Majority of Turks , Europe and U.S. against Syria intervention: Survey.

Majority of Turks against Syria intervention: Survey.(HD).

A majority of Turks disapprove of any potential military intervention in Syria, much like their European and American counterparts, a survey has revealed.

In Turkey, 72 percent of respondents to the Transatlantic Trends 2013 survey, which was conducted by the German Marshall Fund of the United States (GMF), said their country should stay out of Syria, up 15 percentage points from last year, while only 21 percent – down 11 percentage points – favored intervention.

The respondents were told that there had recently been discussion about intervening in Syria, where the government has been using military force to suppress an opposition movement. They were then asked whether their government should stay out completely or intervene.

Apart from Turkey, 11 European Union member states were surveyed: France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and the United Kingdom, as well as the United States. Polling was conducted between June 3 and June 27.

In the U.S., a two-thirds majority, 62 percent, up 7 percentage points from 2012, along with nearly three-fourths of respondents in Europe, 72 percent, up 13 percentage points from 2012, preferred to stay out.

Only one-in-three respondents in the United States, 30 percent, down 5 percentage points from 2012, and even fewer in Europe, 22 percent, down 10 percentage points from 2012, felt their countries ought to intervene in Syria.

In a separate question about recent developments in North Africa and the Middle East, respondents to the survey were asked to choose between two propositions: “stability is more important even if it means accepting non-democratic governments” and “democracy is more important even if it leads to a period of instability.” A majority in Europe, 58 percent, and a plurality in the United States, 47 percent, preferred democracy over stability.

A majority of Turkish respondents, 57 percent, preferred democracy in North Africa and the Middle East, 25 percent said they preferred stability, while 18 percent said they did not know or refused to answer.

Video - Beware of Naive interventionists.

Video - Beware of Naive interventionists.HT: SunNewsNetwork.

Michael Coren warns against western intervention in Syria and points to the real threat coming from Iran.

Video - Syrian Rebels firing gas cilinders, We shall now fire in to the Greek Hospital...with Allah's permission.

HT: InfidelBloggers.

Related and a MUST READ!

A Detailed Summary Of The Evidence On Munitions Linked To The August 21st Attacks

In all but the January 4th Daraya and August 2nd Homs video they are described as chemical munitions. In the case of the 3 videos from Adra on August 5th, they are linked directly to an attack that took place on the same day, with videos of the victims of the attack showing the same kinds of symptoms. I spoke to a doctor in Damascus who claims to have treated victims from both the August 21st attack and August 5th attack, and he claimed the symptoms where the same in both attacks.

The following video may also show the same munition being launched, from Qadam railway station in Damascus, currently under the control of Syrian government forces.

I've taken three close up frames of the munition in the video and pasted them side by side

Report: China Sends Warships to Coast of Syria.

Chinese ship Jinggangshan project

Report: China Sends Warships to Coast of Syria.(Telegrafist).Google Translate.

Despite the fact that the political decision to send warships, apparently, it was decided a long time, we know about it is just now from unofficial sources. Thus, the Chinese military blog that specializes in articles about military equipment the United States, Russia and China, said that several Chinese ships already close to the shores of Syria, citing its sources in the PLA.

The authors openly admit that the ships would not be in any way involved in a potential conflict, but only observe the actions of NATO and Russian ships.

What kind of ships were sent to the coast of Syria is unknown. Meanwhile, the social network Vkontakte citing a confidential source was reported that a Chinese ship Jinggangshan project was seen when passing the Red Sea toward the Suez Canal.

"2:00 this pepelats back among us in the direction of the Suez Canal. Board number 999. Speed ​​14 knots, judging therefore has specific instructions to be at some point. We are now in the Red Sea somewhere in the center, "- wrote the author.

By tail number is later found out that this is a Chinese amphibious assault ship dock Jinggangshan, which can carry on board a landing craft air cushion or other bulky loads.

Recall that, according to several sources in Syria might be Chinese counterparts S-300 systems. Meanwhile, this information officially confirmed no one, and the Chinese amphibious ships were seen in the ports of Syria.

In a related story, China today toughened its rhetoric on Syria, warning President Barack Obama that, “Military action would have a negative impact on the global economy, especially on the oil price – it will cause a hike in the oil price.”

The Global Times, a newspaper described by Foreign Policy Magazine as “hyper nationalistic” and an “angry Chinese government mouthpiece, also published an editorial yesterday which slammed Obama for failing to prove that last month’s chemical weapons attack was the work of the Syrian government, charging that Washington’s “geopolitical interests” in the region were behind the military build-up.

The editorial, which also complains of the total lack of media coverage in America concerning reports that Syrian rebels admitted responsibility for last month’s chemical weapons attack, accuses the White House of “ignoring logic as it beats war drums.”

Three Russian warships cross Bosphorus, en route to Syria.

The Priazovye

Three Russian warships cross Bosphorus, en route to Syria. (HD).

Three Russian warships crossed Turkey's Bosphorus Strait Thursday en route to the eastern Mediterranean, near the Syrian coast, amid concern in the region over potential US-led strikes in response to the Damascus regime's alleged use of chemical weapons.

The SSV-201 intelligence ship Priazovye, accompanied by the two landing ships Minsk and Novocherkassk passed through the Bosphorus known as the Istanbul strait that separates Asia from Europe, an AFP photographer reported. The Priazovye on Sunday started its voyage from its home port of Sevastopol in Ukraine "to the appointed region of military service in the eastern Mediterranean", a military official told the Interfax news agency. Russia, a key ally of Damascus, has kept a constant presence of around four warships in the eastern Mediterranean in the Syrian crisis, rotating them every few months.

It also has a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus whose origins date back to Moscow's close relationship with Damascus under the Soviet Union.

Moscow vehemently opposes the US-led plans for military action against the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in response to the chemical attack outside Damascus last month. Russian President Vladimir Putin warned on Wednesday that any US Congress approval for a military strike against Syria without UN consensus would represent an "aggression".

Khamenei: ""The U.S. makes a mistake with Syria, and both the U.S. and Western states will get hurt if they launch an attack on Syria,"

Khamenei: ""The U.S. makes a mistake with Syria, and both the U.S. and Western states will get hurt if they launch an attack on Syria," (Taz).

The policy of U.S. does not care about human lives, Iran's Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said at the meeting with members of country's Assembly of experts, Mehr news agency reported.

Khamenei was speaking about possible military actions from the U.S. on Syria.

"The U.S. makes a mistake with Syria, and both the U.S. and Western states will get hurt if they launch an attack on Syria," Khamenei said.

Some Western countries as well as Turkey have already supported intervention in Syria following another escalation of the situation there.

On August 21, media outlets reported a large scale deployment of chemical weapons near Damascus by Syrian Government Troops. Over 600 people were the victims of the attack.

Clashes between the government forces and armed opposition have been continuing in Syria for over two years.

According to UN statistics, the total number of victims of the conflict in Syria is more than 100,000 people. The Syrian authorities say they are opposed by well-armed militants.

Khamenei went on to note that while the Americans claim the human issues are important for them, it really isn't so.

Khamenei brought up examples of Guantanamo Bay, the Iraqi Abu Ghraib prison, and the chemical weapons used in Iraqi city of Halabja during the Iran-Iraq war.

"Any person in the world knows that the U.S. doesn't seek to solve human issue problems in Syria," Khamenei noted.

Israel offers to leave settlements, military bases intact in West Bank.

Israel offers to leave settlements, military bases intact in West Bank.(HD).

Israel has proposed leaving intact dozens of Jewish settlements and military bases in the West Bank as part of a package to establish a Palestinian state in provisional borders, a Palestinian official told The Associated Press on Sept. 4, in the first detailed glimpse at recently relaunched peace talks.

The official said the proposal is unacceptable to the Palestinians, underscoring the tough road ahead as the sides try to reach an agreement ending decades of conflict.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because Israel and the Palestinians have pledged to U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry not to discuss the content of their talks with the media, a pledge that has largely held up until now. For their future state, the Palestinians seek the West Bank, east Jerusalem and Gaza Strip, territories captured by Israel in the 1967 Mideast war.

With Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opposed to a return to the pre-1967 lines, the idea of a Palestinian state in temporary borders has gained appeal with the Israelis. Such a deal could give the Palestinians independence, while leaving the thorniest issues, such as the fate of Jerusalem and the status of millions of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, to later negotiations. The Palestinians reject any notion of a provisional agreement, fearing that a temporary arrangement that falls short of their dreams will become permanent.

The Palestinian official said formal talks on borders have not yet started, and that negotiations have focused on security matters. He said the Israelis want to retain control of the West Bank’s border with Jordan, keep early-warning stations on hilltops, and retain military bases near the Jordanian border.
“Israel is using the issue of security to take land,” he said. “From the general discussions we had in the last couple of weeks, the Israelis have shown no intention to dismantle any settlement.” He said the current proposals indicated that Israel would seek to retain control over about 40 percent of the West Bank.

“They said, ‘Let’s discuss a state with provisional borders.’ We said, ‘Let’s agree on a state based on the 1967 borders first, and then we can agree on having this state in phases.”

In the previous round of talks, conducted in 2008 under then-Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Israel offered to withdraw from roughly 94 percent of the West Bank, and compensate the Palestinians with the equivalent of 6 percent through a “land swap” that would allow Israel to keep major settlements. Olmert also proposed international administration of Jerusalem’s holy sites.

The official said the Palestinians have proposed resuming peace talks from the point they broke off. Netanyahu has said he is not obligated to accept Olmert’s proposals.

A senior Israeli official refused comment on the Israeli proposal, citing the commitment to keep the talks secret. Netanyahu’s office declined comment, citing the pledge not to discuss the negotiations in public. Likewise, there was no immediate U.S. comment.

In a statement released for the Jewish new year holiday that began Wednesday evening, Netanyahu said he hoped the talks would succeed.

“We seek to advance peace with the Palestinians while maintaining our security and ensuring that the peace will be a real and enduring peace. Not a ceremony, not an agreement that we celebrate for two minutes and then collapse,” the statement said. Yasser Abed Rabbo, a top aide to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, would not discuss the specifics of the talks. But speaking on the Voice of Palestine radio station, he said, “Until now, there are no signs of progress. The Israeli position has not changed. It’s the one that we know on the ground, through daily settlement expansion.”

Russia: Strike on Syria could mean nuke disaster.

Russia: Strike on Syria could mean nuke disaster.(HD).

Russia is warning that a U.S. strike on Syria's atomic facilities might result in a nuclear catastrophe and is urging the U.N. to present a risk analysis of such a scenario.

The warning comes from Russia's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Alexander Lukashevich. He said in a statement Wednesday that a strike on a miniature reactor near Damascus or other nuclear installations could contaminate the region with radioactivity, adding: "The consequences could be catastrophic."

IAEA spokeswoman Gill Tudor told the AP in an email Thursday that her agency is ready to "consider the questions raised" by Lukashevich if it receives a formal request to do so from Moscow.

Russia's Interfax news agency says that Moscow intends to bring up the issue at next week's 35-nation IAEA board meeting.

Iranian General: Iran to back Syria in case of US military aggression.

Iranian General: Iran to back Syria in case of US military aggression.HT: ItarTass.(GoogleTranslate).

CAIRO, September 5. (Itar-Tass). - Iran "would be supporting Syria till the end" in case of possible military aggression from a coalition lead by the US, as stated by General Qasem Soleimani, commander of Qods Force, Iranian elite special detachment forming part of Army of the Guardians of the Islamic Revolution.

"The US is not intending to defend human rights in Syria," he said quoted by Iran's Fars news agency. "They aim at destroying resistance power (against Israel)."

The General noted that Washington uses not only political leverage, but special tactics including sending of Al-Qaeda militants to Syria, in order to overthrow President Bashar Assad. Soleimani expressed confidence that "the last excuse invented by the White House to justify the attack on Syria will not lead to a result desired by the US". The Iranian officer said that "95% of Syrian opposition militants are foreigners, and the rest is represented by military absentees from the Syrian army and by local Islamists". However, Iran's Defense Minister Hossein Dehghan excluded the possibility of Iranian army's direct participation in the possible military conflict in Syria. "Syria has its own air defense system," he said.

Wednesday, September 4, Iran's President Hassan Rouhani stated that any aggression against Syria "will not only negatively impact the situation in the region, but will also affect US allies in the Middle East". "Proceeding from its religious and humanitarian commitments Iran will work on helping the Syrian nation in case any problem emerges," he stressed.

Video - Putin: "Kerry lies. And he knows that he lies. This is sad,"

Video - Putin: "Kerry lies. And he knows that he lies. This is sad,"HT: RT.

Russia needs convincing proof, not rumors, from UN experts that chemical weapons were used in Syria, said the Russian president in an interview with First Channel and AP. It is up to the UN Security Council to decide on the next course of action, he said.

Speaking to journalists from Russia’s state Channel 1 television and Associated Press, Russian President Vladimir Putin made a number of decisive statements regarding the supposed use of chemical weapons in the Syrian conflict, which evoked a threat of a US-led strike on Syria.

“We believe that at the very least we should wait for the results of the UN inspection commission in Syria,” Putin said, adding that so far there is no information about what chemical agent exactly was used in the attack in Damascus’ suburbs and who did it.

“I’ve already said I find it absolutely ridiculous that [Syrian] government’s armed forces, which today are actually on an offense mission and in some regions have already encircled the so-called rebels and are finishing them off, that the Syrian army has used prohibited chemical weapons,” Putin said.

“They know all too well that this could become a cause for sanctions and even for a military operation against them. That’s stupid and illogical.”

“We proceed from the assumption that if anyone has information that chemical weapons were used by the Syrian regular army, then such proof must be presented to the UN Security Council and the UN inspectors,” Putin said, stressing that the proof must be “convincing” and not based on “rumors” or any sort of “eavesdropped intelligence data,” conversations etc.

“Even in the US there are experts who question the reliability of the facts presented by the administration. These experts do not exclude the possibility that the Syrian opposition has conducted a pre-planned provocation in order to give their sponsors a reason for military intervention,” he acknowledged.

Putin later leveled criticism at US Secretary of State John Kerry as he spoke to human rights activists on Wednesday, saying Kerry “lied” by claiming there was no Al-Qaeda militants fighting in Syria and that the military strike against President Assad will not boost the terrorist network’s presence in the region.

“They lie, plainly. I watched the Congressional debate. A congressman asked Mr. Kerry: “Is there any Al-Qaeda [in Syria]? There are reports they have been growing stronger.” He [Kerry] replied: “No. I say with all responsibility: there is no [Al-Qaeda] there,” Putin explained.

The Russian President then said the Al-Nusra Front terrorist organization, which pledged allegiance to Al-Qaeda, has been at the forefront of the rebel groups fighting Assad’s forces, and that the US is well aware of that.

“Well, he [Kerry] lies. And he knows that he lies. This is sad,” Putin remarked.

Speaking of Kerry’s confidence in that Assad’s forces used chemical weapons, Putin recalled former US Secretary of State Colin Powell’s rhetoric on the eve of American invasion in Iraq.

Powell even brandished some test tube with a white powder as he attempted to persuade the international community that Iraq has chemical weapons, Putin said, stressing that it later turned out that “all these arguments did not hold water.”

Putin says he “does not exclude” that Russia may agree with a military operation if it is proved that the Syrian government is behind the attack, however he emphasized that in accordance with international law a decision of the UN Security Council is needed for that.

“All other reasons and means that excuse using military force against an independent sovereign state are unacceptable and cannot be classified otherwise but as an aggression,” Putin noted.

“We would be convinced by a detailed investigation and direct evidence of who exactly used chemical weapons and what substances were used. Then we’ll be ready to take decisive and serious action,” said the president.

Answering a question about video records of dead children that allegedly died in the chemical attack in Damascus, Vladimir Putin called the material with dead children “horrible”.

“The questions are what exactly was done and who is to blame. This video does not answer these questions,” Putin said, sharing an opinion that this video is a compilation made by the militants who – even the US acknowledges – have links with Al-Qaeda and are notorious for extreme atrocities.

Putin recommended to pay attention to the fact that in the video with dead children there are no parents, children’s relatives or even medical personnel, while people who do appear in the video remain unidentified. However terrible the picture could be, it cannot be proof of anybody’s guilt, Putin said, and called for investigation of the incident.

Russia is fulfilling arms contracts with Syria “because we believe that we are working with the legitimate government and we are violating neither international law, nor our obligations,” assured Putin, stressing that the UN had imposed no sanctions on the export of weapons to Syria.

He confirmed that Moscow has a signed contract with Damascus to deliver S-300 air defense missile complexes to Syria. The S-300 system is kind of outdated, said Putin, “though they might be a little better than Patriot missiles.”

Russia already has deployed S-400 and forthcoming S-500 systems, “[and] these are all certainly very efficient weapons,” Putin noted.

“We have a contract to supply S300 missiles, and we’ve already supplied some parts, but not all of it, because we decided to suspend the supplies for a while. But if we see international law being violated, we will reconsider our future actions, including supplies of such sensitive weapons to certain regions of the world,” he promised.

Hmmm....Obama: "And by the way, Iran doesn’t deny it. Even Syria doesn’t actually deny that they were used. And that is what the U.N. investigators are supposed to be determining. And frankly, nobody’s really disputing that chemical weapons were used. The only remaining dispute is who used them -- which is outside the parameters of the U.N. investigation. So the U.N. investigation will not be able to answer that preliminarily. They’re not supposed to.

The Pentagon estimates it will take 75,000 “boots on the ground” in Syria to secure the chemical weapons.

The Pentagon estimates it will take 75,000 “boots on the ground” in Syria to secure the chemical weapons.HT: AmericanWatchtower.

Regardless of what Barack Obama is saying he, and not the world or humanity, drew a red line in the sand regarding the use of chemical weapons in Syria. Now that either the Syrian government, or the al-Qaeda rebels we are about to support, used chemical weapons Barack Obama is seeking authorization from the Congress to conduct military operations in the war-torn country.

  The president is assuring the Congress, and the American people, that this will be a limited strike and will include no boots on the ground in Syria, however when John Kerry was pressed on this he hedged his bets:

It would be preferable not to, not because there is any intention or any plan or any desire whatsoever to have boots on the ground,” Kerry said.

“But, in the event that Syria imploded, or in the event there was a threat of a chemical weapons cache falling into the hands of” someone who should not have chemical weapons, “then clearly in the interest of our allies … to prevent those weapons of mass destruction falling into the hands of the worst elements,” Kerry said later. “I don’t want to take that off the table an option that might or might not be available to the president of the United States

  When pressed even further John Kerry stated that “there will not be American boots on the ground with respect to the civil war.”  That statement does leave the issue open-ended, doesn’t it? While the United States will not put boots on the ground to interfere with the Syrian civil war it leaves the possibility open that we would actually put boots on the ground for some other issue related to Syria, but for what purpose would that be?

  We may now know the answer to that question.

    Let me ask you a couple of questions: What good does it do to simply send a message to Syria that chemical weapons are not to be used if we leave these weapons in the hands of whichever group comes to power if and when this war ever ends? Shouldn’t the action taken by the United States also include the securing of these weapons if we really want to ensure they are not used again?

  According to this story the Pentagon has already considered this action and is estimating that it will take 75,000 boots on the ground to secure the chemical weapons.

  In addition, it appears as if the resolution now being debated in the Congress might actually allow the United States to put these boots on the ground in spite of what the president, and Congressional leaders, are saying.

Meanwhile, the draft text of the resolution authorizing President Barack Obama to use force in Syria that is being taken up by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee today prohibits the president from putting ground troops in Syria “for the purpose of combat operations”–but appears to leave open the possibility that the president could put troops in Syria to secure chemical weapons.

“The authority granted in section 2 does not authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces on the ground in Syria for the purpose of combat operations,” says the text of the draft resolution.

However, Section 2 of the resolution gives the president the authority to use the Armed Forces in Syria “as he determines necessary and appropriate” for a limited set of purposes, including “to protect our allies and partners against the use of” weapons of mass destruction.

  So yes, in spite of what we are being told, it does appear as if the Obama regime, and its willing accomplices in the Congress, are prepared to escalate our involvement in this war far above what we are being led to believe.

NYPD & DOD Working On Portable X-Ray Machine To Scan Citizens Walking Around The City