زعيم المعارضة السورية على حمص تراجع، والمساعدات الدولية وفرص ل7MAI14 حل سياسي

استمرار الثورة السورية مع القوى الديمقراطية القتال على جبهتين ، ضد الحكومة القاتلة ضد الأسد و إيزيس ، المتعصبين الذين يسعون لفرض الشذوذ في الإسلام على الشعب السوري . اللاجئون السوريون يعانون في البؤس في مخيمات في تركيا والأردن ولبنان ، وعلى الرغم من هذه البلدان يبذلون قصارى جهدهم لتوفير لهؤلاء الناس في الدول الغنية بالنفط في الخليج الفارسي ويبدو أن تكون مهتمة في توفير المزيد من المساعدات في مجال الأسلحة ل أمراء الحرب الخاصة بهم يحبذ في سوريا مما كانت عليه في معالجة الأزمة الإنسانية التي تواجه اللاجئين السوريين . جزيلا ل تعاطفهم عن معاناة إخوانهم المسلمين من قبل حكومات السعودية جزيره العرب وقطر والبحرين والكويت و الإمارات العربية المتحدة وسلطنة عمان. حتى إسرائيل بتقديم المساعدات الإنسانية للاجئين السوريين في الأردن وعلاج الجرحى في الأردن وفي المراكز الطبية الإسرائيلية . الآن المتمردين باخلاء حمص ، و الجيش الأسد تكتسب الأرض في جميع أنحاء البلاد وذلك بفضل عدم استعداد العالم العربي لدعم المتمردين الشعب السوري يريد في السلطة وعدم قدرة العالم العربي لوقف شحنات الأسلحة من إيران وروسيا إلى الجيش الأسد. هنا هو مقابلة ممثل من مجلس المعارضة السورية خاصة إلى الولايات المتحدة، أحمد جبرا ، عن حالة الثورة و عزم المعارضة للاطاحة الأسد . من + PBS نيوز أور .....

زعيم المعارضة السورية على حمص تراجع، والمساعدات الدولية وفرص التوصل إلى حل سياسي
يبدو أن الحرب في سورية ليتم ترجيح لصالح قوات الأسد، على الرغم من بعض معاقل المتمردين. جعلت العلاقات بين المتطرفين لبعض الفصائل المتمردة حذرين الولايات المتحدة لتقديم الدعم العسكري. ولكن قائد قوة سياسية معارضة معتدلة الأسد، ومجلس المعارضة السورية، تم منح الصفة الدبلوماسية عن طريق وزارة الخارجية. مقابلات مارغريت وارنر ممثل SOC أحمد جبرا. 

http://youtu.be/eykUmntYCm4نسخة طبق الأصلجودي WOODRUFF : وأخيرا، إلى حرب أهلية في سوريا ، حيث أن الخسائر البشرية المتزايدة يبقي هناك. زعيم جماعة المعارضة السياسية الرئيسية في سوريا يأتي إلى واشنطن مع نداء .مراسل رئيس الشؤون الخارجية مارغريت وارنر لديه story.MARGARET WARNER : كما يدخل الحرب الأهلية السورية عامها الرابع ، مع أكثر من 150،000 قتيل و قرابة 10 ملايين المشردين ، يبدو أن التوازن الذي يجب ترجيح لصالح قوات بشار الأسد .بدأ المتمردون الانسحاب من البلدة القديمة في حمص اليوم ، بعد عام تحت الحصار. و حدد الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد انتخابات رئاسية في أوائل يونيو حزيران. لا يزال المتمردون يسيطرون على مناطق في شمال و شرق سوريا ، كنها مقسمة ، وبعض من أقوى متطرفون لهم صلات مع القاعدة بينهم مجموعة تسمى دولة العراق الإسلامية وسوريا ، أو ISIS .انها تلك العلاقات أن إدارة أوباما قد استشهد كسبب لعدم تسليح المعارضة السورية علنا . ولكن ، في الآونة الأخيرة ، وقد تم تصوير بعض وحدات المتمردين معتدلة باستخدام أسلحة مضادة للدبابات الثقيلة مع علامات الأميركية. مصدرها غير واضح.ويرأس رئيس قوة سياسية معارضة معتدلة الأسد ، ومجلس المعارضة السورية ، وعلى رأسها تتألف من المنفيين ، أحمد الجربا . الاثنين، أعلنت وزارة الخارجية أنه تم منح SOC تعزيز الوضع الدبلوماسي هنا.MARIE حرف ، المتحدثة باسم و زارة الخارجية : وقد بنيت ائتلاف مؤسسة شاملة و المعتدلة التي أثبتت التزامها لخدمة مصالح واحتياجات الشعب السوري ، ورفض التطرف ، و عملت على دفع عملية انتقالية سياسية تفاوضية في سوريا.مارغريت وارنر : كما أعلن 27 مليون دولار أمريكي في شكل مساعدات غير قاتلة أكثر للمبادرات SOC داخل سوريا .الجربا هو في الولايات المتحدة في أول زيارة رسمية له . تحدثت اليه هذا الصباح.الرئيس الجربا ، شكرا لانضمامك إلينا .أحمد الجربا ، رئيس ائتلاف المعارضة السورية (من خلال مترجم) : شكرا لك.مارغريت وارنر : اليوم، المقاتلين المتمردين يغادرون حمص ، التي كانت مركزا لل تمرد ضد الأسد في وقت مبكر. يقول مسؤولون أمريكيون الأمور تتجه في الاتجاه الخاطئ في سوريا .أنت تخسر الأرض في ساحة المعركة ؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : حمص هي عاصمة الثورة السورية. شعب حمص هم أبطال الحقيقي .وقد دفعت فاتورة الحرية. وكانت حمص تحت الحصار لأكثر من أعوام و نصف العام. وسمح أي طعام أو ماء أو دواء في الداخل. أصبح الحصار القاتلة. نريد من المدنيين و المقاتلين للخروج من حمص بأمان حتى يمكن إنقاذ حياتهم. هذه المعركة و هذه الحرب في بعض الأحيان التقدم والتراجع في بعض الأحيان.في بعض الأحيان ، ونحن قد تفقد الأرض ، ولكن شعبنا ، الشعب السوري ، عازمون على الفوز في النهاية و تستعيد الأرض التي نحن نخسر .مارغريت وارنر : وماذا عن معركة الخاص على الجبهة الأخرى ضد أكثر الجماعات المتمردة المتطرفة ؟ هل هناك فقدان الأرض أيضا؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : الجواب هو لا.في الأصل ، تم تحرير هذه الأرض من قبل أبنائنا من قوات الأسد . ثم جاء ISIS مرارا و تولى هذه المناطق . في ديسمبر من العام الماضي ، بدأنا الحرب ضد ISIS . المعركة لا تزال جارية. كنا قادرين على اتخاذ أربع محافظات رئيسية من ISIS . والمحافظات الأخرى ، و ISIS لا يزال هناك. وتواصل الحرب ضد ISIS و نحن ننتصر في تلك الحرب .مارغريت وارنر : لقد كانت الولايات المتحدة والغرب قائلا لمدة ثلاث سنوات الآن يريدون لدعم المعارضة السورية المعتدلة . ما بلغت مساعداتها ل من حيث ملموسة ؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : إن الولايات المتحدة هي الحليف الرئيسي للمعارضة معتدلة و التحالف ، مع مجموعة أساسية من أصدقاء سوريا التي ساعدتنا سياسيا و ساعد أيضا على المستوى الإنساني، مع الكثير من المساعدات التي تقدمها الولايات المتحدة ، والطب ، والغذاء ، والرعاية الصحية ، والتعليم .ونحن نتطلع إلى مزيد من التعاون و تعزيز المساعدات للولايات المتحدة .مارغريت وارنر : لقد تم حث ، على الرغم من الكثير في الطريق من المساعدات العسكرية للمقاتلين المتمردين. أنت بخيبة أمل في الرئيس أوباما و السياسة انه متابعتها على سوريا ؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : وعلى هذا ، أول زيارة رسمية لي، ونحن نتطلع إلى الحصول على دعم في جميع الجوانب، بما في ذلك الجيش .الولايات المتحدة لديها مصلحة كبيرة في إنقاذ الشعب السوري والمنطقة. سوريا أمر مهم من الناحية الجغرافية السياسية . و بعد ثلاث سنوات من الحرب ، وأعتقد أن دعم إضافي من الولايات المتحدة ستكون عاملا رئيسيا في فتح نافذة لل قرار .مارغريت وارنر : هل هذا ما كنت تخطط ليقول الرئيس أوباما إذا و عند مقابلته و فريقه للامن القومي ، ان كنت تود أن ترى الولايات المتحدة تقديم المزيد من الأسلحة، و مزيد من التدريب ، أسلحة أكثر تطورا إلى المقاتلين المتمردين معتدلة على أرض الواقع ؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : نعم ، بالتأكيد.نحن بصدد التحدث إلى أصدقائنا ، في الشفافية ، وبصراحة ، و نحن ذاهبون لطلب دعم إضافي . أعتقد أن الوضع الآن هو مناسبة ل دعم إضافي في هذا المجال بالذات .مارغريت وارنر : الرئيس أوباما قبل 10 أيام في مانيلا دافع سياسته على سوريا. قال: يقولون النقاد وأرجو أن يكون قصف للتخلص من الأسلحة الكيميائية في سوريا . حسنا، نحن التخلص من الأسلحة الكيميائية دون تفجير ، وأن الرأي العام الأميركي ليس لديه الرغبة في المزيد من الحروب و التدخلات العسكرية في أي مكان.ماذا تقول في ذلك ؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : عندما هددت الولايات المتحدة لضرب النظام ، فإن النظام المتفق عليه بسرعة لتقديم وتسليم الأسلحة الكيميائية.لذلك ، هذه العصابة ، عصابة الأسد ، لا يعرف أي شيء آخر سوى لغة القوة . إذا كانت الولايات المتحدة و الرئيس أوباما لم يهدد باستخدام القوة ، الأسد لن سلموا الأسلحة الكيميائية له .ولكن أريد أن يكون واضحا على شيء . نحن لا نريد أصدقائنا في أمريكا لدخول أي حرب في سوريا . نحن لا نريد أبناء أمريكا ل يأتي و قتال في سوريا، مثل العراق وأفغانستان. نحن نريد فقط الأسلحة للدفاع عن أنفسنا.نظام الأسد هو إسقاط القنابل على المدنيين برميل ، على شعبنا ، مما أسفر عن مقتل المئات من الناس كل يوم . و ليس لدينا أي أسلحة لمواجهتهم . مرة أخرى، نحن لا نريد للولايات المتحدة لإرسال أبنائه أو طائراتها الحربية للقتال في سوريا. نحن نريد فقط أسلحة للدفاع عن أنفسنا.مارغريت وارنر : إدارة أوباما ووزيرة كيري تم وضع رصيد كبير في هذه المحادثات جنيف للسلام التي وقعت في يناير كانون الثاني بين الجانبين. و فشلوا . هو أن المسار القتلى أساسا ؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : جنيف فشلت بسبب عدم التعاون و النظام. الآن وقد فشلت هذه العملية.ربما يمكنك القول أنه ميت، وخاصة بعد أن أعلن الأسد أنه سيكون ل اجراء انتخابات رئاسية لتتصدر جماجم الموتى السورية.مارغريت وارنر : ثم أين هو فرصة للتوصل إلى حل سياسي هنا؟ أو ليس هناك واحد ؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : أعتقد ، نعم ، بالتأكيد ، هناك حل سياسي . و علينا أن نجد حلا سياسيا .إذا كان الضغط على أرض الواقع ليست هناك، وسوف الأسد لم تتعاون للتوصل الى حل سياسي.مارغريت وارنر : وفي الوقت نفسه، يذهب الكارثة الإنسانية جرا. لديك 200 شخص في المتوسط ​​يموتون كل يوم.إذا كنت خطوة الى الوراء و ننظر في هذه المنطقة ، وذهب لبنان خلال الحرب الأهلية التي استمرت 15 عاما . العراق ، هل يمكن أن يجادل، هو مجرد إعادة تنازلي - إلى ما تحول إلى حرب أهلية دامت 10 . غير أن ما قد تنتظرنا ل سوريا؟أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : إن السوريين خرجوا إلى الشوارع من أجل الحرية ومن أجل بناء دولة تعددية ديمقراطية. الآن يجب أن الحل الوحيد يبدأ من عائلة الأسد التنحي من الحاكم سوريا.مارغريت وارنر : لكنهم غير مستعدين للقيام بذلك.أحمد الجربا (من خلال مترجم) : سوريا هي البلد الجميل . فقد الأجناس و الأعراق والأديان المتعددة ، والمسيحيين والمسلمين و العلويين والدروز ، الذين يعيشون معا منذ آلاف السنين ، حتى استغرق هذا النظام انتهى.إذا أصدقائنا لم تسمح لنا باستمرار ، وهذا ، والحرب لن يكون ل سحب كل هذه السنوات. أنا لا أخاف أن الحرب ستطول لسنوات وسنوات أكثر من ذلك، إذا أصدقائنا البقاء معنا و دعمنا لوضع ضغوط حقيقية على الأسد لقبول الحلول السياسية . أستطيع أن أؤكد الآن ، إذا يذهب الأسد ، و عندما يذهب الأسد ، و 85 في المئة من المشاكل في سوريا قد انتهى.مارغريت وارنر : الرئيس الجربا ، وشكرا لكم .أحمد الجربا : شكرا لك. شكرا جزيلا.روابط ذات صلة

    يتحدث سوريا نهاية دون تحقيق تقدم واضح أو ضمان إلى الظهور من جديد
    الأطفال UNsays اشتعلت الحرب الأهلية في سوريا يعانون من سوء المعاملة التي لا توصف
    نظرة داخل مدينة حمص ، ساحة المعركة المركزية من الحرب في سوريا 

• Syria talks end without clear progress or assurance of an encore
• U.N.says children caught in Syria's civil war suffer unspeakable abuse
• A look inside the city of Homs, central battlefield of Syria's war

بشار الأسد وإيران وإيزيس والأردن وجبال لبنان بين الرئيس أحمد جبرا، الثورة، روسوبورون اكسبورت، روسيا، المملكة العربية السعودية، والحرب الأهلية السورية، مجلس المعارضة السورية واللاجئين السوريين بتركيا

 

Syrian opposition leader on Homs retreat, international aid and chances for a political solution 7MAI14

THE Syrian revolution continues with democratic forces fighting on two fronts, against the murderous government of assad and against isis, fanatics who seek to impose their perversion of Islam on the Syrian people. Syrian refugees suffer in misery in camps in Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon, and while these countries are doing their best to provide for these people the oil rich nations of the Persian Gulf seem to be interested in providing more aid in weapons to their own favored warlords in Syria than in addressing the humanitarian crisis facing Syrian refugees. So much for their compassion for the suffering of their fellow Muslims by the governments of saudi arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Even Israel is providing humanitarian aid for Syrian refugees in Jordan and treating the wounded in Jordan and in Israeli medical centers. Now the rebels are evacuating Homs, and assad's military is gaining ground around the country thanks to the Arab world's unwillingness to support the rebels the Syrian people want in power and the Arab world's inability to stop weapons shipments from Iran and Russia to assad's military. Here is the interview of the Syrian Opposition Council's special representative to the U.S., Ahmad Jabra, on the status of the revolution and the opposition's determination to oust assad. From the +PBS NewsHour  .....

 Syrian opposition leader on Homs retreat, international aid and chances for a political solution
The war in Syria seems to be tipping in favor of Assad's forces, despite some rebel strongholds. Ties to extremists among some rebel factions have made the U.S. wary of offering military support. But the chief moderate political force opposing Assad, the Syrian Opposition Council, has been granted diplomatic status by the State Department. Margaret Warner interviews SOC representative Ahmad Jabra.

http://youtu.be/eykUmntYCm4 

TRANSCRIPT

JUDY WOODRUFF: Finally, to the civil war in Syria, as the human toll keeps mounting there. The leader of Syria’s main political opposition group comes to Washington with a plea.

Chief foreign affairs correspondent Margaret Warner has the story.MARGARET WARNER: As Syria’s civil war enters its fourth year, with more than 150,000 dead and nearly 10 million displaced, the balance seems to be tipping in favor of Bashar al-Assad’s forces.
Rebels began withdrawing from the Old City of Homs today, after a year under siege. And Syrian President Assad has set presidential elections for early June. Rebels still control swathes of northern and eastern Syria, but they are splintered, and some of the strongest are extremists with ties to al, including a group called the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, or ISIS.
It’s those ties that the Obama administration has cited as a reason for not openly arming the Syrian opposition. But, recently, some moderate rebel units have been filmed using heavy anti-tank weapons with American markings. Their source is unclear.
The chief moderate political force opposing Assad, the Syrian Opposition Council, composed chiefly of exiles, is headed by Ahmad Jarba. Monday, the State Department announced it was granting the SOC enhanced diplomatic status here.
MARIE HARF, State Department Spokeswoman: The coalition has built an inclusive and moderate institution that has demonstrated its commitment to serving the interests and needs of the Syrian people, rejected extremism, and worked to advance a negotiated political transition in Syria.
MARGARET WARNER: The U.S. also announced $27 million more in nonlethal aid for SOC initiatives inside Syria.
Jarba is in the U.S. for his first official visit. I spoke to him this morning.
President Jarba, thank you for joining us.
AHMAD JARBA, President, Syrian Opposition Coalition (through interpreter): Thank you.
MARGARET WARNER: Today, Rebel fighters are leaving Homs, which was the center of the revolt against Assad early on. U.S. officials are saying things are trending in the wrong direction in Syria.
Are you losing ground on the battlefield?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): Homs is the capital of the Syrian revolution. The people of Homs are real heroes.
They have paid the bill for freedom. Homs has been under siege for more than a year-and-a-half. No food or water or medicine was allowed inside. The siege became lethal. We want the civilians and the fighters to get out of Homs safely so their lives could be saved. This battle and this war sometimes advances and sometimes retreats.
Sometimes, we might lose ground, but our people, the Syrian people, are determined to win at the end and gain back the ground that we are losing.
MARGARET WARNER: And what about your battle on the other front against more extremist rebel groups? Are you losing ground there as well?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): The answer is no.
Originally, this land was liberated by our sons from the Assad forces. And then ISIS came over and took over these areas. In December last year, we started war against the ISIS. The battle is still ongoing. We were able to take four major provinces from ISIS. And the other provinces, the ISIS is still there. The war against ISIS is continuing and we are winning in that war.
MARGARET WARNER: The United States and the West have been saying for three years now they want to support the moderate Syrian opposition. What has their assistance amounted to in tangible terms?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): The United States is a main ally to the moderate opposition and the coalition, with the core group of Friends of Syria that helped us politically and also helped on the humanitarian level, with a lot of aid being provided by the United States, medicine, food, health care, education.
We are looking forward to more cooperation and enhancement of the United States’ aid.
MARGARET WARNER: You have been urging, though, a lot more in the way of military assistance to the rebel fighters. Are you disappointed in President Obama and the policy he’s pursued on Syria?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): On this, my first official visit, we’re looking forward to getting support in all aspects, including military.
The United States has a big interest in saving the Syrian people and the region. Syria is important geopolitically. And after three years of war, I think that additional support from the United States will be a key factor in opening a window for resolution.
MARGARET WARNER: Is that what you plan to tell President Obama if and when you meet him and his national security team, that you would like to see the U.S. provide more weapons, more training, more sophisticated weapons to the moderate rebel fighters on the ground?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): Yes, for sure.
We are going to talk to our friends, in transparency, frankly, and we’re going to ask for additional support. I think that the situation now is suitable for additional support in that particular area.
MARGARET WARNER: President Obama 10 days ago in Manila defended his policy on Syria. He said, critics are saying I should have bombed to get rid of chemical weapons in Syria. Well, we’re getting rid of chemical weapons without bombing, and that the American public has no taste for more wars and military engagements anywhere.
What do you say to that?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): When the United States threatened to strike the regime, the regime quickly agreed to deliver and hand over the chemical weapons.
So, this gang, the Assad gang, doesn’t know anything other than the language of force. If the United States and President Obama had not threatened with force, Assad wouldn’t have handed over his chemical weapons.
But I want to be clear on something. We don’t want our friends in America to enter any war in Syria. We don’t want your American sons to come and fight in Syria, like Iraq and Afghanistan. We just want the weapons to defend ourselves.
The Assad regime is dropping barrel bombs on civilians, on our people, killing hundreds of people every day. And we don’t have any weapons to confront them. Again, we don’t want the United States to send its sons or its warplanes to fight in Syria. We just want weapons to defend ourselves.
MARGARET WARNER: The Obama administration and Secretary Kerry were putting great stock in these Geneva peace talks that took place in January between the two sides. And they failed. Is that track essentially dead?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): Geneva failed because of the regime’s noncooperation. Now the process has failed.
Maybe you can say that it is dead, especially after Assad announced that he’s going to hold presidential elections to top the skulls of the Syrian dead.
MARGARET WARNER: Then where is the chance for a political resolution here? Or isn’t there one?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): I believe, yes, for sure, there is a political solution. And we have to find a political solution.
If the pressure on the ground is not there, Assad will not cooperate for a political solution.
MARGARET WARNER: Meanwhile, the humanitarian disaster goes on. You have 200 people on average dying every day.
If you step back and look at this region, Lebanon went through a 15-year civil war. Iraq, you could argue, is just re-descending into what is turning into a 10-year civil war. Is that what may lie ahead for Syria?
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): The Syrians took to the streets for freedom and in order to build a democratic, pluralistic state. Now the only solution should start by the Assad family stepping down from ruling Syria.
MARGARET WARNER: But they’re unwilling to do that.
AHMAD JARBA (through interpreter): Syria is a beautiful country. It has multiple races and ethnicities and religions, Christians, Muslims, Alawis, and Druze, living together for thousands of years, until this regime took over.
If our friends had not let us down, this, the war wouldn’t have dragged for all these years. I am not afraid that the war will drag for years and years more, if our friends stay with us and support us to put real pressure on Assad to accept the political solutions. I can confirm now, if Assad goes, and when Assad goes, 85 percent of Syria’s problems will be over.
MARGARET WARNER: President Jarba, thank you.
AHMAD JARBA: Thank you. Thank you very much.

RELATED LINKS

• Syria talks end without clear progress or assurance of an encore
• U.N.says children caught in Syria's civil war suffer unspeakable abuse
• A look inside the city of Homs, central battlefield of Syria's war

Syrian activists accuse government of deadly chemical attack near Damascus & Chemical Weapons Claims Spur Calls For Force Against Syria 21&22AUG13

SYRIAN pres assad is using Hama Rules (see chapter 4 of From Beirut To Jerusalem by Thomas L Friedman), as did his late father, the former Syrian president, in the Syrian civil war. The attack by the Syrian military on Hama began on 2 FEB 1982 and when it was over a few weeks later most of the old city was destroyed and over 25,000 had been massacred. So it is no surprise the assad regime is using chemical weapons on their own people. The question is what should the U.S. do about it? First thing we need to do is stop weapons purchases from Russian arms suppliers like rosoboronexport, main supplier of weapons to assad. Second we need to increase humanitarian aid to the Syrian refugee's in Jordan, Turkey, Lebanon and Iraq. Third we must freeze and seize all Syrian govt assets in the U.S. until assad is removed from power. And last we must pressure the Arab world to deal with assad and take the necessary steps to remove him from power. This is their part of the world, their problem, and they have allowed assad to slaughter the Syrian people and to destroy the nation for too long. They should intervene with troops, remove assad, disarm the militias, remain in Syria long enough for elections to be held and a new government formed, and provide the financial aid to rebuild the lives of the refugees and the national economy. The Arab world has to accept responsibility and take action, put boots on the ground and shed some blood and not try to push this off on the U.S. and Europe, using their oil money to pay others to do the dirty work like they did in the first Gulf War. From the Washington Post & NPR.....

View Photo Gallery — In Syria, activists accuse government of chemical attack: Syrian activists have accused the government of launching a massive chemical weapons attack that killed scores of people in the Damascus suburbs.

By Loveday Morris and Karen DeYoung, Published: August 21 | Updated: Thursday, August 22, 6:09 AM 

BEIRUT — The Syrian opposition on Wednesday accused the government of launching a chemical weapons attack in the Damascus suburbs that killed large numbers of civilians as they slept and packed makeshift hospitals with hundreds of victims convulsing and gasping for breath.
Photographs and videos posted online showed the bodies of men, women and children, many appearing to be dead, without visible wounds. Varying opposition claims put the death toll in the hundreds, with some saying it was more than a thousand.

Graphic

Video

There are unconfirmed reports that hundreds, including women and children, were killed by a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus, Syria.

While the exact cause of the deaths remained unclear, there was widespread agreement, as one European expert noted, that “something terrible has happened.’’
If confirmed, the use of toxic agents would be the most serious in decades, presenting a renewed challenge to President Obama, who said last year that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would constitute a “red line” requiring a U.S. response.
The Syrian government strongly denied responsibility. But a White House statement put the blame squarely on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, referring to “reports that hundreds of Syrian civilians have been killed in an attack by Syrian government forces, including by the use of chemical weapons.”
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said the international community should respond “with force” if the allegations are proven true, news services reported.
The deaths touched off a vigorous debate among independent experts about whether available information pointed to the use of a well-known chemical weapon such as the nerve agent sarin or to some other toxic agent. U.S. intelligence agencies offered no early verdict.
The attack came as U.N. investigators were already on the ground in Syria to investigate previous incidents in which the United States and its allies have said small quantities of chemical weapons were used. But the U.N. Security Council was unable to agree Wednesday on whether those experts should immediately investigate the new incident.
The Russian government, Assad’s strongest supporter, suggested that the opposition itself had staged the attack in a “pre-planned provocation.’’
Witnesses said the attack began when Russian-made Grad rockets began falling at around 2 a.m. in neighborhoods east of the capital where rebels have had some recent success in repelling government forces.
Sama Masoud, an opposition activist who lives in one of the targeted neighborhoods, described scenes of chaos on the streets as panicked residents did not know whether to stay in their homes or flee.
“The fiance of my sister has died,” she said. “My friend, her husband and her husband’s uncle — all dead while asleep.”
More than 130 videos were posted online showing the victims. In some, children lay on tiled floors, vomiting, convulsing and struggling to breathe as they were treated with hand-held respirators or as medics desperately administered chest compressions.
In others, men sprawled on the floor of a makeshift hospital were hosed down with water in what appeared to be a desperate attempt to wash off the remnants of the poisonous gases.
Majed Abu Ali, a medic in nearby Douma, said his team had treated 600 patients with symptoms that included reddened eyes with constricted pupils, vomiting, skin rashes, loose bowels and extreme difficulty in breathing. He said 65 people had died and that the “overwhelmed” medical staff had little to protect themselves from toxins.
Some experts questioned the video evidence. “It strikes me as odd that the people who are treating the infected victims are not undressing them,” said Raymond Zilinskas, a biologist and former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq. “When you’re dealing with a chemical event, there is always a ‘red zone’ and a ‘green zone’ — always,” to protect medical providers.

There are unconfirmed reports that hundreds, including women and children, were killed by a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus, Syria.

But others said the symptoms exhibited by victims were far more convincing than in any of the previous alleged chemical incidents.
Amy Smithson, a senior fellow at the James C. Martin Center for Nonproliferation Studies, said the photographic evidence “clearly indicates exposure to a toxic chemical,” citing a combination of telltale symptoms such as respiratory problems and twitching, and the near-absence of wounds that would be associated with conventional explosives. But she acknowledged that it was impossible to tell whether the apparent poisoning was caused by sarin or one of the other known toxins in Syria’s arsenal.
“Regardless of whether this was a classic warfare agent like sarin, the Chemical Weapons Convention outlaws use of any toxic chemical for military purposes,” Smithson said.
Jean Pascal Zanders, an expert on chemical and biological weapons at the European Union Institute for Security Studies in Paris, said in a blog posting that the photographs appeared to confirm “exposure to toxin,” but not necessarily nerve gas. He added, “It is clear that something terrible has happened. These scenes could not have been stage-managed.”
Even the more-conservative opposition casualty estimates of Wednesday’s attack would make it the most extensive use of chemical weapons since 1988, when thousands of Iraqi civilians were killed in the Kurdish village of Halabja in an attack launched by President Saddam Hussein.
At a news conference in Istanbul, George Sabra, deputy head of the Syrian Opposition Coalition, said the death toll had reached 1,300. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the number at 136.
Denouncing the lack of international action on Syria, Sabra reiterated calls for a no-fly zone, saying that not only is the Assad regime killing the Syrian people but “the weakness of the U.N. is killing us. The U.S. hesitation is killing us.”
Obama has steadily escalated U.S. aid to the opposition, although rebel fighters said that light arms and ammunition shipments that administration officials said were recently cleared for delivery have not arrived.
But the administration has remained divided over the wisdom of the more direct military support that the rebels and some U.S. lawmakers have demanded. In an Aug. 19 letter to Rep. Eliot L. Engel (D-N.Y.) released Wednesday, Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said that more robust military assistance, including U.S. air assaults against Assad’s air force, could not ensure that U.S.-favored moderates in the fractured opposition would prevail.
In a surprisingly direct statement of his own policy recommendation, Dempsey wrote that “the best framework for an effective U.S. strategy . . . going forward” is more humanitarian aid and support for opposition moderates.


DeYoung reported from Washington. Ahmed Ramadan in Beirut, Joby Warrick in Washington and Colum Lynch in New York contributed to this report.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrian-activists-accuse-government-of-deadly-chemical-attack-near-damascus/2013/08/21/aea157e6-0a50-11e3-89fe-abb4a5067014_story_1.html 

Chemical Weapons Claims Spur Calls For Force Against Syria

by

August 22, 2013 7:00 AM

Gas mask in one hand and rifle in the other, a Free Syrian Army fighter sits inside a house in the city of Homs early Thursday.

Yazan Homsy /Reuters /Landov

in Syria that President Bashar Assad's forces used chemical weapons during an attack Wednesday near Damascus — killing scores of people, they say — are being followed Thursday by word that:
— "The French foreign minister has said that the international community would need to respond with force if allegations were proven that Syrian government forces carried out a mass chemical attack on civilians." ()
— Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is also urging that action be taken "to prevent further chemical strikes." () "This event is one that cannot be ignored anymore," Mr. Davutoglu said.

From the NPR Newscast: The BBC's Nick Bryant reports

Still, as the BBC's Nick Bryant reports, "meeting in emergency session, the United Nations Security Council failed to reach an agreement on a toughly worded statement condemning the alleged atrocity in Damascus. ... Once again we saw the usual divisions between the Russians and the Chinese on one hand and the Americans, the British, the French on the other."
The Assad regime rejects the allegations about use of chemical weapons. There have been countercharges that opposition forces might have deployed such weapons or staged the videos that popped up Wednesday on the Web — videos showing scores of people who were allegedly victims of a chemical attack. United Nations inspectors are now in Syria to investigate earlier reports about the use of chemical weapons, and the regime alleges that the opposition is trying to influence those inspectors.
, Financial Times correspondent Abigail Fielding-Smith reported from Beirut that "my gut reaction and the reaction of most of the analysts I've spoken to is that ... these videos — there are simply too many of them, and too many of them involve children who ... I don't see how they could be coached to act [out] those kinds of things. ... It just seems highly implausible that the entire kind of range of symptoms that we've seen and people in distress are some kind of movie."
Meanwhile, that Assad's forces "pressed on with a military offensive in eastern Damascus on Thursday, bombing rebel-held suburbs where the opposition said a chemical weapons attack the day before killed over 100 people."
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/08/22/214411237/chemical-weapons-claims-bring-calls-for-force-against-syria?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=DailyDigest&utm_campaign=20130822

You Did It! Senate Takes Action on Syria 30NOV12

IT took a while, too long actually, but we finally have a victory in the US Senate thanks to Rep Jim Moran D VA and Sen John Cornyn R TX. Here is a report on the unanimous vote in the Senate barring the purchase of weapons from Rosoboronexport, the Russian weapons supplier to the murderous regime of assad in Syria. Thank you to all who participated in their calls to action to bring this about!

		Victory against Rosoboronexport Photo credit: (UPI) Dear supporter, Thanks to over 50,000 people like you, our voices were heard loud and clear on Capitol Hill. Last night we won an important victory in the Senate — there was a unanimous vote on an amendment barring the Pentagon from purchasing any weapons from the Russian company arming the murderous Syrian regime, Rosoboronexport. Can you take a minute to thank our champions in the House and Senate Rep. Jim Moran (D-VA) and Senator John Cornyn (R-TX) by sending a tweet? Share on Twitter Thanks @JohnCornyn for standing w/ the Syrian people by cutting US ties with Syrian weapons dealers @endgenocide pls RT Share on Twitter Thanks @Jim_Moran for standing w/ the Syrian people by cutting US ties with Syrian weapons dealers @endgenocide pls RT Our campaign — and this legislation targeting Rosoboronexport — will add critical economic pressure on Russia who is providing direct aid and assistance to Assad's murderous regime. Russia is one of the main reasons why there hasn't been stronger international action on Syria. Not only have they sold the Assad regime attack helicopters, they've blocked action at the UN, delivered planes with 200 tons of "bank notes" for Assad, and Russian made cluster bombs were used in a Thanksgiving day attack that killed 11 children who were gathered in a field where kids regularly play. We know the Syrian people are still at risk. Even as we are celebrating this victory, the Syrian regime has cut off internet access to the entire country. But with this legislation — and strong support from people like you — we've taken an important step forward and we will continue to seek opportunities for us to stand with the Syrian people. Thank you for all you do, Tom Andrews President United to End Genocide
		ABOUT UNITED TO END GENOCIDE We are United to End Genocide, the largest activist organization in America dedicated to preventing and ending genocide and mass atrocities worldwide. We are faith leaders, students, artists, investors and genocide survivors, and all those who believe we must fulfill the promise the world made following the Holocaust — "Never Again!"

Olympic Action Makes Mark 1AUG12

THE PR campaign agains weapons sales and shipments to Syria's bashar al-assad by United to End Genocide and other human rights groups is being felt at the 2012 London Summer Olympics and by Russia's arms dealer to bloody dictators vladimir lisin and the equally complicit rosoboronexport. See my earlier post on this action at DOW CHEMICAL, BOPHAL, INDIA AND THE 2012 LONDON OLYMPICS & PBS SYRIA VIDEO & Terror Games: Syria, Russia and the Olympics 26,27&28JUL12 ( http://bucknacktssordidtawdryblog.blogspot.com/2012/07/dow-chemical-bophal-india-and-2012.html )
This update from United to End Genocide....
By Bama Athreya
Last week, we asked our activists to call attention to Russian shipping magnate Vladimir Lisin’s prominent role in the Olympic Games. Lisin’s vessels were alleged to be shipping equipment for military helicopters to Syria, enabling mass atrocities by Syria’s dictator, Bashar al-Assad.
We called off the action on the opening day of the Olympics after hearing directly from Lisin’s representatives with detailed information regarding the shipments. Thanks to all of you who took action. Vladimir Lisin took notice of your actions, and his representatives felt compelled to respond! We are continuing to dialogue with them and hope to share more information on this issue with our supporters soon.
We hope that you will join us as we continue our work to stem the flow of arms into Syria. Our effort includes targeting enablers like Russia’s state-owned weapons company, Rosoboronexport, which is responsible for selling billions of dollars in arms to the Syrian regime.
http://blog.endgenocide.org/blog/2012/08/01/olympic-action-makes-mark/

Syria: Farewell to Arms 16JUL12

AS the fighting rages across Syria and intensifies in Damascus Russia decides to end weapons sales to the government of bashar al-assad. Russia and the prc continue to block Chapter 7 resolutions in the UN Security Council, but this unilateral action by Russia, if true, could be the action that brings the fall of assad. From United to End Genocide.....

By Bama Athreya

Military helicopter similar to the ones reportedly being delivered to Syria by Russia.

The following originally appeared on the Connect U.S. Fund blog.
The Russians will sell no new weapons to Bashar al-Assad’s murderous regime in Syria. This is a significant shift in Russia’s stance. The time is ripe to push even harder to end any provision of arms, by any government, to those forces in Syria committing human rights abuses.
By some estimates, over 17,000 people have died since the inception of violence in March 2011 – most innocent civilians, and a number of them children. Over the past sixteen months, the international community has attempted to find a path to implement its responsibility to protect civilian lives from the Assad government’s violent assaults. Governments have imposed harsh economic sanctions on Syria. The Arab League sent in a human rights observer mission. When that failed, the United Nations sent in a mission headed by former UN Secretary General Kofi Annan with the intention of monitoring a cease-fire and brokering peace. The cease-fire never occurred, sanctions were increased, a number of countries severed diplomatic relations, and a Friends of Syria group was established to coordinate an international response to the Syria crisis. Yet, large numbers of civilians continue to be killed – a few now by opposition fighters, but in far greater numbers at the hands of Assad’s forces.
Since the violence began sixteen months ago, United to End Genocide has advocated for the use of economic and diplomatic pressure on Syria. By restricting Assad’s access to international capital through the sanctioning of lucrative sectors such as oil and gas, we hoped to see both restrained capacity of the regime to arm and pay its soldiers, and the reduction of support for Assad from Syria’s business community. Over the past several months, we have also pushed for an end to Russian arms sales – in particular, targeting Russia’s state-owned weapons dealer Rosoboronexport.  We have no illusions about the company’s morality, but guess that—between Assad’s diminished ability to pay lucrative contracts, and the threat of loss of sales elsewhere— pressure on the Russians may be working given the latest announcement.
Despite this victory, a protracted civil war in Syria now seems inevitable. This will undoubtedly lead to the loss of many more civilian lives and risks escalating delicate regional tensions even further. The ‘military option’ has been discussed with proposals for safe zones, no-kill zones and the direct arming of the Syrian opposition. At the other end of the spectrum, some human rights groups have called for a total arms embargo – both to stop the flow of weapons to the Assad regime, and to any opposition forces. Would any of these options really serve the need for civilian protection in the cities of Syria, where it is most needed?
In the midst of this, Annan has been clearly calling for a stronger UN mandate for the international mission. The current mandate will expire on July 20, and at this point it must be both renewed and strengthened. While Russia and China vetoed an earlier UN Security Council measure, perhaps Russia’s recent change of heart on new weapons sales suggests that stronger action is now possible.
In response to Annan’s call for ‘strong consequences’ for Syria’s intransigence, some Security Council members want to authorize a measure under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter. This would enable, among other possible actions, an arms embargo on Syria. Now that the Russians have conceded the issues with selling weapons to Syria, can they be convinced to endorse a condition that military assistance will not be provided to forces known to have committed human rights violations (something similar to the Leahy provisions mandated in U.S. law)?  Here, credible monitoring will be key, and could be the justification to insist that human rights monitors—in the form of an expanded, and protected, Annan mission—be given enough access and resources to determine which forces should be sequestered.
The world also needs to convince the opposition’s armed combatants that it will not serve their cause to target civilians. Some governments are now providing military and non-military support to the armed opposition. Regardless of whether this is something that should be encouraged or discouraged, it is happening.  At a minimum, the necessity then becomes working to ensure that groups receiving arms do not turn around and target civilians. As a measure to ensure this, what if the provision of supplies to armed opposition groups was conditioned upon those groups adopting clear pledges to adhere to international human rights and humanitarian law, and to allow international human rights monitors to work in close proximity to their operations to monitor that this pledge was being honored?
While it may be too late to succeed in bringing peace in the short term, the Annan mission can succeed in preventing further escalation and reducing the harm to civilians if it is backed by strong commitments and consequences for violations by the UN Security Council. The new mission should include an arms embargo, in particular applied to all forces known to have committed human rights violations, international monitors to verify that combatants adhere to the Geneva Conventions and other applicable international human rights and humanitarian laws, and consequences for those who do commit violations. This may not avert civil war, but perhaps this approach can rein in the human costs of conflict.
http://blog.endgenocide.org/blog/2012/07/16/syria-farewell-to-arms/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=syria-farewell-to-arms

U.N. Observers Suspend Activities In Syria & As Violence Escalates, U.N. Suspends Monitoring In Syria & U.N. suspends mission in Syria because of increasing violence 16JUN12

The future of Syria is being painted with the blood of it's children, women and men. The blood of over 12000 Syrians overflows from assad's palette, his inspiration is pure, unadulterated evil, and the world seems to wait in breathless anticipation for his work to be completed. God forgive us....
The chief of U.N. observers in Syria says the mission is suspending its activities and patrols because of escalating violence in the country.
Maj. Gen. Robert Mood said in a statement Saturday that the bloodshed is posing significant risks to the observers and is impeding their ability to carry out their mandate.
He says the observers will not be conducting patrols and will stay in their locations in the country "until further notice." The suspension will be reviewed on a daily basis.
The suspension is the latest sign that a peace plan brokered by international envoy Kofi Annan is disintegrating. The regime and the opposition have both ignored the cease-fire, which was supposed to go into effect April 12.
http://www.npr.org/2012/06/16/155171267/u-n-suspends-operations-in-syria?sc=nl&cc=brk-20120616-0824

As Violence Escalates, U.N. Suspends Monitoring In Syria

by Greg Myre

Enlarge Anonymous/AP A Free Syrian Army fighter fires his weapon during clashes with Syrian troops near Idlib, Syria, on Friday. The U.N. said Saturday it is suspending its mission in Syria because of escalating violence.

The U.N. said Saturday it was suspending its monitoring operations in Syria because of an "intensification of armed violence" over the past 10 days.
"U.N. observers will not be conducting patrols and will stay in their locations until further notice," said Gen. Robert Mood, head of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria.
Mood said the decision would be reviewed on a daily basis and that the monitoring could resume if conditions improve.
NPR's Deborah Amos has been in Syria and has traveled with the monitors in recent days. They have had difficulty reaching some sites and have come under fire in a couple of instances.
The monitors have been in Syria since April and have been going to cities and towns where deadly clashes are taking place between rebels and the forces of President Bashar Assad.
However, the violence has not abated in the conflict that began in March of last year.
"This escalation is limiting our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue," Mood said.
The former U.N secretary general, Kofi Annan, has been attempting to broker peace between the government and the rebels. But the plan has not been making any headway, and Saturday's announcement deals another blow to his efforts.
UPDATE at 9:25 am ET. Army Offensive Continues:
The rebels have been making gains this month, and the Syrian army has responded with stepped up attacks that have included helicopter assaults and heavy shelling, Amos told NPR's Weekend Edition.
"The army has unleashed this blistering offensive," Amos said. "Overnight, the military offensive against the rebels has continued."
The U.N. blames both sides for the continued fighting and says neither has shown any real signs of observing a ceasefire, Amos noted.
http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2012/06/16/155171871/as-violence-escalates-u-n-suspends-monitoring-in-syria

U.N. suspends mission in Syria because of increasing violence

By Liz Sly and Colum Lynch

 Muzaffar Salman/AP - Norwegian Maj. Gen. Robert Mood, head of the U.N. observer team in Syria.

BEIRUT — The United Nations suspended its monitoring mission in Syria on Saturday, a day after the chief observer there warned that spiraling bloodshed was hindering the ability of his team to fulfill its obligations.
Maj. General Robert Mood, the chief of the U.N. Supervision Mission in Syria, announced the suspension in a brief statement that cited the “significant risks” to the lives of the monitors posed by the escalating violence.
“In this high risk situation, UNSMIS is suspending its activities,” Mood said. “U.N . observers will not be conducting patrols and will stay in their locations until further notice.”
Mood said the suspension would be reviewed on a daily basis, and that the monitors would resume their activities “when we see the situation fit for us to carry out our mandated activities.”
But at a time when both sides in the conflict appear to be ramping up the violence, the prospects that conditions will improve soon appeared remote.
The collapse of the U.N. mission in Syria would effectively close the international community’s main window into the crisis in Syria and expose the United Nations to charges of abandoning civilians to slaughter. The demise of the monitoring effort would also increase pressure on the United States, Russia and other key powers to forge a new diplomatic strategy to contain a crisis that threatens to engulf the region.
“I have no doubt that we’re going to face a long and bloody summer,” said Salman Shaikh, a former U.N. official who serves as the director of the Brookings Doha Center. “By pulling these guys out, the international community will face a difficult choice: Is it going to get behind a much more coercive approach or is it going to allow the regime to kill hundreds if not thousands of civilians over the next few months?”
On Friday, Mood hinted that a suspension was possible when he warned reporters at a news conference in Damascus that it was becoming increasingly difficult for the 300-strong, unarmed observer mission to carry out its responsibilities.
“Violence, over the past 10 days, has been intensifying . . . willingly by the both parties, with losses on both sides and significant risks to our observers,” he said. “The escalating violence is now limiting our ability to observe, verify, report as well as assist in local dialogue and stability projects.”
In response to the heightened risks, Mood had already ordered the mission to scale back its patrols and other activities in Syria, according to two U.N. officials briefed on the decision.
Mood’s steps come as representatives of the more than 60 governments providing monitors to the U.N. mission have warned that the dangers faced by U.N. blue helmets might have grown too serious to justify their presence in Syria, particularly when the peace process is stalled.
On Wednesday, Brazil, India, Ireland and other countries with observers on the ground voiced anxiety about the security of their personnel. There is a “concern among the member states providing observers that the risk level is approaching the level where they are not willing to accept it any more,” Mood said.
Mood did not indicate at his news conference Friday whether he advocated beefing up the force or abolishing it altogether. But U.N. officials made it clear that they oppose expanding or reinforcing the U.N. mission, saying it would increase their exposure to attacks.
For the time being, no one has officially proposed pulling the observers out of Syria. But some Security Council diplomats have privately acknowledged that such a move would be likely in the event of a major attack that resulted in the death of significant numbers of U.N. personnel.
The U.N. monitoring mission is central to the implementation of a U.N.-mandated peace plan — known as Kofi Annan’s six-point plan — that has failed to halt the violence. An April 12 cease-fire brought only a brief respite, and many in the international community are warning that Syria’s 15-month-old uprising against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad is at risk of becoming an all-out civil war.
The observers’ role is to “monitor a cessation, not to stop, armed violence,” Mood said. But he said it is now clear that the plan is not being implemented either by the rebels or the government. “There appears to be a lack of willingness to seek a peaceful transition,” the general said. “Instead, there is a push towards advancing military positions.”
The monitors have provided a steady diet of raw information, however incomplete, linking the Syrian government and pro-government militias to some of the worst atrocities, including the massacre of 108 civilians in Houla, where the monitors said they found fresh tank tracks and evidence of government shelling.
The findings have largely undercut claims by Syria’s chief defenders, China and Russia, that Syrian government forces have played no role in mass killings, and secured their support for a Security Council statement condemning Syria for its role in the Houla massacre. The monitors have also documented multiple abuses by armed opposition groups and flagged concerns about the emergence of violent extremists groups in
Syria.
“I think the mission has probably outperformed expectations,” said Richard Gowan, an expert on the United Nations at New York University’s Center for International Cooperation. “Its reporting has put the focus on
the government in a way that even independent media
and Syrian [nongovernmental organizations] could not, and made it harder for the Russians and Chinese to ignore the realities on the ground.”
But Gowan added that any hope that evidence of Syrian atrocities “would sway Russian opinion turns out to be a fallacy.”
Mood is scheduled to travel to New York to brief the Security Council on Monday. His dire assessment is likely to accelerate discussions underway in New York on the future of the U.N. mission in Syria. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon had already instructed his peacekeeping department to prepare a set of possible options for reconfiguring the peacekeeping mission when its 90-day mandate expires on July 20.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has proposed adopting a legally binding Security Council resolution that would compel Syria to implement Annan’s peace plan or face the “pain of very heavy sanctions.” But Russia and China would almost certainly block such a measure.
Susan E. Rice, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, meanwhile, has questioned the viability of the U.N. monitors. In a closed-door meeting this week, she likened them to “300 sitting ducks in a shooting gallery, one IED away from a disaster,” according to a diplomat who was present.


Lynch reported from New York.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/un-observer-chief-in-syria-questions-viability-of-mission-safety-of-monitors/2012/06/15/gJQA8vW7eV_print.html 

President Obama: Stop U.S. Support for Syrian Weapons 14JUN12

SEC of State Clinton is right to condemn continuing arms sales by Russia to Syria, and HYPOCRITICAL because the U.S. military has a contract for $1 billion with the same Russian arms dealer, rosoboronexport. The campaign to force the American government to cancel this contract has been going on for months, and it will continue until the Pentagon cuts all ties with rosoboronexport. We must keep up the pressure, not only on the bloody assad regime, but on the American government too. Please click the link and sign the petition demanding the pentagon cancel it's contract and all business with rosobornexport now.

		Obama — Stop U.S. support for Syrian weapons Tell President Obama to stand up for the people of Syria today Killing and violence in Syria has reached horrific levels. The recent massacres in Houla and Qubair underscore the ruthlessness of Syrian President al-Assad. Over 10,000 men, women and children have perished in the last year and more than 1 million Syrians are now in need of humanitarian assistance. In a major announcement this week, Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton condemned Russia, and its state-owned weapons company for shipping attack helicopters to Syria and enabling President Bashir al-Assad's regime to carry out brutal attacks on civilians. But the United States has a dirty little secret — the U.S. military has a $1 billion dollar contract with the same Russian company, Rosoboronexport. Tell President Obama that the United States needs to cease all contracts with Rosoboronexport. We must act now. Next week, President Obama will be meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin at the G20 summit in Mexico. Before he condemns Russia for selling arms to Syria, he needs to get our own house in order. In March, we sounded the alarm that the U.S government signed a contract for nearly $1 billion in business with Rosoboronexport. In response, supporters like you sent more than 25,000 emails to Secretary of Defense, Leon Panetta. Congress listened, held hearings and introduced legislation to bring this deplorable practice to an end. Now it's time to demand action from President Obama. And he must act now. The UN just issued a report finding that Assad's brutal regime and allied militia have killed, maimed, tortured and detained children as young as 9 years old. It is unconscionable that the United States would play any role in this mindless slaughter of innocents. Tell President Obama that we can't condemn the killing of civilians in Syria while at the same time the U.S. is purchasing weapons from Syria's main arms supplier, Rosoboronexport. Thank you for taking action. Together we will stand up for those suffering from violence and mass atrocities in Syria. Sincerely, Tom Andrews President United to End Genocide
		ABOUT UNITED TO END GENOCIDE We are United to End Genocide, the largest activist organization in America dedicated to preventing and ending genocide and mass atrocities worldwide. We are faith leaders, students, artists, investors and genocide survivors, and all those who believe we must fulfill the promise the world made following the Holocaust — "Never Again!"