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Scuds Blast Big Syrian Rebel Push for Al - Safira Chemical Arms Store
Dec 21st, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

The Syrian Air Force is again firing Scud missiles, this time to stem the general offensive Syrian opposition forces, including jihadis, launched Friday, Dec. 21, to capture the Syrian army’s military-industrial complex at al Safira and the big chemical and biological weapons store adjoining the facility. It is there, that Scud D missiles stand ready for launching, loaded with chemical weapons.

Rebel forces are converging on Al Safira from the east, the west and the south. Among them are brigades of the Jabhat al-Nusra which the US has designated part of al Qaeda in Iraq.
debkafile military sources report extremely heavy fighting. The rebels have reached points 1-2 kilometers from the perimeter walls of the Al Safira chemical weapons stores and are being pounded by Syrian warplanes and assault helicopters as well as Scuds, in a desperate effort to halt their advance.

Success in seizing control of those stores would re-tilt the balance of the war in their favor and bring President Bashar Assad face to face with a decision on whether to broach the perilous dimension of chemical warfare on the rebels or even against NATO or US targets outside Syria.
A prime factor in his decision would be the information received in Moscow and Tehran – and almost certainly passed on to the Syrian ruler – that taking part in the offensive are rebels who underwent training in recent weeks in northern Jordan by US, Czech and Polish officers in tactics for seizing chemical or biological caches and dismantling them.

Russian and Iranian intelligence watchers suspect that elements from all three armies as well as Jordan are present in the rebel assault force, in order to be on the spot when the weapons of mass destruction are captured and appropriate them to forces under NATO command. They must beat Jabhat al-Nusra’s fighting brigades to this target, although at this moment, the jihadis are ahead of the race.
The battle for al Safira has brought US and NATO into direct intervention in Syrian hostilities. Western intelligence services estimate that even if Assad removed some of the banned weapons from this complex, large quantities remain and must be prevented from reaching the wrong hands.

Putin: Russia’s Concern is for Fate of Syria – not President Assad
Dec 21st, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Russian President Vladimir Putin said that if the solution to the Syrian conflict is a takeover by the opposition now fighting Assad the civil war will be endless. “We want to avoid (Syrian’s) integration,” he stressed. “What is our position? Not to leave Assad's regime in power at any price, but to first (let the Syrians) agree among themselves how they should live next,” AFP reported him as saying. “Only then should we start looking at ways to change the existing order.”

Let the Headlines Speak
Dec 21st, 2012
Daily NewsFrom the Internet
Categories: Today's Headlines;Contemporary Issues

Iran, Russia to continue supporting Syria: Iran deputy FM
“I have seen that there has not been any change in the Russian strategy towards Syria,” Amir-Abdollahian said on the sidelines of a meeting with Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov in Moscow. “Tehran and Moscow will continue supporting Syria,” he noted, adding that Iran’s six-point peace plan allows for a political solution to the unrest in Syria “and Russia and Iran share this position.” (Video)

NATO: Collapse of Syrian regime a matter of time
The collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime in Syria is a matter of time, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in an interview to TRT Haber TV channel on Thursday.-Rasmussen said placing Patriot anti-aircraft missiles on the Turkish-Syrian border poses no threat to Iran or Syria, and is not directed against them. Their placement is aimed to defend Turkey against possible aggression.

New Missiles for Iran Impact Hagel Debate
The Iranian nuclear threat has been put on the back burner both in the United States and Israel in recent weeks, but the latest news out of Syria has the potential to alter the discussion about the West’s leverage over Tehran. According to a report broadcast this morning on Fox News, diplomatic sources are saying that a Russian air defense system sold to Syria is now being transferred to Iran. The move can be interpreted as yet another sign that the Assad regime is faltering and transferring its assets out of the country.

Russia-NATO standoff over Syria looms
The kidnapping of Russian nationals on Monday is drawing Moscow deeper into the Syrian crisis, which is becoming increasingly internationalised as battle lines get more sharply defined between foreign supporters of the government and the armed opposition.-Analysts point out that there is body of opinion building up in Russia that argues that the kidnapping of the Russian nationals provides legitimate grounds for Moscow’s forceful intervention in Syria.

22 UN General Assembly Resolutions Targeted Israel This Year, 4 for Rest of World
By the end of this week the current 2012 UNGA session will have adopted 22 country-specific resolutions targeting Israel – and only four on the rest of the world combined, one each for Syria, Iran, North Korea and Burma, according to UN Watch. On Tuesday alone The U.N. General Assembly adopted nine resolutions on ”Palestinian rights and the Golan,” sharply criticizing Israel yet making no mention of Sunday’s massacre of Palestinian Arabs by Syrian warplanes firing missiles into a mosque in a refugee camp near Damascus.

Iranian Spiritual Leader: Prepare For Environment That Will Bring Mahdi/End Times
Khamenei warned of the imminent return of the Mahdi, or the 12th imam. “The issue of Imam Mahdi is of utmost importance, and his reappearance has been clearly stated in our holy religion of Islam,” he said. “We must study and remind ourselves of the end of times and Imam Mahdi’s era. … We must prepare the environment for the coming so that the great leader will come.”

Great Train Robbery in Progress- Goldmans of the World Are Going Massively Long Gold
Sinclair states that as soon as the bullion banks have grabbed every last available ounce of gold they can lay their hands on, gold will EXPLODE to $3,500.

'Hate speech' targets 2nd Amendment supporters
That’s the word from Second Amendment Foundation Executive Vice President Alan Gottlieb on the issue of the vitriol that is being directed both at gun owners and firearms rights organizations in the aftermath of the Connecticut school shooting tragedy. Gottlieb said the hostile tone against gun owners may lead to actual “hate crimes,” and some of the communications that have come into his office have been “vulgar.”

Syria conflict: Assad fires more Scuds - live updates
A Syrian footballer raised a revolutionary flag after Syria beat Iraq to the win West Asian championships, according to the Saudi news site al-Arabiya. An image showed striker Omar al-Soma raising a flag to Syrian fans at the match in Kuwait, but it unclear what type of flag he was holding aloft.

U.N. imposes sanctions on 2 Iranian companies
The U.N. Security Council imposed sanctions on two Iranian companies Thursday for smuggling arms to Syria and other countries. The council's committee monitoring an arms embargo and other sanctions against Iran added cargo airline Yas Air and SAD Import Export Company to its blacklist.

Israel: Palestinians power-drunk
"Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas is seeking to incite a confrontation with Israel no matter what," the Foreign Ministry said Friday, following the Palestinian leader's announcement that Ramallah will actively try to isolate Israel in the international arena.

US cancels vote on Boehner's fiscal cliff 'Plan B'
US Republicans have cancelled a tax vote in Congress, less than two weeks before a deadline for budget reform. Republican House speaker John Boehner proposed the bill, which would have raised taxes on high earners. But right-leaning Republicans rejected it. Analysts say the rejection has weakened Mr Boehner's position in negotiations with the White House.

Many dead in fresh Tana River clashes on Kenyan coast
At least 30 people have been killed in fresh clashes between rival farming communities in the Tana River district on the Kenyan coast, police say. The latest outbreak of violence is reported to be a revenge attack by Pokomo farmers on Orma homesteads.

Assad Built 10-15 Mobile Chemical Labs a Year Ago – Syrian Defector
Dec 21st, 2012
Daily Newsdebkafile
Categories: Today's Headlines;Warning

Washington Post columnist David Ignatius quotes US intelligence sources on a revelation by a Syrian defector that in late 2011, the Syrian army started building special trucks able to transport and mix chemical weapons. Inside the Mercedes or Volvos, which looked outwardly like refrigerator trucks, mobile labs were installed to combine and activate “binary” chemical weapons agents. The defector said that, six weeks ago, the Syrian opposition secretly handed Lebanese officials a description of the trucks so that they could watch the border to make sure they did not cross over and reached Hizballah.