The Syrian Crisis

[nrupatunga]

Fighting reported near suspected chemical weapons site in Syria

The fighting occurred near the Scientific Studies and Research Center on the foothills of Qasioun Mountain in the northern Barzeh district, opposition sources said from Damascus.

 

[nrupatunga]

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:

Yes, levant was under french control. So when in french going to do a libya on syria. Everyone is waiting for from nato. Come on french show the nation of shopkeepers (UK) your resolve.

 

[nrupatunga]

Syrian PM survives car bombing

 

[W.G.Ewald]

The Ghost of Saddam's WMD - Qantara.de

In view of the appalling numbers of people being killed and injured in the Syrian civil war and recent reports that poisoned gas has been used there, pressure is growing on the West to finally take some decisive action. Washington and London, however, continue to exercise restraint. By Karim El-Gawhary

There is certainly nothing definite about it, a fact illustrated by a rather bizarre sentence recently formulated by the US Secretary of Defence, Chuck Hagel, on the subject of the use of poisoned gas in Syria: "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."

But what exactly is "a small scale" and what does Hagel mean by "varying degrees of confidence"? In this context, it is important to know that the phrase "varying degrees of confidence" is used in the US whenever the members of the intelligence community do not agree on a certain point. That in itself does not increase the feeling of certainty. One cannot help but think that before addressing the public, America's Secretary of Defence consulted his lawyer about the least binding formulation he could use.

 

[SajeevJino]

'Missiles fired at' Russian plane with 159 passengers onboard flying over Syria​

Two missiles were reportedly fired at a Russian plane with at least 159 passengers on board that was flying over Syrian territory. Russian officials admit the jet faced danger, but are not talking of a targeted attack.

The news broke in on Monday as Interfax, citing "an informed source in Moscow," reported that a Russian passenger plane was attacked.

"Syrian [officials] informed us that on Monday morning, unidentified forces launched two ground-to-air missiles which exploded in the air very close to a civilian aircraft belonging to a Russian airline," the source told the Russian agency.

The pilots reportedly managed to maneuver the plane in time however, "saving the lives of passengers."

It is believed the aircraft was intentionally targeted, "but it remains unclear whether the attackers knew it was Russian or not," the source added.

However, Russian officials, though admitting the plane might have been endangered, are not yet talking of a targeted attack.

The Russian Foreign Ministry's said on its website the plane's crew at 4.55 PM Moscow time (12.55 GMT) "detected battle action on the ground that, according to the crew, could constitute a threat to the 159 passengers on board the plane."

The Russian Foreign Ministry is now "taking emergency measures to clarify all the circumstances of this situation, including making contact with the Syrian authorities," the ministry's spokesperson Aleksandr Lukashevich said.

The plane that was allegedly targeted belonged to Nordwind Airlines – a Russian charter air carrier – and was identified as an Airbus A320. On April 29 it was en route to the city of Kazan, in Russia's republic of Tatarstan, from Egypt's resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

So far, there are no grounds to claim that the aircraft became a target of a missile attack, experts say.

It was flying over a mountainous area in Syria when one of the pilots noticed "flashes on the ground." After that, to keep safe, it was decided to increase the height of the flight, Irina Tyurina, a spokeswoman for Russian Union of Tourist Industry told RIA Novosti.

"No one was injured, and the plane was not damaged. The aircraft landed in Kazan as had been planned," the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism told news agencies. There were 159 passengers and eight crew members on-board the aircraft.

Meanwhile, Syrian aviation authorities received no indication of the alleged attack on the Russian plane, says the director of Syrian Airlines, Ghaida Abdullatif:

"We contacted the service that monitors traffic within Syrian airspace. None of the air traffic control services or other ground services at the airports in Damascus and Latakia have confirmed the information of a Russian plane being fired at".

Russian experts have already voiced their doubts that a passenger plane can actually perform the kind of maneuvers that would allow it to avoid a missile attack.

"Planes are usually attacked either from the side or from above. A pilot could not have seen the missiles ," Vladimir Gerasimov, a Russian pilot and an expert on flight security told RT. "

A passenger plane crew simply couldn't see what's behind. And if something is approaching the plane from the opposite direction – the speed doubles, so there is no time to do anything, " he added.

Danny Makki of the Syrian Youth Movement in the UK believes that the incident is no doubt a rebel attack, which could have been carried out with weapons supplied by neighboring governments or taken off the Syrian army. He thinks that the attack is an intentional one and should receive widespread condemnation, just as the attacks carried out by government forces do.

"The most likely thing that could have happened was rebel fire from missiles that could have been given by regional countries or government forces"¦ no rebel forces would fire a missile at civilian aircraft without it being done intentionally. So it is essentially another reprehensible act that would have been committed by rebel forces, and should gain condemnation from all the states after it is clearer who actually committed it", Makki said,

"But it does show that these are not the liberal forces which the West wanted to arm in the first place", he added.

'Missiles fired at' Russian plane with 159 passengers onboard flying over Syria — RT News

 

[W.G.Ewald]

...So it is essentially another reprehensible act that would have been committed by rebel forces, and should gain condemnation from all the states after it is clearer who actually committed it", Makki said,

"But it does show that these are not the liberal forces which the West wanted to arm in the first place", he added.

Reprehensible act...

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 (also known as KAL 007 and KE 007[Notes 2]) was a scheduled Korean Air Lines airliner that was shot down by a Soviet interceptor Su-15 near Moneron Island, west of Sakhalin Island, in the Sea of Japan on Thursday, September 1, 1983. The interceptor's pilot was Major Gennadi Osipovich. All 269 passengers and crew aboard were killed, including Lawrence McDonald, a sitting member of the United States Congress.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Obama's 'Red Line' on Syria Becomes 'Range of Options' | National Review Online

Despite evidence that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons against its people, President Obama today said that the United States will not intervene in the conflict until both the administration and the international community can establish that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons. "We don't know how they were used, when they were used, who used them, we don't have a chain of custody that establishes what exactly happened," he told reporters.

Even if those facts were established, the president — who previously said the use of chemical weapons would constitute a "red line" — was more cautious today about whether even definitive proof of their use would be sufficient to change his administration's calculus in the region. "It would cause us to rethink the range of options that are available to us," he said.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Russia warns US on Syria WMD excuse, 30 April 2013

Russia warned the West yesterday against using a search for weapons of mass destruction (WMD) in Syria as an excuse for ousting President Bashar al-Assad in a fashion similar to the notorious hunt for deadly arms in Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov questioned why U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was calling for a fact-finding mission in Syria by citing unproven claims of the regime's use of chemical weapons in December 2012.

"This demand by the secretary-general with reference to a forgotten episode reminds us a great deal of attempts in Syria to introduce a practice analogous to that which existed in Iraq, when they were looking for weapons of mass destruction there," Lavrov told reporters. The Barack Obama administration last week said Syria had probably used chemical arms in the conflict.

Russia strongly opposed the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 that toppled the Iraqi leader and has bitterly resisted foreign intervention in Syria, its close Middle East ally. Lavrov accused some governments and other players of using the threat of chemical warfare as a pretext for insisting on a foreign invasion of Syria.

"There are governments and outside players that believe that all means are appropriate to overthrow the Syrian regime," said Lavrov, apparently referring to Western and anti-al-Assad Arab governments. "But the subject of using weapons of mass destruction is too serious, it should not be joked around with."

The U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 was sparked by a search for weapons of mass destruction purportedly held by Hussein's regime that were never found.

Lavrov's statement came a day after Republican senators pressed Obama to intervene in Syria's civil war, saying America could attack Syrian air bases with missiles but should not send in ground troops.

Neutralizing the government forces' air advantage over the rebels "could turn the tide of battle pretty quickly," Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham told CBS's "Face the Nation."

"One way you can stop the Syrian air force from flying is to bomb the Syrian air bases with cruise missiles," the South Carolina senator said, adding that international action was needed to bring the conflict to a close but "You don't need boots on the ground from the U.S. point of view."

Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate in 2008, said the United States should step up its support for Syrian rebels even if it turns out that al-Assad's forces have not used poison gas in the conflict.

"We could use Patriot [missile] batteries and cruise missiles," the Arizona lawmaker, an influential voice on military issues in the U.S. Senate, told NBC's Meet The Press.

McCain said an "international force" should also be readied to go into Syria to secure stocks of chemical weapons. "There are a number of caches of these chemical weapons. They cannot fall into the hands of the jihadists," he said. At the same time, McCain said it would be a mistake for American ground troops to enter Syria because that "would turn the people against us."

 

[parijataka]

Repeat of Iraq/Libya invasion in Syria by US/Western forces...???

 

[SajeevJino]

Repeat of Iraq/Libya invasion in Syria by US/Western forces...???

We will wait till 2015 ...so we can say millions of Syrian Citizens died and Still Clash with FSA and Al Assad forces


I want to see what's your Comments in 2015 on this Thread

 

[sorcerer]

'Missiles fired at' Russian plane with 159 passengers flying over Syria — RT News

Two missiles were reportedly fired at a Russian plane with at least 159 passengers on board flying over Syrian territory.

On Monday Interfax cited "an informed source in Moscow," which reported that a Russian passenger plane was attacked, while flying over a mountainous area of Syria.

"Syrian [officials] informed us that on Monday morning, unidentified forces launched two ground-to-air missiles which exploded in the air very close to a civilian aircraft belonging to a Russian airline," the source told the Russian agency.

"No one was injured, and the plane was not damaged. The aircraft landed in Kazan as had been planned," the Russian Federal Agency for Tourism told news agencies. There were 159 passengers and eight crewmembers aboard the aircraft.

The plane that was allegedly targeted belonged to Nordwind Airlines – a Russian charter air carrier – and was identified as an Airbus A320. On April 29 it was en route to the city of Kazan, in Russia's republic of Tatarstan, from Egypt's resort city of Sharm el-Sheikh.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said on its website the plane's crew at 4:55pm Moscow time (12:55 GMT) "detected battle action on the ground that, according to the crew, could constitute a threat to the 159 passengers on board the plane."

The ministry is now "taking emergency measures to clarify all the circumstances of this situation, including making contact with the Syrian authorities," spokesperson Aleksandr Lukashevich said.

 

[parijataka]

We will wait till 2015 ...so we can say millions of Syrian Citizens died and Still Clash with FSA and Al Assad forces
I want to see what's your Comments in 2015 on this Thread

So tomorrow there is some crisis in India like civil war like situation you will welcome Uncle Sam to interfere ? US is fishing in troubled waters as usual.

 

[sorcerer]

Hezbollah is helping Assad fight Syria uprising, says Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah is helping Assad fight Syria uprising, says Hassan Nasrallah | World news | guardian.co.uk

Hassan Nasrallah, the leader of Hezbollah, has confirmed for the first time that members of the powerful Lebanese Shia organisation are helping President Bashar al-Assad fight the uprising against his rule – and will stand by him.

Nasrallah – a close ally of Assad – also hinted that Russia and Iran, Syria's principal supporters, would intervene militarily to prevent his defeat.

"Syria has real friends in the region and the world that will not let Syria fall in the hands of America, Israel or Takfiri (extreme jihadi) groups," Nasrallah said in a broadcast on Hezbollah's al-Manar TV channel. "How will this happen? Details will come later. I say this based on information "¦ rather than wishful thinking."

Alluding to concerns about growing sectarianism in the region, Nasrallah that there would be "dangerous retribution" if any harm befell the historic Sayyida Zeinab Shia shrine near Damascus.

Fighting in the Qusayr region inside Syria but close to the Lebanese border, was "not over," he said. Overall, his combative statement was widely seen as a pledge of public support for the Damascus government – and as such an escalation of the already grave crisis.

"Nasrallah just made sure Syria will get a lot worse," commented analyst Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies. The speech was broadcast as Nasrallah arrived in Tehran to attend an Islamic conference.

Hezbollah had acted in defence of Lebanese border villages attacked by anti-Assad rebels so it was "normal to offer every possible and necessary aid to help the Syrian army, popular committees (pro-government militia) and the Lebanese," Nasrallah said

Hezbollah fighters have been seen in Syria helping the government from early on in the 25-month uprising but their presence, long formally denied, has become much both more open and large-scale in recent weeks, and funerals of fighters killed there are now a regular occurrence in Lebanon

Hezbollah counts itself as a key participant in the "axis of resistance" comprising Syria, Iran and Palestinian groups which are opposed to both the PLO and Israel. It is thought likely to respond to any Israel attempt to target's Iran's nuclear programme. But Nasrallah denied it had launched a drone downed in Israeli.

Hezbollah's arsenal, especially of long-range rockets, makes it the most powerful military force in Lebanon.

 

[SajeevJino]

So tomorrow there is some crisis in India like civil war like situation you will welcome Uncle Sam to interfere ? US is fishing in troubled waters as usual.

In west Asia Israel is the only Civilised Republic country..other's all under Family Govt..


We are in Republic of India..Every Five years we have elections to choose our Leaders


Civil war in India ..It's Never happen Even in Nightmares


Once Civil war in India we thrown out UK

 

[asianobserve]

US says Syria has Beefed Up Air Defenses
By Agence France-Presse on Wednesday, May 1st, 2013

With technical support from Russia, Syria has bolstered its air defenses, posing a threat to US aircraft if America decides to intervene in the war, a US official said Monday.

The official confirmed a report that first appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

Word of the upgraded defenses takes on new urgency given US assertions that Syria may have used chemical weapons against rebel forces — an assessment that will test President Barack Obama's repeated statement that such a move would be a "game changer" for Washington.

"The Syrians have stepped up their efforts in recent years to bolster their air defenses, particularly after the covert nuclear facility they were building was destroyed," said the official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.

The official was alluding to a nuclear reactor destroyed in an Israeli air raid on September 6, 2007.

The regime of President Bashar al-Assad relied on technical support from Russia to upgrade its air defense system, which dates back to the Soviet era, this official said.

But the United States rarely interfered because it viewed Iran as the region's larger threat, the Journal said. And in the early part of the Obama administration, the United States sought to improve ties with both Russia and Syria, it added.

Russian technicians are on hand with many of the anti-aircraft defense units to provide assistance and repair broken equipment with parts imported from Russia, the Journal said.

Quoting a US intelligence assessment, the Journal said that in August 2008 Russia began shipping 36 SA-22 Pantsir S1 units to Syria. They combine surface-to-air missiles and an anti-aircraft gun, and are mounted on combat vehicles and thus mobile.

In 2009, Moscow started upgrading Syria's outdated analogue SA-3 surface-to-air missile system, turning them into a system which is mobile and digital and capable of taking out cruise missiles.

Russia, one of the few countries that still support Assad, also helped Syria modernize its SA-5 system. This one fires missiles with a range of 175 miles and could hit US planes taking off from Cyprus, a key NATO base, the paper said.

Republicans are calling for US action of some kind against Syria in light of the new reports that Damascus may have used chemical weapons against rebel forces.

One military option — not under consideration at this point — would be to establish a no-fly zone, which would involve taking out Syria air defenses.

Read more: US says Syria has beefed up air defenses | Defense & Security News at DefenceTalk

 

[U Sun Dar]

US says Syria has beefed up air defenses Read more: http://www.defenc

With technical support from Russia, Syria has bolstered its air defenses, posing a threat to US aircraft if America decides to intervene in the war, a US official said Monday.
The official confirmed a report that first appeared in the Wall Street Journal.
Word of the upgraded defenses takes on new urgency given US assertions that Syria may have used chemical weapons against rebel forces — an assessment that will test President Barack Obama's repeated statement that such a move would be a "game changer" for Washington.
"The Syrians have stepped up their efforts in recent years to bolster their air defenses, particularly after the covert nuclear facility they were building was destroyed," said the official, speaking to AFP on condition of anonymity.
The official was alluding to a nuclear reactor destroyed in an Israeli air raid on September 6, 2007.
The regime of President Bashar al-Assad relied on technical support from Russia to upgrade its air defense system, which dates back to the Soviet era, this official said.
But the United States rarely interfered because it viewed Iran as the region's larger threat, the Journal said. And in the early part of the Obama administration, the United States sought to improve ties with both Russia and Syria, it added.
Russian technicians are on hand with many of the anti-aircraft defense units to provide assistance and repair broken equipment with parts imported from Russia, the Journal said.
Quoting a US intelligence assessment, the Journal said that in August 2008 Russia began shipping 36 SA-22 Pantsir S1 units to Syria. They combine surface-to-air missiles and an anti-aircraft gun, and are mounted on combat vehicles and thus mobile.
In 2009, Moscow started upgrading Syria's outdated analogue SA-3 surface-to-air missile system, turning them into a system which is mobile and digital and capable of taking out cruise missiles.
Russia, one of the few countries that still support Assad, also helped Syria modernize its SA-5 system. This one fires missiles with a range of 175 miles and could hit US planes taking off from Cyprus, a key NATO base, the paper said.
Republicans are calling for US action of some kind against Syria in light of the new reports that Damascus may have used chemical weapons against rebel forces.
One military option — not under consideration at this point — would be to establish a no-fly zone, which would involve taking out Syria air defenses.


Read more: US says Syria has beefed up air defenses | Defense & Security News at DefenceTalk

 

[W.G.Ewald]

'Missiles fired at' Russian plane with 159 passengers flying over Syria — RT News

Korean Air Lines Flight 007 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Obama is right on Syria

George Will: Obama is right on Syria

People who talk incessantly often talk imprecisely, and Barack Obama, who is as loquacious as he is impressed with his verbal dexterity, has talked himself into a corner concerning Syria and chemical weapons. This is condign punishment for his rhetorical carelessness, but the nation's credibility, not just his, will suffer. His policy is better than his description of it, and his description is convoluted because he lacks the courage of his sensible conviction that entanglement in Syria would be unwise...

Obama, who supposedly speaks so well, is behaving better than he is speaking. In an essay in the May/June issue of the American Interest ("Leading from Behind: Third Time a Charm?"), Owen Harries and Tom Switzer argue that Obama understands the "most important sentence ever written about American foreign policy," Walter Lippmann's formulation: "Without the controlling principle that the nation must maintain its objectives and its power in equilibrium, its purposes within its means and its means equal to its purposes, its commitments related to its resources and its resources adequate to its commitments, it is impossible to think at all about foreign affairs."

 

[nrupatunga]

Tiptoeing Toward War on Syria

Perhaps Israeli involvement is planned. Thousands of IDF reservists were called up. On April 30, special drill exercises began along the Syrian/Lebanese borders.

The NY Times ignored its June 21, 2012 report. It headlined "CIA Said to Aid Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition." They're based in southern Turkey. They're funneling arms cross-border.

They include "automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons"¦.They're using "a shadowy network of intermediaries"¦."

The NY Times hinted but stopped short of saying CIA agents operate covertly inside Syria. Washington's been involved in supplying weapons and munitions all along. They flow through Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and perhaps Israel.

 

[SajeevJino]

Perhaps Israeli involvement is planned. Thousands of IDF reservists were called up. On April 30, special drill exercises began along the Syrian/Lebanese borders.

They killed a key hamas Terrorist leader in Gaza Strip last Monday (not exactly Monday ) ..he is responsible for several Rocket attacks over Israel after Pillar of Defence ..

they think the same will happen like Pillar of defense..that's why Israel called it's Reserve forces