http://news.antiwar.com/2012/06/28/pakistans-clear-position-to-us-no-apology-no-supplies/
“No apology, no supplies” wasthe official response from the Pakistani military, and since the civilian government told the military to handle the question of US supplies themselves, this seem to be a very final position.
The chaos in Syria has long appeared intractable, but many prominent voices are now calling for regime change. The problem is that much of the opposition consists of Sunni extremists that may create an Islamist regime in Syria if the efforts of the US and its allies in support of the rebels are ultimately successful.
Pakistan’s Clear Position to US: ‘No Apology, No Supplies’
Gen. Allen Meeting With Pakistan Army Chief Kayani
by Jason Ditz, June 28, 2012
After months of dithering on exactly what it would take to reopen the border from Pakistan to occupied Afghanistan for US supply trucks, a highly secretive meeting between Gen. John Allen and Pakistan’s Army Chief of Staff Gen. Parvez Kayani has netted a clear response from Pakistan, according to those familiar with the talks.
“No apology, no supplies” wasthe official response from the Pakistani military, and since the civilian government told the military to handle the question of US supplies themselves, this seem to be a very final position.
It refers of course to the November 26 US attack on Pakistani military bases, which killed 24 Pakistani soldiers. President Obama expressed “regret” for the deaths at the time, but officials have repeatedly refused to actually apologize for the attack, with Sec. Leon Panetta insisting last weekend that the US would never apologize for the killings.
The initial Pakistani position was for both an apology and an end to US drone strikes, when this was spurned the idea of an increase in fees was raised, which Panetta condemned as “price gouging.”
In the end, it seems the red line for Pakistan is an apology, and considering the loss of the Pakistan route is costing the US $100 million a month, one would think they would consider this the cheaper alternative. Ultimately, the Obama Administration’s determination not to apologize, even when they are clearly in the wrong, is going to be sharply tested here.
and Israel leery of a Libya in its backyard , with good reason I'm sure.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/06/28/israel-fears-rise-of-us-supported-jihadists-in-syria/
Israel Fears Rise of US-Supported Jihadists in Syria
Russia shares Israel's concerns as the US continues to recklessly arm Syria's rebel militias
by John Glaser, June 28, 2012
The Israeli Defense Force is preparing for the possibility that jihadist terrorists will launch attacks on Israel from Syria if case regime change topples President Bashar Assad, according to officials.
The chaos in Syria has long appeared intractable, but many prominent voices are now calling for regime change. The problem is that much of the opposition consists of Sunni extremists that may create an Islamist regime in Syria if the efforts of the US and its allies in support of the rebels are ultimately successful.
Indeed, current US policy, as Joshua Landis, an expert on Syria from the University of Oklahoma wrote in Foreign Policy this month, “is pursuing regime change by civil war in Syria.”
Israel and the US are set to hold their largest ever joint military exercise in October, which will include thousands of soldiers and a simulation of military attack from Syria.
Incidentally, Russia shares Israel’s fears about the rise of the Islamist opposition in Syria, which serves as their last valuable ally in the region.
“Russia is opposed to regime change in Syria not only on principle, but because the likely new regime would be headed by an Islamist government inimical to Russian interests,” reports investigative journalist Joe Lauria.
“Russia feels that the West doesn’t know how to handle regime change and that the outcome is almost invariably the kind of the chaos from which Islamic extremist movements arise,” Mark Galeotti, who chairs the Center for Global Affairs at New York University, told Lauria.
The US policy of arming and supporting the Syrian rebel militias could be catastrophic. As UN envoy to Syria said just this week: “Syria is not Libya, it will not implode, it will explode beyond its borders.”
Last 5 posts by John Glaser
- Turkey Deploys Anti-Aircraft Guns, Rocket Launchers to Syrian Border - June 28th, 2012
- Syria Rebels Increasingly Violent, Thanks to Foreign Arms - June 28th, 2012
- Iraq's PM Calls for Early Elections Amid Calls to Resign - June 27th, 2012
- West Rebuffs Iranian Offer to Help Kofi Annan With Peace in Syria - June 27th, 2012
- US Rejected Chance for Incremental Progress in Iran Talks - June 27th, 2012
and.....
Saudis forces mass on Jordanian, Iraqi borders. Turkey, Syria reinforce strength
DEBKAfile Special Report June 29, 2012, 11:02 AM (GMT+02:00)
Turkey deploys anti-aircraft guns
The Syrian crisis was Friday, June 29, on a knife edge between a Western-Arab-Turkish military offensive in the next 48 hours and a big power accord to ward it off.
DEBKAfile’s military sources report heavy Saudi troop movements toward the Jordanian and Iraqi borders Thursday overnight and up until Friday morning, June 29, after King Abdullah put the Saudi military on high alert for joining an anti-Assad offensive in Syria. The Saudi units are poised with tanks, missiles, special forces and anti-air batteries to enter Jordan in two heads:
One will safeguard Jordan's King Abdullah against potential Syrian or Iranian reprisals from Syria or Iraq.
One will safeguard Jordan's King Abdullah against potential Syrian or Iranian reprisals from Syria or Iraq.
The second will cut north through Jordan to enter southeastern Syriam, where a security zone will be established around the towns of Deraa, Deir al-Zour and Abu Kemal – all centers of the anti-Assad rebellion. The region is also the home terrain of the Shammar tribe, brethren of the Shammars of the Saudi Nejd province.
The Saudi units deployed on the Iraqi border are there to defend the kingdom against potential incursions by Iraqi Shiite militias crossing into the kingdom for reprisals. The Iraqi militias are well trained and armed and serve under officers of the Iranian Al-Qods Brigades, the Revolutionary Guards’ external arm.
Western Gulf sources report that Jordan too is on war alert.
Following the downing of a Turkish plane by Syria a week ago, Turkey continues to build up its Syrian border units with anti-aircraft guns, tanks and missiles towed by long convoys of trucks.
The Saudi units deployed on the Iraqi border are there to defend the kingdom against potential incursions by Iraqi Shiite militias crossing into the kingdom for reprisals. The Iraqi militias are well trained and armed and serve under officers of the Iranian Al-Qods Brigades, the Revolutionary Guards’ external arm.
Western Gulf sources report that Jordan too is on war alert.
Following the downing of a Turkish plane by Syria a week ago, Turkey continues to build up its Syrian border units with anti-aircraft guns, tanks and missiles towed by long convoys of trucks.
A Free Syria Army officer, Gen. Mustafa al-Sheikh, reported Friday that 170 Syrian army tanks of the 17th Mechanized Division were massed near the village of Musalmieh northeast of Aleppo, 30 km from the Turkish border. He said they stood ready to attack any Turkish forces crossing into Syria.
As these war preparations advanced, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in St. Petersburg Friday for crucial talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. They meet the day before the new UN-sponsored Action Group convenes in Geneva to discuss UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s latest transition proposal for Syria. He hopes for a political settlement that will ward off military intervention.Invited to the meeting are the five veto-wielding UN Security Council members plus Turkey and Arab League envoys from Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq.
As these war preparations advanced, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton arrived in St. Petersburg Friday for crucial talks with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. They meet the day before the new UN-sponsored Action Group convenes in Geneva to discuss UN-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan’s latest transition proposal for Syria. He hopes for a political settlement that will ward off military intervention.Invited to the meeting are the five veto-wielding UN Security Council members plus Turkey and Arab League envoys from Qatar, Kuwait and Iraq.
Annan proposes forming a transitional national unity government in Damascus that includes the opposition and excludes unacceptable regime members.
It was widely reported Thursday that Russia had agreed to this formula, even though it entailed evicting Bashar Assad from power. However, Lavrov stepped in to correct the record, stressing in reference to the Annan proposal that Moscow would not lend its support to “any outside interference or imposition of recipes in Syria.”
This position is doubly aimed at the intensive military movements afoot around Syria.
Clinton and Lavrov are therefore expected to go at the Syrian issue hammer and tongs. The outcome of their meeting will not only determine the course of the Action Group’s discussions but, more importantly, whether the Western-Arab-Turkish alliance goes forward with its military operation against Syria.
It was widely reported Thursday that Russia had agreed to this formula, even though it entailed evicting Bashar Assad from power. However, Lavrov stepped in to correct the record, stressing in reference to the Annan proposal that Moscow would not lend its support to “any outside interference or imposition of recipes in Syria.”
This position is doubly aimed at the intensive military movements afoot around Syria.
Clinton and Lavrov are therefore expected to go at the Syrian issue hammer and tongs. The outcome of their meeting will not only determine the course of the Action Group’s discussions but, more importantly, whether the Western-Arab-Turkish alliance goes forward with its military operation against Syria.
US-Russian concurrence on a plan for Assad’s removal could avert the operation. The failure of their talks would spell a worsening of the Syrian crisis and precipitate Western-Arab military intervention, which according to military sources in the Gulf is scheduled for launch Saturday, June 30.
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