News from Syria is grim.
Libya 2.0 looms. Fabricating a chemical weapons threat looks like pretext
for full-scale war.
On December 8, the Toronto Sun said Foreign Affairs officials urged Canadian
citizens to leave Syria. Maybe they know something they're not explaining.
On December 9, Israel National News said the London Sunday Times said
IDF special forces now operate inside Syria. Allegedly they're trying
to locate "non-conventional weapons" and "sabotage" them.
Israel considered ground and/or air attacks to destroy them. Perhaps they're
still planned. The Sunday Times said if evidence suggests Assad used chemical
weapons, Washington and Israel "might coordinate to carry out a ground
invasion."
An unnamed military source told the Times that US forces could be ready
"rapidly within days" if chemical weapons are used. "The muscle is already
there to be flexed."
On December 9, The Times of Israel headlined "Syrian rebels claim new
video shows victims of chemical attack."
A You Tube clip depicts alleged victims. It shows dead and injured Syrians
with disfigured faces. Assad is blamed.
Days earlier, a You Tube video showed Syrian insurgents testing chemical
weapons on lab rabbits. Threats to use them against Assad loyalists followed.
Lab equipment and chemical containers were shown. Some containers bore
the Turkish chemical company Tekkim name.
An Arabic text wall poster read, "The Almighty Wind Brigade (Kateebat
A Reeh Al Sarsar)."
A man shown begins mixing chemicals in a beaker. It emits gas. Rabbits
in a glass box have convulsions, collapse and die. The audio states:
"You saw what happened. This will be your fate, you infidel Alawites.
I swear by Allah to make you die like these rabbits, one minute after
you inhale the gas."
Earlier reports said insurgents were given gas masks. They suggested a
possible chemical attack coming blamed on Assad.
Saudi Arabia allegedly fitted ambulances and other vehicles with anti-gas/anti-chemical
filtering systems in preparation for Free Syrian Army chemical attacks
blamed on him.
Perhaps a major false flag incident looms. Daily headlines suggest Assad's
days are numbered.
UK Foreign Secretary William Hague claims "some evidence" he saw indicates
Assad is readying chemical weapons for use on opposition fighters.
He's seen nothing, of course, but media scoundrels don't explain. At the
same time, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said "we see no sign
that this weaponry is being pointed at us."
Over the weekend, US and Russian diplomats met in Geneva. Foreign Minister
Lavrov said doing so doesn't mean Moscow thinks Assad's fall is inevitable.
"We are not (discussing) Assad's fate," he said. "And all attempts to
present the situation in any other way are unscrupulous, even for diplomats
from those countries which are well-known for their intention to distort
facts in their favor."
Lavrov accused US officials of spreading false rumors about Russia softening
its position on Syria.
"US representatives started to make statements hinting that Russia is
changing its position," he said. "This is not true. We have not changed
our position, and only on these conditions we agreed to hold the Geneva
meeting."
"We said we would be ready under one condition: that the basis of such
brainstorming sessions will be formed by the Geneva document, without
any additions, without any ultimatums, without any preconditions like
President Assad's resignation."
Lavrov referred to the June Geneva meeting joint statement. It said any
future Syrian transition government "could include members of the present
government and the opposition and other groups and shall be formed on
the basis of mutual consent."
Washington twisted the language to mean a future Syrian government must
exclude Assad. Doing so, of course, disregards the will of most Syrians.
The present government has strong popular support. The longer conflict
rages, the more it grows.
On December 9, RIA Novosti headlined "Russia Rules Out Libyan Scenario
in Syria." On Sunday, Lavrov said:
"We’ll not allow the Libyan experience to be reproduced in Syria. Unfortunately
our Western partners have departed from the Geneva accords and are seeking
the departure of….Assad."
He added that Syrians alone should choose their government.
Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said Syrian leaders
assured Moscow that chemical weapons are secure and won't be used.
"The Syrian government is assuring us that it will not allow their spread,"
said Patrushev. "We hope that this will be so."
He and Lavrov expressed more concern about foreign elements using them.
They seized a chemical facility near Aleppo. Substances it produces can
be used for chemical weapons.
Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) posts regular inflammatory reports. They
allege Assad may use chemical weapons. On December 10, it claimed he may
have "passed some" to Hezbollah.
Unnamed "Syrian army" defectors alleged "containers were last week removed
from Syrian bases at Jabal Kalamon and loaded on vehicles camouflaged
as commercial trucks."
Contents are "thought to have been split up and hidden at different Hizbollah
bases to make them harder to attack."
Israeli US ambassador Michael Oren said he has no information on this.
At the same time, he called supplying Hezbollah with chemical weapons
a "game changer/red line" for Israel.
"We have a very clear red line about those chemical weapons passing into
the wrong hands," he said. Can you imagine if Hezbollah and its 70,000
rockets would get its hands on chemical weapons? That could kill thousands
of people."
He said nothing about Israel's powerful nuclear, chemical and biological
arsenal. If threatened, it's willing to use it. Israel menaces the entire
region and beyond. Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, and Hamas threaten no one.
DF again alleged a Syrian sarin nerve gas threat. Baseless claims don't
wash but get repeated. It claims chemical weapons are deployed near "at
least five air force bases, with evidence of preparations to use them."
Placing them near warplanes "indicates an intention….to drop poison gas
from the air."
According to unnamed "Western and Israeli intelligence officials," Assad
"directed his troops fighting in and around Damascus to use chemical weapons
if" foreign fighters appear able to "seiz(e) any part of Damascus international
airport."
These and similar claims are baseless. For days, they've been circulating.
Repetition makes people believe them.
Heightened tensions suggests full-scale intervention looms. Ravaging Syria
may follow. A potential bloodbath looks possible. It may exceed
the worst of Libya.
On December 10, Voice of Russia (VoR) said Islamist rebels claim they
seized a key north Syria army base at Sheikh Suleiman.
German Federal Intelligence Service head Gerhard Schindler believes Assad's
government is close to falling. "Armed rebels are coordinating better,
which is making their fight….more effective," he claims.
On Friday, a new unified command was established. Extremist elements are
involved. Estimates suggest two-thirds of its representatives are Muslim
Brotherhood and Salafist allies.
Washington wants Islamist fascist regimes throughout the region. It goes
all-out to prevent democracies.
"Evidence is mounting that the regime in Damascus is now in its final
phase," said Schindler.
On December 10, the Syrian Free Press presented a different view on the
ground. "The Armed Forces Continue Targeting Terrorists and Their Hideouts,"
it headlined.
Many foreign fighters were killed. The Aleppo al-Bakkarh area was "completely
cleared." Large stocks of weapons and munitions were seized or destroyed.
Fighting continues in other areas. Army units inflicted "heavy losses"
on terrorists in Daraya and around Aleppo.
VoR said the Al-Watan news service reported that about 1,000 insurgents
were killed in a battle east of Aleppo. Middle East expert Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky
said foreign military intervention perhaps is imminent.
It "could be staged in a way to look like the opposition's offensive with
foreign mercenaries taking part in the operation."
Turkey and other countries bordering Syria may get involved. He stressed
that "constructive negotiations are the only way to settle the crisis."
Washington won't tolerate them. Conflict was planned long ago to oust
Assad. Signs suggest full-scale Western-led intervention looms.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.
His new book is titled "Banker Occupation: Waging Financial War on Humanity."
http://www.claritypress.com/Lendman.html
Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge
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