Syria: A Line in the Sand

[Nickdfresh]

Has Syria crossed the line with Houla massacre?
Published On Sat Jun 02 2012

http://i.thestar.com/images/b9/e8/5d5d5e5c4d9c95fd6186cc7b0060.jpg
People gather at a mass burial for the victims purportedly killed during an artillery barrage from Syrian forces in Houla in this handout image dated May 26. UN observers in Syria have confirmed that artillery and tank shells were fired at a residential area of Houla, Syria, where at least 108 people, including many children, were killed.


REUTERS
By Tony Burman Special to the Star

Will the horror of Houla be the tipping point in Syria’s deepening civil war? Like the massacre in Srebrenica in 1995 or the horrendous shelling of the Sarajevo market in 1994, will the mass killing near the town of Houla of at least 108 Syrian villagers, including 34 women and 49 children, be the breaking point for the world? Has the heinous Syrian regime finally crossed the line?

So far, the early signs are not good. The helplessness of the international community in the face of this latest outrage has been in full display. Efforts by the UN’s special envoy Kofi Annan are in disarray. Russia continues to favour its Syrian ally, as do Iran and China. A handful of Western governments, including Canada’s, expelled their Syrian diplomats but they have done little else. Meanwhile, the killing continues.

But the dangers ahead are not lost on anyone, and that may eventually break the impasse. The Syrian uprising has become the longest and bloodiest of all the insurrections throughout the Arab world in the past 18 months. With nearly 12,000 lives already lost, the courage of the Syrian people in the face of this has been breathtaking. But, apart from its poignancy, it is a conflict with enormous potential to destabilize the region and to disrupt the international order. Also, unless resolved, it is certain to get worse.

The massacre at Houla may be repeated again and again. What is important here is the number of eyewitnesses. All signs point to a civilian pro-government militia that witnesses say entered people’s homes in army fatigues and either cut their throats or shot them in the head.

In terms of international intervention, there is no immediate military option. Russia and China would veto any efforts by the UN to initiate the same type of intervention which occurred in Libya. Also, neither the Americans nor NATO have the stomach for another Middle East adventure. The best hope appears to be diplomacy and increased sanctions against the Syrian regime.

The key player is Russia, Syria’s most important ally. Russia fears what may follow president Bashar al-Assad if he is toppled is chaos and sectarian violence, which could threaten Russia’s strategic interests and naval foothold. But there are signs now that even Vladimir Putin may be recognizing that the time for a deal may be close.

The Americans and Russians are discussing what has been called the “Yemenskii variant” as a way of transitioning Syria to a post-Assad model. It calls for something similar to the Saudi-backed plan for Yemen which got rid of dictator Ali Abdullah Saleh but kept family and key supporters initially in place. They would form part of the transitional administration before the holding of free elections. This idea will apparently be on the agenda at next month’s summit between Putin and U.S. president Barack Obama.

The tragedy for the Syrian people in all of this is that, for the world’s key governments, the Syrian conflict is not only a human story about horrors such as Houla. Increasingly, it is an unpredictable proxy war among competing world powers with very different strategic goals.

• Iran, which was the biggest loser in the “Arab Spring” because of its diminished influence, sees its long-held support of the Assad regime as a way of maintaining power over a key Arab country.

• Russia, which in the Soviet era had Middle Eastern influence over Egypt, Iraq and Syria, now has only Damascus in its corner, and even that is threatened.

• China, with massive economic interests in Iran, is actively supporting Syria’s Assad regime as a way of courting favour with Tehran.

• And the United States is not only in competition with these other global powers but it too is trying to find its way in a new Middle East where all rules are being rewritten.

Meanwhile, Syria’s neighbours are watching unfolding events in that country with dread. The governments in Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq are weak and unstable. The fear of a looming Sunni-Shiite sectarian war is often voiced. The euphoria of political liberation is increasingly clashing with ancient ethnic hatreds.

This Syrian tragedy has inflicted profound pain on the Syrian people. But as it careens further out of control, the crisis risks spilling beyond Syria’s borders and threatening the entire region, and beyond.

Let us hope that this prospect will motivate the world’s global powers to get this settled before it is too late.

Tony Burman, former head of Al Jazeera English and CBC News, teaches journalism at Ryerson University. tony.burman@gmail.com

The Toronto Star (http://www.thestar.com/news/world/article/1203471--has-syria-crossed-the-line-with-houla-massacre)

[Nitro Express]

Well Syria was on the list. What they didn't plan on was Russia and China getting involved and it taking more than five years. Shows what a cocky bunch of mother fuckers the neocons were.

[Nitro Express]

Now here's what some of the locals have to say about it.

[FORD]

The Daily Show with Jon StewartGet More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Political Humor & Satire Blog,The Daily Show on Facebook

[Nickdfresh]

Now here's what some of the locals have to say about it.

Complete bullshit "newspeak" propaganda at the behest of the Syrian gov't...

[Nitro Express]

Could be.

[FORD]

Well.... SyrianBabe is correct that "Al Qaeda" is a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE/CIA. But that doesn't mean Assad isn't a flaming hemorrhoid.

[Nitro Express]

I remember when I was a little kid in the 70's my babysitter had a Vietnam vet friend who was in a wheel chair. In a way he was like Sargeant Dan in Forrest Gump. He was a bit crazed from the war and probably some drugs. He went on about how the CIA dealed in drugs in the golden triangle and what criminals they were. I thought he was just some crazy hippie and he was a bit creepy but I liked going over to his place because he would let me play his electric guitar. It was your typical 70's hangout and behind the couch he had a big sheet with Zig Zag man with a tie dyed border. Hindsight being 20/20 I think my babysitter was buying pot from the dude.

[Nickdfresh]

It's (1st) Lieutenant Dan!
http://www.thingstodoinlandempire.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/01/lt-dan.jpg

[Nickdfresh]

Well.... SyrianBabe is correct that "Al Qaeda" is a wholly owned subsidiary of BCE/CIA. But that doesn't mean Assad isn't a flaming hemorrhoid.

:doh:

[ELVIS]

I remember when I was a little kid in the 70's my babysitter had a Vietnam vet friend who was in a wheel chair. In a way he was like Sargeant Dan in Forrest Gump. He was a bit crazed from the war and probably some drugs. He went on about how the CIA dealed in drugs in the golden triangle and what criminals they were. I thought he was just some crazy hippie and he was a bit creepy but I liked going over to his place because he would let me play his electric guitar. It was your typical 70's hangout and behind the couch he had a big sheet with Zig Zag man with a tie dyed border. Hindsight being 20/20 I think my babysitter was buying pot from the dude.

So, what's the moral of the story ?.

[sadaist]

So, what's the moral of the story ?.

It was good to be a kid in the 70's.

[sadaist]

I don't understand why we were so quick to go into Libya but not Syria. And what about all the African nations in the last 15 years that have been slaughtering their people? Where was the outrage & US intervention there? We sure are picky about when we want to stand up & act righteous.

[Nitro Express]

It was good to be a kid in the 70's.

It was good to be a kid in the 70's. It was the sweet spot. The pendulum has swung far enough out of the prudish 50's but hadn't gone completely into insaneville yet. It was also great to be a teenager in the 80's. Our generation really hit a home run there. We enjoyed our youth before they started to smother us and say no you can't and when the economy was still good. I had my own car as a teen and I bought it with my own money and got away from home right when I graduated from high school. What do the kids today own and many just bum off of mom and dad for years. They have this defeatist attitude. We wanted to own our own stuff and get out on our own and couldn't wait to do it.

[Nitro Express]

I don't understand why we were so quick to go into Libya but not Syria. And what about all the African nations in the last 15 years that have been slaughtering their people? Where was the outrage & US intervention there? We sure are picky about when we want to stand up & act righteous.

Follow the money Sadist. What does Libya have that Syria doesn't? Hint: It's in the ground and it burns.

[sadaist]

Hint: It's in the ground and it burns.


My old wedding ring that I buried?


;)

[sadaist]

Follow the money Sadist. What does Libya have that Syria doesn't? Hint: It's in the ground and it burns.


The stupid thing about that is it's soooo fucking obvious. Does our government really think we are that stupid? I mean it's the point where it's so obvious that it can't be the real reason.

[Nitro Express]

The stupid thing about that is it's soooo fucking obvious. Does our government really think we are that stupid? I mean it's the point where it's so obvious that it can't be the real reason.

Look at it from their point of view. The people in Washington and the people on Wall Street have been screwing us for a very long time. What happens is they get used to it being so easy, they get cocky, and they don't see the left hook coming that knocks them on their ass. Look at established politicians who lost in the primaries. They were shocked. They didn't see it coming. A lot of people in the establishment are so far into their own isolated situation they don't see reality.

Some of the smarter ones see it.



It's no different than ancient Rome where they bought off the public with food and entertainment and kept them occupied with that while they stole the treasury for themselves and continued to raise taxes. The weapon of mass destruction in our modern times has been the couch and the television set.

[sadaist]

This is why governments fear the Internet so much and the free sharing of information, knowledge & ideas.

[Nitro Express]

This is why governments fear the Internet so much and the free sharing of information, knowledge & ideas.

Yup. The internet was developed for the military and was there but like always some young entrepreneur developed a way to search the web. Before you had to know what to type in to find what you were looking for and it really made the net pretty much useless.

The control freaks didn't see it coming. They were knocking themselves out buying up the traditional media and trying to control that.

Now people have it and they don't want to give it up and the government is trying to use every excuse to control it. Of course they use the same excuses. Security. They say they care about us and they want to keep us safe all at the same time the banks are stealing billions from us and the government that cares about us does nothing. We even can point out in detail who stole the money but the government that cares so much about us does nothing. They might toss some unemployment benefits and some welfare trinkets our way but that's about it. It like them stealing the candy and then giving us the wrapper off of it.

Once people have something and enjoy it, it's very hard to take away. People have enjoyed free uncensored internet with search capability for almost two decades. It's hard to just come in and say we are going to take some of it away without people throwing a tizzy.

The Mormon church even started telling it's members to stay off the internet because there was porn on it. The real reason was stuff in the church history that the church was able to buy up, hide and suppress was starting to surface on the internet again. Black and white proof that the church has systematically changed it's history over the years and proof Joseph Smith mistranslated some Egyptian artifacts and that made a whole book of Mormon scripture obviously a fraud. So they ran a huge campaign to try and get the members off the internet because members were leaving the church because of it. They yelled and the screamed and the members still used the internet. The next move was to exploit the internet themselves so they spend a fortune running ads on YouTube and other popular websites. It was like watching some little creep trying to hold a breaking dam back and then it breaks and they go with the flood.

[Nickdfresh]

I don't understand why we were so quick to go into Libya but not Syria. And what about all the African nations in the last 15 years that have been slaughtering their people? Where was the outrage & US intervention there? We sure are picky about when we want to stand up & act righteous.

We had lots of NATO airbases in range and former Euro colonial powers with a vested interest in Libya. Unfortunately, Syria is far more isolated and difficult to get at without significant Arab support...

[Hardrock69]

GODDAMMIT! :mad:

THIS CANNOT GO ON!!!

[Hardrock69]

I had a friend in L.A. I used to buy pot from.....he was an ex-POW from the Vientnam conflict and he had a lot of stories to tell.....

Wish I knew what happened to him. He was a VERY cool guy....

[ELVIS]

It was good to be a kid in the 70's.

It was a joke from a faux liberal perspective...

[Nickdfresh]

C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition
By ERIC SCHMITT
Published: June 21, 2012

WASHINGTON — 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.
Related

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.

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. The Obama administration has said it is not providing arms to the rebels, but it has also acknowledged that Syria’s neighbors would do so.

The clandestine intelligence-gathering effort is the most detailed known instance of the limited American support for the military campaign against the Syrian government. It is also part of Washington’s attempt to increase the pressure on President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, who has recently escalated his government’s deadly crackdown on civilians and the militias battling his rule. With Russia blocking more aggressive steps against the Assad government, the United States and its allies have instead turned to diplomacy and aiding allied efforts to arm the rebels to force Mr. Assad from power.

By helping to vet rebel groups, American intelligence operatives in Turkey hope to learn more about a growing, changing opposition network inside of Syria and to establish new ties. “C.I.A. officers are there and they are trying to make new sources and recruit people,” said one Arab intelligence official who is briefed regularly by American counterparts.

American officials and retired C.I.A. officials said the administration was also weighing additional assistance to rebels, like providing satellite imagery and other detailed intelligence on Syrian troop locations and movements. The administration is also considering whether to help the opposition set up a rudimentary intelligence service. But no decisions have been made on those measures or even more aggressive steps, like sending C.I.A. officers into Syria itself, they said.

The struggle inside Syria has the potential to intensify significantly in coming months as powerful new weapons are flowing to both the Syrian government and opposition fighters. President Obama and his top aides are seeking to pressure Russia to curb arms shipments like attack helicopters to Syria, its main ally in the Middle East.

“We’d like to see arms sales to the Assad regime come to an end, because we believe they’ve demonstrated that they will only use their military against their own civilian population,” Benjamin J. Rhodes, deputy national security adviser for strategic communications, said after Mr. Obama and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir V. Putin, met in Mexico on Monday.

Spokesmen for the White House, State Department and C.I.A. would not comment on any intelligence operations supporting the Syrian rebels, some details of which were reported last week by The Wall Street Journal.

Until now, the public face of the administration’s Syria policy has largely been diplomacy and humanitarian aid.

The State Department said Wednesday that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton would meet with her Russian counterpart, Sergey V. Lavrov, on the sidelines of a meeting of Asia-Pacific foreign ministers in St. Petersburg, Russia, next Thursday. The private talks are likely to focus, at least in part, on the crisis in Syria.

The State Department has authorized $15 million in nonlethal aid, like medical supplies and communications equipment, to civilian opposition groups in Syria.

The Pentagon continues to fine-tune a range of military options, after a request from Mr. Obama in early March for such contingency planning. Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told senators at that time that the options under review included humanitarian airlifts, aerial surveillance of the Syrian military, and the establishment of a no-fly zone.

The military has also drawn up plans for how coalition troops would secure Syria’s sizable stockpiles of chemical and biological weapons if an all-out civil war threatened their security.

But senior administration officials have underscored in recent days that they are not actively considering military options. “Anything at this point vis-à-vis Syria would be hypothetical in the extreme,” General Dempsey told reporters this month.

What has changed since March is an influx of weapons and ammunition to the rebels. The increasingly fierce air and artillery assaults by the government are intended to counter improved coordination, tactics and weaponry among the opposition forces, according to members of the Syrian National Council and other activists.

Last month, these activists said, Turkish Army vehicles delivered antitank weaponry to the border, where it was then smuggled into Syria. Turkey has repeatedly denied it was extending anything other than humanitarian aid to the opposition, mostly via refugee camps near the border. The United States, these activists said, was consulted about these weapons transfers.

American military analysts offered mixed opinions on whether these arms have offset the advantages held by the militarily superior Syrian Army. “The rebels are starting to crack the code on how to take out tanks,” said Joseph Holliday, a former United States Army intelligence officer in Afghanistan who is now a researcher tracking the Free Syrian Army for the Institute for the Study of War in Washington.

But a senior American officer who receives classified intelligence reports from the region, compared the rebels’ arms to “peashooters” against the government’s heavy weaponry and attack helicopters.

The Syrian National Council, the main opposition group in exile, has recently begun trying to organize the scattered, localized units that all fight under the name of the Free Syrian Army into a more cohesive force.

About 10 military coordinating councils in provinces across the country are now sharing tactics and other information. The city of Homs is the notable exception. It lacks such a council because the three main military groups in the city do not get along, national council officials said.

Jeffrey White, a defense analyst at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who tracks videos and announcements from self-described rebel battalions, said there were now about 100 rebel formations, up from roughly 70 two months ago, ranging in size from a handful of fighters to a couple of hundred combatants.

“When the regime wants to go someplace and puts the right package of forces together, it can do it,” Mr. White said. “But the opposition is raising the cost of those kinds of operations.”

Neil MacFarquhar contributed reporting from Beirut, Lebanon. Souad Mekhennet also contributed reporting.

NYTimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/21/world/middleeast/cia-said-to-aid-in-steering-arms-to-syrian-rebels.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all)

[Nickdfresh]

Three key figures reported dead amid mass troop defections and rumour of flight to Russia of Bashar al-Assad wife

Ian Black and Martin Chulov
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 18 July 2012 16.23 EDT
http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2012/7/18/1342642956709/Hassan-Turkmani-Bashar-As-008.jpg
Hassan Turkmani, Bashar Assad
Bashar al-Assad, centre, with Hassan Turkmani, right, in 2005. Turkmani died in the bomb blast on 18 July along with Assef Shawkat, Assad’s brother-in-law, and Dawoud Rajha, defence minister. Photograph: Sana/AP

Syria's uprising entered uncharted territory after rebels fighting the regime of Bashar al-Assad killed three of his top security chiefs in a devastating bomb attack in the heart of Damascus – the single worst loss for the government in 16 months of increasingly bloody struggle.

Mass defections of soldiers and a rampage by pro-regime militiamen were reported in the capital amid a swirl of rumours, including one that Assad's wife, Asma, had fled to Russia and another that troops were being issued with gas masks, raising fears of the use of chemical weapons.

The president's whereabouts was also unclear, with one unconfirmed report that he had been wounded and left Damascus for Latakia on the coast.

Reports from Damascus on Wednesday described loud explosions, gunfire in the streets, attack helicopters firing and clouds of smoke over residential areas.

Earlier, Syrian state TV confirmed the deaths of Assef Shawkat, Assad's brother-in-law and the deputy head of the armed forces, and his closest security adviser, as well as Dawoud Rajha, the minister of defence and the regime's most senior Christian figure. Hassan Turkmani, his crisis management chief, was also killed.
...

Cont'd at TheGuardian.co.uk (http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jul/18/syria-rebels-kill-elite-damascus)



Syria’s nerve agents
By Editorial Board, Wednesday, July 18, 6:16 PM
http://5townsshmooze.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/134216633077796630a_b.gif-560x250.jpg
THE BOMB BLAST in Damascus on Wednesday blew a hole in the regime of Bashar al-Assad and could lead to the government’s loss of control over territory. That, in turn, could leave his chemical weapons vulnerable.

Syria holds one of the largest stockpiles of chemical weapons in the Middle East, composed of blister and nerve agents, including sarin, for which it has manufacturing facilities. It is believed to have sought out the deadliest nerve agent ever created, VX. The chemicals have been weaponized in aerial bombs, missile warheads and artillery shells. Details about storage locations are sketchy, and there have been reports of recent transfers, but it was believed the weapons were distributed among 45 sites around the country. Intelligence agencies say that Syria has prepared chemical weapons for use with its Scud and SS-21 missiles.

Even if Mr. Assad is not inclined to use chemical weapons in this civil war, there is a danger that they will be up for grabs as the regime’s power crumbles. One drop of sarin can kill an adult. Thirteen people died and hundreds were injured when the nerve agent was released on Tokyo subway cars in 1995 by the Aum Shinrikyo cult. One can only imagine the terror and uncertainty that would follow the disappearance of sarin shells or warheads from Syria.

Syria never signed the 1993 Chemical Weapons Convention, and it must be assumed that international inspectors would not be welcomed by the Assad government. But if Syria begins to crack up, international intervention may be required on an emergency basis. If carried out while the street fighting rages, such intervention would be dangerous. The planning should be underway. Russia, after so many months of supporting Mr. Assad, ought to see that controlling these weapons is in its interest, too, and join in the planning.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, located in The Hague, which oversees the treaty and carries out chemical weapons destruction, has no legal mandate for work in Syria, but it does have valuable expertise for inspection and monitoring, and it could get involved if asked by the United Nations. However, an armed force may also be required to secure the weapons, and that will demand careful coordination with the opposition.

Israel understandably sees the chemical weapons and missiles in Syria as a serious threat. But any Israeli intervention could inflame an already deteriorating situation. One reason for the United States and others to begin planning now for what to do with Syria’s chemical weapons is to keep Israel from acting unilaterally. But the larger reason is to head off a nightmare scenario, when an artillery shell filled with sarin goes missing in the middle of a civil war.

© The Washington Post Company (http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/syrias-nerve-agents/2012/07/18/gJQAxLbOuW_story.html)

[Dr. Love]

ah fuck it... what's one more war?

[baru911]

Syria’s nerve agents?? Gee, wonder where those came from? Let's see. Ummm, there was this dude in Iraq that used nerve agents on the Kurds and killed 5000 of them in Halabja. Then when the "World's Policeman" was advising they were going to move in on the dude in Iraq all of his nerve agents just disappeared. What other Country has a border with Iraq? Oh, that's right Syrai.

We don't need to move into Syrai. Iran is their ally. Not a good move. However, all bet are off the table if a nerve agent traced back to Syrai goes into/off in Israel. Nothing good comes out of us going into Syrai.

[ELVIS]

Yeah, Syrai sucks...


:elvis:

[FORD]

Oh, now Syria has chemical weapons?

Our resident BlacKKKwater shill is probably correct in referencing the common link to Iraq, but not in the way that he thinks......

It's probably more like the same "intelligence sources", the same media whores, and the same NuttyYahoo puppets, spinning this lie as they did the lies about Iraq.

Yeah Assad's an asshole. So was Hussein. Big fucking deal. NuttyYahoo is the single biggest threat in the middle east. And the BCE business partners, the House of Saud literally financed "Al Qaeda".

We don't need a war with ANYBODY in that fucked up part of the world, but if we needed to be there at all, why not go after the ones who actually are causing the problems? NuttyYahoo in particular is determined to start World War III, as evidenced by every time he tries to blame Iran for any random event that happens anywhere on the goddamned planet.

[Nickdfresh]

Syria has had chemical weapons (and perhaps worse) for decades. There's nothing new here...

[ELVIS]

Exactly...


:elvis:

[Nickdfresh]

But the collapse of the regime is almost imminent, and against a Free Syrian Army that has little in the way of any centralized command structure. This could all be a problem...

[baru911]

Our resident BlacKKKwater shill.

Ford, I don't know you. You don't know me. However, I am asking that you not place references to "the Klan" or "the KKK" when you post things about me. I have ignored it up to this point. I ask this as my family history with the KKK is very different than most liberal assholes who always want to stick up for people harmed by the Klan and know nothing about the pain and suffering the Klan causes. Also, people that just throw around "racist" terms have ZERO FUCKING IDEAS about people on the other side of the computer screen and what TRUE pain the Klan caused to their family.

Both my grandfather and my great grandfather had crosses burnt in their yards by the Klan. For years my family was terrorized by the Klan. I saw the true pain in both of those men's eyes, my grandmother's eyes, and my mother's eyes, and her brothers' and sister's eyes when they relayed their experiences with the Klan to my generation of our family.

To be polite Ford - FUCK OFF and think before you POST.

[chefcraig]

To be polite Ford - FUCK OFF!

In a word, No.

Regardless your own personal history, reporting posts that happen to feature the letters KKK in them because they amount to some sort of insult applicable only to you based upon your family lineage doesn't cut the mustard. Rather than self-consciously looking for insult in threads or posts, here's an idea: Don't. You won't be offended by content you do not read.

And telling folks to fuck off for offering an opinion (let alone a spelling discrepancy based upon sardonic humor) doesn't exactly gather sympathy to your reasoning. The choice is up to you. Either grow a pair, or decide not to participate at all.

[baru911]

In a word, No.

Regardless your own personal history, reporting posts that happen to feature the letters KKK in them because they amount to some sort of insult applicable only to you based upon your family lineage doesn't cut the mustard. Rather than self-consciously looking for insult in threads or posts, here's an idea: Don't. You won't be offended by content you do not read.

And telling folks to fuck off for offering an opinion (let alone a spelling discrepancy based upon sardonic humor) doesn't exactly gather sympathy to your reasoning. The choice is up to you. Either grow a pair, or decide not to participate at all.

Yes, I reported the post. Maybe if your previous generations had been followed, beaten, had crosses burned in their yards, businesses harmed you might see the correlation. That is where my views come from. However, it is very nice that you just gave Ford free rein to continue calling me a member of the Klan. It is all in jest, right? I might go back and forth with others on points but NOT with racist/hate terminology typed within them.

Asking me to grow "a pair" in this context is mind blowing.

[chefcraig]

Yes, I reported the post. Maybe if your previous generations had been followed, beaten, had crosses burned in their yards, businesses harmed you might see the correlation. That is where my views come from. However, it is very nice that you just gave Ford free rein to continue calling me a member of the Klan. It is all in jest, right? I might go back and forth with others on points but NOT with racist/hate terminology typed within them.

Asking me to grow "a pair" in this context is mind blowing.

Ummm...WHAT?

It's disgusting you'd question my lineage, making suppositions about what my family has or has not been through in comparison to yours. As for giving FORD free reign, being new to the site you obviously have no idea of how things work, particularly in the political section known as the Front Line. Essentially, you state your view, hold your ground (be it left or right) and engage in some full-frontal verbal jousting, sometimes in jest, sometimes in unbridled anger. Either way, you do not get your panties in a wad by taking things to an extreme, then referencing your own clan's hardships as if they are somehow more significant than anyone else's.

Screw you and your self-conscious piety. And if the term "grow a pair" seems mind-blowing to you, good.

[jhale667]

Yes, I reported the post. Maybe if your previous generations had been followed, beaten, had crosses burned in their yards, businesses harmed you might see the correlation. That is where my views come from. However, it is very nice that you just gave Ford free rein to continue calling me a member of the Klan. It is all in jest, right? I might go back and forth with others on points but NOT with racist/hate terminology typed within them.

Asking me to grow "a pair" in this context is mind blowing.

Actually no it's not.

I can relate to the previous generations encountering abuse - hell, I've had to deal with Klanbot assholes in my personal life - had you been insulted personally in a racist manner believe me I'd be the first person here to defend you, as a few racist fucktards DO post here, but FORD isn't one of them.

Fact is, Blackwater sucks and you're shilling for them, you should expect the abuse.

[baru911]

Yes, I am new. I think you can tell as I allowing my "panties to get in a wad" over someone using "KKK" or Klan references when they refer to me. Sardonic humor as an excuse? As you have pointed out is all in jest here in the political forums, right? Nothing to get uptight about.

Hey, Ford keep referencing the Klan. It is in jest. It is just humor. How could that cause any harm to anyone?

[baru911]

Actually no it's not.

I can relate to the previous generations encountering abuse - hell, I've had to deal with Klanbot assholes in my personal life - had you been insulted personally in a racist manner believe me I'd be the first person here to defend you, as a few racist fucktards DO post here, but FORD isn't one of them.

Fact is, Blackwater sucks and you're shilling for them, you should expect the abuse.
I'll be more than happy to talk about contractors. Happy to give my views on them. If someone wanted to start a thread. However, I'm not a Blackwater shill. I would consider myself a Triple Canopy shill but nobody seems to hammer them here (very professional organization and it stays under the radar).

BTW, thanks for not typing Blackwater with three k's. I do appreciate that.

[Nickdfresh]

He's not talking about you personally, he's making a viable political comment on Blackwater. So stop with the croc tears....

[chefcraig]

Yes, I am new. I think you can tell as I allowing my "panties to get in a wad" over someone using "KKK" or Klan references when they refer to me. Sardonic humor as an excuse? As you have pointed out is all in jest here in the political forums, right? Nothing to get uptight about.

Hey, Ford keep referencing the Klan. It is in jest. It is just humor. How could that cause any harm to anyone?




BTW, thanks for not typing Blackwater with three k's. I do appreciate that.


http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc222/kolkat43/BCrainbow718.gif

[jhale667]

BTW, thanks for not typing Blackwater with three k's. I do appreciate that.

No worries. Can't promise however, I won't do it in the future, because as Nick points out...


He's not talking about you personally, he's making a viable political comment on Blackwater. So stop with the croc tears....

It's still a valid reference, but it's not directed AT you personally.

[baru911]

No worries. Can't promise however, I won't do it in the future, because as Nick points out...



It's still a valid reference, but it's not directed AT you personally.

Croc tears?

I wrote something similar to this earlier in a personal message about this thread....

Like everyone I have many memories in life. Some good, some great, and some filled with sorrow. Some of the most vivid memories I have are of my Grandfather. In my 20's when I wasn't running all around the world I got to know him as a "friend". He told stories of growing up in southern IN. He and his father stood-up for things that in today's society are "normal". That didn't sit well with certain members of the Klan. My grandfather and great grandfather never backed down. My family paid a heavy price for those beliefs. He stood for what is good within the Country we live in, and he fought for it

I'm not crying "croc tears". For Nick to state that he cheapens my Grandfather and his memory. Granted he doesn't have my prospective/history but I would think that a bit of empathy might shine through on this subject. However, I'm projecting my views on this.

You want to come after me.........go ahead. You want to argue my ideas I post here or my "conservative" values..........go a head. I'm just asking for the Klan/KKK crap to be left out of post aimed towards me. That is all.

[ELVIS]

He can't help himself...

Wait until he tells you to die in a fire...


:elvis:

[Nickdfresh]

Croc tears?

I wrote something similar to this earlier in a personal message about this thread....

Like everyone I have many memories in life. Some good, some great, and some filled with sorrow. Some of the most vivid memories I have are of my Grandfather. In my 20's when I wasn't running all around the world I got to know him as a "friend". He told stories of growing up in southern IN. He and his father stood-up for things that in today's society are "normal". That didn't sit well with certain members of the Klan. My grandfather and great grandfather never backed down. My family paid a heavy price for those beliefs. He stood for what is good within the Country we live in, and he fought for it

I'm not crying "croc tears". For Nick to state that he cheapens my Grandfather and his memory. Granted he doesn't have my prospective/history but I would think that a bit of empathy might shine through on this subject. However, I'm projecting my views on this.

You want to come after me.........go ahead. You want to argue my ideas I post here or my "conservative" values..........go a head. I'm just asking for the Klan/KKK crap to be left out of post aimed towards me. That is all.

You're a little sensitive for the internetz, bud. I've heard the term commie-lib thrown about here quite often even though some of us "libs" lost relatives to communism in Eastern Europe...

[Guitar Shark]

However, it is very nice that you just gave Ford free rein to continue calling me a member of the Klan. It is all in jest, right?

I think you may have misinterpreted his post. FORD was not calling you a member of the Klan. FORD just uses acronyms and other nicknames to refer to any number of entities he believes to be evil. You will have to get used to it; we don't police that sort of thing unless it is contrary to the rules of the site, which are few.

[chefcraig]

I think you may have misinterpreted his post. FORD was not calling you a member of the Klan. FORD just uses acronyms and other nicknames to refer to any number of entities he believes to be evil. You will have to get used to it; we don't police that sort of thing unless it is contrary to the rules of the site, which are few.

In other words...


http://i129.photobucket.com/albums/p219/rottncf/miscellaneous%20stuff/sgthulka.jpg

[FORD]

Yes, I reported the post. Maybe if your previous generations had been followed, beaten, had crosses burned in their yards, businesses harmed you might see the correlation. That is where my views come from. However, it is very nice that you just gave Ford free rein to continue calling me a member of the Klan. It is all in jest, right? I might go back and forth with others on points but NOT with racist/hate terminology typed within them.

Asking me to grow "a pair" in this context is mind blowing.

I never called YOU a member of the Klan. I called you a BlacKKKwater shill, because you shill for BlacKKKwater.

And I spell BlacKKKwater with three K's, because they ARE a white supremacist organization, founded by neo-nazi EriKKK Prince.

Hope that clears up the confusion.

Oh.... and FUCK OFF yourself. :fupunk:

[Angel]

OMG, some people are way too thin skinned for this place!!! Sir, you really need to settle down...you're going to get eaten alive at this rate!

FORD didn't call you anything...and until you've been called a cunt as many times as I have, you have nothing to whine about.

[BigBadBrian]

Ummm...WHAT?

It's disgusting you'd question my lineage, making suppositions about what my family has or has not been through in comparison to yours.

Why is it disgusting? It seems you need to grow a pair also. You're whining about the same thing you're criticizing baru911 for. At least he didn't know how the game is played around here. You do.

[BigBadBrian]

Actually no it's not.

I can relate to the previous generations encountering abuse - hell, I've had to deal with Klanbot assholes in my personal life

Tell us why. C'mon...it's story time!

[BigBadBrian]

Fact is, Blackwater sucks and you're shilling for them, you should expect the abuse.

Blackwater technically does not exist anymore. This is the new NAME! (http://www.academi.com/)

[BigBadBrian]

I never called YOU a member of the Klan. I called you a BlacKKKwater shill, because you shill for BlacKKKwater.

And I spell BlacKKKwater with three K's, because they ARE a white supremacist organization, founded by neo-nazi EriKKK Prince.



I wonder if all the Afro-Americans working for Academi and the former Blackwater know this.

FORD, were you born retarded or do you work at it? Or a little of both?

[Nickdfresh]

Blackwater technically does not exist anymore. This is the new NAME! (http://www.academi.com/)

Kind of like the old Soviet secret police agencies. Once a name is so linked to bloodshed and corruption, you need to change it...

[Hardrock69]

Rule number one at Roth Army:

If you are a pussy, you do not belong here.

"O me so sad. Dems bad Roth Army peepul all said bad things about me and my fambly! MOMMEEE! DEMS BAD PEEPUL MADE ME ALL SAD! WAAAAAAH!"

:lmao:

[Hardrock69]

Was glad to see some of the higher ups in Syria got taken out with a bomb yesterday.

Need to get rid of the rest of those evil cocksuckers now.

Here's to the PEOPLE of Syria!

May they destroy the current regime and go on to live in a country with some semblance of freedom.

[Satan]

Blackwater technically does not exist anymore. This is the new NAME! (http://www.academi.com/)

What, they got tired of "Xe" already? Did somebody tell EriKKK that it sounded too Chinese?

[Nickdfresh]

CNN is reporting that the Syrian Vice President may be defecting to the opposition Free Syrian Army...

[Blaze]

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-FP5xADN5BPs/T-OrZIEZnmI/AAAAAAAABYc/BGXey7Kk658/s1600/syria_uprising_2012-6-2.png

Blue is land . Brown is sea.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jlykw9737Ds/TooWIGk5qAI/AAAAAAAABF0/C4WYnGv1jUw/s400/sam001b.JPG

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-i4u402weps0/TooWIdM8PiI/AAAAAAAABF4/3cNyc9icGLs/s400/sam002b.JPG

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-obisGoCmtQU/TooWIS-VPmI/AAAAAAAABF8/4T1tTKmxQ0s/s400/sam003a.JPG

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LMFb9ftqEU4/TooWI-jYaOI/AAAAAAAABGA/gUiIPKXGaxI/s400/sam007a.JPG

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/58387000/gif/_58387274_syria_homs_624_v6.gif

http://lh3.ggpht.com/-bst98wXLLog/T9u5EimRdEI/AAAAAAAAN-A/FATfsQwSlCg/Chaos-in-Syria%252520map_thumb%25255B1%25255D.jpg?imgmax=80 0




S33A53


For Thomas:
The rush of water, to the point of tossing rock about. This is Shih
The strike of a hawk, at the killing snap. This is the node.
Shih is like drawing the crossbow.
The node is like pulling the trigger.
From Chapter 5
SHIH

We are spontaneous like the node, planned of the moment.

The effort placed in the crosshairs of the crossbow is considerable.
The moment of implementation is spontaneous.
Impulsiveness is planned of the disciplined.
-
2 Samuel 13

[Nickdfresh]

The Free Syrian Army said the aircraft had been firing at people in the north-eastern district of Jobar, and that it had crashed in neighbouring Qabun.

State television confirmed that a helicopter had come down in Qabun.

On Sunday, opposition activists said government forces had massacred more than 300 people during their assault on the south-western suburb of Darayya.

Video footage and photographs have emerged, showing scores of bodies, including those of women and children.

State media blamed the opposition for the killings and said Darayya had been "cleansed of terrorist remnants".

The chairman of the UN Human Rights Council's Independent Commission of Inquiry on Syria, Paulo Pinheiro, told the BBC the killings might constitute a war crime.

More at BBC.com (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19389028)

[Blaze]

http://www.aljazeera.com/mritems/imagecache/topstory/mritems/Images/2012/8/26/20128268432067734_20.jpg

Syrian Armed Forces


recent time about 20-30 Syrian officers defect to Turkey each day.
http://www.nrg.co.il/online/1/ART2/380/846.html?hp=1&cat=669&loc=49

Because of the Alawite* composition of the Syrian armed forces, its interests are closely aligned with those of President Bashar al-Assad and theAssad family.
*religious group centred inSyriawho follow a branch of theTwelverschool ofShia


10,885Armoured Fighting Vehicles:
4,950Main battle tanks(including 1,150 in storage)
1,125AmphibiousArmoured Scout Cars
2,950Infantry fighting vehicles
1,860Armoured personnel carriers
4,815+Towed Artillery Pieces:
1,010+Mortars
2,130+Gun/Howitzers(400 in storage)
1,675+Anti-aircraft guns(300+ in storage)
1,136Self-Propelled Artillery Pieces:
485Self-propelled howitzers
650Self-propelled anti-aircraft guns(240 in storage)
6,890+Anti Tank Guided Weapon Launchers(4,290 in storage)
500+Multiple Launch Rocket Systems
102+Surface to Surface/Ship Missile Launchers:
86+Tactical ballistic missilelaunchers
16+Anti-ship missilelaunchers
4,235+Surface to Air Missile Launchers:
4,000+MANPADS
235Self-propelled air-defence systems

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modern_equipment_and_uniform_of_the_Syrian_Arab_Ar my

The Free Syrian Army traces its origin to early defectors from the Syrian army who refused to shoot on unarmed protesters during the Syrian uprising

reports in December indicated that as many as half the army conscripts did not report to army duty in the last three call-ups, and that lower-level officers were deserting in large numbers. In some cases, whole units had deserteden masse.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/assad-losing-control-as-10-000-soldiers-desert-syrian-military-1.402625

Turkish government sources reported that same month a surge in desertions with there being over 20,000 desertions in the past month alone bringing the total number of deserters from the Syrian army to over 60,000 soldiers
Syria’s armed forces have 295,000 active personnel, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ 2012 Military Balance.

It’s “not clear that the regime has sufficient loyal forces to guarantee survival against a sustained campaign of protest or an active armed insurgency,” according to the report.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-15/syria-loses-20-000-troops-as-deserters-flee-turkey-says-1-.html

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/58/Political_Military_Opposition_Structure_%28June_20 12%29.jpg/400px-Political_Military_Opposition_Structure_%28June_20 12%29.jpg
fullsize here : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Political_Military_Opposition_Structure_(June _2012).jpg

Criticism
War crimes allegations
On 8 August, FSA commanders distributed an 11-point code of conduct signed by scores of brigade commanders and rebel leaders. It states that all fighters must "respect human rights ... our tolerant religious principles and international human rights law - the same human rights that we are struggling for today"

The FSA, for its part, stated that they would put those fighters that had conducted the unlawful killings on trial.

Removed direct picture below due to a conflict of date. The photo was created on 2011-12-02 03:19 (UTC) ,
but the headline states it is August 2012
~`~ noted disinformation and timing.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Syrian_Civil_War.svg/700px-Syrian_Civil_War.svg.png

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/1/17/Map_of_the_Syrian_Uprising-_June_%28Final%29.gif/359px-Map_of_the_Syrian_Uprising-_June_%28Final%29.gif

http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/Syrias_MaturingInsurgency_21June2012.pdf


With Syria engulfed by war, the destruction of numerous archeological excavation sites may appear insignificant. But important historical evidence of ancient civilization is threatened with destruction.
http://www.dw.de/image/0,,16028461_401,00.jpg
The fortified Temple of Bel in Palmyra was once a major tourist attraction in Syria
Listen to the audio on this link: http://www.dw.de/dw/article/0,,16191710,00.html




http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/imagecache/scale-crop-200w-133h/media/images/photographs/2012_syria_torture_thumb.jpg

Interactive Map: Syria's Torture Centers

http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/07/03/torture-archipelago-0

Syria's chemical weapons - interactive
Syria's chemical weapons stockpiles– which include mustard gas and sarin, a devastating nerve agent – are currently in control of troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad. But where are they, and what effect could they have if the regime became desperate?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/interactive/2012/aug/23/syria-chemical-weapons-map-interactive

Railways:
total:2,052 km
country comparison to the world:72
standard gauge:1,801 km 1.435-m gauge
narrow gauge:251 km 1.050-m gauge (2008)
http://www.indexmundi.com/zl/sy/20.htm

JSCRosoboronexport(Russian: OAO Рособоронэкспорт)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/syria

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/liveblog/topic/syria-153


Interactive: Tracking Syria's defections
This visualization tracks senior military officials, members of parliament and diplomats who quit Assad's regime.

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/interactive/syriadefections/2012730840348158.html

[Blaze]

Syrian Rebels Have Seized an Air Defense Post and Its Missiles
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/02/world/middleeast/syria.html?smid=pl-share
BEIRUT, Lebanon — Opposition fighters in Syria said early Saturday that they had captured an air defense base in the eastern province of Deir el-Zour, taking at least 16 soldiers captive and seizing weapons and ammunition

Syria Freedom Fighters Celebrate Capture of Abu Aldhor Airport and Tanks Stationed There 8-31-12

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PnLOZT6T_7M

FSA (Free Syrian Army) planted bombs in army building

Syrian rebels have said they planted bombs inside the army's general staff headquarters in Damascus as President Bashar al-Assad's forces bulldozed buildings in parts of the capital that have backed the uprising.

Syrian state television said four people were wounded in what it called a terrorist attack on the general staff compound in the highly guarded Abu Rummaneh district, where another bomb attack killed four of Assad's top lieutenants two months ago.

"The operation targeted officers in the Assad army who have been planning and giving the go-ahead for the massacres against the Syrian people," said a video statement by the Grandsons of the Prophet brigade, a division of the Free Syrian Army. "Bombs were planted inside the army headquarters," said the video statement, which was broadcast on Arab satellite channels.

But as the rebels demonstrated that they could strike at the heart of the security apparatus, residents said army bulldozers had moved on the Zayat and Farouk neighbourhoods to the west, and destroyed at least 20 buildings in the Sunni Muslim areas that have sheltered the insurgents.

2.9.2012 Damascus:Explosion in Damascus ,second time general staff gov building is targeted

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGoEgMjybPM



https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-AjDd7Z5UJek/UECqN0yEiiI/AAAAAAAAAjw/K1ugCfOX15s/s403/561473_438634796175603_1598211134_n.jpg

https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-mWGoCaFiWsg/UEE2XokO8uI/AAAAAAAAAkg/5EbJcSiPye0/s647/418698_437989342907051_366107803_n.jpg

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-sR1_vTH5rmI/UDqyNrIVW6I/AAAAAAAAAcI/7YGJXTa4inY/s515/554769_145436828930305_1420264798_n.jpg

https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-VE0ZJaheBF4/UDTmiAtX8cI/AAAAAAAAAS0/HIxfGWmxMYA/s646/562798_143887655751889_2036954866_n.jpg

S9A18

Sun Tzu Said:
When in battle,
Use the orthodox to engage.
Use the extraordinary to attain victory.

Chapter 5

Commentary:
Engage people with what they expect. It is what they are able to discern and confirms their assumptions and projections. It settles them into predictable patterns or response, occupying their minds, while you wait for the extraordinary moment - that which they cannot anticipate.

Though the extraordinary is unanticipated, the orthodox is not fixed either. It changes as people's perceptions grow and shift. Use of these two thus requires constant awareness of the enemy's developing state of mind. It is a contemplative exercise, not a repeatable trick.


Daniel 1:1

[Nickdfresh]

France warns of Syrian chemical weapons attack
By ANGELA CHARLTON | Associated Press – 2 hrs 13 mins ago
Yahoo.com Link (http://news.yahoo.com/france-warns-syrian-chemical-weapons-attack-081735822.html)

PARIS (AP) — Western powers are preparing a tough response in case Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime deploys chemical or biological weapons in its civil war, France's foreign minister said Monday.

Syria's leadership has said the country, which is believed to have nerve agents as well as mustard gas and Scud missiles capable of delivering them, could use chemical or biological weapons if it were attacked from outside.

President Barack Obama has called it a "red line" for the U.S. if Assad's regime were to use such lethal weapons, and France has been ratcheting up its language on the issue.

If Syria uses such weapons, "our response ... would be massive and blistering," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on RMC radio Monday.

He said Western countries are monitoring the movement of the weapons in Syria to be ready to "step in" immediately.

Fabius said "we are discussing this notably with our American and English partners."

Fabius added that Russia and China are "of the same position," but did not elaborate. Fabius acknowledged frustration at their continuing support for Assad.

The foreign ministries of both China and Russia declined immediate comment on Monday.

Since the start of the Syrian conflict, Beijing has been consistent in its stance that it should be settled through negotiations and not by outside forces.

Moscow is Syria's chief ally, and Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told the AP in a recent interview that Russia has the Syrian government's assurances that chemical weapons will not be used. Gatilov said Russia will "work toward the goal of preventing such things from happening."

China and Russia have repeatedly used their veto powers in the U.N. Security Council to block U.S.- and Arab-backed action that could have led to sanctions against Assad's regime.

Syria's opposition has urged outside military help against Assad's armed forces.

"I am going to be very clear, we are requesting military intervention in order to protect Syrian civilians who have been constantly murdered over the last year and a half," the head of the Syrian National Council, Abdelbaset Sieda, said in Madrid on Monday.

"The European Union should take the initiative and pressure Russia ... so we can lay down some protected areas for refugees," Sieda said after meeting Spain's Foreign Affairs Minister Jose Manuel Garcia Margallo.

Margallo said Spain would continue to press for a united EU approach to Syria and urged Syrian opposition groups to overcome their divisions and join together against the Assad regime.

The new U.N. envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, acknowledged Monday that brokering an end to the civil war is a "very, very difficult task."

___

Harold Heckle in Madrid and Nataliya Vasilyeva in Moscow contributed to this report.

[Nickdfresh]

Slo-mo dupe!

[hideyoursheep]

I'll be more than happy to talk about contractors. Happy to give my views on them. If someone wanted to start a thread. However, I'm not a Blackwater shill. I would consider myself a Triple Canopy shill but nobody seems to hammer them here .





You want to come after me.........go ahead. You want to argue my ideas I post here or my "conservative" values..........go a head.






I think you should start yourself a thread about Blackwater/ Triple Canopy while explaining how you could possibly have conservative values. I'd be more than happy to discuss that with you in the proper forum. :painkiller:

[Redballjets88]

Of Syria wants to have a revolution let them have it. It's not our job to police them. If anything maybe countries other than the US should do something for once.

[Angel]

Of Syria wants to have a revolution let them have it. It's not our job to police them. If anything maybe countries other than the US should do something for once.

Like Canada, Australia, the UK,etc. You know, all those countries that do something but just shut up and do it without jumping up and down saying look at us, look at us?

[hideyoursheep]

@Redneckjets:

The Middle East is going through gowing pains because of outside interference from ALL those countries, since at least the 19th century.

And I am all for the US and Israel simultaneously letting go of each others' nutsac.

[Blaze]

Free Syrian Army claims downed two MiG planes in Idlib
The Free Syrian Army claimed on Tuesday that it had downed two Syrian government MiG jets in Abu al-Dhuhour, an area in the northwestern province of Idlib.

Members of FSA’s Martyrs Brigades broadcast a video showing wreckage of the broken fighter jet planes as well as the corpse of one of the plane's pilots.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DMJSpCaA4Po

Aircraft Inventory

Due to the high security level on everything military the past and the present of the Syrian Arab Air Force is still largely unknown. This makes it hard to judge the real strength of the air force today.[24] The following information is compiled from multiple sources.

Between ~458 to ~752 Fixed Wing Aircraft:
Combat/Reconnaissance/OCU Aircraft: Between ~357 and ~611
Training Aircraft: Between ~81 and ~117
Transport Aircraft: Between ~20 and ~24
Between ~176 to ~214 Rotary Wing Aircraft:
Attack Helicopter: Between ~70 and ~84
Armed Transport/Utility Helicopter: Between ~106 and ~120
Electronic Warfare/Command Helicopter: Between ~0 and ~10

MiG21
Mostly in reserve.
Total:
Between ~140 to ~219

Corrected:
MiG21
Pulled for use
Total:
Between ~138 to ~217

‘Opposition is becoming increasingly strong, unified’: Free Syrian Army head

On Monday, a FSA colonel named Fatih Fahd Hasoon announced the formation of the “Revolutionary Military Council” in the central city of Homs

Brigadier General Mustafa Sheikh, told Al Arabiya in an interview aired on Tuesday.

Embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime is attempting to spread sectarianism to stave off chances of its downfall, he said, but opposition forces were congregating together. Sectarianism is a challenge Syrians have to face, he added.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/05/236154.html


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NpFw6O3dY5o

Women Join The FSA - Free Syrian Army 2nd sept 2012 Syria

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H620JxQ6ZKc

But the Woman that God gave him, every fibre of her frame
Proves her launched for one sole issue, armed and engined for the same;
And to serve that single issue, lest the generations fail,
The female of the species must be deadlier than the male.

She who faces Death by torture for each life beneath her breast
May not deal in doubt or pity—must not swerve for fact or jest.
These be purely male diversions—not in these her honour dwells—
She the Other Law we live by, is that Law and nothing else.

She can bring no more to living than the powers that make her great
As the Mother of the Infant and the Mistress of the Mate.
And when Babe and Man are lacking and she strides unclaimed to claim
Her right as femme (and baron), her equipment is the same.

She is wedded to convictions—in default of grosser ties;
Her contentions are her children, Heaven help him who denies!—
He will meet no suave discussion, but the instant, white-hot, wild,
Wakened female of the species warring as for spouse and child.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=05MImdJIrLo

[Blaze]

http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/syria061412/s16_15053508.jpg
A Syrian rebel sits inside a car converted into an armored combat vehicle in Khaldiyeh neighborhood in Homs province, on May 15, 2012. (AP Photo/Fadi Zaidan)


http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/infocus/syria061412/s20_12141206.jpg
Free Syrian Army fighters sit in a house on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria, on June 12, 2012. Syrian forces pelted the eastern city of Deir el-Zour with mortars as anti-government protesters were dispersing before dawn, killing several people, activists said. The offensives were part of an escalation of violence in recent weeks that has brought more international pressure on President Bashar Assad's regime faces over its brutal tactics against the opposition. The U.N. accused the government of using children as human shields in a new report. (AP Photo)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qQ_CkQ0HlRk

Click on the captions for subtitles on the film below.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YytvDzW1cY

[Blaze]

Cameron and Hollande agree on hastening end of Assad's rule in Syria
French and UK leaders talk of need to help opposition form new government and end 'civilian toll from political stalemate'
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/06/cameron-hollande-agree-syrian-transition?CMP=twt_gu
Syria’s Christians support stability, not Assad’s regime: Church
http://images.alarabiya.net/f5/59/640x392_27135_236479.jpg
Lebanon’s Christian Maronite Patriarch Beshara al-Rai, attends an interview with Reuters in Bkirki, north of Beirut, February 28, 2012. (Reuters)

Syria’s Christians do not support the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, but they do want stability in their war-torn country, Lebanon’s Maronite Christian Patriarch Bishara Rai told AFP on Thursday.

“I tell Westerners who say that we (Christians) are with the Syrian regime that we are not with regimes, we are with the state. There is a big difference,” Rai told AFP, a week before the arrival in Lebanon of Pope Benedict XVI.

“In Iraq, when Saddam Hussein was removed, we lost a million Christians,” he said at the patriarchal residence in Diman in northwest Lebanon. “Why? Not because the regime fell, but because there was no more authority, there was a vacuum.”
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/06/236479.html


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sW742bTBBTE

France may seek to break the increasingly bloody stalemate in Syria by providing rebel forces with artillery and anti-aircraft guns, it has been claimed.
http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02331/syria_2331323b.jpg

The northern Syrian city of Aleppo has been the site of the bloodiest recent fighting in that country's brutal war, and we're still getting only glimpses of the violence.

But GlobalPost has a striking video of a devastating bombing that killed an entire family — except for a 1-year-old boy who survived without any serious injuries.

The video speaks for itself and needs only the briefest explanation.

A helicopter air strike pummeled the three-story apartment building, according to reporter Tracey Shelton. Rescuers then sifted through the rubble by hand, but it appeared that everyone in one family had been killed.

But after six hours of searching, rescuers found Hassan, a one-year-old boy who was "discovered unscathed, still cradled [in his mother's] lifeless arms," Shelton reports.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/09/06/160688531/a-bombing-in-syria-wipes-out-a-family-but-a-baby-survives
Inside Syria: Surviving Aleppo (VIDEO)
Against all odds, a toddler survives a bomb attack that killed his entire family in Aleppo, Syria. Many more have not not been so lucky.
http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/regions/middle-east/syria/120905/aleppo-video-bomb-attack-children-death-toll

“Ten bakery attacks is not random – they show no care for civilians and strongly indicate an attempt to target them.”

Human Rights Watch researchers visited six of the attacked bakeries and interviewed witnesses:

Bakery in Maare, northern Aleppo, August 22;
Bakery in Al-Bab, northeastern Aleppo, August 21 and 22;
Aqyuol bakery in Bab al-Hadid, Aleppo city, August 21;
Al-Zarra bakery in Qadi Askar, Aleppo city, August 16;
Kanjou bakery, al-Maysar, Aleppo city, August 16;
Bakery in al-Halwaniya, Aleppo city, August 16;
Human Rights Watch collected credible information about four other attacks:

Bakery in Manbij, northern Aleppo, August 24;
Hussein bakery in al-Qaterji, Aleppo city, August 16;
Bakery in Tariq al-Bab, Aleppo city, August 10;
Bakery in al-Sheikh Sa’id district, Aleppo city, August 11.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YMfE9_q6kvw

Friday,September 7 2012, Your time is 04:01:40


Senior ex-army commander shares knowledge with FSA
A senior commander who defected from the Syrian army to join the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is now using his knowledge of heavy weapons and military training for the opposition.

“Three months ago, I was ordered to shoot a civilian residence area in one of the districts of Aleppo. Then I was ordered to bomb Azaz and the whole city. I never bombed [these places], and objected to the decision saying that I would not hit civilians. The intelligence service questioned me. I met with the brigadier general. They bought me a ticket for Damascus and said that I had been ‘called for a duty,’ which meant they would put me in jail. I received my ticket and escaped,” Maj. Muhammed Ebu Tevfik said.

Tevfik, who had previously trained military officers in the Syrian army’s artillery unit, now uses his knowledge of highly destructive arms such as tanks and cannons for the opposition. Tevfik also planned the operations to be held in critical points of Aleppo.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/images/news/201208/n_27321_4.jpg
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/senior-ex-army-commander-shares-knowledge-with-fsa.aspx?pageID=238&nID=27321&NewsCatID=338


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDw3qlqmUqM

Egypt’s satellite Nilesat stopped broadcasting official Syrian television stations on Wednesday, after a request from the ministers’ committee at the Arab League after the bloc met earlier in the day.

“We have stopped transmission of the official Syrian channels, implementing the recommendations of the Arab League,” the executive, who asked to remain anonymous, told AFP.
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/05/236307.html

[Nickdfresh]

A series of dramatic photos showing a Free Syrian Army position being hit by a gov't tank shell...

http://www.globalpost.com/photo-galleries/planet-pic/5718451/life-and-death-aleppo-photos

[Nickdfresh]

Turkey steps up Syria strikes, says will defend borders

By Jonathon Burch and Murad Sezer

AKCAKALE, Turkey | Thu Oct 4, 2012 3:07pm EDT

(Reuters) (http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/04/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE88J0X720121004) - Turkey stepped up retaliatory artillery strikes on a Syrian border town on Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers, while its parliament approved further military action in the event of another spillover of the Syrian conflict.

Seeking to unwind the most serious cross-border escalation in its 18-month-old crackdown on dissent, Damascus apologized through the United Nations for shelling which killed five civilians in southeast Turkey on Wednesday and said it would not happen again, Turkey's Deputy Prime Minister Besir Atalay said.

Syria's staunch ally Russia said it had received assurances from Damascus that the mortar strike had been a tragic accident.

But Turkey's government said "aggressive action" against its territory by Syria's military had become a serious threat to its national security and parliament approved the deployment of Turkish troops beyond its borders if needed.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said the fundamental aim of parliament's mandate was as a deterrent.

"We as Turkey just want peace and security in our region. We could never be interested in something like starting a war. The consequences of war are plain to see in Iraq and Afghanistan," Erdogan told reporters at a news conference in Ankara.

He said the shelling was the eighth attack of its kind from Syria, but that the previous incidents had only caused material damage and Damascus had ignored Ankara's warnings on the issue.

"The Turkish Republic is a state capable of defending its citizens and borders. Nobody should try and test our determination on this subject," he added.

At the United Nations, Russia blocked the adoption of a draft statement condemning the Syrian shelling of Akcakale and proposed a text that would call for "restraint" on the border without referring to breaches of international law.

Western diplomats complained that Russia's proposals, if accepted, would weaken the statement to an unacceptable degree.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was "alarmed by escalating tensions" between Syria and Turkey and warned that the risk of the 18-month-old Syrian conflict embroiling the entire region was growing, his spokesman said.

China's Foreign Ministry urged Turkey and Syria to exercise restraint.

The peaceful pro-democracy movement which surfaced in March 2011 in Syria turned into a full-scale armed revolt after President Bashar al-Assad tried to crush it and is now becoming a sectarian conflict that could destabilize neighboring states.

Turkey hit back after what it called "the last straw" when the mortar hit Akcakale, killing a mother, her three children and a female relative.

Atalay said Turkey had exercised its right to retaliation and that parliament's authorization for a foreign military deployment was not a "war memorandum".

"It's a deterrent measure taken in line with Turkey's interests, for use when it needs to protect itself," he told reporters.

Three armored personnel carriers were positioned on the southern edge of Akcakale, their guns trained on the Syrian town of Tel Abyad a few miles (kilometers) across the frontier. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three Syrian soldiers were killed by Turkish shelling of a military post nearby.

Syrian state media has not reported any casualties.

The observatory also reported clashes between Syrian rebels and the Syrian army at the military post, and said the rebels had killed 21 elite Republican Guards on Thursday in an ambush on an army minibus in a suburb northwest of Damascus.

AGGRESSIVE ACTION

The southern edge of Akcakale, right on the border, resembles a ghost town. Houses stand empty and shops are shuttered. Much of the population is ethnically Arab and many men walk around in the traditional Arab jalabiyya and red and white headscarves.

"Everyone is gone, look around," said Ibrahim Cilden, 33, who lives only a few houses away from the one which was hit on Wednesday. A new camp for Syrian refugees sits on the edge of the town but nobody has yet moved in.

"Where have they built it? Right at the exit to our town. So the Syrians fire mortars at us. We act like a magnet," he said.

Turkey's parliament already had been due to vote on Thursday on extending a five-year-old authorization for foreign military operations, an agreement originally intended to allow strikes on Kurdish militant bases in northern Iraq.

But the memorandum signed by Erdogan and sent for parliamentary approval also said that despite repeated warnings and diplomatic initiatives, the Syrian military had launched aggressive action against Turkish territory, presenting a "serious threat".

"At this point the need has emerged to take the necessary measures to act promptly and swiftly against additional risks and threats," it said.

Police fired tear gas to stop a group of 25-30 anti-war protesters, chanting "We don't want war" and "the Syrian people are our brothers", from approaching parliament as deputies debated the motion.

In Istanbul, around 5,000 people joined an anti-war protest which turned into a demonstration against Turkey's ruling AK Party on Thursday evening.

"The AKP wants war, the people want peace," the crowds chanted as riot police looked on. "No to war, peace right now."

It was not clear who fired the mortar into Turkey, but security sources said it had come from near Tel Abyad and that Turkey was increasing the number of troops along its border.

Syria said it was investigating the source of the mortar bomb and urged restraint. Information Minister Omran Zoabi said his country respected the sovereignty of neighboring countries.

Russia said Damascus had vowed there would not be a repeat.

"We think it is of fundamental importance for Damascus to state that officially," RIA Novosti news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying during a visit to Islamabad.

CONDEMNATION

Turkey's military response contrasted with its relative restraint when Syria shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet in June. Ankara increased its military presence along its 900-km (560-mile) border with Syria and called a meeting of NATO's North Atlantic Council.

At the time, Erdogan warned any Syrian element approaching Turkey's border and deemed a threat would be treated as a military target.

World leaders condemned the mortar strike but urged restraint.

British Foreign Secretary William Hague told Reuters the Turkish response was "understandable" but warned against an escalation, while EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton called on Syria to respect the territorial integrity of its neighbors.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel condemned Syria's actions against Turkey and urged all involved to show "common sense".

NATO said it stood by member-nation Turkey and urged Syria to put an end to "flagrant violations of international law."

The U.S.-led Western military alliance held an urgent late night meeting in Brussels to discuss the matter and in New York, Turkey asked the U.N. Security Council to take the "necessary action" to stop Syrian aggression.

Some 30,000 people have been killed across Syria, activists say, in a conflict with growing sectarian overtones which threatens to draw in regional Sunni Muslim and Shi'ite powers.

Turkey is sheltering more than 90,000 refugees from Syria and fears a mass influx similar to the flight of half a million Iraqi Kurds into Turkey after the 1991 Gulf War.

Violence inside Syria intensified on Wednesday with three suicide car bombs and a mortar barrage ripping through a government-controlled district of Aleppo housing a military officers' club, killing 48 people, according to activists.

(Additional reporting by Seyhmus Cakan and Kadir Celikcan in Akcakale, Seda Sezer and Daren Butler in Istanbul, Dominic Evans in Beirut, Stephen Brown in Berlin, Nastassia Astrasheuskaya in Moscow, Krisztina Than in Budapest and Justyna Pawlak in Brussels; writing by Nick Tattersall; editing by Michael Roddy)

[Little Texan]

Seeing as the Syrian military is having a hard enough time against disorganized rebel forces, if Turkey enters the fray with their military, it's game over for the Assad regime.

[Nickdfresh]

The Turks have a pretty good military, but they do not want a war. I do think this might lead to an intensification of support for the FSA rebels as Turkey publicly decried the Russians flying in ammo and weapons to the Syrian Assad Army...

[BigBadBrian]

.... the Russians flying in ammo and weapons to the Syrian Assad Army...

That's what complicates the whole ball of wax right there.

[hideyoursheep]

The Russians are practicing a form of capitalism that we perfected?

[Nickdfresh]

December 3, 2012
U.S. Warns Syria Against Using Chemical Weapons
By PETER BAKER and MICHAEL R. GORDON
http://nationalinterest.org/files/imagecache/resize-340/images/GasMask.jpg
WASHINGTON — President Obama warned Syria’s government on Monday that it would be “totally unacceptable” to use chemical weapons against its own people and vowed to hold accountable anyone who did, as American intelligence officials picked up signs that such arms might be deployed in the ongoing insurgency.

The White House said that some recent actions by the government of President Bashar al-Assad were indicators that Syrian forces were preparing to use such weapons, following earlier reports that intelligence agencies had noticed signs of activity at chemical weapons sites. Mr. Obama’s spokesman said the administration had “an increased concern” of possible use of chemical weapons.

In a speech later in the day that echoed earlier comments by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, Mr. Obama sternly asserted again that he would punish Syria for using chemical weapons, although he did not say how. The administration has been preparing contingency plans that include the dispatch of tens of thousands of troops to secure such weapons, although it is not clear whether Mr. Obama would go that far.

“Today I want to make it absolutely clear to Assad and those under his command: The world is watching,” Mr. Obama said in a speech at the National Defense University in Washington. “The use of chemical weapons is and would be totally unacceptable. If you make the tragic mistake of using these weapons, there will be consequences and you will be held accountable.”

During an earlier briefing at the White House, Jay Carney, the president’s press secretary, hinted at possible military action in response, although he declined to specify what options Mr. Obama would consider. “We think it is important to prepare for all scenarios,” Mr. Carney said. “Contingency planning is the responsible thing to do.”

The president’s statements on Syria amplified similar warnings issued by Mrs. Clinton earlier in the day in Prague, the Czech capital, where she was stopping on her way to meetings in Brussels.

“This is a red line for the United States,” Mrs. Clinton said, using the same language that the White House later would use. “I am not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice it to say we are certainly planning to take action if that eventuality were to occur.”

There have been signs in recent days of heightened activity at some of Syria’s chemical weapons sites, according to American and Israeli officials familiar with intelligence reports. Mrs. Clinton did not confirm the intelligence reports or say what sort of activity was occurring.

The Syrian Foreign Ministry, in a swift response, said the government “would not use chemical weapons, if it had them, against its own people under any circumstances.” The statement was reported on Syrian state television and on the Lebanese channel LBC.

The crisis has been worsening in Syria, where about 40,000 people have been killed in 20 months of conflict that has also spilled into neighboring countries. The warning from the White House came as developments elsewhere suggested the political terrain could be shifting.

The spokesman for Syria’s foreign ministry, Jihad Makdissi, was reported by the Hezbollah-run television station, Al Manar, as having been fired, although Lebanese news Web sites reported the departure as a defection. Mr. Makdissi, one of the highest ranking Christians to defect, had been one of the most accessible Syrian officials for foreign journalists. Al Manar reported that he was fired for making statements that did not reflect the government’s point of view, though it was unclear what those statements might have been.

But in recent months he had not taken phone calls and had not made public statements, leading some to speculate that he had either fallen out of favor or had doubts about the government. A security source said Mr. Makdissi flew to London from Beirut on Monday morning with his family.

“If he defected or didn’t defect, we don’t know,” Rami Abdulrahman, the director of the British based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which has a wide network of contacts in Syria, said.

Mr. Abdulrahman, who uses a pseudonym for safety, said Mr. Makdissi had angered some in the Syrian government by saying Syria would use chemical weapons only against a foreign invasion and not its own people; however, the government does not acknowledge that it has such weapons. Mr. Abdulrahman also said that some figures had become irritated with Mr. Makdissi’s prominence.

Also on Monday, government officials in Turkey held talks in Istanbul with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia, centered on the Syrian crisis.

Though he remained oblique in his statements at a joint news conference, Mr. Putin appeared to signal that Russia was easing away from its insistence in supporting Mr. Assad and that it was moving toward the position of Turkey and some other Western nations who have called for the Syrian leader to step aside.

“Our positions regarding what’s happening in Syria and what should be done regarding its future are the same,” Mr. Putin said at a news conference. “We have different viewpoints about how to reach to that point, so during our talks new ideas came up, which we will work on in near future.”

One senior Turkish official noted a definite shift in the Russian attitude toward Mr. Assad’s government. “There is definitely a softening of Russian political tone when they no longer insist on a resolution under the Assad rule,” said the official, who declined to be named, following diplomatic protocol. “We agreed on common premises that democracy should be structured in Syria through legitimate elections, but the question is how to come to that point, especially when Assad doesn’t seem to be willing to quit, which Putin also acknowledges.”

In Syria, government warplanes launched airstrikes in rebel-held towns near the border with Turkey, including Ras al-Ayn. The Local Coordination Committees, an opposition group, said at least 10 people had been killed there.

On Monday, the United Nations regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Radhouane Nouicer, said that they were pulling nonessential international staff out of the country because of the security situation, The Associated Press reported.

Mrs. Clinton, who made her comments after meeting with Karel Schwarzenberg, the foreign minister of the Czech Republic, indicated that they had discussed the situation in Syria, including the potential chemical weapons threat. She later flew to Brussels for a NATO foreign ministers meeting.

Mr. Schwarzenberg described the situation in Syria as “rather chaotic” and “highly dangerous.” He said that Czech troops who specialize in the detection of chemical weapons and decontamination were in Jordan training with forces there.

An American task force has been deployed to Jordan and has been helping the Jordanians deal with an escalating humanitarian crisis centered on Syria, including an exodus of more than 200,000 refugees from Syria to Jordan. The force is also planning how to respond, if necessary, to any chemical weapons threat.

Michael R. Gordon reported from Brussels. Reporting contributed by Anne Barnard from Beirut, Lebanon, and Sebnem Arsu from Istanbul.

NY Times Link (http://www.nytimes.com/2012/12/04/world/middleeast/clinton-syria-chemical-weapons.html?_r=0)

[Nickdfresh]

NBC News is reporting that Assad's Air Force may be preparing chemical weapons for delivery. Others are saying probably not as it wouldn't make sense militarily or geopolitically...

[Hardrock69]

IF Al-Assad is stupid enough to use chemical weapons on his own people, I betcha NATO won't fuck around, and I bet WE will be a part of the resulting takeover of the country.

Let's see just how stupid this cocksucker really is.....terminal stupidity exists at ALL levels of society...

[ELVIS]

You people actually believe all of this propaganda ??

[Satan]

I don't.

I want to know what the source of this information is before I believe it.

Not that Assad isn't capable of doing something like that. I just doubt he's stupid enough to do so, when the resulting actions would be obvious.

[ELVIS]

It's all theatre...

[Angel]

I'm leary too. Think about it, get in Syria and now you've got Iran surrounded...

[Satan]

I remember reading a while back that NuttyYahoo wanted Syria out of the way before he got the war with Iran that he's obsessed about for 20 years. Apparently he doesn't think Syria is self destructing fast enough on their own. Wouldn't surprise me if this chemical weapons thing came straight out of the Mossad propaganda mill.