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Tag: Syria

  • Nikki Haley Joins Growing List of Governors Against Admitting Syrian Refugees

    South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley has joined a growing chorus of executives who are asking federal authorities to not resettle Syrian refugees in their states.

    Haley, like many others, is citing concerns over refugees’potential ties to terrorist organizations.

    “There remain gaps in available intelligence for those fleeing Syria. This lack of historical and verifiable intelligence with many Syrian refuges makes it difficult, if not impossible, to thoroughly vet individuals seeking to enter the United States as a refugee. Therefore, until I can be assured that all potential refugees from Syria have no ties to terrorist organizations, I am requesting that the State Department not resettle any Syrian refugees in South Carolina in South Carolina,” Haley said in a press conference.

    Earlier on Monday, Haley expressed that she still supported the idea of refugees finding haven in South Carolina. But after review, she seems to have changed her tune a bit.

    She faced criticism for her initial support.

    Here is what Haley wrote to the State Department:

    As governor, it is my first and primary duty to ensure the safety of the the citizens of South Carolina. We are a state that has proudly welcomed refugees from around the world as part of the United States’ Refugee Resettlement Program. Refugees are forced to flee their home countries for the most awful reasons, such as religious persecution, and under the most hectic circumstances, such as in the midst of civil war. While I agree that the United States should try to assist individuals in such dire situations, it is precisely because of the situation in Syria that makes their admission into the United States a potential threat.For that reason, I ask that you honor my request and not resettle any Syrian refugees in South Carolina.

    More than half of the country’s governors (28) now oppose letting Syrian refugees into their states. All but one of these Governors are Republican.

    The U.S State Department says it will admit around 85,000 refugees in the 2016 fiscal year – at least 10,000 from Syria.

  • Angelina Jolie Praised by Aid Workers; Other Celebs Not So Much

    Angelina Jolie knows her stuff, but some other Hollywood names may not.

    In a recent Guardian article, an unnamed aid worker relates horror stories of celebrities rushing to war-torn or disaster-torn areas of the world, bent on using their name and reach to help draw attention to the plight of the locals in need.

    Jolie has been appointed as Special Envoy of UN High Commission for Refugees. Prior to that, Jolie had made “more than 40 field visits around the world, becoming well-versed in the phenomenon of forced displacement and a tireless advocate on their behalf.”

    Sometimes other celebrity visits end up causing more trouble than some aid workers think they are worth. The worker relates the travails of “spending hours tracking down European bottled mineral water for a British soap actress for every stage of her African tour.”

    In some cases, the visits from A-list celebs created such a fuss that it put the aid workers there in worse conditions than before. One example was when Christina Aguilera visited Haiti.

    “In Haiti, in the UN base where most of the first responders lived, one agency outraged the entire base by taking over the only air conditioned tent – in which some slept due to the sauna-like conditions in the accommodation area – to host a cocktail reception for Christina Aguilera.”

    While Sean Penn and Matt Damon were given the “meh” treatment by aid workers, Angelina Jolie is praised highly.

    “She knew more about refugees, and had been to more places than I had,” one worker said of Jolie. “She had her own cameraman, so all I had to do was find the locations and the refugees.” Another said: “I was impressed with her in Haiti, in Jordan and in Sri Lanka. She left experts speechless every time.”

    Angelina Jolie has spoken before the U.N. regarding the plight of Syrians, drawing from her personal experiences there.

    “I wish that some of the Syrians I have met could be here today,” Jolie told the U.N last year. “Any one of the Syrians I have met would speak more eloquently about the conflict than I ever could. Nearly four million Syrian refugees are victims of a conflict they have no part in. Yet they are stigmatized, unwanted, and regarded as a burden.”

    Another celeb praised by workers is David Beckham. He did not ask for hard-to-get bottled water brands or specific clothing items. He only wanted to play soccer with local kids for an evening.

  • Jasmina Milovanov: Sydney Mother Abandons Kids to Fight for ISIS

    Jasmina Milovanov abandoned her seven-year-old son and five-year-old daughter so she could flee to Syria to fight for ISIS. The Sydney, Australia mother, who is 26, told her babysitter she was leaving to pick up a new car, but she never returned home. That was back in early May.

    “She never mentioned anything,” her mother said in an interview on Tuesday. “I even saw her the week before and she was alright. Probably she is brainwashed. She is so young and naive.”

    Going by the name Assma Abdulla on Facebook, Jasmina Milovanov posted there that she had arrived in “sham,” which is the Arabic word for Syria.

    “In the blessed land of sham…bad reception…Please forgive me for everything,” she wrote in a post that has since been removed from her account.

    Jasmina Milovanov reportedly had links to a jihadi bride recruiter who may have recruited her to Syria. A friend claims she often posted–under the name Assma Abdulla–about finding a husband.

    “What we believe is Assma really wanted to get married, she was very lonely…we think that’s how they’ve encouraged her to go,” the friend said. “She’s not a terrorist. I don’t believe she’s gone over there to fight.”

    Another friend claims Jasmina Milovanov borrowed $2500, which was likely used to finance her travel to Syria.

    Jasmina Milovanov’s ex-husband, a Turkish-Australian, claims he received a text from her while he was in Turkey. She told him she was in ‘sham,” and asked him to return to Australia to care for their children.

  • Angelina Jolie Rips U.N. a New One

    Angelina Jolie Rips U.N. a New One

    Angelina Jolie recently addressed the United Nations, and her remarks were stinging.

    One of the big concerns that Angelina Jolie has is the situation in Syria. She involves herself in that heavily.

    “Since the Syria conflict began in 2011, I have made eleven visits to Syrian refugees in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and Malta. I wish that some of the Syrians I have met could be here today. Any one of the Syrians I have met would speak more eloquently about the conflict than I ever could. Nearly four million Syrian refugees are victims of a conflict they have no part in. Yet they are stigmatized, unwanted, and regarded as a burden.

    Angelina Jolie felt that she had an opportunity to speak on behalf of the people suffering in Syria. She called the United Nations to task for not acting in that region.

    “So I am here for them, because this is their United Nations. Here, all countries and all people are equal – from the smallest and most broken member states to the free and powerful. The purpose of the UN is to prevent and end conflict: To bring countries together, to find diplomatic solutions and to save lives. We are failing to do this in Syria.

    Angelina Jolie recognizes that the conflict in Syria was not the making of the U.N. But she says the peopel of Syria thought the U.N. would act to help the people most harmed by a conflict they have no part in.

    “Responsibility for the conflict lies with the warring parties inside Syria. But the crisis is made worse by division and indecision within the international community – preventing the Security Council from fulfilling its responsibilities.

    “In 2011, the Syrian refugees I met were full of hope. They said “please, tell people what is happening to us”, trusting that the truth alone would guarantee international action.

    “When I returned, hope was turning into anger.

    “On my last visit in February, anger had subsided into resignation, misery and the bitter question: ‘Why are we, the Syrian people, not worth saving?’”

    Angelina Jolie used the United Nations’ own policies to call them to action in Syria.

    “The UN has adopted the Responsibility to Protect concept, saying that when a State cannot protect its people the international community will not stand by – but we are standing by, in Syria. The problem is not lack of information … The problem is lack of political will.”

  • Nazi War Criminal Alois Brunner Declared Dead

    Nazi war criminal Alois Brunner has been officially declared dead, though he is thought to have passed some time in 2010.

    Brunner, an Austrian Schutzstaffel (SS) officer, and the “best man” to Nazi SS-Obersturmbannführer (lieutenant colonel) Adolf Eichmann, is responsible for the execution of roughly 128,500 European Jews during the Holocaust. He was convicted of crimes against humanity, and was sentenced to death in absentia in France in 1954.

    Brunner then spent decades eluding capture, though the Israeli Mossad sent him letter bombs in 1961 and 1980, causing him to lose and eye and all of the fingers on his left hand.

    It was believed by German intelligence that Brunner lived in Damascus, Syria, under the alias “Georg Fisher.” Efraim Zuroff, director of the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s Israel office, told the New York Times that Brunner took a position as an adviser to Syrian president Hafez Assad, thus influencing “the mistreatment of the Syrian Jewish community.”

    Though German intelligence first thought Brunner to be dead in 2010, this year would have marked his 102nd birthday, so it as been deemed the war criminal died of natural causes.

    In a 1985 interview with the German magazine Bunte, Brunner explained that another SS officer was mistaken for him and was executed in his place, which allowed him to evade capture. He likewise did not have an SS blood type tattoo, so he wasn’t detected in an Allied prison camp.

    Brunner fled Germany in 1954 with a forged Red Cross passport, and made his way to Syria, where he took a government job. Details of his position remain vague, but it is thought he was an adviser on torture and repression techniques, a skill-set he learned during his time as an SS torturer.

    In the Bunte interview, Brunner said his only regret was that he was unable to murder more Jews. In a 1987 phone interview with the Chicago Sun Times, Brunner remarked, “All of the Jews deserved to die because they were the Devil’s agents and human garbage. I have no regrets and would do it again.”

    Zuroff commented, “The significance is only that one very prime target can no longer be brought to justice, and that’s very sad, because it just underlines the failure of the world community to see to it that the primary movers and shakers of the Final Solution were forced to pay for their crimes.”

  • ISIS Leader’s Aide Killed During Airstrike

    The Iraq Defense Ministry on Thursday confirmed that a top aid to Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), has died. According to an Al Arabiya report, the aide is believed to have died during a U.S. airstrike on Mosul. Two other top ISIS officials were also killed in the attack, including a Tel Afar military official.

    Early reports on the airstrike in Turkish and Kurdish media had claimed that Bagdadi himself had been killed in the airstrike. Those reports have been denied by the U.S. military, though no official statement on the attack has been made by the U.S. A U.S. military spokesperson quoted in an NBC News report stated that the aide and other officials had not been specifically targeted by the attack.

    ISIS began a widespread military campaign in parts of northern Iraq in June. The organization has claimed much of Iraq as part of its caliphate and also controls a significant portion of the northern part of the country.

    Though President Obama has made it clear that U.S. troop deployments to Iraq will remain minimal, the U.S. has been leading an air campaign over ISIS territory since early August. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry stated in June that U.S. support of the Iraqi government will remain

    As the bombing campaign has progressed, ISIS has turned to more violent tactics in an effort to shore up support. The organization beheaded U.S. journalist James Foley in mid-August and just this week also beheaded American-Israeli journalist Steven Sotloff. Both men were kidnapped by Syrian forces in late 2013.

    With ISIS serving as an example of regional spillover from the Syrian civil war, President Obama has called on NATO leaders to join the fight against the organization. The NATO summit in Wales this week was supposed to focus on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, but a New York Times report suggests that the U.S. and U.K. are working primarily to gather a coalition to oppose ISIS.

  • Cannes Film Festival: Nicole Kidman Defends Grace of Monaco

    Actress Nicole Kidman gently addressed criticism of her new film Grace of Monaco on the opening day of the Cannes Film Festival.

    “I feel sad because I think that the film has no malice toward the family or particularly towards Grace or Rainier,” said Kidman, who stars in the film’s titular role.

    “I want them to know that the performance was done with love and if they see it I think they’d see there’s an enormous amount of affection for their parents and for the love story of their parents.”

    The controversy over the biopic film, which started more than a year ago, involves the question of how a specific period of French-American cultural history is portrayed on the big screen.

    Set in the 1960s, Grace of Monaco features as a central storyline France’s attempt to annex Monaco and claim its tax revenue. Monaco’s Prince Rainier III, who ascended the throne in 1949, played a key role in the resolution of the crisis, creation of a revised constitution, and restoration of Monaco’s national parliament.

    Prince Rainier III married American actress Grace Kelly in 1956. Their children constitute Monaco’s reining Grimaldi family: Caroline, Princess of Hanover; Albert II, Prince of Monaco; and Princess Stéphanie of Monaco.

    The Grimaldis didn’t hesitate to express their displeasure over the film:

    “The trailer appears to be a farce and confirms the totally fictional nature of this film. The Princely Family does not in any way wish to be associated with this film which reflects no reality and regrets that its history has been misappropriated for purely commercial purposes.”

    To further complicate matters, the film’s US distributor, Harvey Weinstein has been involved in an ongoing dispute with its French director Olivier Dahan.

    The original version Dahan delivered to Weinstein was deemed incomplete and “too much like a Hitchcock thriller and too little like what they anticipated – a yarn about a princess in a gilded cage.”

    Weinstein cut his own version and now wants a renegotiation of the agreed-upon rights fee with the film’s financier to mitigate the additional costs Weinstein Company has incurred.

    Later, disputes intensified, this time over the film’s rollout. In January Weinstein called off the film’s March release, dashing the French filmmakers’ hopes that it would pave the way for a successful European release later in the Spring. Shortly thereafter, Weinstein further angered by the news that Cannes would open with the French version.

    Weinstein didn’t attend the Cannes premiere, instead issuing the following statement:

    “My wife, Georgina, and I have been in Jordan visiting two Syrian refugee camps, Al Zaatri yesterday and Azraq today. This was a long-planned trip with the UNHCR” – the United Nations refugee agency – “and our friend Neil Gaiman to bring attention to the plight of refugees who have been forced to flee Syria and the incredible work of UNHCR.”

    Image via YouTube

  • George Clooney Engaged to International Lawyer Amal Alamuddin

    Actor and human rights activist George Clooney is reportedly engaged to international lawyer Amal Alamuddin.

    Rumors started swirling Saturday when Clooney and Alamuddin were spotted having dinner at a Malibu, CA restaurant with Clooney’s longtime friends Cindy Crawford and Rande Gerber. Observers reported that Alamuddin was wearing a “huge ring” on her left ring finger as the two couples dined at Nobu, a trendy Japanese restaurant located on the scenic Pacific Coast Highway.

    Clooney and Alamuddin were first spotted together in London last October.

    Clooney was in town filming The Monuments Men when he and Alamuddin met for dinner at Berners Tavern in The London Edition Hotel. At the time Clooney was rumored to be dating the London-based Croatian model Monika Jakisic.

    On February 18 Clooney took Alamuddin to a special White House screening of The Monuments Men.

    In March Clooney and Alamuddin were spotted on the beach in Seychelles and on a safari in Tanzania. Later that month the two were seen dining with friends in both New York City and Studio City, CA.

    Who exactly is Alamuddin?

    Unlike Clooney’s ex-wife Talia Balsam and ex-girlfriend Stacy Keibler, Alamuddin isn’t an actress.

    In fact, she’s an accomplished and award-winning international lawyer who often works on human rights cases.

    The British attorney attended Oxford University and New York University School of Law. She practiced law in New York City for several years, representing big-name clients such as Enron and Arthur Andersen. Later she famously represented Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in his extradition proceedings with Sweden.

    Alamuddin and Clooney likely find common ground in their passion for human rights.

    Clooney is almost as well-known for his humanitarian work and political activism as for his A-list movies. Along with Don Cheadle, Matt Damon, Brad Pitt, and several others Clooney founded Not On Our Watch, a non-profit whose goal is to “focus global attention and resources towards putting an end to mass atrocities around the world.”

    Clooney has advocated tirelessly for the marginalized in such places as Chad, Haiti, and Sudan.

    Alamuddin, who speaks fluent Arabic, English, and French, specializes in extradition, human rights, and international law. Currently based in London, she has represented clients in legal cases before the European Court of Human Rights, the International Court of Justice, and the International Criminal Court.

    Back in October, Clooney’s rep claimed that Clooney and Alamuddin were discussing a satellite surveillance program over Syria during their dinner at Berners Tavern.

    Alamuddin is an appointed advisor to former United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan, who currently serves as the United Nations Arab League envoy to Syria.

    Many who are working to alleviate the humanitarian crisis in Syria would be thrilled if Alamuddin could convince Clooney to lend his star power to the situation there.

    “The authentic involvement of cultural icons helps form a movement, and that makes Syria more than some distant quagmire,” Mercy Corps chief development and communications officer Jeremy Barnicle said in January.

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Syrian Nuns Freed By Kidnappers After Three Months

    Syrian insurgents have finally released the 13 nuns and three attendants who were kidnapped from a Greek Orthodox monastery in November.

    The release of the Syrian nuns was part of a hostage swap. In return for the nuns’ release, rebel fighters also released a group of women and some children. The Syrian government appeared to confirm rumors that the government has been detaining children and women who are relatives of those who are suspected of fighting for the opposition.

    The release of the nuns was full of suspense up to the last minute. The nuns, clad in black, travelled to a pro-rebel town called Arsal in order to be received by the Lebanese officials. Government supporters and reporters waited for several hours at the border without a single nun in sight. On Monday morning, the nuns finally appeared at the border.

    Mother Pelagia Sayaf, who heads the Mar Taqla monastery, says that they were treated very well and were never harassed during the three-month ordeal. She also said that the insurgents did not force them to remove their crosses.

    Many media outlets did not acknowledge that an exchange took place at the border. They only focused on the release of the nuns. However, Hadi Abdullah of the Syrian opposition caught the events that transpired at the border on video. The video showed the rebels releasing the nuns in exchange for at least two children and a group of women that the Syrian government was said to be detaining.

    The swap that happened was rare and unforeseen, as peace talks in Geneva for the two sides to give a list of the prisoners they are holding were not successful.

    The nuns were taken to Damascus where they prayed before travelling to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate located in Old Damascus, where they will be staying.

    Nuns back in Syria

    http://youtu.be/4FUjgC68RXs

    Image via YouTube

  • Israeli Airstrikes Target Hezbollah Weapon Shipments

    In 2006, Israel and Hezbollah fought a 34 day battle which ultimately resulted in nothing gained but many lives lost. This conflict, known as the 2006 Lebanon War or 2006 Israel-Hezbollah War, was just part of the much larger Israeli-Iranian proxy-war, a perpetual struggle for power between the Jewish Israeli state and the Muslim state of Iran.

    Since hostilities officially ended in the summer of 2006, however, Israel and Hezbollah have not forgotten their deep-seated hatred for one another, a feud aided by the geographic closeness of the fighting parties. It was this close proximity which led to the airstrikes enacted by the Israeli government late Monday night somewhere along the Lebanese-Syrian border.

    On Tuesday, Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, declined to confirm reports that Israel had indeed conducted an airstrike along the Lebanon-Syria border, simply stating, “Our policy is clear. I don’t comment about what we did or didn’t do—but we will do whatever is needed to protect Israel’s security.”

    While Israel has a history of declining to comment on its foreign affairs, a senior Israeli security official confirmed to TIME that the strike had hit a convoy transporting surface-to-surface missiles from Syria into Lebanon, the homebase of Hezbollah militants.

    Hezbollah’s presence in Syria has increased drastically since the onset of the Syrian civil war in 2011. Because Hezbollah’s main population is derived from Shi’a Muslims, it closely follows the political actions of Iran, a state which has attempted to bolster the defense of the Assad regime in Syria to cement the ties between the two countries and maintain proper defense against the Israeli state.

    In return for Hezbollah’s assistance in the Syrian civil war, Assad and the Syrian regime have given Hezbollah many missiles to be transported and stockpiled in Lebanon. Since 2006, Israel estimates that Hezbollah has amassed a stockpile of over 100,000 rockets and missiles given by the Iranian and Syrian governments.

    Eyal Ben-Reuven, a former senior official in a military camp in Northern Israel near the Lebanese border, believes that Hezbollah’s engagement in the Syrian conflict makes it less likely that Israel will see any form of retaliation for striking the weapons convoy. Ben-Reuven does believe, however, that Hezbollah, Iran, and Syria pose severe threats to the existence of the Israeli state: “Israel has always stayed as the main objective for Hezbollah and Iran. A terror organization gets these kinds of capabilities not for deterrence, but for acts. This is the difference between states and organization. This is something that we have to keep in our hands to prevent this kind of transfer of game-changing weapons.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • Israeli Airstrikes Reportedly Hit Hezbollah Target

    Israeli aircraft reportedly carried out an airstrike near the Syria-Lebanon border late Monday. Israel has declined to comment on the situation and there has been no confirmation from Lebanon, according to the AP.

    However, Lebanon’s National News Agency has taken a guess that the strikes happened near Nabi Sheet which is a remote village in the eastern Bekaa Valley.

    The residents of Nabi Sheet say otherwise. Jaafar al-Musawi, head of Nabi Sheet Municipality, said there was no airstrike on the town.

    “We heard warplanes followed by explosions, it could be along the border with Syria,” he said.

    A report from AFP includes commentary from a Lebanese security source who said, “two Israeli raids hit a Hezbollah target on the border of Lebanon and Syria.”

    Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has threatened to take military action before, which would prevent Syria from shipping weapons to Hezbollah, Syria’s ally. Israel has also carried out several airstrikes inside Syria to halt suspicious shipments of missiles. These shipments sometimes include Russian anti-aircraft missiles and guided missiles from Iran.

    There is also this seeming confirmation from Israel’s “Yediot Aharonot”, which blared from the front page, “Foreign reports: Israeli strike in Lebanon”. The paper also referred to strikes Israel supposedly admitted carrying out against Hezbollah in Syria last year.

    Israeli officials do believe that Hezbollah has restocked its arsenal with tens of thousands of rockets and missiles after the month-long war back in 2006 between the archenemies that ended in a blood-soaked stalemate. Some of these rockets and missiles are said to be able to reach just about anywhere in the Jewish state.

    Over the weekend, Israeli army chief Lieutenant General Benny Gantz made remarks that seemed to imply that something could go down.

    “We are monitoring closely the transfer of all types of weapons to all fronts,” Gantz said. “Sometimes, in case of necessity, something can happen.”

    Image via Wikimedia Commons

  • CNN’s Twitter, Facebook Hacked by Syrian Electronic Army

    Late Thursday night, CNN had a bunch of social media accounts hacked. The group responsible, the Syrian Electronic Army, announced their intent to “retaliate against CNN’s viciously lying reporting aimed at prolonging the suffering in Syria.”

    According to CNN, “the affected accounts included CNN’s main Facebook account, CNN Politics’ Facebook account and the Twitter pages for CNN and CNN’s Security Clearance. Blogs for Political Ticker, The Lead, Security Clearance, The Situation Room and Crossfire were also hacked.” Here are the tweets that the SEA managed to post before CNN wrestled back control:

    CNN has deleted all tweets and Facebook posts made while breached.

    The SEA announced the hack, and gave their own reasons on Twitter:

    CNN isn’t the first victim of the SEA – the group recently hacked Microsoft (again), and was the cause of a lengthy attack on the New York Times’ website last August.

    Image via Twitter

  • Syria Weapons Stockpile to be Destroyed by US

    John Kerry could have never predicted the consequence of his sarcastic answer to the question of how the US could avoid war with Syria following Syria’s use of chemical weapons against its own citizens. Despite the seriousness of Kerry’s initial proposal, plans are moving forward with the elimination and destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons stockpile, a plan that was voted for by the UN in late September.

    In a statement released by Ahmet Üzümcü, the Director-General of the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, it was revealed “that the United States has offered to contribute a destruction technology, full operational support and financing to neutralise Syria’s priority chemicals,” weapons that are required to be removed from Syria by December 31 per the UN resolution.

    The technology the US is offering in order to destroy said weapons is a mobile Field Deployable Hydrolysis System, a new invention created by the Defense Threat Reduction Agency arm of the Pentagon.

    To neutralize and destroy the chemical weapons, the Field Deployable Hydrolysis System uses hydrolysis, a process which includes mixing the chemicals with water and other chemicals and then heating the solution with a titanium reactor.

    Unfortunately, this particular hydrolysis process produces large amounts of liquid waste called effluent. Current estimates by the OPCW state that 798 tons of chemicals from Syria need to be destroyed, which will result in 7.7 million tons of effluent byproduct created.

    The United States will be responsible for providing the ship and technology by which the chemical weapons will be neutralized but will not be able to dispose of all the waste. There has been some worry from environmental agencies concerning destroying the weapons at sea due to the potential contamination of whatever body of water the process will take place in (most believe it will occur in the Mediterranean Sea).

    Luckily, the OPCW has been able to persuade 35 independent, private agencies to come aboard and provide the means of disposal for the effluent produced. In order to ensure that these companies do not simply dump the waste somewhere in order to turn a quick and large profit, the OPCW has stated that the companies “will be required to comply with all applicable international and national regulations pertaining to safety and the environment.”

    Thus far, the OPCW has proven more than adequate toward finding practical and reliable solutions to the Syrian weapon problem. The organization, which is the active body of the Chemical Weapons Convention, was able to destroy all weapons-making facilities before the November 1st deadline and has also neutralized and obtained all the weapons which need to be removed from Syria by December 31. Last month, the OPCW was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize due to its work toward ridding the world of nuclear weapons, something the Nobel committee has been committed toward for some time now.

    The move by the United States to offer its ship and technology in order to help destroy Syrian chemical weapons is an important move to help the State department save face after the Kerry gaffe. Perhaps this action will show that the US was and is committed toward achieving peace, and not war, in the Middle East and will help to disprove the notion that the only reason for US compliance in this deal was to not let Russia gain the political upper-hand and international clout.

    Image via Facebook

  • Prince Alwaleed Says Obama Lacks Coherent Policy

    Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the Saudi royal and self-made billionaire investor, said President Barack Obama lacks a “comprehensive and coherent foreign policy” toward the Arab world.

    Alwaleed made the comment at “The Year Ahead: 2014,” a two-day conference in Chicago, hosted by Bloomberg LP. Alwaleed added, “Obviously, he’s not succeeding” as President. Citing Obama’s addressing the Arab world with a widely commended speech in Cairo in 2009, Alwaleed commented, “he raised expectations in our region very high.”

    Now in 2013, the Prince says that Saudi Arabia and its Persian Gulf allies have grown vexed by what they perceive as being Obama’s wavering positions, citing the ousting of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood and then an unsteady stance on chemical weapons use in Syria. Alwaleed, the self-described “Warren Buffett of Arabia,” added, “Saudi Arabia was very frustrated with the failure of the United States to deliver for the Arab world.”

    Al Waleed bin Talal bin Abdulaziz al Saud is a member of the Saudi royal family, as well as the founder, CEO, and 95%-owner of the Kingdom Holding Company. In March 2013, Forbes Magazine listed Alwaleed as the 26th-richest man in the world, with an estimated net worth of $20 billion. Alwaleed was recently in the news for his comments on the Twitter IPO – he’d invested $300 million into the company back in December, 2011. Some have said that Alwaleed’s Twitter investment was an act of self-preservation, as the platform had been used to coordinate uprisings in his home region, and some noted the correlation between sudden censorship within the network, soon after getting its huge handshake from the Prince.

    Though, Alwaleed did commend Obama for not hastily pushing for an ouster of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad after the chemical weapons attacks. “If the regime (in Syria) falls right now, who’s going to take over there?” Alwaleed said, referring to the potential rise of jihadist extremists. Though, while commenting on the White House, “Unless your house is in order here and unless the bickering stops between the Republican side and the president, you can’t have a strong foreign policy,” he said.

    The Prince, who is also the largest individual investor in Citigroup Inc., described the U.S. economy as “somewhat down now, but it’s not out.”

    Image via Twitter.

  • Israeli Airstrikes: Three Attacks in Two Days

    Israel appears to be responsible for a series of bombings over the last two days, according to separate reports by the New York Times and USA Today.

    The NYT article, published today, has Israeli military strikes killing four Hamas militants near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel.

    Considered the deadliest confrontation since the Israeli offensive of November 2012, the fighting started last night when elite Israeli engineers were trying to destroy a mile-long tunnel that they suspected was being used to conduct guerrilla warfare.

    Although they found the tunnel last month, Israeli forces intended to close in from both sides of the border; as the gap narrowed, Hamas forces set off an improvised explosive that wounded five Israelis. Officials and witnesses of that firefight said an Israeli tank shell killed one militant and injured several others.

    A second strike in southern Gaza was carried out early this morning against a second tunnel, this one described as a “terror tunnel.” Three militants were killed in that fight, but despite outward appearances, the Israeli military described both actions as defensive in nature, and a response to Hamas’ breaking of the cease-fire.

    Israeli military spokesman Lt. Col. Peter Lerner said “This mission was imperative due to the potential to utilize the terror tunnel for future attacks against Israeli civilians… Hamas, as the authority in the Gaza Strip, is accountable and responsible for all activities aimed at harming Israeli civilians and I.D.F. soldiers.”

    On the other side, Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said “We salute the heroic fending-off by our holy fighters and we salute the martyrs… [Gaza will be] nothing but a hell burning the occupation.”

    The USA Today report described a third operation on the Syrian front, in which Israeli warplanes bombed several targets that were likely to be missile systems in-transit to Hezbollah militants.

    An Israeli official, speaking only on the condition of anonymity, noted that between two and four jets were targeting a Russian-made cache of SA-125 missiles. The official spoke anonymously because the Israeli government had not granted permission for the Hezbollah strike to be discussed.

    [Image via CIA World Factbook/Wikimedia Commons]

  • OPCW: Syria’s Chemical Weapons Factories Destroyed

    According to a press release from the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, the joint OPCW-UN mission to render Syrian chemical weapons production sites inoperable was highly successful.

    “The government of the Syrian Arab Republic has completed the functional destruction of critical equipment for all of its declared chemical weapons production facilities and mixing/filling plants, rendering them inoperable,” the statement said. “By doing so, Syria has met the deadline set by the OPCW Executive Council [on Sept. 27] to ‘complete as soon as possible and in any case not later than 1 November 2013, the destruction of chemical weapons production and mixing/filling equipment.’”

    The Nobel-Prize-winning group sent inspectors to 21 of 23 sites across Syria. The two remaining locations were unreachable because they were too dangerous, but the equipment from those sites was moved to others. The final two sites were declared abandoned by Syria’s government.

    Reuters spoke with an independent chemical weapons analyist, Ralf Trapp, who said on the subject of the OPCW’s success that “This was a major milestone in the effort to eliminate Syria’s chemical weapons program.”

    The OPCW’s Director-General, Ahmet Üzümcü, welcomed the return of his eight weapons inspectors to the Hague. Those inspectors had been verifying and examining the fallout from the Syrian chemical weapons crisis since Oct. 1.

    “I thank you and all of our colleagues from the Joint OPCW-UN Mission who remain in Syria for your outstanding service,” Üzümcü said upon the inspectors’ return. ““I salute the fortitude and courage you’ve all demonstrated in fulfilling the most challenging mission ever undertaken by this Organisation.”

    The OPCW plans no further inspection activities because of the organization’s satisfaction with the progress made in destroying the production equipment. However, the next big deadline is Nov. 15, by which time the UN Executive Council must approve a detailed plan of destruction from Syria’s government regarding how it plans to render its deadly nerve agents inert.

    [Image via the OPCW web site]

  • Saudi Arabia Rejects U.N. Security Council Seat

    CBS News reported that Saudi Arabia rejected its seat on the U.N. Security Council just mere hours after the five new members were announced.

    Saudi Arabian discontent seems directed at the United States over some of D.C.’s decisions in the Middle East. The Saudi Foreign Ministry issued a statement: “Allowing the ruling regime in Syria to kill its people and burn them with chemical weapons in front of the entire world and without any deterrent or punishment is clear proof and evidence of the U.N. Security Council’s inability to perform its duties and shoulder its responsibilities,” it boldly declares, as if they were powerless to help their Arab brothers, so we should have done something about it.

    With regard to the Syrian conflict, Saudi Arabia has been openly backing the Free Syrian Army since 2011. Most Security Council attempts to address the problem go nowhere because of Russia’s repeated disapproval of resolutions against Syria, although they did manage to pass the resolution that ordered Assad’s chemical weapons to be destroyed.

    In response to his government’s decision, Saudi Ambassador to the U.N. Abdallah Al-Mouallimi said the Security Council election was taken seriously and that it was “a reflection of a longstanding policy in support of moderation and in support of resolving disputes in peaceful means.” Russia, meanwhile, was described as “surprised” and “baffled” at Saudi Arabia’s move in the wake of agreements to disarm Damascus.

    The U.N.’s Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, said in response to questions that “I would like to caution you that I have received no official notification in this regard” and “We also are looking forward to working very closely in addressing many important challenges with the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia,” going on to mention the Syrian civil war, terrorism, and nuclear proliferation. He reported getting in a brief private conversation with a senior Saudi official, but the details of that conversation are not known.

    [Image via this YouTube video]

  • Syrian Chemical Weapons: Soon to be Dismantled

    On Monday, a team of 20 engineers, chemists and paramedics will make their way from the Netherlands to Syria to begin the most hazardous mission of disarmement in history, dismantling the one of the world’s largest chemical weapons arsenals.

    Due to arrive on Tuesday, the International Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) will have chemical protection suits, under using body armour and helmets, to begin their mission. The U.N. security council is started resolution after a unanimous vote on Friday, and enlisted the help of the OPCW to help Syria to destroy its chemical weapons.

    Bashar al-Assad, Syria’s President, vowed to cooperate with the mission.

    The first priority of the team will where the weapons are produced and distributed. All the capability equipment used for production must be destroyed by November 1. The remainder will have a deadline for all stockpiles by July 1, 2014 to be removed and dismantled. This is an extremely tight schedule for a process that usually takes years.

    “This decision sends an unmistakable message that the international community is coming together to work for peace in Syria beginning with the elimination of chemical weapons in that country,” said OPCW Director General Ahmet Uzumcu.

    The question that remains is whether Syria has fully revealed it’s stockpile in their consolidation of materials, which it claimed was for keeping the weapons from the hands of the rebels. And whether the inspectors will be safe in dangerous territory, during the civil war, where control is questionable. Al-Assad has pledged to remove all chemical weapons.

    Based on the compromise between the west and Russia discussed the Thursday, this was the result. Though, it does not include the repercussions or measures in the event Syria, or its government fails to comply.

    In the event Syria fails to commit to the resolution, it is likely that it will revive the threat of military action by the United States and its allies.

    Image via News Distribution Network, Inc.

  • Syria Chemical Weapons: UN Votes To Eliminate

    Syria’s chemical weapons have been stirring up quite the controversy in recent weeks, leading up to an eventual vote from the United Nations. Syria’s use of chemical weapons gained the attention of President Obama and became a very serious issue in the United States recently. On Friday night, the UN Security Council voted unanimously to secure and destroy Syria’s stockpile of chemical weapons.

    The Syrian rebels have been reportedly using the chemical weapons and killing their own citizens, causing outside countries to want to intervene. The vote came after two weeks of intense negotiations marked a major breakthrough in the paralysis that has gripped the council since the Syrian uprising began, according to CBS News. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry has said that the destruction of Syria’s chemical weapons will begin in November and will likely be completed by the middle of next year.

    U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council after the vote that “Today’s historic resolution is the first hopeful news on Syria in a long time.” Ban said that the target date for a new peace conference is in November. The conflict has been escalating for 2 and a half years now, and it is important that something is done, but the main thing that the American people is concerned with is not wanting another war. The recent decision made by the U.N. should avoid that, and this comes as great news.

    As a sign of the broad support for the resolution, all 15 council members signed on as co-sponsors. As can be expected from the likes of Senators John McCain and Lindsey Graham, they both dismissed the resolution as “another triumph of hope over reality.” Time Magazine mentions that the resolution would ban any country from obtaining chemical weapons or the technology or equipment to produce them from Syria.

    The U.N. resolution’s adoption was secured after the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, which Russia, China, the United States, France and Britain, signed off on the text on Thursday. Negotiations, primarily between the United States and Russia continue, as they discuss how to destroy Syria’s stockpile of weapons.

    Image via Youtube

  • Syrian Antiquities at Risk, Says UN

    Syrian Antiquities at Risk, Says UN

    Earlier this month, UNESCO announced that Egypt’s Malawi National Museum had been ransacked, with most of its collections looted during last month’s military crackdown on supporters of former Egyptian president Mohamed Morsi. An expedition of experts sent by the organization to Egypt and found that several historical churches in Egypt had been destroyed.

    Now the conflict in Syria is also threatening to destroy parts of that country’s historical legacy. UNESCO and the International Council of Museums (ICOM) this week published an emergency “Red List” for cultural items that they see as being at risk in Syria. ICOM’s red lists are meant to help authorities identify at-risk objects that might be highly valued on the antiquities black market.

    The Syrian list includes objects from as far back as pre-history, the Middle Ages, and the Ottoman Period. It was developed with monetary support from the U.S. State Department. UNESCO Director-General Irina Bokova stated that a coordinated international response will be needed to protect Syria’s “irreplaceable” antiquities.

    “At UNESCO, we believe there is no choice to make between saving lives and saving cultural heritage,” said Bokova. “Protecting heritage is inseparable from protecting populations, because heritage enshrines people’s identities. Heritage gives people strength and confidence to look to the future — it is a force for social cohesion and recovery. This is why protection of heritage must be an integral part of all humanitarian efforts”

  • Al-Qaeda, Free Syrian Army Stop Fighting in Azaz

    The BBC reported this morning that fighting between some of the rebel groups has come to a grinding halt in the town of Azaz.

    Militants linked to al-Qaeda and fighting under the banner of “The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria” (ISIS) attacked the town earlier this week, wresting the town from Free Syrian Rebels backed by the western world.

    Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, is continuing to try diplomatic mediation between the clashing factions in Damascus. Russian and U.S. officials have completely different opinions regarding the handling of chemical weapons evidence; where John Kerry is convinced by a UN report that the Syrian government forces backed by Assad are responsible for the weapons, Moscow is backing Damascus when it claims that Syrian rebels were responsible.

    The US has insisted on an addition to a UN resolution that would threaten military force in the event the Syrian government refused to comply with demands to turn over the weapons, but Russia objects to the mention of it, let alone adding it to the resolution.

    Paul Wood, the BBC’s foreign reporter on the Turkey-Syria border, said of the Azaz truce that “In the short term, if the rebels are fighting each other, they are not fighting the regime. But in the long term, the US and other Western governments might be more willing to support the FSA if they see real distance between it and the jihadis.”

    Meanwhile, the Guardian reported yesterday that Bashar al-Assad’s government will be seeking a ceasefire in Geneva regarding the future of his state’s existence.

    Qadri Jamil, Syria’s deputy prime minister, told the Guardian in an interview that “Neither the armed opposition nor the regime is capable of defeating the other side… This zero balance of forces will not change for a while.” He added that over 100,000 have perished in the fighting, and that the Syrian economy had lost $100 billion due to loss of production during wartime.

    Syrian rebels are hardly interested in any kind of ceasefire or truce that does not involve dethroning Assad, as evidenced by their repeated refusal to go to peace talks in Geneva unless Assad resigns first.

    If you want to see an interview about the civil war with some Syrian Christians who were interviewed by the AFP, you can watch this video:

    [Image via this YouTube footage of Syrian rebels fighting, posted this month]