated the reconfiguration of power in Syria. And if negotiations eventually resulted in an agreement of the parties, the West gained access to the very heart of Syria's ruling elite.

This does not mean that Tlass is able - even with the help of the West - to carry out a coup. There are too many powerful people who do not see themselves outside of power, and for whom there is no place in the new configuration. However, there are many others - who will be able to survive the re-configuration. Logic dictates that the first must be destroyed, and the second - to be negotiated with. The newcomers, even if they will come with a truck load of gold and a division of special agents-terrorists, would not be able to achieve neither first task, nor second. In the East it is important whom you are dealing with; and do you trust him; do you really respect him. And Mustafa Tlass - is too obvious a candidate for the task.

Of course, there are other equally powerful families, clans and bosses. In fact, it is not very important - whether Tlass clan or someone else stands behind this terrorist act. It is important that such an outstanding act of terrorism by all indications was not possible without the participation of some of the most influential individuals and groups. And it is  a huge problem for Assad. Perhaps even more important than any bombing. If he will not solve it - the other efforts of his are meaningless."

Ð*Ð»Ñ&#338; Ð&#339;Ñ&#381;Ñ&#8364;Ð¸Ð´ - Ð¢ÐµÑ&#8364;Ð°ÐºÑ&#8218;


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Back on topic...
> 
> "...The current attack is, of course, does not equal the level of 911, but nevertheless it is already clear that the preparation for it was meticulous and thorough. Attack of the militants on Damascus, an unscheduled meeting of the outer circle of management (more on that later), and coordinated attacks at a meeting of security officials and Republican Guard headquarters means that the nature of planning was that of variability - Plan A, Plan B and so on. Depending on the turn of events. This is a demonstration of the highest quality planning characteristic of a limited number of special services. The perpetrators received instructions at the last moment - that's why there was no leak.
> 
> Terrorist attack against the top management was planned very intelligently. In any country, and even more so in authoritarian, there are several levels of decision-making. For Syria, this means - the highest leadership of the country, the so-called inner circle - it consists literally a dozen people. It is Bashar Assad himself, his brother, Maher, and their mother - the widow of Hafez Assad Anis (nee Mahlyuf), Anisa Mohammed Mahlyuf brother and his son Rami. The last - big businessmen. According to various sources, the family Mahlyuf controls up to 60% of the Syrian economy.
> 
> The outer circle is a creation of these people. First of all, law enforcement officers. Various law enforcement agencies are under the control of each member of the inner circle. In fact, this outer circle is the major transmission link between senior management and the entire control system. Murder of the Defence Minister, Interior Minister (who reportedly died in hospital after all), the two heads of intelligence agencies - Ash-Shawkat and Hafez Mahlyuf, serious injuries of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and many others rapidly and substantially disrupt the process of making operational decisions. Therefore, the level of planning and quality of performance is clearly beyond the scope of any thugs who hastened to take responsibility. Despite the legendary Arab messiness and carelessness, to smuggle explosives into the room of this level is possible only in the presence of a traitor who has full access. Penetrate into the barracks and the headquarters of the Republican Guard - the problem is also not for people from the street.
> 
> In other words - it's about the ties of one or several of the leading Syrian clans with Western intelligence agencies. According to common understanding, only one clan comes to mind - Clan of Tlass. And it's not even about the recently defected representative of this clan. It's about its head - former Minister of Defense Mustafa Tlass, who now lives in Paris.
> 
> Mustafa Tlass is one of the most influential, intelligent and highly capable people of the Syrian elite. Actually, it was he who brought to power Bashar al-Assad and helped him overcome a very strong resistance of the elite. Tlass stands behind several coups in the Arab world in the last half-century.
> 
> Today there is no more influential person outside of Syria. It is logical to assume that with him the West is conducting negotiations or at least negotiated the reconfiguration of power in Syria. And if negotiations eventually resulted in an agreement of the parties, the West gained access to the very heart of Syria's ruling elite.
> 
> This does not mean that Tlass is able - even with the help of the West - to carry out a coup. There are too many powerful people who do not see themselves outside of power, and for whom there is no place in the new configuration. However, there are many others - who will be able to survive the re-configuration. Logic dictates that the first must be destroyed, and the second - to be negotiated with. The newcomers, even if they will come with a truck load of gold and a division special agents-terrorists, would not be able to achieve neither first task, nor second. In the East it is important whom you are dealing with; and do you trust him; do you really respect him. And Mustafa Tlass - is too obvious a candidate for the task.
> 
> Of course, there are other equally powerful families, clans and bosses. In fact, it is not very important - whether Tlass clan or someone else stands behind this terrorist act. It is important that such an outstanding act of terrorism by all indications was not possible without the participation of some of the most influential individuals and groups. And it is  a huge problem for Assad. Perhaps even more important than any bombing. If he will not solve it - that other efforts of his are meaningless."
> 
> Ð*Ð»Ñ ÐÑÑÐ¸Ð´ - Ð¢ÐµÑÐ°ÐºÑ


----------



## High_Gravity

What we need to know about Syria








> The death of Syria's defense minister  in an apparent suicide bombing for which the Syrian rebels have claimed responsibility  is a sign that the rebellion is gaining strength and the Assad regime is cracking. I certainly hope so, but it's important for us to admit that we actually know very little about what is going on in Syria.
> 
> Naturally, our hearts are with the rebels and the Free Syrian Army, so when we hear reports about this bombing, we hope it is a sign of their growing reach and effectiveness. But we don't really know much about the circumstances. Is the use of suicide bombing, for example, a sign of the greater involvement of Islamic jihadis?
> 
> Similarly, when we hear about a massacre, such as reports last week surrounding events in Hama province, we naturally assume that it has been done by the Syrian military in the most brutal possible way.
> 
> And in most cases its true. But in some cases we really dont know enough to be sure. In this most recent massacre, theres some evidence that perhaps the Syrian governments version of events was closer to reality than we had realized. But what that highlights to me is not that the Syrian government is less culpable  this is a government that has systematically and brutally used violence against men, women and children. Bashar al-Assad and his henchmen have the blood of innocents on their hands. So whether all the stories are completely accurate or whether some of them are exaggerated seems to me largely irrelevant from a moral point of view.
> 
> What is relevant is this: we dont know much about the rebels. We dont know, for example, how organized they are or whether they are bands of free floating groups. We dont know what is their agenda or agendas. And we also, despite todays reports, dont really know how effective they are.
> 
> The rebels dont control any part of Syria. In fact, as far as I can see, they dont seem to have even been able to hold a town in Syria for more than a day. They can launch sporadic attacks  sometimes very effective ones such as the bombing yesterday  they can keep government forces on edge. But they havent been able to hold territory. Compare that with Libya, where the Libyan rebels were able to hold almost a third of the country and they took control of a major city, Benghazi.
> 
> Now Libya is a very different place  its much bigger, with more open spaces to hide in. But thats precisely my point  for reasons of geography, perhaps, or maybe because of lack of organization, the Free Syrian Army hasnt been able to succeed in some basic ways. Perhaps its because the Syrian military is very powerful and effective. Perhaps there are other, sectarian, explanations.
> 
> The first step toward figuring out what we can or should do  understanding the situation on the ground.
> 
> What we need to know are the following: is the opposition fighting together in a coordinated way? Who leads it? Does the Syrian National Council  the main exile opposition group  have any sway over these forces? Do the groups on the ground have any sectarian flavor? Are they largely Kurdish or Sunni? What is the role of the jihadi militant groups in the Syrian rebellion?



What we need to know about Syria &#8211; Global Public Square - CNN.com Blogs


----------



## mememe

From the previous post:

"The rebels dont control any part of Syria. In fact, as far as I can see, they dont seem to have even been able to hold a town in Syria for more than a day." ----- *which in itself is a damning admission that the "rebels" have no support of the local population.*


"we dont know much about the rebels. We dont know, for example, how organized they are or whether they are bands of free floating groups. We dont know what is their agenda or agendas."
and
"Naturally, our hearts are with the rebels and the Free Syrian Army,.." ------ *naturally, no comment.*


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> From the previous post:
> 
> "The rebels dont control any part of Syria. In fact, as far as I can see, they dont seem to have even been able to hold a town in Syria for more than a day." ----- *which in itself is a damning admission that the "rebels" have no support of the local population.*



_Right, asshole!  Dead people and refugees don't count, so anybody who wants Assad's murderers to shoot him, outright stand up and sing.  Go over there, stick your loud, idiot self up, and go, "*memememememe*!"  Eat shit, Mame._



mememe said:


> "we dont know much about the rebels. We dont know, for example, how organized they are or whether they are bands of free floating groups. We dont know what is their agenda or agendas."
> 
> and "Naturally, our hearts are with the rebels and the Free Syrian Army,.." ------ *naturally, no comment.*



_If it's PUTIN it ain't gay, shitbag.  Any comments?  Erdogan and Putin got up on stage, for a press conference, this morning.  Let's see if there's any response, or do the Turks and Saudis have to shred the Assad bitches, regardless of what Vlad the stud has to say about any of this?

Putin will get one chance, to straighten up, before somebody does something, to Bashar.  Turkey and Saud don't want to just get into a beef, with Russia.  But they won't take shit from those Alawites, forever.  

Your *meme-firs*t shit about how some Mustafa Tlass introduced Bashar to power is interesting, but Bashar seems to be the son, of Haffez, and transition to power upon Haffez' death seemed seamless, to me._


----------



## mememe

bobgnote said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> From the previous post:
> 
> "The rebels dont control any part of Syria. In fact, as far as I can see, they dont seem to have even been able to hold a town in Syria for more than a day." ----- *which in itself is a damning admission that the "rebels" have no support of the local population.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Right, asshole!  Dead people and refugees don't count, so anybody who wants Assad's murderers to shoot him, outright stand up and sing.  Go over there, stick your loud, idiot self up, and go, "*memememememe*!"  Eat shit, Mame._
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> "we dont know much about the rebels. We dont know, for example, how organized they are or whether they are bands of free floating groups. We dont know what is their agenda or agendas."
> 
> and "Naturally, our hearts are with the rebels and the Free Syrian Army,.." ------ *naturally, no comment.*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> _If it's PUTIN it ain't gay, shitbag.  Any comments?  Erdogan and Putin got up on stage, for a press conference, this morning.  Let's see if there's any response, or do the Turks and Saudis have to shred the Assad bitches, regardless of what Vlad the stud has to say about any of this?
> 
> Putin will get one chance, to straighten up, before somebody does something, to Bashar.  Turkey and Saud don't want to just get into a beef, with Russia.  But they won't take shit from those Alawites, forever.
> 
> Your *meme-firs*t shit about how some Mustafa Tlass introduced Bashar to power is interesting, but Bashar seems to be the son, of Haffez, and transition to power upon Haffez' death seemed seamless, to me._
Click to expand...


I simply love communicating with Americans! The way they hide their lack of understanding of the world around them behind verbal abuse -- is something to behold!   As British put it: even milk left alone develops culture...

What are you dribbling on about? I quoted an article from the previous post; what were you answering to? What "dead", what "putin"? Read, before posting!
Dear, dear...


----------



## Trajan

High_Gravity said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Daoud Rajha, Syria's Defense Minister, Killed In Suicide Blast, State TV Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have bolded all that matters.
> 
> this is big, it tells Assads inner circle he may not be able to protect them , even in the heart of the capital at the Defense Ministry.
> 
> 
> we are going to see just what kind of grit he and they have. Is he his daddy? Will he make an example of a small to medium size city and gas them? There is absolutely nothing to hold him back except conscience.....(Even if he did, would that work? I don't think so. )
> 
> there is  no reason why he has to fear anything outside the country, the UN is doing what they do,  running around trying to make beleive they actually have an effect on any of this and are a viable org. that has any tangible value whatsoever, the US by virtue of clumsy foreign policy and its self imposed 'silences' most especially in that region and at the strangest times, is neutered.
> 
> Russia (and newcomer china) has/have more influence in the ME right now since Yom Kippur war and they were the USSR.
> 
> 
> 
> Will his people start deserting? ...I can almost hear the  *thump, snap* of those attache cases filled with bullion closing........the movers and shakers of the alawite minority are looking for transport...Russian vessels?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If I were Assad I would not use WMD's, that would get too much international attention and start reminding people of Saddam. However I would start to pound the rebel areas into submission with whatever air power I have.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> well, saddam did what he did and what was the net overall effect? that happened in 1988, when we were allied with saddam against iran.....nothing was done until 2005, even though pictures etc. had gotten out. ...when some European court found saddam guilty perpetrating genocide...big whoop. if we had not been in there zip would have happened. Geo-Politics can be a dirty biz....
> 
> 
> now, even if assad did so, obama is not going to do a thing, he is trying to talk with Russia who  has only one option, to sppt asssad till the end, they are to far into sptting him to stop, so they know if he falls no one who takes over if assad falls  will have thing to do with them....and the UN etc. is a dead end.
> 
> it calls for a no fly zone as tacit sppt. allied with Turkey, saudi arabia and Qatar and the rest of the sunnis who will go along.
> 
> 
> did you see Iran stuck a pin in Israel by attacking a bus full of Israelis in Bulgaria? theim minds are busy tonight in tel aviv.
> 
> this thing could spin out of control, not like theres a whole bunch of control now to start with....
Click to expand...


----------



## Trajan

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> From the previous post:
> 
> "The rebels dont control any part of Syria. In fact, as far as I can see, they dont seem to have even been able to hold a town in Syria for more than a day." ----- *which in itself is a damning admission that the "rebels" have no support of the local population.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Right, asshole!  Dead people and refugees don't count, so anybody who wants Assad's murderers to shoot him, outright stand up and sing.  Go over there, stick your loud, idiot self up, and go, "*memememememe*!"  Eat shit, Mame._
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> "we dont know much about the rebels. We dont know, for example, how organized they are or whether they are bands of free floating groups. We dont know what is their agenda or agendas."
> 
> and "Naturally, our hearts are with the rebels and the Free Syrian Army,.." ------ *naturally, no comment.*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> _If it's PUTIN it ain't gay, shitbag.  Any comments?  Erdogan and Putin got up on stage, for a press conference, this morning.  Let's see if there's any response, or do the Turks and Saudis have to shred the Assad bitches, regardless of what Vlad the stud has to say about any of this?
> 
> Putin will get one chance, to straighten up, before somebody does something, to Bashar.  Turkey and Saud don't want to just get into a beef, with Russia.  But they won't take shit from those Alawites, forever.
> 
> Your *meme-firs*t shit about how some Mustafa Tlass introduced Bashar to power is interesting, but Bashar seems to be the son, of Haffez, and transition to power upon Haffez' death seemed seamless, to me._
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I simply love communicating with Americans! The way they hide their lack of understanding of the world around them behind verbal abuse -- is something to behold!   As British put it: even milk left alone develops culture...
> 
> What are you dribbling on about? I quoted an article from the previous post; what were you answering to? What "dead", what "putin"? Read, before posting!
> Dear, dear...
Click to expand...


yes,  you're a legend in your own mind......


----------



## mememe

Trajan said:


> it calls for a no fly zone as tacit sppt. allied with Turkey, saudi arabia and Qatar and the rest of the sunnis who will go along.
> 
> 
> did you see Iran stuck a pin in Israel by attacking a bus full of Israelis in Bulgaria?



SA is currently VERY busy with its own troubles;
and Erdogan is trying to find a way to back off (Turkey military were opposing his ambitions for active military involvement in Syria, for which came under repressions in the past month); perhaps he finally realised that with Syria turning into "Libya" -- a country without a state, Kurds will destabilise Turkey and may even carve a part of it towards creating their Kurdistan...


In Burgas (Bulgaria) a bus load of Israeli tourists was blown up.

Without any investigation, Israel and Western media pointed fingers at Hezbollah, which effectively means -- at Iran. The fact, that such an act is contrary to the interests of both has been utterly ignored by media... 

The situation is reminiscent of 9/11, when the elites had to stage a bloody provocation, and within minutes find the "culprits", who happened to be the US intended targets of the time: OBL and Afghanistan. That provocation, in the words of Zigmund Brzezinski, galvanised American society in support of what became the first step of the murderous spree of US/Zionist elites around the world.

The current terrorist act in Burgas was "investigated" within minutes, and fingers pointed at allied to Iran Hezbollah. More likely then not, it was done to persuade "dove" wing of Israeli elites to support more militant approach to Iran. After all, as soon, as the US/"civilised community" will start bombing Syria, Iran will have to be attacked also. And now, after the blood of Israeli tourists was pinned on Iran, Israel will have to fight its HISTORIC ALLY. whether it wants to or not!
http://www.usmessageboard.com/the-middle-east-general/235173-target-iran.html


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> From the previous post:
> 
> "The rebels dont control any part of Syria. In fact, as far as I can see, they dont seem to have even been able to hold a town in Syria for more than a day." ----- *which in itself is a damning admission that the "rebels" have no support of the local population.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Right, asshole!  Dead people and refugees don't count, so anybody who wants Assad's murderers to shoot him, outright stand up and sing.  Go over there, stick your loud, idiot self up, and go, "*memememememe*!"  Eat shit, Mame._
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> "we dont know much about the rebels. We dont know, for example, how organized they are or whether they are bands of free floating groups. We dont know what is their agenda or agendas."
> 
> and "Naturally, our hearts are with the rebels and the Free Syrian Army,.." ------ *naturally, no comment.*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> _If it's PUTIN it ain't gay, shitbag.  Any comments?  Erdogan and Putin got up on stage, for a press conference, this morning.  Let's see if there's any response, or do the Turks and Saudis have to shred the Assad bitches, regardless of what Vlad the stud has to say about any of this?
> 
> Putin will get one chance, to straighten up, before somebody does something, to Bashar.  Turkey and Saud don't want to just get into a beef, with Russia.  But they won't take shit from those Alawites, forever.
> 
> Your *meme-firs*t shit about how some Mustafa Tlass introduced Bashar to power is interesting, but Bashar seems to be the son, of Haffez, and transition to power upon Haffez' death seemed seamless, to me._
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I simply love communicating with Americans! The way they hide their lack of understanding of the world around them behind verbal abuse -- is something to behold!   As British put it: even milk left alone develops culture...
> 
> What are you dribbling on about? I quoted an article from the previous post; what were you answering to? What "dead", what "putin"? Read, before posting!
> Dear, dear...
Click to expand...


You are doing the same thing bitch.


----------



## High_Gravity

Trajan said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> If I were Assad I would not use WMD's, that would get too much international attention and start reminding people of Saddam. However I would start to pound the rebel areas into submission with whatever air power I have.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> well, saddam did what he did and what was the net overall effect? that happened in 1988, when we were allied with saddam against iran.....nothing was done until 2005, even though pictures etc. had gotten out. ...when some European court found saddam guilty perpetrating genocide...big whoop. if we had not been in there zip would have happened. Geo-Politics can be a dirty biz....
> 
> 
> now, even if assad did so, obama is not going to do a thing, he is trying to talk with Russia who  has only one option, to sppt asssad till the end, they are to far into sptting him to stop, so they know if he falls no one who takes over if assad falls  will have thing to do with them....and the UN etc. is a dead end.
> 
> it calls for a no fly zone as tacit sppt. allied with Turkey, saudi arabia and Qatar and the rest of the sunnis who will go along.
> 
> 
> did you see Iran stuck a pin in Israel by attacking a bus full of Israelis in Bulgaria? theim minds are busy tonight in tel aviv.
> 
> this thing could spin out of control, not like theres a whole bunch of control now to start with....
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Nothing was done in 1988 because we were still "allies" with him technically but that incident made him a pariah around the world, I just have this feeling that if Assad does use his chemical weapons he will face international intervention in his country, if hes letting loose WMD in the region it effects everyone not just Syria.
Click to expand...


----------



## Artevelde

mememe said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> it calls for a no fly zone as tacit sppt. allied with Turkey, saudi arabia and Qatar and the rest of the sunnis who will go along.
> 
> 
> did you see Iran stuck a pin in Israel by attacking a bus full of Israelis in Bulgaria?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SA is currently VERY busy with its own troubles;
> and Erdogan is trying to find a way to back off (Turkey military were opposing his ambitions for active military involvement in Syria, for which came under repressions in the past month); perhaps he finally realised that with Syria turning into "Libya" -- a country without a state, Kurds will destabilise Turkey and may even carve a part of it towards creating their Kurdistan...
> 
> 
> In Burgas (Bulgaria) a bus load of Israeli tourists was blown up.
> 
> Without any investigation, Israel and Western media pointed fingers at Hezbollah, which effectively means -- at Iran. The fact, that such an act is contrary to the interests of both has been utterly ignored by media...
> 
> The situation is reminiscent of 9/11, when the elites had to stage a bloody provocation, and within minutes find the "culprits", who happened to be the US intended targets of the time: OBL and Afghanistan. That provocation, in the words of Zigmund Brzezinski, galvanised American society in support of what became the first step of the murderous spree of US/Zionist elites around the world.
> 
> The current terrorist act in Burgas was "investigated" within minutes, and fingers pointed at allied to Iran Hezbollah. More likely then not, it was done to persuade "dove" wing of Israeli elites to support more militant approach to Iran. After all, as soon, as the US/"civilised community" will start bombing Syria, Iran will have to be attacked also. And now, after the blood of Israeli tourists was pinned on Iran, Israel will have to fight its HISTORIC ALLY. whether it wants to or not!
> http://www.usmessageboard.com/the-middle-east-general/235173-target-iran.html
Click to expand...


Usual nonsense.


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. official: Al-Assad faces 'fight or flight' decision








> The killing of three top officials by an explosion on Wednesday has left Syrian President Bashar al-Assad at a "decision point," a senior U.S. official told CNN.
> 
> "From an intelligence point of view the regime has to decide: fight or flight," the senior official said.
> 
> Another senior official from the Middle East region underscored that assessment, telling CNN the attacks indicate "strong cracks in the regime."
> 
> "This is a potential tipping point," the Middle East official said.
> 
> The nature of the violence and the proximity to al-Assad's inner circle of power is causing the increased concern from American government officials in the last few days, the American source said. A second senior U.S. official concurred with that assessment.
> 
> When asked if the al-Assad regime also believes itself to be at a decision point, the U.S. official the there is at least some information to back up that belief.
> 
> But the king of Jordan, whose country borders Syria, warned that despite a "tremendous blow," the regime is not going to give up.
> 
> "Damascus has shown its resilience. So I think maybe we need to keep this in perspective, although this is a blow," King Abdullah II said in an interview that aired Wednesday on CNN's Situation Room with Wolf Blitzer. "I'm sure that the regime will continue to show fortitude, at least in the near future.
> 
> "I don't think we should jump to any conclusions of writing the regime off in the near future."
> 
> When Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters Wednesday that the Syrian situation is "rapidly spinning out of control," he was reflecting growing concern about the fighting having reaching the Syrian capital and growing worries about Syria's chemical weapons, officials tell CNN.
> 
> With the Syrian regime now having moved some of its chemical weapons on at least one recent occasion, the Obama administration is stepping up efforts to conduct an "assessment of intentions" of the Syrian regime to employ that deadly arsenal against its own people, according to the second senior U.S. official who has direct knowledge of the efforts.
> 
> At the same time, senior U.S. officials involved in this issue have spoken privately but directly with their Russian counterparts in the past several days to reinforce that any use of the chemical weapons by the Syrians is a so-called "red-line" for the United States.



U.S. official: Al-Assad faces 'fight or flight' decision &#8211; CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> From the previous post:
> 
> "The rebels dont control any part of Syria. In fact, as far as I can see, they dont seem to have even been able to hold a town in Syria for more than a day." ----- *which in itself is a damning admission that the "rebels" have no support of the local population.*
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _Right, asshole!  Dead people and refugees don't count, so anybody who wants Assad's murderers to shoot him, outright stand up and sing.  Go over there, stick your loud, idiot self up, and go, "*memememememe*!"  Eat shit, Mame._
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> "we dont know much about the rebels. We dont know, for example, how organized they are or whether they are bands of free floating groups. We dont know what is their agenda or agendas."
> 
> and "Naturally, our hearts are with the rebels and the Free Syrian Army,.." ------ *naturally, no comment.*
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> _If it's PUTIN it ain't gay, shitbag.  Any comments?  Erdogan and Putin got up on stage, for a press conference, this morning.  Let's see if there's any response, or do the Turks and Saudis have to shred the Assad bitches, regardless of what Vlad the stud has to say about any of this?
> 
> Putin will get one chance, to straighten up, before somebody does something, to Bashar.  Turkey and Saud don't want to just get into a beef, with Russia.  But they won't take shit from those Alawites, forever.
> 
> Your *meme-firs*t shit about how some Mustafa Tlass introduced Bashar to power is interesting, but Bashar seems to be the son, of Haffez, and transition to power upon Haffez' death seemed seamless, to me._
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I simply love communicating with Americans! The way they hide their lack of understanding of the world around them behind verbal abuse -- is something to behold!   As British put it: even milk left alone develops culture...
> 
> What are you dribbling on about? I quoted an article from the previous post; what were you answering to? What "dead", what "putin"? Read, before posting!
> Dear, dear...
Click to expand...


UN: Syria now in state of civil war, death toll at more than 4,000 - Israel News | Haaretz Daily Newspaper



> "We are placing the figure at 4,000, but really the reliable information coming to us is that it is much more than that," UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told a news conference.



_What "DEAD"?  A conservative estimate would be 4000, since last year, or *150 per day*, since somebody, named Bashar seems to be using Russian weapons, to slaughter civilians, which seems to have pissed somebody AND somebody else off, *weeweewee*, you piece of pig-shit!

I seem to remember reading how you think some sort of events will transpire in Russia, which post suggested you oppose Putin, but if you won't comment on Putin, notice he was on TV, yesterday, which needed no other introduction.

Also, you might as well say where you are from, but you suck, like a pig, so you might not want to reflect on how you came from some sty.  But anyone who signs his USMB posts, with a Stalin quote and who has a lot of denial, while eliminating definite articles, from his sentences would tend to be a Russian shit-bag, pigging it up, in the US._

Syria's civil war: Innocent boys and girls left horrifically injured after attack by government forces | Mail Online



> They are the innocent victims of the bloody Syrian civil war, young boys and girls left horrifically injured after government forces shelled their homes in brutal attack.
> The youngsters, who suffered appalling shrapnel wounds, are pictured being treated at a makeshift hospital in the town of Houla near the flashpoint city of Homs yesterday.
> Since the troubles began in March last year, Some 13,000 people, including 1,183 children, are said to have been killed.



Read more: Syria's civil war: Innocent boys and girls left horrifically injured after attack by government forces | Mail Online






Analysis: Syrian civil war enters new phas... JPost - Middle East



> The clashes in Damascus this week, the growing stream of defections and yesterdays bomb attack on the National Security Building in the capital, set the seal on the failure. The deaths of Defense Minister Daoud Rajiha, Assads brother-in- law Assef Shawkat and former chief of staff Hassan Turkmani in a bomb attack on a meeting of senior officials in Damascus exemplify the sharp erosion in the regimes position in recent weeks.




_You piece of wet pig-shit, *weeweewee*, WHAT "DEAD?"  What wounded?  A lot of people have been killed AND wounded, pigski-shitski faggot!_


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia, China Veto Syria Resolution From UN Security Council 



> UNITED NATIONS, July 19 (Reuters) - Russia and China vetoed a Western-backed U.N. Security Council resolution on Thursday that threatened Syrian authorities with sanctions if they did not stop using heavy weapons against an uprising and withdraw troops from towns and cities.
> 
> 
> It was the third time that Russia, a key ally of the Syrian government, and China have used their veto power to block U.N. Security Council resolutions designed to put pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and halt the violence in the 16-month conflict that has killed thousands of people. (Reporting By Michelle Nichols; Editing by David Brunnstrom)



Russia, China Veto Syria Resolution From UN Security Council


----------



## mememe

bobgnote said:


>



This is a direct result of US, UK, France, SA, Turkey and Qatar recruiting, financing, arming, training and supporting the terrorists inside Syria! And all the crimes the US commits in other countries are supported by the US ordinary citizens! Hitler and his Nazi party were amateurs compare to the US!

I asked you a question, and you declined to answer.

I am asking you once more: *HOW MANY MASSACRES HAPPENED IN SYRIA BEFORE THE US LED "CIVILISED COMMUNITY" GOT ITS HANDS ON SYRIA????!!!!!*

And do not bring here a military operation in Hama!


----------



## mememe

From Bulgaria:

terrorist was *WHITE with long hair and with fake driving license from MICHIGAN!!!!!!!!!*


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I asked you a question, and you declined to answer.
> 
> I am asking you once more: *HOW MANY MASSACRES HAPPENED IN SYRIA BEFORE THE US LED "CIVILISED COMMUNITY" GOT ITS HANDS ON SYRIA????!!!!!*
> 
> And do not bring here a military operation in Hama!
Click to expand...


The Military operation in Hama you fuckin faggot.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> From Bulgaria:
> 
> terrorist was *WHITE with long hair and with fake driving license from MICHIGAN!!!!!!!!!*



Muslims can be white and have long hair you stupid ass little bitch.


----------



## mememe

Western resolution on Syria was (predictably) vetoed.

There are reports of Qatar building life size props of some parts of Damascus; as they did prior to Western attack on Libya...

Now, we are waiting for terrorist "freedom fighters" to use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya and the West to pin it on Assad in order to justify its direct military intervention...


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Western resolution on Syria was (predictably) vetoed.
> 
> There are reports of Qatar building life size props of some parts of Damascus; as they did prior to Western attack on Libya...
> 
> Now, we are waiting for terrorist "freedom fighters" to use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya and the West to pin it on Assad in order to justify its direct military intervention...



You have no proof those weapons came from Libya retard.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Western resolution on Syria was (predictably) vetoed.
> 
> There are reports of Qatar building life size props of some parts of Damascus; as they did prior to Western attack on Libya...
> 
> Now, we are waiting for terrorist "freedom fighters" to use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya and the West to pin it on Assad in order to justify its direct military intervention...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You have no proof those weapons came from Libya retard.
Click to expand...


More than likely these chemical weapons came from Iraq.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Western resolution on Syria was (predictably) vetoed.
> 
> There are reports of Qatar building life size props of some parts of Damascus; as they did prior to Western attack on Libya...
> 
> Now, we are waiting for terrorist "freedom fighters" to use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya and the West to pin it on Assad in order to justify its direct military intervention...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You have no proof those weapons came from Libya retard.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> More than likely these chemical weapons came from Iraq.
Click to expand...


Thats a possibility.


----------



## Truthmatters

and your proof is?


----------



## High_Gravity

Truthmatters said:


> and your proof is?



Who are you talking to?


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Western resolution on Syria was (predictably) vetoed.
> 
> There are reports of Qatar building life size props of some parts of Damascus; as they did prior to Western attack on Libya...
> 
> Now, we are waiting for terrorist "freedom fighters" to use chemical weapons they obtained from post-Gaddafi Libya and the West to pin it on Assad in order to justify its direct military intervention...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You have no proof those weapons came from Libya retard.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> More than likely these chemical weapons came from Iraq.
Click to expand...


There are plenty reports on weapons from Libyan arsenals, including chemical ones, going into the hands of various militants and spreading across Africa and the ME even in WESTERN media as far back as a year ago! If you venture outside of Western media, you will find even more detailed accounts of where these weapons went to.

But, if you prefer to "find" "Iraqi WMD" in Syria, -- it's up to you. I'm only surprised US didn't cotton onto it yet: there will be no better opportunity to declare "Iraqi WMD are found!!!"


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> You have no proof those weapons came from Libya retard.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More than likely these chemical weapons came from Iraq.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There are plenty reports on weapons from Libyan arsenals, including chemical ones, going into the hands of various militants and spreading across Africa and the ME even in WESTERN media as far back as a year ago! If you venture outside of Western media, you will find even more detailed accounts of where these weapons went to.
> 
> But, if you prefer to "find" "Iraqi WMD" in Syria, -- it's up to you. I'm only surprised US didn't cotton onto it yet: there will be no better opportunity to declare "Iraqi WMD are found!!!"
Click to expand...


I should slap the shit out of you for posting this drivel in my thread boy.


----------



## mememe

Bulgarians identified terrorist as Mehdi Ghezali, an Algerian-Swedish Islamist, educated in London and Saudi Arabia, who spent two years in Guantanamo Bay.

Add to it: Al Qaeda Commander of NATO&#8217;s Bloody Reign of Terror in Tripoli is the Monster Abdel Hakim Belhadj, aka Abdel Hakim al-Hasadi, Friend of Osama Bin Laden, former US POW (Guantanamo Bay), and Infamous Killer of US Soldiers in Afghanistan.

And this: King Abdullah II of Jordan: Our information is that there is a presence of Al Qaeda in certain regions inside Syria; has been there for a while.

It is also worth remembering that US used Al-Qaeda and other militant Islamists, like KLA to dismember first Yugoslavia, then -- Serbia...

Yesterday, the US and the West in general applauded a major terrorist act...

*I think, one can safely state that US is now OPENLY siding with terrorists, arming them, directing them... and Guantanamo Bay became its most convenient recruiting centre.*


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Bulgarians identified terrorist as Mehdi Ghezali, an Algerian-Swedish Islamist who spent two years in Guantanamo Bay.
> 
> Add to it: Al Qaeda Commander of NATOs Bloody Reign of Terror in Tripoli is the Monster Abdel Hakim Belhadj, aka Abdel Hakim al-Hasadi, Friend of Osama Bin Laden, former US POW (Guantanamo Bay), and Infamous Killer of US Soldiers in Afghanistan.
> 
> And this: King Abdullah II of Jordan: Our information is that there is a presence of Al Qaeda in certain regions inside Syria; has been there for a while.
> 
> It is also worth remembering that US used Al-Qaeda and other militant Islamists, like KLA to dismember first Yugoslavia, then -- Serbia...
> 
> Yesterday, the US and the West in general applauded a major terrorist act...
> 
> *I think, one can safely state that US is now OPENLY siding with terrorists, arming them, directing them... and Guantanamo Bay became its most convenient recruiting centre.*



The asshole should have never been able to leave Guantanamo, thats all that tells me douche bag. You should be sent there also.


----------



## mememe

So, let's get it straight:

1. Supported, armed and directed by the US/EU/Qatar/SA Syrian opposition committed terrorist act in Syria against a legitimate government of the country.

2. Western born terrorist with clear links to London, Saudi Arabia and Al-Q, committed terrorist act in Bulgaria against Israeli citizens.

3. US, Israel, Western media accused Hezbollah/Iran of committing a terrorist act in Bulgaria.

4. But! Al-Q considers Hezbollah and Iran its sworn enemies; at the same time, US is known to work together with Al-Q in Serbia, Russia, Libya and Syria.

5. Today "As a result of the terrorist attack in Kazan Tatarstan Mufti Ildus Faizov was seriously injured and his deputy Valiulla Yakupov was killed. This accident has shaken Russia's community..."  Mufti Ildus Faizov always stood in a way of militant Arabic Islamists, and was not allowing them to take root in Tatarstan (central Russia). Terrorist act against him has two purposes: to continue Western efforts for destabilisation of the situation inside Russia in preparation for a new attempt at coloured revolution; and to intimidate Muslims of Russia into accepting militant Arabic sects.


And considering that all three terrorist acts are in the interests of the US, Israel, EU, Qatar and SA, a question must be asked: who really stands behind the recent spite of terrorism?


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> So, let's get it straight:
> 
> 1. Supported, armed and directed by the US/EU/Qatar/SA Syrian opposition committed terrorist act in Syria against a legitimate government of the country.
> 
> 2. Western born terrorist with clear links to London, Saudi Arabia and Al-Q, committed terrorist act in Bulgaria against Israeli citizens.
> 
> 3. US, Israel, Western media accused Hezbollah/Iran of committing a terrorist act in Bulgaria.
> 
> 4. But! Al-Q considers Hezbollah and Iran its sworn enemies; at the same time, US is known to work together with Al-Q in Serbia, Russia, Libya and Syria.
> 
> 5. Today "As a result of the terrorist attack in Kazan Tatarstan Mufti Ildus Faizov was seriously injured and his deputy Valiulla Yakupov was killed. This accident has shaken Russia's community..."  Mufti Ildus Faizov always stood in a way of militant Arabic Islamists, and was not allowing them to take root in Tatarstan (central Russia). Terrorist act against him has two purposes: to continue Western efforts for destabilisation of the situation inside Russia in preparation for a new attempt at coloured revolution; and to intimidate Muslims of Russia into accepting militant Arabic sects.
> 
> 
> And considering that all three terrorist acts are in the interests of the US, Israel, EU, Qatar and SA, a question must be asked: who really stands behind the recent spite of terrorism?



Iran.


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This is a direct result of US, UK, France, SA, Turkey and Qatar recruiting, financing, arming, training and supporting the terrorists inside Syria! And all the crimes the US commits in other countries are supported by the US ordinary citizens! Hitler and his Nazi party were amateurs compare to the US!
> 
> I asked you a question, and you declined to answer.
> 
> I am asking you once more: *HOW MANY MASSACRES HAPPENED IN SYRIA BEFORE THE US LED "CIVILISED COMMUNITY" GOT ITS HANDS ON SYRIA????!!!!*
> 
> And do not bring here a military operation in Hama!
Click to expand...


_OK, *weeweewee*, you remark, "do not bring *here* a military operation in *Hama*!"

So, about 10 or 15 pages after I asked you to provide either a breakdown of factions, in Syria, and if you wish, you may honestly answer my original question, which was *ARE YOU AN ALAWITE SHIITE*?

Deflecting asshole, you never answered my legitimate question, and then you seek to imply the US is like Russia, with a base in Syria, with all sorts of American weapons, in the hands of the Assad regime's killers.  But something like 99% of the weapons in Syria are made in Russia, including all heavy weapons, and some of them came to Syria, from Iran.  Hey, pigshitter!  The weapons were MADE IN RUSSIA.

It is time for Syria, to catch up, with the Arab Spring.  No amount of queering around and size-X deflection in bold will work.  It is time for the Assad regime, to GO.

Here's what's going to happen: you are going to keep deflecting, and God will fire up your asshole, for Ramadan.  The US won't figure, without the Arab League and Turkey.  But your buddy Bashar is doomed, *weeweewee*. 

If you are in Hama, as you implied, I give you NO CHANCE, of survival, little pig._


----------



## mememe

*bobgnote*;


I have asked you a very simple question! The reason you are trying to derail it with your "Syrian factions", is because until the US/EU/SA/Qatar decided to target Syria THERE WERE NO MASSACRES THERE!!!!! Despite all its "factions!" 

And that is a damning fact: all massacres in Syria begun with the direct involvement of the US and its allies who finance, arm, direct and support perpetrators of massacres in Syria!

Yesterday Pentagon called to a terrorist -- a "MARTYR"!!!! Were perpetrators of 9/11 also "martyrs"? 

PS
Russia sells arms to a LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT OF A SOVEREIGN STATE! 
While US is arming terrorist groups it recruits around the ME!


----------



## rhodescholar

Soon ass-ad the turd will be hanging from the nearest lampost, putin the fool will have no seat at the table of a new syria - russia is going to bear the brunt of the new syrian regime's blowback when it also loses its tartus naval base - and hezboolah/iran terrorist filth will also be the losers.

The US/West is going to wipe the fake iranian terrorist regime off the map very soon, and with both regimes destroyed, a new age of peace might just be possible in the middle east.

The scumbags and turds like nasrallah the fat fucking pig animal will also hang for crimes against humanity and murder, and the hez terrorist filth will exist no more.

DEATH TO ASS-AD, IRAN'S FAKE REGIME, HEZBOLLAH, AND HAMAS.


----------



## mememe

*The invasion of Syria began.*

In agreement with Turkish and Western intelligence services a military operation was launched against Syria yesterday. In it took part Turkish-trained militant Islamists from the Gulf, Libya, Tunisia and the North Caucasus.

Taking of Syrian border checkpoint began with artillery and mortar attack on the Syrian border positions. Then the assault was carried out quickly, most likely with the direct participation of foreign special forces.

A consequence of the capture of the checkpoint by rebels on the Syrian-Turkish border is the influx of gangs in the province of Idleb, from where gangs will disperse to other Syrian provinces. But most importantly - in the near future we can expect a more active actions of   foreign SF in Syria in preparation for an attack on their main goal - Damascus.


----------



## sharif

american are donkey n pig? what Israel is doing no body interested to take notice and UNO remain silent observer?


----------



## mememe

sharif said:


> american are donkey n pig? what Israel is doing no body interested to take notice and UNO remain silent observer?



You see, in duet US-Israel the tail is wagging the dog, but it is not clear who is a dog and who is a tail.

Yes, the US is in the hands of Jewish Zionist clans who forced through the creation of Israel and make sure it stays above any laws or criticism. But those elites are never the less -- AMERICAN.


----------



## rhodescholar

sharif said:


> american are donkey n pig? what Israel is doing no body interested to take notice and UNO remain silent observer?



What r u saying asswipe?  After Mumbai, hiding bin laden, the attack on India's gov't, and all of the thousands of terrorists pakistan has sent into afghan -a piece of shit like you is pointing fingers at someone else?

Just shut up and go back to your cave in waziristan, idiot.


----------



## mememe

The attack of joint Islamic militant forces was successfully repelled by the Syrian Army.

But it is not known how many militants managed to get into Syria.

The situation for peace bestowing US elves and Qatar is becoming desperate. And desperate situation calls for more daring provocations...


----------



## kirkuki

down with assad dog


----------



## mememe

kirkuki said:


> down with assad dog



And whose clan are you going to welcome instead?


----------



## rhodescholar

kirkuki said:


> down with assad dog



As a person of turkish descent, I wholly support a separate kurdish nation created from turkey, iraq, syria and iran - it is long overdue.

Perhaps once ass-ad the animal is removed (and hopefully killed), the syrian kurds will be treated better, and might start the push towards an independent kurd state.


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> *bobgnote:* I have asked you a very simple question! The reason you are trying to derail it with your "Syrian factions", is because until the US/EU/SA/Qatar decided to target Syria THERE WERE NO MASSACRES THERE!!!!! Despite all its "factions!"



_You are asking a question, to DEFLECT, from my legitimate interest, in what you know, about Syrian factions, which is relevant, since your tyrant Assad is an Alawite Shiite, murdering civilians, who I am sure tend to be from other groups.

Your deflection is now at the level, of a BIG LIE, since you ignored my several answers, to your ridiculous assertion, about American involvement, when the murderous Syrian tyrant is going to eventually fall, to its own insurgents, one way, or another.  Screw YOU and your Russian allies._



mememe said:


> And that is a damning fact: all massacres in Syria begun with the direct involvement of the US and its allies who finance, arm, direct and support perpetrators of massacres in Syria!
> 
> Yesterday Pentagon called to a terrorist -- a "MARTYR"!!!! Were perpetrators of 9/11 also "martyrs"?
> 
> PS
> Russia sells arms to a LEGITIMATE GOVERNMENT OF A SOVEREIGN STATE!
> While US is arming terrorist groups it recruits around the ME!



_Fuck YOU, lying bitch!  Who has been SHELLING TOWNS, with RUSSIAN TANKS, APCs, and ARTILLERY?

Martyrs is as martyrs does, lying bitch.  Assad will fall, to martyrs, if necessary.  The US government will be bankrupted, if enough martyrs get us into limited wars, everywhere.

You are deflecting, badly, since you SUCK, like a little pig, howling *weeweewee*, all the way home.

Russia has been virtually giving weapons, to the Syrian government, which has been using them, to KILL MANY THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS, asshole._


----------



## mememe

bobgnote said:


> _Fuck YOU, lying bitch!  Who has been SHELLING TOWNS, with RUSSIAN TANKS, APCs, and ARTILLERY?
> 
> ]_


_

Who? *US MEDIA!*

And massacres you cry so much about on behalf of innocent civilians are perpetrated by US armed, financed, supported and directed terrorists!

Either you are against massacres, then you need to condemn US support of terrorists.
Or you are on a side of terrorists committing massacres (even your "UN observers admitted that much!), then you should stop wringing your hands in pretend sympathy for their victims.

Either one, or the other!

Because, two opposing opinions on one and the same subject in one and the same head is a sure sign of schizophrenia! 
Although, given current information climate in the US, schizophrenia is the best description of what is going on in the heads of the majority of Americans, judging by your forums...

Oh, and stop your hysterics, for goodness sake. It's pathetic._


----------



## Trajan

the flood of munitions should significantly increase now. I wonder what Obama will do, prompt Maliki to organize shipments financed by sunni state money ....or, the usual...nothing? 


Syria Rebels Take Over Border Crossings
Rebels kill 21 Syrian guards as they capture key border posts near Iraq and Turkey from regime forces.

Rebels have attacked Syrian forces along the border with Iraq, killing 21 soldiers and seizing control one of the major border posts, a senior Iraqi army official said.

Amateur video posted online also showed rebels taking over the Bab al-Hawa border crossing with Turkey, where they tore up portraits of Syrian President Bashar al Assad.

The developments on the borders come as activists say 250 people were killed in Syria on Thursday - the highest daily number since the revolt against Assad began 16 months ago.

Syria Rebels Take Over Border Crossings


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _Fuck YOU, lying bitch!  Who has been SHELLING TOWNS, with RUSSIAN TANKS, APCs, and ARTILLERY?
> 
> ]_
> 
> 
> 
> _
> 
> Who? *US MEDIA!*
> 
> And massacres you cry so much about on behalf of innocent civilians are perpetrated by US armed, financed, supported and directed terrorists!
> 
> Either you are against massacres, then you need to condemn US support of terrorists.
> Or you are on a side of terrorists committing massacres (even your "UN observers admitted that much!), then you should stop wringing your hands in pretend sympathy for their victims.
> 
> Either one, or the other!
> 
> Because, two opposing opinions on one and the same subject in one and the same head is a sure sign of schizophrenia!
> Although, given current information climate in the US, schizophrenia is the best description of what is going on in the heads of the majority of Americans, judging by your forums...
> 
> Oh, and stop your hysterics, for goodness sake. It's pathetic._
Click to expand...

_

What is a sign of schizophrenia, you cocksucker, is your deflection and LIES.  The *US MEDIA* has not been shelling towns, faggot.

More schiz: you don't successfully edit your rant, while you leap from lie, to deflection, to lie.  But then, you posted something above, which is true, FINALLY:




			You see, in duet US-Israel the tail is wagging the dog, but it is not clear who is a dog and who is a tail.

Yes, the US is in the hands of Jewish Zionist clans who forced through the creation of Israel and make sure it stays above any laws or criticism. But those elites are never the less -- AMERICAN.
		
Click to expand...


Naturally, you ranted and deflected and lied, A LOT, since you are basically a shit-eater and a cocksucker, spitting a load of shit and spunk, until you noticed Zionists control something, in the US, which is a lot of politicians, organized crime, and media agendas.  Maybe you have heard of AIPAC.

Then you went back to your lies and deflection, which may be the reason there is effective Zionism, in the West, which plotted to invade Palestine, as of the industrial revolution, since YOU SUCK, and Crusaders are fucking with you, DDD!

Hey, I don't like Crusaders, but look what a fucking geek you turned out to be.  You offer no practical solution, to the Crusades, with your deflection and lies, punk.  So the Crusades and the Zionism will continue, probably since too many assholes like you are in traffic, so the Zionists know they can and will get over, on EVERYBODY._


----------



## Katzndogz

Here you go.  What it was all about, all along.

Syrian Muslim Brotherhood to launch political party


----------



## Lipush

Minutes ago, serious shooting on the Syrian-Jordanian border. Something which didn't happen till today.

&#1575;&#1604;&#1581;&#1583;&#1608;&#1583; &#1575;&#1604;&#1587;&#1608;&#1585;&#1610;&#1577; &#1575;&#1604;&#1571;&#1585;&#1583;&#1606;&#1610;&#1577; : &#1587;&#1605;&#1575;&#1593; &#1589;&#1608;&#1578; &#1573;&#1591;&#1604;&#1575;&#1602; &#1606;&#1575;&#1585; &#1603;&#1579;&#1610;&#1601; &#1605;&#1580;&#1607;&#1608;&#1604; &#1575;&#1604;&#1587;&#1576;&#1576; &#1601;&#1610; &#1605;&#1606;&#1591;&#1602;&#1577; &#1575;&#1604;&#1581;&#1583;&#1608;&#1583;


----------



## Lipush

Syrians say: Israel's IDF to intervene in Syria, to prevent chimicals from being passed to Hezbollah.

Or. post:

&#1492;&#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497;&#1501; &#1496;&#1493;&#1506;&#1504;&#1497;&#1501;: &#1497;&#1513;&#1512;&#1488;&#1500; &#1500;&#1511;&#1512;&#1488;&#1514; &#1492;&#1514;&#1506;&#1512;&#1489;&#1493;&#1514; &#1510;&#1489;&#1488;&#1497;&#1514; &#1488;&#1508;&#1513;&#1512;&#1497;&#1514; &#1489;&#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497;&#1492;, &#1499;&#1491;&#1497; &#1500;&#1502;&#1504;&#1493;&#1506; &#1492;&#1506;&#1489;&#1512;&#1514; &#1504;&#1513;&#1511; &#1500;&#1495;&#1497;&#1494;&#1489;&#1488;&#1500;&#1500;&#1492;: &#1513;&#1512; &#1492;&#1489;&#1497;&#1496;&#1495;&#1493;&#1503; &#1488;&#1492;&#1493;&#1491; &#1489;&#1512;&#1511; &#1492;&#1493;&#1491;&#1497;&#1506; &#8203;&#8203;​


----------



## Lipush

Bashar uses toxic gas on civilians-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GNb6GjSxEUk&feature=channel&list=UL


----------



## rhodescholar

bobgnote said:


> You are deflecting, badly, since you SUCK, like a little pig, howling *weeweewee*, all the way home.Russia has been virtually giving weapons, to the Syrian government, which has been using them, to KILL MANY THOUSANDS OF CIVILIANS, asshole.[/I]



Could you please stop responding to the troll?  

No one else here is feeding it, so why continue to give this moron a reason to continue returning to the forum?  Be smart and ignore the idiot and it will leave.


----------



## mememe

Trajan said:


> the flood of munitions should significantly increase now. I wonder what Obama will do, prompt Maliki to organize shipments financed by sunni state money ....or, the usual...nothing?
> 
> 
> Syria Rebels Take Over Border Crossings



Old information. They took it, they were booted out of it, and now Syrian Army stepped up anti-terrorist operations.


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> Here you go.  What it was all about, all along.
> 
> Syrian Muslim Brotherhood to launch political party



It's an attempt by the "civilised community" to give disjointed gangs of terrorists in Syria a semblance of sanity: look, they are not only committing massacres and terrorist acts, they have a PARTY; and "party" means they are ready to take power in a country.


----------



## mememe

Lipush said:


> Syrians say: Israel's IDF to intervene in Syria, to prevent chimicals from being passed to Hezbollah.
> 
> Or. post:
> 
> &#1492;&#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497;&#1501; &#1496;&#1493;&#1506;&#1504;&#1497;&#1501;: &#1497;&#1513;&#1512;&#1488;&#1500; &#1500;&#1511;&#1512;&#1488;&#1514; &#1492;&#1514;&#1506;&#1512;&#1489;&#1493;&#1514; &#1510;&#1489;&#1488;&#1497;&#1514; &#1488;&#1508;&#1513;&#1512;&#1497;&#1514; &#1489;&#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497;&#1492;, &#1499;&#1491;&#1497; &#1500;&#1502;&#1504;&#1493;&#1506; &#1492;&#1506;&#1489;&#1512;&#1514; &#1504;&#1513;&#1511; &#1500;&#1495;&#1497;&#1494;&#1489;&#1488;&#1500;&#1500;&#1492;: &#1513;&#1512; &#1492;&#1489;&#1497;&#1496;&#1495;&#1493;&#1503; &#1488;&#1492;&#1493;&#1491; &#1489;&#1512;&#1511; &#1492;&#1493;&#1491;&#1497;&#1506; &#8203;&#8203;​



And chemical weapons in the hands of Al-Q don't bother Israel?

any excuse to start open intervention in Syria...


----------



## mememe

Lipush said:


> Bashar uses toxic gas on civilians-
> 
> ]



For what purpose?

Syrian civilians are helping their army to fight terrorists; and all of a sudden, Syrian government (freshly elected by "Syrian civilians") decide to gas the very people who support them?

Your video is yet another predictable bollox for the benefit of Western population. Assad had no reasons to attack the population that supports him; while terrorists who are flooding into Syria from abroad have every reason to resort to outrageous provocations in order to pin attrocities onto Syrian legitimate government and provide US with a reason for open invasion.


----------



## Katzndogz

mememe said:


> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> Bashar uses toxic gas on civilians-
> 
> ]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For what purpose?
> 
> Syrian civilians are helping their army to fight terrorists; and all of a sudden, Syrian government (freshly elected by "Syrian civilians") decide to gas the very people who support them?
> 
> Your video is yet another predictable bollox for the benefit of Western population. Assad had no reasons to attack the population that supports him; while terrorists who are flooding into Syria from abroad have every reason to resort to outrageous provocations in order to pin attrocities onto Syrian legitimate government and provide US with a reason for open invasion.
Click to expand...


BINGO.  You got it.

The US won't openly invade.   obama is too afraid of Russia for that.  The US will just keep the death toll rising by arming the muslim brotherhood because, you know, the muslim brotherhood has a member in the white house staff itself.


----------



## bobgnote

_Hmm, looks like *weeweewee* oinked up four posts, as soon as *Rhody* inferred he was a troll.

Shit, *Rhody*, don't trip or anything, but if nobody analyzes trolls, nobody but trolls post.

If *weeweewee* is a little pig in Hama or somewhere, we can see how long it takes, for him to shut up, by one means or another.  Just sayin' . . ._


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> Bashar uses toxic gas on civilians-
> 
> ]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> For what purpose?
> 
> Syrian civilians are helping their army to fight terrorists; and all of a sudden, Syrian government (freshly elected by "Syrian civilians") decide to gas the very people who support them?
> 
> Your video is yet another predictable bollox for the benefit of Western population. Assad had no reasons to attack the population that supports him; while terrorists who are flooding into Syria from abroad have every reason to resort to outrageous provocations in order to pin attrocities onto Syrian legitimate government and provide US with a reason for open invasion.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> the muslim brotherhood has a member in the white house staff itself.
Click to expand...


Janet Napolitano?


----------



## Katzndogz

mememe said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> For what purpose?
> 
> Syrian civilians are helping their army to fight terrorists; and all of a sudden, Syrian government (freshly elected by "Syrian civilians") decide to gas the very people who support them?
> 
> Your video is yet another predictable bollox for the benefit of Western population. Assad had no reasons to attack the population that supports him; while terrorists who are flooding into Syria from abroad have every reason to resort to outrageous provocations in order to pin attrocities onto Syrian legitimate government and provide US with a reason for open invasion.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> the muslim brotherhood has a member in the white house staff itself.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Janet Napolitano?
Click to expand...


Huma Abedin.


----------



## Lipush

mememe said:


> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrians say: Israel's IDF to intervene in Syria, to prevent chimicals from being passed to Hezbollah.
> 
> Or. post:
> 
> &#1492;&#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497;&#1501; &#1496;&#1493;&#1506;&#1504;&#1497;&#1501;: &#1497;&#1513;&#1512;&#1488;&#1500; &#1500;&#1511;&#1512;&#1488;&#1514; &#1492;&#1514;&#1506;&#1512;&#1489;&#1493;&#1514; &#1510;&#1489;&#1488;&#1497;&#1514; &#1488;&#1508;&#1513;&#1512;&#1497;&#1514; &#1489;&#1505;&#1493;&#1512;&#1497;&#1492;, &#1499;&#1491;&#1497; &#1500;&#1502;&#1504;&#1493;&#1506; &#1492;&#1506;&#1489;&#1512;&#1514; &#1504;&#1513;&#1511; &#1500;&#1495;&#1497;&#1494;&#1489;&#1488;&#1500;&#1500;&#1492;: &#1513;&#1512; &#1492;&#1489;&#1497;&#1496;&#1495;&#1493;&#1503; &#1488;&#1492;&#1493;&#1491; &#1489;&#1512;&#1511; &#1492;&#1493;&#1491;&#1497;&#1506; &#8203;&#8203;​
> 
> 
> 
> 
> And chemical weapons in the hands of Al-Q don't bother Israel?
> 
> any excuse to start open intervention in Syria...
Click to expand...


Intervene in Syria can cause a serious damage, and hurt thousands of Israelis. We won't do that if we can find another solution.


----------



## Lipush

Possibly worrying news on Israeli forums and facebook acounts. A Likud MK living near the northern border wrote on his facebook page, that preparations are now being made to accept thousands of Syrian refugees into the Israeli Golan. That added to the official request that the Golan Druze people sent to PM Netanyahu, to recieve refugees from the Syrian southern district into Israel. Now the possibility is on the table.


----------



## Lipush

Google Translate


----------



## mememe

Lipush said:


> Intervene in Syria can cause a serious damage, and hurt thousands of Israelis. We won't do that if we can find another solution.



Judging by how actively the US elites are setting the world on fire around Israel, one can't help but wonder if Israeli and US elites decided to pull a plug on Israel.

I hope Israeli people understand what the destruction of Syria and Iran will spell for them...


----------



## mememe

Lipush said:


> Possibly worrying news on Israeli forums and facebook acounts. A Likud MK living near the northern border wrote on his facebook page, that preparations are now being made to accept thousands of Syrian refugees into the Israeli Golan. That added to the official request that the Golan Druze people sent to PM Netanyahu, to recieve refugees from the Syrian southern district into Israel. Now the possibility is on the table.



Christians are ready to run for Lebanon, and alawites -- into Israel in anticipation of the onset of US induced militant Islamic "democracy".

Israel has every reason to take in alawites: when push will come to shove, they will fight militant Islamists in earnest...


----------



## Katzndogz

obama's almost slavish devotion to the worst elements of islamic extremism will be his undoing, and ours.


----------



## Lipush

mememe said:


> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> Intervene in Syria can cause a serious damage, and hurt thousands of Israelis. We won't do that if we can find another solution.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Judging by how actively the US elites are setting the world on fire around Israel, one can't help but wonder if Israeli and US elites decided to pull a plug on Israel.
> 
> I hope Israeli people understand what the destruction of Syria and Iran will spell for them...
Click to expand...


We follow. We can do nothing more in the meantime.


----------



## Lipush

Now reports, Damascus bombed from the air.


----------



## mememe

Was it last month Clinton said the UN needs to "modernise" and get rid of veto?

Well, the head of the Syrian National Council Abdelbased Seida repeated after Clinton at a news conference in Rome after meeting with Italian Foreign Minister Giulio Terzi: "The situation can no longer continue in this way. UN rules are outdated"; apparently, it is necessary to revise UN rules to MEET MODERN REQUIREMENTS OF THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY -- read: US is getting royally pi**ed with Russia and China messing up their plans to look like saviours of the world by using their right of veto thus forcing the US to either abandon their aggressive pursuits or expose themselves as aggressors.


----------



## mememe

Lipush said:


> Now reports, Damascus bombed from the air.



?????? Our sources have not reported it so far...


Damascus yesterday (21.07.12) (after anti-terror operations in its Al-Midan district):

ÐÐ°Ð¼Ð°ÑÐº 21 Ð¸ÑÐ»Ñ â Ð½Ð° Ð¯Ð½Ð´ÐµÐºÑ.ÐÐ¸Ð´ÐµÐ¾


Al-Midan after an anti-terrorist operation:

ÐÑÐ²Ð¾Ð±Ð¾Ð¶Ð´ÐµÐ½Ð½ÑÐ¹ ÐºÐ²Ð°ÑÑÐ°Ð» ÐÐ°Ð¼Ð°ÑÐºÐ° ÐÐ»Ñ ÐÐ¸Ð´Ð°Ð½ â Ð½Ð° Ð¯Ð½Ð´ÐµÐºÑ.ÐÐ¸Ð´ÐµÐ¾


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> Lipush said:
> 
> 
> 
> Possibly worrying news on Israeli forums and facebook acounts. A Likud MK living near the northern border wrote on his facebook page, that preparations are now being made to accept thousands of Syrian refugees into the Israeli Golan. That added to the official request that the Golan Druze people sent to PM Netanyahu, to recieve refugees from the Syrian southern district into Israel. Now the possibility is on the table.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Christians are ready to run for Lebanon, and alawites -- into Israel in anticipation of the onset of US induced militant Islamic "democracy".
> 
> Israel has every reason to take in alawites: when push will come to shove, they will fight militant Islamists in earnest...
Click to expand...


_Sure, *pigpigpig*, Israel that illegally puts up walls and bulldozes Pali property is in a hella BIG hurry, to take in Alawite refugees, when fascist, racist Israelis are trying to kick Palis and foreigners OUT.  As usual, you are a delusional pig, oinking around a shitpile.

Israel made Ethiopian Jews, known as the Lemba wait until 2000, for the High Court to rule, how these prospective immigrants had more Cohen DNA, than does 95% of the then-current Israeli Jewish population, so THEN the Lemba could move in.

Yeah, maybe somebody gets to go, to Israel.  Sheldon Adelson bought airfares, for all kinds of white, Jewish kids.  If you are European AND Jewish, you can get into Israel.

Asshole!  At least you should be smart enough, to study some Farsi.  Look at how the Iranians need fresh chickens.  Maybe they will let some piggies in.  Go for it._


----------



## mememe

A simple graphic explanation of how all "coloured revolutions" (including "Arab spring" one's) work:


----------



## mememe

Mahdi al-Harati -- an IRISH-Libyan, who lived in Ireland, was trained in Qatar for the war in Libya, connected with CIA commander of Tripoli "revolutionaries", a deputy head of Tripoli Military Council was killed in SYRIA!

What an Irishman turned Libyan "freedom fighter" on CIA payroll was doing in Syria is a rhetorical question...


----------



## bobgnote

mememe said:


> Mahdi al-Harati -- an IRISH-Libyan, who lived in Ireland, was trained in Qatar for the war in Libya, connected with CIA commander of Tripoli "revolutionaries", a deputy head of Tripoli Military Council was killed in SYRIA!
> 
> What an Irishman turned Libyan "freedom fighter" on CIA payroll was doing in Syria is a rhetorical question...



_What can I say DDD, but a LOT of Sunnis are in the UK and US.  When the time came, for change, in Libya, Qaddafi should have picked up and moved on.  Of course, if you don't feel like picking up and moving, you can stay around, and see if Sunnis aren't connected, enough, to knock you bitches right out of Syria. 

What did you expect, but your Alawite murderers aren't going to be popular, not in Syria or in the English-speaking world.  Deflect, to Libya, if you think that will help._


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Mahdi al-Harati -- an IRISH-Libyan, who lived in Ireland, was trained in Qatar for the war in Libya, connected with CIA commander of Tripoli "revolutionaries", a deputy head of Tripoli Military Council was killed in SYRIA!
> 
> What an Irishman turned Libyan "freedom fighter" on CIA payroll was doing in Syria is a rhetorical question...



So?


----------



## MHunterB

@ BobG:  Point of information for you.  The Lemba are indeed an African group with Jewish ancestry.  They live in South Africa/Zimbabwe, and most of them do not practice Judaism (Messianic "judaism" is Christian).  The Ethiopian Jews, Beta Israel, are an entirely different group.
Beta Israel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lemba people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

And of course, neither of those groups are the Abayudaya of Uganda.
Abayudaya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Incidentally, if you actually read the Wiki articles, you would find that the 'Western' 'European' Jewish community has been helping to bring the Beta Israel home to Israel since the '70's.   Although once word got to them, some of them simply *walked* to Israel on their own.

I remain hopeful that you may reconsider your very unrealistic ideas in your posting in light of actual accurate information.


----------



## mememe

Damascus yesterday (Lipush! There were no bombings. Your source was wrong!)

http://video.yandex.ru/redir/search...a9f7eaaa01081797b8e2ce68ba6e2e&text=Damasc 22


After a failed operation "Volcano" in Damascus, some terrorist groups attacked Aleppo. But they were destroyed and their weapons taken.


----------



## mememe

Gathered in Qatar representatives of the Arab League came to a conclusion that the best thing to do for Assad would be to go away of his own initiative.

It means, that Syria managed to fight off "Friends of Syria" this time. 

But it also means that Assad should increase his personal security because the victory in Syria is of immense importance to Obama, and it has to happen before the US elections.
As per current situation, to declare "victory" to US population all Obama needs is to get rid of Assad (even if the course of Syria will not change! US can deal with it later).


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Chemical Weapons Only For Foreign Attack Defense, Says Regime 









> BEIRUT  The Syrian regime threatened Monday to use its chemical and biological weapons in case of a foreign attack, in its first ever acknowledgement that it possesses weapons of mass destruction.
> 
> Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi stressed, however, that Damascus would not use its unconventional arms against its own citizens. The announcement comes as Syria faces international isolation, a tenacious rebellion that has left at least 19,000 people dead and threats by Israel to attack to prevent such weapons from falling into rebel hands.
> 
> The timing, however, of Syria's decision to reveal the long suspected existence of its chemical weapons suggests a desperate regime deeply shaken by an increasingly bold revolt that has scored a string of successes in the past week, including a stunning bomb attack that killed four high-level security officials, the capture of several border crossings and sustained offensives on the regime strongholds of Damascus and Aleppo.
> 
> "No chemical or biological weapons will ever be used, and I repeat, will never be used, during the crisis in Syria no matter what the developments inside Syria," Makdissi said in news conference broadcast on Syrian state TV. "All of these types of weapons are in storage and under security and the direct supervision of the Syrian armed forces and will never be used unless Syria is exposed to external aggression."
> 
> The Syrian government later tried to back off from the announcement, sending journalists an amendment to the prepared statement read out by Makdissi adding the phrase "if any," in attempts to return to their previous position of neither confirming or denying the existence of unconventional weapons.
> 
> The regime subsequently blasted foreign media outlets for taking its remarks out of context and focusing on the announcement of chemical weapons instead of its attempt to "respond to a media campaign aimed at preparing international opinion for foreign intervention into Syria under the false pretext that it was going to use weapons of mass destruction inside the country."
> 
> Syria is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas, Scud missiles capable of delivering these lethal chemicals and a variety of advanced conventional arms, including anti-tank rockets and late-model portable anti-aircraft missiles.
> 
> Israel has said it fears that chaos following Assad's fall could allow the Jewish state's enemies to access Syria's chemical weapons, and has not ruled out military intervention to prevent this from happening.



Syria Chemical Weapons Only For Foreign Attack Defense, Says Regime


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Conflict: Damascus Suffers Destruction, Hunger As Fighting Hits Country's Heart








> MASNAA, Lebanon -- After a bloody, weeklong siege in the Syrian capital, residents who stayed behind are facing hours-long lines for gasoline and bread, stinking piles of garbage in the streets and scenes of destruction unimaginable in a city that had long been spared the worst ravages of the country's uprising.
> 
> It's a gruesome turn for the distinguished Middle Eastern city of Damascus, one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, and a sign that Syria's civil war appears doomed to escalate.
> 
> Residents in the hardest hit neighborhoods of Midan, Qaboun and Barzeh picked through the rubble of destroyed homes, charred cars and mangled electricity cables. Even as the government claimed on Monday to have largely put down rebels in the city, some residents fearing more violence continued to trickle into neighboring Lebanon, where thousands fled during the height of the fighting last week.
> 
> "I never thought I would see gunmen clashing with the army on the streets of Damascus, people fleeing their homes," said Nahed, a 32-year-old peace activist in Damascus. "It's like Lebanon but in reverse," she said, referring to the 2006 war between Israel and Hezbollah when thousands of Lebanese poured into Syria, looking for safety.
> 
> For a year and a half, residents of the Syrian capital went about their daily business, largely oblivious as President Bashar Assad's forces and rebels laid waste to towns and cities across the country. Restaurants, cafes and night clubs filled up every night with members of a Damascus elite convinced that the regime would keep the fighting away from its heavily guarded seat of power.
> 
> So when the "Damascus Volcano"  as anti-regime activists call the unprecedented eruption of rebels in the capital  struck on July 14, many in the city of 1.7 million were unprepared.
> 
> The veneer of calm was shattered and the once bustling, tourist-friendly metropolis was transformed into a virtual war zone as government forces unleashed their full might against the insurgents. Helicopter gunships and tanks blasted rebel positions in neighborhoods. Artillery batteries fired down from the mountains overlooking Damascus into the city.
> 
> Long lines built up at the border crossing into Lebanon with cars packed with families and their belongings. Some who stayed packed "getaway bags" with passports, diplomas, money and other valuables in case they had to run for their lives.



Syria Conflict: Damascus Suffers Destruction, Hunger As Fighting Hits Country's Heart


----------



## bobgnote

MHunterB said:


> @ BobG:  Point of information for you.  The Lemba are indeed an African group with Jewish ancestry.  They live in South Africa/Zimbabwe, and most of them do not practice Judaism (Messianic "judaism" is Christian).  The Ethiopian Jews, Beta Israel, are an entirely different group.
> Beta Israel - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> Lemba people - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> And of course, neither of those groups are the Abayudaya of Uganda.
> Abayudaya - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> Incidentally, if you actually read the Wiki articles, you would find that the 'Western' 'European' Jewish community has been helping to bring the Beta Israel home to Israel since the '70's.   Although once word got to them, some of them simply *walked* to Israel on their own.
> 
> I remain hopeful that you may reconsider your very unrealistic ideas in your posting in light of actual accurate information.



_Incidentally, since you are such a thoroughly anus-affected vagina about all this, the Lemba are descended from Jews, who moved to Abyssinia, from the Holy Land, in 1149, likely when the end of Crusader occupation became imminent.  By 1187, Salah al-Haddin had won the decisive battle, at the Horns of Hattin, and Jerusalem fell, after.

The Lemba reviewed by my media did settle in Ethiopia, which as a land called "Cush" in Deuteronomy is where Jews are from, and Pharoah led captives, from that defunct kingdom, or did that also slide by you, Hunter? 

Where Jews actually come from slides right on by a lot of Zionist Christians and Jews, as does the suggestion of this, by the speaking of Aramaic, by Jesus and other Judeans, at the time of the passion.  It turns out, Judea was conquered by Aramid tribes, before the Romans incorporated parts of the Middle East into their empire.  The conquering Aramid tribes were also from Abyssinia.

The fabric known as Kevlar is composed of what was known, as "Aramid" fibers.

Modern Ethiopia is a nasty place, to try to survive.  I am not surprised, at how Lemba may have turned up in other parts of Africa.  They would have in many cases succumbed, to Christian media, over time.

I suspect modern Jews will eventually be really sorry they put up with expulsions and pogroms, to then invade Palestine, as part of modern Crusades.  But given how greed works, Zionists still have some time, to prance around, before something stops them, from their obnoxious media of theft and conquest._


----------



## Unkotare

bobgnote said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Mahdi al-Harati -- an IRISH-Libyan, who lived in Ireland, was trained in Qatar for the war in Libya, connected with CIA commander of Tripoli "revolutionaries", a deputy head of Tripoli Military Council was killed in SYRIA!
> 
> What an Irishman turned Libyan "freedom fighter" on CIA payroll was doing in Syria is a rhetorical question...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _What can I say DDD, but a LOT of Sunnis are in the UK and US.  When the time came,[sic] for change,[sic] in Libya, Qaddafi should have picked up and moved on.  Of course, if you don't feel like picking up and moving, you can stay around,[sic] and see if Sunnis aren't connected,[sic] enough,[sic] to knock you bitches right out of Syria.
> 
> What did you expect, but your Alawite murderers aren't going to be popular, not in Syria or in the English-speaking world.  Deflect,[sic] to Libya,[sic] if you think that will help._
Click to expand...



I hope _you_ never visit the English-speaking world because you'd have a terrible time with the language barrier.


----------



## High_Gravity

Is Syrias Bashar Assad Going the Way of Muammar Gaddafi?








> As tens of thousands of Syrians flee the chaos and bloodshed of the countrys 17-month uprising and civil war, Arab leaders on Monday raised the possibility that President Bashar Assad would be allowed a safe exit from power, if he quickly abandons the presidency and ends the all-out military assault on rebel fighters.
> 
> But is it too late for that?
> 
> According to some  including officials from the country that said it would offer Assad asylum just a few months ago  the Syrian leader might have missed his moment to leave (and then live) in peace. It seems increasingly likely, some believe, that Assad will end his rule  and perhaps his life  in the fighting, much the way that the late Muammar Gaddafi did last October, when Libyan militia fighters cornered the dictator on the run and shot him on the spot. We are in a kind of Gaddafi situation, says Khaled Ben MBarek, chief political aide to Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki. The scenario of Assad saying that he will leave seems more and more improbable.
> 
> In a meeting of Arab League foreign ministers in Qatar on Monday, officials raised the issue of a deal for Assad to leave office, according to the organizations Secretary General Nabil Elaraby, who told reporters after the discussions that Assad could be offered a safe exit. He would not reveal any details, apparently because the proposal needed to be fleshed out further with other countries.
> 
> Until now, Tunisias Marzouki was the only leader  Arab or otherwise  to offer Assad asylum. He has twice floated the idea of taking in Assad and his family in Tunisia as a way of ending the bloody conflict, in which more than 10,000 have died. In a BBC interview in March, Marzouki said, If the price of peace in Syria is to give a safe haven to this guy, why not? In an interview with the Arabic al-Hayat newspaper the following month, Marzouki again pleaded with Assad to get out while he could  a strategy that Gaddafi refused to heed. It is best for you and your family to leave alive because if you decide to leave dead, this would mean that you will cause the death of tens of thousands of innocent people, the Tunisian President said.
> 
> Marzoukis country has become used to setting precedents (if not saving presidents). Tunisias former leader Zine el Abidine Ben Ali fled the presidential palace in January 2011 after 24 years in power, chased out by a monthlong revolt that swept through the country to his very doorstep. Clearly concluding that his regime was on the verge of collapse, he flew into exile in Saudi Arabia  and is unlikely ever to face trial, despite being convicted in his absence in a Tunisian court. Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak staved off numerous calls to resign in peace, instead sending in forces to quash an 18-day revolt in January and February last year. Though Mubarak will now surely die in prison, after being convicted in Cairo, he at least survived the revolution. The same could not be said of Gaddafi. And in the end, might not be said of Assad.
> 
> In an intimate, imploring tone, Sheikha Mayassa, the 28-year-old daughter of Qatars Emir, e-mailed her friend, Assads wife Asma, earlier this year, urging her to persuade her husband to resign and leave Syria, at the very least in order to save his family. I only pray that you will convince the President to take this opportunity to exit without having to face charges, she wrote in the e-mail, which was intercepted by opposition activists and leaked to the Guardian. Im sure you have many places to turn to, including Doha.



Read more: Syria: Window Closing for Bashar Assad


----------



## High_Gravity

Aleppo Clashes: Syria Fighting Enters 4th Day 








> DAMASCUS, Syria  A Syrian government official says President Bashar Assad has named five officials to top security posts in a reshuffle of the regime's inner circle.
> 
> One of Tuesday's appointments replaces Assad's national security chief, who died last week after being wounded in a rebel bombing that also killed three other officials.
> 
> The new appointees are known regime figures, making it unlikely that the reshuffle will alter the government's efforts to defeat anti-Assad rebels.
> 
> Rebel groups are battling the government across Syria as the country's 16-month crisis grows increasingly violent and chaotic.
> 
> Last week's bomb attack struck a sharp blow to the regime's top brass, though government troops have now largely routed rebel forces fighting in the capital.
> 
> The official spoke on condition of anonymity in order to discuss security matters.
> 
> Fierce clashes spread to new neighborhoods in Aleppo in a fourth day of fighting in Syria's commercial capital, showing the resilience of a rebel offensive on strongholds of President Bashar Assad's regime.
> 
> President Barack Obama also warned Syria against using its chemical weapons after Damascus acknowledged for the first time on Monday that they possessed such weapons and threatened to use them against any "foreign aggression."
> 
> Syria's rebels have recently seized the offensive in the country's bloody civil war, which activists say has killed at least 19,000 people since it began in March 2011. Rebel fighters over the past two weeks have taken the fight to the Assad regime in the country's two largest cities, killed four senior security officials in a bold bomb attack in the heart of the capital and captured a string of border crossings with Iraq and Turkey.
> 
> Syria's state news agency said Tuesday that government troops were battling rebels in the Aleppo neighborhoods of Salaheddine and Sukkari and claimed they had inflicted heavy losses. The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, meanwhile, reported the spread of fighting to other previously peaceful neighborhoods as well as shelling by regime forces.
> 
> Clashes between rebels and government forces spread out of the northeastern neighborhoods of Sukkari and Hanano to nearby areas and even closer to the center in Arkoub. Meanwhile fighting flared in previously quiet southern neighborhood of Firdous.
> 
> On Sunday, a newly formed alliance of rebel groups called the Brigade for Unification announced an operation to take Aleppo, the country's largest city with about three million people. While the rebels have not shown themselves able to hold neighborhoods for any significant period of time, the continued fighting highlights the government's inability to pin down the lightly armed opposition forces.



Aleppo Clashes: Syria Fighting Enters 4th Day


----------



## Unkotare

bobgnote said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _What can I say DDD, but a LOT of Sunnis are in the UK and US.  When the time came,[sic] for change,[sic] in Libya, Qaddafi should have picked up and moved on.  Of course, if you don't feel like picking up and moving, you can stay around,[sic] and see if Sunnis aren't connected,[sic] enough,[sic] to knock you bitches right out of Syria.
> 
> What did you expect, but your Alawite murderers aren't going to be popular, not in Syria or in the English-speaking world.  Deflect,[sic] to Libya,[sic] if you think that will help._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I hope _you_ never visit the English-speaking world because you'd have a terrible time with the language barrier.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> _Psst!  Retarded faggot *Punkotardy*!  Guess what "sic" means?  It means YOU SUCK, I guess, since the spelling was correct.
> 
> Don't you queers put commas, before prepositions?  If you see a comma, before a preposition, that doesn't mean the spelling is incorrect, faggot._
Click to expand...



I was pointing out your incorrect use of commas, you illiterate psycho.


----------



## MHunterB

Incidentally, I can find no mention of 'Aramid tribes', but only of the Aramaic language, spoken by several different groups in the ME.

Aramaic language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Aramaic used by Jews is so very close to Hebrew, it's more like an 'accent' - not even a 'dialect's worth of difference. 

Here's a link to a very interesting 'high-level' discussion of some topics in Hebrew?Aramaic language in context of Biblical-period history.  
[b-hebrew] Aramaic to Hebrew language switch?


----------



## rhodescholar

bobgnote said:


> I suspect modern Jews will eventually be really sorry they put up with expulsions and pogroms, to then invade Palestine, as part of modern Crusades.  But given how greed works, Zionists still have some time, to prance around, before something stops them, from their obnoxious media of theft and conquest.



What on earth are you babbling about?  I laugh at how imbeciles rail at jews for alleged "theft" of land - land they either legitimately bought or won in defensive wars - and then ignore 1,400 YEARS of massive crusades, conquests, and slaughter by the muslims.

Remind us again how a death cult initiated in saudi arabia spread from western africa to the phillippines...


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Conflict: Damascus Suffers Destruction, Hunger As Fighting Hits Country's Heart



It's simply amazing how much "civilised community" wants Syrians to suffer destructions and starvation! 

This is Damascus 22.07.2012


----------



## mememe

Prince Bandar thought killed during the recent terrorist act in SA is alive; the killed man was identified as colonel Mashal al-Karni -- a close associate of prince Bandar...


----------



## bobgnote

MHunterB said:


> Incidentally, I can find no mention of 'Aramid tribes', but only of the Aramaic language, spoken by several different groups in the ME.
> 
> Aramaic language - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> The Aramaic used by Jews is so very close to Hebrew, it's more like an 'accent' - not even a 'dialect's worth of difference.
> 
> Here's a link to a very interesting 'high-level' discussion of some topics in Hebrew?Aramaic language in context of Biblical-period history.
> [b-hebrew] Aramaic to Hebrew language switch?



_Aramaean-Syriac people are the source of the Aramaic language.

The previous, pre-PC media I had access to likely referred, to the "Aramid" origins, in Africa, but the Aramaeans invaded Judea, from the Arab peninsula, which is the recent source, of Aramaic-speaking Judeans, which language is evident, today.

Not too much comes up, on these guys, in PC searches:_

Aramaean

_Somewhere is a better search medium, but you might have to conduct several searches.  I'd do it, but it's time to run.  If you haven't found it by tomorrow, I'll look it up._


----------



## mememe

Damascus. Al-Midan.



[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ze_lG6t6ago]&#x202b;[/ame]


----------



## bobgnote

rhodescholar said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> I suspect modern Jews will eventually be really sorry they put up with expulsions and pogroms, to then invade Palestine, as part of modern Crusades.  But given how greed works, Zionists still have some time, to prance around, before something stops them, from their obnoxious media of theft and conquest.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What on earth are you *babbling* about?  I laugh at how *imbeciles rail* at jews for alleged *"theft"* of land - land they either legitimately bought or won in *defensive wars* - and then ignore 1,400 YEARS of massive *crusades*, conquests, and slaughter by the muslims.
> 
> Remind us again how a death cult initiated in saudi arabia spread from western africa to the phillippines...
Click to expand...


_But *anus-scholar*, by the time the Roman Catholic Church got involved, Islam would be founded.  Some other religion was needed.  Don't agree?  Why not?

When Romans conquered, and then became Christian, to harass Jews, in order to take what they had and convert them, the way was cleared, for the spread, of Islam, which is a more practical religion, than either Christianity or Judaism.

When Moors conquered part of Spain, crusades were inevitable.  If Islam didn't want crusades to happen, Muslims didn't have to go, to Spain, but alas, Moors went over there, and history was set, on its current course, toward WWIII.

The British have marvelous expressions; among them: "There is a Spaniard, in the works."  This was also the inspiration, for the title, of one of John Lennon's books.

Moorish and Turkish conquests and wars are not necessarily part of the Pope-ordained CRUSADES, punk-fuck ranter.  Pay attention.  A Crusade comes out of some Pope's asshole, see "Urban," etc.

Of course, Romanesque Christians copy Catholics, to take litany, etc., as it suits them, and now, Christian geeks have all sorts of flat-earth media, which they impose on all of us, no matter how well Benedict tries to connect skepticism, against global warming, with atheism.  The Protestants don't protest, any more!  They just SUCK.  Their Jesus is DEAD, and his daddy was a Roman soldier, but that doesn't stop the rapture OR their desire, to spread intrigue, in the Middle East.

That any non-Catholic Christians exist, without a Pope ruling them is disgusting.  They end up in the US, to keep Darwin out of school curriculum, until 1958, when the Soviets launched Sputnik.  All the smart US Christians went off, to be agnostics or atheists or both, or they converted, to Islam, when Mohammed Ali and Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Ahmad Rashad did this.

But there are a lot of retards, in the US, which helps sustain organized crime cartels, including religions, which conspire, against our US Constitution and statutes.  Some of these criminals go get a CROSS, which they use, in the course of illegal CRUSADES, faggot.  If you could say Muslims engage, in "crusades," what kind of queer are you?  Don't you have a cross?

Probably, you have some kind of star, which your people co-opted, from a 6000-year-old Egyptian sun-sign, and maybe you call yourself "Hebrew," which is a corruption, of the word "Habiru."  But since you SUCK, you are corrupt, whatever you are.

As for *"theft,"* Israel started the 1967 war, to take a lot of territory.  The paranoid IDF shot up the USS Liberty, for monitoring the conflict.  AIPAC and Israel and international Zionists own US political agendas, lock, stock, and barrel.  These pigs can and will start WWIII, in the midst of all sorts of destructive climate change.

Will Israel or the US get a good hemp, switchgrass, and algae program, to make a lot of biodiesel?  NO.  The US imports oil, and we are screwed by our politicians, who guarantee tiny asshole-Israel's oil supply and a lot of its offensive military media.

Let me remind you, why radical Islam happened.  By the industrial revolution, Christians, particularly in the English-speaking world, see "British Empire" wanted back into the Middle East, bigtime.  Since a lot of Jews in Britain were powerful, see "Disraeli and Balfour," Zionists departed from England, 1882, to Palestine, to not only settle, but found a Jewish republic.

This was the incitement, for the Mahdi Rebellion, 1886.  

There is a Jewish republic, which sponsors bulldozing of Palestinian homes and entire villages, while other Semites, like Kurds and Palestinians do not have a homeland, thanks to British Imperialism, which powers the American war machine, today.

Modern Zionist Jews and Christians are involved, with organized crime and the taking of any media, which might enable Zionism, punkfuck.  So Muslims are even MORE pissed off, than they were, in 1886.  Heard of Islam?  There's a lot of Muslims.

The only thing really stopping them is still the Shia-Sunni split.  All major nations play the Sunnis or Shiites, against the others, lest a unified Islam start taking over.

That a word, "Judeo-Christian" exists, which indicates modern Zionist media is also an indication, how the US Constitution is being ravaged, by Zionists, which profiteer.

That you are a faggot won't stop pissed-off radical Islam.  Devious politics in the West will have its limits, since our Constitution strains, under the several violations, by perpetrators, who start hacking away, at our separation clause, move against the standing army clause, USCA 4 security, and against 18 US Code, in the course of busting our budget, which will fail, 2012.

What are YOU *babbling* about, queer?  Read some history, bitch.

You can't stop radical Islam, and since I know the "Judeo-Christians" and their pernicious organized criminal media, I don't know why in the world I would oppose Muslims, who are way over there, somewhere, no matter how many millions they are.

Over here, in the US are millions of seditious, punkfuck faggots and their fascist overlords.  And I should worry, about any Muslims?  Tell me how Islam is worse, than your shit and your AIDS.

Eat shit, ranting, faggot bitch!_


----------



## bobgnote

History of the Jews and the Crusades - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Crusades - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

_I have no idea, why Zionist elitists, such as Jews, would believe they can keep from using nuclear weapons, with the blessing of their airhead Crusader allies, and somehow refrain, from destroying our mutual human habitat.

But, stupid is, as stupid does!  On the way to dragging us all off, to hell, Judeo-Christian organized crime is destroying all western resources and economic initiative, for their illegal agendas.

Some people think black Obamney will find a way out of this.  It looks like he'll have to.  Support for white Obamney is eroding, faster than is support, for black Obamney.

Got tax returns?  I don't think so.  Got a US budget?  Not for long!

Tiny asshole Israel, with all the big shit it drives has to be on the US chopping block.  Or, tiny Israel can drag the Americans, to hell._


----------



## bobgnote

_Arameans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I suggest the reason Wikipedia has no reference, to "Aramids" is these originated, in Abyssinia, per the NOVA show I saw, and these became the Arameans, which had a language, similar to the Habiru language, since hey, they were all from Abyssinia, originally.

I don't know why the idea of an Aramid people, with an Abyssinian origin isn't readier, at search, than old 1937 definitions, of "Aramaic," from a defunct Soviet encyclopedia.

I think Judeo-Christians may be fucking up modern searches, since that is the kind of shit they do.

The word "aramid" is still in use, in biology and as the un-patented term, for Kevlar fibers._


----------



## Unkotare

bobgnote said:


> The previous,[sic] pre-PC media I had access to likely referred,[sic] to the "Aramid" origins,[sic] in Africa, but the Aramaeans invaded Judea,[sic] from the Arab peninsula, which is the recent source,[sic] of Aramaic-speaking Judeans, which[sic] language is evident,[sic] today.
> 
> Not too much comes up,[sic] on these guys,[sic] in PC searches:[/I]
> 
> Aramaean
> 
> _Somewhere is a better search medium, but you might have to conduct several searches.  I'd do it, but it's time to run.  If you haven't found it by tomorrow, I'll look it up._





What is your first language?


----------



## High_Gravity

Unkotare said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> The previous,[sic] pre-PC media I had access to likely referred,[sic] to the "Aramid" origins,[sic] in Africa, but the Aramaeans invaded Judea,[sic] from the Arab peninsula, which is the recent source,[sic] of Aramaic-speaking Judeans, which[sic] language is evident,[sic] today.
> 
> Not too much comes up,[sic] on these guys,[sic] in PC searches:[/I]
> 
> Aramaean
> 
> _Somewhere is a better search medium, but you might have to conduct several searches.  I'd do it, but it's time to run.  If you haven't found it by tomorrow, I'll look it up._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What is your first language?
Click to expand...


Its must be assholism.


----------



## Unkotare

High_Gravity said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> The previous,[sic] pre-PC media I had access to likely referred,[sic] to the "Aramid" origins,[sic] in Africa, but the Aramaeans invaded Judea,[sic] from the Arab peninsula, which is the recent source,[sic] of Aramaic-speaking Judeans, which[sic] language is evident,[sic] today.
> 
> Not too much comes up,[sic] on these guys,[sic] in PC searches:[/I]
> 
> Aramaean
> 
> _Somewhere is a better search medium, but you might have to conduct several searches.  I'd do it, but it's time to run.  If you haven't found it by tomorrow, I'll look it up._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What is your first language?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Its must be assholism.
Click to expand...



He does seem fluent in that at least.


----------



## bobgnote

_Whatever, shit-talking faggots.  Tell us more, about how well you do, at Engish US, so mememe has to tell you faggots how to write._


----------



## Unkotare

bobgnote said:


> _Whatever, shit-talking faggots.  Tell us more, about how well you do, at Engish US, so mememe has to tell you faggots how to write._





"Engish"? Is that your first language? You should try to learn English sometime.


----------



## ekrem

Katzndogz said:


> Here you go.  What it was all about, all along.
> 
> Syrian Muslim Brotherhood to launch political party



Syrian-National-Council is in its core the Syrian branch of the Muslim-Brotherhood, patched-up with some other organizations here and there.
It was created after Syria rejected to end one-party rule and to let other groups of society join the political system (which would have ended Assad's minority rule).

Syrian Foreign Minister said it himself.
Turkey-Syria Ties Worsened on Muslim Brotherhood, Hurriyet Says - Bloomberg


----------



## bobgnote

Unkotare said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _Whatever, shit-talking faggots.  Tell us more, about how well you do, at Engish US, so mememe has to tell you faggots how to write._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Engish"? Is that your first language? You should try to learn English sometime.
Click to expand...


_Good for you, *Punko*.  You caught ANOTHER spelling mistake.  You could get a job, eating shit.  You don't do searches for studies, reports, and graphs, do you.

I guess that's part, of being a RightWingFaggotThatRunsWordsTogether.

Now you can use your (sic) trick.  Don't forget to eat shit, faggot!_


----------



## Moonglow

Unkotare said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> The previous,[sic] pre-PC media I had access to likely referred,[sic] to the "Aramid" origins,[sic] in Africa, but the Aramaeans invaded Judea,[sic] from the Arab peninsula, which is the recent source,[sic] of Aramaic-speaking Judeans, which[sic] language is evident,[sic] today.
> 
> Not too much comes up,[sic] on these guys,[sic] in PC searches:[/I]
> 
> Aramaean
> 
> _Somewhere is a better search medium, but you might have to conduct several searches.  I'd do it, but it's time to run.  If you haven't found it by tomorrow, I'll look it up._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What is your first language?
Click to expand...


Butt speak


----------



## Unkotare

bobgnote said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _Whatever, shit-talking faggots.  Tell us more, about how well you do, at Engish US, so mememe has to tell you faggots how to write._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Engish"? Is that your first language? You should try to learn English sometime.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> _Good for you, *Punko*.  You caught ANOTHER spelling mistake.  You could get a job,[sic] eating shit.  You don't do searches for studies, reports, and graphs, do you.
> 
> I guess that's part,[sic] of being a RightWingFaggotThatRunsWordsTogether._
Click to expand...



Wouldn't it just be easier for you to learn how to write properly in English? No, I guess that would be impossible.


----------



## Unkotare

Moonglow said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> The previous,[sic] pre-PC media I had access to likely referred,[sic] to the "Aramid" origins,[sic] in Africa, but the Aramaeans invaded Judea,[sic] from the Arab peninsula, which is the recent source,[sic] of Aramaic-speaking Judeans, which[sic] language is evident,[sic] today.
> 
> Not too much comes up,[sic] on these guys,[sic] in PC searches:[/I]
> 
> Aramaean
> 
> _Somewhere is a better search medium, but you might have to conduct several searches.  I'd do it, but it's time to run.  If you haven't found it by tomorrow, I'll look it up._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What is your first language?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Butt speak
Click to expand...



So it seems.


----------



## Unkotare

Very large spam from the illiterate buffoon. It's too bad you can't understand any of the things you copy and paste.


----------



## MHunterB

bobgnote said:


> _Arameans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> I suggest the reason Wikipedia has no reference, to "Aramids" is these originated, in Abyssinia, per the NOVA show I saw, and these became the Arameans, which had a language, similar to the Habiru language, since hey, they were all from Abyssinia, originally.
> 
> I don't know why the idea of an Aramid people, with an Abyssinian origin isn't readier, at search, than old 1937 definitions, of "Aramaic," from a defunct Soviet encyclopedia.
> 
> I think Judeo-Christians may be fucking up modern searches, since that is the kind of shit they do.
> 
> The word "aramid" is still in use, in biology and as the un-patented term, for Kevlar fibers._



If you mean the Hebrew language, the way one says 'Hebrew' in that language is 'Ee-vree' (singular) or 'Ee-vrit' (the language) or 'Ee-vrim' (plural) - which of course is nothing at all like the 'Hapiru' or 'Habiru' of the Egyptians.  The two are not connected.  

As to your assertions of 'Aram' being in Abyssinia - that is extremely unlikely. Again, you have neither linked to nor cited a single source for any of your allegations.  Nor have you substantiated your assertions about 'Judeo-Christians' or 'Soviet encyclopedia' or anything else to which you have so fancifully and whimisically referred.


NB:  'Arameans' being people are properly a 'who' and not a 'which'.....


----------



## High_Gravity

bobgnote said:


> _Whatever, shit-talking faggots.  Tell us more, about how well you do, at Engish US, so mememe has to tell you faggots how to write._



mememe is an ass licking faggot much like yourself.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Conflict: Damascus, Aleppo Endure Heavy Shelling 








> BEIRUT, July 26 (Reuters) - Damascus and Syria's second biggest city, Aleppo, came under shell fire on Thursday as troops loyal to President Bashar al-Assad stepped up efforts to crush rebels threatening the government's two main power centres.
> 
> One of the most senior figures to defect from Assad's inner circle, Brigadier General Manaf Tlas, put himself forward as someone who could help unite the fragmented opposition inside and outside Syria on a blueprint for a transfer of power.
> 
> A bomb attack that killed four of Assad's closest lieutenants last week prompted predictions among his enemies that the 46-year-old president's time in power was drawing to a close.
> 
> But in the days that have followed that attack, Assad's forces have noticeably toughened their response to the armed revolt, with fixed-wing combat aircraft seen in action over Aleppo and rebel fighters said by opposition sources to have been summarily executed on the streets of Damascus.
> 
> Residents in the capital reported a shell landing in southern districts every minute on Thursday morning. Helicopters were attacking the Hajar-al-Aswad district, one of the last rebel strongholds in the city after days of street fighting, opposition activists said.
> 
> After a major assault on rebels in Damascus last week, the army has turned to Aleppo, reinforcing troops there with an armoured column that had been operating in a northern province, apparent evidence of the government's aim not to lose control of Syria's commercial capital, a city of 2.5 million.
> 
> Fierce clashes raged in the early hours of Thursday in Aleppo, and an activist said rebels now controlled half of the city, a claim that could not be independently verified.
> 
> "There was shelling this morning on the Salaheddine and Mashhad districts," said Aleppo activist Abu Hisham. "Now it has stopped, but helicopters are buzzing overhead."
> 
> Activists said 24 people were killed in fighting in and around Aleppo on Wednesday, swelling a national death toll of about 18,000 since the revolt against Assad began 16 months ago.
> 
> In the Syrian capital, a resident in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp reported heavy shelling, particularly near the southern Hajar al-Aswad district.



Syria Conflict: Damascus, Aleppo Endure Heavy Shelling


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Conflict: Turkey Refugee Camps Struggle To Cope With 44,000 Syrians 








> KILIS, Turkey, July 25 (Reuters) - Tempers are running short in Syrian refugee camps just inside Turkey, where torrid summer heat and the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan are compounding complaints about living conditions and perceived mistreatment by the Turkish authorities.
> 
> "They have broken our hearts, the Turks. Why are they doing this to us?" sobbed Umm Omar, huddling with her four children after choking on teargas fired by Turkish riot police to quell trouble over food distribution in the Kilis camp on Sunday.
> 
> "We are fasting," she said, complaining there was not enough food for the evening meal that ends the day's fast during Ramadan.
> 
> Fights have broken out in other camps, too, this week, among refugees as well as with Turkish security forces, illustrating one of Turkey's many challenges in coping with the fallout from the conflict raging in nearby Syria for the past 16 months.
> 
> The challenge could get much worse, perhaps forcing Turkey to reconsider its current policy mix of taking in refugees, sheltering Syrian army defectors, promoting unity among a fractured Syrian opposition and quietly allowing foreign funds and weapons to reach rebels fighting President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> Turkey says 70,000 Syrians in all have crossed the border, but 26,000 have gone back, leaving 46,000 refugees in eight tented camps and in Kilis, which houses 12,000 in rows of white prefabs behind a high metal wall topped with barbed wire.
> 
> The numbers are manageable so far, despite occasional friction, but an unprecedented surge of fighting this week in Syria's northern city of Aleppo, just 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Turkish border, points up the risk of a huge exodus of refugees.
> 
> For now, people caught up in the battles in Aleppo, Syria's sprawling commercial capital, have moved to safer districts in the city of up to 4 million rather than heading for Turkey.
> 
> Less than 20 years ago, hundreds of thousands of Iraqi Kurds fled into the Turkish mountains after the 1991 Gulf War, fearing that Saddam Hussein's forces might attack them with poison gas.
> 
> Turkey then appealed to its Western allies, which set up a no-fly zone over northern Iraq to enable the refugees to return.



Syria Conflict: Turkey Refugee Camps Struggle To Cope With 44,000 Syrians


----------



## ERGO

*CONFIRMED: Turkey Running Proxy-Invasion of Syria *
*Admits hosting foreign fighters seeking to enter Syria, trucks in weapons to rearm terrorist groups.*

The Washington Post has just published an article with the very misleading titled, Turkey a hub for Syria revolution as illegal border crossing points abound, in which it describes Salafi Muslims, who have come to offer help from the countries of the Persian Gulf region arming and joining the so-called Free Syrian Army. The article also claims weapons are ferried into Syria, delivered by Turkish military trucks and
picked up by fighters on the other side in the dead of night.

Turkey a hub for Syria revolution as illegal border crossing points abound - The Washington Post
*
A more apt title would be, Turkey hosts invading Saudi and Qatari mercenary army.*

This confirms earlier reports featured in the New York Times and the Washington Post, that not only are the Gulf States of Saudi Arabia and Qatar funding and arming militants via Turkey, but that the US is coordinating the logistical aspects of the operation as well.  

*Likewise,* CNN has attempted to spin concessions made by its own Ivan Watson, traveling with sectarian extremists into Syria, where it was admitted:

"On Wednesday, CNNs crew met a Libyan fighter who had crossed into
Syria from Turkey with four other Libyans. The fighter wore full
camouflage and was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle. He said more Libyan
fighters were on the way."

Faces of the Free Syrian Army - CNN.com

*CNN then attempts to claim *the real Syrian revolutionaries do not want an Islamist political agenda to be mixed in with their revolution....LOL

*Unfortunately for CNN*, despite its best efforts, it cannot qualify its claim that these foreign fighters are unwanted,  for the so-called Free Syrian Army (FSA) has long since exposed itself as a sectarian extremist front infiltrated with foreign fighters and foreign weapons, stretching back as far as 2007. 

Land Destroyer: Bloomberg: Syria Violence is Sectarian

*Extremists Ravaging Syria Created by US in 2007:*
Land Destroyer: Extremists Ravaging Syria Created by US in 2007

source link:Turkey Running Proxy-Invasion of Syria


----------



## ERGO

*Saudis and Qataris Attempt Arab League-UN Rescue of Faltering Mercenaries*

Perhaps as a sign the Gulf States of Saudi Arabia and Qatar are stretched to the limits of their ability to covertly undermine Syria, they have announced plans to seek UN General Assembly action for a political transition and establishment of a democratic government in Syria. *For the despotic, unelected, grandiose nepotism of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to call for a democratic government in Syria is truly a move made as much out of desperation as it is one of farcical hypocrisy.*

http://www.chron.com/news/article/Arabs-to-seek-UN-General-
Assembly-action-on-Syria-3734394.php

*Both Gulf State nations are run by absolute monarchies*  some of the only kind still left in the world. In Saudi Arabia, not only are elections out of the question, but women are in fact, prohibited from even driving. How the Saudis themselves are not subject to UN resolutions, open condemnations, sanctions of all kinds, and ultimatums over their own dictatorship is a true indication of the bankrupted, hypocritical, self-serving dysfunction that punctuates a Western corporate-financier dominated international order. It is an international community that creates the illusion of urgency and injustice when it seeks to expand its interests into one nation, but conveniently ignores real injustice when it jeopardizes their interests elsewhere. 

*Turkey Supports Subversion of Syria, While Crushing Dissent at Home*

Turkey itself has been waging a decades-long bloody campaign against its
own armed uprising in predominately Kurdish areas bordering Syria,
Iraq, and Iran. In fact, at one point, the US allowed Turkish tanks to
cross into American-occupied Iraq to attack villages suspected of
harboring armed Kurdish separatists in 2008, mirroring the very tactics Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdo&#287;an is now condemning Syria for. The Guardian reported in their 2008
article, Iraq demands Turkey withdraw from border conflict with Kurds, that the conflict had been raging since 1984 and had cost the lives of 40,000 people.

Iraq demands Turkey withdraw from border conflict with Kurds | World news | guardian.co.uk

*Turkey has in recent weeks, violated Iraqs airspace* in order to strafe and bomb Kurdish villages inside Iraqi territory. Iraq has lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council  a complaint likely to go unnoticed.
One can only imagine the threat Syria would be portrayed as if it were to likewise strafe and bomb targets beyond its borders in pursuit of now admittedly foreign-armed, foreign fighters invading its country via Turkey. Turkey, a NATO member since 1952, would most likely invoke Chapter V of NATOs treaty, a mutual defense clause that makes an attack on one alliance member an attack on all members  thus opening up the door for more direct foreign military intervention.  

Iraq warns Turkey against violating airspace | Reuters

*Turkeys ruling government led by PM Recep Tayyip Erdo&#287;an is in fact undermining its own national security by running errands for NATO versus Syria.* By supporting foreign terrorists invading neighboring Syria, it undermines the legitimacy of its own campaign against Kurdish rebels within its borders, not to mention beyond them. Turkeys current stance vis-a-vis Syria is not shared by all members of Turkeys government, and at this critical stage, now more than ever they need to make their voices heard both to the Turkish people and to the people of the world.

*Carving Out Safe Havens for the US State Departments SNC*

*The ultimate goal of inundating Syria with foreign fighters and weapons *while Saudi Arabia and Qatar farcically call for a democratic transition in Syria is to create a safe haven from which the US State Department coached and directed Syrian National Council (SNC) can rule from  *further dividing and undermining the Syrian nation-state.
*

This geopolitical objective was first summarized in the Fortune 500-funded Brookings Institutions March 2012 Middle East Memo #21 Assessing Options for Regime Change and recently reiterated almost verbatim by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.
*
US is Writing Syria's New Constitution - Tutoring SNC for Take Over:*
Land Destroyer: US is Writing Syria's New Constitution - Tutoring SNC for Take Over
*
Clinton's Syria Policy Parrots Fortune 500 Think-Tank:*
Land Destroyer: Clinton's Syria Policy Parrots Fortune 500 Think-Tank

source link: CONFIRMED: Turkey Running Proxy-Invasion of Syria | End the Lie &#8211; Independent News


----------



## bobgnote

MHunterB said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _Arameans - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
> 
> I suggest the reason Wikipedia has no reference, to "Aramids" is these originated, in Abyssinia, per the NOVA show I saw, and these became the Arameans, which had a language, similar to the Habiru language, since hey, they were all from Abyssinia, originally.
> 
> I don't know why the idea of an Aramid people, with an Abyssinian origin isn't readier, at search, than old 1937 definitions, of "Aramaic," from a defunct Soviet encyclopedia.
> 
> I think Judeo-Christians may be fucking up modern searches, since that is the kind of shit they do.
> 
> The word "aramid" is still in use, in biology and as the un-patented term, for Kevlar fibers._
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If you mean the Hebrew language, the way one says 'Hebrew' in that language is 'Ee-vree' (singular) or 'Ee-vrit' (the language) or 'Ee-vrim' (plural) - which of course is nothing at all like the 'Hapiru' or 'Habiru' of the Egyptians.  The two are not connected.
> 
> As to your assertions of 'Aram' being in Abyssinia - that is extremely unlikely. Again, you have neither linked to nor cited a single source for any of your allegations.  Nor have you substantiated your assertions about 'Judeo-Christians' or 'Soviet encyclopedia' or anything else to which you have so fancifully and whimisically referred.
> 
> 
> NB:  'Arameans' being people are properly a 'who' and not a 'which'.....
Click to expand...


_I suppose you got all prissy and went and found the six-pointed star, at Wikipedia!

As to you being the Wikipedia-faggot, you can have it.  If you ran a search, which could find all the migrations, of all known peoples, more power to you, faggot.

I won't even run searches, for this thread, since faggots spam the crap out of this and all kinds of other threads, with shit about commas, and they get to stay up, like they are hunting communists.  At least you know a word for this: EAT SHIT, ASSHOLE.

I see you are a member, of RightWingFaggotsThatShoveWordsandClausesTogether.

Fuck you, bitch._


----------



## Unkotare

And the loon rages on... 

,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


----------



## bobgnote

_I know why you RightWingFaggotsThatShoveClausesTogether need Willard Meat's report cards.

RightWingFaggots gave up, on math and law.  So we don't get those tax returns, do we.

White Obamney got good grades.  That is a curiosity, among RWFTSCs.

Get those commanists, faggots.  They might also use good grammar and sentence structure!_


----------



## High_Gravity

Unkotare said:


> And the loon rages on...
> 
> ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,



This clown needs to be banned, he's just doing this shit on purpose now and spamming the board.


----------



## MHunterB

Actually, BobbyG - I used to be a 'DD' quite a few years back, but now I'm between a 'C' and a 'D' depending on the exact manufacturer and style.......many ladies are.

I'm glad, however, that despite your tenuous long-distance relationship with reality, you can still dimly comprehend that I'm a

*B*abe
*I*n
*T*otal
*C*harge of
*H*erself!


----------



## High_Gravity

TIME Exclusive: Meet the Islamist Militants Fighting Alongside Syrias Rebels









> The al-Qaeda flag was propped up in a barrel painted with the three-starred Syrian revolutionary banner in the middle of the road at a makeshift checkpoint between the northern Syrian towns of Binnish and Taftanaz in Idlib province. The checkpoint was unmanned  not especially surprising, given the dry mid-afternoon heat and the lethargy sometimes brought on early in the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
> 
> But what was surprising was how openly the flag was displayed. It was white, unlike the more familiar black monochrome inscribed with No God but God in white lettering, above the circular seal of the Prophet Muhammad. But no matter the color, the implications were the same: that elements of al-Qaeda or the groups supporters were present in this part of Syria.
> 
> There has been much speculation about whether Islamic radicals have gained a foothold in the chaotic battlefield that is Syria today. They have, albeit a small one. While there are jihadists, both foreign and local, inside Syria, their presence should not be overstated. At this stage, they remain a minor player in the conflict. But as Karl Vicks story in the Aug. 6 issue of TIME (subscription required) relates, should the conflict spiral out of hand, their role may grow exponentially.
> 
> In late January, the jihadist group Jabhat al-Nusra li Ahl Ash-Sham, or the Support Front for the People of Syria, announced its formation and goal to bring down the regime of President Bashar Assad. In the months since, it has claimed responsibility for many of the larger, more spectacular bombing attacks on state security sites, including a double suicide car bombing in February targeting a security branch in Aleppo that left some 28 dead.
> 
> Little is known about the shadowy group beyond that it is headed by someone using the nom de guerre of Abu Mohammad al-Golani (Golani is a reference to Syrias Golan Heights, occupied by Israel.) Some say the group is a regime creation, to prove Assads assertion that he is fighting terrorists, while others say it is an offshoot of the al-Qaeda group the Islamic State of Iraq.
> 
> A foot soldier in the movement told TIME that it is neither. We are just people who follow and obey our religion, the young man, Ibrahim, said. I am a mujahid, but not al-Qaeda. Jihad is not al-Qaeda.
> 
> It took weeks of negotiations to secure an interview with a member of the movement, the first time anyone from the group has talked to the media. Higher-ups in the Jabhat declined to be interviewed but agreed to let Ibrahim, a 21-year-old Syrian, be interviewed.
> 
> The Jabhat has a presence in at least half a dozen towns in Idlib province as well as elsewhere across the country, including strong showings in the capital of Damascus and in Hama, according to the Jabhat member and other Islamists who are in contact with senior members of the group.



Read more: Syria Exclusive: Islamist Militants Fight Alongside Rebels | World | TIME.com


----------



## Unkotare

bobgnote said:


> _
> 
> Get those commanists, faggots.  They might also use good grammar and sentence structure!_






I guess that means _you_ cannot be a "commanist."


----------



## High_Gravity

Unkotare said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _
> 
> Get those commanists, faggots.  They might also use good grammar and sentence structure!_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I guess that means _you_ cannot be a "commanist."
Click to expand...


bobgnote types worse than 1st grade student.


----------



## bobgnote

no retards worse than right-wing neo-con fucktards.   

_You gave yourself away, *hunt with a c*.  If you kick your tits out of the way, you'll find what I'm writing about.

Don't get pregnant, with your fellow DDDs._


----------



## High_Gravity

CIA absence from Syria a setback for U.S., officials say








> WASHINGTON  Despite a dire need for intelligence about the groups fighting to overthrow the Syrian government, the CIA has little if any presence in the country, seriously limiting its ability to collect information and influence the course of events, according to current and former U.S. officials.
> 
> American intelligence agencies have kept tabs on Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles, using spy satellites and other forms of electronic eavesdropping as well as information from allied nations and U.S. personnel in Turkey and other neighboring countries. The CIA also has some understanding of President Bashar Assad's government, officials said.
> 
> But more than 16 months into the Syrian uprising, the U.S. government still is struggling for details about who the main opposition groups are and what motivates them, say the current and former officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in discussing covert intelligence activities.
> 
> Although U.S. officials have had considerable contact with anti-Assad exile groups, most analysts expect a post-Assad government to be dominated by the armed groups operating in the country.
> 
> U.S. officials have worried that some of those groups may be linked to, or sympathetic with, Al Qaeda affiliates. By one U.S. estimate, as many as a quarter of the 300 rebel groups may be inspired by Al Qaeda, says Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
> 
> A major impediment to determining who is who is that CIA officers largely have avoided entering Syria or traveling to the battle zones since February, when the U.S. Embassy in Damascus was shuttered for security reasons after threats by groups allied with the Assad government. Closing the embassy left the agency without a secure base from which to operate, and CIA personnel left the country, the officials said.
> 
> Critics say the CIA's absence from Syria is a missed opportunity to influence the fractured rebel movement.
> 
> "We should be on the ground with bucket loads of money renting the opposition groups that we need to steer this in the direction that benefits the United States," said a former CIA officer who spent years in the Middle East. "We're not, and good officers are extremely frustrated."



CIA absence from Syria a setback for U.S., officials say - latimes.com


----------



## Unkotare

High_Gravity said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> _
> 
> Get those commanists, faggots.  They might also use good grammar and sentence structure!_
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I guess that means _you_ cannot be a "commanist."
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> bobgnote types worse than 1st grade student.
Click to expand...




I'd find it hard to believe he ever got half that far!


----------



## Unkotare

Bugnuts is still riding that Crazy Train.  



,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,


----------



## High_Gravity

Unkotare said:


> Bugnuts is still riding that Crazy Train.
> 
> 
> 
> ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,



She should really be banned for all her spamming and bullshit posts.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> Mustafa Tlass is one of the most influential, intelligent and highly capable people of the Syrian elite. Actually, it was he who brought to power Bashar al-Assad and helped him overcome a very strong resistance of the elite. Tlass stands behind several coups in the Arab world in the last half-century.
> 
> Today there is no more influential person outside of Syria. It is logical to assume that with him the West is conducting negotiations or at least negotiated the reconfiguration of power in Syria. And if negotiations eventually resulted in an agreement of the parties, the West gained access to the very heart of Syria's ruling elite.



Fast-breaking meal in Ankara with Foreign-Minister and Intelligence-Chief.
It's grey-haired on right side.


----------



## Unkotare

High_Gravity said:


> Unkotare said:
> 
> 
> 
> Bugnuts is still riding that Crazy Train.
> 
> 
> 
> ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,
> 
> 
> 
> 
> She should really be banned for all her spamming and bullshit posts.
Click to expand...



All we can do is report the spam and let her mental illness run its course.


----------



## Lipush

An incident between the Jordanian and Syrian army.

A Jordaninan soldier killed in shooting between the Syrian and Jordaninan army, after Syrian soldiers shoot refugees, killing a toddler.


----------



## bobgnote

All you RightWingFaggotsThatSlamClausesTogether can do is be wingpunk faggots in an ass-slamming relationship and get married at the Log Cabin Club Tea-room party without any commas to slow your queer shit down.

C-hunter knows how to read Wikipedia with her tits out!  That beats RWFs by a lot.

----------------------

Battles for key cities of Aleppo, Damascus heat up in Syrian civil war &#8211; This Just In - CNN.com Blogs



> Undeterred by a wave of casualties, Syrian rebels say they will not back down in their quest to seize Aleppo, the country's commercial hub and a crucial city in the Syrian civil war.
> 
> After six days of fighting, the seesaw battle with government forces raged again Thursday as helicopter gunships flew over the city, the opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. At least one rebel fighter was killed, the group said.
> 
> The seat of President Bashar al-Assad's power also saw renewed violence Thursday as explosions rocked several Damascus neighborhoods, another opposition group said.
> 
> Regime and rebel forces battled in several Damascus neighborhoods, and the Palestinian refugee camp of Yarmouk endured "fierce helicopter shelling with machine guns," the Local Coordination Committees of Syria said.
> 
> The LCC also reported dozens of dead and wounded in shelling by regime forces in Yalda, in the Damascus suburbs, and in bomb attacks in the Mashtal district of the capital.



-------------------------

_Palis are getting involved:_

http://www.montereyherald.com/world/ci_21166082










> BEIRUT&#8212;Like other communities sucked into Syria's widening civil war, the Yarmouk neighborhood in Damascus has seen death and destruction. Soldiers and snipers have gunned down demonstrators. Some protesters have taken up arms to fight back.
> 
> But there's one key difference: Most of Yarmouk's residents are not Syrian citizens. They are Palestinian refugees.
> 
> Since the start of the unrest, Syria's half-million Palestinians have struggled to remain on the sidelines. They've said they have little to gain and much to lose by taking sides in the fight between President Bashar Assad's regime and the armed rebels seeking to end his family's four-decade rule.
> 
> But young Palestinian refugees, enraged by this month's mounting violence and moved by Arab Spring calls for greater freedoms, are now flooding the streets and even joining the rebels despite efforts by the community's political leadership to keep them out of the conflict.
> 
> Large protests began two weeks ago in the country's largest Palestinian refugee camp, Yarmouk, a neighborhood of nearly 150,000 refugees crowded into simple apartment buildings on narrow streets in the Syrian capital. Security forces fired on the protesters, killing at least five and setting off a cycle of funerals, demonstrations and further crackdowns.
> 
> On Thursday, activists said troops posted outside Yarmouk were shelling the area, likely in preparation for a raid.


----------



## rhodescholar

bobgnote said:


> All you



It's time this piece of shit to get banned.


----------



## bobgnote

_What can I say?  If it's gay, it's not PUTIN.  If it's Putin, it's not GAY._   /\ /\


----------



## High_Gravity

rhodescholar said:


> bobgnote said:
> 
> 
> 
> All you
> 
> 
> 
> 
> It's time this piece of shit to get banned.
Click to expand...


Yeah no doubt.


----------



## High_Gravity

As Aleppo Braces for a Bloodbath, Syrias Regime is Far From Beaten








> The ancient and storied city of Aleppo is shaping up to be the next great bloodbath of Syrias 18-month rebellion. The regime is concentrating its elite forces, and their armor, artillery and air support, for an all-out assault to recapture those parts of the city seized by insurgents. The outcome will likely mirror last weeks battle in Damascus, where President Bashar al-Assads forces eventually forced the rebels to retreat. Not even the rebels are expecting to be able to hold the city against the regimes overwhelming firepower, and its determination to stop Syrias largest and most prosperous city falling to the rebellion.But Aleppo will not be the final or decisive battle of the war. Instead, it will more likely confirm a strategic stalemate, in which the regime is unable to destroy the rebellion, but the rebellion lacks the military power to destroy the regime. There may yet be many weeks and months of carnage ahead.
> 
> Having watched Assad bludgeon his rebellious citizenry for the past 18 months, the international media is understandably impatient to see the bloodletting brought to an end with the regimes collapse. Perhaps it was that impatience  or the audacity of a rebel offensive in the capital, that included a devastating strike on the regimes key command center that killed four of Assads top security aides, followed by the opening of a second front in Aleppo  that shifted the tone of coverage to one anticipating the regimes rapid demise. But after the initial shock of last weeks events in Damascus, the regime regained its footing and systematically, and brutally, drove the rebels out of most of the neighborhoods they had seized in the capital. The outcome in Aleppo may be similar.
> 
> Aleppo is a complex city, a local rebel supporter identified only as Amir told the Guardian. You can see people support the regime, those who are fearful and those who are pro-revolution. The middle and upper classes dont want the rebels to come in. They want everything to be business as usual. No one can can predict what will happen but there is unhappiness that the rebels have brought all this firepower down on Aleppo. By that description the rebels may have neither the firepower, nor the consensus within the city, necessary to hold it in the face of the counter-attack expected Friday or Saturday. Despite the many setbacks it has suffered and the clear sense that it is beyond Assads power to restore the status quo ante, his regime is far from beaten. Nor were the rebels necessarily expecting that their assaults on Damascus and Aleppo marked the final offensive.
> 
> The 1968 Tet Offensive, staged by the Vietcong revolutionaries against the U.S. and the local allies it was propping up in Vietnam, bears consideration here. As the lunar New Year dawned on January 30, 1968, tens of thousands Vietcong insurgents mounted simultaneous surprise attacks on command and control centers in more than 100 villages, towns and cities, including dramatic attacks on six key command centers (including the US Embassy) in South Vietnams capital, Saigon. They took control of the old imperial capital of Hue for close to a month, as well as besieging the U.S. base at Khe Sanh for three months. Although the Vietcong suffered massive casualties and were forced to yield those gains, the operation negated Washingtons triumphalism and convinced Americans that the Vietnam war was unwinnable. The offensive was in no sense a final assault on the bastions of U.S. power and the allies it propped up in South Vietnam. Their purpose, instead, was to send a political message: the U.S. and its allies would never eliminate the Vietcong.



Read more: As Aleppo Braces for a Bloodbath, Syria's Regime is Far From Beaten | World | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> CIA absence from Syria l]




Bloody liars!
CIA was in Syria since before "civilised" attacked Libya!

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...u4GICQ&usg=AFQjCNG_LKHGsAnQcUkCmbtIj0LeXHpvfg


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> CIA absence from Syria l]
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Bloody liars!
> CIA was in Syria since before "civilised" attacked Libya!
> 
> http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...u4GICQ&usg=AFQjCNG_LKHGsAnQcUkCmbtIj0LeXHpvfg
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

Supported by the US "revolutionaries" stepped up their genocidal activities against Christian communities in Syria.

Always wondered, how demonstrative Christian manifestations of Americans sit together with their support for massacres of Christians in targeted by the US countries...


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian rebels appear more capable, yet still outgunned



> Anadan, Syria (CNN) -- A distant machine gun rattled away in vain as a military helicopter flew long, slow circles, arcing from the contested Syrian city of Aleppo over to the rebel-controlled town of Anadan, six miles to the north.
> 
> A group of fighters stared and pointed from under the shelter of an overhanging building, until one man said in a worried tone, "Let's go away" before hurrying indoors.
> 
> In a matter of months, Syria's rebels have transformed themselves from ragtag village defense forces into an armed movement capable of attacking the country's two largest cities, Aleppo and Damascus. They have also punctured the image of invincibility projected by Syrian army tanks and armored personnel carriers, as proven by the twisted wreckage of armored vehicles that now litter some roads.
> 
> But the fighters still find themselves vastly out-gunned when facing government air power.
> 
> And yet, even that advantage may be shrinking.
> 
> Hidden away in rebel safe houses in this artillery-scarred town is a small arsenal of heavy weapons captured from Syrian security forces.
> 
> Fighters proudly opened garage doors to reveal trucks mounted with an enormous 120 millimeter mortar and a anti-aircraft gun.
> 
> The weapons have seen action.
> 
> "I've fired this gun about 2,000 times," said Jamal Awar, a bus driver-turned-rebel. He said that, during his mandatory military service, he specialized in firing the seated, double-barreled, anti-aircraft gun. Awar said that expertise helped him shoot down a helicopter during a battle in the nearby town of Azaz several weeks ago.
> 
> "I was ecstatic, I was very happy," Awar said.
> 
> Rebels like Awar appeared to be the only residents in this otherwise deserted town. The streets were eerily empty.
> 
> Beside one main road lay the twisted wreckage of a small truck, reeking of rotting flesh. Fighters said three passengers inside were killed when Syrian troops targeted the vehicle from an outpost several kilometers outside of town.



Syrian rebels appear more capable, yet still outgunned - CNN.com


----------



## mememe

NOT BBC source:

1. In Djamiliya there is no fighting; in an old city there are sporadic shootings.
2. In New Aleppo everything is quiet; Salyahdin is quiet in most regions;
3. Seifetdoulya. After a heroic revolutionary night attack on the post office, the town was cleared off terrorist groups a couple of days ago. 
4. Between Sikkari and Salyahdin there are groups of terrorists.
5. In Bustan Qasr terrorists burned down the police building.
6. Sahour, Hanano, Heydari are hot spots. Civilians left them three days ago.


----------



## Katzndogz

The US is determined to help Al Quaeda and the muslim brotherhood replace the Syrian government with a fundamentalist muslim theocracy.  Just as was done in Egypt and Libya.  

The arab states know that the US government is helping terrorists.
'Muslim Brothers plotting overthrow of Gul... JPost - Middle East

I would hope that Russia would do something to stop the US, militarily if not diplomatically.  

UAE Interior Ministry officials have not been available to comment on the arrests. Last week, UAE officials announced that authorities were investigating a foreign-linked group planning "crimes against the security of the state".

"I had no idea that there is this large number of Muslim Brotherhood in the Gulf states. We have to be alert and on guard because the wider these groups become, the higher probability there is for trouble," Khalfan said on Wednesday.

"We are aware that there are groups plotting to overthrow Gulf governments in the long term."


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia isn't going to do jack shit.


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. hasnt won the trust of Syrian rebels









> After the fighting, after the war, comes the "day after." In any conflict in which the United States is involved, the planning for the day after begins well before the guns stop firing. But a former ambassador who also served in a senior position at the CIA says the U.S. is failing in that mission.
> 
> Hank Crumpton, former Coordinator for Counterterrorism at the State Department, tells me he thinks the Department should be doing more right now to prepare for a post-Assad future in Syria.
> 
> Crumpton points to the Syrian opposition. "How do we understand them? How do we work with them?" he asks. "Because they are the future of Syria; because they represent the Syrian people. And that should be more of a diplomatic initiative than we've done to date."
> 
> This is, he agrees, first and foremost an intelligence issue: to find out who are these various non-state actors that make up the Syrian opposition. But Crumpton says that's just part of it. Building trust is key, he says, adding that "the best way to build trust is through shared risk."
> 
> "When you're on the battlefield and you're communicating from the country next door or from Washington, D.C. it's a big difference between being on the ground with these opposition forces. We saw this in Afghanistan, we saw this in Iraq. It is essential. And I don't think we're there yet."
> 
> "The U.S. is doing a good job working with Turkey, other allies in the region in a traditional nation-to-nation diplomatic approach. But when non-state actors are in the mix, we fall short," he says, "in understanding these non-state actors and then folding them into our strategic thinking and then into our policies."
> 
> When Crumpton looks at Syria he sees another example of the U.S. government's need to understand and project non-military, non-covert action.
> 
> "Look at Iraq. The rising violence in Iraq," he says. "We did a great job militarily before and after the surge but then what? Look at Libya, look at Mali, at the Horn of Africa. These are all examples of expeditionary environments in some cases that are dominated increasingly by non-state actors. How do we basically design the right policy and then project the non-military power after we've had some military success working with local partners? It's a big issue and we don't have the answer yet."
> 
> It's not just a question of diplomacy," Crumpton says.
> 
> "It's how do you understand and help those locals, those indigenous non-state actors, begin to build liberal institutions? It doesn't have to be a massive deal to build a nation-state. How do we help them to understand and project the rule of law? How do we bring basic health care, education, telecommunications?
> 
> "Afghanistan is a good example. Here we are more than 10 years after 9/11 and still today most villages in Afghanistan have no electricity. Yet you've got abundant solar energy, bio-mass, wind power. If we have the technologies, then why haven't we married that over the last 10 years? Basically we've failed."
> 
> Another crucial factor, Crumpton says, is the role of the U.S. ambassador and the State Department needs to re-think their role. The ambassador, he says "is not just an employee of the Department of State, not just the top diplomat, the ambassador is the president's representative overseas. And he is uniquely placed to bring together and orchestrate all these instruments of statecraft that are necessary in these conflict and post-conflict zones."
> 
> But Crumption says ambassadors are still selected in a "very archaic way," based on campaign contributions or their success in traditional diplomacy.
> 
> "Increasingly, there are different tasks, requirements and expectations being placed on these ambassadors."
> 
> "So I think we should look at how we select them, how we train them, how we provide the resources they need and right now they don't have those resources. Their discretionary spending is pathetic. And then how do we provide them the right incentives so they are, indeed, the president's representative and can take a greater leadership role.



U.S. hasn


----------



## High_Gravity

Defector: 'The battle for Damascus is coming'








> (CNN) -- Increasing violence in the Syrian capital is pointing toward a major fight ahead, a rebel spokesman told CNN Monday.
> 
> "The battle for Damascus is coming," said Abdulhameed Zakaria, a Syrian army colonel and doctor who defected and joined the opposition Free Syrian Army in Istanbul.
> 
> Video from the capital on Monday showed regime tanks in some streets and clashes with members of the opposition.
> 
> Video from activists in the central Damascus neighborhood of Medan showed people running and screaming amid loud sounds. It was unclear whether the blasts were gunshots or mortar fire.
> 
> Another video shows rebel fighters facing off against what appears to be a tank in the southern Damascus neighborhood of Tadamon, firing rifles, a heavy machine gun and a rocket-propelled grenade. They shoot at it repeatedly from behind a barricade down a rubble-strewn street, only to have a man tell them to stop wasting ammunition.
> 
> 'Syria has become a schizophrenic place' CNN cannot independently confirm the authenticity of the videos. Meanwhile, state-run TV showed a woman driving a car in Medan saying there was "nothing going on right now."
> 
> Asked about reports that there was shelling in Medan, she responded, "No, nothing is happening, thank God." But apparent gunfire could be heard in the background as she spoke.
> 
> With violence spreading throughout the country, the Red Cross announced that the conflict is a civil war throughout the country.
> 
> The declaration officially applies the Geneva Conventions to violence throughout the country. International humanitarian law now applies "wherever hostilities take place," the organization said Monday.
> 
> The Red Cross does not use the general term "civil war," and instead declares a "noninternational armed conflict." In April, the organization declared such a conflict in Homs, Hama and Idlib, but hostilities have spread enough that the conflict exists throughout the country, ICRC spokesman Sean Maguire said.
> 
> "Part of its legal mandate is to determine when international humanitarian law applies," Maguire told CNN. "We make a determination as to whether a conflict exists."
> 
> "In theory," he said, the Red Cross announcement could affect prosecutions by the International Criminal Court in the future. If a prosecuting authority is established for Syria, it could point to the announcement that the Geneva Conventions applied and to ways that they were violated. However, for the court to look at the situation in Syria, a referral from the U.N. Security Council would be required, Maguire noted.
> 
> At least 97 people were killed Monday, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria (LCC). There were 30 deaths in Hama, 21 in Homs, 13 in Aleppo, 11 in Damascus, eight in Daraa, seven in Deir Ezzor, four in the Damascus suburbs and three in Idlib, the LCC said.
> 
> Monday's fighting in Damascus follows what opposition activists called a massacre of more than 200 people in the town of Tremseh, near Hama, last week. But a top Syrian official disputed the death toll and the massacre allegation, telling reporters over the weekend that government troops were fighting armed opposition.
> 
> U.N. monitors reported Sunday that the attack appeared to target "army defectors and activists," citing accounts by more than two dozen villagers.
> 
> The monitors said Syrian forces began shelling the town on Thursday morning. Soldiers entered after the bombardment, conducting house-to-house searches and demanding identification from the men they found. "Numerous" people were then killed after their identification was checked, and some other men were taken from the village, the monitors said.
> 
> The monitors found more than 50 homes that had been burned or destroyed, with "pools of blood and brain matter" seen in several homes. The dead included a Free Syrian Army leader who was shot and doctor and his children who died when their home was struck by a mortar shell, the monitors said in a statement issued Sunday. However, the monitors said the number of dead and wounded in Tremseh remained unclear.
> 
> Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi told reporters Sunday that opposition fighters had used the village as a base for attacks on government forces. He said only 37 "gunmen" and two civilians were killed in the operation in Tremseh and that no heavy weapons or aircraft were used, according to comments carried by the state-run Syrian Arab News Agency.
> 
> U.N. sets deadline for Syria CNN cannot confirm details of reported violence because Syria has restricted access to the country by international journalists.
> 
> Amid the ongoing fighting, U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan headed to Moscow for talks with the Syrian government's leading ally. Annan met Monday with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and is set to hold talks on Tuesday with President Vladimir Putin, Annan spokesman Ahmed Fawzi told CNN.
> 
> No details of the talks were immediately available. But Lavrov complained Monday that Western diplomats are trying to "blackmail" Russia into signing onto a tough new U.N. Security Council resolution targeting Damascus. Britain has proposed new steps to press Syria's government to end the conflict under Chapter 7 of the U.N. Charter, which carries the threat of additional sanctions or even military force.



Defector: 'The battle for Damascus is coming' - CNN.com


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> The US is determined to help Al Quaeda and the muslim brotherhood replace the Syrian government with a fundamentalist muslim theocracy.  Just as was done in Egypt and Libya.
> 
> The arab states know that the US government is helping terrorists.
> 'Muslim Brothers plotting overthrow of Gul... JPost - Middle East
> 
> I would hope that Russia would do something to stop the US, militarily if not diplomatically.



Unfortunately, the battle for Syria was lost in Libya.

All Russia and China are now doing: 
1. delaying an attack on Iran and a following major humanitarian crisis throughout the ME, Central Asia and Caucasus;
2. helping Assad and the Syrian government to bleed the attackers into a compromise over future of what will be left of Syria...

The most terrible is that so many in the West do not realise that the next target after Syria/Iran will be Russia/China. And the outcome of THAT would be too horrible to contemplate...


----------



## mememe

Very interesting turn:

Former Syrian general Manaf Tlas would like to discuss with RUSSIA the prospects of overcoming a crisis in Syria. He is planning to lead the government after the ousting of Assad.

Turkey will help him to establish contacts with Moscow.


----------



## hortysir

> &#8220;I have been receiving as yet unconfirmed reports of atrocities,  including extra-judicial killings and shooting of civilians by snipers,  that took place during the recent fighting in various suburbs of  Damascus,&#8221; she said. &#8220;It goes without saying that the increasing use of  heavy weapons, tanks, attack helicopters and &#8211; reportedly &#8211; even jet  fighters in urban areas has already caused many civilian casualties and  is putting many more at grave risk.&#8221;
> 
> She noted that the consequences for civilians have been devastating,  with between one million and 1.5 million people reported to have fled  their homes, in addition to those killed and injured.


Syria: as violence escalates, UN human rights chief warns of consequences


----------



## mememe

hortysir said:


> I have been receiving as yet unconfirmed reports of atrocities,  including extra-judicial killings and shooting of civilians by snipers,  that took place during the recent fighting in various suburbs of  Damascus, she said. It goes without saying that the increasing use of  heavy weapons, tanks, attack helicopters and  reportedly  even jet  fighters in urban areas has already caused many civilian casualties and  is putting many more at grave risk.
> 
> She noted that the consequences for civilians have been devastating,  with between one million and 1.5 million people reported to have fled  their homes, in addition to those killed and injured.
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: as violence escalates, UN human rights chief warns of consequences
Click to expand...


Well, if "human rights" hypocrites are really concerned for civilians, why don't they petition US/civilisedcommunity demanding of them to stop arming, financing, training and sending gangs of mercenaries and terrorists to wage war in Syria? 
Where were "human rights" hypocrites when US/civilisedcommunity were slaughtering civilians in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Serbia?!


----------



## hortysir

mememe said:


> hortysir said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I have been receiving as yet unconfirmed reports of atrocities,  including extra-judicial killings and shooting of civilians by snipers,  that took place during the recent fighting in various suburbs of  Damascus, she said. It goes without saying that the increasing use of  heavy weapons, tanks, attack helicopters and  reportedly  even jet  fighters in urban areas has already caused many civilian casualties and  is putting many more at grave risk.
> 
> She noted that the consequences for civilians have been devastating,  with between one million and 1.5 million people reported to have fled  their homes, in addition to those killed and injured.
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: as violence escalates, UN human rights chief warns of consequences
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Well, if "human rights" hypocrites are really concerned for civilians, why don't they petition US/civilisedcommunity demanding of them to* stop arming,* financing, training and sending gangs of mercenaries and terrorists to wage war in Syria?
> Where were "human rights" hypocrites when US/civilisedcommunity were slaughtering civilians in Libya, Afghanistan, Iraq, Serbia?!
Click to expand...



See most recent small arms treaty


----------



## mememe

hortysir said:


> See most recent small arms treaty



No "treaty" can cover the fact that the "human rights" brigade is financed by the US State Department through various "funds"; and it peddles what it is paid for.


----------



## mememe

According to NOT Western media sources:

alongside Syrian regular army Kurds and Arab tribes (Bedouins) are now fighting against "freedom fighters" in Syria.

Assads wise position on Kurds is now paying off: "freedom fighters" have been expelled from some Kurds' controlled regions of Syria.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Lashes Out at Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey



> (BEIRUT)  The Syrian regime accused regional powerhouses Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey of trying to destroy the country and vowed Sunday that it would defeat rebels who have captured large swathes of the commercial hub Aleppo.
> 
> Military forces in Aleppo fired tank and artillery shells at neighborhoods as rebels tried to repel the government air and ground assault. According to activists, rebels who launched an operation to take over Syrias largest city a week ago are estimated to control between a third and a half of Aleppos neighborhoods.
> 
> Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem, on a visit to Iran, leveled some rare public criticism of Sunni powers in the Middle East, saying Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey are supporting a plot hatched by Israel to destroy Syria. The three countries have all been backing rebels trying to overthrow authoritarian President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Israel is the mastermind of all in this crisis, Moallem told a joint news conference in Tehran with his Iranian counterpart Ali Akbar Salehi . They (Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey) are fighting in the same front.
> 
> The battle for Aleppo, once a bastion of support for Assads regime, is critical for both the regime and the opposition. Its fall would be a major blow to Assad, giving the opposition a major strategic victory with a new stronghold in the north.
> 
> They mobilized all their armed terrorists and tried to capture Damascus in less than a week, Moallem said. They were defeated. Today, theyve gone to Aleppo and definitely they will be defeated in Aleppo, he added. The rebels mounted a challenge to the regime in Damascus before the assault on Aleppo, but after a week of intense clashes, they were defeated.
> 
> Iran, Syrias only remaining ally in the Middle East, has provided Assads government with military and political backing for years, and has kept up its strong support for the regime since the uprising began in March 2011.
> 
> Sundays bombardment was part of a government counter-offensive to retake control of districts that had fallen into rebel hands last week at the beginning of their bid to capture Aleppo.
> 
> Activists said the shelling was most intense in the southwestern neighborhoods of Salaheddine, Bustan al-Qasr and parts of Saif al-Dawla, some of the first areas seized by the rebels when they started the push last week after being routed in a similar attack against the capital Damascus.
> 
> Life in Aleppo has become unbearable. Im in my car and Im leaving right now, said a Syrian opposition writer who was fleeing the city Sunday. Theres shelling night and day, every day, he said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.
> 
> The writer and other activists from Aleppo said economic conditions had become dire in the city.
> 
> Bread, gasoline and gas are being sold on the black market at very high prices, he said. Many things are in shortage.




Read more: Syria Lashes Out at Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian rebels seize military base outside Aleppo








> Northern Syria (CNN) -- Rebels captured a government military base Monday on the outskirts of Aleppo, the hotly contested Syrian metropolis that has seen more than a week of bloody clashes.
> 
> The base had about 200 Syrian troops and appeared to be under attack by rebels from three sides overnight.
> 
> "The battle lasted around nine hours," said Fazad Abdel Nasr, a rebel commander working in the northern Aleppo suburbs. Nasr said six regime soldiers and four rebel fighters were killed.
> 
> The rebels also gained heavy equipment to supplement the lesser weapons they had been fighting with.
> 
> "We captured four tanks in good condition, and they are now in the hands of the Free Syrian Army. Two were destroyed," Nasr added.
> 
> Despite the boost for the rebels, the relentless battle for Syria's largest city raged on Monday.
> 
> Al Jazeera correspondent Omar Khashram was wounded during heavy fighting in a central Aleppo neighborhood. A cameraman and driver working with Khashram, who was being treated in a hospital in Turkey, told CNN that shrapnel from a shell penetrated gaps in the correspondent's flak jacket in Aleppo's Salahuddin neighborhood.
> 
> U.N. observers have reported a surge in violence in Aleppo, with helicopters, tanks and artillery being used, mission head Lt. Gen. Babacar Gaye said Monday.
> 
> Regime forces launched missiles and shelled from attack helicopters, opposition activists said.
> 
> Aleppo, Syria's commercial and cultural hub, has seen a mass exodus amid the violence. About 200,000 people in and around the city have fled shelling and heavy weapon fire in the past two days, Valerie Amos, the U.N.'s under-secretary-general for humanitarian affairs, said Sunday.
> 
> There were conflicting reports Monday on who controlled the major Aleppo neighborhood of Salahuddin, which rebels had claimed days earlier. Both opposition fighters and the regime said Monday they had taken over Salahuddin.
> 
> At least 17 people were killed across Syria on Monday, including eight in Aleppo, according to the opposition Local Coordination Committees of Syria.
> 
> With no end to the country's 16-month crisis in sight, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said his country will take more action to try to stop the bloodshed.
> 
> "As France is taking over the presidency of the U.N. Security Council on August 1, we are going to ask -- before the end of the week -- for a meeting of the Security Council, probably at a ministerial level ... to try and stop the massacres and prepare for the political transition," Fabius told French RTL radio on Monday.



Syrian rebels seize military base outside Aleppo - CNN.com


----------



## Katzndogz

The only hope of ending the civil war and restoring some kind of peace  has to come from Russia.  I hope they act.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> The only hope of ending the civil war and restoring some kind of peace  has to come from Russia.  I hope they act.



What do you want them to do?


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> The only hope of ending the civil war and restoring some kind of peace  has to come from Russia.  I hope they act.



They do. But the battle for Syria was lost in Libya, when Russia had Medvedev (and standing behind him pro-US elites) as president.

The situation is as follows:
1. Syrian government is making a good progress in fighting off what is effectively a foreign intervention.
2. The US is reluctant to get stuck in Syria BEFORE the elections because Syria already proved it is going to be even tougher then Libya; and no politician wants to go to elections with a fresh protracted war on his hands; but it became a matter of "saving face" to get rid of Assad at the very least. Therefore:
3. US/"civilised community" will not leave Syria alone for as long as Assad is at the head of the state. That much is understood by the ruling Syrian clans.
4. On the other hand, Syrian ruling clans are not ecstatic at a prospect of surrendering (or sharing) their power and wealth with some foreign nonentities who present themselves as "Syrian opposition".
5. In light of this, compromise has to be found.
6. This compromise is more likely to be one of Tlass clan who will assume a place of Assad, but will not disturb much the internal Syrian equilibrium. 
7. According to US plans, Turkey was suppose to spearhead an invasion of Syria. But a wise position of Assad regarding Kurds, put Turkey in a very delicate position where it became vulnerable to a territorial loss and increased internal unrest that has a potential of sending a country into a chaos of a coloured revolution/"Turkey Autumn". Under the circumstances, Turkish government scaled down its participation in US adventure in Syria and run to Moscow for negotiations.
8. Two days ago a member of Tlass clan more likely to take up Assad's position, also indicated a possibility of negotiating the outcome of Syrian situation with Moscow with the aid of Turkey.

But, right now, Assad is doing rather well in fighting off international gangs of "freedom fighters", so his card has not been trumped yet.


----------



## mememe

Fresh from Aleppo:

Aleppo businessmen are taking upon themselves to restore and clean up the damaged parts of the city but are asking Syrian Army to finish off clearing Aleppo from "freedom fighters" without mercy, and restored peace and order...


----------



## ERGO

*US Treasury Confirms that Al Qaeda Runs Syrian "Rebellion"*


*US fails to sell militants in Syria as "freedom fighters," tells truth for pretext to liquidate monsters of their own creation. 
*
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) in its article, "Al Qaeda's War for Syria," cited officials from the US Treasury Department stating, "Al Qaeda in Syria (often operating as the "Al Nusra Front for the People of the Levant") is using traffickers&#8212;some ideologically aligned, some motivated by money&#8212;to secure routes through Turkey and Iraq for foreign fighters, most of whom are from the Middle East and North Africa. A growing number of donors from the Persian Gulf and Levant appear to be sending financial support."

Seth Jones: Al Qaeda's War for Syria - WSJ.com





Photo: The "Free Syrian Army," whose composition consists of not only Syrian sectarian extremists, but Libyan terrorists from the US State Department listed "Libyan Islamic Fighting Group" led by Abdul Hakim Belhaj, is the manifestation of years of US, Saudi, and Israeli aid since at least 2007. 

This undercuts the West's year and a half-long narrative that Syria's violence was the result of a so-called "uprising" by the people of Syria. While the WJS attempts to downplay this admission by claiming, "al Qaeda makes up a small part of the resistance movement," it concedes that, "its strength appears to be rising." In reality, it was Al Qaeda militants from the very beginning, and the only aspect of the conflict "rising" is public awareness of this fact.

Since 2007, US Aided and Abetted Al Qaeda Affiliates Against Syria 

As early as 2007, veteran journalist Seymour Hersh wrote in his New Yorker article "The Redirection," that:

    "To undermine Iran, which is predominantly Shiite, the Bush Administration has decided, in effect, to reconfigure its priorities in the Middle East. In Lebanon, the Administration has coöperated with Saudi Arabia&#8217;s government, which is Sunni, in clandestine operations that are intended to weaken Hezbollah, the Shiite organization that is backed by Iran. The U.S. has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda." -The Redirection, Seymour Hersh (2007)  

Hersh's report would also include: 

    "the Saudi government, with Washington&#8217;s approval, would provide funds and logistical aid to weaken the government of President Bashir Assad, of Syria. The Israelis believe that putting such pressure on the Assad government will make it more conciliatory and open to negotiations." -The Redirection, Seymour Hersh (2007)

The 2007 article also warned about the inevitable consequences of arming radical sectarian extremists, with CIA operators in Lebanon warning of mass murder, sectarian violence, and specifically the targeting of Christian minorities across the Levant (the region along the Mediterranean Sea including Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, and Syria):

    "Robert Baer, a former longtime C.I.A. agent in Lebanon, has been a severe critic of Hezbollah and has warned of its links to Iranian-sponsored terrorism. But now, he told me, &#8220;we&#8217;ve got Sunni Arabs preparing for cataclysmic conflict, and we will need somebody to protect the Christians in Lebanon. It used to be the French and the United States who would do it, and now it&#8217;s going to be Nasrallah and the Shiites" -The Redirection, Seymour Hersh (2007)

Now, demonstratively, we see exactly this feared onslaught manifesting itself in Syria, in particular against Christians as indicated in LA Times' "Church fears 'ethnic cleansing' of Christians in Homs, Syria," and more recently in USA Today's distorted, but still telling, "Christians in Syria live in uneasy alliance with Assad, Alawites." Even the massacre in Houla, seems to echo of this 2007 warning, bearing all the hallmarks of sectarian extremists like Al Qaeda. 

Not only did the United States government, with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Israel's aid, knowingly assemble a sectarian extremist front affiliated with Al Qaeda, not from within Syria, but from beyond its borders, it knew well in advance the destructive consequences such a foreign policy would yield.

The US government has since willfully lied to the both the American people and the world regarding the true nature of the violence unfolding in Syria, and with the help of the corporate-media, is attempting to spin the forewarned consequences of their long-planned conspiracy as merely an unfortunate by-product of a spontaneous conflict.
Annals of National Security: The Redirection : The New Yorker

*A Foreign Invasion, not a Rebellion*

The WSJ's article begins with the sentence, "the United States and its allies should consider opening a second front in the Syrian war. In addition to helping end Bashar Assad's rule, there is a growing need to conduct a covert campaign against al Qaeda and other extremist groups gaining a presence in the country."

In essence, we are being told that the militant extremists the US assembled against Syria have failed to overthrow the government, so the US should intervene on the pretext of liquidating the very terrorists they conspired to send, funded and armed, and have been supporting since the very beginning. 

The very logistical "routes" through Turkey the WSJ claims Al Qaeda is using to flood into Syria with militants and weapons, are admittedly organized by the US through its CIA intelligence apparatus. The New York Times article, "C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition," states clearly that:

    A small number of C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers. 

The NYT continues:

    The weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria&#8217;s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said. 
*C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition *
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all

Likewise, in the Washington Post's article, "Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors&#8217; money, U.S. coordination," it is reported:
Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors&rsquo; money, U.S. coordination - The Washington Post


    Syrian rebels battling the regime of President Bashar al-Assad have begun receiving significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks, an effort paid for by Persian Gulf nations and coordinated in part by the United States, according to opposition activists and U.S. and foreign officials.

We are now expected to forget these admissions, or believe that Al Qaeda is slipping past CIA officers "operating secretly in southern Turkey," and that only by coincidence they are armed with the very weapons and resources the US, Saudis, and Qataris have pledged to supply the so-called "Free Syrian Army" with.  Turkey, it should be remembered, is a NATO member - that Al Qaeda is swarming within and along its borders belies 10 years of "War on Terror" mythology.

The "Free Syrian Army" does include sectarian extremists from within Syria, mostly drawn from the banned, sectarian Muslim Brotherhood movement which has sought to destroy secular society across the Arab World for decades. But the vast majority of the fighters flowing into Aleppo in the north, and who had recently attempted to overrun Damascus in the south, are foreign fighters, armed by foreign sponsors, invading and conducting armed attacks on populated Syrian cities.

source link: US Treasury Confirms that Al Qaeda Runs Syrian "Rebellion"

* 'Panetta has blood on his hands for supporting Syria rebels' *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=5ERT9gULiC8


----------



## mememe

... when will we be treated to "civilised" media-whores admitting NATO was fighting alongside Al-Q in Libya?..


----------



## mememe

From Aleppo:

New-Town is relatively quiet;
in Salakh-al-Din Syrian Army is conducting "cleansing" operations smoking out the remnants of the terrorist gangs;
in the East of the city, terrorists still have control and are making attempts to get to the centre;
in the North terrorist gangs are trying to break a blockade to get across the Turkish border;

A bit of a mystery appeared outside of the city (between Aleppo and Turkey) in a form of a group of "freedom fighters"; it's not yet known how numerous it is, and there is a strong suspicion that it may be Turkish regular military masquerading as "freedom fighters". They have tanks and infantry combat vehicles.


----------



## mememe

How news are made:
Le Journal du Siecle:
Bloggers caught Austrian leading newspaper Die Kronen Zeitung in using photo-shop to spice-up their report from Syria on the 28 of July. (first picture)

The original photo was found in the photo archives of EPA dated 26 of July (second picture)


----------



## High_Gravity

Leon Panetta, U.S. Defense Chief, Says Syria Military Must Remain Intact When Bashar al-Assad Is Ousted 








> WASHINGTON, July 30 (Reuters) - Government forces in Syria should be held together when President Bashar al-Assad is forced from power, the U.S. defense secretary said on Monday, warning that the mistakes of the Iraq war must not be repeated.
> 
> Defense Secretary Leon Panetta, in an interview with CNN during a visit to Tunisia, said maintaining stability in Syria would be important under any scenario that sees Assad leave power.
> 
> "I think it's important when Assad leaves, and he will leave, to try to preserve stability in that country," Panetta said.
> 
> 
> "The best way to preserve that kind of stability is to maintain as much of the military and police as you can, along with security forces, and hope that they will transition to a democratic form of government. That's the key."
> 
> The Bush administration's decision to disband Iraqi security forces, made shortly after the U.S.-led invasion in 2003, was an important catalyst for the bloody civil war that followed.
> 
> Critics said that decision, made by senior Pentagon officials and announced by the head of the U.S. occupation authority at the time, Paul Bremer, set loose tens of thousands of armed, disaffected young men.
> 
> Asked whether security forces should remain intact in a post-Assad Syria, or whether they should be disbanded as they were in Iraq, Panetta said it was "very important that we don't make the same mistakes we made in Iraq."
> 
> Clashes rage between rebel fighters and government forces in Syria as the country's divided opposition seeks to oust Assad in a 16-month-old revolt that shows no signs of nearing a conclusion.
> 
> Government forces have been pounding rebels with tanks and air strikes, and last week Damascus threatened to use chemical weapons if foreign countries intervened in the conflict.
> 
> The Obama administration has said it is stepping up assistance to Syrian opposition members, although the support has remained limited to non-lethal equipment.
> 
> There are concerns, however, about what might follow Assad in a strategically positioned country rife with religious and ethnic tensions.



Leon Panetta, U.S. Defense Chief, Says Syria Military Must Remain Intact When Bashar al-Assad Is Ousted


----------



## mememe

Russian, Chinese and (allegedly) Iranian transports and warships are heading for Syria...

Israelis are suggesting US and Turkey are planning a "limited intervention" into Syria with a view of creating a buffer zone that can be used for terrorist groups. If that is so, Erdogan is more stupid then he looks...


----------



## mememe

A true face of supported by US/"civilised community" terrorist gangs in Syria

» -


----------



## High_Gravity

Libya rebels move onto Syrian battlefield








> Tripoli, Libya (CNN) -- Their war for freedom in Libya may be over, but almost a year after they won the battle for the Libyan capital, a group of fighters have a new battlefield: Syria.
> 
> Under the command of one of Libya's most well known rebel commanders, Al-Mahdi al-Harati, more than 30 Libyan fighters have made their way into Syria to support the Free Syrian Army rebels in their war against President Bashar al-Assad's regime.
> 
> Al-Harati, who commanded the Tripoli Revolutionary brigade -- which was the first group of rebels to enter the Libyan capital last August -- has been in Syria for months leading some of his former men and Syrian military defectors who have joined his "Liwaa al-Umma" or "The Banner of the Nation" brigade.
> 
> Recent YouTube videos show at least two different Syrian rebel factions announcing that they are part of the Liwa al-Umma.
> 
> Al-Harati, who has dual Libyan and Irish citizenship, first visited Syria last year on what he calls a "fact finding mission" to see the situation on the ground and find out what Syrian rebels needed.
> 
> "After many Syrians approached me asking for my help, I felt it was time to do more and due to the great success of the Tripoli Brigade we felt it was time to act and that meant the formation of the Banner of the Nation," Al-Harati told CNN in Skype messages this week.
> 
> Al-Harati said: "With the prior success in Libya I decided to leave nationality aside and, just like world organizations helped Libya in its time of need, I decided to pass my experience to others to benefit."
> 
> In the past week, at least three more former members of the Tripoli Revolutionary Brigade traveled from the Libyan capital to join their former commander in Syria, two former members of the TRB says.
> 
> Al-Harati, who describes himself as a "commander and facilitator" says there were no active efforts to recruit Libyans.
> 
> "These are grown men with their own minds and do not need convincing about this cause," Al-Harati said.



Libya rebels move onto Syrian battlefield - CNN.com


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Libya rebels move onto Syrian battlefield



You don't say! And what other *year-old "news"* have you got in stall for us?!


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Libya rebels move onto Syrian battlefield
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You don't say! And what other *year-old "news"* have you got in stall for us?!
Click to expand...


How about you go fuck yourself faggot?


----------



## Katzndogz

There is little doubt that the US is actively aiding Al Quaeda in Syria just as the US aided Al Quaeda in Libya and in Egypt.

We have officially become the bad guys.


----------



## mememe

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...z4GIAQ&usg=AFQjCNGHBOz5TEDRBtMidoiaYjCdKWZlJw


----------



## High_Gravity

Tens of Thousands Flee Syrias Largest City








> (BUKULMEZ, Turkey)  Smoking a cigarette outside a Turkish hospital near the Syrian border, a man in a gray gown and flip-flops held his sleeping 2-year-old daughter, Aya. On Ayas right eye was a bandage. In her left hand was a chocolate bar.
> 
> Aya lost her eye when she was struck by shrapnel from a shell that also killed her 8-month-old brother, Mohammad, and their mother. The father and daughter were among some 200,000 people who the U.N. said late Sunday have fled Syrias largest city, Aleppo, during days of clashes between rebels and the military.
> 
> Aleppo residents, some severely wounded, are packing up belongings and loading them onto cars, trucks and even motorcycles to seek temporary shelter in rural villages and schools outside the city and dusty tents across the border in Turkey.
> 
> In interviews with The Associated Press, refugees described a city besieged by government troops and beset by incessant shelling. Food supplies and gasoline are running low and black market prices for everyday staples are soaring.
> 
> As the violence intensified, the countrys most senior diplomat in London defected. Charge daffaires Khaled al-Ayoubi is the latest in a string of high-profile diplomats to abandon President Bashar Assads regime over a crackdown that, according to rights activists, has killed more than 19,000 people since March 2011.
> 
> The battle for Aleppo, a city of 3 million that was once a bastion of support for Assad, is critical for both the regime and the opposition. Its fall would give the opposition a major strategic victory with a stronghold in the north. A rebel defeat, at the very least, would buy Assad more time.
> 
> Activists said regime forces were shelling rebel-held districts of the city and a cluster of surrounding villages relentlessly on Monday, sending entire families and panicked residents fleeing. Many went to Turkey, some 30 miles (50 kilometers) away, where tens of thousands of Syrians have already found refuge during the uprising.
> 
> Reem, a woman in her 30s who fled Aleppos rebel-held district of Saif al-Dawleh, was among those who showed up in Turkey on Monday.
> 
> The situation in Aleppo is dreadful, she told the AP soon after arriving at the Bukulmez illegal border crossing, where she was greeted by Turkish soldiers.
> 
> Had it been merely bearable I wouldnt have left my home, she said.



Read more: Tens of Thousands Flee Syria&#8217;s Largest City | World | TIME.com


----------



## Katzndogz

Did you get the part about the fake movie being made in "Philiadelphia, Nevada"?


----------



## Katzndogz

I wouldn't put too much stock in senior diplomats defecting.   Syria has thousands of diplomats throughout the world.  Less than 1% have "defected".


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> I wouldn't put too much stock in senior diplomats defecting.   Syria has thousands of diplomats throughout the world.  Less than 1% have "defected".



I wouldn't say that Assad has the situation under control either.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> I wouldn't put too much stock in senior diplomats defecting.   Syria has thousands of diplomats throughout the world.  Less than 1% have "defected".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I wouldn't say that Assad has the situation under control either.
Click to expand...


If the US wasn't supporting terrorists from other countries, it would have been over with by now.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> I wouldn't put too much stock in senior diplomats defecting.   Syria has thousands of diplomats throughout the world.  Less than 1% have "defected".
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I wouldn't say that Assad has the situation under control either.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> If the US wasn't supporting terrorists from other countries, it would have been over with by now.
Click to expand...


Hard to say, don't forget the weapons, training and aid coming to the rebels from Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Libya. If we were giving the rebels any real support Assads body would have been swinging from a light pole in Damascus months ago.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I wouldn't say that Assad has the situation under control either.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If the US wasn't supporting terrorists from other countries, it would have been over with by now.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Hard to say, don't forget the weapons, training and aid coming to the rebels from Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Libya. If we were giving the rebels any real support Assads body would have been swinging from a light pole in Damascus months ago.
Click to expand...


Turkey, Qatar and Libya are supporting Al Quaeda but using American money.    Don't make the mistake of thinking that Saudi Arabia wants a taliban on their doorstep.  They already see which way that wind is blowing.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> If the US wasn't supporting terrorists from other countries, it would have been over with by now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hard to say, don't forget the weapons, training and aid coming to the rebels from Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Libya. If we were giving the rebels any real support Assads body would have been swinging from a light pole in Damascus months ago.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Turkey, Qatar and Libya are supporting Al Quaeda but using American money.    Don't make the mistake of thinking that Saudi Arabia wants a taliban on their doorstep.  They already see which way that wind is blowing.
Click to expand...


Syria is majority Sunni, Saudi Arabia would like nothing better than a Sunni government in Syria.


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> I wouldn't put too much stock in senior diplomats defecting.   Syria has thousands of diplomats throughout the world.  Less than 1% have "defected".


Most of those who defected and were presented by Western media as "senior diplomats" are actually minor figures of diplomatic missions.

The only serious figures who now oppose Assad are Tlass clan.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I wouldn't say that Assad has the situation under control either.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If the US wasn't supporting terrorists from other countries, it would have been over with by now.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Hard to say, don't forget the weapons, training and aid coming to the rebels from Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Libya. If we were giving the rebels any real support Assads body would have been swinging from a light pole in Damascus months ago.
Click to expand...


1. Without US none of the countries mentioned by you would've done a thing. US stands behind war on Syria, as it stood behind war in Libya.

2. US can not openly go into Syria as it did in Yugoslavia, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq or even Libya for a few reasons: coming elections need a report about decisive victory,and Syria is not an easy target; it looks like Russia and China realised they will be next and muddle US plans; people are getting a bit tired of the same scenario of US "humanitarian" invasions; another war without immediate dividends felt by the general populations of the countries-aggressors in a climate of deepening economic crisis will be very unpopular; US Middle Eastern allies are on a verge of their own "spring" of sorts and SA is aware it was penciled down for partitioning by US and Israel as far back as 2006; etc.

Under the circumstances, US took course on bleeding Syria by constant attacks by international terrorist groups trained and directed by US, UK, Turkey (I don't know about involvement of Israeli "instructors"); these attacks produce a feeling of instability which exacerbates delicate balance of numerous ethnic and religious groups within Syria, at some point US hopes to turn it into a civil war; EU sanctions do not help economic climate making life of ORDINARY Syrians difficult -- again, US hopes to get economic situation to a point when people will turn against their government...


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> Turkey, Qatar and Libya are supporting Al Quaeda but using American money.    .



Actually, most financing comes from Qatar. US is conducting the whole thing...


----------



## mememe

Even BBC no longer can conceal the actions of "freedom fighters" in Syria:

BBC Russian - ? ???? - ?????: ????????? ???????? ????????? ????? ? ??????

opposition conducts public executions of CIVILIANS in Aleppo


----------



## RoccoR

Katzndogz, _et al,_

Who says this?



Katzndogz said:


> There is little doubt that the US is actively aiding Al Quaeda in Syria just as the US aided Al Quaeda in Libya and in Egypt.
> 
> We have officially become the bad guys.


*(COMMENT)*

The US, along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are openly providing monetary and/or material support to Syrian anti-Government rebels.  But, while al-Qaeda wants to play a role in the liberation of Syria, the loose knit coalition of US/SA/TR/QA with the Syrian Rebels be put at grave risk if al-Qaeda was involved in any way.  

The US, most certainly, would not establish such a link.

What could possibly make you think this?

Most Respectfully,
R


----------



## mememe

RoccoR said:


> Katzndogz, _et al,_
> 
> Who says this?
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> There is little doubt that the US is actively aiding Al Quaeda in Syria just as the US aided Al Quaeda in Libya and in Egypt.
> 
> We have officially become the bad guys.
> 
> 
> 
> *(COMMENT)*
> 
> The US, along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are openly providing monetary and/or material support to Syrian anti-Government rebels.  But, while al-Qaeda wants to play a role in the liberation of Syria, the loose knit coalition of US/SA/TR/QA with the Syrian Rebels be put at grave risk if al-Qaeda was involved in any way.
> 
> The US, most certainly, would not establish such a link.
> 
> What could possibly make you think this?
> 
> Most Respectfully,
> R
Click to expand...


"Al-Q" begun as a figment of CIA imagination. Over the decades the most radical Islamists were refered to as "Al-Q" in the West. Even now, Al-Q is not a solid organisation with one center, etc. -- it's a reference to loosely connected extreme Islamic movements. 

US was supporting such extremists since it realised it can use their destructive power to create what is known as "managed chaos" in target countries allowing US to move in or simply "catch fish in murky waters"...

Close to our time: US not only supported Kosovo Liberation Army (a terrorist organisation even by US book!), US also provided passage for Taliban and Arab Al-Q to Balkans to fight Serbia;
US supports (still!) Islamic terrorists in Northern Caucasus (Western media usualy refers to them as "Chechens"), they had direct contact with Arabic Al-Q and OBL;
US/NATO fought alongside Al-Q in Libya;
and now, among supported, armed, trained, financed, directed by the US Syrian "freedom fighters" are not only Al-Q militants, but many of them came from controlled and supported by the US "democratic" Libya!


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Rebels Wield Heavy Weapons in Attack on Airport









> BEIRUT, Lebanon  Syrias rebels shelled an airport near Aleppo on Thursday in what was described as one of the first known instances of insurgents using captured heavy weapons, as opposition activists warned that fighting for the city, the countrys main commercial center, would likely intensify.
> 
> A Syrian activist said President Bashar al-Assads army appeared to be preparing for an all-out assault.
> 
> We have seen military reinforcements making their way to Aleppo, said Abou Firas, an activist in Aleppo using a satellite Internet connection because telephone and Internet service from the city was cut off. We were worried about massacres but now we are issuing a warning about a war of extermination to be launched by the regime.
> 
> The news about the government reinforcements could not be independently confirmed because of restrictions on reporters. It came after the battle for Aleppo intensified on Wednesday when United Nations observers there reported that Syrian jets had fired rockets into contested neighborhoods and that rebels had commandeered tanks and other heavy weapons.
> 
> The opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in Britain, said the rebels had put the captured armor to use, shelling a military airport near Aleppo.
> 
> A video forwarded by Mr. Firas, purportedly from a highway between Aleppo and the coast, showed a convoy of nearly a dozen tanks, gas tankers, and several pick-up trucks carrying armed soldiers.
> 
> It was not clear when the video was shot, but before earlier ground assaults, the Syrian government has cut off communication in what appears to be an effort to keep rebels -- who have become extremely savvy with YouTube videos and Skype -- from broadcasting the armys attacks.
> 
> By Thursday afternoon in Syria, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the Internet was coming back online gradually. Clashes continued, especially in the southwest of Aleppo, where rebels and Syrian troops have been engaged in a bitter battle for control.
> 
> Some reports from Turkey also suggested that government forces were trying to cut rebel supply lines, with fighting raging in a rebel-held town near the Turkish border.
> 
> On Wednesday, hours after President Assad urged his forces to step up the fight, opposition leaders said they had found dozens of bodies in a suburb of Damascus in the aftermath of the Syrian Armys house-to-house search for rebel fighters and activists. This claim of a new massacre came as the rebels faced severe criticism themselves for what appeared to be their brutal summary execution, one day earlier, of suspected pro-government gunmen on the streets of Aleppo, recorded and uploaded on the Internet.
> 
> Videos purported to have been taken in the Damascus suburb, Jdeidet Artouz, showed bodies lined up under bloodstained sheets, as a narrator gave an estimated count that continued rising: 37, 42, and then even more.
> 
> I counted 52 bodies, said Abu Abdullah, a resident who said he had helped move the dead to a local mosque before burial. Im really shocked. Why here?
> 
> The bodies were found near an area where rebels said fighting had flared in the past week. But analysts said the bodies appearing outside Damascus in a town also filled with refugees  along with reports of renewed fighting in the capital and an escalation of combat in Aleppo, Syrias largest metropolis and commercial center  all suggested that the 17-month-old conflict was becoming increasingly intense and bitter, with more front lines and more bloodshed.
> 
> Its a rapid escalation, said Andrew J. Tabler, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Once you start using fixed-wing aircraft and you have a city under full revolt, its clear that the Assad regime is not going to stop and is not breaking. Were entering a new phase of this conflict.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/03/w...tensifies-in-battle-for-aleppo.html?ref=world


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> If the US wasn't supporting terrorists from other countries, it would have been over with by now.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hard to say, don't forget the weapons, training and aid coming to the rebels from Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Libya. If we were giving the rebels any real support Assads body would have been swinging from a light pole in Damascus months ago.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 1. Without US none of the countries mentioned by you would've done a thing. US stands behind war on Syria, as it stood behind war in Libya.
> 
> 2. US can not openly go into Syria as it did in Yugoslavia, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq or even Libya for a few reasons: coming elections need a report about decisive victory,and Syria is not an easy target; it looks like Russia and China realised they will be next and muddle US plans; people are getting a bit tired of the same scenario of US "humanitarian" invasions; another war without immediate dividends felt by the general populations of the countries-aggressors in a climate of deepening economic crisis will be very unpopular; US Middle Eastern allies are on a verge of their own "spring" of sorts and SA is aware it was penciled down for partitioning by US and Israel as far back as 2006; etc.
> 
> Under the circumstances, US took course on bleeding Syria by constant attacks by international terrorist groups trained and directed by US, UK, Turkey (I don't know about involvement of Israeli "instructors"); these attacks produce a feeling of instability which exacerbates delicate balance of numerous ethnic and religious groups within Syria, at some point US hopes to turn it into a civil war; EU sanctions do not help economic climate making life of ORDINARY Syrians difficult -- again, US hopes to get economic situation to a point when people will turn against their government...
Click to expand...


If all what you are saying is true the United States is truly the most powerful country in the world.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> If all what you are saying is true the United States is truly the most powerful country in the world.



Yes, it is. Only four countries are currently outside of the US empire and thus are independent from US.


----------



## High_Gravity

Kofi Annan Leaving Post As Special Envoy To Syria








> GENEVA - Kofi Annan said Thursday he will quit his high-profile role as special envoy to Syria at the end of the month, delivering blistering criticism of world powers' failure to unite to stop the country's escalating violence.
> 
> Annan told reporters that when he accepted the job, "which some called 'Mission Impossible'"  he wanted to help the international community, led by the U.N. Security Council, find a peaceful solution to the crisis. The goal was to stop the killings of civilians and human rights abuses, as well as to place Syria on a path toward political transition.
> 
> "The severity of the humanitarian costs of the conflict, and the exceptional threats posed by this crisis to international peace and security, justified the attempts to secure a peaceful transition to a political settlement, however daunting the challenge," Annan said.
> 
> But the former U.N. secretary-general told reporters that he cannot go on when the New York-based, 15-nation Security Council doesn't back his role, particularly because of the standoff between its five veto-wielding members: Russia and China on one side, the United States, Britain and France on the other.
> 
> "Things fell apart in New York," he summed up. "The increasing militarization on the ground (in Syria) and the clear lack of unity in the Security Council have fundamentally changed the circumstances for the effective exercise of my role."
> 
> Annan was named the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria in February, overseeing a small staff in a secretive office in the sprawling Palais des Nations, the U.N.'s European headquarters in Geneva. He came up with a six-point peace plan to resolve the crisis in the Arab state, including a cease-fire that was supposed to take effect in mid-April.
> 
> But, despite the presence of hundreds of U.N. observers on the ground, the cease-fire never took hold and the violence in Syria has morphed into a civil war. Rights activists say that more than 19,000 people have died since the popular uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in March 2011.
> 
> "The bloodshed continues, most of all because of the Syrian government's intransigence, and continuing refusal to implement the six-point plan, and also because of the escalating military campaign of the opposition  all of which is compounded by the disunity of the international community," Annan told reporters in Geneva.
> 
> "At a time when we need  when the Syrian people desperately need action  there continues to be finger-pointing and name-calling in the Security Council."



Kofi Annan Leaving Post As Special Envoy To Syria


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Conflict: Mortars HIt Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, At Least 21 








> BEIRUT  Mortars rained down on a crowded marketplace in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, killing 21 people as regime forces and rebels clashed on the southern outskirts of Damascus, activists said Friday.
> 
> The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, which reported the deaths, said the shells hit Yarmouk camp Thursday as shoppers were buying food for the evening meal. The activists with the group would not speculate on who was firing.
> 
> "We don't know where the mortars came from, whether they were from the Syrian regime or not the Syrian regime," said Rami Abdul Rahman, director of the Observatory. He added they could also have been strays from the fighting in nearby Tadamon neighborhood.
> 
> The state news agency blamed the bombardment on "terrorist mercenaries"  a term the government uses for rebel fighters  and said they had been chased away by security forces.
> 
> An online video of the immediate aftermath of the Yarmouk attack showed bleeding and burnt bodies with people rushing about amid the smoke and the sounds of screaming.
> 
> Government troops, however, have in the past attacked the camp, home to nearly 150,000 Palestinians and their descendants driven from their homes by the war surrounding Israel's 1948 creation. Palestinian refugees in Syria have tried to stay out of the 17-month old uprising but with Yarmouk nestled among neighborhoods sympathetic to the rebels, its residents were eventually drawn into the fighting.
> 
> Yarmouk's younger inhabitants have also been moved by the Arab Spring's calls for greater freedoms and have joined protests against President Bashar Assad's regime_ and have died during demonstrations when Syrian troops fired on them.
> 
> Just before the Thursday evening mortar attack, camp residents had demonstrated against the government, chanting slogans against Assad and praising the opposition Free Syrian Army, according to online videos. The content of the videos could not be independently verified.
> 
> With the civil war in Syria getting increasingly vicious, chances for a diplomatic solution to the conflict were fading after the resignation Thursday of Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria. Annan cited divisions within the Security Council preventing a united approach to stop the fighting.
> 
> Syria's ally Iran, blamed the U.S. and its allies for Annan's resignation, saying it was their insistence on Assad's removal from power that had undermined the six point U.N. peace plan, which was never implemented.



Syria Conflict: Mortars HIt Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, At Least 21


----------



## High_Gravity

Why the U.S. Isnt Arming Syrias Opposition  Yet








> If there was a sliding scale for American involvement in foreign conflicts, after 16 months of violence in Syria, the U.S. might just have reached the quarter mark between zero involvement and full-fledged war. Were moving at some sort of glacial pace towards armed intervention, says Jeff White, a former director of the Defense Intelligence Agency whos currently a fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. First, you go in and assess the people you might want to work with It seems to me that weve gotten through the assessing process and we kind of know who we want to work with but in terms of providing lethal assistance, were not there yet.
> 
> Up until this point the only thing the U.S. has owned up to is providing humanitarian assistance and communications equipment. But a report from Reuters Mark Hosenball this week revealed that President Obama signed a secret order authorizing intelligence and covert support to groups seeking to oust Syrian strongman Bashar Assad. That so-called finding was only approved within the last month, sources say, and does not include lethal support. In other words, the U.S. wont be sending in Seal Team Six to take down Assad any time soon, but it is training certain groups to handle and gather intelligence. White House spokesman Tommy Vietor had no comment on the matter.
> 
> The Free Syrian Army has long sought from the U.S. intelligence instead of arms, which theyre getting in abundance from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates. Though he couldnt confirm that the FSA is now getting intelligence assistance, Brian Sayers, the FSAs lobbyist in Washington, says that hes focused on a broader spectrum of support. The FSA is working to register as a 501(c)3 non-profit so it can raise money and its pushing for gas masks in case Assad uses his stockpiles of chemical weapons. If the U.S. was to relax the export license that would be wonderful because the U.S. has some very sophisticated weapons that could take out helicopters, Sayers says. But thats not happening at this stage.
> 
> The question of whether or not to arm the opposition occupied Senators from both sides of the aisle Wednesday in a hearing on the future of Syria. Though the three witnesses came from different experiential and ideological backgrounds, their conclusion was the same: the U.S. should long ago have started arming the Syrian rebels. If we dont do that very rapidly I fear that not only will we be losing some of the texture of whats going on, Andrew Tabler, author of In the Lions Den: An Eyewitness Account of Washingtons Battle with Syria, told the committee, but well be allowing others to forge those relationships, sometimes our allies but also our enemies.
> 
> There are huge risks in arming the FSA. Some weapons could wind up in the hands of al-Qaeda, whose presence in Syria is growing as the war drags on. And the weapons would almost certainly be used by some Sunnis  70% of Syrians are Sunni, and the FSA is largely Sunni as well  to slaughter Alawites, the minority Shia sect that has ruled Syria for more than 40 years. But former Ambassador Martin Indyk argued to the committee that the good would outweigh the bad. As a general principal I think we need to be careful of not falling into the trap of Jihadist boogey men. As our former allies like [former Egyptian President Hosni] Mubarak used to use them to convince us not to do the right thing, he said. In order to shape the outcome in Syria we have to be involved in whats going on on the ground.



Read more: Why the U.S. Isn


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Conflict: Mortars HIt Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, At Least 21
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Mortars rained down on a crowded marketplace in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, killing 21 people as regime forces and rebels clashed on the southern outskirts of Damascus, activists said Friday.
> 
> The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, which reported the deaths, said the shells hit Yarmouk camp Thursday as shoppers were buying food for the evening meal. The activists with the group would not speculate on who was firing.
> 
> "We don't know where the mortars came from, whether they were from the Syrian regime or not the Syrian regime," said Rami Abdul Rahman, director of the Observatory. He added they could also have been strays from the fighting in nearby Tadamon neighborhood.
> 
> The state news agency blamed the bombardment on "terrorist mercenaries"  a term the government uses for rebel fighters  and said they had been chased away by security forces.
> 
> An online video of the immediate aftermath of the Yarmouk attack showed bleeding and burnt bodies with people rushing about amid the smoke and the sounds of screaming.
> 
> Government troops, however, have in the past attacked the camp, home to nearly 150,000 Palestinians and their descendants driven from their homes by the war surrounding Israel's 1948 creation. Palestinian refugees in Syria have tried to stay out of the 17-month old uprising but with Yarmouk nestled among neighborhoods sympathetic to the rebels, its residents were eventually drawn into the fighting.
> 
> Yarmouk's younger inhabitants have also been moved by the Arab Spring's calls for greater freedoms and have joined protests against President Bashar Assad's regime_ and have died during demonstrations when Syrian troops fired on them.
> 
> Just before the Thursday evening mortar attack, camp residents had demonstrated against the government, chanting slogans against Assad and praising the opposition Free Syrian Army, according to online videos. The content of the videos could not be independently verified.
> 
> With the civil war in Syria getting increasingly vicious, chances for a diplomatic solution to the conflict were fading after the resignation Thursday of Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria. Annan cited divisions within the Security Council preventing a united approach to stop the fighting.
> 
> Syria's ally Iran, blamed the U.S. and its allies for Annan's resignation, saying it was their insistence on Assad's removal from power that had undermined the six point U.N. peace plan, which was never implemented.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Conflict: Mortars HIt Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, At Least 21
Click to expand...


See!  It'a not all bad news!  Every cloud has a silver lining.

Do you know why there is a palestinian refugee camp in Syria in the first place?   It's been there since the 60s.

Not even the Syrians would let palestinians into their country.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Conflict: Mortars HIt Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, At Least 21
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  Mortars rained down on a crowded marketplace in a Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, killing 21 people as regime forces and rebels clashed on the southern outskirts of Damascus, activists said Friday.
> 
> The Britain-based Syria Observatory for Human Rights, which reported the deaths, said the shells hit Yarmouk camp Thursday as shoppers were buying food for the evening meal. The activists with the group would not speculate on who was firing.
> 
> "We don't know where the mortars came from, whether they were from the Syrian regime or not the Syrian regime," said Rami Abdul Rahman, director of the Observatory. He added they could also have been strays from the fighting in nearby Tadamon neighborhood.
> 
> The state news agency blamed the bombardment on "terrorist mercenaries"  a term the government uses for rebel fighters  and said they had been chased away by security forces.
> 
> An online video of the immediate aftermath of the Yarmouk attack showed bleeding and burnt bodies with people rushing about amid the smoke and the sounds of screaming.
> 
> Government troops, however, have in the past attacked the camp, home to nearly 150,000 Palestinians and their descendants driven from their homes by the war surrounding Israel's 1948 creation. Palestinian refugees in Syria have tried to stay out of the 17-month old uprising but with Yarmouk nestled among neighborhoods sympathetic to the rebels, its residents were eventually drawn into the fighting.
> 
> Yarmouk's younger inhabitants have also been moved by the Arab Spring's calls for greater freedoms and have joined protests against President Bashar Assad's regime_ and have died during demonstrations when Syrian troops fired on them.
> 
> Just before the Thursday evening mortar attack, camp residents had demonstrated against the government, chanting slogans against Assad and praising the opposition Free Syrian Army, according to online videos. The content of the videos could not be independently verified.
> 
> With the civil war in Syria getting increasingly vicious, chances for a diplomatic solution to the conflict were fading after the resignation Thursday of Kofi Annan, the U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria. Annan cited divisions within the Security Council preventing a united approach to stop the fighting.
> 
> Syria's ally Iran, blamed the U.S. and its allies for Annan's resignation, saying it was their insistence on Assad's removal from power that had undermined the six point U.N. peace plan, which was never implemented.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Conflict: Mortars HIt Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, At Least 21
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> See!  It'a not all bad news!  Every cloud has a silver lining.
> 
> Do you know why there is a palestinian refugee camp in Syria in the first place?   It's been there since the 60s.
> 
> Not even the Syrians would let palestinians into their country.
Click to expand...


There are Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan too I think, even Iraq has some. They don't want the Palestinians to become citizens even though they have been living in those countries for decades.


----------



## Katzndogz

High_Gravity said:


> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Conflict: Mortars HIt Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, At Least 21
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Conflict: Mortars HIt Palestinian Refugee Camp In Damascus, At Least 21
> 
> 
> 
> 
> See!  It'a not all bad news!  Every cloud has a silver lining.
> 
> Do you know why there is a palestinian refugee camp in Syria in the first place?   It's been there since the 60s.
> 
> Not even the Syrians would let palestinians into their country.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There are Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan too I think, even Iraq has some. They don't want the Palestinians to become citizens even though they have been living in those countries for decades.
Click to expand...


There is a reason for that.   When palestinians are allowed into a country they immediately agitate against the government for an overthrow.   After what palestinians did in Lebanon, no other country is going to trust them enough to let them wander around as free people

Let Lebanese, Not Palestinians, Rule Lebanon - The New York Sun

The palestinians are a people inculcated in hate from infancy.  For generations.   It isn't just the Jews, it's everyone.  When palestinians don't have handy Jews to hate, they'll fixate on someone or something else.  After so many years, they can't help themselves.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Katzndogz said:
> 
> 
> 
> See!  It'a not all bad news!  Every cloud has a silver lining.
> 
> Do you know why there is a palestinian refugee camp in Syria in the first place?   It's been there since the 60s.
> 
> Not even the Syrians would let palestinians into their country.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There are Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon, Egypt and Jordan too I think, even Iraq has some. They don't want the Palestinians to become citizens even though they have been living in those countries for decades.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> There is a reason for that.   When palestinians are allowed into a country they immediately agitate against the government for an overthrow.   After what palestinians did in Lebanon, no other country is going to trust them enough to let them wander around as free people
> 
> Let Lebanese, Not Palestinians, Rule Lebanon - The New York Sun
> 
> The palestinians are a people inculcated in hate from infancy.  For generations.   It isn't just the Jews, it's everyone.  When palestinians don't have handy Jews to hate, they'll fixate on someone or something else.  After so many years, they can't help themselves.
Click to expand...


Shoot in Kuwait before Saddam invaded the Palestinians were given free housing, medical care, jobs and schooling for their kids. When Iraq invaded the Palestinians quickly switched sides and joined with the Iraqis, when the US liberated Kuwait the Kuwaitis quickly had most of the Palestinians thrown out. They behaved very poorly towards their hosts.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Why the U.S. Isnt Arming Syrias Opposition  Yet



Usual lies.

US was arming "opposition" gangs since before war on Libya

Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant secretary to US Treasury: "... the Syrian and Libya affairs have American hands in them, organizing the demonstrations, providing money and so forth..."

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...lYGADQ&usg=AFQjCNHuvmSkjlsmmq3RcnKxeXh5TWEZ3w


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Why the U.S. Isnt Arming Syrias Opposition  Yet
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Usual lies.
> 
> US was arming "opposition" gangs since before war on Libya
> 
> Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant secretary to US Treasury: "... the Syrian and Libya affairs have American hands in them, organizing the demonstrations, providing money and so forth..."
> 
> http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...lYGADQ&usg=AFQjCNHuvmSkjlsmmq3RcnKxeXh5TWEZ3w
Click to expand...


The US is the strongest country in the world.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> The US is the strongest country in the world.



Brute force and ignorance. Look where it led the US: no freedoms, economic ruin, intellectual impotency, but the most powerful and rich elite.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> The US is the strongest country in the world.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Brute force and ignorance. Look where it led the US: no freedoms, economic ruin, intellectual impotency, but the most powerful and rich elite.
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


>



Sums it up, really: US office plankton society!


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sums it up, really: US office plankton society!
Click to expand...


Not really, just that your posts are dull and boring as shit.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sums it up, really: US office plankton society!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Not really, just that your posts are dull and boring as shit.
Click to expand...


Don't read them!


----------



## mememe

A day ago BBC, Daily Mail, etc. published information that reads "President Obama has signed a secret order authorizing U.S. support for rebels seeking to get rid of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad and his government.
Obama's order, approved earlier this year and known as an intelligence 'finding', broadly permits the CIA and other U.S. agencies to provide support that could help the rebels oust Assad...

Precisely when Obama signed the secret intelligence authorization, an action not previously reported, could not be determined..."

But given the fact that Paul Craig Roberts, former assistant secretary to US Treasury was talking about it during the war on Libya, one can safely conclude: Obama signed that order way before the war on Libya!

And now, when "civilised" no longer feel it necessary to conceal the fact, we can state the fact: US is at war with Syria; and the war was started by US. 

Well done, mr Obama -- Shnobel Peace Prize winner!


----------



## mememe

As reported by China Radio Internationalthe U.S. and EU imposed embargo on *medicines and medical equipment* to Syria. Iran has increased the supply of these goods to Syria...


----------



## mememe

A Messenger of Peace and Defender of Human Rights -- Clinton -- is off to visit Turkey and put spurs into Erdogan's flanks concerning Syria...


----------



## mememe

More and more Mr Erdogan (Turkish PM) looks like either a poor turd whose balls are firmly in a grip of Mrs Clinton & C0; or like a suicidal idiot driven by his madness deeper and deeper into US-Syrian war...

The fact that he had to pension off 55 of Turkey top generals in the last few months tells us of a rift between the official cause of Ankara and Turkish Army, and that Turkish military is not overjoyed at the role US drew out for Turkey in a Syrian war.

And when Turkish Army is not pleased with the actions of PM and his government -- it is serious...


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Sums it up, really: US office plankton society!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Not really, just that your posts are dull and boring as shit.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Don't read them!
Click to expand...


I enjoy reading your posts before I take a nap.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Not really, just that your posts are dull and boring as shit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Don't read them!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I enjoy reading your posts before I take a nap.
Click to expand...


Aww...


----------



## mememe

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...xoHwDw&usg=AFQjCNE-WKn4ihscZYYKg_ArRcfY6_pWXA

Al-Q took Syrian "opposition" under control.


----------



## rhodescholar

High_Gravity said:


> I enjoy reading your posts before I take a nap.



At least someone enjoys them, let alone reads the troll's garbage.

I saw that the PM and first astronaut defected, looks like the wheels are starting to come off the wagon for ass-ad, who will soon be hanging with his trash wife off the nearest lampost.


----------



## theliq

rhodescholar said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I enjoy reading your posts before I take a nap.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> At least someone enjoys them, let alone reads the troll's garbage.
> 
> I saw that the PM and first astronaut defected, looks like the wheels are starting to come off the wagon for ass-ad, who will soon be hanging with his trash wife off the nearest lampost.
Click to expand...


You know nothing about this conflict,other that the 5 second grabs you see on the TV,that's quite fucking obvious you troll.

I'm theliq kicking the bastards at my will.


----------



## mememe

Three days after Obama officially stated US participation in aggression against Syria

*a convoy of Turkish forces backed by several helicopters has entered the Syrian town of Jarablos in a Kurdish area.*


Well...


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Three days after Obama officially stated US participation in aggression against Syria
> 
> *a convoy of Turkish forces backed by several helicopters has entered the Syrian town of Jarablos in a Kurdish area.*
> 
> 
> Well...



Well what retard?


----------



## rhodescholar

theliq said:


> You know nothing about this conflict,other that the 5 second grabs you see on the TV,that's quite fucking obvious you troll.



When you take your boyfriend's cock out of your asshole, and grow some fucking brains you weak turd - let us know.

BTW scumbag douche, i don't even own a TV you fucking mentally ill dogshit.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Aleppo Ground Battle Launched By Regime Forces 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian troops launched a broad ground assault Wednesday on rebel-held areas of the besieged city of Aleppo and activists reported clashes as opposition forces fought back in a battle that has raged for more than two weeks.
> 
> The official SANA news agency claimed regime forces have fully regained control on Salaheddine  the main rebel stronghold in the northern city. It said the military inflicted heavy losses upon "armed terrorist groups," the government's catchall term for its opponents.
> 
> But Rami Abdul-Rahman, the director of the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, said troops met resistance in the offensive.
> 
> President Bashar Assad's regime has suffered a series of setbacks over the past month that point to mounting chaos in the country after a 17-month-uprising that has morphed into civil war. Four senior security officials were assassinated in Damascus, there have been a string of high-level defections including the prime minister this week, and government forces have struggled to put down rebel challenges in Damascus and Aleppo.
> 
> The regime has far more powerful weapons than the rebels and still has a firm grip on much of the country.
> 
> Aleppo, the largest city in Syria and its commercial center, holds great symbolic and strategic importance. Some 40 kilometers (25 miles) from the Turkish border, it has been a pillar of regime support during the uprising. An opposition victory there would allow easier access for weapons and fighters from Turkey, where many rebels are based.
> 
> There has been a marked increase in the number of refugees fleeing to Turkey in the past two days as Aleppo-based activists reported fresh clashes. Intense government bombardment of the Syrian town of Tal Rafaat closer to the border also sent scores of people spilling into Turkey for safety, the activists said.
> 
> Some 2,400 people crossed into Turkey overnight to escape the escalating violence, Turkey's state-run news agency reported Wednesday. Some 50,000 Syrians have now found refuge in Turkey. Even more refugees have crossed into Jordan and Lebanon.
> 
> "Unfortunately, there is a human tragedy going on in Syria," Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Ali Babacan said Wednesday, keeping up Turkey's criticism of the violence.
> 
> The regime has been hit by a wave of defections, most recently by Prime Minister Riad Hijab. On Wednesday, Jordan's information minister said Hijab is in the kingdom, ending speculation about his whereabouts. Sameeh Maaytah said Hijab "entered Jordan in the early hours of dawn today along with several members of his family." Maaytah spoke to the state Petra News Agency. He did not elaborate.



Syria Crisis: Aleppo Ground Battle Launched By Regime Forces


----------



## mememe

"Syria Crisis: Aleppo Ground Battle Launched By Regime Forces"



Would it be the one "launched" almost a week ago?! 

Yep! News to the West travel on camels, especially news distressing to the "civilised community".


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Conflict: Anadan Turned Into Ghost Town After Shelling








> ANADAN, Syria, Aug 9 (Reuters) - In this town near Aleppo, "Freedom Square" has been renamed "Destruction Square" by a young Syrian activist who once sang to protesters gathered for peaceful pro-democracy rallies.
> 
> The square in Anadan, along with the rest of what resembles a ghost town, bears the scars from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's use of military force to crush an opposition movement that has spawned an armed insurgency against his rule.
> 
> The 20-year-old anti-Assad singer, Hamza Ali Bin Ahmed, says thousands of protesters often packed the square. The microphone he used now lies in pieces, like many of the nearby buildings.
> 
> "They silenced us by shelling us," said Bin Ahmed, wearing a blue T-shirt and sports shoes. Only an occasional passing car or motorcycle broke the eerie quiet in the once-bustling town.
> 
> Some 30,000 people, or most of the population, have fled Anadan because of shelling and helicopter strikes, opposition sources said. Many headed towards the border with Turkey, some crossing over to join nearly 50,000 refugees already there.
> 
> Anadan appears to have come under very heavy artillery bombardment, according to satellite images released this week by London-based human rights group Amnesty International.
> 
> It said the images, obtained from commercial satellites over the July 23-Aug 1 period, showed more than 600 craters, probably from artillery shelling, dotting Aleppo's surrounding areas. The craters were represented with yellow dots in the images.
> 
> One snapshot, from July 31, showed craters next to what looked like a residential housing complex in Anadan, it said.
> 
> Aleppo, a few km (miles) from Anadan and Syria's largest city, has become a frontline in the struggle between Assad's forces and insurgents. Amnesty said both sides could be held criminally responsible for failing to protect civilians.
> 
> "As far as Assad is concerned, Anadan is a legitimate target," said Omar Hashoum, a rebel brandishing an AK-47 rifle as he stood by a green-domed mosque damaged by bombardment.



Syria Conflict: Anadan Turned Into Ghost Town After Shelling


----------



## mememe

"A British photographer who was captured by insurgents in Syria has said that his captors were foreign extremists including several Britons with &#8220;not a Syrian in sight&#8221;.

Cantile said he was held in a camp by 30 foreign extremists including some from Britain and Pakistan.

He also revealed that some of his captors were &#8220;young men with south London accents&#8221;.

&#8220;They were aiming their Kalashnikovs at a British journalist, Londoner against Londoner in a rocky landscape that looked like the Scottish Highlands&#8221;, said Cantile.

The British photographer also disclosed that some of the insurgents could not even speak Arabic, with around a dozen of his captors speaking English out of whom nine spoke with London accents.

&#8220;*Not a Syrian in sight.* This wasn't what I had expected&#8221;, Cantile added.

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...u4DQAw&usg=AFQjCNG2iWaz_enkBuANamOpHeYv123ong


----------



## mememe

Today's report:

Turkey accused Assad of SUPPORTING Kurds!!!


----------



## mememe

As everybody knows, after political Ankara (Turkey) found Syria guilty of knocking down their military plane and Damask fully acknowledged it, Turkish military decided to conduct their own investigation into the incident.

Yesterday Turkish military came to a conclusion that Syria DID NOT shoot down the plane!


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Troops Battle Rebels Near Damascus, Aleppo








> (BEIRUT)  Syrian government forces fought rebels outside the capital Damascus and in the northern city of Aleppo on Friday as more civilians streamed across the border into neighboring Turkey to escape the civil war in their country.
> 
> Meanwhile, U.N. diplomats in New York said the search was on for another envoy to replace Kofi Annan who gave up trying to broker peace in Syria and who is leaving by the end of the month.
> 
> The diplomats said former Algerian foreign affairs minister and longtime U.N. official Lakhdar Brahimi is a strong candidate to take over from Annan. The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity because they were authorized to speak to the media.
> 
> Annan, a former U.N. chief, announced his resignation last week as joint U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, ending a frustrating six-month effort that failed to achieve even a temporary cease-fire as the conflict in the country descended into a full-out civil war.
> 
> The search for Annans replacement suggested the international community was not entirely giving up on diplomacy to try end the conflict that has claimed the lives of at least 20,000 people, according to human rights activists.
> 
> Britains government, meanwhile, said it was offering 5 million pounds (US$7.8 million) to Syrias rebel forces Friday to pay for communications equipment and medical supplies in an effort to bolster ties with the Syrian opposition.
> 
> Foreign Secretary William Hague insisted that the U.K. would not supply any weapons, but confirmed the funds would pay for items including satellite phones, power generators and medical kits. He said diplomats would also intensify contacts with the political wing of the Free Syrian Army as concern grows over the countrys possible fate if President Bashar Assads regime is deposed.
> 
> Over the past two weeks, the northern city of Aleppo has shaped up to be the main battleground between Assads forces and the rebels fighting for his ouster.
> 
> Aleppo holds great symbolic and strategic importance. Some 25 miles (40 kilometers) from the Turkish border, it has been a pillar of regime support during the uprising. An opposition victory there would allow easier access for weapons and fighters from Turkey, where many rebels are based.
> 
> But rebels there say there are low on ammunition after a two-week withering assault. Despite that, they were still clashing with government troops Friday in opposition bastions of Aleppo, a city of 3 million people.
> 
> An Aleppo-based activist who goes by the name of Abu Issa said government forces were shelling rebel-controlled areas in the southwestern part of Aleppo and in the northeast. Towns and villages in Aleppo suburbs were at the mercy of fighter jets and helicopters strafing the area, he said.



Read more: Syrian Troops Battle Rebels Near Damascus, Aleppo | World | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

Rabble in Aleppo 3 days ago



did one of them idiots drop a grenade and everyone run?


----------



## mememe

"The leader of Turkey's Felicity Party, Mustafa Kamalak, has warned that his country is the main target of the campaign against neighboring Syria.


Referring to the current developments in the Middle East, Kamalak also warned about imperial powers' plots to disintegrate Turkey. 

Ankara has already been under fire for supporting Syrian insurgents and giving them arms. 

*Turkish lawmaker Mevlut Dudu has accused the Turkish government of using ambulances to smuggle arms and ammunitions into Syria.*"

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rc...koGADQ&usg=AFQjCNGk9-l_ltyNFOon83HaeocT_zhDig


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrias Rebel Judges Promise Sharia Justice With Mercy









> Imam Mohammed Drbal had just received a call from his wife. She was panicking and wanted him to come home, he explained. With shells beginning to rain down again, Drbal figured the days caseload would be a light one. People didnt sleep well because of last nights shelling, he said. Because of todays, theyll be afraid to leave their homes. The artillery barrage was coming from a nearby airbase, the only regime stronghold between Aleppo and the Turkish border not to be overrun by the rebel Free Syrian Army. The bombardment was unlikely to reach this part of town, according to Drbal. And if it did, he deadpanned, Were all here together, and in this together. His fellow imams jiggled inside their beige thobes, struggling to contain their laughter.
> 
> Drbal and his fellow clerics comprise the tribunal that has replace the Assad regime as the law in Tal Rifaat, 20 miles north of Aleppo. Two months ago, after the authorities fled, a pair of imams who had led the towns anti-regime protests founded a council to resolve local disputes and fill the growing security vacuum, and set up shop in a local school. We couldnt have double standards and competing interpretations of Islamic law, said Drbal. So scholars, locally respected people, decided to meet in a single council.
> 
> Drbal and his colleagues made no bones about the fact that the post-Assad justice dispensed by their court was based on Islamic sharia law. We are ruling on the basis of sharia, explained Seraj al-Halabi, one of the men. We have lawyers, judges and former army officers, said al-Halabi, himself a veterinarian, but all of us are Islamic scholars. Everyone has the right to have his or her case heard by the council, he added. We are ruling in every area of the law.
> 
> Still, claimed al-Halabi, theirs was not an ordinary Islamic tribunal; the imams were focused as much on delivering justice as on promoting political reconciliation. We are not here to practice Islamic law like in Saudi Arabia, cutting off heads and hands, but to help run the city and to restore order, he said. Sharia seeks solving problems, not creating them. And we are trying to figure out the best solution, the solution that will be most moderate and merciful.
> 
> Al-Halabi insisted that the court wouldnt punish anyone for supporting the regime, unless they had blood on their hands, and that they hadnt ordered a single execution. We tell FSA fighters, if you are in battle with Bashars forces, better kill them than bring them here, he said. Because we will not kill them for you, and might set them free. Even if the regime deals with us by killing and torturing, we will not deal with them likewise.
> 
> The new tribunal certainly seems to be a hit with the locals  at least with those that remain in the town. (Most of Tal Rifaats population of 25,000 have taken refuge across the border in Turkey.) We feel safer now, even with the shelling, than we did for the last forty years, offered Mahmoud, a shopkeeper. Around him, heads nodded in unison. On the question of dealing with Assad loyalists, the locals seemed in tune with their imams. Pro-regime people are free to think whatever they want, one man argued. They should be punished only if theyve hurt others.



Read more: Syria&#8217;s Rebel Judges Promise Sharia Justice With Mercy | World | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

Today Clinton discussed with Turks more effective ways of helping "Syrian freedom fighters".

PS
I blame her husband...


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian rebels call for no-fly zone









> ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian rebels fighting to oust President Bashar al-Assad need the protection of no-fly zones and safe havens patrolled by foreign forces near the borders with Jordan and Turkey, a Syrian opposition leader said.
> 
> Battles raged on Sunday in the northern city of Aleppo, where tanks, artillery and snipers attacked rebels in the Saif al-Dawla district next to the devastated area of Salaheddine.
> 
> Syrian civilians desperate to check on their homes pushed into fluid front lines around Salaheddine, even as sniper fire cracked out and rebels warned them to stay away.
> 
> Abdelbasset Sida, head of the Syrian National Council, said the United States had realized that the absence of a no-fly zone to counter Assad's air superiority hindered rebel movements.
> 
> He was speaking a day after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said her country and Turkey would study a range of possible measures to help Assad's foes, including a no-fly zone, although she indicated no decisions were necessarily imminent.
> 
> "It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," she said after meeting Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul.
> 
> Though any intervention appears to be a distant prospect, her remarks were nevertheless the closest Washington has come to suggesting direct military action in Syria.
> 
> "There are areas that are being liberated," Sida told Reuters by telephone from Istanbul. "But the problem is the aircraft, in addition to the artillery bombardment, causing killing, destruction."
> 
> He said the establishment of secure areas on the borders with Jordan and Turkey "was an essential thing that would confirm to the regime that its power is diminishing bit by bit".
> 
> A no-fly zone imposed by NATO and Arab allies helped Libyan rebels overthrow Muammar Gaddafi last year. The West has shown little appetite for repeating any Libya-style action in Syria, and Russia and China strongly oppose any such intervention.
> 
> Insurgents have expanded territory they hold near the Turkish border in the last few weeks since the Syrian army gathered its forces for an offensive to regain control of Aleppo, Syria's biggest city and economic hub.



Syrian rebels call for no-fly zone - Yahoo! News


----------



## mememe

International terrorist gangs (referred to as "Syrian rebels" by the West) can call for a "no-fly zone" or whatever they want. After Syrian army cleared them out of Aleppo for US/"civilised community" to push through UN a "no-fly zone" would raise a serious question: "ON WHAT GROUNDS?"

Besides, an incident with Turkish military plane that was shot down by either Syrians or from a Russian ship (according to Erdogan) or, according to Turkish military -- just fell out of the sky, -- demonstrates that Syria is capable of enforcing its own "no-fly" zone, unlike Gaddafi who allowed NATO to control Libyan sky.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Rebels Claim They Downed Jet After Pilot Ejects








> BEIRUT  A video issued by Syrian rebels purports to show a captured pilot who ejected from a warplane they claim they downed.
> 
> The authenticity of the video shown on the pan-Arab network Al-Arabiya could not be independently confirmed. But it comes amid conflicting accounts over the MiG fighter.
> 
> Rebels claim they shot down the plane over eastern Syria. The Syrian government says a warplane experienced malfunctions and the pilot was forced to eject.
> 
> If the rebel claim proves true, it could mark a significant jump in their ability to combat widening air attacks from President Bashar Assad's forces.
> 
> In the video, a man identifies himself as the pilot as he is surrounded by three armed men. He says he has been treated well and urges officers to defect from Assad's military.
> 
> THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
> 
> Syrian state-run media said Monday a pilot ejected from a warplane after a technical failure while rebels claimed they shot it down over an eastern province where the opposition has a strong presence.
> 
> Earlier Monday, activists released a video which they claimed shows a government Soviet-made MiG warplane catching fire after it apparently was hit by ground fire over Deir el-Zour province. The warplane appears to be spiral into a ball of flames. It was impossible to independently verify the video.



Syria Crisis: Rebels Claim They Downed Jet After Pilot Ejects


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> International terrorist gangs (referred to as "Syrian rebels" by the West) can call for a "no-fly zone" or whatever they want. After Syrian army cleared them out of Aleppo for US/"civilised community" to push through UN a "no-fly zone" would raise a serious question: "ON WHAT GROUNDS?"



L-39 Albatros (Czech Training-Airplane) used to fire on Aleppo with missiles.
Aleppo is around the size of Houston.


----------



## High_Gravity

Riad Hijab, Former Syria Prime Minister, Says Assad Controls Only 30 Percent Of Country








> AMMAN, Aug 14 (Reuters) - Former Syrian prime minister Riyad Hijab said on Tuesday that President Bashar al-Assad's government is falling apart and controls only 30 percent of the country.
> 
> In his first public appearance since defecting to the opposition, Hijab told a news conference in Jordan that the government's spirits were low after struggling for 17 months to crush the revolt against Assad's rule.
> 
> "I tell you out of my experience and the position I occupied that the regime is collapsing, morally, materially and economically. Militarily it is crumbling as it no longer occupies more than 30 percent of Syrian territory," he said.
> 
> Hijab did not elaborate on that assertion, and took no questions from reporters.
> 
> It has been hard to independently determine the extent of territory in rebel hands as much of the fighting has occurred in outlying towns and rural areas and media access to Syria is restricted. But Assad has lost swathes of territory along Syria's northern and eastern border and fighting has weakened his hold on larger cities such as Aleppo and Homs.
> 
> Hijab added: "Oh devoted revolutionaries, your revolution has become a model of effort and sacrifice for the sake of freedom and dignity."
> 
> Hijab, who like much of the opposition comes from Syria's Sunni Muslim majority, was not part of Assad's inner circle. But as prime minister and the most senior civilian official to defect, his departure dealt a symbolic blow to the government, which is dominated by Assad's minority Alawite sect.
> 
> His defection along with that of Syria's ambassador to Iraq, both tribal figures from Deir al-Zor, boosted opposition morale but the military reality on the ground has not changed, with aerial and ground bombardment keeping rebels in check.
> 
> Hijab urged officers in the military to defect and join the opposition. He also called on rebels to work harder to unify their fractious ranks.
> 
> "Oh men of the Free Syrian Army, unify your ranks as all hopes hang on you, you are the best fighters of this world," said Hijab, who took no questions from reporters.



Riad Hijab, Former Syria Prime Minister, Says Assad Controls Only 30 Percent Of Country


----------



## mememe

*Riad Hijab, Former Syria Prime Minister, Says Assad Controls Only 30 Percent Of Country*



Riad Hijab voices a wet dream of his Western handlers!


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> *Riad Hijab, Former Syria Prime Minister, Says Assad Controls Only 30 Percent Of Country*
> 
> 
> 
> Riad Hijab voices a wet dream of his Western handlers!


----------



## mememe

http://video.yandex.ru/users/news-anna2012/view/80/

Since US/"civilisedcommunity" decided Assad lost his "legitimacy" and Syria must be liberated off its independence, "freedom fighters" committed lots of atrocities, this CHRISTIAN village was attacked for the third time!

I hope, whenever Americans habitually mention the name of CHRISTIAN God they will remember the murder of CHRISTIANS perpetrated with their blessing around the world!


----------



## mememe

Unbridled US hypocrisy  


http://www.google.co.uk/url?url=htt...ugust+&usg=AFQjCNFqR0H1m3cLjvcQdF5MghootEFwbg


----------



## High_Gravity

Boo fucking hoo, Assads days are numbered. Deal with it.


----------



## logical4u

Hopefully, for the people of this region, this violence will end soon.


----------



## Katzndogz

When Assad is gone, the violence will rapidly increase.  Of course if Assad should win, the violence will rapidly increase.  That's just how these people are.  When they win, it's time for revenge, reprisals, and purges.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> When Assad is gone, the violence will rapidly increase.  Of course if Assad should win, the violence will rapidly increase.  That's just how these people are.  When they win, it's time for revenge, reprisals, and purges.



Yeah pretty much, the longer this goes on the slimmer Assads chances are though. With something like this you have to put it down quickly and violently, like Assads pops did back in the 80s and how Saddam did in 1991 when the Kurds and Shites rose up. Once these rebellions start lasting years its only a matter of time until the dictators head gets shoved up his arse.


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> When Assad is gone, the violence will rapidly increase.  Of course if Assad should win, the violence will rapidly increase.  That's just how these people are.



Not "these people", but governing clans of US, EU and assorted Arab "democracies" -- THEY need to DESTABILISE the region at whatever cost.

Assad is not suppose to win according to US scenario; in fact, he should have lost months ago!


----------



## High_Gravity

Life With Syrias Rebels in a Cold and Cunning War








> TAL RIFAAT, Syria  Abdul Hakim Yasin, the commander of a Syrian antigovernment fighting group, lurched his pickup truck to a stop inside the captured residential compound he uses as his guerrilla base.
> 
> His fighters had been waiting for orders for a predawn attack on an army checkpoint at the entrance to Aleppo, Syrias largest city. The men had been issued ammunition and had said their prayers. Their truck bomb was almost prepared.
> 
> Now the commander had a surprise. Minutes earlier, his father, who had been arrested by the army at the same checkpoint in July, had called to say his jailers had released him. He needed a ride out of Aleppo, fast.
> 
> God is great! the men shouted. They climbed onto trucks, loaded weapons and accelerated away, barreling through darkness on nearly deserted roads toward a city under siege, to reclaim one of their own.
> 
> Mr. Yasin was pensive as he drove, worried that the call was a ploy to lure him and his fighters into a trap. Often the government does this, he said. Usually it is an ambush.
> 
> He had sent an empty freight truck ahead, he said, to check the way. But he never slowed down.
> 
> During five days last week, Mr. Yasin and his group, the Lions of Tawhid, allowed two journalists from The New York Times to live and travel beside them as they fought their part in the war to unseat President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> This group falls under the command of Al Tawhid Brigade, a relatively new structure in Aleppo Province that has unified several groups and fights under the banner of the Free Syrian Army, the loose coalition of armed rebels.
> 
> While broad extrapolations are difficult to glean from one fighting group in a complex society, the activities and personal stories of these men, a mix of civilians who took up arms and dozens of army defectors who joined them, offers a fine-grained look of the uprising, and the momentum and guerrilla energy it has attained.
> 
> Mr. Yasin, 37, was a clean-shaven accountant before the war. He lived a quiet life with his wife and two young sons. Now thickly bearded and projecting a stoic calm under fire, he has been hardened by his war in ways he could not have foreseen.
> 
> He roams the Aleppo region with dozens of armed men in camouflage, plotting attacks with other commanders, evading airstrikes, meeting with smugglers and bombmakers to gather more weapons, and rotating through front-line duties in a gritty street-by-street urban campaign. He prefers to sleep by day, and fight by night.
> 
> His fighters are a cross section of a nation at war with itself. They include a real estate agent, several farmers, construction workers and a nurse who owned a short-order restaurant. These men fight side by side with a cadre of army defectors, who say the government they once served must fall.
> 
> The civilians started with stones and firearms bought for hunting. Their first more powerful weapon was a huge slingshot for hurling Molotov cocktails and small homemade bombs. As professional soldiers have joined them, they have gradually acquired assault rifles, machine guns and rocket-propelled and hand grenades. They now control a captured armored vehicle and two tanks.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/21/w...s-coalesce-into-a-fighting-force.html?_r=1&hp


----------



## mememe

"President Barack Obama has warned that the use or movement of chemical weapons by the Syrian government would be a &#8220;red line&#8221; that could trigger an American intervention." (The Telegraph. 20.08.12)



Translation from politico talk onto human language:

Assad is an absolute bastard! He clearly understands that the White House mulatto, desperate to "rule the world" for another 4 years, can't really start his campaign having under-democratised Syria with still alive "dictator" on his hands! That would mean giving Romney 3, maybe even 4% of votes of those who love a "strong hand", -- and that is unacceptable. 

By now, Obama should be humanly bombing Iranians into freedom, instead he is stuck with Syria!

Assad knows it, but what does he do?! He inconsiderately beats up "freedom fighters" (and they are not cheap!) and spreads them thinly over the terrain; he shamelessly prevents mass betrayal in his inner circle; and in a meanest possible way creates such an arrse-ache for Turkey that it can not concentrate on the invasion!

Such antics can not be ignored. Chemical weapons must come out to play -- what other choice did Assad leave for Obama? By the start of November Americans have to be imbued with pride for their brave and reliable leader (much more reliable and brave than Romney!) -- a victorious tamer of dictators!


-----------------

So... shall we start taking bets as to how soon "chemical weapons" will be wheeled out?


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> "President Barack Obama has warned that the use or movement of chemical weapons by the Syrian government would be a red line that could trigger an American intervention." (The Telegraph. 20.08.12)
> 
> 
> 
> Translation from politico talk onto human language:
> 
> Assad is an absolute bastard! He clearly understands that the White House mulatto, desperate to "rule the world" for another 4 years, can't really start his campaign having under-democratised Syria with still alive "dictator" on his hands! That would mean giving Romney 3, maybe even 4% of votes of those who love a "strong hand", -- and that is unacceptable.
> 
> By now, Obama should be humanly bombing Iranians into freedom, instead he is stuck with Syria!
> 
> Assad knows it, but what does he do?! He inconsiderately beats up "freedom fighters" (and they are not cheap!) and spreads them thinly over the terrain; he shamelessly prevents mass betrayal in his inner circle; and in a meanest possible way creates such an arrse-ache for Turkey that it can not concentrate on the invasion!
> 
> Such antics can not be ignored. Chemical weapons must come out to play -- what other choice did Assad leave for Obama? By the start of November Americans have to be imbued with pride for their brave and reliable leader (much more reliable and brave than Romney!) -- a victorious tamer of dictators!



What a huge crock of shit, you have your tongue shoved so far up Assads ass you can taste what he had for breakfast last weekend.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian army batters parts of Damascus, 47 killed



> AMMAN/ALEPPO, Syria (Reuters) - Syrian army shells crashed into southern Damascus on Wednesday and helicopters fired rockets and machineguns during an assault to shore up President Bashar al-Assad's grip on the capital 17 months into a popular uprising, opposition activists said.
> 
> The army has used tanks and helicopter gunships this week in an offensive around Damascus that has coincided with the departure of U.N. military observers after a failed mission to stop the bloodshed and nudge Syria toward a peaceful transition.
> 
> The United Nations estimates that 18,000 people have been killed in what has become a civil war after a violent state response to peaceful street protests generated an armed rebellion in the pivotal Arab country.
> 
> Anti-Assad activists said at least 47 people had been killed in Damascus in what they called the heaviest bombardment this month. "The whole of Damascus is shaking with the sound of shelling," said a woman in Kfar Souseh, one of several districts hit during the military offensive to root out rebel fighters.
> 
> At least 22 people were killed in Kfar Souseh and 25 in the nearby district of Nahr Eisha, activists said. One of the dead was named as Mohammad Saeed al Odeh, a journalist employed at a state-run newspaper who was sympathetic to the anti-Assad revolt. Activists said he had been executed in Nahr Eisha.
> 
> "There are 22 tanks in Kfar Souseh now and behind each one there are at least 30 soldiers. They are raiding houses and executing men," an opposition activist in Kfar Souseh, who gave his name only as Bassam, told Reuters by Skype.
> 
> More than 250 people, including 171 civilians, were killed across Syria on Tuesday, mostly around Damascus, Aleppo and the southern city of Deraa, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a British-based opposition monitoring group.
> 
> Activists in the southwestern Damascus suburb of Mouadamiya said Assad's forces had killed 86 people there since Monday, half of them by execution. It was not possible to verify that report.
> 
> There was no immediate government account of the latest fighting. But state television broadcast footage of weapons it said had been seized from rebels in Mouadamiya, which was one of the first districts to join the uprising.



Syrian army batters parts of Damascus, 47 killed - Yahoo! News


----------



## mememe

"*Syrian army batters parts of Damascus, 47 killed*"

Is a crock of shite that has no barring on reality. Western media is doing its usual -- lie.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> "*Syrian army batters parts of Damascus, 47 killed*"
> 
> Is a crock of shite that has no barring on reality. Western media is doing its usual -- lie.


----------



## mememe

"The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), a terrorist group that has been largely inactive for the past decades, has threatened Turkey with unspecified measures over its Syria policy.
Any military adventurism or any direct or indirect violation of the security and the social cohesion of the Armenian community of Syria on the part of Turkey will be met by similar counter-measures, the group said in a statement on Monday..."

Armenian terrorist group threatens Turkey over Syria


----------



## mememe

There we go...

Aparently, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation answered Obama's threat of direct intervention into Syria, by pointing out that if the United States will see it fit to start a military intervention in Syria, Russia reserves the right to oppose American intervention directly in the conflict region and on any other territory of the possible contact between the armed forces, fleets, as well as the geopolitical field in general.


----------



## Katzndogz

Russia and China both told obama to shut up and sit in the corner so he did.  obama may not like it, but in this instance America isn't a player.


----------



## mememe

Katzndogz said:


> Russia and China both told obama to shut up and sit in the corner so he did.  obama may not like it, but in this instance America isn't a player.



It's not the end of the day.

Iran must be destroyed; but it will be near-impossible to do without destroying Syria first.

All in all, Assad already messed up US/UK plans; but "leading democracies" can not bin their plans just because of some stubborn statesman who doesn't want to roll over and die.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> There we go...
> 
> Aparently, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation answered Obama's threat of direct intervention into Syria, by pointing out that if the United States will see it fit to start a military intervention in Syria, Russia reserves the right to oppose American intervention directly in the conflict region and on any other territory of the possible contact between the armed forces, fleets, as well as the geopolitical field in general.




There are limitations which result from geographical distance.
The Russians can do something to Georgia (share borders), but they can do shit over Syria.
Russia doesn't have the military and logistics to "intervene directly" in Syria.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> "The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), a terrorist group that has been largely inactive for the past decades, has threatened Turkey with unspecified measures over its Syria policy.
> Any military adventurism or any direct or indirect violation of the security and the social cohesion of the Armenian community of Syria on the part of Turkey will be met by similar counter-measures, the group said in a statement on Monday..."
> 
> Armenian terrorist group threatens Turkey over Syria



They won't be so dumb to pursue this adventure.
The Turk is very good at neutralizing Armenian-Terrorists.


----------



## Trajan

Katzndogz said:


> Russia and China both told obama to shut up and sit in the corner so he did.  obama may not like it, but in this instance America isn't a player.



sure we are, if Israel is a player we are, except obama won't back them. we will pay for this down the road, bet on it.


----------



## Trajan

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> There we go...
> 
> Aparently, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation answered Obama's threat of direct intervention into Syria, by pointing out that if the United States will see it fit to start a military intervention in Syria, Russia reserves the right to oppose American intervention directly in the conflict region and on any other territory of the possible contact between the armed forces, fleets, as well as the geopolitical field in general.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There are limitations which result from geographical distance.
> The Russians can do something to Georgia (share borders), but they can do shit over Syria.
> Russia doesn't have the military and logistics to "intervene directly" in Syria.
Click to expand...


that much is true but obama has already promised Putin "something" after the election, it depends on if putin thinks he will win and if obama will keep his word if he does. so Putin sits,  watches and keeps the angst ratcheted up.


----------



## ekrem

Trajan said:


> that much is true but obama has already promised Putin "something" after the election, it depends on if putin thinks he will win and if obama will keep his word if he does. so Putin sits,  watches and keeps the angst ratcheted up.



But the world doesn't operate anymore on the basis of US-"Russian" relations, especially not in the Syrian situation.
The USA doesn't control the developments in Syria. USA can  gain influence in the Syrian situation by increasing its involvement there, but I doubt that the USA would have that much influence that the USA can enforce over the Syrians what "Obama promised to Russia". I also doubt, that "Obama promised Russia" anything specifically over Syria at all.


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> There we go...
> 
> Aparently, Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russian Federation answered Obama's threat of direct intervention into Syria, by pointing out that if the United States will see it fit to start a military intervention in Syria, Russia reserves the right to oppose American intervention directly in the conflict region and on any other territory of the possible contact between the armed forces, fleets, as well as the geopolitical field in general.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There are limitations which result from geographical distance.
> The Russians can do something to Georgia (share borders), but they can do shit over Syria.
> Russia doesn't have the military and logistics to "intervene directly" in Syria.
Click to expand...


???

And Russia, and China are already in Syrian waters...


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> "The Armenian Secret Army for the Liberation of Armenia (ASALA), a terrorist group that has been largely inactive for the past decades, has threatened Turkey with unspecified measures over its Syria policy.
> Any military adventurism or any direct or indirect violation of the security and the social cohesion of the Armenian community of Syria on the part of Turkey will be met by similar counter-measures, the group said in a statement on Monday..."
> 
> Armenian terrorist group threatens Turkey over Syria
> 
> 
> 
> 
> They won't be so dumb to pursue this adventure.
> The Turk is very good at neutralizing Armenian-Terrorists.
Click to expand...


The only reason ASALA paused its activities (and, unlike Kurds who will be happy with setting up their "Kurdistan", ASALA is aiming at destroying Turkey completely) is Assad. Assad father, and now -- son made it a pre-condition to existence of Armenian communities in Syria that ASALA will stop its activities.

Of course, they did not stop growing the next generations of Armenians on the ideas of ASALA, and training them discretely enough not to put Syrian government in a difficult situation... but if Assad will go, Kurds will become the least of Turkish problems...


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Helicopter Crash: Military Aircraft Catches Fire, Plummets To The Ground During Damascus Clashes









> BEIRUT (AP)  A Syrian military helicopter caught fire and crashed Monday after it was apparently hit during fighting between government forces and rebels in the capital Damascus, an activist group said.
> 
> State-run media confirmed the crash in Damascus but gave no details. A video posted on the Internet showed the chopper engulfed in flames shortly before it hit the ground. The authenticity of the video could not be independently verified.
> 
> Syria's state-run media also reported that authorities on Monday released more than 200 people detained for their participation in street protests. It said those freed were never involved in acts of violence.
> 
> Authorities have issued similar pardons in the past, a practice apparently designed to isolate the rebels and create the image of a compassionate regime.
> 
> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which reported the chopper crash, said there was intense fighting between troops backed by helicopter gunships and rebels in the western Damascus neighborhood of Jobar. State media said the chopper crashed in al-Qaboun district, which is close to Jobar.
> 
> With its forces stretched thin by fighting on multiple fronts, President Bashar Assad's regime has been increasingly using air power against the rebels  both helicopters and warplanes. The military has for more than a month been fighting major battles against rebels in Damascus and its suburbs while engaged in what appears to be a stalemated fight in the north against rebels for control of Aleppo, the nation's largest city and commercial capital.
> 
> The rebels are not known to have any answer to the regime's warplanes except anti-aircraft guns that they mostly use as an anti-personnel weapon. Last month, rebels claimed to have shot down a Russian-made MiG fighter, but the government blamed the crash on a technical malfunction.
> 
> The Syrian conflict began 17 months ago with mostly peaceful protests demanding that Assad step down, but it has since morphed into a civil war. Rights activists say at least 20,000 people have so far been killed.
> 
> Monday's fighting in Damascus followed mounting evidence of a spate of killings by government forces in the Damascus suburb of Daraya.
> 
> Activists over the weekend reported government forces going on a killing spree after they seized Daraya from rebels Thursday. Reports of the death toll ranged from more than 300 to as many as 600.
> 
> It was impossible to independently verify the death tolls because of severe restrictions on media coverage of the conflict.
> 
> Video footage posted on the Internet by activists showed rows of bodies, many of them men with gunshot wounds to their heads.



Syria Helicopter Crash: Military Aircraft Catches Fire, Plummets To The Ground During Damascus Clashes (VIDEO)


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian artists fight Assad regime with satire








> (CNN) -- With horrors emerging from Syria's civil war with numbing regularity, it can be easy to lose sight of the fact that the uprising has not been waged only with guns.
> 
> A creative and resolutely non-violent form of opposition to Bashar al-Assad's regime has taken hold in Syria, as the country's artists respond to the crisis with newfound boldness and purpose, despite the clear dangers in doing so.
> 
> "Since the uprising, the artists have broken through the wall of fear in Syria and are thinking in another way," said Syrian journalist Aram Tahhan, one of the curators of an exhibition on Syria's creative dissent -- Culture in Defiance -- currently on display in Amsterdam.
> 
> "The uprising has changed the artists' thinking about the task of art in society, how they can do something useful for society," said Tahhan. "They have rewritten everything."
> 
> Since the uprising, the artists have broken through the wall of fear in Syria
> 
> Syrian journalist Aram Tahhan, one of the curators of "Culture in Defiance"With works spanning from painting to song to cartoons, puppet theater to graffiti to plays, the exhibition traces the way that Syrian artists have used a range of creative techniques within traditional and new media to create political, populist art that that both brooks "the red line" of dissent and engages the public in unprecedented ways.
> 
> The regime is well aware of the power of visual images and art to mobilize public opinion, says Tahhan. After all, the uprising began when schoolchildren in Daraa were arrested for painting anti-government graffiti on the walls of a school last year.
> 
> "From the beginning the regime has known it's dangerous to use the image, to use art," said Tahhan. "The camera is the equal of any weapon from the point of view of the regime."
> 
> *A dangerous calling*
> 
> All of which has made producing political art dangerous, sometimes mortally so. Ibrahim Qashoush, a fireman and part-time poet from Hama, wrote popular anti-Assad songs that were sung demonstrations, most notably a number called "Time to Leave."
> 
> Last July, his body was found dumped in a river with his throat cut out, vocal cords removed. A pen-and-ink portrait of the mutilated singer by artist Khalil Younes is featured in the exhibition, while Qashoush's song is played in a section the curators call the "Revolutionary Hit Parade."
> 
> The regime's brutality has struck more established artists as well.
> 
> The distinguished political cartoonist Ali Ferzat had his first piece published in a newspaper when he was 12, produced a daily editorial cartoon for the official newspaper throughout the 1970s, and had direct contact with Bashar al-Assad throughout the early days of his presidency.



Syrian artists fight Assad regime with satire - CNN.com


----------



## mememe

Syrian artists fight Assad regime with satire.

Yeah! Pussy Riot number two! 

West is becoming pathetic in its desire to portray few misfits on US grants as "a voice of ... (insert the next target country)...


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Syrian artists fight Assad regime with satire.
> 
> Yeah! Pussy Riot number two!
> 
> West is becoming pathetic in its desire to portray few misfits on US grants as "a voice of ... (insert the next target country)...



You are such a fucking hack, you must be recieving a paycheck from the Assad regime to come on here and post all this bullshit.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Army Drops Leaflets over Damascus








> (BEIRUT)  Syrian military helicopters dropped thousands of leaflets over Damascus and its suburbs Tuesday, urging rebels to hand over their weapons or face inevitable death as part of a widening and deadly offensive to recapture areas near the capital that have fallen into rebel hands.
> 
> The leaflets appear to be part of the regimes psychological warfare against the rebels, but are highly unlikely to have any effect on fighters intent on toppling President Bashar Assads regime. Human rights groups say more than 20,000 people have been killed in Syria since the revolt against Assad began in March 2011.
> 
> The head of the main Syrian opposition group, the Syrian National Council, criticized U.S. officials for saying it was premature to speak about a provisional Syrian government.
> 
> Abdelbaset Sieda, speaking in a telephone interview with The Associated Press, said the opposition is making serious preparations and consultations to announce a transitional government, but admitted it is not imminent.
> 
> On Monday, French President Francoise Hollande called on the Syrian opposition to form a provisional government, saying France would recognize it. But Hollandes statement, believed to be the first of its kind, was quickly shot down by U.S. officials who said it was premature to speak about a provisional government when Syrias fractured opposition hasnt even agreed yet on a transition plan.
> 
> The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they werent authorized to speak publicly on the matter, cited persistent disagreements among the Syrian National Council and rival opposition groups, and between Syrian opposition figures campaigning outside the country and rebels fighting the Assad regime on the front line.
> 
> Were nowhere near that yet, one U.S. official said.
> 
> Sieda said the U.S. comments show the international community was not ready not ready to take decisive decisions when it comes to Syria.
> 
> It seems to me as if the international community is not prepared to take decisive decisions and blames the Syrian opposition for its own shortcomings, Sieda said.
> 
> Yes there are differences within the Syrian opposition and this is normal in any country, but as long as we are agreed on a common vision, these differences can be overcome, he added.
> 
> The international international community must make a move before its too late.
> 
> Syrias opposition has been plagued by divisions and infighting since the start of the uprising last year, and forming a transitional government is fraught with difficulties.
> 
> In addition to the SNC, several other opposition groups are known to be making similar plans, including a new opposition alliance headed by veteran opposition figure Haitham Maleh.
> 
> Sieda said his group has been contacting other opposition figures and the Free Syrian Army rebels to consult over a transitional government, but admits they have not started discussing names yet.
> 
> For more than a month, the military has been fighting major battles against rebels in the outskirts of Damascus and its suburbs while engaged in what appears to be a stalemated fight in the north against rebels for control of Aleppo, the nations largest city and commercial capital.
> 
> The government recently has intensified its offensive to recapture rebellious districts on the capitals periphery, and hundreds of people have been killed in several days of shelling and clashes in the affected areas. Over the weekend evidence mounted of mass killings by regime forces in the Damascus suburb of Daraya after it was stormed by troops.
> 
> Some of the leaflets dropped Tuesday, which were signed by the armed forces and the armys general command, read: The Syrian army is determined to cleanse every inch in Syria and you have only two choices: Abandon your weapons  or face inevitable death.



Read more: Syrian Army Drops Leaflets over Damascus | World | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian artists fight Assad regime with satire.
> 
> Yeah! Pussy Riot number two!
> 
> West is becoming pathetic in its desire to portray few misfits on US grants as "a voice of ... (insert the next target country)...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are such a fucking hack, you must be recieving a paycheck from the Assad regime to come on here and post all this bullshit.
Click to expand...


O, yeah! some journo found a handful of "dissident" useless wannabes who drew some graffiti on a wall and pulled sock-puppets on their hands for Western media in AMSTERDAM! 

On seeing that "performance" journo wrote "*Syrian artists* fight Assad regime"!

And morons like you went "Awww..." without even asking the most obvious questions:
What "Syrian artists"?
Are they as much "Syrian" as the rest of the "Syrian fighters"?
How many of them were performing for the West? 
How representative are they of the artists of Syria to deserve the title of that article?


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian artists fight Assad regime with satire.
> 
> Yeah! Pussy Riot number two!
> 
> West is becoming pathetic in its desire to portray few misfits on US grants as "a voice of ... (insert the next target country)...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are such a fucking hack, you must be recieving a paycheck from the Assad regime to come on here and post all this bullshit.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> O, yeah! some journo found a handful of "dissident" useless wannabes who drew some graffiti on a wall and pulled sock-puppets on their hands for Western media in AMSTERDAM!
> 
> On seeing that "performance" journo wrote "*Syrian artists* fight Assad regime"!
> 
> And morons like you went "Awww..." without even asking the most obvious questions:
> What "Syrian artists"?
> Are they as much "Syrian" as the rest of the "Syrian fighters"?
> How many of them were performing for the West?
> How representative are they of the artists of Syria to deserve the title of that article?
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

Yet you continue reading my posts!


----------



## High_Gravity

Libyas Fighters Export Their Revolution to Syria








> When the revolution against longtime Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi erupted in Benghazi last year, Masoud Bwisir was quick to take up arms for the cause  and became a bit of a celebrity. A businessman, Bwisir was also a musician and eventually wrote one of the unofficial anthems of the revolution. A video filmed by the pan-Arab news channel al-Arabiya showed him playing his signature guitar at the front, with an RPG slung across his shoulder. Meanwhile, he fought regime forces across the country, learning to make and defuse bombs.
> 
> Today, the father of a 1-year-old infant is packing his bags for another fight: Syria. As rebels in the country struggle to bring down another strongman, hundreds of Libyans have flocked there to help. They have brought their fighting experience to the battle and may even be arranging weapon shipments to the underequipped Syrians.
> 
> We came to help the Syrians in their fight, explains a Libyan using the nickname Abu Yusuf, reached by phone in the Syrian province of Aleppo. We just couldnt stay home and watch the killings anymore. It was too much. Yusuf belongs to Liwa al-Umma, a brigade established by Mahdi al-Harati, deputy commander of the Tripoli Military Council (TMC), an organization that sprouted during the Libyan revolution. Largely funded by Qatar, the TMC received first-rate weapons and training from the small Persian Gulf emirate. Liwa al-Umma officials refuse to say whether Qatar is funding their activities in Syria, but the brigade has deep pockets. Its financial outlays include the purchase of uniforms for Syrians who have joined the outfit.
> 
> Within weeks of the successful conclusion of their revolution, Libyan fighters began trickling into Syria. But in recent months, that trickle has allegedly become a torrent, as many more have traveled to the mountains straddling Syria and Turkey, where the rebels have established their bases. There are some Libyans but not large numbers, says Khaldun, a first lieutenant who defected from the Syrian army, downplaying reports of massive flows into the area. Maybe up to 300, but not a thousand.
> 
> The Free Syrian Army sent Khaldun to Libya to coordinate with the interim government there, known as the National Transitional Council. Though he is reluctant to discuss the precise details of his mission and whether the Libyans have sent his fighters weapons, he does admit the Syrians asked the Libyans for ammunition.
> 
> Some Syrians are more frank about the assistance the Libyans are providing. They have heavier weapons than we do, notes Firas Tamim, who has traveled in rebel-controlled areas to keep tabs on foreign fighters. They brought these weapons to Syria, and they are being used on the front lines. Among the arms Tamim has seen are Russian-made surface-to-air missiles, known as the SAM 7.
> 
> Libyan fighters largely brush off questions about weapon transfers, but in December they claimed they were doing just that. We are in the process of collecting arms in Libya, a Libyan fighter in Syria told the French daily Le Figaro. Once this is done, we will have to find a way to bring them here.
> 
> Today Libyans in Syria prefer to steer conversations to their didactic efforts. They note that their eight months of battlefield experience has provided them with valuable skills their Syrian comrades lack. We know how to fight, says Ahmad, a Libyan fighter near Aleppo who only gave his first name in a phone conversation. And we came here to teach Syrians how to do that.




Read more: Libya&#8217;s Militiamen Bring Their Revolution to Syria&#8217;s War Against Assad | World | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

Around 200 British SAS + undetermined number of US SF + CIA operate in Aleppo and Damascus...

Additional number of British SF were sent to Syria in the last few days to "look for Syrian WMD". 
Soon we will be treated to "Look! We found one! Let's invade!"


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Around 200 British SAS + undetermined number of US SF + CIA operate in Aleppo and Damascus...
> 
> Additional number of British SF were sent to Syria in the last few days to "look for Syrian WMD".
> Soon we will be treated to "Look! We found one! Let's invade!"


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


>



Are you banned on Google, or are you reminding us what's in your head?


"On Sunday 26 August, The Daily Star reported that &#8220;nearly 200 elite SAS and SBS troops are in or around Syria&#8221; looking for weapons of mass destruction in the country."

And that's one of many results only for Western media search!


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you banned on Google, or are you reminding us what's in your head?
> 
> 
> "On Sunday 26 August, The Daily Star reported that nearly 200 elite SAS and SBS troops are in or around Syria looking for weapons of mass destruction in the country."
> 
> And that's one of many results only for Western media search!
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you banned on Google, or are you reminding us what's in your head?
> 
> 
> "On Sunday 26 August, The Daily Star reported that nearly 200 elite SAS and SBS troops are in or around Syria looking for weapons of mass destruction in the country."
> 
> And that's one of many results only for Western media search!
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


No.

But at your level it may seem like...


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are you banned on Google, or are you reminding us what's in your head?
> 
> 
> "On Sunday 26 August, The Daily Star reported that nearly 200 elite SAS and SBS troops are in or around Syria looking for weapons of mass destruction in the country."
> 
> And that's one of many results only for Western media search!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No.
> 
> But at your level it may seem like...
Click to expand...


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> ???
> 
> And Russia, and China are already in Syrian waters...





> Strictly speaking, the Tartus station is not a naval base. We only have a floating repair dock there. (...)
> Its personnel currently numbers *50 servicemen*.


Voice of Russia



> The site, at the port of Tartus, is little more than a pier, fuel tanks and some barracks.


http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/w...-said-to-be-going-to-naval-base-in-syria.html

In the media each week Russia is sending Warships.
If there are any Chinese ships in proximity to Syria they're most likely there to evacuate their citizens when the situation worsens. In Lybia it was the same and the Chinese launched a very prestigeous naval evacuation efforts - not only of their own citizens.


----------



## High_Gravity

Turkey to Press for Safe Zone in Syria








> (ANKARA, Turkey)  Turkeys foreign minister said Wednesday he would press the United Nations Security Council to set up a safe haven inside Syria to protect thousands of people fleeing the violence there as his country is straining to shelter an increasing flow of refugees.
> 
> Turkey has long been floating the idea of a no-fly zone, or buffer zone, to protect displaced Syrians from attacks by President Bashar Assads forces, but the issue has become more pressing now the number of refugees in Turkey has exceeded 80,000  an amount it says approaches its limits.
> 
> The refugee agency has said up to 200,000 refugees could eventually flee to Turkey.
> 
> We expect the U.N. to step in and protect the refugees inside Syria, and if possible, to shelter them in camps there, Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told reporters before leaving for New York to attend Thursdays high-level U.N. Security Council meeting on Syria.
> 
> We shall be requesting that the U.N. take effective steps for the problems we are faced, Davutoglu said. When refugee numbers reach hundreds of thousands, this problem goes beyond being an internal issue and becomes an international one. No one has the right to expect Turkey to take on this international responsibility on its own.
> 
> All nine camps along Turkeys 911-kilometer (566-mile) long border with Syria used to shelter Syrians fleeing the conflict are full, and the country is building four new camps to accommodate new arrivals. One opened late Tuesday, allowing authorities to start letting in several thousand more displaced Syrians who were waiting on the Syrian side of the border, an official said.



Read more: Turkey to Press for Safe Zone in Syria | World | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> ???
> 
> And Russia, and China are already in Syrian waters...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Strictly speaking, the Tartus station is not a naval base. We only have a floating repair dock there. (...)
> Its personnel currently numbers *50 servicemen*.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> Voice of Russia
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The site, at the port of Tartus, is little more than a pier, fuel tanks and some barracks.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/19/w...-said-to-be-going-to-naval-base-in-syria.html
> 
> In the media each week Russia is sending Warships.
> If there are any Chinese ships in proximity to Syria they're most likely there to evacuate their citizens when the situation worsens. In Lybia it was the same and the Chinese launched a very prestigeous naval evacuation efforts - not only of their own citizens.
Click to expand...


I was not saying that Tartus is a naval base, was I? 

But a significant number of Russian and Chinese warships are near Syria.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Defectors Live In Secret Desert Camp In Jordan 



> MAFRAQ, Jordan  In an isolated stretch of Jordanian desert, a heavily guarded, secret compound houses 1,200 senior police and army officers who defected from nearby Syria.
> 
> The men live in trailers with fans but no air conditioning, surrounded by barbed wire, and they pass their days browsing the Internet and watching TV for news of Syria's civil war, longing to join the fight  but they are largely unable to leave.
> 
> The Jordanian military runs the camp near a site formerly used by the U.S. to train some its forces for the war in Iraq, and the defectors are debriefed by intelligence agents. Access to them is tightly restricted for their own protection. They are even separated from their families, who live outside the camp near the northern border city of Mafraq but can get special police permits to visit.
> 
> The defectors in the camp are allowed to communicate with the rebel Free Syrian Army in Jordan and abroad, both in person and through telephone and Internet communications, but do not have what is considered valuable intelligence, according to Jordanian security officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not allowed to make press statements.
> 
> The facility is a sign of Jordan's growing role as a quiet supporter of Syria's opposition. But at the same time, Jordan wants to avoid aggravating tensions with its more powerful northern neighbor, fearing that President Bashar Assad may remain in power.
> 
> There are more than 160,000 Syrian refugees in Jordan, and their number is increasing by the thousands every day. About 8,000 live in a newly set up camp on the border, while the rest are scattered across Jordan.
> 
> Maintaining control over the refugees poses a security threat to the small, tightly controlled kingdom. Jordanian security officials and refugees have said there were pro-Assad "sleeper cells" in Jordan that could act against the refugees.
> 
> Jordan has rejected several requests by the Assad government for the extradition of the defectors and has allowed entry to hundreds of Syrian rebels who move freely around the country. It also has helped the refugees by giving them medical treatment.
> 
> It is not clear if former Syrian Prime Minister Riad Hijab, the most prominent defector to flee to Jordan, is housed in the desert facility or one elsewhere. Hijab fled under a plan coordinated between the Amman government and the Free Syrian Army.
> 
> The Associated Press asked to visit the desert facility but was denied access. However, the AP spoke to two of the camp residents who described the conditions there.
> 
> Khaldoun, a 47-year-old former Syrian army brigadier, said there were dozens of trailers housing up to seven men each, with fans stirring the desert air. Armed Jordanian soldiers guard the compound around the clock, he said.
> 
> The men spend their days exercising and playing backgammon and chess, and the Jordanians provide them with access to the Internet, TVs, cellphones and computers, said Khaldoun, who insisted on being identified by his first name only, citing concern for the safety of relatives in Syria.
> 
> "It's good to be here, away from the tension and war, but this is not what I had hoped for," he told the AP.



Syria Defectors Live In Secret Desert Camp In Jordan


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Turkey to Press for Safe Zone in Syria
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Turkey has long been floating the idea of a no-fly zone, or buffer zone,



Journos are running out of ideas AND pictures? (your post 1160 on this thread )


As for Turkey, it looks like Erdogan has a death wish not only for his country, but also for himself...


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> As for Turkey, it looks like Erdogan has a death wish not only for his country, but also for himself...



Free Syrian Army: Contact


----------



## mememe

And??????


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> And??????



Email them and tell them how you feel you dumb spaghetti head bitch.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> And??????



By saying the Turkish PM has a death wish, you implied, that someone has the power to kill him.
My reply was simple: We'll fucking regime-change you.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> And??????
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Email them and tell them how you feel you dumb spaghetti head bitch.
Click to expand...


... again you forgot to take your meds...


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> And??????
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Email them and tell them how you feel you dumb spaghetti head bitch.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> ... again you forgot to take your meds...
Click to expand...


I took my meds, your meds and washed them down with vodka.


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> And??????
> 
> 
> 
> 
> By saying the Turkish PM has a death wish, you implied, that someone has the power to kill him.
> My reply was simple: We'll fucking regime-change you.
Click to expand...


1. In the past few months Erdogan had to arrest and pension off over 50 top military officers.
2. As soon as Erdogan said Syria shot down Turkish military plane, Turkish military initiated their own "investigation" and announced that Syria did not shoot the plane.

Clearly, there is a strong and serious (military!) opposition to Erdogan and his political ideas within Turkish establishment.

3. By getting involved in Syria Erdogan prompted Assad to use Kurds to create problems for Turkish territorial integrity.
4. If Assad will go, Turky will also face Armenian highly militant "freedom fighters". Partially thanks to Erdogan and his slavish toeing the US line.
5. US/internationaldemocraticcommunity already let Erdogan know they will not stick up for Turkey in case of any internal troubles.

In light of all these, what (in your opinion) would be Erdogan's chances if Turkish economy and territorial integrity will be compromised?


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> ekrem said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> And??????
> 
> 
> 
> 
> By saying the Turkish PM has a death wish, you implied, that someone has the power to kill him.
> My reply was simple: We'll fucking regime-change you.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> 1. In the past few months Erdogan had to arrest and pension off over 50 top military officers.
> 2. As soon as Erdogan said Syria shot down Turkish military plane, Turkish military initiated their own "investigation" and announced that Syria did not shoot the plane.
> 
> Clearly, there is a strong and serious (military!) opposition to Erdogan and his political ideas within Turkish establishment.
> 
> 3. By getting involved in Syria Erdogan prompted Assad to use Kurds to create problems for Turkish territorial integrity.
> 4. If Assad will go, Turky will also face Armenian highly militant "freedom fighters". Partially thanks to Erdogan and his slavish toeing the US line.
> 5. US/internationaldemocraticcommunity already let Erdogan know they will not stick up for Turkey in case of any internal troubles.
> 
> In light of all these, what (in your opinion) would be Erdogan's chances if Turkish economy and territorial integrity will be compromised?
Click to expand...


Erdogan is a fucking clown but he is 10,000 times better than your butt buddy Assad.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Email them and tell them how you feel you dumb spaghetti head bitch.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ... again you forgot to take your meds...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I took my meds, your meds and washed them down with vodka.
Click to expand...


... so, your inadequacy is down to you overdosing...


----------



## mememe




----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> ... again you forgot to take your meds...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I took my meds, your meds and washed them down with vodka.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> ... so, your inadequacy is down to you overdosing...
Click to expand...


Your boring posts are causing me to go into a coma.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I took my meds, your meds and washed them down with vodka.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ... so, your inadequacy is down to you overdosing...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Your boring posts are causing me to go into a coma.
Click to expand...


 I am waiting for you to finally reach that state.


----------



## mememe

Syria. Homs -- territory controlled by a "bloody undemocratic regime"
yesterday
IMPERARE SIBI MAXIMUM IMPERIUM EST -


----------



## mememe

During the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Iran Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi openly opposed the legitimate government of Syria and sided with the aggressors, calling on the rest of the members of the Non-Aligned Movement to follow his example.

By doing so, Morsi put the Non-Aligned Movement before a choice: they can either give Egypt a shoeing and remain one of the last post-WW2 international institutions that at least try to preserve world's stability; or they can swallow Morsi's provocation making the world one step closer to the final polarisation before an all-out fight...


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> 5. US/internationaldemocraticcommunity already let Erdogan know they will not stick up for Turkey in case of any internal troubles.



Why would Turks expect some foreigners to "stick up" for our internal issues?
We handle our internal issues ourselves. 

As for Syria: We are still not at the highest point in the escalation-curve.
The situation can be escalated in phases: By providing better weapons to the FSA, no-flyzone, direct military intervention.

Turkey can't bring Assad down unilaterally, or doesn't want to carry the burden of nation-building afterwards by its own.
With the USA there has been set-up "working groups" involving intelligence and military planning. It's a commitment by the USA, but it seems, that the current US administration doesn't want an escalation right now (elections). 
Assad is fucked anyway.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> During the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Iran Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi openly opposed the legitimate government of Syria and sided with the aggressors, calling on the rest of the members of the Non-Aligned Movement to follow his example.
> 
> By doing so, Morsi put the Non-Aligned Movement before a choice: they can either give Egypt a shoeing and remain one of the last post-WW2 international institutions that at least try to preserve world's stability; or they can swallow Morsi's provocation making the world one step closer to the final polarisation before an all-out fight...



Egypt has lots of potential.
But at the moment it's an aid-recipient coming itself out of "revolution", its institutions haven't even stabilized yet.
What Egypt can contribute to solving the Syrian crisis at this point is minimal.


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 5. US/internationaldemocraticcommunity already let Erdogan know they will not stick up for Turkey in case of any internal troubles.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why would Turks expect some foreigners to "stick up" for our internal issues?
> We handle our internal issues ourselves.
> 
> As for Syria: We are still not at the highest point in the escalation-curve.
> The situation can be escalated in phases: By providing better weapons to the FSA, no-flyzone, direct military intervention.
> 
> Turkey can't bring Assad down unilaterally, or doesn't want to carry the burden of nation-building afterwards by its own.
> With the USA there has been set-up "working groups" involving intelligence and military planning. It's a commitment by the USA, but it seems, that the current US administration doesn't want an escalation right now (elections).
> Assad is fucked anyway.
Click to expand...


Because the sole reason Erdogan got into this mess with Syria is his short-sighted orientation on US/internationalcommunity for reasons I already mentioned. Now, after he put Turkey before possible territorial loses without any real progress with ousting Assad, US/internationalcommunity turned away from him.

And I have no doubt that US, France, UK, SA and Qatar will continue doing just that: slowly bleeding Syrian society into sure disintegration; also I have no doubt that Erdogan will continue with his attempts to please his US puppeteers, unless, Turkish military opposition will take situation in the country in their own hands...

Assad is "fucked" as you put it, and eventually he will have to go. The point is: on what and on whose conditions! He already stood up to US and its flunkeys much longer then Gaddafi, messing up "civilised" plans...


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> During the Non-Aligned Movement conference in Iran Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi openly opposed the legitimate government of Syria and sided with the aggressors, calling on the rest of the members of the Non-Aligned Movement to follow his example.
> 
> By doing so, Morsi put the Non-Aligned Movement before a choice: they can either give Egypt a shoeing and remain one of the last post-WW2 international institutions that at least try to preserve world's stability; or they can swallow Morsi's provocation making the world one step closer to the final polarisation before an all-out fight...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Egypt has lots of potential.
> But at the moment it's an aid-recipient coming itself out of "revolution", its institutions haven't even stabilized yet.
> What Egypt can contribute to solving the Syrian crisis at this point is minimal.
Click to expand...


The question is not what it can contribute, but what it is prepared to contribute. And if the mentioned incident is anything to go by, Egypt's contribution is of a far reaching destabilising nature.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> Because the sole reason Erdogan got into this mess with Syria is his short-sighted orientation on US/internationalcommunity for reasons I already mentioned. Now, after he put Turkey before possible territorial loses without any real progress with ousting Assad, US/internationalcommunity turned away from him.
> 
> And I have no doubt that US, France, UK, SA and Qatar will continue doing just that: slowly bleeding Syrian society into sure disintegration; also I have no doubt that Erdogan will continue with his attempts to please his US puppeteers, unless, Turkish military opposition will take situation in the country in their own hands...
> 
> Assad is "fucked" as you put it, and eventually he will have to go. The point is: on what and on whose conditions! He already stood up to US and its flunkeys much longer then Gaddafi, messing up "civilised" plans...



Syrian crisis is not over, yet. 
You have thought 2-3 steps into the future, and you thought incorrect by having drawn the wrong conclusions. 

Like I said before, the situation in Syria can be escalated in a short period of time. The initiative is not on Assad's side.
Current environment in international politics doesn't allow swift action, and the civilian Syrian population pays the toll.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> The question is not what it can contribute, but what it is prepared to contribute. And if the mentioned incident is anything to go by, Egypt's contribution is of a far reaching destabilising nature.



Morsi came to power through free and fair elections. 
His election ended the Mubarak (Dictator) chapter in Egypt's history. 
With his statements on Syria he just shows, that Egypt wants to stand on the right side of history. 

Nothing "destabilizing in nature". 
What's your problem?


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Because the sole reason Erdogan got into this mess with Syria is his short-sighted orientation on US/internationalcommunity for reasons I already mentioned. Now, after he put Turkey before possible territorial loses without any real progress with ousting Assad, US/internationalcommunity turned away from him.
> 
> And I have no doubt that US, France, UK, SA and Qatar will continue doing just that: slowly bleeding Syrian society into sure disintegration; also I have no doubt that Erdogan will continue with his attempts to please his US puppeteers, unless, Turkish military opposition will take situation in the country in their own hands...
> 
> Assad is "fucked" as you put it, and eventually he will have to go. The point is: on what and on whose conditions! He already stood up to US and its flunkeys much longer then Gaddafi, messing up "civilised" plans...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian crisis is not over, yet.
Click to expand...


Why you keep repeating it? 

YES, SYRIAN CRISIS IS NOT OVER! Who says it was?

But the initiative IS after Assad! If it wasn't, all the international rabble posing as "Syrian freedom fighters/opposition" would've ousted Assad long ago!

It doesn't mean that "international community" will leave Syria alone, but as it stands, Assad already messed up US/Qatar plans by holding against constant massive attacks for over a year!
By fighting for their country Syrians are giving much needed time to Iran and Russia to prepare themselves for when "civilised community" will come after them.


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> The question is not what it can contribute, but what it is prepared to contribute. And if the mentioned incident is anything to go by, Egypt's contribution is of a far reaching destabilising nature.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Morsi came to power through free and fair elections.
> His election ended the Mubarak (Dictator) chapter in Egypt's history.
> With his statements on Syria he just shows, that Egypt wants to stand on the right side of history.
> 
> Nothing "destabilizing in nature".
> What's your problem?
Click to expand...


1. "Free and fair elections" is from the same category as "honest lawyers", "conscientious estate agents" and Father Christmas. 

2. By his statement during the *Non-Aligned Movement* conference he UNDERMINED the whole Movement!!!


----------



## mememe

After a terrorist act in Aleppo that took 17 lives when a school and a hospital were targeted, Syrian forces almost cleared the city. 

In Damascus Syrians dig up terrorist tunnels that ran under the city.
Ð¡ÐÐ: Ð²Ð¾ÐºÑÑÐ³ Ð¡Ð¸ÑÐ¸Ð¸ - 11 Ð¡ÐµÐ½ÑÑÐ±ÑÑ 2012 - Ð Ð°Ð·Ð²Ð»ÐµÐºÐ°ÑÐµÐ»ÑÐ½ÑÐ¹ Ð¿Ð¾ÑÑÐ°Ð»


----------



## mememe

How Western media works:

two illustrations, this time about German media.

1. On the 15-th of April 2012, one German "news" channel illustrates "Assad's" brutality with the same video the other news channel uses to illustrate "Taliban" brutality. And no one can tell where the video originated.


2. On the 17-th, German "news" channel uses 2007 video from Iraq where "democratic" Iraqi forces beat up their prisoners, as "evidence" of "Assad's brutality".

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpsZEAJj7dU&feature=player_embedded]ÐÐ¾Ð¶Ñ Ð·Ð°Ð¿Ð°Ð´Ð½ÑÑ Ð¡ÐÐ Ð¾ Ð¡Ð¸ÑÐ¸Ð¸ Ð´Ð¾ÐºÐ°Ð·Ð°Ð½Ð° Ð¶ÐµÐ»ÐµÐ·Ð½Ð¾ - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## SAYIT

mememe said:


> ekrem said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 5. US/internationaldemocraticcommunity already let Erdogan know they will not stick up for Turkey in case of any internal troubles.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why would Turks expect some foreigners to "stick up" for our internal issues?
> We handle our internal issues ourselves.
> 
> As for Syria: We are still not at the highest point in the escalation-curve.
> The situation can be escalated in phases: By providing better weapons to the FSA, no-flyzone, direct military intervention.
> 
> Turkey can't bring Assad down unilaterally, or doesn't want to carry the burden of nation-building afterwards by its own.
> With the USA there has been set-up "working groups" involving intelligence and military planning. It's a commitment by the USA, but it seems, that the current US administration doesn't want an escalation right now (elections).
> Assad is fucked anyway.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Because the sole reason Erdogan got into this mess with Syria is his short-sighted orientation on US/internationalcommunity for reasons I already mentioned. Now, after he put Turkey before possible territorial loses without any real progress with ousting Assad, US/internationalcommunity turned away from him.
> 
> And I have no doubt that US, France, UK, SA and Qatar will continue doing just that: slowly bleeding Syrian society into sure disintegration; also I have no doubt that Erdogan will continue with his attempts to please his US puppeteers, unless, Turkish military opposition will take situation in the country in their own hands...
> 
> Assad is "fucked" as you put it, and eventually he will have to go. The point is: on what and on whose conditions! He already stood up to US and its flunkeys much longer then Gaddafi, messing up "civilised" plans...
Click to expand...


Uh-huh. 
Better Assad should hang on until he's slaughtered another 20,000 Syrians just so you can whine that "it's all America's fault!"


----------



## SAYIT

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> The question is not what it can contribute, but what it is prepared to contribute. And if the mentioned incident is anything to go by, Egypt's contribution is of a far reaching destabilising nature.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Morsi came to power through free and fair elections.
> His election ended the Mubarak (Dictator) chapter in Egypt's history.
> With his statements on Syria he just shows, that Egypt wants to stand on the right side of history.
> 
> Nothing "destabilizing in nature".
> What's your problem?
Click to expand...


His problem is he sees everything through his hate-for-America prism which, as most rational people know, can be very narrow, depending on how you hold it.


----------



## mememe

Good news:
Syrian army is pushing international gangs of "freedom fighters" towards the Turkish border! Effectively, this is the end of an open war on Syria.


Bad news:
Since "opposition" has lost an open war, it is now concentrating on terrorism. If before "opposition" was committing terrorist acts mainly against military/government targets; now it is moving the focus of its activities onto civilians population.


----------



## mememe

SAYIT said:


> ekrem said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> The question is not what it can contribute, but what it is prepared to contribute. And if the mentioned incident is anything to go by, Egypt's contribution is of a far reaching destabilising nature.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Morsi came to power through free and fair elections.
> His election ended the Mubarak (Dictator) chapter in Egypt's history.
> With his statements on Syria he just shows, that Egypt wants to stand on the right side of history.
> 
> Nothing "destabilizing in nature".
> What's your problem?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> His problem is he sees everything through his hate-for-America prism which, as most rational people know, can be very narrow, depending on how you hold it.
Click to expand...


You are putting a cart before a horse: its not the "hatred" that came first. Its US actions on international stage led to wide-spread resentment of US.


----------



## SAYIT

mememe said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> ekrem said:
> 
> 
> 
> Morsi came to power through free and fair elections.
> His election ended the Mubarak (Dictator) chapter in Egypt's history.
> With his statements on Syria he just shows, that Egypt wants to stand on the right side of history.
> 
> Nothing "destabilizing in nature".
> What's your problem?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> His problem is he sees everything through his hate-for-America prism which, as most rational people know, can be very narrow, depending on how you hold it.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You are putting a cart before a horse: its not the "hatred" that came first. Its US actions on international stage led to wide-spread resentment of US.
Click to expand...


I said nothing and care not at all how you came to hate America, Princess. I simply commented on your hateful nature and the hateful nature of your posts.
BTW, you don't speak for others ... just your own hateful self.


----------



## mememe

SAYIT said:


> I said nothing and care not at all how you came to hate America, Princess.



Liar! If you did not care about the fact that millions of people either hate or strongly dislike US, you would not have brought it up in an unrelated thread.

I simply explained to you the facts of life. But if you are not ready to accept them, then dry your eyes, princess -- US will reap what it sows.


----------



## SAYIT

mememe said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> I said nothing and care not at all how you came to hate America, Princess.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Liar! If you did not care about the fact that millions of people either hate or strongly dislike US, you would not have brought it up in an unrelated thread.
> 
> I simply explained to you the facts of life. But if you are not ready to accept them, then dry your eyes, princess -- US will reap what it sows.
Click to expand...


Be careful you don't reap what you sow. One of your America-hatin' comrades was just picked up in Chicago while trying to act on his hate:

Chicago-area man facing charges in car-bomb plot - Washington Times


----------



## mememe

SAYIT said:


> Be careful ......



You are a dimwit, a coward and a liar. I have no more use for you.


----------



## SAYIT

from: MEMEMEMEME
I have no doubt that you are proud that your tax dollars are wrecking the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world from Africa to Europe! You are proud that your tax dollars are financing poverty in Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaris, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Esstonia, Georgia, the list goes on. You are proud that your tax dollars finance genocide of Ossetians, wars in Yugoslavia, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria... You are proud that your tax dollars finance terrorism in ME, Africa, Russia.
And for that all those people affected by your proudly spent tax dollars hate Americans (and now also British).

from: Sayit
Woo. You are farther gone than I realized. 
So while you are posting the link to a credible source that supports your outrageous claims about Gorbachov's, Yeltsyn's, and Kravchuk's bank accounts and the US/UK connection to their wealth, could you post a link to a credible source to all the outrageous claims you just posted and my connection to them?



mememe said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> Be careful ......
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You are a dimwit, a coward and a liar. I have no more use for you.
Click to expand...


Yeah, that's fine, Princess, but before you run away could you post the links to all the outrageous claims you have posted here in just the past 24 hours? 
I included them in this post for your convenience.


----------



## mememe

Today Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russian federation issued a statement where he expressed concern about possible plans for Western military intervention in Syria.

Ð Ð¾ÑÑÐ¸Ñ Ð±ÐµÑÐ¿Ð¾ÐºÐ¾ÑÑ ÑÐ»ÑÑÐ¸ Ð¾ Ð¿Ð»Ð°Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð¸Ð½ÑÐµÑÐ²ÐµÐ½ÑÐ¸Ð¸ Ð² CÐ¸ÑÐ¸Ñ - ÐÐÐ Ð Ð¤ | Ð¡Ð¸ÑÐ¸Ñ | Ð ÐÐ ÐÐ¾Ð²Ð¾ÑÑÐ¸


----------



## bigrebnc1775

High_Gravity said:


> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> DAMASCUS (Reuters) - Security forces wielding batons dispersed 150 demonstrators who had gathered in central of Damascus on Wednesday in the most serious protest against Syria's ruling hierarchy since revolts spread in the Arab world.
> 
> Scores of plainclothes security officers charged the demonstrators assembled outside the Interior Ministry to demand the release of political prisoners, a Reuters witness said.
> 
> One demonstrator suffered a gash on his head, others were beaten and at least 15 were detained, including leading political activist Suhair al-Attasi.
> 
> Attasi had said Syrian authorities would not be able to escape the tumult shaking the Arab world by refusing to open the country's political system and allowing free expression.
> 
> "They pulled Suhair by her hair and took her away," one demonstrator said.
> 
> Among those arrested were Tayyib Tizini, 69, a professor of philosophy at Damascus University, and the sister and son of Kamal Labwani, a doctor jailed for "weakening national morale" and "inciting a foreign country to invade Syria."
> 
> The gathering in Marjeh square, an Ottoman-era square in the centre of the capital, had been silent, with protesters raising pictures of imprisoned relatives and friends, before security forces started hitting them with their batons.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian forces break up Damascus protest | World | Reuters
Click to expand...

It's best we leave this alone, we have enough trouble with interfering in  Libya.


----------



## SAYIT

from: MEMEMEMEME
I have no doubt that you are proud that your tax dollars are wrecking the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world from Africa to Europe! You are proud that your tax dollars are financing poverty in Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaris, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Esstonia, Georgia, the list goes on. You are proud that your tax dollars finance genocide of Ossetians, wars in Yugoslavia, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria... You are proud that your tax dollars finance terrorism in ME, Africa, Russia.
And for that all those people affected by your proudly spent tax dollars hate Americans (and now also British).

from: Sayit
Woo. You are farther gone than I realized. 
So while you are posting the link to a credible source that supports your outrageous claims about Gorbachov's, Yeltsyn's, and Kravchuk's bank accounts and the US/UK connection to their wealth, could you post a link to a credible source to all the outrageous claims you just posted and my connection to them?



mememe said:


> Today Minister of Foreign Affairs of Russian federation issued a statement where he expressed concern about possible plans for Western military intervention in Syria.
> 
> Ð*Ð¾ÑÑÐ¸Ñ Ð±ÐµÑÐ¿Ð¾ÐºÐ¾ÑÑ ÑÐ»ÑÑÐ¸ Ð¾ Ð¿Ð»Ð°Ð½Ð°Ñ Ð¸Ð½ÑÐµÑÐ²ÐµÐ½ÑÐ¸Ð¸ Ð² CÐ¸ÑÐ¸Ñ - ÐÐÐ Ð*Ð¤ | Ð¡Ð¸ÑÐ¸Ñ | Ð*ÐÐ ÐÐ¾Ð²Ð¾ÑÑÐ¸



Yeah, that's great, Princess, but could you post some proof of all the lies and absurd conspiracy theory BS you posted here the past 24 hours? I included them in this post for your convenience.


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> It's best we leave this alone, we have enough trouble with interfering in  Libya.



There is no "protest" in Damascus. The city is clear off "rebels" and operations are moved to the outskirts of the city.

Reuters did its usual and lied.


----------



## SAYIT

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> It's best we leave this alone, we have enough trouble with interfering in  Libya.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> There is no "protest" in Damascus. The city is clear off "rebels" and operations are moved to the outskirts of the city.
> Reuters did its usual and lied.
Click to expand...


As one who lies like it's her job, you have no business tossing stones at Reuters, Princess. It's time to stop running and stand behind the BS you've alraedy posted:

from: MEMEMEMEME
I have no doubt that you are proud that your tax dollars are wrecking the lives of hundreds of millions of people around the world from Africa to Europe! You are proud that your tax dollars are financing poverty in Poland, Ukraine, Hungary, Bulgaris, Slovakia, Latvia, Lithuania, Esstonia, Georgia, the list goes on. You are proud that your tax dollars finance genocide of Ossetians, wars in Yugoslavia, Serbia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria... You are proud that your tax dollars finance terrorism in ME, Africa, Russia.
And for that all those people affected by your proudly spent tax dollars hate Americans (and now also British).

from: Sayit
Woo. You are farther gone than I realized. 
So while you are posting the link to a credible source that supports your outrageous claims about Gorbachov's, Yeltsyn's, and Kravchuk's bank accounts and the US/UK connection to their wealth, could you post a link to a credible source to all the outrageous claims you just posted and my connection to them?


----------



## mememe

Circus... US-paid and supported Syrian opposition burns US flag

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R5OtSNDz6lU&feature=player_embedded]US-Backed Syrian "Opposition" Burn American Flag in Aleppo and Chant Anti-American Slogans - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Jets Hit Lebanese Border Town Of Arsal 








> BEIRUT  Missiles fired by Syrian warplanes hit Lebanese territory Monday in one of the most serious cross-border violations since Syria's crisis began 18 months ago, security officials in Beirut and Lebanese state media said.
> 
> The officials, speaking on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said four missiles fired by two Syrian jets hit a rugged and remote area on the edge of the Lebanese border town of Arsal. No casualties were immediately reported.
> 
> Lebanese President Michel Suleiman ordered an investigation into the border shelling Monday, without openly blaming Syria.
> 
> Lebanon's state-run National News Agency reported that the warplanes fired three missiles that fell on the outskirts of Arsal about 500 meters (yards) from the border between the two countries.
> 
> "I heard several explosions and saw four clouds of dust billowing from the area," Arsal resident Nayeh Izzedine said by telephone referring to the border. "I don't know if it was an air raid but there was a plane in the sky."
> 
> He added that the town had been quiet two hours after the 10 a.m. attack.
> 
> The Syrian forces were believed to be chasing rebels in the area, which has been the site of clashes in the past between opposition fighters battling Syrian troops just on the other side of the frontier. Lebanese armed forces have in the past detained people in the region for trying to smuggle weapons into Syria from Lebanon.
> 
> Arsal is a predominantly Sunni Muslim town, like the majority of Syria's opposition that is trying to oust President Bashar Assad from power. Assad belongs to the minority Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.



Syria Jets Hit Lebanese Border Town Of Arsal


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Crisis: Regime Helicopter Crashes After Clipping Passenger Jet Near Damascus, Says State TV



> BEIRUT -- A Syrian military helicopter clipped the tail of a Syrian passenger jet with 200 people aboard in mid-air Thursday, but the larger aircraft landed safely and no one aboard was hurt, Syria's state TV said.
> 
> The helicopter crashed near the capital of Damascus, though it was not clear if there were any casualties in that crash or what had led the two aircraft to touch in mid-air.
> 
> The close call came at a time when Syria is embroiled in a civil war between the supporters of President Bashar Assad and those trying to topple him. The 18-month rebellion has claimed the lives of more than 23,000 people, according to activists, and Syria has descended into chaos.
> 
> The Syrian government has increasingly been using helicopters and other aircraft in its fight against the rebels. Rebels have claimed to have shot down helicopters and warplanes in the past, although the regime has blamed most of the problems on mechanical difficulties.
> 
> In Thursday's incident, the helicopters rotor clipped the tail of a Syrian Arab Airlines jet, the state TV said. The passenger plane "landed safely at the airport and none of the 200 passengers were harmed," the report said.



Syrian Crisis: Regime Helicopter Crashes After Clipping Passenger Jet Near Damascus, Says State TV


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Air Strike Reportedly Kills Dozens In Al Raqqa



> BEIRUT, Sept 20 (Reuters) - At least 54 people were killed when a Syrian air strike hit a fuel station in the northern province of al-Raqqa on Thursday, a British-based violence watchdog said, an area of heavy fighting between government and rebel forces.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a network of activists across Syria reporting on government violence during the 18-month-old revolt, cited an activist in the region saying that more than 110 people were dead or wounded.
> 
> A video published by activists, said to be from al-Raqqa, showed black clouds of smoke rising from the wreckage of the petrol station as bewildered residents examined the scene following the attack by a Syrian air force jet.
> 
> It came a day after insurgents seized a border crossing with Turkey some 30 km (18 miles) away on the northern fringes of al-Raqqa province, consolidating their grip on a frontier through which they ferry arms for battle.
> 
> It was impossible to verify the authenticity of the video, and most foreign journalists are barred entry into Syria, making varying accounts of events difficult to confirm.
> 
> President Bashar al-Assad has used helicopters and fighter jets to fire at and bomb parts of the country where insurgents have been operating, including residential districts of the capital and Syria's main cities.
> 
> Assad's forces have targeted petrol stations in rural towns and villages and along main roads to deprive rebels of fuel. Civilians have set up smaller, discreet fuel outlets.



Syria Crisis: Air Strike Reportedly Kills Dozens In Al Raqqa


----------



## High_Gravity

Despite Syrias Bloodbath, Libya-Style Intervention Remains Unlikely









> On Wednesday, Syrian National Council head Abdulbaset Sieda invoked Libya when calling for international intervention to topple the regime of President Bashar Assad. He may not have realized the extent to which, after last weeks attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya weighs heavily on American minds. The chaos that prevails almost a year after the overthrow of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi allowed a radical Islamist militia to operate unmolested and use a demonstration over an Islam-bashing film made in California as an opportunity to attack and kill Americans. So, despite the escalating brutality in Syria, a repeat of the Libya model is unlikely to get many takers in Washington. No one outside Tehran and Moscow wants to bolster Bashar al-Assad, but the images of infuriated young men in Egypt, Libya and Yemen have given outsiders greater pause about Syrias fragmented, radicalized and increasingly well-armed opposition, noted Ian Bremmer, president of the Eurasia Group risk-management firm. That conflict will drag on without intervention by outsiders for some time to come.
> 
> Yet, in the Hague, another meeting of the Friends of Syria group of Western and Arab backers of the rebellion ended on Wednesday. They made plans to escalate the slow-burning sanctions that are doing little to change the regimes course, even as they constrict Syrians ability to make ends meet. The group vowed to meet again before the end of 2012, but set no date. Even before last weeks tragedy in Libya, Syrias plight was simply not near the top of the to-do list of Western leaders, partly as a result of more pressing priorities and partly because they see no good options for effecting a positive outcome.
> 
> The Syrian conflict pits a predominantly Sunni rebellion against a regime based on an Alawite security core with a measure of support from Christians and other minorities, as well as a declining share of the Sunni elite (numerous exceptions notwithstanding). From the outside, at least, it is beginning to look more like the civil war that broke out in Lebanon in the late 1970s than the rebellions of Tunisia and Egypt. Mindful of the regional consequences of picking a side in such a civil war, and of the danger of being sucked in with no exit strategy, Western powers are, if anything, growing increasingly reluctant to intervene directly.
> 
> Syrias opposition remains deeply divided. The armed rebellion remains disorganized, with dozens of rival militias fighting under autonomous commanders. The growing influence of both Syrian and foreign jihadists among the armed formations reinforces the Wests hesitance. Indeed, even the U.S. that hoped, together with France, Turkey and Qatar, to anoint the Syrian National Council as a government-in-waiting, has been forced to distance itself from the group in light of its limited authority over revolutionaries on the ground.
> 
> U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, whose new envoy Lakhdar Brahimi has been meeting with stakeholders across the region in recent weeks, pointedly warned this week that there could be no military solution to the Syrian conflict. But as Bans last envoy, Kofi Annan, found, neither the opposition nor the regime, nor the foreign backers of either side, appears to be ready to embrace that reality. Assad hopes to blast his way out of trouble, while the rebels appear to believe that even if they lack the military capacity to topple the regime themselves, putting up enough of a fight will eventually prompt Western powers to intervene, as in Libya, to destroy the regimes fighting capacity.




Read more: Despite Violence in Syria, Libya-Style Intervention Remains Unlikely | World | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Despite Syrias Bloodbath, Libya-Style Intervention Remains Unlikely



That will depend on whether or not Israel will persuade US to attack Iran.


----------



## irosie91

the islamo nazis have their story prepared      ISRAELIS MADE EVERYONE ELSE ATTACK IRAN

    reminds me of the muslim kids who were chanting   "the jews went on vacation"   on  
9-10-01     in preparation for the  JIHADIST MURDER FEST  on  9-11-01

it all started when jews killed some jerk  named  ALI    who was the son-in-law of  AL NABI   after al nabi dropped dead having been poisoned to death by a brave jewish rape victim


----------



## BecauseIKnow

irosie91 said:


> the islamo nazis have their story prepared      ISRAELIS MADE EVERYONE ELSE ATTACK IRAN
> 
> reminds me of the muslim kids who were chanting   "the jews went on vacation"   on
> 9-10-01     in preparation for the  JIHADIST MURDER FEST  on  9-11-01
> 
> it all started when jews killed some jerk  named  ALI    who was the son-in-law of  AL NABI   after al nabi dropped dead having been poisoned to death by a brave jewish rape victim



Why do you bitch so much about people who bitch about Israel on a Syrian related thread? Wrong thread and retarded rant


----------



## mememe

The West is increasing weapons supply to terrorists in Syria. In light of recent defeat of the international gangs at the hands of a Syrian army, the so called "Syrian opposition" is going to concentrate on terrorising civilian population in attempt to provoke an all-out war where everybody is fighting one another...


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> The West is increasing weapons supply to terrorists in Syria. In light of recent defeat of the international gangs at the hands of a Syrian army, the so called "Syrian opposition" is going to concentrate on terrorising civilian population in attempt to provoke an all-out war where everybody is fighting one another...



So?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Explosions Strike Top Military Command Building In Damascus



> BEIRUT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Two loud explosions targeted one of Syria's top military command buildings in the capital Damascus on Wednesday, engulfing the building in flames, residents and state-television said.
> 
> They said the explosions struck the General Staff Command Building (Hay'at al Arkan) in the Umayad Square in central Damascus, which is one of the top military headquarters in the country.
> 
> There was no immediate word on casualties but ambulances could be heard racing to the sealed-off area.
> 
> The Syrian information minister said the attack had caused "only material damage" and that security forces were chasing "armed terrorists" - a term the authorities use to refer to insurgents waging a violent uprising to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> Gunfire and other smaller blasts could be heard after the explosions, as well as the sound of ambulance sirens. Many roads in the centre of the capital were blocked, residents said.
> 
> The explosions were heard around 7.00 am (0345 GMT), before regular working hours start in Syria.
> 
> "The explosions were very loud. They shook the whole city and the windows of our house were shuddering," one resident reached by telephone said.
> 
> "Black smoke was seen rising from the area near the army staff building," the resident, who declined to be named, said.
> 
> A Damascus bomb attack on July 18 killed several top security officials, including Assad's brother-in-law, the defence and interior ministers. That attack paved the way for a rebel advance into the centre of the capital, although they have since been pushed back to the outskirts.



Syria: Explosions Strike Top Military Command Building In Damascus


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> Syria: Explosions Strike Top Military Command Building In Damascus
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Two loud explosions targeted one of Syria's top military command buildings in the capital Damascus on Wednesday, engulfing the building in flames, residents and state-television said.
> 
> They said the explosions struck the General Staff Command Building (Hay'at al Arkan) in the Umayad Square in central Damascus, which is one of the top military headquarters in the country.
> 
> There was no immediate word on casualties but ambulances could be heard racing to the sealed-off area.
> 
> The Syrian information minister said the attack had caused "only material damage" and that security forces were chasing "armed terrorists" - a term the authorities use to refer to insurgents waging a violent uprising to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> Gunfire and other smaller blasts could be heard after the explosions, as well as the sound of ambulance sirens. Many roads in the centre of the capital were blocked, residents said.
> 
> The explosions were heard around 7.00 am (0345 GMT), before regular working hours start in Syria.
> 
> "The explosions were very loud. They shook the whole city and the windows of our house were shuddering," one resident reached by telephone said.
> 
> "Black smoke was seen rising from the area near the army staff building," the resident, who declined to be named, said.
> 
> A Damascus bomb attack on July 18 killed several top security officials, including Assad's brother-in-law, the defence and interior ministers. That attack paved the way for a rebel advance into the centre of the capital, although they have since been pushed back to the outskirts.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Explosions Strike Top Military Command Building In Damascus
Click to expand...


Assad will never admit losses. And he is hilarious with his tone as if he is only there to stop "terrorists" . Yet yesterday I saw a video of what Assad forces did to a protestor. Very sad and graphic. Fuck that devil piece of shit.


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Explosions Strike Top Military Command Building In Damascus
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT, Sept 26 (Reuters) - Two loud explosions targeted one of Syria's top military command buildings in the capital Damascus on Wednesday, engulfing the building in flames, residents and state-television said.
> 
> They said the explosions struck the General Staff Command Building (Hay'at al Arkan) in the Umayad Square in central Damascus, which is one of the top military headquarters in the country.
> 
> There was no immediate word on casualties but ambulances could be heard racing to the sealed-off area.
> 
> The Syrian information minister said the attack had caused "only material damage" and that security forces were chasing "armed terrorists" - a term the authorities use to refer to insurgents waging a violent uprising to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> Gunfire and other smaller blasts could be heard after the explosions, as well as the sound of ambulance sirens. Many roads in the centre of the capital were blocked, residents said.
> 
> The explosions were heard around 7.00 am (0345 GMT), before regular working hours start in Syria.
> 
> "The explosions were very loud. They shook the whole city and the windows of our house were shuddering," one resident reached by telephone said.
> 
> "Black smoke was seen rising from the area near the army staff building," the resident, who declined to be named, said.
> 
> A Damascus bomb attack on July 18 killed several top security officials, including Assad's brother-in-law, the defence and interior ministers. That attack paved the way for a rebel advance into the centre of the capital, although they have since been pushed back to the outskirts.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Explosions Strike Top Military Command Building In Damascus
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Assad will never admit losses. And he is hilarious with his tone as if he is only there to stop "terrorists" . Yet yesterday I saw a video of what Assad forces did to a protestor. Very sad and graphic. Fuck that devil piece of shit.
Click to expand...


Assad deserves to be wiped out, although the violence will increase when he is gone.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian Rebels Seek Islamic Democracy









> (RNS) Members of the Syrian opposition generally want a democratic government that protects the rights of minorities, though many also want a constitution based on Islam, according to a recent survey.
> 
> Their aspirations are important because the Obama administration has said it is refraining from arming the opposition, which has been pummeled by Syrian security forces for 18 months, in part out of fear of igniting sectarian violence. There's also fear that weapons would reach Islamist radicals who would threaten allies in the region.
> 
> The survey by the International Republican Institute, which trains democracy activists around the world, found high support for a government that "respectfully acknowledges religion" and treats all religions equally. The second-most popular model of choice was for a constitution "based on Islam."
> 
> "Most of the opposition is Sunni Muslims and they are democratically minded, but they want a government based on some kind of Islamic law or that follows Islamic guidelines," says Elizabeth O'Bagy, an analyst at the Institute for the Study of War who helped the survey writers find contacts in the opposition movement.
> 
> The survey, released Sept. 21, was conducted with help from Pechter Polls of Princeton, N.J., which used personal networks of opposition members to reach 1,168 participants via the Internet, including 315 opposition members in Syria from June 1 to July 2.
> 
> Respondents were asked to rank their support, on a scale of 1 to 7, of various statements about a future Syrian government. A government styled on that of France, the United States and Turkey received the highest marks. A government styled on Iran or Iraq received the lowest marks.
> 
> They tended to agree that government should protect minorities, even members of President Bashar Assad's Alawite sect, atheists and apostates.
> 
> They agreed that the government and constitution should mention religion but otherwise be secular. They also agreed, though not as much, with the statement that the constitution should be "based on Islam."
> 
> O'Bagy said many Syrian opposition members she has spoken to compared what they want to the United States.
> 
> "People here are religious, and, yes, we have a secular constitution and government," she says. "But a lot of decisions that are made are based on religious beliefs."
> 
> Though that view is shared by the majority, religious extremists known as Salafis, who seek to rule according to an ultra-conservative version of Islam, are a small minority in the opposition that is growing in number and influence, said O'Bagy.



Syrian Rebels Seek Islamic Democracy


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Explosions Strike Top Military Command Building In Damascus
> 
> 
> 
> Syria: Explosions Strike Top Military Command Building In Damascus
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Assad will never admit losses. And he is hilarious with his tone as if he is only there to stop "terrorists" . Yet yesterday I saw a video of what Assad forces did to a protestor. Very sad and graphic. Fuck that devil piece of shit.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Assad deserves to be wiped out, although the violence will increase when he is gone.
Click to expand...


No it won't increase. You don't know Syrian people HG they all mostly want him gone. Some are forced to say Assad is good. They will literally come to your house. I know of a family who's neighbors on the bottom floor all got killed including their children for that. There might be a little violence after and hopefully it will end quickly. If even they are able to get rid of him. And the violence won't be horrific like the video I saw where they sliced the back part of a guys head. It didn't show it it just showed his dead body. That's cruel shit! Every Muslim thats capable and willing to give their life should go there and fight against those sick people


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Assad will never admit losses. And he is hilarious with his tone as if he is only there to stop "terrorists" . Yet yesterday I saw a video of what Assad forces did to a protestor. Very sad and graphic. Fuck that devil piece of shit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Assad deserves to be wiped out, although the violence will increase when he is gone.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No it won't increase. You don't know Syrian people HG they all mostly want him gone. Some are forced to say Assad is good. They will literally come to your house. I know of a family who's neighbors on the bottom floor all got killed including their children for that. There might be a little violence after and hopefully it will end quickly. If even they are able to get rid of him. And the violence won't be horrific like the video I saw where they sliced the back part of a guys head. It didn't show it it just showed his dead body. That's cruel shit! Every Muslim thats capable and willing to give their life should go there and fight against those sick people
Click to expand...


I really hope your right, I just have a bad feeling once the Assads are gone it will be a fight for power.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Assad deserves to be wiped out, although the violence will increase when he is gone.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No it won't increase. You don't know Syrian people HG they all mostly want him gone. Some are forced to say Assad is good. They will literally come to your house. I know of a family who's neighbors on the bottom floor all got killed including their children for that. There might be a little violence after and hopefully it will end quickly. If even they are able to get rid of him. And the violence won't be horrific like the video I saw where they sliced the back part of a guys head. It didn't show it it just showed his dead body. That's cruel shit! Every Muslim thats capable and willing to give their life should go there and fight against those sick people
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I really hope your right, I just have a bad feeling once the Assads are gone it will be a fight for power.
Click to expand...


If it was a different Arabic country yes. But Syrians are actually very smart people and they know how to make good decisions. I don't see it unless Iran or hezbollah try to get an influence. I wonder what hezbollah is gonna do because there are gonna be no weopons going to them if the rebels get in power. Syrians are probably the most liked Arabs. Many of them here in America are very successful people and many are in the medical field. They are organized


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> No it won't increase. You don't know Syrian people HG they all mostly want him gone. Some are forced to say Assad is good. They will literally come to your house. I know of a family who's neighbors on the bottom floor all got killed including their children for that. There might be a little violence after and hopefully it will end quickly. If even they are able to get rid of him. And the violence won't be horrific like the video I saw where they sliced the back part of a guys head. It didn't show it it just showed his dead body. That's cruel shit! Every Muslim thats capable and willing to give their life should go there and fight against those sick people
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I really hope your right, I just have a bad feeling once the Assads are gone it will be a fight for power.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> If it was a different Arabic country yes. But Syrians are actually very smart people and they know how to make good decisions. I don't see it unless Iran or hezbollah try to get an influence. I wonder what hezbollah is gonna do because there are gonna be no weopons going to them if the rebels get in power. Syrians are probably the most liked Arabs. Many of them here in America are very successful people and many are in the medical field. They are organized
Click to expand...


Hezbollah and the Iranians are in Syria right now, they would definently try to stir up shit and stop Syria from becoming stable, they did the same thing next door in Iraq for years.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I really hope your right, I just have a bad feeling once the Assads are gone it will be a fight for power.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> If it was a different Arabic country yes. But Syrians are actually very smart people and they know how to make good decisions. I don't see it unless Iran or hezbollah try to get an influence. I wonder what hezbollah is gonna do because there are gonna be no weopons going to them if the rebels get in power. Syrians are probably the most liked Arabs. Many of them here in America are very successful people and many are in the medical field. They are organized
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Hezbollah and the Iranians are in Syria right now, they would definently try to stir up shit and stop Syria from becoming stable, they did the same thing next door in Iraq for years.
Click to expand...


Hezbollah isn't actually in there. It's mostly Syrian forces. Iran is interfering there though. And they need to quit with that. But they do it because that's an important ally and the are gonna try building up Iraq now since they see where Syria is going but it won't work their way. They know it and they have to change their ways. I hate how Iran approaches things. They need to just fuck off. But I still think hezbollah approaches it differently and they are gonna be smart about it. No one really knows how hezbollah works. So I can't predict what will happen if Assad falls


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> If it was a different Arabic country yes. But Syrians are actually very smart people and they know how to make good decisions. I don't see it unless Iran or hezbollah try to get an influence. I wonder what hezbollah is gonna do because there are gonna be no weopons going to them if the rebels get in power. Syrians are probably the most liked Arabs. Many of them here in America are very successful people and many are in the medical field. They are organized
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hezbollah and the Iranians are in Syria right now, they would definently try to stir up shit and stop Syria from becoming stable, they did the same thing next door in Iraq for years.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Hezbollah isn't actually in there. It's mostly Syrian forces. Iran is interfering there though. And they need to quit with that. But they do it because that's an important ally and the are gonna try building up Iraq now since they see where Syria is going but it won't work their way. They know it and they have to change their ways. I hate how Iran approaches things. They need to just fuck off. But I still think hezbollah approaches it differently and they are gonna be smart about it. No one really knows how hezbollah works. So I can't predict what will happen if Assad falls
Click to expand...


Hezbollah is in Syria and has been for some time, so is Hamas, the Hamas headquarters is in Damascus. Hezbollah recently saved an Iranian base from being overtaken by Syrians.

Hezbollah Saves Iranian Base in Syria; Is Assad Preparing for Chemical Warfare? | Act for Australia


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hezbollah and the Iranians are in Syria right now, they would definently try to stir up shit and stop Syria from becoming stable, they did the same thing next door in Iraq for years.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hezbollah isn't actually in there. It's mostly Syrian forces. Iran is interfering there though. And they need to quit with that. But they do it because that's an important ally and the are gonna try building up Iraq now since they see where Syria is going but it won't work their way. They know it and they have to change their ways. I hate how Iran approaches things. They need to just fuck off. But I still think hezbollah approaches it differently and they are gonna be smart about it. No one really knows how hezbollah works. So I can't predict what will happen if Assad falls
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Hezbollah is in Syria and has been for some time, so is Hamas, the Hamas headquarters is in Damascus. Hezbollah recently saved an Iranian base from being overtaken by Syrians.
> 
> Hezbollah Saves Iranian Base in Syria; Is Assad Preparing for Chemical Warfare? | Act for Australia
Click to expand...


Dude I know you would like to believe that. Hezbollah does support Assad but the don't have their reserves there. I've been following it for a while. And that site is wierd...all of it is speaking on Islam. . Hezbollah has been helping in a few ways. They need to change their policy. 

Iran has had people there but it's mostly Syrian forces still, they are still strong and have a big number of troops. 

Hamas had their headquarters there but one of their guys was killed. And they don't support Assad and they aren't interfering in the conflcit. They just have thier political leadership there but they are moving it. 

BBC News - Hamas member 'assassinated' in Syrian capital Damascus

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/hamas-leader-supports-syrian-opposition.html?_r=0

^^^
They spoke against Assad


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hezbollah isn't actually in there. It's mostly Syrian forces. Iran is interfering there though. And they need to quit with that. But they do it because that's an important ally and the are gonna try building up Iraq now since they see where Syria is going but it won't work their way. They know it and they have to change their ways. I hate how Iran approaches things. They need to just fuck off. But I still think hezbollah approaches it differently and they are gonna be smart about it. No one really knows how hezbollah works. So I can't predict what will happen if Assad falls
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Hezbollah is in Syria and has been for some time, so is Hamas, the Hamas headquarters is in Damascus. Hezbollah recently saved an Iranian base from being overtaken by Syrians.
> 
> Hezbollah Saves Iranian Base in Syria; Is Assad Preparing for Chemical Warfare? | Act for Australia
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Dude I know you would like to believe that. Hezbollah does support Assad but the don't have their reserves there. I've been following it for a while. And that site is wierd...all of it is speaking on Islam. . Hezbollah has been helping in a few ways. They need to change their policy.
> 
> Iran has had people there but it's mostly Syrian forces still, they are still strong and have a big number of troops.
> 
> Hamas had their headquarters there but one of their guys was killed. And they don't support Assad and they aren't interfering in the conflcit. They just have thier political leadership there but they are moving it.
> 
> BBC News - Hamas member 'assassinated' in Syrian capital Damascus
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/hamas-leader-supports-syrian-opposition.html?_r=0
> 
> ^^^
> They spoke against Assad
Click to expand...


Iran and its proxies have too much to lose if Assad falls, they will continue to make this as difficult as possible for the Syrian people.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Hezbollah is in Syria and has been for some time, so is Hamas, the Hamas headquarters is in Damascus. Hezbollah recently saved an Iranian base from being overtaken by Syrians.
> 
> Hezbollah Saves Iranian Base in Syria; Is Assad Preparing for Chemical Warfare? | Act for Australia
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Dude I know you would like to believe that. Hezbollah does support Assad but the don't have their reserves there. I've been following it for a while. And that site is wierd...all of it is speaking on Islam. . Hezbollah has been helping in a few ways. They need to change their policy.
> 
> Iran has had people there but it's mostly Syrian forces still, they are still strong and have a big number of troops.
> 
> Hamas had their headquarters there but one of their guys was killed. And they don't support Assad and they aren't interfering in the conflcit. They just have thier political leadership there but they are moving it.
> 
> BBC News - Hamas member 'assassinated' in Syrian capital Damascus
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/hamas-leader-supports-syrian-opposition.html?_r=0
> 
> ^^^
> They spoke against Assad
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Iran and its proxies have too much to lose if Assad falls, they will continue to make this as difficult as possible for the Syrian people.
Click to expand...


That's true and hezbollah will give up. I'm not sure about Iran....this thing is gonna be really long maybe another few years still unless the international world starts bombing Syrian forces and military equipment. But Russia is giving/selling them weopons constantly so it won't happen(a intervention military style)


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Dude I know you would like to believe that. Hezbollah does support Assad but the don't have their reserves there. I've been following it for a while. And that site is wierd...all of it is speaking on Islam. . Hezbollah has been helping in a few ways. They need to change their policy.
> 
> Iran has had people there but it's mostly Syrian forces still, they are still strong and have a big number of troops.
> 
> Hamas had their headquarters there but one of their guys was killed. And they don't support Assad and they aren't interfering in the conflcit. They just have thier political leadership there but they are moving it.
> 
> BBC News - Hamas member 'assassinated' in Syrian capital Damascus
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/25/world/middleeast/hamas-leader-supports-syrian-opposition.html?_r=0
> 
> ^^^
> They spoke against Assad
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Iran and its proxies have too much to lose if Assad falls, they will continue to make this as difficult as possible for the Syrian people.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> That's true and hezbollah will give up. I'm not sure about Iran....this thing is gonna be really long maybe another few years still unless the international world starts bombing Syrian forces and military equipment. But Russia is giving/selling them weopons constantly so it won't happen(a intervention military style)
Click to expand...


Yup and China is helping them as well, this could very well last years but the longer it goes on the worse things will get Assad. Dictators usually do well when they put down rebellions quickly like Saddam used to, when you let them go on for years your time will run out sooner or later.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Iran and its proxies have too much to lose if Assad falls, they will continue to make this as difficult as possible for the Syrian people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> That's true and hezbollah will give up. I'm not sure about Iran....this thing is gonna be really long maybe another few years still unless the international world starts bombing Syrian forces and military equipment. But Russia is giving/selling them weopons constantly so it won't happen(a intervention military style)
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yup and China is helping them as well, this could very well last years but the longer it goes on the worse things will get Assad. Dictators usually do well when they put down rebellions quickly like Saddam used to, when you let them go on for years your time will run out sooner or later.
Click to expand...


The violence is very sad...I can't forget what happened to many people....when Assad is overthrown God willing they should just declare all the dead as martyrs so they can forget the sad violence.... And I think it's a big step forward as no other dictator will ever be allowed in these countries that overthrow them. It's better.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

I think Morsi can play a big part in this. I'm glad at what he said at the UN general assembly on Syria. Arab countries need to do something damn it. Not the ones involved in a conflcit or have too many problems. But I want to see them going hard at Assad. Saudi Arabia, Egypt, and Qatar and other gulf countries need to start taking it really serious. Even though they have sent weopons and etc. they need to do more


----------



## irosie91

I do not believe that MORSI is going to live long-----he helped kill   SADAT  and now he is trying to  ACT LIKE SADAT------his pals---the same kind of people who wanted to kill Sadat-----are probably going to kill him------IF HE ACTUALLY ACTS THE WAY HE CLAIMS HE  "BELIEVES"  IN THE UN today.--------I do not believe he will-----he was lying just as that other pig      ABU MAZEN------lies


----------



## BecauseIKnow

irosie91 said:


> I do not believe that MORSI is going to live long-----he helped kill   SADAT  and now he is trying to  ACT LIKE SADAT------his pals---the same kind of people who wanted to kill Sadat-----are probably going to kill him------IF HE ACTUALLY ACTS THE WAY HE CLAIMS HE  "BELIEVES"  IN THE UN today.--------I do not believe he will-----he was lying just as that other pig      ABU MAZEN------lies



What kind of bs lie was that. No he didn't. I believe what he is saying should happen


----------



## mememe

UN came to a conclusion that situation in Syria can not be resolved by outside military intervention.

It means that "civilised democratic community" failed to push through UN its idea of open aggression.

But it doesn't mean that "civilised" accepted the defeat. Now, Qatar was given a wave to attack Syria without UN sanctions.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> UN came to a conclusion that situation in Syria can not be resolved by outside military intervention.
> 
> It means that "civilised democratic community" failed to push through UN its idea of open aggression.
> 
> But it doesn't mean that "civilised" accepted the defeat. Now, Qatar was given a wave to attack Syria without UN sanctions.



Who gives a fucking shit?


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> UN came to a conclusion that situation in Syria can not be resolved by outside military intervention.
> 
> It means that "civilised democratic community" failed to push through UN its idea of open aggression.
> 
> But it doesn't mean that "civilised" accepted the defeat. Now, Qatar was given a wave to attack Syria without UN sanctions.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who gives a fucking shit?
Click to expand...


You do. Otherwise, why would you be lurking on this thread?


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> UN came to a conclusion that situation in Syria can not be resolved by outside military intervention.
> 
> It means that "civilised democratic community" failed to push through UN its idea of open aggression.
> 
> But it doesn't mean that "civilised" accepted the defeat. Now, Qatar was given a wave to attack Syria without UN sanctions.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who gives a fucking shit?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You do. Otherwise, why would you be lurking on this thread?
Click to expand...


I created this thread you fucking dumb ****, go lick Assads ass some more and shut up.


----------



## High_Gravity

Assad Regime Sends Text Message To Syrian Rebels: 'Game Over'









> BEIRUT  Cellphones in Syria rang, buzzed and chirped Thursday with an ominous text message from the military to members of the armed rebellion: "Game over."
> 
> The rebels provided their own response to the regime's warning to surrender and disarm by launching new attacks to drive government troops out of the largest city of Aleppo.
> 
> There's no indication that the stalemated civil war has taken a decisive turn in any direction, however, and the bloodshed that has already claimed more than 30,000 lives looks likely to drag on for many more months.
> 
> Compounding the grim outlook, sharp disagreements between Syria's foreign friends and foes  on display at the U.N. General Assembly this week  have prevented a diplomatic solution from taking shape.
> 
> Syrians with subscriptions to the country's two cellphone service providers said they began receiving the text messages signed by the Syrian Arab Army urging the rebels to surrender their weapons and warning that a countdown to evict any foreign fighters in the country has begun. Those with prepaid phones did not receive a message, according to residents in the capital of Damascus.
> 
> The texts appeared to be a kind of psychological warfare against the rebels by the regime of President Bashar Assad. In August, army helicopters dropped leaflets warning rebels in Damascus to disarm and seek amnesty. Government officials were not available for comment.
> 
> The messages are highly unlikely to have any effect on fighters intent on toppling Assad, and rebel supporters shrugged off the regime's warning as a sign of desperation.
> 
> Ali, a 28-year-old member of the rebels' Free Syrian Army, said he found the message comical.
> 
> "I will never hand over my weapon because the game is not over yet," he said, giving only his first name for fear of reprisals. "It won't be over until Assad's death."



Assad Regime Sends Text Message To Syrian Rebels: 'Game Over'


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> I created this thread



Aww... my pet igit created a thread ... aww...

Did you say you created a THREAD or a pen specifically so you can frolic there in your own opinions and copy-paste efforts?


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I created this thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Aww... my pet igit created a thread ... aww...
> 
> Did you say you created a THREAD or a pen specifically so you can frolic there in your own opinions and copy-paste efforts?
Click to expand...


Put your tongue back in Assads corn hole and shut the fuck up.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> I created this thread
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Aww... my pet igit created a thread ... aww...
> 
> Did you say you created a THREAD or a pen specifically so you can frolic there in your own opinions and copy-paste efforts?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> tongue
> corn hole
> fuck .
Click to expand...


Your choice of figurative language betrays your deep seated issues. You don't have to be shy of your ... hmm... preferences; didn't you hear: mrs Clinton encourages all deviants to come out of the closet.


----------



## irosie91

to what  "civilized"   do you refer  mememe?     the "civilized"  hezbollah or the  "civilized"  al queida   or the  "civilized"    hezbollah supporter  Assad?     how do you define  "civilized" ?     using planes to smash into large buildings in New York City as a CALIPHATE BUILDING MOVE ---or the obscene mutilation murders favored by the worshippers of the black turd of mecca?


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Aww... my pet igit created a thread ... aww...
> 
> Did you say you created a THREAD or a pen specifically so you can frolic there in your own opinions and copy-paste efforts?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> tongue
> corn hole
> fuck .
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Your choice of figurative language betrays your deep seated issues. You don't have to be shy of your ... hmm... preferences; didn't you hear: mrs Clinton encourages all deviants to come out of the closet.
Click to expand...


You are all over my junk like some teen slut groupie, why don't you just come over here and swallow my hog already and get it over with.


----------



## irosie91

gravity-----I understand that you use language appropriate to the person you are addressing----but to be honest----I have led an almost-----well  SEPARATED LIFE     -----I missed some of the lingo that is obviously well known to mememe      Lingo is very important   -----and I am not trying to cramp your attempt to communicate with mememe  ----in fact I admire your efforts


----------



## High_Gravity

irosie91 said:


> gravity-----I understand that you use language appropriate to the person you are addressing----but to be honest----I have led an almost-----well  SEPARATED LIFE     -----I missed some of the lingo that is obviously well known to mememe      Lingo is very important   -----and I am not trying to cramp your attempt to communicate with mememe  ----in fact I admire your efforts



When you talk to a cum guzzling gutter slut you have to talk in their language, which is what I am doing with the salad tossing cum gargling call girl mememe.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> tongue
> corn hole
> fuck .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your choice of figurative language betrays your deep seated issues. You don't have to be shy of your ... hmm... preferences; didn't you hear: mrs Clinton encourages all deviants to come out of the closet.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> tongue
> corn hole
> fuck
> junk
> teen slut
> groupie,
> swallow
Click to expand...




When I advised you to come out of your closet, I did not expect such eagerness on your part...

Sigismund Schlomo Freud would've loved you!

Go on, deliver some more "Freudian slips".


----------



## Trajan

If I were Assad, looking at the election right now and the fractured amercian Israeli relationship, the confusion and lack of Realpolitik  policy in that region exhibited by the obama admin.  etc., I'd use the gas now,  if I was going to use it at all.


----------



## irosie91

Sunni Man said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Sunni Man said:
> 
> 
> 
> The Muslims can lose a hundred times in a row and come back to fight the 101st time.
> 
> But Israel only has to lose once and it's all over.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Israel has been persecuted (lost) since Jacob wanted to marry Racheal.  They have been enslaved, captured, murdered, droughted, diseased, and yet, they are still here.  Can you name any other culture that has survived those odds/challenges, and is still producing world leaders (many winning Noble prizes, when it still meant something), in every field of human endeavor  (just maybe, you might want to rethink that "belief" that they are not the Lord's chosen, how else could they have survived?).  Feel free to list all those great accomplishments of the "culture" that conquered and pillaged for its wealth, and claims it is "most civilized" and educated.  Don't go Persian empire, that was before the "culture" of death and destruction.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> The Jews lost their "Chosen People" status a long, long  time ago.
> 
> They are referred to as the members of the "synagouge of satan" in the New Testament.
Click to expand...



    When reading meccaist filth ---it is important to understand that most muslims never read the koran ----let alone  THE NEW TESTAMENT   

    The allusion in the NEW TESTAMENT is made by Jesus.   In order to understand it  (something which is of no interest to meccaist pigs)     one must know that the word  "synagogue"  is a greek word----which means   "place of assembly"      ----ie any building or place  in which people MEET     It is not a hebrew word and is not even used by hebrew speaking people.     The comment by jesus did not refer to jewish houses of worship in general at all--------it referred to the meetings of evil people----more specifically people who CLAIM TO BE JEWS BUT ARE NOT.     Islamo nazi pigs have focused on the word  "synagogue"   AS IF IT REFERS TO JEWS IN GENERAL-----because islamo nazi pigs have no interest in logic or reality     I am always amused when an islamo nazi pig quotes ANY scriptural source-----even the koran which ----chances are----they never read


----------



## bigrebnc1775

While declining to be interviewed, Hillary did assert carefully, Um. We of course are always on the side of those fighting for democracy against violations of their rights. That is our, um, only interest in Syria. If the protesters happen to be Al Qaida we will need to consider exceptions to the NDAA statute. We are quite sure there is no inconsistency here. But we will need to get with our lawyers.

Obama Charged With NDAA Violation | GlossyNews.com


----------



## mememe

Trajan said:


> If I were Assad, looking at the election right now and the fractured amercian Israeli relationship, the confusion and lack of Realpolitik  policy in that region exhibited by the obama admin.  etc., I'd use the gas now,  if I was going to use it at all.



Use gas on whom?

On Syrian population that has been supporting him and the government since the start of the war, or the gangs of "democratic" terrorists?


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> While declining to be interviewed, Hillary did assert carefully, Um. We of course are always on the side of those fighting for democracy against violations of their rights. That is our, um, only interest in Syria. If the protesters happen to be Al Qaida we will need to consider exceptions to the NDAA statute. We are quite sure there is no inconsistency here. But we will need to get with our lawyers.



Aww... Hillary had no idea the US has been supporting militant Islamists since 1970-s! Since Iranian "revolution", Taliban, through both wars in Chechnya, KLA in Serbia, Muslim Brotherhood, Libyan Al-Q "freedom fighters"...

Aww... bless...


----------



## irosie91

There is no question that the  WHITE HOUSE  did not understand that they were supporting islamicist filth   in  Afghanistan.     I do recall----way back in the early 1980s    the Taliban pigs were presented in the US media as idealistic pakistanis------well---to people who support shariah shit ----they are----but in the USA  most people do not understand the true disgusting nature of shariah shit       The misfortune is that the white house did not ask me.    I have read posts on messageboards -----in which innocent posters have written    "If a nation votes for  shariah----then they should have it----that's democracy"


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> While declining to be interviewed, Hillary did assert carefully, &#8220;Um. We of course are always on the side of those fighting for democracy against violations of their rights. That is our, um, only interest in Syria. If the protesters happen to be Al Qaida we will need to consider exceptions to the NDAA statute. We are quite sure there is no inconsistency here. But we will need to get with our lawyers.&#8221;
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Aww... Hillary had no idea the US has been supporting militant Islamists since 1970-s! Since Iranian "revolution", Taliban, through both wars in Chechnya, KLA in Serbia, Muslim Brotherhood, Libyan Al-Q "freedom fighters"...
> 
> Aww... bless...
Click to expand...

Nevertheless, obama will be violating his very own law


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> Nevertheless, obama will be violating his very own law



Laws are written for biological masses of "great unwashed". Where Obama is, material gain is the only law.


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Nevertheless, obama will be violating his very own law
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Laws are written for biological masses of "great unwashed". Where Obama is, material gain is the only law.
Click to expand...


No one is above the law not even the one who signed the bill into law.


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> No one is above the law not even the one who signed the bill into law.



Then why your 9/11 was not investigated? Why Colin Powell and Bush were not put on trial for lying to UN about WMD in Iraq?


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> No one is above the law not even the one who signed the bill into law.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Then why your 9/11 was not investigated? Why Colin Powell and Bush were not put on trial for lying to UN about WMD in Iraq?
Click to expand...

part of the NDAA that obama violated
A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> No one is above the law not even the one who signed the bill into law.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Then why your 9/11 was not investigated? Why Colin Powell and Bush were not put on trial for lying to UN about WMD in Iraq?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> part of the NDAA that obama violated
> A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.
Click to expand...


All right, you don't want to respond to my questions, and want to believe that no one in America is above the law...

But Clinton and Bush also cooperated with Al-Q and Taliban in Serbia and Russia (OBL was involved in Chechnya wars)! Were they put on trial for that?


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Then why your 9/11 was not investigated? Why Colin Powell and Bush were not put on trial for lying to UN about WMD in Iraq?
> 
> 
> 
> part of the NDAA that obama violated
> A person who was a part of or substantially supported al-Qaeda, the Taliban, or associated forces that are engaged in hostilities against the United States or its coalition partners, including any person who has committed a belligerent act or has directly supported such hostilities in aid of such enemy forces.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> All right, you don't want to respond to my questions, and want to believe that no one in America is above the law...
> 
> But Clinton and Bush also cooperated with Al-Q and Taliban in Serbia and Russia (OBL was involved in Chechnya wars)! Were they put on trial for that?
Click to expand...

What law was there that prevented anyone from helping al qeada until obama signed that law?


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> What law was there that prevented anyone from helping al qeada until obama signed that law?



But Al-Q "became" a terrorist organisation PRIOR to Obama. Didn't US have any law against cooperation with terrorist organisations?

Same about KLA/Clinton; Taliban/Bush...


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> What law was there that prevented anyone from helping al qeada until obama signed that law?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But Al-Q "became" a terrorist organisation PRIOR to Obama. Didn't US have any law against cooperation with terrorist organisations?
> 
> Same about KLA/Clinton; Taliban/Bush...
Click to expand...


However the law obama signed made it a violation to aid them.


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> However the law obama signed made it a violation to aid them.



But was there any law prohibiting cooperation with terrorist organisations BEFORE Obama?

The one you mentioned is renewed every year as far as I know...


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> However the law obama signed made it a violation to aid them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But was there any law prohibiting cooperation with terrorist organisations BEFORE Obama?
> 
> The one you mentioned is renewed every year as far as I know...
Click to expand...


OK let's back up. What year did Clinton or bush give aid to Al Qaeda? Before the war on terror or after?


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> However the law obama signed made it a violation to aid them.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> But was there any law prohibiting cooperation with terrorist organisations BEFORE Obama?
> 
> The one you mentioned is renewed every year as far as I know...
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> OK let's back up. What year did Clinton or bush give aid to Al Qaeda? Before the war on terror or after?
Click to expand...


Al-Q and Taliban were fighting alongside KLA, US/NATO in Serbia.
Besides, let's not forget that KLA itself was a terrorist organisation.
Supported by US Al-Q was fighting in the second Chechen war.


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> But was there any law prohibiting cooperation with terrorist organisations BEFORE Obama?
> 
> The one you mentioned is renewed every year as far as I know...
> 
> 
> 
> 
> OK let's back up. What year did Clinton or bush give aid to Al Qaeda? Before the war on terror or after?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Al-Q and Taliban were fighting alongside KLA, US/NATO in Serbia.
> Besides, let's not forget that KLA itself was a terrorist organisation.
> Supported by US Al-Q was fighting in the second Chechen war.
Click to expand...


What year did either clinton or Bush give aid?


----------



## Trajan

mememe said:


> Trajan said:
> 
> 
> 
> If I were Assad, looking at the election right now and the fractured amercian Israeli relationship, the confusion and lack of Realpolitik  policy in that region exhibited by the obama admin.  etc., I'd use the gas now,  if I was going to use it at all.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Use gas on whom?
> 
> On Syrian population that has been supporting him and the government since the start of the war, or the gangs of "democratic" terrorists?
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> OK let's back up. What year did Clinton or bush give aid to Al Qaeda? Before the war on terror or after?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Al-Q and Taliban were fighting alongside KLA, US/NATO in Serbia.
> Besides, let's not forget that KLA itself was a terrorist organisation.
> Supported by US Al-Q was fighting in the second Chechen war.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> What year did either clinton or Bush give aid?
Click to expand...


What year US/NATO attacked Serbia?! What year there was second Chechen war?!


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Al-Q and Taliban were fighting alongside KLA, US/NATO in Serbia.
> Besides, let's not forget that KLA itself was a terrorist organisation.
> Supported by US Al-Q was fighting in the second Chechen war.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What year did either clinton or Bush give aid?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> What year US/NATO attacked Serbia?! What year there was second Chechen war?!
Click to expand...


Before 911 or after?


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> What year did either clinton or Bush give aid?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What year US/NATO attacked Serbia?! What year there was second Chechen war?!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Before 911 or after?
Click to expand...


Before.

But that's not the point. The point is: even before 9/11 US had laws prohibiting cooperation with terrorist organisations. As far as I can tell, US had these laws since 1950-s.


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> What year US/NATO attacked Serbia?! What year there was second Chechen war?!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Before 911 or after?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Before.
> 
> But that's not the point. The point is: even before 9/11 US had laws prohibiting cooperation with terrorist organisations. As far as I can tell, US had these laws since 1950-s.
Click to expand...


if it was before 911 there was no law preventing the help.


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Before 911 or after?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Before.
> 
> But that's not the point. The point is: even before 9/11 US had laws prohibiting cooperation with terrorist organisations. As far as I can tell, US had these laws since 1950-s.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> if it was before 911 there was no law preventing the help.
Click to expand...


Are you absolutely sure of that?


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Before.
> 
> But that's not the point. The point is: even before 9/11 US had laws prohibiting cooperation with terrorist organisations. As far as I can tell, US had these laws since 1950-s.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> if it was before 911 there was no law preventing the help.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Are you absolutely sure of that?
Click to expand...


When did the war on terror begin?


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> if it was before 911 there was no law preventing the help.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you absolutely sure of that?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> When did the war on terror begin?
Click to expand...


US was composing lists of terrorist organisations since 50-s. When US attacked Serbia there was a big story on how US supported KLA.


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are you absolutely sure of that?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> When did the war on terror begin?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> US was composing lists of terrorist organisations since 50-s. When US attacked Serbia there was a big story on how US supported KLA.
Click to expand...


Enough already, you dumb fuck. There was no law preventing the U.S. from helping Al quade until the war on terror.So stop with the  clinton and bush bull shit


----------



## bigrebnc1775

Syrian rebels (Al-Qaeda) attack Alawites, Christians
Do we really want to help these people? Does obama want to violate his own law? Will the American people take too the streets in protest against obama for supporting Al-Qaeda?

Sectarian slaying: Syrian rebels attack Alawites, Christians &#8211; reports | Global Research

IMPEACH OBAMA


----------



## irosie91

aiding the  "rebels"   in syria is not much different from aiding   THE TALIBAN     which we did   in  Afghanistan   thru in the 1980s and  90s     BIG MISTAKE         I wish the white house would ask me       The  "rebels"    are, indeed,  rebelling against a pig-------but the unfortunate fact is that they are  ISLAMICIST pigs themselves  --------you are right-----even if some are not  "al queida"    they are  "al queida like"     and given the chance will impose the vile filth of shariah in   Syria       The only action the US should be taking in syria is  AIR LIFT THE CHRISTIANS OUT OF THERE!!!!!!!!!!!


----------



## bigrebnc1775

irosie91 said:


> aiding the  "rebels"   in syria is not much different from aiding   THE TALIBAN     which we did   in  Afghanistan   thru in the 1980s and  90s     BIG MISTAKE         I wish the white house would ask me       The  "rebels"    are, indeed,  rebelling against a pig-------but the unfortunate fact is that they are  ISLAMICIST pigs themselves  --------you are right-----even if some are not  "al queida"    they are  "al queida like"     and given the chance will impose the vile filth of shariah in   Syria       The only action the US should be taking in syria is  AIR LIFT THE CHRISTIANS OUT OF THERE!!!!!!!!!!!





> aiding the  "rebels"   in syria is not much different from aiding   THE TALIBAN     which we did   in  Afghanistan


There is a big difference, there was no law preventing it in the 80's


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> Enough already, you dumb fuck. There was no law preventing the U.S. from helping Al quade until the war on terror.So stop with the  clinton and bush bull shit



Enough of what? Of reminding you the simple facts of reality:

ALL of your presidents and governing elites supported terrorist organisations on US terrorist list! Not just Obama. And don't tell me US was composing terrorist lists so it can allow itself to support the listed! Tell this bollox to your mirror reflection.

Your laws are written to those on a lower branches of your societal palm: to the biological mass consisting of dumb twats like yourself. US power elites are UNACCOUNTABLE! 

And you know it! That's why you refused to answer my questions and started grasping at the straw -- "before "war on terror", or after "war on terror".


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> Syrian rebels (Al-Qaeda) attack Alawites, Christians
> Do we really want to help these people?



You already "helped" CHRISTIANS in Serbia! Shall I remind you how your presidents Clinton and Bush made sure the genocide of Christian Serbs in Kosovo went according to US + KLA plan?!

The only way Americans can help the world is by committing mass suicide. Or shoot each other...


----------



## mememe

Two events happened recently:

1. Al-Arabia declared it was given "materials" by "Syrian opposition" who refused to disclose their source, that Turkish military airplane (the one Turkish PM said was shot down by Assad, and Turkish military said it never happened) was shot down by Russian Grad, pilots were captured and killed on orders from Moscow.

2. Turkish PM issued threats against Russia, China and Iran...

Now, one can tell when Al-Arabia is lying: it broadcasts. When Al-Arabia broadcasts sighting "Syrian opposition" as its source, it is lyingx2; when Al-Arabia broadcasts sighting "Syrian opposition" who refuse to disclose their source it's quadruple lying...

But it's beyond the point. Their lie is going to be pronounced an indisputable truth and spread globally as such. Couple it with Erdogan's hysterical threats to three major nations delivered, no doubt, either after a considerable bribe or considerable ass whooping, signify a close approach of a hot phase of the world war...


----------



## BecauseIKnow

What's wrong with some Americans who think the Syrian rebels are an AQ group? They aren't...they are defected Syrian soldiers who were in the Army and left to the rebels side. Many generals, etc,etc. Some grow beards because they are very close to dying and they want to perfect themselves before they possibly die. They are just being very religious now.

There are some outsiders who just happen to be sort of like people who will fight in any conflict where there are Muslims. You can call them jihadists or mujahideen. Those are there and they do help a little bit. Now I don't agree with how all the violence is happening and the methods to kill people in some incidents are wrong but we can't do anything....they have experienced bad violence and massacres so it makes everyone like that for now..


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Enough already, you dumb fuck. There was no law preventing the U.S. from helping Al quade until the war on terror.So stop with the  clinton and bush bull shit
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Enough of what? Of reminding you the simple facts of reality:
> 
> ALL of your presidents and governing elites supported terrorist organisations on US terrorist list! Not just Obama. And don't tell me US was composing terrorist lists so it can allow itself to support the listed! Tell this bollox to your mirror reflection.
> 
> Your laws are written to those on a lower branches of your societal palm: to the biological mass consisting of dumb twats like yourself. US power elites are UNACCOUNTABLE!
> 
> And you know it! That's why you refused to answer my questions and started grasping at the straw -- "before "war on terror", or after "war on terror".
Click to expand...


Enough with your bullshit. At the time before 9/11  Al-Qaeda was not on the terrorist watch list as an enemy of America.
So stop it.


----------



## bigrebnc1775

BecauseIKnow said:


> What's wrong with some Americans who think the Syrian rebels are an AQ group? They aren't...they are defected Syrian soldiers who were in the Army and left to the rebels side. Many generals, etc,etc. Some grow beards because they are very close to dying and they want to perfect themselves before they possibly die. They are just being very religious now.
> 
> There are some outsiders who just happen to be sort of like people who will fight in any conflict where there are Muslims. You can call them jihadists or mujahideen. Those are there and they do help a little bit. Now I don't agree with how all the violence is happening and the methods to kill people in some incidents are wrong but we can't do anything....they have experienced bad violence and massacres so it makes everyone like that for now..



God damn your a dumb sum  bitch.
Al-Qaida turns tide for rebels in battle for eastern Syria | World news | The Guardian
Obama administration sending $45 million in aid to al Qaeda in Syria - National Government | Examiner.com
Putin suggests U.S. backing al Qaeda in Syria civil war - World Watch - CBS News


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> Enough with your bullshit. .



Yes, before US elites decided OBL outlived his usefulness, the so called "al-q" was not on US terrorist list, but KLA was!!!!!
Face the reality, twat, and stop attempting to hide behind your lame excuses: ALL of your presidents and governing elites supported terrorist organisations on US terrorist list! Not just Obama. And don't tell me US was composing terrorist lists so it can allow itself to support the listed! 

Your laws are written to those on a lower branches of your societal palm: to the biological mass consisting of dumb twats like yourself. US power elites are UNACCOUNTABLE!


----------



## BecauseIKnow

bigrebnc1775 said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> What's wrong with some Americans who think the Syrian rebels are an AQ group? They aren't...they are defected Syrian soldiers who were in the Army and left to the rebels side. Many generals, etc,etc. Some grow beards because they are very close to dying and they want to perfect themselves before they possibly die. They are just being very religious now.
> 
> There are some outsiders who just happen to be sort of like people who will fight in any conflict where there are Muslims. You can call them jihadists or mujahideen. Those are there and they do help a little bit. Now I don't agree with how all the violence is happening and the methods to kill people in some incidents are wrong but we can't do anything....they have experienced bad violence and massacres so it makes everyone like that for now..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> God damn your a dumb sum  bitch.
> Al-Qaida turns tide for rebels in battle for eastern Syria | World news | The Guardian
> Obama administration sending $45 million in aid to al Qaeda in Syria - National Government | Examiner.com
> Putin suggests U.S. backing al Qaeda in Syria civil war - World Watch - CBS News
Click to expand...


Asswipe those aren't links. I don't give a fuck what Russia says! They are allies with the Syrian government. Meanwhile I'm an Arabic who knows everything going on there. There is no such thing called Al Qaeda there. Just because there are militants and rebels who were masks and yell Islamic phrases doesn't make them AQ. Shut up about it


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Enough with your bullshit. .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Face the reality, twat: ALL of your presidents and governing elites supported terrorist organisations on US terrorist list! Not just Obama. And don't tell me US was composing terrorist lists so it can allow itself to support the listed!
> 
> Your laws are written to those on a lower branches of your societal palm: to the biological mass consisting of dumb twats like yourself. US power elites are UNACCOUNTABLE!
Click to expand...


Again their was NO LAW dictating to the U.S. Government not to give aid to al-qaeda
Not until 911 and more specific after the signing of the NDAA 2012


----------



## bigrebnc1775

BecauseIKnow said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> What's wrong with some Americans who think the Syrian rebels are an AQ group? They aren't...they are defected Syrian soldiers who were in the Army and left to the rebels side. Many generals, etc,etc. Some grow beards because they are very close to dying and they want to perfect themselves before they possibly die. They are just being very religious now.
> 
> There are some outsiders who just happen to be sort of like people who will fight in any conflict where there are Muslims. You can call them jihadists or mujahideen. Those are there and they do help a little bit. Now I don't agree with how all the violence is happening and the methods to kill people in some incidents are wrong but we can't do anything....they have experienced bad violence and massacres so it makes everyone like that for now..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> God damn your a dumb sum  bitch.
> Al-Qaida turns tide for rebels in battle for eastern Syria | World news | The Guardian
> Obama administration sending $45 million in aid to al Qaeda in Syria - National Government | Examiner.com
> Putin suggests U.S. backing al Qaeda in Syria civil war - World Watch - CBS News
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Asswipe those aren't links. I don't give a fuck what Russia says! They are allies with the Syrian government. Meanwhile I'm an Arabic who knows everything going on there. There is no such thing called Al Qaeda there. Just because there are militants and rebels who were masks and yell Islamic phrases doesn't make them AQ. Shut up about it
Click to expand...


As I said you're a dumb son of a bitch. yes those are links.
Are you a member of al-qaeda?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

bigrebnc1775 said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> God damn your a dumb sum  bitch.
> Al-Qaida turns tide for rebels in battle for eastern Syria | World news | The Guardian
> Obama administration sending $45 million in aid to al Qaeda in Syria - National Government | Examiner.com
> Putin suggests U.S. backing al Qaeda in Syria civil war - World Watch - CBS News
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Asswipe those aren't links. I don't give a fuck what Russia says! They are allies with the Syrian government. Meanwhile I'm an Arabic who knows everything going on there. There is no such thing called Al Qaeda there. Just because there are militants and rebels who were masks and yell Islamic phrases doesn't make them AQ. Shut up about it
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> As I said you're a dumb son of a bitch. yes those are links.
> Are you a member of al-qaeda?
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> Again their was NO LAW dictating to the U.S. Government not to give aid to al-qaeda
> Not until 911 and more specific after the signing of the NDAA 2012



What about KLA? Why are you pretending you can't read?

Was KLA recognised as a terrorist organisation by US in 1990-s or not?!

You know what? Piss off. You are as stoopid as they make you in US. Go eat some doughnuts...


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> Again their was NO LAW dictating to the U.S. Government not to give aid to al-qaeda
> Not until 911 and more specific after the signing of the NDAA 2012
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What about KLA? Why are you pretending you can't read?
> 
> Was KLA recognised as a terrorist organisation by US in 1990-s or not?!
> 
> You know what? Piss off. You are as stoopid as they make you in US. Go eat some doughnuts...
Click to expand...


 1990 is not after 911 or the signing of H.R. 1540 (NDAA 2012)


----------



## bigrebnc1775

BecauseIKnow said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Asswipe those aren't links. I don't give a fuck what Russia says! They are allies with the Syrian government. Meanwhile I'm an Arabic who knows everything going on there. There is no such thing called Al Qaeda there. Just because there are militants and rebels who were masks and yell Islamic phrases doesn't make them AQ. Shut up about it
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As I said you're a dumb son of a bitch. yes those are links.
> Are you a member of al-qaeda?
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


No wonder you are objecting you are a member.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

bigrebnc1775 said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> As I said you're a dumb son of a bitch. yes those are links.
> Are you a member of al-qaeda?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No wonder you are objecting you are a member.
Click to expand...


Haha. Man you're a fool. When Romney supports the rebels or interferes with Syria if he gets elected will they stay AQ in your book?


----------



## bigrebnc1775

BecauseIKnow said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No wonder you are objecting you are a member.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Haha. Man you're a fool. When Romney supports the rebels or interferes with Syria if he gets elected will they stay AQ in your book?
Click to expand...


So when's the next attack on innocent Americans?


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> 1990 is not after 911 or the signing of H.R. 1540 (NDAA 2012)



What the fuck does it have to do with your "9/112?!

US was composing lists of terrorist organisations since 1950-s!!!!!

KLA (as an example) was on that list prior and during US attack on Serbia! Your presidents Clinton and Bush were FINANCING, ARMING KLA and FIGHTING on a side of KLA in Serbia!

KLA was just one of many examples of how successive US governments cooperate with the terrorist organisations on US list of terrorist organisations!


----------



## BecauseIKnow

bigrebnc1775 said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> No wonder you are objecting you are a member.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Haha. Man you're a fool. When Romney supports the rebels or interferes with Syria if he gets elected will they stay AQ in your book?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> So when's the next attack on innocent Americans?
Click to expand...


How ignorant you hillbilly's are lol


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 1990 is not after 911 or the signing of H.R. 1540 (NDAA 2012)
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What the fuck does it have to do with your "9/112?!
> 
> US was composing lists of terrorist organisations since 1950-s!!!!!
> 
> KLA (as an example) was on that list prior and during US attack on Serbia! Your presidents Clinton and Bush were FINANCING, ARMING KLA and FIGHTING on a side of KLA in Serbia!
> 
> KLA was just one of many examples of how successive US governments cooperate with the terrorist organisations on US list of terrorist organisations!
Click to expand...


There was no law preventing giving aid to those fighting the Russians. Now we do and obama is violating that law.


----------



## bigrebnc1775

BecauseIKnow said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Haha. Man you're a fool. When Romney supports the rebels or interferes with Syria if he gets elected will they stay AQ in your book?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So when's the next attack on innocent Americans?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> How ignorant you hillbilly's are lol
Click to expand...


No denial of being a members of al-qaeda
Deflection from my question leads a person to believe that you are a member.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

bigrebnc1775 said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> So when's the next attack on innocent Americans?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> How ignorant you hillbilly's are lol
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No denial of being a members of al-qaeda
> Deflection from my question leads a person to believe that you are a member.
Click to expand...


Really? Haha do you really think persons are as dumb as you?


----------



## bigrebnc1775

BecauseIKnow said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> How ignorant you hillbilly's are lol
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No denial of being a members of al-qaeda
> Deflection from my question leads a person to believe that you are a member.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Really? Haha do you really think persons are as dumb as you?
Click to expand...


You could have denied that you weren't but you never answered. I'm sure obama's SS will be tracking you down, no scratch that he'll give you aid.


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> There was no law preventing giving aid to those fighting the Russians. Now we do and obama is violating that law.



You really are stupid, are you? What do "Russians" have to do with KLA? You are an idiot.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

bigrebnc1775 said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> No denial of being a members of al-qaeda
> Deflection from my question leads a person to believe that you are a member.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Really? Haha do you really think persons are as dumb as you?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You could have denied that you weren't but you never answered. I'm sure obama's SS will be tracking you down, no scratch that he'll give you aid.
Click to expand...


. You conservative pieces of shit


----------



## bigrebnc1775

BecauseIKnow said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Really? Haha do you really think persons are as dumb as you?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You could have denied that you weren't but you never answered. I'm sure obama's SS will be tracking you down, no scratch that he'll give you aid.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> . You conservative pieces of shit
Click to expand...


Did I blow your cover?


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> There was no law preventing giving aid to those fighting the Russians. Now we do and obama is violating that law.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You really are stupid, are you? What do "Russians" have to do with KLA? You are an idiot.
Click to expand...


What does your bull shit have to do with obama violating a law he signed?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

bigrebnc1775 said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> You could have denied that you weren't but you never answered. I'm sure obama's SS will be tracking you down, no scratch that he'll give you aid.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> . You conservative pieces of shit
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Did I blow your cover?
Click to expand...


Oh my?! He blew my cover


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> There was no law preventing giving aid to those fighting the Russians. Now we do and obama is violating that law.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You really are stupid, are you? What do "Russians" have to do with KLA? You are an idiot.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> What does your bull shit have to do with obama violating a law he signed?
Click to expand...


I simply point out to you that ALL of your presidents are guilty of supporting terrorists, even those on US terrorist list!

Does that sink in?


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> You really are stupid, are you? What do "Russians" have to do with KLA? You are an idiot.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> What does your bull shit have to do with obama violating a law he signed?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> I simply point out to you that ALL of your presidents are guilty of supporting terrorists, even those on US terrorist list!
> 
> Does that sink in?
Click to expand...


I'm waiting on you to point out what law before 911


----------



## mememe

bigrebnc1775 said:


> I'm waiting on you to point out what law before 911



Re-read all my posts concerning you. 

You really are an idiot.

What is it? Is it GM food that eats away your brains? Is it too much of American TV? Is it genetics?


----------



## bigrebnc1775

mememe said:


> bigrebnc1775 said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm waiting on you to point out what law before 911
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Re-read all my posts concerning you.
> 
> You really are an idiot.
> 
> What is it? Is it GM food that eats away your brains? Is it too much of American TV? Is it genetics?
Click to expand...


Waiting on the law that specifies giving aid to al-qaeda will also make you an enemy of America. Have you found it yet?


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Suicide Bomb In Qamishli Kills 4 At Security Compound 



> BEIRUT  A suicide attacker detonated a car bomb near a Syrian security compound in a remote, predominantly Kurdish town Sunday, killing at least four people, state media said, in a new sign that the country's largest ethnic minority might be drawn into a widening civil war.
> 
> Opposition activists said at least eight Syrian intelligence agents were killed and several dozen people wounded in the attack in the northeastern town of Qamishli, more than 700 kilometers (435 miles) from the capital Damascus.
> 
> Syria's more than 2 million Kurds, long marginalized, have largely stayed out of the fighting, though some have participated in protests against the regime of President Bashar Assad.
> 
> The uprising against Assad that erupted 18 months ago has gradually morphed into a bloody civil war. The conflict has killed more than 30,000 people, activists say, and has devastated entire neighborhoods in Syria's main cities, including Aleppo, the scene of intense fighting Sunday.
> 
> The leaders of Turkey and Egypt, among Assad's main foreign foes, sent stern warnings to the regime and its allies, in speeches to Turkey's ruling party.
> 
> Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said that "we will be on the side of the Syrian people until the bloodshed ends, the cruel regime is gone and Syrian people reach their just rights."
> 
> Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan urged Syria's allies Russia, China and Iran to end their support for Assad, warning that "history will not forgive those who stand together with cruel regimes."
> 
> Turkey has given shelter to tens of thousands of Syrian refugees and Turkish soil has served as a crucial logistical center for rebel fighters since they captured several Syrian border crossings with Turkey over the summer.
> 
> Also over the summer, Syrian troops left several towns and villages in the Kurdish northeast, possibly to divert forces to overstretched troops fighting in hotspots elsewhere. The regime ceded de facto control to Kurdish fighters who began exercising a degree of autonomy unheard of before.



Syria Suicide Bomb In Qamishli Kills 4 At Security Compound


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian State TV Lashes Out at Hamas Leader, Calling Him a Traitor



> BEIRUT, Lebanon  State television in Syria issued a withering attack late Monday on a longtime ally, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khaled Meshal, declaring him an ungrateful child and a corrupt traitor, saying he was having a romantic emotional crisis over the Syrian uprising and accusing him of selling out resistance for power.
> 
> The extraordinary reproof, a departure from the blander tone of most Syrian official statements, was the governments first broadside against Hamas since the organization distanced itself from the embattled President Bashar al-Assad earlier this year, when most Hamas leaders left their refuge in Damascus and shuttered their office there.
> 
> The attack was a television editorial delivered by a newscaster in alternately stern and mocking tones, who reminded Mr. Meshal that he was orphaned by Arab countries who would not take him in when he fled Jordan in 1999. She implied that he must have sold out to Israel, saying that was the only explanation for the willingness of Qatar, his new host, to accept him.
> 
> Damascus seemed to be striking back after Mr. Meshal appeared at a news conference of the party of Turkeys prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and after Mr. Erdogan and Egypts president, Mohamed Morsi, pointedly declared their shared priorities of opposing Mr. Assad and supporting the Palestinians  a blow to Mr. Assads longstanding and domestically compelling persona as the champion of Palestinian resistance against Israel.
> 
> Damascus is likely particularly furious that Mr. Meshal has taken up residence in Qatar, one of the countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States, that it accuses of bankrolling the insurgency.
> 
> Syria, Iran, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Hamas long considered themselves an axis of resistance, in contrast to Arab countries  notably Egypt  that pursued a more accommodationist policy with Israel and the United States. But relations in the axis have teetered as some of Syrians Palestinians have joined the uprising and as some Hamas officials find it impossible not to sympathize with fellow Sunni Muslims in Syria, who form the bulk of the anti-Assad movement and have borne the brunt of Mr. Assads brutal crackdown.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/w...amas-leader-khaled-meshal.html?ref=middleeast


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> Syrian State TV Lashes Out at Hamas Leader, Calling Him a Traitor
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT, Lebanon  State television in Syria issued a withering attack late Monday on a longtime ally, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khaled Meshal, declaring him an ungrateful child and a corrupt traitor, saying he was having a romantic emotional crisis over the Syrian uprising and accusing him of selling out resistance for power.
> 
> The extraordinary reproof, a departure from the blander tone of most Syrian official statements, was the governments first broadside against Hamas since the organization distanced itself from the embattled President Bashar al-Assad earlier this year, when most Hamas leaders left their refuge in Damascus and shuttered their office there.
> 
> The attack was a television editorial delivered by a newscaster in alternately stern and mocking tones, who reminded Mr. Meshal that he was orphaned by Arab countries who would not take him in when he fled Jordan in 1999. She implied that he must have sold out to Israel, saying that was the only explanation for the willingness of Qatar, his new host, to accept him.
> 
> Damascus seemed to be striking back after Mr. Meshal appeared at a news conference of the party of Turkeys prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and after Mr. Erdogan and Egypts president, Mohamed Morsi, pointedly declared their shared priorities of opposing Mr. Assad and supporting the Palestinians  a blow to Mr. Assads longstanding and domestically compelling persona as the champion of Palestinian resistance against Israel.
> 
> Damascus is likely particularly furious that Mr. Meshal has taken up residence in Qatar, one of the countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States, that it accuses of bankrolling the insurgency.
> 
> Syria, Iran, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Hamas long considered themselves an axis of resistance, in contrast to Arab countries  notably Egypt  that pursued a more accommodationist policy with Israel and the United States. But relations in the axis have teetered as some of Syrians Palestinians have joined the uprising and as some Hamas officials find it impossible not to sympathize with fellow Sunni Muslims in Syria, who form the bulk of the anti-Assad movement and have borne the brunt of Mr. Assads brutal crackdown.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/w...amas-leader-khaled-meshal.html?ref=middleeast
Click to expand...


This means absolutely nothing.


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian State TV Lashes Out at Hamas Leader, Calling Him a Traitor
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT, Lebanon  State television in Syria issued a withering attack late Monday on a longtime ally, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khaled Meshal, declaring him an ungrateful child and a corrupt traitor, saying he was having a romantic emotional crisis over the Syrian uprising and accusing him of selling out resistance for power.
> 
> The extraordinary reproof, a departure from the blander tone of most Syrian official statements, was the governments first broadside against Hamas since the organization distanced itself from the embattled President Bashar al-Assad earlier this year, when most Hamas leaders left their refuge in Damascus and shuttered their office there.
> 
> The attack was a television editorial delivered by a newscaster in alternately stern and mocking tones, who reminded Mr. Meshal that he was orphaned by Arab countries who would not take him in when he fled Jordan in 1999. She implied that he must have sold out to Israel, saying that was the only explanation for the willingness of Qatar, his new host, to accept him.
> 
> Damascus seemed to be striking back after Mr. Meshal appeared at a news conference of the party of Turkeys prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and after Mr. Erdogan and Egypts president, Mohamed Morsi, pointedly declared their shared priorities of opposing Mr. Assad and supporting the Palestinians  a blow to Mr. Assads longstanding and domestically compelling persona as the champion of Palestinian resistance against Israel.
> 
> Damascus is likely particularly furious that Mr. Meshal has taken up residence in Qatar, one of the countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States, that it accuses of bankrolling the insurgency.
> 
> Syria, Iran, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Hamas long considered themselves an axis of resistance, in contrast to Arab countries  notably Egypt  that pursued a more accommodationist policy with Israel and the United States. But relations in the axis have teetered as some of Syrians Palestinians have joined the uprising and as some Hamas officials find it impossible not to sympathize with fellow Sunni Muslims in Syria, who form the bulk of the anti-Assad movement and have borne the brunt of Mr. Assads brutal crackdown.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/w...amas-leader-khaled-meshal.html?ref=middleeast
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> This means absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...


What do you mean?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian State TV Lashes Out at Hamas Leader, Calling Him a Traitor
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/w...amas-leader-khaled-meshal.html?ref=middleeast
> 
> 
> 
> 
> This means absolutely nothing.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> What do you mean?
Click to expand...


It's a PR move by Syria. Meshaal was gonna quit long before the revolution.


----------



## SAYIT

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian State TV Lashes Out at Hamas Leader, Calling Him a Traitor
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT, Lebanon  State television in Syria issued a withering attack late Monday on a longtime ally, the leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, Khaled Meshal, declaring him an ungrateful child and a corrupt traitor, saying he was having a romantic emotional crisis over the Syrian uprising and accusing him of selling out resistance for power.
> 
> The extraordinary reproof, a departure from the blander tone of most Syrian official statements, was the governments first broadside against Hamas since the organization distanced itself from the embattled President Bashar al-Assad earlier this year, when most Hamas leaders left their refuge in Damascus and shuttered their office there.
> 
> The attack was a television editorial delivered by a newscaster in alternately stern and mocking tones, who reminded Mr. Meshal that he was orphaned by Arab countries who would not take him in when he fled Jordan in 1999. She implied that he must have sold out to Israel, saying that was the only explanation for the willingness of Qatar, his new host, to accept him.
> 
> Damascus seemed to be striking back after Mr. Meshal appeared at a news conference of the party of Turkeys prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, and after Mr. Erdogan and Egypts president, Mohamed Morsi, pointedly declared their shared priorities of opposing Mr. Assad and supporting the Palestinians  a blow to Mr. Assads longstanding and domestically compelling persona as the champion of Palestinian resistance against Israel.
> 
> Damascus is likely particularly furious that Mr. Meshal has taken up residence in Qatar, one of the countries, along with Saudi Arabia and the United States, that it accuses of bankrolling the insurgency.
> 
> Syria, Iran, the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and Hamas long considered themselves an axis of resistance, in contrast to Arab countries  notably Egypt  that pursued a more accommodationist policy with Israel and the United States. But relations in the axis have teetered as some of Syrians Palestinians have joined the uprising and as some Hamas officials find it impossible not to sympathize with fellow Sunni Muslims in Syria, who form the bulk of the anti-Assad movement and have borne the brunt of Mr. Assads brutal crackdown.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/03/w...amas-leader-khaled-meshal.html?ref=middleeast
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> This means absolutely nothing.
Click to expand...


Yeah, OK. 
Just close your eyes and cover your ears and sing "lalalalalalalalalalalalalala."


----------



## BecauseIKnow

Oh yeah sure Sayit. You would be the guy to know anything.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Dozens Killed In Series Of Suicide Bombings In Aleppo









> DAMASCUS, Syria (AP)  A Syrian government official says at least 27 people have been killed in a series of suicide bombings that struck the northern city of Aleppo.
> 
> The official also says that scores of people were wounded in the explosions, which went off Wednesday in a main square in the city, near an officers' club.
> 
> The official spoke to The Associated Press in Damascus on condition of anonymity in line with government regulations.
> 
> Aleppo-based activists also reported on the bombings, saying they went off minutes apart.



Syria: Dozens Killed In Series Of Suicide Bombings In Aleppo


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Assad Tours Aleppo, Orders More Troops, Says Paper








> BEIRUT, Oct 2 (Reuters) - Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is visiting the city of Aleppo to take a first-hand look at the fighting between government forces and rebels and has ordered 30,000 more troops into the battle, a Lebanese paper said on Tuesday.
> 
> Al-Diyar newspaper, which is known for its pro-Assad stance, said the president had flown by helicopter at dawn from the presidential palace in Damascus to Aleppo.
> 
> It did not specify what day the trip started but said that Assad was still in Aleppo. The visit was decided on after reports that the situation in the city, Syria's largest and its commercial center, had become very serious.
> 
> " President Assad ordered units 5 and 6, estimated to be 30,000 soldiers and 2,000 personnel carriers, to move from Hama to Aleppo and to attack any occupied areas of Aleppo province from the Turkish border," it said.
> 
> Reuters was unable to independently verify the report. An employee of al-Diyar told Reuters it had a correspondent in the city. Syrian state media made no mention of any visit.
> 
> Rebels mounted a new offensive last week to seize the city, which was until July firmly under Assad's control. They claim to hold most of the Old City but are struggling to hang on to their positions in the face of heavy artillery fire.
> 
> The rebel forces are in the east and Assad's forces in the west of Aleppo. Fires started by the combat have gutted the historic market in the Old City, a world heritage site.
> 
> Opposition activists say 30,000 people have been killed in the 18-month-old anti-Assad uprising, which has grown into a full-scale civil war.
> 
> For much of the revolt, Assad retained a grip on Aleppo. Many rich merchants and minority groups, fearful of instability, chose to stay neutral while pro-democracy protests spread.



http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/02/syrias-assad-aleppo_n_1931706.html?utm_hp_ref=world


----------



## High_Gravity

Turkey Approves Military Action In Syria After Shelling Kills 5 In Akcakale



> AKCAKALE, Turkey -- Turkey's deputy prime minister says Syria has admitted it was responsible for the shelling that killed five civilians in Turkey and has formally apologized for the deaths.
> 
> Besir Atalay says Thursday that Syria has reassured the U.N. that "such an incident will not occur again."
> 
> The cross-border tensions escalated on Wednesday after a shell fired from inside Syria landed on a home in the Turkish village of Akcakale, killing a woman, her three daughters and another woman, and wounding at least 10 others, according to Turkish media.



Turkey Approves Military Action In Syria After Shelling Kills 5 In Akcakale


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria: Rebels Ambush Army Minibus In Damascus Suburbs, Kill 21 Elite Republican Guards



> BEIRUT, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Syrian rebels killed 21 elite Republican Guards on Thursday in an ambush on an army minibus in a suburb northwest of Damascus, opposition activists said.
> 
> The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights quoted a medical source and witnesses as saying the troops had been killed in Qudsayya, which has been shelled by forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad after rebels moved into the area.
> 
> The Republican Guards are specifically entrusted with defending the capital, and the army stepped up operations in Qudsayya on Wednesday morning, Damascus residents said. They reported hearing loud explosions and said that a large military convoy was heading to the area.
> 
> Assad used force of arms to try to crush a peaceful pro-democracy movement when it erupted in March 2011. He now faces a full-scale armed revolt that has brought rebels into the suburbs of Damascus.
> 
> The army has responded with artillery and air strikes, even though many residents have been unable to flee.
> 
> An opposition activist who lives near Qudsayya said that Assad's forces had blocked the roads on Thursday and civilians were stuck in the area.



Syria: Rebels Ambush Army Minibus In Damascus Suburbs, Kill 21 Elite Republican Guards


----------



## irosie91

right now-----if I lived in Syria------I think I would -----stay under my bed and keep very quiet        Why would a bunch of military guys go around in a bus?    why not draw targets on their asses       somehow everytime I see a published picture of something happening in Syria-----there are ALL KINDS of people out in large opened spaces --------aren't there any cellars?? ------trees to climb??         large rocks?      hills?


----------



## High_Gravity

irosie91 said:


> right now-----if I lived in Syria------I think I would -----stay under my bed and keep very quiet        Why would a bunch of military guys go around in a bus?    why not draw targets on their asses       somehow everytime I see a published picture of something happening in Syria-----there are ALL KINDS of people out in large opened spaces --------aren't there any cellars?? ------trees to climb??         large rocks?      hills?



Hiding under a bed wouldn't help you if Assads Military or Militias did house to house searches, they would find you. There really isn't any place to hide in Syria at the moment.


----------



## irosie91

????     the people I see in the pictures-----are just people of all ages-------old--young---children         THEY CAN'T ALL BE ON THE   "GET LIST"      It seems to me lots of BYSTANDERS     are being killed simply because they are -----standing by   -------and there are signs of explosions all around       there are always places to hide--------it seems----somehow no one is trying ------but that is just my impression       I expect to see FIGHTERS out on the streets if they happen to be so engaged-----but in the pictures I see-----it just looks like casual pedestrians with some lying dead on the ground


----------



## High_Gravity

irosie91 said:


> ????     the people I see in the pictures-----are just people of all ages-------old--young---children         THEY CAN'T ALL BE ON THE   "GET LIST"      It seems to me lots of BYSTANDERS     are being killed simply because they are -----standing by   -------and there are signs of explosions all around       there are always places to hide--------it seems----somehow no one is trying ------but that is just my impression       I expect to see FIGHTERS out on the streets if they happen to be so engaged-----but in the pictures I see-----it just looks like casual pedestrians with some lying dead on the ground



Well Assads goons are just killing, I don't think are going for particular people when they mortar and bomb the shit out of towns.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

Fucking Saudi Arabia all they need to do is give some Sam missies about 1,000 of them. Smuggle them in if they really want to help solve the problem but nope they want to do the politics and make it happen slowly until Syria is completely destroyed and everything is very bad. They want a slow process. So it can happen like Libya and Syria will have to depend on Saudi Arabia for the next hundred years. They want a weak government. That's why I hope the Muslim BrotherHood also takes power in Syria. They will fix it faster


----------



## BecauseIKnow

The Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt has to be really smart and be awake 24/7. Everyone is trying to stir problems in Egypt but thank God the people are united and not gonna fall for instability


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Turkey Conflict: Turkish Military Retaliates To Syrian Shelling



> BEIRUT  Syria's cross-border attacks on Turkey in the past week look increasingly like they could be an intentional escalation meant to send a clear message to Ankara and beyond, that the crisis is simply too explosive to risk foreign military intervention.
> 
> With Turkey eager to defuse the crisis, the spillover of fighting is giving new life to a longshot political solution, with the Turks floating the idea of making President Bashar Assad's longtime vice president, Farouk al-Sharaa, interim leader if the president steps aside.
> 
> A military option  which would involve foreign powers that already have expressed a deep reluctance to getting involved in the crisis  is still not on the table, analysts say, despite six consecutive days of Turkish retaliation against bombardment from inside Syria.
> 
> "Syria is aware that Turkey cannot go a step further," said Ali Tekin, assistant professor of International Relations at Ankara's Bilkent University. "The Turkish people don't want a war and there are no vital national interests at stake to warrant a war. Syria sees this."
> 
> The Syrian conflict has taken a prominent role in the U.S. presidential election at a time when the U.S. and its allies have shown little appetite for getting involved.
> 
> On Monday, Republican candidate Mitt Romney said the U.S. should work with other countries to arm the Syrian rebels, allowing the rebels to drive Assad from power themselves. Romney did not call for the U.S. to directly arm the Syrian rebels.



Syria Turkey Conflict: Turkish Military Retaliates To Syrian Shelling


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. Military Team In Jordan For Syria Crisis, Official Says








> WASHINGTON -- A U.S. defense official says an American military team is in Jordan to help with upheaval created by the crisis in neighboring Syria.
> 
> He says some 100 military planners and other personnel stayed in Jordan after attending an annual May exercise and several dozen more have flown in since  operating from a joint U.S.-Jordanian military center north of Amman that Americans have used for years.
> 
> He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk about the mission on the record.
> 
> The official stressed that the team is not there to fight, but rather for contingency planning on a number of issues including how to handle the flood of Syrian refugees in Jordan and creating a buffer zone to protect the ally in the continuing crisis.



U.S. Military Team In Jordan For Syria Crisis, Official Says


----------



## High_Gravity

Turkey Intercepts Syrian Civilian Plane 



> ISTANBUL, Oct 10 (Reuters) - Turkey scrambled fighters to force a Syrian passenger plane to land on Wednesday, suspecting it of carrying military equipment from Moscow, while Turkey's military chief warned of a more forceful response if shelling continued to spill over the border.
> 
> Military jets escorted the Damascus-bound Airbus A-320, carrying around 30 passengers, into the airport in Ankara hours after Turkey's chief of staff said his troops would respond with greater force if bombardments from Syria kept hitting Turkish territory, Turkish state-run television said.
> 
> "We are determined to control weapons transfers to a regime that carries out such brutal massacres against civilians. It is unacceptable that such a transfer is made using our airspace," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said.
> 
> 
> "Today we received information this plane was carrying cargo of a nature that could not possibly be in compliance with the rules of civil aviation," he said in Athens during an official visit, in comments broadcast live on Turkish television.
> 
> Davutoglu said Turkey was within its rights to investigate planes suspected to be carrying military materials and that the plane would be allowed to continue if it was found to be clean. He declined to comment on what the banned materials might be.
> 
> He said Turkey would continue to investigate Syrian civilian aircraft using its airspace.
> 
> He also said Syrian airspace was no longer safe and that Turkish passenger planes should not fly there. A Reuters witness at the border saw at least one passenger plane turn around as it approached Syria and head back into Turkey on Wednesday.
> 
> More than 18 months into the battle for Syria, an estimated 30,000 people are dead and the country is disintegrating.



Turkey Intercepts Syrian Civilian Plane


----------



## mememe

According to Armenian media, Putin cancelled his visit to Turkey on the 15-th of October. If this is true, it is serious.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> According to Armenian media, Putin cancelled his visit to Turkey on the 15-th of October. If this is true, it is serious.



Who gives a flying fuck? fuck you and fuck Putin too.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> According to Armenian media, Putin cancelled his visit to Turkey on the 15-th of October. If this is true, it is serious.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who gives a flying fuck? .
Click to expand...


Those whose heads are designed not only for eating, but also for THINKING -- a concept alien to you; so, don't worry your pretty little head. Go, have another Big Mac.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> According to Armenian media, Putin cancelled his visit to Turkey on the 15-th of October. If this is true, it is serious.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who gives a flying fuck? .
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Those whose heads are designed not only for eating, but also for THINKING -- a concept alien to you; so, don't worry your pretty little head. Go, have another Big Mac.
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Who gives a flying fuck? .
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those whose heads are designed not only for eating, but also for THINKING -- a concept alien to you; so, don't worry your pretty little head. Go, have another Big Mac.
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


Intelligence did not disfigure this face... American, clearly.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Those whose heads are designed not only for eating, but also for THINKING -- a concept alien to you; so, don't worry your pretty little head. Go, have another Big Mac.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Intelligence did not disfigure this face... American, clearly.
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Intelligence did not disfigure this face... American, clearly.
> 
> Click to expand...
Click to expand...


More intellectually challenged? I get it, no need to publish pictures of all US citizens.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Intelligence did not disfigure this face... American, clearly.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> More intellectually challenged? I get it, no need to publish pictures of all US citizens.
Click to expand...


----------



## mememe

You are kind'a slow, aren't cha? I say: I got it, no need to post pictures of all your relatives and friends to illustrate the results of American alternative upbringing.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> You are kind'a slow, aren't cha? I say: I got it, no need to post pictures of all your relatives and friends to illustrate the results of American alternative upbringing.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

Lol hg


----------



## mememe

Syrian government refused a demand of UN secretary general to cease fire. Instead, Syrian government advised UN secretary general to address his demand to SA, Qatar and Turkey -- the countries that supply terrorists and militants with weapons and money.


----------



## mememe

Syrian government made a decision to intercept (or shoot down) all Turkish airplanes that will cross into Syrian airspace.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> Syrian government made a decision to intercept (or shoot down) all Turkish airplanes that will cross into Syrian airspace.



Yesterday, Turkish Civil Aviation Authority forbid civilian aircrafts to enter Syria because it is unsafe.
International Airline companies will read between the lines, and will know, that it's the last step before Syria's airspace will be militarized.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> Syrian government refused a demand of UN secretary general to cease fire. Instead, Syrian government advised UN secretary general to address his demand to SA, Qatar and Turkey -- the countries that supply terrorists and militants with weapons and money.



Syrian "government" is in no position to demand anything.


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian government refused a demand of UN secretary general to cease fire. Instead, Syrian government advised UN secretary general to address his demand to SA, Qatar and Turkey -- the countries that supply terrorists and militants with weapons and money.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syrian "government" is in no position to demand anything.
Click to expand...


Neither is UN.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> Neither is UN.



After stalemate in UNSC, I think, that everyone involved knows, that solution for Syria-Crisis will come outside the UN framework.


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Neither is UN.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> After stalemate in UNSC, I think, that everyone involved knows, that solution for Syria-Crisis will come outside the UN framework.
Click to expand...


It was known and prior to UNSC. US did not start this whole mess in the ME just to back down when it is at the gates of Iran; and then it will be Russia and China left...


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Turkey Scrambles Fighter Planes To Border








> HACIPASA, Turkey, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Turkey scrambled two fighter planes to the border with Syria on Friday after a Syrian military helicopter bombed the Syrian border town of Azmarin, a Reuters witness said.
> 
> There has been intense fighting between rebels and Syrian government forces this week in Azmarin and neighbouring towns, an area strongly opposed to President Bashar al-Assad's rule.
> 
> Shells fired onto the town from surrounding hills sent thick plumes of smoke and dust rising into the air during fighting on Thursday and a voice amplified through loudspeakers, audible from the village of Hacipasa in Turkey's Hatay province, called on rebel fighters to surrender, warning of an air assault.
> 
> Fighting along Turkey's 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria has repeatedly spilled over into Turkish territory in the past week, with the Turkish army responding in kind to gunfire and mortar shells fired from Syria.



Syria Crisis: Turkey Scrambles Fighter Planes To Border


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Fighters Reportedly Seize Al Taaneh Air Defense Base Near Aleppo








> BEIRUT &#8212; A shadowy jihadi group believed to be linked to al-Qaida fought alongside rebels who seized a government missile defense base in Syria on Friday, activists said, heightening fears that extremists are taking advantage of the chaos to acquire advanced weapons.
> 
> Videos posted online Friday said to have been shot inside the base said the extremist group, Jabhat al-Nusra, participated in the overnight battle for the air defense base near the village of al-Taaneh, east of Aleppo in northern Syria. The videos show dozens of fighters inside the base near a radar tower, along with rows of large missiles, some on the backs of trucks.
> 
> A report by a correspondent with the Arabic satellite network Al-Jazeera who visited the base Friday said Jabhat al-Nusra had seized the base. The report showed a number of missiles and charred buildings, as fighters covered their faces with black cloths.
> 
> Two Aleppo-based activists and Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said Jabhat al-Nusra fought in the battle.
> 
> Little is known about Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Support Front, which began claiming attacks in Syria earlier this year in postings on jihadi forums often used by al-Qaida. While neither group has officially acknowledged the other, analysts say al-Nusra's tactics, jihadist rhetoric and use of al-Qaida forums point to an affiliation.
> 
> Western powers &#8211; and many Syrians &#8211; worry that Islamist extremists are playing an increasing role in Syria's civil war, which started in March 2011 as a mostly peaceful uprising against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Activist say more than 32,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
> 
> Despite their opposition to the Assad regime, the U.S. and others have cited the presence of extremists among the rebels as a reason not to supply them with weapons. Rebel leaders argue that the lack of military aid leaves a vacuum that extremists can exploit.



Syria Fighters Reportedly Seize Al Taaneh Air Defense Base Near Aleppo


----------



## bigrebnc1775

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Fighters Reportedly Seize Al Taaneh Air Defense Base Near Aleppo
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  A shadowy jihadi group believed to be linked to al-Qaida fought alongside rebels who seized a government missile defense base in Syria on Friday, activists said, heightening fears that extremists are taking advantage of the chaos to acquire advanced weapons.
> 
> Videos posted online Friday said to have been shot inside the base said the extremist group, Jabhat al-Nusra, participated in the overnight battle for the air defense base near the village of al-Taaneh, east of Aleppo in northern Syria. The videos show dozens of fighters inside the base near a radar tower, along with rows of large missiles, some on the backs of trucks.
> 
> A report by a correspondent with the Arabic satellite network Al-Jazeera who visited the base Friday said Jabhat al-Nusra had seized the base. The report showed a number of missiles and charred buildings, as fighters covered their faces with black cloths.
> 
> Two Aleppo-based activists and Rami Abdul-Rahman, head of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, also said Jabhat al-Nusra fought in the battle.
> 
> Little is known about Jabhat al-Nusra, or the Support Front, which began claiming attacks in Syria earlier this year in postings on jihadi forums often used by al-Qaida. While neither group has officially acknowledged the other, analysts say al-Nusra's tactics, jihadist rhetoric and use of al-Qaida forums point to an affiliation.
> 
> Western powers  and many Syrians  worry that Islamist extremists are playing an increasing role in Syria's civil war, which started in March 2011 as a mostly peaceful uprising against President Bashar Assad.
> 
> Activist say more than 32,000 people have been killed in the conflict.
> 
> Despite their opposition to the Assad regime, the U.S. and others have cited the presence of extremists among the rebels as a reason not to supply them with weapons. Rebel leaders argue that the lack of military aid leaves a vacuum that extremists can exploit.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Fighters Reportedly Seize Al Taaneh Air Defense Base Near Aleppo
Click to expand...


If obama supports the rebels in any way he should be charged and prosecuted


----------



## BecauseIKnow

Fucking KSA do something!


----------



## High_Gravity

Rebel Arms Flow Is Said to Benefit Jihadists in Syria








> WASHINGTON  Most of the arms shipped at the behest of Saudi Arabia and Qatar to supply Syrian rebel groups fighting the government of Bashar al-Assad are going to hard-line Islamic jihadists, and not the more secular opposition groups that the West wants to bolster, according to American officials and Middle Eastern diplomats.
> 
> That conclusion, of which President Obama and other senior officials are aware from classified assessments of the Syrian conflict that has now claimed more than 25,000 lives, casts into doubt whether the White Houses strategy of minimal and indirect intervention in the Syrian conflict is accomplishing its intended purpose of helping a democratic-minded opposition topple an oppressive government, or is instead sowing the seeds of future insurgencies hostile to the United States.
> 
> The opposition groups that are receiving the most of the lethal aid are exactly the ones we dont want to have it, said one American official familiar with the outlines of those findings, commenting on an operation that in American eyes has increasingly gone awry.
> 
> The United States is not sending arms directly to the Syrian opposition. Instead, it is providing intelligence and other support for shipments of secondhand light weapons like rifles and grenades into Syria, mainly orchestrated from Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The reports indicate that the shipments organized from Qatar, in particular, are largely going to hard-line Islamists.
> 
> The assessment of the arms flows comes at a crucial time for Mr. Obama, in the closing weeks of the election campaign with two debates looming that will focus on his foreign policy record. But it also calls into question the Syria strategy laid out by Mitt Romney, his Republican challenger.
> 
> In a speech at the Virginia Military Institute last Monday, Mr. Romney said he would ensure that rebel groups who share our values would obtain the arms they need to defeat Assads tanks, helicopters and fighter jets. That suggests he would approve the transfer of weapons like antiaircraft and antitank systems that are much more potent than any the United States has been willing to put into rebel hands so far, precisely because American officials cannot be certain who will ultimately be using them.
> 
> But Mr. Romney stopped short of saying that he would have the United States provide those arms directly, and his aides said he would instead rely on Arab allies to do it. That would leave him, like Mr. Obama, with little direct control over the distribution of the arms.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/w...-most-arms-sent-to-syrian-rebels.html?hp&_r=0


----------



## irosie91

sending amaments to ANYONE in Syria is an utterly idiotic idea-----have we not learned anything from our experience with the  TALIBAN?.     The only action the US should be carrying out in Syria is airlift the christians out of that islamic hell hole


----------



## BecauseIKnow

GTFO you goddamned Zionist piece of shit. How disrespectful of you! Did your Parents teach you manners? Fucking asshole!


----------



## irosie91

BecauseIKnow said:


> GTFO you goddamned Zionist piece of shit. How disrespectful of you! Did your Parents teach you manners? Fucking asshole!





   what does   GTFO  stand for?        "because'    keep the    "shit"   and the  "fucking" and the   "assholes"   in the masjid where they belong.      To what are you responding in your typical islamic manner?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

irosie91 said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> GTFO you goddamned Zionist piece of shit. How disrespectful of you! Did your Parents teach you manners? Fucking asshole!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> what does   GTFO  stand for?        "because'    keep the    "shit"   and the  "fucking" and the   "assholes"   in the masjid where they belong.      To what are you responding in your typical islamic manner?
Click to expand...


 take two cymbalta pills with this.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Dismisses Cease-Fire without Rebel Leaders









> (BEIRUT)  The Syrian government on Wednesday said the international envoys call for a holiday cease-fire would likely fail because the rebels fighting to topple Bashar Assads regime have no unified leadership to agree to it.
> 
> The envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, had asked Iranian officials to help broker a truce during the Muslim holiday Eid al-Adha, which falls later this month.
> 
> But Syrias state-run Al-Thawra newspaper, a government mouthpiece, said Wednesday that the biggest obstacle to the truce was the lack of an authority to sign for the rebels.
> 
> There is the state, represented by the government and the army on one front, but who is on the other front? the paper asked in an editorial.
> 
> All international efforts to end Syrias civil war to date have failed. Both rebels and government forces have disregarded previous cease-fires, and the scores of rebel units fighting to topple the regime have no unified leadership. Many dont communicate with each other.
> 
> Brahimi, the joint U.N.-Arab League envoy, arrived in Beirut on Wednesday for talks with Lebanese officials on how to resolve the crisis. The visit is part of a regional tour.
> 
> Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said in statement to the state news agency that the government was waiting for Brahimi to come to Damascus to convey to officials there the results of his tour. It would welcome any constructive initiative, Makdessi said.




Read more: Syria Dismisses Cease-Fire without Rebel Leaders | World | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Bombing in Northern Syria Kills Dozens








> BEIRUT, Lebanon  Syrian military aircraft bombed a town held by insurgents along a vital north-south highway in northern Syria on Thursday, leveling apartment buildings and a mosque and killing more than 40 people, including many children, according to activists and graphic videos uploaded on the Internet.
> 
> The aerial bombardment of the town, Maarat al-Noaman in Idlib Province, was among the most intense since the Syrian military began regularly deploying warplanes and helicopters in its effort to crush the armed insurgency against President Bashar al-Assad.
> 
> The Local Coordination Committees, an anti-Assad activist group, said dozens of people were martyred in the bombardment, which it described as having been carried out by MiG fighters of the Syrian Air Force. A number of videos posted on YouTube showed rescue workers and wailing family members searching for victims crushed in apartment houses that had been destroyed by bombs.
> 
> Agence France-Presse, which said it had a correspondent at the scene, reported that 44 corpses had been recovered and that plastic bags marked body parts had been placed in a makeshift field hospital.
> 
> Maarat al-Noaman is strategically located along the Damascus-Aleppo highway that connects Syrias two largest cities. Insurgents who have been seeking to cut the Syrian Armys supply lines to Aleppo took control of Maarat al-Noaman this month.
> 
> More than 20,000 people have been killed since the anti-Assad uprising began in March 2011.
> 
> The Maarat al-Noaman bombing comes as the new joint special envoy from the United Nations and Arab League, Lakhdar Brahimi, has been seeking support for a cease-fire tied to the Muslim holiday of Id al-Adha, which begins a week from Friday. Mr. Brahimi has said he hopes that a religious reprieve universally respected by Muslims could be the basis not only for a pause in the fighting but perhaps the beginning of a dialogue in Syria.
> 
> But neither side in the Syria conflict has shown much interest in talking, and Mr. Brahimis prospects for success are uncertain at best.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/19/w...g-in-northern-syria-kills-dozens.html?hp&_r=0


----------



## mememe

Today, supported by US, Qatar, UK, France, SA and Turkey terrorists blew up a car bomb in Christian part of Damascuc Bab Tuma.
The bomb was activated at the time when worshippers were leaving church and children just finished their school.


Do American leaders go to Christian church?..


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Crisis: Aleppo Bakery Reportedly Hit By Army Shells



> Disturbing footage out of Syria appears to show the aftermath of shelling on a bakery in the northern city of Aleppo. According to Reuters, activists say at least 20 people were killed in the embattled city on Tuesday, including women and children.
> 
> Video that surfaced on YouTube purports to show the bakery's blood-covered walls, though the footage could not independently be verified; bodies and dismembered parts appear to be lying amid piles of bread on the floor. Residents carry out the dead and wounded amid shouts of anguish and panic.
> 
> Opposition activist Majd Nour told Reuters that the bakery was hit by Syrian army shells. "It was quiet all day and suddenly Assad's forces fired three shells. The first landed near the bakery and the other two hit it," he claimed.
> 
> Abu Jamal, another opposition activist, told CBS news via Skype that 11 victims have been identified so far. "The rest couldn't be identified as their bodies were disfigured beyond recognition," Jamal said.
> 
> Human Rights Watch reported in August that the Syrian army had attacked at least 10 bakeries in Aleppo. Day after day, Aleppo residents line up to get bread for their families, and instead get shrapnel piercing their bodies from government bombs and shells, said Ole Solvang, emergencies researcher at Human Rights Watch. Ten bakery attacks is not random  they show no care for civilians and strongly indicate an attempt to target them.



Syria Crisis: Aleppo Bakery Reportedly Hit By Army Shells (WARNING: GRAPHIC VIDEO)


----------



## SAYIT

mememe said:


> Today, supported by US, Qatar, UK, France, SA and Turkey terrorists blew up a car bomb in Christian part of Damascuc Bab Tuma.
> The bomb was activated at the time when worshippers were leaving church and children just finished their school.
> Do American leaders go to Christian church?..



As always you forgot to include the source of your camel crap. How convenient.


----------



## mememe

SAYIT said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Today, supported by US, Qatar, UK, France, SA and Turkey terrorists blew up a car bomb in Christian part of Damascuc Bab Tuma.
> The bomb was activated at the time when worshippers were leaving church and children just finished their school.
> Do American leaders go to Christian church?..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As always you forgot to include the source of your camel crap. How convenient.
Click to expand...


No one stops you from watching TV outside of "reality" shows.


----------



## SAYIT

mememe said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Today, supported by US, Qatar, UK, France, SA and Turkey terrorists blew up a car bomb in Christian part of Damascuc Bab Tuma.
> The bomb was activated at the time when worshippers were leaving church and children just finished their school.
> Do American leaders go to Christian church?..
> 
> 
> 
> 
> As always you forgot to include the source of your camel crap. How convenient.
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No one stops you from watching TV outside of "reality" shows.
Click to expand...


Translation: Mememememememe is painfully aware that his "facts" aren't exactly facts and his sources aren't exactly credible sources.


----------



## High_Gravity

SAYIT said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> As always you forgot to include the source of your camel crap. How convenient.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No one stops you from watching TV outside of "reality" shows.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Translation: Mememememememe is painfully aware that his "facts" aren't exactly facts and his sources aren't exactly credible sources.
Click to expand...


mememe is a fuckin sock who spouts Russian propoganda all day.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Agrees To Ceasefire During Eid Al-Adha Holiday, Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Says 








> BEIRUT  An international mediator told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that he hopes a four-day holiday truce can take hold in Syria this week, warning that another failure will worsen the fighting and increasingly threaten neighboring countries.
> 
> Yet even this modest effort  the international community's only plan for scaling back the violence  appears doomed to fail.
> 
> Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy, said the Syrian regime and some rebel groups promised to lay down their arms during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins Friday. However, President Bashar Assad's regime denied Wednesday that it had committed to the plan and a radical Islamist group fighting alongside the rebels said it won't comply. Other rebels dismissed the idea as irrelevant.
> 
> Previous cease-fire missions have failed, in part because neither the rebels nor the regime have an incentive to end the bloody war of attrition. Both sides believe they can still make gains on the battlefield even as they are locked in a stalemate, and neither has faith in negotiations on the terms of a political transition proposed by Brahimi.
> 
> As Brahimi briefed the Security Council, the death toll in the 19-month-old conflict crossed the threshold of 35,000, activists said, and more violence was reported across the country.
> 
> Two car bombs killed at least eight bus passengers in the capital Damascus and 12 regime soldiers near a military checkpoint in the north, while regime airstrikes on villages near a besieged army base killed 12 civilians, activists said. They also posted a video showing at least 13 bodies laid out Wednesday in a room in a Damascus suburb, some of them women and children. Each side blamed the other for the deaths.



Syria Agrees To Ceasefire During Eid Al-Adha Holiday, Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Says


----------



## SAYIT

High_Gravity said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> No one stops you from watching TV outside of "reality" shows.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Translation: Mememememememe is painfully aware that his "facts" aren't exactly facts and his sources aren't exactly credible sources.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> mememe is a fuckin sock who spouts Russian propoganda all day.
Click to expand...


And not even good Russian prop at that. Your basic idiot troll.


----------



## theliq

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Agrees To Ceasefire During Eid Al-Adha Holiday, Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  An international mediator told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that he hopes a four-day holiday truce can take hold in Syria this week, warning that another failure will worsen the fighting and increasingly threaten neighboring countries.
> 
> Yet even this modest effort  the international community's only plan for scaling back the violence  appears doomed to fail.
> 
> Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy, said the Syrian regime and some rebel groups promised to lay down their arms during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins Friday. However, President Bashar Assad's regime denied Wednesday that it had committed to the plan and a radical Islamist group fighting alongside the rebels said it won't comply. Other rebels dismissed the idea as irrelevant.
> 
> Previous cease-fire missions have failed, in part because neither the rebels nor the regime have an incentive to end the bloody war of attrition. Both sides believe they can still make gains on the battlefield even as they are locked in a stalemate, and neither has faith in negotiations on the terms of a political transition proposed by Brahimi.
> 
> As Brahimi briefed the Security Council, the death toll in the 19-month-old conflict crossed the threshold of 35,000, activists said, and more violence was reported across the country.
> 
> Two car bombs killed at least eight bus passengers in the capital Damascus and 12 regime soldiers near a military checkpoint in the north, while regime airstrikes on villages near a besieged army base killed 12 civilians, activists said. They also posted a video showing at least 13 bodies laid out Wednesday in a room in a Damascus suburb, some of them women and children. Each side blamed the other for the deaths.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Agrees To Ceasefire During Eid Al-Adha Holiday, Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Says
Click to expand...


For how long Grav....30 secondsbastards.steve


----------



## mememe

Jabhat al-Nu&#7779;r&#257;h  and  Ansar al-Islam  did not agree to a ceasefire.


----------



## High_Gravity

theliq said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Agrees To Ceasefire During Eid Al-Adha Holiday, Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Says
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT  An international mediator told the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday that he hopes a four-day holiday truce can take hold in Syria this week, warning that another failure will worsen the fighting and increasingly threaten neighboring countries.
> 
> Yet even this modest effort  the international community's only plan for scaling back the violence  appears doomed to fail.
> 
> Lakhdar Brahimi, the U.N.-Arab League envoy, said the Syrian regime and some rebel groups promised to lay down their arms during the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha, which begins Friday. However, President Bashar Assad's regime denied Wednesday that it had committed to the plan and a radical Islamist group fighting alongside the rebels said it won't comply. Other rebels dismissed the idea as irrelevant.
> 
> Previous cease-fire missions have failed, in part because neither the rebels nor the regime have an incentive to end the bloody war of attrition. Both sides believe they can still make gains on the battlefield even as they are locked in a stalemate, and neither has faith in negotiations on the terms of a political transition proposed by Brahimi.
> 
> As Brahimi briefed the Security Council, the death toll in the 19-month-old conflict crossed the threshold of 35,000, activists said, and more violence was reported across the country.
> 
> Two car bombs killed at least eight bus passengers in the capital Damascus and 12 regime soldiers near a military checkpoint in the north, while regime airstrikes on villages near a besieged army base killed 12 civilians, activists said. They also posted a video showing at least 13 bodies laid out Wednesday in a room in a Damascus suburb, some of them women and children. Each side blamed the other for the deaths.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Agrees To Ceasefire During Eid Al-Adha Holiday, Peace Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi Says
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> For how long Grav....30 secondsbastards.steve
Click to expand...


It won't last.


----------



## High_Gravity

The Qatar Conundrum: The Emirate That Arms Syrias Rebels Also Embraces Hamas








> Mindful of its declining appetite for projecting power in the Middle East, the U.S. is relying on more activist partners in the region such Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey to arm the Syrian rebellion. But Tuesdays visit to Gaza by Qatars Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani  to the delight of the territorys Hamas rulers and Egypts Muslim Brotherhood, while Israel and Fatah fumed  was a reminder that U.S. allies in the region often pursue goals quite different from those of Washington, despite many shared objectives and common enemies. And the relative decline of U.S. influence in the Middle East has seen some of those independently-minded allies grow more assertive in pressing their agendas.
> 
> In Mondays presidential campaign foreign policy debate, Gov. Mitt Romney rejected U.S. military intervention in Syria, noting instead that The Saudis and the Qataris and the Turks are  willing to work with us. We need to have a very effective leadership effort in Syria, making sure that the insurgents there are armed, and that the insurgents that become armed are people who will be the responsible parties. President Obama also talked up cooperation with regional allies, but warned that we have to [make] absolutely certain that we know who we are helping; that were not putting arms in the hands of folks who eventually could turn them against us or allies in the region.
> 
> But the Emirs visit to Gaza makes clear that Qatar, the tiny Emirate whose massive natural gas reserves give it the worlds highest per capita income as well as geopolitical punching power way above its weight, has sharply different ideas from Washingtons about just who the  responsible parties will be in a changing Middle East. Hamas, after all, is formally shunned by the U.S. and European powers as a terrorist organization, and Washington has shown little enthusiasm for efforts by Arab governments, including Qatar, to promote reconciliation between the Islamists and the Fatah movement of President Mahmoud Abbas. Abbas was reportedly furious at the Qatari leaders decision to become the first foreign head of state to visit the Hamas-controlled Gaza, effectively blessing the Islamist rule there. The Emirs purpose was to inaugurate Qatars $400 billion investment in rebuilding infrastructure smashed in repeated confrontations with Israel  a massive stimulus to an economy choked off by a five-year siege imposed by Israel with Egyptian compliance.
> 
> Sheik Hamad seemed unmoved by Abbas ire or Washingtons discomfort,  his effort to rehabilitate Gaza and coax Hamas into the Arab mainstream prompted by the malign neglect of Gaza by all parties to the now moribund peace process. Its also a reflection of the political paralysis of Fatah after a decade of passively waiting in vain for the U.S. to restart a credible peace process. And, theres thinly disguised geopolitical agenda, too: driving a wedge between Iran and Hamas, and drawing the movement back into the moderate Islamist mainstream.



Read more: The Qatar Conundrum: The Emirate That Arms Syria&#8217;s Rebels Also Embraces Hamas | TIME.com


----------



## BecauseIKnow

HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function. 

I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function.
> 
> I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.



The problem is nobody wants to give money to Gaza if its going to go towards Hamas weapons and missiles, I read somewhere that 79 missiles were fired into Israel this past weekend right? how come there is money for missiles but not enough for what the Palestinians really need?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function.
> 
> I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The problem is nobody wants to give money to Gaza if its going to go towards Hamas weapons and missiles, I read somewhere that 79 missiles were fired into Israel this past weekend right? how come there is money for missiles but not enough for what the Palestinians really need?
Click to expand...


You're confusing the two. Hamas has a political government, that money goes into social work, infrastructure. They are building many new things. But still as a government they need allies. And they need to be able to trade. The people are smart in Gaza. They just need the opportunity. 

Now Izzedeen Qassam brigades are their military wing. It's completely separate. Those have hidden different leaders who gather money for weopons. And Gaza is in need of a little bit of weapons. They are still extremely weak. But they make it look easy with the rockets. The rockets tell Israel the consequences of bombing Gaza. You must have also read that Israel was bombing Gaza left and right and killed 6 people. Don't be bias of that dude. They pitched off by invading Beit Hanoin( city in Gaza next to Israel border). And following that killed two militants. They started this. It doesn't matter how Hamas responds. They should always respond.

You bomb our cities we won't leave your cities not bombed. You damage our cities we will damage yours. That's how the militants see it. It's just.


----------



## High_Gravity

BecauseIKnow said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function.
> 
> I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The problem is nobody wants to give money to Gaza if its going to go towards Hamas weapons and missiles, I read somewhere that 79 missiles were fired into Israel this past weekend right? how come there is money for missiles but not enough for what the Palestinians really need?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You're confusing the two. Hamas has a political government, that money goes into social work, infrastructure. They are building many new things. But still as a government they need allies. And they need to be able to trade. The people are smart in Gaza. They just need the opportunity.
> 
> Now Izzedeen Qassam brigades are their military wing. It's completely separate. Those have hidden different leaders who gather money for weopons. And Gaza is in need of a little bit of weapons. They are still extremely weak. But they make it look easy with the rockets. The rockets tell Israel the consequences of bombing Gaza. You must have also read that Israel was bombing Gaza left and right and killed 6 people. Don't be bias of that dude. They pitched off by invading Beit Hanoin( city in Gaza next to Israel border). And following that killed two militants. They started this. It doesn't matter how Hamas responds. They should always respond.
> 
> You bomb our cities we won't leave your cities not bombed. You damage our cities we will damage yours. That's how the militants see it. It's just.
Click to expand...


The thing is if going to keep being a tit for tat thing this crisis will NEVER be solved.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> The problem is nobody wants to give money to Gaza if its going to go towards Hamas weapons and missiles, I read somewhere that 79 missiles were fired into Israel this past weekend right? how come there is money for missiles but not enough for what the Palestinians really need?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You're confusing the two. Hamas has a political government, that money goes into social work, infrastructure. They are building many new things. But still as a government they need allies. And they need to be able to trade. The people are smart in Gaza. They just need the opportunity.
> 
> Now Izzedeen Qassam brigades are their military wing. It's completely separate. Those have hidden different leaders who gather money for weopons. And Gaza is in need of a little bit of weapons. They are still extremely weak. But they make it look easy with the rockets. The rockets tell Israel the consequences of bombing Gaza. You must have also read that Israel was bombing Gaza left and right and killed 6 people. Don't be bias of that dude. They pitched off by invading Beit Hanoin( city in Gaza next to Israel border). And following that killed two militants. They started this. It doesn't matter how Hamas responds. They should always respond.
> 
> You bomb our cities we won't leave your cities not bombed. You damage our cities we will damage yours. That's how the militants see it. It's just.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The thing is if going to keep being a tit for tat thing this crisis will NEVER be solved.
Click to expand...


It's too late for anything to be solved. Sadly. It will remain like this. Something's are just that way.....


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function.
> 
> I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The problem is nobody wants to give money to Gaza if its going to go towards Hamas weapons and missiles, I read somewhere that 79 missiles were fired into Israel this past weekend right? how come there is money for missiles but not enough for what the Palestinians really need?
Click to expand...


Yes if half of those wanting to fight would farm and build, the ME would look totally different!


----------



## mememe

logical4u said:


> Yes if half of those wanting to fight would farm and build, the ME would look totally different!



Why should they "farm" and "build" if US, SA and Qatar pay good money for them to go from country to country and kill?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

mememe said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes if half of those wanting to fight would farm and build, the ME would look totally different!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Why should they "farm" and "build" if US, SA and Qatar pay good money for them to go from country to country and kill?
Click to expand...


Smack that guy around. He's a pure Muslim hater. And he doesn't seem to know they farm the most and build the most. That idiot talks like he leads the world.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function.
> 
> I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The problem is nobody wants to give money to Gaza if its going to go towards Hamas weapons and missiles, I read somewhere that 79 missiles were fired into Israel this past weekend right? how come there is money for missiles but not enough for what the Palestinians really need?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Yes if half of those wanting to fight would farm and build, the ME would look totally different!
Click to expand...


Are you stupid or what? There is farming and building in Gaza. That still means they need a little military build up. Their militant groups are small. You're basically saying you and your allies get to spend billions on weapons and training but they can't. Politics of course. Israel trains and gets new weapons everyday and they train to fight. The Palestinians aren't gonna sit around and watch Israel plan invasions. They are gonna prepare for any aggression.


----------



## Trajan

and the beat goes on....no truce is in the offing it appears....


Car bomb explodes in residential district of Damascus

AMMAN, Oct 26 (Reuters) - A large car bomb exploded on Friday near a children's playground in southern Damascus and initial reports indicated a large number of casualties, opposition activists in the capital said.

The bomb went off in the southern Daf al-Shok area, *a Sunni neighbourhood*. Several buildings were damaged, they said.


Car bomb explodes in residential district of Damascus - AlertNet



there will be another in Lebanon, soon, this thing is on the edge of spinning the region....


----------



## SAYIT

BecauseIKnow said:


> HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function.
> 
> I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.



I'm also glad someone is helpimg those hapless Gazans but they spent precious little time and expended even less energy "to get their infrastructure going" prior to 2006. 
They were too busy building rockets.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

SAYIT said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function.
> 
> I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm also glad someone is helpimg those hapless Gazans but they spent precious little time and expended even less energy "to get their infrastructure going" prior to 2006.
> They were too busy building rockets.
Click to expand...


Those don't go together. They were building as they got the money. The rockets are separate and cheap to built. The rockets are also for defense reasons. There's nothing at all wrong with building rockets. Israel is piling missiles by the day.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Ceasefire: Warplanes Bomb Rebel Stronghold In Damascus Suburb On Last Day Of Truce



> AMMAN, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombarded a rebel stronghold in a Damascus suburb on Monday, the final day of a truce broken by air attacks and fighting between the two sides across the country, opposition activists said.
> 
> Jets targeted Harat al-Shwam, a residential area a few kilometres east of the capital which President Bashar al-Assad's forces had tried to storm last week, activists said.
> 
> "Tanks are deployed around Harat al-Shwam but they haven't been able to go in. They tried a week ago and failed," said one activist who lives near the area and did not want to be named.
> 
> Sham News Network, an activist group, said jets also raided farmland adjacent to the northern Damascus neighbourhood of Barzeh and the city of Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria.



Syria Ceasefire: Warplanes Bomb Rebel Stronghold In Damascus Suburb On Last Day Of Truce


----------



## High_Gravity

A hidden eye on the Syrian conflict









> DAMASCUS, Syria  In retrospect, he realizes he shouldn't have gone back to the restaurant.
> 
> But Wael Salahudeen had spent more than a month secretly filming around the Syrian capital, and he wasn't willing to let some of that footage go.
> 
> He had just completed a particularly difficult shot of a several-story-tall poster of President Bashar Assad when he met a friend at the nearby restaurant. But when they left, he forgot the black bag he had altered with a hole through which he could inconspicuously film the streets of Damascus.
> 
> "Like a crazy person, I ran back to the restaurant," he said.
> 
> He asked one of the waiters behind the counter about the bag. The waiter gave Salahudeen an odd look, and he feared the man was one of the many government informants in the capital.
> 
> "I said, that's it, I'm done," he recalled.
> 
> The waiter continued staring at Salahudeen for what felt like several seconds before he reached down and handed over the bag.
> 
> "He said, 'Be careful,'" Salahudeen said. "And he lifted the bag and pointed to the hole and repeated, 'Be careful.'"
> 
> It was the closest call Salahudeen, 25, who uses a pseudonym for security reasons, encountered while filming his documentary, "Damascus on the Edge of Light." But the entire two months he filmed was fraught with danger, as he joined other artists living under the authoritarian regime who have turned their lenses on the revolution.
> 
> "The revolution as a whole opened the door in front of a generation of artists to show the reality," said Salahudeen, a graduate student who also works as a photographer. "We are asking, where were these people before? There were talents that were buried and unseen.
> 
> "And in the end this is one of the main goals of the revolution, freedom of expression," he said.
> 
> Other filmmakers have been caught in the cross-fire.
> 
> In September, Tamer Awam, a Syrian documentary filmmaker living in Germany, died of shrapnel wounds while filming in one of the most dangerous neighborhoods in Aleppo, in northern Syria. Awam had previously released a 24-minute work, "Memories at a Checkpoint," which showed life in Idlib province during the conflict.
> 
> In May, another documentarian, Bassel Shahade, was killed in Homs. He had been studying in the U.S. but interrupted his schooling to return to film the rebellion.
> 
> A well-known producer, Orwa Nairabiya, was arrested in August at the Damascus airport and spent 22 days in jail.
> 
> The capital remains under the control of the Assad government and is littered with checkpoints and government informants. Even filming with a camera phone can lead to arrest.
> 
> So Salahudeen fashioned a box to hold his rented Sony Handycam and cut a hole in the side of the bag, a type that might be used by a merchant to carry money.



A filmmaker's hidden eye on the Syrian conflict - latimes.com


----------



## SAYIT

BecauseIKnow said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> HG Gazans need some Aid to get their infrastructure going. It's unfair. They have been isolated for since 2006 for a while. They need to make real relations rather than rely on Iran. Who was the only country willing to help. Gazans don't have money to pay taxes. The government needs money to function.
> 
> I'm glad he helped the Palestinian people.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> I'm also glad someone is helpimg those hapless Gazans but they spent precious little time and expended even less energy "to get their infrastructure going" prior to 2006.
> They were too busy building rockets.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Those don't go together. They were building as they got the money. The rockets are separate and cheap to built. The rockets are also for defense reasons. There's nothing at all wrong with building rockets. Israel is piling missiles by the day.
Click to expand...


Guns or butter. It's an age old law of economics. You say it's been tough since 2006 but they weren't building infrastructure prior to 2006 either and while rockets are inexpensive, ther is nothing defensive about them. They stop no tanks and shoot down no attack aircraft. Besides, Iran is willing to foot the bill for all the weapons Hamas can smuggle into Gaza. Even in Iran it's guns or butter:
Iran orchestra finale rings of hard-line pressure - Yahoo! Music


----------



## BecauseIKnow

SAYIT said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> I'm also glad someone is helpimg those hapless Gazans but they spent precious little time and expended even less energy "to get their infrastructure going" prior to 2006.
> They were too busy building rockets.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Those don't go together. They were building as they got the money. The rockets are separate and cheap to built. The rockets are also for defense reasons. There's nothing at all wrong with building rockets. Israel is piling missiles by the day.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Guns or butter. It's an age old law of economics. You say it's been tough since 2006 but they weren't building infrastructure prior to 2006 either and while rockets are inexpensive, ther is nothing defensive about them. They stop no tanks and shoot down no attack aircraft. Besides, Iran is willing to foot the bill for all the weapons Hamas can smuggle into Gaza. Even in Iran it's guns or butter:
> Iran orchestra finale rings of hard-line pressure - Yahoo! Music
Click to expand...

 
Hamas and Iran have bad relations now. The military leadership in Gaza was opposed to haniyeh going to Iran. 

Before 2006 Israel was in control of the Gaza Strip. They decided what gets built and what doesn't get built.


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Ceasefire: Warplanes Bomb Rebel Stronghold In Damascus Suburb On Last Day Of Truce
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AMMAN, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombarded a rebel stronghold in a Damascus suburb on Monday, the final day of a truce broken by air attacks and fighting between the two sides across the country, opposition activists said.
> 
> Jets targeted Harat al-Shwam, a residential area a few kilometres east of the capital which President Bashar al-Assad's forces had tried to storm last week, activists said.
> 
> "Tanks are deployed around Harat al-Shwam but they haven't been able to go in. They tried a week ago and failed," said one activist who lives near the area and did not want to be named.
> 
> Sham News Network, an activist group, said jets also raided farmland adjacent to the northern Damascus neighbourhood of Barzeh and the city of Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire: Warplanes Bomb Rebel Stronghold In Damascus Suburb On Last Day Of Truce
Click to expand...


The word of a muslim cannot be relied upon.  (it is impossible to tell which muslim will choose to be "honorable" and which will commit taqqira (sp)).


----------



## BecauseIKnow

logical4u said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire: Warplanes Bomb Rebel Stronghold In Damascus Suburb On Last Day Of Truce
> 
> 
> 
> 
> AMMAN, Oct 29 (Reuters) - Syrian warplanes bombarded a rebel stronghold in a Damascus suburb on Monday, the final day of a truce broken by air attacks and fighting between the two sides across the country, opposition activists said.
> 
> Jets targeted Harat al-Shwam, a residential area a few kilometres east of the capital which President Bashar al-Assad's forces had tried to storm last week, activists said.
> 
> "Tanks are deployed around Harat al-Shwam but they haven't been able to go in. They tried a week ago and failed," said one activist who lives near the area and did not want to be named.
> 
> Sham News Network, an activist group, said jets also raided farmland adjacent to the northern Damascus neighbourhood of Barzeh and the city of Deir al-Zor in eastern Syria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire: Warplanes Bomb Rebel Stronghold In Damascus Suburb On Last Day Of Truce
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> The word of a muslim cannot be relied upon.  (it is impossible to tell which muslim will choose to be "honorable" and which will commit taqqira (sp)).
Click to expand...


Fucking shutup you Nazi. You sound like a supremacist.


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> The problem is nobody wants to give money to Gaza if its going to go towards Hamas weapons and missiles, I read somewhere that 79 missiles were fired into Israel this past weekend right? how come there is money for missiles but not enough for what the Palestinians really need?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Yes if half of those wanting to fight would farm and build, the ME would look totally different!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Are you stupid or what? There is farming and building in Gaza. That still means they need a little military build up. Their militant groups are small. You're basically saying you and your allies get to spend billions on weapons and training but they can't. Politics of course. Israel trains and gets new weapons everyday and they train to fight. The Palestinians aren't gonna sit around and watch Israel plan invasions. They are gonna prepare for any aggression.
Click to expand...


Who is attacking them?  Why do they need a military?  Aren't the islamic countries surrounding them generous and supporting (cause it is such a great religion)?  Israel won territories in a war that the ME countries ganged up on Israel and tried to destroy them.  Israel has not invaded other countries to gain territory (only in self defense).  The Palestinians do not need an army.  They have the UN!!!!  If they used their resources to farm and build, instead of hate and destroy, the ME would be totally different.  Unfortunately, islam teaches envy, coveting, and murder.  That is what is practiced, and why the ME is in a state of destruction.


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire: Warplanes Bomb Rebel Stronghold In Damascus Suburb On Last Day Of Truce
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Ceasefire: Warplanes Bomb Rebel Stronghold In Damascus Suburb On Last Day Of Truce
> 
> 
> 
> 
> The word of a muslim cannot be relied upon.  (it is impossible to tell which muslim will choose to be "honorable" and which will commit taqqira (sp)).
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Fucking shutup you Nazi. You sound like a supremacist.
Click to expand...


Who is the one "commanding" (like they are a supremacist)?  Who is the one speaking the truth?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

logical4u said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> The word of a muslim cannot be relied upon.  (it is impossible to tell which muslim will choose to be "honorable" and which will commit taqqira (sp)).
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fucking shutup you Nazi. You sound like a supremacist.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Who is the one "commanding" (like they are a supremacist)?  Who is the one speaking the truth?
Click to expand...


You aren't speaking no truth wanna be Prophet. You're preaching like nazi. Phew!


----------



## BecauseIKnow

logical4u said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Yes if half of those wanting to fight would farm and build, the ME would look totally different!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you stupid or what? There is farming and building in Gaza. That still means they need a little military build up. Their militant groups are small. You're basically saying you and your allies get to spend billions on weapons and training but they can't. Politics of course. Israel trains and gets new weapons everyday and they train to fight. The Palestinians aren't gonna sit around and watch Israel plan invasions. They are gonna prepare for any aggression.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Who is attacking them?  Why do they need a military?  Aren't the islamic countries surrounding them generous and supporting (cause it is such a great religion)?  Israel won territories in a war that the ME countries ganged up on Israel and tried to destroy them.  Israel has not invaded other countries to gain territory (only in self defense).  The Palestinians do not need an army.  They have the UN!!!!  If they used their resources to farm and build, instead of hate and destroy, the ME would be totally different.  Unfortunately, islam teaches envy, coveting, and murder.  That is what is practiced, and why the ME is in a state of destruction.
Click to expand...


No Jews invaded with the Zionist immigration project. And Israel attacks anyone around them, that's the truth. Your too oblivious to the world. 

What, the UN?? Ha Ha Ha! Do you realize what you're saying? 

Typical coward who blames Islam like the usual. Unfortunately you're a uneducated Christian. Keep this talk in your Muslim hating church coward.


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Fucking shutup you Nazi. You sound like a supremacist.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who is the one "commanding" (like they are a supremacist)?  Who is the one speaking the truth?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You aren't speaking no truth wanna be Prophet. You're preaching like nazi. Phew!
Click to expand...


Are you saying muslims do not practice "taqqiya"?  Please tell us how to tell which muslims are honorable with their word, and which ones aren't.  In this society, you can be punished by the law for breaking your "word"/contract.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

logical4u said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Who is the one "commanding" (like they are a supremacist)?  Who is the one speaking the truth?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You aren't speaking no truth wanna be Prophet. You're preaching like nazi. Phew!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Are you saying muslims do not practice "taqqiya"?  Please tell us how to tell which muslims are honorable with their word, and which ones aren't.  In this society, you can be punished by the law for breaking your "word"/contract.
Click to expand...


Are you insane? No, if you're rich and white and Jewish, you can get way with anything in America.


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Are you stupid or what? There is farming and building in Gaza. That still means they need a little military build up. Their militant groups are small. You're basically saying you and your allies get to spend billions on weapons and training but they can't. Politics of course. Israel trains and gets new weapons everyday and they train to fight. The Palestinians aren't gonna sit around and watch Israel plan invasions. They are gonna prepare for any aggression.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Who is attacking them?  Why do they need a military?  Aren't the islamic countries surrounding them generous and supporting (cause it is such a great religion)?  Israel won territories in a war that the ME countries ganged up on Israel and tried to destroy them.  Israel has not invaded other countries to gain territory (only in self defense).  The Palestinians do not need an army.  They have the UN!!!!  If they used their resources to farm and build, instead of hate and destroy, the ME would be totally different.  Unfortunately, islam teaches envy, coveting, and murder.  That is what is practiced, and why the ME is in a state of destruction.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No Jews invaded with the Zionist immigration project. And Israel attacks anyone around them, that's the truth. Your too oblivious to the world.
> 
> What, the UN?? Ha Ha Ha! Do you realize what you're saying?
> 
> Typical coward who blames Islam like the usual. Unfortunately you're a uneducated Christian. Keep this talk in your Muslim hating church coward.
Click to expand...


Maybe you could provide links/evidence where Israel has invaded Egypt, Lebenon, Jordon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia?

The UN, now over run with islamic representatives, yes, I do realize what I am saying ;0

Islam terrorists are a MAJOR problem in this world.  Islamic nations are doing very little to assist their populations to be productive citizens.  The same nations that have muslims are leaders are telling the rest of us: if only your country was islamic, there would be no problems...  There is not one islamic country that can be held up a shining example for everyone to immitate.  There is not one islamic country that offers women opportunity (other than to be treated like a brood female, not even human).

Who should I blame?  Should I blame the Christians for the condition of the ME, when muslims run the countries?  Should I blame the Hindus that aren't part of the ME culture?  Should I blame the Buddahists?  It is the muslim extremists that are causing the problems.  And then, when people say, you muslims, police your own, you whine like women.


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> You aren't speaking no truth wanna be Prophet. You're preaching like nazi. Phew!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you saying muslims do not practice "taqqiya"?  Please tell us how to tell which muslims are honorable with their word, and which ones aren't.  In this society, you can be punished by the law for breaking your "word"/contract.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Are you insane? No, if you're rich and white and Jewish, you can get way with anything in America.
Click to expand...


I said "you can", not "you will".  And yes being rich (doesn't matter if you are white (OJ), or Jewish) makes it less likely you will be punished.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

logical4u said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Who is attacking them?  Why do they need a military?  Aren't the islamic countries surrounding them generous and supporting (cause it is such a great religion)?  Israel won territories in a war that the ME countries ganged up on Israel and tried to destroy them.  Israel has not invaded other countries to gain territory (only in self defense).  The Palestinians do not need an army.  They have the UN!!!!  If they used their resources to farm and build, instead of hate and destroy, the ME would be totally different.  Unfortunately, islam teaches envy, coveting, and murder.  That is what is practiced, and why the ME is in a state of destruction.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> No Jews invaded with the Zionist immigration project. And Israel attacks anyone around them, that's the truth. Your too oblivious to the world.
> 
> What, the UN?? Ha Ha Ha! Do you realize what you're saying?
> 
> Typical coward who blames Islam like the usual. Unfortunately you're a uneducated Christian. Keep this talk in your Muslim hating church coward.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Maybe you could provide links/evidence where Israel has invaded Egypt, Lebenon, Jordon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia?
> 
> The UN, now over run with islamic representatives, yes, I do realize what I am saying ;0
> 
> Islam terrorists are a MAJOR problem in this world.  Islamic nations are doing very little to assist their populations to be productive citizens.  The same nations that have muslims are leaders are telling the rest of us: if only your country was islamic, there would be no problems...  There is not one islamic country that can be held up a shining example for everyone to immitate.  There is not one islamic country that offers women opportunity (other than to be treated like a brood female, not even human).
> 
> Who should I blame?  Should I blame the Christians for the condition of the ME, when muslims run the countries?  Should I blame the Hindus that aren't part of the ME culture?  Should I blame the Buddahists?  It is the muslim extremists that are causing the problems.  And then, when people say, you muslims, police your own, you whine like women.
Click to expand...


You don't need links, 67 war, was an Israeli strike.

Another baseless accusation.

Extremists only risen because of wars in the Middle East and people like you. Israel is a major problem in the Middle East. 

Blame what for what? I don't see what point you're trying to make?? 

You made a stupid post and I responded to it.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Conflict: Airstrikes On Damascus Suburbs Intensify Activists Say 










> BEIRUT  Syrian warplanes pounded opposition strongholds around Damascus and in the north Wednesday as President Bashar Assad's forces intensified airstrikes following the failure of a U.N.-backed cease-fire, activists said.
> 
> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which gathers reports from a network of activists on the ground, said government jets carried out five strikes in the eastern Ghouta district, a rebel stronghold close to the capital.
> 
> Three airstrikes also hit the rebel-held city of Maaret al-Numan, which straddles a key supply route from Damascus to Aleppo and has become a main front in the civil war.
> 
> No casualties were reported in Wednesday's strikes, the Observatory said.
> 
> However, at least 185 people were killed nationwide in airstrikes and artillery shelling the day before, pushing the total death toll since the conflict began in March 2011 to over 36,000, according to the Observatory's president Rami Abdul-Rahman. At least 47 soldiers were also killed Tuesday, the Observatory said.
> 
> Syria's crisis began as a peaceful uprising against Assad's regime inspired by the Arab Spring, but it quickly morphed into a civil war.
> 
> The international community remains at a loss about how to stop the war. A temporary truce timed to coincide with a major Muslim holiday last week failed to take hold as more than 500 people were killed in fighting during the four day period.
> 
> The U.S. and other Western and Arab nations have called on Assad to step down, while Russia, China and Iran continue to back him.
> 
> The U.N.-Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, met Wednesday with China's Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi to solicit Beijing's support for international efforts to stop the bloodshed.



Syria Conflict: Airstrikes On Damascus Suburbs Intensify Activists Say


----------



## SAYIT

logical4u said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Who is the one "commanding" (like they are a supremacist)?  Who is the one speaking the truth?
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You aren't speaking no truth wanna be Prophet. You're preaching like nazi. Phew!
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Are you saying muslims do not practice "taqqiya"?  Please tell us how to tell which muslims are honorable with their word, and which ones aren't.  In this society, you can be punished by the law for breaking your "word"/contract.
Click to expand...


He can not and will not give you an honest answer.


----------



## SAYIT

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> You aren't speaking no truth wanna be Prophet. You're preaching like nazi. Phew!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Are you saying muslims do not practice "taqqiya"?  Please tell us how to tell which muslims are honorable with their word, and which ones aren't.  In this society, you can be punished by the law for breaking your "word"/contract.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Are you insane? No, if you're rich and white and Jewish, you can get way with anything in America.
Click to expand...


I hate to do this but I'm gonna quote the idiot from post #1435 (http://www.usmessageboard.com/middle-east-general/159533-protests-in-syria-96.html#post6250097)
"Fucking shutup you Nazi. You sound like a supremacist."


----------



## SAYIT

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> No Jews invaded with the Zionist immigration project. And Israel attacks anyone around them, that's the truth. Your too oblivious to the world.
> 
> What, the UN?? Ha Ha Ha! Do you realize what you're saying?
> 
> Typical coward who blames Islam like the usual. Unfortunately you're a uneducated Christian. Keep this talk in your Muslim hating church coward.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe you could provide links/evidence where Israel has invaded Egypt, Lebenon, Jordon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia?
> 
> The UN, now over run with islamic representatives, yes, I do realize what I am saying ;0
> 
> Islam terrorists are a MAJOR problem in this world.  Islamic nations are doing very little to assist their populations to be productive citizens.  The same nations that have muslims are leaders are telling the rest of us: if only your country was islamic, there would be no problems...  There is not one islamic country that can be held up a shining example for everyone to immitate.  There is not one islamic country that offers women opportunity (other than to be treated like a brood female, not even human).
> 
> Who should I blame?  Should I blame the Christians for the condition of the ME, when muslims run the countries?  Should I blame the Hindus that aren't part of the ME culture?  Should I blame the Buddahists?  It is the muslim extremists that are causing the problems.  And then, when people say, you muslims, police your own, you whine like women.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You don't need links, 67 war, was an Israeli strike.
> 
> Another baseless accusation.
> 
> Extremists only risen because of wars in the Middle East and people like you. Israel is a major problem in the Middle East.
> 
> Blame what for what? I don't see what point you're trying to make??
> 
> You made a stupid post and I responded to it.
Click to expand...


Typical BecauseIKnowSquat nonsense: "I don't need no stinkin' proof. I just know!"


----------



## BecauseIKnow

SAYIT said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe you could provide links/evidence where Israel has invaded Egypt, Lebenon, Jordon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia?
> 
> The UN, now over run with islamic representatives, yes, I do realize what I am saying ;0
> 
> Islam terrorists are a MAJOR problem in this world.  Islamic nations are doing very little to assist their populations to be productive citizens.  The same nations that have muslims are leaders are telling the rest of us: if only your country was islamic, there would be no problems...  There is not one islamic country that can be held up a shining example for everyone to immitate.  There is not one islamic country that offers women opportunity (other than to be treated like a brood female, not even human).
> 
> Who should I blame?  Should I blame the Christians for the condition of the ME, when muslims run the countries?  Should I blame the Hindus that aren't part of the ME culture?  Should I blame the Buddahists?  It is the muslim extremists that are causing the problems.  And then, when people say, you muslims, police your own, you whine like women.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You don't need links, 67 war, was an Israeli strike.
> 
> Another baseless accusation.
> 
> Extremists only risen because of wars in the Middle East and people like you. Israel is a major problem in the Middle East.
> 
> Blame what for what? I don't see what point you're trying to make??
> 
> You made a stupid post and I responded to it.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Typical BecauseIKnowSquat nonsense: "I don't need no stinkin' proof. I just know!"
Click to expand...


Fact is Israel attacked in the 67 war first, this is accepted all around.

Typical SAYIT will put thousands of smilies as if it means anything. 

I notice the way he posts, what it's meant to do.


----------



## SAYIT

BecauseIKnow said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> You don't need links, 67 war, was an Israeli strike.
> 
> Another baseless accusation.
> 
> Extremists only risen because of wars in the Middle East and people like you. Israel is a major problem in the Middle East.
> 
> Blame what for what? I don't see what point you're trying to make??
> 
> You made a stupid post and I responded to it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Typical BecauseIKnowSquat nonsense: "I don't need no stinkin' proof. I just know!"
> 
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Fact is Israel attacked in the 67 war first, this is accepted all around.
> 
> Typical SAYIT will put thousands of smilies as if it means anything.
> 
> I notice the way he posts, what it's meant to do.
Click to expand...


Your M.O. isn't all that difficult to figure, Princess:
"I don't need no stinkin' proof. I just know!"


----------



## BecauseIKnow

SAYIT said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> Typical BecauseIKnowSquat nonsense: "I don't need no stinkin' proof. I just know!"
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Fact is Israel attacked in the 67 war first, this is accepted all around.
> 
> Typical SAYIT will put thousands of smilies as if it means anything.
> 
> I notice the way he posts, what it's meant to do.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Your M.O. isn't all that difficult to figure, Princess:
> "I don't need no stinkin' proof. I just know!"
Click to expand...


You don't know who had the first shot in the 67 war? Ha Ha Ha! You idiot. 

Here let a Jew tell you, since Jews are the only people you're allowed to listen to. They're chosen of course. Stupid Zionist. 

Dr. Josef Olmert: The Six-Day War at 45: Then and Now

It was 45 years and one day ago when *Israel launched* the aerial preemptive strike that started the Six-Day War that ended with the Sinai Desert, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and East Jerusalem being under Israeli control.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Rebels Kill 28 Soldiers, Activists Say 








> BEIRUT -- Syrian rebels killed 28 soldiers in attacks on military checkpoints in northern Idlib province on Thursday, just hours after a wave of bombings hit Damascus and its outskirts, activists said.
> 
> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the rebels attacked three military checkpoints near the town of Saraqeb, killing the troops. Five rebels also died in gun battles following the attacks, according to the Observatory, which relies on reports from activists on the ground.
> 
> There was no official confirmation of the deaths from the authorities.
> 
> The relentless fighting in Syria has killed more than 36,000 people according to activists since March 2011, when the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began. It started as peaceful protests inspired by the Arab Spring but quickly morphed into a bloody civil war.
> 
> The rebels fighting to topple Assad often complain they are outgunned by the military, which has in recent days intensified airstrikes on opposition strongholds following the failure of a U.N.-backed truce over a four-day holiday weekend that never took hold.
> 
> On Wednesday alone, activists said more than 100 were killed nationwide in airstrikes, artillery shelling and fighting. Much of the violence took place in rebellious suburbs of the capital Damascus and in Aleppo, Syria's largest city and a major front in the 19-month conflict.
> 
> In Damascus, "terrorists detonated" three bombs in Al-Mazzeh district late Wednesday night, targeting a mosque, a sports club and a shop, state-run news agency SANA said. One person was killed in the explosion near the district's Al-Houda mosque, and two were wounded, the agency reported Thursday. Six people, including a child, were injured in the two other explosions, according to the report.
> 
> The government refers to rebels fighting to topple Assad as terrorists and accuses them and opposition supporters of being part of a foreign plot to destroy Syria.
> 
> Also according to SANA, authorities raised the death toll from another bombing Wednesday evening in a Damascus suburb that houses a Shiite Muslim shrine to 12, after one more victim died of wounds.



Syria Rebels Kill 28 Soldiers, Activists Say


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. seeks new Syrian rebel leadership








> An umbrella group that fashions itself the head of Syria's political opposition should no longer be considered the "visible leader" of efforts to form a government to replace Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.
> 
> Clinton said the Syrian National Council, which is made up mostly of Syrian expatriates cannot alone shape the future of Syria apart from those fighting and dying inside the country amid a civil war that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.
> 
> "This cannot be an opposition represented by people who have many good attributes, but have in many instances not been in Syria for 20, 30 or 40 years," Clinton said during a joint news conference with Croatian President Ivo Josipovic in Zagreb. "There has to be a representation of those who are on the front lines fighting and dying today."
> 
> Her remarks come as preparations are underway for Arab League-sponsored meetings next week in Doha, Qatar, that will focus on the composition of a post-Assad political leadership in Syria.
> 
> 
> "We have recommended names and organizations that we believe should be included in any leadership structure," Clinton said. "We've made it clear that the SNC can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition. They can be part of a larger opposition, but that opposition must include people inside Syria and others who have a legitimate voice that needs to be heard."
> 
> The SNC was formed last year after the once-peaceful uprising against al-Assad's rule turned deadly, but it garners little credibility from opposition forces inside Syria. While it was recognized as an interlocutor with the United States and other governments seeking a way to stanch the carnage of the al-Assad regime, the Obama administration has been frustrated by the lack of cohesion and infighting that seemed to define its workings. There are also questions of whether the group truly represented the interests of the wide variety of religious and ethnic groups inside Syria.
> 
> Clinton reiterated concerns that opposition forces are not doing enough to stem the tide of Islamic extremists who are exploiting the violent situation on the ground in Syria.



U.S. seeks new Syrian rebel leadership &#8211; CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs


----------



## irosie91

BecauseIKnow said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Fact is Israel attacked in the 67 war first, this is accepted all around.
> 
> Typical SAYIT will put thousands of smilies as if it means anything.
> 
> I notice the way he posts, what it's meant to do.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your M.O. isn't all that difficult to figure, Princess:
> "I don't need no stinkin' proof. I just know!"
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You don't know who had the first shot in the 67 war? Ha Ha Ha! You idiot.
> 
> Here let a Jew tell you, since Jews are the only people you're allowed to listen to. They're chosen of course. Stupid Zionist.
> 
> Dr. Josef Olmert: The Six-Day War at 45: Then and Now
> 
> It was 45 years and one day ago when *Israel launched* the aerial preemptive strike
> that started the Six-Day War that ended with the Sinai Desert, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and East Jerusalem being under Israeli control.
Click to expand...




The islamo nazis lie again      shit pig gamal abdul nasser started the six day war in May of  1967    when he blocked that  STRAIT OF TIRAN -----and ANNOUNCED THAT SOME STINKING PIG NAMED  ALLAH     told him to annhilate the jews of Israel----the ambassadors of    stinking pig  allah, nasser and the rest of the ummah made that point
very clear in the GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE UNITED NATIONS     ---the proceeding of which were clearly televised -----on channel  13  -----in the UNITED STATES----MAY  1967     The dogs of  allah's army then  assembled on the border of Israel---on the sinai side and THREW THE UN PEACE KEEPING FORCES OUT of their  dog kennel  ---egypt.        Alongside the dogs of allah were military experts from Russia and a scores of tanks -----at the ready        a few weeks into the shit mouthed rants from pig nasser----Israel knocked out a few planes on the tarmac in egypt- meccaist pigs ignore all the rest and claim that one move which is far less serious than even one of those MUHUMMAD BABY BRAIN SMASHING MISSILES   -------STARTED THE WAR          <<<<<<meccaist dog humour


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Video Appears To Show Rebels Executing Captured Syrian Troops



> BEIRUT  A new video appears to show Syrian rebels killing a group of captured soldiers, spraying them with bullets as they lay on the ground. Human rights groups on Friday warned that the gunmen may have committed a war crime.
> 
> The video raises concerns over brutality among some rebels just ahead of a major conference this weekend in Qatar at which the United States is trying to unify the opposition under a new leadership. Washington and its allies have been hesitant to give stronger support to the rebellion in part because of worries over its multiple divisions and lack of organization.
> 
> The killings took place Thursday during an assault by rebels on the northern town of Saraqeb, the scene of heavy fighting in past weeks between rebels and forces of President Bashar Assad's regime, according to an anti-regime activist organization, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
> 
> Rebels are now in full control of Saraqeb after regime troops pulled back during Thursday's fighting, the Observatory said. That gives the rebels a strategic point on the main highway linking Syria's largest city Aleppo  which rebels have been trying to capture for months  with the regime stronghold of Latakia on the Mediterranean coast.
> 
> Reports of serious human rights abuses by elements within the armed opposition have been on the rise, badly damaging the rebels' claims of moral high ground in the civil war and fueling concerns that they are capable of a brutality matching that of the regime they are seeking to topple.
> 
> The issue is complicated by the fragmented nature of the rebellion. Even rebel units nominally under the umbrella Free Syrian Army group operate independently, and as the 19-month-old conflict drags on, criminals, foreign Islamic militants and other renegades have joined in the fight against Assad.



Syria Video Appears To Show Rebels Executing Captured Syrian Troops (VIDEO)


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> No Jews invaded with the Zionist immigration project. And Israel attacks anyone around them, that's the truth. Your too oblivious to the world.
> 
> What, the UN?? Ha Ha Ha! Do you realize what you're saying?
> 
> Typical coward who blames Islam like the usual. Unfortunately you're a uneducated Christian. Keep this talk in your Muslim hating church coward.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe you could provide links/evidence where Israel has invaded Egypt, Lebenon, Jordon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia?
> 
> The UN, now over run with islamic representatives, yes, I do realize what I am saying ;0
> 
> Islam terrorists are a MAJOR problem in this world.  Islamic nations are doing very little to assist their populations to be productive citizens.  The same nations that have muslims are leaders are telling the rest of us: if only your country was islamic, there would be no problems...  There is not one islamic country that can be held up a shining example for everyone to immitate.  There is not one islamic country that offers women opportunity (other than to be treated like a brood female, not even human).
> 
> Who should I blame?  Should I blame the Christians for the condition of the ME, when muslims run the countries?  Should I blame the Hindus that aren't part of the ME culture?  Should I blame the Buddahists?  It is the muslim extremists that are causing the problems.  And then, when people say, you muslims, police your own, you whine like women.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You don't need links, 67 war, was an Israeli strike.
> 
> Another baseless accusation.
> 
> Extremists only risen because of wars in the Middle East and people like you. Israel is a major problem in the Middle East.
> 
> Blame what for what? I don't see what point you're trying to make??
> 
> You made a stupid post and I responded to it.
Click to expand...


Israel was attacked by Arabic states in '67.  Israel fought back and "won" strategic territory around their tiny little country (have you heard to the victor goes the spoils?).  Israel was outnumbered, and the ME countries were saying they were going to push Israel into the sea.  Turns out, that then, like now, the radical islamists like to talk a lot. Israel gave them a spanking and shamed those countries on the world stage.

Now, you made your statement about how aggressive Israel is, why won't you back it up?  If all you have is " '67", compare that to the thousands of islamists' attacks world wide (just since then), and again it comes back to "M U S L I M S".  

Again, I ask, why do the people in the ME need weapons?  Who are the defending?  Who are they "attacking"?  Why does Iran need nuclear power when it is so expensive to build, run and maintain (while their population lives in misery), when for practically nothing, they could have oil boilers, and generators up and running with a virtual perpetual fuel source (OIL)?

You are acting like the little monkey man again, hopping up and down, repeating your "beliefs" as fact.  When you are asked for links or evidence, REPEAT.  The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob gave "you" the ability to reason.  Why do you refuse to use it?


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> SAYIT said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Fact is Israel attacked in the 67 war first, this is accepted all around.
> 
> Typical SAYIT will put thousands of smilies as if it means anything.
> 
> I notice the way he posts, what it's meant to do.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Your M.O. isn't all that difficult to figure, Princess:
> "I don't need no stinkin' proof. I just know!"
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> You don't know who had the first shot in the 67 war? Ha Ha Ha! You idiot.
> 
> Here let a Jew tell you, since Jews are the only people you're allowed to listen to. They're chosen of course. Stupid Zionist.
> 
> Dr. Josef Olmert: The Six-Day War at 45: Then and Now
> 
> It was 45 years and one day ago when *Israel launched* the aerial preemptive strike that started the Six-Day War that ended with the Sinai Desert, the Gaza Strip, the Golan Heights, the West Bank and East Jerusalem being under Israeli control.
Click to expand...


What armies were on their borders when they fired "the first shot"?


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> U.S. seeks new Syrian rebel leadership
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> An umbrella group that fashions itself the head of Syria's political opposition should no longer be considered the "visible leader" of efforts to form a government to replace Bashar al-Assad, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday.
> 
> Clinton said the Syrian National Council, which is made up mostly of Syrian expatriates cannot alone shape the future of Syria apart from those fighting and dying inside the country amid a civil war that has claimed more than 30,000 lives.
> 
> "This cannot be an opposition represented by people who have many good attributes, but have in many instances not been in Syria for 20, 30 or 40 years," Clinton said during a joint news conference with Croatian President Ivo Josipovic in Zagreb. "There has to be a representation of those who are on the front lines fighting and dying today."
> 
> Her remarks come as preparations are underway for Arab League-sponsored meetings next week in Doha, Qatar, that will focus on the composition of a post-Assad political leadership in Syria.
> 
> 
> "We have recommended names and organizations that we believe should be included in any leadership structure," Clinton said. "We've made it clear that the SNC can no longer be viewed as the visible leader of the opposition. They can be part of a larger opposition, but that opposition must include people inside Syria and others who have a legitimate voice that needs to be heard."
> 
> The SNC was formed last year after the once-peaceful uprising against al-Assad's rule turned deadly, but it garners little credibility from opposition forces inside Syria. While it was recognized as an interlocutor with the United States and other governments seeking a way to stanch the carnage of the al-Assad regime, the Obama administration has been frustrated by the lack of cohesion and infighting that seemed to define its workings. There are also questions of whether the group truly represented the interests of the wide variety of religious and ethnic groups inside Syria.
> 
> Clinton reiterated concerns that opposition forces are not doing enough to stem the tide of Islamic extremists who are exploiting the violent situation on the ground in Syria.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> U.S. seeks new Syrian rebel leadership  CNN Security Clearance - CNN.com Blogs
Click to expand...


I guess the ME will have an "Arab Winter" now?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

logical4u said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> Maybe you could provide links/evidence where Israel has invaded Egypt, Lebenon, Jordon, Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia?
> 
> The UN, now over run with islamic representatives, yes, I do realize what I am saying ;0
> 
> Islam terrorists are a MAJOR problem in this world.  Islamic nations are doing very little to assist their populations to be productive citizens.  The same nations that have muslims are leaders are telling the rest of us: if only your country was islamic, there would be no problems...  There is not one islamic country that can be held up a shining example for everyone to immitate.  There is not one islamic country that offers women opportunity (other than to be treated like a brood female, not even human).
> 
> Who should I blame?  Should I blame the Christians for the condition of the ME, when muslims run the countries?  Should I blame the Hindus that aren't part of the ME culture?  Should I blame the Buddahists?  It is the muslim extremists that are causing the problems.  And then, when people say, you muslims, police your own, you whine like women.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> You don't need links, 67 war, was an Israeli strike.
> 
> Another baseless accusation.
> 
> Extremists only risen because of wars in the Middle East and people like you. Israel is a major problem in the Middle East.
> 
> Blame what for what? I don't see what point you're trying to make??
> 
> You made a stupid post and I responded to it.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Israel was attacked by Arabic states in '67.  Israel fought back and "won" strategic territory around their tiny little country (have you heard to the victor goes the spoils?).  Israel was outnumbered, and the ME countries were saying they were going to push Israel into the sea.  Turns out, that then, like now, the radical islamists like to talk a lot. Israel gave them a spanking and shamed those countries on the world stage.
> 
> Now, you made your statement about how aggressive Israel is, why won't you back it up?  If all you have is " '67", compare that to the thousands of islamists' attacks world wide (just since then), and again it comes back to "M U S L I M S".
> 
> Again, I ask, why do the people in the ME need weapons?  Who are the defending?  Who are they "attacking"?  Why does Iran need nuclear power when it is so expensive to build, run and maintain (while their population lives in misery), when for practically nothing, they could have oil boilers, and generators up and running with a virtual perpetual fuel source (OIL)?
> 
> You are acting like the little monkey man again, hopping up and down, repeating your "beliefs" as fact.  When you are asked for links or evidence, REPEAT.  The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob gave "you" the ability to reason.  Why do you refuse to use it?
Click to expand...


No, Israel attacked Arab states in a preemptive strike....

Get it now Sherlock? I provided a link clearly stating that. 

You made another very stupid statement. America was giving Israel all the intelligence, that's the only reason they were able to hang in. 

I already know you hate muslims like a nazi, but don't say stupid shit. 

Why do they need weapons? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Just like every other country needs weapons you moron.  

Man you sure are using your ability to reason. Muslims Muslims, what reasoning you scumbag , 

The God of Abraham will cast to you hell for being such a sick person!


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> You don't need links, 67 war, was an Israeli strike.
> 
> Another baseless accusation.
> 
> Extremists only risen because of wars in the Middle East and people like you. Israel is a major problem in the Middle East.
> 
> Blame what for what? I don't see what point you're trying to make??
> 
> You made a stupid post and I responded to it.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Israel was attacked by Arabic states in '67.  Israel fought back and "won" strategic territory around their tiny little country (have you heard to the victor goes the spoils?).  Israel was outnumbered, and the ME countries were saying they were going to push Israel into the sea.  Turns out, that then, like now, the radical islamists like to talk a lot. Israel gave them a spanking and shamed those countries on the world stage.
> 
> Now, you made your statement about how aggressive Israel is, why won't you back it up?  If all you have is " '67", compare that to the thousands of islamists' attacks world wide (just since then), and again it comes back to "M U S L I M S".
> 
> Again, I ask, why do the people in the ME need weapons?  Who are the defending?  Who are they "attacking"?  Why does Iran need nuclear power when it is so expensive to build, run and maintain (while their population lives in misery), when for practically nothing, they could have oil boilers, and generators up and running with a virtual perpetual fuel source (OIL)?
> 
> You are acting like the little monkey man again, hopping up and down, repeating your "beliefs" as fact.  When you are asked for links or evidence, REPEAT.  The God of Abraham, Issac, and Jacob gave "you" the ability to reason.  Why do you refuse to use it?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> No, Israel attacked Arab states in a preemptive strike....
> 
> Get it now Sherlock? I provided a link clearly stating that.
> 
> You made another very stupid statement. America was giving Israel all the intelligence, that's the only reason they were able to hang in.
> 
> I already know you hate muslims like a nazi, but don't say stupid shit.
> 
> Why do they need weapons? Ha Ha Ha Ha Ha! Just like every other country needs weapons you moron.
> 
> Man you sure are using your ability to reason. Muslims Muslims, what reasoning you scumbag ,
> 
> The God of Abraham will cast to you hell for being such a sick person!
Click to expand...


Why did Israel use military power in '67 (this will require 2 brain cells)?
Where did I say America was giving Israel intelligence.  I did not.  But you don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Please provide "proof" that I hate muslims.  I have never stated that.

What specifically was "stupid"?

Elaborate on why these countries need weapons.
In Europe, Asia, Africa, countries have had long standing rivalries with neighbors.
In the ME, islam rules (the peaceful religion), and between "neighbors", there should be no need for weapons (because islam brings peace, remember?).  Are there "non-believers" attacking any country in the ME?  Why does the ME need weapons?  Islam is more of a socialist gov't which means that people do not have the right to property, they are not allowed to defend themselves (especially women).  Why do they need weapons?

Again, we are speaking of the ME, muslims are the largest percentage of the population, and work hard to eliminate or silence any "non-believer", who holds the responsibilites, INCAS?  No, it would be muslims.  You just don't want to deal with the truth and evidence that is blatant in the ME: islam results in deceit, destruction, death, dust and decay.

Start a thread on the Tlinget Haida Americans, and if it is interesting, I will join that thread.  People are tired of the muslims claiming they are victims when everywhere you look, they are the AGGRESSORS and TROUBLE MAKERS.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

Buddy. You claimed Israel was kicking everybody's ass. 

That's not true, they were damaged a lot. Sure they might of won in some people's eyes. 

America helped them with intelligence. Intelligence is the difference. The only reason hezbollah had any success was not for their weapons, their weapons are garbage, it's the intelligence Iran have them. 

The Middle East doesn't have peaceful neighbors, you seem to overlook the British empire and what they did with the Middle East way back then. 

We don't claim we are victims buddy. Every Muslim is different. I have an opinion on every conflict. Everything is different. 

I don't like the way you look at it. Because its stupid.


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> Buddy. You claimed Israel was kicking everybody's ass.
> 
> That's not true, they were damaged a lot. Sure they might of won in some people's eyes.
> 
> America helped them with intelligence. Intelligence is the difference. The only reason hezbollah had any success was not for their weapons, their weapons are garbage, it's the intelligence Iran have them.
> 
> The Middle East doesn't have peaceful neighbors, you seem to overlook the British empire and what they did with the Middle East way back then.
> 
> We don't claim we are victims buddy. Every Muslim is different. I have an opinion on every conflict. Everything is different.
> 
> I don't like the way you look at it. Because its stupid.



So, you agree that Israel was victorious, and kept the territories as a result of the Arab nations surrendering them?

Iran is supplying hezollah?

The British empire, are you serious?  When was the last time Britan conquered a territory/nation?

Yes, every time you cry your beloved prophet was "blasphemed" (a term used for a god), furthering the belief that you worship a prophet instead of the Lord of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and David.

Yes, we all have heard your opinions on "conflicts".  Never have evidence or links, but opinions a plenty.

I noticed how you did not answer the questions...... again.


----------



## BecauseIKnow

logical4u said:


> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Buddy. You claimed Israel was kicking everybody's ass.
> 
> That's not true, they were damaged a lot. Sure they might of won in some people's eyes.
> 
> America helped them with intelligence. Intelligence is the difference. The only reason hezbollah had any success was not for their weapons, their weapons are garbage, it's the intelligence Iran have them.
> 
> The Middle East doesn't have peaceful neighbors, you seem to overlook the British empire and what they did with the Middle East way back then.
> 
> We don't claim we are victims buddy. Every Muslim is different. I have an opinion on every conflict. Everything is different.
> 
> I don't like the way you look at it. Because its stupid.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, you agree that Israel was victorious, and kept the territories as a result of the Arab nations surrendering them?
> 
> Iran is supplying hezollah?
> 
> The British empire, are you serious?  When was the last time Britan conquered a territory/nation?
> 
> Yes, every time you cry your beloved prophet was "blasphemed" (a term used for a god), furthering the belief that you worship a prophet instead of the Lord of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and David.
> 
> Yes, we all have heard your opinions on "conflicts".  Never have evidence or links, but opinions a plenty.
> 
> I noticed how you did not answer the questions...... again.
Click to expand...


Israel attacked. That's the difference. Not the Arabs.

It's funny you expect someone that is willing to speak to a nazi. 

You've done nothing besides ramble and rant.

Your asked why middle eastern nations should be armed. Just like every other country in the world is armed and the British were a reason. 

Don't give us that bs that you ask questions. 

I just see your typical poetic Christian nonsense, and you trying to get your beliefs down everyone's throat. 

Fuck off troll.


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BecauseIKnow said:
> 
> 
> 
> Buddy. You claimed Israel was kicking everybody's ass.
> 
> That's not true, they were damaged a lot. Sure they might of won in some people's eyes.
> 
> America helped them with intelligence. Intelligence is the difference. The only reason hezbollah had any success was not for their weapons, their weapons are garbage, it's the intelligence Iran have them.
> 
> The Middle East doesn't have peaceful neighbors, you seem to overlook the British empire and what they did with the Middle East way back then.
> 
> We don't claim we are victims buddy. Every Muslim is different. I have an opinion on every conflict. Everything is different.
> 
> I don't like the way you look at it. Because its stupid.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> So, you agree that Israel was victorious, and kept the territories as a result of the Arab nations surrendering them?
> 
> Iran is supplying hezollah?
> 
> The British empire, are you serious?  When was the last time Britan conquered a territory/nation?
> 
> Yes, every time you cry your beloved prophet was "blasphemed" (a term used for a god), furthering the belief that you worship a prophet instead of the Lord of Abraham, Issac, Jacob, and David.
> 
> Yes, we all have heard your opinions on "conflicts".  Never have evidence or links, but opinions a plenty.
> 
> I noticed how you did not answer the questions...... again.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Israel attacked. That's the difference. Not the Arabs.
> 
> It's funny you expect someone that is willing to speak to a nazi.
> 
> You've done nothing besides ramble and rant.
> 
> Your asked why middle eastern nations should be armed. Just like every other country in the world is armed and the British were a reason.
> 
> Don't give us that bs that you ask questions.
> 
> I just see your typical poetic Christian nonsense, and you trying to get your beliefs down everyone's throat.
> 
> Fuck off troll.
Click to expand...


"Why did Israel use military power in '67 (this will require 2 brain cells)?
Where did I say America was giving Israel intelligence. I did not. But you don't let the truth get in the way of a good story.

Please provide "proof" that I hate muslims. I have never stated that.

What specifically was "stupid"?

Elaborate on why these countries need weapons.
In Europe, Asia, Africa, countries have had long standing rivalries with neighbors.
In the ME, islam rules (the peaceful religion), and between "neighbors", there should be no need for weapons (because islam brings peace, remember?). Are there "non-believers" attacking any country in the ME? Why does the ME need weapons? Islam is more of a socialist gov't which means that people do not have the right to property, they are not allowed to defend themselves (especially women). Why do they need weapons?

Again, we are speaking of the ME, muslims are the largest percentage of the population, and work hard to eliminate or silence any "non-believer", who holds the responsibilites, INCAS? No, it would be muslims. You just don't want to deal with the truth and evidence that is blatant in the ME: islam results in deceit, destruction, death, dust and decay.

Start a thread on the Tlinget Haida Americans, and if it is interesting, I will join that thread. People are tired of the muslims claiming they are victims when everywhere you look, they are the AGGRESSORS and TROUBLE MAKERS."

You are admitting that the ME islamists are blood thirsty savages?  That they cannot have peace among themselves?

Tell me, if you were surrounded by at least five men and they were ready to "kick your ass", would you throw the first punch (or would you wait until they attacked before you defended yourself)?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

That's all talk prep boy. They got a green light to expand. 

Now you're fooling around. And I can't change your opinion.

No, I disagree, it depends on which group. I dislike some.

That doesn't change the fact Palestinian resistance groups are resistance groups. 

Whether you like it or not. 

That never happened either.

It's your opinion on Islam. It's also an odd way how you think everything is a result of Islam. 

So logical. 

We don't care for your opinion or other Muslim haters opinions. 

Quit obeying your master jews like your life depends on it homo. Go out and explore your real self.m


----------



## BecauseIKnow

Terry jones is that you?


----------



## BecauseIKnow

Btw, your username and knowledge don't go together. Your logical up your ass


----------



## BecauseIKnow

Still more preaching. 

Learn some more pick up lines Sherlock

You can find out more at jihad watch


----------



## mememe

Yesterday Ankara (that's in Turkey) proposed a new tripartite format: Turkey, Russia and Iran to resolve the crisis in Syria.

Moscow supports this initiative.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria Car Bomb Kills At Least 50 Pro-Government Fighters, Activists Say









> BEIRUT -- A Syrian activist group says a suicide car bomber has killed more than 50 Syrian soldiers and pro-government gunmen.
> 
> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the attack in the village of Ziyara in the central province of Hama was carried out by Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militant group.
> 
> The death toll could not be independently verified.
> 
> State-run news agency SANA said the blast occurred outside a state-run development agency. It said Monday's blast caused deaths but gave no figure.
> 
> The Observatory also reported that an air raid on the northern town of Harem killed at least 20 rebels. It said a rebel commander was seriously wounded in the raid.
> 
> THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
> 
> Rebels and government troops backed by fighters from a Palestinian radical group fought in the capital Damascus on Monday in some of the most intense fighting in the city in nearly three months, activists said.
> 
> In northern Syria, rare fighting broke out between rival rebel groups for control of a border crossing with Turkey, according to an opposition figure.
> 
> The fighting in Damascus is some of the worst since July, when rebels took over several neighborhoods in the capital in a striking attack. Within days, a regime counterattack pushed the rebels out of Damascus and recaptured the areas. Shortly after those battles, rebels moved on Syria's largest city, Aleppo, and it has become a major front in the civil war since then.
> 
> The attacks on Syria's two main cities since summer have demonstrated new organization and capabilities of rebel forces as well as a determination to press their uprising despite the deaths of more than 36,000 people in fighting over the last 19 months.



Syria Car Bomb Kills At Least 50 Pro-Government Fighters, Activists Say


----------



## logical4u

BecauseIKnow said:


> That's all talk prep boy. They got a green light to expand.
> 
> Now you're fooling around. And I can't change your opinion.
> 
> No, I disagree, it depends on which group. I dislike some.
> 
> That doesn't change the fact Palestinian resistance groups are resistance groups.
> 
> Whether you like it or not.
> 
> That never happened either.
> 
> It's your opinion on Islam. It's also an odd way how you think everything is a result of Islam.
> 
> So logical.
> 
> We don't care for your opinion or other Muslim haters opinions.
> 
> Quit obeying your master jews like your life depends on it homo. Go out and explore your real self.m



gibberish?


----------



## logical4u

mememe said:


> Yesterday Ankara (that's in Turkey) proposed a new tripartite format: Turkey, Russia and Iran to resolve the crisis in Syria.
> 
> Moscow supports this initiative.



rutt roe raggy!


----------



## logical4u

High_Gravity said:


> Syria Car Bomb Kills At Least 50 Pro-Government Fighters, Activists Say
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> BEIRUT -- A Syrian activist group says a suicide car bomber has killed more than 50 Syrian soldiers and pro-government gunmen.
> 
> The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the attack in the village of Ziyara in the central province of Hama was carried out by Jabhat al-Nusra, an al-Qaida-inspired Islamic militant group.
> 
> The death toll could not be independently verified.
> 
> State-run news agency SANA said the blast occurred outside a state-run development agency. It said Monday's blast caused deaths but gave no figure.
> 
> The Observatory also reported that an air raid on the northern town of Harem killed at least 20 rebels. It said a rebel commander was seriously wounded in the raid.
> 
> THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.
> 
> Rebels and government troops backed by fighters from a Palestinian radical group fought in the capital Damascus on Monday in some of the most intense fighting in the city in nearly three months, activists said.
> 
> In northern Syria, rare fighting broke out between rival rebel groups for control of a border crossing with Turkey, according to an opposition figure.
> 
> The fighting in Damascus is some of the worst since July, when rebels took over several neighborhoods in the capital in a striking attack. Within days, a regime counterattack pushed the rebels out of Damascus and recaptured the areas. Shortly after those battles, rebels moved on Syria's largest city, Aleppo, and it has become a major front in the civil war since then.
> 
> The attacks on Syria's two main cities since summer have demonstrated new organization and capabilities of rebel forces as well as a determination to press their uprising despite the deaths of more than 36,000 people in fighting over the last 19 months.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Syria Car Bomb Kills At Least 50 Pro-Government Fighters, Activists Say
Click to expand...


and we are discovering that Libya's Bengazi and Syria may be linked by the State Dept....


----------



## High_Gravity

Britain floats safe exit for Syria's Assad








> JEDDAH/AMMAN (Reuters) - Britain floated the notion on Tuesday of Syria's President Bashar al-Assad leaving power with immunity from prosecution while the opposition said at least 100 more people were killed in the country's 19-month revolt.
> 
> "Anything, anything, to get that man out of the country and to have a safe transition in Syria," British Prime Minister David Cameron told Al Arabiya news network in Abu Dhabi before flying to Saudi Arabia.
> 
> Peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi warned that Syria, where some 32,000 people have died in the revolt against Assad, could end up a collapsed state like Somalia, prey to warlords and militias.
> 
> More than 100 people were killed across the country on Tuesday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
> 
> Among them was the brother of Syria's parliament speaker, assassinated by gunmen in Damascus, state television said. He was the latest victim in a deadly campaign against perceived Assad supporters and their families.
> 
> Air strikes killed 17 people, including women and children, in the Damascus suburb of Kfar Batna, according to the Syrian Observatory, an opposition watchdog based in Britain.
> 
> Video footage of the raid's aftermath, which could not be verified, showed a toddler with a severed head and the torso of a young man, his head and limbs gathered near him by rescuers.
> 
> Insurgents killed 12 soldiers and wounded 20 in an attack on a convoy of off-road vehicles in the northern province of Idlib.
> 
> Air strikes and artillery barrages unleashed by the Syrian military in the last few weeks have devastated whole districts of the capital, as well as parts of towns and cities elsewhere.
> 
> Yet, for all their firepower, Assad's forces seem no closer to crushing their lightly armed opponents, who in turn have so far proved unable to topple the Syrian leader.



Britain floats safe exit for Syria's Assad - Yahoo! News


----------



## mememe

*Britain floats safe exit for Syria's Assad*


On one hand Cameron offered guarantees of personal safety if Assad should leave.

On the other hand, Cameron warned that the West does not guarantee from future persecutions.

In other words, Cameron emphasised, that any Western "guarantees" are not worth a penny.


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian president says he will not leave country








> BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian President Bashar Assad vowed defiantly to "live and die" in Syria, saying in an interview broadcast Thursday that he will never flee his country despite the bloody, 19-month-old uprising against him.
> 
> The broadcast comes two days after British Prime Minister David Cameron suggested that Assad could be allowed safe passage out of the country if that would guarantee an end to the civil war, which activists estimate has killed more than 36,000 people.
> 
> "I am not a puppet, I was not made by the West for me to go to the West or any other country," Assad, 47, said in the interview with the English-language Russia Today TV. He spoke in English and excerpts of the interview were posted on the station's website Thursday with an Arabic voiceover.
> 
> "I am Syrian, I am made in Syria, and I will live and die in Syria," he said.
> 
> Assad also warned against foreign military intervention at a time when the West is taking steps to boost the opposition.
> 
> "I don't think the West is headed in this direction. But if it does, nobody can predict the consequences," he told the station. The full interview will be broadcast on Friday, the station said.
> 
> The excerpts show Assad casually talking and later walking with RT's reporter outside a house, wearing a gray suit and tie. It was not clear where the interview took place.
> 
> The uprising against Assad's regime began as mostly peaceful protests in March last year but quickly morphed into a civil war. The fighting has taken on grim sectarian tones, with the predominantly Sunni rebels battling government forces loyal to a regime dominated by minority Alawites, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.



Syrian president says he will not leave country - Yahoo! News


----------



## mememe

Israel fired Spike NLOS into Syria. 

Well, presidential elections are over, now US feel free to go after Syria in earnest...


----------



## theliq

High_Gravity said:


> logical4u said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Protest spreads to new southern Syrian village - Yahoo! News
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Do you think they are getting tired of Sharia?
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Who knows, I don't think the Assad regime is religious though, Bashars dad put down a religious uprising in Syria and they allow drinking and night clubs there, I don't think Syria is that religious to be honest.
Click to expand...


Only when it suit them Grav.steve


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrias New Opposition Wins Western Backing, But What About Western Weapons?








> Syrias new opposition leadership structure announced in Qatar on Sunday could mark a turning point in the stalemated 20-month old rebellion against the Assad regime. But it could just as easily prove to be another chimerical Western attempt to stand up a friendly regime for an Arab country in transition. Thats because the impetus for the new National Coalition for Revolutionary Forces and the Syrian Opposition has come from foreign powers rather than from the grassroots of the rebellion, and its authority on the ground, particularly with the hundreds of autonomous militia groups, is more of an aspiration than an established fact at this stage.
> 
> Its obviously a great step forward for the West and the Syrian opposition, says Joshua Landis, a Syria specialist at the University of Oklahoma. This group has great purchase among upper-class urban Sunnis, particularly those who have spent a lot of time in the West. But the key question will be whether or not it is able to unify rebel military groups on the ground, which havent been particularly involved in this process.
> 
> The National Coalition is a product of Western and Arab backers  exasperated by the failure of their previous favorite, the Syrian National Council, to overcome crippling factional disputes, much less establish any traction on the ground  twisting the arms of exile-based opposition groups to accept a new, more representative leadership structure as the condition for continued foreign backing. The Gulf Cooperation Council, representing Saudi Arabia, Qatar and four of their neighbors, on Monday recognized the new group as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. The new opposition group, which includes leadership spots reserved for minorities and for representatives of provincial revolutionary committees on the ground, expects immediate recognition as the legitimate government of Syria, and also military assistance to rebel fighters. But before the U.S. and other Western powers follow the lead of the Saudis and Qataris, they may expect the new group to provide credible evidence of its authority on the ground. And that may be the tricky part of the second phase of the plan to reorganize the Syrian opposition.
> 
> Recognizing the National Coalition as a government-in-exile could be used as a means of putting pressure on Assads foreign backers, chiefly Russia, to allow more U.N. pressure on Assad. Moscow has argued that the rebellion represents chaos and that theres no legitimate alternative to dealing with Assad. It would also become the basis for a ramped up aid effort, particularly in parts of Syria already in rebel hands. And a provisional government would in theory become the sole channel through which military aid would be channeled to rebel fighters  until now, different foreign backers tend to direct such resources to their preferred Syrian allies, and even then, not of qualitatively or quantitatively sufficient measure to tip the military balance against Assad.



Read more: Syria&#8217;s New Opposition Wins Western Backing, But What About Western Weapons? | TIME.com


----------



## mememe

This is Syrian town Homs BEFORE "civilised" US, UK, France decided to "liberate" it 







And this is Homs NOW, thanks to US, UK, France who arm, finance, support and direct terrorist activities of the "liberators"


----------



## MHunterB

Golly, Mimi - arent' you going to post the pics of what Daddy Assad did in Homs?

Why just the ones showing what Baby Assad has done to his own people?


Poor sad stinking slinking soviet shill that you are : ((


----------



## mememe

MHunterB said:


> Golly, Mimi - arent' you going to post the pics of what Daddy Assad did in Homs?



Hi, M-hooter!

I know you find it difficult to read, but I did not suspect your reading skills are so poor!

It says above the first picture: *BEFORE **US, UK, etc.* start funding, arming and directing terrorists.

And the second picture shows *the results of US, UK, etc.* interference in Syria.

In other words, when Assad was not targeted by US, UK, etc. Syria was peaceful and relatively prosperous; while the US, UK, etc. are responsible for the CURRENT state of Homs (and Syria).

Do you get it now?


----------



## MHunterB

No, bupkes-for-brains, I don't  get why you are still shilling for the Russki scum - or why you lie about who blew up half of Homs.    

It's Baby Assad who's ordered his Air Force to strafe people lined up to buy food, and told his artillery to shell civilian neighborhoods.

I don't 'get' why you stupidly try to blame nations half a world away for Baby Assad's genocidal choices - but then fathoming the depths of your delusions is IMO a waste of time.


----------



## mememe

14 Islamic groups of "Syrian freedom fighters" declared they do not recognise the National Coalition of the Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces, and will create an Islamic state once Syria will fall...

With US elections over, and Clinton about to leave the office, "civilised" simply must conclude the destruction of Syria. And most likely, they will do it before the New Year.


----------



## Trajan

so, if I recall the world was all alblaze whenever an Israel bulldozer took down the house of a suspected bomb-maker, hamas guerrilla etc. 

so, wheres the outrage?



     Updated November 27, 2012, 6:15 a.m. ET

Fighting to Hold Damascus, Syria Flattens Rebel 'Slums' 

DAMASCUSAll that remains of Abu Mohammed's ancestral home here in Syria's capital are two small adobe brick rooms and a few fig, loquat and mulberry trees.

It was bulldozed as part of a government slum-clearance program that appears to have a political motive: isolate neighborhoods sympathetic to Syria's armed insurrection, and then obliterate them, according to critics, human-rights groups and even some officials within the government itself. "We are like gypsies now," says Mr. Mohammed, who took his wife and five children to another part of the city after sections of his neighborhood, Qabounone of the first to rise up against Syria's regimewere flattened and ringed by military posts.

Fighting to Hold Damascus, Syria Flattens Rebel 'Slums' - WSJ.com


----------



## mememe

Trajan said:


> so, if I recall the world was all alblaze whenever an Israel bulldozer took down the house of a suspected bomb-maker, hamas guerrilla etc.
> 
> so, wheres the outrage?
> 
> 
> 
> Updated November 27, 2012, 6:15 a.m. ET
> 
> Fighting to Hold Damascus, Syria Flattens Rebel 'Slums'
> 
> DAMASCUSAll that remains of Abu Mohammed's ancestral home here in Syria's capital are two small adobe brick rooms and a few fig, loquat and mulberry trees.
> 
> It was bulldozed as part of a government slum-clearance program that appears to have a political motive: isolate neighborhoods sympathetic to Syria's armed insurrection, and then obliterate them, according to critics, human-rights groups and even some officials within the government itself. "We are like gypsies now," says Mr. Mohammed, who took his wife and five children to another part of the city after sections of his neighborhood, Qabounone of the first to rise up against Syria's regime&#151;were flattened and ringed by military posts.
> 
> Fighting to Hold Damascus, Syria Flattens Rebel 'Slums' - WSJ.com



Outrage about what?

About US, UK, France, SA, Qatar and Turkey setting Syria alight, or about Syrian government clearing up rabble in an attempt to restore the life in the neighbourhoods cleared from West supported terrorists and international gangs of Islamic militants?


----------



## mememe

US is now openly relying on gangs of terrorists, militants and chances to fight wars for America.

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=tf1Rs4Ongxs]Force Outsource: Pentagon favors spec ops, proxy armies - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## High_Gravity

Conflict has left Syria a shell of its former self









> BEIRUT  First his parents' home in eastern Syria was reduced to rubble, followed by his father's pharmacy. Then Melad received a call last month informing him that his own apartment in a Damascus suburb had been obliterated by a bomb unleashed by a MiG jet.
> 
> By then, he had become inured to the sense of loss.
> 
> "I got to the point that when I would hear of another of our properties destroyed, I started laughing," said Melad, a computer engineer who now helps with the humanitarian effort in Syria. "Just as we have gotten accustomed to the amount of blood over these last two years, we have grown accustomed to the destruction."
> 
> Much of Syria has become a disaster zone: In September, the opposition group Syrian Network for Human Rights estimated that more than 2.9 million homes, schools, mosques, churches and hospitals had been damaged or destroyed since the uprising began in March 2011. More than half a million are a complete loss, it said.
> 
> Weeks later, the group's founder, Sami Ibrahim, estimated that 600,000 more buildings had been shelled or bombed, as the government of President Bashar Assad escalated its campaign with daily airstrikes by helicopter and warplane. The rebels are fighting back, claiming to have captured half a dozen military bases in recent weeks in eastern and northwestern Syria and around Damascus. On Monday, they said they captured a hydroelectric dam in northern Syria.
> 
> Although the toll on structures is impossible to verify, the weapons the government is turning against civilian populations have become increasingly destructive, activists say, with TNT barrel bombs and vacuum bombs wiping out entire buildings in one blow.
> 
> On streets once lined with multistory buildings and mosques, ceilings lie pancaked atop smashed and dusty home furnishings and appliances. Electrical wires hang like carelessly strung streamers across concrete columns strewn with antigovernment graffiti.
> 
> Roads in front of gutted shops have become impassable for the sheer amount of rubble.
> 
> The buildings and infrastructure, though of lesser importance compared with the more than 30,000 people reportedly killed and at least an equal number detained or missing, are part of the larger fraying social fabric of the country. Any post-Assad period is likely to be marked by sectarian violence, vendetta killings and hostile ideological wrangling over the future of Syria, all set against an already devastated landscape.



Conflict's destruction has left Syria a shell of its former self - latimes.com


----------



## mememe

Conflict has left Syria a shell of its former self


That's an illustration to what happens to countries targeted by the "civilised" West.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> Conflict has left Syria a shell of its former self
> 
> 
> That's an illustration to what happens to countries targeted by the "civilised" West.



More civilized than your third world shit hole country.


----------



## High_Gravity

Downing of Copter May Show a New Syrian Rebel Capability








> BEIRUT, Lebanon  Syrian rebels downed a military helicopter with a surface-to-air missile outside Aleppo on Tuesday, video uploaded by antigovernment activists appeared to show, marking what is potentially a major battlefield advance: confirmation that rebels have put their growing stock of heat-seeking missiles to effective use.
> 
> In one video, a utility helicopter that appeared to be a Russian-built Mi-8 can be seen banking in a slow left turn and then being hit squarely near its engine by a fast-moving projectile rising at a sharp angle from below. Another video showed what appeared to be the same helicopter moments after the strike. The crippled aircraft manages a partly controlled descent in spreading flames, as a voice off-camera shouts, sarook, or rocket, before it strikes the ground and explodes.
> 
> In recent months, rebels have used mainly machine guns to shoot down several Syrian Air Force helicopters and fixed-wing attack jets. In this case the thick smoke trailing the projectile, combined with the elevation of the aircraft, strongly suggested that the helicopter was hit by a missile.
> 
> Rebels hailed the event as the culmination of their long pursuit of effective antiaircraft weapons, though it was not clear if the downing was an isolated tactical success or heralded a new phase in the war that would present a meaningful challenge to the Syrian governments air supremacy.
> 
> Debate has raged since the start of the insurgency over whether Western and Arab nations should provide Syrias rebels with portable antiaircraft missiles, often called Manpads. Some fear that such weapons could be smuggled away from the conflict and later used by terrorists against civilian airliners.
> 
> Manpads funneled by the United States to Pakistan helped Afghan rebels turn the tide against the Soviet Union in the Afghan war of 1980s. But that example is full of ambivalence  often cited in the Syria debate  because it led to an extended buyback program and decades of worry after Islamist militias, which eventually collaborated with Al Qaeda, prevailed over the Soviet-backed government in Kabul.
> 
> Once these weapons are outside of government control, it is often extremely difficult to track their movement and control who has access to them, said Matthew Schroeder, an analyst who studies missile proliferation at the Federation of American Scientists in Washington.



http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/28/w...how-new-syria-rebel-capability.html?ref=world


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Conflict has left Syria a shell of its former self
> 
> 
> That's an illustration to what happens to countries targeted by the "civilised" West.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More civilized than your third world shit hole country.
Click to expand...


Since when UK became a "third world shit hole country"?! 

Speaking of "third world" -- that was USA prior to WW2. Thanks to US selling its "help" to both Allies and Axis, and thanks to the conditions of the Marshal Plan US became a superstate. But measly 60 years later is gloriously sliding into its proper place -- third world shit hole.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Conflict has left Syria a shell of its former self
> 
> 
> That's an illustration to what happens to countries targeted by the "civilised" West.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> More civilized than your third world shit hole country.
> 
> Click to expand...
> 
> 
> Since when UK became a "third world shit hole country"?!
> 
> Speaking of "third world" -- that was USA prior to WW2. Thanks to US selling its "help" to both Allies and Axis, and thanks to the conditions of the Marshal Plan US became a superstate. But measly 60 years later is gloriously sliding into its proper place -- third world shit hole.
Click to expand...


Ah your from the UK, about time you admit where you are from.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Ah your from the UK, about time you admit where you are from.



"Admit"???!!!
1. Wtf are you to question me?
2. I mentioned about five times what country I live in. If only you learn to read and retain information.
3.


----------



## High_Gravity

mememe said:


> High_Gravity said:
> 
> 
> 
> Ah your from the UK, about time you admit where you are from.
> 
> 
> 
> 
> "Admit"???!!!
> 1. Wtf are you to question me?
> 2. I mentioned about five times what country I live in. If only you learn to read and retain information.
> 3.
Click to expand...


I can question whoever I damn well please you miserable ****.


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> I can question ... you miserable ****.



So, question your miserable ****. 

As for you questioning me,


----------



## High_Gravity

Syria cut off from the Internet, activists and monitors report








> The Internet has been shut off across Syria, monitors and opposition activists reported Thursday as fighting raged between government troops and rebels on the main road between Damascus and its international airport.
> 
> Smaller outages have occurred in the past, but this time all of Syria in effect has been removed from the Internet, U.S.-based monitoring firm Renesys said. The blockage began shortly after noon Thursday.
> 
> We are investigating the dynamics of the outage and will post updates as they become available, Renesys wrote on its website.
> 
> In Dara, the Internet had been cut since Wednesday, but people were close enough to the Jordanian border to pick up coverage from there, opposition activist Thaer Abdullah said. Cellphone service was also blocked for MTN carriers, one of two companies in Syria, he said.
> 
> "This is the first time in the history of the revolution the Internet gets cut like this," he said.
> 
> In Homs and its suburbs, there was "no Internet and no electricity," said activist Mohamad Homsi. "Just satellite and generators."
> 
> Dissidents feared the Internet blackout foreshadowed a new wave of attacks by government forces. The Local Coordination Committees opposition activist network declared it would hold the regime responsible for any massacres that would be committed in any Syrian cities after such a move was made.
> 
> The network urged Syrians to try connecting to the Internet through dial-up service, offering several numbers, a user number and passwords. In the central city of Hama, Local Coordination Committee activist Mousab Alhamadee wasn't affected because he uses a satellite phone to connect, like most of the opposition activists across the country.
> 
> "Assad killed 48,000 people, so he's not going to stop at cutting the Internet," he said.



Syria cut off from the Internet, activists and monitors report - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

The Confessions of a Sniper: A Rebel Gunman in Aleppo and His Conscience








> To the other men in his Free Syrian Army unit, hes simply known as the Sniper, a 21-year-old army-trained sharpshooter who defected on Feb. 21 and joined their ranks. Few of his colleagues know his first name let alone his surname  and thats the way he wants to keep it.
> 
> He hails from a Sunni military family in a town on the outskirts of the capital Damascus. His uncle is a serving general in President Bashar Assads army, several of his other relatives are also high-ranking military officers. Apart from his parents and siblings, his relatives all think hes dead  and thats the way he wants to keep it.
> 
> A trim young man with closely cropped black hair and beard, he looks intense but calm as he sits in complete silence for hours, finger on the trigger, peering through the telescopic sight of his Dragunov sniper rifle. Hes careful not to let its barrel protrude through the double-fist-size peephole he has punched through an apartment wall lest it give away his location to the regimes sharpshooters, some of whom are only about 50 m away.
> 
> He may look calm, but hes deeply troubled. After some nine months of fighting with several Free Syrian Army units, first on the outskirts of Aleppo and then in the city itself after the rebel push into it in late July, he has grown disillusioned with the fight, and angry with its conduct. I did this when it was clean, he says. Now its dirty. Many arent fighting just to get rid of Bashar, theyre fighting to gain a reputation, to build up their name. I want it to go back to the way it was, when we were fighting for God and the people, not for some commanders reputation.
> 
> He refused an order in November to fight a pro-regime,ethnic Kurdish militia in a Kurdish neighborhood of Aleppo that the rebels had entered. Why should I fight the Kurds? he says. Its a distraction. This isnt our fight.
> 
> Syrians in the opposition, whether armed or not, have often said that there may be a revolution after the revolution to unseat Assad. The fault lines differ, depending on who you talk to. Some envision a fight between Islamist and secular rebels; others between defectors and armed civilians; some say it will be ethnic, between Kurds and Arabs; others simply territorial, between rebel commanders in a particular area, irrespective of their ideology. Others say it wont happen. The Sniper, like many fighting men, thinks it will, and that it will be ugly: We will not become Somalia after Bashar falls, he says. We will have many Somalias in every province.



Read more: The Confessions of a Sniper: A Rebel Gunman in Aleppo and His Conscience | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S. warns Syria regime against using chemical weapons








> BEIRUT  The United States bluntly warned Syrian President Bashar Assad against using chemical weapons as his forces lose ground to rebel fighters, and the United Nations said it was pulling nonessential foreign staff from Syria because of deteriorating security.
> 
> Warnings from President Obama, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and other officials Monday reflected U.S. concerns over new intelligence indicating that Syria might be preparing to unleash some of its chemical agent stockpiles.
> 
> "The world is watching," Obama said, addressing Assad in remarks at the National War College in Washington. "The use of chemical weapons is, and would be, totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences, and you will be held accountable."
> 
> The comments came amid indications that after more than 20 months, the tide of battle could be turning against Assad. In recent weeks, rebels have seized large swaths of territory, especially in the east and northwest. They also have overrun a number of military bases and key strategic installations, including oil wells and a hydroelectric dam.
> 
> Battles have been raging for days in rebellious suburbs of Damascus, and last week rebels managed to shut down the road to the international airport southeast of the capital, forcing flight cancellations. The government brought in reinforcements to secure the airport road, but reports Monday indicated that battles continued just outside the capital.
> 
> Rebels say the capture of a facility near Aleppo known as Base 46 last month after a lengthy siege yielded a stash of shoulder-fired missile launchers. The development could help neutralize the government's overwhelming advantage in air power. Assad's forces have increasingly turned to aerial attacks as its ground troops have been stretched thin and depleted through desertion and casualties. Rebels say one of the missiles has already been used to down a government attack helicopter.
> 
> Reports surfaced from multiple sources Monday that top Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdissi, the public face of the Syrian government, had defected. Makdissi is an English-speaking Christian who publicly defended the regime with passion for months, although he appeared to have been sidelined in recent weeks.
> 
> If his defection is confirmed, he would join high-ranking generals, a former prime minister and an air force colonel who fled with his MiG fighter jet to neighboring Jordan.
> 
> In another development, Nabil Elaraby, chief of the Arab League, told the French news service Agence France-Presse that Assad's regime risked collapse "any time," citing recent opposition military and political gains.
> 
> The United Nations said it was withdrawing nonessential international staff from Syria because of security concerns and suspending movement within the country until further notice. The U.N. has about 1,000 foreign and local staff members in Syria.



U.S. warns Syria regime against using chemical weapons - latimes.com


----------



## Katzndogz

The latest is that Syria has already started mixing the chemicals.

What's obama gonna DO?   Syria obviously doesn't take this blow hard seriously.  No one in the world would take this joker seriously.   obama has put the nation in the position of yelling then running under a rock to hide, or confronting Russia.   He's going to choose hiding under a rock and everyone knows it.


----------



## High_Gravity

Katzndogz said:


> The latest is that Syria has already started mixing the chemicals.
> 
> What's obama gonna DO?   Syria obviously doesn't take this blow hard seriously.  No one in the world would take this joker seriously.   obama has put the nation in the position of yelling then running under a rock to hide, or confronting Russia.   He's going to choose hiding under a rock and everyone knows it.



You think Syria will just go ahead with this than?


----------



## High_Gravity

U.S., Israel worry Syria rebels could get chemical weapons 









> BEIRUT -- Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton indicated Wednesday that Washington is as concerned about Syrias chemical weapons falling into the hands of Syrian rebels as it is about the possibility that Syrian President Bashar Assad  may decide to deploy them.
> 
> Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons,  or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria, Clinton told reporters at the end of two days of NATO ministerial meetings in Brussels. We have sent an unmistakable message that this would cross a red line and those responsible would be held to account.
> 
> Rebels have been making substantial territorial gains in Syria and have overrun a number of Syrian military bases, capturing supplies of conventional weapons. U.S. officials have indicated that Syrias chemical weapons stocks remain secure, but officials and experts have voiced concern that insurgents could seize facilities where chemical agents are stored.
> 
> Western and Israeli officials are believed to be closely monitoring known Syrian chemical weapons depots. An unanswered question is whether signs of a  rebel approach on a chemical facility would trigger an international response to prevent  toxic weaponry from falling into the hands of insurgent militias.
> 
> The fragmented Syrian rebel force includes many Islamist units and several brigades said to be linked to Al Qaeda. The presence of such militants is one reason why the Obama administration has thus far declined to provide weapons to the rebels fighting to oust Assad, whom Obama has called on to step down.
> 
> Assad took steps to keep chemical weapons out of the hands of militants, the news agency Reuters reported Wednesday, citing an interview with Israels vice prime minister, Moshe Yaalon.
> 
> "Clear messages were relayed to Assad on a number of opportunities, and in response Assad in fact gathered up the weaponry and separated the material," Reuters quoted Yaalon as telling the Israeli news website Walla.
> 
> The disposition  of Syrias chemical stockpiles is an especially sensitive issue in Israel, with its close proximity to Syria, leaving it potentially vulnerable to Syrian ballistic missiles and warplanes. There is speculation that the chemical arsenal will fall into the hostile and irresponsible hands of the likes of Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, Yaalon said.
> 
> In the interview,  Yaalon confirmed that Washington had spotted suspicious activity at Syrias chemical stockpiles, prompting President Obama to issue a stern warning to Assad this week that use of chemical weapons would not be tolerated.



U.S., Israel worry Syria rebels could get chemical weapons - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Gas Mask: Why Is Chemical Warfare Obamas Red Line in Syria?








> Amid disturbing reports that Bashar al-Assad may be preparing to use chemical agents against insurgent opposition, the Obama administration is reiterating its position that such a step constitutes a red line the Syrian dictator dares not cross. Today I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching, President Obama said on Monday. The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. And if you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable. Added Secretary of State Hillary Clinton: we are certainly planning to take action in such an event.
> 
> That seems like an uncontroversial position. Except when you consider that, in the nineteen months since the Syrian uprising began, Assads forces have killed the great majority of the more than 40,000 people to die in the conflict, many thousands of them innocent civilians. His men have indiscriminately shelled residential neighborhoods; tortured prisoners; allegedly burned infants in their beds and even buried men alive. All without crossing a red line.
> 
> So why draw a line at chemical weapons? The international community has spelled out a specific set of rules and norms outlawing the use of chemical or biological weapons, explains White House spokesman Tommy Vietor. The death to civilians is indiscriminate and the human suffering they inflict is horrific.
> 
> It certainly is. Assad is thought to have a stockpile of sarin gas, which, for instance, produces drooling, convulsions and vomiting before death. But conventional weapons are horrific, too. Explosives cause dismemberment, severe burns, collapsed lungs. And while the effects of poison gas are often likened to torture, countless Syrians have already endured torturethe kind with cables, whips and electric shocks to the genitals.
> 
> As Vietor notes, international law does treat chemical weapons differently. They were banned after World War I by the Geneva Protocol (which Syria signed), and again by the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention. (Syria is among a small and nasty club of states not to join that one). But Assads brutality has violated international law many times over; chemicals arent a game-changer.



Read more: Gas Mask: Why Is Chemical Warfare Obama&#8217;s &#8216;Red Line&#8217; in Syria? | TIME.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Syrian rebels gaining ground against Assad's air power








> BEIRUT The rocket man vows that his hometown will never again face aerial bombardment.
> 
> "I will not allow any airplane or helicopter to attack Daret Izza anymore," declares Abu Omeir, the Syrian rebel's nom de guerre.
> 
> The former schoolteacher, 26, became an insurgent celebrity after being credited with shooting down a pair of government aircraft  a helicopter and MIG fighter  within a 24-hour period in northern Aleppo province in late November.
> 
> But the most significant development is his weapon, a shoulder-fired SA-16 antiaircraft surface-to-air missile, a Soviet-designed update of the SA-7.
> 
> Rebels say they seized dozens of such shoulder-fired missile systems in late November when fighters overran a sprawling government garrison outside the city of Aleppo known as Base 46, after a two-month siege. Analysts who have seen video evidence say the assertion appears credible.
> 
> The takeover of Base 46 yielded "the largest seizure of weapons that we have seen to date," including shoulder-fired missiles and traditional weapons, said Peter Bouckaert, emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, who closely monitors arms proliferation.
> 
> "It's definitely a game-changer," he said Monday via telephone from Geneva. "Day by day, the ability of the Assad regime to use air power is diminished."
> 
> Syrian government air resources nonetheless remain formidable. Aircraft can fire flares and use other countermeasures to thwart heat-seeking, shoulder-fired missiles. In recent weeks, the air campaign has continued, pounding targets in the Aleppo and Damascus areas and elsewhere.
> 
> But the capture of more advanced weaponry suggests that the opposition may be developing a robust response to the Syrian fighter jets and helicopters that have attacked at will. In addition, experts say, the beleaguered government of President Bashar Assad has been losing air bases to rebels and, with spare parts in short supply, has been unable to properly maintain its aging, overworked fleet.



Syrian rebels gaining ground against Assad's air power - latimes.com


----------



## High_Gravity

Russia says Syrian rebels might win








> MOSCOW/BEIRUT (Reuters) - Syrian rebels are gaining ground and might win, Russia's Middle East envoy said on Thursday, in the starkest such admission from a major ally of President Bashar al-Assad in 20 months of conflict.
> 
> "One must look the facts in the face," Russia's state-run RIA quoted Mikhail Bogdanov as saying. "Unfortunately, the victory of the Syrian opposition cannot be ruled out."
> 
> Bogdanov, a deputy foreign minister and the Kremlin's special envoy for Middle East affairs, said the Syrian government was "losing control of more and more territory" and Moscow was preparing to evacuate Russian citizens if necessary.
> 
> Syria has relied on war planes and helicopters to bombard rebel districts but Damascus denied accusations by U.S. and NATO officials that it had fired Scud missiles in recent days.
> 
> The foreign ministry said the long-range missiles were not used against "terrorist groups," a term it uses for the rebels, who now hold an almost continuous arc of territory from the east to the southwest of Damascus.
> 
> The head of NATO said he thought Assad's government was nearing collapse and the new leader of Syria's opposition told Reuters the people of Syria no longer needed international forces to protect them.
> 
> "The horrific conditions which the Syrian people endured prompted them to call on the international community for military intervention at various times," said Mouaz al-Khatib, a preacher who heads Syria's National Coalition.



Russia says Syrian rebels might win - Yahoo! News


----------



## mememe

High_Gravity said:


> Russia says Syrian rebels might win



Says Western media that braught you "WMD in Iraq", "9/11 in Afghanistan", "popular uprising in Libya" and other marvels.

From Marat Musin. Elimination of a group of foreign "freedom fighters" in Syria

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=1zADDehDv8M]Ð£Ð½Ð¸Ñ&#8225;Ñ&#8218;Ð¾Ð¶ÐµÐ½Ð¸Ðµ Ð¸Ð½Ð¾ÑÑ&#8218;Ñ&#8364;Ð°Ð½Ð½Ñ&#8249;Ñ&#8230; Ð½Ð°ÐµÐ¼Ð½Ð¸ÐºÐ¾Ð² - YouTube[/ame]

Mercenaries burn their own dead to avoid identification.
Apparently, many captured mercenaries from Afghanistan are under impression they are fighting in Israel for freedom of Palestinians.


----------



## irosie91

Mercenaries burn their own dead to avoid identification.
Apparently, many captured mercenaries from Afghanistan are under impression they are fighting in Israel for freedom of Palestinians.


 ^^^  oh gee     were that not so MACABRE----it would be funny----in fact
 despite the fact that it is  MACABRE-----it IS FUNNY


----------



## mememe

Latest from Syria:

Former Syrian Army General Mustafa ash-Sheik and other members of the so called Opposition High Military Council were arrested in Syria yesterday!

Also, 4 Turkish pilots were captured in Aleppo!

Well done, Syrians!


----------



## mememe

Some reality from FREED by US, UK, France and Qatar DEMOCRATIC Libya for better understanding why Syrian people don't want to be "liberated" by the West, and why people see US as the most evil nation in the history of humankind:

[ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JLu_N8XpEq8]Ð ÐµÐ°Ð»ÑÐ½Ð¾ÑÑÑ ÑÐ°Ð·ÑÑÑÐµÐ½Ð½Ð¾Ð¹ ÐÐ°Ð¿Ð°Ð´Ð¾Ð¼ ÐÐ¸Ð²Ð¸Ð¸.(Eng.sub) - YouTube[/ame]


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> Latest from Syria:
> 
> Former Syrian Army General Mustafa ash-Sheik and other members of the so called Opposition High Military Council were arrested in Syria yesterday!
> 
> Also, 4 Turkish pilots were captured in Aleppo!
> 
> Well done, Syrians!



Genelkurmay Baskanligi Resmi Kurumsal Internet Sitesidir - Anasayfa - Turkish General Staff Official Web Site - Main Page

Has been denied.
Each time some Syrian general defects into Turkey, there comes some bullshit-stories from the Syrian side.


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> mememe said:
> 
> 
> 
> Latest from Syria:
> 
> Former Syrian Army General Mustafa ash-Sheik and other members of the so called Opposition High Military Council were arrested in Syria yesterday!
> 
> Also, 4 Turkish pilots were captured in Aleppo!
> 
> Well done, Syrians!
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Genelkurmay Baskanligi Resmi Kurumsal Internet Sitesidir - Anasayfa - Turkish General Staff Official Web Site - Main Page
> 
> Has been denied.
> Each time some Syrian general defects into Turkey, there comes some bullshit-stories from the Syrian side.
Click to expand...


Turkey can deny whatever it wants. 
Watch TV.


----------



## ekrem

mememe said:


> Turkey can deny whatever it wants.
> Watch TV.



I'd see Baathist bullshit propaganda


----------



## mememe

ekrem said:


> Baathist bullshit propaganda



Than continue consuming Qatar bullshit propaganda, it's your choice.


----------

