Turkish artillery on Thursday morning resumed bombarding targets in northern Syria in response to a deadly cross-border mortar shelling that killed five on Wednesday.Turkish state-run TRT television reported that a military unit based on the border town of Akcakale resumed strikes at Syrian targets overnight and that shelling continued Thursday morning.
The Syrian town of Tel Abyad lies just over the Syria-Turkey border from the Turkish town of Akcakale, the site of Wednesday’s deadly shelling. The mortar-fire reportedly originated from Tel Abyad, according to Reuters.
Turkish media reported that Ankara has prepared a parliamentary bill legitimizing Turkish military action in Syria, similar to one which authorizes the Turkish military to intervene in northern Iraq in pursuit of Kurdish militants based there. The Turkish parliament on Thursday was set to vote on the bill in an emergency session.
Turkish artillery hit targets near Syria's Tel Abyad border town for a second day on Thursday, killing several Syrian soldiers according to activists and security sources, after a mortar bomb fired from the area killed five Turkish civilians.In the most serious cross-border escalation of the 18-month uprising in Syria, Turkey hit back after what it called "the last straw" when a mortar hit a residential neighborhood of the southern border town of Akcakale on Wednesday.NATO said it stood by member-nation Turkey and urged Syria to put an end to "flagrant violations of international law."
The U.S.-led Western military alliance held an urgent late night meeting in Brussels to discuss the matter and in New York, Turkey asked the UN Security Council to take the "necessary action" to stop Syrian aggression.It was not clear who fired the mortar into Turkey, but security sources said it had come from near Tel Abyad and that Turkey was increasing the number of troops along its border.
"Our armed forces in the border region responded immediately to this abominable attack in line with their rules of engagement; targets were struck through artillery fire against places in Syria identified by radar," Erdogan's office said in a statement late on Wednesday.
Below, we may be seeing the early parts of Turkey's plan being carried out:
Constrained from a substantial military incursion into Syria by US President Barack Obama’s veto and Saudi and Qatari refusals to help pay for it, Turkey’s government and military decided to make do with carving out a buffer strip 10 kilometers deep into Syria by continuous artillery barrages.
Ankara ordered the Turkish army to keep up its cross-border shelling of Syria after the first bombardment Wednesday night in response to the deaths of five Turkish civilians and eight injured by Syrian mortar shells which exploded in their village.
DEBKAfile's military sources report the artillery squads were told to aim primarily at Syrian military targets inside this strip, including bases, outposts and Syrian forces on the move.
Several Syrian bases and outposts have been hit so far and a large number of Syrian soldiers killed or wounded. Neither Ankara nor Damascus is offering information on casualties. They have imposed a heavy blackout on events so as to keep them under control and avoid the risk of a full-blown war.
The big question is how long will Syrian President Bashar Assad tolerate Turkish artillery control of this border strip without fighting back. This decision is not only up to Assad but also to Tehran and Hizballah, both of which are deploying large-scale military strength in Syria in his support.
For the third morning in a row, Arabs rioted on the Temple Mount, attempting to attack groups of Jews who sought to visit the holiest site in Judaism during the Sukkot holiday. Police again Thursday deployed large numbers of officers to keep the Arabs from attacking the Jews.Police have reported that there were mild protests during recent days, butvideo footage showed dozens of young Arabs actively trying to attack Jews who were visiting the Mount. In one video, a Wakf official is seen threatening to break the camera of a Jew filming footage of the Arab rioters.
Iranian riot police clashed with protesters in Tehran on Wednesday as public anger over economic problems in the sanction-hit country erupted onto the street. The protests were the most dramatic in Iran since bitter demonstrations erupted after the 2009 presidential elections.
Thousands of people took to the streets, and TV footage showed the protesters shouting slogans of “Death to the corrupt regime” and “Get out of Syria, and start taking care of us” — a reference to Iranian involvement in helping President Bashar Assad repel Syrian rebel efforts to oust his regime.
Iranian officials have faced increasing public anger over the plummeting rial and rising prices, blamed partly on Western sanctions over Tehran’s nuclear program.It could also bring more political heat on Ahmadinejad, who has been left severely weakened after unsuccessfully challenging Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei over the powers of the presidency. Ahmadinejad now could face increasing domestic attacks before elections, including possibly being called before parliament for questioning over the currency upheavals.
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The truth is that our financial system is even more vulnerable than it was back in 2008, and financial experts such as Doug Short, Peter Schiff, Robert Wiedemer and Harry Dent are all warning that the next crash is rapidly approaching. We are living in the greatest debt bubble in the history of the world and Wall Street has been transformed into a giant casino that is based on a massive web of debt, risk and leverage. When that web breaks we are going to see a stock market crash that is going to make 2008 look like a Sunday picnic.
Yes, the Federal Reserve has tried to prevent any problems from erupting in the financial markets by initiating another round of quantitative easing, but 40 billion dollars a month will not be nearly enough to stop the massive collapse that is coming.
Hopefully we will get through October (and the rest of this year) without seeing a stock market collapse, but without a doubt one is coming at some point. Those on the wrong end of the coming crash are going to be absolutely wiped out.
Financial author Harry Dent believes that the stock market could fall by as much as 60 percent in the coming months. He is convinced that stocks are hugely overvalued right now....
"We have the greatest debt bubble in history. We will see a worldwide downturn. And when you are in this type of recessionary environment stocks should be trading at five to seven times earnings."If a stock market crash does not happen this month, don't think that the storm has passed.
A major financial crisis is coming. It might not happen this week, this month or even this year, but without a doubt it is approaching.
And when it arrives it is going to be immensely painful and it is going to change all of our lives.
I hope you are ready for that.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the US government can still indefinitely detain citizens should it wish to do so, under the Obama Administration’s National Defense Authorization Act.
All three judges on the panel were appointed to the appeals court by Obama.Last month District Judge Katherine Forrestpermanently blocked the NDAA provision, saying that “First Amendment rights have already been harmed and will be harmed by the prospect of (the law) being enforced.”
However, the very next day the Obama administration moved to appeal the decision in an attempt to reinstate the indefinite detention provisions. The administration characterized the ruling by Forrest as unconstitutional.
Concerned Americans have argued that the NDAA provision could see American citizens kidnapped and held indefinitely without charge.“This pernicious law poses one of the greatest threats to civil liberties in our nation’s history,” writes Brian J. Trautman. Under AUMF, “this law can be used by authorities to detain (forever) anyone the government considers a threat to national security and stability – potentially even demonstrators and protesters exercising their First Amendment rights.”
As the NDAA’s co-sponsor Senator Carl Levin said during a speech on the floor in December, it was the Obama administration that demanded the removal of language that would have protected Americans from being subject to indefinite detention.
In attempting to include the entire United States as a battleground under the NDAA, the Obama administration is merely extending its already established policy of targeting American citizens worldwide for state-sponsored assassination with no legal process whatsoever.
Given that the White House is already executing this policy at the global level, it’s no surprise that they are also keen to enforce it domestically
The number of pastors standing up for their right to preach from their pulpits on politics is surging.
They call a ban on such speech a “cultural myth.”
In 2008, 35 pastors defied the IRS, which holds the position that church “organizations are absolutely prohibited from directly or indirectly participating in, or intervening in, any political campaign on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for elective public office.”The number of pastors boldly opposing the IRS rule grew to 539 in 2011 and is expected to be more than 1,500 on Oct. 7, during what organizers are calling “Pulpit Freedom Sunday.”Americans United for Separation of Church and State says it has sent 60,000 letters to churches in an effort to tell pastors that the law requires them to stay out of politics.
Alliance Defending Freedom started Pulpit Freedom Sunday, to protect a pastor’s right to speak freely from the pulpit without fearing government censorship or control.”ADF said: “After all, it’s the job of the pastor and the church leadership not the IRS to decide what is said from the pulpit. No pastor should ever fear IRS censorship or punishment when he stands in the pulpit to preach.”
I believe it was Caver who suggested digging up your old antiquated equipment in case of emergency. I dug up my dad's old Bearcat II scanner. Much to my surprise it still works! My husband loves it! Dad loved it because he was an old Tractor trailer driver. I figured all of the frequencies would have been changed or scrambled but it still works!
ReplyDeleteWatched the debate last night and looking forward to the next one.
Hope you are continuing to feel better Ally. Hope all of you are having a blessed day!
Don't you find it interesting, how quickly Turkey can defend itself legally from ONE rocket attack from Syria, yet Israel cannot defend itself from multiple and years worth of rocket attacks from Gaza with out international criticism.
ReplyDeleteGood point JD. Israel can't lift a finger without world condemnation and outrage. I hate injustice!
ReplyDeleteGwenny I did not watch the debate. I used to be a political junky but now I see it as pretty much pointless. I'll vote and speak out but that is about it for me these days. I am in shock the media actually proclaimed Romney the winner, That was a shock. It must have been so dominating and one sided that had no choice.
I'm with WV. I just can't stomach the political hoo-plah these days. Besides, God can and WILL use whomever goes in office, for his will. We just need to hold on until our "flight" comes.
ReplyDeleteWV and David,
ReplyDeleteI understand the feeling of almost dread in watching the incomplete reporting and constant dialogs on tv hoping to show both sides of something, It is WEArying and raises anxiety. But this week in my dread I decided to fast and pray on debate day.
My prayer was to ask the Lord to please paint the dragon RED. To let a clear and truthful choice be on display.
Even as the debate came on I was n't sure I could watch it but I am SO GLAD i did. My prayers were surely only joining so many others hoping to strengthen that which remains.I pray for freedom for the good news to be shared of Jesus and HIs salvation.
I cannot stomachj the blah blah but let's persevere in the fight with prayer. The lights don't go out when we lose power. We lose power when the lights go out.
Loving you all,
KR