Reply With QuoteTurkey can try to establish a buffer zone if they wanted regardless of what Obama wanted, don't blame Obama for that. As for Romney, election talk is all it is.Originally Posted by kalerab
I share your assessment. But it's good to know that Hollande has positioned the French policy on this issue on a continuation line with the one of the precedent government.
Turkey can try to establish a buffer zone if they wanted regardless of what Obama wanted, don't blame Obama for that. As for Romney, election talk is all it is.
If later you change your mind, you'll find a compilation of all the information in the previous pages of the thread.
I was talking about this article
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArchiv...aspx?ID=378866
Going to need a couple of drinks and a smoke before I take the dive.
That article smells like BS to me. More like Turkey making excuses after talking so much at the beginning.
Nah.. id say 1940's more like it.
Government shells, proxy militia (with deniability... sorry "murky") clean up and execute civilians (including women and children) and close range.
This is what I heard on the satellite news and wanted to come here to see for myself, now that I'm here though it doesn't sound like such a good idea. I'll take your Gents word on the affair.
More amusing is certain lengths of handwaving from certain members :P
Meh, I REALLY think the resistance has to clarify their positions, and soon. They wont be getting help from us until we know Islamists are going to be nowhere near the levers of power. Its not like the Northern Alliance, which while it had unruly elements, was nonetheless well led by a man whose positions were well known, Ahmad Shah Massoud. The American people aren't going to accept another fiasco of Islamist takeover/hijacking of a freedomistic revolution.
As I would advise again, the resistance would do well to make a publicized effort to expel the Islamists in the ranks, denounce any Islamists who say they are part of the revolution, or even actively attack them. Not only would this make clear their intentions, it would also cripple any post-revolution effort to takeover like was done in Egypt and perhaps Tunisia. Furthermore, it will throw Russia's diplomatic position into complete disarray, since then they can't give any legitimacy to Assad's announcements that he is combating Islamist terrorism. Either they will have to reduce or stop their assistance to Assad, or flat out admit they are in Assad's camp and intend to keep him in power come hell or high water - a diplomatically untenable solution at this point.
Just a minor correction Icon,
Ahmad Shah Massoud never ran the Northern Alliance; He was a co-leader of Jamiat-e Islami with a beard named Rabbani - Who were part of the United Front - Which is turn was part of the Northern Alliance.
Isn´t Northen Alliance popular western nickname for United Front? Also as far as I am aware, there was no single, clear leader of UF - Massoud, Rabbani, Anwari or Qadir, they all run their own groups which allied themself because of the same enemy.
I could be wrong but I always considered the Northern Alliance a mish mash of ethnic and religous groups who made up the United Front? Maybe we're saying the same thing? I'm a bit tired so my apologies if so.
U.S. Hopes Houla Tragedy Changes Russia’s Stance on SyriaThe United States hopes the deadly tragedy in the Syrian town of Houla will change Russia’s position on the Syrian conflict, the State Department said on Tuesday.
“We are appreciative of the fact that the Russians are willing to have a full investigation, because we think it's undisputable what that investigation is going to show,” spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
“It's going to show that these were regime-sponsored thugs who went into villages, went into homes and killed children at point-blank range and their parents, and that they - responsibility goes right back to the [President Bashar] Assad regime,” Nuland told journalists.
“So you know, from that perspective, is this going to be a turning point in Russian thinking? We hope so,” she said.
Over 100 people, including dozens of children and women, were killed in Houla in Homs province, in the May 25-26 attack that was one of the deadliest single events since the uprising against Assad began in March 2011. The UN Security Council on Sunday condemned the massacre, which took place shortly before Tuesday’s visit to Syria by Annan.
Syrian opposition activists have blamed the Houla killings on pro-government fighters, an accusation flatly denied by the Syrian authorities, who say the tragedy was a terrorist plot aimed at undermining the regime.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Tuesday expressed deep concern over the recent massacre in Houla and called for an unbiased investigation of the tragedy. An objective and unbiased probe into all circumstances should be carried out under the auspices of the UN Supervision Mission in Syria, Lavrov told UN and Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan on the phone.
Lavrov also said both sides in Syria should give up violence to prevent any such incidents in the future and added that the task to implement Annan’s peace plan is becoming more urgent in the current circumstances. Annan said he hopes for further progress and thanked Russia for support of his efforts, the ministry said.
Over 10,000 people have been killed in clashes between the government and opposition forces in Syria since the start of the anti-Assad uprising, according to UN estimates.
Russia and China have twice vetoed UN Security Council resolutions over what Moscow called a pro-rebel bias since the start of the uprising against Assad, but have supported Annan’s peace plan.
The veto was meant to prevent the repetition of the “Libyan scenario.” In Libya, rebels ousted and killed long-standing dictator Muammar Gaddafi in October 2011 after a months-long military standoff in which they received assistance from NATO forces.
Moscow insists that both the government and “armed terrorist gangs” operating in Syria should be held responsible for the unrest.
I always called the NA the ultimate grouping of the anti-Taliban/Pakistan resistance...I suppose Northern Alliance because they were at their lowest holed up in the North. But yeah the whole group. And you're right Law, but de facto, from what I read, he was the leader of the Alliance. DEFINITLEY, he was the spirtual/recognized head...when they overthrew the Taliban, I dont think there was much doubt among Afghans that he was going to be the man to become President.
If only we had listened.
I still hope the Syrian resistance can iron out the kinks in time. Im still so mad the Sunnis have largely ignored building links with the Assyrians, Druze, Chaldeans, Kurds, etc...it will be their undoing.
UN points finger at pro-Syrian thugs in Houla massacre
UNITED NATIONS (AP) — The UN peacekeeping chief said Tuesday there are strong suspicions that pro-regime fighters were responsible for some of the 108 victims of a massacre in Syria, along with heavy weapons illegally fired by Syrian government forces.
Herve Ladsous told reporters he has seen no reason to believe that “third elements” — outside forces — were involved in one of the bloodiest single events in Syria’s 15-month-old uprising, though he did not rule it out, saying “we may learn more.”
The Syrian government has denied any responsibility for the massacre in Houla, blaming “armed terrorists.”
Ladsous strongly disagreed.
"I am certainly saying that because people — civilians, children — were dramatically killed by heavy weapons, I am saying for this, undoubtedly, the government of Syria is responsible,” he said.
Ladsous pointed the finger at pro-government militias known as shabiha as well. “There were strong suspicious that the shabihas were involved in this tragedy in Houla,” he said.
But he added, “I cannot say that we have absolute proof.”
Ladsous also pointed to the involvement of the shabiha in other attacks.
“There have been similarly very strong rumors in other places, in other instances of extreme violence, they were involved,” Ladsous said, without giving any examples.
“When you look at the situation from the ground,” he said, “you see a number, of course, military and security forces who are in uniform, but you see also a substantial number of people who are dressed in civilian clothes yet are heavily armed with machine guns and all that.”
CONTINUED: http://www.timesofisrael.com/un-poin...oula-massacre/
Posting Permissions
