The Syrian Crisis

[prohumanity]

My dictator..good dictator...my terrorists..good terrorists...is this the guiding principle ?
I believe a terrorist is a terrorist..irrespective of what nation or society he attacks. Lets get it clear.

 

[Armand2REP]

They wish to attack Syria. But they will change their strategy when their enemies change theirs. Russia is now sending strong warnings. Russia want oil prices to remain high. If US attack Syria then Russia may use that as an excuse to attack oil fields in Saudi. US won't attack Russia because that will cause huge casualties on both sides. Saudi Govt. is investing most of their savings in US$. If they face financial crisis then they will sell their dollar reserves. In past US used lame excuses to attack Middle East countries for securing oil. Now due to increase in shale oil production they are using lame excuses to avoid wars. Now its Russia who need wars.

Russia isn't going to do anything but whine. Saudis are more than capable of defending against a Russian rustbucket flotilla.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

@W.G.Ewald

Government let British company export nerve gas chemicals to Syria - UK Politics - UK - The Independent

The Government was accused of "breathtaking laxity" in its arms controls tonight after it emerged that officials authorised the export to Syria of two chemicals capable of being used to make a nerve agent such as sarin a year ago.

The Business Secretary, Vince Cable, will on Monday be asked by MPs to explain why a British company was granted export licences for the dual-use substances for six months in 2012 while Syria's civil war was raging and concern was rife that the regime could use chemical weapons on its own people. The disclosure of the licences for potassium fluoride and sodium fluoride, which can both be used as precursor chemicals in the manufacture of nerve gas, came as the US Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States had evidence that sarin gas was used in last month's atrocity in Damascus.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

That was a case of putting the horse before the cart.

Invasion start: July 10, 2002
Authorization: March 3, 2003

Getting a Declaration of War isn't exactly the same thing as the War Powers Act 1973. From my understanding, that Act is meant for a situation where there is an imminent threat to the US. There was none from Iraq. The Constitution requires the President to get a Declaration of War from the Congress, not an authorization or endorsement of the President's action under War Powers Act.

I see this as abusing power using a loop hole.

Works and Days » Obama Indicts Obama

One of the problems that Barack Obama has in mounting an attack against the Assad regime is that the gambit violates every argument Barack Obama used against the Bush administration to establish his own anti-war candidacy.

The hypocrisy is so stunning that it infuriates his critics and stuns his supporters.

Deriding the Iraq war was Obama's signature selling point. He used it to great effect against both Hillary Clinton (who voted for the war) in the Democratic primaries and John McCain in the general election. For the last five years, disparagement of "Iraq" and "Bush" has seemed to intrude into almost every sentence the president utters.

And now? His sudden pro-war stance makes a number of hypocritical assumptions. First, the U.S. president can attack a sovereign nation without authorization from Congress (unlike the Iraq war when George W. Bush obtained authorization from both houses of Congress). Even if Obama gets a no vote, he said that he reserves the right to strike.

Second, Obama assumes that the U.S. must go it alone and attack unilaterally (unlike the coalition of the willing of some 40 nations that joined us in Iraq).

Third, it is unnecessary even to approach the UN (unlike Iraq when the Bush administration desperately sought UN support).

Fourth, the U.S. president must make a judgment call on the likelihood of WMD use, which is grounds ipso facto to go to war (unlike Iraq when the vast majority of the 23 congressionally authorized writs had nothing to do with WMD [e.g., genocide of the Marsh Arabs and Kurds, bounties to suicide bombers, harboring of international terrorists, violations of UN agreements, attempts to kill a former U.S. president, etc.]).

So review for a moment the Old Obama case against the New Obama.

Read more at link.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Everything the Media is Missing on Syria - Night Watch - Townhall Finance Conservative Columnists and Financial Commentary - Page 1

Comment: The three primary questions about the attack remain unanswered.


- What agent was used?

- How was it delivered?

- By whom?

What appeared to be a slam dunk on Tuesday has weakened as more information has emerged about the source of US intelligence and about Syrian rebel chemical warfare capabilities. A lot of information has emerged, but is not receiving mainstream coverage in the US...

So the media tally is the rebels claim they have gas and were gassed. The Government acknowledges that the rebels have gas and admits it has gas, but denies it used it. The Government claims that its gas is under strict control and the US officially has confirmed the Syrian government's claim. Both sides also have rockets that can deliver gas.

No news service has investigated rebel use of gas on 21 August. Nobody has bothered to ask any questions.

 

[TrueSpirit]

The US govt are terrorists and thats why we should never trust them on anything.

Which big power behaved any differently ever in yore ?

 

[pmaitra]

I really had no idea you really believed that FSA or other insurgents could use chemical munitions*, or that Saudis had a chemical weapons inventory which they suddenly would reveal and give to Assad's opponents.

[*Launching a chemical attack is not trivial. It requires planning, training and assessment of weather and terrain, calculations of target area and weapons payload. Only Syrian forces have that capability.]

As far as I know, the chemical weapons used in the 21 August attack impacted in areas controlled by FSA. Did they shoot at themselves?

Yes, I am an "unreconstructed cold warrior", but that has nothing to do with the facts about the chemical attack. Let's stick to those.

I am not going to waste my time trying to convince a mind that has been primed with Cold War propaganda. I am also not interested in an argument where the starting premise is only those reports that come from news corporations that are financially controlled by the Israeli lobby are valid, and every other alternative viewpoint is branded as "propaganda."

The question you asked (in red), is already answered in the sixth paragraph of the article. That you are still asking this question indicates to me you have no intention of engaging in a meaningful debate, but only political demagoguery.

Let's agree to differ.

 

[arnabmit]

 

[jamesvaikom]

Russia isn't going to do anything but whine. Saudis are more than capable of defending against a Russian rustbucket flotilla.

During Gulf war they were not able to intercept all missiles from Iraq. I believe that Russia is more powerful that Iraq. War will divert attention from internal problems. Extremists will take that as an opportunity to spread Arab Spring in Saudi.

 

[pmaitra]

US Chem Weapons Disposal Program Supplies WMD's for Syrian Rebels

By Gordon Duff, Senior Editor

Investigative journalists inside Georgia and the region have traced shipments of chemical weapons to American controlled sources in the region.
Here, the weapons from Georgia are being deployed by US backed Al Qaeda terrorists.

Journalists, Jeffrey Silverman and Lika Moshiashvili have discovered clandestine WMD operations at the US controlled Central Reference Laboratory.

Additionally, at the same facility, now controlled by the US government under cover of a "disarmament aid" program, new strains of deadly viruses are now also being reported as being weaponized and distributed to terrorist organizations.

Differentiating between listed and named terror groups and intelligence agencies has become problematic. All of this is financed by the US government and done under the guise of foreign aid and disease control.

Source: US Contractors Cited for Syrian Chem Attacks (video) | Veterans Today

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HM_FElma6Cw

[HR][/HR]

If you think this is real, then this is real. If you think this is propaganda, then this is propaganda.

You may shoot the messenger as much as you like, but know that the messenger is bulletproof.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

So chemical weapons used by insurgents (to gas themselves) came from Saudi Arabia a few posts back. But wait! There's more! They really came from Georgia (USA, we must assume).... this thread is now Bizarro World with an anti-semitic taint.

Veterans Today - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Anti-Defamation League characterizes Gordon Duff, the VT senior editor and chairman of the board, as a "anti-Semitic conspiracist." In a July 2010 essay on VT, Duff asserted that the "five dancing Israelis" arrested on 9/11 were part of a "team of Israeli intelligence agents" who remotely guided the planes into the World Trade Center with the knowledge of "top members of America's military." He added that America's security continues to be threatened "by a nefarious and disloyal group of Americans who have dual U.S./Israeli citizenship and who control government organizations and private companies." In a separate piece, he wrote that "the Israeli lobby" is "the most powerful and ruthless group in the world."[3] The Southern Poverty Law Center also writes that Veterans Today propagates conspiracies about Israel orchestrating the September 11 attacks as well as about Holocaust Denial.[4] Journalist Arnaud de Borchgrave described Gordon Duff in 2010 as "a 100 percent disabled Marine Vietnam veteran [who] states flatly that Sept. 11, 2001, was a CIA-Mossad conspiracy and that Osama bin Laden was not involved and died in 2001" and that audio and video recordings aired by Al-Jazeera after the attack were "Clever Israeli forgeries."[23].

A video to defend Assad from a 9/11 Truther?

9/11 Truth movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don't we already have a thread for conspiracy theories?

Really, this is pathetic. When @pmaitra sinks to the level of posts of @hello_10, the very sanity of DFI is threatened.

Mods, please determine if pmaitra's account has been hacked. The only other explanation may be that he was doing peyote out West.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Another Big Surprise

Russia not convinced by US evidence on Syria

 

[W.G.Ewald]

And Another

Intelligence report says U.S. officials knew about nerve-gas attack in Syria three days before it killed over 1,400 people -including more than 400 children | Mail Online

A U.S. intelligence report released Friday by the Obama Administration indicates that they knew about a chemical attack by the Syrian military three days before it happened
Officials refused to answer whether or not they warned rebels before the August 21 attack on a suburb of Damascus
Members of the opposition say they were given no advance warning
According to U.S. estimates, 1,429 people died in the nerve-gas attack including 426 children

 

[W.G.Ewald]

On the Verge of Appeasement in Syria - NationalJournal.com

World War II began 74 years ago Sunday when German troops invaded Poland. The invasion conclusively discredited the concept of "appeasement" as a foreign policy for, well, the next 74 years. But if the U.S. Congress opposes authorization of the military mission to Syria that President Obama has now handed off to it, and Obama uses that as an excuse to back further away from enforcement of his "red line," the "A" word will likely come to dominate the international debate once again.

And Barack Obama, who in his first term was known as the vanquisher of Osama bin Laden, could come out of his second looking more like Neville Chamberlain.

Obama should not have threatened Assad if he could not back up his words.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Russia sending spy ship to Mediterranean: Interfax | Reuters

Russia is sending a reconnaissance ship to the eastern Mediterranean, Interfax news agency reported on Monday, as the United States prepares for a possible military strike in Syria.

The reconnaissance ship left Russia's naval base in the Ukrainian Black Sea port of Sevastopol late on Sunday on a mission "to gather current information in the area of the escalating conflict", the Interfax report quoted an unidentified military source as saying.

The Defense Ministry declined immediate comment but Interfax said the vessel, the SSV-201 Priazovye, would operate separately from a Russian navy unit already stationed in the Mediterranean.

I wonder if Russians remember USS Liberty incident in 1967.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Voice of Russia might be more credible than US government – Internet users

Internet users know best.

 

[W.G.Ewald]

Syria asks the United Nations to stop U.S. strike | Reuters

What a concept!

 

[dealwithit]

Russia Saving Syria

September 2, 2013: China has joined with Russia to oppose any use of foreign military force against Syria. This was prompted by the recent Syrian use of chemical weapons against pro-rebel civilians. The U.S. and other NATO countries had earlier told Syria that such use of chemical weapons would bring military intervention. China and Russia have long been supporters of the Assad dictatorship, and similar tyrants around the world. China and Russia are also bitter about what happened to their old friend Kaddafi, who lost his life clinging to power in Libya two years ago. Kaddafi was largely done in by NATO providing air support. NATO is reluctant to do that for Syria because the post-Kaddafi government (and post Arab Spring governments in general) tend to be tolerant of Islamic terror groups. But the Syrian civil war is dragging on and that is becoming embarrassing for the West. Assad losing power would be an even bigger embarrassment for China and Russia.

Russian naval and shipbuilding officials are not looking forward to the investigation of why a Russian built Kilo class sub belonging to India (INS Sindhurakshak) caught fire and exploded on August 14th while docked near Mumbai. The 16 year old submarine had recently returned from Russia after an $80 million refurbishment. Eighteen sailors were killed as the sub sank at dockside. The cause appears to have been an accident but a thorough forensic investigation will eventually determine if it was caused by human error or equipment failure. Back in 2008 India had refused to accept a refurbished Kilo because of repeated failures of the subs Klub missiles it had recently been equipped with. The Indian sub had test fired six Klubs in late 2007, and all failed. The Russians had no explanation for the failures. That boat had been in Russia for over two years, for $80 million worth of upgrades and repairs. India refused to pay, or take back the sub, until Russia fixed the problems with the missiles. This the Russians eventually did, and there were several successful Klub tests that persuaded the Indians to accept the refurbished Kilo. Russian missiles have little combat experience, and a reputation for erratic performance. Quality control was never a Soviet strength, but the Russians are getting better, at least in the civilian sector. The Indians are now haunted by a 2000 incident where the detonation of a missile (or torpedo) aboard the Russian nuclear sub Kursk caused the loss of the sub and all its crew. There have been other problems since then and the Indians fear that the Mumbai disaster may just be the latest.

 

[hello_10]

So chemical weapons used by insurgents (to gas themselves) came from Saudi Arabia a few posts back. But wait! There's more! They really came from Georgia (USA, we must assume).... this thread is now Bizarro World with an anti-semitic taint.

Veterans Today - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


A video to defend Assad from a 9/11 Truther?

9/11 Truth movement - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Don't we already have a thread for conspiracy theories?

Really, this is pathetic. When @pmaitra sinks to the level of posts of @hello_10, the very sanity of DFI is threatened.

Mods, please determine if pmaitra's account has been hacked. The only other explanation may be that he was doing peyote out West.

Saudi used this Chemical Weapon, we have confirmed information from US side itself, which CIA/US won't accept in open...... first these b@stards killed Syrian people and now they want a war against Syria itself

this war will go nowhere, better US/Russia both get united and take over Saudi Arabia within few days, its easy and will solve many problems. just take over all the oil/gas reserve at gun point, and then become good. it will finally help this region grow under us. and we do need a communist country for this purpose, you have many hurdles as a democratic country....... these shiits of Gulf neither deserve power, nor wealth, they use for terrorism purposes.......

it will fix many problems, including the flow of funds for Al Qaeda from Saudi itself....... i favor a war for good and taking over Saudi Arabia is on table right now. they only have air force, but no credible military as whole while Israel has much more powerful air force too there. rest, just 100,000 russian military may take over the whole Saudi Arabia, lets it get started :thumb:

 

[Kunal Biswas]

Operation in Al Qaboun : Syrian Army >>

A counter-terror operation in al-Kabun, Syria. Contact reconnaissance, a bridgehead. Part 1.

The Operation in Al Qaboun. Part 2. Armor and Smoke.

The Operation in Al Qaboun. Part 3. The Headquarters of Militants. Scraping.

The Operation in Al Qaboun. Part 4. The Battle For The Road.

The Operation in Al Qaboun. Part 5. The Attack On The Right Flank.