No thread on Syria's chemical/gas attack massacre...
- Thread starter Danie84
- Start date
ADevilYouKhow
Rhyme Reason
you guys are aware the un was refused access to the latest bombing site by the government....
I read that they were allowed to survey the latest (and worst) bombing site but only after being barred for 5 days beforehand. And also the UN decided that the latest chemical weapons attack would be where they focused their investigation and changed their plans from looking at earlier incidents to focus on this major one.
Madvillain
Pro
Russia To Push Syria To Put Chemical Weapons Under International Control
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...-weapons-international-control_n_3893951.html
MOSCOW — In a surprise move, Russia promised Monday to push its ally Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control and then dismantle them quickly to avert U.S. strikes.
The announcement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came a few hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Syrian President Bashar Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding the alleged use of chemical weapons by his forces by surrendering control of "every single bit" of his arsenal to the international community by the end of the week.
Kerry added that he thought Assad "isn't about to do it," but Lavrov, who just wrapped a round of talks in Moscow with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem, said that Moscow would try to convince the Syrians.
"If the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country would allow avoiding strikes, we will immediately start working with Damascus," Lavrov said.
"We are calling on the Syrian leadership to not only agree on placing chemical weapons storage sites under international control, but also on its subsequent destruction and fully joining the treaty on prohibition of chemical weapons," he said.
Lavrov said that he has already handed over the proposal to al-Moallem and expects a "quick, and, hopefully, positive answer."
His statement followed media reports alleging that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who discussed Syria with President Barack Obama during the group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg last week, sought to negotiate a deal that would have Assad hand over control of chemical weapons.
Speaking earlier in the day, Lavrov denied that Russia was trying to sponsor any deal "behind the back of the Syrian people."
The Russian move comes as Obama, who has blamed Assad for killing hundreds of his own people in a chemical attack last month, is pressing for a limited strike against the Syrian government. It has denied launching the attack, insisting along with its ally Russia that the attack was launched by the rebels to drag the U.S. into war.
Lavrov and al-Moallem said after their talks that U.N. chemical weapons experts should complete their probe and present their findings to the U.N. Security Council.
Al-Moallem said his government was ready to host the U.N. team, and insisted that Syria is ready to use all channels to convince the Americans that it wasn't behind the attack.
He added that Syria was ready for "full cooperation with Russia to remove any pretext for aggression."
Neither minister, however, offered any evidence to back their claim of rebel involvement in the chemical attack.
Lavrov said that Russia will continue to promote a peaceful settlement and may try to convene a gathering of all Syrian opposition figures to join in negotiations. He added that a U.S. attack on Syria would deal a fatal blow to peace efforts.
Lavrov wouldn't say how Russia could respond to a possible U.S. attack on Syria, saying that "we wouldn't like to proceed from a negative scenario and would primarily take efforts to prevent a military intervention."
Putin said that Moscow would keep providing assistance to Syria in case of U.S. attack, but he and other Russian officials have made clear that Russia has no intention of engaging in hostilities.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/...-weapons-international-control_n_3893951.html
MOSCOW — In a surprise move, Russia promised Monday to push its ally Syria to place its chemical weapons under international control and then dismantle them quickly to avert U.S. strikes.
The announcement by Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came a few hours after U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said that Syrian President Bashar Assad could resolve the crisis surrounding the alleged use of chemical weapons by his forces by surrendering control of "every single bit" of his arsenal to the international community by the end of the week.
Kerry added that he thought Assad "isn't about to do it," but Lavrov, who just wrapped a round of talks in Moscow with his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Moallem, said that Moscow would try to convince the Syrians.
"If the establishment of international control over chemical weapons in that country would allow avoiding strikes, we will immediately start working with Damascus," Lavrov said.
"We are calling on the Syrian leadership to not only agree on placing chemical weapons storage sites under international control, but also on its subsequent destruction and fully joining the treaty on prohibition of chemical weapons," he said.
Lavrov said that he has already handed over the proposal to al-Moallem and expects a "quick, and, hopefully, positive answer."
His statement followed media reports alleging that Russian President Vladimir Putin, who discussed Syria with President Barack Obama during the group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg last week, sought to negotiate a deal that would have Assad hand over control of chemical weapons.
Speaking earlier in the day, Lavrov denied that Russia was trying to sponsor any deal "behind the back of the Syrian people."
The Russian move comes as Obama, who has blamed Assad for killing hundreds of his own people in a chemical attack last month, is pressing for a limited strike against the Syrian government. It has denied launching the attack, insisting along with its ally Russia that the attack was launched by the rebels to drag the U.S. into war.
Lavrov and al-Moallem said after their talks that U.N. chemical weapons experts should complete their probe and present their findings to the U.N. Security Council.
Al-Moallem said his government was ready to host the U.N. team, and insisted that Syria is ready to use all channels to convince the Americans that it wasn't behind the attack.
He added that Syria was ready for "full cooperation with Russia to remove any pretext for aggression."
Neither minister, however, offered any evidence to back their claim of rebel involvement in the chemical attack.
Lavrov said that Russia will continue to promote a peaceful settlement and may try to convene a gathering of all Syrian opposition figures to join in negotiations. He added that a U.S. attack on Syria would deal a fatal blow to peace efforts.
Lavrov wouldn't say how Russia could respond to a possible U.S. attack on Syria, saying that "we wouldn't like to proceed from a negative scenario and would primarily take efforts to prevent a military intervention."
Putin said that Moscow would keep providing assistance to Syria in case of U.S. attack, but he and other Russian officials have made clear that Russia has no intention of engaging in hostilities.
ADevilYouKhow
Rhyme Reason
God is Great
I agree with what your saying, but I would also add that no strike is possible without "boots on the ground"., I'm sure you're aware that we have special operations troops on the ground. That number would only increase if we officially engage Assad's regime. More importantly though, and more to my point, those Syrians on the receiving end of our strikes are most likely not interested in American political semantics over the nature of the bombs tearing their family and neighborhoods apart.
Putin angling for that "Diplomat of the Year" award...if he pulls this off then he will be crowing about how he was able to devise a peaceful solution to this situation while all Obama and the US could think to do is drop bombs despite the entire world imploring them not to do so.
I'm aware that there are special forces units in the area. Special forces units can be used a number of ways, though. The most notorious use, aside from straight out assassinations though, is in conjunction with the CIA and NSA for destabilization, rescue missions, spying operations, ect. Plus, when it comes to air and naval strikes, they help map out the landscape and provide specified targets. These are usually not counted as "troops" in the traditional sense, and despite any denials from Washington, they have been there well before now. America has these units placed either in or around all potential threats at all times (at least enough to keep information flowing). When I speak of boots on the ground, I'm more or less referring to an actual military campaign or invasion, though (even a relatively small one). These special forces units will have very specific missions that usually won't include open, direct combat, although there are units specifically designed for that. You are right in saying that literally speaking there will be some soldiers in the area, though.
I agree completely with your last assessment. The Syrian people, just like any other nation's public during wartime, will not be interested in hearing the complexities, nuances, politics, and semantics surrounding another country's (the U.S.'s) decision one way or the other. However, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't be interested in those things. Believe it or not, those small details are important to one's calculation and/or perception of this (or any) scenario. The "Logic Games" section of the LSAT gives a good, rough example of situations requiring a specific type of thought process akin to this.
Robert Gibbs is a sack of shyt and he never addressed Jeffrey Sachs' point but instead tried to make the point about something Sachs never said:
All of these former Obama employees running around on every talk show on TV pushing the Admin's message in the most dikkish manner possible is just sickening. You could put clips of them right next to the Bush neo-con clowns from the early 2000s and it would all sound exactly the same.
All of these former Obama employees running around on every talk show on TV pushing the Admin's message in the most dikkish manner possible is just sickening. You could put clips of them right next to the Bush neo-con clowns from the early 2000s and it would all sound exactly the same.
Syrian rebels are planning chemical attack near Israel's borders according to RT 
http://rt.com/news/syria-rebels-chemical-attack-israel-618/
http://rt.com/news/syria-rebels-chemical-attack-israel-618/
