Posted on 08/28/2013 5:36:47 AM PDT by quimby
Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons unit, demanding answers for a nerve agent strike that killed more than 1,000 people. Those conversations were overheard by U.S. intelligence services, The Cable has learned. And that is the major reason why American officials now say they're certain that the attacks were the work of the Bashar al-Assad regime -- and why the U.S. military is likely to attack that regime in a matter of days.
But the intercept raises questions about culpability for the chemical massacre, even as it answers others: Was the attack on Aug. 21 the work of a Syrian officer overstepping his bounds? Or was the strike explicitly directed by senior members of the Assad regime? "It's unclear where control lies," one U.S. intelligence official told The Cable. "Is there just some sort of general blessing to use these things? Or are there explicit orders for each attack?"
(Excerpt) Read more at thecable.foreignpolicy.com ...
I don’t see that we lost WWII. I served overseas in that war and my brother was killed on Okinawa. If you are connecting what happened after the war to the actual war you are wrong in saying the USA lost the war. What was lost in respect to WWII was any advantage for our side after the shooting stopped.
I call BS
This “leak” is from the Obama administration to quell rumors that the rebels or insurgents, or the MB or anyone BUT the Assad regime deployed WMD.
If it’s not the Assad regime, then the man-boy in the WH won’t have a target to shoot a missile at, and will look incompetent and ineffective. (like they need help)
So AlQaeda bombs US because we coddle with Israel but now Israel Intel isused by us to help AQ....
SOmething is wrong with these stories.
>> “SOmething is wrong with these stories” <<
.
That ‘something’ might be Mossad.
They are not loyal to Israel any more than the CIA is loyal to the US.
REALLY? The same intercepted calls that Obama uses domestically and the same intercepted calls whose content can be manipulated by any number of people?
Tell me we are not going to war on the basis of this-- that boots were on the ground and live human beings have made confirmed reports.
Someone needs to retrace where this information came from. This would be classified information. To say openly that we picked up phone intercepts only undermines our future capabilities.
In short, I don’t believe this for a minute. The marching orders sound too identical to not be totally scripted. CArney to the SOS to everyone. They’re saying it was undeniably Assad.
Don’t believe it. IF Assad did it, why would he deny it? Why would he gas not military targets? Were there any terrorists gassed?
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if intelligent people were running foreign policy instead of dummies?
Noinfringers, I too served in a war and received a medal. Unfortunately, it was much later than your service. I wouldn’t have had to serve and neither would you and your brother if WWI hadn’t been fought. It was a pointless war whose aftermath starved Germany into welcoming Hitler.
We got nothing from WWI but acres and acres of white crosses marking the burial spots of our young men.
Enter WWII.
Before this was over we gleefully gave half of Europe to the communist killer, Stalin who was Hitler’s ally for a time. Again, we gained nothing but allowed the USSR to get fat, we got nothing and that’s what caused the war in which I got involved!
It was the reason we became embroiled in Vietnam where we allowed the USSR to fight us by proxy.
The story could go on and on up to, and including, today.
I could not agree with you more. It was the first global bankster war.
I am not an isolationist, but we need a serious conversation about the strategic need to cover the entire world with American blood. Cui bono?
Bump.
I wholeheartedly agree — but it also makes sense that the Israelis would know what is going on. :’) Better to rely on Israeli intel than on Russian, Iranian, and Syrian agitprop as too many seem to do.
‘IDF intercepted Syrian regime chatter on chemical attack’
Times of Israel | By Adiv Sterman August 26, 2013, 6:05 pm
Posted on 08/26/2013 3:10:24 PM PDT by Perdogg
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3059054/posts
The Right Choice? - - The [paleo]conservative case for Barack Obama
The American Conservative | March 24, 2008 | Andrew J. Bacevich
Posted on 03/26/2008 2:51:50 PM PDT by TSchmereL
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1992096/posts
Wars have precedents and consequences. There is the actual military physical war, which I spoke to, and always the political machinations of wars.
Indeed. If the intercepted call was the general staff wondering just what the heck the local commander was doing, then a strike on the Syrian command-and-control systems is exactly the WRONG thing to do.
>>>But the intercept raises questions about culpability for the chemical massacre, even as it answers others: Was the attack on Aug. 21 the work of a Syrian officer overstepping his bounds? Or was the strike explicitly directed by senior members of the Assad regime? “It’s unclear where control lies,” one U.S. intelligence official told The Cable. “Is there just some sort of general blessing to use these things? Or are there explicit orders for each attack?”<<<
Al-Qaeda penetrated US military with Nidal Hassan. Do you really believe they couldn’t penetrate a Syrian Army to push their cause? It makes no sense for Assad to gas his own people.
Mossad “not loyal to Israel any more then the CIA is loyal to the US”
excellent point
When Assad had almost wiped out the opposition with support from Lebanese Hezbollah, he apparently wanted to reward Hezbollah and Hezbollah was launching attacks on Israel from Syria. Israel doesn't want that. The Al Qaeda "rebels" want to ultimately attack Israel, but right now Israel seems more concerned with not getting attacked by Hezbollah.
80-90% of Muslims are Sunni. The U.S. and Israel is taking the side of the 80-90% of Muslims who are Sunni against the 10-20% who are Shia by having so far supported an overthrow of Assad that the U.S. claims not to be supporting now.
Iran is at least predominantly Shia.
Saudis are predominantly Sunnis.
The Sunnis and Shia have been killing each other for a long time.
All this said, I agree with you that it makes no sense.
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