Heavy explosions rock Damascus

[bigworld]

Source: aljazeera

Syrian state television has reported that a series of heavy explosions in the capital were caused by Israeli rocket strikes.

State television said the blasts early Sunday morning targeted a military research centre on the outskirts of the capital. The research centre in Jamraya was the target of an earlier Israeli strike in January.

"The new Israeli attack is an attempt to raise the morale of the terrorist groups which have been reeling from strikes by our noble army," Syrian television said, referring to recent offensives by the forces of Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, against the armed opposition.

Video footageuploaded onto the Internet by activists showed a huge ball of fire rising into the night sky.

A Damascus resident described the blasts to Al Jazeera, saying they felt like "an earthquake" and "unprecedented".

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Read more: http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2013/05/20135502043908700.html

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and some twitter reports claim that ambulances are racing to the Presidental compounds.

[OKNancy]

1. Oh dear... (can't think of anything else to write.) n/t

[TwilightGardener]

2. Huh.

[RobertEarl]

3. Obama needs to stop Israel

The people of the ME know who is supplying Israel with its weapons.

Obama could be a real hero by making Israel cease its war.

[Warpy]

9. They could be acting as our proxy, too

since Russia has checkmated us, backing Assad and his goons instead of the rebel goons.

[RobertEarl]

10. If Obama does not, that may prove your point

Being that Russia has always been backing Assad, they must be lobbying Obama to control our little puppet?

[WheelWalker]

12. This ^^^. They are probing.

[Scootaloo]

17. If so, it shows staggering ignorance on our part

We're enlisting Israel against an enemy they couldn't beat in 2000 or 2006? But on a larger front, with a more capable and entrenched oposition? In a move that will very likely end up becoming a true regional conflict?

Nah, if we were getting involved in this we'd be sneaking around with Turkey or Jordan or Iraq... Which if I recall is in fact what the US is doing.

[MADem]

26. Stop them? Are you mad? They're doing our dirty work for us!

Far better someone "from the neighborhood" take care of business than we imperialistically waltz in there and get involved in yet another misadventure which will bring us no love and more grief.

The FSA is in the odd position of being "helped" by the Israelis, while they try to pretend that they've nothing to do with it, and the enemy of their enemy isn't, indeed, their friend.

You do understand that the deal here is that Israel is stopping those asswipes at Hiz'ullah from re-arming, courtesy of Iran, while at the same time sticking it con brio to Assad? It's a win-win.

[bemildred]

34. Truly weird situation, but yeah, right on. nt

[RobertEarl]

48. MADem thinks it is a conspiracy?

You think Obama is winking and nodding while keeping our forces at bay and yet he has Israel doing his dirty work behind the American people's back?

Israel is a rogue nation that the US needs to put in its place. That is all. Enough of your wild conspiracy theories.

[MADem]

49. Not a conspiracy at all--a normal accommodation.

It's certainly no secret that Israel did what they did, and they did it as a sovereign nation that has an interest in the region. They aren't a "rogue," they're making sure that Iranian missiles transiting through Syria to Hizbullah don't find their way to their cities and towns.

It's also no secret that these things are coordinated at the international level. That sort of coordination prevents accidental nuclear wars. It's why Turkey shared intel with them.

The one with the crazy "conspiracies" here isn't me. Enough, indeed.

[hack89]

52. Stopping Iranian weapons to Hezbollah does not make Israel a rogue nation

just a smart one.

[jessie04]

51. LOL

Israel did the US a big favor.

[Purveyor]

4. Related: Syrian TV: Israeli Rockets Target Damascus Suburb

(CNN) -- Syria accused Israel of firing rockets into the Damascus suburb of Jamraya on Sunday, striking a "scientific research center," Syrian state TV reported.

It is the second Syrian claim this year of a strike against what observers have described as a government defense research facility, and it comes one day after U.S. officials first told CNN that the United States believes Israel carried out an airstrike against Syria.

The Israel Defense Forces declined to comment on the Syrian TV report. "We do not comment on these reports at all," an IDF spokesperson said.

The Syrian news report claimed the rocket attack on the research center aided rebels, who have been battling government forces in the region.

MORE...

http://www.cnn.com/2013/05/04/world/meast/syria-violence/index.html

[MADem]

37. Translation: "Waaah, waaah!!! They hit a 'good' target!!!"

I'm betting that Israel had excellent intelligence and perfect aim in this instance.

Enemy of my enemy, and all that...!

[David__77]

5. So Israel wants to help Assad?

I cannot see that there would be another outcome from this.

[MADem]

27. More likely, Israel is earning their pay.

Whatever--it needed to be done; better them than us.

Who benefits? Anyone who wants Assad to get a beatdown, as well as Israel, by taking Hizbullah weaponry--which would be aimed straight at them-- off the streets.

[Purveyor]

6. More: 'Israel Rockets' Hit Damascus Military Site

Huge explosions have been heard in the Mount Qassioun area of the city. The research centre there was the target of a Israeli strike in January.

Earlier, Israeli officials speaking on condition of anonymity said that on Friday Israeli aircraft had attacked a shipment of missiles in Syria.

The missiles were believed to be destined for Lebanon's Hezbollah.

Heavy explosions shook Damascus overnight. Amateur video footage posted online showed a huge ball of fire rising into the night sky above the city.

It claimed to show the explosion near the Jamraya military research facility.

MORE...

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22417482

[Comrade Grumpy]

7. Syria would be well within its rights to respond in kind.

Although I doubt they will do so. But they aren't the only players in this deadly game. This is very dangerous.

[MADem]

39. With what? Those missiles that Israel blew up?

This--for those who still aren't seeing it-- is the Obama "Red Line" talking.

The Syrians don't have the capability to respond--they've got plenty of trouble at home--there's a bit of an insurrection going on, it's not like they've got unlimited resources to turn away from the home front and go chasing after the strongest military powers in the region.

Israel is acting as our surrogate in the region, as is Turkey, while both are simultaneously looking out for their OWN interests.

Everyone wants "USA" to stay out of the Middle East, and we are (thankfully) obliging. The people who live in the neighborhood are doing the heavy lifting. We give them plenty every year in varying sorts of direct financial aid and foreign military sales/credits, and they're--as they should--paying the note.

[Comrade Grumpy]

42. I expect an incident on the Lebanese border.

[MADem]

46. They might have to break out their old copies of INSPIRE and build themselves

a few pressure-cooker bombs...their supply lines through both Turkey and Syria have been rather...disrupted of late.

[truedelphi]

8. Sibel Edmond and her prophecy regarding what would happen proves to be

Right. Although I think she thought that the USA would go into Syria directly.

[Auntie Bush]

11. What was Sibel Edmond's prophecy?

[truedelphi]

15. You cn watch this video which has been

Making the rounds, from Boiling Frogs site, with James Corbett doing the interview with Sibel:

One possibility: It seems like s trade off - we let Russia take the Chechnian region, continuing as they have been, while we get to go into Syria.

But Chechnia is heavy duty mineral resource rich - so it could be that eventually the USA will decide that there is a huge conspiracy between the Tsarnaev Bros with whomever our government officials will decide to say they had ties. (Jon Stewart was making fun of how the State department didn't even seem to know - how smart is that. If you were a government official, talking about the excellent job that the Alphabet Agencies were doing to stop the Tsarnaev Boros cold, wouldn't you expect a question or two about their links?)

Some of the same names we heard during the Bush regime, like Richard Pearl, get mentioned. Funny how the bleed through from Bush/Cheney is now becoming evident under Obama.

[truedelphi]

43. If you do't hae time for the video - here is a statement that summarizes her theories -

To test S Edmonds ’s theory, we should look for movement toward US intervention in Syria and also look to see Russian crackdowns on insurgents in the Caucasus. Both of those things seem to be happening.

[Auntie Bush]

45. Thanks...That sounds like a reasonable assumption...not a "theory."

[truedelphi]

53. Okay, then an assumption - but please note it is one she has been discussing for

over the past eight years!

[MADem]

47. Well, Assad is an asshole, and someone will take him out, eventually.

It's in the interests of many people to play the "enemy of my enemy" game.

As for the Russkies, they ARE hosting the Olympics next year, and in that region, in Sochi, specifically.

You can expect a crackdown for that reason alone--Putin, who has never been known to play games or pussyfoot around, doesn't want to be a bad host, and having bombs going off at the Olympic Games is bad form. Anyone with a suggestion of a threatening attitude is going to be muzzled, corralled, rounded up, shipped out...whatever.

[John2]

13. It is the first time

that I have read this by this source. I agree with the opinions. If I was a military analyst, I would say the War is not going very well for a certain side as expected. I don't agree with president Obama's Policies in the Middle East. He is doubling down on neocon Policies. He has fallen into their delusional ideas of nation building.

He probably thought that the Syrian regime would be isolated. They are not just fighting Assad, but Hezbullah,Iran and Iraqi Shiites allied with Iran. Assad's people are the Alawites, and they have formed behind him.

Lets break it down even further. The Alawites represent the elite core of the professional Syrian military. Hezbullah's military wing is very well trained and no pushover, specifically in their confrontations with the IDF in lebanon. Even though the U.S. and Israel consider them terrorists, they have the overwhelming support of Shiites in Lebanon and part of Lebanon's Government. They do not see them as Terrorists but freedom fighters against Israel. It is the problem tunnel vision gives you. They have training on military tactics from professional military sources of Syria,Iran and secretly North Korea. They are professional fighters. They have also been sharing that training recently, with shiite militias operating in Iraq, thanks to the courtesy of getting rid of Saddam by the U.S. Then you have another profession military force operating in Syria from Iran called the Revolutionary Guard. All these groups are professional fighters and very well armed, with sophisticated weapons.

While on the other side, you have a rag tail group put together by the U.S. You have a few deserters from the Syrian Army, who was probably not loyal from the start. You have some civilians and Foreign fighters that are not that very well equipped. Most of them are extremists, with ideas of forming some religious theocratic state based on Sharia Law. You also have a Kurdish minority dreaming about their own state and Kurdish unity. They serve the interests of Turkey because of the minority in that country. They are not the militaries of those Arab dictators supporting the U.S. Those are the elite and professional; soldiers of those country, who are responsible to their rulers' securities only. Countries like Saudi Arabia,Jordan and Qatar. They want shed one drop of blood defending Israel. This is the mess you get into listening to that idiot rightwing Congress and their Wall Street puppets in Congress, instead of working for the people of the country. The people who really made you President. It is still not too late to change course.

[brooklynite]

14. UNREC

Complain about Neo-Cons all you want, but saying that President Obama, who is pulling troops OUT of Afghanistan and Iraq, gave us a limited involvement in Libya and has show no desire to militarily engage in Iran is "doubling down" on nation-building is uncalled for.

[John2]

19. Please don't,

forget my first paragraph in which I said, that I agree with the source after reading it the first time. That has been my opinion all along but the source seems to agree with me and it is the first time I've even read the author's opinion. I can put two and two together when you are unwilling to cut a bloated military and looking for reasons to get into another War. As a military veteran, I don't feel anything he is doing in the Middle East is defending my security at all.

I rather see money spent here at home and I don't agree one bit about his proposed Policies on Social Security. And he wants to complain about nuclear weapons, than he needs to be consistent across the Board. When some country is secretly hoarding hundreds of nuclear war heads, than they have no business complaining about a country that doesn't have one. If one country has a right to self defense, so does another. And if you are really a super power and mediator about fairness, then act like it. You call it like it is and you can't exactly call our Government honest. I voted for the man twice. I voted for a President, not a king. I voted against the Republican Party, not to enact their Policies or compromise my principles. If the only way these Politicians will respect the voters, is to go through every Election cycle until you get the right one, so be it. What you don't have that got you in Iraq, is Public opinion. They are trying very hard to create the environment for it. And he has promised the Israelis, the U.S. would be prepared to attack Iran by year's end. They will cut Social Security before the military.

[MADem]

28. I agree with you--but you can't make people who love conspiracies see this for the straight forward

and entirely logical military action that it is. That wouldn't be any fun. Gotta have a grand plan--all that's missing is a bald guy in a nehru jacket, sitting in a leather chair in his "lair," stroking a white persian cat...!

[truedelphi]

44. But isn't the reason why we are pulling out our troops from Afghanbistan more about the

Drones that kill Afghanis and operated by our service people in a room in Nevada, than about our being all humanitarian and ending a war?

[Purveyor]

16. Interesting insight and thank you for posting. Worth pondering, indeed! eom

[joshcryer]

18. Video of explosion:

[hack89]

22. Those look like secondary explosions from stored munitions. nt

[jessie04]

23. Those are secondary explosions from munitions.

Jamraya is a ground zero for weapons and missiles made in syria.

Looks like Assan cant murder more innocent syrians....or t least a whole lot less.

[OKNancy]

20. kick

[dipsydoodle]

21. Syria: Attack on military facility was a 'declaration of war' by Israel

Damascus, Syria (CNN) -- A Syrian official called an attack Sunday on the nation's military research facility a "declaration of war" by Israel.

In an interview with CNN, Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal al Mekdad said the attack represented an alliance between Islamic terrorists and Israel.

He added that Syria would retaliate against Israel in its own time and way.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/05/05/world/meast/syria-violence/?hpt=hp_c2

Its Lebanon who needs a missile defense system.

[jessie04]

24. That Vaunted Syrian Defense system seems real good.

"He added that Syria would retaliate against Israel in its own time and way."

let me interpret.... we're screwed.

[dipsydoodle]

25. They can't use that over Lebanese airspace.

which is why Lebanon needs it own defense.

[MADem]

29. I must say, your command of the language, with all its nuance, is nothing short of superb!

Well done, you! Flawless interpretation!

[dipsydoodle]

30. Israeli strikes on Syria 'co-ordinated with terrorists'

sraeli strikes on Syrian army targets show co-ordination with "terrorists" including al-Nusra militants, the Syrian foreign ministry has said.

The strikes had led to a number of casualties and widespread damage, it reported in a letter sent to the UN.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-22419995

[maddezmom]

31. What a clusterf*ck this is going to be.

[MADem]

40. I don't think so. It was inevitable.

This is the Red Line. And better Israel, Turkey, some FSA crews and mercenaries are doing the dirty work than US military forces.

Assad isn't going to go quietly. He's determined to hang on. Iran is determined to maintain their relationship across the arc to Hizb'ullah in Lebanon. For now, they'll support Assad, but if it looks like he's in the shits and is about to fail, they'll cut their losses and try to maintain their ground level, people-to-people "revolutionary" contacts in order to keep that supply line operative. They will find a way to keep their finger in the Syrian pie, and while Assad in power makes it easy for them, they'll try to find a way to work that even if he's out.

They're so duplicitous I wouldn't put it past them to sell Assad out and cut a deal with the FSA if it meant that was the only way of keeping their access to Lebanon intact.

So long as the people in the neighborhood are doing the fighting, we can just stay out of it. Toss 'em a few beans, bandages and bullets, and step the heck back...!

[jessie04]

41. Oh yes....

could lead to ....oh....nothing.

Except of course...

less weapons by assan to kill innocent syrians
less weapons by hezbollah to kill innocent jews
less power by the war criminal assan to instigate unrest in the ME.

[Bosonic]

32. Apparently an extensive target list - not just missiles

Syrian sources say around 12 sites hit by Israel - missile sites; training ctrs; special forces - a major air assault.

https://twitter.com/alextomo/status/331046587088371712 {Channel4 correspondent}

[Benton D Struckcheon]

33. A simple move by Israel

Their interest, if you sit and think about it for a second, is to see whoever comes out of this war come out as weak as possible. So by blowing up Assad's munitions they weaken him and prevent the rebels from getting their hands on that stuff should they win. Hezbollah not being able to get them either is a bonus.
Making the war a little more even between the two sides, also a bonus.

[bemildred]

35. Indeed.

[John2]

38. The Arab League

came out against it, as did Egypt and Iran. They've call an immediate meeting of the Security Council and you see this as favorable to Israel? So Syria comes out and immediately tries to tie Israel's aggressive actions to the upheaval in Syria. So you think the public opinion in the Area would favor Israel's attack? Just how do you think their meeting will go? The coming days will be interesting, to see if this want escalate into a wider War involving Israeli Territory. I would keep my eyes on Hezbullah and maybe Hamas considering what Egypt does. It wasn't too long ago Hamas was firing rockets in Israel. Lets hope there hasn't been a miscalculation on this move.

[MADem]

50. They also help the rebels--enemy of my enemy.

Realpolitik could play a role, too. The rebels could agree that they'll just leave Israel be should they manage to dislodge Assad, as a payback for the help given them. It's entirely possible that someone coordinating directly with the rebels is offering HUMINT targeting assistance to Israel from on the ground.

It happens.

[Bosonic]

36. Airspace over northern Israel and Haifa area closed off to civilian flights

BREAKING: Airspace over northern #Israel and #Haifa area closed off to civilian flights

https://twitter.com/haaretzcom/status/331053159814414337