Israel strikes Russian weapons shipment in Syria
US security official says attack occurred in port city of Latakia and that target was Russian-made SA-125 missiles
Associated Press in Beirut
theguardian.com, Friday 1 November 2013 11.47 AEST
Israeli warplanes have attacked a shipment of Russian missiles inside a Syrian government stronghold, officials say, a development that threatened to add another volatile layer to regional tensions from the Syrian civil war.
The revelation came as the government of President Bashar al-Assad met a key deadline in an ambitious plan to eliminate Syria's entire chemical weapons stockpile by mid-2014 and avoid international military action.
The announcement by a global chemical weapons watchdog that the country has completed the destruction of equipment used to produce the deadly agents highlights Assad's willingness to cooperate, and puts more pressure on the divided and outgunned rebels to attend a planned peace conference.
An Obama administration official confirmed the Israeli airstrike overnight, but provided no details. Another security official said the attack occurred late on Wednesday in the Syrian port city of Latakia and that the target was Russian-made SA-125 missiles.
There was no immediate confirmation from Syria.
Since the civil war in Syria began in March 2011, Israel has carefully avoided taking sides, but has struck shipments of missiles inside Syria at least twice this year.
The Syrian military, overstretched by the civil war, has not retaliated, and it was not clear whether the embattled Syrian leader would choose to take action this time. Assad may decide to again let the Israeli attack slide, particularly when his army has the upper hand on the battlefield inside Syria.
Israel has repeatedly declared a series of red lines that could trigger military intervention, including the delivery of "game-changing" weapons to the Syrian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah group.
Israel has never officially confirmed taking action inside Syria to avoid embarrassing Assad and sparking a potential response. But foreign officials say it has done so several times when Israeli intelligence determined that sophisticated missiles were on the move.
In January, an Israeli airstrike in Syria destroyed a shipment of advanced anti-aircraft missiles bound for Hezbollah, according to US officials. And in May, it was said to have acted again, taking out a shipment of Iranian-made Fateh-110 missiles at a Damascus airport.
The Fateh-110s have advanced guidance systems that allow them to travel up to 200 miles per hour with great precision. Their solid-fuel propellant allows them to be launched at short notice, making them hard to detect and neutralise.
Israel has identified several other weapons systems as game changers, including chemical weapons, Russian-made Yakhont missiles that can be fired from land and destroy ships at sea, and Russian SA-17 anti-aircraft missiles. Israel's January airstrike is believed to have destroyed a shipment of SA-17s.
Syrian activists and opposition groups reported strong explosions on Wednesday night that appeared to come from inside an air defence facility in Latakia. They said the cause of the blasts was not known.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Thursday, October 31, 2013
POLITICS_ US_ Senators Ask: What’s the Strategy for Syria?
Senators Ask: What’s the Strategy for Syria?
By Dana Hughes
@dana_hughes
Oct 31, 2013 6:26pm
abc NEWS
At a Senate Foreign Relations hearing today, senators seemed to be losing patience with the administration’s stance on Syria, with both Republicans and Democrats saying that despite the administration officials’ claims that Assad must go and the bloodshed must end, there didn’t seem to be a strategy in place to make that happen.
The senators acknowledged that the progress made in destroying chemical weapons had been positive. But they pointed out that the chemical weapons deal still didn’t answer the big questions surrounding the Assad regime.
“I want to support any and every diplomatic effort that is taking place,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R- Tenn., the ranking Republican member on the committee. “But I think we ought to realize there is no strategy right now for the opposition — none.”
The U.S. envoy for Syria, Ambassador Robert Ford, acknowledged that the opposition remained fractured, and that in some areas it was now fighting a war on two fronts, against the regime and against al Qaeda and extremist elements of the opposition who also want control. But Corker defended the administration’s policy, saying that despite the troubling situation on the ground, focusing on a political solution is the only way to achieve long-term peace.
“We don’t see a way for this to be solved militarily,” said Ford. “In a civil war where communities think it’s existential, that if they surrender they will be murdered, we have to build a political set of agreements between communities. Otherwise, the fighting goes on indefinitely.”
Ford said the United States has provided support for the moderate armed rebels, including a delivery of trucks to the army, something that Gen. Salim Idris had asked for.
“We do provide support to help them against the regime. We provide a lot of support,” said Ford. “You may discount what we do, but it matters to Salim Idris. Every time I talk to him, he thanks us for what we do. Would they like more? Of course they would. They’d like more from a lot of countries.”
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.Y., lamented the fact that the Senate passed a law in May authorizing the United States to provide more support, including military, to the rebels but that the administration hadn’t acted on it.
“I wish that the authorization that this committee passed back in May would have been used because at that time the dynamics were different, and I think we could have far better affected the efforts toward the negotiations that we still aspire to,” said Menendez. “But the administration chose not to use that at the time.”
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., delivered a blistering criticism of America’s Syria policy, calling it “a shameful chapter in American history.” McCain said he understood why Saudi Arabia had been publicly feuding with the United States over what it views as America’s negligence.
“The reason the Saudis have divorced themselves from the United States of America is because of what you just articulated to Sen. Corker — trucks,” he said to the U.S. envoy to Syria Ambassador Robert Ford. “That’s a great thing, trucks, as shiploads of weapons come in to the Russian port, as plane load after plane load lands and provides weapons — all kinds of lethal weapons. And we’re proud of the fact that we gave them trucks,” he said.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
By Dana Hughes
@dana_hughes
Oct 31, 2013 6:26pm
abc NEWS
At a Senate Foreign Relations hearing today, senators seemed to be losing patience with the administration’s stance on Syria, with both Republicans and Democrats saying that despite the administration officials’ claims that Assad must go and the bloodshed must end, there didn’t seem to be a strategy in place to make that happen.
The senators acknowledged that the progress made in destroying chemical weapons had been positive. But they pointed out that the chemical weapons deal still didn’t answer the big questions surrounding the Assad regime.
“I want to support any and every diplomatic effort that is taking place,” said Sen. Bob Corker, R- Tenn., the ranking Republican member on the committee. “But I think we ought to realize there is no strategy right now for the opposition — none.”
The U.S. envoy for Syria, Ambassador Robert Ford, acknowledged that the opposition remained fractured, and that in some areas it was now fighting a war on two fronts, against the regime and against al Qaeda and extremist elements of the opposition who also want control. But Corker defended the administration’s policy, saying that despite the troubling situation on the ground, focusing on a political solution is the only way to achieve long-term peace.
“We don’t see a way for this to be solved militarily,” said Ford. “In a civil war where communities think it’s existential, that if they surrender they will be murdered, we have to build a political set of agreements between communities. Otherwise, the fighting goes on indefinitely.”
Ford said the United States has provided support for the moderate armed rebels, including a delivery of trucks to the army, something that Gen. Salim Idris had asked for.
“We do provide support to help them against the regime. We provide a lot of support,” said Ford. “You may discount what we do, but it matters to Salim Idris. Every time I talk to him, he thanks us for what we do. Would they like more? Of course they would. They’d like more from a lot of countries.”
Sen. Robert Menendez, D-N.Y., lamented the fact that the Senate passed a law in May authorizing the United States to provide more support, including military, to the rebels but that the administration hadn’t acted on it.
“I wish that the authorization that this committee passed back in May would have been used because at that time the dynamics were different, and I think we could have far better affected the efforts toward the negotiations that we still aspire to,” said Menendez. “But the administration chose not to use that at the time.”
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., delivered a blistering criticism of America’s Syria policy, calling it “a shameful chapter in American history.” McCain said he understood why Saudi Arabia had been publicly feuding with the United States over what it views as America’s negligence.
“The reason the Saudis have divorced themselves from the United States of America is because of what you just articulated to Sen. Corker — trucks,” he said to the U.S. envoy to Syria Ambassador Robert Ford. “That’s a great thing, trucks, as shiploads of weapons come in to the Russian port, as plane load after plane load lands and provides weapons — all kinds of lethal weapons. And we’re proud of the fact that we gave them trucks,” he said.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ Israeli warplanes strike shipment of Russian missiles at Syrian port: officials
Israeli warplanes strike shipment of Russian missiles at Syrian port: officials
Comments (1)
By Associated Press
Photo by: Lior Mizrahi
** FILE ** Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AP Photo/Lior Mizrahi, Pool)
WASHINGTON — Officials say Israeli warplanes attacked a military target inside Syria.
An Obama administration official confirmed the attack happened overnight Thursday but provided no details.
PHOTOS: See how Assad is cleaning Obama's clock on Syria
Another security official said that the attack occurred in the Syrian port city of Latakia and that the target was Russian-made SA-125 missiles.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the attack.
At least twice earlier this year Israel launched airstrikes on shipments of missiles inside Syria.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/31/israeli-warplanes-strike-shipment-russian-missiles/#ixzz2jKqfWvXZ
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Comments (1)
By Associated Press
Photo by: Lior Mizrahi
** FILE ** Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (AP Photo/Lior Mizrahi, Pool)
WASHINGTON — Officials say Israeli warplanes attacked a military target inside Syria.
An Obama administration official confirmed the attack happened overnight Thursday but provided no details.
PHOTOS: See how Assad is cleaning Obama's clock on Syria
Another security official said that the attack occurred in the Syrian port city of Latakia and that the target was Russian-made SA-125 missiles.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to publicly discuss the attack.
At least twice earlier this year Israel launched airstrikes on shipments of missiles inside Syria.
Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/oct/31/israeli-warplanes-strike-shipment-russian-missiles/#ixzz2jKqfWvXZ
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ With civil war at their door, some Syrians drown out mortars with song, dance away their fears
With civil war at their door, some Syrians drown out mortars with song, dance away their fears
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, November 1, 5:50 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria — As cannons thundered and mortar shells exploded nearby, the young Syrian woman in a slinky dark dress and stylish bob performed a song by pop star Adele, taking refuge behind a microphone from the civil war raging outside.
Performing with a guitarist at a cafe in the heart of the historic Old Town of Damascus, Reem Khunsar lost herself in the lyrics. About a failed love, they also struck a chord closer to home: “Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?”
While most people in the Syrian capital lock themselves fearfully in their homes at night, young Syrians dressed in tight jeans and designer clothes go wild at the handful of clubs still operating in a city once renowned for its nightlife.
“The war can’t stop life,” declared Oday Al-Khayyatt, as he took in the music scene at the Roma cafe. “You hear bad news in Syria, dangers, war and death. But in our reality, we are still alive.”
Such revelries show the human side of a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people as the Syrian civil war grinds into its third year.
The Damascus nightclub scene often gets mentioned by the Syrian state news agency SANA on its English-language Twitter feed, drawing ridicule from observers outside the country. But people still brave the dangers to come to the cafes to take their mind off what is happening.
At the Roma Cafe, couples smiled as they danced on the black-and-white checkered dance floor. Some smoked flavored tobacco from water pipes. Women, some in big hair and low-cut dresses and others wearing headscarves, chatted as they mingled by the bar. There were no liquor bottles in sight, though some patrons were able to buy alcohol.
“There is a big difference between now and before the war,” conceded Titar Sahinian, another young singer. “People are afraid to come out of their houses ... but they still come.
“Of course, it’s all devastating. We can’t pretend that nothing is happening. But at the same time we can’t stop living,” she said.
As she spoke, the sound of government cannons pounding rebels just a few miles away echoed down the stone walls of the ancient quarter. Nearby, so-called Popular Committees, local hard-line militiamen brandishing Kalashnikov assault rifles, threw up impromptu roadblocks, searching cars for bombs.
They also kept a close watch on the young revelers, many of whom said they believe the militiamen, die-hard supporters of President Bashar Assad and his embattled government, don’t approve of the Damascus nightlife.
“We were afraid of being attacked” by the popular committee militiamen, Roma cafe owner Rami Dahbour said. “We were threatened once. But nothing happened, and we are no longer affected by the threat.”
Several mortars launched from rebel positions on the outskirts of Damascus have rained down near the cafe. Still, the singing goes on.
Khunsar said she feels like she is giving hope to the people who come to listen. “Here in Syria we have not given up,” she said. “We hope that everything will go back to where it was before.”
As she threw herself into the Metallica classic, “Nothing Else Matters,” those in the cafe joined in: “Life is ours and we live it our way, I don’t just say, and nothing else matters.”
___
Associated Press writers Darko Bandic and Dusan Vranic contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/with-civil-war-at-their-door-some-syrians-drown-out-mortars-with-song-dance-away-their-fears/2013/10/31/4730b3c8-425d-11e3-b028-de922d7a3f47_story.html
____________
What do you think?
Và, những người VN BỊ MẤT NƯỚC vào tay bè lũ phản quốc cướp nước diệt chủng BÁN NƯỚC việt gian cộng sản VN nghĩ gì, có học thêm được bài học kinh nghiệm gì qua tình hình hiện nay tại Syria từ bài viết "With civil war at their door, some Syrians drown out mortars with song, dance away their fears" ???
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
By Associated Press, Updated: Friday, November 1, 5:50 AM
DAMASCUS, Syria — As cannons thundered and mortar shells exploded nearby, the young Syrian woman in a slinky dark dress and stylish bob performed a song by pop star Adele, taking refuge behind a microphone from the civil war raging outside.
Performing with a guitarist at a cafe in the heart of the historic Old Town of Damascus, Reem Khunsar lost herself in the lyrics. About a failed love, they also struck a chord closer to home: “Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?”
While most people in the Syrian capital lock themselves fearfully in their homes at night, young Syrians dressed in tight jeans and designer clothes go wild at the handful of clubs still operating in a city once renowned for its nightlife.
“The war can’t stop life,” declared Oday Al-Khayyatt, as he took in the music scene at the Roma cafe. “You hear bad news in Syria, dangers, war and death. But in our reality, we are still alive.”
Such revelries show the human side of a conflict that has killed more than 120,000 people as the Syrian civil war grinds into its third year.
The Damascus nightclub scene often gets mentioned by the Syrian state news agency SANA on its English-language Twitter feed, drawing ridicule from observers outside the country. But people still brave the dangers to come to the cafes to take their mind off what is happening.
At the Roma Cafe, couples smiled as they danced on the black-and-white checkered dance floor. Some smoked flavored tobacco from water pipes. Women, some in big hair and low-cut dresses and others wearing headscarves, chatted as they mingled by the bar. There were no liquor bottles in sight, though some patrons were able to buy alcohol.
“There is a big difference between now and before the war,” conceded Titar Sahinian, another young singer. “People are afraid to come out of their houses ... but they still come.
“Of course, it’s all devastating. We can’t pretend that nothing is happening. But at the same time we can’t stop living,” she said.
As she spoke, the sound of government cannons pounding rebels just a few miles away echoed down the stone walls of the ancient quarter. Nearby, so-called Popular Committees, local hard-line militiamen brandishing Kalashnikov assault rifles, threw up impromptu roadblocks, searching cars for bombs.
They also kept a close watch on the young revelers, many of whom said they believe the militiamen, die-hard supporters of President Bashar Assad and his embattled government, don’t approve of the Damascus nightlife.
“We were afraid of being attacked” by the popular committee militiamen, Roma cafe owner Rami Dahbour said. “We were threatened once. But nothing happened, and we are no longer affected by the threat.”
Several mortars launched from rebel positions on the outskirts of Damascus have rained down near the cafe. Still, the singing goes on.
Khunsar said she feels like she is giving hope to the people who come to listen. “Here in Syria we have not given up,” she said. “We hope that everything will go back to where it was before.”
As she threw herself into the Metallica classic, “Nothing Else Matters,” those in the cafe joined in: “Life is ours and we live it our way, I don’t just say, and nothing else matters.”
___
Associated Press writers Darko Bandic and Dusan Vranic contributed to this report.
Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/with-civil-war-at-their-door-some-syrians-drown-out-mortars-with-song-dance-away-their-fears/2013/10/31/4730b3c8-425d-11e3-b028-de922d7a3f47_story.html
____________
What do you think?
Và, những người VN BỊ MẤT NƯỚC vào tay bè lũ phản quốc cướp nước diệt chủng BÁN NƯỚC việt gian cộng sản VN nghĩ gì, có học thêm được bài học kinh nghiệm gì qua tình hình hiện nay tại Syria từ bài viết "With civil war at their door, some Syrians drown out mortars with song, dance away their fears" ???
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Syria chemical weapons destroyed: How we got here
Syria chemical weapons destroyed: How we got here
6 hours ago
BBC
International inspectors have completed the destruction of Syria's declared chemical weapons-producing equipment - one day ahead of schedule.
A team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was sent to Syria following allegations that the regime's forces had used chemical weapons in civilian areas. The government has denied this.
Paul Adams re-visits disturbing footage of the attack.
Read more
_ Syria chemical weapons equipment destroyed, says OPCW
_ Q&A: Syria chemical weapons disarmament deal
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24760322
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
6 hours ago
BBC
International inspectors have completed the destruction of Syria's declared chemical weapons-producing equipment - one day ahead of schedule.
A team from the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) was sent to Syria following allegations that the regime's forces had used chemical weapons in civilian areas. The government has denied this.
Paul Adams re-visits disturbing footage of the attack.
Read more
_ Syria chemical weapons equipment destroyed, says OPCW
_ Q&A: Syria chemical weapons disarmament deal
Read more: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-24760322
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ US_ Senators Ask for Strategy in Syria
Senators Ask for Strategy in Syria
2:52 PM, Oct 31, 2013
13wmaz.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - Obama administration officials have been defending U.S. efforts in Syria today, against blistering criticism from Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Republicans charge that the administration has goals, but no strategy that would bring a political resolution to end the bloody conflict.
The U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, told the panel that the U.S. is proud of the humanitarian and other assistance it has given to the Syrian opposition trying to topple the government of Bashar Assad. He acknowledged that the opposition was "deeply disappointed" when the U.S. didn't take military action against the government. But Ford said the U.S. is trying to arrange a conference in Geneva next month to set up a transitional government and end the bloodshed.
Ford told the panel that he doesn't think Assad can win militarily, and that he only has the advantage in a few areas.
Republican Sen. John McCain criticized Ford for calling the Syria conflict a civil war. McCain said it's actually a "regional conflict" that has spread to Iraq and is destabilizing Jordan. And he said Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has 5,000 troops in Syria. McCain also said Assad's killing of civilians continues unchecked.
Read more: http://www.13wmaz.com/news/national/article/251668/28/Senators-Ask-for-Strategy-in-Syria-
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
2:52 PM, Oct 31, 2013
13wmaz.com
WASHINGTON (AP) - Obama administration officials have been defending U.S. efforts in Syria today, against blistering criticism from Republicans on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.
The Republicans charge that the administration has goals, but no strategy that would bring a political resolution to end the bloody conflict.
The U.S. ambassador to Syria, Robert Ford, told the panel that the U.S. is proud of the humanitarian and other assistance it has given to the Syrian opposition trying to topple the government of Bashar Assad. He acknowledged that the opposition was "deeply disappointed" when the U.S. didn't take military action against the government. But Ford said the U.S. is trying to arrange a conference in Geneva next month to set up a transitional government and end the bloodshed.
Ford told the panel that he doesn't think Assad can win militarily, and that he only has the advantage in a few areas.
Republican Sen. John McCain criticized Ford for calling the Syria conflict a civil war. McCain said it's actually a "regional conflict" that has spread to Iraq and is destabilizing Jordan. And he said Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran, has 5,000 troops in Syria. McCain also said Assad's killing of civilians continues unchecked.
Read more: http://www.13wmaz.com/news/national/article/251668/28/Senators-Ask-for-Strategy-in-Syria-
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
01112013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
WORLD_ REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: How to prosecute Syrian war criminals
REPORTER'S NOTEBOOK: How to prosecute Syrian war criminals
By Jonathan Hunt/
Published October 30, 2013/
FoxNews.com
The Syrian civil war will end. Eventually. No war lasts forever. And when the guns finally fall silent in what has been, and remains, a particularly brutal fight, someone will have to pay for the war crimes committed. And those crimes have been committed by both sides.
The United Nations says chemical weapons were used, to horrific effect, on Aug. 21. U.S. officials say there is no doubt those weapons were used by President Bashar al-Assad’s army. That is a war crime.
Human Rights Watch has accused extremist rebels of slaughtering nearly 200 civilians in an offensive against pro-regime villages on Aug. 4, going house to house and executing entire families. That is a war crime.
President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and leaders from many other western countries have repeatedly said those responsible for carrying out war crimes must, and will, be held responsible.
But who can do that? And how does any kind of court look at the evidence and separate the plain truth from the fog of war?
Professor David Crane might be the man to do it. Crane, currently at the Syracuse University College of Law,certainly has the experience – he was the first Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a court that successfully prosecuted former President Charles Taylor of the neighboring African nation of Liberia. Taylor is currently serving a 50-year sentence.
And now Crane, along with a blue ribbon panel of international law experts, as well as some law students at Syracuse, has set his sights on Syria. It is vital, he says, that the crimes committed there are prosecuted, that the international community’s promises of accountability are followed up with action. “Mankind has evolved to where they have decided to hold individuals accountable who commit war crimes against humanity and genocide,” the professor told me before testifying to Congress this week, “and if we step back from that or show the appearance that we're stepping away from that kind of standard, then it's going to be a pretty dark world over time, so the rule of law has to happen. The rule of law is more powerful than the rule of the gun, and we have to send that signal.”
So Crane and his team have set up the Syria Accountability Project to track and try to verify, or debunk, every accusation of war crimes in Syria, and provide potential prosecutors with what the professor calls a “cornerstone document” on which trials could be based.
It’s an ambitious project with the United Nations and US State Department among its interested clients. The project uses open source reporting and other sources from all sides in the Syrian conflict to establish a “conflict narrative” that tracks the situation on the ground in Syria and key geopolitical developments relative to the major players in the conflict.
Using all this information, as well as his own expertise and that of his colleagues,Crane then develops the “crime base matrix,” a kind of road map for those who might one day prosecute these crimes. “It's important to understand that we developed this crime-based matrix, but from there, we analyze that data,” the professor told me, “and then we take those incidents that are truly verifiable, that actually took place, and develop an indictment matrix and from that is where they actually begin to draft the outline of an indictment against whomever we are looking at to include Assad and his henchmen.”
So where would these trials take place? It’s important to note that Syria is not a party to the International Criminal Court, based in the Netherlands, so the ICC doesn’t have jurisdiction over war crimes committed in Syria unless the United Nations Security Council grants it.rCrane believes that won’t happen because of the politics of the Security Council. But he does believe a Syrian court or something similar to the Special Court for Sierra Leone could be venues in which to bring justice for the Syrian people.
And it must happen, he says. “ We have to use the rule of law as a basis by which we govern ourselves both domestically and internationally, and as soon as that crack happens, where it looks like we are not following the rule of law, the 21st century is in grave danger. We're better than that.”
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
By Jonathan Hunt/
Published October 30, 2013/
FoxNews.com
The Syrian civil war will end. Eventually. No war lasts forever. And when the guns finally fall silent in what has been, and remains, a particularly brutal fight, someone will have to pay for the war crimes committed. And those crimes have been committed by both sides.
The United Nations says chemical weapons were used, to horrific effect, on Aug. 21. U.S. officials say there is no doubt those weapons were used by President Bashar al-Assad’s army. That is a war crime.
Human Rights Watch has accused extremist rebels of slaughtering nearly 200 civilians in an offensive against pro-regime villages on Aug. 4, going house to house and executing entire families. That is a war crime.
President Obama, Secretary of State John Kerry and leaders from many other western countries have repeatedly said those responsible for carrying out war crimes must, and will, be held responsible.
But who can do that? And how does any kind of court look at the evidence and separate the plain truth from the fog of war?
Professor David Crane might be the man to do it. Crane, currently at the Syracuse University College of Law,certainly has the experience – he was the first Chief Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, a court that successfully prosecuted former President Charles Taylor of the neighboring African nation of Liberia. Taylor is currently serving a 50-year sentence.
And now Crane, along with a blue ribbon panel of international law experts, as well as some law students at Syracuse, has set his sights on Syria. It is vital, he says, that the crimes committed there are prosecuted, that the international community’s promises of accountability are followed up with action. “Mankind has evolved to where they have decided to hold individuals accountable who commit war crimes against humanity and genocide,” the professor told me before testifying to Congress this week, “and if we step back from that or show the appearance that we're stepping away from that kind of standard, then it's going to be a pretty dark world over time, so the rule of law has to happen. The rule of law is more powerful than the rule of the gun, and we have to send that signal.”
So Crane and his team have set up the Syria Accountability Project to track and try to verify, or debunk, every accusation of war crimes in Syria, and provide potential prosecutors with what the professor calls a “cornerstone document” on which trials could be based.
It’s an ambitious project with the United Nations and US State Department among its interested clients. The project uses open source reporting and other sources from all sides in the Syrian conflict to establish a “conflict narrative” that tracks the situation on the ground in Syria and key geopolitical developments relative to the major players in the conflict.
Using all this information, as well as his own expertise and that of his colleagues,Crane then develops the “crime base matrix,” a kind of road map for those who might one day prosecute these crimes. “It's important to understand that we developed this crime-based matrix, but from there, we analyze that data,” the professor told me, “and then we take those incidents that are truly verifiable, that actually took place, and develop an indictment matrix and from that is where they actually begin to draft the outline of an indictment against whomever we are looking at to include Assad and his henchmen.”
So where would these trials take place? It’s important to note that Syria is not a party to the International Criminal Court, based in the Netherlands, so the ICC doesn’t have jurisdiction over war crimes committed in Syria unless the United Nations Security Council grants it.rCrane believes that won’t happen because of the politics of the Security Council. But he does believe a Syrian court or something similar to the Special Court for Sierra Leone could be venues in which to bring justice for the Syrian people.
And it must happen, he says. “ We have to use the rule of law as a basis by which we govern ourselves both domestically and internationally, and as soon as that crack happens, where it looks like we are not following the rule of law, the 21st century is in grave danger. We're better than that.”
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
OPINION_ Assad’s campaign to starve his people
Assad’s campaign to starve his people
Published: October 30, 2013 Updated 2 hours ago
By John F. Kerry — Foreign Policy
Just days ago in London, I listened with sadness and shock as Ahmad Jarba and leaders of the moderate Syrian opposition described how ordinary Syrians with no links to the civil war are forced to eat stray dogs and cats to survive a campaign of deprivation waged by the Assad regime.
The world already knows that Bashar Assad has used chemical weapons, indiscriminate bombing, arbitrary detentions, rape and torture against his own citizens. What is far less well known, and equally intolerable, is the systematic denial of medical assistance, food supplies and other humanitarian aid to huge portions of the population. This denial of the most basic human rights must end before the war’s death toll – now surpassing 100,000 – reaches even more catastrophic levels.
Reports of severe malnutrition across vast swaths of Syria suffering under regime blockades prompted the United Nations Security Council to issue a presidential statement calling for immediate access to humanitarian assistance. To bolster the U.N.’s position, every nation needs to demand action on the ground – right now. That includes governments that have allowed their Syrian allies to block or undermine vital relief efforts mandated by international humanitarian law.
Simply put, the world must act quickly and decisively to get life-saving assistance to the innocent civilians who are bearing the brunt of the civil war. To do anything less risks a “lost generation” of Syrian children traumatized, orphaned and starved by this barbaric war.
The desperation can be eased significantly, even amid the fighting. Working through the regime, with assistance from Russia and others, inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are proving every day that professionals can still carry out essential work where there is political will. If weapons inspectors can carry out their crucial mission to ensure Syria’s chemical weapons can never be used again, then we can also find a way for aid workers on a no less vital mission to deliver food and medical treatment to men, women and children suffering through no fault of their own.
The U.S. government has undertaken significant efforts to alleviate the suffering. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the United States has led international donors in contributing nearly $1.4 billion for humanitarian assistance. Aid has been distributed to every section of Syria by leading international agencies, including the U.N. Refugee Agency, the World Food Program, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and top-notch non-governmental groups.
Most of these aid workers are courageous Syrians who risk their safety to cross shifting battle lines for the good of others. They have performed miracles and saved thousands of lives. In return, they have been subjected to a catalog of horrors. They have been harassed, kidnapped, killed and stopped at every turn from reaching the innocent civilians desperately clinging to life. T
he obstacles exist on both sides of the war. Outside observers from the U.N. and non-governmental organizations have chronicled the ways in which extremist opposition fighters have prevented aid from reaching those in need, diverting supplies and violating the human rights of the people trying to deliver them.
But it is the regime’s policies that threaten to take a humanitarian disaster into the abyss. The Assad government is refusing to register legitimate aid agencies. It is blocking assistance at its borders. It is requiring U.N. convoys to travel circuitous routes through scores of checkpoints to reach people in need. The regime has systematically blocked food shipments to strategically located districts, leading to a rising toll of death and misery.
The U.N. statement earlier this month calls on all parties to respect obligations under international humanitarian law. It sets out a series of steps that, if followed, would go a long way in protecting and helping the Syrian people. Convoys carrying aid need to be expedited. Efforts to provide medical care to the wounded and the sick must be granted safe passage. And attacks against medical facilities and personnel must stop.
Merely expecting a regime like Assad’s to live up to the spirit, let alone letter, of the Security Council statement without concerted international pressure is sadly unrealistic. A regime that gassed its own people and systematically denies them food and medicine will bow only to our pressure, not to our hopes. Assad’s allies who have influence over his calculations must demand that he and his backers adhere to international standards. With winter approaching quickly, and the rolls of the starving and sick growing daily, we can waste no time. Aid workers must have full access to do their jobs now. The world cannot sit by watching innocents die.
John F. Kerry is the U.S. Secretary of State.
Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/10/30/5356372/assads-campaign-to-starve-his.html#storylink=cpy
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Published: October 30, 2013 Updated 2 hours ago
By John F. Kerry — Foreign Policy
Just days ago in London, I listened with sadness and shock as Ahmad Jarba and leaders of the moderate Syrian opposition described how ordinary Syrians with no links to the civil war are forced to eat stray dogs and cats to survive a campaign of deprivation waged by the Assad regime.
The world already knows that Bashar Assad has used chemical weapons, indiscriminate bombing, arbitrary detentions, rape and torture against his own citizens. What is far less well known, and equally intolerable, is the systematic denial of medical assistance, food supplies and other humanitarian aid to huge portions of the population. This denial of the most basic human rights must end before the war’s death toll – now surpassing 100,000 – reaches even more catastrophic levels.
Reports of severe malnutrition across vast swaths of Syria suffering under regime blockades prompted the United Nations Security Council to issue a presidential statement calling for immediate access to humanitarian assistance. To bolster the U.N.’s position, every nation needs to demand action on the ground – right now. That includes governments that have allowed their Syrian allies to block or undermine vital relief efforts mandated by international humanitarian law.
Simply put, the world must act quickly and decisively to get life-saving assistance to the innocent civilians who are bearing the brunt of the civil war. To do anything less risks a “lost generation” of Syrian children traumatized, orphaned and starved by this barbaric war.
The desperation can be eased significantly, even amid the fighting. Working through the regime, with assistance from Russia and others, inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons are proving every day that professionals can still carry out essential work where there is political will. If weapons inspectors can carry out their crucial mission to ensure Syria’s chemical weapons can never be used again, then we can also find a way for aid workers on a no less vital mission to deliver food and medical treatment to men, women and children suffering through no fault of their own.
The U.S. government has undertaken significant efforts to alleviate the suffering. Since the beginning of the Syrian crisis, the United States has led international donors in contributing nearly $1.4 billion for humanitarian assistance. Aid has been distributed to every section of Syria by leading international agencies, including the U.N. Refugee Agency, the World Food Program, the International Committee of the Red Cross, the Syrian Arab Red Crescent, and top-notch non-governmental groups.
Most of these aid workers are courageous Syrians who risk their safety to cross shifting battle lines for the good of others. They have performed miracles and saved thousands of lives. In return, they have been subjected to a catalog of horrors. They have been harassed, kidnapped, killed and stopped at every turn from reaching the innocent civilians desperately clinging to life. T
he obstacles exist on both sides of the war. Outside observers from the U.N. and non-governmental organizations have chronicled the ways in which extremist opposition fighters have prevented aid from reaching those in need, diverting supplies and violating the human rights of the people trying to deliver them.
But it is the regime’s policies that threaten to take a humanitarian disaster into the abyss. The Assad government is refusing to register legitimate aid agencies. It is blocking assistance at its borders. It is requiring U.N. convoys to travel circuitous routes through scores of checkpoints to reach people in need. The regime has systematically blocked food shipments to strategically located districts, leading to a rising toll of death and misery.
The U.N. statement earlier this month calls on all parties to respect obligations under international humanitarian law. It sets out a series of steps that, if followed, would go a long way in protecting and helping the Syrian people. Convoys carrying aid need to be expedited. Efforts to provide medical care to the wounded and the sick must be granted safe passage. And attacks against medical facilities and personnel must stop.
Merely expecting a regime like Assad’s to live up to the spirit, let alone letter, of the Security Council statement without concerted international pressure is sadly unrealistic. A regime that gassed its own people and systematically denies them food and medicine will bow only to our pressure, not to our hopes. Assad’s allies who have influence over his calculations must demand that he and his backers adhere to international standards. With winter approaching quickly, and the rolls of the starving and sick growing daily, we can waste no time. Aid workers must have full access to do their jobs now. The world cannot sit by watching innocents die.
John F. Kerry is the U.S. Secretary of State.
Read more here: http://www.heraldonline.com/2013/10/30/5356372/assads-campaign-to-starve-his.html#storylink=cpy
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ Putin beats Obama to top of Forbes list – a sign of how far and fast the US president's star has waned
Putin beats Obama to top of Forbes list – a sign of how far and fast the US president's star has waned
By Peter Foster - World - Last updated: October 30th, 2013
*** Peter Foster is the Telegraph's US Editor based in Washington DC. He moved to America in January 2012 after three years based in Beijing, where he covered the rise of China. Before that, he was based in New Delhi as South Asia correspondent. He has reported for The Telegraph for more than a decade, covering two Olympic Games, 9/11 in New York, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the post-conflict phases in Afghanistan and Iraq and the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.
59 Comments
Comment on this article
So Barack Obama has been bumped off the top spot of the annual Forbes list of the most powerful 72 people on the planet – one for every 100m of population – by the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Of course this is a cheap publicity stunt by Forbes to draw attention to their list, so I'm guilty of falling for that, but it is also yet another clear indicator of how rapidly Mr Obama's star is waning both at home and abroad.
No doubt, Mr Obama in theory has more projectable power, both hard and soft, at his disposal than Mr Putin but Mr Obama too often fails to wield it.
That's the magazine's basic point, explaining that Mr Putin takes the top spot "because he so frequently shows his strength at home and on the global stage" citing the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and the recent chess match over Syria as examples.
Listening this morning to old speeches of Winston Churchill being played as his bust is unveiled in the capitol, the spine stiffens as the great man thunders about the need to exhibit "unconquerable willpower" in the face of adversity. The world, and America's place in it, is more complicated today, but those words are a sharp reminder Mr Obama's fundamental shortcoming as a leader.
If George W Bush represented leadership without analysis, then Barack Obama has swung to the other extreme: he's all analysis, and no leadership.
His handling of the Syria crisis is the most crushing example of his personal lack of conviction which has been obscured by the desire of a war-weary publics on both sides of the Atlantic to avoid a confrontation over chemical weapons, even as Assad is entrenched and the slaughter by conventional weapons continues apace.
Mr Obama spent two years operating an "anything for a quiet life" policy on Syria, ignore the advice of allies and advisers not to allow a vacuum to form. Then, when that vacuum was filled with clouds of sarin gas, he belatedly stamped his feet and spoke of American exceptionalism and the need to defend "universal values", even as balked at the same responsibilities to which he paid lip-service by passing the buck to Congress.
And then when Congress and the American public refused to back him, he just looked strangely baffled.
Putin is a rascal and a strongman, and he understands the nature of power and how to wield it. The world is worse off for the fact that, these last five years, there's been no one in the White House to hold him in check.
*** 63 Comments
__ joy 52 an hour ago
America's place in the world has been precisely complicated by Obama's incompetence.
No one has forgotten, Peter, that you cheerlead your lovely Obama into office. That you turn your back on that fact now only magnifies your own journalistic failings.
You sold us out and now you sell yourself out.
__ Preunit an hour ago
AIPAC, who've had Obama in their pockets since Netanyahu gave him a public bollocking in the Oval Office, must be wondering what the hell they can do about Putin. Can you imagine the unfairness of it? A president of a sovereign nation who fails to drop to his knees before the Zionist State? Who puts the interests of his own people before those of the Israelis! Christ, it must be driving them up the wall. What's the solution... probably to send him to his maker if he carries on the way he has.
Read more: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterfoster/100243722/putin-beats-obama-to-top-of-forbes-list-a-sign-of-how-far-and-fast-the-us-presidents-star-has-waned/
___________
"America's place in the world has been precisely complicated by Obama's incompetence."
What do you think?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
By Peter Foster - World - Last updated: October 30th, 2013
*** Peter Foster is the Telegraph's US Editor based in Washington DC. He moved to America in January 2012 after three years based in Beijing, where he covered the rise of China. Before that, he was based in New Delhi as South Asia correspondent. He has reported for The Telegraph for more than a decade, covering two Olympic Games, 9/11 in New York, the 2004 Boxing Day tsunami, the post-conflict phases in Afghanistan and Iraq and the 2011 Fukushima disaster in Japan.
59 Comments
Comment on this article
So Barack Obama has been bumped off the top spot of the annual Forbes list of the most powerful 72 people on the planet – one for every 100m of population – by the Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Of course this is a cheap publicity stunt by Forbes to draw attention to their list, so I'm guilty of falling for that, but it is also yet another clear indicator of how rapidly Mr Obama's star is waning both at home and abroad.
No doubt, Mr Obama in theory has more projectable power, both hard and soft, at his disposal than Mr Putin but Mr Obama too often fails to wield it.
That's the magazine's basic point, explaining that Mr Putin takes the top spot "because he so frequently shows his strength at home and on the global stage" citing the NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden and the recent chess match over Syria as examples.
Listening this morning to old speeches of Winston Churchill being played as his bust is unveiled in the capitol, the spine stiffens as the great man thunders about the need to exhibit "unconquerable willpower" in the face of adversity. The world, and America's place in it, is more complicated today, but those words are a sharp reminder Mr Obama's fundamental shortcoming as a leader.
If George W Bush represented leadership without analysis, then Barack Obama has swung to the other extreme: he's all analysis, and no leadership.
His handling of the Syria crisis is the most crushing example of his personal lack of conviction which has been obscured by the desire of a war-weary publics on both sides of the Atlantic to avoid a confrontation over chemical weapons, even as Assad is entrenched and the slaughter by conventional weapons continues apace.
Mr Obama spent two years operating an "anything for a quiet life" policy on Syria, ignore the advice of allies and advisers not to allow a vacuum to form. Then, when that vacuum was filled with clouds of sarin gas, he belatedly stamped his feet and spoke of American exceptionalism and the need to defend "universal values", even as balked at the same responsibilities to which he paid lip-service by passing the buck to Congress.
And then when Congress and the American public refused to back him, he just looked strangely baffled.
Putin is a rascal and a strongman, and he understands the nature of power and how to wield it. The world is worse off for the fact that, these last five years, there's been no one in the White House to hold him in check.
*** 63 Comments
__ joy 52 an hour ago
America's place in the world has been precisely complicated by Obama's incompetence.
No one has forgotten, Peter, that you cheerlead your lovely Obama into office. That you turn your back on that fact now only magnifies your own journalistic failings.
You sold us out and now you sell yourself out.
__ Preunit an hour ago
AIPAC, who've had Obama in their pockets since Netanyahu gave him a public bollocking in the Oval Office, must be wondering what the hell they can do about Putin. Can you imagine the unfairness of it? A president of a sovereign nation who fails to drop to his knees before the Zionist State? Who puts the interests of his own people before those of the Israelis! Christ, it must be driving them up the wall. What's the solution... probably to send him to his maker if he carries on the way he has.
Read more: http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/peterfoster/100243722/putin-beats-obama-to-top-of-forbes-list-a-sign-of-how-far-and-fast-the-us-presidents-star-has-waned/
___________
"America's place in the world has been precisely complicated by Obama's incompetence."
What do you think?
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
COMMENTARY_ Why The U.S. Won't Accept a 'Freeze' on North Korean Nukes
Why The U.S. Won't Accept a 'Freeze' on North Korean Nukes
A commentary by Andrei Lankov
2013-10-28
RFA
China's top negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue Wu Dawei (L) being greeted by a North Korean official upon his arrival at Pyongyang airport, Aug. 26, 2013. Wu is China's chief negotiator to the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.
AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS
In recent days, North Korea has been expressing interest in the Six-Party Talks and various other multilateral conferences while its media simultaneously emphasize that the country will never give up its nuclear weapons. This appears very contradictory, especially if you remember that the basic goal of the Six-Party Talks is the denuclearization of North Korea.
Looks can be deceiving, however, and the country’s stand is actually not that contradictory at all.
North Korea does not desire denuclearization. Rather, the country desires a treaty, similar to the one signed in 1994, that will freeze its own nuclear program on the condition it will get sufficient compensation from the U.S. and the international community.
Of course, once such a treaty is concluded, North Korea will continue to keep the nuclear weapons it has already produced and will maintain facilities that could produce even more nuclear weapons.
In the long term, it may be possible that the U.S. and the international community could accept such a treaty. That being said, there are three reasons why a treaty like that has little chance of becoming a reality any time soon, and why U.S. policymakers believe it would go against their interests.
Dangerous precedent
First, U.S. policymakers believe that even if North Korea does not develop any more nuclear weapons, the U.S. would be giving in to blackmail and would allow the country to maintain its current stockpile.
Over the past few decades, there have been several countries like North Korea that have developed nuclear weapons, including South Africa, Pakistan, India, and Israel. However, these countries never signed the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires signatories to abandon nuclear-weapons development.
North Korea signed this treaty but ended up violating it. As a result, the U.S. government believes that giving money to North Korea could set a dangerous precedent that would lead to nuclear proliferation.
Second, the U.S. government does not trust North Korea. North Korea promised to freeze its nuclear development in 1994 but continued to secretly produce enriched uranium. In 2012, the country promised not to launch a long-range missile, but then announced two weeks later that it would go ahead with the launch anyway.
Ultimately, U.S. experts and diplomats believe that trusting North Korea is foolish because they know that the country breaks promises and violates treaties whenever it likes.
Political concerns
Third, U.S. domestic policies could also become a problem. President Obama is now receiving very sharp criticism from Republicans in Congress. The Republican Party has traditionally supported hard-line foreign policies, and this is why they are criticizing the president’s moderate policy.
In this situation, the Obama administration could severely damage its position if it makes an agreement unfavorable to the U.S.
Ultimately, while it may be possible in the long term to reach an agreement to freeze North Korea’s nuclear program, currently it does not seem very likely that the U.S. would accept such an agreement.
Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, is a Russian historian, North Korea expert, and regular RFA contributor.
Translated by Robert Lauler.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
A commentary by Andrei Lankov
2013-10-28
RFA
China's top negotiator on the North Korean nuclear issue Wu Dawei (L) being greeted by a North Korean official upon his arrival at Pyongyang airport, Aug. 26, 2013. Wu is China's chief negotiator to the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear weapons drive.
AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS
In recent days, North Korea has been expressing interest in the Six-Party Talks and various other multilateral conferences while its media simultaneously emphasize that the country will never give up its nuclear weapons. This appears very contradictory, especially if you remember that the basic goal of the Six-Party Talks is the denuclearization of North Korea.
Looks can be deceiving, however, and the country’s stand is actually not that contradictory at all.
North Korea does not desire denuclearization. Rather, the country desires a treaty, similar to the one signed in 1994, that will freeze its own nuclear program on the condition it will get sufficient compensation from the U.S. and the international community.
Of course, once such a treaty is concluded, North Korea will continue to keep the nuclear weapons it has already produced and will maintain facilities that could produce even more nuclear weapons.
In the long term, it may be possible that the U.S. and the international community could accept such a treaty. That being said, there are three reasons why a treaty like that has little chance of becoming a reality any time soon, and why U.S. policymakers believe it would go against their interests.
Dangerous precedent
First, U.S. policymakers believe that even if North Korea does not develop any more nuclear weapons, the U.S. would be giving in to blackmail and would allow the country to maintain its current stockpile.
Over the past few decades, there have been several countries like North Korea that have developed nuclear weapons, including South Africa, Pakistan, India, and Israel. However, these countries never signed the 1968 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, which requires signatories to abandon nuclear-weapons development.
North Korea signed this treaty but ended up violating it. As a result, the U.S. government believes that giving money to North Korea could set a dangerous precedent that would lead to nuclear proliferation.
Second, the U.S. government does not trust North Korea. North Korea promised to freeze its nuclear development in 1994 but continued to secretly produce enriched uranium. In 2012, the country promised not to launch a long-range missile, but then announced two weeks later that it would go ahead with the launch anyway.
Ultimately, U.S. experts and diplomats believe that trusting North Korea is foolish because they know that the country breaks promises and violates treaties whenever it likes.
Political concerns
Third, U.S. domestic policies could also become a problem. President Obama is now receiving very sharp criticism from Republicans in Congress. The Republican Party has traditionally supported hard-line foreign policies, and this is why they are criticizing the president’s moderate policy.
In this situation, the Obama administration could severely damage its position if it makes an agreement unfavorable to the U.S.
Ultimately, while it may be possible in the long term to reach an agreement to freeze North Korea’s nuclear program, currently it does not seem very likely that the U.S. would accept such an agreement.
Andrei Lankov, a professor at Kookmin University in Seoul, is a Russian historian, North Korea expert, and regular RFA contributor.
Translated by Robert Lauler.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ Exclusive: Syria peace talks face delay as big powers split
Exclusive: Syria peace talks face delay as big powers split
Reuters
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
2 hours ago
AMMAN (Reuters) - International powers are unlikely to meet their goal of convening peace talks on Syria in Geneva next month as differences emerge between Washington and Moscow over opposition representation, Arab and Western officials said.
Failure of the main Syrian National Coalition to take a clear stance over the talks, which aim to find a political solution to Syria's 2-1/2 year civil war, are also expected to contribute to a delay of up to one month, the officials told Reuters.
"A clearer picture will emerge when the United States and Russia meet next week, but all indications show that the November 23 goal will be difficult to meet," said one of the officials involved in preparing for the talks.
U.S., Russian and U.N envoys are due to meet in Geneva next Tuesday as part of the preparation for the long-delayed peace conference, which was first proposed back in May.
A main point of contention, the official said, is the role of the Western-backed opposition coalition - an issue which has flared up since a meeting in London last week of Western and Gulf Arab countries opposed to Assad.
They announced that the Geneva negotiations should be between a "single delegation of the Syrian regime and a single delegation of the opposition, of which the Syrian National Coalition should be the heart and lead, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people."
Russia sees the coalition as just one part of the opposition and has suggested that several delegations, including Damascus-based figures tolerated by the government, could represent President Bashar al-Assad's foes.
That position was echoed by Hassan Abdul Azim, head of the opposition National Coordination Body, who said after meeting international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus that delegates should attend not under the banner of the coalition but as part of a united "Syrian National Opposition".
A communique at the end of the London meeting also said Geneva would aim to establish a transitional government by which time "Assad and his close associates with blood on their hands will have no role in Syria".
"The Russians are furious at the strong stance taken in London and that the communiqué went a long way towards satisfying the demands of the coalition," a Western official said.
MINISTER SACKED
Preparations for the Geneva talks were thrown into further confusion on Tuesday by the dismissal of Syria's Deputy Prime Minister, Qadri Jamil, after he met senior U.S. diplomat Robert Ford in Geneva on Saturday.
Jamil, a member of what Assad describes as the "patriotic opposition", was sacked for leaving the country without permission and holding unauthorized meetings, state media said.
"He saw Ford after meeting Russian officials in Moscow. The meeting was long but useless," a Middle East official said, asking not to be named.
"Jamil put forward what Ford apparently regarded as unworkable proposals regarding the Geneva talks. He also unsuccessfully tried to win U.S. backing to include him on the opposition side in the Geneva talks," he said.
Another diplomatic source said Russia had backed the idea, but that the coalition would not have agreed to sit on the same side of the table as Jamil in any negotiations.
"It will take time between Russia and the United States to resolve their differences. We are looking now at Geneva between November 23 and Christmas," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov acknowledged the Geneva meeting faced objections from both sides in Syria.
But he added during a visit to Greece: "There are contacts between Russia and the U.S. and we should not allow these efforts to fizzle out."
OPPOSITION UNDECIDED
Differences between Moscow and Washington are not the only obstacles to the peace talks going ahead.
Ahmad Jarba, president of the opposition coalition, has publicly resisted calls to commit to attending the so-called Geneva 2 conference, saying the coalition will not take part if there is any chance Assad might cling to power.
"He was speaking to his constituency and his public stance differs from what he told us privately," one delegate at last week's London meeting said, trying to play down the significance of Jarba's stance.
"We assured Jarba that an understanding had been reached with the Russians for Geneva to produce a transitional governing body with full powers over the army and security apparatus and that Assad would not be allowed to retain power under any special clauses. But his fate will not be specifically discussed at Geneva," the delegate said.
Even if Jarba were to attend, he has no authority over the rebel brigades battling to overthrow Assad. Many have rejected any negotiations not centered around Assad's removal and said they would charge anyone who attended them with treason.
Opposition sources said Jarba, who is backed by Saudi Arabia, travelled there in recent days to meet King Abdullah. Jarba will preside over a coalition meeting in Istanbul on November 9 to discuss taking a position on Geneva.
"The meeting will likely stretch for up to a week as usual. What is required is for the coalition to forget rhetoric and come up with a strategy, road map and a detailed policy," one envoy said.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington was still planning for a November conference but "no date or details is set or final until the United Nations announces it."
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told reporters on Wednesday: "We'll continue to work diligently for a conference in Geneva and we're working intensely."
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky added: "We continue to work towards the holding of Geneva 2 and there will be a meeting next week in Geneva to see where those prospects stand and to continue preparations."
Several officials, including Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby, have said they expect the Geneva 2 conference to convene on November 23, though the United States, Russia and the United Nations have all said no date has been officially set.
"A date has not been officially set because no one wants it to be officially postponed," a Western diplomat said. "But it has been clear all along the aim was Nov 23. It looks now that it will be de facto postponed."
(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Lou Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols in New York and Renee Maltezou in Athens; Editing by Giles Elgood)
View Comments (80)
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-syria-peace-talks-face-delay-big-powers-124144979.html
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Reuters
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
2 hours ago
AMMAN (Reuters) - International powers are unlikely to meet their goal of convening peace talks on Syria in Geneva next month as differences emerge between Washington and Moscow over opposition representation, Arab and Western officials said.
Failure of the main Syrian National Coalition to take a clear stance over the talks, which aim to find a political solution to Syria's 2-1/2 year civil war, are also expected to contribute to a delay of up to one month, the officials told Reuters.
"A clearer picture will emerge when the United States and Russia meet next week, but all indications show that the November 23 goal will be difficult to meet," said one of the officials involved in preparing for the talks.
U.S., Russian and U.N envoys are due to meet in Geneva next Tuesday as part of the preparation for the long-delayed peace conference, which was first proposed back in May.
A main point of contention, the official said, is the role of the Western-backed opposition coalition - an issue which has flared up since a meeting in London last week of Western and Gulf Arab countries opposed to Assad.
They announced that the Geneva negotiations should be between a "single delegation of the Syrian regime and a single delegation of the opposition, of which the Syrian National Coalition should be the heart and lead, as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people."
Russia sees the coalition as just one part of the opposition and has suggested that several delegations, including Damascus-based figures tolerated by the government, could represent President Bashar al-Assad's foes.
That position was echoed by Hassan Abdul Azim, head of the opposition National Coordination Body, who said after meeting international peace envoy Lakhdar Brahimi in Damascus that delegates should attend not under the banner of the coalition but as part of a united "Syrian National Opposition".
A communique at the end of the London meeting also said Geneva would aim to establish a transitional government by which time "Assad and his close associates with blood on their hands will have no role in Syria".
"The Russians are furious at the strong stance taken in London and that the communiqué went a long way towards satisfying the demands of the coalition," a Western official said.
MINISTER SACKED
Preparations for the Geneva talks were thrown into further confusion on Tuesday by the dismissal of Syria's Deputy Prime Minister, Qadri Jamil, after he met senior U.S. diplomat Robert Ford in Geneva on Saturday.
Jamil, a member of what Assad describes as the "patriotic opposition", was sacked for leaving the country without permission and holding unauthorized meetings, state media said.
"He saw Ford after meeting Russian officials in Moscow. The meeting was long but useless," a Middle East official said, asking not to be named.
"Jamil put forward what Ford apparently regarded as unworkable proposals regarding the Geneva talks. He also unsuccessfully tried to win U.S. backing to include him on the opposition side in the Geneva talks," he said.
Another diplomatic source said Russia had backed the idea, but that the coalition would not have agreed to sit on the same side of the table as Jamil in any negotiations.
"It will take time between Russia and the United States to resolve their differences. We are looking now at Geneva between November 23 and Christmas," he said.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov acknowledged the Geneva meeting faced objections from both sides in Syria.
But he added during a visit to Greece: "There are contacts between Russia and the U.S. and we should not allow these efforts to fizzle out."
OPPOSITION UNDECIDED
Differences between Moscow and Washington are not the only obstacles to the peace talks going ahead.
Ahmad Jarba, president of the opposition coalition, has publicly resisted calls to commit to attending the so-called Geneva 2 conference, saying the coalition will not take part if there is any chance Assad might cling to power.
"He was speaking to his constituency and his public stance differs from what he told us privately," one delegate at last week's London meeting said, trying to play down the significance of Jarba's stance.
"We assured Jarba that an understanding had been reached with the Russians for Geneva to produce a transitional governing body with full powers over the army and security apparatus and that Assad would not be allowed to retain power under any special clauses. But his fate will not be specifically discussed at Geneva," the delegate said.
Even if Jarba were to attend, he has no authority over the rebel brigades battling to overthrow Assad. Many have rejected any negotiations not centered around Assad's removal and said they would charge anyone who attended them with treason.
Opposition sources said Jarba, who is backed by Saudi Arabia, travelled there in recent days to meet King Abdullah. Jarba will preside over a coalition meeting in Istanbul on November 9 to discuss taking a position on Geneva.
"The meeting will likely stretch for up to a week as usual. What is required is for the coalition to forget rhetoric and come up with a strategy, road map and a detailed policy," one envoy said.
U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said Washington was still planning for a November conference but "no date or details is set or final until the United Nations announces it."
U.N. Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson told reporters on Wednesday: "We'll continue to work diligently for a conference in Geneva and we're working intensely."
U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky added: "We continue to work towards the holding of Geneva 2 and there will be a meeting next week in Geneva to see where those prospects stand and to continue preparations."
Several officials, including Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby, have said they expect the Geneva 2 conference to convene on November 23, though the United States, Russia and the United Nations have all said no date has been officially set.
"A date has not been officially set because no one wants it to be officially postponed," a Western diplomat said. "But it has been clear all along the aim was Nov 23. It looks now that it will be de facto postponed."
(Additional reporting by Stephanie Nebehay in Geneva, Lesley Wroughton in Washington, Lou Charbonneau and Michelle Nichols in New York and Renee Maltezou in Athens; Editing by Giles Elgood)
View Comments (80)
Read more: http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-syria-peace-talks-face-delay-big-powers-124144979.html
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
31102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Tuesday, October 29, 2013
WORLD_ Syria: inspectors find 1,300 tons of chemical weapons
Syria: inspectors find 1,300 tons of chemical weapons
President Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime possesses 1,300 tons of chemical weapons agents, according to the first report by the inspectors sent to remove them
By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
11:36AM GMT 29 Oct 2013
The inspectors, from the UN-linked Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, submitted the inventory of its first findings within the deadline set under the deal agreed last month by the United States, Russia and Damascus.
It showed Mr Assad had 1,000 metric tons of Category 1 chemical weapons stocks - the most important varieties such as sarin, which the organisation previously said was used in the major attack on the rebel-held Damascus districts of East and West Ghouta in August which killed hundreds of people.
That figure is in line with international expectations and western intelligence reports. The inventory also included reference to 290 tons of Category 2 chemical agents which pose “significant risk", as well as 1,230 unfilled chemical weapons delivery systems such as rockets.
Although Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal was for decades thought to be the largest in the Middle East, Mr Assad never admitted publicly to having them until the United States declared the attack on East and West Ghouta had crossed the “red line” set by President Barack Obama and threatened a military response.
Allowing chemical weapons inspectors to report on and, by next year, dismantle the arsenal warded off that threat.
Related Articles
_ Syria weapons inspectors blocked - 28 Oct 2013
_ Syrian hackers claim to breach Barack Obama's Twitter account - 28 Oct 2013
_ Syrian rebels reject plans for Geneva peace conference - 27 Oct 2013
_ A father's heartbreak as his daughters leave Norway to join jihad in Syria - 27 Oct 2013
The difficulties that project will face were underlined by the report’s admission that it was unable to visit all the chemical weapons programme’s declared sites. Two of the 23 could not be reached for “security reasons” - assumed to mean that they were in rebel-held or contested territory. One of those is thought to be the neighbouring production and storage facilities at Safeira, south-east of Aleppo, which continues to be the scene of heavy fighting.
The chemical weapons deal, which according to some accounts was forced on Mr Assad’s foreign minister, Walid al-Muallem, by Russia, also created new interest in the possibilities of broader peace negotiations, resurrecting the mission of the UN-Arab League peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi.
However, it proved hugely controversial within the Syrian opposition, with both activists and rebels angry that it foresaw Mr Assad staying in power to oversee its implementation for a year, taking him up to the time when he had already promised to hold a presidential election.
The British government has confirmed that the major powers intend to host a peace conference in Geneva to follow up on a “transition" proposal forged in the Swiss city last year. However, the most powerful Islamist rebel groups, who now make up a bulk of the opposition fighting forces, reject any talk of negotiating with Mr Assad and are threatening to punish anyone who takes part.
A statement by a group of 19 rebel brigades said the peace conference was an attempt to “abort the revolution” and said anyone who attended was committing “treason” and would answer for it before their courts.
Mr Brahimi, who is holding talks in Damascus after visiting Iran, Mr Assad’s principal sponsor, showed the difficulty he has trying to balance the two sides, saying in an interview that the Syrian leader "had a role to play” but that there was also “no turning back” after the uprising in the country.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
30102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
President Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian regime possesses 1,300 tons of chemical weapons agents, according to the first report by the inspectors sent to remove them
By Richard Spencer, Middle East Correspondent
11:36AM GMT 29 Oct 2013
The inspectors, from the UN-linked Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, submitted the inventory of its first findings within the deadline set under the deal agreed last month by the United States, Russia and Damascus.
It showed Mr Assad had 1,000 metric tons of Category 1 chemical weapons stocks - the most important varieties such as sarin, which the organisation previously said was used in the major attack on the rebel-held Damascus districts of East and West Ghouta in August which killed hundreds of people.
That figure is in line with international expectations and western intelligence reports. The inventory also included reference to 290 tons of Category 2 chemical agents which pose “significant risk", as well as 1,230 unfilled chemical weapons delivery systems such as rockets.
Although Syria’s chemical weapons arsenal was for decades thought to be the largest in the Middle East, Mr Assad never admitted publicly to having them until the United States declared the attack on East and West Ghouta had crossed the “red line” set by President Barack Obama and threatened a military response.
Allowing chemical weapons inspectors to report on and, by next year, dismantle the arsenal warded off that threat.
Related Articles
_ Syria weapons inspectors blocked - 28 Oct 2013
_ Syrian hackers claim to breach Barack Obama's Twitter account - 28 Oct 2013
_ Syrian rebels reject plans for Geneva peace conference - 27 Oct 2013
_ A father's heartbreak as his daughters leave Norway to join jihad in Syria - 27 Oct 2013
The difficulties that project will face were underlined by the report’s admission that it was unable to visit all the chemical weapons programme’s declared sites. Two of the 23 could not be reached for “security reasons” - assumed to mean that they were in rebel-held or contested territory. One of those is thought to be the neighbouring production and storage facilities at Safeira, south-east of Aleppo, which continues to be the scene of heavy fighting.
The chemical weapons deal, which according to some accounts was forced on Mr Assad’s foreign minister, Walid al-Muallem, by Russia, also created new interest in the possibilities of broader peace negotiations, resurrecting the mission of the UN-Arab League peace envoy, Lakhdar Brahimi.
However, it proved hugely controversial within the Syrian opposition, with both activists and rebels angry that it foresaw Mr Assad staying in power to oversee its implementation for a year, taking him up to the time when he had already promised to hold a presidential election.
The British government has confirmed that the major powers intend to host a peace conference in Geneva to follow up on a “transition" proposal forged in the Swiss city last year. However, the most powerful Islamist rebel groups, who now make up a bulk of the opposition fighting forces, reject any talk of negotiating with Mr Assad and are threatening to punish anyone who takes part.
A statement by a group of 19 rebel brigades said the peace conference was an attempt to “abort the revolution” and said anyone who attended was committing “treason” and would answer for it before their courts.
Mr Brahimi, who is holding talks in Damascus after visiting Iran, Mr Assad’s principal sponsor, showed the difficulty he has trying to balance the two sides, saying in an interview that the Syrian leader "had a role to play” but that there was also “no turning back” after the uprising in the country.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
30102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Polio breaks out in Syria - WHO warns it could spread
Polio breaks out in Syria - WHO warns it could spread
Maggie Fox , NBC News
12 hours ago
The World Health Organization confirmed 10 cases of polio in Syria Tuesday, a sobering development that shows conflict can set back decades of work that had almost eradicated the crippling and deadly virus.
It’s the first confirmed outbreak of polio in Syria in 14 years, and World Health Organization officials say it can spread. There are a total of 22 suspected cases, WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer told a news conference.
"Out of those 22 being investigated, 10 are now confirmed to be polio type one," Rosenbauer said.
"Of course this is a communicable disease, with population movements it can travel to other areas. So the risk is high for (its) spread across the region.”
The polio virus usually spreads in water or through person-to-person contact. It’s easily prevented with a series of vaccines that can be given as shots or drops in the mouth, but young children are not fully protected until they get four doses.
The new cases in Syria are among babies and toddlers who didn’t get the full course of vaccine, WHO says.
"Given the current situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, frequent population movements across the region and subnational immunity gaps in key areas, the risk of further international spread of wild poliovirus type 1 across the region is considered to be high," WHO said in a statement.
"A surveillance alert has been issued for the region to actively search for additional potential cases."
There’s no treatment for polio, which doesn’t cause symptoms in most people. But it can infect the nerves in an unlucky few, usually young children, killing them or paralyzing them, sometimes for life.
Nearly all Syrian children were vaccinated against polio before the civil war began in 2011. The disease was last reported in Syria in 1999. Last year, authorities counted 223 cases of polio worldwide, down from 650 the year before.
But the Syrian conflict has now led to a giant humanitarian crisis in which 100,000 people have been killed and nearly 7 million driven from their homes. Two million have fled the country.
WHO and other groups have been working to eradicate polio, which only infects humans. Vaccination has reduced polio outbreaks by 99 percent. Officials had once hoped polio could be the second human disease to be completely eradicated by vaccination, as smallpox was in the 1970s.
War and conflict in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, however, keep the virus alive and circulating. “As long as polio remains endemic anywhere, children everywhere will remain at risk,” the Polio Eradication Initiative says.
“If children in the remaining endemic areas can be reached, the end of polio will follow, protecting children everywhere from this disease and paving the way for delivery of other life-saving interventions.”
“Polio used to be very common in the United States and caused severe illness in thousands of people each year before polio vaccine was introduced in 1955,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
30102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Maggie Fox , NBC News
12 hours ago
The World Health Organization confirmed 10 cases of polio in Syria Tuesday, a sobering development that shows conflict can set back decades of work that had almost eradicated the crippling and deadly virus.
It’s the first confirmed outbreak of polio in Syria in 14 years, and World Health Organization officials say it can spread. There are a total of 22 suspected cases, WHO spokesman Oliver Rosenbauer told a news conference.
"Out of those 22 being investigated, 10 are now confirmed to be polio type one," Rosenbauer said.
"Of course this is a communicable disease, with population movements it can travel to other areas. So the risk is high for (its) spread across the region.”
The polio virus usually spreads in water or through person-to-person contact. It’s easily prevented with a series of vaccines that can be given as shots or drops in the mouth, but young children are not fully protected until they get four doses.
The new cases in Syria are among babies and toddlers who didn’t get the full course of vaccine, WHO says.
"Given the current situation in the Syrian Arab Republic, frequent population movements across the region and subnational immunity gaps in key areas, the risk of further international spread of wild poliovirus type 1 across the region is considered to be high," WHO said in a statement.
"A surveillance alert has been issued for the region to actively search for additional potential cases."
There’s no treatment for polio, which doesn’t cause symptoms in most people. But it can infect the nerves in an unlucky few, usually young children, killing them or paralyzing them, sometimes for life.
Nearly all Syrian children were vaccinated against polio before the civil war began in 2011. The disease was last reported in Syria in 1999. Last year, authorities counted 223 cases of polio worldwide, down from 650 the year before.
But the Syrian conflict has now led to a giant humanitarian crisis in which 100,000 people have been killed and nearly 7 million driven from their homes. Two million have fled the country.
WHO and other groups have been working to eradicate polio, which only infects humans. Vaccination has reduced polio outbreaks by 99 percent. Officials had once hoped polio could be the second human disease to be completely eradicated by vaccination, as smallpox was in the 1970s.
War and conflict in Nigeria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, however, keep the virus alive and circulating. “As long as polio remains endemic anywhere, children everywhere will remain at risk,” the Polio Eradication Initiative says.
“If children in the remaining endemic areas can be reached, the end of polio will follow, protecting children everywhere from this disease and paving the way for delivery of other life-saving interventions.”
“Polio used to be very common in the United States and caused severe illness in thousands of people each year before polio vaccine was introduced in 1955,” the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
30102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ SYRIA_ Syria sacks deputy prime minister who met U.S. officials
AP October 29, 2013, 11:30 AM
CBS NEWS
Syria sacks deputy prime minister who met U.S. officials DAMASCUS, Syria Syria's president sacked a deputy prime minister who met Western officials to discuss the possibility of holding a peace conference, saying he acted without permission. The Tuesday decree was the latest blow to diplomatic efforts to bring the country's warring parties to the negotiating table.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57609802/syria-sacks-deputy-prime-minister-who-met-u.s-officials/
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
30102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
CBS NEWS
Syria sacks deputy prime minister who met U.S. officials DAMASCUS, Syria Syria's president sacked a deputy prime minister who met Western officials to discuss the possibility of holding a peace conference, saying he acted without permission. The Tuesday decree was the latest blow to diplomatic efforts to bring the country's warring parties to the negotiating table.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57609802/syria-sacks-deputy-prime-minister-who-met-u.s-officials/
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
30102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Monday, October 28, 2013
OPINION_ Fury in the Kingdom
Op-Ed Columnist
Fury in the Kingdom
By ROGER COHEN
Published: October 28, 2013 3 Comments
DUBAI — Here’s how the Saudis see it: President Obama has sold out the Syrian opposition, reinforced President Bashar al-Assad after having called for his departure, embarked on a dangerous duet with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, played the wrong cards in Egypt, retreated from initial criticism of Israeli settlements that promised a more balanced American approach to Israel-Palestine, tilted toward the Shiites in the growing regional Sunni-Shiite confrontation, and generally undercut the interests of the kingdom.
To say Saudi Arabia is livid would be an understatement. Hence the Saudi decision to give up a seat on the Security Council that it had long coveted. It was not aimed at the United Nations. It was aimed above all at the United States.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former director of the Saudi intelligence services, put it this way recently: “Washington is not able to reach a cohesive and comprehensible policy vis-à-vis particular situations.” He continued, “On Syria, of course, it has been a continuous retrogression from first statements within a couple of months of the situation in Syria when President Obama said Assad must go until today.”
The Saudis, of course, always talk a good line and are happiest when others — read the United States — do the heavy lifting for them. But they remain an important ally. The pursuit of U.S. interests in the region is made more difficult with the Saudis fuming. The alienation of the kingdom smacks of carelessness from an Obama administration now intent on scaling back expectations in the Middle East even as it declares a nuclear deal with Iran and an Israeli-Palestinian peace to be President Obama’s foreign policy priorities. Neither of these objectives will be able to circumvent Saudi Arabia.
It is not only the Saudis who are wondering. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi there is a perception of American weakness and retreat. The claim in Dubai that the Statue of Liberty would fit inside the atrium of the tallest building in the world, the 2,722-foot Burj Khalifa tower, amounts to a boast freighted with symbolism.
I am not sympathetic to the Saudi view on Egypt, where its cash had a destructive impact on whatever chance the most populous Arab nation had of establishing a stable democracy. The Saudi approach was short-sighted in its relentless push to restore the Egyptian Army to authority and oust the Muslim Brotherhood. Nor, however, has the Obama administration’s zigzagging Egyptian policy been helpful.
On Syria, Saudi outrage is altogether understandable. The United States came out in support of the Free Syrian Army, promised military backing and failed to deliver. Western leaders recognized the opposition alliance as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people but now deal with Assad. American “red lines” proved malleable. A border-crossing Sunni-Shiite confrontation spreads. Lawless zones, those great breeders of terror, grow. Nobody has any idea how to put Syria together again. This was not inevitable. A year into the war there were just 30,000 refugees. Now there are more than two million. Opportunities were missed.
But it is over Iran that the Saudis are most exercised — and it is not the Iranian nuclear program that has them so upset. Rather, it is the idea that the pre-revolutionary relationship between Iran and the United States could somehow be revived, extending Iranian influence in the region and relegating Saudi Arabia to being, as it once was, the lesser party of America’s “twin pillar” policy in the region.
The Saudis have already watched with concern as the U.S. invasion of Iraq served Iranian interests; they see Iran’s influence and military presence growing in Syria. What they fear above all is an Iranian irredentism aimed at stirring up of the Shiite populations in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
It was not lost on Saudi Arabia that Rouhani wrote in The Washington Post in September that, “We must join hands to constructively work toward national dialogue, whether in Syria or Bahrain,” just a few days before Obama spoke at the United Nations of working to resolve “sectarian tensions” in Syria and Bahrain.
Nothing can set Saudi alarm bells ringing quite like that: U.S. and Iranian presidents speaking to each other on the telephone, having aired similar sentiments on Bahrain, where the Saudi-backed Sunni monarchy has engaged in fierce repression of an opposition led by members of the Shiite majority, which is pressing for broader rights and political inclusion.
It is hard to say whether Israel or Saudi Arabia is more anxious today over the possibility of an American-Iranian breakthrough. That possibility remains extremely remote. The right deal — one that prevents the Islamic Republic from going nuclear while drawing it back into the community of nations — is in the U.S. interest, but current Saudi fury is one measure of the difficulty and of a U.S. Middle Eastern policy that is falling short.
You can follow me on Twitter or join me on Facebook.
A version of this op-ed appears in print on October 29, 2013, in The International New York Times.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
29102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
Fury in the Kingdom
By ROGER COHEN
Published: October 28, 2013 3 Comments
DUBAI — Here’s how the Saudis see it: President Obama has sold out the Syrian opposition, reinforced President Bashar al-Assad after having called for his departure, embarked on a dangerous duet with President Hassan Rouhani of Iran, played the wrong cards in Egypt, retreated from initial criticism of Israeli settlements that promised a more balanced American approach to Israel-Palestine, tilted toward the Shiites in the growing regional Sunni-Shiite confrontation, and generally undercut the interests of the kingdom.
To say Saudi Arabia is livid would be an understatement. Hence the Saudi decision to give up a seat on the Security Council that it had long coveted. It was not aimed at the United Nations. It was aimed above all at the United States.
Prince Turki al-Faisal, a former director of the Saudi intelligence services, put it this way recently: “Washington is not able to reach a cohesive and comprehensible policy vis-à-vis particular situations.” He continued, “On Syria, of course, it has been a continuous retrogression from first statements within a couple of months of the situation in Syria when President Obama said Assad must go until today.”
The Saudis, of course, always talk a good line and are happiest when others — read the United States — do the heavy lifting for them. But they remain an important ally. The pursuit of U.S. interests in the region is made more difficult with the Saudis fuming. The alienation of the kingdom smacks of carelessness from an Obama administration now intent on scaling back expectations in the Middle East even as it declares a nuclear deal with Iran and an Israeli-Palestinian peace to be President Obama’s foreign policy priorities. Neither of these objectives will be able to circumvent Saudi Arabia.
It is not only the Saudis who are wondering. In Dubai and Abu Dhabi there is a perception of American weakness and retreat. The claim in Dubai that the Statue of Liberty would fit inside the atrium of the tallest building in the world, the 2,722-foot Burj Khalifa tower, amounts to a boast freighted with symbolism.
I am not sympathetic to the Saudi view on Egypt, where its cash had a destructive impact on whatever chance the most populous Arab nation had of establishing a stable democracy. The Saudi approach was short-sighted in its relentless push to restore the Egyptian Army to authority and oust the Muslim Brotherhood. Nor, however, has the Obama administration’s zigzagging Egyptian policy been helpful.
On Syria, Saudi outrage is altogether understandable. The United States came out in support of the Free Syrian Army, promised military backing and failed to deliver. Western leaders recognized the opposition alliance as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people but now deal with Assad. American “red lines” proved malleable. A border-crossing Sunni-Shiite confrontation spreads. Lawless zones, those great breeders of terror, grow. Nobody has any idea how to put Syria together again. This was not inevitable. A year into the war there were just 30,000 refugees. Now there are more than two million. Opportunities were missed.
But it is over Iran that the Saudis are most exercised — and it is not the Iranian nuclear program that has them so upset. Rather, it is the idea that the pre-revolutionary relationship between Iran and the United States could somehow be revived, extending Iranian influence in the region and relegating Saudi Arabia to being, as it once was, the lesser party of America’s “twin pillar” policy in the region.
The Saudis have already watched with concern as the U.S. invasion of Iraq served Iranian interests; they see Iran’s influence and military presence growing in Syria. What they fear above all is an Iranian irredentism aimed at stirring up of the Shiite populations in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and elsewhere.
It was not lost on Saudi Arabia that Rouhani wrote in The Washington Post in September that, “We must join hands to constructively work toward national dialogue, whether in Syria or Bahrain,” just a few days before Obama spoke at the United Nations of working to resolve “sectarian tensions” in Syria and Bahrain.
Nothing can set Saudi alarm bells ringing quite like that: U.S. and Iranian presidents speaking to each other on the telephone, having aired similar sentiments on Bahrain, where the Saudi-backed Sunni monarchy has engaged in fierce repression of an opposition led by members of the Shiite majority, which is pressing for broader rights and political inclusion.
It is hard to say whether Israel or Saudi Arabia is more anxious today over the possibility of an American-Iranian breakthrough. That possibility remains extremely remote. The right deal — one that prevents the Islamic Republic from going nuclear while drawing it back into the community of nations — is in the U.S. interest, but current Saudi fury is one measure of the difficulty and of a U.S. Middle Eastern policy that is falling short.
You can follow me on Twitter or join me on Facebook.
A version of this op-ed appears in print on October 29, 2013, in The International New York Times.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
29102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ Chemical Weapons Inspectors in Syria Miss Deadline
Chemical Weapons Inspectors in Syria Miss Deadline
BEIRUT October 28, 2013 (AP)
By MIKE CORDER and RYAN LUCAS
Associated Press
abc NEWS
International inspectors overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile have missed an early deadline in a brutally tight schedule after security concerns prevented them from visiting two sites linked to Damascus' chemical program.
The chief of the global chemical weapons watchdog disclosed for the first time in a report obtained by The Associated Press that Syria has declared 41 facilities at 23 chemical sites where it stored approximately 1,300 tons of precursors and agents, and over 1,200 unfilled munitions to deliver them.
Ahmet Uzumcu said in his first report to the U.N. Security Council that inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had corroborated the information provided by Syria at 37 of the 41 facilities.
But the OPCW said inspectors were only able to visit 21 of the 23 sites because of security risks — which means the tight timeline for visiting all declared sites by Oct. 27 was missed.
While there are no consequences for missing the deadline, the group's failure to meet it underscores the ambitious timeline as well as the risks its inspectors face in carrying out their mission in the middle of Syria's civil war.
The OPCW did not say who was responsible for the security problems, but Uzumcu has said in the past that temporary cease-fires may have to be negotiated between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad to reach some sites.
The two sites appear to be in rebel-held or contested areas. At least one location is believed to be the town of al-Safira, which experts say is home to a production facility as well as storage sites. It has been engulfed by fighting for months, and many rebels in the area are from al-Qaida-linked groups.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a seven-page letter to the Security Council, also obtained by AP, that the joint OPCW-U.N. mission is constantly reviewing security at the two locations "with the intention of visiting them as soon as conditions permit."
The mission faces a string of target dates for specific tasks as it aims to achieve the overall goal of ridding Syria of its chemical stockpile by mid-2014. The next target is Nov. 1 when Syria is to complete the "functional destruction" of all equipment to produce chemical weapons, aimed at ensuring that Syria can no longer make new chemical weapons.
The U.N. chief said he expects the destruction to be completed on time, "with the possible exception" of the two sites.
After that, the international community and Syria have to agree to a plan to destroy the country's chemical stockpile, which is believed to include mustard gas and the nerve agent sarin.
Uzumcu's report provided details of the 41 facilities — 18 chemical weapons production facilities, 12 chemical weapons storage facilities, eight mobile units to fill chemical weapons, and three chemical weapons-related facilities.
Syria also submitted information on approximately 1,000 metric tons of Category 1 chemical weapons, largely precursors which are rarely used for peaceful purposes; approximately 290 metric tons of Category 2 substances which are toxic chemicals that pose significant risk; and approximately 1,230 unfilled chemical munitions, which could include rockets, cartridges and mines.
"In addition, the Syrian authorities have reported finding two cylinders not belonging to them, which are believed to contain chemical weapons," Uzumcu said.
Syria is responsible for the destruction of all facilities, stocks and chemical weapons-related materials. It has sent the OPCW a plan for full destruction of the stockpile that has to be discussed by the group's executive council next month.
Ban said a Syrian list of "requirements" to implement a "security plan" to handle and transport materials chemical weapons-related material within the country contains some items which also "have practical military applications."
"The United Nations will not procure or otherwise provide such dual-use material to the government," Ban stressed.
He made clear that any role for the OPCW-U.N. mission in the packing, safe transport, and possible removal of chemical agents from Syria "requires further consultation and review." The joint mission will also need to identify areas where support may be required from U.N. member states and other organizations, he said.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States is reviewing Syria's declaration, which ran to more than 700 pages.
The OPCW-U.N. mission stems from a deadly chemical attack on rebel-held suburbs of Damascus in August that killed hundreds of people. Assad denied any role in the attack, while the U.S. and its allies blamed his government and threatened to carry out punitive missile strikes.
The U.S. and Russia then brokered an agreement for Syria to relinquish its chemical arsenal. Assad quickly agreed, and the deal was enshrined in a U.N. Security Council resolution which also endorsed a roadmap for a political transition in Syria, and called for a peace conference to be held in Geneva as soon as possible.
U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi traveled to Damascus Monday as part of his regional trip to try to drum up support for the conference.
Also Monday, Syrian government forces retook a Christian town north of Damascus, expelling al-Qaida-linked rebels after a week of heavy fighting, state media and opposition activists said.
———
Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and John Heilprin in Geneva contributed to this report.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
29102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
BEIRUT October 28, 2013 (AP)
By MIKE CORDER and RYAN LUCAS
Associated Press
abc NEWS
International inspectors overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile have missed an early deadline in a brutally tight schedule after security concerns prevented them from visiting two sites linked to Damascus' chemical program.
The chief of the global chemical weapons watchdog disclosed for the first time in a report obtained by The Associated Press that Syria has declared 41 facilities at 23 chemical sites where it stored approximately 1,300 tons of precursors and agents, and over 1,200 unfilled munitions to deliver them.
Ahmet Uzumcu said in his first report to the U.N. Security Council that inspectors from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons had corroborated the information provided by Syria at 37 of the 41 facilities.
But the OPCW said inspectors were only able to visit 21 of the 23 sites because of security risks — which means the tight timeline for visiting all declared sites by Oct. 27 was missed.
While there are no consequences for missing the deadline, the group's failure to meet it underscores the ambitious timeline as well as the risks its inspectors face in carrying out their mission in the middle of Syria's civil war.
The OPCW did not say who was responsible for the security problems, but Uzumcu has said in the past that temporary cease-fires may have to be negotiated between rebels and forces loyal to President Bashar Assad to reach some sites.
The two sites appear to be in rebel-held or contested areas. At least one location is believed to be the town of al-Safira, which experts say is home to a production facility as well as storage sites. It has been engulfed by fighting for months, and many rebels in the area are from al-Qaida-linked groups.
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said in a seven-page letter to the Security Council, also obtained by AP, that the joint OPCW-U.N. mission is constantly reviewing security at the two locations "with the intention of visiting them as soon as conditions permit."
The mission faces a string of target dates for specific tasks as it aims to achieve the overall goal of ridding Syria of its chemical stockpile by mid-2014. The next target is Nov. 1 when Syria is to complete the "functional destruction" of all equipment to produce chemical weapons, aimed at ensuring that Syria can no longer make new chemical weapons.
The U.N. chief said he expects the destruction to be completed on time, "with the possible exception" of the two sites.
After that, the international community and Syria have to agree to a plan to destroy the country's chemical stockpile, which is believed to include mustard gas and the nerve agent sarin.
Uzumcu's report provided details of the 41 facilities — 18 chemical weapons production facilities, 12 chemical weapons storage facilities, eight mobile units to fill chemical weapons, and three chemical weapons-related facilities.
Syria also submitted information on approximately 1,000 metric tons of Category 1 chemical weapons, largely precursors which are rarely used for peaceful purposes; approximately 290 metric tons of Category 2 substances which are toxic chemicals that pose significant risk; and approximately 1,230 unfilled chemical munitions, which could include rockets, cartridges and mines.
"In addition, the Syrian authorities have reported finding two cylinders not belonging to them, which are believed to contain chemical weapons," Uzumcu said.
Syria is responsible for the destruction of all facilities, stocks and chemical weapons-related materials. It has sent the OPCW a plan for full destruction of the stockpile that has to be discussed by the group's executive council next month.
Ban said a Syrian list of "requirements" to implement a "security plan" to handle and transport materials chemical weapons-related material within the country contains some items which also "have practical military applications."
"The United Nations will not procure or otherwise provide such dual-use material to the government," Ban stressed.
He made clear that any role for the OPCW-U.N. mission in the packing, safe transport, and possible removal of chemical agents from Syria "requires further consultation and review." The joint mission will also need to identify areas where support may be required from U.N. member states and other organizations, he said.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said the United States is reviewing Syria's declaration, which ran to more than 700 pages.
The OPCW-U.N. mission stems from a deadly chemical attack on rebel-held suburbs of Damascus in August that killed hundreds of people. Assad denied any role in the attack, while the U.S. and its allies blamed his government and threatened to carry out punitive missile strikes.
The U.S. and Russia then brokered an agreement for Syria to relinquish its chemical arsenal. Assad quickly agreed, and the deal was enshrined in a U.N. Security Council resolution which also endorsed a roadmap for a political transition in Syria, and called for a peace conference to be held in Geneva as soon as possible.
U.N.-Arab League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi traveled to Damascus Monday as part of his regional trip to try to drum up support for the conference.
Also Monday, Syrian government forces retook a Christian town north of Damascus, expelling al-Qaida-linked rebels after a week of heavy fighting, state media and opposition activists said.
———
Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands. Associated Press writers Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations, Bassem Mroue in Beirut, Albert Aji in Damascus, Syria, and John Heilprin in Geneva contributed to this report.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
29102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
WORLD_ White House says additional intelligence constraints needed
28 October 2013 Last updated at 20:29 GMT
BBC
White House says additional intelligence constraints needed
Watch: What do people on the streets of Spain make of the headlines?
The White House has acknowledged the need for additional "constraints" on US intelligence gathering, amid reports the nation spied on its allies.
Spokesman Jay Carney said an ongoing White House intelligence policy review would account for "privacy concerns".
His remarks come amid reports the US eavesdropped on political leaders and collected data on phone calls in Germany, France, Spain and Brazil.
An EU delegate in Washington described the row as "a breakdown of trust".
On Monday Mr Carney, US President Barack Obama's spokesman, told reporters the administration "recognise[s] there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence".
He said the US did not use its intelligence gathering capabilities for the purpose of promoting its economic interests, and said Mr Obama was committed to ensuring "that we are collecting information not just because we can, but because we should, because we need it for our security".
"We also need to ensure that our intelligence resources are most effectively supporting our foreign policy and national security objectives, that we are more effectively weighing the risks and rewards of our activities," he said.
An across-the-board review of US intelligence resources, currently under way, is also expected to assist the administration in "properly accounting for both the security of our citizens and our allies and the privacy concerns shared by Americans and citizens around the world", Mr Carney added.
'Genuine concern'
Mr Carney and Mr Obama have not commented on specific allegations that the US eavesdropped on international allies, including tapping the phones of foreign officials.
Earlier on Monday, representatives from the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs spoke to members of the US Congress about the alleged US spying on European leaders and citizens.
"We wanted to transmit to them first that this mass surveillance of EU citizens is a genuine concern," British Labour MEP Claude Moraes, a member of the delegation, told the BBC after the meetings.
But Mr Moraes said he and his fellow delegates were unsatisfied with the "stock" responses from US officials on the issue.
"They're giving us answers, but not the answers we want," he said. "We're getting a bit tired of this, 'Well, spying has always existed.'"
Spain has also urged the US to give details of any eavesdropping, amid reports the US National Security Agency (NSA) monitored 60 million Spanish telephone calls in a month.
The latest allegation, published by Spain's El Mundo newspaper, is that the NSA tracked tens of millions of phone calls, texts and emails of Spanish citizens, in December 2012 and January 2013. The monitoring allegedly peaked on 11 December.
Minister for European Affairs of Spain Inigo Mendez de Vigo called the allegations, if true, "inappropriate and unacceptable".
The allegations of US surveillance on international allies stemmed from documents leaked by fugitive ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, now living in Russia.
'Disturbing'
It is not clear how the alleged surveillance in Spain was carried out, whether it was through monitoring fibre-optic cables, data obtained from telecommunication companies, or other means.
The NSA is reported to have collected the sender and recipient addresses of emails, along with their IP addresses, the message file size, and sometimes the top or subject line of the message.
For each telephone call, the numbers of the caller and recipient are believed to have been logged, as was its duration, time, date and location.
The contents of the telephone call itself, however, were not monitored, US intelligence officials say. The NSA has also suggested it does not usually store the geolocational information of mobile phone calls, which could be determined by noting which mobile signal towers were used.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also sending intelligence officials to Washington to demand answers to claims that her phones were tapped.
German media reported that the US had bugged Ms Merkel's phone for more than a decade - and that the surveillance only ended a few months ago.
The German government hoped that trust between the two countries could be restored, a spokesman told a news conference in Berlin.
"It would be disturbing if these suspicions turned out to be true. But Germany and the United States can solve this problem together," Steffen Seibert said.
"We will vigorously push ahead with the clarification of this case especially because we have a great interest in a good German-American relationships."
Meanwhile, a Japanese news agency reported the NSA asked the Japanese government in 2011 to help it monitor fibre-optic cables carrying personal data through Japan, to the Asia-Pacific region.
The reports, carried by Kyodo, say that this was intended to allow the US to spy on China, but that Japanese officials refused, citing legal restrictions and a shortage of personnel.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
29102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
BBC
White House says additional intelligence constraints needed
Watch: What do people on the streets of Spain make of the headlines?
The White House has acknowledged the need for additional "constraints" on US intelligence gathering, amid reports the nation spied on its allies.
Spokesman Jay Carney said an ongoing White House intelligence policy review would account for "privacy concerns".
His remarks come amid reports the US eavesdropped on political leaders and collected data on phone calls in Germany, France, Spain and Brazil.
An EU delegate in Washington described the row as "a breakdown of trust".
On Monday Mr Carney, US President Barack Obama's spokesman, told reporters the administration "recognise[s] there needs to be additional constraints on how we gather and use intelligence".
He said the US did not use its intelligence gathering capabilities for the purpose of promoting its economic interests, and said Mr Obama was committed to ensuring "that we are collecting information not just because we can, but because we should, because we need it for our security".
"We also need to ensure that our intelligence resources are most effectively supporting our foreign policy and national security objectives, that we are more effectively weighing the risks and rewards of our activities," he said.
An across-the-board review of US intelligence resources, currently under way, is also expected to assist the administration in "properly accounting for both the security of our citizens and our allies and the privacy concerns shared by Americans and citizens around the world", Mr Carney added.
'Genuine concern'
Mr Carney and Mr Obama have not commented on specific allegations that the US eavesdropped on international allies, including tapping the phones of foreign officials.
Earlier on Monday, representatives from the European Parliament's Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs spoke to members of the US Congress about the alleged US spying on European leaders and citizens.
"We wanted to transmit to them first that this mass surveillance of EU citizens is a genuine concern," British Labour MEP Claude Moraes, a member of the delegation, told the BBC after the meetings.
But Mr Moraes said he and his fellow delegates were unsatisfied with the "stock" responses from US officials on the issue.
"They're giving us answers, but not the answers we want," he said. "We're getting a bit tired of this, 'Well, spying has always existed.'"
Spain has also urged the US to give details of any eavesdropping, amid reports the US National Security Agency (NSA) monitored 60 million Spanish telephone calls in a month.
The latest allegation, published by Spain's El Mundo newspaper, is that the NSA tracked tens of millions of phone calls, texts and emails of Spanish citizens, in December 2012 and January 2013. The monitoring allegedly peaked on 11 December.
Minister for European Affairs of Spain Inigo Mendez de Vigo called the allegations, if true, "inappropriate and unacceptable".
The allegations of US surveillance on international allies stemmed from documents leaked by fugitive ex-US intelligence contractor Edward Snowden, now living in Russia.
'Disturbing'
It is not clear how the alleged surveillance in Spain was carried out, whether it was through monitoring fibre-optic cables, data obtained from telecommunication companies, or other means.
The NSA is reported to have collected the sender and recipient addresses of emails, along with their IP addresses, the message file size, and sometimes the top or subject line of the message.
For each telephone call, the numbers of the caller and recipient are believed to have been logged, as was its duration, time, date and location.
The contents of the telephone call itself, however, were not monitored, US intelligence officials say. The NSA has also suggested it does not usually store the geolocational information of mobile phone calls, which could be determined by noting which mobile signal towers were used.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel is also sending intelligence officials to Washington to demand answers to claims that her phones were tapped.
German media reported that the US had bugged Ms Merkel's phone for more than a decade - and that the surveillance only ended a few months ago.
The German government hoped that trust between the two countries could be restored, a spokesman told a news conference in Berlin.
"It would be disturbing if these suspicions turned out to be true. But Germany and the United States can solve this problem together," Steffen Seibert said.
"We will vigorously push ahead with the clarification of this case especially because we have a great interest in a good German-American relationships."
Meanwhile, a Japanese news agency reported the NSA asked the Japanese government in 2011 to help it monitor fibre-optic cables carrying personal data through Japan, to the Asia-Pacific region.
The reports, carried by Kyodo, say that this was intended to allow the US to spy on China, but that Japanese officials refused, citing legal restrictions and a shortage of personnel.
Chân thành cám ơn Quý Anh Chị ghé thăm "conbenho Nguyễn Hoài Trang Blog".
Xin được lắng nghe ý kiến chia sẻ của Quý Anh Chị trực tiếp tại Diễn Đàn Paltalk: 1Latdo Tapdoan Vietgian CSVN Phanquoc Bannuoc .
Kính chúc Sức Khỏe Quý Anh Chị .
conbenho
Tiểu Muội quantu
Nguyễn Hoài Trang
29102013
___________
Cộng sản Việt Nam là TỘI ÁC
Bao che, dung dưỡng TỘI ÁC là đồng lõa với TỘI ÁC
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