Any bets regarding Iran jumping in on the other side?

[Radar Chief]

Exclusive: Libyan fighters join Syrian revolt

By Mariam Karouny | Reuters – 1 hr 31 mins ago

BEIRUT (Reuters) - Veteran fighters of last year's civil war in Libya have come to the front-line in Syria, helping to train and organize rebels under conditions far more dire than those in the battle against Muammar Gaddafi, a Libyan-Irish fighter has told Reuters.
Hussam Najjar hails from Dublin, has a Libyan father and Irish mother and goes by the name of Sam. A trained sniper, he was part of the rebel unit that stormed Gaddafi's compound in Tripoli a year ago, led by Mahdi al-Harati, a powerful militia chief from Libya's western mountains.
Harati now leads a unit in Syria, made up mainly of Syrians but also including some foreign fighters, including 20 senior members of his own Libyan rebel unit. He asked Najjar to join him from Dublin a few months ago, Najjar said.
The Libyans aiding the Syrian rebels include specialists in communications, logistics, humanitarian issues and heavy weapons, he said. They operate training bases, teaching fitness and battlefield tactics.
Najjar said he was surprised to find how poorly armed and disorganized the Syrian rebels were, describing Syria's Sunni Muslim majority as far more repressed and downtrodden under Assad than Libyans were under Gaddafi.
The rest at:
http://news.yahoo.com/exclusive-liby...070248779.html

[KILLER_CLOWN]

I would rather take bets on how long it is that our allies will soon be our mortal enemies we have to fight a multi stage war on for 10-15+ years after.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by KILLER_CLOWN

I would rather take bets on how long it is that our allies will soon be our mortal enemies we have to fight a multi stage war on for 10-15+ years after.

You'll lose. US isn't getting dragged in with boots on the ground there. At least, it's clear Obama won't.

[KILLER_CLOWN]

Originally Posted by Amnorix

You'll lose. US isn't getting dragged in with boots on the ground there. At least, it's clear Obama won't.

Yes but as far as plotlines for a book go, it would be epic.

[patteeu]

Syrian Rebels Said to Be Holding Elite Fighters From Iran

WASHINGTON — American officials said Wednesday that they had obtained credible information that at least some of the 48 Iranians captured in Damascus this month by Syrian rebels were members of Iran’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps, not the pilgrims described by the government in Tehran.

The new information came as Obama administration officials stepped up accusations of broad Iranian assistance to the embattled government of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria.

Officials would not describe the details that indicated the Iranians held by the rebels of the Free Syrian Army were members of the Revolutionary Guards, citing the delicacy of intelligence-gathering and -sharing efforts in the region, so it was not possible to verify the reports independently. The Iranians were on a bus that they said was on its way to a Shiite shrine when it was seized by the rebels.

“We have received indications that at least some of the passengers on the bus are I.R.G.C., and now in F.S.A. custody,” said one American official, who discussed the information on the condition of anonymity.

Senior Iranian officials have appealed directly to the Assad government for help in gaining the captives’ release. Requests from Iran on other matters have been made to countries on Syria’s border, including Turkey. Potential channels that Iran could use to negotiate with the rebel leaders are, as one government official said, “murky at best.”

Shortly after the Iranians were captured, a video was released by a militant faction, with a rebel leader saying, “They are Iranian thugs who were in Damascus for a field reconnaissance mission.”

During a Pentagon news conference on Tuesday, Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta and Gen. Martin E. Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, criticized Iran for what they said was its assistance to the Assad government, in particular the training of a pro-government militia. Pentagon officials cautioned that Mr. Panetta and General Dempsey were not speaking specifically of the Iranian captives.

“Iran is playing a larger role in Syria in many ways, not only in terms of the I.R.G.C., but in terms of assistance, training,” Mr. Panetta said. “So we are seeing a growing presence by Iran, and that is of deep concern to us.”

At the Zeinab shrine in Syria, which the Iranians had said they were visiting, regular visitors and merchants cast doubt on Iran’s assertion that the captives were religious pilgrims.

On a recent visit, most sellers at the shrine’s market had fled or closed their shops. The large garages where buses and cars from Iran once parked were quiet, the hotels empty. Abu Hiadar, 50, a Shiite originally from Iraq, said he lived near the shrine and visited every day. “I haven’t seen any Iranian visitors in the past few months,” he said. Several merchants said the decline started a few months after the rebel uprising began last year.

[Direckshun]

I would bet money Iran is involved, yes.

[patteeu]

Wherever there's conflict in the ME, you can find the Iranians.

[patteeu]

Originally Posted by Direckshun

I would bet money Iran is involved, yes.

Beat you!

[Direckshun]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Beat you!

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by patteeu

Wherever there's conflict in the ME, you can find the Iranians.

And Americans.

[BucEyedPea]

Okay so it's a proxy war in Syria between the US and Iran. ( really just an extension of what we've already been doing inside Iran) We're using AQ jihadis who are ethnic cleansing the Christians. Hey, the Progressive Hawks in our country will use anyone to achieve their goals. US Christians will cheer it on apparently too.

I say if we can do it, they can do it too. I'm fair like that.

[Amnorix]

Syria is one of the staunchest of Iran's allies in the Middle East, and serves a critical role in Iran's ability to funnel support into Lebanon etc. Losing its relationship with Syria would definitely hurt Iran's ability to impact events in the Levant.

That said, Syria has skillfully (for the most part) played its role as a middleman, and has done certain things that we can applaud, such as protecting its Christian minority population from the Muslim majority.

Still, it's fairly safe to say that 9 times out of 10, what is bad for Iran is good for us, and vice versa, and there is no doubt that Syria's regime has been oppressive and has worked against US interests in many, many ways, so it's not hard to figure who we should root for in this conflict.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

Okay so it's a proxy war in Syria between the US and Iran. ( really just an extension of what we've already been doing inside Iran) We're using AQ jihadis who are ethnic cleansing the Christians. Hey, the Progressive Hawks in our country will use anyone to achieve their goals. US Christians will cheer it on apparently too.

I say if we can do it, they can do it too. I'm fair like that.

Syria has generally enjoyed good relations with Russia as well, which I believe has a military base in-country.

It's pretty clear that the Syrian government is largely anti-American. Its protection of the Christian minority population is really one of the very few things about the Assad regime we can praise.

[BucEyedPea]

I root for neutrality over being a pesky interventionist since I don't buy the claim of our "interests" which means oil when we can still buy it from them over there. They need customers.

[Amnorix]

Originally Posted by BucEyedPea

Okay so it's a proxy war in Syria between the US and Iran. ( really just an extension of what we've already been doing inside Iran) We're using AQ jihadis who are ethnic cleansing the Christians. Hey, the Progressive Hawks in our country will use anyone to achieve their goals. US Christians will cheer it on apparently too.

I say if we can do it, they can do it too. I'm fair like that.

It didn't start out as a proxy war, nor is there any real sign that we instigated these events, any moreso than the overthrow of American ally Hosni Mumbarak in Egypt.

It's certainly possible that we were involved, but for months the rebels had few weapons or note and all signs tend to point to it being an indigineous uprising.