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Subscribe to RSSHundreds of Syrian soldiers reportedly defected from that country's armed forces on Sunday, al-Arabiya reported, citing an opposition-supporting news service.
The defections came in the outskirts of capital Damascus and the port city of Latakia, where large explosions were heard near the presidential palace, the Syrian Media Center reported, according to al-Arabiya.
Meanwhile, the official news agency SANA reported that one of the military units stationed off the coast of Latakia thwarted an attempt by an armed terrorist group "trying to infiltrate from the sea," quoting an unnamed military source, according to al-Arabiya.
According to activist Sema Nassar, fighting began as "officers and soldiers of a military base near the presidential palace ... deserted with their weapons," al-Arabiya reported.
Syria blames 'terrorist' bombs for deadly Hama blast
"Loud explosions were heard as far as the city of Latakia," Nassar added.
Also on Sunday, U.N. observers struggling to shore up a shaky cease-fire in visited an embattled neighborhood in the central city of Homs, The Associated Press reported, citing SANA.
SANA said the observers toured the Khaldiyeh district, which has seen heavy government shelling and clashes between Syrian forces and rebels.
Video: Suicide bombing in Syrian capital
The team in Homs is part of an advance team of 15 U.N. monitors in Syria who are trying to salvage a peace plan brokered by special envoy Kofi Annan that aims to end the country's 13-month-old crisis. Under the plan, a cease-fire is supposed to lead to talks between President Bashar Assad and the opposition on a political solution to the conflict that has killed more than 9,000 people.
But the plan has been deeply troubled since the truce began on April 12. The regime has kept up its attacks on opposition strongholds, while rebel fighters continue to ambush security forces. Defying a major truce provision, the Syrian military has failed to withdraw tanks and soldiers from the streets.
Most analysts say the plan has little chance of succeeding, though it could temporarily bring down the level of daily violence.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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The rats are fleeing the sinking ship of state.
It is difficult to guess, which is a sinking ship!
These days the reports are one-sided and from rebel side only.
Syrian rebels are supported by al-Qaida, Muslim brotherhood and Sunni Saudi & co.
Assad's father took many years to crush Sunni rebels.
Let Sunni Arab League rulers send their brave forces to Syria as they did in Bahrain.
Best of luck to Assad and hope he marches his troops one day to Saudi Arabia.
The reports are one-sided because the government media is impossible to trust.
To this day, even after shelling their own cities indiscriminately, they still claim that they're only fighting foreign terrorists! You don't hear a peep about defections or assaults on refugee camps or mass arrests without trial or torturing civilians!
Of course, I got all those items from this site, which mainly posts rebel news. So I guess they could all be made up, huh?
Once again we have a POTUS that thinks with his head , while the Rethuglicans wanted the United States to bomb Syria and put boots on the ground our President had the fortitude and foresight to see exactly what needed to be done without risking the lives of our American forces like Cheney and Bush have done in the past. and do we as a Nation want Mitt Romney the Mormon Draft Dodger who went and lived in SOCIALIST France to avoid going to Vietnam be the one to call shots on our military, That though alone scares the HELL outta me, Wont fight for our country but willing to put my childrens life at risk. NO WAY
Anti rebels? Pro Assad?? Attack Saudi Arabia?? Who are these posters on here??
Any leader who kills indiscriminantly is a murderer! Assad is a killer. The people want change, look at whole region... What, are people here thick in the head?
You can say this site or that site is for or against anybody! But once you have a leader who bombs and kills innocent people in his own nation, you have a tyrannical dictator who must be stopped.
Nato forces should be used to put an end to this killer. Let the people of Syria decide for themselves, but Assad is not interested in letting anyone decide except himself!
The fact that the military is defecting shows that everybody wants a change! How can it's all rebel information coming out? Assad has not left anybody any wriggle room, he's a killer... and it appears he enjoys it!
Armed protesters are terorrists no matter where.
NATO forces can't handle 20000 militants in Afghanistan!
In Iraq, the US and allies left Iraq in such a bigger mess than during Saddam's rule.
Some thick headed and headless are not even able to think about Iraq.
US and allies could not win a single war since WWII. From Saigon, NATO forces had to be airlifted from Airport!
What are people thinking and posting?
@peacekeeper-911
Armed protesters are terorrists no matter where.
Spoken like a true sheep. I suppose when we stood up to the British, we were terrorists too. What an ignorant, naive remark. You really should study up more on your own countries history, you won't come off sounding like such a complete tool.
Hello Jonathan, nice posts! It has become tiring to most of Americans that we are on another imperialistic attempt at a regime change. It is also obvious that we are digging into our same old propaganda bag of tricks to garner support for an invasion. We have been funding the rebels in an attempt to surround and weaken Iran so that we can scratch Syria off the list and move on to the next regime change in Iran. Americans are tired of war and we are broke and we all know who benefits from war, the greedy corporations and the banks that fund both sides of all wars. Only the ignorant can't see that the only thing we export is war and we aren't even good at that. We have bombed in our short history over 65 countries.
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..
We have been a country for almost 236 years and have been at war for 215 years!
The Revolutionary War – 1775 – 1783
The Whiskey Rebellion – 1789 - 1794
The War of 1812 – 1812 – 1814
The Mexican American War – 1846 – 1848
The American Civil War – 1861 – 1865
The Spanish American War – 1897 – 1898
The Indian American Wars – 1775 – 1918
World War I – 1914 – 1918
World War II – 1941 – 1945
Cold War 1945 – 1992
The Vietnam War - 1962 – 1973
The Invasion of Grenada – 1983 – 1984
The Invasion of Panama – 1989
Operation Desert Storm – 1991 – 1992 (Kuwait)
Operation United Shield – 1992 – 1995 (Somalia)
Operation Determined Falcon – 1998 – 1999 (Kosovo, Albania)
Operation Enduring Freedom – 2001 – 2012 (Afghanistan)
Operation Iraqi Freedom – 2003 – 2011 (Iraq)
Operation Freedom Falcon – 2011 - ? (Libya)
If anyone is proud of this and you support this, you are just as complicit as those pulling the triggers and dropping the bombs. I hope your karmic penance won't be as severe!
@Chuck: To the British, we were terrorists! Funny thing, frequently the truest patriots start out by being labeled as traitors.
I'd rather be thought a terrorist than a collaborator to a tyrannical regime. I'm pretty sure anyone with any amount of moral convictions feels the same way.
Report: Hundreds of Syrian soldiers defect - And hundreds more will take their place.
Report: Hundreds of Syrian soldiers defect - And then 'turn' on the activists!
Tens can become hundreds. If media and some could find WMD before Iraqi war, anything is possible.
Anyhow thousands will join the forces.
This whole mess is a shame! That lunatic Asshead, should be condemmed as a war criminal! How could anyone kill their own citizens? It would be like our own President bombing say, Des Moines, Iowa, for opposing him in the Presidential race. How cruel do you have to be, to maintain your dictatorship? Assad has to go!
Now, if only the rest of the military would defect, this stupid violence would be over!
DfromSpencer-- The ones should be condemned , are NATO and the Al Qaeda supporters Saudies and Qataris , they have been smuggling arms to the Al Qaeda rebels under the watch of so called the shameless UN monitors in the med. sea , with Israel help, What a combination , NATO,Turkey,US,Israel,Saudis,and Qataris . some doing the training and the other doing the finnacing , You know the Saudis and Qataris they are not going to fight , the just get us and NATO involve and then they pay the money for the people to kill each other, check and see whats happening to the Christians in Iraq,Syria,Egypt,Libya, right under the watch of the crusaders NATO, I think they are the protectors of the Wahhabi Muslims not the Christians, wake up people and check the FACTS.
The FACTS are that this regime is so cruel and brutal that even its soldiers, men trained and paid to obey orders without question, are getting tired of butchering their own people and don't believe the government-sponsored news sources anymore that tell them they're fighting foreign terrorists and not honest Syrians. Luckily for the Gov. news, they'll always have you as a loyal follower, My Turn.
Besides, even if all those people you mentioned are smuggling weapons to the rebels, how is that a war crime? Last I checked arming people is not an atrocity.
Sf accountant you just like the rest them assss holeeees ( that 's not a grammar mistake ) you make me sick with George Bush mentality there. one minute you want proof , and then when the truth comes out , oh there is no crime of arming people , Buddy we arrested a used car sales man and accused him of working for the Iranian Gov. plotting to kill the Saudi ambassador to the US, and we out more sanction on them and we threaten to go to war , you make sick , I want to go Syria and see what these innocent rebels will with you if you tell them you are a christian, Its OK for you sit here just like you probably before the Iraq war , and wanted to go kill everybody over there .its useless to talk to people like you , because you got got your brain so far up your nose you can not see or hear anything .
my trun: I agree with you.
Which Muslim nation in ME does not have a barbaric and beastly ruler?
While screaming big about democracy, human rights, laws, secularism, some don't even have shame to support the most beastly, barbaric, bigoted and seventh century desert mindset, Saudi ruler with 5000 princes and princesses.
Has the world seen such rulers in its history?
The same Saudi beastly rulers don't permit Bibles and other non-Muslim religious places while liberally funding their Sunni extremist Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques, hate and killer preaching centers, all over the world.
Has the world witnessed such one-way traffic ever and some shamelessly, even in 21st century, dancing as they direct?
These highly corrupt and despotic bigoted rulers treat their women and minorities like Shiites worse than slaves.
Still, by throwing monies and jumping with oil, such beastly rulers have many supporters.
Are there no limits to doing dirty work for monies?
@Cougarflirts.... THIS IS A NEWS DISCUSSION BOARD NOT A FREE ADVERTIZING BILLBOARD!!!
It takes a really desperate low scumbag to pull a stunt like advertizing a scam smut site. No one ever REALLY meets people there, you just take money from some poor lonely sucker that hopes they will actually meet someone.
1. It is quite obvious no one is joining your site from your last ditch effort to post in here.
2. It's against the rules!
3. I hope they ban you permanently via IP from all the boards.
Amen!
Agreed, but don't feed the spammer-troll by reusing their name (even without the TLD).
Mere mention of it increases their rankings.
2nd That!
Doesn't the media realize that they are being manipulated into posting this trash? Most of this news talking about the ulitmate "demise" of the Syrian administraion is provided by activists or their proxies. This is propaganda on the part of the activiists that have close links to terrorist organizations in order to have NATO take military action and intervene.
The oppostion has already lost and even though the Sunni insurgency may continue for years, they will not have the ability to depose Assad without outside interference.
GIjose The outside interference already there, they just confiscated a ship coming to Lebanon from Libya with 150 tons of weapons on it , and surprisingly passed the UN monitors in the sea and the Israeli blockade , its strange Israel stopped a ship 160 miles away from their shores and missed a ship 25 miles away , how convenient, The Saudis,Israel,Qatar,NATO,Turkey and off course with help of the US , had decided its time foe Assad to go , it does not matter how popular he is in his country , its what these democracy loving countries decide, and it does not matter if Al Qaeda doing the fighting , Hell Al Qaeda is to the Saudis and Qatareis what Israel to us , the spoiled brat, It does not matter about other countries civilians or Christians , they already demonstrated that in Iraq,Egypt,Libya . so here you go ,HYPOCRISY AT ITS BEST.
my turn,
I think you are getting your Middle East countries a little mixed up. There are no UN monitors at sea and Israel has no sea blockage of Lebanon even though technically, Lebanon and Israel are still in a state of war.
You almost have the line up on the two sides correct. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Qatar & the US on one side. Lebanon, Syria & Iran on the other. NATO and Israel have not officially taken sides but if they have to chose, they will side with the US.
How do you know that, GIjose? The only news we can get out of Syria is from the activists on one side, and the government-controlled media on the other, since the government won't let in foreign media sources (and those that get in anyway have a tendency to die).
Between those two options, I'd believe the activists.
Ya AL-3776074 I got the countries wrong , sorry buddy, but that's the problem with everybody here , you do not know anything and try to comment , there is 15000 UN troops stationed in Lebanon , and there is a UN navy ships which is controlled by NATO , that patrol the shores trying to stop the smuggling of weapons to Hezbollah , and they let everything else pass if it was used to fight Hezbollah and the Syrians , just like the UN inspectors in Iraq , they were there to find out the strength and where about of the Iraqi army . do not not listen to me . read about Scott Ritter the American inspector and what he said about that . and if you need to know anything about that part of the world buddy , you can ask me I lived in that area foe 18 years.
Just keep the US out of it. Although some groups sure want the US to put troops there, use planes and drones, etc I say screw them. It is an arab problem, let the arab's solve it. If they can't, then TS.
Agree 200 percent. No planes or drones.
If possible arm both sides such that they can kill each other better.
Anyhow Ronald Regan armed Iranians
Eventually this tyrannical dictator will be toppled by the people of Syria, give it time
I can see from some of these postings that you have not been in the army. What happens in a militay unit is that the soldiers get together and start complaiing to each other that they have no interest in killing fellow citizens and eventually their top brass join in and the decision is made to desert and to join the opposition. It is not an easy decision, they are putting their lives on the line. From my time in the US Army, I am pretty sure that's how it would work. It has nothing to to with Al Qaeda or Muslim fundalmentalists. Most soldiers are not deep thinking intellectuals. They just know that something stinks when they smell it.
That's the lot of it.
It's often said that when a country gets down to a serious civil war, the state is, almost by default, going to win in terms of strategic ability and military power. Civilians just can't muster that kind of ability without the resource base and personal of a proper government.
The caveat is that most militaries are only willing to kill so many of their own people. I wonder what percentage of the military has already defected?
I am tired of the ME. Sunni VS. Shiite. Not to be brass, but if they adhere so strongly to Muhammed's message why have they divided themselves into these factions and also have ruling classes? Because one faction believes his nephew was a successor and will be related to the Al-Mahdi? The Shiite Resistance in Bahrain, the Sunni Resistance in Syria, the Palestinian Resistance in Israel. I have tried to embrace this faith, but it it is a propaganda scheme, it really is. Islam, can go destroy itself. It doesn't need our help. Good luck with the long and tired Arab Spring, we got our own problems. Maybe this Al-Mahdi character will throw us a bone too, huh? They're all nuts.
Pic6 sad:
I am tired of the ME. Sunni VS. Shiite. Not to be brass, but if they adhere so strongly to Muhammed's message why have they divided themselves into these factions..
I am tired of the Christians. Protestant vs Catholic vs Baptist vs Evangelical vs Mormon vs Presbyterian vs Lutheran vs Unitarian vs..... Not to be crass, but if they all adhere so strongly to Christ's message why have they divided themselves into these factions?
Just remember that not that long ago Christian Irish Protestants and Catholics were blowing each other up in Ireland. No organized belief/faith system on this planet has been immune to this factional infighting. Religion is simply a crutch, an excuse for those who hate to exercise their hatred. Hitler may have professed to be Christian but that doesn't make him one, that makes him a genocidal tyrant. The Norway killer Anders Breivik professes to be Christian, but does that make him one? No, he just a mass murderer.
It's what you do that matters, not whose name you do it in.
Barrack Obama and Hillary Clinton are 2 junior Senators with zero experience in foreign policy and because of that have zero respect with foreign leaders around the world! So with the buffoonery of Obama playing president and Clinton playing Sec of State what outcome did you expect in the Middle East. Speaking of criminal how did Mr. Obama, aka Barry Sorento, legally visit Pakistan back when he was younger?
These people are clueless!
And another few hundred people decide to take a stand for what they believe is right.
I hope that they do well enough by the rebels to be forgiven for what they did as government soldiers.
The faster this military machine is starved of manpower and resources, the faster Assad can be driven into a corner.
the muslims of today are like the protestants of the 1600's. the goodness of religion is replaced by the power grab of the various leaders. there is a tendency by those who are religious not to speak of the over the top actions of the leaders which is why the killings will continue and those not of that religious sect continue to lump everyone into an equally guilty group.
In 2008, a secret State Department cable warned of a growing chemical weapons threat from a Middle Eastern country whose autocratic leader had a long history of stirring up trouble in the region. The leader, noted for his “support for terrorist organizations,” was attempting to buy technology from other countries to upgrade an already fearsome stockpile of deadly poisons, the department warned.
The Middle Eastern state with the dangerous chemicals was not Libya, whose modest stockpile was thrust into the spotlight last week because of fighting there. It was Syria, another violence-torn Arab state whose advanced weapons are drawing new concern as the country drifts toward an uncertain future.
A sudden collapse of the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad could mean a breakdown in controls over the country’s weapons, U.S. officials and weapons experts said in interviews. But while Libya’s chemical arsenal consists of unwieldy canisters filled mostly with mustard gas, the World War I-era blistering agent, Syria possesses some of the deadliest chemicals ever to be weaponized, dispersed in thousands of artillery shells and warheads that are easy to transport.
Obama is smart enough to arm the rebels if he wants to. Compassion votes is what he needs. The administration's answer to getting caught selling guns to drug cartels was to stiffen gun laws and gun purchasing regulations in Texas, Arizona and New Mexico, and it worked, right? Nobody talked about who got paid or how much money they made because it wasn't the issue printed in mainstream media. The media will keep printing what the prez says. Here's a good pitch; Why can't Holder be put in charge of arming Syrian rebels who "only want to protect their families?" They are the nice muslims! Come on guys, it will win votes for Obama and lets face it, Eric is the best gun runner ever, he is Viktor Bout times ten. Holder is the man for the job. We have Nancy Pelosi and Diane Feinstein to stand by the man and his plan. Our girls will blame the NRA for arming the rebels. David Keene, Chris Cox and Wayne La'Pierre can be the fall guys. They are great fall guys. Sonia Sotomayor and Ruth Bader Ginsburg got Holder's back, brother libs. This plan can't backfire. If everything goes south we can just make more regulations about gun control on the Arizona border with Mexico. Some new regs will teach Jan Brewer to keep her paws and jaws off "the man" on the tarmac. Don't worry about the Constitution. The ink faded along time ago on that bark, so the old you can have guns in America amendment don't count anymore anyway. It falls under the faded ink rule. Didn't Obama suggest if TJ had Micro-soft Word the Constitution would have protected the right to wear hoodies instead of bear arms? There's room for hoodie rules in the schools where they took down the Ten Commandments ain't there? Put them hoodie rules up. Somebody attach a grade school picture of Trayvon to this post. I haven't seen a picture on the cover of any magazines with Trayvon sitting on Santa's lap. Attach one of them. We'll have those rebels armed by this weekend and the election wrapped up by July.
I notice that the article refers to the rebels as terrorists, taking the line of the Syrian government, even though they were clearly attacking military targets. It's a sharp difference from the case where Palestinian terrorists attack Israeli civilians and are called only "militants." Looks like MSNBC's bias continues.
Assad will go down in due time-Assad has certain military troops that are loyal to him because they are maliwite muslum,small majority and tey will kill the other troops who don't kill the people plus troops get sick of killing babies,kids,women etc,the military that are not Asads maliwites troops will defect when they can-that war will grow and grow untill Assad is dead or captured.Muslums are the scum of the earth and they will start world war three-bet your but on that and yes Iran will be making nuke weapons soon...
Muslums killing Muslums.. so whats the problem?? They hate the western infedels..always did..always will..lets watch this one from home.
So you have never had any Muslim friends? I have and they are as normal as any non-fanatic Christian.
Not all that long ago Protestant Christians were killing Catholic Christians and blowing up other innocent people in the process in Ireland.
The problem is not Muslims killing other Muslims--it's people who are killing people.
Good, maybe once Assad loses most of his military they can overthrow that murderous bastard.
This is a "non-winnable" situation for Assad...he's made too many enemies in this day of super mass communication and political sophistication.
He had better move a little closer to the Russian or Chinese embassies or make good friends with some UN types, because he might not have much time to send his billions to Switzerland and get out before this increasingly shaky "house of cards" falls on him..
This will be done by the Syrian people...just like Libya was done by the Libyans...and probably without the need of foreign intervention...which will be good for the resulting Syrian polity..
The scary part of all this violence is that the winners whoever they are wont be merciful after seeing their families, friends and others die. Expect a bloodbath after this conflict, doesn't matter if the present govt or the rebels win, revenge is part of their DNA and it is true someone who is dead cant kill you later.