Syria’s Bashir al-Assad was questioned about “opposition” in his country by Charlie Rose for a 60 minutes interview.   Assad’s response was very direct.   Assad replied: “Opposition?  What  did you call the people who flew the airplanes into your World Trade Center twin towers”… “did you call them ‘the opposition'”? 

(UK Telegraph) Nearly half the rebel fighters in Syria are now aligned to jihadist or hardline Islamist groups according to a new analysis of factions in the country’s civil war.
Opposition forces battling Bashar al-Assad’s regime in Syria now number around 100,000 fighters, but after more than two years of fighting they are fragmented into as many as 1,000 bands.
The new study by IHS Jane’s, a defence consultancy, estimates there are around 10,000 jihadists – who would include foreign fighters – fighting for powerful factions linked to al-Qaeda..
Another 30,000 to 35,000 are hardline Islamists who share much of the outlook of the jihadists, but are focused purely on the Syrian war rather than a wider international struggle. (more…)

Tonight on CBS they put together a really good presentation about Syria.   The construct of the broadcast was to put the Syrian issues to the viewer with three interviews.

The first interview with Bashir Assad, Syria’s President.   The Second segment/interview with U.S. President Barack Obama.   The last segment with recently retired CIA #2, and White House advisor, Mike Morell.
If you want a great construct, which was actually quite free of bias in presentation, I think you will enjoy it.    Good, honest and factual airing of the surrounding issues.   If you are not too familiar with the issues, the format will assist an understanding.   If you are really familiar with the story, and up on current events – you’ll like the Morell interview.

CLICK HERE

Well done CBS.
After you watch please share your thoughts on current Syrian affairs.

Willing, and arguably desperate to get out from under his own inept Syrian bus, Dear Leader proclaims victory and moves along.   Next Up – Asia
The White House on Saturday released a statement from President Obama after it was announced that Secretary of State John Kerry had helped broker a deal with Russia for the removal of Syria’s chemical weapons.

Here’s the full statement:

“I welcome the progress made between the United States and Russia through our talks in Geneva, which represents an important, concrete step toward the goal of moving Syria’s chemical weapons under international control so that they may ultimately be destroyed. This framework provides the opportunity for the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons in a transparent, expeditious, and verifiable manner, which could end the threat these weapons pose not only to the Syrian people but to the region and the world. The international community expects the Assad regime to live up to its public commitments. (more…)

From what can be gathered within a myriad of media reports is that Sec. Kerry / POTUS have agreed to leave “U.S. threat of force” out of U.N. resolution against Syria for non-compliance.   Meaning if Assad does not comply with U.N. mandate to disarm himself of chemical weapons, the U.S. had conceded a strike by us will not be one of the consequences.
Instead, the “stick” per se’, to non-compliance from Syria, would be a return to the U.N. Security Council for a resolution allowing the “use of force”.  
D’oh..  Russia can, by structural Security Council set-up, veto any such follow-up proposal.

[judo photo credit]  (Via Politico)  Journalists emerging from a closed-door briefing at the White House Friday afternoon were informed that President Barack Obama won’t insist that a U.N. resolution governing Syria’s surrender of chemical weapons include a threat of military force if President Bashar Assad doesn’t follow through. (more…)

(Via Fox News) Elizabeth O’Bagy, a pro-Syrian opposition analyst whose credibility has come under fire, might have even more explaining to do – as court documents show she once vouched for a rebel group whose website displayed extremist and anti-American images.
Among the pictures was one showing a burning U.S. Capitol.

O’Bagy was fired earlier this week by the Institute for the Study of War for allegedly lying about her academic credentials. Her writings had been used by U.S. officials to bolster their case for military action against the Assad regime.
O’Bagy discussed the rebel group in question in a June 19, 2013 signed affidavit filed in the case of American Eric Harroun, who was indicted for fighting alongside the terror group al-Nusra in Syria. (more…)

(VIA RT) Mother Agnes, a catholic nun, who has been living in Syria for 20 years and has been reporting actively on what has been going on in the war-ravaged country, says she carefully studied the video featuring allegedly victims of the chemical weapons attack in the Syrian village of Guta in August and now questions its authenticity. […]
Mother Agnes: In the village of Estreba they massacred all the residents and burnt down their houses. In the village of al-Khratta almost all the 37 locals were killed. Only ten people were able to escape.
A total of twelve Alawite villages were subjected to this horrendous attack. That was a true slaughterhouse. People were mutilated and beheaded. There is even a video that shows a girl being dismembered alive – alive! – by a frame saw. The final death toll exceeded 400, with 150 to 200 people taken hostage. Later some of the hostages were killed, their deaths filmed.
At the moment we are looking for the hostages and negotiating their release with the militants, but so far we haven’t managed to achieve that. (more…)

This strategic approach should not come as a surprise.   Telling Obama to stop hostilities is all part of the Russian/Syrian approach.    The international case, which will win in the court of the U.N and public opinion, will be: why should Assad disarm from CW when Obama is funneling in weapons to anti-government forces to destroy Assad?
This simple ‘anti-Obama action message’ is not only practical, but it will also resonate internationally.   President Obama will have to stop threats against Syria, pledge no military strikes against Assad, and stop weapons shipments into the country; or Assad will be justified in rebuking the administration demands. 
MOSCOW (Reuters) – Syria will fulfil an initiative to hand over its chemical weapons only when the United States stops threatening to strike Syria, RIA news agency quoted President Bashar al-Assad as saying in a television interview.

Assad also said that Damascus will begin handing over information on its chemical weapons stockpiles one month after it joins a anti-chemical weapons convention.
“When we see the United States really wants stability in our region and stops threatening, striving to attack, and also ceases arms deliveries to terrorists, then we will believe that the necessary processes can be finalized,” he was quoted as saying in an interview with Russian state television.  (read more)

Put this into perspective folks.   This statement is from the White House to CNN’s Jake Tapper when questioned about Vladimir Putin’s Op-Ed and Syria Comments:

White House official said in response. “He [Putin] put this proposal forward and he’s now invested in it. That’s good. That’s the best possible reaction. He’s fully invested in Syria’s CW disarmament and that’s potentially better than a military strike – which would deter and degrade but wouldn’t get rid of all the chemical weapons. He now owns this. He has fully asserted ownership of it and he needs to deliver.”  (link)

Honest question: Can the White House be any more stupid ?   Ownership of the activity in Syria is EXACTLY what Putin wants.   That allows Russia to dictate what will, and will not, be allowed and permitted.   D’oh…. From Putin’s perspective THAT’S NOT A NEGATIVE.
This typical White House logic is unreal:

•POTUS uses an analogy reference to WWII,  FDR and Europe when discussing the reason for dropping bombs on Syria.   While completely forgetting it was Pearl friggin’ Harbor that took us to war in Europe.

•POTUS blames a Muslim mocking U-Tube video for creating Muslim anxiety in the Middle East that lead to Islamists in Benghazi.  While simultaneously requesting permission fire Cruise Missiles into the Middle East which will somehow not lead to Islamists in Syria?

The former head of the KGB is now directing the President of the United States on what to do, how to do it, and what will be acceptable.     Totally flaying the White House because he knows POTUS does not have support of his own people.   In essence he is daring President Obama to have a vote in his own congress.   Putin knows such a vote would fail therefore he can position himself as being on the side of the U.S. majority.  His directions published Swooningly by,…. wait for it….  why, the New York Times of course:

(NYT) . . . A new opportunity to avoid military action has emerged in the past few days. The United States, Russia and all members of the international community must take advantage of the Syrian government’s willingness to place its chemical arsenal under international control for subsequent destruction. Judging by the statements of President Obama, the United States sees this as an alternative to military action.

I welcome the president’s interest in continuing the dialogue with Russia on Syria. We must work together to keep this hope alive, as we agreed to at the Group of 8 meeting in Lough Erne in Northern Ireland in June, and steer the discussion back toward negotiations. (more…)

The initial media *Mainstream* Media report stems from the Washington Post, however, CNN is also reporting independent confirmation for the content of the Post article.
(Washington Post) The CIA has begun delivering weapons to rebels in Syria, ending months of delay in lethal aid that had been promised by the Obama administration, according to U.S. officials and Syrian figures. The shipments began streaming into the country over the past two weeks, along with separate deliveries by the State Department of vehicles and other gear — a flow of material that marks a major escalation of the U.S. role in Syria’s civil war.
The arms shipments, which are limited to light weapons and other munitions that can be tracked, began arriving in Syria at a moment of heightened tensions over threats by President Obama to order missile strikes to punish the regime of Bashar al-Assad for his alleged use of chemical weapons in a deadly attack near Damascus last month.
The arms are being delivered as the United States is also shipping new types of nonlethal gear to rebels. That aid includes vehicles, sophisticated communications equipment and advanced combat medical kits. (more…)