4-11-18

US readies response to Syria attacks after UN clash with Russia

‘Whenever we propose anything meaningful on Syria, Russia vetoes it. It is a travesty,’ decries US envoy Nikki Haley as US warship nears Syrian coast. The US leader has made it clear he plans to make Bashar Assad, and perhaps his Russian and Iranian backers, pay a price for the latest alleged toxic gas atrocity of Syria’s #civilwar.

European #airlines warned of possible Syria strike within 72 hours

Authorities tell companies to watch for missile and air attacks in and near Syrian airspace.

Israeli military on high alert amid Iran threats to avenge Syria strike

Top Iranian official blames Israel, says Monday’s missile barrage ‘will not remain unanswered’ after at least seven IRGC fighters are said killed on air base.

Folks, we need to pay close attention to what is happening. War tensions are at the highest level, every super power nation has an itchy trigger finger right now!

Is Trump Threatening War With #Russia To End Mueller Probe?

Source Alex Jones

Owen Shroyer explores the political tactics that could be behind President Trump’s saber rattling and threats of war.

Trump Threatens to Bomb #Syria Without Any Investigation into Alleged #ChemicalAttack

Source The Real News

Moving in Apocalyptic Direction Says Russian International Affairs Spokesman

Source Israeli News Live

“I don’t want to sound apocalyptic — we are not there yet. But we are moving in that direction,” Said Andrei Kortunov, head of the Russian International Affairs Council. What a provocative statement in light of the latest developments concerning Syria.

Emergency Alert! Syria Missile Strike ‘Within Hours’. Russia Warns Nuclear War, Trump Tweets Inflammatory Threat. Here’s What Mainstream is Not Reporting (Videos) click here

US readies response to Syria attacks after UN clash with Russia

‘Whenever we propose anything meaningful on Syria, Russia vetoes it. It is a travesty,’ decries US envoy Nikki Haley as US warship nears Syrian coast

WASHINGTON (AFP) — US President Donald Trump faced a decision on whether to strike Syria and risk a clash with Damascus ally Russia, after UN members failed Tuesday to agree on action to probe chemical attacks in the war-wracked country.

The US leader has made it clear he plans to make Bashar Assad, and perhaps his Russian and Iranian backers, pay a price for the latest alleged toxic gas atrocity of Syria’s civil war.

But the United Nations Security Council failed to agree on a global response to the incident, after Washington and Moscow opposed each other’s rival motions to set up an international investigation into chemical weapons use in the seven-year-old conflict.

According to rescue workers, on Saturday more than 40 people died in the rebel-held Damascus suburb of Douma in an alleged chemical attack, which left victims wheezing, with discolored skin and foaming at the mouth.

The United States, Britain and France have argued the alleged attack bears all the hallmarks of a strike ordered by the regime of Russia’s ally Assad, which has been blamed for previous attacks by the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW).

Trump has said that Assad and Russia’s President Vladimir Putin may have to “pay a big price” for the alleged action, and Washington’s UN ambassador Nikki Haley made it clear that the failure to secure a Security Council vote would not hold America and its allies back.

“Russia has trashed the credibility of the council,” she said. “Whenever we propose anything meaningful on Syria, Russia vetoes it. It is a travesty.”

Veto blame

Haley dismissed the Russian draft as “all about protecting the Assad regime” because of provisions that would have required the Security Council to endorse its findings — in other words, giving Russia a veto over any attempt to apportion blame.

Russia, in turn, vetoed the US-backed motion, which would have re-established an international Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) to probe chemical strikes in Syria and to identify culprits.

Russia’s UN ambassador Vassily Nebenzia accused Haley of seeking a vote to provide cover for a Western military strike on Assad that now seems all the more likely.

“If you took the decision to carry out an illegal military adventure, and we do hope that you will come to your senses, well then you will have to bear responsibility for it,” he said.

The drama at the United Nations came as night fell on Damascus and the long-suffering Syrian population braced for the diplomatic dance to transform into new round of international military action.

Both Trump and his defense secretary Jim Mattis abruptly canceled upcoming travel plans, as the USS Donald Cook — a guided-missile destroyer — moved to within striking range of Syria.

French President Emmanuel Macron, who has been coordinating closely with Washington, said he would decide on a response “in the coming days.”

Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vassily Nebenzia, left, talks with his Syrian counterpart Bashar Jaafari during a UN Security Council meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York, on April 10, 2018. (AFP Photo/Hector Retamal)

“Our decision will not target allies of the regime or attack anyone but rather attack the regime’s chemical capabilities,” he said, insisting he did “not want an escalation.”

As it looked to head off the threat of Western strikes, Syria said it had invited the OPCW to visit the site of the alleged attack in Douma, a settlement in the Damascus suburb of Eastern Ghouta that is falling to the regime after a long and bloody siege.

The OPCW said it would “shortly” deploy a fact-finding team to Douma for an investigation, but US officials said they were working from their own information and would not necessarily hold back, while Syrian forces were also mobilizing.

“At midnight, the army command put all military positions on alert, including airports and all bases, for a period of 72 hours,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Tuesday.

A source from a pro-regime unit told AFP Tuesday there were “precautionary measures being taken by the Syrian army, especially the airports and military bases.”

Even residents of the capital were bracing themselves.

“I have lived through seven American presidents, but Trump is the craziest and his administration is unbalanced,” said Abu Fadi, 70.

“I think his threats are to be feared, and we should take them seriously.”

Chemical arsenal

In April 2017, Trump launched a cruise missile strike against a Syrian air base in retaliation for a sarin attack the UN later pinned on Assad.

Syria’s government has denied accusations of using banned weapons such as chlorine or sarin throughout the country’s seven-year war.

Syrian ambassador to the UN Bashar Jaafari, center, speaks during a UN Security Council meeting at United Nations Headquarters in New York, on April 10, 2018. (AFP Photo/Hector Retamal)

Douma has been heavily bombed by Syria and Russia making it extremely difficult for media, including AFP, to independently verify the claims.

United Nations chief Antonio Guterres said Tuesday the OPCW should be granted unfettered access to investigate.

The OPCW does not have a mandate to establish who is responsible for attacks, and the joint OPCW-UN taskforce that once did was shut down by Russia last year after it blamed the Syrian regime.

Damascus narrowly avoided American and French air strikes in 2013 in retaliation for a suspected sarin attack by agreeing to hand over its chemical arsenal.

That incident, which killed hundreds in the deadliest use of toxic gas, also took place in Eastern Ghouta, where Douma is located.

Trump has threatened to respond “forcefully” to the most recent allegations, saying the US had “a lot of options militarily” and would decide in the coming days.

The White House said that, in a telephone call, Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May “agreed not to allow the use of chemical weapons to continue.”

SOURCE The Times of Israel

Israeli military on high alert amid Iran threats to avenge Syria strike

Top Iranian official blames Israel, says Monday’s missile barrage ‘will not remain unanswered’ after at least seven IRGC fighters are said killed on air base

Israel’s military has been put on high alert amid heightened tensions along the northern border and with Iran threatening to avenge an airstrike on a Syrian air base believed to have killed at least 14 people, including 7 Iranian military personnel.

Russia, Syria, Iran and the United States have all said Israel carried out the predawn Monday missile barrage on the T-4 Air Base near Palmyra in central Syria. Israeli officials refused to comment on the strike.

On Tuesday, a top adviser to Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei threatened Israel.

“The crimes will not remain unanswered,” Ali Akbar Velayati said during a visit to Syria, according to the official Islamic Republic News Agency.

Iran’s Foreign Ministry also accused Israel of “flagrant” aggression in Syria following the attack.

Israeli officials did not appear to be taking the threat of a retaliatory attack lightly — either by Iran, or its proxy, the Hezbollah terrorist group.

On Tuesday, Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman appeared to allude to the strike, saying that Israel “will not allow Iranian entrenchment in Syria. Whatever the cost.”

Keeping in line with Israel’s stance of ambiguity on attacks outside the country’s borders, the defense minister prefaced his remarks with a wry “I don’t know what happened.”

“Accepting Iranian entrenchment in Syria would be to accept Iranians putting a chokehold on us. We cannot allow that,” Liberman said.

In a highly unusual move, Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency acknowledged that “Iranian military advisers” were killed in Monday’s attack on the military airfield.

The Tasnim media outlet, which has been affiliated with the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps, specified that seven IRGC members were killed in the strike, including one high-ranking officer, Col. Mehdi Dehghan, who reportedly served in one of the group’s drone units.

Monday’s Iranian Foreign Ministry’s press release made no mention of the dead.

This appeared to be only the second time that Iran has acknowledged casualties in Syria. The first was in 2015, when an IRGC general was killed in a strike directed against Hezbollah leader Jihad Mughniyeh, which was also attributed to Israel.

In that case, the Iran-backed Hezbollah terrorist group retaliated 10 days later with an ambush, firing anti-tank missiles at two IDF jeeps, killing two soldiers and injuring seven more.

Tehran, along with Moscow, is Syrian President Bashar Assad’s main ally, and has played an important role in his recent victories.

The Syrian regime and Moscow blamed Israel for carrying out Monday’s strike, later that morning saying two Israeli F-15 fighter jets fired eight missiles at the base, some of which they said were shot down.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which monitors the country’s conflict, said 14 were killed, including Syrian army officers and Iranian personnel. The Syrian regime did not confirm the number of casualties, but said “there are martyrs and wounded.”

Later, American officials confirmed to NBC News that Israel had conducted the strike and that they were notified of it in advance.

Israel is believed to have carried out numerous raids inside Syria since 2013, targeting the regime and its Lebanese arch-foe Hezbollah, which is backed by Iran.

Iran has deployed thousands of fighters to Syria, presented as “volunteers” from Afghanistan and Pakistan and trained locally by Iranian “military advisers.” It denies having a military presence in the war-torn country.

Iran does not recognize the existence of Israel and routinely calls for and predicts its demise. Israel views Tehran under the regime of the ayatollahs as an existential threat that seeks nuclear arms and funds and arms terrorist groups, notably Hezbollah, the Lebanese terror group on Israel’s northern border.

Israel has regularly expressed its concern about the Iranian presence in Syria, fearing the long-term establishment of hostile forces in the neighboring country.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Monday that Israel will hit anyone who intends to harm the country, appearing to indirectly refer to the predawn missile strike.

An Israeli fighter jet takes off during a training sortie in February 2010. (Ofer Zidon/Flash90)

“We have one clear and simple rule and we seek to express it constantly: if someone tries to attack you — rise up and attack him,” Netanyahu said.

Israel conducted an airstrike against the T-4, also known as Tiyas, base on February 10, after an Iranian operator working out of it flew an Iranian-made drone into Israeli territory, according to the army. That incursion sparked a series of aerial clashes that resulted in the Iranian aircraft being shot down, an Israeli F-16I getting hit by Syrian anti-aircraft fire and crashing in a field, and a significant percentage of Syria’s air defenses being destroyed in retaliation.

“Iran and the [Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps’ special unit] Quds Force for some time have been operating the T-4 Air Base in Syria next to Palmyra, with support from the Syrian military and with permission from the Syrian regime,” the Israel Defense Forces said in a statement at the time.

Construction Minister Yoav Galant, a former IDF major general and a member of Israel’s security cabinet, would not comment directly on the attack, but on Tuesday reiterated the “red lines” that Jerusalem considers grounds for launching strikes.

“In Syria, many forces, from various bodies and coalitions, are operating. Each one says what it says and denies what it denies,” he told Israel Radio. “We have clear interests in Syria and we set red lines. We will not allow weapons to pass from Syria to Lebanon, and we will not allow the establishment of an Iranian base.”

SOURCE The Times of Israel

#iran #china #usa #russia #turkey #israel #russia #ww3 #nuclearWar #gog

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