Embargo End: EU lifts Syria arms ban to spur peace process?//Syria gets first batch of Russian S-300 missiles - Assad //CrossTalk: Syrian Spillover

[Cidersomerset]

Update on Syria and signs of escalation........................


Syria gets first batch of Russian S-300 missiles - Assad

1r_3Nf2jWPU

Published on 30 May 2013


Syria has received its first batch of Russian anti-aircraft missiles - that's what
President Assad told a Hezbollah television network. The statement's adding fuel to
the tensions over the S-300 air defence system, with the U.S. slamming Russia's
actions and Israel signaling it would prevent it from becoming operational. RT's
Paula Slier is following international escalation over Syria - READ MORE

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Embargo End: EU lifts Syria arms ban to spur peace process?


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Published on 28 May 2013


The EU has agreed to lift the Syrian arms embargo.The UK and France led the effort
which has now opened the door to lethal aid flowing into the hands of the Syrian
rebels. The UK aid agency Oxfam has warned of "devastating consequences" if
more arms are sent into Syria. Anti-war activist Richard Becker says the arms
embargo never stopped western supporters of the opposition. And Soraya
Sepahpour-Ulrich, an independent researcher and writer, says Washington is not
entirely sincere when it calls for peace talks.

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CrossTalk: Syrian Spillover

dtm6DHceZ2I


Published on 29 May 2013


Now with Hezbollah's greater involvement, how will the dynamics of the Syrian Civil
War change? Will Israel jump at an opportunity to take on its old enemy? Could
Lebanon descend back into sectarian strife? And, what is the role of Iran in all of
this? CrossTalking with Dan Arbell, Martyn Oliver and Franklin Lamb.

[Maia Gabrial]

Hmmm. Nothing says peace like a gun,....

[Hervé]

From : http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/


Western Aggression brings Russian Fleet back to the Mediterranean


http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/russia-29-e1369855224211-640x206.jpg (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/russia-29/)


Will the Russian Fleet with it’s S-400 missile defences and the ground based S-300s going into Syria block Israeli pre-emptive attacks, or act as a trip wire for them?


by Jim W. Dean, VT Editor (http://www.veteranstoday.com/staff-writers/) …with Press TV (http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/05/20/304416/russian-med-fleet-warning-to-israel/)

- First published May 20th, 2013 -


Dear Readers, Since this ran and became the top story on Press TV for a week and a half there has been a complete media blackout on any updates on the Russian ships beginning what was called their permanent return. Normally there would have been aerial shots of them from planes or helicopters and many stories about their armaments and combat abilities, especially for engaging the Israeli Navy, Air Force and missile commands.

Russian Med Fleet Returns – an Unintended Consequence



http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/images5-e1369855442667.jpg (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/images-70/)
Russian Navy secret weapon



There was a lot of distraction in the news last week, particularly the flank attack moves on Obama that obscured a huge development in the Mid East… the first return of the Russian Pacific Navy for Mediterranean deployment since 1992.

The first big part of the news is the active word ‘permanent.’ Corporate media decided to ignore the strategic shift consequences of that, and the West may be looking back soon at the wisdom their aggressive regime change military moves, despite the extensive use of proxies.

The recent Israeli attacks on Syria, particularly the use of a nuclear bunker buster gave the Russians a gift from heaven, opening the door to make a defensive deployment to protect their longtime ally in Syria.

The Russians are back in the Med to stay, and this might be a good lesson to the folly of the Western slow motion aggression policy in the region, which has put a match to the whole place. Russian Navy Commander Admiral Viktor Chirkov has announced that a permanent staff was being set up, and the present force might eventually include their nuclear submarines. In speaking to RIA:
“Overall, already from this year, we plan to have five or six warships and support vessels [in the Mediterranean Sea], which will be replaced on a rotating basis from each of the fleets – the Black Sea, Baltic, Northern and, in some cases, even the Pacific Fleet. Depending on the scope of assignments and their complexity, the number of warships in the task force may be increased.”
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu let the cat out of the bag when he stated that a permanent naval task force was needed to defend Russian interests in the region. The world has watched for two years now how coolly Russia has dealt with the continuing escalations in the fighting there, supported by a growing number of outside states who have effectively declared war on Syria thinking that such was a no-risk deal.

Here is what corporate media has not been telling you all. The preemptive strike doctrine of the Israelis and Neocons is going to be challenged. Netanyahu can talk all he wants to about red lines which will trigger a preemptive ‘defensive’ strike, but yours truly has written in these columns that eventually the intended targets would adopt that policy themselves. They have actually been given permission to by the dummies who invented it.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/181177283-e1369855741801.jpg (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/attachment/181177283/)


US Navy sources can sneer at the ‘old’ Russian ships all they want to, but there is nothing old about what they will be carrying, a game changer… their state-of-the-art missiles which they made a top priority in their defense policy as the new missiles are revolutionizing the next generation of warfare.

They will sweep the skies of Israeli planes and the seas of ships. Air forces are working now to deploy robotic war plane drones that are basically missiles themselves by matching their speeds and aerodynamics.

Part of the corporate media hoax has been the fraudulent story of the S-300s being ‘introduced’ to the region as being destabilizing. Anyone wanting to check a copy of Jane’s in 1996 will find them already in Syria.

Maybe some definition game has been going on that if they were under Russian physical control, as American munitions are in many foreign bases, they are not officially Syrian. But I would ask the lazy media what they thought brought down the Turkish F-16 provocations, a waste of those unfortunate pilots in peace time.

Yes folks, the S-300’s have been there all this time, and not fired at Israel yet. But that is all going to change. Israel’s days of roaming freely over Lebanon airspace and their ability to launch air flight munitions without entering Syrian territory may be over, or it will be when the Russians decide to.
Their fleet, even its older ships will be carrying their state-of-the-art weapons like the S-400’s where a pilot only has two or three seconds to live once the ‘beep beep’ that they are locked onto at tremendous speeds. The Russian ships on patrol will be able to shoot any attacking Israeli planes down, including those returning to base post attack. They can even be shot down while taking off.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/2307-1-e1369857606155.jpg (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/2307-1/)
Russia’s Iskander – game changer for Israel


Any retaliatory strike by Israel would trigger a full response by the Russians that could include their bases and command structure.

Their updated Iskander missiles are stated to have speeds in the Mach 6 to 7 range but our sources say over Mach 8. To evade anti-missile fire they can pull 30+ g turns and make a 90-degree dive onto a target while doing so.

The Israeli bullies have never had to stand up to a modern military but they may get the chance. They won’t like it.

The beauty in all of this is the scenario described above could all be done in a purely defensive mode while resisting an Israeli attack.

After one incident alone the Russians might tell the Israelis that any Israeli warplane leaving Israeli air space would be considered an attack and both the plane and the base it flew from subject to attack.

Oh… I forgot to mention above that the targeting can be done either by satellite or programmed into the missiles so jamming would not be effective. This is not the Gaza Strip mortar shells on a back yard rocket tube, which Israel claims to be such a mortal threat where they have repeatedly launched civilian punishment retaliations as ‘deterrents.’

The dummy Israelis did not realize that they were giving moral permission for the same thing to be done to them someday.

Veterans Today has reported that the US Army Corps of Engineers has been spending huge amounts of money building the Israelis nuclear strike proof command centers.


http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Iskander_SS-26_Stone_tactical_missile_system_Russia_Russian_army_640_002-320x241.jpg (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/iskander_ss-26_stone_tactical_missile_system_russia_russian_army_640_002/)
Iskander – Dual launch system


More American taxpayer money was wasted to protect Israel, which has a huge weapons-of-mass-destruction inventory threatening everyone else.

Under the Bush/NeoCon preemptive strike policy the Russians could have taken these out of ‘potential’ threats, and similarly the Patriot missile batteries.

As for accuracy, the Iskanders can take the Patriot missile batteries out the first day. And the Russians could surrender to the international court the next day on the grounds that their response was totally legal under international law.

And if that did not suffice, their second defense would be the Bush doctrine of preemptive strike for defensive purposes… not to eliminate a future threat, but one that had already signaled its hostile intent.

If any of you are thinking I am hyping this scenario, I held up publishing this until I got confirmation from the Israelis. The headline of the Israel Hayom for May 19th was:
“Expect Israeli strikes on Russian arms shipments to Syria-Hezbollah… US officials tell the Wall Street Journal another round of Israeli air strikes could target a new Russian transfer of Yakhont advanced anti-ship missiles in the near future.”


http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/Zionist_F-161-e1369858362186.jpg (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/zionist_f-16-3/)
Israelis have a very aggressive air force


This was nothing more than laying the ground work for the IDF to continue aggressive strikes in support of the Syrian rebels. Note the automatic linking of Syria and Hezbollah like they share arms depots or the Russians let them give their arms away to others.

Do the Israelis have US permission? Well, kind of. Obama said Israel has the right to defend itself, so that means others have the right, also. But the game is a bit different when someone is in the Med who has full retaliatory ability including nuclear weapons.

http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/342x256-Bibi-in-denial-150x150.jpg (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/342x256-bibi-in-denial-5/)
Bibi playing tough

Oh, I forgot to mention something about the nuclear bunker buster that the Israelis used in Damascus. The Russians of course have them also, to use on their newer missiles to keep their weight down for higher speed or longer range, and to make sure one missile does the job.

Despite Bibi’s claiming that Israel is ready for all eventualities, it is ready for none of this. And if the Russians responded to an Israeli attack, believe me the US would not intercede.

The US would be in enough trouble for having put the region in such danger by arming Israel to the teeth to a level its own population could never have afforded, nor would they if they could have.
When Israel suffers a substantial retaliatory strike after an aggressive attack on their part, I can promise you the average Israeli is going to have an instant different opinion of the bully buzz they have grown used to when attacking weak or defenseless opponents.
In the long run more than a few international civilian and military Intel entities have long suspected that this is what eventually would have to happen to remove Israel as a threat to everybody. They would attack the wrong people at the wrong time.

Nobody in the American military is going to willingly die for bully Israel other than maybe the Christian Zios in the Air Force. But that said, the world would be a safer place with them gone anyway.


http://www.veteranstoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/159449154.jpg (http://www.veteranstoday.com/2013/05/29/western-aggression-brings-russian-fleet-back-to-the-mediterranean/159449154-5/)
Russian theater changing missiles on the way to Syria



_______________________________

[Cidersomerset]

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.45.9/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

30 May 2013 Last updated at 20:53

Syrian president Assad says army 'has balance of power' "The repercussions and
wider dangers seem to be growing every day," reports Jim Muir in Beirut

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67888000/jpg/_67888640_67886298.jpg


Video on Link...
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22713119

The Syrian army has scored "major victories" against rebels and now holds "the
balance of power" in the conflict, President Bashar al-Assad has told a Lebanese TV
station.He also suggested Syria may have received the first shipment of an
advanced Russian air defence system. Russia vowed earlier this week to go ahead
with sending S-300 missiles.Meanwhile, the main opposition outside Syria said it
would not take part in peace talks while massacres continued. Speaking in Istanbul
where the Syrian National Coalition is meeting, its interim head, George Sabra, said
talk of diplomatic conferences was farcical while Syrian government forces backed
by the Lebanese Shia movement Hezbollah were carrying out heinous crimes.

Last week, a spokesman for the National Coalition had said it would attend, but
only if Mr Assad agreed to step down. In his interview, Mr Assad said Syria
would "in principle" attend the talks if there were not unacceptable preconditions.
However, he said it would not be surprising if the conference failed, and if it did, it
would not make much difference on the ground, because what he called
the "terrorism" of the rebels would continue.

'Major victories'

President Assad's interview with Hezbollah-linked al-Manar TV was broadcast on
Thursday.He said he was "very confident" about the victory of his forces, and said
Russia had fulfilled some of its weapons contracts.However, he did not specify
whether this included the S-300 missiles - a highly capable surface-to-air missile
system that, as well as targeting aircraft, also has the capacity to engage ballistic
missiles.

Mr Assad said there was "popular pressure" to open a military front against Israel
on the Golan Heights, and said Syria would respond directly if there were any
further Israeli air strikes. Israel has warned it would regard the Russian missiles as
a serious threat to its security. On Thursday, Israeli Energy Minister Silvan Shalom
told public radio that Israel did not want to "escalate" the situation with Syria, but
would not allow the transfer of strategic weapons to Hezbollah.

'Invading'

Earlier, a rebel leader accused Hezbollah of "invading" Syria.

Gen Selim Idriss, the military chief of the main umbrella group of Syrian rebels, the
Free Syrian Army, claimed that more than 7,000 fighters of the Lebanese Shia
movement were taking part in attacks on the rebel-held town of Qusair.
He made an emotional appeal to Western powers on the BBC World Service's
Newshour programme, saying: "We are dying. Please come and help us."
More than 50,000 residents were trapped in the town and a "massacre" would
occur if it fell, he added.

Opposition groups and humanitarian organisations say conditions for the civilians
and the wounded in Qusair are dire, with doctors saying oxygen and other medical
supplies have run out. Syrian government officials say a corridor has been
established to allow civilians to escape, and fighters who put down their arms are
free to leave too.Government and Hezbollah forces are reported to have retaken
from rebels a disused military airfield north of Qusair.

Graphic showing how the Russian S-300PMU-1 surface-to-air missile system works 1.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67896000/gif/_67896067_s300_vehicles2_464in.gif

The long-range surveillance radar tracks objects over a range of 300km (185 miles)
and relays information to the command vehicle, which assesses potential targets.

2.A target is identified and the command vehicle orders the engagement radar to
launch missiles.
3.Launch data is sent to the best placed of the battalion's six launch vehicles and it
releases two surface-to-air missiles.
4.The engagement radar helps guide the missiles towards the target. It can guide
up to 12 missiles simultaneously, engaging up to six targets at once.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22713119

[turiya]

It would be well to keep a proper perspective in all this, which the main news outlets that are covering this seem to avoid. Veterans Today is probably the only one that comes close to identifying the two sides of this conflict...
The so-called "leading NATO powers" (i.e. the U.S., Britain & France) can also be known as the "Jewish-Christian Zionist Alliance", with NATO serving as the military arm of this entity.

Islamic scholar, Imran Hosein stated:
-Syria Puts Us Into An Historic Moment In History.
-Syria Playing Role Of Sarajevo A Hundreds Years Ago (Beginning of the first World War).
-Syria Will Not Be Lost Without A No Fly Zone.
-The Jihadists (a.k.a Syrian Opposition) have aligned themselves with the Jewish/Christian Zionist Alliance.
-Russia and China Standing Firm On Supporting Syria.
-Zionists generally use a false flag to instigate aggression.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEVy-roZqmg
Published on Apr 4, 2013
-Most Americans know it was the Mossad and CIA who planned and carried out the 911 attacks.
-Israel will hope that NATO and Russia/China will war with each other.
-Opposing the Zionist attack on Syria does not make a person a supporter of Assad.
-No Islamic government is doing as much as Hugo Chavez did, they are all comfortable with the IMF.The RT commentator said:
John McCain went to Syria to meet w/ the "Free Syrian Liberation Army" [a.k.a. the " Jihadist Opposition", a.k.a. "al-CIA-duh"]. So, America is involved in all this. I don't believe America wants a peaceful resolution to the conflict. America started it. I don't think John McCain would take this upon himself to go to Syria & meet with the "Opposition" had he not had a nod from the government... He would have been locked up the minute he returned. However, there is this Onion article:

Family Concerned After John McCain Wanders Into Syria
May 28, 2013








http://o.onionstatic.com/images/22/22231/1x1-small/200.jpg?2784
WASHINGTON—Members of Sen. John McCain’s family expressed deep concern Tuesday after receiving word that the aging legislator had wandered off into Syria.

“Unfortunately, this has been happening a lot lately; he’ll walk out of the Capitol building, get disoriented, and then we get a call late at night saying that John is in Syria,” McCain’s wife Cindy said upon learning that her 76-year-old husband turned up in the war-torn country after ambling across the Turkey-Syria border and delivering a rambling, incoherent speech to a group of rebels. “Then one of us has to go to Syria, pick him up, and bring him back to Washington.

We’re going to have to sit down soon and decide what to do about this before he seriously hurts himself.” McCain’s wife added that her husband’s recent trip to Syria was the most alarming episode for her family since the elderly Arizona senator got into his car, started driving, and ended up lost in the 2008 presidential election.
SOURCE (http://www.theonion.com/articles/family-concerned-after-john-mccain-wanders-into-sy,32601/?ref=auto)

turiya :cool:

[Cidersomerset]

http://static.bbci.co.uk/frameworks/barlesque/2.45.9/desktop/3.5/img/blq-blocks_grey_alpha.png

31 May 2013 Last updated at 13:28 Sh

Syria conflict: Rebel reinforcements arrive in QusairSyrian government troops in
Arjun in Qusair, 30 May 2013

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67907000/jpg/_67907858_czkfu4ez.jpg

State media said government troops took Qusair's Arjun district on Thursday


Dozens of fighters have arrived to reinforce rebel units battling to hold off a Syrian
government and Hezbollah assault on the key town of Qusair.A source in Qusair
told the BBC the number was far fewer than the 1,000 suggested by the interim
head of the main opposition alliance, George Sabra.But the arrival does contradict
state media reports the town is surrounded.President Bashar al-Assad earlier told
Lebanese TV that he was "confident of victory" in the two-year-old conflict.His
troops, backed by fighters from Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shia Islamist movement,
have been tightening the noose on Qusair, which controls supply routes crucial to
both sides.



Syrian state television said troops and Hezbollah fighters had captured the Arjun
district of Qusair on Thursday.The BBC source in Qusair did not give precise figures
for the rebel reinforcements for security reasons. But he said it was significant that
they had managed to get in at all, and that the news would encourage others to
come to the aid of the rebels.He also said the humanitarian situation in Qusair was
worsening, with urgent need to get some 800 wounded people out for treatment.
An attempt to evacuate wounded on Friday had failed, he added, as the convoy had
come under attack, with nine people killed.The source said that 80% of Qusair was
still under rebel control, although this cannot be independently verified.

He told the BBC: "There are about 30,000 people in Qusair. The ones that are
inside are stuck here, and most of them live underground... Sometimes there are
two or three families living in one room.

"There is no water at all, because the Assad regime controls the water supply, and
there has been no electricity for four months."

Mr Sabra, acting leader of the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and
Opposition Forces, insisted that "around 1,000 fighters from across Syria" had
penetrated the town.The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a UK-based activist
group, said "hundreds" of rebels had broken through army lines north-east of Qusair.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/67704000/gif/_67704626_syia_road_map624.gif


Read More...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22728798

[Cidersomerset]

Toxic Warfare: Rebels caught with sarin gas amid Syria arms supply scandal

vet0PV-XPlw


Published on 31 May 2013


Suspected Syrian militants have reportedly been detained in Turkey with a cylinder
of highly poisonous sarin gas found in their possession. Those arrested are believed
to be members of the Al-Qaeda linked Al-Nusra Front. Earlier this month, UN
investigators voiced suspicion the nerve agent was being used by opposition
fighters. RT's Middle East correspondent Paula Slier reports.

[Cidersomerset]

Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal on Palestine, Israel and Syria


A67a0a0i4Zc

http://i1.ytimg.com/i/TrQ7HXWRRxr7OsOtodr2_w/1.jpg?v=a2bac9


Published on 30 May 2013


An exclusive interview with Khaled Meshaal, the leader of Hamas, about Palestine, Israel, and Syria.