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US Intervention Not the Answer to the Terrorist War in Syria

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Photo Credit: National Review

By Jonah Goldberg. If there was a moment when the United States could have productively intervened in Syria, it looks like that moment has passed.

Shiite militants, including Hezbollah — partly at the behest of their paymasters in Iran — are racing to the defense of Bashar Assad’s regime. According to a witness account in the New York Times, there were some 11,000 Hezbollah fighters in the besieged town of Qusayr alone.

A Shiite religious student in Najaf, Iraq, told the Times that his colleagues believe the leader of Qatar, a backer of Sunni Syrian rebels, is a long-prophesied demonic figure who, it is foretold, will raise an army in Syria to wipe out Shiites in Iraq. As a result, devout Shiites are racing to defend their faith.

Sunnis around the world, meanwhile, are being called on to join the conflict, with the material support of Saudi Arabia and Qatar. The Sunni Muslim Scholars Association of Lebanon issued a fatwa calling on followers to support the rebels “by words, money, medical aid, and fighting.”

The hugely influential Sheikh Yusuf Qaradawi, a Sunni Egyptian cleric based in Qatar, called on Sunnis everywhere to come to Qusayr’s aid and proclaimed Hezbollah “more infidel than Jews and Christians.” Read more from this story HERE.

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Jordan: U.S. to deploy F-16s, anti-missile batteries to protect against Syria

By Cheryl K. Chumley. Jordan security heads said on Wednesday that the United States is going to deploy anti-missile batteries and F-16 fighter jets to the nation as a precautionary measure against a Syrian attack.

The deployment is set for the coming days, said two security officials involved in the mission who requested anonymity, The Associated Press reported. The United States is going to send and maintain either one or two Patriot missile launchers on Jordan’s northern border with Syria, along with several F-16 jets, AP reported. Read more from this story HERE.

Terrorist vs. Terrorist Rhetoric Continues in Syria: This Time, Iranians “Want to Eat Sunni People”

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Photo Credit: Heathcliff O’Malley

Yusef al-Qaradawi, who is based in Qatar and has been a leading voice supporting the Arab Spring, warned that Iranian Shia were trying to “eat” Sunni Muslims, who are a majority in the Muslim world.

He referred to Alawites, the followers of the Muslim sect to which President Bashar al-Assad of Syria belongs, as being “worse infidels than Christians or Jews”. He also used the deliberately contemptuous term “Nusayris” when talking about them.

He was particularly critical of the roles played by Iran, which is largely Shia, and the Lebanon Shia militia Hizbollah whose name translates as Party of God but which he called “Party of Satan”, in supporting the Assad regime.

“There is no common ground between the two sides because the Iranians, especially conservatives, want to eat the Sunni people,” he said.

The Syrian opposition is dominated, like Syria itself, by Sunni Muslims, but also includes a number of Christians, Alawites and other minorities.

Read more from this story HERE.

GOP Divide Between Senators Paul and McCain Over Syria Grow Deeper

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Photo Credit: AP/REUTERS

Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and Arizona Sen. John McCain are once again banging heads – this time over whether to arm Syrian rebels – in the latest dispute that underscores a divide in the GOP and intensifies the fight over what the party will represent in 2016 and beyond.

Paul, a first-term senator and Tea Party favorite surging in popularity, took the latest shot by opposing aid to the rebels – a key part of McCain’s plan to end the two-year Syrian civil war in which 70,000 civilians and others have been killed.

“It is very clear that any attempt to aid the Syrian rebels would be complicated and dangerous, precisely because we don’t know who these people are,” Paul wrote in an opinion piece earlier this week. “The situation in Syria is certainly dire. … Al Qaeda is making confirmed inroads into the country. No one wants to see Syria become a bastion of extremism. But like other American interventions in the past, U.S. involvement could actually help the extremists.”

But McCain, fresh off a secret trip to Syria, on Friday upped his call for intervention — telling the Associated Press the opposition needs heavy weapons.

Read more from this story HERE.

Russia to Sell at Least 10 MIG Fighters to Syria

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Photo Credit: AP

Russia’s MiG aircraft maker said Friday it plans to sign a new agreement to ship at least 10 fighter jets to Syria, a move that comes amid international criticism of earlier Russian weapons deals with Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

MiG’s director general, Sergei Korotkov, said a Syrian delegation was in Moscow to discuss the details of a new contract for the delivery of MiG-29 M/M2 fighters. In remarks carried by Russian news agencies, he said Syria wants to buy “more than 10” such fighters, but wouldn’t give the exact number.

Russia has said it’s only providing Assad with weapons intended to protect Syria from a foreign invasion, such as air defense missile systems. It has claimed it is not delivering weapons that could be used in Syria’s two-year civil war, which has killed more 70,000 people and sent millions fleeing the country.

Read more from this story HERE.

John McCain Denies He Knowingly Posed with ‘Rebel Kidnappers’ in Syria

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Photo Credit: AP

The photograph, released by Mr McCain’s office, shows the US senator standing with a group of rebels during his highly-publicised trip to Syria this week.

Two of the men in the image are Mohamed Nour and Abu Ibrahim, claimed Lebanese newspaper The Daily Star. The men are described as being part of a group who kidnapped 11 Shias last year.

They were identified by one of the kidnap victims, Anwar Ibrahim, who along with one other hostage has since been freed, the Star said. Negotiations over the freedom of the other nine are still ongoing.

“I recognised him (Nour) immediately. He was the photographer who was brought in to take our photos [during captivity]. He works with the kidnappers. He knows them very well,” Mr Ibrahim told the Star.

The Star claimed it had independently confirmed the identity of Nour, who reportedly acted as the spokesman for the kidnappers. The Telegraph has not confirmed the men’s identities.

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Syria’s Assad ‘Confident in Victory’ in Civil War

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Photo Credit: AP

Syrian President Bashar Assad said in an interview broadcast Thursday that he is “confident in victory” in his country’s civil war, and he warned that Damascus would retaliate for any future Israeli airstrike on his territory.

Assad also told the Lebanese TV station Al-Manar that Russia has fulfilled some of its weapons contracts recently, but he was vague on whether this included advanced S-300 air defense systems.

The comments were in line with a forceful and confident message the regime has been sending in recent days, even as the international community attempts to launch a peace conference in Geneva, possibly next month. The strong tone coincided with recent military victories in battles with armed rebels trying to topple him.

Read more from this story HERE.

What’s Really Going on in Syria? It’s Terrorist vs. Terrorist

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Photo Credit: APAs Syria’s civil war increasingly spills across its borders, a weekend speech by Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah marked one of the most significant developments in the conflict so far: The world’s foremost Shi’ite terrorist group effectively declared war on the world’s leading Sunni terrorist movement.

Nasrallah committed his Lebanon-based group to defending Syrian President Bashar Assad, but directed much of his vitriol towards radical Sunni “takfiris,” including al-Qaeda, whom he said were “dominating” the anti-Assad opposition.

(“Takfiri” is a term used to describe Muslims who accuse other Muslims of apostasy; al-Qaeda and other radical Sunnis regard Shi’ites as apostates. Assad is an Alawite, a Shia sect.)

In his address by video-link to supporters gathered in eastern Lebanon’s Bekaa valley, Nasrallah characterized “the resistance” – that is, Hezbollah – as defending not just its ally in Syria but also Lebanon and “Palestine” against a U.S.- and Israeli-backed “takfiri” conspiracy.

“What future do you expect in Lebanon, Syria and Palestine with the presence of these takfiris?” he asked. “Syria is the resistance’s main supporter and the resistance cannot stand still and let [takfiris] break its backbone.”

Read more from this story HERE.

Hezbollah Should Change Name to ‘Party of Satan,’ Turkish Deputy PM Says

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Photo Credit: Hussein MallaTurkish Deputy Prime Minister Bekir Bozdag said on Sunday that Hezbollah, or “Party of God” in Arabic, should change its name to Party of Satan, blaming the terrorist organization for killing thousands of civilians in Syria.

“Those who stand by the Assad regime and kill their own Muslim brothers and indiscriminately kill women and children in the battlefield should not appeal to Islam and the Quran to legitimize their actions,” Bozdag said, according to Turkish newspaper Today’s Zaman…

“The pharaoh gave orders for the killing of innocent children and their mothers to maintain power. What is the difference between what the Pharaoh did and Assad is doing?” he asked.

Read more from this story HERE.

Al-Qaeda’s Syrian Wing Takes Over the Oilfields Once Belonging to Assad (+video)

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Photo Credit: telegraph.co.ukUp to 380,000 barrels of crude oil were previously produced by wells around the city of Raqqa and in the desert region to its east that are now in rebel hands – in particular Jabhat al-Nusra, the al-Qaeda off-shoot which is the strongest faction in this part of the country.

Now the violently anti-Western jihadist group, which has been steadily extending its control in the region, is selling the crude oil to local entrepreneurs, who use home-made refineries to produce low-grade petrol and other fuels for Syrians facing acute shortages.

Read more from this story HERE.

Israel Warns Against Russian Arms Supply to Syria

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Photo Credit: REUTERSIsrael said on Saturday that advanced weapons supplied by Russia to war-torn Syria could end up in the wrong hands and be used against the Jewish state.

A Russian shipment of Yakhont anti-ship missiles to Syria was condemned by the United States on Friday and Israel is also alarmed by the prospect of Russia supplying S-300 advanced air defense missile systems to Damascus.

While Israel has declined to take sides in the civil war between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and rebels trying to topple him, Western and Israeli sources say it has launched air strikes inside Syria in a bid to destroy weapons it believes are destined for the Lebanese group Hezbollah.

Justice Minister Tzipi Livni told Army Radio: “(Weapons) could reach others in Syria or Lebanon and be used against Israel.”

“These are not just any weapons, they are tie-breakers, and that’s why there is a responsibility with all world powers, certainly Russia, not to supply such arms,” Livni said, adding that Israel had the right to defend itself.

Read more from this story HERE.