Quite simply I do not believe the US, UK and French government’s assertion that the Syrian government has used chemical weapons against rebels “multiple times in small quantities”. Why on earth would they do that? The claim that “up to 150 people have died” spread over a number of incidents makes no sense at all. In a civil war when tens of thousands of people have died, where all sides have been guilty of massacres of scores at a time, I cannot conceive of any motive for killing a dozen or so at any one time with the odd chemical shell. It makes no military sense – chemical weapons are designed for use against population centres and massed armies. They are not precision weapons for deployment against small groups.
Why on earth would the Assad regime use a tiny amount of chemical weapons against tiny groups of rebels, knowing the West would use it as an excuse to start bombing? It makes no sense whatsoever. Cui bono?
The Russians have described the evidence as fabricated, and on this one I am with the Russians.
It is of course no coincidence that this humanitarian motive to start bombing Syria arises just as the tide of war turned against the rebels, and the government forces are about to move on Aleppo. I suspect now we will see massive NATO force intervention, with huge air to ground destruction of the government forces all over the country to “defend” Aleppo, just as we saw hundreds of thousands killed and whole cities destroyed in Libya to “defend” Benghazi. Whose people showed their gratitude by murdering the US Ambassador.
It is a further fascinating coincidence that this coordinated western switch of policy happens immediately after the Bilderberg conference. An analysis of which of the corporate interests there stand to gain in Syria might be a fascinating exercise.
There were two main reasons the tide of war turned against the rebels. Firstly, Hizbollah’s decision to enter the war on a large scale was provoked by the Israeli Air Force’s massive attack around Damascus, a fact the mainstream media has managed to hide completely. Secondly, at Turkish urging, the rebel forces had diverted much of their energies to attacking the Syrian kurds. This opens the interesting question of what the American client Kurds of Iraq will make of their patron sponsoring the massacre of their brethren in Syria.
Finally, chemical weapons are a terrible thing and their use should be condemned unreservedly. But where was all this Western outrage and activity when the Israelis were pouring down white phosphorous and kicking and maiming thousands of women and children in Gaza?
Three cheers for Vladimir Putin. He has disputed the claim about Assad’s government having used sarin gas, drawing a line in the sand about a future armed conflict with Washington over the matter.
Suspect that Obama will back down – just like Erdogan did with the park protesters.
I hope you’re right, THF — I haven’t finished my bunker yet…
A war between the west and a much weakened USSR, i mean Russia, would get rid of all those annoying unemployed folk, and make a lot of money for the right people.
Juteman, you mean — Tonight I’m gonna party like it’s 1939?
Are the Syrian people going to experience some ‘kinetic military action’ in Syria just as the Libyan people did?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ben_Rhodes_(speechwriter) –
‘Rhodes euphemistically described the United States’ military involvement in Libya as “kinetic military action.”‘
~~
The BBC have edited their version of the story thus.
Ex Medialens.
BBC deletes reference to opposition WMD in Syria
Posted by Peter on June 14, 2013, 2:50 pm
Hey all.
Just stumbled upon this article from BBC about US waging war on Syria: Original article archived here:
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2381179
In the original article, there was this sentence: “Mr Rhodes, a deputy national security adviser to Mr Obama, said the US had no “reliable” evidence the opposition had used chemical weapons.”
That has been deleted in the current version:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22899289#TWEET788962
Spelt:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spelt
Fos – for- US. Not Fos-for-AUS. M’kay?
And you can stuff Webster’s Dictionary, too. Sulfur? I don’t think so. Not while the bastards still use US gallons.
From the LA Times:
“Where do you come down on Syria? Take our unconscionably unscientific poll, leave a comment or do both!
By staying the course. This is a no-win situation for the United States. 72.31% (1,144 votes)
By arming the rebels. 4.55% (72 votes)
By arming the rebels and establishing a no-fly zone over Syria. 11.57% (183 votes)
By arming the rebels, establishing a no-fly zone and providing advisers on the ground. 11.57% (183 votes)
Total Votes: 1,582”
http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/opinion-la/la-ol-syria-chemical-weapons-red-line-20130613,0,1384006.story
Not that it matters one fig!
Another War. More food for the military-industrial complex.
America’s usual terms of endearment to the world.
The connections between Libya and Syria.
Why Did CIA Director Petraeus Resign? Why Was the U.S. Ambassador to Libya Murdered?
http://www.globalresearch.ca/why-did-cia-director-resign-why-was-the-u-s-ambassador-to-libya-murdered/5311311
“And, everybody, it’s spelled ‘phosphorus’, as my old chemistry teacher never tired of reminding us.”
Useful, Komodo. I have paused over that word many times.
“Three cheers for Vladimir Putin. He has disputed the claim …”
Any source for that? I can’t find it anywhere.
@Mike.
Sadly, very similar.
Yes, Komodo. My English teacher had a bun on about the diff between simile and metaphor; a distinction which is not made often enough.
Assad is winning the war, and he does not need to use poxy amounts of “WMD” to terrorise anyone. Further, the mercenaries masquerading as “rebels” in Syria have wreaked so much havoc that most of the Syrian population are now backing Assad, and if there were an election tomorrow Assad would get at least seventy five percent of the vote.
Back to ye olde “Assad is not a nice guy” which begs the question show me a nice guy in the politics (best not start going down the road of torture and murder; Baha Musa sodomised by a broom shank and left with a busted rectum to die a slow and agonising death, renditions, Gitmo, Abu Ghraib, …… etc millions of dead Iraqi, and thousands of Afghans, Libyans, …… were carried out by which regimes?) and the Western democracy to compare him with?
However the inconvenient facts pointing to the “rebels” somehow do not get much of corporate media attention: 12 people from Syria’s al Qaeda-linked al-Nusra Front
The “rebels” have everything to gain from, implicating Syrian Army in the use of “WMD” (Chemical Weapons) which in turn will facilitate the “no fly zone” ie bomb the crap out of the Syrian Army and its defence infrastructure, whilst special forces are leading the mercenaries in the ground attacks, and call it a victory for the “people of Syria”.
Russians will not allow anyone to turn Mediterranean basin into a private lake for the US, and coalition of the coattail hangers. The Russains have already arranged and placed a permanent naval detachment in the Mediterranean Sea, as well as beefing up this detachment by diverting their Aircraft carrier to the area. further Putin reportedly in a private meeting is quoted;”even if the fighting gets to the outskirts of Moscow, it is worth hanging on to Syria”. This is further corroborated by the fact that in his visit to Germany whilst the Western Media were hollering about “Russians are on board on Syria”, he (Putin) pointedly asked; “Where (which country) do we go after Syria?”
This stance of Russians has spawned the usual crap on tap passed as news to disseminate, as in the following; Why Russia Will Almost Certainly Back Down In Syria :
Ingrid Pederson an outstanding student of the Homer Simpson school of international relations and diplomacy, thus passes such an infantile “expert view”, about the current phase of the US struggle for supremacy over the planet (all of the evil bastards somehow end up with dreams of world domination as in the PANC declarations).
Fact that US can no longer deliver the bite as per her barks ought to leave no doubt in anyone’s mind that, there will not be a “no fly zone”, and “troops on the ground” in Syria. Russians, and Iranians will not let Syria to fall, and the “new middle east” to be constituted. The kaleidoscope shaking and barking orders are by gone era, and the new reality is; There are new sheriffs in town.
Finally, given that the opponents have actually working armies that can deliver a nasty kick back, and in the event of the use of any nuclear weapons, Russians stand a far better chance of survival than the US et al, we can safely assume that banksters know they have little alternative other than backing down and going back to the drawing boards. World domination will have to wait for another time.
This could be the US starting to supply the same level of equipment the UK already is = not a lot of change.
It’s on ABC’s Page One News, and I also saw it either on The Guardian or CNN.
Russia dismisses ‘unconvincing’ US claims
For the US/UK, it is all about control of oil/gas in the eastern Med. The Zionists want Israel to replace the Arab states are primary supplier of oil/gas for Europe. This was discussed at the 2012 Herzliya conference (BP reps were present). The theme was ‘if oil went to $250 a barrel, should Israel keep or sell its oil/gas?’ What sort of things would make oil/gas go to $250 a barrel? War with Iran and the closure of the Persian Gulf would be a good start.
Interestingly, in the early days of the Syrian debacle, Israel offered sanctuary to the Alawites, who happen to be based on the Syrian coast. Israel has prevented Gaza exploiting its own oil/gas by refusing transit except at very low prices. Cyprus was taken down so it is in no position to dictate trms over oil off its shore. Turkey seems to be taking itself down, courtesy of Erdogan’s hubris, so they may end up in the same state. The spoils go to the last one standing!
A comment from a former British Ambassador to Syria which was reposted from the Guardian under an article in Open Democracy dated 21.4.2013
http://www.opendemocracy.net/mohammad-al-attar-odai-al-zoubi/syria-revolution-or-civil-war
‘I was British ambassador to Syria from 1976 to 1979. I intensely disliked the Ba’ath party and most of the ministers who formed the government then. So I have no bias towards the Ba’ath and the president who took over from his father. The trouble is that most of the reporting from Syria comes from sources stationed among the insurgents, who include, for example, the Jabhat al-Nusra, which has just declared its loyalty to al-Qaida, and extremist Sunnis opposed to the Alawites, the president’s sect, and have anti-democratic and anti-western views. They don’t enjoy support from minorities like the Christians and the Ismailis.
At last the Guardian has a man in Damascus and can report the regime’s version. Ian Black (15 April) is sensibly cautious. His account of the bombing which damaged the central bank clearly suggests that the bomb came from the insurgents; and more frankly he says that another bomb, killing 80 people, exploded near a Ba’ath headquarters and was blamed on Jabhat al-Nusra. Why our government can help the French to fight al-Qaida in Mali and simultaneously send assistance to its supporters in Syria is difficult to understand. We should be neutral and keep far away from the Syrian struggle.
James Craig
Standlake, Oxfords
Published in Guardian/ Syrian blog ; April 21
Q. Is Obomber’s red line the same as Bibi’s?
http://images.rcp.realclearpolitics.com/157948_5_.jpg
Is this all, to use Yoggi Berra’s infamous words, a case of “deja vu all over again”?
Clinton bombed the aspirin factory in Sudan claiming it was used to manufacture chemical weapons, in order to distract attention from Monicagate. Is Obomber doing the same to deflect attention from Snowdongate? Starting WWIII seems a little over the top, but he does seem to have a thing about taking out whistle blowers. And blowing up a mere factory is so last century!
http://www.sibialiria.org/wordpress/?p=1517%2024%20maggio%202013
@Alan Campbell
14 Jun, 2013 – 1:19 pm
“Bilderburg? Hilarious, Craig. Do you often hang out with David Icke and Alex Jones by any chance?”
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Wow! Thanks for such a well reasoned refutation of the Evil Craig. And there was I almost thinking he had a point.
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Now that you have entertained with the exercise for Chapter 1: “Conformity Enforcement in the Playground”, I’m sure you must be attracting a growing crowd of fans to comments in keen anticipation of your next gem.
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As for the reminder, ( I think it was Indigo. Thanks) that Syria used to be a popular destination for the popular Rendition Torture Breaks. Well why should our protectors continue with that old tradition when the latest fad is simply to blow up suspected enemies (and the 48 or so people who happen to be nearby) with drone missiles? Well I suppose exporting democracy was never going to be painless.
Like most folk, I thought the BBC was reasonably fair.
Since the Scottish independence issue reared its head, my eyes have been opened.
As I actually live here, I see first hand their propaganda and lies. My fellow citizens are seeing the same.
I now know first hand that the BBC tells lies, and I now doubt anything they say about world events.
How I wish I could go back to being blind and sedated.
Cue Fred.
Surprised we’re all still here.
Obviously the threat to arm the rebels will make not a blind bit of difference on the ground, as the rebels are already abundantly armed to the tooth (singular) with everything ‘the west’ can supply them with, and they’re still having the stuffing knocked out of them by the Syrian Army, who’re the object of the free and thinking world’s admiration.
This oh so familiar artificial ‘arming the rebels’ moral quagmire however persists in the media, with even objectionable hawks mulling it over in full pretence of sincerity, and a rare few cautioning against it in the interests of synthetic balance, with as many would-be doves going the other way, again affecting not to know that the ‘rebels’ want for nothing except ability, fundamental human decency and a cause worth a tinker’s curse.
The end result then looks like Syria rebuilds (perhaps Quatar and the rest could be compelled to fund this by reparations) and the Golan Heights are recovered by Syria from the occupying Israelis and the waterways in the Golan region which have been diverted into Israel resume their natural course. Lebanon too could probably recover its territory in the south of the country, which is a wide buffer zone, UN controlled but notably on Lebanese and not Israel/Palestinian country, any new buffer zone the international community might wish to implement being taken from Israel/Palestine, would probably include the port city of Haifa, which was and still is part of the post-1948 Palestinian state, ethnic cleansing by Israeli racist mass-murderers notwithstanding. The Kurds, those perennial losers in history, for siding with the west will still not have a state, with neither Turkish, Iraqi, Iranian or Syrian borders changing any but with some unsatisfactory degree of autonomy within contiguous parts of Iraq and Syria minor but containable irritant to Iran and Turkey where Kurdish identity is secondary. The Israeli balkanization plan for the region then fails spectacularly, Israel is weakened, shrunken and its water scarcity problems acute.
Surely you must be an anti-Semite for talking sense, Cryptonym?
Kibo Noh 6.58pm,
I wouldn’t worry about Alan Campbell.He appears here every 3 or 4 weeks,only ever to drop a one line troll-barb at Craig.He never contributes to the debate just always a personal little dig at Craig.
He’s stuck in a playground in his little head but i guess it keeps his line manager from getting in a right tizzy.
And that frightens people like Alan Campbell because basically his type are cowards.
OT: I’m sure everyone here would like to wish Rupert Murdoch the best divorce proceedings money can buy.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/13/news/rupert-murdoch-divorce/index.html?hpt=hp_t2
Craig, your last line about Israeli use of white phosphorous was exactly what I was thinking when I heard the news on the radio about the US claims of Syrian use of chem weapons. It’d be good if this point were raised more widely in the indy media.
Jives
14 Jun, 2013 – 8:01 pm
.
“….cowards.”
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Yes. When I read that post I got such a vivid memory from schooldays of the playground bulling that tormented anyone different, weaker or smarter than the herd. It never won an argument as far as I can remember, and on the rare occasion that a victim snapped and gave his tormenter a bloody nose the coward(s) would flee and find a more docile victim.
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Maybe we are witnessing such moment now in Syria right now and the biggest bully of all is throwing shapes but unsure about administering the usual aeriel punishment because too many of the other kids in the playground have found him out. I hope for the sake of the Syrian people that I am correct. I’m so so sick of seeing people being protected or liberated by being blown apart.
“It is of course no coincidence that this humanitarian motive to start bombing Syria arises just as the tide of war turned against the rebels, and the government forces are about to move on Aleppo.”
I had noticed that too.