Syria

= Notes on the civil war in Syria =

"Syria intervention plan fueled by oil interests, not chemical weapon concern"[0]

 * Syria: Bashir al-Assad
 * Iran: US afraid of Iranian dominance of region ("fear of expanding Iranian influence")
 * Iran: majority Shiite
 * Syria: minority Shiite government
 * Saudi Arabia: majority Sunni
 * 2001(?)–2007: CIA operations to destabilize Iran and Syria, in cooperation with Saudi Arabia
 * 2011–: "US-UK training of Syrian opposition forces" (leaked Stratfor emails, thank you Anonymous!)
 * 2001–: US «plans to "attack and destroy the governments in 7 countries in five years", starting with Iraq and moving on to "Syria, Lebanon, Libya, Somalia, Sudan and Iran." In a subsequent interview, Clark argues that this strategy is fundamentally about control of the region's vast oil and gas resources.»
 * 2009:
 * British allegedly planning operations in Syria
 * Syria rejected Qatari LNG pipeline from Qatari North field through Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Syria, to Turkey, supplying Europe and bypassing Russia
 * stood beside Russian ally
 * 2010:
 * Assad negotiated Iran-Iraq-Syria pipeline plan
 * Question: what's Russia's take on this?

"UN's Del Ponte says evidence Syria rebels 'used sarin'"

 * 2013-01(?): Alleged plot to frame Syrian government for use of chemical weapons[1]
 * 2013-03-19: Alleged use of sarin in Syria[2]
 * 2013-05-05:
 * Israeli air strikes against "military targets"
 * Del Ponte makes statement about link between Syrian rebels and sarin use

[0] http://www.theguardian.com/environment/earth-insight/2013/aug/30/syria-chemical-attack-war-intervention-oil-gas-energy-pipelines

[1] http://www.presstv.com/detail/2013/01/30/286331/ukqatari-plot-against-syria-revealed/

[2] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2013/mar/19/syria-rocket-attacks-chemical-weapons

Other references of interest
http://stormcloudsgathering.com/the-real-reason-israel-attacked-syria