Operation Tomahawk with cheese
snip* A rebel, but not a jerkLet's see what a ''moderate'' Syrian ''rebel'' thinks about all this. Haytahm Manna, in exile for 35 years, is a key member of the non-armed Syrian opposition (yes, they do exist). But he's not following the script; he's resolutely against Operation Tomahawk, with cheese or with extra cheese. (See here (in French).
Worse; he debunks the US government's ''evidence'' of a chemical weapons attack as ''propaganda'' and ''psychological war''. He stresses the chemicals were launched with ''artisanal weapons''; that ties up with Russian intelligence, which is sure gas that it was delivered by a homemade missile fired from a base under opposition control (extensive details compiled here; scroll down to ''Qaboun rocket launches'').
Manna also points to ''videos and photos on the Internet before the attacks''; to al-Qaeda's previous use of chemical weapons; and to the Russians as ''seriously working for the Geneva II negotiations'', unlike the Americans.
Ooops. This is not exactly what the designers of Operation Tomahawk With Cheese were expecting. If a Syrian exile draws these conclusions, the same applies to Syria civilians who are about to be greeted by those deeply moral Tomahawks.
in full: http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-04-290813.html
TM99
(8,352 posts)We have Obama, Kerry, Hagel, Mosad, etc.
Obviously they know so much more and would never ever lie to us.
bemildred
(90,061 posts)jakeXT
(10,575 posts)Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)jakeXT
(10,575 posts)Syria Conflict: Opposition Leader Haytham Al-Manna Criticises Plans For US Military Intervention As 'Satanic'
Western military action in Syria would be a "satanic intervention against a satanic regime", a leading Syrian opposition figure has warned.
Speaking to the Huffington Post UK, Haytham al-Manna, the Paris-based spokesman of the National Coordination Committee (NCC), said: "Our position is against any [western] aggression against Syria. There is no [option of] military aggression against the regime, it will be against.. the population."
The NCC, which consists of a dozen or so secular, leftist political parties inside Syria, is not a member of the Syrian National Council (SNC), the coalition of opposition groups recognised as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people by several western governments. The latter has long supported western military intervention against Assad; the former does not.
The NCC's Manna, a veteran human-rights activist whose brother was killed by the Assad regime, said US ordnance won't "make the distinction between military and civilian targets. I saw what happened in Iraq..and all the [previous] American interventions."
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2013/09/02/syria-conflict-manna_n_3854981.html
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)I would like very much to believe someone here in power would listen to him.
AverageJoe90
(10,745 posts)I seriously don't think the Russians are actually seriously assisting the peace negotiations.....c'mon, folks, Putin may be in need of salvaging his int. reputation, 'tis true, but it'll probably be a while before he'd reach the point where he'd have no choice to do so; I'd like to be wrong on this(I hope I am, actually), but Putin's regime has turned a blind eye to Assad's own war crimes for years, and he's showing no signs of turning around, other than the occasional lip service.
Jefferson23
(30,099 posts)about remaining tied to whoever ends up in power, at this point..he is being pragmatic. What the gentleman is referring
to about negotiations I believe can be explained, in part, here:
snip*The Russian president said he last talked with the US president about Syria at the G8 summit in Lough Erne in June, where they agreed to work together to bring about peace talks in Geneva. "But I've had no discussions with the American president about that recently, certainly not since the latest allegations of chemical weapons use by the Syrian government
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10278030/Putin-tells-Obama-show-us-proof-Syrian-regime-was-behind-chemical-attacks.html
The remainder speaks to the contracts and their arms deal.