19 sept 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry says the United Nations Security Council must be prepared to act on Syria’s chemical weapons program next week.
"Now the test comes. The Security Council must be prepared to act next week. It is vital for the international community to stand up and speak out," Kerry said in a statement at the State Department on Thursday.
“This fight about Syria’s chemical weapons is not a game,” Kerry added. “It’s real. It’s important.”
The top US diplomat, who will join world leaders for the annual UN General Assembly in New York on Sunday, once again accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in a deadly attack last month.
"I would say to the community of nations, time is short. Let's not spend time debating what we already know," Kerry said.
"Instead, we have to recognize that the world is watching to see whether we can avert military action and achieve through peaceful means" the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, he added.
"The complete removal of Syria's chemical weapons is possible here, through peaceful means," Kerry said.
Meanwhile, Damascus plans to make a full declaration of its chemical arms stocks by this weekend under a deal with Russia to put the weapons under international control with the goal of destroying them by mid-2014.
During a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday, Kerry called on China, which is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, to play a positive role regarding Syria.
"With negotiations ongoing at the Security Council, we look forward to China playing a positive, constructive, important role," Kerry told his Chinese counterpart.
The agreement between the US and Russia to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control has for now cooled off the war rhetoric in the region. (Video on the link)
"Now the test comes. The Security Council must be prepared to act next week. It is vital for the international community to stand up and speak out," Kerry said in a statement at the State Department on Thursday.
“This fight about Syria’s chemical weapons is not a game,” Kerry added. “It’s real. It’s important.”
The top US diplomat, who will join world leaders for the annual UN General Assembly in New York on Sunday, once again accused the Syrian government of using chemical weapons in a deadly attack last month.
"I would say to the community of nations, time is short. Let's not spend time debating what we already know," Kerry said.
"Instead, we have to recognize that the world is watching to see whether we can avert military action and achieve through peaceful means" the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, he added.
"The complete removal of Syria's chemical weapons is possible here, through peaceful means," Kerry said.
Meanwhile, Damascus plans to make a full declaration of its chemical arms stocks by this weekend under a deal with Russia to put the weapons under international control with the goal of destroying them by mid-2014.
During a meeting with Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi on Thursday, Kerry called on China, which is one of the five permanent members of the Security Council, to play a positive role regarding Syria.
"With negotiations ongoing at the Security Council, we look forward to China playing a positive, constructive, important role," Kerry told his Chinese counterpart.
The agreement between the US and Russia to put Syria’s chemical weapons under international control has for now cooled off the war rhetoric in the region. (Video on the link)
The videos presented by the US Intelligence Community as evidence have staged scenes. Simple observations of the videos can verify this. This is exactly what a recent and modest study did.
A detailed independent report by Mother Agnes Mariam de la Croix and the International Support Team for Mussalaha in Syria (ISTEAMS) makes some important observations about what happened in the Damascene suburb of East Ghouta on August 21, 2013.
The independent ISTEAMS study contradicts the assertions of the Obama Administration and the entire US Intelligence Community—a gargantuan network of sixteen different intelligence agencies that includes the standalone Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the US Depart of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), and the Pentagon’s National Security Agency (NSA)—through simple observations of the video material that has been put forward as evidence by the United States.
The ISTEAMS report does not deny that chemical weapons were used or that innocent Syrians have been killed. What the study does is logically point out through its observations that that is empirical evidence that the sample of videos that the US Intelligence Community has analyzed and nominated as authentic footage has been stage-managed. This is an important finding, because it refutes the assertions of the representatives of the US Intelligence agencies who testified that the videos they authenticated provide evidence that a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government took place in East Ghouda.
In turn, the Obama Administration has used mainstream media reports from unnamed sources, unnamed social media comments and a series of videos that came out of Syria to make their case for attacking Syria. The videos that the ISTEAMS report looks at are the thirteen videos that the US Intelligence Community selected or nominated as the best video evidence for the Obama Administration to make their case against the Syrian government to the Senate Committee on September 5th, 2013.
The videos that are examined by the study are among the first thirty-five videos uploaded on the internet after the attack in East Ghouta. Almost all of them were uploaded between two to seven hours after the incident and the Local Coordination Committees.
Key Observations and Questions
The report starts by asserting that on the basis of personal observations that the most the residents in East Ghouda had been fleeing the suburb since it was was the scene of fighting been the Syrian military and the anti-government militias; as validation, it also refers to the interview of a young Syrian boy by the name of Abdullah who responds that nobody died among his family and neighbours, because most of them were already displaced from East Ghouda.
Key findings are:
(1) Most the footage is of children.
(2) There is almost a total absence of adult corpses next to the bodies of the children
(3) There is almost a total absence of parents, especially mothers, coming to claim the bodies of the dead children.
(4) There is virtually an absence of the sound of ambulances in the background of the videos.
(5) The testimonies being used against the Syrian government include those of individuals claiming to have smelled the chemical that was used whereas sarin is an odorless gas.
(6) The testimonies that most the victims were found in their homes are at odds with the claims by the same people that most the victims could not be identified.
(7) The same footage is used for videos with different scenarios.
(8) There is different footage that proves that the bodies were being arranged and moved around for display and specifically for filming.
(9) The same couple appears as parents looking for their children in two different videos and each time they claim a different child as theirs among the corpses.
(10) The same groups that have been involved with posting and disseminating the videos that the US Intelligence Community has selected have also tried to pass pictures of Egyptian civilians killed in Cairo’s Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square as Syrian victims.
(11) Children that are still breathing in Zamalka are just filmed and left alone without medical treatment.
(12) In one video, where it is stated that all the bodies are those of the dead, it can bee seen that some of the corpses are being injected by syringes with an unknown liquid from.
(13) There is no knowledge or evidence that public funerals took place for the large number of victims that surpasses 1,460 people.
(14) In breach of all cultural norms and last rites, no public announcements about the dead or their funerals were made.
(15) There is no more than 500 people in all the videos, even when all the bodies that appear in different videos are added to the count.
(16) In two videos of the same location with a difference of about one hour and forty minutes the entire medical teams changes in the middle of an emergency.
(17) The identities of the dead have largely been left unknown; especially by the anti-government groups archiving and disseminating their pictures; for example we see the body of a little boy in a red shirt that was filmed in Zamalka and then in filmed again among different bodies in Jobar and the inanimate bodies of at least nine of the children that filmed in Kafarbatna also oddly appear at makeshift morgue in Al-Majr a few hours later.
(18) In the footage of one burial only eight people are buried and three of them are not even covered in the “compulsory” ritual shrouds.
As a result these questions emerge:
(1) Why such a high rate of dead children?
(2) Why are the bodies of children being displayed with a virtual absence of adult corpses?
(3) When adult corpses are seen, why are the unusually segregated?
(4) Where were the parents?
(5) If the parents died with their children, why are the bodies of adults virtually absence, especially with the bodies of the children?
(6) If the parents were not killed, then where are they? Why are they not looking for their children?
(7) According to the cultural norms and gender scripts of Syrian society, children are almost always found with their mothers. So why is there a relative absence of women and specifically mothers in the US Intelligence Community’s nominated videos?
(8) How was it possible that all these children died alone?
(9) There was virtually no outdoor movement in East Ghouda after the attack. How were all the bodies transported to the burial sites without anyone noticing?
(10) What was being injected into the dead bodies? Do you need to give medication to corpses at a makeshift morgue?
A lot of things do not add up in the footage presented by the US government.
A detailed independent report by Mother Agnes Mariam de la Croix and the International Support Team for Mussalaha in Syria (ISTEAMS) makes some important observations about what happened in the Damascene suburb of East Ghouta on August 21, 2013.
The independent ISTEAMS study contradicts the assertions of the Obama Administration and the entire US Intelligence Community—a gargantuan network of sixteen different intelligence agencies that includes the standalone Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the US Depart of State’s Bureau of Intelligence and Research (INR), and the Pentagon’s National Security Agency (NSA)—through simple observations of the video material that has been put forward as evidence by the United States.
The ISTEAMS report does not deny that chemical weapons were used or that innocent Syrians have been killed. What the study does is logically point out through its observations that that is empirical evidence that the sample of videos that the US Intelligence Community has analyzed and nominated as authentic footage has been stage-managed. This is an important finding, because it refutes the assertions of the representatives of the US Intelligence agencies who testified that the videos they authenticated provide evidence that a chemical weapons attack by the Syrian government took place in East Ghouda.
In turn, the Obama Administration has used mainstream media reports from unnamed sources, unnamed social media comments and a series of videos that came out of Syria to make their case for attacking Syria. The videos that the ISTEAMS report looks at are the thirteen videos that the US Intelligence Community selected or nominated as the best video evidence for the Obama Administration to make their case against the Syrian government to the Senate Committee on September 5th, 2013.
The videos that are examined by the study are among the first thirty-five videos uploaded on the internet after the attack in East Ghouta. Almost all of them were uploaded between two to seven hours after the incident and the Local Coordination Committees.
Key Observations and Questions
The report starts by asserting that on the basis of personal observations that the most the residents in East Ghouda had been fleeing the suburb since it was was the scene of fighting been the Syrian military and the anti-government militias; as validation, it also refers to the interview of a young Syrian boy by the name of Abdullah who responds that nobody died among his family and neighbours, because most of them were already displaced from East Ghouda.
Key findings are:
(1) Most the footage is of children.
(2) There is almost a total absence of adult corpses next to the bodies of the children
(3) There is almost a total absence of parents, especially mothers, coming to claim the bodies of the dead children.
(4) There is virtually an absence of the sound of ambulances in the background of the videos.
(5) The testimonies being used against the Syrian government include those of individuals claiming to have smelled the chemical that was used whereas sarin is an odorless gas.
(6) The testimonies that most the victims were found in their homes are at odds with the claims by the same people that most the victims could not be identified.
(7) The same footage is used for videos with different scenarios.
(8) There is different footage that proves that the bodies were being arranged and moved around for display and specifically for filming.
(9) The same couple appears as parents looking for their children in two different videos and each time they claim a different child as theirs among the corpses.
(10) The same groups that have been involved with posting and disseminating the videos that the US Intelligence Community has selected have also tried to pass pictures of Egyptian civilians killed in Cairo’s Rabaa Al-Adawiya Square as Syrian victims.
(11) Children that are still breathing in Zamalka are just filmed and left alone without medical treatment.
(12) In one video, where it is stated that all the bodies are those of the dead, it can bee seen that some of the corpses are being injected by syringes with an unknown liquid from.
(13) There is no knowledge or evidence that public funerals took place for the large number of victims that surpasses 1,460 people.
(14) In breach of all cultural norms and last rites, no public announcements about the dead or their funerals were made.
(15) There is no more than 500 people in all the videos, even when all the bodies that appear in different videos are added to the count.
(16) In two videos of the same location with a difference of about one hour and forty minutes the entire medical teams changes in the middle of an emergency.
(17) The identities of the dead have largely been left unknown; especially by the anti-government groups archiving and disseminating their pictures; for example we see the body of a little boy in a red shirt that was filmed in Zamalka and then in filmed again among different bodies in Jobar and the inanimate bodies of at least nine of the children that filmed in Kafarbatna also oddly appear at makeshift morgue in Al-Majr a few hours later.
(18) In the footage of one burial only eight people are buried and three of them are not even covered in the “compulsory” ritual shrouds.
As a result these questions emerge:
(1) Why such a high rate of dead children?
(2) Why are the bodies of children being displayed with a virtual absence of adult corpses?
(3) When adult corpses are seen, why are the unusually segregated?
(4) Where were the parents?
(5) If the parents died with their children, why are the bodies of adults virtually absence, especially with the bodies of the children?
(6) If the parents were not killed, then where are they? Why are they not looking for their children?
(7) According to the cultural norms and gender scripts of Syrian society, children are almost always found with their mothers. So why is there a relative absence of women and specifically mothers in the US Intelligence Community’s nominated videos?
(8) How was it possible that all these children died alone?
(9) There was virtually no outdoor movement in East Ghouda after the attack. How were all the bodies transported to the burial sites without anyone noticing?
(10) What was being injected into the dead bodies? Do you need to give medication to corpses at a makeshift morgue?
A lot of things do not add up in the footage presented by the US government.
The same little boy in red is in two different locations
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At least nine of these children appear in different footage from different locations
Bodies being injected by the woman and man outlined in yellow
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A Diabolical Conclusion
Even if many of the observations and premises of the study are ignored, there are some observations that are irrefutable. The same corpses of children were found in different arrangements and in different places at different times in the footage used by the US Intelligence Community. This means that corpses were being staged in arrangements for propaganda purposes.
The videos nominated by the US Intelligence Community need to be carefully looked at and meticulously studied using the ISTEAM observations that have been found as a basis and then expanded upon. The revelations implicate the entire intelligence apparatus of the United States and discredit it int the same tradition as the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There are serious flaws in the US Intelligence Community that equate to either a lack of professionalism or/and its outright subordination to Washington’s political agendas that involve false analyses. To think that such a large network with so many resources could overlook the same observations that laypeople have made is embarrassing to say the least.
There is an important Latakia connection that has to be addressed about these videos. There was actually a massacre carried out by the US-supported anti-government forces in that region of Syria on August 4, 2013. It went largely unreported in countries like the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Qatar, and France. Reporting on the massacre of Syrian civilians in Latakia at the hands of the anti-government forces would have been too inconvenient for the US and its allies.
What is also known is that a large amount of women and children were abducted by the anti-government forces, specifically by Jabhat Al-Nusra, as hostages to be used for negotiations and trade with the Syrian government for captured insurgents. About a hundred and fifty cases are known.
ISTEAMS also mentions that that Syrians from Latakia have come forward claiming that their relatives were on display in the footage that the US Intelligence Community has showcased to justify bombing Syria. The Latakia connection would explain a lot of the questions that arise about the bodies of the unaccompanied children. It also pains a disturbing picture of the bodies of innocent Syrian children being prostituted to spark a foreign attack on Syria by the United States and its allies.
Regardless of any political positions or stances on Syria, everyone who is advocating for war or peace on the basis of these videos has a responsibility to take the observations of the ISTEAMS report to task and verify for themselves the nature of its claims.
Even if many of the observations and premises of the study are ignored, there are some observations that are irrefutable. The same corpses of children were found in different arrangements and in different places at different times in the footage used by the US Intelligence Community. This means that corpses were being staged in arrangements for propaganda purposes.
The videos nominated by the US Intelligence Community need to be carefully looked at and meticulously studied using the ISTEAM observations that have been found as a basis and then expanded upon. The revelations implicate the entire intelligence apparatus of the United States and discredit it int the same tradition as the intelligence about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq. There are serious flaws in the US Intelligence Community that equate to either a lack of professionalism or/and its outright subordination to Washington’s political agendas that involve false analyses. To think that such a large network with so many resources could overlook the same observations that laypeople have made is embarrassing to say the least.
There is an important Latakia connection that has to be addressed about these videos. There was actually a massacre carried out by the US-supported anti-government forces in that region of Syria on August 4, 2013. It went largely unreported in countries like the US, the UK, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Qatar, and France. Reporting on the massacre of Syrian civilians in Latakia at the hands of the anti-government forces would have been too inconvenient for the US and its allies.
What is also known is that a large amount of women and children were abducted by the anti-government forces, specifically by Jabhat Al-Nusra, as hostages to be used for negotiations and trade with the Syrian government for captured insurgents. About a hundred and fifty cases are known.
ISTEAMS also mentions that that Syrians from Latakia have come forward claiming that their relatives were on display in the footage that the US Intelligence Community has showcased to justify bombing Syria. The Latakia connection would explain a lot of the questions that arise about the bodies of the unaccompanied children. It also pains a disturbing picture of the bodies of innocent Syrian children being prostituted to spark a foreign attack on Syria by the United States and its allies.
Regardless of any political positions or stances on Syria, everyone who is advocating for war or peace on the basis of these videos has a responsibility to take the observations of the ISTEAMS report to task and verify for themselves the nature of its claims.
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CNN Caught Staging News Segments on Syria With Actors:
Anderson Cooper and CNN have been caught staging fake news about Syria to justify military intervention. US 'backed plan to launch chemical weapon attack on Syria, blame it on Assad govt': Report Leaked Documents: U.S. Framed Syria in Chemical Weapons Attack: "Make no mistake this was a crime against humanity... but the gas was NOT used by the Syrian government, it was used by the NATO backed rebels." FOX NEWS: 17 FALSE FLAG TERROR NONEVENTS INVOLVING THE FBI http://youtu.be/Cg1H8NF5hjA |
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Syrian President Bashar Assad said on Wednesday it would cost about $1 billion to get rid of Syria's chemical weapons under a US-Russian deal reached last week.
In an interview on the Fox News television channel, Assad said his government would dispose of its chemical weapons arsenal and it would take about a year. "I think it is a very complicated operation technically and it needs a lot, a lot of money. Some estimated about a billion for the Syrian stockpile," he said. Asked whether he would be willing to hand over chemical weapons to the US government, Assad said: |
"As I said, it needs a lot of money. It needs about 1 billion. It is very detrimental to the environment. If the American administration is ready to pay this money and take the responsibility of bringing toxic materials to the United States, why don't they do it?"
Assad denied that his forces were responsible for a chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, outside Damascus, on Aug. 21 that brought the United States close to attacking Syria in response.
He said the Syrian army was advancing in the area at the time and had no need to fire rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin, as the United States says it did.
"The whole story doesn't even hold together. It's not realistic. So, no, we didn't. In one word, we didn't use any chemical weapons in Ghouta," he said, speaking English.
UN chemical investigators confirmed on Monday the use of sarin in the attack in a long-awaited report that the United States, Britain and France said proved government forces were responsible
Assad said it was too early to make a definitive comment on the UN report.
"We have to look at it. We have to discuss it before saying if we agree or disagree. It was only yesterday evening," he said.
Asked whether he had a message for US President Barack Obama, Assad said: "Listen to your people. Follow the common sense of your people. That's enough," in an apparent reference to opinion polls that show Americans oppose any US strike on Syria.
Former US Representative Dennis Kucinich, a liberal Democrat and eight-term congressman from Ohio who is now a commentator for Fox News, took part in the interview on Tuesday in Damascus along with Fox senior correspondent Greg Palkot.
Kucinich has visited Assad twice before, most recently in June 2011, after the uprising against the Syrian president began. Syrian media quoted Kucinich as saying on that trip that Assad was "highly loved" by Syrians. The congressman said he had been misquoted.
Assad denied that his forces were responsible for a chemical weapons attack in Ghouta, outside Damascus, on Aug. 21 that brought the United States close to attacking Syria in response.
He said the Syrian army was advancing in the area at the time and had no need to fire rockets filled with the nerve agent sarin, as the United States says it did.
"The whole story doesn't even hold together. It's not realistic. So, no, we didn't. In one word, we didn't use any chemical weapons in Ghouta," he said, speaking English.
UN chemical investigators confirmed on Monday the use of sarin in the attack in a long-awaited report that the United States, Britain and France said proved government forces were responsible
Assad said it was too early to make a definitive comment on the UN report.
"We have to look at it. We have to discuss it before saying if we agree or disagree. It was only yesterday evening," he said.
Asked whether he had a message for US President Barack Obama, Assad said: "Listen to your people. Follow the common sense of your people. That's enough," in an apparent reference to opinion polls that show Americans oppose any US strike on Syria.
Former US Representative Dennis Kucinich, a liberal Democrat and eight-term congressman from Ohio who is now a commentator for Fox News, took part in the interview on Tuesday in Damascus along with Fox senior correspondent Greg Palkot.
Kucinich has visited Assad twice before, most recently in June 2011, after the uprising against the Syrian president began. Syrian media quoted Kucinich as saying on that trip that Assad was "highly loved" by Syrians. The congressman said he had been misquoted.
News links Syria
19 killed in Syria bus bomb attack
Syria medical situation worries WHO
Syria ‘sincere’ in pledges over CW deal
Syria opp. ‘seeks pretexts for war’
Syria won’t give in to US threats: Assad
Syria under attack by al-Qaeda: Assad
19 killed in Syria bus bomb attack
Syria medical situation worries WHO
Syria ‘sincere’ in pledges over CW deal
Syria opp. ‘seeks pretexts for war’
Syria won’t give in to US threats: Assad
Syria under attack by al-Qaeda: Assad
18 sept 2013
The Syrian regime has handed Russia new materials implicating rebels in a chemical attack outside Damascus on August 21, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said after talks in Damascus.
"The corresponding materials were handed to the Russian side. We were told that they were evidence that the rebels are implicated in the chemical attack," Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies after talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem.
Ryabkov also said Russia was disappointed with a UN report into the chemical weapons attack, saying it was selective and had ignored other episodes. "Without a full picture... we cannot describe the character of the conclusions as anything other than politicized, biased and one-sided," he said.
On Tuesday the United States accused Russia of ignoring the facts surrounding the poison gas attack in Syria, highlighting tensions between the West and Moscow over how to eliminate the country's chemical weapons.
Despite a weekend agreement between the Cold War rivals aimed at dismantling Syria's chemical arsenal by mid-2014, the two sides remain poles apart in their assessment of the August 21 gas attack which left hundreds dead.
Russia insists the attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta was a "provocation" by opponents fighting Syria President Bashar Assad's regime designed to trigger military strikes by the United States.
The United States and France maintain the attack was carried out by Syrian government forces, and believe an assessment by UN experts released on Monday backed their view.
On Tuesday, after meeting French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Moscow's allegation that the August 21 attack was carried out by Syrian rebels.
"The corresponding materials were handed to the Russian side. We were told that they were evidence that the rebels are implicated in the chemical attack," Ryabkov was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies after talks with Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem.
Ryabkov also said Russia was disappointed with a UN report into the chemical weapons attack, saying it was selective and had ignored other episodes. "Without a full picture... we cannot describe the character of the conclusions as anything other than politicized, biased and one-sided," he said.
On Tuesday the United States accused Russia of ignoring the facts surrounding the poison gas attack in Syria, highlighting tensions between the West and Moscow over how to eliminate the country's chemical weapons.
Despite a weekend agreement between the Cold War rivals aimed at dismantling Syria's chemical arsenal by mid-2014, the two sides remain poles apart in their assessment of the August 21 gas attack which left hundreds dead.
Russia insists the attack on the Damascus suburb of Ghouta was a "provocation" by opponents fighting Syria President Bashar Assad's regime designed to trigger military strikes by the United States.
The United States and France maintain the attack was carried out by Syrian government forces, and believe an assessment by UN experts released on Monday backed their view.
On Tuesday, after meeting French counterpart Laurent Fabius in Moscow, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov repeated Moscow's allegation that the August 21 attack was carried out by Syrian rebels.
News links Syria
Obama waives ban on arming terrorists to allow aid to Syrian rebels
Gates: US war on Syria like 'throwing gasoline on fire in Middle East'
Russia ‘foiled plans for war’ on Syria
Erdogan justifies Syrian copter downing
‘Syrian enemies won’t give up on war’
PM: Turkey army 'did what's necessary' by downing Syria helicopter
Brahimi urges US, Russia to build on Syria deal
Obama waives ban on arming terrorists to allow aid to Syrian rebels
Gates: US war on Syria like 'throwing gasoline on fire in Middle East'
Russia ‘foiled plans for war’ on Syria
Erdogan justifies Syrian copter downing
‘Syrian enemies won’t give up on war’
PM: Turkey army 'did what's necessary' by downing Syria helicopter
Brahimi urges US, Russia to build on Syria deal
17 sept 2013
US President Barack Obama and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet in Washington DC on September 30, an Israeli newspaper reported Tuesday.
Topics expected to be covered include the crisis in Syria and Iran’s nuclear program. The meeting will be incorporated into Netanyahu’s scheduled attendance at the United Nations General Assembly, according to Jerusalem Post.
Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this week for a briefing on the US-Russia brokered deal to have Syria dismantle its chemical weapons arsenal, an agreement that was met with “tempered optimism” from Israeli officials, according to the report.
Topics expected to be covered include the crisis in Syria and Iran’s nuclear program. The meeting will be incorporated into Netanyahu’s scheduled attendance at the United Nations General Assembly, according to Jerusalem Post.
Netanyahu met with US Secretary of State John Kerry earlier this week for a briefing on the US-Russia brokered deal to have Syria dismantle its chemical weapons arsenal, an agreement that was met with “tempered optimism” from Israeli officials, according to the report.
An American journalist has slammed US media silence on the maintenance of massive amounts of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) by the Israeli regime and the US while merely pointing to Syria’s possession of such arms.
“America and Israel, both of them, maintain formidable nuclear, chemical and biological weapons arsenals. Not a word is said about this,” said Chicago-based author and radio host Stephen Lendman during a Press TV interview.
Describing the anti-Syria publicity within the US as “complete disingenuousness,” Lendman said that “Syria threatens no one… and it has never used chemical weapons against its own people; the claim that it does is completely fabricated and Israel is a major threat; America is a major threat.”
He then charged that the mainstream US media outlets “literally turn truth on its head,” saying that they have vilified a country [Syria] that has come under attack, as well as Russia, which has made major efforts to avert a “catastrophic” war.
The American journalist also pointed to recent remarks by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Syrian crisis and blasted his suggestion that “the real target [of foreign-backed militancy in Syria] is Iran.”
Lendman further emphasized that the only way to halt American anti-Syria measures “is by overwhelming activist public opinion.”
“We saw protests across America raging against the possibility of a war on Syria; we have letters, tweets, emails, correspondence, telephone calls going to Congressmen and Senators maybe up to 100 to 1 opposing a war,” he said.
“We’ve had 12 years of non-stop war after 9/11,” he added, noting that “people are fed up… they want jobs, they want the economy growing; they want America’s resources spent to grow America not destroying and killing and ravaging other countries.”
Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Ja’afari said on September 12 that the “main danger of WMD is the Israeli nuclear arsenal.”
The Tel Aviv regime also possesses chemical weapons but “nobody is speaking about that,” the Syrian envoy added.
The United States and Russia recently agreed on the details of a plan that would identify and purge Syrian chemical weapons. Syria had earlier announced its readiness to join the international convention that bans chemical weapons.
The Syrian envoy further described his country’s chemical weapons as “a mere deterrence against the Israeli nuclear arsenal” and other WMDs, referring to a declassified CIA report on Israel’s chemical weapons program.
During a speech on Sunday before talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “in any case, Israel must be poised and ready to defend itself, by itself, against any threat - and this capability and readiness are more important now than ever.”(Video on the link)
“America and Israel, both of them, maintain formidable nuclear, chemical and biological weapons arsenals. Not a word is said about this,” said Chicago-based author and radio host Stephen Lendman during a Press TV interview.
Describing the anti-Syria publicity within the US as “complete disingenuousness,” Lendman said that “Syria threatens no one… and it has never used chemical weapons against its own people; the claim that it does is completely fabricated and Israel is a major threat; America is a major threat.”
He then charged that the mainstream US media outlets “literally turn truth on its head,” saying that they have vilified a country [Syria] that has come under attack, as well as Russia, which has made major efforts to avert a “catastrophic” war.
The American journalist also pointed to recent remarks by the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the Syrian crisis and blasted his suggestion that “the real target [of foreign-backed militancy in Syria] is Iran.”
Lendman further emphasized that the only way to halt American anti-Syria measures “is by overwhelming activist public opinion.”
“We saw protests across America raging against the possibility of a war on Syria; we have letters, tweets, emails, correspondence, telephone calls going to Congressmen and Senators maybe up to 100 to 1 opposing a war,” he said.
“We’ve had 12 years of non-stop war after 9/11,” he added, noting that “people are fed up… they want jobs, they want the economy growing; they want America’s resources spent to grow America not destroying and killing and ravaging other countries.”
Syria’s Ambassador to the UN Bashar al-Ja’afari said on September 12 that the “main danger of WMD is the Israeli nuclear arsenal.”
The Tel Aviv regime also possesses chemical weapons but “nobody is speaking about that,” the Syrian envoy added.
The United States and Russia recently agreed on the details of a plan that would identify and purge Syrian chemical weapons. Syria had earlier announced its readiness to join the international convention that bans chemical weapons.
The Syrian envoy further described his country’s chemical weapons as “a mere deterrence against the Israeli nuclear arsenal” and other WMDs, referring to a declassified CIA report on Israel’s chemical weapons program.
During a speech on Sunday before talks with US Secretary of State John Kerry, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that “in any case, Israel must be poised and ready to defend itself, by itself, against any threat - and this capability and readiness are more important now than ever.”(Video on the link)
16 sept 2013
US Secretary of State John Kerry met with Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and a host of Israeli representatives on Sunday night to brief them on U.S.-Russian agreement to rid Syria of its chemical weapons by the middle of next year. The brieging followed a 3 hour private meeting between Kerry and Netanyahu.
The U.S.-Russian agreement calls for an inventory of Syria’s chemical weapons program within one week as well as the removal and destruction of all chemical weapons by mid-2014. The Syrian government has not officially responded to the agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that the agreement influences Iran’s government, a close ally to the Syrian government. “The world needs to ensure that radical regimes don’t have weapons of mass destruction because as we have learned in Syria if rogue regimes have weapons of mass destruction they will use them,” Netanyahu said.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad denies all accusations that his government used chemical weapons on the Syrian people, and points instead to resistance groups working to overthrow the nation’s government. It is inconclusive by whom the chemical weapons were used.
Ahead of Kerry’s arrival, several Israeli politicians voiced skepticism, stating Assad cannot be trusted. Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said that an agreement on chemical weapons should not absolve Assad of punishment for the acts he has committed against the Syrian people.
The U.S.-Russian agreement calls for an inventory of Syria’s chemical weapons program within one week as well as the removal and destruction of all chemical weapons by mid-2014. The Syrian government has not officially responded to the agreement.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stressed that the agreement influences Iran’s government, a close ally to the Syrian government. “The world needs to ensure that radical regimes don’t have weapons of mass destruction because as we have learned in Syria if rogue regimes have weapons of mass destruction they will use them,” Netanyahu said.
Syrian president Bashar al-Assad denies all accusations that his government used chemical weapons on the Syrian people, and points instead to resistance groups working to overthrow the nation’s government. It is inconclusive by whom the chemical weapons were used.
Ahead of Kerry’s arrival, several Israeli politicians voiced skepticism, stating Assad cannot be trusted. Intelligence Minister Yuval Steinitz said that an agreement on chemical weapons should not absolve Assad of punishment for the acts he has committed against the Syrian people.
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An American author says both the United States and Israel maintain “formidable nuclear, chemical and biological weapons arsenals” but not a single word is said about their arms, Press TV reports.
“Syria threatens no one as we know and it has never used chemical weapons against its own people. The claim that it does is completely fabricated and Israel is a major threat; America is a major threat,” Stephen Lendman said. He pointed to the danger posed to the world peace by Israeli nuclear, chemical and biological weapons and criticized the recent remarks by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu about Syria’s alleged chemical weapons. |
On Sunday, Netanyahu voiced support for an agreement reached by the US and Russia to place Syria’s chemical weapons under international supervision.
“We’ve been closely following and support your ongoing efforts to rid Syria of its chemical weapons,” Netanyahu said in the occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The agreement was reached between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on September 14, following three days of talks in Geneva.
Israel, the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, is widely known to have between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads.
Lendman further added that US media literally turn truth on its head and vilify for attacking Syria.
“They [US media] blame a country like Russia for taking heroic steps to avoid another war that would be catastrophic,” Lendman, who is also radio host, said.
He added that protests are being held across the United States to rage against the possibility of a war on Syria as the Americans are fed up with 12 years of non-stop war after 9/11.
“They [Americans] want jobs; they want the economy growing; they want America’s resources spent to grow America not destroying and killing and ravaging other countries. And they made those feelings known and it took effect in Congress,” Lendman pointed out.
He expressed concern that the US might end up getting the war that President Barack Obama wants against Syria which would destroy the Syrian Republic and isolate Iran.
War rhetoric against Syria intensified on August 21, when militants operating inside the country and foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that over a thousand people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds on the outskirts of Damascus.
The Syrian government categorically rejected the allegation, saying the militants carried out the attack to provoke foreign military intervention. (Video on the link)
“We’ve been closely following and support your ongoing efforts to rid Syria of its chemical weapons,” Netanyahu said in the occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem).
The agreement was reached between US Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on September 14, following three days of talks in Geneva.
Israel, the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, is widely known to have between 200 and 400 nuclear warheads.
Lendman further added that US media literally turn truth on its head and vilify for attacking Syria.
“They [US media] blame a country like Russia for taking heroic steps to avoid another war that would be catastrophic,” Lendman, who is also radio host, said.
He added that protests are being held across the United States to rage against the possibility of a war on Syria as the Americans are fed up with 12 years of non-stop war after 9/11.
“They [Americans] want jobs; they want the economy growing; they want America’s resources spent to grow America not destroying and killing and ravaging other countries. And they made those feelings known and it took effect in Congress,” Lendman pointed out.
He expressed concern that the US might end up getting the war that President Barack Obama wants against Syria which would destroy the Syrian Republic and isolate Iran.
War rhetoric against Syria intensified on August 21, when militants operating inside the country and foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that over a thousand people had been killed in a government chemical attack on militant strongholds on the outskirts of Damascus.
The Syrian government categorically rejected the allegation, saying the militants carried out the attack to provoke foreign military intervention. (Video on the link)
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has condemned the use of chemical weapons in last month’s attack in Syria and demanded the perpetrators of the deadly attack be brought to justice.
"This is a war crime and a grave violation of the 1925 Protocol and other rules of customary international law. I trust all can join me in condemning this despicable crime," Ban said in a briefing to the UN Security Council on Monday.
"The international community has a responsibility to hold the perpetrators accountable and to ensure that chemical weapons never re-emerge as an instrument of warfare," he said.
A UN report on the August 21 attack confirmed "unequivocally and objectively" that chemical weapons were used, the UN chief noted.
The report by chief UN chemical weapons investigator Ake Sellstrom, which was presented to the UN Security Council on Monday, said there was "clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used" in that attack.
The UN team's mandate did not include assigning blame for the attack.
Hundreds of people were killed and scores of others were injured in the chemical attack which took place in the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus.
It is "the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them in Halabja in 1988," Ban said.
The militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that the deadly attack was carried out by the army.
Damascus, however, has strongly denied the accusation, saying it was a false-flag operation carried out by Takfiri groups in a bid to draw in foreign military intervention.
Following the chemical attack, the US called for punitive military action against Damascus. The Syrian government averted possible US aggression by accepting a Russian plan to put its chemical arsenal under international control and then have them destroyed.
"This is a war crime and a grave violation of the 1925 Protocol and other rules of customary international law. I trust all can join me in condemning this despicable crime," Ban said in a briefing to the UN Security Council on Monday.
"The international community has a responsibility to hold the perpetrators accountable and to ensure that chemical weapons never re-emerge as an instrument of warfare," he said.
A UN report on the August 21 attack confirmed "unequivocally and objectively" that chemical weapons were used, the UN chief noted.
The report by chief UN chemical weapons investigator Ake Sellstrom, which was presented to the UN Security Council on Monday, said there was "clear and convincing evidence that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used" in that attack.
The UN team's mandate did not include assigning blame for the attack.
Hundreds of people were killed and scores of others were injured in the chemical attack which took place in the suburbs of the Syrian capital Damascus.
It is "the most significant confirmed use of chemical weapons against civilians since Saddam Hussein used them in Halabja in 1988," Ban said.
The militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that the deadly attack was carried out by the army.
Damascus, however, has strongly denied the accusation, saying it was a false-flag operation carried out by Takfiri groups in a bid to draw in foreign military intervention.
Following the chemical attack, the US called for punitive military action against Damascus. The Syrian government averted possible US aggression by accepting a Russian plan to put its chemical arsenal under international control and then have them destroyed.
Turkey’s deputy prime minister says Turkish warplanes have shot down a Syrian military helicopter after violating the country’s airspace.
A Syrian MI-17 helicopter was downed over the southern province of Hatay after it strayed two kilometers into Turkish airspace, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters on Monday.
Arinc said there was no information about the fate of the crew because the helicopter fell on Syrian soil. He also noted that Turkish air defense had repeatedly warned the Syrian helicopter to leave Turkey's airspace before being hit by missiles.
Unconfirmed reports say militants fighting against the Syrian government have killed the helicopter's two pilots. There are also reports suggesting that one of the pilots was captured by militants while the second pilot's fate is unknown.
The Syrian government has yet to comment on the incident.
The shooting comes almost a year after Syrian air force shot down a Turkish warplane after it entered Syria's airspace. The plane fell in Syrian waters and near the village of Um al-Touyour. Ankara, however, insisted at the time that the plane had entered Syrian airspace but quickly left when warned, and was shot down in international airspace several minutes later.
Following this incident in June 2012, the Turkish government changed its military rules of engagement towards Syria. From that time on, every military element that approached the Turkish border from Syria would be considered as a threat. (Video on the link)
A Syrian MI-17 helicopter was downed over the southern province of Hatay after it strayed two kilometers into Turkish airspace, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told reporters on Monday.
Arinc said there was no information about the fate of the crew because the helicopter fell on Syrian soil. He also noted that Turkish air defense had repeatedly warned the Syrian helicopter to leave Turkey's airspace before being hit by missiles.
Unconfirmed reports say militants fighting against the Syrian government have killed the helicopter's two pilots. There are also reports suggesting that one of the pilots was captured by militants while the second pilot's fate is unknown.
The Syrian government has yet to comment on the incident.
The shooting comes almost a year after Syrian air force shot down a Turkish warplane after it entered Syria's airspace. The plane fell in Syrian waters and near the village of Um al-Touyour. Ankara, however, insisted at the time that the plane had entered Syrian airspace but quickly left when warned, and was shot down in international airspace several minutes later.
Following this incident in June 2012, the Turkish government changed its military rules of engagement towards Syria. From that time on, every military element that approached the Turkish border from Syria would be considered as a threat. (Video on the link)
UN inspectors confirm use of Chemical weapons in Syria
The United Nations inspectors have confirmed the use of chemical weapons in an attack near the Syrian capital last month.
According to the inspectors' report, expected to be released by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon later on Monday, environmental, chemical and medical samples show that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in the Ghouta suburb of Damascus on August 21.
"The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic ... against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale," says the report by UN inspectors.
The detail was inadvertently leaked when the first page of the report was included in an official picture of head of the UN investigators, Ake Sellstrom, showing him handing over the report to the UN chief.
Ban was scheduled to brief the Security Council on the report on Monday. He is then expected to address the media.
Hundreds of people were killed and scores of others were injured in a chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar on August 21.
The militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that the deadly attack was carried out by the army.
Damascus, however, has strongly denied the accusation, saying it was a false-flag operation carried out by the Takfiri groups in a bid to draw in foreign military intervention.
Following the chemical attack, the US called for punitive military action against Damascus. The Syrian government averted possible US aggression by accepting a Russian plan to put its chemical arsenal under international control and then have them destroyed. (Video on the link)
The United Nations inspectors have confirmed the use of chemical weapons in an attack near the Syrian capital last month.
According to the inspectors' report, expected to be released by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon later on Monday, environmental, chemical and medical samples show that surface-to-surface rockets containing the nerve agent sarin were used in the Ghouta suburb of Damascus on August 21.
"The conclusion is that chemical weapons have been used in the ongoing conflict between the parties in the Syrian Arab Republic ... against civilians, including children, on a relatively large scale," says the report by UN inspectors.
The detail was inadvertently leaked when the first page of the report was included in an official picture of head of the UN investigators, Ake Sellstrom, showing him handing over the report to the UN chief.
Ban was scheduled to brief the Security Council on the report on Monday. He is then expected to address the media.
Hundreds of people were killed and scores of others were injured in a chemical attack in the Damascus suburbs of Ain Tarma, Zamalka and Jobar on August 21.
The militants operating inside Syria and the foreign-backed Syrian opposition claimed that the deadly attack was carried out by the army.
Damascus, however, has strongly denied the accusation, saying it was a false-flag operation carried out by the Takfiri groups in a bid to draw in foreign military intervention.
Following the chemical attack, the US called for punitive military action against Damascus. The Syrian government averted possible US aggression by accepting a Russian plan to put its chemical arsenal under international control and then have them destroyed. (Video on the link)
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15 sept 2013
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a guarded response on Sunday to a U.S.-Russian deal on Syria's chemical weapons, saying it would be judged on whether it achieved "complete destruction" of the arsenal. "We hope the understandings reached between the United States and Russia regarding the Syrian chemical weapons will yield results," he said in a speech at a memorial ceremony for Israeli soldiers killed in the 1973 Middle East war.
"These understandings will be judged on their results - the complete destruction of all of the chemical weapons stockpiles that the Syrian regime has used against its own people."
Netanyahu spoke before a planned meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who flew into Israel to brief him on the accord he reached with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday in Geneva.
The agreement called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to account for his chemical arsenal within a week and let international inspectors eliminate it all by the middle of 2014.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Netanyahu, said the deal had "disadvantages and advantages".
"On the one hand, it lacks the necessary speed (in removing chemical arms from Syria). On the other hand, it is much more comprehensive, as it includes a Syrian commitment to dismantle the manufacturing facilities and to never again produce (chemical weapons)," Steinitz told Army Radio.
Also on Army Radio, Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, said intelligence that Israel has gathered on neighboring Syria could help verify Assad's compliance with the accord.
"We will understand Assad's intentions only in a week when he is meant to hand over a full list of all the chemical weapons at his disposal, and I think Israel has a not bad idea of what chemical weapons he has," Lieberman said.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu said Assad must be stripped of his chemical arsenal and that the outcome of the Syrian crisis would resonate loudly in Iran, whose nuclear programme Israel believes is aimed at producing atomic arms - an allegation Tehran denies.
Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's civil war, a two-and-a-half-year conflict that pits the Iranian-allied Assad government against rebels who include Islamist militants deeply hostile toward the Jewish state.
"I don't know how the Iranians are reading the deal, because it is also problematic as far as they are concerned," Steinitz said. "Here is their ally, Assad, forced to give up his chemical weapons."
Netanyahu, hinting repeatedly at the possibility of Israeli military strikes on Iran should Western sanctions and diplomacy fail, has called on Tehran to hand over all its uranium enriched above 3.5 percent and to stop any further purification of the metal toward possible weapons-grade level.
"These understandings will be judged on their results - the complete destruction of all of the chemical weapons stockpiles that the Syrian regime has used against its own people."
Netanyahu spoke before a planned meeting with U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who flew into Israel to brief him on the accord he reached with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Saturday in Geneva.
The agreement called for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to account for his chemical arsenal within a week and let international inspectors eliminate it all by the middle of 2014.
Israeli Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz, who is close to Netanyahu, said the deal had "disadvantages and advantages".
"On the one hand, it lacks the necessary speed (in removing chemical arms from Syria). On the other hand, it is much more comprehensive, as it includes a Syrian commitment to dismantle the manufacturing facilities and to never again produce (chemical weapons)," Steinitz told Army Radio.
Also on Army Radio, Avigdor Lieberman, chairman of parliament's Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee, said intelligence that Israel has gathered on neighboring Syria could help verify Assad's compliance with the accord.
"We will understand Assad's intentions only in a week when he is meant to hand over a full list of all the chemical weapons at his disposal, and I think Israel has a not bad idea of what chemical weapons he has," Lieberman said.
On Wednesday, Netanyahu said Assad must be stripped of his chemical arsenal and that the outcome of the Syrian crisis would resonate loudly in Iran, whose nuclear programme Israel believes is aimed at producing atomic arms - an allegation Tehran denies.
Israel has largely stayed on the sidelines of Syria's civil war, a two-and-a-half-year conflict that pits the Iranian-allied Assad government against rebels who include Islamist militants deeply hostile toward the Jewish state.
"I don't know how the Iranians are reading the deal, because it is also problematic as far as they are concerned," Steinitz said. "Here is their ally, Assad, forced to give up his chemical weapons."
Netanyahu, hinting repeatedly at the possibility of Israeli military strikes on Iran should Western sanctions and diplomacy fail, has called on Tehran to hand over all its uranium enriched above 3.5 percent and to stop any further purification of the metal toward possible weapons-grade level.
