The Syrian Civil War

[Little Bug]

As far as I've been concerned (and, probably most of us here in RR ) civil war has been going on for many months in Syria---like Verisimilitude said, it certain took them long enough to say it! Soooo many innocent people being tortured and murdered! I just checked out an article on Drudge regarding the "steroid-mad thugs" keeping Assad in power. These bearded and, literally, "pumped-up" monsters are called "Ghost killers." They're awful! I am SO PRAYING for the innocent civilians in Syria! Those poor, sweet children!!!

[LightOfMyLife]

As far as I've been concerned (and, probably most of us here in RR ) civil war has been going on for many months in Syria---like Verisimilitude said, it certain took them long enough to say it! Soooo many innocent people being tortured and murdered! I just checked out an article on Drudge regarding the "steroid-mad thugs" keeping Assad in power. These bearded and, literally, "pumped-up" monsters are called "Ghost killers." They're awful! I am SO PRAYING for the innocent civilians in Syria! Those poor, sweet children!!!

The loss of life is so & I also for the innocent civilians in Syria. The Damascus prophecy of Isaiah 17:1 can't be far away.

[tbrian40]

The real question is who is fighting who and for what cause?

[Homesick777]

Syrian rebels are being armed by Saudi Arabia and Qatar, The Independent has learnt, in a development that threatens to inflame a regional power struggle provoked by the 15-month-old uprising against the Assad regime.

However, three weeks ago, members of the loose assortment of rebel groups that comprises the FSA said they had received multiple shipments of arms including Kalashnikov assault rifles, BKC machine guns, rocket-propelled grenades and anti-tank weaponry from Gulf countries and that Turkey was assisting in the delivery of the weapons.

"The Turkish government helped us to be armed," said one member of the FSA living in the Turkey-Syria border area. He claimed that the weapons had arrived at a Turkish port via ship and were then driven to the border without interference from Turkish authorities.

...the diplomat voiced concerns that, in practice, the weapons have only been delivered to rebels sympathetic to the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, the dominant group within the SNC. "Only Muslim Brother groups are getting weapons," he said. Activists along the border not affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood said they had not heard of the weapons being delivered until just a few days ago.

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=123313

Irregardless of who wins in Syria, the next stop is Israel, whether the majority of the Syrian sheeple are aware of it at this time or not. The sooner the civil war is stopped, the sooner Israel will suffer at the hands of the newly united Syrians as they turn their attention to their long-standing mutual enemy.

[Alex]

Ahhhhh nothing like the sounds of the cold war ringing its bell.

We help one side, USSR helps the other and visa vera.

[Reason&Hope]

I thought it was interesting that while Russia is helping Syria, Turkey is helping the rebels - the Muslim Brotherhood, actually.

How is that going to work out in a future Iran-Russia-Turkey alliance?

[lesterlrj]

I thought it was interesting that while Russia is helping Syria, Turkey is helping the rebels - the Muslim Brotherhood, actually.

How is that going to work out in a future Iran-Russia-Turkey alliance?

Their intense and mutual hatred for Israel will "smooth things out" between the three me thinks.

[Raphael]

Just a tip of the hat to Mother Russia - at least she is consistent. What a heartwarming discussion it must have been:

"Syria is in turmoil. Women and children are being slaughtered. Citizens are being brutalized and their neighborhoods are being bombed. What aid should we send?

Emergency food supplies?..........NYET
Potable water?........................NYET
Emergency medical supplies?......NYET
Mobile surgical hospitals?...........NYET
Cargo planes to evacuate those wanting to escape?.......NYET

Attack helicopters for the murderers in power?................DA!!!"

[$teve]

This is what I was trying to say in my post yesterday...

Syria becoming wider global, regional proxy war

(Reuters) - With the United States accusing Russia of providing attack helicopters and ethnic violence spiraling out of control, Syria's conflict is pulling world and regional powers into a mounting proxy confrontation.

While Washington, Moscow and Beijing as well as European and Middle Eastern capitals have all endorsed Kofi Annan's peace plan, analysts say it has become increasingly obvious that they have also been taking sides.

Publicly critical of violence by all parties but broadly lining up behind embattled Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad are not only Iran but also long-term ally Russia. At stake for Moscow could be its Tartus naval base and lucrative trade, including arms sales. While there are few signs of any direct involvement, China looks to be throwing its diplomatic weight behind Moscow, both keen to avoid a repeat of events in Libya.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/...85C13720120613

[katiesmom07]

Found a live stream of whats going on in Homs - http://bambuser.com/v/2735300

a lot of gunfire going on in the distance, sounds close. I can see smoke in the background. Loud explosions can be heard from the shelling going on.

I can't imagine the horror of the innocents caught in the middle. Worst thing about watching this is there is nobody in the streets, but it still continues.

Who is live streaming on bambuser.com? Is there more info on what is being seen there?

[twisty58]

This is just off-the-charts more horror than I can imagine. Those poor women and children!
I almost pray for the final destruction of Damascus so that this horror will stop. Jesus
will come soon.

[iSong6:3]

Russia, US Nearing Proxy War in Syria
France wants UN to call for "all means" to end Syrian carnage.Russia accused the US of arming Syrian rebels. Cold War or proxy war?
By Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
First Publish: 6/13/2012, 6:30 PM

France has called on the United Nations to authorize using "all means" necessary to end the carnage in Syria, bringing the civil war closer to the edge of a proxy war between Russia and the Western alliance.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Wednesday accused the United States of supplying weapons to Syria's opposition, hours after U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton charged that Moscow is sending a new shipment of attack helicopters to Damascus.

Lavrov spoke during a brief visit to Iran, which along with Syria are two of Russia’s favorite nations for investment of nuclear development and arms exports.

The Russian foreign minister said that supplying "anti-air defense systems" to Syrian President Bashar Assad "in no way violates international laws.” Reflecting an increasing Cold War attitude, he added, "That contrasts with what the United States is doing with the opposition, which is providing arms to the Syrian opposition which are being used against the Syrian government.”

Pravda last November headlined “Russia and USA on verge of another Cold War” over an article concerning America’s missile defense system in Europe. Dmitry Medvedev, now prime minister, said that Russia will deploy new ballistic missiles that can guarantee the total destruction of the European part of the air defense system.

Lavrov’s accusations of Washington’s sending weapons to Syrian rebels was the first time Russia has directly fingered the United States.

One deterrent from direct Western military intervention in Syria has been the fear that the civil war could erupt into an all-out proxy war that could blow up into a regional conflict, with Assad backed by Russia and Iran and the opposition backed by the United States and Western allies. The likelihood of military intervention increased Wednesday with France's appeal, which would require the United Nations to use force if that is the only way to impose Kofi Annan's six-point peace plan.

Reporters grilled U.S. State Dept. spokeswoman Olivia Nuland Tuesday on Clinton’s statement concerning the attack helicopters. She refused to answer if the choppers were on the way or already had arrived.

One journalist implied that the shipment of helicopters was justified because Syria might need them to defend itself against Israel. Nuland replied, “I think the concern that we have is that the arms that the regime has are not being used for external defense. They’re not being used for external planning. They’re being used to kill their own citizens, especially civilians – women and children and men.” http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/156845

[iSong6:3]

UN Observers in Syria Attacked as Civil War Continues
UN observers in Syria blocked from a besieged rebel-held town, as peacekeeping chief admits there is a civil war.
By Elad Benari
First Publish: 6/13/2012, 5:12 AM

UN observers in Syria were attacked on Tuesday with stones, metal rods and gunfire that blocked them from a besieged rebel-held town, where civilians were feared trapped by government shelling.

The Associated Press reported that the UN observers were not hurt as they were turned back by the assault on their vehicles by an angry crowd near the town of Haffa. The source of the gunfire was not clear.

Activists blamed regime loyalists for the attack. The violence raised questions about the ability of about 300 unarmed monitors to provide a useful assessment of a country that is spiraling toward civil war.

“All UN observers are now back at their bases and are secure,” Sausan Ghosheh, a spokeswoman for UN observers in Syria, was quoted by AP as having said. She added monitors have been trying to reach Haffa since June 7.

Meanwhile, the UN's peacekeeping chief, Herve Ladsous, said the Syrian conflict had escalated into civil war.

“Yes, I think one can say that,” Ladsous was quoted as having told news agencies in an interview.

A spokesman for Ladsous, Kieran Dwyer, told AP that UN observers have seen a steep rise in violence and a dangerous shift in tactics by both sides in Syria in the last five days.

He said the Syrian government, intent on wresting back control of rebel-held areas, is shelling heavily populated districts and using attack helicopters over cities “with devastating impact on civilians.” The opposition, in turn, is increasingly coordinating attacks against government forces and civilian infrastructure, and “the conflict has reached all parts of Syria virtually,” he said.

The deteriorating situation in Haffa has raised alarm in the past eight days, and Washington said on Monday that regime forces may be preparing a massacre in the village, which is about 20 miles from President Bashar Assad's hometown of Kardaha in Latakia.

Activists said government forces were firing mortar rounds into the village.

The UN’s special envoy to Syria, Kofi Annan, renewed calls Tuesday for the bloodshed to end. Annan brokered a peace plan that was supposed to go into effect April 12 but never took hold.

“It is totally unacceptable and it must stop,” Annan’s spokesman, Ahmad Fawzi, was quoted by AP as having said, “and that is why Annan has invited governments with influence to raise the bar to another level, to the highest level possible, and twist arms if necessary, to get the parties to implement the plan.”

Meanwhile on Tuesday, the U.S. accused Russia of escalating the Syrian conflict by sending attack helicopters to President Bashar Assad's regime.

“We are concerned about the latest information we have that there are attack helicopters on the way from Russia to Syria, which will escalate the conflict quite dramatically,” Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Washington.

There was no immediate reaction from the Russian Foreign Ministry. Moscow insists that any arms it supplies to its Damascus ally are not being used against anti-government protesters in the 15-month-old uprising.

On Monday, the UN charged that Assad’s armed forces kill and sexually attack children and use them as human shields.

“In almost all recorded cases, children were among the victims of military operations by government forces, including the Syrian armed forces, the intelligence forces and the shabiha militia, in their ongoing conflict with the opposition, including the Free Syrian Army,” the UN stated in its annual report on children and armed conflict.

Syrian opposition sources claimed last week that aircraft belonging to the Syrian Air Force dropped toxic material into the province of Daraa, which smells like sulfur and causes drowsiness and unconsciousness.

It was also reported that Assad’s forces had used unidentified gas shells on civilians in Daraa, Hama and Deir ez-Zor.

In a meeting with the Druze community in the Golan Heights on Saturday, Deputy Minister MK Ayoub Kara was presented with evidence that clearly indicates the use of chemical weapons by the Assad regime, including photos of big black clouds suspected of containing chemical material that were fired over the areas where battles between rebels and regime forces have been taking place. http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/156820

[araj54]

This situation is getting more interesting by the day. I don't pretend to know what is going on, but I think this whole situation is demonically inspired with the destruction of Israel as the ultimate goal.
There is just as much mayhem going on in several African countries, but nary a peep about those from the UN. Being the UN is so personally involved with this situation, I just don't know.

[Homesick777]

I thought it was interesting that while Russia is helping Syria, Turkey is helping the rebels - the Muslim Brotherhood, actually.

How is that going to work out in a future Iran-Russia-Turkey alliance?

There are still too many variables at this time, but surely Israel will be blamed for the destruction of Damascus, whether they actually do the deed or not. One possible scenario is that Assad uses chemical or biological weapons across a vast area in the north, killing millions of his own people of Turkish descent, thereby losing their Russian support because of this horrendous act. Turkey possesses 90 nuclear weapons under the auspices of NATO, all of which (I believe) would leave an American nuclear signature. Covert delivery might be via a third party (Russia), possibly by sea. Russia, Turkey and Iran would be left united in their little secret. This could be the prelude to Isa. 17 coming to fruition, although in reverse order of what I had expected.

[tbrian40]

There are still too many variables at this time, but surely Israel will be blamed for the destruction of Damascus, whether they actually do the deed or not. One possible scenario is that Assad uses chemical or biological weapons across a vast area in the north, killing millions of his own people of Turkish descent, thereby losing their Russian support because of this horrendous act.

That sounds eerily familiar doesn't it? Saddam, 1980's.

[GeoWolf]

Who is live streaming on bambuser.com? Is there more info on what is being seen there?

Had some time to watch the livestream this morning - The person streaming the war zone in Homs believes they may be prepping tanks to go into Homs, the mortars over the last few days have targeted mainly high buildings where tanks cant get the elevation to reach

The mortars have gotten closer to the man streaming over the last couple of days. Seems the shelling & gunfire has escalated today

[Lucid]

The real question is who is fighting who and for what cause?

Is it somewhat religious, too?

Like Sunni vs. Shiite? Or Sunni vs. Alawite?

Alawites are Twelvers.

Hafez Assad was an Alawite. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alawi

Which definitely makes for cozy relationship between Ahmadinejad and Assad.

What's the difference between Shiites and Sunnis?

http://islam.about.com/cs/divisions/f/shia_sunni.htm

The differences between these two main sub-groups within Islam initially stemmed not from spiritual differences, but political ones.

I believe the leaders in Saudi Arabia are Sunnis which is why they're willing to arm the resistance.

Sunni, Shiite, Alawite. Sunni, Shiite, Alawite.

[In Christ]

This situation is getting more interesting by the day. I don't pretend to know what is going on, but I think this whole situation is demonically inspired with the destruction of Israel as the ultimate goal.
There is just as much mayhem going on in several African countries, but nary a peep about those from the UN. Being the UN is so personally involved with this situation, I just don't know.

Bingo... I agree demonically inspired for sure..

[RandallB]

This situation is getting more interesting by the day. I don't pretend to know what is going on, but I think this whole situation is demonically inspired with the destruction of Israel as the ultimate goal.

There is just as much mayhem going on in several African countries, but nary a peep about those from the UN. Being the UN is so personally involved with this situation, I just don't know.

ing for those caught in between these two (UN = 3???) forces of evil. There is no side that can be taken except the Lord's.


In reading the last chapter in the Book -- He Wins!!!