Monday, September 09, 2013
Syria Welcomes Proposal on Chemical Weapons
Russia Calls on Syria to Hand Over Chemical Weapons
Russia opened up a possible diplomatic solution to the Syrian chemical weapons crisis on Monday with a pledge to persuade the Assad regime to hand over its chemical arsenal to international supervision to be destroyed.
Russia's new initiative was announced by its foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, hours after the US secretary of state, John Kerry, suggested that the Syrian government could avert punitive US air strikes in retaliation for an alleged chemical attack on 21 August, if it surrendered "every single bit" of its arsenal by the end of the week.
However, Kerry added that Assad "isn't about to do it", and the state department hastily issued a clarification saying that apparent ultimatum was "rhetorical" rather than a concrete bargaining position.
But Lavrov appeared to seize on the idea as a means of averting US military intervention. » | Julian Borger and Patrick Wintour | Monday, September 09. 2013
'Assad Unpleasant, But Rational, Chemical Attack Seems Illogical' - Ex-UK Foreign Secretary
The Story of the Jews
Lawmakers, Leading Policy Experts Tell Newsmax: Obama's Miscues Have Damaged Presidency
Some observers are beginning to suggest the administration’s mishandling of Syria has been so severe, it may affect not only Obama’s presidency, but future presidents’ terms as well.
“I was stunned,” former U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton tells Newsmax. “What the president did was a display of weakness of the kind we haven’t seen in an American leader in decades, if not since the 19th century.” » | David A. Patten | Sunday, September 08, 2013
Bashar al-Assad: US Will Pay Price for Syria Strike
He told US broadcaster PBS that strikes would increase instability and lead to the spread of terrorism in the region.
He said there was "no evidence" that government forces had used chemical weapons against their own people.
Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry has once again warned that taking no action against Mr Assad's regime is riskier than launching strikes.
When asked at a news conference whether there was anything Mr Assad could do to avoid military action, Mr Kerry replied that he could hand over his entire stockpile of chemical weapons within the next week.
However, US officials later clarified that Mr Kerry was making a "rhetorical argument" rather than a serious offer.
Mr Kerry has been lobbying hard for military action against Syria during talks with EU and Arab foreign ministers in Europe.
The US Congress is due to debate whether to authorise intervention in Syria. Watch BBC video » | Monday, September 09, 2013
American Threats Widen Fault Lines Among Syria's Rebels
When Barack Obama vowed to attack Bashar al-Assad, several thousand jihadists on the plains of northern Syria knew exactly what to do. Ever since, they have been hiding their big guns, evacuating bases, parking cars in cow sheds and spreading themselves thin among farms, factories and the communities that reluctantly host them.
"We have learned the lessons from Iraq," said Abu Ismail, a leader of the main jihadist group in the north-east of the country, known to some now as the Islamic state of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). "Iraq has made us better fighters."
While Syria's mainstream rebels are enthusiastically welcoming talk of an American attack as a chance to break the stalemate, the jihadist groups among them see things through a very different prism, in which my enemy's enemy is not necessarily my friend.
All across the north, al-Qaida and its affiliates are on a war footing; a rank and file convinced that an old foe is coming their way and that if and when the US air force does attack, they will have little trouble staying out of its way.
"There are many among us [who] fought in Iraq and Afghanistan," said a second jihadist, a 26-year-old softly spoken Saudi, who called himself Abu Abid. "Our emir knows how to deal with them. And all know that while the Americans say they want to attack the regime, we are their real enemy." » | Martin Chulov | The Guardian | Sunday, September 08, 2013
Syrien-Konflikt: TV-Schlacht zwischen Obama und Assad in den USA
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| Baschar al-Assad in Damaskus (Archivbild) |
Washington - Die Debatte über eine mögliche Intervention in Syrien wird auch von einem Kampf um die Deutungshoheit begleitet. Während US-Präsident Barack Obama versucht, seine Landsleute von der Notwendigkeit eines Militärschlags gegen das Assad-Regime zu überzeugen, hat nun ausgerechnet der syrische Machthaber dem US-Sender CBS ein Interview gegeben.
"Es gibt keine Beweise, dass ich Chemiewaffen gegen mein eigenes Volk eingesetzt habe", sagte Baschar al-Assad nach Angaben des US-Fernsehsenders. Es gebe keine gesicherten Hinweise, dass überhaupt ein derartiger Angriff stattgefunden habe. » | hut/AFP/dpa/Reuters | Sonntag, 08. September 2013
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Syria Chemical Weapons Attack Not Ordered By Assad, Says German Press
President Bashar al-Assad did not personally order last month's chemical weapons attack near Damascus that has triggered calls for US military intervention, and blocked numerous requests from his military commanders to use chemical weapons against regime opponents in recent months, a German newspaper has reported , citing unidentified, high-level national security sources.
The intelligence findings were based on phone calls intercepted by a German surveillance ship operated by the BND, the German intelligence service, and deployed off the Syrian coast, Bild am Sonntag said. The intercepted communications suggested Assad, who is accused of war crimes by the west, including foreign secretary William Hague, was not himself involved in last month's attack or in other instances when government forces have allegedly used chemical weapons.
Assad sought to exonerate himself from the August attack in which hundreds died. "There has been no evidence that I used chemical weapons against my own people," he said in an interview with CBS. » | Simon Tisdall and Josie Le Blond in Berlin | Sunday, September 08, 2013
Sunday, September 08, 2013
Charlie Rose Interviews Syrian President Assad
Syria: Is It Worth Risking Human Lives for the Sake of Human Rights?
What’s Really Going On at the Top Concerning Syria?
The fact is that Bashar Al-Assad is an Alawite, which is a branch of Shia Islam. In other words, in the eyes of the Sunni Muslim King of Saudi Arabia, he is a heretic.
Added to this, he is an ally of Iran – another of Saudi's arch-enemies. The Shia population of the Middle East is growing in strength, which only adds to the reason why Bashar Al-Assad is the bête noire of the Saudi régime.
Factor in the fact that Saudi Arabia is a Sunni dynasty which has colossal oil wealth. Unfortunately for the Saudis, most of that oil wealth comes from the Eastern Province, which is predominantly Shi'ite. Being Shi'ite, it comes under the burgeoning power and influence of that population in that part of the world. In addition, we have a restive Shi'ite population in Bahrain, a small but influential island off the east coast of Saudi Arabia, next to the Eastern Province. Hence the Saudi's paranoia about Syria and Bashar Al-Assad.
The Saudi king therefore wants Bashar Al-Assad toppled. He wants to turn Syria into a country which comes under the influence of the Sunnis. So Bashar's real crime is that he is not a Sunni. We have no hard proof yet that it was he who used those chemical weapons on his people. But our leaders do not want to let a few minor details come in their way of rushing to judgment. After all, they are hell-bent on doing the Saudis' bidding.
Saudi Arabia possesses a huge amount of armaments and war-planes; but Saudis want those for reasons of prestige. Saudis don't like the dirty business of fighting their own battles and wars; so they employ the West, especially the US (and the UK), to fight their dirty wars for them. In other words, this war, if it takes place, will be a proxy war. The US will do the fighting; the Saudis will supply oil to the West at relatively reasonable prices and throw military contracts aplenty the West's way. So, boiled down, this means that the US military are nothing but mercenaries. So how much honour is there in that?
One cannot help but remember that hideous bow which Obama made when visiting the King of Saudi Arabia early on in his first term of office. That bow showed up Obama for what he truly is: The Servant of the King of Saudi Arabia. To put it into Arabic, one could call him Abd ul-Malik. This is one of the true reasons why Obama is keen to get the US into this war. And make no mistake: a war it will be. The notion that it will be limited to a few days of hard-hitting strikes is the stuff of fantasy. This will turn out into a long, drawn-out, protracted war, and one with unpredictable consequences. Our only hope now is that Congress will have the good sense to turn down in no uncertain terms Obama's call for support. Better Obama be crushed than the West be drawn into yet another worthless military campaign; and worthless it will be, for it will achieve nothing.
© Mark Alexander
All rights reserved
'There's a Place for Gays in Islam'
In an edition of the Venice Film Festival notable for the prevalence of works grappling with global and societal woes (unemployment, terrorism, pollution, war) perhaps no film has blended the personal and the political as strikingly as Abdellah Taia’s L’Armée du salut (Salvation Army).
A promising directorial debut presented in the independent “Critics’ Week” category on Wednesday, the movie is adapted from Taia’s autobiographical novel about growing up gay in Morocco.
Today, the 40-year-old Taia is the only openly homosexual Moroccan writer-filmmaker. He is based in Paris, where he moved in 2000 to pursue a graduate degree in 18th century French literature.
Salvation Army observes the adolescent protagonist’s sexual awakening, as he meets with men in shadowy alleys and empty lots, careful not to be discovered in a country where homosexuality is a crime punishable by prison time.
The film’s final section finds Abdellah living in Switzerland 10 years later, free from the severe restrictions of Moroccan society, but nostalgic for his native land.
I sat down with Taia for an interview about his film, his life, and his views on homosexuality, Islam, Morocco and France. Here are some highlights. » | Jon Frosch | Friday, September 06, 2013
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Saturday, September 07, 2013
Syrie: les Européens pour «une réponse forte» aux attaques chimiques
Au lendemain d'un G20 où il n'avait pas réussi à obtenir un large soutien international, le président américain Barack Obama a lancé un appel aux membres du Congrès américain pour qu'ils approuvent le principe d'une opération armée. «Nous sommes les États-Unis. On ne peut pas rester aveugle devant les images de Syrie que nous avons vues», a-t-il déclaré dans son allocution hebdomadaire à la radio.
Les États-Unis ont eu la satisfaction de voir l'Allemagne se joindre à l'appel lancé la veille par onze pays présents au G20 pour une «réponse internationale forte», de nature non spécifiée, aux attaques chimiques du 21 août dans la banlieue de Damas.
Sans reprendre exactement les termes de cet appel, les ministres des Affaires étrangères de l'UE, réunis à Vilnius, sont tombés d'accord sur la nécessité d'une «réponse claire et forte». » | Agence France-Presse | Vilnius | samedi 07 septembre 2013
Tory MP Urges US to Pull Back from Attack on Syria
Tony Blair Attacks Islam as “Fundamentally Extremist” Religion
In an interview with the BBC, Tony Blair lashed out at opposition Labour Party chief Ed Miliband for opposing the coalition government’s push for launching an invasion against Syria, moaning that the country “could become a potent source of extremists”.
The former head of the Labour party, who engineered the March 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq together with former U.S. president George W. Bush on the pretext of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMDs), acknowledged that the true reason western warmongers are spearheading wars in the Middle East region was fighting Islam.
There is a “fundamental battle about religion and politics within Islam, which has vast consequences for our future security”, Tony Blair claimed.
“The truth is, the reason why Iraq makes us hesitant is because Iraq showed that when you intervene in the circumstances, where you have this radical Islamist issue, both on the Shia side and the Sunni side, you are going to face a very difficult, tough conflict”, the warmonger former premier added. » | MOL/HE | Friday, September 06, 2013
Arrests as EDL March in East London
About 3,000 officers maintained a visible presence as the group walked from Queen Elizabeth Street, over Tower Bridge, going up to Aldgate.
On Friday the group lost a court battle after police cut short its plans to march through the Tower Hamlets area.
Hundreds others gathered at a park in Aldgate to protest against the march.
Of the 10 held, eight are from the EDL while two others are from a counter demonstration, police said. » | Saturday, September 07, 2013
Failure On All Fronts: No Progress from G-20 Leaders
In the end, even a meeting between Barack Obama and Vladimir Putin failed to deliver results. Participants at the G-20 summit in St. Petersburg couldn't manage to find a common position on Syria. The American president demanded that punitive action be taken against Syria, but his Russian counterpart stood between Obama and his allies. Now any decision on a possible military strike against Damascus will be up to the US Congress.
Washington has left no doubt that, from this point on, it will prepare an intervention without a United Nations mandate. Samantha Power, the US ambassador to the UN, said negotiations in the Security Council had failed because of opposition from Moscow. And it is also unclear whether Washington will still wait for a report on the use of poison gas in Syria before taking action. It could still take a few more weeks before that report is delivered. » | Carsten Volkery | Friday, September 06, 2013
Turks Rally Against Syria Intervention
'Attack on Syria to Change Balance in Region, Not Just One Régime'
RT Documentary: My Son Is Ex-Terrorist
'G20 Marks End of Washington's Era of Dominance'
Werben für Militärschlag: Obamas letzter Trumpf
Barack Obama redet sich gerne aus der Affäre. Finanzkrise, Rassismus, Terrorismus: Es gibt kein Reizthema, das der US-Präsident nicht mit geschliffener Rhetorik entschärft hätte. Schon sein Aufstieg begann ja mit einer Rede, beim Wahlparteitag der Demokraten im Juli 2004.
Auch jetzt knüpft Obama sein Schicksal wieder ans gesprochene Wort. Auf dem Höhepunkt seiner schwersten Krise wird er am Dienstag mit einer Rede an die Nation um Zuspruch für einen Militärschlag gegen Syriens Regime werben: Er wolle seine Argumente "so gut wie möglich" ausbreiten, "vor dem amerikanischen Volk wie der internationalen Gemeinschaft".
Das Dumme: Seit einer Woche argumentiert er ja schon - daheim, weltweit und bisher meist vergeblich. Seine Hoffnung, beim G-20-Gipfel neue Syrien-Alliierte einzufangen, zerplatzte spektakulär: Russlands Präsident Wladimir Putin, der engste Verbündete des syrischen Machthabers Baschar al-Assad, ließ ihn ebenso eiskalt abblitzen wie die Bundeskanzlerin.
Also setzt Barack Obama jetzt alles auf die Rede - am Vorabend des 9/11-Jahrestags, ausgerechnet. Sie ist sein letzter Trumpf, die "wichtigste Ansprache seiner Präsidentschaft" überhaupt, wie sie hier bereits prophezeien. In der Tat: Für Obama geht es nicht mehr nur um Syrien, sondern um sein gesamtes politisches Erbe. Wie Vorgänger George W. Bush, der auf ewig vom Irak-Krieg definiert ist, steckt nun auch Obama in der Zwangsjacke der Geschichte. » | Von Marc Pitzke, New York | Samstag, 07. September 2013
Drohender Militärschlag gegen Syrien: Irans Mullahs rüsten rhetorisch ab
"Iran wird Syrien verteidigen, weil das Land Teil der Achse des Widerstands gegen das zionistische Regime ist", tönte Ajatollah Ali Chamenei, Irans religiöser Führer, im März 2012. Syrien genieße "Irans volle Unterstützung, damit es Verschwörungen der Hegemonialmächte Widerstand leisten kann", versprach Said Dschalili, Sekretär des iranischen Sicherheitsrats im Februar bei einem Besuch in Damaskus. Und im März ließ Generalstabschef Hassan Firusabadi verlauten, dass die Islamische Republik ihren Partner Syrien "mit aller Kraft" beschützen werde.
Das ist Vergangenheit.
Nach dem mutmaßlichen Einsatz von Chemiewaffen durch das Assad-Regime rüsten sich die USA zu einem Militärschlag gegen Syrien - und plötzlich ändert sich der Ton in Teheran. Die iranischen Machthaber scheinen ihren langjährigen Verbündeten nun im Falle eines Angriffs nicht mehr massiv unterstützen zu wollen. » | Von Mohammad Reza Kazemi | Samstag, 08. September 2013
Catherine Ashton Calls for a Strong Response on Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria
Hitlers Hofstaat: Der letzte Zeuge aus dem Führerbunker ist tot
Er sprach immer nur vom "Chef". Auch mehr als 60 Jahre nach dem Selbstmord von Adolf Hitler. Der "Chef": So nannten die Mitglieder des engsten Personals den "Führer und Reichskanzler", wenn sie unter sich waren.
Rochus Misch hielt daran bis ans Ende seines Lebens fest. Die rund fünf Jahre im "Führerbegleitkommando" waren für ihn die schönste Zeit, die er jemals erlebt hat, und sie wurden im Rückblick mit jedem Erzählen schöner. Jetzt ist Misch im Alter von 96 Jahren in Berlin gestorben. Er war der letzte Zeuge aus dem Führerbunker.
Der gebürtige Oberschlesier, groß, körperlich imposant und als junger Mann geradezu germanisch anzusehen, hatte sich mit 19 Jahren freiwillig zum Vorläufer der Waffen-SS gemeldet, der SS-Verfügungstruppe. Im Dritten Reich galt die Mitgliedschaft in dieser Eliteeinheit als Auszeichnung. Nach Volksschule und Gesellenprüfung als Maler kam Misch hier in eine völlig neue Welt. Kritisch hinterfragt hat er den Preis nie, den er dafür zahlte.
Als SS-Soldat war Rochus Misch eingesetzt bei der Besetzung Österreichs 1938 und des Sudetenlandes 1939. Im Polenfeldzug kämpfte er und wurde wenige Tage vor dem Sieg der Wehrmacht schwer verwundet. Nach seiner Genesung forderte Hitlers oberster Adjutant ihn für die Begleitmannschaft des Diktators an. » | Von Sven Felix Kellerhoff | Freitag, 06. September 2013
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Rochus Misch
Ultimately Misch was in charge of the switchboard in the Berlin “Führerbunker”, where Hitler and members of his inner circle met their grisly ends as the Red Army closed in, in 1945. The bodyguard was the last person to leave the bunker, and was a key witness to the macabre events dramatised in Der Untergang (“Downfall”, 2006), Oliver Hirschbiegel’s extraordinary film about the end of the Third Reich.
He recalled how, on April 30 1945, Hitler locked himself in his room with his bride-of-a-day Eva Braun: “Everyone was waiting for the shot. We were expecting it. I had just said to the technicians: 'I’m going over [to Hitler’s office], can I fetch you anything?’ And they said no. Then came the shot. Linge [Heinz Linge, Hitler’s valet] took me to one side and we went in. I saw Hitler slumped by the table. I didn’t see any blood on his head. And I saw Eva with her knees drawn up lying next to him on the sofa – wearing a white and blue blouse, with a little collar: just a little thing.”
Misch was also a witness to the grimmest of bunker stories — the murder by Magda Goebbels of her six children. “The children were prepared for their deaths in my work room,” he recalled. “Their mother combed their hair — they were all dressed in white nightshirts — and then she went up with the children. Dr Nauman told me that Dr Ludwig Stumpfegger would give the kids 'candy water’. I realised what was going to happen immediately. I had seen Dr Stumpfegger successfully test poison on Blondi, the Führer’s dog.” Frau Goebbels returned an hour or two later, and without saying a word went to her husband’s room. There, she laid out a game of patience.
Misch then helped to establish a direct line from the Reich Chancellery to Soviet lines, while General Krebs tried to negotiate an armistice. But the Russians demanded unconditional surrender. When the news was brought to the surviving inmates of the bunker, they assembled for a meeting at which Goebbels reminisced about the triumphant early days of Nazism, but made no reference to his family, dead upstairs. “Magda Goebbels just sat there,” Misch recalled, “saying little, head high. She was chain-smoking and sipping champagne.” » | Friday, September 06, 2013
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Rochus Misch, Hitler's Bodyguard and Last Survivor of Berlin Bunker, Dies Aged 96
Misch, a member of the SS, was a devoted bodyguard for most of the war and was with Hitler in Berlin when the dictator and his wife Eva Braun both committed suicide. » | Helen Lock and Associated Press | Friday, September 06, 2013
Tony Abbott to Be New Australian Prime Minster after 'Landslide Win'
The Australian Broadcasting Corporation on Saturday called a clear win for the Abbott-led opposition party over Mr Rudd's Labour in national polls.
"The coalition is on a pretty secure 74 seats already. On that basis they're going to get a majority. I think we can say the government has been defeated," Antony Green, the state broadcaster's election analyst, said.
Meanwhile a government minister said her party had lost the election. Health Minister Tanya Plibersek told ABC after 13 percent of the votes were counted that her government's loss was no longer in doubt.
She said: "I am a cautious person by nature, but I think that it's pretty clear it's a matter of the size of the victory" for the conservative Liberal Party-led alliance.
The apparent victory by Australia’s British-born opposition leader would mark a dramatic return to power for the conservative Liberal-National party after six years of shaky Labour rule. » | Jonathan Pearlman, Sydney | Saturday, September 07, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Tony Abbott wins, but does Australia care?: Australians have elected Tony Abbott with a distinct lack of enthusiasm, writes Andrew Mueller » | Andrew Mueller | Saturday, September 07, 2013
Syria: Pope Warns Barack Obama That Military Strike Would Be 'Futile'
In a sharply-worded intervention in the debate on the Syrian conflict, Pope Francis also accused world leaders of having stood by and allowed a "senseless massacre" to unfold in the country.
The Pope wrote in a letter, delivered to Vladimir Putin but addressed to all the G20 leaders meeting: "To the leaders present, to each and every one, I make a heartfelt appeal for them to help find ways to overcome the conflicting positions and to lay aside the futile pursuit of a military solution."
He added: "Rather, let there be a renewed commitment to seek, with courage and determination, a peaceful solution through dialogue and negotiation of the parties, unanimously supported by the international community.
"Moreover, all governments have the moral duty to do everything possible to ensure humanitarian assistance to those suffering because of the conflict, both within and beyond the country's borders." » | Tom Kington, Vatican City | Thursday, September 05, 2013
THE DAILY TELEGRAPH: Barack Obama: US cannot turn 'blind eye' to Syria: President Obama says the US has presented a "powerful case" that the Syrian government was responsible for a chemical weapons attack in Damascus last month. (+ video) » | Saturday, 07, 2013
Syria Crisis: More Signs US Involvement in Civil War May Be Greater Than First Anticipated as Obama Looks to Boost Rebels
As the Obama administration struggles to convince lawmakers of the case for intervention in Syria, there were signs today that American involvement in the civil war there, if it happens, might be greater in scale than was first anticipated.
US officials are said to be studying a plan to increase support for rebels fighting to remove the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad from power. The new plan would see the military send its own trainers to bolster the capabilities of the rebels, something they have resisted in the past.
The CIA has been training groups of rebels in Jordan. But the involvement of the military could see the number of rebels being trained spiral from dozens to hundreds or even thousands, according to the Associated Press. » | Nikhil Kumar | New York | Saturday, September 07, 2013
Syrie : la France plus que jamais isolée
La France s'est efforcée vendredi de rallier les autres pays de l'Union européenne à sa position sur la Syrie mais sa volonté d'intervenir militairement pour "punir" le régime de Bachar al-Assad s'est heurtée au scepticisme de ses partenaires, soucieux de rester dans le cadre des Nations unies. Lors d'une réunion à Vilnius, en Lituanie, Laurent Fabius a tenté d'obtenir des autres ministres des Affaires étrangères de l'UE qu'ils conviennent avec lui que le régime de Bachar al-Assad était bien responsable de l'attaque chimique commise le 21 août dans les environs de Damas, a-t-on appris de source proche du ministre français.
Auparavant, le président français François Hollande avait rassuré ses partenaires européens en annonçant, à l'issue du G20 de Saint-Petersbourg, que Paris attendrait le rapport de l'ONU avant de lancer toute action militaire contre le régime de Damas. » | Source AFP et Reuters | samedi 07 septembre 2013
Barack Obama: 'Majority' of Leaders Say Assad Used Chemical Weapons
THE GUARDIAN: Obama assembles fragile alliance blaming Assad for chemical attacks: 11 G20 countries sign statement calling for 'strong response' to chemical weapons, but Putin says most oppose military action » | Patrick Wintour in St Petersburg | Friday, September 06, 2013
Friday, September 06, 2013
Syria: If We Are Judged on Whether We Bomb People I’m Delighted Our Standing Has Fallen, Says Nigel Farage
The Ukip leader said the British public had “had enough” of war and last week’s vote against action was “a great victory for democracy.”
Lord Ashdown, the former Lib Dem leader, said Britain’s standing in the world had been diminished by failing to confront the use of chemical weapons with force.
Mr Farage said: “If we are judged on whether we bomb people, I am delighted we should lose our international standing.
"There is hard power and there is soft power, and I want us to be a country that pushes soft power, and we can do it.”
He added: "I believe we can do a lot more good in the world than just by believing we have to go round bombing people." » | Matthew Holehouse | Friday, September 06, 2013
Russia Sends Missile Cruiser to Mediterranean
President Barack Obama has won backing from key figures in the US Congress in his call for limited US strikes on Syria to punish President Bashar al-Assad for his suspected use of chemical weapons against civilians.
The ship, Moskva, will take over operations from a naval unit in the region that Moscow says is needed to protect national interests. It will be joined by a destroyer from Russia's Baltic Fleet and a frigate from the Black Sea Fleet.
"The Cruiser Moskva is heading to the Gibraltar Straits. In approximately 10 days it will enter the east Mediterranean, where it will take over as the flagship of the naval task force," the source said. » | Agencies | Thursday, September 09, 2013
RIA NOVOSTI: Russia Sends 1 More Warship to Mediterranean Sea Fleet – Official: MOSCOW – Russia will send another warship to the Mediterranean Sea next week, a high-ranking Russian Navy official told RIA Novosti Friday. » | Ria Novosti | Friday, September 06, 2013
Syria Chemical Attack Is 'Rebels' Provocation in Hope of Intervention' - Putin
Le président Hollande reproche au Figaro son entrevue avec Assad
Lors d'une conférence de presse à Saint-Pétersbourg où il participait au sommet du G20, le chef de l'État a fait, dans une réponse sur la Syrie, une incidente sur le Figaro. » | Agence France-Presse | Saint-Petersbourg, Russie | vendredi 06 septembre 2013
Syria: Russia Will Stand by Assad over Any US Strikes, Warns Putin
The Russian president said his country would stand with the Assad regime in Syria if the US launches airstrikes.
The apparent threat came as the G20 summit ended with a public split, 11 of its members issuing a statement hinting at the need for US action against the Assad regime of its alleged use of chemical weapons.
Russia already supplies military aid to Syria, but the hint of more Russian backing in the event of a confrontation with the US sent jitters through financial markets worldwide.
Mr Putin also mocked Western leaders like US President Barack Obama considering intervening in Syria, suggesting that the majority of their electorates opposed any military action - including Prime Minister David Cameron for failing to persuade the Commons to back British involvement.
Mr Obama, meanwhile, compared the Syrian crisis to World War II, likening his country’s debate over intervention to the eventual American decision to support Britain against Nazi Germany.
The provocative remarks came at the end of a tense summit in St Petersburg where world leaders failed to narrow their differences over the Syrian crisis. » | James Kirkup in St Petersburg | Friday, September 06, 2013
Au Liban, la population s'inquiète des répercussions du conflit syrien
"Ce soir, je ne sors pas à cause de la situation", prévient Wael, étudiant de 22 ans. Cette phrase lapidaire et quasi-quotidienne est symptomatique de la psychose collective qui s'est emparée des habitants de Beyrouth. La situation? Ce sont les attentats de Dahiyeh (un fief du Hezbollah, au sud de la capitale) et de Tripoli (dans le nord du pays), qui ont fait plus de 70 morts en août. La perspective d'une intervention occidentale en Syrie attise les craintes des Libanais que le conflit pourrait se déplacer dans leur pays.
Ces derniers temps, dans la capitale, l'atmosphère est devenue pesante. Bars et hôtels semblent désertés par leurs clients tandis que les embouteillages sont plus rares qu'à l'accoutumée. Même les nuits, en général animées, laissent place à un calme plat. Seuls les klaxons des taxi-services résonnent encore dans la capitale libanaise. Comme un ultime avertissement.
"On ne va plus dans les centres commerciaux car ce sont des cibles potentielles pour les auteurs d'attentats, affirme un résident d'Achrafieh, quartier chrétien de Beyrouth. Personne ne sait où sera la prochaine voiture piégée. Toutes les communautés sont susceptibles d'être visées pour déstabiliser le pays." » | Par Tancrède Bonora | vendredi 06 septembre 2013
Alan Grayson: Syria 'Is Not Our Responsibility'
Tell Congress: Don’t Attack Syria »
'Obama to Attack Syria Regardless How Congress Votes'
Wide Awake News »
Brutality of Syrian Rebels Posing Dilemma in West
The prisoners, seven in all, were captured Syrian soldiers. Five were trussed, their backs marked with red welts. They kept their faces pressed to the dirt as the rebels’ commander recited a bitter revolutionary verse.
“For fifty years, they are companions to corruption,” he said. “We swear to the Lord of the Throne, that this is our oath: We will take revenge.”
The moment the poem ended, the commander, known as “the Uncle,” fired a bullet into the back of the first prisoner’s head. His gunmen followed suit, promptly killing all the men at their feet.
This scene, documented in a video smuggled out of Syria a few days ago by a former rebel who grew disgusted by the killings, offers a dark insight into how many rebels have adopted some of the same brutal and ruthless tactics as the regime they are trying to overthrow.
As the United States debates whether to support the Obama administration’s proposal that Syrian forces should be attacked for using chemical weapons against civilians, this video, shot in the spring of 2012, joins a growing body of evidence of an increasingly criminal environment populated by gangs of highwaymen, kidnappers and killers. » | C. J. Chivers | Thursday, September 05, 2013
Watch graphic and brutal video here
USA – Bemühen uns nicht mehr um UN-Zustimmung in Syrien-Krise
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