Looking for His glorious appearing! Titus 2:13

The World Against Netanyahu
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily NewsINN - Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel;Anti-Israel

Australia has joined France and Britain by summoning its ambassador to convey its "grave concern" over plans to build homes for Jews in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria.

Australia is a long-time friend of Israel but disappointed Jerusalem, as did even the United States, by deciding to abstain instead of voting against the United Nations resolution to grant the Palestinian Authority Non-Member Observer status, thereby acknowledging its unilateral political and territorial demands.

"Australia has long opposed all settlement activity," said Foreign Minister Bob Carr, but he still hangs on to the dead and buried concept of negotiations between Israel and the PA for the establishment of a new Arab country within Israel’s current borders. He said that plans to withhold tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority in order to pay part of the astronomic bill for the electricity supplied by Israel, "enormously complicate the prospects for resuming negotiations between the two sides.”

The United States and Europe have stepped up pressure on Israel to reverse course over building plans for Jews, which they see as a threat to the viability of a future Palestinian Authority state.

Prime Minister Netanyahu has taken a strong stand since the UN vote, announcing plans for a new Jewish neighborhood between the Maale Adumim suburban city and Jerusalem and new homes for Jews in Jerusalem and in Judea and Samaria, and the suspension of handing over tax payments that Israel collects for the PA.

Critics within the government, as well as the Ichud Leumi (National Union) in the opposition, have noted that the monetary transfers are, in part, used by the Hamas terrorist organization in Gaza as well as by the Ramallah-based Fatah regime for fueling incitement to violence against Israel.

The PA is committed by previous agreements, including the Oslo Accords, to desist from all incitement.

One of the most blinding red flags for the international community is Israel’s determination to proceed with a 15-year-old plan to build in the “E1” area of Maale Adumim, located less than five miles east of Jerusalem and the largest city in Judea and Samaria.

The PA considers building for Jews in E1 as a barrier to contiguous PA state that would stretch along the eastern border of Jerusalem. However, it can only be considered a barrier if Maale Adumim, a modern city with tens of thousands of Jews, and a part of the settlement blocs, is to be abandoned.

The US State Department warned on Monday that the E1 area "is particularly sensitive and construction there would be especially damaging to efforts to achieve a two-state solution."

President Barack Obama's spokesman Jay Carney ramped up the pressure on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu later in the day, directly calling on him to change course.

"We urge Israeli leaders to reconsider these unilateral decisions and exercise restraint as these actions are counterproductive and make it harder to resume direct negotiations," Carney told reporters at the White House.

So far, Netanyahu is not caving in, and an Israel diplomatic source told Voice of Israel government radio Tuesday that European countries expected and even understand Israel’s reaction to the UN vote in favor of the PA, but they think it was too harsh."Israel continues to insist on its vital interests, even under international pressure. There will be no change in the decision that has been made," a source in Netanyahu's office said earlier.

PA Chairman Mahmoud Abbas is goading the international community to continue to support him.

He called on the international community to "take the necessary steps to avoid the collapse of everything," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said in a statement.

The Prime Minister is holding his own on the diplomatic front. London and Paris rejected media reports that they were planning the unprecedented step of recalling their ambassadors to Israel over the plans, but both made their disquiet at developments known.

Syria Violating Golan Ceasefire Agreement, Says UN Leader
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon accused Syria on Monday of serious violations of the 1974 agreement that separated Israeli and Syrian forces in the Golan Heights.

"I am concerned that the presence of armed members of the opposition and the ongoing military activities of the Syrian security forces have the potential to ignite a larger conflict between Israel and the Syrian Arab Republic with grave consequences," Ban said in a report to the UN Security Council, the contents of which were distributed Monday.

"There should be no military activity of any kind in the area of separation,” he added.

The UN chief noted that such activity poses a risk to the ceasefire, to the local civilian population and to UN personnel on the ground.

There have been several incidents of the civil war in Syria spilling over into the Golan Heights recently.

The last two incidents occurred last week, when residents of the religious Zionist town of Alonei Habashan, which is less than a kilometer from the border, reported that they heard explosions near the town, perhaps a result of a mortar shell that had been fired from Syria.

In a second incident the same night, an IDF vehicle was hit by bullets fired from Syrian territory into Israel during the fighting between the sides. There were no injuries or damage.

Several weeks ago, as IDF troops were patrolling along the border fence with Syria, their jeep was hit with some bullets that were fired from the Syrian side of the border. No one was hurt, but the IDF acted in accordance with the new rules of engagement and responded shortly thereafter with artillery fire at a building on the other side of the border.

The IDF changed the rules of engagement along the Syrian border after the fighting in Syria spilled over into Israel more than once.

The new orders instruct soldiers to respond if fire from Syria is dangerous and persistent.

Last Thursday, two Austrian soldiers stationed with the UN force on the Golan Heights were shot and wounded in Syria while their convoy was travelling to the Damascus airport.

The pair were part of the Austrian contingent of the United Nations Disengagement Observers Force (UNDOF) on the Golan Heights and were travelling to Damascus airport to fly back to Austria after their tour of duty.

The two soldiers were flown by helicopter to the Rambam Hospital in Haifa where they received medical treatment.

Report: Syria Combining Chemicals for Sarin Gas
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily NewsINN - Elad Benari
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Engineers working for President Bashar Al-Assad’s regime in Syria have begun combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas, an American official with knowledge of the situation told Wired.com’s Danger Room on Monday.

International observers are now more worried than they’ve even been that the Damascus government could use its nerve agent stockpile to slaughter its own people, the report said.

The U.S. doesn’t know why the Syrian military made the move, which began in the middle of last week and is taking place in central Syria, nor are they sure why the Assad government is transferring some weapons to different locations within the country, as the New York Times reported on Monday.

“Physically, they’ve gotten to the point where they can load it up on a plane and drop it,” the official told Wired.com.

Sarin gas has two main chemical components: isopropanol, popularly known as rubbing alcohol, and methylphosphonyl difluoride. The Assad government has more than 500 metric tons of these precursors, which it ordinarily stores separately, in so-called “binary” form, in order to prevent an accidental release of nerve gas.

Last week, reported Wired.com, that changed. The Syrian military began combining some of the binaries. “They didn’t do it on the whole arsenal, just a modest quantity,” the official said. “We’re not sure what’s the intent.”

Back in July, the Assad regime publicly warned that it might use its chemical weapons to stop “external” forces from interfering in Syria’s bloody civil war. The announcement sparked a panic in the intelligence services of the U.S. and its allies, which stepped up their efforts to block shipments of precursors for those weapons from entering the country.

“This is a more serious moment than July,” the official said.

CNN confirmed the report later on Monday. A U.S. intelligence official told the network that the U.S. obtained intelligence over the past weekend indicating this concerning development.

The intelligence, the official said, came from multiple sources but declined to provide any more specifics about how the U.S. learned the information.

The report came several hours after the Damascus government promised that it wouldn't use chemical weapons against its own people.

In a statement broadcast on government-run national television, the country's foreign ministry assured the international community that Assad would not approve such a measure.

"In response to the statements of the American Secretary of State, who warned Syria against using chemical weapons, Syria has stressed repeatedly that it will not use these types of weapons, if they were available, under any circumstances against its people,” the statement said.

The statement came following one by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who said earlier in the day, “This is a red line for the United States. I'm not going to telegraph in any specifics what we would do in the event of credible evidence that the Assad regime has resorted to using chemical weapons against their own people. But suffice to say we are certainly planning to take action.”

A similar “red line” on chemical weapons was drawn for Assad by U.S. President Barack Obama in a statement he made in August from the White House.

"We cannot have a situation where chemical or biological weapons are falling into the hands of the wrong people,” Obama told reporters at the time. “We have been very clear to the Assad regime – but also to other players on the ground – that a red line for us is we start seeing a whole bunch of chemical weapons moving around or being utilized.”

Israel has expressed concern that the chemical weapons arsenal maintained in Syria will indeed end up in the wrong hands – specifically, the hands of Hizbullah or other terrorists who aim to annihilate the Jewish State.

A report published Monday by The Atlantic indicated that Israel has consulted with Jordan twice over the issue of Syria's chemical weapons arsenal, both times with plans to take out multiple sites.

Next Step for Hamas - PA Unity: Terror
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily NewsINN - Tzvi Ben Gedalyahu
Categories: Today's Headlines;Anti-Israel

Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah movement is marching hand-in-hand with Hamas, which has offered the movement, founded by Yasser Arafat, “to put our hands together and carry the gun.”

The rift between the two rival factions seemed irreparable in 2007, when Hamas ousted the Fatah leadership from Gaza in a bloody militia war of both sides’ terrorist wings, which they say exist for “armed resistance."

After years of failed efforts to settle a power struggle and re-unite, Hamas’ diplomatic victory after Israel’s Pillar of Defense counterterrorist operation last month, and Abbas’ move for implicit recognition by the United Nations, changed the course.

Fatah and Hamas fought side-by-side in the missile war against Israel, according to Hanan al-Qassas, the Gaza-based chief of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, quoted by he Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency.

The ceasefire after Pillar of Defense elevated Hamas to a diplomatic position of direct negotiations with Egypt and which were accepted by Israel as well as the United States, where Hamas is officially designated as an illegal terrorist organization.

Hamas then reversed course and accepted Abbas' UN ploy, adding that it was a step towards taking over all of Israel as “Palestine.”

The unity took another step forward this week with Hamas welcoming back to Gaza 12 Fatah “militia men,” one of whom told Ma'an,"We are strugglers; we left for blood not to be shed and today we come back to our homeland after five years."

Senior Hamas official Mahmoud al-Zahar on Monday said at a ceremony on Monday, "Come to the program of resistance and stop wasting time and efforts, let’s put our hands together and carry the gun.

"I tell Fatah members, those who want to participate on the ride of the victors and who want to celebrate and feel that he’s honored and carry the gun, we open our arms to them on the basis of resistance and to liberate Palestine, all Palestine, and those who want to do different than this we tell them we know our way, which is to Jerusalem.”

The call to unity for terror, or what the Palestinian Authority calls “resistance,” is in direct opposition to what the international community and mainstream media call Abbas’ carefully planned diplomatic route to achieve his political and territorial demands after years of gaining “goodwill” concessions from Israel.

However, Abbas has simultaneously told Arab language media and Arab demonstrators that he backs “resistance.” He also has eulogized suicide bombers.

Let the Headlines Speak
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Darkness at noon in the mind of fearful Damascus
Dark is when the kidnappers come out to seek new victims, and the clashes raging on the outskirts creep ever closer to the heart of Damascus. For months, the people of Damascus have nervously watched their ancient city dragged deeper into Syria's bloody conflict. "What would happen to our beautiful Old City? It is mental torture."-"Last week a rocket landed on my street, I know the fighting is getting closer. The dread is causing me physical pain."

Maritime Union: Senators ask Atlantic Canadians to ‘think big’ and merge provinces
Conservative Senators from Atlantic Canada are mounting a renewed push for a Maritime Union, proposing the merger of the three East Coast provinces into a single political entity to rescue the region’s stumbling economy.-“For 1.8 million people we are terribly over-governed. But the bigger part of this is working in concert, together, to try to create economic development.

US, Israel, Turkey, Jordan primed to strike if Assad activates chemical weapons
military sources report that the American force in Jordan and Jordanian units, who have been training for two months in tactics against Syrian chemical warfare units, are on a high state of preparedness. So, too, are the three special US command centers set up in Turkey, Jordan and Israel for coordinating such operations. An American official “with knowledge of the situation” told Wired Magazine that “engineers working for the Assad regime in Syria have begun combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas.”

Likud hopeful prays on Temple Mount, breaking taboo
Likud politician Moshe Feiglin on Monday violated the unwritten rule that prohibits Jews from practicing religion on the Temple Mount, as he prayed at the holy site. Feiglin recently wrote his political vision on Facebook, remarking that the mission would be over when “we build the [Jewish] Temple on top of the Temple Mount and fulfill our purpose in the land.”

Prophecy 101: Now in Tel Aviv
Set in the heart of Tel Aviv, Shmuel Portman Hapartzi — a self-named messianic Chabad follower — hopes to teach people all they need to know to become prophets of the Jewish people, Yedioth Ahronoth reported on Monday. Official Chabad has criticized the initiative.

US Tries to Stop UN Internet Control
US Ambassador Terry Kramer says he is doing everything in his power to try to prevent UN regulation of Internet, as conference sparks censorship fears.

Diplomatic efforts to halt N. Korea rocket launch
South Korea's top nuclear envoy left for Washington Tuesday for talks on North Korea's planned rocket launch, as Seoul urged China to play an active role in getting Pyongyang to cancel the mission. Lim Sung-Nam, Seoul's chief delegate to the stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear programme, will meet with senior US State Department and National Security Council officials during his three-day visit.

US Tries to Stop UN Internet Control
US Ambassador Terry Kramer says he is doing everything in his power to try to prevent UN regulation of Internet, as conference sparks censorship fears.

Diplomatic efforts to halt N. Korea rocket launch
South Korea's top nuclear envoy left for Washington Tuesday for talks on North Korea's planned rocket launch, as Seoul urged China to play an active role in getting Pyongyang to cancel the mission. Lim Sung-Nam, Seoul's chief delegate to the stalled six-party talks on the North's nuclear programme, will meet with senior US State Department and National Security Council officials during his three-day visit.

Jordanian king to meet Abbas in Ramallah
The visit scheduled for Thursday marks the first official visit of an Arab leader to the West Bank since the United Nations voted to upgrade the Palestinian status to that of a non-member observer state. "His majesty's visit carries a strong message to the Israeli side, confirms Jordan's stand alongside the state of Palestine," Nimer Hammad, the king's political adviser told the Amman newspaper al-Ghad Tuesday.

Israel exacts retaliation for Palestinian statehood vote as it confiscates £75m in revenue
The Israeli move, coinciding with Mr Abbas's arrival to a hero's welcome in the West Bank, came as the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu baldly rejected last Thursday's resounding vote granting the Palestinians full UN observer status. It left the Palestinian Authority (PA) facing a financial black hole that could prevent it from paying the salaries of thousands of workers, just as Mr Abbas in Ramallah exhorted his countrymen to celebrate "a decisive landmark on the path of our national struggle".

Three earthquakes jolt eastern Taiwan
Taipei, Dec. 3 (CNA) Three earthquakes shook Hualien in eastern Taiwan early Monday, with the strongest recorded at magnitude 5.1 on the Richter scale, but there were no reports of casualties or damage, according to the Central Weather Bureau (CWB).

Crashes, flooding, power outages as nasty storm rolls into Bay Area
Blasting out of the Pacific, the third and most powerful "Pineapple Express" storm of the week swept over the Bay Area Sunday morning, dumping heavy rain on a region already soaked to the roots and reeling from power outages and flooding.

On CBS, Cheesecake Factory CEO Warns ObamaCare Will Be 'Very Costly
On Monday's CBS This Morning, Cheesecake Factory CEO David Overton spotlighted the looming economic impact of Obamacare's implementation, especially on small enterprises: "For those businesses that don't cover their employees, they'll be in for a very expensive situation." Overton also warned that the cost of the law would be passed on to customers.

Magnitude 5.8 Quake Shakes Anchorage, Alaska
The Alaska and West Coast Tsunami Warning Center said the magnitude-5.8 earthquake occurred at about 4:45 p.m. and was centered about 30 miles northwest of Anchorage. The Alaska Earthquake Information Center said the center was 27 miles west of Anchorage.

ISM: US Manufacturing Sector Contracts, Plunges to Three-Year Low
Manufacturing unexpectedly contracted in November to its lowest level in more than three years, as companies worried about whether lawmakers in Washington could reach a budget deal in time avert a crisis that many fear could lead to a recession.

UN pulling out all non-essential international staff from Syria
The United Nations says it is pulling out all non-essential international staff from Syria due to security issues in the civil war-struck Arab state. The UN's regional humanitarian co-ordinator for Syria says up to a quarter of the 100 international staff working for several UN agencies could exit by week's end. -"the security situation has become extremely difficult, including in Damascus," the Syrian capital.

Jordanian King to Visit Ramallah to Help PA 'establish State'
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily NewsINN - Rachael Hirshfeld
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Jordan's King Abdullah is set to arrive in Ramallah on Thursday on the first visit of an Arab leader to the area since the Palestinian Authority was granted UN recognition as a non-member observer state.

"King Abdullah will visit the state of Palestine the day after tomorrow, on Thursday, in the first visit by a top official to the Palestinian state after we received UN recognition," Nimr Hammad, political adviser to Palestinian Authority chairman Mahmud Abbas, told AFP on Tuesday.

"The visit will confirm Jordanian efforts and support for the Palestinian people and their leadership," Hammad added after assuming the status of "statehood" that the UN did not officially grant.

Jordanian officials refused to confirm that the visit would take place on Thursday.

"No date has been set," a top government official in Amman told AFP following the announcement.

Earlier, another senior Jordanian government official confirmed that the monarch was planning a trip to the PA, without specifying the date.

"The king will go to Ramallah soon and meet with Abbas there," he told AFP on condition of anonymity.

"The visit seeks to reiterate Jordan's support for the Palestinians, build on their historic achievement at the United Nations and help them establish an independent state,” he added.

The UN resolution, which was approved by a vote of 138 to 9, with 41 abstentions, has granted the Palestinian Authority de facto status as a sovereign state based on its own territorial claims, thus enabling it to circumvent final status negotiations with Israel.

The move will grant the PA access to a range of international organizations, including the International Criminal Court, which enables it to potentionally puruse “war crimes” charges against the state of Israel.

The Jordanian king, who visited the PA-controlled territories last year, met Abbas in Amman on Sunday and described the UN vote "as a major step” in Arab aspirations.

Abdullah paid his first visit to the area in May 1999, just months after being crowned king, meeting the late Yasser Arafat in Gaza. In April 2000, he made a first visit to Ramallah and returned four months later.

In November 2011, the king flew by helicopter to Ramallah for a brief stay of little more than two hours during which he held talks with Abbas ,who later dubbed the visit as "important and historic" but gave no further details.

That visit came just ahead of a key summit between Abbas and exiled Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal in Cairo to cement a stalled unity deal between Fatah and Hamas.

International Push Begins to Remove Hamas from Terrorist Lists, Prosecute Israel for Crimes of ‘aggr
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily NewsThe Blaze
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Following Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas’ success with his bid for statehood at the United Nations last week, the prime minister of Hamas is seeking to get his organization removed from designated terrorist lists.

An offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hamas is primarily located in the Gaza Strip and has become markedly more aggressive since Israel pulled out of the area in 2005. A designated terror group by the United States and other international bodies, the organization’s founding documents call for the destruction of Israel.

Now, though, they are turning the tables, and are marketing themselves as the victims.

Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh said Sunday to a European delegation that Hamas is a “national liberation movement” seeking only to defend itself against Israeli “aggression,” the Jerusalem Post reports.

“It is no exaggeration to say that the occupation is committing war crimes, given the cruelty and hardship our people faced in these eight days of war,” he added, saying Hamas eventually aims for “a Palestinian state with complete sovereignty, with Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of the refugees to the lands they owned in 1948.”

Though such an outcome would effectively mean the end of the state of Israel, Haniyeh claims he is happy to coexist with Jews, just not those in Israel.

If Iran Tries to Attack, Israel Has Thirteen Minutes to Target Its Missiles
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily NewsThe Times of Israel
Categories: Today's Headlines;The Nation Of Israel

In the event that Iran attempts to fire missiles at Israel, Jerusalem will deploy giant drones stationed in neighboring Azerbaijan to destroy the missiles before they leave the ground, the London-based Sunday Times reported.

According to the report Sunday, an American-made X-band radar system deployed at the Nevatim airbase in the Negev “can detect an Iranian missile on its launchpad 1,000 miles to the northeast,” giving Israel up to 13 minutes of warning.

The report quoted an Israeli military source as saying “We’ll try to ‘kill’ them at the booster stage - the moment their engines are ignited.”

Reportedly, such a preemptive strike would be carried out with American Hellfire missiles, delivered by Eitan drones - also known as Herons - based in Azerbaijan.

“If that happens, and it isn’t as easy as it sounds, then the remaining missiles will be finished off by our Air Defense Command,” a “well-informed Israeli source” was quoted as saying.

The story was written for the British newspaper by the Tel Aviv-based Uzi Mahnaimi, who in the past has reported that the IAF used Eitan drones in an alleged attack on a Gaza-bound Iranian arms convoy in Sudan.

The Eitan has a range of over 7,400 kilometers, over four times the distance between Israel and Iran. It can also remain airborne for over 70 hours, which means that if Israel were to jam Iran’s radar system and/or destroy its air-defense batteries - as it reportedly did to Sudan in another alleged attack, on an arms factory in October - the drones could hover, unimpeded, above Iran, as their operators located targets.

The IDF claims that during the initial hours of November’s Operation Pillar of Defense in Gaza - a coming-out party of sorts for Israel’s anti-missile technology - IAF aircraft destroyed hundreds of rocket launchers, decimating Hamas’s sizable stockpile of mid-range Fajr-5 rockets capable of reaching Tel Aviv.

Hillary: We're Standing Up for LGBT Rights All Around the World
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily Newscnsnews.com
Categories: Today's Headlines;Moral Decline

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said last week that she has stood up for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and and Transgender rights all around the world.

“Memories are short, and we can’t afford to rest on the laurels of the past,” Clinton said Thursday at an event co-hosted by the State Department and Foreign Policy Magazine. “So it’s our job to reintroduce a post-Iraq generation of young people around the world to principled American leadership.”

“That is part of why I’ve logged so many miles over the last four years going to something on the order of 112 countries, holding town hall meetings with young people from Tunis to Tokyo, shining a spotlight on the concerns of religious and ethnic minorities from the Copts in Egypt to the Rohingya in Burma, putting down a clear marker on internet freedom, going to the UN Human Rights Council to stand up for the rights and lives of the LGBT people around the world, advancing a new approach to development that puts human dignity and self-sufficiency at the heart of our efforts, and pushing women’s rights and opportunities to the top of the diplomatic agenda,” Clinton continued.

Damascus About to Become a Ruinous Heap? U.S., Israel, Turkey Prepare to Respond to Syrian WMD
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Isaiah 17:1 "The burden against Damascus. “Behold, Damascus will cease from being a city, and it will be a ruinous heap."

US forces in the region, Israel, Turkey and Jordan were all braced Monday night, Dec. 3 for action against Syria in case Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered his army’s chemical warfare units to go into action against rebel and civilian targets his own country.

None of the Middle East capitals are talking openly about this eventuality to avoiding causing panic.

However, oblique references to the peril and preparations for action came from US officials during Monday. White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “We have an increased concern about the possibility of the regime taking the desperate act of using its chemical weapons.” Such a move “would cross a red line for the United States.”

Without going into specifics, Carney added: “We think it is important to prepare for all scenarios. Contingency planning is the responsible thing to do.”

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Prague was slightly more specific: Syrian action on chemical weapons remains a “red line” for the Obama administration, she said, and “would prompt action from the United States.”

Regarding contingencies, DEBKAfile’s military sources report that the American force in Jordan and Jordanian units, who have been training for two months in tactics against Syrian chemical warfare units, are on a high state of preparedness.

So, too, are the three special US command centers set up in Turkey, Jordan and Israel for coordinating such operations.

An American official “with knowledge of the situation” told Wired Magazine that “engineers working for the Assad regime in Syria have begun combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas.”

Anchored opposite the Syrian shore is the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with 2,500 Marines.

Facing it is the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s naval task force which too has hundreds of marines on its decks.

DEBKAfile’s sources quote high-ranking officers in the Israel Defense Forces’ Northern Command as saying: “The coming hours and days are extremely critical for Syria. The situation on our northern front could blow up any moment.” They did not elaborate.

Later Monday, as the United Nations regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Radhouane Nouicer announced the pullout of nonessential international staff “because of the security situation,”.

Secretary Clinton flew into Brussels from Prague to discuss with NATO foreign ministers the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries at 10 points on the Turkish-Syrian border - a massive number.

NATO sources took note of the Syrian Foreign Ministry’s reply to the spreading reports.

He said that the government “would not use chemical weapons, if it had them, against its own people under any circumstances.”

This statement carried no promise about using such weapons against external forces, whether American, Turkish, Jordanian or Israeli.

In Istanbul, meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters at the end of his one-day visit: “What we are concerned about is Syria’s future. We don’t want the same mistakes to be repeated in the near future.”

He went on to say: “We shall remember how some regimes supported the militants in Libya and how the situation ended with the killing of the American ambassador in Libya.”

This was meant by the Russian president as a warning to the US not to get involved in the Syrian crisis as it did in Libya.

Assad Chemical Weapons Units Head Out of Damascus Toward Aleppo
Dec 4th, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

As NATO in Brussels gave the go-ahead Tuesday night, Dec. 4, for the deployment of Patriot surface-to-air missiles to protect Turkey against Syrian missiles, debkafile’s military and intelligence sources reported that convoys of the Syrian army’s chemical weapons units headed out of Damascus under cover of dark and turned north up the road to Aleppo. Their destination is not yet known.
The convoys were ferrying self-propelled cannons for firing shells loaded with poisonous sarin gas.
Syrian President Bashar Assad had evidently decided to ignore the warnings President Barack Obama issued Monday night that there would be consequences if he or anyone in Syria resorted to chemical warfare and each would be held accountable.

Our sources report that the Syrian ruler is aparently gambling dangerously on the Americans holding back from attacking the convoys as long as they deploy unconventional weapons, and would only react when they are used.

He is also taking advantage of the heavy winds, rain and cloud over this part of the eastern Mediterranean and counting on the weather to obstruct military operations against his chemical weapons units.

By the time the weather clears some time Thursday, the units will be in place in battle formation. Meanwhile, bombing the convoys in windy weather could cause the deadly gas to spread out of control in unpredictable directions.
In Brussels, a NATO official announced that the alliance had agreed to augment Turkey’s air-defense capabilities by deploying Patriot missiles to Turkey.
debkafile’s military sources report that by the time the missiles arrive, the Syrian chemical weapons units will almost certainly have reached their pre-planned positions. Furthermore, the Patriot air defense systems are not designed to counter artillery and would therefore be unable to stop shells loaded with poison gas.

debkafile reported earlier Tuesday, Dec. 4.
US forces in the region, Israel, Turkey and Jordan were all braced Monday night, Dec. 3 for action against Syria in case Syrian President Bashar Assad ordered his army’s chemical warfare units to go into action against rebel and civilian targets his own country. None of the Middle East capitals are talking openly about this eventuality to avoiding causing panic.
However, oblique references to the peril and preparations for action came from US officials during Monday. White House spokesman Jay Carney said: “We have an increased concern about the possibility of the regime taking the desperate act of using its chemical weapons.” Such a move “would cross a red line for the United States.”

Without going into specifics, Carney added: “We think it is important to prepare for all scenarios. Contingency planning is the responsible thing to do.”
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Prague was slightly more specific: Syrian action on chemical weapons remains a “red line” for the Obama administration, she said, and “would prompt action from the United States.”

Regarding contingencies, debkafile’s military sources report that the American force in Jordan and Jordanian units, who have been training for two months in tactics against Syrian chemical warfare units, are on a high state of preparedness. So, too, are the three special US command centers set up in Turkey, Jordan and Israel for coordinating such operations.

An American official “with knowledge of the situation” told Wired Magazine that “engineers working for the Assad regime in Syria have begun combining the two chemical precursors needed to weaponize sarin gas.”

Anchored opposite the Syrian shore is the USS Iwo Jima Amphibious Ready Group with 2,500 Marines. Facing it is the Russian Black Sea Fleet’s naval task force which too has hundreds of marines on its decks.

debkafile’s sources quote high-ranking officers in the Israel Defense Forces’ Northern Command as saying: “The coming hours and days are extremely critical for Syria. The situation on our northern front could blow up any moment.” They did not elaborate.

Later Monday, as the United Nations regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, Radhouane Nouicer announced the pullout of nonessential international staff “because of the security situation,” Secretary Clinton flew into Brussels from Prague to discuss with NATO foreign ministers the deployment of Patriot anti-missile batteries at 10 points on the Turkish-Syrian border - a massive number.
NATO sources took note of the Syrian Foreign Ministry’s reply to the spreading reports. He said that the government “would not use chemical weapons, if it had them, against its own people under any circumstances.” This statement carried no promise about using such weapons against external forces, whether American, Turkish, Jordanian or Israeli.

In Istanbul, meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin told reporters at the end of his one-day visit: “What we are concerned about is Syria’s future. We don’t want the same mistakes to be repeated in the near future.” He went on to say: “We shall remember how some regimes supported the militants in Libya and how the situation ended with the killing of the American ambassador in Libya.”
This was meant by the Russian president as a warning to the US not to get involved in the Syrian crisis as it did in Libya.