Syria Chemical Attack Was 'False Flag,' More 'Provocations' Coming -http://www.breitbart.com/national-security/2017/04/11/putin-syria-chemical-attack-was-false-flag-more-provocations-are-coming/
At a Tuesday press conference, Russian President Vladimir Putin claimed last week's chemical weapons attack in the Idlib province of Syria was a "false flag" - a phony operation staged by enemies of Russia and Syria to discredit them. He said more such false flag operations were on the way.
"We have reports from multiple sources that false flags like this one - and I cannot call it otherwise - are being prepared in other parts of Syria, including the southern suburbs of Damascus. They plan to plant some chemical there and accuse the Syrian government of an attack," said Putin, as reported by Russia's RT.com.
"President Mattarella and I discussed it, and I told him that this reminds me strongly of the events in 2003, when the US representatives demonstrated at the UN Security Council session the presumed chemical weapons found in Iraq," Putin continued, referring to Italian President Sergio Mattarella, who appeared with him at the press conference in Moscow.
"The military campaign was subsequently launched in Iraq and it ended with the devastation of the country, the growth of the terrorist threat and the appearance of Islamic State [IS, formerly ISIS] on the world stage," Putin declared.
According to RT.com, the Russian General Staff has prepared a report that claims "militants" among the Syrian rebellion are "transporting toxic agents into several parts of Syria."
"These actions are aimed at creating a new pretext for accusing the government of Syria of more chemical weapons attacks and provoking more strikes by the US," said Colonel-General Sergey Rudskoy, head of operations for the General Staff.
The Associated Press reports that Russia's General Staff has expressed a willingness to allow international inspectors to examine the Sharyat airbase in Syria for traces of chemical weapons, and offered to provide military security for the inspectors. Putin said he would appeal to the United Nations to investigate the incident.
The UK Independent reports that Putin more specifically accused the United States of planning to drop chemical weapons on Damascus and then blame the incident on Assad, although it does not provide a translation of the Russian president's precise words to that effect.
On Monday, Russia and Iran declared the United States "crossed red lines" by attacking Sharyat airbase, borrowing a phrase made infamous by former President Barack Obama. U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has accused the Russians of either being "complicit" in the Syrian chemical weapons deployment, or "incompetent" for allowing it to happen. The Pentagon is investigating the possibility that Russia actually participated in the chemical weapons attack, and/or the bombing of a hospital where victims were receiving treatment afterward.
Tillerson in Moscow: Pushing on Syria where Obama failed - By Josh Lederman -
http://www.timesofisrael.com/tillerson-in-moscow-pushing-on-syria-where-obama-failed/
'The reign of the Assad family is coming to an end,' top US diplomat predicts at start of Russia visit
The Trump administration veered toward deeper conflict with Russia Tuesday as Secretary of State Rex Tillerson arrived in Moscow, gambling that an unpredictable new president armed with the willingness to threaten military action gives the US much-needed leverage to end Syria's carnage.
Yet there were no guarantees Tillerson's arguments would prove any more successful than the Obama administration's failed effort to peel Russia away from its Syrian ally. Tillerson's mission, coming days after 59 Tomahawk missiles struck a Syrian air base, also carries serious risks: If Russia brushes off the warnings, President Donald Trump could be forced into another show of force in Syria or see his credibility wane.
"I hope that what the Russian government concludes is that they have aligned themselves with an unreliable partner in Bashar al-Assad," Tillerson said before flying to the Russian capital, referring to Syria's embattled leader.
"The reign of the Assad family is coming to an end," he confidently predicted.
But Tillerson's claim is one President Barack Obama, too, argued for years, only to see Assad outlast his own term in office. And the Trump administration's nascent Syria policy seems to be increasingly centering on the same tactic Obama unsuccessfully employed: persuading Russia, Assad's staunchest ally, to abandon him.
The parallels haven't gone unnoticed by Russian President Vladimir Putin as US officials have accused his military of knowing about Assad's recent chemical weapons attack ahead of time and trying to help cover it up. Calling for a UN investigation, Putin held to his claim that it was actually Assad opponents who introduced chemical weapons into Syria's harrowing civil war.
"We have seen it all already," Putin said. Jabbing at US credibility, the Russian leader reminded reporters about unfounded US claims of Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, used to justify America's 2003 invasion.
The escalating dispute over last week's events in the Syrian town of Khan Sheikhoun has thrust Washington and Moscow into a level of tension rarely seen since the end of the Cold War. The animosity is especially striking given widespread speculation that Trump, who lavishly praised Putin during his campaign, would pursue rapprochement with Moscow.
Even on Syria, the positions appeared to be hardening. Only a week ago, top Trump officials had spoken off deprioritizing past US efforts to remove Assad from office and accepting the "reality" that 18 months of Russian military intervention had secured him in power. Since last Thursday's cruise missile strike, Tillerson and other US officials appear to have reverted to the past administration's rhetoric of insisting that Assad is on the way out, without outlining any strategy for making that happen.
The Trump administration's change of heart, apparently spurred in part by the president's emotional response to the images of chemical weapons victims, also is serving another purpose: defanging the perception of coziness between Trump and Moscow. As the FBI and multiple congressional committees investigate potential collusion between Russia and Trump's campaign, the president can point to his hard-line stance on Assad as fresh evidence he's willing to stand up to Putin.
Asked about Putin possibly skipping a meeting with Tillerson, White House press secretary Sean Spicer said, "There is a bit of irony that for all of these talks that have been perpetuated about back channels and direct links, that now it's they won't meet with you." At a minimum, Tillerson will meet Wednesday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, and the two are expected to take questions from reporters.
As Tillerson landed in Moscow, senior White House officials briefed reporters on declassified US intelligence they said disproved Russia's claim that rebels were responsible for the chemical weapons. In an accompanying four-page memo, the US accused Russia of a disinformation campaign and aiding Syria in covering up the gruesome attack, which killed more than 80 people.
"Russia's allegations fit with a pattern of deflecting blame from the regime and attempting to undermine the credibility of its opponents," the report read.
Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told reporters at the Pentagon, "It is very clear who planned this attack, who authorized this attack and who orchestrated this attack."
Putin's government has been incensed by the Trump administration's public accusations, and even more so by US military intervention in Syria. The retaliatory strikes, which Obama declined to approve after blaming Assad for an even deadlier chemical weapons attack in 2013, hit an air base where Russian troops were also present, although none are believed to have been killed.
Meeting allies earlier Tuesday in Italy, Tillerson delivered an ultimatum to Russia: Side either with the US and its dozens of coalition partners or face the isolation of a partnership with Assad, Iran and Hezbollah. That may hardly be punishment for the Kremlin, which dismissed many of Obama's similar warnings about Russia being sucked into a quagmire in Syria with no way out while tarnishing its international reputation.
Trump may not have much to offer Russia currently. Even if Moscow cooperates, the allegations of election meddling have weakened the US leader's hand to deliver on any significant carrot, such as a loosening of the US and European economic sanctions stemming from Russia's actions in Ukraine.
And wielding the stick of potential military action is risky. Trump's cruise missile order restored the believability of Washington using its military might in Syria.
But if Moscow ignores Trump's entreaties or if Assad uses chemical weapons again, bad options await Trump. He can order more military action, with the danger of an escalating America involvement in a war that has killed hundreds of thousands of people. Or he can hold back and risk losing face like Obama.
Putin seems undeterred. Hours after Tillerson's warning, his office announced Russia would host Syria and Iran's foreign ministers for a three-way meeting Friday, the day after Tillerson departs.
Russia either irresponsible or incompetent in failing to rid Assad of WMDs - By Josh Lederman - http://www.timesofisrael.com/tillerson-russia-must-choose-between-iranian-axis-and-us/
Secretary of state, now visiting Moscow, says Putin must choose between Iran axis and US
US Secretary of State Rex Tillerson issued an ultimatum to Russia on Tuesday: Side with the US and likeminded countries on Syria, or embrace Iran, militant group Hezbollah and embattled Syrian leader Bashar Assad.
Tillerson, who landed in Moscow on Tuesday afternoon following urgent meetings in Italy with top diplomats, said it was unclear whether Russia had failed to take seriously its obligation to rid Syria of chemical weapons, or had merely been incompetent. But he said the distinction "doesn't much matter to the dead."
"Russia has failed to uphold the agreements that have been entered into under multiple United Nations Security Council resolutions," Tillerson said. "These agreements stipulated Russia as the guarantor of a Syria free of chemical weapons."
Syria's stockpiling and continued use of chemical weapons show that "Russia failed in its responsibility to deliver on this 2013 commitment," he went. "It is unclear whether Russia failed to take this obligation seriously or Russia has been incompetent, but this distinction doesn't much matter to the dead. We cannot let this happen again."
"We want to relieve the suffering of the Syrian people. Russia can be a part of that future and play an important role," Tillerson added in remarks to reporters. "Or Russia can maintain its alliance with this group, which we believe is not going to serve Russia's interests longer term."
Since the US launched airstrikes against Assad's forces in retaliation for a chemical attack on civilians last week, Trump administration officials have offered mixed messages about whether Washington believes Assad definitely must surrender power - and when. Tillerson said it was clear the US saw no role for Assad in Syria's future, given that he had lost legitimacy.
"It is clear to all of us that the reign of the Assad family is coming to an end," he said. "But the question of how that ends and the transition itself could be very important in our view to the durability, the stability inside of a unified Syria," which he said he "hopes" Assad will not be a part of.
"That's why we are not presupposing how that occurs," Tillerson added.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault also told reporters that the G7 ministers agreed that "no future in Syria is possible with Bashar Assad," Ayrault told reporters.
He said the message for Russia was: "That's enough now. There must be an end to hypocrisy and a very clear return to the political process."
"This is not an aggressive stance towards Russia, rather a hand out-held, with clear intentions," Ayrault said.
Tillerson also said the cease-fire talks that Russia and Iran have helped broker in the Kazakh capital, Astana, could generate momentum toward broader talks about a political transition - if the Astana talks succeed in creating a durable cease-fire. The resulting political talks would take place under the auspices of the United Nations process in Geneva.
"To date, Astana has not achieved much progress," Tillerson said.
Tillerson spoke after a meeting of the "likeminded" countries was hastily arranged on the sidelines of the summit of the Group of Seven industrialized economies in Italy, days after the US for the first time launched airstrikes against Assad's forces.
A key focus since the chemical attack has been on increasing pressure on Russia, Assad's strongest ally, which has used its own military to keep Assad in power. The US and others have said that Russia bears responsibility for the deaths of civilians at the hands of Assad given Moscow's role in guaranteeing the 2013 deal in which Assad was supposed to have given up his chemical weapons arsenal.
The US raised the stakes significantly on Monday when a senior US official said Washington has made a preliminary conclusion that Russia knew in advance of Syria's chemical weapons attack. Yet the US has no proof of Moscow's involvement, said the official, who wasn't authorized to speak publicly on intelligence matters and demanded anonymity.
That accusation will hang over Tillerson's visit to Moscow, where he plans to meet with Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, and possibly with Russian President Vladimir Putin. The Kremlin declined to say whether Putin would meet with Tillerson, in line with its usual practice of not announcing such meetings ahead of time.
The United States has sought to minimize expectations for the trip or the likelihood that the US will leave with any concessions from Russia regarding its support for Assad. Instead, the US is hoping to use the visit - the first by a Trump Cabinet official to Russia - to convey its expectations to Moscow and then allow the Russians a period of time to respond.
Though intended to punish Assad for a chemical weapons attack, the US strikes last week served to refocus the world's attention on the bloody war in Syria, now in its seventh year. Diplomats gathered in Italy as US officials in Washington floated the possibility of new sanctions on the Syrian and Russian military, plus the threat of additional US military action if Assad's government continues attacking civilians.
At Tuesday's meeting in the walled Tuscan city of Lucca, the G-7 countries were joined by diplomats from Muslim-majority nations including Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates. The inclusion of those countries is important because the U.S. strategy for Syria involves enlisting help from Mideast nations to ensure security and stability in Syria after the Islamic State group is vanquished.
Syrian War Crimes, American Retaliation - By Matt Ward - http://www.raptureready.com/2017/04/09/syrian-war-crimes-american-retaliation/
Early last week, Bashir al-Assad, President of Syria, committed fresh war crimes against his own people. With a death toll now approaching 100 and with several hundred more seriously injured, the casualty rate is sure to rise even further due to the woefully inadequate medical facilities tasked with managing this incident.
Particularly shocking is the high number of children killed or injured in this atrocity. Many are so young they are still wearing diapers, with many babies killed while sleeping in their cots or beds. All display the tell-tale signs of death by chemical nerve agents.
Local hospitals have been completely overwhelmed by these attacks. Indeed, one local hospital was bombed as it was attempting to deal with the huge influx of casualties from the initial chemical attack, a further war crime for which Assad must be held accountable for sometime in the future account .
Doctors Without Borders, one of the first international aid agencies on the scene, reported that initial examinations indicated at least two different chemical agents were used in the deadly Khan Sheikhoun incident. As well as chlorine gas, another more deadly chemical agent has also been found, believed at this point to be sarin.
One eye witness, speaking to a reporter for London's Independent newspaper relayed that, "There were people shivering all around, suffocating, they had froth from the mouth."
Many of these people display the telltale signs of death by sarin gas. Sarin is a colorless and odorless nerve agent which causes convulsions, suffocation, vomiting, dilated pupils, coughing blood and foaming at the mouth if inhaled, and is deadly in highly concentrated enough volumes or after prolonged exposure. Many of the casualties had just such symptoms.
Horrifyingly, there is even footage, terrible to behold, of young children caught in the agonizing midst of these convulsions, all of which are now widely available on the Internet. Much of this footage has already been independently verified as genuine. They depict the death throes of little children, and they are haunting. They are barbaric and vicious.
Medical teams have also reported the smell of bleach at a couple of the hospitals used to treat casualties from this attack, suggesting chlorine gas exposure.
This is the worst single example of chemical weapons use since the beginning of the Syria Civil War in 2011, and has led to a fever pitch of condemnation against Syria, the Assad regime and Russia more generally. Russia is now forced into the humiliating and morally defunct position of making up abject lies in order to cover for the horrendous and dreadful atrocities of their Syrian proxy, Assad.
According to the Russians, these fatalities are the result of a Sunni weapons dump that was bombed by the Syrian regime. A laughable excuse if the consequences were not, nor the potential future ramifications, so deadly serious.
The United Nations themselves quickly concluded that the weapons used in this attack match those contained in the stockpiles of Syrian President Bashir al-Assad, Equally, French investigators have concluded that the attack, "could not have been ordered and carried out by anyone but the Syrian government." [1]
If this attack was the work of Bashir al-Assad's regime, and all credible initial reports suggest that it was, then this would mark an escalation on the part of Assad.
Up to this point the use of chlorine gas, much to the shame of the international community has been a relatively frequent occurrence within Syria. There are regular reports of its use on the Syrian battlefield. However, chlorine gas is usually used as a weapon of terror, not of death.
This attack, however, is different. Whoever launched these strikes, and the only air force capable of doing so in Syria at this point is the Syria Air Force, meant for these people to die. It wasn't a show of force or intended as an instrument of terror; it was a deliberate calculated intention to cause mass murder.
More than any single event of recent times in the Syrian conflict does this episode demonstrate the totally discredited and utterly weak policies of the previous U.S. administration, previously "led" by Barack Obama.
It was not all that long ago, at the end of 2014, that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov shook hands before the world's adoring press to celebrate the effective "liquidation" of Assad's chemical stock piles.
This despite the fact that just months previously it had been reported by the OPCW, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, that Assad had not destroyed all of his weapons, nor his weapons making facilities. [2]
Indeed, on May 3rd of that same year, the US military even reported how Assad had refused to hand over 27 tons of Sarin precursor chemicals. [4]
It was all an absurd pretense intended to create an appearance of success for Obama and his administration-all lies; which leads us to 2017, and the town of Khan Sheikhoun. This is the location of the latest example of Syrian government atrocities. It surely will not be the last. If the Syrian civil war has demonstrated anything, it is this: Assad feels he is able to use chemical weapons with almost complete impunity at this point, and that the West can no longer hold Russia to account for its actions. (All to the West's shame.)
Once again, as in times past the diplomats of the world retreat to the safety of the United Nations Security Council so that they can discuss, condemn, threaten and cajole. All of it is pure hyperbole; exaggerated statements and claims that absolutely nobody takes literally, or seriously.
Yet despite this, there are indications that the current U.S. administration might be prepared to go this one alone. Unlike Barack Obama's infamous "red lines" for Syria, which were crisscrossed with impunity, President Donald Trump is likely to keep and act upon his own points of no return.
Assad is proving once again that the growing empowerment he now feels as a result of Russian support is emboldening him. Assad obviously sees no reason at all to make concessions to weakened opposition forces. His aim clearly is too crush them.
Describing the chemical attacks as "heinous," Trump went onto explain how the attack had, "crossed a lot of lines for me," and that it could not be tolerated. Although Trump was not specific about future U.S. strategy, the implications were clear.
Speaking from the Rose Garden, Trump explained how the attack had affected him profoundly:
Yesterday's chemical attack, and a chemical attack that was so horrific in Syria against innocent people, including women, small children and even beautiful little babies, their deaths were an affront to humanity. These heinous actions by the Assad regime cannot be tolerated. The United States stands with our allies across the globe to condemn this horrific attack and all other horrific attacks, for that matter. [4]
Ominously, when referring to the former Obama Administration's failed policy related to Syrian chemical weapons, Trump responded, "It is now my responsibility." He continued that this attack had, "...crossed many, many lines."
Vice President Mike Pence added that, "all options are on the table," when it comes to the U.S. government's response to Syria and Bashir al-Assad. [5]
U.S .Ambassador Nikki Haley went even further warning the UN Security Council emergency meeting that countries could be "compelled to act individually if the world body does not take collective action after a deadly poison gas attack in Syria." [6]
Yet the pertinent question at this point, strangely, is not really about how the West will react to this atrocity. Clearly, at this point something is going to happen.
Indeed, as I am writing this now, news reports are emerging of the beginnings of a large U.S. bombardment of Syrian military facilities by the United States. It would seem, according to initial reports that fifty-nine Tomahawk missiles have been fired from two warships - the USS Porter and USS Ross - both stationed in the Mediterranean Sea. The target seems to be the government controlled Shayrat airfield near the city of Homs.
President Trump has just stated that this strike targeted the airbase from where the initial chemical attack was launched early last week.
Syrian state TV described the attacks as "American aggression." Ominously, and suggesting there was little mutual agreement over this strike, Russia described this retaliation as one that further "damages U.S.-Russia ties."
The pertinent question right now is what exactly will Assad do in response to this Western action, and in view of Russia's response to this U.S. retaliation, will Vladimir Putin respond? It is clear that Assad has felt increasingly emboldened and even secure in Syria. [7]
This may be a signal that this sense of security is coming to an end.
If the United States embarks on further military action against Syria in the next few hours or days, the responses of both Assad and Russia are absolutely critical.
If Russia feels that the U.S. has over stepped the mark with this action what response would Russia sanction on the part of Assad as a form of reply? Or if Assad feels betrayed or abandoned by his Russian protectors, what might he do in response?
Might he decide to attempt to use his own "nuclear option," if he feels so threatened? Might he attempt to unite the Arab Muslim world behind him by attacking Israel? Desperate men will resort to desperate measures, and President Bashar al-Assad may soon, in the light of U.S. retaliation, become an increasingly desperate man.
The world has reached an absolutely critical point in this long and ongoing Syrian civil war.
There is now a genuine danger of it spilling over the country's borders. If cornered by the United States, a surprise attack against Israel, in a desperate attempt to distract attention away from his internal troubles, would effectively transform Assad into a hero across the Arab world, and at a stroke unite many of those Arab nations squarely behind him.
The great fear at this moment is that Assad, if he feels threatened, may try to inflame tensions between the Arab states and Israel by firing his arsenal of Scud-C missiles, each one tipped with chemical weaponry-at Israeli cities such as Haifa or Tel Aviv.
Any attack on Israel would inevitably wreak destruction across the region. Within the context of the ongoing Syrian civil war, and as the situation on the ground continues to develop, in the days and weeks ahead, it is not unrealistic to think that we could very well be on the brink of a huge lurch forward in Bible prophecy.
Though the exact timing of prophecies like Isaiah's "burden of Damascus" (Isaiah 17:1), and Ezekiel's war of Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38 and 39), are openly and heavily speculated on by Bible prophecy watchers, it is becoming increasingly clear that events occurring right now in the Middle East are setting the scene for their ultimate fulfillment.
The Middle East is looking increasingly like a powder-keg. It looks to me like this powder-keg may soon start to go off.
"When these things begin to take place, stand up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28).
Endnotes
Damascus Official to UN: Israel Supported Islamic State by Bombing Syrian Army Targets -
Al-Jaafri made this startling accusation during a UNSC session dedicated to a debate about the situation in Syria and made further claims about Israel's alleged motives in helping the terror group.
Syria's Permanent Representative to the UN Bashar al-Jaafari accused Israel of providing support to the Islamic State group in Syria on Wednesday, claiming that the Jewish state has indirectly but significantly aided one of the most malicious terror groups in the region.
Al-Jaafri stated that Israel had directly supported the terror group by bombing Syrian regime sites. The Syrian envoy made the controversial statement while participating in a UN Security Council session devoted to a debate about the situation in Syria and the process to halt the crisis in the conflict-worn country.
"The direct Israeli support to ISIL through attacking Syrian army sites in Palmyra city on March 17, 2017 added fuel to the fire and made things worse," al-Jaafari said, referring to the most recent strike by the Israel Air Force against a Hezbollah weapons convoy. The Syrian regime launched a surface-to-air missile towards Israel Air Force jets which was intercepted by an Arrow missile.
Another bold accusation al-Jaafari made was that Israel has treated injured al-Qaida terrorists.
Israel has provided humanitarian aid to Syrian refugees and victims of the Syrian Civil War and is known to have treated wounded Syrians who arrive at the border in the Golan Heights seeking assistance since 2013. Overall, Israel has provided medical care to an estimated 3,000 Syrians in the almost four years that have passed since then.
According to al-Jaafari, the United States was complicit in aiding the Islamic State group and other rebel groups fighting the regime, stating that "the same scene on April 7, 2017 when the US administration and its allies felt that the terrorist groups began to retreat, so they committed their flagrant aggression against al-Shayrat airbase under pretexts of using chemical weapons in the terrorist-held town of Khan Sheikhoun," he said.
Furthermore, al-Jaafari said the United States "fabricated" the Khan Sheikhoun attack to "rescue armed terrorist groups," and was moving from a stage of "proxy aggression" towards one of direct military action. Washington, France, the UK and Israel, as well as several Arab states such as Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Jordan, had supplied rebels and al-Nusra with chemical weapons to use and accuse the Syrian government of using them.
"This serious aggression had been plotted long in advance inside the secret rooms of intelligence agencies of Tel Aviv, Riyadh, Doha, Ankara, Amman, Washington, London and Paris," he said.
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