The world's chemical watchdog solicited private companies to help with the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons as options dwindle ahead of a tight deadline to complete the task.Private companies will mess this project up. It would be a big mistake to go to them to get rid of these chemicals. They'll just find the cheapest solution.
The Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) published a note on its website saying it wanted to identify companies for disposing of chemicals and other materials "associated with the destruction of Syrian chemical weapons."
It requested companies "interested in participating in a potential tendering process" to approach the OPCW.
The world is in agreement about destroying Syria's chemical weapons as part of a US-Russia deal aimed at heading off strikes on the Damascus regime after deadly chemical attacks in August.
But despite consensus on destroying the chemicals outside war-wracked Syria, no country has volunteered to have them destroyed on its soil.
2. An excerpt from, "Syrian Kurdish party calls on Turkey, KRG to end embargo" by Wladimir van Wilgenburg, Al Monitor, November 25, 2013:
Turkey is opposed to the PYD controlling Kurdish areas and worried about their links to PKK rebels, while KDP leader and Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) President Massoud Barzani has been critical of the PYD and accused it of working with the Syrian government.The Turkish government and the Kurdistan Regional government led by Barzani in Iraq are acting inhumanely, irrationally, and illegally. They are behaving like oppressors. They should stop this illegal blockade immediately. And the Syrian National Coalition has its head up its ass, it can't tell the difference between the Free Syrian Army and al-Qaeda, so any statement from them has no value or political significance.
The PYD hopes that a recently captured Iraqi border crossing in Yaroubiya can provide an alternative to Turkey and Barzani's policies.
PYD leader Salih Muslim told a Kurdish TV station, "Developments in Til Kocer [Yaroubiya] would also lead to changes in the political and economic situation in West Kurdistan [Kurdish areas of Syria], and said this success has created an alternative against the efforts and intentions to hold the entire West Kurdistan territory under embargo,” reported Firat News Agency on Oct. 27.
The People’s Protection Units (YPG), affiliated to the PYD, took control of the Syrian-Iraqi Yaroubiya border crossing on Oct. 24 with the help of a local Arab tribe in response to a suicide attack by al-Qaeda-affiliated groups on Oct. 19 in the town of Qahtaniyah. Reportedly, the local Arab tribes want to share the control of the Iraqi border crossing with the PYD in exchange for their support against al-Qaeda groups in the area.
“We especially thank the tribe of Shamar for their contributions in the success of this mission,” the YPG said in a statement following the operation.
The Syrian National Coalition accused the PYD of cooperating with the Iraqi army and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki against the Free Syrian Army, although only al-Qaeda-affiliated groups were stationed near the Iraqi border.
The PYD deserves support and gratitude from all of humanity for having an open mind and collaborating with local Arab tribes, Christians, and whoever else is against the Jihadist terrorists. These are the real allies against al-Qaeda. Grassroots, and local. Turkey, Saudi Arabia, America, France, England, Kuwait, and Qatar, who support the Jihadist terrorists, need to be resisted. These criminal governments are in an open alliance with al-Qaeda. Their policies have nothing to do with humanitarianism or freedom.
3. An excerpt from, "Syrian Govt, Opposition Agree to Geneva Peace Talks" by Jason Ditz, AntiWar.com, November 25, 2013:
Geneva II, the peace talks scheduled for June and repeatedly delayed, finally have a date, and both the Assad government and opposition Syrian National Council (SNC) have agreed to take part on January 22.The Free Syrian Army thinks its knows the mood of the Syrian street? LOL. These erratic, gun-toting idiots can't even tell their own mood, let alone the mood of millions of Syrians. They don't speak for anybody but themselves, plus some deluded foreign leaders and governments.
After months of opposition to their involvement, reports also say that the US will not only accept Iranian involvement in the talks, but will ask them to help with reaching a ceasefire.
That’s going to be tough. While the SNC has finally joined the talks, after months of debate and a lot of Western pressure, that doesn’t mean they can negotiate on behalf of the whole rebellion.
“Opposition political delegations do not have any power or influence on the Syrian street,” noted one spokesman for the Free Syrian Army (FSA), a secular rebel faction nominally aligned with the SNC. They insist the SNC wouldn’t be able to fulfill any serious pledges on a ceasefire.
They are acting not like a political group with legitimate grievances and demands, but a terrorist organization that is too emotionally attached to its own goals and desires to be any effective either on the battlefield or inside the conference room. They won't be satisfied with Assad's departure, so no deal out of Geneva, however reasonable, will make them happy and lead them to lay down their US-Saudi-British-French-Qatari-Kuwaiti-Turkish provided arms.
UN sets fresh date for Syria peace talks. Source: euronews.
