UN team investigates massacre in Syria village

Updated at 630 p.m. ET: United Nations observers found blood, burned homes and signs of artillery fire in the Syrian village of Tremseh on Saturday but were unable to confirm activists' reports that about 220 people were massacred in an attack that prompted international outrage.

The investigation came along with two other key developments in the reported mass slaying by regime forces, who activists say have killed more than 17,000 people since the uprising against killings by President Bashar Assad’s rule began in March 2011:

  • Turkey's prime minister blasted Damascus' leadership, warning that the Syrian people will "make them pay" for such mass killings.
  • The International Committee of the Red Cross now views fighting in Syria as an internal armed conflict — a civil war in layman's terms — crossing a threshold experts say can help lay the ground for future prosecutions for war crimes.

On Saturday, an 11-vehicle team of observers went into the central village of Tremseh after receiving confirmation a cease-fire was in place, said spokesman for the U.N. mission in Syria Ahmad Fawzi. It was the first outside look into the village where activists say at least 150 people were killed by government troops who shelled the town before moving in alongside pro-regime militiamen.

Anonymous / AP

This image made from amateur video from Hama Revolution 2011 and accessed by AP video, purports to show a funeral for victims killed by violence that, according to anti-regime activists, was carried out by government forces in Tremseh, Syria, on Thursday.

"We have sent a large integrated patrol today to seek verification of the facts," Fawzi said.

Details of the killings remain unclear. The Syrian government says 50 people were killed in Tremseh Thursday when its forces clashed with "armed gangs" terrorizing village residents. The regime refers to its opponents as terrorists and gangsters. On Friday, the United Nations blamed government forces for the Tremseh assault, saying U.N. observers deployed near the village saw government troops using heavy weaponry and attack helicopters against it.

US source: Syria is moving its chemical weapons

"The attack on Tremseh appeared targeted at specific groups and houses, mainly of army defectors and activists," the spokesman for the U.N. observer mission to Syria said later in an emailed statement.

"A wide range of weapons were used, including artillery, mortars and small arms."

Opposition activists say government forces killed about 220 people in the village. U.N. observers said they had found a burned school and fire-damaged houses.

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World leaders have heaped criticism on Assad's regime over the Tremseh incident.

A suicide bomber blew up his car in the closest main town to Tremseh on Saturday, killing three civilians and one security officer, Syria's state news agency said.

SANA said the attacker, who camouflaged the bomb with onions, detonated the explosives in the town of Muhrada.

Warning from Turkey
The prime minister of Turkey — once an ally of Assad before turning against him early on in the uprising over the regime's bloody crackdown, blasted Syria's leadership on Saturday over the Tremseh killings.

"These vicious massacres, these attempts at genocide, these inhuman savageries are nothing but the footsteps of a regime that is on its way out," Recep Tayyip Erdogan said. "Sooner or later, these tyrants with blood on their hands will go and the people of Syria will in the end make them pay."

Donatella Rovera of Amnesty International discusses reports of bloodshed on a major scale in the central part of Syria.

Red Cross declaration
The Red Cross, guardian of the Geneva Conventions setting down the rules of war, previously classed the violence in Syria as localized civil wars between government forces and armed opposition groups in three flashpoints — Homs, Hama and Idlib. But hostilities have spread to other areas, leading the Swiss-based agency to conclude the fighting meets its threshold for an internal armed conflict and to inform the warring parties of its analysis and their obligations under law.

"There is a non-international armed conflict in Syria. Not every place is affected, but it is not only limited to those three areas, it has spread to several other areas," ICRC spokesman Hicham Hassan told Reuters in response to a query.

"That does not mean that all areas throughout the country are affected by hostilities," he said.

The qualification means that people who order or commit attacks on civilians including murder, torture and rape, or use disproportionate force against civilian areas, can be charged with war crimes in violation of international humanitarian law.

This article includes reporting by Reuters and The Associated Press.

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Leaders of the world need to act together and do something real, not just this "UN inspector" BS. (Including Russia and China) Unfortunately, Syria doesn't have oil or there would be real action like there was in Libya.

  • 2 votes
Reply#1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 2:56 PM EDT

Well, that will leave the US out with all the golf, campaign stops and white house parties already set up! Elections trump genoside with this president and puke administration! Do ya think any of that gas being moved might have been from Irag? No, they would not lie to us about that!!!

  • 1 vote
#1.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 5:27 PM EDT

Yea, right "Rtypo", and what do you think Assad is going to doing with his thousands of tons of sarin gas, mustard and blood agents that he has manufactured and purchased for decades, including Saddams biological and chemical WMD's (oh, I forget, Saddam didn't have WMD's and 100,000 Kurds died from food poisoning), AND his conventional military forces which for the most part have been handling the US-NATO supported insurrection? I'll tell you. At the first sign of NATO or USA overt military action he will start hitting every target he can from Turkey to Israel and probably starting a third world war in the process. "Leaders of the world need to act together" - don't make me laugh. The only countries acting responsibily are China and Russia which have clearly defined these "arab spring" movements for exactly what they are - US and NATO contrived rebellions in order to establish a power base in the worlds richest oil fields. or, covert ops in order to destabilize military threats by turning them over to fundamentalist regimes by proxy. They use masscres that cannot be verified, attacks that didn't happen, and try to imply that Syrians are in a civil war when 70% of the popuation supports Assad. What crap! Syria is NOT a Libya, and if we get involved there it WILL be another war in the Middle East we cannot win; just like the current fiascos in Afganistan and Iraq. Our civilian leaders are dumber than a bag of hammers and unfortunately control our nations military, preferring to send them off to get killed or maimed instead of either winning TOTALLY or just pulling out. Enough said.

  • 1 vote
#1.2 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:56 PM EDT

NO ONE cares what the dipsh** UN thinks or wants. Haven't they gotten that by now?

    #1.3 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:45 PM EDT


    Washington seizes on alleged massacre in Syria to promote war

    By Niall Green
    14 July 2012

    Reports of scores of deaths in the Syrian village of Tremseh Thursday, in the course of violent clashes between government forces and opposition militia, have been seized upon by the United States and its allies to ramp up their campaign to overthrow the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.

    In a press statement issued Friday, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton asserted that the Syrian regime had carried out “yet another massacre,” claiming there was “indisputable evidence that the regime deliberately murdered innocent civilians.”

    However, no sooner had the US-sanctioned account of events been released than it fell apart. Syrian opposition spokesmen had initially claimed that pro-Assad militiamen had entered the village and killed unarmed civilians. They then claimed that the Syrian army had carried out a rampage aimed at civilians. But it quickly became clear that almost all of the deaths were the result of fighting between government troops and foreign-armed anti-Assad militia.

    Though there are still conflicting accounts of the events in Tremseh, it appears that “rebel” fighters attacked an army convoy passing through the village on Thursday. Government troops then launched a sustained counterattack, resulting in opposition forces being routed and suffering heavy casualties.

    Major General Robert Mood, the Norwegian commander of the United Nations mission in Syria, told a press conference in Damascus that observers under his command had witnessed prolonged fighting in the area, including the use of army mechanized units and helicopters.

    The UK-based pro-opposition Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported that “several dozen rebel fighters were among those killed” in the battle in and around Tremseh. Reuters reported that the fighting was part of a campaign by the Syrian air force over recent days directed against opposition activities near Hama.

    “At this stage, though we do not yet have the final count, the number of civilians killed by shelling is not more than seven,” said a spokesman from the pro-opposition Sham News Network. “The rest were members of the [US-backed] Free Syrian Army,” he added…

    http://www.wsws.org/articles/2012/jul2012/syri-j14.shtml

      #1.4 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 1:36 AM EDT

      "The qualification means that people who order or commit attacks on civilians including murder, torture and rape, or use disproportionate force against civilian areas, can be charged with war crimes in violation of international humanitarian law."

      Why are they not applied to the genocides of Christians in S. Sudan, Darfur, minorities including Shiites in Pakistan and other places?

      Are the humanitarian laws one sided and dictated by the Saudis, oil companies and their lobbyists?

        #1.5 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:23 AM EDT

        Jan. 2012 UN report -

          As Arab League monitors to begin their limited inspection, they can reveal that 403 Syrian children have already been killed in Bashar al-Assad's nine month crackdown on democratic dissent. At least 39 of them died in the country's torture dungeons – their mutilated little bodies, in some cases, returned home to grief-stricken parents. These new figures are drawn from painstaking analysis and cross-checking of reports emerging from the country. Assad's killing machine has targeted protests, homes, even hospitals. The rogue dictator has adopted Stalinist logic: kill or imprison every voice of dissent, no matter how young. Killing children Just last week, regime forces attacked the house of young Mohamed Arwany in Hama. The house was shelled in the raid and 10-year-old Mohamed was fatally wounded. A Syrian activist, whose name we are protecting, shared [the video of the boy's death. You can hear his moans, the activist told Avaaz. He died as the cameraman was filming. These incidents are daily occurrences in Assad's Syria. One of the most horrific stories comes from outside Deraa, where in May Hamza al-Khateeb was arrested by security forces at a protest. Hamza was a 13-year-old boy who raised homing pigeons at his family home in Saida. After a month in government custody his [broken body] was returned to his parents. He had been tied, beaten, shot, burned, and his penis had been cut off. Stalinist logic According to our triple-verified numbers, one out of every 300 Syrians has either been killed or imprisoned since the uprising began. The vast majority of the violence has happened in the flashpoint regions of Hama, Deraa, and Homs, which have seen 40 per cent of the killings. But death squads roam the entire nation, from Damascus suburbs to the Turkish border. 6,237 Syrians – including 876 women and children – have been killed in the uprising. This figure includes the 917 Syrian security forces and paramilitaries that have died. Another 69,000 civilians have been detained. Nearly half have been released, many bearing signs of torture and abuse. And at least 617 civilians in detention have died from torture. A month ago, the Arab League drafted a proposal to curb violence in Syria. Under its provisions the government would pull troops from the streets, release political prisoners and open a dialogue with the opposition. Assad agreed to the proposal and then set about violating each of its conditions, ramping up the killing and abuse. Now, under threat of sanctions and a referral to the UN Security Council, Syria has again [agreed] to an Arab League initiative, this time to send 150 observers, in increments of 50, into the country. Activists are understandably pessimistic and the Syrian government has already said that the League will not be permitted to visit militarily sensitive sites. There were 20 points of protest in Hama today, one Hama-based activist told Avaaz on Friday. Armoured cars and Shabeha [plain-clothed paramilitaries] were already at the demonstrations to shoot protestors, he said. "There will be 30 observers in Hama: 30 persons is not enough for Hama, not enough for one part of Hama," he said. "They will be watched all the time by regime thugs, the activist added. How can I meet with them? I will be discovered. **Take Action:** Russia has supported the Assad family for decades and now Moscow is underwriting the violence in Syria by giving the army weapons and the regime diplomatic cover. But international pressure is slowly forcing Russia to change course. We can help. Join more than 400,000 Avaaz members and [tell Russia to stop sponsoring the killing. Every death we report has been verified by three independent eyewitnesses, one from the victim's family and the imam performing funeral rites.

          #1.6 - Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:31 PM EDT
          Reply

          Always pay the civil population

            Reply#2 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:34 PM EDT

            Perhaps if the International Criminal Court begins proceedings to indict Pres Bashar Assad NOW, he'll temper his actions and/ or those around him will decide to jump ship rather than be in the dock with him.

            • 1 vote
            Reply#3 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:40 PM EDT

            Seems to me that Bashar Assad's next big decision is when and how to send his wife and child abroad. She has relatives in London. For Assad, his life and honor are connected to his regime. He will be treated like a criminal anywhere else. And as the plane sits patiently on the tarmac, they will kiss and cry, then wave goodbye for one last time.

            Assad does not seem like a bad person. He is articulate and educated. But his power base is despotic. Power structures in the middle east seem to follow similar patterns.

            I predict he will be gone within a year.

              #3.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 8:52 PM EDT

              Do people want another Saudi like rule in Syria.

              This Syrian rebellion is conducted by Sunni Saudis, al-Qaida, MB and others.

              If atrocities and barbarism on girls, children and women are the criteria, then the most despotic, autocratic and bigoted Sunni Saudi ruler with his 5000 princes and princesses, Kuwaiti, UAE and other Arab League Sunni rulers and their rich sheiks are the biggest culprits in the history.

              Through the Muslim immoral trafficking gangs, these barbarians have assembled all varieties of poor and helpless girls and women from all over the world in their harems and brothels.

              In killing of opponents again, these people have established world records.

              If the US, Britain and others support such Sunni barbarians and beasts who treat girls and women as cheap sex slaves, then one can only conclude that Saudis, oil companies and their lobbyists determine what to see, how to lecture and where and when to act.

              UN and its agencies, human rights organizations and all likes of them have become a joke and are thoroughly exposed.

              Rest like “human rights”, “killing of children and women”, “militants”, “terrorists”, “WMDs”, “chemical weapons” and so on are a pure hoax.

              Similar hoaxes were played each time before Iraqi wars on directions of Saudi, oil companies and their lobbyists.

                #3.2 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:27 AM EDT
                p.joshDeleted
                Reply

                Our fearless leader has apparently decided that turning Clinton loose on Syria as an attack dog is enough punishement for anyone. He has steadfastly refused to even provide weaponry or armed air interdiction to prevent the Syrian dictator from perpetrating any more atrocities. I guess now instead of apologizing for our actions, he will offer a sharp word and a figurative "slap on the hand" to Assad if he ignores Clinton's sharply-worded diplomatic notes and statements.

                • 3 votes
                Reply#4 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 3:46 PM EDT

                al-Qaida and MB treat the US, West and others as enemy No. 1.

                Do you want to arm them in Syria? Do you want to make sure that al-Qaida, MB and other Sunni bigoted liabilities to win.

                Through Iraqi wars, we made those barbaric, beastly and bigoted Saudis, Kuwaiti, UAE rulers to win!

                What did we get from Iraqi wars!

                1. High oil prices. 2. Huge losses including sinking of monies. 3. We made the bigoted Sunni Saudis and co richer and their Sunni Islamic extremist Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques in our streets.

                There will be more of Dearborns, Michigan in many places right in the US.

                  #4.1 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:36 AM EDT
                  Reply

                  Over the years the United Nations has become useless, corrupt, and filled with factions promoting their own self interest at the expense of peace. Isn't it time the US demand reform at the UN or pull out? We can find better places to spend billions in US taxpayer dollars.

                  • 3 votes
                  Reply#5 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:02 PM EDT

                  UN team enters Syrian village where massacre took place - I feel SO much better now! The UN is a BIG JOKE!

                  • 6 votes
                  Reply#6 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:02 PM EDT

                  UN and its agencies, human rights groups and war mongers need to go to Iraq and search for chemical weapons, WMDs, human rights violations.

                  They proved partisan and worthless then.

                  If we compare Syria and S. Sudan actions now, then UN and agencies need to be wound up once for all as austerity measure.

                    #6.1 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:13 AM EDT
                    Reply

                    In LA they turned the riot squad on the sidewalk chalkers. Imagine what they'd do if these were armed insurgents. They'd make Assad look like a schoolboy.

                    • 2 votes
                    Reply#7 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:03 PM EDT

                    Don't you mean chalkers who were throwing bottles and rocks at the police?

                    • 2 votes
                    #7.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:18 PM EDT
                    Reply

                    And so goes the Civil population of another propped up government by the ever helpful Western World and their central Banking philanthropists.

                    • 1 vote
                    Reply#8 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:04 PM EDT

                    If you consider Russia the West, sure. Your comments border on incoherent.

                    Love it or leave it, punk.

                      #8.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:57 PM EDT
                      Reply

                      UN teams are nothing more than business brokers and accountants working for and reporting to the West.

                      • 1 vote
                      Reply#9 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:06 PM EDT

                      AND they are a joke!

                      • 1 vote
                      #9.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 4:14 PM EDT
                      Reply

                      Being that the "victims" are muslims that would just as soon kill us, do you think I should feel bad for them ?

                      • 2 votes
                      Reply#10 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:07 PM EDT

                      The UN. Decades of petty dictatorships voting against democracy.

                        Reply#11 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:19 PM EDT

                        So what, another massacre. This is what Islam looks like.

                        • 2 votes
                        Reply#12 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:35 PM EDT

                        DOUg.. Exactly!! What do we care?? Enough of being the world policeman. Bring our troops home!!

                        • 1 vote
                        #12.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:09 PM EDT
                        Reply

                        Assad and his Alwite brothers have to win or be torn apart (literally). They will not stop until they are dead. The war crimes action says - even if you do get out of this alive (not likely), we'll imprison you for life. The UN (and US and others by being complicit) has made sure the Syrian Gov. will be even more forceful. With Russia and China backing their proxies they have shown that if you are with them, you get 100% support. Unlike the US and Egypt, the US and ..... Israel next?

                          Reply#13 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:36 PM EDT

                          The BBC's Jim Muir, in Lebanon, reports that in contrast to the massacre of civilians in Houla two months ago, the opposition has yet to produce videos or detailed lists of names of the civilians killed. Indeed, the few videos posted , showing the bodies of young men, are consistent with the Syrian government line that this was a targeted attack and many rebels fighters were killed. Refer to current BBC report: Syria: Tremseh killings targeted rebels.

                          Since it was targeted it is likely some of the locals gave the Syrian government the info required to carry out the attack - and they were arguably a legitimate target despite taking shelter in a civilian area.

                            Reply#14 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 6:39 PM EDT

                            Yawn.

                            Someone will eventually blame George Bush or the jews.

                            • 1 vote
                            Reply#15 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:09 PM EDT

                            Timmer2 //obama and Clinton already have!!

                              #15.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:10 PM EDT
                              Reply

                              Obama the promise BREAKER!! Equals a LIAR!!! BIG EMBARRASSMENT to the USA!!!

                              Obama’s promise that his healthcare proposals would “never be purchased with [a] tax increase on middle-class families.” The SUPREME COURT & JUSTICE DEPT say it is a TAX!!! .Attack on the middle Class!

                              …….…NOW Obama wants to invade Syria and Iran!!!

                              Remember these?
                              THE OBAMA CHRONICLES:
                              “I promise 100% transparency in my administration.”.
                              “I promise NO NEW TAXES on a family making less than $250K a year.”.
                              “I will allow 5 days of public comment before I sign any bills.”.
                              “I will remove earmarks from PORK projects before I sign any bill.”.
                              “I will end Income Tax for seniors making less than $50K a year.”.
                              "I will bring ALL of our troops home within ONE year."
                              “I’ll put the Health Care negotiations on CSPAN so everyone can see who is at the table!”.
                              “I’ll have no lobbyists in my administration."
                              "I'll close Guantanamo."
                              "I'll resign if I don't cut the deficit in half by the end of four years."
                              "I'll unite the people of this great country."

                              “The TROOPS will be home for CHRISTMAS.” WHY ARE MORE LEAVING EVERYDAY???? AND DYING every day…

                              NOW Obama invokes Executive Privilege( as a Sen. called it’s use a RUSE!) for Holder on GUN SMUGGLING and killing US Agent Brain Terry!!! That only applies if Obama was part of it!! Obama & Holder should be on trial for giving Machine Guns to the Mexican Drug cartels!!
                              BETTER KNOWN AS LIES.
                              Fool me once shame on YOU!
                              Fool me twice shame on ME!
                              Vote NOBOZO, . NOBIDEN.............2012!

                              • 3 votes
                              Reply#16 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:11 PM EDT

                              See what happens

                              Reagan shut down the mental-health facilities

                              To buy more weapons

                              And we have to put up with this drizzel

                              • 3 votes
                              #16.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:25 PM EDT

                              "Mission Accomplished" Remember that one?

                              Or my personal favorite. "We have to get them before they get us"

                              Bush invaded a country on the premise that WMD's were everywhere and we needed to

                              stop the evil doer's. Yet that huge cache was never found and even Saddam himself testified that he made it up to ward off Iran and a possible attack because they were so weak at the time. Did Saddam at one time have and use gas on his own people? Yes. Was there the huge cache that Bush made us believe? No.

                              I think promises were made and broken on both sides of the party line. Always have been. Always will be.

                              P.S. Bush couldn't even get the fool me once line right. He mixed up the lines 2 times before he got it right.

                              I agree that Obama has made promises and has not kept them but until we the people stop arguing about who did what when and start holding EVERYONE accountable we all lose.

                              A wise man once said: "When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty."

                              • 2 votes
                              #16.2 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:03 AM EDT

                              @borderjoe, you sound like you are bordering on being admitted alright. Big Deal a word got interprited from one meaning to another by the courts. It doesn't matter Romney/Obama, they'll hash it out and you will still pay. That was Romneys Plan you would have gotten it anyway even if Obama didn't introduced it first. If you had been paying attention, instead of having a tantrum, Romney himself, said he was surprised it was called a tax after the Supreme Court said it was.

                              It wasn't Obamas fault that Brian Terry got killed, It was Terrys' own fault, it only takes a split second of a dicission to get you killed in these matters. He knew the dangers of the job before signing on. I suppose you were there at the shoot out? Yeh, your a border case bordering on basket case. If you really want to vent on someone, find out who, how and why, control and track of the weapons was lost to begin with. I like you people, never go after the real answer just point a finger. If you really want to know what are a lot of the problems are with what is going on in this country. I'll tell you. It's You and all the people like you that want some one to do something about what's going on and You don't want to raise a finger, other than to point, to do a Damnd thing about it. It seams that since the Draft ended you have become nothing more than whinners and Cryers, can't get nothing done because I'm not gonna try and do it SOBs.

                              All your other remarks are exaggeratted crap. I suppose you make $150,000 + a year, Bull! Your lucky you make $20,000-$22,500 a year, and probably not that. You need to get yourself some professional counciling. If you keep your blood pressure up this high your going to give yourself a heart attack other than that have a nice day.

                              • 1 vote
                              #16.3 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:16 PM EDT
                              Reply

                              Quite obvious what the "rebels" are doing

                              Their killing the supporters of Assad before they fall back to the next village

                              Then call the U.N. observers and say it was the Assad Regime that did it

                              Yet the rebels are still running the village

                              Just before they pull back

                              Al Qaeda is the largest rebel group and Hillary wants us to help them eliminate Assad.

                              Russia has a Naval Base in Syria

                              Is Syria's biggest backer

                              And in no way wants NATO or the U.S. next door to Russia.

                              They still have several thousand Nuclear Weapons are has everyone forgot

                              Just because Syria and Iran are the last two standing governments that are the enemy of Israel

                              We have to lose our soldiers as cannon fodder for their cause???

                              • 2 votes
                              Reply#17 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:21 PM EDT

                              United Nations observers found blood, burned homes and signs of artillery fire in the Syrian village of Tremseh on Saturday but were unable to confirm activists' reports that about 220 people were massacred in an attack that prompted international outrage.

                              So supposedly 200+ dead but nobody can confirm anything other than there is blood and signs of fighting....Viagra fueled rape gangs anyone?

                                #17.1 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:33 PM EDT
                                Reply

                                My question is this.....If you going to have the UN in any case like this check it out and do NOTHING, what is the whole point. If Tyranny, bigotry, murder and hatred is allowed vs people for just being in their homes by a cut-throat Government then we are really in a sad state of affairs. The UN should stop making it a mockery by other Governments failing to see what is happening because of agendas like China and Russia. Nothing worthwhile will ever get done and the UN is the JOKE over the past 50 plus years. Your money goes toward this organization for all these years and for what?

                                  Reply#18 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 7:56 PM EDT

                                  Wow, what a relief for the people of Syria - the UN is looking in to the situation. I'm sure everyone will sleep much better knowing this. Typical UN. Useless.

                                    Reply#19 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 9:20 PM EDT

                                    Joke. Plain and simple. More die and Zip code azzed Clinton makes a visit. So what? Woopie.

                                      Reply#20 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:05 PM EDT

                                      Hillary should have been arrested and charged with two counts of Treason

                                      against the U.S. Constituion and the citizen's right to bear arms!

                                      She is working with the U.N. INTERNTIONAL committee to bring a treaty

                                      to congress for ratification which will remove our rights to bear arms.

                                      It is in direct violation of the Constitution and our American rights so stated in the Constitution.

                                      Hillary Clinton is a Traitor to the Constitution and to America.

                                      ***Hillary needs to be stopped and this outlandish spending spree she's on is mockery of the U.S.

                                      • 1 vote
                                      Reply#21 - Sat Jul 14, 2012 10:17 PM EDT

                                      Watch out Syria, you might be getting a strongly worded letter from the U.N. soon!

                                        Reply#22 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 12:12 AM EDT

                                        Syrian Army killed armed terrorists not civilians: military

                                        Sat Jul 14, 2012 12:38AM GMT

                                        The Syrian Army has killed a large number of anti-government terrorists who were behind the killing and wounding of dozens of people in the west of the country, a military source says.

                                        On Friday, an unnamed military source said that on Thursday, the army attacked the terrorists who had killed and wounded many civilians in the village of al-Turaymisah on the outskirts of the western city of Hama, Syria's official news agency SANA reported.

                                        The source added that a large number of armed rebels were killed and scores more captured in an offensive that was concluded without any civilian casualties.

                                        After conducting a massive search operation, security forces found the dead bodies of a number of citizens, who had been kidnapped and killed by the armed terrorists.

                                        A large cache of weapons and explosive materials as well as documents, including foreign ID cards, were also seized.

                                        Anti-government sources also confirmed that some of those killed by government forces in al-Turaymisah were members of armed gangs.

                                        On Friday, the head of the UN observer mission in Syria, Major General Robert Mood, confirmed heavy fighting in the village.

                                        Also on Friday, a booby-trapped car exploded in the Mezzeh neighborhood of Damascus. There were no reports of casualties.

                                        Meanwhile, the foreign-backed armed gangs have announced that they are adopting a strategy of carrying out assassinations to achieve their objectives. On Friday, a colonel of the self-proclaimed Free Syrian Army set a deadline of July 31 for government figures to defect or face assassination.

                                        An officer of the anti-government force said that the group is receiving weapons that are being transported through Lebanon, Turkey, and Iraq and demanded that more sophisticated weapons be delivered to them to inflict more damage on the country. He added that the group has paid thousands of dollars to arms dealers in Iraq and Lebanon to purchase Katyusha rockets and anti-tank missiles.

                                        Syria has been experiencing unrest ever since March 2011, with demonstrations being held both against and in support of President Bashar al-Assad's government.

                                        The Syrian government says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the unrest and deadly violence while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.

                                        Damascus also says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country and the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.

                                          Reply#23 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:07 AM EDT

                                          Assad: US trying to destabilize Syria

                                          Syrian President Bashar al-Assad says Washington plays a role in the turmoil in Syria by supporting the armed gangs to destabilize the country.

                                          Assad told the German ARD television channel on Sunday that the United States is “part of the conflict,” and that “they offer the umbrella and political support to those gangs to… destabilize Syria.”

                                          The latest remarks by the Syrian president come at a time when the anti-Syria Western regimes have been calling for Assad to step down.

                                          Russia and China remain opposed to the Western drive to oust the Syrian president.

                                          US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on June 30 that Assad “will still have to go.”

                                          Diplomats meeting in Geneva on the same day reached an agreement on a Syrian-led transitional governing body that could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups, and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent, said UN-Arab League envoy to Syria Kofi Annan.

                                          The US secretary of state added that the Syrian president “will never pass the mutual consent test.”

                                          On July 3, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said that some Western participants in the Geneva meeting “have started in their public statements to distort the agreements that were reached.”

                                          The New York Times published a report on June 21, quoting some US and Arab intelligence officials as saying that a group of “CIA officers are operating secretly in southern Turkey” and that the agents are helping the anti-Syria governments decide which gangs inside the Arab country will “receive arms to fight the Syrian government.”

                                          President Assad said on June 3 that Syria is “facing a war from abroad,” and that attempts are being made to “weaken Syria, [and] breach its sovereignty.”

                                          SYRIA IS SOON TO HOST ITS REAL FRIENDS OF SYRIA.

                                            Reply#24 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 3:07 AM EDT
                                            p.joshDeleted

                                            I read two tones in posts.

                                            When it comes to Afghanistan, many are screaming: "bring the troops home."

                                            This section is fed up of wars.

                                            When it comes to Syria and Iran, many scream: "what is Obama doing?"

                                            Another section always wants some wars.

                                            Before Iraqi wars, most common screams were: "go and bomb the hell out of Saddam."

                                            Bush popularity soared.

                                            When dead bodies started coming, injured started arriving, and oil prices started going up bringing unemployment, health care problems, then scream from the same section became: "bring troops home."

                                            Obama won with "bring troops home from Iraq."

                                            At least, we should learn from past mistakes.

                                            Shiites vs Sunni battles are not ours. Let them handle them.

                                            Look back on Iraqi wars: not much would happened if Saddam was still there. At least we would have been saved of Saudi oil price manipulations and many Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques in our streets.

                                              Reply#26 - Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:26 AM EDT
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