Tag Archives: Syria

President Obama Wants 10,000 Syrian Refugees in U.S.

The White House has announced that President Obama is instructing his administration to clear the way for 10,000 Syrian refugees to enter the U.S. during the next fiscal year.

The plan was met with immediate criticism from both sides of the political spectrum over security concerns.  The 10,000 would mark a significant increase over the nearly 1,300 that will enter the country this fiscal year.  Less than 1,500 Syrian refugees have entered the U.S. since the start of the Syrian Civil War in 2011.

“Our enemy now is Islamic terrorism, and these people are coming from a country filled with Islamic terrorists,” said Representative Peter T. King, Republican of New York. “We don’t want another Boston Marathon bombing situation.”

State Department spokesman John Kirby admitted there was a “significant national security concern” related to the President’s demand.

“I’m not arguing that we’re going to cut corners here,” Kirby said. “But the president has laid out his decision and the target he wants to achieve for the next fiscal year with respect to Syrian refugees, and we’re going to work very hard to do that.”

White House spokesman Josh Earnest tried to lay out the case that no corners would be cut.

“Refugees go through the most robust security process of anybody who’s contemplating travel to the United States,” Earnest said. “Refugees have to be screened by the National Counter Terrorism Center, by the F.B.I. Terrorist Screening Center. They go through databases that are maintained by D.H.S., the Department of Defense and the intelligence community. There is biographical and biometric information that is collected about these individuals.”

More than 4 million Syrians have fled that nation since the beginning of their civil war.

Terrorists Seize Key Syrian Airbase

The key Syrian government airbase in Idlib has fallen to rebels after a two-year siege of the base.

The majority of the rebel groups that finally overran the base were Islamists groups including the al-Qaeda affiliated al-Nusra Front.  The capture was possible because a major dust storm that struck the region grounded all the aircraft at the base.

The rebels now control the province of Idlib.

Syrian state TV even conceded the base, stating that troops had “evacuated their positions and moved to another point”.

Syrian President Bashir al-Assad has admitted that his army is facing a “manpower problem.”  He said that they will have to give up some land so they have sufficient forces to defend “more important” properties.

At least 240,000 people have died so far in the four year Syrian civil war.

Russia Admits Military Experts in Syria

The Russian government stopped denying they have troops in Syria.

The statement comes one day after the United States asked nations like Bulgaria and Greece to close their airspace to Russian military transports. Bulgaria agreed to the U.S. request but Greece did not publicly respond to the request.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova confirmed “advisors” are assisting with deliveries of Russian arms.  The Russian government is claiming the mission of the forces is just to assist the Syrian army in fighting militants.

However, U.S. officials say that Russian transports are also arriving with passenger flights that contain Russian troops putting together a forward base in Syria.

“Any effort to bolster the Assad regime would potentially be destabilizing,” the U.S. State Department said.

Russia has long considered Syrian President Bashir al-Assad a close ally.

Russia Sends Troops to Syria

Russian troops have begun a major military deployment to Syria.

The Russian government has been denying the moves, but the American government sent a terse warning to Russia about escalating the conflict.  Russian officials claim they are just helping the fight against terrorism.

“We have always supplied equipment to them for their struggle against terrorists,” Maria V. Zakharova, the Foreign Ministry spokeswoman, said in an interview with the New York Times. “We are supporting them, we were supporting them and we will be supporting them.”

The US has gone as far as to ask nations such as Greece to deny use of their airspace to Russian aircraft transporting troops and weapons to Syria.

Analysts say that it’s likely Russia is using the fact the US has not really attempted to put a force into Syria to their advantage.

“It is basically a chance to play on Obama’s checkerboard,” said Konstantin Von Eggert, an independent political analyst, told the Times, stating it’s as if Russian President Putin is saying: “You want to fight the Islamic State. I am there. I am ready. Ah, sorry, you don’t really want to fight.”

Russia has a key naval base in Syria.

Massive Sandstorm Strikes Middle East

An out-of-season sandstorm has struck the Middle East causing thousands to have medical issues and reducing visibility in region.

The Times of Israel called the storm “a brownish-yellow fog throughout the country.”  The storm has been working across Israel and into Lebanon, Iraq and Syria.  Meteorologists say the storm will be followed by an intense heat wave that will last through the weekend.

Health officials through the region are telling residents to stay inside to avoid breathing problems.  Schools were either closed to keep children inside to avoid the fine particulates in the air.

The head of a major hospital in Damascus told reporters that over 1,200 people had been treated for breathing problems.  At least 100 of the victims were children.

“It is unbelievable. This must be some test,” said Mansour, a Damascus resident, who gave only his first name told the Associated Press. “It’s hot. Temperatures are high and above that we have this dusty weather! It is something beyond reasonable. Enough please!”

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that some villages such as al-Mayadeen were so short of medical supplies that they ran out of oxygen canisters and had to turn away victims of the storm.

Germany to Welcome All Syrian Refugees

As a wave of Syrian refugees attempting to escape the violence of the Middle East drew closer to the Hungarian border, Germany announced they would be welcoming in anyone escaping the civil war.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel called the situation the biggest migration crisis since World War II.

The announcement comes as some smaller nations have declared states of emergency because of the mass wave of people fleeing ISIS and the Syrian war.  Macedonia first tried to use their military to keep out the migrants and when they were overrunning chartered trains to take the migrants directly to Germany or France.

German and French officials are working together to create a joint plan for all of Europe to deal with migrants from war torn areas.  The outline will provide expedited asylum for those refugees as well as returning to home countries those who are not arriving from an area of conflict.

“There are moments in European history when we face exceptional circumstances, and these are exceptional circumstances that will last,” Hollande said alongside Merkel before they met for talks in Berlin. “So rather than wait and then cope on a day-to-day basis, we must get organized and strengthen our policies.”

Germany announced they expect to absorb 800,000 migrants this year, after only receiving 44,417 in the first six months of the year.

Officials are dealing with a wave of anti-immigrant violence.  A shelter for migrants in the German town of Heidenau was attacked three consecutive nights despite police guarding the facility.

ISIS Destroys Ancient Temple

Islamic terrorist group ISIS has destroyed an ancient temple in the city of Palmyra, Syria in what the United Nations is calling a war crime.

The Temple of Baalshamin was destroyed on the heels of the terrorists killing Khaled al-Asssad.  The 82-year-old al-Asssad was an expert on Syrian antiquities and refused to tell the terrorists the locations of items they wanted to find.  Assad ran the antiquities department of Palmyra for 50 years.

Syria’s head of antiquities told the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights the terrorists blew up the temple on Sunday causing “much damage.”

“[ISIS] destroyed an incredibly important architectural structure,” Maamoun Abdulkarim said. “It is the first structure in the Palmyra complex to be destroyed, although they recently destroyed two Islamic shrines nearby.”

“They said they would destroy the statues but not the structures themselves inside Palmyra. They lied.”

The United Nations was swift to condemn the action.

“The systematic destruction of cultural symbols embodying Syrian cultural diversity reveals the true intent of such attacks, which is to deprive the Syrian people of its knowledge, its identity and history. One week after the killing of Professor Khaled al-Assaad, the archaeologist who had looked after Palmyra’s ruins for four decades, this destruction is a new war crime and an immense loss for the Syrian people and for humanity,” Unesco Director-General Irina Bokova said in a statement.

“The art and architecture of Palmyra, standing at the crossroads of several civilizations, is a symbol of the complexity and wealth of the Syrian identity and history. Extremists seek to destroy this diversity and richness, and I call on the international community to stand united against this persistent cultural cleansing. Daesh (ISIS) is killing people and destroying sites, but cannot silence history and will ultimately fail to erase this great culture from the memory of the world. Despite the obstacles and fanaticism, human creativity will prevail, buildings and sites will be rehabilitated, and some will be rebuilt,” Bokova continued.

“Such acts are war crimes and their perpetrators must be accountable for their actions. UNESCO stands by all Syrian people in their efforts to safeguard their heritage, a heritage for all humanity.”

Syrian Government Bombs Civilians in Douma

The Syrian government has killed over 100 civilians in a series of airstrikes on a marketplace and other buildings in the Damascus suburb of Douma.

Syrian warplanes attacked the suburb Sunday and Monday with Sunday’s initial attack on a market killing over 80 civilians including women and children.

“In some places there was not enough capabilities to transfer the victims. It was very painful to see dead human bodies just left on the sidewalk,” said Abdullah al-Shami, a media activist, told CNN. “Scores of injured were bleeding while waiting their turn to get treatment.”

“It was really difficult to identify the bodies of the martyrs. Some of them were burned to the bone, so we couldn’t add them to the documented list,” said a 28-year-old spokesman of the Syrian Civil Defense Force, who declined to give his real name to Reuters for security reasons.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said that Syrian troops waited after the initial attack for rescue personnel to arrive on the scenes of the bombings and then struck the same areas with a second volley.

The United Nations issued a swift condemnation of the attacks, saying that the “attacks on civilians are unlawful, unacceptable and must stop”.

The White House also issued a strong condemnation of the actions of the Syrian government.

“This latest tragedy is just another reminder of the inhumane acts perpetrated daily by the Asad regime against the Syrian people,” National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement.  “The regime is responsible for killing thousands of innocent Syrian civilians and destroying entire towns and cities, historical sites, schools, mosques, markets, and hospitals.  These abhorrent actions underscore that the Asad regime has lost legitimacy and that the international community must do more to enable a genuine political transition.”

(Misspellings of the Syrian regime listed in the quote above were done purposefully, as that is how the White House spells the regime’s name.)

ISIS Kidnaps Over 200 Syrians

Islamic terrorist group ISIS seized control of a key village in the province of Homs, kidnapping around 230 people including initially at least 60 Christians.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) reported Friday that the terrorists have taken control of the heavily populated town of Qaryatain.  The town of about 40,000 people is located in the middle of a triangle formed by Homs, Palmyra and Damascus.  Many residents who fled Homs because of the terrorist group had fled to Qaryatain.

SOHR reported that 60 Christians had been kidnapped by the group but the head of the Christian Assyrian Network for Human Rights in Syria told the Associated Press that half of the Christians were released and fled to nearby villages.

Reuters reported that some of the Christians were seized from a monastery in the city.

SOHR also said that 45 women and 19 children were among those taken by the terrorists.

Officials said that around 1,400 families in the city have fled the city, most of them traveling to Homs, which is now under the control of government forces.

Kidnapping of Christians and residents is a standard tactic for the terrorist group.  In March, the group kidnapped 230 Christians and demanded $23 million in ransom for their release.

Turkish President in China

Turkey’s President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is in China for an official state visit.

Erdogan will be meeting in Beijing with his counterpart, Xi Jinping.

The visit is the first for Erdogan since his election as president in 2014 and the first since Turkey agreed to work with the U.S. to eliminate terrorist group ISIS in parts of Syria.

Erdogan traveled to China with around 100 business owners and leaders in what’s expected to be a discussion of trade deals.  The trade between the two nations has reached about $24 billion a year.

However, some believe that the current Syrian crisis will cause Erdogan to try and purchase a long-range missile system which has been a source of concern to Turkey’s fellow NATO members.

Turkey and China have also had issues regarding illegal immigration in southeast Asia of Muslims.  Last month, there were protests in Turkey after a group of Muslims illegally crossed from China to Thailand and then were returned to China.

“It’s quite obvious that the current Turkish government is supporting illegal immigration of Uighurs by giving them passports and working with Southeast Asian countries,” said Yin Gang an expert on the Middle East with the government-supported Chinese Academy of Social Sciences. “It would be hard for the relationship between China and Turkey to improve significantly unless Turkey makes serious promises on that issue.”