Ken

It looks like the Gulf States are arming the Syrian Rebels.

Gulf States Are Arming Syrian Rebels

More and better weaponry is being funneled to Syrian rebels by neighboring Persian Gulf states, which much of the support effort being organized by U.S. officials. The State Department insists that the United States is not paying for or supplying any weapons to the conflict, but admitted to The Washington Post that it is providing "non-lethal assistance" to the opposition forces, in the form of information sharing and coordination between the rebels and other nations in the region. 

The decision by other Gulf countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar to re-arm the rebel forces, is being seen both as an attempt to eliminate Syrian President Bashar al-Assad (and his Iranian allies) as a regional threat and as a not-so-subtle admission that a diplomatic solution is no longer an option

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full article

www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2012/05/g...

Our friends the Iranians, ever helpful.

Exclusive - Iran flouts UN sanctions, sends arms to Syria - panel
. . .
(Reuters) - Syria remains the top destination for Iranian arms shipments in violation of a U.N. Security Council ban on weapons exports by the Islamic Republic, according to a confidential report on Iran sanctions-busting seen by Reuters on Wednesday.

Iran, like Russia, is one of Syria's few allies as it presses ahead with a 14-month old assault on opposition forces determined to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
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"Iran has continued to defy the international community through illegal arms shipments," it stated. "Two of these cases involved (Syria), as were the majority of cases inspected by the Panel during its previous mandate, underscoring that Syria continues to be the central party to illicit Iranian arms transfers."

The third shipment involved rockets that Britain said last year were headed for Taliban fighters in Afghanistan.

"The Panel recommends the designation (blacklisting) of two entities related to these interdictions," it said. "The report also takes note of information concerning arms shipments by Iran to other destinations."
. . .
Turning to Iran's ballistic missile program, the report said it "continues to develop with additional launches, which are prohibited under resolution 1929," adopted in June 2010.

"The Panel takes note of the recent designations (U.N. Security Council blacklisting) ... of two (North Korean) entities and their links to Iran's ballistic missile program."

The two North Korean companies linked to Iran's missile program are the Green Pine Associated Corp and the Korea Heungjin Trading Company. The council's North Korea sanctions committee blacklisted them on May 2.

full article:
uk.reuters.com/article/2012/05/16/uk-ira...

"Assad denies that there is a popular will behind the country’s uprising, saying foreign extremists are driving the unrest to destroy the country."

Assad is right.

We've seen it all before. 

And the beat goes on, and the trouble spreads but the "humanitarians" stay silent as more and more Arabs bleed and as Syria and Lebanon and . . . edge closer into chaos.

There has got to be a way out of this mess before it gets really out of hand.

Lebanon sucked into Syria conflict as citizens choose sides: analysts

BEIRUT, Lebanon — Lebanon has fallen hostage to the conflict in neighbouring Syria following deadly sectarian clashes between the country’s pro- and anti-Damascus camps, experts say.

“These incidents were a clear message that Lebanon could explode at any time,” said Ghassan al-Azzi, political science professor at Lebanese University.

“The country, which is divided between pro- and anti-Syrian camps, has become hostage to the crisis” he added.
. . .

For its part, the United Nations has said it has information that arms are being smuggled in both directions between Lebanon and Syria.

Last month, Lebanese authorities seized a large consignment of Libyan weapons from a boat caught off the coast of Tripoli.
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The Shiite militant group Hezbollah, which plays a key role in the Lebanese government and is allied with Damascus, has stayed clear of the escalating tension over the Syria crisis.

But on Tuesday, the party found itself forcibly drawn into the conflict after a group of Shiite Lebanese were reportedly kidnapped by rebels in northern Syria as they were heading home following a pilgrimage in Iran.
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Azzi said the recent violence linked to Syria was but a foretaste of what could be in store.

“For now, the incidents we witnessed were merely tremors,” he said. “After that, we could witness strong quakes.”

full article:
news.nationalpost.com/2012/05/22/lebanon...