The Syrian Crisis

[nrupatunga]

Kerry: US to double non-lethal aid to Syrian opposition

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday that the United States would double its non-lethal aid to opposition forces in Syria to $250 million and that foreign backers had agreed to channel all future assistance through the rebels' Supreme Military Council.

He said the United States would work with the Syrian opposition to determine how the money would be spent and added that Washington would also provide nearly $25 million in additional food aid.

 

[rock127]

US plans to Invade Syria via Jordan with 20,000 soldiers

Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey (L) and Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel

US plans to Invade Syria via Jordan with 20,000 soldiers

The US military is deploying more forces to Jordan as part of a plan to dispatch 20,000 more soldiers there in a bid to invade Syria under the pretext of securing the country's chemical weapon arsenals.

The Pentagon is sending nearly 200 troops from the 1st Armored Division to establish a "small headquarters" near Jordan's border with Syria and plan potential military operations, "including a rapid buildup of American forces if the White House decides intervention is necessary," The Los Angeles Times reports on Thursday, citing 'senior US officials.'

The move marks the first deployment that American military officials have "explicitly described as a possible step toward direct military involvement in Syria," the daily adds.The first contingent of US forces is "likely to arrive in Jordan this month," the report says citing military officials, but "most will go in May" and will be based at a Jordanian military installation.

The Pentagon, the report adds, "has also made plans to expand the force to 20,000 or more if necessary, including bringing in special operations teams to find and secure Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles, US air defense units to guard Jordan's airspace, and conventional military units capable of moving into Syria if necessary."

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel revealed the military deployment Wednesday in a testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, but "also made clear" that he and US President Barack Obama "remained deeply wary of intervening in Syria just as US forces are trying to withdraw from 12 years of war in Afghanistan," according to the report.

This is while the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff Army Gen. Martin Dempsey warned at the same Senate committee hearing that sending American troops to Syria could have 'unanticipated consequences.'

"As I sit here today, Senator, I do not see the introduction of military force would produce the outcome we seek," Dempsey said. "I don't think it should be left unaddressed, let me be clear about that. But the introduction of military power right now certainly has the possibility of making the situation worse."

This while Dempsey supported a US military intervention in Syria in Fall of 2012, along with then CIA Director David Petraeus, previous Pentagon Chief Leon Panetta and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton.

According to the report, Hagel is scheduled to visit the Middle East next week, which will include stops in major backers of the anti-Damascus military bids Israel, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, United Arab Emirates and Egypt. The entire trip is expected to focus on Syria.

 

[p2prada]

Re: US plans to Invade Syria via Jordan with 20,000 soldiers

From an Iranian paper...

 

[nrupatunga]

Israel: Syria has used chemical weapons, victims seen 'foaming from the mouth'

Syrian government forces have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war, the Israeli military's top intelligence analyst said on Tuesday, citing photographic evidence of people "foaming from the mouth."

If the claim by Brigadier-General Itai Brun is confirmed, it would mean Syria's President Bashar Assad has crossed what the State Department has previously described as a red line that would trigger some form of U.S. response.

Responding to Brun's comments, Pentagon Press Secretary George Little said in a written statement that the United States "continues to assess reports of chemical weapons use in Syria."

On Monday, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said the use of chemical weapons by Assad's forces would be a "game changer" and the United States and Israel "have options for all contingencies," Reuters reported.

Hagel met Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem on Tuesday, the news service said, a day after flying in an Israeli military helicopter over the occupied Golan Heights

 

[SajeevJino]

Kidnapped Syrian bishops still missing​

Two Syrian bishops kidnapped by gunmen on Monday are still missing, church sources in Damascus and Aleppo said on Wednesday, contradicting a report that the men had been freed.

A source at the Syriac Orthodox Archdiocese of Aleppo said the bishops had not been released and he was unaware of any contact with their abductors. At the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate in Damascus, a source also said there was no indication they had been freed.

Greek Orthodox archbishop Paul Yazigi and Syriac Orthodox archbishop Yohanna Ibrahim were seized near the northern commercial and industrial hub of Aleppo, which is contested by rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad.

Authorities blamed the abduction on a "terrorist group", the label they usually give to anti-Assad rebels, but opposition fighters in the province denied they had kidnapped the two and said they were working for their release and trying to find out who had taken them.

'Kidnapped Syrian bishops still missing' | JPost | Israel News

 

[SajeevJino]

Lawmakers demand 'action' in Syria after intel confirms chemical weapons use​

Top-ranking lawmakers on both sides of the aisle declared Thursday that the "red line" in Syria has been crossed, calling for "strong" U.S. and international intervention after administration officials revealed the intelligence community believes chemical weapons were used.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., and Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate intelligence committee, were among those urging swift action.

McCain, who has long called for more involvement in Syria, voiced concern that the administration would use "caveats" to avoid acting on the new intelligence. He said America's enemies are paying "close attention" to whether the U.S. follows through, as the White House signaled it wanted to see more proof before responding to the new information.

"I worry that the president and the administration will use these caveats as an excuse not to act right away or act at all," McCain told Fox News. "The president clearly stated that it was a red line and that it couldn't be crossed without the United States taking vigorous action."

He called for the U.S. to help establish a no-fly zone and "safe zone" in Syria, as well as provide weapons to the "right people."

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said U.S. intelligence determined with varying degrees of confidence that "the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria, specifically the chemical agent sarin."

Secretary of State John Kerry further confirmed that there were two documented instances of chemical weapons use.

Lawmakers demand 'action' in Syria after intel confirms chemical weapons use | Fox News

 

[nrupatunga]

Now that white house has confirmed that chemical weapons were used and hence the " red line" of obama has been breached. What is the next action of POTUS?? If not an iraq will nato do a libya in syria??

 

[SajeevJino]

Now that white house has confirmed that chemical weapons were used and hence the " red line" of obama has been breached. What is the next action of POTUS?? If not an iraq will nato do a libya in syria??

Me also waiting for the Action Episode

 

[rock127]

So when is US invading Syria since it was waiting for long time for the reports of "Chemical Weapon use".

 

[nrupatunga]

UK downplays chance of military action in Syria

Oh what is this, nato chickening out Many thought that there would be

------------------------------------------------
Arrey, qatar, saudis evil alawis are gassing out sunni arabs, what are you doing sitting silently. Bring out the khalid ibn walid to capture levant once again for you.

 

[Armand2REP]

What is this? UK backing out already... so much for allies. France will have to do it all again. Levant is historically French, so we should reclaim the Empire. :thumb:

 

[amoy]

How Damascene Jews Hope to Return... to Normalcy

Asking Saul and others in the Jewish Quarter what their views of what the solution is to stop the slaughter, they insist that the government is now basically and finally getting on the right track, yet they yearn for the days of Hafez al Assad and are adamant that, and then tend to believe it will happen, that systemic modernization and liberalization be immediately implemented, ranging from the economy, routing out graft, and expanding civil liberties. They lament the misjudgments that were made during the spring of 2011 following the crimes committed by the regime against the youngsters in Deraa who were brutalized and killed. That an opportunity to nip the uprising in the bud was lost is a fairly common opinion heard in the Jewish community.

The path to internal civil peace for Syria, and likely the region, in the view of Damascene Jews, as well as others in Syria seeking a return to normalcy, emphasize the following points.

"¢ There must be an immediate and real, across the country, cease-fire supported and insisted upon by all the local and international power brokers;

"¢ All manner of humanitarian aid and methods of delivering it across Syria and also to the approximate one million Syrian refugees forced out of Syria by the violence must be immediately organized and supported by all sides without political and military calculations of which side might benefit. The Syrian people will benefit and that outsiders should return to whence they
came is a common expression;

"¢ All parties much commit to saving the endangered cultural heritage and historic sites and support the still existing government institutions, infrastructure and civil services;

"¢ The holding of the 2014 scheduled multi-party presidential elections on time, with international monitoring by groups such as the UN and the Carter Center. Internationally arranged security during the voting must be arranged to avoid the experience of Iraq with respect to voting intimidation and even targeting. In the run-up to the voting and during the campaign period, security must be guaranteed by all sides. Following the elections an immediate national referendum must be held for the citizens to render their verdict on the current constitution

 

[U Sun Dar]

U.S. Lawmakers: Time for 'Next Step' in Syria - But No Ground Forces

Senior U.S. House members say American intervention in Syria's civil war is likely, but they signaled the Obama administration has yet to settle on what that will entail.

House members were briefed Friday morning by Secretary of State John Kerry, Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton Carter and Joint Chiefs Vice Chairman Adm. James Winnefeld about an intelligence assessment that Bashar al-Assad's forces used chemical weapons. Lawmakers left the meeting mostly united that the U.S. should step in, but they agreed inserting American ground forces would be a mistake.

"Every option's on the table, as far as Syria is concerned," House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., told reporters moments after leaving the classified briefing.

Ruppersberger and Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., a senior House Foreign Affairs Committee member, confirmed to reporters some of the options under consideration by the Obama administration.

Ruppersberger said, in the wake of the administration's revelation that the intelligence community believes Assad's regime likely used chemical weapons twice recently, U.S. officials are considering options such as directly arming rebel fighters and setting up a no-fly zone to keep regime war planes and strike helicopters grounded.

Sherman added to that list "supporting refugees" and "cash for opposition groups."

"I'm not going into anything classified when I say the secretary laid out what some of those options would be," Sherman said. He added "I cannot say, 'It has been proven beyond a reasonable doubt — yet — that these weapons were used ... by forces loyal to Assad'."

Lawmakers were uncharacteristically united about what a no-fly zone would look a lot like the 2011 U.S.-led — and later turned over to NATO — mission in Libya. "Like we did in Libya, we got the Arab League involved, we got NATO involved," Ruppersberger said. "I don't think we, the United States, want to go into another war."

But Pelosi said "it is pretty clear" that "this is not Libya." That's because "the Syrians have anti-aircraft systems" and other modern weaponry "that would make going in there much more challenging.

Sherman also raised concerns about Syria air-defense systems. The administration would be wise to realize a no-fly zone would not be a "no-casualties option."

Administration officials said Friday they are taking steps to verify the intel assessment, adding Obama will not act until the finding has been verified.

In a striking development, typically dovish House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told a small group of reporters that, given the finding on chemical weapons, "I think we have to take it to the next step."

"I myself think that we have tolerated for too long all of the assaults on the Syrian people made by its own government," Pelosi said.

But she paused, her face turning more serious, and added: "That does not mean troops on the ground."

Other lawmakers — Republicans and Democrats — echoed Ruppersberger and Pelosi, saying a no-fly zone likely is the best in a set of less-than-optimal options for Washington and its allies in the region.

Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif., said U.S. officials should work with its allies on the no-fly zone, and several other issues.

"NATO, led by Turkey, could effectively set up the no-fly zones, the no-chemical weapons zones, the no-troops zones," Issa said. "This is not a call to war, but reducing Bashar Assad's ability to kill his own people."

Issa applauded Obama's cautious approach so far. And Pelosi said "we have to take this one step at a time."

"I think there's a strong, good reason for that," Issa said. "I think he needs to be careful about pre-emptive attacks against targets other than protecting the lives of innocent Syrians."

Several lawmakers told reporters the Obama administration must consider what would happen if it forms a coalition that eventually drives Assad from power.

"What happens after Assad leaves? That's another thing we have to look at," Ruppersberger said. "You [would] have issues with Israel, you have Turkey, you have Jordan."

All are close U.S. allies in a region where Washington often has few dependable friends.

Issa was most upbeat about the post-Assad era, suggesting local officials could quickly fill the governance vacuum.

"Once you create safe havens where the U.N. agencies can go in to provide relief ... what you've really done is created the ability for local governance — for mayors, governors, and so on — to take responsibility in those areas," Issa said.

He another House members were quick to reject the notion of a U.S.-led ground force to either strike a decisive military blow that topples the Assad regime or is inserted to stabilize the country after its fall.

"I would think, at this time with all of the other issues that we have, that we want to do everything we can to avoid having to put boots on the ground," Ruppersberger told reporters. "We have unique resources that no other countries have, and we can work with the other countries to do what we have to do."

There were few calls for Obama to seek congressional authorization for a Syria mission. He was widely criticized during the Libya operation for opting against doing so.

"It depends on what the next step is," Pelosi said. And Issa sidestepped the question, saying only: "I believe there would be strong support in the House and Senate for this."

Ruppersberger urged Obama administration officials to press Moscow, Assad's last lone powerful ally, to help force him out. "I think Russia's involvement would be a game changer.

 

[sayareakd]

Re: U.S. Lawmakers: Time for 'Next Step' in Syria - But No Ground Forc

"Every option's on the table, as far as Syria is concerned," House Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Md., told reporters moments after leaving the classified briefing.

are they saying they will nuke Syria, as Syrian forces used chemical weapons on irregular and illegal US forces

 

[U Sun Dar]

Re: U.S. Lawmakers: Time for 'Next Step' in Syria - But No Ground Forc

US Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel has said that America has determined that chemical weapons have been used in the civil war in Syria.

Speaking in Abu Dhabi during his first trip as defense secretary to the Middle East, Hagel said the US intelligence community has determined with "varying degrees of confidence" that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's forces have used the nerve agent sarin on a "small scale" against civilians and rebel forces fighting to oust the regime.

Hagel said "it violates every convention of warfare".

Hagel's comments are the first US confirmation of chemical weapons being used in Syria.

US President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict would be a "game-changer" that could push the US to intervene in the civil war in Syria, which in just over two years has claimed at least 70,000 lives and displaced millions.

A letter sent to US Senators John McCain and Carl Levin by the director of the White House's Office of Legislative Affairs confirmed that US intelligence has assessed that the "Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale in Syria".

The letter added, however, that the US has "an obligation to fully investigate" evidence that chemical weapons were used, and was pressing for a UN probe in Syria.

 

[sorcerer]

Re: U.S. Lawmakers: Time for 'Next Step' in Syria - But No Ground Forc

are they saying they will nuke Syria, as Syrian forces used chemical weapons on irregular and illegal US forces

Its a recent trend to include "rebels" and "irregulars" to install democracy.
I was wondering if they are under payroll just like soldiers, where they need to pay these soldiers.
Or
are they just fighting for a cause, saving the US of its greens?

if its just for a cause..this is a very impressive war business.

 

[Yusuf]

Re: U.S. Lawmakers: Time for 'Next Step' in Syria - But No Ground Forc

US is frustrated that the Syrian civil war didn't end as quickly as the Libyan war did and that Assad has held on somehow for 2 years and still holding on and fighting.

They will have to manufacture an excuse to intervene. I really don't see then getting on te ground. Air strikes only option.

 

[sorcerer]

Re: U.S. Lawmakers: Time for 'Next Step' in Syria - But No Ground Forc

Syria: Al-Qaeda's battle for control of Assad's chemical weapons plant

A battle near a factory believed to be one of the Syrian regime's main chemical weapons plants shows just how close such weapons could be to falling into al-Qaeda's hands, writes Colin Freeman.


Set amid the rolling plains outside Aleppo, the town of al-Safira looks just like another vicious battleground in Syria's civil war. On one side are lightly-armed rebels, on the other are government troops, and in between is a hotly-contested no-man's land of bombed-out homes and burned-out military vehicles.

The fight for al-Safira is no ordinary turf war, however, and the prize can be found behind the perimeter walls of the heavily-guarded military base on the edge of town. Inside what looks like a drab industrial estate is one of Syria's main facilities for producing chemical weapons - and among its products is sarin, the lethal nerve gas that the regime is now feared to be deploying in its bid to cling to power.

Last week, Washington said for the first time that it had evidence of Sarin being used in "small" amounts during combat operations in Syria, a move that President Barack Obama has long warned is a "red line" that President Bashar al-Assad must not cross.

But as the West now ponders its response, the fear is not just that President Assad might start using his chemical arsenal in much greater quantities. Of equal concern is the prospect of it falling into even less benign hands - a risk that the stand-off at al Safira illustrates clearly.

For among the rebel lines in al-Safira flutters the black flag of the al-Nusra Brigade, the jihadist group that recently declared its allegiance to al-Qaeda. Known for their fighting prowess honed in Iraq, they are now taking the lead in nearly every frontline in the Syrian war, and earlier this month, pushed to within just over a mile of al-Safira, only to for the Syrian troops to regain the ground last week.

Should the tide of battle turn in al-Nusra's favour again, though, there is the possibility of the West's worst-case scenario unfolding - Syria's weapons of mass destruction falling into al-Qaeda's control. More than 500 times as toxic as cyanide and deadly in milligram-sized doses, a single canister of sarin could unleash carnage if released on a Tube network in London or New York.


As the Syrian uprising has intensified in the past year, the regime has been secretly moving its stockpiles to weapons dumps all over the country,

"The West may be saying: 'A red line has been crossed, let's do something'. But the question is what exactly can they do?" said Dina Esfandiary, an expert on Syria's WMD programme with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the London-based defence and security think-tank. "Syria's stockpiles of chemical weapons are huge, and President Assad has done a very good job of hiding them all over the country."

The Syrian regime's chemical warchest is indeed vast - the biggest in the Middle East, and the fourth largest in the world.

Syria has not signed the international Chemical Weapons Convention, it has never declared details of its stockpiles to the outside world. But outside intelligence estimates reckon that Damascus has between 100 and 200 warheads filled with sarin for its Scud missiles, and thousands of chemical artillery bombs filled with sarin and VX.

An alternative would be smaller, ad hoc strikes of the sort that Israel has already admitted to doing to stop the weapons falling into the hands of its Lebanon-based enemy Hezbollah, whose Assad-backed fighters are now in Syria helping defend the regime. But these would not be practical for a large-scale neutralisation of the country's chemical threat, according to Ms Esfandiary.

"Airstrikes aren't reliable because they can just release all the chemical agents into the air," she said. "Alternatively, they only do half the job and then render a secure site open to looters."

Despite that, many analysts believe that the "red line" is now simply being blurred rather than crossed. With only limited evidence of Sarin use so far, they suspect Damascus is deliberately using such weapons just occasionally to test - and gradually undermine - Washington's resolve.
***Aaaahh..The parallel... Its a game of probing..everywhere ***

President Assad, they reason, knows all too well that a major chemical attack would leave the US no option but to take action. But successive, smaller ones are a harder call, while still having the desired effect of spreading terror among Damascus's foes.

Last week, the hawkish US Republican senator, John McCain, who lost to Mr Obama in the 2008 presidential race, called on America to send in troops to secure factories such as al Safira. But Mr Obama shows no enthusiasm for doing so, and this weekend he even appeared to adjust his language slightly, saying that America would not permit the "systematic" use of chemical weapons.

Yesterday, the Syrian information minister, Omran al-Zohbi, described the US claims of chemical weapons use as a "barefaced lie", insisting that for both legal and "moral" reasons, Damascus would never deploy them.

**Denial is the new detterance ***

I have taken only the spiked up contents from the news which are devastating.
Do read the complete news here

Syria: Al-Qaeda's battle for control of Assad's chemical weapons plant - Telegraph

 

[Yusuf]

Re: U.S. Lawmakers: Time for 'Next Step' in Syria - But No Ground Forc

http://t.co/XpPi7pZuri

New questions have emerged over the source of the soil and other samples from Syria which, it is claimed, have tested positive for the nerve agent sarin, amid apparent inconsistencies between eyewitness accounts describing one of the attacks and textbook descriptions of the weapon.

As questions from arms control experts grow over evidence that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons on a limited scale on several occasions, one incident in particular has come under scrutiny.

While the French, UK and US governments have tried to avoid saying where the positive sarin samples came from, comments by officials have narrowed down the locations to Aleppo and Homs.

Last week the Obama administration suggested that Syrian government forces may have used the lethal nerve gas in two attacks. Opposition fighters have accused regime forces of firing chemical agents on at least four occasions since December, killing 31 people in the worst of the attacks.

A letter from the British government to the UN demanding an investigation said that it had seen "limited but persuasive evidence" of chemical attacks, citing incidents on 19 and 23 March in Aleppo and Damascus and an attack in Homs in December, suggesting strongly that samples were taken at these locations.

A US defence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to the Los Angeles Times, appeared to confirm that one of the samples studied by the US was collected in December – suggesting that it too originated in Homs.

According the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention, "sarin is a nerve agent that is one of the most toxic of the known chemical warfare agents. It is a clear colourless liquid "¦ generally odourless and tasteless".

But eyewitness accounts of that attack, in which six rebels died and which were reported at the time by the Associated Press described "white smoke" pouring from shells that "smell[ed] "¦ like hydrochloric acid".

The suggestion that one of the sarin-positive samples may have originated in Homs has added to the growing confusion surrounding the claims made with different degrees of caution by the Israeli, French, UK and US governments in recent days.

According to the US and UK governments, "miniscule" samples recovered by opposition sources and passed on to western intelligence agencies have shown traces of sarin. No other agents have been mentioned.

While the contradictions between the eyewitness accounts and traces of sarin in the samples may well be attributable to the confusion of battle, it underlines the uncertainties around the claims, which have included questions about whether some of the videotaped symptoms are consistent with sarin exposure.

Reflecting just how little is known about the circumstances in which people may have been exposed to chemical agents in Syria, President Barack Obama has said: "Knowing that potentially chemical weapons have been used inside of Syria doesn't tell us when they were used, how they were used. We have to act prudently. We have to make these assessments deliberately." Obama warned in December that the Assad regime would face "consequences" if it were disclosed that chemical weapons had been used.

Sent from my GT-N8000 using Tapatalk HD

 

[sorcerer]

Re: U.S. Lawmakers: Time for 'Next Step' in Syria - But No Ground Forc

uhoh!! Isnt sarin what was contained on some envelop sent to Obama?