Fri Jul 27, 2012, 03:56 AM

U.S. fears Syria preparing for massacre in Aleppo

Source: Reuters

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis and Mariam Karouny July 27, 2012

AMMAN/BEIRUT - President Bashar al-Assad's forces renewed a ground and aerial bombardment of Aleppo on Friday, extending efforts to crush rebels in Syria's commercial capital in what the United States said it feared could become a massacre.

Insurgents targeted army roadblocks and security installations, with both sides avoiding close-quarters warfare in the city of 2.5 million people, Syria's biggest urban centre.

The U.S. State Department said credible reports of tank columns moving on Aleppo, along with air strikes by helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft, represented a serious escalation of Assad's efforts to crush a rebellion that began 16 months ago.

"This is the concern: that we will see a massacre in Aleppo, and that's what the regime appears to be lining up for," State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

Read more: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE8610SH20120727

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10 replies	Author	Time	Post
U.S. fears Syria preparing for massacre in Aleppo (Original post)	UnrepentantLiberal	Jul 2012	OP
We have friends in Aleppo. We pray for their safety.	FailureToCommunicate	Jul 2012	#1
They're trying to spin this, like Benghazi, to sell a "no-fly zone" (NATO intervention)	leveymg	Jul 2012	#2
Different country.	UnrepentantLiberal	Jul 2012	#3
Same tactic, though.	leveymg	Jul 2012	#4
Do you have any credible evidence that the U.S.	UnrepentantLiberal	Jul 2012	#5
You mean "any credible evidence" that the neocon wing (wants) to do the same thing?	leveymg	Jul 2012	#7
You just proved MY point.	UnrepentantLiberal	Jul 2012	#9
This is the typical Washington 2-step. While some drag a foot, the other drags the body	leveymg	Jul 2012	#10
Hopefully the people there are not armed and the government will have an easier time killing them	The Straight Story	Jul 2012	#6
Yeah, Syria's military is the same as the United States	UnrepentantLiberal	Jul 2012	#8

Response to UnrepentantLiberal (Original post)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 08:01 AM

FailureToCommunicate (4,399 posts)

1. We have friends in Aleppo. We pray for their safety.

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Response to UnrepentantLiberal (Original post)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 08:12 AM

leveymg (26,306 posts)

2. They're trying to spin this, like Benghazi, to sell a "no-fly zone" (NATO intervention)

9 March 2011: The head of the Libyan National Transitional Council, Mustafa Abdul Jalil, "pleaded for the international community to move quickly to impose a no-fly zone over Libya, declaring that any delay would result in more casualties". Three days later, he stated that if pro-Gaddafi forces reached Benghazi, then they would kill "half a million" people. He stated, "If there is no no-fly zone imposed on Gaddafi's regime, and his ships are not checked, we will have a catastrophe in Libya."

10 March 2011: France recognized the Libyan NTC as the legitimate government of Libya soon after Sarkozy met with them in Paris. This meeting was arranged by Bernard-Henri Lévy.

11 March 2011: Cameron joined forces with Sarkozy after Sarkozy demanded immediate action from international community for a no-fly zone against air attacks by Gaddafi.

12 March 2011: Nine out of the twenty-two Arab League members "called on the United Nations Security Council to impose a no-fly zone over Libya in a bid to protect civilians from air attack". The Arab League's request was announced by Omani Foreign MinisterYusuf bin Alawi bin Abdullah, who stated that all member states present at the meeting agreed with the proposal. On 12 March, thousands of Libyan women marched in the streets of the rebel-held town of Benghazi, calling for the imposition of a no-fly zone over Libya.

14 March 2011: In Paris at the Élysée Palace, before the summit with the G8 Minister for Foreign Affairs, Sarkozy, who is also the president of the G8, along with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppé met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and impressed her upon to push for intervention in Libya.

US Supports No-Fly Zone Against Libya.ogv
VOA News report on the United States joining Lebanon, France and United Kingdom to support the no-fly zone.

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Response to leveymg (Reply #2)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:06 PM

UnrepentantLiberal (11,700 posts)

3. Different country.

Different situation.

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Response to UnrepentantLiberal (Reply #3)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:31 PM

leveymg (26,306 posts)

4. Same tactic, though.

Last edited Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:32 PM USA/ET - Edit history (1)

We've been treated to the big run-up to this battle for a reason. Screaming heard about "massacre" in Aleppo and No-fly zone south from Turkey border is probably it.

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Response to leveymg (Reply #4)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 12:55 PM

UnrepentantLiberal (11,700 posts)

5. Do you have any credible evidence that the U.S.

is doing or going to do the same thing they did in Libya? Oh, our paws are in there to some extent. They always are. But there are different things at play here. That's why we're letting Turkey and Saudi Arabia funnel guns in and mostly staying out of it.

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Response to UnrepentantLiberal (Reply #5)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 01:11 PM

leveymg (26,306 posts)

7. You mean "any credible evidence" that the neocon wing (wants) to do the same thing?

Have you been paying attention, at all?

Council on Foreign Relations is about as close to the Establishment party line as you'll get. Opinion's split, but the press is on. See, particularly, Zenko at the bottom. Here's some of what the Mandarins have to say to each other:

http://www.cfr.org/issue/humanitarian-intervention/ri68
Humanitarian Intervention

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February 27, 2012
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Elliott Abrams says that mixed messages from Washington ultimately leave the Syrian opposition to fend for themselves.

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February 9, 2012
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Must Read

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Response to leveymg (Reply #7)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 01:21 PM

UnrepentantLiberal (11,700 posts)

9. You just proved MY point.

Some people are frustrated because the west isn't doing what it did in Libya.

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Response to UnrepentantLiberal (Reply #9)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 03:04 PM

leveymg (26,306 posts)

10. This is the typical Washington 2-step. While some drag a foot, the other drags the body

Last edited Fri Jul 27, 2012, 03:33 PM USA/ET - Edit history (2)

The usual pattern: DoD reluctance overcome by CIA covert operations with foreign paramilitaries (al Qaeda and other terrorists). The Pentagon goes along in the end. The net result is the usual death and mayhem. I grant, perhaps Bosnia, Kosovo and Iraq may be the closer precedents for Syrian regime change, as they all involved a considerable amount of covert activity and domestic deception before US military involvement - but, isn't that in many ways worse than the lead-up to Libya?

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Response to UnrepentantLiberal (Original post)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 01:08 PM

The Straight Story (41,444 posts)

6. Hopefully the people there are not armed and the government will have an easier time killing them

Cause lord knows the only people you can trust with weapons are those in power.

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Response to The Straight Story (Reply #6)

Fri Jul 27, 2012, 01:15 PM

UnrepentantLiberal (11,700 posts)

8. Yeah, Syria's military is the same as the United States

military. Tell yourself that when you're running around in the woods with your guns.

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