"US wants to boost support for Syrian rebels, Kerry says; Goal is to offset funding from extremist groups" by Anne Gearan | Washington Post, February 28, 2013
PARIS — The United States and several other nations want to increase support for Syrian rebels, partly to help political moderates counter the increasingly well-organized network of humanitarian and political services being offered by extremists, Secretary of State John F. Kerry said Wednesday.
The United States is one of about a dozen nations preparing a package of broader financial and practical support for the rebels fighting to oust Syria’s president, Bashar Assad. Kerry and other diplomats will frame the new help during meetings with Syrian political opposition leaders Thursday in Rome. The additional aid is expected to stop short of the weapons the rebels have long sought from Western backers.
‘‘We all agree that the time has passed for President Assad to heed the voice of his people and the voice of the people in the world who want a peaceful transition and a new opportunity for Syria,’’ Kerry said after meetings with Laurent Fabius, France’s foreign minister.
‘‘That’s why we are examining and developing ways to accelerate the political transition that the Syrian people seek and deserve.’’
The Washington Post reported Wednesday that the new aid could include equipment such as body armor and armored vehicles, and possibly military training, as well as humanitarian assistance sent to Syria’s opposition political coalition.
But we aren't arming them, sigh. Smells like Vietnam to me.
But we aren't arming them, sigh. Smells like Vietnam to me.
Kerry did not give details of the offers but said the goal for international opponents of Assad is twofold. Syria’s opposition leaders will provide advice on how to speed an end to the fighting and a move toward a political settlement, Kerry said.
Secondly, the United States and others want to help the Syrian Opposition Coalition better meet the needs of civilians, he said, a reference to the absence of basic government and humanitarian services in many rebel-held areas of the country. The void has been filled in some places by the al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group the US calls a terrorist organization.
‘‘They’ve had difficulty doing that now. And some folks on the ground that we don’t support and whose interests do not align with ours are delivering some of that help,’’ Kerry said.
‘‘We need to help them to be able to deliver basic services and to protect the legitimate institutions of the state,’’ he added. ‘‘You have a vulnerable population today that needs to be able to resist the pleas to engage in extremism.’’
Assad, who retains the loyalty of a segment of the military, has shown little sign he is ready to bargain with the rebels. Despite the rebel capture of significant territory and large caches of military weapons, the war is largely stalemated.
The United States has refused to provide weapons, arguing they could too easily fall into extremist hands. The European Union also forbids the provision of weapons, but Britain and other nations are considering offerings that border on armament.
Related:
"US intelligence agents have helped funnel arms to rebel groups."
Any wonder I no longer want to respond to endless lying? That was SEVEN MONTHS AGO, folks! I guess we all forgot, huh?
Related:
"US intelligence agents have helped funnel arms to rebel groups."
Any wonder I no longer want to respond to endless lying? That was SEVEN MONTHS AGO, folks! I guess we all forgot, huh?
The larger goal of outside help to the rebels requires convincing Assad that a rebel victory is inevitable and that he should cut a deal to save himself.
‘‘He needs to know that he can’t shoot his way out of this,’’ Kerry said. ‘‘We need to convince him of that, and I think the opposition needs more help in order to be able to do that.’’
Shut up, senator, I mean, Mr. Secretary.
Shut up, senator, I mean, Mr. Secretary.
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"Syria, Iran say Assad won’t step down before election" by Albert Aji | Associated Press, March 03, 2013
DAMASCUS — Iran and Syria condemned a US plan to assist rebels fighting to topple President Bashar Assad on Saturday and signaled the Syrian leader intends to stay in power at least until 2014 presidential elections.
The remarks came against the backdrop of a strategic victory for the regime as the military regained control over a string of villages along a key highway to open a potential supply route in Syria’s heavily contested north.
Say what?
The army command boasted of the achievement in a statement, saying it had eradicated the remnants of ‘‘terrorist agents and mercenaries’’ in the area that links the government-controlled central city of Hama with Aleppo’s international airport.
The reversal of gains, confirmed by Syrian activists, has the potential to change the outcome of the battle in Aleppo, Syria’s largest city where government troops and rebels have been locked in a stalemate for months....
Yes, I read somewhere that Syria had reached a TIPPING POINT -- and not the one the EUSReali empire wanted!
Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem of Syria said it was inconceivable that Washington would allocate $60 million in assistance to Syrian opposition groups while it continues to ‘‘kill the Syrian people’’ through economic sanctions imposed against the country.
‘‘If they truly wanted a political settlement, they wouldn’t punish the Syrian people and finance opposition groups with so-called nonlethal aid,’’ he said. ‘‘Who are they kidding?’’
No one, and wait until you see where that aid is going, Americans.
The Damascus official called Syria’s sovereignty a ‘‘red line.’’
He directly accused Turkey and Qatar and other countries he did not name of supporting and funding ‘‘armed terrorist groups’’ operating in Syria, using the regime’s terminology for the rebels.
Both countries are strong backers of the rebels and have offered logistical and other assistance to Syrian opposition groups.
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Back to the same old bulls***:
"Syrian opposition chief visits rebel areas in north" by Barbara Surk | Associated Press, March 04, 2013
BEIRUT — Rebel gains near the embattled northern city of Aleppo....
WTF? A day earlier I was told they were pushed back.
Mouaz al-Khatib's met Sunday with Syrians in the two rebel-held Aleppo suburbs of Manbah and Jarablus, a statement said. The stated goal of his trip — his first since being named the leader of the Syrian National Coalition late last year — was to inspect living conditions.
Ah, Khatib the kook.
But his foray to the edge of Aleppo also could be an attempt to boost his group’s standing among civilians and fighters on the ground, many of whom see the Western-backed political leadership in exile as irrelevant and out of touch.
The areas along Syria’s northern border with Turkey are largely ruled by rival brigades and fighter units that operate autonomously and have no links to the political opposition.
Khatib’s visit came as rebels captured a police academy west of Aleppo after an eight-day battle that killed more than 200 Syrian soldiers and rebels, activists said.
Anti-Assad fighters also stormed a central prison in the northern city of Raqqa and captured the Rabiya border crossing in the east along the border with Iraq, activists said. Iraqi officials said the crossing in northern Ninevah Province has been closed.
The territorial gains are a significant blow to Assad, although his forces have regained control of several villages and towns along a key highway near Aleppo International Airport — an achievement that could signal the start of a decisive battle for Syria’s commercial capital.
(Blog editor simply has nothing left to say in the face of such rank propaganda. Rebel victories -- if there even are any -- are significant and strategic. Syria's not so much)
Also Sunday, the government troops launched an offensive in central Syria, sweeping through Latakia and Hama provinces, trying to dislodge rebels from towns and villages. The army also shelled opposition strongholds around Damascus, pounding areas such as Harasta, Daraya, Douma, and Zbadani with artillery and airstrikes in what opposition groups said were the regime’s ‘‘desperate attempts’’ to reverse the rebel advances.
The rebels have trying to storm the capital for weeks, pushing ever closer to Assad’s seat of power....
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More:
How the f*** would I know? I read the Boston Globe.
This is sad for all citizens of the world:
"Fierce clashes threaten Syrian landmarks; Ancient mosque among the sites racked by violence" by Ben Hubbard | Associated Press, February 27, 2013
BEIRUT — Syrian rebels battled government troops near a landmark 12th-century mosque in the northern city of Aleppo on Tuesday, while fierce clashes raged around a police academy west of the city, activists said.
The fighting near the Umayyad Mosque in the walled Old City threatened to further damage the historic structure, part of which was burned during clashes last year.
Burned by the insurgents being supported by the West, folks.
Since July, government forces and rebels seeking to topple President Bashar Assad have been battling over Aleppo, the country’s largest city and a major prize in the civil war.
While rebels have gradually expanded the amount of turf under their control, seven months of street fighting, airstrikes, and shelling have left much of the city, considered one of Syria’s most beautiful, in ruins....
Assad’s regime refers to the opposition as ‘‘terrorists,’’ and Syria’s state news agency said ‘‘terrorists.’’
How many times have I typed how tired I am of pot-hollering kettle media?
********************************
The mosque, also known as the Great Mosque of Aleppo, sits near a medieval covered market in the Old City, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site. The mosque was heavily damaged in October, just weeks after a fire gutted the market.
Syria’s nearly two-year-old civil war has left its mark on other gems of the country’s rich archeological and cultural heritage.
At least five of Syria’s six World Heritage sites have been damaged in the fighting, according to UNESCO, the UN’s cultural agency.
Looters have broken into one of the world’s best-preserved Crusader castles, Crac des Chevaliers, and ruins in the ancient city of Palmyra have been damaged.
Rebel and regime forces have turned some of Syria’s significant historic sites into bases, including citadels and Turkish bath houses, while thieves have stolen artifacts from archeological excavations and, to a lesser extent, museums.
To the west of Aleppo, activists reported fresh fighting Tuesday near the police academy that has become a key government military installation....
The police academy, which activists say the government has turned into a military base, has recently emerged as a new front in the battle for Aleppo....
The fighting has largely destroyed Aleppo and caused humanitarian conditions for the city’s remaining civilians to plummet.
On Tuesday, Human Rights Watch said more than 141 people, including 71 children, had been killed in at least four missile strikes by the Syrian government in and near Aleppo last week.
How do they know it was the government when the rebels have captured missiles?
The New York-based group said the strikes hit residential areas and called them an ‘‘escalation of unlawful attacks against Syria’s civilian population.’’
A Human Rights Watch researcher who visited the sites said up to 20 buildings were destroyed in each area hit by a missile. There were no signs of any military targets in the residential districts, located in rebel-held parts of Aleppo and its northern countryside, said Ole Solvang, the researcher.
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