News

**DanfromtheHills**

No confirmation yet, looking now.

**DanfromtheHills**

ActivistPost is running the story...

http://www.activistpost.com/2011/12/brea...um=twitter

**DanfromtheHills**

Both the BBC and CNN have several stories about Syria on the front page...

**Nailer45**

mael Wrote:

Geesus! How many troops have you got? Your US soldiers are everywhere!

Where aren't they? They aren't in the US taking care of Americans for one.

about 4 Million total, that includes national guard

**DanfromtheHills**

Interesting to watch this spread. It's on PP and RedIce forums right now.

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 67489 12-12-2011 02:45 PM

Fierce clashes spread in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) -- Fierce clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors spread to new areas Monday after a major battle in the south raised new fears the 9-month-old conflict was spiraling toward civil war, activists said.

The uprising against President Bashar Assad has grown increasingly violent in recent months as defecting soldiers fight back against the army and once-peaceful protesters take up arms to protect themselves against the military assault.

The U.N. says more than 4,000 people have been killed since March. The revolt has raised concerns of a regional conflagration, given Syria's strategic role in the Middle East with alliances in Iran and with the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says new clashes between soldiers and defectors were reported Monday in the northwestern region of Idlib, and that fighting continued for a second day in the southern province of Daraa.

Also Monday, Syria's state media reported that voting started in scheduled municipal elections, but witnesses say turnout was low. The opposition does not consider the vote a legitimate concession by the regime because it coincides with the deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Since the uprising began, Assad has made several gestures of reform. But after nine months, the opposition is demanding nothing less than the downfall of the regime.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/M...TE=DEFAULT

**DanfromtheHills**

Major battle in Syria; shops shut by strike

By Khaled Yacoub Oweis

Mon Dec 12, 2011 2:40am EST

(Reuters) - "Syrian troops and army defectors have fought one of the biggest battles in Syria's nine-month uprising while a protest strike shut businesses in a new gesture of civil disobedience, residents and activists said.

Arab foreign ministers will meet on Saturday to discuss a response to Syria's conditional acceptance of an Arab peace plan aimed at ending its crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, Egypt's MENA news agency said, citing an Arab diplomat.

And in a major international development likely to raise Western pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, France's Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said Paris believed Syria was behind attacks that wounded French peacekeepers in neighbouring Lebanon on Friday.

In Sunday's fighting, Syrian troops mainly from the 12th Armoured Brigade based in Isra, 40 km (25 miles) from the southern border with Jordan, stormed the nearby town of Busra al-Harir.

A housewife in Busra, who did not want to be named, told Reuters by telephone that the town was being hit by machinegun fire from tanks. Her children were crying.

The sound of explosions and heavy machineguns was heard there and in Lujah, an area of rocky hills north of the town, where defectors from the army have been hiding and attacking military supply lines, residents and activists said.

"Lujah has been the safest area for defectors to hide because it is difficult for tanks and infantry to infiltrate. The region has caves and secret passageways and extends all the way to Damascus countryside," said an activist, who gave his name as Abu Omar.

Opposition activists said they had shut down much of the capital and other towns with a strike, the biggest walkout by workers since the protest movement demanding Assad's removal erupted in March.

Syria has barred most independent journalists, making it difficult to gauge the extent of participation in the strike. Official state media made no mention of it.

"For the first time we have seen business close in multiple districts in Damascus and spread to most of the suburbs and provinces. The aim is to reach civil disobedience that encompasses all sectors and forces the regime down," said Rima Fleihan, a member of the opposition Syrian National Council.

"The cost will be more human lives but I am afraid it is less costly than an armed uprising and the regime dragging the country into a Libya-type scenario, she said..."

Continued at link.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/12/1...F520111212

**DanfromtheHills**

LoP Guest Wrote:

Fierce clashes spread in Syria

BEIRUT (AP) -- Fierce clashes between Syrian troops and army defectors spread to new areas Monday after a major battle in the south raised new fears the 9-month-old conflict was spiraling toward civil war, activists said.

The uprising against President Bashar Assad has grown increasingly violent in recent months as defecting soldiers fight back against the army and once-peaceful protesters take up arms to protect themselves against the military assault.

The U.N. says more than 4,000 people have been killed since March. The revolt has raised concerns of a regional conflagration, given Syria's strategic role in the Middle East with alliances in Iran and with the Shiite militant group Hezbollah in Lebanon.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says new clashes between soldiers and defectors were reported Monday in the northwestern region of Idlib, and that fighting continued for a second day in the southern province of Daraa.

Also Monday, Syria's state media reported that voting started in scheduled municipal elections, but witnesses say turnout was low. The opposition does not consider the vote a legitimate concession by the regime because it coincides with the deadly crackdown on anti-government protesters.

Since the uprising began, Assad has made several gestures of reform. But after nine months, the opposition is demanding nothing less than the downfall of the regime.

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/M/M...TE=DEFAULT

And, of course...

Syria denies links to attack on French U.N. troops in Lebanon

Monday, 12 December 2011

"Syria on Monday denied involvement in a bombing that wounded five French U.N. peacekeepers in southern Lebanon a day after France’s remarks that Damascus was possibly behind the attack.

“Syria has no link whatsoever with this act which we condemn,” foreign ministry spokesman Jihad Makdisi said in a statement that also criticized French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe for pointing a finger at Damascus.

A Foreign Ministry statement said Damascus “categorically denies any Syrian connection to this act,” according to Reuters news agency.

Juppe had raised speculation on Sunday that Syria was behind the bombing.

“We have strong reasons to think that this attack came from there,” he told the TV5 Monde television channel and Le Monde newspaper, stressing that Damascus used the Lebanese Hezbollah for such attacks in the past.

“I don’t have proof,” he stressed, while adding that the group was “Syria’s armed wing.”

Five French members of the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) were wounded Friday when a bomb targeted their patrol on the outskirts of the Lebanese coastal city of Tyre. Two passers-by were also wounded.

In his statement, Makdisi said that “remarks by Mr. Juppe and others are within the framework of premeditated French accusations made to mask the reality concerning Syria.”

No group has claimed responsibility for the attack, the third this year on UNIFIL soldiers.

France, alongside Britain, Germany and the United States, has led a push for the U.N. Human Rights Council to take up the issue of Syria again.

In October, Russia and China vetoed a resolution that would have condemned Damascus’ crackdown on pro-democracy protesters and threatened possible sanctions..."

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/20...82191.html

**DanfromtheHills**

Tweet...

hominoid555 Abu Ahsi El Batn
Chinese state-controlled Sinochem and UK-listed explorer Gulfsands Petroleum have shut down their oil operations in Syria ..
2 minutes ago

**Red Auroras**

I'll be monitoring Al Jizz throughout the day. I just can't put a lot of faith in blogs, twitter posts, etc.

**Red Auroras**

Nothing to confirm this other than links in this thread. So far the "news" is the muni elections being held in Syria and reportedly 4 killed in clashes between troops and protesters.

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 39691 12-12-2011 05:12 PM

LoP Guest Wrote:

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2011/12/...ia-border/

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 67530 12-12-2011 06:10 PM

Don't Forget: Israel LOVES kittens!!!
http://lunaticoutpost.com/Topic-Israel-d...ng-a-crime

**Psychosocial**

This would be why!!!

[Image: BC54_4EE628D5.jpg]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-e...ve-updates

**LoP Guest** lop guest User ID: 60171 12-12-2011 06:21 PM

Red Auroras Wrote:

I'll be monitoring Al Jizz throughout the day. I just can't put a lot of faith in blogs, twitter posts, etc.

It's coming man. Before the end of December while the Yankees and rest of the world are celebrating, the shit is going down in Syria. Guaranteeing a nato intervention after the strife from the muni's ends in more genocide. They'll blame it on the leaders, take him out, put in puppets and then its one more stepping stone to the world war three in Iran/Russia/America