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.
Rand Paul said on Fox that he would seek a restraining order if Obama proceeds without congressional approval.
Very single R ,except perhaps Inholfe, will not provide any pushback to this or stand up against it.Also read that because the phone meeting could not be secure, that they got no classified intel. Yet the usual suspects put out statements after meeting that they were ‘convinced’ that Assad regime did it and that we should do something. It is quite remarkable. They know that the American people are against this intervention, yet they don’t care.
We are screwed or so is our military under this CIC!
Thanks Holly! I will have to watch it later, on mobile device and can’t get it to play. What were your thoughts on it? Does it provide any answers?
The video is silent, it shows a missle firing from the back of a truck.
No indication of who is firing it, but they dont appear to be in uniform
John Kerry’s War: Syrian Strike Means Big Money for lawmakers
http://benswann.com/john-kerrys-war-syrian-strike-means-big-money-for-lawmakers/
Video on the page and documentation
If this is part of the equation for some lawmakers,then they had better stop and think about what comes after,because Obama and the democrats have no intention of rebuilding our military after they degrade it.
Membership of a religious community in Syria is ordinarily determined by birth. Based on statistical analyses from 2006, Muslims were estimated as constituting 87% to 90% (depending on whether Druze were included or not)[1] of the total population, although their proportion was possibly greater and was certainly growing. The Muslim birthrate reportedly was higher than that of the minorities, and proportionately fewer Muslims were emigrates. Of the Syrian population, 74%[1] were Sunnis (including Sufis[2]), whereas 13% were Shias, either Alawites (11.0%), Twelvers (1.0%), Ismailis (0.5%), or Zaydis (0.5%).[1] 3% were Druze,[1] while the remaining 10-12% were Christians.[1] Not all the Sunnis are Arabs. Most of the Kurds, who make up 10% of the population are officially Sunni, as are the Turkmens who encompass 3-5%. Thus Syria is at most 59-61% Sunni Arab.
A striking feature of religious life in Syria is the geographic distribution of the religious minorities. Most Christians live in Damascus and Aleppo, although significant numbers live in Al-Hasakah Governorate in northeastern Syria, Tartus and Latakia. Nearly 90 percent of the Alawis live in Latakia Governorate in the rural areas of the Jabal an Nusayriyah; they constitute over 80 percent of the rural population of the governorate. The Jabal al-Arab/Jabal al-Druze, a rugged and mountainous region in the southwest of the country, is more than 90 percent Druze inhabited; some 120 villages are exclusively so. The Twelvers Shia's are concentrated between Homs and Aleppo; they constitute nearly 15 percent of Hamah Governorate. The Ismaili Shias are concentrated in the Salamiyah region of Hamah Governorate; approximately 10,000 more inhabit the mountains of Latakia Governorate. Most of the remaining Shia live in the Aleppo Governorate. The Jewish community is also centered in the Aleppo area, as are the Yazidis, many of whom inhabit the Jabal Sam'an and about half of whom live in the vicinity of Amuda in the Al-Jazira.
Christianity
The Christian communities of Syria, which comprise about 10% of the population,[1] spring from two of the three great traditions. The two traditions represented are the Roman and the Persian. These traditions can be distinguished by what books were in their canon of the New Testament. The Roman Tradition includes those churches who existed in the Roman Empire or its satellites, or are derived from Churches that existed in the Roman Empire. These include Oriental Orthodox (Armenian Orthodox and Syrian Orthodox), Eastern Orthodox (such as Greeks or Russians), Roman Catholics, various Eastern Catholic Churches that are under the authority of the Pope, and Protestants. The Persian Tradition is represented by the Church of the East (Assyrian). The total number of Christians, not including Iraqi refugee Christians, numbers about 2.5 million: 1.1 million Greek Orthodox, 700,000 Syrian Orthodox, 200,000 Armenian Christians (Apostolics and Catholics), 400,000 Catholics of various rites and the Church of the East (Assyrian) and Protestants. Because Protestantism was introduced by missionaries, a small number of Syrians are members of these Western denominations. The Catholics are divided into several groups: Greek Catholics (from a schism in the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Antioch in 1724), Latin Rite, Armenian Catholics, Syrian Catholics, Chaldean Catholics and Maronites. The vast majority of Christians belong to the Eastern communions, which have existed in Syria since the earliest days of Christianity. The main Eastern groups are the autonomous Orthodox churches; the Uniate churches, which are in communion with Rome; and the independent Nestorian Church. Even though each group forms a separate community, Christians nevertheless cooperate increasingly, largely because of their fear of the Muslim majority. In 1920 Syria was 25% Christian in a population of 2.5 millions. Christians have emigrated in higher numbers than Muslims and have a lower birth rate.
With the exception of the Armenians and Assyrian/Syriacs, most Syrian Christians are Arameans. However, many Christians, particularly the Eastern Orthodox, have joined the Arab nationalist movement and some are changing their Westernized names to Arabic ones. More Syrian Arab Christians participate in proportion to their number in political and administrative affairs than do Muslims. Especially among the young, relations between Christians and Muslims are improving.
There are several social differences between Christians and Muslims. For example, Syrian Christians are more highly urbanized than Muslims;many live either in or around Damascus, Aleppo, Hamah, or Latakia, and there are relatively fewer of them in the lower income groups. Proportionately more Christians than Muslims are educated beyond the primary level, and there are relatively more of them in white-collar and professional occupations. The education that Christians receive has differed in kind from that of Muslims in the sense that many more children of Christian parents have attended Western-oriented foreign and private schools.
The presence of the Christian communities is expressed also by the presence of many monasteries in several parts of the country.
That’s right.
By the same token, the frantic “staged” videos about casualties of a “chemical” attacks would have a lot of grave injuries to “staged medical” personnel who are NOT suited up, masked or even wearing gloves, if chem or bio agents were ever used!
IF WE SAW THIS HERE, THE GREAT WESTERN INTELLIGENCE AGENCIES SHOULD KNOW! The problem is that telling the truth is diametrically opposite to EMPOWERING THE MB AGENDA,
I lost my cyber voice screaming on this thread and on the Egyptian one about the “staging and play-acting” in Rabaa, Cairo!
Just one more thing, in Rabaa, the MB said that the security forces killed 2,000 “peaceful” demonstrators and injured 100,000 IN TWO HOURS!
In Syria, over 1,300 killed in the chem. attack. A day later the number talked about was 350. Two days later, the “acceptable” number IS 100!!
I posted “injecting corpses with chemicals!”
Let the world decide!
Here the story I hear about guys
I wonder if Assad going take his son Ipad way LOL!
If the rinos cared, they would not be on TV everyday or sending out press releases in support! Especially McCain, Graham and a few others. They are doing nothing but giving Obama cover for what is going to be a disaster! When it all goes to hell..guess who will get blame in media? The republicans.
They should be voicing opposition to this operation and reflect what their constituents want!
And can I add this (I’m trying to sort all of this out, too)
As I understand it, it’s:
Assad/Hezbollah/Shia Islam/-—Syria/Iran/Egypt
* versus *
Muslim Brotherhood/al Qaeda/Hamas/Sunni Islam/——Saudi Arabia
Please correct if that’s wrong.... Just my speculation based on a few other posts.
I know there are both Sunni’s and Shia in all the countries, but just talking about generally which countries are more or less banded together and the predominant power group
The U.S. was confident a film maker was behind Benghazi - and their sycophants in the press didn't question them... The NSA (who recorded this call IF it's real) were the same people who lied to us about spying on American citizens. It's hard to go to war behind people who are NOT trustworthy.
I am trying to figure it all out as well:
Egypt is 90% Muslim, almost entirely Sunni Muslim, as are the Saudis. Syria's population is 74% Sunni Muslim (of which roughly 10 points are non-Arab Kurds) and 13% are Shia, most all of which are Alawites, of which Asaad is an adherent. Iran is Shia Islam.
As of last month, Sunni Egypt is now a client state of Sunni Saudi Arabia. The Saudis use the Muslim Brotherhood, al Qaeda and Hamas as enforcers, yet fear them internally as a potential threat to their regime. Ibn Saud defeated the Ikhwan at Sabilla in 1930, but the fundamentalist spirit lives on in the MB, AQ and Hamas.
Therefore the MB in Egypt, as it revealed itself while in power, represented a threat, by extension, to the Saudi royal family. They had to go, so a semi-secular alternative in a majority Sunni country met with Saudi approval.
Not so in Syria, however, Assad is propped-up by extreme fundamentalist on-the-verge-of-nuclear Shia Iran. Shia Iran represents a military, though not religious, threat to the Sunni Saudi state.
So the Saudis want to replace Assad with a Sunni Saudi client state in order to reduce the Iranian threat: to clip Iran's wings. The Saudis are using the MB and AQ as their agents. They are having a hard time controlling these fundamentalists, since they don't want them having much of any influence in a new Syrian government. MB and AQ are not lying down for this. They know that they have the tacit moral and actual financial support of the Saudi elite and are pressing that advantage. Everyone lies there, but I think that one of the Saudis, MB or AQ has chemical weapons in Syria and ran the recent false flag operation. I should be more specific: it was either the Kingdom itself or private Saudis operating through MB or AQ.
So neither "side" in Syria is deserving of U.S. support.
Assad protects the 2-1/2 million Christians in Syria. In return for that protection, the 11% Christian population supports the 11% Alawite population and Assad rules. Without that coalition, Syria's Christians would be slaughtered. The Saudis might say, "don't worry, we'll install a "moderate" Sunni regime. If you were a Syrian Christian, would you stake the lives of your family on a promise from a Saudi monarch?
For the safety of the Syrian Christians, I oppose U.S. intervention in Syria. Let the Saudis fight their own battles, as they should have against Saddam. Getting bogged down in Syria will exacerbate, not resolve, the threat of a nuclear Iran.
Sound familiar? ... as in 9/11
The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
The United States Government assesses with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs on August 21, 2013. We further assess that the regime used a nerve agent in the attack. These all-source assessments are based on human, signals, and geospatial intelligence as well as a significant body of open source reporting.Our classified assessments have been shared with the U.S. Congress and key international partners. To protect sources and methods, we cannot publicly release all available intelligence – but what follows is an unclassified summary of the U.S. Intelligence Community’s analysis of what took place.
Syrian Government Use of Chemical Weapons on August 21
A large body of independent sources indicates that a chemical weapons attack took place in the Damascus suburbs on August 21. In addition to U.S. intelligence information, there are accounts from international and Syrian medical personnel; videos; witness accounts; thousands of social media reports from at least 12 different locations in the Damascus area; journalist accounts; and reports from highly credible nongovernmental organizations.
A preliminary U.S. government assessment determined that 1,429 people were killed in the chemical weapons attack, including at least 426 children, though this assessment will certainly evolve as we obtain more information.
We assess with high confidence that the Syrian government carried out the chemical weapons attack against opposition elements in the Damascus suburbs on August 21. We assess that the scenario in which the opposition executed the attack on August 21 is highly unlikely. The body of information used to make this assessment includes intelligence pertaining to the regime’s preparations for this attack and its means of delivery, multiple streams of intelligence about the attack itself and its effect, our post-attack observations, and the differences between the capabilities of the regime and the opposition. Our high confidence assessment is the strongest position that the U.S. Intelligence Community can take short of confirmation. We will continue to seek additional information to close gaps in our understanding of what took place.
Background:
The Syrian regime maintains a stockpile of numerous chemical agents, including mustard, sarin, and VX and has thousands of munitions that can be used to deliver chemical warfare agents.
Syrian President Bashar al-Asad is the ultimate decision maker for the chemical weapons program and members of the program are carefully vetted to ensure security and loyalty. The Syrian Scientific Studies and Research Center (SSRC) – which is subordinate to the Syrian Ministry of Defense – manages Syria’s chemical weapons program.
We assess with high confidence that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons on a small scale against the opposition multiple times in the last year, including in the Damascus suburbs. This assessment is based on multiple streams of information including reporting of Syrian officials planning and executing chemical weapons attacks and laboratory analysis of physiological samples obtained from a number of individuals, which revealed exposure to sarin. We assess that the opposition has not used chemical weapons.
The Syrian regime has the types of munitions that we assess were used to carry out the attack on August 21, and has the ability to strike simultaneously in multiple locations. We have seen no indication that the opposition has carried out a large-scale, coordinated rocket and artillery attack like the one that occurred on August 21.
We assess that the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons over the last year primarily to gain the upper hand or break a stalemate in areas where it has struggled to seize and hold strategically valuable territory. In this regard, we continue to judge that the Syrian regime views chemical weapons as one of many tools in its arsenal, including air power and ballistic missiles, which they indiscriminately use against the opposition.
The Syrian regime has initiated an effort to rid the Damascus suburbs of opposition forces using the area as a base to stage attacks against regime targets in the capital. The regime has failed to clear dozens of Damascus neighborhoods of opposition elements, including neighborhoods targeted on August 21, despite employing nearly all of its conventional weapons systems. We assess that the regime’s frustration with its inability to secure large portions of Damascus may have contributed to its decision to use chemical weapons on August 21.
Preparation:
We have intelligence that leads us to assess that Syrian chemical weapons personnel – including personnel assessed to be associated with the SSRC – were preparing chemical munitions prior to the attack. In the three days prior to the attack, we collected streams of human, signals and geospatial intelligence that reveal regime activities that we assess were associated with preparations for a chemical weapons attack.
Syrian chemical weapons personnel were operating in the Damascus suburb of ‘Adra from Sunday, August 18 until early in the morning on Wednesday, August 21 near an area that the regime uses to mix chemical weapons, including sarin. On August 21, a Syrian regime element prepared for a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus area, including through the utilization of gas masks. Our intelligence sources in the Damascus area did not detect any indications in the days prior to the attack that opposition affiliates were planning to use chemical weapons.
The Attack:
Multiple streams of intelligence indicate that the regime executed a rocket and artillery attack against the Damascus suburbs in the early hours of August 21. Satellite detections corroborate that attacks from a regime-controlled area struck neighborhoods where the chemical attacks reportedly occurred – including Kafr Batna, Jawbar, ‘Ayn Tarma, Darayya, and Mu’addamiyah. This includes the detection of rocket launches from regime controlled territory early in the morning, approximately 90 minutes before the first report of a chemical attack appeared in social media. The lack of flight activity or missile launches also leads us to conclude that the regime used rockets in the attack.
Local social media reports of a chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs began at 2:30 a.m. local time on August 21. Within the next four hours there were thousands of social media reports on this attack from at least 12 different locations in the Damascus area. Multiple accounts described chemical-filled rockets impacting opposition-controlled areas.
Three hospitals in the Damascus area received approximately 3,600 patients displaying symptoms consistent with nerve agent exposure in less than three hours on the morning of August 21, according to a highly credible international humanitarian organization. The reported symptoms, and the epidemiological pattern of events – characterized by the massive influx of patients in a short period of time, the origin of the patients, and the contamination of medical and first aid workers – were consistent with mass exposure to a nerve agent. We also received reports from international and Syrian medical personnel on the ground.
We have identified one hundred videos attributed to the attack, many of which show large numbers of bodies exhibiting physical signs consistent with, but not unique to, nerve agent exposure. The reported symptoms of victims included unconsciousness, foaming from the nose and mouth, constricted pupils, rapid heartbeat, and difficulty breathing. Several of the videos show what appear to be numerous fatalities with no visible injuries, which is consistent with death from chemical weapons, and inconsistent with death from small-arms, high-explosive munitions or blister agents. At least 12 locations are portrayed in the publicly available videos, and a sampling of those videos confirmed that some were shot at the general times and locations described in the footage.
We assess the Syrian opposition does not have the capability to fabricate all of the videos, physical symptoms verified by medical personnel and NGOs, and other information associated with this chemical attack.
We have a body of information, including past Syrian practice, that leads us to conclude that regime officials were witting of and directed the attack on August 21. We intercepted communications involving a senior official intimately familiar with the offensive who confirmed that chemical weapons were used by the regime on August 21 and was concerned with the U.N. inspectors obtaining evidence. On the afternoon of August 21, we have intelligence that Syrian chemical weapons personnel were directed to cease operations. At the same time, the regime intensified the artillery barrage targeting many of the neighborhoods where chemical attacks occurred. In the 24 hour period after the attack, we detected indications of artillery and rocket fire at a rate approximately four times higher than the ten preceding days. We continued to see indications of sustained shelling in the neighborhoods up until the morning of August 26.
To conclude, there is a substantial body of information that implicates the Syrian government’s responsibility in the chemical weapons attack that took place on August 21.As indicated, there is additional intelligence that remains classified because of sources and methods concerns that is being provided to Congress and international partners.
Syria: Damascus Areas of Influence and Areas Reportedly Affected by 21 August Chemical Attack ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Does anyone know how to post this last pdf map?
404 not found
MM: Try this
All: does anyone know how to post this map that was attached to Obama declassified brief on Syria.
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