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Exclusive: Intercepted Calls Prove Syrian Army Used Nerve Gas, U.S. Spies Say
Foreign Policy ^ | 8-27-13 | Posted By Noah Shachtman

Posted on 08/28/2013 5:36:47 AM PDT by quimby

Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they're certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime -- and why the U.S. military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days.

But the intercept raises questions about culpability for the chemical massacre, even as it answers others: Was the attack on Aug. 21 the work of a Syrian officer overstepping his bounds? Or was the strike explicitly directed by senior members of the Assad regime? "It's unclear where control lies," one U.S. intelligence official told The Cable. "Is there just some sort of general blessing to use these things? Or are there explicit orders for each attack?"

(Excerpt) Read more at thecable.foreignpolicy.com ...


TOPICS: Breaking News; Foreign Affairs; Government; Israel; News/Current Events; Russia; United Kingdom; War on Terror
KEYWORDS: 911truthers; chemicalweapons; iran; israel; lebanon; littlebrotherdidit; maheralassad; randsconcerntrolls; russia; syria; turkey; unitedkingdom; waronterror
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To: 1010RD

The country is in worse fiscal shape than Detroit and anyone supporting another unnecessary war is right there on par with the city council of Detroit.


21 posted on 08/28/2013 5:50:14 AM PDT by cripplecreek (REMEMBER THE RIVER RAISIN!)
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To: Perdogg

Thanks ...


22 posted on 08/28/2013 5:50:56 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: no-to-illegals
Does not make sense that Israel would be backing the mb.

My guess is that Israeli officials are afraid of Syria playing the Cuban role in a new missile crisis, once Iran gets its nukes up and going. That would reduce Israel's reaction time significantly in the event of a Syrian launch. If online commentary from English language Israeli news sites is any indication, popular opinion in Israel does not favor the Syrian rebels. However, the Israeli leadership is trying to get Assad toppled by hook or by crook before the Iranians get their nukes on line, on the assumption that the Iranians wouldn't place them in a Syria dominated by Sunni Islamists who view exterminating Shiites as the first order of business before embarking on a world tour with Allah's personal assistance (i.e. Koranic catastrophes like plagues, floods, et al, inflicted on the non-Muslim heathens).

23 posted on 08/28/2013 5:51:14 AM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: no-to-illegals; quimby

As I recall, the ‘secret Israeli intel” turned out to be an ex-Mossad agent. Was not an official Israeli statement.


24 posted on 08/28/2013 5:51:30 AM PDT by slipper (The best is yet to come)
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To: cripplecreek
Personally I don’t believe it and even if I did I wouldn’t care. Its not my problem.

Agreed, but scene was created by broncobama. He stuck his mouth in it. Now govt officials are being quoted as saying they want to strike soon so obozo can go to the big meeting in russia next week. Sick.

25 posted on 08/28/2013 5:51:37 AM PDT by quimby
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To: everyone

http://inagist.com/all/372394156594708480/


26 posted on 08/28/2013 5:54:35 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: quimby

Ultimately, the way to deal with Iranian nukes is to bomb the Iranian nuclear program, not create an al Qaeda government in Syria. Obama doesn’t want to bomb Iran, so this is the alternative we’re left with.


27 posted on 08/28/2013 5:54:45 AM PDT by Zhang Fei (Let us pray that peace be now restored to the world and that God will preserve it always.)
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To: Perdogg
Thanks for the link.

According to the report Saturday in Focus magazine, a squad specializing in wire-tapping within the IDF’s prestigious 8200 intelligence unit intercepted a conversation between high-ranking regime officials regarding the use of chemical agents at the time of the attack. The German report, which cited an ex-Mossad official who insisted on remaining anonymous, said the intercepted conversation proved that Bashar Assad’s regime was responsible for the use of nonconventional weapons.

28 posted on 08/28/2013 5:55:00 AM PDT by quimby
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To: quimby
The leak of these so called intercepts sounds fishy. Why would the MOD be calling to find out if one of their units used special weapons? If it was Assad, don't you think he would just pick up the phone, call the MOD and say "put down those rebels at xyz, and use the gas, no screwing around this time."

If a chemical unit fired without orders they are screwed. The only question is how far up the chain of command they are screwed. Overall though, sounds like bammy the illiterate (at international politics and all things military) is looking for (or manufacturing) a reason to attack Assad and save his (bammy's) backside-buddies in the MB.

29 posted on 08/28/2013 5:55:09 AM PDT by ThunderSleeps (Stop obarma now! Stop the hussein - insane agenda!)
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To: quimby

We’re acting like a monkey with a hand grenade!


30 posted on 08/28/2013 5:55:31 AM PDT by Obadiah (Inside of every Liberal beats the heart of a fascist yearning to reveal their true nature.)
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To: Zhang Fei
once Iran gets its nukes up and going

a guess (best guess) is they are up and going.

31 posted on 08/28/2013 5:56:04 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: Wurlitzer

That is TRUTH #1. We are not there, they fight each other...we show up, they fight us. We leave, they go back to fighting each other.

We’ve learned alot. Lose/Lose situation.


32 posted on 08/28/2013 5:56:32 AM PDT by babyfreep
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To: quimby

If the Syrian govt was in charge of this attack, WTF was the Syrian Defence Chief on the horn demanding answers about WTF happened!

D.oh!

the MEdia is obviously brain dead to keep parroting this story as justification by barry’s handlers for barry’s upcoming 3 day “shock and awe” stunt


33 posted on 08/28/2013 5:56:52 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
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To: quimby

I hardly believe a word this government of the obastard says. It is to the point that if they told me the sun would come up in the East I’d have to look to verify it.


34 posted on 08/28/2013 5:57:59 AM PDT by Sequoyah101
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To: Zhang Fei
could it be ... a three for one stone thrown? Don't know here.
35 posted on 08/28/2013 5:58:22 AM PDT by no-to-illegals (Scrutinize our government and Secure the Blessing of Freedom and Justice)
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To: quimby

This WH has no credibility, has spent us into bankruptcy and has an unnatural affinity with the moon-worshipping religion.
I say it’s spinach and tohellwithitandSoetero.


36 posted on 08/28/2013 5:58:28 AM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: All armed conservatives.)
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To: quimby

if the Israelis are supporting anything it is to take out known stockpiles so our al Qaeda allies don’t inherit them when the West hurries up and deposes Assad


37 posted on 08/28/2013 5:58:49 AM PDT by silverleaf (Age takes a toll: Please have exact change)
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To: quimby

Syria is not our problem and we can only make things worse like Egypt and Libya.
Saddam used it on the Kurds and these people didn’t have a problem with that. He was their hero during the war.

Pray for America to Wake Up


38 posted on 08/28/2013 5:59:13 AM PDT by bray (Coming soon: The Republic of Texas 2022)
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To: quimby

What a bunch of BS. Reveal the name of the individual that ordered it or made that call. Let the Syrian people decide what to do after the revelation. We have not been threatened. We have no reason to act.


39 posted on 08/28/2013 5:59:29 AM PDT by PGalt
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To: quimby

WWI

WWII

Korea

Vietnam

Iraq X 2

Afghanistan

We’ve lost all the above wars. The reason, I believe, is clear. Nothing was thought out before embarking on these wars fought to save another’s bacon.

WWI was fought over such convoluted reasoning that no one was certain just exactly how it began. Germany got the brunt of it and Wilson made certain that Germany would be brought so economically low that Hitler’s ascension was guaranteed. So WWII followed. The Japanese were poked with a stick by FDR like one would play with an angry crab. They finally planned and executed a sneak attack on our unprepared military at Honolulu.

If we were going to give the Russians a bloody nose, we lost our chance at the closing of WWII. FDR and Truman gave Eastern Europe to the kindly Uncle Joe and created an enemy that would last until Ronald Reagan did something about it.

Korea was fought to a stalemate and had the suits listened to Douglas MacArthur we could have stopped the Chinese and Russians dead in their tracks. Opportunity lost. We retreated.

In Vietnam we fought the communists until we were forced to evacuate.

In Iraq we nobly wanted to bring our lousy, battered version of democracy to the Iraqis and killed tens of thousands of them. The problem is that they deserved and needed the dictatorship that ruled.

In Afghanistan we managed to stay longer than the Russians. They still hate us, but they’re happy to spend our bloated bucks.

Who do these leaders we have think they are? Who wants what we call democracy today? Why do most of our leaders feel that our ‘democracy’ is imperiled as long as the rest of the world doesn’t conform to our brand? Our nation and Constitution are imperiled, but yet the leaders are eager to involve us in yet another adventure.

We should all be afraid for our nation and our lives as long as we have these brainless loons running things!


40 posted on 08/28/2013 5:59:35 AM PDT by IbJensen (Liberals are like Slinkies, good for nothing, but you smile as you push them down the stairs.)
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