Reports of a chemical attack in a Damascus suburb on Wednesday, Aug. 21, marked a turning point in the attitude of the United States and its allies toward the Syrian government. Disparate rebel groups have been fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad’s regime since 2011. Syria has responded by shooting and bombing its people, as well as committing human rights abuses against its citizens such as torture and rape.

More than 100,000 people have died and millions more, including 1 million children, have fled their homes. Many have left for Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan and Iraq (map), where they face hardship while awaiting their fate in sprawling refugee camps.

The consequences of Syria’s war extend beyond its borders, as violence spills into other countries and threatens to destabilize the region. Clashes between Shia government supporters and fighters from Syria’s majority-Sunni population have prompted bomb attacks in Lebanon and Iraq. Foreign fighters have joined battles on both sides, including Hezbollah for the government and radical Sunnis for the opposition. Instability has attracted jihadist groups, which have seized territory for their own use.

The conflict has unfolded as world powers vie to advance their interests in the region. Russia, one of the Assad government's strongest allies, has repeatedly stymied western governments’ efforts to find a political solution.

The narrative in Syria is not as simple as a country’s oppressed majority fighting against an authoritarian regime. Extremist elements among the opposition make the West nervous, and Syria’s fragmented opposition lacks a clear directive. That could lead to further instability should the Assad regime fall.

Chemical weapons watchdog verifies previously inaccessible Syrian site

(Reuters) - Global chemical weapons watchdog inspectors using footage from sealed cameras have verified one of two remaining sites declared by Syria, the organization said on Thursday.

The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), which is charged with overseeing the destruction of Syria's chemical weapons stockpile, had already verified 21 out of 23 sites declared to the agency last month.

Two sites were considered too dangerous to reach.

"The additional site inspected is in the region of Aleppo and was one of the two sites that could not be visited earlier due to safety and security reasons," the OPCW said in a statement.

"As per the declaration by Syria, the site was confirmed as dismantled and long abandoned with the building showing extensive battle damage," it said.

Syria has proposed destroying its stockpile at a location outside the country because of ongoing fighting. More than 100,000 people have been killed and some 2.2 million people have fled during the

DESTRUCTION TALKS

The progress comes after the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Samantha Power, suggested on Tuesday that the government of President Bashar al-Assad may not have disclosed its entire chemical weapons program to the OPCW.

Under a Russian-American brokered deal, Syria agreed to destroy its entire stockpile of toxic nerve agents and munitions by mid-2014.

Syria declared 30 production, filling and storage facilities, eight mobile filling units and three chemical weapons-related facilities. They contained about 1,300 metric tons (1,433 tons) of chemical weapons, mostly in the form of raw precursors, and 1,230 unfilled munitions.

A delegation of Syrian officials on Wednesday began talks in The Hague, where the OPCW is headquartered, to work out a detailed destruction plan by November 15.

The discussions are based on the assumption the weapons will be shipped overseas for destruction, a source involved in the talks told Reuters on Thursday.

Syria cannot afford to pay for the expensive destruction process itself and has appealed for significant foreign financing and logistical support.

(Reporting By Anthony Deutsch; Editing by John Stonestreet and Elizabeth Piper)

What does the Bible say?

[Isaiah 19:23-25] In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria. The Assyrians will go to Egypt and the Egyptians to Assyria. The Egyptians and Assyrians will worship together. In that day, Israel will be the third, along with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing on the earth. The Lord Almighty will bless them saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, Assyria my handiwork, and Israel my inheritance."

Syria is a creation of one of the big powers, just like Iraq was. Iraq was a keystroke of Winston Churchill. He formed Iraq. It used to be Mesopotamia. And now it's Iraq. And the same thing with Syria. There was a big fight over whether the British or the French would get it, and the French got it. Syria has a ba'athist regime just like Saddam Hussein.

But they will join together. You can see the geography from Egypt through Israel into Assyria. According to the Bible they're going to be at peace with one another.

I would think it would be marvelous if one of the things that the United States insists on is that they make a peace treaty with Israel. We need to tell Syria you are not going to be lobbing shells through your surrogates Hizbollah into northern Israel, but make peace. Then all of a sudden Egypt has a peace treaty with Israel, and now Syria and Iraq would come together under the United States influence. What a wonderful thing this can be and what a fulfillment of Bible prophecy!

Biblical Times

Isaiah says this is a time when all of the nations are going to be living in peace. He didn't say Syria, but he said Assyria. The Assyrian Empire extended from Ur of Chaldeas, up the Tigress-Euphrates valley toward Baghdad then across to the Mediterranean, taking in modern day Syria. So Assyria in the Bible included modern day Iraq and Syria. And in the end days there is going to be a coalition between Iraq and Syria. So the events that are taking place right now are extremely significant. I can see a coalition, a federation. We are not talking invasion, but it could happen. This area right now is stirred up with hatred and bitterness. This would encompass modern day Lebanon, which the Syrians have occupied illegally.

Source: CBN Pat Robertson