Syria

[Ryan Ruck]

Or a gasoline fight...

[American Patriot]

WTF? LOL A Gasoline fight? What is that from? The new "6 Psychos" movie? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Ryan Ruck]

From Zoolander.

[vector7]

For Erdogan quarrel with Assad is one thing, Putin another

Nick Tattersall and Thomas Grove Reuters 8:39 a.m. EDT, October 13, 2012

It scrambled two fighter planes to the border on Friday after a Syrian military helicopter bombed the Syrian town of Azmarin, right on the frontier.

The stance has won it cheers of approval from the United States, European allies, and NATO - as well as Arab countries ruled by Sunni Muslims who oppose Assad, a member of the Alawite minority sect - but little in the way of concrete support.

"Turkey is quite isolated on Syria. We do get routine expressions of support from NATO, from Washington, but they don't really have much flesh to them," said Faruk Logoglu, vice chairman of the main opposition Republic People's Party (CHP).

DECOUPLING

Russia, meanwhile, has been Assad's biggest supporter at the United Nations, and sold Syria $1 billion of arms last year. Yet until now, Ankara has managed to avoid allowing Syria to wreck its relationship with Moscow.

"It is a sensitive issue but there are ways of decoupling the Syrian question from the Turkish-Russian bilateral relationship," former Turkish foreign minister Yasar Yakis, one of the founding members of the ruling AK Party, told Reuters.

"Whether we will be able to achieve it is another question."

Moscow supports Assad both to protect a rare ally in the Middle East, and because Putin believes as a matter of principle that Russia should use its clout to prevent the West from interfering in countries' internal affairs.

An arms industry source said Moscow had not stopped its weapons exports to Damascus, despite Western criticism.

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on June 9 that Russia was fulfilling existing contracts for supplies of air defense systems, for use against external attacks, and is not sending Syria weapons that could be used in the internal conflict.

Turkish and Russian media reports said the cargo seized in Turkey included communications equipment, which would fall under what Moscow insists are legal exports.

A local news website in the city of Tula, around 200 km from Moscow and home to several defense industry firms, said the goods came from a factory there which makes air defense systems and other high precision weapons. A representative from the factory told Reuters it has contracts with Syria, but declined to comment further.

A spokesman for Russia's defense export monopoly said it had no arms on the jet, but individual Russian defense companies can sign contracts directly with clients in certain situations.

"If there was some radio-electronic equipment, one possibility is it was illegal smuggling, which means that Syrian authorities dealt directly with those who produce this equipment and they didn't inform Russian authorities. A second variant is that it was a secret operation by the Russian government," said Alexander Golts, a Moscow-based defense analyst.

He said sales, although legal, may be carried out more secretively in order to avoid the kind of diplomatic pressure Russia attracted after shipments of combat helicopters and ammunition to Syria in two separate incidents earlier this year.

For now, Moscow and Ankara appear to be trying to avoid statements that would escalate the quarrel.

Putin held a meeting about Syria with his advisory Security Council on Friday. A report by the state-owned RIA news agency said deteriorating relations between Turkey and Syria were discussed, but made no mention of the plane incident.

Putin had been expected to visit Turkey at the start of next week. Turkish officials said hours before the plane was grounded that Russia had requested the visit be postponed, citing his heavy work schedule.

Asked if the postponement was linked to the grounding, Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Putin and Erdogan had discussed a new date by phone on Monday, two days before the incident, and December 3 was likely.

No weapons on Syrian plane grounded by Turkey – Lavrov

Published: 12 October, 2012, 19:10
Edited: 12 October, 2012, 22:15



A Syrian passenger plane which was forced to land sits at Esenboga airport in Ankara October 10, 2012 (Reuters / Anadolu Agency)


Russia’s foreign minister claimed the Syrian passenger plane Turkey diverted on Wednesday was carrying radar parts, not munitions. The confiscated cargo was being transported legally, Sergey Lavrov said Friday.

"We have no secrets," Lavrov told reporters. "There were, of course, no weapons on the plane and could not have been any. There was a cargo on the plane that a legal Russian supplier was sending in a legal way to a legal customer."

Lavrov said the supplier will demand the cargo be returned which is their property.

“We are awaiting an official reply why our diplomats were not allowed to meet the Russian passengers on board,” stressed the Russian FM.



Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (RIA Novosti / Valeriy Melnikov)

The announcement came in response to a Thursday statement made by Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan alleging that the Syrian Air jet was transporting Russian-made munitions for the Syrian Defense Ministry.

“It is absolutely clear who sent the cargo and who was going to receive it. This was munitions from the Russian equivalent of our Mechanical and Chemical Industry Corporation being sent to the Syrian Defense Ministry," Erdogan said.

Turkey diverted the passenger plane en route to Damascus from Moscow on Wednesday as it entered Turkish airspace, forcing it to land in Ankara and open its cargo to inspection.

“The pilot made the decision to land [in Ankara] as he knew he was not transporting anything illegal,” Lavrov remarked Friday.

The Russian FM said Turkey offered the pilot the option to either turn back to Russia or land in Turkey for inspection. Earlier, however, the crew had been reported to have received no warning from Ankara, which allegedly dispatched F-16 jet fighters with no questions asked.

After around nine hours at the Turkish airport, with passengers barred from leaving the plane, some items from the cargo hold were confiscated and the jet was allowed to continue on to Damascus.

Moscow criticized Turkey for endangering the lives of the flight’s 35 passengers by dispatching F-16s to force the plane to land, and demanded to know why Russian diplomats and doctors were not allowed to meet the 17 Russian nationals on board.

Witnesses also told RT that Turkish officials had demanded people on board sign papers stating that the jet had made an emergency landing. Guards are reported to have beated up a crew member and several passengers who refused.

Syria labeled the incident "air piracy," and insisted that there was not carrying anything illegal.

U.S. Says Russian Shipment to Syria Didn’t Violate Sanctions

By ELLEN BARRY and RICK GLADSTONE

Published: October 13, 2012

MOSCOW — The Obama administration acknowledged on Friday that a shipment of Russian-made equipment confiscated on its way to Damascus did not violate sanctions, but said that Moscow’s policy of supplying aid to President Bashar al-Assad of Syria was “still morally bankrupt.”

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Russia’s foreign minister, Sergey V. Lavrov, said the cargo confiscated on Wednesday contained electronic components for a radar station and that such equipment fell within the bounds of international agreements. In Washington, a State Department spokesman, Victoria Nuland, did not dispute that but expressed the administration’s “grave concern” over Russia’s support for Mr. Assad, whose government is fighting a 19-month-old uprising that has turned into a civil war.

“No responsible country ought to be aiding and abetting the war machine of the Assad regime and particularly those with responsibilities for global peace and security as U.N. Security Council members have,” Ms. Nuland said.

Of the shipment, she said, “we have no doubt, this was serious military equipment.”

On Friday, Mr. Lavrov offered the most detailed explanation Russia has given in its dispute with Turkey over the Moscow-to-Damascus flight, which was intercepted by Turkish warplanes on Wednesday and forced to land in the Turkish capital, Ankara, where the passengers and crew members had to wait for hours. Turkish inspectors examined the aircraft and impounded what Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan described as Russian munitions bound for Syria’s Defense Ministry.

“We have no secrets,” Mr. Lavrov said. “We have studied the situation: there were no weapons on this airplane, of course, and there could not be. On the airplane there was cargo, which a legal Russian shipper sent via legal means to a legal customer.”
It remains unclear why the shipment was sent to Damascus via a commercial airliner.

The Russian newspaper Kommersant reported on Saturday that the cargo had been sent by a company based in Tula, which produces antitank, antiaircraft and anti-artillery systems, as well as radar equipment. The company identified, KBP Tula, was accused by the United States in 2003 of providing weapons and sophisticated military equipment to Saddam Hussein, the Iraqi leader, in violation of United Nations sanctions.

The plane was permitted to leave on Thursday, but Russia and Syria protested the Turkish actions. Russia demanded a further explanation, and Syria said it would file a complaint with international aviation authorities.

The dispute has escalated tensions between Turkey, a NATO member, and Russia, the major arms supplier to Mr. Assad. The fighting has shown no sign of easing and has raised fears that the Middle East will be destabilized, as hundreds of thousands of refugees have spilled into Turkey, Jordan, Lebanon and Iraq.

Turkey’s leaders, who were once close to Mr. Assad, have turned against him and are major backers of the insurgents, who have operated from Turkey and have secured areas of Syrian territory along the Turkish border.

In Istanbul on Saturday, according to news reports, Mr. Erdogan, the Turkish prime minister, criticized the United Nations Security Council, and in particular China and Russia, for failing to take decisive steps to end the Syrian crisis.

China and Russia — both permanent members of the Security Council — have vetoed resolutions intended to pressure the Syrian government to end the fighting and seek a peaceful political transition.

“If we wait for one or two of the permanent members,” Mr. Erdogan said, according to The Associated Press, “then the future of Syria will be in danger.”

The inaction, Mr. Erdogan said, according to media reports, was encouraging the Damascus government to continue its brutal assault.

“The U.N. Security Council has not intervened in the human tragedy that has been going on in Syria for 20 months, despite all our efforts,” Mr. Erdogan said, according to Reuters. “There’s an attitude that encourages, gives the green light to Assad to kill tens or hundreds of people every day.”

[vector7]

Syrian airliner spat sours improving Turkish-Russian relations

Turkey's grounding of a Syrian plane allegedly carrying weapons from Moscow to Damascus has put Moscow and Ankara – which have been cooperating in recent years – at odds.

By Fred Weir | Christian Science Monitor – 20 hrs ago

Russia kept up an angry flow of rhetoric Friday directed at Turkey, demanding that Turkish authorities reveal exactly what type of Russian "munitions" they claim to have found aboard a Syrian airliner forced down over Turkey on Wednesday.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also complained in a statement that the takedown of the jet was illegal, and that it "endangered the lives and safety" of 17 Russian passengers, who the ministry claims were subsequently mistreated and denied access to Russian consular officials for over 8 hours.

The incident comes amid growing confusion in Russia-Turkish relations. On Monday, two days before the aircraft was forced down, Russian President Vladimir Putin cancelled a state visit to Turkey that was to have begun early next week. Turkish officials would only say the trip was shelved due to "red tape."

"Relations between Russia and Turkey have been improving for the past several years, after decades of being on opposite sides of the cold war barricades," says Pavel Shlykov, an expert with the official Institute of Asia and Africa in Moscow.

"I really hope this incident with the plane doesn't affect the positive trend," he adds.

But the mystery surrounding the cargo that was aboard the Syrian A-320 airbus that was compelled to land by Turkish jet fighters may have been cleared up, with an admission by Russian arms officials that materials for use in Syrian anti-aircraft radars may have been aboard.

On Friday, the Moscow business daily Kommersant, citing unnamed Russian arms industry officials, said the plane was carrying 12 boxes of electronic components for use in Syrian air defense systems, along with legal documentation for the equipment.

The most alarming issue for the Kremlin appears to be the effectiveness of Western intelligence sources, whom they blame for alerting Turkish authorities about the presence of the electronic parts aboard the Airbus.

"The Turkish authorities sent out two F-16 fighters to escort the jet so they most likely knew about the cargo that was being carried," an official of the Russian FSB security service told Kommersant. "They would not have done this if they had not been sure."

Moscow was previously blindsided back in July when British authorities stopped a ship carrying Russian attack helicopters to Syria by forcing its insurance company to pull coverage. The helicopters were sold to Syria in the 1990s but were being serviced in Russia and quietly sent back aboard a civilian vessel.

"With that story about the helicopters, and now this, we have to assume that US intelligence has very good channels of information in Russia," says Alexander Golts, military columnist for the online newspaper Yezhednevny Zhurnal.

"This has got to be the cause of considerable worry," in the Russian secret services, he adds.

Kommersant's sources insisted that the components aboard the Syrian jetliner were not arms, and that it was perfectly legal to carry radio equipment on a civil airliner if it was shut off. "It is not weaponry. What is the problem about carrying a switched-off radio receiver on board an airliner, if it does not represent any threat to the plane or passengers?" one official told the newspaper.

"We did not violate any international laws," said another.

The newspaper also quoted Vyacheslav Davidenko, the spokesman of Russia's official arms export agency Rosoboronexport, as saying that "there was no cargo belonging to us" aboard the plane.

On Thursday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan justified the plane's takedown saying "one cannot carry defense industry equipment or arms, munitions (aboard) civilian aircraft.... Unfortunately this rule was violated."

Vladimir Sazhin, an expert with the official Institute of Oriental Studies in Moscow says the legalities of the situation are murky on both sides.

"Russia's position is that it's illegal to force a plane to land in this way. It's only done if an aircraft diverges from its assigned route or it represents a threat to the country it's flying over," he says.

"On the other hand, it does seem that if the plane was carrying radar parts from air defense systems, as reported, then that's a military cargo that shouldn't be hauled aboard a civilian plane. Now it's up to lawyers to sort it out," he adds.

Mr. Golts says that selling arms to Syria is not illegal – as Russian officials have repeatedly underscored – because no such sanctions have been passed by the UN Security Council.

Many Russian experts argue that it's difficult to take Turkish indignation seriously, since Turkey allows its territory to be used as a staging area and supply conduit by Syrian rebels.

Golts adds that the Kremlin's stubborn and consistent backing for Syrian strongman Bashar al-Assad is out of step with much of the world community.

"Russia's ongoing support for Assad is totally ideological," says Golts. "Putin is certain that all this turmoil with the Arab Spring is the result of a CIA conspiracy, and he sees it as his personal duty to struggle against it."

[vector7]

Turkey deploys 250 tanks, 55 jets on border with Syria

Xinhua, October 13, 2012

Turkey bolstered military presence on the border with Syria by deploying 250 tanks and 55 jets of various models on Friday after a Syrian military helicopter bombed the Syrian border town of Azmarin.

Local English daily Today's Zaman reported that the tanks were deployed in the provinces of Sanliurfa and Mardin after the government ordered the military's readiness for a possible clash with Syrian forces.

Armored vehicles and heavy weapons have been stationed while artillery units were also sent to the region, according to the report.

There has been intense fighting between rebels and Syrian government forces this week in Azmarin and neighboring towns.

Fighting along Turkey's 910-km border with Syria has repeatedly spilled over into Turkish territory in the past week, with the Turkish army responding in kind to gunfire and mortar shells fired from Syria.

Turkish Armed Forces' Chief of General Staff Necdet Ozel said Wednesday his troops would respond "with greater force" if the shells continued to land on Turkish soil.

[vector7]

Companion Thread:

• Is Tunisia, Egypt, Morocco and Libya Facing Real Unrest or a Manufactured Crisis or is Barack Obama Serving Al Qaeda’s Goals?

Companion Post:

• Obama abandons Iraq without any Security Agreement and gives away a strategic location of interest with national security implications

Russia: Syria rebels have US-made weapons

October 24, 2012



A senior Russian general has said Syrian rebels now have anti-aircraft weapons, including US-made Stingers.

Gen Nikolai Makarov was quoted by the Interfax news service as saying the origin of the surface-to-air missiles should be "cleared up".

Russia is the biggest supplier of arms to its Syrian government ally.

Aerial bombardment of rebel-held towns continued on Wednesday, as the UN's Syria envoy prepared to brief the Security Council on ceasefire efforts.

Lakhdar Brahimi has been trying to arrange a ceasefire between rebels and government forces over the Muslim festival of Eid al-Adha, which begins on Friday.

Weapon supplies "We have reliable information that Syrian militants have foreign portable anti-aircraft missile systems, including those made in the USA... it should be cleared up who delivered them," Gen Makarov told journalists in Russia.

There have been earlier unconfirmed reports of the Syrian opposition having shoulder-mounted missiles, but the West has been reluctant to openly arm the rebels.

In August, Syrian rebels said they had shot down a fighter jet near the border with Iraq.

Syrian warplanes have stepped up their bombardments of rebel-dominated areas in recent months, particularly in the north of the country. Deadly air raids are now daily events in towns around the city of Aleppo.

Recent footage has emerged of Syrian opposition fighters using old Soviet SA-7 heat-seeking missiles, which can destroy a plane flying at up to 14,000ft.

US-made Stinger missiles are shoulder-mounted anti-aircraft weapons designed to target low-flying planes and helicopters.

A US decision to supply them to the mujahideen in Afghanistan in the 1980s to fight the Russians proved to be a turning point in the war.

The UN says that more than 18,000 people have died so far in the uprising against Bashar al-Assad's government, which began in March 2011, but activists and opposition groups put the figure closer to 30,000.

[American Patriot]

Syria Trying to Produce More Sarin, U.S. Believes



Oct. 26, 2012


Syrian rebels fire on government forces in the city of Aleppo on Wednesday. Syria’s embattled Assad regime is pursuing access to bulk quantities of precursor materials for sarin nerve agent, according to U.S. government insiders (AP Photo/Narciso Contreras).


The regime of Syrian dictator Bashar Assad is attempting to gain access to large amounts of the precursor materials needed to manufacture sarin, a particularly lethal chemical weapon, Wired magazine reported on Thursday, citing anonymous U.S. officials.


Individuals with ties to Damascus have made numerous attempts over the last several months to purchase massive amounts of rubbing alcohol. That chemical and methylphosphonyl difluoride, known as DF, are the two primary ingredients needed to produce sarin. The U.S. State Department, the CIA, and friendly regional governments have managed to stop a number of these attempted purchases, including an effort to purchase phosphorous compounds that can be utilized to produce DF.


At the same time, the Assad regime is understood to be sitting on a substantial stockpile of 500 metric tons of nerve agent precursor materials that are stored in separated form. They would have to be combined together before use in attack. The precursor agents are understood to be spread out at 25 or more sites.


One possible reason for Syria's apparent interest in constructing new chemical arms might be regime concerns that the older stocks are deteriorating, the magazine reported.
"Damascus has continued its pursuit of chemical weapons despite the damage to its international reputation and the rising costs of evading international export control on chemical weapons materials," according to an August analysis by the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies.


Assad is locked in a bloody 19-month civil war with opposition forces that is estimated to have already resulted in the deaths of more than 30,000 people. Damascus this summer promised the international community it would only use its chemical arsenal to ward off a foreign attack. Some rebels are skeptical about this pledge, believing Assad could still carry out chemical aerial attacks if it appears his regime is on the brink of collapse. Meanwhile, the United States and Syria's neighbors are worried that regime security around the chemical stockpiles could be weakened the longer fighting continues, potentially opening up an opportunity for nonstate actors to acquire the ingredients to produce weapons of mass destruction.


For the time being, though, the Assad regime does not appear close to collapse and military security around its chemical arsenal is assessed by the United States to be strong.


"Assad is weathering everything the rebels throw at him," one unidentified U.S. official familiar with recent intelligence on the matter said. "Business is continuing as usual. They've been busy little bees."


In its quest to circumvent international sanctions, Syria has used "extensive tactics -- including the use of front companies in third countries -- ... to obscure its efforts to obtain (regulated equipment), as well as other dual-use items, for proliferation purposes," the Australia Group concluded during a recent meeting. The voluntary multinational organization coordinates export controls among member nations with the intent of blocking the global spread of chemical and biological weapons.

[American Patriot]

Syrian Islamists reject Western-backed opposition

ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY, Associated Press | November 19, 2012 | Updated: November 19, 2012 12:27pm

• 

In this Saturday, Nov. 17, 2012 photo, a rebel sniper overlooks Syrian army just outside the town center of the northwestern city of Maraat al-Numan, Syria. After months of fierce fighting for control of the vital Aleppo-Damascus highway, rebels have succeeded in pushing the Syrian army out of the center of Maraat al-Numan located on the highway between Aleppo and Hama. Photo: Mustafa Karali / AP





BEIRUT (AP) — Syria's increasingly powerful Islamist rebel factions rejected the country's new Western-backed opposition coalition and unilaterally declared an Islamic state in the key battleground of Aleppo, a sign of the seemingly intractable splits among those fighting to topple President Bashar Assad.


The move highlights the struggle over the direction of the rebellion at a time when the opposition is trying to gain the West's trust and secure a flow of weapons to fight the regime. The rising profile of the extremist faction among the rebels could doom those efforts.


Such divisions have hobbled the opposition over the course of the uprising, which has descended into a bloody civil war. According to activists, nearly 40,000 people have been killed since the revolt began 20 months ago. The fighting has been particularly extreme in Aleppo, Syria's largest city and a major front in the civil war since the summer.


Salman Shaikh, director of The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar, said Monday the Islamists' declaration will unsettle both Western backers of the Syrian opposition and groups inside Syria, ranging from secularists to the Christian minority.


"They have to feel that the future of their country could be slipping away," Shaikh said. "This is a sign of things to come the longer this goes on. The Islamist groups and extremists will increasingly be forging alliances and taking matters into their own hands." The West is particularly concerned about sending weapons to rebels for fear they could end up in extremists' hands.


The Islamists' announcement, made in an online video released Sunday, shows the competing influences within the rebellion, between religious hardliners who want to create an Islamic state in Syria — including foreign al-Qaida-style jihadi fighters — and the newly formed Syrian National Coalition, which was created earlier this month in hopes of uniting the disparate groups fighting Assad's regime.


The National Coalition was formed under pressure from the United States, which sought a more reliable partner that nations could support. Key to its credibility is whether it can ensure the support of the multiple, highly independent rebel brigades battling on the ground across the country within Syria, which largely ignored the previous opposition political leadership, made up of exiles.


In the new video, 13 Islamic radical factions denounced the coalition as a foreign creation.
Most important among them were the al-Tawheed Brigade, which is one of the largest rebel groups operating in Aleppo, and Jabhat al-Nusra — Arabic for "the Support Front" — which is mainly made up of foreign jihadi fighters. Jabhat al-Nusra has become notorious for suicide bombings targeting regime and military facilities and is at the forefront of fighting in Aleppo.


"We are the representatives of the fighting formations in Aleppo and we declare our rejection of the conspiratorial project, the so-called national alliance," an unidentified speaker said in the video. "We have unanimously agreed to urgently establish an Islamic state."


He spoke at the head of a conference table where about 20 others were gathered, with a black Islamist flag behind them.


The authenticity of the video could not be independently confirmed, but it was released on a website that carries al-Qaida and other militant statements, as well as on the al-Tawheed Brigade website.


The new opposition bloc, formed Nov. 11 in Qatar, is trying to allay fears of extremism within the rebellion. A moderate cleric, Mouaz al-Khatib, was chosen as its leader in an attempt to establish the movement's religious credentials with the public while countering more radical factions.


In Cairo, al-Khatib played down the significance of those who reject the alliance, saying, "we will keep in contact with them for more cooperation in the interest of the Syrian people." He also announced that the coalition would be headquartered in the Egyptian capital.


The coalition is gaining some traction internationally. France was the first Western nation to recognize it as the only legitimate representative of the Syrian people. France also welcomed a member of the Syrian opposition as the country's ambassador.


Turkey and the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council also recognized the group as the representative of the Syrian people.


But the United States and Italy have been somewhat less forthcoming. President Barack Obama has said the U.S. needed more time and wanted to make sure that the group "is committed to a democratic Syria, an inclusive Syria, a moderate Syria."


He also says the U.S. isn't considering sending weapons to the opposition because of concerns the arms might fall into the hands of extremists.


Italy took a similar view, recognizing the opposition as legitimate but stopping there.


Some European Union members have suggested arming the Syrian opposition, but officials said the idea is likely to get little traction Monday at a meeting in Brussels of foreign and defense ministers from the EU's 27 countries.


Currently, the EU has an embargo prohibiting the shipment of arms into Syria, which is likely to be renewed later this week. A senior EU official said last week that shipping weapons to Syrian rebels while keeping an embargo against the Assad regime in place would be difficult to enforce.


The violence in Syria threatens to inflame an already combustible region. The fighting already has already spilled into Israel, Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey.


Germany's defense minister said Monday he expects Turkey to make a formal request to NATO for Patriot missiles to bolster anti-aircraft defenses along the border with Syria.


"It may be — I expect it — that there will be a request by the Turkish government to NATO today for Patriot missiles to be stationed on the Turkish border," Thomas de Maiziere said ahead of the EU meeting.


NATO's Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said no such request had been received yet from Ankara, but that if it was it would be considered "as a matter of urgency."


"The situation along the Syrian-Turkish border is of great concern," Fogh Rasmussen said as he arrived for a meeting with the European Union's foreign and defense ministers. "We have all plans in place to defend and protect Turkey if needed."


Although the civil war has left Assad isolated internationally, Iran has stuck by Damascus.


Iran's semi-official Fars news agency said Monday that Tehran has started building a $10 billion natural gas pipeline to Syria as part of efforts to boost Iran's energy sector, which has been battered by international sanctions.


The 1,500-kilometer (900-mile) pipeline will pass through Iraq before reaching Syria.

[Ryan Ruck]

Hmmm...

Supplier Of Arms To Syria Assassinated In Russian City

November 23, 2012

A Russian official assigned to supply military equipment to Syria has been assassinated according to media reports here.

The Turkish daily Hurriyet said Vyacheslav Trukhachev was shot dead in the Russian city of Tula by an unknown assailant.

Hurriyet, regarded as close to the government of Turkish Prime Minister Recep Erdogan, identified Trukhachev, deputy manager of the missile manufacturer KBP, as responsible for most weapons exports to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.

No claim of responsibility was issued for the killing of Trukhachev. But Syrian rebels have warned over the past four months that Russia could be targeted for its continued weapons shipments to Assad.

“Police have launched an investigation while his colleagues have called the event unexpected and mysterious,” Hurriyet said on Nov. 22.

KBP, based in Tula, has been producing and exporting a range of air defense systems. In October, air defense components flown in a Syrian Air passenger jet was intercepted over Turkey and seized by authorities.

Hurriyet said the 58-year-old Trukhachev was killed on “one of the biggest streets in Tula.” No additional details were reported.

[American Patriot]

Who would have done this?

/chuckles

[American Patriot]

wait "Who COULD have done this?"

Gosh, I have no for sure real idea, really!

[Malsua]

Eh, not sure why Israel would give a shit in Syria. Syria is too busy at the moment and isn't funneling weapons to it's proxy in Lebanon.

It's more likely to be rebels pissed off that the Russians are re-arming the Syrian government.

[Malsua]

Oh, wait, it said that in the article. Here I am, Mr bring information to the table guy, and it's already there. doh.

[American Patriot]

Eh, not sure why Israel would give a shit in Syria. Syria is too busy at the moment and isn't funneling weapons to it's proxy in Lebanon.

It's more likely to be rebels pissed off that the Russians are re-arming the Syrian government.

Yeah, they said: "No claim of responsibility was issued for the killing of Trukhachev. But Syrian rebels have warned over the past four months that Russia could be targeted for its continued weapons shipments to Assad."

But, in my book if Israel can off a couple of Russian weapons merchants, so much the better for disrupting arms to hezbola as well as Syria. Syria is no friend of Israel either. The longer the internal conflict is on-going in Syria, the longer Israel has to get some things in place.

[Ryan Ruck]

FNC has been reporting all day that Syria may be prepping chemical weapons for use.

[AGEUSAF]

I caught this today on the tube as well. I seen a statement had been made telling Assad don't do it.

I was wondering about him, it sounds like Damascus is getting closer to falling. I just can't see anyway out for this guy other than burning the whole house down. He can't say ok ok you guys win sorry no hard feelings?lol he is toast, strung up if he is lucky and if I was him and a total nut then I wouldn't think twice about using wmd as my parting gift.

[Ryan Ruck]

I think that is a very distinct possibility.

Even with Russia's backing of him, at some point they will see supporting him as untenable, quietly drop support, and then start backing a new ruler. They aren't about to lose their basing at Tartus but they aren't going to get shackled to an unpopular and rapidly failing leader like Assad. He uses chems and they will throw him under the bus so fast your head will spin.

It's the same game they play with NK. We're seeing that now with them "condemning" NK's upcoming launch.

[American Patriot]

I think, Ryan, that you will see the Russians take this guy out if he uses chemical weapons. Just... a feeling.

[American Patriot]

Syria is being warned.. by everyone about the use of chemical weapons against their own people.

And it's a distinct possibility they will use them.

Assad is believing (according to Ralph Peters) the Russians will "get him out".

I think they will just "get him" if he uses them.