It is very difficult to sort out fact from fiction in Syria - this comment immediately censored by Huffington Po

It is very difficult to sort out fact from fiction in Syria. 

Both sides in the conflict have committed multiple atrocities and continue to do so.

To say that one side is better than the other is just propaganda. 
There are no "good guys" in the Syrian conflict. 

Both sides are cold blooded ruthless murderers and thugs. 

America should stay out of it. 

They certainly should not be helping to install another Islamic Extremist regime in the ME as they are currently doing. 
It is not in the best interests of America. 

But hey when did that ever stop anything when the warmongers can smell there is money to be made - look at Iraq. 
It's only taxpayers that are going to end up footing the bill - but they don't make huge campaign contributions like the arms companies do.

Team Sunni vs Team Shia in Syria

Syria started out as legitimate peaceful protests by Syrians with legitimate grievances against the Assad regime.

It has now turned into a bloody, vicious war operating on many levels.

U.S. vs Russia
Saudi Arabia vs Iran
Sunni Muslims vs Shia Muslims

The full Team Sunni line up :-
Sunni Islamic Extremists - the "rebels" many of which are foreigners, e.g. Libyans
U.S.
Saudi Arabia
Qatar
France
Turkey
Israel
UK (only non-direct military logistical support is now possible after the UK Parliament's vote on 08/29)
Jordan (Jordan is being used as a base by America to train up insurgents - around 300 are reported to be on the Syrian border or may have already entered Syria)

The full Team Shia line up :-
Assad
Russia
Iran
China
Shia extremists, including groups such as HezBollah

Neutrals

The Arab League
Egypt (under it's new military rulers - the Muslim Brotherhood were on Team Sunni)

100,000 people have already been killed in the bloody Syrian war.
Multiple atrocities have been committed by both sides.

Comment Immediately censored by Huffington Post - Possible Syrian False Flag attack should be investigated

The following allegations should be thoroughly investigated before launching any attack on Syria. 

"The U.S. was offering enormous sums of money for a false flag chemical weapons attack"
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=633428

Israel Grants First Golan Heights Oil Drilling License To Dick Cheney, Jacob Rothschild, Rupert Murdoch Linked Company

Israel has granted a U.S. company the first license to explore for oil and gas in the occupied Golan Heights, John Reed of the Financial Times reports.

A local subsidiary of the New York-listed company Genie Energy — which is advised by former vice president Dick Cheney and whose shareholders include Jacob Rothschild and Rupert Murdoch — will now have exclusive rights to a 153-square mile radius in the southern part of the Golan Heights.

That geographic location will likely prove controversial. Israel seized the Golan Heights in the Six-Day War in 1967 and annexed the territory in 1981. Its administration of the area — which is not recognized by international law — has been mostly peaceful until the Syrian civil war broke out 23 months ago.

"This action is mostly political – it’s an attempt to deepen Israeli commitment to the occupied Golan Heights," Israeli political analyst Yaron Ezrahi told FT. "The timing is directly related to the fact that the Syrian government is dealing with violence and chaos and is not free to deal with this problem.”

Read more at:-
http://www.businessinsider.com/israel-grants-golan-heights-oil-license-2013-2#ixzz2dC0y3AFP

The facts behind the conflict in Syria that Obama does not want you to see Updated 09/27

The surface explanation of Syria
On one side of the Syrian conflict we have Assad, backed by Russia and Iran - a cold blooded ruthless murderer. 
On the other side of the Syrian conflict we have the Islamic Extremist insurgents - backed by the U.S. Saudi Arabia and Qatar - cold blooded ruthless murderers.

There is ZERO evidence that Assad was behind the recent chemical weapons attack in Damascus. 
It would be entirely against his interests - it has been telegraphed that this would bring about overt Western intervention. 

On the other hand the Islamic Extremists have every reason to stage a False Flag attack. 
They have access to chemicals captured from Assad's stockpiles some months ago. 
They have the means of launching them over short distances (mortar / light artillery range). 
They have already used chemical weapons according to the chief UN Weapons inspector Carla Del Ponte - from May. 
Assad has now formally asked the UN to investigate three other possible uses of chemical weapons by the insurgents. 

There have already been 100,000 people killed by pieces of metal and explosives in Syria's civil war. 
I fail to see how another 1,000 people getting killed by something else makes much of a difference. 
So the Americans are going to try and stop Syrians from killing each other with chemicals, by killing Syrians with cruise missiles instead?

The only realistic way to reduce the level of bloodshed and killing in Syria would be for America, Qatar and Saudi Arabia to stop arming and funding the Islamic Extremist insurgents. 
The insurgents would wither away without foreign support.

So America and the UK start launching cruise missiles at Syria on behalf of the Islamic Extremists.

The cruise missiles are to target Syrian military bases.
Why won't Assad leave chemical stockpiles at military bases likely to be targeted?
The resultant release of chemical agents could kill many thousands of civilians.

Russia gives Syria more powerful missiles. 

Syria fires missiles at American warships or the British base in Cyprus - in  a retaliatory action for self defense. 

What happens if the Syrians sink an American warship or cause major casualties in Cyprus? 

Is this what Obama and Cameron want to happen?

Even the architect of the Syrian war plan, doubts that the use of cruise missiles will work
But that is of little concern to the politicians pushing for war.

Quite rightly the public is overwhelmingly against getting more involved in the Neocon war in Syria. 
60% of Americans are against U.S. military intervention in Syria.
Only 9% are for it. See this 
Judging by the comments on the BBC website on 27th August, Brits are even more overwhelmingly against it.

So the media are launching a massive propaganda campaign full of lies, half truths, obfuscations and omissions, to try and persuade more people to accept it.
Exactly like the massive propaganda campaign for the Iraq invasion in 2002/2003 - which was a complete pack of lies.

The Real Reasons for the conflict in Syria 

Escalating the violence and tensions in the Middle East and overt military action in Syria is obviously a very good way of increasing arms spending in both America and the UK.
Britain has dropped out of the top 5 arms exporting countries and I didn't see any news reports of any new arms or trade deals with India from Cameron's visit and sales pitch earlier this year.
Perhaps the arms companies are pressuring again to start some more wars.

If you want to understand what goes on in the world, you have to ignore the political spin and rhetoric such as "humanitarian concerns" and play "Follow the Money" instead.
The vast majority of why certain things happened, or didn't happen, or are being pushed to happen are then easily explained in the vast majority of cases.

The Americans, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are already arming and funding the Islamic Extremists insurgents in Syria. A fact never mentioned in the Western media.

The simplest way of reducing the bloodshed and violence in Syria would of course be for America, Saudi Arabia and Qatar to stop arming and funding the Islamic Extremist insurgents in Syria.
The insurgents would wither away without foreign support.
But there is no profit in Peace.

Arming the insurgents is itself an illegal act under international law - there is no UN resolution to authorise it.
It is also unconstitutional - acts of war can only be authorized by Congress and no such debate or vote has been held.

Qatar and Saudi Arabia are arming the Islamic Extremist insurgents quite openly, with the full support of the American government.

In case anyone has any doubts that America is also already arming the insurgents:-
There was a major CIA operation to smuggle Gaddafi's arms out of Benghazi to Syria, via Turkey.
That's why there is a continuing cover up of the circumstances of the murder of Ambassador Christopher Stevens. See this
That's why there were 35 CIA agents in the "annex" near to the rented villa that Christopher Stevens was using to hold his meetings in Benghazi.
That's why the survivors of the 35 CIA agents are being subject to monthly or bi-monthly polygraph tests, to ensure they do not speak to members of Congress or leak to the Press. See this

William Hague and the White House are playing down UN involvement to authorise an attack on Syria.
They know it will never happen - Russia and China will veto it.
Putin rejects Saudi offfer to drop Assad for rich arms and oil deal

Whether or not America intervenes in Syria, the decision will have absolutely nothing to do with any humanitarian concerns or any uses of chemical weapons.
They are just the PR excuses and political spin to try and persuade more of the gullible into accepting an escalation of Western involvement in the Syrian civil war.

Syria is part of the Neocon agenda to destabilize the entire Middle East and to force regime change in six Middle Eastern countries.
It has been in the planning since 1991 and was published in PNAC - the Neocon agenda in 1997.
General Wesley Clark, 2004 Presidential candidate, on the Neocon policy coup in Washington DC.

It is also part of the Neocon agenda to complete the Corporate take over of America.
Bill Moyers essay: The End Game for democracy

And to shred the Bill of Rights and institute a Police State in America

The sub texts to the escalation of the civil war in Syria are :-

The sectarian war between Sunni and Shia Muslims which is now going on in the Middle East (just like Protestants and Catholics fought several wars in Europe during the 1500's / 1600's).

The regional power struggle between Saudi Arabia and Iran.

The proposed Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline
This pipeline will run from Iran's South Pars gas field which is the largest in the world and exit on the coast of Syria or Lebanon.
The deal for this was signed on 25th July 2013 between Iran, Iraq and Syria.
This deal is absolutely against the interests of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Turkey and Israel.
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/09/the-iran-iraq-syria-gas-pipeline.html

The proposed plans to build a gas pipeline from the Gulf States through Syria and Turkey to Europe.

The proposed plan to build an oil pipeline from Northern Iraq to Israel or Jordan and bypass the straits of Hormuz.
This has been on the books since Rumsfeld worked for Reagan (circa 1983 vintage).

Neither of these pipeline plans are remotely viable given conditions on the ground - they are too vulnerable to sabotage.
That's why the Iraq oil pipeline plan is no further advanced now, than it was before the Iraq invasion in 2003.
But viability never stopped the Neocons from coming up with stupid plans in the past.

Israel wants to destroy Syria as a viable regional power.
But for the life of me I cannot understand why Israel thinks it will help them to have a violent unstable country on their border, ruled by Islamic Extremists. They complain about Iran enough.
Syria will be unstable for decades if the Islamic Extremists ever do take control (like Iraq and Libya still are).

Russia does not want the Qatari/Saudi gas pipeline built.
It will affect their near monopoly position of supplying gas to the whole of Europe, through the pipeline via Ukraine to Germany.

Russia wants to keep it's naval base in Tartus, Syria.
While not in any way large, it is the only base that Russia has in the Mediterranean.
The only other foreign military base that Russia now has is at Sebastopol on the Black Sea, which it is leasing from Ukraine. This base is massive.
Other than that Russia only has the large naval facility in Murmansk, which gets iced in during the winter and the naval base at Vladivostok - opposite Japan.

Originally Syria started out with peaceful protests with valid grievances against the Assad regime.
Since snipers started firing on and killing some of the peaceful protesters, Syria has escalated into a bloody civil war.
It has also escalated into a bloody civil war ever since John McCain went to Syria in April 2012 to meet with the Islamic Extremists insurgents.
The main protagonists against Assad are Sunni Islamic Extremists and a lot of them are foreign fighters - just like the situation in Iraq after the American invasion.

Due to the stupid American actions in Syria, we now have the following ridiculous situation :-
Iraqi "insurgents" can cross the border into Syria, become "rebels" and pick up American arms, then cross back to Iraq and become "insurgents" again to further destabilize Iraq.
Violence in Iraq is increasing.
I fail to see how that helps anyone.

The fact that Western media calls anti-government fighters in Iraq "insurgents" but anti-government fighters in Syria "rebels" is itself propaganda.
They are both insurgents.

Nobody knows the circumstances around the release of chemical weapons in Syria, but the warmongers cannot even wait for the preliminary results of the UN inspection team.
America has a very long history of conducting False Flag operations in order to start wars

Addenda 

Somebody else's dispassionate assessment of the situation in Syria - from Bob SmithWalker 
Syria - Back to the Stone Age and Beyond

From June - Syria Chemical Weapons Used ..... But Used By Whom?

Update 08/28

The following allegations should be thoroughly investigated before launching any attack on Syria.
"The U.S. was offering enormous sums of money for a false flag chemical weapons attack"
http://www.mathaba.net/news/?x=633428

Update 08/29

CBS : Syria has just received Russia's MOST ADVANCED Anti Ship Missile System
http://youtu.be/p6GVSNiT-xE

22 Reasons Why Starting World War 3 In The Middle East Is A Really Bad Idea
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-08-28/22-reasons-why-starting-world-war-3-middle-east-really-bad-idea

Alan Grayson: attacking Syria is the "wrong decision," Obama "boxed himself in" w/the "redline"
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10023556530

The Wheels Just Came Off the Syria War Wagon
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/08/the-wheels-just-came-off-the-syrian-war-wagon.html

U.S. Admits It Has No Idea WHO Carried Out Syrian Chemical Weapons Attack
Did a rogue low level officer order the chemical weapons attack?
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/08/u-s-admits-it-has-no-idea-who-carried-out-syrian-chemical-weapons-attack.html

Updates 08/30 

The UK Parliament votes against taking any military action in Syria.
David Cameron says he will abide by the wishes of the British Parliament and the British people.

Dozens of protests are being organized throughout the U.S. on 8/31
A list of events
http://interoccupy.net/blog/map-of-nowarwithsyria-protests/

An Alan Grayson petition against military action in Syria has been started.
Petition: "The Administration is considering intervening in the Syrian civil war. We oppose this. There's no vital national security involved, even if the Syrian government is proved to have deliberately used chemical weapons, which is a big "if." The evidence put forward so far on the deliberate use of chemical weapons by the Syrian government is ambiguous at best. What is not ambiguous is that defense contractor Raytheon's stock is up 20% in the last 60 days. It seems that nobody wants US intervention in Syria except the military-industrial complex. I oppose US military intervention in Syria. Join me."
http://dontattacksyria.com/

Lobby your Congressmen to support Thomas Massie's HR2507 War Powers Protection Act
This forces Obama to hold a full debate in Congress with a full vote to obtain a declaration of war before any attacks on Syria are carried out.
Don't let Obama bypass Congress.
Give your Congressmen the information contained in this article - the great majority of them won't know most of it.

Thomas Massie : "When you deliver missiles into somebody’s country, that is an act of war."

Contact details for Congress - including email/Twitter/Facebook details
http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/contact-details-for-representatives-and.html

Russia again says it will fulfill S-300 missile deal with Syria | Times of Israel June 20th
S-300 missiles can take out cruise missiles. 
They can be unloaded from a transport plane and be operational in as little as an hour.
http://toi.sr/UrzR96

Syrians in Ghouta Claim Saudi-Supplied Rebels Behind Chemical Attack

Update 09/21 Dale Gavlak has requested that her name be removed from the article because she had no part in researching it.
http://brown-moses.blogspot.com/2013/09/more-from-dale-gavlak-on-mint-press.html?spref=tw

Abdel-Moneim said his son and 12 other rebels were killed inside of a tunnel used to store weapons provided by a Saudi militant, known as Abu Ayesha, who was leading a fighting battalion. The father described the weapons as having a “tube-like structure” while others were like a “huge gas bottle.”

Ghouta townspeople said the rebels were using mosques and private houses to sleep while storing their weapons in tunnels.

Abdel-Moneim said his son and the others died during the chemical weapons attack. That same day, the militant group Jabhat al-Nusra, which is linked to al-Qaida, announced that it would similarly attack civilians in the Assad regime’s heartland of Latakia on Syria’s western coast, in purported retaliation.

“They didn’t tell us what these arms were or how to use them,” complained a female fighter named ‘K.’ “We didn’t know they were chemical weapons. We never imagined they were chemical weapons.”

“When Saudi Prince Bandar gives such weapons to people, he must give them to those who know how to handle and use them,” she warned. She, like other Syrians, do not want to use their full names for fear of retribution.

A well-known rebel leader in Ghouta named ‘J’ agreed. “Jabhat al-Nusra militants do not cooperate with other rebels, except with fighting on the ground. They do not share secret information. They merely used some ordinary rebels to carry and operate this material,” he said.

“We were very curious about these arms. And unfortunately, some of the fighters handled the weapons improperly and set off the explosions,” ‘J’ said.

http://landdestroyer.blogspot.co.uk/2013/08/syrians-in-ghouta-claim-saudi-supplied_29.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iz0TxVmq3-Q&feature=youtu.be

“Flash Mob of Protests”: “No War With Syria” Rallies Planned in Over 70 Cities for Saturday, 8/31
http://wtfrly.com/2013/08/29/flash-mob-of-protests-no-war-with-syria-rallies-planned-in-over-70-cities-for-saturday-831/#.UiEtr_upr3i.twitter

Updates 08/31

Syria: A Colossal Foreign Policy Blunder That Obama Can Still Avoid
http://wp.me/p1gI5E-1Iv

How the "teams" line up in Syria's Sunni vs Shia "civil war"
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/08/the-syrian-civil-war-explained.html

PNAC's neocon agenda continues unabated under Barack Obama
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2012/12/pnacs-neocon-agenda-continues-unabated.html

The pay offs have already started
Israel Grants First Golan Heights Oil Drilling License To Dick Cheney, Jacob Rothschild, Rupert Murdoch Linked Company
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/08/israel-grants-first-golan-heights-oil.html

Updates 09/01

The Geneva II peace talks have been cancelled because of the escalation of the war in Syria.
The resumption of these talks at least offers the possibility of a way forward.
More warmongering has the opposite effect.
Putin has said that Syria should be discussed at the G20 meeting in St Petersberg on September 5th/6th.
Putin has also requested that the American evidence on the chemical weapons in Damascus be presented to the UN Security Council.

The real reasons Obama pulled back from Syria - international isolation plus pressure from Congress & the public
http://nyti.ms/17qSqSV

Contested areas in Syria's civil war as at August 22nd

In Syria, it's a case of all or nothing 
http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/comment/in-syria-its-a-case-of-all-or-nothing-8792975.html

The risks of retaliatory actions and adverse consequences from an American attack on Syria  
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-risks-of-retaliatory-actions-and.html

'Moral superpower'? Give me a break | Haaretz
Reports from Syria are apparently mainly tendentious. No one knows what exactly is going on, or the identity of the good guys and the bad guys, if they can be thus defined. We should listen to the sharp words of a nun from Syria, Sister Agnes-Mariam de la Croix, who complained to me over the weekend - from the Jerusalem monastery where she is staying on her way back from Malaysia to Syria - about the world press. Sister Agnes-Mariam described the picture differently than most: There are some 150,000 foreign jihadists in Syria, she says, and they are responsible for most of the atrocities. The Assad regime is the only one that can stop them, and the only thing the world must do is stop the flow of fighters and arms to them. “I don’t understand what the world wants. To help Al-Qaida? To establish a jihadist state in Syria?” This mother superior, whose monastery is located along the road from Damascus to Homs, is certain that an American strike will only strengthen the jihadists. “That is what the world wants? Another Afghanistan?” 

Perhaps the world knows what it wants, perhaps it doesn’t. But one thing now seems clear: another American attack of choice could become another disaster. 
http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/1.544607

Updates 09/02 

Islamic Extremist terrorist group Al-Nusra operating in Turkey with chemical weapons & Sarin gas.
Al-Nusra are the main insurgent fighting group operating in Syria.
http://mobile.reuters.com/article/idUSBRE94T0YO20130530?irpc=932

Alan Grayson explains why America should not attack Syria

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvY8b4qZabY&feature=youtu.be 

The U.S. prohibition on providing support to Al-Nusra, which the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Qatar are already blatantly flouting. 

http://www.state.gov/r/pa/prs/ps/2012/12/201759.htm#.UiOztYVrCFJ.twitter

Updates 09/03 

The Disastrous Consequences of a U.S. Military Attack on Syria by Ann Wright - former U.S. Diplomat
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-disastrous-consequences-of-us.html

How Congress is lining up
Lobby the Leaning No and Undecideds to vote NO on military action in Syria
Click on the dots to see the names in each column
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/the-fix/wp/2013/09/02/where-the-votes-stand-on-syria/

Point-By-Point Rebuttal of U.S. Case for War In Syria 
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2013/09/point-by-point-rebuttal-of-u-s-case-for-war-in-syria.html

Heat from House Democrats on WH's Syria Conference Call
Rep. Rick Nolan (D-Minn.) compared Syria to Vietnam
http://demu.gr/10023582227

UN Chief : Military strikes in Syria could produce more turmoil and would be illegal
http://bigstory.ap.org/article/un-chief-strike-syria-may-unleash-more-turmoil

Updates 09/04

Doubts About Who Is Using Chemical Weapons in Syria
Excellent write up on the various possibilities and previous attacks
http://shar.es/zLacc

CIA Analyst Exposes Syrian War Lobbyists - Michael Scheuer
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/09/cia-analyst-exposes-syrian-war.html

Syrian Sunni Islamic Extremists fought & killed Americans in Iraq and now America is supporting the same people - what gives?
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/09/syrian-sunni-islamic-extremists-fought.html

Asia Times Online :: US: The indispensable (bombing) nation:
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/MID-01-030913.html#.Uibw2QL-Q1h.twitter

This is an unconfirmed story. We await to find out if it's true.
Ex Syrian Defense Minister defects to Turkey. 
A prelude to a Russian initiative to broker a peace deal?
http://www.yalibnan.com/2013/09/04/ex-syrian-defense-minister-defects-to-turkey/

Updates 09/12
Putin's powerful Op-Ed in the NY Times about the Rule of Law and how to improve international relations 
http://nyti.ms/1eFFMCQ

Updates 09/15
Syrian Rebels Say Saudi Arabia Is Stepping Up Weapons Deliveries
http://nyti.ms/19N075C

Military Times Survey: 75% of Troops Oppose Strikes on Syria
http://libertyblitzkrieg.com/2013/09/13/military-times-survey-75-of-troops-oppose-strikes-on-syria/

The People Against the 800 Pound Gorilla » CounterPunch: Tells the Facts, Names the Names
Israel lobbying for war
http://www.counterpunch.org/2013/09/13/the-people-against-the-800-pound-gorilla/

The crisis in Syria was predictable 2 years ago
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2011/08/18/d-day-for-damascus/#.UjWRrOlzkow.twitter

The Cost Of Striking Syria: 4 Lessons From Iraq And Afghanistan
The expanding and long term costs of starting wars
http://wbur.fm/1gipKgh

Chomsky on Syria: The Idea That the US Enforces International Law is ‘Hardly Even a Joke’
Obama is trying to rewrite American history
http://antiwar.com/blog/2013/09/12/chomsky-on-syria-the-idea-that-the-us-enforces-international-law-is-hardly-even-a-joke/

Russian Foreign Minister Lavrov on Russian TV : the chemical weapons attack "was fabricated"
Reports of the "insurgents being supplied with chemical agents from outside Syria should be investigated by the UN and blocked"
http://rt.com/news/lavrov-syria-agreement-chemical-868/

U.S. Corporate interests manipulating & writing UN reports on Syria
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/09/us-corporate-interests-manipulating.html

The contortions being performed in the American/Russian negotiations over Syria
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-contortions-being-performed-in.html

Updates 09/17

Qatar has spent $3bn so far in arming the Islamic Extremist insurgents, while spending a paltry $2.7 million on humanitarian aid.
Saudi Arabia has spent even more than Qatar in arming the insurgents.
It's not known how much America has so far spent in arming and training insurgent fighters.
http://wp.me/p1jVkN-UR

How will security for up to 2,000 UN weapons inspectors be provided in the middle of a war zone in Syria?
"Unnamed Pentagon sources" say up to 75,000 armed troops will be needed - a backdoor route to get American boots on the ground?
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/09/how-will-security-for-up-to-2000-un.html

Updates 09/21

Former British Ambassador - Mossad fabricated evidence on chemical weapon in Syria
http://wallofcontroversy.wordpress.com/2013/09/02/further-reasons-to-doubt-assad-regime-was-behind-ghouta-attack/

Bandar Bush buying votes in Congress for war in Syria
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2013/09/21/bandar-bush-buys-votes-for-war-on-syria.html

German Intelligence does not believe that Assad sanctioned the chemical weapon attack in Damascus
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/09/201515/intercepts-caught-assad-rejecting.html

Moderates comprise only 20-25% of the insurgents in Syria
(From Jane's weekly so this estimate is likely to be on the high side.)
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2013/09/19/202698/islamists-rise-in-syria-undercuts.html#.Uj3Y9sacckg

The Geopolitics of Gas and the Syrian Crisis: Syrian “Opposition” Armed to Thwart Construction of Iran-Iraq-Syria Gas Pipeline
http://ian56.blogspot.com/2013/09/the-geopolitics-of-gas-and-syrian.html

Robert Fisk in the UK's Independent newspaper  

There is something deeply cynical about this chemical weapons ‘timetable’

Turkey’s Syria Nightmare Goes From Bad to Worse 

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/09/al-qaeda-syria-turkey-nightmare-border.html

Updates 09/22
One nun puts entire US intel community to shame over 'stage-managed' Syria footage
http://rt.com/op-edge/syria-chemical-weapons-children-063/

Updates 09/27
Senator John McCain, Foreign Relations “Adviser” to Al Qaeda Death Squads in Syria
http://www.globalresearch.ca/senator-john-mccain-foreign-relations-adviser-to-al-qaeda-death-squads-in-syria/5348383

Draft UN resolution on Syria chemical weapons as agreed by U.S. and Russia
Does PP9 mean that Saudi Arabia will be investigated for supplying chemical weapons to Islamic Extremist insurgents?
This resolution is being filed under Chapter 7 which allows penalties for violations that include sanctions and the use of force.
Other reports state that a second resolution (which Russia would veto) would be required to allow the use of force, but I can't see this in the wording. Awaiting clarification.
Does clause 21 mean that UN action will be taken against the insurgents in the event that they are shown to use chemical weapons in the future?
Specifically not included is any statement that Assad or the Syrian regime was responsible for the chemical weapons attack in Damascus in 21st August.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/27/us-un-assembly-resolution-text-idUSBRE98Q01520130927

The History of American False Flag operations and Syria Updated 08/28

History is littered with examples of false flag operations by governments in order to gain legitimacy with their public for wars of aggression or political control.

Some examples :-

"Naturally the common people don't want war; neither in Russia, nor in England, nor in America, nor in Germany. That is understood. But after all, it is the leaders of the country who determine policy, and it is always a simple matter to drag the people along, whether it is a democracy, or a fascist dictatorship, or a parliament, or a communist dictatorship. Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. That is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in any country." Hermann Goering

Nero burned Rome (or let Rome burn) and then blamed the Christians.
Nero wanted to level large areas of Rome so that he could rebuild it to his design.

The Reichstag fire was carried out by Hitler and blamed on the communists in order to bring in draconian laws and an authoritarian Police State.

The American government  has used false flag operations on numerous occasions :-

The explosion of munitions on board the USS Maine which was blamed on the Spanish in order to start the American-Spanish war of 1898. 

The sinking of the Lusitania to get the American public on board with entering the First World War. 

America publicized to the Germans that the Lusitania would be carrying munitions. 

The Germans advised the American public not to travel on the Lusitania because of the risk of attack. 

The Lusitania then sailed into waters know to be controlled by German submarines and was sunk. 

Pearl Harbor

Japan was provoked into the attack by a blockade of vital supplies - principally oil but other natural resources as well. 

America had broken Japanese codes and knew the attack was coming. 

Roosevelt sent the carriers out to sea well away from danger and the route from Japan to Pearl Harbor.

Roosevelt deliberately left Pearl Harbor and the route to Pearl Harbor defenceless in order to ensure the Japanese attack succeeded. 

The CIA coup in Iran in 1953 to depose the lawful PM.
 “Operation Ajax” that overthrew Iran’s democracy and installed a US-friendly and brutal dictator. When that dictator was overthrown (the Shah of Iran) and Iran refused another, the US aided Iraq to unlawfully invade and attack Iran from 1980-1988; killing up to a million Iranians.

Operation Northwoods

The CIA plan to down a civilian airliner to cause the deaths of Americans and then to blame it on Cuba. 

(There were a couple of other options to cause American deaths.) 

JFK put a stop to the plan which was one of the reasons the CIA resented him. 

Gulf of Tonkin 

The attack by the Vietnamese on an American warship, which was a complete fabrication to get America into the Vietnam War.

Operation Gladio
The CIA sponsored operations to kill Italian civilians and blame it on the Communists.

The Iraq War

http://ian56.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/italian-supreme-court-head-calls-for.html
General Wesley Clark (Presidential candidate in 2004) tells of how Middle East destabilization was being planned in 1991 and regime change in Syria was included

And now we have the presumed release of chemical agents in Syria. 

Nobody knows who was behind it. 

It is extremely unlikely that Assad had anything to do with it - it has been well advertised that America has threatened military action if chemical weapons were used by Assad. 

The Islamic Extremist insurgents do have a motive for using chemical weapons in order to get America involved in the war and to arm them better. 

The Islamic Extremist insurgents have already been identified as using chemical weapons on a very small scale earlier in the conflict. 

America has already discussed using chemical weapons in Syria as a false flag attack in January this year. 

http://in.news.yahoo.com/us-backed-plan-launch-chemical-weapon-attack-syria-045648224.html
This is a cached copy of the original Daily Mail article - the original has been removed from the net.
http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/syria-false-flag.jpg

Was the Syrian chemical weapons incident another false flag operation by America or the insurgents or America's allies Saudi Arabia or Qatar or Israel? 

Israel is also noted for carrying out false flag attacks in the past.

Update 08/28

When False Flags don't Fly Any More PEOPLE ARE LEARNING THE TRUTH:

An open letter to my former NSA colleagues - why are you not speaking out?

Another thing they used to say at those briefings was that the might of the NSA would never be used against U.S. citizens. Back when I signed up, the agency made it crystal clear to us that we were empowered to protect our nation against only foreign enemies, not domestic ones. To do otherwise was against the NSA charter. More importantly, I got the strong sense that it was against the culture of the place. After working there for two summers, I genuinely believed that my colleagues would be horrified if they thought our work was being used to snoop on fellow Americans. Has that changed, too?

The mathematicians and cryptanalysts I met were from all over the country and had very different backgrounds, but we all seemed to be drawn to the agency for the same two reasons. First, we all knew that the math was sexy. This might sound bizarre to a non-mathematician, but certain mathematical problems just exude a certain something—a feeling of importance, of gravity, along with a sense that the solution is not far outside of your grasp. It's big, and it can be yours if you just think a little bit harder. When I signed up, I knew that the NSA was doing interesting math, but I had no idea what I was in for. Within a week of arriving at the NSA, I was presented with an amazing smorgasbord of the most alluring mathematics problems I had ever seen, any of which could possibly yield to a smart undergraduate. I hadn't seen anything like it—and I never will again.

The other thing that drew us—or so I thought—was an idealistic vision that we were doing something to help our country. I knew enough about history to have shed the notion that it was ungentlemanly to read your enemy's mail. And once I was on the inside, I saw plenty of ways that the agency was having an effect on national security. Even as a rookie, I felt I had a chance to make a difference in some small way. Some of the veteran mathematicians whom we met had clearly had a palpable effect on the security of the United States, legends almost completely unknown outside of our own club.

This isn't to say that the idealism was naive. Anyone who's spent any time on the other side of the intelligence game knows how high the stakes can be. We all understand that real human beings can die because of a seemingly minor breach of secrets we've been entrusted with. We also realize that intelligence gathering sometimes means using underhanded tactics to try to protect the nation. But we all knew that those tactics were constrained by law, even if that law isn't always black and white. The agency insisted, over and over, that the weapons we were building—and weapons they are, even if they're weapons of information—would never be turned on our own people, but would only be used upon our enemies.

What do we do now that we have to face the fact that the Agency broke its word?

Read more at :-
http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/science/2013/08/nsa_domestic_spying_mathematicians_should_speak_out.html

Re: those supposedly “crazy” conspiracy theorists, guess what?

. . . official accounts no longer represent the views of the majority.

Yep. I just had to post this piece from about a month ago after reading Greg Palast’s new Larry Summers “End Game” investigation. 

And guess what again! If you don’t like being called a “conspiracy theorist,” that’s because one of the cabal government’s psyops worked, and all too well:

The term "conspiracy theorist" was invented and put into wide circulation by the CIA to smear and defame people questioning the JFK assassination!

New studies: ‘Conspiracy theorists’ sane; government dupes crazy, hostile

Recent studies by psychologists and social scientists in the US and UK suggest that contrary to mainstream media stereotypes, those labeled “conspiracy theorists” appear to be saner than those who accept the official versions of contested events.

The most recent study was published on July 8th by psychologists Michael J. Wood and Karen M. Douglas of the University of Kent (UK). Entitled “What about Building 7? A social psychological study of online discussion of 9/11 conspiracy theories,” the study compared “conspiracist” (pro-conspiracy theory) and “conventionalist” (anti-conspiracy) comments at news websites.

The authors were surprised to discover that it is now more conventional to leave so-called conspiracist comments than conventionalist ones: “Of the 2174 comments collected, 1459 were coded as conspiracist and 715 as conventionalist.” In other words, among people who comment on news articles, those who disbelieve government accounts of such events as 9/11 and the JFK assassination outnumber believers by more than two to one. That means it is the pro-conspiracy commenters who are expressing what is now the conventional wisdom, while the anti-conspiracy commenters are becoming a small, beleaguered minority.

Perhaps because their supposedly mainstream views no longer represent the majority, the anti-conspiracy commenters often displayed anger and hostility: “The research… showed that people who favoured the official account of 9/11 were generally more hostile when trying to persuade their rivals.”

Additionally, it turned out that the anti-conspiracy people were not only hostile, but fanatically attached to their own conspiracy theories as well. According to them, their own theory of 9/11 – a conspiracy theory holding that 19 Arabs, none of whom could fly planes with any proficiency, pulled off the crime of the century under the direction of a guy on dialysis in a cave in Afghanistan – was indisputably true. The so-called conspiracists, on the other hand, did not pretend to have a theory that completely explained the events of 9/11: “For people who think 9/11 was a government conspiracy, the focus is not on promoting a specific rival theory, but in trying to debunk the official account.”

Read more at:-
http://exopermaculture.com/2013/08/23/re-those-supposedly-crazy-conspiracy-theorists-guess-what/

Mannings biggest revelation of all - the lengths to which the government will go to, to try and cover up the truth

As much hay as the government has made about the supposed damage done to the United States by Pfc. Chelsea Manning’s massive leak of classified documents to WikiLeaks three years ago, you might think that those revelations were the biggest breach of U.S. national security in American history.

Leavenworth Penitentiary

Manning’s sentence of 35 years surpasses by far any punishment that anyone has ever received for similar offenses. By comparison, former Navy intelligence officer Samuel Morrison was sentenced to two years for giving classified satellite photographs toJane’s Defense Weekly in 1985.

The 35 years that Manning got was so far removed from what could be considered reasonable that even the New York Times – which has maintained a relatively neutral stance over the case for the past three years – was compelled to call it “far too long a sentence by any standard” in an editorial Wednesday.

Indeed, 35 years is a harsh sentence in the extreme, one that should be reserved only for the most heinous crimes – for example, violence against children, rape, murder and torture.

Ironically, it was precisely those sorts of crimes that Manning exposed three years ago that got her in so much trouble in the first place.

After being rebuffed by her commanding officer and rejected by traditional news outlets like the New York Times, the young Army intelligence analyst provided three important bodies of documents to WikiLeaks.

The Iraq war logs consisted of 391,000 field reports, including the notorious “Collateral Murder” video of U.S. soldiers gunning down a crowd of Iraqi civilians, injuring two small children and killing two Reuters journalists in July 2007. These logs also included documentation of the Haditha massacre in which 24 Iraqi civilians, most of them women, children and the elderly, were systematically murdered by U.S. Marines (a crime for which the perpetrators were never punished).

Following that release, there were 90,000 Afghan war logs, revealing how coalition forces had killed hundreds of civilians in unreported incidents in Afghanistan and how a secret “black” unit of special forces had hunted down suspected Taliban leaders for “kill or capture” without trial.

And, finally, Manning’s document release included 260,000 diplomatic cables, which arguably had the most impact globally, providing for example the spark for the Arab Spring.

Indeed, it could be argued that the biggest journalistic stories of the past half-decade can be attributed to the courage that Pfc. Manning showed by providing these documents to WikiLeaks back in 2010. But, in a sense, none of these are the biggest revelations that Pfc. Manning brought to light.

Sadly, the biggest story is the lengths that the U.S. government will go to in its attempts to silence and punish whistleblowers, and the shameful silence of the American public at large when these abuses are carried out in plain sight.

Read more at :-
http://my.firedoglake.com/natparry/2013/08/23/mannings-biggest-revelation-of-all/

Learn Chinese in 5 minutes

Lindsey Graham - Dum Fas Cist
John McCain - See Nial Fas Cist
Dianne Feinstein - Ug Lei Fas Cist
Jeffrey Toobin - Loo Nei Fas Cist
Monkey Man - Balack Obama (organ grinder = bankers)
Lloyd Blankfein - Big Chief Fas Cist
Jamie Dimon - Big Chief Fas Cist
Mitch McConnell - Wee Sel Fas Cist
Congress - Velly cheap bribes
Tim Geithner - AIG Fas Cist Kum Collecting
Hillary Clinton - Mad Wich of the West Fas Cist
Eric Holder - Jail Dem Black Fuks
Barack Obama - Drone Dem Brown Fuks
John Boehner - Dum Fuk Fas Cist
Joe Biden - Lie Lo Fas Cist
Marco Rubio - Am Nes Tee Fas Cist
John Brennan - Ee Ville Fas Cist
Keith Alexander - Lei Ass Off Fas Cist
Evelyn Rothschild - Emperor
David Rockefeller - Dep You Tee Emperor
Whistleblower Protection - Hundred Flowers campaign
New York Times - China Daily
Washington Post - Pravda
Fox News - Lie In Fuks
MSNBC - Lie In Fuks
CNN - Lie In Fuk Fas Cists
ABC - No Won Wachees
CBS - No Won Wachees
Wolf Blitzer - Big Lie In Fuk Fas Cist
Germany - Yan Kei Taiwan
Eric Cantor - Hoo give a Fuk
Harry Reid - Dum schmuck
Nancy Pelosi - Skee Ming Fas Cist
Reince Priebus - In Kom Pei Tent Fas Cist
Sunni Islamic Extremists - Yan Kei contractors
Shia Islamic Extremists - Yan Kei En Emei
UK - Yan Kei Poo Dell
Ben Bernanke - Sen Trall Plan Ner Fas Cist - Steil Trillions
DOJ - Lok Up Poor Fuks
DOJ - Let Rich Fuks Off
Campaign Contributions - Bri Berry
Eurozone - Ban Kee Colon Nei (Yan Kei Hong Kong)
Iceland - Land of the Free
Federal Reserve Gold Depository - M Tee
Big Pharma - Mei Kei Fuks Sik
Monsanto - Mei Kei Fuks Sik
Pentagon - Yan Kie Har Eem, Fuks a lot
American Patriot - Yan Kei Diss I Dent
America - Ban Rup Ted
Cisco - Yan Kei Spy Agency
Microsoft - Yan Kei Spy Agency
Google - Yan Kei Spy Agency


Any further suggestions welcome.

Unemployment rose in most States in July

WASHINGTON (AP) - Unemployment rates rose in more than half of U.S. states in July and fewer states added jobs, echoing national data that show the job market may have lost some momentum.

The Labor Department said Monday that unemployment rates increased in 28 states. They were unchanged in 14 and fell in eight states - the fewest to show a decline since January.

Hiring increased in 32 states in July compared with June, the fewest to report job gains in three months. Seventeen states reported job losses. California, Georgia and Florida reported the largest job gains, while New Jersey and Nevada lost the most.

Nationwide, hiring has been steady this year but slowed in July. Employers added 162,000 jobs, the fewest since March. The unemployment rate fell to 7.4 percent, a 4 1/2 -year low, from 7.6 percent.

And while the job market has improved over the past 12 months, the gains appear to be benefiting southern and western states most of all.

Unemployment in the West fell to 7.9 percent in July. That's down from 9.3 percent a year earlier and the biggest decline of the four regions. In the South, unemployment fell to 7.3 percent, from 7.8 percent a year ago.

Unemployment has barely dipped in the Midwest, to 7.3 percent from 7.5 percent in the past year. In the Northeast, it dropped to 7.6 percent from 8.4 percent.

Steve Cochrane, an economist at Moody's Analytics, says southern and western states have seen steady growth in manufacturing jobs. And the South is also benefiting from lower taxes and cheaper labor.

"Some of the old, long-standing comparative advantages are re-emerging as drivers of growth," he added.

California has propelled much of the gains in the West, adding 38,100 jobs in July to lead all states. And California has added 236,000 jobs in the past year, second only to Texas's 293,000 jobs.

Unemployment in California has fallen to 8.7 percent in July from 10.6 percent 12 months ago - the biggest year-over-year drop of any state.

Another bright spot is Utah, which has gained the largest percentage of jobs in the past 12 months. Utah's gains were in information technology, manufacturing and construction.

In the South, Texas, Florida and Georgia have been driving job growth. Georgia added 30,900 jobs in July, the second most of any state. Much of the gains were in categories that include transportation, utilities, retail, hotels, restaurants and amusement parks.

Nevada reported the nation's highest unemployment rate in July, at 9.5 percent. It was followed by Illinois, 9.2 percent. North Dakota continues to have the nation's lowest unemployment at 3 percent. South Dakota is close behind at 3.9 percent. 

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130819/DA8941PG2.html

The employment situation has not improved over the last 12 months - almost all of the jobs that have been added are low paid part time jobs. See this

Real unemployment has risen over the last 12 months - there are a lot more discouraged workers that have given up looking for work because there just aren't well paid jobs out there. 

Official unemployment has risen for the under 25 age category and we have now have around 3.5 million recent college leavers and about the same number of school leavers that are now looking for work and haven't filtered into the jobs numbers yet.

I wonder how many jobs in Utah are due to the construction of the new $2bn NSA data center. The construction of this is now almost complete.

The job gains in Texas, Florida and Georgia are all in low paying sectors. 

No details are available of which sector(s) California jobs gains are. 

Nevada has the highest official unemployment rate. A fall out from the housing bubble. I wonder how the casinos are doing in 2nd Qtr 2013. With the precipitous drop in disposable incomes - less people will have the cash to go to Las Vegas.  

North and South Dakota have the lowest unemployment rates. A reflection of the booming energy sector in those states.

A one month up tick in California's job numbers cannot be taken as a trend.

Farewell to privacy: life in a surveillance state

Love him or hate him, Edward Snowden forever disabused us of the notion that certain things in life are still private. Reaction to his disclosures is directly proportionate to the level of support or disgust over the growing surveillance establishment.

In spite of the fact that the odds of becoming the victim of a terrorist attack in the U.S. are 20 million to 1, the global war on terror continues to be used as the pretext for taking away any remnants of our fragile privacy. It’s been estimated that during the last decade the U.S. spent $7 trillion dollars to fund this endless battle. The fear of a phantom bearded terrorist, waving a pitchfork out of a desert cave in a distant land is also being used to silence any criticism over ourextrajudicial drone murders, foreign policy, as well as domestic and international spying.

While the U.S. is more than willing to sacrifice the lamb of our privacy at the throne of the ubiquitous “war on terror”, we openly support Sunni extremists all over the world, grant asylum to murderous Chechen terrorists, arm Al Qaeda affiliates in Syria and encourage our allies to do the same.

It also bares mentioning that the definition of terrorism is in the eye of the beholder. The Department of Homeland Security’s intelligence assessmentswarn government officials to be on a lookout for American veterans, anti-war protesters and those who dare to reject federal authority in favor of state or local authority. Speaking out against corruption or simply voicing your disagreement with our official foreign policy on heavily-monitored social networks is very likely to turn you into a target of warrantless surveillance.

Let’s examine what it’s like to live our lives under the microscope. In the morning, when you open the refrigerator, crank up your coffeemaker, use a toaster or any other kitchen gadget, your movements become a part of a larger network. Surveillance-minded Big Brother has been eyeing “dumb appliances” for years. Now that most of them contain sensitive electronics, items of interest can be “located, identified, monitored, and remotely controlled through technologies such as radio-frequency identification, sensor networks, tiny embedded servers, and energy harvesters - all connected to the next-generation internet using abundant, low-cost, and high-power computing,” explained General David Petraeus.

Read more at:-

http://www.examiner.com/article/farewell-to-privacy-life-a-surveillance-state