Syrians: NATO-backed Militants Seen Donning Gas Masks
Reports of Libyan chemical weapons brought in through Turkey, caches discovered in Damascus point to possible false flag.
by Tony Cartalucci
July 27, 2012 – For a Western media so fond of reporting “activist” accounts, rumors, and even fabrications, and with all the talk of an impending “massacre” in the northern Syrian city of Aleppo, reports of so-called “Free Syrian Army” militants seen trying on gas masks, along with reports of Libyan chemical weapon caches & equipment being discovered in Damascus is surely headline news.
Images: (Top) FSA fighters, one on the left wearing a “Jihadist” headband, another on the right trying on a military-grade gas mask, were reportedly photographed in Aleppo, Syria. (Bottom) Chemical weapons and equipment from Libya have been reportedly discovered as troops search areas of Damascus after quelling last week’s militant attack.
Many Syrians and outside observers alike, fear that militants may deploy chemical weapons in one or more locations around Syria, creating a mass-casualty event to subsequently be blamed on the government by a coordinated Western media disinformation campaign. The so-called “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) has already been conducting strings of devastating, indiscriminate mass-casualty bombings across the country, as reported by Reuters’, “Outgunned Syria rebels make shift to bombs.”
Libyan weapons, cash, and fighters have also all been confirmed to have made it into Syria in an effort to undermine, divide and destroy Syria.
The London Telegraph reported in its article, “Libya’s new rulers offer weapons to Syrian rebels:”
“There is something being planned to send weapons and even Libyan fighters to Syria,” said a Libyan source, speaking on condition of anonymity. “There is a military intervention on the way. Within a few weeks you will see.”
The Telegraph has also learned that preliminary discussions about arms supplies took place when members of the Syrian National Council [SNC] – the country’s main opposition movement – visited Libya earlier this month.
Albawaba reported in its article, “Libyan fighters join “free Syrian army” forces,” that:
Libyan sources conveyed in recent days that 600 rebel fighters have already gone from Libya to Syria in order to support the Syrian opposition.
Albawaba’s report would later be confirmed by multiple Western media representatives now on the ground in Aleppo, Syria, including CNN which reported:
Meanwhile, residents of the village where the Syrian Falcons were headquartered said there were fighters of several North African nationalities also serving with the brigade’s ranks.
A volunteer Libyan fighter has also told CNN he intends to travel from Turkey to Syria within days to add a “platoon” of Libyan fighters to armed movement.
On Wednesday, CNN’s crew met a Libyan fighter who had crossed into Syria from Turkey with four other Libyans. The fighter wore full camouflage and was carrying a Kalashnikov rifle. He said more Libyan fighters were on the way.
The foreign fighters, some of them are clearly drawn because they see this as … a jihad. So this is a magnet for jihadists who see this as a fight for Sunni Muslims.
Clearly Libyan terrorists and their weapons have made it into Syria with the explicit backing of NATO’s recently installed client Libyan regime. The London Guardian had reported that Libya possessed some “25 metric tonnes of bulk mustard agent and 1,400 metric tonnes of precursor chemical used to make chemical weapons.” The Guardian also reported:
The abandonment or disappearance of some Gaddafi-era weapons has prompted concerns that such firepower could erode regional security if it falls into the hands of Islamist militants or rebels active in north Africa.
Clearly those “Islamist militants” as well as “rebels active in north Africa” are now on the ground in Syria. These militants bringing pilfered chemical weapons with them is entirely plausible, as is the possibility that these weapons were purposefully placed into their hands by either NATO or Libya’s current ruling regime. This very scenario was warned against last month in an article published by Russia Today titled, “Syrian rebels aim to use chemical weapons, blame Damascus – report.”
Why Isn’t the Western Media Investigating These Claims?
It should be remembered a single “tweet” from BBC’s Ian Pannell in Aleppo claiming “fighter jets have bombed eastern Aleppo,” triggered media hysteria. Pannell would expand on his earlier, unconfirmed, unsubstantiated claim by declaring, “what appeared to be Russian-made MiG planes arced through the sky. We watched as they dropped in, bombing and strafing rebel positions.”
It would later turn out that the planes Pannell observed were not “MiG planes,” where not “Russian-made,” and were not even “bombing” rebel positions. They were trainer planes carrying out reconnaissance and at most, deploying gun-fire on rebel trucks mounted with heavy weapons.
Image: A sole”tweet” from BBC’s Ian Pannell, now a confirmed fabrication, immediately made headlines across the Western media.
Similarly, by allowing claims of FSA militants preparing to deploy chemical weapons to go unreported, affords the West an opportunity to then blame the mass-casualty event that may follow on the Syrian government, thus providing an attractive opportunity for militarily intervene. That the media and governments of the West have not publicly looked into recent claims that the FSA is contemplating a false flag, weapons of mass destruction attack, makes them complicit should such an attack unfold. It will also make it all but impossible for the US to attempt to blame Libya and “Al Qaeda” alone if their dark deed is carried out, but subsequently exposed.
Libya August Update – Libyans Return From Syria in Boxes [video]
108morris108
August 16, 2012
A Green Libyan Soldier Speaks (He was wounded during the war)
The blurring of identity is necessary for fear of retribution to family.
Libya is now Hell – Multiple Militias control everything
Kidnappings, torture and summary killings are common
Muslim Brotherhood is now quite powerful
Qatar is the mega centre of Arab politics
Kidnapping Iranian pilgrims, crime against humanity [video]
PressTV
August 8, 2012
Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi has called on the United Nations to act immediately to secure the release of the Iranian nationals abducted in Syria and Libya.
“The Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran calls for the immediate release of its abducted nationals and is of the view that using the hostages as human shields violates… international law and (the) human rights of these innocent civilians,” Salehi said in a letter to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday.
“I would like to seek the cooperation and the good offices of Your Excellency for securing the release of these hostages,” he added.
A UN spokesman confirmed that the letter had been received but did not offer an immediate response.
On August 4, 48 Iranians, who were traveling on a bus from Damascus International Airport to the shrine of Hazrat Zainab (AS) on the outskirts of the Syrian capital, were abducted by insurgents. Three of the abductees have reportedly been killed. Insurgents from the self-proclaimed Free Syrian Army have threatened to kill the other abductees.
Press TV has conducted an interview with Mohsen Saleh, professor at the Lebanese University, to further discuss the issue.
Lizzie Phelan about the media conspiracy against Syria [video w/ ARABIC SUBTITLES]
YouTube — neverneboysia
February 9, 2012
some days ago) – Transcription of the interview with Lizzie Phelan about Syria, mass media..:
Alaa Ebrahim (Syrian Presenter) — What are the main points of view that you will be raising in this documentary?
(Lizzie Phelan) — The main point is to basically deconstruct the main fabrications that have been put forward by the global media, mainly the western media and channels, particularly Al Jazeera and Al Arabiya. And these fabrications are that the army is on a mass systematic scale killing peaceful protesters, that there is no democracy in Syria, that there is no respect for human rights and that there is no support for President Bashar Al-Assad. So the documentary deals with all of these fabrications and in effect shows that in many of the cases they are complete and outright lies.
(S.P) — You said that these are fabrications, for many of our viewers and people who are watching us, when they hear the word fabrication they would say “why would a TV channel, a leading TV channel and mainstream media, fabricate news about Syria?” When you see five or six or seven news outlets doing the same coverage, how would you explain that there are fabrications, as you would call them?
(L.P) — It is quite clear that in the West and in certain Arab countries that the media is inseparable from the state and the governments. So for example the BBC is funded by the British state, Al Jazeera is funded by the Qatari state, so in effect it is very naïve to think that these news organisations will report in a way that contradicts the foreign policy of their countries. We know very well that Qatar has been calling for foreign intervention in Syria very openly and actively. Just as they did in Libya. What I am talking about now applies to Libya. Britain and the NATO countries have been pushing for intervention in Syria so it is the role of the media of these countries to provide a narrative that supports intervention in Syria. So really it is naïve to think that these organisations are independent and have the ability to be objective. They are not independent. They have to serve the foreign policy interest.
(S.P) — So what you are saying is that if the BBC is funded by the United Kingdom and Al Jazeera is funded by the Qatari government and if Al Arabiya is funded by the Saudi government, France 24 by the French government and so on, these are a translation of the foreign policy of the governments and not free journalism?
(L.P) — Absolutely.
(S.P) — Recently we have seen a shift in the coverage regarding the events in Syria. Up to a certain point, no media outlets would acknowledge the presence of gunmen in protests in Syria. Everyone was saying this was a peaceful protest and according to them the security and army were systematically killing peaceful protesters. But when the Arab League (AL) observers entered Syria and for some reason the insurgents and the presence of the insurgents became undeniable, we saw a shift in the coverage. They started justifying the presence of the insurgents and justifying the militants. Why do you think this is?
(L.P) — I think there are two things. First of all as you said at the beginning, there was completely no acknowledgement that the government was fighting against armed insurgents. It was all about the government attacking “peaceful protesters.” But as you say because the A.L have begun to acknowledge the presence it has become impossible for this to be denied. But, and as you rightly say, there is the danger now that these armed groups are being legitimised. And I think this is because NATO countries and other countries like Qatar have been unsuccessful in pushing for intervention in the way they wanted to do it, like how they did in Libya via the United Nations Security Council (UNSC). I think now in creating this organisation they call the Free Syrian Army (FSA) they are effectively trying to say that the FSA or the armed insurgents are legitimate and therefore it is legitimate for us to support them and this is a very dangerous road for us to go down. It is a blatant violation of the sovereignty of an independent nation.
DOWNLOAD full english transcription of thid video: http://www.4shared.com/office/PCRVYW47/Lizzie_about_the_media_conspir.html
US Libyan Mercenary Plans Syrian Kony2012 Style Psy-Op [video]
Syrian Girl
August 1, 2012
A US mercenary who helped the Al CIAda affiliated NATO puppeted Libyan insurgents destroy their home country has now set his sights on now destroying Syria. He is co-ordinating sending libyan terrorists into Syria and he know wants to film a Kony 2012 style documentary about Syria. May he be mocked and humiliated just as his predecessor
more details on the story here
http://www.prisonplanet.com/kony-2012-style-pr-stunt-to-sell-war-on-syria.html
High ranking Libyans Mercenaries in Syria shown by name http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fy89_Eiao9k
Reported the kickstarter for promoting violence here http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/matthewvandyke/this-is-your-chance-to-bec…
ADD me on facebook http://www.facebook.com/partisangirl
ADD my on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/partisangirl
Ending Syria’s Violence
Begins with ending arms, cash, and support for terrorist front.
by Tony Cartalucci
July 16, 2012 – At 20 million, if even half of Syria’s population rose up against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, armed with pointed sticks, the revolution would be over in an afternoon. Instead, it has dragged on for nearly a year and a half, consisting of hit-and-run battles, terrorist bombings, and cross-border infiltration – indicating that but a slim minority has “risen up” and of that minority, the vast majority of them are sectarian extremists – admittedly many are not even Syrian.
Most importantly, it is not within Syria, but beyond its borders, that these “rebels” derive the summation of their support.
Syria’s Violence Was Premeditated From Abroad
Since 2007, interests within the US, Saudi, and Israeli governments, along with other Gulf State despots and proxies in both Turkey and northern Lebanon, have been assembling from across the Arab World an army of sectarian extremists, with close ties – even direct affiliations with Al Qaeda. Exposing this was US journalist, Seymour Hersh, who published his findings in a 2007 New Yorker article titled, “The Redirection.” Readers should note that Al Qaeda itself was an “Arab foreign legion” of sorts, created in the 1980’s also by the US to fight its proxy wars.
These militants drawn from across Saudi Arabia, Jordan, UAE, Qatar, Lebanon, Turkey, Libya, and Iraq, were armed, funded, and staged along Syria’s borders between 2007-2011. The Syrian Muslim Brotherhood, who had fought a failed but brutally violent campaign to establish a faux-theocracy in the late 70’s and early 80’s was also contacted during this time by the West, receiving funding and directives to begin preparing for the violent overthrow of the Syrian government.
Photo: The face of Libya’s NATO-backed “revolution” was literally Al Qaeda – effectively ending 10 years of “War on Terror” mythology. Abdul Hakim Belhaj, a Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) commander, led sectarian extremists with NATO arms and air support against Qaddafi, and is now involved directly in arming, training, and supplying Libyan militants to NATO’s subversion of Syria. Belhaj and his LIFG mercenaries are just one of many groups of foreign fighters assembled by NATO to infiltrate and undermine Syria.
While this militant front was being assembled and prepared by US-Saudi-Israeli clandestine services, the US State Department was assembling a cover story with which to justify the planned bloodbath. That cover story would be later called the “Arab Spring.” In 2008, the US State Department hosted activists from Egypt in New York City, who would be funded, equipped, and trained both there, and later in Serbia by US-funded CANVAS before returning to Egypt in 2010 to prepare the grounds there for the “Arab Spring.”
Two years before the “Arab Spring” would be “sprung,” the US State Department began training and funding activist leaders from across the region, including Syria and Lebanon. They received up to $50 million, communication equipment, and were invited to training sessions organized by the US State Department itself. The goal was, admittedly, to send them back to their respective countries to train others, thus creating a “ripple effect.” This was later revealed by Assistant US Secretary of State for Human Rights, Michael Posner in an April 2011 AFP report.
This indicates that both the “peaceful” and militant components of the Syrian so-called “uprising” were premeditated, organized, and manipulated geopolitical calculations for achieving Western foreign policy objectives, not to fulfill the “democratic aspirations” of the Syrian people. In fact, the inclusion of violent ideological militants in the equation almost certainly ensures such “aspirations” will never be achieved.
Image: A visual representation of the National Endowment for Democracy’s corporate-financier ties found across their Board of Directors. Far from “human rights advocates,” they are instead simply leveraging such issues to disguise what is in reality corporate-financier hegemonic expansion.
Furthermore, the very organizations and institutions the US State Department used to direct “activists,” namely the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) and its subsidiaries including Freedom House, the International Republican Institute (IRI), and the National Democratic Institute (NDI), are steered not by progressive-liberals from Berkley, but rather names drawn from Boeing, Exxon, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Conoco Philips, and other corporate-financier special interests.
NED’s board of directors also includes names from America’s pro-war Neo-Conservative establishment including Francis Fukuyama, Zalmay Khalilzad, Will Marshall, and Vin Weber, all signatories of the pro-war, pro-corporate Project for a New American Century. These same interests, in fact, were simultaneously building up both the “pro-democracy” protesters and their violent extremist militant counterparts – with the obvious intentions of couching one within the other to then set the stage for the military intervention they are now incessantly lobbying for.
The Obvious Solution – Stop Foreign Arms & Cash
That the events playing out in Syria now were entirely premeditated from abroad by corporate-financier interests couching their aspirations for global hegemony within “democracy promotion,” does not condemn all of Syria’s opposition as “illegitimate.” However, those supporting both the violence created by foreign-funded death squads, and the unyielding interventionist agenda of the West’s so-called “Syrian National Council,” are indeed both illegitimate and a threat to Syrian peace as well as world peace.
Perhaps most indicative of just how disingenuous the so-called “Free Syrian Army’s” cause is, is the fact that their primary backers both financially and in terms of supplying military arms, are the despotic absolute monarchies of the Gulf States. These include Qatar and Saudi Arabia – the latter so despotic and nepotistic, the nation itself is named after the unelected, eternally ruling “Saud” family. That they, in concert with the West, seek “democracy” and “freedom” in Syria is an absolute absurdity – with their true intentions of undermining and destroying neighboring Iran the much more plausible, even admitted goal of violently subverting Syria.
Both the genesis and perpetuation of Syria’s violence is rooted not within Syria’s borders, but beyond them. Not in the alleys of Syria’s cities, nor the fields of its villages, but in Washington, Riyadh, Doha, Tel Aviv, London, Tripoli, and Ankara.
The obvious solution is for the “international community” to recognize, condemn, and end the flow of weapons, cash, and political support provided to overt foreign proxies. Syria’s borders should be secured with vast penalties imposed on Turkey, Jordan, and Lebanon for failing to cooperate with Syrian security forces in stopping the flow of foreign arms, cash, and fighters.
Why the US Solution Will Not Work – Peace is Not Their Goal
The violence could literally grind to a halt overnight, when foreign mercenaries and Syrian Muslim Brotherhood extremists realize the spigot of arms, cash, and impunity had been turned off and the restoration of order throughout Syria made inevitable. Instead, the US, feigning ignorance to the documented role they played in the malicious origin of this conflict, proposes to increase the violence by further arming and providing “air support” for their front of militant extremists, just as they did in Libya to catastrophic effects.
They plan on doing this through a UN Security Council resolution loaded with Chapter 7 provisions – meaning military intervention, after a brief “last effort” to implement the UN’s peace plan the US fully prepares to sabotage. Since another NATO-led military campaign is universally reviled, the West has organized a series of publicity stunts to shock, scare, panic, and stampede their resolution through the Security Council. These include confirmed fabrications regarding the latest “massacre” in Tremseh, Syria – which UN monitors have concluded was instead a battle.
There was also the suspicious claim by “US officials” that the Syrian government was moving its “chemical weapons.” The reports warned that the Syrian government might deploy the weapons against civilians – failing to explain what besides justifying foreign military intervention, doing so might achieve. The reports also failed to mention “where” the weapons were being moved to – essential information “civilians” at risk might use to avoid a “massacre.”
Image: Brookings Institution’s Middle East Memo #21 “Assessing Options for Regime Change (.pdf),” makes no secret that the humanitarian “responsibility to protect” is but a pretext for long-planned regime change. Failing to achieve this, US policy makers are satisfied to arm and fund militants in an effort not to end the violence but to perpetuate it and its costly effects to keep a “regional adversary weak.” Clearly, the West’s interests in Syria are geopolitical, not humanitarian, and plan options to purposefully compound the humanitarian catastrophe it has engineered from the very beginning.
Failing to push their UN resolution through the Security Council, the US in its policy papers has literally stated it plans to “arm the opposition even knowing they will probably never have sufficient power,” to then “pin down the Asad regime and bleed it, keeping a regional adversary weak, while avoiding the costs of direct intervention.”
This unconscionable, callous act of hostility toward Syria and its people – admits openly to using the militants it hails as “freedom fighters” to mire Syria in protracted violence destroying the lives, prospects, and potential of some 20 million people. This policy paper, crafted by the Fortune 500-funded Brookings Institution, illustrates the true self-serving nature behind the West’s “concern” for Syria.
Syria’s Fall Will Embolden a Dangerous Enemy of Humanity
It is essential, not only for the people of Syria, but for the entire planet placed in danger by the precedent being set by allowing the West to continue on with this insidious agenda, for the UN Security Council to block any resolutions put forth designed to implement it. Russia and China have been wrongfully berated for not capitulating to Western demands that military intervention be green-lighted so the atrocities committed by NATO in Libya can be repeated in Syria. Considering the premeditated, foreign orchestrated nature of Syria’s violence, and that it is the West itself that is responsible, it is unconscionable that they remain free of international condemnation, let alone given a say in how the bloodbath of their own creation is resolved.
For the vast majority of humanity, excluded from this process – we are given an instructive example of how dangerous and ineffective international law is – to the point where it has become a tool used by elitist perpetrators of vast crimes against humanity rather than a defense against them. But while we have no say in what the UN ultimately does, the monolithic power wielded by the West, granted to them by the fortunes of their immense corporations, financial institutions, and organizations, lays exposed directly to us – open to condemnation, boycotts, and their uprooting through their replacement with local alternatives.
The answer to solving Syria’s violence is simple – doing it will take some effort and courage. However, we must not fool ourselves into believing that Syria’s problems are theirs and theirs alone. What the corporate-financier interests are doing to their nation and people today, will embolden and strengthen them for when they finally decide to do it to us tomorrow.
Libya 2.0: Media Hysteria Over Syria “Bombing” City of Aleppo
If tired WMD lies won’t convince the public to back foreign intervention, perhaps recycled lies from Libya?
by Tony Cartalucci
July 24, 2012 – The Telegraph has reported (emphasis added), “fighter jets have reportedly launched bomb attacks on Syria’s second city of Aleppo, which, if confirmed, would be the first time Assad forces had used war planes against citizens.”
Image: A sole”tweet” from BBC’s Ian Pannell, who has yet to provide any source, evidence, or details regarding his vague claim, immediately made headlines across the Western media.
The claim is based on a single “tweet” from BBC’s Ian Pannell who, after hours of making his his claim that, “fighter jets have bombed eastern #Aleppo city. A significant escalation and perhaps the first time they’ve been used in #Syrian conflict,” has failed categorically to cite his source, provide any evidence of his claims, or provide details of the targets and context of the attacks, if indeed they took place. Yet the Western media “echo chamber” began repeating the story seconds after it was posted, and through this alone it attempted to validate the claim while building momentum behind NATO insinuations.
Image: Taken from an official Defense Department transcript, the US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, and Admiral Michael Mullen both concede they’d seen no confirmation “whatsoever” regarding claims by the corporate media that Libya’s Qaddafi had used airstrikes against his own people. However, this fabrication would be used for very real airstrikes, not by Qaddafi, but by NATO under the guise of the “Responsibility to Protect.”
Narratives of “brutal dictators” bombing civilians with aircraft have been used before, most notably in Libya where verified lies were told regarding Qaddafi’s use of aircraft against the city of Benghazi. These fabrications were used to justify foreign military intervention and regime change under the guise of a “no-fly zone” to “protect civilians.”
However, the US Department of Defense itself noted that none of these accusations were founded in fact or confirmed in any way, and the Russian government went as far as providing satellite imagery of sites allegedly bombed to show no such strikes were made.
Ironically, NATO’s subsequent “protection of civilians” flattened several cities across the country, slaying thousands of civilians.
Syria’s Violence in Context
The Syrian military cannot, however, rule out the use of airstrikes considering the overt manner in which foreign interests such as the US, Israel, and the Gulf States are increasingly sending heavily armed militants over their borders to destabilize their nation. It must be taken into consideration that FSA militants have been conducting indiscriminate bombings across Syria for months now, and with their latest assassinations and offensive, have shed the ability to play to role of “victim-civilians.”
Image: The West’s “lightly armed” FSA. ABC (Australia) claims this is a picture taken this week of an FSA-seized tank on the outskirts of Aleppo, Syria. One wonders if this tank was rolling along the outskirts of Washington in the middle of a war, whether or not the US would use airstrikes to neutralize it.
The West has eagerly described this violence in Syria as a “civil war,” yet has conveniently continued to depict their heavily armed, foreign-backed fighters streaming across Syria’s borders as “citizens” and “civilians,” even as their ties to Al Qaeda and other foreign militant groups become ever more apparent. In fact, Iraqi officials are already linking the recent bombings in their country by Al Qaeda to the same forces and backers of the so-called “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) in Syria.
Image: Al Jazeera was running this picture along with the description, “Syrian rebels near Aleppo city, as they took much of the formerly loyalist city from the government [EPA].” Heavy weapons can be seen mounted on several of the trucks, and images like this are increasingly common as militants attempt to enter cities like Damascus and Aleppo where there are more cameras, and hiding these weapons from the general public becomes increasingly difficult.
Additionally, despite a repeated mantra by the Western media that the FSA is “lightly armed,” these same media outlets have shown columns of trucks mounted with heavy weapons, and even captured tanks identified as FSA forces. While the US conducts airstrikes on entirely unarmed civilians in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and with Turkey likewise brutalizing its own “rebels” in Kurdish dominated provinces from the air, NATO and its allies attempt to condemn Syria for doing likewise against heavily armed militants like those pictured above.
Fishing for a Pretext
Between lies revolving around distorted statements regarding chemical weapons, fabricated atrocities, and now claims of airstrikes being used upon “civilian populations,” the West is desperately running down the list for a “casus belli” that will stick. The Syrian government, after a year and a half of being undermined by foreign interests and hordes of foreign militants, has maintained both the faith and trust the majority of its population has put into it. If it is deploying airstrikes, it can be assured they are doing so with keeping that faith and trust intact – and as the West often claims in the midst of its military adventures, doing so to minimize as much as possible collateral damage.
Recent attacks by the FSA have aimed at undermining that faith and truth, and militants in the northern city of Aleppo have purposefully moved to the commercial center of the city to draw in the heavy weapons necessary to neutralize them. While the Western press portrays this move toward the center of Aleppo as “progress,” it should be noted that the Syrian military operates out of bases on the city’s outskirts.
This means the further militants push toward the center of the city, the further from engaging the military directly they become. While the FSA claims they are “liberating” Aleppo, even the Western media concedes it is a bastion of government support. This indicates that terrorism, intimidation, and panic, not “liberation” are the FSA’s goals in Aleppo, and that the government is justified to take any measures necessary to stop them.
Conversely, NATO and its allies see Syria’s vigorous defense capabilities as an obstacle to Western-planned regime change – therefore if neutralizing them through covert means is not possible, they will attempt to neutralize them by declaring them a threat to “civilians,” invoking “Responsibility to Protect,” and initiating foreign military intervention.
PN 