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Advancing the Ball for War on Syria
Advancing the Ball for War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
What's ongoing bears disturbing similarities to events preceding NATO's 1999 Yugoslavia aggression.
In the 1990s, NATO lawlessly intervened for the first time outside territories of its member countries. No nation or alliance may attack another except in self-defense.
Boland Amendment Redux
Boland Amendment Redux
by Stephen Lendman
In 1982, the House passed the Boland Amendment. It was attached as a rider to the 1983 Defense Appropriations Act.
Syria News - June 26
On Syria, Annan Will Only Stay if June 30 "Meaningful Outcome" - Inner City Press
Iran is trying to broker a political solution in Syria - guardian.co.uk
Russia's Lavrov to attend Syria meeting, if it happens | Reuters
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Syria to get more arms from Russia soon-think-tank | Reuters
Clashes at Republican Guards HQ near Damascus, Unconfirmed reports of British forces in Syria — RT
Al-Qaeda In Syria Chooses New Leader and Regroups | Al Akhbar English
Russia asks UN to probe training camps in Libya funded by Qatar and Saudi Arabia - Inner City Press
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Syria Blamed for Turkish Provocation
Syria Blamed for Turkish Provocation
by Stephen Lendman
On June 22, two Turkish warplanes provocatively entered Syrian airspace low and fast. Doing so showed hostile intent.
The Obama administration's dirty hands are all over this incident. Washington and Ankara wanted a reaction and got it. Expect what's ahead to unfold as planned.
Syria News - June 25
EU ministers urge restraint from Turkey over Syria incident - todayszaman
Turkey not to invoke Art. 5, NATO war in Syria as unlikely as ever - todayszaman
At UN, "Not First Time Turkey Flies Into Syria," Skeptic Says - Inner City Press
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Russia plans to keep Syrian military base at Tartus: Navy Chief - RT
Why Is Access To Syria's Port At Tartus So Important To Moscow? - RFE
A New Lobby Forms to Get U.S. Guns to Syrian Rebels - The Daily Beast
War of Words Over Turkish Aircraft Incident
War of Words Over Turkish Aircraft Incident
by Stephen Lendman
On Friday, Turkey provocatively flew two warplanes at low altitude over Syrian airspace. Perhaps it was testing its defense systems or probing for other reactions.
With conflict raging for months, doing so for any reason was hostile and aggressive.
Syria News - June 24
Turkey calls on NATO over Syria’s downing of jet - RT
Russia warns Turkey, NATO against military action - WND
Russian helicopter shipment heading back to Syria: Ifax - chicagotribune.com
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Turkish warplanes strike Kurdish militants in northern Iraq | Reuters
Al-Haraty and Al-Mashry… Libyan militias’ leaderships in Syria - AJIEL
Syria: Christians increasingly vulnerable as tensions escalate | AP
Syria News - June 23
Syrian Government: Armed Groups Preventing Evacuation of Wounded People in Homs - almanar.com
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Catholic Bishop of Aleppo: Syria Has Always Been an Example of Interreligious Conviviality - abna.ir
Video: "Peaceful demonstrators" kill civilians and policemen - YouTube
Video: Syrian rebels exposed: The Making of Terror and Lies - YouTube
Video: Free Syrian Army shows child soldiers - YouTube
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Turkey says downed jet may have breached Syrian airspace - Daily Times
Newly-supplied Russian Pantsyr-1 anti-air missile used to down Turkish warplane - DEBKA
U.N. Chief hopes Turkey and Syria will exercise restraint over jet downing - Reuters
Gulf of Tonkin Redux?
Gulf of Tonkin Redux?
by Stephen Lendman
Lyndon Johnson wanted war on Vietnam and got it.
The August 1964 false flag Gulf of Tonkin incident initiated full-scale conflict after Congress passed the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
Syria News - June 22
UN's Annan: Iran should be part of Syria solution - Fox News
Iran Must Participate in Syria Talks: Moscow - RIA Novosti
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Regime accuses Syrian rebels of massacre near Aleppo | Al Akhbar English
Video: Celebrating FSA fighters spray with bullets wounding a guy in his leg - LiveLeak.com
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As Islamic militants join Syria revolt, US fears grow over arms flow - Chicago Tribune
Turkey says Syria down its air force jet - Yahoo! News
Poll: More than two-thirds of Turks oppose any intervention in Syria - VOA
Turkish Plane Reported Shot Down in Syrian Airspace
Turkish Plane Reported Shot Down in Syrian Airspace
by Stephen Lendman
On June 22, Reuters headlined "Turkish jet downed by Syria air defenses: report," saying:
CIA Arming Syrian Insurgents
CIA Arming Syrian Insurgents
by Stephen Lendman
On June 21, The New York Times headlined "CIA Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition," saying:
Syria News - June 21
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C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Rebels, Helping Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar decide which Syrian rebels will receive their arms - NYTimes.com
Syrian pilot lands warplane in Jordan, defects - latimes.com
Tunisian jihadists travel to Syria - Boston.com
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New bid to evacuate trapped Homs civilians fails - The Globe and Mail
Emergency Actions Against War on Syria or Iran
From UNAC:
Last night’s emergency national conference call on the mounting war crisis was a huge step forward. More than 80 people registered on line to participate in the call. As of last night's call we already know of coordinated antiwar actions in 19 cities during the week of June 23 to July 1.
The actions will be organized around the demands of “Hands off Syria and Iran,” “End the Drone Wars” and “We Need Jobs, Education and Healthcare, Not Endless War.” If you are planning a protest in your area, Please send the information to UNACpeace@gmail.com and we will include your action on the UNAC web site at www.UNACpeace.org.
The growing threats of war against Syria are alarming. Recently, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton warned Russia not to get in the way of US backed efforts to force out the government of President Assad. The corporate media is making every effort to overwhelm us with calls for another "Humanitarian War". The drum beat of aggression against Iran grows daily as well. The threat of new war is real while US drone attacks are an expanding form of anonymous war.
Please join us by organizing demonstrations, vigils, forums and other actions on the growing threats of war during the period from June 23 through July1. Send UNAC the information at UNACpeace@gmail.com so we can post if on the web site.
We will be organizing a second conference call on Sunday, June 23 at 9 PM eastern time. Call-in information will be sent out soon.
In Solidarity,
Joe Lombardo and Marilyn Levin,
UNAC co-coordinators
UN Monitors Spy for Washington
UN Monitors Spy for Washington
by Stephen Lendman
On April 21, Security Council Resolution 2043 established UNSMIS.
It authorized 300 observers to monitor "a cessation of armed violence in all its forms by all parties and to monitor and support the full implementation of the (Annan plan) to end the conflict in Syria."
Syria News - June 20
Obama: China And Russia Still Reluctant To Pressure Assad to Leave - NationalJournal.com
US and Britain plan to offer immunity to Assad if he relinquishes power - The Daily Telegraph
Senate Democrats backing diplomacy in Syria unmoved by setback for peace plan - The Hill
Regime change in Syria should occur by constitutional means: Putin - RIA Novosti
Jordan Warns Against Military Intervention in Syria, Hayat Says - Bloomberg
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Syria, rebels agree truce for Homs evacuation: ICRC - Reuters
What The Obama Administration Is Doing For The Syrian Rebels - ThinkProgress
Al Qaeda and other terrorist groups lead interreligious war in Syria - al-Assad's advisor - Interfax
Italian journalist survives home-made bombs in Syria, policeman killed - Lebanon Now
Video: FSA Suicide attack vs Syrian Army checkpoint - LiveLeak.com
Arms training or political inspiration: Why are Syrian rebels in Kosovo? - The Globe and Mail
Syria News - June 19
Hidden US-Israeli Military Agenda: "Break Syria into Pieces"
From Global Research:
A timely article in the Jerusalem Post last month brings to the forefront the unspoken objective of US foreign policy, namely the breaking up of Syria as a sovereign nation state --along ethnic and religious lines-- into several separate and "independent" political entities. The article also confirms the role of Israel in the process of political destabilization of Syria. The JP article is titled: "Veteran Kurdish politician calls on Israel to support the break-up of Syria' (by Jonathan Spyer) (The Jerusalem Post (May 16, 2012)
The objective of the US sponsored armed insurgency is --with the help of Israel-- to "Break Syria into Pieces".
The "balkanisation of the Syrian Arab Republic" is to be carried out by fostering sectarian divisions, which will eventually lead to a "civil war" modelled on the former Yugoslavia. Last month, Syrian "opposition militants" were dispatched to Kosovo to organize training sessions using the "terrorist expertise" of the US sponsored Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in fighting the Yugoslav armed forces.
Sherkoh Abbas, President of the US based Kurdistan National Assembly of Syria (KNA) has "called on Israel to support the break-up of Syria into a series of federal structures based on the country’s various ethnicities." (Ibid)
One possible "break-up scenario" pertaining to Syria, which constitutes a secular multi-ethnic society, would be the formation of separate and "independent" Sunni, Alawite-Shiite, Kurdish and Druze states: “We need to break Syria into pieces,” Abbas said. (Quoted in JP, op. cit., emphasis added).
"The Syrian Kurdish dissident argued that a federal Syria, separated into four or five regions on an ethnic basis, would also serve as a natural “buffer” for Israel against both Sunni and Shi’ite Islamist forces." (Ibid.).
Ironically, while Islamist forces are said to constitute the main threat to the Jewish State, Tel Aviv is providing covert support to the Islamist Free Syrian Army (FSA).
Report: Massive War Game Planned by Iran, Russia, China, Syria
From The Blaze:
Iran, Russia, China, and Syria plan to stage a massive war game over the next few weeks with the participation of 90,000 troops, 400 warplanes and 1,000 tanks making it the “biggest joint war game in [the] Mid-East,” the semiofficial Iranian Fars News Agency reported Tuesday.
The news agency writes from Tehran:
The Iranian, Russian, Chinese and Syrian armies are due to stage joint amphibious exercises along the Syrian costs [sic] in coming weeks, informed sources revealed on Monday.
According to informed sources, 90,000 forces from the four countries will take part in the land and sea wargames due to be held in Syria.
Ground, air and sea forces as well as air defense and missile units of the four countries will take part in the exercises.
Sources also said that Egypt has acceded to grant passage to 12 Chinese warships to sail through the Suez Canal, adding that the military convoy is due to dock at the Syrian harbors in the next two weeks.
Washington Arming Syria Insurgents
Washington Arming Syrian Insurgents
by Stephen Lendman
It's no surprise. It's an open secret. It's been ongoing since early last year directly and/or indirectly. Rhetorically supporting peace while waging war exposes Washington's transparent hypocrisy.
Washington's Imperial Brinksmanship
Washington's Imperial Brinksmanship
by Stephen Lendman
Syrian violence rages. Washington bears direct responsibility. Regime change plans are longstanding. Military intervention is planned. Expect it. It's coming.
German press reports FSA probably conducted Houla massacre
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/06/new-faz-piece-on-houla-massacre-the-extermination.html#more
One of Germany's most respected newspapers, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, is reporting that an anti-government militia, under the umbrella of the Free Syrian Army, probably conducted the Houla massacre. This is a critical challenge to the Western narrative of the civil war, as the Houla massacre is being widely held up as a pretext for arming the FSA and for Western military intervention.
New FAZ Piece On Houla Massacre: "The Extermination"
A well regarded and qualified author of the prime German daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) reported (in German) how the recent massacre in Houla, Syria, was perpetrated by Sunni rebel forces. I translated the piece to English. There was some push back against the piece and an anonymous rebuttal from Houla activists.
In a new piece (in German) the reporter, Rainer Hermann, extends on the first one and explains why his reporting is correct and why other reporting was terribly wrong.
What follows is my translation of the FAZ piece:
The Extermination
The Houla massacre was a turning point in the Syrian drama. There was great worldwide outrage when 108 people were killed there on May 25, among them 49 children. Calls for a military intervention to end the bloodshed became louder and the violence in Syria has since steadily escalated. Based on Arab news channel and the visit of UN observers on the following day, world opinion almost unanimously blamed the regular Syrian army and the Syrian regime's Shabiha militia for the massacre.
In the past week and based on reports from eyewitnesses the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung put this version into question. It reported that the civilians killed were Alawites and Shiites. They were deliberately killed by armed Sunnis in Taldou, a town in the plains of Houla, while fierce fighting between the regular army and Free Syrian Army was taking place at checkpoints around the village. Our report was taken up by many media outlets worldwide and was rejected by many as implausible. We have therefore to ask four questions: Why did the world opinion so far followed a different version? Why does the context of the civil war makes the doubted version plausible? Why are the witnesses credible? What other facts support the report?
Firstly, why world opinion follow a different version? It is undoubted that during the first months of the conflict, when the opposition did not yet possess weapons and was defenseless, all atrocities were done by the regime. The assumption is therefore obvious that this would continue. [Note by the translator: Here Mr. Hermann errs. There were reliable reports about deadly attacks against government forces by well armed perpetrators, allegedly foreign financed, as early as April 10 2011.] Furthermore, the Syrian state media enjoy no credibility. They use the standard labeling "armed terrorist gangs" since the beginning of the conflict. Thus no one believes them, when that is indeed the case. Two media outlets, the Arab news channel Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya have become key sources even as their owners, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, are two states which are actively involved in the conflict. Not without reason do we know the saying "In war, truth dies first."
Pentagon finishes contingency plans for Syria invasion
By RT
Officials with the US Department of Defense have confirmed that the Pentagon has finalized procedures that outline how American forces could soon combat the government of war-torn Syria and officially involve itself in that state’s bloody uprising.
After months of rumors suggesting that the US has unofficially made efforts to weaponize rebel forces fighting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, officials with the Defense Department tell CNN that the Pentagon has finished drafting blueprints that lay-out just how the US military could aid in ousting the leader with America’s own troops.
Pressure Builds for War on Syria
Pressure Builds for War on Syria
by Stephen Lendman
It's baked in the cake. Preparations began months ago. Regime change plans are longstanding. The road to Tehran runs through Damascus.
Washington runs everything. It controls the process. At stake is regional dominance. Key also is shutting out Russia and China.
NO WESTERN INTERVENTION IN SYRIA
STOP THE WAR COALITION
10 June 2012
Email: office@stopwar.org.uk
Tel: 020 7561 9311
Web: http://www.stopwar.org.uk
Twitter: http://twitter.com/STWuk
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
URGENT PICKET
NO WESTERN INTERVENTION IN SYRIA
THURSDAY 14 JUNE, 5.30PM - 7PM
DOWNING STREET, LONDON
.
Every day the calls for increased Western intervention in Syria are growing.
Yesterday former UK foreign secretary David Owen urged Turkey to threaten to
lead a NATO intervention in to the country. Today William Hague said the
question of military action in Syria remained open.
The media is fixated on the tragic events taking place, treating western
intervention as the only possible way forward, while giving almost no coverage
to the stream of deaths in Afghanistan including the NATO attack on an Afghan
village last week which apparently killed 18 civilians. (SEE "How many
civilians have been killed in 11 years of the 'war on terror'?":
http://bit.ly/KsMxrA
No consideration is given to the likely outcome of increased Western
intervention – a massive increase in the casualty and the acceleration of a
drift towards sectarian war which could engulf the whole region. (SEE "Why
foreign intervention in Syria will only shed more blood and could set the
region on fire": http://bit.ly/KwucOA )
The disastrous outcomes of the attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya are being
conveniently forgotten in the push towards another attack. (SEE "How the US
blocks peace plans to end the Syria carnage": http://bit.ly/JIGALe )
Officers of Stop the War coalition will be handing in a letter to Downing
street on Thursday 14 June at 5.30pm warning against further intervention in
Syria.
We are asking all our supporters who are able to attend to join the picket of
Downing Street at the same time to oppose intervention.
URGENT PICKET
NO WESTERN INTERVENTION IN SYRIA
THURSDAY 14 JUNE, 5.30PM - 7PM
DOWNING STREET, LONDON
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Insurgents Named Responsible for Syrian Massacres
Insurgents Named Responsible for Syrian Massacres
by Stephen Lendman
A Syrian documentary aired on June 9, and a June 7 report by Germany's leading broadsheet provide more evidence. Both refutes Western and scoundrel media misinformation. More on the latter below.
Report: Rebels Responsible for Houla Massacre
It was, in the words of U.N. special envoy Kofi Annan, the “tipping point” in the Syria conflict: a savage massacre of over 90 people, predominantly women and children, for which the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad was immediately blamed by virtually the entirety of the Western media. Within days of the first reports of the Houla massacre, the U.S., France, Great Britain, Germany, and several other Western countries announced that they were expelling Syria’s ambassadors in protest.
But according to a new report in Germany’s leading daily, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ), the Houla massacre was in fact committed by anti-Assad Sunni militants, and the bulk of the victims were member of the Alawi and Shia minorities, which have been largely supportive of Assad. For its account of the massacre, the report cites opponents of Assad, who, however, declined to have their names appear in print out of fear of reprisals from armed opposition groups.
According to the article’s sources, the massacre occurred after rebel forces attacked three army-controlled roadblocks outside of Houla. The roadblocks had been set up to protect nearby Alawi majority villages from attacks by Sunni militias. The rebel attacks provoked a call for reinforcements by the besieged army units. Syrian army and rebel forces are reported to have engaged in battle for some 90 minutes, during which time “dozens of soldiers and rebels” were killed.
“According to eyewitness accounts,” the FAZ report continues,
the massacre occurred during this time. Those killed were almost exclusively from families belonging to Houla’s Alawi and Shia minorities. Over 90% of Houla’s population are Sunnis. Several dozen members of a family were slaughtered, which had converted from Sunni to Shia Islam. Members of the Shomaliya, an Alawi family, were also killed, as was the family of a Sunni member of the Syrian parliament who is regarded as a collaborator. Immediately following the massacre, the perpetrators are supposed to have filmed their victims and then presented them as Sunni victims in videos posted on the internet.
The FAZ report echoes eyewitness accounts collected from refugees from the Houla region by members of the Monastery of St. James in Qara, Syria. According to monastery sources cited by the Dutch Middle East expert Martin Janssen, armed rebels murdered “entire Alawi families” in the village of Taldo in the Houla region.
Already at the beginning of April, Mother Agnès-Mariam de la Croix of the St. James Monastery warned of rebel atrocities’ being repackaged in both Arab and Western media accounts as regime atrocities. She cited the case of a massacre in the Khalidiya neighborhood in Homs. According to an account published in French on the monastery’s website, rebels gathered Christian and Alawi hostages in a building in Khalidiya and blew up the building with dynamite. They then attributed the crime to the regular Syrian army. “Even though this act has been attributed to regular army forces . . . the evidence and testimony are irrefutable: It was an operation undertaken by armed groups affiliated with the opposition,” Mother Agnès-Mariam wrote.
— John Rosenthal writes on European politics and transatlantic security issues. You can follow his work at www.trans-int.com or on Facebook.
Syrian rebels tried to get me killed, says Channel 4 correspondent
The chief correspondent of Channel 4 News has claimed that Syrian rebels deliberately tried to get him and his crew killed by gunfire from government forces in a bid to discredit the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
