A Mediterranean Battlefield - Syria

[Bill Kelly]

According to reports from the field, Assad's army has adopted a policy of terror against civilians by attacking entire neighborhoods rather than targeting the Free Syrian Army, including the sniper attacks on children in an attempt to build psychological resentment against the revolution. Rather than give up power and allow the Syrian people to decide their own future, as the UN peace treaty would have allowed, he would oversee the complete destruction of his country -with nearly 30,000 killed so far.

The psychological craving for power has previously been exhibited by Gadhafi and other dictators who have experienced what it is like to maintain complete control over a country.

Any remaining support for Assad must be eroded by the desire to end the bloodshed and begin a new era, whatever that may be.

It may be unlikely that Syria will emerge as one country with the same borders, as the Kurds in Syria are much like the Berbers of Libya, a tribal nation whose ethnic group extends through more than one country.

The Kurds control territory in large parts of remote Turnkey, Syria and Iran, and could use the turmoil in Syria to form their own independent nation.

In Libya, the Berbers/Amazingh, lived in North Africa for centuries before the Arabs arrived in the 7th century. They lived side by side with Jews, who were also in Tripoli before the Arabs conquered the region and imposed Islamic law.

While Assad was a secularist, who allowed Christians to practice their religion in the old Syria, Gadhafi suppressed the Amazingh, who were supported with covert arms deliveries by the French and were the first to break out and liberate the coastal towns, including Tripoli. Libyan Jews fought with them, but since the success of the revolution their, Jews were prevented from restoring the Tripoli synagogue and the Amazinghs were not included among the first National Transitional Council even though they were the most prolific force in the revolution and captured and didn't kill Saif Gadhafi.

Like the Kurds in Syira, the Amazinghs could form a new country in the lands they control in Libya, Morocco and Algeria. They appear to have a civil society that is older, more civil and open than the Arabs, whose mentality they question.

Revolutionary Program: Amazingh Martyrs vs. Arab Mentality

[Adele Edisen]

Putin said:

"That was the case during the war in Afghanistan," he added. "At that time, our present partners supported a rebel movement there and basically gave rise to Al Qaeda, which later backfired on the United States itself."

He is referring to the time in the late 1970s when the Soviet-friendly government of Afghanistan was under attack by Afghani rebels and Soviet troops were sent into Afghanistan to help protect the government. Quite soon Zbigniew Brzezinski, National Security Advisor to US President Jimmy Carter, whose agenda was to destroy the USSR, saw an opportunity to use this situation to draw in the Soviets and deplete them in a costly war for his purposes. Osama bin Laden was used by the US to train and develop the rebel soldiers and Al Qaeda was born, and the US was surreptitiously involved in the processs of supplying arms and training in military tactics to bring down the Afghani government. The Soviet soldiers spent ten years in fighting in Afghanistan and withdrew eventually in defeat; it was their Vietnam. Brzezinski boasted of his victory to a French news magazine which has been circulated online. An American movie, "Charlie Wilson's War," was made of our involvement in the early days of Al Qaeda, depicting the Texas congressman, as spokesman in Congress for soliciting monies to keep arming the Afghani rebels. The Afghan government was then replaced by the Taliban, and Osama bin Laden kept his headquarters for Al Qaeda in Afhanistan. American troops were sent to Afghanistan to fight at the beginning of the first presidential term of George W. Bush, and Osama bin Laden became our enemy. Even though the FBI had no evidence that he had been responsible for the World Trade Center bombings, as stated in their Wanted Posters offering a reward for the capture of Osama bin Laden, his Al Qaeda was linked to two US embassy bombings in Africa, and to the bombing of the ship USS Cole in Yemen.

Putin is warning the West to not repeat the mistakes of the past.

Adele

(Just to make my point - AE)

Mon, September 10, 2012 6:08:48 AMChossudovsky: 9/11
Mastermind Osama bin Laden: America's Anti-Soviet "Peace Warrior"
From: Global Research E-Newsletter <crgeditor@yahoo.com>


9/11 Mastermind Osama bin Laden: America's Anti-Soviet "Peace Warrior" and CIA "Intelligence Asset"
By Prof Michel Chossudovsky
Global Research, September 08, 2012

Url of this article: (Please click to see illustration of newapaper headline - AE)
http://www.globalresearch.ca/osama-bin-l...e-warrior/

"On September 11, 2012, let us not only renew our efforts to expose the truth, but also take our awareness a step further to understand that the wars launched since that fateful autumn day in 2001 - in the bitterly ironic name of "justice" and supposedly to combat "terrorism" - continue to take lives of people across the world. These wars are based on lies and their costs are staggering."

The eleventh commemoration anniversary of 9/11 brings to the forefront the issue of 911 truth. The official story is that Al Qaeda, with the complicity of the Taliban government was behind the 9/11 attacks.


Both George W Bush and Barack Obama claim that the late Osama bin Laden was the architect of 9/11, responsible for overseeing the 9/11 hijackers.


And that is why, we are told, that America is waging a "Global War on Terrorism" (GWOT) under the Pentagon's doctrine of "preemptive warfare".

The Global War on Terrorism not only targets "non-State" terrorist entities including Al Qaeda, it is also directed against alleged "state sponsors" of terrorism. In this regard, several Western countries including the US, Britain and Canada consider that Iran is supportive of the "Sunni jihadist terror network", an absurd proposition. In December 2011, a Manhattan court judgment (based on selected testimonies and fabricated evidence), accused the Islamic Republic of Iran of supporting the 9/11 Al Qaeda hijackers.

The investigation into Tehran's alleged role was launched in 2004, pursuant to a recommendation of the 9/11 Commission "regarding an apparent link between Iran, Hezbollah, and the 9/11 hijackers". The 91/11 Commission's recommendation was that the this "apparent link" required "further investigation by the U.S. government." (9/11 Commission Report , p. 241). (See Iran 911 Case).

In the December 2011 court judgment (Havlish v. Iran) "U.S. District Judge George B. Daniels ruled that Iran and Hezbollah materially and directly supported al Qaeda in the September 11, 2001 attacks and are legally responsible for damages to hundreds of family members of 9/11 victims who are plaintiffs in the case". (See Michel Chossudovsky, the 9/11 Reader, Global Research, September 3, 2001)

Who was Osama bin Laden, the Alleged mastermind of the 9/11 attacks?

The US administration tacitly acknowledges that Osama bin Laden had been recruited by the CIA in the heyday of the Soviet-Afghan war. Osama bin Laden was the leader of Al Qaeda which was supported covertly by the CIA.


The Blowback: The official version is that "we supported" Al Qaeda's jihadist crusade against the Soviet Union. "It was for a good cause.:

According to Washington's narrative Osama bin Laden "turned against us" in the wake of the Soviet-Afghan war, which broadly coincided with the end of the Cold War (1946-1989), .

In intelligence parlance, "the blowback" refers to an "intelligence asset" which goes against its sponsors, namely the CIA.

In the immediate wake of the Cold War, bin Laden was said to have abandoned the jihad. He was portrayed with some hesitation as a "Peace Warrior" involved in humanitarian undertakings. The byline of this post Cold War photograph of Osama bin Laden published by the Independent in 1993, describes Bin Laden as an "anti-Soviet warrior" "on the road to peace".

(Illustration of newspaper headline - AE)

Robert Fisk's 1993 report, published at the outset of the post Cold War era. described Bin Laden as a former "freedom fighter", "Saudi businessman" and philanthropist:

* * *

Osama Bin Laden sat in his gold- fringed robe, guarded by the loyal Arab mujahedin who fought alongside him in Afghanistan. Bearded, taciturn figures unarmed, but never more than a few yards from the man who recruited them, trained them and then dispatched them to destroy the Soviet army they watched unsmiling as the Sudanese villagers of Almatig lined up to thank the Saudi businessman who is about to complete the highway linking their homes to Khartoum for the first time in history.

With his high cheekbones, narrow eyes and long brown robe, Mr Bin Laden looks every inch the mountain warrior of mujahedin legend. Chadored children danced in front of him, preachers acknowledged his wisdom. "We have been waiting for this road through all the revolutions in Sudan," a sheikh said. "We waited until we had given up on everybody and then Osama Bin Laden came along."

Al Qaeda in the 1990s
Did Bin Laden abandon the jihadist cause?

The evidence amply confirms that in the wake of the Cold War, Bin Laden maintained his links with the CIA indirectly through Pakistan's military intelligence (ISI) and continued to perform the role of a US sponsored "intelligence asset"

Al Qaeda was directly involved in the US-NATO sponsored civil war is Bosnia, providing support to the Bosnian Muslim Army.

Ironically, the links of Al Qaeda to the Clinton administration are fully documented by a lengthy Congressional report of the Republican Party Committee (RPC) published in 1997.

The RPC Congressional report accuses the Clinton administration of having "helped turn Bosnia into a militant Islamic base" leading to the recruitment through the so-called "Militant Islamic Network," of thousands of Mujahideen from the Muslim world.

Ironically, Osama bin Laden's Sudan based NGO, alluded to in Robert Fisk's 1993 article, is identified in the Republican Party Committee (RPC) as a "phoney humanitarian organization" linked up to with the Bosnia terror network, and directly supported by the Clinton administration:

… The role of one Sudan-based "humanitarian organization," called the Third World Relief Agency, has been well documented. The Clinton Administration's "hands-on" involvement with the Islamic network's arms pipeline included inspections of missiles from Iran by U.S. government officials... the Third World Relief Agency (TWRA), a Sudan-based, phoney humanitarian organization ... has been a major link in the arms pipeline to Bosnia. ... TWRA is believed to be connected with such fixtures of the Islamic terror network as Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman (the convicted mastermind behind the 1993 World Trade Center bombing) and Osama Bin Laden, a wealthy Saudi émigré believed to bankroll numerous militant groups. [Washington Post, 9/22/96] (The original document is on the website of the US Senate Republican Party Committee (Senator Larry Craig), at http://www.senate.gov/~rpc/releases/1997/iran.htm emphasis added)

The Republican Party accused president Bill Clinton and his National Security Adviser Anthony Lake (who subsequently headed the CIA) of abetting and supporting the recruitment of Mujahideen, who were then dispatched to Bosnia.

The unspoken objective was to destroy Yugoslavia as a nation state.

From Bosnia to Kosovo

In the late 1990s, Al Qaeda led by Osama bin Laden acting in liaison with the Western military alliance was involved in providing support to the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA).

The "Bosnian pattern" described in the 1997 Congressional RPC report was replicated in Kosovo. With the complicity of NATO and the US State Department. Mujahideen mercenaries from the Middle East and Central Asia were recruited to fight in the ranks of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1998-99, largely supporting NATO's war effort.

Confirmed by British military sources, the task of arming and training of the KLA had been entrusted in 1998 to the US Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) and Britain's Secret Intelligence Services MI6, together with "former and serving members of 22 SAS [Britain's 22nd Special Air Services Regiment], as well as three British and American private security companies".7

The US DIA approached MI6 to arrange a training programme for the KLA, said a senior British military source. `MI6 then sub-contracted the operation to two British security companies, who in turn approached a number of former members of the (22 SAS) regiment. Lists were then drawn up of weapons and equipment needed by the KLA.' While these covert operations were continuing, serving members of 22 SAS Regiment, mostly from the unit's D Squadron, were first deployed in Kosovo before the beginning of the bombing campaign in March. 8

While British SAS Special Forces in bases in Northern Albania were training the KLA, military instructors from Turkey and Afghanistan financed by the "Islamic jihad" were collaborating in training the KLA in guerilla and diversion tactics.10

Bin Laden had visited Albania himself. He was one of several fundamentalist groups that had sent units to fight in Kosovo, ... Bin Laden is believed to have established an operation in Albania in 1994 ... Albanian sources say Sali Berisha, who was then president, had links with some groups that later proved to be extreme fundamentalists. (Michel Chossudovsky Osamagate, October 9, 2001 numerals refer to endnotes in the original article)


According to Ralf Mutschke of Interpol's Criminal Intelligence division also in a testimony to the House Judicial Committee:

"The U.S. State Department listed the KLA as a terrorist organization, indicating that it was financing its operations with money from the international heroin trade and loans from Islamic countries and individuals, among them allegedly Usama bin Laden" . Another link to bin Laden is the fact that the brother of a leader in an Egyptian Jihad organization and also a military commander of Usama bin Laden, was leading an elite KLA unit during the Kosovo conflict." (US Congress, Testimony of Ralf Mutschke of Interpol's Criminal Intelligence Division, to the House Judicial Committee, 13 December 2000).

Macedonia: Al Qaeda and the US Military in the Months Preceding 9/11


On the 10th of September, eleven years ago, I published an article entitled Washington Behind Terrorist Assaults In Macedonia, which confirmed that the US military and Al Qaeda were collaborating in supporting a self-proclaimed National Liberation Army (NLA), involved in terrorist attacks in the FYR of Macedonia. This text was among the first articles posted by Global Research, which was launched on September 9, 2001.

The NLA was an offshoot of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA). The NLA-KLA terrorists were trained and supported by a private mercenary company, Military Professional Resources International (MPRI), on contract to the Pentagon.

"Among the foreign mercenaries now [ June-July 2001] fighting with the KLA-NLA are Mujahedin from the Middle East and the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union as well as "soldiers of fortune" from several NATO countries including Britain, Holland and Germany. Some of these Western mercenaries had previously fought with the KLA and the Bosnian Muslim Army.12

While Washington was arming the National Liberation Army (NLA) terrorists which included Al Qaeda mercenaries in its ranks, some 3000 heavily armed NATO troops were given the mandate to "disarm the rebels" and enforce the cease-fire. Code-named "Essential Harvest" this NATO endeavor was officially launched on August 22, 2001.

The actual NATO operation under a "humanitarian mandate" consisting of troop deployments started on August 27, two weeks before the September 11, 2001 attacks.

At the time, this bogus R2P "peacekeeping" operation under British command was intended to weaken the Macedonian Armed Forces and destabilize national institutions. In the words, of the Prime minister of FYR of Macedonia Ljubco Georgievski:

"As much as their text ["peace plan"] is brutal, more brutal and worrying is the fashion in which they are trying to break up Macedonian state institutions,' ... All of the terrorist actions in Macedonia have been supported by the Western democracies... all threats and blackmails have been presented so far, except that NATO will conduct an air-strike on us." (Macedonian Prime Minister Mr. Ljubco Georgievski, quoted in Washington Behind Terrorist Assaults In Macedonia, emphasis added)

In a bitter irony, Washington was behind the terrorist NLA assault in Macedonia integrated by Al Qaeda mercenaries, which preceded the August 27 NATO intervention. The objective of Operation "Essential Harvest" was not disarm the NLA terrorists. The hidden agenda was twofold: coverup and regime change.

While Secretary of State Colin Powell had, at the time reaffirmed America's resolve to "combat terrorism", US military advisers were fighting alongside the NLA terrorists. The NLA was not only integrated by Al Qaeda mercenaries, the rebels were being supported by US special forces:

Among the rebels that were withdrawing were 17 "instructors" former [MPRI] US officers that provided military training for the rebels. Not only that: the Macedonian security forces claim that 70% of the equipment that the guerrilla fighters took with them are of US production and the latter includes highly sophisticated third generation night vision devices." (Ibid, See also Hamburger Abendblatt, Hamburg, 27 June 2001, English translation by OK-Macedonia, Skopje, 28 June 2001, at http://www.ok.mk/news/story.asp?id=1631. )

What is significant in these events is that barely a few months before 9/11, former US military officers, which had integrated the ranks of the terror brigades, were caught red-handed (June 2001) together with Al Qaeda mercenaries.

In other words, in the weeks preceding 9/11, there is evidence of active collaboration between Al Qaeda and US military officers on contract to the Pentagon in blatant contradiction with the 9/11 narrative.

The official 9/11 story is predicated on the "blowback", namely that Al Qaeda, the alleged perpetrator of the 9/11 attacks "turned against us" in the wake of the Cold War (1989). The events in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia confirm unequivocally that Al Qaeda was an intelligence asset throughout the 1990s up until June 2001, when NLA Al Qaeda operatives were arrested with their US military instructors.

The KLA-NLA terrorists are funded from US military aid, the United Nations peace-keeping budget as well as by several Islamic organisations including Osama bin Laden's Al Qaeda. Drug money is also being used to finance the terrorists with the complicity of the US government. The recruitment of Mujahideen to fight in the ranks of the NLA in Macedonia is implemented through various Islamic groups.

US military advisers mingle with Mujahideen within the same paramilitary force, Western mercenaries from NATO countries fight alongside Mujahideen recruited in the Middle East and Central Asia. And the US media calls this a "blowback" where so-called "intelligence assets" have gone against their sponsors!

But this did not happen during the Cold war! It is happening right now in Macedonia. And it is confirmed by numerous press reports, eyewitness accounts, photographic evidence as well as official statements by the Macedonian Prime Minister, who has accused the Western military alliance of supporting the terrorists. Moreover, the official Macedonian New Agency (MIA) has pointed to the complicity between Washington's envoy Ambassador James Pardew and the NLA terrorists. 17 In other words, the so-called "intelligence assets" are still serving the interests of their US sponsors. (Michel Chossudovsky, Osamagate, Global Research, October 9, 2001)

Throughout the post 9/11 era (2001-2012), there is ample evidence that Al Qaeda and Al Qaeda affiliated entities (Afghanistan, Iraq, Libya, Syria), have continued to play a central role in US sponsored covert operations.

Macedonia versus Syria: Déjà Vu

Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia: The strategic objective of the US-NATO military operations was to destabilize and destroy the Yugoslav Federation using Al Qaeda terrorist operatives as a means to triggering sectarian strife and ethnic divisions within a socially and culturally diverse national society.

The Bosnia-Kosovo model was replicated in Libya and Syria.

The National Liberation Army (NLA) of Macedonia integrated by Al Qaeda terrorists versus the Free Syrian Army (FSA) integrated by Al Qaeda mercenaries recruited by NATO, Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia.

Macedonia's Prime Minister Georgievski's statement (above) `focusing on the threats of NATO airstrikes and the breaking up of state institutions,' is remarkably similar to that of Syrian president Bashar Al Assad.

Al Qaeda Déjà Vu? The FSA terrorist attacks in Syria in 2012 bear a canny resemblance to those conducted in Macedonia in 2001. The Syrian FSA integrated by Al Qaeda operatives is supported by the same Western powers, which intervened in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia.

Copyright © 2012 Global Research

GLOBAL RESEARCH | PO Box 55019 | 11 Notre-Dame Ouest | Montreal | QC | H2Y 4A7 | Canada


Adele

[Bill Kelly]

Adele, I don't think Al Qaeda is playing a major role in Syria.

Here's some deep background on Assad's tribe, the Alawites. - BK


Dissent Among the Alawites: Syria'sRuling Sect Does Not Speak with One Voice


Revolutionary Program: Dissent Among the Alawites

Considered heretics by many mainstream Sunnis, the Alawiteshave long been perceived as a solid bloc of support for their co-religionistsin the Assad dynasty. Not so now


http://world.time.com/2012/09/10/dissent...one-voice/

The Alawites emerged in the 9th century. Led by Muhammad ibnNusayr, they broke with the Shiites, who now form majorities in Bahrain,Lebanon and Iran,embracing doctrines that remain largely obscure to this day. For centuries theAlawites were marginalized, deemed heretics by the larger Islamic community. Toavoid persecution, they established villages in the remote mountain chains of Lebanon,Syria and Turkey,far from the coastal areas and plains dominated by Sunnis. When the Frenchmoved to give Syriaindependence, some Alawites agitated for their own state in vain. However, in1963, Hafez Assad, an Alawite, along with two other military officers, broughtthe sect to power in Syria.

The Alawites, also known as the Alawis, appeared to coalescearound the new regime, which promoted members of the sect to positions ofinfluence and power in the government and, more importantly, the military. WhenHafez Assad died in 2000, his son Bashar Assad succeeded him as President.Since March 2011, Bashar Assad has been trying to suppress an uprising that hasbecome a civil war. For the most part, his fellow Alawites have stuck by him inthe increasingly bloody fighting. But not all.

(PHOTOS: Chaosand Killing in Syria: Photos of a Slow-Motion Civil War)
Sect members are increasingly breaking rank, as defectionsswell along with mounting uneasiness about the government's crackdown againstwhat started as a peaceful protest movement.

Captain Umar in Syriais a rebel fighter and an Alawite, and he considers Assad a "butcher." Theofficer no longer believes the regime's propaganda and says he abandoned hisunit after the government began shelling civilian neighborhoods in hishometown. But Umar says it is Assad who is injecting the conflict with asectarian hue.

"Bashar is telling us the Sunnis will slaughter us," he saysvia Skype from Syria."He is scaring Alawis and pushing them to the edge. This is why the army is killingthe people in the street. They are scared the Sunnis will massacre us."

Umar says that it was the military's daily shelling ofcivilian areas that pushed him to defect. "I just couldn't see Syrians dyinganymore." He refuses to reveal how many Alawite officers have defected, but hedoes say the "number is significant."

Others with ties to the security forces have also turnedtheir back on the Alawite leadership. Luban Mrai's father is a senior leader inthe paramilitary organization known as the shabiha that targetscivilians. She recently left the country after experiencing "serious moral andethical dilemmas" stemming from the targeting of civilians. Today she residesin Istanbul, trying to mobilizesupport for the rebels. "The regime is using our religion for political ends,"she explains in a phone conversation. "Alawis are killing Syrians for noreason. This is wrong."

(VIDEO: ASyrian Soldier Claims to Have Witnessed Atrocities)

Leading Alawite intellectuals have abandoned the regime aswell. Rasha Omran is one of Syria'sbetter-known poets and has been invited to read her poetry at literaturefestivals throughout Europe. Since the beginning of theuprising, she has lent her voice and pen to the cause. Omran announced hersupport of the revolution within days of its eruption on her Facebook page. Shemarched in protests and spoke out against Assad. "This is a dictatorialregime," she said in a phone call from Egypt."How can I support a government that kills its citizens?"

Omran sees herself as a Syrian rather than as an Alawite.She emphasizes that the country is composed of a number of minorities whoseidentity is shaped by the larger Syrian state. She believes Assad and his innercircle are destroying this delicate mosaic by stirring up ethnic hatreds. "Weare all Syrians. But Assad is working to demolish our country."

Omran wanted to support the revolution by remaining in Syria.But her vocal protests embarrassed a regime trying to project sectarian unity.Because she belongs to a respected Alawite family, the government risked anAlawite backlash if it arrested her. Instead, she says, intelligence agentspressured her to leave the country in a series of visits to her house. Shefinally left Syriaat the beginning of the year.



Syriadefector Manaf Tlas hints at French intelligence aid

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19549304

Key Syrian defector Gen Manaf Tlas has hinted that Frenchsecret agents helped him flee Syriain early July.

He said French "services" had helped him escapebut refused to be drawn on how, only thanking the French government.

He warned that if the Damascusregime was subjected to more pressure, it could resort to using chemicalweapons.

Gen Tlas was speaking from his refuge in Paristo interviewers from BBC Arabic and Frenchnews channel BFMTV.

His defection was seen as a major blow to the Damascusgovernment.

Not only did he command the elite 10th Brigade of theRepublican Guard, but his father Mustafa Tlas served as defence minister for 30years and was a confidant of Hafez al-Assad, the president's father andpredecessor.

Gen Tlas has been touted as a potential figurehead for theopposition but many reject him as too deeply compromised, reports the BBC'sArab affairs editor Sebastian Usher.
'Dangerous crossroads'

Gen Tlas would not specify exactly which French organisationhad assisted his escape, saying he feared he could endanger those who hadhelped him.

[IMG]file:///C:/Users/Owner/AppData/Local/Temp/msohtml1/01/clip_image001.jpg[/IMG]

New UN-Arab League envoy to Syria,Lakhdar Brahimi, admits his task is a daunting one

As well as French groups, Gen Tlas said the Free Syrian Armyhad helped him escape "from a distance".

He warned the regime - under pressure - could resort tousing chemical weapons "in limited areas", adding: "If they usedtanks and warplanes against civilians what would keep them from using anythingelse?"

Syriais at a "dangerous crossroads", Gen Tlas warned, and he urged theinternational community to "focus all its efforts to draft a real road mapto get Syriaout of this crisis".
But he said he was "of course against foreignintervention of any shape or form in Syria",saying the Syrian people had to "achieve their own victory" and theinternational community could only help by "putting a new strategy for therevolution".

The question of foreign intervention has divided the UN overSyria, with Russiaand Chinarefusing to back UN sanctions against their ally.

The new UN-Arab League envoy to Syria,Lakhdar Brahimi, began his first mission on Monday with a visit to Cairo,and is due to visit Damascus in thecoming days. But he has acknowledged the difficulty of the mission whichdefeated his predecessor, Kofi Annan.
Gen Tlas suggested that his "defection" from thegovernment had begun long before he physically fled his country when hewithdrew to his office, alienated by the authorities' violent response toprotests.
"On the third month of the revolution, I defected fromthe regime," he said.

"I met demonstrators and rebels, listened to theirdemands and felt that the regime is not willing to change.

"I felt that the regime was lying to the rebels and wassearching for shortcuts. I withdrew to my office, did not listen to anyone anddecided to defect and help the rebels."
Conference proposal

Gen Tlas said many of the rebels he had met had been"imprisoned, murdered or tortured as a result of making real humanitariandemands".

He urged his former friend, President Bashar al-Assad, togive up power not just for Syria'ssake, but for that of his family.

On Monday, it emerged that Russiawas proposing organising a conference bringing together "all theplayers" of the deadly Syriaconflict, including opposition groups, ordinary citizens and the ruling regime.

In an interview scheduled to be published by leading Frenchdaily Le Figaro on Wednesday, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanovreportedly said the conference would be organised along the lines of the Taifconference that ended Lebanon'scivil war in 1990.

According to the UN, more than 18,000 people have beenkilled since the conflict began in March 2011. Activists put the death toll at23,000.

[Magda Hassan]

Adele, I don't think Al Qaeda is playing a major role in Syria.

Except that:

Aldel Hakim Belhaj, historic leader of Al Qaeda in Libya, Military Governor of Tripoli, chief of the Free Syrian Army.The UN Security Council members are at loggerheads over the interpretation of the events that are rocking Syria. On one hand, France, the United Kingdom and the United States claim that a revolution has swept the country, in the aftermath of the "Arab Spring", and suffering a bloody crackdown. On the other hand, Russia's and China's take is that Syria is having to cope with armed gangs from abroad, which it is fighting awkwardly thereby causing collateral victims among the civilian population it seeks to protect.The on-the-spot investigation undertaken by Voltaire Network validated the latter interpretation [1]. We have collected eyewitness testimonies from those who survived an armed attack by a foreign gangs. They describe them as being Iraqis, Jordanians or Libyans, recognizable by their accent, as well as Pashtun.In recent months, a certain number of Arab newspapers, favorable to the Al-Assad administration, discussed the infiltration into Syria of 600 to 1,500 fighters from the Islamic Fighting Group in Libya (IFGL), rebranded Al Qaeda in Libya since November 2007. In late November 2011, the Libyan press reported the attempt by the Zintan militia to detain Abdel Hakim Belhaj, companion of Osama Bin Laden [2] and historic leader of Al Qaeda in Libya, who became military governor of Tripoli by the grace of NATO [3]. The scene took place at Tripoli airport, as he was leaving for Turkey. Finally, Turkish newspapers mentioned Mr. Belhaj's presence at the Turkish-Syrian.Such reports have been met with disbelief on the part of all those who regard Al Qaeda and NATO are irreconcilable enemies between whom no cooperation is possible. Instead, they reinforce the thesis which I have defended since the attacks of September 11, 2001, that Al Qaeda fighters are mercenaries of the service of the CIA [4].Who is telling the truth?For the past week, the Spanish royalist newspaper ABChas published a daily report by photographer Daniel Iriarte. This journalist is with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the north of the country, right on the Turkish border. Iriarte champions the cause of the "revolution" and can never find words harsh enough against "Al-Assad regime."The Free Syrian Army is made up of more than 20 00 people, according to its political chief Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, but of only a few hundred when listening to the Syrian authorities [5].However, in the Saturday edition dated 17 December 2011, Daniel Iriarte describes an encounter that shocked him. While his FSA friends were taking him to a new hideout, he came across some foreign insurgents: three Libyans [6].Mahdi al-Harati, commander of the Tripoli Brigade, resigned from his functions as deputy chief of the Military Council in Tripoli to oversee the Free Syrian Army.The first one among them was al-Mahdi Hatari, a Libyan who lived in Ireland before joining Al Qaeda. At the end of the Libyan war, he was named commander of the Tripoli Brigade, then number 2 of the Tripoli Military Council headed by Abdel Hakim Belhaj. He resigned from this function, according to some because of a dispute with the Transitional National Council, according to others because he wanted to go back to Ireland to join his Irish wife [7] The truth is that he headed for Syria.Even stranger: a member of Al Qaeda was among the pro-Palestinian activists, in June of last year, on board the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara. Numerous secret service agents, especially US, had infiltrated the "Freedom Flotilla" [8]. He was wounded and held prisoner for nine days in Israel.Finally, during the Battle of Tripoli, al-Mahdi Harati commanded the Al Qaeda group that besieged and attacked the Rixos hotel, where I was staying with myVoltaire Network companions and the international press, and whose basement served as a shelter for the leaders of the Jamahiriya under the protection of the custody of Khamis Gaddafi [9]. According to the latter, Mahdi al-Harati was being briefed by the French officers on the ground.The second Libyan that the Spanish photographer in the Syrian army is none other than Kikli Adem, a lieutenant of Abdel Hakim Belhaj. As for the third Libyan, nicknamed Fouad, Daniel Iriarte was not in a position to identify him.Iriarte's testimony dovetails with what the Arab anti-Syrian press has been claiming for weeks: the Free Syrian Army is overseen by at least 600 "volunteers" from Al Qaeda in Libya [10]. The entire operation is run by Abdel Hakim Belhaj in person with the help of the Erdogan government.How can it be explained that a daily newspaper as anti-Assad as ABC has decided to publish the testimony of its special envoy, who sheds light on the nauseating methods employed by NATO and confirms the Syrian government's thesis of armed destabilization? The fact is that for a week, certain advocates of the clash of civilizations have been riling against a set-up which includes Islamic extremists in a "free world" strategy.Writing on CNBC Guest Blog [11], former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar revealed on 9 December 2011 that Abdel Hakim Belhaj was suspected of complicity in the attacks of 11 March 2004 in Madrid [12], an event that put an end to Aznar's political career.Sheik Ali Salabi, spiritual guide of Al Qaeda in Lybia, Abdel Hakim Belhaj's mentor, and strong man of the "new Libya."Mr. Aznar's outing goes hand in hand with the intervention made by his friends from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, the think tank headed by former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore Gold [13]. They publicly voice their doubts about the validity of the current CIA strategy to place Islamists in power throughout North Africa. Their criticism is aimed against the secret society of the Muslim Brotherhood, but also against two Libyan figures: Abel Hakim Belhadj and his friend Sheikh Ali Al-Salibi. The latter is regarded as the new leader of Libya [14]. The two men are deemed to be the pawns of Qatar in the new Libya [15]. It was also Sheikh Salabi who distributed $ 2 billion of Qatari funds to help Al-Qaeda in Libya [16].Thus the contradiction that was desperately kept hidden for the past decade returns to the surface: the mercenaries, formerly paid by Osama Bin Laden, have never stopped working in the service of US strategic interests since the first war in Afghanistan, including the period of the September 11 attacks. Yet they are portrayed ​​by Western leaders as implacable enemies.It is likely that the objections of Mr. Aznar and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs will be overridden by NATO, as were those raised by AFRICOM commander General Carter Ham. At the beginning of the war Libya, he was incensed at having to protect jihadists who had gone to slaughter GIs in Iraq.Detached from reality, the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (aka "Committee pursuant to resolution 1267") and the US Department of State still have on their black list the organization of Abdel Hakim Belhaj and Sheik Salabi under its former label of Islamic Fighting Group in Libya. It would appear that is it the duty of every State to arrest these individuals if they enter their territory.

Thierry Meyssan

Sources and notes here

Syriadefector Manaf Tlas hints at French intelligence aid

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19549304

Key Syrian defector Gen Manaf Tlas has hinted that Frenchsecret agents helped him flee Syriain early July.

He said French "services" had helped him escapebut refused to be drawn on how, only thanking the French government.

Yes, the French are very involved in this. It was of course started under Sarkozy's government but the new guy Hollande looks to carry on much as before in foreign policy terms. Amongst some 1500 captured foreigners in Homs were several French troops. Including a colonel in the DGSE. All of whom requested protection under the Geneva convention covering prisoners of war. He and some others were traded a few weeks later and received by the French ambassador in Lebanon at a border crossing where they exited Syria. Russia acting for France in negotiating for their release.

He warned that if the Damascusregime was subjected to more pressure, it could resort to using chemicalweapons.

Quite possible. And it would be defensive in any case.

[Bill Kelly]

Adele, I don't think Al Qaeda is playing a major role in Syria.

Except that:

Aldel Hakim Belhaj, historic leader of Al Qaeda in Libya, Military Governor of Tripoli, chief of the Free Syrian Army.The UN Security Council members are at loggerheads over the interpretation of the events that are rocking Syria. On one hand, France, the United Kingdom and the United States claim that a revolution has swept the country, in the aftermath of the "Arab Spring", and suffering a bloody crackdown. On the other hand, Russia's and China's take is that Syria is having to cope with armed gangs from abroad, which it is fighting awkwardly thereby causing collateral victims among the civilian population it seeks to protect.The on-the-spot investigation undertaken by Voltaire Network validated the latter interpretation [1]. We have collected eyewitness testimonies from those who survived an armed attack by a foreign gangs. They describe them as being Iraqis, Jordanians or Libyans, recognizable by their accent, as well as Pashtun.In recent months, a certain number of Arab newspapers, favorable to the Al-Assad administration, discussed the infiltration into Syria of 600 to 1,500 fighters from the Islamic Fighting Group in Libya (IFGL), rebranded Al Qaeda in Libya since November 2007. In late November 2011, the Libyan press reported the attempt by the Zintan militia to detain Abdel Hakim Belhaj, companion of Osama Bin Laden [2] and historic leader of Al Qaeda in Libya, who became military governor of Tripoli by the grace of NATO [3]. The scene took place at Tripoli airport, as he was leaving for Turkey. Finally, Turkish newspapers mentioned Mr. Belhaj's presence at the Turkish-Syrian.Such reports have been met with disbelief on the part of all those who regard Al Qaeda and NATO are irreconcilable enemies between whom no cooperation is possible. Instead, they reinforce the thesis which I have defended since the attacks of September 11, 2001, that Al Qaeda fighters are mercenaries of the service of the CIA [4].Who is telling the truth?For the past week, the Spanish royalist newspaper ABChas published a daily report by photographer Daniel Iriarte. This journalist is with the Free Syrian Army (FSA) in the north of the country, right on the Turkish border. Iriarte champions the cause of the "revolution" and can never find words harsh enough against "Al-Assad regime."The Free Syrian Army is made up of more than 20 00 people, according to its political chief Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, but of only a few hundred when listening to the Syrian authorities [5].However, in the Saturday edition dated 17 December 2011, Daniel Iriarte describes an encounter that shocked him. While his FSA friends were taking him to a new hideout, he came across some foreign insurgents: three Libyans [6].Mahdi al-Harati, commander of the Tripoli Brigade, resigned from his functions as deputy chief of the Military Council in Tripoli to oversee the Free Syrian Army.The first one among them was al-Mahdi Hatari, a Libyan who lived in Ireland before joining Al Qaeda. At the end of the Libyan war, he was named commander of the Tripoli Brigade, then number 2 of the Tripoli Military Council headed by Abdel Hakim Belhaj. He resigned from this function, according to some because of a dispute with the Transitional National Council, according to others because he wanted to go back to Ireland to join his Irish wife [7] The truth is that he headed for Syria.Even stranger: a member of Al Qaeda was among the pro-Palestinian activists, in June of last year, on board the Turkish ship Mavi Marmara. Numerous secret service agents, especially US, had infiltrated the "Freedom Flotilla" [8]. He was wounded and held prisoner for nine days in Israel.Finally, during the Battle of Tripoli, al-Mahdi Harati commanded the Al Qaeda group that besieged and attacked the Rixos hotel, where I was staying with myVoltaire Network companions and the international press, and whose basement served as a shelter for the leaders of the Jamahiriya under the protection of the custody of Khamis Gaddafi [9]. According to the latter, Mahdi al-Harati was being briefed by the French officers on the ground.The second Libyan that the Spanish photographer in the Syrian army is none other than Kikli Adem, a lieutenant of Abdel Hakim Belhaj. As for the third Libyan, nicknamed Fouad, Daniel Iriarte was not in a position to identify him.Iriarte's testimony dovetails with what the Arab anti-Syrian press has been claiming for weeks: the Free Syrian Army is overseen by at least 600 "volunteers" from Al Qaeda in Libya [10]. The entire operation is run by Abdel Hakim Belhaj in person with the help of the Erdogan government.How can it be explained that a daily newspaper as anti-Assad as ABC has decided to publish the testimony of its special envoy, who sheds light on the nauseating methods employed by NATO and confirms the Syrian government's thesis of armed destabilization? The fact is that for a week, certain advocates of the clash of civilizations have been riling against a set-up which includes Islamic extremists in a "free world" strategy.Writing on CNBC Guest Blog [11], former Spanish Prime Minister Jose Maria Aznar revealed on 9 December 2011 that Abdel Hakim Belhaj was suspected of complicity in the attacks of 11 March 2004 in Madrid [12], an event that put an end to Aznar's political career.Sheik Ali Salabi, spiritual guide of Al Qaeda in Lybia, Abdel Hakim Belhaj's mentor, and strong man of the "new Libya."Mr. Aznar's outing goes hand in hand with the intervention made by his friends from the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, the think tank headed by former Israeli ambassador to the UN Dore Gold [13]. They publicly voice their doubts about the validity of the current CIA strategy to place Islamists in power throughout North Africa. Their criticism is aimed against the secret society of the Muslim Brotherhood, but also against two Libyan figures: Abel Hakim Belhadj and his friend Sheikh Ali Al-Salibi. The latter is regarded as the new leader of Libya [14]. The two men are deemed to be the pawns of Qatar in the new Libya [15]. It was also Sheikh Salabi who distributed $ 2 billion of Qatari funds to help Al-Qaeda in Libya [16].Thus the contradiction that was desperately kept hidden for the past decade returns to the surface: the mercenaries, formerly paid by Osama Bin Laden, have never stopped working in the service of US strategic interests since the first war in Afghanistan, including the period of the September 11 attacks. Yet they are portrayed ​​by Western leaders as implacable enemies.It is likely that the objections of Mr. Aznar and the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs will be overridden by NATO, as were those raised by AFRICOM commander General Carter Ham. At the beginning of the war Libya, he was incensed at having to protect jihadists who had gone to slaughter GIs in Iraq.Detached from reality, the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (aka "Committee pursuant to resolution 1267") and the US Department of State still have on their black list the organization of Abdel Hakim Belhaj and Sheik Salabi under its former label of Islamic Fighting Group in Libya. It would appear that is it the duty of every State to arrest these individuals if they enter their territory.

Thierry Meyssan

Sources and notes here

Syriadefector Manaf Tlas hints at French intelligence aid

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19549304

Key Syrian defector Gen Manaf Tlas has hinted that Frenchsecret agents helped him flee Syriain early July.

He said French "services" had helped him escapebut refused to be drawn on how, only thanking the French government.

Yes, the French are very involved in this. It was of course started under Sarkozy's government but the new guy Hollande looks to carry on much as before in foreign policy terms. Amongst some 1500 captured foreigners in Homs were several French troops. Including a colonel in the DGSE. All of whom requested protection under the Geneva convention covering prisoners of war. He and some others were traded a few weeks later and received by the French ambassador in Lebanon at a border crossing where they exited Syria. Russia acting for France in negotiating for their release.

He warned that if the Damascusregime was subjected to more pressure, it could resort to using chemicalweapons.

Quite possible. And it would be defensive in any case.

Well, if Assad uses chemical weapons in any case, it would be a good invite for foreign forces to enter the conflict.

I am familiar with abdul Hakim Belhadj, as Simon Denyer interviewed him last September, which I posted: [URL="http://revolutionaryprogram.blogspot.com/2011/09/simon-denyerthe-washington-post-tripoli.html"]Revolutionary Program: Denyer interview w/ Abdul Hakim Belhadj
[/URL]
I wasn't sure my blog was being read by anyone until Simon Denyer emailed me and then called me from Tripoli saying he was using some maps I posted to get around.

The French foreign minister, a women, was in Tunisia celebrating Christmas 2010 with the president when the revolution broke out there and she offered to supply him with tear gas and riot troop training and any supplies they might need to supress the revolution. After she was gone, the French took the side of the revolutionaries in Libya.

Of course the French Foreign Legion have a long history in North Africa.

Things in Egypt and Libya have taken a bad course in the past few hours:

[URL="http://revolutionaryprogram.blogspot.com/2012/09/cairo-cnn-angry-protesters-attacked-u.html"]Revolutionary Program: American Embassies Attacked in Egypt and Libya
[/URL]
Mohamed al-Zawahiri -- the brother of al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri -- added, "We called for the peaceful protest joined by different Islamic factions including the Islamicc Jihad (and the) Hazem Abu Ismael movement."

Egyptians are angry, and rightfully so. The film, "Innocence of Muslims" is downright disgusting


There's another revolutionary film you can discuss.

[Magda Hassan]

Perhaps the west should stop selling everyone the chemical and biological weapons that they get so upset about later....


I have heard about the riots in Cairo and know that it is about the movie. I have no idea what the movie is like though except that it is about Mohammed.

That's another thing the west should be supporting - publicly funded secular rational education - but that is not what they have been supplying to the Asian and Middle East such as the madrasses in Pakistan. More blow back for the US.

[Jan Klimkowski]

In the film made by a French journalist for Channel 4 News here, you will see a unit of the Free Syrian Army receiving $100,000 in cash for ammunition.

As the FSA fighters pore over satellite maps in preparation for a major urban attack, the narrator states, with mock incredulity, "Somehow they've acquired high resolution satellite imagery".

"Somehow" - well, let me guess....

The FSA fighters also talk explicitly about it being a "sectarian" conflict: Sunni versus Shia. To the death.

So, the NATO / Israeli / Saudi plan for the Balkanization of Syria is succeeding.

Europe's version of "Al Qaeda", the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA), was created out of manufactured sectarian strife in Yugoslavia, and used to launder drugs, guns and humans in and out of Europe. The KLA is now in power in the illegitimate state of Kosovo, home to the largest and probably most high tech US base in mainland Europe.

Kosovo is not a nation state, rather it is a US military colony used for all sorts of criminal activity.

As for Syria, how do you spell Blowback?

Oh yeah, the Strategy of Tension.

[Adele Edisen]

Wed, September 19, 2012 11:07:45 AM
Carving up the Middle East
From: Brasscheck TV <news@brasschecktv.com>

The US isn't the only
country involved in
destabilizing the
Middle East.

Here's a player you
rarely hear talked
about.

Video: 2:17 minutes long

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/20309.html

- Brasscheck

P.S. Please share Brasscheck TV e-mails and
videos with friends and colleagues.

That's how we grow. Thanks.

================================
Brasscheck TV
2380 California St.
San Francisco, CA 94115

Adele

[Magda Hassan]

From Syria 24 English The NATO military is telling leaders that there is no good case for military action and the political process has to be pursued instead in Syria, Germany's Manfred Lange, chief of staff of Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers E
urope, has said.

The military advice is that "there are not sufficient visible signs at the moment that a military intervention could lead to an improvement of the security situation," Lange said on Friday.

"It is clear that the Alliance doesn't have any military plans on Syria," he added.

[Magda Hassan]

Wed, September 19, 2012 11:07:45 AM
Carving up the Middle East
From: Brasscheck TV <news@brasschecktv.com>

The US isn't the only
country involved in
destabilizing the
Middle East.

Here's a player you
rarely hear talked
about.

Video: 2:17 minutes long

http://www.brasschecktv.com/page/20309.html

- Brasscheck

P.S. Please share Brasscheck TV e-mails and
videos with friends and colleagues.

That's how we grow. Thanks.

================================
Brasscheck TV
2380 California St.
San Francisco, CA 94115

Adele

Yes, and Germany is causing the same trouble in Central Asia and other places too.