The Syrian Crisis

[SajeevJino]

Turkey scrambles two fighter jets as Syrian Helicopter bombs Syrian border town

News agencies have reported that Turkey
has scrambled two fighter jets (most
probably F-16s based at Diyarbakir ) to the
border region with Syria, near the town of
Hacipasa, after loud speakers were heard
asking for rebel fighters to surrender as
an air raid was imminent.

The Syrian helicopter then appeared and
started to bomb the Syrian town of
Azmarin. The helicopter would have been
very very close to the Turkish airspace,
therefore the Turks decided to launch the
fighters as a response.

Details are very sparse but the Hurriyet
News website doesn't mention if the jets
engaged the helicopter; therefore it must
be assumed they did not engage it
because too far or, since it didn't violate
the Turkish airspace.

Turkey scrambles two fighter jets as Syrian Helicopter bombs Syrian border town « The Aviationist

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Few good options to secure Syria chemical arsenal | News , Middle East | THE DAILY STAR

The U.S. and regional allies are closely monitoring Syria's chemical weapons - caught in the midst of a raging civil war - but options for securing the toxic agents stuffed into shells, bombs and missiles are fraught with risk.

President Bashar Assad's embattled regime is believed to have one of the largest chemical weapons stockpiles in the world. Fears have risen that a cornered Assad might use them or that they could fall into the hands of extremists, whether the Lebanese Hezbollah militia, an Assad ally, or al-Qaida-linked militants among the rebels.

For now, the main storage and productions sites are considered secure. However, some suggest the civil war poses one of the gravest risks of losing control over non-conventional weapons since the breakup of the Soviet Union two decades ago.

Syria's suspected arsenal is scattered across a number of locations, mainly in the north and west, where fighting between Assad's forces and rebels seeking to oust him has been heaviest.

"We need to be up front that this is not something very easy to do," Steven Bucci, a former senior Defense Department official, said of attempts to keep the weapons locked up.

The price of military action against the arsenal is prohibitively high, Bucci and others say.

Airstrikes on chemical weapons depots could inadvertently release toxic clouds or expose them to looters. A ground operation would require thousands of troops, and the U.S. administration has pushed back on any suggestion of direct military action in Syria. Pinpoint operations by special forces could easily go wrong.

The issue has been a topic in the U.S. presidential campaign. Republican nominee Mitt Romney has said he would send U.S. troops into Syria if needed to prevent the spread of chemical weapons, while President Barack Obama has said that movement or use of chemical weapons would have "enormous consequences."

Syria's secrecy compounds the problem. Damascus hasn't signed non-proliferation agreements, long denying it has chemical weapons. Syria "is a black hole for us," said Michael Luhan of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, declining to give an estimate of the size of the arsenal because foreign inspectors are barred.

Other experts acknowledge there is no firm data and say they base their estimates largely on U.S. intelligence reports.

Syria is believed to have hundreds, if not thousands, of tons of chemical agents, said Leonard Spector, deputy director of the James Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies in Monterey, California. This includes mustard gas, a blistering agent, and the more lethal nerve agents sarin and VX, he said.

The chemical agents are believed to be designed for use in artillery shells, aerial bombs and ballistic missiles, said Scott Stewart of the U.S. security think tank Stratfor.

It is not known to what extent the chemical agents have already placed in munitions. Bucci, of The Heritage Foundation, said he believed "most of it" has been put into artillery shells and rockets.

Bucci and Stewart estimate some 50 sites are associated with the program.

A map by the Monterey think tank shows four production sites: one 20 kilometers (12 miles) southeast of Aleppo, Syria's largest city and a major battleground, and three outside the cities of Hama, Homs and Latakia. Storage sites have been identified near Hama, Homs and the capital Damascus, which also has a research and development facility. Three sites are marked as having dual use infrastructure, for both civilian and military purposes.

Anxiety rose over the summer after the regime warned it might use chemical weapons against foreign attackers. Obama warned Assad that the threat of chemical warfare is a "red line" for the U.S. Even key Assad ally Russia told him to stand down.

Syria has not used chemical weapons, unlike Iraq's former leader Saddam Hussein. Analysts say the bigger threat is that the weapons fall into the wrong hands.

U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said late last month that Washington believes the main sites are secure but the regime apparently moved some chemical weapons to protect them. Panetta acknowledged that the U.S. doesn't know what happened to some of the weapons.

Spector told Congress this summer that the regime could lose control over chemical weapons sites, even as it holds on to Syria's urban centers. The rebels control stretches of countryside in the north and the west, close to where the main production facilities are believed to be, said Spector, a former senior U.S. arms control official. With front lines shifting, such sites could fall behind rebel lines or its regime guards could abandon them.

Hezbollah fighters, meanwhile, could take advantage of the chaos and try to loot installations. Israel, which fought a war with Hezbollah in 2006, has warned it would act, presumably by striking suspicious Hezbollah convoys.

However, the possibilities for military action are limited because of the size and decentralization of Syria's arsenal. Bucci and Stewart said airstrikes carry too much risk of harming civilians, while targeted operations would not be able to secure all sites simultaneously.

Using special forces "would necessitate putting troops in harm's way, without overwhelming support," said Stewart, a former anti-terrorism investigator at the U.S. State Department. "The only way to secure all the sites in a comprehensive manner is through a large ground force, which is politically untenable at this point."

Technical and political restraints could decrease the risks of militants obtaining and using chemical weapons.

Militant groups may lack the proper gear, training and logistics to move chemical weapons, said Michael Eisenstadt of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Some chemicals are stored in heavy bulk containers, while so-called binary munitions for missile warheads require separate components that are likely stored separately, he noted.

Smaller munitions, such as an artillery shell filled with chemical agents, would be easy to move, Bucci said. Militants could "fit it in a suitcase, carry it around and use it by hooking it up to other munitions," he said.

Hezbollah could be deterred by the threat of Israeli retaliation, said Stewart. Such payback would jeopardize Hezbollah's standing as a key military and political force in Lebanon.

"The largest concern is jihadist actors getting their hands on chemical weapons munitions and using them in the region," such as firing rockets at Israel or targeting Western diplomatic missions in the area, he said.

For now, the West's best options are deterrence and containment, analysts said.

This includes warning the regime and the rebels of the dire consequences of using or losing control of chemical weapons and working with Syria's neighbors, particularly Jordan and Turkey, to prevent chemical weapons from being smuggled out of Syria.

On Thursday, Jordanian officials confirmed that U.S. special operations forces and their Jordanian counterparts have been training at a compound some 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Syrian border how to protect civilians from possible chemical attacks.

"With chemical weapons, it starts to get so beyond the pale," Bucci said of the potential threat. "It scares the heck out of everybody, rightfully."

 

[W.G.Ewald]

UN peace envoy draws up plan for 3,000 strong peacekeeping force in Syria - Telegraph

Lakhdar Brahimi, the veteran Algerian diplomat who took over as joint United Nations and Arab League peace envoy last month, has spent recent weeks quietly sounding out which countries would be willing to contribute soldiers.

Given the volatility of the conflict and the growing presence of Islamists on the rebel side, it is thought British and American forces would be unlikely to take part because of their past involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Instead, Mr Brahimi is thought to be looking at more nations that currently contribute to Unifil, the 15,000 strong mission set up to police Israel's borders with Lebanon. They alone are thought to have the infrastructure and on-the-ground knowledge that any peacekeeping operation would require.

 

[pack leader]

UN peace envoy draws up plan for 3,000 strong peacekeeping force in Syria - Telegraph

Unifil is a joke like any UN force
in the idf we call them meddlesome tourists
totally worthless force
they can send all off them to Syria permanently

 

[Virendra]

Too little and too late ...

 

[IBSA]

Syrian rebels utilise giant catapult to throw bombs

An unusual scene was registered by the photographer Asmaa Waguihem. The Syrians rebels had utilised a giant catapult to throw homemade bombs against loyalists soldiers during a battle in Aleppo on this Monday.

 

[IBSA]

^^
And afterall yet there people which believe those bandits will win the Syrian Civil War

 

[Singh]

Western spies get discreetly involved in Syria​

Western intelligence agencies are quietly at work supporting the Syrian opposition from Turkey. While governments officially deny involvement, media reports paint an ever clearer picture.

Experts are convinced that intelligence services are active in Syria, although Western governments have denied taking any military action there. Discretion is the primary precaution to ensure intel operations are not too widely publicized in a country that has been torn apart by violence for 18 months.

It's been clear for some time that CIA agents in Turkey have been monitoring weapons transfers to Syrian rebels. Experts said they suspect the British intelligence service is also involved, observing the situation in Syria from Cyprus and passing on strategically important information to rebels.

CIA activity in Turkey

Reports of "discreet" action by Western intelligence agencies are not surprising, according to Erich Schmidt-Eenboom, head of the Peace Policy Research Institute.

"The US intelligence agency CIA has been active for months, mainly in Turkey," he told DW. "The intelligence agencies that brought about the fall of the Gadhafi regime in Libya are now at work in Syria," Schmidt-Eenboom added.

David Pollock, head of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said he shared that general view, but added that CIA activity there was very limited. American media reported that the CIA has limited itself to observing arms transfers and watching that religious extremists don't get their hands on missiles and explosives. Arms are mainly being financed by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

"The West supports moderate powers in Syria," Schmidt-Eenboom said. "Qatar, on the other hand, supports fundamentalist groups."

The US government has considered providing rebels in Syria with satellite images of Syrian troop movements and supporting them in creating an intelligence agency of their own.

However, it's unclear whether a decision has been made on either of these possibilities. US President Barack Obama has ordered the CIA to give rebels logistical assistance, and the US has made public its support of $15 million for communications equipment.

"The financial support from the United States is in no way tied to weapons," Bollock said. "The money is intended exclusively for communications and medical equipment."

French assistance for defectors

In terms of Europe, former Syrian colonial power France has played a leading role. Cooperating with partners in Saudi Arabia and Turkey, the French intelligence agency has helped high-ranking members of the Syrian President Bashar Assad's regime flee the country.

The departure of generals, politicians and other people close to Assad aims to undermine the regime's morale. Manaf Tlass, one of Syria's highest-ranking officers, was able to flee Syria with French help. Such moves are also significant in that those leaving Syria provide useful information about the political and military situation on the ground.

Western intelligence agencies worked in a similar fashion in Libya. When former Libyan Foreign Minister Moussa Koussa - one of Gadhafi's closest advisors - left the country, he gave Western intelligence agents useful information. The defectors' cooperation provides them not just with payment, but also the ability to avoid acts of revenge by their countrymen and potential legal action in the West.

"They are promised large sums of money for intelligence information," said Schmidt-Eenboom.

Berlin's open secret

The German Intelligence Agency (BND) is also active in Syria, Schmidt-Eenboom said.

"The former BND president, who was in office until the end of 2011, had very good relations with the Syrian intelligence agencies," Schmidt-Eenboom said. "But when the BND president changed, there was a paradigm shift."

Since then, the agency has cooperated more with Assad's foes. The BND has taken the same position on Syria as other Western intelligence agencies.

"The new BND President Gerhard Schindler is willing to take risks and win back Western partners' trust after Germany lost it by staying out of Libya," Schmidt-Eenboom said. "That's why BND operations aimed at Syria are taking place."

As to why a German Navy ship has been crisscrossing the eastern Mediterranean for weeks remains unclear, though. The German Defense Ministry rejected suspicions circulating in German media that it is a spy ship. Fleet vessels were there for reconnaissance and to serve as an early warning system, the ministry claims. A ministry spokesman said the Navy is not involved in espionage.

But the intelligence agency's work is not the only thing Berlin is being secretive about. When from January to June 2012, members of Syria's various opposition groups met at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs to discuss the political and social order of a post-Assad Syria, the project was apparently kept confidential to avoid the attention of Syria's intelligence agency.

Western spies get discreetly involved in Syria | World | DW.DE | 13.10.2012

 

[pmaitra]

US offers $12m reward for al-Qaeda financiers backing Syrian extremists

The United States posted a reward of up to $12 million on Thursday for help in tracking down two Iran-based al-Qaeda financial backers accused of funneling money to extremists in Syria.
[HR][/HR]
The State Department said Muhsin al-Fadhli and his deputy Adel Radi Saqr al-Wahabi al-Harbi had helped "facilitate the movement of funds and operatives through Iran on behalf of the al-Qaeda terrorist network."

"Al-Qaeda elements in Iran, led by Fadhli, are working to move fighters and money through Turkey to support al-Qaeda-affiliated elements in Syria," the department said in a statement.

"Fadhli also is leveraging his extensive network of Kuwaiti jihadist donors to send money to Syria via Turkey."

Read more: US offers $12m reward for al-Qaeda financiers backing Syrian extremists - Telegraph

[HR][/HR]

Now comes the fun part:

Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret U.S. support for Syrian rebels (Reuters)

Mitt Romney: arm the Syrian rebels (Guardian UK)

Any guesses why it is not that difficult to choose between the two candidates?

Also posted here: http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/americas/27203-2012-us-presidential-elections-48.html#post598014

 

[W.G.Ewald]

How US Ambassador Chris Stevens May Have Been Linked To Jihadist Rebels In Syria - Business Insider

Stevens was the US ambassador killed in Benghazi.

The official position is that the US has refused to allow heavy weapons into Syria.

But there's growing evidence that U.S. agents—particularly murdered ambassador Chris Stevens—were at least aware of heavy weapons moving from Libya to jihadist Syrian rebels.

In March 2011 Stevens became the official U.S. liaison to the al-Qaeda-linked Libyan opposition, working directly with Abdelhakim Belhadj of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group—a group that has now disbanded, with some fighters reportedly participating in the attack that took Stevens' life.

In November 2011 The Telegraph reported that Belhadj, acting as head of the Tripoli Military Council, "met with Free Syrian Army [FSA] leaders in Istanbul and on the border with Turkey" in an effort by the new Libyan government to provide money and weapons to the growing insurgency in Syria.

Last month The Times of London reported that a Libyan ship "carrying the largest consignment of weapons for Syria "¦ has docked in Turkey." The shipment reportedly weighed 400 tons and included SA-7 surface-to-air anti-craft missiles and rocket-propelled grenades.

Those heavy weapons are most likely from Muammar Gaddafi's stock of about 20,000 portable heat-seeking missiles—the bulk of them SA-7s—that the Libyan leader obtained from the former Eastern bloc. Reuters reports that Syrian rebels have been using those heavy weapons to shoot down Syrian helicopters and fighter jets.

The ship's captain was "a Libyan from Benghazi and the head of an organization called the Libyan National Council for Relief and Support," which was presumably established by the new government.

That means that Ambassador Stevens had only one person—Belhadj—between himself and the Benghazi man who brought heavy weapons to Syria.

Furthermore, we know that jihadists are the best fighters in the Syrian opposition, but where did they come from?

Last week The Telegraph reported that a FSA commander called them "Libyans" when he explained that the FSA doesn't "want these extremist people here."

And if the new Libyan government was sending seasoned Islamic fighters and 400 tons of heavy weapons to Syria through a port in southern Turkey—a deal brokered by Stevens' primary Libyan contact during the Libyan revolution—then the governments of Turkey and the U.S. surely knew about it.

Furthermore there was a CIA post in Benghazi, located 1.2 miles from the U.S. consulate, used as "a base for, among other things, collecting information on the proliferation of weaponry looted from Libyan government arsenals, including surface-to-air missiles" ... and that its security features "were more advanced than those at rented villa where Stevens died."

And we know that the CIA has been funneling weapons to the rebels in southern Turkey. The question is whether the CIA has been involved in handing out heavy weapons from Libya.

In any case, the connection between Benghazi and the rise of jihadists in Syria is stronger than has been officially acknowledged.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

More:

Business Insider: Chris Stevens May Have Been Connected to Syrian Rebels and Weapons | TheBlaze.com

 

[cobra commando]

Syrian gunship helicopter hit by the rebel fire, spins and then explodes mid-air

[video=youtube_share;bTmRZn98XxI]http://youtu.be/bTmRZn98XxI[/video]

 

[W.G.Ewald]

^^
الله أكبر

 

[The Messiah]

US offers $12m reward for al-Qaeda financiers backing Syrian extremists



Read more: US offers $12m reward for al-Qaeda financiers backing Syrian extremists - Telegraph

[HR][/HR]

Now comes the fun part:

Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret U.S. support for Syrian rebels (Reuters)

Mitt Romney: arm the Syrian rebels (Guardian UK)

Any guesses why it is not that difficult to choose between the two candidates?

Also posted here: http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/americas/27203-2012-us-presidential-elections-48.html#post598014

LMAO

That's like saying RAW is directing funds to LeT in kashmir

 

[IBSA]

US offers $12m reward for al-Qaeda financiers backing Syrian extremists



Read more: US offers $12m reward for al-Qaeda financiers backing Syrian extremists - Telegraph

[HR][/HR]

Now comes the fun part:

Exclusive: Obama authorizes secret U.S. support for Syrian rebels (Reuters)

Mitt Romney: arm the Syrian rebels (Guardian UK)

Any guesses why it is not that difficult to choose between the two candidates?

Also posted here: http://defenceforumindia.com/forum/americas/27203-2012-us-presidential-elections-48.html#post598014

Firstly, Americans and allies had financed, armed, and trained the Syrians terrorists. But this time they are offering a reward for anyone that help them to find the culprits. WTF??? :der:

Hey Yankees, do you wants a tip to reach the terrorists' financers? I tell you one: they are hidden in the White House. Now, pays me the US$ 12 millions!:wof:

 

[Armand2REP]

If you ever thought rebel rockets were just toys, think again.


If you are anywhere near one landing, you will have a bad day

 

[pmaitra]

^^

I heard "Gaddafi" a couple of times. Anyway, that rocket has a remarkably long range.

 

[Snuggy321]

If you ever thought rebel rockets were just toys, think again.


If you are anywhere near one landing, you will have a bad day

made my day

 

[cloud_9]

Yank's are masters in shit-spreading.All these freedom fighter will be marching towards the yankland after they are done with the middle $hit

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Russia says Syrian rebels have US-made missiles - seattlepi.com

MOSCOW (AP) — Russia's chief military officer says Syrian rebels have acquired portable air defense missiles, including U.S.-made Stinger missiles.

Gen. Nikolai Makarov, the chief of the military's General Staff, didn't say how many such missiles the rebels had and who supplied them. Makarov said Wednesday in remarks carried by Russian news agencies that some of the weapons could have been delivered by commercial airlines, but he didn't elaborate.

Russia has been Syrian President Bashar Assad's main supporter and ally, shielding him from U.N. sanctions over his crackdown on an uprising that began in March 2011. It also has continued to provide Syria with weapons despite Western protests.

A Syrian rebel told the AP in Turkey that the insurgents obtained dozens of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles, but would not say who provided them.