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Subscribe to RSSU.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton speaks from Istanbul, Turkey, about the increasingly dire humanitarian situation in Syria.
ALEPPO, Syria -- The United States and Turkey indicated on Saturday they might impose no-fly zones in Syria as battles between rebels and President Bashar al-Assad's forces shook Aleppo and fighting erupted in the heart of Damascus.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said after meeting her Turkish counterpart Ahmet Davutoglu in Istanbul that Washington and Ankara should develop detailed operational planning on ways to assist the rebels fighting to topple Assad.
"Our intelligence services, our military have very important responsibilities and roles to play so we are going to be setting up a working group to do exactly that," she said.
She also said the U.S. would contribute another $5 million to the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and $500,000 to the International Organization for Migration to support displaced Syrians inside Turkey.
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Asked about options such as imposing a no-fly zone over rebel-held territory, Clinton said these were possibilities she and Davutoglu had agreed "need greater in-depth analysis", while indicating that no decisions were necessarily imminent.
"It is one thing to talk about all kinds of potential actions, but you cannot make reasoned decisions without doing intense analysis and operational planning," she said.
AFP - Getty Images
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, left, Turkey's President Abdullah Gul and Turkey's Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu chat Saturday before a meeting at the Tarabiya Palace in Istanbul.
"We share not only the frustration but the anger and outrage of the Syrian people at what this regime continues to do. But we also are well aware that his brutality seems to know no bounds and there is no doubt in the minds of the minister or myself that anything we do should be to hasten and lessen bloodshed, not to catalyze even greater and more horrible kinds of assaults," Clinton said.
Her remarks were the closest Washington has come to suggesting direct military intervention in Syria.
No-fly zones imposed by NATO and Arab allies helped Libyan rebels overthrow Moammar Gadhafi last year. Until recently, the West had shunned the idea of repeating any Libya-style action.
Saudi Arabia and Qatar are believed to be arming Syrian rebels, while the United States and Britain have pledged to step up non-lethal assistance to Assad's opponents.
Davutoglu said it was time outside powers took decisive steps to resolve the humanitarian crisis in cities such as Aleppo, where Assad's forces have fought rebels for three weeks.
Jets, tanks in action
In the latest battles, tanks and troops pummeled rebels near the shattered district of Salaheddine, a former opposition stronghold that commands the main southern approach to Aleppo.
Tank fire crashed into the adjacent Saif al-Dawla neighborhood as military jets circled over an abandoned police station held by rebels, firing missiles every few minutes.
Insurgents said they had been forced to retreat in the latest twist in relentless, see-saw battles for Salaheddine, part of a swathe of Aleppo seized by rebels last month.
Some rebels, outgunned and low on ammunition in Aleppo, have pleaded for outside military help, arguing that more weapons and a no-fly zone over areas they control near the Turkish border would give them a secure base against Assad's forces.
NBC News
People resisting the army of President Bashar al-Assad in northern Syria cope with loss and prepare for fighting.
"The reason we retreated from Salaheddine this week is a lack of weapons," complained Abu Thadet, a rebel commander in Aleppo who said his fighters would regroup and fight back. "We can handle the bombing. It's the snipers that make it hard."
Ten of the 30 fighters in his brigade have been wounded, mostly by snipers lurking even in areas rebels claim to control. His men have broken holes in walls of buildings to try to create safe passages for them to move around in Salaheddine.
In Damascus, where Assad's forces have regained control of districts overrun by rebels last month, a resident reported an explosion near the Central Bank, followed by gunfire.
UN chief: 'There will be no winner in Syria'
"The explosion was huge. There has been fighting for the past half-hour along Pakistan Street. I am very close. Can you hear that?" she told Reuters, a bang audible over the telephone.
Syrian state TV said authorities were hunting "terrorists" who had set off a bomb in Merjeh, an area near the central bank, and who were "shooting at random to spark panic among citizens".
Despite their superior firepower, Assad's forces have been stretched by months of warfare against increasingly skilled and organized fighters who have taken them on in every city and in many parts of the countryside at one time or another.
Germany's spy chief said the Syrian army had been depleted by casualties, deserters and defectors.
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"There are a lot of indications that the end game for the regime has begun," said Gerhard Schindler, head of the BND intelligence agency, in an interview with Die Welt newspaper.
"The regular army is being confronted by a variety of flexible fighters. The recipe of their success is their guerrilla tactics. They're breaking the army's back."
Jordanian and Syrian forces clashed along the border overnight when Syrian refugees tried to cross into Jordan, a Syrian opposition activist who witnessed the fighting said.
He said armored vehicles were involved in the clash in the Tel Shihab-Turra area, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Jordan's capital, Amman. No deaths were reported on the Jordanian side.
Thousands of Syrians have fled into Jordan, but tensions heightened after Assad's newly installed prime minister, Riad Hijab, defected and escaped across the border this week.
This article includes reporting by Reuters.
Most of the people living in the towns near Syria's largest city have fled, and those without money to leave were killed, rebels say. The Syrian troops have created a no-man's land, reportedly so that rebels can't re-supply the fighters inside. NBC's Richard Engel reports.
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Recent past experience shows that Syria needs a no fly zone aimed at preventing hostile foreign aircraft from violating its airspace with the intent of aiding the terrorists currently fighting the legitimate government. Perhaps Russia, China, and Iran would be willing to supply more anti-aircraft missile systems, and technicians to man them.
It would certainly be nice if our gutless administration finally did something about the Syrian situation. Thus far they have had little choice but to accept help from Al-Aqaeda.
In the US civil war there was 30 million people and over 600,000 people died; this represented 2% of the overall population. In Syria there are 20 million and there has been only 15,000 dead. For the carnage to reach US Civil war proportions there would have to be over 400,000 dead. But while Lincoln is worshiped, Assad is reviled for killing only about 2% of the number Lincoln killed.
So, where does the US suddenly get off telling Syria it must surrender and hand the nation over to foreign exported jihadists sent to destroy Syria?
If the US and Turkey create no-fly zones Syria needs to ask Russia to establish a no-no-fly zone and start knocking planes out of the sky left and right. It also needs to invite Iran and Hezbollah to exterminate the cockroaches sent from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to infest Syria. Then the war will end when these al Qaeda terrorists scum find out they are facing real fighting units like Hezbollah.
Joseph Zrnchik, MAJ (Retired)
I wonder if this a pre-play for an intervention in Syria. Sometimes creating or having a threat of war, voters don't want to change Presidents believing steady as it goes is better, having a new person who is inexperienced and has to learn international politics is no good, and change in time of war is not preferred. Let's see what happens.....
The longer we are playing in the sand box the more we piss them off and increase the risk of attacks on Americans with nothing gained. How many marines do we have to see each and everyday killed by a bunch of gay non-pig eating phedolphiles.
Israeli War of Independence/ "al-Nakba" (The Disaster) (1948-1949)--Upon independence, Israel was invaded by the armies of six Arab nations: Egypt, Syria, Transjordan (later Jordan), Lebanon, Iraq and Saudi Arabia. In addition, local Arab Palestinian forces also fought the Jewish Israelis. Israel held off the Arab forces and established itself as an independent nation. From the start of this war, Syria and Israel have been engaged in one continuous legal state of war. While technically at war this whole time, in reality, their conflict has been punctuated by several major (though short), wars and numerous cross-border attacks and air battles.
The situation is urgent in the Arab States because Assad's forces are crushing the al Qaeda invaders and now the Kurds stand to bring Erdogan's political career to an end in Turkey.
The reality of Syria is that the US lies and everybody pretends like it is the truth.
As a retired officer I want to know why the US is supporting al Qaeda scum? Did any Iranians or Syrians attack us on 9/11? No, it was a Saudi supported bin Laden and his jihadist militants we are now supporting who attacked us and sent us on a decade long Gloabl War on Terror. This shows the GWOT is just a farse.
In the US civil war there was 30 million people and over 600,000 people died; this represented 2% of the overall population. In Syria there are 20 million and there has been only 15,000 dead. For the carnage to reach US Civil war proportions there would have to be over 400,000 dead. But while Lincoln is worshiped, Assad is reviled for killing only about 2% of the number Lincoln killed.
So, where does the US suddenly get off telling Syria it must surrender and hand the nation over to foreign exported jihadists from Sauid Arabia sent to destroy Syria?
If the US and Turkey create no-fly zones Syria needs to ask Russia to establish a no-no-fly zone and start knocking planes out of the sky left and right. It also needs to invite Iran and Hezbollah to exterminate the cockroaches sent from Saudi Arabia and Bahrain to infest Syria. Then the war will end when these al Qaeda terrorists scum find out they are facing real fighting units like Hezbollah.
Turkey will have enough problems after unleashing Kurdish discontent. If Syrian Shiites deserve a country, then why not the Kurds? Why is Turkey so hypocritical about worrying about Syrian Shiites while his country committed genocide against Armenians and mass slaughter against Kurds?
Also, if Saudi Arabia and Bahrain are so worried about rights and democracy, maybe they should stop slaughtering the Shiites they refuse to grant any rights to and allow them a political voice.
Joseph Zrnchik
MAJ, Army (Ret.)
I bet everytime Hillary sees Bill she tells him that if he had been using the head above the desk instead of the head below the desk she would not have to be dealing with all these terrorists. She needs to slow down, get to a beauty parlor and get that hair done.
Hillary is putrid and she makes a mockery of every Muslim male. Why do these Arabs deal with her? Oh, I forgot, all the Arab governments are as corrupt as she is.
I say let's give the Syrian freedom fighters some Huey UH-1 helicopters armed with Sidewinder missiles, and let them operate their own "no fly" zone. - RC
(Helicopters armed with Sidewinders in the hands of Syrian freedom fighters are the perfect solution to me. This will enable them to fly below radar and take out anything in the skies.) - RC
(Heck, let's even give them a stealth paint job while we are at it.) - RC
(Wait until forward observers radio you the word, then pop up, lock on and fire, and then drop back down into the tree line.) - RC
(If they try to come after you, they will lower the countermeasure response time to fractions of a second.) - RC
(This is why I was on the top U.S. Special Forces "Go Team" at Ft. Bragg, N.C. back in 1972. Trust me, it is still TOTALLY relevant today! I was trained to fight WWIII behind enemy lines in eastern Europe.) - RC
Right Rick while we are at it can we give Pussy Riot a few of those Huey UH-1 helicopters armed with Sidewinder missiles and while we are at it let's give the Falun Gong supporters in China some of the same weapons!
How long before they give US back one of our Sidewinders?
Syria is a SERIOUS situation and World War III is just a "shot" away and just because "We" claim We are the Only Super Power does NOT made it true and I don't want my Grandchildren to get hit with any BRICS for some Wacko "EX" anything......I got enough issues with EX's!
We've always been at WAR with EastAsia.....Winston!
And I for one refuse to eat "Their "Soylent Green" nor willing give up Our "Freedoms" for the "Privilege" and "Safety" of living their new UN "Gray State"!
Let's face facts Folks these "Psycho Killers" trained by our military only know how to do one thing Kill People" and they don't care about the "Blow Back" or the consequences as Afghanistan as shown so well once again!
As the old saying goes if all you have is a Hammer then everything looks like a "Nail"!
No More "Not Wars" for "Their" Military Industrial Corporations "Fun & Profit"!
Just Remember to say "No" in November to Re-Electing ANY of Transnational Sponsored & Corrupted Political Minions not even Bumbling Barry!
((Go, A-Team 132 !!! Thanks for everything, Capt. Hayworth!)) - RC
(Our A-Team won the very first SF Winter Olympics, which Jean Claude Killy (briefly) attended. I made the final winning run down the slope (oh, God, it was fast becoming total slush!)) - RC
(I had a little extra incentive. I dodged an A-15 at the same time. Bad boy, bad boy, but it really went with the job!) - RC
(You should have seen me pumping those sticks!) - RC
How Ironic, A NO FLY ZONE enforced by a country named TURKEY!
No FLY ZONE yes if the UN, Russian and China both say it is ok. Oh and Remember Bashar al-Assad said he would use WMD if attacked and this would be an attack on him.
So think long and hard before trying to go without UN approval.
This has nothing to do with the US we should not be there unless were sending in a Hospital ship to Aid the wounded in Turkey.
Haggardly, if you wave your beak at the War Powers Act and international restrictions forbidding direct and unprovoked military action against other sovereign nations again like you did in Libya and send American planes over there unilaterally I hope the Russians send over S-300s and shoot every single one of them down and any Turkey sends up along with them.
Some horses just won't mind. Won't turn when you pull the reins until you ram a heart attack serious bit into their mouths and let self preservation ease their conundrum for them. Then they learn. Your mouth could do with such a bit. And not a moment too soon.
America needs to concern itself with the atrocities being suffered every day by Americans.