Wednesday, August 21, 2013

Syrian rebels wouldn’t back US interests, Top US general says

The Obama administration is opposed to even limited U.S. military intervention in Syria because it believes rebels fighting the al-Assad regime wouldn’t support American interests if they were to seize power right now, Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, wrote to a congressman in a letter obtained by The Associated Press.

Effectively ruling out U.S. cruise missile attacks and other options that wouldn’t require U.S. troops on the ground, Dempsey said the military is clearly capable of taking out Syrian President Bashar Assad’s air force and shifting the balance of the Arab country’s civil war back toward the armed opposition. But he said such an approach would plunge the United States deep into another war in the Arab world and offer no strategy for peace in a nation plagued by ethnic rivalries.



“Syria today is not about choosing between two sides but rather about choosing one among many sides,” Dempsey said in the letter Aug. 19 to Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y. “It is my belief that the side we choose must be ready to promote their interests and ours when the balance shifts in their favor. Today, they are not.”

Dempsey said Syria’s war was “tragic and complex.” “It is a deeply rooted, long-term conflict among multiple factions, and violent struggles for power will continue after al-Assad’s rule ends,” he wrote. “We should evaluate the effectiveness of limited military options in this context.” 

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-rebels-wouldnt-back-us-interests-top-us-general-says.aspx?pageID=238&nID=52968&NewsCatID=358
21/8/13
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5 comments:

  1. Chefe do Estado-Maior dos EUA afasta intervenção militar na Síria....

    Uma intervenção militar norte-americana na Síria não seria favorável aos interesses dos Estados Unidos, afirmou o chefe do Estado Maior norte-americano, general Martin Dempsey, numa carta a que a AFP teve acesso na quarta-feira.

    O general Dempsey justificou que os rebeldes sírios não apoiam os interesses de Washington.

    Na correspondência dirigida, na segunda-feira, ao democrata Eliot Engel, eleito para a Câmara dos Representantes, Martin Dempsey referiu a atomização da oposição síria e o peso dos grupos armados extremistas no seio da rebelião para justificar a sua oposição a uma intervenção, ainda que limitada.

    "Considero que o campo que nós escolhemos (apoiar) deve estar preparado para promover os seus interesses e os nossos quando a situação pender a seu favor. Atualmente isso não acontece", escreveu o general.

    Martin Dempsey indicou que os Estados Unidos podem "destruir a aviação síria", descrita como responsável por numerosos bombardeamentos de civis, mas "isso não seria decisivo no terreno militar e envolver-nos-ia, decididamente, no conflito", explicou o general Dempsey.

    Se a potência norte-americana "pode mudar o equilíbrio militar" na Síria, "ela não pode resolver os problemas históricos étnicos, religiosos e tribais subjacentes que alimentam o conflito", advertiu.

    Os problemas na Síria têm "raízes profundas", acrescentou, ao referir tratar-se de um "conflito de longa data entre múltiplas fações e a luta violenta para o poder continuará depois do fim do regime de Assad", estimou o principal conselheiro militar do Presidente norte-americano, que apela a avaliar o interesse de um envolvimento militar limitado "neste contexto".

    O general Dempsey, que na semana passada visitou Israel e a Jordânia, países que fazem fronteira com a Síria, acrescentou que uma intervenção militar americana teria impactos que deixariam os seus aliados e parceiros "menos seguros".....http://www.jn.pt/PaginaInicial/Mundo/Interior.aspx?content_id=3382453&page=-1
    22/8/13

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  2. Syria rebels reject opposition coalition, call for Islamic leadership...

    (Reuters) - A group of powerful rebel units have rejected the authority of the Western-backed Syrian opposition leadership abroad and called for it to be reorganized under an Islamic framework, according to a video statement posted on the internet.

    At least 13 rebel factions were said to have endorsed the statement, including the al Qaeda-linked Nusra Front and the powerful Islamist battalions Ahrar Asham and the Tawheed Brigade.

    "These forces feel that all groups formed abroad without having returned to the country do not represent them, and they will not recognise them," said an elderly man reading the statement on film.

    "Therefore the National Coalition and its transitional government led by Ahmad Tumeh do not represent it and will not be recognised."

    Since the 2-1/2-year revolt against President Bashar al-Assad began, Syria's opposition forces have been riven with factionalism and rivalries. There have also been tensions between Islamist groups and those that support a secular vision for a post-Assad Syria.

    Islamist forces have grown in power since the transformation of the rising from a peaceful protest movement into an armed insurgency combating a fierce crackdown by the government.

    "These forces call on all military and civilian forces to unite under a clear Islamic framework based on Sharia law (Islamic law), which should be the sole source of legislation," the statement said.

    The man reading the statement was not immediately identifiable to Reuters, but the video was posted on several of the social media pages belonging to groups said to have signed on to it, such as the Tawheed brigade.

    Whatever their ideological background, many Syrian opposition groups inside Syria are sceptical and resentful of the Western and Gulf Arab-backed National Coalition, an umbrella organisation for opposition groups abroad.

    Critics accuse it of not being transparent with funding and its political processes and of being out of touch with those living inside Syria, where more than 100,000 people have been killed and swathes of territory have been destroyed by combat and shelling.

    (Reporting by Erika Solomon; editing by Patrick Graham)
    http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/09/25/us-syria-crisis-opposition-idUSBRE98O05X20130925?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews
    25/9/13

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  3. Syrie: les islamistes appellent le peuple à s'unir sur la base de la charia....

    Plusieurs groupes d'opposition anti-Assad ont appelé la population syrienne à s'unir sur la base de la charia (loi islamique traditionnelle), rapporte mercredi la chaîne de télévision qatarie Al Jazeera sur son site internet.

    Dans la nuit de lundi à mardi, 13 groupes d'opposition syriens ont diffusé un communiqué dans lequel ils ont refusé de reconnaître toute formation anti-Assad basée hors de la Syrie, dont la Coalition nationale des forces de l'opposition et de la révolution. Les rebelles ont alors indiqué que la Coalition et son gouvernement intérimaire avec à sa tête Ahmad Tomeh ne reflétaient pas leurs intérêts.

    Selon Al Jazeera, parmi les groupes ayant rejeté l'autorité de la Coalition figurent notamment l'Armée syrienne libre (ASL), la brigade Liwa al-Tawhid, les groupes "19e division" et "Ahrar al-Sham", ainsi que le Front al-Nosra associé avec la nébuleuse terroriste internationale Al- Qaïda.

    Ces forces "appellent tous les groupes militaires et civils syriens à s'unifier dans un cadre islamique clair, basé sur les normes de la charia, ce qui en fera l'unique source de la législation", lit-on dans la déclaration commune des rebelles.

    Le document appelle également à "l'abandon des divergences", ainsi qu'au "respect des intérêts de la nation islamique avant les intérêts particuliers de tout groupe séparé".
    http://fr.rian.ru/world/20130925/199390625.html
    25/9/13

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  4. Syrien: Radikale spalten sich von Opposition ab – „Scharia einziges Gesetz“...

    Die oppositionellen syrischen Gruppierungen, die zuvor die Nationale Koalition der Oppositions- und Revolutionskräfte nicht anerkannt hatten, haben aufgerufen, sich auf Grundlage der Scharia-Gesetze zusammenzuschließen, berichtet die Website des TV-Senders Al-Dschasira am Mittwoch.

    Dreizehn aufständische Gruppierungen in Syrien gaben in der Nacht zum Dienstag bekannt, dass sie Oppositionsgruppen mit Sitz im Ausland, darunter die Nationale Koalition, nicht anerkennen. Die Gruppierungen gaben an, die Nationale Koalition und die vorgeschlagene Regierung mit Ahmad Tumeh an der Spitze würden nicht ihre Interessen vertreten.

    Al-Dschasira zufolge gehören zu diesen Gruppierungen die aufständische Freie Syrische Armee, die Brigade Liva at- Tauhid, die Gruppierungen 19. Division und Ahrar al-Sham sowie die islamistische An-Nusra-Front, die dem internationalen Terrornetzwerk Al-Qaida nahe steht.

    „Diese Kräfte rufen alle Militär- und Zivilgruppierungen Syriens auf, sich im deutlichen islamischen Kontext, der auf den Scharia-Gesetzen beruht, zu vereinigen und die Scharia zur einzigen Quelle der Gesetzgebung zu machen“, heißt es in einer gemeinsamen Erklärung der 13 Gruppierungen.
    http://de.rian.ru/world/20130925/266946647.html
    25/9/13

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  5. Syrie: l'armée supprime des dizaines de terroristes au nord de Damas (agence)....

    L'armée syrienne a supprimé samedi au nord de Damas des dizaines de terroristes dont plusieurs étaient des mercenaires étrangers, annonce dimanche l'agence SANA.

    "Lors des opérations spéciales menées dans les villes et localités de Douma, Yabroud, Maalula, Zabadani (au nord de Damas), des dizaines de terroristes ont été supprimés, dont des citoyens de l'Arabie saoudite et du Liban. Dans la région de Douma l'armée a effectué une opération antiterroriste qui a permis de détruire une base de terroristes et d'abattre des mercenaires afghans, turcs et palestiniens", annonce un communiqué de l'armée.

    La semaine dernière, la chaîne télévisée Al-Arabia a rendu publiques les informations du Centre international de recherches et d'études sur le terrorisme de Londres selon lesquelles plus de 11.000 mercenaires en provenance de près de 70 pays sont arrivés en Syrie depuis le début du conflit pour combattre contre les forces fidèles au régime du président Bachar El-Assad.
    http://fr.ria.ru/world/20131222/200082347.html
    22/12/13

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