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Syrian Gov't Agrees To Russian Chem-Weapon Turnover Plan
CNN reports that at least for now we may be able to set aside the question of whether and under what authority the U.S. should intervene militarily in Syria, a question that's dominated the news for the last few weeks. From the report:
"Facing the threat of a U.S. military strike, the country's leaders Tuesday reportedly accepted a Russian proposal to turn over its chemical weapons. ... The development, reported by Syrian state television and Russia's Interfax news agency, came a day after the idea bubbled up in the wake of what appeared to be a gaffe by U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry. It quickly changed the debate in Washington from 'Should the U.S. attack?' to 'Is there a diplomatic way out of this mess?' Syrian Foreign Minister Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said Tuesday his country had agreed to the Russian proposal after what Interfax quoted him as calling 'a very fruitful round of talks' with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Monday. Details of such a transfer have yet to be worked out, such as where the arms would go, who would safeguard them and how the world could be sure Syria had handed over its entire stockpile of chemical weapons."
I wonder if this was his plan all along - a way to keep the West out of his civil war. Do something completely outrageous, seemingly capitulate to a demand that you didn't really want to violate anyway, and then be left off in a better position than you were before you used the chemical weapons. As a bonus, you no longer have to worry about guarding these things against the rebels.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Nope, they admit to having them. They admit to having facilities to make them. They only deny having used them in this conflict.
On the other hand, the rebels could have pilfered chemical weapons when they took over a Syrian base in Sep 2012 then used the weapons in an attempt to provoke a western response in order to give them an advantage.
"Lack of speed can be overcome. In the worst case by patience." --Znork
Oh John Kerry you really botched that one didn't you LOL!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wUJTarxfZ6M
I'm curious, why do you take this as a confession, on the part of Assad's regime, that they were responsible for the August attacks?
As far as I know, they have vehemently denied it. Which doesn't mean much, but then again the rebels seem a pretty nasty bunch as well.
Basically the only ones who claim to know for sure is the US govt -- and now they seem to be less sure of that as before (or maybe they honestly still expected anyone to take their word for it, before being disappointment to find themselves alone in the bomb-first-ask-questions-later camp).
Gosh, thanks. That must be why the other ships call me Meatfucker -- GCU Grey Area (Eccentric)
The first casualty in war is truth. We may never know for CERTAIN that Assad did it. However, it seems unlikely that this was rebels targeting themselves with chemical weapons. For one thing, the rebels are only known by independent groups to have had miniscule amounts of chemical weapons, they never were known to be armed with the attacks that occurred. For another, it doesn't make a whole lot of sense to have killed thousands of their own just to try to paint it on Assad.
Honestly I forget the details that I did read about the attacks, and can't keep Sunni and Shiite apart, but I remember hearing someone explain it and explained why it was much more likely that the chem attacks were Assad rather than the rebels. Again, no certainty, but you're never going to get that even WITH a confession: whoever wins is going to wring a confession from the loser.
Lessee, say you are a basic Syrian rebel, maybe with Al Qaeda or not. You get some really fancy chem weapons (and these were upgraded weapons carrying Syrian developed upgrades). Do you (a) kill your own supporters and their women and children thereby antagonizing the lot keeping you in business in the vague hope to draw in the U.S. (recognizing that Assad has used them frequently before and nothing bad happened to him), or (b) knock of a bunch of Syrian soldiers which would gain you battlefield advantage and demoralize Assad's troops. Decisions, decisions...
For reasons I dont claim to understand a very powerful section of those who hold the power in the USA want a war.
If Assad goes down, so does Hezbollah. And of course, it puts Iran in a difficult position and gets rid of a Russian ally on NATO's border. But I think Israeli security would be the key benefit they are chasing.
W..w..W - Willy Waterloo washes Warren Wiggins who is washing Waldo Woo.
Obama lucked into an "out" for the predicament he put himself in by drawing the 'red lines' without first thinking through the implications if he was ever called on it.
He is one lucky SOB, that's for sure....an on camera/mike gaffe essentially by Kerry yesterday, turned into a way out for the administration.
If they will do this and confirm it, then it is likely the best thing that would happen, get the chemical weapons out, destroy them and keep them out of the hands of Asad (if he wins) or out of the terrorist groups if they win out.
But man, Big O got lucky again on this one, and look, the media coverage on this has dropped the:
1. IRS scandals
2. NSA privacy breach scandals
3. The hunt and loss of Snowden
4. The upcoming problems and costs assoc. with Obamacare implementation.
On that last one, he gets another gift, this time from the CBO...saying he can save about $35B or so over the next 10 years, if he also puts off the individual mandate for a year.....and doing that will possibly save Dem. seats up for grabs in 2014.
He is sure a lucky one....
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I saw an article today that suggests that this may have actually came up at the G20:
http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/09/10/20416189-obama-agrees-to-un-discussion-of-russia-proposal-on-syria-chemical-weapons?lite
In a further development, a spokesman for Putin said the Russian president had discussed the weapons handover plan with Obama at last week’s G-20 summit.
False equivalence. http://www.nytimes.com/2011/07/29/opinion/krugman-the-centrist-cop-out.html
The Republicans are worse.
In addition to everything the Democrats do, the Republicans want to destroy the government, take away your right to abortion, and abandon the poor to die.
"They say it was Assad and not the rebels"
The clear-cut sides you can see in Hollywood productions and militaristic propaganda the US is spewing out these days is seldom to be found in the real world. The question "who did it, Assad or the rebels" misses the whole reality on the ground: a sectarian civil war where neither side is righteous or well organized.
Damascus' control over it's own military is tenuous at best and it well may be that 2nd rank Alawite leaders are struggling in the background to seize power from Assad, while fighting alongside him against the Sunni. I believe the chemical incident was such an event - there was no order from Assad who clearly understands the fragility of his diplomatic position, yet leaders on the ground independently decided that any means are justified in what they consider a 'just cause', murdering as much Sunni as possible.
The only potential for military intervention is a peace keeping mission, a forced cease fire and disarmament and a transitional government. Taking the side of anyone in this madness is a recipe for a humanitarian disaster. Of course, no one realy wants such a mission, the involved powers simply desire their own dog to win and improve their own possition in the area.
destroy the government that is spying on all of us?? I call that a good thing
take away your right to abortion? frankly if that is something that you base your vote on, you are an idiot anyway as that is not something that is a major voting issue, if you vote for or against someone based on abortion, you are a selfish prick.
abandon the poor to die? citation please. and no im not looking for "cutting food stamps" or "want to push grandma over a cliff" bullshit that is normally used.
have you seen my sig? there are many others like it but none that are the same