ANOTHER RUSSIAN WAR CRIME - Precision Bombing by Putin's Airforce in Syria

Moscow warns NATO on itchy trigger finger in Syria

A US Army marksman scopes for insurgent ambushes as fellow infantrymen attached to the 2nd platoon, C-Coy. 1-23 Infantry based at Zangabad foward operating base in Panjwai district go about looking for bomb traps made from IED's during a dawn operation at Naja-bien village on September 23, 2012.

The Foreign Ministry has called on NATO and Middle East countries not to devise pretexts for military intervention in Syria.

Russia has expressed concern that some provocation could occur at the Turkish-Syrian border that may give NATO the green light to intervene in Syria.

"In our contacts with our partners both in NATO and in the region, including on international forums, we have called on them not to look for pretexts in order to carry out a [military] operation," Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters on Tuesday in Moscow.

In such a scenario, NATO would be obliged to intervene in the conflict to defend Turkey, a NATO member.

Gatilov said Russia is equally wary of establishing any sort of “humanitarian corridors or buffer zones,” which may be used to draw NATO and other regional powers into the conflict.

The government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has been struggling to maintain its grip on power amid a militant challenge by the political opposition. While many Western countries have disavowed Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and taken sides with the rebels, Moscow is calling for both sides of the conflict to accept the Kofi Annan Plan, recognize a ceasefire and enter into peace talks.

This is not the first time Moscow has warned its NATO partners against interfering militarily in the affairs of sovereign states.

Last year, Russia, which was among five countries that abstained from a UN Security Council vote for the enforcement of a no-fly zone in Libya.

Moscow said such action would lead to large-scale military involvement in the country.

These concerns were eventually validated when it became obvious that NATO was targeting forces loyal to former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, who was murdered at the hands of a mob immediately after being found.

Last month, the violence returned full circle to Libya when the US Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens was killed following a wave of anti-American protests triggered by the release of an anti-Islam film.

Russia is concerned that by interfering in the affairs of foreign states, NATO is forced to build alliances with motley groups whose affiliation is largely unknown.

In Syria, there is evidence that Al-Qaeda has hijacked the opposition movement, and this is a scenario that could lead to disastrous consequences in the event of a NATO military operation.

Syrian rebels defect to government forces

Rebel fighter commander Khaled al-Zamel, or Abu al-Walid (C).

A group of Syrian rebels from the Free Syrian Army (FSA) defected and joined pro-government forces on Wednesday. The troops’ commander announced that “the road is open,” and called on to other rebels to abandon their uprising.

­Eleven rebel troops – three officers, two warrant officers and six civilians – defected from the FSA and now support President Bashar al-Assad, AFP reported.

"We have decided to return to the army and cooperate with the Ministry of National Reconciliation," Lieutenant-Colonel Khaled Abdel Rahman al-Zamel said during a conference of non-combatant Syrian opposition groups.

“We are all Syrians, we reject a revolution that starts with the shedding of blood,” al-Zamel said, eliciting applause from the audience.

"The solution can't be achieved through holding weapons, blasts, sabotage or killing the innocent, but repenting from the wrongdoing and through political means,” Xinhua quoted al-Zamel as saying. He previously served as a captain in the Syrian Army, before joining the FSA months ago. He was reportedly the head of the FSA’s leadership in southern Syria, and acted as the deputy chief of the rebels' military council.

The appearance of al-Zamel and his men came as a surprise to the Damascus conference, organized by some 30 Syrian opposition groups with the aim of opening peaceful dialogue with the Syrian government to resolve the ongoing crisis in the country. The gathering was attended by ambassadors from Russia and Iran, and China’s temporary charge d'affaires for Syria – three nations who consistently supported the Assad regime over the past 18-month uprising.

Al-Zamel’s statement sparked debate among anti-regime activists – some argued that al-Zamel was forced to make his statement; others claimed that they had no idea who he was.

Yaser al-Abed, another FSA officer who attended the conference, formerly commanded a rebel group in Aleppo province. During the conference, al-Abed called on other insurgents to disarm and surrender: “Work your minds and know that holding weapons is nothing but a violation to the minds and freedom alike.”

“Syria is our home and honor, but they wanted to burn it. The most targeted things are our religion, nation and land,” al-Abed said. “I have known all that, and that is why I have decided to lay down my weapon to be a loving person who seeks the good and the humanity.”

The conference of opposition groups in the Syrian capital of Damascus called on both the Syrian authorities and the rebels to “immediately” end violence in the country though an international peace plan.

On Wednesday, twin car bombings by rebels targeting military command headquarters in Damascus, and a separate rebel attack killed four Syrian security officers and injured another 14.

That same day, rebel snipers killed a journalist with Iran’s Press TV, Syrian national Maya Nasser, as he reported on live TV about the bombings at the army headquarters.

Russia and the US continued to clash in the UN Security Council over the ongoing Syrian crisis: Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov condemned Western nations for their stance on Syria. "The states that encourage the opponents of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to give up on the ceasefire and dialogue and to demand that the regime capitulate, bear responsibility for the continuing bloodshed," he said. "Such an approach is unrealistic and encourages terrorism, which is used by the opposition.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton accused Syrian President Bashar al-Assad of “murdering of his own people,” and argued that the UN is paralyzed by Russia and China’s vetoing of Western-backed resolutions on Syria.

Russian Media - 'Foreign Islamists seek to turn Syria into Sharia state'

Around half of the rebel fighters in Syria are foreign Islamists who aren’t interested in toppling the Assad regime. Instead, they’re seeking to implement Sharia law throughout the country, according to a prominent French doctor.

­The co-founder of the medical charity Doctors Without Borders, Jacques Beres, discovered some interesting information while treating Syrian rebels in the besieged city of Aleppo.

According to Beres, 60 per cent of his patients during his two week service in Syria were rebels– and about half of those were foreign. He says the fighters aren’t focused on the fall of the Assad regime. Instead, they have their eyes on a different kind of prize – implementing Sharia law throughout the country.

"It's really something strange to see. They are directly saying that they aren't interested in Bashar Assad's fall, but are thinking about how to take power afterward and set up an Islamic state with Sharia law to become part of the world Emirate," the French doctor told Reuters.

The foreign jihadists include Frenchmen who believe they are waging a “holy war,” claiming they’re inspired by Mohammed Merah, an Islamist militant from the French city of Toulouse. Merah killed seven people in March, in the name of Al-Qaeda.

"Some of [the patients] were French and completely fanatical about the future," he said. "They are very cautious people, even to the doctor who treated them. They didn't trust me, but for instance they told me that Mohammed Merah was an example to follow,” Beres said.

The Syrian government has consistently maintained that the uprising against Assad is being orchestrated from outside the country and is the work of “foreign-backed terrorists.”

It’s a claim that Beres denied until his recent two-week stint in Aleppo.

Beres spoke of treating rebel fighters from other Arab countries as well, but says his list of patients included at least two Frenchmen.

But the list of nationalities continues to grow – jihadist fighters from Britain have joined the fight as well.

The inflow of foreign fighters has even worried some Syrian rebels, who have accused them of being “too extreme.”

As the uprising enters its 18th month, the home countries of foreign rebels are worried, too.

Paris has expressed concern in recent years that French radical Islamists who have traveled to lawless zones would return to plot terrorist attacks at home. This was the case for Mohammed Merah, who traveled to Afghanistan and Pakistan before organizing the Toulouse shooting.

Adilf Putin's Mouthpiece, Russian Media - ‘Ready-to-quit’ Assad sparks media rumor frenzy

Bashar Assad is ready to leave power, while his wife Asma has fled to Russia - these are just some of the rumors circulating amid the Syrian conflict, as it enters a new stage. Russia has called on the media not to fall into "disinformation traps".

On Friday morning, Russian Ambassador to France Aleksandr Orlov gave an interview to French radio station RFI. In it, he said that following recent talks in Geneva, the Syrian President is “ready for negotiations. He is prepared to hand over power, but in a civilized manner.”

Orlov then claimed “I believe it will be difficult for Assad to stay in power.”

A hungry news media pounced on the interview, which was seen as a major shift in Russia’s stance. Previously, Moscow had insisted that Assad shouldn’t necessarily be forced to hand over power – and definitely not ahead of any transition negotiations.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry was immediately forced into making a statement.

“The ambassador’s words were misinterpreted, and pulled out of context,” said the ministry's twitter account.

"The Syrian people are the only ones who can decide on the future of the Syrian Arab Republic, including the fate of its leaders. This is clearly stated in the Geneva declaration adopted on June 30."

Orlov also clarified his comments, saying that he felt that Assad may be prepared to quit, but only “as a result of negotiations.”

This closely matches Syria’s own position. Assad gave an interview last week in which he said that he was prepared to sit down and talk with the rebels, and step down if he no longer has the “confidence of his people.”

Another widely reported story claims that Asma Assad, Syria's first lady, who holds British citizenship, left for Moscow in the wake of the explosion that killed Syria’s top security officials.

“I believe this is a mendacious disinformation trap,” an indignant Aleksandr Lukashevich, a senior Russian Foreign Ministry representative, told journalists during a Q&A session. “I advise you not to fall into it.”

­

Fog of war fuels rumor machine

Together with China, Russia has played a major part in opposing the West’s position regarding the civil war in Syria, which has killed more than 16,000 since breaking out in 2011. Many in the Western media tie Russia’s position to Assad’s future. There is little doubt that during a recent upsurge in fighting around Syria’s capital, journalists are looking for signs that the situation is shifting.

Another problem appears to be a lack of information from Damascus itself. A lack of a comprehensive descriptions of the circumstances of the explosion that killed Assad’s top lieutenants on Wednesday has given birth to outlandish rumors, including speculation that the ministers were poisoned by Assad himself.

Another rumor claims that Assad was wounded in another rebel attack. The rumor gained currency when Assad did not make a public appearance in the immediate aftermath of Wednesday’s blast, but was quickly dispelled when he swore in the new Defense Minister on TV.

Even Assad’s physical whereabouts have not been established, as some believe he has left his residence in Damascus to go to the Alawite stronghold of Latakia, where he enjoys the greatest support.

As the world press' insistent gaze seeks exclusives while being multiplied by scant information, it is likely that these rumors will persist and grow as long as fighting continues in Syria.

Putin's Mouthpiece - Russia Media and Fantasy

'Bloody bandits and Western lies: What’s really going on in Syria' a Russian Media Fairytale

Everything you’ve heard about Syria is a lie says Ankhar Kochneva, a Russian journalist who has seen first-hand the realities of the Syrian civil war. Kochneva told RT she has proof a Western invasion of Syria will be launched by summer’s end. (Typical Russian Media & Propaganda Crap & NO PROOF)

­RT: While visiting Turkish camps for Syrian refugees, I was told that the Syrian army was shooting at them.

Ankhar Kochneva: There are a large number of videos from those camps showing people walking upright, not ducking down even though you can hear shooting. The options are that either the sound was added to the video later, or that people knew that they were only shooting in the air without any intention of actually hitting them.

The Syrian army has no reason to shoot up these camps, as Syria is doing its utmost to ensure these people return home. And in fact they are doing just that if you go by the official Syrian data; 16,500 people have returned. Meanwhile, Turkey and the Syrian opposition are strongly interested in having those camps. If it weren’t for these camps, who would believe in the regime’s atrocities described by the opposition?

By the way, many of these camp residents had to flee due to the atrocities committed by bandits. For instance, in the city of Jisr ash-Shugur on the border with Turkey, 120 policemen and a large number of peaceful civilians were murdered in a deadly incident last summer.

All Syrians have a large number of family members who live across the entire country in large, spacious houses. When they have troubles at home, they go stay with their relatives rather than in camps in strange countries. The bandits, however, blocked all the roads except for the ones leading to Turkey. People found themselves caught in a trap, just like Israelis shooed Palestinians off their land by building them a ‘corridor’ to Jordan.

RT:Where will refugees resettle within Syria, as only 20 thousand of them went to Turkey and there’re many more of those?

AK: The majority of refugees mainly stay with their relatives or rent apartments. It’s very difficult to find an apartment in Damascus, Tartus or Latakia. For instance, in Homs, the previous school year was disrupted as people had to move to areas where their children could go to school. We see that people run to the government, rather than from the government, for protection. Getting these people to settle is a huge burden for the state treasury as they have to establish new schools, to provide food, healthcare, and so on for hundreds of people. And this is what the government is doing. There are a large number of volunteers who work for free helping people resolve their problems as they get settled.

People are returning to Homs, to areas that have been cleared of bandits. The army guards their homes. I have pictures showing soldiers in one of the streets taking pot flowers out of houses and placing them outside so that they can water them until the locals return home. None of them had any idea that some journalists would show up – we appeared totally out of the blue.

RT: Why do you keep calling people fighting against the Syrian government bandits?

AK: Because I have seen what they do to the kidnapped people. I have been to the torture chambers; I have met mothers who saw their children die. The whole country loathes them as bandits. There is nothing worse than being loathed by your own nation. They killed a mufti’s son, they kill Christian priests, and they kidnap and torture children. A few days ago they killed two elder brothers of a five-year-old boy to take vengeance on him for reciting poems at rallies to support Syria. They massacred the whole family of an MP. I have been to homes turned into bandit hideouts. I have seen empty liquor bottles; how does it square with Islam? I have been to churches destroyed by bandits in Homs. I have been under their fire, with grenades dropping right next to me. I have been targeted by snipers who could perfectly see I am a woman, not a soldier. In the bustling street where I lived, near the marketplace, they blew up a few cars. Why blow up civilians shopping for food?

RT:The opposition and the insurgents have sought to assure me that this is all the doing of criminals released and hired by the Syrian government. The insurgents also claimed it was the Syrian government that staged explosions in public places.

AK: This theory is ridiculous. The government has announced nine amnesties for criminals and opposition activists never implicated in any murders. Yet now the government is blamed for these amnesties! Let me remind you that the bandits would first set court archives on fire with files of criminal cases and smuggling. A few terrorist attacks targeted buildings that stored the intelligence and police archives. For example, on December 23, 2011, suicide bombers set the intelligence archives ablaze before blowing themselves up in a car.

RT:Are the escape of the Syrian pilot to Jordan and the Turkish aircraft incident related?

AK: When the aircraft got hijacked on July 21, I was in Beirut, at the Al Mayadin TV channel which was headed by Ghassan Bin Jiddu, the former chief of Al Jazeera’s bureau in Libya. He was the one who caused a scandal by quitting the channel due to lies that the channel had been broadcasting for the last year and a half. On that day, this channel was the first to report the jet hijacking in Jordan. The first question was, how quickly Jordan would return the plane, which it was obliged to do according to the international laws. It wasn’t as much about the aircraft itself, but rather about the friend/foe enciphering system. According to military experts, it takes about a week to decipher it. The fact that the aircraft wasn’t returned immediately gives a reason to doubt Jordan’s neutrality. There are reasons to suggest that the incident was thoroughly staged. On 23rd June, a Turkish reconnaissance aircraft flying at an extremely low altitude intruded into Syria. Some experts believe that by then, Jordan could’ve deciphered the codes, and that Turkey made an attempt to use them.

RT:Turkey denies its plane was flying over Syrian territory. What do they say in Syria?

AK: The aircraft was flying at an altitude of 1,000 meters. It deliberately performed several circles over neutral waters and land. It was then shot down with a weapon of a range not exceeding 3,000 meters. A machine gun was used, rather than a missile launcher, as the world’s media insist. Immediately Syria proposed establishing a bilateral commission for investigating this incident. But Turkey refused doing it. And now, the latter has been declaring that it was Syria that didn’t want to do it. It gets even funnier than that: Turkey says that it will not let Syrian provocations go unanswered. They are bringing a large number of armored vehicles to their border, even though provocations, arms smuggling and militants infiltration are happening on the part of Turkey, with the consent of the Turkish government.

RT:Reports say that Burhan Ghalioun, a Syrian opposition leader, has sneaked into Syria and there are already areas in Latakia and Homs beyond the control of Damascus.

AK: The Benghazi scenario is impossible in Syria. So in order to justify a possible intervention, they spread sensational yet false information. It is only recently that the media have stopped huffing and puffing over the takeover of an air defense base in Al-Rastan. A video even claimed the missiles would target the presidential palace in Damascus. The next day I was in Homs, which is within a distance of some 10 km from Al-Rastan. When asked about the seized base, the officers joked and treated me to tea, while the province governor was holding a conference to restore the affected regions and provide aid to citizens. If the information on the seized base and weapons were true, they would only be concerned about the air defense base rather than compensations for destroyed homes. This is copybook deception. When you hear that the presidential palace is under fire, you will believe it, because you have already been brainwashed that there are enough weapons to open fire. They used the same method of preemptive lies in January. First they said that hostilities were rife in the center of Damascus when there were none, next they doctored rumors of the president’s allegedly fugitive family.

When it comes to control over territory, please bear in mind that “territory” in Homs amounts to three districts cordoned off by the army. There are indeed up to 10,000 bandits inside, military experts say. The army has stayed out of the districts and refrained from combat operations at the UN’s behest. In Homs, the insurgents have been keeping a living shield of around 2,000 civilians, including women and children. Many need urgent medical aid. Some badly need dialysis; others suffer from diabetes, while more have no disinfectant for their wounds. The UN and the Elders are negotiating their evacuation, but it would be out of synch with the insurgents’ intents. Here is yet another example of how the army is trying to avoid victims; otherwise they would have eliminated this hornet’s nest long ago.

But when the insurgents start provoking the soldiers and barraging the surrounding quarters, the military has to react. The government suggested opening six humanitarian corridors and getting the people out on the Red Cross vehicles, but the insurgents have no intention of releasing them, as they would like to walk out with the civilians. Latakia is under total government control. The forested mountains harbor militant groups who attack towns and leave bombs in the streets, which have recently killed two teenagers.

RT:Is it true that generals, officers and whole army units have changed sides and join the rebels?

AK: This is a lie. All the military I know sneer at these messages. Naturally, they’ve intimidated some people into doing that and paid others. They made other people choose between an officer’s honor and familial honor, but 90 per cent of videos that feature desertion cases show soldiers abducted by bandits. They read a text someone else wrote.

I will never forget a military pilot with his hands bound and two dozen insurgents behind his back. If they bound his hands, it means he fought to the utmost. They kidnap soldiers from their homes; they attack their cars and capture the passengers. Sometimes bandits would stop a regular bus and take the military hostage. First they make the soldiers claim they are deserters, next they torture them, and finally kill and play them off as victims of the army. Kidnapping people is a major business of the so-called revolutionaries. Lately, they have kidnapped 12 Lebanese pilgrims on their way home and two Iranian drivers on the same day.

The opposition claims that the people do not support the government, even though  it has to use mercenaries from Iran and Hezbollah. They claim that there are 15,000 soldiers in Syria, but so far the opposition has only been able to show the world a video with five Iranian electricians. They must have killed the sixth one to intimidate the rest. Wait and see when they show us “Iranian mercenaries” and twelve “Hezbollah mercenaries”, they have to make use of the kidnapped people after all! I have seen what they do to the military captives. This is the price they pay for having chosen this job. The military are one of the main targets for attacks. They can be killed for wearing a military uniform. So why flop over to those who can kill for wearing a uniform?

RT:Does Damascus still have the situation under control?

AK: Due to the commitment to suspend fire, the army has slowed down slightly.

But if necessary, all areas can be quickly brought under control again. The bandits “supervise” the places from which the army has been withdrawn upon the order of the United Nations.  So, these territories were not occupied by military operations. They can’t and they don’t know how to fight the army. I have information that a military invasion of Western forces into Syria is expected to take place in August-September. But there’s hardly any reason for justifying such invasion.  They’ve searched for this reason for the whole year. But they didn’t give any information about the exact deadline.  Now it’s done – and we should expect new provocations and new information during the time that is left. If the world believes this, it will empower the aggressor.

RT: What kind of information regarding this decision is there?  What is the reaction to it in Syria?

AK: I’m not going to reveal my sources. I have no doubt about their reliability. In Syria there’s no panic or certitude about such an attack. People in Yugoslavia, Libya and Iraq didn’t believe in the possibility of such invasion until recently. One of the indirect pieces of evidence regarding the information I have is the widely spread news that Russia and China allegedly agreed to remove Assad. This is as much a lie as all the trash that the media sells to its audience.

RT: Who takes part in pressurizing Syria and how is it done?

AK: Iraq, especially in light of the fact that about 2 million of its citizens live in Syria, supports it, in particular, by helping combat smuggling.  Lebanon helps the struggle against smugglers, but Saad Hariri’s Mustaqbal movement is one of the major stakeholders in the anti-Syrian campaign. This person finances the militants, supplies them with weapons and manpower. His media empire leads the information war against Syria. We’ve recently witnessed the turmoil in Beirut. Hariri’s people tried to pull the forces from the border by inciting the riot in the capital as the army almost overtook the smugglers. As for Jordan, its state can’t be envied. On the one hand, the country is much dependent on its relationship with Syria – economically, in food supplies and transit, but, on the other hand, if Jordan isn’t much of a compliant ally of the USA an NATO, the King isn’t likely to save his power during the «Islamic awakening».

Civil war and instability in Syria are very profitable for Israel. Apart from this situation, nobody raises the issue of returning the Golan Heights and Jerusalem. The specific characteristic of Israeli mass media is making up sensational news. As for Qatar, one could speak for ages about this nano-aggressor: they provide weapons and money supplies in an attempt to solve their own internal problems.