Posted on 12/16/2012 1:58:02 AM PST by SunkenCiv
On the night of Nov. 29... Riad Darar, a former imam and one of the leading members of the group known as the National Coordination Committee (NCC), sat at the table sipping juice and nibbling on a quesadilla. In Syria, his group is viewed among the rest of the opposition as Assad collaborators... On Dec. 13, Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov//became the first senior government official to publicly state that Assad's downfall looks imminent... The next day, the ministry denied that Bogdanov had made any "statements or special interviews for journalists"...
After months of vetting rebel groups for possible links to al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations, the U.S., the E.U. and several Arab states bestowed their stamp of approval on a broad assembly of rebel groups called the Syrian National Coalition, which was formed in Qatar on Nov. 11. On Dec. 11, the U.S. recognized it as the only legitimate Syrian government, and about 100 other countries followed. Russia stayed away, calling the new group illegitimate, while continuing to look for its own rebel allies.
The NCC seemed the obvious choice. It is the only opposition group that is still prepared to negotiate with Assad, and it's the only one to agree with Russia that supplying arms to all rebels must stop. At the restaurant, Haytham Manna, the NCC's foreign-affairs official, even parroted Russia's criticism of the West... The NCC is made up mostly of academics and dissidents with no military wing...
That means Moscow has no choice but to accept the loss of its last real foothold in the Middle East, says Fyodor Lukyanov, the editor of the journal Russia in Global Affairs.
(Excerpt) Read more at world.time.com ...
Here’s something for all the pro-Russky/Assad/Iran dingleberries:
Iran: U.S. Massacre Just Like Killings in Syria, Iraq
By Gil Ronen
First Publish: 12/15/2012, 7:20 PM
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/163171
Tehran draws parallel between Newtown tragedy and child victims of armed actions in Iraq and Syria, where it is heavily involved itself.
Iran expressed condemnation Saturday of the Connecticut school massacre but added that there is “no difference” between it and the killing of children in various hotspots in the Middle East, including Syria and Iraq — where Iran itself is involved in killing tens of thousands of civilians, including thousands of children.
Awww! Which is our real foothold in the ME? Israel is a bastion - which we used to support and some great expense - and it is worth it - but it is hardly a foothold for influencing ME policy - which I think is a fool's errand anyway.
Iraq? How is that working out for us? A-stan?
I’m not at all adverse to pulling Iran’s beard, or Putin’s for that matter, but this fighting and destroying and killing and getting killed is pretty serious business. There are always Unintended Consequences. And I don’t see the goals of Obama’s supposed Middle East foreign policy. How does it benefit any American but George Soros?
Note: this topic is from 12/16/2012. A re-ping.
The difference: one mass murder (gassing of citizens) was sanctioned by a State (Syria) and the other mass murder (Newtown) was a done by an insane criminal monster - and condemned by the State(United States)... In the ME criminal monsters run the countries so I can see why Iran would think it was the same...
The difference: one mass murder (gassing of citizens) was sanctioned by a State (Syria)...Do you believe that?
What do you think? State sanctioned or not?
My take? #1. The MB and/ or AQ did it to suck O’Kenyan in with or without his knowledge. #2.Some military commander panicked and did it (but how did he get the stuff without anybody knowing about it in the Syrian government? Remember the panicked phone calls our Intelligence Services overheard?) #3. Our operatives did it (foreign or otherwise). I just can’t see Assad being in the winning seat and inviting worldwide retribution.
Which explains why Moscow is making overtures to Cyprus as a contingency in case they lose Syria.
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