Tue Oct 9, 2012, 07:59 PM

Ghost Dog (12,967 posts)

NATO ready to defend Turkey against Syrian attacks

Last edited Tue Oct 9, 2012, 08:11 PM USA/ET - Edit history (2)

Source: AP/Stars & Stripes...

BEIRUT -- NATO is ready to defend alliance member Turkey amid artillery and mortar exchanges with Syria, its top official said Tuesday, as Ankara sent additional fighter jets to reinforce an air base close to the Syria border where tensions have escalated dramatically over the past week...

... The comments by NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen were the strongest show of support to Ankara since the firing began Wednesday - though the solidarity is largely symbolic. Turkey has sought NATO backing but not direct intervention and the alliance is thought to be reluctant to get involved military at a time when its main priority is the war in Afghanistan.

Ahead of a meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, Fogh Rasmussen backed Turkey's right to defend itself...

... Analysts say Syria appears to be intentionally escalating tensions along the border with Turkey to send a message to its northern neighbor that it will pay a high price for its support of the Syrian rebels, hoping that will deter any foreign military intervention in the 18-month-old civil war...

Read more: http://www.stripes.com/news/europe/nato-ready-to-defend-turkey-against-syrian-attacks-1.192440

Not sure this passes the 'smell test'...

... "Nobody should attempt to test Turkey's decisiveness and sensibility,” stated the Turkish prime minister whose country is accused of being a key member of an international coalition attempting to destabilize Syria.

Tensions have been running high between Syria and Turkey, with Damascus accusing Ankara -- along with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, France, and the United States -- of backing a deadly insurgency that has claimed the lives of many Syrians, including security and army personnel.

“Nobody should ask… but what will happen if a war were to begin and bring us to that point. You should be ready for it and have the memorandum in hand. What is necessary will be done if it becomes necessary," he stated...

/... http://tehrantimes.com/middle-east/102179-erdogan-asks-turks-to-be-ready-for-syria-war

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18 replies	Author	Time	Post
NATO ready to defend Turkey against Syrian attacks (Original post)	Ghost Dog	Oct 2012	OP
"In the border area, there was no sign of any breakthrough by either side..."	Ghost Dog	Oct 2012	#1
Once NATOs Involved	Shuhered	Oct 2012	#2
I'm fairly certain all sides have had "backers" for weeks.	Socal31	Oct 2012	#4
True	Shuhered	Oct 2012	#6
I would agree, but the Kingdom's support for the rebels, and the Persian support for Assad....	Socal31	Oct 2012	#15
HAHAHA!!! (except it's not funny)	harmonicon	Oct 2012	#8
will they take Turkey to task for hosting armed groups committing terrorism in Syria?	Alamuti Lotus	Oct 2012	#3
I'm trying to figure out what Syria's strategy is here?	glacierbay	Oct 2012	#5
You Bet Cardinal Fan	Shuhered	Oct 2012	#7
I agree.	glacierbay	Oct 2012	#11
... or...	harmonicon	Oct 2012	#9
Possibly.	glacierbay	Oct 2012	#10
You're assuming it was on purpose?	Alamuti Lotus	Oct 2012	#13
so	backwoodsbob	Oct 2012	#16
LOL	joshcryer	Oct 2012	#18
I highly doubt Syria has full control over their fighters.	joshcryer	Oct 2012	#17
Russia Tells NATO To Stay Away From Syria	cqo_000	Oct 2012	#12
Syria-Iran-Russia versus Turkey with NATO	Kennah	Oct 2012	#14

Response to Ghost Dog (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 08:39 PM

Ghost Dog (12,967 posts)

1. "In the border area, there was no sign of any breakthrough by either side..."

... In the border area, there was no sign of any breakthrough by either side though activists said rebels killed at least 40 soldiers on Saturday in a 12-hour battle to take the village of Khirbet al-Joz.

Just outside Hacipasa, nestled among olive groves in Turkey's Hatay province, the sound of mortar fire could be heard every 10 to 15 minutes on Tuesday from around the Syrian town of Azmarin. A Syrian helicopter flew over the border.

Villagers used ropes and boats to ferry the wounded across a river into Turkey.

Rebels with AK-47s slung over their shoulders carried an Free Syrian Army officer down to the river bank on the Syrian side, using a carpet and two poles as a makeshift stretcher.

He had been shot in the chest and had a chest drain and drip attached. The rebels said they had dealt with roughly 20 wounded people and two dead on Tuesday.

The seriously wounded are ferried across to Turkey, while those less severely hurt are patched up at a makeshift first aid centre on the river bank and sent back into Syria...

/... http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/09/uk-syria-crisis-idUKBRE8980TU20121009

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Response to Ghost Dog (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 09:25 PM

Shuhered (200 posts)

2. Once NATOs Involved

Now this is an unsettling turn of events. If NATO gets involved, someone will also back Syria's genocide-embracing Assad regime.

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Response to Shuhered (Reply #2)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 09:28 PM

Socal31 (1,148 posts)

4. I'm fairly certain all sides have had "backers" for weeks.

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Response to Socal31 (Reply #4)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 09:36 PM

Shuhered (200 posts)

6. True

True, but there's a difference in the world when one backs privately versus publicly. The latter tends to be more volatile, wouldn't you agree?

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Response to Shuhered (Reply #6)

Wed Oct 10, 2012, 01:36 AM

Socal31 (1,148 posts)

15. I would agree, but the Kingdom's support for the rebels, and the Persian support for Assad....

has been anything but private.

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Response to Shuhered (Reply #2)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 09:59 PM

harmonicon (11,996 posts)

8. HAHAHA!!! (except it's not funny)

GET YOUR DAMN FACTS STRAIGHT.

Assad may be lots of different kinds of bad shit, but one thing he is not is genocidal. The "rebels," however, are far more unified in their hatred for those of the religion of the ruling minority - a minority which was often discriminated against in the past.

Does Assad want to kill all Sunnis? I somehow doubt it. Do some of (most of, possibly?) the Sunni "rebels" want to kill all Alawis? You can bet damn sure of it. Do you know that vast majorities have fled some of these cities "liberated" by rebels because they support the government and fear for their lives?

I heard an interview with one such rebel on the BBC the other day. What did he have to say? That when the war is over, they would kill everyone who had been on the other side. Isn't that just super?

NATO is already involved, whether it's publicly stated or not. Other countries (Russia, Iran) are on Assad's side, whether it's stated or not.

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Response to Ghost Dog (Original post)

Tue Oct 9, 2012, 09:27 PM

Alamuti Lotus (2,699 posts)

3. will they take Turkey to task for hosting armed groups committing terrorism in Syria?

No, of course not:--they're busy running guns and money to the same jihadi gangs. But, such is precisely what can be expected from such a rogue's gallery of hypocrites and profiteers. NATO forces are supporting many of the same organizations and commanders in Syria that they are fighting in their own criminal occupation of Afghanistan.

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