Bomb kills Saudi Intel Chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan

[Magda Hassan]

If the event happened at all it sure is being suppressed! I see no report from any media source...only a handful of brief references that don't have references one can track to verify the story. If it happened it is HUGE. If a floated false story, it is huge only if a government did it, IMHO. Strange that there aren't even official denials of any explosion. ....

All the reports have disappeared off the web. I was thinking about this report on the attempted assassination of Hilary Clinton in Israel as well. All seem to come from Iranian news agencies so there seems to be some sort of psyop war going on here. I'll move this thread over to Propaganda where it now belongs.

Two news outlets in India as well as one in Iran report an alleged assassination attempt onSecretary of State Hillary Clinton during her recent visit in Israel. A Google search as well asGoogle News search on this story finds no American media outlets reporting the story.ZeeNews.com, an Indian news web site, reports, "Israel Radio broke the story earlier in the week, which was confirmed by sources inside Israel, but never mentioned again. According to World Mathaba, the purported attack on Hillary was related to the current political upheaval in Israel -- the aim being kill Hillary, blame Iran and take the focus off the domestic political meltdown in Tel Aviv."
Iran's Al-Alam News reported, "Israeli sources reported that the procession of Hillary ClintonSecretary of State was shot on yesterday, while passing through on the road to Jerusalem Tel Aviv."
News Track India also reported the story, "According to sources, the attack on Clinton's convoy, a minimum of three to five vehicles, traveling from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, follows the story earlier of an attack on a bus loaded with Israeli tourists that exploded in Bulgaria, which killed six persons.According to World Mathaba, both the Bulgaria attack and the attempted assassination of Clinton was a Mossad "false flag" operation.
Nothing has yet to be reported on this in American media as of 5:21 PM Eastern Time.
​http://www.examiner.com/article/media-ig...ton-israel

[Magda Hassan]

Filkka│Conflict rages between Bandar bin Sultan and Hafez Makhlouf..

Who's killing who first? Bandar Bin Sultan, who returned to the fold of the royal family in Saudi Arabia on a raft of the blood of Syrians, or the Syrian government who commissioned one of its senior officers to search for Bandar and Mossad men for the aim of liquidating them?

The intelligence services of the West, Israel and Arab countries participating in the global alliance against the Syrian people, entered the line of quality intelligence operations, and what happened in the National Security office in Damascus, is nothing but a result of a great alliance that gather more than 80 country's intelligence services among them the largest countries in the world by targeting security, military and political Syrian officials as a first, and second, the scientists and technical experts in the technology of missiles and the Syrian electronics and military manufacture..

Facing this war, the Syrian intelligence had established a high level security cell for the prosecution of those intelligence groups that have penetrations in the Syrian state services, and in areas which are now a target for a comprehensive cleaning operation led by senior Syrian intelligence men.

Intelligence world war against Syria..

The battle on the ground in Syria is militarily heated, and the US invasion started with Blackwaters mercenaries vaccinated with tens of thousands of Al-Qaeda warriors and the Arab Wahabism, as for the security battle, it was clear for the observers for a moment that the Americans and Mossad have the upper hand in it with the strike received by the Syrian government by assassinating the four leaders of the national security office.

It was a Saudi breach, that Bandar bin Sultan obtained, and endorsed to the Mossad who carried out the operation with a US logistic aid.

Much had been written about the end of the Syrian government, expected after the big hit, and hundreds of the opposition, diplomats, ministers and media men talked in the satellite channels and journals and radio stations and all of them agreed that this security hit means the end of the Syrian government , and they also said that the power in Syria will not come out safe after such huge operation, and if they did, that will mean Syria have enough power to continue the battle and will cause her enemies big losses, as who cross the red line and hit underneath the belt in Syria, will receive underneath the belt hits as well.

In Saudi Arabia, Bandar Bin Sultan was immediately rewarded for his achievement.. and in Syria, a fast security achievement against breaches was required.. and sources in Moscow say that it is a mission taken up mainly by colonel Hafez Makhlouf, the officer who Bandar Bin Sultan seek to immune his agents from in Syria..


The Russian sources say that Bandar and his men in Syria and their masters in Washington and Tel Aviv know that this officer, if insisted to achieve a big goal to respond to the bloody salute to Bandar, Israel and USA with a better one, he will achieve what he seeks.


Opposition men and their "Free Army" and the Zion media in Qatar and Saudi Arabia, said that the Syrian government will fall after the opposition militia raided the heart of Damascus, and defected officers and Al-Qaeda terrorist groups that lead the fight talked about hours before announcing the victory from within the capital of Syria, and a foolish officers client to Turkey dared to state an attack against the presidential palace in Damascus, which is an allegation not taken seriously by anyone, not even the Wahhabi clients in the heart of Damascus, as they ran away, killed or arrested in the neighborhoods of Qaboon, Midan, Barza, Kafr Sousa and Harasta.


The military response began against the breach of Damascus southern suburbs, as for the intelligence and security response to the operation in the national security office, the Syrian command rushed into a large-scale sweeping mission against the possible intelligence breaches, the response to the those who killed the leaders might be undertaken by Syria, and perhaps Iran and Hisbullah outside.. as inside Syria, Bandar's spies are being prosecuted by senior officers assigned with this urgent task, headed by one of the Syrian intelligence hawks, who is a colonel described by the Americans as an expert in chasing and hunting spies, this task places colonel Hafez Makhlouf and the extremist Zionist Bandar Bin Sultan face to face...


Bandar's success was not impossible, as the breaches in Syria have substantive grounds.. The Syrian military response seemed successful, as neither the army collapsed, nor the officials' spirits had fallen in the trap of seeking to save their lives or defect.. The Syrian army liquidated the NATO fighters in Damascus and its countryside, and tricked them into a trap in Sayyda Zainab and it's surroundings.. The Wahhabis came in by hundreds from all around Syria to fight in Sayyda Zainab area, and the Russian security sources say that about 5000 armed men from the Whhabi terrorist groups executed Bandar's orders in attacking and destroying Sayyda Zainab shrine in Damascus countryside, and tried during the past few days to execute the mission, and failed.. And Bandar's point of this mission (if succeeded) is to ignite a religious war from the extreme of the Islamic world to its end.

Bandar directed his mercenaries to hit the shrine which the Arab world Shia visit as they believe that the daughter of their grand Imam is buried their.

The mosque with its green minarets was under a fierce attack waged by Bandar men since days, and they have failed in reaching it, and the Syrian army say that the Wahhabi fighters are keen to reach the shrine to destroy it and commit a massacre to thousands of Iraqis living in its surroundings..

Russian media sources participating in the coverage of the battles in Damascus, say through their e-pages, that the Syrian Arab army set a trap to Bandr fighters in Sayyda Zainab area, and directed a heavy blow to them, by opening the door for them to go to the countryside, then besiege them intending to eliminate as many Al-Qaeda highly trained armed men possible..

On the security side, the Syrian intelligence waged a purification campaign , and the senior officers replaced many of their procedures, and the spies lying in big positions sensed the danger, and the famous colonel Hafez Makhlouf undertook the mission of pursuing and arresting them and maybe executing them publicly, Makhlouf who was thought to be killed in the National Security explosion in Damascus, while he was not even there.

A senior security source in Moscow, described what happened in Syria on the security side now as a massacre prepared by Hafez Makhlouf to be done to Bandar and the Mossad and the CIA men in Syria.

And in details, Filkka will reveal some of what's happening in the secret world of the intelligence war between Hafez Makhlouf and Bandar Bin Sultan and the Mossad and CIA leaders.

The End..

Filkka

Translated by JaNo Souria at [URL="http://newsaboutsyria.blogspot.com.au/2012/07/filkkaconflict-rages-between-bandar-bin.html"]2:55 PM
[/URL]http://newsaboutsyria.blogspot.com.au/20...r-bin.html

[Magda Hassan]

Well, this is interesting. Now Voltaire net is carrying this. Mmmm....and he hasn't been seen in public and there has been no comment in the Saudi news or announcements about him or any attack. Some of the Voltaire net people including Thierry Meyssan have a very good knowledge of the ME and good contacts. I'm still waiting for more.

Though not yet announced by the Saudi authorities, the death of Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saud has been confirmed to Voltaire Network by unofficial souces.Prince Bandar had just been appointed head of Saudi intelligence on July 24: a promotion which was interpreted as a reward for having organized the attack in Damascus on July 18. The Saudi services, with logistical support from the CIA, had managed to blow up the headquarters of the Syrian National Security during a Crisis Cell meeting: Generals Assef Chaoukat, Daoud Rajha and Hassan Tourkmani were killed instantly. General Amin Hicham Ikhtiar died soon after from his wounds. This operation, called "Damascus Volcano" was the signal for the attack on the capital by a swarm of mercenaries, mainly coming from Jordan.Prince Bandar was himself the target of a bomb attack on July 26, and subsequently succumbed to his injuries.A brilliant and cynical personality, Prince Bandar was 63 years old. He was the son of Prince Sultan (irremovable defense minister from 1963 until his death in 2011) and of a slave. Confidant of King Fahd, Bandar was ambassador to Washington throughout his reign (1983-2005). He became close to George H. Bush (then Vice-President of the United States), who regarded him as an "adopted son," prompting the U.S. press to dub him "Bandar Bush". Endowed with an outstanding genius for covert action, he brokered the Al-Yamamah arms deal, managing to divert more than one billion pounds, according to British official sources. He then used this windfall, and many more, to finance the activities of jihadist groups around the world, including Al Qaeda.In early 2010, Prince Bandar attempted to overthrow King Abdullah to place his own father on the throne. The plot failed and he was banished from the kingdom, but the monarch's declining health enabled him to return to Saudi Arabia a year later. Since the death of Prince Sultan in October 2011, he had become the de facto leader of the Sudairi clan, the hawkish wing within the royal family.His death constitutes a serious blow to the whole system of Western covert action in the Muslim world. It took Syria only one week to mount this spectacular reprisal operation.

http://www.voltairenet.org/Syria-reporte...ted-Bandar

[Peter Lemkin]

Absolutely under the radar - confirming or denying - from Official SA sources or the MSM, generally...even most of the alternative media and blogoshere. Very strange if true. One would think Assad would want to crow about it - and if not true his friends, family or SA govt. would want to deny it. Someone is dong a black op here - either way. The fact he has not been seen or produced is most strange, indeed. He indeed had connections to dirty Big Money deals, intelligence agencies in many countries and lived a lavish 'James Bond'-like life style. His [to some] treasonous behavior re: SA is complex, but must have made him many enemies in the area. While not surprising, Voltaire is the first to name CIA and US Military as firmly behind Damascus Volcano. The fog of war is very dense at the moment and it is hard to know what is actually happening and by whom in Syria and the region now.

[Magda Hassan]

There is much more to the conflict in Syria than meets the eye. Syria is currently the scene of a cold war between the US, NATO, Israel, and the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) on one side and Russia, China, Iran, and the Resistance Bloc on the other hand. Amidst the fighting between the Syrian government and anti-government forces, an intense intelligence war has also been taking place.

Germany's foreign intelligence service, the Bundes Nachrichtendienst (BND, Federal Intelligence Service), has been pointing its finger at Al-Qaeda for the bombings in Syria. This, however, has the effect of hiding and detracting the role that the intelligence services of the US and its allies have played. By crediting Al-Qaeda, the Bundes Nachrichtendienst is helping get Washington and its allies off the hook. Albeit Al-Qaeda is far more than just a US intelligence asset, the organization and label of Al-Qaeda is a catch-all term that is used to camouflage the operations of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) and other affiliated intelligence services.

Syrian intellectuals and scientists have also been reportedly assassinated in Damascus. Like in Iraq and Iran, it is probably the work of Israel's Mossad and part of Tel Aviv's policy of crippling scientific and technological advancement in enemy states. Informed sources in Washington have already clarified that Israel is helping the Free Syrian Army and actively participating in the intelligence war against Syria. An unnamed US official has confirmed to David Ignatius that both the CIA and Mossad are involved in Syria. [1] In his own words: "Scores of Israeli intelligence officers are also operating along Syria's border, though they are keeping a low profile." [2] A Qatari defector in Venezuela has also been reported to have divulged that the Qataris have been outsourced intelligence work against Syria by the CIA and Mossad.

The Bombing of the Syrian National Security Headquarters and its Crisis Unit in Damascus

There are still a lot of unanswered questions about the bombing of the Syrian National Security Headquarters in the northwest Damascene neighbourhood of Al-Rawda on July 18, 2012. Very little is actually known about what happened exactly. Moreover, Syrian television and media did not show scenes of the explosion as people have become accustomed to. This may be due to the security-based nature of the bombing location.

Key members of Syria's security and military command structure, Dawoud Rajiha, Assef Shawkat, and Hassan Turkmani, were all killed on July 18. Rajiha was the Syrian defence minister, deputy prime minister, and deputy commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces. Assef Shawkat was the Syrian deputy defence minister and the husband of Bashar Al-Assad's older sister Bushra. Hassan Turkmani was the Syrian assistant vice-president, head of Syria's crisis management operations, and the army general that was formerly minister of defence from 2004 to 2009. Hisham Ikhtiyar (Bakhtiar/Bakhtyar), the chief of the Syrian National Security Bureau, who was also hurt by the bombing, would also die from the injuries he sustained two days later on July 20. These men all formed what was called the Crisis Unit.

A moment should also be taken to note that the biographic background of these dead high-ranking Syrian officials disproves the allegations that the Syrian government is an Alawite regime. While Skawkat was an Alawite, Raijha was a Greek Orthodox Christian, Ikhtiyar a Sunni Muslim, and Turkmani was both an ethnic Turkoman and Sunni Muslim.

The Killing of Crisis Unit Members was executed by a Foreign Intelligence Service

Saudi sources have taken the opportunity to report that the Syrian officials were killed by Maher Al-Assad, the commander of the Syrian Republican Guard and President Al-Assad's younger brother, because of a rift between them that saw the general's supporting a political solution over a combative solution. [3] Pakistani sources, claiming to be receiving direct reports from the perpetrators of the July 18 bombing, contradicted the report by saying Maher Al-Assad was also a target and wounded during the attack. [4] The Pakistani source published the following:

"Everyone came in time, but Maher Al-Assad did not show up. Two men responsible for the mission waited for some time and pressed the remote control button as the dreaded general took his seat," the [Syrian Free Army] source said.

"Our men filmed the video from a safe distance which would be made public at an appropriate time," he revealed to this correspondent [that is, Naveed Ahmad]. One of the two daredevils was an employee of the government and worked in the very office the device was planted while the other was an outsider, according to the [Syrian Free Army] source.

[…]

The [Free Syrian Army] sources said Maher had brought his best friend Ghassan Bilal to the meeting as well. Maher al-Assad, who was never seen in the funeral of the key security aides assassinated in the attack, was in fact severely injured and according to a source de-capacitated. [5]

What the Pakistani source discloses is unreliable for several reasons. One of them is that the credibility of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) is extremely questionable. The Free Syrian Army has an undeniable track-record for shoddy propaganda and lying. Syria has also rejected claims about the Free Syrian Army's involvement and the assertions that the bomb was remote-controlled. Lebanon's Al-Manar, which is Hezbollah's media network, has reported that there were two bombs and the first was actually dismantled by Assef Shawkat before the second one exploded.

This was actually the second attempt to kill this gathering of Syrian military, security, and intelligence officials. The out of control Free Syrian Army, whose reign of terror has seen brutal and senseless attacks on the civilian population and various acts of lawlessness and terrorism, had claimed on May 20 to have murdered these same Syrian officials earlier, as well as Interior Minister Mohammed Shaar and Baath Party leader Mohammad Saeed Bkheitan. [6] The claims of the Free Syrian Army turned out to be false the first time as the alleged assassinated Syrian officials appeared on television and denied the SFA's claims. This time, however, there was no immediate credit taken and there was silence about the murders.

The Free Syrian Army was most probably bypassed by the US and its allies for this targeted attack. Instead of outsourcing the attack to the Free Syrian Army, the operation was probably directly conducted either by the intelligence agency of a NATO or GCC state or a consortium of intelligence agencies trying to topple the Syrian government.

A Damascene Operation Ajax

The attack on the Syrian National Security Headquarters in Al-Rawda was a carefully coordinated event that was synchronized with the assault on Damascus by the various armed groups operating under the umbrella and banner of the Free Syrian Army. It is clear that the US and its allies more or less used the same playbook of tactics in Damascus that were used in 2011 to topple the Jamahiriya government in Tripoli. Both are modern reincarnations of the infamous Operation Ajax, which was an intelligence operation launched in 1953 by the US and British governments to topple the democratic government of Prime Minister Mohammed Mossageh in Iran. Washington and London installed a brutal and repressive dictatorship under Mohammed-Reza Shah in place of Dr. Mossadegh's government and Iran was transformed from a constitutional monarchy into a de facto absolute monarchy.

The aim of the attack on high-ranking Syrian officials, especially important figures from the military and security apparatus that has been the backbone of the Syrian regime, was two-pronged. The attack's aim was to cripple Syria's command structure with the objective of disorganizing resistance to anti-government forces and creating internal panic within the hierarchy of the Syrian government and military. This psychological blow was supposed to lead to fear, defections, and betrayal as anti-government forces attacked the gates of the Syrian capital.

The mainstream media, in terms of what scholar Edward Said called "image making" experts, also played a supportive role in the US-sponsored siege of Damascus. [7] Securing a monopoly over information and air waves has also been a part of the intelligence war and a goal of the US and its allies. This is why the signals of Syrian broadcasters have been banned from the Arab Satellite Communications Organization (Arabsat) and Nilesat satellite feeds. This is aimed at preventing Syria from countering the claims of the US and its allies and proxies. By the same token the US and the EU are also trying to cut and block Iranian stations, which are challenging the accounts of the mainstream media in NATO and GCC states. This is also the reason why the US and British media very decidedly condemned the Iranian, Russian, and Chinese medias in their news coverage of the Syrian crisis, which challenge the tide of misinformation from the declining networks of CNN, Fox News, France 24, and Al Jazeera. [8]

Like the original Operation Ajax in 1953, in which the state-run British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) took part, the mainstream media broadcasts from NATO and GCC states have been synchronized to shape the events on the ground. The media war intensified when the anti-government forces launched their attack of Damascus. The aim was to fuel panic and fear with the hope of getting the Syrian government and the Syrian military to scatter and lose hope instead of facing the anti-government forces. The ultimate objectives are to demoralize the Syrian population and to weaken the Syrian government's domestic support.

The media outlets of NATO and GCC states insinuated that President Assad and his family fled Damascus to Latakia and would seek asylum in the Russian Federation. [9] Again, the aims were to cause panic and both the governments in Syria and Russia rejected the false claims. According to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, Assad was "not even thinking about" fleeing to Russia. [10] This was a repeat of British Foreign Secretary William Hague's 2011 lie that Muammar Qaddafi had fled from Libya to Venezuela. [11] This behaviour also falls into line with British Prime Minister David Cameron's false claim that Vladimir Putin had told him that President Assad had to step down. [12]

A New Saudi Intelligence Boss: Return of Prince "Bandar Bush"

Shortly after the bombing of the Syrian National Security Headquarters, a July 19 royal decree was enacted in Riyadh to replace Prince Muqrin (Mogren) bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud with Prince Bandar bin Sultan Al-Saud as the director-general of the external intelligence agency of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Al-Istikhbarat Al-Amah (General Intelligence).

Since 2005, Prince Bandar has been the secretary-general of the Saudi Arabian National Security Council, but his new appointment has made heads turn and is being used to infer that Saudi Arabia has a far more aggressive foreign policy. What the appointment reflects is that Saudi Arabia is fully in the service of the US in its intelligence wars against Syria and Iran and that Washington's men in Riyadh have a firm grip over Saudi Arabia's intelligence, security, and military apparatus. In the words of the Saudi pundit Jamal Khashoggi and the chief of the Bahrain-based Al-Arab network: "Bandar is quite aggressive, not at all like a typical cautious Saudi diplomat. If the aim is to bring Bashar down quick and fast, he will have a free hand to do what he thinks necessary." [13]

Prince Bandar, the son of the deceased Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al-Saud, has been one of the central figures in creating Al-Qaeda and manipulating militant groups as geo-political tools for Washington since the Cold War. He was the Saudi ambassador to the US from 1983 to 2005. He has been a key figure in the intelligence war in Lebanon against Hezbollah and its allies and involved in exporting Fatah Al-Islam to Lebanon in an attempt to help the Hariri family fight Hezbollah and the March 8 Alliance.

Because he was the Saudi ambassador to Washington, he became the key figure in Saudi-US relations and developed close ties to the Bush family, which earned him the name "Bandar Bush." It has been reported that the relationship was so close that the US Secret Service was part of his security detail. Moreover, he has had a long history with Robert Gates, starting from when Gates was a member of the CIA and helping mobilize fighters in Afghanistan against the Soviets. [14]

In 2009, Bandar may have attempted to launch a silent coup in Saudi Arabia to impose his father, Crown Prince Sultan, as the new absolute monarch of Saudi Arabia. He was not seen for several years and may have been in some form of confinement. Things changed, however, in 2011 with the Arab Spring; Prince Bandar, Washington's man, was seen in public again.

Bandar may also be a key figure in Saudi negotiations with Pakistan to purchase nuclear bombs. [15] United Press International writes:

"As Iran becomes more dangerous and the United States becomes more reluctant to engage in military missions overseas, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia may find that renewed military and nuclear cooperation is the best way to secure their interests," observed Christopher Clary and Mara E. Karlin, former [Pentagon] policy advisers on South Asia and the Middle East. [16]

The picture that UPI depicts actually is misleading. If anyone is pushing the Saudis to acquire nuclear weapons, it is Washington. The US has also been heavily arming the Saudi regime and the GCC for the same reasons. One dimension of the US strategy is clear: Washington aims to create multiple and ongoing contained conflicts in the Middle East to bleed the region and keep it immobilized. Like the Israelis, the US wants perpetual civil war in Iraq, Lebanon, Yemen, Syria, and even Turkey. By being duped into burning its bridges with Syria, the Turkish government has laid the foundations for the destabilization of the Turkish republic.

A Tale of Two Security Headquarters

Days after the appointment of Prince Bandar and the attack of the Syrian Crisis Unit an attack on General Intelligence's Headquarters in Riyadh was reported by Yemen's Al-Fajr Press and then widely quoted by the Iranian media. The blast is reported to have killed Banadar's number two man, the deputy director-general of Saudi external intelligence, while he was entering the building. Rumours are also circulating that Bandar may have been hurt or killed. Saudi Arabia has remained silent over the issue.

The blast in Riyadh is no mere coincidence. It is a retaliatory response to the blast in the Syrian National Security Headquarters. The chances that the Syrians executed the operation while all their energies are being spent on fighting against the US-directed siege on their country are marginal, but still possible. This is speculation, but it is most likely that one of Syria's friends and allies retaliated against the Saudis for their involvement in the attack on the Crisis Unit in Damascus.

A remote-controlled bomb was also discovered in front of a Yemenese Intelligence building in Aden on July 22, 2012. [17] The event came shortly after a Yemenese intelligence officer died after a targeted attack in the province of Bayda. [18] What this means is a matter of speculation, but what is clear is that the intelligence apparatus of Arab states are being targeted. There is a full-out intelligence war in the Middle East and there are probably cross-cutting alliances.

The Bush Jr. Administration's "Redirection" Policy is Manifest under Obama

In Yemen, the national military has successfully been fractured and divided, which is exactly what Washington, DC and its NATO and GCC allies want to replicate in Syria. Regime change is not their only goal, the destruction and balkanization of the Syrian Arab Republic is. They want sectarianism and balkanization to take root in Syria and across the Middle East. To paraphrase, when the so-called spiritual leaders of the Syrian Free Army and anti-government forces begin saying that "Israel and the Sunnis are allies against the Shias" or that "all Alawites must be exterminated," it is clear that the end goal is to regionally divide and conquer the peoples of the Middle East by pitting them against one another.

This is part of the Middle East policy that the Bush Jr. White House called the "redirection" in 2007: "The redirection,' as some inside the White House have called the new strategy, has brought the United States closer to an open confrontation with Iran and, in parts of the region, propelled it into a widening sectarian conflict between Shiite and Sunni Muslims." [19] Robert Gates, Bandar's old comrade, was brought into the Pentagon to oversee this "redirection" and retained by Barak Obama, who's "A New Beginning" Speech in Cairo is an extension of this policy. The New Yorker is worth quoting about what the "redirection" policy began to implement: "[Washington] has also taken part in clandestine operations aimed at Iran and its ally Syria. A by-product of these activities has been the bolstering of Sunni extremist groups that espouse a militant vision of Islam and are hostile to America and sympathetic to Al Qaeda." [20]

Regardless of the political position that one takes about President Assad and his government, what has to be emphasized is that the governments of the US, UK, France, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Qatar are not involving themselves under the cover of the so-called "international community" on the basis of concern for the Syrian people and their well being. Because of them the words "protester" and "activist" have been hijacked by anti-government militias and foreign intelligence services. Humanitarianism and human rights are not the motive for US involvement. This is a fairy-tale for the naïve. Geo-political opportunism is at play and all the parties involved have blood on their hands at the expense of the Syrian people.

NOTES

1. David Ignatius, "Looking for a Syrian endgame," The Washington Post, July 18, 2012.
2. Ibid.
3. Ali Bluwi, "Role of Russia and Iran in Syrian crisis," Arab News, July 28, 2012.
4. Naveed Ahmad, "Failing Damascus, Aleppo campaigns expose lack of military expertise," The News, July 27, 212.
5. Ibid.
6. "Syria: Damascus clashes prompt claims of high-level assassinations - Sunday 20 May," The Guardian, May 20, 2012.
7. Edward W. Said, Orientalism, 25th anniversary ed. (NYC: Vintage Books, 1979), p.307.
8. "Chinese, Iranian press alone back UN Syria veto," British Broadcasting Corporation News, February 6, 2012; Robert Mackey, "Crisis in Syria Looks Very Different on Satellite Channels Owned by Russia and Iran," The Lede (The New York Times), February 10, 2012.
9. Damien McElroy, "Syria: Bashar al-Assad flees to Latakia,'" The Daily Telegraph, July 19, 2012; Khaled Yacoub Owei," Syrian President Assad in Latakia: opposition sources," eds. Samia Nakhoul and Diana Abdallah, Reuters, July 19, 2012; Loveday Morris, "Hunt for Assad is on amid claims of wife Asma's exit to Russia," The Independent, July 20, 2012.
10. "Russia says not thinking about' asylum for Assad," Reuters, July 28, 2012.
11. "Hague: some information Gaddafi on way to Venezuela," Reuters, February 21, 2011.
12. "Putin no longer backs Syria's Assad Cameron," Reuters, June 19, 2012; "Lavrov Denies Russia Changed Stance' on Syria," Russian News and Information Agency (RIA Novosti), June 21, 2012.
13. Angus McDowall, "Saudi Prince Bandar: a flamboyant, hawkish spy chief," ed. Mark Heinrich, Reuters, July 20, 2012.
14. In fact, one of the reasons that Robert Gates, who was the defence secretary of the Bush Jr. Administration, was kept by the Obama Administration is tied to Washington's objectives to remobilize the militant brigades against Arab societies.
15. "Saudis mull buying nukes from Pakistan,'" United Press International, July 25, 2012.
16. Ibid.
17. Mohammed Mukhashaf and Rania El Gamal, "Yemen defuses bomb at Aden intelligence building," ed. Tim Pearce,Reuters, July 23, 2012.
18. "Yemen intelligence officer shot dead: ministry," Agence France-Presse, July 21, 2012.
19. Seymour Hersh, "The Redirection," The New Yorker, vol. 83, no. 2 (March 5, 2007): p.54.
20. Ibid.

​http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?c...k.facebook

[Carsten Wiethoff]

From http://www.debka.com/article/22225/

Saudi silence on intelligence chief Bandar's fate denotes panic

Disquiet in Washington, Jerusalem and a row of Middle East capitals is gaining ground the longer the Saudi government stays silent on the reports of the assassination of the newly-appointed Saudi intelligence chief Prince Bandar bin Sultan, purportedly in a revenge operation by a Syrian intelligence death squad. If true, it would shoot a devastating tentacle out from the Syrian conflict to the broader region.
It is widely feared that Saudi rulers are too traumatized to respond by the fear of Iranian penetration of the highest and most closely guarded circles of Saudi government, possibly climaxing in Bandar's assassination.
The unconfirmed reports of his death attribute its motive to revenge by Iran and Syria for the bomb explosion five days earlier in Damascus which killed four of Bashar Assad's top managers of his war on the uprising against his regime.
The prince, son of the late crown prince Sultan, has not been seen in public since Saudi General Intelligence headquarters in Riyadh was hit by a bomb blast Monday, July 23 killing his deputy, Mashaal al-Qarni.
DEBKA-Net-Weekly 550 of Friday, July 26, was the first world publication to report this attack, in the face of a massive official blackout, from its exclusive intelligence sources.
Now as then, debkafile's sources have obtained no confirmation that Prince Bandar was injured or killed in that attack. King Abdullah made him Director of Saudi Intelligence on July 19, just a day after the Damascus bombing. But our sources doubt whether a Syrian intelligence squad would be capable of reaching deep inside Riyadh. They therefore postulate that the deed was committed or orchestrated by a clandestine Iranian agency.
It wouldn't be the first time.
In 2003 and 2004, Iran initiated a wave of bombing attacks inside the Saudi kingdom carried out by Al Qaeda, supplying its terror squads with intelligence, explosives and money. Al Qaeda experts ran those operations. One of them, Saif al-Adal, was later freed by Iran and is now based in Pakistan.
Iran's terror masters may have gone back to their tested stratagem of hiring Al Qaeda terrorists for an insider job against the Saudi regime.
For Tehran, all means are justified for the preservation of their foremost Arab ally, Syrian ruler Bashar Assad, in power. Furthermore, Iran's ability to strike deep into the heart of the Saudi capital is meant to serve as a timely object lesson for their Middle East enemies that Iran's arm is long enough to reach inside any of their capitals.
The attack on Riyadh therefore throws a new perspective on the military calculations actuating the "Arab Spring" and governing US and Israel plans to strike Iran's nuclear program in the very near future. In the same way, the Damascus bombing of July 18 dragged the Syrian civil war outside its borders to Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Iran.
The unconfirmed report claiming Prince Bandar was critically injured and his doctors had lost the fight to save him, spilling out since Sunday July 29, has gained wide resonance not because it was verified but because of its momentous strategic significance. Corroboration is still lacking. debkafile reports that Washington too is groping the dark and has turned to its many Middle East intelligence contacts for a glimmer of light on what has happened to the key Saudi figure so far without success.
It looks as though the enigma will be solved one way or another only after an authoritative account or an official statement is forthcoming from the Saudi government or if the missing prince appears in public. The absence of any word from the Saudi government increases the trepidation in Washington and among concerned parties in the Middle East.

[Magda Hassan]

Thanks Carsten. So, Debka is saying "Show us the body!"

[Peter Lemkin]

While intelligence heads can maintain a low profile for long periods of time without much ado.....in this case, they are not going to be able to be silent very long - and will have to produce the body - dead or alive!!! S. A. has perhaps had it own mini '9-11' moment!?

[Jan Klimkowski]

Syrian intelligence.

Syriana.

There's a sense of bloody Shakespearian retribution about the West's longtime hardcore assets in Syrian intelligence executing revenge missions that the faux bogeymen Gaddafi and Saddam's security services failed to deliver.

Geopolitical scores are being settled.

Therefore MSM is silent.

[Magda Hassan]

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[TD]Where is Prince Bandar?
By Pepe Escobar

Was Prince Bandar "Bush", 63, son of Prince Sultan bin Abdulaziz (perennial Saudi Defense Minister,1963-2001), semi-perennial ambassador to Washington (1983-2005), and secretive jihad financier, killed by a Syrian intelligence death squad?

Thunderous silence prevails on Syrian, Iranian and Arab media (most of it controlled by the Saudis). The same applies for al-Jazeera. This is DEBKA's somewhat fanciful take.

Dates are crucial. Prince Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz Al Saudmay have pulled off operation "Damascus Volcano" on July 18. He was definitely promoted to head of Saudi intelligence on July 19. And he might have been killed in a bomb attack on the Saudi General Intelligence HQ in



Riyadh on July 22.

One Syrian rumor mill version rules that "Damascus Volcano" came from Saudi intel - with logistics provided by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). This is highly unlikely; the CIA is clueless on how to penetrate Assad's inner sanctum. The predominant version circulating in the Syrian capital is this was a white coup.

"Damascus Volcano", by the way, was a flop; the swarm of mercenaries - infiltrated via Jordan - who were supposed to take over the capital had to retreat up north. Now the news cycle is fixated on another faux game-changer - the "Battle of Aleppo".

There are serious problems with all the spin around "Damascus Volcano". None of the Assad regime's four heads of military intelligence were killed - they are actually running the (ghastly) show in Aleppo.

There are also problems with a Syrian death squad being able to strike Riyadh's inner sanctum. But Iranian intelligence could certainly pull this off. As for Debka's assumption that Tehran may have hired al-Qaeda jihadis for an inside job against the House of Saud, that is rubbish.

The bottom line; no one knows, because no one is talking.

What is certain is that Bandar as head of Saudi intelligence was part of King Abdullah's hardcore response to the Arab Spring.

In Syria, the House of Saud strategy boils down to regime change - and a fragile, fragmented, Sunni government in Damascus not aligned with Tehran.

Internally, the strategy is to viciously smash any peaceful Shi'ite-majority protest in the eastern provinces. Essentially, there's no Arab Spring in Saudi Arabia because the House of Saud either bribes or intimidates its subjects.

The overall strategy of choice is "blame it on Iran"; as this logic goes, Saudi Shi'ites are Iranian puppets as much as Bahraini Shi'ites. The Obama administration blindly subscribes to this fallacy - totally missing the point; the House of Saud hates any semblance of Western parliamentary democracy as much as it hates Shi'ites - Iranian and otherwise.

So what happened in Riyadh? A graphic Tehran message to the House of Saud? A rogue suicide bomber? An internal Saudi war? The House of Saud is not talking. And Bandar is not moving.

Pepe Escobar

http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NH02Ak03.html[/TD]
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