Partisan Hacks don't support Syria

[Teh Bad Kittah]

Quote:

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops bombed residential neighborhoods in the central city of Homs Wednesday for the fifth straight day, killing scores of people in what activists say is the regime's final push to retake areas controlled by the rebels.

The violence comes as President Bashar Assad's regime is becoming increasingly isolated over its bloody crackdown on dissent. Five European countries and six Arab Gulf nations have pulled their ambassadors out of Damascus, and the U.S. has closed its embassy in Syria. Germany, whose whose envoy Syria this month, also said he would not be replaced.

But Assad was bolstered Tuesday by a visit from Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Sergey Lavrov and the country's intelligence chief, Mikhail Fradkov. In the talks in Damascus, the Russians pushed for a solution to the Syrian crisis that would include reforms by the regime and a dialogue with the opposition — but not for Assad to step down.

During the meeting, Assad said Syria is determined to hold a national dialogue with the opposition and independent figures, saying his government was "ready to cooperate with any effort that boosts stability in Syria," according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.

The Syrian opposition rejects any talks with the regime and says they accept nothing less than Assad's departure.

On Saturday, Russia and China blocked a Western- and Arab-backed U.N. Security Council resolution supporting calls for Assad to hand over some powers as a way to defuse the 11-month-old crisis.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 50 people were killed in Wednesday's shelling of the Homs neighborhoods of Bayadah, Baba Amr, Khaldiyeh and Karm el-Zeytoun. The group also said that 23 homes were heavily damaged in Baba Amr alone.

Omar Shaker, an activist in Baba Amr, said his neighborhood was under "very intense shelling" by tanks, mortars, artilleries and heavy machine guns. Shaker added that he counted five bodies Wednesday in his district.

"The situation is dire. We are short of food, water and medical aid. Doctors have collapsed after treating the wounded without rest for five days," Shaker said. "We want Lavrov to come and spend a night in Homs to see what we have been passing through."

The activist urged the international community to set up a safe passage so that women and children can leave volatile areas of Homs. The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said the regime was trying "exhaust rebels in preparation for storming neighborhoods."

The Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, also reported intense clashes between troops loyal to Assad and defectors on Wednesday in the province of Idlib, bordering Turkey. The Observatory said at least five soldiers were killed in the clashes.

The U.N. estimates the government crackdown has killed more than 5,400 people since March, making Syria's conflict one of the deadliest of the Arab Spring.

Hundreds more are believed to have died since the U.N. released that figure in January, but the chaos in the country has made it impossible for the world body to update its figures.X

There have been several Obama die hards on the forums that were all for the Libya action; only because Obama was going for it. Never you mind that these same individuals were caught in the their own web that they wove. They attacked Bush for Iraq's invasion as being purely for oil. Libya? They threw in every excuse in the book to back their beloved dictator. The one that stuck the most was "They are killing their own people, we must intervene!"

There has been 500% more deaths in Syria than there was in Libya. Where are these people now? Is it because Obama isn't gun ho to invade/bomb Syria so they'll stop? Or is it because there isn't any oil in Syria for us "to exploit"? Bunch of hypocrites, everyone.

And they can't use the excuse that there isn't a rebellion fighting force for us to get behind - there has been from the start. So while O-troll keeps drooling over their prince Obama, sipping that kool-aid and unwilling to actually see matters for what they are, these kinds of things will continue to happen.

[N3bu]

Oh god. Please please please, stop comparing Libya to Iraq, and if you call Libya an invasion I will find a way to shoot you.

On the important topic, I'm surprised the UN hasn't gotten on-top of Syria yet. I haven't heard of Syrians using their Air Force yet so maybe they consider it more a civil-war then a one-sided slaughter, I don't know.

[Heimdalr]

Teh Bad Kittah

Or is it because there isn't any oil in Syria for us "to exploit"?

Rather, the lack of natural resources ensures Syria will never become powerful enough to stand up to any of the big market actors. They do have oil, it's just not significant in the big picture. However, they do pose a more localized economic threat to Israel

[A Really Bad Idea]

Oh come off it now. It's hardly a simple task to invade a country or intervene when mere sanctions against the nation are veto'ed in the UN by Russians and the Chinese (it should need the reiteration the OP makes it seem it does).
Or are we just going to accept the very standard by which the west is bemoaned by said nations and ignore what happens in the UN?

Further; I'm going to have to go with the Iraq/Liya don't compare card. Partly because tehre was a lot of international objection to Iraq; what objection existed to Libya?

[pockybot]

I won't name names, but a couple individuals on here last year always were shouting their head off at me for my view that the US and Europe were duplicitous in their real reasoning for intervening in Libya. I always believed it was for corporations to gain access to oil and other hidden reasons.

Also, they say it was to prevent a full on slaughter in Benghazi, right?. 6000 Syrian civilians have been killed recently, with thousands more expected to be killed and not a peep of all the raw raw rhetoric Obama and his pals had. Only from Mccain, who I still respect and appreciate his consistency.

I guess...if the people of Syria had oil, they'd be a luck luckier. I think it was Assad's father who for the hell of it, decided in a couple months to massacre 42,000 civilians in the 80's.

I just kind the inconsistency curious is all. Also if I was Iran, I'd fully arm and help support the opposition to have another satellite puppet country like they have with Iraq.

[pockybot]

I see no comparison between Iraq and Libya...other than the US was supporting a tyrant til it no longer became politically acceptable.

But while countless thousands of civilians were killed and injured because of the US's shock and awe, fallujah and other assaults...I did not hear too many reports of a lot of Libyans killed by US or NATO armaments.

[Yuki the Third]

I think people have too much of a war-boner for Iran right now to care about syria.

[AnarchoPhiliac]

Teh Bad Kittah

Quote:

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops bombed residential neighborhoods in the central city of Homs Wednesday for the fifth straight day, killing scores of people in what activists say is the regime's final push to retake areas controlled by the rebels.

The violence comes as President Bashar Assad's regime is becoming increasingly isolated over its bloody crackdown on dissent. Five European countries and six Arab Gulf nations have pulled their ambassadors out of Damascus, and the U.S. has closed its embassy in Syria. Germany, whose whose envoy Syria this month, also said he would not be replaced.

But Assad was bolstered Tuesday by a visit from Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Sergey Lavrov and the country's intelligence chief, Mikhail Fradkov. In the talks in Damascus, the Russians pushed for a solution to the Syrian crisis that would include reforms by the regime and a dialogue with the opposition — but not for Assad to step down.

During the meeting, Assad said Syria is determined to hold a national dialogue with the opposition and independent figures, saying his government was "ready to cooperate with any effort that boosts stability in Syria," according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.

The Syrian opposition rejects any talks with the regime and says they accept nothing less than Assad's departure.

On Saturday, Russia and China blocked a Western- and Arab-backed U.N. Security Council resolution supporting calls for Assad to hand over some powers as a way to defuse the 11-month-old crisis.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 50 people were killed in Wednesday's shelling of the Homs neighborhoods of Bayadah, Baba Amr, Khaldiyeh and Karm el-Zeytoun. The group also said that 23 homes were heavily damaged in Baba Amr alone.

Omar Shaker, an activist in Baba Amr, said his neighborhood was under "very intense shelling" by tanks, mortars, artilleries and heavy machine guns. Shaker added that he counted five bodies Wednesday in his district.

"The situation is dire. We are short of food, water and medical aid. Doctors have collapsed after treating the wounded without rest for five days," Shaker said. "We want Lavrov to come and spend a night in Homs to see what we have been passing through."

The activist urged the international community to set up a safe passage so that women and children can leave volatile areas of Homs. The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said the regime was trying "exhaust rebels in preparation for storming neighborhoods."

The Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, also reported intense clashes between troops loyal to Assad and defectors on Wednesday in the province of Idlib, bordering Turkey. The Observatory said at least five soldiers were killed in the clashes.

The U.N. estimates the government crackdown has killed more than 5,400 people since March, making Syria's conflict one of the deadliest of the Arab Spring.

Hundreds more are believed to have died since the U.N. released that figure in January, but the chaos in the country has made it impossible for the world body to update its figures.X

There have been several Obama die hards on the forums that were all for the Libya action; only because Obama was going for it. Never you mind that these same individuals were caught in the their own web that they wove. They attacked Bush for Iraq's invasion as being purely for oil. Libya? They threw in every excuse in the book to back their beloved dictator. The one that stuck the most was "They are killing their own people, we must intervene!"

There has been 500% more deaths in Syria than there was in Libya. Where are these people now? Is it because Obama isn't gun ho to invade/bomb Syria so they'll stop? Or is it because there isn't any oil in Syria for us "to exploit"? Bunch of hypocrites, everyone.

And they can't use the excuse that there isn't a rebellion fighting force for us to get behind - there has been from the start. So while O-troll keeps drooling over their prince Obama, sipping that kool-aid and unwilling to actually see matters for what they are, these kinds of things will continue to happen.

I supported intervening in Syria since the beginning. YOUR KIND OF PEOPLE opposed intervening in Libya. You don't get to claim moral authority over this issue of intervention at all.

[pockybot]

Anarcho, wasnt talking about you.

Like Libya and all countries ruled by tyrants, Im for grassroots uprisings and overthrows. Im not for Western powers to come in and take over a country, with PMC no bid contracts, corporations and Chinese/UAE oil contracts in tow.

But for the lulz of the day...here's some idiot white chick on Syrian tv trying to say how the whole thing is a hoax, how there's no systematic massacres. The Serbs would have loved having her in the 90's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HKZ8ozlzGNM

In much more grave, serious news...Haaretz is reporting that one of the heads of the Iranian army is now in the war room WITH Assad, offering thousands of Iranian troops. WTF Iran?

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-top-iran-military-official-aiding-assad-s-crackdown-on-syria-opposition-1.411402

If anything I thought Iran would help arm the opposition, just as a pre-emptive thumb at the West, as well as to topple Assad and create a true puppet government. Now that Iran is clearly aligning with these thugs...it's placing a big target on that whole region. If Iran sends troops in there, how can even CIA armed Syrian rebels take that on?

[Wraith of Azrael]

pockybot

Anarcho, wasnt talking about you.

Like Libya and all countries ruled by tyrants, Im for grassroots uprisings and overthrows. Im not for Western powers to come in and take over a country, with PMC no bid contracts, corporations and Chinese/UAE oil contracts in tow.

But for the lulz of the day...here's some idiot white chick on Syrian tv trying to say how the whole thing is a hoax, how there's no systematic massacres. The Serbs would have loved having her in the 90's
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=HKZ8ozlzGNM

In much more grave, serious news...Haaretz is reporting that one of the heads of the Iranian army is now in the war room WITH Assad, offering thousands of Iranian troops. WTF Iran?

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-top-iran-military-official-aiding-assad-s-crackdown-on-syria-opposition-1.411402

If anything I thought Iran would help arm the opposition, just as a pre-emptive thumb at the West, as well as to topple Assad and create a true puppet government. Now that Iran is clearly aligning with these thugs...it's placing a big target on that whole region. If Iran sends troops in there, how can even CIA armed Syrian rebels take that on?

Iran, Russia, and I think China are relatively friendly with Syria...

This is why they won't exactly take action on the case.

Just as Russia wouldn't take on the case for Libya either.

It shouldn't be surprising really...

There really seems like there is two different political blocs, but one group isn't a "bloc" as much as it is a bunch of really odd countries who tend to agree with each other.

[METALFumasu]

pockybot

In much more grave, serious news...Haaretz is reporting that one of the heads of the Iranian army is now in the war room WITH Assad, offering thousands of Iranian troops. WTF Iran?

http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/report-top-iran-military-official-aiding-assad-s-crackdown-on-syria-opposition-1.411402

If anything I thought Iran would help arm the opposition, just as a pre-emptive thumb at the West, as well as to topple Assad and create a true puppet government. Now that Iran is clearly aligning with these thugs...it's placing a big target on that whole region. If Iran sends troops in there, how can even CIA armed Syrian rebels take that on?

For the love of... *bangs head against his desk* Are the Iranians TRYING to get Israel to throw the first punch? (not that Israel already hasn't done that god knows how many other times before)

I mean, thousands of Iranian troops in a country sharing a border with Israel? Why don't you just stick some dynamite and kerosene on that powderkeg of a region while your at it?

How long before Syria breaks out into full-blown civil war (although one could say that's already the case), and force some of the Western powers to intervene, Russia and China be damned? The UN Security Council's already said they're not going to approve any intervention because Russia and China vetoed a resolution to condemn the bloodshed.

As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

[A Really Bad Idea]

pockybot

If anything I thought Iran would help arm the opposition, just as a pre-emptive thumb at the West, as well as to topple Assad and create a true puppet government. Now that Iran is clearly aligning with these thugs...it's placing a big target on that whole region. If Iran sends troops in there, how can even CIA armed Syrian rebels take that on?

I offer this sort of arrangement. It will start off as a request for observers. The observers, of course, need protection in an increasingly unstable region. These observers then take, for purely humane aid, advisory roles for the rebels. This advise needs protection.
Eventually, you have a somewhat conveniently well-trained small force in the region that's only "advising" the rebels ala accusations claim happened in Libya (even if the tactic was able to be a little quicker there). razz

[pockybot]

Wraith of Azrael

Iran, Russia, and I think China are relatively friendly with Syria...

Relatively friendly? Iran through it's Quds, intelligence and proxy Hezbollah militias are doing all they can to actively assist Assad in their massacres as Russia continues selling them arms.

[pockybot]

METALFumasu

For the love of... *bangs head against his desk* Are the Iranians TRYING to get Israel to throw the first punch? (not that Israel already hasn't done that god knows how many other times before)

I mean, thousands of Iranian troops in a country sharing a border with Israel? Why don't you just stick some dynamite and kerosene on that powderkeg of a region while your at it?

How long before Syria breaks out into full-blown civil war (although one could say that's already the case), and force some of the Western powers to intervene, Russia and China be damned? The UN Security Council's already said they're not going to approve any intervention because Russia and China vetoed a resolution to condemn the bloodshed.

As the Zen Master says, "We'll see."

I always wondered, how does Iran get militias and other stuff to Lebanon and Syria?
Saudi Arabia hates them, so they can't go that route. Most people on here probably don't realize Saudi Arabia and Yemen have been fighting a war in Northern Yemen against Iranian backed Shiite rebels, with both Saudi and Yemense war planes and troops.

Then again, duh...it hits me. Iraq has literally become a de fact Iranian satellite state thanks to the US invasion. Easy access right through to Syria.

And you're right...If Iran has total control of parts of Iraq and heavy influence, and can use that landscape to funnel weapons, militias, forces, cash, etc into Syria...it's bad news for Israel.
Let's say the US holds back or is to slow in arming the rebels. That gets squashed, now Syria and Iran are aligned more than ever. They also have Hezbollah forces in Lebanon and can easily fan Hamas fighters. Unlike the 2007 single strike in Syria, Israel must know that beyond the liberal and global outcry of a unilateral strike on Iran...that doing so would give the green light to Iran's many proxy forces from Iraq, to Lebanon and now Syria.

[Teh Bad Kittah]

AnarchoPhiliac

Teh Bad Kittah

Quote:

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian troops bombed residential neighborhoods in the central city of Homs Wednesday for the fifth straight day, killing scores of people in what activists say is the regime's final push to retake areas controlled by the rebels.

The violence comes as President Bashar Assad's regime is becoming increasingly isolated over its bloody crackdown on dissent. Five European countries and six Arab Gulf nations have pulled their ambassadors out of Damascus, and the U.S. has closed its embassy in Syria. Germany, whose whose envoy Syria this month, also said he would not be replaced.

But Assad was bolstered Tuesday by a visit from Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Sergey Lavrov and the country's intelligence chief, Mikhail Fradkov. In the talks in Damascus, the Russians pushed for a solution to the Syrian crisis that would include reforms by the regime and a dialogue with the opposition — but not for Assad to step down.

During the meeting, Assad said Syria is determined to hold a national dialogue with the opposition and independent figures, saying his government was "ready to cooperate with any effort that boosts stability in Syria," according to the Syrian state news agency SANA.

The Syrian opposition rejects any talks with the regime and says they accept nothing less than Assad's departure.

On Saturday, Russia and China blocked a Western- and Arab-backed U.N. Security Council resolution supporting calls for Assad to hand over some powers as a way to defuse the 11-month-old crisis.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said at least 50 people were killed in Wednesday's shelling of the Homs neighborhoods of Bayadah, Baba Amr, Khaldiyeh and Karm el-Zeytoun. The group also said that 23 homes were heavily damaged in Baba Amr alone.

Omar Shaker, an activist in Baba Amr, said his neighborhood was under "very intense shelling" by tanks, mortars, artilleries and heavy machine guns. Shaker added that he counted five bodies Wednesday in his district.

"The situation is dire. We are short of food, water and medical aid. Doctors have collapsed after treating the wounded without rest for five days," Shaker said. "We want Lavrov to come and spend a night in Homs to see what we have been passing through."

The activist urged the international community to set up a safe passage so that women and children can leave volatile areas of Homs. The head of the Observatory, Rami Abdul-Rahman, said the regime was trying "exhaust rebels in preparation for storming neighborhoods."

The Observatory and another activist group, the Local Coordination Committees, also reported intense clashes between troops loyal to Assad and defectors on Wednesday in the province of Idlib, bordering Turkey. The Observatory said at least five soldiers were killed in the clashes.

The U.N. estimates the government crackdown has killed more than 5,400 people since March, making Syria's conflict one of the deadliest of the Arab Spring.

Hundreds more are believed to have died since the U.N. released that figure in January, but the chaos in the country has made it impossible for the world body to update its figures.X

There have been several Obama die hards on the forums that were all for the Libya action; only because Obama was going for it. Never you mind that these same individuals were caught in the their own web that they wove. They attacked Bush for Iraq's invasion as being purely for oil. Libya? They threw in every excuse in the book to back their beloved dictator. The one that stuck the most was "They are killing their own people, we must intervene!"

There has been 500% more deaths in Syria than there was in Libya. Where are these people now? Is it because Obama isn't gun ho to invade/bomb Syria so they'll stop? Or is it because there isn't any oil in Syria for us "to exploit"? Bunch of hypocrites, everyone.

And they can't use the excuse that there isn't a rebellion fighting force for us to get behind - there has been from the start. So while O-troll keeps drooling over their prince Obama, sipping that kool-aid and unwilling to actually see matters for what they are, these kinds of things will continue to happen.

I supported intervening in Syria since the beginning. YOUR KIND OF PEOPLE opposed intervening in Libya. You don't get to claim moral authority over this issue of intervention at all.

I do actually, because 1) there isn't any "My kind of people" and 2) I didn't object to Libya. What I did object towards, however, was everyone gungho for libya and mum about Syria. Syria having more deaths than Libya but whats the difference? Oil? We have ourselves a winner.