Attack not best way to stop Syria's chemical weapons, Clark says.

[LongTomH]

Source: CNN News

The best way to ensure Syria doesn’t use chemical weapons against rebels is not military action, but offering Syria’s president a way out of the country – and persuading him to take it – a former NATO supreme commander says.

Retired U.S. Army Gen. Wesley Clark told "CNN Newsroom" on Thursday that concerned nations could attack Syrian military targets, but such a move wouldn’t immediately halt every chemical weapons threat.

"You could take out the airfields if (the weapons) are uploaded … but nothing is going to be 100% effective," Clark said. "The most effective preventive weapon is to use this as greater leverage against the Russians and Chinese to cut all support for Bashar Assad, get him out of the country, get him into some kind of asylum situation somewhere, and sort this out."

Clark’s comments come amid reports that the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad may be preparing to use chemical weapons.

Read more: http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/12/06/attack-not-best-way-to-stop-syrias-chemical-weapons-clark-says/

[Auntie Bush]

1. Some more intelligent words and advice from Wes Clark.

Hope Obama gives him a well deserved cabinet position!

[John2]

2. They are not just

trying to take out Assad but his government and military also. You are putting another group in power, that has committed atrocities also. I don't like the situation at all.

[Dokkie]

3. Loads and loads of atrocities

For anyone who wants to view Rebel atrocities, just go to YT channel of Syriangirlpartisan she has a lot of video showing the FSA killing and torturing civilians as well as bombing them. Enough video to make you fall in love

[leveymg]

4. Unless you give the entire Alawite/Ba'ath Party asylum and a country of their own, this won't work

John2 is right. This isn't about personalities, it's about religious genocide and ancient scores that are being settled by the majority Sunni and foreign Jihadis.

If you put Assad on an airplane, it does not stop the civil war that has been going on and off for decades.

[grahamhgreen]

5. I'm Going to Say Three Words and You're Going to Give Me a Trillion Dollars!

WMD in Syria!

[julian09]

6. After being responsible for 40,000 plus deaths the way to get out is simply threaten 500,000 more

works for Assad.

[John2]

7. Is he responsible

for every Death in a Civil War? It looks like a fight to the Death to me. The forces controled by Assad which are Alwaite has used force at any means to maintain power over the Kurds and Sunnis. The Sunnis are 74 percent of the population. The Alwaites are more Sectarian and the Sunnis are more Islamic. All the groups have their allies in surrounding countries. The Alwaites have ties to populations in Turkey, Iran and Lebanon. This is just a proxy War. The Alwaites overthrew the Sunnis for power back in the 70s and has held power ever since according to Syria's history through oppression. If Assad is over
thrown, this means all the Alwaites lose power. The Sunnis will probably begin their revenge and oppression. The U.S. is not creating a Democracy, they are just supplanting one group for another and it will continue. These other Arab countries are just helping their kindred Brethren. The Turks are probably just helping the Kurds. So what is the end game here for the U.S.?

[leveymg]

8. About half of those casualties are Syrian Army troops and auxillaries. Get some balance.

If you fault Assad for having a strategic deterrence, and threatening to use it, you also must realize that Israel's is ten times more destructive, and the US 100 times deadlier than that again.

[julian09]

12. I've been opposed to Israel settlements, isolation of Palestinians and more and US unconditional

support. Israelis don't shoot their own unarmed people with tanks, aircraft, constant shelling. Assad had many chances to end the violence. It is after all the peoples country.

[leveymg]

13. The "shooting their unarmed people" stuff is a myth perpetuated by opposition and the western media.

Last edited Thu Dec 6, 2012, 11:57 PM - Edit history (1)

The shooting phase of the civil war started with the uprising in the southern city of Daraa on April 8 last year. The initial casualties were 19 policemen killed by snipers. Here's the timeline and how it unfolded, according to the Wiki pages:

The start of the Syrian uprising is generally considered to have been Feb. 3 but there was no major bloodshed until after April 8 with events that occurred in Daraa when components of Syrian Army units mutinied.

The fighting with military defectors was a battle that developed within the context of the armed uprising in Daraa. The events of April 8 that led to the arrival two weeks later of large number of government troops are key to understanding how the violence was sparked and why the use of force by the regime escalated. There were three key actions that sparked the crackdown: snipers, the burning of the Ba'ath Party Headquarters by a large, armed mob, and the killing of 19 policemen and security personnel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Syrian_civil_war_%28January%E2%80%93April_2011%29

8 April – "Friday of Resistance"
External videos
Unknown Gunmen Filmed at Syria Demo
(YouTube: Associated Press.)
8 April 2011. Retrieved 9 April 2011.
Protests in Duma near Damascus

On the third Friday called "Friday of Resistance", thousands of protesters took to streets in Daraa, Latakia, Tartus, Edlib, Baniyas, Qamishli, Homs and the Damascus suburb of Harasta, in the largest protest yet.[160][161]

27 anti-government protesters were killed in Daraa and many other were wounded when security forces opened fire with rubber bullets and live rounds to disperse stone-throwing protesters.[161][162] The clashes started when thousands of prayers staged rallies following the Friday prayers. In a telephone call one of the activists told the news agencies that demonstrators, starting from three mosques, have marched to the city's main court where they were confronted by security forces dressed in civilian clothing.[163] A witness told Reuters he saw "snipers on roofs."[164] It was also reported that another resident has seen "pools of blood and three bodies" in the Mahatta area of Daraa.[164] The protesters have also smashed a stone statue of Basil al-Assad, the brother of the current President of the country, and set fire to a Ba'ath Party outpost.[163][164][165] The state-run Syrian Television reported that 19 police officers and members of the security forces have been killed in Daraa.[166]

You may view the original AP Raw Feed from Daraa on April 8 which shows the mob and some of the snipers, here:

http://www.youtube. com/watch?v=Le6WpCSXCyI - (dissected URL version, eliminate the space after youtube._ to reconnect)

Raw Video: Deadly Day of Protests in Syria - YouTube
► 1:13► 1:13

www.youtube.com Apr 8, 2011 - 1 min - Uploaded by AssociatedPress
State-run Syrian TV says 19 police officers and security forces have been killed in southern city of Daraa. (April 8)

Even after the Army was called in, the casualties were not as one-sided as is widely assumed. During the period of the first Daraa uprising, the estimates for the number of opposition killed range from 50-220 (with 81 defected soldiers killed), while government casualties are reported to be killed 25 killed and 177 wounded. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/April%E2%80%93May_2011_Daraa_siege

April–May 2011 Daraa siege
Part of the Syrian uprising

Date 25 April – 5 May 2011
Location Daraa, Syria

Result Protests suppressed

Belligerents
Syrian opposition
• Opposition protesters Syrian government
• Syrian Army

Commanders and leaders
Unknown Gen. Maher al-Assad
Gen. Suheil Hassan
Gen. Mohsin Makhlouf
Gen. Ahmed Yousef Jarad
Gen. Ramadan Ramadan[1]

Units involved
4th Division (42nd brigade)
5th Division (12th, 15th, 112th, 132nd brig, 175th reg)
Special forces (35th, 41st regiment)[2]

Strength
100,000 protesters 1,100 (originally)[3]

Casualties and losses
50[4] – 220[5] killed,
600 arrested,[6]
81 defected soldiers killed[7]
25 killed,
177 wounded[8]

[rachel1]

9. But the military-industrial complex says more people need to be killed

because peaceful diplomacy sucks and war has been sooooooooooo effective in Vietnam, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Pakistan!

[99th_Monkey]

10. Gen. Wesley Clark for Sec. of Defense. ~nt

[MrSlayer]

11. General Clark deserves a cabinet position.

Defense, State, NSA, Energy, Interior…something, anything.

He's too sharp a mind to keep out. Why pick some republican scummer when you have the General?