Syria

[American Patriot]

U.N. rights team believes chemical weapons used in Syria





By Stephanie Nebehay
GENEVA | Tue Jun 4, 2013 9:19am EDT




(Reuters) - United Nations human rights investigators said on Tuesday they had "reasonable grounds" to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons had been used in Syria and warned that the shattered country was in "free-fall".


In their latest report, they said they had received allegations that Syrian government forces and rebels had used the banned weapons, but most testimony related to their use by state forces.


Increasing reports from the battlefield of the use of chemical weapons have sounded alarm bells in the West, lending urgency to a new diplomatic push to end the war. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said last week that the use of chemical weapons was unacceptable.


The U.N. commission said it examined four reported toxic attacks in March and April but could not determine which side was behind them.


"There are reasonable grounds to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals were used. It has not been possible, on the evidence available, to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator," Paulo Pinheiro, who chairs the U.N. commission of inquiry, told a news conference in Geneva.


"The witnesses that we have interviewed include victims, refugees who fled some areas, and medical staff," Pinheiro said, declining to be more specific for reasons of confidentiality.


President Bashar al-Assad's government and its opponents have accused each other of using chemical weapons.


Syria's ambassador, Faysal Khabbaz Hamoui, in a debate at the U.N. Human Rights Council on Tuesday, questioned the "neutrality and professionalism" of the panel.


Russian Ambassador Alexey Borodavkin called for sending U.N. experts to Khan al-Assal in the northern Aleppo province, where an alleged chemical weapon strike took place on March 19, one of the four cited by the inquiry.


"In this connection, we should recall that Damascus is ready to accept this group," he said.


A U.N. team of inspectors has so far been denied access to Syria and has been unable to establish whether chemical weapons have been used.


The U.N. rights team of more than 20 investigators conducted 430 interviews from January 15 to May 15 among refugees in neighboring countries and by Skype with people still in Syria.


But findings remained inconclusive and it was vital that a separate team of experts be given full access to Syria to collect samples from victims and sites of alleged attacks, the rights investigators said.


In any case, atrocities committed with conventional weapons far outweighed any casualties from the use of chemical agents, Pinheiro said, noting the absence of a large-scale toxic attack.

"SYRIA IN FREE-FALL"


"The war in Syria is a major catastrophe of our time," Pinheiro told the Geneva forum. "Syria is in free-fall.


"Brutality has become a tactic of war," he said.


At least 17 massacres were committed in the period under review, making a total of 30 since September, the report said.


Syrian leaders must be held accountable for directing a policy that includes besieging and bombing cities and executing civilians, the independent investigators said.


"The documented violations are consistent and widespread, evidence of a concerted policy implemented by the leaders of Syria's military and government," they said in their fifth report on the 26-month-old war that has killed more than 80,000.


Government forces and allied militia have committed war crimes including murder, torture and rape, the report said.


For the past two weeks, Syrian government forces have laid siege to the border town of Qusair where aid agencies say hundreds of wounded and other civilians are trapped in dire conditions.


Syrian rebels and allied foreign militants have murdered civilians as well as captured soldiers, often after "show trials" in an increasingly sectarian conflict, the report said.
"They continue to endanger the civilian population by positioning military objectives in civilian areas," it added.


However, war crimes by rebels, including murder, torture and hostage-taking, did not reach the intensity and scale of those committed by government forces and affiliated militia.


Syria's envoy Khabbaz Hamoui said the report was selective.


"The commission referred only casually to examples of the crimes perpetrated by the 'takfiri' (extremist) groups including extrajudicial executions, slaying of captives, tearing open the bodies of victims and eating out their guts. Some horrendous scenes that shocked the whole world," he told the talks.


The team called on the U.N. Security Council to ensure that those responsible for crimes face justice, including by possible referral of Syria to the International Criminal Court.


"Accountability will come," said Carla del Ponte, a former U.N. war crimes prosecutor and a member of the commission.

[BRVoice]

Civilian killed in mortar strike near Damascus Russian embassy

Published:

06.04.13, 15:47 / Israel News

A civilian was killed Tuesday by a mortar shell near the Russian embassy, located in the district of Mazraa in central Damascus, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.
"Five mortar shells landed in the vicinity of the Russian Embassy, killing one civilian and wounding a member of the security staff," said the NGO. (AFP)

[BRVoice]

North Korean officers join Assad's forces

Roi Kais

Published:

06.03.13, 17:43 / Israel News

Opposition claims Pyongyang is sending officers to aid Assad in Aleppo. Reports indicate continued upscale in Hezbollah participation in Syrian war, including terror group's fighters manning Syrian tanks in battle for Qusair

Roi Kais

A Syrian opposition human rights organization claimed Monday that officers from the North Korean army are aiding Bashar Assad's forces in their fight against the rebels in Aleppo. According to the organization, a few of Assad's civilian militia fighters revealed the presence of the North Korean officers in the war zones.
The Syrian regime has been claiming for a long time that among the rebels fighting it across the country there are many fighters from oversees, sent by "Syria's enemies" such as Saudi Arabia, Israel or the US. Assad no longer denies his army is aided by thousands of Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, who are assisting the Syrian army to ward off the rebels.

However, reports regarding North Korean officers in the field are relatively rare. In an interview to Asharq Al-Awsat, director of a Syrian human rights center, Rami Abed A-Rachman, said that the number of North Korean officers in Syria is unknown, although there are definitely between 11 and 15 Arabic speaking North Korean officers in Aleppo.

Abed A-Rachman, whose organization releases daily reports on the fighting in Syria since the civil war broke out more than two years ago, said that "the North Korean officers are spread throughout many fronts, including the Syrian Defense Ministry factories southeast of Aleppo and in the regime's forces centers in Aleppo." He claimed that they do not take part in the actual fighting, yet provide the Assad army with logistic support and construct operational plans. "They also supervise the regime's artillery in the region," he said.

This is not the first time links are made between Assad's regime and the North Korean regime, both of which – together with the Iranian regime – have been branded by former US President George W. Bush as members of the "axis of evil". According to foreign reports, North Korea aided Assad in constructing the nuclear reactor that Israel allegedly destroyed in an aerial strike in 2007.

The fierce battles of the rebels against Hezbollah fighters and Assad's forces in the strategically important town of Qusair rage on. Opposition officials said that in the Assad's forces intensified their attacks in order to regain control of the town.

According to the opposition, the humanitarian conditions in the region are getting worse, and Hezbollah and Assad's regime continue to send backup.

Hezbollah fighters man Syrian military's tanks

Meanwhile there has been an escalation in the participation of Hezbollah in the civil war in Syria, as troops affiliated with the Shiite militant group now operate tanks of Bashar Assad's regime army in their battles against insurgent near the rebel-held town of Qusair in western Syria. Arab sources told Ynet this represents a precedent for Hezbollah as it continues to boost its support of the embattled Syrian ruler.


Hezbollah fighters inside a Syrian tank (Photo: Reuters)

Rebel sources said thousands of Hezbollah fighters gathered outside Aleppo Sunday, which was confirmed by Hezbollah.

"Battle over Aleppo started on a small scale, and we are only now entering the game," a senior Hezbollah told The Washington Post speaking from Beirut. "We will go to their strongholds, where they think they are protected. They are going to collapse like a house of cards."

The growing tensions between Hezbollah and rebels trying to oust Assad are linked to a regime offensive against the insurgency forces that control Qusair. Hezbollah's involvement in the battle for control of the strategic town has exposed its growing role in the Syria conflict, prompting rebel threats to target Hezbollah's bases in Lebanon.

Opposition sources were quoted in the Arab press as saying they saw at least 15 additional tanks in the area since the beginning of the week, besides a new delivery of missiles sent by the Syrian military.

The tanks manned by Hezbollah men have not yet crossed the border to Lebanon. The fighting is monitored by the IDF, which regards the vicinities of Qusair as a major route of weapon transfer between Syria and Lebanon.

Yoav Zitun contributed to this report

[American Patriot]

Imagine that... North Koreans over in Syria.... How... predictable.

[American Patriot]

UN finds evidence of 'toxic chemicals' and a worsening war in Syria

A new UN report says some kind of chemical has probably been used on Syria's battlefield, but stopped short of saying what chemical or by whom.


By Whitney Eulich, Staff writer / June 4, 2013

• 

Paulo Pinheiro, chairperson of the UN commission of inquiry, speaks next to commission member Carla del Ponte (l.) during a news conference on the presentation of their latest report at the UN in Geneva Monday. United Nations human rights investigators said on Tuesday they had 'reasonable grounds' to believe that limited amounts of chemical weapons had been used in Syria.
Ruben Sprich/Reuters

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• A daily summary of global reports on security issues.

Whitney Eulich Latin America Editor
Whitney Eulich is the Monitor's Latin America editor, overseeing regional coverage for CSMonitor.com and the weekly magazine. She also curates the Latin America Monitor Blog.




Just a week after the EU decided to let its arms embargo on Syria lapse and as the international community seeks a political solution to the civil war, a United Nation’s human rights investigation warned of rising violence and found “reasonable grounds” to believe some toxic chemicals have been used.


"The conflict in Syria has reached new levels of brutality," the investigating commission said. "War crimes, crimes against humanity and gross human rights violations continue apace."


The 29-page report, presented in Geneva to the UN Human Rights Council, says that both the rebels and the regime of President Bashar al-Assad are exercising brutality.
Child fighters have been involved in combat, with nearly 90 killed, and extrajudicial murders and kidnappings have been on the rise, the report says.


However, “war crimes by rebels, including murder, torture and hostage-taking, did not reach the intensity and scale of those committed by government forces and affiliated militia,” Reuters reports.


RECOMMENDED: Briefing Chemical weapons 101: Six facts about sarin and Syria’s stockpile

“There is a strong element of retribution in the government’s approach, with civilians paying a price for ‘allowing’ armed groups to operate within their towns,” the report said.
Chemical weapons

The investigation documented abuses between Jan. 15 and May 15, 2013, with at least 17 massacres taking place during the 4-month review period. It also looked into four reported cases of chemical weapons use in March and April.


"There are reasonable grounds to believe that limited quantities of toxic chemicals were used. It has not been possible, on the evidence available, to determine the precise chemical agents used, their delivery systems or the perpetrator," said Paulo Pinheiro, who chairs the UN commission of inquiry.


President Obama has said for months that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be considered a “red line,” however the administration has stated there isn’t yet enough conclusive evidence, reports The Christian Science Monitor. In April, Obama's legislative affairs director Miguel E. Rodriquez wrote to Sens. John McCain and Carl Levin: "Intelligence assessments alone are not sufficient – only credible and corroborated facts that provide us with some degree of certainty will guide our decision-making, and strengthen our leadership of the international community."


It is unclear whether this most recent report will provide the levels of evidence required by the US administration, however, attention is still largely focused on co-organizing a peace summit with Russia in the coming weeks. A State Department spokesperson said on Thursday the US planned to move ahead with the conference, despite an interview given by President Assad on Lebanese TV where he announced the Russian delivery of sophisticated defense weapons.
'Future worst cases?'

Today’s report is the fifth released by the panel on the conflict. The investigating team conducted 430 in person interviews with refugees in countries neighboring Syria and with those still inside the country via Skype, reports Reuters. The findings were inconclusive as to which side of the conflict was responsible for any chemical attacks, and the need for access inside the country in order to collect samples was highlighted.


The Guardian reports that UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon created a team to investigate chemical attacks after the Syrian government reported an attack by rebels on March 19. However, the investigation was expected to look no further than that single incident in northern Aleppo. Syria has refused access to the team, which has insisted on a broader examination of chemical weapon use.


In an opinion pierce for the Washington Post today, Michael Gerson wrote that the “worst case scenario” for Syria seems to be taking a nosedive. “Future worst cases — involving loose chemical weapons, regional sectarian war, the fall of friendly governments — don’t require much imagination,” Mr. Gerson writes. “At some point…Syria’s downward spiral demands grammatical innovation. Most worst? Worstest?”

Syria has become a global proxy war, in which every other participant is more invested than the United States. Russia, Iran, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia — along with Hezbollah, al-Qaeda and now the Muslim Brotherhood — aid the forces that seem to serve their interests. U.S. support for the moderate opposition that began the Syrian revolution, in contrast, has been hesitant, late and restricted….


Secretary of State John Kerry’s Russian outreach has only complicated the situation. A return to the Geneva process is marginalizing the people we most want to help. After receiving inadequate support from the United States and taking a beating on the ground, the [Free Syrian Army] is being told to shape up and negotiate with Assad and his Russian allies, who are actively providing the means to destroy the rebellion. If the FSA acquiesced, it would be discredited. More Syrians — who generally have no interest in the return of the caliphate — would choose to fight under the jihadist black flag. It is a predicable calculation: better a radical than a lackey.


But the opposite might also be true. If the responsible Syrian opposition was more obviously effective — adequately armed and trained, in control of territory and the air above it, providing public services, building legitimacy — more Syrians might end their marriages of convenience with the jihadists. Syrian nationalism could find more responsible expression.


The problem is that, with the FSA’s prospects and morale in decline, an outside intervention now would need to be decisive to make a difference.

“Increased arm transfers hurt the prospect of a political settlement to the conflict, fuel the multiplication of armed actors at the national and regional levels and have devastating consequences for civilians,” the UN report said.


The conflict has claimed an estimated 80,000 lives since it began. Mr. Pinheiro, commission chair, said, “It’s an illusion that more weapons will tip the balance between the two parties. No one is winning.”

[BRVoice]

Battle for Damascus is over. Is Israel intelligence slow on Syrian war?

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 4, 2013, 11:25 AM (IDT)

When Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon informed a Knesset panel Monday, June 3, that Syrian rebels still occupied four Damascus districts, debkafile’s intelligence sources reported that the battle for the Syrian capital was all but over. Barring small pockets of resistance, Bashar Assad’s army had virtually regained control of the city in an epic victory. From those pockets, the rebels can’t do much more than fire sporadically. They can no longer launch raids, or pose threats to the city center, the airport or the big Syrian air base nearby.

The Russian and Iranian transports constantly bringing replenishments for keeping the Syrian army fighting can again land at Damascus airport after months of rebel siege.

The rebels fell back in Damascus after being outflanked in a pincer movement in Damascus’s eastern outskirts executed by the Syrian army’s 4th and 3rd Divisions and a “Fuji” commando unit . Most of the rebels were pushed outside the city.

debkafile’s military sources report that, as of Tuesday, June 4, Assad’s army controls all the capital’s road connections and its western districts. It has also cleared opposition forces out of areas west of Damascus through the Zabadni region and up to the Lebanese border.

To the northwest, Hizballah and Syrian units have tightened their siege on the rebels holding out in the northern sector of al Qusayr; other units have completed their takeover of the countryside around the town of Hama; and a third combined Syrian-Hizballah force has taken up positions around Aleppo.

Senior IDF officers criticized the defense minister’s briefing on Syria Monday to the Knesset Foreign and Defense Committee in which he estimated that Bashar Assad controlled only 40 percent of Syrian territory as misleading.

They said he had drawn on a flawed intelligence assessment and were concerned that the armed forces were acting on the basis of inaccurate intelligence. Erroneous assessments, they feared, must lead to faulty decision-making.

They cited two instances:

1. On May 5, the massive Israeli bombardment of Iranian weapons stored near Damascus for Hizballah, turned out a month later to have done more harm than good. It gave Bashar Assad a boost instead of weakening his resolve.

2. Israel has laid itself open to unpleasant surprises by its focused watch on military movements in Syria especially around Damascus to ascertain that advanced missiles and chemical weapons don’t reach Hizballah. Missed, for instance, was the major movement by Hizballah militia units towards the Syrian-Israeli border. Our military sources report a Hizballah force is currently deployed outside Deraa, capital of the southern Syrian province of Horan.

Reinforcements are streaming in from Lebanon. The Hizballah force and Syrian units are getting ready to move in on the rural Horan and reach the Israeli border nearby through the Syrian Golan.

Their coming offensive, which could be only days away, will find Israeli face to face for the first time with Hizballah units equipped with heavy arms and missiles on the move along the Syrian-Israeli border and manning positions opposite Israel’s Golan outposts and villages.

The early calculus that the Syrian battlefield would erode Hizballah’s strength held Israel back from obstructing the flow of Hizballah military strength into Syria. It has been proven wrong.

Instead of growing weaker, Iran’s Lebanese proxy is poised to open another warfront and force the IDF to adapt to a new military challenge from the Syrian Golan.

Unlike its previous wars against Israel, this time Hizballah will not confront Israel alone. On May 30, when the Syrian ruler spoke of “popular” demands to mount “resistance” operations against Israel from the Golan, he didn’t mention Hizballah because he was referring to demands coming from inside Syria.

[BRVoice]

Large US Marine force lands in Aqaba to deploy on Jordanian-Syrian border

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 5, 2013, 8:06 AM (IDT)

A large American military force disembarked Tuesday, June 4, at the southern Jordanian port of Aqaba - ready for deployment on the kingdom’s Syrian border, debkafile’s exclusive military sources report. The force made its way north along the Aqaba-Jerash-Ajilon mountain road bisecting Jordan from south to north, under heavy Jordanian military escort.

Our sources disclose that this American force numbers 1,000 troops, the largest to land in Jordan since the Syrian civil war erupted in March 2012. They are members of the 24th Marine Expeditionary Force carried aboard the USS Kearsage amphibious assault ship, which has been anchored off neighboring Israeli Eilat since mid-May. Upon landing, the marines took to the road in a convoy of armored vehicles including Hummers.

Washington and Amman have imposed a blackout on their arrival. The Pentagon has only let it be known that the annual joint US-Jordanian “Eager Lion 2013” military exercise is due to begin later in June and last two months, with the participation of US F-16 fighter jets and Patriot missile defense systems.

According to our US sources, the arrival of the US force in Jordan was not directly related to the regular exercise but decided on at an emergency meeting at the Pentagon on May 31, which was attended by top military and civilian Defense Department officials. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel, who is away from Washington, took part by video conference.

The meeting decided that the military situation evolving in Syria and threats it posed to Jordan – including widening evidence of chemical weapons use in Syria - were urgent enough to warrant the dispatch of extra American military strength to Jordan, over and above the contingents participating in the joint exercise. The Israeli Air Force will provide air cover for the force until the F-16 jets are in place for the drill.

The US Central Command spokesman Lt. Col. T.G. Taylor in a statement to the US media said only: “In order to enhance the defensive posture and capacity of Jordan, some of these assets may remain beyond the exercise at the request of the government of Jordan.”

That request, according to our sources, was for the US to leave behind when the exercise ended and the troops departed - not just some of the weapons systems but all of the equipment which arrived with the marines Wednesday, as well as the F-16 fighters and Patriot missiles.

There is no official word about Washington’s response to this request. However, the Obama administration is not expected to turn it down.

[American Patriot]

U.K., France Say Medical Samples From Syria Show Presence of Sarin

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June 5, 2013

Syrian loyalist troops take position during fighting with rebels in the city of Aleppo last month. The United Kingdom and France say they have evidence that sarin nerve agent has been used in the Syrian civil war (AP Photo/Syrian Arab News Agency).
The United Kingdom joined France on Tuesday in declaring that testing of bodily fluids secreted out of Syria has confirmed the presence of the nerve agent sarin, the London Guardian reported.
The biological samples were gathered from people injured in multiple apparent chemical weapons strikes in Syria, the British Foreign Office said. Testing took place at the Defense Ministry's Porton Down laboratory.
Paris has provided the results of its testing of Syrian medical samples to Ake Sellstrom, who is heading the U.N. task force assigned to probe allegations of chemical weapons use in the war against the Assad government, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.
He did not say whether Paris has determined who carried out the sarin attacks. Blood samples smuggled out of Syria and obtained by the French armed forces revealed that sarin was one ingredient in a complex "cocktail" of chemicals, according to the French broadcaster Europe 1.
The British government said there is a "growing body of limited but persuasive information" that suggests sarin has been used in Syria, the New York Times reported.
Fabius said the Bashar Assad regime has "undoubtedly" breached the "red line" laid down by France, the United States, and other Western nations on the use of weapons of mass destruction in the Syrian civil war, the Xinhua News Agency reported.
Washington, Paris, and London are in talks about the proper response to the apparent multiple chemical attacks, he said. "All options are on the table. That means either we decide not to react or we decide to react including by armed actions targeting the place where the gas is stored."
The Obama administration on Tuesday said it wants more comprehensive evidence of chemical warfare materials use in Syria, Xinhua separately reported. "We need to expand the evidence we have ... we need to have it corroborated before we make any decisions based on the clear violation that use of chemicals would represent by the Syrian regime," White House spokesman Jay Carney said to reporters.
U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel discussed the matter with Canadian, British, and French counterparts on Tuesday in Brussels, Belgium, an anonymous U.S. official told the Associated Press. The defense chiefs during their meeting did not agree on any concrete responses.
There remains no indication of NATO intervention in the civil war, AP reported on Wednesday.
On Wednesday in Geneva, U.N., U.S., and Russian officials were unable in a meeting to bridge differences surrounding their plans to convene an international peace conference to end the Syrian conflict, which has already killed in excess of 80,000 people, according to Reuters.
"The most difficult question is the circle of participants in the conference," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov was quoted by Interfax as saying. The conference will not be happening this month, as was earlier anticipated, he said.
"The whole issue is that the Syrian opposition, unlike the government, has not made a fundamental decision about its participation in this conference," Gatilov said.
The main Syrian opposition coalition has said it will not take part in the peace talks if Iran and Hezbollah are also at the conference.
Russia has yet to be moved by the "best evidence" presented to it by the United States of chemical weapons use by the Assad regime, unidentified U.S. officials told AP on Tuesday.

[BRVoice]

Pentagon official: Russian warships may be carrying weapons to Syria

By Barbara Starr

CNN has learned that U.S. intelligence agencies have identified three Russian amphibious warships in the eastern Mediterranean that are believed to be carrying weapons shipments that might be used to resupply the Syrian regime, according to a Pentagon official.
The official declined to be named due to the sensitive nature of the information.
The United States has been tracking the ships since they left Russian ports several days ago. U.S. satellites were able to see some indications of containers being loaded onto the ships. Although it's not confirmed, it's believed the ships may be carrying some components of the controversial Russian S-300 air defense missile system and other weapons for the regime.
The United States has been pressing the Russians for weeks to not deliver that system to Syria because of the threat it would pose by upgrading Syria's already robust air defense system. The United States believes it would give the Syrian government a much greater ability to target U.S., Israeli, NATO or other aircraft that may try to strike targets on the ground in the future.
The official said the United States did not see any military helicopters being loaded; it is believed the Syrians want to add the helicopters to their inventories.
The Russians have kept a regular naval presence in the eastern Mediterranean so they can move in and out of the port of Tartous, where they have facilities.
Several sensitive military assets are in the region this month as well. In the next two weeks, the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Eisenhower will also be in the region on a scheduled rotation as it returns to its home port on the East Coast. A U.S. Patriot missile battery and F-16s are heading to Jordan for a training exercise, though the Jordanians have asked for the Patriots to remain after the exercise concludes at the end of the month.

[Ryan Ruck]

Why am I not surprised...

[BRVoice]

Qusayr was a debacle for the West and Israel: Aftershocks in Lebanon, Golan and Gaza Strip
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 6, 2013, 11:28 AM (IDT)

The Syrian rebels’ defeat in the key town of al Qusayr, Wednesday, June 6, was also a major strategic debacle for the US, Israel and Western Europe, the price they paid for leaving allied Syrian-Hizballah troops orchestrated by Iranian officers a clear field to win the day. The Syrian-Hizballah machine is now ready to capitalize on its victory and roll into Aleppo and southern Syria to extinguish rebel resistance there too. Israel is next in its sights.

Five months ago, on February 26, an exclusive debkafile video report, entitled “Bashar Assad, Ali Khamenei, Vladimir Putin and Hassan Nasrallah Have Won the War," revealed how step by step Bashar Assad was turning the tide of war and recovering the initiative, backed by a broad alliance of Russia, Iran, Iraq, Syria and Hizballah.

This alliance is already at work building on its success - not just in the Syria conflict, but beyond its borders too.

Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has posted 20,000 troops on the Syrian border to seal it off against the passage of Sunni and al Qaeda reinforcements for the Syria rebels. Iraqi commandoes are preparing to launch raids against al Qaeda-linked forces in eastern Syria. The Nusra Front, for instance, appears to have vanished from the battlefield and keeping a low profile.

Syria’s half million Druzes, sheltering away from the conflict in their mountain villages on Jebel Druze in the south, were given an ultimatum by Hizballah to proclaim their loyalty to Bashar Assad or face attack.

Hizballah aggression against the Syrian Druzes would have major connotations for the community in Lebanon and its leader, Walid Jumblatt. On the other hand, if Syrian Druzes threw in their lot with the Assad regime, the Druzes of Lebanon would be forced to line up with Iran’s proxy. This realignment would counteract the Syrian rebels’ threat to strike Hizballah strongholds inside Lebanon. And these shifts would leave the Druze villagers on the Israeli Golan few options but to line up with the rest.

Unnoticed by Israel, the long arm of the Syrian war has reached deep into the Gaza Strip. Its Palestinian Hamas rulers lost no time in jumping on the winning bandwagon. A delegation is already in Tehran waiting to plead for a new military cooperation pact.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Hamas politburo chief Khaled Meshaal faced heavy pressure to turn away from their ties with Turkey and Qatar and renew the military pact Hamas signed with Iran and Hizballah in September 2012

The pressure came from Marwan Issa, deputy commander of Hamas’s military wing, the Ezz a-din al-Qassam Brigades - who fled the Gaza Strip after Israel’s Pillar of Defense operation against Hamas rockets, and stayed in Tehran ever since - and Mahmoud a-Zahar, who lost the politburo slot to Meshaal.

Thursday June 6, the Hamas military wing suddenly issued a declaration of allegiance to Iran and Hizballah.

Hamas is in desperate need of a new patron and even more of cash. Turkey and Qatar have cut off funds to the radical Palestinian movement and so its rulers, with the al Qusayr victory resounding strongly in their ears, turned back to Tehran and Hizballah to beg for funding to buy rockets.

This side-effect of the Syrian war and Hizballah’s successful role there is bad news for Israel. Back under the thumb of Iran and its proxy, Hamas is more than likely to scrap its ceasefire deal with Israel after nine months of rocket-free border calm, in its eagerness to rejoin the winning side of the Syrian war.

This would be a strategic slap in the face for Israel and the Obama administration, which helped broker the ceasefire last year, and a major hurdle in the path of US Secretary of State John Kerry and his hard work for reviving the Israeli-Palestinian peace track.

With two anti-Israel warfronts looming on the Golan and the Gaza Strip, no Palestinian Authority figure, including Mahmoud Abbas, would venture to sit down with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.

The Syrian-Hizballah victory in Qusayr exposed the hollowness of the US-European-Israeli posture of non-intervention in the Syrian conflict. While all three backed away from confirming the outbreak of chemical warfare in Syria, aside from empty threats, Moscow, Tehran and Baghdad managed to repair the inroads made on Assad’s military power by two and-a-quarter years of hard fighting, and fashion a combined Syrian-Hizballah fighting machine capable of crushing the Syrian uprising.

Having proved its mettle in an epic victory, the Syrian-Hizballah partnership confronts Israel, Jordan and the US forces posted there with plans to follow up in its success in two stages: First, to conquer Aleppo and southern Syria and clear them of rebels; second, to use the Golan as a jumping-off base to face Israel on the battlefield.

Already, their campaign to seize the town of Quneitra on the Syrian side of Golan has begun. The roar of gunfire and shells heard distinctly in Israel Thursday, June 6, told Israel’s war leaders in no uncertain terms that the war front against Hizballah had shifted from southern Lebanon to the Golan.

[BRVoice]

U.N. peacekeeping chief confirms Syria-Israel border incidents

PARIS | Thu Jun 6, 2013 6:43am EDT

(Reuters) - The United Nations' peacekeeping operations chief confirmed on Thursday there had been incidents including shooting on the Syrian-Israeli border.

Earlier, activists said rebels seized a U.N.-manned border crossing linking Israel and Syria. The crossing in a U.N.-patrolled demilitarized zone on the Golan Heights is the only passage between the two enemy countries and its capture could heighten Israeli security concerns over Syria's civil war.

"Yes there was shooting," Herve Ladsous told reporters during a visit to Paris.

"We are following events in the Golan Heights, which is a very sensitive region, with particularly close attention," he added, while not confirming that the crossing had been captured.

Ladsous said the 1,000-strong United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) had taken measures to ensure the safety of its personnel but stressed that its involvement was not called into doubt by the incidents.

Ladsous said the region had been "extremely confrontational" in the past year.

"We are doing everything we can to reduce risks. We have closed posts that were too exposed, reinforced our equipment and vehicles, and our activities are more static," he said.

(Reporting by John Irish; editing by Mark John)

[American Patriot]

I'm certainly not surprised at this. This is the way the Russians get around all the talk. They are doing.

We now have NO CHOICE but to blow up those ships. But we won't. Obama won't do shit. Israel however, might. And if they DO, then it's all on....

[BRVoice]

But if Israel attack those ships, because of the alliance that the US has with Israel, you will have to support them, if I understand correctly.

[American Patriot]

That's correct... by all rights, treaties etc, we would "have to support them". However, our President doesn't HAVE to, and Congress must "declare war" (President can't actually do that) so... well, it is pretty complicated these days.

[BRVoice]

Austria to pull peacekeepers from Golan ceasefire area

By JPOST.COM STAFF, REUTERS

Hours after opposition victory over Assad regime forces at Quneitra, media reports indicate that Syrian soldiers have taken back border crossing; IDF tells Golan farmers to keep away from border after mortar shell lands nearby.


UNDOF soldiers in Golan overlooking Syria Photo: REUTERS/Ronen Zvulun

Austria will withdraw its peacekeepers from the UN monitoring force on the Golan Heights given worsening fighting between Syrian government forces and rebels, the government said on Thursday.

Austrians account for about 380 of the 1,000-strong UN force monitoring a ceasefire between Syria and Israel, and their departure will deal a serious blow to the mission.

"Freedom of movement in the area de facto no longer exists. The uncontrolled and immediate danger to Austrian soldiers has risen to an unacceptable level," Austrian Chancellor Werner Faymann and his deputy Michael Spindelegger said in a joint statement.

It came hours after Syrian rebels seized a UN-manned border crossing linking Syria and Israel on Thursday. Israeli security sources later reported Syrian troops had retaken it after heavy fighting.

"This morning's developments show that a further delay (in pulling out soldiers) is no longer justifiable," the Austrian statement said.

Austria's defense ministry was in contact with the United Nations' department of peacekeeping operations "to create the conditions for an orderly withdrawal of Austrian peacekeepers", it added.

Earlier Thursday, battles raged between the Syrian army and opposition forces fighting to topple Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime in the UN-manned crossing between Syria and the Golan Heights.

Syrian rebels seized the area in the early morning hours, but Israeli security sources reported Syrian troops later retook it after heavy fighting.

The rarely used Quneitra crossing, in a UN-patrolled demilitarized zone on the Golan Heights, is the only transit point between Syrian and Israeli disengagement lines set in 1974. Battles for its control seemed likely to heighten Israeli security concerns stoked by Syria's civil war.

Several hours after the transit point was seized, Israeli security sources said the Syrian army had recaptured the area, and Syrian state television reported "the crossing is now safe". The Syrian Observatory said it was not clear who was in control.

Israel is worried that the Golan, which it captured from Syria in 1967, and where battles between the two enemies were again fought in 1973, will become a springboard for attacks on Israelis by jihadi fighters who are trying to topple Assad.

An Israeli military spokeswoman said the area leading to Quneitra had been closed and that two Syrians who were wounded in the fighting had been taken into Israel for treatment. She could not say whether they were rebels or army soldiers.

Israeli authorities have instructed their citizens to keep away from the border fence area, as heavy fighting continues between the warring parties.

The IDF filed a complaint to the UN over the Syrian army's presence in the ceasefire area, Israel Radio reported.

The head of the United Nations' peacekeeping operations Herve Ladsous confirmed there had been incidents on the Syrian-Israeli border, and added the 1,000-strong United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) had taken measures to ensure the safety of its personnel.

"We are doing everything we can to reduce risks. We have closed posts that were too exposed, reinforced our equipment and vehicles, and our activities are more static," he said.

Quneitra is significant since control over the crossing point is considered one of the more symbolic demonstrations of power exercised by the Damascus government.

Israeli military sources told Army Radio in recent weeks that a takeover of the Quneitra crossing by rebels would constitute a major turning point in Jerusalem’s attitude toward the conflict ravaging its neighbor to the northeast.

Earlier on Thursday, a mortar shell landed at a United Nations base in Quneitra, just a few hundred meters from the border fence separating Israel and Syria, according to media reports Thursday.

In addition, authorities have banned civilians from entering Kibbutz Ein Zivan, a communal settlement that lies hundreds of meters away from the border fence, according to Israel Radio.

According to news reports, the military has also sealed off the section of Route 98 which extends from Aloni Habashan to Kibbutz Ein Zivan.

Alex Shalom, an Israeli farmer from the Golan Heights, said he saw heavy smoke rising from the crossing and Israeli military ambulances evacuating people from the site.

[BRVoice]

Gregor Peter‏@L0gg0l11 min
HEAVY GUNFIRE AND TANK FIRE HEARD AT ISRAELI-SYRIAN BORDER CROSSING OF QUNETIRA -- @eliselabottcnn


Gregor Peter‏@L0gg0l36 min
ISRAELI MILITARY IN HIGH STATE OF ALERT, CLOSES PART OF NORTHERN BORDER IN RESPONSE TO GOLAN FIGHTING https://twitter.com/L0gg0l


FxMacro ‏@fxmacro 16m
*TURKEY ARMY DEPLOYS TANKS, AMBULANCES ON SYRIAN BORDER:ANATOLIA


#BreakingNews: Two UN peacekeepers injured in Golan shelling: UN spokesman


#Israel Radio reports in light of current realities, the #IDF will slightly increase its presence in the #Golan Heights for the time being


Shooters were hiding among group of refugees trying to cross over into Turkey http://www.timesofisrael.com/turkish...s-border-fire/

[American Patriot]

So they are shooting at Israelis then?

[BRVoice]

Russian peacekeepers!! LOL

Putin offers Russian troops in lieu of Austrian Golan peacekeepers

DEBKAfile Exclusive Report June 7, 2013, 6:42 PM (IDT)

Just 24 hours after Austria decided to withdraw its 380-strong contingent from the UN force policing the Golan separation zone, President Vladimir Putin stepped forward Friday, June 7, with an offer of a Russian force to take its place on the highly sensitive Syrian-Israeli border.

Thursday, two peacekeepers were injured by falling ordnance from a battle between Syrian and rebel troops around Quneitra.

debkafile: The Russian president saw his opportunity to pluck the fruits of Moscow’s success in backing the Syrian-Hizballah forces’ advances in major battles against rebels, notably at al Qusayr, and position Russian troops face to face with the Israeli army. They would constitute a barrier against any military intervention being mounted against the Assad regime from Israel.

UN Deputy Spokesman Farhan Hak said: "The UN would welcome Russia’s contribution to peacekeeping efforts in the region."

Our military and intelligence sources doubt whether the Israeli government will be enthusiastic about Russian troops policing the Golan sector separating Israeli and Syrian forces. Jerusalem may be expected to seek advice from Washington in order to get the Russian contribution disqualified on the grounds that Moscow can hardly claim to be a neutral party when it is so heavily committed militarily to one side of the Syrian conflict.

The Obama administration’s reaction to Putin’s move is hard to predict because a rejection could torpedo the fading prospects of the US-Russian-sponsored Geneva conference for a political solution of the Syrian war - for which no date has yet been set. The Russian president appears to be aiming at having Russian troops posted on Syrian soil under the US flag when – and if - the conference ever gets off the ground.

What Putin said was this: “In view of the complicated situation which is currently unfolding on the Golan Heights, we could replace the Austrian peacekeeping contingent, which is withdrawing from this region, on the disengagement line between Israeli troops and the Syrian army.”

The Russian president made no mention of the presence of Syrian rebels on the Golan.

Israel has four major concerns in this matter:

1. The presence of Russian troops on the Syrian side of the Golan would inhibit Israeli cross-border military action should it become necessary for its security.

2. It would upset the relations the IDF has developed with certain Syrian rebel units, manifested by their war wounded receiving treatment at the military field hospital set up especially at the Tel Hazaka post on the Golan and transferred in severe case to hospitals in Haifa and Safed.
Last week, US military released data with pictures showing the movements of Israeli special forces in and out of Syria.

3. The possibility of Russian officers in blue helmets interfering with Israeli military movements on the Israeli side of the Golan as well cannot be ruled out.

4. Some of the Russian contingent may be assigned to gather intelligence on Israeli military movements in the north of the country. There is no way to stop them handing those secrets over to the Syrian and Hizballah.

[American Patriot]

lol

good one