West Asia News and Discussions

Philip · Post by **Philip** » 25 Sep 2012 03:54

Rama,the so-called "War on Terror" in the aftermath of 9/11 ,was a deliberately engineered strategy to prosecute state-sponsored terrorism worldwide by the US and its cronies.The threat Iraq/Saddam's WMDs were found to be a deliberate fraud perpetrated by the US/UK and its cronies,with Tony B.Liar in particular justifying the invasion and colonisation of Iraq,stealing its oil and antiquity wealth.This strategy having been found eminently successful,was then used to usher in regime change in the Arab world under the fig-leaf of the so-called "jasmine revolution"! The actual terrorists are the so-called hypocracies, "poseurs" as democratic leaders of the western world,who preach democracy but practice mobocracy.

Sadly,India under snake-oil Singh,is also being rapidly drawn into the list of such patheticc servile nations.After his total surrender to western interests on the economy,the quisling Singh is preparing to surrender to Pakistan the hard fought victories won by our gallant soldiers over decades of warring,to please his master Uncle Sam.As Pak continues to flood India with fake currency and infiltrate the nation via TNadu from Lanka,our great zero is preparing to welcome into India Paki banks!

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 25 Sep 2012 16:18

Qatar’s PM: ‘We have a Plan B for Syria’

By Samuel Burke and Claire Calzonetti

After more than a year of unimaginable violence and a mounting death toll in Syria, the possibility seems lower than ever that real action will be taken to stop the slaughter.

The United Nations had been the only source of hope for a resolution, but back in May the U.N. Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, caused a stir when he told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour that there was no “Plan B” in Syria.

But Monday, Qatar’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Al Thani, gave a glimmer of hope by telling Amanpour that there is indeed a “Plan B” for Syria.

“We believe that we can solve it peacefully,” Al Thani said. He is in New York for the yearly United Nations General Assembly, and he says Arab countries are working on a plan of their own.

U.N. focuses on Syria

Qatar is a tiny country, with big money and big power. With its oil and gas riches, Qatar holds real clout in the Arab world.

“You need to make safe haven areas, first of all,” Al Thani says.

That would require a no-fly zone.

“If the Syrians want to break that, that's another subject. We need somebody to have the teeth to tell them don't do that, because that will not be allowed.”

While Al Thani wouldn’t offer up specifics about who will participate in this Plan B, he said the support might be wider than expected.
“I believe there are a lot of Arab countries who will participate. And there are also European countries who will participate.”

Nonetheless, he said the region needs the United States to step up.

“We are in an election period, so maybe this isn’t a diplomatic way to say it, but I hope that after the election the American government looks at this matter in different way.”

Al Thani maintains he isn’t looking for military intervention and says Qatar is not providing weapons to the Syrian uprisings, but said his country is providing logistic help – citing humanitarian aide and medicines.
Qatar played a key role in the liberation of Libya as the first Arab nation to recognize the rebels and to support NATO’s mission there.

In fact, Libyans were so thankful they hung the Qatari flag over a Gadhafi compound in Tripoli.

But Al Thani says that was possible through work via NATO and the help of the United States.

Now Qatar's sights are on Syria.

And Qatar certainly isn’t lacking the money to send weapons to help the rebels.

“Money is not everything.” Al Thani says. “Will is more important than the money. A lot of countries have the money. But they don't have the will.
President Assad was recently quoted in the Al Hayat newspaper criticizing the tiny, wealth nation, saying, "Qatar uses the power of money and revolves in the orbit of the West to repeat the Libyan scenario."

Al Thani responded: “Qatar and the others interfere in Syria, because of his failure.”

Basically UK, France, Dutch, probably Germans and UAE, Qatar, KSA, Turkey will participate. But they need US support to knock out the air defence. KSA is now threatening to cancel/rethink US contract for JSF - probably due to lack of US support. They want the plan tabled within weeks to a month.

---------
This morning, shells hit Israeli side of Golan (no one hurt) and blast in a building of the palestine branch of the Syrian intel services close to Damascus airport.

Aditya_V · Post by **Aditya_V** » 25 Sep 2012 17:01

Qatar is asking for Libya Redux. It is inevitable.

eklavya · Post by **eklavya** » 25 Sep 2012 17:46

shyamd wrote:Basically UK, France, Dutch, probably Germans and UAE, Qatar, KSA, Turkey will participate.

If you know the first thing about European countries, you would know that in this day and age they seek legal cover for going to war. The UNSC will never provide legal cover for intervention. So your statement above sounds like complete nonsense to me.

Qatar, KSA and Turkey are already participating illegally. UAE I don't know .. newsflow is not strong.

eklavya · Post by **eklavya** » 25 Sep 2012 17:49

RamaY wrote:Since we buy their oil and we have 5 million Indians held as hostage by these benevolent rulers, we must enter into strategic relationship with them onleee. Otherwise India will remain poor onlee and will be hurt by GCC foreign policy of using religion onlee.

RamaY, our strategic partner in the region is Israel.

eklavya · Post by **eklavya** » 25 Sep 2012 17:55

Aditya_V wrote:Qatar is asking for Libya Redux. It is inevitable.

Qatar thinks it can buy anything e.g. Harrods, the football World Cup in 2022, etc. Iran and Syria are exposing its flatulent juvenile impotent irrelevance.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 25 Sep 2012 21:12

Russia-Saudi Arabia relations and the Arab Spring

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 25 Sep 2012 23:04

Looks to me like the crux of this problem is that Iran has painted itself into a corner by trying to hijack the "destruction of Israel" issue and putting it on steroids. My sense is that such a stance is more natural to the arabs than to the more cultured persians. Anyone have any thoughts on scenarios that would help Iran get off the tiger?

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 25 Sep 2012 23:09

^ My solution to Iran conundrum.

http://bharata-bhuti.blogspot.com/2012/ ... vious.html

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 25 Sep 2012 23:33

KLNMurthy wrote:Looks to me like the crux of this problem is that Iran has painted itself into a corner by trying to hijack the "destruction of Israel" issue and putting it on steroids. My sense is that such a stance is more natural to the arabs than to the more cultured persians. Anyone have any thoughts on scenarios that would help Iran get off the tiger?

As I said before one has to see the Shia-Sunni prespective in this mud fight. Khominei's Iran wants leadership of all the Muslims and not just the Shias of Iran.

As for thoughts to get the Iranians off the mad roller coaster, they need to introspect on the rationale for allowing religious dogma driving their natural leadership of ME quest.

eklavya · Post by **eklavya** » 26 Sep 2012 02:33

Another excellent report (really a 'short story') in The Guardian from the frontline in Aleppo. This journalist writes very well.

Syria civil war: 'We expend the one thing we have, men. Men are dying'

The major had been in Turkey looking for funds, and had now decided to spend a few days with Abu Hussein before heading to his battalion. He described the difficulty of finding money and supplies across the border. "I tell you it's rotten up there," he said. "Everyone is willing to pay you just a little bit to buy you – the Muslim brotherhood, [the defected air force colonel] Riad al-Assad. They are rotten, playing with us. I sat for three weeks waiting there and nothing came."

He had met the former head of the transitional national council, Burhan Ghalioun, in Turkey. "He took me with him into a meeting in Istanbul. I love this man, we met a prince in the Qatari armed forces. We talked and explained everything and he had an idea of what was going on, but he said the good times were coming soon. We left with nothing.

"One of his men gave us some useful advice. He said if we all pointed our guns at a Mig fighter at once it would come down."

The three officers burst out laughing.

Sounds like everybody (regime and rebel) agrees that the Qataris are a joke.

paramu · Post by **paramu** » 26 Sep 2012 04:10

Lots of pro-Qatar psy-ops articles

Guest Post: Qatar - Rich and Dangerous

Looks like after that assassination of US ambassador in Libya, real powers who want to attack Syria are hiding behind tiny islamic sooper power.

shyam · Post by **shyam** » 26 Sep 2012 08:35

Coming to Qatar's behavior w.r.t. Syria, there is a saying in Malayalam - "njanjoolum pathi vidarthi" which means "even an earthworm is behaving like a cobra".

pentaiah · Post by **pentaiah** » 26 Sep 2012 08:40

my sources say that Russia has issued a big warning (sign board "Assad gone fishing")

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 26 Sep 2012 11:52

Blast yesterday at Palestine branch of Syrian intelligence yesterday and today they have struck Army General staff HQ. Syrian info minister says no one killed in today's attack. Gunfight ongoing close to the army HQ

Mahendra · Post by **Mahendra** » 26 Sep 2012 12:31

Tweets from source

@Qatari_Tzuthiya
Alhamdilullah point gun at Mig and it will come down

@ FSA mercenaries
Lol Lol Lol

@FSA_Free For All

Paisa paisa paisa?

@Qatari_Tzuthiya
AoA Sabar sabar, dinars on its way

@Bashar Assad( Evil Forces)
LOL, prince Bandar ki aulaad is alive? Lol Lol...

@GCC_Superpower
AoA, Bashar is a Kaffir, fight him and we will make FSA a sooperpowah

@Bashar Assad
Lol, why dont you make yourself a superpoowah first? lol

@FSA_Freefor all

Tzuthiyas quit sniping at each other and send us more money

@RIP Gaddafi

Secular replacement lol lol

@ Lynn Choos
ror ror

@Sergei Ivanov

lol lol

@Khoosat Buddha ( SMKrishna)

Hina khar how could you?

@Dbutt
SMK you are reading out of your personal diary, not the official statement

@Khoosat Buddha(SMKrishna)

Err, emm sorry, we appeal to all sides for peaceful and secular solution

All
lol lol

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 26 Sep 2012 13:18

There was a report in CNN which mentioned that Coptic Christian that constitute 10 % of population in Syria are firmly behind Assad , they said what comes after him will be more worse.

Pranav · Post by **Pranav** » 26 Sep 2012 14:57

Press TV correspondent Maya Naser killed by sniper in Damascus. Rather unfortunate. A decent chap who I used to follow on twitter (@nasermaya).

svenkat · Post by **svenkat** » 26 Sep 2012 15:12

RoyG · Post by **RoyG** » 26 Sep 2012 17:29

pentaiah wrote:my sources say that Russia has issued a big warning (sign board "Assad gone fishing")

Are your "sources" news articles or human beings?

Prem · Post by **Prem** » 26 Sep 2012 22:48

http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/ ... an-rebels/

Who Are the Syrian Rebels?

There is mounting evidence that the “Free Syrian Army” includes brigades of foreign fighters from places like Chechnya, Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia. These fighters have varying allegiances, religious beliefs, battle strategies, and visions of Syria’s future. Some fight for a free, democratic Syria. Some are terrorists. Some are well-armed, well-trained, and lethal; others are poor and struggle even to find pants that fit.
The picture of the Syrian civil war that emerges is a patchwork resistance where brigades struggle with everything from finding a common language to securing foreign assistance:
Hundreds of international fighters have flocked to Syria to join the war against Bashar al-Assad’s government. Some are fresh-faced idealists driven by a romantic notion of revolution or a hatred for the Assads. Others are jihadi veterans of Iraq, Yemen and Afghanistan. . . .
According to the Saudi, it was an easy walk from Turkey to the small Syrian town of Atmeh. There, in a hilly landscape flecked with olive groves, the recruits were received by a Syrian who runs a jihadi camp and organised into fighting units. Each team was assigned an Arabic speaker and given 10 days’ basic training, the point of which was not to learn how to shoot but to learn to communicate and work together.
The disparate levels of fighting ability among the men was immediately clear. The Chechens were older, taller, stronger and wore hiking boots and combat trousers. They carried their weapons with confidence and distanced themselves from the rest, moving around in a tight-knit unit-within-a-unit. One of the Turks was a former soldier who wore western-style webbing and equipment, while the three Tajiks and the Pakistani were evidently poor. Their trousers were too short, their shoes old and torn.The strong Chechen presence in the rebel forces suggests a rationale behind Russia’s support for the Syrian government. Russia is wary that if successful, the Syrian rebels will then fight other enemies, like governments in the area that supported Butcher Assad. If the rebels manage to oust Assad from power, the Chechen faction (among others) might garner new credibility in their own cause, and new foreign friends and financial backers to boot.The Syrian rebels are definitely not a bunch of democracy activists who suddenly and reluctantly picked up weapons to fight for a free and peaceful Syria. Further complications arise from the differing agendas of the rebels’ main foreign backers, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which no longer see eye-to-eye on which rebel groups should get weapons.The bottom line: what comes out of the Syrian civil war will not be prettier—or more stable, or more accepting of American priorities, or friendlier to Israel—than the Assad regime

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 26 Sep 2012 23:12

RamaY wrote:^ My solution to Iran conundrum.

http://bharata-bhuti.blogspot.com/2012/ ... vious.html

It is a good out of the box thinking; requires confidence and audacity on India's part.

India should also find a way to guarantee the protection of Israel, compensating for its numerical disadvantage. In exchange, jewish rabbis can find a way to remove or mitigate the denunciation of idolators in torah.

paramu · Post by **paramu** » 26 Sep 2012 23:13

RoyG wrote:
pentaiah wrote:my sources say that Russia has issued a big warning (sign board "Assad gone fishing")
Are your "sources" news articles or human beings?

Intelligence contacts

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 26 Sep 2012 23:29

ramana wrote:
KLNMurthy wrote:Looks to me like the crux of this problem is that Iran has painted itself into a corner by trying to hijack the "destruction of Israel" issue and putting it on steroids. My sense is that such a stance is more natural to the arabs than to the more cultured persians. Anyone have any thoughts on scenarios that would help Iran get off the tiger?

As I said before one has to see the Shia-Sunni prespective in this mud fight. Khominei's Iran wants leadership of all the Muslims and not just the Shias of Iran.

As for thoughts to get the Iranians off the mad roller coaster, they need to introspect on the rationale for allowing religious dogma driving their natural leadership of ME quest.

Perhaps Iran's civilizationsl motivation is to 1. Restore persian empire 2. Play aggressive defense against Arab/Sunni desire to crush Persian/shias.
Israel is a convenient lever for 2.
Their mistake is in underestimating jewish people and their friends' seriousness about "never again." And in not understanding that Saudis are capable of under-the-table temporary collaboration with Israel against Iran and the so-called arab/paki street rage boys are actually rent boys of saudi and so will accept saudis and gcc getting under the covers with Israel.

Philosophically, the way out is for Iran to accept the moral correctness of Israel's and jewush people's survival. The barrier to that is moral vacuum in Iran's philosophy(sad in a culture that had so much emphasis on ethics). By doing the right thing, Iran could actually succeed in its civilizational ambitions.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 26 Sep 2012 23:39

the way out for Iran is move away from Islam. Israel, etc are symptoms of the theological disease itself. it's not root cause. root cause is the theology deracination which makes them think abut Jews in terms of the definitions given by the scriptures.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 26 Sep 2012 23:43

^ Yes Deveshji. But they need someone to hold their hands in the process. Who are the best bet? USA - That would be like moving to enemy's side. PRC - that is like denying god himself. Russia - They dont know who they are.

We need a new Vishnu/Rudra-Avatar from Yindooostan.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 27 Sep 2012 01:00

Beebs: 'Suicide attack' on Syria army HQ

The advanced west and noble GCC resorting to soosai attacks in Syria. And we want them as our strategic partners.

If one looks at the CCTV footage, it is obviously clear that the van is carrying directional explosives because
- On one side the blast impact leveled the compound walls and inflict damage in the building ~50-100 feet away.
- On otherside a motorist comes unharmed from the blast...

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 27 Sep 2012 03:01

KLNMurthy wrote:
RamaY wrote:^ My solution to Iran conundrum.

http://bharata-bhuti.blogspot.com/2012/ ... vious.html
It is a good out of the box thinking; requires confidence and audacity on India's part.

India should also find a way to guarantee the protection of Israel, compensating for its numerical disadvantage. In exchange, jewish rabbis can find a way to remove or mitigate the denunciation of idolators in torah.

Fundamental disconnect is having 'P-secular' India give umbrella to two other religious states while its own citizens are in seige.

RamaY · Post by **RamaY** » 27 Sep 2012 03:21

Rji... That is so true...

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 27 Sep 2012 03:26

Heavy clashes reported in Qatif province KSA. 1 confirmed dead

---------
Will provide a comprehensive update on the possibility of war with Iran on the weekend hopefully if time permits

ramana · Post by **ramana** » 27 Sep 2012 04:06

Where is Qatif and why is it important?
Some one map it please.

Virupaksha · Post by **Virupaksha** » 27 Sep 2012 04:18

ramana wrote:Where is Qatif and why is it important?
Some one map it please.

It is the "Shiite" capital of SA.
Wiki says less than 3% might be sunnis.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 27 Sep 2012 04:53

That's the eastern province KSA - where most of their oil sits and there is a large number of Shias

KLNMurthy · Post by **KLNMurthy** » 27 Sep 2012 05:05

shyamd wrote:That's the eastern province KSA - where most of their oil sits and there is a large number of Shias

Iran power play?

pentaiah · Post by **pentaiah** » 27 Sep 2012 05:12

The simple strategy is stoke the flames all around and get as many as involved by all involved

Singha · Post by **Singha** » 27 Sep 2012 06:48

looking the number of factions , Syria could well be the next Lebanon for a couple decades if Assad falls. that will not be fun...just another playground for proxies to go at each other.

Austin · Post by **Austin** » 27 Sep 2012 08:04

Several Syrian Military Defectors Rejoin Assad Regime – Media

shyam · Post by **shyam** » 27 Sep 2012 09:46

It is very much possible that some of the defectors are actually sent out by Assad government to spy on the opposition.

shyamd · Post by **shyamd** » 27 Sep 2012 12:48

KLNMurthy wrote: Iran power play?

no don't think so. That place was always a hotbed for anti saud's. It doesn't really need Iran's help and there was a recent incident where a cleric who was filmed saying anti saud comments was shot in a car chase. So people smelled conspiracy and things kicked off even further

------------------
IRGC Chief Qassem Soleimani was in Erbil day before yesterday. Will be interesting to hear what he was upto. Western/israeli intel must have been all over it.

devesh · Post by **devesh** » 27 Sep 2012 20:15

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle ... z27gLALwNT

A rocket and mortar rounds fired from Syria that hit the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights in recent days were not aimed at the Jewish state, an Israeli minister said Thursday.

"The fire was the result of inter-Syrian fighting and we have no intention of getting involved in that issue," Regional Development Minister Silvan Shalom told Israeli public radio.

"It's serious and it shouldn't be happening, but this is what's going on and we are closely monitoring the situation," he said.

for Israel to actually say that a rocket fired by a neighbor was "not intended but a mistake", is like any other country saying "we don't know where it came from". first off they didn't need to make that statement. they could have just used it to bolster their own argument that they are constantly under threat. instead, they go out of their way to declare that it wasn't "intended"?!?!