The Middle Eastern country of Syria has been torn apart during the last year. The Arab Spring of 2012 which heralded change in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya spread from one country to another. Syria has experienced a virtual civil war during the last year but President Bashir Assad has clung on to power. Whilst his restrictive dictatorship will not suit all Syrians it is claimed that he still has support from the majority.

So much remains a puzzle in this strange conflict. Who are the rebels? What sort of government could they form? Are outside forces at work behind the scenes? How many people have actually been killed by the Assad regime and how many by the rebels?

,Around 11,500 people have died during this uprising. Syria is proving to be a difficult problem to solve. The West claim that Russia is supplying the regime with weapons and more. A shipment of helicopters heading for the Syrian regime was intercepted in Scotland last week. Who is supplying the rebels with arms though?

In the last week a Turkish plane which it is thought strayed into Syrian airspace was downed and reports of defections by senior military personnel have continued. Whether these defections are real is hard to assess. In such troubling times propaganda is used by all sides.

Today an email received by TEK;s Peter B Meter makes for interesting reading.:

"Syria: US in hypocrisy of the highest order, and in a crime against humanity."

"The New York Times claims that, "the C.I.A. officers have been in southern Turkey for several weeks, in part to help keep weapons out of the hands of fighters allied with Al Qaeda or other terrorist groups, one senior American official said," an unsubstantiated claim that was similarly made in Libya before Al Qaeda flags were run up poles in Benghazi by rebels flush with NATO cash and arms used to collapse the government of Muammar Qaddafi. In fact, it is confirmed that Libyan LIFG rebels, led by Al Qaeda commander Abdul Hakim Belhaj, have now made their way by the hundreds to Syria (and here). 

Despite months of the US claiming the "international community" sought to end the violence and protect the population of Syria, the New York Times now admits that the US is engaged in supporting a "military campaign" against the Syrian government aimed at increasing "pressure" on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Efforts to impose an arms embargo on Syria is now revealed to be one-sided, aimed at giving rebels an advantage in the prolonged bloodbath with the intent on tipping the balance in favor of Western proxy-forces - not end the violence as soon as possible as claimed by the UN, and in particular, Kofi Annan.

The Times also reported that Turkey has been directly delivering weapons to terrorists operating in Syria - Turkey being a NATO member and implicating NATO as now being directly involved in perpetuating bloodshed in the Middle Eastern nation. For months, Turkey has been allowing terrorists to use its border region as a refuge from which to stage attacks against Syria.

Despite this, however, the so-called "Free Syrian Army," according to the New York Times, consists of only 100 or so small formations made up of  "a handful of fighters to a couple of hundred combatants," betraying the narrative that the Syrian government faces a large popular uprising, and revealing that the "Free Syrian Army" is in fact a small collection of mercenaries, foreign fighters, and sectarian extremists, armed, funded, and directed by foreign interests solely to wreak havoc within Syria. It should be noted that these terrorist proxies were organized as early as 2007 by the US, Israel, and Saudi Arabia, specifically to enact regime change and transform Syria into a Western client regime.  

As the West's propaganda campaign imploded after a torrent of unsubstantiated claims of "massacres" and "atrocities," all unverified, some in fact being revealed as the work of the West's sectarian proxies themselves,  it appears that sidelining Syria in headlines while pursuing a clandestine proxy war is now the tactic of choice for the time being. 

For the United States to claim Syria has "failed" to protect it population while simultaneously fueling the very armed conflict it claims it is seeking to end is not only hypocrisy of the highest order, but a crime against world peace - punishable under the Nuremberg precedent."

Whilst it is true that some of the reports linked here are not current, as in today's news, they are relevant to Syria. Some may be unverified or more propaganda but they all pose interesting questions. More than one points the finger at the US and appears to be a verified report.

Syria is a conflict which could easily take the World into its third global war. Is that what we really want?

Related reading:
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/world/middleeast/index.html
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9334707/US-holds-high-level-talks-with-Syrian-rebels-seeking-weapons-in-Washington.html

Only two days ago the talk was of President Bashir Assad being given a safe passage out of Syria in a brokered deal. It seems that the G20 summit involved little tete a tetes between various leaders and this plan was created by President Obama, David Cameron and President Putin of Russia.  A day as they say though is a long time in politics.

Yesterday a Turkish jet was downed close to the Syrian border. Dropping into the seas around the two countries both Navies are now looking for the pilots. Surprisingly the previously volatile Turkish Prime Minister, Recep Tayyip Erdoga, reacted calmly to the news.

Initially he refused to blame Syria until he had firm evidence. Today, Saturday, June 23, there are reports that he now accepts Syrian forces were responsible but his reaction remains muted.

This could be for any number of reasons such as:

• The Turkish plane was in truth infringing Syrian air space.
• The Turkish plane was not what it is being cracked up to be but rather was on a underhand mission.
• The Turkish Prime Minster is being directed by outside agencies or leaders.

Perhaps now that Russia has decided that Assad is not pivotal in how they see the future of Syria, Erdoga is prepared to wait and see.

The escape plan for Assad brokered by the three leaders would involve a further no doubt costly summit this time to be held in Geneva. Once again the leaders will ignore the environmental threat of too may jaunts to foreign lands which they try to impose on the people.

Cameron for the UK and Obama for the US are hoping for a Yemen option for Assad which would solve their immediate concerns over Syria. The Geneva summit would include China, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and France. Russia also want to include Iran which will make it interesting. With western leaders adamant that they will not do business with Iran will this prevent the summit or will they back pedal once more?

Only recently Cameron was insistent that Assad and his wife, who is a British citizen, will not be welcome in the UK, period. How long will this stance last, we wonder?

The irony of David Cameron's statement was not lost on us when he said, “There’s little time left to resolve this. Syria is descending into a bloody civil war with potentially irreparable consequences for its people. “It is welcome President Putin has been explicit in saying that he’s not locked in to Assad remaining in charge in Syria."What we need next is an agreement on a transitional leadership that can move Syria to a democratic future.”

Of course it is the last sentence that amazes us.

The West has gleefully helped the people of Egypt and Libya destroy their old regimes and destroy much of their respective countries. Egypt currently has a power vacuum. In the last week the old military leaders who were hand in glove with ousted President Mubarek have seized power. There has been a military coup in all but name. The people are on the streets again with democracy and fair election just a hope on a distant horizon.

Then there is Mr Putin. Yes he knows all about free and fair democratic elections doesn't he?

More than 11,500 civilians have died in Syria since the uprising began in 2011.

It still remains unclear just who the rebels are, who is backing them and what the majority of Syrians want. Of course reporting restrictions point to an oppressive regime in power. A free and fair election would hopefully put in power the leaders that the majority of Syrian people want.

Would it be crass to remark here that in the UK the majority of people are not represented by our hastily cobbled together Coalition government?

Syria needs peace. It needs it badly, as does the whole middle eastern region. What forces are at work destabilisng the area is not known. Another costly summit could perhaps lead to a conclusion. However surely it is becoming the time when positive action is long overdue rather than more debating the issues. No person wants another war but we have to decide whether to turn away, as we do with so many countries, or intervene, plunging Syria into who knows what.