This is one of the most important essays SR has ever published. Here, I believe you see the real reason for the creation of the security apparat. Terrorism is its second, but public, brief. Its real brief is to prepare for climate change. When you cut through what flows out of the Aegean Stable! s that is the Congress, you find that in the civil and military bureaucracies they are laying track for what they see coming.
(Beirut) – The short answer is Iran and Hezbollah according to Congressional sources. “The Syrian army’s victory at al-Qusayr was more than the administration could accept given that town’s strategic position in the region. Its capture by the Assad forces has essentially added Syria to Iran’s list of victories starting with Afghanistan, Lebanon, Iraq, as well as its growing influence in the Gulf.”
Other sources are asserting that Obama actually did not want to invoke direct military aid the rebels fighting to topple the Assad government or even to make use of American military power in Syria for several reasons. Among these are the lack of American public support for yet another American war in the Middle East, the fact that there appears to be no acceptable alternative to the Assad government on the horizon, the position of the US intelligence community and the State Department and Pentagon that intervention in Syria would potentially turn out very badly for the US and gut what’s left of its influence in the region. It short, that the US getting involved in Syria could turn out even worse than Iraq, by intensifying a regional sectarian war without any positive outcome in sight.
Syria:Update: According to several news services, the battle to retake Aleppo began today, 14 June. Syrian and Hizballah forces. News sources reported the fighting began east of central Aleppo in a neighborhood called Sakhour which rebel groups hold. Few other details are available other than statements from rebels and outside observers that the fight has begun.
Jolted by Hezbollah's Entry Into Civil War and Chemical Weapons, Administration Chose to Arm Rebels
Adam Entous
Wall Street Journal, 14 June 2013
EXTRACT:
In one sobering moment in late April, Jordan's King Abdullah II presented President Barack Obama and aides with a bleak scenario for Syria—showing them a map of how the country could split into warring, sectarian fiefdoms, with a tract of desert dominated by al Qaeda and its allies, U.S. officials said.
. . . .
In meetings with officials from the White House and other departments, King Abdullah told policy makers that Syria would become similar to the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan, or FATA, where al Qaeda has long been based.
“Syria is going to become the new FATA, the breeding ground from where they launch attacks,” the king said, according to a person in the meetings.
Christof Lehmann (nsnbc),- On Saturday 8. June 2013 the Syrian Arab Army has won decisive battles over western-backed insurgents in Qasair and throughout the country. In Qasair, the last pockets of resistance in al-Budweia al Sharquia were fought down and the armed forces are restoring security and are bringing relieve to the cities occupants.
Syrian armed forces won decisive battles against the insurgents throughout the country and security is being reestablished in the country with the exception of small, residual pockets. The risk of terrorist attacks, sniper attacks, car bombs and the terrorism in general remains high, while major combat operations are most likely completed.
“Hundreds rather than thousands of gunmen are fighting the Syrian army and that those are of European nationalities and from the regions countries, which is why there is increased importance to end the crisis and create favorable conditions to hold the international conference on Syria”.
The total number of remaining foreign fighters is estimated be different sources, between 5.000 and 10.000. On Saturday, the Syrian armed forces initiated decisive operations and restored security in most of Syria. A Syrian military source stated about Qasair, that the army is:
“going ahead with removing the debris of destruction and the barricades set up by the terrorists, while engineering units are dismantling explosives which were planted or left behind by the insurgents”.
Units of the Syrian armed forces also inflicted heavy losses to insurgents in other areas and report of large numbers of killed insurgents.
