At Least 42 Killed In Suicide Bomb Attack At Syrian Mosque

[News_Editor]

<p>DAMASCUS, SYRIA (BNO NEWS) -- At least 42 people were killed after a suicide attack on Thursday at a Syrian mosque, local authorities said.

</p>

<p>The attack occurred at the al-Iman Mosque located in the district of al-Mazraa in Damascus, the country's capital, when the suicide bomber detonated the explosives inside the mosque.

</p>

<p>The incident took place while Mohammad Said Ramadan a-Bouti, a decorated scholar, was giving a religious lecture, according to SANA news agency. Authorities believe he was the target of the attack, as he has commonly spoken out against terrorism, criticizing rebel insurgency.

</p>

<p>The blast killed at least 42 people, including al-Bouti, and injured 84 others, according to the country's Health Ministry. Emergency teams rushed to the scene and transported the victims to local hospitals.

</p>

<p>The attack comes only two days after dozens were killed and injured in an alleged chemical rocket attack in Syria's Aleppo.

</p>

<p>According to the United Nations, more than 70,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed and more than three million displaced since March 2011, when the uprising against President al-Assad began. In addition, some 1.1 million people have taken refuge in neighboring countries.

</p> <p> (Copyright 2013 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: [email protected].) </p>

[Steely Dan]

The incident took place while Mohammad Said Ramadan a-Bouti, a decorated scholar, was giving a religious lecture, according to SANA news agency. Authorities believe he was the target of the attack, as he has commonly spoken out against terrorism, criticizing rebel insurgency.

There we have it, the western backed 'rebels' detonate a fellow religion of peacenik for condemning violence. At the rate some Muslims attack each other's mosques you'd be forgiven for concluding they were command and control centers.

[thenervoussurgeon]

And the British govt want to send arms to these terrorists ,it beggers belief.

[stoneyboy]

And the British govt want to send arms to these terrorists ,it beggers belief.

But it helps the ailing economy.

[coma]

There surely can be no doubt that Mr Assad is facing radical Islamic terrorist groups.Groups that the western powers would deem to be such. So what are we doing about it ? It maybe time to start assisting Assad's regime deal with the problem before it spreads throughtout the entire region. " the less of two evils".

[Exsexyman]

The incident took place while Mohammad Said Ramadan a-Bouti, a decorated scholar, was giving a religious lecture, according to SANA news agency. Authorities believe he was the target of the attack, as he has commonly spoken out against terrorism, criticizing rebel insurgency.

There we have it, the western backed 'rebels' detonate a fellow religion of peacenik for condemning violence. At the rate some Muslims attack each other's mosques you'd be forgiven for concluding they were command and control centers.

Hooray for the brave freedom fighters of Al Qaeda in their gallant fight to overthrow a secular government and install an Islamic fundamentalist regime. I am so happy and proud that our governments now share this vision, and are standing shoulder to shoulder, arming and supporting them, after the unfortunate incidents of 9-11 and 7-7!

[Yahooka]

No wonder that this uprising goes on for 2 years and the Western countries are not openly supporting the "opposition". This attack together with the gass attack 2 days ago shows that most of this freedom fighters are Al Qaeda terrorist and they must be exterminated.

We should support President Assad and with him also 50% of the Syrian population,instead we`re supporting groups that are poised to bring down the Western civilisation in the future !!!

[wooloomooloo]

My ideal is not to get involved, again.

If it's such a problem, then neighbours can step in.

Don't get me wrong, I detest the waste of lives. Keep out by way of the lessons of history.

[Credo]

Assad has been a thorn in the side of a number of Western Countries for quite some time. Most of what he has been involved in was low level, under the radar undermining of western gov'ts. What credibility he had was largely destroyed when the popular uprising occurred and he started the killing of his own citizens. That's kind of a no- no in the eyes of many. As a result, his support was limited.

Conflicts, such as this, attract some very bad elements, just like bars/pubs attract alcoholics. You can expect that Syria will be a problem for a long time. It isn't going to be easily resolved, and most likely will not be resolved by any Western gov'ts, so I would tend to agree that they should seriously limit their involvement.

[simple1]

No wonder that this uprising goes on for 2 years and the Western countries are not openly supporting the "opposition". This attack together with the gass attack 2 days ago shows that most of this freedom fighters are Al Qaeda terrorist and they must be exterminated.

We should support President Assad and with him also 50% of the Syrian population,instead we`re supporting groups that are poised to bring down the Western civilisation in the future !!!

The Assad dictatorship represents approx 25% of the population mainly (Shiite & Christian). Sunni account for roughly 74% of the population. As said above, in 2011 when peaceful demonstrations were held against Assad during the Arab Spring movement, they were violently suppressed and it is well documented torture is also a tool used by the regime against their opponents.

I would assume the Sunni cleric was assassinated because he was a known supporter of Assad. The alleged gas attack in Aleppo would most likely been carried out by the Assad forces, not the Free Syrian Army. Al Qaeda aligned fighters (Jabhat al-Nusra) are apparently mainly from Iraq. The greatest threat that they represent is an ongoing civil war should Free Syrian Army defeat the cruel Assad dictatorship. Refer URL below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/17/syria-crisis-alqaida-fighters-true-colours

Seems many posters are favourable to the Assad dictatorship, even though the regime was a major player in the Lebanon civil war & then occupied Lebanon and to this day is a State sponsor of terrorism i.e. Hezbollah

Edited March 23, 2013 by simple1

[F430murci]

No wonder that this uprising goes on for 2 years and the Western countries are not openly supporting the "opposition". This attack together with the gass attack 2 days ago shows that most of this freedom fighters are Al Qaeda terrorist and they must be exterminated.

We should support President Assad and with him also 50% of the Syrian population,instead we`re supporting groups that are poised to bring down the Western civilisation in the future !!!

The Assad dictatorship represents approx 25% of the population mainly (Shiite & Christian). Sunni account for roughly 74% of the population. As said above, in 2011 when peaceful demonstrations were held against Assad during the Arab Spring movement, they were violently suppressed and it is well documented torture is also a tool used by the regime against their opponents.

I would assume the Sunni cleric was assassinated because he was a known supporter of Assad. The alleged gas attack in Aleppo would most likely been carried out by the Assad forces, not the Free Syrian Army. Al Qaeda aligned fighters (Jabhat al-Nusra) are apparently mainly from Iraq. The greatest threat that they represent is an ongoing civil war should Free Syrian Army defeat the cruel Assad dictatorship. Refer URL below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/17/syria-crisis-alqaida-fighters-true-colours

Seems many posters are favourable to the Assad dictatorship, even though the regime was a major player in the Lebanon civil war & then occupied Lebanon and to this day is a State sponsor of terrorism i.e. Hezbollah

You try and talk rationally and intellectually about that which cannot be rationalized. They are just f'in savages and stop trying to make exuses or rationalize their behavior. Who really cares about any of that bs. Noone with any morals. I think no one is sympathetic to either side because they are both immoral. That is why one side can launch chemical weapons and no one really give a shit.

[simple1]

No wonder that this uprising goes on for 2 years and the Western countries are not openly supporting the "opposition". This attack together with the gass attack 2 days ago shows that most of this freedom fighters are Al Qaeda terrorist and they must be exterminated.

We should support President Assad and with him also 50% of the Syrian population,instead we`re supporting groups that are poised to bring down the Western civilisation in the future !!!

The Assad dictatorship represents approx 25% of the population mainly (Shiite & Christian). Sunni account for roughly 74% of the population. As said above, in 2011 when peaceful demonstrations were held against Assad during the Arab Spring movement, they were violently suppressed and it is well documented torture is also a tool used by the regime against their opponents.

I would assume the Sunni cleric was assassinated because he was a known supporter of Assad. The alleged gas attack in Aleppo would most likely been carried out by the Assad forces, not the Free Syrian Army. Al Qaeda aligned fighters (Jabhat al-Nusra) are apparently mainly from Iraq. The greatest threat that they represent is an ongoing civil war should Free Syrian Army defeat the cruel Assad dictatorship. Refer URL below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/17/syria-crisis-alqaida-fighters-true-colours

Seems many posters are favourable to the Assad dictatorship, even though the regime was a major player in the Lebanon civil war & then occupied Lebanon and to this day is a State sponsor of terrorism i.e. Hezbollah

You try and talk rationally and intellectually about that which cannot be rationalized. They are just f'in savages and stop trying to make exuses or rationalize their behavior. Who really cares about any of that bs. Noone with any morals. I think no one is sympathetic to either side because they are both immoral. That is why one side can launch chemical weapons and no one really give a shit.

If Assad had engaged in a dialogue to a transition to democracy in 2011 we would not have the level of killing & destruction we see today. It's the Assad regime who was the "savage" and has been for a very long time. All gone dramatically downhill when he pressed the accelerator in 2011 with the killing and torture of his opponents.

I can assure you that US/NATO will "give a shit" if it is proven, with the deployment of chemical weapons, the wheels are already in motion.

Edited March 23, 2013 by simple1

[Exsexyman]

No wonder that this uprising goes on for 2 years and the Western countries are not openly supporting the "opposition". This attack together with the gass attack 2 days ago shows that most of this freedom fighters are Al Qaeda terrorist and they must be exterminated.

We should support President Assad and with him also 50% of the Syrian population,instead we`re supporting groups that are poised to bring down the Western civilisation in the future !!!

The Assad dictatorship represents approx 25% of the population mainly (Shiite & Christian). Sunni account for roughly 74% of the population. As said above, in 2011 when peaceful demonstrations were held against Assad during the Arab Spring movement, they were violently suppressed and it is well documented torture is also a tool used by the regime against their opponents.

I would assume the Sunni cleric was assassinated because he was a known supporter of Assad. The alleged gas attack in Aleppo would most likely been carried out by the Assad forces, not the Free Syrian Army. Al Qaeda aligned fighters (Jabhat al-Nusra) are apparently mainly from Iraq. The greatest threat that they represent is an ongoing civil war should Free Syrian Army defeat the cruel Assad dictatorship. Refer URL below.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/jan/17/syria-crisis-alqaida-fighters-true-colours

Seems many posters are favourable to the Assad dictatorship, even though the regime was a major player in the Lebanon civil war & then occupied Lebanon and to this day is a State sponsor of terrorism i.e. Hezbollah

The chemical attack was almost certainly not carried out by Assad forces, but by the Islamic jihadists, of which there are thousands in Syria, and certainly not just from Iraq. I see the opposition Syrian National Council are now trying to claim that the suicide bombing at the Mosque was carried out by Assad, attacking his own supporters! Amazing. No doubt they will soon be claiming that Assad personally pulls babies out of incubators and spikes his army's food with viagra! Lets not forget all those massacres just before UN meetings where Assad inexplicably killed his own supporters. With knives! This is about regime change by Western interests, nothing less. The US are already claiming that the chemicals used in the gas attack are 'Not illegal under international law' How do they know this i wonder!

In another triumph for Western imposed democracy, a new Prime Minister was 'elected' this week by the opposition SNC, with a resounding 35 votes cast for him behind closed doors in Turkey. And who is this new hope for the Syrian people? Step forward Mr Ghassan Hitto, American citizen, and resident of Texas for the past 25 years! He won a resounding majority of the 48 votes cast, beating off Canadian Osama Khadi, and Dubai real estate agent Wali Al Zoabi! No, i am not making this up! Ahead of the vote the group of 48 announced that it will never negotiate a settlement, insisting that only a military victory was acceptable.

The US has been backing and financing the SNC since at least 2007. This 'election' result is an obvious continuation of this policy, and bears an uncanny resemblance to Libya where the new CEO, Ali Xeiden, also was a decades old resident of The US. It would appear that the way forward for anyone seeking to become leader of a Middle East country seems to be, first move to America and live there for at least 20 years! This is so transparent and brazen, they have no shame whatsoever. They feel so secure in the policy of regime change, and installing their puppets, they don't even care what people think anymore. Especially the people of Syria who have no say whatsoever in who would be ruling them. The new 'Prime Minister' will be helicoptered in and will immediately start handing out contracts to Blackwater and Chevron.

[simple1]

@Exsexyman: Do you have the link for the statement that the gas/chemical deployed at not illegal under international law? Yes I saw the announcement about Ghassan Hitto, but it's only head of an interim government for the areas controlled by the Syrian Free Army - three more votes than Assad Mustafa, a former minister under Mr. Assad’s father. If he comes to power be interesting to see how long he could retain the role, I suspect not long.

[chuckd]

@Exsexyman: Do you have the link for the statement that the gas/chemical deployed at not illegal under international law? Yes I saw the announcement about Ghassan Hitto, but it's only head of an interim government for the areas controlled by the Syrian Free Army - three more votes than Assad Mustafa, a former minister under Mr. Assad’s father. If he comes to power be interesting to see how long he could retain the role, I suspect not long.

Yeah, I would like to see some links to support these allegations.

[Potosi]

China and Russia both back Assad. That's countries were democracy can't work, and so is Syria even more. What happens if there are elections? The Muslim Botherhood wins by a huge margin, establishes a radical Islamic regime, and changes the constitution to appoint their leader as president for life. I don't think that's any better than Assad's secular regime, not for Syria, not for the region. Don't trust what the Western media told you who's at fault that this civil war started, just remember WMD in Iraq. Al Queda and the Brotherhood are not into peaceful demonstrations. Peaceful demonstrations and the name of an Arab country in the same sentence are oxymorons, after all.

[fasteddie]

I think you will find the gas attacks were carried out by the terrorists and not the Assad regime

[Chicog]

Get rid of Assad and help the Sunni population restore order and establish democracy.

It's an infinitely preferable solution to the status quo and his inevitable fall to lunatic extremists.

[Credo]

I think you will find the gas attacks were carried out by the terrorists and not the Assad regime

But Assad is a terrorist. By almost any definition, he and his regime are terrorists.

[Exsexyman]

But it is quite obvious that the West's way of "getting rid of Assad' is to fund, arm and train the "lunatic extremists' to do so. You know, the same lunatic extremists responsible for 9-11 and 7-7. I wonder how the relatives of the victims of those atrocities feel about this. " Help the Sunni population restore order and establish democracy'? What kind of democracy would this be then, the kind where a Texan is selected by the CIA and parachuted in? The Sheik who was murdered in this cowardly attack was a Sunni, a week ago he called on good Muslims to defend the country against armed gangs,(read rebels), who are ruining Syria. Such a call would obviously benefit Assad and be to the detriment of the terrorist rebels. Yet the SNC would have us believe that instead of thanking the Sheik and broadcasting his call nationwide, Assad responds by sending a suicide bomber to kill the man as well as at least 49 of his followers! Assad still enjoys support from large sections of the Sunni population,( in Damascus as well as in Aleppo), blowing a gaping hole in the "Alawi" sectarian narrative being peddled by the West and their mainstream media for the last two years.

Get rid of Assad and help the Sunni population restore order and establish democracy.

It's an infinitely preferable solution to the status quo and his inevitable fall to lunatic extremists.

Regarding the chemical attack, it is strange that as soon as it starts to become clear that the attack was the work of the armed terrorists we are supporting, all of a sudden the US decides there was no chemical attack, well no really bad proscribed chemicals anyway. They reached this conclusion immediately after the UN agreed to a request from the Syrian government for an independent investigation into the attack, in what looks like an attempt to stifle the investigation. Embarrassingly for them though the Israeli Justice Minister doesn't agree and is contradicting them.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/21/world/meast/syria-civil-war/?hpt=hp_t1

I believe that Governments should be judged by their actions. The terrorists let off a car bomb in Damascus a few weeks ago, murdering many innocent women and children. The US refused to condemn the attack, and vetoed, ie blocked, the UNSC from issuing a condemnation. They fund, train, support and politically protect terrorists in Syria, and suck up to terrorist supporting states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Yet in other parts of the world they drop bombs to promote "Democracy".

[simple1]

China and Russia both back Assad. That's countries were democracy can't work, and so is Syria even more. What happens if there are elections? The Muslim Botherhood wins by a huge margin, establishes a radical Islamic regime, and changes the constitution to appoint their leader as president for life. I don't think that's any better than Assad's secular regime, not for Syria, not for the region. Don't trust what the Western media told you who's at fault that this civil war started, just remember WMD in Iraq. Al Queda and the Brotherhood are not into peaceful demonstrations. Peaceful demonstrations and the name of an Arab country in the same sentence are oxymorons, after all.

As already mentioned Syria was a key player during the Lebanese civil war and still supports Hezbollah. Syria provided a safe haven for terrorists after Gulf War 2 for launching attacks into Iraq against the US and allied forces as well as civilians to promote the destablisation of Iraq. Syria was a supporter of Saddam as it is also a Ba'athist dictatorship. As already mentioned the Syrian regime is a State Sponsor of terrorism, aligned with Iran. The evils of a Alawite/Shiite secular dictatorship are on a par with Sunni dictatorships with systematic detention, torture and killings of opponents.

Whether Assad is able to hold on to power and eventually bring closure to the civil war I do not know. Whoever wins their will more than likely be another bloodbath, as happened in Iran when the Ayatollah gained power.

Edited March 23, 2013 by simple1

[Steely Dan]

I read an article the other day in the UK's Daily Telegraph stating the equivalent of another 7/7 attack is foiled every year. It went on to say Al-Qaeda is thought to be approving smaller attacks in larger numbers. The article went on to state that many AQ sympathizers resident in the UK were travelling to Syria to get operational training! So in summary Islamists living in the UK and benefiting from it's welfare systems etc are travelling to Syria to use arms supplied by the UK and France to get operational experience, which will then be used against their host nation at some later date. The mind boggles at the stupidity of the UK authorities.

[Exsexyman]

I was replying to chicog but somehow managed to cock up the quote function! Sorry about that mods.

[Bwanatickey]

The West,just stay out of Syria. For gods sake look what a fine mess Libya turned out to be. Look what a fine mess the west makes in any Arab country,it HELPS. So help Me God,help the west to see that it's help,helps nobody.(except the multi nationals)

[Scott]

Off-topic post deleted.

[folium]

I read an article the other day in the UK's Daily Telegraph stating the equivalent of another 7/7 attack is foiled every year. It went on to say Al-Qaeda is thought to be approving smaller attacks in larger numbers. The article went on to state that many AQ sympathizers resident in the UK were travelling to Syria to get operational training! So in summary Islamists living in the UK and benefiting from it's welfare systems etc are travelling to Syria to use arms supplied by the UK and France to get operational experience, which will then be used against their host nation at some later date. The mind boggles at the stupidity of the UK authorities.

Gosh it must be so trying when you have all the answers... .

To date it is a figure of around 100 UK citizens/residents who have gone for an "adventure holiday" to my favourite country in the Middle East ( due to its people, architecture and cuisine rather than its erstwhile government). 100 are still a concern but hardly represents the entirety of the UK's Muslim population.

Please clarify what weapons have been "supplied by the UK and France", and also how experience in handling small arms can help a repeat performance of 7/7. As ever I will bow to your extensive war fighting experience....

[simple1]

But it is quite obvious that the West's way of "getting rid of Assad' is to fund, arm and train the "lunatic extremists' to do so. You know, the same lunatic extremists responsible for 9-11 and 7-7. I wonder how the relatives of the victims of those atrocities feel about this. " Help the Sunni population restore order and establish democracy'? What kind of democracy would this be then, the kind where a Texan is selected by the CIA and parachuted in? The Sheik who was murdered in this cowardly attack was a Sunni, a week ago he called on good Muslims to defend the country against armed gangs,(read rebels), who are ruining Syria. Such a call would obviously benefit Assad and be to the detriment of the terrorist rebels. Yet the SNC would have us believe that instead of thanking the Sheik and broadcasting his call nationwide, Assad responds by sending a suicide bomber to kill the man as well as at least 49 of his followers! Assad still enjoys support from large sections of the Sunni population,( in Damascus as well as in Aleppo), blowing a gaping hole in the "Alawi" sectarian narrative being peddled by the West and their mainstream media for the last two years.

Get rid of Assad and help the Sunni population restore order and establish democracy.

It's an infinitely preferable solution to the status quo and his inevitable fall to lunatic extremists.

Regarding the chemical attack, it is strange that as soon as it starts to become clear that the attack was the work of the armed terrorists we are supporting, all of a sudden the US decides there was no chemical attack, well no really bad proscribed chemicals anyway. They reached this conclusion immediately after the UN agreed to a request from the Syrian government for an independent investigation into the attack, in what looks like an attempt to stifle the investigation. Embarrassingly for them though the Israeli Justice Minister doesn't agree and is contradicting them.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/21/world/meast/syria-civil-war/?hpt=hp_t1

I believe that Governments should be judged by their actions. The terrorists let off a car bomb in Damascus a few weeks ago, murdering many innocent women and children. The US refused to condemn the attack, and vetoed, ie blocked, the UNSC from issuing a condemnation. They fund, train, support and politically protect terrorists in Syria, and suck up to terrorist supporting states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Yet in other parts of the world they drop bombs to promote "Democracy".

Al Qaeda aligned terrorists are the enemy of Saudi Arabia & Qatar so cannot agree that the Saudi and Qatar government are providing support to them as an extension of policy in Syria, nor that the US administration is deliberately funding, training etc Al Qaeda aligned terrorists in Syria.

One of the main stumbling blocks to provide more sophisticated weapons to the Syrian Free Army is the deep concern that such weapons could be accessed by the allegedly most effective war fighting group who are an Al Qaeda affiliate.

I would question the ongoing support by sections of the Sunni community in Syria as the Assad government is supporting the Shabiha militia that has been carrying out sectarian massacres of Sunni civilians.

[Steely Dan]

I read an article the other day in the UK's Daily Telegraph stating the equivalent of another 7/7 attack is foiled every year. It went on to say Al-Qaeda is thought to be approving smaller attacks in larger numbers. The article went on to state that many AQ sympathizers resident in the UK were travelling to Syria to get operational training! So in summary Islamists living in the UK and benefiting from it's welfare systems etc are travelling to Syria to use arms supplied by the UK and France to get operational experience, which will then be used against their host nation at some later date. The mind boggles at the stupidity of the UK authorities.

Gosh it must be so trying when you have all the answers... .

To date it is a figure of around 100 UK citizens/residents who have gone for an "adventure holiday" to my favourite country in the Middle East ( due to its people, architecture and cuisine rather than its erstwhile government). 100 are still a concern but hardly represents the entirety of the UK's Muslim population.

Please clarify what weapons have been "supplied by the UK and France", and also how experience in handling small arms can help a repeat performance of 7/7. As ever I will bow to your extensive war fighting experience....

The 7/7 attacks killed 52 civilians as well as 4 bombers, I'll leave you to do the maths. Also whoever said they represented the 'entirety of UK's Muslim population? As for arming the so called 'rebels' here is a link showing UK and France trying to push the EU into agreeing to arming them in the face of wide EU opposition. Do you really believe that Britain and France have no covert supplies or advisers on the ground there when already armoured cars anti-tank weapons and night vision goggles have already been supplied.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/eu-remains-split-shipping-arms-syrian-rebels-18789623#.UU6UBRz-FqU

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said he accepted that Britain, France and the U.S. had "good reasons" for wanting to increase the ability of opposition forces to defeat Assad's military following two years of civil war. But he warned that sending weapons was likely to have unintended and negative consequences. He said more civilians would be killed in crossfire, and Western-supplied weapons could end up in the hands of anti-Western jihadists, who are being blamed for Thursday night's mosque bombing.

[Exsexyman]

But it is quite obvious that the West's way of "getting rid of Assad' is to fund, arm and train the "lunatic extremists' to do so. You know, the same lunatic extremists responsible for 9-11 and 7-7. I wonder how the relatives of the victims of those atrocities feel about this. " Help the Sunni population restore order and establish democracy'? What kind of democracy would this be then, the kind where a Texan is selected by the CIA and parachuted in? The Sheik who was murdered in this cowardly attack was a Sunni, a week ago he called on good Muslims to defend the country against armed gangs,(read rebels), who are ruining Syria. Such a call would obviously benefit Assad and be to the detriment of the terrorist rebels. Yet the SNC would have us believe that instead of thanking the Sheik and broadcasting his call nationwide, Assad responds by sending a suicide bomber to kill the man as well as at least 49 of his followers! Assad still enjoys support from large sections of the Sunni population,( in Damascus as well as in Aleppo), blowing a gaping hole in the "Alawi" sectarian narrative being peddled by the West and their mainstream media for the last two years.

Get rid of Assad and help the Sunni population restore order and establish democracy.

It's an infinitely preferable solution to the status quo and his inevitable fall to lunatic extremists.

Regarding the chemical attack, it is strange that as soon as it starts to become clear that the attack was the work of the armed terrorists we are supporting, all of a sudden the US decides there was no chemical attack, well no really bad proscribed chemicals anyway. They reached this conclusion immediately after the UN agreed to a request from the Syrian government for an independent investigation into the attack, in what looks like an attempt to stifle the investigation. Embarrassingly for them though the Israeli Justice Minister doesn't agree and is contradicting them.

http://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/21/world/meast/syria-civil-war/?hpt=hp_t1

I believe that Governments should be judged by their actions. The terrorists let off a car bomb in Damascus a few weeks ago, murdering many innocent women and children. The US refused to condemn the attack, and vetoed, ie blocked, the UNSC from issuing a condemnation. They fund, train, support and politically protect terrorists in Syria, and suck up to terrorist supporting states such as Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Yet in other parts of the world they drop bombs to promote "Democracy".

Al Qaeda aligned terrorists are the enemy of Saudi Arabia & Qatar so cannot agree that the Saudi and Qatar government are providing support to them as an extension of policy in Syria, nor that the US administration is deliberately funding, training etc Al Qaeda aligned terrorists in Syria.

One of the main stumbling blocks to provide more sophisticated weapons to the Syrian Free Army is the deep concern that such weapons could be accessed by the allegedly most effective war fighting group who are an Al Qaeda affiliate.

I would question the ongoing support by sections of the Sunni community in Syria as the Assad government is supporting the Shabiha militia that has been carrying out sectarian massacres of Sunni civilians.

With respect, i think you are burying your head in the sand. The rebels / Terrorists do have access to ever increasing sophisticated weaponry, and are receiving the training to use them. It is no secret where these weapons and the training are coming from. The two links i am posting are just a small fraction of reports available. I realise it is unpalatable to face up to the fact that our Governments are behaving in such a duplicitous and reckless manner, with no thought to the possible future consequences to their citizens when the weapons and the teaching of the skills to use them by these "Rebels" return to haunt us in the future. I stand by my comments in an earlier post, the objective of the US and their allies is regime change, pure and simple, and they are now so brazen about this they simply do not care what people think. Assad is still there over two years later, do you really think if he was as reviled and hated as we are being led to believe that would be the case? Like it or not he does have plenty of support from Syrians including plenty of Sunnis. At the moment Syria is a secular society, people have total freedom to practice their religion of choice, likewise, women in Syria have equal rights and are not in any way oppressed, unlike their counterparts in Saudi and Qatar. How long do you think this would last if our governments get their way and Assad is replaced by an Islamic fundamentalist regime? There is increasing desperation at the fact that Assad is still there, hence the ramping up of the rhetoric regarding arming the 'rebels". This is all about the long game, ie, Iran. The US is coming under increasing pressure from Netanyahu to attack Iran, and they need a compliant Syria to do so. One would think lessons would have been learned from the debacle that has resulted in the Libya of today, but no. Just this week the Libyan human rights Minister, who was at the forefront of the NATO operation to remove Ghaddafi was forced to flee to London in fear of his life after assassination attempts by the Islamists who are now effectively in charge there, courtesy of NATO. There is a clear pattern here.

Iraq, attacked to remove one 'Tyrant' - result, country in a total mess.

Afghanistan, attacked to capture one 'Tyrant' - result, country in a total mess.

Libya, attacked to remove one 'Tyrant' - result, country in a total mess.

Syria,----------? It's not too hard to join the dots.

[Exsexyman]

Sorry, i forgot to post the links.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2013-03-14/news/sns-rt-syria-crisisrebelsl6n0c6e7a-20130314_1_syrian-rebels-rebel-command-senior-rebel

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/15/world/middleeast/jihadists-receiving-most-arms-sent-to-syrian-rebels.html?pagewanted=all