The Times of LondonVerified account @thetimes
Tomorrow’s front page: Cameron forced to retreat on #Syria vote pic.twitter.com/DjbcJJHLre
Posted on 08/28/2013 7:06:18 AM PDT by kristinn
As the war drums for Syria get louder, let this thread serve as a repository for news, background, Tweets, photos, video, on-the-ground reports, etc., as was done recently with Egypt.
RT:
17:46 GMT: Russian UN representatives did not stage a walk-out at the meeting of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, Itar-Tass reports citing Russia’s permanent mission to the UN. The statement came in response to earlier reports claiming that Russian and Chinese diplomats “left” what was said to be a closed-door discussion of the UK-drafted resolution on the alleged chemical weapons use in Syria.
“The Russian representative went out when the meeting ended. That was not a demarche. It is just that some of the delegations did not leave for a long time,” the diplomatic source was quoted as saying.
saudi is a wild card as is iran ... both probably well stocked with china and russia help. Could be no more than a money thing.
Does any believe Obama will respond let alone take into consideration the Congress....blowing this smoke won’t move him a bit...he cut out the congress long ago from any decision making he can do without them...and he certainly will do that.
I bet you the MB fired on the UN SUVs to scare the m back to their hotels.
A bomb maybe will have leave the country.
I believe it’s more transparent than the 0b0z0 administration!
THEN:
0b0z0 IS also responsible for the American Sgt. who killed 18 afghani civilians, RIGHT?
It is actually a pretty good letter from Cry Baby there. I wonder who wrote it? LOL!
Right, and terrorist Nidal Hassan.
Marie Harf told a press briefing....
******”The commander in chief of any military is ultimately responsible for the decisions made under their leadership, even if... he’s not the one that pushes the button, or says ‘Go’ on this,” she told a press briefing.”***********
Oh boy...that one needs to be big lettered and used against Obama when he so often passes the buck for his decisions!
Does that also include a “No Go” (as in Benghazi????)
True? : o /
Al Arabiya English @AlArabiya_Eng 22m
#BreakingNews: U.S. President #Obama due to speak tonight about Syria
The Times of LondonVerified account @thetimes
Tomorrow’s front page: Cameron forced to retreat on #Syria vote pic.twitter.com/DjbcJJHLre
Thus far, the Obama adm and its allies in favor of striking Syria have presented ZERO evidence that the chem attack was carried out by Assad. Furthermore, they have suggested no MOTIVE for such an attack by Assad---NONE.
On the other hand, there exists both motive and opportunity for the chem attack to have been carried out by rebel forces. [See also MestaMachine posts #66, #83, #103, caww's photo, #69, maggief's video at #150, and posts 205 and 213]
Along with the above posts by MestaMachine, maggief, and caww, what follows is background info providing greater circumstantial evidence (if Obama is going to play that game) to prove that the rebels had means, motive, and opportunity to have launched the most recent chemical attack.
Finally, take note that there are NO plans to collect the chemical weapons in Obama's agenda---only plans to take out Assad's air bases, etc, etc. Unless Obama is going to do little more than bomb "an aspirin factory," these are the Islamist jihadis on whom Obama has placed his bet (and our future)---all of whom lead back to Zawahiri (OBL's Al Qaeda replacement and also a MB legend).
Iraq claims foiling al-Qaeda nerve-gas plot [JUNE 2, 2013]
Iraq's defence ministry has said that it has intercepted an al-Qaeda cell working to produce poisonous gas for attacks within the country as well as in Europe and North America.
The group of five men built two facilities in Baghdad to produce sarin and mustard gas, using instructions from another al-Qaeda group, spokesman Mohammed al-Askari said on Saturday.
[snip]
The Islamic State of Iraq, an al-Qaeda's backed group, is still active in the country, launching regular attacks on government and civilian targets.
So far, the group has largely refrained from waging violence outside Iraq, but earlier this year it publicly said it was linked to Syria's Jabhat al-Nusra, a rebel group fighting the Assad regime.
Other sources for above info BBC here and LWJ here
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Al Qaeda in Iraq, Al Nusrah Front emerge as rebranded single entity
The emir of al Qaeda in Iraq (AQI), Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (also known as Abu Dua), has announced a new brand for his organization's efforts: the "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant." The new name replaces all previous brands used by al Qaeda's affiliates in Iraq and Syria, including the Al Nusrah Front.
Image that accompanied Abu Bakr al Baghdadi's audiotape announcing the creation of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant. The flag was originally al Qaeda in Iraq's banner, but has been adopted by other al Qaeda affiliated and associated groups. Image from the SITE Intelligence Group.
Al Baghdadi's announcement came in an audio message which was released online on April 8. The message was first obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.
Al Baghdadi confirms that the Al Nusrah Front, al Qaeda's chief fighting force inside Syria, has always been a creation of his terrorist organization.
"It's now time to declare in front of the people of the Levant and world that the al Nusrah Front is but an extension of the Islamic State of Iraq and part of it," al Baghdadi says.
The Al Nusrah Front's leader, Abu Muhammad al Julani, is one of al Baghdadi's subordinates. "We deputized al Julani, and he is one of our soldiers, and with him a group of our sons, and we pushed them from Iraq to the Levant so as to meet our cells in the Levant," al Baghdadi explains, according to SITE's translation.
****************
Head of Syria's Al-Nusra Front: We owe our allegiance to Zawahiri [April 10, 2013]
Baghdadi's comments came a day after an Al-Nusra-style suicide bombing in the heart of Damascus killed at least 15 people and wounded 146.
They also came after Al-Qaeda's global chief, Ayman al-Zawahiri, urged rebels to fight to establish an Islamic state in Syria, in an audio message posted on the Internet on Sunday.
Al-Nusra, which announced its creation in a January 2012 video, is a magnet for foreign fighters seeking to take part in the insurgency against Assad's regime.
The US State Department said Tuesday that Al-Qaeda in Iraq's "public claim of ownership of the Nusrah Front validates what we've long known that the Nusrah Front is the Syrian arm of AQI," said deputy spokesman Patrick Ventrell.
Washington already blacklisted Al-Nusra as a terrorist organisation in December, citing its close links to Al-Qaeda fighters who led the insurgency against US forces in Iraq before they withdrew at the end of 2011.
**************
That same day, the State Department fingered al Qaeda's affiliate in Iraq, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), as the culprit in a statement released to the press. State Department spokesperson Jen Psaki also confirmed that Abu Bakr al Baghdadi (a.k.a. Abu Dua), who heads the ISIL, "is now based in Syria."
Al Baghdadi's relocation was first reported earlier this year, and underscores the degree to which al Qaeda has expanded its operations. Despite leadership disagreements, al Qaeda has redoubled its efforts in Iraq since American forces left in late 2011, while also expanding its operations into neighboring Syria.
On Aug. 11, the day after the attacks, the ISIL claimed credit for the bombings.
In a statement released on jihadist forums, the ISIL said the the attacks were retaliation against the Iraqi government for its "revenge of the martyrs campaign." After the ISIL coordinated a massive jailbreak in July, the Iraqi government has been struggling to re-arrest freed al Qaeda operatives.
[snip]
The State Department noted in its Aug. 10 statement that al Baghdadi "has taken personal credit for a series of terrorist attacks in Iraq since 2011, and most recently claimed credit for the operations against the Abu Ghraib prison outside Baghdad, the suicide bombing assault on the Ministry of Justice, among other attacks against Iraqi Security Forces and Iraqi citizens going about their daily lives."
Al Qaeda leadership dispute
While increasing al Qaeda's operational capacity in Iraq, al Baghdadi's group also helped spawn the Al Nusrah Front in Syria. The Al Nusrah Front quickly became one of the most lethal insurgency groups fighting Bashar al Assad's crumbling regime and its allies.
Al Baghdadi and the Al Nusrah Front's leader, Abu Muhammad al Julani, publicly quarreled over al Qaeda's chain-of-command in early April. Al Julani rejected al Baghdadi's attempt to assert authority over the Al Nusrah Front and reaffirmed his oath of loyalty directly to Zawahiri.
The dispute forced al Qaeda emir Ayman al Zawahiri to intervene. Zawahiri sided with al Julani in the dispute, ruling that the two al Qaeda branches should remain under their own commands until the dispute is resolved for good. Zawahiri also chastised both commanders for airing their differences for the whole world to see. Al Baghdadi then openly defied Zawahiri's order.
However, the two wings of al Qaeda continue to fight alongside one another in Syria against their common enemies.
*****************
Zawahiri to Syrian Rebels: Damascus First, Then Cairo, Then Jerusalem
****************
Evidence [past and allegedly present evidence]: Syrian Rebels used Chemical Weapons (not Assad)
***************
The most successful rebel group in Syria is a militant jihadist group
Militants from the Qaeda affiliate the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS) kidnap Westerners and fighters from other brigades with impunity. They kill leaders from the rebel-led Free Syrian Army (FSA) without the slightest fear of retribution. ISIS controls key roads, dams, and grain silos, with checkpoints everywhere. In the northern provinces of Aleppo, Idlib, and al-Raqqa, the organization is either the most or second-most powerful brigade. ISIS is an A-Team force among FSA units composed of squabbling Gomer Pyles.
US willing to go it alone against Syria if needed
The Obama administration said Wednesday it would take action against the Syrian government even without the backing of allies or the United Nations
Thanks!
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Britain says no Syria action before UN inspection results
http://news.yahoo.com/britain-says-no-syria-action-un-inspection-results-185322699.html
Britain will not take military action against the Syrian regime before UN inspectors report back on evidence of chemical weapons attacks, according to a motion published by the government Wednesday that is set to be put to a parliamentary vote.
Lawmakers are due to vote on Britain’s response to the attacks on Thursday but any military action will require a further vote of parliament’s lower House of Commons after the UN experts confirm their findings, according to the motion.
—
—
Biden: ‘No Doubt’ Syrian Regime Behind Chemical Attack
ice President Joe Biden today said there’s “no doubt” that Bashar al-Assad’s regime is responsible for the recent chemical weapons attack on Syrian civilians, as the Obama administration weighs its response.
“There is no doubt that an essential international norm has been violated - violated. Chemical weapons have been used,” the vice president told the American Legion National Convention in Houston. “And there is no doubt who is responsible for this heinous use of chemical weapons in Syria: the Syrian regime.”
—
—
Key lawmakers to get Syria chemical weapons briefing Thursday
http://news.yahoo.com/-key-lawmakers-to-get-syria-chemical-weapons-briefing-thursday—203406315.html
Key lawmakers will get a classified briefing from the Obama administration on Thursday regarding Syria’s alleged slaughter of civilians using chemical weapons last week, two U.S. officials said.
The briefing, to be held by conference call because Congress is still out on its August recess, is expected to include the chairmen and ranking members of key committees as well as the top leaders from each party in each chamber, the sources said. One of the officials specified that chairs of the House and Senate committees on armed services, foreign relations and intelligence would likely take part.
The officials asked not to be identified by name or title in order to discuss a classified hearing that has not yet taken place. It was not clear which officials would brief lawmakers.
A most excellent rollup, Worm, thank you!
Great post! Lots of excellent info collection and some really good points you made! Thank you!
Heck, the American people are not even behind him!! So he is really alone!!
This may be the moment we have all dreaded....the narcissist, sociopath Mr. Obama is losing it and he is very dangerous right now if what we have read about malignant narcissists holds true. He will not like being told no...by ANYBODY!
Great post!
#
Obama says no decision yet on Syria strike
(snip)
“I have not made a decision,” Obama told PBS NewsHour, but added that he had concluded a direct US intervention in the country’s civil war would not help the situation.
REUTERS:
President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he has not made a decision on making a military strike against Syria, but said the goal of a limited action would be to deter future use of chemical weapons.
“If we are saying in a clear and decisive but very limited way, we send a shot across the bow saying, stop doing this, this can have a positive impact on our national security over the long term,” he told Public Broadcasting Service in a televised interview. The president said U.S. officials believe the Syrian government is responsible for the attack a week ago in the suburbs of Damascus that killed hundreds of people, and do not believe the Syrian opposition has chemical weapons that could have been used on that scale.
“This may be the moment we have all dreaded....the narcissist, sociopath Mr. Obama is losing it and he is very dangerous right now if what we have read about malignant narcissists holds true. He will not like being told no...by ANYBODY!”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Holdin my breath! Obama was never going to get past the UN, but now it looks like even Nato allies have him cooling his heels-—they want more info! Imagine that...
Obama’s response: Defy his allies—— NOT a good sign.
This is the moment all of Obama’s hacks in top cabinet/security/military positions look like just that-—hacks-—if they can’t talk him off the ledge.
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