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Bashir Assad was one of many despots in the Middle-East and relatively speaking represented a moderate regime in dialogue with neighbour Israel amd the Western powers including the US. See the numerous visits by US Senators including John Kerry. Why did policy towards Syria change for the worse and permitted neighboring states to have foreign fighters and arms cross their borders. This meddling in domestic affairs of a sovereign state is the root cause for the massive human rights issues the Syrian refugees are suffering today. The propaganda media of western powers are now covering the refugees after the battle in the Syrian cities have lost out in their headlines. Christian Amanpour and CNN are playing a leading role in this false sentiment with the intent to do the bidding of the right flank in US military industrial complex. So shameful. Should we feel sorry for the Islamic government in Ankara who keeps complaining to the media how the 500,000 Syrian refugees is a cost the nation can’t bear? Remember the Iraq War and how Syria accepted 1.5 million refugees with little complaint.
UN refugee chief warns of sectarian ‘spill-over’ as crisis builds
MAFRAQ, Jordan (Jordan Times) — UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) Special Envoy Angelina Jolie urged world leaders to bring an end to the violence in Syria, which increasingly threatens to spill over into neighbouring states, UN officials warn.
During a visit to the Zaatari Refugee Camp in northern Jordan to mark World Refugee Day, Jolie called on the international community to arrive at a peaceful solution to the 27-month-old conflict that has driven 1.6 million Syrians from their homeland.
“I appeal to the world leaders — please, set aside your differences, unite to end the violence, and make diplomacy succeed,” Jolie said at Zaatari, the second largest refugee camp in the world with 160,000 residents.
“The lives of millions of people are in your hands… you must find common ground,” the Academy award winner said.
Meanwhile, UNHCR High Commissioner Antonio Guterres called for “mass efforts” to address a growing humanitarian crisis he warned threatens to destabilise neighbouring states.
“This is indeed not only the most dramatic humanitarian crisis since my tenure as high commissioner, but the most dangerous …
we see already the risks of spillover going into Lebanon and Iraq.”Guterres called on the international community to increase its support for the regional humanitarian response, noting that the UN is set to appeal this month for $5 billion in additional aid to meet the needs of the 10 million Syrians expected to be displaced within and outside Syria by the end of the year.
More below the fold …
US weapons to stay ‘as long as Jordan needs them’ — Zaben
AMMAN, Jordan (Jordan Times) — The Eager Lion international military exercise concluded on Thursday after around two weeks of drills. Some 8,000 army personnel from 19 countries took part in this year’s Eager Lion exercise, which commenced on June 9.
Major equipment utilised during the exercise included amphibious assault ships, AV-B Harrier II, C130 Hercules, F-18 Hornet, F-16 Falcon, Patriot missile system and the V-22 Osprey tilt rotor aircraft.
This year’s event was the second time Eager Lion took place in the Kingdom, according to Chairman of the Joint Chiefs-of-Staff Gen. Mashal Al Zaben, who said the drill aims at strengthening military cooperation between the participating countries, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
In an interview with Jordan Television, he reiterated that the exercise has “nothing to do with what is happening in Syria”, stressing that no foreign forces are deployed on the Kingdom’s northern borders.
As far as Patriot missiles are concerned, Zaben said Jordan has officially requested to be supported with missiles and F-16 aircraft because it cannot afford their high cost, adding that the US was the first country to respond to Jordan’s appeal.
Pentagon Confirms US Forces Deployed to Jordan-Syria Border by Oui on Oct. 13, 2012WASHINGTON DC (ABC News) Oct. 10, 2012 – The United States has sent military troops to the Jordan-Syria border to help build a headquarters in Jordan and bolster that country’s military capabilities in the event that violence escalates along its border with Syria, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said.
Speaking at a NATO conference of defense ministers in Brussels, Panetta said the U.S. has been working with Jordan to monitor chemical and biological weapons sites in Syria and also to help Jordan deal with refugees pouring over the border from Syria.
But the revelation of U.S. military personnel so close to the 19-month-old Syrian conflict suggests an escalation in the U.S. military involvement in the conflict, even as Washington pushes back on any suggestion of a direct intervention in Syria. It also follows several days of shelling between Turkey and Syria, an indication that the civil war could spill across Syria’s borders and become a regional conflict.
U.S. special operations forces are training Jordanian commandos
AMMAN, Jordan (ABC News) – From the edge of a steep mountain overlooking a desert compound built into an old rock quarry, machine gunfire echoes just outside hangars where U.S. special operations forces are training Jordanian commandos.
« (Photo AP/Mohammad Hannon)
A general view of hangars at a desert military training facility where U.S. forces and
a handful of British allies are training Jordanian commandos in Russeifeh, Jordan.
The Devil We Knew – An Excellent Op-Ed
UN top-diplomat Kofi Annan accused Western countries of undermining his peace effort on Syria. President Putin doesn’t mince his words criticising SoS Clinton for cold-war rhetoric against Russia and China. Putin will wholeheartedly oppose any form of regime change through airstrike democracy by the West. Finally, Hillary Clinton during her Tokyo visit threatens the Assad regime with a “catastrophic assault.”
The Devil We Knew by Itamar Rabinovich, chief negotiator peace accord between Syria and Israel.
(NY Times) Nov. 18, 2011 – During the first 25 years of its existence, until Hafez al-Assad came to power in 1970, the Syrian republic was a weak unstable state, an arena in which regional and international rivalries were played out. The first Assad reversed this state of affairs by turning Syria into a comparatively stable and powerful state, a player in regional and international politics.
This was part of the unwritten pact between the regime and Syria’s urban population. Stability, prestige and a leading role in Arab nationalist “resistance” (to the United States and Israel) made up for the regime’s authoritarianism and corruption, and the hegemony of the minority Alawite sect.
The outbreak of the revolt against the regime last March marked the end of this unwritten contract, and pushed Syria back to its pre-1970 state. It is once again an arena of regional and international rivalries, reflecting the changes that are transforming the region’s politics.
- Assad’s Last Throes Lasting Longer than Expected – Jan. 2013
- Syria Punished for America’s Failure in Iraq – Aug. 2012 by Juan Cole
- Russia Insists Syrian Rebels Lay Down Arms, France Joins Call – Feb. 2012