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US forces buildup on Syrian Border

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posted on Apr, 17 2003 @ 11:13 PM
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In the Gulf of Tonkin Incident, a US destroyer supporting American "military advisors" in VietNam reported one night that they were under attack by a North VietNamese gunboat. A call for assistance was made to a nearby aircraft carrier, which scrambled an A-7 Corsair attack aircraft to support the destroyer.

In reality, there was never any evidence that the destroyer was under attack, there were no eye witnesses to the NV gunboat, no vessels suffered any damage, and the A-7 pilot swears he bombed and straffed empty water.

However, this incident was construed to represent a direct attack on US forces by North Vietnam, and led to the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution, essentially a vast bastardization of the War Powers Act, which allowed the president to march forth into VietNam as a full fledged war without congressional approval.



posted on Apr, 17 2003 @ 11:16 PM
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Speaking of which, have you noticed our news coverage of Iraq was Sanitized, in that the thousands of Iraqies killed in battle were never shown, I actually never did see any dead, other than the POW pictures early in the war, No bodies, No Blood, just quick clean protective actions. I feel Ive been hoodwinked, and still playing us like puppets. Posted by Wolfpack 51

Well, as far as reason to go into Syria, there is a reason, although it wont be publicized. I actually do support this reason, which is to prevent OPEC from converting the oil standard currency from the US dollar to the Euro. Syria supports this conversion, which is why we are beating our sabers at them.

I do agree that the media is being very manipulated, and we are NOT seeing a vast amount of what is really going on.



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 08:10 AM
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Hey observer as far as the biblical text would remind your friend of the issue of Babylon and how after her defeat all feared those who had defeated her. Posted by Toltec

According to the research this fellow student has done Babylon is not Iraq but rather Islam. The biblical prophets say that the fall of the tower of Babel (which he says was called a ziggurat). Hence, some biblical prophets believe Islam is the new Babylon, trying to create hegemony across the world. So when Islam (the new babylon or anti-christ) falls the end of the world can happen.
He was saying something to that effect anyway.

I don't believe much of this. I think if you wanted to you could make the arguement that McDonald's is the new babylon, Nans tries all the time!



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 08:22 AM
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But I think we'll try means other than war to convince Syria and Iran to keep reserves on the dollar standard, vs. the Euro, especially after they saw how we dealt with the one OPEC nation who adopted the Euro...
Funny, that our staunch ally is about the only nation in Europe not on the Euro, huh? And how the two biggest ones against the war are on the Euro standard....



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 08:43 AM
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This is shocking. When is the UN going to do something.
I don't want my passport anymore.
Bush and Blair can get to f**k.



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 08:52 AM
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I've said it once and i'm going to say it again. Bush don't give a rats a** about the american public. As long as him and his family are safe he will do whatever he wants. Sh*t has hit the fan!?!?!



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 10:48 AM
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"Such "schmos" making mistakes is how we got into the VietNam war... remember the Gulf of Tonkin Incident? "

According to a pilot who was involved in the incident, the entire thing was fabricated by the CIA.



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 11:41 AM
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Originally posted by Lexus Panther
This is shocking. When is the UN going to do something.


The UN is doing all its capable of. Nothing, Notta, Zilch, Zero.



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 01:40 PM
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Originally posted by abstract_alao
I've said it once and i'm going to say it again. Bush don't give a rats a** about the american public. As long as him and his family are safe he will do whatever he wants. Sh*t has hit the fan!?!?!


You say it but I see no proof of it. As a matter of fact, I've watched for years as the enemy has grown stronger as our resolve appeared weak as heck. I knew, as well as many did, that we were going to be attacked and hit hard. While the previous administration did nothing but launch million dollar a shot missiles to divert news coverage away from its own troubles, the enemy saw it for what it for what it was. Did you guys who are so smart notice beforehand that the Arab respects power and has nothing but contempt for weakness? Did you just realize after 9/11 that there is a thing caslled the Middle East, knowing nothing but from what you heard from Rather, Browkaw and Jennings that the Jew is bad and the "Palestinian" is a poor, downtrodden saint? Didn't you know that Syria and Iran are huge terrorist states? That Iraq wasn't the worst of them, only that it hated us the most and had the NBC weapons to pass to the terrorists and funds with which to support them?

Sit around and make baseless conjecture while dismissing the facts that you should have been watching for years. Yeah, that demonstrates real insight and depth. We're in a position that no matter which way we go we're going to find ourselves in a mess and all some can do is say that we are going to war for oil or world conquest or crap like that.

I can understand to some degree people from other countries not being sure of our intentions (although it should be plain from the last 100 years of history what kind of nation we are) but when people in this country haven't bothered to see who wants us destroyed and against who we are combating, it just befuddles me.

We have a leader that is doing the right thing. First time since Reagan (Yes, I intentionally omitted Bush '41) and you doubt him more than the enemy. A healthy distrust of the government is good, of course, but don't you think that maybe some backing of it is necessary?



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 02:22 PM
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Originally posted by Thomas Crowne

Originally posted by abstract_alao
I've said it once and i'm going to say it again. Bush don't give a rats a** about the american public. As long as him and his family are safe he will do whatever he wants. Sh*t has hit the fan!?!?!


You say it but I see no proof of it. As a matter of fact, I've watched for years as the enemy has grown stronger as our resolve appeared weak as heck. I knew, as well as many did, that we were going to be attacked and hit hard. While the previous administration did nothing but launch million dollar a shot missiles to divert news coverage away from its own troubles, the enemy saw it for what it for what it was. Did you guys who are so smart notice beforehand that the Arab respects power and has nothing but contempt for weakness? Did you just realize after 9/11 that there is a thing caslled the Middle East, knowing nothing but from what you heard from Rather, Browkaw and Jennings that the Jew is bad and the "Palestinian" is a poor, downtrodden saint? Didn't you know that Syria and Iran are huge terrorist states? That Iraq wasn't the worst of them, only that it hated us the most and had the NBC weapons to pass to the terrorists and funds with which to support them?

Sit around and make baseless conjecture while dismissing the facts that you should have been watching for years. Yeah, that demonstrates real insight and depth. We're in a position that no matter which way we go we're going to find ourselves in a mess and all some can do is say that we are going to war for oil or world conquest or crap like that.

I can understand to some degree people from other countries not being sure of our intentions (although it should be plain from the last 100 years of history what kind of nation we are) but when people in this country haven't bothered to see who wants us destroyed and against who we are combating, it just befuddles me.

We have a leader that is doing the right thing. First time since Reagan (Yes, I intentionally omitted Bush '41) and you doubt him more than the enemy. A healthy distrust of the government is good, of course, but don't you think that maybe some backing of it is necessary?


Well Thomas you are right on some aspects. i remember talking to theses Canadians when I was living in Detroit and there grip with us was that we thought we were the only one's on this continent. Well after 9/11 Americans got a wake up call. Our arrogance has been challenged and it looks like bush is accepting the challenge. I still don�t think that bush doesn�t care though. All this hate that has been for us didn�t pop up over night. The world remembers how we ended WWII (i.e we didn�t need to drop that second bomb). Do you all remember the reason we went into Vietnam?!? They we a supposed threat too!!! Remember this�. The main reason for going into war is almost always economic� War stimulates economy. Bottom line. There are a lot of companies that are invested in this war (i.e Carlyle Group just to name one)



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 02:24 PM
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it is a plan. it's been in the works for awhile and there is no stopping it.

even if what TC says is true war isn't the only way to solve these so called problems. those that hate us hate us for a reason and as long as we keep those reasons alive then we will be in a constant state of defending them. that's what some want cause defending wack policy makes their pockets fat. and some like the wack policy cause it makes their pockets fat. so in the end it's not all about protecting interest...but its not all about "those who hate us" either.

when you talk about "those that hate us" you are only scatching the surface of the problem. you talk around the real issues. so what? people have hated us for a long time and the actions we are taking now has only created a bigger rift. those who benefit from those rifts push this "they hate us" garbage to cover their own fat-asses as they get fatter. just like those who benefit from prisons push for tougher longer sentences to be sure their bread stays buttered.

logically this euro v. dollar thing plays a major role.

and then you have the crazy christians and they play their role.

not to leave out the jews and israel.

it's no one plan--it damn near everybodies plan and there is no stopping it.



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 02:53 PM
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It looks to me that they are not just watching the Syrian Iraqi border for Iraqi officials escaping the coalition. It looks more like Syria is about to be next on G W Bush's hit list.


Originally posted by Toltec
Even the Boston tea party made clear to England the colonies intent.

If I remember my history wasn't it terrorists that took part in the Boston tea party and threw all the tea over the sides of the ships, that were importing tea to colonies. Didn't the colonist's tea merchants finance those terrorists because of the price of the Taxes imposed by the British, on the tea that was being sold in the USA? So to me the Boston tea party was a prime example of an act of terrorism.



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 07:42 PM
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Update from Debka:
The US Navy has left two carriers, USS Harry S. Truman and USS Theodore Roosevelt, patrolling opposite Syria's Mediterranean shores while evacuating most carriers from Persian Gulf-Middle East waters.



posted on Apr, 18 2003 @ 08:42 PM
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Accourding to my history clive they were freedom fighters



posted on Apr, 19 2003 @ 07:29 PM
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An effective excuse to go into Syria

At Least 7 Iraqi Leaders Believed to Be in Syria
By DOUGLAS JEHL


ASHINGTON, April 18 � The United States believes that at least seven senior Iraqi officials are now in Syria, including a figure who is No. 8 on the American wanted list, defense officials said today.

The most senior Iraqi identified in American intelligence reports as being in Syria is Kamal Mustapha Abdullah al-Tikriti, secretary of the Republican Guard and Special Republican Guard, the officials said.

In recent days, the State Department has relayed to Syria the names of Iraqi officials believed to be there, with a request that they be expelled, administration officials said today. It was not clear whether Mr. Tikriti was on that list. A State Department official said tonight he had not heard Mr. Tikriti was in Syria.

The American military has also stepped up its search efforts in parts of northwestern Iraq near the Syrian border where some senior Iraqi officials are now suspected to be hiding.

For more than a week, administration officials including Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld have said that they believed some Iraqi officials or their families escaped to Syria and perhaps beyond.

In their public statements, the officials have not been more specific about who they believed to be in Syria. But in a television interview broadcast on Thursday night, Secretary of State Colin L. Powell said the United States had provided Syria with "some information concerning specific named individuals that we would hope they will look into."

The only other Iraqis that administration officials said they believed were in Syria and cited by name were Farouk Hijazi, Iraq's ambassador to Tunisia and a former senior intelligence operative, and possibly President Saddam Hussein's first wife, Sajida Khairallah Telfah.

The concerns about the flight of Iraqi officials have aggravated an already difficult relationship between the United States and Syria. Bush administration officials have long expressed concern that Syria is developing chemical weapons and about its support for organizations the United States considers terrorist, including Hezbollah and the Palestinian groups Hamas and Islamic Jihad.

Mr. Powell has said he plans to travel to Syria later this spring to discuss all those issues with its leader, President Bashar al-Assad.

The defense officials who identified Mr. Tikriti as the highest-ranking Iraqi believed to be in Syria spoke on condition of anonymity and would not describe the basis for the intelligence reports. They said he was among seven or eight Iraqis on the American list who are believed to be in Syria.

United States forces in Iraq have detained several high-ranking Iraqi officials in recent days, and other Iraqis have surrendered to American troops. But none have been ranked as high as Mr. Tikriti on the American list.

The Syrian government has repeatedly denied having granted refuge to any Iraqi officials, and said it had closed its border to Iraqis. American officials say those border posts have indeed been closed in recent days, a step they have characterized as positive, but they say it is possible that Iraqi leaders may be finding other routes into Syria.

Of Iraq's six neighbors � the others are Turkey, Iran, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Jordan � Syria had by far the closest economic and political ties with the Baghdad government, and it is regarded by intelligence officials as being the most likely escape route for fleeing Iraqi officials.

American forces in Iraq have now begun the process of sorting through Iraqi prisoners of war to determine who should remain in custody.

In the last two weeks, coalition forces have released 887 Iraqis detained during the war who have since been determined to be noncombatants, the Pentagon said today.

"Our intention is not to hold prisoners indefinitely and to get these people processed as soon as possible," said Cmdr. Chris Isleib, a Pentagon spokesman.

But nearly 7,000 Iraqi prisoners are still being held at camps in the southern city of Umm Qasr, where the United States is constructing what it has named its Theater Internment Facility. An unknown number of additional prisoners are still at temporary holding units elsewhere or are with the military units who captured them, the officials said.

Under the Geneva Convention, prisoners of war can be held until the end of hostilities, a condition the United States is not likely to declare for weeks or even months. But noncombatants who did not engage in hostile acts during the war and were not part of a military force are to be released as soon as their status is determined.

Among the prisoners held at Umm Qasr are a number of high-ranking Iraqi officers, according to defense officials. They are being interrogated as part of the broader American effort to seek out other Iraqi officials who have evaded capture and to obtain information about Iraq's suspected caches of illegal weapons.

In other military developments today, the Pentagon said it had recovered and identified the remains of an Air Force pilot missing since his F-15E fighter jet went down in Iraq on April 7. The pilot was identified as Capt. Eric B. Das, 30, of Amarillo, Tex., and his status was changed from missing to killed in action.

The search for the plane's weapons officer, who has not been publicly identified, is continuing. The confirmation of Captain Das's death brings to 128 the number of American military personnel killed in the war. Two Americans are still listed as missing � the second F-15 crew member and Army Sgt. Edward J. Anguiano, 24, of Brownsville, Tex., missing since his convoy was ambushed on March 23 in Iraq.

No Americans are listed as prisoners of war from the current conflict.



posted on Apr, 21 2003 @ 10:03 PM
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Syria tightens grip on Lebanon as U.S. warns both nations



SPECIAL TO WORLD TRIBUNE.COM
Monday, April 21, 2003
NICOSIA � Syria, under increasing threat from the United States, is exerting greater control over neighboring Lebanon.

Meanwhile the United States has warned Lebanon that it is stepping up air and sea reconnaissance to prevent Iraqi leaders seeking safe haven.

Syria has reduced its military force to fewer than 20,000 troops in Lebanon. But the Assad regime has brought thousands of Syrian agents to monitor every facet of official Lebanese life, including government, media, universities and professional syndicates.


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Lebanese analysts said the new government of Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri is the most pro-Syrian Cabinet ever, Middle East Newsline reported. They said Hariri was ordered by Damascus to disband his previous council of ministers and appoint Christians who are completely subservient to the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad.
The new Hariri Cabinet comes amid increased pressure on both Lebanon and Syria by the United States. U.S. officials said they suspect that both countries have been harboring at least seven leading aides of deposed Iraqi President Saddam Hussein.

"The new government is completely out of sync with what is going on in the region," the Beirut-based L'Orient-Le Jour daily said.

The sources said Syria had been pressured by Lebanese President Emile Lahoud to dismiss Hariri and replace him with former Prime Minister Omar Karameh, a pro-Syrian politician from Tripoli. But Assad refused, citing Hariri's support in Saudi Arabia.

The London-based Al Hayat daily reported on Saturday that Washington has informed the Hariri government that the United States will increase air and sea reconnaissance of Lebanon's borders to ensure that Iraqi regime members will not find safe haven in Lebanon. The newspaper said the U.S. message was delivered by U.S. ambassador to Beirut Vincent Battle. The ambassador relayed a U.S. assessment that an Iraqi intelligence agent who had attempted to kill former President George Bush, the father of the current president, escaped to Lebanon and then flew to North Africa.

U.S. officials said Syria has responded to pressure from Washington by increasing restrictions on Iraqis seeking to enter the Arab country. They said Damascus now requires a visa of all of Iraqis who seek to enter Syria.



posted on Apr, 21 2003 @ 10:05 PM
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Washington to Syria: Hand over Saddam�s WMD First

DEBKAfile Special Report

April 21, 2003, 12:43 PM (GMT+02:00)





Sunday, April 20, Damascus surrendered a top official of the Saddam Hussein�s regime, one of the eight granted sanctuary (as listed by DEBKAfile last Friday, April 18), Republican Guards secretary Kemal Mustafa al Tikriti, who is married to Saddam�s youngest daughter. The Syrians pushed him across the border to Iraq where he �surrendered� to US forces.

This was Syrian president Bashar Assad�s first response to the newly-delivered US ultimatum: deliver Iraq�s WMD and regime leaders or face military action. President George W. Bush noted with satisfaction that Syria was beginning to �understand the message�. But, according to DEBKAfile�s Washington sources, the handover of all the high-ranking Iraqi fugitives sheltering in Syria will not satisfy the US government or get it off the Assad government�s back. The US ultimatum to Damascus consists of three demands, to be followed in the same order:

First ,give up the weapons of mass destruction that Saddam has secretly hidden in Syria.

Second , return to Iraq all the officials of the Saddam regime granted asylum.

Last Friday, DEBKAfile listed the top eight as being: former vice president Izzat Ibrahim Al-Douri, Saddam�s bureau chief Abd Hamoud, Baath party boss Aziz Salah, special security service chief Hanni Tefalah, Republican Guards Secretary Kemal Mustafa, Republican Guards Commander Seif A-Din Suleih, Iraqi Intelligence Commander Taher Jaloul and Special Republican Guards commander, Gen. Barzan Suleiman Tikriti.

Kemal Mustafa was handed over Sunday.

Third ,disband the command structures of the Hizballah, Hamas, Jihad Islami and other Palestinian terrorist groups operating out of Lebanon and Damascus and give their leaders into American hands.

Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak and other Arab emissaries, diplomatic and covert, who called on the Syrian president on Sunday laid stress on the first of the three demands as paramount. They warned him that Bush and his team will not rest as long as Syria withholds the evidence to show the world that America fought a just war against Iraq. The evidence that Saddam developed weapons of mass destruction is hidden in Syria. Washington may hold back a few days but, ultimately, Assad will not be allowed to dictate the way the war ends by denying the United States the primary fruits of victory � and not just over Saddam and his regime. Exposure of his banned arsenal will show up the error of those opposed the war, the United Nations, France, Germany, Russia and international anti-war opinion.

The Syrian ruler�s responded initially to the triple demand by an offer to gradually turn over the eight Iraqi leaders. He denied knowledge of any weapons of mass destruction hidden in Syria but promised to check again. In confidence, he told his close aides, according to DEBKAfile�s intelligence sources, that baring a single Iraqi unconventional weapon to the Americans would be suicidal for him, whether personally or as an Arab leader. He dare not stand out as the first and only Arab leader to surrender an Islamic weapon of mass destruction to the United States. As for the terrorist groups that Syria sponsors and hosts, Assad declared firmly that he will always regard them as freedom fighters � not terrorists.

These maneuvers were the Syrian president�s way of defusing the bomb Washington had laid at his feet by breaking it down into components. It is hard to imagine Washington letting him get away with this tactic. DEBKAfile�s Washington and Middle East sources all agree that, while welcoming the handover of Saddam�s list of eight, the Bush administration will not relent on its first and primary demand for the forbidden weapons arsenal. If Syria fails to hand it over voluntarily, the United States will take forcible action to recover it from its hiding place.

The ultimatum to Assad was not the only one Washington delivered Sunday, April 20, to a Middle East figure.

The second one went to Yasser Arafat in Ramallah .

The day before, on Saturday, the penny dropped in Washington that the wrangling between Arafat and the first Palestinian prime minister designate Mahmoud Abbas (Abu Mazen) over the makeup of the new government was not as aimless as it looked. Arafat was keeping the heat up to distract attention from his next move, which was to be to dump the intransigent Abu Mazen in favor of his long-time pawn Nabil Shaath, to whom Abu Mazen had refused to award an influential post in his lineup. Arafat dispatched Shaath to Cairo where he normally resides to test the response in Hosni Murabak�s inner circle to his appointment. However, Washington struck fast on two tracks. A request went to the president�s office in Cairo not to receive the new Palestinian candidate; a stern US ultimatum was relayed to Arafat: Any more interference with Abu Mazen�s attempts to set up a Palestinian government will result not only in prolonging the international boycott of Arafat in person, but cause the scrapping of the Middle East road map promising the Palestinians a state.

Arafat�s response is now awaited in Washington. It would be in character from him to employ dilatory tactics like Assad. Both appear to find it difficult to adjust to the fresh impetus and determination with which the Iraqi War has infused Washington�s Middle East strategy.




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