Syrian assassinations, bombs in Baghdad & BRICS: dialogue, currency & banks

Maybe you will think these stories unconnected. I think otherwise, so, they are running together.
First lets enjoy Ja'bar Castle, Diamond of Euphrates River

 Let's us all see the place that is being destroyed.


First Syria:
Today’s news has  reports of more attacks on Syria’s military members and a car bomb involving a teacher

Aleppo- A brigadier general was assassinated on Wednesday by a terrorist armed group in Aleppo when he was on his way to work. General Khleif al-Abdullah from the Air Forces was targeted by four terrorists in a Cerato car who shot the General dead near to al-Bassel Mosque in al-Hamadaniyeh neighborhood.

Damascus- Armed Terrorist Group Assassinates Colonel in Damascus Countryside

An armed terrorist group assassinated Colonel Tarek Mahmoud al-Houshi outside his home in Jobar in Damascus countryside.The terrorist group shot dead Colonel al-Houshi as he was leaving his house.

Hama- An explosive device planted by a terrorist group in the car of teacher Wafa'a Ibrahim al-Bunni was detonated in al-Sabouniyeh neighborhood in Hama, severely wounding al-Bunni who was rushed to Hama National Hospital.

The bomb was detonated near al-Sabouniyeh rotary while the teacher was driving from work to Abi al-Fida'a quarter, causing extensive damage to the car

The car bomb is interesting. That may give us a peek into the possibility of how car bombings work. Unsuspecting drivers with booby trapped cars, going about their daily lives. Had this bomb exploded at the school, there may have been substantial casualties. Was the bomb detonated to soon? Was the bomb defective? We'll never know. However, as mentioned already this gives us an informative look at how "car bombs' are set off by terrorists, who is chosen and why? The example in this case a school teacher so that children can be targetted.

- A brigadier pilot was kidnapped at a Damascus suburb on Thursday by an "armed terrorist group" while he was heading to work.

Mohammad Omar al-Dirbas was kidnapped in the Eastern Ghouta area

A series of assassinations targeting senior army and security personnel occurred recently in Syria. The government accused rebel forces of being behind the assassinations

Additional reading here and here


Onto the Baghdad summit
As the Baghdad summit opens, the one being boycotted by the GCC countries, explosions greet the attendees

 Smoke billowed above Baghdad after a blast near the secure Green Zone

Two of the blasts occurred near the Iranian embassy, eyewitnesses said. There are unconfirmed reports that an explosion near the city's secure Green Zone was an IED (improvised explosive device).

Near the Iranian Embassy- that would be a Shiite target? As for the 'secure' Green Zone?
It would seem it is not so secure. Could that be intentional?

You may recall this is the meeting mentioned in the comments section yesterday.
The meeting where - Assad ouster not on agenda

The Arab summit in Baghdad will stop short of calling for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to quit or discuss arming his foes, both sharply divisive issues, Iraq's foreign minister said on Wednesday.

Hoshyar Zebari's confirmation that the 22-member Arab League will steer clear of the strong moves advocated by Qatar and Saudi Arabia came on the eve of the landmark summit in the Iraqi capital.
"The Arab League initiative is clear and did not demand that Bashar step down, we (foreign ministers) also did not ask for that and the upcoming decision will not go in this direction," Zebari said after a ministerial meeting.

Asked whether the arming of Syrian rebels was raised, Zebari said: "We did not discuss this subject at all."

You may recall that SA and Qatar are boycotting this meeting?

Now to the BRICS:

BRICS says dialogue only answer for Syria, Iran

Seeking to reinforce their growing economic heft with global diplomatic clout, the world's top emerging economies Thursday warned the West against allowing the Iran situation to "escalate into conflict" and underlined that dialogue was the only way to resolve the Iranian issue and Syria crisis.

"We agreed that a lasting solution in Syria and Iran can only be found through dialogue" 


BRICS to trade in their currencies

Taking note of uncertainty in global political and economic situation, India, China, Russia, Brazil and South Africa on Thursday took the first step towards mutual trade in local currency and voiced strong opposition to any military action or rhetoric with regard to Syria and Iran.

After the Brazil-Russia-India-China-South Africa (BRICS) Summit, an agreement was signed under which credits would be extended in local currencies under the BRICS Interbank Cooperation Mechanism. Another pact signed was the Multilateral Letter of Credit Confirmation Facility Agreement between BRICS countries' Exim/Development Banks.

The agreements mark the initial steps for intra-BRICS trade in local currency.

Perhaps the next step would be the creation of a BRIC bank?
BRICS create their own bank

 India's prime minister said Thursday that international institutions are failing to lift up the developing world and endorsed the creation of a new development bank to be run by five fast-rising nations.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh spoke at a summit of the so called BRICS group — comprised of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa — aimed at harnessing the nations' increasing global clout and forging stronger ties between their fast-growing economies.
The five countries represent 45 per cent of the world's population, a quarter of its land mass and a quarter of its economy at $13.5 trillion US.

A prospect that the World bank did not see as possible

A plan to form a joint development bank by the BRICS group of the world's most powerful emerging economies will have a hard time getting off the ground and could struggle to match the World Bank's expertise, World Bank President Robert Zoellick said.

Zoellick told Reuters in an interview late on Wednesday that there are already a series of regional development banks and many countries have their own such banks, but if a BRICS bank was formed, the World Bank would work closely with it.

Or perhaps threatening? I find the language interesting and have highlighted it
Having a hard time and could struggle? Why, they certainly have the population, the resources etc.,
Does this mean the World Bank will make it difficult for the BRIC bank?
The World Bank's "expertise"? As if only certain individuals have enough "expertise" to run a bank?
How is Zoellick defining "expertise"

Hilary does Saudi Arabia & Turkey

The inference in the title is intentional. Hilary is a whore for war and more.
Whores aren't all about sex. There are other types of whores. They are venal individuals.
People who can be bought or owned for the right price.
Hilary is like that.
So is another gal, one I have blogged on previously. Death Angel(ina) Jolie.
Both are constantly selling, promoting, creating, fomenting- pick your descriptor- WAR.
Destruction, mayhem, misery, impoverishment, disease and more.
All the lowest ruinous conditions for humanity.
Conditions that work to destroy and deter the evolution of humanity and serve to keep us in fear and enslaved. Sorry for going all spiritual there.
Let's get back to the news

Hilary Clinton is heading for Saudi Arabia. From there she will travel to Turkey for the 2nd "Friends of Syria" conference.

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton will travel to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from March 30-31, 2012. While in Riyadh, she will meet King Abdullah and Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal. She will also attend the First Ministerial Meeting of the Gulf Cooperation Council-U.S. Strategic Cooperation Forum. In her conversations, she will discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues, including ongoing security cooperation in the region, as well as the international community’s continuing efforts to stop the bloodshed in Syria.

Secretary Clinton will then travel to Istanbul, Turkey from March 31-April 1 to attend the second meeting of the “Friends of the Syrian People.”

While in Saudi Arabia she will be meeting with leaders from the GCC- Gulf Cooperation Council.
All the GCC Nations have their embassies closed in Damascus, as does Turkey.


The main stream media often uses the GCC and the Arab League interchangeably. They shouldn’t and nor should you. If memory serves me, the GCC was formed when it became obvious the Arab League was going to be less malleable then the West had hoped.
The Gulf Cooperation Council is another beast entirely. Consisting of Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait  & the UAE. The monarchical, despots of the Middle East. Countries that never met a human rights abuse they didn’t love. Unless the 'human rights' abuse is taking place elsewhere. Like Syria or Libya?

Despite harshly cracking down on its own protesters, Saudi Arabia has been very supportive of revolt elsewhere.  "Riyadh was among the first to push for international intervention in Libya."

Human rights movements, however, point out the irony of Saudi Arabia weighing in on human rights issues.  After all, it’s a country where protesting can be considered an act punishable by death.

In March, the Kingdom’s religious council issued a fatwa directly condemning social unrest.
Four protesters have been killed in Riyadh this year alone, with up to 50 arrested.

“Demonstrations in Saudi Arabia are simply illegal,” Dr Ibrahim Alloush, a professor at Zaytouneh University in Jordan, told RT.

It's all about piety, doncha know?



Piety doesn't apply to Saudi Royals. Venal.

Looking at all the good deeds of the Saudi's ... Human rights for others, arms for destabilizers to destroy secular nations. One must surely sympathize when they are simply outraged over "provocative insults"

What price the Russian Position

“In claiming that the Syrian uprising is a covert attempt by other Arab countries to overthrow the Allawite Assad regime and establish a Sunni state, Russia’s Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov is being both provocative and inflammatory. This is an outrageous insult.

Indeed, the statement is all the more outrageous because in the same interview, Lavrov insisted that Assad’s security forces are being challenged by Al-Qaeda. This therefore suggests that he believes that the whole Arab League, united in its utter condemnation of the Syrian blood-letting, is merely a tool of a terrorist organization whose immoral tactics are every bit as ruthless as those deployed by Assad.”

Has the whole Arab League been united in it’s utter condemnation? I don’t think so.
The GCC has been united not the Arab League.
 Recall the Arab League monitors that went into Syria trying to do a credible job?
Which countries undermined them? The GCC countries and the countries of the West/NATO/Israel.

 Then this bit "establish a Sunni state" Lavrov should have went further and  characterized these creations as radical ‘Sunni’ states?

Continuing-

In spouting this specious nonsense Lavrov chooses to ignore the grievous damage that Al-Qaeda and its offshoots have caused in Iraq, Yemen and other countries, including the Kingdom. He also chooses to ignore the dogged campaign that every Arab state has waged against these terrorists who, by their appalling and immoral cruelties, so defame the name of Islam in which they claim to act.”

Of course Saudi Arabia would have you forget just who aided in the creation of the “al-Qaeda fighters’. ..... Oh yeah, Saudi Arabia! Not alone of course. Not alone.
The article takes the ‘bad Russia’ case further by doing a Putin/Stalin comparison. Is this comparable to a Saddam/Hitler or a Gaddafi/Hitler comparison? I wonder?
      

Lavrov must apologize unreservedly. If he does not, Russia, which already by its support of a wicked regime has made itself hated in the Arab world, must be made to feel the Arab wrath.

"Made to feel the wrath of the Arab world" Interesting? So many thoughts flood into my head.

After Hilary leaves Saudi Arabia and the other GCC tyrannies. She is headed to Turkey to attend  the "Friends of Syria" meeting. Luckily, ahead of her gracious appearance, the SNC has worked out their differences. Allegedly. Except for one group. A Kurdish group. I have some thoughts on why Kurdish involvement is not relevant at this time which will be expanded on at a later time. Quickly I will say this. I do not believe the Kurds will form a part of Syria. Not once the West is finished with Syria. For now Hilary has her face of unity.


Additional Info- Arab League vs GCC
Hoping the addition of this clarifies the differences between the Arab League and the GCC

The Arab League suspended Syria last year and has in the past called on Assad to step aside to allow talks. But members are split over how to handle increasing violence that threatens to inflame the region's complex ethnic and sectarian mix.
Sunni powers Saudi Arabia and Qatar have led the push to isolate Syria, but other non-Gulf (GCC) Arab states such as Algeria, Egypt and Iraq's Shi'ite-led government urge more caution, fearing that toppling Assad could spark sectarian violence.

"Syria's accepting the plan is a very important step," Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari told Reuters in Baghdad- "Zebari said the League would not accept foreign intervention in Syria."

Whereas the GCC is all for intervention 

Syria accepts UN Peace Plan- Perhaps this is why?

UPDATE # 1 BELOW 

The Syrian government has agreed to accept a peace plan proposed by UN and Arab League envoy Kofi Annan, al Jazeera television quoted his spokesman as saying.

"The Syrian government has written to the joint special envoy Kofi Annan, accepting his six-point plan, endorsed by the United Nations Security Council," spokesman Ahmad Fawzi said in a statement on Tuesday.
Annan, who is in China to solicit support for the plan, considered it "an important initial step that could bring an end to the violence."

Russia has backed the former UN chief's plan, which calls for a UN-supervised ceasefire and political dialogue.




He is greeted quite amicably.

UPDATE

Annan's peace plan leaves room for Syrian Interpretation

As well as interpretation by others.

The key to the success of Kofi Annan’s Six-Point Plan unveiled today lies in what is not said in the scheme: At no point does the plan call for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to step down or delegate power.

Even those points are gently worded. For example, Syria “should” cease troop movements toward population centres and “should” end the use of heavy weapons, and should “begin” the pullback of military concentrations. All this leaves ample room for Syrian interpretation.

As for negotiating Syria’s future political system, the Annan points call only for Syria to “commit to appoint an empowered interlocutor when invited to do so by the envoy [Mr. Annan].”
All this makes the scheme much more acceptable to Mr. al-Assad and to his allies in Moscow and Beijing, all of whom rejected the idea that Damascus was getting all the blame and the opposition militants none at all.

etc., etc.,

There is more, be sure to read at the link.

What the author points out is that what is acceptable to Syria, Russia and China is not acceptable to the opposition

The Syrian National Council and Free Syrian Army, among others, have insisted they will never talk to Mr. al-Assad, and never agree to take any steps toward ending hostilities until he’s gone.

To offset that negative reaction, the Annan Points also go easy on the opposition.
Crucially, they call for the Syrian forces to make the first move in halting the fighting – a significant concession by the Assad regime that had insisted on mutual cessation – and they do not compel the opposition to do much of anything in this regard.
They say only that commitments from the opposition to stop fighting and accept UN supervision “would be sought by the envoy.”
However, as an incentive for the opposition to make such a commitment, the plan offers incentives: specifically, a two-hour humanitarian break in government fighting each day, and the possibility of an accelerated rate of release of opposition members jailed by the government.
It just might be enough to entice a representative number of opposition people to sign up for this plan, and defer their hopes for Mr. al-Assad to step down at a later date.
Mr. Annan said Tuesday that acceptance of the plan is merely “an important initial step” that “could bring an end to the violence and the bloodshed, provide aid to the suffering, and create an environment conducive to a political dialogue that would fulfill the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people.”
The success of the plan now depends on the opposition’s acceptance and implementation of it. It’s likely that at the conference of Friends of the Syrian People, meeting Sunday in Istanbul, world powers will be pushing for the opposition to go along with it.

Will the "Friends of Syria" be pushed into going along with this peace plan?
So far I am not getting that impression.
From the latest news- Obama and Erdogan sending "non-lethal"  aid to the rebels

Communications devices that are used to conduct warfare can hardly be construed as "non-lethal"
Not when they are used in planning attacks. Which would seem to be their intended use.

Syria's opposition: Behind the mask is the face of terrorism

I had hoped to get this one up yesterday. It didn't happen. So here it is today!

The Human Rights Watch "open letter" contains the usual spin. Overwhelmingly 'peaceful' protests... what bullocks! This has never been peaceful protest, it has always been armed destabilization.

Curious on how Human Rights Watch gets funded? Anyone?

HRW and the Examiner article linked to several videos, that I don't have to stomache to watch.
Ok, I briefly watched one and that was it for me.

This scenario of civilian abuse is Libya all over again.

Which should come as no surprise to anyone. We should all remember the hero of AVAAZ,( NATO NGO).... Wissam Tariff was negotiating with Libyan rebels for guns and fighers.

"The Libyans are offering money, training and weapons to the Syrian National Council," added Wissam Tariff, a human rights campaigner with links to the SNC.

NGO Human Rights Watch has addressed an open letter (http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/03/20/open-letter-leaders-syrian-opposition) to the Leaders of the Syrian Opposition, who have been linked to al-Qaeda, (al-ciaduh) regarding numerous human rights abuses by armed opposition members.

The NGO says some of the attacks appear to have targeted President Bashar al-Assad’s own Alawite community and appear to be motivated by sectarianism.

Sectarianism? Say it isn't so! Divide to conquer. Gosh, who would benefit from that?

From the HRW letter-

"In addition, Human Rights Watch is deeply concerned about the FSA kidnappings of Iranian nationals, some of whom the FSA has confirmed are civilians. On January 26 the FSA Al Farouq battalion claimed responsibility for capturing seven Iranian nationals, five of whom they allege are members of the Iranian armed forces. In an interview on February 22, 2012, with Human Rights Watch, the Al-Farouq battalion media coordinator explained that the other two individuals detained are civilians but that they were detained at the point of capture because a Persian speaker was unavailable to confirm this until later. When asked why the detainees identified as civilians had not yet been released, he would not comment.
In tandem with its announcement of their capture, the battalion released video footage of the five detainees that they identified as members of the Iranian armed forces. In the video, one of the captives, Sajjad Amirian, explains that the five were following orders from Syrian security forces to shoot at civilians. On January 27 Syrian state media, SANA, reported that Iran's MAPNA Group, an Iranian power company in Syria, said that the on camera statements were made under duress and untrue, and that the five individuals were in fact Iranian engineers. In an interview with Iranian state-owned Press TV, one of the detainee’s family members, Mehdi Sohrabi, spoke out against their detention, insisting that they are all engineers. The Islamic Republic News Agency reported that all seven men were released on February 10, but on February 15 indicated that the report was false and that the men remained in custody. The Al-Farouq battalion media coordinator told Human Rights Watch on March 16 that the seven detainees were still being held in Syria and that they were in good health.
According to media reports on February 1, members of the FSA also kidnapped 11 Iranian nationals traveling to Damascus on a pilgrimage tour, claiming that they had connections to the Iranian Revolutionary Guards. The FSA Abu el Fida battalion announced their release on February 6 following Turkish mediation efforts. An additional 11 Iranian pilgrims reportedly kidnapped on January 26 are still believed to be detained.
Torture
Human Rights Watch has reviewed at least 25 videos on YouTube in which Syrian security forces or their alleged supporters are filmed confessing to crimes under circumstances in which it appears that their statements were made under duress. At least 18 of these videos show footage of detained individuals who are bruised, bleeding, or show other signs of physical abuse.
In one video, three individuals described by the accompanying text as shabeeha are asked what their names are, where they are from, their religion, and what they are doing in Tal Kalakh. In the video they are shown on their knees during this interrogation, their hands bound. The face of one is clearly badly bruised. They all identify themselves as Shia, from el Rabwie, Homs, and “confess” that they were killing peaceful protesters.
In another video bearing the emblem of the FSA Khaled Bin Al Walid battalion, an unnamed individual described by the accompanying text as a shabeeha member is interrogated. He appears bound and his face is bruised. At the end of the video, he denies an allegation against him and the interrogator calls him a liar, tells the videographer to stop shooting, and directs someone off camera to bring him the “electricity machine”.
All individuals in the custody of the FSA and other opposition forces, including members of the Syrian security forces and shabeeha, should be treated humanely in accordance with international human rights standards.
Executions
Other video footage reviewed by Human Rights Watch and information received in interviews indicates that members of the FSA have executed individuals suspected of crimes against the opposition in their custody.
One video, released on YouTube on February 4, shows an individual hung from a tree by his neck in front of several armed fighters. Commentary indicates that he is a shabeeha fighter captured and executed by the FSA Kafr Takharim battalion on January 22, 2012. In a second video, which appears to have been released by the FSA Al Farouq battalion on YouTube, an individual identified as a member of Air Force Intelligence based in Homs is interrogated and confesses to shooting at protesters. The detainee’s face is very badly beaten, cut, and bruised, and he appears disoriented. Written statements accompanying the video state that it was filmed before his execution, and the interrogator in the video, amidst curses, asks him for his final request before dying.

Think Wissam Tariff. Think AVAAZ.
Do you really think this is humanitarian in nature?

"Meanwhile reports continue to surface that the United States Military and NATO are secretly training mercenaries and terrorists in camps in Libya and airlifting them to Turkey to infiltrate the border to commit terrorist acts, including targeted killings and launching attacks against police and government officials."

Russia and Russian Citizens-

Russia has recently dispatched counter terrorism and other special operations troops to target al-Qaeda and try to prevent a takeover of the country by the hands of deadly terrorists. Some intelligence analyst suspect that the Russian are also in country to monitor the situation and protect its citizens.

There are by some estimates about 100,000 Russian citizens in Syria.

This topic has been broached here previously. Is this number accurate? I don't know.

FLASHBACK!
September 2010. Not to long before the destabilization agenda in Syria kicks off....
Or was it already under way?

1 Dead General, A Destabilization and the long, long Energy Wars

The body was of General Yuri Ivanov, deputy chief of the Russian military intelligence (Glavnoye Razvedyvateinoye Upravienie).

Ivanov was the second in command at Russia’s foreign military intelligence unit, the GRU.

The general was last seen visiting the building site for a new Russian military base in the Syrian coastal city of Tartus, which is being expanded as a base for Russia’s Black Sea fleet.

Official reports claimed he drowned while swimming, but many don't believe that the head of operations for the Russian military intelligence would go swimming without half a dozen bodyguards around him

He was just one of a possible 100,000 Russians in Syria.

To finish up with the HRW letter and some real human rights facts-

The US has claimed its intentions in Libya were justified to prevent the slaughter of innocent people. Russian sources point to the fact that the US bombed a water pipeline that provided fresh water to hundreds of thousands of people in an effort to increase the pressure on Muammar Gaddafi, who was brutally beaten and executed by Libyan terrorists armed by the United States.

The US claims much that is untrue. The US does not ever worry about civilians. EVER.
Not it's own. Not other nations civilians. I would think that their terrorists in Syria are doing exactly what is expected of them. Terrorizing the populace into submission.