Will Russian And Chinese Military Forces On Syrian Soil Prevent Obama From Bombing Syria?
by Michael Snyder, Contributor
Activist Post
June 20, 2012
Everyone knows that the Obama administration has been steadily gearing up for a military campaign against Syria. Everyone also knows that Russia and China do not want to see this happen. Now Russia and China are sending military forces to Syria.
Will this show of military power be enough to prevent Barack Obama from bombing Syria? Or will Obama go ahead anyway and risk ruining relations with the Russians and the Chinese? Tensions are rising in the Middle East and the region is a powder keg that could erupt at any time. If someone makes the wrong move we could end up with World War III.
A number of sources have reported that the Obama administration has been contemplating a military campaign in Syria similar to what happened in Libya. The U.S. would institute a no-fly zone, bomb the Syrian government and the Syrian military, and provide heavy military hardware for the rebel forces on the ground.
According to a recent Debka report, the plans for such a campaign in Syria are close to being finalized….
As the violence in Syria continued to go from bad to worse in scope and intensity, US official sources had this to say Saturday, June 16, about planned US military operations in the war-torn country:
“The intervention will happen. It is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when.’”
A Syrian Free Army rebel delegation is now in Washington to talk about their requestsfor heavy weapons from the Obama administration. In their meetings with US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and the State Department’s expert on Syria Fred Hof, the rebel leaders handed in two lists for approval: types of heavy weapons capable of challenging Bashar Assad’s armed forces and selected targets of attack to destabilize his regime.
Debkafile’s Washington sources disclose that the administration is very near a decision on the types of weapons to be shipped to the Syrian rebels and when. Most of the items Washington is ready to send have been purchased by Saudi Arabia and Qatar and are ready for shipment.
The White House is also close to deciding on the format of its military operation in Syria. Some sources are defining it as “Libya lite” – that is, a reduced-scale version of the no-fly zone imposed on Libya two years ago and the direct air and other strikes which toppled the Qaddafi regime.
What the Obama administration fails to grasp is that Syria is not Libya.
Syria has a lot more friends, and any attack on Syria would almost certainly cause a wider Middle East war to erupt.
For Russia and China, Syria is a red line that must not be crossed.
Now Russia and China are sending substantial military forces to Syria for “war games”. Obviously this is just an excuse to get troops into Syria. The following description of these upcoming “war games” is from a recent article in the Jerusalem Post….
According to ShamLife, China had gained Egyptian approval to allow 12 Chinese ships carrying military equipment to pass through the Suez Canal, and that these vessels would reach the Syrian ports of Tartous and Latakia in two weeks’ time.
ShamLife said Syrian air defense missiles and its coastal defense would be put to the test in the military exercises, and that 90,000 troops from the four countries would be involved in the war games along with 400 aircraft and 1,000 tanks and “hundreds of rockets.”
The exercises would be carried out after Syrian troops had ‘cleansed’ several cities where ‘armed groups’ – meaning Syrian opposition forces fighting against government troops loyal to President Bashar Assad – were gathering.
It is also being reported that the Russians are sending warships from the Black Sea Fleet to the Syrian coast to protect the Russian military base at Tartus.
The following is from a recent Los Angeles Times article….
Russia is preparing to dispatch a pair of warships carrying a contingent of Black Sea Fleet marines to its logistics base in the Syrian port of Tartus, the Russian Interfax news agency reported Monday, in what appeared to be another sign of the deteriorating security situation in the strife-ridden nation.
The report quoted an unidentified Russian naval source saying the amphibious ships Nikolay Filchenkov and Tsezar Kunikov, accompanied by the rescue tug SB-15, were ‘preparing for a non-routine departure’ for Tartus, Russia’s only Mediterranean base.
In addition, according to a recent article in the Telegraph, a Russian ship that was apparently taking attack helicopters to Syria has been stopped off the coast of Scotland….
A Russian ship believed to be carrying helicopters and missiles for Syria has been effectively stopped in its tracks off the coast of Scotland after its insurance was cancelled at the behest of the British government.
Obviously the Russians and the Chinese are trying to stop an attack on Syria.
Things are getting very tense, and that is not going to change any time soon.
Just check out how a recent CBS News report described a private meeting between Obama and Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G-20 summit in Mexico….
The two men barely looked at each other. You could just feel, sort of, the tension between them. And the body language really represented how far apart the two leaders remain on the issue of Syria.
Needless to say, it was not a pleasant conversation. In fact, Putin reportedly wasvery direct with Obama….
Apparently President Obama got a bit of a lecture from Putin about some other failed transitions that are going on around the world.
When Barack Obama was elected, many Americans expected him to keep his campaign promises and greatly reduce U.S. military action around the globe.
Instead, Obama has actually greatly expanded U.S. military action around the globe.
It isn’t reported on much in the mainstream media, but the U.S. military is actually at war in Yemen, in Somalia, in Pakistan, and in a whole bunch of other countries all over the planet.
The following is from a must-read Wired article that just came out….
The center of the US drone war has shifted to Yemen, where 23 American strikes have killed an estimated 155 people so far this year. But you wouldn’t know about it — or about the cruise missile attacks, or about the US commando teams in Yemen — by reading the report the White House sent to Congress about US military activities around the globe. Instead, there’s only the blandest acknowledgement of ‘direct action’ in Yemen, ‘against a limited number of [al-Qaida] operatives and senior leaders.’
The report, issued late Friday, is the first time the United States has publicly, officially acknowledged the operations in Yemen and in nearby Somalia that anyone with internet access could’ve told you about years ago. But the report doesn’t just fail to admit the extent of the shadow war that America is waging in the region. It’s borderline legal — at best. The War Powers Resolution of 1973 requires the president to inform Congress about any armed conflicts America is engaged in. Friday’s report isn’t just uninformative about Yemen. It doesn’t even mention the US campaign in Pakistan, even though the Defense Secretary says America is ‘at war‘ there.
Obama has shown contempt for Congress on so many levels. Not only does he not ask them when he starts a new war, he barely even informs them of what is going on.
In the past, Russia and China kind of stood aside as the U.S. imposed its will all over the Middle East, but that is no longer the case.
Russia and China are clearly saying “no” to military action against Syria.
Will Obama back down or will he defy the Russians and the Chinese?
It is going to be very interesting to watch.
And this emerging alliance between the Russians and the Chinese is going to be something to keep a close eye on. We have been seeing increasing cooperation between the two nations in a bunch of different areas.
If the United States is not very careful, it could find itself in a direct conflict with both Russia and China in the years ahead.
The Russian military and the Chinese military have been very busy preparing for such a conflict. The U.S. military has been focused on other things.
Sadly, most Americans know much more about “America’s Got Talent” and “American Idol” than they do about geopolitics these days.
This article first appeared here at the American Dream. Michael Snyder is a writer, speaker and activist who writes and edits his own blogs The American Dream and Economic Collapse Blog. Follow him on Twitter here.
Jet Escalation: ‘Turkey probing Syrian anti-air defense’ [video]
Russia Today
June 23, 2012
Syrian air defenses have destroyed a Turkish fighter-jet, after it violated airspace in the country’s north. Ankara however is now vowing ‘decisive action’ in response.
Colin Cavell, an academic and Middle East specialist, talks to RT. He says the intrusion into Syrian airspace by a Turkish warplane, was no accident.
READ MORE: http://on.rt.com/7cxan4
Syrian Intervention Matter Of When And Not If
RT
June 17, 2012
Not ‘if’ but ‘when’: US intervention in Syria on countdown
A delegation from Syrian opposition is reportedly in talks with US officials over the targets they want to attack to weaken the Syrian government and the arms they want America to provide to do it. A “Libya lite” operation in Syria may be imminent.
The unnamed US official reportedly said that “the intervention will happen. It is not a question of ‘if’ but ‘when’.”
The delegation from the Syrian Free Army is meeting with US Ambassador to Syria Robert Ford and the State Department’s expert on Syria, Fred Hof, according to a report by debkafile, an Israeli news website, which is considered to have strong ties with the intelligence community.
The Syrian rebels have brought with them two lists for American approval.
One is that of targets in Syria they want to attack to hurt President Assad’s government. The second is a list of heavy weapons they need to carry out the attacks, which they want to get from the US, the report says.
Debkafile says the Obama administration is very close to giving the green light to shipping off the weapons, most of which have already been purchased by Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
The US is also close to deciding on the format of its own military operation in Syria, which the site’s source described as “Libya lite” – a small-scale version of the no-fly zone and air strikes carried out by NATO forces in Libya, which resulted in the toppling of its leader, Muammar Gaddafi.
Earlier top US military brass told American media that the Pentagon has finalized contingency plans for a possible operation in Syria.
This follows the UN observers pulling out of Syria due to the renewed violence in the country. The mission head said neither side of the conflict was willing to observe the ceasefire any longer, which put the UN personnel at risk.
Some reports suggest that the break in the warfare helped the Syrian opposition purchase new and better weapons with the money received from sponsors in Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
CONFIRMED: US CIA Arming Terrorists in Syria [video included]
As West berates Syria for “killing civilians” Western weapons flow into terrorist hands from NATO.
by Tony Cartalucci
June 22, 2012 – The New York Times in their article, “C.I.A. Said to Aid in Steering Arms to Syrian Opposition,” confirms what many have already long known – that the West, led by the US and its Gulf State proxies, have been arming terrorists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, while berating the Syrian government for “violating” a UN mandated ceasefire and for “failing to protect” its population.
The Muslim Brotherhood has been combated by nations across the Arab World to stem the tide of their sectarian extremism, violence, and their targeted erosion of secular nation-states. Ironically, the US which has claimed to have been fighting the forces of sectarian extremism and “terrorism” for over a decade now, have been revealed as the primary enabler of the most violent and extreme terrorist organizations in the world. These include, in addition to the Muslim Brotherhood, the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG) in Libya, Baluch terrorists in Pakistan, and the Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) currently based in Iraq and being used as proxies against Iran.
Video: Professor Michel Chossudovsky of Global Research gives perhaps the most comprehensive back-story on Syria’s conflict to-date.
The New York Times claims that, “the C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said,” a unsubstantiated claim that was similarly made in Libya before Al Qaeda flags were run up poles in Benghazi by rebels flush with NATO cash and arms used to collapse the government of Muammar Qaddafi. In fact, it is confirmed that Libyan LIFG rebels, led by Al Qaeda commander Abdul Hakim Belhaj, have now made their way by the hundreds to Syria (and here).
Despite months of the US claiming the “international community” sought to end the violence and protect the population of Syria, the New York Times now admits that the US is engaged in supporting a “military campaign” against the Syrian government aimed at increasing “pressure” on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Efforts to impose an arms embargo on Syria is now revealed to be one-sided, aimed at giving rebels an advantage in the prolonged bloodbath with the intent on tipping the balance in favor of Western proxy-forces – not end the violence as soon as possible as claimed by the UN, and in particular, Kofi Annan.
The Times also reported that Turkey has been directly delivering weapons to terrorists operating in Syria – Turkey being a NATO member and implicating NATO as now being directly involved in perpetuating bloodshed in the Middle Eastern nation. For months, Turkey has been allowing terrorists to use its border region as a refuge from which to stage attacks against Syria.
Despite this, however, the so-called “Free Syrian Army,” according to the New York Times, consists of only 100 or so small formations made up of “a handful of fighters to a couple of hundred combatants,” betraying the narrative that the Syrian government faces a large popular uprising, and revealing that the “Free Syrian Army” is in fact a small collection of mercenaries, foreign fighters, and sectarian extremists, armed, funded, and directed by foreign interests solely to wreak havoc within Syria. It should be noted that these terrorist proxies were organized as early as 2007 by the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, specifically to enact regime change and transform Syria into a Western client regime.
As the West’s propaganda campaign imploded after a torrent of unsubstantiated claims of “massacres” and “atrocities,” all unverified, some in fact being revealed as the work of the West’s sectarian proxies themselves, it appears that sidelining Syria in headlines while pursuing a clandestine proxy war is now the tactic of choice for the time being.
For the United States to claim Syria has “failed” to protect it population while simultaneously fueling the very armed conflict it claims it is seeking to end is not only hypocrisy of the highest order, but a crime against world peace – punishable under the Nuremberg precedent.
[hat tip: Activist Post]
Faking It: How the Media Manipulates the World into War [video]
Global Research TV
January 1, 2012
As the US and Iranian governments escalate tensions in the already volatile Straits of Hormuz, and China and Russia begin openly questioning Washington’s interference in their internal politics, the world remains on a knife-edge of military tension. Far from being a dispassionate observer of these developments, however, the media has in fact been central to increasing those tensions and preparing the public to expect a military confrontation. But as the online media rises to displace the traditional forms by which the public forms its understanding of the world, many are now beginning to see first hand how the media lies the public into war.
Learn more about the media manipulations behind the beginning of war in this week’s GRTV backgrounder.
SOURCES AND TRANSCRIPT: http://www.corbettreport.com/?p=3588
[hat tip: Friends Of Syria]
Patrick Henningsen: Turkish Jets Downed Over Syria and NATO Agenda [video]
Russia Today
June 22, 2012
Amnesty International Helping to Kill Syrians [video]
Syrian Girl
June 22, 2012
Amnesty has been used as a tool to provide a causes belli for war for several decades. More recently they have been losing their neutral facade as they mount a heavy one sided disinformation campaign against Syria, asking it’s members to ‘pressure’ russia to stop helping Syria, however applies no pressure to qatar and US for funding the insurgency. They have been advertising for funding for their disinformation campaign against Syria all over the internet sometimes on the side of my very channel, disgusting!
Supportive links:
http://www.syrianews.cc/amnesty-international-lies-on-syria-campaign-796.html
Alex jones exposes george soros http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FAWf4d4hVtw
http://warisacrime.org/content/george-soros-targets-syria
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/mar/02/avaaz-activist-group-syria
http://keystoliberty.wordpress.com/2012/06/04/soros-connection-part-2/
http://articles.businessinsider.com/2011-10-06/wall_street/30249853_1_soros-p…
