Obama Fails at G20:

OBAMA FAILS AT G2O
AS MAJORITY FOLLOW
RUSSIA'S LINE ON SYRIA:

US President Obama failed to garner any additional support from world leaders at the G20 summit in Petersburg, Russia, as a forceful Russian President, Vladimir Putin, secured a majority of the leaders and delegations to support his line of opposition to unilateral military action against Syria in reprisal for alleged chemical weapons use by the Assad government in Damascus.

 

With unilateral military action against a sovereign state declared illegal by the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon, a stance fully supported by Russia, China, Brazil, South Africa, India, Indonesia, representing the majority of the world's population and only the usual suspects, Britain,Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar - the covert supporters of the Jihadist terror groups infesting Syria- lined up with Washington, Mr Obama was increasingly isolated in his demand for military action against Damascus as the summit proceeded. French President Hollande, all gung-ho for military action last week and making sly remarks on Britain's House of Commons decision to rule out military intervention, backed away from the Washington line and stated he would now wait for the UN inspectors reports on last month's chemical weapons incident in Damascus before taking any decision. EU President of Council, Rumpoy, also joined the Coalition of the Unwilling with a clear statement that the EU favoured using the United Nations process for dealing with the situation. A diplomatic disaster for the White House.

Domestically, public opinion in the USA is over 70% opposed to military strikes with phone calls to the White House reaching a record 500/1 against the Obama war plans. Likewise, the same high percentages, 60-70% opposition, are being recorded even in those countries like Britain and France whose leaders are backing Obama.

The US/NATO plans for regime-change in Syria based on a false extrapolation from their  "victory" in Libya two years ago when they thought the Assad Government would fall like a ripe fruit with minimum effort by them, have fallen apart as Assad held on and succeeded in resisting the jihadist terrorists they exported to Syria via their bases in Kosovo and Turkey and cross-border from Qatar and Saudi Arabia. They are now using the chemical weapons slander to justify direct military intervention to topple Assad and complete their imperialist agenda for control of the Arab East. But, this has proved a huge miscalculation as world opposition by Russia, China and the bulk of non-NATO countries plus well organised peace movement protests in the US and NATO Europe has resisted the lies and propaganda which fooled some people previous to the invasion of Iraq and galvanised domestic political opposition like never before.

OUTFOXED BY PUTIN:

Russian President, Vladimir Putin, choreographed the whole show exactly as he wanted. Mr Obama was seated between Brazil and Mexico both of whom are severely pissed at Washington currently, not only because they oppose military interventions in Syria, but also
because their Governments were targets for Obama's NSA spying activities as revealed by the Snowden files given to Wikileaks, making a distinctly uncomfortable position for Mr Obama. Brazilian President, Dilma Roussef, looked stern and unfriendly at the round table in Petersburg. Rousseff was furious over the reported snooping into her personal communications and a senior government official said on Wednesday that she might cancel the state visit to the White House unless she got an apology. Brasilia even called off a trip by an advance team to Washington to prepare for the visit. A report that the National Security Agency’s massive spy program directly targeted Rousseff’s communications with top aides has brought the trip into doubt and hiked tensions between the two nations. In Brasilia, Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo said the answers given by the United States since the first allegations emerged in July have been "false."

US journalist Glenn Greenwald, who has access to secret documents leaked by fugitive former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, told Brazil's Globo television this week that the agency spied on Rousseff's Internet searches and Pena Nieto's emails before his election last year. In July, Greenwald co-wrote articles in Brazil's "O Globo" newspaper saying the NSA spied on Latin American allies and rivals, using electronic espionage to monitor military purchases in Venezuela, energy and drug issues in Mexico and rebel movements in Colombia.

The Mexican President had already made critical remarks about US spying activities on his way to Petersburg:

 "If it is proven that an action took place, with the use of espionage means, this is clearly not permitted and it is outside the law," Pena Nieto told reporters during a stopover in Canada before arriving in Petersburg. "There will surely be space at the G20 for some sort of meeting, either casual or informal, with the US president to make our position very clear," he said, recalling that his government has asked the United States to investigate the matter.

Before Pena Nieto was elected in July 2012, the NSA intercepted some of his phone calls, text messages and emails, including communications in which he discussed potential cabinet members, it is alleged.

 

 

Moscow’s calibrated reaction largely stems from realisation that U.S. President Barack Obama has got trapped into his own rhetoric about “red lines,” and whatever he does now will play into Russia’s hands.

“Russia doesn’t have to do anything, just sit back and relax, and we’ll end up the winning side,” said Prof. Georgy Mirsky of the Moscow Institute of World Economy and International Relations. Moscow stands to gain whatever course Mr. Obama takes, Russian experts said.

“If Obama attacks Syria he will be seen fighting on the side of al-Qaeda, whose militants make up a third of the opposition forces, even according to U.S. military commanders,” said analyst Yulia Latynyna. If the U.S. attack is “limited” and “narrow,” as Mr. Obama has declared, it may even strengthen President Assad who will be able to say he has stood up to the world’s most powerful nation. Other observers think the U.S. may well slide down the slippery path of broader intervention in Syria. “Having started to take part in this campaign, the United States will be unable to get out of it without removing Bashar al-Assad. And considerations of prestige will outweigh all the doubts of those who fear chaos after a change of regime,” said Dr. Fyodor Lukyanov, chairman of the Russian Council on Foreign and Defense Policy.

At a recent press conference on Syria, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov lamented a lack of “strategic thinking” in U.S. foreign policy. In contrast, Russia has repeatedly demonstrated it has strategic vision, with the situation in Iraq, Libya and Syria proving it right. Mr. Lavrov said Russia had “no plans to go to war” over Syria, but,pointedly, he didn't say Russia would not react.

China

Russia will continue to block any anti-Syrian moves at the U.N. Security Council, expose the illegal nature of U.S. interference and the foolishness of siding with Islamist radicals in Syria. Moscow will also cement its ties with Iran and China. Iranian President Hassan Rouhani placed a telephone call to Mr. Putin last week, with the two leaders calling for resolving the Syrian crisis “exclusively through political and diplomatic means.” The Russian and Iranian Presidents will have their first face-to-face meeting on the sidelines of a Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit in Kyrgyzstan in mid-September. Also, last week, China’s Ambassador to Russia, Li Hui, called on Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s sentinel for the Middle East, to discuss “further Russian-Chinese political and diplomatic interaction in connection with a sharp aggravation of the situation around Syria.”

Last, but not least, Russia will continue to arm Syria. “Russia and Iran have far more possibilities to help Assad than the other side can help rebels,” said Prof. Mirsky. “We can ship him as many weapons as he needs, while Iranians can send over its Islamic Revolution Guards as volunteers. America has no chance of winning this war.”

 

 

Syria, September 5:

 

While Mr Obama was hand-wringing in Petersburg, the Jihadists infesting Syria mounted another attack on a Christian town in their campaign of murderous terror against the minority religious communities in the country.

The dawn assault on the Christian village of Maaloula, about 60km north of Damascus, was carried out by rebels from the al-Qaeda-linked Jabhat al-Nusra group. At the start of the attack, an al-Nusra fighter blew himself up at a Syrian Army checkpoint at the entrance to the village.

                           The historic Christian village of Maaloula, Western Syria.

 

Maaloula, a mountain village some 40 miles (60 kilometers) northeast of Damascus, is home to about 2,000 residents, some of whom still speak a version of Aramaic, the ancient language of biblical times believed to have been spoken by Jesus.

The suicide attack was followed by fighting between the jihadis and Syrian government forces, Eventually, the rebels seized the checkpoint, disabled two tanks and an armoured personnel carrier and killed eight Syrian soldiers in fighting. Heavy fighting around the village, which is on a UNESCO list of tentative world heritage sites – continued throughout the day, and heavy artillery echoed in the village. “The stones are shaking,” said a nun at the Mar Takla monastery. “We don’t know if the rebels have left or not, nobody dares go out.” She spoke with the Associated Press  on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisals.

 

Frightened residents expected the militants to return to the Safir hotel, she said, adding: “It’s their home now.” The nun said the rebels took over the Safir hotel atop a mountain overlooking the village and fired shells at it from there. "It's a war. It has been going from 6 a.m. in the morning," she said. Some 80 people from the village took refuge in the convent, which houses 13 nuns and 27 orphans, she said. The attack highlights fears among Syrian Christians that the alternative to Assad’s regime,(made up mostly of Alawites – followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam), being promoted by the US and NATO,  would not tolerate minority religions. The nun who spoke to the AP said there were reports that the militants threatened villagers with death if they did not convert. The report could not be independently confirmed.

Maaloula has several churches and important monasteries, including Deir Mar Takla, which is visited by many Christians and Muslim pilgrims. Inscriptions found in some of the caves in the mountainside on which the town sits confirm it as one of the earliest centres of Christianity in the world, and some residents can still speak Aramaic, the language of Jesus.

 

Later on Thursday, government warplanes launched three air strikes on the checkpoint held by the rebels. Syria's Sana state news agency meanwhile reported that an army unit "eliminated members of a terrorist group belonging to the al-Nusra Front" north-east of Maaloula and "destroyed the tools they use in their crimes".

 

Damascus:

In fighting in Damascus, a mortar shell fired by rebels hit a sports hall, killing a member of the national tae kwon do team, 27-year-old Mohammed Ali Neimeh. Neimeh had been training for an upcoming Islamic Solidarity Tournament in Indonesia this week. In the Daraya district, several fighters fired assault rifles from behind an earthen embankment. Smoke rose from the neighborhood of Barzek after the shelling.

There were new signs of rivalry among rebel groups that have been fragmented from the start. The two main camps are the Western-backed so-called "Free Syrian Army", which portrays itself as the largest fighting group, and jihadist fighters, including thousands from outside Syria, who have become increasingly dominant, particularly in the north and sparsely populated east.

Among the jihadists, there have been several splits in recent months, particularly between those loyal to commanders in Syria and those who pledge allegiance to al-Qaeda-linked groups in Iraq. In an amateur video posted online Wednesday, a foreign fighter was seen standing among other bearded men who he says have come to Syria from Russia and the Caucasus to wage jihad, or holy war.

"Our brigade is called the Mujahedin of the Caucasus and the Levant, and we have our brothers from all over the world with us," he said in halting Russian translated into Arabic. He said his men had broken away from one of the jihadi blocs, known as ISIS, and that the group is also "independent from Jabhat al-Nusra and others."

 

 

 

 

 

 

See also: The Pope's Letter to Putin ...here

 

 

http://blagaroon2.blogspot.ie/2013/09/syria-crisis-popes-letter-to-russian.html

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Syrian War Tragedy worsens:

OPPOSITION MOUNTING

TO NATO PLANS FOR ATTACK

ON SYRIA:

 

CAMERON FAILS TO GET PARLIAMENTARY MAJORITY

IN HOUSE OF COMMONS FOR MILITARY ACTION;

71 TORY BACKBENCHERS REVOLT;

LABOUR DEMANDS DELAY UNTIL UN INSPECTORS'

REPORT IS PUBLISHED; WASHINGTON ISOLATED AS NATO

ALLIES DECLINE TO SUPPORT ILLEGAL WARFARE; GERMANY,

ITALY AND SPAIN DECAMP; CYPRUS PROTESTS USE OF

BRITISH BASES FOR ATTACK ON SYRIA:

 

 

The plans for an attack on Syria by the US and Britain began to unravel today as mounting popular opposition domestically and political forces demanded evidence be provided to back up Washington and London's crude propaganda attempts to slander the Damascus government with responsibility for an alleged chemical attack in east Damascus last week which supposedly caused several hundred civilian casualties in the rebel opposition controlled suburb of the city.

Anti-War coalitions in the US and Europe have begun mobilisation against the criminal intent of the Washington and London elites and demonstrations have already been mounted in Times Square, New York, London, Glasgow, and several European cities which will be reinforced this coming weekend by further events in opposition to a new war in the Middle East with horrendous unforeseen consequences for the entire region and global peace and security.

In London, British Premier, David Cameron, faced an open revolt by as many as 70 Conservative Party Mp's who demanded more time and further evidence be presented to parliament before a vote would be taken and the  British opposition Labour Party leader, Ed Miliband,  scuttled Cameron's plans by announcing just after 5pm today that he would instruct his MPs to vote against the government motion if a separate Labour amendment – calling for any action to be delayed – was defeated.

                                                       House of Commons, Westminster.

Within two hours, Downing Street issued a statement, as it published its motion for the debate, that a second vote would have to be held before Britain joins any military action. The motion states: "Before any direct British involvement in such action a further vote of the House of Commons will take place."

An enraged Cameron turned on Miliband accusing him of having suffered a giant "wobble" after he had appeared to indicate on Tuesday night that he would be prepared to support military action, subject to legal approval. But Labour hit back and said that the Prime Minister had been resisting a second vote until Miliband tweeted his plan to table his own amendment.

A Labour source said: "We will continue to scrutinise this motion but at 5.15pm David Cameron totally ruled out a second vote, an hour and a half later he changed his mind. Ed Miliband was determined to do the right thing. It has taken Labour forcing a vote to force the government to do the right thing."

Downing Street spinners immediately said Cameron offered a second vote because he wants to act in a consensual way. A spokesperson said: "The Prime Minister is acutely aware of the deep concerns in the country caused by what happened over Iraq. That's why we are committed to taking action to deal with this war crime – but taking action in the right way, proceeding on a consensual basis."

"So this motion endorses the government's consistent approach that we should take action in response to Assad's chemical weapons attack; reflects the need to proceed on a consensual basis, taking account of the work done by weapons inspectors; and reflects the Prime Minister's respect for the UN process – something he made clear to President Obama several days ago."

The Government move is likely to take the heat out of Thursday's parliamentary debate that will be opened by Cameron at 2.30pm and wound up by Nick Clegg (Liberal Democrat), the Deputy Prime Minister, at 10pm. The debate will be preceded by a meeting of the cabinet that will receive a recommendation from the National Security Council that Britain should join the military strikes. Dominic Grieve, the British Attorney General, advised the NSC that such action would be legal under international law. The shadow of War Criminal Blair's calculated deception of the House of Commons in 2003 over the preparations for War in Iraq loomed large over events in London today with newspaper polls reporting 74% of voters opposed to any new war in the Middle East.

The National Security Council reportedly also discussed a specific plan for a British contribution to military action. This focused on a "limited one-off" operation and the measures that might have to be taken to protect British interests in the region, including the defence of the UK's sovereign base in Cyprus, which is thought to be potentially within range of President Assad's Scud missiles. The Cyprus Government is extremely alarmed at the possibility of longer range Syrian missiles being fired at the British bases in Akrotiri and hitting cities and towns in Cyprus by random off-target events.

Some sources in London speculated that it was possible the US would act without British support – which would be a huge embarrassment for Cameron. It would also be politically difficult for the White House. US officials have previously been at pains to stress that the US would not act unilaterally, but in concert with partners. The US claims that "it knows" that the Assad government was the author of a chemical attack, as stated by Vice-President Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry yesterday in bellicose statements threatening use of force against Syria, is based on the dubious and partisan reports from Israeli "intelligence" of alleged interception of Syrian military cables discussing such an event. The US has failed to produce any concrete evidence from independent sources to back up it's slanderous claims. Not much different from the kind  of "intelligence" presented to the UN in 2003 as justification for the War and invasion of Iraq and later found to be entirely spurious.

 UNITED NATIONS:

Russia and China refused to collaborate today with British attempts to rush the UN Security Council into making a premature decision on using military force against Syria.

The permanent representatives of Russia and China to the United Nations left the closed meeting of the Security Council on Syria after its end, there was no demarche, the Russian Permanent Mission to the UN told waiting Press representatives.

It was reported earlier in the day that the Russian and Chinese officials had walked out of the UN Security Council meeting in New York after US Permanent Representative Samantha Power had called for an immediate action in Syria. The permanent members of the UN Security Council – Russia, Britain, China, the US and France – had been invited to the closed meeting. An hour later the Russian and Chinese diplomats left the meeting and headed to the Security Council’s main conference room where debates on Haiti was taking place.

Western countries could have, until the end of the day, submitted to the Security Council a draft resolution that would give the green light to an armed operation in Syria. Russia and China, which have the right of veto in the Security Council, have spoken up strongly against the use of force. However some Western countries have made it clear that they might take measures without waiting for the U.N. Security Council’s decision as they did in 1999 in Kosovo.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said this would be a gross violation of international law. “Certain states are ready to use force even before UN experts make public the results of their investigation. Our country will be committed to international law,” he said. “Modern international law allows the use of force only in exceptional cases: for self-defence and if so authorised by the UN Security Council. Some states see priorities in a distorted way.”

Meanwhile, Syria has formally asked the UN to investigate three chemical attacks  which the Syrian Government believes were carried out by rebels in the suburbs of Damascus on August 22, 23 and 24.

Syrian Bishop warns intervention could spark ‘world war’ :

A Syrian Chaldean Catholic bishop on Monday warned that an armed intervention in Syria could unleash a “world war”, while the Vatican’s official newspaper called for more “prudence” from Western powers. “If there is an armed intervention, that would mean, I believe, a world war. That risk has returned,” Monsignor Antoine Audo of Aleppo told Vatican Radio.

“We hope that the pope’s call for real dialogue between the warring parties to find a solution can be a first step to stop the fighting,” he said. Bishop Audo is also the head of the Syrian arm of the international Catholic charity Caritas and has repeatedly warned about the human cost of the war.

 

 

                                                 Monsignor Antoine Audo of Allepo, Syria.

The Vatican daily, L’Osservatore Romano, meanwhile criticised Western powers in an editorial. “The drumbeat of an armed intervention by Western powers is becoming ever more insistent and ever less restrained by prudence,” it said. “Several representatives of these countries say they are convinced that the accusation that the Syrian Army used chemical weapons is founded – a question which the United Nations is investigating,” it said.

Pope Francis on Sunday called for the international community to help find a solution to the civil war.

“I launch an appeal to the international community to be more sensitive to this tragic situation and to commit itself to the maximum to help the dear Syrian nation find a solution to a war which spreads destruction and death,” he said.

Attacks on Christians, Chaldeans, Copts and other religious minorities are daily occurrences in Syria, Iraq and Egypt with no expressions of outrage from either Washington or London.




LIES, HYPOCRISY, WAR CRIMES:



The Union of Liars, Hypocrites and War Criminals = NATO, were planning their own chemical attack in Syria according to the London Daily Mail last January:

 

"London, Jan 30 (ANI): The Obama administration gave green signal to a chemical weapons attack plan in Syria that could be blamed on President Bashir al Assad's regime and in turn, spur international military action in the devastated country, leaked documents have shown.

A new report, that contains an email exchange between two senior officials at British-based contractor Britam Defence, showed a scheme 'approved by Washington'.

As per the scheme 'Qatar would fund rebel forces in Syria to use chemical weapons,' the Daily Mail reports.

Barack Obama made it clear to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad last month that the U.S. would not tolerate Syria using chemical weapons against its own people.

According to Infowars.com, the December 25 email was sent from Britam's Business Development Director David Goulding to company founder Philip Doughty.

The emails were released by a Malaysian hacker who also obtained senior executives resumes and copies of passports via an unprotected company server, according to Cyber War News.

According to the paper, the U.S. State Department has declined to comment on the matter. (ANI)"

Details from Cyber War News here:

http://www.cyberwarnews.info/reports/a-look-into-the-britam-defence-data-leak-files/

ROME:

                                                          Italian Foreign Ministery, Rome.

Italian Foreign Minister Emma Bonino says Italy will not support force in Syria
without UN mandate:

"Italy will not take part in any military solutions without a UN Security Council mandate," Foreign Minister Emma Bonino told parliamentarians in Rome.

"

Even the option of a limited intervention risks becoming unlimited," the minister said, adding that Italy was "already stretched and even over-stretched" militarily in other parts of the world.

"There is no military solution to the Syrian conflict. The only solution is a negotiated political solution," she said, calling for "great determination" in pursuing negotiations between the warring sides.


LONDON

 

 

National demonstration: No attack on Syria

Stop the War Coalition, 31 August 2013.

National Demonstration: assemble Saturday 31 August, 12 noon, Temple Place, London (nearest tube Temple)

The national demonstration on Saturday will gather at Temple Place (near Temple tube) and march via Parliament and Downing Street, ending in central London for a political rally to say No attack on Syria.

Called by Stop the War and CND.

 

Statement on Syria

Stop the War Coalition, 27 August 2013.

The Stop the War Coalition strongly opposes any military attack on Syria. While we oppose all use of chemical weapons, the latest alleged such attack in Damascus should not be used as a pretext for further exacerbating an already bloody civil war.

It seems that the Western governments have already made up their minds about this attack before it has even been reported on by UN weapons inspectors. They are demanding that ‘something must be done’ even though their record of ‘doing something’ has been nothing short of catastrophic.

There have been numerous western interventions in the Middle East and South Asia over the past 12 years. While the attacks on Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya were all argued for on humanitarian grounds, they have all increased the levels of killing and misery for the ordinary people of those countries. They were in reality all about regime change. This is also what Syria is about.


PARIS

French National assembly will debate Syria crisis:

                                                                                  French President, François Hollande

The French parliament will hold an emergency session to debate the Syria crisis on September 4, minister Alain Vidalies said on Wednesday.

The announced debate comes as France and US/UK threaten a potential military intervention in Syria following an alleged chemical weapons attack last week in the Damascus suburbs that the governments in Washington and London are blaming on the Assad regime.

"There will be a special debate in the (lower house) National Assembly and in the (upper house) Senate," said Vidalies, who is in charge of relations between the Government and parliament.

It is as yet unclear whether a military operation will take place over last Wednesday's alleged attack and if it does, when it will happen. But, under French law, a one-off military intervention does not need parliamentary approval.

French President François Hollande gave a militant speech on Tuesday warning the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad that France was "ready to punish" those responsible for the chemical weapons attack. Hollande further warned that the Syrian civil war posed "a threat to world peace." Stressing a "responsibility to protect civilians," Hollande also said that "chemical massacre cannot remain without a response from France."

Neither Hollande or the French Government have produced any evidence associating the
Assad regime with a chemical attack in Damascus but, have seen fit only to parrot Washington and London's disputed claims.

Hopefully, more sober elements of French politics will come to the fore in the debate.



IN WHOSE INTEREST?

 

Stock shares of perennial Defence contracting powerhouse Raytheon hit nearly $77 apiece Tuesday as news of a possible US strike in Syria intensified. The US has said if it strikes Syrian government targets for alleged use of chemical weapons, it would likely use Tomahawk cruise missiles from warships positioned in the Mediterranean. Raytheon is responsible for making and selling the bulk of the long-range, subsonic missiles to the US government.