There wasn't a moderate Syrian opposition before there was one

On Monday, I blogged a report from the Wall Street Journal that claimed that not all of the Syrian rebel troops are Islamists, and that the non-Islamists control substantial territory. Daniel Greenfield reports that the author of the Wall Street Journal report - Elizabeth O'Bagy - has been the source for reports in the past that claim that all the significant Syrian rebel factions are Islamist.

Thousands of Syrians stranded trying to escape to Jordan, blame US and Europe

Thousands of Syrians from the areas attacked with chemical weapons are trying to make their way south to Jordan. But the Syrian air force has been bombing the area, preventing these refugees from reaching the border area.

Refugees say they have been marooned by an ongoing Syrian bombing
campaign, unable either to cross into Jordan or return to their homes.
They say they have moved into

US tells Assad he can relax

The Obama administration sent a message to Bashar al-Assad on Tuesday. They told him that the American action against Syria, which could happen as soon as Thursday, won't last long and won't do a whole lot of damage (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

An American military attack on Syria could begin as early as Thursday
and will involve three days of missile strikes, according to "senior
U.S. officials

How the US found out Assad was using chemical weapons

For those of you who keep suggesting that maybe it was the rebels in Syria who used the chemical weapons... it wasn't (and that's not to say that they wouldn't if they had them) (Hat Tip: Memeorandum).

Last Wednesday, in the hours after a horrific chemical attack
east of Damascus, an official at the Syrian Ministry of Defense exchanged
panicked phone calls with a leader of a chemical weapons

Israel's security cabinet approves limited reservist call-up

The Israeli government keeps telling us that we should go about our daily business, and that they don't expect Bashar al-Assad to attack us, but they're preparing all the same. The security cabinet has approved a limited call-up of reservists, which is usually a sign that they expect something to happen.

Security sources would not specify how many reservists were to be called
up, or to which

Report: Assad bombs Damascus with chem weapons again

Daring the world to stop him, reports indicate that forces loyal to Syrian President Bashar al-Assad have once again used chemical weapons against his opponents.

Meanwhile, reports emerged from Al Jazeera that Syrian President
Bashar Assad's regime forces bombed the Jobar neighborhood in eastern
Damascus with toxic chemicals in a mortar attack on Wednesday.

The
Syrian Support Group tweeted

Signs of coming US strike on Syria abound

With a US attack on Syria rumored to be happening as soon as Thursday, Amos Harel reports that there are many signs that an attack is coming soon. And it will be over in the blink of an eyelash.

An American strike, meant to punish and deter,
is seemingly only days away. The United States will have to act soon
since any further delay will be embarrassing to the Obama administration
after a

What will Asma do? Assad unlikely to attack Israel in response to US strike

The military assessment here in Israel is that in the face of an increasingly likely US attack on Syria, Bashar al-Assad will not turn his guns to Israel.

Any US military step will probably serve as a “slap” to the Syrian
regime, but won’t go as far as toppling President Bashar Assad from
power.

Hence, it would be an act of self-destruction on Assad’s part to drag
Israel into the

Of course: Israel is to blame for civil war in Syria says....

One thing that has most Israelis breathing a sigh of relief these days is the fact that Ehud Barak did not succeed in giving Syria the Golan Heights in the late 1990's. It was close. The dispute came down to a narrow strip of land on the eastern side of the Kinneret, which prevented the deal from happening.

But not all Israelis are happy that the deal didn't happen. Take, for instance,

UN chemical inspectors suspend Syria mission after sniper attack

United Nations chemical weapons inspectors in Syria have suspended their mission after coming under sniper fire earlier on Monday.
Unidentified snipers shot at U.N. experts on Monday, forcing them to
suspend their attempt to investigate claims that chemical weapons had
been used near Damascus, a U.N. spokesman said, according to AFP.

"The first vehicle of the chemical weapons

Syrian troops claim they didn't know they were shooting chem weapons

You don't think they're trying to avoid being charged with war crimes or something, do you? Syrian troops are claiming that they didn't know that the missiles they shot last Wednesday had chemical weapons.
Amid universal acceptance that a chemical nerve agent has been used
but disagreement over who used it, there were indications from Damascus
that some of the army officers involved had

US official: Syria destroyed evidence but little doubt of chem weapons attack

An American official has told the Jerusalem Post that Syria has destroyed evidence of a chemical weapons attack outside Damascus last Wednesday, but the United States has little doubt that the attack took place.

“If the Syrian government had nothing to hide and wanted to prove to
the world that it had not used chemical weapons in this incident, it
would have ceased its attacks on the area

Assad has 100,000 missiles to aim at Israel

The assessment in Israel over the weekend was that the United States is going to attack Syria... sooner or later.


America's
change of course in its policy toward Syria is a result of what seems
to be the Syrian military's massive use of chemical weapons against
civilians last week near Damascus. The casualty numbers and horrific
images coming out of the targeted areas left no other

Report: Rebel forces trained by US, Israel and Jordan on their way to Damascus

In an earlier post, based on a report in the French newspaper Le Figaro, I reported that American and Israeli troops were in Syria. That may well be (and likely is) true. But it may not have been what was written in the Le Figaro story. JPost is now reporting, based on a report (the same report?) in Le Figaro, that 300 Syrian rebel troops trained by the US, Israel and Jordan are headed for

Video: First independent images of Syrian chem weapons attack

Britain's ITV news has what it describes as the first independent images of the chemical weapons attack apparently carried out by Bashar al-Assad's army just outside Damascus.

Let's go to the videotape.









Many more images and another video here. The second video includes the assertion that there is only 12-24 hours after when the video was made (at least ten hours ago right now) to

Report: American and Israeli troops in Syria

A report in Le Figaro, France's second largest daily, places US, Israeli and Jordanian troops in Syria, along with CIA agents.

From Le Figaro, google translated:


According to our information, the regime's
opponents, supervised by Jordanian, Israeli and American commandos
moving towards Damascus since mid-August. This attack could explain the possible use of the Syrian president to

Israeli intelligence: Yes, Assad used chem weapons

Israeli intelligence believes that Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons against his own people.

Yuval Steinitz, the minister for intelligence and strategic affairs,
told Israel Radio that it is Israel's intelligence assessment that
President Bashar Assad used chemical weapons against Syrian civilians on
Wednesday.

France calls for armed intervention if chem weapons used in Syria

France is calling for armed intervention if chemical weapons were used in Syria.

"There would have to be reaction with force in Syria from the
international community, but there is no question of sending troops on
the ground," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on French television
network BFM.

He added that if the UN Security Council could not make a decision, one
would have to be

Experts say nature of attack in Syria unclear, UN inspectors unlikely to be allowed near site

The alleged chemical weapons attack in Syria on Wednesday morning took place 15 minutes from where UN chemical weapons inspectors are located. Here's one of several very graphic videos that have been posted.

Let's go to the videotape.



But the inspectors may never get near the site of Wednesday morning's attack.

The information
coming out of the Ghouta region, where the rebels enjoy

Assad attacks his countrymen with chemical weapons

In an incredibly brazen attack (which the Syrian government is now denying), troops loyal to Bashar al-Assad shot a number of nerve gas-tipped missiles this morning at civilians in a suburb of Damascus. The reason why I call the attack Brazen? UN chemical weapons inspectors are currently in Syria....


15 missiles with nerve gas targeted Juber, Zamalka Ein Tarma, Duma and Mouadamiya #Damascus