http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/29/syria-bashar-al-assad?newsfeed=true
Summary
Thank you for all your comments today. Here are the key developments:
• Regime helicopters have shelled the key city of Aleppo and clashes have continued on the ground between regime forces and rebel fighters, according to opposition activists. The Guardian's Luke Harding said the two sides are about 1.5km apart. Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed told AP the shelling was most intense in the south-western neighborhoods of Salaheddin and Saif al-Dawla. The government said security agents were hunting down armed groups in Salaheddin. Video purported to show that a government shell had set a plastics factory ablaze in Aleppo.
• Shelling has also been reported by opposition activists in Damascus, Deraa, Hama, Homs and Idlib. There have been clashes rebels and government troops have been reported in Deir Ezzor and Hasaekeh. The Local Coordination Committees opposition activist group claims 21 people have been killed in Sheikh Miskeen, Deraa, alone by security forces. This report cannot be independently verified by the Guardian.
• The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, vowed that the rebels in Aleppo would be defeated as would the "conspiracy" against the country. On a visit to Tehran to meet his counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, Moualem accused Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey of supporting a plot hatched by Israel to destroy Syria. Salehi said the idea that there would be an orderly transition of power if the Assad regime fell from power was "a dream ...an illusion".
• The Syrian opposition has appealed for its foreign allies to provide with heavy weapons to fight President Bashar al-Assad's "killing machine". The Syrian National Council (SNC) also said it would soon start talks on forming a transitional government to replace him. "The rebels are fighting with primitive weapons. We want weapons that we can stop tanks and planes with. This is what we want," Abdelbasset Sida, head of the SNC said. The SNC is an umbrella opposition group but has been riven by internal dissent and external criticism, questioning its legitimacy.
• The Arab League chief, Dr Nabil Elaraby, described the situation in Syria as amounting to war crimes and said those responsible will be held accountable internationally, Egypt's state news agency said on Sunday
• Jordan opened its first tent camp for Syrians fleeing violence in their country. "Reality has pushed us to open this camp," Interior Minister Ghaleb Zoubi told a gathering of aid officials during the camp's opening in the hamlet of Zataari, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the Syrian border. Some 142,000 Syrians are seeking refuge in their southern neighbour and the figure is growing daily by up to 2,000.
• Three Chinese warships crossed into the eastern Mediterranean today, joining 10 Russian warships and three US aircraft carriers, as well as dozens of Turkish military vessels.
Thank you for all your comments today. Here are the key developments:
• Regime helicopters have shelled the key city of Aleppo and clashes have continued on the ground between regime forces and rebel fighters, according to opposition activists. The Guardian's Luke Harding said the two sides are about 1.5km apart. Aleppo-based activist Mohammed Saeed told AP the shelling was most intense in the south-western neighborhoods of Salaheddin and Saif al-Dawla. The government said security agents were hunting down armed groups in Salaheddin. Video purported to show that a government shell had set a plastics factory ablaze in Aleppo.
• Shelling has also been reported by opposition activists in Damascus, Deraa, Hama, Homs and Idlib. There have been clashes rebels and government troops have been reported in Deir Ezzor and Hasaekeh. The Local Coordination Committees opposition activist group claims 21 people have been killed in Sheikh Miskeen, Deraa, alone by security forces. This report cannot be independently verified by the Guardian.
• The Syrian foreign minister, Walid al-Moualem, vowed that the rebels in Aleppo would be defeated as would the "conspiracy" against the country. On a visit to Tehran to meet his counterpart, Ali Akbar Salehi, Moualem accused Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey of supporting a plot hatched by Israel to destroy Syria. Salehi said the idea that there would be an orderly transition of power if the Assad regime fell from power was "a dream ...an illusion".
• The Syrian opposition has appealed for its foreign allies to provide with heavy weapons to fight President Bashar al-Assad's "killing machine". The Syrian National Council (SNC) also said it would soon start talks on forming a transitional government to replace him. "The rebels are fighting with primitive weapons. We want weapons that we can stop tanks and planes with. This is what we want," Abdelbasset Sida, head of the SNC said. The SNC is an umbrella opposition group but has been riven by internal dissent and external criticism, questioning its legitimacy.
• The Arab League chief, Dr Nabil Elaraby, described the situation in Syria as amounting to war crimes and said those responsible will be held accountable internationally, Egypt's state news agency said on Sunday
• Jordan opened its first tent camp for Syrians fleeing violence in their country. "Reality has pushed us to open this camp," Interior Minister Ghaleb Zoubi told a gathering of aid officials during the camp's opening in the hamlet of Zataari, about 11 kilometers (7 miles) from the Syrian border. Some 142,000 Syrians are seeking refuge in their southern neighbour and the figure is growing daily by up to 2,000.
• Three Chinese warships crossed into the eastern Mediterranean today, joining 10 Russian warships and three US aircraft carriers, as well as dozens of Turkish military vessels.
and on the chinese ships - note the various warships arrayed .....
Turkish reporter Mahir Zeynalov, from Today's Zaman, reports that China is the latest country to send warships to the eastern Mediterranean, near Syria, making for quite a crowd.
http://hat4uk.wordpress.com/2012/07/29/analysis-why-syria-is-a-potential-sarajevo-that-could-engulf-us-all/
ANALYSIS: Why Syria is a potential Sarajevo that could engulf us all
Handled properly, the Syrian impasse could solve major problems faced by its neighbours and the major powers who want control over their energy. Far more likely, however, is that personal and political ambitions will make things worse.
The deteriorating situation in Syria brings to mind two great American adages: “Opinions are like assholes, everyone’s got one” and “If it walks, flies, quacks and lands like a duck, chances are it’s a duck”. Well, I have opinions about Syria….based on evidence, motive, opportunity and knowledge of the belief-systems and cynical geopolitics (ie, the history) involved. I’ve always thought that’s the best way to reach conclusions, but then I’m an old-fashioned bloke in a world where any deviation from the script brings accusations of stupidity and bias. However, in the country taken over many years ago by Assad’s Alhawite minority, the situation is rapidly moving from being open to interpretation to open warfare – in which, very quickly, how it all started – and who the ducks are – will soon be forgotten in favour of brainless rallying cries.
The story so far: Bashar Assad is the bad-guy gargoyle chosen by the ignorant (and sometimes cynical) western liberal elite to be The Man Who Must Go. And yes, he is a bad person; yes, he is allied to Iran and virulently antisemitic; yes, he rules by force, corruption and torture. And yes, there are far worse psychopaths (a) waiting inside the country to take over and (b) hoping from the outside for the right result in relation to their energy needs. The Clintonian State department took the decision some time back to dump the protection of Christians in the region, in favour of an alliance with what they see as ‘moderate elements’ within the Muslim Brotherhood…those that the USA believes will ‘win’ in the Middle East. Putin’s Kremlin will not tolerate another Libyan victory for the US-backed Brotherhood: powerful influence in the region is key to the protection of a home economy dangerously dependent on energy exports. The Chinese know the importance of Syrian support for the survival of the Iranian regime they back; like the Russians, they want to either keep Assad where he is…or something close to it. The Israelis detest Bashar Assad, but fear the Muslim Brotherhood: Jews have never had any difficulty telling a swan from a duck. Also, however, they would dearly love to see an isolated Iran….as would Washington. And those mystery men of Saudi Arabia hate the Iranian Shi’ites even more than they hate Jews: a Brotherhood slaughtering Saudi religious enemies all over Syria would be nice (Saudi Arabia is 95% Sunni), but the Saudi Royal Family fears the radicalism of which they know Brotherhood Islamists are capable. Being a King among radicals is not a safe place to be.
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Confused? Well, most people are: but now read on, and see if it gets any clearer. Here is the News:
Russia’s navy chief Vice-Admiral Viktor Chirkov said last Thursday that a flotilla of ten Russian warships off the coast of Syria is “carrying out military exercises in the Mediterranean.” It had no intention of docking in the leased port it has in Syria; but Chirkov did confirm that the fleet is crammed full of marines….who, research shows, tend to be land-based weapons.
There are rumours (none of which I’ve yet been able to confirm with any certainty) that the Saudis are trying to strike a deal with Pakistan’s leader Pervez Ashraf to buy nuclear weapons from Pakistan. A meeting between King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia and Ashraf in Jeddah earlier this year attempted to scope out an agreed pov on the dangers in the Middle East, and the need to counter any Iranian nuclear threat. Few observers doubt that, in the past, the Saudis heavily bankrolled the Pakistani nuclear weapons programme. As some form of quid pro quo, Saudi Arabia sends its special forces to Pakistan for ‘special military training’ – whatever that means. There is some likelihood, I’m told, that Ashraf may accede to the Saudi request.
Hillary Clinton is showing signs that the deadly trio of emotions to which she is prone has taken her over completely. That triad of bigotry – liberal certainty, American ignorance about Arabism, and ruthless persistence – is showing itself in any number of ways.
Just as Clinton, Geithner and Obama decided to bet the farm on German hegemony in Europe, now she and the Black Dude are hell-bent on putting all their chips behind Sunni Muslims in general, and the Brotherhood in particular. Cop this Hillaryspeak for a piece of Zen diplomacy – as in, “I want it to happen, and so it will”:
“..it is now certain that the anti-Assad rebels have enough territory and organisation to create
[safe] areas. “More and more territory is being taken. It will eventually result in a safe haven inside Syria, which
will then provide a base for further actions by the opposition…”
[safe] areas. “More and more territory is being taken. It will eventually result in a safe haven inside Syria, which
will then provide a base for further actions by the opposition…”
The idea of a homogenous thing called ‘the rebels’ is bollocks, as she knows perfectly well. And the idea that anywhere ruled by Sunni Islamists could ever be safe for Christians and Shi’ites is just plain daft. But Hillary Rodham Clinton is more than happy to do daft if it furthers her strategy of rapprochement with a club (that the Secretary of State, the Pentagon and the White House) feel 100% sure is going to ‘win’ in the fallout from the Arab Spring: the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood.
The centre to right-wing of the Republican Party began to have serious doubts about whether Clinton knew WTF she was doing when Washington and NATO piled in with financial and air-cover support for the Libyan revolutionaries who toppled Muammar Gadaffi. The Christian Right in particular ( a very powerful interest-group within the GOP) is now becoming increasingly voluble about State’s refusal to condemn Sunni atrocities, and denialism about wholesale Brotherhood actions against non-Sunni rebel groups and Syrian Christians. Equally disturbing is that Tel Aviv has begun being truculent at best (and secretive at worst) in the face of an obvious White House bias against support for the Jewish State.
I stopped having any doubts at all about David Cameron the minute he began mouthing off about how great Recep Erdogan is, and why everyone should help “the advance of democracy” in Libya. I decided once and for all that he is a highly intelligent idiot. The latter Libyan jet-rattling was partly gung-ho jingoism (always good for Newscorp support): but even more, it represented as a whole how William Hague and the Prime Minister have gone totally native when it comes to Foreign Office ‘geopolitical strategy’.
Regular Sloggers know my view of the FCO: it is and always has been anti-semitic, leaky, completely wrong about almost everything, and a serious danger to the long-term security of Britain. It backed the French over the Versailles and Sykes-Piquot treaties, Hitler in the 1930s, Soviet Russia after the Second World War, the French over Suez, the EU over the Commonwealth, and the Americans about absolutely everything. Now in 2012, it has reverted to appeasement of a form of Nazism which – just like the original – cannot be appeased. We should all listen very attentively to what our diplomats say…and then do the diametric opposite.
Above all, however, I am now sure that the FCO stands shoulder to shoulder with Hillary the Amazon liberal.
Anyway, that’s the mix: Britain is an irrelevance, but will do whatever Washington asks. State thinks the Sunnis will win outright, the Russians, Chinese, Saudis and Israelis would prefer a status quo at best, or a stalemate at worst. Tel Aviv in particular has carefully backed any horse that looked capable of ruining the race.
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What we are looking at here is, basically, yet aother Muslim domestic that would be ignored by most of the World were it not for the predominance of oil as an energy form.
While that may read to some like a blinding glimpse of nothing remotely new, it would do all of us good to consider just how much of our species’ worst points come out when there is potentially not enough of something to go round. I italicise that word because there is actually plenty of oil to go round, but those with an interest in high prices pretend there isn’t….and they find willing allies in half-baked conservationistas: yet more of Lenin’s ‘useful idiots’.
Two developments would solve a lot of problems in the medium term. First, a model of capitalism not slavishly based on growth and output…so everyone calms down about how much oil is left. And second, full-on billions-backed research to move beyond oil as quickly as possible.
As James Delingpole et al have pointed out endlessly, all the fluffy wind and non-nuclear ‘solutions’ are not solutions at all. What the ‘nein danke’ brigade have achieved is an increased focus on the reality of oil and gas as still the only viable sources of global energy less dirty than coal; that is, exactly what the oilcos wanted as a result. The obvious solution is sitting out there 96 million miles away, and by that I don’t mean covering everything in solar panels: I mean the harnessing of that mix of rays the sun gives off, and its conversion into motive, heating and lighting power. The achievement of that aim would change everything for the better within a decade.
As it is, what we have building up in Syria is the potential for a Sarajevo moment. This will, I know, attract the usual salvo of faux-wisdom suggesting that I’m being alarmist. But naysayers need to remember that we are, at best, an alarming species. Our sense of being threatened is way beyond what we really need.
That’s not true of most people beyond a small elite. But the small elite is in the driving seat – and always will be. Their warning mechanisms are set at Sabre Tooth Tiger, even though these man-eaters died out aeons ago. Fear of something unreal causes the social neuroses and tribalisms, the alliances and the geopolitics, that are all around us 24/7. Sadly, it is also true that the other 93% still place far too much trust in those who would lead; at base, they underestimate the cockups and frontal-lobe behaviour of which these soi-disantalphas are capable. And those alphas in turn are far too cocky about their ability to control stuff. Stuff reaches a point, if care is not applied at every stage, where nothing and nobody can control it: the impending global econo-fiscal-financial crisis being a classic case in point.
The distilled, probably over-simplified bottom line emerging in recent weeks is this: the Americans, British, and Saudis are backing the Sunnis, the Sino-Russian elements are backing the Shi-’ites, and the Israelis are backing the nearest possible thing to status quo. Clinton has been taking testosterone injections, and Putin is a controlling ex-KGB macho headcase. Israel is paranoid to the point of mental instability about the threat from Iran. China is the fastest-growing nation, and the most convinced that others may try and interrupt its supply of oil. They are also owed an unspeakably obscene amount of money by the Americans…a debt which Geithner & Co keep trying to devalue. This kind of behaviour creates bad feeling, and situations in which the Karma might, for once, be run over by the dogma.
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Any number of things could spark a proliferating free-for-all in that context. And yet, there is no need for any of it. Even putting aside the bollocks talked about ‘peak terrestrial energy’ by the thinly-disguised Left, for those of sound mind the solution to this impasse is obvious.
America’s shale-gas exploitation is growing exponentially. As I posted last week, North Dakota’s spectacular shale-gas turnaround is a near-miracle that could relatively easily be duplicated elsewhere. The Russian economy remains overdependent on oil exports. Both countries could therefore sit happily with a confused stalemate in Syria (and elsewhere) that kept up the feeling of oil being an energy form in short and unreliable supply: the Americans would be happy with their self-sufficiency, and the Russian economy would boom on the back of potentially high oil prices. (The Saudis too would love those high prices, and Tel Aviv would give stalemate a big tick too.)
This leaves the Chinese theoretically out on a limb. But what if the Americans agreed to guarantee oil and shale gas supplies to China as a commodity barter against unrepayable Treasury notes held by Beijing? Well, hardline trade mercantilists would argue that this would make Chinese exports even cheaper, and increase the US debt further still; however, if the energy was designated for internal infrastructural investment and hugely subsidised domestic heat and light for China’s population, everyone would win: Beijing gets a happy populace, more modernisation, and a growing middle class…while the US gets the deficit down and oil price viability.
Simples.
Except that there are myriad reasons why this won’t come to pass. First up, Romney is pushing hard at North Dakota as an example of American recovery being held back by Obamite ecological regulation. Barack would lose too much face if he suddenly caved in to the Mitt view of life….and, quite possibly, an election made tighter by Europe’s financial collapse. Second, Putin will baulk at settling for anything less than his Alhwite allies staying in power. This – and his overtures to the Communist Prime Minister of Cyprus – are the two hands in which he could easily squeeze Europe’s balls with a blackmail-fuelled oil price. And third, Islam – this religion we are told time and again by some in the Western elite offers a lesson in divinity for us all – is split inexorably between moderates, radical Islamists, Sunnis and Shi-ites.
Neither Muslim schism can win: while the Islamic world is predominantly of the Sunni sect, the Muslims who live in the Middle East, and particularly those in the Persian Gulf region, are often Shi’ite. Globally, the Shia account for an estimated 10 or 15 percent of the Muslim population, but in the Middle East their numbers are much higher: they dominate the population of Iran, compose a majority in Iraq, and are significant minorities in other nations.
So the bottom-line of today’s analysis is this: it’s easy to offer bromides about Syria being just another problem that will be quietly settled in the end because everyone has too much to lose. The Alhawites, Iranian Shi-ites, and the Israelis have everything to lose – as does Putin if he fails to win the right economic outlook for Russia. And Mrs Clinton is, I suspect, already running for the 2016 Oval Office job. So be very afraid: this could all easily go spectacularly wrong.
and....
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-07/28/c_131744806.htm
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| English.news.cn 2012-07-28 15:52:46 |        |
TEHRAN, July 28 (Xinhua) -- A senior advisor to Iran's supreme leader has said that the negotiations between Iran and the world major powers (P5+1) over Tehran's nuclear program will continue until they produce positive and constructive results, Tehran Times daily reported on Saturday.
Speaking to reporters on Friday, Ali-Akbar Velayati said that the P5+1 should recognize Iran's right to develop nuclear technology for peaceful purposes, according to the report.
Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator Ali Baqeri said that the recent nuclear talks with deputy head of the EU's foreign relations in the Turkish city of Istanbul were "positive," local media reported Thursday.
Baqeri met Helga Schmid, deputy to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, on Tuesday for talks to pave the way for another round of high-level international talks on Iran's nuclear program.
Related:
TEHRAN, July 26 (Xinhua) -- Iran's deputy nuclear negotiator Ali Baqeri has said that the recent nuclear talks with deputy head of the EU's foreign relations in the Turkish city of Istanbul were "positive," local media reported Thursday.
Baqeri met Helga Schmid, deputy to EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, on Tuesday in an attempt to pave the way for another round of high-level international talks on Iran's nuclear program. Full story
TEHRAN, July 24 (Xinhua) -- Iran's foreign ministry spokesman said Tuesday that its nuclear "rights" should be recognized by five permanent members of UN Security Council plus Germany (P5+1).
Making the remarks in his weekly press briefing, Ramin Mehmanparast said that observing the nuclear rights of the Islamic republic by the P5+1 and removing the concerns of the P5+1 by Iran will be the best state for the result of the talks between both sides. Full story
and....
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-07/28/c_131745233.htm
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| English.news.cn 2012-07-28 23:19:28 | |
BAGHDAD, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al- Maliki criticized authorities of the country's semi-autonomous region of Kurdistan for preventing Iraqi army soldiers sent by Baghdad from reaching a border point with Syria located at a disputed area controlled by Kurdish forces.
"The objection (of the Kurdish region) to deploy federal forces on our common border with Syria, which is outside the (Kurdish) region is a clear violation of the laws and security measures," Maliki said in a statement posted on his website.
The latest tension between Baghdad and Kurdish region came after soldiers from an Iraqi army brigade on Wednesday moved from Baghdad-controlled area of Rabiyah to Kurdish-controlled Fishkhabour border crossing point with Syria in Zummar area, which is originally part of disputed areas between Baghdad and Kurdistan region.
The Iraqi troops were prevented to reach their target by the Kurdish Peshmerga security forces.
"The decision to deploy troops from the federal army and police on the border with Syria came to prevent the negative consequences of what is happening in Syria on the security situation in Iraq," Maliki said, stressing that "It wasn't targeting the Kurdistan region."
He confirmed that it is the responsibilities of his federal government exclusively to maintain the country's sovereignty and to safeguard borders, calling on the regional government of Kurdistan to respect the law and order.
"Such action by the Kurdish regional forces could ignite a conflict with the Iraqi armed forces," Maliki warned.
Lawmakers from the Kurdish coalition in the Iraqi parliament said in a statement obtained by Xinhua that "the Iraqi troops' move was not coordinated between the federal and the regional governments.
"The new Iraq and its constitution do not allow using the armed and security forces in the internal political differences, and any use of these forces in this way will be the end of civil peace and the democratic system," The Kurdish coalition statement said.
On Tuesday, the Iraqi army moves a brigade from Iraq's southern province of Dhi-Qar to Iraqi-Syrian border to enhance security measures, namely to scrutinize the identities of all Iraqis who flee the unrest in Syria to detain those who are wanted according to arrest warrants issued earlier by the Iraqi judiciary.
Tensions have been high between Baghdad and the Kurdish authorities in Arbil, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital, over several disputes, and the Kurdish regional president Masoud Barzani has supported efforts to pass a no-confidence motion against Maliki.
Related:
CAIRO, July 28 (Xinhua) -- The Arab delegation in the United Nations has finished the writing of the first draft for an Arab resolution to establish safe areas in Syria, a senior official of the Arab League said on Saturday. Full story
MOSCOW, July 28 (Xinhua) -- Russia will evacuate its military staff from a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus if needed, a high-ranking military official said Saturday.
"If any emergency situations occurred, we will evacuate the personnel from the logistics center. The center has its commander," Navy Commander Vice Adm. Viktor Chirkov told Echo Moskvy radio. Full story
and....
US Treasury: 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
Tony Cartalucci
Infowars.com
July 28, 2012
Infowars.com
July 28, 2012
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—some ideologically aligned, some motivated by money—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.”
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’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’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, “we’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’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.
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’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said.
Likewise, in the Washington Post’s article, “Syrian rebels get influx of arms with gulf neighbors’ money, U.S. coordination,” it is reported:
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.
Image: “A lot of them were bald and many had beards. Many wore white sports shoes and army pants,” said an alleged “defected officer” of the perpetrators of the “Houla Massacre.” An apt description of the NATO-armed sectarian terrorists that ravaged Libya before traveling to Syria (here, here, and here) to continue their campaign of extremist-driven genocide. (click image to enlarge)
Reports months ago indicated that Libyan militants had been making their way to Syria by the hundreds, flush with cash and weapons recently received from NATO during their own operation to overrun and destroy Libya. As many as 600 Libyan terrorists were reported to have reached Syria by late 2011.
Now as Western media houses embed their representatives within terrorist bands crossing the Turkish-Syrian border, and as these terrorists find their way into Aleppo and amongst a population capable of revealing their identity to the world, slowly the admissions are trickling out that indeed entire “platoons” of North African fighters are involved in the misleadingly titled, “rebellion.”CNN, whose Ivan Watson accompanied these terrorists over the Turkish-Syrian border and into Aleppo, revealed that indeed foreign fighters were amongst the militants. It was admitted that:Meanwhile, residents of the village where the Syrian Falcons were headquartered said there were fighters of several North African nationalities also serving with the brigade’s ranks.A volunteer Libyan fighter has also told CNN he intends to travel from Turkey to Syria within days to add a “platoon” of Libyan fighters to armed movement.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.The foreign fighters, some of them are clearly drawn because they see this as … a jihad. So this is a magnet for jihadists who see this as a fight for Sunni Muslims.
CNN’s reports provide bookends to earlier admissions that large numbers of Libyan terroristsflush with NATO cash and weapons had headed to Syria, with notorious terrorist commandersmaking the arrangements.
West Used Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Libya, Is Using Al Qaeda Now in Syria
By all accounts, including admissionsby former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates and former National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski, Osama Bin Laden’s organization that would become Al Qaeda was created by the West during the Soviet-Afghan war in in the late 70′s and throughout the 80′s. The US and Saudi funding of these militants did not begin after the Soviet invasion, but actually several years before the invasion. US intervention in Afghanistan by training and arming Afghanistan’s Mujaheddin, along with Osama Bin Laden’s Arab fighters, is one of the leading factors that led to the murderous and protracted decade-long war, according to the Nation in an article titled, “Blowback, the Prequel.”
Photo: Former US National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski meeting with Osama Bin Laden, then leading the CIA’s Arab legionaries in Afghanistan. Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda would later spin off into regional terrorist organizations, covertly armed, trained, and protected by the CIA to this day, including LIFG in Libya, MEK in Iraq and Iran, and Baluchi terrorists in Pakistan.
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Since then, Al Qaeda has conveniently provided both a well-armed, capable proxy force, as well as a sufficiently terrifying boogeyman, giving Wall Street and London access to nations it could otherwise never justify intervening in.
The very militant leader of the “Tripoli Brigade” who secured Libya’s capital just in time for US dignitaries to visit, was Abdul Hakim Belhaj, commander of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), listed on the US State Department’s roster of “Foreign Terrorist Organizations” (#28). In fact, several reports out of West Point’s Combating Terrorism Center (CTC) illustrated how not only LIFG was actively leading NATO-backed regime change in Libya, but was involved in fighting Western troops and locals in both Afghanistan and Iraq – disrupting legitimate resistance, and providing a continuous pretext to maintain Western occupation.
That Belhaj almost immediately after overthrowing Libya’s government, began organizing operations to bring in fighters, weapons, and cash to Syria, indicates that, just as Al Qaeda was used from its very inception by the US and Saudis to fight Soviets in Afghanistan, it is still a valuable tool in executing Western foreign policy.
Essentially, the so-called “War on Terror” is a fraud, the belligerents on both sides fueled by the West as a means of establishing military, economic, and political hegemony in otherwise unapproachable targeted nations. When Al Qaeda cannot sufficiently overrun a targeted nation as a proxy “foreign legion” of Western interests (Libya), its presence, facilitated by the West in the first place, is then cited as a “casus belli” for military intervention (Afghanistan).
Now, it appears that the West’s Arab “foreign legion,” Al Qaeda, is about to suffer an unprecedented defeat – not at the hands of Western anti-terrorism forces, but at the hands of Syrian troops in the city of Aleppo. In a desperate effort to prevent this, the West is employing a series of desperate strategies ranging from portraying the trapped foreign-fighters committing atrocities inside Aleppo as “pending a certain massacre,” to using the very presence of these foreign-fighters as evidence “Al Qaeada” is operating in Syria and must be “stopped” by Western intervention.
It is essential to understand that, as empires have always done, the monolithic corporate-financier interests of the West seek regional hegemony as a step toward global domination, and will say and do anything in order to achieve it. As resistance increases, the West’s lies become more difficult to sell, the consistency of their propaganda overtly crumbling. The West, in nearly a single breath, has now claimed FSA fighters are both “Al Qaeda” that need to be eliminated, while also impeding a “massacre” by Syrian forces if something isn’t done to save them.
When US President Obama referred to the “depths of depravity” regarding Syrian security operations in Aleppo, he and his script writers do so with the belief that Americans, and the world, are ignorant and disinterested in the truth, and will gladly allow Western foreign policy to once again prey on their emotions and good intentions to sell yet another destructive, self-serving military intervention.
and .....
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/07/27/us-pakistan-officials-trade-accusations-at-tense-conference/
US, Pakistan Officials Trade Accusations at Tense Conference
Obama Aide: 'Unfair' to Complain About Afghan Safezones for Taliban
by Jason Ditz, July 27, 2012
The border may have opened earlier this month (though closed now for security reasons), but the relationship between the US and Pakistan remains far from rosy. A press conference today fueled yet more acrimony as a top Obama aide blasted Pakistan’s ambassador to the United States Sherry Rehman.
The two had been discussing cross border raids and Ambassador Rehman brought up the growing number of attacks against the Swat Valley from Pakistani Taliban operating in the Afghan Kunar Province, where very little attempt seems to be made to dislodge them.
The Obama aide, former Gen. Douglas Lute, expressed outrage at the statement, saying there is “no comparison” between Taliban crossing into Pakistan from Afghanistan to launch attacks and Taliban crossing into Afghanistan from Pakistan launching attacks, insisting it is “unfair” to even compare them.
Rehman scored her own points later in the talk, responding to Lute’s praise of Obama’s efforts along the border by slamming the ongoing US drone strikes against Pakistani territory, noting that it “adds to the pool of recruits we’re fighting against.”
and.....
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/report-iran-begins-stockpiling-3-month-food-supply/2012/07/27/gJQAsx2GEX_story.html
TEHRAN, Iran — An Iranian news agency is reporting the country has begun to stockpile a three-month supply of foodstuffs for its population.
The Friday report by semi-official Mehr quotes deputy industry minister Hasan Radmard as saying the country has been buying wheat, cooking oil, sugar and rice for the food reserve.
Radmard said the decision came based on a decree by President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in recent weeks. Part of the purchased foodstuffs has already been imported, he added.
Iran’s trade with other countries has been hindered since the United States and the European Union imposed a banking and insurance embargo on Tehran over its disputed nuclear program.
The West suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear weapon, a charge Iran denies.
and.....
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/07/27/nato-afghan-militant-attacks-up-11-percent/
NATO: Afghan Militant Attacks Up 11 Percent
June the Highest Level of Fighting Since 2010
by Jason Ditz, July 27, 2012
New statistics released by NATO show a dramatic increase in militant attacks in Afghanistan, putting the figure at an 11 percent increase year over year for the past three months, with June showing the highest levels of violence since summer 2010.
The figures also showed an increase in “enemy-initiated attacks” for every single month, putting NATO’s recent claims of progress in the decade-long occupation into serious doubt.
NATO sought to downplay the significance of the increase, saying that “more precise reporting” of attacks against Afghan police might be responsible for a large portion of the increase by itself, with last year’s attacks apparently going unreported.
Despite this dramatic increase in attacks, so far there has not been an increase in coalition death tolls this year, with the number of NATO troops staying roughly flatover the past several months.
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- Kurdish Forces Kill Six Syrian Troops in Aleppo - July 27th, 2012
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