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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 4-Sep-2013
4-Sep-13 World View -- U.S. Syria military strike gains momentum, despite confused signals

Web Log - September, 2013

4-Sep-13 World View -- U.S. Syria military strike gains momentum, despite confused signals

Obama to meet with gay activists in Russia

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com

New record: Two million Syrian refugees have fled to other countries
U.S. Syria military strike gains momentum, despite confused signals
Russia raises alarms over U.S.-Israel missile test
Obama to meet with gay activists in Russia

New record: Two million Syrian refugees have fled to other countries

Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan - the world's second largest refugee camp (Reuters)

Zaatari refugee camp in Jordan - the world's second largest refugee camp (Reuters)

The number of registered Syrian war refugees who have fled to other countries has now passed the two million mark, more than half of them children. This is nine times as many as there were a year ago. The number of refugees increases by about 5,000 every day. As of the end August this comprised 110,000 in Egypt, 168,000 in Iraq, 515,000 in Jordan, 716,000 in Lebanon and 460,000 in Turkey. A further 4.25 million people are displaced inside Syria, amounting to a total of more than 6 million people refugees.

So we have millions of refugees fleeing Syria, we have tens of thousands of al-Qaeda linked Sunni Muslim militants headed for Syria, we have thousands of Shia Muslim militants supplied by Iran and Hezbollah headed for Syria, and we have massive amounts of advanced heavy military weaponry arriving from Russia, headed for the Syria regime. This is a clear trend toward an explosive situation, irrespective of whether the U.S. lobs a few cruise missiles or not. United Nations refugee agency - UNHCR

U.S. Syria military strike gains momentum, despite confused signals

Republican Congressional leaders on Tuesday came out strongly in support of President Barack Obama's proposed military strike on Syria, giving enormous additional momentum to the proposal.

The proposal will authorize American military action in Syria for 60 days, with a possible 30 day extension.

This was despite a statement by Obama that seemed to be designed to cover all the bases:

"It is something limited. It is something proportional. It will degrade Assad’s capabilities. At the same time, we have a broader strategy that will allow us to upgrade the capabilities of the opposition and allow Syria to ultimately free itself.
This is not Iraq, this is not Afghanistan. This is a limited proportional step that will send a message not only to the Assad regime, but to other countries that may be interested in testing some of these international norms, that there are consequences."

The words "limited" and "proportional" are targeted to people who want little or no military action, while the phrases "degrade Assad's capabilities" and "upgrade the capabilities" are targeted to people who want to do something more than a so-called "pin prick" strike.

Administration officials evaded answering the question of whether Obama would go ahead with a military strike anyway, even if the Congress votes against it.

Whatever the real intentions of the Administration, it appears increasingly inevitable that a military strike will occur. Time

Russia raises alarms over U.S.-Israel missile test

Early Tuesday morning, Russia's Information Agency (RIA) raised an alarm that the Russian military ballistic missile early warning system had detected the launch of two "ballistic targets,” traveling eastward from the central Mediterranean region. The suggestion was that perhaps the United States was launching a military attack on Syria. However, later in the day, the Pentagon announced that it had been a successful test of Israel's ballistic missile defense system, and it had been planned a year ago, so had nothing to do with Syria. Ria Novosti

Obama to meet with gay activists in Russia

Russia's president Vladimir Putin has taken one "screw you" decision after another against President Obama and the United States, most recently by giving asylum to American traitor Edward Snowden and by aggressively supporting the genocidal activities of Syria's president Bashar al-Assad. So president Obama has apparently decided to take revenge, at least symbolically. The administration has already announced that Obama will snub Putin and not meet with him during the G20 conference in St. Petersburg this week. But now, Obama will take additional steps to publicly embarrass Putin by meeting with lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights activists while in Russia. USA Today

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 4-Sep-13 World View -- U.S. Syria military strike gains momentum, despite confused signals thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (4-Sep-2013) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 4-Sep-2013 4-Sep-13 World View -- U.S. Syria military strike gains momentum, despite confused signals

New record: Two million Syrian refugees have fled to other countries

U.S. Syria military strike gains momentum, despite confused signals

Russia raises alarms over U.S.-Israel missile test

Obama to meet with gay activists in Russia

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 4-Sep-2013
4-Sep-13 World View -- U.S. Syria military strike gains momentum, despite confused signals