I do not know who is advising Obama on the Middle East. Rebels may use the Manpads on military Syrian jets first but then they will use on any plane from any country including the US if they feel like it. I doubt the deal will be approved.

1. GHUFRAN
There has been much talk about this issue, it is wrong to believe that the United States is the only player in the area! Kurds need the same weapon to deal with the arrogance of Turkey.
The Palestinians also need to deal with the Israeli arrogance and so on ….

The biggest deterrent for the US to doing that is that Syria then will be justified to do the same to the PKK, Hamas and Hezbollah which has not so far, from bad to worse, The Syrian conflict is going..

Approval of manpads = Bye, bye to Assad’s airforce…

Mr Mjabali seems awfully concerned about someone who’s contribution he regards as zilch.

Perhaps it’s just bad taste in music.

DJ I’m not, however I’m sure Tara has better taste and appreciates Elvis Costello and John Denver.

Shaykh Yaqoubi on BBC World Service: Heart & Soul.

Sheik Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi

Duration: 29 minutes
First broadcast:Saturday 29 March 2014

Hopeless is a word used often these days about Syria – millions have fled and tens of thousands have been killed in brutal circumstances.

[…]

Shelagh Fogarty talks to him for Heart and Soul about the moral dilemmas of supporting armed protest, and the role of clerics and scholars in bringing about political reform in Syria.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p01w4v2r

Talking about Shelagh Fogarty, I hope Shaykh Yaqoubi didn’t have mice in his (Moroccan) house*:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uAcniOCKtug

*I don’t suppose she’d be interested in interviewing any Rats (rebels) in Syria?

Uzair:

People like you are destroying my country Syria. Look at the hoards of foreigners in Syria and what they are doing.

There is Zero benefit that could come from people like you to Syria today, tomorrow and in the near future.

Go take care of the problems of your country Pakistan that seems to be in need of your “expertise.”

Still waiting to see when you post something that matters to us Syrians regarding Syria on this blog that is called Syria Comment…

Syrians that are encouraging you to interfere in OUR business are conspiring against their own country.

Pakistan your country needs your “help,” and not Syria. We saw what your likes have done so far.

No matter what US government does not dare to provide MANPADS to the rebels, period!

The reason is quite simple: If any civilian airplane especially one that run by US airlines got shot down by a Manpads or any American gets killed in similar incident regardless what country the airplane belongs to. The fallout will be detrimental to US government regardless whether the weapon is traced back to US’ supply or not.

Saudi is quite desperate to “win” its Syria war against Iran. They are willing to do anything. But they are quite dumb because they might get ensnared by their own risky moves and could not find a way out.

After the savage fighters in Lattakia get wiped out, what will be the next military flashpoint then?

Deraa sends out mixed news. Over 500 ex-rebel fighters just got released after promising not fighting the government again. If the regime is not confident enough in Deraa, they would not have done that.

Mr Mjabali said:

‘People like you are…’

Please don’t associate me with the ‘hoards of foreigners’. I’m a concerned citizen of the world and fully support the legitimate rights of the Syrian people.

You can’t put the genie back in the bottle. Syria (unlike Pakistan) was in the news for the first 2 years 24-7, one couldn’t get away from it (from the horror). The syrian people needed support and as the propaganda battle was massively one sided (advantage regime) with many non syrians helping Assad’s propaganda effort I thought I’d do my little bit to help spread the truth/reality of the situation.

It seems you don’t have a problem with foreigners helping the regime. I remember a couple of years ago when I wrote about how foreign regime propagandists (eg serbs) helped get AJE blog comment section closed down by spamming it, you countered by telling me how dare I attack or criticise non syrian comment/contribution (along them lines). In fact yesterday I unsuccessfully searched for your comment to remind you.

The Denbunkation* of Assadist Media

For two years, a media led propaganda and smear campaign conducted by Assad loyalists and political allies has been running rampant on social media and on major state controlled news organisations such as SANA, PressTV, Fars and RussiaToday, spreading falsified images and unverified video footage to a huge audience attempting to vastly exaggerate and falsify abuses of some rebel battalions; generalise crimes on all groups; and cover up documented crimes against humanity committed by the Assad regime.

This blog is an attempt to unravel 2 years worth of internet propaganda that has led to the creation of a worldwide online Assadist cult. Piece by piece, image by image, video by video.

“Debunkation” *(Coined 23/08/2013)

http://the-assad-debunkation.tumblr.com/

Uzair the “international concerned citizen”

You are one of the hoards of foreigners invading Syria. The difference here: they have the guts to go and fight and you do not.

You are not for peace in my country Syria.

You speak clearly of your support of their military action, lately, the offensive in the Coastal areas.

Do not lie and take responsibility for what you say.

To me: you are an enemy endangering the welfare of my direct family and friends.

Isn’t it amazing when a Pakistani like you claims to know nothing about his country Pakistan and stick his nose this much in the Syrian affairs…..

Again: To me you are an enemy calling for the death of my family.

The problem is that Putin says that he is within the law when he honors arms deals with the regime and delivers more and more helicopters.

When the Putin/Mullahs/HA stop helping him then the others will also do so.

Realpolitik

It is G7 nowadays Mr. MacMichael, and 5 out of its seven members still recognize the coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian People. And that coalition has a temporary government,effective or otherwise. If Obama is really committed (very strong if), the coalition’s relevance and stature can be revived and the temporary government, which is already beginning to do things, can be strengthened and can provide a legal way out.

Sorry, but the arguments you pose are both simplistic and weak.

please mjabali, must we endure these personal attacks?
give us some history lessons like you used to cover. it would wonderful if you could go over some alawite philosophy.
how about introduce us to some traditional songs?

It is also estimated that thousands of MANPADs from the global inventory of one million produced by the 20 countries who are capable of producing them and their parts remain unaccounted for with many already in the hand of terrorist organizations (including hizbullah). So fear mongering such as in this article, which was enthusiastically gobbled and echoed by Ghuf in the first comment, is useless. One should be more worried about Hizbulla’s iranian armament in terms of global terrorism than of future attacks by members of the Free Syrian Army.

Providing effective air defense to Syrians against the murderous assad gangs is no longer a military issue. It is a humanitarian issue. Every day, while assad propagandists and apologists on Syria Comment and elsewhere try to mislead readers, tens if not hundreds of innocent Syrians, including children are blasted by primitive, hateful, barrels of death. It is pathetic that the western analyst does not see this and has miserably failed to refer to it in this weak post.

Omen:

Are you going to give those who hired you a refund because so far your performance here is miserable at best.

BSyria offers this stellar solution to answer your “non-state actors” quibbling.

KSA can allay fears of MANPADS misuse. Let Saudi commandos enter Syria and supervise their use.

4. UZAIR8 said:
/Approval of manpads = Bye, bye to Assad’s airforce…/
Afghan experience has shown the futility of such a weapon! Because it restricted the effectiveness of distance!!!
But ….? The Hell !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

—
Your CRIMINAL-in-Chief: Obama Wants To Arm Syrian Rebels With Anti Aircraft Missiles, As He Cozies Up With Criminal Saudi’s
Read more at http://investmentwatchblog.com/your-criminal-in-chief-obama-wants-to-arm-syrian-rebels-with-anti-aircraft-missiles-as-he-cozies-up-with-criminal-saudis/#ZVwalz8ZwosWEErk.99

http://intellihub.com/shocking-video-world-leaders-wear-pyramid-symbol-major-international-meeting/

i see you fail to mention the executive order obama earlier signed that authorizes the US to provide support for the opposition. im not sure but something tells me that would override most of your objections.

why are proposals for intervention held to a higher standard while all the laws assad regime violates every damn day waging crimes against humanity go ignored?

as for this…

Finally, consider that Assad’s military has thousands of Manpads but, even now, he has not supplied them to Hezbollah, Hamas, the Kurdish rebels in Turkey, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, ISIS in Iraq, or to terrorists bound for Europe or the United States. If President Obama makes the wrong decision, he may change that.

is this a threat by proxy? whose interests are you representing, mr. mcmichael?

that would be a dream come true for bashar to pull something stupid, force obama’s hand for once & give him an excuse to drop a jdam atop of assad’s head. make my day.

http://youtu.be/6JvTVrZVr9c?t=1s

OMEN
What i find also interesting in the paragraph you quoted is the implicit recognition that the assad regime is behind the “Hezbollah, Hamas, the Kurdish rebels in Turkey, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, ISIS in Iraq, or to terrorists bound for Europe or the United States.”, . If for no other reason than this, this specific paragraph should be a reason for Obama and other world leaders to take strong action to remove this threat to world peace, which is the assad regime, and to return iran to its natural dimensions as a minor backward player in regional affairs.

Not well thought at all, not well thought. In fact, reading this paragraph made me think of a well known apologist for arab and muslim tyrants and despots (including bin laden) with the name of Abdel-bari Atwan. He would have probably written exactly the same text.

If the Zionist- Saudi Kingdom imagines that it able to get the key to Damascus by all the demons of the world it is daydreaming. Thereupon
Russia will open all the doors and windows to the hell on the heads of all actors!! Alaska and 20 countries in the European continent will be under consideration!!!

dont like manpads? give us a nato or turkey implemented no-fly zone. but you’d probably invent fresh objections over that proposal too, im sure.

regarding this…

Even worse, as documented with photographic evidence by the Brown Moses Blog, those Saudi-purchased Croatian weapons are now being used in Iraq against the Iraqi Army by the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), a group so savage that it has been expelled from al-Qaeda.

[…]

Finally, consider that Assad’s military has thousands of Manpads but, even now, he has not supplied them to Hezbollah, Hamas, the Kurdish rebels in Turkey, Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, ISIS in Iraq,

reading between the lines, is this a tacit admission assad is colluding with ISIS? after all, the regime wouldnt just hand over weapons to unknown actors they haven’t already established a relationship with.

Someone posted this elsewhere today which I’ve just finished reading.

Nasser Hadian: Reasons Iran Wants Peace in Syria

February 4, 2014

Iran has turned the corner on Syria, its longstanding ally in the Arab world. It still wants close ties to a country that is the strategic center of the Arab world. But after three years of war, Tehran is also increasingly concerned that Syria may not hold together if President Bashar Assad stays in power because of bitter passions that now divide political factions, religious sects, ethnic groups and territory.

The Islamic Republic is now looking for an internationally negotiated solution with five goals: protection of minorities, credible democratic election, stability, containing jihadi militants and sectarianism, and an end to the killing. Tehran has not been willing to publicly embrace the Geneva I framework for negotiations, but it still would prefer to be part of the process.

[…]

http://iranprimer.usip.org/blog/2014/feb/04/nasser-hadian-reasons-iran-wants-peace-syria

ya beat me to it, hamster.

…

p.s. kurds already have manpads.

Have enough for Today ! keep daydreaming!

The strengthening of relations between the Islamic Republic of Pakistan and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in the defence and security arenas reflects modern political trends in the Middle East at large, on both sides of the Strait of Hormuz.
by Natalia Zamarayeva, PhD in History, Senior Research Fellow in the Pakistan Department
http://journal-neo.org/2014/03/30/rus-pakistan-saudovskaya-araviya-strategicheskoe-sotrudnichestvo-chast-2/

If Hizballah has no access to Assadists MANPADS (and this is a big if) it is because Israel keeps bombing the convoys to supply HA, and not a lack of trying to supply it by the Assadists Mafia.

This post by this author along with the previous one lacks any real substance and comes through as extremely apologetic to the regime.

It would help to actually research the subject at hand before writing a post about…

The author of fantasme filled text with references to “ keys to Damascus, world demons, and doors and windows to hell is telling us to stop dreaming…..Sit tight folks, the voice of rational exuberance has spoken.

UZAIR
There is not a shred of evidence supporting the speculative Iran friendly article by Nasser Hadian. Iran is still providing forces for the personal protection of assad, weapons and training and monetary support to hizbullah’s and iraqi sectarian militias’ military adventures in murdering syrians. Such article could for all reasons be a fig leaf cover for the mullas, who are well known for the talk about rationality and peace while acting in fully irrational and criminal manners. For all practical reasons it belongs to the type of deceptive discourse practiced by SC’s own infamous assad apologist Otrakji.

So, you want the world to trust islamists with Manpads?
what about trusting them not to steal charity money and divert it to terrorism?

“Birmingham-based Children in Deen has had all cash transfers put on hold ­after we discovered it was still using the fund-raising platform despite being probed by the Charity Commission.
The move comes a month after father-of-three Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41, allegedly used one of the group’s aid convoys to travel to Syria before carrying out a suicide ­bombing.
Majeed, from Crawley in West Sussex, died when he drove a truck packed with ­ explosives into the wall of Aleppo prison. The attack killed dozens and allowed ­hundreds to escape”

30. SYRIAN HAMSTER
/The author is telling us to stop dreaming…../
Are you Saudi official? or Obama advisor for Saudi relationship? Are you, who makes the decision to armament?
Do not try to play with the right address!
kindergarten!

After 9 days of losses and then a stalemate the Army seems ready to regain control of lost territories in northern Latakia and hopefully push deeper towards the borders with Turkey.
The strategic 45 point which changed hands few times is now under army’s control.
Northern Qalamon is under form control of the army and terrorists now can not come from Irsal to deliver car bombs to Syria or go the opposite way to kill civilians in Lebanon, this will add pressure on the Lebanese army which lost 6 soldiers yesterday in a suicide car bombing.
It tells a lot about you when your heroes are suicide bombers and head-cutting terrorists.

If the rebels cannot be trusted with MANPADS the Assadists definitely cannot be trusted either, Ghufran.

Not only are Assadists untrustworthy with MANPADS but Sarin, an Airforce, heck even an AK is too much for them.

Either the world actually does something to rid Syria of Assad or the field of war should be evened out.

No longer can we fault Syrians for wanting a deterrence to the barrels of death being lobbed at them. Last month over 3000 Syrians died from tgose barrels, where is the world outrage for that!

ALAN
You need glue… not for sniffing, but mainly to tie your words together a tad bit better.

Ghufran’s transmutation from “an oppositionist” to “a spokesperson” for SAA on SC is rather telling. Of what!.. I dare not venture.

31. SYRIAN HAMSTER

I left out the description of the article as I didn’t want to have to link to the forum (Shiachat).

I was more interested in Iran’s ‘motives’ and the ‘straight facts’ in the article as the poster claimed:

One of the best articles articulating Iran’s position in the conflict by Dr. Nasser Hadian, professor at Tehran university. No emotional buster, just straight facts and motives:

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/topic/235021347-turkey-plots-false-flag-attack/#entry2686749

I suppose it’s good some of the cold facts are presented to the Shia audience. I wasn’t pleased to see the bit about chemical weapons. It seems the author also believes it was the rebels responsible.

Also I thought I’d throw the article out there to see if there was any substance to the claims of shifting Iranian thinking.

That said, the article was from early February. Can’t remember when Geneva happened…

UZAIR
Your response is much appreciated. Thank you.

Alan

The other day I was browsing in a store and was pondering whether to buy a (pre-owned) DVD movie called ‘Wolfhound’ (2006). Described as an epic like Lord of the Rings.

It’s a Russian film and was a big hit in the country, however, according to wiki, there arent many critical reviews in the english-speaking world due to lack of availability (of the film in the west).

Have you watched it? Is it any good? Would you recommend it?

I’ll probably buy it tomorrow anyway. Only £1.

Syrian Hamster

Your welcome.

Besides I don’t want to appear providing a fig leaf cover for Tehran, LOL.

Seem for good dancers, testicles are interfere !

The issue is not whether the Syrian army is good or bad, the issue is whether to allow terrorists access to weapons that can shoot down civilian airplanes, I have no doubt in my mind that they will if they can, those terrorists only listen to sheikhs and Beduins who are as evil as them.

43. GHUFRAN
/to allow terrorists access to weapons that can shoot down civilian airplane /
You need glue too ! 😉

I was wrong, not even super glue will help.

????
I recommend watching our fantasies from informed Western sources such as http://www.stratfor.com/
There you can find information about attractive films !
http://youtu.be/g478HcJLJVw?t=1s
sorry that is not on the Pakistani language!

I’m getting a strong feeling….a strong sense that the regime’s time is coming to an end. Imminently.

Strong enough for me write it down and share it…

It’s over…

It’s been one hell of a journey…exhausting just following it..

Buried emotion will soon surface…mourning for loss…tears of joy…

It’s here..just around the corner…

In Sha Allah.

I don’t know. It sounds like, as Ghufran is claiming, the regime is desperately fighting hard in North Latakia. It’s make-or-break for them. If they fail to keep the rebels at bay…and defences are breached…Latakia’s gone. The localised NDF won’t be able to withstand real combat and defend the rest of the coast.

If this happens..then terror and panic will grip the regime in Damascus and then it’s as Sheikh Nazim predicted previously…they will run…

Allah Knows best.

????
Hold your temper, man. What’s going on you?
What Sheikh -Nazim?…- said?

Just read on Ir. Mil. Forum PM Erdogan won the elections. Can’t find nothing on it on google.

If true:

Congratulations to His Excellency Prime Minister Erdogan and to the AKP Party!

Alan

Since you asked…

Sheikh Nazim’s ‘premonition’ (?)- 1st August 2011

When the time comes, finish all of Sham will surrender. Allah Almighty will put fear in the hearts of Ba’thiyyin. When that fear is put in their hearts, none of them can stay in there anymore.

How to say? Even if you look for them to give them (emergency) medical treatment you still won’t be able to find even one of them. They will be gone…They will run so fast that their heels will hit their bottoms. They will not run at day time, but at night time. They won’t wait the day time. Just put some fear in their hearts, no guns nor cannons needed then.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/sheiknazimforum/message/7098

We can only speculate…

Allah Almighty Knows best.

???? !
What is your profession? Except being a logistics officer of course 😀 !

A tip for the Ikhwanji posters out there who are about to pass out fearing a defeat for Erdugang “party”, here is the best link to soothe your nerves:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/election2014/election.html
voters turnout was about 23%, Erdugang party in preliminary results won less than 44% of the mayoral races, that puts Erdu’s boys at the top but sitting on some stiff opposition, I will wait to see how did erdu do compared to last elections.
Where is albaath experts to advice Sultan Uthmani Extra strength Erdu on how to get 99.9% of the votes ?
I find UZ Air’s size 8 posts to be uplifting, up and lifting for sure.

What’s the brilliant Bashar after he’s “elected” got in mind for skilled middle class people like this?

Will the deal be they can return but will have to shut up or be locked up? More likely he is glad to be rid of them and will make it clear they are not welcome back.

Quote: “We put all the wrong on the government, because it destroys our home. The opposition don’t have the airplanes, don’t have the cannons and don’t have any guns that destroy our home. But the government destroys us”

Article: “Syria’s stolen lives”

Excerpt:

“Before he left the war-ravaged Syrian city of Aleppo, more than three months ago, Malak Moaws owned two houses and drove a relatively new car. Life was good, and, whenever the computer engineer could, he and his family spent weekends in the country, inviting friends and family along to share their modest prosperity.

“When the Syrian military dropped improvised barrel bombs on his neighbourhood in January, they devastated Moaws’s home, scorched his life savings and, he says, destroyed the most precious thing he has: his children’s future.

“My children are alive, but their lives have been stolen,” he says outside the entrance to the tent that is now his home, in the Minnieh refugee camp, near Tripoli in northern Lebanon.

[…]

“When one of our group tries to quietly hand Moaws some money, for his family, he refuses it. “I don’t want money. I want a job and a future,” he says. “This tent cost me $500 [€370], and the earth we rent costs $300 [€220], and we came from Syria with no money. It burned. I hope to go back to our life, to our job. That’s all that I want.

“The future in Syria is very bad now, and we haven’t any hope to go back. We put all the wrong on the government, because it destroys our home. The opposition don’t have the airplanes, don’t have the cannons and don’t have any guns that destroy our home. But the government destroys us.”

“Depending on which statistics you rely on, one in every third or fourth person living in Lebanon is now a Syrian refugee. Like Moaws, they are living in the 500 or so unofficial camps that are dotted mainly along the Syrian border. Many of them have no clean water, electricity or permanent structures to live in.”

http://www.irishtimes.com/news/world/middle-east/syria-s-stolen-lives-1.1741716?page=1

Taken from a pro regime site:

????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ????????… ( ????? )

???? ..

??? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ???????? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ??????…

???? ??????? ?????? ( ????? )
??? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ????? ????? ??? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ????. …

????? ????? ???? ????? ????? ???? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ?? ???? ???…..!!!!!

??? ?? ???? ????? ???????? ???? ??? ????? ..
???? ??? ???? ???…

?????? ??? ????????? ??????? ???????….

???????? ????? ?? ????? ???????? ???? ????? ?? 70???? ??? ..

??? ??? ???? ?????? ?????? ????? ?????? ? ????????? ???..

Here is a link to Haytham Almanna’ interview with Tony Khalifeh:

Good summary of Iran’s role SYRIAN HAMSTER (#31).

But I want to add the bits about Tehran supporting al Qaeda operatives and being unrepresentative and at odds with a substantial section of the Shia religious establishment.

(See sources on this in recent posts)

….A story, now revealed as a hoax, was placed in the Huffington Post on March 28, 2014 citing President Obama with authorizing Saudi Arabia’s arming of Al Qaeda with advanced air defense weapons capable of downing any commercial aircraft in the world….

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/03/23/neo-flight-370-another-us-conspiracy/

Ghufran,

The “army” you keep writing about is the biggest terrorist group in Syria. I say it is more likely that this “army” would shoot down a civilian airliner than the rag tag factions of rebels.

But what is more important than the potential of an airliner being shot down is the real numbers of victims dying daily in Syria being killed by an airforce lobbing barrels filled with dynamite at them.

What is more important in your opinion to stop this real threat to Syrians or the potential of perhaps a civilian airliner being shot down?

Either the world ensures that the airforce looses its capabilities to rain terror down at civilians or it should not stand in the way of Syrians acquiring the power to stop it. The status quo is absolutley not acceptable.

Why it’s important to start planning accountability mechanisms for post-Assad Syria. Among other things, it will send a signal to fighters on both sides that they’ll be held accountable for their actions.

Article: “Accounting for the atrocities of war in Syria”

Although the fighting in Syria rages on, accountability experts say now is the time to prepare the population of the war-torn state for the complexities of serving justice on a nationwide scale.

http://www.dw.de/accounting-for-the-atrocities-of-war-in-syria/a-17512164

Javier Espinosa, the spanish journalist that was released yesterday night after 6 months in the hands of unknown gang, has said that he will keep on fighting for showing what the Assad regime is doing with its own populations.

So Bashar and his $1 bllion palace are going to Hollywood!

Where will they find a real life actor freakish and creepy enough to play the young dictator? And they will need to recruit an anorexia sufferer if they want the Asma character in the soap opera to look authentic.

“Assad’s palace duplicated in Israeli city”

EXCERPT:

Syrian president’s luxurious residence to star in Fox network’s new high-profile drama ‘Tyrant,’ which will begin shooting in Kfar Saba in two weeks.

Bashar Assad’s palace is located on the highest spot in Damascus and looks like something from the Arabian Nights tales: 511,000 square meters (more than 5,500,000 square feet), marble halls combined with waterfalls and enchanted gardens, and a 20-meter (800-inch) high ceiling. It was built by famous Japanese architect Kenz? Tange and was inspired by Emerald City in “The Wizard of Oz.”

The palace cost $1 billion to build, and the Syrian president will likely not be thrilled to see it star in a Hollywood series –especially one filmed in Israel.

It took the 150 workers of a Dutch company 10 days to duplicate the most famous parts of the palace in the Israeli city of Kfar Saba. Tanks will be brought in soon, the actors will land here within two weeks, and the $30-million production will hit the road.

The high-profile drama, “Tyrant,” is being developed by “Homeland” creators Howard Gordon and Israeli director and scriptwriter Gideon Raff for American cable and satellite channel FX (owned by the Fox Entertainment Group).

The series, which will be aired this summer, tells the story of the young son of a dictator from a split nation in the Middle East, who moved to Los Angeles, married an American woman and works as a doctor. After a long exile he returns to his homeland with his family for his brother’s wedding. As his country experienced political turmoil, he is dragged back into local politics against his will and his family is drawn into the workings of a turbulent Middle Eastern nation.

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4504685,00.html

Congratulations to the syrian people. Erdoghan has won the Turkish Elections. And now he is free to begin the final round against Ass-ad.

Erdogan has the support of his people.

Assad has the support for criminals and mafias.

The computer became available so I left the TV where I was watching PM Erdogan speaking live to the crowd. I don’t know the result yet.

Anyway the PM made a good point a few minutes ago about the foreign office meeting incident and he asked the crowd whether they had heard the opposition say anything about it.

So true. I’m assuming the opposition haven’t said a word about such a breach of national security. Don’t they have the Turkish national interest at heart. I hope the Turkish people make note of this.

Happy Mother’s Day.

I guess Assad will be missing his mother on days like this.

I don’t suppose she can return home for the occasion whilst Latakia is under assault.

Nevermind. Maybe next year.

Let’s not forget those who have lost mothers in this conflict and mothers who have lost children who will have marked the occasion.

Our thoughts go out to them.

Syrian Hamster I wrote some time ago about the closet Shabiha that Goofy really is. Finally he came out labeling the rebels in Latakia terrorists.

Also I am copying an excerpt from his post here about the so called Sunni soldier who has been fighting non stop for two years and whose socks were rotting on his feet. This is clearly the work of his supposedly glorious SAA. He claims the soldier was fighting on for two years as if he was doing it of his own free will and of a desire to defend the country. Of course you and I know better that he was held hostage to the regime forced to fight for two years in horrendous conditions and without a chance to visit his family. Even the Russians during WWII allowed for their soldiers especially those that are deemed heroes to go visit their families every so often. This is the Red Army that lost 7 million people agains the Nazis and it allowed for time off from the battles for its heroes.

So here is a clear indication of how terrible this SAA is:

????? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ????????… ( ????? )

???? ..

??? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ???????? ??????? ????? ???? ???? ????? ?? ??? ???? ??? ??? ????? ?? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ??????…

???? ??????? ?????? ( ????? )
??? ?????? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ????? ????? ??? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ????. …

This is from Goofy the closet Shabih

If he came out my dear Syrian Hamster it is because the situation is not so good these days.

Goofy this is for you from none other than Cham Press

Income from tourism is down 99%

http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=ar/Article/view/37669

Have a popsicle to sooth the throat

Haytham Manna’ has better credentials and much higher credibility than the people who are criticizing him, his history speaks for itself. He was right from day one and he is still right today. The struggle to topple the regime was a political one and should have stayed political, the destruction and the damage would have been much less and the results would have been better. Most Syrians did not like the Syrian regime and they were ready for a change but they were not ready to welcome thieves and sectarian head cutters in the name of toppling Assad. Look at how syrians are doing today after 3 years of a war headed by islamists on the “opposition” side. this business of an eye for an eye turned Syria into a nation of blind people ( thank you Ghandi). Many Syrian expats will have to explain to their children why they chose the destructive violent path and allied themselves with the GCC, turkey and NATO, and why they were begging for a military strike against Syria and cheering every time israel attacked their birth country. Some of you will be like the militant Cuban expats who are today irrelevant and distant. Instead of the childish and name calling posts tell us how much you paid in 2013 to help needy Syrians, remember : buying weapons for the rebels and money spent to support nusra is not tax deductible.
?? ???? ? ???? ????
Rebels do not need Manpads they need a leader and a course on how to interpret al- Quran.

Today: 4 rockets fell on the Alawite village of Zigrin, and 7 fell on al-Bahluliyah. They were fired from the area close to Kassab.

Today a Saudi Jihadi Sheikh fighting in Kassab and collecting money to buy missiles said in a tweet:

In one assembly in Kassab there are brothers from more than ten countries that were united under the banner of al-Jihad and to support the people of al-Sham..
How great is this religion…

?? ???? ???? ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ?????
?????? ??? ?????

From Turkish press:
(Hürriyet Daily)
Here is the naked truth: Half of those corruption claims in any other democratic country would be enough for the collapse of the government; in Turkey it cost only some 5 points of loss in support of Prime Minister Tayyip Erdo?an’s votes in the local elections on March 30.
It is also true that Turkey has never experienced an election with so much fraud claims in decades. Power outages in critical districts of critical cities like Istanbul and Ankara on elections night, replacing of poll box observers of the ruling Justice and Development Party (AK Parti) during the vote count allegedly by street bullies to intimidate observers from other parties, especially in Ankara, trying to prevent poll observers from being in the room during voting, in especially the east and southeast of the country, are some of those claims.

(Erdugang now wants to change the political system and runs for president to become a real Sultan)

Swimming guidelines on al-Anfal Beach….

https://twitter.com/mhesne/status/449657217739141120/photo/1

As I mentioned before the Turkish are not ready for a truly progressive social and political structure.

The truth is that Islam and democracy are exclusive in a society.

Turkey will not be a member of EU in foreseeable future.

I doubt Erdogan has the guts to escalate his personal Syrian war.

evidence of kurds with manpads.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BexfF1LCMAA7gQq.jpg

i tried to engage them online to get an explanation how kurds in good conscience could have sat on their hands and allow assad to demolish half of syria & continue to kill so many thousands – when they have the means by which to counter him.

they’re still harboring grievances they didn’t get support when kurds rose up against the regime several years ago.

nmsyria faults the opposition for having failed to woo the support of the kurds when that should have been a priority at the start of the uprising. something burhan ghalioun should answer for.

literally just a handful – five – 1,2,3,4,5 – manpads to the opposition in the hopes of liberating 22 million syrians – BAD.

fearmongered as predicating the downfall of the western world. a grave threat.

nevermind this merely a proposal and unlikely to materialize.

meanwhile the regime is stacked to the rim with arms, launching every form of weapon known to man (minus nukes) against unarmed civilians. the international community does little to bar russia or iran from continuing to supply the regime.

do we hear mr. mcmichael lament against that?

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BDa5_DnCQAIMATF.jpg

*crickets*

17. mjabali said: omen: Are you going to give those who hired you a refund because so far your performance here is miserable at best.

?

#67 Ghufran

I agree. Mr. Mannaa has been a consistent logical patriotic voice throughout this crisis. Many in the Syrian opposition have not been too kind to him, and that is unfortunate.

Having said that, I have a few comments on Mr. Mannaa’s performance:

1. He is not a diplomat or a consensus builder. There are important traits for any aspiring political party leader.

2. He comes across as too arrogant. Reminds me of Al Gore sometimes. People do not like to always be lectured.

3. He made a mistake by openly criticizing, un-constructively, all countries who could help Syria and the revolution, from Saudi and Qatar, to Turkey, to France and US, etc.

4. While I also had hoped that the revolution stayed peaceful and not fall in the regime’s militarization plan, I would not blame the victims for carrying arms to protect themselves. He did, again un-constructively. By doing so he alienated many of the rebels.

5. His understanding of how the US works is limited. Perhaps his judgement about the US is clouded by his early marxist years. He needs to make an effort to understand the US and turn it into a partner instead of an enemy. I think he has been doing so lately.

Having said all of that, he is someone I would consider voting for as a president of Future Syria.

#70 Mjabali

Depressing! From one mafia to another. Everyone wants to rob Syrians of their freedom and dignity. How depressing!

Swiming in the shallow water!

It seems that the University of Sorbonne did not educate Mr. Galyoon to know that the Kurds are of Persian race, and they have the mentality is different from the mentality of the Semites!

Mr. Galyoon – is a failed student at Bernard-Henri Levy!

another reality mr. mcmichael avoids mentioning: because of their delicate electronics, manpads have a short shelf life. they dont represent a long enduring threat.

assad is the target. why would rebels in syria make the arduous trek to travel out of country to take down a western airliner? what purpose would that serve? not a plausible scenario.

plus, mr. mcmichael neglects to highlight the safeguards advertised that would be in place were they happen to fall in the “wrong hands”:

Only five missile launchers would initially be furnished. Each use of them is to be videoed, and each would be fitted with a tracking device and a remote shutdown mechanism.

what’s your excuse now?

Assad is a failed student in Hafez Al Assad School. And failed in all fields of life.

As a result of the fighting units of the Kurdish self defense with the Islamists ISIS and other radical groups for March 30, 2014, occurring in the vicinity of localities Ain Arab and Afrin, to the territory of Iraqi Kurdistan left around 600 Kurds. There is information that during the events in the north of the province of Aleppo region left 300,000 Kurds who are placed in 6 created in Iraqi Kurdistan camps in its three areas.
Thanks you revolutionaries for such modest results!

Here’s the culture of Sorbonne in Kassab !
http://youtu.be/7oXbTIok7d8?t=22s
But how can people not understand that should join the defense, to learn in a short time in weapons and defend their homes?

Turkey Rise up!
Turkey Rise up!
Turkey Rise up!
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2014/03/turkey-hatay-province-border-war.html

Aleppo Reports that Assad-forces detained 280 Shabiha in Safira because of their refusal to fight in the countryside of Lattakia.

The situation in Turkey is ready for the opening scene of a regime change! Turkey rise up!
The Turks will pull out Erdogan and his cohorts from the roots!
Turkey Spring has become ongoing.

Documenting Hizbullah funerals to get the number of HA deaths. Looks reliable since this is not anti-HA source:

http://mostlyoff.wordpress.com/2014/03/31/funerals-of-hezbollah-fighters-killed-in-syria/

In detail
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/ccc?key=0Am1WLKyxQY2ldEtQQzVBaE5KOU5tS0VIM1pJU2RYRnc&usp=drive_web#gid=0
===

The true symbol of a comic book tinpot dictator – a $1 billion palace in a small poor country (#61).

Syrian “leader” Bashar Assad is housed in premises bigger and more costly than the official homes of the leaders of wealthy nations USA, Germany and Japan combined.

After he’s been forced to pack up and flee, a damp patch on his trousers and his laptop under his arm, Syrians are finally going to see inside this $1 billion sinister fortress and hideaway paid for with their funds.

Imagine their reaction to this criminal’s nest, a crude peasant fantasy of glamor and glory high on the hill, on territory ordinary citizens were strictly forbidden to approach.

Stand by for anger, disgust and mockery many times the scale of that directed at the former president of Ukraine, Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi when their tacky dream palaces were exposed to the eyes of the world.

The Israeli government propaganda department would see the film set replica of the Assad home being constructed for the “young dictator story” as a very clever idea and good investment.

from previous thread:

74. Amir in Tel Aviv said:

What should be done from here on?
The sane elements within the opposition should negotiate a truce with the regime. If the regime insist on Assad remaining in power during a transition period, so be it. Yes, you heard it right.

Assad is finished politically, internally and internationally. Let a political process start, instead of the continuation of grinding Syria and it’s people into rubbles.

…

82. Amir in Tel Aviv said:

Of course this mafia regime is responsible! It is brutal, totalitarian, merciless. The Assads broke the opposition by killing, imprisoning and forcing them into exile. This regime is the source of evil, and the cause for every thing that is broken about the Syrian society. They are war criminals. I was saying this here on SC during when Mr Landis was supporting the Assads, and used to promote them as the saviors of Arabism against the evil Americans, Zionists and Europeans. [!]

The question is, where do you go from here?
Do you compromise, because this regime is more durable then expected, or do you continue to grind Syria into rubbles?

I say, accept Assad just tactically, and in order to end the bloodshed. Assad have zero legitimacy to survive any political process.

…

i dont understand this argument. you acknowledge the regime is murderous & brutal yet argue for the opposition to give up when past history demonstrates concession equals death!

not to be rude but do you realize you are making the regime’s argument?

from france24 segment:

22:18 andrew tabler: one side can’t defeat the other militarily, there would have to be some sort of negotiated solution. but the problem is the assad regime sees a transitional governing body in syria based on the reelection of president assad to a third term as president.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkEEZmgCMAAKlcs.jpg

Speaking of wealthy nations, Russia is never going to join that league under the Putin dictatorship – in fact he’s busy creating setbacks to an already shaky and stalled domestic economy.

It’s enlightening to look at tables like this comparing the current GDP of different countries http://money.cnn.com/news/economy/world_economies_gdp/.

It puts Russia in perspective. The USA has just over twice the population of Russia, but more than seven times the wealth.

And small geographic entity Japan, with less population than Russia and no natural resources has a GDP more than twice the size of Russia’s.

Russia also has smaller economic value than Germany, the UK and France despite its much larger population, territory and natural resources than those countries.

Brazil has also bounded past Russia.

This is very pathetic for ordinary Russians who are being lied to, cheated and tyrannically misruled. All those precious opportunities, time and resources wasted. No wonder their life expectancy is being dragged down by the vodka bottle.

So why does the world bother to listen to Russia and allow it to interfere in global affairs?

It won’t for much longer.

http://www.theguardian.com/politics/2014/mar/31/farage-i-admire-putin

What’s happened to the Patrick Seale post?

Deleted apparently for the reasons of humanity

Was Kerry too shy to say it?
Lavrov received assurances from Kerry that the USA will not approve a proposed shipment of Manpads to rebels in Syria.
??? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ??? ???????? ???????? ???????? ?????? ?????? ?? ??? ???????? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ?????? ??? ????? ???? ????? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ???????? ???????? ???? ????? ????? ?? ????? ???????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ????? ????????? ????? ???? ?? ??????? ????? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ??? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ??????? ?? ????? ??????? ??????.
???? ???? ???????? ?????? ????? ??????? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ????? ???????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???? ??? ?????? “??? ????? ????? ?? ??????? ????? ??????? ??? ?????? ????? ???????? ??????? ????? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ?????? ????????? ????? ??? ??? ?????????? ???? ?????”.
????? ?????? ?? “??? ???? ???? ???? ?? ????????? ??????? – ????????? ??? ??? ????? ????????? ????????? ???????? ??? ?????? ???????? ????? ????????? ??????? – ????????? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ?????????”.
Source: Assafir

Here is the truth about Russia’s economy in 2013:

#8. Russia – GDP $2.2 trillion

After the fall of the Soviet Union, Russia made big changes to its economy. It privatized most of its industries and made the economy more globally integrated and market-oriented. These reforms have led, in part, to Russia’s rise on the list of largest economies. Of course the fact that they are the leading oil producer in the world doesn’t hurt.

On the other hand, KSA is behind Mexico, Turkey and malaysia despite having a population that is 6 times smaller than Russia.
25% if Saudis live below poverty line, most are Shia who were denied basic political and economic rights even that most of the oil is in their areas.
Give a Bedouin a million dollar and you will get a Bedouin with a million dolla who does not want to work but is eager to spend his money on hookers and marrying underage girls.
?? ??? ???? ?? ????? ?????

Ghufran, Turkey is a religious country , even if Erdogan is proven to be a murderer, he will win because of his religion,

Omen #87,

1. I’m not that naive to think that a truce is possible at this point. This was a theoretical argument. Both sides are determined to cut each other’s throats, on the ruins that was Syria.

2. If a truce was an option, there are political and military mechanisms that can assure both sides (peace keeping forces, UN observers, international (Russian, US) guaranties.. etc). If the parties wanted the truce, a proper way to enforce it could be formed.

3. What is your alternative? What are your suggestions for the future? Fighting the regime till the very end of the state that was Syria? I’m listening…
======

I understand the demand of the opposition that
Assad must go. But putting this as a pre condition is emotional, but it isn’t wise, because it will not happened.
Let me repeat:
Accept Assad, just tactically, and in order to end the bloodshed. Assad has zero legitimacy to survive any political process.
===

Syrians have seen what the Assadists political process is all about. Either you’re with us or you are deemed as expandable….

would you as a Jewish person ever agree to negotiate with Hitler or the Nazis? Appeasing psychopaths will just lead to more bloodshed.

Sohr poll:

?? ????? ??? ????? ??????? ???????? ??? ????? ?????? ??????? ?
??? – 31.4%
?? – 68.6%
Do you expect rebels to receive military assistance after Obama’s visit to KSA ?
Yes. 31.4%
No. 68.6%

U.S shouldn’t worry about Manpads reaching to terrorists. Elbit systems developed anti missiles defense system:
http://www.theblaze.com/stories/2014/02/27/israel-to-outfit-passenger-planes-with-laser-anti-missile-defense-system/

94. NORMAN
Turkey has a relatively long and strong tradition of secularism in politics.
The state is secular with a secular constitution . but the current government are Islamists working to erode secularism in Turkey!

in kessab, this wahhabi nato islamist thug offered an old man chocolate.

terrorist!

save them kimmie!

In the video says that armed: I am a recipient this region! What does that mean? Kassab live quietly without armed manifestations! Why insist on its knees all areas of Syria to serve the desires and moods?
Simply they are rabble.

why can’t syrians be free?

.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bi-NN-HCMAEGaeR.jpg

To the Armenians, who living on five continents and especially American Armenians!

Get up to help your brothers in ?KASSAB!
The first criminal in what happened is President Obama and his administration! They run one of the dirtiest war known to mankind on Syrian territory!

To the Turks? who living on five continents!

Arise in order to bring down this corrupt and criminal regime in Turkey!

Mr. Putin!
How often can allow genocide?
Does not Russia responsible for the peace and quiet on the planet? tolerate this, is not possible!

doctor professor mister landis, you should be able to post on your own blog. if you dont want to entertain irreverent remarks, just disable the comment option for that one particular column.

just a thought.

It’s a while since this obvious comparison has been mentioned here, but maybe it’s worth offering it again to those naive non-thinkers who insist everything could be fixed if Syrians decided to “accept Assad” then use the ballot box to sort things out.(#95)

Here it is: The psychopath across the street is brutally abusing his family – subjecting them to violent (even fatal) physical abuse, terrorizing them with cruel, grotesque “punishments” and depriving them of water, food, heating and shelter as he feels like.

It’s deeply shocking to witness, what should be done?

The happy, prosperous family next door, relaxing on the sofa, smugly comes up with a solution: the victims (his wife and children) should work things out with the abuser. Stop opposing him or wishing him gone. They must realize that he has the right to do what he likes in that house, accept him as he is, try harder at negotiating with him, beg for a truce while being respectful and conciliatory. Do whatever he says.

And if that doesn’t work and he doesn’t stop the terror and abuse? Well, they haven’t tried hard enough or taken the right approach. They have to take responsibility for putting an end to their nightmare themselves, and we wish they would hurry up because what’s going on is making us guys on the sofa uncomfortable.

SAMI #96

That thinking goes beyond simply feeling the victims should appease those who are standing over them.

We know in the minds of some the Palestinians situation is due to them unnecessarily annoying the Israelis. They should have tried harder not to.

Same with Syrians and Assad – their failure to avoid annoying him is the reason for their country being destroyed.

And the victims of Stalin, Hitler and Pol Pot? Well, why didn’t they try….

It seems that PM Erdogan with the election victory has finally seen off the Gezi Park movement.

Perhaps Assad should have done the same instead of choosing to shoot his way out of the situation.

So far, none of you (SL, Sami, Omen, Observer, Hamster, Tara) anti regime folks, did answer my question. What do you propose for the near future? more of the same? … What?
====

Sami #96,

I would agree to negotiate with the Satan himself, not just with Hitler, in order to save my countrymen and country from destruction starvation and death.
==

curtains fully lowered

A couple of interesting tweets:

Michael Weiss ?@michaeldweiss ·1 hr
Hahahahaha! Russia Today President Facing Prison for Tax Fraud http://shar.es/BZvau via @sharethis

https://twitter.com/michaeldweiss/status/451092848012562432

Mary Fitzgerald ?@MaryFitzger ·7 hrs
“Benghazi is booming,” one local businessman told me today discussing city’s economic/construction growth. He smiled at his own pun. #Libya

https://twitter.com/MaryFitzger/status/451003393797263362

I don’t understanhd why foreign Jihadis aren’t flocking to Egypt.

Sisi has kiled more unarmed Islamists than Assad, before the protesters became armed.

I guess because the US and Saudia think Sisi is a friend. Friends of these can get away with anything.

Amir,

In a nutshell.

Satan does not negotiate. He says he does but he doesn’t .

Your disconnect occurs when you think that any political process is possible while he is in power. It is not possible. If you get yourself to understand that this is not possible, you’d understand where all of us come from.

You have not lived in Syria. You can not even begin to understand how a brutal sectarian dictatorship thinks and operates, hence your recommendations are sooo out of touch, no offense intended.

If I believe that a political process can take place calling the revolution off, I would be the first one to call a quit. It is not possible. Time for you to understand that.

There is no political process as long as Assad is in power. His actions over the past three years not only proves that, but it would be insane to think otherwise.

Again with Assad at the helm it will always be “Assad or we burn the country”, well as a Syrian my motto is “get rid of Assad so that we can build the country”.

Here is another video from Vice News about Syria:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sSiUWPAdSWw&list=LLZaT_X_mc0BI-djXOlfhqWQ

while this is not Syria related, their coverage of Ukraine has been second to none.
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLw613M86o5o5zqF6WJR8zuC7Uwyv76h7R

I think Simon Ostrovsky deserves a reward for his outstanding coverage.

A first step for world peace is for the American people to rein in their reckless government from the international stage and to stop it making misery for so many.

Americans need democratic government like the rest of the world needs rid of Washington’s thuggish global policeman.

… http://mycatbirdseat.com/2014/04/how-americans-can-help-world-peace/

APA – Ban Ki-moon: UN has launched preparation for the holding of a third conference on Syria

Those savage militants might be the dumpiest Islamic fighters ever.

They really believe they could establish a new front in Lattakia while in reality they would not be able to secure logistics even for their food.

Since there is no more civilians got trapped in those mountainous areas, SAA and NDF can use all kind of weapons to rid of those monsters.

I hope they can call in some warships to pound the coast as well.

in case this was overlooked: 248. Syrialover said:

“First, the Shi’a are seen as constituting a unified body that crosses national borders that puts obedience to religious authority higher than loyalty to nation and political rulers. Secondly, the Shi’a are considered inherently tied to Iran, a state that would command both their religious and political loyalty.

“These views are not only distorting the reality: They lead to dangerous domestic and foreign policies that undermine social integration and political stability, and feed the rhetoric of the radical Salafists who are doing so much to create sectarian discord.”

this is in keeping with a couple of other articles i’ve come across. of course, now i cant find them. in essence, they find in states were religion is mandated, the population turns less religiously observant in response. the youth in iran are less religious now than previous generations.

COMMENT: This means all those “closet shabiha” westernized Shia intellectuals who support Assad are not doing it for loyal sectarian reasons, but because they actually choose to admire and support Assad.

a insightful observation that deserves a wider audience. this kind of rationality is vital to turn down the hatemongering.

it serves geopolitical interests to pit this conflict as shia vs sunni when actually they harbor ulterior motives.

also reminds of something jasmine roman earlier pointed out to my shock.

assad supporters are full-throated now in denouncing wahhabi islam radicalism.

yet back when bush was invading iraq, the same apologists were cheering for al qaeda and publicly praising bin laden for having challenged the west.

surprise, surprise. turns out regimists’ current secular posturing is inauthentic & hypocritical.

A tweet:

European Cyber Army ?@ECA_Legion ·11m
Syrian Ministry of Justice is down
http://www.moj.gov.sy

https://twitter.com/ECA_Legion/status/451425738735239168

What Ministry of Justice….?

#107. AMIR in TEL AVIV said:

“So far, none of you (SL, Sami, Omen, Observer, Hamster, Tara) anti regime folks, did answer my question. What do you propose for the near future? more of the same? … What?”

Is young AMIR’s question actually as silly as it looks – that we come up with some brilliant playtime proposals like his “negotiations with Assad” ?

Or did he really mean to ask what do we WANT for the future?

SAMI has given him the answer in #111, captured in the slogan “get rid of Assad so that we can build the country”.”

(TARA, you are letting Amir get off gently in #110, describing his thinking on Syria as governed by a “disconnect”).

OMEN (#116 and #11)

Thank you for reinforcing my earlier post pointing out the nonsense of classifying the Syrian conflict as “sectarian”.

The regime in Iran does not represent Shia, and ISIS does not represent Sunni. And the Assads don’t even represent the Alawi.

It’s manipulative rubbish by the above parties to control and terrorize others.

And it’s being lazily consumed by those commentators who prefer junk-think and propaganda to researching and thinking about the real issues.

hmm, very interesting…

@wikibaghdady claims they have proves of cooperation between Alwany the head security manager in ISIL and Syrian regime.

IMPORTANT – Incredible revelations on ISIS tonight by the now famous @wikibaghdady (in ar.) Links between ISIS and Assad Baath exposed.

SL #119,

What makes you think that I’m “young”? Usually, the hot-blooded, who call for war, are the young, while the older seek compromise and political solutions.
===

Tara,

I respect you and the revolutionaries here on SC. I feel that you are real patriots. It saddens me that sane Syrians like you, who live in the west, unlike the extremists and the Jihadies, can’t see the futility of your uncompromising position. I don’t think that this is a matter of being a Syrian or not. I’m sure that few, if not many Syrians, especially those who live there and suffer, think the way I do. But as I said, I respect you a lot.
==

Amir I have posted before

Break up the place as the people cannot live together. If they want an Alawistan let them have it. If they want a Turkistan let them have it. If they want a Kurdistan let them have it and if they want a Sunnistan let them have it.

I am for the Republic of Abu Rumaneh

“?????? ?????? ???????”: ???? 13 ??????? ???? ???? ????? ??????? “????? ??????” ??? ???? ??????? ?????? ??? ??????
Terrorists killed 13 citizens after shelling Jisr ashugour

Amir,

I have always had a soft spot for you in my heart from day one and I can’t explain it. I believe you and I believe you are genuine in your emotions towards Syria despite your “Israeli” status. I am sad you can’t understand why we feel what we feel. I only can say that we lived an oppression you did not live. Deep in my heart, I was not surprised that Aassad used chemical weapons against the children of his country. Deep in my heart, I was not surprised that Asma was buying 5k shoes while her husband was destroying Homs. Deep in my heart, I was not surprised of how Assad’s thugs were killing detainees by throwing rocks on their heads, etc etc. I know this regime is not capable of negotiating and hence it should be fought until the last Syrian alive if ever Syria would be reborn. And I personally would not hesitate a second to sacrifice my life to liberate Syria if it comes to it. I have tried to explain this all along. The regime is not capable of negotiation because the regime only understands and accepts absolute power. Please forgive me of being vulgar and I am not trying to be provocative either but one can not imagine sexual ecstasy if one never experiences it. One can never imagine what Assad’s can, will, and won’t do if one did not live under his grip. I therefore can not but forgive you for what you think.., it really is that simple. Assads are going to enslave or kill all of us until the last breathing creature just to stay in power. We want to be slaves no more.
—-
And Remember, we are promised some 70 virgins in heavens so there is really nothing to lose fighting until the last man..or woman.

# Tara

I have no idea what it is like to be with a “virgin” male, but being with a virgin female is no fun at all. I personally prefer if the reward was 70 experienced strippers!

Just thought I would lighten the mood a bit on SC.

http://www.internationalman.com/articles/why-turkey-was-planning-a-false-flag-operation-in-syria#.Uzzuvah_tw5

SYRIA – is a tomb for global ambitions and aspirations.
Syrians as a safe-looking swamp … Cost step and only slippers waiting at the surface, and so it seemed safe ..

keep your eyes on the evolution of neo-Nazi groups in Europe.
Israel’s interests are becoming more important than the interests of the Jews to the Jewish World Congress in Paris!!!
The World Jewish Congress does not defend Jews, but the interests of the State of Israel. Similarly, it does not oppose Nazis in general, but only those who threaten Israeli interests.
What a paradox!
http://www.blacklistednews.com/Seven_Decades_of_Nazi_Collaboration:_America%E2%80%99s_Dirty_Little_Ukraine_Secret/34186/0/0/0/Y/M.html?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

the doctor professor mister man’s hero:

Rana Kabbani: Patrick Seale, hagiographer to Assad mafia, is dying. Even so, he managed to disinherit me & our son to punish me for siding with Revolution.

Hopeful,

“I have no idea what it is like to be with a “virgin” male, but being with a virgin female is no fun at all. I personally prefer if the reward was 70 experienced strippers!”

Hahaha…

Had it not been a public forum, I would’ve said something.. But I won’t.

If the Mountain Won’t Come to Muhammad, i will bring Muhammad to the Mountain.

.

Majedkhaldoun| Turkey action, downing Syrian jet Mig 29, is so significant, that it actually sent a message that the 5 Km zone is re-established and this means no fly zone over 5 Km.

Sending thousand of HA to help Assad forces up in the coastal battle is suicidal, there is no aerial protection, it is unlikely that they will succeed as they did in Qalamoun, that area will be a cemetry for HA.

i don’t know jack about turkey but i do know a little bit about the realities of politics.

i kept asking people what are the ramifications now? does erdogan’s party’s majority victory win him enough of a mandate to afford to be more proactive on syria? nobody would answer me.

so i will just take a stab in the dark.

presidential elections wont be until 10 august 2014. erdogan can’t afford to take any risks until after then.

ok, after those elections have concluded in the fall, will he be more proactive then?

abdulrahman al-rashed had this to say:

His problem now is that his rivals are too many. Turkey needs some sort of peace with itself and with its neighbors. If Erdogan wins the presidential elections, it will take a lot of work to fix his Turkey’s foreign relations.

nobody should be surprised but still fulfills the need to see it in print.

US official: The MANPADs for Syrian rebels issue wasn’t even on the meeting agenda between US Obama and the Saudi king in Riyadh.

influential?

first secretary general of hezbollah:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkNtS60IYAAX39m.jpg

This is Yehya from Homs, today he became the millionth Syrian refugee in Lebanon. He was officially registered by UNHCR in Tripoli after fleeing Homs during the UN evacuation of the city in February.

He said, “People think it’s easy to be a refugee, but in fact, it is the hardest choice.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkT3atQCEAAEyWH.jpg

Video- Terrorist’s confession about the role of the CIA and the Turkish intelligence in arming the terrorists in Syria
http://www.islamicinvitationturkey.com/2014/04/02/video-terrorists-confession-about-the-role-of-the-cia-and-the-turkish-intelligence-in-arming-the-terrorists-in-syria/

Obama seemed so traumatized by his Middle East blunders he decided to take a break, giving Ukraine a try instead. The distraction was just what the president needed. And the U.S. media followed obediently, while barely glancing at the flames in the rear-view mirror — until another explosion piqued their interest. The predictable break down of peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians occurred when the Palestinian Authority backed out of a “peace process” they had zero to gain from.

Yet another failure after a string of Middle East fiascoes: Obama’s failed “surge” in Afghanistan, his disastrous bombing campaign and regime change in Libya (an international crime initially cheered as a “success” in the U.S. media), and his catastrophic proxy war in Syria, which grinds on with no end in sight and which helped re-ignite the Iraq conflict — another “success” turned disaster for U.S. foreign policy.

Obama has turned away in denial from the chaos he helped create, but the Middle East is still there, still in crisis, and balancing on a razor’s edge: Israel has bombed Syria and the Palestinian territories several times in recent months; while al-Qaeda style extremists still dominate giant swaths of Iraq and Syria (thanks to Obama’s Syrian proxy war). Lebanon, Turkey and Egypt are especially combustible, though one could make such an argument for every single country in the region. Obama’s proxy war in Syria is acting as the fuel.
http://www.counterpunch.org/2014/04/03/new-lows-for-obamas-failed-middle-east-policy/

Thanks Alan and the corp. press is starting to report on the false flag chemicals. Right on time, may be Putin will rescind his UN vote on sections on Iran and ship the S-300 to them and send more to Syria

http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2014/04/breaking-news-chemical-arms-used-in.html

I should have included this, the beginning of the new false flag

Jamal Marouf who is funded by KSA and the recepient of $ 5 million from the CIA told the Independent that his troops are fighting alongside Nusra, a terrorist organization banned by the US, he also declared that “alqa’eda is not our problem” :
??? ???? «???? ???? ?????» ???? ????? ???? ?? ????? ????? «???????»? ??????? ??? ????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ?? ??? ???????. ?????? ?? ?????? ?? ????? «????????» ??????????? ??? «??????? ???? ???????»? ?????? ??? ????? ?? «????»… ???????: «??? ???? ?? ????? ???? ??????». ????? ???? «??? ????? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ?? ??????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ??????.
???? ?? ????? ????? ?? ?? ??? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ???? ?????». ???? ???? «????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ??? ???????» ???? ??????? ????? ??? ?????.
The CIA could be and should be subjected to a congressional investigation for potential violation of US laws. This is the latest indication that secular rebels do not exist in Syria today.

Kilo and Khaddam criticize the attack on northern Latakia:
??? ??? ?????? ???????? ???????? ????? ????? ?? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ?????? ??????.
???? ???? ?? ????? ?????? ????? «????? ??????» ????????? ??? ?? «?? ??? ?? ???????? (???? ????? ??????) ?? ?? ???? ??? ??????? ??????? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ????? ???????? ????? ????? ??? ??? ????? ?????».
????: ?????? ??? ????????? ??????????? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ??? ?? ??? «????? ??????»? ??????? ????? ??? ??? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ?????? ????»? ???? ??? «???????? ?? ?????? ????? ?????? ???????? ??????? ????? ????? ???? ???? ??? ???????? ?????????».
???? ??????: «???? ???? ???? ?????? ??(?????) ????? ?????? ??? ????? ????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ??????? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?? ???? ??? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ????? ?????? ???????? ??? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ?? ????? ?????? ?????????!».
???? ?????? ???????? ??«???? ???????» ???? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ??? ???? ??????.
???? ???? : «??? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????????.. ??? ?? ???? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ???? ?????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ???????? ??????? ????? «???????» ????? ??????? ?? ????».
????? ?? «?????? ??? ??? ???? ?? ???? ????? ????? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ????? ???? ???? ????? ???? ????? ???? ?? ??? ????? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ???????»? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ?? ????? ???? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ?? ??? ?? ??????? ??????? ????? ?????? ?? ??????? ?????? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ?????.
????? ??????: «??? ????? ?? ??????? ???????? ?????? ?????? ???? ??? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ????? ??? ?? ???? ?? ???? ????? ???? ???????? ??? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ????? ????? ?????? ????? ????? ???? ??????? ???????? ???? ????? ??? ????????? ???????? ???? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ????? ????? ?? ?????? ???????? ??? ?? ??????? ???????? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ??????»? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ????? ???????? ????????? ????? ????.
???? ??? ?????: «???? ??? ????? ????? ?????? ???????? ?????????? ?? ???? ????? ?????? ????????? ???????? ?? ?? ?? ????? ??? ??????? ??????????? ????? ??? ???? ?????? ??? ?????? ????? ??????». ?????? «??? ??? ????? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???????? ???? ?? ???? ?? ?????? ??? ????? ????????? ????? ?????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ??? ???????? ???? ?? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ?? ????? ????? ?? ???? ???? ??????».
Today, rebels murdered 6 children after shelling areas around Damascus, rebels obviously are not receiving a good advice from their supporters. Their gains in Latakia are proving to be short- lived and coming at a heavy political price.

I don’t understanhd why foreign Jihadis aren’t flocking to Egypt.

Sisi has killed more unarmed Islamists than Assad, before the protesters became armed.

I guess because the US and Saudia think Sisi is a friend. Friends of these can get away with anything.

Dear Mr. Putin
U.S. and its allies in the Middle East (Arab monarchy, Turkey, etc.) has spared neither money nor force to run into Syria different kinds of weapons and thugs. Criminal Saudi Arabia used Chemical weapons against the Syrians. Turkey and Israel committed war and aggression on our country! They have made Syria a field of dirty war experience with the Wahhabi Muslim Brotherhood and thier holders of international banks led by Obama…
So ask you, to equip the sovereigns Syrian army to the teeth
Syrians are very grateful to you for your courageous stance international !

More Evidence U.S. Funds al-Qaeda Terrorists in Syria
http://www.infowars.com/more-evidence-u-s-funds-al-qaeda-terrorists-in-syria/

Another False Flag Chemical Weapons Attack Planned
http://www.activistpost.com/2014/04/another-false-flag-chemical-weapons.html

Dear Putin, go ahead!
If Russia can show it’s capable of carrying out its own foreign policy, regardless of America’s wishes, it will be a major achievement for you.

Dear Alan@144

Could you please tell Putin that I’d like him dead or imprisoned.

Thanks.

Dear Tara @147
The power of positive thinking over negative thinking an incredible and invaluable way to change your perception of daily life. Similar to seeing the glass half-full, a positive attitude returns positiveness in return, and with this a person can find positivity in moments that may seem negative.
Thanks.

Master Alan

In #148 that is exactly the sort of advice Master Yoda would share.

May the force be with you..

Dear Alan@148

Thank you. I’ll try.

Can the Saudis adapt to Obama’s policies?

“According to Anthony Cordesman, a prominent American strategist, Saudi Arabia may need “to start planning for an Assad victory. They need to consider conditional aid packages that could push Assad towards some degree of reform”. Effectively, the Americans here are asking the Saudis to resign to the fact that Iran has won and that they have to live with an Assad in power in the foreseeable future.”

“Worse still, the Saudis are asked to adapt to the shift in US policy at time when they are having too many foes to deal with. That includes Iran, the Maliki government in Iraq, Assad’s regime in Damascus, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthi’s in Yemen, Hamas in Palestine, al-Qaeda and affiliated groups throughout the region, and the Muslim brotherhood and Turkey. It is very difficult to find a single party anywhere who has succeeded in uniting all these different forces against him at one time. Washington knows this fact quite well and is using it to the maximum in order to bring the Saudis on-board.”

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2014/04/can-saudis-adapt-obama-policies-20144394610462809.html

Only days after the US accused a cabinet minister in Kuwait of supporting terrorism he was forced to resign:
???? ???? ????? ???????? ??????? ???? ?????? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ???? ??????? ?? ????? ??? ??? ????????
two clear conclusions:
1. the GCC supports terrorism both officially and at the public level
2. nobody at the GCC can say NO to the US, next time you want something from any GCC country call Washington.

153. ghufran: Only days after the US accused a cabinet minister in Kuwait of supporting terrorism he was forced to resign.

i guess the west treats fundraising to support the regime as kosher:

Most of the money heading from the Gulf into Syria is meant for the Sunni rebels. Kuwait, though, also has a substantial Shia community, and this community supports the Syrian government. Dickinson felt that the Shia community in Kuwait is likely raising a great deal of money for President Assad’s Syrian government. The Shia community in Kuwait is very insular and private, though, so its fundraising efforts are not nearly as obvious as the Sunni donors. Most Shia donors are businessmen with large personal and economic ties to Syria. Fundraising is even more personal in the Shia community than in the Sunni community.

Consider writing to Senator Menendez about Kasab and Syria in general, LA times is saying what others like CNN can not say: most rebels in Syria today are affiliates or supporters of Al-Qaeda and other Islamist terrorist groups, that does not exonerate Assad but it means that supporting rebels today may equal supporting Al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups that attacked, attacking and plan to attack US and the West and have shown no desire to respect minorities especially Christians:

U.S. officials who back the Syrian opposition have voiced concern about the makeup of the forces that overran Kasab. U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said in a letter to constituents that he was “gravely concerned” about reports of the attack “by Al Qaeda-linked terrorists based in Turkey.”

This is how to contact Senator Menendez:
http://www.menendez.senate.gov/contact/

So all of a sudden the lives of Syrian Armenians is more precious than the rest of Syrians and that is because they happen to be Christian.

Can anyone tell me how many Syrian Armenians were killed versus Sunni Syrians?

I wonder if the Karshadians and their big butts will start a twitter campaign for Hagop Sarkis that was arrested and has been tortured for 3 years by the regime for opposing it.

#152 Ghufran

I read it differently and non-cynically. GCC governments support the Syrian people in their struggle for freedom and dignity, but do not condon terrorism. They, like everyone else, are trying to walk the fine line. When a strong evidence is presented that one of their own is actively supporting terrorism, they act.

My personal opinion is that the global financial system needs to be totally destroyed and forgotten as a bad memory. We need to replace it with a completely new and unrelated system.
by Ian Greenhalgh
http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/03/16/a-call-to-arms/

From the SC Feed Burner above. Could well be game changer. Could well be why rebels are going for regime’s soft underbelly to help swiftly bring this horrific crisis to a conclusion:

‘Reply to @hhassan140 @aron_ld @tamhussein If rebels take city of Latakia, would be a game changer. Doubtful today, but maybe in year or two’

3 Hours ago

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/airbridge-transporting-jihadis-jordan-turkey

There is a number of reasons not to support the rebels, among them is the real and substantiated fear that they will give Aleppo province, northern Latakia and other border areas on a silver plate to Turkey. Rebels will also join the Turks in fighting and containing the Kurds. Those fears are supported by the behavior of Turkey and the militias that use Turkish territories and resources to attack Syria and kill Syrians.
Islamists, for those of you who are too young or too ignorant to know, still believe that Syrians and Arabs would have been better off if they had not revolted but allowed the ottoman occupation to last beyond 1916
Turkish thugs in erdu’s circle realize that for them to have a chance they need to occupy Kesab and few more cities and be able to threaten Latakia proper, rebels with direct Turkish involvement tried again to take point 45 and failed but the battle is too important for both sides to allow a quick defeat, the stakes for Syrians in the coast and the government also are very high, I see no chance of the army backing off this time.

160. GHUFRAN
I think Mr.GHUFRAN that the journey to explore the Syrian coast by the Turks is to lay hands on the gas!!! Aleppo has been stolen and now came the role of the Coast

#160

Was it really ‘occupation’?

“Islamists, […], still believe that Syrians and Arabs would have been better off if they had not revolted but allowed the ottoman occupation to last beyond 1916.”

A little like those who believe(d) that Syrians would have been better off if they had not revolted but allowed the Assadi occupation to last beyond 2011*?

* Due to reasons including avoiding instability, time not being right, etc.

Man, when I heard someone claim “GCC governments support the Syrian people in their struggle for freedom and dignity”, I almost shed some tears.

Not sure those tears were out of overwhelming rejoice or something otherworldly laughable.

One thing for sure though: those opposition people never cease to entertain us.

It was an occupation mr pakistani
400 hundred years sent us thousands of years backward
You like most of bright minded people of returning to the past will bring better futures , do not read and when you read, you do not understand.
What you are seeing across the middle east is a consequence of the policy of so called
Al bab al aali , all this sectarianism, backwardness, persecution of others are cemented policies of the ottomans, good ridden they are gone, and we are going to send the next wave back but this time who knows what is going to happen to their descendants , the knives are out, your beloved sultan might be gone soon…..
But I guess for a bright intelligence officer supported by the money of the houses of barrels, you will write up to their commands. May be you should pay More attention to what happen close to you, India is rising and next Monday is coming, and will hope it will send you back weeping and dreaming of the past. Enjoy …..

True Muslim Uzair !
Does the liberation of Jerusalem an individual duty?
Is it a priority?
How many people from different Islamic sects must be slaughtered at the hands of their brethren Muslims in order to reach the readiness of the implementation of the priority of Jerusalem? Waiting for your answer!

#164 Ghassan

My name is Uzair8 thank you very much.

Welcome to the forum.

“May be you should pay More attention to what happen close to you….”

Yes, I’m not sure I like the idea of Scottish independance. Not good for Britain or Scotland.

#165 Alan

Don’t worry God Almighty will take care of Jerusalem and arrange for it’s liberation.

Assad isn’t needed to liberate the holy city.

As Shaykh Yaqoubi stated:

The West has an agenda; Syrians have an agenda; and Allah has his plans. The West’s agenda is to support Israel. Ours is to get rid of mass murderer Assad and his gang and reestablish Muslim Syria. The plans of Allah for sham are to prepare for the coming of the Mehdi.

https://www.facebook.com/shaykhabulhuda/posts/10151848290617580?comment_id=29939064&offset=50&total_comments=103

Update on the military situation.

The latest post on Ir. Mil. Forum:

Rats still control Kesab and all towns around it. no Syrian gains reported in the last week.

http://www.iranmilitaryforum.net/military-conflicts/updates-on-military-action-in-syria/msg241126/#msg241126

167. UZAIR8
What do you think about Jihad of petrodollars? Jihad of gas pipelines? And do not forget the Jihad of Israeli needs?

I recommend this powerful report on NY Times: (Thanks!)

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2014/04/06/magazine/06-pieter-hugo-rwanda-portraits.html?src=me

And hopefully, one day Syrians can be granted that kind of faith and humanities.

The evolution of Turkish politics since Prime Minister Erdo?an disclosed his affiliation to the Muslim Brotherhood is comparable to that of Egypt: the unquestionable support he enjoys is only matched by the hatred he arouses. More than ever, the country is divided, with no democratic solution in sight, and a future that – in whatever form – will necessarily be violent.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article183137.html

This if for GHUFRAN,

??? ????????? ???????? ????? ??????:

??? ?????? ?? ???? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ????? ??? ???????? ???????? ??? ??? ????? ?? ???????? ???????? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ????? ????? ??????? ????????? ??? ???. ???? ??????: ??????? ?? ??? ??? ???? ???????? ????? ????? ???? ??? ???????? ???????? ?????? ?? ???????? ???? ????? ???? ???? ????? ???? ?? ??????? ?? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ??????. ???? ????: ?? ???? ????? ????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ??? ?? ??? ??? ???? ???????. ??? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ??????? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ??? ?????.

Thomas Pierret writes

This morning in Aleppo, as everyday since 5 months, barrel bombs killed dozen of ordinary Syrians whom some minorities-obsessed Westerners obviously consider as sub-humans. Let’s be clear: expressing concerns for minorities as minorities is legitimate when these minorities are the most vulnerable groups in a society; but when they in fact provide a minuscule share of the civilian casualties in a conflict, as is currently the case in Syria, such concerns amount to sheer racism. To put it even more clearly: whoever cares more for an Armenian from Kassab than for a Sunni from eastern Aleppo is a racist. I personally care evenly for any innocent civilian killed in this war.

ALAN (#171) likes to worry about the evolution of politics in Turkey.

Instead, what about this for primitive sub-monkeys pretending to play at politics in a way that would be laughed at even by real monkeys. And deeply insults and humiliates Syrians, who have been subjected by fear to this ugly charade for decades:

Excerpt:

“BEIRUT — Ever since the Assad family began counting the votes in Syria, it has amassed a series of electoral victories that can’t be matched by any surviving Middle Eastern political dynasty. During his three decades in power, Hafez al-Assad won five presidential elections, each time winning 99 or 100 percent of the vote.

“And in 2000, a referendum approved Bashar al-Assad’s ascension to the presidency by a 97 percent margin; particularly fervent supporters pricked their fingers to mark their ballots in blood as a sign of loyalty. In 2007, Assad won 98 percent of the votes in his re-election campaign, leading the United States to sarcastically congratulate him on “his ability to have defeated exactly zero other candidates.”

“This summer, Assad will almost certainly stand for re-election to another seven-year term as president despite an ongoing civil war that has left hundreds of thousands dead and destabilized much of the Middle East.

“The signs of Syria’s coming election season are everywhere: The parliament recently approved a new election law that will exclude members of the opposition, top government officials have publicly endorsed Assad’s candidacy, and security forces and pro-Assad paramilitary forces have asked shopkeepers in Damascus to paint their stores’ metal shutters the colors of the Syrian flag to give the capital a patriotic hue.”

(http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2014/04/02/the_audacity_of_hopelessness_why_bashar_al_assad_will_cruise_to_victory)

Ghufran, you bet your ASSad I will write to Menendez.

Good to see APPLE_MINI (#170) endorsing my earlier comments about the power of reconciliation and restoration that communities have been able to muster in Cambodia, Rwanda and other places almost destroyed by government-led terror and destruction.

BUT, Little Apple needs to acknowledge the proven reality that this happens only after the rotten, violent filthy head of the problem has been removed. In those cases Pol Pot and the Hutu leadership and in Syria’s case the Assads.

To repeat SAMI’s enlightened summary of what we want for Syria: “Get rid of Assad so that we can build the country”.”

SYRIAN HAMSTER (#172),

It’s being widely noted that those involved in the storm of social media disinformation and lies about Kassab have aroused suspicion by being inexplicably, unnaturally silent on every real atrocity happening in Syria.

They are not smart about trying to make their concerns look genuine. Also very lazy.

Dear SYRIALOVER
I see it slightly differently, I really think that many within the Armenian Community in the US and elsewhere had a knee jerk reaction and thought that this issue will strengthen their call for formal recognition of the Armenian Massacres of 1915, a recognition i firmly stand behind. Of course, with Kim Kardashian tweeting on the subject, millions who can’t even point their own home state on the map, started tweeting about it. Interestingly enough, Kardashian, who does have legitimate ties to Armenian heritage, and others fifth rate celebs, who associated themselves with this hashtag now find themselves on the same page (literally) with the hormone stuffed (not even injected) shabbeeha thugs and shady facebook communities created and managed by assad and khamenei media goons, most likely meters away from assad’s infamous torture and murder security dungeons. These fools know no arabic, and have no clue what their names are now associated with. Ghufran is no innocent and foolish celeb groupie, oops I stand corrected for there is a strong likelyhood of him being a groupie of Otrakji, which may explain many of his posts.

I am afraid that these thoughtless thugs have just created an irreparable rift between the Syrian Armenians and their compatriots. I have been fighting for days against such rift and I personally hold Ghufran and his likes in the US and Canada responsible for the ramification of this campagin of lies and deception that has disgusted quit few Armenians including an Member of the Armenian Parliament who was on visit to Lattakia.

The attack on Latakia is a foreign invasion headed by Chechnyan terrorists and thugs from other countries especially Morocco(30 of them were killed in the last 2 weeks alone), Syrian rebels in Latakia are mostly pleasers and pictures takers (remember Jarba), anything else said to make it look like the paper tiger called FSA has anything to do with Kasab battle is a lie.
Locals did not report any mass killings in kasab and nobody here said there was a massacre of Armenians in Kasab but that beautiful town was taken over by terrorists who desecrated churches, looted private properties,including 5 resorts, and forced 800 families out.
I support Save Kesab campaign and I hope they stick to the facts, there is no need to make up stories, rebels and their backers are knee-deep in guilt and wrongdoing and the world today is far less sympathetic with the rebels not because foreign nations love the regime but because rebels are today a little more than a group of militant religious zealots with no respect to human life and common laws, when I called them thugs I was not vindictive I was factual.

Let’s look at political development in Russia (for ALAN). The following is by one of Russia’s brightest and most acclaimed economists Sergei Guriev. He was forced to flee to France last year when the Russian secret services started “investigating” him for criticizing the government.

Article: “Corruption has laid waste to the Russian economy”

Once growth is gone, territorial expansion is an authoritarian regime’s tool of choice, says Sergei Guriev.

Excerpts:

“According to Worldwide Governance Indicators, Russia ranks among the top fifth of most corrupt countries – on a par with far poorer parts of the world.

“… Russian corruption turned out to be the root cause of the crisis in Crimea. Graft has laid waste to the Russian economy. And once economic growth is gone, territorial expansion is an authoritarian regime’s tool of choice for bolstering its popularity and holding on to power.

“In Russia, the social compact of the 2000s was based on economic growth of 7 per cent a year. Citizens were happy with a government that provided substantial material benefits, even if it curtailed democratic freedoms. This was supposed to last. When Vladimir Putin took up the presidency for the second time in 2012, he promised to increase government spending – pledges that were premised on projected growth of between 5 and 6 per cent a year.

“But this social compact is no longer feasible. Last year growth slowed to 1.3 per cent. Independent forecasters expect the economy to shrink in the first two quarters of 2014, as does the World Bank.

“Why has growth disappeared? Since all previous sources of growth – cheap labour, growing commodity prices, expansion of consumer credit – have already been exhausted, further growth would require incentives for investment.

“But that requires protection of property rights and enforcement of contracts – exactly what corruption in government and the judiciary undermines. Even before Crimea, investors were voting with their feet. Investment suffered. Russian stocks were trading at a 50 per cent discount to other emerging markets.

“Having driven the economy into recession, the Russian elite has to find a new way to stay in power. For an authoritarian regime that is always a difficult task, requiring money, repression and propaganda.

“Recession means Russia’s government can no longer use money to buy public acceptance. Repression and propaganda have to take up the slack. In these circumstances, nothing could be more helpful than a small and victorious military adventure.”

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/939659ae-b67d-11e3-b230-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz2y2qpGanj

Ghufran
With you as supporter and participant, there is no chance for your pet campaign to stick to facts.

SYRIALOVER

The article you posted has great relevance to Syria. It can be argued that Syria represents the first step for “empirical” Russia to gain prominence in Arab despotic “republics” including Syria and to-be-despotic-again Egypt and Iran-ruled Iraq. Syria is the stepping stone for yet another failed empire whose chief of staff has recently acknowledged the assad regime as being the last defense line for this pathetic terrorist backward empire. Both russia and Iran are backwood empires, very susceptible to conspiracy theory, broohaha propaganda, and controlled system of lies and deceptions.

The russian and Iranian interventions in Syria are costing the two failed empires a great deal of money. Both have been sending military aid convoys daily to the assad regime including guided missiles, night vision equipment, ammunition, surveillance equipment and parts of tanks and murder vehicles. Iran also distinguished itself by being the producer of much of the fertilizer used in assad barrels of death, and is for sure a part of the invention of this disgusting crude and illegal weapon give its long history of being a terrorist state.

Excellent points thanks SYRIAN HAMSTER (#177).

I agree this Kassab disinformation hysteria could backfire badly on Armenians. And it’s a tragedy because crying wolf and posturing with the steriod Shabiha leaves them open to attacks on their credibility on the Turkish massacre issue.

But the worst of it is that these things and the strange ignoring of the rest of Syrian suffering will lead to Syrians questioning Armenians sympathies and sincerity in post-Assad Syria. When they would have a good contribution to make to rebuilding the country.

I note GHUFRAN’s comments in #178 which are a quick, let-have-it-both-ways clumsy backpedal. And unbalanced and toppling over as usual by the flimsy tactic of dumping dirt on Assad’s opponents while exonerating him.

SYRIALOVER
Exactly, well said.

SYRIAN HAMSTER (#181), the disastrous reality is that the “leadership” of Iran and Russia have nothing to offer their own citizens let alone the people of Syria, Ukraine and other victims of their sinister interference.

Imagine how the average economically stressed Iranian (most of them today are in that category) will feel if they knew over $1 billion a month of their diminishing national funds are being pissed away on Hezbollah alone.

The latest IMF report on Iran highlights the desperate need for economic and employment growth, but points out how unlikely this is in the absence of a sharp increase in oil prices or production and without solid progress on structural reforms.

The tragedy is that Iran has the human and natural resources to be a wealthy, advanced, respected influential global player. Instead the Mullahs’ priority is foreign-policy-by-terrorism and sponsoring the destruction of Syria.

And things like projects constructing a fake US aircraft carrier http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/04/04/these-satellite-images-show-irans-construction-of-a-fake-u-s-aircraft-carrier/?tid=pm_world_pop

I know that I struck a nerve when I spoke the truth, after all denial is a national sport among Syrians now and that includes Assad supporters.
Those who will contact the congress and senator Menedez should stick to the facts and must not limit their concern over Kasab. Another suggestion is to talk clearly about the brutal and corrupt regime that made this war possible in the first place. No Syrian should try to find excuses for bombing civilian areas regardless of who is doing the bombing.
My desire from day one is to stop this war for many reasons, without a cease fire there will be no chance to form an acceptable government, bring the refugees back, expel foreign fighters and start rebuilding Syria.
Assad and the regime received great help from the rebels when they resorted to terrorism and allied themselves with Islamist jihadists, support for the regime in critical areas went up while support for rebels went down, it is time for rebel supporters to speak the truth and change course, I can list half a dozen places in Syria that accepted a cease fire and started the process of healing, Homs is said to be on track to reach a cease fire which will save lives and end the suffering of thousands of Syrians.
The argument that a cease fire will keep Assad and his men in power for another 40 years is weak and emotional, Assad can not and will not be president for long if a cease fire is reached.
Points to mention when addressing congress:
1. Claiming that rebels are defending all Syrians and are tolerant and law abiding is not supported by facts on the ground.
2. People who attack and kill monirities and shell residential areas at random can not be trusted with Manpads or any high tech weapons.
3. Sanctions did not hurt the regime, they only hurt average Syrians
4. It is possible to squeeze the regime and support non violent opposition at the same time.
5. Turkey is directly responsible for many atrocities and crimes in Syria including the theft of a large section of Aleppo’s industrial properties.
6. Any concessions given to the regime should be linked to the release of political prisoners, the formation of a national government and the end of Assad’s monopoly over the army and security forces.

I see no benefit of engaging in a childish game of name calling and finger pointing, if you really care about Syria you should fight for a cease fire not for Manpads. Vengeance and revenge is not what Syrians need today.

Another dirty Beduin begging his country to bring his son back before he goes to Syria while asking others to send their kids to die there.
If that sounds familiar that is because it is, read posts from thawrajiyyeh here who live a comfortable life in the west but they keep encouraging others, usually poor Syrians, to fight and die so the thawrajiyeh get satisfied and cement their Internet Thawraji credentials :
????? ??????? ??? ??? ?????? ??????? ????? ??????? ???? ???? ?? ??????? ???????? ???? ???? ??? ??????? ???? ???? ????? ?? “??????” ?? ??? ??????? ????????.
????? ????? “?????” ???????? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ?? ???? ????? ???????? ???????? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ????? ?????? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ?? ?????.
????? ??????? ??? ????? ????? ????? ???? ?? ???? ???? ????? ???????? ??? ???? ??? ???? ?????? ?? 1 ????/ ???? 2012? ???? ?????? ?????? ????? ???? ???????? ??? ??? ?? ?????? ???? ??????? ?????? ??? ?? ????? ???? ?????????? ?????? “?????? ???? “????????” ?? ?????? ?????? ??????? ??????? ???????.
The dirty sheikh here happens to be a member of the Kuwaiti parliament, his name is Mubarak al- walaan.

http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2014/04/obama-sauds-bottomless-hypocrisy/

The lesson that should be learned is that people go through stages of development on their own without prior planning of the Pentagon!
Evil!
http://youtu.be/9RC1Mepk_Sw?t=1s
Why put a sign on the election! Are you afraid of elections?

@186 from the usual suspect

Strange… when reading the Arabic text, no one referred to the MP as being “dirty” or “Beduin”..

I would call this “dirty” translation.

167 ???????
Stop for a red herring!
You turned the issue of Jerusalem to God, and then God left in order to hiding behind Assad!!! This logic clumsy!!! Why do not pro-Palestine Dear long beard?

April 6 – The Israeli Air Force aircraft on Sunday launched a series of attacks on the Gaza Strip

Israeli army spokesman said that the strikes in Gaza were deposited in response to “continued rocket attacks” on Israeli territory from the Gaza.

According to Israel in March 2014 from Gaza into Israel were fired 82 rockets.

Hey, our brave Syrian Expats did not even dare to put out any sign to support their Syrian “revolution” in their front yard during US government debating attack on SAA.

And yes, we know those kind of dirty human beings.

another counter for mr. mcmichael:

New arms will never be enough for e.g. ISIS to establish a permanent base in Syria & terror attacks in West don’t use fancy arms.

193. apple_mini said: Hey, our brave Syrian Expats did not even dare to put out any sign to support their Syrian “revolution” in their front yard during US government debating attack on SAA.

And yes, we know those kind of dirty human beings.

an admission pro regime are terrorists & look for any opportunity to retaliate.

the closer we approach the light at the end of the tunnel, the crasser you become. pity.

a little something to clear the air of apple’s stinky desperation.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BkDMUR7CMAEjriN.jpg

186. Ghufran said: 4. It is possible to squeeze the regime and support non violent opposition at the same time.

but that isn’t happening.

US thwarted efforts by Western allies to help build post-Asad institutions in Aleppo.

Obama claims that Russia is not a major geopolitical enemy of the U.S. A natural question arises . Who is the main geopolitical enemy of the United States ? Iran, Syria, Cameroon, China or North Korea ? If it is Syria , where the gang of thugs hired by the U.S. secret services , a few years fighting against the legitimate government of Bashar al-Assad , what can we say about the strength and power of America ? Are the claims and ambitions of the United States with their capabilities ? Which year are already in Washington are threatening to punish the Syrian president and it seems that the latter will live to a ripe old age at his residence , surrounded by his relatives.

Among Assad great achievements:

Chechnyans against Iranians in syrian land, Saudi weapons against Russian weapons for syrian blood, while most syrians have left their land and creep for humanitarian aid.

Thanks Assad You Are a Genious !!!

ALAN #196 asks:

“Who is the main geopolitical enemy of the United States?”

He then puts up such an absurd list of candidates, he may as well have nominated himself. (Though maybe he did that by proxy by naming Bashar Assad).

The Syrian people and their homeland are certainly not an enemy of the United States. Only the illegitimate Assad regime is, though just a fleabite sized one – not in the “main geopolitical” category.

The “leaders” of Iran and Russia like to posture as self-appointed geopolitical enemies of the US, but that is for domestic reasons well explained in #179.

But the US could decide to just ignore those places without any real loss or ill-effect to itself and nobody much would notice or care, except the Mullahs who would ramp up their “diplomacy by terrorism” activities and Putin would screech for attention.

#189. SYRIAN HAMSTER, isn’t that the same person who dismisses Jarba of the SNC by saying he looks like “a cross between a smuggler and a Saudi Bedouin”?

Puzzling. Ahman Jarba appears an infinitely more normal-looking and respectable human representative of Syrians compared with the bizarre pinheaded Bashar Assad and his freakish-looking gang of Walid Muallam, Bouthaina Shaaban and co.

??? ????? ????2 , ???? ??? ???????? ??????? ???? ??? ?????? ??????? ???? ?? ?????? ??????? ??? ???? ????1, ?????? ??? ?????????? ?? ??? ?????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????, ?? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ????? ?? ??????.
???? ??? ????? ?????, ???? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ????? ????? ??? ?? ??? ???????.
???? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ?????? ?????, ????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ?????????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ???? ???, ???? ????? ??????, ??? ??????.
?? ???, ??? ??? ??????? ?? ??? ????????, ?????? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ???????, ??? ?? ???? ???? ???????? ??? ???? ?? ??? ???????? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ?? ??????, ???? ?????? ???? ???? ??? ??? ???? ?? ?? ??????.
???? ??????? ???? ???? ?????? ?????????? ?? ???? ????? ???? ?????, ???? ??????? ??????? ??? ?? ???? ???.
??? ????? ?? ??? ???????, ??? ???? ??????? ?????? ????? ??????? ?? 14 ???? ??????, ??? ?????? ????? ????? ???? ?????, ????? ??? ?? ????? ?? ??????? ??? ?????? ?????? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ?? ??? ???????? ???? ?????? ????? ?? ?????.
??? ???? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ????? ?? ??????? ????? ???? ?????, ???? ??????? ???? ?????? ??????? ??? ????? ??? ????? ??????? ??? ????, ????? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ??? ????? ???????.
?? ???? ????? ????? ?????????? ?? ?? ?? ???? ????? ??? ????? ??????? : ?????? ??? ???? ???? ???? ???????? ????? ??????? ????????? ??????, ???? ???????? ?????? ?????, ??? ?????????? ?????? ??????, ??? ?? ??? ??? ????? ?????? ??? ?????? ????? ????? ???????, ?????? ??? ?????? ????? ??????? ??????? ???? ?? ??????? ????? ???? ????, ???? ????? ?????? ?? ??? ?????.
?? ?? ??????? ?? ???? ??? ?????? ?????????? ??? ??? 1992 ????? ?? ??????? ????? ?? ?????? ?????? ????? ????? ?????? ?????????.
?? ??? ?????, ??? ???? ?????? ?????????, ????? ???? ???? ?? ????? ????? ???????? ??????, ??????? ?????? ??. ??? ????? ?????? ????????? ??????? ????? ( ???? ???? ????? ????? ??? 2007 ??? ????? ??????? ?? ?????? ????????) ??????? ??? ??????? ?????? ???? ??? ??? ?? ????????? ????????? ???????? ?? ????? (???? ???? ????? ??????? ?? ??? 1997 ??? ????? ??????? ?? ?????) : ???? ?????? ????? ??????????
?? ????? ??? ????????? ????????? ??????? ?? ?????.
?????? ?????????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ???? ?? ?????? ??????, ?? ???? ?? ??? ??????, ??? ??? ???? ????????, ??? ???? ???? ????? ?????? ??????.
??? ??? ???? ????????? ??.
????? ?????

Putin’s Eurasian Project certainly is a, perhaps THE most potent
medium-term enemy of the United States’ Empire (not of the nation, which doesn’t need the Empire, not like Israel needs it.)

http://youtu.be/wgMK-kS3pfs?t=1s

The Syrian war, and the arab spring in general, summarizes all the contradictions and the failures of Syrians, Arabs, Muslims and the international community. Consider these facts:

1. Assad government supported Islamist rebels when the US invaded Iraq but those
rebels came back to bite the hand that fed them. The USA did the same thing in Afghanistan.
2. The main financiers for Syrian rebels are GCC governments and private donors. GCC countries are ruled by oppressive family- dominated regimes that suppress women and minorities and do not allow political dissent. We are supposed to believe that those sheikhs and their agents in Syria will support a pleural and tolerant political system !!
3. What started as demonstrations for legitimate political and economic rights quickly changed to an armed rebellion then terrorism. The victim has become a copy of the perpetrator or worse if you add the extremist Islamist ideology of most rebels.
4. Rebels failed their own population who paid the heaviest price when millions of them became refugees who lost their homes and properties in a revolution that promised them freedom and a better life. The regime used poor alawites to stay in power leaving tens of thousands of families without men and money and forcing orphans and widows to beg for assistance that is unlikely to come in any substantial way.
5. NATO countries instigated the use of violence against regime troops and helped rebels politically but privided modest military support then left those rebels under the mercy of turkey and the GCC and issued orders to prevent their citizens from returning to NATO countries if they fight in Syria.the same NATO countries are making billions of dollars in arm deals with GCC countries to “help them deter Iran”, it is crystal clear that the West is OK with this morbid situation as long as Israel is safe and jihadists stay out of NATO countries.
6. The regime showed by ignoring the plight of minorities in a number of areas especially Latakia (while pushing hard around Damascus and Aleppo) that staying in power is more important than protecting minorities who today have no choice but to accept the regime because the other option is the rule of sectarian militias that are openly hostile to them.
7. Muslim revolutionaries for the most part could not provide an acceptable alternative to non religious dictatorships. Muslim fighters respond to existing regimes with suicide bombing, armed lawless militias and head cutting ceremonies. It is either Islamist terrorism or brutal and corrupt dictatorships. A third option has not materialized after 4 years of chaos and blood shed that characterized the so called Arab Spring.
?? ??? ???? ?? ????? ?????

True Muslim Uzair !
/Does the liberation of Jerusalem an individual duty?
UZAIR8 SAID:
/Don’t worry God Almighty will take care of Jerusalem and arrange for it’s liberation./
ALAN said:
???????
Stop for a red herring!
You turned the issue of Jerusalem to God, and then God left in order to hiding behind Assad!!! This logic clumsy!!! Why do not pro-Palestine Dear long beard?
Sorry Palestinian Sister: The stupid Arabs are busy slaughtering each other.
https://twitter.com/ahmadalissa/status/452922598494461952/photo/1

In Pakistan, a giant poster of a child victim now looks up at drone operators
https://twitter.com/malonebarry/status/452865425877897217/photo/1

Try some basic maths: 800 allegedly killed by MANPAD strikes in 38 years = 21 deaths a year. Syrian civilians killed by aerial bombardment in 2 years 9500 (2600+ children). So in your moral universe one western life = 226 Syrian lives.
A licence for state terrorism.