by Stephen Lendman

News from Syria is grim. Libya 2.0 looms. Fabricating a chemical weapons threat looks like pretext for full-scale war.

On December 8, the Toronto Sun said Foreign Affairs officials urged Canadian citizens to leave Syria. Maybe they know something they're not explaining.

On December 9, Israel National News said the London Sunday Times said IDF special forces now operate inside Syria. Allegedly they're trying to locate "non-conventional weapons" and "sabotage" them.

Israel considered ground and/or air attacks to destroy them. Perhaps they're still planned. The Sunday Times said if evidence suggests Assad used chemical weapons, Washington and Israel "might coordinate to carry out a ground invasion."

An unnamed military source told the Times that US forces could be ready "rapidly within days" if chemical weapons are used. "The muscle is already there to be flexed."

On December 9, The Times of Israel headlined "Syrian rebels claim new video shows victims of chemical attack."

A You Tube clip depicts alleged victims. It shows dead and injured Syrians with disfigured faces. Assad is blamed.

Days earlier, a You Tube video showed Syrian insurgents testing chemical weapons on lab rabbits. Threats to use them against Assad loyalists followed.

Lab equipment and chemical containers were shown. Some containers bore the Turkish chemical company Tekkim name.

An Arabic text wall poster read, "The Almighty Wind Brigade (Kateebat A Reeh Al Sarsar)."

A man shown begins mixing chemicals in a beaker. It emits gas. Rabbits in a glass box have convulsions, collapse and die. The audio states:

"You saw what happened. This will be your fate, you infidel Alawites. I swear by Allah to make you die like these rabbits, one minute after you inhale the gas."

Earlier reports said insurgents were given gas masks. They suggested a possible chemical attack coming blamed on Assad.

Saudi Arabia allegedly fitted ambulances and other vehicles with anti-gas/anti-chemical filtering systems in preparation for Free Syrian Army chemical attacks blamed on him.

Perhaps a major false flag incident looms. Daily headlines suggest Assad's days are numbered.

UK Foreign Secretary William Hague claims "some evidence" he saw indicates Assad is readying chemical weapons for use on opposition fighters.

He's seen nothing, of course, but media scoundrels don't explain. At the same time, Israeli Vice Prime Minister Moshe Yaalon said "we see no sign that this weaponry is being pointed at us."

Over the weekend, US and Russian diplomats met in Geneva. Foreign Minister Lavrov said doing so doesn't mean Moscow thinks Assad's fall is inevitable.

"We are not (discussing) Assad's fate," he said. "And all attempts to present the situation in any other way are unscrupulous, even for diplomats from those countries which are well-known for their intention to distort facts in their favor."

Lavrov accused US officials of spreading false rumors about Russia softening its position on Syria.

"US representatives started to make statements hinting that Russia is changing its position," he said. "This is not true. We have not changed our position, and only on these conditions we agreed to hold the Geneva meeting."

"We said we would be ready under one condition: that the basis of such brainstorming sessions will be formed by the Geneva document, without any additions, without any ultimatums, without any preconditions like President Assad's resignation."

Lavrov referred to the June Geneva meeting joint statement. It said any future Syrian transition government "could include members of the present government and the opposition and other groups and shall be formed on the basis of mutual consent."

Washington twisted the language to mean a future Syrian government must exclude Assad. Doing so, of course, disregards the will of most Syrians.

The present government has strong popular support. The longer conflict rages, the more it grows.

On December 9, RIA Novosti headlined "Russia Rules Out Libyan Scenario in Syria." On Sunday, Lavrov said:

"We’ll not allow the Libyan experience to be reproduced in Syria. Unfortunately our Western partners have departed from the Geneva accords and are seeking the departure of….Assad."

He added that Syrians alone should choose their government.

Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said Syrian leaders assured Moscow that chemical weapons are secure and won't be used.

"The Syrian government is assuring us that it will not allow their spread," said Patrushev. "We hope that this will be so."

He and Lavrov expressed more concern about foreign elements using them. They seized a chemical facility near Aleppo. Substances it produces can be used for chemical weapons.

Mossad-connected DEBKAfile (DF) posts regular inflammatory reports. They allege Assad may use chemical weapons. On December 10, it claimed he may have "passed some" to Hezbollah.

Unnamed "Syrian army" defectors alleged "containers were last week removed from Syrian bases at Jabal Kalamon and loaded on vehicles camouflaged as commercial trucks."

Contents are "thought to have been split up and hidden at different Hizbollah bases to make them harder to attack."

Israeli US ambassador Michael Oren said he has no information on this. At the same time, he called supplying Hezbollah with chemical weapons a "game changer/red line" for Israel.

"We have a very clear red line about those chemical weapons passing into the wrong hands," he said. Can you imagine if Hezbollah and its 70,000 rockets would get its hands on chemical weapons? That could kill thousands of people."

He said nothing about Israel's powerful nuclear, chemical and biological arsenal. If threatened, it's willing to use it. Israel menaces the entire region and beyond. Hezbollah, Syria, Iran, and Hamas threaten no one.

DF again alleged a Syrian sarin nerve gas threat. Baseless claims don't wash but get repeated. It claims chemical weapons are deployed near "at least five air force bases, with evidence of preparations to use them."

Placing them near warplanes "indicates an intention….to drop poison gas from the air."

According to unnamed "Western and Israeli intelligence officials," Assad "directed his troops fighting in and around Damascus to use chemical weapons if" foreign fighters appear able to "seiz(e) any part of Damascus international airport."

These and similar claims are baseless. For days, they've been circulating. Repetition makes people believe them.

Heightened tensions suggests full-scale intervention looms. Ravaging Syria may follow. A potential bloodbath looks possible. It may exceed the worst of Libya.

On December 10, Voice of Russia (VoR) said Islamist rebels claim they seized a key north Syria army base at Sheikh Suleiman.

German Federal Intelligence Service head Gerhard Schindler believes Assad's government is close to falling. "Armed rebels are coordinating better, which is making their fight….more effective," he claims.

On Friday, a new unified command was established. Extremist elements are involved. Estimates suggest two-thirds of its representatives are Muslim Brotherhood and Salafist allies.

Washington wants Islamist fascist regimes throughout the region. It goes all-out to prevent democracies.

"Evidence is mounting that the regime in Damascus is now in its final phase," said Schindler.

On December 10, the Syrian Free Press presented a different view on the ground. "The Armed Forces Continue Targeting Terrorists and Their Hideouts," it headlined.

Many foreign fighters were killed. The Aleppo al-Bakkarh area was "completely cleared." Large stocks of weapons and munitions were seized or destroyed.

Fighting continues in other areas. Army units inflicted "heavy losses" on terrorists in Daraya and around Aleppo.

VoR said the Al-Watan news service reported that about 1,000 insurgents were killed in a battle east of Aleppo. Middle East expert Viktor Nadein-Rayevsky said foreign military intervention perhaps is imminent.

It "could be staged in a way to look like the opposition's offensive with foreign mercenaries taking part in the operation."

Turkey and other countries bordering Syria may get involved. He stressed that "constructive negotiations are the only way to settle the crisis."

Washington won't tolerate them. Conflict was planned long ago to oust Assad. Signs suggest full-scale Western-led intervention looms.

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Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at lendmanstephen@sbcglobal.net.

His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"

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Visit his blog site at sjlendman.blogspot.com and listen to cutting-edge discussions with distinguished guests on the Progressive Radio News Hour on the Progressive Radio Network Thursdays at 10AM US Central time and Saturdays and Sundays at noon. All programs are archived for easy listening.

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