"Alastair Crooke, a former MI6 officer and high-level EU advisor who runs an NGO in Beirut, said the exile groups.... are funded and trained by the US. They pay Sunni tribal chiefs to put people on the streets, work with NGOs to feed uncorroborated stories of atrocities to Western media and co-operate with radicals in the hope that escalating violence will justify Nato intervention."
That's what I'm reading every day, yup.
"Arab states warn Syria to end the bloodshed; Crackdown toll for past week reaches 300" August 08, 2011|By Bassem Mroue, Associated Press
BEIRUT - Syrian troops fired on mourners at a funeral and raided an eastern city yesterday, killing at least 69 people in an intensifying government crackdown on protesters.
Outrage was intensifying as well: Syria’s Arab neighbors forcefully joined the international chorus of condemnation against President Bashar Assad’s regime for the first time.
Even the king of Saudi Arabia - whose country does not tolerate dissent and lent its military troops to repress antigovernment protests in neighboring Bahrain - harshly criticized the Syrian government and said he was recalling his ambassador in Damascus for consultations....
Yeah, but that's okay because he's an ally. And Bahrain doesn't receive the daily drumbeat of stories Syria does from the agenda-pushing paper. That tells you something right there.
In the besieged city of Hama, where the government has cut off electricity and communications, a rights group said eight babies died because their incubators lost power....
Remember the Kuwaiti lie about Iraqis tossing babies out of incubators? They think you will fall for it again.
Syria’s crackdown had already drawn criticism and sanctions from the United States and many other nations, but the latest attacks brought a new wave of condemnation. Saudi King Abdullah demanded “an end to the killing machine and bloodshed.’’
“Any sane Arab, Muslim, or anyone else knows that this has nothing to do with religion, or ethics or morals,’’ the king said in a statement.
Abdullah accused the Syrian government of a disproportionate response and said it must enact speedy and comprehensive reforms to avoid chaos.
The 22-member Arab League, which had been silent since the uprising began, said yesterday it is alarmed by the situation and called for the immediate halt of all violence. On Saturday, the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council criticized Syria’s “use of excess force.’’ Turkey, which borders Syria and until recently was a close ally and trade partner, said it would send its foreign minister to Damascus tomorrow to deliver a strong message against the crackdown. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Turkey could not remain a bystander to the violence.
Meaning they will be the tip of the NATO spear.
The statements signal that Arab states have lost patience with Assad and will not be silent anymore. Sectarian divisions also play a role: Saudi Arabia is the major Sunni power in the Mideast and Syria is dominated by Assad’s Alawite sect, which rules over a Sunni majority....
As does the whole PNAC, Clean Break, Neo-Con, Globalist plan for world domination and empire.
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"Arab neighbors pull ambassadors from defiant Syria; Assad ousts defense chief" August 09, 2011|By Nada Bakri, New York Times
BEIRUT - Joining a chorus of global condemnation, three oil-rich Arab countries yesterday recalled their ambassadors to the Syrian capital of Damascus in protest of President Bashar Assad’s brutal crackdown on demonstrations, as the Syrian military and security forces pressed ahead with their assault on the most restive locales.
The action by Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, and Kuwait came as Assad replaced his defense minister with the army’s chief of staff, the Syrian state-run news agency said. There was no immediate explanation for the move to oust the incumbent defense minister, Lieutenant General Ali Habib, a key figure in the leadership who had served as defense minister since June 2009.
His departure would constitute one of the highest-level shake-ups since the uprising began in mid-March. His replacement was General Dawoud Rajha.
Radwan Ziadeh, a Syrian scholar at George Washington University, said Habib lost his job because he was a professional officer with no links to the country’s security agencies. “Habib was not happy with the acts being carried out by the army,’’ Ziadeh told the Associated Press. “Habib is a professional and respected officer.’’
The withdrawal of ambassadors for the three Persian Gulf countries signified growing frustration in the region with the mounting death toll in Syria and underlined the unprecedented isolation of the government....
In a region where leaders have long proved reluctant to criticize each other, the move suggested that Saudi Arabia saw more potential turmoil in Assad staying than in him leaving.
“The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia stands before its historical responsibility toward her brothers, demanding the stoppage of the killing machine and bloodshed, and the use of reason before it is too late,’’ the king said in a statement published in his name and read on Saudi state television....
Addressing “sister Syria,’’ the king condemned the loss of lives and said that hope for the region would not come from “the blood of innocent people’’ and that Syria’s actions were not acceptable for the oil-producing kingdom....
Saudi Arabia has never been a friend of Syria.
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Related: Assad rebuffs envoy’s plea to end crackdown
"Signs of doubt on Assad rule; Party stalwarts distance selves amid uprising" August 11, 2011|By Anthony Shadid and Steven Lee Myers, New York Times
BEIRUT - As Syria continues its most relentless assault yet on a five-month uprising, killing more than a dozen protesters yesterday, cracks have begun to emerge in a tight-knit leadership that has until now managed to rally its base of support and maintain a unified front, officials, dissidents, and analysts said.
Though there are no signs of imminent collapse, flagging support of the business elite in Damascus, divisions among senior officials, and moves by former stalwarts to distance themselves from the leadership come at a time when Syria also faces what may be its greatest isolation in more than four decades of rule by the Assad family.
“They’re starting to be divided, and you have people in the government who are really getting frustrated with Assad and his security circles,’’ an Obama administration official in Washington said. “It’s almost like watching a dysfunctional marriage.’’
The shifting constellation of power in Damascus has underscored the perils of the months ahead. American and European officials acknowledge that they have limited tools to influence events in Syria, and a deeply divided opposition has so far failed to provide an alternative to the leadership of President Bashar Assad. Activists in Syria warn that the government crackdown may also push largely peaceful protesters to violence....
A US diplomatic official said it seemed increasingly unlikely that Assad could remain in power. As a result, he said, the United States has begun making plans for a post-Assad era out of concern for the chaos that many expect to follow if he falls.
They are TELEGRAPHING the INVASION!
The Obama administration, he said, does not rule out a civil war. “It’s going to be messy,’’ the official said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because the topic involved internal deliberations....
In Washington, officials say President Obama may soon declare that Assad must step down....
Or else.... REGIME CHANGE!!
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Also see: Syrian troops attack 2 towns, kill 11 people
NATO plans to arm Syria criminal gangs
Already have; it's their way of telling you they love you.
"Amid violence, Syrians call for Assad’s death; 14 protesters reported killed; Clinton asks for embargo" by Bassem Mroue and Elizabeth A. Kennedy, Associated Press / August 13, 2011
BEIRUT - Tens of thousands of Syrian protesters shouted for President Bashar Assad’s death yesterday in a dramatic escalation of their rage and frustration....
The calls for Assad’s execution were a stark sign of how much the protest movement has changed since it erupted in March seeking minor reforms but making no calls for regime change....
But with the regime shrugging off even the most blistering condemnation, the uprising has become a test of endurance as both sides draw on a deep well of energy and conviction. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton urged countries yesterday to stop buying Syrian oil and gas or selling the regime weapons, saying those who do so must “get on the right side of history.’’
Oh, the PROPAGANDA and RHETORIC are REALLY ROLLING NOW!
In cities around Syria, protesters chanted, “The people want to execute the president!’’ during the now-familiar cycle of weekly demonstrations followed by a swift crackdown by the military, security forces and pro-government gunmen who operate on the regime’s behalf.
Security forces broke up protests quickly around Damascus, in the central city of Homs, and elsewhere, firing bullets and tear gas. Some areas saw only limited demonstrations because soldiers deployed heavily in restive areas.
In a significant show of defiance, some of the largest protests yesterday were on the outskirts of the central city of Hama and in the eastern city of Deir el-Zour, where government forces seized control in major military offensives during the past week. That protesters still turned out was a signal that Assad’s forces cannot terrify protesters into staying home....
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"Syrian troops run sweeps in 2 towns to find protesters; Rights groups say at least 5 people killed in clashes" August 14, 2011|By Bassem Mroue, Associated Press
BEIRUT - The Associated Press could not verify the activists’ accounts or the contents of videos. Syria has banned most foreign media and restricted local coverage, making it impossible to get independent confirmation of the events on the ground....
And yet the whole first half of the piece is all what they said.
Also yesterday, the United States upped stepped up calls for a global trade embargo on oil and gas from Syria warning even some of America’s closest allies that they must “get on the right side of history’’ and cut links with a government that uses violence to repress protesters.
The double-standard and hypocrisy is sickening.
Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said international opinion was hardening against Assad, noting a “crescendo of condemnation’’ from world powers and Syria’s Arab neighbors....
The Syrian uprising was inspired by the revolts and calls for reform sweeping the Arab world, and activists and rights groups say most of those killed have been unarmed civilians. An aggressive new military offensive that began at the start of August has killed several hundred people in just one week.
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"Obama, foreign leaders urge end to Syrian violence" by Associated Press / August 13, 2011
WASHINGTON—President Barack Obama reached out to the leaders of Britain and Saudi Arabia on Saturday to build consensus for an end to the violent crackdown by Syria's government.
The White House said Obama spoke separately to British Prime Minister David Cameron and Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah, both of whom agreed with Obama that Syrian President Bashar Assad's government must end its attacks on civilians.
While the U.S. has repeatedly condemned the violence in Syria and said Assad has lost legitimacy, the Obama administration has stopped short of explicitly calling for him to leave power. A U.S. official told The Associated Press Friday that the demand for Assad to step down would come "sooner rather than later."
September.
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"Syrian Navy enters fray as port city is attacked again; At least 25 killed as the crackdown grows in intensity" by Anthony Shadid, New York Times / August 15, 2011
BEIRUT - In an intensification of its deadly crackdown on dissenters, the Syrian government unleashed navy ships and ground forces against the city of Latakia, killing at least 25 people, including three children, activists and residents said yesterday.
After seeming to cede momentum to protesters in cities like Hama and Deir al-Zour, where hundreds of thousands gathered last month, the government of President Bashar Assad has pressed a relentless offensive during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which began Aug. 1....
The violence, defying international condemnations, prompted a flurry of contacts in the last week, especially after the Turkish foreign minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, visited Damascus on Tuesday. President Obama spoke in recent days with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey, King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia, and Prime Minister David Cameron of Britain. Each declared the necessity for Syria to stop killing protesters, who so far have remained largely peaceful, but none of the leaders has demanded Assad step down.
Diplomats say Turkish officials, with at least tacit approval from Western allies, envisioned a two-week period in which Assad’s government would begin bringing meaningful change, though the precise nature of it remains unclear.
The military and security forces attacked Latakia in April, but as elsewhere in the country, protests there underlined a persistent phenomenon: As soon as forces withdraw, people return to the streets.
Latakia witnessed some of the bigger protests in the country on Friday, and residents suggested that the defiance prompted the attack on the city’s neighborhoods, populated by Palestinian refugees and Syrian Sunnis.
Since the uprising began, Assad has offered tentative reforms, but the crackdown, one of the bloodiest in the Arab revolts this year, has so far overshadowed them. They have failed to resonate in a street that seems to have grown more determined.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, based in London, said in a statement yesterday that it has documented the identities of 71 Syrians who have died under torture in Syria since the start of the uprising in mid-March. The government has attempted to justify its crackdown by saying it is dealing with terrorists and criminals who are inciting unrest.
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Update:
Antipersonnel Mines Laid Along Syria Border 'for September'
'Israel prepares for clashes with Syria'
Agenda-pushing AmeriKan media sure seems to be pointing that way.
Update:
Turkey tips it off:
"Turkey warns of ‘steps’ if Syria continues crackdown on protests; But Assad’s forces keep up raids in port city Latakia" by Anthony Shadid, New York Times / August 16, 2011
BEIRUT - Turkey’s foreign minister demanded yesterday that the Syrian government end its crackdown on a five-month-old uprising “immediately and unconditionally,’’ warning that unspecified steps would be taken otherwise.
The comments by the minister, Ahmet Davutoglu, who visited the Syrian capital, Damascus, just last week, were the latest addition to a semantic exercise in diplomatic ambiguity....
“This is our final word to the Syrian authorities: Our first expectation is that these operations stop immediately and unconditionally,’’ Davutoglu told a news conference in Ankara, Turkey. “If the operations do not end, there would be nothing more to discuss about steps that would be taken,’’ he said, without saying what that action might include....
I think we all know. Turkey will let arms pass to rebels in Syria that they have already been training.
Some analysts have criticized Davutoglu’s visit to Syria, arguing that it only bolstered the credibility of the Syrian government at the very time the United States, European countries, and others were trying to isolate Assad’s leadership.
Who are "some analysts?" It's the agenda-pushing, war-promoting section, isn't it?
The escalation in violence seems to have embarrassed Turkish officials, who had only last week urged at least a measure of patience....
They on the "right side of history now?"
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