What was this Friday’s them in Egypt?

🙂

US reluctant to step in vs. Syrian chemical threat, urges neighbors to cope

Strong reluctance to stepping in to prevent the use of Syria’s chemical weapons was registered by President Barack Obama in an interview Monday, Jan. 28 to The New Republic:

“ In a situation like Syria, I have to ask: can we make a difference in that situation? ”

He then continued to ask rhetorically:

“ Could it trigger even worse violence or the use of chemical weapons?

What offers the best prospect of a stable post-Assad regime? And how do I weigh tens of thousands who’ve been killed in Syria versus the tens of thousands who are currently being killed in Congo? ” 😀

The rats are getting no place fast. Notice even the whores in the Western press have dropped Syria off the news. This must be a real morale buster for all those clowns here that sit in the US calling for dead Syrians.

Did you think a bunch of apes could beat the Syrian army?

Electricity gradually returns to Syrian capital after complete blackout – 2013-02-17

DAMASCUS, Feb. 16 — Electricity has started to return gradually to parts of the Syrian capital Damascus after a major blackout blanketed Syria’s southern region Saturday evening.

Minister of Electricity Imad Khamis was earlier quoted by the state media as saying that the outage occurred due to a damage in one of the main lines feeding the southern rim of Syria.

Maintenance work is underway to fix the problem, he said, giving no details about reasons behind the damage.

The major blackout is the second to engulf the capital since the eruption of the political crisis in Syria almost two years ago. Last month, the armed rebels targeted a main electricity line and caused similar outage that lasted for 12 hours.

Iran’s Majlis says Israel to receive harsh response to assassination of commander – 2013-02-17

TEHRAN, Feb. 16 — Israel will receive a harsh response to the recent assassination of a senior commander of the Islamic Revolution Guards Corps (IRGC), Iran’s Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Commission said Saturday, according to Press TV.

On Thursday, local reports said General Hassan Shateri, who was responsible for the Iranian-financed construction projects in southern Lebanon, was assassinated by unknown gunmen as he was travelling from Syria to Lebanon.

The reports held Israeli agents responsible for the assassination of Shateri.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Majlis committee condemned the assassination of the commander, saying that the Israeli government will receive a severe response to its crime in due time and place.

“Ten anti-Tank missiles have been acquired by the Syrian Supreme Military Council, led by Brigadier Selim Idris. Each costs between $20 to 25 thousand. ….  It is said that these weapons may have come from Libya and have been sitting in Turkey for some time but approval “may not have been” given for them to be released. It seems that this has changed as of late.”

Someone important has finally seen the light..  It starts with 10 then whatever it takes… 

Al Qaeda cold blooded killer hitching a ride to Terrorist Paradise 🙂

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=074_1361050624

WARNING: extremely demoralizing to Al Qaeda supporters on this blog

The small girl grabs at the shiny gun but he snatches it away. “I knew there wouldn’t be a revolution without violence, and the people of Aleppo needed someone to drag them into the revolution.”

__________________________________________________________________

What a retard subhuman Moslem criminal mind, Revolution are fought against occupiers and foreign enemies, or concocted by Zionist Jewish Criminals to cease power and wealth of the nation, or destroy the enemies of its Protocols.

Revolution need leaders and winning strategies, ideologies, and noble plan to bring better future to the masses, most importantly the support and consencess of the revolting masses of its nation. These Israeli War Crimes against Syria can hardly fit the mold of popular people revolution. Strip all the fake and deception of media away and you will discover the Jews archetype master plan to destroy an enemy and profit from the gas pipeline it intend to install.

Even if the rebels had good intentions, a matter that is debatable, what their actions led to was a total disaster, they made it easier for thousands of people, the ones they were supposed to protect,to die and were helpful in getting whole neighborhoods and towns destroyed, it is like a bear who killed his owner when he crushed the man’s head trying to scare away a fly.
Giving rebels more lethal weapons will only make things worse and lead to a more violent reaction by an army that is better equipped and more determined not to be defeated in the battle field even if that means destroying whatever is left of Syria, it is a war between two stubborn , and not so nice,parties who do not have Syria’s best interest at heart, however, Syria still needs an army and basic government institutions to function, you can not say the same about 400 armed groups much of whom are affiliated with foreign powers and Islamist terror groups,that is why most people will choose a brutal Syrian army over a collection of foreign or nusra-type armed militias.
the only purpose of arming the militias is to destroy whatever is left of Syria and defeat a regime at the expense of all Syrians, remember that Qatar and Turkey,along with others, are not the ones who are paying with blood and tears,it is your Syrian brothers and sisters who need peace not war today.

Maybe Obama and the House of Saud should give the rats nuclear weapons and they could blow up the entire country and proclaim they’re finally free.

Revolution are fought by people of a country, not by foreign paid mercenaries fighting the local populace, kidnapping them for ransom, raping them for revenge, cleansing them ethnically merely for being of certain sect, stealing its food storages, destroying its hospitals, universities, factories, farms and cities, begging for foreigners to come and occupy the country, bring a foreign and strange religious ideologies that are unacceptable to the masses. Revolution are lead by respected and supported leaders, not by foreign supported and financed, hotel based, whore friendly revolutionaries acting as façade for the revolution while the nation enemies are doing the fighting on the ground under their cover and using their support. This is called Asymmetric War against a nation.

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2011/12/26/world-war-iii-first-asymmetric-war-long-pentagon-think-tanks.html

Anti-Tank Guided Missile type is French-made LRAC F1, not Russian type.

This revolution started with spray paint. Now we have weapons from the Syrian army itself being used against the regime as the FSA acquires more weapons from captured check points and military posts.

Here is a video of the rebels using 152 mm Howitzer against the regime. This one was not parachuted by some foreign power. It is Russian made.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8Ah6adyDhU

There were more videos of MRL being used in the suburbs of Damascus and Grad Rockets against Mezzeh airport.

So these antitank weapons are to be used against the T 80 that the regime is using. Then we can see what the regime does.

Laughvrov thinks that there should be discussions with the regime and that the demand to oust the prethident are not constructive.

Well the rebels will send him the prethident to talk to every night soon enough. He can sit and listen to the prethident lecturing him nightly if he so desires.

That is if the prethident is going to be shipped in a state fit for “talking”.

The horse is out of the barn. Neither Russia nor the West nor anyone is going to be able to stop the toppling of the regime. The only thing possible is for the regime to actually ask for capitulation terms now to save the country from further destruction.

Justice for Hamza.

THE JEWS AT IT AGAIN DESTROYING ANOTHER COUNTRY:

SECURING THE REALM – A SIDE CHAPTER IN THE PROTOCOLS OF ZION:

It’s interesting, and even more disturbing, how the US foreign-policy approach to Syria has remained consistent with the infamous report prepared for the Israeli government in 1996, by the same individuals who successfully managed to manipulate US foreign policy to build a case for war on Iraq, namely Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and David Wurmser, among others. “A Clean Break: A New Strategy for Securing the Realm” counseled that “given the nature of the regime in Damascus, it is both natural and moral that Israel abandon the slogan ‘comprehensive peace’ and move to contain Syria, drawing attention to its weapons of mass destruction program, and rejecting ‘land for peace’ deals on the Golan Heights”.

The policy report recommended that Israel should establish “the precedent that Syrian territory is not immune to attacks emanating from Lebanon by Israeli proxy forces”. It also read: “Israel can shape its strategic environment, in cooperation with Turkey and Jordan, by weakening, containing and even rolling back Syria. This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq – an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right – as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions.”

Read the whole article, blunt and simple critic of how Arabs and the West made a bad situation in Libya worse,much worse indeed:
ليبيا: عامان من الفوضى
عبد الباري عطوان
2013-02-15
من المفترض ان يحتفل الليبيون غدا الاحد بالذكرى الثانية لثورتهم التي اطاحت بنظام العقيد معمر القذافي، لكن معظم الليبيين منقسمون، فالغالبية الساحقة منهم تفضل البقاء في المنازل تجنبا للاسوأ، بينما سينزل البعض الى الشوارع، اما للمطالبة بإسقاط النظام الجديد، او لعزل وإقصاء اي مسؤول او موظف كبير عمل مع النظام السابق.
قطعا لن يحضر هنري ليفي الفيلسوف الفرنسي اليهودي، الأب الروحي للثورة الليبية على حد وصف الكثيرين، هذه الاحتفالات، ومن المؤكد ان نيكولاي ساركوزي رئيس فرنسا السابق وعرابها الاول سيفضل البقاء بعيدا، وكذلك حال القادة العسكريين لحلف الناتو الذين قادوا العمليات العسكرية لإسقاط النظام الديكتاتوري السابق.
الفضائيات العربية التي شاركت حلف الناتو غاراته الجوية من خلال قصف فضائي اعلامي مكثف طوال فترة الحرب، لتعبئة الرأي العام العربي خلف هذا التدخل العسكري الاجنبي، وهي التي وقفت ضده في العراق، هذه الفضائيات ستغيب عن هذه الاحتفالات، وان حضرت فعلى استحياء شديد، وسيغيب عن المشهد ايضا الخبراء الاستراتيجيون والمحللون العسكريون، والمفكرون ورهط من الكتاب. فليبيا الجديدة التي بشروا بها مغايرة كليا لليبيا الواقع.
ليبيا في يوم عيد ثورتها تحولت الى ثكنة عسكرية معزولة عن محيطها العربي والدولي، فجميع حدودها من الشرق مع مصر، والغرب مع تونس والجزائر، والجنوب مع تشاد والنيجر مغلقة تماما، وجميع محافظاتها الجنوبية اصبحت منطقة عسكرية مغلقة، وحركة الطيران في المطارات شبه متوقفة

Read the whole article, blunt and simple critic of how Arabs and the West made a bad situation in Libya worse,much worse indeed:
عبد الباري عطوان
2013-02-15
من المفترض ان يحتفل الليبيون غدا الاحد بالذكرى الثانية لثورتهم التي اطاحت بنظام العقيد معمر القذافي، لكن معظم الليبيين منقسمون، فالغالبية الساحقة منهم تفضل البقاء في المنازل تجنبا للاسوأ، بينما سينزل البعض الى الشوارع، اما للمطالبة بإسقاط النظام الجديد، او لعزل وإقصاء اي مسؤول او موظف كبير عمل مع النظام السابق.
قطعا لن يحضر هنري ليفي الفيلسوف الفرنسي اليهودي، الأب الروحي للثورة الليبية على حد وصف الكثيرين، هذه الاحتفالات، ومن المؤكد ان نيكولاي ساركوزي رئيس فرنسا السابق وعرابها الاول سيفضل البقاء بعيدا، وكذلك حال القادة العسكريين لحلف الناتو الذين قادوا العمليات العسكرية لإسقاط النظام الديكتاتوري السابق.
الفضائيات العربية التي شاركت حلف الناتو غاراته الجوية من خلال قصف فضائي اعلامي مكثف طوال فترة الحرب، لتعبئة الرأي العام العربي خلف هذا التدخل العسكري الاجنبي، وهي التي وقفت ضده في العراق، هذه الفضائيات ستغيب عن هذه الاحتفالات، وان حضرت فعلى استحياء شديد، وسيغيب عن المشهد ايضا الخبراء الاستراتيجيون والمحللون العسكريون، والمفكرون ورهط من الكتاب. فليبيا الجديدة التي بشروا بها مغايرة كليا لليبيا الواقع.
ليبيا في يوم عيد ثورتها تحولت الى ثكنة عسكرية معزولة عن محيطها العربي والدولي، فجميع حدودها من الشرق مع مصر، والغرب مع تونس والجزائر، والجنوب مع تشاد والنيجر مغلقة تماما، وجميع محافظاتها الجنوبية اصبحت منطقة عسكرية مغلقة، وحركة الطيران في المطارات شبه متوقفة

OMEN, in response to your comment in the previous thread: “i don’t doubt the u.s. is sending humanitarian aide. what i’m questioning is the idea of refugees rejecting provisions simply because it has american branding.”

I don’t think the US is concealing the origins of its aid for fear of needy and desperate Syrians rejecting it – it’s more like a precaution against al-Nusrah and other ideologues making “heroes” of themselves (in their own irrational minds) by refusing to let it be used.

OBSERVER,

When it’s over, it will be stunning how swiftly Bashar Assad will fall into irrelevance and oblivion. Likewise the instant evaporation of the concept of the Assads having had power in Syria.

And he will be treated with even more contempt, mockery and humiliation than Gaddafi and Mubarak and Ben Ali’s wife all put together.

قال لافروف، في مقابلة مع قناة «أ ار دي» الألمانية بثت أمس، إن «المعارضة لم تقدم حتى الآن أي خطة سياسية. لم يقدم ممثلوها كيف يرون ويتصورون مستقبل سوريا. إن ما يقولونه فقط هو لا بد أن يرحل الأسد». وأضاف «لقد بذلت الدول الغربية ودول الخليج العربي وتركيا العديد من الجهود لتوحيد المعارضة، وتم بالفعل تشكيل الائتلاف، ولكن على الرغم من ذلك تبقى العقيدة السياسية للمعارضة غير بناءة». وتابع «إذا لم تقدم المعارضة السورية رؤيتها السياسية لمستقبل سوريا، فإننا لن نستطيع فهم هل هي موحدة بالفعل أم لا».
وأكد لافروف انه «قبل مناقشة شخصيات وهيكل القيادة السورية لا بد من توقيع اتفاقية ترسم ضمانات واضحة لجميع الأطياف السورية، الإثنية منها والطائفية. ضمانات بأن هذه المجموعات ستشعر بالراحة والأمن في سوريا الجديدة». وقال «أعتقد أن هذه ستكون بمثابة الخطوة المهمة الأولى في أي حوار وطني»، مشددا على أنه ينبغي على المعارضة أن تظهر اهتمامها ورغبتها في ذلك.
وأعلن أنه «يعارض أن يتخذ مجلس الأمن الدولي إجراءات ضد سوريا»، مضيفا «من الواضح أن من يريد افتعال ذريعة للتدخل في النزاع السوري من الخارج سيستخدم إي إجراء لمجلس الأمن على الفور». وأكد أن «روسيا تعطي أولوية قصوى لإنقاذ حياة الناس في سوريا، ومن أجل ذلك تطالب بوقف القتال من دون شروط مسبقة».
وعن شرط المعارضة رحيل الأسد، قال لافروف إن «من يقول إنه لا يمكن أن يبدأ التفاوض بين الحكومة والمعارضة إلا عندما يستقيل الرئيس السوري فعليه أن يعرف أنه (الأسد) لا يعتزم الرحيل»، مشيرا إلى أن «أحدا لا يستطيع أن يقنعه بالتراجع عن قراره». وأضاف «قال (الأسد) أنا سوري وولدتُ هنا وأدافع عن شعبي وسأموت في سوريا، ولن يستمع إلينا والصينيين والإيرانيين أو غيرهم».
I still think Assad needs to appoint a successor and step aside or step down and let others try to reach an agreement that preserves the army and assures skeptics from all sides.
A country of 25 million is able to form a government,without Assad, that can keep the country in one piece and stop the war, one advantage of reaching a resolution is to isolate advocates of violence and to expose people and governments who speak from both sides of their mouth, you are either for war or for peace.

6. Tarasaid:

Someone important has finally seen the light.. It starts with 10 then whatever it takes…

_________________________________________________________________

The Syrian army will now use surface to surface scud missiles. Don’t chicken out Bashar, you have the mandate of the people of Syria to crush this Jewish enemy plot against Syria even if the country left in dust. We can always grow opium and build another Bogota in Syria.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/_PeXkVSwswOM/ScGQBOolQPI/AAAAAAAAA2A/OuHr0a22poo/s400/MedellinColombia99.jpg

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-A7EDhCm-iZQ/T_PNlXHVvsI/AAAAAAAAAEQ/OY99kZ_0HFA/s1600/medellin3.jpg

Correction: M79 Osa (Wasp) 90 mm portable anti-tank rocket launcher, a Yugoslavian/Serbian modernized variant of the French-made LRAC F1

Ghufran there is no one who can replace Bashar. He is our president and will remain our president. The upcoming elections will reelect him too.

We aren’t going to entertain his removal by anyone. The only way he will ever be removed is if he is assassinated.

aldendeshe, this doesn’t make sense:

This effort can focus on removing Saddam Hussein from power in Iraq – an important Israeli strategic objective in its own right – as a means of foiling Syria’s regional ambitions.”

removing saddam actually strengthened support for syria.

it is not enough to cite a report. you have to know who funded it.

Thank you for the updates on the weapons.

*************************************************

The loser regime seems to be having trouble keeping the power online in Damascus.

At this point the regime is nothing more than an Iranian puppet. Apparently, according to Iran, Damascus is the 35th province of Iran. Assad has sold the country to the Iranians. It’s time for the rebels to take it back.

Our army is killing an average of 100-150 rats a day now and on a particularly good hunting day we bag 500+.

As I’ve said before:

Losers support the loser regime.

It’s a loser solidarity thing. For example, Revenire is a loser. So he supports the loser regime. See how it all makes sense now?

3:18 To Hell

Wouldn’t click on any of the loser’s links. They could have viruses. After all, most of their links about Syria come from IRANIAN websites.

As I’ve said before: the regime is a puppet of Iran’s. Damascus, according to influential Iranians, is considered to be the 35th province of Iran.

Assad has sold his country out.

marigold, wonder where the update came from. the guardian piece cited doesn’t say.

Which update?

If it’s about Iran’s recent comments about Syria:

There’s a lot of sources. Ya Libnan is one.

http://www.yalibnan.com/2013/02/16/iranian-cleric-losing-syria-is-like-losing-tehran/

“30. OMEN said:
marigold, wonder where the update came from. the guardian piece cited doesn’t say.”

It came from Hell and that is where your rat brothers are going courtesy of the Syrian Arab Army.

23. correction: removing saddam strengthened support for assad & the regime, not syria!

i’ve been chewed out for this error before.

23. correction: removing saddam strengthened support for assad.

i’ve been chewed out for this error before. the regime is not syria!

…

21. Pirouz said: Correction: M79 Osa (Wasp) 90 mm portable anti-tank rocket launcher, a Yugoslavian/Serbian modernized variant of the French-made LRAC F1

this is in keeping with the report syrialover earlier pointed to. weapons from balkan states trickling in and winding up in the hands of secular forces. SL, do you still have that piece?

Allahu Akbar brigade gets a taste of what it’s like to take on the Syrian military 😀

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=4f6_1361052689

What a mess!

10 Anti-tank Missiles Supplied to Military Council for Aleppo Fight
Somehow I believe it is more than 10,probably over 1000,we will see.
Watch this silly statement by Kookoo Ghufran,The Voodoo dancer the ligar:
“who speak from both sides of their mouth, you are either for war or for peace.”
Did he forget that he speaks from both sides of his mouth?or is it just another stupid comment as we got used to from him?

Does the regime army has one,just one patriotic officer who would launch a missile against Israel rather than use it against Aleppo,just one at least

Majedkhaldoun,

The regime are cowards. They prefer to get the Lebanese involved to do their dirty work. Meanwhile, killing your own people and destroying your own cities is OK by the brain-dead Assad cultists.

The reason they got 10 ATGM instead of 100 is that those missiles were bought on the black market. Maybe they were paid by GCC or some private sponsors but that is it.

For a game change in this civil war to tip the balance to the rebels favor, they need hundreds or thousands of ATGM, MANPADS and artillery.

That is not happening because the west and GCC do not have a policy to supply those kind of weapons.

Russian responded harshly by supply Iskander missiles after the west deployed Patriot II in Turkey. The escalation of the civil war will start if the west provides heavy weapons.

The bigger question is how many fighters the rebels have now? This year alone, the rebels have suffered at least 15000 men. Many of their established bases have been rooted out by the regime, in the suburban areas of Damascus, in northern Lattakia, in Hama, in Homs. And a decisive battle is going on in Aleppo.

Recently quite a few videos are promoting by the opposition to urge women and other ”citizen” to learn how to use weapons to ”resist” the regime and its oppression. That is a sign that the rebels is suffering pressing loss of fighter.

visitor, earlier you pointed to this aja piece.

while not breaking news, it is yet more confirmation that hezbollah are killing syrians. now do you agree with me that fsa needs to be consolidated to defend homs? will nusra defend her?

also, thank you for your earlier kindness.

Yeah. And if the rebels lost 15000 men, the regime lost 50000 men.

I can make up numbers too.

Even if the rebels lost that many men, they got that many men back from defections alone. If the rebels gain a defector for every man they lose, they’ll still win in the end.

And the rebels obviously don’t need foreign weapons to make progress. They’ve shown this already. They can simply take the weapons from the regime.

There’s a common mis-perception among the regular army and stupid people that the strategy for fighting a guerilla war is to kill guerillas.

This never works by itself. The guerillas can constantly replenish their ranks from defectors and volunteers, and from the refugee camps. Because of this, the Russians lost in Afghanistan and Americans in Vietnam despite killing hundreds of thousands of their enemies.

39. apple, earlier i asked brown moses how many manpads the rebels needed to even the odds and balance the playing field. he estimated 50. how many aircraft does the regime have left? i’m pretty sure it’s not in the thousands.
…

37. khaldoun, i rather see a missile take out the mullahs in iran. that would be attacking the root of the problem.

Couple things need to be more clear.

The rebels have had at least a dozen MANPADS. I am not sure 50 is enough to stop the SAF. I referred thousands of heavy weapons including tanks, BMP and artillery. All those ”newer” weapons were bought from black market. The rebels have obtained some heavy weapons from the regime. I saw one of the rebel’s convey has only one T55. Capturing weapons from the regime is definitely not effective way to gain weapons, considered how often the rebels’ weapon cache got raid by the regime.

Keep in mind, the time the west is supplying heavy weapons is when the Russia and Iran are stepping in as active supporters of men and weapons. The escalation won’t be the west VS the regime.

The rebels lost at least 10k men around Damascus alone, 1k in Lattakia. There are still around 7k men tightly under siege by the regime in Homs. So do the math.

Akpar Palace
They all cowards,they don’t care about Syria, they are working hard to destroy Syria, but they will lose.

Omen
the regime has still 337 aircraft left,originally they were 600.

Yet another chapter in the Protocol of the Elder of Zion, Jews plotted to ruin another country:

Zionism at its best (WORST) The Yinon Thesis Vindicated: Neocons, Israel, and the Fragmentation of Syria:

http://home.comcast.net/~transparentcabal/article38.html

Clean Break, securing the realm (Rolling Syria Back):
http://www.israeleconomy.org/strat1.htm

LOL.

Your facts are so off-base that I’m confident you’re deliberately trolling.

Nonetheless, to counter your argument at face-value (because I am smart and you are very, very dumb), here are the 4 reasons why I think the rebels are winning:

1. In 14-16 months of war the rebels control more than half the country.

2. In 14-16 months of war the rebels control more than half the country.

3. In 14-16 months of war the rebels control more than half the country.

4. In 14-16 months of war the rebels control more than half the country.

In other words, look at the overall results. It’s like a football game:

Team Rebels: 4
Team Regime: 0

And you’re arguing that Team Regime is winning because they got more corner-kicks.

Omen @39,

Did you read my comment 362 under the previous thread?

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=17738&cp=all#comments

It should answer most of your questions about 7Homs battle and the surroundings. You shoud be familiar with the geography of the area in the 7homs-Qusair in order to understand the strategy which I will explain shortly.

There is an urgent need to defend 7Homs of course by the FSA and I am sure Nusra will again take the lead. Today, following that AJE report there were news of a battle between the FSA and Hizbistan on the border inside Syria over the movement of 24 hizbistani badies into Lebanonthat were killed inside Syria.

The strategy followed by the regime, which is designed in Mullah-stan as you may infer from my comment under the orevious thread, is to maintain a corridor from the coast to Damascus, and 7Homs is of course in the middle. The regime with instructions from the mullahs has not yet given up on Damascus. This is a preparation or the last fall out plan, or so they think, of withdrawing to coast once and if Damascus falls, now that most of the north and the east have bren liberated

I would rather see a major assault on the coast in order to cut off the mountain hideouts from such scenario of possible retreat, stranding the regime and its loyalists in Damascus. The FSA and Nusra should them move inward and south towards Damascus, at which point I would be most certain that the local population will be emboldened enough to defect en-masse finishing off the war.

i don’t know what to make of this comment, but it bothers me, so i am posting it. via ft:

“There is a dual process of consolidation,” he said. “The opposition is consolidating in the north and east, and the regime is consolidating in central Syria and the coast and mountains.”

Even the loss of new swaths of territory and oilfields is unlikely to be a fatal blow to the regime however, argues Mr Harling. “This regime is bleeding from so many cuts,” he said, “it presumably will adjust, as always.”

The rebels still need to consolidate their gains in Aleppo, Deir El Ezzor, Raqqa, and Idlib so they’re several months away from attacking elsewhere.

But I agree. The correct strategy is not to launch an all-out assault on Damascus. It would be much better and easier to cut Damascus off from the rest of the country by attacking the LONG supply route connecting Damascus to Lattakia. I’m sure this is a matter of debate in the rebel councils of war.

In 6-8 months, the real offensive on Hamas, Lattakia, and Homs will begin.

@ Owen

The regime is TRYING to consolidate. But it’s not succeeding.

Despite regime “offensives” rebels hold large swathes of Damascus and its surrounding suburbs. They also still hold onto parts of Homs. If anything, these “offensives” prove that the regime is now incapable of clawing back their lost territory. They can claw back some territory, but with each iteration, overall, they lose more ground.

If the regime cannot beat the under-equipped and isolated rebel elements in Homs, how would they expect to beat the much larger and much better equipped rebels in Idlib, Aleppo and Deir El Ezzor?

The regime doesn’t have the manpower to hold Homs and Hamas, Lattakia, and Damascus. Once the rebels turn their full attention to those provinces, it will fall too, just like Idlib, Aleppo and elsewhere.

this is from a pro regime site, a lot of what is in it is true:
أكد محافظ حلب محمد وحيد عقاد أن انتشار السلع والبضاعة التركية بشكل كبير في أسواق مدينة حلب نتيجة طبيعية لنهب حكومة أردوغان مصانع وأسواق المدينة بالتواطؤ مع العصابات المسلحة.
وأشار المحافظ إلى أن توقف معامل حلب عن الإنتاج والتفريغ الممنهج لأسواق حلب التجارية ومستودعاتها وضع مواطن مدينة حلب أمام خيارين، إما شراء البضائع التركية المتوافرة أمامه على حساب البضاعة الوطنية التي اختفت بشكل شبه كامل من الأسواق، أو العزوف عن اقتناء تلك السلع وهو أمر صعب بالنسبة للمواطن
وقال: نؤكد أنها ظاهرة مؤقتة وسنحاسب قريباً كل شخص أو جماعة مسؤولة عن إدخال تلك المواد التركية إلى أسواق حلب بهذا الشكل.
وحول طريقة إدخال تلك البضائع بيّن المحافظ أنها تتم بواسطة المهربين وبموافقة الحكومة التركية، موضحاً أنها خطوة انتقامية بعد أن فقدت حكومة رجب طيب أردوغان الأمل في استمرار استخدام الأراضي السورية كطريق لعبور بضاعتها إليها وإلى أراضي الدول الأخرى كلبنان والأردن ودول الخليج وفي آخر المستجدات على صعيد حراك اتحاد الغرف برئاسة فارس الشهابي تم أمس توجيه كتاب إلى الحكومة يطالب رئيسها التعميم للعمل على مقاطعة الشركات والمنتجات التركية واعتبارها كالشركات الإسرائيلية.
وأكد الكتاب على أنه من الواجب الوطني مقاطعة المنتجات التركية ووضعها على القوائم السوداء وتأسيس مكتب خاص لمقاطعة تركيا تجارياً، ومنع الشركات التركية من الاستثمار في إعادة إعمار سورية وذلك حتى تعتذر الحكومة التركية رسمياً عما ارتكبته من إرهاب وإجرام بحق وطننا وقيامها بدفع كافة التعويضات للمتضررين.
the part that is absolutely true is the theft and destruction that Aleppo suffered from by armed thugs supported by Turkey, those thugs stole hundreds of factories, essential goods and basic materials that were either sold in the black market or smuggled to Turkey. there will be some Syrians who still feel grateful for Turkey but most Syrians do not share that affection.

this is from a pro regime site, a lot of what is in it is true:
أكد محافظ حلب محمد وحيد عقاد أن انتشار السلع والبضاعة التركية بشكل كبير في أسواق مدينة حلب نتيجة طبيعية لنهب حكومة أردوغان مصانع وأسواق المدينة بالتواطؤ مع العصابات المسلحة.
وأشار المحافظ إلى أن توقف معامل حلب عن الإنتاج والتفريغ الممنهج لأسواق حلب التجارية ومستودعاتها وضع مواطن مدينة حلب أمام خيارين، إما شراء البضائع التركية المتوافرة أمامه على حساب البضاعة الوطنية التي اختفت بشكل شبه كامل من الأسواق، أو العزوف عن اقتناء تلك السلع وهو أمر صعب بالنسبة للمواطن
وقال: نؤكد أنها ظاهرة مؤقتة وسنحاسب قريباً كل شخص أو جماعة مسؤولة عن إدخال تلك المواد التركية إلى أسواق حلب بهذا الشكل.
وحول طريقة إدخال تلك البضائع بيّن المحافظ أنها تتم بواسطة المهربين وبموافقة الحكومة التركية، موضحاً أنها خطوة انتقامية بعد أن فقدت حكومة رجب طيب أردوغان الأمل في استمرار استخدام الأراضي السورية كطريق لعبور بضاعتها إليها وإلى أراضي الدول الأخرى كلبنان والأردن ودول الخليج وفي آخر المستجدات على صعيد حراك اتحاد الغرف برئاسة فارس الشهابي تم أمس توجيه كتاب إلى الحكومة يطالب رئيسها التعميم للعمل على مقاطعة الشركات والمنتجات التركية واعتبارها كالشركات الإسرائيلية.
وأكد الكتاب على أنه من الواجب الوطني مقاطعة المنتجات التركية ووضعها على القوائم السوداء وتأسيس مكتب خاص لمقاطعة تركيا تجارياً، ومنع الشركات التركية من الاستثمار في إعادة إعمار سورية وذلك حتى تعتذر الحكومة التركية رسمياً عما ارتكبته من إرهاب وإجرام بحق وطننا وقيامها بدفع كافة التعويضات للمتضررين.
the part that is absolutely true is the theft and destruction that Aleppo suffered from by armed thugs supported by Turkey, those thugs stole hundreds of factories, essential goods and basic materials that were either sold in the black market or smuggled to Turkey. there will be some Syrians who still feel grateful for Turkey but most Syrians do not share that affection.

The rats have launched at least three “final battles” for Damascus, maybe four. All that happened was 1000s of them were killed.

Name me one city the rats control.

After two years they control nothing. There isn’t one “FSA liberated” area of Syria, from North to South and East to West. There isn’t a no-fly zone. There is no NATO to the rescue, like in Libya.

What could they hold? The air force would just bomb them to Hell if they ever took anything important to the war.

A few apes shouting “Allahu Akbar” who run into fire are idiots. They’re all going to die in Syria.

Most regime supporters are a combination of stupid, loser, trolls, or delusional.

Revenire combines all four traits.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, rebels control most of Deir El Ezzor province, Idlib, Aleppo, and Raqqa. They took several towns and airbases in those provinces recently.

Go and google search “Syria” and the news tab. Even an idiot like you should be able to do it.

This garbage is the clown’s bravado back in July 2012. The rats announced they would take Damascus. They look like idiots (but then again they always have).

Each week they lay on the BS thick saying new weapons, new defections, new thing and new that will come but it never does. They’ve lost 10s of 1000s of fighters. They never publish their losses. Ever. They post a number and say that is the number the “regime” has killed but that number is also rats. They are clowns. Amateurs.

They can’t win on the battlefield or diplomatically. They are laughed at in the world.

========

Free Syrian Army preparing for “final battle” for Damascus
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?id=30316

13/07/2012
By Caroline Akoum

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – In light of the noticeable development in the Free Syrian Army [FSA]’s military operations, not to mention the escalated pace of defections from the regular army’s forces, the FSA has announced that it is gearing up to take the fight to the al-Assad regime in Damascus. Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, FSA commander Colonel Riad al-Asaad revealed that “preparations for the battle of Damascus are underway and are in full swing, particularly as this operation – which will be the final and decisive confrontation with the regime – requires special preparations and arrangements”. He added “this has led to the battle being postponed so far; however once it starts it will be resolved quickly, within a matter of weeks.”
The FSA commander also stressed that “with regards to today, you could say that the situation has changed. We are now able to take decisions at the right time, after the FSA seized weapons at depots affiliated to the regime, in addition to those present in the border regions.” However al-Asaad denied that the FSA had been given surface-to-air missiles enabling them to bring down regime helicopters.

Colonel al-Asaad refused to explicitly confirm or deny whether the FSA is currently present in Damascus, informing Asharq Al-Awsat that “our presence can be ascertained by the operations we carry out, in Damascus and the surrounding area, and a number of such operations were carried out in different locations across the capital, not far from the presidential palace.”

As for the importance of the battle reaching Damascus, and indeed the presidential palace where al-Assad is staying, Colonel al-Asaad told Asharq Al-Awsat “the presidential palace will not decide the battle, rather what is important is capturing the military units that surround the palace, including the Fourth Armored Division and the Republican Guards” He added “initiating the battle in Damascus will have a positive impact on the pace of defections from the al-Assad regime, particularly amongst its leadership, after everybody becomes aware that the regime is facing its end.”

The FSA commander also claimed that the Syrian regime has issued commands “claiming that all Sunni officers are part of a sleeper cell and ordering their deaths”, adding “this is after more than 3,000 officers were arrested.”

For his part, Syrian National Council [SNC] member Bashar al-Haraki told Asharq Al-Awsat that the decisive battle for Damascus is fast approaching. He said “the FSA has been preparing for this battle for some time now, and the best example of this can be seen in the military operations that have taken place in the capital, in addition to the FSA’s presence in Damascus and the surrounding areas.”

Al-Haraki added that “the FSA’s previous capabilities did not allow for it to initiate the battle for Damascus, but today – following the development of its operations, its targeting of sites in Damascus, and its acquisition of more weapons – we can say that the FSA is ready for this battle.”

He also stressed that “the situation is approaching the end game and there is no need to wait for countries to fulfill their pledges to arm the FSA, as the FSA is prepared to fight the battle now.” He added “the regime’s forces that are stationed throughout the country are exhausted and fragmented, and this has forced even those surrounding the presidential palace to be deployed in operations outside of Damascus, not to mention the escalating pace of defections across the entire military spectrum and including senior officers.”

It is worth noting that the military battles between the FSA and the al-Assad regime’s forces have escalated significantly over the past two weeks, with confrontations taking place within the Syrian capital itself. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights revealed that violent clashes broke out in the Damascus districts of Qaboun, Qudsaya and Dummar last week between the FSA and Republican Guards, just 8 km from Umayyad Square in the center of the city. Security in Damascus has been significantly tightened, particularly around government headquarters and the presidential palace.

Media reports also claimed that the Syrian opposition is preparing to assault Damascus with the objective of confronting and toppling the al-Assad regime. Reports claim that the FSA is preparing to besiege the Syrian capital with a total of 30,000 troops. One source told the media that meetings were being held in Turkey between the FSA leadership and Arab and western military and intelligence apparatuses to discuss the logistics and details with regards to taking the battle to the heart of Damascus.

ALL the rat victories are INTERNET victories. Life in Syria goes on despite the war. Assad is laughing at these apes.

The rats control nothing. If they had one city I’d sure love to know the name of it so I could tell the air force to LEVEL it tomorrow.

It’s pathetic.

LOL

In response, I would like to make a four points to rebut your argument:

1. In 14-16 months of war the rebels control more than half the country.

2. In 14-16 months of war the rebels control more than half the country.

3. In 14-16 months of war the rebels control more than half the country.

4. In 14-16 months of war the rebels control more than half the country.

Revenire, has anyone mentioned yet what an inept troll you are? At this point everyone knows you’re a loser. And the only people who respond are the ones who enjoy trolling you.

A story from Idleb posted on NY Times:

The first kidnappings took place on Thursday, when 42 minority Shiite Muslims, mainly women and children, were taken from a bus traveling to Damascus, the capital, from their villages, Fouaa and Kfarya, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, an antigovernment watchdog group based in Britain with a network of activists in Syria.
Later on Thursday, scores of people, mostly women from the mainly Sunni town of Saraqeb, were kidnapped by Shiite gunmen, apparently in retaliation, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and a rebel commander, who was reached in Turkey. The group reported that 300 were taken hostage, while the commander said about 100 were abducted.
The commander, who gave only his first name, Maysara, said the second set of kidnappings took place Thursday in the city of Idlib as workers prepared to commute home to Saraqeb and other villages.
On Saturday, most of the women from Saraqeb were released after negotiations, conducted through mediators, between residents of Saraqeb and Fouaa.
(rebel spoke person in the story added that women released said they were treated very well)

FSA rat back in July 2012: “the regime’s forces that are stationed throughout the country are exhausted and fragmented, and this has forced even those surrounding the presidential palace to be deployed in operations outside of Damascus, not to mention the escalating pace of defections across the entire military spectrum and including senior officers.”

He was WRONG and what he bragged about didn’t happen and if they sent 30,000 men to Damascus in July most of those men are dead.

LOL

The FSA “victories” are announced on message forums but in the REAL WORLD the army is killing them and pounding them into the ground.

Revenire, what would you know of the real world?

By the time stamps of your posts, you live 12 hours a day on this blog.

If you search the web the FSA is laughed at for their announcements of victories. It is like the dam or the air bases. It is all rat lies.

Assad is laughing at the FSA and it’s drugged up ape army.

Once again:

Revenire, what would you know of the real world?

By the time stamps of your posts, you live 12 hours a day on this blog.

You’re not helping yourself here by talking about web searches.

All the FSA has left is Internet claims, kidnapping women and children and suicide bombings. It is like a fly buzzing around you and you just reach out and SLAP IT DEAD.

If the FSA held even one small town the air force would LEVEL that town tomorrow. There would be nothing left.

LOL control. These guy don’t even control their bowel movements. I’ve seen them run when they hear MIGs coming. They start crying and run into buildings. LOL

I’m trying to help you here, Revenire. I honestly am.

I believe that you can make psychological progress only after you’ve accepted what a terrible and awful person you actually are. And that’s what I’m trying to tell you:

Revenire, you’re an awful human being. No one likes you. Even the people on INTERNET forums don’t like you. Until you accept what an awful person you are, you will always be a loser, like the way you are right now.

10 anti-Tank rockets have been acquired by the Syrian Supreme Military Council, led by Brigadier Selim Idris.

Each costs between $20,000 to $25,000

It’s a no-brainer, at 20Gs a pop they’ll sell’em for ca$h 😀

These weapons will be in South Lebanon and aimed at `israel before the end of the month, if you catch my drift 😉

lol

Personally, for laughs, I’d love to see the rats take just one tiny place in Syria and try to hold it for longer than two hours so our air force could drop thousands of pounds of bombs on them and flatten the place. I’d forbid it from being rebuilt too or allow anyone in. Just let it sit as a show of force.

LOL

But in the real world the apes can’t hold anything. All they can do is make YouTube videos to try to raise enough money to pay for a few bullets so they can kidnap old men and women to get more money to pay for drugs.

Some army.

An army of rapists, thieves, rats and pedophiles.

I am laughing at your army.

قال مفتي سوريا الشيخ أحمد بدر الدين حسون، الجمعة، إن “الرئيس بشار الأسد لن يتنحى إلا بناء على رغبة الشعب السوري بذلك”، معتبرا أن “خطاب الرئيس الأسد بالنسبة للحوار أوسع من اتفاق جنيف”.
وأضاف حسون في لقاء مع قناة قضائية، “أنهم يريدون استهداف سوريا من خلال الأسد، والهدف مما يجري هو تركيع وإفقار وتجهيل وضياع سوريا”.
واعتبر المفتي أن “خطاب الأسد حول الحوار كان أوسع من اتفاقية جنيف”، وأشار إلى أن “ما حدث في سوريا نتيجة أخطاء تراكمت واستغلها الآخر في الخارج عربيا كان أو جارا”.
وفي ما يتعلق بالموقف التركي، لفت حسون إلى أنه قبيل الأزمة السورية “أبلغني أردوغان احترامه للرئيس الأسد وخوفه على سوريا من فوضى قادمة، إلا أنه هناك وثائق تثبت فتح تركيا حدودها أمام المجرمين والسارقين للعبور إلى سوريا”..
من جهة أخرى، دعا مفتي سوريا “السياسيين في لبنان إلى التعلم من الكاردينال مار بشارة بطرس الراعي في خطوته حيال سوريا”، وأكد على “مسيحيي سوريا إلى أن لا يهاجروا ليبرروا وجود وقيام دولة دينية”، متمنيا “لو أن مفتي لبنان كان أول القادمين إلى سوريا”، ومحملا مسؤولية الدم المراق إلى “كل خطيب فتنة دعا إلى الجهاد في سوريا”.
Hassoun is certainly part of the regime, his son was killed by rebels and that probably made him more convinced that he and his family will have no future if the rebels takes over the government.
Hassoun’s statement has a number of holes:
1. the regime was never interested in elections and has no experience in running clean elections, this makes Hassoun’s calls for the people to decide te future of Assad meaningless unless the UN is allowed to monitor any future presidential elections.
Assad supporters want him to run,I think that is a terrible idea even if Assad manages to survive until June of 2014, I am not wlling to bet any money that he will be president in 2014
2. as a mufti, Hassoun is supposed to focus on people’s suffering and people’s needs not on Assad’s political future and Syria’s foreign policy, he did nothing to soften the regime’s hardline approach to political prisoners, that and other failures make Hassoun a figure head not a Mufti (despite my condemnation of the assassination of his son).
3. Assad speech, his clearest and strongest, was a confirmation that he has no interest in national dialogue or a compromise, Hassoun should have stayed away from praising the speech, people want a mufti not a drummer (with the whole respect to drummers on this site from all sides), saying that the speech was broader than Geneva agreement was a joke.

If Iran produces nuclear weapons they will share them with their allies Syria and Hezbollah. Imagine that. Imagine Nasrallah having nuclear weapons. I can’t wait.

The FSA is done for. Syria won. The rats lost. Celebrate.

Our boys are mopping them up. The rats can announce their victories on Twitter and YouTube. We’re laughing at them.

51. ghufran, not all of those factories were looted. some of the owners arranged to relocate their own equipment out of the country:

Business exodus aids Syria’s neighbours

The Syrian civil war has claimed at least 60,000 lives and contributed to a climate of instability across the region. With the war-ravaged economy estimated to have shrunk about a fifth last year, some businessmen are looking for new places to invest near home.

Syrian small and medium-sized enterprises in areas such as textiles and food processing are estimated to have been worth several billion dollars before the start of the uprising nearly two years ago.

[…]

Egypt’s ministry of industry and foreign trade announced last month that it had set up a unit specifically to engage with the country’s businessmen and was trying to create a “Syrian industrial area”. Hatem Saleh, the industry and foreign trade minister, in January met Syrian businessmen who asked for a reduction in shipping tax to help them move equipment from Syria.

Omen the factories were LOOTED and taken to Turkey. The rats brought their war to Aleppo because the people there didn’t rise up – that is what the rats said THEMSELVES. Every dead person in Aleppo is the fault of your FSA terror army.

GOOD NEWS: Special Armed Forces executed two operations in the Town of “Dab’aa” rural Al-Qaseir, leading to the killing of a number of Terrorists including known Financier and Commander of Armed Groups “Khaled Al-Sharif Bouzan”, as well as other known Terrorists “Samer Al-Kholi”, “Abdel Karim” and “Abdul Kareem Ja’our”…JA

Keep it up boys. Kill them all! We need to kill every single rat in Syria. They should be bombed 24/7 without mercy.

92 days .Daryya is still holding

The landscape and geographic features of Syria are not in favor of any army which does not mechanized infantries or air supremacy.

Between Lattakia and Idleb and north of Lattakia, there are some mountain ranges. The rebels can set their foot there with support from the Turkish side. But those areas are not densely populated, so the rebels cannot establish a major base there. But the potential for the regime to see it as a flashpoint is quite real. That is why the regime is paying lots of efforts to make sure the area around Lattakia is secured.

Coastal areas are quite secured due to the fact it has been traditional on the regime side. AAMOF, life in Tartus is quite easy. That is surreal considered the rest of the country is burning.

Homs is not secured but the border area with Lebanon is a concern since Sunni in Lebanon have been trying to infiltrate and establish a front over there. How will that to play out depends on how the regime and Lebanon army to cooperate.

The highway connecting Homs and Damascus will sustain some harassment from the rebels but that is just harassment. The landscape has a few hilly area and it is very barren with a few small villages along the highway but not very close to highway. If the rebels have a any significant presence over there, they are very vulnerable to the regime’s air attacks and heavy shelling.

The same analysis applies to most of the land in Syria. That is why the rebel might have ”control” of vast land in the country. Yet, the rebels have no military dominance.

That is why if the war continues, all decisive battles will be about fighting for those cities. Not the country side.

As I mentioned before, the battle for Damascus since the end of last year was much more strategic for the regime. I once told my girl Winning or losing Daraya is everything.

The rebels are adapting guerrilla tactics and they are using it well. Yesterday, the special force of SAA went in Shadadah which was already in the rebels’ control and killed a few and took some Nusra fighters then retreated. Looks like the regime is also using guerrilla tactics.

Sure. Whatever. Here is my rebuttal. This time I’ll make it five points:

1. In 14-16 months of war, the rebels have against all odds taken more than half the country.

2. In 14-16 months of war, the rebels have against all odds taken more than half the country.

3. In 14-16 months of war, the rebels have against all odds taken more than half the country.

4. In 14-16 months of war, the rebels have against all odds taken more than half the country.

5. In 14-16 months of war, the rebels have against all odds taken more than half the country.

You’re like the guy who’s yelling at the TV because his team is losing. Well, suck it. The regime’s losing. The score is:

Rebels 4
Regime 0

You can come with all the excuses you want, but the score is the score.

The West will once again end up on the wrong side of true history

The West has helped start something in Syria that it is rapidly losing control over. Islamic extremism and terrorism is the beneficiary.

First the West initiated the Arab Spring, then they made Syrians revolt against their beloved president.

In the West, with a magnifying glass looking for changes in Russia’s position on Syria. But he has to move west, to th essentially fosters Islamist regime in Syria.
Alexei Pushkov-leading analytical software Postscript, chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee of the State Duma

Marigoldran

And the regime has proven that they can not control or cease this revolution, this Maher quote, give me 2 weeks, I ll handle this says it all. This regime digged their grave long ago.

Citizen

True history, so that implicates there is a wrong history…

I mean, usually in Syria and North Korea history is taught like no where else on this planet.

To me the biggest error in Syrian history is the Assads takeover of the country.

The West has done nothing about Syria. For the most part, the West has sat on its hands.

If there was one group that miscalculated, it was the REGIME. Its errors and its stupidity have lost it 60% of the country, and losing more with each passing month.

Beloved president my butt. If they’re revolting against him, how can he beloved? As I’ve said before: regime supporters are stupid. That’s why they’re losing.

EDIT: One of the things I’m amazed most about regime supporters is just how stupid they are. Facts are staring at them in the face, and they refuse to see it.

Fine by me. In many ways, it’s a good thing they’re so stupid. Better to face a stupid enemy, than a smart one.

Intelligence wins wars. Which is why the regime is losing.

Humanitarian situation worsens as clashes continue in Syria – 2013-02-17

• Gov’t troops and rebels Saturday clashed around international airport and two airbases in Aleppo.
• A power outage hit Damascus and the southern provinces of Daraa and Sweida on Saturday.
• Syrian refugee crisis is weighing on the international community, especially neighboring countries.

BEIJING, Feb. 17 — Civil war-stricken Syria was hit by an unprecedented string of sectarian kidnappings and a power outage over the weekend.

On Saturday, government troops and rebels clashed around the international airport and two airbases in Syria’s northern province of Aleppo. The rebels’ main goal was to take control of the Aleppo international airport, the second largest in the country, but they met strong counter strikes.

The Syrian crisis has dragged on for nearly two years, with no signs of an end in sight. Its fallout is emerging and spreading.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported on Saturday a spate of sectarian kidnappings over the past two days.

Meanwhile, a power outage added to the woes in the capital of Damascus and the southern provinces of Daraa and Sweida on Saturday.

In addition, the refugee crisis is weighing on the international community, especially neighboring countries. According to the United Nations refugee agency, 2.5 million Syrian people have fled their home, with 728,553 refugees in neighboring countries such as Lebanon, Jordan, Turkey and Iraq.

UN High Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said last week that the number of people fleeing fighting in Syria could reach 1.1 million by June.

The humanitarian situation in Syria is “the most dramatic crisis we are facing today,” he said, adding that developed nations, including those in Europe, need to accept more refugees as Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon have done.

ـ أحمد موفق زيدان‏@Ahmadmuaffaq
اغرد لكم من #دمشق حيث وصلت صباح اليوم لآغطي #الثورة السورية لقناة #الجزيرة

د ـ أحمد موفق زيدان‏@Ahmadmuaffaq
انقل اليكم اخبار الثورة السورية من دمشق حيث تم تامين انشقاق ٦٥٠ عسكري بينهم ٥٠ ضابطا برتب بعضعم عالية

“92 days .Daryya is still holding”

Maybe on Twitter but there it is rat-free.

Three young christian girls murdered by NATO mercenary death squads

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=9ca_1361076459

Talk about Batta controlling Damascus! lol
Aljazeerah correspondence in Damascus subarab
Ahmed zidan talk about the the soldiers who joined the FSA
http://youtu.be/KHj1C9amc88

Regimists tend to mock the original rebel move on Damascus, Operation Damascus Volcano.

The operation (or volcanic eruption) may have been short lived, however, it was very significant with far reaching consequences. The resulting ash cloud spread far and wide. Far beyond Damascus. It opened the way for the immediately following operation on Aleppo and further opening of the north to the rebels. The rebels haven’t looked back since.

Radioactive jackrabbits and wild life along the entire Hanford Site hills, super deadly and extremely radioactive fluids flowing towards the Columbia River which is widely used for Salmon Harvests YET ‘No Immediate Risk’ ?

Decades of deliberately running the multiple Hanford Reactors in a dirty mode to quickly build up weapons grade plutonium resulted in one of the largest and most deadly radioactive super dump sites on planet earth.

Yet, China’s radiation monitors detected ZERO increases in background radiation following the North Korean nuclear test this week, quickly followed by a screaming triade by the super paranoia Zionists leading Apartheid Israel and their puppets in the Israeli/Obama White House.

Imagine, North Korea’s very effecient and clean minature nuclear weapons test is spewed as evil and bad by the Zionists and their USA puppets while the massive Hanford WW2 and Cold War Plutonium generation plant, one of the world’s most contaminated, filthy and dangerious on the planet poses ‘No Immediate Risk’.

And what exactly are the satanically evil Zionists doing with all the nuclear waste they produced at their Apartheid Israeli Nuclear Weapons plant in Dimona, Apartheid Israel? United Nations investigators seemed to indicate there were radioactive contaminated areas in Gaza where the Apartheid Israeli troops once illegally occupied.

Where has the Zionists leading Apartheid Israel dumped all of their highly radioactive nuclear wastes?
http://rt.com/usa/news/nuclear-waste-tank-leak-hanford-400/

Following Russia meteorites attacked U.S. fireball fell in California near San Francisco [VIDEO]

http://youtu.be/RE8dsZX67vw?t=8s

more from Assads Volkssturm, it cant get more silly.

Where do you people get your info??!! Here’s a question? If this is supposedly the first time their getting these weapons, where did they get them from, when they were supposedly taking out tanks and aircraft??

In Syria, Old Damascus now a quiet, shrunken core
Old Damascus remains largely separated from the violence in the suburbs, but its once-bustling art and tourism scenes have contracted, its streets now filled with armed security men.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-damascus-atmosphere-20130216,0,6990340.story

In the province of Damascus, on the outskirts of the village of Zakia destroying a vehicle loaded with explosives.
Army patrol observed a suspicious vehicle, the driver did not stop at the request of the military. When fleeing vehicle was destroyed. As it turned out, it was crammed with explosives and was intended for a terrorist attack is likely in Damascus and its suburbs.

85. JUERGEN Just for your silly attention!
Girls Considering Military Want Combat Posts Open
http://www.military.com/daily-news/2013/02/16/girls-considering-military-want-combat-posts-open.html?comp=7000023317828&rank=1

Funny that even decades after the collapse of the inhumane soviet monster, some retards still act as soviet agents. The rubbish story @83, cut and paste by putin’s fanbot includes elements of truth mixed with stupid propaganda barks where what isn’t said is far more relevant than the selective “communist-style” hyperbolic propaganda. But the poster is well exposed to everyone as a dog-tail for Russian mafia regime.

The Hanford site story is true, a major environmental screw-up, that continued for much of the WW2 and the early part of the cold war. However, what the dog-tail does not want to say is that the Environmental clean up activities on-going on the site, which are the largest environmental clean up project in the United State involving not only containment of liquid and solid waste, but also focusing on urgent priorities such as remediation of the groundwater, which is a tedious, and long process.

Major cleanup efforts started in 1988, budget shortfalls have affected the speed of the project, and priorities had to be assessed and reassessed several times. Only yesterday (which is what instigated the crappy anti-american) propaganda barking posted by the Russian agent on SC, the governor of Washington announced that some old tank is leaking approximately 300 gallons of highly contaminated water. He said that it does not pose immediate risk, but that is not an excuse not to do anything.

Officials in the US engaged in maintaining secrets on nuclear research are not much better than their counterparts in the old soviet union or the corrupt Russian mafia regime currently ruling the Kremlin. The difference is that in a democratic country, such as the US, citizens can fight back the government and through peaceful means force it to clean up its act, even those which the citizenry may have justified in the past. This is what happened in the Hanford site. Russia is another story. It took decades of international actions for the russians to finally acknowledge , in a report given to Norwegian authorities that:

Enormous quantities of decommissioned Russian nuclear reactors and radioactive waste were dumped into the Kara Sea in the Arctic Ocean north of Siberia over a course of decades…

One would be very impressed with the new openness of Russia, but guess what, the area has major oil reserves, and the russians want to clean it up only because they need to start digging for oil. And the bonus, they get the help from their more advanced neighbors.

Russian environmental movement is a nascent one, it is making headway as a young movement, and everyday its activists are discovering the environmental catastrophe that is the legacy of the soviet union, and having to fight the new oligarchs who want to maintain, through mafia style control, the despicable environmental policies. The mafioso government is very slow in embracing environmental reforms. What helps are few brave women, who made it into the Russian parliament.

For the article to claim that North Korea’s and Iran’s open and clandestine nuclear activities are pollution free is not only deranged, it is despicable. For North Korea, it would be better, because after they get rid of the fossil regime of the boy-god, they will have brethren in the south who are experienced in cleaning up pollution, technologically advanced, and motivated.

For Iran, knowing the corruption and mismanagement, and their regime’s capacity for self deception, it would be very logical to conclude that a disastrous water management policy will probably leave no groundwater to be contaminated.

Kudos to Russian environmentalists. May an Iranian real environmental movement be born that is not controlled by the self deceiving dimwitted regime, and may the boy-god of North Korea and all of his helpers meet the fate awaiting the retarded prethident and his cultists, that is of demise and obliteration.

Syrian kids ask “the opposition abroad” to come back to Syria. No mention of Asad’s offer for passports in his january speech!
http://syrie.blog.lemonde.fr/2013/02/16/breves-syriennes-4-les-revolutionnaires-reclament-le-retour-des-opposants/

If your google search slowed down, that would be because ANN and the rest of the retards are now frantically searching third rate conspiracy sites to demonstrate russia, north korea, Iran, and the prethident superiority.

What helps them are site that are real trash-dumps like russian tv site, and few sites with word truth in them, along with the site of that canadian lunatic retard thinking himself a global researcher. These would be a treasure trove for the retards.

BTW, google is an imperialist tool and part of he conthpirathy against the retard prethident…..

Aha, didn’t even finish editing my post, the retards shift is already manned.

recommended for Hamster freeze boiling brains!
if one post has caused such a reaction, then what will we say about billions of false western fireworks?:

@93
Dumbo,… presenting facts is not a reaction… it is an action.

What does it mean,650 soldier defected two days ago,FSA helped them, they sent them back to the north to join their family, now it is late ,two years after the begining of this revolution, Assad army is recruiting women.
1- The morality of Assad troops must be too low,
2- There are huge number of soldiers they don’t believe in defending Assad, and want to defect.
3- Assad is running out of fighting soldiers.
4- Assad can no longer trust Syrian soldiers who don’t belong to his sect.
We can understand now why Assad is losing battles,and his military power is weak,,he has army equiped by tanks,artillary,aircrafts,missiles, facing defecting soldiers with only rifles and RPG, yet he is losing battles.

HAMSTER
You can follow any responses to present painted facts to the end of the world as the people of the West will not rise against your demagogy!

Abdullah ‏@SyrianSmurf – 7hrs –
#PT that must be the largest defection since the start of the revolution! Liwaa Al-Islam represents me!

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf/status/303015918173294592

Presumably connected to the earlier tweet:

Abdullah ‏@SyrianSmurf – 7hrs –
Aljazeera: 700 soldiers defect including 50 high-ranking officers in the #Damascus suburbs. Al-Islam brigade facilitated the defection.

https://twitter.com/SyrianSmurf/status/303013779799674880

@96

No one demanded eloquence, but comprehensibility is a requirement.

So it’s the chinese year of the thnake…I mean snake.

Predictions for the year ahead? I’ll try a couple.

– Iranian officials will continue to speak with forked tongues.
– The rebels will finally cut off the head of the snake and bring this tragic saga to an end.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ngddRKmTu1A
That was the begining, Syrian will never be humiliated

Here what the retard wrote
“The only way he will ever be removed is if he is assassinated.”

Yes, he chose his fate when he used force and spray paint has become 152 mm Howitzers and hundreds of soldiers changing sides.

He can no longer bomb with aircraft he has to use stupid Scuds.

HA is to the rescue for he does not have enough troops.

One year ago, Rif Damascus was quiet now it is no go zone.

Ghaddafi on the Barada is calling his people rats. The rats are going to get him in the sewer that he hides in.

Today SANA has two first news

Dialogue and more dialogue is the only way to solve the problems this is not me this is the regime news sites.

Go check SANA and rtv.gov.sy they are desperate for talks.

You want to understand Egypt’s relation to Iran and Syria? Watch ’19 to ’25

With near collapse of Syria as a state, with losing battles after battles,with huge defections,with bancupsy of Assad regime financially,it is no wonder the regime is begging for dialogue, hoping for more time.Bashar is slowly but surely is going to change his perceptions and calculations, hopefully soon will come out of his delusion.
The weather is getting warmer,plentyful of weapons are flowing again to the FSA,and money,too.
Why Lavrove is not answering Mr.Kerry phone call? his broken arm must not be doing well.

Egypt: supporting djihad in Syria but silent on anything concerning the Egyptians. Still no reaction from the presidency on the public lynching of a man by policemen
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/64985/Egypt/Politics-/Man-tortured-in-public-by-Egyptian-police-now-miss.aspx

Bassam Youssef on recent events:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OpRo4VP2c14

Tell me who are your friends and I’ll tell you who you are.

Citizen,
The Syrian regime could learn a few things from “satanically evil zionists”: freedom of speech, free elections, and the ability to not bomb your own cities and kill tens of thousands of your own people. Know what I mean?

Syrian Hamster for President!

Has any MiG flown over Syrian skies today?

Syria’s war model is Yugoslavia
http://news.yahoo.com/sectarian-kidnappings-spread-strife-north-syria-212328273.html

Who will topple Assad, and when?

http://www.todayszaman.com/columnist-307326-who-will-topple-assad-and-when.html

It has been more than two years and the Arab Spring has not yet reached Syria in terms of a regime change. The fight against Bashar al-Assad has been going on without any success.
…..
Will Assad go eventually? It is becoming very clear that international direct military help is not forthcoming for the opposition forces. Can they overthrow the regime on their own? I am not sure. This coming summer is probably the last challenge for Assad. If he survives the end of this summer, then he may launch a major offensive against the opposition. The outcome depends on the will of the opposition to continue its fight and the weapons it gets from its allies.

Anyway, the result so far has been the destruction of a country and a people.

“The fight against Bashar al-Assad has been going on without any success.”

Syria: The Growing Power Of Jihadist Groups

By Stuart Ramsay, Chief Correspondent | Sky News – 6 hours ago

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/syria-growing-power-jihadist-groups-083256260.html

The number of Jihadist groups flooding into Syria two years after the start of the uprising is threatening to eclipse the power of mainstream opposition groups as well as the authority of the Free Syrian Army.

One of the increasingly influential groups, Jabah al Haq (The Front for Justice), told Sky News that Jihad is spreading across North Africa and the Middle East and will not stop at Syria but will include Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and even Israel.
…
The fighters on the rebel side are made up of a mish-mash of defected soldiers, the Free Syrian Army and a growing number of Jihadists; some are from Syria many are from abroad.

Jabah al Haq men took us to their front weaving their truck passed blown up cars, and homes; passed streets with huge tarpaulin sheets strung across to give protection from government snipers.

They were worried about us filming their positions and arguments caused by our presence rumbled on for the whole time we were there.

Abu Obaeda, a former soldier with a sniper rifle hung over his back, described the front as ‘cold’ with little real fighting. But even as he spoke machine gun fire drowned him out. A man was hit and his comrades were organising a truck to speed him away while attacking the government forces.

Jabah al Haq is led by a charismatic young cleric called Sheik Abu al Homan.

I was taken to a secret location where a school was being used as a court to adjudicate on the many problems caused by the war raging across the city.

It is a strict Sharia court and he is advised by clerics and lawyers. That said, his word is law.

He was quiet and pleasant and his organisation is doing what every Jihad organisation from the Taliban to Hamas and al Qaeda has done: they are providing law and order and they are feeding and providing medicine for the people.

It works every time.

Locals tell us that the Free Syrian Army, who largely live amongst the populace, are becoming a problem. They lack discipline, they take things and of course they attract government fire.

Jihad groups live together. They are religious and they fight hard against the government not the people.

There is a takeover happening as every commander I have met in covering all of this revolution from the start has always predicted.

If the Syrian revolution were not ended quickly then it would become a Jihadist nightmare for the whole region. It has.

بيروت- (ا ف ب): اتهم المجلس الوطني السوري المعارض حزب الله اللبناني الموالي للنظام السوري بشن “هجوم مسلح” على قرى في وسط سوريا معتبرا ذلك “تهديدا خطيرا” للعلاقات السورية اللبنانية وللسلم والأمن في المنطقة.
كما حمل المجلس في بيان تلقت وكالة فرانس برس نسخة منه الأحد الحكومة اللبنانية مسؤولية “سياسية واخلاقية” للعمل على ردع هذا “العدوان”.
واوضح المجلس أن عناصر من حزب الله اللبناني قامت “بهجوم مسلح على قرى أبو حوري والبرهانية وسقرجة السورية في منطقة القصير بمحافظة حمص (وسط) ما أوقع ضحايا بين المدنيين السوريين”.
واضاف المجلس ان ذلك تسبب “في تهجير مئات منهم وخلق أجواء من التوتر الطائفي في المنطقة” مشيرا الى ان ذلك وقع “باستخدام الحزب أسلحة ثقيلة تحت سمع وبصر قوات النظام السوري”.
وحمل البيان الحكومة اللبنانية “مسؤولية سياسية وأخلاقية في العمل الجاد على ردعه ومنع تكراره” حفاظا على العلاقات الاخوية السورية اللبنانية و”منعا لتورط لبناني في الخوض في الدم السوري الغالي”.
وقال البيان إن هذا “الهجوم يشكل انتهاكا فاضحا للسيادة السورية والقوانين والاعراف الدولية ولميثاق الجامعة العربية (…) كما يشكل عدوانا على سوريا ارضا وشعبا، وعلى العلاقات السورية اللبنانية”.
I assume that the influx of thousands of jihadists and the blatant interference of Turkey and other countries in Syria’s affairs is not an assault on Syria’s sovereignty ?
Assad is now Uthman’s Shirt, as soon as this shirt is washed, new shirts will be created , like hizbullah and may be WMDs again, to make sure the war continues and the destruction is completed.
يا أمة ضحكت من جهلها الامم

Let’s assume for a minute that the regime is the “good guys” defending the homeland against terrorists and international conspirators. How on earth have they failed in convincing the world that this is the case? Has there been a case in the history of the world of such incredible misunderstanding and injustice leveled on any nation or group? Even the most evil of all, Hitler, managed to convince many nations and peoples to fight along with him because he was the “good guy” in their views.

By sticking to their story, the Syrian regime and its supports never seem to ask themselves why isn’t the world buying it. In a world of open media, citizen reporters and wikileaks, it is no longer possible for lies to win against truths. Unless their incompetency is unmatched in the history of the world. Just name one similar case in history where hundreds of nations and peoples, incorrectly, were unified against the “victims”!

Until Ibrahimi stop arrogantly challenging Bashar al Assad and renounces to ask him to resign, he has zero chance to achieve anything.
His ill-intentioned declarations has made him a biased intermediary and has radicalized the Syrian regime on its long held request:
“A dialog without preconditions or forget about any political solution”.
Ibrahimi is not in contact with the Syrian government anymore and supports the opposition’s renewed conditions.
Until he makes a move showing a more balanced approach, he is useless.

AMMAN, Jordan — A Syrian opposition leader’s call for dialogue is a test for the intentions of President Bashar Assad, the international envoy to Syria said Sunday as fighting raged between rebels and government forces in at least three Syrian provinces.

Lakhdar Brahimi, the joint UN-Arab League envoy to Syria, said the proposal by Mouaz al-Khatib, the president of the opposition coalition, “has opened the door and challenges the Syrian government to fulfil its often-repeated assertion that it is ready for dialogue and a peaceful settlement.”

“This initiative is on the table and will be on the table,” Brahimi told reporters in Cairo following talks with Arab league chief Nabil Elaraby.

Read more: http://www.ctvnews.ca/world/un-envoy-on-syria-backs-call-for-dialogue-1.1160197#ixzz2LAmiRixy

I don’t like to go on about other forums on here but I have to.

I started frequenting a couple of Iranian defence forums after I learnt a while ago Mr Commando was a member on one of them. He mentioned somewhere (perhaps twitter) about being active on one of them. I never found out as I was more interested in the forum narrative on Syria.

I presume it was the Iran Military Forum which is a hardcore and probably associated with the Iranian military. They would not acknowledge the reality and only trusted certain sources (the usual suspects). Deluded to the extreme.

They were never going to be able to keep it up forever. In recent days reality has been gradually seeping to the surface. Now the floodgates have opened up and there seems real panic:

– Predictions Meng airport, Aleppo and the north about to fall
– Complaints why regime leaving heavy weapons behind
– Assad and Iran’s lack of urgency and activity
– Claims that it’s all over unless Assad/Iran and co don’t confront Turkey/KSA/Qatar directly.

Thread Pages 196-98 (+/- 1 page)

http://www.iranmilitaryforum.net/military-conflicts/updates-on-military-action-in-syria/4875/

…

Britain is trying to boost the sale of defence equipment to Libya by sending a Royal Navy warship to Tripoli to act as floating shop window for security firms, amid concern in Whitehall that France and Italy are already cashing in on the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
But the trip in April has raised concerns among Libyan politicians and arms control campaigners who have demanded to know which companies will be on board, and what kind of equipment they will be attempting to sell.
( some idiots have yet to discover what happened in Libya, NATO did not like Qadhafi and his monopoly over Libya’s oil and reluctance to accommodate their demands despite giving up his WMDs and paying billions of dollars to victims of Pan Am terrorist attack, so NATO destroyed much of Libya with the help of jihadists and now Libya needs to pay back by selling oil on the cheap and buying weapons they will not use,that what KSA has been doing since 1973, but those weapons may very well end up in Syria and other jihadi spots)
You cannot fix stupid
يا أمة ضحكت من جهلها الامم

Aleppo airport is surrounded and it seems Republican Guards have been sent to help but are unable to reach there. From the same forum earlier today:

_____________________

‘The airport of Aleppo is surrounded from the North.. Towards the south, there is the brigade of the republican guards that made it to the Al Safira military complex.. but till now they are not able to pass the last 10 km towards the airport.. they are stopped at Tell Arn …

without this brigade reaching the airport, the airport area will fall soon.. the rebels are effectivley using tanks and artilley they took from the army to destroy the airport and the army points there … ‘

http://www.iranmilitaryforum.net/military-conflicts/updates-on-military-action-in-syria/msg174338/#msg174338

وميدانيا، قال ناشطون سوريون، السبت، إن الجيش الحر قتل 12 مقاتلاً ينتمون إلى حزب الله اللبناني الموالي للنظام السوري، أثناء وجودهم قرب منطقة القصير غرب حمص، نقلا عن صحيفة “الشرق الأوسط”، الأحد. واندلعت اشتباكات بين الطرفين عندما حاول عناصر من الحزب سحب جثث القتلى.

وفي حين لم تتضح تفاصيل الحادثة وكيفية وقوعها، قال الناشطون إن العملية جاءت بعد هجوم شنته فصائل من حزب الله على منطقة القصير، وتصدت لهم “كتيبة الخضراء” بالتعاون مع “جبهة النصرة” وبعض أنصار “كتائب الفاروق”، الذين نصبوا كمينا لعناصر الحزب وقتلوا 12 من مقاتليه.

وأوضح فهد المصري، مسؤول إدارة الإعلام المركزي في القيادة المشتركة للجيش الحر، أن اشتباكات تدور بشكل شبه يومي بين مقاتلين من حزب الله وعناصر من الجيش الحر في القرى الحدودية مع لبنان”، متهما الحزب باحتلال 6 قرى سورية على الشريط الحدودي.

وتابع: “يسعى حزب الله عبر مخطط عسكري لاستعادة ريف حمص تمهيدا للسيطرة على المدينة”، متهما حزب الله “بقصف قرى ريف حمص التي تسيطر عليها المعارضة من مرتفعات الهرمل اللبنانية”.

وأشار المصري إلى أن لدى الحزب استراتيجية في ريف حمص، وتحديدا في القصير تهدف إلى منع سقوط طريقي دمشق – حمص ودمشق – بيروت اللذين يعتبران شريانين حيويين للنظام السوري، مشددا على “ورط الحزب في دعم نظام الأسد ضد الشعب السوري الثائر”.

The killing of 12 criminal hizbistani thugs was accomplished by non other than our blessed and holy warriors of the Nusra Front. This blessed operation took place near Qusair west of 7Homs when the thugs from Lebanon attacked several Syrian towns with heavy weapons. However, the valiant heroes of the Nusra were waiting for the criminals and succeeded in eliminating all of them and sent them over to lowest darkest Jahannam. This accomplishment is of course in keeping with the promise made by the FSA spokesman Fahd AlMasry not long ago.

أنهم ينهبون البلد يا ثورجيه
Lebanese merchants sell Mazout at a price that is 50% higher than market price in Lebanon. Remember the time when Syrians were smuggling Mazout to Lebanon?
شركة تابعة لجنبلاط تنشط بقوة على خط التصدير الى سوريا (رويترز)
تصاعدت حدة الاعتراض على عمليات نقل المازوت الى سوريا. المعترضون لا يعرفون ان الجزء الأكبر من هذه المادة لا يذهب الى خزانات دبابات النظام السوري، وإنما وجهتها هي السوق المحلية السورية. كما أنهم لا يعرفون (أو ربما يعرفون؟) أن غالبية التجار اللبنانيين المصدّرين مقربون من فريق 14 آذار

Zoo is the same Warren who used to post all kinds of venom and he lives in Toronto.

Let all ya interactors know who this despicable creature is.

http://world.time.com/2013/02/07/ground-war-syrias-rebels-prepare-to-take-a-province-from-assad/

Interesting. I wouldn’t be surprised.

I’ve noticed that most regime supporters have multiple accounts and have neither lives nor jobs. As I’ve said: they’re losers.

119. Visitor said:

“”” Zoo is the same Warren who used to post all kinds of venom and he lives in Toronto. “””

You must have access to private IP addresses stored on this blog!

Prof. Landis, please investigate.

Are ANN and Revenire posting from the same place? That honestly wouldn’t surprise me either.

They both sound like the same loser too.

What the Syrian death tolls really tell us
Unreliable data can incite and escalate a conflict – the latest UN-sponsored figure of 60,000 should not be reported as fact
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/feb/15/syrian-death-tolls-tell-us

Less than two months after the UN announced “shocking” new casualty figures in Syria, its high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay estimates that deaths are “probably now approaching 70,000”. But two years into a Syrian conflict marked by daily death tolls, the question arises as to whether these kinds of statistics are helpful in any way? Have they helped save Syrian lives? Have they shamed intransigent foes into seeking a political solution? Or might they have they contributed to the escalation of the crisis by pointing fingers and deepening divisions?

Casualty counts during modern wars have become a highly politicised business. On one hand, they can help alert the outside world to the scale of violence and suffering, and the risks of conflict spreading both within a country’s borders and beyond them. On the other, as in Syria, Iraq, Darfur, the Democratic Republic of Congo and elsewhere, death tolls have routinely been manipulated, inflated or downplayed – a tool for the advancement of political interests.

As if to underline the point, Libya’s new government recently announced that death tolls had been exaggerated during the 2011 Libyan civil war; that there had been around 5,000 deaths on either side – a long way from the reported tens of thousands of casualties that set the scene for Nato’s “humanitarian” intervention, or the 30-50,000 deaths claimed by opponents of this intervention.

While physically present in Iraq, the US and British governments were unable to provide estimates of the numbers of deaths unleashed by their own invasion, yet in Syria, the same governments frequently quote detailed figures, despite lacking essential access.

Syria’s death toll leapt from 45,000 to 60,000 earlier this year, a figure gathered by a UN-sponsored project to integrate data from seven separate lists. The new numbers are routinely cited by politicians and media as fact, and used to call for foreign intervention in the conflict.

But Rami Abdulrahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), whose casualty data are part of this count, calls the UN’s effort “political” and the results “propaganda”.

Abdulrahman, whose daily death toll releases are widely quoted in the western media, argues that many of the UN’s casualties don’t exist. “Yesterday in Qahtaniyah, I had a video of 21 people killed, but 19 names only. Other groups said 40 were killed – where are the 40? Tell them to provide me with only 21 names,” he demands, frustrated.

When I interviewed the UN spokesman Rupert Colville in January, he conceded: “We can’t prove most of these people have died.”

And Megan Price, lead author of the UN’s casualty analysis project, whose firm, Benetech, is part-funded by the US state department, explained to me: “We were not asked to do verification of whether the casualties are real.” Benetech’s task was mainly a data collation effort: working from seven separate UN-identified lists, the firm discarded duplicates and victims without names, place and date of death to arrive at the highly-publicised 60,000 number.

But questions about the accuracy of casualty numbers is only part of the story. Dig deeper, and it’s clear that this data also offers an insight into the Syrian conflict at odds with the story that this is essentially about a brutal regime killing peaceful civilians.

With the proviso that the data may itself prove unreliable, Benetech’s research nevertheless offers some useful clues about the makeup of the recorded death toll. Only 7.5% are female, making the casualties in Syria overwhelmingly male. Second, the largest segment of the 30% of victims whose ages are included in the records are between the ages of 20 and 30 – who might be classified as males of “military age”.

The SOHR’s statistics confirm this picture. On 27 December, Abdulrahman cited 148 violent deaths in Syria for that day: 49 rebels, 42 soldiers, three defectors, and the remaining 54 likely to be a mix of noncombatant civilians and unidentified rebels: “It isn’t easy to count rebels because nobody on the ground says ‘this is a rebel’. Everybody hides it.”

According to Abdulrahman’s conservative estimates, at least two thirds of the dead are armed men – an appreciatively different take on the perception of “civilian slaughter” in Syria created by reporting of the UN’s and other unverified casualty numbers. And the UN itself points out that “the analysis was not able to differentiate clearly between combatants and noncombatants”.

Even the civilian death toll is nuanced. There are civilians targeted by the regime through shelling and air strikes, civilians targeted by rebels via mortars, IEDs and urban bombings, and civilians caught in crossfire (not targeted). Further to that, there have been reports of sectarian and political killings by supporters of both sides.

While bald casualty numbers taken out of context have clearly failed to explain what now looks closer to a parity in violence inside Syria, the UN is not wrong that body counts can be valuable indicators in a crisis.

The problem is that, increasingly, death tolls are used as political tools to scene-set for western-backed “humanitarian interventions” in the Middle East and north Africa and – more broadly – against the kinds of negotiated political settlements that could actually reduce or stop the killing.

It’s time to stop headlining unreliable and easily politicised casualty counts, and use them only as one of several background measures of a conflict. It’s essential too that the media help us avoid such manipulation by asking questions about reported deaths: how were these deaths verified? Are they combatants? Who killed them? How do we know this? Who benefits from these deaths? Was this a violent death or one caused by displacement? How is it even possible to count all these dead in the midst of raging conflict?

Numbers without context or solid foundations can incite and escalate a conflict, leading to even more carnage. Contemporary casualty data have been inaccurate in so many recent conflicts that it’s time to retire these numbers from the telling of the story.

What these losers don’t understand is that if they make multiple accounts, they get trolled multiple times too.

Also the very fact that they DO make multiple accounts on the comments section of a blog is sad.

What makes it worse is that they do such a bad job of it that others figure it out quickly. They’re pathetic, and everyone else knows it too.

I think Reve and Ann are husband and wife. They fit great. A match made in …

I don’t think they CAN be husband and wife.

Based on their personality, I believe they’re un-marry-able. They’re such big losers that no one in their right minds would date them.

Personally I think they’re the same person. Which is really, really sad once you think about it.

Why is Ibrahimi not saying “an acceptable delegation of the opposition’ too? The guy is a pathetic politician or he is doing it on purpose to get a rejection from the Syrian government.

Mediator Brahimi urges Syria/opposition talks at U.N.

17/02/2013
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=32929

CAIRO, (Reuters) – International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi called on Sunday for talks between the Syrian opposition and an “acceptable delegation” from the Damascus government on a political solution to the country’s 23-month-old civil war.

How Europe ransoms bankroll Islamist terrorists

By NASSER WEDDADY
Published: February 16, 2013
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/17/opinion/sunday/how-european-ransoms-bankroll-islamist-terrorists.html
…
Over the past decade, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands have paid more than $130 million to terrorist groups, mostly through mediators, to free European hostages.

European leaders were understandably desperate to save the lives of their citizens. But their efforts have backfired because the paying of ransoms has merely turned their citizens into a lucrative commodity for cash-hungry jihadis.

Once again, outside of well known rats there is NO NEWS at all on Syria in most of the world’s press. The propaganda has dried up as the army mops up. The enemy media can’t bring themselves to announce the successes o the SAA.

I am laughing at the rats who never have had a single defeat to hear it from them.

The FSA commanders announced in JULY 2012 that Damascus would be theirs. They launched “Damascus Volcano” and it ended with 1000s of dead rats.

“Damascus Volcano and Syrian Earthquake”.

“There is no going back,” Colonel Qassem Saadeddine, a spokesman for the joint command of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), told Reuters after the fighting had broken out. “We have started the operation to liberate Damascus.” – July 2012

LOL

Is this ape still alive? I bet he’s hiding in Turkey.

It reminds me of all the garbage about bases, losses of 40 year old planes, “Assad is running out of men” and the other desperate trash talk from the rats.

Assad is laughing at you.

@REVENIRE

I noticed in at least 3 videos you posted here that at least one fighter in each has foreign Arabic dialect. In one video most of the fighter were Arab-Israeli mercenaries terrorists, only one Syrian got hurt.

Also pay attention to the MARIGOLDSHTEIN comments here, and his several usernames, he/she is using subliminal re-enforcement to dispel the presence of Israeli paid HASBARA on this blog. He seems to actively post comment out of the blue to counter that notion.

Also that Iranian Defense forum is an enemy setup forum designed to enlist and attract potential espionage and operatives within Iran. They used the same method for decade to attract Islamists, through supposedly Al Qaida linked sites, who they recruited to fight in Libya and now Syria.

THE JEWSIH WAR CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY CONTINUE UNTIL JACOB TROUBLE TIME AS FORETOLD IN THE BIBLE.

Dear HOPEFUL #112

Thanks for your cupful of clarity and realism.

It’s always refreshing to drink in what you say.

The Assad regime running out of men and importing HA to kill Syrian.  What is HA in front of al Nusra?  All what HA is able to do is to kill civilians.  They are pro at it.   

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/world/336380/syria-rebels-wage-battle-of-the-airports

The Syrian National Council, meanwhile, accused members of Lebanon’s powerful armed movement Hezbollah of entering the nearly two-year conflict in Syria.

It said Hezbollah fighters crossed into Homs province on Saturday and attacked “three Syrian villages in the Qusayr region near the Lebanese border.”

The operation led not only to “civilian casualties and the exodus of hundreds of people,” but has also “stoked sectarian tensions” in the area, the SNC said in a statement.

On Saturday, the Local Coordination Committees — a grassroots network of activists on the ground in Syria — had also reported fighting between rebels and Hezbollah members around Qusayr.

Kosovo twenty years after. What an example!
http://www.lemonde.fr/international/article/2013/02/08/kosovo-l-impasse-de-la-strategie-europeenne_1829339_3210.html

FSA Filmed Their Burning of Ancienct Souq in Aleppo, Syria

This is Bashar Assad’s town, where the elite and visitors to Syria loved to hang out. This is what he’s made it. A good piece, which captures the atmosphere.

Article: In Syria, Old Damascus now a quiet, shrunken core

Old Damascus remains largely separated from the violence in the
suburbs, but its once-bustling art and tourism scenes have contracted, its streets now filled with armed security men.

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/middleeast/la-fg-damascus-atmosphere-20130216,0,6990340.story

That is what is planned for Syria, just reverse the sects roles and you will see what I mean:
Baghdad (CNN) — A spate of bombs exploded in Baghdad on Sunday, killing at least 21 people and wounding 125 others, police said.
The blasts — six car bombs and three roadside explosions — mainly targeted outdoor markets in Shiite neighborhoods, Baghdad police said.
Overall violence has dropped significantly in Iraq since the peak of sectarian violence, between 2005 and 2007. Yet such attacks continue as the 10-year anniversary of the U.S-led invasion of Iraq nears next month.
The U.S. Embassy in Baghdad condemned the attacks.
Recent attacks in Shiite areas have spread fear among Iraqis that sectarian warfare may ravage the country again.
Sunnis demand that the Shiite-led government stop what they call second-class treatment of Iraq’s Sunni community.
Sunnis largely boycotted Iraq’s 2005 elections, leading to the emergence of a Shiite-led government. The move left the once-ruling minority disaffected.

I love how the apes try to put out the fire they started. This is a good example of how they manipulate videos for the war.

If you believed everything the rats said on Twitter, or here, the SAA is down to 2 tanks and 1 wind up toy helicopter. One excited animal said that the vermin shot down 8 MIGs in one day last week. I laughed and laughed at that.

I really only trust Syrian, Iranian and Hezbollah media.

Someone is afraid; very afraid. Acceptable delegation from the opposition. As if Ghalioun had blood on his hands or Haytham Maleh or George Sabra or Moaz Al Khatib

Whereas Maher has video posted walking among the corpses of Sednayya prison dead and tortured.

Daraya is still not taken or secure.

Now we have a battle to keep the area close to Hermel open for the HA and the regime to be close together.

In the meantime, more defections with news that 8 high ranking Alawi officers have crossed into Jordan with their families as the inner circle is defecting or running out of the sewer of thouriah alathad

Agree
Syrian Hamster for President

This is from Annahar, you can not call it a pro regime newspaper:
(reposted, some people need to hear the same story twice)

“الثورة الحقيقية في سوريا انتهت، لقد تعرضنا للخيانة” يقول بحسرة ابو محمود القائد لكتيبة من المقاتلين المعارضين في بلدة اطمة الواقعة شمال غرب سوريا والذي لا يخفي حسرته الشديدة على ما آل اليه الحال.
يؤكد هذا القائد الثائر “ثورتنا الجميلة سرقها اللصوص والفاسدون” في اتهام مباشر لبعض قادة الجيش السوري الحر “الذين اغتنوا بحقارة بينما الثوار الحقيقيون يموتون على الجبهة”.
ويضيف ابو محمود “من يسمون انفسهم قادة يرسلوننا لكي نقتل ويبقون هم في الخلف لجني المال. واذا جاؤوا الى الجبهة فلا يكون ذلك سوى للسرقة والنهب فهم لا يخوضون المعارك. ومع ذلك فانهم اليوم من يتربعون على رأس حركة التمرد”.
ويتابع “لا يمرون بمكان الا وقاموا بسرقة ونهب كل ما يستطيعون حمله لبيعه على الاثر هنا او بصورة غير مشروعة في تركيا: سيارات، اجهزة منزلية، بنزين، قطع اثرية … كل ما يمكنكم تخيله!”.
وساق على سبيل المثال اسماء نحو عشرة من قادة الجيش السوري الحر في محافظة ادلب ومدينة حلب. مثل هذا الضابط من “صقور” دمشق المشهور ب”سطواته” على الشقق التي هجرها سكانها في حلب او قائد كتيبة من مائة رجل “باع اسلحته وسياراته وحتى مقر قيادته في مركز باب الهوى الحدودي” ليبني منزلين فخمين ويتخذ زوجة ثالثة.
وفي اطمة يمكن لهذا الضابط الفار التحدث بشرعية تامة فهو مشهور بنزاهته وشجاعته وحياته المتواضعة التي تدل عليها سيارته الرباعية الدفع القديمة المتهالكة. وكان هذا الرجل الذي تجاوز الثلاثين يقود “الكتيبة 309″ وهي وحدة من 35 رجلا تتمركز في مجموعة من الخيم وسط اشجار الزيتون.
ويقول ابو محمود باسى “على الجبهة كان بعض الضباط يمدونا احيانا بالذخيرة لكننا لم نحصل منهم ابدا على اسلحة او نقود. الذين كانوا يتولون قيادتنا وقتا ما في حلب كانوا يرسلوننا مثل الخراف التي تساق الى المذبح. ولم يكن لدينا حتى من الطعام ما يسد رمقنا …”.
وتساءل غاضبا “لماذا نحارب ولاجل من نموت؟ من اجل بلدنا؟ او من اجل هؤلاء الناس الذين يسرقون السوريين؟”.
وقال “الاسلاميون؟ الاسلام الذي يأتي مع هؤلاء الاشخاص ليس هو الاسلام الذي اعرفه”.
what Syria needs is a cessation of violence so people with brains and moderate political and social views can participate in the political process, this toxic environment of violence can only benefit the regime and the islamists, some of you are too dumb to understand this,others are too proud to admit it,but some know it and they lie about it.

ZIAD # 136

I can’t see how this shows the FSA set fire to the souk, just that someone inside at the time filmed the flames spreading.

I think the evidence remains strong that it was a Syrian army shell that set off the destruction. I expect forensic evidence and eyewitness reports to later clarify this.

Ha! I saw it happen in real time.

Instant-click 10 thumbs down for the article above showing what a disaster inner Damascus has become.

More proof and a reminder the votes system here is now a spam exercise.

I think it’s long past time to remove it altogether. It’s become cyberjunk.

They want to talk they desperate to talk.
The Russian foreign ministry set up a time on 2. 14 for Kerry and Lavrov to talk but the US state department did not respond and waited three days the same number of days it took for the Russians to respond to the Kerry phone call.

The call was done today and this is what Sana is reporting

http://www.sana-syria.com/ara/3/2013/02/17/467823.htm

I think they want to talk safe passage. The Syrian regime just finalized the deal to buy two civilian aircraft from Russia today according to Arabic RT. Two only and to land in Hariri Beirut International Airport of course.

Two to land and ship the mafia to Belarus right?

So far this year two of my classmates have died in Syria the latest one after spending 3 months in prison without charge, without trial, without recourse to a lawyer, without recourse to his family, and without justice for his torturers and killers.

This is after the reform of the so called thouria alathad and the abolition of the state of emergency.

There will be mass migration and mass reprisals when the regime forces start to collapse and there is every sign of this getting closer.

Every day we have one more check point falling with at least 750 defecting today around Damascus.

Sewers filled with rats is where we will find the regime and its supporters.

#133 SL

I believe that the only way to save Syria is to help the regime’s supporters see the truth and abandon the regime. Unfortunately, many are still brainwashed by its propaganda, and many more are distrustful of the revolution. I am not talking about people like Revenire, who obviously has an agenda to pursue, but I am talking about people like Zoo and others, who I think geniounly think that they are supporting the “good guys”.

This regime is at worst evil and at best an incompetent disaster. It is time for all Syrians to believe that Syria is better off without it. The sooner that happens, the sooner and easier it will be for Syrians to attack the next big challenge of religious intolerance, which unfortunately has gotten much worst, thanks to two years of violence and sectarian tensions. I agree with Ghufran that this is a problem we need to face, but I do not agree with him that this should create a pause in the effort to dislodge the regime. If anything it needs to hasten it before things get much worse, and perhaps become irreversible.

God help Syria.

Syrialover #142

I don’t know who set fire to Allepo’s suq. But I ask myself: What stratigic value does the suq represent? You can see in the video that it was empty and certainly there were no SAA there to attack. My hunch is, they attacked it either for looting or to invite the SAA to bomp it. It is also possible in order to distroy Syrian goods so Turkish merchandise can replace them.

The number of Hizbi فطائس in the latest Qusair battle has risen to 35, while FSA is preparing to neutralize Hizbo positions inside Lebanon,

https://now.mmedia.me/lb/ar/10questionsar/الحر-سيقصف-مواقع-مدفعية-حزب-الله-داخل-لبنان

On the other hand, when will the king of Bahrain take the necessary steps of deporting these terrorists to where they came from?

http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/72266-bahrain-says-it-arrested-alleged-terror-cell-tied-to-iran-lebanon

These terrorists were given a chance when they ran away from their destitution in Iran in the sixties, and now they bite the hand which lifted them out of misery. This is a typical behaviour of these thugs. We see it happenning in Syria right now.

ZIAD #146

You have conspiracy theories whirling inside conspiracy theories.

The Aleppo souk was set on fire because the SAA do reckless incompetent things in their scramble against the rebels. They don’t care about the damage and have no plans or orders to defend Syria’s heritage areas.

In fact, there were accounts of the army blocking fire fighting vehicles from getting access to the burning site for “security reasons”.

Even if the beautiful living 1,000 year souk was set on fire by a random stray shell fired by the SAA, it fits their mantra “Assad or we burn the country” and serves as a strategic warning of how ruthless the regime can be in dishing out collective punishment to Syrians.

Four foreigners have been arrested in Libya on suspicion of being missionaries and distributing Christian literature, a charge that could carry the death penalty.
The four – a Swedish-American, Egyptian, South African and South Korean – were arrested in Benghazi by Preventative Security, an intelligence unit of the defence ministry, accused of printing and distributing bible pamphlets in the city.
Libya retains a law from the Muammar Gaddafi era that makes proselytising a criminal offence potentially punishable by death. The arrests underlined the sometimes difficult relationship between churches and the new authorities.
“Proselytising is forbidden in Libya. We are a 100% Muslim country and this kind of action affects our national security,” security official Hussein Bin Hmeid told Reuters.
All four remain in custody in Benghazi, and local reports say they may appear in court next week.

Syrialover

This still does not explain why the FSA attacked the suq.

ألم تتلوث يدا معاذ الخطيب بالدم السوري بعد أن صرح أن جبهة النصره الارهابيه هي جزء من “الثوره السوريه”؟..
ألم تتلوث أيدي هيثم مناع ولؤي حسين بالدم السوري حين انكرا وجود الارهاب في سوريا وادعيا أن المعارضه “سلميه” واتهما الحكومه السوريه بأنها مسؤوله عن كل مايحصل في سوريا في الوقت نفسه الذي اعترفا به بالدعم الخارجي للارهاب في سوريا؟

لن يكون هناك حوار جدي بين الحكومه والمعارضه مالم تتضح هذه المسأله تماما في نظر المعارضه!!

Beauty and the Beast

Valentines Day has come and gone.

Perhaps the first couple aren’t on that ship after all and are instead loitering in the safety of the sewers under Damascus right now. A period to reflect and hark back to the heady days of courtship in these very sewers. Tyrants seem to have a thing for underground refuges (Saddam and Gaddafi).

Recall the 80’s tv series Beauty and the Beast. The lion-faced (complete with mane) Ron Perlman hiding out in the sewers.

If Asma’s sisters were against the choice of husband then they must certainly be regretting it now. It may remain an enduring mystery how a western educated Homsi girl married into the Kalb tribe, and worse, into the Al-Wahsh family. Instinct would say otherwise however Buthaina Shaaban was probably not involved this time. BS Matrimonials may have introduced Bushra to her future spouse but on this occasion is presumably clear of all charges.

Syrians may have hoped she may be able to tame her husband but alas she herself may be trapped. One may be tempted to have a teeny bit of sympathy.

Such is the nature of the beast.

ZIAD #150

Maybe some FSA went into the souk, possibly to hide or check it for security reasons. But attack it? No. I never heard or read anything saying that. And I followed the situation very closely at the time.

The FSA take a joy ride inside Adra’s Officers Housing in a T72 tank
http://youtu.be/GrX9KYaMnBs

Yahya Hawwa was five when his father and uncle were killed in front of him in Hama, Syria, in 1982. This was the era of Bashar al-Assad’s father, Hafez, whose forces are believed to have massacred 20,000–40,000 Syrian citizens. The memory left an indelible scar on Hawwa – now 36 and dubbed the “singer of the Syrian revolution”.
It is a title that comes at a wretched price: 17 members of Hawwa’s family were arrested late last year; one was killed, and until recently Hawwa was on the ministry of the interior’s “wanted” list. “Before the start of the revolution, all the things I sung about were either for children or spiritual songs,” he says from his home in Amman, Jordan, where he has lived for several years. “It was not until the Syrian revolution kicked off that I felt great pressure to sing about it.”
He and his mother fled from Syria to Saudi Arabia after his father was murdered. His father and uncle were market traders, selling fruit and vegetables; their crime was that they had a brother who was a leader in the opposition Muslim Brotherhood, and an outspoken critic of the Syrian regime. “Whenever the Muslim Brotherhood did something against the government, the government would target 10 to 20 members of a family. My father and uncle were in a mosque near their home,” Hawwa says.

http://www.yahyahawwa.com/
(the man has a beautiful voice, check his song “Tale’3 almoat”

Duraid Lahham, who is half Lebanese, was attacked by an angry mob in Lebanon for his political position:
بيروت ـ أحتج أهالي قرية لبنانية على وجود الفنان السوري دريد لحام في طرابلس للمشاركة في تصوير أحد المسلسلات وطلبوا منه مغادرة البلدة كونه موالياً للنظام السوري.
وذكر مراسل محطة “فرانس 24” الفرنسية بأن الأهالي احتجوا على لحام الذي عرف بمواقفه المعلنة والمساندة لنظام الرئيس بشار الأسد، فيما ذكر التيار الوطني الحر على موقعه أنه وأثناء تصوير بعض المشاهد في مدينة طرابلس، تعرّض الفنان دريد لحام لمحاولة اعتداء من قبل بعض الإسلاميين المتطرفين على خلفية تصريحات لحام الداعمة للنظام السوري، مما دفع بفريق الإنتاج الى إخراج لحام بسرعة من المنطقة والعودة به إلى فندق إقامته في بيروت، وسط أجواء من البلبلة.
وأجرى الفنان لحام مقابلة مع شبكة “سي إن إن” الأميركية سئل فيها عن رأيه بما يسمى بالربيع العربي، فأجاب “أرجو من الله ألا يكون خريفاً”.
ورداً على سؤال آخر عن إحساسه بعد هذه التجربة الطويلة، قال “حينما يكون الحوار بالبندقية والمدفع، لا يمكن أن نعتبره حواراً وإنما دمار، والربيع ليس ربيعاً، بل خريفاً، وذلك عندما لا تتوفر الرؤية الواضحة للمستقبل، كما هو حال بالعديد من البلدان العربية في هذه المرحلة، لا يمكن أن تسير الأمور على هذا النحو.. نُسقط الأنظمة ثم نفكر بما سيأتي لاحقاً، كما حصل في كلٍ من مصر وتونس وليبيا، أعتقد ان تلك البلدان ذاهبة إلى المجهول”.
وتعليقاً على تعرضه وبعض كبار الفنانين السوريين مثل الممثلة منى واصف للهجوم، أسف لحام لأنه “يبدو ان شعبنا ميّال للنسيان، أو تناسي تاريخه، وسير مبدعيه، ولا أعتقد أنني أو السيدة منى المستهدفين الوحيدين فقط، بل ربما يكون المطلوب هو تهميش سوريا، عبر الإساءة إلى رموزها الفنيّة والثقافية”.
وأضاف “أنا لم أر بلداً في العالم يهاجم فيه الفنّان بسبب رأيه السياسي، أو موقفه الوطني، يحق لهم أن ينتقدونا على مستوى الأداء فيما نقدمه بمجال الفن، أما أن نهاجم بسبب رأي لا يعجب هذا الطرف أو ذاك، فهذا أمر مستغرب، ويحيلنا إلى سؤالٍ بغاية الأهمية، هل نحن كشعب مؤهلون للديمقراطية؟ أم لا؟ أنا أعتقد أننا لسنا مؤهلين لذلك بعد، لأنك حينما تشتمني بسبب كون رأيي مخالفاً لرأيك، فهذا معناه أنك لست مستعداً لسماع الرأي الآخر، وهذا يعني أنك غير ديمقراطي”.

#152. UZAIR8

Forget the myth that Asma Assad is a nice girl caught up in circumstances. We saw the truth about her family and background when those leaked emails revealed her British-based father’s closeness to Bashar Assad.

Asma’s “respectable cardiologist” daddy was advising his son-in-law how to deal with a particularly damning and shocking TV program about regime forces cruelty to ordinary Syrians, very early in the troubles.

Go back and refresh your memory on the revelations which led to Dr Fawaz Akhras’s disgrace and condemnation in the British press and his rejection from both his professional and Syrian expatriate circles in London.

He put out some hypocritical silly comments saying he condemned the violence in Syria, but the truth damned him.

His apparatchik pro-Assad spirit was evident back in 2003 when he set up the British Syrian Society to “promote ties between Britain and Syria”. I understand those exposed emails led to British members of the board of that organization quitting instantly and many expatriate Syrians feeling ashamed to have been connected.

I have said ever since Bashar Assad took office, what’s wrong with his wife who is supposed to be westernized and educated? How come she and her family aren’t ASHAMED of her position? That she is now a gangster’s moll and a player in regime propaganda?

On the contrary, that marriage was a glorious triumph in the eyes of her father. A triumph now turned sour . Poor Dr Akhras isn’t going to be the proud grandfather of the next “ruler” of Syria after all.

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe(s)

So Assad has changed his ministers recently.
Shouldn’t he be changing his advisors. Surely they had a role in the disastrous course followed thus far?

What is he afraid of? Has Buthaina Shabaan some kind of control over him? Cast a spell on him? Surely, as his name suggests, he has the heart of a lion?

As for Asma, her concern will be the children…and perhaps her fashion collection.

As for the other wardrobe, what’s her name…haven’t heard from her since the Barbera Walters story.

ما معنى تحالف الأقليات؟

the truth about minority rule:
سليمان تقي الدين

يتردد، في غير مجلس، الحديث عن تحالف «الأقليات» كضمانة ضد سيطرة «الأكثرية» واحتمالات تسلطها على الدولة والمجتمع. ظهرت هذه النغمة في بداية الحرب الأهلية اللبنانية واختفت بسرعة أمام تطاحن المجموعات الطائفية كلها. وظهرت مجدداً مع اضطراب الوضع اللبناني وارتفاع القبضة الأمنية السياسية السورية وتفلّت الجماعات من انتظامها السابق، ثم عادت بقوة مع اندلاع الأزمة السورية، حتى صارت نظرية رائجة تزعم أن «تحالف الأقليات» يضمن مدنية الدولة ويصد الموجة الإسلامية الأصولية المتطرفة وآثارها على الحريات العامة والفردية وحقوق الجماعات الطائفية الصغيرة.
حين استولى حزب البعث على السلطة في سوريا (1963) وحصلت «الرِّدة التصحيحية» (عام 1970)، على حد تعبير أحدهم، اتهم خصوم النظام تلك السلطة بأنها تحالف أقليات. ضمناً نشأت السلطة من مؤسستين كانتا تستوعبان طموحات الفئات الريفية والفقيرة والجماعات المقيمة في أطراف الحواضر السورية الكبرى، كالمدن التاريخية ذات الدور التجاري ودور العائلات السياسية التقليدية، ونعني بذلك مؤسسة الجيش ومؤسسة حزب البعث. لكن السلطة الفعلية لم تكن في واجهة الإدارة السورية التي فيها علويون ودروز وإسماعيليون ومسيحيون. فلم تكن السلطة يوماً شراكة بين رموز هذه المجموعات بقدر ما كانت مركزية ومحصورة في يد شخص واحد يديرها بواسطة عناصر سعى إلى إظهار واجهة سنية كبيرة فيها. بل إن تاريخ تطور سوريا الاجتماعي في العقود الأربعة الماضية أكد أن المصالح الاقتصادية والاجتماعية لدى البرجوازيات، ولا سيما سُنة المدن، وجدت ملاذاً وشراكة وحصانة في هذا النظام، ولو في ظل القليل من هوامش الحريات السياسية. فإذا كانت نخبة علوية صغيرة قد تمتعت بنفوذ كبير سياسي أمني ثم اقتصادي، فهي اندمجت مع مصالح الرأسمالية السورية وشكلت المفارقة الكبرى لنظام سياسي قراره السياسي في يد فئة ونظامه الاقتصادي يتطور وفق القواعد الليبرالية. في صورة أوضح استطاعت الرأسمالية السورية المدينية، ذات الغلبة السُنية، أن تحوز على امتيازات اقتصادية كبيرة، بينما حصلت المجموعات الطائفية الأخرى كمجموعات على بعض فتات الامتيازات السياسية من دون أن تتحول إلى شريك حقيقي. بهذا المعنى نحن أمام النموذج الطائفي اللبناني نفسه وآلياته، مع الفوارق طبعاً، فلا سلطة علويين صارت سلطة كل العلويين، ولا رأسمالية السُنة أفادت المناطق الريفية السُنية. تلك إشكالية يمكن فهمها من خلال منظومة خاصة في مجتمعات تعددية بكل معنى التعدد الإثني والطائفي والجهوي، وبالمعنى الاجتماعي الذي تتكوّن فيه الطبقات في شبكة متداخلة مع الشرائح والمصالح الفئوية، وتقوم سلطة سياسية على تنظيم الحقوق وتوزيعها بين هذه الفئات.

found sl’s post pointing to an earlier story of where these new weapons are coming from and winding up in the hands of more secularist rebels.

In mid-January, prominent blogger Eliot Higgins, several journalists, and I noticed an influx in new weaponry into Syria, specifically in Daraa Province in the south. Higgins collected the videos in a blog post and came to a remarkable conclusion — the weapons, which included several kinds of RPGs, recoilless rifles, and grenade launchers, were all designed,manufactured, and/or heavily used in the former Yugoslavia, and none of them are part of the Syrian military arsenal.

Someone — a current player? a new one? — was giving a big boost in weapons to the insurgents.

Since then, the Free Syrian Army has succeeded with a series of surprise attacks, capturing several towns, border crossings, and roads. They then repelled tank convoys, airstrikes, infantry invasions, and even paratroopers.

[…]

While foreign weapons have been seen in Syria, we have not encountered them on this scale.

All this suggests a new, organised, and well-funded effort is under way to ensure that “moderate” fighters are capturing territory and weakening the Assad regime.

It is too early to tell whether there are enough weapons to make a long-term impact. None of them be used as an effective counter to Assad’s primary threat, his fighter jets. However, if this is an experiment to see a surge in armament makes a difference, the answer is clear.

combine this with the new caches rebels keep capturing…

160. OMEN

“Since then, the Free Syrian Army has succeeded with a series of surprise attacks, capturing several towns, border crossings, and roads. They then repelled tank convoys, airstrikes, infantry invasions, and even paratroopers”

Wait a minute! Mossie’s been telling us that the FSA is a myth, a phantom, an impotent force signifying nothing. Do you think it’s possible that he’s – gulp! – wrong?

UZAIR8 #158

There would be paranoid suspicion and suppressed terror wafting like toxic fumes around Assad’s Ministerial corps. Nobody in that stifling arena could trust anyone or be confident that they themselves are going to be trusted.

And we know from defectors and other evidence that Bashar’s closest and most trusted advisers are Iranians who now have an open presence in every aspect of the regime’s decision making and organization.

Stand by for the post-Assad revelations.

135. Tara said: It said Hezbollah fighters crossed into Homs province on Saturday and attacked “three Syrian villages in the Qusayr region near the Lebanese border.”

The operation led not only to “civilian casualties and the exodus of hundreds of people,” but has also “stoked sectarian tensions” in the area, the SNC said in a statement.

but we were assured homs is safe now. right ghufran?

Homs’ displaced residents begin to return
after year of sustained bombing Syrian city is guarded about relative calm as governor calls for unity against al-Qaida and intense fighting continues elsewhere
Jonathan Steele in Homs, guardian.co.uk

cnn did a segment shortly after this guardian piece came out. it showed alawite sections of homs bustling and near normal. steele neglected to point out homs is calm for some but not for others.

OMEN #160

Thanks for reposting that item about weapons made in Yugoslavia now flowing into Syria, I was just digging around trying to find it.

Omen was “Syrian Danny” in the CNN piece?

Past CNN headlines (get ready to laugh):

“Rebels set their sights on Syria’s capital”

“Syria’s endgame in sight as rebels advance”

“Defector: ‘The battle for Damascus is coming'”

“Battles for key cities of Aleppo, Damascus heat up in Syrian civil war”

“Syrian activist ‘Danny’ speaks exclusively to CNN”

“Opposition: Fierce fighting closes Damascus airport for second day”

That’s just a small sample of CNN’s ‘reporting’ in the past year (most stories are over six months old).

Is this what you base your victories on?

Mass anti-regime protest in the Saqba area of Damascus on Friday

“Assad Must Be Held Accountable for His Crimes”

http://www.enduringamerica.com/home/2013/2/16/syria-live-coverage-assad-must-be-held-accountable-for-his-c.html

I see a special kind of sectarianism among Hezbullah supporters. I call it “preemptive sectarianism”.

157. Syrialover

I apologise if I caused any misunderstanding and for moving you to respond.

Occassionally I write comments based around certain themes, ideas or streams of thought. [I’ve picked up the blogging bug from fellow SC users]. It’s a bit risky in a serious situation as I am experimenting. Accuracy and seriousness may be reduced due to the extra license. It may be an exercise in mocking, satire, drawing parallels, forming ‘clever’ connections etc. A bit of lighthearted and humorous comment. I should be careful and avoid just trying to fit around a theme at the expense of accuracy.

I was gonna construct that comment on Valentines Day but decided against. Now I just wanted to jot it down and was a little tired due to time on comp. So slip ups can occur during a rush job.

Sympathy for Asma is far fetched and I’m glad I wrote ‘tempted’. Perhaps I should have alluded to ‘understanding’ her possible situation.

This part was based on recent thoughts about whether I (we) are being too hard on Asma. It’s good to doublecheck ones conscience and ensure a fair and just position on matters. In general I believe it’s sufficient to overthrow the regime and those with blood on their hands. People like Asma are civilians and irrelevant. Also we can’t know Asma’s actual situation. I restrict anger to those with blood on their hands and those make such crimes possible (Iran, Hezb, Russia).

Mocking or being hard on Asma is about exerting pressure and embarrassment on her (and her family), targeting their conscience in the hope something will give.

Syrians will form their own views but for a non-syrian like me it’s not for me or my place to go too deep and interfere.

You’re right about refreshing one’s memory as it’s very easy to become wholly absorbed with current unfolding battles with other feelings and positions fading away.

NATOs Islamist Terrorists Spring

18 ancient Odyssey mosaics stolen in Northern Syria – AFP – Sunday, February 17, 2013

http://us.news-republic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=1&articleid=6822732

At least 18 ancient mosaics depicting scenes from Homer’s “The Odyssey” have been stolen in northern Syria, the culture minister was quoted as saying on Sunday.

“These mosaics were stolen during illegal excavations” on archaeological sites in the war-torn country’s northeast, Lubana Mushaweh said in an interview published on Sunday by the government daily Tishreen.

“We have been informed that these mosaics are now on the Syrian-Lebanese border,” she said without elaborating.

The minister said that an Aramaic gold-plated bronze statue was stolen from the Hama museum.

Mushaweh admitted that her ministry faced great difficulties in “safeguarding 10,000 historical sites scattered around Syria,” cautioning against illegal excavations “which could damage some sites and buried cities.”

But she insisted that museums across the country were “well guarded” and “their prized possessions for all humanity have been archived and placed in very secure locations”.

Among Syria’s archeological treasures are six UNESCO world heritage sites: the Old Cities of Damascus and Aleppo, the ruins of Palmyra, the ancient city of Bosra, Crac des Chevaliers crusader castle, the citadel of Saladin and the ancient northern villages.

UNESCO has launched an appeal for the protection of Syria’s cultural heritage.

[…]

http://us.news-republic.com/Web/ArticleWeb.aspx?regionid=1&articleid=6822732

Watch this and breathe it in. Hold the feeling in your heart.

Two years ago today Syrians massed in Damascus to shout: We will not be humiliated!

manpads sighted but these said to be chinese in origin.

1208 GMT: Weapons. Bjørn H Jespersen ‏and Mads Dahl have pointed to videos indicating the first appearance among insurgents of foreign-made MANPADS (man-portable air-defence systems).

Blogger Brown Moses evaluates that the MANPADS are Chinese-made, and “the nearest country to Syria that uses this weapon is Sudan, with Malaysia, Cambodia, Peru, and Pakistan being other users”. Given this, there are “some big questions with regards to [the] source”.

video shows rebels posing with the weapon. how long does it take to train how to properly use it?

hey, here fsa is holding a class:

@brown_moses: A classroom of opposition fighters get a lesson on the new weapons flooding Syria, very unusual.

http://youtu.be/gZYbYvTMB_M

According to Higgins’ conversations with activists and Arabic speakers on Twitter, the video shows a group of secular Free Syrian Army troops being trained by the Al Farouq brigade, in an effort organised by the Kataeb al-Fajer faction.

This group appears to be called the “Dawn of Islam” Brigade, a coalition founded in late December.

This group in turn appears to be part of a larger effort to unify the Islamic brigades in the south and ally them with the Free Syrian Army — with the exclusion of the most extreme groups like Jabhat al Nusra. Zilal, an activist associated with the CFDPC, offers insight:

(more)

Omar Aziz, a strong, gentle man with the courage to speak the truth has died under torture in Assad’s prisons.

He was a frail man in his 60s, taken from his home in November by the air force intelligence unit.

A hero representing the true quality, dignity and strength of the Syrian people. Never to be forgotten.

See his kind face – a man who apparently terrified the regime so much they had to kill him: http://twitter.com/AmalHanano/status/272567938953928704/photo/1

Low IQ Ghufran with high BMS noise is worried about alleged theft of Syria by so-called diesel smugglers (see 118),

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/02/17/266732.html

173. oops, video & article discussion of the manpads… here.

174. syrialover, i found his photo. what a beautiful man. i’m so sorry for his family. and for syria.

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2012/11/25/freedom-to-63-year-old-activist-omar-aziz/

what does the regime fear from old men?

Oh geez, not THAT guy as a source. God help you Omen.

What a great loss. I knew Omar a long time ago and I knew his parents wonderful thoughtful people may God have mercy on his soul. I do not know if his parents are alive still. My deepest condolences to his family and to the Syrian people at his and so many other losses at the hands of the murderous regime. We will not forget and we will not forgive

Justice for Omar and Hamza one Shabih at a time in a court of law starting with Shabih number one.

is the regime now firing scuds at aleppo? see crater:

Omen too bad it wasn’t a direct hit (but maybe it was – the rats don’t like to show their defeats).

In Turkey “miracle” economy, more desperate Turks sell their kidney to survive.

More people trying to put kidney on sale

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/more-people-trying-to-put-kidney-on-sale.aspx?pageID=238&nID=41326&NewsCatID=341

The number of individuals applying to the Turkish Kidney Foundation to sell their kidneys as a way out of severe financial troubles has been rapidly increasing, with once weekly calls now coming 15 times a week, the foundation’s press representative, Gülizar Gün, recently told the Hürriyet Daily News.
….

“Those who offer you illegal routes are criminals,” Erk said in his plea to society. “You are risking your life and committing a crime when you’re dreaming of paying all your debts and supporting your family.”

So what are your projections as far as terrorism is concerned?

Dr. Nihat Ali Özcan : There are developments in Turkey and the region that will bring terrorism to the agenda.
States are losing their authority. Arms are being transferred into the hands of civilians and terror organizations. There is a widespread conviction that using violence is a shortcut for solutions. When there is economic, social and political turmoil in a region, it is natural that it becomes a center of attraction for radical groups. Therefore, it would not be a surprise Turkey encounters more turbulence caused by terrorism….

Dr. Nihat Ali Özcan is a security policy analyst at the Economic Policy Research Foundation of Turkey

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/us-holds-back-key-arms-from-turkey-presses-for-solution.aspx?pageID=238&nID=41314&NewsCatID=338

There are unconfirmed reports that Bashar has now become doubly orphaned.

كشف المتحدث الرسمي باسم ” الائتلاف الوطني السوري ” وليد البني “ان رئيس “الائتلاف الوطني السوري” معاذ الخطيب تلقى دعوة رسمية لزيارة العاصمة الأمريكية واشنطن، لبحث آلية الحل السياسي للأزمة السورية”، مشيراً الى وجود توجه لقبول هذه الدعوة من قبل الائتلاف”.
if Moaz goes to the US and refuses to go to Russia you can say that he is going nowhere, I think he should listen and be listened to in both countries, this conflict is now in the hands of Uncle Sam and Mother Bear,not to discount the will of the Syrian people who are clearly divided and in need for a break from violence,that break requires international mediation.

test

محافظة الحسكة ::ورد الى المرصد السوري لحقوق الانسان شريط مصور يظهر تصفية عناصر من جبهة النصرة ولواء مقاتل لخمسة عناصر في مبنى تابع للشركة السورية للنفط بحقول الجبسية النفطية بمنطقة الشدادي يوم الثلاثاء 12/2/2013
جدير بالذكر ان جبهة النصرة سيطرت على مدينة الشدادي بشكل كامل يوم الاربعاء الفائت اثر اشتباكات عنيفة مع القوات النظامية استمرت لثلاثة ايام واسفرت عن استشهاد مالايقل 40 من جبهة النصر ة بينهم 7 من جنسيات كويتية وعراقية ومقتل مالايقل عن 100 من عناصر المخابرات والجيش النظامي السوري بينهم ضباط كما وردت معلومات عن مصرع العشرات من عمال الشركة السورية للنفط في مدينة الشدادي اثر السيطرة على مباني الادارة ومساكن عمال حقول الجبسة النفطية

المرصد السوري لحقوق الانسان
the audio clearly shows the mind set of those terrorists who were supposed to liberate Syria. politics aside, I think people who support those terrorists and still talk about freedom are in need for psychiatric help.

Low IQ Ghufran with high noise BMS just came out from his daily session with his shrink.

Ghufran thinks those sessions are helping him improve.

The opposition’s “dialog guidelines” hailed by Ibrahimi makes one wonder if Alzheimer is not here?
That is the old Qatari’s plan that the Arab League offered a year ago and that was dismissed by the Syrian government.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/16/us-syria-crisis-idUSBRE91E0L320130216

“These guidelines stipulate that Bashar al-Assad and all the secucurity and military leaders that (have) participated in the killing of the Syrian people and whose hands are stained with blood have no place in the Syria of the future,” coalition member Abdulbaset Sieda told Reuters in Cairo after the meeting.

“We agreed to reassure the Syrian brothers from the (ruling) Baath Party whose hands are not stained with the blood of the Syrian people that they are partners in the coming political process.”

Another opposition member said next week’s gathering of the full coalition would try to revive plans for a provisional government, undermined so far by divisions among Assad’s foes.

Walid Bunni, one of a handful of liberals in the Islamist-heavy assembly, told Reuters that Assad and his military and intelligence officials could not be part of any negotiations.

“Bashar and his cohorts will not be party to any talks. We will not regard those present from the government’s side as his representatives,” Bunni said.

test to get free thumbs downs

http://www.businessinsider.com/iranian-commander-killed-in-syria-a-big-deal-2013-2

Iranian Commander Killed In Syria Was A Major Enemy Of Israel
Feb. 17, 2013

Iran vowed revenge against Israel after a senior commander of Iran’s Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) was shot dead in southwestern Syria last week while traveling to Lebanon.
A closer look at General Hassan Shateri (aka Hessam Khosnevis) shows just how important this man was, and why Iran quickly blamed “agents and supporters of the Zionist regime.”
Shateri was a senior officer in the IRGC’s elite Quds force — the international arm of the Revolutionary Guards — and reportedly “the highest ranking Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps officer to be killed outside Iran.”

Iran’s official Press TV described him as leading “the Iranian-financed reconstruction projects in the south of Lebanon” — where Shi’ites form a majority of the population — for the last seven years.
..
Asharq Al-Awsat, an Arabic newspaper based in London, reports Shateri helped build a communication networks, using fiber optic systems, to provide Iran with “its own telephone, television, and satellite communication facilities across the Lebanon” in addition to controlling banks, hotels, and shopping malls.
Furthermore, Asharq Al-Awsat states that Shateri “controlled several funds amounting to $200 million a year used to replace Hezbollah’s lost arsenal and rebuild its missile sites close to the demarcation line with Israel” after they were decimated in its war with Israel in the summer of 2006.

According to Israeli assessments, Hezbollah has amassed more than 60,000 rockets and missiles since the war and can now reach anywhere in Israel.
UPI reported that Shateri and two aides were killed Monday near Zabadani, a border town where Hezbollah has a major base and arms depot, when a Syrian rebel group ambushed his vehicle.
Other members of the Free Syrian Army told UPI that Shateri was killed in Israel’s Jan. 30 airstrike on Jamraya, near Zabadani. There were reports that IRGC members were killed in the strike.
….

اخبار غير مؤكدة ان انيسة الخسيسة عم تحتفل بالفالانتاين مع حافظ بجهنم

……….

Syrian @ 191,

Your sources are much much better than mine.

My source is a Homsi, god bless our Homsies brothers

“Syrians” hurt in Syria being treated in Israel ??
http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.com/2013/02/syrians-hurt-in-syria-being-treated-in.html
Yah, this story made me chuckle. The absurdity of it.
Couldn’t pass it by. Let’s look at this tale with a more critical eye?

7 Syrians hurt in civil war treated in Israel

You see, 7 Syrians were hurt and Israel is graciously treating them in Israel
The seven Syrians wounded in the upheaval gripping that country for almost two years were evacuated to Israel, and were all in stable condition on Sunday after surgery at Safed’s Ziv Hospital.
Their admission came as a surprise to Ziv, but the hospital spokesman said: “When patients come to the emergency room, we take care of them.”
Yet. Netanyahu has made very clear: “Syrian refugees will not be allowed to cross the Israel border”
Israel, that humanitarian nation will not allow Syrian refugees but supposedly allows 7 Syrians cross the border at Golan for medical treatment.???
Netanyahu continues “We will continue to guard our border and prevent passage and entry to Israel, except for exceptional, isolated cases, every one will be considered on its merits.”

Sure. “Exceptional, isolated cases”
Would you really think 7 injured Syrians would qualify as exceptional cases for passage into Israel?
I don’t. That is the first hint that these are not Syrians.
And there are more indicators that tell us there are not Syrians.

Controlling the narrative is at play in this instance and that too tells us much

“It is not known if the men were rebel fighters or belong to forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad”
We are supposed to believe the ‘either/or” paradigm. It’s either this or it’s that. But, don’t think there might be a third choice. Just believe these men are either rebels or their Syrian Army.
But, what if the men are not Syrians, rebels or otherwise?
What if they are Israeli soldiers participating in the destabilization campaign?
Israeli soldiers would surely qualify in such “exceptional, isolated cases”

Perhaps you still doubt these were Israeli soldiers crossing back into Israel but there is more:

“The men were allowed to cross Israel’s frontier with Syria on the Golan Heights after signalling to Israeli soldiers that they were wounded.”
Signalling?

What kind of signal could the Syrians have indicated to IDF? How was the signal transmitted to the IDF?
OBVIOUSLY, it would have to be signals that both parties would be aware of. Could these Syrians have the means, radio etc., to signal the IDF soldiers,?? What signal would the IDF recognize that would be known by the Syrians?
If the IDF recognized the signal, this would indicate prior knowledge of a correct signal or sign, that would be necessary to gain safe passage and protection in and out of Syria, for Syrians?
How would Syrians have access to this type of information, along with the ability to transmit said signals?

And if you still doubt that these were Israeli soldiers…

Let me take the time to remind you that way back in 2011, August 2011, Israel had already mined the border between Syria and Israel, including in the Golan Heights

Anticipating attempts by Syrian civilians to cross the border into Israel in September, the IDF has placed antipersonnel landmines along the Syria border in the Golan Heights

Mentioned again in January 2013

“the IDF is deploying new mine fields along the border with Syria “
The IDF has had two years to create new mine fields and replenish old mine fields
Which would present another challenge to our exceptional Syrians crossing into Israel.
How did the Syrians know exactly where to cross to avoid all those Israeli landmines?
Could they have somehow got a hold of a map that would indicate where those mines are located?
Enabling them to safely make their way back to the border and signal the IDF that they were injured, ensuring them safe passage to an Israeli hospital for treatment.
Would all that be possible for Syrians?
Would Syrians know how to safely traverse the minefields?
Knowing how to signal their injured status to the IDF
I don’t think Syrian’s would have that knowledge
I do think Israeli soldiers participating in the covert attack on Syria would have that knowledge

Just one last point that has to be made:

Israel’s claim that these soldiers are “Syrian” gives the Israeli government the ability to deny their involvement in destabilizing Syria. By claiming these are Syrians Israel’s government can cover up the fact that these are really IDF soldiers. This lies enables the Israeli government to keep the truth of their involvement in Syria hidden away from the Israeli public.

I thought Anisa defected? 🙂

Reports of her death are all over Twitter and have been for a few hours.

Rev.
It was Bushra, Batta’s sister who defected, I know you kind of confuse of who is who in Batta’s family, last time you thought Anissa was Basher’s mother in law.

scott lucas/ea addresses the professor’s queries about the anti-tank missiles’ origins:

My speculative response? Just as the US appears to have reached an agreement with Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Turkey over which insurgent factions should be supplied in the south, so the countries may be reaching a consensus over the Aleppo front. I would take a glance at the multi-national centre in Turkey, near the Syrian border, in which the CIA has been vetting weapons supplies since last year.

different countries supporting different groups? this approach sounds so factional, ad hoc and haphazard. is there not a more comprehensive plan?

and then there is this:

Each costs between $20 to 25 thousand.

isn’t that a lot of money? imagine what a manpad costs. i think apple_mini is accurately when he describes this as black market prices. if this effort truly had the support of these countries, would these weapons still have this high a markup?

The dead makhlouf woman is the retard prethident aunt and the mother of atef najib, the fool of Daraa.

As for SC retard all it cares for is athma. It is lovestruck and lustful for its boss’s wife.

See how pretty Um Jaafar is and contrast her to the ex-convicts of Batta.  A striking difference.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/war-presses-on-in-syria/2013/02/17/13e8250a-794f-11e2-9a75-dab0201670da_gallery.html#photo=3

The first FSA Air Force brigade, made up of ten defected pilots and their planes, is now operational in northern Syria
(tweet by https://twitter.com/SyrianSupport)

and story:

http://www.worldbulletin.net/?aType=haber&ArticleID=103332

🙂

ssg : The first FSA Air Force brigade, made up of ten defected pilots and their planes, is now operational in northern #Syria.

p.s. 😛 sl lol

Poignant and heartbreaking reminder of a great loss. Interview with journalist Anthony Shadid two hours before his death a year ago today in Idlib province Syria.

He is in good spirits and gives his opinion on what is happening in Syria.

(in Arabic)

On the second anniversary of the protest in hareeqa district of Damascus.

الشعب السوري ما بينذل
———————

الشعب السوري ما بينذل
لا بالوادي ولا عالتل
ولا بالحارة ولا بالزنقه
شو ما فهمتا يا مختل
الشعب السوري ما بينذل

***

الشعب السوري ما بينهان
روح اقراها عالحيطان
وشوفا بعيون الصبايا
وبهمة كل الصبيان
الشعب السوري ما بينهان

***

الشعب السوري قلك ترحل
حاج بدمو ولحمو تدحل
ضباعك ما عادوا يفيدوك
والشبيحه مانن افحل
الشعب السوري قلك ترحل

***

الشعب السوري ما بينذل
عالحريه صوتو دل
مانو خايف من اجرامك
ما بتصدق ……اسأل طل
الشعب السوري ما بينذل

Original posting on SC: 4 December, 2011.

“197. SYRIAN said:
Rev.
It was Bushra, Batta’s sister who defected, I know you kind of confuse of who is who in Batta’s family, last time you thought Anissa was Basher’s mother in law.”

Oh yeah? Read on.

So who’s confused? Again, the apes announced she had defected. I guess she defected just in time to die right?

Defection of Assad’s mother seen as sign of regime falling apart

By AL ARABIYA
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/28/263055.html

President Bashar al-Assad’s mother Anisa Makhlouf and other members of his inner circle have fled to the United Arab Emirates as the regime of the embattled president appeared to disintegrate, recent reports confirmed.

Anisa has joined her daughter, Bushra, who had previously fled to Dubai, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat quoted Robert Ford, U.S. ambassador to Syria until the break of the relations between the two countries.

Anisa, the widow of late president Hafez al-Assad, is believed to be in her late seventies.

Her daughter Bushra fled Syria with her children following the killing of her husband Assef Shawkat who was the deputy Minister of Defense of Syria. He was killed in a targeted operation by opposition forces in July 2012.

Ford was also quoted by CNN earlier this week as saying: “Members of the regime, little by little, are flaking off.” “They themselves know they are losing,” he added, stressing that Anisa’s latest escape to UAE was a sign that Assad’s regime was crumbling.

Syrian residents in the Gulf emirate said Bushra had enrolled her five children at a private school in Dubai where she had moved in September.

Analysts say that Assad is increasingly relying on the tightly-knit circle surrounding him, which includes Maher, his only brother still alive and who commands the army’s notorious Fourth Brigade.

Assad’s two other brothers Bassel and Majd are dead. The embattled president also relies on relatives from his mother’s side, analysts say.

A large number of businessmen and wealthy Syrians who had close ties with the regime have fled the deadly bloodshed in Syria to Dubai in the past few months.

More than 60,000 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in Syria’s 22-month conflict, according to the United Nations.

The conflict has sent some 600,000 people fleeing the country, most of them to neighboring countries, according to the world body.

Hezbo fighters infiltrating Syria?

http://m.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2013/Feb-18/206866-three-hezbollah-fighters-12-syrian-rebels-killed-in-clashes.ashx

look at all these jets left abandoned! tehehehehe!

http://youtu.be/wITbTAHDvYA

Those jets are sitting on the ground. They’re scrap. Better take another look. You remind me of “Syrian” who didn’t realize the Saudi apes reported Anisa (and the ENTIRE family) had defected.

Clowns.

Maybe get Tara to “drive” one of those planes to Damascus (find some wheels for them first).

Radical Sunni in Iraq are getting more violent everyday. Like those radical Sunni in Pakistan and Afghanistan. Their favorite targets are market places.

How could a human being completely deplete his humanity just to follow medieval doctrines. I’d like to know what kind of religion in human history needs to promote and encourage eradicating other group of human being in order to establish its own authority.

Many research books have devoted to mindsets of terrorists and terrorism. But so far none of them is satisfactory.

What are we missing here? Will we ever be able to understand their mind while we think they are human beings with human psychological traits?

201. Syrialoversaid:
The first FSA Air Force brigade, made up of ten defected pilots and their planes, is now operational in northern Syria
(tweet by https://twitter.com/SyrianSupport)

__________________________________________________________________

Stupid cover story for foreign air attack on Syria’s missile defense systems, air force and military installations. Let me guess, Saudi, Turkish or Israeli will drop the precession missile and your frontman, defected pilots, will be celebrated as heroes, Allah on their side for such a miracle mission of hitting a defense system with such precession using advanced cow manure balls.

Lets see what was Mossad logo: oh ya: BY WAY OF DECEPTION DO WILL DO WARS.

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-defG43GkKxg/UQUArM7bMRI/AAAAAAAAeRQ/lVzD4OTuZkw/s640/Israeli+Mossad+Motto.jpg

HNN Homs News Network

ENTER HEZBOLLAH !!

Hezbollah Guerrillas Inside Syria Launch Attack with Syrian Military on “FSA” Terrorists

Fierce clashes broke out on Saturday when Lebanese Hezbollah fighters in control of eight Syrian border villages, launched an attack on three adjacent villages held by terrorists from the so-called FSA, with Syrian helicopters firing rockets at terrorist positions to support the advancing Hezbollah forces, which included fighters recruited from the villages it controls.

Hezbollah forces launched a ground assault and were supported by multiple rocket launchers besieging the terrorists, who were forced to call for reinforcements in an attempt to repel the attack against the Villages they have hijacked of “Burhanieh”, “Abu Houri” and “Safarja”, which lie on smuggling routes for transporting arms and equipment to terrorists in Homs, with the border area near the town of “Qusair”, also becoming an important supply route for the insurgents that are under siege by the Syrian Arab Army, in the central city of Homs.

Hezbollah guerrillas, based in the Bekaa Valley on the other side of the border, took up position in the area last year, which made way for the Hezbollah-led operation designed to cut off the supply lines for terrorists in Homs, who’s grip over “Brotherhood” neighbourhoods were weakened greatly by the Syrian Arab Army on the weekend, after seizing several districts following successful military operations conducted, which combined with the Hezbollah attack is indicating that the Syrian Arab Army, is preparing a major offensive to purge Homs permanently from armed terrorists that have slaughtered civilians, wreaked havoc and terrorised the city for almost two years.

IT JUST KEEPS GETTING BETTER.

FSA air force? LOL Maybe they are flying those 40 year old jets that have no wheels on them? Is Omen one of the pilots?

Iran sends MONKEYS into space and the FSA sends MONKEYS into war.

even alendendeshe, in his own convulated way, is admitting the end is near. marigold, does this shorten your timeline?

Sure it gets better, Nus-lira fighters will be dispatched back to him in cool looking, yellow body bags.

The end is near says “Captain Omen of the FSA Air Force” and he asks a guy who eats dogs if their imaginary video game is almost over. Ha ha.

Omen you got any $$$ that you care to lose on a little wager. I say Assad will remain president until new elections are held.

10k “American” – you want to take my money?

Aldendeshe,

I’m not sure what blog you used to find the “mossad motto”, but wiki had this instead:

“Where no counsel is, the people fall, but in the multitude of counselors there is safety.” (ProverbsXI:14)

I’m not even sure what happened to excite our FSA Air Force Captain Omen. What was it? A Tweet that took out the entire SAA?

Akbar Palace,

What does it say in The Torah about the curse of a mother to her son?

Is there a cure in your Book?

The women in the Washingtonpost pictures are the the FSA Chem. Brigade. That’s why Allah ordered the niqab for them.

فاز المصور الصحفي التركي”أمين عثمان” بجائزة العام 2013 لمؤسسة “وورد برس فوتو فاونديشن” العالمية ، ومركزها هولندا ، عن صورة التقطها في حلب لـمجموعات سورية مسلحة تقوم باستجواب وتعذيب أحد المتهمين بمناصرة النظام السوري .
وتمثل الصورة اثنين من الجلادين يقومان بتعذيب الضحية بطريقة وحشية
I wonder what made the committee choose a picture that condemns the opposition versus one that exposes the regime.

Reve@205

The retardation your post is displaying is so intense that one thinks you are actually faking being retarded.

Do you need comprehension classes? I recommended one to Ann too.

Where did it say in Alarabya link that Anisa defected? The link you use as a proof in your argument proves only your compromised comprehension level. It is very sad if you do not see yourself the way everyone else does.

A must watch video embeded here,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/02/18/266870.html

The oppositions are celebrating their second year anniversary of their revolution which they still see a halo glowing on top of it.

To so many Syrians and their families, in the last two years, they experienced all miseries and tragedy anyone could possibly suffer during a war.

To them, their anniversaries are about loss of family members, loss of friends, loss of their home, loss of places they have lived for generations, loss of heritage of their identity, loss of their pride and dignity.

The so-called revolution has turned into a beast. Now that beast is licking its wound and getting ready to pounce again.

@ Omen

No, it does not shorten my timeline. Aldendeshe does not live in Syria, nor does he have much of any brains. His words are irrelevant.

It will still take a while for the rebels to win. But the destruction of the regime is not in doubt.

@ Tara

ANN and Revenire are probably the same person. They give off the same “total loser” vibes.

It’s like they can’t interact with people on a normal level, nor can they do anything successfully. They don’t even know how to troll properly.

no, marigold, i meant the development of the newly formed fsa air force brigade and the possibility some of these jets can be salvaged.

one less plane available to the regime to pummel the people with is a victory in my book.

Abu Dhabi int’l defense fair starts on big note – 2013-02-17

ABU DHABI, Feb. 17 — The biennial International Defense Exhibition and Conference (IDEX) 2013, which starts here Sunday, doubled in size compared to 2011 and puts this year a special focus on naval defense and unmanned aerial systems.

Launched in 1993, IDEX has become one of the largest fairs for defense technology and military equipment in the world. This year’ s IDEX hosts around 1,112 exhibiting companies from 59 countries.

The United States, the biggest exhibiting country, has over 180 participating firms from the defense industry. The host country United Arab Emirates (UAE) has 144 companies on the ground, while Germany and China are present with 69 and 25 firms, respectively.

This year’s IDEX hosts NAVDEX, a special platform for the navy ships. Visiting vessels from the UAE, the United States, France, Britain, Italy and Pakistan are berthed. A special focus on unmanned aerial equipment like reconnaissance drones is part of this IDEX, as demand for such equipment in the Middle East is worth 1 billion U.S. dollars, according to the fair’s organizers.

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), military spending reached 1.74 trillion dollars in 2011 globally. While defense budgets in many Western countries were mostly cut due to austerity measures in 2011, states in the Middle East belong to the largest military spenders in the world in relation to defense spending per capita.

SIPRI figures show that the Middle East stepped up its military expenditure by 4.6 percent in 2011, but was outperformed by Eastern Europe.

The ongoing turmoil in some Arab countries, tensions between the Gulf Arab states and Iran, and permanent Israeli hostilities against Lebanon and Syria have fueled the demand for military hardware and arms in the region. Algeria, for example, increased its defense budget in 2011 by 44 percent to 2.5 billion dollars, due worries over violent spillover from Libya.

Russia invited Mr. Khatib to Moscow, they better present him with concessions,otherwise this visit will not be repeated, Syrians now hate Russia more than they hate Iran.

All indications that weapons are reaching the FSA close to Damascus,at the same time many soldiers are defecting,and the weather is getting warmer, the rebels may strike Qassioun mountain,that is why I don’t see any good for Mr. Khatib to go to Moscow soon, may be there is no need to go there.

“What does it say in The Torah about the curse of a mother to her son?Is there a cure in your Book?”

Visitor,

I don’t recall an instance where a mother cursed her son in the torah, so I have no answer for you. OTOH, a son found cursing a parent was subject to a capital punishment, if memory serves. Times have changed…

Here is the ultimate depravity of the regime that wounded are being treated in Israel for the very fact that wounded cannot go to local clinics and hospitals where they are subjected to torture and killings. Even the medical profession has been hijacked by the mafia regime.

On a different note, 8 high ranking Alawi officers escaped to Jordan and news of four high ranking officers from the fourth division has also gone to Germany with their families. Any verification of such news.

Also I was told that the rebels destroyed an Iranian cargo plane near Damascus airport. Any news to that effect as well.

Justice for Hamza and Omar.

Even if the rebels get a plane in the air, it won’t make much of a difference except for purposes of morale and propaganda.

It’s more important to deny the regime its use of air-power. Once the regime loses its remaining planes and helicopters, it’s over. Even with Hezbollah’s help, the regime simply doesn’t have the manpower or the morale to match the rebels on the ground.

EDIT: @ Observer

Link? If high-ranking Alawite officers are defecting or abandoning the regime, that’s big news.

Thanks Akbar Palace for the answer.

So, based on what you said the punishment for the son cursed by his mother will be worse than capital punishment, because one may argue the parents are the cause for the son’s existence.

Therefore, I infer from what you said and from the above, the son will end up in hell fire for ever. In other words there is NO cure.

Do you think that makes sense?

If, so you may want to know that we have one such individual here.

أعلن الناطق الرسمي باسم “قيادة الأركان المشتركة للجيش الحر” العقيد عبد الحميد زكريا، يوم الاحد، “الجيش الحر” السوري نجح في استعادة العشرات من مقاتليه الأسرى لدى الجيش النظامي، وذلك مقابل تسليم عقيد كان أسيرا لديه”.
وقال زكريا، بحسب وكالة “الأناضول” للأنباء، إن “عملية تبادل العقيد الأسير علي سعيد تمت قبل أيام، بوساطة الهلال الأحمر السوري”.
وأضاف زكريا أن “النظام كسر حظر الطيران الذي فرضه على مروحياته خوفا من استهدافها بواسطة الجيش السوري الحر، واستخدم مروحية لنقل العقيد الأسير من حلب حيث موقع أسره، إلى مدينة جبلة في محافظة اللاذقية”.
وكان مقاتلو “الجيش الحر” قد أسروا هذا العقيد من مدرسة المشاة في حلب، وكان مصابا بفخذه، وخضع لعلاج على يد عناصر طبية تابعة لـ”الجيش الحر”، بحسب زكريا. فيما لم يتسن الحصول على تعقيب من مصادر رسمية.
يشار إلى أن هذه العملية الاولى من نوعها، من حيث تبادل عسكري في الجيش النظامي، مع مقاتلي المعارضة،
Nusra, on the other hand, takes no prisoners, they specialize in slaughtering the people they do not like especially if they were “Rawafdah”.

NATOs FSA Terrorists Claim to Confront Hezbollah in Qusayr without Showing any Proof & Suffer Losses

Adds English subtitles with lots spray and pray (allah allah allah allah akbar

Priceless 🙂

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=863_1361146629

This video footage shows NATOs “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) militants engaged in a battle against members of what is most likely the Syrian Army in the al-Qusayr area of Homs, not far from the Lebanese border. However, the FSA has been trying hard to convince its audience that the Lebanese group Hezbollah is fighting alongside the Syrian Army without showing any proof until now. During the clashes, the FSA suffer losses between dead and injured, while failing to retrieve any bodies of the alleged Hezbollah members who got killed by the FSA ambush.

MajedK @228,

Khatib must never go to Moscow. He will only lose more credibility and will look more foolish.

The war must be decided on the battlefield.

Bashar and his henchemen must be elimiated.
And the FSA has never been in much better shape and it will only get stronger.

Nayrab Airport
FSA has entered the airport,took over the runway,which has been destroyed

Visitor
I agree

NATOs Al Qaeda Terrorists killing civilians that support the Government of Syria

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=c22_1361146604

Read the 100 comments posted under this video 😉

@MOSSAD help in here: Akbar:

Read this:

Jeremiah 30:4-7
And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Guess Who saves Israel from this trouble!!!

And read this:

Sahih Muslim 41:6985, Sahih Bukhari 4:56:791
The last hour (judgement day) would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad tree would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

238. Aldendeshesaid:

*Your comment is awaiting moderation.*

@MOSSAD help in here: Akbar:

Read this:

Jeremiah 30:4-7
And these are the words that the LORD spake concerning Israel and concerning Judah. For thus saith the LORD; We have heard a voice of trembling, of fear, and not of peace. Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness? Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob’s trouble, but he shall be saved out of it.

Guess Who saves Israel from this trouble!!!

And read this:

Sahih Muslim 41:6985, Sahih Bukhari 4:56:791
The last hour (judgement day) would not come unless the Muslims will fight against the Jews and the Muslims would kill them until the Jews would hide themselves behind a stone or a tree and a stone or a tree would say: Muslim, or the servant of Allah, there is a Jew behind me; come and kill him; but the tree Gharqad tree would not say, for it is the tree of the Jews.

More about the Ghardaq Tree for Akbar:

http://hamzajennings.com/2009/01/15/the-hadith-of-the-gharqad-tree-and-the-jews/

Tara this is the headline of the Al Arabiya story on Anisa:

“Defection of Assad’s mother seen as sign of regime falling apart”

That is a quote Tara. Anyone can read it themselves by clicking the link, or if they’re scared of catching a Hezbollah virus, search it via Google.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2013/01/28/263055.html

First paragraph:

“President Bashar al-Assad’s mother Aniseh Makhlouf and other members of his inner circle have fled to the United Arab Emirates as the regime of the embattled president appeared to disintegrate, recent reports confirmed.”

It bothers you how wrong the Saudis always are doesn’t it? You, and your rat friends, are always quoting them and quoting CNN.

I think it is funny.

Who is the one who can’t read simple words Tara?

if you read between the lines, alawite officers have been trying to defect. if what observer says is true, (@231) they’re lucky to get out alive.

hopefully, this means the regime’s security structure is crumbling.

that reminds me. there was a head of military police who defected. i’ve been waiting to hear more from him.

from late december:

Syria’s government suffered an embarrassing new setback as the top general responsible for preventing defections within the military became a defector himself, making what insurgents described on Wednesday as a daring back-roads escape by motorcycle across the border into Turkey.

‘People want Assad to stay’
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-21472272

15 February 2013 Last updated at 05:16 ET Help

Life has become difficult for the residents of Damascus, in Syria, but little is reported of the lives of those in Damascus who support the Assad regime. BBC reporter Zubeida Malik spoke on the Today programme to some of the government supporters in Syria’s capital city.

Thirty one-year-old Damascus resident Zenub, a university teacher who supports the Assad regime, explained that her quality of life has deteriorated significantly since the beginning of the uprising: “We are not free to leave our homes. We hear shooting and explosions every night. I feel in danger when the sun starts to set… we are asking for our freedom to live as we did before.”

Abdul, who used to work as a teacher and supports the government, says the conflict has affected the economy in Damascus: “A lot of people are on the streets asking for money. Some people are relying on their savings. The good thing is, the government is giving salaries to their employees. Some company and factory owners have moved to Egypt, Lebanon and Jordan and that means the money has moved to these places.”

Abdul remarked that he believes he is supporting the winning side: “I am not depressed about the future because the situation is worse than before, in terms of damages to our country. But in terms of people’s minds, I can say now that people have understood that this revolution has damaged us. It’s being controlled from outside. A lot of people want Assad to stay.”

Lindsey Graham: Slash Health Care So Sequester Cuts Won’t “Destroy the Military”

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) on Sunday suggested that President Barack Obama’s health care programs for the middle class should be slashed to stop scheduled sequester cuts from “destroying the military.”

Graham insisted. “Here’s my idea, let’s take Obamacare and put it on the table. You can make $86,000 in income and still get a subsidy under Obamacare. Obamacare is destroying health care in this country.”

“If you want to look at ways to find $1.2 trillion in savings over
the next decade, let’s look at Obamacare. Let’s don’t destroy the
military and just cut blindly across board,” he added.

“The president promised it wouldn’t happen, he’s the commander-in-chief and on his watch, we’re going to begin to unravel the finest military in the history of the world at a time we need it most.”

“The Iranians are watching us, we’re allowing people to be destroyed and slaughtered in Syria. So, I just really — I’m very disappointed in our commander-in-chief.”

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=b2e_1361146382

Marigoldran I have a serious question for you: I know how you Vietnamese love to eat dogs but what do you do when someone serves you rat?

Take your time with this one. It is a bit of a trick question.

244. revenire said:

Take your time with this one. It is a bit of a trick question.

😀 😀 😀

FSA Rat Air Force launching one of Captain Omen’s new fighter jets

Revenire, you’re a retard and a loser too.

You make multiple accounts on the comments section of a blog. And you post 12-16 hours a day. By itself that says everything.

@REVENIRE
Those guys must have worked for Saddam before,,,looks like his advanced trinkets…lol.

this may be like al-ikhwan almaseehyeen:
أعلن المعارض السوري ميشيل كيلو انه التقى في مدينة أنطاكيا، مع قوى مسيحية سورية، حضرت من الداخل والخارج، لتشكيل هيئة سياسية خاصة بمسيحيي سوريا، أطلق عليها اسم: «سوريون مسيحيون من أجل العدالة والحرية».
وقال كيلو إنه سيعمل من خلال تلك الهيئة التي انضم إليها، على هدم الهوّة بين المسيحيين الذين لا يزالون يؤيدون النظام السوري وبين الثورة السورية، لتحقيق موقف مشترك بين أغلبية المسيحيين وغالبية السوريين.
وأضاف كيلو ان المشاركين في لقاء الهيئة السياسية، هم من المسيحيين المؤيدين للثورة ولحرية الشعب وخياراته، ومع رهانات الثورة الحقيقية، كما انهم ضد الفوضى والخيار الإسلامي.

more on that earlier scud story:

Three Scud missiles were fired by the 155th company in Damascus’s Kalamun region towards the north of Syria.

Speaking to the Anadolu Agency (AA), a member of the Syrian General Revolutionary Council, Vail Qadi said that three Scud missiles were fired from Kalamun region to the north of Syria where opposition members are present.

Qadi said that one of the Scud missiles exploded in air.

The Scud missiles destroyed several homes in Aleppo and killed and wounded several people, Qadi also said.

Meanwhile, local activists said that 650 Syrian troops from Damascus and surrounding region have joined the Free Syrian Army (FSA).

scuds are capable of carrying a chem payload. is this a trial run?

we have heard the claims that victory is imminent by both sides, the truth is that there is a stalemate desite the “progress” made by rebels in the north and the east and the defeat of rebels in Homs and most of Hama and Latakia, this fact beside the anxiety about having anther Afghanistan in Syria is what made the US and EU lean towards dialogue, rebels now want to reverse that,I do not think they will succeed,not after the world saw who the rebels really are and what ideology they have.
the rebels have a lot of volunteers and they are financing their operations by grants, smuggling, theft and ransom money but they still need heavy weapons to take major cities, I do not see how that will happen especially after Syrians found out that it is the islamists and foreigners ,not moderate elements in the opposition ,who will call the shots.
ignore the garbage posted by the belly dancer and the drummers, we heard that before.

this fact beside the anxiety about having anther Afghanistan in Syria is what made the US and EU lean towards dialogue

now, ghufran, you know better than i do that the US waged shock & awe in iraq. the west is responsible for creating the conditions in afghanistan. what “anxiety” are you talking about? these powers constantly talk up dialogue (with deluded fairytale schemes of “political solutions”) in order to buy the regime more time to remain in power.

angels (apparently sent by Allah) to defend NATOs mercenary Islamist terrorists fighting in Syria 😀

this is a segment ran by the Syrian state tv about the video that was broadcasted on the sham news as an “authentic angel sighting” by NATOs Islamist terrorists in Syria..

Muhammad al Arifi, a Saudi sectarian cleric and outspoken supporter of terrorism was very quick to publicize the sighting, he also cited the alleged incident as a reason “since it is a sign from Allah” to continue the targeted sectarian killings in order for the “mujahedin” to secure “victory for the revolution”..

other Saudi clerics dismissed the “sighting” as being authentic, and considered the claim as being outlandish, they also dismissed the probability that the fighters were capable of seeing angels, citing the historical accounts of “angel visitation” as a reason.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=61a_1361162007

Better footage of Qusayr fight with “Hizbollah”

Really good footage of these idiots running out in middle of open field and getting killed also rpg falls on their heads as well. Also, if this is Hezbollah their fighting like ghosts where the hell are they?

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8f3_1361158156

SHAMSEIN Report # 2: SAA Cleansing Ops, EU “Worried” Syria is Jihadist Haven, & 11 Other Stories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBOiFVd556M

Published on Feb 17, 2013

In this second weekly SHAMSEIN report, the following 13 stories are discussed:

00:10 Syrian Army Cleansing Operations Continue

07:25 UK & Netherlands Express “Concern” about Jihadist Blowback in Europe from Syria’s Fighting

10:10 Disagreement about Number of Casualties in Syrian Conflict

11:45 People of Aleppo Refuse Turkish Products

13:32 Turkish Press Correspondents Show Solidarity with Syria & its People

15:04 Jordanian Delegation Shows Solidarity with Bashar al-Assad

16:22 Syrians Defy Cold Weather of Paris to Show their Support for Syria

17:40 UAE Offered Syria’s Government $30B to Break Ties with Iran

21:36 Briefly Why Israel Supports the Rise of Radical Islamists

23:48 Daraya’s Huge Underground Tunnels Dug by Jabhat al-Nusra

25:20 Jabhat al-Nusra Teaches a Kid to Sing Praise Songs for bin Laden & to Slaughter Alawites

28:50 Brave Syrian Girls Tell why they Decided to Enlist in the National Defense

30:20 Pro-FSA Lebanese Protest Fuel Export to Syria

Russia to send two planes full with humanitarian aid to Syria – Feb 18, 2013

Humanitarian aid 😉

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_18/Russia-to-send-two-planes-with-humanitarian-aid-to-Syria/

The Russian Emergency Situations Ministry is preparing to send two planes with 44 tonnes of humanitarian aid to Syria.

“Consistent with the directives of the Russian president and government, it is planned to take humanitarian aid to the population of the Syrian Arab Republic suffering from hostilities,” says a report published on the ministry website on Monday.

Ilyushin Il-62 and Il-76 jets from the ministry will take aboard respectively 11.02 tonnes and 33.5 tonnes of humanitarian aid, the report said.

The date of the planes’ departure to Syria has not been reported.

[…]

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_18/Russia-to-send-two-planes-with-humanitarian-aid-to-Syria/

For the ANN in all of us, gore for nothing:

Antique mosaics stolen in Syria – Feb 18, 2013

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_18/Antique-mosaics-stolen-in-Syria/

In the north-east of Syria at least 18 ancient mosaics depicting scenes from Homer’s Odyssey were stolen during illegal excavations. This was reported by Syria’s culture minister Loubana Moushaweh in an interview for Tishreen newspaper.

According to the ministry, the artifacts are on the border with Lebanon.

Mushaveh underscored the Culture Ministry’s difficulties protecting the “10,000 historic sites across Syria.” According to the minister, illegal excavations were a particularly dangerous threat.

[…]

http://english.ruvr.ru/2013_02_18/Antique-mosaics-stolen-in-Syria/

Quick hide your boys and private IP addresses!

Growing Jihadist [Al-Qaeda] power, threat to major opposition groups in Syria – February 18, 2013

http://truthdive.com/2013/02/18/Growing-Jihadist-power-threat-to-major-opposition-groups-in-Syria.html

London, Feb 18 (ANI): The number of Jihadist groups that have entered Syria following the uprising against the regime of President Bashar al-Assad is a major threat to the power of mainstream opposition groups as well as the authority of the Free Syrian Army, a report has said.

One of the increasingly influential groups, Jabah al Haq (The Front for Justice), said that Jihad is spreading across North Africa and the Middle East.

The group warned that it will not stop at Syria but will include Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq and even Israel, Sky News reports.

Jabah al Haq is led by a charismatic young cleric called Sheik Abu al Homan.

[…]

http://truthdive.com/2013/02/18/Growing-Jihadist-power-threat-to-major-opposition-groups-in-Syria.html

So MGR likes to eat dogs for breakfast, huh?

The Kalbiyyah tribe better watch out!

I used to know an merchant at the Aleppo souq. He could be an ordinary example for most merchants there. He rented his small place( it was about 10square metres) from an old family. He sold fabrics and the famous soap. As small as his shop looked like, he was an exporter of fabrics and the soap as far as to Japan. He told me once, in a good month he made 10.000 Euro. That was very good money then. He was often travel to Lebanon and Turkey to sell his products as well. I think like him many of the merchants looked only for stability and peace, they depend on that to do their business.
For most people such small shops look rather shaby,but actually all of them were global players with their goods.

Save your breath, regime losers.

As I’ve said before (and I’m normally right): this will be a long war.

Be careful when you cut and paste like maniac that you don’t paste your IP information….

AKBAR PALACE
In early February 2011 Hamster dark tunnels underground sent me an email in which he wrote:
In virtual syria I’ll be a president!
Deserves compassion!
Then i prayed for his mind!
let him be a real president in your great palace!
————–
When oppositioneer choosing sophisticated role for himself starting the game of death aided by the Western world and the Gulf raising his arms gave him there is no excuse for him as it gets!
————-

Kerry Calls for ‘Negotiated
Outcome’ in Syria
Kerry, Obama Visits Offer Hope, Caution
http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/originals/2013/02/john-kerry-barack-obama-syria-truck-tunisia-belaid.html
There is truth in the old saw that the United States cannot want peace more than those in the region want it themselves. Geoffrey Aronson writes this week that Secretary of State John Kerry venturing to the Middle East to listen and seek advice on how best to move the Israeli-Palestinian process forward is akin to seeking advice from inmates on the running of an asylum.
There is some déjà vu here. The Obama administration came into office in 2009 with a similar vigor. President Barack Obama appointed George Mitchell as U.S. Special Envoy for Middle East Peace on Jan. 22, 2009, just two days after the president took office. Mitchell also began with a “listening tour” in the region. The process went nowhere.
A significant difference from 2009 is that Kerry’s visit will precede a trip to Israel, the West Bank and Jordan by President Obama himself next month.
Ben Caspit writes that most Israelis support the peace process, and that Obama could have an even greater impact if he gave a speech at Rabin Square in Tel Aviv. Nadav Eyal reported for Al-Monitor about a Facebook initiative in Israel to support Obama speaking at the square.
Expectations are still, perhaps prudently, kept in check. In an exclusive interview with Al-Monitor this week, Saeb Erakat, the chief Palestinian negotiator, told Shlomi Eldar that an Israeli freeze on settlements must be a precondition for renewed talks. Daoud Kuttab writes that while Palestinians have an interest in US engagement, it should not hinder the development of their own simultaneous strategic track which is both rights based and anchored in international law. Hazem Balousha reported for Al-Monitor from Gaza that Palestinians there expect nothing much to come of Obama’s visit.
Kerry Calls for Negotiated Solution in Syria
Kerry’s willingness to pursue diplomacy in the Middle East is a marked change from his predecessor, Hillary Clinton, who mostly avoided direct involvement in regional diplomacy and left office with a thin record there, as Barbara Slavin reported here last month ……

One year in jail for “incompetence”!
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContentMulti/64964/Multimedia.aspx

Beware! It will reach the Arabian Peninsula!

هذا الرجل يظهر بوادر الشجاعة الدبلوماسية و التعقل السياسي!
الخطيب سيزور موسكو الشهر المقبل
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/608026/
أكد الأخضر الإبراهيمي المبعوث الدولي لسورية، خلال مؤتمر صحفي له مع نبيل العربي الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية الاحد 17 فبراير/ شباط في القاهرة، إن معاذ الخطيب رئيس الائتلاف السوري المعارض، سيزور العاصمة الروسية موسكو الشهر المقبل.

وكان الخطيب قد تلقى دعوة رسمية لزيارة موسكو لبحث الأزمة السورية.

من جانبها ذكرت وكالة “الاناضول” ان الخطيب تلقى دعوة رسمية لزيارة العاصمة الأمريكية واشنطن، لبحث آلية الحل السياسي للأزمة السورية، بحسب ما ذكره المتحدث باسم الائتلاف.

وقال وليد البني المتحدث الرسمي باسم الائتلاف الاحد إن هناك توجها لقبول الدعوة الامريكية، غير أنه لم يتحدد حتى الآن موعد السفر.

The ugly, filthy, pointless existence of the Assad regime. It comes down to this:

Omar Aziz, a gentle, decent, hugely loved and respected man in his 60s who has just died under torture for his intellectual “crimes”.

And many, many more like him. A deep loss to Syria’s present and future, a loss to the world.

All of them dying at the hands of their lowest inferiors, sub-humans who are not fit to walk on the same earth or breathe the same air as their victims. Why? And by what right?

Reading pro-regime comments here fills me with revulsion. The commentators’ brains and souls are not just dead, they are decaying with a foul stench.

Rula Amin ‏@RulaAmin – 11 mins –
18+ Syria – Assad Army Suffers Dozens of Casualties in Defeat at Daraa C…: http://youtu.be/9P67RIcuvYg via @youtube activist posted this #syria

View video:

[…]

https://twitter.com/RulaAmin/status/303465128513372160

Test

Citizen,

Thanks for the link and the comments about President Hamster.

As far as Obama, Kerry, and Hillary Clinton, and their retarded quest to revive the PA/GOI peace talks and a negotiated settlement in Syria:

1.) Kerry and Clinton both were praising the long neck prethident without any cause or reason just months before Betho starting killing peaceful demonstrators. Neither is qualified to be a Secretary of State.

2.) One day, people will pay less attention to the Pali-Isra conflict because only these two parties can solve it. I believe each side is happy with the current, status quo. To me, any where there are many thousands being killed has priority over this dreamy, half-baked peace process.

A warning to both sides.

Article: U.N. says has list of Syrian war crimes suspects

Syrians in “leadership positions” who may be responsible for war crimes have been identified, along with units accused of perpetrating them, United Nations investigators said on Monday

http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/18/us-syria-crisis-warcrimes-idUSBRE91H06920130218

Reading against-regime comments here fills me with revulsion. The commentators’ brains and souls are not just dead, they are decaying with a foul stench.and love the smell of murder, destruction and sabotage and bombing innocent people in safe places!They rejoice for more killing and destruction and are proud of it!Terminally their recovery

Turkey, time to think again?

http://www.opendemocracy.net/opensecurity/firdevs-robinson/has-turkey-reached-dead-end-in-syria

Turkey has already alienated some of its traditional allies by allowing itself to become a jihadist congregating point. The perception of Turkey as a key power contributing to the radicalising of the conflict in Syria is growing. For a country that has suffered from long years of violence perpetrated by extremists who found shelter in neighbouring countries, Turkey now needs to be very careful not to be seen to be doing the same.

Turkey has been a significant player in this conflict right from the start. Some of its policies have had long term consequences both for itself and for the region.

Now is the time for Turkey and other powers engaged in the Syrian conflict to come forward and to assist in undoing the harm that has been caused in part by their national or sectarian interests.

The priority for everyone concerned about Syria should be to stop the appalling levels of violence and destruction.

Getting rid of the Assad regime that had embarrassed and ignored Turkey should not be a matter of honour for Ankara. It is up to the Syrians to do that. There are plenty of opposition activists struggling to create a democratic and independent Syria that will not repeat the mistakes of Iraq and Afghanistan. Even though they are grateful for the humanitarian support they received from their neighbour, increasingly, they, too, are getting impatient with Turkey for bringing its proxy-war onto their lands.

If this true, any help to crush Al Qaeda fighters in Syria is welcome.

(In the article, just replace “Free Syrian Army” by “Al Nusra”)

Hezbollah threatens Israel but attacks in Syria

http://www.timesofisrael.com/hezbollah-threatens-israel-but-attacks-in-syria/

Homs is major target of Hezbollah assaults

“Deaths follow clashes between Syrian rebels and armed Hezbollah fighters” is one of the leading stories on the website of the Doha-based media channel Al-Jazeera. In the last twenty-four hours, residents of the western Syrian city of Homs have seen the greatest fighting between the rebel Free Syria Army and Hezbollah since the start of the Syrian civil war. Up to 12 Syrian rebel fighters have been killed along with 3 Hezbollah militants.

Hollande’s enthusiastic promise to lift the arms embargo fo rebels turned out to be more hot air..
Jealous of France’s apparent success in Mali, Britain’s Hague is now the only European supporter for an escalation of violence in Syria.

Europe split over arms for Syria rebels

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/europe-split-over-military-support-syria-rebels-022602663.html

“but France appears to have cooled, leaving Britain facing opposition even from EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Ashton, a British baroness who represents London on the European Commission.”

Hague: “I think there is a broader range of equipment that we could give to them.”

But Britain has found little support and ministers began Monday’s talks divided with time running out for a decision.

U.N. Rights Panel Says Violence in Syria Is Mounting

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/19/world/middleeast/un-rights-panel-says-violence-in-syria-is-mounting.html?_r=0

Armed conflict has escalated, “aggravated by increased sectarianism,” radicalized by the growing presence of foreign fighters and “permeated by opportunistic criminality,” the panel of four investigators led by Paulo Pinheiro of Brazil said in a report to the Human Rights Council on Monday. It says the conflict was also “becoming more militarized because of the proliferation of weapons and types of weapons used.”
…
The investigators say they found credible evidence of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by both government and opposition forces in the six months to mid-January, citing accounts of massacres, summary executions, torture, attacks by armed groups on civilians, sexual violence and abuses against children.
…
The panel report stated there can only be a political solution to the conflict in Syria and calls for a negotiated settlement but it noted that “regional and international actors hampered the prospects of a negotiated settlement owing to their divergent interests. The position of key international actors remains unchanged.”

Are the ‘thumbs down’ automatically triggered? If not, thanks to the 11 contributors.

191. zoo said:

test to get free thumbs downs

Thumb up 2 Thumb down 11

Does anyone want to comment on the following:

Hezbollah condemned for ‘attack on Syrian villages’

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-21496735

We like to talk about Jewish conspiracies, but actually Iranian and Hezbollah militants are firing on Syrians inside Syria!

I think it’s time to reevaluate who your friends and enemies are.

Omen and SyriaLover,

Omar Aziz was a threat to the regime because people like him are the promise that Syria can be fine after the Assads. His only crime was daring to think, which is the most dangerous crime anyone can commit under any dictatorship.

Syria lost a true son, an intellectual that carried the most deadly of all weapons and that is his unwavering love for his country and a message of peace.

He was picked up three months ago by the Airforce Intelligence, he was on his way to help in Darayya. He documented the atrocities, helped the wounded and the unfortunate and for that he died under three months of the most heinous torture.

I grew up calling him 3amou Omar, now I call him my Hero.

He will not be forgotten, nor will his killers.

After Muslim rebels seize two priests in Aleppo, there are fears for their life

02/12/2013
http://www.asianews.it/news-en/After-Muslim-rebels-seize-two-priests-in-Aleppo,-there-are-fears-for-their-life-27116.html

An Armenian Catholic priest, Fr Michael, and an Orthodox clergyman were abducted last Sunday in Aleppo’s Christian neighbourhood. Sources speak to AsiaNews about barbarous murders carried out my Islamic extremists. A car bomb explodes at the Turkish-Syrian border crossing of Cilvegozu.

Aleppo (AsiaNews) – A group of rebels close to Muslim extremists on Sunday abducted an Armenian Catholic priest, Fr Michael, as well as a yet unknown Orthodox clergyman. Both were working in Aleppo. Sources, anonymous for security reasons, told AsiaNews that the city’s Christian community is very concerned about the attack. “Extremist violence is getting worse day by day. Muslim militias are killing anyone suspected of ties with the regime, including women and children. People in the neighbourhoods are comparing these days to the Ottoman conquest five centuries ago.”

For several weeks, residents had complained about the presence of al-Nusra Front forces, Islamic extremists who want to turn Syria into an Islamic state, feared even by the rebel Free Syrian Army.

On 6 February, Front troops stormed the Christian neighbourhood of Jdeideh where extremists had already destroyed the city’s main Evangelical church in November.

Al-Nusra forces include many foreigners, including Muslims from Indonesia and the Philippines, as evinced by a statement posted online by the leader of Abu Sayyaf, an extremist Muslim group with ties to al-Qaeda operating in the Philippines. In it, Muslims are urged to go to Syria and sacrifice their lives for Islam.

الامم المتحدة: البلدان المجاورة لسورية مستمرة في تزويد المعارضة السورية بالاسلحة
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/608028/

بوتين يلتقي العاهل الاردني بموسكو لبحث الوضع في سورية وتسوية أزمة الشرق الاوسط
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/608014/

Brahimi is burnt and with his silly declarations, he is now hampering any prospect for a dialog It’s time he steps aside.
.
Brahimi tries to kick start talks between Syrian regime and opposition

Phil Sands Feb 18, 2013

Mr Brahimi has little credibility with both sides. Last month, supporters of the Syrian president branded him a conspirator in an international plot against Damascus, after he said Mr Al Assad must hand over his powers to a transitional government to end the crisis.

Opposition activists have accused Mr Brahimi of fruitlessly recycling the same unfulfilled demand for talks, buying time for the regime while doing nothing concrete to halt a conflict in which almost 70,000 people have been killed, according to UN estimates.

The Syrian regime says it is amenable to negotiations but has made it clear that Mr Al Assad’s position as president is not up for discussion and that opposition groups taking part in talks must surrender their weapons.

In contrast, the opposition sees talks as a way of managing Mr Al Assad’s departure from power after more than four decades of Assad family rule over Syria, and has demanded regime forces cease their military operations.

What constitutes an “acceptable delegation” is also certain to be a sticking point.

Moaz Al Khatib, head of the Syrian National Coalition, proposed Syrian vice president Farouq Al Sharaa for the job but there appears little prospect of Mr Al Assad nominating him as his representative, even in preliminary talks.

Although technically the Syrian president’s deputy, Mr Al Sharaa is not part of the decision-making inner circle and has been highly critical of the regime’s violent response to dissent.

“Brahimi is a fool, here we are again with more talks about talks when every one knows there nothing these two sides can side down and talk about, they have no common language,” said a resident of southern Damascus.

A regime supporter in the same neighbourhood also brushed aside the idea of negotiations, saying they were a trick by the international community seeking to unseat Mr Al Assad and seize control over Syria.

“We will fight for our freedom, victory or death,” he said.

Read more: http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/brahimi-tries-to-kick-start-talks-between-syrian-regime-and-opposition#ixzz2LG2mXfhU
Follow us: @TheNationalUAE on Twitter | thenational.ae on Facebook

Assad says will win Syria war: newspaper

BEIRUT – Agence France-Presse

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told visiting Lebanese politicians that his troops will win the ongoing war against rebels fighting to oust his regime, a pro-Damascus Lebanese daily reported on Monday.

The As-Safir newspaper said that Assad also told the politicians, who were unnamed in the report, that Syria’s future belonged to his camp.

“We are sure we will win, we are reassured by the political and military developments,” Assad was quoted as telling the Lebanese politicians, the newspaper said.

“That does not mean that everything is settled, we still have a lot to do politically and in the battle against extremist terrorist groups.” Assad frequently receives Lebanese supporters of his regime such as Talal Arslan, a Lebanese Druze leader who was in Damascus on Sunday.

“We are convinced that the future is ours… Syria has the willpower to defeat the conspiracy,” said Assad, according to As-Safir.

He said those “loyal” to his regime “represent the absolute majority of Syrians”.

“Otherwise, how do you explain that the Syrian diplomatic corps the world over has remained faithful despite seductive offers made to ambassadors and consuls… millions of dollars have been offered to them, but they refused. This proves how great Syrian patriotism is.” Two Syrian ambassadors — serving in Iraq and the United Arab Emirates — defected in 2012.

The Syrian charge d’affaires and top diplomat in London, Khaled al-Ayubi, and the charge d’affairs in Cyprus defected in 2012.

The collapse of Al-Jazeera’s credibility

http://www.thecommentator.com/article/2741/the_collapse_of_al_jazeera_s_credibility

“Before the beginning of the Arab Spring, we were a voice for change…a platform for critics and political activists throughout the region. Now, Al-Jazeera has become a propaganda broadcaster.”
Mic
A voice for change? Or a voice for the Muslim Brotherhood?

Ghaffar Hussain On 18 February 2013 12:32

Since the commencement of the War on Terror and the subsequent media focus on al-Qaeda and bin Laden, Al-Jazeera has become a household name. The emergence of this channel is seen as a breath of fresh air by many, in that it provides much needed balance to the public debate and offers alternative views in a world dominated by western media discourse.

The fact that the channel is owned and tightly controlled by the undemocratic and authoritarian Qatari royal family, that jails independent journalists who criticise the regime at home, seems to have gone unnoticed and ignored by many. But since the start of the Arab Spring, that is slowly starting to change
…
According to an article that appeared in the German magazine Der Spiegel, many leading journalists and TV anchors have started to leave the channel in recent months. According to one of those that has recently left, the German based Aktham Sulimen, “Before the beginning of the Arab Spring, we were a voice for change…a platform for critics and political activists throughout the region. Now, Al-Jazeera has become a propaganda broadcaster.”

According to another Beirut based correspondent, “Al-Jazeera takes a clear position in every country from which it reports – not based on journalistic priorities, but rather on the interests of the Foreign Ministry of Qatar……In order to maintain my integrity as a reporter, I had to quit.”

In truth, Al-Jazeera was never an independent media outlet and always had a political bias.

Would anyone be kind enoygh to translate this word to English
Mtayless, this describe Bashar,it means he refused to leave inspite of all the hints,incentives or threats

Assad is a hero. Translate that into 100 languages. Name your children after Bashar.

Some reports from both sides indicate that the Syrian front and Mali front are now connected by the Jihadists.

Jihadists in Syria are traveling to Mali for their Holy War against a new evil oppressor, the French government. It is their calling and it is quite urgent.

We are glad finally the French is back with us and we are fighting together against the same enemy. Maybe the French government and the Syrian government ought to set up a hotline. The Syrian government will promise the French that they won’t tell the opposition.

While the French are fighting hard in Africa, we’d like to wish them best performance and hope their fighters will watch The Battle of Algiers by Gillo Pontecorvo. We hope this time the French would do better and show the world their men are getting more skill and morale than any other time in their history.

Smart Kristin Helberg ( she was the only western journalist legally working in Syria from 2001-2009)
has written this article:

The Time for Caution is Past

In view of the suffering and the destruction in Syria and the reticence of the US, the Europeans must assume more responsibility. They should expedite the reconstruction of liberated territories, bolster the National Coalition, finance rebels fighting for a democratic Syria and apply diplomatic pressure to pave the way for a political transition, says Kristin Helberg

“Damascus may appear to be a city on an alien planet when viewed from Washington, but for Berlin, Paris, Rome and Athens, Syria is pretty much on the doorstep (unlike Mali). If this is why US President Barack Obama believes his nation can do nothing more in Syria than help with the distribution of food, clothing and medicaments, then it is the responsibility of the Europeans to act even more decisively.”

http://en.qantara.de/The-Time-for-Caution-is-Past/20694c22872i1p523/index.html

New post up.

290. majedkhaldoun Would anyone be kind enoygh to translate this word to English Mtayless, this describe Bashar,it means he refused to leave inspite of all the hints,incentives or threats

yes, can somebody please translate? what is this word?