Syria

[American Patriot]

Well, the world is coming to an end. Syria is about to explode.

Heads up, pay attention.

[vector7]

Clinton calls for Syria reform after cabinet resigns


(AFP) – 23 hours ago



LONDON — US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urged the "timely implementation of reforms" in Syria after the Middle Eastern country's cabinet resigned following two weeks of unrest.

"We're... waiting and watching to see what comes from the Syrian government," the US official said after a London conference to establish a roadmap for political transition in Libya.

"We support the timely implementation of reforms that meet the demands that Syrians are presenting to their government, such as immediately eliminating Syria's state of emergency laws, " added Clinton.

"We want to see peaceful transitions and we want to see democracies that represent the will of the people."

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad is expected to announce a new cabinet before the end of the week after the government of Prime Minister Mohammed Naji Otri, which has been in place since 2003, tendered its resignation Tuesday.

Presidential adviser Buthaina Shaaba Tuesday told AFP that the state had decided to lift the state of emergency that imposes restrictions on public gatherings and movements and authorises the arrest of "suspects or persons who threaten security".

Despite Assad's promises of change, activists say more than 130 people have been killed and scores injured in clashes with security forces at pro-reform rallies. Officials have put the death toll at around 30.

"It is up to the Syrian government, it is up to the leadership, starting with President Bashar al-Assad, to prove that it can be responsive to the needs of its own people," continued Clinton.

Clinton said that the US was watching to see whether Assad's promises "will actually be turned into reality."

French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe, also speaking after the London talks, condemned the use of "all violence in the repression of popular protests," but said it was too early to consider sanctions against Syria.

[vector7]

U.S. dismisses Assad's speech, conspiracy theory


Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad addresses the parliament in Damascus in this still image taken from a video footage March 30, 2011.
Credit: Reuters/Syrian state TV via Reuters TV

WASHINGTON | Wed Mar 30, 2011 2:31pm EDT

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The State Department dismissed a speech by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday as lacking substance, saying it was easier to see conspiracy theories than to meet popular demand for reforms.

In the speech, Assad defied calls to lift a decades-old emergency law and said Syria was the target of a foreign conspiracy to stir up protests in which more than 60 people have been killed.

State Department spokesman Mark Toner said it for the Syrian people to judge the speech but he broadly dismissed it, including Assad's assertion that Syria was subject "to a big conspiracy, whose threads extend from countries near and far."

"It's far too easy to look for conspiracy theories (than to) respond in a meaningful way to the call for reform," Toner told reporters in his daily briefing.

"We expect they (the Syrian people) are going to be disappointed. We feel the speech fell short with respect to the kind of reforms that the Syrian people demanded and what President Assad's own advisers suggested was coming," he said.

"It's clear to us that it didn't really have much substance to it and didn't talk about specific reforms, as was ... suggested in the run up to the speech," he said.

[American Patriot]

Assad is blaming a "conspiracy" on the anti-government protesters. He's not leaving, said so a bit ago I guess. Fox News Channel is hot and heavy on this one right now.

Things aren't gonna go well for Obama on this one. Assad's daddy killed something like 15,000 people in one town and warned the country "this is what happens if you rise up against me". Maybe his son won't be the same - but it is a police state. I wouldn't bet against it right now.

Does Obama go in? He can't NOW... he's set his feet in concrete now.

[Toad]

Does Obama go in? He can't NOW... he's set his feet in concrete now.

Yea. I can't blame Obama here. Hypothetically, a conservative president would still be in Afghanistan and Iraq. Likely would be in Libya too. The whole region is quicksand any president of any kind would be very hesitant to touch. It's just ugly now. Real ugly.

[American Patriot]

Assad -> Money -> Terrorists -> Hezbollah

Assad goes, no more money to terrorists and hezbolla.

Expect the terrorists to support him, all the way to the hilt of their swords.

[vector7]

Leading Troubles - Iran Expanding Regional Influence Amid Mideast Turmoil

Gerlinde Gerber

Wednesday, 30 March 2011 13:47

Iran is trying to shape events in a changing Middle East as part of an ongoing effort to establish the Islamic Republic's regional influence and status, US and Arab officials say. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said earlier this month that "either directly or through proxies" such as Hezbollah and Hamas, Iran is "constantly trying to influence events" in Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen. [1] At the same time, Syrian opposition sources said Iran had sent units of the Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah to help Tehran's ally, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, suppress anti-regime protests in his country. [2] "Iran undermines peace and stability in the Gulf" Last month, Shiite-led protests broke out in Bahrain, a tiny island kingdom in the oil-rich Gulf. The kingdom's Sunni rulers accused Shiite Iran of meddling in Bahrain and other Arab Gulf states. Bahrain's king, Hamad Bin Isa Al Khalifa, said last week a "foreign plot" against his state had been foiled. [3] Fatima al-Beloushi, Bahrain's Minister for Social Development, calmed the demonstrators had links to a "neighboring country" and Hezbollah, a Lebanese Iran-backed terrorist movement. "We have direct proof. Hezbollah has provided training for their people. They were serving a foreign agenda", she said. [4] Notably, Iran has occasionally stated that Bahrain is the Islamic Republic's "14th province". The Al Khalifa royal family is Sunni, while up to 70 percent of Bahrain's 600,000 citizens are Shiite. The Shiite population has long complained of being marginalized and discriminated against economically and politically, and the overwhelming majority of Bahrain's protesters are therefore Shiite. Bahrain was the first country experiencing the recent wave of unrest across the Arab world which the divide between Sunni and Shiite Muslims has emerged in a meaningful way, causing alarm among the Sunni rulers of other Gulf countries with significant Shiite minorities. [5] Fearing the spread of Shiite unrest to their countries, as well as the possibility that Iran would have more opportunities to meddle in the region, Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states sent troops to Bahrain to help quell the protests. In the meantime, a Kuwaiti newspaper reported that Arab Gulf states are considering a plan to deport thousands of Lebanese Shiites over their alleged links to Hezbollah and Iran's Revolutionary Guard force. Al-Seyassah, known for its strong anti-Hezbollah and anti-Iranian stance, said that Lebanese Shiites had been involved in protests in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province. [6] If confirmed, this will not be the first wave of mass deportations of Lebanese Shiites from Gulf countries in the past two years. According to various reports, hundreds of Lebanese Shiites and Palestinians were expelled from the UAE for security reasons in summer 2009. Bahrain has considerable strategic value to the US as well, as the base of its Fifth Fleet, which protects American interests in the region and assures the continued flow of oil from the Gulf to the West. "The United States has an abiding commitment to Gulf security and a top priority is working together with our partners on our shared concerns about Iranian behavior in the region", US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said lately. "We share the view that Iran's activities in the Gulf, including its efforts to advance its agenda in neighboring countries, undermine peace and stability". [7] "Iranians very much involved in Yemen" While protesters are demanding his ouster, Yemen's President Ali Abdullah Saleh faces further challenges posed by al-Qaeda, a secessionist movement in the south and the Shiite Houthi rebels in the north. Since the renewal of hostilities between the Yemeni government and Houthi rebels in 2009, Yemeni and Saudi officials have repeatedly accused Iran of providing the Shiite rebels with money, arms and training. Whereas experts are divided on whether Tehran is indeed involved in internal Yemeni affairs, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton recently told the Senate Appropriations Committee that the US knows that "the Iranians are very much involved in the opposition movements in Yemen". [8] "Farsi-speaking commandos help suppress protests in Syria" Although Iran voiced support for demonstrators in Tunisia, Egypt, Bahrain and Yemen, it found itself in a different situation with the unrest in Syria, which stands alone as an ally of Iran among the Arab states. Syrian opposition sources accused the Islamic Republic of sending units of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard and Hezbollah to help suppress the anti-Assad protests that broke out earlier this month. [9] According to reports from Daraa, where protests in Syria began, several Farsi-speaking commandos were captured in the city. The Revolutionary Guard also played a key role in crushing the 2009 street demonstrations in Iran, which broke out after the controversial re-election of President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. (Realite-EU)

[Luke]

Considering all the unrest in North Africa and and the Mid-East can an attack on Israel be that far away? The Islamic folks are going to be looking for someone to blame. Things are going to get vedy vedy interestink very soon.

[vector7]

Considering all the unrest in North Africa and and the Mid-East can an attack on Israel be that far away? The Islamic folks are going to be looking for someone to blame. Things are going to get vedy vedy interestink very soon.

You can say that again!

[American Patriot]

Syrian Troops Reportedly Open Fire on Protesters


Published March 30, 2011
| Associated Press

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DAMASCUS, Syria -- Residents say Syrian troops have opened fire during a protest in the port city of Latakia.
Two residents say they heard troops shooting live ammunition Wednesday. It was not immediately clear whether the troops were firing in the air or at the protesters. The witnesses asked that their names not be published for fear of reprisals.
The protest came shortly after President Bashar Assad made his first speech since the unrest began nearly two weeks ago. He blamed "conspirators" for the extraordinary wave of dissent against his authoritarian rule, but he failed to lift the country's despised emergency law or offer any concessions.
Assad said Syria is facing "a major conspiracy" that aims to weaken this country of 23 million. The Assad family has ruled Syria for nearly 40 years, using the feared security services to monitor and control even the smallest rumblings of opposition. Draconian laws have all but eradicated civil liberties and political freedoms.
"We don't seek battles," Assad, 45, said in an unusually short, televised speech before legislators who cheered for him and shouted support from their seats. "But if a battle is imposed on us today, we welcome it."

March 29: Pro-Syrian President Bashar Assad supporters hold Assad's poster with Arabic words reading: "I'll not kneel as long as you are my leader" as they demonstrate to show their support for their president, in Damascus, Syria.


Assad's speech was surprising not so much for what he said but for what he left out. His adviser, Bouthaina Shaaban, said last week that Syria had formed a committee to study a series of reforms and constitutional amendments, including lifting the state of emergency laws, in place since Assad's Baath party took power in 1963.
Assad had been widely expected to formally announce those changes. But the fact that he failed to mention any of them was a major disappointment for thousands of protesters who have taken to the streets since March 18, calling for reform. Human rights groups say more than 60 people have been killed as security forces cracked down on the demonstrations.
Within minutes of his speech, social networking sites exploded with activists expressing major disappointment, with some calling on Syrians to take to the streets immediately.
"The fact that he is blaming everything on conspirators means that he does not even acknowledge the root of the problem," said Razan Zaitouneh, a Syrian lawyer and pro-reform activist. "I don't have an explanation for this speech, I am in a state of shock ... There are already calls for a day of anger on Friday. This cannot sit well with the Syrian people."
Assad, who inherited power 11 years ago from his father, appears to be following the playbook of other autocratic leaders in the region who scrambled to put down popular uprisings by offering minor concessions and brutal crackdowns.
The formula failed in Tunisia and Egypt, where popular demands increased almost daily -- until people accepted nothing less than the ouster of the regime.
The unrest in Syria, a strategically important country, could have implications well beyond its borders given its role as Iran's top Arab ally and as a front line state against Israel.

[American Patriot]

You know, honestly, if I were President, Toad, I'd pull us the hell out of the middle east.

I'd send back up troops to Israel - that is people and combat units to sit on their asses there and eat Jewish food and get fat waiting to get attacked, I'd put a small base there with tactical nukes and help the Israelis.

Other than that, I'd stay out of the shit there.

[Toad]

Totally agree. The entire region now is so profoundly unstable, even the most logical realists are just throwing dice with what happens from here. You do not throw dice with soldier lives.

[catfish]

Obama has dug himself a huge hole and is about to fall in it. You can not make the case for Libya without making a case for other countries as well. All of the reasons we went to Libya can be applied to the rest of the middle east, even Saudi Arabia. The so called Obama Doctrine, if applied, could involve us in a dozen "wars", each one filled with nuances and different variables, each one requiring a different solution. This is just to complicated and messy to get involved in so early in the game. I choose a more pragmatic approach, sit back and see what happens first then decide when and where to get involved.

Let them kill each other for a while. Perhaps we can wait for one big war instead of a bunch of little wars, then we can deal with the entire region and maybe drag them out of the 14th century once and for all.

[BRVoice]

Man... All this s**t happening in the Middle East and the serious nuclear situation in Japan...

It's something beyond believe. It's very sad and very dangerous. The World has changed in an dramatic way and we all have to deal with it.

[Luke]

I may have to change my vote from the Trump camp to the Donaldson ticket.

[AGEUSAF]

I agree with several thoughts so far. If a conservative was in right now we would still be in the exact same situation. Our doctrine/historical responses has it almost built in to have the same result no matter who is in office. Because of our track record then one has to ask why not Syria...I personally feel why not Saudi but I doubt that would ever happen.

My thoughts either get everything out of southwest asia and the middle east. Put most of those forces in Israel and effectively make them the 51st state. Or take the entire region over and burn the whole thing down.

[samizdat]

Israel and effectively make them the 51st state. That would make Mexico state 52- full deck. Syria is "delicate". Isn't that where the Iraqui bio-chem weapons went? Isn't 9 11 ASS ads birthday?

What is Bashar al-Assad's birthday?
Bashar al-Assad was born on September 11, 1965.

[American Patriot]

Syria has seal off it's borders. They were using tanks and huge machine guns on people on a video clip I saw.

[American Patriot]

Terrorism & Security


In shift, US considers sanctions against Syria's Assad regime

The Syrian Army's incursion into the town of Deraa on Monday is the first time it has joined Syrian security forces against protesters.

[American Patriot]

Apr 25, 2011
Syria seals Jordanian border as tanks storm Daraa, killing at least 5

08:01 AM

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By Douglas Stanglin, USA TODAY
9 Comments 1 Recommend

Update at 8:16 a.m. ET: CNN reports that the military operation began around 4:30 a.m., sending fear and panic through the city of 300,000.
CNN quotes several witnesses as saying that bodies of the dead and wounded lay on the streets unattended.
"Ambulances could not help the injured because of the snipers and army officers who are deployed all over the city," one witness tells CNN. "They shoot on anything that moves.
Original post: Syrian military forces backed by tanks have swarmed into the southern city of Daraa, killing at least five people today, according to witnesses and human rights activists.
Rights activists tell Agence-France Presse that tanks have taken up positions in the town center and that snipers have been deployed to rooftops.

ITN news video shows tanks firing on residents in Daraa.

As the major security operation unfolds, Syria has closed the land border crossing with Jordan, the Jordanian information reports, according to Al-Arabiya TV.
Syria TV denies the report as "baseless," but Reuters quotes a Syrian senior official in the Jordanian capital as confirming the move, saying the "timing is related to what appears to be a major security operation that is taking place right now."
Syria has charged that arms are being smuggled into Daraa, a major center of the revolt against the authoritarian regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
Witnesses report that thousands of troops backed by armor swept into the Daraa, killing and injuring an unknown number of people and leaving bodies lying in the streets.
Human rights groups have reported that more than 300 protesters have died over the past several days in a crackdown by Syrian security forces on a five-week popular uprising.
In today's clashes in Daraa, a witness tells The AP that he saw at least five corpses after security forces fired on a car in the city.
Other rights activists report security force raids in the towns of Douma and al-Muadamiyah near Damascus.
Al-Jazeera says the British Foreign Office is advising all British nationals to leave Syria "while airlines are still flying."
See photos of: Syria