Michael Collins
There's a strange story out there about Syrian President Bashar Assad's assassination and possible death. It has little merit but the sourcing is interesting.

Gateway Pundit reported: BREAKING: Assad Shot By Bodyguard – Hospitalized in Damascus - Posted by Jim Hoft on Sunday, March 24, 2013, 12:22 PM

The sourcing on this leads to a French publication, JSS. Gateway Pundit listed the link as "Translated from JSS News:"

JSS, a French online publication, cites the "Arab Media" as its source on Assad's death. This is when the story falls apart.

Read more »

By Anas Zarza Al-Akahbar-English Posted by Michael Collins

Remember all those articles over the last few months - Syria to fall soon; what will post-Assad Syria look like? Soon, we were lead to believe, the demands of Former Secretary of State (and neo-colonialism) Hillary Clinton would come true. When didn't she say - "Assad must go!" Ironically, Assad is still around and Clinton is gone. That's one big step for mankind and an even bigger step backwards for the Syrian rebels, particularly the very Al Qaeda fighters operating under the name Al Nusra. They fight and win but rely on direct or indirect funding, weapons, and technical assistance from NATO and the Gulf plutocrats. In fact, we now know that Ms. Clinton and the disgraced General Petraeus were pushing for the United States to openly arm the rebels. Cooler heads prevailed. Weapons and other items were stalled. Assad's military made some changes. And now, voila!, the Syrian Arab Army is defending the capital. Was any of this dreadful, deadly conflict worth it?
-- Michael Collins

Read more »

Michael Collins

(Washington, DC, 12/9) Here we go again.

On, December 3, President Barack Obama warned the Syrian government against using chemical weapons against, among others, NATO-Saudi sponsored fighters trying to overthrow President Bashar Assad.

A few days later, British Prime Minister David Cameron's foreign secretary claimed that he had evidence the Syrian government plans to use chemical weapons of mass destruction (WMD) against the rebels.

After Obama's December 3 warning, Syria denied any intent to use the weapons "no matter what the circumstances" as they had after an earlier Obama warning.

U.S. and British government officials are unreliable sources on this subject.

Does the government of President Bashar Assad intend to use chemical WMD?

Read more »

Michael Collins

(Washington, DC 10/6) The United States and European Union are setting the stage for a Syrian invasion. (Image)

Turkey is the fall guy.

The Turkish parliament provided Prime Minister Recep Erdoğan with a broad authorization "to make the necessary arrangements for sending the Turkish Armed Forces to foreign countries" Hurriyet, October 4, 2012. The vote was on party lines with the dominant AKP party forming a majority. Muharrem İnce of the CHP opposition party said: "This motion has no limits. You can wage a world war with [it]."

The warning about the road to war may be near reality. McClatchy Newspapers just reported the following:

ISTANBUL -- One day after winning blanket authority to send forces into Syria, Turkey’s prime minister warned Friday that his country is "not far from war" and said that it would be a “deadly mistake” for the Syrian government to test Turkey’s will. McClatchy Newspapers, October 6, 2012

Read more »

By Michael Collins

Obama administration support for Syrian rebels is based on a United Nations authorized report from November 2011. In that document, Syria is accused of committing "crimes against humanity." The report's co-author is a board member at a Washington, D.C. based think tank that just happens to have the former chairman of ExxonMobil, a consultant for the Saudi Binladin Group, and a former CIA executive on its board of directors.

Much of the U.S. and European press on the so-called civil war originates from a tiny organization in the United Kingdom called the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (the Observatory). The one man operation is run by a longtime opponent of Syrian Bashar Hafez al-Assad.

For the most part, this is how we know what we know about Syria.

Read more »