Bot tak left a link to this news of Israeli outrage from another source. Thanks bot tak.It's a bit different then the one I had bookmarked.I continue to fence sit on this alleged attack in Latakia. For reasons I have stated in the previous post.The claims of an alleged Israeli attack knocked two very important news stories off the radar.TKO'ing those two stories is beneficial to Israel. First, Syria's compliance with the chemicals weapons inspections and secondly, Israel's absolute refusal to be accountable for their chemical weapons stockpile.Both of these news stories which say so much about the respective nations disappeared behind claims of an attack. Syria- cooperative. Israel-belligerent/indifferent/callous to world view and concernsThe fact of Syrian cooperation is noted in the TIME article
Israel launched its latest attack on the very same day UN arms experts reported that Syria was moving briskly to dismantle its chemical weapons program, completing destruction of production and mixing equipment a day ahead of schedule. Israeli airstrikes could only threaten the delicate diplomacy, on which the promised elimination of Syria’s WMD systems balances.
We are supposed to believe that the Syrian government said nothing about this because "Assad would be obliged to strike back" Not necessarily so. -Returning fire or striking back would virtually guarantee a hailstorm of missiles via the US/UK crowd. It would be the wisest course to not take the bait offered, if indeed it was-If Israel did strike Syria, the Syrian government could point out that this attack demonstrates Israel's duplicity- That's obvious enough, anyway. Israel claims 'non involvement' but that has always been a lie. -The Syrian government could also claim, truthfully, that Israel is supporting the hired mercs in the overthrow of the Syrian government.So, on those three counts alone the Syrian government could score some very positive points with the Syrian populace. Therefore I find the obligation to strike back claim a bit questionableMoving alongTurkey: some interesting goings onTurkey scrambles fighters to intercept Syrian, Russian warplanes Nov 04,2013
Turkey has scrambled F-16 fighter jets to intercept the Russian and Syrian warplanes that were flying close to the country's air space, a Turkish military statement said on Sunday.Two F-16 fighter jets were sent to intercept a Syrian SU-24 warplane, which was spotted approaching the Yayladagi town of southern province of Hatay near the border, said the General Staff of the Turkish Armed Forces, adding that the Syrian aircraft retreated 3.8 miles.The armed forces also said that Turkey scrambled another four F- 16 jets after a Russian IL-20 warplane came close to Turkish air space from the Georgian side and flew parallel of the Black Sea coast. The Russian aircraft largely flew 15 miles away from the Turkish air space
Turkey confiscates huge chemical haul at the border with Syria
Turkish authorities have seized a large quantity of chemicals from a convoy trying to illegally enter the country from Syria, which “could be transformed into weapons”, the army said on Sunday.The convoy of three vehicles refused to stop as it attempted to illegally cross the border on Saturday near the southeastern town Turkish town of Reyhanli, the army said in a statement.Para-military police were forced to shoot out the tyres of the vehicles to stop them, and three drivers jumped out and fled in the direction of Syria.One of them was arrested, the army said without specifying his nationality. (Israeli? I wonder? )
The haul of sulphur and another unidentified substance will be examined by a team of army specialists, the statement said
Jordan: Going nuclear and guess who is going to build the reactors?
So, where are these nuclear reactors going to come from?Russia.On 28 October the Jordanian government announced that it had selected Russian state-owned firm Rosatom as its preferred vendor to construct two 1,000-megawatt nuclear power plants east of the capital Amman, with groundbreaking to begin in 2015 and the NPPs to come online by 2022 in a deal worth $10 billion.
That could get interesting.Kerry is sweet talking Egypt Interesting to observe that Kerry appears in Egypt on the eve of the trial of Morsi.
“We are committed to work with and we will continue our cooperation with the interim government,” Mr Kerry told a joint news conference with the Egyptian foreign minister Nabil Fahmy. Mr Kerry and Gen El Sisi discussed bilateral relations and “working to reinforce and develop the strategic relations” between the two nations, Egypt’s official news agency Mena reported. The timing of his Cairo visit was awkward, however, coming on the eve of Mr Morsi’s trial."
The trial has now been adjourned until 2014 Morsi trial adjourned until 2014And Saudi ArabiaCustodian of the Two Holy Mosques King Abdullah receives US Secretary of State John Kerry at the royal palace in Riyadh on Monday.
The United States and Saudi Arabia promised each other and the region Monday that they would continue to work together, with Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud Al-Faisal saying “our two friendly countries” are busy dealing jointly with troublesome issues like Syria, Iran and the Mideast peace process.“There is no room for emotion and anger here, but rather for policies of commonsense and level-headedness,” Prince Saud said at a joint news conference with US Secretary of State John Kerry . “Right now, we have some very important things to talk about to make certain that the Saudi Arabian-US relationship is on track, moving forward and doing the things that we need to accomplish,” he told the embassy staffers. Kerry listed a number of key areas, including Syria, Egypt and Iran, but also mentioned the Israeli-Palestinian peace process
Today's first post: Where the Anthropogenic Global Warming Cult meets the Military Industrial Complex