The Syrian Crisis

[Singh]

Obama Authorizes Arming Syrian Rebels

Stupid Decision.

 

[SajeevJino]

Obama Authorizes Arming Syrian Rebels​

President Barack Obama has authorized sending weapons to Syrian rebels for the first time, U.S. officials said Thursday, after the White House disclosed that the United States has conclusive evidence President Bashar Assad's government used chemical weapons against opposition forces trying to overthrow him.

Obama has repeatedly said the use of chemical weapons would cross a "red line" triggering greater American intervention in the two-year crisis.

Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., one of the strongest proponents of U.S. military action in Syria, said he was told Thursday that Obama had decided to "provide arms to the rebels," a decision confirmed by three U.S. officials. The officials cautioned that no decisions had been made on the specific type of weaponry or when it would reach the Syrian rebels, who are under increasing assault from Assad's forces.

Still, the White House signaled that Obama did plan to step up U.S. involvement in the Syrian crisis in response to the chemical weapons disclosure.

The U.S. has so far provided the Syrian rebel army with rations and medical supplies.

Obama still opposes putting American troops on the ground in Syria and the U.S. has made no decision on operating a no-fly zone over Syria, Rhodes said.


Obama Authorizes Arming Syrian Rebels » The Epoch Times

 

[SajeevJino]

Stupid Decision.

 

[SajeevJino]

Oh my God....

Obama Admin Considers Resettling Thousands of Syrian Refugees in U.S​

The Obama administration is considering resettling thousands of refugees who left Syria during the country's ongoing civil war to multiple towns and cities across the United States, the L.A. Times reports.


U.N. refugee officials, along with diplomats and non-governmental relief groups, are scheduled to meet in Geneva this week to discuss potential resettlement plans. Germany has already agreed to take 5,000 refugees.

Obama Admin Considers Resettling Thousands of Syrian Refugees in U.S.

 

[Ankit Purohit]

United states of America Hard to Understand from standard 5th

Aag laga ke Mazza Lo

 

[Ankit Purohit]

Barso se yehi karte hai

 

[amoy]

Obama Admin Considers Resettling Thousands of Syrian Refugees in U.S​

The Obama administration is considering resettling thousands of refugees who left Syria during the country's ongoing civil war to multiple towns and cities across the United States, the L.A. Times reports.


U.N. refugee officials, along with diplomats and non-governmental relief groups, are scheduled to meet in Geneva this week to discuss potential resettlement plans. Germany has already agreed to take 5,000 refugees.

Obama Admin Considers Resettling Thousands of Syrian Refugees in U.S.

Seriously there's a Damascus, Virginia - Trail Town, USA in USA.

And Germany :sucide:

Wait for this to ferment for their next generation.

http://www.politico.com/story/2013/06/president-obama-syria-chemical-weapons-92782.html

The president himself, people close to the situation said, has been agonizing over the decision, torn between his desire to do the right thing — and his bone-deep aversion to the kind of quick-trigger military intervention in Iraq that sidetracked his predecessor George W. Bush and resulted in the thousands of U.S. casualties.

"The president has made a decision about providing more support to the opposition," said Deputy National Security Adviser Ben Rhodes in conference call with reporters late Thursday. "That will involve providing direct support to the [rebels]. That includes military support."

Neither Rhodes nor other administration officials would detail what that support would entail — and emphasized that Obama wouldn't be rushed into moving too quickly. But he downplayed a Wall Street Journal report that described one of the options on the table as including a no-fly zone near the Jordan border intended to protect rebels and refugees, saying the current assistance being considered fell considerably short of those actions.

The no-fly zone, if imposed, would likely provoke a sharp protest from Russia and China, permanent members of the National Security Council who have blocked numerous anti-Assad measures.

Still, Operation Eager Lion, a large military exercise involving 19 nations and 8,000 troops, is set to began June 9 in Jordan. It's the third such operation in recent years — and represents a significant increase from the 200 U.S. troops typically deployed in Jordan.

A Pentagon official said the effort, led by U.S. Central Command, is an "irregular warfare-themed U.S. Central Command exercise focusing on missions that our coalition partners might perform during operational deployments."

 

[nrupatunga]

Obama Admin Considers Resettling Thousands of Syrian Refugees in U.S​

The Obama administration is considering resettling thousands of refugees who left Syria during the country's ongoing civil war to multiple towns and cities across the United States, the L.A. Times reports.


U.N. refugee officials, along with diplomats and non-governmental relief groups, are scheduled to meet in Geneva this week to discuss potential resettlement plans. Germany has already agreed to take 5,000 refugees.

Obama Admin Considers Resettling Thousands of Syrian Refugees in U.S.

How credible is this story? also this breitbart portal?? Just by the look of it, HUGE controversy would be created by various groups within US, if true.

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Also, some portals are saying that US will arm rebels, some say arming will be done based on conditions. which being chemical weapons have been used.
I suppose it still not clear enough, whether this arming process has been approved already or not??

 

[nrupatunga]

White House statement on Syrian regime chemicals weapons - full text

At the President's direction, the United States Government has been closely monitoring the potential use of chemical weapons within Syria. Following the assessment made by our intelligence community in April, the President directed the intelligence community to seek credible and corroborated information to build on that assessment and establish the facts with some degree of certainty. Today, we are providing an updated version of our assessment to Congress and to the public.

The Syrian government's refusal to grant access to the United Nations to investigate any and all credible allegations of chemical weapons use has prevented a comprehensive investigation as called for by the international community. The Assad regime could prove that its request for an investigation was not just a diversionary tactic by granting the UN fact finding mission immediate and unfettered access to conduct on-site investigations to help reveal the truth about chemical weapons use in Syria. While pushing for a UN investigation, the United States has also been working urgently with our partners and allies as well as individuals inside Syria, including the Syrian opposition, to procure, share, and evaluate information associated with reports of chemical weapons use so that we can establish the facts and determine what took place.

Following a deliberative review, our intelligence community assesses that the Assad regime has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year. Our intelligence community has high confidence in that assessment given multiple, independent streams of information. The intelligence community estimates that 100 to 150 people have died from detected chemical weapons attacks in Syria to date; however, casualty data is likely incomplete. While the lethality of these attacks make up only a small portion of the catastrophic loss of life in Syria, which now stands at more than 90,000 deaths, the use of chemical weapons violates international norms and crosses clear red lines that have existed within the international community for decades. We believe that the Assad regime maintains control of these weapons. We have no reliable, corroborated reporting to indicate that the opposition in Syria has acquired or used chemical weapons.

The body of information used to make this intelligence assessment includes reporting regarding Syrian officials planning and executing regime chemical weapons attacks; reporting that includes descriptions of the time, location, and means of attack; and descriptions of physiological symptoms that are consistent with exposure to a chemical weapons agent. Some open source reports from social media outlets from Syrian opposition groups and other media sources are consistent with the information we have obtained regarding chemical weapons use and exposure. The assessment is further supported by laboratory analysis of physiological samples obtained from a number of individuals, which revealed exposure to sarin. Each positive result indicates that an individual was exposed to sarin, but it does not tell us how or where the individuals were exposed or who was responsible for the dissemination.

We are working with allies to present a credible, evidentiary case to share with the international community and the public. Since the creation of the UN fact finding mission, we have provided two briefings to Dr. Åke Sellström, the head of the mission. We will also be providing a letter to UN Secretary General Ban, calling the UN's attention to our updated intelligence assessment and specific incidents of alleged chemical weapons use. We request that the UN mission include these incidents in its ongoing investigation and report, as appropriate, on its findings. We will present additional information and continue to update Dr. Sellström as new developments emerge.

The President has been clear that the use of chemical weapons – or the transfer of chemical weapons to terrorist groups – is a red line for the United States, as there has long been an established norm within the international community against the use of chemical weapons. Our intelligence community now has a high confidence assessment that chemical weapons have been used on a small scale by the Assad regime in Syria. The President has said that the use of chemical weapons would change his calculus, and it has.

Our decision making has already been guided by the April intelligence assessment and by the regime's escalation of horrific violence against its citizens. Following on the credible evidence that the regime has used chemical weapons against the Syrian people, the President has augmented the provision of non-lethal assistance to the civilian opposition, and also authorized the expansion of our assistance to the Supreme Military Council (SMC), and we will be consulting with Congress on these matters in the coming weeks. This effort is aimed at strengthening the effectiveness of the SMC, and helping to coordinate the provision of assistance by the United States and other partners and allies. Put simply, the Assad regime should know that its actions have led us to increase the scope and scale of assistance that we provide to the opposition, including direct support to the SMC. These efforts will increase going forward.

The United States and the international community have a number of other legal, financial, diplomatic, and military responses available. We are prepared for all contingencies, and we will make decisions on our own timeline. Any future action we take will be consistent with our national interest, and must advance our objectives, which include achieving a negotiated political settlement to establish an authority that can provide basic stability and administer state institutions; protecting the rights of all Syrians; securing unconventional and advanced conventional weapons; and countering terrorist activity.

 

[The Last Stand]

I am absolutely completely mad at Obama, that fool, so quick to listen to his insane advisers that he does not remember that the coin has two sides.

 

[t_co]

This is number will be insignificant, if Syria falls to some radical Sunni faction.

Agreed. If Syria falls to some radical Sunni faction, we will see the Cambodia of our times.

 

[The Last Stand]

Agreed. If Syria falls to some radical Sunni faction, we will see the Cambodia of our times.

Not Pol Pot again

 

[t_co]

Not Pol Pot again

Remember that rebel commander who eats the hearts of Alawites on live videotape? People like him will be running the country.

 

[The Last Stand]

Remember that rebel commander who eats the hearts of Alawites on live videotape? People like him will be running the country.

Not another dangerous stupid militaristic dictatorship with superb racial harassment and delusion that they are kings of the world

E.g. Taliban controlled Afghanistan

I am depressed.

 

[SajeevJino]

Joint US-Israeli contingency plan: '18 chemical targets in Syria'​

Time magazine reports on new cooperation between US, Israel: If Assad falls, or radicals near stockpiles, 18 chemical weapon caches will be targeted

While the US prepares to arm rebels and after its confirmation that the Syrian army has used chemical weapons and crossed the much debated 'red line', TIME magazine publishes a detail account of how and when the US and Israel plan to destroy President Bashar Assad's chemical weapon stockpiles.

According to the report, the two countries have formed a number of contingency plans in case Assad's regime falls or rebels near the weapon caches, mandating a speedy Western response, in an attempt to prevent Syria's weapons of mass destruction from falling into the wrong hands.

In the report, senior Israeli intelligence officials are quoted as telling TIME that one of the possible scenarios for the attacks – which supposedly target some 18 different caches – is a sudden disappearance on Assad's part, either as a result of his death, fleeing to another country or going into hiding. \\

In any case, if Assad's regime should collapse, it is possible that the two states would launch a targeted attack on 18 different weapon stockpiles where chemical weapons are known to be stored.


In addition, as part of such a scenario, search operation would also be enacted in attempt to locate and destroy any such arms which might have already reached radical Al-Qaeda affiliated rebels.

Joint US-Israeli contingency plan: '18 chemical targets in Syria' - Israel News, Ynetnews

 

[SajeevJino]

[tweet]345740264964501505[/tweet]

 

[The Messiah]

There we have it yanks directly aiding terrorists just like they aided osama in the past.

These terrorists serve triple benefit to yanks:

1. proper govts (not lackeys) are overthrown
2. science and advancement goes down the drain with barbarian wahabis at the helm thus no potential competition
3. can later invade with the good old democracy and freedom excuse.

rinse and repeat!

 

[Razor]

There we have it yanks directly aiding terrorists just like they aided osama in the past.

These terrorists serve triple benefit to yanks:

1. proper govts (not lackeys) are overthrown
2. science and advancement goes down the drain with barbarian wahabis at the helm thus no potential competition
3. can later invade with the good old democracy and freedom excuse.

rinse and repeat!

Also removes Russian influence.

 

[pmaitra]

Who is supplying weapons to the warring sides in Syria?

Source: BBC News - Who is supplying weapons to the warring sides in Syria?

 

[SajeevJino]

Iran will send 4,000 troops to aid Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria ​

US urges Britain and France to join in supplying arms to Syrian rebels as MPs fear that UK will be drawn into growing Sunni-Shia conflict

The Independent on Sunday has learned that a military decision has been taken in Iran – even before last week's presidential election – to send a first contingent of 4,000 Iranian Revolutionary Guards to Syria to support President Bashar al-Assad's forces against the largely Sunni rebellion that has cost almost 100,000 lives in just over two years. Iran is now fully committed to preserving Assad's regime, according to pro-Iranian sources which have been deeply involved in the Islamic Republic's security, even to the extent of proposing to open up a new 'Syrian' front on the Golan Heights against Israel.

Up to 3,000 American 'advisers' are now believed to be in Jordan, and the creation of a southern Syria 'no-fly zone' – opposed by Syrian-controlled anti-aircraft batteries – will turn a crisis into a 'hot' war. So much for America's 'friends'.

World exclusive: Iran will send 4,000 troops to aid Bashar al-Assad's forces in Syria - Middle East - World - The Independent