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A GROUP OF SYRIAN rebels claims to have captured the pilot of a military jet they say they shot down today with an anti-aircraft gun.
An unconfirmed video distributed online fighters purportedly shows a man identified as a pilot who says on film that his mission was to bomb the town of Muhasen in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the AFP reports.
The man also says that he is being treated well by his captors and that his facial injuries were caused when strong winds blew him onto stones during his emergency ejection from the plane.
Separately, White House spokesperson Jay Carney said that Obama’s administration “have ruled out no option” in bringing about “the diplomatic transition that is so desperately needed in Syria”.
There is growing speculation that a no-fly zone will be introduced over Syria – similar to that introduced in Libya before Gaddafi was ousted.
However, Carney did not specifically address the issue of a no-fly zone.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon last week warned that the ongoing Syrian conflict between pro- and anti-government forces is in danger of escalating into a long-term civil war. He criticised all parties involved in the violence of failing to engage in diplomatic efforts “in the belief that they will win through violence”.
“But there will be no winner in Syria,” he said.
- Additional reporting by the AFP
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The entire situation there is so sad.
Yes, its begs the question where your average “rebel” gets the necessary tech to take a a warplane down?
Best guess, S. Arabia or any other Sunni neighbor.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2003/sep/27/uk.syria1
This plan for regime change was drafted up long long time ago, nearly 60years ago, and by similar means to how it’s being carried out today. The CIA and MI6 made such plans for many countries at the time that were friendly with the USSR but it seems the same drafts and plans have been dusted off now, so their playbook is as good as it was 50+ years ago. Kudos
@ Derek,
A modern fighter plane isn’t exactly hard to take down. It was low and level, perfectly lined up for an anti-aircraft gun to take it down in a short time. Even a gun from before the turn of the 20th century could have taken it down with a good gunner.
Also don’t you think it’s a bit sad to hijack a comment voicing a neutral position to push your anti-American sentiment?
Apologies Kent.
@Jason. Firstly my comment was meant in response to Lynton Hartill below. The question still stands. Who is supplying terrorists these weapons? Don’t be fooled they are anything other than this. If armed militia in any other country in say France or Britain, were attacking military sites, soldiers and buildings while butchering those that don’t share their end goal, what would you call them? Would you support arming them or even see yourself side with their cause? Maybe you would.
Second. My anti-american sentiment? I provided a link I read in an article yesterday about how the CIA and MI6 had made such documents and now the similarities are notable with the current events happening in Syria.
I’ve not anti- America, I’m just not overly fond of its foreign policy. What they did in S. America since the 50′s is pretty despicable and a lot of what they are doing in the Middle East for the last 3 decades. An awful lot of hurt and death has resulted in it.
They along with Syria’s neighboring middle east countries are funding the “rebels” who we hear every day of doing heinous things to army personnel and those loyal to Assads Govt. (chopping arms off and sick forms of torture)
From a civilian movement and demonstrations 17 months ago, it has been externally hijacked to accelerate a “regime”change by funding, training and arming foreign Islamist militants (Al Qaeda) whom the US have been supposedly been fighting and dropping bombs on for the last 11 years.
If your not seeing the blatant hypocritism in that then I’m not the one with the so called sentiment issues. By their own admission they are funding them and Al Qaeda are very much active amoung the rebels. 11 years of fighting them, they are then quick to provide support for them while attacking an elected Govt and sovereign army.
@Derek
We know that Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Turkey are supporting the FSA, supported with intelligence sharing from the US. To date there has been no evidence that the US are providing weaponry, training and funds to the rebels, but if you know something the rest of the world doesn’t please share your sources.
Also, don’t make the mistake of thinking that ‘the rebels’ are a single unified movement. We know that there are many foreign jihadists on the ground, but they appear to be completely independent from the FSA, and indeed the FSA regard them as a significant threat to a possible post-Assad Syria. I suspect that many of the Al Qaeda fighters simply crossed over the porous border with Iraq, bringing their own weaponry with them.
Lynton, or maybe this is how Iran will start a war?
Susan, where exactly are these ‘rebels’ (aka terrorists) getting there weaponry from and how are they being financially supported?
This is how USA will start the war with Iran…
http://www.treasury.gov/press-center/press-releases/Pages/tg1676.aspx
“The U.S. Department of the Treasury today designated the terrorist group Hizballah for providing support to the Government of Syria…Hizballah has directly trained Syrian government personnel inside Syria and has facilitated the training of Syrian forces by Iran’s terrorist arm, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps – Qods Force (IRGC-QF).’
Iran have never started any war.
Never said they have ever started a war! I said maybe they will start one.
The only reason Iran MAY do something hostile is if pushed hard enough by Israel who are intent on attacking while knowing from most recent reports they are still not developing nuclear weapons. They currently are living under the harshest sanctions ever imposed on a country. It took a lot less for Japan to attack Pearl Harbour after similar dirty tactics. What they are doing is building their power plants deep into hills to prevent damage from attacks which are a real possibility and are very much imminent.
The recent convoy of US diplomatic’s and politicians that visited Israel in the last 2 months all had one message, “Please don’t attack Iran yet”. Doing so before elections in November will drive the price of fuel up and thus weaken support for Obama if he is drawn into this conflict. Israel will require their navy and personnel, they know this but the US are still nervous that Israel will go ahead regardless. While the world focuses on Syria, an awful lot is escalating on a very real attack on Iran.
The country is under the thumb right now, it knows it cant play this game and come out just scratched but they will not be the ones to initiate war in this instance. To do so would be utterly disastrous and Tehran knows this full well, yet it’s exactly what the West want it to do. That is to make any move which they can interpret as an aggressive act of war, after solely putting them into this situation in the first place and use it to justify a full scale deployment and all out war.
Time will soon tell who is on the seeing reality or living in cuckoo land.
“American journalist and radio host,Mark Glenn, has described the truth in the most comprehensible and sound way: “if Iran had no nuclear program, these countries would make the claim that Iran is financing international terrorism through the export and sale of Pistachio nuts. What is at issue here is that Iran refuses to be a slave to the 2-headed beast of Israeli, western financial and political interests.”"
Apparently Derek, you’ve never heard of Hizbollah. Do some reading and get back to us.
Derek,
Which reports have you been reading?? In Nov 2011 the IAEA reported that it had credible evidence that Iran was carrying out nuclear-related activities which were incompatible with an exclusively peaceful programme. In May 2012 it reported that its fears could not be allayed due to non-cooperation from Iran.
http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2011/gov2011-65.pdf
http://www.iaea.org/Publications/Documents/Board/2012/gov2012-23.pdf
In both paragraphs relating to Possible Military Dimensions, both refer to previous reports mostly originating circa 2002/2003 regarding reports of earlier possible nuclear tests, since then the same paragraph has been repeated with no fresh information or substance to the claims.
What they are working on is developing their missiles and long range capabilities which currently don’t exceed 2,200km. If they weren’t I’d consider them idiotic. No one will attack a nuclear armed country, every IAEA report to date has clearly detailed the enrichment and stocks of materials and all are recorded and within 20% enrichment.
Your reference to Irans failure to meet US pushed IAEA requirements have been ignored as they repeatdedly claim theywill not be bullied and played. What you often hear is that Iran has failed to meet is Obligations. Obligations of the NPT mind, they have for all important intensive purposes and the very same which Israel with a known nuclear arsenal ignore altogether yet not a word is whispered about. Read your own two links and the summaries. Minor discrepancies nothing more. Don’t that stop ridiculous heavy and unnecessary sanctions however.
The Obama administration has vehemently pursued a policy of running covert ops in Iran through training, funding and assisting terrorists of anti-Iranian cults such as MKO and Jundallah with the objective of spreading fear and terror in the country, sabotaging its security and also impeding its nuclear program.
Also Mossad have carried out 5 assassination five scientists associated with Iran’s nuclear program, of those arrested have all confessed to being funded and recieving several weeks traiing form Isreal to carry out the murders.
Iran is defiant in its unwillingness to throw itself open to Western corporate pillage and “provide the United States with military bases, buy large shipments of U.S. arms, vote as Washington wants in the United Nations, enter free trade agreements with the Western capitalist nations, and propagate a wide-open deregulated free-market economy” Yugoslavia, Libya, Syria, Iraq, N. Korea and Iran all fall under these “axis of evil” primarily because they will not be cooperative with Western economic interests. Join us or we will bomb you to object poverty and privatization.
Everything else is a means to this end, and necessary for public and government persuasion and approval.
Yes, I’m not aware of Iran starting any war but I am aware of the US overthrowing democratically elected governments countless times because the new government policies didn’t suit American interests. The US will attack Iran, it’s only a matter of time. I hope that pilot is not executed by the rebels, as the ‘rebels’ in Syria have a habit of executing
The ‘rebels’ have executed: Syrian tv presenters, journalists, captured soldiers, farmers for harvesting crops and lately Syrian government postal workers. They have also blown up government ministers and used members of Christianity as human shields as well as destroying churches. Nice bunch they are if you ask me. Very tolerant and idealistic.
Great reporting “A GROUP OF SYRIAN rebels claims ” “An unconfirmed video ” such similar language being used from all the media sources.
Anywhere else in the world it would be terrorist attack
have your say