Target Syria NWO's next acquisition The Middle East- WW III - Muslim Civil War

[Mark]

U.S. No Longer Seeking U.N., NATO Permission to Strike Syria

With its military ready to attack Syria on President Obama’s command, the United States is no longer pursuing a United Nations or NATO stamp of approval to respond with force to the purported deployment of chemical weapons.
 
Instead, the U.S. has focused on building a rapid coalition consisting of the United Kingdom, France and several Arab states, by sharing intelligence evidence that U.S. officials say proves Bashir al Assad’s regime was responsible for last week’s chemical weapons attack.

rest: http://www.defenseone.com/politics/2013/08/us-no-longer-seeking-un-nato-permission-strike-syria/69446/?oref=d-topstory

UK Foreign Secretary Hague says he's in close touch with allies on Syria; spoke to German, French foreign ministers and met with US Ambassador in London - @WilliamJHague

US State Department on Syria: 'We are not contemplating any action aimed at regime change' - Live video

 

[Mark]

WAR DRUMS: IRAN THREATENS ISRAEL
'FIRST VICTIM' OF STRIKE ON SYRIA

A senior Iranian lawmaker said Israel would be the first casualty of any U.S.-led strike on Syria, according to regional media reports.
 
Hossein Sheikholeslam, the director general of the Iranian parliament’s International Affairs bureau, claimed the United States would not dare attack Syria but said that if it does, “the Zionist regime will be the first victim.”
 
“No military attack will be waged against Syria,” Sheikholeslam was quoted as saying on Monday by Iran’s state run Fars News Agency.
 
“Yet, if such an incident takes place, which is impossible, the Zionist regime will be the first victim of a military attack on Syria,” Sheikholeslam said in an apparent response to the Obama administration’s increasingly stern rhetoric against Syria.
 
Iran has been one of embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s chief allies. It has sent Hezbollah reinforcements to battle rebel forces and acted as Assad’s chief defender in the Middle East.
 
As the Obama administration hints that it is gearing up to intervene in Syria following the reported use of chemical weapons, Iranian officials have similarly ramped up their rhetoric.
 
Sheikholeslam said Assad would immediately respond to a U.S. attack by going after the Jewish state with the full force of his military.
 
Syria can “heavily attack and raze the occupied territories,” Fars reported him as saying.
 
Another senior Iranian lawmaker said on Monday that the U.S. military is not prepared to handle an operation in Syria.
 
Mohammad Esmayeeli, a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission, claimed Washington is not ready for any new military invasion.
 
He said that if the Obama administration does decide to launch an attack, Moscow will support Damascus.
 
Russia has consistently thrown its support behind Assad, providing him with advanced weapons and blocking concrete action at the United Nations.
 
“The U.S. as well as the western and Arab states and certain regional countries are beating on the drums of war, but they should know that this is not to their benefit,” Esmayeeli was quoted as saying by Fars.
 
Esmayeeli, in an apparent reference to America’s defense budget cuts, went on to say that the United States is in no condition to wage a war against Syria. If America “starts a war with Syria, the U.S. will not achieve its desirable and needed results,” Esmayeeli said.
 
Meanwhile, newly installed Iranian President Hassan Rowhani condemned the use of chemical weapons, the apparent tipping point for a U.S. strike on Assad.
 
“Iran gives notice to international community to use all its might to prevent use of chemical weapons anywhere in the world, esp. in #Syria,” Rowhani tweeted on Tuesday.
 
Syria expert Tony Badran said that despite Iran’s rhetoric, Assad currently has his hands full with the rebel fighters.
 
“I’m actually not sure they will retaliate against Israel and risk an escalation they can ill afford,” said Badran, research fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies. “Of course, anything is possible, and they could conceivably do a repeat of a small-scale, limited Katyusha [and] Grad [rocket] salvo from Lebanon, without anyone taking credit or with some minor faction claiming responsibility in order to avoid a punishing Israeli response.”
 
It is more likely that smaller pro-Assad factions would strike soft Western targets, Badran said.
 
“Instead of focusing too much or exclusively on Israel, some groups, such as the PFLP-GC, made a point to say that they would target ‘the interests’ of ‘participants in an aggression against Syria,’ which perhaps suggests softer targets,” Badran said.
 
These include European targets or even United Nations forces, Badran said
 
Former Pentagon adviser Michael Rubin warned that Iran’s pro-Assad rhetoric should be viewed as a window into its thinking about nuclear arms.
 
“Once again, Iran shows why the international community should never let it even come close to a nuclear weapon,” Rubin said. “If Assad can murder Syrians in their sleep, he and his Iranian backers won’t bat an eye to do the same thing to Jordanians, Israelis, or Turks.”
 
Such rhetoric “shows why the red line should never be the use of WMD, but its possession in the arsenals of the world’s rogues,” Rubin said.

http://freebeacon.com/iranian-official-israel-to-be-first-victim-of-u-s-attack-on-syria/

[Mark]

Hysteria around chemical attack suits those who want military intervention in Syria - Lavrov

VID: http://rt.com/news/lavrov-syria-press-conference-003/

Following last week’s chemical attack, the West has engineered a media campaign to facilitate a military incursion, says Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov. The minister also cast doubts on the veracity of US and European claims about the incident.

“Official Washington, London and Paris say they have incontrovertible evidence that the Syrian government is behind the chemical attack in Damascus, but they have not yet presented this evidence. Yet, they keep saying that the ‘red line’ has been crossed,” Lavrov said during an emergency press conference in Moscow.
 
“Now, we are hearing calls for a military campaign against Bashar Assad.”

Lavrov said that the US, Britain and other countries have assembled a “powerful force” and are “readying their ships and planes” for a possible invasion.

The minister said that the development set the world on a "perilous path" and warned that “repeating the Iraqi and Lybyan scenario” and bringing in outside forces, would be a “terrible mistake that will lead to more blood being spilt”.
 
The minister reserved particular outrage for the newly-mooted possibility of NATO staging a strike on chemical storage facilities without a United Nations mandate.

Asked if Russia was going to join in the potential conflict on either side, Lavrov said “We have no plans to go to war, but we hope that others think of long-term interests.”
 
Last Wednesday, footage began to emerge of civilians in a Damascus suburb suffering from what appeared to be the effects of a neurotoxic gas.
 
Previously, Barack Obama stated that use of chemical weapons would be a ‘red line’ in the conflict, which would have “enormous consequences” for the Syrian regime, though the US president appeared more cautious about possible intervention in interviews over the past few days.
 
Medical aid group, Doctors without Borders, have reported that at least 355 people have died as a result of the incident.
 
The Syrian opposition, which has been involved in the 30-month conflict with the government of Bashar Assad, said state forces had been behind the attack. The Syrian government has denied the claims, saying that the use of chemical weapons after repeated warnings from the international community would be “illogical”.
 
In his conference, Lavrov questioned the rebel version of events.

“There is information that videos were posted on the internet hours before the purported attack, and other reasons to doubt the rebel narrative.”
 
“Those involved with the incident wanted to sabotage the upcoming Geneva peace talks. Maybe that was the motivation of those who created this story. The opposition obviously does not want to negotiate peacefully.”
 
Lavrov also said that the UN expert team that is currently in Damascus, investigating the attack, “does not have the mandate” to produce an official ruling on who was responsible for the chemical release.
 
“The experts in Syria have the mandate to determine if chemical weapons were used, and if so, which ones, but not who unleashed this attack” Lavrov told the gathered media.
 
“The UN security council will make the final decision about the perpetrator based on this evidence and all the analytical and factual materials available on the internet and in other media.”
 
While Lavrov said that he is continuing to work on the Geneva peace conference with his US counterpart John Kerry, he stated that it was now unlikely that the long-postponed talks would take place in September.
 
He also explained the reasons he believes the opposition has been unwilling to participate.
 
“Why go to a conference if you believe that the regime’s infrastructure will all be destroyed anyway by allies, and then you can just march into Damascus unopposed, and take control?”
 
http://rt.com/news/lavrov-syria-press-conference-003/

[Psalm 51:17]

http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/08/27/20216757-mccain-syria-strikes-must-have-lasting-impact?lite
8/27/13
McCain: Syria strikes must have 'lasting impact'

MESA, Ariz. -- Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona said Tuesday that any strike against Syria in the wake of the suspected use of chemical weapons by President Bashar al-Assad must have a "lasting impact" on the ground in the conflict-torn nation.

Speaking to reporters after an event about immigration reform,  McCain said any response must eliminate the air assets of the Syrian military and take out Assad's command and control capabilities -- both of which the senator asserted “could be done easily.”

“The important part of this whole situation is, is this just going to be just a retaliatory strike that has no lasting impact or something that changes the momentum on the ground in Syria?” he said.

McCain also pushed for the United States and its allies to provide weapons  to “the resistance on the ground.”

Saying he was briefed by NSA advisers two days ago about the latest in Syria, McCain lambasted a recent report that said action against the Assad regime could come as soon as Thursday, saying it is “remarkable that kind of information would be leaked.”

McCain returned to the U.S. yesterday after a foreign trip to Asia.

[Psalm 51:17]

Syrian Electronic Army attack suspected on New York Times; group also claims Twitter hack
8/27/13
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/technology/new-york-times-web-site-inaccessible-for-some-users/2013/08/27/628f5b46-0f50-11e3-8cdd-bcdc09410972_story.html

The Web site for the New York Times was inaccessible for some users Tuesday, apparently as the result of a malicious attack. Tuesday’s outage comes less than two weeks after the site suffered an outage that lasted approximately two hours.

The newspaper’s site was inaccessible for some — but not all — users starting at 3 p.m., and many users took to Twitter to ask if others were having similar problems reaching the site.

A Twitter account for the Syrian Electronic Army also claimed it has pulled a similar attack on Twitter. Twitter spokesman Jim Prosser confirmed that the company is looking into the report.

Twitter-owned sites appear to be functioning for the moment, though some users are reporting that they are unable to see images on the site.

The New York Times confirmed that its site is having problems, and company spokeswoman Eileen Murphy said that the outage is likely due to a “malicious external attack.”

“The site is down for some. We are working to fix the problem. Our initial assessment is that this is most likely the result of a malicious external attack,” she said.

Evidence of the attack can be seen through the domain name system, or DNS, entry for the New York Times. The DNS is essentially like a phonebook for the Internet that tells computers how to reach certain sites. The entry for the The New York Times is currently pointing to companies based in Moscow and Syria.

Sophos security researcher Chester Wisniewski confirmed that the name servers listed on the current directory entry are controlled by SyrianElectronic Army.com, and that the site does appear to be under attack.

“Depending on where you are in the world visitors to the Times are being redirected to servers in Syria that appear to be operated by the Syrian Electronic Army, a group infamous for attacking Western media organizations.” Wisniewski said in an e-mail.

The New York Times is continuing to publish stories despite the attack by offering users an alternative way to reach its site. 

The New York Times outage follows other site issues the newspaper experienced two weeks ago. On Aug. 14, the company confirmed that its site had been affected by a “internal issue” that took the publication’s Web site offline for approximately two hours.

The Times has not offered further details about what may have caused that outage, but told The Washington Post at the time that it had “no reason to believe” the issues were the result of an outside attack.

August has been a particularly bad month for prominent outages. One day after the New York Times outage, several news Web sites, including The Washington Post, were affected by a breach at the third-party content provider Outbrain, which redirected some visitors to sites promoting the online activist group, the Syrian Electronic Army.

Google and Amazon have both been hit with technical problems that took down their Web sites. An Amazon Web Services outage this weekend also affected the performance of services including Netflix, Instagram and Vine.

Last week, Nasdaq was also forced to halt trading for three hours after a “technical glitch.”

There is no indication that these outages are connected.

[Mark]

22 Reasons Why Starting World War 3 In The Middle East Is A Really Bad Idea

While most of the country is obsessing over Miley Cyrus, the Obama administration is preparing a military attack against Syria which has the potential of starting World War 3.  In fact, it is being reported that cruise missile strikes could begin "as early as Thursday".  The Obama administration is pledging that the strikes will be "limited", but what happens when the Syrians fight back?  What happens if they sink a U.S. naval vessel or they have agents start hitting targets inside the United States?  Then we would have a full-blown war on our hands.  And what happens if the Syrians decide to retaliate by hitting Israel?  If Syrian missiles start raining down on Tel Aviv, Israel will be extremely tempted to absolutely flatten Damascus, and they are more than capable of doing precisely that.  And of course Hezbollah and Iran are not likely to just sit idly by as their close ally Syria is battered into oblivion.  We are looking at a scenario where the entire Middle East could be set aflame, and that might only be just the beginning.  Russia and China are sternly warning the U.S. government not to get involved in Syria, and by starting a war with Syria we will do an extraordinary amount of damage to our relationships with those two global superpowers.  Could this be the beginning of a chain of events that could eventually lead to a massive global conflict with Russia and China on one side and the United States on the other?  Of course it will not happen immediately, but I fear that what is happening now is setting the stage for some really bad things.  The following are 22 reasons why starting World War 3 in the Middle East is a really bad idea...

#1 The American people are overwhelmingly against going to war with Syria...

    Americans strongly oppose U.S. intervention in Syria's civil war and believe Washington should stay out of the conflict even if reports that Syria's government used deadly chemicals to attack civilians are confirmed, a Reuters/Ipsos poll says.

    About 60 percent of Americans surveyed said the United States should not intervene in Syria's civil war, while just 9 percent thought President Barack Obama should act.

#2 At this point, a war in Syria is even more unpopular with the American people than Congress is.

#3 The Obama administration has not gotten approval to go to war with Syria from Congress as the U.S. Constitution requires.

#4 The United States does not have the approval of the United Nations to attack Syria and it is not going to be getting it.

#5 Syria has said that it will use "all means available" to defend itself if the United States attacks.  Would that include terror attacks in the United States itself?

#6 Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem made the following statement on Tuesday...

    "We have two options: either to surrender, or to defend ourselves with the means at our disposal. The second choice is the best: we will defend ourselves"

#7 Russia has just sent their most advanced anti-ship missiles to Syria.  What do you think would happen if images of sinking U.S. naval vessels were to come flashing across our television screens?

#8 When the United States attacks Syria, there is a very good chance that Syria will attack Israel.  Just check out what one Syrian official said recently...

    A member of the Syrian Ba'ath national council Halef al-Muftah, until recently the Syrian propaganda minister's aide, said on Monday that Damascus views Israel as "behind the aggression and therefore it will come under fire" should Syria be attacked by the United States.

    In an interview for the American radio station Sawa in Arabic, President Bashar Assad's fellow party member said: "We have strategic weapons and we can retaliate. Essentially, the strategic weapons are aimed at Israel."

    Al-Muftah stressed that the US's threats will not influence the Syrain regime and added that "If the US or Israel err through aggression and exploit the chemical issue, the region will go up in endless flames, affecting not only the area's security, but the world's."

#9 If Syria attacks Israel, the consequences could be absolutely catastrophic.  Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising that any attack will be responded to "forcefully"...

    "We are not a party to this civil war in Syria but if we identify any attempt to attack us we will respond and we will respond forcefully"

#10 Hezbollah will likely do whatever it can to fight for the survival of the Assad regime.  That could include striking targets inside both the United States and Israel.

#11 Iran's closest ally is Syria.  Will Iran sit idly by as their closest ally is removed from the chessboard?

#12 Starting a war with Syria will cause significant damage to our relationship with Russia.  On Tuesday, Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin said that the West is acting like a "monkey with a hand grenade".

#13 Starting a war with Syria will cause significant damage to our relationship with China.  And what will happen if the Chinese decide to start dumping the massive amount of U.S. debt that it is holding?  Interest rates would absolutely skyrocket and we would rapidly be facing a nightmare scenario.

#14 Dr. Jerome Corsi and Walid Shoebat have compiled some startling evidence that it was actually the Syrian rebels that the U.S. is supporting that were responsible for the chemical weapons attack that is being used as justification to go to war with Syria...

    With the assistance of former PLO member and native Arabic-speaker Walid Shoebat, WND has assembled evidence from various Middle Eastern sources that cast doubt on Obama administration claims the Assad government is responsible for last week’s attack.

You can examine the evidence for yourself right here.

#15 As Pat Buchanan recently noted, it would have made absolutely no sense for the Assad regime to use chemical weapons on defenseless women and children.  The only people who would benefit from such an attack would be the rebels...

    The basic question that needs to be asked about this horrific attack on civilians, which appears to be gas related, is: Cui bono?

    To whose benefit would the use of nerve gas on Syrian women and children redound? Certainly not Assad’s, as we can see from the furor and threats against him that the use of gas has produced.

    The sole beneficiary of this apparent use of poison gas against civilians in rebel-held territory appears to be the rebels, who have long sought to have us come in and fight their war.

#16 If the Saudis really want to topple the Assad regime, they should do it themselves.  They should not expect the United States to do their dirty work for them.

#17 A former commander of U.S. Central Command has said that a U.S. attack on Syria would result in "a full-throated, very, very serious war".

#18 A war in the Middle East will be bad for the financial markets.  The Dow was down about 170 points today and concern about war with Syria was the primary reason.

#19 A war in the Middle East will cause the price of oil to go up.  On Tuesday, the price of U.S. oil rose to about $109 a barrel.

#20 There is no way in the world that the U.S. government should be backing the Syrian rebels.  As I discussed a few days ago, the rebels have pledged loyalty to al-Qaeda, they have beheaded numerous Christians and they have massacred entire Christian villages.  If the U.S. government helps these lunatics take power in Syria it will be a complete and utter disaster.

#21 A lot of innocent civilians inside Syria will end up getting killed.  Already, a lot of Syrians are expressing concern about what "foreign intervention" will mean for them and their families...

    "I've always been a supporter of foreign intervention, but now that it seems like a reality, I've been worrying that my family could be hurt or killed," said one woman, Zaina, who opposes Assad. "I'm afraid of a military strike now."

    "The big fear is that they'll make the same mistakes they made in Libya and Iraq," said Ziyad, a man in his 50s. "They'll hit civilian targets, and then they'll cry that it was by mistake, but we'll get killed in the thousands."

#22 If the U.S. government insists on going to war with Syria without the approval of the American people, the U.S. Congress or the United Nations, we are going to lose a lot of friends and a lot of credibility around the globe.  It truly is a sad day when Russia looks like "the good guys" and we look like "the bad guys".

What good could possibly come out of getting involved in Syria?  As I wrote about the other day, the "rebels" that Obama is backing are rabidly anti-Christian, rabidly anti-Israel and rabidly anti-western.  If they take control of Syria, that nation will be far more unstable and far more of a hotbed for terrorism than it is now.

And the downside of getting involved in Syria is absolutely enormous.  Syria, Iran and Hezbollah all have agents inside this country, and if they decide to start blowing stuff up that will wake up the American people to the horror of war really quick.  And by attacking Syria, the United States could cause a major regional war to erupt in the Middle East which could eventually lead to World War 3.

I don't know about you, but I think that starting World War 3 in the Middle East is a really bad idea.

Let us hope that cooler heads prevail before things spin totally out of control.

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/22-reasons-why-starting-world-war-3-in-the-middle-east-is-a-really-bad-idea

[Kilika]

#3 The Obama administration has not gotten approval to go to war with Syria from Congress as the U.S. Constitution requires.

#4 The United States does not have the approval of the United Nations to attack Syria and it is not going to be getting it.

That's the tyranny of government, when officials start operating outside the normal, constitutional way of running government.

Since Bush the Elder, the president hasn't gone to Congress for much of anything pertaining to using force against other countries and it's own citizens.

[Psalm 51:17]

#22 If the U.S. government insists on going to war with Syria without the approval of the American people, the U.S. Congress or the United Nations, we are going to lose a lot of friends and a lot of credibility around the globe.  It truly is a sad day when Russia looks like "the good guys" and we look like "the bad guys".

I saw on FOX last night that polls approving invasion of Syria is at a low 27%, which is even lower than polls showing favoring invasion of Iraq years ago.

Even worse, it just seems, for the most part, the people in the country seem indifferent - no protests in the streets, not much warning against it elsewhere, etc. This may not come as much of a surprise b/c 1) People seem to be looking after their earthly materials more than anything else(which is partly why too this country has a non-natural born US citizen in the White House), 2) the "Democrats" are following their guy in the White House blindly, and 3) the "Republicans" would look like hypocrites if they called out Obama for this b/c of their blind allegiance toward Bush the Younger after Iraq(ie-even FOX News is on board with invading Syria).

With that being said - Prophecy is going just as planned, thank you Jesus.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/video/evidence-against-syria-allegedly-includes-112348787.html
Video: Evidence Against Syria Allegedly Includes 'Panicked' Call
8/28/13

United States and its allies have had Syria under surveillance since the conflict began.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23864124
8/28/13
Syria crisis: UK to put forward UN resolution

Ban Ki-Moon: "The team [UN inspectors] needs time to do their job"

The UK is to put a resolution to the UN Security Council "authorising all necessary measures to protect civilians" in Syria.

Britain's National Security Council had "unanimously" backed action against Syria over its "unacceptable" chemical weapons use, PM David Cameron said.

The resolution is being put forward at a meeting of the Security Council's five permanent members on Wednesday.

UN inspectors have resumed their probe into an alleged nerve gas attack.

The team of weapons experts would need four days to finish their investigation into last week's incident, UN General Secretary Ban Ki-moon said.

He added that they would need more time after this to analyse their findings.

He also called on the council's permanent members - China, Russia, France, the US and the UK - to act together.

"The body interested with maintaining international peace and security cannot be 'missing in action'," Mr Ban said.

"The council must at last find the unity to act. It must use its authority for peace," he went on.

Mr Cameron gathered the UK's armed forces and security chiefs with key cabinet ministers for emergency talks over possible military action, ahead of UN Security Council meeting.

The British prime minister said: "We've always said we want the UN Security Council to live up to its responsibilities on Syria. Today they have an opportunity to do that."

The draft resolution would condemn the "chemical weapons attack by (Syria's President) Assad", Mr Cameron added.

Meanwhile, in a briefing to journalists, joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Lakhdar Brahimi said: "It does seem clear that some kind of substance was used... that killed a lot of people" on 21 August.

But he emphasised that any military action would need Security Council authorisation.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/171366#.Uh4aXGwo5jp
Security Cabinet Convenes as U.S. Syria Strike Nears

Wall Street Journal: U.S. will launch limited strike to “deter and degrade” Assad's army, but won't change power balance.
8/28/13

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu Wednesday convened his Security and Diplomacy Cabinet, the government's inner circle for strategic deliberations, as an American strike on Syrian targets drew near.

The United States is planning a limited strike in Syria that would “deter and degrade” Bashar al-Assad's military without dramatically altering the balance of power between his forces and those of the rebels, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing senior defense officials.

The weapon of choice, hints the article, would probably be Tomahawk cruise missiles fired from the U.S. destroyers currently in the Mediterranean, which would be aimed at Syrian military targets and other regime targets.

Chemical-weapons supplies are not on the list of targets because of the potential for widespread collateral damage, the officials said.

The Journal added that the Obama administration's planning “appears likely to mirror, in scope and tone, punitive strikes taken under President Bill Clinton in 1998 against al Qaeda, and Operation Desert Fox, a four-day military campaign by U.S. and British forces against Iraq in December that same year.”

Two weeks after al Qaeda bombs caused massive carnnage at U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998 – killing more than 200 people, including 12 Americans – Clinton ordered cruise missile strikes on al Qaeda training bases in Afghanistan and a factory in Sudan. These limited attacks later came under criticism for sending the wrong message to Al Qaeda, which was emboldened and proceeded to carry out the catastrophic 2001 9/11 attack just three years later.

In Operation Desert Fox, U.S. and British forces used cruise missiles and aircraft in a major four-day bombing campaign with an aim to degrade Iraq's then-President Saddam Hussein's ability to make chemical and biological weapons. The December 1998 campaign came in response to Iraq's failure to comply with United Nations Security Council resolutions as well as their interference with United Nations Special Commission inspectors. Its stated goal was to strike military and security targets in Iraq that contribute to Iraq's ability to produce, store, maintain and deliver weapons of mass destruction.

CNN delivered a similar message to its readers, quoting a senior Administration official who said the strike would be limited in time, and no more than "a quick response to the use of chemical weapons."

"Factors weighing into the timing of any action include a desire to get it done before the president leaves for Russia next week and before the administration has to make a decision on whether to suspend aid to Egypt because of the ongoing political turmoil there," the official explained.

Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal called on the International Community on Tuesday to take “decisive and serious” position against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

“The rejection of the Syrian regime of all serious and earnest Arab efforts .... requires a decisive and serious standby the international community to stop the humanitarian tragedy of the Syrian people,” Prince al-Faisal said, according to the state news agency SPA.

Meanwhile, the Arab League blamed al-Assad for the chemical weapons attack outside Damascus a week ago, and urged the 15-member U.N. Security Council to take action. The Arab League holds Syria “fully responsible for the ugly crime and demands that all the perpetrators of this heinous crime be presented for international trials,” the statement said.

Diplomatic sources told Al Arabiya that the Arab League’s statement had been pushed through by the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and Qatar, in the knowledge that air strikes were being discussed.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/al-qaeda-vows-volcano-revenge-over-syrian-suspected-071620522.html
8/28/13
Al Qaeda vows 'Volcano of Revenge' over Syrian suspected gas attack: SITE

DUBAI (Reuters) - An al Qaeda affiliate threatened a "Volcano of Revenge" against Syrian government security and military targets in retaliation for a suspected poison attack near Damascus, the SITE Monitoring Group reported late on Tuesday.

A branch of the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) said in a statement it would punish Syria for a series of massacres, including last week's alleged chemical weapons attack, after meeting eight Syrian factions.

"The meeting factions decided to carry out the "Volcano of Revenge" invasion in response to the regime's massacres against our people in Eastern Ghouta, the last of which was the chemical weapons massacre," SITE quoted the statement, dated August 26, as saying.

"They have decided to strike the main joints of the regime in imprisoned Damascus, including security branches, support and supply points, training centers, and infrastructure," it said.

The United States and its allies are gearing up for a probable military strike against Syria, believing that President Bashar al-Assad's forces carried out the worst chemical weapons attack since Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein gassed thousands of Kurds in 1988.

Syria's government denies any role in the attack and blames rebels.

A team of U.N. inspectors is in Syria to investigate the affected sites.

(Writing by Yara Bayoumy, editing by Elizabeth Piper)

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/08/28/israel-calls-up-reserve-troops-over-syrian-threat/
8/28/13
Israel calls up reserve troops over Syrian threat, hands out gas masks

JERUSALEM –  Israel ordered a special call-up of reserve troops Wednesday as nervous citizens lined up at gas-mask distribution centers, preparing for possible hostilities with Syria.

With the U.S. threatening to attack Syria over its alleged use of chemical weapons, Israel fears that Syria may respond by attacking Israel, a close American ally. While Israeli officials believe the chances of a Syrian strike remain slim, people were clearly preparing for the possibility.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spent the day huddled with his top security advisers discussing the situation. Afterwards, he sent a mixed message, urging people to remain calm while also approving special precautionary measures.

"There is no reason to change daily routines," he said. "At the same time we are prepared for any scenario." He said the Israeli military "is ready to defend against any threat and to respond strongly against any attempt to harm Israeli citizens."

An Israeli official briefed on the meeting said the government had ordered a "limited" callup of reserve units to beef up civil defense preparations and to operate air-defense units near the border. Other officials briefed on the meeting said the call-up is anticipated to bring in "hundreds" of troops.

Earlier, defense officials had confirmed the deployment of Iron Dome and Patriot missile-defense batteries in areas near the Syrian border.

Israel uses U.S.-made Patriot missile defense batteries against medium-range missiles, and the Iron Dome system is designed to intercept rockets fired from short distances of up to 50 miles.

Israel says the Iron Dome system shot down one of the four rockets launched from Lebanon into northern Israel last week, and intercepted a rocket fired toward the Red Sea resort town of Eilat earlier this month. The Iron Dome system also has intercepted rockets launched from the Gaza Strip.

The defense officials said they believed the U.S. would carry out an attack on Syria within days, and that Israel would receive U.S. notification before any strike. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing confidential security assessments.

Large crowds gathered at gas-mask distribution centers across the country, waiting in long lines for protection kits.

Israeli demand for gas masks has tripled in recent days, said Maya Avishai of the Israeli postal service, which oversees gas mask distribution. About five million Israelis, roughly 60 percent of the population, now have gas masks, she said. All citizens are eligible for the kits.

A large crowd formed a Tel Aviv distribution center Wednesday, where Galia Cohen was among those waiting in line for hours to collect free masks for herself and her family.

"I have two children and I am afraid for my children," she said.

Sivan Yehieli, chairman of a civilian emergency response committee along Israel's northern border with Syria and Lebanon, told Army Radio that towns in the region were preparing for a possible attack, readying bomb shelters and drilling school children on how to flee to shelters.

"The citizens need to be prepared just like the army," said Yehieli. "We don't want to find ourselves surprised."

Despite the precautions, Israeli officials believe the chance of a Syrian attack remain slim. They believe that Syrian President Bashar Assad, bogged down in a civil war, has little desire to open a new front with Israel, especially after he has appeared to gain the upper hand back at home.

Israeli officials also believe that Syrian ally Hezbollah, a bitter enemy of Israel, does not want to go to war at the current time. Hezbollah has sent hundreds of fighters to back Assad's troops and is also preoccupied with domestic troubles at home in Lebanon.

On Tuesday, Netanyahu warned Syria that if Israel is targeted, it will respond "with force."

Israel and Syria are bitter enemies. But Israel has kept its distance from the Syrian civil war, in part because it does not want to get dragged into the conflict and also because many of the factions battling the Syrian regime are hostile to Israel.

More than 100,000 people have been killed in Syria. Violence has occasionally spilled over into the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights, where Syrian mortar shells have landed. Israel has occasionally accused Syria of aiming at Israeli targets, and Israeli troops have returned fire.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://news.yahoo.com/us-willing-alone-against-syria-needed-211725309.html
8/28/13
US willing to go it alone against Syria if needed

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Obama administration said Wednesday it would take action against the Syrian government even without the backing of allies or the United Nations because diplomatic paralysis must not prevent a response to the alleged chemical weapons attack outside the Syrian capital last week.

New requests for the United Nations to authorize military action in Syria may have complicated the Obama administration's plan to take retaliatory action on the purported poison gas attack east of Damascus that U.S. officials claim was carried out by President Bashar Assad's forces.

But a State Department spokeswoman said the U.S. would respond even in the absence of U.N. backing.

"We cannot be held up in responding by Russia's intransigence — continued intransigence — at the United Nations," Marie Harf said. "The situation is so serious that it demands a response."

The U.S. has not publicly presented proof that Assad's government used deadly chemical weapons near Damascus last week. Even so, U.S. officials, including Vice President Joe Biden, have pointed a finger squarely at Assad. The administration was planning a teleconference briefing Thursday on Syria for leaders of the House and Senate and national security committees in both parties, U.S. officials and congressional aides said.

U.S. intelligence intercepted lower-level Syrian military commanders' communications discussing the chemical attack, but the communications don't specifically link the attack to an official senior enough to tie the killings to Assad himself, according to three U.S. intelligence officials. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss the intelligence publicly.

The White House ideally wants intelligence that links the attack directly to Assad or someone in his inner circle, to rule out the possibility that a rogue element of the military decided to use chemical weapons without Assad's authorization.

That quest for added intelligence to bolster the White House's case for a strike against Assad's military infrastructure has delayed the release of the report by the Office of the Director for National Intelligence laying out evidence against Assad. The report was promised earlier this week by administration officials.

The CIA and the Pentagon have been working to gather more human intelligence tying Assad to the attack, relying on the intelligence services of Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Israel, the officials said.

Both the CIA and the Defense Intelligence Agency have their own human sources — the rebel commanders and others who cross the border to brief CIA and defense intelligence officers at training camps in Jordan and Turkey. But their operation is much smaller than some of the other intelligence services, and it takes longer for their contacts to make their way overland.

Britain added a hurdle to deliberations about a military strike on Wednesday when it went to the U.N. Security Council with a draft resolution that would authorize the use of military force against Syria. This, as momentum seemed to be building among Western allies for a strike against Syria.

The draft seemed doomed before it was proposed. As expected, the five permanent members of the security council failed to reach an agreement as Russia reiterated its objections to international intervention in the Syrian crisis. Russia, along with China, has blocked past attempts to sanction the Assad government.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has said that the use of force without a sanction of the U.N. Security Council would be a "crude violation" of international law and "lead to the long-term destabilization of the situation in the country and the region."

Syria, which sits on one of the world's largest stockpiles of chemical weapons, has denied the charges. Moreover, Syria's U.N. ambassador, Bashar Ja'afari, is demanding that United Nations experts investigate three alleged chemical weapons attacks against Syrian soldiers. He said the attacks occurred on Aug. 22, 24 and 25 in three suburbs of the Syrian capital and dozens of soldiers are being treated for inhaling nerve gas.

The draft U.N. resolution was an effort to bolster British Prime Minister David Cameron's case that a military action is needed. Cameron has called an emergency meeting of the British Parliament on Thursday to vote on whether to endorse international action against Syria.

He's promised British lawmakers he would not go to war until chemical weapons inspectors had a chance to report back to the world body about their findings. That means British involvement in any potential strike wouldn't occur until next week at the earliest.

But British Foreign Secretary William Hague suggested that U.S. military action need not be constrained by Britain's parliamentary timetable.

"The United States are able to make their own decisions," he told reporters late Wednesday, just after speaking with Secretary of State John Kerry. "Of course, we will remain closely coordinated with them and in close touch with them,as we are every day."

Certain members of Congress are expected to get a classified U.S. intelligence report laying out the case against Assad. An unclassified version is to be made public. Officials say it won't have any detail that would jeopardize sources and methods.

Administration officials have asserted that the use and potential spread of chemical weapons are a threat to U.S. national security.

"The mass-scale use of chemical weapons, or of course the potential proliferation of those weapons, flagrantly violates an important international norm and threatens American national security," Harf said.

Some lawmakers have argued that Congress must authorize any military action unless there has been an attack on the U.S. or the existence of an eminent threat to the U.S. Both Democrats and Republicans on Wednesday pressed the White House to provide a clear explanation of how military action would secure U.S. objectives.

Specifically, in a letter to Obama, House Speaker John Boehner asked him to make his case to Congress and the public about how military action would "secure American national security interests, preserve America's credibility, deter the future use of chemical weapons, and, critically, be a part of our broader policy and strategy."

Boehner said it was "essential you address on what basis any use of force would be legally justified."

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/syria-wants-un-weapons-inspectors-to-stay-longer-move-could-forestall-us-military-strike/2013/08/28/69855348-1008-11e3-85b6-d27422650fd5_story.html
8/28/13
Syria wants U.N. weapons inspectors to stay longer; move could forestall U.S. military strike

The Syrian government on Wednesday asked the United Nations to keep its team of weapons inspectors in Damascus beyond their Sunday deadline, a request that could complicate the timeline for a widely expected U.S. military strike.

In a letter to U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, the Syrian government claimed that rebels attacked Syrian forces with chemical weapons on the outskirts of Damascus on three days earlier this month. Syria’s envoy to the United Nations said the agent used in the attack was “close to what we call the nerve gas sarin.”

U.S. officials, however, said Syria’s allegations lack credibility.

U.N. officials issued no immediate response to the Syrian letter, but Ban called Tuesday night for enough time for inspectors to complete their mission.

“The use of chemical weapons by anyone, for any reasons, under any circumstances, would be an atrocious violation of international law,” Ban said. “It is essential to establish the facts. A United Nations investigation team is now on the ground to do just that.”

The inspectors have conducted two visits so far, including one Wednesday, to the site of the alleged chemical weapons attack last week. Syria is now pressing for the inspectors to visit other sites on the outskirts of Damascus.

U.S. officials have expressed concern that Syria would attempt to extend the visit of the U.N. experts to forestall an attack, either by delaying inspection of the Damascus site or calling on the experts to examine sites where Syria claims its own forces were gassed.

“We are concerned about the possibility that the Syrian government would seek to delay access and negotiate so as to seek to keep this [inspection] process going and avert the consequences,” an administration official said before the latest Syrian request. Ongoing government shelling of Ghouta and surrounding areas, the official said, “is creating more time and space for them to seek to cover things up and delay.”

The Obama administration believes that U.S. intelligence has established how Syrian government forces stored, assembled and launched the chemical weapons allegedly used in last week’s attack outside Damascus, according to U.S. officials.

The administration is planning to release evidence, possibly as soon as Thursday, that it will say proves that Syrian President Bashar al-Assad bears responsibility for what U.S. officials have called an “undeniable” chemical attack that killed hundreds on the outskirts of the Syrian capital.

The report, being compiled by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, is one of the final steps that the administration is taking before President Obama makes a decision on a U.S. military strike against Syria, which now appears all but inevitable.

“We are prepared,” Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the BBC on Tuesday. “We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfill and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take. We are ready to go.” The assets include four cruise-missile-armed destroyers in the Mediterranean.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.jpost.com/International/US-willing-to-strike-Syria-without-UN-approval-but-UKs-Cameron-faces-parliament-opposition-324604
US willing to strike Syria without UN approval, but UK's Cameron faces parliament opposition

By MICHAEL WILNER, MAYA SHWAYDER

08/29/201

British PM shelves imminent military response in Syria in face of growing opposition from members of UK Parliament; plans to resubmit new language to Security Council, wait for completion of UN chemical weapons probe.

WASHINGTON/NEW YORK -- The United States is willing to proceed with action in Syria without approval from the United Nations, the State Department said on Wednesday, after a short but tense afternoon brought NATO allies in direct conflict with Russian obstruction over how to respond to the mass use of chemical weapons.

Britain submitted language for a resolution on Wednesday to the UN Security Council, but ultimately failed to gain consensus on a draft, leaving Western allies with "no choice" but to proceed with a response circumventing the international body.

The permanent five members of the UN Security Council held an emergency meeting on Wednesday morning to discuss the draft, at which the UK Permanent Representative Mark Lyall Grant presented language condemning "the attack by the Assad regime, and authorizing all necessary measures under Chapter seven of the UN Charter to protect civilians from chemical weapons."

Western powers assert that Assad used chemical weapons on civilians in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on August 21, killing over a thousand and wounding thousands more.

Russia called the draft resolution "premature."

The US now "does not see an avenue forward" through the Security Council, State Department deputy spokeswoman Marie Harf said on Wednesday after the meeting adjourned. "We are not proceeding with a vote on this draft resolution."

"We are making our own decisions on our own timeline," Harf added. "The Russians have been clear that they have no interest in holding the Syrian regime accountable."

But in Britain, Prime Minister David Cameron was forced to change tack on Wednesday evening in the face of growing opposition from members of the UK Parliament.

He vowed to resubmit new language to the UN Security Council, wait until the UN investigation on the ground in Syria completed its work over the weekend, and then call for a second vote from Parliament for authorization of military force.

Britain's opposition Labour Party, under Ed Miliband's leadership, threatened late Wednesday to vote against the motion to participate in military intervention in Syria without first exhausting UN procedures.

Facing defeat in the pending Parliament vote on Thursday, Cameron-- after reconvening its members for the crisis meeting-- shelved a military response for now to avoid the standoff.

The move appeared to put the breaks on any immediate action in the coming days.

"We will proceed as far as possible on a consensual basis," William Hague said. But "we must be prepared to take action... to deter the use of chemical weapons."

Hague said he spoke with US Secretary of State John Kerry Wednesday evening and provided him with an update.

"This is one of the lessons of the last decade," Hague said of Cameron's efforts to achieve parliamentary consensus, referring to political fallout from the Iraq War.

Hague said 10 Downing hoped to proceed "with the maximum degree of consent," adding that the use of chemical weapons in this century "is something on which the world should be able to unite."

Members of Parliament had come back from summer recess to debate and vote on UK involvement in an allied attack in response to Ghouta. Prime Minister David Cameron convened his national security council for a crisis meeting on the conflict, and included Miliband in the meeting-- a rare overture from a prime minister to an opposition leader.

“The NSC [National Security Council] agreed unanimously that the use of chemical weapons by Assad was unacceptable – and the world should not stand by,” Cameron said on his official Twitter feed immediately following the meeting.

Germany's Angela Merkel spoke with Cameron, agreeing with the British leader that Syria "cannot go unpunished."

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday information from a variety of sources pointed to President Bashar Assad's forces being responsible for the use of chemical weapons in the Damascus suburb of Ghouta on August 21 on a massive scale, killing over a thousand civilians and wounding thousands more.

Speaking after a meeting of NATO ambassadors in Brussels, Rasmussen said any use of such weapons was "unacceptable and cannot go unanswered."

"This is a clear breach of longstanding international norms and practice," Rasmussen said. "Those responsible must be held accountable."

Turkey placed its armed forces on alert on Wednesday, in light of possible security threats from Syria as the West continued planning military action against the Damascus regime in response to the Ghouta attack, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said on Wednesday.

Davutoglu asserted that "all options are on the table" for Turkey to address the use of chemical weapons in Syria on a massive scale.

Turkey's allies in Washington, London and Paris have been weighing military intervention in Syria's harsh civil war since last week. US and British navy destroyers have been deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in the event President Barack Obama chooses to order a strike.

"We are now at a more alert position... Turkey will take whatever measures necessary within the framework of its own strategic interests," Davutoglu told reporters.

"The Turkish armed forces have the mandate to take every measure against any security threat from Syria or elsewhere... and retaliate within the rules of engagement."

Turkey has been bullish on Syria throughout its civil war, openly supporting rebels fighting Assad-- including the al-Nusra Front, an affiliate of al-Qaida.

On Monday, one senior Turkish official told a local media outlet that his government was considering making their Incirlik air base available to NATO should the Western coalition, led by the United States, choose to proceed with military intervention.

Incirlik was used by NATO in operations in Iraq and Kosovo.

But Jordan's foreign ministry asserted that, despite its deep dissatisfaction with the Assad regime and its tactics, it would not become directly entangled in the military conflict.

A Jordanian official confirmed to The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday that "Jordan will not be a launching pad for any military action against Syria."

Syria's ambassador to the UN Bashar Ja'afari accused rebel forces of executing the chemical weapons attacks, and further said they had obtained the materials from "outside powers, namely Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar." Ja'fari also emphasized that he wanted a "thorough scientific investigation" by the current UN chemical weapons inspectors team to be presented to the Security Council.

When asked whether Syria would attack Israel, Ja'fari merely said, "We have the right to self-defense according to the charter of the United Nations. It's up to the military command to determine how we would respond to any military aggressions."

"The Syrian government is against the use of chemical weapons by all means," Ja'fari said, and continued, echoing the words of US Secretary of State John Kerry, "This is a moral obscenity. The use of chemical weapons, or biological, or nuclear is a moral obscenity. Is not acceptable by any government."

"We are not the war-mongerers," he continued. "We are a peaceful nation seeking stability in the area, because instability will serve only the Israeli interests."

Ja'fari went on to assert that the entirety of the Arab spring, including the Syrian crisis, "serves only one goal," which is to distract the world from the Palestinian question. "It has been really unfortunate that for decades to notice that the American diplomacy has always been motivation by defending Israeli interests," Ja'fari said.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-23869762
Video: Syria crisis: People in Damascus 'are nervous'
8/28/13

The UK has put a suggested resolution to the five permanent members of the UN Security Council "authorising all necessary measures to protect civilians" in Syria.

It calls for military action against what Britain has termed Syria's "unacceptable" use of chemical weapons.

Syrians continue to go about their daily lives, but as Jeremy Bowen reports from the capital Damascus, people "are nervous about what the next few days will bring".

[Christian40]

Israel Deploys All Available Missile Defenses Against US Strike On Syria

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel is deploying all of its missile defenses as a precaution against possible Syrian retaliatory attacks should Western powers carry out threatened strikes on Syria, Israeli Army Radio said on Wednesday.

"It did not say how many interceptor batteries were mobilized by Israel’s air defense corps. The missile defenses include the short-range Iron Dome, the mid-range Patriot and the long-range Arrow II.

Facing potentially imminent attack by the United States and other Western powers over its alleged use of chemical weapons, Damascus has hinted it could shoot back at the Jewish state, its old foe. Israel is also braced for rocket salvoes from Hezbollah, Syria’s Lebanese militia ally.

Asked about the Army Radio report, an Israeli military spokesman said: “In light of the recent occurrences in the region, the IDF (Israel Defence Forces) is taking the necessary defense measures to safeguard the State of Israel.”

He declined to elaborate on the military deployments.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday that Israel sought to stay out of the Syrian crisis but would respond forcefully to any attempt to attack it.

He struck a more calming tone on Wednesday, as Israelis stood in long lines at gas mask distribution centers in shopping malls. Israel has provided its citizens with equipment to cope with possible chemical or biological attacks since the 1991 Gulf War, when U.S.-led troops drove Iraq out of Kuwait.

“Following a security assessment held today, there is no reason for a change to normal routines,” Netanyahu said in a statement after he met with his security cabinet. “We are, in parallel, preparing for any scenario.”

The security cabinet approved a small-scale mobilization of military reservists, according to an Israeli official briefed on the meeting."

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=14756

[Christian40]

Will The Coming Attack On Syria Spark A Global War?

"Will the phrase “Guns of August” one day refer not only to the prelude to World War I in 1914 but also to the prelude to a Middle East war in 2013?

That is the ominous question posed by Roger Boyes, the diplomatic editor of the Times of London and a foreign correspondent for the past 35 years.

“The direction of events in Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Iran should keep us awake at night. History is taking a dangerous turn,” he writes. “The region certainly cannot sustain two wars — Syria’s bloody insurgency and a near-civil war in Egypt — without wrecking established peace treaties and the normal mechanisms for defusing conflict.”

I sat down with Boyes in our London newsroom. He acknowledged that the conflicts coursing through a half-dozen Middle Eastern countries did not come from a single source, nor did they stem from a single reason.

But he feared the problems were becoming intractable and were spreading across state borders: “the new Sunni assertiveness, the rise of the jihad, the influence of the Muslim Brotherhood not only in Egypt but in every Arab society.”

And Boyes warned that, as in August 1914, the world was not paying enough attention.

“In August 1914 there was a lot of grouse shooting going on. In August 2013, politicians prefer to read doorstopper biographies in Tuscany and Cornwall. Yet the spreading Middle East crisis, its multiple flashpoints, is every bit as ominous as the prelude to war in 1914.”

The news certainly seems to get worse by the day. The West is now directly blaming the Assad regime for using chemical weapons against its own people in Syria. The drumbeat toward a military strike in Syria grows louder by the hour.

The U.K. is “making contingency plans,” according to the prime minister’s spokesman.

“The use of chemical weapons in the 21st century, on a large scale like this, cannot go unaddressed, cannot be ignored,” warned the French president.

And as the United States’ top diplomat put it: “President Obama believes there must be accountability for those who would use the world’s most heinous weapons against the world’s most vulnerable people.”

Western officials warn that the decision of whether to attack Syria will be made this week.

The Guns of August, indeed."

http://www.nowtheendbegins.com/blog/?p=14750

[Mark]

looks like its loosing steam as the truth starts to come out

AP: INTELLIGENCE ON CHEMICAL WEAPONS USE NO 'SLAM DUNK'...
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_UNITED_STATES_SYRIA_INTELLIGENCE_DOUBTS?SITE=AP&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT&CTIME=2013-08-29-03-11-56

ahh, kinf of hard to pin it on Assad when its McCains buddies.

UK Cameron backs down on urgent Syria strikes amid revolt...
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10272555/Cameron-backs-down-on-urgent-Syria-strikes.html

GUNG HO!! to wuss. 

France changes tone, seeks 'political solution'...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/29/us-syria-crisis-hollande-idUSBRE97S0CU20130829
who really didnt see this coming? France?  apparently because of them, looks like the war was lost before it started. Guess History always repeats its self.

Israelis rush for gas masks, brace for retaliation...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/as-us-allies-weigh-strike-on-syria-nervous-israelis-rush-for-gas-masks/2013/08/28/0adfabbc-0fe6-11e3-a2b3-5e107edf9897_story.html?wpmk=MK0000203

Russian resistance halts UN resolution...
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-syria-united-nations-resolution-20130828,0,618597.story

Allies face fight over timetable...
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/03185b70-0fb6-11e3-a258-00144feabdc0.html

The worst, least-bad scenarios...
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100994327

OBAMA EYES 'SHOT ACROSS THE BOW'
http://news.yahoo.com/on-syria--obama-says-eyeing-%E2%80%98shot-across-the-bow%E2%80%99-222156121.html

Kind of hard to see with EGG all over your face. Still i dont see a way for Obama to back down, as the evidence was “undeniable” that the Syrian regime had used chemical agents and then destroyed the evidence.

[Psalm 51:17]

Kind of hard to see with EGG all over your face. Still i dont see a way for Obama to back down, as the evidence was “undeniable” that the Syrian regime had used chemical agents and then destroyed the evidence.

Bush didn't back down on Iraq either after other Western countries like France refused.

I dunno, but maybe the Isaiah 17:1-3 prophecy may not happen until the time of Jacob's trouble - remember a lot of these OT prophecies are toward Israel.(as the time of Jacob's trouble is centered around Israel, and not the Gentile church)

Isaiah 17:1  The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Isa 17:2  The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
Isa 17:3  The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.
Isa 17:4  And in that day it shall come to pass, that the glory of Jacob shall be made thin, and the fatness of his flesh shall wax lean.

With that being said - either way(whether or not this prophecy happens before or during the time of Jacob's trouble), yet another piece of the chess game has moved closer.

[Psalm 51:17]

France changes tone, seeks 'political solution'...
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/08/29/us-syria-crisis-hollande-idUSBRE97S0CU20130829
who really didnt see this coming? France?  apparently because of them, looks like the war was lost before it started. Guess History always repeats its self.

http://news.yahoo.com/france-military-ready-syria-needed-092651128.html
8/29/13
France: Military ready to go to Syria if needed

PARIS (AP) — The French military is ready to commit forces to an operation in Syria if President Francois Hollande decides to do so, the defense minister said Thursday. But the chief of state, who met with the head of the Syrian opposition, stopped short of announcing military intervention over a suspected chemical weapons attack.

Hollande offered his political and humanitarian support for the Western-backed Syrian National Council, but said the group will only be a viable alternative to Syrian President Bashar Assad if it has military credibility — and if the international community can stop the spiral of violence.

The United States, France and Britain are believed to be preparing possible military action against Assad's regime after an apparent poison gas attack in Syria on Aug. 21. U.N. experts are currently in Syria investigating the attack.

"The Armed Forces are in a position to respond to the requests and the decisions of the president once he reaches that point" of committing French forces to an international intervention in Syria, Defense Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said.

Hollande does not need French parliamentary approval to launch any military action that lasts less than four months.

Hollande, who has spoken out strongly against Assad's government, on Thursday stressed the importance of a political solution and making the Syrian opposition a stronger alternative, notably with increased firepower.

Hollande said he told Syrian opposition leader Ahmad al-Jarba that "France will offer all its help. Its political help, its support, as it we have for months. But also its humanitarian, material aid."

"Everything must be done to reach a political solution, but that will not happen unless the coalition is capable of appearing as an alternative, with necessary force, notably its army," Hollande said. "We will only achieve this if the international community is capable of bringing a stop to this escalation of violence, of which the chemical massacre is just one illustration."

Hollande's comments come as his U.S. and British counterparts, Barack Obama and David Cameron, are facing resistance at home to an eventual Syrian intervention.

A French official said the aim of any French action would be to shock Assad's government into understanding that they cannot use chemical weapons. Assad blames the poison gas attack on the opposition.

The official, who spoke on condition because he was discussing sensitive military issues, said the goal was not to launch a war.

Al-Jarba, speaking alongside Hollande, said "this crime will not go unpunished."

Addressing the Syrian people, he said: "This punishment will be inflicted on this criminal, on his war machine, on those who used this weapon."

He estimated that some 1,400 people were killed and thousands wounded in the purported chemical attack Aug. 21 — a much larger number than those earlier cited. Doctors Without Borders had put the number of dead at 355 on Saturday.

French military officials would not comment on reports Thursday that a French frigate has left southern France toward Syria to take part in an eventual military operation.

France has a dozen cruise missile-capable fighter aircraft at military bases in the United Arab Emirates and the Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti. France's military was at the forefront of the NATO-led attacks on Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi in 2011, and led an intervention against extremists in Mali earlier this year.

[Psalm 51:17]

Consider the source(Debka), and this article is dated 8/28(as some things seemed to have changed today)...

http://www.debka.com/article/23228/
Partial Israeli reserves call-up. US beefs up Qatar air base. Syria moves units into sheltered sites

DEBKAfile Special Report August 28, 2013, 4:34 PM (IDT)

Ahead of the US strike on Syria, the Israeli security cabinet in special session Wednesday, Aug. 28, ordered the partial mobilization of select, qualitative IDF reserve forces: Rocket, Air Force, missile interception, Home Defense command and intelligence units. Anti-missile Arrow, Patriot and Iron Dome systems were spread out more widely than ever before across the country. US and Syria wound up last military preparations for the US strike. Barring last-minute hold-ups, debkafile’s military sources report the American operation is scheduled to start Friday night, early Saturday Aug. 30-31.

In the past 24 hours, the US Air Force finished a major buildup at the big US Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. B-1B bombers and F-22 Raptor stealth fighter jets were brought over from other US Mid East air facilities on the Omani island of Masirah and Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean.

These squadrons were not assigned to the US military strike against Syria, say our military sources, but will stand ready to move in should unforeseen complications in the course of the US missile assault on Syria call for the introduction of extra assets from outside.

Israeli officials and spokesmen continued to insist Wednesday on low expectations of a Syrian counter-offensive against their country. Nevertheless, the new US air force reinforcements in Qatar will stand ready to rush to the aid of US allies - Israel, Jordan and Turkey - in the event of their coming under Syrian Scud attack.
 
On the opposite side, the Syrian army Tuesday started scattering personnel, weapons and air assets to safe places to reduce their exposure to damage and losses from US assaults.

Our military sources report that personnel, tanks and artillery of the Syrian Army’s 4th and Republican Guard Divisions, which are held responsible for the Aug. 21 chemical attack on civilians, were being moved into fortified shelters built last year against potential foreign military intervention.

Syrian army command centers in Homs, Hama, Latakia and the Aleppo region were also being split up and dispersed, after a tip-off to Syrian and Russian intelligence that they would be targeted by the US strike.
 
Syria has also transferred its Air Force fighter planes, bombers and attack helicopters to fortified shelters which are armored against missile and air attack.
 
In Israel, the IDF Wednesday installed two Iron Dome missile interceptors in the northern “Valleys” region and Safed in addition to Haifa. Another Iron Dome battery was posted in the heavily populated central district.  Arrow, Patriot anti-missile missiles, as well as Iron Domes, have been deployed more widely across Israel than ever before. debkafile’s military sources report that Israel’s Arrow and Patriot interceptors are linked to the US missile shield with which their operation is synchronized.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Israel was ready for any scenario. Although it takes no part in the Syrian civil war crisis, Israel would not hesitate to fight back for any attempted attacks – and would do so forcefully.

Wednesday morning, the machinery for distributing gas masks to the population broke down under the pressure of demands to distribution centers across the country. The Homeland Ministry’s website crashed. Former Interior Minister Ellie Yishay complained of a shortage of protective masks due to budget cuts. He said there are only enough to supply 40 percent of the population.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.newsmax.com/newswidget/McCain-Obama-Syria-regime/2013/08/28/id/522803?promo_code=137AF-1&utm_source=137AFTimes_of_Israel&utm_medium=nmwidget&utm_campaign=widgetphase1
McCain: No Attempt at Syrian Regime Change 'Crazy'
8/28/13

It would be "crazy" for the United States to shoot a few missiles at Syria for "cosmetic" purposes and not try to topple Bashar Assad's regime, Sen. John McCain says.

Many, including McCain, think President Barack Obama will fire cruise missiles to send Assad a message, but not attempt to actually change the course of the civil war, McCain said Wednesday on Fox News Channel's "On the Record."

"You can't reconcile those two positions," McCain said. The situation has created a "very difficult position" for Obama, he added.

Lawmakers in both parties are divided; some think Obama is obligated to act after drawing a "red line" in 2012 that the United States would intervene if Syria used chemical weapons. Others fear even a symbolic attack would escalate tensions.

McCain visited Syrian rebels earlier this year and has been a lonely voice advocating for the United States to step up aid for the rebels with arms and training.

"America must lead, and America is not leading," McCain said.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.jpost.com/Middle-East/Amid-Syria-tensions-Russia-sends-more-warships-to-Mediterranean-324638
Amid Syria tensions, Russia sends more warships to Mediterranean
8/29/13

Interfax: Russia to beef up presence over "well-known" crisis; navy says deployment is unrelated to developments in Syria.

MOSCOW - Russia will send two ships to the east Mediterranean to strengthen its naval presence because of the "well-known situation" there, Interfax news agency said on Thursday referring to the Syria crisis.

The agency quoted a source in the armed forces' general staff as saying an anti-submarine vessel and a missile cruiser would be sent in the coming days because the situation "required us to make some adjustments" in the naval force.

According to Interfax, the ships will arrive "in the coming days."

The Defense Ministry was not immediately available for comment.

The navy later denied the deployment was linked to events in Syria and said it was part of a long-planned rotation of its ships in the Mediterranean. It did not say what kind of vessels, or how many, were on their way to the region.

The initial Interfax report had made clear that the aim was to beef up the navy's presence and not to replace the ships in the Mediterranean. The reason for the discrepancy in the two reports was not immediately clear.

The United States accuses Syrian government forces of carrying out last week's chemical weapons attack and has said it is repositioning its naval forces in the Mediterranean.

Russia has repeatedly expressed its opposition to military action against Syria and warned that intervention would be "tragic mistake."

Yesterday, a senior Russian diplomat called on the UN Security Council to wait for inspectors to present their report on an alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria before considering a response.

The remarks by Deputy Foreign Minister Vladimir Titov showed Russia opposes a plan by Britain to put a draft resolution to the Council on Wednesday authorizing "necessary measures" to protect Syrian civilians.

"It would be premature, at the least, to discuss any Security Council reaction until the UN inspectors working in Syria present their report," the Interfax news agency quoted Titov as saying.

Since the Syrian conflict began in 2011, Russia, along with China, has used its veto power in the Security Council three times to block Western-backed resolutions condemning President Bashar Assad and intended to press him to end the violence.

The United States and its Western allies are gearing up for a probable military strike to punish Assad, whom they blame for the alleged chemical attack last week which activists said killed hundreds of people as they slept.

Russia says it suspects rebels may have carried out the gas attack to provoke outside armed intervention, and says any use of force without UN approval would violate international law.

Russia has also said it will not allow a repeat in Syria of what happened in 2010 in Libya, where NATO air strikes helped rebels topple Muammar Gaddafi after Moscow let a UN resolution authorising military intervention pass by abstaining.

"MONKEY WITH A GRENADE"

President Vladimir Putin and other officials accuse the United States of using human rights concerns as a pretext to support the ouster of Middle Eastern leaders Washington wants to remove from power for geopolitical reasons.

"The West behaves like a monkey with a grenade in the Islamic world," Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin tweeted.

"Whatever Washington says, the aim of a military operation (would be) regime change in Syria through the destruction of its military potential," tweeted Alexei Pushkov, who heads the international affairs committee in the lower parliament house.

Russia has also likened Western preparations for a probable strike on Syria to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, when the White House used what turned out to be false intelligence about weapons of mass destruction to justify military action.

In a phone conversation on Tuesday, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov rejected US Secretary of State John Kerry's assertion that the Syrian government was to blame for the alleged chemical attack, the Russian Foreign Ministry said.

"It's unacceptable that without waiting for the results from (inspectors), accusations are being made only against the Syrian leadership," Interfax quoted an official in Putin's advisory Security Council as saying. "Where is the proof?" The official, who was not identified, said a military strike on Syria would be likely to unleash "uncontrollable chaos in the greater Middle East and strengthen the position of extremists and terrorist groups including al Qaeda".

The Foreign Ministry, in a separate statement that made no mention of a possible Western strike on Syria, said Russia was taking "all necessary steps" to provide for the security of its diplomatic missions in Syria.

Interfax, citing a Russian naval source, reported that Russia is preparing to withdraw personnel from its naval maintenance and supply facility in the Syrian port of Tartous. The navy and Defense Ministry declined to comment.

The Emergency Situations Ministry said late on Tuesday it had evacuated 89 people who wanted to leave Syria, including 75 Russian citizens, on a flight from Latakia to Moscow. It said the ministry had flown 730 people out of Syria this year.

[Psalm 51:17]

http://beforeitsnews.com/middle-east/2013/08/egypt-closes-suez-canal-to-all-us-military-ships-citing-defence-pact-with-syria-2453790.html

Update: Egypt Closes Suez Canal To All US Military Ships Citing Defence Pact With Syria

Wednesday, August 28, 2013 7:36

The first thing Abdel Fattah al-Sisi Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces, not to enter any US military chartered a tanker to the Suez Canal to hit Syria, stressing Egypt’s commitment to joint defence agreement between Egypt and Syria.

If true, and there is no confirming this as of yet, as say bravo to Gen. al-Sisi.   Granted the guy has slaughtered hundreds of his own countrymen the last couple weeks but at least he has the balls to standup to us and islamic extremism.  -Mort

UPDATE: Egypt’s Tamarud, the group of ‘rebels’ who toppled Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi from power on July 3rd, campaign spokesperson, said in a statement that “it is a national duty to support the Syrian army” and denounced “people who betray their country.”

[Psalm 51:17]

http://www.breitbart.com/Big-Peace/2013/08/27/N-Korea-tried-to-export-gas-masks-to-Syria--media
8/27/13
North Korea Tried to Export Gas Masks, Weapons to Syria

North Korea tried to export gas masks to Syria but they were seized in Turkey along with arms and ammunition, a Japanese daily said Tuesday, as the US threatened action over an alleged chemical weapons attack.

 A Libyan-registered vessel, identified as Al En Ti Sar, left North Korea for Syria earlier this year with the consignment, the Sankei Shimbun said, quoting unnamed sources from the US military, Japanese and South Korean intelligence.

 The US military, which obtained the information, was tracking the ship in coordination with other countries, the daily -- which is known for its North Korea coverage -- said in a detailed report.

 The vessel sailed through Dardanelles in Turkey on April 3 and was searched shortly after by Turkish authorities, who had been tipped off by the US.

 Turkish officials seized 1,400 rifles and pistols and some 30,000 bullets as well as gas masks apparently for chemical protection, the daily said.

 US authorities believe that the ship was intending to unload its cargo in Turkey and send it overland to President Bashar al-Assad's regime, the Sankei said.

 Turkey detained the captain of the vessel and later charged him after he admitted his ship was on its way from North Korea and was carrying arms bound for Syria, the paper said.

 Syria is the subject of sanctions by the European Union, the US and its allies banning the sale of weapons.

 North Korea is barred by United Nations sanctions from trading in weaponry in the wake of nuclear and missile tests. If confirmed, Pyongyang could face additional UN sanctions over the shipment.

 North Korea and Syria have reportedly had a military relationship for some years, including during the current civil war in the Middle Eastern country.

 There were also widespread reports that North Korea helped Syria build a nuclear plant that was destroyed by Israeli bombing in 2007.

 The West has ramped up its rhetoric following accounts of a deadly chemical attack outside Damascus on August 21, which it blames on Assad's regime.

 Washington has accused Syria of trying to destroy evidence from the attack last week, which opposition forces say killed 1,300 people, including children.

 Independent medical agency Doctors Without Borders has said at least 355 people died from "neurotoxic symptoms."

 On Monday a team of UN inspectors sent to Damascus to investigate the claims came under sniper fire.

 US Secretary of State John Kerry said the use of chemical weapons was "undeniable" and warned that Syria would face a response for its actions.

 "Let me be clear. The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity," Kerry said.

 The right-of-centre Sankei Shimbun is one of Japan's five nationwide newspapers and has a track record of publishing exclusive articles on North Korea. While the tone is often strident, it is generally thought of as a credible source on the subject.

[Psalm 51:17]

Video: http://finance.yahoo.com/video/mounting-tensions-syria-push-oil-123500253.html
Mounting tensions in Syria push oil prices higher

Greg Priddy, Eurasia Group, provides perspective on how Middle East unrest is impacting energy prices, including a reduction in production in Libya.

[Psalm 51:17]

Breaking @CNN - UK Parliament Votes Down on Syria Resolution

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http://news.yahoo.com/uk-prime-minister-cameron-loses-syria-war-vote-214346118.html

UK Prime Minister Cameron loses Syria war vote
8/29/13

LONDON (AP) — British Prime Minister David Cameron lost a vote endorsing military action against Syria by 13 votes Thursday, a stunning defeat for a government which had been poised to join the U.S. in strikes to punish Bashar Assad's regime for an alleged chemical weapons attack this month.

Cameron's nonbinding motion was defeated 285-272 and he conceded after the vote that "the British Parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action."

The prime minister said in terse comments while he believes in a "tough response" to the use of chemical weapons, he would respect the will of the House of Commons.

At the start of the week, Cameron had seemed ready to join Washington in possible military action against Assad over the alleged chemical weapons attack. But the push for strikes against the Syrian regime began to lose momentum as Britain's Labour Party — still smarting from its ill-fated decision to champion the invasion of Iraq in 2003 — announced its opposition to the move.

Cameron gave concessions, promising to give the U.N. inspectors time to report back to the U.N. Security Council and to do his outmost to secure a resolution there. He also promised to give lawmakers a second vote in a bid to assuage fears that Britain was being rushed into an attack on Assad.

In the end, it wasn't enough to dispel lingering suspicions that what was billed as a limited campaign would turn into an Iraq-style quagmire.

Tony Travers, the director of the government department at the London School of Economics, said Cameron had clearly miscalculated when he brought Parliament back early from its summer recess. He said the move had been unpopular even within Cameron's Conservative Party.

"Clearly this will be seen as a defeat, it suggests he got the politics wrong, both with the opposition and with some members of his own party," Travers said. "It's not great, it's not brilliant, nor is it the end of the world for him. He's lost votes before. It doesn't necessarily stop them taking further action, but they are going to have to start again really."

He said there was "not a lot" of public support for British military activity in Syria.