News: Civil War in Syria

Pro-Freedom · Apr 25, 2017

Hundreds of thousands of men, women and children are still in Assad's torture centres, living and dying in a nightmare no being should ever have to bear.

Criminal case mounts against Assad

25-04-2017:..“The most excruciating, painful things you can imagine, examples with eyes gouged. You see the pain on the face, frozen images of the last moments of life.”

Among the corpses are young men — children and teenagers with ligature marks around their necks, he said.

“The regime itself has taken these photographs … they were indexing and building files on people they’d tortured to death. They were keeping meticulous records … the regime is so bureaucratic that it’s stupid.”
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Pro-Freedom · Apr 26, 2017

The achievement of Assad's mercenary terrorist and Putin's air forces in Daraa.

Drone footage of the destruction wrought on Daraa by Assad and Russia is something else... pic.twitter.com/WgPS8sooAh
— CJ Werleman (@cjwerleman) April 26, 2017

Pro-Freedom · Apr 26, 2017

Noam Chomsky's back to his usual tricks, insisting that Assad hasn't used chemical weapons. Chomsky has a bit of a history of genocide denial: after all, Pol Pot was a "great anti-imperialist" just like Assad...

Chomsky lies: denial of the Khmer Rouge holocaust in Cambodia

...In 'Distortions at Fourth Hand', Chomsky and Herman assure us that anything wrong in Cambodia was the fault of the USA, that there was decisive evidence proving the innocence of the Khmer Rouge, evidence which, alas, “space limitations preclude” them from presenting.

I checked every citation in the entire article. Not one of them was wholly truthful. At best they were slippery equivocations, with the obvious meaning being a lie, and an alternate, hidden meaning, true but irrelevant, to provide an escape hatch should the lie be discovered
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Pro-Freedom · Apr 27, 2017

Assad and his accomplices have bombed, besieged, starved, 'ethnically cleansed' much of Damascus city and province since 2011. In recent months, they've stepped up the pace of their Nakba.

Pro-Freedom · Apr 27, 2017

The world gives Assad and other predators carte blanche to prey on the defenceless. This is the result.

Meeting an organ trafficker who preys on Syrian refugees

26-04-2017:..There's a glint of pride in Abu Jaafar's eyes as he explains what he does for a living. He used to work as a security guard in a pub but then he met a group which trades in organs. His job is to find people desperate enough to give up parts of their body for money, and the influx of refugees from Syria to Lebanon has created many opportunities.

"I do exploit people," he says, though he points out that many could easily have died at home in Syria, and that giving up an organ is nothing by comparison to the horrors they have already experienced.

"I'm exploiting them," he says, "and they're benefitting."

His base is a small coffee shop in one of the crowded suburbs of southern Beirut, a dilapidated building covered by a plastic tarpaulin.
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Pro-Freedom · Apr 28, 2017

Syrians of both genders are fighting for freedom, not for more tyranny, from Assad, Daesh or any other would-be tyrants in ties or turbans.

Meet the 'brave' Syrian women who came to the US to change their country’s fate

27-04-2017: ...“I love to tell people I’m from Syria. Some people say, ‘You’re not scared to say that?’ But why should I be scared? I’m brave to be from Syria and be part of the Syrian revolution,” she said.

Festuk and the other women from her delegation said the voices of Syrian women have been noticeably absent from those discussions.

“It’s probably 95 percent Western men, and then the other 5 percent are Syrian men, and then us,” Noha Alkamcha, who works with Syrian local councils and civil society organizations, said.

Alkamcha, 32, said there are “a million women behind the scenes doing the actual work,” but few are quoted in the international press and even fewer have seats at the negotiating table.

The women’s tour is helping to change that. Along with Festuk and Alkamcha, three other women -- Zaina Erhaim, Yasmin Kayali and a woman who asked that her identity not be revealed for safety reasons -- met with congressional staff from the offices of Durbin and Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., as well as the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and international organizations this week.

...“We are really here to promote Syrian civil society, to promote Syrians’ rights and to promote the fact that Syrians are people, they are faces and human beings, they are not just numbers you see on the news,” Erhaim, 32, said. “Not all Syrians are Assadis or ISIS.”'
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http://abcnews.go.com/US/brave-syrian-women-answer-call-make-voices-heard/story?id=46774502

Pro-Freedom · Apr 28, 2017

Freighter Full of Sheep Accidentally Sinks Russian Spy Ship

27-04-2017: A Russian spy ship has sunk after a collision with a freighter carrying sheep near Turkey’s Bosphorus strait. The accident underscores the busy nature of the strategic entry point into the Black Sea and why Russia is actively seeking military bases along the Mediterranean.

On the morning of April 27, 2017, the Russian Navy vessel Liman, officially a "research ship" assigned to the country’s Black Sea Fleet, hit another vessel off the Turkish coast and suffered a catostrophic hull breach. Dense fog in the area at the time was likely a factor. The Turkish Coast Guard rescued all 78 members of the crew.
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http://www.thedrive.com/the-war-zon...-of-sheep-accidentally-sinks-russian-spy-ship

Pro-Freedom · Apr 29, 2017

Deafening silence from Assad, Putin and their "anti-imperialist" fan club ... as with the USA's massive military presence in "Rojava" since 2014 in support of Assad's YPG allies, this US intervention is apparently a-okay.

US troops deploy along Syria-Turkish border, report

29-04-2017: 'U.S. armored vehicles are deploying in areas in northern Syria along the tense border with Turkey, a few days after a Turkish airstrike that killed 20 U.S.-backed Kurdish fighters, a Syrian war monitor and Kurdish activists said Friday.

Footage posted by Syrian activists online showed a convoy of U.S. armored vehicles driving on a rural road in the village of Darbasiyah, a few hundred meters from the Turkish border. Clashes in the area were reported between Turkish and Kurdish forces Wednesday a day after the Turkish airstrike which also destroyed a Kurdish command headquarters.

The Turkish airstrikes, which also wounded 18 members of the U.S.-backed People’s Protection Units, or YPG, in Syria were criticized by both the U.S. and Russia. The YPG is a close U.S. ally in the fight against the Islamic State group but is seen by Ankara as a terrorist group because of its ties to Turkey’s Kurdish terrorists.
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Pro-Freedom · Apr 29, 2017

Free Syrians like Dani Qappani know all too well that the 'international community's' "solidarity" is bad ham-acting at best.

Quotes from Syria: World, do you hear us?

28-04-2017: ..."I saw everything in Khan Shaiekoun. It was horrifying how children and women were dying because of the chemical attack, and after that, I was about to be killed when they attacked the hospital. What was that all about? Aren’t Assad and Russia satisfied with the blood we have already spilt? This is chaos! We said we want to get rid of Assad, and if not, a no-fly zone would do the job. What's the purpose of attacking an airfield when all the world knows that Assad will attack civilians again? What a contradiction" – Omar, Idlib

There are more heartbreaking stories; stories that the world is not yet ready to listen to despite the six years of bloodbath in Syria perpetuated by Assad and his allies.

I am not telling you all of this to raise your awareness about what is happening inside Syria – because you must have known that for years now.

I am telling you this to let you know that we know that our beloved county, Syria, is being used as a playground for all ideologies, international interests and every two countries who want to launch a war.

For us, we know we need help to bring Assad down, but we will never ever kneel down to ask for the needed help, it's the duty of the international community after all, not a favour for Syrians.
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Pro-Freedom · Apr 29, 2017

"Never forget"? Syrians have suffered daily Guernicas at the hands of Assad and his accomplices for over half a decade. The world's reaction has been to watch in complicit silence.

80 years later, the Nazi war crime at Guernica still matters

26-04-2017:..The Nazi aircraft appeared above Guernica in the late afternoon of April 26, 1937. It was market day in the historic Basque town, with hundreds of residents congregated in the central square. They couldn't have imagined what was about to happen: Over the next three hours, the planes dropped 100,000 pounds of high-explosive and incendiary bombs, reducing Guernica to a smoldering ruin.

It was one of the first crimes against humanity to grip the global imagination. The atrocity, carried out by the German air force in league with Spain's fascist Gen. Francisco Franco, is considered the first deliberate attack on a civilian target from the air — years before Coventry, Dresden and Hiroshima, and decades before Aleppo. Guernica contained nothing of real military value. It was, and remains, a Basque cultural center and home to a sacred tree that symbolized the traditional freedoms of the Basque people — privileges Franco had little interest in defending.

To this day, the scenes of catastrophic suffering recorded in Guernica are a black mark on Spanish history.

"I was the first correspondent to reach Guernica, and was immediately pressed into service by some Basque soldiers collecting charred bodies that the flames had passed over," wrote Noel Monks of the London Daily Express. "Some of the soldiers were sobbing like children. There were flames and smoke and grit, and the smell of burning human flesh was nauseating. Houses were collapsing into the inferno.
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Pro-Freedom · May 2, 2017

Dennis Kucinich and the western left's blind spot over Syria

01-05-2017:..In the post-9/11 years, when the US government wanted "terror suspects" to be tortured in secret locations, the "anti-imperialist" Assad regime happily obliged.

In fact, one of his most well-known Western victims was also interviewed in that same episode of "Intercepted": Syrian-Canadian Maher Arar. Arar was kidnapped by the US government in 2002, sent to Jordan and then driven across the border into the hands of the Assad regime. The Assad regime kept Arar for a whole year, and repeatedly tortured him.

The Canadian government ended up apologising to Arar, but to this day, not only has the US government never apologised, but it has not removed him from its No Fly List, meaning that he cannot travel to the US. Given his experience, it should come as no surprise that Arar himself, aware of the inherent hypocrisy in these highly selective "anti-imperialists", has been calling them out for years.

And even if we put aside the Russian and Iranian elephants in the room, have these "anti-imperialists" already forgotten that Assad welcomed US troops "to fight terrorism" as recently as February 2017? The Shabiha slogan "Assad or we burn the country" is meant literally. Assad has never hesitated to sell country and soul to maintain his father’s throne.

Recently, the Russian state-run media outlet Sputnik quoted Assad as saying that “the Syrian government has reached contracts with a number of Russian oil and gas companies and will continue to do so”. It also quoted Assad as saying that “China can take part in reconstruction work in every sector of Syria's economy”.

This, again, should come as no surprise as Assad accelerated the process of neoliberalisation and privatisation of Syria’s economy started by his father, Hafez Assad
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http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/anti-imperialist-syria-1357977499

Pro-Freedom · May 2, 2017

British genocide fans fly the flag for Assad and Stalin (while claiming to stand for human rights) - stay classy Labour...

Shadow Chancellor addresses protesters from underneath COMMUNIST and ASSAD regime flags.

01-05-2017: ..Left wing protesters unfurled banners of Joseph Stalin and called for 'class war' at a May Day rally addressed by Labour's Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell today.

Hundreds of activists took to the streets of central London for the annual demonstration, with some chanting the names of infamous communist leaders as they walked through the city.

Beneath communist hammer and sickle placards and a flag of the Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's regime in Trafalgar Square, Mr McDonnell, who wants to head the Treasury after the next election, read the crowd a message from Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn.

But when he posted a picture of his big speech on Twitter, he appeared to crop out the flags.
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4463006/John-McDonnell-speaks-Day-demo-London.html

Anthony · May 2, 2017

Judging from my Facebook feed, we Americans are too busy right now refighting our own Civil War (The Union Forever Boys!). And also going nuts over fidget spinners. so you Syrians will need to have your civil war by yourself.

Pro-Freedom · May 3, 2017

Once the Assad pawn is no longer politically useful, Putin will dump him.

Syria Daily: Putin Stepping Back from Assad?

03-04-2017:..In a day of Russian diplomatic initiatives, President Vladimir Putin has given the first public hint that he may not be committed to the long-term stay of Bashar al-Assad in office in Syria.

Speaking at a joint news conference after a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Putin restated the standard Russian line that the “Syrian people” should determine the future, but he then introduced a new clause, “Obviously this people is split.”

Russian officials have privately said that they are not wedded to Assad in power, as long as the Syrian state is favorable to Moscow’s interests, but the Kremlin has always avoided this explanation in public.
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http://eaworldview.com/2017/05/syria-daily-putin-stepping-back-from-assad/

Pro-Freedom · May 3, 2017

With Putin's and Trump's love-in now formalised, let's take a wild guess at how quickly the 'international community' will sweep this genocide under the carpet...

Syria’s systematic use of chemical weapons and Russia’s cover-up exposed

02-05-2017:..The Assad Government has repeatedly used chemical weapons to consolidate its power in Syria, according to new evidence that has “decimated” the Russian “cover story” for the deadly April 4 attack on Khan Sheikhoun.

The international community was shocked last month when it was revealed that Syria had deployed a nerve agent against its own citizens in the rebel-held Idlib province town, killing 92 people, including at least 30 children.
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http://www.news.com.au/finance/work...d/news-story/68e28fbe47696bf0c2b866742c4910a9

Pro-Freedom · May 3, 2017

While Syrian civilians continue to be slaughtered by the Assad regime and its accomplices, the only genuine safe zone created by the UN and world powers in Syria is the one around Bashar al-Assad.

"Assad regime" fully backing' Russia 'safe zones' proposal

03-05-2017:...The Syrian regime's Foreign Ministry says Damascus is "fully backing" a Russian initiative to establish four areas of cease-fire in the war-torn country.

The statement was carried by the state-run SANA news agency late on Wednesday.

A Syrian rebel delegation at the talks underway in Kazakhstan said its members were given a copy of the proposal by Russian representatives.

The proposal would freeze front lines in four zones in Syria contested by opposition fighters and the government.

Rebels said they have requested written clarification from Russia and pushed for nation-wide cease-fire instead.

Earlier in the day at a summit in Sochi, Russian President Vladimir Putin and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said they hoped the Syrian regime and rebels would accept these "de-escalation" zones.

Putin said Russian and Syrian regime jets would halt flights over the specified zones if all sides respect the cease-fire.
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http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/latest-turkey-strengthen-syria-cease-fire-47174570

Pro-Freedom · May 3, 2017

Pro-Freedom said: ↑

British genocide fans fly the flag for Assad and Stalin (while claiming to stand for human rights) - stay classy Labour...

Shadow Chancellor addresses protesters from underneath COMMUNIST and ASSAD regime flags.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4463006/John-McDonnell-speaks-Day-demo-London.html
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The Western "left" continue to confirm that their solidarity and brotherhood are reserved for the oppressors, not the oppressed.

John McDonnell Speaks under Assad’s Fascist Flag at London May Day March

03-05-2017: ...The Ba’ath Party came to power in 1963 via a military coup and in 1968 banned independent trade unions. As the International Trade Union Confederation’s Syria page notes:
“Syria has been ruled by emergency legislation since 1963 allowing the government to adopt autocratic policies that cannot be challenged effectively by the legislature and the judiciary. … It is impossible for workers to enjoy their rights in a country where governmental institutions have fundamentally failed to hold those who are responsible for systematic violations of human rights and humanitarian law accountable. Respect for the rule of law is essential when it comes to the protection of the rights of workers.”
Not long after Hafez al-Assad’s coup in 1971 and despite the regime’s suppression of unions, the SCP jumped at the chance to obtain two cabinet-level posts in his regime in March 1972. Assad’s regime allowed SCP to print a newspaper but continued to deny the party the legal right to exist.

But the SCP’s crass collaborationism was not without benefits. During 1978, 108 party members flew to Moscow for ‘training’ at Soviet expense — most of them friends or relatives of party leaders. In 1979 alone, the Kremlin made five payments totaling $275,000 to the party leadership and lucrative trading Syria-soviet companies were set up under the party’s control.
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https://medium.com/@_alhamra/john-m...ist-flag-at-london-may-day-march-d0c2161e5b8b

Pro-Freedom · May 4, 2017

This is the first time in history that a dictator has required the combined military force of the superpowers and regional powers (and UN backing) to perpetrate genocide against its people.

Iran's Forces Outnumber Assad's in Syria

24-11-2016:..Iran's military forces and operations in Syria are significantly more than what has been generally reported so far.

The Syrian war has led to the rise and export of terrorism abroad as well as to one of the worst humanitarian tragedies, in which more than 470,000 people have been killed.

Iran has played a crucial role in maintaining in power President Assad, who has repeatedly used chemical weapons on civilians. Iran has promoted continuing the conflict.

While, according to reports by Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), the Syrian military has fewer than 50,000 men, Iran has deployed more than 70,000 Iranian and non-Iranian forces in Syria, and pays monthly salaries to over 250,000 militiamen and agents. According to a report entitled, "How Iran Fuels Syria War," published by the National Council of Resistance of Iran (NCRI), non-Iranian mercenaries number around 55,000 men; Iraqi militias are around 20,000 men (from 10 groups), Afghan militias are approximately 15,000 to 20,000 men, Lebanese Hezbollah are around 7,000 to 10,000 men, and Pakistani, Palestinian and other militiamen number approximately 5,000 to 7,000.

In addition, the composition of Iranian IRGC forces are around 8,000 to 10,000 men, and 5,000 to 6,000 from the regular Iranian Army.

The major Iranian decision-makers in the Syrian conflict are Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the senior cadre of the Revolutionary Guards. Iran's so-called moderate leaders -- including President Hassan Rouhani and Foreign Minister Javad Zarif -- are also in favor of Iran's military, advisory, financial, and intelligence involvement in Syria. Rouhani repeatedly announced his support for Assad and pledged to "stand by [Syria].
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https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9406/iran-soldiers-syria

Mani · May 4, 2017

Pro-Freedom said: ↑

This is the first time in history that a dictator has required the combined military force of the superpowers and regional powers (and UN backing) to perpetrate genocide against its people.

Iran's Forces Outnumber Assad's in Syria

https://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/9406/iran-soldiers-syria
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Without whom, you Wahhabis would have by now massacred every single Christian, Druze , Shia, secular Sunni and turned Syria into another Saudi Arabia. So Bow down before the Defenders of Damascus. Long live Iran, Iraq , Syria, Lebanon and Russia.

Mani · May 4, 2017

As usual and as expected, the Neo-Ottoman backstabbers are once again side-stepping their allies and their Wahhabi rats on the ground, to wag their tails for the winners in Syria. #wining

#BREAKING Russia, Turkey, Iran sign memorandum on creating safe zones in Syria
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) May 4, 2017

Pro-Freedom · May 4, 2017

“Iran Is The Enemy Of Syrian People And The Source Of Terrorism” Says The Syrian Opposition

04-05-2017:..'"Iran is an aggressor state, an enemy of the Syrian people. It is part of the problem and we do not accept any role in the present and future of Syria as a guarantor or sponsor," Opposition spokesman stated.

The opposition added that the militias linked to Tehran were fighting on the side of the regime in Syria. "Remove all sectarian terrorist militias affiliated with the regime of Wilayat Al-Faqih in Iran from Syria by taking effective and strict measures to this.”

The opposition factions pointed out that they are the first to fight terrorism and eliminate it in their regions and the militias brought by the Syrian regime and is the most important reason for the spread of terrorism, indicating that it will not participate the Syrian regime in any objective because it practices terrorism against the people.
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http://qasioun.net/en/news/show/64947/“Iran_Is_The_Enemy_Of__Syrian_People_And_The_Source_Of_Terrorism”_Says_The_Syrian_Opposition

Pro-Freedom · May 4, 2017

Syrians rose up for freedom from genocidal tyranny, not more of the same, from Assad, Putin or anyone else.

Syrian armed opposition withdraws from peace talks

04-05-2017:..Syria’s armed opposition on Wednesday withdrew from peace talks due to Russian airstrikes on civilians, an opposition source said.

A fourth round of talks in Kazakhstan’s capital Astana began on Wednesday to find a way to reinforce a cease-fire put into place at the end of last year but which has been widely violated.

The negotiations are sponsored by Turkey, Russia and Iran.

The source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to restrictions on talking to the media, said the opposition was withdrawing following Russian attacks in Hama and Deraa provinces.

Before abandoning the talks, the opposition delegation submitted proposals for ending the fighting, the source added.

The Astana talks, which first convened in January, are running alongside UN-backed discussions being held in Geneva.

Turkey, which supports opponents of Bashar al-Assad’s regime, joined Assad allies Russia and Iran in sponsoring the negotiations after the assault on Aleppo in December.

Syria has been locked in civil war since March 2011. According to the UN envoy to Syria, around 400,000 people have died in the conflict while half the population has been driven from their homes.
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http://aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/syrian-armed-opposition-withdraws-from-peace-talks/810509

Pro-Freedom · May 4, 2017

What began as a courageous and honorable struggle by the Syrian people to free themselves from the injustice, corruption and oppression of a brutal dictatorial regime has been distorted by the media since its inception.
For more than six years it has been Syrians paying the highest price for their freedom and dignity, and Syrians who remain steadfast in their determination to free themselves from the stranglehold that the Assad family and its supporters have on them and their country. They have been from the beginning, and continue to be - Yasser Ashkar

Revolutionaries not Opposition

Iranian Monitor · May 4, 2017

https://www.rferl.org/a/syria-opposition-returns-to-peace-talks/28467952.html
Russia, Turkey, Iran Sign Syria Safe-Zone Deal, As Opposition Cries Foul

Russia, Turkey, and Iran on May 4 signed a memorandum that calls for establishing safe zones in Syria where cease-fires are meant to be implemented -- including no-fly zones -- in order to ensure the delivery of humanitarian aid.
...
Opposition delegates on May 4 accused Iran of being a party in the war and vowed that they will never support the safe-zone plan as long as Iran has any role as a cease-fire guarantor.
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Syria's civil war was planned, organized, funded, financed, unleashed and directed by a group of foreign powers who were united in one respect, namely the desire to undermine the alliance between Assad and Iran/Hezbollah. This was the top priority for Israel and Wahhabi Arabia and an American political establishment that does their bidding. The Turks joined the fray motivated by neo-Ottoman hubris and ambition. In the hopes of using the connections between the Turkish ruling party and the Muslim Brotherhood as a springboard to recreating a new Turkish empire.

Among these, the mouthpieces of the Israelis on the one hand, and Wahhabi Arabia on the other hand, are the least tolerable since neither Israel nor Wahhabi Arabia represent an ideology that can find any grass root support within the region -- and since neither can ever develop a lasting relationship with any genuine grass root movements in the region. Consequently, their tools are simply the ones with the least redeeming qualities. What makes it worse is that they each have levers of influence in the US and the western world which not only steers discourse in the West in the wrong directions, but imbues such discourse with lies and propaganda as the primary tools to advance their agendas.

In any case, Iran (despite having a different agenda and set of interests than either Turkey or Russia) is trying to find a way to bring peace to Syria working with these two countries. The people of Syria certainly deserve an end to the bloodshed. Those who started the whole thing and who have been arming and financing it as a ploy against Iran aren't happy.

Pro-Freedom · May 5, 2017

Apparently, so long as Assad sticks to slaughtering Syrians, who are expendable "collateral damage" to him and to all the regional and global powers, it's okay.

Syria government 'producing chemical weapons at research facilities'

05-05-2017: Syria's regime is continuing to make chemical weapons in violation of a 2013 deal to eliminate them, a Western intelligence agency has told the BBC.

A document says chemical and biological munitions are produced at three main sites near Damascus and Hama.

It alleges that both Iran and Russia, the government's allies, are aware.
Western powers say a Syrian warplane dropped bombs containing the nerve agent Sarin on an opposition-held town a month ago, killing almost 90 people.

The United States launched a missile strike on a Syrian airbase in response to the incident at Khan Sheikhoun, which President Bashar al-Assad says was faked.

The intelligence document obtained by the BBC says Syria's chemical weapons are manufactured at three sites - Masyaf, in Hama province, and at Dummar and Barzeh, both just outside Damascus. All three are branches of the Scientific Studies and Research Centre (SSRC), a government agency, it adds.
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http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-39796763