May 1, 2013 – 39 minutes ago (14:45):
‘Pentagon steps up planning for military intervention in Syria’
Washington: The Pentagon has stepped up planning for potential military intervention in the Syrian civil war.
The move comes specifically because of growing evidence the Syrian regime may have used chemical weapons. According to CNN, a senior administration official said that ‘there is intensified planning underway as more precise evidence has come that the Syrian regime used chemical weapons’. If President Barack Obama were to order action, it could involve thousands of US troops. The official said it’s not likely to involve troops on the ground in Syria.Two other officials said that the most likely options would be using cruise missiles based at sea and fighter jets to try to destroy chemical sites or the headquarters of Syrian military elements linked to them, the report said.
(Zeenews India)
May 1, 2013 – 10 minutes ago (9:37 am):
‘Barack Obama won’t rush to act against Syria over chemical arms’
President Barack Obama signaled on Tuesday he is no rush to respond quickly to Syria’s apparent use of chemical weapons, taking a cautious approach to the country’s civil war, mirroring the views of the American public, most lawmakers and some US allies’.
Mr Obama, who last year declared that the use or deployment of chemical weapons by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad would cross a “red line,” told a White House news conference there was evidence those weapons were used, but there was still much that US intelligence agencies did not know.
“We don’t know how they were used, when they were used, who used them,” he said, and, “We don’t have a chain of custody that establishes what exactly happened.”
(Reuters – Times of Oman)
Photo: The American secretary of state John Kerry as a young veteran of the Vietnam War protesting the American engagement.
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American chemical wars and war crimes
‘A Battle Unending: The Vietnam War and Agent Orange’:
http://www.dioxinvietnam.blogspot.be/
‘Vietnam’s war against Agent Orange’:
Between 1962 and 1970, millions of gallons of Agent Orange were sprayed across parts of Vietnam.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/3798581.stm
Agent Orange victims ‘need help’:
Vietnam’s Red Cross has appealed for urgent help for victims of Agent Orange – the poisonous chemical dioxin used during the Vietnam War. But the BBC’s Clare Arthurs says the US is reluctant to acknowledge any link between dioxin and people born with disabilities.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1857424.stm
Vietnam war: Agent Orange 1/2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLIINOGliL8
http://youtu.be/kLIINOGliL8
Vietnam – Search and Destroy “History Channel”:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=URIHiUsKxVs
http://youtu.be/URIHiUsKxVs
Vietnam War – The Impact of Media:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqayiS3NnuY
http://youtu.be/XqayiS3NnuY
Fall of Saigon 1975:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdR2Iktffaw
http://youtu.be/IdR2Iktffaw
War on Iraq. The Lies That Lead To War – part 4 of 4 – CBC:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYyo4J2TxsQ&list=PLC60959E14314F5CE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYyo4J2TxsQ&feature=share&list=PLC60959E14314F5CE
War on Iraq. Censored Images of War (part 1):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziZWTXvkIiA
http://youtu.be/ziZWTXvkIiA
Untold Story of the Iraq War:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BxHEI603bF4
http://youtu.be/BxHEI603bF4
NATO Bombing of Serbia 1999
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XfpMK83VtZM
http://youtu.be/XfpMK83VtZM
America’s use of Depleted Uranium 1of4:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hWTJ1let0so&list=PL02802EC71A789A1D
Depleted Uranium in the Human Body: Sr Rosalie Bertell, PhD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WgQ79-oDX2o
http://youtu.be/WgQ79-oDX2o
Photo: Agent Orange victims Vietnam
Latest News Syria 
Syria lashes out at chemical arms use claims
28 April 2013
Assad information minister describes US and British claims “inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie”.
Syria has dismissed US and British claims that it may have used chemical arms as a “barefaced lie” and its ally Russia has warned against using such fears to use military action.
“Statements by the US secretary of state and British government are inconsistent with reality and a barefaced lie,” said Omran al-Zohbi, Syria’s information minister, in an interview published on Saturday on the Kremlin-funded Russia Today’s website.
“I want to stress one more time that Syria would never use it – not only because of its adherence to the international law and rules of leading war, but because of humanitarian and moral issues,” Zohbi said.
Zohbi spoke out as UN chief Ban Ki-moon called on Damascus to approve a UN mission of inspectors to probe the alleged use of chemical weapons in the conflict that erupted in March 2011.
But Zohbi told Russia Today television station that Syria could not trust UN inspectors from Britain and the United States.
‘Game-changer’
“We also do not trust their qualifications. Their aim is to juggle with facts.” he said.
“We won’t mind if Russians would be among the experts; quite the contrary, we only welcome this idea. We are quite sure in their high qualification and ability to clearly see into such matters.”
Russia and China have blocked several UN Security Council draft resolutions that threatened sanctions against President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
US President Barack Obama said on Friday that using chemical weapons would be a “game-changer”, after the US, Israel and Britain cited signs that Assad’s regime had used the deadly agent sarin.
But Obama said Washington must act prudently and establish exactly if, how and when such arms might have been used. He promised a “vigorous” US and international investigation into the latest reports.
British Prime Minister David Cameron said the growing evidence that Assad had turned chemical agents on his own people was extremely serious.
Mikhail Bogdanov, Russia’s deputy foreign minister and Middle East envoy, urged against using these reports for military intervention.
Military success
“We must check the information immediately and in conformity with international criteria, and not use it to achieve other objectives,” he said in Beirut.
“It must not be a pretext for an intervention in Syria.”
Zohbi said in comments published by the Interfax news agency on Friday that chemical weapons were used by opposition fighters and originated in Turkey.
He linked the chemical arms accusations to what he said was the recent military success of regime forces.
“There are qualitative changes on the battlefields,” Zohbi was quoted as saying by the RIA Novosti news agency.
“The uproar from the Americans that has arisen in the last 48 hours is due to this.”
Reuters news agency reported that amateur video appeared to show aerial bombardments on opposition strongholds around Syria’s capital Damascus.
Assad gains
Assad’s forces appeared to have made gains across Syria in recent weeks, Reuters reported.
They have advanced around Damascus and the border with Lebanon, areas that help link the capital to coastal provinces dominated by Assad’s Alawite minority.
The rumours about the use of chemical arms came from the Israeli intelligence last week. The service claimed that ‘elements of the Syrian Army loyal to President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons to murder civilians in Aleppo’.
Israel put the U.S. under constant pressure
The rumours about the use of chemical arms came from the Israel’s top military intelligence last week. The service claimed that ‘elements of the Syrian Army loyal to President Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against rebels and to murder civilians in Aleppo’…
April 23, 2013 – ‘Israeli intel: Damascus used chemical weapons against rebels’
http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/23/israeli-intel-says-damascus-used-chemical-weapons-against-rebels/
April 26, 2013 – U.S.-Israel sign new arms deal, but Obama team refuses to sell bunker buster bombs.
http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/close-confidante-of-netanyahu-warns-its-now-or-never-for-military-strike-on-iran-analysis/
April 26, 2013 – ‘Close confidante of Netanyahu warns “it’s now or never” for military strike on Iran’
http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/24/u-s-israel-sign-new-arms-deal-but-obama-team-refuses-to-sell-bunker-buster-bombs-what-message-does-that-send-to-iran/
April 26, 2013 – ‘U.S. says Syria used chemical weapons: Countdown to military action against Damascus?’
http://flashtrafficblog.wordpress.com/2013/04/26/u-s-says-syria-used-chemical-weapons-countdown-to-military-action-against-damascus/