Maher Assad’s 4th Armored Division of Syrian Army launched nerve gas shells that killed 1,000-plus last Wednesday from base west of Damascus, report says
Syrian citizens trying to identify dead bodies, after an alleged poisonous gas attack fired by regime forces, according to activists in Syria, Wednesday, August 21, 2013. (photo credit: AP/Local Committee of Arbeen)
The chemical weapons allegedly used to kill an estimated 1,000 or more Syrian civilians by the regime of President Bashar Assad last Wednesday were fired by the 155th Brigade of the 4th Armored Division of the Syrian Army, an Israel TV report said.
This division is under the command of the president’s brother, Maher Assad.
The nerve gas shells were fired from a military base in a mountain range to the west of Damascus, the Channel 2 news report said.
The embattled regime has concentrated its vast stocks of chemical weaponry in just two or three locations, the report said, under the control of Syrian Air Force Intelligence, itself reporting to the president.
The TV report further added that “the assessment in Israel” is that the attack was intended to serve as the possible start of a wider operation.
It said Israel was increasingly concerned about the use of chemical weapons in Syria, and their possibility of these weapons falling into still more dangerous hands than those of Assad. Israel was “privately” making clear its concerns to the United States, the report said.
In his first response Thursday to the alleged attack, Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that Iran was closely watching how the world would deal with the attack.
“Syria has become Iran’s testing ground, and Iran is closely watching whether and how the world responds to the atrocities committed there by its client state Syria and its proxy Hezbollah against innocent civilians in Syria,” he said.
The alleged use of chemical weapons against Syrian civilians on Wednesday “proves yet again that we cannot permit the world’s most dangerous regimes to acquire the world’s most dangerous weapons,” Netanyahu added.
On Wednesday, rebel groups in Syria claimed that as many as 1,300 people were killed in a chemical attack in the eastern suburbs of the capital Damascus. The reports were accompanied by a string of grisly photos and videos depicting scores of dead civilians, including children.
The reports “raise the possibility that an extremely grievous crime has been committed by the Syrian regime against its citizens,” Netanyahu said.
“This act adds to the roster of crimes committed by the Syrian regime, with the aid of Iran and Hezbollah, against the Syrian people,” he said.
Netanyahu added that it was “absurd that UN investigators, who are in Damascus right now to investigate the possibility that chemical weapons have been used, are being prevented by the Syrian regime from reaching the affected areas.”
August 24, 2013, 5:48 pm
http://www.timesofisrael.com/israel-tv-chemical-weapons-were-fired-by-assads-brothers-unit/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
DEBKAfile Exclusive
DEBKAfile Exclusive Analysis August 24, 2013, 11:32 AM (IDT) In the space of 48 hours, the Assad regime, Iran and Hizballah launched a three-point offensive against foreign intervention, debkafile reports. Here are some facts: The sarin nerve gas atrocity of Wednesday, Aug. 21, alleged to have claimed more than 1,000 lives, was the work of the 155th Brigade of the Syrian army’s 4th Division, headed by President Bashar Asad’s younger brother Gen. Maher Assad.The poison gas shells were fired from the big Mount Kalmun army base south of Damascus, one of the three repositories of Syria’s chemical weapons. In response to a demand from Moscow last December, Assad collected his chemical assets in three depots. The other two are Dummar, a suburb 5 kilometers outside Damascus, and the Al-Safira air base, west of Aleppo.
Not a single shell or gram of poison gas is loaded for use at any of the three sites without an explicit directive from the president or his brother.
Therefore, the clamor raised by the US and French presidents, Western prime ministers and Russian leaders for an independent investigation to turn up evidence of the use of chemical weapons in Syria and identity of its perpetrator – the Assad regime, says the West, and a rebel provocation, according to Moscow – is nothing but playacting. The facts are known and the evidence is present. And the price for refusing to come down to earth and putting an immediate stop to this horrifying precedent may be unimaginably grim – not just for Israel and Jordan – but for the rest of the Middle East and beyond.
Israeli Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu commented Thursday, Aug. 22 that Iran is using Syria as its testing ground while closely monitoring international responses to its actions.
His remark followed the four Grad rockets fired on northern Israel the day after the chemical attack in East Damascus. His words were scarcely noticed, mainly because Israel’s own spokesmen were busy spreading a blanket of disinformation over the attack, attributing it vaguely to “Global Jihad” (whatever that is).
debkafile’s military sources affirm that, just as the Assad brothers orchestrated the chemical shell attack on Syrian civilians, so too did Hizballah’s leader Hassan Nasrallah set in motion the rocket attack on Israel.
By good fortune, the two which exploded in built-up areas caused damage but no casualties and a third was intercepted by Iron Dome.
Nasrallah had his disposal two Palestinian terrorist groups functioning in Lebanon and Syria under direct Iranian command. They are the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestinian – General Command (PFLP-GC) and Jihad Islami – both of them eager to attack Israel.
Then, on Friday night, two car bombs blew up outside Sunni mosques in the northern Lebanese town of Tripoli, killing 42 people and injuring 500.
The triple coordinated outrages added up to a dire warning from Tehran and Damascus about what they have in store for the region, and especially Syria’s neighbors, as payback for foreign intervention in the Syrian civil war.
On the subject of intervention, the French daily Le Figaro took the liberty last Thursday, Aug. 23, of lifting wholesale and publishing without credit the exclusive report carried Wednesday, Aug. 21, by debkafile. We were the first publication in the world to reveal on Saturday, Aug. 17 the entry from Jordan into southern Syria of a unit of US-trained Syrian rebel commandoes, under the caption: Reported Syrian gas attack after first US-trained rebel incursion from Jordan.
In that report, debkafile was also the first to expose Assad’s poison gas attack as a warning of the heavy price he would exact for intervention in the Syrian war by foreign forces or by rebels trained by foreign forces – in this case US instructors and officers based in Jordan.
CBS News reported Friday that US and Israel intelligence monitoring known chemical weapons sites detected activity there 20 minutes before the chemical shells were fired Wednesday. Those agencies were therefore on top of valuable advance information, but did nothing to stop – or even warn against – the coming poison gas attack.
Washington and other Western capitals as well as Israel continued to circle around reality Friday and Saturday, when Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel let it be known that US warships had been sent to the region for possible cruise missile attacks, in case the president decided on action against Syria.
The Secretary “forgot” to mention that, had the president really wanted to do something, all he had to do was keep the USS Truman aircraft carrier, which was present in the Mediterranean on Wednesday, the day of the chemical attack, from sailing out through the Suez Canal Thursday.
Furthermore, America doesn’t need to send more warships to the region for possible attacks on Syria. It holds plenty of assets at US air and missile bases crisscrossing the Middle East, southern and central Europe and the Persian Gulf. All are fully capable of conducting a variety of operations against Syria without bringing in extra warships.
Except that none of these assets has so far been ordered into action.
What could the Obama administration do if it was so minded?
debkafile’s exclusive military sources described three options available: One: Striking the Syrian unit which perpetrated the poison gas last Wednesday east of Damascus. Two: Destroying the Syrian army’s three chemical weapons depots. Or Three: Coordinated attacks on the first two targets.
For Options Two and Three, the attack would have to destroy all the poison shells at once before they exploded and leaked contamination across wide regions of Syria and neighboring Turkey, Israel and Jordan. The Syrian ruler is capable of having the shells’ contents mixed and armed ready for use ahead of a US attack, thus maximizing the deadly impact of lethal gases across a broad Middle East region.
Notwithstanding the grave risks of action, the consequences of inaction by the US and Israel would be worse: It would give Damascus and Tehran a green light for escalating their viciousness – and not just against the Syrian people. If the barbarity is not stopped, they will get away with making nerve gas and other poison substances acceptable weapons for fighting their foes. Lebanon and Israel are in extreme jeopardy.
http://www.debka.com/article/23218/
The Benefits of Being a PZ Insider and Supporting Prophezine
With the changes going on at the Prophezine site, I have had a lot of people ask me what the benefit of being a PZ Insider.
In this email I spell it out for you…..The Benefits of Being a PZ Insider and supporting Prophezine
OUR EMAIL BENEFITS
MONDAY – On Monday we publish our 30-40 page newsletter in PDF Format. This is the flagship of our ministry with in depth bible study, articles, commentary dealing with bible prophecy, world events and living a right life in the last days from many of the known teachers as well as our own journalist staff like Barbara Henderson, Michael Snyder, Bill Wilson, Belle Ringer and other great writers.
TUESDAY – is the day where I will send out to the masses the lead or our focus article that appeared in that weeks The PZ Insider Report.
WEDNESDAY – We send out our PZ News Watch updating our subscribers to the latest in news events and commentary from a biblical perspective. This is hard core news that alerts our readers to what is REALLY taking place in the world today. This is not your sugar coated fluff pieces that you can get on the popular news stations. If you are a news junkie, this this is for you.
THURSDAY – This tends to be a day of rest, but with all that is taking place in the world we might send out news, commentary or other articles that is pertinent to our PZ Insider Subscribers that pops up on our news & information horizons.
FRIDAY –This is the day that we also produce and push out our #1 rated show * – “PZ RADIO – Radio for the Remnant”. We will also usually send out PZ Site Updates to the masses alerting what we have updated on the Prophezine website.
SATURDAY / SUNDAY – On the weekend we send out to our PZ Insider Subscribers our PZ Survival News. We are living in the last days of the last days and we must be proactive at sharing the Gospel and continue to contend for the faith. 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to “Always be ready to share the hope that is within us.” Always means always and we need to be ready to share in good times and in bad. If you had an extra bag of rice, extra beans, maybe a can of tuna and you were able to share that with neighbors who have fallen upon hard times. Do you think they would be open to hearing the gospel as well? We believe that we need to be building our arks so that we can help others when hard times hit.
Become A PZ Insider
Monthly ($10.00) – http://tinyurl.com/Become-A-PZ-Insider
Monthly ($15.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Insider-15
Monthly ($20.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Insider-20
Monthly ($25.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Insider-25-Monthly
Every 6 Months ($50.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-6-Month-Subscription
Yearly ($100.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Yearly-Subscription
If you just want to just help and give, please use the following URL…
Donate – http://tinyurl.com/Donate-to-Prophezine
Want More Info… Our Prophezine Website Benefits
When you login with your PZ Insider login, you will notice a lot of areas opening up to you via our top navigation bar. Where there was nothing, no you are presented with links to different areas of the Prophezine website.
PZ INSIDER AREA
We have our PZ Insider Area where we archived past issues of The PZ Insider Report, links to PZ Radio and links to past PZ Survival News. You also gain access to articles that are coded only for PZ Insiders. When you see are NOT logged in, you will see a message telling you that you need to register, become a PZ Insider or login to read the different articles on the Prophezine website.
PZ SURVIVAL AREA
We have our PZ Survival area where we have the PZ Prep Library which consists of downloadable PDF files / eBooks to help you learn more about …
Food storage
Gardening
Medical
Odds & Ends
Preparedness
Raising Animals
Self Defense
We have our video section as well as “How To” articles dealing with varied topics, links to our Survival 4 Christians videos and links to our other preparedness information.
UNDERGROUND
When you LOGIN as a PZ Insider you will notice the top navigation bar change and add our UNDERGROUND link.
More and more people are becoming concerned about intrusion into their private lives. One might say “I have nothing to hide, so why should I care.”
What would happen if our own nation became hostile towards bible believing Christians?
Now do you have something to hide?
I personally believe that this is something that we seriously need to start taking into consideration. I believe that we need to start thinking about networking with each other, teaching each other and being a source of encouragement to each other now instead of later.
It is my desire for PZ Insiders to have an area where they can learn more about dealing with the topic of going underground like many churches in persecuted countries have previously done.
As I find more information, I will post it to the PZ UNDERGROUND area. I will also be adding files to the PZ Survival Library to support this area as well.
We also have our the articles that are open to our registered PZ Members, our PZ Forum as well as our “Who’s Who” in Bible Prophecy area. The who’s who area is a ongoing project that is constantly being changed and updated.
Become A PZ Insider
Monthly ($10.00) – http://tinyurl.com/Become-A-PZ-Insider
Monthly ($15.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Insider-15
Monthly ($20.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Insider-20
Monthly ($25.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Insider-25-Monthly
Every 6 Months ($50.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-6-Month-Subscription
Yearly ($100.00) – http://tinyurl.com/PZ-Yearly-Subscription
If you just want to just help and give, please use the following URL… Donate – http://tinyurl.com/Donate-to-Prophezine
If you have questions, please do not hesitate to ask.
