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Shaam News Network / Reuters
Demonstrators holding Kurdish, Syrian opposition and Qatari flags gather during a protest against Syria's President Bashar al-Assad in Qamishli on Friday.
Syria says a year-long revolt to topple President Bashar al-Assad is over, but it will keep its forces in cities to "maintain security" until it is safe to withdraw in line with a U.N.-backed peace deal.
The agreement proposed by United Nations-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan says the Syrian authorities must be first to withdraw troops, and stop violence immediately.
The United States and its Gulf Arab allies urged Annan on Saturday to set a timeline for "next steps" if the bloodshed persists. Saudi Arabia repeated a call for rebels to be armed.
Annan has said neither measure would be helpful. The former U.N. chief's mission has brought no respite in the killings
Syrian rebels are ready to stop fighting the moment the Syrian army withdraws its tanks, artillery and heavy weapons from opposition areas, a spokesman for Free Syrian Army commanders inside Syria said on Saturday.
"We cannot accept the presence of tanks and troops in armored vehicles among the people. We don't have a problem with the ceasefire. As soon as they remove their armored vehicles, the Free Syrian Army will not fire a single shot," Lt. Col, Qassim Saad al-Din told Reuters by telephone from Homs.
Opposition activists reported 21 people killed and five bodies found bearing signs of torture, including two children.
A protest singer in Kafr Ruma was killed when his house was raided. A young man and his sister were shot dead when state forces stormed their village, and a man died of gunshot wounded inflicted during a protest in Damascus
Despite the violence, Damascus says it has the upper hand.
"The battle to topple the state is over," Syrian Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad al-Makdissi told Syria TV late on Friday. "Our goal now is to ensure stability and create a perspective for reform and development in Syria while preventing others from sabotaging the path of reform."
His assertion follows army victories over rebel strongholds in the cities of Hama, Homs and Idlib, and Assad's acceptance this week of Annan's plan that does not demand he step down.
Lebanon awash with weaposn vital to Syrian uprising
The political opposition remains divided and prospects of Western-led military intervention are close to zero.
Assad has endorsed Annan's six-point peace plan, which has the U.N. Security Council's unanimous backing, but Western leaders say the 46-year-old Syrian leader has broken similar promises before and must be judged by actions not words.
Assad's opponents have not yet formally accepted the plan.
They were due to meet the foreign ministers of allied Western powers, including U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, on Sunday at a "Friends of Syria" conference in Turkey, which provides a safe haven for Syrian rebels
"It soon will be clear whether Iran's leaders are prepared to have a serious, credible discussion about their nuclear program, whether they are ready to start building the basis of a resolution to this very serious problem," Clinton told reporters. "It is up to Iran whether they are ready to make the right choice. ... What is certain is that Iran's window of opportunity to seek and obtain a peaceful resolution will not remain open forever."
After Clinton met Gulf foreign ministers in Riyadh on Saturday, they said Annan should set a timeline for unspecified measures should his efforts fail to halt the bloodletting.
"Given the urgency of the joint envoy's mission, (U.S. and Gulf ministers) urged the joint envoy to determine a timeline for next steps if the killing continues," a statement said.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this story.
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Follow us on Twitter: @msnbc_world
Leave a Comment:
I think that it's time to provide some humanitarian aid to the civilians of Syria. Here's a link to the White
House petition that supports aid: wh.gov/IeA
Hello folks, when will we discard our Imperialistic mindset? This is just more war mongering and demonizing as the U.S. is trying to drum up more support for another war. We’ve caused enough trouble around the world. If you can't see that we are the instigators in most of the world's wars and displacement of millions of people who are fleeing our aggression, than you are in denial and are not paying attention. If you don’t think we have been in Syria covertly arming the rebels you are in denial and forgetting about Libya. We need to stay out of other country’s civil disputes. I hope we aren’t going to go against the United Nations vote earlier this year and unilaterally go into Syria under the pretext that we need to stop the violence like we did in Libya. General Wesley Clark has stated that a Syria invasion has been pre-planned for quite awhile.
General Wesley Clark: "America will take out 7 countries in 5 years"
According to Former NATO supreme allied commander, former presidential candidate and 4 star US General Wesley Clark that they had received a memo that America is going to take out 7 countries in the Middle East starting with Iraq, Libya, Syria Lebanon Sudan, Somalia, and finally Iran. It is amazing how these things that were planned years ago are being achieved in front of our eyes.
Why is it other countries feel like they have to defend their territory? Could it be that they know we have no problem invading their sovereignty just as we have done to countless other countries. Since World War II, 90% of the casualties of war are unarmed civilians. 1/3 of them children. Our victims have done nothing to us. From Palestine to Afghanistan to Iraq to Somalia to wherever our next target may be, their murders are not collateral damage, they are the nature of modern warfare. They don't hate us because of our freedoms. They hate us because every day we are funding and committing crimes against humanity. The so-called "war on terror" is a cover for our military aggression to gain control of the resources of western Asia.
This is sending the poor of this country to kill the poor of those Muslim countries. This is trading blood for oil. This is genocide, and to most of the world, we are the terrorists. In these times, remaining silent on our responsibility to the world and its future is criminal. And in light of our complicity in the supreme crimes against humanity in Iraq and Afghanistan, and ongoing violations of the U.N. Charter in International Law, how dare any American criticize the actions of legitimate resistance to illegal occupation.
We are going into Syria for a couple of reasons (yes we are in Syria with our Drones at a minimum), one, we are trying to dislodge Russia from there because they have a foothold in the Middle East via two military bases in Latakia and Tartus in Syria. Two, Syria is a strong ally of Iran. If we invade Syria we take out a strong ally and maybe incite Iran to assist giving the U.S. the reason they are looking for to attack Iran. The ultimate goal is to surround, weaken and to invade Iran. The petro dollar is at stake as other countries are switching to other forms of currency in buying Iran’s oil.
Since the Russian war in 1828, Iran has never attacked another country. We on the other hand have attacked to name a few:
Libya, Iran, Nicaragua, Haiti, Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Angola, Mozambique, Honduras, Chile, Congo, Yugoslavia, Afghanistan, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia, Angola, Columbia, Peru, Panama, Yemen, Pakistan, Grenada, Mexico, etc..
Wake up people we are being herded down the Military Industrial Complex gauntlet again to another false war to enrich the greedy Corporations and distract the American people. Did we not learn anything from the Iraq war where we have killed well over 1 million Iraqi people, lost thousands of American lives and God knows how many hundreds of billions of dollars?
Who do you support, humanity or the greedy elite?
Many of our soldiers don't fight for America, they fight for their lives and their buddies beside them, because we put them in a war zone. They're not defending our freedoms, they're laying the foundation for permanent military bases to defend the freedoms of Exxon Mobil and British Petroleum.
Face it we're Imperialists pure and simple. The elite look down on all of us as expendable chattel.
"Military men are dumb, stupid animals to be used as pawns for foreign policy" Henry Kissinger
I’m not asking you to hate war, but to love peace? War, what is it good for, absolutely nothing!
And there it is, the Trustverify diatribe!
It looks just like the last one I saw on foreign intervention, though. Do you just have a few pre-written stretches of nonsense on a few different topics that you just copy-paste in wherever you think they're relevant, or do you write each one from scratch?
Anyway, since both your assertions about American military intervention in Syria are false, and is in fact completely removed from reality, I'd like to thank Whidbey for providing a link to support aid to Syria.
Better luck next topic, Trusty.
@ Trustverify.
Talk about paying attention, you certainly might be on another plain. You said "Our victims have done nothing to us" tell that to the people who died on 9/11. Tell that to their family's too while your at it. Please, take you mindless ramblings to another site and post it there. I don't think some of us have the time to read your socialist type comments.
No military aid to the rebels of Syria, no U.S. intervention in Syria, but if we provide humanitarian assistance to that shantytown of a nation, it should be under the auspices of the U.N.
America, stay out of Syria.
@leiya
the UN is just an extension of the US, we fund over 70% of the UN's activities
brendan-4
Yes, the U.S. contributes more $'s than other nations, but the leadership of the U.N. is abysmal. That's why I stated that humanitarian aid "should be under the auspices of the U.N." Hopefully, they can handle that responsibility.
The 'political tangle' that is so prevalent in the U.N., makes me wonder sometimes if THEIR worth the money that, WE, the U.S., contributes.
SF accountant: I was noticing the same thing. Even the opening words are becoming recognizable (I stopped reading the body ages ago).
I agree with the Sauds, just arm the rebels and keep out of the way.
SFACCOUNTANT. I think you the one with false info. everything that VERIFY TRUST , said is the truth and at least you can go and werify it, not like your ignorance its settled in your brain . thanks WERIFY
Anybody who thinks that this country has anything to gain by intervening in Syria probably has lots of other beliefs that range from silly to dangerous, and that also should not be acted upon!
Fake Liberals support Obama and more wars.
True Liberals support an end to the wars right now.
Liberals for Ron Paul 2012!
Even Huffington Post is coming around!
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/laura-trice/why-dr-ron-pauls-national-defense_b_1384267.html
amazing...just a bunch of children in charge...I swear I could imagine someone stomping their feet and standing there w/their arms crossed...
Trust Verify nailed it. The rest of you pretty much go lock in step with what the corporate media spout off. Quit thinking that this nation is so good and the shining city on the hill crap. It isn't, and the body count confirms it. We have made Third World cesspools and their tin pot dictators members of the danger to world security of the month club. Isn't it funny how most of these cesspools have strategic geographical importance or more so tons of natural resources for western corporations to exploit?
sorry no sympathy.....we are dealing with our own war here in America....
The constitution against the people who are holding temporay seats in our govt.
The Truth is coming....
roger, and where is there a connection between 9/11 and syria, libya, iraq, etc.? the only connections were saudi arabia(who is demanding to arm the rebels and our supposed ally), two lebanon (hezbollah, no doubt, which is supporting the syrian rebels), an egyptian and someone from UAE. nobody from syria, iran,
there is none, you are just mindlessly rambling on about who you want to blame and kill next with ZERO evidence.
i'll bet you claim to be a "christian" too. so tell me, who would jesus bomb?
Annan is herding cats.
SF accountant: Likes of you are badly needed in Afghanistan. At least, you can plan there on how to flee. Take the help of John McCains when required.
Also, in Iraq there is bloody civil war. Likes of you, Clintons, George Bushes can plan how to avoid bloodshed and anarchy in "stable" Iraq.
Then you people can do seventh century Saudi, oil companies and their lobbyists dances on Syria and Iran.
Why not worry about humanitarian aids in the US, British and European nations hurt by Iraqi wars before Syria and Iran. Are not those in these nations not humans?
TrustVerify: In the fast changing world, Gen Clarks and many politicians like George Bushes, McCains, Clintons (dancers for the Jewish and Saudi lobbies) are still Gen Patton mindset days!
These people with all intelligence on earth and allies like Saudi Arabia and Pakistan took more than eight years to find out that Osama was hiding in the Paki military complex.
In Afghanistan, with all surges, drones and bulges, NATO forces are not able to handle hardly 20000 militants.
Did we ever have so much debts, especially from China?
It's time we help rid the people of Syria of that tyrant Assad.
This way the Muslim Brotherhood can take over!!!!!!!!!!
I think it is interesting that so many "peace loving" people can speak so quickly to say this war iswrong or that war is wrong but forget that even to publicly say something along these lines would condemn a person to prison or even to death in many of the countries that have been mentioned. I don't think war in Syria or Iran is a good idea either but to ignore facts because itmakes us feel better to be the compassionate ones and let a dictator basically purge as many dissidents as he can says volumes for how really concerned we are for these "victims" to use TrustVerify's own word. So basically he would have these people victimized by their own government and have the world watch because we the compassionate people he wants us to be should not be war mongers feeding the war machine??? WTF??? There is a lot more at stake with Iran and it's not just over oil...It's over control of the region not just economically but also two different doctrines of Islam Shia versus Sunni. It's also over who has control over the Strait of Hormuz and and the and the economic chokehold it could have on the world's economies. Yes it is about oil because so much of the worl'd supply comes from that region but without it very little here in the states (from TV's to produce to building supplies) would get anywhere because 99% of our modes of transport whether it be by rail, truck, plane or ship, requires oil based products to fuel them. So, unless you don't mind 99% of the population going back to a lifestyle that this country hasn't seen since the Great Depression we must really be careful how we handle this situation... I don't advocate resorting to violence in any situation unless all other means to mitigate the situation have been exhausted. Currently the Iranian government appears to be engaged in tactics taken right out of Kim Jong-Il's playbook in regards to allowing in nuclear inspectors to buy more time for their scientists to enrich more Uranium. To suggest we just stay out of it all ignores the possible ramifications on the global economy. Perhaps a better avenue is to try to pressure China to get the Iranians in check but so far those efforts have not been too successful as China imported much of it's oil from Iran though they are looking for alternative sources for oil and working on alternative energies. I don' t like the scenario either but I really don't want to imagine a world with a Nuclear Iran after hearing Ahmedinejad's diatribe where he stated that Iran should bomb Isreal into oblivion. We can try to make ourselves feel good by patting ourselves on the back for not getting involved but are we really willing to live with the consequences??? wes with the Iranians and hope they don't go down the path of developingwith the Iranians and hope they don't go down the path of developing
vote, less than 5% of OUR oil comes from the ME. the vast majority of our imported oil is coming from canada, mexico, and venezuela. the problem is that oil is a global commodity, and price variations anywhere reflect everywhere.
Secretary of State Clinton's quote makes no sense in the context of this story
It's the MSNBC Staff writers. They are not capable of putting together a coherent article. It's almost as if they simply publish their notes without any proof reading whatsoever. What exactly is weaposn?
weaposn was funny, but that Lebanon is awash in them makes it perfect.
Uh....it is called MSNDC media "magic".
Include a paragraph into an article which is irrelevant, then follow the article up with one on Iran and then insert the same paragraph.
That way, this political media machine will try to imply to viewers that this Administration is BUSY AT WORK all over the globe.
Sheeeesh, Mr. Obama is still having trouble tying his shoes.
Can Hillary please tell us that Western non-intervention in Syria is just part of a vast right-wing conspiracy?
Both Clintons, Bill and Hillary, don't make sense most of the times. If one studies their past record, they dance as the Jewish lobby and Saudis want them to dance and act.
See the photo of Hillary and the Sunni Saudi rulers and co around!
If any nation needs liberation from a few highly despotic, bigoted, seventh century desert mindset (look at their dresses), ungrateful, corrupt and bigoted rulers, it should start from Sunni Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and others.
Unfortunately, before the junk oil and oil monies, many start looking at other directions and start their scare and war screams!
Are not Iraq and Afghanistan enough?
Even these are not going to last for long!
Most media and news don't use academic writing. It's not that they ignore fact finding and analysis, it's that a good report requires a lot of research and time that they don't have. That's one reason I pay attention to current events and not opinions.
Both sides of the conflict are the enemies of Israel. It is only natural to sit back and watch them kill themselves.
oh please IMJ3 ISREAL the peace loving nation lets just destroy the whole world for ISREAL we give all of our money and all of our smart arms and they turn around sell it to the chineese and everybody , ISREAL are the war monger of the world buddy .
my turn, you can't even spell Israel, and you think you are capable of understanding what is actually going on with them at all?
not likely
Just like in Iraq, add Saudi Arabia, oil companies and lobbyists to the list.
For our own good, keep away both from Syria and Iran. Let them kill each other.
If Saudi Arabia and other Sunni Arab League members could send their forces to Bahrain, why not they send them to Syria and battle Iran too?
Just Muslims being Muslims. Those Muslims sure do like to kill things.
Just a bigot being a bigot.
They have been fighting with each other in the Middle East since recorded time.
At least, and almost certainly before as well.
Body count guys. We have been pretty much constantly at war too. In fact, when the @!$%# haven't we been at war?
but robert, ever since we fought the last good war in WWII, ALL wars are that we get involved in are for "god and justice"
yeah right, what a load of crap from the flag-waving , hate-mongering, gotta kill just for killings sake bloodthirsty hypocrites.
somehow its OK for US to go to another country and slaughter in their minds
danwil, jonathan, and trustverify,
Please address your concerns to those who care and are reponsible...start with President Obama...he is large and in charge...start there first.
Class Dismissed.
But we are dragged by Saudis, oil companies, lobbyists and Jewish Netanyahoos into their battles.
If Saddam was alive/ruling even today, what difference it would have made?
Oil prices would not be sky high, huge soldiers' lives and traumas would have been saved and there would not be economic mess as we are in today!
The best way to save ourselves from more mess will be to keep away from them for at least a decade!
Give a break from meaningless scare and war mongering on Iran and Syria!
assad is a dead man walking. so is his wife and family. the alewites are e resented throughout syria and it is only a matter of time. he's on the wrong side of history. not because he is an anti-democratic murdering tyrrant, but because he is a secularist.
the islamists will win and will then impose their own non-secular repression. this is what we are witnessing in egypt, lybia, tunisia. the cancer of islam will rot and corrupt those societies as it has in iran, saudi, etc.
in the rear view mirror of history we will see that brutal secular dictators are preferable to brutal religious zealots. no one ever said it was going to be asy.
If we smart enough we send arms to ASSAD so he can get rid of all these ALQUIDA over there, but it seems like JOHN MECCAIN AND HILLARY ARE on the side of ALQUIDA AND THE SAUDIES AND QATARIES on this one , and why not we have not got a single war right yet , we send our troops to die in IRAQ AND AFGHANSTAN instead we should have made the SAUIDIES AND GULF STATES pay for finnancing ALQUIDA all of these years , and still doing it , so wake up people and quit listening to our paid of MEDIA . go ASSAD .he is at least peotecting the christians from all these darn muslim broother hood .
my turn-#######, LEARN TO SPELL.
sorry BIMMERSNOB I get excited man , but you got my drift buddy did not you, AT least Iam smart enough to know the diff. between ALQUIDA and ASSAD and thats a problems all these so called smart people around wash. having , sorry i think i need to go back to spelling school . but its ok with me if thats all i need .
This forum DOES have a rather robust spell checker if you are not too lazy to use it. It's right up there at the top ABC over a check mark.
The way the West is dying from post modernist nihilism, I am not sure the Muslims will die out before we do. Both are committing cultural suicide.
Syria is a sovereign nation, why would they back down to unelected revolutionaries and their foreign proxies?
Nice American name for an Iranian.
Now to answer your question;
BECAUSE THE ASSAD REGIME HAS BEEN KILLING AND TORTURING ITS SYRIAN CITIZENS.
Yup, that's a pretty good reason.
Governments exist to support and protect their citizens. This one has been, quite deliberately, killing its own people to maintain a false stability based on the tyranny of the Assad family.
The government didn't have to "back down" and allow elections. But it fired upon peaceful protesters time after time and used artillery indiscriminately on its own cities. Treat your own citizens like enemies, and they're sure to become such.
Syria isn't a sovereign nation...it's a piggy bank for the assad family.
ya sonar guy ? said who , MSNBC oh no wait CNN oh no ; they said WMD was in IRAQ . AND the SAUDIES are our friends , and PAKISTAN helping us to catch BIN LADEN , sorry buddy , MY BAD
Yeah and the US is a piggy bank for the 1%!!!!!!!!! And you think that when the economy collapses that US troops won't fire on demonstrating citizens? Damn Bush put war protestors in a cage and called it a free speech zone. The hypocrisy is just oozing right now, as any label put on Assad or any despot can be boomeranged to describe our "regime".
nuke assad; pinpoint accuracy. problem solved
SYRIA, PAST TIME FOR CHANGE, JUST STOP..
"CHILDREN SEEKING WORLD PEACE" (Short Film Script)
Opening Scene;
We see the Outside of the United Nations Building next we see a man dressed in a suite carrying a brief case walking into the building he approaches the Desk of the Chairman of the United Nations, pulls out a very large manila envelope and hands it to the Chairman. The Chairman opens the envelope, reads the paper work and scratches his head, looks up at the Special Carrier with a bewildered look on his face and says; Wow this is an Extremely Unusual Request and it comes from very unusual sources this is a First for me.
Carrier
What do you mean unusual request, who sent the letter ?
Chairman
Did you notice the Post Marks on this letter ?
Carrier
Yes I did, and it also has so many different kinds of stamps on it from around the World.
I have never seen so many Stamps on one envelope in my life, so who is it from and what are they want ?
Chairman
It appears that they are following up on an idea that originated from a Film Script Writer in America who came up with an Idea of writing a short Film Script he Calls "Children Seeking World Peace" The writer posted it on line and some of the Country Leaders around the World liked the idea so that they implemented it.
Carrier
Implement what ?
Chairman
Every Country in the World picked two Young Students from one of their schools a boy and a girl to represent their Country and are asking for a "SPECIAL UNITED NATION'S MEETING" that will be attended by all of the Leaders in the World but this is the Catch.
The adults are not to speak at this meeting, only the Children will be allowed to speak at this Special meeting called "CHILDREN SEEKING WORLD PEACE"
Carrier
Wow, I see what you mean when you said an unusual request and that is comes from an unusual source you were right about that.
Chairman
There's more this request gets even more stranger they are requesting that we install a large garden area next to the United Nation Building before this meeting takes place that we don't plant anything in the garden area just leave it bare dirt, there are to be small signs placed every two feet next to the rows in this garden area with the names of each Country in the World next to each one of these signs there will also be a watering can containing water.
Carrier
Do you think that the Board will consider this bizarr & unusual request ?
Chairman
Yes I do after all these are the Children of the World, the next Generation seeking the opportunity for them to be part of the Peace Process from their Generation and we should give them the opportunity to do so.
Scene Two;
We see the inside of the United Nations building where many young children are standing paired off one boy and one girl facing all of the Adult Leaders from around the World these Children are from all walks of life all different nationalities and all dressed differently.
Every Girl is holding a small pot containing a different flower in it in one hand and a small shovel in their other hand.
Each Boy is holding a small pot containing a different kind of plant in one hand and a small shovel in his other hand.
(all of these flowers and plants are beautiful and very colorful)
Every Boy & Girl from their Country are wearing Name tags with their Countries names on the tags. The Children are just standing there in silence.
The inside of this building is silent at first then we hear whispers coming from the Adult Leaders, what is this all about, what do they want, this is strange.
Next we see a girl step forward from the row of children following behind her is another girl and a boy they are all three standing there for a minute and the room gets silent.
Then the boy speaks,
I have been chosen to speak on behalf of all of the Children in this room. We are standing here before all of you representing the Worlds Next Generation, Your Worlds Next Generation. We only have a few words to say to all of you here today.
All of us had several things that we wanted to say to all of you today but we all decided that words are not enough without all of Our WORLD LEADERS making a Solid Commitment to end all Wars in Our World Today ! ! !
So, we only have three words to say to all of you here today... " PLEASE JUST STOP"
(one of the girls standing next to this young boy translates this message in all languages)
The three young children stand there for a minute in silence then one of the two girls step forward she says, we only have one more request to ask from all of you in this building today, please follow us to the garden area located just outside this building.
(the other girl translates this request in all languages)
The other children in the building follow the three children exiting the building followed by the Adults.
Third Scene;
We see all of the children lined up still holding their flowers and plants in one hand and their shovels in their other hand they are paired off one boy and one girl standing along side of the garden rows facing their Countries signs that are placed in two foot sections of their Special Garden.
(we see all of the Adult Leaders standing around this garden in groups whispering to each other we can't make out what they are saying to each other but they have a confused look on their faces)
Next the same Girl that spoke earlier in the building is holding a flower in one hand and a small shovel in her other hand says, I would like all of the Adult Leaders from their Countries to stand in front of their Countries signs facing each of us. (translated by the girl standing next to this girl)
The Adult Leaders line up in front of their Countries garden signs facing these children then every child bends down at the same time and digs a small hole in the ground in their two foot section of this Special Garden. (each two foot garden section now has two small holes dug in them and everyone is silent)
Next we see the same girl that spoke earlier stand up after digging her hole in the garden she hands her Adult Counter Part Leader her Potted Flower and says, each one of these Flowers that all of us has brought here today Represent WORLD PEACE for Our Future.
she continues..
All of the Children Around the World requested this SPECIAL UNITED NATIONS MEETING to beg all of the Leaders of Our world to help us Plant our Flowers here today to end all Wars in our World Immediately and all of the Plants that the Boys brought here today represent Commitment To Do So.
(translated again by the girl standing next to her)
Next we see the Boy that spoke earlier at the meeting hand his Adult Counter Part his potted plant then the Girl that is speaking looks over at all of the other Children that are still standing next to their garden and she nodes her head.
Then, All of the Children say the words together, in their own languages in a loud & begging tone. "PLEASE JUST STOP"
Next, We see all of the Children reach in their pockets, pull out a small bag and pour out a few of seeds into each of their Adult Counter Parts hands.
The Girl speaker then says,
we are giving all of you our seeds to take home with you so you can plant them in your gardens as a reminder of your Commitment all of you made here today to; END ALL WARS In Our World IMMEDIATELY..THESE SEEDS ALSO REPRESENT FORGIVENESS for without forgiveness there can be no PEACE, so please pass these seeds on to your transgressor so the Peace Process can begin. (translated by the girl standing next to her)
Last Scene
We see all of the Adult Leaders bent down next to the Children planting the Children's Flowers & Plants together in their "Special World Peace Garden" Located in Front Of the "UNITED NATIONS BUILDING"
Fade Out..
Written by, Michael V. Caldwell, Always Striving To Be Part Of The Solution, Using Respect & Common Sense As My Guidelines To Follow At All Times...
Respectfully,Thank all of You, for taking the time to read this IMPORTANT & Very Badly Needed message.
"DREAM BIG DO BIG"
________________________________________________________________________________________
"ROAD TO PEACE" (film short story)
Opening Scene: (filmed in black & white, silent film)
We see an old Soldier walking down a dirt road with a machine gun under his arm
and carrying his young son on his shoulders.
The young boy and his father are dressed in their combat clothing and the boy
also has a machine gun gun tucked under his arm, suddenly they stop.
(our camera pans to a person sitting on a large rock on the side of the road)
We see the back of this person only, the person is wearing a black hooded robe
with their hood raised up.
(we pan back to the old soldier and his son)
The old soldier places his son on the road then pushes him in the direction
of the hooded stranger.
The young boy walks cautiously up to the stranger with his gun drawn
upwards as he gets closer we notice the person is small in stature then the boy
points
the gun at the back of the strangers head.
The stranger turns around slowly then we see it is a young girl, the girl
is the same age as the boy.
The young girl places a daisy in the barrel of the boy's gun.
(at that instant our film changes to color and remains in color)
Next, we see they young boy standing there with a blank look on his face he
then drops the gun on the ground, the gun vanishes and where the gun was we see
three books there instead.
The boy picks up the books curiously, then turns and looks in the direction
where his father was with an astonishment look.
(we show a close-up on boys face then we pan our camera to the father)
The boy's father is now standing there dressed in a white shirt and slacks and
holding sets of plans tucked under his arm in the place of a gun.
(we pan back to boy and girl)
We see the boy standing there dressed in the same attire as his father, with
three books tucked under his arm in place of his gun staring at the girl that
is still sitting on the rock, the girl has long curly brown hair and is now
wearing white clothing, she also has three books sitting next to her.
Closing Scene:
We see the backs of all three of them walking down the road towards the setting
sun, the boy and the girl are holding hands both of them carrying three books
tucked under their arms.
The father has three sets of building plans tucked under his arm and is walking
with his head up high..
Fade Out End...Or Beginning Of A Brighter Badly Needed Future For Our World.
A future that hopefully includes a hard limit on the size of posts.
For real.
And a future without cut-and-pasted screenplays, for sure.
Good Lord there are some idiotic and incoherent comments going on here today. I'll throw my two cents in: The Assads should take a note from what happened to the Ceausescus in 1989.
If the @!$%#ing Saudis want to arm the rebels, then let them.
It about time the arab cowards stepped up and wiped their own sharia @!$%#holes.
So the Annan peace plan has been "accepted", and the result is...
Syria's government (that still insists the entire revolution is a sustained terrorism campaign) says the rebellion is over and that it needs to keep troops deploy for "security".
Which means, in function... nothing has changed at all.
Why haven't we matched Britain's aid pledge yet? C'mon Obama, pony up!
SF accountant , with name like that you should have some extra money, why donot you send some , why everybody wants us to send money and arms to everybody , and offcourse our democracy too , may these people want to be left along like us . thats whats wrong with us now we want to tell everybody how to live . stay out other countries bus. people , when are we going to get it .
The time has come to send our troops to Syria to get them back in line. First, we should give em the old shock and awe. Then we send in our troops to kill all the insurgents. That'll teach em a lesson for sure!
Are you joking? If we did that then we'd be in there for 15 years and it would not end well because no one does shock and awe anymore. Politicians don't let the military do what they can in a short amount of time; they get contractors in the way and every d@mn thing else. Nope, we need to stay out of Syria and let them take care of themselves.
After they get the old shock and awe, they will fall in line for sure. We need to correct their behavior and we need to kill the insurgents. They need to stop insurging.
"After they get the old shock and awe, they will fall in line for sure."
Yes,that worked sooo well in Iraq.
And how are you going to pay for this? The wars bush got us into are a huge part of the debt. Saudi Arabia has tons of money and an air force...step up to the plate, ladies.
It's an Arab problem, let them solve it. The Saudi's got more money then we do, let them spend it on fellow Arabs. Screw the shock and awe BS. If we are going to get serious, drop a small tatical nuke, problem solved.Those people are not worth one American life.
hey Bimmersnob , Even though you hurt my feeling but i think i like the way you think too, you on my line of thinking but off course not my line of spelling ,LOL
BigAl -- I actually get irony/satire, so your comments were NOT wasted on me, but I feat that they may have been on some of the others ...
Well not really SallyAnn. I would be in "shock and awe" if any frilling Arab country step up and helped.
hey, what's another trillion dollars or three? why not another few thousand americans dead and ten or twenty thousand or more maimed for life.
what a great idea in the name of god and country (eye roll)
Asma will not stop until she has pounded her last Christian Louboutin stiletto heel into the rebels. Batta you are a pig!
Chowcheskoo baby - Chowcheskoo! His wife dies first. Worthless schmucks.
Ha! Well I've got to hand it to you, you spelled their named incorrectly, but at least the way it is pronounced! Good show mate!
excuses, excuses...
Seriously. Did anyone really think that Assad would honor a cease fire? That would mean that his army would have to cease firing and when there are unarmed demonstrators to kill, they certainly can't do that now can they?
kevin-1865513 ASSAD army lost 6000 troops , and if he is so fing brutal why donot he just send his tanks and air force like the ISREALIES AND TURKY he would not lose any people , he waited too long and gave these rebels and ALQUIDA time to come from IRAQ , LIBYA , SAUDIA ARABIA AND QATAR . you watch too much news . buddy
you workin' for Assad, buddy? Letting his tanks and air force loose on his people IS exactly what he is doing. Assad is a dictator and needs to be removed. Period.
why should he stop the un is a powerless union as long as china russian iran keep on selling weapons to him he will not stop let the saudis and other arab countries supply all kinds of weapons to them including bombing assads houses and bases i bet they turn and run like cowards once the crap hits the fan in a fair fight
Just wait until Damascus is blown into extinction overnight. Remember you read it here first. (That is, if you didn't read it here:
Isa. 17:1 The burden of Damascus. Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap.
Isa. 17:2 The cities of Aroer are forsaken: they shall be for flocks, which shall lie down, and none shall make them afraid.
Isa. 17:3 The fortress also shall cease from Ephraim, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria: they shall be as the glory of the children of Israel, saith the LORD of hosts.
damascus has been burnt to the ground more then once.
Just stay out of the damn thing.
dont do anythign in syria. we dont know who is running the rebel groups so dont give money or weapons to anyone.
We already Know who will back down first. He is running for re-election in November and also in the process of Cutting and running from Afghanistan and has cut and run from Iraq. I do not think I have to actually name him. He is an occupier of our Oval office
What about the rebels ? Have they agreed to the Kofi Annan peace plan ? No,their goal is still the murder of Bashar Assad and his family.And the proposed meeting of the Friends of Syria (Syrian Rebels ) in Istanbul,Turkey,will devise ways to aid and abet the motley crowd of the rebels to continue to attack the government forces and wage a guerilla war against the Assad regime.Britain has aleady sanctioned 800,000 pounds for this noble task!This is,of course, against the Annan peace plan.But the Western media will suppress the fact nicely,thank you, and tell us about the atrocities being committed by the forces of Assad as alleged by the rebels and their allied groups.
While it is sad that as of late the many incidents transpiring throughout the world, it does provide me with plenty of topics in which I have experience.
I do not think a "simple" solution exists in terms of US involvement regarding these two countries, which always seem to be brought up and are almost never dealt with as separate issues. Rightfully so, because of their historical alliance (if it should be called that). Never-the-less I will try to do so, briefly, if possible.
Iran's nuke program must be shut down, through whatever means necessary. They have said quite openly, that when they posses nuclear abilities they will flatten BOTH Israel and the US as well. Iran attempts to deny this from time to time, yet the hatred expressed towards Israel cannot be denied. Even if Israel was the only enemy of Iran, any attempt to "slaughter the Israel people with great prejudice" would have devastating results on both Judaic and Christian cultures worldwide. Because the protection of Israel is not a point we are willing to compromise on, it must be firmly and diligently protected. Any research with the available resources provided by the Mossad/ Israel Intelligence as well as US, and European sources clearly shows indication of an immediate nuclear strike from Iran, if given the ability. For all practical points, it is provided in their constitution to exterminate the Jewish people. NOBODY should be in fear of annihilation of your entire people.
If peaceful negotiations do not produce results, the ONLY option is a militant action. In such, civilians working on the nuclear program are likely to killed. But unfortunately, it will either be a few dozen soon, or potentially millions later. This is an unavoidable loss, but would be necessary. Airstrikes would be more efficient and save more lives overall. Penetrating deep and destroying the mountain over the top of the suspected locations will take large conventional bombs. Unfortunately intelligence assets (as for as we know) do not know in what stage the project is in, so a weapon could be possible sooner than we thought, which necessitates the need to work diligently to reach a peaceful resolution. To not prevent it would be in itself a criminal act.
Syria is a bit more complicated. Due to Russia's very firm stance, it is really best left alone for them to take account for. Despite the likelihood of Syria becoming involved should the US strike Iran, I feel that inflaming the issue with militant action will only cause a conflict that nobody needs. Despite previous economic collapse in Russia, it's military is gaining more strength once again, and peace should be kept wherever possible for the sake of all humanity.
These are really vital issues, and every effort should be made to promote our President making a good choice. Threats of embargo with Iran and all of those who do business with it was a smart move, however I feel it is unlikely to produce results of any significance. With it being an election year especially citizens of the US are a bit divided, but we need to at least come together on this issue, and support the Man behind the desk in D.C. making the calls provided he follows through. This is one situation that cannot be bettered with apologies.
1. BHO will only do "some thing" if Iran forces him or, it is August or Sept 2012, and BHO thinks it will get him re-elected. Think BHO isn't considering this? I'm willing to bet BHO will finally release pictures of Bin Laden's body just prior to the elections. Again, to get votes!
2. BHO all the time claims he wants international consensus to do anything that he is afraid to do as President. Suggestion - BHO (and other countries) should be addressing the Iranian people. Letting the Iranian people know that any actions taken are because of Iran's own Theocratic-Militaristic-Dictators. This reaching out to the Iranian people should be repeated 100's of times.
3. BHO should be building an international alliance to protect the Strait of Hormuz. Iran can temporarily shut down the Strait. What BHO (and other leaders) needs to be telling the world is that countries around the world will be affected if the straight is shut down. That an attack on the Strait of Hormuz is really an attack on each and every country that gets oil from this straight. BHO needs to make it clear that this is not "just" a US vs. Iran issue. That it will affect the worlds economy if they don't defend the Hormuz Straits as well. If Iran is stupid enough to close global shipping, Iran needs to know it will be fighting (as an example) Japan, India, the EU, Australia, etc.
4. The alliance should also be telling Iran that if it retaliates in any way, shape or form, that the alliance will systematically destroy Iran's entire infrastructure. How? - It is really easy and been quiet successful. You gain and maintain air superiority. Then you begin to take the country apart. This means a complete embargo, complete naval blockade of the coast; destruction of its RADAR systems, SAM systems, all runways, all airports, all power plants, all gas refineries, harbors, all train and Railroad terminals or stations, tunnels, bridges, factories, etc. That any movement of military equipment will also be considered an act of war and if Iran introduces Chemical or Biological weapons they will be wiped off of the face of the earth.
The beauty here is that "we" never have to put troops on the ground, unless it's a special Operation or SAR mission.
Remember the Iraq - Iran war? Over 1,000,000 troops died and it ended up in a stalemate. Whereas in 8 days we did what Iran could not do in 8 years to Iraq. Iran knows unless it gets the bomb, the US can do the same thing to it as well.
5. It should also be made clear that after we destroy their infrastructor, "we" will not help them rebuild. They will have to do it themselves.
6. As for China, the world should asking China which is better, a temporary interruption of oil or an interruption that may last decades.
Now, if Israel really wanted to put Obama in a pickel, they would take out what they could and then tell the world they cannot knock out the hardened sites. BHO would have to finally get off the pot or, let Iran get the bomb. (which I think BHO really wants).
Something in the photo, and the in words underneath caught my attention. The Kurdish flag. Kurdistan stopped being a country a long time ago. But, the Kurds are still around, and want to bring their country back. However, the countries presently containg large Kurdish populations don't want that to happen. In Iraq, the Kurds have enjoyed some autonomy since the Gulf War. Like twenty plus years of it. The only aggressor against them has been Turkey, trying to stop Kurdish guerillas who flee there, after attacks against Turkey. A total of six countries have large Kurdish populations, and they occupy parts of the old Kurdish nation. If the Kurds were to decide it's time to revive their nation, it would only destablize the Middle East further. At some point in time, they're going to see their moment and sieze it. Nobody seems to understand the ramifications of that happening.
The Kurds, Christians, Druids, etc., need to worry. The Assad's have fought with the Kurds, killing literally ten's of thousands, over the last 40 or so years. Worse yet, the Assad's have tried to kill all Druids in Syria at one time or another. Perhaps worse yet the World and the UN knew what was happening to the Druids.
But, this problem is not unique to Syria. Iran, Turkey, Iraq and Syria have killed tens of thousands of Kurds. The Kurds are the largest minority in the world without a country, numbering some 14,000,000 (est). In fact Kurds out number Palestinians by nearly 5:1. The Kurds have virtually no where they can go. The answer must be a Kurdish State of its own. Otherwise the massacres will continue. If the Palestinians can declare a state, shouldn't the Kurds be able to do the same?
I'll only touch on how the Turkish Government is trying to force the entire Roman Orthodox Church out of all of Turkey. Even though the ROC was in Turkey at least 600 years prior to the Muslim philosophy even being thought of!
Some how I think that you are attempting to discuss the Druze (the Druids having been an ancient Celtic cult) and the Eastern Orthodox Church, which is decidedly un-Roman.
Sovereign country. Nobody's business.
As long as Assad lives, there will be no settlement, only a protracted civil war without end and without security for innocent victims. The real issue is the line in the sand drawn by the Arab alliance that fears the kind of change necessary to civil war.It is this resistance that refuses Syrian reformers the substance of their dream to join the twenty first century. Tribal rule is a dinosaur that must be buried in the sand and forgotten. It is the requirement of growth and progress.
Sounds very familiar doesn't it. Progress and change versus conservative traditionalism....happens everywhere I guess. Some people are resistent to change nomatter where they live, nomatter what beliefs they have, the status quo always appears to be the right way to go. Will it eventually destroy mankind?