The Official Syria (and all things about it) Thread

[Shofercia]

Ninja'd

Yes but mine includes a bunch of US and UK documents to, so there!

Ahh, more stuff going "we highly assess" or "we firmly believe"...

[Souriya Al-Assad]

1- Ah yes... I believe you really have the Assads horridly misinterpreted. Firstly, neither Bashar nor Hafez became "tyrants" for "power", their whole security apparatus was originally designed for the purpose of maintaining a strongly united non-sectarian, secular Syria that would outlast them both. Secondly, said security apparatus was taken out of context by the shadowy elements of Rifaat Al-Assad, Mustafa Tlass, as well as 12 other security officials that are suspicious enough to be potential collaborators with Ikhwan that want to discredit & frame the Syrian government in itself. Thirdly, I have been to Syria once, its actually the Arab nation where one can breathe the most (id est in terms of rights) second to Lebanon, thirded only by Algeria, whilst even better than that Iraqi "democracy". The real power-hungry, avaricious, greed-filled tyrants in the region are the Gulf Kings, the Jordanian King, the Moroccan regime, the Ikhwan & all its branches, Morsi, Sissi, Mubarak, Ben Ali, Ghannouchi, as well as the NTC regime in power over Libya. Then, furthermore, Erdogan, Shah Pahlavi, the former Turkish junta, the Pakistani Saudi\Qatari-controlled politicians, Israel's Zionist government & its apartheid/cleansing policies on Palestinians, in addition to the Azeri leadership. | Returning to Comrade Bashar, do not forget that he explicitly stated his intention to step down after the war should it end in 2014, in favour of an electoral process (which I am sure he will win nonetheless because of the massive support base he has not only due to his successes in fighting the sectarian insurgents however also because of his former attempts at reforming the security apparatus, in addition to his future plans for reforms politically speaking). You also miss the point here, neither Bashar nor Hafez, nor the armed forces, nor the popular committees, nor the defence militias, nor any other force aligned with them, are fighting for "power". They are fighting against sectarianism, neo-imperialism, as well as are fighting to defend Syria, their motherland.

Assad, no doubt, is a man fighting to keep his power, where the rebels and teh insurgents are fighting to wrest power from him. Assad's various human right abuses, shutting down of subversive newspapers, spying on their own citizens, torture, etc. are all well recorded and have been recorded by, amongst others, Human Rights Watch. Most of your argument here stems from Speculation, that is, that there exist a cabal within the Syrian Government, which you have reason to believe exist, but no definitive proof, which is composed of these individuals. Assad, no doubt, is a criminal, a despot, a tyrant, and a dictator, and his defense is not so much against the evil Sectarians, whom you claim are all Islamists who plan to install a Sunni Islamist state, no doubt some of the rebels are, and against imperialism, but, more or less, to maintain his power against the opposition. If he promises this or that, such as stepping down and calling for an election, it is only a gesture to placate his people and draw fighters away from the Revolutionaries, and which I highly doubt he will do should we win this civil war. Assad's fight is one to maintain his power, and the rebels are each out to dispose of him, and replace the vacuum of his regime with their own despots and tyrants.

2 - He actually does make sure of that, because Russian Today, Press Television as well as Abkhazian News Network Agency journalists alongside the Syrian army have reported as well as noticed how places such as al-Qusayr were fully evacuated of civilians before the army moved in to launch a liberation counter-offencive against the insurgents.

And, which is not confirmed by any other journalists, nor confirmed by the UN, etc.

3 - No, Janes' just made a recent report that over half of ALL Qutbist insurgents, are simply Qutbist insurgents, if you understand my point. Its commencing to arouse more mass media attention across the world now. I hope people wake up from their naivety about this war. | Oh, disadvantaged? This is amusing to hear, because most of the Syrian armed forces, government positions as well as higher ranks in all State elements are composed of predominantly Sunni personnel. The Syrian State was structured in equivalent proportion to the different populations of sects, religions as well as ethnicities present in their nation. Furthermore, Hafez back then made lots of concessions to the Sunnis before he died, whilst passed on to Bashar certain plans for reforms amongst other things.

However many concessions made, it is still undeniable that Alawites are disproportionately represented in the Syrian government, as well as favoured by the regime.

4 - Refer to point 1. Syria is actually ten billion times more democratic than the Gulf monarchs, whilst is actually even better than the Iraqi "democracy" or the Turkish one. Furthermore, this point of view of mine comes from personal experience in Syria, as well as what people I knew from the region told me.

If you make such comparison, then, yes, their regime is better...than the most despotic regimes on this planet. As for Turkey, I have my doubts that Syria, run by the al-Assad clan, is better than an actual democracy. Your personal experience is not, in any way, concrete and varifiable facts, nor are the reports by aquaintences in that region.

5 - By Assad, you must not mean Bashar, nor Hafez. The abuses were staged, as I said, by Rifaat & Mustafa without full approval from either Bashar nor Hafez, whilst said abuses were continued by the 12 security officials I am speaking of, after Hafez's death. In addition, my theory makes sense if you look at the loyalties of elements within some Arab militaries carefully, if you also analyse how easy it was for our Western governments to utilise a branch to stage the 1949 coup in Syria, whilst how said branch might very much be the one that is collaborating with the Ikhwan/Al-Qaeda Qutbist insurgents from the inside in both insurgencies. Indeed, let me also add that this theory of mine was not mine in origin, it was a conclusion from a conversation on social media I had with two Syrians that were in Aleppo at the time several months ago. They also pointed out something suspicious that rightfully ties into this, a government unit passed by insurgents, neither side shot at each other, they regrouped then proceeded elsewhere. In another incident they told me about, a warplane deliberately avoided striking insurgents, instead bombing a convoy of army personnel. This is weird sauce, this is something we need to take in mind whence speaking about Syria.

The twelve generals cabal seems to be mostly conjecture, and you admitted as such, outright saying that 'I have good reason to believe that they exist', which isn't as definitive as actual evidence. Assad, for his part, has been documented by several groups already for his human rights abuses, not his father's, but his.

6 - Now for Egypt. Here is my take on this. The Egyptian problem is much more complex than you would know. Firstly, Ikhwan used to be very close friends with the SCAF under Tantawi. Secondly, the reason why Ikhwan succeeded in getting elected as well as approved is because of this nexus. I read about these things from Egyptian media. Thirdly, taking the above in mind, as well a how both the SCAF as well as Ikhwan received donations as well as support from our Western governments, from Israel, in addition to Turkey as well as the Gulf on different occassions interchangeably, we should be asking ourselves even more questions. Including how, Morsi besieged Gaza, Sissi augmented the siege on Gaza whilst was alleged to have been requesting Israeli permission for the coup to be unleashed. Then the so-called Saudi-Qatari "rift" over Egypt is even more amusingly enigmatic, most likely to make this whole farce more genuine. What was the end result of these manoeuvres? The realisation of pulling good olde Mubarak out of prison in clean casual shoes & clothing to be brought back to power most likely. Morsi was said to have been locked in the same prison as Mubarak. What this chaos most likely was, is a Machiavellian game designed to distract everyone from seeing this final theatrical move play out. Mubarak is out of prison now, in which direction Egypt is going to go now, has yet to be seen.

This whole theory sounds convoluted, and, because it is unsourced, I have my doubts about it. The overthrow of Morsi, no matter unsuccessful and oppressive he may be, was undemocratic in almost all respect, and, had they wanted to replace him, they should have gone through the proper, democratic channels. I doubt that the United States and Israel are funding the Moslem Brotherhood, given their stated objectives are quite contrary to the United States' and Israel's objectives, a Brotherhood, moreever, that, if I recall correctly, provided support for Al-Qaeda.

No, because the insurgents have missiles as well as rockets themselves, including some most likely smuggled out of Libya during the Benghazi affair.

Here are some things to look at:

1
2
3

More evidence coming out that the insurgents have the ammunition necessary to execute this strike. Combined with the admissions & interviews Mint pointed out to last time, the attack was once more another insurgent false flag, this time designed to force the government to hand over its chemical weapons in my opinion, so that Netanyahoo's trigger exalted fingers could then press the button of war, joined by the rest of the mob.

That isn't evidence in any way. All I am asking it whether anyone here know what the UN report actually said.

1 - Yes there were abuses, however not by Bashar nor Hafez. Furthermore, there is a flaw in utilising excessive amounts of "no doubt", which makes one believe it is a broken record, no offence intended. Bashar is not a despot, not a criminal, not a tyrant, nor is he ebil. In addition, I am highly sceptical of pro-human rights persons whom conveniently avoid speaking much of the Gulf regimes, the Jordanian regime, the Iraqi regime, the Azeri regime, the Turkish AKP/Military Intelligence regime, the NTC/GNC regime in Libya, the Tunisian & Egyptian regimes, or the Moroccan regime, or the Zionist entity. Even more messed up is whence these horrendous human rights abusers aforementioned suddenly join the bandwagon of "spreading democracy" to Syria, as I previously pointed is utter nonsensical in all aspects. Whilst it must be admitted there were some abuses in Syria, they were neither Hafez nor Bashar's doing. The sideline elements committed them to give the insurgents propaganda value. No, there is absolutely no doubt that the sole "opposition" in existence that is not only "Syrian", "internal" rather than external, however furthermore real opposition, is a small minority (the opposition in the People's Assembly). That minority has taken their time to accept Bashar's initiatives, has made dialogue with the government, whilst have both together agreed upon the priority of crushing the foreign insurgents before resuming the democratisation process. Lastly, again, as you have failed to realise before, the Assads are not fighting for power. Your generalisations do not work, nor can they work. Every human on this planet is by simple logic different in all aspects, especially personality, thus, different persons have different reasons for remaining in power. Power is not something that corrupts either (as some misconceive). Its nothing more than an enabler. Its persons whom can corrupt power, id est utilise it the wrong way. In this Syrian case however, one must recognise the inherent reason why the Assads established a rigorous state to commence with. Alawite Muslims in Syria were targets throughout her history from Islam onwards. Christians, Druze, amongst other minorities too. The Assads came to the realisation that the sole manner to enforce a non-sectarian secular state is to be slightly more rigid in order to prevent sectarian groups from rising to power. The Syrian people, furthermore, contrary to your beliefs, have long welcomed the stability their policies brought to the nation. Lastly, the insurgents are not the slightest bit "Sunni". Qutbist-Wahhabism is not the slightest bit Sunni, nor shall it ever be. It contradicts over 90% of the Islamic Ummah at large in almost all aspects. Very few, save for Khawarji-fringe-minded persons, take Qutbist organisations seriously for "real Islam". Khawarji-derived schools of thought are a twisted paganism from Najd in central Arabia.

2 - So what sort of messed up logic is that? You do realise our mass media in the West selects only what they want to hear about anything in the world at all whilst discard the rest? Similarly, I would like to point out that our mass media also conveniently ignored the attempted genocides into Lattakia by the Qutbist insurgents, which was only reported properly as well as accurately by Eastern media, Middle-Eastern media (except for Gulf media, where almost not a word was uttered about it), Non-Aligned nations' media, as well as alternative media in general no matter the nationality. The same convenient ignorance was utilised concerning the Kurdish plight in Syria where the insurgents were unleashing a genocide whilst numerous insurgent controlled mosques issued fatwas declaring takfir on the Kurds. Another conveniently ignored event is the sex jihad fatwa, which is quintessentially the legalisation of paedophile behaviour as well as rape, whilst almost not a word was uttered in our mass medias about Qaradawi, Ahmed Assir, or any other one of those Khawarji-minded sectarian clerics in the region. Almost nothing was said about the fatwa banning croissants under a severe penalty, almost nothing was said about the Indonesian fatwa calling for a "1 million lolsz army to fight Bashar dogs" which was uploaded onto Live Leaks, almost nothing was said about the insurgents filming themselves committing atrocities throughout the war, nor that the chemical strikes were in fact filmed on video. Russia, China, Iran, DPR Korea are indeed in the right of accusing the UN to be biased, because if it were not, the fullest scope of the Qutbist atrocities would have been fully unravelled before the entire world without issues. Furthermore, the 120 000 deaths would be labelled solely as "civilians". As I pointed out before, the overwhelming majority of these deaths are combatants on either side, whilst the overwhelming majority of civilian deaths (especially deliberate massacres) were perpetrated by the Qutbist insurgents.

3 - No, that is not true. Over 70% of the Syrian State as well as armed forces are Sunnis. Most of the highest ranking positions are Sunnis, including the two Vice Presidents, the Premier, as well as Bashar's wife. Bashar himself, prays like a Sunni, in Sunni Mosques, I dare say.

4 - No, Erdogan has never ended the tortures, has detained thousands of protesters, whilst the ethnic cleansing on the Kurds (Turkey being the sole nation in the region to have been so morbidly brutalising)

5 - The twelve generals cabal was not only brought up to me by two people I know from Syria that support the government, however also by one whom supports the "opposition". The problem is, however, you will need to grant the benefit of the doubt until I find a manner to recover posts from social media from more than five months ago.

6 - My Egyptian sources on the Egyptian issue are present. I shall place them here once I recover them.

7 - Irrespective of the Ikhwan-SCAF nexus, or that the democratic channels should have been utilised for any changes, one thing I am thankful for is that Morsi is no longer there, which means no fatwa declaring Egyptian war on Syria nor on Ethiopia, whilst also means Qaradawi was finally caught as well as arrested, silencing one part of the greater Qutbist problem.

8 - No, the CIA once recruited Sayyed Qutb during the Cold War, Obama's government contributed €6,4 billion in aid to Ikhwan back during its time in power, whilst remains eerily silent as far as this "coup" or "revolution" is concerned; whilst in post-Nasser Egypt it should be noted that no coup has ever been undertaken without common consensus from our Western governments, the Zionist entity, or the Gulf's governments. In addition, Sissi as well as Tamarod were in contact with the Zionist regime prior to the coup. Post-coup the military increased the siege on Gaza.

9 - It should furthermore be noted that to refuse to believe that our governments as well as their regional allies (Turkey, Israel, the Gulf, Jordan, Morocco, Tunisia, Pakistan, Saddam's Iraq) have had no difficulties arming al-Qaeda to destabilise Nasserite Egypt, to destabilise Libya, destabilise Algeria in the 1990s, destabilise Afghanistan in the 1970-1980s, destabilise Somalia in the 1990s-onwards, destabilise Iran during the 1990s, destabilise Sudan, destabilise Lebanon, as well as destabilise Syria (whether it be the 1980s or present) whence-ever their neo-colonialist interests came together. In retrospect, its only whence neo-colonialist interests ever came in conflict with al-Qaeda objectives elsewhere that we have things such as Mali (however that one is slightly different, Qatar was arming the Qutbist insurgents there, whilst our DGSE was providing Qatar some cover in doing so), Afghanistan (2001-present), or the Philippines.

10 - What the United Nations said was very vague. It pointed no specific side, has confirmed that indeed chemicals were utilised, however the weapons they pointed fingers too are present on both sides of the conflict.

Yes but mine includes a bunch of US and UK documents to, so there!

Ahh, more stuff going "we highly assess" or "we firmly believe"...

Ah yes, "we highly assess", "we firmly believe", "we have no doubt", blah blah bleh....just more loads of usual rubbish, usual hogwash... or should I say... funphorous oxymorocide?

[Shofercia]

And just when I thought that McCain was the dumbest senator, that turns out to be false, presuming that RT is right, although they're not the only ones carrying the story: http://rt.com/business/russian-banks-senate-syria-006/

In cold war style, US Senators have urged the Obama administration to freeze assets of three major Russian banks, ban their activities in the US, and deny employees’ entry into the country on the suspicion they are doing business with the Assad regime.

Having failed to galvanize allies for military action, and politically trumped by President Putin’s proposal for peaceful intervention in Syria, American senators have now turned to soft power to regain a grip on the Syria conflict. The senators are blaming Russia’s banking giants VTB, Gazprombank, and Vnesheconombank -the state development bank known as VEB– for ‘undermining’ UN sanctions by ‘aiding Assad’.

“The Syrians could not conduct this war without Russian financing,” Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who represents the state of Connecticut, said at a US policy meeting on Iran and Syria at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington DC.

“We can freeze their assets. We can stop them from doing business in the United States, prevent their employees from traveling here and, in effect, impose very heavy financial pain on the Russians,” Blumenthal said.

Have these geniuses checked to see who backs these banks?

GazPromBank is backed by all of United Russia. Including Putin, Medvedev and Lavrov. It might be a tad hard for the UN to act if they're not allowed to travel to New York. GazPromBank's parent company is GazProm. Need I say more?

VTB is backed by Prokhorov, his political forces, and Kerimov, along with his political forces. Looks like New Jersey Nets are getting involved. RT Article on this: http://rt.com/business/kerimov-prokhorov-vtb-spo-939/

Vnesheconombank is used as a development bank, and supported by all of Russia's Major Parties.

What am I getting it? Russia reciprocates. If these banks are hit in a major way, American banks operating in Russia will be hit the very next day, with all of the political parties supporting it. The resulting financial Cold War will hit the World's Economy in a major way. This won't be like the Cypriot Banks getting hit, which had no major support in Russia. This will be something that significantly slows down Global Trade, and takes a bite out of the economy. Is thinking about the consequences no longer a requirement in the Senate?

[Souriya Al-Assad]

And just when I thought that McCain was the dumbest senator, that turns out to be false, presuming that RT is right, although they're not the only ones carrying the story: http://rt.com/business/russian-banks-senate-syria-006/

In cold war style, US Senators have urged the Obama administration to freeze assets of three major Russian banks, ban their activities in the US, and deny employees’ entry into the country on the suspicion they are doing business with the Assad regime.

Having failed to galvanize allies for military action, and politically trumped by President Putin’s proposal for peaceful intervention in Syria, American senators have now turned to soft power to regain a grip on the Syria conflict. The senators are blaming Russia’s banking giants VTB, Gazprombank, and Vnesheconombank -the state development bank known as VEB– for ‘undermining’ UN sanctions by ‘aiding Assad’.

“The Syrians could not conduct this war without Russian financing,” Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who represents the state of Connecticut, said at a US policy meeting on Iran and Syria at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington DC.

“We can freeze their assets. We can stop them from doing business in the United States, prevent their employees from traveling here and, in effect, impose very heavy financial pain on the Russians,” Blumenthal said.

Have these geniuses checked to see who backs these banks?

GazPromBank is backed by all of United Russia. Including Putin, Medvedev and Lavrov. It might be a tad hard for the UN to act if they're not allowed to travel to New York. GazPromBank's parent company is GazProm. Need I say more?

VTB is backed by Prokhorov, his political forces, and Kerimov, along with his political forces. Looks like New Jersey Nets are getting involved. RT Article on this: http://rt.com/business/kerimov-prokhorov-vtb-spo-939/

Vnesheconombank is used as a development bank, and supported by all of Russia's Major Parties.
What am I getting it? Russia reciprocates. If these banks are hit in a major way, American banks operating in Russia will be hit the very next day, with all of the political parties supporting it. The resulting financial Cold War will hit the World's Economy in a major way. This won't be like the Cypriot Banks getting hit, which had no major support in Russia. This will be something that significantly slows down Global Trade, and takes a bite out of the economy. Is thinking about the consequences no longer a requirement in the Senate?

No, they, like all other politicians here in the West, have adopted the Sabre Rattling, e-Mossad waving attitude instead. Expect them to get Putined soon.

[Shofercia]

And just when I thought that McCain was the dumbest senator, that turns out to be false, presuming that RT is right, although they're not the only ones carrying the story: http://rt.com/business/russian-banks-senate-syria-006/



Have these geniuses checked to see who backs these banks?

GazPromBank is backed by all of United Russia. Including Putin, Medvedev and Lavrov. It might be a tad hard for the UN to act if they're not allowed to travel to New York. GazPromBank's parent company is GazProm. Need I say more?

VTB is backed by Prokhorov, his political forces, and Kerimov, along with his political forces. Looks like New Jersey Nets are getting involved. RT Article on this: http://rt.com/business/kerimov-prokhorov-vtb-spo-939/

Vnesheconombank is used as a development bank, and supported by all of Russia's Major Parties.
What am I getting it? Russia reciprocates. If these banks are hit in a major way, American banks operating in Russia will be hit the very next day, with all of the political parties supporting it. The resulting financial Cold War will hit the World's Economy in a major way. This won't be like the Cypriot Banks getting hit, which had no major support in Russia. This will be something that significantly slows down Global Trade, and takes a bite out of the economy. Is thinking about the consequences no longer a requirement in the Senate?

No, they, like all other politicians here in the West, have adopted the Sabre Rattling, e-Mossad waving attitude instead. Expect them to get Putined soon.

I doubt Israel would support something like this. A Global Economic Hit on this scale would simply push Russia even closer to China, to the point where the US would lose a massive chunk of leverage towards Russia, and thus AIPAC would lose all of their leverage over Russia. This isn't beneficial to Israel, and Israelis might not care about Human Rights, but they're not idiots. Otherwise they wouldn't have survived this long in the Middle East. I'm hoping this is just pointless Sabre Rattling. Because if they actually try to carry it out, shit, I'm going to really need to start learning the new global language, Chinese.

[Wytenigistan]

I don't think it can be truly objective but maybe basic statements can be made, but it is still highly insulting to the victims either way. Anyway what I meant was that I don't think anyone can accurately or objectively make the claim that Assad is worse than the rebels. It's very hard to tell what is what in a warzone until the dust settles.

It is not highly insulting to the victims to say that one genocide can be objectively qualified as worse than another- one genocide may be of a greater magnitude and with a greater degree of cruelty than another, for example, no one, I don't think, would argue that the holocaust is the same as simply gathering the men of a village and shooting them in the back of the head, because the cruelty of the holocaust is objectively greater than that village massacre. If both are bad, one is objectively worse than the other in almost every way. The claim that Assad is any worse than the rebels is a difficult claim to make, but if there is enough information of the deeds of both side, we can compare them, and we can decide, objectively, if one is better or worse than the other.

It is impossible to be "objective" about either scenario. Think about it.

[Xeng He]

I actually do tend to think there should be intervention in Syria, but not (or, not so much) of the "arm the rebels, do nothing else" type, and not really due to the use of Sarin. What I'm mostly thinking of is Syria's imposition of Sharia and how that needs to stop.

I'm not, however, of the opinion that if the rebels win, things are automatically going to become bright and secular. Al-Nusra and others have joined the fray, and plenty of those types are in support of something similar to the Syrian Personal Codes. But that's why U.S. involvement is necessary--if it's our government, and not the rebels, that can organize Assad's surrender, then maybe we can keep Al-Nusra and co. out of the dialogues for how the new government will work. At which point we...might just be able to get rid of the clerical courts.

[Querria]

And just when I thought that McCain was the dumbest senator, that turns out to be false, presuming that RT is right, although they're not the only ones carrying the story: http://rt.com/business/russian-banks-senate-syria-006/

In cold war style, US Senators have urged the Obama administration to freeze assets of three major Russian banks, ban their activities in the US, and deny employees’ entry into the country on the suspicion they are doing business with the Assad regime.

Having failed to galvanize allies for military action, and politically trumped by President Putin’s proposal for peaceful intervention in Syria, American senators have now turned to soft power to regain a grip on the Syria conflict. The senators are blaming Russia’s banking giants VTB, Gazprombank, and Vnesheconombank -the state development bank known as VEB– for ‘undermining’ UN sanctions by ‘aiding Assad’.

“The Syrians could not conduct this war without Russian financing,” Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who represents the state of Connecticut, said at a US policy meeting on Iran and Syria at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington DC.

“We can freeze their assets. We can stop them from doing business in the United States, prevent their employees from traveling here and, in effect, impose very heavy financial pain on the Russians,” Blumenthal said.

Have these geniuses checked to see who backs these banks?

GazPromBank is backed by all of United Russia. Including Putin, Medvedev and Lavrov. It might be a tad hard for the UN to act if they're not allowed to travel to New York. GazPromBank's parent company is GazProm. Need I say more?

VTB is backed by Prokhorov, his political forces, and Kerimov, along with his political forces. Looks like New Jersey Nets are getting involved. RT Article on this: http://rt.com/business/kerimov-prokhorov-vtb-spo-939/

Vnesheconombank is used as a development bank, and supported by all of Russia's Major Parties.

What am I getting it? Russia reciprocates. If these banks are hit in a major way, American banks operating in Russia will be hit the very next day, with all of the political parties supporting it. The resulting financial Cold War will hit the World's Economy in a major way. This won't be like the Cypriot Banks getting hit, which had no major support in Russia. This will be something that significantly slows down Global Trade, and takes a bite out of the economy. Is thinking about the consequences no longer a requirement in the Senate?

...oh shit... this isn't going to end well. Looks like a good reason to pull my money from the bank.

[Grand Britannia]

And just when I thought that McCain was the dumbest senator, that turns out to be false, presuming that RT is right, although they're not the only ones carrying the story: http://rt.com/business/russian-banks-senate-syria-006/

In cold war style, US Senators have urged the Obama administration to freeze assets of three major Russian banks, ban their activities in the US, and deny employees’ entry into the country on the suspicion they are doing business with the Assad regime.

Having failed to galvanize allies for military action, and politically trumped by President Putin’s proposal for peaceful intervention in Syria, American senators have now turned to soft power to regain a grip on the Syria conflict. The senators are blaming Russia’s banking giants VTB, Gazprombank, and Vnesheconombank -the state development bank known as VEB– for ‘undermining’ UN sanctions by ‘aiding Assad’.

“The Syrians could not conduct this war without Russian financing,” Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who represents the state of Connecticut, said at a US policy meeting on Iran and Syria at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington DC.

“We can freeze their assets. We can stop them from doing business in the United States, prevent their employees from traveling here and, in effect, impose very heavy financial pain on the Russians,” Blumenthal said.

Have these geniuses checked to see who backs these banks?

GazPromBank is backed by all of United Russia. Including Putin, Medvedev and Lavrov. It might be a tad hard for the UN to act if they're not allowed to travel to New York. GazPromBank's parent company is GazProm. Need I say more?

VTB is backed by Prokhorov, his political forces, and Kerimov, along with his political forces. Looks like New Jersey Nets are getting involved. RT Article on this: http://rt.com/business/kerimov-prokhorov-vtb-spo-939/

Vnesheconombank is used as a development bank, and supported by all of Russia's Major Parties.

What am I getting it? Russia reciprocates. If these banks are hit in a major way, American banks operating in Russia will be hit the very next day, with all of the political parties supporting it. The resulting financial Cold War will hit the World's Economy in a major way. This won't be like the Cypriot Banks getting hit, which had no major support in Russia. This will be something that significantly slows down Global Trade, and takes a bite out of the economy. Is thinking about the consequences no longer a requirement in the Senate?

Congress confirmed for brain dead, too far gone for recovery.

[Kemalist]

The CHP is going to hold a large-scale anti-war rally tomorrow, which should be a great warning to warmonger Erdogan. We'll do everything to prevent our country from being dragged into a war which we have nothing to do with. Syria is for Syrians and it's their business.

[Maineiacs]

And just when I thought that McCain was the dumbest senator, that turns out to be false, presuming that RT is right, although they're not the only ones carrying the story: http://rt.com/business/russian-banks-senate-syria-006/

In cold war style, US Senators have urged the Obama administration to freeze assets of three major Russian banks, ban their activities in the US, and deny employees’ entry into the country on the suspicion they are doing business with the Assad regime.

Having failed to galvanize allies for military action, and politically trumped by President Putin’s proposal for peaceful intervention in Syria, American senators have now turned to soft power to regain a grip on the Syria conflict. The senators are blaming Russia’s banking giants VTB, Gazprombank, and Vnesheconombank -the state development bank known as VEB– for ‘undermining’ UN sanctions by ‘aiding Assad’.

“The Syrians could not conduct this war without Russian financing,” Richard Blumenthal, a Democrat who represents the state of Connecticut, said at a US policy meeting on Iran and Syria at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington DC.

“We can freeze their assets. We can stop them from doing business in the United States, prevent their employees from traveling here and, in effect, impose very heavy financial pain on the Russians,” Blumenthal said.

Have these geniuses checked to see who backs these banks?

GazPromBank is backed by all of United Russia. Including Putin, Medvedev and Lavrov. It might be a tad hard for the UN to act if they're not allowed to travel to New York. GazPromBank's parent company is GazProm. Need I say more?

VTB is backed by Prokhorov, his political forces, and Kerimov, along with his political forces. Looks like New Jersey Nets are getting involved. RT Article on this: http://rt.com/business/kerimov-prokhorov-vtb-spo-939/

Vnesheconombank is used as a development bank, and supported by all of Russia's Major Parties.

What am I getting it? Russia reciprocates. If these banks are hit in a major way, American banks operating in Russia will be hit the very next day, with all of the political parties supporting it. The resulting financial Cold War will hit the World's Economy in a major way. This won't be like the Cypriot Banks getting hit, which had no major support in Russia. This will be something that significantly slows down Global Trade, and takes a bite out of the economy. Is thinking about the consequences no longer a requirement in the Senate?

The ability, much less the actual act of thinking ahead, automatically disqualifies one from Congress.

[Soviet Russia Republic]

The CHP is going to hold a large-scale anti-war rally tomorrow, which should be a great warning to warmonger Erdogan. We'll do everything to prevent our country from being dragged into a war which we have nothing to do with. Syria is for Syrians and it's their business.

Great to hear!

[Souriya Al-Assad]

The CHP is going to hold a large-scale anti-war rally tomorrow, which should be a great warning to warmonger Erdogan. We'll do everything to prevent our country from being dragged into a war which we have nothing to do with. Syria is for Syrians and it's their business.

Long Live Turkish Gezi opposition groups. Your endeavours against the Erdogaon regime are commendable.

[Divair]

It's almost like there aren't two sides to this thing.
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/7b44b10b748e

[Grand Britannia]

It's almost like there aren't two sides to this thing.
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/7b44b10b748e

GG rebels.

[Luveria]

It's almost like there aren't two sides to this thing.
https://medium.com/war-is-boring/7b44b10b748e

It was inevitable due to how Islamists can't work with anyone else for long. But I'm sure Assad is quite pleased with the new split in the rebels.

[Kemalist]

The plans to overthrow Assad and establish a moderate islamist USA-friendly regime seem to have failed. Assad is the decisive winner in this game. Long live modern, secular, fully independent Syria.

Despite all those attempts by islamist jihadist freaks to turn Syria into a sharia hellhole, the social life keeps going on, thanks to the Syrian government clearing those freaks and ensuring security in the area.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/489459/dam ... ar-outside

[Ecans]

Civil wars are always bloody and brutal. History shows that interference by outside powers is generally ineffective and generates hatred toward such interference. The Spanish Civil War of the 1930's is a good example. Although Franco was aided by Germany and Italy to good effect, there is little doubt that he would have won. It just would have taken longer.

The root of this war goes back to the colonial powers of the 19th. and early 20th. century. They carved all of Africa up like a turkey with about as much regard for the history and wishes of the people affected as one gives to the feelings of the bird. Tribes that hated and feared each other were jammed into one nation. As long as the "advanced" colonial power was willing to use brutal force and the favouring of one group, the"nation" held together. After they left, it took a repressive warlord to accomplish the same end.

There will be many Syrias until the continent's people sort themselves out. Just stay the hell out. Humanitarian efforts should be concentrated on the poor souls who are suffering (mostly old men, women and children) as refugees in neighbouring countries. Remember that the able-bodied men in those families are back fighting on one side or another.

[Souriya Al-Assad]

The plans to overthrow Assad and establish a moderate islamist USA-friendly regime seem to have failed. Assad is the decisive winner in this game. Long live modern, secular, fully independent Syria.

Despite all those attempts by islamist jihadist freaks to turn Syria into a sharia hellhole, the social life keeps going on, thanks to the Syrian government clearing those freaks and ensuring security in the area.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/489459/dam ... ar-outside

Well said, my Turkish friend, Well said indeed.

[New Octopucta]

The plans to overthrow Assad and establish a moderate islamist USA-friendly regime seem to have failed. Assad is the decisive winner in this game. Long live modern, secular, fully independent Syria.

Despite all those attempts by islamist jihadist freaks to turn Syria into a sharia hellhole, the social life keeps going on, thanks to the Syrian government clearing those freaks and ensuring security in the area.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/489459/dam ... ar-outside

Yeah. The protestors he ordered an attack on and the innocent civilians he gassed were totally asking for it.

[Souriya Al-Assad]

The plans to overthrow Assad and establish a moderate islamist USA-friendly regime seem to have failed. Assad is the decisive winner in this game. Long live modern, secular, fully independent Syria.

Despite all those attempts by islamist jihadist freaks to turn Syria into a sharia hellhole, the social life keeps going on, thanks to the Syrian government clearing those freaks and ensuring security in the area.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/489459/dam ... ar-outside

Yeah. The protestors he ordered an attack on and the innocent civilians he gassed were totally asking for it.

Right, as if he even did those things.

The insurgents utilised chemical weapons during this war, by the way. Do not be deceived by mass media hypes.

[Kemalist]

The plans to overthrow Assad and establish a moderate islamist USA-friendly regime seem to have failed. Assad is the decisive winner in this game. Long live modern, secular, fully independent Syria.

Despite all those attempts by islamist jihadist freaks to turn Syria into a sharia hellhole, the social life keeps going on, thanks to the Syrian government clearing those freaks and ensuring security in the area.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/489459/dam ... ar-outside

Yeah. The protestors he ordered an attack on and the innocent civilians he gassed were totally asking for it.

Firing on the protesters was a wrong action but sorry they weren't really that "peaceful", since they were chanting slogans which targeted the Syrian minorities such as alawites and christians.

There are innocent civilian losses, of course, which is an usual occasion in most of civil wars. At least the government does not kill people just because of some of their features they didn't choose to have (like their ethnicity), unlike the FSA terrorists. I'm not saying Assad is an angel and the government is totally right in what they're doing but they're much, but much more preferable to the other side.

[New Octopucta]

Right, as if he even did those things.

The insurgents utilised chemical weapons during this war, by the way. Do not be deceived by mass media hypes.

So, just to be clear, what you're saying is that Assad didn't order an attack on people guilty of nothing but protesting against his authoritarian policies (that isn't even getting into the other shit he did to protesters), and that he didn't use chemical weapons.

Am I getting that right?

[New Octopucta]

Firing on the protesters was a wrong action but sorry they weren't really that "peaceful", since they were chanting slogans which targeted the Syrian minorities such as alawites and christians.

There are innocent civilian losses, of course, which is an usual occasion in most of civil wars. At least the government does not kill people just because they happen to be from a different belief, unlike the FSA terrorists. I'm not saying Assad is an angel and the government is totally right in what they're doing but they're much, but much more preferable to the other side.

A lot of the sources I've found have said that the protests centered around the fact that Assad is a dictator with a history of human rights abuses. (For instance http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-12749674)
Aside from the fact that some of the protesters being bigots doesn't make it okay to shoot them, there all of the other things Assad did to protesters including mass arrests, allowing police brutality, and outright torture of arrested protesters.

It would appear that the Assad regime did kill people because of their beliefs, namely the belief that the government needs to be reformed because of its abuses.

[Kemalist]

I'm really fascinated by the efforts to present all those anti-government protesters as democracy and freedom fighters. As if they weren't actually enraged by Assad being an Alawite and secular-minded and they weren't asking for a strict Sharia law in Syria.

After all; those groups know well how to introduce themselves to the West. The Muslim Brotherhood's political party was named "Freedom and Justice Party". Ah, yes, justice, only for religious muslims, and freedom means freedom of beheading infidels, forcing women to wear hijabs, allowing men to have sex with their dead wives for up to six hours and legalizing child marriages.