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Ahmed Jadallah / Reuters
Damage such as this, seen Friday in Aleppo, has been frequently blamed on Syrian fighter jets firing missiles at rebels. The military is now firing Scud missiles, as well, NATO says.
President Bashar Assad's military has fired more Scud missiles inside Syria, NATO officials said on Friday, more than a week after the Western alliance first detected such arms being used on rebel targets.
"I can confirm that we have detected the launch of Scud-type missiles. We strongly regret that act," NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said, calling the launches "acts of a desperate regime approaching collapse."
A NATO source said there had been multiple launches of Scud-type missiles inside Syria on Thursday morning.
The Syrian military has fired Scud missiles at rebel forces in the north from the Damascus suburbs. NBC's Jim Miklaszewski reports.
On Dec. 12, U.S. officials confirmed to NBC News' Jim Miklaszewski that the Assad government had been launching the missiles at rebel fighters in the north of the country. The officials said that as many as eight Scud missiles had been fired over several days from launchers in the suburbs surrounding Damascus at areas considered rebel strongholds. According to one official, the United States has tracked the Scuds by radar.
Rasmussen used the Scud launches to justify NATO's decision to dispatch Patriot anti-missile systems to NATO ally Turkey — a deployment criticized by Syria, Iran and Russia.
"The fact that such missiles are used in Syria emphasizes the need for effective defense protection of our ally Turkey," he told reporters after talks at NATO headquarters with Djibouti Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita.
"The recent launch of missiles has not hit Turkish territory, but of course there is a potential threat and this is exactly the reason why NATO allies decided to deploy Patriot missiles in Turkey, for a defensive purpose only," he said.
Reuters contributed to this report.
Muhammed Muheisen / AP
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Leave a Comment:
SCUD= Situations Can Undermine Dickheads.
Aimlessly lobbing them over the fence. Scuds can only be directed at a location but it's anybodies guess as to where it's going to land. Indiscriminately shooting them here and there. WTF man.
Even though America does go to war, at least we actually invented missiles that can be dropped within an inch of it's target so every single one counts. As terrible as it may sound, it actually "Humane".
Just like a 50lb. box of nails versus a pneumatic nail gun. The nail gun makes every single shot count.
The question is; what will it take for the world, and the Obama administration to wake up and do something to stop this insanity?
Do we really need to have another 40,000 people dead before the world decides to put a stop to this?
Do we really want to wait until there is a chemical attack with possibly thousands of deaths before we decide that enough is enough?
And perhaps we should also consider that if we allow tens of thousands more people to die in Syria, and allow chemical weapons to fall into the hands of terrorists, perhaps those weapons will eventually be used in cities in America or Europe?
Just a few things for our leaders to maybe think about when they come around to make their New Year's resolutions...
The U.S cant afford another war, doubt we will do much of anything but make threats. Maybe if NATO is feeling brave, they can intercept those Scuds with some Patriots?
You're right Duqu, killing people is America's job.........efficient and downplayed.
Duqu: Why people are not worrying about Iraq?
Iraq interventions/wars have left most unstable Iraq and at least a million dead!
Where is 40000 compared to at least a million dead in Iraq?
The whole hatingsand killings are due to extremist Sunni version invented, funded and exported by House of Saud and other Sunni rulers of Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and other Sunni Arab League rulers.
There was rebellion of Shiites against the despotic and highly corrupt Sunni ruler of Bahrain.
Brave Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwaiti, UAE and other Arab League nations sent their forces and just quelled the Shiites rebellion in no time.
All of a sudden, these seventh century fountainheads of Sunni Islamic haters and killers, remembered “human rights violations” in Syria.
So the Sunni rulers of Arab League sent “human rights” group to Syria.
The head of the Saudi and their Arab League observers to Syria was a Sudanese Gen. The brave Gen was responsible for the genocides of at least 300000 Christians in Darfur!
Still House of Saud ruler and his 5000 princes and princesses and other Sunni rulers seventh century desert dances and dramas did not work.
Later they outsourced their dirty work to Turkey.
You see: Turkey is a strategic NATO ally and too much of Turkey’s seventh century Islamist Erdogan’s dances mean US, Britain and other NATO forces members have to pitch in.
What a way to outsource their dirty jobs to NATO forces just like Iraqi wars to save Kuwaiti, Saudi and other “oil rich” rulers!!!
ARE NOT IRAQI WARS AND LIBYAN INTERVENTION ENOUGH?
those who will execute and replace Assad are not our friends. They are an even bigger enemy that the muslim brotherhood in Egypt. The civil war in Syria is almost 2 years old, over this time the native Syrian "rebels" became a minority within their force, other include the hardline wahabis/salafis from other countries (no difference from taliban. Same sunni salafis who were killing out troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.
You are two hundred percent right.
For a change can't we keep away from doing dirty jobs for Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and other Sunni Arab League naions? These oil rich Sunni rulers operate through oil companies and their lobbyists.
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.
These Sunni Islamic religious Nazis will be worse than Assad and co!
The same Sunni extremist hating and killing gangsters were involved in Benghazi attack.
Followers of Islamic cult, especially House of Saud and other Sunni ME rulers inspired and funded Sunni Islamic radicals and militants (al-Qaida, Salaffi, Wahhabi, MB, Taliban 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 (Libya, Yemen, Mali, Iraq, Syria, Pakistan, Afghanistan and other places).
In Egypt, the Sunni extremists with labels like Salaffi and MB (Muslim Blood hounds) are opening up new chapters of Islamic bigotry. Morsi is just a front for them.
Just watch the fate of Christians, women and Israel as the time goes by.
Pakis and Sunni rulers of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, UAE and other Sunni Arab League nations are responsible for 80 percent of world problems including economic ones. Examine the devastations with Iraqi wars and now sanctions on Iranian oil and the resultant oil price manipulations.
They are making the lives of their own people also miserable by their Islamic religious madness to the intolerable levels.
Are we not committing hara-kiri by supporting our enemies and killers?
I do feel bad for the people here.....but not sure who are these rebbels. they may be worse than assad
Make it a parking lot. The whole damn place.
At least permit them to kill each other.
Sunnis and Shiites are fighting on whose Allah is greater in Syria, Iran, Pakistan and other places.
What roles, we the mosted hated infidels, have in Syria and Iran?
"Rasmussen used the Scud launches to justify NATO's decision to dispatch Patriot anti-missile systems to NATO ally Turkey — a deployment criticized by Syria, Iran and Russia."
Syria and Iran are not our business.
Remove sanctions on Iranian oil to crash oil prices.
Before Iraqi wars we had similar false informations followed by dramas played all around by lobbyists of Saudi Arabia, oil companies, lobbyists and partisan media!
Most of them proved to be false and the situation in Iraq currently worse than before 1991.
Just like before each Iraqi wars, autocratic, highly corrupt and despotic bigoted Sunnis of versions belonging to Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwaiti and Sunni oil rich nations are stage managing their dances and actions through oil companies, extremist Jewish lobbys and their puppets in the US, Britain, EU and other nations on Syria and Iran.
In Syria, Syrian rebels are backed by a-Qaida and MB.
In Egypt, Islamic fundamentalist Morsi is a front cover for the Sunni Islamic extremist Salaffi, MB and others.
With sanctions on Iranian oil, oil prices which was around $40 in 2009 has crossed $110 now.
If Iraqi wars gave us PIIGS, there will more nations added to PIIGS.
IRAQ WARS
Net results of Saudi, Kuwait, UAE, oil companies and their lobbyists directed 1991 and 2003 Iraqi wars are
WINNERS
1. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, UAE and other rich ME sharks became richer by manipulating oil prices too high.
2. Oil companies and their lobbyists also benefitted. Oil prices, which were hardly $30 a barrel before 1991, shot up to $140 a barrel.
3. Since 2003, future traders, rating agencies, Wall Street and oil companies and their lobbyists transferred five trillion dollars from oil importing countries to oil exporting nations.
4. Rich Sunni ME sharks (Saudi Arabia in particular) funded Salaffi and Wahhabi mosques and Islamic radicals and terrorists all over the world. These Sunni Islamic radicals and terrorists are rampaging all over the world. World’s 80 percent of problems are due to them.
LOSERS
1. General US and European nations’ public. There have been high unemployment, cut in welfare measures, housing market collapse and more miseries. Since 2001, US spent three trillion dollars on Iraq and Afghan wars. Did the Saudis and co foot the bill?
2. Poor soldiers killed and injured and their families. In Iraq and Afghan wars 6300 soldiers were killed and 40000 injured.
3. High budget deficits and heavier borrowing. Many nations (PIIGS) and people are on line to bankruptcy!
4. Iraq will plunge into bloody sectarian civil wars leading to the creation of Shiastan, Sunnistan and Kurdistan. Here the losses are of Iraqis.
If President Bashar Assad gains control again, he will not have the love and hearts of his people after years of bloodshed. Syrian's soil runs red with Syrians blood at the hands of their Syrian leader. With Scud missiles showering down on them, buildings collapsing everywhere, people dying by the hundreds, suffering and pain felt by everyone all caused by their own leader, it will be very difficult for Assad to rule without protest and the threat of death. It is true that no one knows who will come to power if Assad is defeated or what type of leadership they will enact upon the Syrian people, but if the rebels concedes and surrenders to the Syrian army, there will probably a massive extermination of all those who served in the resistance. It will be very costly and take years to rebuild Syria. When countrymen decide to overthrow their leader/leaders they need to be organized with a plan and have a backup in case the original plan fails. It appears in this civil war, the rebels launched an attack with the idea Assad would surrender his position quickly and they would take over with minimal bloodshed. It is very sad to see so many innocent individuals suffering and dying. If Assad was violating his people's human rights and they were living under oppression it was right for them to lash out at and attempt to over throw their leader, but it would be worse if he was replaced with extreme radicals who would make his oppression and cruelty seem like child's play.