Syria

[Malsua]

Pencil necked geek is dead.

Now watch the country go up in flames...even more than it has been.

[Ryan Ruck]

[Ryan Ruck]

I know the piece vector posted was saying it's "confirmed" Assad is dead but I'm not really seeing many other news agencies jumping on that bandwagon.

[Malsua]

Well, I have confirmed that it's unconfirmed.

[vector7]

I think your right...

CIA airlifting arms to Syrian jihadists, training others in Jordan

Posted on March 26, 2013 by creeping

From the “they think we’re stupid” department (and check out the source):



The United States is training secular Syrian fighters in Jordan in a bid to bolster forces battling President Bashar Assad’s regime and stem the influence of Islamist radicals among the country’s persistently splintered opposition, American and foreign officials said.

The training has been conducted for several months now in an unspecified location, concentrating largely on Sunnis and tribal Bedouins who formerly served as members of the Syrian army, officials told The Associated Press. The forces aren’t members of the leading rebel group, the Free Syrian Army, which Washington and others fear may be increasingly coming under the sway of extremist militia groups, including some linked to al-Qaida, they said.

Could it be on the Jordanian border where Obama sent troops last year and where arms are being flown into (see below)?

The operation is being run by U.S. intelligence and is ongoing, officials said, but those in Washington stressed that the U.S. is providing only nonlethal aid at this point.

Shocking, we know. via Arms Airlift to Syrian Rebels Expands, With C.I.A. Aid – NYTimes.com.

With help from the C.I.A., Arab governments and Turkey have sharply increased their military aid to Syria’s opposition fighters in recent months, expanding a secret airlift of arms and equipment for the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad, according to air traffic data, interviews with officials in several countries and the accounts of rebel commanders.

The airlift, which began on a small scale in early 2012 and continued intermittently through last fall, expanded into a steady and much heavier flow late last year, the data shows. It has grown to include more than 160 military cargo flights by Jordanian, Saudi and Qatari military-style cargo planes landing at Esenboga Airport near Ankara, and, to a lesser degree, at other Turkish and Jordanian airports.

As it evolved, the airlift correlated with shifts in the war within Syria, as rebels drove Syria’s army from territory by the middle of last year. And even as the Obama administration has publicly refused to give more than “nonlethal” aid to the rebels, the involvement of the C.I.A. in the arms shipments — albeit mostly in a consultative role, American officials say — has shown that the United States is more willing to help its Arab allies support the lethal side of the civil war.

Most of the cargo flights have occurred since November, after the presidential election in the United States…

Funny, the NYT reported on the gun-running to jihadis in August 2012, well before the elections. Then scrubbed it.

“A conservative estimate of the payload of these flights would be 3,500 tons of military equipment,” said Hugh Griffiths, of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute, who monitors illicit arms transfers.

“The intensity and frequency of these flights,” he added, are “suggestive of a well-planned and coordinated clandestine military logistics operation.”

Simultaneously, arms and equipment were being purchased by Saudi Arabia in Croatia and flown to Jordan on Jordanian cargo planes for rebels working in southern Syria…
Coincidence? Obama sent US forces to protect Jordan. Who knew he meant protect the shipment of arms.

And check this out, while Obama and Congress are busy using your tax dollars to fund and arm jihadists in Syria, Syria chemical weapons: finger pointed at jihadists.
At what point do military brass get fed up with unlawful orders that do nothing to protect American citizens?

[vector7]

Look at the new toys...


OMG! Syrian Rebels Have an AX50! OMG!

Posted on April 4, 2013 by Robert Farago




“The British-made AS-50, accurate from a distance of 20 football fields, is made for British Special Forces and has been used by Navy SEALs,” foxnew.com reports. Yes, well, I’m not sure I could hit the broadside of a barn at 2000 yards with Accuracy International’s .50 BMG bad boy, never mind a person or a vehicle. Especially if it was moving. Still, nice piece. If I was fighting government troops, I wouldn’t say no (as the Brits are wont to say). So what’s the problem? “The video, showing jihadist rebels of the ‘Descendents [sic] of the Prophet Brigade‘ firing one of the world’s most effective sniper rifles, should be cause for alarm,” said David Reaboi, of the Washington-based Center for Security Policy . . .


“We don’t know who has been supplying this group (or the myriad others) with these weapons but, given the jihadist ideology of these groups, it’s only a matter of time until they’re turned on Americans or our allies and interests.”


So I’m guessing we supplied the $10k (retail) Accuracy International rifle in some roundabout or direct way, just as we supplied Saddam Hussein with weaponry for the dictator’s conflict with Iran. No?

The Free Syrian Army has been receiving weapons from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and Turkey – all close allies of the U.S. But the U.S. has repeatedly stated that it has sent no weapons to the opposition forces.

Directly. Sent no weapons to the opposition forces directly. Because that would be wrong!


Back in the real world, one wonders when someone’s going to make the connection between the Benghazi attack and U.S. arms smuggling to Syria. Which is outlawed by the new U.N. Small Arm Treaty (kinda sorta). Which is supported by the Obama Administration.


Funny old world innit?

[Ryan Ruck]

And I bet they got that shit free courtesy of my tax dollars!

[BRVoice]

Syria's Nusra rebels say support Qaeda's Zawahri

By Mariam Karouny
BEIRUT | Wed Apr 10, 2013 2:14pm EDT



(Reuters) - Syria's rebel al-Nusra Front, one of the most effective forces fighting President Bashar al-Assad, pledged allegiance to al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri in an audio recording posted on the Internet on Wednesday.

Abu Mohammad al-Golani also appeared to distance his group from a recently announced merger with al Qaeda's Iraq branch.

The group's allegiance to Zawahri would trouble Western nations which support the revolt against Assad and will dismay Syrian moderates who want a civil state but fear the rise of extreme Islamist militancy.

"The sons of Nusra Front renew their pledge (of allegiance) to the Sheikh of Jihad Ayman al-Zawahri and declare obedience," Golani said in the recording.

Golani's statement came a day after the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, said his group and the Nusra Front would operate under a united leadership called the Islamic State of Iraq and Levant.

Golani said that his group was not consulted before that announcement and he had first heard about it through the media.

Golani said that while the Nusra Front had received assistance from the Islamic State of Iraq, his group would continue operating under its own banner, with loyalty to Zawahri.

"The banner of the Front will remain the same, nothing will change about it even though we are proud of the banner of the (Islamic) State and of those who carry it," he said.

The militant Islamist element of the Syrian conflict poses a quandary for Western powers and their Arab allies, which favor Assad's overthrow but are alarmed at the growing power of Sunni Muslim jihadi fighters whose fiercely anti-Shi'ite ideology has fuelled sectarian tensions in the Middle East.


PRIORITY

Golani said that Nusra in Syria will remain "in debt" to the help received from the Iraqi group which he said helped in the formation of Nusra.

Rebels familiar with Nusra's thinking say the group seems to have learned from the experience of its kindred Iraqi group which became powerful in the western province of Anbar after the U.S.-led invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein in 2003.

But its practice of an extreme interpretation of Islam alienated people and residents of Anbar later drove them out.

A Nusra fighter said the group had been surprised by the announcement from the Iraqi wing, which he said had not been coordinated and that an explanation from Baghdadi was awaited.

"Our priority at the moment is unity inside Syria," rather than merging with the Iraqis, he said.

Some Islamists said the main import of the audio statement was not the support for Zawahri, which they said had always been the case, but the response to Baghdadi.

"This statement came just to clarify the statement attributed to al-Baghdadi, God protect him, in which it was announced the formation of the Islamic state, something that did not really happen," a fighter with links to al-Nusra told Reuters.

"Nusra will remain as it is with allegiance to Sheikh Zawahri."

(Editing by Michael Roddy)

[Ryan Ruck]

FNC reporting SecState Hagel has said the US has evidence that Syria has used chemical weapons.

[BRVoice]

Alert! This is a RANT - be aware!


The so called "rebels" in Syria are nothing more than Al-Qaeda. If the US government are helping organizations like that they don't deserve the title of 'American Government'. Obama should go to Syria and overthrown Assad himself if he feels so confortable in doing it so.

It's ridiculous, it's a fucking farse the world in that we all are living today.

I'd like to say something more.

Everybody here in this forum KNOWS that Putin draw a Red Line on Syria. It's unbelievable that the world will risk a global war for a bunch of goddamn arabs in Syria.

The World is so sick that I want to puke.


Rant off

[American Patriot]

Word is that they just announced that the government used chemical weapons on the rebels....

So.... where does that put the world now I wonder?

[BRVoice]

I will say to you Rick. It put the world to the brink of HELL.

[American Patriot]

I suspect we are already on that brink. I just keep saying to myself "Make it to the end of June or July and get the house sold before that...."

After that, all bets are off.

Honestly, I expected something significant in March, then again in April. The bombing in April in Boston WAS significant and it certainly has made a dent in the news cycle - but perhaps it wasn't well planned, the "others" in the "cell" didn't do what they were supposed to do and have gone in hiding... I just don't know.

[BRVoice]

Better yet the world is VERY near a war. Not some squirmish but REAL WAR. War like no other in the history of the world. It will be a bloodbath. Not only in Syria but in Iran, North Korea, India, Taiwan, Israel, Lebanon, Caucasus, former Yugoslavia, etc.

Today, in the world, EVIL is king. The Golden Rule is DEAD a long time ago. Nobody respect anyone anymore. It's like a road to an end that nobody of us want.

I think the Mad Max scenario is a real possibility.

[BRVoice]

Hagel: US believes Syrian gov't used some chemical weapons

By REUTERS

04/25/2013 18:39







Selecione o idioma​▼



US secretary of defense says US intelligence community believes sarin gas used on small scale by Assad; White House adds that intel assessments not enough, corroborated facts needed; UK also says sarin used in Syria.

Chuck Hagel speaks in Islamabad, April 13, 2006 Photo: REUTERS/Mian Kursheed
US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel on Thursday said the US intelligence community believes the Syrian government has used sarin gas on a small scale against rebels trying to overthrow the government of Bashar Assad.
"This morning the White House delivered a letter to several members of Congress on the topic of chemical weapons use in Syria. The letter ... states that the US intelligence community assesses with some degree of varying confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria," Hagel told reporters traveling with him. He said it was sarin gas.
Related:

• Report: Soil sample confirms WMD use in Syria
  
• For Obama, proof of Syria WMDs hard to find

However, the White House stated that US Intelligence assessments on chemical weapons are not enough.
"Given the stakes involved, and what we have learned from our own recent experiences, intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient - only credible and corroborated facts that provide us with some degree of certainty will guide our decision-making," Miguel Rodriguez, White House director of the office of legislative affairs, said in a letter to lawmakers. The White House added that the US is prepared for all contingencies on Syria to respond to any confirmed use of chemical weapons.
Shortly after the US announcement, Britain's Foreign Office said on Thursday it had information showing chemical weapon use in Syria, and called on Assad to cooperate with international bodies to prove he had not sanctioned their use.
"We have limited but persuasive information from various sources showing chemical weapon use in Syria, including sarin. This is extremely concerning. Use of chemical weapons is a war crime," a Foreign Office spokesman said in a statement.
Hagel's comments came after he said on Wednesday the US effort to determine whether Syria has used chemical weapons is a "serious business" that cannot be decided in a rush just because several countries believe evidence supports that conclusion.
"Suspicions are one thing, evidence is another," Hagel told reporters as he wrapped up a visit to Egypt that included talks about Syria and other regional issues.

"I think we have to be very careful here before we make any conclusions (and) draw any conclusions based on real intelligence. That's not at all questioning other nations' intelligence. But the United States relies on its own intelligence."
The United States has warned that any chemical weapons use by Syria, now convulsed by civil war, would cross a "red line" that would trigger some unspecified response.
Hagel rejected suggestions the United States was undermining its credibility by saying it was continuing to assess the issue, even as France, Britain and Israel have concluded evidence suggests chemical arms have been used in Syria's conflict.
A top Israeli military intelligence officer said on Tuesday that evidence supported the conclusion Syrian government forces had used chemical weapons - probably sarin - several times against rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad.
The officer's remarks came in the final moments of a three-day visit by Hagel to Israel.
Hagel, who had not previously commented on the Israeli report, said that while he had discussed the Syrian conflict and chemical weapons with Israeli leaders, he had not been given the findings cited by the intelligence officer.
"When I was in Israel they did not give me that assessment. I guess it wasn't complete so I haven't seen the specifics, haven't talked to any Israeli officials, nor have I talked to any of our intelligence officials specifically about it."

[BRVoice]

IAF shoots down drone from Lebanon off Haifa

By YAAKOV LAPPIN, JPOST.COM STAFF
04/25/2013 16:24







Selecione o idioma​▼



F-16 shoots down vessel over Mediterranean; not clear whether drone was armed; Hezbollah denies having sent UAV to Israel.

F-16 fighter jet in flight Photo: REUTERS
The Israeli Air Force shot down a drone over the Mediterranean Sea on Thursday off the coast of Haifa which had flown south from Lebanon. The drone is believed to have been sent by Hezbollah, however the Shi'ite organization denied having sent the unmanned aerial vehicle to Israel.
The drone was picked up by Israeli air defenses shortly after 1 p.m., and F-16 aircraft and combat helicopters were scrambled to intercept it.
Related:

• 'UAV flight exposes weakness in Israeli air defense'
  
• Hezbollah confirms it sent drone downed in Israel

Simultaneously, drama unfolded in the skies of northern Israel, as an Air Force helicopter carrying Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on a visit to a Druse village in the western Galillee was forced to land after pilots were informed of the drone.
The hostile craft flew southwards along the Lebanese coastline when it came under the observation of the IAF.
As it flew around eight kilometers off the coast of Haifa, IAF Chief Maj.-Gen. Amir Eshel gave the order to destroy the drone, and an F-16 dispatched a missile, blowing up its target at an altitude of six thousand feet, IDF spokesman Brig.-Gen. Yoav Mordechai said.
It was not immediately clear whether the drone was armed or not. The IDF was searching for the remains of the drone in the Mediterranean.
The Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah said on Thursday it did not send a drone into Israeli airspace, hours after Israel said it had shot down a drone from Lebanon.
"Hezbollah denies that it has sent any surveillance plane towards the occupied Palestinian land," a statement by the Iranian-backed armed Muslim Shi'ite group said.
Asked whether Hezbollah was behind the incident, an IDF spokesman said an investigation was under way.
After the IAF shot sown the drone, Prime Minister Netanyahu said that "Israel is prepared to deal with any threat posed from Syria or Lebanon in the air, land or sea."
He added that he views "with utmost severity the attempt to breach our borders. We will do what it takes to defend our citizens."
Netanyahu made the comments during a tour of the Druse village of Kfar Julis.
The incursion marked the second such violation of Israeli airspace in the past six months. The IAF shot down a drone sent from Lebanon by Hezbollah over the Negev in October 2012. The drone did not carry explosives and likely had been dispatched on an intelligence- gathering mission, as well as to test Israel’s air defenses.
Reuters contributed to this report.

[BRVoice]

You are right Rick we are in the brink of hell for a long time.

I don't know if you have saw the movie 'Countdown for Looking Glass' of 1984. It's very ominous and it felt so real...

[BRVoice]

White House official: If a determination is reached that a 'red line' on chemical weapons use in Syria is crossed, US will consult with allies on next steps - @Reuters

12 mins ago by editor

[BRVoice]

'Red line' _ US says Syria used chemical weapons

By JULIE PACE
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON —
U.S. intelligence has concluded with "varying degrees of confidence," that the Syrian government has twice used chemical weapons in its fierce civil war, the White House and other top administration officials said Thursday.
However, officials also said more definitive proof was needed and the U.S. was not ready to escalate its involvement in Syria beyond non-lethal aid, despite President Barack Obama's repeated public assertions that Syria's use of chemical weapons, or the transfer of its stockpiles to a terrorist group, would cross a "red line."
The White House disclosed the new intelligence Thursday in letters to two senators, and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, traveling in Abu Dhabi, also discussed it with reporters. The letters were sent in response to questions from members of Congress who are eager for the administration to arm the rebels or get involved militarily.
The Syrian civil war has dragged on for more than two years, with an estimated 70,000 dead. In addition to members of Congress, Leon Panetta and Hillary Rodham Clinton, as secretaries of defense and state, have urged Obama to increase U.S. involvement.
"Our intelligence community does assess, with varying degrees of confidence, that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically, the chemical agent sarin," the White House said in its letters, which were signed by Obama's legislative director, Miguel Rodriguez.
Shortly after the letters were made public, Secretary of State John Kerry said on Capitol Hill that there were two instances of chemical weapons use.
It was not immediately clear what quantity of weapons might have been used, or when or what casualties might have resulted. Hagel said many of those details were classified.
Sarin is an odorless nerve agent that can be used as a gas or a liquid, poisoning people when they breathe it, absorb it through their skin or eyes, or take it in through food or water. In large doses, sarin can cause convulsions, paralysis and death. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people usually recover from small doses, which may cause confusion, drooling, excessive sweating, nausea and vomiting.
The Aum Shinrikyo cult used sarin in attacks in the Tokyo subway system in 1995 that killed 12 people and sickened thousands.
Obama has said the use of chemical weapons would be a "game-changer" in the U.S. position on intervening in the Syrian civil war, and the letter to Congress reiterated that the use or transfer of such weapons in Syria was a "red line for the United States." However, officials quickly made clear that a stepped up U.S. response was not imminent.
A senior defense official said the White House letter was not an "automatic trigger" for policy decisions on the use of military force. The official alluded to past instances of policy decisions that were based on what turned out to be flawed intelligence, such as the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq after concluding that Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear weapons.
Lawmakers from both parties sounded less than patient in this case.
Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, a member of the Democratic leadership, was asked what should be done about the crossing of what the administration has called a red line. He said, "That's up to the commander in chief, but something has to be done."
And Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said, "I think it's pretty obvious that that red line has been crossed. Now I hope the administration will consider what we have been recommending now for over two years of this bloodletting and massacre and that is to provide a safe area for the opposition to operate, to establish a no-fly zone and provide weapons to people in the resistance who we trust."
The White House said the current intelligence assessments are based in part on "physiological samples." Officials wouldn't say specifically what information they are lacking in order to conclusively determine that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government used chemical weapons.
However, the White House letters emphasized a need for the completion of a stalled U.N. investigation.
But it's unclear whether U.N. inspectors will ever be able to conduct a full investigation in areas where there is the most evidence of chemical weapons use. The Syrian government has so far refused to allow the U.N. experts to go anywhere but Khan al-Assal, where Assad's government maintains the rebels used the deadly agents.
A senior administration official said the U.S. was consulting with allies and looking for other ways to confirm the intelligence assessments.
The officials commented only on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak publicly.
Until Thursday, the U.S. had resisted joining a growing number of allied nations that claim to have evidence that Syrian leader Assad's government has deployed chemical weapons.
Last month, British and French ambassadors to the United Nations told Secretary General Ban Ki-moon that the government used chemical weapons near Aleppo, in Homs and possibly in the capital of Damascus. Pressure mounted on the U.S. this week when two key allies in the Middle East — Israel and Qatar — also said there was evidence that Assad had used chemical weapons.
Following the U.S. disclosure, NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said, "There would doubtlessly be a very strong reaction from the international community if there were evidence that chemical weapons had been used."
The White House, in its letters to Capitol Hill, said that "because the president takes this issue so seriously, we have an obligation to fully investigate any and all evidence of chemical weapons use within Syria."
The letters were sent to McCain and to Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich.
The letters also said the U.S. believes the use of chemical weapons "originated with the Assad regime." That is consistent with the Obama administration's assertion that the Syrian rebels do not have access to the country's stockpiles.
___
Associated Press writers Donna Cassata, Lara Jakes, Bradley Klapper and Lauran Neergaard contributed to this report. Burns reported from Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Copyright The Associated Press

[American Patriot]

We can only do what we can do as civilians and citizens; prepare as we always recommend, get ready for the worst thing possible and hope for the best.

Make sure there is food, water and shelter for you and your family, weapons if you can to protect yourselves. Be prepared for nukes to fall on cities in America and Europe and fall out to follow in the days and weeks to come.

Other than that, you hope they don't land on YOUR head.

In my case... I'm going to be atoms circling the globe in the prevailing winds if it happens here...