Graham calls for American boots on the ground in Syria
by Josh Rogin Tuesday, March 19, 2013 - 2:14 PM
In the face of new reports alleging chemical weapons use in Syria, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) called Tuesday for the United States to put American troops inside Syria to secure the WMD sites there.
The Syrian regime and the Syrian rebels have each accused the other of using chemical weapons in a rocket attack in Aleppo province that killed at least 25 people. A Reuters photographer at a hospital receiving victims of the attack relayed that victims "said that people were suffocating in the streets and the air smelt strongly of chlorine." The Russian Foreign Ministry immediately backed the regime's claim that the rebels had used chemical weapons.
Graham told The Cable in an interview Tuesday that whether or not the attack can be confirmed as the first use of chemical weapons in the 24-month Syrian civil war, the United States must devise and implement a plan to secure Syrian chemical weapons sites and deploy U.S. troops to do it if necessary.
"My biggest fear beyond an Iranian nuclear weapons capability is the chemical weapons in Syria falling in the hands of extremists and Americans need to lead on this issue. We need to come up with a plan to secure these weapons sites, either in conjunction with our partners [or] if nothing else by ourselves," Graham said.
Asked if he would support sending U.S. troops inside Syria for the mission, Graham said yes.
"Absolutely, you've got to get on the ground. There is no substitute for securing these weapons," he said. "I don't care what it takes. We need partners in the region. But I'm here to say, if the choice is to send in troops to secure the weapons sites versus allowing chemical weapons to get in the hands of some of the most violent people in the world, I vote to cut this off before it becomes a problem."
White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said Tuesday that the U.S. government is still evaluating the intelligence from Syria, but downplayed the regime's accusation.
"We have no evidence to substantiate the charge that the opposition has used chemical weapons. We are deeply skeptical of a regime that has lost all credibility. And we would also warn the regime against making these kinds of charges as any kind of pretext or cover for its use of chemical weapons," Carney said.
"We are evaluating the charges that are being made and the allegations, consulting closely with our partners, in the region and in the international community," he added.
President Barack Obama has said that the use of chemical weapons in Syria would be a red line for the United States, but Carney refused to say what the administration would do if the use of chemical weapons was confirmed.
"I wouldn't care to speculate about what consequences would take place if it were to be found that the regime had used chemical weapons," Carney said. "But on the general principle, the president made very clear that the use of chemical weapons, and I quote, ‘is and would be totally unacceptable.' And he warned the Syrian regime in particular that ‘there will be consequences, and you will be held accountable.'"
Graham said that regardless of whether chemicals weapons use in Syria can be confirmed, the United States needs to step up its contingency planning for such an event and proactively implement a strategy to secure the sites now.
"I can confirm the fact that the chemical weapons are all over Syria and if somebody doesn't plan how to secure these weapons they are going to work their way back to the U.S. and around the world, that I can promise you," he said. "If there was a chemical weapons attack today, that is a change in the conducting of the war and it should remind us what's available in Syria and what would we risk as a nation if these weapons fall into the wrong hands. And they are going to and somebody has to do something about it and that somebody has to be us."
I read today that it was most probably pesticides, there was a smell and the other 'stuff' doesn't smell .. some have died and they said 'respiratory failure' of course, BUT, MOST of them have not died... AND the article said that they were all Assad's people who had gotten 'sprayed' or whatever you call it .. I will try to remember where I read this .... and post the link at least ... there are so many possibilities of where I might have read this ... ;)
Mladic refuses to testify for Karadzic at ICTY trial
28 January 2014 Last updated at 07:20 ET ..
VIDEO .. excerpt ..
The judge then advised Mr Mladic he was not obliged to answer questions if he thought the answers would incriminate him.
Mr Karadzic then addressed Mr Mladic in person, saying: "Good morning general, sir."
Mr Mladic did answer Mr Karadzic's first question - listing the posts and dates of his military career.
The Srebrenica massacre was the worst atrocity in Europe since the end of WW2
But following the second question - "Did you ever inform me that prisoners from Srebrenica would be, were being or had been executed?" - Mr Mladic said: "I refuse to testify on the grounds of my health and because it may prejudice my rights as an accused."
Lawyers representing Mr Mladic say he suffers from a memory disorder that makes it hard for him to differentiate between truth and fiction
Serbian election exit polls indicate win for pro-EU party Progressive party set for victory with leader Aleksandar Vucic pledging to fight corruption and push to join European Union
Associated Press in Belgrade theguardian.com, Sunday 16 March 2014 15.58 EDT
[...]
Serbia opened membership talks with the EU this year after signing a deal normalising ties with Kosovo, a former province which seceded in 2008, but whose independence Serbia's refuses to recognise.
The ruling Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) has won a big parliamentary majority in the general election, vote monitors say.
Based on a partial count, the Cesid polling group said the centre-right party won almost 49% of the vote, or 157 seats in the 250-seat parliament.
The Socialists, coalition partners for the SNS, were running second with 15%.
SNS leader Aleksandar Vucic, 44, is now poised to become the country's next prime minister.
"They will have a majority" in parliament, Cesid chief Marko Blagojevic told reporters, referring to the SNS.
If confirmed, it will be the first time in Serbia's short democratic history that one party has won an overall majority in parliament.
The party's success in the polls is seen as driven by its anti-corruption campaign and by its move to start EU membership talks.
The opposition Democratic Party had been trailing third in the polls.
'Super-guy'
As polls closed at 19:00 GMT, election officials said the turnout was 50.3%, lower than the previous vote in 2012.
About 6.7 million voters were eligible to cast their ballots to choose a new 250-member parliament.
"We need a landslide victory to create new jobs, firmly pursue reforms and fight corruption with full forces," Mr Vucic said earlier this week.
His party is also credited with normalising relations with Kosovo.
It's a remarkable story of redemption for Aleksandar Vucic, who in his twenties served as information minister under the autocratic, ultra-nationalist president Slobodan Milosevic, says the BBC's Guy De Launey in Belgrade.
Yet now he's being trusted by voters to steer Serbia to membership of the European Union, he adds.
The opposition says it would be dangerous to place too much power in Mr Vucic.
"The whole country is mesmerised by this super-guy, Mr Vucic, who controls all the media and decides on everything. What we are facing now is a one-man regime," said Borko Stefanovic, the Democratic Party's parliamentary leader.
Serbia's next government will have plenty to do, our correspondent says. One in three Serbians cannot find a job, and the EU accession process will be long and rigorous.
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