Coup in Damascus Followed by Media Blackout (unconfirmed)

Well CNBC mentioned the Syria pullout but did not say anything about a coup attempt. I believe it is live, as the newscasters have brit accents. We'll see at 5am I guess when the regular guys get in the office. Still keeping track of CNN as well.

The only news about Syria right now is that their pullout from Lebanon is almost complete. Nobody is saying anything even remotely 'coup.' Maybe it was all a scam, but it seems so strange to go that far...

There's some talk about America making demands that Syria withdraw, and I'm pretty sure Syria was next on the list of countries to invade, maybe the coup thing is just a cover for American/Israeli preparatory strikes? How hard would it be to paint a bunch of F-16s in Syrian colors and bomb Syrian air fields? Then, the west could blame it on the Syrian Military...

Not beyond the realm of possibility.

Yeah I always thought it was more likely that the USA was targetting Syria. Iran seemed like a bait and switch tactic to me, intended to make people guess what the USA is going to do next.

EDIT: Actually if this does turn out to be true it will not be the first time a media blackout happened in recent memory. I cannot remember the other stories but it happens. By why are no Euro sources reporting on this either. BBC is silent as well.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Syria has completed the first phase of its withdrawal from Lebanon, moving all its forces to the eastern Bekaa valley or back to Syria, Lebanese sources say.

The redeployment includes intelligence agents and regular troops, who have left sites in northern Lebanon and overlooking Beirut, the sources say.

It has taken place ahead of a schedule given to the UN's envoy to the region.

The UN is calling for the complete withdrawal of all Syria's intelligence personnel and its 14,000 troops.

"There are just some logistics left. But the people went, all of them," a senior Lebanese security source is quoted as saying.

The source, quoted by the Reuters news agency, said 8,000 -10,000 Syrian troops remained in the Bekaa valley while the rest had left the country entirely.

This is all I could find on the BBC ....

[edit on 17-3-2005 by sardion2000]

[edit on 17-3-2005 by sardion2000]

Syria is on the Security Council. Invading that specific country is going to need UN backing.

The media blackout is very interesting. Im sure its for a reason on all sides.

Interesting side note: Both Condi Rice and the President of Egypt were in the area yesterday, no word on whether they were affected at all by this (perhaps?) coup.

Maybe the army saw a good oppurtunity and took it, or maybe the whole thing is just a nonsensical prank on the part of one blogger...

Remains to be seen.

Originally posted by subz
Syria is on the Security Council.

Like my grandfather always says when something doesn't matter, "That and 25 cents will get you a cup of coffee." (the price of coffee has gone up since he originally started saying that.)

Invading that specific country is going to need UN backing.

Hypothetically speaking, invading any nation requires UN backing. Almost none of the wars that have been fought since 1945 were technically legal. It never stops anybody.


I can't wait to see what happens here. The suspense is killing me.


EDIT: I almost wonder as much about the possibility that they caused it as I worry about the possibility that they were caught up in it. When I see somebody walk out of a building whistling innocently, then the building blows up, I always want to talk to the person who got just came out.

[edit on 17-3-2005 by The Vagabond]

Originally posted by The Vagabond
I can't wait to see what happens here. The suspense is killing me.

Right?! I've been up all night wondering where this train will stop...

I agree with the other points you made also..war isn't about permission anymore, never really has been.

There's no reason to ask for permission and wait to get it if you have the advantage by simply attacking. War is about victory, not about protocol.

a qucike search 'coup syria' on google groups brings up something very interesting - Google Groups Search

notice the dates of the first & 2nd posts......

mod edit: shortened link with bbcode

[edit on 17-3-2005 by Spectre]

Nothing on CBC News Mourning... Talking about the Air india fiasco as thier top story. You would think that if there was a coup happening they would have had that as thier lead story... Very odd indeed.

Scrap that, Syria isnt on the Security Council now any way. My mistake

Just thinking aloud here: is it feasible that these coup leaders could of orchestrated the Rafiki bombing knowing full well Assads reaction to the pressure would be removing of troops from Lebanon? Thus giving them a a popular reason to seize power for themselves.

Now who these coup leaders are working for is the million dollar question: America, Iran or even Israel. All have something to gain by destabilizing Syria for an excuse to invade.

Did anyone look at the fine print of the Iran/Syria defence pact? Did it call for Iranian support (read invasion/occupation) for Syria against domestic aggressors?

[edit on 17/3/05 by subz]

Originally posted by subz
Scrap that, Syria isnt on the Security Council now any way. My mistake

I think they are on the Human Rights Council

They were on the Security Council when the Iraq War kicked off.

Originally posted by justyc
a qucike search 'coup syria' on google groups brings up something very interesting - link

notice the dates of the first & 2nd posts......

Nice find.

Here's a lot more articles from 2004:
link

An interesting quote below from March 2004:

No, no, no! First, Hasakah, where my husband is from, is NOT a "Kurdish city." This was NOT a soccer-related riot just because it occurred during a soccer match. This was a pre-planned riot by instigators who are taking advantage of outside western backing. The Kurds, not content with the land grabs they have made in Iraq and establishing a homeland-by-theft in that region, are planting the seeds for the same in Syria and Iran (they can't get away with it in Turkey because we need Turkey as a strategic NATO ally). They showed up at the game with posters of Bush and Blair and were shouting anti-Arab slogans and burning the Syrian flag.

We have been in contact with my husband's family in Qamishly and Hasakah. They are scared out of their minds. Schools are still closed and you can hear gunfire at night. There is concern that the government will have trouble dealing with this problem; government feels it is being "set up." That any negative action they take will result in an excuse for an invasion by the US. Not kidding here folks.

While we were all questioning Israel and the US, we were forgetting about the Kurd and their plans for 'Kurdistan'.

Originally posted by subz
They were on the Security Council when the Iraq War kicked off.

AH That is right! Now I remember thx.

NOW I KNOW THIS IS FAKE SOMEONE ERASESD ALL THE POSTES I MADE IN HERE LAST NIGHT

digitalassassin
Are you sure you didn't post in the other thread on the same topic? I can't remember if you've replied to this thread or not, maybe U2U a mod and ask them?

As to the Kurdistan angle, it's a possibility, the US has certainly backed them so far, maybe they'll chip in a buy them a piece of somebody's country like we did for Israel all those years ago...

I see no independent confirmation of this. If there was any reports from Syria then it would have been picked up by BBC Monitoring, they keep watch on every major news agency.

I think it's more wishful thinking to get the Lebanese whipped up further.

has anyone else tried to look thru the blogs from syria....
I've looked at some real early this morning didn't see anything.....not really sure if they really were from syria, although I think some were.
there didn't seem to be anything on them....

don't know, kind of think it might be bogus?

the original source that was posted for this seems to be rather pro-bush, can anyone think of how Washington could benefit from the Lebanese thinking that there was a coup in Syria?

Who knows, maybe there is American troops cutting through the country now, on their way to Syria or something????


strange story.....

I believe it's been debunked. Check out this link. Not sure how credible it is, but it seems like the truth.

www.publiuspundit.com...

Originally posted by sardion2000
I believe it's been debunked. Check out this link. Not sure how credible it is, but it seems like the truth.

www.publiuspundit.com...

Excellent find!
This did appear to be dubious to me when only one source was covering it, and every other story was based on the first.