[WashingtonPost] Before American runawayEdward Snowden arrived in Moscow in June -- an arrival that Russian officials have said caught them by surprise -- he spent several days living at the Russian Consulate in Hong Kong, a Moscow newspaper reported Monday.
The article in Kommersant, based on accounts from several unnamed sources, did not state clearly when Snowden decided to seek Russian help in leaving Hong Kong, where he was in hiding to evade arrest by U.S. authorities on charges that he leaked top-secret documents about U.S. surveillance programs.
The article implies that Snowden's decision to seek Russian help came after he was joined in Hong Kong by Sarah Harrison, a WikiLeaks staff member who became his adviser and later flew to Moscow with him.
Harrison, the article suggests, had a role in making the plans. The article noted a statement released by WikiLeaks on June 23, shortly after the Aeroflot flight left Chinese airspace, which said Snowden was heading to a destination where his safety could be guaranteed.
Posted on P.2 because so many people have already been arrested that it only rates if it's is someone high up in the Muslim Brotherhood hierarchy. When it's become relatives, they merely add to the crowded cells.
No doubt at some point in the near future a cadre of do-gooders will point out that the jail cells of Cairo have become as impossibly crowded as the ones in California, and that constitutes cruel and unusual punishment, to which the response shall be: of course. This is Egypt. Then the do-gooders shall be thumped and added to the prison population...
[Ynet] Egyptian authorities tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! more than 60 people associated with the Moslem Brüderbund in less than 24 hours, including relatives of the group's leaders, officials said Wednesday.
The crackdown on the group, from which ousted President Mohammed Morsi hails, started shortly after the July 3 coup. It intensified this month after security forces cleared out two of the group's sit-ins, killing hundreds and sparking unrest that killed more than 1,000 people in a few days. The Interior Ministry says more than 100 coppers and soldiers have also been killed since mid-August.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/30/2013 00:17 ||
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#1
Then the do-gooders shall be thumped and added to the prison population...
Could this same course of action be applied to the California go-gooders as well????
[BELLINGHAMHERALD] The Moslem Brüderbund ramped up its calls Thursday for nationwide protests against Egypt's military-backed government, while an Islamist ally of the ousted president spoke of an attempt to broker a deal before the "ship of the nation sinks."
The Brotherhood's call for mass protests and sit-ins Friday will test how much the fierce security crackdown has crippled the group and if they can still mobilize their base in the face of widespread public anger against them.
Egypt's security forces have increased their presence in the streets ahead of the planned demonstrations and accused the Islamist group on Thursday of using rallies to create chaos. Authorities continued to hunt down wanted leaders, arresting two top Brotherhood figures.
Some fear Friday's protests could tailspin into another bout of violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] Algeria is offering pardons to thousands of armed myrmidons, provided their hands are unstained with citizens' blood.
The Algerian army recently launched an initiative to convince the fighters to renounce armed action. The ANP urged those it called "deceived people" to return to society and their families, confirming that "those who repent from their guilt are like those who committed no guilt".
Army units are distributing leaflets and flyers in Tlemcen, Sidi Bel Abbes and Ain Témouchent, urging Death Eaters to lay down arms and benefit from the 2005 Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, Ennahar daily reported this week.
"Algeria is waiting for your repentance and return to your senses and reason," the leaflets said. The leaflets posed questions: "Why are you still lost in mountains and caves and living under terrible conditions marred by fear, panic and apprehension? Why deprive yourselves of the warmth of your families and society and tolerance of the state? Why do you bring sadness and misfortune to your families and children?"
The call comes at a time when Algeria is witnessing terrorist operations targeting security agencies, On Tuesday (August 27th), four soldiers died at the hands of al-Qaeda gunnies in western Tipasa and Ain Defla.
Last year, Algerian authorities beefed up security along the border with Mali. They also stepped up checkpoints along the borders with Libya, and more recently, with Tunisia, following deadly attacks on Tunisian troops in Jebel Chaambi.
The initiative to persuade gunnies to repent is showing success, according to judicial official Merouane Azzi.
"Thirty active AQIM fighters turned themselves in between January and July," he said.
The files of repentant jihadists are under examination by judicial and security authorities to verify their right to benefit from national reconciliation measures," Azzi added.
Since the charter took effect in 2006, some 8,500 gunnies had repented and renounced armed action, he told Magharebia. During the same time, security forces had also killed 1,600 terrorists, including several prominent members of AQIM precursor Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat ... now known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb... (GSPC).
Security analyst Mohammed Adnan noted that the ANP's elimination of AQIM leaders "made many group leaders and forces of Evil abandon armed action".
"The Algerian army's shift to targeting the grey matter of AQIM made the elements that refused to turn themselves in and preferred armed action face the duality of army professionalism and major intelligence work. This enabled the army to locate and neutralise myrmidons," he added.
He confirmed that the outreach initiative launched by the army did not mean that the military approach to security would end.
"Such calls are usually followed by strong security operations targeting the elements that refuse to take part in peace and reconciliation," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
From a cartoonist point of view, muslim Algeria
is freer than America...Dilem is from Algier...
Posted by: Bob Snore6814 ||
08/30/2013 23:03 Comments ||
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[MAGHAREBIA] After designating Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Tunisia and Yemen, with the Tunisian version currently most active... a terrorist organization, the Tunisian interior ministry divulged on Wednesday (August 28th) more details about the group's link to al-Qaeda.
Authorities also revealed that the radical salafist group was plotting liquidations against 19 high profile figures, ranging from artists to politicians.
The alleged hit list included National Constituent Assembly Speaker Mustapha Ben Jaafar and Republican Party Secretary-General Maya Jribi, according to TAP.
Tunisia's Director General of the National Security Mustapha Ben Amor said that most of the snuffies involved in liquidations, such as Kamel Gadhgadhi and Aboubaker el-Hakim, were leaders of Ansar al-Sharia who frequented Jebel Chaambi to train in fighting and co-ordinate between terrorist elements.
"Security investigations have confirmed that the financing of Ansar al-Sharia, which was designated a terrorist organization, comes from external and internal sources," Ben Amor said, adding, "The group is a member of the parent terrorist al-Qaeda, and those snuffies receive training first in Libya and then in Syria where they go to train on the ground."
"We ascertained that the sources of financing for Ansar al-Sharia come from certain Arab countries, such as Yemen, Libya and Mali," Ben Amor confirmed.
Kamel Gadhgadhi "consulted with Abou Iyadh about speeding up the liquidation of martyr Chokri Belaid," Ben Amor added. "He asked for modifying the list of liquidations after watching a TV interview in which Belaid talked about visits by preachers from the east to Tunisia. He received approval from Abou Ayadh, who leads Ansar al-Sharia."
Ben Amor said that one of the snuffies involved in assassinating Mohamed Brahmi was known as "al-Somali", a neighbour of the slain politician living in al-Ghazaleh district in Ariana province.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... Interior Ministry spokesperson Mohamed Ali Aroui confirmed in the same presser that security units have uncovered links between the liquidations, arms smuggling and the terrorist group holed up in Jebel Chaambi.
"Ansar al-Sharia has a security and military wing aimed at seizing power by force," he added, noting that the "interior ministry was able to thwart terrorist plots in several areas as a result of pre-emptive operations".
"The interior ministry is now completely sure that the group has a criminal and terrorist plan to destabilise the country and seize power by force," Aroui said.
Aroui also confirmed that "most Ansar al-Sharia members, including Abou Iyadh, were among those released from prison under the general legislative pardon following the revolution."
Journalist Nebil Zaghdoud said, "Banning the activities of Ansar al-Sharia is done by prohibiting the activities of charities that raise financial and in-kind donations for it and also forbidding Qur'anic associations that have spread like bubbles in more than one city to recruit young people to provide human support for that group."
"Ansar al-Sharia has shown its true face after attacking the US Embassy and assassinating Belaid; before that, it seemed to be engaged in preaching only," Kamel Lamine told Magharebia.
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Slats Chumbaloni was staring into a hole that was just .45 inch in diameter and was less than three feet from his face ... TAP Gafsa correspondent Ferida Mabrouki said that throughout last year she witnessed salafist groups setting up preaching tents at schools to draw in new male and female recruits.
"Each time, there was a certain topic in those tents," she said. "I remember very well that at one of the tents, the emphasis was on how to support the so-called revolution in Syria. Today, in Gafsa, [authorities] locked away You have the right to remain silent... a man suspected of involvement in arranging the travel of young people from the area and other areas to Syria."
She wondered, "How many students and young people travelled to Syria for jihad because of the effect of those tents and other preaching activities before that person was arrested?"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Tunisia will set up buffer zones in the south of the country, along the borders with Libya and Algeria, to fight against "terrorism," Defense Minister Rachid Sabbagh said Thursday.
"Setting up these zones is necessary because of the current situation and to fight against the threats that hang over Tunisia," including "terrorism and arms trafficking," Sabbagh said.
He did not give specific details of where the zones will be set up, but stressed that travelers to those areas will need special permits from the authorities.
Rashed also said the measures will last a year, without elaborating.
The Tunisian army launched an offensive on August 1 against snuffies suspected of ties with al-Qaeda in the remote Mount Chaambi mountain range near the Algerian border.
The operation was launched after eight soldiers were found with their throats slit after being ambushed by krazed killers, and as the country is locked in a political crisis over the murders of two opposition politicians.
Islamist krazed killer groups in Algeria remain active decades after a bloody civil war in the 1990s that killed some 200,000 people.
Libya is also struggling to re-establish order and form a professional army and police force since the overthrow of dictator Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... in 2011.
Islamists suppressed under Qadaffy, and in Tunisia during the rule Zine El Abidine Ben Ali, who was also ousted in a popular uprising in 2011, have become more influential over the past two years.
In Libya and in Tunisia Islamists have been blamed for deadly attacks, including on Western targets.
On Tuesday, Tunisian Prime Minister Ali Larayedh accused the main Salafist movement, Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Tunisia and Yemen, with the Tunisian version currently most active... , of liasing with Al-Qaeda and carrying out the murders of politicians Chokri Belaid and Mohamed Brahmi this year.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[FreeBeacon] Ansar al-Sharia ...a Yemeni Islamist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends... running training camps in Benghazi and Darnah
U.S. intelligence agencies earlier this month uncovered new evidence that al Qaeda-linked bully boyz in Benghazi are training foreign jihadists to fight with Syria's Salafist tough guys, according to U.S. officials.
Ansar al-Sharia, the al Qaeda-affiliated militia that U.S. officials say orchestrated the Sept. 11 attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound and a CIA facility in Benghazi, is running several training camps for jihadists in Benghazi and nearby Darnah, another port city further east, said officials who discussed some details of the camps on condition of anonymity.
The officials said the terror training camps have been in operation since at least May and are part of a network that funnels imported muscle to Syrian rebel groups, including the Al-Nusra Front, the most organized of the Islamist rebel groups fighting the Bashir al-Assad regime in Damascus.
Disclosure of the terror training camps also bolsters earlier intelligence assessments that Libya, following the death of Muammar Qadaffy ...who single-handedly turned a moderately prosperous kingdom into a dictator's fantasyland and was then murdered by his indignant subjects 42 years later... , is now a focal point for al Qaeda terrorist activity in North Africa.
Information about the terrorist training camps in northeastern Libya was uncovered after the arrest of several jihadists near the port city of Darnah in early August.
Other information about the camps appeared online at jihadist social media outlets around the same time.
Two men identified as Tunisians disclosed the existence of the training camps in Benghazi after they were interrogated by a local militia group in northern Libya.
At the time of their arrest, the Tunisians stated that they were trained in small arms use and were on their way to join Syria rebels by traveling first to Benghazi, then Istanbul, and over land across Turkey and into northern Syria.
According to the officials, the Tunisians were locked away Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! Aug. 3. Inside their car, the militia found six passports, an AK-47 assault rifle, and foreign currency. A total of four people traveling in the car, including two Libyans, clashed with guards at a security checkpoint at the time of the arrest.
One of the men said he was an associate of Ansar al-Sharia's leader Sufian Ben Qumu, an al Qaeda terrorist released from the U.S. prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in 2007.
Details of the number of jihadist training camps and jihadists was not disclosed, but the officials said there are several training camps.
The Ansar al-Sharia Brigade in Benghazi was formed in early 2012 from several Islamist militias that fought during the 2011 revolution that ousted Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy. The group was forced to relocate its operating bases based on local opposition to the group's role in attacks on the U.S. diplomatic compound.
Ansar al-Sharia is engaged in overt charitable activities and armed patrols in Benghazi, in addition to the covert terrorist training. The group has sought to play down its role in jihadist activities to avoid both the Libyan government and international scrutiny.
Ansar al-Sharia in Darnah was founded by former members of the terrorist Salim Martyrs Brigade and operates a base west of Darnah.
Libyan officials told Britannia's Arabic language newspaper Al Sharq al Awsat earlier this month that some type of covert U.S. military action was taken against al Qaeda bases in Darnah. However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... Pentagon spokesmen said they had no information about such attack that reportedly took place Aug. 11.
U.S. intelligence agencies believe Libya has produced more jihadist rebels for the Syrian conflict than any other outside nation. Some 20 percent of foreign jihadists in Syria came from Libya and that several hundred are currently in the country.
Over 100 Libyans were reported killed in Syrian fighting for such rebel groups as Al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant, Umma Brigade, Muhajirin Brigade, and Ahrar al-Sham, an Al-Nusra offshoot.
The Ansar al-Sharia Brigade was blamed by U.S. officials for carrying out the deadly Benghazi terrorist attack Sept. 11.
#2
U.S. intelligence agencies believe Libya has produced more jihadist rebels for the Syrian conflict than any other outside nation.
To condemn the jihadist rebels from Libya would be to condemn the administration's actions which led to the overthrow of Omar Kadafi and the [no longer discussed in polite conversation] Arab Spring.
To condemn the actions of former GITMO inmate and Ansar al-Sharia's leader Sufian Ben Qumu, would be to admit that the administration's GITMO release program is a total cock-up.
To link any of these people to what took place in Benghazi, well I need not go on.
[Bangla Daily Star] Officials in Pakistain have overturned the jail sentence and ordered a retrial of a doctor who helped the CIA in their search for the late Osama bin Laden. ... who doesn't live anywhere anymore... Shakil Afridi was charged with treason and tried under the tribal justice system for running a fake vaccination programme to gather information. If I was a highly paid CIA agent, I'd have run a legit vaccination program to gather the information. Maybe they didn't pay him enough?
He was locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! for 33 years in May 2012 and has been held since then at Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. Central Jail.
Bin Laden was killed by US forces in Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... in May 2011.
His killing created a crisis in relations between the US and Pakistain, which felt the covert operation was a violation of its illusory sovereignty.
The sentence was quashed and a retrial ordered because the previous judge had exceeded his authority in handing down the sentence, a judicial official at Pakistain's Frontier Crimes Regulation ruled.
The order issued by the commission says Dr Afridi will stay in prison until the retrial is concluded. No date has been set for the trial.
Shortly after the raid on Bin Laden's house, Dr Afridi was tossed in the slammer Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! for conspiring against the state of Pakistain.
Although he was accused of working with the CIA he was eventually locked away Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! for collaborating with a hard boy group. Correspondents say that the group named had actually kidnapped him on one occasion.
Dr Afridi was not present at his trial. His swift conviction came in a court outside Pakistain's normal jurisdiction in the semi-autonomous tribal areas, which do not necessarily follow standard judicial procedures.
He has consistently maintained that he did not know the target of the CIA operation was Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#6
Don't under estimate the French...they had sort of have a victory in military relative to Google...now a search for "French Military Victories" it no long return with the question "Do you mean French military Defeats".
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
08/30/2013 10:10 Comments ||
Top||
#10
Hey if Saudi wants this so bad... they got a lot of weapons.. including planes... they can get some military experience. After all it is a Sunni Shia proxy war.
#12
The Brits exercised a bit of common sense yesterday. I suspect that even most donks in our Congress would have better sense if Obama allowed them to vote on it which is most likely why he won't. That's really stupid because it would give him a face saving way out of the corner into which he's painted himself. But we can always count on the Champ to do the dumbest thing possible.
#13
And that corner is getting very tight. If he orders a strike without Congressional approval, is the order legal? If the order is refused, what action would be taken? If a court martial, could the defendant ask for removal to civilian court because of undue command influence? How would SCOTUS deal with that? Lots of bad things can happen and not all in the Middle East.
#17
I noticed is Kerry's news conference today he mentioned the "mistake of Iraq" in ref to WMD. Perhaps someone should introduce him to the work of Dr. Rihab Rashid Taha al-Azawi.
#18
The way I understand it the President has all the lee-way in the world to take military action for something like 90 days after which he must request Congress approval. If he can be done before then he can ignore Congress.
#21
Paul, both are equally bad. That is why I am in favor of sitting back, watching both sides bleed each other white, and waiting until they are both gone.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/30/2013 17:34 Comments ||
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#22
Totally agree with you Rambler so why do Obama and France want to get involved?
Posted by: Paul D ||
08/30/2013 17:44 Comments ||
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#23
Crazy how Barry has spent the last 5 years snubbing the British, then get pissy when they are not interested in Valerie and BO's Excellent Adventure.
I don't get France's interest. Libya, yes. Syria, why?
#25
The French must be watching out for their trade interest, I guess.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/30/2013 19:37 Comments ||
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#26
Lucy and the football come to mind
Posted by: Kelly ||
08/30/2013 19:40 Comments ||
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#27
Don't fergit the Crusades, espec the France-based Knights Templars + other.
IMO the greater worry is alleged Marxist-Anarchist-Globalist Obama's support or adherence to a OWG-NWO where so-called OWG Global Federal Unions are dominated or controlled by one or more US-style "Co-Superpowers" - by this scope, iff one believes that the post-9-11 USA is the "tip of the spear" in setting up OWG = Space Govt-Order, then its possible that it is the Bammer's = USA's interests to ENSURE THAT SHIA IRAN BECOMES THE WORLD'S FIRST DE FACTO ISLAMIC SUPERPOWER, + THAT CHINA DE FACTO GETS 1/2 OR MORE OF THE PACIFIC INCLUD INDIAN OCEAN REGIONS.
The above in turn infers that for other World States or Great Powers to become a Globalist "Co-Superpower" in the US mode, THE SUPERPOWER USA PER SE MUST UNILATERALLY GIVE UP POWER-N-INFLUENCE/AUTHORITY IN SELECT OR RELEVANT REGIONS.
OBAMA'S JOB THEN BECOMES MAKING THE LOSS OF US POWER-N-INFLUENCE/AUTHORITY ACCEPTABLE OR REASONABLE TO THE US MAINSTREAM = VOTERS.
E.G. ...
> THE US CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO GO TO WAR = ENGAGE IN ANY SORT OF PROTRACTIVE OR LIMITED MILITARY ACTION.
> THE SEQUESTER = ONGOING DEBT, BUDGET CRISES.
> THE AMERICAN = AMERIKAN PEOPLE ARE TIRED OF WAR = WAGING THE GWOT, + "ITS TIME TO END IT".
SEVEN [or More?] OWG GLOBAL NUCLEAR "CO-SUPERPOWERS" FOR SEVEN CONTINENTS = SEVEN OWG GLOBAL FEDERAL UNIONS.
OBAMA IS NOT GOING TO SYRIA OR IRAN OR AGZ CHINA TO KILL, HE'S GOING THERE TO INTENTIONALLY BE KILLED = UNILATERALLY BUT PCORRECTLY-DENIABLY SACRIFICE US POWER + CREDIBILITY, IN THE NAME OF THE MARXIST-ANARCHIST-GLOBALIST AGENDA.
Lest we fergit, "STAR WARS" PREQUEL BABE PADME AMYGDALA = "SO THIS IS HOW FREEDOM/DEMOCRACY ENDS - WID APPLAUSE" = ys-yes-Yes-YES-YYYESSS ........@ETC. WILD MASS PUBLIC/VOTER APPROVAL!
#29
* See also MIDDLE EAST ONLINE > HOLLANDE: SYRIA STRIKE COULD COME BY WEDNESDAY, when the French Parliament formally meets in emergency Syria session.
* RELATED JAPAN TIMES > OBAMA PREPARES TO GO IT ALONE ON SYRIA IFF NECESSARY, after the UK opts out of participation in any MilAction agz Baby Assad.
* DAILY STAR LEBANON > NATO WILL NOT TAKE PART IN SYRIA STRIKE.
Again, iff the Bammer is covertly supporting or adhering to the Globalist agenda of a OWG + "Multipolar World" dominated by MULTIPLE GLOBAL "CO-SUPERPOWERS", THEN THE BRITS, GERMANY, + NATO MAY ACTUALLY BE MAKING THE "SMART MOVE" BY NOT JOINING THE US IN COALITION SINCE THE OBAMA-LED US WILL BE ATTACKING SYRIA [Iran = NucProg?] TO BE DEFEATED OR DETRIMENTALLY STALEMATED, HUMILIATED IN SUPPORT OF EMPOWERING + PROMOTING FUTURE OWG "CO-SUPERPOWERS" IRAN + CHINA, ETAL???
[Ynet] The US Navy has deployed a fifth destroyer to the eastern Mediterranean, a defense official told AFP on Thursday, as expectations grow of an imminent strike on Syria.
The USS Stout, a guided missile destroyer, is "in the Mediterranean, heading and moving east" to relieve the USS Mahan, said the official, who said both ships might remain in place for the time being.
#2
The USN has repor canceled the departure of one CVN CBG from the Persian Gulf, + deployed a second same.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US STRIKES WOULD AIM TO TARGET BASHIR AL-ASSAD, IRAN | GULF NEWS.
But-t-t, besides Assad's defiant rants IRAN has times past said any major attack by the US or Israel, etal. agz its NucProgs andor Invasion, etc. would be interpreted as an attack by the other, + would justify any + all Iranian counter-responses. TO INCLUDE VIA THIRD-PARTY/SURROGATE TERROR + AGZ ANY US-ISRAELI INTERESTS ANYWHERE IN ME + AROUND THE WORLD.
WHAT MORE IFF THE UNO FORMALLY DETERMINES THAT BABY ASSAD DIDN'T DO THE DEED???
* TOPIX > KRAUTHAMMER: IS OBAMA BEING "SHAMED" INTO WAR?
--------------
Lest we fergit,
* WASHINGTON POST > US MILITARY OFFICERS HAVE DEEP DOUBTS ABOUT IMPACT, WISDOM OF A US STRIKE ON SYRIA.
* FREEREPUBLIC > [Investors.com] ATTACK ON SYRIA ABOUT SAVING FACE, NOT US.
* TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > EXPERTS: NO GUARANTEE US STRIKE ON SYRIA WILL [locate or] DESTROY ASSAD'S CHEMICAL WEAPONS.
ALL of such???
* SAME > [Various] HAGEL: LACK OF SETTLEMENT IN ASIAN TERRITORIAL DISPUTES INCREASES RISK OF [Regional, International = Great Power] CONFRONTATION.
RELATED SAME > HAGEL REPEATS WARNING ON ASIAN DISPUTES.
* E.G. BIG NEWS NETWORK [old] > CHINESE MEDIAS [Global Times] USES TRAGIC KILO-CLASS SUBMARINE ACCIDENT TO MOCK "PAPER TIGER" INDIA.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > AFTER CHINA, MYANMAR'S ARMY ENTERS MANIPUR, INDIA FOR [India- humiliating Border ...] "CAMPING" - THE TIMES OF INDIA.
No word iff the Myanmar Boyz brought Beer + Hotdogs wid them to share wid Indjuh.
* TOPIX > BEIJING: CHINA-JAPAN MEETING AT G-20 RULED OUT.
CHINA = criticizing JAPAN for CONDUCTING OR ENGAGING IN "EMPTY TALK" ON DISPUTED ISLANDS.
* SAME > CHINA SEA RIGHTS DISPUTES UNLIKELY TO BE SETTLED.
To paraph "STAR WARS" PREQUEL EVIL CHARACTER "EMPEROR PALPATINE" = "WAR [Treason] IT IS, THEN"!
[An Nahar] Israel warned on Thursday Syria of any attack carried out by Hizbullah against the Jewish state in the coming days to respond to an expected Western attack, saying that is Damascus will be held responsible.
"They cannot play the game that Hizbullah is somehow an independent actor," the Jerusalem Post quoted an Israeli official as saying.
The official said that Hizbullah is coordinating very closely with the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... and "it is the Iranians that have orchestrated that close cooperation."
"We will respond forcefully, and we won't hold by artificial differentiations," the official stressed.
Momentum has been building for international action against Syrian President Assad's regime after the suspected chemical strikes on August 21, which are said to have killed hundreds on the outskirts of Damascus.
The five permanent members of the Security Council failed on Wednesday to reach an agreement on a U.N. Security Council resolution proposed by Britannia that could have given a legal basis for an assault, owing it to Russian opposition.
But the Syrian government, which is backed by Hizbullah members in its fight against the armed opposition, accused rebels of using the chemical weapons.
"Hizbullah works hand-in-glove with the Assad regime," the official told the newspaper.
He pointed out that Hizbullah "is fully coordinated with the Syrian regime and with the Iranians, and they cannot pretend to be acting in a vacuum. They cannot pretend that they are not part of an alliance. And they cannot claim that others in the alliance are not responsible."
Assad regime has warned Washington not to launch any military action, saying such a move would set the Middle East ablaze.
Syria is intertwined in alliances with Iran, Hizbullah and Paleostinian hard boy groups. The country also borders its longtime foe and U.S. ally Israel, making the fallout from military action unpredictable.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] President Barack Obama We're gonna punish our enemies and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us... said Wednesday he had not yet signed off on a plan to strike Syria, but action appeared likely after Washington abandoned the hunt for a last-minute U.N. mandate.
Political uproar in London, meanwhile, cast doubt on whether Britannia will join American military action to punish Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Despoiler of Deraa... regime for a chemical weapons attack, should the response take place before next week.
And a team of U.N. inspectors pressed on with its hazardous work in Damascus, testing victims of the alleged poison gas attack, which killed hundreds of people last week and threatens to draw reluctant Western states into a vicious civil war.
Obama, who has warned that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a U.S. "red line," said Washington had definitively concluded that the Assad regime was to blame for last week's attack.
A senior White House official told Agence La Belle France Presse that the administration will brief senior U.S. politicians on Thursday about classified intelligence about the chemical attack.
Asked how close he was to ordering a U.S. strike, expected to start with cruise missile raids, Obama told PBS NewsHour: "I have not made a decision."
But he warned that U.S. action would be designed to send a "shot across the bow" to convince Syria it had "better not do it again."
He admitted that the limited strikes envisioned by the White House would not stop the killing of civilians in Syria but said he had decided that getting involved in a civil war that has already killed 100,000 people would not help the situation.
The U.S. leader, who wants to seal a legacy of ending foreign wars, not getting into new ones, argued that it was vital to send a clear message not just to Syria, but around the world. "Hans?"
"Ja, Jean-Pierre?"
"Does this message make any sense to you?"
"Well, every single word means something."
"Do the sentences mean anything?"
"I think that one, does. And that one. What do you think, Nigel?"
"Ummm... That one does, up to the colon, anyway. None of the paragraphs do."
"Maybe it makes more sense in the original Remulakian?"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
If Obama had anticipated that the UN would come through, we are really in worse shape with this guy than we imagined. Gee, I'm gonna go to Planned Parenthood for a donation to "Right to Life".
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
08/30/2013 10:13 Comments ||
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#4
I seem to recall that the entire EU community and the Democrats screamed bloody murder because Bush only got 17(?) UN resolutions against Saddam and that wasn't good enough.
Boy what a hypocritical buch of back-stabbing double standard bearers they are.
#6
..but, but, the Man has been dissed. I tell you publicly dissed. And in Chicago, that means getting the posse together to do a drive by to show you can't get away with that. He don't care about weapons gun control. It's about pride.
#7
"Thank you, my posse, I won't be joining you on this mission. I'm too holy important here to actually defend and address my honor. Godspeed. Go with Allah!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/30/2013 20:25 Comments ||
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#8
but he has an "obligation"!
Posted by: Jan ||
08/30/2013 21:58 Comments ||
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#9
ION TOPIX > [JPost] UN ANALYSIS OF SYRIA SAMPLES COULD TAKE UP TO TWO WEEKS.
Coincidentally, two weeks is also the MINIMA LEAD TIME time for any high-profile, US Congressional Personage(s), [joint?] Delegation, or Other? to go on a FACT-FINDING VISIT to Syria.
I agree wid Pert + MSM-Net Artics which argue that both the Bammer's credibility + legacy, as well as US credibility, is at stake in this crisis - MORESO IFF THE BAMMER = USA PREMATURELY ATTACKS SYRIA BASED ON THE WRONG PERPETRATOR(S).
[An Nahar] Syria on Wednesday said it wants Leb "to stay out" of its ongoing war, amid reports about an anticipated western strike on the neighboring country.
"We want Leb to stay away from the negative repercussions that are affecting the region," Syria's ambassador to the United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... Bashar al-Jaafari stated in a speech he gave at the headquarters of the U.N. in New York.
Al-Jaafari elaborated: "The results of regional turmoil can include terrorist operations launched by Salafist groups just like those that targeted (the southern city of) Sidon and (the northern city of) Tripoli." ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
Syria does not want Leb to be a side in this war, he stressed.
Regarding Hizbullah's possible participation in the war, the Syrian envoy said: "If Israel launched an attack on Syria, we all know what would be the repercussions of such a step."
Momentum has been building for international action against Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... 's regime after the suspected chemical strikes on August 21 which are said to have killed hundreds on the outskirts of Damascus.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... Syria's deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Muqdad said the West had pushed anti-regime rebels to use poison gas, while blaming it on the government, as a pretext for a U.S.-led military intervention.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.N. inspectors have collected "considerable" evidence on a suspected chemical weapon attack in Syria and will brief U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... soon after they leave on Saturday, a front man said.
While the major powers wrangle over a possible military strike on Syria, samples collected in the country will be sent to laboratories across Europe and the analyzes could take more than a week, U.N. front man Farhan Haq told news hounds on Thursday.
Ban cut short a trip to Europe to return to New York on Thursday because of the growing Syria crisis.
Ban has already spoken this week to U.S. President Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... and Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... about the worsening tensions.
"Starting tomorrow he will try to reach out to member states and take discussions forward on the question of what is happening in Syria," the front man said.
Ban has appealed for the inspectors to be allowed to complete their work before the major powers decide any follow-up action.
The United States, Britannia and La Belle France are pressing for a military strike against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Scourge of Qusayr... , blaming him for the attack near Damascus on August 21 in which hundreds of people died.
The U.N. team have been in Syria since August 18 but have not yet given a formal verdict about whether banned chemical arms were used.
The inspectors "will have a large number of facts at their disposal," said Haq.
"They have collected a considerable amount of evidence -- evidence through samples, evidence through witness interviews -- and they can construct through that a fact-based narrative that can get at the key facts of what happened on August 21," he added.
The inspectors will give Ban an "oral briefing" as soon as they leave Syria, Haq said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Must mean the ChemWar attacks which the UNO = Hague, + Russia, have already blamed the anti-Assad Rebels for, thus the US = POTUS Bammer may end up attacking the wrong Perpetrator???
GOOD FOR ANTI-US GLOBALISM + OWG-NWO + 2015, BAD FOR STILL-NATIONALIST AMERICA = AMERIKA.
E.G. SALON > HANS BLIX: US HAS "POOR EXCUSE" FDOR SYRIA INCURSION NOW.
* RELATED GUARDIAN.UK > FORMER UN OFFICIAL HANS BLIX: EVEN IFF ASSAD USED CHEMICAL WEAPONS, THE WEST [read, USA] HAS NO AUTHORITY TO [unilaterally = solely] ACT AS "GLOBAL POLICEMAN".
versus
* FREEREPUBLIC > OBAMA: WILL ACT IN US' "BEST INTERESTS" ON SYRIA DESPITE BRITISH VOTE.
* PRESS TV > THREAT OF WAR AGZ SYRIA SHOWS WEST'S FAILURES: IRANIAN LAWMAKER.
* RAW STORY > RAND PAUL OPPOSES US ATTACK IFF IT COULD "KILL CHRISTIANS IN SYRIA", i.e. lead to possible deadly Muslim attacks or genocide agz Syria's 2.0Milyuhn Christian population aka largest Christian community in ME.
[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday spoke with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about the situation in Syria, the White House said, as the West weighs military action against Damascus. "The president today conducted a phone call with German Chancellor Angela Merkel. This is part of the series of communications that the president has initiated around the situation in Syria," spokesman Josh Earnest told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
NO! I am Chancellor of Germany, you are not. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau are NOT going to be sent to the Med. Now, get out of my office.
#5
On #3. Yes, I admire the German, Swiss, Austrian view. Having seen enough conflict, mind your own business and quietly prosper. One must wonder if anyone in Washington is watching.
[An Nahar] The quiet hospital ward in northern Israel is a world away from the ravages of Syria's civil war but scores of maimed Syrians, ignoring long-standing taboos concerning relations with the Jewish state, are receiving treatment here.
Fatima, a Syrian woman who ended up in Ziv hospital with her daughter after a blast shattered their legs in their hometown of Daraa, was full of praise for the medical staff.
"They care about us and have shown us a lot of respect," she said.
But mindful that Syria and Israel are technically still at war following their 1967 and 1973 conflicts, she was reluctant to be identified, asking that pseudonyms be used both for herself and for her daughter.
"Please do not show our faces," she asked Agence La Belle France Presse photographers.
The 41-year-old mother of nine, who lost contact with her family after the blast more than a month ago, is one of 73 Syrians who have been treated for their wounds in Israel since early this year.
"I was deafened by the kaboom," Fatima told AFP from her bed in the hospital, which perches on a rocky hilltop in the upper Galilee town of Safed.
"I was in a daze, and don't know how I got here or who brought me. I remember people picking me up and helping me, and the next thing I knew, I was in an Israeli hospital."
Fatima was carrying out routine chores when a mortar shell hit her house, wounding her and her daughter "Zahra".
Doctors described Fatima's injury as "severe blast trauma, with loss of tissue and bone from her ankle", while Zahra suffered fractures to both legs.
A 15-year-old Syrian girl in the next bed along, also from Daraa, was less fortunate, losing both her legs from wounds sustained in a blast.
Tensions have been running high in Israel, with the Jewish state fearing the fallout from a possible U.S. strike on Syria in response to alleged chemical weapons use could spill across its northern border.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
Mind you, nobody but the usual idiots expects gratitude.
[An Nahar] Kuwait called Thursday for international "deterrent" action against Syria following an alleged chemical attack near Damascus last week.
A government statement urged the international community "to assume its moral responsibility towards the crimes committed in Syria and take practical deterrent measures to prevent" new attacks.
The statement comes as the United States and Britannia laid out their case for punitive military strikes against Damascus over the alleged August 21 chemical attack.
U.N. chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... has appealed for the West to give peace a chance, saying arms inspectors on the ground in Syria would report back to him by Saturday on their probe into the alleged attack.
Rights groups say hundreds of people were killed, including children, when poisonous gas was unleashed on suburbs of Damascus last week.
The Syrian opposition has blamed regime forces for the attack but the government of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... blamed rebels.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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#1
And Kuwait will do what? Oh that's right. The U.S. is supposed to do it. What was I thinking?
#3
This $hit really disgusts me. These Muzzie Bastdards have plenty of military of their own. You want a "deterrent" effect get your buddies in SA and the Emirates and Turkey and Jorday and deter away.
[An Nahar] A top Russian weapons maker said Thursday that the S-300 air defense missile systems made for Iran had been dismantled and disposed of following Western pressure to shelf the contract.
"The hardware that was destined for Iran no longer exists," general director of Russian weapons manufacturer Almaz-Antey Vladislav Menshchikov told news hounds.
"We have dismantled it completely. Separate elements, what could be used have been used," he said, adding that some other parts have been destroyed. "This is absolutely reliable information," he was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.
Russia's contract to sell its ally Iran the sophisticated ground-to-air-missiles was estimated to be worth some $800 million (600 million euros).
In 2010, Russia canceled the contract after coming under strong U.S. and Israeli pressure not to go ahead with the sale of the weapons system, drawing vehement protests from Tehran.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... vowed Thursday to defend Syria from attack as Washington and London laid out their case for punitive military strikes against Damascus over suspected poisonous gas attacks.
"Syria will defend itself in the face of any aggression," state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
quoted Assad as saying.
The United States said it deployed a fifth destroyer to the eastern Mediterranean while Russia was reportedly sending in two warships and Britannia dispatched fighter jets to Cyprus.
The mood among Damascus residents was fearful, while security forces prepared for possible air attacks by pulling back troops from potential targets and imposing tougher security controls.
Southeast of the capital, a boom-mobile killed nine soldiers in the town of Nabak, sparking festivities between troops and rebels, a watchdog reported.
Syria's nervous neighbors stepped up preparations for conflict, with Israel authorizing a partial call-up of army reservists while Turkey put its forces on heightened vigilance.
U.S. President Barack Obama I am not a dictator!... , who a year ago warned the use of chemical arms would cross a "red line," on Wednesday said Washington had definitively concluded Assad's regime was to blame for the August 21 attacks.
Asked how close he was to ordering a U.S. strike, Obama said: "I have not made a decision."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... yesterday said his investigating team would report back this week on suspected chemical weapons attacks in Syria as the US and its allies held back from immediate military action.
US President Barack Obama I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go... said he has yet to sign off on a plan to strike Syria over the horrific attacks last week that activists say killed hundreds of people and threatened to draw the West into the brutal 29-month conflict.
A Western bombing blitz had appeared imminent earlier this week, but US allies were increasingly reluctant to act before hearing the results of a UN probe into the alleged poisonous gas attacks.
Ban said the UN chemical weapons experts -- who headed out to one of the attack sites near Damascus for the third day of inspections -- would leave Syria by Saturday and report to him immediately.
He appealed to divided international powers to work together to head off military action in Syria, where the UN says 100,000 people have been killed and several million made homeless since the conflict erupted in March 2011.
"Diplomacy should be given a chance ... peace (should) be given a chance," Ban said, adding that he had spoken to Obama about the situation.
With any US-led missile strike unlikely to have UN Security Council backing, key Damascus allies Russia and Iran again warned against any Western intervention, saying it could set off a wider regional conflict.
Chinese media also warned the West against attacking.
In an editorial headed "No excuse for strikes", the state-run China Daily said the US and its Western allies were "acting as judge, jury and executioner".
Posted by: Fred ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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For more than a generation, Iranian papers have regularly posted the announcements: Another veteran from the 1980s war with Iraq has died of complications blamed on exposure to chemical weapons from Saddam Hussein's arsenal. Each one is buried with a hero's honors.
The claims now that Iran's Syrian allies used similar tactics, including possibly unleashing sarin gas, has forced Tehran's leaders into perhaps their most difficult juncture of the nearly 30-month civil war. Iran's rulers could face an uncomfortable backlash at home - and possibly stir upheavals inside its powerful Revolutionary Guard - if they're seen as ignoring allegations and U.N. investigations into possible chemical attacks by Bashar Assad's regime.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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Syria and its ally Iran have been building cyberattack capabilities for years and soon might have a chance to use their skills in a hot war for the first time.
This is exactly the sort of asymmetric warfare that our country should be prepping for. I hope we are.
Former U.S. officials and cybersecurity scholars say Syria has a demonstrated cyberattack capability and could retaliate against anticipated Western military strikes against Syria for its suspected chemical weapons attack against civilians in the countrys 2-year-old civil war.
Its foreseeable that [Syrian] state-sponsored or state-sympathetic hackers could seek to retaliate against U.S., Israeli or Western interests, Michael Chertoff, a former secretary of Homeland Security, told The Washington Times on Wednesday.
We have already seen regional cyberactors, such as the Syrian Electronic Army, conduct attacks on U.S. targets, added Rep. James R. Langevin, Rhode Island Democrat and a member of the House Armed Services Committee and the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.
The Syrian Electronic Army has successfully attacked computer networks used by U.S. media outlets hacking the Twitter account of The Associated Press this year and mostly knocking The New York Times website offline for 20 hours Tuesday and Wednesday.
Attackers penetrated the company that manages the papers Internet domain, NYTimes.com, according to reports in the computer security trade press.
Hackers can relatively easily hide their tracks from all but the most extensive and time-consuming forensic efforts, but the Syrian Electronic Army has publicly claimed these attacks. In online postings, the group of hacker activists, or hacktivists, claim to be motivated by Syrian patriotism and to act independently of the regime in Damascus.
It can be difficult to distinguish between hackers who are sympathetic to a regime and those directly [state] sponsored or controlled, said Mr. Chertoff, co-founder and chairman of the Chertoff Group, a global security advisory firm.
Islamic hackers whom U.S. officials have linked to Iran have launched a series of increasingly powerful cyberattacks against the websites of major U.S. banks for almost a year. Large U.S. financial institutions probably have the best cybersecurity of any nongovernmental entity, yet their websites have been driven offline by repeated attacks.
A self-described hacktivist group called Izad din al Qassam has claimed responsibility for the attacks, which they announce in advance. The group says the attacks are designed to punish the United States for an Internet video, Innocence of Muslims, made by an Egyptian-American Coptic Christian, which portrays Islams Prophet Muhammad as a killer and pedophile. The Obama administration tried to blame the video for the terrorist attack last year at a U.S. diplomatic compound in Libya that killed Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.
But the kind of cyberattack that most alarms national security specialists took place a year ago and was aimed at the Saudi Arabian state oil company, Aramco. A virus called Shamoon infected the companys computer network and wiped data from more than 30,000 computers, effectively destroying all the information on the system.
A similar attack on a bank could destroy digital records of customer accounts.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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PARIS - French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday that Syria needed a political solution, but that could only happen if the international community could halt killings like last week's chemical attack and better support the opposition.
Hollande sounded a more cautious note than earlier in the week, when he said France stood ready to have the United States punish those behind the apparent poison gas attack that killed hundreds of civilians in Damascus.
"You'd better do as we say or our big brother will pop you!"
He indicated that France was looking to Gulf Arab countries to step up their military support to the opposition to President Bashar al-Assad, after Paris said this week it would do so.
"Everything must be done for a political solution but it will only happen if the coalition is able to appear as an alternative with the necessary force, notably from its army," Hollande told reporters after meeting the head of the opposition Syrian National Coalition, Ahmed Jarba.
"We will only manage this if the international community can put a temporary stop to this escalation in violence, of which the chemical attack is just one example," Hollande said.
France took no part in the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, which it strongly opposed, but joined Britain, the United States and others in military intervention that helped oust Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in 2011. Hollande sent troops to the west African nation of Mali this year to drive out Islamist rebels.
So it's okay to intervene around the world with military force if France says it's okay...
French diplomatic sources said Hollande spoke with Jarba about providing more military means, after Jarba told the daily Le Parisien the opposition needed much more help from outside. Jarba also urged Western powers to carry out a swift retaliatory strike against Assad, whom they hold responsible for the use of chemical weapons. The Syrian government denies it.
"France will give all its aid - political, but also humanitarian and material, and we will use all the influence we have in the Gulf Arab countries so that this can be organized," Hollande told reporters.
President Barack Obama has made a case
...no, he really hasn't, in fact he hasn't said much of anything...
for a limited military strike against Syria in response to the alleged chemical attack, but any action could be slowed by the presence of U.N. weapons inspectors near Damascus and the need to ease divisions in Britain and among U.S. lawmakers.
There's also the War Powers Resolution but that's just American law...
Britain wants the U.N. Security Council to see the weapons inspectors' findings before any strike is launched, and its parliament is to hold two votes before any such action is taken.
"Assad's regime has complete support from Russia, Hezbollah and Iran. We have nothing. Our allies have given us none of what we have asked for. We need real support," Jarba told Le Parisien. "If Western states, which profess democratic and humanist values, stay quiet, Assad will deduce that there is no obstacle to him carrying out crimes. Our people risk being exterminated."
A French warship, the Chevalier Paul, has left its dock at the Mediterranean port of Toulon, shipping authorities told Reuters, though they declined to confirm a media report that the frigate was headed to Syria. Military sources said France's Charles de Gaulle aircraft carrier was still docked in Toulon.
You can't expect the Chicken of the Sea to leave Toulon...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/30/2013 00:00 ||
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[WAPO] U.S. spy agencies have built an intelligence-gathering colossus since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but remain unable to provide critical information to the president on a range of national security threats, according to the governments top-secret budget.
The $52.6 billion black budget for fiscal 2013, obtained by The Washington Post from former intelligence contractor Edward Snowdenski, maps a bureaucratic and operational landscape that has never been subject to public scrutiny. Although the government has annually released its overall level of intelligence spending since 2007, it has not divulged how it uses the money or how it performs against the goals set by the president and Congress.
The 178-page budget summary for the National Intelligence Program details the successes, failures and objectives of the 16 spy agencies that make up the U.S. intelligence community, which has 107,035 employees.
The summary describes cutting-edge technologies, agent recruiting and ongoing operations. The Post is withholding some information after consultation with U.S. officials who expressed concerns about the risk to intelligence sources and methods. Sensitive details are so pervasive in the documents that The Post is publishing only summary tables and charts online.
The United States has made a considerable investment in the Intelligence Community since the terror attacks of 9/11, a time which includes wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Arab Spring, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction technology, and asymmetric threats in such areas as cyber-warfare, Director of National Intelligence James R. Clapper Jr. wrote in response to inquiries from The Post.
Our budgets are classified as they could provide insight for foreign intelligence services to discern our top national priorities, capabilities and sources and methods that allow us to obtain information to counter threats, he said. Very, very damaging. Time to clean houses and call for resignations, starting with the DNI.
#2
And I've been calling for a dismantling of the IC here for years. It needs to be severed and reassembled, more tightly organized for ops, and better integrated for analysts
#3
When long-term trend analysis, indications & warning, and critical thinking were pushed aside, and analysts become PPT daily briefing slaves in support of our politically motivated seniors, we knew there would be a downside.
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.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Obama, who has warned that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would cross a U.S. "red line," said Washington had definitively concluded that the Assad regime was to blame for last week's attack.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
PARIS - French President Francois Hollande said on Thursday that Syria needed a political solution, but that could only happen if the international community could halt killings like last week's chemical attack and better support the opposition.
