MOSCOW (Sputnik) — At a meeting with his Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Moscow, Walid Muallem said:
“Americans demand a political solution but at the same time allocate billions of dollars to support terrorists.”
Recently, about 2,500 militants equipped with the new weapons were sent into southern Syria, Muallem stated, adding that the United States does not hide their support for “those terrorists.”Syria has been consumed by a civil war since 2011. The country’s government is fighting a number of opposition forces as well as radical Islamist militant organizations, including the Nusra Front and the Islamic State jihadist group.
Washington has long been vocally supportive of what it calls “moderate” rebel fighters in Syria. The US military has been training its moderate Syrian opposition forces to fight against ISIL.
“You know, I was offered by Clinton in April 1993 (after the fall of Cerska and Konjevic Polje) that the Chetnik forces enter Srebrenica, carry out a slaughter of 5,000 Muslims, and then there will be a military intervention.”–President Izetbegovic, Interview with Hakija Meholjic, president of Social Democratic Party for Srebrenica, by Hasan Hadzic
The battalion was shocked by the facts that were revealed yesterday evening in the documentary “Why Srebrenica were to fall. From US documents show that in 1995, Dutchbat had no air support because of the secret deal that the United States, France and Britain concluded behind the backs of the Netherlands. The Dutchbat require full disclosure of decision-making, their lawyer Geert-Jan Knoops would if necessary enforce this through the US courts. By: Silke Spierings June 30, 2015, 10:08 41 Failed UN operation
Former Defense Minister Joris Voorhoeve says that many victims would be spared if there are serious air support had come. The conclusion of his book about the besluitvomring around Srebrenica that appears today, is not that Dutchbat has failed, nor the Netherlands, but the entire UN operation failed. Read the whole interview.
Yesterday evening, the documentary was broadcast on NPO 2. The documentary shows that six weeks before the fall of Srebrenica on July 11, 1995 had already been through the three NATO powers decided that no luchsteun would be granted for the defense of the enclave. The reason was that French President Jacques Chirac and British Prime Minister John Major were afraid that the British and French hostages would be executed if NATO would bomb the troops of Mladic.
In the summer of 1995, more than 8,000 Muslim men were massacred in and around Srebrenica, an area that was renamed during the Bosnian civil war to ‘safe area’. Dutchbat, the Dutch army unit that held there on behalf of the United Nations supervision, not resisted when the troops of General Ratko Mladic invaded the enclave. The women and children were deported by bus to Muslim territory, most of the men killed in mass executions.
During the raid escaped much of the Muslim population into the woods for fear of the impending massacre. In that group were the most victims. The rest of the population, a group of more than 25 thousand people went to the Dutch base in Potocari, 6 kilometers away. 5,000 of them, including 320 men were admitted to the camp of Dutchbat. The other 20 thousand, of whom 1,500 men, were forced out of the gates.
The Dutch veterans who were then part of Dutchbat III are shocked by the revelations. They write in the Association’s statement Dutchbat 3 on their Facebook page. They demand full disclosure about the decision-making surrounding the fall of Srebrenica by the Dutch State. That should make every effort to have the documents yet to be revealed to his public, even if it as “state secrets” are labeled.
VPRO journalist Huub Jaspers took the documents the secret deal appears from Clinton Library, in the US state of Arkansas. Jaspers could see the documents because the secrecy has now been lifted. That does not apply to documents from the weeks around July 11, the day the enclave fell.
Knoops, on behalf of his clients still require full disclosure of these documents. First he will ask the Dutch government to put pressure on Washington. If this is not enough, then Knoops will file a civil action to enforce this. If necessary he moves to the US courts to obtain these documents through the US law on open government.
Geert-Jan Knoops, a lawyer for former Dutchbatcommandant Thom Karremans and 3 Dutchbat Association – the union of the Dutchbatveteranen, rang with Karremans about the revelations. Karremans fell silent and then said, “I’ve always known it, I just can not prove it.” The former commander knew at the time he “had political interests against themselves,” Knoops said so yesterday in the KRO NRCV program Eye to Eye.
Three relatives have repeatedly tried to file a lawsuit against the former commander, because he would be partly responsible for the genocide in 1995. In late April the Court of Appeal in Arnhem decided that he will not be prosecuted. The relatives steps now to the European Court of Human Rights.
Wsam Almokdad/ReutersRebel fighters prepare to fire a mortar towards forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar Assad who are stationed in Tel Merhi and Deir Adass villages, in Deraa on February 18, 2015.
The civil war in Syria has reached such a tipping point for one of the most stable and US-friendly regimes in the Middle East.
The Jordanian military is actively implementing plans to create a humanitarian buffer zone in the south of the country, Sam Jones, Roula Khalaf and Erika Solomon report for the Financial Times.
Jordan’s military envisions an operation that would set up a humanitarian corridor in the southern Syrian provinces of Deraa and Suwayda.
The Assad regime is currently in nominal control of these provinces. But a coordinated rebel offensive, consisting in large part of fighters from the Al Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, has sparked concern in Jordan that a full-scale Syrian withdrawal from the area could occur, provoking chaos along the border.
Jordan worries that jihadists could establish a permanent foothold along the country’s border with Syria, or sue the area for attacks on the country’s generally pro-US monarchy.
As the FT reports, Jordanian leaders want to “avoid ‘another Idlib'” in the region, a reference to the March withdrawal of the Assad regime from the northern city in the face of a rebel and jihadist offensive.
“Diplomats say Amman and its international allies are keen to avoid ‘another Idlib‘, referring to the Assad regime’s withdrawal from the city in March; jihadis soon took advantage of the retreat and established a strong presence there,” according to the report.
The zone of control would likely include the Syrian city of Deraa, and would be manned by US and Jordan-supported moderate rebels along with more direct Jordanian military support.
[The following map contradicts the massive deployment of ISIS forces shown on the Reuters’ map.]
[Karybdis @Karybdamoid A Canadian neuroscientist providing maps and commentary on Syria, Iraq, other conflicts, and democratization since 2011. Retweets for maps and interesting posts]
Southern Syria comprises the entirety of Jordan’s northern border and any chaos could easily spill over the border. Deraa itself is within 45 miles of Amman, the Jordanian capital.
The Jordanian military in general, and its special forces in particular, is regarded as one of the more effective fighting forces in the region. Jordan maintains a close military relationship with the US, and Jordanian special forces have participated in operations in Afghanistan. The special forces have also proven adept at intelligence-gathering operations.
Jordan is a member of the US-led coalition against ISIS and has conducted airstrikes against the militant group in both Iraq and Syria. In the beginning of February, Jordan launched dozens of strikes in Syria following the execution of Jordanian pilot Moaz al-Kasabe.
Ali Jarekji/REUTERSJordanian Army anti-Terrorism squad members stand on alert in the Yajouz hills on the edge of Amman April 26, 2005. [The U.S.-backed Jordanian government is responding to what it sees as a higher risk of terror attacks by boosting its special forces and training troops from neighbouring countries such as Iraq.]
Jordan’s willingness to directly intervene within Syria reflects a growing regional unease with the already chaotic situation in the country, where as many as 320,000 have been killed over the course of a 4-year-old civil war. A number of Turkish newspaper sources have also reported that Ankara is seriously considering a ground operation that would establish a humanitarian buffer zone along the Turkish border in northern Syria.
The Turkish operation would be aimed at limiting Syrian Kurdish ability to declare an independent state while striking against ISIS and stopping the flow of Syrian refugees over the border.
Israel has also signalled that it could be willing to intervene in southern Syria in order to protect the Druze minority in the country if jihadists or the Assad regime ever threatened the survival of the religious minority group in areas near the Israel-controlled Golan Heights.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov (R) shows the way to his Syrian counterpart Walid al-Muallem (L) during a meeting in Moscow, Russia, June 29, 2015. REUTERS/Maxim Zmeyev
Moallem said he received a promise of military, economic and political support from his host, while Putin made remarks that echoed those of his guest.
On the other side of the Syrian conflict, a very different situation exists. U.S. officials have been consistent in their public stance that President Bashar Assad “must go,” repeatedly talking about how the Syrian leader has lost his legitimacy. But the U.S. has also launched a program to train Syria rebels to fight ISIS. As part of this program, it demands every potential recruit sign a contract pledging to not fight Assad – who has supposedly lost legitimacy and must exit the scene.
It’s a case of audacious deceit, with two principal victims. First, the American people are being lied to about what their government is doing. And second, many Syrians are asking themselves if, more than four years into the war, the U.S. will ever become a true ally.
Some analysts focus on the role of the Iranian nuclear negotiations, and how Washington will do absolutely nothing to rock the boat before a final deal is reached. The policy of playing for time – whether this is because of Iran, or because there is no vision for Syria, or confidence in its people – might look good on paper. But in real-world political terms, it’s a policy that is complicit in the killing, maiming and displacing of tens of thousands of people, and the alienation of possibly millions of others.
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