Syria welcomes international control over chemical weapons

After meeting Syrian counterpart, Russian foreign minister says he’ll push Assad to give up WMDs to avoid airstrikes; Kerry: Attack can be averted if Damascus agrees to cede ‘every single bit’ of its chemical arsenal by week’s end

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem on Monday welcomed Moscow’s proposal to submit Syria’s chemical weapons stockpiles to international control, Reuters reported. The surprise announcement came following a meeting between Moallem Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, hours after US Secretary of State John Kerry said such a move could avert a limited US strike on the country in retaliation for a lethal August 21 chemical weapons attack.

“Syria welcomes the Russian proposal out of concern for the lives of the Syrian people, the security of our country and because it believes in the wisdom of the Russian leadership that seeks to avert American aggression against our people,” Moallem said.

British Prime Minister David Cameron, a key US ally, reacted favorably to Syria’s declaration, saying the notion of putting the Assad regime’s stockpile of chemical weapons under international supervision was “a big step forward.” He warned, however, that “we have to be careful, though, to make sure this is not a distraction tactic to discuss something else rather than the problem on the table.”

Via: The Times of Israel

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Are Obama’s sarin videos released to CNN propaganda?

At least celebrated investigative journalist Jake Tapper admits that the Obama videos depicting sarin attacks in Syria, released by CNN 8 p.m, last night could not be verified for authenticity.

CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of these videos but we’re reporting on them because we have verified the Obama administration is showing them to members of congress as they hope to build a case to support military strikes against the Assad regime.” (CNN, Sept. 7, 2013).

If CNN cannot independently verify the authenticity of these videos, then why are they showing them?

Some 13 videos graphically depicting the gruesome Sarin attack in Syria make up the White House compilation video turned over to CNN, even though many of them had been previously posted on YouTube.  But Tapper points out that the CNN collection of footage is “significant” because the Intelligence Community has given it a stamp of authenticity.

More significantly, the video images CNN described as “hard-to-stomach” were already shown by the Obama administration to a select group of senators in closed-door briefings to make the case that a limited military attack on Syria is justified.

In other words, a “select group of senators” were shown the videos on Thursday, but the television and Internet world got to release them two days later on Saturday.

Via: Canada Free Press

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Susan Rice Will Brief Congress on Syria on Anniversary of Benghazi

(CNSNews.com) - Susan Rice, who falsely told the nation that the terrorist attacks in Benghazi on Sept. 11, 2012 had developed out of a spontaneous demonstration against a YouTube video, will mark the one year anniversary of those attacks by briefing Congress to make the administration's case for authorizing President Barack Obama to use military force in Syria.

Speaking on CBS's "Face the Nation" today, House Intelligence Chairman Mike Rogers (R.-Mich.) pointed to the administration's decision to have Rice brief members of Congress about this issue on the anniversary of the Benghazi attacks as emblematic of the administration's bumbling approach to making its case for intervening in Syria.

On Monday, Rice will give a speech about Syria to the New America Foundation, then speak to the Congressional Black Caucus and participate in a classified briefing that the administration will provide to members of Congress, the Associated Press has reported. She will then participate in another classified briefing for Congress on Wednesday--which will be the twelfth anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on the U.S. homeland and the one year anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the State Department and CIA facilities in Benghazi, Libya.

House Intelligence Chairman Rogers, who supports taking military action against the Syrian regime of Bashar al-Assad to punish that regime for using chemical weapons, said he does not believe Obama has effectively made the case for doing so.

Via: CNS News

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Bikers denied no-stop permit for 9/11 rally, apologize to residents

The countdown to Sept. 11 commemoration demonstrations by patriotic bikers versus a fringe Muslim “truther” group is taking shape, and despite some confusion about the technicalities, the court of popular opinion isn’t even close:

Let the good guys roll.

Denied a permit by the nation’s capital for a special “non-stop” ride through town with a waiver for red lights, stop signs and other traffic controls, organizers of the “2 Million Bikers to DC” ride to remember 9/11 are undeterred.

Just riding on a public street doesn’t take any special permission after all, even if you have a million people doing it. They just sought the permit to make life easier on the city’s residents and businesses.

So the ride will go on. It’s just going to take a little longer.

“We find this regretful for the residents and businesses of that great city, and humbly offer our apologies,” organizers wrote on Facebook  Saturday. “What could have been a one or two hour ride through will now likely be an all-day event. We will be obeying all laws. We will be stopping at all stoplights, stop signs, and yielding to all pedestrians.”

The ride’s route won’t be posted in advance for security reasons, but the lineup is set to begin at 8 a.m. Wednesday at the Harley Davidson of Washington(9402 Livingston Road, Fort Washington, Md.) with a blessing, Pledge of Allegiance and guest speakers.

Via:Biz Pac

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LINDSEY GRAHAM POLLING UNDER 50 PERCENT IN PRIMARY, COULD FACE RUNOFF

Ten months out from his primary election against three different Tea Party candidates, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) has dropped to below 50 percent in the polls, meaning he is particularly vulnerable to a runoff strategy conservatives have employed against him.

Graham received just 42 percent of support from likely South Carolina GOP voters in an Aug. 25 poll of 500 likely GOP voters conducted by Landmark Communications and Rosetta Stone Communications, UnitedLiberty.org reports.

“These numbers should be of concern to the Graham campaign. The senator fails to reach 50% of the vote against any of his opponents,” Rosetta Stone Communications president John Garst said. “Graham does not break 40% among voters who think of themselves as evangelistic conservatives, and that group makes up 58% of the primary electorate.”

Lnadmark Communications president Mark Rountree added that Graham “has developed a serious problem with male voters and conservative voters in particular.”

“His support among those demographic groups is weak,” Rountree said. “But worse for Senator Graham is that he currently does not even win an outright majority in a potential runoff primary election, despite the fact that his opponents are not even well known to the general public.”

As Breitbart News has reported, Graham’s three primary challengers—State Sen. Lee Bright, public relations executive and first female graduate of The Citadel Nancy Mace, and pro-life activist and businessman Richard Cash—aim to take Graham to a runoff after the primary next June. If Graham receives less than 50 percent of the vote in the primary, then the second-place candidate will go head-to-head with him in a runoff election a couple weeks later.

Via: Breitbart

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This week in bizarro, unconstitutional tyranny at and around Oberlin College

The Daily Caller has taken a keen interest in Oberlin College after breaking the story about how an Obama-supporting white kid and his sidekick allegedly circulated virulently racist, anti-Jewish and anti-gay messages around campus. (RELATED: Students perpetrated cruel Oberlin race hoax)

Turns out, things just keep getting creepier at that hothouse of leftism 30 miles south of Cleveland.

As The Plain Dealer reports, Oberlin’s administration recently altered the school’s bizarre trespassing policy, which dates back to the 1970s.

Previously, the school had maintained a secret list of people blackballed from the campus. Only the school’s safety and security department and local police knew the names on the list.

School officials did not notify the individuals on the clandestine no-trespassing list that they were on it — or how long they had been on it, or how long they would stay on it. These people were also barred from finding out what they had done to merit placement on the list in the first place.

The Plain Dealer notes that minor infractions, such as playing sports without proper Oberlin identification or skateboarding on campus property, could lead to placement on the secret no-trespassing list. Serious crimes, like theft, could also be the cause.

People on the no-trespassing list continue to face arrest if campus police or real police spot them on campus.

A group of Oberlin students led the campaign to change the school regulation. At a February meeting attended by both students and townies, speakers lamented the gated-estate atmosphere at the school.

Via: The Daily Caller

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Collapse of American Influence Recalls Disintegration of Soviet Union, Fall of France

Not since the disintegration of the Soviet Union in 1991, and prior to that the fall of France in 1940, has there been so swift an erosion of the world influence of a Great Power as we are witnessing with the United States.

The Soviet Union crumbled jurisdictionally: In 1990-1991, one country became the 16 formerly constituent republics of that country, and except perhaps for Belarus, none of them show much disposition to return to the Russian fold into which they had been gathered, almost always by brute force, over the previous 300 years.

The cataclysmic decline of France, of course, was the result of being overrun by Nazi Germany in 1940. And while it took until the return of de Gaulle in 1958 and the establishment of the Fifth Republic with durable governments and a serious currency, and the end of the Algerian War in 1962, and the addition of some other cubits to France’s stature, the largest step in its resurrection was accomplished by the Allied armies sweeping the Germans out of France in 1944.

What we are witnessing now in the United States, by contrast, is just the backwash of inept policy-making in Washington, and nothing that could not eventually be put right. But for this administration to redeem its credibility now would require a change of direction and method so radical it would be the national equivalent of the comeback of Lazarus: a miraculous revolution in the condition of an individual (President Obama), and a comparable metamorphosis (or a comprehensive replacement) of the astonishingly implausible claque around him.

Via: The Sun

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Bashar al-Assad warns US to ‘expect everything’ if it goes ahead with a military strike

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has warned the US that there will be “repercussions” if it goes ahead with Barack Obama’s plans for a targeted military strike in response to the alleged chemical weapons attack in Damascus.

In his first American TV interview for two years, the dictator told journalist Charlie Rose: “You should expect everything.” While he stopped short of describing his remarks as a threat, he said: “I am not a fortune teller to tell you what’s going to happen.”

The danger did not just come from his own government, Mr Assad added, making a reference to the 9/11 terrorist attacks and the invasion of Iraq.

When asked if all-out chemical warfare could be one of the “repercussions” he meant, Mr Assad said it “depends if the rebels or the terrorists in this region – or any other group – have it (chemical weapons)”. He added: “It could happen.”

And in a final ominous statement released by CBS ahead of the full interview’s showing tonight, Mr Assad warned: “You are going to pay the price if you are not wise with dealing with terrorists.”

Mr Rose’s entire conversation with the leader of the Syrian regime is set to air at 2am (BST) tonight on PBS.

In comments made on the network’s Face the Nation programme earlier, the journalist gave advance warning of some of the claims made by Mr Assad.

Via: The Independent

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John Kerry under fire for 'unbelievably small' comment

As President Barack Obama kicks off an all-out push for a strike on Syria, Secretary of State John Kerry came under fire on Monday for saying any attack would be “unbelievably small” and suggesting the Syrian ruler still had a week to give up his chemical weapons to avoid a U.S. assault - a remark Kerry’s spokeswoman later attempted to clarify.

The off-key comments came in a joint press conference in London with Britain’s foreign secretary, where Kerry said the strike would be able to harm Assad without putting American troops on the ground and with a “very limited, very targeted, short-term effort.”

“That is exactly what we are talking about doing – unbelievably small, limited kind of effort,” Kerry said, according to reports.

(WATCH: Timeline of Syria crisis response)

The comments, which dismayed even supporters of an attack on Syria, added fuel to the debate as Obama launches a full court press 48-hour media and political blitz to try to sell the plan to a skeptical American public and Congress.

On Monday, Obama will sit down with anchors from six networks, PBS, CNN, Fox, ABC, CBS and NBC, for seven- to 10-minute interviews that will air Monday night. On Tuesday, the president will address the nation from the Oval Office in prime time.

The White House was also expected to continue to reach out to members of Congress through high-profile Cabinet members as well as the vice president and president himself. On Monday afternoon, National Security Adviser Susan Rice was set to hold a public speaking event on Syria at the New America Foundation.

Via: Politico

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Early Voting Heavy In Colorado Recall Of Two Senators Who Voted For Stricter Gun Control

Colorado residents go to the polls Tuesday to vote on whether to recall two state senators who supported stricter gun laws in the aftermath of two 2012 mass shootings.

The recall vote effort appears to be the strongest backlash to such state votes — considering Democratic-leaning Connecticut, Maryland and New York passed similar legislation without resulting in a recall effort getting on a ballot.

Gun rights advocates launched the recall initiative against Colorado Senate President John Morse and Sen. Angela Giron because they voted for stricter gun laws, including limiting the size of ammunition magazines and requiring universal background checks.

Via: Fox News

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