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Subscribe to RSSIntense clashes between Syrian rebels and government forces continue. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.
DUBAI - Tehran on Sunday asked Turkey and Qatar to help secure the release of 48 Iranians who were kidnapped by gunmen while on a pilgrimage in the Syrian capital Damascus, Iran's state news agency IRNA reported on Sunday.
The busload of abducted pilgrims is the latest in a string of kidnappings of visitors from the Islamic Republic, a country allied to President Bashar Assad. The pilgrims were seized after visiting a popular Shiite shrine on Saturday.
Rebels and regime forces continue their fight to control Syria's largest city. NBC's Ayman Mohyeldin reports.
Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Qatari counterpart Sheikh Hamad Bin Jassim Bin Jabr Al-Thani agreed to help seek the pilgrims' release during separate phone conversations with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi, IRNA reported.
Syrian family prays soldier son will defect
Meanwhile, President Bashar Assad's forces used artillery, planes and a helicopter gunship to pound rebel positions in Syria's biggest city, witnesses said, in a battle that could determine the outcome of the 17-month uprising.
After U.N. Security Council paralysis on Syria forced peace envoy Kofi Annan to resign last week, and with his ceasefire plan a distant memory, rebels were battered on Saturday by the onslaught they had expected in Aleppo and the capital Damascus.
NBC News
People resisting the army of President Bashar al-Assad in northern Syria cope with loss and prepare for fighting.
"There is one helicopter and we're hearing two explosions every minute," said a Reuters witness in Aleppo, Syria's commercial hub.
Syrian forces struck at Aleppo's Salaheddine district, a gateway into the city of 2.5 million people that has become the frontline of an increasingly sectarian conflict that has killed some 18,000 people and could spill into neighboring countries.
A local rebel commander said his fighters were preparing for a "strong offensive" by government forces on the city.
Explosions shake Syria capital as rebels renew attack
In Damascus, jets bombarded the capital as troops kept up an offensive they began on Friday to storm the last rebel bastion there, a resident said.
Opposition offer
Also on Sunday, the leader of Syria's main political opposition group said he was ready to negotiate with government officials whose hands are not "stained with blood", once Assad and his associates leave power, according to an interview published on Sunday.
Abdelbasset Seida, head of the Syrian National Council (SNC), also told the pan-Arab Asharq al-Awsat newspaper that Annan's resignation may open the door for a new initiative to resolve the crisis.
In villages across Syria there is great concern for the city of Aleppo, where the violence seen in the last few days could be nothing compared to what's coming. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
"As far as we are concerned, the authorities have lost their credibility and legitimacy, and we have said this in Moscow bluntly: that dialogue with this regime is no longer possible," Seida said.
"Bashar and his gang must leave and after that we will move to negotiate with other officials whose hands were not stained with Syrian blood and who were not involved in big corruption cases," he added.
Reuters confirms hackers posted fake story
On Friday, U.N. member states voted overwhelmingly to condemn the Syrian government for the violence at a special session of the General Assembly. Syria allies Russia and China opposed the non-binding resolution but were not able to use the veto they have used in the Security Council.
Seida welcomed Friday's vote: "We believe that the vote at the United Nations General Assembly represents the start of a new initiative that may be coming in the near future."
He did not elaborate.
Also on Sunday, a State Department spokeswoman said that Secretary State of State Hillary Clinton would travel to Istanbul next week to hold talks with the Turkish government on the crisis in Syria.
A large military convoy was passing by the town and as the troops moved past, the rebels opened fire. Now the city is paying for it, bodies lining the streets. On Wednesday, President Obama signed an order that allows mostly clandestine forces to support the rebels in Syria. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
"Secretary Clinton goes to Istanbul for bilateral consultations with the Turkish government on Syria as well as to cover other timely issues," spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said in a statement sent to reporters during a visit by Clinton to the southern African nation of Malawi.
Clinton's planned talks in Istanbul on August 11 will form part of renewed international efforts to tackle the escalating crisis in Syria.
Nuland also announced that Clinton, whose current Africa tour will take her to South Africa later on Sunday, would also be visiting Nigeria, Ghana and Benin next week on her way to the Istanbul talks.
Reuters and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
More world stories from NBC News:
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- Swedish minister: Put annual Raoul Wallenberg day on calendar
- Jury: Florida man guilty in killing of ex-wife's British husband
- UN General Assembly condemns Syrian regime; Russia and China balk
- Cholera threatens displaced Congolese
- Belarus, Sweden kick out ambassadors as teddy bear war heats up
- Reuters confirms hackers posted fake Syria news story on its service
- Olympic hosts: Londoners open their homes to the world
Leave a Comment:
Iran should confirm that they did not kidnap the pilgrims believing that they were from another country or that one of the terrorist organizations that they support did.
Ever consider that this is the excuse that Iran wanted and needs, so they can officially enter the fray? The Middle East is one of the most original of chess game moves - at least thinking about 2 moves ahead of the current situation.
jack from Jax,
"The Middle East is one of the most original of chess game moves - at least thinking about 2 moves ahead of the current situation."
And the Iranians should be the masters of that game since they are the ones who invented the game of chess.
Good Point, thanks Mickey!
Chickens come home to roost eh?
If it comes to a hostage crisis the Supreme Ruler of Iran can always pray to the ghost of Ronald Reagan to release their hostages. Ronny may take his time as the Iranians were just like these rebels back in the day.
The Iranian 'pilgrims' were Irianian 'special forces' and can hardly expect to be treated as non-combatants.
i agree, but it was carter, not reagan, and i carter would tell them to f-off.
CNN is already reporting that the Iranians were members of the Revolutionary Guards Corps.
There is already a video with the Syrian Free Army showing their captives with documents showing their identity.
Does anyone really believe that a group of Iranian men decided to go to Syria at this time (IN THE MIDDLE OF A CIVIL WAR), when there are war planes and gunship helicopters bombing the hell out of Damascus and Aleppo, just to go to pray at some shrine?
These were Revolutionary Guards!
Also, perhaps it's time that Obama started doing something about the carnage over there!
Perhaps instead of playing golf again today (yes, today he is playing golf AGAIN!), maybe he could actually do what he was elected to do, which is take care of the economy (which he has done a pisspoor job of until now!), or maybe, just maybe act like a leader and do something about a dangerous genocidal madman in possession of chemical weapons, who has killed 20,000 people in the last 16 months alone!
OBAMA PLEASE DO YOUR JOB. OR THE AMERICAN PEOPLE MIGHT DECIDE TO GIVE YOU A PINK SLIP, COME NOVEMBER... (You know, like those tens of thousands of contractors for the DOD who will be losing their jobs in the coming months due to Obama's defense cuts!)
Carter got them in a hostage situation as he was/is a baffoon. Reagan was given the gift of the release.
"The pilgrims were seized after visiting a popular Shiite shrine on Saturday."
Iran should unleash their missiles to get them released. What a bunch of jokers these Iranians mullahs and their puppets ruling Iran!
They are taking help of Turkey and Qatar!
What a bunch of cowards Shiites are?
They talk big, act big and show their bravery before unarmed minorities like Jews, women and others. Then they add their dances when they stone them.
Shiites of Iraq should side with Kurds and should stop oil supplies to Turkey for supporting the Sunni Islamic extremists like al-Qaida, MB in Syria.
Shiites of Bahrain should overthrow their autocratic, corrupt and despotic Sunni ruler.
As they have been taking blows and killings by Sunnis, these Sunnis are able to act as they like to Shiites.
Shiites of Iran should side with Assad and see that all the Sunni rebels are eliminated.
What are the brave Hezbollah doing?
They should do suicide bombings in Mecca and Medina. Or else Shiites genocides just like the genocides of non-Muslims by the Sunni Islamic religious Nazis will continue.
No Seven, that is a common mistake. Carter had been making final arrangements for their release right up until he stepped out of the car at Reagan s' inauguration. One of the demands is that the hostages would not be released so long as Carter was in office. Reagan didn't even know about it until the hostages were already on their home.
"On January 20, 1981, at the moment Reagan completed his 20-minute inaugural address after being sworn in as President, the 52 American hostages were released by Iran into U.S. custody, having spent 444 days in captivity."
Eddie - Iran does not support terrorists. They support "freedom fighter" in their own lands. In the case of Lebanon, they support Hezbollah, an organization dedicated to keeping Israel the hell out of Lebanon. Israel covets Lebanons water, land and other resources. Hezbollah was formed during Israel's 18 year illegal occupation of Lebanon, during which time Israel aided and abetted several massacres of the Lebanese people.
In the case of Hamas, Iran sends them some money, but little else.
Meanwhile, America has armed Israel to the teeth, with weapons such as the F16 fighter, which Israel has used to bomb Lebanon with impunity. Lebanon has no weapons with which to shoot down the F16. For the Israelis, it is like shooting fish in a barrel, which they did when they attacked Lebanese cities in 2006, killing over a thousand people, mostly women and children and destroying lebanon's infrastructure. The Israelis know that on the ground, they are no match for the Lebanese fighting man, even with tanks and other armor.
I guess you like other Zionists, would prefer to see Lebanon totally disarmed, so Israeli troops could roll in and take more land. That is the goal of Israel.
No Jon, had there been another year of Carters miserable Presidency the hostages would have suffered that long. The Iranians wanted a fresh start with a new President. Too bad for them it was the Star Wars President who was ready to nuke them into the stone age.....
Awesomely astute political move by Iran ... asking Iraq for help before the Americans are gone. Kind of like a chess gambit that improves your position no matter what the response might be.
@ Duqu,
Wow!
Uh, sure. Ignoring the fact that Israel has won every ground engagement their country has ever been involved in. Sure, dude. I'm not even going to touch on your anti-semitism, but if you're going to make wild claims such as this, you might want to actually look at the track record of the countries you're referring to. The PLO has basically lost every battle they've ever waged and were effectively crippled by the real Lebanese government working in tandem with Israel, which led to formal peace talks between the two countries in 2008. You're distortion of recent world history is astounding.
Why is it that Obama did nothing to help the Green Revolution in Iran in 2009 when they were being slaughtered by the Mullahs?
And now again Obama does nothing to help the Syrians being slaughtered by Assad on a daily basis?
It's almost as if Obama is deliberately trying to prevent the Mullahs and their friend Assad from being toppled.
After all, Obama did give a high-five to Hugo Chavez when he met him and accepted his gift, and he has met with members of the Muslim Brotherhood. It might be that little Hussein Obama is secretly rooting for the other side...
Is it so difficult to imagine that the son of a Muslim from Kenya, raised in Indonesia (as a Muslim) and surrounded by communists during his young adult life might hate America, and want to turn it into something else. Something a little more like the socialist utopia of Venezuela? I'm just asking questions.
Rev. Jeremiah Wright also said that he believes that Obama is really a Muslim. And he knew Obama for twenty years! So is Obama secretly a Muslim? Has he been hiding his true faith from the American people?
I'm just asking...
WMG21 -Read-
U.S. military experts were stunned by the destruction that Hezbollah forces,
using sophisticated antitank guided missiles, were able to wreak on Israeli
armor columns. Unlike the guerrilla forces in Iraq and Afghanistan, who employed
mostly hit-and-run tactics, the Hezbollah fighters held their ground against
Israeli forces in battles that stretched as long as 12 hours. They were able to
eavesdrop on Israeli communications and even struck an Israeli ship with a
cruise missile.
"From 2000 to 2006 Hezbollah embraced a new doctrine, transforming itself
from a predominantly guerrilla force into a quasi-conventional fighting force,"
a study by the Army's Combat Studies Institute concluded last year. Another
Pentagon report warned that Hezbollah forces were "extremely well trained,
especially in the uses of antitank weapons and rockets" and added: "They well
understood the vulnerabilities of Israeli armor."
Many top Army officials refer to the short battle almost as a morality play
that illustrates the price of focusing too much on counterinsurgency wars at the
expense of conventional combat. These officers note that, before the Lebanon
war, Israeli forces had been heavily involved in occupation duty in the
Palestinian territories.
My words - The IDF were burning in their own tanks. The ones who were not killed, fled back to Israel like whipped dogs. The Israelis were used to dealing with women and children in Palestine. They didn't know how to fight against a trained militia, despite having a huge advantage in numbers and weapons. The idea that the IDF is an elite combat force is a myth. Israel's only strength is the planes and equipment received from the US. Israel had been planning the attack on Lebanon for months or even years and they still lost.
True, they killed many more Lebanese, but they were mostly civilians. Hezbollah killed around 160 Israeli soldiers and about 40 Israeli civilians. The first part of the post comes from the Washington Post. You will never see Israelis in Iraq or any other place where they do not have a huge advantage. They are cowards, who prey on the weak.
Ralph, dude...
During the entire conflict, Hezbollah only managed to destroy 5 tanks. So much for "burning in their own tanks." And they didn't "flee" to Israel. The UN brokered a ceasefire that both Israel and Lebanon agreed to. Lebanon put Hezbollah in their place and Israel drew down their troops, but left a garrison force on the Lebanese side of the border at Ghajar. Again, you're lack of credibility on recent historical events is astounding. This stuff is all over.
Ralph, Please Hezbollah, and Hamas, hide behind Women & children, and their mother's apron's. Where is your boy Nesralla, hiding in some gutter. Ralph, go enjoy Ramadan.
What we need to do is mine our own business. OBAMA 2012
I will never understand why people think the US's main foreign policy goal should be to police other parts of the world.
You ask why obama hasn't done more to stop assad? Why should he?! Since when is it our duty to go and help every rebelling part of the world?? Our efforts are better spent repairing our own nation.
If we get involved it should be because the UN voted on it, not obama (or any US politician for that matter), as that is the UN's job.
How ironic Iran. The shoe is on the other foot. Iranian Islamic Republic government sanctioned the holding of the Americans embassy hostages for over a year. Then there was the hilkers who crossed an unmarked border. Now their citizens are being held. My first response is that the they should be held for a year or two before release. My second response is the one I truely believe, that hostage taking is the most deplorable act possible, and it highlights the behavior of the rebels in the Syrian revolution.
I don't like dictators, I don't like seeing dead civilians in the streets, nor soldiers in tanks. But sending weapons to the rebels will not stop the killing in Syria. A new Islamist government in Syria may prove worse than the Baath party. If the rebels are willing to take hostages of pilgrims, I can only imagine the revenge killings of the former conformists once in power. Get ready for a blood bath either way.
Perhaps, but can't we at least see Assad killed?
Hummmmmmmmmmm ... Aren't these (the Iranians) the same people that held 52 Americans "hostage" for 444 day in 1979?
The so called 'revenge killings' are already well underway. Look at the executions, with hands bound behind their backs, that these "rebels" (read Islamic terrorists) are already effecting against anyone that does not agree with their perspectives.
Iranians have become biggest jokers who can brag before women, unarmed minorities and so on.
A nation, which brags about missiles and development of nukes, should act better. May be mad Aytotallah and his men are in some 10th century desert imagining.
On the second part, my comments are (I have been posting them now and then).
Followers of Islamic cult, especially Sunni Saudi inspired Islamic radicals and militants (al-Qaida, Salaffi, Wahhabi, MB and other label ones), are fast marching backwards to their seventh century desert tribal days.
They are indulging in rapings, lootings, killings and genocides of non-Muslims (Darfur, S. Sudan, Nigeria and spreading like wild fire in many regions and Muslims (Mali, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other places.
Sunni Saudi backed Salaffi and MB new chapters are opening up in Egypt. Just watch the fate of Christians, women and Israel as the time goes by.
Even in Syria, if Assad is overthrown by Sunni Islamic religious Nazis like al-Qaida, MB, the conditions of Christians will be unbearable just like Iraq.
Are we not committing hara-kiri by supporting our enemies and killers?
WMG21-These are the Israeli losses. They lost a loty more than 5 tanks. Notice that Hezbollah killed IDF, while the IDF killed Lebanese civilians, well over 1000. The Israelis are pigs.
[edit] United Nations
Main article: Attacks on United Nations personnel during the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict
UN personnel were subjected to dozens of attacks and near misses from both sides during the present conflict, most prominently the 25 July Israeli bombing of a UNTSO position,[58] which killed four UNTSO unarmed observers (Austrian, Canadian, Chinese and Finnish).[59] Diplomats familiar with the probe say that the strike was carried out with a precision-guided missile.[58]
Secretary-General Kofi Annan said in a statement from Rome that he was " ... shocked and deeply distressed by the apparently deliberate targeting by Israeli Defence Forces."[60] On 26 July 2006, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert phoned Kofi Annan and expressed his deep regret over the death of the four UN observers. He promised that Israel would thoroughly investigate the incident and would share the findings with Annan, but says he was taken aback by secretary general’s statement saying that the Israeli attack on the UN post was "apparently deliberate".[61]
After the attack, Dan Gillerman, Israel's UN representative, said Israel would not allow the UN itself to participate in an investigation of the airstrike that killed the four UN observers.[62]
Just before the end of bombing, on 14 August, the IDF targeted what it said was a Palestinian faction in the Ein el-Hilweh refugee camp in Saida. Two missiles were fired into a civilian residential area and killed UNRWA/UN staff member Abdel Saghir[3]. Few days before two civilians were killed.
@Ralph. Since you apparently need help with reading comprehension and critical thinking skills, my statement at 1.19 was in direct reference to this statement by you:
Ahem.
So your assertions about Israel fleeing to the border "like whipped dogs" is functionally incoherent. By all counts, the conflict was a resounding success for the IDF. You can try and spin it all you want, but anyone with any current events knowledge knows that your bias is motivated by discriminatory tendencies, not on any objective review of the history.
Someone should help Iran's Super-Supreme minus anchovies Leader by sticking a nuke up his ass.
If things continue as they are, sectarian violence is going to consume the entire middle east. Sunni vs Shiite appears to be going on in just about all of these Muslim countries. It is unfortunate that mankind is so stupid as to blindly follow religious leaders that tell them to kill and maim each other.
Who helped us when Iran took our students hostage in Tehran in 1979 ?
Switzerland's Embassy and they still act as intermediaries for "discussions" between US & Iran
The Canadians also helped the US. The Canadians hid and got 6 US diplomats out of Iran on Canadian passports. The Canadian Parliament met in a rare secret session to pass a law authorizing granting the passports to the Americans.
Only fools would climb on a bus and go to Damascus with a civil war raging. The mullahs should provide better counsel to their crazed followers.
Who will give consels to Sunni and Shiites mullahs?
Sunnis ones need an army of counselors, who have studied Islam from seventh century.
Shiites need a battalion, who have studied Islam from 10th century!
Of course: no women please!
Since when does people make pilgrimages into war zones?
People of all religions who are strong in their faith have no problem going into warzones for praying or missionary work.
Except that these "pilgrims" have already been reported as being Revolutionary Guard members. Pilgrims my ass.
Most of us for the past 11 years have been paying a lot of attention to the middle-east and learning about it. One thing for sure most folks should've learned by now is that riding on a bus anywhere in the middle-east is just plain stupid.
Right up there with walking on the street or going to the market and/or giving birth to children. Their religion, virtually guarantees their life expectancy to be very, very short.
Does mom and dad yell 'god is great', as their children's body parts are being spread over a wide area of the local market when their fellow mosque mate yells 'god is great' as he detonates his suicide vest?
It is the Mullahs that encourage their flocks to go out and blow themselves up, they don't care about transportation issues.
Hey Mackamood Shrimper Ackmadinajad, pound sand. Perhaps one of oh so elusive virgins can help you out here.
I feel bad for Iran but why would anyone go into Syria with all the trouble that is going on. It reminds me of the 3 hitch hikers that were caught in Iran for illegally entering. How is anyone going to be able to keep these kidnapped people alive with what’s happening. This story will be fun to see what happens next.
they were 'hikers' James, not 'hitch hikers'
Were there any women and children on this "pilgrimage," or just operatives?
haber, üç çağrışıma/değerlendirmeye yol açıyor...
birincisi, komşu ülkelerin medyasına yansıyan bazı haberlerde, iran askerlerinin (iran'daki askeri yapılanmanın çeşitliliği burada hatırlanmalıdır; düzenli ordu, devrim muhafızları, milisler/besiçler, vb.) esad güçlerinin yanında muhaliflere/isyancılara karşı savaştığı belirtilmektedir. bu yöndeki haberlere bakınca, kaçırılan iranlı hacıların şiiler tarafından kutsal sayılan yerleri ziyaret eden kişiler değil de, esad'a yardım için gelen iranlılar olabileceği akla gelmektedir.
ikincisi, kaçırılan iranlı hacıların kurtarılması için tahran'dan gelen yardım talebine türkiye'den ve katar'dan olumlu cevap gelmesi ve bu iki ülkenin isyancılar nezdinde girişimde bulunmayı kabul etmesi, bir taraftan suriye konusundaki tansiyonun düşmesine hizmet edebileceği, diğer taraftan da türkiye ile katar'ın isyancılar ile olan ilişkisine karine teşkil edip ileride aleyhte kullanılabileceğidir.
üçüncüsü de, geçtiğimiz cuma günü (03 ağustos 2012) bm genel kurulu'nda yapılan oylamada ciddi bir oy çokluğu ile çıkan kararın, suriye konusunda yeni bir girişimi başlatabileceği yolundaki görüşe iştirak edildiğidir. annan görevi bırakmıştır ve suriye'de gelinen nokta, bugün itibarıyla, sorunun görünen ve görünmeyen iç ve dış paydaşlarının tahammül edilebileceği ve bunların hepsinin çıkarlarına hizmet edebileceği bir tablo olarak düşünülmektedir. mevcut tablonun ağırlaşması, tarafların duruşunun kemikleşmesine, dışa kapalı olmalarına ve suriye kaynaklı riskin giderek büyümesine yol açacaktır. belirtilen nedenlerden dolayı, bağlayıcılığı olmayan bir karar olmasına rağmen, bm genel kurulundaki oylamadan çıkan sonuç, suriye konusunda yeni bir girişimi başlatabilir. iranlı hacıların kurtarılması konusunda tahran'dan gelen yardım isteğine türkiye'nin ve katar'ın olumlu cevap vermesi, bu tür bir girişimi kolaylaştıracaktır. hatta abd dışişleri bakanı hilary clinton'ın planlandığı ifade edilen 11 ağustos 2012 tarihli türkiye ziyareti de, bu yeni girişim ihtimali bağlamında görülebilir veya ziyaretin, bu ihtimalin gündeme alınmasına neden olabileceği ileri sürülebilir.
osmetoz/ascmer, 05 ağustos 2012, www.ascmer.org
These hostages are a bunch of Iranian Revolutionary Guards. What religious pilgrims venture into a hot war zone?
Dannyo,
"What religious pilgrims venture into a hot war zone?"
That's a good question, and you may be right, but it is Ramadan now, the time of pilgrimage, and apparently there is a shrine in Syria that is sacred to the Iranian Shiite Muslims. So it may be a legitimate pilgrimage, too.
Mickey, you could have a point regarding Ramadan, but these Iranians probably being Shi'a would have to know that wondering among all of these Sunni "Free Syrians" would put targets on their backs, so are they brave, stupid or on official business? Since this has become an international incident, I guess that we will find out.
Dannyo,
"Since this has become an international incident, I guess that we will find out."
Good points. Hopefully we will find out.
A twin of Egypt’s
Morsi will be elected in Syria; the military will remain to protect the old
ruling class. Assad will meet a similar fate as Mubarak. The Sunni majority will
get thousands of new jobs building Mosques. The Wahhabi and Salafi-jihad will
be ended.
New jobs Bldg Mosquuuezz, >>> BUT will be paid for byyyyy OBEE k' NOBEE. After all HE has reddy spent nigh unto a BILLION US doellarzz all over asia & africa doing so!!! NO JOKE either!
OOoooooh fer shore ,,,,,, just re-elcttttt him if yu wanna be helping the "TERRORISTZZ rebuild sum -mo of them again.
hey just shoot some of those new missles at the bus oh i forgot these pilgrims are really your quds force helping assad go take a hike
1) Most of the middle east is a war zone. How is Syria any different. 2) For many in Iran that perform the Hajj, the trip goes through Syria (or Iraq for some). 3) Don't Americans have a heart anymore? These are people. Most have nothing to do with the political animosity between our countries. Should we blame an entire population for the actions of the government? Should all Americans be blamed for the atrocities in Abu Ghraib/Guantanamo?
Keep in mind that, it was Americans, who put a stop to the atrocities effected by other Americans in these incidents.
So, just who does Iran expect will have enough sympathy for their pilgrims -- who chose to go into a war zone willingly on vacation and were kidnapped? I would imagine the Syrian rebels have already figured out that the Iranians they kidnapped were not pilgrims at all but Iranian spies sent in to see what kinds of intelligence they could send back to Tehran on the rebel's efforts to overthrow Assad. Iran does not seem to have a clear picture of what the world situation currently is and still thinks everyone is swallowing their propaganda. Russia is sending military ships to Syria. Let them help the Iranians.
Seriously? Do kidnapped pilgrims to Jerusalem not deserve our concern? Do kidnapped civilians in Iraq not deserve sympathy? Do kidnapped tourists in Mexico, Bolivia, Brazil, Italy, Turkey, China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Korea, Egypt not deserve concern and sympathy from all people in the world that believe in the rule of law? Are these people less human than ourselves? There is enough hate and animosity in the world already. Do we also need to direct ill will toward all victims of kidnappings because they are not Americans? Didn't we just fight two wars supposedly to defend innocent people from the terror being directed at those who are defenseless? If we do not stand up for and speak out for those who have been victimized by terror then what do we stand up for?
Seriously, do pilgrims travel to a war zone? This conflict has been going on for over a year. No, it is very unlikely that these were pilgrims. It is far more likely that these were Iranian fighters or Revolutionary Guards. If these people were in fact pilgrims, their traveling to Syria was beyond insane. In either case, I have no sympathy. I reserve that for people who through no fault of their own get into trouble.
Had Jimmy Carter done what he should have done...Iran would not be the problem it is today.
and what should Jimmy Carter have done?
He should have done what Ronald Reagan did. "If those hostages have not been released by the time I take the oath of office, we'll light you up."
Ronald eagan was a phoney. He made a deal with Iran NOT to release the hostages, until after he became president.The hostages would have been released during Carter's presidency, if not for Reagan.
Iran had evey right to be angry with the US. After al, it was the US that had their democratically elected leader killed, so we could install he Shah. The Shah had his secret police trained by the Mossad, who then terrorized the people of Iran.
The US was the bad guy in the whole scheme of things. We think nothing of killing another country's leaders, so our oil companies can prosper, while the citizens of the affected country suffer at the hands of our installed puppet.
In Iraq, the puppet was supposed to be Chalabi, who would pemit the building of a 42" oil pipeline from Iraq to Haifa in Israel. The pipeline would have enabled Israel to control the flow of oil to all of Europe, making Israel rich beyond their wildest dreams. Alas, Chalabi was a phoney and he couldn't keep his end of the bargain.
Once the Pentagon's choice to lead the "new" Iraq, Chalabi
promised to reopen an old British-built pipeline from Kirkuk in northern Iraq
to the Israeli port of Haifa. The plan impressed Richard Perle, Douglas Feith
and other conservatives influencing Bush administration policy toward Iraq in
the lead-up to last year's war.
The idea also drew enthusiastic response from Israel.
"The pipeline would be a dream," Yosef Paritzky, Israel's minister
of infrastructures, said as reported by Salon.com. "We'd have an
additional source of supply, and could even export some of the crude through
Haifa. But we'd need a treaty with Iraq . . . to build the pipeline."
Once Chalabi assumed a position of influence in the new Iraqi government,
Israel would get its treaty, the neoconservatives were assured. This was a major reason for the Iraq war, which will cost the US an estimated 3.5 trillion dollars and the lives of our young men. Zionists have no problem sending Americans to die for Israeli interests.
http://www.jweekly.com/article/full/19725/iraq-to-haifa-oil-pipeline-could-spur-economic-rebirth/
Some proof would be in order. "Everybody knows it" or "Look at what he did in Iran-Contra" doesn't count as evidence.
I would not wish this on any innocent people, but I wonder how Iran would feel if those innocent hostages, which have done absolutely nothing and are not responsible for the actions of their government, were killed in the name of making some sort of protest against their country, much like extremists have done to our citizens. Perhaps then they would gain a different perspective regarding these kind of cowardly actions.
They play by different rules in Islam. If a bus full of Christian pilgrims attempted to pass through Iran or Saudi Arabia on their way to Jerusalem, would we be having this discussion?
These people went on a "Pilgrims quest" to the heart of the fighting? No Freaking way is this this the truth! Those Muslims had an agenda and you bet as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow it was for no good, and with Obama's blessing.
The Muslims are using every tactics they can to make sure the Muslims will be in control of Syria, and again it is with Obama's blessing.
We and by we, I mean Obama and the socialist liberal Democrats stuck our noses in a civil war where we did not belong.
They will not rest until the Muslims are in control of Syria, and when is all said and done it will be another hard line Muslim country that will be laughing all the way to the bank with our tax money and spitting us in the face.
The regime will kill anyone who supported the current regime and the blood shed of thousands, maybe even millions will be on Obama's already dirty hands.
The beheading video's will soon be posted on the militant web sites.
Poor little dears. ;)
Iran has every right to intervene now that that its citizens are captured. Bahrain asked the Saudi's to intervene in their civil war and the Saudi's crushed all protests so severely that people were afraid to even protest. This Shows how much more abusive the Bahraini government was than the Syrian government. In fact, in Bahrain there were zero imported fighters or foreign agents and yet these protesters were crushed by the Saudi military.
Iran needs to intervene in Syria since all the Western powers want to do is prolong the agony. When these fighters that the Saudis have funded turn against the House of Saud and Jordan's monarchy, we will see how smart the U.S. thinks it is then. The U.S. has opened up a can of worms that in the end will prove to have disastrous consequences for it.
Hopefully they will hang on to the hostages as long as the iranians held the American hostages in 1979.
One little detail that NBC overlooked. The rebels claim that those "pilgrims" were Revolutionary Guard members, the armed enforcers of the Islamic dictatorship in Iran. The rebels may be lying but it certainly casts doubt on your claim that they were "pilgrims."
The other rebel groups has dismissed the rebels' claims so it's safe to say that they are lying.
I think YOU'RE lying ya waste of skin .