There seems to be a change in Syria, a worsening of the situation for Assad. I can’t tell if this is the turning point, a turning point, or just a bump in Assad’s road to staying in power with the military help of Iran, Hezbollah and Russia.
But there seems to be a qualitative difference in rebel attacks reaching to the heart of the regime.
Via NY Times:
Syria said Wednesday that rebels stormed a pro-government television station in a Damascus suburb, killing employees and blowing up the station in an audacious predawn assault, but rebels said the attackers were defectors from the elite Republican Guard, considered to be the most loyal core defenders of President Bashar al-Assad.
Via Reuters:
With a high profile attack on a government TV station, escalating fighting around Damascus and talk of increasing covert foreign support, Syria’s rebels are bringing the fight ever closer to Bashar Al Assad.
In a speech on Tuesday night, Assad said the country was now “at war” and that all sectors of the government and country must devote their energies to the war effort. A string of recent military defections suggest even some of his supporters may have had enough, but most analysts and foreign officials believe his government could cling on well into 2013.
I don’t put much into the threats to intervene by Turkey, though:
The Turkish military mobilized large numbers of reinforcements from its eastern provinces to the Syrian border on Tuesday, amid rising tension with Damascus, after the downing by Syria of a Turkish Air Force jet on Friday, Turkish media reported.
Large numbers of Turkish troops — including at least 15 long-range artillery pieces and tanks – moved to the Syrian frontier from the eastern city of Diyarbakir. A video published by the Turkish Cihan News Agency showed Turkish tanks being transported by carrier trucks toward the frontier.
But there does seem to have been a change in the situation on the ground.
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Do NOT get involved. Let them kill each other off.
An attack on a TV station?
Meh. That could be the military equivalent of a bank robbery, without a lot more information.
The defections could be a lot more meaningful.
The Nazis started WW2 by attacking a radio station.
Nutty people do all sorts of nutty things…
Obviously the effects of The Great American Pharoah orchestrating things “behind the scenes” in what he will call “quiet assertiveness” with Russia.
Oh wait…silly me. For a minute there I had a lapse and imagined we have a President that claims credit for things he had nothing to do with.
If Turkey is attacked, as a NATO member they can invoke the Treaty and ask for armed assistance, can’t they?
“Huh…??? I can’t hear you… You’re breaking up…”
But seriously, no. Turkey could not attack another nation and expect NATO to back them.
Of course, Turkey can invoke the NATO alliance if they are attacked. But it seems like Turkey is more interested in attacking Syria which wouldn’t trigger the treaty.
Also, the NATO treaty doesn’t oblige NATO to nuke Syria and go all Iraq over them should they attack Turkey. NATO could respond by moving a AWACs aircraft and a KC-135 to Turkey and call that an appropriate response…
But, Turkey could claim they were attacked (in terms of the jet being shot down). It really comes down to: countries in NATO can respond as little (or as much) as they want to defend Turkey, IF Turkey makes a request.
There’s something happening here,
what it is …ain’t exactly clear,
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gp5JCrSXkJY
Will Iran let Assad fall? Syria is Iran’s main proxy in the area, most likely the army will push Assad out and install some puppet of Tehran’s .
It is entirely likely that the rebels are greater supporters of Iran that Assad. Assad is an independent agent owning something to Iran. The rebels might well be an “wholly owned subsidiary” of Iran.
This is what you call a “win-win” scenario for the lunatics in Iran…
[…] — Even Isis, Osiris, and Amen-Ra have fled Egypt at this point. Legal Insurrection has more about “Arab Spring” in Syria. Like this:LikeBe the first to like […]
I’m very surprised that Obama, Biden, Clinton, Rice and Powers have not come out and directly condemned Israelis’ Jerusalem apartment building as the cause of all the thousands of Syrian murders by their fellow Syrians. They have very clearly blamed “illegitimate” Israeli settlement activity as the root of all Mideast evil, so it’s only a matter of time before we’ll hear that the Syrian Civil War was caused by Israeli intransigence in not agreeing to pre-conditions set by Palestinians, including ’67 lines.
Yesterday Putin & his 400 strong entourge went to a settlement to open a library or or such.
This visit is getting very little if any coverage in the US media. But it makes me loook like a genius as I posted some wordsn Sunday Egypt thread that Putin repeated almost to the word.
Although someone at AT went & did an article the next day (US losing influence in Israel ) .
Still I got in first. Helps to read the real pravda .
There are wildfires raging outside of Jerusalem — that look to potentially be started by terrorists. SMOKE: IT’S THE SCENT OF “ARAB SPRING”. (with graphic based on “Irish Spring”)
From Debka:
http://www.debka.com/article/22133/British-forces-in-Syria-Assad-presidential-compound-said-under-attack