Barbarians Versus Barbarians in Syria

FrontPage Magazine ^ | December 7, 2012 | Joseph Klein

[SJackson]

At least forty thousand people have lost their lives to date during the 21-month war in Syria. The war has turned into a life-and-death struggle between the barbarian Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime and its barbarian Islamist adversaries. Every day brings fresh evidence of atrocities committed by both sides. Innocent civilians living within Syria and the surrounding region are caught in the middle.

The latest outrage is the Assad regime’s reported preparation of chemical weapons for use in wiping out its enemies, irrespective of civilian casualties, as a last resort to stave off the regime’s collapse.

Syria has loaded deadly sarin gas materials into chemical warheads. All that remains is an order by Assad to load the warheads onto dozens of fighter bombers and launch an attack on the rebel forces.

Sarin is the same lethal chemical agent that Iraqi President Saddam Hussein used to kill 5,000 Kurds with one attack in 1988. Ex-CIA agent Robert Baer was quoted as telling CNN that a Syrian city such as Homs, with a population of about a million people, could lose a third of the people in a few hours from a chemical attack.

President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have warned the Syrian regime that the use of chemical weapons would constitute a “red line” for which there would be severe consequences. But whatever consequences the Obama administration has in mind may well be too late to save thousands of civilians from the lethal consequences of a chemical attack.

Russia is reportedly softening its support for Assad because of the chemical weapons threat and has been conducting talks with the United States on possible diplomatic moves to help ease Assad from power. Secretary of State Clinton and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavro met with UN Special Envoy for Syria Lakhdar Brahimi on December 6th in Dublin to discuss whether there was a viable path forward for a political transition in Syria as proposed by Brahimi.

In his statement to the press following the Dublin meeting, Brahmi said:

“I have taken the opportunity of this conference to ask the Foreign Ministers of the United States and Russia to get together with me to discuss the very, very, very bad situation in Syria.

I am discussing this situation with all the countries that I call that have influence and interest or both – and definitely this is the case for Russia and the United States.

“We have discussed therefore the situation in Syria and we have also talked a little bit about how we can work out, hopefully, a process that will get Syria back from the brink, to put together a peace process…”

The bottom line, however, was that there were no “sensational decisions” reached at the meeting.

Given the chemical warfare threat, the U.S. may not wait for a diplomatic solution. The London Times reports that the Obama administration is “ready to launch military action in Syria ‘within days’ if President Assad resorts to mobilising chemical weapons in an attempt to repel rebel forces trying to seize Damascus.”

Assad is only one side of the barbarian equation. The Obama administration has backed the arming of rebel groups in Syria through channels set up by Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Turkey, even though we did not know whether the recipients were friends or foes. According to a front page article in the New York Times on December 6th, the administration is finally waking up to the fact that some of these weapons are ending up in the hands of Islamic jihadists:

“The Obama administration did not initially raise objections when Qatar began shipping arms to opposition groups in Syria, even if it did not offer encouragement, according to current and former administration officials. But they said the United States has growing concerns that, just as in Libya, the Qataris are equipping some of the wrong militants.”

The jihadists will inevitably turn those weapons against the “infidels” in Syria and against us, as happened after the Obama administration looked the other way when Islamic jihadists in Libya were armed during the uprising against Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi. The difference in Syria is that the danger does not end with standard conventional weapons in the hands of al Qaeda fighters seeking to topple the Assad regime. They may get their hands on the Assad regime’s chemical weapons if the regime crumbles.

The Obama administration is finally waking up to this danger as well. “Our concerns are that an increasingly desperate Assad regime might turn to chemical weapons, or might lose control of them to one of the many groups that are now operating within Syria,” Secretary of State Clinton said at the conclusion of NATO ministerial meetings in Brussels this week.

However, the unintended consequence of ousting Assad by whatever means, without simultaneously securing all of his vast chemical weapons stockpile, may be the turn-over of these weapons of mass destruction to al Qaeda. Also, on his way out, Assad may order his forces who stay behind to transfer chemical weapons to Hezbollah and Iran’s Revolutionary Guards who are still in Syria.

Outside of Syria itself, Israel is the country in the region most likely to be at the greatest risk from chemical weapons used by either the Assad or jihadist barbarians.

Just as mortar shells spilled over into Israeli territory during the fighting between Syrian government and opposition forces, chemical weapons do not observe national boundaries. Moreover, Syria still considers itself to be “in a state of war with Israel” whom it regards as its “main enemy,” quoting the Syrian UN Ambassador H.E. Dr. Bashar Ja’afari in side remarks he made to another UN correspondent and myself on the day that the UN General Assembly passed the resolution upgrading the Palestinians’ status to an observer state.

The Syrian ambassador sounded his war drum against Israel off camera to just the two of us, after sounding a more moderate note while briefing many more UN correspondents on camera. In his on camera briefing, he generally supported Brahimi’s plan for a cease fire and a transition but said that the violence perpetrated by Arab countries against Syria must first stop. Only off camera did he brand Israel, not the terrorists or the Arab countries arming them, as Syria’s “main enemy” with whom Syria remains in “a state of war.”

Facing such pathological thinking, Israel has every reason to be concerned that, if Assad decides to drop chemical weapons on his own people, he won’t hesitate to include some Israeli civilians in his carnage. Nevertheless, Israel will be prepared to mitigate casualties from an air attack with chemical weapons launched by Assad, according to an Israeli intelligence expert with twenty-five years of experience in the field. Lt. Col. (res.) Mordechai Kedar told Arutz Sheva in an exclusive interview on December 6th that if the gas is in an aerial bomb, it is “very easy to deal with. The Air Force knows very well how to deal with such things. An aerial bomb is a traditional weapon,” he said, even when it is carrying a payload of sarin. “Missiles are much faster,” he added, “but still they too can be dealt with.”

Terrorists present a different sort of challenge because of the variety of ways they can introduce chemical weapons surreptitiously.

Chemical weapons left behind if Assad does leave Syria may fall into the hands of Hezbollah and Iran, which won’t hesitate to use them against Israel.

Al Qaeda and other Sunni Islamist jihadists, whose sophisticated arms will put them in the best position to fill the power vacuum left behind by Assad’s departure, may also threaten Israel with any chemical weapons they get their hands on. Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri specifically linked al Qaeda’s jihad in Syria with the ongoing fight against Israel.

“Supporting jihad in Syria to establish a Muslim state is a basic step towards Jerusalem,” Zawahiri said last September. Earlier in the year, he called upon jihadists to “Establish a state that defends the Muslim countries, seeks to free the Golan, and continues Jihad until the flag of victory is raised above the usurped hills of al-Quds [mosque in Jerusalem].”

Israel is working closely with the United States as the Syrian crisis deepens. Israeli intelligence and other agencies have been “working this problem round the clock,” CNN reported. In addition, Israel’s home grown sophisticated air defense technology, demonstrated successfully in the Iron Dome’s interception of missiles launched from Gaza, may prove useful to the U.S. and its other allies in intercepting planes and missiles armed with chemical weapons in mid-air before they can do extensive damage.

In a region seething with barbarian dictators and barbarian Islamist jihadists who value death over life, the one island of sanity and true democracy is Israel. The United States needs a viable Israel as our closest steadfast ally in this cauldron, as much as Israel needs the United States to remain that way.

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[SJackson]

Middle East and terrorism, occasional political and Jewish issues Ping List. High Volume

If you’d like to be on or off, please FR mail me.

..................

[bert]

The blood of the 40,000 who died so far was dispersed over time and space. The blood of the Assad family and supporters will flow in Damascus when the end point is reached. The figurative streets will be red

[nikos1121]

Can someone please tell me... please why are we amassing out troops in the region?

[Katechon]

The Obama regime refused to back the Free Syrian Army. It is backing instead the Muslim Brotherhood.

[left that other site]

AhHA!....so THAT’S where the WMD’s went!

DOH!

[silverleaf]

“We” may be planning a contingency op to seize the chemical weapons (which could be aimed at Israel Jordan and/or Turkey in Assad’s last act of revenge)

or at least to make sure they go to the jihadists “we” are supporting

Russia will cooperate since the weapons probably bear evidence of their Russian origin, or that of their ally Iran or Saddam Hussein

Shades of Gog.... or is it Magog

[Katechon]

WE MUST DIFFERENTIATE between (at least) three types of rebels in Syria.

1) Bands of War in Syria. A band is composed one leader AND the men following him. The leader shall provide guns to his warriors.

A band of war is not Army-like. We shall identify the most active and agressive gangs by: the face of their leader AND the logo of the band. One of the biggest gangs is that of Abu Issa.

Another one is that of Jamal Maarouf, AKA Abu Khalid. He's the face the Syria Martyrs Brigades, a coalition of various bands of war. I call this band The Shields, in reference to its logo.

2) The Free Syrian Army (FSA)

Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad and Brigadier General Mustafa al-Sheikh of the FSA

This is the shadow Army of the Assad Régime. The armed revolution began with the creation of the FSA.

The head of the Military Council in Idlib is Col. Afif Suleiman. Here we see him with one of his regiments, the "Northern Shield":

The Free Syrian Army is building the shadow State apparatus, the apparatus that could provide the structure of the new Syrian State, after the revolutionary war. This structure is not rigid yet, it is incipient, in process of formation. It is forming alliances with bands of warriors, by producing administrative units (Military Councils) that try to coordinate together gangs and the military elements that defected from the Assad regime.

Abu Issa of The Falcons, for instance, is part of the Idlib Military Council (FSA) headed by Suleiman. On the other hand, the band leader formed a coalition of his own. In September 12, a YouTube video appeared in which Abu Issa announces the birth of the Jabhat Tahrir Syria (the Syrian Liberation Front).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I76Q7_8RTYA

“We acknowledge the others, just as they acknowledge us," he said to Time magazine. "The military councils can be a part of it,” he said. Abu Issa's new Front regroups several formidable outfits, including the Farouk Brigades of Homs.

What is also interesting is that the Free Syrian Army appears to be in competition with other forces aiming to build the new state of Syria: the Syrian National Council [now rebooted into the National Coalition for Syrian Revolutionary and Opposition Forces], largely sponsored by the Muslim Brotherhood and the Obama regime, in... Istanbul.

The Muslim Brotherhood arm on the ground of Syria appears (I'm not sure yet) an al-Qaeda front, although it is being said that the Muslim Brotherhood is hedging their bets and backing a few FSA councils too.

c) Al-Qaeda. Al-Qaeda is the face of a leader AND a network of groups sharing the SAME network of media production and distribution.

When a band joins al-Qaeda, it becomes a Front (Jabhat), and carries the black flag of al-Qaeda media production and distribution al-Manara al-Baida (The White Minaret).

Logo of al Manara al Baida

The AQ Front in Idlib is al-Nusra (more about the group here). They announced their formation in Janurary 2011. (See al-Nusra's official statements here.)

Al-Qaeda sponsors a global jihad movement toward the caliphate. Its leader, Ayman al Zawahiri, called for the jihad to be waged in Syria via: "Onward, Oh Lions of al Sham" [al Sham= Syria]

"I appeal to every Muslim and every free, honorable one in Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon, to rise to help his brothers in SYRIA with all what he can, with his life, money, wonders, opinion, and information."

Al-nusrah is the main al-Qaeda Front in Idlib.

On 24 January 2012, al Nusrah claimed an attack against a military target in Syria (Idlib), near the Turkish border. Since then, writes the International Crisis Group in this document, al Nusra "regularly takes responsibility for suicide attacks in civilian neighbourhoods; is viewed by al-Qaeda as the favoured Salafi-jihadi group; and employs an online media dissemination strategy akin to that of al-Qaeda affiliates and offshoots" (p. 10). Al-Nusra's statements and videos are all issued by the White Minaret. And those videos are posted on Shamikh al islam.

Logo de Shamikh al islam

To this day, al Nusrah remains the sole active jihadi group in Syria to receive the direct endorsement of pro-al-Qaeda online forum administrators and prominent Salafi-jihadi figures, to have its propaganda material accredited by al Qaeda’s media distribution network and advertised on Shamikh al Islam, the leading pro-al-Qaeda forum. Most material on the Shamikh forum is produced by al Qaeda affiliates and bears the label of the al Fajr Media Centre, the online outfit responsible for distributing al Qaeda material.

[Katechon]

The leadership of the FSA are the good guys in my opinion.

[left that other site]

Lovely Bunch of people!/s

[Inwoodian]

Hillary Clinton: So. Here’s how it(the red line) goes. You cross the red line by chemically attacking your enemies. 400,000 people are killed. I then propose that we set up a Peace Conference with both sides getting their say. I say publicly that there has been great cooperation by both sides. The only thing needed is greater education of the Syrian masses. I give you a billion dollars and I give the insurgency a billion dollars. Both sides agree to speak again. I announce this agreement to the World and move on. The fighting unfortunately resumes.

[oncebitten]

Green on green. What’s not to like? Fire up the popcorn.

[Hayride]

I smell a false flag operation about to be pulled off. Assad isn’t rolling over like they wanted so they say he’s going to gas his own people if necessary. The mercs will be the ones to use any chemical weapons and Assad will be blamed. The manufactured outrage will be enough to send in some more stout forces to topple Assad.

If the chemical weapons are used, watch to see how many civilians are killed as opposed to opposition forces. Assad is no choir boy but, as we’ve seen in Egypt and Libya, what they plan to replace him with will be far worse.

[Little Ray]

Yep. Along with the blood of the Christians, Alawites, and other non-Sunni Moslems.

Personally, I hope Assad breaks out the chemicals and USES it, before it is too late.

[The Great RJ]

I would bet that the chemical weapons being readied in Syria were originally made in Iraq by Saddam Hussain. Assad may be just crazy enough to use these WMDs or with loose control over military forces some local commanders may be that crazy. In any event it is likely that there will be some chemical weapons used in Syria very soon. Both sides know Obama will do little more than send a nasty note, threaten sanctions and beg the UN to intervene if WMDs are used in Syria. Even more chilling is that Hezbola or other terrorist organizations will get hold of these weaponized WMDs. The Middle East is a powder keg but with WMDs rather than gunpowder that are set to explode.

[Katechon]

Following the Syrian War on YouTube is shocking. There are videos of mass-killing, tortures, snipping, etc. I had to look this up because I am MAPPING THE WAR.

But man....

The worst video for me was not graphically violent. It was alawite kids being led to their execution.

[ZX12R]

The leadership of the FSA are the good guys in my opinion.

I don't think there ARE any good guys in this one. If I had to pick a side, I'd pick Assad. I would also guess that those loaded chem weapons were initially cooked up for Turkey and Israel in a revenge attack for those Assad thinks is behind this whole fight. Should Assad be about to fall, lookout.

[Katechon]

I understand, I was trying to pick among the opposition.

Assad will fall, that’s for sure. We don’t know when though.

I understand where the FSA comes from. They are now barbarians. But now, they are being infiltrated by Salafi jihadis and the Muslim Brotherhood — as they need money and guns, and as they have to deal with Saudi and Qatari financiers.

But the roots of the FSA are clean.

It began in June 2011, as Lieutenant Colonel Hussein Harmoush announced that he and his companions were defecting from the army to “protect the unarmed protesters who demand freedom and democracy.” The opposition needed to resort to arms, he said, to defend the people against regime brutality.

See Youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLAa9NSC9fo

The opposition took up arms, and the first organised armed groups had emerged within the opposition to the regime.
Defecting officers began releasing YouTube videos announcing their intention to protect peaceful protestors against attacks by the State.
In July 2011, Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad defected and announced with his companions the creation of the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItzI_AIFUWg

While his rhetoric was aggressive against the soldiers of the regime who continued to fight for Assad, (saying they were legitimate targets), he described the FSA’s mission as protecting the revolution and the Syrian people.
He was basically emphasising self-defense, and trying to avoid alienating potential Western supporters, for cash and weapons.