Posted on 08/27/2013 1:46:31 PM PDT by Tailgunner Joe
BRUSSELS - Germany has indicated it will not take part in any military strike on Syria, as France and the UK signal readiness to join a US-led intervention.
Philipp Missfelder, the foreign affairs spokesman for German Chancellor Angela Merkel's CDU party, said in the Leipziger Volkszeitung daily on Tuesday (27 August) that: "The [German] army has, through its current international operations, already reached the breaking point."
He added that a Western strike could create a "spiral of escalating violence" by drawing Iran and the Lebanese militant group, Hezbollah, deeper into the conflict.
He also said military action without a UN mandate is "hard to imagine."
Despite Missfelder's statement, Merkel in recent days joined British and French leaders in giving credence to reports the Syrian regime has used chemical weapons to kill hundreds of people on the outskirts of Damascus.
A statement by British Prime Minister David Cameron's office noted that Cameron and Merkel spoke by phone on Sunday.
"They agreed that this was a very grave incident and that there was little doubt that it had been carried out by the regime," it said.
"They agreed that such an attack demanded a firm response from the international community," it added.
France on Monday also used strong words.
"The only option that I am ruling out is to do nothing," French foreign minister Laurent Fabius said on Europe 1 radio.
The toughest language came from Washington on Monday evening, however.
US secretary of state John Kerry told media in the US capital: "The indiscriminate slaughter of civilians, the killing of women and children and innocent bystanders, by chemical weapons is a moral obscenity."
He added: "There must be accountability for those who would use the world's most heinous weapons against the world's most vulnerable people."
The US also cancelled a meeting with Russia, due in The Hague on Wednesday, designed to re-launch peace talks between Syrian rebels and Syrian authorities.
If the US and some EU countries do strike Syria's chemical weapons depots, elite brigades or air force, the move risks further alienating Moscow.
Cameron's office said he also spoke with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday, but "the Russian President said Moscow had no evidence as to whether such an attack had taken place or who was responsible."
Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday spelled out his country's point of view.
“We are especially concerned to hear talk coming from London and Paris suggesting that Nato could take the lead in bombing in Syria without Security Council approval. This is a very slippery slope," he told Russian press.
"Any military action without [UN] Security Council approval would be a crude violation of international law," he noted.
Asked what Russia would do if a Nato-linked coalition does strike its Middle East ally, Lavrov added that Moscow is "not planning to go to war with anyone," however.
A UN chemical weapons inspection team arrived on the site of the alleged attack on Monday, with any Western action unlikely to come before it files its report.
A former French airforce chief, Jean Rannou, told EUobserver in a previous interview a military strike would most likely be launched from the UK's military base in Cyprus.
He noted there is a risk that Syria's Russian-made SA-17 missiles could shoot down a handful of Nato planes.
But he added: "I don't see any purely military problems. Syria has no defence against Western systems."
Some defence analysts have also voiced concerns about asymmetric threats.
EU countries have troops in UN peacekeeping missions in Lebanon and Syria, which could become targets.
Rainer Wendt, the head of Germany's police trade union, also told press on Monday that Syria could react with terrorist attacks in EU countries, including Germany, whether or not it takes part in an attack.
IF Syria were harming Israel or the US, I’d be behind it.....as of now....NO FREAKING WAY!!!!
A beacon of sanity from Europe.
It looks as though we’re in for another war-of-choice for a better, more unified and fair world. It worked out so well in Libya.
NSA recording:
Hello, Germany...yeah, ah, is she available for me, Obama, ruler of world.
Auctung, no, she is having a manicure.
Ah, this is important I talk with her.
Auctung, when she is done, she says she will call you back after she figures out her cable bill and decides what wine to have with dinner.
Ah, but my plan for action in Syria is ah, well, important now.
Auctung, in that case, don’t expect a call back she says...click buzz.
Assad helped kill our soldiers in Iraq, so I say, DEATH TO ASSAD!
Obama is a fool. He does nothing on hundreds of other incidents that normally require a response. Then steps into crap on purpose. We need to stay out of this mess, else the crap hits the fan.
How about anti-ship missiles, not to mention a Russian torpedo, if Russia wants to really make a point.
I'd say things worked out pretty well.
So, we helped the rebels get chemical weapons and Benghazi was a trading post. The WMD’s probably came from Saddam Hussein.
We told the rebels to kill a bunch of innocents right when the UN inspectors showed up and to blame the Syrian government. That “crossed the red line” and allowed BHO to strike Assad, thus helping the rebels to take over Syria.
The stuff in Egypt is off-script.
Am I getting this right?
Russia’s weapons are garbage, and Putin will do exactly what he did when when toppled his terrorist ally Saddam Hussein, NOT A DAMN THING!
Then WHY didn’t the WARMONGER, BUSH, go after ASSAD??? There is WAY MORE to this story than what is being told....WAY MORE!!
“The muslim terrorist Kaddafy finally paid the price for murdering dozens of Americans on Pan Am 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.
I’d say things worked out pretty well. “
All things considered, Kaddafi was a pretty tame guy who kept the lid on his corner of craziness. We don’t know what’s going on there now, as it’s been thoroughly blocked by the MSM to avoid embarrassing Obama further. But you can be assured that whatever it is, it will leak out and potentially do much more damage than one old and toothless lion.
It’s nice to know that 91% of the American people agree with Europe’s most successful leader, Angela Merkel of Germany, that the west should not attack Syria with missiles.
What would the outcome of such attacks be except more civilian casualties on top of the ones caused by the chemical-weapons that we’re supposed be hysterically angry about?
strange times.
What part of “following France into war” does not sound like a bad idea?
The POS does not have an honest bone in his body.
Yeah we should never do anything without getting permission first from the UN, the Kremlin, Red China and the Ayatollah.
Assad harbored al-qaeda to help them kill American soldiers in Iraq and now his terrorist evil has blown back right in his face!
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