Syrian Revolution Expanding Into a Regional Conflict

Discussion in 'General Discussion' started by tulianr, Oct 28, 2012.


  1. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    I wonder if those Flat Screens and XBoxes can be had for Food Stamps.... or maybe Food Stamps traded for cash at $.50 on the Dollar....
     
  2. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    I believe that they might be. Many of the restrictions that were on food stamps have been lifted, it isn't only food that can be bought in grocery stores. Also, in many areas, plastic is issued rather than subject a customer to the indignity of handling stamps, just swipe the card and no one knows what kind of card it is. I don't know if those cards would be accepted by Macy's for a raccoon coat, but would not be surprised. After all, why should be families on assistance be deprived of what the Joneses have?
     
  3. oldawg

    oldawg Monkey+++

    Traded for crack at greatly reduced rates in the city close to us here.
     
  4. kellory

    kellory An unemployed Jester, is nobody's fool. Banned

    In my area, they use what look like checks, that have to be filled out, signed, countersigned, dabbed with chicken guts, held to the four winds, buried by the light of the full moon ect, per each one before the line can advance one cart forward. And their smokes, booze, and extras, get dug out of the pile to be rung up separately. Where can they get the cards? It would knock an hour off waiting in line sometimes.[booze]
     
  5. oldawg

    oldawg Monkey+++

    Texas for one and it don't make the line move any faster since the bi-lingual checker called in sick today.
     
  6. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    Israel conducts rare airstrike on Syria

    EXCERPTS:
    BEIRUT (AP) — Israel conducted a rare airstrike on a military target inside Syria near the border with Lebanon, foreign officials and Syrian state TV said Wednesday, amid fears President Bashar Assad's regime could provide powerful weapons to the Islamic militant group Hezbollah.

    Regional security officials said Israel had been planning in the days leading up to the airstrike to hit a shipment of weapons bound for Hezbollah, Lebanon's most powerful military force and a sworn enemy of the Jewish state. Among Israeli officials' chief fears is that Assad will pass chemical weapons or sophisticated anti-aircraft missiles to Hezbollah — something that could change the balance of power in the region and greatly hinder Israel's ability to conduct air sorties in Lebanon.
    ......

    The Syrian military confirmed the strike in a statement read aloud on state TV, but it said the jets bombed a military research center in the area of Jamraya, northwest of the capital, Damascus, and about 15 kilometers (10 miles) from the border with Lebanon.
    ......

    The airstrike was the first inside Syria in more than five years. In September 2007, Israeli warplanes destroyed a site in Syria that the U.N. nuclear watchdog deemed likely to be a secretly built nuclear reactor. Syria has denied the claim, saying the building was a non-nuclear military site.
    ......

    Regional security officials say Israel conducted airstrike inside Syria overnight
     
  7. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    200 US Troops to Jordan Could Jump to 20,000

    Apr 18, 2013

    The Pentagon will send some 200 U.S. soldiers to Jordan to control spillover violence from the Syrian civil war, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel told the Senate.

    But the troops, near Jordan's border with Syria, could be the forerunner of 20,000 or more U.S. troops deployed if the Obama administration decides to intervene in the 2-year-old civil war, senior U.S. officials told the Los Angeles Times.

    The 200 or so troops from the 1st Armored Division at Fort Bliss, Texas, will work alongside Jordanian forces to "improve readiness and prepare for a number of scenarios," Hagel told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

    Those scenarios could include securing chemical weapons arsenals or to prevent the war from spilling into neighboring countries, he said.

    But the Pentagon has drawn up plans to possibly expand the force to 20,000 or more, the officials told the Times.

    These forces could include special operations teams to find and secure Syrian chemical weapons stockpiles, U.S. air defense units to protect Jordan's airspace and conventional military units capable of moving into Syria if necessary, the Times said.

    Defense Department officials consider the move as preparing the United States for possible direct military involvement in Syria, the Times said.

    The Pentagon had no immediate comment on the report.

    "Military intervention is always an option, but it should be an option of last resort," Hagel told the committee.

    He warned a major deployment could "embroil the U.S. in a significant, lengthy and uncertain military commitment."

    Hagel told the panel the new forces will initially help deliver humanitarian supplies and help the Jordanian military cope with the flood of Syrian refugees.

    The will replace an ad hoc group of U.S. troops "pulled from various units and places" who have been in Jordan since last year, he said. That group included U.S. Army Special Forces, also known as Green Berets.

    Committee Chairman Carl Levin, D-Mich., asked Hagel and Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey, who testified with him, if Obama had asked the Pentagon to recommend how to apply "any additional military pressure" on the Syrian regime of President Bashar Assad.

    "We've had national security staff meetings at which we've been asked to brief the options, but we haven't been asked for a recommendation," Dempsey said.

    "We've not been asked," Hagel said. "As I said, I've not been asked by the president."

    Hagel is to be in Jordan next week as part of a Middle East trip that will also take him to Israel, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates, the Pentagon said Wednesday.
     
  8. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    You guys actually think this stuff is real, don't you? [grlft] That's cute.

    Just imagine an action based major motion picture in development, only people really die. That's reality. They care nothing --I repeat, nothing about how many bottom feeders are killed in their quest for global control. The corporate cartels (which include governments) care nothing about the economic stability of the United States, because it's entirely owned by private interests who can continue to raise interest rates and expand the debt as long as it pleases them, and if it all bursts, just slap a new label on the next currency and pick up where they left off. It's all theirs, it's nearly ALWAYS been theirs. They have unlimited funding, no accountability, and count on the corporate media to push their campaign. It's freaking bulletproof.

    So, if you're thinking for one minute that this stuff "just happens", and that we are "going after the bad guys", think again. Instead, think fiction. Think puppet show. Then, think about why the damn audience has to die for real.
     
  9. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    You give the PTB way more credit than do I, if you think that they could orchestrate anything more complex than a bowel movement. I don't think that there is a group of three really evil geniuses pulling all the strings. I believe there is a group of three thousand self-absorbed morons who are hopelessly entangled in the strings of their own making. I think I'd actually be relieved to find out that there was some ultimate plan. Any plan would be better than wandering deeper into the swamp, which is what I think our morons are doing.
     
    chelloveck, ghrit and HK_User like this.
  10. Brokor

    Brokor Live Free or Cry Moderator Site Supporter+++ Founding Member

    Yeah, I know where you are coming from. I would probably share your perspective if I hadn't been so engrossed in secret societies most of my adult life. Not much on the global stage actually happens that isn't controlled in some manner by the same cabal.

    "Competition is a sin" --John D. Rockefeller
     
  11. HK_User

    HK_User A Productive Monkey is a Happy Monkey


    Easy to see what card is used. They will buy tons of junk food, cokes etc. but no real staples like rice, beans or flour. OTOH you can often tell when two people each empty part of a shopping cart. First person purchases restricted items with cash, the second person uses the card to putchase STEAK.

    Just watch, you'll soon catch on.
     
  12. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    Britain, France: Syria Used Chemical Weapons
    Posted Apr 18, 2013 6:16 PM CDT

    (Newser) – Syria's Bashar al-Assad has indeed defied repeated US warnings not to use chemical weapons, say France and Britain. The two nations told the UN they have evidence that Syrian troops used nerve agents more than once in Aleppo, Homs, and maybe even Damascus, reports the Washington Post. Investigators drew the evidence in part from from soil samples and witness interviews.

    The European nations are pushing the UN to launch a wide investigation of its own into whether Assad has used such weapons, particularly during a widely publicized incident in Aleppo in March. Syria maintains that its troops got hit with a nerve agent, though Britain and France have concluded that if so, it was a case of one of Syria's own missiles going awry. The UN is trying to organize an investigation, but the issue has stalled over how big its scope should be. Syria, with the backing of Russia, says it will allow only a narrow one that focuses solely on the Aleppo incident.
     
  13. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    FSA says Israeli jets hit chemical site

    Published: April 28, 2013 at 9:50 PM
    DAMASCUS, Syria, April 28 (UPI) -- The Free Syrian Army says Israeli air force jets flew over President Bashar Assad's palace and bombed a chemical weapons site near Damascus, Maariv reported.

    The report said Israeli jets entered Syrian airspace close to 6 a.m Saturday and flew over Assad's palace in Damascus and other security facilities before striking a chemical weapons compound near the city.

    The Hebrew language daily said a Syrian army air defense battery positioned in the city fired at the Israeli jets, but the aircraft left Syrian airspace unscathed. FSA rebels posted a video showing smoke rising from the headquarters for chemical weapons.

    There were no reports of the extent of damage or casualties.

    Neither Damascus nor Jerusalem responded to the report.

    In January, foreign media reported Israeli jets bombed a weapons convoy parked outside a military research institute near Damascus allegedly en route to Hezbollah in southern Lebanon.

    The Syrian Network for Human Rights said it documented 88 deaths due to violence across Syria Sunday, including 12 children, eight women, five torture victims and 35 armed rebels.

    The organization said 23 of the deaths occurred in Aleppo, 16 in and around Damascus, 13 in Idlib, 12 in Hama, 10 in Homs and nine in Daraa.

    Read more: http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2013/04/28/FSA-says-Israeli-jets-hit-chemical-site/UPI-90151367153367/#ixzz2RvRa117L
     
  14. BTPost

    BTPost Stumpy Old Fart,Deadman Walking, Snow Monkey Moderator

    Can't say that I blame the Israeli's for that Air Strike..... In fact I bet everyone on the Rebel side is happy to have that place bombed, and out of play.....
     
    chelloveck and tulianr like this.
  15. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    (These folks could teach us something about what happens when a society disintegrates.)

    Neighbors in Lebanese city fight Syrian proxy war
    d3a273c6bfd50711330f6a7067002189.

    EXCERPTS:
    TRIPOLI, Lebanon (AP) — In a rundown district of Lebanon's second largest city, residents have adapted to waging war with their neighbors.

    Whenever violence breaks out, they string large cloths across intersections to block snipers' view, sleep in hallways to take cover from mortar shells and abandon apartments close to the front line.

    The sectarian fighting between the two neighborhoods stretches back four decades to Lebanon's civil war. But it has become more frequent and increasingly lethal since the start of the Syrian conflict in 2011. The two districts support opposite sides.

    The latest round between Bab Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen over the past week has been the bloodiest yet, leaving at least 28 dead and more than 200 wounded.

    Bab Tabbaneh is mostly Sunni, while Jabal Mohsen is home to most of Tripoli's Alawites, followers of an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
    ........

    Lebanon, a fragile patchwork of more than a dozen religious and ethnic groups, has withstood many sectarian flare-ups since its 15-year civil war ended in 1990.

    But there are signs the spillover from the Syria conflict is getting more serious. In addition to the Tripoli fighting, gunmen from rival religious sects are increasingly engaged on opposite sides in Syria.
    .........

    In Syria, Shiite-dominated Iran and Hezbollah have lined up behind Assad, an Alawite, while Sunni states like Saudi Arabia support the rebels.

    In Bab Tabbaneh, many say they are caught in the same kind of proxy war between the region's Sunni and Shiite powers.

    "Their problems are being played out here," Bab Tabbaneh resident Mohammed Bukhari, 53, said.

    Bukhari's second-floor apartment faces Jabal Mohsen, just a few dozen meters (yards) away. On May 19, when fighting broke out again, Bukhari moved with his wife, five children and two grandchildren into an empty apartment facing away from Jabal Mohsen.

    "My own apartment is very dangerous," he said, pointing to bullet holes in a wooden cabinet and an interior door.

    Many leave for safer areas during the fighting.

    Those who remain behind try to cope. They've strung large sheets of tarpaulin across streets that are otherwise exposed to snipers from Jabal Mohsen, blocking their aim.

    One family, near the Bukharis, climbs out a second-floor back window and down a ladder to reach the street because the front entrance faces the front line.
    ........

    Their current battle coincides with an offensive by Syrian troops and Hezbollah on Qusair, a predominantly Sunni town in western Syria.

    The fighters offered a range of reasons for shooting at their neighbors, from defending their district to taking revenge for previous bloodshed or letting off steam against Assad and Hezbollah. But beyond inflicting as much pain as possible on the other side, there seemed to be no clear objective to the fighting.
    ........

    In Bab Tabbaneh, some said they can empathize with those on the other side.
    "They also have children," 45-year-old Bab Tabbaneh housewife Sahar Ashrafiyeh said of the Alawites. Bullets have hit her balcony and bedroom wall, and her exposed kitchen has made it hard for her to cook for her family of nine.
    .........
    Neighbors in Lebanese city fight Syrian proxy war - Yahoo! News
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  16. HK_User

    HK_User A Productive Monkey is a Happy Monkey

    Soon to be a part of the London/UK Tourist Attractions.
     
  17. ghrit

    ghrit Bad company Administrator Founding Member

    I am still appalled at the tribalism that seems to move into the cities when urbanization happens.
     
  18. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    Let slip the fragile security apparatus control that exists in many European countries, due to continually worsening economic situations, and we could see similar scenes play out in a lot of places.

    The sides of the conflicts will be different, perhaps Muslims vs Christians, Immigrants vs Nationalists, or the Haves vs the Have-nots, or in some European countries perhaps it will be a renewal of the Communists vs Non-Communist struggle; but the openings are definitely there for some sort of organized violence.
     
    chelloveck likes this.
  19. HK_User

    HK_User A Productive Monkey is a Happy Monkey

    Tribalism has been with us and will most likely always be with us. I remember the phrase "OKIE" being used in Cali, back when I joined Uncle Sam's forces. This was voiced against anyone thay considered below themselves by 3rd generation Calis that may have been descendants of the the real "OKIES" aka dust bowl farmers. Those who had to move or die and ended up being abused in Cali, AZ and other places. Sounds a lot like what we see now.

    Further back is the Anglo Saxons aka Germanic Tribes that settled into that island we now know as Engalnd and later fought against their half brothers, the Germans of 1918 and 1945.

    Seems people just love to hate.

    BTW, a Cali that at first called me an OKIE, and hell I didn't even know what a Okie was I just knew I was being insulted and tested, is still my best friend, that of course after the fight. Sometimes you have to fight to prove a point or keep your honor intact.

    YMMV
     
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  20. tulianr

    tulianr Don Quixote de la Monkey

    It's particularly bad in Lebanon, because the place is such a stew of different religious beliefs, ethnic backgrounds, and political beliefs. When you add in actual "tribal" loyalties, everyone can find a good reason to shoot at his neighbor.

    What made me shake my head while reading this article is how so little has changed since I was over there in the early eighties. Most of the militia fighters that I had the opportunity to interact with seemed to have a similar attitude toward fighting as our Native American tribes. They fought for a variety of reasons, but actually accomplishing a military objective was not one of them. They fought for "honor," they fought to send a message to the opposition, they fought out of boredom, but they rarely sought to actually eliminate an enemy, or to gain a permanent strategic advantage.
     
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