he deputy of slain U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens has told congressional investigators that a team of Special Forces prepared to fly from Tripoli to Benghazi during the Sept. 11, 2012 attacks was forbidden from doing so by U.S. Special Operations Command South Africa.
The account from Gregory Hicks is in stark contrast to assertions from the Obama administration, which insisted that nobody was ever told to stand down and that all available resources were utilized. Hicks gave private testimony to congressional investigators last month in advance of his upcoming appearance at a congressional hearing Wednesday.
According to excerpts released Monday, Hicks told investigators that SOCAFRICA commander Lt. Col. Gibson and his team were on their way to board a C-130 from Tripoli for Benghazi prior to an attack on a second U.S. compound "when [Col. Gibson] got a phone call from SOCAFRICA which said, 'you can't go now, you don't have the authority to go now.' And so they missed the flight ... They were told not to board the flight, so they missed it."
No assistance arrived from the U.S. military outside of Libya during the hours that Americans were under attack or trapped inside compounds by hostile forces armed with rocket-propelled grenades, mortars and AK-47 rifles.
Hicks told congressional investigators that if the U.S. had quickly sent a military aircraft over Benghazi, it might have saved American lives. The U.S. Souda Bay Naval Base is an hour's flight from Libya.
On the night of Sept. 11, as the Obama administration scrambled to respond to the Benghazi terror attacks, then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and a key aide effectively tried to cut the department's own counterterrorism bureau out of the chain of reporting and decision-making, according to a "whistle-blower" witness from that bureau who will soon testify to the charge before Congress, Fox News has learned.
If true that means Hilde was engaged in cover-up from almost the first minute. That would be typical of her and the others currently in charge of the administration.
That witness is Mark I. Thompson, a former Marine and now the deputy coordinator for operations in the agency's counterterrorism bureau. Sources tell Fox News Thompson will level the allegation against Clinton during testimony on Wednesday before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, chaired by Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif.
Fox News has also learned that another official from the counterterrorism bureau -- independently of Thompson -- voiced the same complaint about Clinton and Under Secretary for Management Patrick Kennedy to trusted national security colleagues back in October.
Thompson considers himself a whistle-blower whose account was suppressed by the official investigative panel that Clinton convened to review the episode, the Accountability Review Board (ARB).
Apparently he couldn't find a microphone, a sympathetic reporter to leak to, or a TV camera last fall?
Thompson's lawyer, Joseph diGenova, a former U.S. attorney, has further alleged that his client has been subjected to threats and intimidation by as-yet-unnamed superiors at State, in advance of his cooperation with Congress.
Sources close to the congressional investigation who have been briefed on what Thompson will testify tell Fox News the veteran counterterrorism official concluded on Sept. 11 that Clinton and Kennedy tried to cut the counterterrorism bureau out of the loop as they and other Obama administration officials weighed how to respond to -- and characterize -- the Benghazi attacks.
"You should have seen what (Clinton) tried to do to us that night," the second official in State's counterterrorism bureau told colleagues back in October. Those comments would appear to be corroborated by Thompson's forthcoming testimony.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki called the counterterrorism officials' allegation "100 percent false." A spokesman for Clinton said tersely that the charge is not true.
"Lies! All lies!"
Documents from the State Department, the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Council, first published in the May 13 edition of The Weekly Standard, showed that senior officials from those agencies decided within days of the attacks to delete all references to Al Qaeda's known involvement in them from "talking points" being prepared for those administration officers being sent out to discuss the attacks publicly.
Those talking points -- and indeed, the statements of all senior Obama administration officials who commented publicly on Benghazi during the early days after the attacks -- sought instead to depict the Americans' deaths as the result of a spontaneous protest that went awry. The administration later acknowledged that there had been no such protest, as evidence mounted that Al Qaeda-linked terrorists had participated in the attacks. The latter conclusion had figured prominently in the earliest CIA drafts of the talking points, but was stricken by an ad hoc group of senior officials controlling the drafting process. Among those involved in prodding the deletions, the documents published by The Weekly Standard show, was State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland, who wrote at one point that the revisions were not sufficient to satisfy "my building's leadership."
By the way, the YouTube filmmaker remains in prison. Just saying...
The allegations of the two counterterrorism officials stand to return the former secretary of state to the center of the Benghazi story. Widely regarded as a leading potential candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2016, Clinton has insisted she was not privy to decisions made by underlings about the inadequate security for the U.S. installations in Benghazi that were made in the run-up to the attacks.
Why would she be, she was only Secretary of State. Details are for little people...
And she has portrayed her role -- once the attacks became known in Washington -- as that of a determined fact-finder who worked with colleagues to fashion the best possible response to the crisis.
'Fashion' being the appropriate euphemism for what she did...
Clinton testified about Benghazi for the first and only time in January of this year, shortly before leaving office. She had long delayed her testimony, at first because she cited the need for the ARB to complete its report, and then because she suffered a series of untimely health problems that included acute cirrhosis a stomach virus, a concussion sustained during a fall at home, and a blood clot near her brain, from which she has since recovered. However, Clinton was never interviewed by the ARB she convened.
How unfortunate. The blood clot could have done a lot of talking...
Fox News disclosed last week that the conduct of the ARB is itself now under review by the State Department's Office of Inspector General.
Since 'internal reviews' just aren't trusted by skeptical external viewers...
The counterterrorism officials, however, concluded that Clinton and Kennedy were immediately wary of the attacks being portrayed as acts of terrorism, and accordingly worked to prevent the counterterrorism bureau from having a role in the department's early decision-making relating to them.
Also appearing before the oversight committee on Wednesday will be Gregory N. Hicks, the deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Libya at the time of the Benghazi terrorist attacks. Like Thompson, Hicks is a career State Department official who considers himself a Benghazi whistle-blower.
Now. He's a whistle-blower now. Where was he in September and October? That's the one thing that makes me hold back in endorsing these folks. Where were they when the public really needed to hear what they said, and when what they said would have made a difference. As I recall, there was an election going on then, and it would have helped the electorate to know if the administration then in charge was being truthful to them. But all three of these individuals sat on their hands despite what they knew. Why is that, and why are they coming out now?
Portions of the forthcoming testimony of Hicks -- who was one of the last people to speak to Stevens, and who upon the ambassador's death became the senior U.S. diplomat in Libya -- were made public by Rep. Issa during an appearance on the CBS News program "Face the Nation" on Sunday.
Hicks told the committee that he and his colleagues on the ground in Libya that night knew instantly that Benghazi was a terrorist attack, and that he was astonished that no one drafting the administration's talking points consulted with him before finalizing them, or before U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice delivered them on the Sunday talk shows of Sept. 16.
Why didn't he speak out on Monday, September 17th?
Hicks was interviewed by the ARB but Thompson was not, sources close to the committee's investigation tell Fox News.
The internal review couldn't do quite that much review, it would have become embarrassing...
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2013 07:22 ||
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#1
Apparently he (Thompson) couldn't find a microphone, a sympathetic reporter to leak to, or a TV camera last fall?
Last fall he would probably have still been an active Marine and not free to leak.
#3
remember how they "disappeared" the survivors and injured? All unavailable for coomment and interview?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2013 9:33 Comments ||
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#4
sleeping well, you sociopathic liar, Hillary?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2013 9:39 Comments ||
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#5
"Don't believe a word you hear. It was not suicide. It couldn't have been." - Assistant Attorney General Webster Hubbell, 7/20/93, cited in Esquire, 11/93.
#8
"What difference does it make".... that was 129 engine changes ago, and we had to duck sniper fire as we walked to the terminal. I need a long rest, my head hurts, I can't remember anything. All I ever wanted was a nice house on 230 acres in the Ozarks. Where are my dark glasses? Vince....Vince.... are you there ?
#10
This also meant that the beast was actively engaged in the deliberate placing the life of an uninvolved, innocent (at least in this) American Citizen in direct danger for a political purpose.
In other words she hid behind a 'human shield'. To me that is despicable.
#11
"You should have seen what (Clinton) tried to do to us that night,"
I can only imagine. Too bad the fly on the wall didn't have a recording device.
I see the wagons circling to protect Hillary at all costs. Damage control at it's best.
Anxious to see these liars be thrown out of office, and Hillary be held accountable to the fullest extent of the law. Make an example out of her to not allow this crap and coverup to ever happen again.
I too question why these whistleblowers didn't come out soon after the attack when it would have impacted the election. Does make one wonder.
Posted by: Jan ||
05/06/2013 12:46 Comments ||
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#12
Not an excuse, but coming out in the immediate few days after the attack in Benghazi, when who knew what and who is to be trusted was still very fluid, you have to face the fact that it was the President, and the power of the White House that any whistleblower was challenging. AT the time the odds looked even to slightly Romney and any insider would know that retribution would be swift and massive if there was any threat to the idea that foreign policy was going well, the Arab Spring was so successful, and the leadership of the administration in Libya's transformation was a joke. So I can understand the calculus of now, when lesser risks accrue, Champ and blow it off, and Hillary isn't the SecState now, might be seen as less risky. Not heroic, but survivor thinking to salvage the career and punch out as a protected whistleblower, especailly since the knives are coming out under JF'nK anyway.
#13
Even with the whistle blower information about what happened in the 6 hours following the attack we still can't dismiss the decisions made by the Administration - looking back we can, but in real time there are risk-reward calculations that have to be made and their decision was callous but not provably incorrect.
HOWEVER, there is no excuse for being so ill-prepared before the attack that such a calculation even had to be made, and the provable lies and cover-up that followed go beyond inexcusable into clearly criminal terrain.
#14
State Dept - including Hillary(2016!) were well aware of the frequent urgent requests for additional security, yet continued to strip it down. Stevens didn't even have an assigned DOS bodyguard. Wrap your mind around that?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/06/2013 21:41 Comments ||
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LONDON: British Foreign Secretary William Hague said on Sunday that apparent Israeli air strikes on Syria showed that peace across the whole region was under threat, and reinforced the need to lift an arms embargo on Syrian rebels. Fire going amazing well. More petrol needed however.
Hague's comments came after a senior Israeli official said that the Jewish state carried out a pre-dawn attack near Damascus on Sunday targeting Iranian missiles destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah.
"We don't have any official confirmation but of course there have been some sources in Israel saying that this has been an Israeli airstrike - I will wait before commenting in detail on that for official confirmation," Hague told Sky News. They said they did it, but you just can't trust those Joos.
"But what I can say is that these events, and many other events of recent days, do show increasing danger to the peace of that entire region from the Syria crisis just getting worse and worse."
Hague added: "Lebanon is constantly threatened by being destabilised, huge numbers of refugees are crossing the border, Jordan is under incredible strain.
"And Israel has made very clear that it will act if it believes that important weapons systems are being transferred to Hezbollah."
Hague said that "Israel will act to protect its national security, we do have to respect that." An absolute blindly flash of the obvious, but to his credit, I suppose that needed saying in England and Europe these days.
The Israeli strike on Sunday was the second on Syrian soil in three days, following an attack near Damascus airport on Friday which also struck Iranian arms destined for the Lebanese Shiite movement.
Iran condemned the strikes, which witnesses in Damascus said were like an earthquake. Which confirms that Iran got the latest [rather largish bomb] message from Israel.
The British foreign minister said the growing threat to peace in the region from the Syria crisis showed the need to increase assistance to the Syrian opposition.
He added that the "longer this goes on the stronger the case becomes for lifting the arms embargoes" against the Syrian opposition. No Bill old fellow, the "longer this goes on" the less likely these murdering bastids are to migrate to Albion.
Britain is pushing the EU to lift an arms embargo on Syria, which comes up for renewal at the end of May.
Hague meanwhile reiterated that there were "credible reports of chemical weapons being used against" the Syrian people, although he was not pressed on whether that had passed the West's "red line" for intervention. Yes, it was your own defense establishment at Wiltshire which confirmed the use of chemical weapons. I would take Porton Down as "credible" as well.
#1
A lot less here than meets the eye, several F-15Is (may or maybe not IAFs) were demonstrating, making noises and peacefully flying about (albeit out of town) when things got out of hand and weapons were spontaneously used in a possible attack-like situation on a possible Syrian target some what near Damascus.
More than 140 children have been rescued from Islamic training centers (madrassas) in the last nine months, with a majority of the children targeted because of their Christian faith. The females, accounting for nearly half of those rescued, report that they were used for forced labor and sex slavery.
New information has come to light regarding the treatment of the young girls rescued from madrassas earlier this year. "They were forcefully converted to Islam," said Akash, a contact for International Christian Concern (ICC) whose name is changed for security reasons. "The girls were made to wear veils at all times. Some girls were also forced to work as slaves in the homes of Muslim families and were only fed one time a day."
The rescued girls were told they would study at a Christian school and receive training to become beauticians. However, after completing the grueling travel from their villages to the capitol city, Dhaka, they discovered it was all a lie. "Instead of training in the Beautifying Parlor, we were forcefully sent to hotels for the sex trade," explained one of the girls.
[CNSNEWS] President Barack Obama I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money... , speaking in Mexico City on Friday, said the United States is responsible for much of the crime and violence in Mexico because of the demand for drugs and the illegal smuggling of guns across the southern border.
He told the crowd, "We understand that the root cause of violence that's been happening here in Mexico for which so many Mexicans have suffered is the demand for illegal drugs in the United States." He later added, "We also recognize that most of the guns used to commit violence here in Mexico come from the United States."
Obama acknowledged the illegal smuggling of guns into Mexico by American criminals, but did not mention the Justice Department's Operation Fast and Furious that allowed the flow of about 2,000 U.S. guns to Mexican drug trafficking organizations. Fast and Furious began in the fall of 2009 and was halted in December 2010 after two of the weapons from the DOJ gun walking program were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
The DoJ is a significant source of violence with firearms in Mexico.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
05/06/2013 1:49 Comments ||
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#2
...were found at the murder scene of Border Patrol agent Brian Terry.
..not to mention probably a couple hundred Mexican nationals too.
Nidal was born in the Dagestani city of Buinaksk in 1992. The Russian newspaper Novaya Gazeta first broke the story about Nidal's ties to Tamerlane, which argued that the Dagestani militant was a key contact of the elder Tsarnaev brother during his 2012 visit to the mountainous Russian republic of Dagestan. While some newspapers and Western media have incorrectly reported that Nidal is an ethnic Chechen, he is actually from Dagestan and is half ethnic Kumyk and half Palestinian. The Kumyks--the third largest ethnic group in the republic of Dagestan--are a Turkic speaking people who are of Mongol descent.
Whatever ties existed between Tamerlan and Nidal, they did not last long. Mahmud Mansur Nidal was 19 years old when he was killed in a police operation in Makhachkala on May 19, 2012. He put up his last fight at his home, located on 1b, Yubileinaya Street in Makhachkala, which the Dagestani police surrounded on the evening of May 18. Apart from Nidal, also present in the domicile were Mansur's mother, Zarina, Mansur's spouse, Maryam (a.k.a. Anzhela) Dolgatova, with their two-month-old infant, along with their guests, Fatima Nurmagomedova and her husband, Abdurakhman Magomedov.
Following many hours of negotiations, the women and children were allowed to leave the house. Abdurakhman Magomedov also surrendered to the authorities. However, Mansur Nidal refused to surrender and fought the police forces and was subsequently killed by the security services as they stormed the building.
According to Dagestani police reports, by December 2011, Mansur Nidal was accused of being a member of the Shamilkala (a.k.a. Makhachkala) Jamaat. The police suspected Nidal of participating in several killings, bomb attacks and assaults on government forces, including an attack on a police checkpoint in Makhachakala on May 3, 2012. In that specific terrorist attack, which was carried out by suicide bombers, 13 people died and over a hundred were injured. Mansur Nidal denied his involvement in this attack to the police in the midst of their siege of his home, stating that he had been out of town that day.
Unofficial sources allege that during the special operation at Nidal's home, a crowd of 150--200 young people attempted to prevent the police from storming the building. The protesters blocked the street where the police operation was taking place. This type of behavior by civilians is quite unusual for Makhachkala. Discussions of how connection is improbable than then this conclusion:
The Moscow papers' stories about Tamerlan Tsarnaev's visit to Georgia, about his contacts with Mansur Mahmud Nidal, or even his possible contacts with the Canadian William Plotnikov are nothing more than attempts to deflect attention from what Tamerlan Tsarnaev was really doing on his last visit to Russia.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
05/06/2013 00:33 ||
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[Al Ahram] FBI Investigators say they are convinced that the Chechen brothers lifted their bomb designs from Internet postings by Islamic militants, though they substituted some components, and made the lethal devices at home
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
they substituted some components
Like a pot instead of a pipe?
Sounds like they had some help from a kitchen anarchist.
MUMBAI: The Western Naval command headquarters has alerted the city police about the threat of a bomb attack on the US consulate here on July 21. The intelligence was shared with reference to an anonymous letter received by the consulate-general and American Centre in Kolkata, threatening to attack both places.
A copy of the single-page letter was passed on by Sanjay Kumar, command intelligence officer, western naval command. The letter has 'Al-Jihad' written on top, much like a logo or the name of an organization. It said US consulate officials are the targets and told the Americans to vacate the consulates. It also said, "We shall carry out blasts in public places and railway stations of Hyderabad, Bangalore and Mumbai in July this year."
It was unclear when the US consulate received the letter and why July 21 was chosen. Al-Jihad is not known to intelligence agencies but they are taking the threat seriously as terror outfits are known to hide under various names. The input has been shared with the Intelligence Bureau headquarters and its wings in Hyderabad, Kolkata, Bangalore and Mumbai.
The state anti-terrorism squad (ATS) also issued a terror alert, saying the Indian Mujahideen (IM) could target several places to avenge the conviction of and death penalty for its operative, Himayat Mirza Baig, in the German Bakery bomb blast case.
Amitesh Kumar, deputy inspector general of police, ATS, in a two-page alert stated, "In view of the death penalty to Himayat Baig in the German Bakery bomb blast case and the recent blast in Bangalore, retaliation cannot be ruled out. IM can possibly launch a fresh terror strike."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] A judicial magistrate on Saturday remanded four suspected hard boyz of the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain in police custody till May 6 in cases relating to possession of illicit weapons and explosives.
The CID police claimed to have tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! Farhad Khan aka Hamza, Zafar Hussain, Rafiq Ahmed and Mohammed Ilyas aka Siddiqullah after a shootout in Ittehad Town on May 3. They also claimed to have seized arms and explosives from their custody.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Pakistan has demanded from India the release of 47 Pakistani prisoners who have completed their prison terms and are languishing in various Indians prisons.
"47 Pakistani prisoners in various prisons have completed their sentence and they should be released immediately" Pakistan' envoy to India Salman Bashir wrote in a letter addressed to Indian foreign secretary.
The letter has been handed over to top officials at Indian Ministry of External Affairs by Pakistan's deputy High Commissioner Abdul Rehman Nizamani, spokesman for Pakistan High Commission in India Manzoor Ali Memon told Dawn.com.
The letter has been written following attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah in Jammu jail, in which he suffered severe injuries and is currently in Chandigarh Hospital in a critical condition.
Sanaullah has been attacked in reaction to the fatal attack on Indian death-row prisoner Sarabajit Singh at Kot Lakhpat jail in Lahore last week.
In the letter Pakistan also demanded a thorough probe into attack on Pakistani prisoner Sanaullah at Jammu prison and called for stern punishment against the attacker.
The letter also demanded that Indian government should immediately take appropriate steps for the security of Pakistani prisoners in Indian jails.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[BETA.DAWN] Sanaullah Haq, the Pak prisoner who was attacked in an India prison in Jammu last week, is brain dead doctors of the PGI Chandigarh said on Sunday, DawnNews reported.
Moreover the Pak High Commissioner was allowed to visit the Haq in Chandigarh, according to Indian media channels.
Doctors at PGI Chandigarh issued the latest report over the condition of Sanaullah Haq according to which the attacked prisoner was in a brain-dead state.
The report was reportedly signed by DR SN Mathu Raya and other doctors of the team tending to the Pak prisoner.
Sanaullah Haq, who was convicted of involvement in separatist activities in the disputed area of Kashmire, was attacked in an Indian prison by a court-martialled Indian soldier in retaliation to a similar incident in a Pak prison where some prisoners attacked Sarabjit Singh, who was a deathrow prisoner in Pakistain convicted for terrorism charges related to bombing in Faisalabad ...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after... that had killed 14 people.
Sarabjit later died at a hospital in Lahore.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
One could make the argument that he has always been brain dead.
[An Nahar] Acting defense minister Saadun al-Dulaimi on Sunday accused Turkey of controlling Sunni anti-government protests in Shiite-majority Iraq, saying the demonstrations are a haven for "bully boyz and killers."
"There are foreign agendas controlling these sites," Dulaimi said of the protests.
"It is like Anbar, or djinn-infested Mosul or Samarra are part of the Ottoman Empire," he said, referring to Sunni areas in Iraq.
Areas of what is now Iraq were part of the Ottoman Empire, which was governed from Istanbul in what is now Turkey, before the empire's dissolution after World War I.
Ties between Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and Ankara have been strained by issues including Turkey hosting Tareq al-Hashemi, Iraq's runaway former vice president who has been sentenced to death on charges including murder.
Dulaimi also had harsh words for the protesters themselves.
"Shame... on those sites that are opening their doors to Istanbul or any other country," he said.
"Protest sites have become a safe haven for bully boyz and killers and those who call for strife, sectarianism and hate."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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A day after it launched an airstrike outside of Damascus, killing scores of Syrian soldiers, Israel sought to play down the attack as a strike against regime-ally Hezbollah, not President Bashar al-Assad.
Reuters reports that Israel has made several soothing overtures to its war-racked northern neighbor after launching airstrikes in Syria on Friday and Sunday. Tzachi Hanegbi, a confidante of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told Israeli radio on Monday that Mr. Netanyahu aimed to avoid "an increase in tension with Syria by making clear that if there is activity, it is only against Hezbollah, not against the Syrian regime."
Hezbollah, which seeks Israel's elimination, has long relied on the Assad regime to transfer weapons from Iran into its own hands. Damascus and the Lebanese Shiite militant group appear to have drawn closer together as a result of Syria's civil war, with Hezbollah fighters battling the Syrian opposition from inside the country.
Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel's biggest-selling newspaper, said the Netanyahu government had informed Mr. Assad through diplomatic channels that the attacks were not attempts to affect the outcome of Syria's civil war.
Israeli officials did not immediately confirm the report, but one suggested that such indirect contacts were not required.
"Given the public remarks being made by senior Israeli figures to reassure Assad, it's pretty clear what the message is," the official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
And Haaretz noted that Netanyahu left as planned for a diplomatic trip to China on Sunday, which it called "part of Jerusalems effort to send a calming message to Assad."
#1
Netanyahu government had informed Mr. Assad through diplomatic channels that the attacks were not attempts to affect the outcome of Syria's civil war.
#3
The troops guarding the hezbollah missiles were probably not Assad's 'elite' soldiers but there may have been some Hezbollah troops there and maybe a few Basij.
Posted by: lord garth ||
05/06/2013 17:33 Comments ||
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#4
"may have been some Hezbollah troops there and maybe a few Basij"
And the poor babees got killed?
Awwwwwww, ain't that just too bad.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/06/2013 19:07 Comments ||
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#5
Syria," Da Joos killed our countrymen, they must die!!"
Israel," There Iranians, not Syrians."
Syria," Oh, OK. Its all good."
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
05/06/2013 20:50 Comments ||
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#6
As the 2000-Year-Old Man said, Tragedy is when I stub my toe. Comedy is when you fall down a manhole and die.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
05/06/2013 22:57 Comments ||
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#3
This "event" happened on Valentine's Day 2012, about three miles from my home in Bangkok. It was a wonderful occurrence of Karmic justice. To fully appreciate just how vigorously that justice was dispensed, here is a (warning: very graphic) video clip of Mr. Moradi shortly following his refresher lesson in the force of gravity: http://youtu.be/CMdtylfU9qo And - yes - that is a school immediately behind him. 'Kinda clever how Karma neatly removed Maradi's jeans, and hung them from a lamppost, before chopping him down to size.
This botched effort by a team of grossly inept Quds force pawns can only be likened to the adventures of "The Four Lions" - here is the famous scene of the first "martyr" cashing himself in: http://youtu.be/VCpVh8Wox1U
Twice in three days, Israeli warplanes entered Syrian airspace and fired on suspected weapons caches bound for Hezbollah and nothing has happened in response.
Some experts are predicting that will continue to be the case following airstrikes near Damascus on Friday and Sunday that are widely believed to be the work of the Israel Defense Forces. According to reports, the strikes targeted shipments of long-range, Iranian-made Fateh-110 missiles capable of striking deep into Israel.
Israel hasnt commented on the strikes, but the IDF has moved two Iron Dome missile defense batteries to its northern border and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delayed his departure to China for several hours to convene his security cabinet. Meanwhile, Syrias foreign minister told CNN on Sunday that the strikes amounted to a declaration of war.
But such gestures, analysts say, are merely symbolic. Torn by a civil war now in its third year, the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad is too beleaguered to fight back. And Hezbollah, the Lebanese party considered a terrorist organization by the United States and Israel, is considered too preoccupied propping up its Syrian patron to respond.
[An Nahar] Egypt on Sunday condemned Israeli air strikes on Syria, with the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... also demanding that the U.N. Security Council act to stop what it called Israeli "attacks" against the war-torn country.
The Egyptian presidency said in a statement the air strikes "violated international law and principles that will further complicate the situation." The raids reportedly targeted rockets destined for Leb's Hizbullah.
The Arab League, which like Egypt sides with rebels against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... , demanded the Security Council "act immediately to end Israeli attacks on Syria," which it called a "dangerous violation of an Arab state's illusory sovereignty."
The presidency in Cairo affirmed "its extreme opposition" to the Syrian regime's bloody crackdown on rebel-held areas, but accused Israel of "exploiting its internal conflict."
A senior Israeli source said an overnight aerial assault hit Iranian weapons destined for Hizbullah, which is closely allied to the Syrian regime.
A diplomatic source in Beirut told Agence La Belle France Presse three sites were targeted -- a military facility, a nearby weapons depot and an anti-aircraft unit in Sabura, west of the capital Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] The Syrian National Coalition opposition group on Sunday condemned Israeli strikes inside Syria, saying the Jewish state had "taken advantage" of the ongoing conflict.
"The Syrian Coalition condemns the Israeli attacks," it said in a statement.
It accused the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... of complicity, saying it was responsible "for weakening the Syrian army by exhausting its forces in a losing battle against the Syrian people."
The umbrella opposition group said the timing of the strikes was "suspicious" because it could draw attention away from at least two reported incidents of mass killings by regime troops in Syria this week.
"It is not unlikely that as a result of these attacks, and world distraction, more crimes will be committed," it said.
"The Syrian Coalition deeply regrets the deafening silence and powerlessness of the international community in the face of such grievous violations of international laws, continued by the Assad regime and taken advantage of by Israel in order to fulfill clear objectives."
Syria's government said on Sunday that Israel targeted three military sites near Damascus ...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy... , while a senior Israeli source said the attacks hit weapons destined for Leb's Hizbullah.
Earlier, the rebel Free Syrian Army reacted cautiously to news of the strikes, which followed an earlier reported Israeli attack on Syrian sites early on Friday.
"Of course the Free Syrian Army and any Syrian is bothered that their country is being bombed, but Syria is being bombed every day by Bashir al-Assad, and by Israel," FSA media and political coordinator Louay Muqdad told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"We wonder why there are so many missiles and military installations around Damascus when they should be close to the ceasefire line with Israel on the Golan Heights," he added.
"For us, the operations that we carry out every day are not related to Israeli attacks or anything else, and we will continue to fight until the fall of Assad," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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Link ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
For a fasinating account of what has happened please read this article
[An Nahar] Israeli strikes on Syrian military sites have opened the door "to all possibilities" and made the situation in the region "more dangerous," Syria's government said on Sunday.
"The government of the Syrian Arab Republic confirms that this aggression opens the door wide to all possibilities," the cabinet said in a statement read at a news conference by Information Minister Omran al-Zohbi.
"The international community should know that the complex situation in the region has become more dangerous after this aggression," the statement added.
Syria "has not just a right but a duty to protect the homeland and the state and the people from any attack, whether internal or external, by all ways and means and capabilities available," it said.
The comments came after the cabinet held an emergency meeting to discuss what the foreign ministry described as at least three Israeli strikes on Syrian military sites overnight.
In letters to the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... Security Council, the foreign ministry accused Israel of coordinating with "terrorist groups" including the al-Nusra Front rebel group that has pledged allegiance to al-Qaeda.
A senior Israeli source said the attacks early on Sunday hit Iranian weapons destined for Leb's Hizbullah.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Debka is quoting RT "Russia Today claimed that an Israeli rocket strike Sunday caused heavy Syrian casualties â according to rumors, at least 300 members of the Syrian Armyâs 501st Unit dead and hundreds filling four Damascus hospitals. debkafile: If this is confirmed, then the unit which operates the chemical weapon facility at the Barzeh district north of Damascus at the foot of Mt. Qassioun was hit. Israelâs security cabinet holds emergency session."
Posted by: Water Modem ||
05/06/2013 0:08 Comments ||
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#2
The same Russian source reported that Syrian security forces cordoned off the sites of the explosions against entry. Residents reported after the blasts that the ground moved with the force of a 4 magnitude earthquake.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
05/06/2013 0:19 Comments ||
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#3
"Force of a 4-Magnitude earthquake" > TECTONIC/EARTHQUAKE BOMB???
[WEEKLYSTANDARD] President Barack Obama got ahead of himself and his advisers when he said that Syria using chemical weapons would cross a "red line," the New York Times reports.
"How can we attack another country unless it's in self-defense and with no Security Council resolution?" an unnamed Obama administration official tells the paper. "If he drops sarin on his own people, what's that got to do with us?"
Posted by: Fred ||
05/06/2013 00:00 ||
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[9 views]
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#1
Not exactly the OBAMA DOCTRINE, now is it???
Iff China goes to war agz Japan andor ASEAN, etal. what does that have to do us either!?
Unless, you know, its an election year, or my poll numbers are down, or unemployment is up. Oh yeah, if biden headlines the news. Waffles, waffles are good.
*I'm all for the chicken orgy in syria, but when topper harley draws a line then backs down it is face losing and will bear appropriate fruit. Like eight months ago.
#7
I can only speculate, but I have nothing concrete on the administration's motives regarding WMD in Syria. Linking their decision not to act on an alleged absence of WMD in Iraq is both cunning and devious, particularly to those who assisted with the location and destruction of Saddam's WMD.
If I find the foto of Champ and Vlad winking and nodding over a beer.... I'll be sure to post it.
#8
If that idiot advisor to Obambi would read the fine print in the treaties most of the civilized world signed about banning chemical and biological weapons, use of chemical weapons by any country is a cause for concern.
how come the liberals are so cold blooded and unconcerned about chemical weapons and so concerned about a shooting at a MacDonalds'
Makes you wonder if it is moral nihilism or just plan stupidity.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/06/2013 10:17 Comments ||
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#9
You know Bill, those two conditions are not mutually exclusive.
#12
"Makes you wonder if it is moral nihilism or just plan stupidity."
Silly Bill. What's to wonder?
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/06/2013 16:18 Comments ||
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#13
Yeah, I guess moral nihilism and stupidity are not mutually exclusive and I agree we probably don't have a dog in that fight, other than to hope the frolic depletes their resources in manpower and explosives for a long time.
Pass the pop corn.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/06/2013 16:28 Comments ||
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#14
Extra butter with that, Bill?
Luckily I got a new boxcar-load in this weekend, in anticipation of the festivities. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/06/2013 19:03 Comments ||
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Authorities are leaning more toward zero tolerance of teenagers who fling around online threats about acts of violence or terrorism. As a result, what might have once merited a slap on the wrist may today result in criminal charges.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
More than 140 children have been rescued from Islamic training centers (madrassas) in the last nine months, with a majority of the children targeted because of their Christian faith. The females, accounting for nearly half of those rescued, report that they were used for forced labor and sex slavery.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
