Pressure Builds for Full-Scale War on Syria

By: Stephen Lendmen

Source: Global Research

Rhetoric hides intent. Turkey wants safe zones, and perhaps a no-fly zone. Britain and France both said no options are ruled out, including a no-fly zone. Ahead of US November elections, Washington is more low key, but not entirely.

Obama stresses he’s open to all options. On September 27, Hillary Clinton met openly with Assad opponents at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel. She did also privately with so-called Friends of Syria.

She announced millions of dollars more aid. She claimed it’s mostly for humanitarian purposes. America does nothing that way. Everything it does has ulterior motives.

Washington will also supply more communication equipment. It “includ(es) satellite-linked computers, telephones, and cameras, as well as training for” opposition elements and supporters, she said.

She expressed frustration about lack of more aggressive Security Council action. She suggested Washington may bypass the body, saying:

“It is no secret that our attempts to move forward at the UN Security Council have been blocked repeatedly, but the United States is not waiting.” She said it before. She left little doubt what she means. Obama’s UN address was also belligerent against Iran and Syria.

Expect military intervention ahead against both countries. It’s longstanding policy. Post-November 6 elections, it’s coming. All independent governments are vulnerable.

Syria and Iran top Washington’s target list. NATO countries and regional allies are pressured to go along. Some need no prodding. Israel urges it. Britain willingly partnered with America’s imperial agenda for decades.

It’s always ready to go to war if asked. It has a belligerent reputation to uphold. David Owen once served as foreign secretary. On September 27, he headlined a London Telegraph op-ed “Only a no-fly zone brokered with Russia can bring peace.”

Establishing a no-fly zone or safe havens in Syrian territory assures war. Washington’s war on Libya proved what Owen and other observers understand well.

Effectively he advocated belligerent intervention. He quoted Prime Minister David Cameron in New York saying: “The blood of these young (Syrian) children is a terrible stain on the reputation of the United Nations.”

He avoided explaining US and UK involvement. Their bloodstained hands are too obvious to ignore. He was silent on Western aggression on Syria. His government is directly responsible for lost lives.

He pointed fingers the wrong way. He blamed Security Council members with veto power. He wants Russia and China to yield to US/UK/French rage for war on Syria.

He wrongfully called conflict there civil. There’s nothing civil about it. Syria was invaded. Mercenary death squads were recruited from regional countries. They’re given safe havens in bordering countries.

Washington, Britain, France, Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Israel, and perhaps other imperial allies have been arming, funding, training, and directing them. They’re responsible for thousands of deaths. Assad’s doing his best to restore peace. He faces stiff headwinds.

Owen said he “was one of the first to argue for a no-fly zone over Libya.” He knew full well what would follow. He wants it repeated for Syria. “NATO is the only organization” able to enforce no-fly zone protection, he added.

He wants Russia pressured to go along. His notion of restoring peace is first wage war. Hasn’t he paid attention to what’s happening in Libya? At age 74, perhaps he’s prematurely senile.

More likely, he wants another country ravaged and dominated by Western powers. He’s comfortable perhaps with tens or hundreds of thousands more deaths to make it possible.

In 2011, The New York Times promoted war on Libya. It backs intervention now against Assad. It practically mocked the cold-blooded murder o Press TV correspondent Maya Naser.

A Western-recruited death squad sniper assassinated him. He was doing his job. He was alone and live on air at the time. He was vulnerable from where he reported.

The Times claimed he was embedded with Syrian forces. None were close by when he died. Press TV’s Damascus Bureau Chief Hosein Mortada was attacked and injured at the same time.

Both were covering twin Damascus blasts and ensuing fighting. Heroically, they put their lives on the line daily doing it.

Press TV News Room Director Hamid Reza Emadi said:

“We hold Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, who provide militants weapons to kill civilians, military personnel and journalists, responsible for killing Maya.

“Press TV will pursue the matter of the murder of Maya and would not let those who killed the correspondent feel like they can kill the media people and get away with it.”

Last February, The Times claimed its Syrian correspondent, Anthony Shadid, died from asthma complications. It seemed far-fetched at the time. Death by drowning is more likely. perhaps cover-up was Times policy.

Shadid’s cousin Ed Shadid said he told his wife: “If anything happens to me, I want the world to know that The New York Times killed me.” By that he meant he didn’t want to go and got little support while there.

That aside, Times executive editor, Jill Abramson, praised him, saying:

“Anthony died as he lived – determined to bear witness to the transformation sweeping the Middle East and to testify to the suffering of people caught between government oppression and opposition forces.”

On the one hand, Abramson lied both about Shadid and what’s ongoing regionally. On the other, Shadid was praised in contrast to how Maya Naser was mocked.

Most important is what’s been ongoing in Syria since March 2011, where it’s likely heading, and how consistently The Times misreports.

Russia’s been out in front trying to restore calm and peace. On September 28, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov addressed the UN General Assembly. He reiterated comments he made earlier. The way to end conflict is to adhere to last June’s Geneva Agreement, he said.

“We proposed to adopt a resolution in the UN Security Council that would endorse the Geneva communique as the basis for negotiations at the beginning of the transitional period, but this proposal had been blocked.”

“Those who oppose the implementation of the Geneva communique in fact push Syria even deeper into the abyss of bloody sectarian strife.”

“Extremist organizations including al-Qaeda have become more active in Syria – they perpetrate terrorist attacks against innocent civilians and civil infrastructure.”

He also condemned any unilateral sanctions “imposed by a state or a group of states sidestepping the United Nations to advance their political goals.”

Without naming names, he left little doubt he blamed Washington and key NATO allies for ongoing Syrian conflict.

On September 28, China’s Xinhua New Agency headlined “Outside Meddling in Syria Threat to Whole World Order: Russian Official,” saying:

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said:

“The attempts to look for ways out of the crisis in Syria outside the U.N. Security Council would have very destructive and dangerous consequences for Syria itself, for the Middle East region and, eventually, for the current world order as a whole.”

“Implementation of the Libyan model, supporting only one side in this confrontation is a way to nowhere.”

He also warned about worrisome regional “deep changes.” They’ll cause serious repercussions elsewhere for a long time, he added.

On September 28, Russia’s Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Khodynskaya-Golenishcheva called “inadmissible clauses” in the UN Human Rights Council’s (HRC) Syrian resolution unacceptable, saying:

“One can’t agree with the unilateral conclusions concerning the tragedy in El-Houleh as well as with the fact that these murders are similar to other such incidents in Syria.”

She added that other powers supported and encouraged Syrian violence. She left little doubt which ones she meant. It’s no secret.

It’s also well-known the HRC provided cover for Washington’s war on Syria since last year. Its reports are shameless and one-sided. They have no credibility whatever.

On September 28, it extended the mandates of the Commission of Inquiry (COI) on Syria, saying:

On September 24, its resolution A/HRC/21/L.32 addressed human rights in Syria. It was adopted 41 – 3. Russia, China and Cuba voted no. India, Uganda, and the Philippines abstained.

Supportive countries will have to explain why they supported bald-faced lies. It’s not first time and won’t be the last.

HRC “condemn(ed) in the strongest terms the massacre of the village of Al-Houla near Homs, where the forces of the Government of Syria and members of the Shabbiha were found by the Commission of Inquiry to be the perpetrators of outrageous and heinous crimes….”

HRC and voting countries know Assad had nothing to do with it. Eyewitnesses blamed death squad killers. HRC lied saying otherwise. Doing so support imperial lawlessness.

It called on all parties to cease violence. Mercenaries are entirely responsible. Well-known facts are suppressed. High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay defiled her mandate.

Instead of responsibly “strengthening the promotion and protection of human rights,” she spurned them in deference to Western interests.

HRC’s so-called COI is an imperial body established to lie. It suppresses truth and full disclosure. It consistently points fingers the wrong way. Its reports ignore credible eye-witness testimonies. Clear evidence is consistently left out.

Washington said it was proud to co-sponsor the resolution. No doubt it’s gratified by ravaging one country after another and the millions of deaths it caused.

HRC systematically avoids condemnation. Instead it welcomes a rogue state member in good standing. How many more millions of corpses will it tolerate?

America’s responsible for more global violence, deaths and destruction than the rest of the world combined. Perhaps HRC can explain why this goes entirely whiewashed and unnoticed.

Perhaps one day a real HRC will replace the sham one now in place. Perhaps truth and full disclosure will have a chance it’s been denied for so long.

Syria commented on HRC’s latest act of shame, saying:

“(S)peaking as the concerned country, (Syria) condemned the presentation of the draft resolution because it made libelous statements and because the Human Rights Council was based on fundamental principles of dialogue and cooperation, and those were the ways to promote human rights.”

“This draft resolution did not reflect the reality in Syria; on the contrary, it was based on accusations and fictitious reports, such as on the Al-Houla massacre, which the Government had condemned in the strongest terms.”

“The Commission of Inquiry had not visited Syria, had not arrived to definite conclusions concerning the massacres and had not taken into account the results of the Ad Hoc Committee established by Syria to investigate the crimes.”

“The seven co-sponsors had ignored aspects of the Commission of Inquiry’s report on the barbaric acts committed by armed groups in Syria.”

“Moreover, the Commission of Inquiry had highlighted the adverse impact of sanctions on Syria, and those were also not included in this draft resolution.”

“Some of the co-sponsors forgot that they did not have the right to give advice because they were directly involved in killing the Syrian people and could not call on others to respect human rights before they respected them at home.”

“Syria rejected the draft resolution and urged all countries that sincerely wished to help the Syrian people to vote against.”

Imperial countries, supportive bodies, and go-along media never say they’re sorry. Hegemons ravage humanity for wealth, privilege, and dominance. Supporters back what they should condemn.

Millions everywhere suffer horrifically. They’re on their own to survive and change things. Hopefully they’ll try before it’s too late.
------------------------
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net

His new book is titled “How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking,Government Collusion and Class War”

Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

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Western Powers Double Down on Syria’s Destruction

By: Shamus Cooke

Source: Global Research

“The hottest places in Hell are reserved for those, who in time of great moral crisis, maintain their neutrality.” – Dante

The world watches as a nation is torn, slow motion, at the seams. Money and geopolitics has caused a feeding frenzy of western nations biting and tearing at Syria, all hoping to profit from the regime’s destruction.

Toward this effort, England, France, and the United States announced increased support to the “rebels” of Syria. The Obama administration promised $45 million more in funding for aid that has now totaled $175 million (is it any wonder there are budget problems inside the U.S.?).

And although much of the U.S. aid is designated as “humanitarian,” this money will directly help the military mission by bolstering the prestige of opposition groups, who will use the U.S. aid to gain adherents by being able to feed and house refugees fleeing the destruction (assuming that not all of this money will simply be used to buy guns).

Of course there is no accounting of the amount of money and arms the CIA is funneling into the country. But even The NewYork Times has admitted the CIA’s involvement; in June it wrote:

“A small number of C.I.A. officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey, helping allies decide which Syrian opposition fighters across the border will receive arms to fight the Syrian government, according to American officials and Arab intelligence officers…the weapons, including automatic rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, ammunition and some antitank weapons, are being funneled mostly across the Turkish border by way of a shadowy network of intermediaries including Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood and paid for by Turkey, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the officials said.”

There you have the Syrian opposition in a nutshell: groups of mercenaries funded by Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United States and France, and the Muslim Brotherhood inside Syria. All of these groups have their own self-interest in toppling the Syrian government, while destroying the country and its people in the process.

Saudi Arabia has used the Muslim Brotherhood as a key tool in its foreign policy for decades, funding the organization in countries all over the Middle East and North Africa. When Saudi Arabia beckons, the Muslim Brotherhood and associated groups can be used to destabilize “unfriendly” regimes in the name of “jihad” — officially declared by clerics who work in tandem with the Saudi Arabian government to recruit fighters for the effort. This is why there are “terrorist” groups now fighting to overthrow the Syrian government, including Al Qaeda — itself born from the purse strings of Saudi Arabia, like the Taliban (there is an excellent chapter about this dynamic in Vijay Prashad’s book, the Darker Nations).

It is very revealing that, after the U.S. has spent hundreds of millions of dollars and large amounts of weaponry has been trafficked into the country, the Syrian government still controls the vast majority of the country. This is because the majority of people inside Syria do not support the so-called Syrian Opposition. If this were the case, the Syrian government would have long since been overthrown. The revolutionaries of Egypt and Tunisia did not need any outside help in toppling their government, nor large amounts of money or weaponry.

Therefore, the steady destruction of Syria will continue until it reaches a Libya-like crescendo: a “no fly zone” will be the goal of the western powers, with the motive of toppling the regime.

But like in Libya, a no fly zone equals total war. Syria has advanced Russian-made surface-to-air missiles, which must be destroyed to enforce such a no fly zone. Syria also has fighter jets that must be destroyed. Additional ground support must be destroyed. And like Libya, once the bombs start dropping, the mission quickly changes from a “no fly zone” to “regime change,” i.e., war.

But Syria has a much more powerful army than Libya, requiring that the U.S. military become directly involved in the war, as opposed to outsourcing the conflict to England and France as they did in Libya. Only the U.S. military and its subordinate allies have the required weapons to deal with Syria’s Russian-made weaponry.

But the American people hate war, and thus the U.S. government must introduce the Syrian war slowly, through non-stop anti-Syria media coverage, in the hopes that opinion polls shift enough to allow direct military intervention, as opposed to the current indirect type.

What do the people of Syria really want? The NewYork Times revealed that, inside Syria, a group of twenty opposition groups recently met in Syria’s capital to demand that Syria’s democratic transition happen peacefully, in effect denouncing the armed rebels who are being funded by foreign nations.

The international implications of this war have already begun to manifest. Neighboring countries are experiencing stress and destabilization by the flood of refugees from Syria. The Kurds in Syria may soon call for independence, which will incite further violence from Turkey. Hezbollah, based in Lebanon, and Iran will work doubly hard to re-enforce the Syrian government as western powers do the opposite.

Ethnic and religious tensions are being stoked in all neighboring countries, which has already led to violence and will be used by politicians in those countries for political aims, leading to more violence. It’s also possible if an official war is declared against Syria, other powers will use the chaos as a shield to pursue their own interests —Israel for example, may opportunistically bomb Iran. Whatever the course of events, the emerging war in Syria has the potential not only to turn the Middle East into dust, but to drag larger powers like Russia — an ally of Syria — into conflict with the United States.

All working people in the United States have a duty to denounce this U.S.-made humanitarian tragedy and the future threat of war.

Shamus Cook is a social service worker, trade unionist, and writer for Workers Action (www.workerscompass.org) He can be reached at shamuscooke@gmail.com

France Seeks “No-Fly Zone” over Syria

 

By: Tony Cartalucci

Original Source: Land Destroyer
http://landdestroyer.blogspot.ca/2012/09/nato-terrorists-bomb-school-in-syria.html

Source: Global Research

http://www.globalresearch.ca/pretext-to-wage-a-humanitarian-war-france-seeks-no-fly-zone-over-syria/

France seeks no-fly zone over Syria to repeat the Al Qaeda Benghazi-blowback.

As NATO desperately attempts to coverup a botched false flag operation in Benghazi, Libya which left a high ranking US diplomat dead, France has urged a repeat performance in Syria. That is, arming and providing air support for the very terrorist battalions now operating in Syria that have ravaged and overrun Libya, leaving it a perpetually wrecked, destabilized terrorist epicenter.

The announcement made by French President Francois Hollande came on the heels of a deadly terrorist bombing in Damascus targeting a school rebels senselessly claim was being used by Syrian security forces. Western propagandists are now calling the school a “security building.”

Reuters reported in their article, “Syrian rebels bomb security building in Damascus:”

Protection for “liberated” areas would require no-fly zones enforced by foreign aircraft, which could stop deadly air raids by Assad’s forces on populated areas. But there is little chance of securing a Security Council mandate for such action given the continuing opposition of veto-wielding members Russia and China.

Before quoting Hollande who said:

“How long can we accept the paralysis at the U.N.?”

To answer Mr. Hollande’s question, one might look toward Libya where an identical campaign of violent subversion based on similar lies regarding the “protection of civilians,” was carried out by NATO and proxy terrorist organizations who were in fact listed by the UN itself as affiliates of the notorious global terror network Al Qaeda. The NATO-led, UN mandated evisceration of Libya put power into the hands of genocidal, racist terror battalions who literally scoured entire cities of their inhabitants either massacring, imprisoning, or exiling them all beyond Libya’s borders

Image: Libyan Mahdi al-Harati of the US State Department, United Nations, and the UK Home Office (page 5, .pdf)-listed terrorist organization, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), addressing fellow terrorists in Syria. Harati is now commanding a Libyan brigade operating inside of Syria attempting to destroy the Syrian government and subjugate the Syrian population. Traditionally, this is known as “foreign invasion.”

It should be clear then, to Mr. Hollande, that the UN is not in fact “paralyzed” but that the member nations that constitute the Security Council and the General Assembly are increasingly aware of and opposed to the duplicitous and untenable nature of NATO’s wars of conquest, merely dressed up as humanitarian intervention.

As France Pushes for A Libya Repeat, Media & Politicians Desperately Attempt to Rewrite Narrative

As international condemnation grew, recognizing that NATO, led by the US, UK, and France were essentially funding, arming, training, and handing an entire nation over to Al Qaeda affiliates, these terror battalions were directed to attack US diplomatic missions across the Arab World (and here).

One attack in Benghazi, Libya, left the US consulate ablaze, unexpectedly trapping US Ambassador Christopher Stevens who succumbed to smoke inhalation. Despite the attacks, and the subsequent media circus and staged rallies to depict Libya’s client regime as “disbanding” terrorist militias, the fact remains that vast terrorist networks stretching from Libya to Syria are still fully armed, funded, and covertly backed by the very corporate-financier interests that sold the last decade of “War on Terror” to the West.

In addition to a myriad of staged events to portray a divide between the West and its terrorist proxies, there are also sophomoric and desperate attempts throughout the corporate-media to rewrite the Syrian narrative as public awareness grows, and support for Western destabilization under the guise of “humanitarian causes” collapses.

One such attempt was published in the Washington Post in a piece titled, “Among Assad’s opponents, moderation reigns,” where David Pollock of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy attempts to argue that Syria’s “opposition” is overwhelmingly moderate, with sectarian extremists being an exception to the rule, based on a poll conducted by the International Republication Institute.

However, Pollock’s think-tank, the Washington Institute, is in fact a Wall Street pro-war think-tank, lined by notorious warmongering frauds and Neo-Cons including Richard Perle, Max Kampelman, US Ambassador to Israel Samuel Lewis, accused war criminal Henry Kissinger, George Shultz, and James Woolsey, all signatories of the now infamous Project for a New American Century (PNAC), and all signatories of numerous letters calling for war with both Libya and Syria.

The International Republican Institute (IRI) is in fact funded by the US State Department and is chaired by Senator John McCain, who had shaken hands with the very terrorists responsible for the US consulate attack that left Ambassador Stevens dead in Benghazi, Libya. McCain has also traveled to the Turkish-Syrian border to provide these same terrorists with support. The IRI itself had played an instrumental role in engineering the allegedly “spontaneous” “Arab Spring,” training and organizing activists years before unrest took to the Arab World’s streets.

Image: Senator John McCain (with the now deceased US Ambassador John Christopher Stevens on the right with blue tie) in the terrorist rat nest of Benghazi after marshaling cash, weapons, and political support for militants tied directly to Al Qaeda. McCain’s insistence that the terrorists he helped arm and install into power were “not Al Qaeda” runs contra to the US Army’s own reports which state that Benghazi’s terror brigades officially merged with Al Qaeda in 2007. McCain’s “Libyan patriots” have now killed US Ambassador Stevens with weapons most likely procured with cash and logistic networks set up by NATO last year, part of a supranational terror campaign that includes violently subverting Syria – a campaign McCain also supports.

Clearly the “poll” which was conducted over “Skype” by IRI with “activists” inside Syria was produced for public perception only to cook up numbers that would allow Pollock, CNN and others to conclude, “all in all, the data show that most Syrian opposition activists are far from being Islamic fanatics or extremists,” as well as “the argument that providing this help might result in trading Assad’s hostile secular dictatorship for a hostile Islamic one does not square with these facts.”

The idea is to maintain the narrative that the US is backing “freedom fighters” not terrorists, and it is an idea perpetuated by the very pro-war advocates behind the Libyan disaster and the Arab World unrest in the first place.

We can expect calls for arming and defending terrorist proxies in Syria to continue while the corporate-media continues its attempt to portray what is literally Al Qaeda operating in Syria with NATO backing as instead, “pro-democracy” “freedom fighters” in desperate need of Western assistance. Conversely, we must continue to expose the corporate-financier narrative as the lies they are, while resolving to undermine the very source of their unwarranted influence which allows them to meddle globally in the first place.

 

Hillary Clinton, Turkish leaders to consider no-fly zones for Syria

Turkey's Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan (R) shakes hands with U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton before their meeting in Istanbul.(REUTERS / Handout)

Source: Russia Today

http://www.rt.com/news/clinton-turkey-syria-damascus-aleppo-437/

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu are considering implementing no-fly zones for Syria after holding Saturday talks in Istanbul.

­According to Reuters, Clinton said that Ankara and Washington need to plan ways to assist the rebels fighting to topple President Bashar al-Assad – including possibly implementing a no-fly zone.

During an interview with reporters, Clinton indicated the no-fly zone was a possible option, but said the issue needed “greater in-depth analysis.”

It wouldn’t be the first time the US used its power to aid opposition forces. The same tactic was used to help Libyan rebels overthrow Muammar Gaddafi last year.

Until now, the US has been reluctant to take on a military role in Syria. But if the Libyan situation repeats itself, US military intervention could be a real possibility in the near future – only serving to escalate Syria’s 17-month-old conflict.

During the meeting, Clinton also said a working group will be set up in Turkey to respond to the Syrian crisis, according to AP.

The group would increase the involvement of the intelligence services and militaries of both the US and Turkey.

“We have been closely coordinating over the course of this conflict, but now we need to get into the real details of such operational planning. It needs to be across both of our governments,” Clinton said.

Clinton is also scheduled to hold talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and President Abdullah Gul – both of whom support the Syrian opposition movement.

The US is aiming to lay groundwork for democratic transition in Syria.

The meeting comes as reports of violence were taking place in Damascus.

Earlier on Saturday, Syrian state TV reported that gunmen abducted three Syrian journalists and their driver, who work for a pro-government TV station, while covering violence in a suburb of Damascus.

According to Middle Eastern history and politics Professor Jeremy Salt, the opposition has little hope of winning the conflict without the help of its Western allies.

“As of now, Damascus has mostly been cleared of rebels. Aleppo on its way to being cleared. We can see that the army has a strategy here. It cleared out the Salah al-Din district within two days, and now it’s working its way through other suburbs. So unless the rebels get more support in terms of heavy weaponry, they are very much fighting on the back foot. So that’s why Hillary Clinton is in Istanbul. To ask the basic question, ‘What’s next?’” Salt told RT.

Meanwhile, opposition fighters are still struggling to gain control of Aleppo – a key battle city.

Rebels in Aleppo say they are preparing a counterattack against government forces, after heavy bombardment forced them to withdraw from the south-west district of Salah al-Din on Thursday.

Aleppo is the cause of serious concern for Western countries, Foreign Affairs Analyst Richard Heydarian told RT.

“The West is smelling blood right now because of the recent events, including the fleeing of the prime minister. What the Clinton administration [sic] is trying to do right now is try to coordinate some sort of military approach with Turkey and possibly also with the help of Israel and other Atab countries because they feel the opposition has a chance to retain its stronghold in Aleppo,” Heydarian said.

Turkey, however, has its own motivations for taking part in the meeting. The country is dealing with a growing humanitarian crisis of its own, as it struggles to support 50,000 Syrian refugees who have fled into the country.

Clinton has announced an extra US$5.5 million in help for displaced Syrians in Turkey.

“Turkey has two sides to this. On the one hand, it is very much concerned with the tragedy and a lot of Syrians flowing in – it is one of the biggest recipients of refugees from Syria. On the other hand – it is a possible rise of Kurdish insurgency – and there is coordination between Kurds in Syria and Iran. Turkey fears Kurds could launch its own independence campaign against Turkey,” Heydarian said.

Turkish demonstrators condemn Clinton visit to Istanbul

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton (L) and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/08/11/255696/turkish-protesters-condemn-clinton-visit/

Turkish demonstrators have marched to the US Embassy in Turkey to condemn a visit by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to Istanbul.

Police used batons to disperse the demonstrators outside the embassy in the capital, Ankara.

Clinton arrived in Turkey on Saturday for talks with Turkish President Abdullah Gul, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on the situation in Syria.

Washington and Ankara repeated calls for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down.

The US secretary of state and the Turkish foreign minister held a joint press conference in Istanbul on Saturday.

Clinton said Washington will "hasten the end of… the Assad regime," adding the US is worried about the presence of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) in Syria along the Turkish border.

"We share Turkey's determination that Syria must not become a haven for PKK terrorists whether now or after the departure of the Assad regime," she said.

The Turkish foreign minister stated that in his meeting with the US secretary of state the two sides discussed the ways of assisting the opposition inside Syria.

"We need to take joint efforts to prevent a power vacuum from being formed," Davutoglu said.

The anti-Syria Western regimes have been calling for the Syrian president to step down.

On June 3, President Assad Syria is "facing a war from abroad" and that the nation is "facing attempts to weaken Syria and breach its sovereignty."

US accelerates preparations for 'no-fly zone' in Syria

Syrian men shout slogans during a pro-regime protest (AFP Photo/Louai Beshara)

Source: Russia Today
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-syria-president-reports-584/

The United States may soon take on a formal role in the Syrian uprising after reports surfaced this week that suggest the White House wants an air offensive targeting the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

After over a year of unrest in Syria, Israel’s Debka news agency reports that US President Barack Obama has asked the US Navy and Air Force to accelerate plans that would aid in the ousting of Assad. According to their sources, President Obama hopes that by initiating a temporary air strike in locales instrumental to the Syrian government, the US may be able to decimate Assad’s control by attacking his regime’s military command centers.

The US would call for a no-fly zone over Syria, reports Debka, then send their own personnel to strike Assad-aligned targets.

Murmurings of the latest plans out of Washington come less than two weeks after Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) called for the implementation of a no-fly zone. Speaking to reporters last month, Sen. Graham said that ousting Assad from control in Syria is much more crucial for America’s interests than the issue of Libya; last year the US aided in the removal of Colonel Muammar Gaddafi from Libyan rule.

“Compared to Libya, the strategic upside of taking out (Syrian President Bashar) Assad is far greater," said Graham, who currently sits on the US Senate Committee of Armed Services. "We've used force to stop slaughter less strategic and egregious than this."

Debka’s reports also come days after White House Press Secretary Jay Carney confirmed that, in terms of US involvement in Syria,"military action is always an option,” although he added, "We do not believe that … further militarization of the situation in Syria at this point is the right course of action.” Less than two weeks later, however, the White House may have already changed their stance.

According to Debka, Washington’s rumored change of heart may have something to do with reports out of Russia. Sources speaking with the news agency say that US President Obama asked for an accelerated attack on Syria’s leaders after hearing Russian officials allegedly say, “Moscow would support the departure of President Bashar al-Assad if Syrians agreed to it.”

Debka adds that, to carry out the plan, the US will equip Syrian rebels with military supplies so that they could out attack Assad’s regime on the ground after an American-led airstrikes. It is believed that Assad’s government is currently using unmanned surveillance air drones to patrol the countryside for rebel forces only to then order strikes targeted them

Syrian rebels abandon ceasefire, call on UN for no-fly zone

AFP Photo / D. Leal Olivas

Source: Russia Today
http://www.rt.com/news/syria-rebels-annan-ceasefire-958/

A Syrian rebel spokesman says they are no longer committed to Annan’s ceasefire. He has called for a UN-backed “peace enforcement mission” or a no-fly zone to replace the monitoring mission, demands the UN chief has rejected.

On Friday, the rebel military council had given Syrian President Bashar al-Assad an ultimatum to end violence in the country or face armed reprisals.

"We have decided to end our commitment to this [plan] and starting from that date [Friday] we began defending our people," rebel spokesman Major Sami al-Kurdi told Reuters news agency.

Kurdi was hopeful the current UN-led observer mission to be transformed into “a peace enforcing mission,” with a no-fly zone and a buffer zone being implemented with a mind to toppling the current government.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has rejected the rebels’ call for armed international intervention, saying Annan’s six-point peace plan remains “central” to resolving the crisis, he told the agency on the sidelines of an Islamic Development Bank meeting in Jeddah.

Ban implored Damascus to unequivocally halt violence “in the name of humanity” and redouble its efforts in negotiating with the opposition.

International peace envoy Kofi Annan is expected to meet with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington on Friday to hold talks on the country, his spokesman said on Monday.

On Sunday, Annan warned “the specter of an all-out war, with an alarming sectarian dimension,” was growing by the day.

The news follows rebel reports that at least 100 Syrian soldiers were killed in clashes and attacks on security check points over the weekend. Insurgents also claim to have destroyed tanks during intense fighting with government forces across the country, including the suburbs of Damascus and the northwestern province of Idlib.

The oppositional Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says it has confirmed the names of 80 slain soldiers with local medics, while Syrian state media reported on Monday that 30 security force members killed in the weekend clashes had been interred.

Tensions in Syria have come to a head following the recent Houla Massacre which left 108 people dead, including 34 women and 49 children.

The UN Security Council strongly condemned the Houla incident, demanding that the Syrian government put an end to using heavy artillery in heavily-populated areas. On Friday, the UN Human Rights Council overwhelmingly voted to condemn Damascus for the events, calling for “a special inquiry” to determine who was behind the massacre.

Russia voted against the resolution, saying the document was unbalanced as it put responsibility for the violence solely on government forces.

Assad for his part denied complicity in the killings on Sunday, saying that “even monsters would not have carried out” the brutal massacre at Houla. The Syrian president remains adamant his country is embroiled in a full-scale civil war, blaming terrorists and external forces for the 15 months of bloodshed that has claimed over 10,000 lives

Pro-Gaddafis gain control of Bani Walid

Loyalists of Muammar Gaddafi. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222659.html

Following a deadly attack against a base in Bani Walid, loyalists of slain Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi have reportedly gained control over his one-time bastion.

"The loyalists of Gaddafi took control of the entire city of Bani Walid," former National Transitional Council (NTC) member M'barek al-Fotmani said on Monday.

The latest developments follow an attack by loyalists against a base, killing at least five “thuwar” (anti-Gaddafi revolutionaries) and injuring tens more. A commander is reportedly among the dead.

According to Fotmani, the loyalists were carrying green flags and chanting pro-Gaddafi slogans.

Bani Walid, 170 kilometers (110 miles) south of Tripoli, was one of the last pro-Gaddafi bastions to fall in the deadly uprising against the former dictator's rule.

Meanwhile, the US has sent some 12,000 troops to Libya. The deployment is said to be aimed at generating stability and security in the region, the troops are expected to take control of the country's key oil fields and strategic ports.

The security situation in the country remains fragile months after the overthrow of Gaddafi. Militias have largely refused to heed calls to disarm.

In Libya, protesters have been holding regular demonstrations for weeks, demanding the ouster of Gaddafi-era officials and more transparency about how the NTC is spending Libyan assets.

US deploys 12,000 troops in Libya

Smoke coming from an oil terminal in the Libyan port city of Brega. (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222317.html

The United States has sent some 12,000 soldiers to Libya, in the first phase of deployments to the oil-rich North African nation.

According to Asharq Alawsat, the troops landed in the eastern oil port city of Brega.

Although the deployment is said to be aimed at generating stability and security in the region, the troops are expected to take control of the country's key oil fields and strategic ports.

Brega, the site of an important oil refinery, serves as a major export hub for Libyan oil. The town is also one of the five oil terminals in the eastern half of the country.

Following the popular uprising of the Libyan people, NATO launched a major air campaign against the forces of the former regime on March 19, 2011 under a UN mandate to “protect the Libyan population.”

The Western military alliance, however, was heavily criticized for its failure to protect civilians and taking action beyond the terms of the UN mandate.

On October 20, Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi was killed in his hometown of Sirte, eight months into an uprising that put an end to his 42-year dictatorship.

Human rights groups have accused NATO of committing war crimes and human rights violations against Libyans.

Libyan protesters storm local NTC HQ

People protest against the National Transitional Council and its chairman, Mustafa Abdel Jalil, in the city center of Benghazi, Libya, on December 16, 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/222382.html

Angry protesters have stormed the local headquarters of Libya's ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) in the eastern coastal city of Benghazi after besieging the building for hours.

Witnesses said the incident occurred late on Saturday after wounded veteran revolutionary fighters held a demonstration outside the NTC's headquarters in Benghazi -- situated 651 kilometers (404 miles) east of the capital Tripoli -- and a group of them stormed the building.

Protesters, armed with stones and iron bars, ransacked the offices. Some people even hurled empty plastic bottles at NTC Chairman Mustafa Abdul Jalil as he came out to calm down the crowd.

“Go away, go away," protesters chanted as Abdul Jalil spoke. Demonstrators also damaged a vehicle used by the NTC chairman.

A brigade of guards finally secured a passage, allowing Abdel Jalil and other NTC members to leave the building.

The incident happened two days after NTC Deputy Chairman Abdul Hafiz Ghoga was manhandled by university students in Benghazi.

Benghazi is the birthplace of the Libyan uprising, which ousted former dictator Muammar Gaddafi in August 2011.

Protesters have been holding regular demonstrations in Benghazi for several weeks, demanding the ouster of Gaddafi-era officials and more transparency about how the NTC is spending Libyan assets.

NATO rapped over 'war crimes' in Libya

A file image of a NATO airstrike on a residential area in the Libyan capital, Tripoli, in June 2011

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221883.html

A new report by human rights groups in the Middle East has charged NATO with committing war crimes and human rights violations in Libya.

The report was published on Thursday by the Arab Organization for Human Rights, together with the Palestinian Center for Human Rights and the International Legal Assistance Consortium.

Following interviews with eyewitnesses and victims of the Libyan war and after examining areas bombarded by NATO fighter jets, the report states that the Western military alliance targeted a number of civilian areas instead of military sites, particularly in the city of Sirte, during its war in the North African country.

The development comes as NATO's Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen claimed in a recent statement that “NATO carried out this operation very carefully, without confirmed civilian casualties."

The independent report also implicates other warring factions and participants in the war, including forces loyal to former Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi as well as the nation's revolutionary forces in its war crime charges.

Meanwhile, Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court Luis Moreno-Ocampo stated in November 2011 that an investigation would be carried out on the role of the NATO alliance as well as the two Libyan groups involved in the operations.

NATO launched a major air campaign against forces of the former Libyan regime on March 19, 2011 under a UN mandate to “protect the Libyan population.”

The Western military alliance, however, was heavily criticized for its failure to protect civilians and taking action beyond the terms of the UN mandate.

MESSAGE FROM MUAMMAR AL GADDAFI, SEPTEMBER 8, 2011

Source: Mathaba News
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=628579

Libyan Brother Leader Muammar Qaddafi Speech on September 8th, 2011

To our brave Libyan people that are resisting,

The land of Libya is your property and your right from the days of your grandfathers and great grandfathers.

Those that attempt to revoke it from you are foreign backed mercenaries, stray dogs, those foreigners that have resided in Libya for a long time, that attempt to take the land of your grandfathers away from you.

This is impossible. We will never leave the land of our grandfathers. Their families back then where spies for Italy, and now are spies for France and Britain. The same sons are following in the footsteps of their fathers and grandfathers, the steps of dishonor.

These rats and armed scum are examples of their grandfathers. Each one of them is a clone and a mock-up of traitor-ship. They are not Libyan.

Ask about any of those that are backed by NATO, that destroy Libyan infrastructure and kill Libyan children, and you will find that his grandfather and his dad where traitors. They carry the genes of traitors.

Do you think those who carry the genes of traitors from their grandparents and great grandparents are going to decide the fate of the Libyan people?

When they realize that the Libyan people have turned up the ratchet and have refused to accept them they revert to the dirty tricks of the villainous Arab TV channels and the gulf donkeys.

They ask them to come up with any lie to save them. They tell them we feel the earth tremble under our feet, and we feel the masses advance towards us, and that we will lose the ground that we have gained, please save us! with a lie or a rumor that will destroy the morale of the resistant Libyan people. That will destroy the morale of the sons of the Al-Fatah revolution.

They ask the villainous horns of lies to save them with a lie or two, a rumor here and there.

At the beginning they said he’s gone to Venezuela. It turned out to be a lie. Now they are fed up and they have said he has gone to Niger to destroy your morale and make you surrender.

This is an indication that they know that your morale and spirits are high.

The people in Tripoli are getting ready to destroy the rats and capture the mercenaries which are like a pack of weasels with no agreement among themselves. Their masters will abandon them soon, even their bomb supplies have been depleted nor do they have aircraft to fight with.

They think that NATO will stay forever in the skies. NATO will return defeated, whether it likes it or not, because its financial position does not allow it to continue with its air bombardments. They feel that they are on the battlefield alone.

They bring the horns of lies to rescue them by spreading rumors and lies such as Qaddafi has been injured, Qaddafi has fled, such and such has happened to Qaddafi. This means that they are facing a bottleneck and that their masters are going to desert them. That they will flip on one another.

The Libyan people in its “Million Man Marches” indicated its position to the world, these people are still alive. They have nothing to resort to now but psychological warfare to influence you. Do not be influenced by these psychological advertisements or lies. This should make you able to mock the weak enemy that is in front of you, a bunch of traitors and drunkards, a bunch of Islamists that have strayed from law and order that have no objective but to destroy the country.

They do nott even have a diplomatic or economic plan. They want to destroy the country. You saw what that the armed rebels did when they entered Tripoli. They looted it. They looted homes and stole the gold that belonged to the women.

Each individual ran back to his tribe with the stolen booty, laid down his weapons and claimed that he is victorious.

The Libyan people should not be silenced by such individuals. We should not leave our land to such menial cowards to steal the land of our grandfathers that are backed by the crusaders that are now looking back at their failed colonialist plot and are repeating their calculations. They will be left on the battlefield alone to resort to things that affect your morale the most.

The last thing from them was that we saw Qaddafi’s convey enter Niger. What nonsense. This is not the first time conveys have been seen in the area, from Mali, Chad and Algeria, entering and exiting the Sahara desert. It’s as if it is the first convey ever to enter Niger!

Be careful. Look to your homeland and stay determined against these lies and false propaganda.

Allahu Akbar to the front !

Libyan revolutionary leader to sue Britain

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/197521.html

A Libyan revolutionary leader has demanded an apology from the British officials as he announced plans to sue the government realizing Britain's role in his rendition.

Abdel Hakim Belhadj (also known as Abdullah al-Sadiq), the military commander who led the revolutionary forces into the Libyan capital Tripoli, was detained by the US's Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in Malaysia in 2004 over the suspicions of having links to Al-Qaeda.

The American forces transferred Belhadj to Thailand for interrogation. Nonetheless, after the interrogation, they rendered Belhadj to Libya delivering him to Gaddafi, apparently, in exchange for information which Gaddafi's agents had given to them.

Gaddafi regime sent Belhadj to its notorious Abu Salim prison where he was tortured and imprisoned for seven years.

Secret documents found by emergencies director for Human Rights Watch, Peter Bouckaert, revealed Britain's complicity in the rendition plot that delivered Belhadj to Gaddafi.

Bouckaert discovered a memo entitled “for the urgent personal attention of Musa Kusa” in an office used by Libya's former head of external security, Musa Kusa. The memo was dated March 18, 2004 with the address being “London SE1.”

Belhadj, the head of Tripoli's military council who commands about 8000 revolutionary forces in Libya, has asserted that the British government betrayed him when he sought asylum through the British High Commission in Malaysia in 2004.

“His suffering is very difficult to forget and he deserves a clear apology from the US and UK ... He may one day take legal action,” said a spokesman for Belhadj.

The revelations come as leaked documents revealed the British government's close relationship with Gaddafi's regime to the extent that Britain provided the regime with information about anti-Gaddafi activists living in the UK.

As the coalition government officials try to distance themselves from the revelations, some political analysts have broached the fact that the intelligence and Foreign Office staff are still in post, therefore the government should respond to the allegations.

NATO: Libya mission to continue

A US fighter jet takes off at the Aviano NATO airbase, in Aviano, Italy. (File photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196994.html

Western leaders have agreed to continue the military mission in Libya "as long as necessary," NATO's secretary general says.

"We have announced that operations will continue as long as necessary, as long as there is a threat to civilians," Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after talks in Paris between Libyan interim leaders and the international community.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy and British Prime Minister David Cameron whose governments led the military campaign in the North African country, stressed their warplanes would continue operations in Libya.

"NATO and our allies will continue our operations to implement UN resolutions ... as long as we are needed to protect civilian life," Cameron said, at a joint press conference with Sarkozy and Libya's interim leaders.

UN Resolution 1973 authorized a no-fly zone over Libya, permitting all necessary measures to protect civilians against Gaddafi forces.

The Western military alliance has carried out 21,090 sorties, including 7,920 strike sorties on targets claimed to be of military nature.

However, hundreds of Libyan civilians have reportedly lost their lives since NATO took command of airstrikes on March 31.

NATO airstrikes have also severely damaged Libya's infrastructure.

UK to send team to secure Libya oil deals

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196891.html

After imposing the war for oil in Libya, the British government is to send a team of negotiators to Tripoli to make sure that UK firms do not lose out to Russian and Chinese companies over oil contracts with the new Libyan government.

The government department responsible for the promotion of the country's business revealed that its team of trade officials will go to the Libyan capital “very soon” in order to begin talks with the new ruling National Transitional Council (NTC) and to sign lucrative oil deals.

Senior Whitehall officials confirmed the news, insisting that British Trade and Investment is planning to renew its oil contracts in Libya quickly, amid rising fears that Russian and Chinese oil firms are seeking to secure the best of the contracts.

“British oil companies have been major players in Libya and I'm sure that they will want to get back in there,” a Whitehall source said.

UK Trade & Investment's spokesman earlier disclosed that the government is planning to win the lucrative deals in Libya's oil market. Saying: “As soon as the situation on the ground allows, UKTI has plans to provide in-country support and advice to companies wishing to be part of the reconstruction effort.”

Libya is a country possessing a tremendous amount of oil, which is sweet crude. Right before the Western powers launched their air strikes back in March, the oil-rich country produced around 1.6 million barrels per day. It was the world's seventeenth-largest oil producer and the third largest in Africa. However, after six months of war, Libya's oil production has been reduced to just 100,000 barrels per day.

While Russia and China declined to support the NATO military operation in Libya to oust Muammar Gaddafi, they are now fighting to land profitable energy and construction contracts with Libya.

The Russian Africa envoy, Mikhail Margelov, revealed that the Russian government who had signed energy and infrastructure deals worth billions with Gaddafi's regime, would not miss out. “We intend to uphold Russian economic and other interests in Libya,” he said.

'British forces in Libya to hunt Gaddafi'

British soldiers (file photo)

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196818.html

Britain's Special Air Service (SAS) officers are in Libya to search for the fugitive ruler Muammar Gaddafi as his son, Seif al-Islam pledges to continue fighting, a report says.

Large numbers of SAS officers have arrived at Libyan coasts to start hunting for Gaddafi and his network of supporters, sources in Libya told Britain's ITV News on Wednesday.

A smaller group of British special forces have launched their operations from the eastern city of Benghazi, the report said.

Britain's Ministry of Defense has refused to confirm the report, saying the government is not willing to comment on operations carried out by special forces.

Since NATO launched its air campaign in Libya, Britain has conducted secret operations in the North African country to cut off the regime from its vital resources, British media said.

British government has set up "Libya Oil Cell" to cut the Gaddafi regime access to fuel and make sure revolutionary fighters in eastern Libya can get the reserves.

A British Royal Air Forces plane on Wednesday flew nearly 280 million Libyan dinars ($212 million) to Libya to be distributed to banks to enable them to pay the public sector workers who have not received their salaries during the six months of conflict in the country.

Britain's move comes a day after the UN gave permission to the European country to release some of the frozen assets of the Libyan fugitive ruler.

Gaddafi sons send mixed signals

Seif al-Islam Gaddafi

Source: Press TV
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196807.html

Two of the sons of Libyan fugitive ruler Muammar Gaddafi have given contradictory messages, one vowing to fight defiantly while the other negotiating his surrender.

Seif al-Islam Gaddafi said on Wednesday that the fight against revolutionary forces still continues and “victory is near.”

“I am talking to you from a suburb of Tripoli. We want to reassure the Libyan people that we are still here. The resistance continues and victory is near,” Seif al-Islam said.

He made the remarks in an audio tape on the Damascus-based Al-Rai television station, AFP reported.

Gaddafi's son urged the Libyan people to fight against the “enemy.”

Gaddafi's other son, Saadi, has reportedly held negotiations with officials from the Transitional National Council about his surrender after he told an Arabic television that he had no problems with revolutionary forces if they take over power.

The TNC said they would provide security for Saadi if he surrenders.

Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini said on Wednesday that Gaddafi is hiding somewhere in the desert, ruling out speculations that the fugitive ruler has fled to neighboring Algeria with his family members.

Gaddafi's wife Safiya, his daughter Aisha, and his sons Hannibal and Mohammed, entered Algeria on Monday morning through the Algerian-Libyan border.

UK, France deploy ground troops to Libya

Source: Press TV

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/196546.html

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has confirmed that some of its member countries such as Britain and France may have troops deployed to Libya.

An unnamed NATO official admitted that Britain and France have deployed ground troops inside the Libyan territory, but said it would be "unfair to call them NATO forces."

Meanwhile, the Russian ambassador to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, said there is "direct evidence" that British and French Special Forces were carrying out ground operations in Libya in violation of UN Security Council resolution 1973.

The resolution, passed in March, authorized a no-fly zone over Libya to protect civilians.

NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said last week the alliance had no troops on the ground in Libya, and would not have any after the regime fell.

"The leading role in the post-Gaddafi period in supporting the Libyan people rests with the United Nations and the Contact Group. NATO will be in a supporting role… NATO will have no troops on the ground," Lungescu told reporters in Brussels.

British Defense Secretary Liam Fox told Sky News last week that the [revolutionary forces] were getting intelligence and reconnaissance assistance from NATO.

Last week, Britain's Daily Telegraph newspaper claimed that Britain's elite Special Air Service regiment (SAS) were helping the [revolutionary forces] hunt down Col Muammar Gaddafi, whose forces have lost control of most of the country including the capital Tripoli.

Gaddafi's whereabouts remain unknown, though the transitional government says he is still in hiding in Tripoli.

The [revolutionary forces], who seized Tripoli a week ago, have offered a USD1.3 million reward and amnesty from prosecution for anyone who kills or captures Gaddafi.