Syrian General slain in Damascus, plus a curious quote from the ambassador.

[Kurmudgeon]

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57375542/syrian-general-slain-in-damascus-regime-says/

&quot CBS/AP) Last Updated 7:27 a.m. ET

BEIRUT - Gunmen assassinated an army general in Damascus on Saturday in the first killing of a high ranking military officer in the Syrian capital since the uprising against President Bashar Assad's regime began in March, the state-run news agency said.

SANA said three gunmen opened fire at Brig. Gen. Issa al-Khouli in the morning as he left his home in the Damascus neighborhood of Rukn-Eddine. Al-Khouli was a doctor and the chief of a military hospital in the capital. No one claimed responsibility for the killing.

And here's the quote""That's a double standard, that the slaughter that's taking place in Syria, evidenced by the interviews by the U.S. Ambassador Robert Ford just in the last few days, is an indication that the administration needs to stop leading from behind here and needs to basically coordinate a major effort to try to stop the arms transfers that Russia has engaged in under the very guise of its own veto. If there is any country that's actually engaged in militarizing the situation, it's Russia under the cover of its own veto."

Leading from behind? Is Mr. Ford ready to start a shooting war with Russia?
That's the President's decision, not yours, your insubordination will only make things worse, IMO.
Don't demean the Command in Chief in a situation like this. Mr. Ford.

[bemildred]

1. Sounds like the sicarios have come to Syria.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sicarii

Edit: given the new world of war: drones and special forces and low-intensity conflict, it is no surprise that drug-war tactics are popping up elsewhere. Expect IEDs and other roll-your-own bombs to be ubiquitous in the future too. Those genies will not be stuffed back in the bottle.

[Art_from_Ark]

2. It wasn't Ambassador Ford who made the remark about "leading from behind"

It was a former US ambassador to Morocco, Marc Ginsburg, who said that.

[Kurmudgeon]

4. Thanks, still, an unprofessional and disrespectful remark all the same.

[DallasNE]

3. This Is Not Helpful

It tells Russia what we know, for one thing. And it has broader implications for other actions by Russia in the region, namely Russia also supplying arms and other aid to Iran. This could well be a reaction by Putin to our announcement to forge ahead with the missile defense shield in Europe started by Bush and continued by Obama. So, this is not only not helpful, but downright alarming. And why the loose lips? Are these ambassadors disgruntled and why?

[riderinthestorm]

6. Russian arms supplies to Syria are no secret. They openly steamed 2 Russian Navy ships into Tartus

within the past couple of weeks. There are no loose lips here at all.

[Fool Count]

9. And why should it be a secret? There is no UN arms embargo on Syria.

Out of all the countries arming different sides of Syrian civil war, Russia is the only one which
is doing it legally. All the others are engaged in arms smuggling in direct violation of international
law and UN Charters.

[DallasNE]

12. I'm Not Saying It Should Be Secret

I'm just questioning why it is this specific as it tips our hand to Russia. That Russia is on the wrong side of history is not news. Assuring additional bloodshed is reprehensible, however.

[Fool Count]

14. Not news? It's news to me. Who decided that? I know that US is on the wrong side of history.

And not only that, it is on its last legs, marching shakily towards the dustbin of history, where
it belongs. US may think that assuring additional bloodshed in Syria by encouraging the militant
Sunni elements into intransigence may somehow postpone its inevitable demise, but they are wrong -
in the final analysis it does not really matter. They may do a successful regime change in Syria,
then maybe in Iran, then maybe even in North Korea - then what? Into the heap of useless irrelevant
ex-empires they go.

[David__77]

5. The right-wingers are hoping for intervention.

I hope that Obama doesn't fall into the trap. It would be devastating.

[CAPHAVOC]

8. We oughta high tail it out of there.

Looks to me like all hell is going to break loose in the middle east. We have a lot of military strung out in Afghanistan.

[bread_and_roses]

7. since we're the arms dealer to the world ...

... and we, too, support murderous regimes when it suits our purposes (which is all too often), I find lambasting Russia for same as hypocritical as every other utterance that comes out of DC.

[nanabugg]

10. Mossad, is that you? It doesn't make sense for Lebanon to do this.

A high-ranking official too? Makes no sense. What is really going on here. Syria is one of the target countries of PNAC. I think they have them all now except Iran.

[ButterflyBlood]

11. Uh have you been paying attention to Syria at all lately?

There's no reason at all to suspect this was foreign done. Definitely domestic rebels.

[ButterflyBlood]

13. The opposition are obviously trying to send a message, and an effective one

Let's imagine Assad fled tomorrow and his regime completely collapsed. What's going to happen to any army or government official that stayed with him till the end? This guy will look like he got off easy. And that's why I expect the defections and collapse to continue further.