Also related:
"One other major news report that has been suppressed has been the recent reports of the Syrian rebels making deals with the Israelis to hand the Golan Heights over to Israel in exchange for Israeli support in their illegal and criminal war against the good guys, the Syrian government forces. Now with this card being played by the murderous rebel forces, the situation in Syria may be turning against Assad very soon... Already we see how the US Jew puppet regime in Washington has demanded all Syrian diplomats in the US to leave, and we saw just last week where a "bomb" was set off in an Israeli outpost on the Golan Heights that "injured" some Israeli soldiers. How convenient? Now the Israelis have begun to escalate attacks against Syrian Government forces in "retaliation" for this "bomb" attack.... I can guarantee that a new false flag may be coming that will be again blamed on Assad. The result will be the US attacking Syria as commanded by their Jewish masters, and with Syria destroyed, the Golan Heights handed over to the criminal Israelis as dictated by the rebels' agreement. Syria destroyed, and Israel gets what it wants again!
--MORE--"
Maybe not:
"Syrian airstrikes killed at least seven people Friday in a suburb of Damascus, as government troops battled rebels in several districts along the eastern edge of the capital, activists said. Fighters loyal to President Bashar Assad have sought for months to solidify a hold on Damascus by dislodging rebels from the towns and neighborhoods on the city’s fringes. The government has used twin tactics to achieve its aims: blockading rebel areas to pressure them into submission and unleashing artillery and airstrikes on districts that refuse to bend."
Even hit a school and killed children.
Related: Syrian army captures strategic border town
Yabroud was a major smuggling hub for the rebels
"Syrian troops take Crusades-era castle; Historic citadel had been held by rebels since 2012" by Bassem Mroue | Associated Press March 21, 2014
BEIRUT — Syrian troops captured a famed Crusades-era castle near the border with Lebanon on Thursday, running the two-starred government flag high above the stone ramparts of the 12th-century fortress after days of intense clashes with rebel fighters....
Also see: Syrian Post Bordered on Deletion
The loud crackle of celebratory gunfire could be heard as troops explored the sprawling Crac des Chevaliers, the towering hilltop citadel castle, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site.
The military’s push into the Crac des Chevaliers marked the latest in a string of battlefield gains for President Bashar Assad’s forces. Government troops have seized at least four towns and villages near the border with Lebanon in the past two weeks as the army tries to sever opposition supply lines across the rugged, mountainous frontier.
The sharpest blow to the rebels came with the fall of their stronghold of Yabroud near Lebanon’s eastern border on Sunday. But the government capture of the Crac des Chevaliers, which dominates the surrounding valley and terraced hills below, marked another painful setback, for symbolic reasons as much as strategic. Rebels had controlled the castle since 2012....
Government kept piling up "symbolic" victories, so much so that ISIS went to Iraq.
An activist based in the nearby city of Homs said the citadel fell into the hands of government troops earlier Thursday, a day after rebels and the government agreed that opposition fighters be given safe passage to Lebanon.
The activist, who goes by the name of Beibares Tellawi, said troops captured Hosn, the town at the foot of the castle, after an intense bombardment by the Syrian air force.
In a separate development, the joint mission by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons to rid Syria of it chemical weapons said another batch of chemical agents was removed from the country Thursday, raising the total amount taken out of the country to nearly 50 percent....
Related: Keeping Track of Syria's Chemical Weapons
Yeah, thanks.
The dead included the local leader of the Jund al-Sham Islamist group. Lebanese television stations identified the dead commander as Abu Suleiman Dandashi, a Lebanese national....
So many ghosts leading so many groups I can't keep them straight.
The Crac des Chevaliers is considered one of the world’s best-preserved castles from the era of the Crusades. But the current conflict has taken a terrible toll on the citadel. Over the past 18 months, amateur videos posted online have shown shelling and airstrikes hitting the thick stone ramparts.
In the footage broadcast Thursday, the fortress looked fairly intact from the outside.
Still, damage to the Crac des Chevaliers and Syria’s other cultural gems prompted the United Nations last week to warn that ancient Christian and Muslim sites in the country are under attack and to demand an immediate halt to the destruction of the country’s cultural heritage.
That is what Bush did in Iraq by leveling the place!
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, UNESCO Director General Irina Bokova, and the joint UN-Arab League mediator on Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, issued a joint statement citing ‘‘alarming reports’’ that Syrian historical sites are being deliberately targeted for ideological reasons.
Also Thursday, a senior humanitarian official said the first convoy carrying desperately needed aid supplies via Turkey is set to cross the border into Syria.
Related:
Syrian Starvation
Syrian Humanitarian Situation Inhumane
Russia moving grub to Syria to help?
--more--"
"Syria says 93 rebels die fleeing castle" | Associated Press March 22, 2014
HOSN, Syria — The Syrian army ousted rebels from a massive Crusader fortress after several hours of fierce fighting, killing at least 93 of them as they fled to neighboring Lebanon this week, an army commander told reporters Friday.
Reporters were shown signs of a precipitous flight from Crac des Chevaliers by the opposition fighters, including food on a burning makeshift stove left behind untouched, as well as collapsed walls and staircases and other damage from the multiple rounds of fighting in the UNESCO world monument, first seized by rebels in 2012.
The Thursday fall of the imposing hilltop citadel is as much symbolic as strategic. It is the latest in a string of government victories near the frontier with Lebanon, used by rebels as a conduit for recruits and supplies.
I'm tired of the symbolism, imagery, and illusion that is my paper, sorry.
The nearby village of Hosn was devastated in the fighting, with several houses leveled. Reporters moving through the village with the army escort saw several cars burning, with thick, black smoke billowing into the air. Most of the villagers had fled previous fighting, although about 50 people, mostly women and children, were seen leaving the village Friday.
It was not clear if all the damage to the castle and Hosn village was from Thursday’s battle that started at dawn, according to the commander.
He said his troops overran the castle in the early afternoon. He said they refused to grant about 300 rebels safe passage from the fortress and made the final push into it after seeing the rebels fleeing, the commander said.
You see where the inspiration for the title of the post came, yes?
--more--"
Time to vote for king:
"Presidential adviser Bouthaina Shaaban said presidential elections would be held on time according to the constitution, most probably in the spring. Shaaban said Syria would not accept international experts to monitor the vote. ‘‘We are a sovereign country and we have credibility; we don’t need monitors,’’ she told the Lebanon-based Al-Mayadeen station. Shaaban had suggested earlier that the vote might not be held because of the security situation, but on Monday, she said the situation on the ground was ‘‘improving’’ in light of the Syrian army’s successes on the battlefield."
She(?) must mean the desperate effort to regain control of towns and villages.
"Fawaz Gerges, of the Middle East Center at London School of Economics, said, ‘‘This has been a great year for Assad. His army has become an effective killing machine that has made major tactical gains all over Syria, controlling Syria’s cities and border area with Lebanon that is essential to his survival.’’
I'm glad I have Zionist-selected experts to explain these things.
"Syria OK’s contested presidential races" by Albert Aji | Associated Press March 14, 2014
Opening the door — at least in theory —
DAMASCUS — At the United Nations, the UN-Arab League mediator for Syria warned that if the government goes ahead with elections, the opposition will probably refuse to participate in a new round of peace talks.
The Syrian government and the main Western-backed opposition group met twice in Switzerland this year, though the sessions ended without any significant progress.
The UN-Arab League envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, said he asked members for their help in making sure that if there is a third round of talks ‘‘it will be a little bit more productive.” Last month, Brahimi wanted both sides to hold parallel talks on terrorism, which is a major concern for the government, and the establishment of a transitional governing body for Syria.
The opposition agreed, but according to two diplomats who listened to the closed briefing, Brahimi said the Syrian government used ‘‘delaying tactics’’ and insisted the terrorism discussion be concluded before talks on a transitional government started. One diplomat quoted Brahimi as saying the government created the impression it was not ready to discuss a transitional government.
--more--"
At this point I'm just tired of the deception, folks. The Al-CIA-Duhs are fighting amongst themselves, or so I am told, in fierce battles, and Syria even helped the U.S. out -- twice, although the presence of Russians and Iranians raises questions at Homs.
At this point I'm just tired of the deception, folks. The Al-CIA-Duhs are fighting amongst themselves, or so I am told, in fierce battles, and Syria even helped the U.S. out -- twice, although the presence of Russians and Iranians raises questions at Homs.
Related: Assad makes rare public appearance
They are calling it a propaganda victory, and that's when the car bombs started going off.
"Syria sets June 3 as presidential election date" by Ben Hubbard | New York Times April 22, 2014
BEIRUT — Syria will hold a presidential election June 3, the government said Monday in an announcement criticized by both the opposition and the United Nations as a new threat to prospects of reviving peace talks in the country’s civil war.
The election will almost certainly award President Bashar Assad a new term but will probably not change the course of the conflict, most observers believe.
The speaker of the country’s Parliament, Mohammad al-Laham, revealed the date in a televised speech, calling the elections a constitutional requirement and saying Syrians would choose their leader despite efforts by unnamed foreign actors to “distort and disrupt our path and our political and democratic choice.”
Assad has yet to formally announce his candidacy, although he is expected to run and he has hinted in public remarks that he would seek another term. Election-style posters bearing his face have recently been placed in some government-controlled areas.
State media published images Sunday of Assad visiting the ancient Christian town of Maaloula, which his forces recently seized from insurgents.
Related: Many of Syria’s patchwork of minority Christian and Muslim faiths support Assad
*******************
Laham made no mention of the 2.7 million registered Syrian refugees, he said Syrians who were outside the country could vote at Syrian embassies May 28.
Already gave at the border.
The election announcement drew a UN rebuke. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said Ban and the special Syria envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, who has been seeking ways to revive peace talks between the government and the opposition, had repeatedly warned against such a step.
Dujarric said an election would “damage the political process and hamper prospects for a political solution that the country so urgently needs.”
How does an Assad win do that?
Although Assad’s forces, working with fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other Shi’ite militias, have solidified control over the capital and much of the country’s center, they have been unable to dislodge rebels from many areas.
Oh, an outright lie after all I have been reading for months and months!
Three mortar rounds struck near the Parliament building in Damascus on Monday, killing two people and wounding dozens more, according to the Syrian state news agency, SANA.
Videos posted online recently also suggest that some rebels may be receiving small numbers of powerful new weapons.
Yeah, they came from AmeriKa and are being toted into Iraq now.
The rebels say they need antiaircraft arms to defend against Assad’s jets, but the United States fears extremists could use them to down civilian airlines.
Setting the stage for a future terror event and the patsies that will take blame?
--more--"
His royal court!
"Assad appears emboldened by a series of military victories in recent months that have strengthened his once tenuous grip on power, and it remains unclear how the government intends to hold any kind of credible vote. Vast areas of the country, including most of northern Syria, lie outside government control, [and] the government has presented the ballot box as the solution to the conflict."
Sounds like AmeriKa's foreign policy!
Gifts from the courtiers:
Syria strikes rebel-held town, killing 30
Barrel bomb kills 6 in rebel-held area
Rocket attack kills 13 in Syrian city
Head of Syrian air defenses killed
Already been replaced.
Attacks in 2 Syrian cities kill at least 54
The Power that be says vote not credible. Activists say death toll in Syrian war tops 150,000, make it 160,000, but like the U.S. "the Syrian government does not publicize the number of casualties."
They do publicize these:
Syrian president to face 2 rivals in election
Told it was a sham elections, so....
"In a separate development, the Obama administration gave approval for the Syrian opposition to open a formal diplomatic mission in Washington and said it would increase nonlethal assistance to the opposition by $27 million."
This while the citizenry of AmeriKa is under the lash of austerity at home.
Syrian presidential campaign begins
At least 21 dead in Syria mortar attack
The rebels bombed an Assad campaign event.
39 people die in first attack to target a Syrian campaign event
Many gatherings have been held in so-called ‘‘election tents’’ where nationalistic songs are played and supporters mingle.
The U.S.-supported terrorists bombed a campaign rally?!
Syria adds security for presidential vote
A vote that President Bashar Assad is expected to win easily and that critics have denounced as a sham.
Yeah, message received.
That means it's one of the few legitimate results you will see considering who is hurling the charge.
As civil war rages, Syrians vote for president
Kerry called it meaningless, and he should know; it's in everything he does.
Syria’s Assad wins presidential vote in landslide
Now he has a swagger to him, as the Boston Globe editorial board adopts the war as its own as it advocates for increased intervention.
As for worrying about the returning radicals, well, the NSA surveillance system should have no problem, nor should the FBI. Right?
There is no amnesty here for war propaganda, sorry.
Air raids kill 27 in Syrian city of Aleppo
Looks like sore losers to me.
They are calling it a propaganda victory, and that's when the car bombs started going off.
"Syria sets June 3 as presidential election date" by Ben Hubbard | New York Times April 22, 2014
BEIRUT — Syria will hold a presidential election June 3, the government said Monday in an announcement criticized by both the opposition and the United Nations as a new threat to prospects of reviving peace talks in the country’s civil war.
The election will almost certainly award President Bashar Assad a new term but will probably not change the course of the conflict, most observers believe.
The speaker of the country’s Parliament, Mohammad al-Laham, revealed the date in a televised speech, calling the elections a constitutional requirement and saying Syrians would choose their leader despite efforts by unnamed foreign actors to “distort and disrupt our path and our political and democratic choice.”
Assad has yet to formally announce his candidacy, although he is expected to run and he has hinted in public remarks that he would seek another term. Election-style posters bearing his face have recently been placed in some government-controlled areas.
State media published images Sunday of Assad visiting the ancient Christian town of Maaloula, which his forces recently seized from insurgents.
Related: Many of Syria’s patchwork of minority Christian and Muslim faiths support Assad
*******************
Laham made no mention of the 2.7 million registered Syrian refugees, he said Syrians who were outside the country could vote at Syrian embassies May 28.
Already gave at the border.
The election announcement drew a UN rebuke. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon’s spokesman, Stéphane Dujarric, said Ban and the special Syria envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi, who has been seeking ways to revive peace talks between the government and the opposition, had repeatedly warned against such a step.
Dujarric said an election would “damage the political process and hamper prospects for a political solution that the country so urgently needs.”
How does an Assad win do that?
Although Assad’s forces, working with fighters from Lebanon’s Hezbollah and other Shi’ite militias, have solidified control over the capital and much of the country’s center, they have been unable to dislodge rebels from many areas.
Oh, an outright lie after all I have been reading for months and months!
Three mortar rounds struck near the Parliament building in Damascus on Monday, killing two people and wounding dozens more, according to the Syrian state news agency, SANA.
Videos posted online recently also suggest that some rebels may be receiving small numbers of powerful new weapons.
Yeah, they came from AmeriKa and are being toted into Iraq now.
The rebels say they need antiaircraft arms to defend against Assad’s jets, but the United States fears extremists could use them to down civilian airlines.
Setting the stage for a future terror event and the patsies that will take blame?
--more--"
His royal court!
"Assad appears emboldened by a series of military victories in recent months that have strengthened his once tenuous grip on power, and it remains unclear how the government intends to hold any kind of credible vote. Vast areas of the country, including most of northern Syria, lie outside government control, [and] the government has presented the ballot box as the solution to the conflict."
Sounds like AmeriKa's foreign policy!
Gifts from the courtiers:
Syria strikes rebel-held town, killing 30
Barrel bomb kills 6 in rebel-held area
Rocket attack kills 13 in Syrian city
Head of Syrian air defenses killed
Already been replaced.
Attacks in 2 Syrian cities kill at least 54
The Power that be says vote not credible. Activists say death toll in Syrian war tops 150,000, make it 160,000, but like the U.S. "the Syrian government does not publicize the number of casualties."
They do publicize these:
Syrian president to face 2 rivals in election
Told it was a sham elections, so....
"In a separate development, the Obama administration gave approval for the Syrian opposition to open a formal diplomatic mission in Washington and said it would increase nonlethal assistance to the opposition by $27 million."
This while the citizenry of AmeriKa is under the lash of austerity at home.
Syrian presidential campaign begins
At least 21 dead in Syria mortar attack
The rebels bombed an Assad campaign event.
39 people die in first attack to target a Syrian campaign event
Many gatherings have been held in so-called ‘‘election tents’’ where nationalistic songs are played and supporters mingle.
The U.S.-supported terrorists bombed a campaign rally?!
Syria adds security for presidential vote
A vote that President Bashar Assad is expected to win easily and that critics have denounced as a sham.
Yeah, message received.
That means it's one of the few legitimate results you will see considering who is hurling the charge.
As civil war rages, Syrians vote for president
Kerry called it meaningless, and he should know; it's in everything he does.
Syria’s Assad wins presidential vote in landslide
Now he has a swagger to him, as the Boston Globe editorial board adopts the war as its own as it advocates for increased intervention.
As for worrying about the returning radicals, well, the NSA surveillance system should have no problem, nor should the FBI. Right?
There is no amnesty here for war propaganda, sorry.
Air raids kill 27 in Syrian city of Aleppo
Looks like sore losers to me.
