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Syria Tag

Mideast Media Sampler - 08/25/2013 - When is a red line not a red line? When there's no precedent....

Why not? The Kurds out number Palestinians several times over, and unlike Palestinians, have a real ethnic and cultural distinction from surrounding Arabs (and in Turkey, Turks). But for Europeans drawing lines on maps and Turkish national ambitions, there should have been an independent nation for...

For a day or two, the massive explosion in the Syrian city of Homs was a mystery. Another Who bombed it? Israeli attack?  Or just more destruction by the Syrian government which already has left Homs a wreck? Via WaPo on August 1: What caused this enormous explosion in...

The last in my series of posts from Israel: After leaving the Valley of Tears battle monument, we descended from the Golan Heights towards Israel's northernmost town, Metula. But along the way, we stopped at the Druze town of Mas'ade for lunch at the Nedal Restaurant.  Here's the view towards Mount Hermon (lost then recaptured during the 1973 Yom Kippur War) from in front of the restaurant: [caption id="attachment_60845" align="alignnone" width="501"](Mas'ade Druze Village Israel, looking towards Mount Hermon) (Mas'ade Druze Village Israel, looking towards Mount Hermon)[/caption] You can see on this map how far north Metula is: [caption id="attachment_60711" align="alignnone" width="505"](Metula, Israel - Map View) (Metula, Israel - Map View)[/caption] These map view give a good perspective on how Metula is surrounded on three sides by Lebanon: [caption id="attachment_60710" align="alignnone" width="464"](Metula, Israel - Street Map View) (Metula, Israel - Street Map View)[/caption]

Another in my ongoing posts from Israel: After we left the Tel Saki Battle Memorial on Monday, we continued north, to the Quneitra Crossing, the only active border crossing between Syria and Israel, manned by U.N. forces.  Several weeks ago Syrian rebels briefly seized the area on the Syrian side, and there still is fighting in the area. Here is the view of the crossing from the recently opened Israeli Avital Volcanic Park.  There was smoke rising in the distance, but it was hard to capture because of the lighting conditions: [caption id="attachment_60691" align="alignnone" width="512"]Quneitra Crossing Golan Heights view from Avital Park (Quneitra Crossing, Golan Heights, view from Avital Volcanic Park)[/caption] We then headed to the nearby Golan Heights Wind Farm, which had a better view of the smoke rising from the area: [caption id="attachment_60693" align="alignnone" width="516"]Golan Heights Wind Farm - map view (Golan Heights Wind Farm - map view)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_60692" align="alignnone" width="537"]Golan Heights Wind Farm - View of Syria (Golan Heights Wind Farm - View of Syria)[/caption]

Another in my ongoing posts from Israel: We spent the day on the Golan Heights and the Lebanese border near Metula.  We were accompanied by my good friend from Moscow days who I mentioned in a prior post. We were led by Hadar Sela of BBC Watch blog, who lives on the Golan and has an amazing knowledge of the topography, history, people, and politics. I had intended to do one blog post -- but soon realized there was just too much to cover so I'll break it down into three posts to run on separate days -- The Battle of Tel Saki, The Valley of Tears, and The Lebanese Border.  The blog posts will track our journey from the southern to northern Golan, then down to Metula in northern most Israel. We started the day where we stayed overnight last night, Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan to the south of the Kinneret (Sea of Galilee), in the shadow of the Golan Heights: [caption id="attachment_60600" align="alignnone" width="501"](Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel - Map View) (Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel - Map View)[/caption] [caption id="attachment_60601" align="alignnone" width="547"](Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel, view towards Golan Heights) (Kibbutz Sha'ar HaGolan, Israel, view towards Golan Heights)[/caption] We then drove on the snake-like Highway 98 up the side of the Golan Heights facing Jordan across a deep ravine.  The border fence along the road is shown in this photo -- my reaction was the same as yours probably is -- that's the border fence!  We were assured that the Jordanian policing of its side of the border together with the topography was sufficient. [caption id="attachment_60603" align="alignnone" width="527"](Highway 98, Israel, climbing Golan Heights - Jordan Border Fence) (Highway 98, Israel, climbing Golan Heights - Jordan Border Fence)[/caption] Note also the red triangle signifying a minefield -- something we would see repeatedly throughout the Golan even away from the border.  Vigorous warning signs not to leave the established roads and pathways were everywhere.

We noted several days ago the latest "who bombed it?" mystery, Did Israel just destroy Syrian depot holding Russian missiles? While answers remain sketchy, unnamed U.S. sources reportedly are pointing to Israel, via CNN: A series of explosions on July 5 at a critical Syrian port was...

Many weeks ago we suggested that one outcome of Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian civil war on behalf of Assad, particularly the conquest of Qusayr, would be car bombings in pro-Hezbollah sections of Beirut. That prediction appears to be coming true. Via The Daily Star of Lebanon: A...

While everyone is focused on protests in Cairo, the war continues in Syria. Via Al Jazeera, Syria army launches intense bombing of Homs: Air strikes killed at least three civilians as Syrian government forces intensified their attacks and pressed forward with a new bid to retake several...

Via Lebanese website Naharnet: Syrian rebels have recently received new weapons that could "change the course of the battle" against the Syrian regime, a spokesman for the Free Syrian Army told Agence France Presse on Friday. "We've received quantities of new types of weapons, including some that...

Via The Wall Street Journal, Syrians Used Chemical Weapons Against Rebels: U.S. Officials
The U.S. has concluded that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have used chemical weapons in the country's civil war with rebels, U.S. officials said, a determination that could lay the ground for a decision by the U.S. to arm the rebels and take other steps expanding American involvement in the conflict. The finding comes nearly two months after the White House informed Congress that U.S. intelligence agencies believed with "varying degrees of confidence" that Mr. Assad has used chemical weapons, likely including sarin gas. President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons by Mr. Assad would cross a "red line" for the U.S. A senior U.S. official said the determination could be used by the White House to sign off on a proposal to arm moderate Syrian rebels and other measures now under consideration.
CNN, White House: Syria crosses 'red line' with use of chemical weapons on its people:
The White House acknowledged Thursday the Syrian government has used chemical weapons, including the nerve agent sarin, on a small scale a number of times, according to a statement. The administration also indicated it will increase the "scope and scale of assistance" to rebels in Syria following its acknowledgment that the Bashar al-Assad government has used chemical weapons in the civil war, according to the statement.
Time, Red Line Crossed: U.S. Officials Confirm Syrian Chemical Weapons Use:
The development, announced Thursday by White House Deputy National Security Advisor For Strategic Communications Ben Rhodes, puts the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad over President Barack Obama’s “red line” announced in August 2012 promising severe consequences for the use of chemical weapons. “We have been very clear to the Assad regime, but also to other players on the ground, that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized,” Obama said at the time. “That would change my calculus. That would change my equation.”
Given that this announcement comes on the heels of major Syrian-Hezbollah-Iranian gains, including retaking the city of Qusayr, expect claims that this is a pretext to arm the rebels. Update: Prelude to war? Remember, it's Bad or worse in Syria:

After three weeks of often intense artillery barrages and air strikes, Hezbollah took over Qusayr near the border with Lebanon. While the Syrian government is proclaiming victory, the Syrian government was the tale on the dog -- it was a Hezbollah operation. But NOW Lebanon reports the...