Thread: Syria News and Editorials

I am surprised that it has taken people so long to realise that a fully fledged, Lebanon-style civil war has erupted in Syria.

I am not, on the other hand, surprised that the deceitful and untrustworthy Pakistanis have hitched onto the coattails of a country that is undoubtedly dumping lots of free or very cheap oil on them, masquerading as a "gift" when in fact Iran has simply run out of places to store the stuff.

Exclusive: Libyan fighters join Syrian revolt | Reuters

" Veteran fighters of last year's civil war in Libya have come to the front-line in Syria, helping to train and organize rebels under conditions far more dire than those in the battle against Muammar Gaddafi, a Libyan-Irish fighter has told Reuters.

Hussam Najjar hails from Dublin, has a Libyan father and Irish mother and goes by the name of Sam. A trained sniper, he was part of the rebel unit that stormed Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli a year ago, led by Mahdi al-Harati, a powerful militia chief from Libya's western mountains.

Harati now leads a unit in Syria, made up mainly of Syrians but also including some foreign fighters, including 20 senior members of his own Libyan rebel unit. He asked Najjar to join him from Dublin a few months ago, Najjar said.

The Libyans aiding the Syrian rebels include specialists in communications, logistics, humanitarian issues and heavy weapons, he said. They operate training bases, teaching fitness and battlefield tactics."

Continues.........

The Turkish "freedom fighters/terrorists" appear to be copying their Syrian counterparts. The PKK, which has been listed as a terrorist organisation by some countries, are attempting to form a Kurdish state combining parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

I wonder if the crusader coalition will arm, train and direct their efforts now? Will financial sanctions be imposed on Turkey, along with calls for a no fly zone and an arms embargo?

blast kills 8, wounds 60 in southeastern Turkey - Xinhua | English.news.cn

"ANKARA, Aug. 20 (Xinhua) -- At least eight people were killed and 60 others injured in a huge blast in southeastern Turkish province of Gaziantep on Monday, an official statement said. A truck full of explosives stopped near the Karsiyaka police station in Gaziantep and the bombs were detonated, setting two buses and a car ablaze, said the statement issued by Gaziantep Governor's office.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast Monday night near the border with Syria.

Members of the outlawed Kurdish Workers' Party (PKK) are active in the region. Fighting between the Turkish security forces and PKK militants, who seek autonomy in Turkey's predominantly Kurdish southeast, has intensified in recent weeks. Television footage showed that firefighters are attempting to douse a fierce blaze that gutted several vehicles.

Earlier Monday, a mine, planted by the PKK militants, was detonated while a Turkish military armored vehicle was on routine duty at the Hakkari-Van highway, leaving two Turkish soldiers killed and another wounded.

The PKK, listed as a terrorist organization by Turkey, the United States and the European Union, took up arms in 1984 in an attempt to create an ethnic homeland in southeastern Turkey. Since then, over 40,000 people have been killed in conflicts involving the group."

The Assad administration is no great shakes, but what is being actively sponsored by the Sunni states & West is much, much worse. They may or may not succeed.

Think 1980's Afghanistan, all over again- we are creating tomorrows wars today. Win or lose, it doesn't matter apparently. The MI complex & allied government hawks like to protect and propagate their future income streams & budgets. From where I sit, it's as blatant as it is sad.

You prefer the guys who kill actual innocent people in the off chance that there may be a terrorist amongst them?

Originally Posted by OhOh

The Turkish "freedom fighters/terrorists" appear to be copying their Syrian counterparts. The PKK, which has been listed as a terrorist organisation by some countries, are attempting to form a Kurdish state combining parts of Turkey, Syria, Iraq and Iran.

I wonder if the crusader coalition will arm, train and direct their efforts now? Will financial sanctions be imposed on Turkey, along with calls for a no fly zone and an arms embargo?

im wondering, what would happen in the west if it was there similarily easy to obtain explosives and to plot something...
maybe less political actions, but more hairdressers, used car salesmen, real estate agents would be attacked?

for syria... if so many people get up against the leader, he should just step down, to avoid more blood shed and have elections organized in the country - with UN observers...

if it was just some "terrorists", he will be certainly reelected?

^The Syrians went to the polls earlier this year and elected the present government.

The Syrian President has said many time thst he believes that the Syrian people are behind him and would leave if that was shown, democratically, to be the case.

Some of course called the elections a sham, which is their opinion to be accepted or not.

Violence grips Aleppo as Moscow tells West not to meddle

"AFP- Heavy shelling and fighting erupted across swathes of Syria's second city of Aleppo on Tuesday, as both the regime and rebels claimed they were gaining ground in the key northern battleground. At least 24 people were reported killed nationwide, among them women and children in Aleppo, as the regime pressed its onslaught on rebel areas a day after US President Barack Obama warned Damascus over its chemical weapons arsenal.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov reacted by bluntly telling the West not to meddle in Syria, but also criticised the regime for failing to do enough to end a conflict that has exposed deep rifts among world powers.

On the ground, and heavy shelling was reported in Aleppo, including an area where a Japanese journalist was killed after being caught up in gunfire on Monday, while war planes bombarded the northern town of Marea, activists said. The rebel Free Syrian Army said Tuesday it controlled almost two thirds of Aleppo, which has been battered by a month of air strikes, shelling and fighting, but a security source in Damascus rejected the claims. Activists also reported that troops had stormed a town near Damascus, torching homes and shops, while helicopters and war planes strafed several suburbs of the capital, which the regime claimed to have largely recaptured last month.

The death of Japanese female reporter Mika Yamamoto, 45, brought to four the number of foreign journalists killed in Syria since the uprising erupted against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said three other journalists -- a Lebanese woman, an Arab male and a Turkish national -- were missing.

Obama had put Assad's regime on notice Monday that although he had not ordered military intervention "at this point," the United States was "monitoring the situation very carefully," and had drawn up contingency plans. "There would be enormous consequences if we start seeing movement on the chemical weapons front or the use of chemical weapons... That would change my calculations significantly," he told reporters. Obama said the United States would regard any recourse by Damascus to its deadly arsenal as crossing a "red line".

Syria's admission in July that it has chemical weapons and could use them in case of any "external aggression" added a dangerous dimension to a conflict that has now killed at least 23,000 people, according to the Observatory.

But Lavrov, whose government is one of the regime's few remaining allies, said Tuesday: "There should be no interference from the outside". "The only thing that foreign players should do is create conditions for the start of dialogue."

The UN Security Council has so far failed to agree on action to contain the bloodshed or deal with the increasingly embattled Assad after Russia and China both vetoed resolutions on the conflict.

But Lavrov also told a visiting Syrian envoy that efforts by Damascus to end the conflict were "not enough".

Lakhdar Brahimi, who has replaced former UN chief Kofi Annan as international Syria envoy, warned Sunday that it was now a matter of ending civil war rather than avoiding it, but has come under fire for failing to call for Assad's ouster. Syria -- which insists it is fighting an insurgency by "armed terrorist groups" backed by the West, Gulf states and Turkey -- said that to speak of civil war "contradicts reality". However, the escalating violence prompted the UN to end its observer mission in Syria on Sunday. The conflict has descended into a bloody stalemate, with scores of people reportedly being killed every day as the regime battles rebels in their main strongholds and other pockets of resistance across the country.

A top Free Syrian Army commander, Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Okaidi, said the rebels held sway in more than 30 districts of Aleppo, the country's now battered commercial capital that had largely avoided the conflict until a month ago. "We now control more than 60 percent of the city of Aleppo, and each day we take control of new districts," Okaidi said. "The people are with us... How else do you think we could have lasted a month?"

But a security source in Damascus dismissed the claims. "This is completely false," the source told AFP. "The terrorists are not advancing, it is the army that is making slow progress.

The regime has warned of a "mother of all battles" to recapture Aleppo, where the Britain-based Observatory reported shelling on Tuesday that killed nine civilians, among them two women and two children.

War planes also pounded the towns of Marea and Tall Rifaat to the north, the Britain-based Observatory said. "The army bombarded rebel weapons stocks in the Aleppo region to prevent the arms from reaching them (in the city)," the Syrian security official told AFP. "Reinforcements from both sides are heading to Aleppo. It is a war that will last a long time."
Tuesday's violence followed a bloody day in which 167 people were killed nationwide, the Observatory said.

The Syrian conflict echoed in neighbouring Lebanon overnight, with running clashes between pro- and anti-Damascus regime supporters leaving 33 people wounded in the northern port city of Tripoli, security officials said."

Note the US president calls on the Syrian government not to use chemical weapons but has not called for similar from the external forces/terrorists. Shades of the Iran Iraq war creeping in. The crusader coalition forces, in that war, backed the Iraqis who had no hesitation in using chemical weapons against it's own people as well as the Iranians.

Part of an article from President Putin of Russian, with some excerpts regarding the crusader coalition's recent acts around the world.



Russia and the changing world | Features, Opinion & Analysis | RIA Novosti

"As before, I believe that the major principles necessary for any feasible civilization include inalienable right to security for all states, the inadmissability of the excessive use of force, and the unconditional observance of the basic principles of international law. To neglect any of these principles can only lead to the destabilization of international relations.

It is through this prism that we perceive some aspects of U.S. and NATO conduct that contradict the logic of modern development, relying instead on the stereotypes of a bloc-based mentality. Everyone understands what I am referring to - an expansion of NATO that includes the deployment of new military infrastructure with U.S.-drafted plans to establish a missile defense system in Europe. I would not touch on this issue if these plans were not conducted in close proximity to Russian borders, if they did not undermine our security and global stability in general.
Our arguments are well known, and I will not spell them out again. Regrettably, our Western partners are unresponsive and have simply brushed our concerns aside.
We are worried that although the outline of our "new" relations with NATO are not yet final, the alliance is already providing us with "facts on the ground" that are counterproductive to building mutual trust. At the same time, this approach will backfire with respect to global objectives, making it more difficult to cooperate on a positive agenda and will impede any constructive reallignment in international relations.

The recent series of armed conflicts started under the pretext of humanitarian aims is undermining the time-honored principle of state sovereignty, creating a moral and legal void in the practice of international relations.
It is often said that human rights override state sovereignty. This is undoubtedly true - crimes against humanity must be punished by the International Court. However, when state sovereignty is too easily violated in the name of this provision, when human rights are protected from abroad and on a selective basis, and when the same rights of a population are trampled underfoot in the process of such "protection," including the most basic and sacred right - the right to one's life - these actions cannot be considered a noble mission but rather outright demagogy.

It is important for the United Nations and its Security Council to effectively counter the dictates of some countries and their arbitrary actions in the world arena. Nobody has the right to usurp the prerogatives and powers of the UN, particularly the use of force with regard to sovereign nations. This concerns NATO, an organization that has been assuming an attitude that is inconsistent with a "defensive alliance." These points are very serious. We recall how states that have fallen victim to "humanitarian" operations and the export of "missile-and-bomb democracy" appealed for respect for legal standards and common human decency. But their cries were in vain - their appeals went unheard.

It seems that NATO members, especially the United States, have developed a peculiar interpretation of security that is different from ours. The Americans have become obsessed with the idea of becoming absolutely invulnerable. This utopian concept is unfeasible both technologically and geopolitically, but it is the root of the problem.

The Arab Spring: lessons and conclusions

A year ago the world witnessed a new phenomenon - nearly simultaneous demonstrations against authoritarian regimes in many Arab countries. The Arab Spring was initially received with hope for positive change. People in Russia sympathized with those who were seeking democratic reform.
However, it soon became clear that events in many countries were not following a civilized scenario. Instead of asserting democracy and protecting the rights of the minority, attempts were being made to depose an enemy and to stage a coup, which only resulted in the replacement of one dominant force with another even more aggressive dominant force.

Foreign interference in support of one side of a domestic conflict and the use of power in this interference gave developments a negative aura. A number of countries did away with the Libyan regime by using air power in the name of humanitarian support. The revolting slaughter of Muammar Gaddafi - not just medieval but primeval - was the manifestation of these actions.

No one should be allowed to employ the Libyan scenario in Syria. The international community must work to achieve an internal Syrian reconciliation. It is important to achieve an early end to the violence no matter what the source, and to initiate a national dialogue - without preconditions or foreign interference and with due respect for the country's sovereignty. This would create the conditions necessary to introduce the measures for democratization announced by the Syrian leadership. The key objective is to prevent an all-out civil war. Russian diplomacy has worked and will continue to work toward this end.

Sadder but wiser, we oppose the adoption of UN Security Council resolutions that may be interpreted as a signal to armed interference in Syria's domestic development. Guided by this consistent approach in early February, Russia and China prevented the adoption of an ambiguous resolution that would have encouraged one side of this domestic conflict to resort to violence. In this context and considering the extremely negative, almost hysterical reaction to the Russian-Chinese veto, I would like to warn our Western colleagues against the temptation to resort to this simple, previously used tactic: if the UN Security Council approves of a given action, fine; if not, we will establish a coalition of the states concerned and strike anyway.

The logic of such conduct is counterproductive and very dangerous. No good can come of it. In any case, it will not help reach a settlement in a country that is going through a domestic conflict. Even worse, it further undermines the entire system of international security as well as the authority and key role of the UN. Let me recall that the right to veto is not some whim but an inalienable part of the world's agreement that is registered in the UN Charter - incidentally, on U.S. insistence. The implication of this right is that decisions that raise the objection of even one permanent member of the UN Security Council cannot be well-grounded or effective.
I hope very much that the United States and other countries will consider this sad experience and will not pursue the use of power in Syria without UN Security Council sanctions.

In general, I cannot understand what causes this itch for military intervention. Why isn't there the patience to develop a well-considered, balanced and cooperative approach, all the more so since this approach was already taking shape in the form of the aforementioned Syrian resolution? It only lacked the demand that the armed opposition do the same as the government; in particular, withdraw military units and detachments from cities. The refusal to do so is cynical. If we want to protect civilians - and this is the main goal for Russia - we must make all the participants in the armed confrontation see reason.

And one more point. It appears that with the Arab Spring countries, as with Iraq, Russian companies are losing their decades-long positions in local commercial markets and are being deprived of large commercial contracts. The niches thus vacated are being filled by the economic operatives of the states that had a hand in the change of the ruling regime. One could reasonably conclude that tragic events have been encouraged to a certain extent by someone's interest in a re-division of the commercial market rather than a concern for human rights. Be that as it may, we cannot sit back watch all this with Olympian serenity. We intend to work with the new governments of the Arab countries in order to promptly restore our economic positions.

The notion of "soft power" is being used increasingly often. This implies a matrix of tools and methods to reach foreign policy goals without the use of arms but by exerting information and other levers of influence. Regrettably, these methods are being used all too frequently to develop and provoke extremist, separatist and nationalistic attitudes, to manipulate the public and to conduct direct interference in the domestic policy of sovereign countries.

There must be a clear division between freedom of speech and normal political activity, on the one hand, and illegal instruments of "soft power," on the other. The civilized work of non-governmental humanitarian and charity organizations deserves every support. This also applies to those who actively criticize the current authorities. However, the activities of "pseudo-NGOs" and other agencies that try to destabilize other countries with outside support are unacceptable.

I'm referring to those cases where the activities of NGOs are not based on the interests (and resources) of local social groups but are funded and supported by outside forces. There are many agents of influence from big countries, international blocks or corporations. When they act in the open - this is simply a form of civilized lobbyism. Russia also uses such institutions - the Federal Agency for CIS Affairs, Compatriots Living Abroad, International Humanitarian Cooperation, the Russkiy Mir Foundation and our leading universities who recruit talented students from abroad.
However, Russia does not use or fund national NGOs based in other countries or any foreign political organizations in the pursuit of its own interests. China, India and Brazil do not do this either. We believe that any influence on domestic policy and public attitude in other countries must be exerted in the open; in this way, those who wish to be of influence will do so responsibly.
"

"U.S. President Barack Obama’s threat to intervene in Syria is an element of his election campaign, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Kadri Jamil said on Tuesday.
“As far as Obama’s statements are concerned, these are information and propaganda threats that are linked to the upcoming elections,” Jamil said at a news conference hosted by RIA Novosti. “There are all sorts of games that are being played in connection with U.S. presidential elections.”

The U.S. presidential election is set for November 6, 2012.

“After the Russian-Chinese veto [at the UN Security Council] the West is looking for an opportunity for military intervention in Syria, but we must say that such intervention is impossible,” Jamil said. “Those who are contemplating that evidently want to see the crisis expand and spill over beyond Syria.”

He also said the issue of President Bashar al-Assad’s resignation could only be discussed after an all-Syria dialogue begins. “Setting [Assad’s] resignation as a condition before dialogue means that there will be no dialogue,” Jamil said, adding that such an approach was an attempt to impose decisions on the Syrian people. “I believe, first, the entire Syrian people should be asked [about that]. If this issue is being imposed on us from abroad it is a very dangerous precedent in international relations,” he said.

Since March 2011, the Syrian conflict has claimed up to 20,000 lives, according to estimates by various Syrian opposition groups. The West is pushing for President Bashar al-Assad’s ouster, while Russia and China are trying to prevent outside interference in Syria saying the Assad regime and the opposition are both to blame for the bloodshed."

Originally Posted by OhOh

You prefer the guys who kill actual innocent people in the off chance that there may be a terrorist amongst them?

Are the Northern Alliance being accused of that?

Originally Posted by OhOh

"U.S. President Barack Obama’s threat to intervene in Syria is an element of his election campaign, Syrian Deputy Prime Minister Kadri Jamil said on Tuesday.
“As far as Obama’s statements are concerned, these are information and propaganda threats that are linked to the upcoming elections,” Jamil said at a news conference hosted by RIA Novosti. “There are all sorts of games that are being played in connection with U.S. presidential elections.”

The U.S. presidential election is set for November 6, 2012.

That's a rather amusing attempt at humour I hope. I doubt either Presidential candidate wants to raise the ire of the American voter by getting involved in another protected ground war on foreign soil.

Although personally I would support them emasculating Assad's war machine from the air, if only to prevent the massacre of more innocents.

Assad is talking now about stepping down and a CNS government taking over

^Do you have a link to the story?

here is th latest i can find.



Syrian Arab news agency - SANA - Syria : Syria news ::

"MOSCOW, (SANA)- Deputy Prime Minister for Economic Affairs, Minister of Internal Trade and Consumer Protection, Dr. Qadri Jamil, on Tuesday said that the current Syrian government has put on its agenda the goal of achieving national reconciliation, stressing that this goal requires starting a comprehensive political process to secure a safe way out of the prevailing situation in Syria.

In a joint press conference with Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs, Ali Haidar, held in Moscow, Jamil made clear that the Syrian delegation discussed with Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov, the prospects of solving the crisis in Syria in details, which he said "has caused spilling of blood and strong pressure on the Syrian economy in a way that reflected negatively on the life and livelihood of the Syrian citizens."

"Our stance has been clear since the start of the crisis in terms of the necessity of going for dialogue without pre-conditions," stressed Minister Jamil, adding that putting such pre-conditions hinders the process of starting dialogue. "Those who want to start dialogue should go for it immediately and put forth on the table their ideas and views on solving the crisis and visions for the upcoming renewed Syria," he said.

The Minister pointed out that there are principles for dialogue that must be committed to for getting the dialogue table started. "These principles have become known and are represented in the rejection of foreign interference and violence in all their forms," said Jamil, reiterating that these two points are not conditions but principles that should be agreed on, "otherwise dialogue will be doomed to failure." Once agreement is made on these two principles, he added, the other issues will be solvable through dialogue that is aimed at reaching accord.

On the US-European sanctions imposed on Syria, Jamil said that Syria suffers illegitimate, unfair and unilateral sanctions by the EU and USA, underlining that the sanctions don't target the Syrian government as they claim, but they affect the Syrian people. "The US-European stance towards sanctions is hypocrite and affected the Syrian people who suffer today from these sanctions.. we felt that our Russian friends want to help us ease the effects of these sanctions on the Syrian people," Jamil said. He added that at this point comes the necessity of heading towards the East in order to solve a lot of problems which occurred as a result of the crisis and the foreign sanctions which damaged the Syrian economy and closed the traditional lines through which export and import were done.
"The Syrian government has many substitutes and alternations to provide what is required to the Syrian economy in a way to be positively reflected on the repercussions of the crisis," Jamil said. As for the US threats of military interference in Syria, Jamil said "the military direct intervention in Syria is impossible," stressing that the threats posed by the US President are a form of "games" in the framework of the forthcoming electoral campaigns.

For his part, Minister of State for National Reconciliation Affairs, Haidar, stressed that "halting the violence needs a international atmosphere helped prepared by the friends to be imposed on the international level and at the international forums as this will help a lot in taking the other files inside Syria towards the direction of serving the final comprehensive national reconciliation." "The political process for the national reconciliation should immediately follow the halt of violence as it is not possible to go for a political process on a moving ground and under the pressure of military clashes because then we will be going to a process of a different kind," said Minister Haidar. He continued that "halting the violence needs a road map and clear headlines represented in stopping this violence and recognizing the existence of one legitimate weapon which is that of the state." "In addition to that," Haidar added, "there needs to be a mechanism for handing over weapons, providing that all holders of this weapon move to the political process on the ground not of defeat or withdrawal but of shifting to the normal situation of all the Syrians which is that of engaging into a clear political movement and finding their representatives in the upcoming political process." This, the Minister said, will ensure heading to the dialogue table on a firm and clear ground to achieve a comprehensive national reconciliation that guarantees the rights of everybody and secures their interests without exception.

Haidar lashed out at the blackout practiced by the West against the work of the Ministry of National Reconciliation Affairs.

He stressed that such attempts are aimed at "saying that there is no Syrian political will to solve the crisis through a political process, and therefore the only way out of the current difficult situation is through a military action and foreign intervention in the Syrian affair." Haidar said that the establishment of the National Reconciliation Ministry was one of the factors of preventing foreign interference, reiterating that "the solution to the crisis in Syria should be a Syrian one par excellence on Syria's land through a Syrian project among the Syrian people." Haidar underlined that the halt of violence needs a road map and clear and frank titles which are cease-fire, recognition of the existence of one legitimate weapon which is the weapon of the state in addition to finding a mechanism to remove all the illegitimate weapons. He reiterated that there is a big foreign, western blackout on the work of the Ministry of the National Reconciliation affairs in order to say that there is no Syrian political will to resolve the crisis through a political process. "The political process is open and available to all today more than before .. it is the only way to come out of the crisis in Syria.. we always say that there no exclusion to anyone on the dialogue table, no preconditions and doors are open to discuss everything," Haidar said.

Jamil to SANA: We discussed how to Continue Preventing the Foreign Interference. Jamil described the talks held in Moscow with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as very deep and cordial. "We discussed two important files; the crisis in Syria which is related to the national reconciliation and how to continue preventing the foreign intervention in the Syrian affairs in a way that lets the Syrian people resolve their own problems," Jamil said in a speech to SANA correspondent in Moscow. He added that the second file was represented by discussing all the economic files which were tackled during the visit of the Syrian Economic delegation several weeks ago to Moscow. "The Russian friends will do their best to prevent the foreign interference.. their efforts will succeed to reach a peaceful solution to the crisis in Syria," Jamil underlined.

For his part, Haidar said "There was an agreement on all basic headlines which were proposed.. we have talked in details about the executive process to stop violence in Syria, launch the political process and how to realize the political needed solution in the country." "


That doesn't seem to me to be any different than the options that were available from the start of this conflict. Lets see if the crusader coalition answers any of this with their proposals or just more bombs, bullets and death.

Originally Posted by OhOh

^Do you have a link to the story?

AFP wire, could just have been unsubstantiated rumors

Syria: US and Turkey meet to hasten Bashar al-Assad's end - Telegraph

"The meeting is expected to coordinate military, intelligence and political responses to the crisis in Syria where a deadly crackdown on peaceful protests that began in March 2011 has according to activists claimed more than 23,000 lives.
The officials are also due to discuss contingency plans in the case of potential threats including a chemical attack by the regime in Damascus which Washington has called a "red line".
Turkish foreign ministry deputy under-secretary Halit Cevik and US ambassador Elisabeth Jones are leading the delegations made up of intelligence agents, military officials and diplomats at the meeting in Ankara, a Turkish foreign ministry source said.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkey's foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced their plans for such a mechanism to hasten the end of President Bashar al-Assad's regime on August 11.

The meeting comes after David Cameron and President Barack Obama warned Syria that any movement or usage of its chemical weapons would change their perspective on how to respond to the conflict.
A chemical attack would also trigger a refugee influx to neighbouring countries including Turkey which has already received more than 70,000 Syrians.
On Monday, Mr Davutoglu said Turkey can handle no more than 100,000 Syrian refugees and has proposed setting up a UN buffer zone inside Syria to shelter them.
The exodus of refugees to Turkey has intensified recently as a result of a Syrian army offensive and fighting in the northern city of Aleppo between regime forces and rebels.
The growing flow of refugees has raised fears of a repeat of the 1991 Gulf War, when half a million Iraqi Kurds massed along the common border.
The threat of armed groups including the outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) and al-Qaeda which could exploit a power vacuum in Syria is also expected to figure high on the agenda of the Ankara meeting.
In Istanbul, Mrs Clinton had said she shared "Turkey's determination that Syria must not become a haven for PKK terorrists whether now or after the departure of the Assad regime"."

The invasion plans are on then? So much for the Geneva resolution and the UN Charter of respecting the borders of Syria, no external arming, directing, the terrorists.

The PKK are already in Syria, Turkey, Iraq and Iran. Is she intending to invade them as well?

If she doesn't think the Syrians, Iraqis and Iranians will use any weapons they have to fight off an invasion she is living on the moon.

The Chinese response which is not at all crusader coalition friendly.

Obama's "red line" warnings merely aimed to seek new pretext for Syria intervention - Xinhua | English.news.cn

"BEIJING, Aug. 22 (Xinhua) -- Once again, Western powers are digging deep for excuses to intervene militarily in another conflict-torn Middle East country, as U.S. President Barack Obama warned Monday that the use of chemical weapons by Syria's government would change his "calculus."

With the hypocritical talks of eliminating weapons of mass destruction in Iraq and protecting civilians in Libya still ringing in the ears, such "red line" threats seem to have almost become a signal for the United States and some of its Western allies to sharpen their weapons before exercising interventionism.

The world should stay vigilant that these dangerously irresponsible remarks would do nothing but effectively escalate the current bloody situation in Syria and gravely tarnish the prospects of settling Syria's 17-month-old crisis through political means.

It is true that the UN and Arab League-led mediation efforts on the ground have yet to yield satisfactory results to broker a ceasefire between government troops and armed rebels in Syria.

However, when continuous radicalism-fueled roadside bomb attacks, along with heartrending poverty and chaos, have nearly killed the hopes for stability and prosperity in Somalia, Iraq and Libya, nations that have suffered West-led military interventions, foreign crusades would simply incur even more violence, hostilities and hatred in Syria.

Apart from being ineffective to bring real peace, military interventions by the United States and its Western partners are always interests-driven and highly selective.

It is not difficult to find that, under the disguise of humanitarianism, the United States has always tried to smash governments it considers as threats to its so-called national interests and relentlessly replace them with those that are Washington-friendly.

That easily explains why both Iraq's Saddam Hussein and Libya's Muammar Gaddafi, who once worked closely with the United States, were later depicted as brutal dictators with the people's blood dipping through their fingers.

Right now, as conflicts between government troops and rebel forces still rage in Syria, nations around the world should continue to build on the progress that has been achieved by outgoing international envoy Kofi Annan and his team.

Any attempt to scrap the chances for a political settlement and to turn Syria into the next testing ground for Western weapons must be guarded against and ruled out.

China, being acutely aware of the harm of foreign interventions, has always stood firmly against them and supported the political settlement of all crises.

Thus, the Chinese government is keen to continue working with the international community to back UN-backed negotiations aimed at bringing real and lasting peace to Syria."

The sooner Assad is deposed and/or executed, the better.

Originally Posted by sabang

I suppose the biased attitudes and actions of the USA are bound to gain a virtual monopoly in our media, given the US' virtual dominance of their Nato vassal states, diplomatically speaking, and the international media that we have ready access to in the west. But it shouldn't, really- America long ago gave away any pretence of being an 'honest broker' with respect to the middle east. Basically, it's actions and statements should be seen as just expressing it's own partisan preferences in the latest saga in the geopolitical chess game. Forget 'Freedom and Democracy' and other empty slogans (Al Qaeda is not our ally in the rhetorical struggle for freedom and democracy, one iota). It is just another country, bigger than most, trying to influence outcomes for it's own perceived benefit. Any question of 'morality' or 'democratic principles' was trashed long ago. They are also tragically wrong, but that also is normal in this part of the world. The UN should shoulder the US out, and take over the reins in the various middle eastern peace process and power rivalries. Failure has it's just rewards too.

very well put,

Originally Posted by sabang

Now it is China and Russia that are the Doves, the peacemakers. Something quite fundamental has changed, and I think it comes down to a declining Empire trashing what remains of it's values in the struggle to maintain it's perceived dominant role.

strange world isn't it ? The US becoming the bad guys, maybe they were always but we couldn't see it.