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Updated 22:56
IT HAS BEEN more than two years since the conflict in Syria kicked off but the past 24 hours have seen the situation change dramatically.
Britain’s Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled parliament early to discuss the crisis, France has used strong language against Bashar Assad and his regime and the US has claimed it is ready to intervene with force.
Meanwhile, Syria insists it will defend itself against any attacks by international powers, claiming the Assad administration was not responsible for the alleged chemical attack in a suburb of Damascus last week.
Images of the aftermath of that incident shocked the world as countless children were seen lying lifeless in body bags, while others wriggled in pain from the toxic substance. The death toll from the incident sits somewhere between 355 and 1,300 but independent verification is near-impossible as foreign journalists and UN inspectors have not been given access to the area.
The violence act has rallied international powers to action – and more forceful speech – on Syria. With everything happening so quickly, TheJournal.ie takes a look back at what has happened today:
Chemical Inspection?
The United Nations inspectors, who were yesterday shot at while heading towards the site of the suspected chemical attack, had to postpone their efforts to collect more evidence as their safety could not be ensured.
Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon has urged all sides to give safe passage and access to the team.
What the US said?
US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel told the world that the US is ready to act once President Barack Obama gives the green light.
“We are prepared. We have moved assets in place to be able to fulfil and comply with whatever option the president wishes to take,” he said while discussing Syria. “We are ready to go, like that.”
The Washington Post, citing a senior US administration officer, believes the intervention would last no more than two days and involve missiles or long-range bombers.
The White House has also revealed it is to release intelligence on the gas attack later this week, stating it has “no doubt” about who was responsible.
What Syria said?
Assad’s regime said it would defend itself against any external attack, adding that Syria had capabilities that would “surprise” the world. Foreign Minister Walid Muallem warned that outside intervention would not be in the best interests of Israel and Al-Qaeda.
And the Opposition – the Syrian National Coalition – believes military action from the West will happen within days. One official told reporters that the group, as well as the rebel Free Syrian Army, had been consulted with over possible targets, including airports, military bases and non-chemical arms depots.
What Russia said?
Russia, a close ally of Assad’s, warned that any use of force would have “catastrophic consequences” for the entire region. Moscow has also questioned the widespread belief that Assad was responsible for the chemical attack.
What the Arab League said?
The 22-member group was more decisive than others, stating that the Assad regime bore the “entire responsibility” for the 21 August horror.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said “the situation calls for a firm and serious attitude to put an end to the human tragedy of the Syrian people.”
What Britain said?
Prime Minister David Cameron has recalled parliament early for a session on Thursday to discuss the crisis and debate any possible action. Its armed forces are also drawing up contingency plans for action.
He said any action will have to be legal and it would not be about “getting involved in a Middle East war” but rather about the use of chemical weapons, adding that “the world shouldn’t stand idly by” as they are deployed.
Deputy PM Nick Clegg has said, however, that Britain is not seeking to topple Assad.
“What we’re considering is a serious response… What we’re not considering is regime change, trying to topple the Assad regime.”
What France said?
President Francois Hollande – who has not shied away from foreign interventions previously with quick action on Mali – said France is “ready to punish” those responsible for last week’s chemical attack.
“France is ready to punish those who took the vile decision to gas innocent people,” he said in a televised speech. “Our responsibility today is to look for the most appropriate response to the exactions of the regime,” he added, pointing the finger at the Assad regime.
This civil war today threatens world peace.
France plans to increase military support to the main Opposition body in Syria – the Syrian National Coalition.
What Israel said?
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed a serious retaliation if his country were attacked.
“The State of Israel is prepared for every scenario,” he said following consultations on the crisis. “We are not part of the civil war in Syria, but if we detect any attempt to hurt us, we will react, and react fiercely.”
What the Vatican said?
The Vatican is against any military intervention in Syria, citing the bloodshed and violence in Iraq following the US-led war against Saddam Hussein in 2003 as reason not to take action.
The city’s daily newspaper said the United Nations was caught in a crossfire and that the tone of the debate is becoming “ever more drastic”.
What next?
As Russia is a permanent member of the UN Security Council, it can veto any proposed mandate for intervention.
Therefore, other countries – probably led by the US – could band together in a ‘coalition of the willing’ to carry out an operation not aimed at overthrowing the government but ensuring no further chemical attacks take place.
Knock-on Effects
European stocks fell sharply as investors looked at the impact a military intervention could have on markets. As is usually the case in an unpredictable storm, gold rallied, becoming a popular safe-haven for money.
“The outlook of a military action in relation to the use of chemical weapons is clearly dampening risk appetite,” said Gekko Markets’ trader Anita Paluch.
Oil prices also soared with Brent crude striking six-month highs amid concerns of military action.
“Escalating fears about the possibility of Western military action in response to the chemical weapons attack in Syria is boosting the appetite for the black gold,” noted Fawad Razaqzada, an analyst at traders GFT Markets.
Additional reporting by AFP
Originally published 18.13
A good password should contain at least 8 characters.
I’ve gone for : SnowWhiteAndTheSevenDwarfs
Thank god mine is not there, it took me ages to come up with joanTHE moan…
Are you serious putting your password up….
Most used passwords from people from Cork are the same as in this list but adding the word “boy” like “123456boy”
123456bai you mean ..
And for the ladies it’s 123456 girl
Most common FB password – youokayhun
Pm me hun.
No dellcomputer is not there, so I’m safe
It’s best to avoid any family or pet names/dates. open a dictionary & find an obscure 7 or 8 letter word, learn everything about it so you don’t forget it, then add one or two numbers at the end, eg zamindar47
Generally using a dictionary is a bad idea, as lots of hacking software uses a dictionary to find passwords. So fire_Android+The42 is a lot worse then for instance hshjseuuebd even though it only has one character type. One thing that is actually safer. Is to have a really long password say 30 characters long with mixed character types, and write it down and keep in your wallet. Your Wallet is going to be far less likely to be stolen by hackers than your password cracked
My password is so clever no one will ever guess it
stuohy
I can see your disdain for using a dictionary, by your comment.
your password is still vulnerable to advanced dictionary attack (yes, that’s a thing).
Take a phrase that’s memorable to you, and not obvious to outsiders (something you say every day).
Lets say it’s “I love the journal, except for the comments”. Use this to form the base for your password, taking the first letter of each word:
Iltjeftc
Now use a sequence of 4-6 numbers which is easy to memorize, but not obvious like your date of birth. Perhaps it’s an old pin code for a card you no longer have.
Iltjeftc12345
Your sequence of characters, while not truly random, is far less vulnerable to a dictionary attack, and you have a good length of password and a randomized digit sequence to help protect it.
I saw this a while back.
Now I’m wondering how many of us are using
Zamidar47
A sentence that includes a percentage.
Covers all bases (according to Edward Snowdon).
Like “Mary says celibacy is 99% effective”
Mary is a slut.
Mary is 99% a slut
Something like
s5Td9#Hy4k$
But I would never remember it….
Superman is also a popular choice.
I used to have Superpandaman, my nickname was panda in case you were wondering
Mine is 10987654321 so I’m alright.
date of birth backwards!
mine is abcdefg.
oh shite now everyone knows
trustno1 is an old reliable.
And I really hope people get that reference.
Use a different password on every site. Avoid sites that limit the length of your password, three mobile for example max ten characters. That should NEVER be one of the rules when entering passwords.
that’s a lot of passwords.
I have a common password, at least, for garbage sites I don’t trust but wouldn’t give much away. At that level I’m more concerned about their storage of passwords than I am the strength.
Truekey password manager. 2 factor authentication and unique passwords for every site without having to rember them all. http://www.truekey.com
Never liked the idea of password managers… too many eggs in the one basket.
If you have a briliant memory then fair play. But typically people end up using the same password on all sites which is another eggs-in-one-basket situation except that one of thse sites is probablybstoring the password with weak hashing or worse – in plain text.
Pick a changeable password. One method is to pick a random word like epiphany and change the third letter to the first letter of the site you’re using. So for Facebook it would be epfphany. Add numbers and capitals as required.
Or two random words like epiphanyhorse
I have my password as ‘incorrect’ so I’m always reminded if i forget it.
Still remember password for mainframe in college. L3FTBJ.
Cannot spot difference between number 2 & 24! Am Imisaong somwthing?
The ‘o’ is a zero ’0′.
No guest on the list??? People are learning!
Use a password manager like lastpass to create and remember your passwords. It uses TNO security to encrypt your database. Then you only need to remember a handful of -pass phrases-. Use 12+ character sentences with no spacing. Caps, numbers, and special characters are less important cryptographically than length but some services require it so put one number, cap and special in.
When they interviewed serious hackers they used social engineering to make the hosting company send a new password or they compromise your PC via free wifi hacks or exploits in script so it doesn’t matter what you type
Use special characters like @ or # or ^ as well as upper and lower case letters and numbers in passwords. Most modern systems allow blank spaces in passwords as well…. “1394 T!ckEt$ t0 Go” – Don’t use this example!!
Take a line from a favourite song then use the first letter from each word to create a password.
You’ll always remember the song.
My favourite password is….. The pen is in Joan’s mouth, can get that wrong with The penis in Joan’s mouth lol
That damn spacebar lol.
have your say