Syria

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Vanessa Beeley Presents Exposé on White Helmets at Swiss Press Club in Geneva
NOVEMBER 28, 2017 BY 21WIRE LEAVE A COMMENT



The western-driven myth of the White Helmets continue to disintegrate. Despite the efforts of alleged ‘free speech’ advocate NGO Reporters Without Borders to shut this event down, Swiss Press Club head Guy Mettan went ahead as scheduled. Reports Without Borders even went as far as to draft a formal complaint demanding the event be cancelled, alongside protestations by UK-based ‘Syrian opposition’ group Syria Campaign.

Today at the Swiss Press Club in Geneva, 21st Century Wire Associate Editor Vanessa Beeley (pictured above) presented a dossier on the dubious UK-backed NGO known as the ‘White Helmets’ which included up-to-date information on their links to al Qaeda affiliates in Syria, as well as exposing the western propaganda organisation’s many bogus claims, including having ‘saved 99,220 lives‘ since the western-funded construct based in Turkey was created in late 2013.

The press event featured presenters Beeley, along with Richard Labeviere and Prof. Ferrada De Noli from Swedish Doctors for Human Rights. A factual film (in contrast to the Netflix fiction) exposing the White Helmets was shown to attendees and media, followed by presentations by the three aforementioned speakers with a Q&A session.

Watch Beeley’s presentation here:


.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE WHITE HELMETS BY READING THE FOLLOWING ARTICLES:

Evidence: UK Foreign Office Funding Terrorists in Syria:
White Helmets & ‘Local Councils’ – Is UK FCO Financing Terrorism in Syria?

Vanessa Beeley:
WHITE HELMETS: State Sanctioned Terrorism and Hollywood Poster Boys for War

21st Century Wire:
New Report Destroys Fabricated Myth of Syria’s ‘White Helmets’

Initial Investigation into White Helmets:
Who are Syria’s White Helmets?

21st Century Wire article on the White Helmets:
Syria’s White Helmets: War by Way of Deception ~ the “Moderate” Executioners

Who Funds the White Helmets?
Secret £1bn UK War Chest Used to Fund the White Helmets and Other ‘Initiatives’

Original investigative report:
The REAL Syria Civil Defence Exposes Fake White Helmets as Terrorist-Linked Imposters

Irish Peace Prize Farce
Tipperary’s White Helmets Peace Prize: A Judas Kiss to the Antiwar Movement and Syria

White Helmets Executions
WHITE HELMETS: Severed Heads of Syrian Arab Army Soldiers Paraded as Trophies

CNN Fabricate News About the White Helmets
A NOBEL LIE: CNN’s Claim That ‘White Helmets Center in Damascus’ Was Hit by a Barrel Bomb

White Helmets Links to Al Nusra
WHITE HELMETS: Hand in Hand with Al Qaeda and Extremist Child Beheaders in Aleppo

Report by Patrick Henningsen
AN INTRODUCTION: Smart Power & The Human Rights Industrial Complex

Open Letter by Vanessa Beeley
White Helmets Campaign for War NOT Peace – Retract RLA & Nobel Peace Prize Nominations

Staged Rescue Videos
(VIDEO) White Helmets: Miraculous ‘Rag Doll Rescue’

White Helmets Oscar Award Farce:
Forget Oscar: Give The White Helmets the Leni Riefenstahl Award for Best War Propaganda Film

Cory Morningstar report:
Investigation into the funding sources of the White Helmets, including Avaaz, Purpose, The Syria Campaign

Open letter to Canadian MPs from Stop the War Hamilton (Canada):
Letter from the Hamilton Coalition to Stop War to the New Democratic Party in Canada ref the White Helmet nomination for the Nobel Peace Prize:

Open letter to Canada’s NDP Leader on Nobel Prize:
Letter to NDP from Prof. John Ryan protesting White Helmet nomination for RLA and Nobel Peace Prize

http://21stcenturywire.com/2017/11/28/v ... ub-geneva/

[blindpig]

Syria Sitrep - Turkey's War In Idleb
The Syrian government issued Property Law 10 (ar) which will help to rebuild the country. Martin Chulov of the Guardian falsely reported: 10m Syrians at risk of forfeiting homes under new property law. The Syrian-American economist Ehsani explains why the Guardian report is wrong. He summarizes:

Without legislation, imagine people returning to say Jobar in Damascus or Bustan al-Basha in Aleppo and starting to build on their own. What code? What property lines? What legal basis? What about the infrastructure underneath? Law 10 is the State's legislative blueprint.
---

In 2012 UN blue helmets from Austria controlled the demarcation line with Israel at the Golan heights. They watched as Takfiris ('smugglers'), likely coming from Israel, set up an ambush. Nine Syrian border policemen pass through the UN checkpoint but are not warned. They drive into the Takfiri ambush. All are killed. An Austrian whistle-blower gave the video (ger) to a local paper in Vienna. The Austrian Defense Ministry is investigating the case.

---

Today tribal forces aligned with the Syrian government attacked and captured two villages (map) controlled by the U.S. proxy force in east Syria north of the Euphrates near Deir Ezzor city. The Kurdish U.S. proxy forces SDF vowed revenge. This might be a local incident but could develop into something bigger. While the U.S. claims exclusive rights north of the Euphrates and to fight ISIS in the area zero progress has been made since November. The U.S. wants keep ISIS alive and well to later reuse it for its own purposes. The Syrian government is trying to disrupt that plan.

The Palestinian refugee camp Yarmouk, a southern suburb of Damascus, is held by ISIS and some other Takfiri groups.The Syrian army surrounded it and is attacking it with full force. Today all groups but ISIS agreed to either leave Yarmouk to Idelb (Jaish al-Islam) or Daraa (Jaish Ababil Huran) or to reconcile with the Syrian government. ISIS plans to fight to death in the densely upbuild area. Only few civilians are left and the Syrian army will not risk high casualties for the otherwise empty city. The ISIS fighters will be bombed and shelled to smithereens.

While one part of the Syrian army is eliminating ISIS in Yarmouk another part has moved north towards Homs and might go further up to Idleb.

Meanwhile the Turks are trying to tackle the al-Qaeda (aka Jabhat al-Nusra aka Hayat Tahrir al-Sham) problem in Idelb province. Erdogan's long term plan is to annex Idleb governorate for Turkey. But as long as al-Qaeda controls the governorate and city Turkey can not claim that the 'de-escalation zone' is off-limits for Syrian government attacks. It needs to hide or eliminate al-Qaeda and any other group that can be painted as 'terrorist'.


Map by Tomasz Rolbiecki - bigger
A while ago the 'western' aligned Crisis Group devised a plan for Erdogan:

What should be done?  Turkey should deploy along the front line in cooperation with Russia, which should press the Syrian regime to delay, or even desist from, its assault. This would buy time for renewed Turkish efforts to curtail transnational jihadist influence within HTS in favour of militants more open to de-escalation and compromise.
First Turkey tried to 'curtail' al-Qaeda by open force. In February 'Syrian rebel' groups under Turkish control launched a war on al-Qaeda in Idleb. It was waged over two month and sent more than 1,000 'rebels' an both sides to hell. Al-Qaeda held on to its position and even made some gains. A week ago a ceasefire was arranged but that did not suffice the Turkish plans. The al-Qaeda problem is still there.

Yesterday an UAE journo pointed to this report and wrote:

Hassan Hassan حَسَنْ @hxhassan - 12:32 UTC- 28 Apr 2018
Turkish officials met with leaders of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (Nusra) and gave them an ultimatum to save Idlib: either dissolve the group & individually join other groups, or Turkey will throw its full weight behind other groups to fight it.

The 'full weight' would likely include Turkish troops but no air support as Russia controls the airspace in west-Syria. But Turkey also has other means. During the last 48 hours more than 30 mid-level leaders of al-Qaeda in Syria and of other groups resistant to Turkish pressure were assassinated by IEDs or 'unknown gunmen'. The Turkish friendly propaganda claims that ISIS sleeper cells are the culprit. I believe that the assassination campaign is the work of the Turkish secret service MIT.

How will al-Qaeda respond? Will it submit to the will of the wannabe Caliph Erdogan or will it fight?

Turkey has several small static observation posts around Idleb. These need to be supplied. If al-Qaeda, which controls the border to Turkey, cuts off Turkish supplies, what will Erdogan do? What if al-Qaeda takes the fight into Turkey?

Posted by b on April 29, 2018 at 01:21 PM | Permalink..

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/04/sy ... idleb.html

[blindpig]

HomeSyria and the World Local Arab, International Business & Finance Culture & ArtsMore
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New rocket attack on
140 factories begin production in Fadlon Industrial Zone as 100 facilities under rehabilitation

29 April، 2018

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28 February، 2015



Marked increase in industrial production as around 1,000 facilities return to work in Aleppo
15 September، 2014

Damascus Countryside, SANA- The industrial zone of Fadlon which is located in al-Qadam area, south Damascus, and comprises half of Damascus industries that vary between textile, chemical, clothing, thread production, medicine, steel and others was able to recover once the security and safety restored to the area.

The industrialists began to rehabilitate their facilities despite the great destruction and began production.

The continues work and intensified efforts exerted by Damascus Countryside governorate and the owners of the facilities in Fadlon industrial zone to rehabilitate the devastated infrastructure and provide various services of water, electricity, sewerage, telephone lines and other necessary services have helped this vital zone to work and factories to produce again.

Head of the Industrialists Committee in Fadlon, Mazen Shab’on, said that Fadlon industrial zone has recovered and restored activity thanks to the efforts and sacrifices of the Syrian army.

The industrialists rushed to rehabilitate their facilities where the number of factories that started production reached 140 factories as there are 100 other facilities under restoration, Shab’on added, hailing the state remarkable efforts exerted to secure all basic services quickly.

Ghossoun /

https://sana.sy/en/?p=135831

Do not be confused by the use of the word "industrialists", 85% of Syria's economy is government owned.

[blindpig]

Hezbollah: Mission Accomplished in Syria, Preparing Response to Israeli Aggression on Lebanon
Posted by INTERNATIONALIST 360° on MAY 1, 2018



Hezbollah has accomplished its mission in Syria and its presence on the battlefield is no longer necessary. Thus, in coordination with the Syrian government, Hezbollah has moved the majority of its forces into Lebanon, particularly as the Syrian army has recovered and regained its military strength and increased its combat capability. But with a US establishment that could encourage Israel (even after the failed adventure in 2006) to embark on another strike, the spectre of war looms over the country, and fear remains on the southern front in the Lebanon. What is the risk of this and the real possibilities of its happening?

According to well-informed sources in the Lebanese capital, the Lebanese Hezbollah has accomplished the task of stabilising the Syrian regime and preventing its fall and its replacement with Takfiri ruling groups or even a failed state. Despite the United States, some European states and other Middle Eastern countries (including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey) supporting tens of thousands of Takfiris to travel to Syria with the aim to control the Levant, Hezbollah, the Syrian army, Iran with its allies and with Russia were able to thwart this plan after years of long war and effective intervention against Jihadists.

Thus, Hezbollah withdrew most of its forces from Syria and took up positions in Lebanon where, incidentally, the geopolitical conditions do not bode well: the forecast is not good.

The sources I spoke to are aware that there is no longer a need to maintain large forces in Syria, despite the presence of more than one hundred thousand jihadists in the north of Syria. Moreover, ISIS maintains the control of a geographical area equivalent to the size of Lebanon in the Syrian Badiya (the Steppe), opposite al-Boukmal city on the east side of the Euphrates, and in the province of Hasaka under the protection of the US occupation forces.

In addition, there is a long-lasting danger in Daraa (southern Syria) of the imposition of a buffer zone, because the US and Israel have not yet finished with Syria and have not declared the defeat of their project to divide the country.

However, any reshuffling of the cards to change the military dynamic in the Levant requires a political decision among the main players (US, Turkey, Russia and Iran):

Turkey seems to be playing fairly with Russia and Iran, therefore it is holding the proper leverage to “ignite” the jihadists or “extinguish them.”
The area controlled by ISIS in al Badiya is a desert (within the area of ​​influence of the Syrian army and not the one under US’s influence) and is completely besieged. Plans to attack and eliminate ISIS are ongoing in the Yarmouk camp, al-Hajar al-Aswad, and in a couple of months are expected also to include la-Badiya.
In Daraa, no matter how much the US tries, any tactical military plan by Israel or the US can no longer make any difference to the Syrian political-military map or create a danger to the centre of power of the Syrian government in Damascus.
The Syrian army is recording repetitive achievements in rural Idlib, Aleppo and Hama, and in Gouta as well as in the Yarmouk camp and Hajar al-Aswad. It has regained its health and power again by liberating vast territories. No withdrawal or defeat has been registered in the last year of war and it is managing to pile up all jihadists in the north of Syria under Turkish control by the use of military force or political negotiations. Thus, the Syrian army is no longer struggling and fighting for the protection and the existence of the regime, but for the liberation of new territories that add to its achievements and extend its control.

As far as Iran is concerned, its forces are expected to remain as long as the US forces are occupying Syrian soil: that is the wish of the Syrian government. Therefore, the Iranian presence or departure is more complicated than the one of Hezbollah. It is linked to the conflict with the US, the balance with Turkey and the supply of ground forces to the Russian Airforce as long as Russia is involved in the war in Syria.

Hezbollah has pulled in its core fighters and elite forces and is deploying these to positions that the leadership considers sensitive in the unlikely but possible event of an Israeli aggression on Lebanon.

According to informed sources, there are constant Israeli annoyances aimed at provoking Iran and Hezbollah to drag them into a battle of a larger size than the hit-and-run on the Syrian arena. These sources believe that the US mood has given a green light to Israel to engage in war if necessary. The pretext has never been an issue and can be pulled out of a drawer when all parties are ready. In this possible war scenario, the US – so the sources believe – is ready to offer support from aircraft carriers and battleships to participate in an attack against Hezbollah, to build a steel-umbrella over Haifa and Tel Aviv, to hunt down missiles fired at Israel, offer all intelligence information, and share banks of objectives.

The sources say that President Trump seems have made a decision – with the help of Arab country leaders who agreed to fund any military campaign – to rein in Iran in the region and its allies such as Hezbollah. For this purpose, the US has intensified its joint manoeuvres with Israel to simulate any future war scenario with Iran and Hezbollah.

According to the sources, Israel may well take the region into a risky adventure, even though Tel Aviv does not ultimately want to go to war with Hezbollah simply because it knows it cannot achieve the ultimate goal of eliminating Hezbollah’s arsenal and military power in Lebanon.

Lebanon’s domestic political environment is no longer as favourable as it was in 2006 when pro-Saudi and pro-US Fouad Sinoura was a Prime Minister. The actual government and the Presidency are not against Hezbollah and refuse to isolate it. In addition, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not generally considered to be an adventurer who dares to start a long war against Hezbollah that may destroy his political future. Netanyahu seems fond of special operations, security, and provocative blitzkriegs. But Hezbollah cannot rely on this assessment of Netanyahu’s background and history, it will not take the risk. It considers that it is essential to prepare forces on the ground, as war against Israel, though it may never happen, could happen tomorrow.

Elijah J. Magnier: Senior Political Risk Analyst with over 32 years’ experience covering Europe & the Middle East. Acquiring in-depth experience, robust contacts and political knowledge in Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Libya, Sudan and Syria. Specialized in political assessments, strategic planning and thorough insight in political networks. Created and coordinated network of decision makers to provide key insight into the complex political developments of the Middle Eastern region. Experienced in dealing with intrinsically difficult situations in a broad spectrum of situations when interacting with leaders and fundamentalist movements in war zones and areas of growing instability. His personal website is https://ejmagnier.com/

https://syria360.wordpress.com/2018/05/ ... n-lebanon/

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U.S. freezes funding for Syria's "White Helmets"

Less than two months ago the State Department hosted members of the White Helmets at Foggy Bottom. At the time, the humanitarian group was showered with praise for saving lives in Syria.

"Our meetings in March were very positive. There were even remarks from senior officials about long-term commitments even into 2020. There were no suggestions whatsoever about stopping support," Raed Saleh, the group's leader, told CBS News.

Now they are not getting any U.S funding as the State Department says the support is "under active review." The U.S had accounted for about a third of the group's overall funding.

"This is a very worrisome development," said an official from the White Helmets. "Ultimately, this will negatively impact the humanitarian workers ability to save lives."

The White Helmets, formally known as the Syrian Civil Defense, are a group of 3,000 volunteer rescuers that have saved thousands of lives since the Syrian civil war began in 2011. A makeshift 911, they have run into the collapsing buildings to pull children, men and women out of danger's way. They say they have saved more than 70,000 lives.

Having not received U.S. funding in recent weeks, White Helmets are questioning what this means for the future. They have received no formal declaration from the U.S. government that the monetary assistance has come to a full halt, but the group's people on the ground in Syria report that their funds have been cut off.

The group has an "emergency plan" if the funding is halted for one or two months -- but they are worried about the long-term freeze.

"If this is a long-term or permanent halt, it would have a serious impact on our ability to provide the same intensity and quality of services that we currently provide to civilians," said Saleh.

An internal State Department document said that its Near East Bureau needed confirmation from the administration to green light funding for the White Helmets in Syria by April 15th or the department would initiate "shut-down procedures on a rolling basis." That document also said that the department needed to be notified by April 6th that it could continue programs that focus on removing land mines, restoring essential services and providing food to moderate forces and their families or those programs would also have to be shut down.

However, U.S. government officials are not talking on the record about the date of the actual funding cutoff for each program, which is leading to confusion.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert has previously called the White Helmets "selfless men" and asked journalists to watch a documentary about their work. But the State Department did not respond to a CBS News inquiry earlier this week about which programs are still receiving funding, and the date for when certain programs will lose their funding.

President Trump put a freeze on the $200 million in U.S. funding for recovery efforts in Syria in late March. This freeze means that U.S. support for the White Helmets is not the only project in jeopardy. There are also many other stabilization efforts that are backed by the U.S. -- including the clearing of explosive devices, bringing back electricity, rebuilding schools, and getting water running -- that may end soon.

U.S. officials are working to see if there is a way to adjust existing funding to cover the costs for these projects. They are also trying to get other countries, such as Germany, to cover some of the costs. Earlier this year, at the Brussels for the donor conference for Syria, German Foreign Minister Maas pledged more than $1.1 billion to help people in need in Syria. But as of now, Germany has not officially committed to stepping in beyond this initial commitment.

Observers are also increasingly concerned about Syria's young people, who are more prone to radicalization if they don't get the security and support that they need. As a result of the fighting in the country, thousands of schools have been destroyed. The handful of schools that opened their doors again have received simple necessities like chairs, tables and blackboards from the U.S. -- but in most schools children are still sitting on the ground, and teachers are extremely hard to come by.

"The amount of U.S. support is very limited but it is better than nothing, so if that will stop, that will be a disaster. After ISIS they started to open the schools and if money stops, that will be done," said a senior member of the Deir ez-Zor city council. "Without education the people only have ISIS ideas."

This week, the State Department said it would continue to defend its partners on the ground in Syria when they announced the final operations to liberate ISIS strongholds in the country.

"The fighting will be difficult, but we and our partners will prevail. We will defend United States, Coalition, and partner forces if attacked. The days of ISIS controlling territory and terrorizing the people of Syria are coming to an end," wrote State Department Spokesperson Heather Nauert. She did not write anything about the stabilization projects.

Meanwhile, much of Syria that has been cleared of ISIS control -- such as Raqqa, its self-proclaimed capital -- is still in ruins and almost impossible to live in.

"Raqqa is like a sick person in an emergency room. So the money or treatment should come faster than the routine way. He is not a normal sick person," Abdullah al-Arian, a lawyer in Raqqa advising the governing Civil Council.

"The passion and power the U.S. put in to liberate Raqqa does not at all equal the passion to rebuild Raqqa. It is very much different, much less, much more slow," says al-Arian. "They give us very beautiful words and promises but not much else."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/u-s-freeze ... e-helmets/

We'll see if this holds. Little doubt that the US cut funding for ISIS which has contributed to it's collapse. This is a about Trump's 'nativism/isolationism' and probably less to do with the fact that this scam is falling apart, things like that don't get in the way any more. I'll bet there's not a few in DC pretty pissed about this, looks like time for another dope-slap.

[blindpig]

Havana, SANA – Syria and Cuba signed on Thursday a framework agreement on cooperation between the Syrian Health Ministry on the one hand and the Cuban External Trade and Foreign Investment Ministry and the Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Industry Group (BioCubaFarma) on the other hand.

Syria-Cuba-health-agreement 2The Cuban Minister Rodrigo Malmierca Diaz said the agreement is a “modest contribution on the way to look for other potentials to build a strategic partnership” in the various areas of the health sector between the two countries and not just in the medicinal field.

“It’s our duty to provide all forms of help to the Syrian people in light of the current ordeal they are going through,” he added.

Malmierca Diaz’s remarks were echoed by Health Minister Nizar Yazigi, who described the agreement as a starting point for wider cooperation in the health domain, including in transferring biotechnology in both directions and exchanging of medicines, expertise and research.

Earlier on the day, Minister Yazigi met with Vice President of the Council of Ministers of Cuba Ricardo Cabrisas Ruiz who affirmed that Cuba’s support to Syria under the terrorism war waged against it is firm and that Havana is serious about offering all forms of support and aid to Damascus.

H. Said

https://sana.sy/en/?p=64825

*********************

Syria, Cuba to enhance cooperation in energy domain

5 May، 2018

Havana, SANA- Cuban Minister of Energy and Mines Alfredo Lopez Valdes stressed the importance of cooperation between Syria and Cuba in the field of energy, particularly in light of Cuba development it has achieved in the field of power generation.

Valdes, meeting the Syrian Ambassador in Cuba Idris Mia in Havana, hailed Syria’s steadfastness and victories achieved recently by the Syrian Arab army in combating terrorism.
He expressed confidence Syria would have victory in the war against terrorism.

For his part, Mia reiterated the importance of cooperation between the two countries in all domains, particularly in the alternative energy.

The Syrian Ambassador pointed out that the terrorist organizations have systematically targeted the infrastructure, oil and gas wells.

He noted that the victories achieved by the Syrian army contributed to resuming the work in those wells which positively affect the status of energy in the country.

H.Zain/ Mazen

https://sana.sy/en/?p=136511

[blindpig]

Breaking: Two mass graves discovered in Douma, over 200 bodies found

BEIRUT, LEBANON (2:30 A.M.) – The Syrian Arab Army (SAA) has uncovered two mass graves in the East Ghouta town of Douma tonight, a military source told Al-Masdar News.

According to the source, one of the mass graves had a total of 172 bodies inside of it and the other 40 bodies.

One of the mass graves were found at the Al-Naqal Regiment Base and the other inside the town of Al-Shifouniyah.

The uncovered bodies had decayed, indicating that they had been there for a few years.

The bodies in these mass graves are believed to be Syrian Arab Army soldiers that were captured and later executed by Jaysh Al-Islam during their military campaign in 2013.

https://www.almasdarnews.com/article/br ... ies-found/

The perpetrators should be hunted down and dispatched like rabid dogs.

[blindpig]

This is FAKE NEWS:

BREAKING: More than 20 rockets were fired overnight at Israel from Syria, and some were intercepted by an aerial defense system, according to an Israel Defense Forces spokesman; Israel believes the rockets were fired by the Iranian al-Quds Force in Syria

https://www.cnn.com/2018/05/09/middleea ... 424PMStory

This is not fake news:

Damascus, SANA – The Syrian Arab Army’s air defenses repelled an Israeli missile aggression on Syrian territories, shooting down scores of missiles.

A military source said the army’s air defenses shot down tens of Israeli missiles, preventing most of them from reaching their targets, while some managed to hit a number of air defense battalions, radars, and an ammo depot.



SANA’s correspondent said that information indicates that the Israeli aggressions targeted air defense battalions and radars in Syria with missiles fired by enemy warplanes from within the occupied territories.

The command of the Lebanese Army said that 4 Israeli warplanes violated Lebanese airspace at the same time as the aggression took place.

Meanwhile, SANA’s correspondent in Quneitra said the Syrian air defenses shot down Israeli missiles over al-Baath city, adding that prior to that the Israeli enemy fired shells at the city but they didn’t cause any injuries.

The Israeli media reported that occupation authorities instructed settlers in the occupied Syrian Golan to head to shelters.

This aggression took place less than 24 hours after the Syrian air defenses shot down two Israeli missiles over al-Kisweh area in Damascus Countryside.

https://sana.sy/en/?p=137008

Israel is the aggressor, though the aggression is sourced in Washington and is hardly unique to the current regime.

I recommend the Syrian Arab News Agency SANA.

[blindpig]

Syria Sets New Rules For Israeli Strikes
When Trump killed the nuclear deal with Iran he gave Israel the chance to start a wider war with Syria. An earlier Israeli simulation of the situation had concluded:

The crisis created by the administration regarding the flaws of the nuclear agreement could be exploited to promote issues more urgent for Israel (mainly Iran’s missile program and presence in Syria).
The Israeli government claims that Iranian support for Syria is a threat to its country. That is a bogus claim. The Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahoo uses the "Iran threat" as boogeyman to divert attention from other issues like the various corruption cases against himself.

Over the last years Israel attacked Syrian army positions more than 100 times, often in support of al-Qaeda aligned "Syrian rebels". Syria did not respond as it was busy fighting against the Takfiri invasion within the country. In April Israel upped the ante when it attacked the T4 base in the middle of Syria from where Russian and Iranian forces support Syria's fight against ISIS. Iranian soldiers were killed in the attack. The Syrian air defense shot down at least one of the attacking Israeli F-16 jets. This shooting down of the Israeli jets was thought to have established a new balance, but Israel continued to provoke.

On Tuesday, just as Trump announced his breaking of the nuclear deal, Israel launched another strike on what it claimed were Iranian missiles in Syria targeted at Israel. The strike hit a Syrian army depot. Fifteen soldiers, some of them allegedly Iranians, were killed. Even the Israeli media had trouble to find an excuse for the illegal 'preemptive' attack:

Even if Iran had no intention of launching missiles at Israel on Tuesday, the alleged Israeli strike came along and conveyed the following message to the Iranians: You raised the likelihood of an attack on Israel, so we’re raising the threat level, despite the tensions.
It is not Iran's job to respond to Israeli strikes on Syria. The Syrian government wanted to retaliate immediately to Tuesday's strike but was held back by Russian concerns. Russia saw these provocations as an Israeli trap. Yesterday Netanyahoo visited Moscow. The Russian president warned him to stop the provocations. Netanyahoo did not listen.

Last night Israel again attacked Syrian military positions in al-Quneitra in south-west Syria. This time the Syrian missile forces responded with a barrage of more than 20 missiles against Israeli positions in the occupied Golan heights. Israel escalated further with 70 strikes against Syrian positions. Pictures and video from Damascus show that the Syrian air defense intercepted many of them.



Israel now claims that it eliminated the "Iranian threat" in Syria:

Israel's Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said that Israel's forces struck "nearly all the Iranian infrastructure in Syria" and said that no objects were hit on the territories of Israel.
The claim of success is a signal that it does not want to go any further:

"I hope we've finished this episode and everyone understood," Lieberman added, stressing that Israel doesn't want an escalation, but "won't let anyone attack us or build an infrastructure to attack us in the future."
The propagandist praise of an Israeli success reminds one of previous similar claims.

On the second day of the 2006 war on Lebanon Israel loudly boosted that it had destroyed "all long-range Hizbullah missiles" in a 34 minutes long air campaign. But more than 100 missiles per day continued to hit Israel, including targets in Tel Aviv far away from the Lebanese border. Thirty one days later Israel sued for peace. Its invasion of Lebanon had been defeated. Its "successful" strike against Hizbullah's long range missiles had hit mostly empty positions.

The Israeli targeting in Syria is not much better than its targeting in Lebanon twelve years ago.

Syria will now continue to respond to Israeli attacks. This time it limited its strikes to military positions in the occupied Golan heights. The next strikes will go further.

Iran will also retaliate for attacks on its forces in Syria. But it does not need to do so from Syria. There are also other ways and means than sending missiles.

That Syria, after much suffering, now retaliated for the Israeli strikes draws a new line in the sand. If Israel wants a wider war it will get one. The destruction in the involved countries in the Middle East, including Israel, might thrown them back 100 years. Syria, Lebanon, and Iran could live with that. A 100 years ago Israel did not exist.

Posted by b on May 10, 2018 at 07:41 AM | Permalink

http://www.moonofalabama.org/2018/05/sy ... rikes.html

Good synopsis

[blindpig]

Damascus: New phase of aggression on Syria has begun with original enemies after defeating agents

10 May، 2018

Damascus, SANA-Foreign and Expatriates Ministry affirmed that the Israeli aggression on Syrian territories came within the framework of the aggressive approach of the Zionist entity and in response to the defeat of its tools of the terrorist groups.

In the framework of the aggressive approach of the Zionist entity and in respose to the defeat of its tools of terrorist groups , it targeted with a number of missiles some military sites where most of the missiles were repelled efficiently by the air defense of the Syrian Arab Army, an official source at the Ministry told SANA.

The source said that “the direct aggression of the Zionist entity and its supporters indicates that a new phase of the aggression against Syria has begun with the original enemies after the defeat of the agents,” adding that the Syrian Arab Army will confront them.

The source concluded by saying that the aggressive behavior of the Zionist entity will not succeed in reviving the defeated conspiratorial project in Syria rather it will only increase tension in the region, which poses a serious threat to international peace and security.

Manar al-Freih/Rasha Milhem

https://sana.sy/en/?p=137121