U.S. CONDEMS ALEPPO ATTACKS

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
United States Condemns Attacks on Aleppo
Press Statement
Victoria Nuland
Department Spokesperson, Office of the Spokesperson
Washington, DC
February 23, 2013

The United States Government condemns in the strongest possible terms the series of rocket attacks against Aleppo, most recently the attack using Scud missiles on an eastern district of the city late on Friday, February 22, that killed several dozen people. The Friday attack follows the assault on Aleppo of Tuesday, February 19, that destroyed several city blocks in the Jabal Badr district of Aleppo and injured hundreds of innocent civilians. These attacks, as well as other atrocities such as the strike against a field hospital earlier in the week, are only the latest demonstrations of the Syrian regime's ruthlessness and its lack of compassion for the Syrian people it claims to represent.

The Assad regime has no legitimacy and remains in power only through brute force. From the city of Deir Zour in the far eastern part of Syria to the mountains of Jebel Akrad near the Mediterranean, Syrians across the country have demanded that Assad, and the architects of his violent campaign, step aside and allow a Syrian-led political transition to begin so that the rights of all Syrians can be respected, and the country can begin to rebuild. The United States sees no indication that the brave Syrian people fighting against this aggression will accept these regime leaders, with the blood of so many Syrians on their hands, as part of a transition governing authority.

The United States has contributed $385 million to help Syrian refugees and citizens inside Syria who have been displaced by regime violence. As the regime strikes out against more and more civilians, we have increased our humanitarian aid in close coordination with Syrian activists, and we have urged other countries to do so as well. We also have helped local administrative councils, provincial revolution councils and the local coordination committees organize themselves to play their vital role in the revolution. We look forward to meeting soon with the leadership of the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, the Syrian Opposition Coalition, to discuss how the United States and other friends of the Syrian people can do more to help the Syrian people achieve the political transition that they demand and that they deserve

SECRETARY OF DEFENSE PANETTA PREDICTS ATTACKS ON ALEPPO WILL CAUSE ASSAD'S DOWNFALL

 

FROM: U.S. DEPARTMENT OF DEFENSE

Panetta: Aleppo Attacks Will Cause Assad's Downfall
By Jim Garamone
American Forces Press Service
ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, July 29, 2012 - The Syrian regime's attacks on the citizens of Aleppo ultimately will be "a nail in Assad's coffin," Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta said today.

Panetta is traveling to North Africa and the Middle East for a series of meetings, and Syria figures prominently in his conversations in Israel, Jordan, Egypt and Tunisia.

Bashar Assad's forces have launched heavy attacks against Aleppo, Syria's largest city. The violence that the regime is launching against its own people will ensure that the regime will fall eventually, Panetta told reporters traveling with him.

The international community has brought economic and diplomatic pressure on Syria to stop the violence and to have Assad step down for a transition to a democratic form of government. "The key right now is to continue to bring that pressure to bear on Syria to provide assistance to the opposition and to provide whatever humanitarian aid we can to assist the refugees," Panetta said en route to Tunisia.

The United States must not do anything to show that the international community is anything other than unified in the effort to bring the Assad regime down, the secretary said.

Panetta also discussed the chemical and biological warfare sites in Syria that U.S. planners say need to be secured. "We've been in close coordination with countries in the region to ensure that this is happening," the secretary said.

The United States also is working with Turkey and Jordan to provide humanitarian assistance to refugees from Syria.