Contrary to numerous forecasts, the missile blow of the NATO Coalition Coalition on Syria did not take place on August 29, as the coalition itself did not take place. Then a new date loomed - September 4. During this time, UN experts are unlikely to have time to answer the question: was chemical weapons used under Damascus? However, it seems that they will not wait
Demonstrations against the regime of Bashar Assad passed around the world
On August 30, first US Secretary of State John Kerry, and then President Barack Obama made statements regarding the situation in Syria. Bottom line: America is sure that the chemical attack in the Eastern Guta was organized by government troops, as a result of it, at least 1429 people were killed, of which at least 426 children. Washington cannot stand aside and will not wait for the UN experts report or ask for permission from the Security Council. Barack Obama said that he had not yet made a final decision, but excludes any possibility of introducing troops into the territory of Syria or the beginning of a long -term military campaign, we are talking only about spot strikes.
For war
Preparations for the blow began until the Friday performance of the first persons. On August 29, the Pentagon sent to the eastern Mediterranean the fifth destroyer - “Stout”: the total number of Tomagavk cruise missiles, which could fall to Syria, was brought up to 200. The last French frigate “Chevali Paul” headed there. Meanwhile, the C-130 Air Force Air Force, usually used by NATO for the transfer of heavy equipment, began to land in Cyprus. By that time, President Obama, Vice President Joseph Biden, Secretary of State John Kerry and Minister of Defense Chuck Highgel called more than forty colleagues around the world, trying to convince them to urgently form a coalition for a military action against the regime of Bashar al-Assad.
They also did not forget about political support in the Arab world: Kerry twice spoke on the phone with the general secretary of the League of the Arab states Nabil al-Arabi, having achieved from that publication a commander with a demand to punish those guilty of the deaths of people from poisonous substances on August 21 in a suburbs of Damascus.
At the same time, reports appeared in the Western media about the penetration of special forces into the territory of Syria - British, Israeli, Jordanian "Commandos". Their task is to detect the anti-aircraft missile systems of the Syrian Air Defense System in the coastal areas, which can threaten ships or aircraft, and mark them with special beacons used to bring winged missiles and the implementation of spotlights. However, not a single official source confirmed this fact. Lebanese agencies said that in the sky above the territory of Lebanon, as well as on the border between Lebanon and Syria, the aircraft of the Air Force of the Israeli Defense Army, which are also engaged in the collection of intelligence information.
Prepared for air strikes and in Syria. The country's airport forces left Damascus Airport, the headquarters and command of the Air Force were hastily evacuated from the capital, local residents began to leave the city. The Lebanese newspaper, An-Nakhar, reported that President Assad and his family arrived in Tehran, although official sources did not confirm this fact.
However, taking decisive steps forward, to the military action against Assad, the West did not look convinced that there was no alternative to the military option. The US president did not tire of repeating that he had not yet made a final decision. And on August 29, there was a series of doubt to the British parliament: gathered at the call of Prime Minister Cameron for an extraordinary session, deputies 285 votes against 272 refused to consider the issue of surgery in Syria before they heard the report of the UN inspectors. And this will happen not earlier than September 9-10 - this was reported in a telephone conversation with The New Times by a member of the Independent International Investigation of events in Syria Karl del Ponte.
I see the goal
On August 27, the American magazine Foreign Policy published a map of 35 Syrian objects received from military sources, which can become a target for the forces of the Western coalition. Among them are research centers, military bases, chemical warehouses scattered almost throughout Syrian territory. Experts, however, immediately doubted the possibilities of bombing of warehouses: the danger of victims among the population is too great. Syria, which has not signed the Convention on the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, has its largest reserves in the world, in addition to Zarin, mustard gas and neuropolytic gas VX are stored in its warehouses. Moreover, if the sarin is quickly eliminated and, possibly, will not cause harm to nearby settlements in the case of bombing of warehouses, then mustard gas tends to stretch on the ground and does not disappear for a long time, which can lead to unpredictable consequences. The international airports of Aleppo and Damascus also got the black list, the latter plays a particularly important role for the regime, since it is through it that Bashar Assad receives military assistance from his main ally - Iran. From here, “Cargo 200” goes to Tehran every three days: in Syria, about 12 thousand members of the Iranian Corps of the Islamic Revolution Guardians are fighting on the side of Assad (last week in Iran, however, there were reports of their withdrawal from Syria).
A strange detail: the airport of the city of Latakia was not marked on the map, although it was there that the Russian anti-ship missiles of Yakhont were located in the year before last. Representatives of the Syrian opposition, whom the New Times asked to explain the lack of lantakia among targets on the map, suggested that the Pentagon intentionally decided not to touch this city - the estate of the Alawite community, to which the Assad and its clan belong to: “The Americans will leave Latakia as a refuge - after leaving the presidential post. From here he will be able to go to a conference in Geneva no longer as a president, but as a leader of the Alawit community in Syria - this option is also considered. ”
The question that is not fully clarified: what, in fact, happened at night of the 21st in the eastern gut and why was the gas sprayed there? According to the interlocutors of The New Times in Damascus, giving an order to use chemical weapons, the Syrian generals clearly hoped that this would go unnoticed. The eastern Guta, in which, by the way, about 1 million people live, over the past five months were controlled by the units of the Free Army of Syria (CAS). During this time, the rebels managed to establish uninterrupted supply of food, water and fuel, as well as equip field hospitals, which, however, were not enough to save hundreds of gas poisoned by gas.
Government troops surrounded Guta at the end of July and for a long time, but unsuccessfully tried to knock out the militants, until they finally decided to smoke them with Zarin. They were not very afraid in the Syrian headquarters and UN experts, who were placed only 10 km from Guta: they could hardly visit the neighboring area - any convoy that can potentially be related to government troops, is immediately attacked here. This, in fact, happened on August 26, when the car with UN inspectors was fired by snipers.
According to Secretary of State Kerry, the shelling of Guta began on August 21 at 2.30 in the morning. SAS representatives clarified that in total from the bases at the Mesze military airport and from Mount Kasyun, on which, by the way, according to legend, Cain killed Abel, 29 missiles containing a mixture of Zarin, ammonia and SC3 reagent were released. The 127th brigade, which occupies positions on Mount Kasyun, is part of the elite 4th armored division, subordinate to the younger brother Bashar al-Assad Mahera. He has his own accounts with the Syrian opposition: he miraculously survived after the attack in Damascus on July 18, 2012 and lost both legs. It was him who accused him of giving an attack on the attack. Moreover, according to the Bloomberg agency, which exiled to the sources at the UN, Maher decided himself, without asking for permission from the President's brother. For some reason, the interlocutors of The New Times in the Syrian opposition saw a signal from the West Damascus: they say, if desired, Bashar can blame the use of chemical weapons to Mahera, and he himself exit dry from the water and begin negotiations on the transfer of power.
Proceeding without consequences
If the operation of one or more NATO countries against Syria seems to be solved by a business, its format leaves doubts. The same Barack Obama, in an interview with PBS television, said on August 28 that military intervention would hardly affect the course of the Civil War in Syria. It is more about the intimidation of Assad for the White House so that he refrains from the use of weapons of mass defeat in the future. Despite the need to preserve the face before the world public, the West is not interested in violating the balance in the balance of power between the rebels and the regular army. In the end, not only the help of Iran and the Lebanese Hezbollah allows Assad for two years to fight with the forces of the rebels who receive help from Qatar and, until recently, Saudi Arabia, but also support for religious minorities-Alavites, Druzov and Christians, who do not want to face the Islamist-Sunniites at all.
Exposure from the US government report regarding the use by the Government of Syria of Chemical Weapons on August 21, 2013 - The United States recognizes with a high degree of probability that the Syrian government organized an attack with the use of chemical weapons in the suburbs of Damascus. - In addition to the information received from the US secret services, there are evidence of international and Syrian medical personnel, videos, eyewitnesses, thousands of certificates in social networks from at least 12 districts in the suburbs of Damascus, journalists' certificates and reports of serious non -governmental organizations. - The data of our special services allow us to admit that (...) Syrian chemical weapons specialists worked directly in the suburbs of Damascus Adra from Sunday on August 18 and until the early morning of August 21, in the area where the regime mixes chemical elements, including Zarin. - Numerous information from the special services confirms the shelling with rockets and artillery shells (...) data from satellites confirm the shelling from the zones controlled by the regime. - We intercepted negotiations, including high -ranking officials directly related to the attack, who confirmed the use of chemical weapons on August 21 and expressed concern about the fact that UN inspectors could receive evidence. - Over the next 24 hours after the attack, we marked the shelling of missiles and shells by four times more intense than during the previous ten days. The constant shelling continued until the morning of August 26 (in his speech, John Kerry said that this was done to destroy the evidence. - The New Times).
The author The New Times is in Syrian captivity
The capture of hostages, including journalists, is one of the favorite methods of Islamist groups operating in Syria. This is known for a long time and everyone. Nevertheless, we were shocked when, when preparing this material, it turned out: since the end of April, one of the groups has been holding the author of The New Times of the Belgian analyst and journalist, a specialist in the Arab world Pierre Pichinin, as well as his colleague from the Italian La Stampa Domenico Kiriko. Pierre’s mother, Zhadul Pichinin, told The New Times that she spoke with her son on June 6, when he was allowed to call home: “He said that he lives under normal conditions, but did not inform the area nor the name of his grouping, moreover, the connection was very bad, and we did not speak very long. The main thing then was to understand that he is alive! " The Italian and Belgian Foreign Ministry is now negotiating the release of journalists, but no information has been received from them for more than two months.
