As this conflict becomes more militarized and the AL decides to quit on diplomacy giving foreigners a green light to “get tough” and do the dirty job of driving Syria into civil war or a long internal insurgency,we may very well see the regime asking for external help,and then it is a total mess. Do we know for sure that the resignation of Assad will convince people to give their weapons and stop killing other Syrians?
It may be too late to pretend that as soon as Assad leaves his post things will suddenly turn rosy and people start exchanging nicities instead of gun fire.

Removing Mubarak and his regime was not enough for many Egyptians. We need to watch and learn.
الأيادي البيضاء لن تتوقف حتى يتحول الوطن العربي الى مزارع لأمراء الماعز
Egypt. The government resigns again!!

• Thirty-three people are reported to have been killed and more than 1,700 injured in the latest clashes in and around Tahrir Square- the worst bout of violence in Egypt since the revolution. Witnesses said protesters had been hit by rubber bullets and suffocated with aggressive tear gas. (See 1.03pm.) The International Federation for Human Rights accused the policemen of using live ammunition on protesters. (See 2.04pm.) Reports indicated that demonstrators were responding by hurling stones and molotov cocktails.

2. Ghufran said:

• Thirty-three people are reported to have been killed and more than 1,700 injured in the latest clashes in and around Tahrir Square- the worst bout of violence in Egypt since the revolution.

oh no! where is NATO and their “resposability to protect civilians”?

where is the UNSC? where are the economic sanctions? where is the impotent arab league? is it time to withdraw all arab ambassadors from egypt? do we send in 500 qatari observer?

A hundred claimed FSyA rebels in Lebanon. That’s about what I would have approximated given the lack of evidence of actual “battalion” size formations. I’m guessing it’s a real hodgepodge derived from many different branches of the Syrian military.

I’m also guessing the strike against those Baathist building was carried out by an “armed group” in “pot shot” like fashion.

people are being slaughtred on the streets of cairo! where are you victoria nuland, ambassador ford, hillary clinton, barak obama? are you going to march in the funural of these unarmed inocent civilians?

The very last line in this article, tells the whole story, whatsup next for Russia.

http://www.boilingfrogspost.com/2011/11/21/bfp-exclusive-syria-secret-us-nato-training-support-camp-to-oust-current-syrian-president/

Yemen is going through a civil war and the army is split in two and the regime used jet fighters on many occasions,but the AL does not seem to worry too much about Yemen because the regime is “friendly” to the masters of the AL and the Goat Princes.
Violence is violence and blood is blood.
خيار اليمن و فقوس سوريا

Syrian government, Russia criticize Britain’s calls against Assad

2011-11-22

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/22/c_122315039.htm

DAMASCUS, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — British Foreign Secretary William Hague on Monday called on Syrian opposition to “unite” against President Bashar al-Assad, while Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov chided such calls from Western countries as provocation.

“It is important for opposition groups to be able to put aside their own differences and come to a united view of the way forward, ” Hague made the remarks after meeting with Syrian opposition representatives in London on Monday.

However, he said Britain was not ready to recognize the Syrian opposition as the country’s legitimate government.

“We are not at the point of a formal recognition, partly because there is not a single council as there was in Libya. They are not in control of territory in Syria as the council was in Libya and the international community has not reached that point,” Hague said.

Meanwhile, Lavrov said that “so far, when the Arab League (AL) urges to stop the violence and start dialogues, Western countries and some countries in the region call for the opposition to avoid such dialogues with Bashar al-Assad’s regime.”

Abuses over international law and the UN authority cannot be allowed, Lavrov added.

The remarks of Hague and Lavrov came after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s confirmation that he would press on with a crackdown against what he called armed groups targeting civilians, policemen, army personnel in his country despite increased pressure from the AL.

“The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue,” Assad told the Britain’s Sunday Times newspaper. ” However, I assure you that Syria will not bow down and that it will continue to resist the pressure being imposed on it,” he said.

Commenting on Assad’s remarks, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned on Monday that the Syrian regime was destined to fall sooner or later.

“No matter how hard you try to hold on to power with your tanks and your weapons, a day will come and you will go,” said Erdogan at a meeting with chief Muslim clerics from African countries and communities held in Istanbul.

The AL peace plan reached with Syria earlier this month has virtually perished, with each side blaming the other of showing no sincerity. The Syrian authorities said that the plan contains ” impossible” phrases that encroach upon Syria’s sovereignty while the AL said that Syria has demanded amendments that contradict the plan’s essence.

Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moallem said that some Arab states are using the AL as a tool to take the Syrian file to the UN Security Council, but stressed that “there would be no civil war no matter how they tried to ignite it … thanks to the awareness of the Syria people.”

In yet another move to place pressure on Damascus, the AL has said that it will sponsor a meeting combining different opposition figures to help them form a united front.

Now, there are mounting calls among Syrians, even anti-regime activists, to halt all kinds of violent acts whether they are against government’s targets or not as armed resistance has practically become true.

The so-called Syrian Free Army (SFA), an opposition armed force composed of army defectors, has recently attacked the headquarters of air intelligence forces in Damascus’ suburb of Harasta, which was denied by the government.

The SFA claimed responsibility for the Harasta attack, and its founder, Riyad al-Assaad, a Turkey-based defected army colonel, said during an interview with al-Jazeera TV that the SFA is an armed opposition force that has its own weapons and funds.

Opposition groups claimed that the ruling al-Baath party’s building in the very heart of Damascus was hit at dawn on Sunday by two rocket-propelled grenades. But Moallem said that such news is absolutely baseless and Syria’s state-run TV aired footage of the building which looks intact.

However, residents at the area confirmed that they awoke at a loud explosion, a matter the minister had stopped short of explaining.

Amir

I want to ask you aboutالطائفة السامرية?

I don ‘t know the English name for that sect.

I watched the very end of a program on Aljazeera discussing them. Their holy book is the Torah but they pray like Muslims. Do you know anything about them. Are they considered Jews?

Those who don’t learn from history are destined to repeat it.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/21/us-syria-assad-idUSTRE7AK1SB20111121

Analysis: Syria’s Assad seen ignoring Gaddafis’ fate

LONDON | Mon Nov 21, 2011 2:30pm EST
(Reuters) – The chilling spectacle of Muammar Gaddafi’s brutal end last month and the capture of his son Saif al-Islam this week, far from deterring Bashar al-Assad, seem to have energized him into redoubling his efforts to crush Syria’s eight-month rebellion.

As the Arab League intensified Assad’s isolation by suspending Syria’s membership, defecting soldiers in the Free Syrian Army carried out their boldest attacks so far at Deraa in the south and on an Air Force intelligence base near Damascus.

Unconfirmed reports said the rebels also fired rockets at a headquarters of the ruling Ba’ath party in Damascus, until now firmly locked down by the regime’s security apparatus.

The country of 22 million, convulsed this year by a civil uprising like those that brought down dictators in Tunisia and Egypt, now appears to be on the brink of a Libya-style armed insurgency, with arms flowing in from Lebanon, Jordan and from soldiers who have deserted with their weapons.

Most observers believe Assad will fight it out, playing on fears of a sectarian war between minorities and the Sunni majority if the country’s complex ethno-sectarian mosaic unravels, and that neither western powers nor Arab neighbors would risk military intervention to prevent it.

Arab leaders and Syrian opposition figures, with growing support from the Arab League, are now lobbying for a “Contact Group” for Syria, led by Britain and France, to help prepare for a transition in the belief that Assad’s days are numbered and preparations to deal with the fall-out are now essential.

“I think we’ve entered into a new phase. I don’t know if it’s the final phase but it is significant because of two things: on the ground there is a more militarized environment, and in the diplomatic sphere, a more determined effort which includes Arab cover,” Salman Shaikh, Director of the Brookings Doha Center, told Reuters.

As Assad expands his military onslaught, which might soon include the use of air power, Arab leaders want the group to consider contingency plans for no fly zones and safe havens near the Turkish and Jordanian borders to protect civilians.

“The Assads are finished and the dam could burst as soon as next year,” one senior Arab diplomat said. “The Arabs have acted because they know he cannot survive.”

There is now, moreover, an Arab, international and Turkish coalition that has proven to be effective in Libya and will be effective with Syria, according to Salman Shaikh.

“If you look at the core countries that are driving this: France, Turkey, Qatar and the U.S. This disengagement and attempt at isolating Syria, particularly by these countries, is very significant and I think will have, in the longer run (and it is a long run game) a debilitating effect on the regime,” Shaikh said.

The Arab League said it would follow through with its decision to suspend Syria, establish contacts with the opposition and examine how the Arab bloc and the United Nations can protect civilians from military attack.

“An international consensus is emerging with the exception of Russia that Syria is to blame for the violence,” said Fawaz Gerges, Professor of Middle Eastern Politics at the London School of Economics.

But the 46-year-old Assad looks set to tough it out. “The conflict will continue and the pressure to subjugate Syria will continue. Syria will not bow down,” Assad told the Sunday Times.

Most analysts said Assad, who can depend on the loyalty only of two elite Alawaite units – the Fourth Armoured Division and the Republican Guard – cannot maintain current military operations without cracks emerging in the armed forces.

TAKING A GAMBLE

They say Assad is taking a gamble because of his growing deployment of regular units whose rank and file are Sunnis.

“If you have to move these people around, they are going to get tired … They are going to crack,” the Arab diplomat said.

Assad, who inherited power from his father Hafez al-Assad 2000, is a member of the minority Alawite community, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam that amounts to about 12 percent of the population and dominates the state, the army and the security services in the majority Sunni Muslim country.

The 260-member Syrian National Council, which is leading the opposition against the Assads’ 41-year rule, said a conference will take place in Egypt under the auspices of the Arab League, to bring together political factions and independent figures to plan the transition and set rules for a democratic system.

“The opposition is more mature now. It is ready to agree on a common vision,” said SNC spokeswoman Bassma Kodmani.

There are many scenarios that could see Assad brought down; none of them neat and orderly.

Some see an Alawite who is part of the community’s hierarchy – but not the regime’s inner circle – moving to oust Assad and his family and, in the interest of the Alawites and other minorities such as the Christians and Druze, to embark on an orderly transition toward a new democratic Syria.

“I think efforts to try and pressure the Alawite security core by slapping sanctions, asset freezes and travel bans with the promise of putting them on a list for the International Criminal Court in the future is a good thing, that should concentrate their minds,” Shaikh added.

Observers say there are some prominent Alawite figures who could play a role in a post-Assad Syria while defecting military officers could also be at the forefront.

Related to that, there are groups within the opposition working on a strategic 10-year transition plan.

It involves some sort of a national unity government, which comprises major blocs and is as inclusive as possible and could last for a couple of years. This would set the stage for parliamentary elections and a new constitution.

As opposition plans start to crystallize with increased external support, Assad is trying to present himself as the only shield against a slide into chaos, Iraq-style sectarian carnage, and the triumph of hardline Islamists from the Sunni majority.

While the struggle still looks unequal, Assad has already lost the political battle in cities such as Homs, Hama or in the Idlib and Deraa areas, where he has only been able to maintain control through overstretched military units.

Many Syrians have defied the military crackdown to keep up demands for change, despite bloodshed which the United Nations says has cost 3,500 lives — as well as those of 1,100 soldiers and police, according to the government.

Aside from the human, military and political cost, Assad faces U.S. and European sanctions against Syria’s oil exports and an economic collapse that is crippling his government.

MILITARY MEANS

But nobody believes sanctions alone can bring down Assad.

“I am not suggesting that there’s going to be some orderly disintegration of the regime. It is likely that there will be a continued militarization and the regime will be ousted through military means, with the assistance perhaps of Turkey and other Arab states – perhaps with buffer zones in both Jordan and Turkey which would be focused on protecting civilians and offering a safe haven for those launching attacks,” Shaikh said.

The big powers are more united in their campaign to subdue Assad, while ruling out military intervention.

“A military intervention is not likely and the NATO example of Libya is not applicable to Syria. Where would they hit? Gaddafi had military bases entrenched across the country. Any attack on Syria would have reverberations and reactions in neighboring countries,” said Middle East expert Jamil Mroue.

Armed with a U.N. Security Council mandate to protect civilians, Western powers provided air support to Libyan rebels who toppled Gaddafi, but are not inclined to repeat the feat in Syria, in a far trickier arena of the Middle East.

Russia, which believes NATO stretched the U.N. mandate on Libya to embrace regime-change, firmly opposes any resolution against Syria, where it has its only permanent Mediterranean port facilities at Tartous.

Assad’s own specter-waving has reinforced the fears of Syria’s neighbors – Israel, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey – about the possibly seismic consequences of a power shift in a nation on the faultlines of several Middle Eastern conflicts.

Instability in Syria, an ally of Shi’ite Iran and Hezbollah, could spread to volatile Lebanon or Iraq.

Israel relies on Assad to stabilize their common border, and fears his fall could herald less predictable rulers.

Undeniably, too, Assad still retains substantial support within his own Alawite minority, parts of the business elite, Christians and others who fear that Islamist radicals might come to the fore, and, crucially, army and security force commanders.

“The Syrian regime is not isolated internally as many would like to believe. It retains a strong social base of support in major centers like Damascus, Aleppo and Latakia where 60 percent of the population live,” Gerges said.

“There is a real danger that Syria has already descended into a prolonged conflict no one knows its outcome internally and regionally. I don’t see a way out for the Assad regime. Assad has no exit strategy. This is a fight to the bitter end for the family, the clan, with the mentality: either I am going to be killed or I kill my enemy,” Gerges said.

There are those who believe that Assad’s last real ally, Iran, will help him financially.

“Iran will not give up on Bashar. It is a matter of survival for them too,” said Mroue. “Iran believes that targeting Syria is a first step in clipping the wings of the Islamic Republic. The same goes for Hezbollah.”

Yet some observers note that the Iranians, struggling with U.N. sanctions and economic problems of their own, are already making tentative contact with the Syrian opposition.

Tara
Samaritan
samaritanism

Tara,

I believe that you mean the Samaritans
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan
They claim to be the real Israelites (not to be confused with the Jews), but I don’t know much about them. Try Wiki.
.

Majed and Amir

Thanks. Will look them up.

U.N. draft is a “declaration of war” on Syria: envoy
  
http://www.fox40.com/news/capitolpulse/sns-rt-us-syria-untre7ak2nt-20111121,0,1648850.story  
Louis Charbonneau
Reuters
3:52 p.m. PST, November 21, 2011

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) – Syria’s U.N. envoy on Monday slammed a draft U.N. resolution condemning the Syrian government’s eight-month crackdown on pro-democracy protesters, calling it a “declaration of war” on Damascus.

Syrian Ambassador Bashar Ja’afari was referring to a draft resolution on Syria which Germany submitted to the U.N. General Assembly’s human rights committee. The draft, which was crafted by Germany, Britain and France, has five Arab states among its 61 co-sponsors.

“This was tabled in the context of declaring a political and media and diplomatic war on my country,” Ja’afari told the committee, which is comprised of the 193 U.N. member states.

Be the first to know! Sign up for FOX40 breaking news alerts.

“It is a declaration of war that aims to affect the independence of our political decision-making and stop us from moving ahead in our national political agendas,” he said.

Syria has promised the United Nations that it would halt military operations against civilians and implement political reforms. But U.N. officials say Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has failed to keep any of his promises.

The draft resolution says the committee “strongly condemns the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities, such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the persecution and killing of protesters and human rights defenders.”

It also condemns “arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, torture and ill treatment of detainees, including children” and demands an immediate end to all such violations.

SYRIA CRITICIZES ARAB ‘LACKEYS’

If adopted as expected, the resolution would urge Syria to implement an Arab League plan that called for it to halt military operations against civilians and to allow foreign observers into the country.

The committee is scheduled to vote on the draft resolution Tuesday. If approved, the resolution will go to the General Assembly for a repeat vote in a plenary session next month.

German Ambassador Peter Wittig urged the General Assembly’s human rights committee to vote for the resolution.

“We hope that all (U.N.) member states will support this effort and send a strong signal to the Syrian Arab Republic that the ongoing human rights violations and violence must come to an end,” he told the committee.

In an interview with Reuters, Ja’afari had sharp words for the five Arab co-sponsors of the resolution, whom he dismissed as “lackeys.”

The Arab co-sponsors are Bahrain, Jordan, Morocco, Qatar and Saudi Arabia. Syria’s erstwhile ally Turkey, a predominantly Muslim country that has become increasingly critical of Damascus, is also co-sponsoring it.

“Since 1918, women can vote in Syria,” he said, apparently comparing his country with Saudi Arabia. “We have a parliament. Women can be physicians. Women can drive a car.”

He also accused Western powers of supplying the opposition with weapons and funds to attack government security forces.

The Arab League has threatened Syria with sanctions. If the league imposes sanctions on Damascus, Western diplomats on the U.N. Security Council have suggested that they would try to resurrect their efforts to impose U.N. sanctions on Syria.
…..

Tara #14

Bahrain and Saudi Arabia co-sponsoring a resolution on human rights, and no one objects?

Fascinating and depressing.

Irritated

The Syrian regime earned it. Human right violation committed by the Syrian regime against men, women, children, and infants are unprecedented and a UN condemnation against the regime (aka, children killer) is long due.

شن الطيران الحربي اليمني فجر اليوم هجوما على عدة مناطق شمال العاصمة صنعاء في أعقاب استيلاء مسلحين قبليين على معسكر اللواء 63 التابع للحرس الجمهوري ببني الحارث بعد هجوم خلف عددا من القتلى في صفوف الطرفين.

وقالت مصادر قبلية لمراسل الجزيرة نت عبده عايش إن الطيران الحربي قصف مناطق أرحب ونهم وبني الحارث وبني جرموز شمال العاصمة صنعاء.

وقال ظافر النهمي وهو من قبائل نهم إن القصف استهدف أجزاء من معسكر اللواء 63 وقرى نهم ونقيل وبن غيلان.

وأشار ظافر إلى سقوط 12 قتيلا و30 جريحا من المسلحين القبليين، في مقابل سقوط عشرات القتلى والجرحى في صفوف جنود وضباط معسكر الحرس الجمهوري، بالإضافة إلى استسلام وفرار مئات الجنود والضباط والاستيلاء على معدات عسكرية ثقيلة.

“Mistakes were made at the beginning”

Dr Bashar Assad, were you the eye doctor who gouged out the eyes of the late Mr. Ferzat Jarban, the cameraman?

Syrian cameraman killed his eyes gouged out, Mr. Ferzat Jarban, in the town of al-Qasir.

https://www.cpj.org/2011/11/syria-cameraman-killed-last-seen-being-arrested.php

Earlier, the eye doctor told a group of Syrians youth, he is not against protesters, but he is opposed of filming and sending such materials to foreign TV stations.

Hezbollah reaffirms support to Syrian regime – 2011-11-22

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/22/c_122315022.htm

BEIRUT, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — Lebanese Shiite armed group Hezbollah confirmed Monday its support to Syria and Iran against ” international conspiracies” and said it opposed that Lebanon be used as a launch pad for plots against its biggest neighbor.

“What is taking place in Syria is an international conspiracy that targets Syria due to its position as a rejectionist state as well as its supportive policies to Arab and Islamic resistance movements, especially in Palestine,” Hezbollah and its ally Lebanese Shiite group the Amal Movement said in a joint statement.

“We affirm our support to Syria, its people, army and institutions, and oppose the use of Lebanon as a launch pad to conspire against sisterly Syria,” the statement added.

Hezbollah and the Amal Movement also voiced their firm support to Iran in the face of “American and Israeli threats.”

Hezbollah’s chief Hassan Nasrallah has repeatedly warned that any attack on either Syria or Iran would drown the rest of the region into conflict.

Damascus has come under increasing regional and international pressure to cease a crackdown on protesters calling for reforms in the country since mid-March.

The United Nations said some 3,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the unrest since earlier this year. Syrian authorities denied targeting civilians, blaming the deaths on ” armed gangs.”

Jordan and Moracco were invited to join the GCC, and their governments became partners in the Goat Princes Club or GPC,their position at the UN is a down payment .
The Syrian regime made all of thiis possible after mistreating and ignoring the people of Syria,and now they want those same people to save their behinds.

What’s happening in Tahrir Square over the past 2 days has been happening every day in Syria for the past 9 months.

24 martyrs in Syria today by Assad’s “insecurity forces”.

Arab countries urge Israel to join anti-nuclear arms treaty

2011-11-22

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/22/c_122314997.htm

VIENNA, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) — Arab countries on Monday urged Israel to join the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) at a forum focused on the establishment of a nuclear-weapon-free zone (NWFZ) in the Middle East.

Israel came under fire at the opening of the two-day forum which was aimed at learning lessons from the five existing NWFZs in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The debate included the question of Israel’s nuclear capability suspected of having military purposes.

Representatives form Arab countries, in particular Syria and Lebanon, criticized Israel as an obstacle to peace in the Middle East.

The representative of Israel, meanwhile, argued that peace in the region must be ensured before the state joins a corresponding agreement.

About 100 nations participated in the forum, but Iran stayed away.

“As long as Israel is not joining the NPT … and denounce and destroy all nuclear weapons capabilities, we will not be able to realize this expectation of the international community for a nuclear weapons-free zone,” Iran’s ambassador to the IAEA Ali Asghar Soltanieh said ahead of the meeting.

He called such forums meaningless as long as the IAEA follows a double-standard approach toward certain issues, including the case of Israel’s nuclear capability.

Israel, which participated in the forum, is the only Middle East country that has not jointed NPT and never confirmed or denied having nuclear weapons.

A recent report on Iran’s nuclear program says the country has engaged in nuclear weapon-related research activities while falling short of concluding that Iran is currently attempting to develop such weapon.

In response, Iran dismissed the findings in the IAEA report as fabricated by Western countries and insisted the country’s nuclear activities is purely for peaceful purposes.

The IAEA forum is intended to pave the way for an international meeting hosted by Finland next year to formally discuss ridding the Middle East of weapons of mass destruction.

التناغم بين الشعب و الحكم في السعوديه بحسب السفير الامريكي
رغم القبضة الأمنية التي تفرضها السعودية على المنطقة الشرقية، فإنّ حالة التوتر والمناوشات المتفرقة تؤكّد تصميم هذه المنطقة على مواصلة حراكها الاحتجاجي ضد الحكم.
فقد عاد التوتر، أمس، ليخيم على المنطقة الشرقية في السعودية، بعد مقتل شاب سعودي فجراً قرب حاجز للشرطة في مدينة القطيف في حادث لا تزال ملابساته مجهولة، رغم أنّ مواقع للمعارضة وأهل الشاب قالوا إن الشرطة أطلقت النار عليه وأردته. وتوالت أنباء أمس عن تعرض شاب ثانٍ للدهس من القوى الأمنية السعودية، خلال احتجاجات غاضبة خرجت للتنديد بمقتل الشاب ناصر المحيشي (19 عاماً). لكن ليس مؤكّداً إن كان الشاب الذي يدعى علي الصفار قد تُوفي، فيما ذكرت مواقع أنّ لديه كسوراً وإصابات في مناطق متعددة وحالته حرجة. بدوره، قال والد ناصر، علي المحيشي: “أبلغتنا الشرطة بأن إطلاق نار استهدف نقطة تفتيش في شارع الرياض بينما كان ابني بين المسلحين والحاجز، ما أدى إلى إصابته بأربع رصاصات في الظهر”. وأضاف: “لكن شهود عيان أبلغوني بأن أحد عناصر الأمن كان يبعد مسافة 20 متراً عن حاجز للقوات الخاصة اعترض ابني وما لبث أن أطلق عليه النار من الخلف”. وأوضح أن “أحد عناصر الشرطة اتهم ناصر بأنه كان يرتدي قناعاً وينتمي إلى المتمردين، لكن رئيس مركز الشرطة وصل إلى منزلنا لتقديم واجب العزاء، نافياً ذلك بالمطلق”. وأكد “أطالب بدم ابني ولن أتنازل عنه أبداً”.
ووفقاً لما جرى تداوله في المدونات الإلكترونية، فإن الشرطة ضغطت على الوالد لتوقيع على إفادة ضدّ مجهول، لكنه رفض “لأن من كانوا في نقطة التفتيش هم من أطلق الرصاص عليه”. وقال شهود إن “السلطات رفضت تسليم الجثمان من دون توقيع الإقرار والتعهد بعدم المطالبة بأي حقوق”، وإنه جرى تأجيل التشييع “بعد ضغوط سعودية لمحاولة دفنه بغطاء أمني”. لكن ذلك لم يمنع المحتجين من الخروج في تظاهرة غاضبة انطلاقاً من دوار الكرامة. بدورها، أوضحت جهات حقوقية أن الحادث يأتي بعد إصابة الشاب محمد البناوي في كتفه بإطلاق نار من عناصر أمنية في بلدة العوامية عصر السبت الماضي. ورفضت الشرطة السعودية في المنطقة الشرقية التعليق على حادث مقتل المحيشي، وقال المتحدث المقدم زياد الطريقي: “لا نستطيع التعليق في ما يخص هذا الحادث؛ لأن الأمر يعود إلى وزارة الداخلية”. من جهة ثانية، قال السفير الأميركي لدى الرياض جيمس سميث إن السعودية مختلفة عن سواها من دول المنطقة التي تشهد اضطرابات، مقدّراً الإصلاحات التي يجريها الملك عبد الله بن عبد العزيز. ونقلت صحيفة “الوطن” عن سميث قوله إنّ “في السعودية الأمر مختلف، فالحكومة أقرب إلى شعبها من سواها، وهي تعرف ما يريده وأكثر مسؤولية تجاهه”.

إن الثورة السورية ستستمر بسلميتها وأحرار الجيش ممن يدافعون عنها، وسيبقى الثوار يقابلون أسلحة الشبيحة” وعتاد جيش النظام بالهواتف النقالة وكاميرات التصوير واستخدام وسائل الاتصال الحديثة لفضح جرائم أجهزة الأمن وكشف كذب الإعلام السوري الرسمي.
لا بد لإرادة الحرية أن تنتصر على الهمجية، وأن تعري الخطاب الرسمي بمصطلحاته المبتذلة ووعوده الجوفاء التي باتت من دون قيمة. ولا بد لإرادة الحياة أن تنتصر على إرهاب النظام الهمجي.”

Netanyahu intervenes to resolve feud between Israel’s spy agency, foreign ministry

2011-11-21

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/21/c_122309365.htm

JERUSALEM, Nov. 20 (Xinhua) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday stepped in to resolve a dispute between Israel ‘s Mossad intelligence agency and the Foreign Ministry that in recent weeks brought cooperation between the organizations to a grinding halt.

Netanyahu on Sunday summoned Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Mossad chief Tamir Pardo for a meeting at the end of which both men agreed to put their disagreements behind them, Army Radio reported.

Tensions between the two bodies intensified as of late, after Lieberman discovered that the fabled spook shop withheld details from him regarding contacts it held with a foreign country or possibly a clandestine operation conducted abroad, Israeli media reported Friday.

Lieberman, enraged by the prospect that Mossad was meddling in the jurisdiction of Israel’s diplomatic community while, at the same time, refusing to share its intelligence output with diplomats, ordered his ministry to sever ties with the agency.

Some of the punitive measures included a refusal to issue diplomatic passports and visas to Mossad officials, as well as holding off the transfer of classified cables received from the Foreign Ministry’s missions abroad.

Israeli daily Yedioth Aharonot on Friday attributed the latest feud to a recent decision by Netanyahu to entrust the task of mending Israel’s ties with Turkey to David Meidan, a former top Mossad official who successfully negotiated a prisoner-swap deal with the Islamic Hamas Movement for the release of Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit in October.

Mark Regev, a Netanyahu spokesman, declined to comment on reports earlier this month that Meidan is due to head to Ankara to seek a compromise on the wording of a formal Israeli apology for the deaths of nine Turkish nationals, killed in a naval raid aboard a ship that attempted to breach Israel’s maritime blockade on the Gaza Strip in May 2010. Ankara has conditioned the normalization of bilateral ties on such an apology.

The traditional turf war between Mossad and the Foreign Ministry, usually fought over the former’s refusal to share intelligence, upped a notch since Lieberman’s appointment to foreign minister in 2009, with bureaucratic confrontations periodically leading to mutual accusations and boycotts.

Earlier this year, Mossad officers allegedly volunteered to temporarily assume the duties of diplomats when the latter launched a strike over low pay and work conditions.

Israeli officials on Friday said Netanyahu is mulling to establish a government panel that would clearly set the division of labor and power between Mossad and the diplomatic community, in order to prevent future similar crises.

دعا وزير الخارجية البريطاني وليام هيغ ، يوم الاثنين ، المعارضة السورية  الى الوحدة و الامتناع عن استخدام العنف في مواجهة النظام .

وقال هيغ خلال مؤتمر صحفي له عقد بعد لقائه ممثلي المعارضة السورية  يوم الاثنين انه “يجب ان تترك قوى المعارضة السورية خلافاتها جانبا في هذه اللحظة الحرجة من تاريخ بلادها، وتتوصل الى رؤية مشتركة للطريق للمضي قدما الى الامام”.

 واضاف انه دعا المعارضين السوريين الى ايجاد “ساحة مشتركة” وتشكيل هيئة موحدة لهم ، مشيرا في الوقت ذاته الى انه لفت انتباه المعارضة السورية الى ضرورة ان” تجري الاحتجاجات دون استخدام العنف واهمية احترام مصالح الاقليات”.

Any new Syrian constitution that does not abolish the requirement of the religion of the president to be Muslim is destined to be doomed and non starter,

It is time for Syria to join the civilized world and let the voters decide the person they want for president no matter what religion he belongs to, Don’t you all agree?, i hope you do.

Prediction: when Besho dies, it will be someone very close to him who kills him.

A blast from the past: on October 31, 1984, Indira Gandhi was gunned down by her two bodyguards. Besho should worry about the loyalty of the people around him…

7. GHUFRAN said:

“Yemen is going through a civil war and the army is split in two and the regime used jet fighters on many occasions,but the AL does not seem to worry too much about Yemen because the regime is “friendly” to the masters of the AL and the Goat Princes.
Violence is violence and blood is blood.
خيار اليمن و فقوس سوريا”

The Goat princes have oil but do not have food. Yemen with it exploding population could not be a food bowel like Syria. After all, Dr Kissinger has said:

“Control the oil and you can control nations, control the food supply and you can control the people”

Elias Khouri in Alquds Al-Arabi

الثورة السورية في شهرها التاسع تواجه اربعة اخطار:
الخطر الأول هو الانجرار الى الممارسات الطائفية. هذا هو الفخ الاكبر الكفيل بتحطيم كل القيم التي سقط الألوف دفاعا عنها. لا للانتقام الطائفي مهما كانت الاسباب، ومسؤولية المجلس الوطني وجميع قوى المعارضة ادانة هذا السلوك، والا تكون الثورة قد سقطت في العنصرية، وبدأت تحفر قبرها بيدها.
الخطر الثاني هو استخدام السلاح. هناك انشقاقات في الجيش، وتشكيلات عسكرية متعددة تقول انها تنتمي الى الجيش الحر. يجب ان يخضع هذا الجيش لاستراتيجية تضعها القيادة السياسية، كي لا يتحول اداة يستخدمها الخارج. ويجب على العسكريين ان يفهموا ان الثورة السورية هي ثورة شعبية سلمية وليست انقلابا.
الخطر الثالث، هو الترويج للتدخل العسكري الخارجي. هذا التدخل هو مقتل الثورة لأنه يشجع على سيادة الوهم بأن الدول الغربية الاستعمارية ستأتي لأنقاذ الشعب من سطوة نظام احترف الانحناء وتقديم الخدمات للخارج، في مقابل تأبيد سلطته. التدخل العسكري الخارجي لن يأتي، هذا اذا اتى اصلا، الا لحظة ترنح النظام عشية سقوطه، وهو بهذا المعنى سيكون بلا معنى، وسيعرض سورية للوقوع في فخ المؤامرة.
الخطر الرابع، هو عدم ايلاء العمل السياسي كامل الاهتمام. النظام يناور ويخادع، لكن هذا لا يعني ان لا يستمر الضغط السياسي عليه. لكن الضغط العربي والدولي على اهميته، لن يحلّ المشكلة. المشكلة يحلها الشعب السوري الذي حين يخوض معركته من اجل الديموقراطية، فهو لا يخوضها من ضمن عقلية المحاور العربية، وليس من اجل تغطية الاستبداد النفطي، بل من اجل حرية سورية والعرب.

«لبننة» الأزمة السورية

الثلاثاء, 22 نوفمبر 2011

الياس حرفوش

مع اتساع مشاركة السلاح من الجانبين في الانتفاضة السورية، وتكرار حديث المسؤولين السوريين عن المخاطر التي يشكلها التدخل الخارجي في هذه الأزمة على المنطقة بأسرها، إضافة إلى حديث «الحرب الأهلية» الذي يشغل الداخل السوري والخارج على حد سواء، أخذت الأزمة في سورية تسير على طريق «اللبننة»، وتحمل الكثير من المظاهر التي ميزت أزمة لبنان: انتشار للسلاح، واتهامات بتدخل الخارج في الأزمة، فضلاً عن الحرب الأهلية التي صارت عنوان حرب لبنان التي امتدت لأكثر من عقد ونصف من الزمن.

ومن غريب المفارقات أن المسؤولين في سورية، الذين خبروا أهوال «اللبننة»، وراقبوها عن قرب وعن بعد، وشاركوا في كل فصولها، في الحلحلة حيناً وفي التخطيط معظم الأحيان، هؤلاء المسؤولون هم الذين يتجاهلون اليوم البعد الداخلي الخطير للأزمة في بلدهم، ويلقون مسؤولية الانفجار الحاصل فيه على «حروب الآخرين» على أرضهم، على رغم درايتهم أن اختراع هذا التعبير اللبناني كان الهدف منه إلقاء مسؤولية الحرب على التدخلات الخارجية في الأزمة اللبنانية، والتي كان التدخل السوري على رأسها، لكن هذا الشعار كان يُبعد أيضاً وبطفولية ساذجة، مسؤولية ما يحصل عن كاهل اللبنانيين، على رغم أنهم كانوا هم المقاتلين والمقتولين الحقيقيين، في المجازر المتنقلة التي تميزت بها حرب لبنان.

إذ لم يكن لـ «حروب الآخرين» تلك أن تنتعش لولا الخلل الداخلي الأصيل في التركيبة اللبنانية الذي كان كالجرح المفتوح المؤهل للإصابة بكل أنواع الالتهابات. أضف إليه ظاهرة أخرى ميزت المقاربة اللبنانية لتلك الأزمة، وهي تميز اليوم المقاربة السورية أيضاً، وهي الزعم أن التعايش بين مختلف الطوائف هو على أحسن حال، وأن هذا التعايش من شأنه أن يحصّن البلد من مخاطر تلك الحرب الأهلية، على ما أكد الوزير وليد المعلم أكثر من مرة في مؤتمره الصحافي الأخير، معتمداً على «وعي السوريين» من أجل درء الفتنة عن بلدهم.

إنها عملية غش منظم لإخفاء عيوب المرض الداخلي. مع أن هذا الأسلوب، في السياسة كما في الطب، هو أقصر الطرق لتفاقم المرض وتكرار الإصابة. ففي معالجات أزمة خطيرة كالتي تشهدها سورية اليوم، يجب أن تحتل الأمنيات والعواطف مكاناً ثانياً وأن يكون الأساس هو التحليل المنطقي والسليم لحال المجتمع السوري. إذ لا يوجد عاقل أو محلل أو عارف لحقائق الوضع في سورية، سواء على مستوى قيادتها السياسية أو قيادتها العسكرية، إلا ويدرك حجم الخلل في التمثيل الطائفي وانعكاس ذلك على طبيعة العلاقات الداخلية بين المكونات الطائفية والمذهبية في هذا البلد. وإن لم يكن الأمر كذلك، فلماذا الحديث المتكرر عن «مخاوف الأقليات» في سورية وفي محيطها، إذا حصل تغيير سياسي في دمشق؟

لقد أكد الرئيس السوري في حديثه الأخير إلى «الصانداي تايمز» البريطانية قراءته المبدئية للأزمة السورية: إنها أزمة مفتعلة يشجعها التدخل الخارجي، العربي منه والغربي. ومهما كانت صحة تحليل الأسد لأهداف هذا التدخل التي يرى أنها تريد القضاء على قوة سورية وصلابة مواقفها، فان إخفاء حقيقة المشكلة الداخلية بين طوائف ومكونات المجتمع السوري، ليس من شأنها سوى مفاقمة هذه الأزمة وتدهورها إلى الحد الذي لا يعود ينفع معه سوى … التدخل الخارجي الذي يشكو منه النظام اليوم.

Ghufran
you should copy the whole article not only part of it http://alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today\21qpt998.htm&arc=data\2011\11\11-21\21qpt998.htm

Majed,
Your point is well- taken,but many of the articles I read are too long and have too many details. I do not read long posts and I would like to keep my posts concise and to the point,actually I rarely post the whole article unless it is relatively short or unusually interesting.

21. N.Z.

the Egyptian president is gone and it is getting worse, 35 people in 3 daya

No more CIA agents in Lebanon and Iran. Soon no more in Syria?

“In a significant failure for the United States in the Mideast, more than a dozen spies working for the CIA in Iran and Lebanon have been caught and the U.S. government fears they will be or have been executed, according to four current and former U.S. officials with connections to the intelligence community.

The spies were paid informants recruited by the CIA for two distinct espionage rings targeting Iran and the Beirut-based Hezbollah organization, considered by the U.S. to be a terror group backed by Iran.”

http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/cia-spies-caught-fear-execution-middle-east/story?id=14994428

Something the men and women who do Besho’s dirty work should worry about. Right now in Cambodia, a trial is taking place. The accused are three old men who were senior officials in the Khmer Rouge. They say they had no control over the events and policies which killed a million people. The prosecutor says, “Bullshit!”

I really hate to cut and paste because it’s such a lame Jaddie/Spammie Annie device, but I’ll make an exception here. The point is, turds like Besho can’t do bad things to people without help:

“…Pol Pot’s close confederates cannot solely blame their late leader for the atrocities that took place under Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime, a prosecutor at the country’s U.N.-backed genocide tribunal said Tuesday.

Prosecutor Andrew Cayley said that, like Pol Pot, the three aging former members of the regime now on trial exercised life-and-death authority over Cambodia while in power in 1975-79.

“The accused cannot credibly claim they did not know and had no control over the crimes that occurred” when the group ruled what they called Democratic Kampuchea, he said.

An estimated 1.7 million people died of execution, starvation, exhaustion or lack of medical care as a result of the Khmer Rouge’s radical policies…”

Does the SNC plan includes restoring Nationalized industries and confiscated lands to its rightful owners, paying compensation for so many years of use and lost income from February 22, 1958 until such date of restoration?

أعلنت جامعة كاليفورنيا في مدينة ديفيس الأميركية عن بدأ التحقيق حول فيديو أثار ضجة كبيرة بعد انتشاره على الإنترنت حيث يظهر قيام شرطي أميركي برش الطلاب برذاذ الفلفل أثناء تنفيذهم اعتصاماً بالجامعة في إطار حملة “احتلوا ديفيس”.
ونقلت وكالة (يو بي أي) عن رئيسة الجامعة ليندا كاتيهي في مؤتمر صحفي أن “الصور التي ظهرت في الفيديو (مرعبة)، مشيرة إلى أن استخدام رذاذ الفلفل مثير للقشعريرة ويطرح أسئلة كثيرة حول أفضل طريقة للتعامل مع أوضاع كهذه”.
ويظهر الفيديو عنصراً من شرطة مكافحة الشغب يلوّح بعبوة من رذاذ الفلفل ويطلق موجات من رذاذها على طلاب جالسين على الأرض، وذلك أثناء قيامها الجمعة بتفكيك مخيم لمعتصمين من حملة “احتلوا ديفيس” داخل حرم الجامعة بشمال كاليفورنيا.
وقام شرطي آخر بإطلاق رذاذ الفلفل من عبوة أخرى على الطلاب، قبل أن يقوم عناصر الشرطة باستخدام القوة لتفريق المعتصمين.
وأصيب تسعة من الطلاب الذين تمّ رشّهم برذاذ الفلفل وعولجوا في مكان الحادث، فيما نقل آخران إلى المستشفى وخرجا لاحقا.

Have you seen any body who was publically arrested or sent to court for brutality or illegal dention of a citizen in the Arab World? what happened to those promised investigations in Syria?

مشروع البروتوكول كاملاً.. وماذا جرى قبل مؤتمر المعلم
22/11/2011
دمشق- سيرياستيبس

أرسل أمين عام الجامعة العربية نبيل العربي رسالة إلى وزير الخارجية والمغتربين وليد المعلم، أشار فيها إلى انه أجرى اتصالات فور تسلمه رسالة المعلم المؤرخة في 17 تشرين الثاني مع رئاسة الدورة الحالية لمجلس الجامعة وجميع أعضاء اللجنة الوزارية المعنية بمتابعة الوضع في سورية وكذلك مع اغلب وزراء الخارجية العرب الآخرين للنظر في كيفية التعامل مع تلك التعديلات والإضافات المقترحة واستقر الرأي علي أن مجلس الجامعة طلب من الأمين العام بتاريخ 16نوفمبر وبالإجماع إجراء الاتصالات اللازمة مع الحكومة السورية للتوقيع علي البروتوكول المرفق بالقرار رقم (7439) .

وحددت مهمة الأمين العام بالرد علي الاستفسارات الواردة من الجانب السوري حول صياغة مشروع البروتوكول، وليس إجراء مفاوضات لإدخال تعديلات أو إضافات عليه كما أكد العربي في رسالته إلى المعلم على إن اغلب التعديلات المقترحة تتعارض مع جوهر وطبيعة المهام التي حددها مجلس الجامعة في قراره يوم 16 نوفمبر لبعثة مراقبي الجامعة والمتعلقة بتوفير الحماية للمدنيين السوريين والتحقق من تنفيذ بنود خطة العمل العربي .وأشار العربي انه ” ليس للأمانة العامة صلاحية الاستجابة للتعديلات الواردة” في كتاب المعلم إليه .

ودعا العربي في نهاية رسالته وزير الخارجية وليد المعلم إلى تفويض سورية لمن تراه للتوقيع علي هذا البروتوكول حتى يتسنى للجامعة التحرك لإيفاد بعثة المراقبين في أسرع وقت ممكن.

وكان وليد المعلم وزير الخارجية السوري قد أرسل رسالة إلى الجامعة العربية بتاريخ 17 نوفمبر حول رد سورية علي مشروع البروتوكول أشار فيها إلى أن دمشق بعد اطلاعها علي مشروع البروتوكول المرفق مستعدة للتوقيع بعد إدخال بعض التعديلات والإضافات مثل تعديل عنوان البروتوكول.

– المادة أولا :تقرأ كما يلي :تشكيل بعثة عربية من الخبراء المدنيين والعسكريين العرب من مرشحي الدول العربية لإيفادها الى سورية برئاسة ….. وتعرف باسم بعثة جامعة الدول العربية وتعمل في إطارها وهي مكلفة بالتحقق من تنفيذ بنود الخطة العربية لحل الازمة الراهنة في سورية علي إن يوافي الجانب السوري بقائمة تتضمن أسماء وصفات ومراتب وجنسيات أعضاء البعثة .

– المادة ثانيا :تقرأ كما يلي :تبدأ البعثة عملها فور توقيع سورية علي هذا البروتوكول وتباشر مهامها بوفد مكون من رئيس البعثة وعدد كاف من المراقبين مدعم بعدد مناسب من الموظفين والإداريين.

– يحدد رئيس البعثة بالتشاور مع الأمين العام وبالتنسيق مع سورية أعداد المراقبين وفقا لما يراه من احتياجات تتعلق بانجاز مهام البعثة في مراقبة تنفيذ الحكومة السورية لتعهداتها علي أكمل وجه وللامين العام الاستعانة بالخبرات الفنية والمراقبين من الدول العربية لتنفيذ المهام الموكلة للبعثة .

– الفقرة الفرعية (3) تقرأ كما يلي :التأكد من الإفراج عن دفعات من المعتقلين بسبب الأحداث الراهنة من غير المتورطين بجرائم القتل وأعمال التخريب.

-الفقرة الفرعية (4) تقرأ كما يلي :التأكد من سحب وإخلاء المظاهر العسكرية المسلحة من المدن والأماكن السكنية .

الفقرة الفرعية (7) تقرأ كما يلي :للبعثة حرية الحركة الكاملة وحرية ماتراه مناسبا من زيارات واتصالات ذات صلة بالمسائل المتعلقة بمهامها وأساليب عملها بالتنسيق مع الجانب السوري .

الفقرة الفرعية (2) تقرأ كما يلي :تأمين سبل الوصول وحرية التحرك الآمن بالتنسيق مع الجانب السوري لجميع أعضاء البعثة.

– الفقرة الفرعية (5) تقرأ كما يلي :ضمان عدم معاقبة أو الضغط علي أي شخص بأي شكل من الأشكال وأفراد أسرته لتواصله مع البعثة في المسائل المنوطة بمهامها.

– تقترح الحكومة السورية إضافة المادتين التاليتين:- مادة جديدة أولي :تحدد مدة هذا البروتوكول بشهرين اعتبارا من تاريخ توقيعه،قابلة للتمديد بموافقة الطرفين. مادة جديدة ثانية :لا تتحمل الحكومة السورية أية نفقات مالية عن قيام البعثة بأداء مهامها، كما شملت التعديلات شطب بعض المواد من البروتوكول.

وكانت الجامعة العربية قد وافقت في اجتماعها يوم 12 نوفمبر الجاري بمقر الأمانة العامة علي تعليق عضوية سورية.

وفيما يلي مشروع البروتوكول:

It seems that the Damascene businessmen are still supporting the regime:

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الدكتور العطار : كل من ترك البلد وعاش مترقبا ليس وفيا
22/11/2011

دمشق- سيرياستيبس:

في بداية الأحداث…حدد الدكتور عبد الرحمن العطار موقفه بالإعلان عن أنه ( ولعله كان يتحدث باسم كل تجار دمشق الشرفاء ) ضد المجهول الذي يحرض ويحمل السلاح…وأنه مع المعلوم – الذي هو الدولة والوطن –.

مرّة ثانية نلتقي العطار ..و مازال ثابتاً على موقفهِ, فمن لا يكون وفياً لوطنه – في هذه الظروف التي وصفها بأنها الأقسى التي تتعرض لها سورية. – ..لا يستحق العيش فيه بل إنه يرى أن كل رجل أعمال وكل تاجر و صناعي وثري اختار ترك البلاد والعيش في بلد آخر مع أسرته خلال هذه الظروف بأنه غير وفي وبأنهم يرتكبون خطأً جسيماً بهذا التصرف..

واصفاً المعارضة بالكرتونية – ومتسائلاً- كيف يمكن لأولئك أن يجلسوا في الصالونات – صالونات الدول التي تتآمر على وطنهم- ويتحدثوا عن الناس الذين يموتون في الشوارع فكيف يمكن أن يشعروا بهم…!؟

العطار وفي رده على سؤال ” لسيرياستيبس” قال : النظام لن يسقط وستخرج سورية أقوى, ولكن لابد من تحويل مؤسسات الدولة كلها إلى ورشة عمل حقيقية لتصحيح الأخطاء ووضع سياسات جديدة أكثر انعكاساً على الأرض خاصة لجهة تعيين المسؤولين, وهنا تساءل العطار ( متألماً) ..أين هو التمثيل الدمشقي في مختلف المؤسسات بدءاً من المؤسسة الحزبية إلى مجلس مدينة دمشق..إلى …

موضحاً أن هناك تقصير ما في العثور على الشخصيات الدمشقية العريقة والقادرة لتسليمها المهام بمختلف مستوياتهِا, وقد لا يبدو هذا الأمر في دمشق فحسب وإنما في مختلف المدن, إذا لا بد من البحث عن الشخصيات المؤثرة والفاعلة خاصة إذا كان موقعها هو لتمثيل الناس والمناطق ..

فهنا من المهم اختيار الأشخاص القادرين على امتلاك ( المونة ) على المناطق التي يمثلونها وفي الوقت نفسه قادرين على حمل هموم أناسها والتعبير عن مشاكلهم وقضاياهم.

العطار وأمام الظروف الراهنة التي تمر بها البلاد ومع الجزم بأن هناك مسلحين يقتلون الأبرياء فإنهُ يطالب بفرض حالة الطوارئ في البلاد وتشكيل مجلس استشاري يضم مختلف أطياف المجتمع السوري ومن الشخصيات المرموقة والخيرة للقيام بإدارة الأزمة

ولا مانع, يقول العطار: من أن تكون هذه اللجنة عوضاً عن القيادة القطرية والجبهة التي نلاحظ غيابها الواضح عن الأحداث بعد ثمانية أشهر من بدء الأزمة, ومتسائلاً أيضاً عن صوت للجان التي كلفت بالإصلاح إذ ألا يتوجب أن نضع الناس في صورة ما نفعله أول بأول فهذا أضعف الإيمان.

العطار قال : أن العقوبات التي يصدرها الاتحاد الأوروبي بين الحين والآخر إنما هي تقوم على تصفية حسابات, لافتاً إلى الدور الداخلي من قبل ناس معنيين في وضع قوائمها.

وعن الحكومة قال: أعتقد أنه من المفيد تقييم عملها بعد ثمانية أشهر وناصحاً بإحداث تغيير أو على الأقل تعديل سريع باتجاه تأمين حكومة قادرة على إدارة الأزمة بشكل أكثر قدرة على التعامل مع الأحداث, وقال: ” كل الحكومات تحاسب بعد 100 يوم, وهذه الوزارة لم تسأل بعد “.

العطار وفي رده على سؤال قال: أنا ابن هذا الوطن وأعتقد أنها أكثر فترة يجب أن أتمسك بها بوطني وبعملي ( وكل واحد فيه شرف لازم يقعد بالبلد) حسب وصفهِ..

وقال: لقد تأثرت الكثير من الوضع الحالي ولم أشعر ولو لدقيقة أن عليّ أن أغادر وطني أو أن أُسرح أيّاً من الموظفين لدي, لقد ذهبت إلى حمص واطلعت على الأوضاع الصعبة هناك وكان خياري أن أعمل أكثر مع المنظمة الإنسانية التي أديرها (في إشارة إلى الهلال الأحمر العربي السوري) وأن نبذل جميعاً المزيد من الجهود لمساعدة الناس المحتاجين..

مؤكداً في هذا السياق – في شهادة أخذها أيضاً أعطاء اللجنة الدولية للصليب الأحمر الدولي الذين زاروا سورية مؤخراً – بأن المشافي في حمص تقدم المساعدة للجميع, مشيراً هنا أن الأسلوب المتبع هو معالجة الجرحى والمصابين من أي فئة كانوا ومن خالف القانون يطبق عليه القانون طالما هناك قانون يطبق..نافياً بشدة التصرف بطريقة سيئة مع المصابين من المتظاهرين أو من الذين حملوا السلاح.

العطار لاحظ أن هناك خوف من الانتقال بين المناطق وبناءً عليه وجه بتشكيل شعبة للهلال الأحمر في المناطق الفقيرة التي يخاف سكانها و المتطوعين فيها من العمل في المناطق الأخرى من المدينة ..

بقي ان نقول أن الدكتور العطار يستعد لإطلاق مشروع عقاري موجه لذوي الدخل المحدود والطبقة المتوسطة الحال…

ومنذ أكثر من ثلاثة أشهر وهو ينتظر الموافقة على مشروعه إلا أن الأمر لم يحدث والجواب الذي يأتيه أن الاجتماع لمناقشة المشاريع الاستثمارية لم يحصل بعد لأن الوزيرة لم يتسنى لها الوقت للحضور حتى الآن وسننشر لكم لاحقاً المشروع الذي يود الدكتور العطار إقامته..

http://www.syriasteps.com/?d=131&id=78306&in_main_page=1

How come the makeup dude didn’t link this news from his news agency headquarter of the beessss: the ‘peaceful’ MBeesss are unhappy with the ‘criminal’ Ghalyoun for not supporting their ‘angle’s’ work..

مصادر موثوقة لـ سوريون نت : برهان غليون ووفد هيئة التنسيق يطلبون من لندن الضغط على تركيا لوقف عمليات الجيش السوري الحر
2011/11/21
كشفت مصادر وثيقة الصلة لـ سوريون نت عن طلب رئيس المجلس الوطني السوري برهان غليون من وزير الخارجية البريطاني وليام هيغ الضغط على الأتراك من أجل وقف عمليات الجيش السوري الحر، وقالت المصادر إن الوفد المعارض السوري الذي التقى اليوم الوزير البريطاني ضم وفد عن هيئة التنسيق الوطني برئاسة هيثم مناع، ورامي عبد الرحمن مدير المرصد السوري ..
وعلم سوريون نت أن برهان غليون قام بهذه الخطوة دون أن يستشير شركائه في المجلس الوطني، وهو ما أزعج الكثيرين ، وأفيد أن الوزير البريطاني قال للمجتمعين معه إننا لم نبحث حتى الآن الخيار العسكري مما يعني سياسيا أنه لا يزال خيارا مطروحا..
وحذرت مصادر الثوار لسوريون نت من أن ينقلب الشارع السوري على المجلس الوطني وتحديدا برهان غليون سيما ونحن نشهد ما يجري في مصر وعودة الشعب إلى ساحة التحرير ..

“It Will Not Be Syria, It Will Be Libya”: 20,000 marchers in Tahrir Square

November 21, 2011

“This is the breaking point we were all waiting for. Getting rid of Mubarak was just the warm-up. This is the real showdown.”

http://www.care2.com/causes/20000-in-tahrir-square.html

In a challenge to the ruling military council, Egypt’s interim cabinet has offered to resign. 20,000 people have occupied Tahrir Square since the weekend and many have clashed with security forces in some of the worse violence since the uprising earlier this year that overthrew Hosni Mubarak. At least 33 people have been killed and over 1,500 injured so far. Thousands are reportedly chanting “The people want the end of the field marshal,” a reference to Field Marshal Mohamed Hussein Tantawi, the leader of the military council, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF). They are also chanting “it will not be Syria, it will be Libya.”

The Revolutionary Youth Movement has called for a “million man march” on Tuesday in Cairo and across the country; other groups have joined in their call.

The military has claimed that the government forces have been protecting state buildings and not clashing with protesters; videos showing police brutality suggest otherwise. Among those detained on Sunday was Bothaina Kamal, Egypt’s only female presidential candidate, who has reportedly told Canada’s Globe and Mail that she was sexually assaulted when she was arrested.

Will November 28th Elections Still Happen?

Egypt’s parliamentary elections are scheduled for November 28, but these, as well as hopes of a peaceful transition to democracy, have now been cast into question. Political leaders are voicing doubts about the elections actually occurring on Monday, but all parties have still called for the elections to be held. It is not clear if the SCAF will accept the resignations of Prime Minister Essam Sharaf and his cabinet. While Sharaf was widely hailed by protesters after his appointment earlier this year, he has since been harshly criticized for “weakness in the face of the SCAF.”

On Monday, the ruling generals issued a law according to which anyone accused of corruption will be unable to run for political office, an apparent concession to protesters concerned that former supporters of Mubarak could seek to regain power. But protesters dismissed the law; activist Mohamed Fahmy said that “the council is out of step with the people.” Protesters have called for presidential elections to be held by April 2012, as well as for a complete reconfiguration of the interior ministry.

The Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties met on Monday after which the Brotherhood issued a “collective apology” for not joining the protesters’ calls for the SCAF to loosen its hold on power earlier. But the Brotherhood, which is the best organized of Egypt’s political organizations and stands to win a majority in the upcoming elections, also said that it would not participate in the “million man march.”

With thousands streaming into Tahrir Square, and ambulances entering to tend to the injured, Al Jazeera’s Sherine Tadros says that “The resolve of people is pretty amazing, they keep showing up… everyone seems to feel this is very much a battle between them and the police.” Older women are reportedly cooking in the street to feed protesters spending the night in the cold square.

Tarek Salama, a surgeon working in the field hospital where people are being treated for wounds from rubber bullets, birdshot and live ammunition, and from the effects of tear gas, said:

“This is the breaking point we were all waiting for. Getting rid of Mubarak was just the warm-up. This is the real showdown.”

*** OOPS! ***

“”The Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties met on Monday after which the Brotherhood issued a “collective apology” for not joining the protesters’ calls for the SCAF to loosen its hold on power earlier. But the Brotherhood, which is the best organized of Egypt’s political organizations and stands to win a majority in the upcoming elections, also said that it would not participate in the “million man march.”””

America’s Media War on Syria – November 21st, 2011

by Stephen Lendman

Replicating Libya’s model, Western generated uprisings began in March. Since then, Syria’s been ravaged by violence. Hundreds have been killed, many more injured.

Civilians and state security forces have been affected. Conflict rages daily. Casualties mount. Regime change is planned to establish another US client state.

At issue Washington’s New Middle East agenda. One country at a time is ravaged toward achieving America’s goal of unchallenged regional dominance to Russia’s borders.

Constructive chaos aims to redraw regional lines according to US/Israeli/NATO geopolitical goals. All of it’s been carefully planned, shifting from one target to the next.

Post-9/11, first Afghanistan in 2001, then Iraq, Libya, and now Syria.

Previous articles mentioned General Wesley Clark’s book titled, “Winning Modern Wars.” In it he said Pentagon sources told him shortly after 9/11 that war plans were being prepared against Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Iran, Somalia, Sudan and Libya. Months earlier, they were finalized against Afghanistan.

Clark added:

“And what about the real sources of terrorists – US allies in the region like Egypt, Pakistan, and Saudi Arabia? Wasn’t it repressive policies of the first, and the corruption and poverty of the second, that were generating many of the angry young men who became terrorists? And what of the radical ideology and direct funding spewing from Saudi Arabia?”

“It seemed that we were being taken into a strategy more likely to make us the enemy – encouraging what could look like a ‘clash of civilizations’ – not a good strategy for winning the war on terror.”

Broadcast on FORA TV on October 3, 2007, Clark said America underwent a “policy coup” post-9/11. Hard-liners co-opted power with no public debate or acknowledgement.

Ten days after 9/11, he visited Defense Secretary Rumsfeld at the Pentagon. “No one will tell us where or when to bomb”, he said. Military commanders explained Iraq would be attacked.

“I walked out of there pretty upset,” said Clark. On a second visit, he was told plans were to “destroy the governments in” the above named countries.

In addition, Pakistan and others are targeted. US Special Forces death squads operate covertly in over 120 countries. So do CIA, Mossad and MI6 operatives. No one anywhere is safe, including US citizens at home or abroad. Everyone is fair game extrajudicially. So are independent nonbelligerent nations.

America’s media cheerlead supportively. Imperial goals alone matter, not truth, full disclosure, democratic values or rule of law issues.

Repeatedly Iran’s been pilloried. Now it’s Syria’s turn. Whatever Washington says is red meat to jump on. Recent New York Times and Washington Post editorials are typical.

On November 16, a New York Times editorial headlined, “The Killing in Syria Goes On,” saying:

“The brutal crackdown on pro-democracy protesters by President Bashar al-Assad of Syria has left more than 3,500 people dead. International pressure for his removal is finally building – but not fast enough.”

Fact check

As explained above, Libya’s model is being replicated. Assad didn’t instigate violence. He responded to externally generated insurgents, largely made up of Al Qaeda elements.

Like Libya’s rebel rats, they were recruited, armed and trained. Covert Special Forces and intelligence operatives perhaps lead them. At issue is making Syria another US client state, and eliminating another Israeli rival for regional dominance.

Turkey, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Lebanon’s Hariri March 8 alliance, and Israel are involved. Heavy weapons were brought in, including shoulder-borne rockets, anti-tank weapons, machine guns, and others.

Nothing about what’s ongoing is homegrown. Despite legitimate social, economic and political grievances, most Syrians back Assad. Mass rallies show it.

Usually when disruptive forces target sitting governments, people rally supportively behind it. Libyans did it for Gaddafi and still do. Syrians have done it repeatedly despite the regime’s authoritarian nature.

“The Arab League….finally (acted). On Saturday, it gave Damascus until Wednesday to end the violence or have its membership suspended. The killing has worsened.” Giving Assad a three-day reprieve, League members “offer(ed) to send monitors to determine if the government was abiding by a league-brokered peace plan to end the crackdown.”

“He isn’t. Another three days of enabling will only ensure that more Syrians will die. The League needs (to) suspend Syria (and) impose muscular penalties for Assad’s brutality.”

Fact check

League members include mostly pro-Western despots. Supporting imperial lawlessness, they condoned (and for some participated in) Libya’s ravaging, including massacres too great to ignore.

They’re silent on NATO’s plan to colonize, occupy and plunder another Arab State, as well as ongoing atrocities in Bahrain, Yemen, Somalia, Palestine, elsewhere in the region, and internally against their own people.

Since March, they supported Western-backed anti-Syrian insurgents. Regional instability followed. Regime change is planned, including perhaps war and occupation.

Washington wants conflict, not peace. Syria was peaceful until America and regional allies intervened. Arab League figures broker nothing. They do what they’re told and obey.

Rogue League regimes govern oppressively. Despite being authoritarian, Syria’s the only remaining independent, anti-imperial, secular Arab state. Washington wants it replaced by pro-Western extremist elements, similar to Libya’s model.

“….Russia and China have blocked the United Nations Security Council from imposing sanctions or even issuing a full-throated condemnation of Mr. Assad’s bloody reign….The Council should refer Mr. Assad and his henchmen to the International Criminal Court for prosecution for crimes against humanity.”

Fact check

Russia and China want no repeat of UN Resolution 1973. Imposing a no-fly zone, in fact, declared war. Wisely, they’ll block resolutions threatening it.

Established by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court on July 1, 2002, it’s mandated to prosecute individuals for genocide and aggression, as well as crimes of war and against humanity.

Instead, it functions solely as an imperial tool, targeting Western-designated states. At the same time, it ignores US, NATO and Israeli crimes of war and humanity. As a result, they act with impunity because no international body, court, or world leader alliance holds them accountable.

Chief prosecutor Jose Luis Moreno-Ocampo follows Washington’s orders. At its behest, Gaddafi, his son Saif al-Islam, and brother-in-law/intelligence chief, Abdullah Al-Sanousi unfairly faced “charges of orchestrating systematic attacks against civilians (amounting to) crimes against humanity.”

Expect Abbas and close associates to be charged, not Western leaders behind Syria’s insurgency. Like Libya, violence didn’t erupt until Washington and imperial partners showed up lawlessly. Planned months ahead, it now rages out of control.

In his newest book, Michael Parenti defined “The Face of Imperialism” as:

“the process whereby the dominant investor interests in one country bring to bear military and financial power upon another in order to expropriate the land, labor, capital, natural resources, commerce, and markets of that other country.”

“There are real material interests at stake, fortunes to be made many times over. (Intervening) enrich(es) investors and keep(s) the world safe for them.”

Moreover, whether democrats or despots, blaming victims facilitates the process. Humanitarian intervention claimed for intervening is cover for imperial designs. Ravaging the world one country at a time, step one is making them charnel houses.

Ravaged Libya will take years to rebuild. Its human toll alone is one of history’s great crimes. Is Syria next, then other countries on NATO’s target list?

“Mr Assad has left no doubt that he is willing to destroy his country to maintain his hold on power. His neighbors and all civilized countries need to stand with the Syrian people, before it’s too late.”

Fact check

Full and accurate information and analysis isn’t what media scoundrels do. A previous article said they make pimps, prostitutes and dope peddlers look good by comparison.

The Washington Post: Matching New York Times Duplicity Blow-for-Blow

An October 15 editorial headlined, “Syria’s Assad regime is a threat to the US,” saying:

“The CARNAGE in Syria grinds on.” Killings occur daily. Assad’s “crimes….are not confined to its own soil.” In mid-October, “the FBI arrested a Leesburgh man who has been charged with conspiring to collect information on people protesting against the Syrian government in Washington and elsewhere in the United States for delivery to the regime’s intelligence services.”

Fact check

Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid, a naturalized US citizen, was charged. Accusing him of criminal activity is very suspect. Even if he gathered information, doing so isn’t criminal.

His case perhaps is similar to the Cuban Five, victims of US state terrorism. In September 1998, they were arrested on spurious charges, including conspiracy to commit espionage, conspiracy to commit murder, and other charges.

They, in fact, were legally monitoring Miami-based, US funded, extremist right-wing terror groups, planning violence against Cuba. For decades, thousands of incidents occurred, including use of chemical and biological weapons.

Back home, the Five are national heros. In America, they’re imprisoned unjustly. Whether Soueid, in fact, engaged in similar activities isn’t known. Nonetheless, with full WP support, he’ll be hung out to dry lawlessly.

Charges against him “show that the Assad regime poses a threat not only to people in Syria but to those in the United States and other countries who support freedom.”

Fact check

Assad, of course, threatens no one. Neither did Gaddafi. Freedom is anathema to America. Democracy isn’t tolerated at home or abroad.

On November 2, a WP editorial headlined, “Can the Arab League and Turkey stop the slaughter in Syria?” saying:

“(T)he besieged people of Syria must look for relief from their neighbors. (Perhaps) Ankara and the Arabs will turn up the pressure on Mr. Assad.”

“The next question….is what the Arab League will do when the killing continues. Suspending Syria’s membership is one obvious step.”

No matter that doing so violates its constitutional provisions, requiring a unanimous vote. Lebanon, Yemen and Syria voted “no.” Iraq abstained.

“The Arabs could also endorse international efforts to protect the Syrian population, as they did in the case of Libya.”

Fact check

Protection Washington-style means mass killing and destruction. Apparently WP supports it. Why not? It backed NATO’s ravaging of Libya wholeheartedly, as well as Iraq, Afghanistan and other US imperial wars.

On November 11, a WP editorial headlined, “Syria’s continuing slaughter pushes the US to act,” saying:

“What can be done to stop the slaughter?”

“The United States and its allies, no less than the Arab League, have yet to formulate a convincing answer. But we are encouraged by….Assistant Secretary of State Jeffrey D. Feltman….correctly describing ‘the mafia-like Assad clique that has hijacked the Syrian state.’ ”

He also referred to Assad’s “deliberate and bloody strategy.”

Feltman “laid out a US policy aimed at protecting Syrian civilians, removing Mr. Assad from power and promoting a transition to democracy.”

Fact check

WP editors are “encouraged” that America plans regime change, no matter the body count to achieve it. Instead of demanding Washington call off its dogs, they support ravaging another independent nonbelligerent state. It was peaceful until US-backed insurgents showed up.

Now plagued by imported violence, WP editors urge Obama officials “to undertake stronger measures” if current ones fall short.

Sadly, this is what passes for journalism and opinion in America. The Times and Post are America’s most prominent broadsheets. Their views influence others.

Very possibly, more war and carnage is planned. Both papers and other US media sources back it.

Destabilisation of the entire Arab world. Moscow Decries US-NATO’s Global Provocation in Syria

November 22, 2011

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=27810

Situation in Syria can lead to destabilisation in Arab world – Lavrov

MOSCOW: The situation in Syria can lead to destabilisation of the situation in other Arab countries, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said.

After the talks with his Kazakhstani counterpart Yerzhan Kazykhanov on Monday, Lavrov said, “Tension continues to heighten in the region. The public stirs up in Egypt. Disorders have begun in Bahrain. Attacks on government buildings have been made in Kuwait.”

“I don’t rule out that these processes are conditioned by the atmosphere that is being created in Syria when certain foreign players call on the Syrian opposition not to start dialogue with the authorities,” the minister said. At the same time, he noted, “Foreign countries’ policy towards Syria gives in to the temptation by neighbouring states in order to use the situation for their benefit and stir up tension in their states.”

Lavrov said he is hopeful that the countries of the Organisation of the Islamic Conference “will take a responsible approach while other states will also act in a very responsible way, in compliance with the norms of international law under which the peoples themselves should decide on their fate”.

Lavrov said the West’s and the Middle East’s calls for overthrowing the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad looked like a global provocation.

“Western colleagues want the U.N. Security Council to hold discussions on the protection of civilians in Syria. Our position is that Russia backed the LAS initiative, which envisages ceasing violence whatsoever it came from and deploying observers of Arab countries, and to intensify the dialogue between Syrians themselves on ways towards democratic reforms,” Lavrov said.

In his view, in order to stop violence it is necessary to convince Syrian authorities and armed groups, who are trying to use peaceful protests to instigate violence, to give up disproportionate use of force. “A certain Liberation Army has emerged in Syria. It created a military interim council, which proclaimed itself the supreme military power and set the task of overthrowing the regime in Syria. Certain Western capitals believe that military actions by Syrian detectors prove the democratic aspirations of the people,” he said.

“If democracy is interpreted as grenade-launcher attacks on the buildings of the Baath Party and on administrative facilities, Moscow cannot agree with this.

“Both the authorities and armed groups, who penetrated into the Syrian opposition, should be pressured to cease violence,” Lavrov said on Monday.

“Till now we’ve watched, when the LAS called for ceasing violence and starting a dialogue, Western capitals and certain countries of the Middle East region back calls for advising the opposition to avoid such dialogue,” the Russian minister said. “This looks like a global provocation,” Lavrov stressed.

“If everyone wants to give Syrians an opportunity to exercise their right to decide their fate themselves, it is necessary to take a fair and responsible approach,” the minister stressed.

Commenting on the request to ensure the security of peaceful civilians, Lavrov noted, “Everyone remembers the events that preceded the Libyan tragedy. It’s this slogan that had been used by those who grossly violated the U.N. Security Council resolutions by delivering missile strikes instead of protecting peaceful civilians,” he said, adding, “So, the most important right – the right to life – was infringed upon.”

“One must not admit abuse of and outrage upon international law,” Lavrov said.

Russia believes that the League of Arab States initiative on the settlement in Syria should be concretised, Lavrov said.

Lavrov said Russia wanted LAS observers and foreign mass media to work in Syria. “We uphold an idea of involving unbiased observers in the settlement. We also want mass media to get open access to Syria,” the Russian minister said. “The idea of sending LAS observers to Syria is not new. The LAS put forth this initiative on November 2. We actively supported this idea,” he stressed.

“We can note many contradictory facts about the events in the country. The presence of observers, like as of journalists, would help clarify the situation,” Lavrov pointed out.

He also said, “Several days ago the Syrian government agreed to accept LAS observers and allow them access to any area of the country.”

Russia urges Syrian authorities and the opposition to start talks as soon as possible, Lavrov said. The talks are expected to take place at the LAS headquarters in Cairo, the minister said. “We believe it necessary to send LAS observers to Syria in order to keep a close watch on the fulfilment of obligations by all parties,” he stressed.

“We think that it is necessary to start talks on the peaceful settlement in Syria by all parties. It is important to organise such talks at the LAS headquarters in Cairo,” Lavrov pointed out.

“This is not our fantasy. These are components that the LAS initiative contains. But we believe that they should be concretised,” the minister said.

The events in Syria resemble a real civil war, he added. “The LAS initiative of November 2 [we supported this initiative] contains several components. The first point is that it is necessary to stop violence wheresoever it comes from. It is important because violence in Syria comes not only from government structures,” the minister said.

“Today I’ve watched television commentaries saying a new force – the Liberated Syrian Army – organised attacks on government buildings, i.e. buildings owned by the Syrian Armed Forces. This resembles a real civil war,” Lavrov noted.

“The LAS position on the need to cease violence wherever it came from requires details and concrete facts. In order to realise the Arab initiative we call on all interested parties to demand the Syrian authorities and the opposition stop violence. This should be done on behalf of the LAS and on behalf of the countries where the opposition works,” Lavrov stressed.

برنار هنري ليفي يعلن الحرب على الأسد
عثمان تزغارت

باريس | في زاويته الأسبوعية بمجلة «لوبوان»، كتب «الفيلسوف» الفرنسي برنار هنري ليفي مقالة بعنوان «نهاية اللعبة في سوريا»، كشف خلالها تفاصيل مثيرة عن لقاءاته ومفاوضاته مع العديد من رموز المعارضة السورية في الخارج، وختمها بما يشبه إعلان حرب رسمي على الرئيس بشار الأسد.
ليفي، الذي فاخر في كتابه الأخير بقوة تأثيره على الرئيس الفرنسي نيكولا ساركوزي، واعترف بأن ساركوزي تواطأ معه في مؤامرة سرية لتهميش وزارة الخارجية الفرنسية، حتى لا تعرقل بمساعيها الدبلوماسية حرب حلف الأطلسي في ليبيا. وكشف، في المقالة، جوانب مثيرة من المساعي الخفية التي قام بها، خلال الأشهر الماضية، لاستمالة المعارضين السوريين لتأييد ما يسميه «نظرية القذافي»، معتبراً أن سابقة تدخل الأطلسي لإطاحة الدكتاتور الليبي ستصبح «قاعدة قانونية» في تاريخ القرن الواحد والعشرين، لسن نظرية جديدة للتخلص من الأنظمة الاستبدادية التي تطلق النار على شعوبها.
ويجزم ليفي بأن النظام السوري سيُطاح وفق «السيناريو الليبي» ذاته، قائلاً إنه في ما يتعلق بسوريا «لم يبق سوى المشهد النهائي، الذي لم تكتمل كتابته بعد». هكذا، يكشف الفيلسوف الصهيوني صديق نتنياهو أن معركة الكواليس بدأت قبل ستة أشهر، بلقاء أوّلي في لندن جمعه بنائب الرئيس السوري الأسبق رفعت الأسد. ما يفسر الظهور المفاجئ لهذا الأخير في باريس، الأسبوع الماضي، للمطالبة بتنحي «عائلة الأسد» التي يتحدّر منها، وإطلاق نداء إلى الشعب السوري من أجل رفع السلاح ضد النظام.
ويكشف ليفي أيضاً جوانب مما دار خلال لقاءات أخرى بينه وبين معارضين وضباط منشقين سوريين (دون أن يذكر أيّاً منهم بالاسم)، ممن يقول إنهم يؤيدون «التدخل الدولي». ومن جهة أخرى، يؤكد ليفي أن المبادرات الأخيرة للجامعة العربية بخصوص سوريا تقف وراءها «قوة إقليمية وليدة اسمها قطر»، وأنها تندرج ضمن خطة مستوحاة من «السابقة الليبية»، ما يعني أن مساعي الجامعة العربية بخصوص سوريا لا تهدف سوى لمنح شرعية عربية للتدخل الأجنبي، مثلما حدث في ليبيا. ويضيف: «مثل ليبيا؟ نعم، مثل ليبيا. إنها «السابقة الليبية» تتكرّر. القوة نفسها، بل القوى نفسها، ستفرز المفعول ذاته. كيف لا يدرك ذلك المعنيون بالأمر؟ أي «توحّد» يمنع بشار الأسد من أن يفهم أن التحالف ذاته الذي أطاح القذافي هو الآن بصدد التشكل مجدداً من أجل إطاحته هو».
أما المعلومة الأكثر إثارة في ما كشفته مقالة ليفي عن خفايا مفاوضاته مع المعارضين السوريين، فتتعلق بتحوّل مواقف غالبيتهم ـ كما يقول ـ نحو تأييد «التدخل الدولي». ويضيف: «لقد كان ذلك «تابو» حتى الآن. «التدخل» كان كلمة لا يمكن التلفظ بها. وكان هناك، حتى في فرنسا، معارضون (سوريون)، ممن التقيتهم أثناء الإعداد لتجمع تضامني مع المدنيين السوريين، قبل الصيف الماضي، قالوا لي آنذاك بأنهم يفضلون الموت على أن ينطقوا بكلمة «تدخل» أو «تدخل دولي». وهذا ما يفسر لماذا لم نقم في سوريا بمثل ما قمنا به في ليبيا. ليس ذلك من قبيل الكيل بمكيالين، بل كانت لهذه الفضيحة الأخلاقية (!!!) أسباب ومبررات عديدة، أولها أن (المعارضين) السوريين، بخلاف الليبيين، لم يكونوا يطالبون بالتدخل، بل كانوا في أحيان كثيرة يرفضون ذلك. وها قد بدأت مواقف هؤلاء تتغير. وهذا هو السبب الأخير الذي يجعل نظام دمشق محكوماً عليه بالانهيار. إن الحرب الآن قد أُعلنت ضد الأسد».
وتجدر الإشارة إلى أن الجملة المشار إليها، بخصوص تفضيل الموت على النُطق بكلمة «التدخل الأجنبي» كانت قد نُسبت خلال الصيف الماضي إلى الدكتور برهان غليون، وفق ما تم تداوله في أوساط المعارضة السورية في باريس. بالتالي يُفهم من كلام ليفي أن الدكتور غليون أصبح من مؤيدي «التدخل الأجنبي» في سوريا!

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/26232

CUT & PASTE
Dale @ 35

I really hate to cut and paste because it’s such a lame Jaddie/Spammie Annie device, but I’ll make an exception here. The point is, turds like Besho can’t do bad things to people without help:

And all you managed was 5 to 6 lines of copy and paste….

Dude, it is an art. It is the art of robbing those sites one likes from every click and add-view. Here is how it goes, You search the web for words like imperialism + Syria. You find yourself an article you like on a page full of adds, written by some mildly known fella who is supplementing his/her income from add-views and clicks, you decide that you like the author so much, so instead of helping the poor sap make few more dollars from clicks and add-views, you rob them by cutting the entire piece and pasting it on someone else’s blog. No value added, nothing other than a catch phrase title showing lack of depth most of the time ending with hehehe or hahaha. It is an art dude, stick to wine making, or was it someone else? and leave complex robbery to the artists.

Now if you are a fan of Putin, and of the failing Russian Empire, like some of the new faces around here, you may run the article through google, and then cut&paste the translation without any efforts at making sure that it is readable, thus making both yourself and the author look deranged. Now that is another art. And it deserves, probably not even the lines above I wasted on it.

So you see Dale, you are no cupatse (new verb i just conned)artist, the good thing is that you know that and you usually leave the devices to the real artists. Wise man indeed.

No wonder the American are going crazy:

الاستخبارات الأميركية تهرب من بيروت

آخر فصول الحرب السريّة الدائرة بين الاستخبارات الأميركية وجهاز أمن المقاومة كشفته الصحافة الأميركية أمس، وإن بشكل جزئي. شبه اعتراف رسمي أميركي باختراق أمني كبير حقّقه حزب الله وسوريا وإيران أدى إلى إغلاق «محطة» بيروت التابعة لـ «سي آي إي» بعد كشف عدد من مخبريها

ابراهيم الأمين
إثر إعلان الأمين العام لحزب الله، السيد حسن نصر الله، في حزيران الماضي، اكتشاف جهاز أمن المقاومة عملاء لإسرائيل وللاستخبارات الأميركية في صفوفه، بادرت السفارة الأميركية في بيروت إلى نفي الأمر، ووضعه في خانة الادعاءات، وهو الأمر الذي واكبته قيادات من فريق 14 آذار بالقول إن حزب الله يحاول أن يرمي بالمسؤولية على الجانب الأميركي. وأبلغ أكثر من مسؤول من هذا الفريق، أو من قوى أمنية رسمية، سائليهم، بأن «ادعاء حزب الله» لا أساس له من الصحة.

طبعاً، لم يكن أحد ينتظر الجانب الأميركي ليعلن أي موقف تفصيلي غير النفي الرسمي الذي صدر عن السفارة في بيروت، باعتبار أن السيد نصر الله أشار إلى أن الذين عملوا على تجنيد عناصر من الحزب هم من موظفي السفارة. لكن حقيقة الأمر، كما يرويها إعلاميون أميركيون، أنه لا أحد في الولايات المتحدة تعامل مع الأمر بجدية؛ فهم من جهة عدّوا كلام نصر الله نوعاً من الاتهامات التقليدية، وفهموا من مراجعات لبعضهم مع مسؤولين أميركيين، وخصوصاً من جهات الاستخبارات، أن ليس هناك من يدعو إلى متابعة كلام نصر الله.
لكن الذي كان يجري في هذه الاثناء تجاوز كل ما نشر، بما في ذلك ما نشر في الصحافة الأميركية أمس، وفيه «ما يشبه الاعتراف الرسمي» بوجود هذه الحقيقة؛ إذ تبين أن الاستخبارات الأميركية تواجه أزمة كبيرة منذ الربيع الماضي، عندما تبيّن لها أن بعض من جُنِّدوا لمصلحتها قد أُوقع بهم، ليس في لبنان فقط، بل في سوريا وفي إيران. ومع أن نظام العمل لا يربط بين هذه المجموعة أو تلك، إلا أن الغاية المعلوماتية والتنفيذية لعمل هذه المجموعات متصل بعضها ببعض، وتنطلق من عمل مشترك مع أجهزة الاستخبارات الإسرائيلية في مواجهة «عمليات التسلح المتعاظمة لقوى المقاومة في لبنان وفلسطين، ودور إيران وسوريا في هذه العملية»، على ما قال مصدر متابع لـ«الأخبار»، أوضح أن ردود الفعل التي صدرت أمس على ما نشر في الصحافة الأميركية أظهرت أن الأمر ربما تجاوز ما كُشف عنه.
وبحسب مصادر متابعة، فإن الشغل الأساسي للاستخبارات الأميركية استهدف في تلك الفترة الآتي:
ــــ المباشرة بإجراءات حماية مكثّفة لكل من جُنِّد في العمل الأمني، إما من خلال تهريبه إلى خارج لبنان وسوريا وإيران، أو من خلال اتخاذ احتياطات إضافية لمنع انكشافه.
ــــ المباشرة بإعفاء ضباط من الاستخبارات الأميركية من العاملين في هذه القضية من مهماتهم، وسحبهم إلى الولايات المتحدة أو نقلهم إلى ساحات أكثر أمناً.
ــــ تأليف خلية تحقيق هدفها التدقيق في الأسباب المحتملة وراء الخرق الذي أتاح لجهاز أمن المقاومة في لبنان، وللاستخبارات السورية والإيرانية، كشف هذه المجموعات. وتركز عمل هذه الخلية على درس ملف الاتصالات الهاتفية والإلكترونية للعملاء وللضباط الذين يتواصلون معهم، إضافة إلى كل ملف التواصل المباشر لناحية الأمكنة والسيارات والأشخاص الذين يعرفون بالأمر.
ــــ العمل على مراجعة المواد التي حصلوا عليها من خلال هذه الشبكات ومحاولة التثبت منها أو السعي إلى التدقيق في ما إذا كان هناك عملاء مزدوجون قد عملوا في هذه القضية، وسعياً إلى تحديد زمن حصول الانكشاف لتحديد المعلومات الحقيقية من تلك التي يمكن أن تكون قد وصلت إلى الاستخبارات الأميركية على سبيل التضليل.
وفي تموز الماضي، نشرت «الأخبار» تقريراً عن الحرب الأمنية الدائرة بين الاستخبارات الأميركية والإسرائيلية وبين أجهزة الأمن في لبنان وسوريا وإيران. يومها، «كشف النقاب عنه في طهران ودمشق وبيروت بين شهري نيسان وأيار الماضيين. البداية كانت في سوريا، حيث كشفت خلية من 25 شخصاً عملاء لحلف الأطلسي، اعتُقل 17 منهم، فيما فر واحد إلى دبي وثلاثة إلى لبنان عادوا والتحقوا به، بعد تهريبهم إلى الإمارات بواسطة طرف لبناني. وأعلنت وزارة الأمن الإيرانية، في 20 أيار الماضي، اعتقال شبكة تجسس إيرانية لمصلحة وكالة الاستخبارات المركزية الأميركية تضم 30 إيرانياً، وذلك بعد إجراءات أمنية واسعة النطاق قام بها رجال الأمن داخل إيران وأخرى بالتعاون مع الجهات المعنية في سوريا ولبنان، حيث كُشف عن 42 من الضباط الأمنيين التابعين لوكالة الاستخبارات في دول مختلفة».
ومع هرب الملاحقين السوريين الثلاثة إلى لبنان، طلبت الاستخبارات السورية من نظيرتها اللبنانية، وتلك الخاصة بحزب الله، المساعدة في اعتقالهم. وتضيف أن طلباً كهذا استنفر أجهزة مكافحة التجسس في لبنان. وربما كان هذا الاستنفار قد أدى دوراً في القبض على شبكة العملاء التي أعلنها حزب الله. وتؤكد هذه المصادر أن «هذه العمليات كشفت عن انتقال مركز العمل الرئيسي للأميركيين في المنطقة من السعودية ولبنان إلى دولة الإمارات العربية المتحدة، وإلى مدينة دبي على وجه التحديد، ربطاً بمزايا هذه الإمارة الخاصة لجهة الدخول والخروج منها ونوعية الأعمال التي يمكن القيام بها كغطاء للعمل الأمني».

http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/26243

HELP THE CAUSE
Here is one of ANN’s most recent victims, go see the page, the poor fella was even asking for contributions, to help his site and his radio show, which will bring down the American Empire and save Syria from the evil plans, now no one of the imperialism hating, betho loving syrians will know?…would they?

http://www.freedomsphoenix.com/Article/099703-2011-11-18-americas-media-war-on-syria.htm

Saudi terrorists are fighting the Syrian Army and killing Syrians inside Syria, yet the propaganda insists that every person killed lately is a peaceful civilian, including this terrorist Saudi who was killed in Homs, isn’t it the time to impose a visa on all Arabs?

سوريا: الإعلان عن مقتل أول سعودي بمواجهة الجيش

شهدت سوريا أمس الإعلان عن مقتل أول سعودي يشارك في القتال ضد الجيش السوري، حيث نقلت مصادر إعلامية محلية خبر مقتله، كما أعلن والده الملقب بالمفرع الخالدي خبر «استشهاده» على صفحته على «فيسبوك».
ويثير مقتل حسين الخالدي اهتماماً، كون المصادر الإعلامية السورية لم تتوقف عن التسريب منذ الصيف الماضي عن وجود عناصر عربية، ولا سيما سعودية، تشارك في المواجهات المسلحة ضد السلطات، من دون أن تكشف عنها أو عن أفرادها، لتأتي قصة الخالدي، التي تزامنت مع إعلان وكالة الأنباء السورية (سانا) عن تمكن قوى الجيش من قتل «أربعة إرهابيين»، مشيرة إلى أحدهم بالاسم «خالد الراجح» والملقب بـ«بندر»، وهو لقب استخدمه بعض المترحمين على الخالدي على صفحات «فيسبوك».
وقالت «سانا» إن «إحدى الجهات المختصة نفذت عملية نوعية في حي البياضة في حمص تمكنت خلالها من قتل أربعة إرهابيين ومصادرة أسلحتهم». ونقلت عن مصدر رسمي في حمص قوله إن «من بين الإرهابيين الذين قتلوا خالد الراجح الملقب ببندر»، لافتا إلى انه «على رأس قائمة الإرهابيين المطلوبين الذين روعوا الأهالي في المدينة».
من جهته، قال والد الخالدي على صفحته على «فيسبوك»، في توقيت متقارب، «بعـد السلام والتحية أزف لكـــم خبـر استشهـاد (ابنــــــي) الشهيد. حسين بندر المفرع الخــالدي. إنا لله وإنا إليه راجعون».
وقد حفلت الصفحة بالتعازي التي اتصفت غالبيتها بأسماء وهمية، تكشف في جانب منها صبغة طائفية وعشائرية. وفيما قال الملقب بحمد سعيد هواش مسلط الملحم «باسمي نيابة عن آل الملحم وقبيلة الجبور أتقدم بأحر التعازي لعائلة الشهيد ولقبيلة بني خالد البطلة والأصيلة ولجميع شهداء سوريا وأبطال حمص الأبية»، تقدمت صفحة «الحلف السني» بتعازيها لـ«الشيخ المفرع الخالدي أعزك الله، صبرك الله، قواك الله، أحسن الله إليك»، مضيفة إن «لله ما أعطى وله ما أخذ ونحسبه شهيدا سعيدا ولأبويه شفيعا …اللهم اسكنه الفردوس وانتقم ممن قتله من حلف القرامطة والمجوس».
وكان سبق لأئمة سعوديين أن ناصروا «الجهاد في سوريا، وهو موقف نأت السعودية رسمياً بنفسها عنه». وكان وزير الخارجية السوري وليد المعلم طالب الرياض، في مؤتمر صحافي له أمس الأول، «بلعب دور إيجابي» في الأزمة السورية.
http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionID=2009&ChannelID=47600&ArticleID=2228

What can we expect from a trash dweller to write supporting his white trash stoned body but a comment reflecting his trashy old self.

هيـغ يؤكـد تفضيـله الحـل العربـي علـى العسـكري
بريطانيـا تفشـل فـي توحيـد المعارضـة السـورية

محمد بلوط
لقاء جاف بين جناحي المعارضة السورية على أبواب وزارة الخارجية البريطانية في لندن. مصافحات الحد الأدنى بين وفدي «المجلس الوطني السوري» بقيادة برهان غليون ووفد «هيئة التنسيق من أجل التغيير الديموقراطي» بقيادة منسقها في الخارج هيثم مناع.
القاعة التي أعدت للقاء وفد سوري معارض وموحد، اضطر البريطانيون إلى تغيير ترتيبها في اللحظات الأخيرة، لكي يستقبل وزير الخارجية وليام هيغ تباعا الوفدين السوريين، وتعود مساعدته السفيرة الأميركية السابق في لبنان فرانسيس غاي، ومستشاروه للشرق الأوسط من بعده إلى اجتماعين منفصلين مع وفدي المعارضة.
وقال أعضاء من وفد «هيئة التنسيق» إن وفد «المجلس الوطني» فضل الحضور بوفد منفصل إلى الخارجية البريطانية من دون أن يمكن الحصول على جواب من «الوطني» حول هذا الخلاف. وقال هيغ لمحادثيه السوريين إنه كان يفضل لقاء وفد موحد للمعارضة السورية، وحثهم على توحيد صفوفهم لكي يحصلوا على اعتراف دولي بهم، وان المهمة «العاجلة للمعارضة السورية هي توحيد صفوفها».
وناقش هيغ مع المعارضين السوريين قضية التدخل العسكري في سوريا، مستبعداً اللجوء إلى هذه الوسيلة «لأن سوريا لا يمكن مقارنتها بليبيا، ولان الأوضاع فيها أشد تعقيدا، وان الخارجية البريطانية تفضل دعم الحل العربي، وهي على اتصال دائم بالأمين العام للجامعة العربية نبيل العربي».
ونسب المعارضون لهيغ قوله إنه «يستبعد توجيه أي ضربة عسكرية لسوريا»، مركزاً على الحل العربي، واقتناعه بأن النظام السوري آيل إلى السقوط، لكن ليس بالسرعة التي يتمناها الجميع، وأن الأمر سيستغرق بعض الوقت.
وسأل الوزير البريطاني الوفد عن لقاء أجراه معارض سوري مع دبلوماسيين إيرانيين، وطلب توضيحات عن اللقاءات معهم، وأجيب بأنها اقتصرت على لقاء واحد لم يتكرر منذ ثلاثة أشهر، وأن المعارضة السورية رفضت عرضين للقاء دبلوماسيين إيرانيين.
ونقل الوفد السوري عن الدبلوماسيين البريطانيين قولهم انه يجري تدارس فكرة تقديم اللجوء السياسي لعائلة الرئيس بشار الأسد، إذا كان ذلك يساعد في حل الأزمة السورية، خصوصا أنه لن يكون لجوء بالمعنى الحقيقي، باعتبار أن عقيلة الرئيس السوري وأبناءه يحملون الجنسية البريطانية.
ونسب المعارضون لفرانسيس غاي، المسؤولة عن الملف السوري في الخارجية البريطانية، قولها إن «الرئيس بشار الأسد لن يتخلى عن الرئاسة ما دام يشعر بأنه قوي وأن الروس يدعمونه ولن يتخلوا عنه، ولن يقدم أي تنازلات جوهرية ما استمر الروس بدعمه، ولن يبدأ بتقديم تنازلات إلا عندما يقرر الروس التخلي عنه». ونسب المعارضون للدبلوماسيين البريطانيين قناعتهم بأنه من غير من الممكن تجاوز الروس في القضية السورية، وأنه من المستحسن العمل للتوصل إلى اتفاق معهم.
وعبر البريطانيون للوفد عن شكوكهم باحتمال تدخل تركيا في الشمال السوري. ونقلوا لهم أن الموقف التركي ليس واضحا تماما في ما يتعلق بقضية التدخل في سوريا، وان هذه القضية ستطرح للنقاش في لقاءات بريطانية – تركية رسمية. وشكك البريطانيون في الأرقام التي تنشر عن حجم الانشقاق في الجيش السوري، وفي إمكانية التعويل عليه للتوصل إلى مخرج للأزمة السورية من دون الوقوع في حرب أهلية.
وفد «التنسيق» الذي ضم هيثم مناع وخلف الداهود ومدير المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان رامي عبد الرحمن عبر عن رفضه لأي تدخل عسكري في سوريا بكل أشكاله. وقال الداهود، للدبلوماسيين البريطانيين، إن أي تدخل تركي سيؤدي إلى شق الثورة السورية، ودخول الأكراد طرفا في القتال ضد أي عملية عسكرية تركية في الشمال السوري.
ويظهر وصول وفدين منفصلين إلى الخارجية البريطانية إخفاق المعارضة السورية في التوصل إلى صيغة عمل تنظيمي مشترك، والتقدم بتصور موحد للمرحلة الانتقالية، كما طالبتها بذلك الجامعة العربية منذ 15 يوما.
وقال أحد المشاركين في اجتماعات القاهرة بين أعضاء من «المجلس الوطني» و«هيئة التنسيق» إنه لم يتم التقدم خطوة واحدة نحو الاتفاق على لجنة تحضيرية لمؤتمر وطني سوري يوحد المعارضة، وتتكئ إليه الجامعة العربية في تقرير مراحل العملية الانتقالية.
وقال معارض سوري إن الاتفاق الوحيد الذي أمكن التوصل إليه هو وقف الحملات الإعلامية بين المجلس الوطني وهيئة التنسيق، ومنع رفع اللافتات المعادية لكلا الطرفين في التظاهرات، وتنظيم لقاءات على كل المستويات.
وأخفقت المعارضة السورية في لقاءات القاهرة في التوصل إلى ورقة عمل مشتركة بسبب تنوع المواقف داخل المجلس الوطني من قضية المؤتمر السوري، الذي سيضعها على قدم المساواة مع هيئة التنسيق. وبحسب معارضين في هيئة التنسيق فإن الهيئة سمّت ست شخصيات لتمثيلها في اللجنة التحضيرية المشتركة لإنشاء المؤتمر السوري. وضمت لائحة هيئة التنسيق هيثم مناع، وعبد العزيز الخير، ورجاء الناصر، وحسين العودات، وصالح مسلم، ومحمود مرعي. ولم يتقدم المجلس الوطني بالأسماء المطلوبة.
ويقول معارض من هيئة التنسيق إن الوقت الذي حددته الجامعة العربية لإنشاء المؤتمر السوري يشارف على الانتهاء في الأسبوع المقبل، وأبدى تشاؤمه من إمكانية التوصل في الأيام المقبلة إلى اتفاق مع المجلس الوطني «لأنه غير قادر على اتخاذ قرارات واضحة يفرضها على أجنحته المتعددة».

http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2009&ChannelId=47594&ArticleId=2245&Author=%D9%85%D8%AD%D9%85%D8%AF%20%D8%A8%D9%84%D9%88%D8%B7

هكذا ستعلن الفضائيات العربية سقوط نظام الأسد
إسراء الفاس

لم يعد جديراً وصف الإعلام بالسلطة الرابعة فقط،لأن ما جرى من تغييرات في المنطقة أثبت ان للإعلام لم يعد محطة نقل خبر بل تحوّل إلى محطة لصنع الخبر والموقف وبالتالي صنع الفعل وردة الفعل.ولعل الكثيرين لم يتوصلوا إلى هذه النتيجة إلا بعد أحداث “الربيع العربي”، حيث برز ذلك جلياً في الاستهداف الاعلامي الذي تعرضت له سورية. فغرقت الفضائيات في أخبار وصفها الاعلام السوري الرسمي منه والخاص بأنها مفبركة، وخصصت برامج لفضح التضليل الاعلامي، الذي أريد منه أن يصنع أخباراً ليبنى عليه ما بُني من مواقف دولية واقليمية، ومن تبرير لأعمال قتل ونهب وسلب لم تشهدها هذه الدولة من ذي قبل.

الأخبار والفيديوهات “الملفقة” كانت مرحلة أولى في الخطة الاعلامية لبعض الفضائيات العربية، وبحسب المراقبين فقد نجحت هذه الفضائيات حتى الآن بأن تقدم مادة ليتم بموجبها تحريك الأحداث في سورية، وتمهيد الأرضية أمام خروج المواقف الدولية والاقليمية المصعدة ضد النظام السوري.

وبحسب مصادر موقع المنار، فإن من المتوقع أن تشهد هذه الفترة وحتى تحقيق الانسحاب الأميركي من العراق تصعيداً أكثر وأن تزداد الضغوطات على النظام السوري لاجباره على تقديم تنازلات، وتضيف المصادر بأن المرحلة المقبلة ستشهد تصعيداً اعلامياً متوازياً مع التصعيد السياسي للضغط على مختلف الجهات المؤيدة لسورية والمعارضة لها.

وفي التفاصيل تشير المصادر بأن المرحلة ستركز على المعنويات، وهي مرحلة الحرب النفسية، والمطلوب بأن تحدث انهياراً نفسياً لدى الشارع السوري الذي لايزال الى اليوم متماسكاً خلف النظام، وفي المقابل مطلوب أن يُعطى المعارضون شحنات من المعنويات تعزز صمودهم في معركتهم ضد نظام الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد.

وتكشف المصادر بأنها تمتلك معلومات عن خطة قيد الاعداد تحضر لها إحدى الفضائيات العربية التي تتولى منذ بداية الأزمة السورية ما وصفته بـ “التضليل والتلفيق والتجييش”.

وتضيف المعلومات بأن الفضائية المذكورة بصدد تصوير أفلام جديدة في استديوهات موجودة في احدى العواصم الخليجية، صممت لتبدو وكأنها مصوّرة في أحياء العاصمة السورية دمشق، وستنقل هذه الأفلام مشاهداً عن أحداث واستهدافات لمواقع أمنية ورسمية وذلك بهدف خلق البلبلة داخل الشارع السوري والايحاء بأن العاصمة أصبحت مستباحة وسهلة الاستهداف.

وسيتم العمل على تصوير أفلام أخرى ستظهر مواقعاً عسكرية مستهدفة، وتصوّر أعداداً كبيرة من المجموعات التي ترتدي زيّاً عسكرياً لتعلن إنشقاقها عن الجيش السورية، ومشاهداً ستظهر بعض هذه المجموعات وهي تعمل على تسليم أنفسها وما تمتلك من أسحلة إلى المسلحين أو ما يسمى بـ “الجيش السوري الحر”.

ووفق السيناريو فإن جهات ستعمل على قطع بث الفضائيات السورية أو التشويش على إرسالها، لمنعها من تكذيب الأخبار المنقولة.

ومن الناحية الفنية، يؤكد الخبير الاعلامي اللبناني د. اسماعيل الأمين امكانية تصوير هكذا أفلام، مضيفاً: “يمكنهم تركيب أي مشهد، فيمكنهم أخذ مشاهد لشوارع المنطقة وهي فارغة من ثم تركيب مشاهد لمقاتلين أو لمبانٍ تحترق أو غيرها.. كل ذلك حسبما يتطلب المشهد.”

ويتابع: “كل صورة يتم أخذها من الجو إمكانية التزوير فيها تكون عالية.”

ويشرح د. الأمين أن عادة في مثل هذه الأفلام والمشاهد يتم تركيز الصورة على المشاهد العليا، لأن التركيب يكون في الأرض، اذ يتم مسح الأرض واستبدالها بشارع مليء بالقتلى او المتظاهرين أو غيره.. وهذا ما يفسر أن يأخذ المتلاعيون المشاهد من الأعلى تحسباً لفضح أي تلاعب.

إذاً فالمرحلة المقبلة مرحلة ضغوط سياسية متزامنة مع حرب إعلامية شرسة.. عل الأميركي الخارج من نكسة امتدت لثماني سنوات في العراق، يتمكن من تحقيق ورقة رابحة واحدة يجابه بها رأي عام أنهكتك حروب لم تأتِ عليه إلا بمزيد من العجز والافلاس المالي.

http://www.almanar.com.lb/adetails.php?eid=138216&cid=21&fromval=1&frid=21&seccatid=23&s1=1

Memo To: JAD

RE: “…what can we expect from a trash dweller to write supporting his white trash stoned body but a comment reflecting his trashy old self…”

How do we know you aren’t White Trash, Jaddie? We’ve never seen you. All we see are the long and tedious cut-and-paste articles that you serve up with barely a comment to prove you actually read them.

Joshua talked about “mazoot” (fuel). The policy of subsidizing the mazoot is a crazy policy. However, I do not blame the government for the policy. Rather, I must blame the common people of Syria. The common people demanded the subsisdy and the government acceeded to their demand. Now that we can all see that the policy contributes to shortages and black markets for mazoot, I hope the common people of Syria will come to realize that the policy is unwise. That then would allow the government to remove the subsidy. The government removed the subsidy before, and found itself innundated with popular outcries of objection. The government doesn’t have the power or the willfullness to remove the subsidy again for so long as the people say they want it.

You must blame popular sentiment, not the Syrian government here. I can point you to the same phenomenon in various other countries where rational and well-informed government ministers support one or more irrational economic policies in order to strengthen their positions as the representatives of the people.

The following is a repeat of #386 in the previous thread. I’m not as repetitious as several regular commenters here who say the same few things over and over and over (e.g. Ghufran).

Newspapers in Jordan are able to get authorization from Syrian regulators to send reporters into Syria. But they haven’t done it. Instead they’ve been buying highly unverified reports from Reuters, AFP, etc. Thus, Jordanian newspapers don’t have brains or knowledge of their own about Syria and, worse, they aren’t trying to develop any such. The largest-circulating Jordanian daily newspaper is “Al-Ra’i”, originally founded and still largely owned by the government — http://alrai.com/section/international . Another daily paper that’s partially owned by the Jordanian government is “Al-Dustour” — http://www.addustour.com/Section.aspx?sec=2 . Another Jordanian daily is “Al-Ghad” — http://www.alghad.com/index.php/portal/arab-w-alam Two other Jordanian daily newspapers are http://www.alarabalyawm.net/index_section.php?section_id=3 and http://www.alanbat.net/ . In all of those Arabic-language newspapers, all the reports about Syria that I saw at their websites are credited to Reuters, AFP and “Agencies”. The Jordanian newspapers aren’t producing substantive news reports of their own about Syria. I see some of them have published opinion pieces by individual chatterers about Syria, which I haven’t read and I confidently presume are not worth reading because nobody can have worthwhile opinion from such an impoverished knowledge base.

To repeat, the newspaper readers in Amman are not getting better quality information about Syria than their counterparts in Hicksville or Brisbane. They’re getting the same info, from the same agencies. That is deplorable and pathetic.

The ongoing big disconnect between what is real and what is being reported by the non-Syrian news outlets is a serious problem. The public who read the newspapers in Jordan and around the world have little choice other than to believe what they read about Syria in their presumably responsible and earnest newspapers, and the politicians who are in control of the governments have little choice other than to go along with public opinion, no matter what the real truth may be. Plus, the politicians with few exceptions don’t have the time to plumb the depths of what the real truth may be. So the ongoing reports of security forces atrocities, sourced predominantly from a few vindictive news agencies such as Reuters and AFP, re-inforced in the Arabic countries by Al-Jazeera TV and Al-Arabiya TV, make it politically difficult for most governments — including most Arabic governments — to take a stance other than “authorities in Damascus have lost legitimacy and should resign”. Russia’s Minister Lavrov, one of the exceptions, says: “If the international community promotes the theory that “You are so bad you cannot make any Huwarmek and you should leave government office no matter what the consequences”, of course, that would be incitement to violence and unrest.” That is correct, especially when the Arabic-speaking countries promote it.

News dated 20 Nov 2011: Chambers of Commerce and Industry in Jordan are advocating against trade sanctions against Syria. The president of the Jordan Chamber of Commerce, Nael Kabariti, said if Arab countries decide to endorse economic sanctions against Syria, he hoped that Jordan will not impose such sanctions because it would have a clear adverse effect on the economy in Jordan. Similar statements are being made by the Jordan Chamber of Industry, and also the Jordan Exporters and Producers Association for Fruits and Vegetables. See http://www.jordantimes.com/index.php?news=43505 . Despite the opposition of the business people in Jordan, I expect the government of Jordan to impose trade sanctions on Syria because of what I said above about what’s in the daily newspapers of Jordan.

Syria’s oil minister says 40% of Syria’s refined fuel is imported. http://www.sana.sy/eng/24/2011/11/20/382781.htm

This is another good reason to not be stimulating demand.

TRASH DWELLING
@ 50 What can we expect from a trash dweller?

Repeated returns to the trash-dump betho lovers, scared sectarians, Syrio-nazis and cupaste artists have turned this formerly wonderful garden into.

Police praise officer for shooting demonstrators in the eye
Ali Zalat
Mon, 21/11/2011 – 18:53

A YouTube video clip showed a security officer shooting demonstrators in Tahrir Square amid praises from his colleagues. The clip received more than 70,000 views.

“An officer who shoots people in the eyes is continuing practices of the former regime,” said professor of psychiatry at Al-Azhar University Hashem Bahary, explaining that a man’s personality is the result of past and present experiences. “Those officers should have been rehabilitated.”

Bahary, who spent seven years giving psychological training to police officers, also said that officers praising their colleagues for shooting demonstrators suffer from the same syndrome.

Translated from the Arabic Edition

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/517066

58. ((Police praise officer for shooting demonstrators in the eye
Ali Zalat
Mon, 21/11/2011 – 18:53))

This proves that for freedom and civil peace to be achieved by the Syrian revolution, the whole regime must be dismantled. Not only the preseident must go, but all of the top tier of commanding thugs in the army, security forces, and the police.

This is why every single member of the regime who fired a bullet at civilians ever, shall not be allowed to ever carry a gun or to remain as member of the police, security or armed forces in Free Syria.

This is exactly why the revolution shall not negotiate any deal with the regime, not even Jr’s surrender.
Their only remaining option is to run away while they can.

OK Revlon so these plus their families means about 30 percent of the country is on the leave. You Syrian US and Canada expats are ready to come and work in the fields, no doubt.

If the US got crazy with the Iraqis fawda, they will appreciate their Syrian cousins!!

If you read the article, the psychologist advices “rehab” and not witches hunt. But if you had a little traveled in the Arab countries you would know the problem is global and related to patriarchal system (look for Mexico, closer to you…)

I totally disagree with commenter NORMAN, who’s a Christian living in North America, when he opinionates: “Any new Syrian constitution that does not abolish the requirement of the religion of the president to be Muslim is destined to be doomed and non starter.”

I’ve been told more than once from unofficial and possibly unreliable sources — but yet I’m highly confident it’s the actual truth — Article 3 of today’s Constitution is going to remain in place the New Syrian constitution. Article 3 was quoted by Joshua above: it says the president must be Muslim and “Islamic jurisprudence is a main source of legislation”. Article 3 gives the Muslims a moral anchor, a concrete statement of affirmation that their morals and values will be upheld by the State. The great majority of the good people of Syria want that moral anchor and they are going to keep on getting it from this regime. The good thing about the Syrian Muslims is that their morals are perfectly decent on the whole, plus they’ve got first-rate respect for diversity of opinion in religious matters. Of course you may disagree with them on some one policy item or another. But that’s not disagreeing with Muslims as such, it’s disagreeing with the particular policy item.

The Constitution’s statement that “Islamic jurisprudence is a main source of legislation” means longstanding customary morals and values which historically have been upheld by Islam (but generally are good for us all, regardless of religion) are just one of the basic guidelines in making all legislation and other basic guidelines also apply.

As long as the leadership of Syrian Mulsims follows along the lines of today’s great, great Grand Mufti Ahmad Hassoun, us non-Muslims can have no practical objection to Article 3, and we should support Article 3 as a gesture of respect for our Islamic brothers and a gesture of respect for community values in Syria. You know, something like 90% of the people are believers in Muslim religion. The other 10% should want the 90% to be happy. The 10% shouldn’t whinge about Article 3 because Article 3 has done no harm to non-Muslims in Syria and will keep on doing them no harm.

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/517297
Israeli ambassador leaves Cairo permanently sans farewell reception

Israeli-Turkish relations getting warm again

Israeli Ambassador to Egypt Yitzhak Levanon left Cairo early Tuesday morning, marking the end of his term as Israel’s envoy in Cairo.

Informed sources at Cairo International Airport said Levanon boarded a Turkish plane bound for Istanbul and that no Foreign Ministry officials arrived at the airport to bid him farewell, as is the usual protocol for ambassadors leaving permanently.

Levanon arrived to Cairo from Turkey early Sunday morning to formally say goodbye to Egyptian officials. He has been in Israel since September due to rioting outside the Israeli Embassy that forced him and other embassy staff to leave.

During his visit, he met with Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr for the final time.

Israel has appointed Yaakov Amitai to replace Levanon as ambassador.

Translated from the Arabic Edition

@ya mara ghalba 61

Sorry i dont find your conclusions convincing. First of all all such numbers based on religion is almost a state secret. Why does the head of state to be a muslim? I mean, I know from the sharia and the sunnah this may be a tradition but why shouldnt a secular state like Syria be governed by a Christian or Aramaic? If one would care for the muslim tradition one should also verify that not a women can hold the office of president, if we take serious consideration of the sunnah of Prophet Muhammad.
I mean sharia is already a part of Syrian law, and a source of jurisprudence throughout the region. No president is the Amir al Muquminin nowadays, and so i dont see a reason that in such a secular setting in which Syria is at this moment we need to implement a muslim presidency in the constitution. Religion, Sex or sexual orientation should also of no consideration. But that may be too much to ask for in the Middle East, I suppose.

Jurgen
In a democratic system there is no problem in having a christian or a jew as president of Syria,but it has to be a democratic process, what we have in Syria is a situation where an army officer stages a coup ,in this situation it is unreasonable to have what you suggest.I mean to force a christian or jew on the Syrians where 90% are muslems ,it would be unacceptable.

What is going in Egypt will be a boost to the syrian revolution,Syrians are more revolutionary than Egyptians.The leaders,in the Arabic world they do not respect the wish of the people,they sit in a chair,they never want to abandone it.

Ghufran and Norman
Reading your comments remind me of what Churchil said,
The best argument against democracy is to have five minutes conversations with average voter.

Ben Ali in KSA, not handed to the Tunisians for his trial,

Saif al-Islam, won’t be handed to ICC
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/27261/World/Region/Libya-will-not-hand-over-Gaddafi-son-Seif-to-ICC,-.aspx

What kind of democracy do you pretend you want to achieve? Bombing and market can be internationalized, but not justice?

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/27194/Egypt/Politics-/Brotherhoods-ElBeltagi-ejected-from-Tahrir.aspx

The Muslim Brotherhood’s Mohamed El-Beltagi was thrown out of Tahrir Square ‎by protesters on Monday.‎

El-Beltagi, a former MP and leader of the Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice ‎Party, has expressed support for the protesters since they first locked horns with Central Security ‎Forces (CSF) on Saturday in and around the iconic square. ‎

In a statement on Monday, the Brotherhood condemned police brutality and held Egypt’s ruling Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) responsible for the ongoing violence.‎

The group, however, had declined to join the Tahrir Square protesters, which has enraged many of those who have remained in the square in the face of violent police and military crackdowns which left over 30 people dead and hundreds injured. ‎

Bloody confrontations between protesters and security forces erupted on Saturday after police tried to forcibly ‎disperse a small Tarhir Square sit-in.‎

On Monday afternoon, Beltagi announced that the Brotherhood would, after all, join the Tahrir protesters. Expecting to be joined by several thousand Brotherhood youth, the Tahrir protesters were surprised to find Beltagi himself, accompanied by a few supporters, coming to the square. These seem to have enraged the protesters who denied the leader of the Freedom and Justice Party entry to the square, and sent him away.

Who brought FITNA ?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/1/64/27231/Egypt/Politics-/Salafists-bring-religious-chants-to-Tahrir-Square-.aspx

Salafists bring religious chants to Tahrir Square
Supporters of Salafist leader Hazem Salah Abou-Ismail clash with Tahrir demonstrators upon arriving at the square for breaking the no religious or party chants rule

Supporters of presidential hopeful Hazem Salah Abou-Ismail arrived in Tahrir Square early on Tuesday calling for Islamic rule ahead of a planned million-man protest.

The Salafist candidate’s followers chanted “Islamic, Islamic,” breaking the Tahrir demonstrators’ rule against religious slogans or chants.

The Tahrir demonstrators have banned political figures and religious currents from entering the square.

From the comment section of AJE Live Syria blog:

A Saudi Arabian young man was shot yesterday in Syria- Homs in the
neighborhood of Al Bayada. His name is Husain Bandar Mefraa All Doureyi
Al Khalidi. He was shot by Al Assad army militia just because he was
Saudi Arabian. He is a fifth year student in the Faculty of Engineering.
He was visiting his relatives in Homs. In an interview by the
administrator of one of the Syrian Revolution pages on Facebook, the
father didn’t accept the condolences and said literally: “I accept to
congratulate myself that my son is a martyr, and I would give-up my
second and third son, and myself including in order to bring the tyrant
down.” …We salute the Saudi people for this blessed heroic stand.

Erdogan has reached Twitter’s trashes level

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/27286/World/Region/Turkish-PM-calls-on-coward-Assad-to-quit.aspx

I can’t wait for his own country to blow in his face. People there are fed up with high prices and the necessity to have two jobs to make a living.

How can Turkey be a model for the Arabs when they don’t have the clue basic problems of Arab societies: endogamy and tribalism?

The ghastly end of patriarchy
Sahar el-Moughi
Fri, 18/11/2011 – 11:11

I believe that patriarchal systems across the world are on the verge of collapse. The patriarchal system I am referring to goes beyond the system of values governing the relationship between men and women. Patriarchy is a hierarchical structure of human relationships in which groups of people are organized with the weakest at the bottom and the strongest at the top.

The capitalist system is a patriarchal system, as large corporations and the governments that enact imperialist policies to serve their interests are positioned at the top of the pyramid.

Within patriarchy, preachers and politicians who speak in the name of religion are also at the top of the social pyramid. Other examples of the patriarchal system of relations include a manager oppressing his or her subordinates, an employee of the state mistreating citizens or a husband abusing his wife.

The patriarchal way of thinking is based on the idea of controlling the weak, poor or helpless. Violence is used to impose one’s opinion ― patriarchal regimes wage different kinds of war, even killing their own people to make gains.

At this point in time the world is seemingly boiling over with protests against patriarchal regimes and the businessmen and governments propping them up. In Egypt, however, there appears to be a blackout imposed by Egypt’s rulers, blocking news about the protests raging in Europe and the US. Why is this happening? Perhaps because news of these protests could strengthen the Egyptian revolution, and the nation’s current rulers are busy distracting people with issues that are not connected to the demands of the revolution.

The world has been inspired by Arab revolutions and people are coming together to demand justice. Nations are rising against patriarchy ― the Italians brought down Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi and the Greeks forced changes in their government, with the rest yet to come.

In Egypt, we seem to be on another planet, some place where we cannot see the Occupy Wall Street protests currently sweeping across the United States. Since 17 September, the number of protesters on Wall Street in New York has been growing. On 2 November, protesters closed down the port of Oakland in California, one of the largest ports in the US. At midnight on 3 November the protesters were attacked by police who used violence to clear the port, hoping to quell the blossoming protest movement in Oakland, a city with a considerable population of laborers.

In Europe, Occupy London protesters have camped out near St Paul’s Cathedral in central London. On 9 November, thousands of London students marched to protest against the privatization of education, the increase in education fees and the absence of social justice in their society.

Nobody is telling Egyptians that Occupy Wall Street was inspired by the revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt, according to the movement’s unofficial website. Since its launch on 17 September from Liberty Square in Manhattan, the Occupy movement has spread to an estimated 100 cities in the US and 1500 cities in Europe.

This is the beginning of the end of patriarchy, which will essentially lead to the fall of military and theocratic governments, as these systems embody patriarchal principles.

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/515787

The SNC, particularly its incumbent and subsequent presidents, need to learn lessons from the unfolding failures of the Egyptian revolution.

1. They should stop their holy quest for preserving the Syrian army and security forces. Those who have done that most likely never served in them, never got humiliated or incapacitated by their moronic cruelty, and have not yet learned enough about the human innate proclivity to abuse power.

The army need to be dismantled from the top to the very base.
All top commanders, including all generals and 90% of colonels are corrupt and most of them shall invariably be found to be suspects in committing crimes against humanity.

The current Syrian security system and armed forces have been painstakingly built over the last 40 years to provide security not for the people or the country’s sovereignty, but for the commander in chief of the armed forces (CCAF), whoever the may be!!!

Should Asad go – and he shall, like Mubarak did- and the security and army systems stay, the new CCAF’s innate human vulnerability shall make him succumb to the allure of power and soon become convinced with the virtues of his own vision for new Syria!!!

2. The SNC and its executive board ought to establish professional ties with the TMC.
Both have the approval and the legitimacy of the revolution, and henceforth the responsibility to serve its ends.

Both councils can use the available time to build trust and mutual respect.
They need to build a tradition of tolerance for discordance in opinion, practice collective decision making, and experience the joys and pains of team work.

The young, non-corrupt, armed forces ranks and files, those who defected or still in the wings, now have much more in common with, pride in, and reverence to the revolting youth and their values than they ever had to their army institute, its leadership, or its phoney ideology.
Their command have become the wishes of the revolution.

A new army should be built by these young elements, around the hard earned sentiments of faith and trust in and respect of the people.
The existing decadent system that idolize and serve the leader must be buried.

I leave you with a sample of the sad state of affairs that is gripping Egypt, which should and could be avoided in the Syrian phase of Bouazizi’s Revolution.

العفو الدولية تتهم عسكر مصر بانتهاكات لحقوق الانسان أكثر مما كان في أيام مبارك

Amnesty international accuses the Egyptian Junta of committing more humman rights abuses than Mubarak did!
22/11/2011
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=38859

(( …..يترافق ذلك مع اتهام منظمة العفو الدولية في تقرير نشر الثلاثاء المجلس العسكري في مصر بعدم الوفاء بوعوده وان بعض انتهاكات حقوق الانسان التي ارتكبت منذ تسلمه السلطة هي اسوء مما كانت عليه في ظل نظام الرئيس السابق حسني مبارك.

واورد التقرير لائحة “محزنة” لانتهاكات حقوق الانسان في ظل حكم المجلس الاعلى للقوات المسلحة الذي يتولى السلطة في مصر منذ سقوط الرئيس مبارك في 11 شباط/فبراير.

وقال فيليب لوثر، مدير منظمة العفو الدولية لشؤون الشرق الاوسط بالوكالة “بتقديمه الاف المدنيين للمحاكمة امام محاكم عسكرية وبقمعه متظاهرين مسالمين وتوسيعه نطاق تطبيق قانون الطوارىء الذي كان مطبقا في ظل مبارك، فان المجلس الاعلى للقوات المسلحة انتهج نظاما قمعيا حارب ضده متظاهرو 25 كانون الثاني/يناير بقوة من اجل التخلص منه”.
واضاف في بيان “اولئك الذين تحدوا او انتقدوا المجلس العسكري، المتظاهرون والصحافيون والمدونون والمضربون، تعرضوا لقمع عنيف في محاولة لاسكاتهم”.

واوضح لوثر ان “الحصيلة حول احترام القوانين الانسانية يظهر انه بعد تسعة اشهر في مصر، خنق المجلس الاعلى للقوات المسلحة اهداف وتطلعات ثورة 25 كانون الثاني/يناير”.
واكدت منظمة العفو الدولية انه في مجال القضاء، عمل النظام العسكري على “تأزيم الوضع”. وقالت ان 12 الف مدني مثلوا امام محاكم عسكرية خلال تسعة اشهر خصوصا بتهم ارتكاب “اعمال عنف طفيفة” او “التصدي للجيش”.
واشارت المنظمة الى المدون مايكل نبيل الذي احتجز لمدة 45 يوما في مستشفى للامراض العقلية بعد ان بدأ اضرابا عن الطعام احتجاجا على ادانته بالسجن لمدة ثلاث سنوات.

واضافت المنظمة “بعد ان بدأ اضرابا عن الطعام في اب/اغسطس، سحبت منه سلطات السجون ادوية القلب التي يتناولها” مشيرة الى محاولات المجلس العسكري لخنق المقالات التي تنتقده.

واوضحت ان قوات الامن وخصوصا الجيش بدل حماية المتظاهرين “قمعت بشدة عددا من المتظاهرين واوقعت عددا من القتلى والجرحى”.

وذكرت المنظمة بان 28 شخصا قتلوا خلال تظاهرة للاقباط المسيحيين المصريين في 9 تشرين الاول/اكتوبر وذلك نقلا عن مصادر طبية تحدثت عن ضحايا اصيبوا بالرصاص او قضوا دهسا تحت المدرعات.

وجاء في التقرير “بدل اعطاء الامر لفتح تحقيق مستقل، اعلن الجيش انه سيجري هو نفسه التحقيق وعمل بسرعة على اسكات اي انتقاد”.

وانتقدمت المنظمة غير الحكومية ايضا المجلس العسكري بفتح تحقيقات بهدف ابعاد الانتقاد خصوصا حول مواصلة ممارسة التعذيب في السجن.

ودعت منظمة العفو الدولي السلطات المصرية الى فتح تحقيق جدي وبكل شفافية حول انتهاكات حقوق الانسان والغاء قانون الطوارىء.

What’s going on with the AL initiatives/ultimatums/threats/promises ???
Looks as if they chickened out, like Erdogan and the Uglu did.
Shane on you Ya Arabs.
.

Amir

I think the AL will meet on Thursday and declare the failure of their initiative. They will announce economic sanctions and will encourage Arab countries to expel the Syrian ambassadors and that is that for now. Meanwhile, with Erdogan’s announcement today, I expect that Turkey will eventually establish a buffer zone along the borders. That will encourage massive defection and eventually will lead to removing Besho by force. I think the FSA will do it all and that there will be no NATO strike but overall blessing from the international community.

France is planning to send back its ambassador, the same strategy of the Americans.

الخارجية الفرنسية: فرنسا تعتزم اعادة سفيرها الى سورية ولا تنوي اغلاق سفارتها في دمشق

قال المتحدث باسم وزارة الخارجية الفرنسية برنار فاليرو ان فرنسا تعتزم اعادة سفيرها الى سورية ولا تنوي اغلاق سفارتها في دمشق. جاء هذا التصريح خلال مؤتمر صحفي عقده يوم الثلاثاء 22 نوفمبر/تشرين الثاتي في باريس.

وقال برنار فاليرو: “سفيرنا في سورية اريك شوفالييه ما زال موجودا في باريس. وهذا الاستدعاء امر مؤقت”.

واشار المتحدث باسم وزارة الخارجية الفرنسية الى ان فرنسا لا تنوي اغلاق سفارتها في دمشق في هذا الاسبوع، كما ذكرت مصادر دبلوماسية سورية في وقت سابق.

وقال برنار فاليرو: “فيما يخص مسائل امن تركيبتنا الدبلوماسية في سورية سنتخذ الاجراءات اللازمة. وتبقى مساعدة مواطنينا في سورية الذين يبلغ عددهم زهاء 3000 شخص من المهام الاساسية لسفارتنا، وسنواصل العمل في هذا الاتجاه.

وكان آلان جوبيه وزير الخارجية الفرنسي قد اعلن في الاسبوع الماضي عن استدعاء السفير الفرنسي في دمشق وذكر ان اعمال العنف الجديدة في سورية اجبرت فرنسا على اغلاق قنصليتيها في حلب واللاذقية والمركز الثقافي في سورية.

*** MORE GOOD NEWS FOR THE ISLAMIST TERRORISTS hehehehehehehe ***

Russian warships off Syria, US carriers near Iran – November 21, 2011

http://www.debka.com/article/21504/

gunboat diplomacy is in full spate in the Mediterranean and Persian Gulf. Washington is underscoring its military option against Iran’s nuclear program, while Russia is demonstrating its resolve to prevent NATO attacking Syria after Libya and defending Bashar Assad’s regime. Monday, Nov. 21,

Russia’s foreign minister Sergey Lavrov accused Western nations of “political provocation” by urging the Syrian opposition to refuse to negotiate a settlement with Assad.

Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan, for his part, advised Assad: “You can only continue with tanks and guns to a certain point, the day will come when you will go.”
debkafile’s military sources note that Russia and America adopted aggressive postures on Nov. 12, when two American carriers, the USS Bush and USS Stennis sailed through the Strait of Hormuz side by side and took up position opposite the Iranian coast.

That was also the day when a mysterious explosion at the Revolutionary Guards base near Tehran wiped out the entire leadership of Iran’s ballistic missile program.

Five days later, on Nov. 17, the Syrian news agency reported three Russian naval vessels on the Mediterranean were heading toward Syria.

Monday, Nov. 21, presidential sources in Damascus announced three warships had entered Syrian territorial waters outside Tartus port.
Those sources stressed the Russian ships would not anchor in the Syrian port, indicating that their mission was not just to show the flag for the Assad regime but was on operational duty along its coasts to resist any foreign intervention in Syria unrest.
Our military sources are watching to see whether the Russian flotilla targets the small craft transporting arms from Lebanon and Turkey to Syrian rebels fighting the regime. If so, Moscow would be able to present these strikes as actions against piracy which would fall under a UN Security Council resolution.

While Moscow and Damascus kept the identity of the Russian warships dark, Arab sources said at least two of them are equipped for gathering intelligence and electronic warfare.
As the Russian warships entered Syrian territorial waters, Canadian Defense Minister Peter McKay announced that in the light of the Syrian crisis, the Royal Canadian Navy would keep back in the Mediterranean until the end of 2012 certain vessels which took part in the Libyan campaign.

Syria’s constitution committee set basic principles for final formulation

2011-11-22

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/22/c_131263108.htm

DAMASCUS, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) — The committee charged with drafting a new constitution has already put the basic principles for the suggested constitution and has founded a mini committee for final formulation, private al-Watan newspaper said Tuesday.

Quoting a source in the committee, al-Watan said the mini committee will complete its mission next week and a press conference will be held to clarify the new basic principles for the constitution.

The source said the new constitution will be devised on the basis of a democratic and civil state, noting that the committee has reviewed a number of constitutions including the French and Moroccan, and is working on a daily basis to complete its mission.

In mid October, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad announced the formation of the committee to prepare a new constitution that still needs to be ratified by the parliament before being put for a general referendum.

The part of the constitution that many Syrians want amended is section 8 which states that the Baath party is the leader of the nation and the society.

The source stressed that the proposed constitution would cancel the monopoly of the ruling Baath party and open the door for all political parties to compete.

It said election of the president will be by direct voting, thus cancelling the currently-underway system of referendum, pointing out that the new constitution will extremely exceed the demands of a number of opposition figures and is almost in tune with the French constitution without neglecting the cultural diversity in Syria.

Syria’s security launches “qualitative” operation, 17 gunmen killed

2011-11-22

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/22/c_131263114.htm

DAMASCUS, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) — About 17 gunmen, including a Saudi, were killed by security agents in two “qualitative” operations in Syria’s central province of Homs, the private al- Watan daily said.

It said the Saudi is of a Syrian origin, dismissing media claims that the Saudi, called Bandar, was killed while on a visit to his friends in Homs.

The paper said that 57 wanted have been arrested in Homs.

The authorities have rounded up dozens of wanted people over the past week during its manhunt for those who have attacked governmental establishment and army bases.

Central Syria, mainly Homs province, has emerged as a hub of armed insurrection against the government forces. The protests there have even turned to be violent and deadly and have claimed the lives of a number of civilians and security agents and policemen in a revenge-related killings.

Dear Revlon

I also support the dissolution of the Syrain Army, an institution that is built with one purpose in mind: the protection of the ruling elite. As power transitions to the new interim government in Syria, the FSA will help preventing chaos and providing security. I am looking forward to an emphatic statement from the FSA in regard to its goal in protecting civilians regardless of their religion, sect, and ethnicity. I also hope that some honest Alawi officers join in to alleviate concerns minorities may have. I am expecting that the FSA is the entity that will return the stolen Syria to its owners,

المجلس الوطني السوري ينفي ما نشره سوريون نت عن طلب رئيسه من وزير الخارجية البريطانية الضغط على تركيا لوقف عمليات الجيش السوري الحر
SNC denies allegations of requests made by Mr Ghalioun to Mr Haig calling him to put the pressure on turkey to withdraw their support of the FSA

2011/11/22
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=38875
لندن ـ سوريون نت:

نفى مصدر مسؤول في المجلس الوطني السوري ما نشره موقع سوريون نت عن طلب رئيسه من وزير الخارجية البريطاني ويليام هيغ الضغط على تركيا لوقف عمليات الجيش السوري الحر، وسوريون نت إذ تنشر النفي تؤكد أن مصادرها التي كانت مشاركة بالاجتماع المذكور ما تزال تؤكد ما نشرته بالأمس ومما جاء في النفي ..ز

تعليقاً على ما نسب للدكتور برهان غليون بشأن “الجيش السوري الحر”، صرح مصدر مسؤول في المجلس الوطني السوري بما يلي:

يؤكد المجلس الوطني السوري أن ما نسب من أقوال ذكر أنها وردت على لسان الدكتور برهان غليون أثناء لقائه وزير الخارجية البريطاني وليام هيغ الاثنين (21/11) حول طلبه من الجانب البريطاني التدخل لدى السلطات التركية لوقف هجمات الجيش السوري الحر “عارية عن الصحة تماماً”.
ويودّ المجلس تأكيد اعتزازه بالضباط والجنود السوريين الأبطال الذين رفضوا الانصياع لأوامر النظام بقتل إخوانهم ومواطنيهم المطالبين بالحرية، وقرروا الانحياز لصفوف الشعب والثورة، ويكرر دعمه ومساندته لجميع منتسبي “الجيش السوري الحر” الذين أكدوا التزامهم بدعم الثورة والدفاع عنها

73. Tara

I think the AL is under a shock at what is going on in Egypt as many Egyptians seem to refuse that either the army nor the MB take control of the country. The violence is escalating under their nose.
A similar situation may arise in Syria if Bashar Al Assad leaves. Revlon is calling for dismantling the army for fear it will take over, forgetting what happened in Iraq when the army was dismantled and he is encouraging the SNC to get closer to the FSA while the SNC is under pressure from Western countries to unite and dissociate itself from the FSA’s violent acts.
In Revlon’s view Syria will rely on the pumped up FSA to ensure the security of the country: a suicidal perspective.
The US and western countries are watching the situation in Egypt with apprehension. I doubt they would want to create a similar or worse one in Syria now.
After the ‘tap in the back’ from Cameron, it is increasing clear that the SNC Opposition is unable to unite within days and the Al knows it. Therefore the alternative to Bashar is the void.
It is probable that these events will make the AL very hesitant to take any drastic or provocative actions on Syria at that stage.

راجح الخوري : دمشق… قطعت شعرة معاوية؟!

2011/11/22
Rajeh AlKhouri راجح الخوري
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=38821

سياسة “الاستمهال” التي طبقتها الجامعة العربية في سعيها لمعالجة الازمة السورية انتهت تقريباً الى ما انتهت اليه سياسة “الاستعجال” التي طبقتها مع نظام القذافي، مع فارق ملحوظ هو ان الجامعة التي فتحت باب التدويل في ليبيا قد تكتفي الآن بنفض “قميص عثمان السوري” والاعلان عن قطع شعرة معاوية مع دمشق، وهو ما يشكل نصف فتحة لباب التدويل!

ليس خافياً ان التدويل في ليبيا شيء وفي سوريا شيء آخر. في ليبيا تغييرالنظام كلف حرباً وانتهت (هل انتهت؟) اما في سوريا فإن تغييرالنظام قد يكلف حرباً اكبر واشرس لأنه يعني تغيير الواقع الاستراتيجي في المنطقة والاقليم، ويمكن معاينة ذلك بالتأمل في فداحة الخسارة الايرانية وفي انحسار نفوذ الروس والصينيين ومصالحهم.

نعم انقطعت شعرة معاوية بين دمشق والجامعة العربية، فقد بدأ الاسبوع بالتراشق بالاتهامات. الرئيس الاسد اتهمها بالسعي لايجاد ذريعة لتدخل عسكري غربي مكرراً ان هذا سيحدث زلزالاً، في حين تواصل الجامعة تكرار رفضها التدخل الدولي والقول ان مبادرتها هي للحل وقطع الطريق على هذا التدخل. ولكن من الواضح بعد شهرين من الاجتماعات والاتصالات حول المبادرة التي اقترحتها الجامعة ان الامور وصلت الى حائط مسدود:

وليد المعلم اعلن ان بروتوكول الجامعة حول مهمة البعثة العربية ينطوي على بنود “تخرق السيادة السورية وفيه الكثير من التعجيز”، والجامعة ردت برفض التعديلات السورية، معلنة انها “تمس جوهر الوثيقة… وتغيّر جذرياً طبيعة مهمة البعثة المحددة بالتحقق من تنفيذ الخطة العربية لحل الازمة وتوفير الحماية للمدنيين”.

الضربة التي قضت على “المبادرة العربية” جاءت من كلام الرئيس السوري لصحيفة “الصنداي تايمس”، عندما اتهم الجامعة بأنها تحاول تدويل الملف السوري وتوفير ذريعة لتدخل عسكري ضد سوريا، ولكنه بهذا يكون قد خسر وقتاً ثميناً، لأنه بمجرد ان تنفض الجامعة يدها من الازمة السورية على ما قد يحدث يوم الخميس المقبل، فإن ذلك قد يشكل مسوغاً لتدخل دولي انطلاقاً من بنود واضحة في مبادئ الامم المتحدة حيال موضوع “حماية المدنيين”.

وعندما يتهم وليد المعلم اميركا وتركيا “بالدفع في اتجاه حرب اهلية في سورية”، فإن ذلك لا يضيف شيئاً جديداً الى عناصرالصورة المأسوية الدامية، وخصوصاً عندما يقول الاسد ان الحل الوحيد ليس سحب الجيش بل البحث عن المسلحين وملاحقة العصابات المسلحة وانه مستعد للقتال والموت ضد اي تدخل اجنبي!

فشل مؤسسة الجامعة يجعل منها جثة كبيرة في الساحة السورية، التي تبدو وكأنها تستنسخ الساحة الليبية لتغيير”زلزالي” فعلاً، يرسم استراتيجيا جديدة للمنطقة!

Democracy and Hypocrisy – The Arab Winter – November 22, 2011

http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/11/22/the-arab-winter/

The Kingdom of Qatar in the Persian Gulf, ever vigilant in support of democracy, sent hundreds of soldiers to help Libyan insurgents against the dictator Gaddafi. It based a squadron of attack aircraft in Crete to bomb Gaddafi’s forces, and its military chief stated that “Training and communications [were] in Qatari hands. We acted as the link between the rebels and Nato forces.” The assistance attracted much gratitude from Nato, but the price will be continuing support for the Qatar monarchy’s autocratic rule.

Qatar has been to the forefront in condemning Syria for that regime’s appalling treatment of its citizens. Qatari Prime Minister Hamad bin Jassem Al-Thani, said the Arab League had decided to enforce “economic and political sanctions,” in order to achieve justice for the people of Syria, which is a most laudable aim.

The disconcerting thing is that the aim smacks strongly of humbug, because few countries in the Arab League know anything of democracy or justice for their own people. And the rich countries of the Persian Gulf – royal dictatorships one and all – are the most prominent deniers of democracy in the League.

One wonders where Qatar’s humanitarian conscience was in February when in neighboring Bahrain, “hundreds of riot police surrounded the protesters sleeping in a makeshift tent camp in Manama’s Pearl Square. The security forces stormed the camp, launching an attack that killed at least four protesters, some of whom were reportedly shot in their sleep with shotgun rounds. Thousands of Bahraini citizens gathered in the square on February 15 to push their demands for a more representative political system and an end to official corruption.”

The Arab League is “calling for the [Syrian] regime to halt its attacks on protesters, pull tanks and armored vehicles out of cities, release political prisoners, and allow journalists and rights groups into the country.” But what happened when Bahrain’s monarch was presented with similar protests? As the New York Times recorded, “2000 troops — 1,200 from Saudi Arabia and 800 from the United Arab Emirates — entered Bahrain as part of a force operating under the aegis of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), a six-nation regional coalition of Sunni rulers that has grown increasingly anxious over the sustained challenge to Bahrain’s king, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa.” There was not a word from any Arab country about halting attacks on protesters, as they are demanding in Syria.

Don’t get me wrong: what is happening in Syria is dreadful, and the evil butcher Assad should be deposed because he is not fit to rule. But what is wrong is the posture of the Arab states and their fawning Western backers who daren’t bleat a word in criticism of a bunch of two-faced, oil-rich, decadent autocracies. (The GCC countries – Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates – bought US weapons costing $22 billion from 2005 to 2009. The Saudis alone have a current deal for $60 billion.)

These countries have no intention of establishing democracy for themselves. Free voting would destroy dynastic power, which will not be permitted under any circumstances. Take Qatar whose ruler (and defense minister) is Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani. According to his official biography, His Majesty is a man of decided talent, in that he “Joined the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, and graduated in July 1971. Joined the Qatari Armed Forces in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel and was appointed Commander of the first Mobile Regiment, now named: Hamad Mobile regiment. He was then promoted to the rank of Major General and was appointed Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.” My goodness, what a dazzling career. Even Napoleon did time as a lieutenant (7 years, to be exact), before being promoted to captain (although Gaddafi was a colonel at 29). One wonders how His Majesty found time for his three wives and 24 children.

But the al Thani meteoric rise is not exceptional in a society in which the prime minister (and foreign minister) is Hamad bin Jasim bin Jabir Al Thani, the interior minister is Abdullah bin Khalid Al Thani, the minister for communications is Ahmad bin Nasir Al Thani, the municipal affairs minister is Abdul Al-Rahman bin Khalifa bin Abd al-Aziz Al Thani, the minister of business . . . . Well, you get the message. But this doesn’t prevent His Excellency Sheikh Jabor Bin Yusef Bin Jassim Al Thani, a Director of Sky Petroleum in Texas, from pronouncing that “We believe in democracy, we believe in freedom, we believe in dialogue, and we believe in that for the entire region.” Yeah, right, Your Excellency.

Here is an example of the region’s belief in freedom and dialogue:
.
.
Dr Rula al-Saffar, 48, head of the Bahrain Nursing Society, told Human Rights Watch “I was handcuffed and blindfolded [and] interrogated for seven days. The interrogations started at 3:30 pm and went on until 5 or 6 a.m. the next day. I was electrocuted in my face and my head. They said, “We are going to rape you.” She and other victims had committed the crime of giving medical treatment to demonstrators for justice who had been shot by police.
.
.
Support for democracy justice and freedom in Bahrain and Qatar is mirrored in neighboring Saudi Arabia, whose royal family also wields total power. Here’s the take of the US State Department about government in one of America’s closest allies : “The central institution of Saudi Arabian Government is the monarchy. The Basic Law adopted in 1992 declared that Saudi Arabia is a monarchy ruled by the sons and grandsons of King Abdul Aziz Al Saud, and that the Holy Qur’an is the constitution of the country, which is governed on the basis of Islamic law (Sharia). There are no officially recognized political parties.”

As Human Rights Watch records : “Authorities continue to systematically suppress or fail to protect the rights of nine million Saudi women and girls, eight million foreign workers, and some two million Shia citizens. Each year thousands of people receive unfair trials or are subject to arbitrary detention. Curbs on freedom of association, expression, and movement, as well as a pervasive lack of official accountability, remain serious concerns.”

Democracy, anyone? I mean, can you imagine living in a society in which it is a crime for a woman to drive a car? This place has a law to stop women travelling out of the country without “male guardian approval.” It’s right back in the Fourteenth Century.

In Saudi Arabia, no newspaper, radio and television editor can be appointed without approval of the ruling elite, and it is a crime to publish anything critical of rulers or religious figures. Last month it became the only nation in the world to have beheaded a man for the crime of ‘sorcery,’ for supposedly casting a spell on someone. And this is the most important country in the Arab League, whose spokesman, Sheik Jabor bin Yusef bin Jassim al-Thani, has said “I am sure the people of the Middle East and other countries will see us [the League] as a model, and they can follow us if they think it is useful.” Editors and spell-casters, beware.

The overthrow of Egypt’s dictator Hosni Mubarak was greeted in the West with the usual ingenuous enthusiasm. But of course the Egyptian army has no intention of allowing anything so dangerous as democracy to gain ground. The revised constitution specifies that the army will not be held to account for any of its activities : it is to be above the law. When this was made clear there were demonstrations which were met with savagery. So what is the Arab League (Headquarters, Cairo) doing or saying about this hideous shambles? On November 21 its chief urged Egyptians “to work for calm and return to the political process and move forward with the process of democratic change,” after there had been 20 killed and the scene was of protestors being “dragged by the hair across the road and police pounding the heads of motionless bodies in the street.”

Egyptian General Mohsen el-Fangari declared that “The aim of what is going on is to shake the backbone of the state, which is the armed forces.” That is plain enough. The battle is now between the people and the army – just as it is in Syria. Just as it was in Libya. And Bahrain.

The Arab League, a farcical organization almost as futile as Nato, is a bunch of humbug nations who are intent on denying democracy to their citizens, determined to maintain feudal monarchs as dictators, and implacably opposed to civilized justice. The League’s posturing about Syria is pathetic but does serve to highlight the harsh fact that most of its member countries are stuck in the Dark Ages and have no intention of ever permitting their citizens to vote for an alternative system of government. They are heartily endorsed by the prating humbugs of the West who dare not say a word about the dire state of human rights in the Gulf countries but are only too happy to bomb easy targets in support of revolution.

Britain’s foreign secretary, the egregious William Hague, summed things up when he said on November 21, in the middle of Egypt’s riots, that “ We don’t take sides on the intricacies of Egyptian politics.” Quite so: when things get really difficult, morally, the West doesn’t take sides. That’s democratic hypocrisy.

Egypt: 35 dead. The government resigns. The military council will probably transfer it’s powers to a temporary judicial mechanism.

Syria: 3500 dead. The junta has no intention to go. Vows to kill many more Syrians (“armed terrorists”).
.

@76. ann

“Syria’s constitution committee set basic principles for final formulation”

It looks Syria may have its new Constitution ready before Tunisia and while Egypt is still struggling with an increasingly unstable situation after Mobarak’s resignation.

Furious Erdogan compares Bashar Al Assad to Hitler, Ceaucescu and Qaddafi

“Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said for the first time that Syria’s president must step down over the country’s brutal crackdown on dissent, ratcheting up the pressure on the increasingly isolated Bashar Assad.

In his harshest words yet, Erdoğan reminded Assad of the bloody end of the Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi, as well as past dictators, including Adolf Hitler.

“For the welfare of your own people and the region, just leave that seat,” Erdoğan said in a televised speech.

“If you want to see someone who has fought until death against his own people, just look at Nazi Germany, just look at Hitler, at Mussolini, at Nicolae Ceausescu in Romania,” he said. “If you cannot draw any lessons from these, then look at the Libyan leader who was killed just 32 days ago.” Erdogan’s warning came the day after Syrian soldiers opened fire on at least two buses carrying Turkish citizens, witnesses and officials said, apparent retaliation for Turkey’s criticism of Assad, whose military crackdown on an 8-month-old uprising against his rule has killed nearly 4,000 people.

In separate attacks, Syrian security forces killed at least 13 people during raids in central Syria, activists said.

The British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights and the Local Coordination Committees said most of the deaths were in the flashpoint city of Homs, a hotbed of dissent against Syrian President Bashar Assad’s regime.

Erdoğan has grown increasingly critical of the Syrian regime, and he said last week that the world must urgently “hear the screams” from Syria and do something to stop the bloodshed.

Turkey has allowed Syrian refugees and military defectors to take refuge on its soil, and Syria’s political opposition has used Turkey as a place to meet and organize.

Assad’s deepening isolation and the growing calls for his ouster are a severe blow to a family dynasty that has ruled Syria for four decades and any change to the leadership could transform some of the most enduring alliances in the Middle East and beyond.

Syria’s uprising has grown increasingly violent in recent months. Army defectors who sided with the revolt have grown bolder in recent weeks, fighting back against regime forces and even attacking military bases raising fears of a civil war.”

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=erdogan-reminds-assad-of-end-of-gadhafi-hitler-2011-11-22

Saudi young martyr, Husein AlKhaldi
He was stopped at a security checkpoint near Bayadah neighbourhood in Homs, yesterday.
Upon questioning he told of his Saudi nationality and was shot on the spot in the leg, thigh and chest.

The regime claimed that he was an Arab terrorist!
As such they should have retained his body as evidence and made a hell of a case for their Salafi/MB/Bandar/Alzheimer theory to the KSA.

Because they knew better, the left Husein’s body on the side road until some civilians picked him up and informed his family.

Jr has made the final metamorphosis; from narcissist to a sociopath.

AlFatiha upon Husein’s soul,
May God bless his family with solace and empower them with patience.

الشهيد السعودي حسين الخالدي مع جواز السفر 21 11 2011 – حمص البياضة – سوريا – أموي

We do not want to get rid of the syrian army, we only want to eliminate those officers that support the regime and Assad,there is huge difference between what happen in Iraq and what will happen in Syria.
The officers who are protecting Assad has to go for trial,and should get the punishment, not only discharging them from the army, some of them stole a lot of money they have to return all of it to the people.

Bahraini rights groups release “shadow report” on right violations
2011-11-22

“According to the report, the BCHR have documented 45 deaths, 1500 cases of arbitrary arrest, 1866 cases of torture, 500 prisoners of conscience, the destruction of over 40 places of worship, 2710 sackings, 500 people in exile, three men on death row and 477 students expelled.

It said that the National Safety Court have sentenced 208 civilians to long-year imprisonment, including 20 doctors sentenced to up to 15 years of imprisonment.”

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/22/c_131263365.htm

@86 Revlon

There is another Saudi reportedly killed while ‘visiting’ his friend in Homs. Is he the same one?

Any reaction from the Saudi Embassy?
Shouldn’t they put a warning to their citizens not to go to places where there is violence?

51. JAD:
هيغ يؤكد تفضيله الحل العربي على العسكري
بريطانيا تفشل في توحيد المعارضة السورية

لماذا لم يفضل الحل السوري؟ في جميع الأحوال لم يطلب من بريطانيا أن تبحث لسورية عن حلول ! انه تدخل في شؤون الدول!

87. majedkhaldoun said:

“We do not want to get rid of the syrian army”

You, Revlon and Tara are obviously not in agreement about the fate of the army after Bashar leaves. You don’t want the Iraq model (no iraqi army but the US army in control), nor the Egypt model( army in control), nor the Tunisian mdel ( army on the side), what do you suggest?

AlBaradei prime minister?

CAIRO, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) — The head of Egypt’s ruling military council Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi will address the nation Tuesday following days of deadly clashes between protestors and riot police in Cairo and other cities, state television reported.

The council, which has not yet decided to accept the government ‘s resignation, is reportedly approaching Mohamed ElBaradei, former head of the United Nations’ nuclear watchdog IAEA, for the prime minister’s position.

Irritated
I don’t think there is disagreement,the only looser is you.

A very thorough analysis of the region geopolitic situation

http://www.realclearworld.com/articles/2011/11/22/syria_iran_and_the_balance_of_power_in_the_middle_east_99768.html
Syria, Iran and the Balance of Power in the Middle East
By George Friedman

..
If al Assad survives – and at the moment, wishful thinking by outsiders aside, he is surviving – Iran will be the big winner. If Iraq falls under substantial Iranian influence, and the al Assad regime – isolated from most countries but supported by Tehran – survives in Syria, then Iran could emerge with a sphere of influence stretching from western Afghanistan to the Mediterranean (the latter via Hezbollah).

The Russian Navy have entered into the Syrian maritime belt around port Tartus on November, 21st. Sources say that they are there for prevention of any foreign military intervention in affairs of Syria.

The western mass-media are assured that it is demonstration of intention by Moscow to protect the middle-Eastern ally. Earlier, on November, 17th, the Syrian mass-media informed that to coast of Syria there are three military ships of the Navy of the Russian Federation.

They can formally explain the presence there struggle against a piracy and weapons smuggling to Syria for insurgents, writes RBC.

Earlier Bashar Asad has promised «to battle up to the end» in case of foreign intervention. He also has warned that intrusion into Syria becomes «earthquake in the middle East».

In the meantime and the prime minister of Turkey Tajip Erdogan, and the Minister of Defense of Israel Ehud the Barrack have declared that the Syrian leader has passed a point of a non-return, and have suggested it to leave voluntary. The ultimatum about the termination of violence against civilians has expired the LOG on November, 20th, after this date leaguers of the Arabian states promised to enter in territory of Syria of “safety zone”, that is actually to begin intervention.

#93 Majedalkhaldoon

I guess you’re right, I am loosing my patience with your escapism from the realities.

You promised imminent revelations of Adnan Bakkour weeks ago, any updates?

Bronco

I asked you a direct question 2 days ago with an intention to believe the answer.  You ignored it.  I am taken back by the statement you made not answering.  Acknowledging that abundant religious hatred is something naive Tara recently discovered, why do I care to know?  Somehow I am reminded with the Hamidieh.  Go figure.

It may be time and personally more of a rational resolution that the vehemence and enthusiasm exhibited and published by SC [excepting those comments made by hasbaras and zionists] regarding the Syrian Regime is to consider:-

a) The rights of the Syrian population that is quite content with the existing Government. And incidentally question;-

b) Why does the Arab League not consider the Tahrir Square demonstrations as equally valid of their interest as the demonstrations in Damascus?

As some well known British politician has been quoted as saying …”its better to jaw jaw than kill, kill”.

Peace u all.

Mohamed el Baradei dose not strike me as a genuine solid person. Egypt deserves better.

97 Tara

Sorry, I missed the question, what was it?

With The Collapse Of The U.S. Debt Supercommittee, What Will Now Happen To The Pentagon’s Budget

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-wYm_HIK_v-s/TsrvSZuF7wI/AAAAAAAAb00/AnwJiMvtC9M/s1600/photo%2B1.jpg

http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-20Hn-H6CzQI/Tsru7drnl4I/AAAAAAAAb0o/TCoMGtqnaWQ/s1600/photo%2B1.jpg

Israeli officials: ElBaradei an Iranian agent
11.09.11

Senior state officials accuse former IAEA chairman of covering up for Islamic Republic during his term, allowing Iranians to move ahead with nuclear program while playing for time. ‘He is a despicable person,’ one of them says. El Baradei calls accusations ‘false’; Iranian Foreign Ministry says Tehran ready to resume nuke talks ‘with respect for our nation’s rights’

http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4146150,00.html

UN Resolution Condemning Syria Abuses Passes With Arab Backing

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-22/un-resolution-condemning-syria-abuses-passes-with-arab-backing.html#

42 Ann

“The Muslim Brotherhood and other political parties met on Monday after which the Brotherhood issued a “collective apology” for not joining the protesters’ calls for the SCAF to loosen its hold on power earlier”

The MB want the elections NOW, as they know that if they are postponed they’ll loose the momentum. That’s why they did not join the protesters. They are torn…

Brave boy…

#103 Haytham

This is a non-binding resolution of the UN Human Rights Council.

Israel has had 27 condemnations since 2006, the latest was on 2 June 2010 and none was effective or even followed up.

http://www.unwatch.org/site/c.bdKKISNqEmG/b.3820041/

Saudi Arabia is considered Not Free, *Worst of the Worst*, Threat to Council*

Read more about the members of the UNCR and its credibilty

http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1330815&ct=2454195&msource=UNHRC&tr=y&auid=1758634

WMD from Yemen to Cairo (too expensive for the Syrian gov)
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/517437
5:31 pm: The Euromediterranean Human Rights Network (EMHRN) on Monday condemned the targeting of peaceful protesters in Cairo with internationally banned gases. The Geneva-based group said it was rallying an international condemnation against these violations. The EMHRN strongly condemned the targeting of peaceful protestors by
the police and the armed forces as well as the use of excessive violence against them, leading to dozens of deaths and hundreds of injuries.

In a statement on Monday, the EMHRN said the use of tear gas, live ammunition and snipers to disperse a peaceful sit-in was “unacceptable and fully against all
international norms and conventions.” EMHRN Regional Director Amany al-Sinwar said that testimonies by several Egyptian activists described the use of an internationally
banned gas known as CR gas by security forces and the armed forces. She added that the EMHRN received similar testimonies of vomiting, paralysis and temporary loss of vision after exposure to the gas. Sinwar added that the EMHRN documented the use of this gas against protestors for the first time since the escalation of the peaceful
uprising on 25 January.

The EMHRN denounced this “serious violation against civilians by using internationally banned gas, which is classified as a being a carcinogenic and of being deadly when exposed to it for long periods of time.”

The 1993 Paris Convention on chemical warfare criminalized the use of such gases. The 1907 Hague Convention also prohibited the use of toxic warfare that results in torture, while the 1925 Geneva Protocol prohibits the use of asphyxiating and poisonous gases.

The EMHRN called on the leadership of Egypt’s police force and that of the Egyptian army to “immediately stop targeting civilians, and respect their right to peaceful sit-ins, while punishing those responsible for the crimes committed against them.”

watch this ya klab el Assad , why the revolution will succeed:

the people of Taftanaz protest in front of tanks and snipers, holding independence flag and shouting “the Syrian army are traitors”

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69N3Yj5w9-M

#106 habibi, you forgot to mention that Russia and China abstained at the UN Human Rights Council and did not vote against it, very important for what’s coming next.

@ Juergen #63: I assert that Article 3 has been benign and harmless to non-Muslims and will remain so. Until you can show the contrary, you should shut up. It’s incumbent on the whingers to show just cause for whingeing.

I thought two weeks ago that the daily count of burials of killed security forces men would decrease, because the security forces had retaken control of bad neighborhoods in Homs. I was wrong.
The reality of events:
22 nov 2011. 8 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/22/383279.htm
21 nov 2011. 6 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/22/383006.htm
20 nov 2011. 16 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/20/382793.htm
19 nov 2011. 4 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/20/382599.htm
18 nov 2011. No record.
17 nov 2011. 7 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/18/382187.htm
16 nov 2011. 11 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/17/381988.htm
15 nov 2011. 4 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/15/381669.htm
14 nov 2011. See two different lists of burials dated 13 Nov. One of the two is 14 Nov in all likelihood.
13 nov 2011. 12 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/14/381276.htm
13 nov 2100. 9 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/14/381447.htm
12 nov 2011. 8 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/13/381096.htm
9 nov 2011. 7 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/10/380614.htm
8 nov 2011. 9 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/08/380471.htm
“Soldiers” meaning men in any of the security forces.

If this comment is a duplicate, it’s because the DELETE option is broken in the comment entry box. I thought two weeks ago that the daily count of burials of killed security forces men would decrease, because the security forces had retaken control of bad neighborhoods in Homs. I was wrong.
The reality of events:
22 nov 2011. 8 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/22/383279.htm
21 nov 2011. 6 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/22/383006.htm
20 nov 2011. 16 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/20/382793.htm
19 nov 2011. 4 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/20/382599.htm
18 nov 2011. No record.
17 nov 2011. 7 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/18/382187.htm
16 nov 2011. 11 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/17/381988.htm
15 nov 2011. 4 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/15/381669.htm
14 nov 2011. See two different lists of burials dated 13 Nov. One of the two is 14 Nov in all likelihood.
13 nov 2011. 12 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/14/381276.htm
13 nov 2100. 9 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/14/381447.htm
12 nov 2011. 8 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/13/381096.htm
9 nov 2011. 7 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/10/380614.htm
8 nov 2011. 9 soldiers buried. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/11/08/380471.htm
“Soldiers” meaning men in any of the security forces.

I always loved small victories while waiting for the ultimate one. They invigorate the struggle and are pretty sweet. The UN condemnation today of Syria’s violation of human rights is a little sweet victory. 121 in favor, and 13 Not in favor. The rest 40 some abstained. Let me guess who are the 13 not in favor, China, Russi, Iran, Yamen, and Lebanon..who else. Some misguided south Americ countries want to throw an infantile attempt against the west? Bashar is completely isolated…

——-

Bronco

See #247 from previous thread.

Malaysian Tribunal Finds Bush, Blair Guilty of War Crimes

Bush reportedly “super pissed” that he won’t get to see “those towers from that one Angelina Jolie movie.”

Well, it looks like George W. Bush and Tony Blair won’t be getting to enjoy cosmopolitan Kuala Lampur or the sandy beaches of Redang any time soon, as a tribunal in Malaysia has found both former heads of state to be guilty of committing war crimes. The panel of seven judges spent four days reviewing charges that Bush and Blair invaded Iraq with no legal right to do so. The trial was the brainchild of former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has long been one of the Iraq war’s fiercest critics. The panel, however, doesn’t have any power to imprison Bush and Blair should they ever decide to drop by Malaysia. Regardless, the tribunal intends to prosecute another seven figures – including Dick Cheney and Donald “Rummy” Rumsfeld – who played a role in hatching the war.

Jürgen (ref 109)

It seems you have just been experimenting the limits of the expected so-called democracy wished by most Syrian protesters.

the saudi tourist (terorist) who was doing sightseeing in Homs Albayada was a professorial throat cutter and was wanted !!

http://www.syriatruth.org/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%AE%D8%A8%D8%A7%D8%B1/%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AB%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%80%D8%A7%D8%B9%D8%A9/tabid/93/Article/5945/Default.aspx

القتيل السعودي في حمص أحد أعضاء الجماعات التي أرسلتها السعودية إلى العراق ، ودخل سوريا حديثا عن طريق التسلل ، وتخصص في الذبح!؟

دمشق ، الرياض ، لندن ـ الحقيقة ( خاص): قدمت ساحة المواجهات العسكرية بين الجيش والأجهزة الأمنية السورية من جهة ، والمنظمات المسلحة مختلفة المشارب من جهة أخرى ، أول دليل على تورط جهات استخبارية وأصولية خارجية في الأزمة الداخلية السورية. وجاء هذا الدليل بعد مقتل السعودي حسين الخالدي في عملية عسكرية نفذها الجيش السوري في شارع “البريقات” بحي “البياضة”أمس بحمص قتل خلالها أربعة من المسلحين. وقالت وكالة «سانا» الرسمية إن «إحدى الجهات المختصة نفذت عملية نوعية في حي البياضة في حمص تمكنت خلالها من قتل أربعة إرهابيين ومصادرة أسلحتهم”. ونقلت عن مصدر رسمي في حمص قوله إن «من بين الإرهابيين الذين قتلوا خالد الراجح الملقب ببندر»، لافتا إلى انه «على رأس قائمة الإرهابيين المطلوبين الذين روعوا الأهالي في المدينة”. إلا أن والد الإرهابي القتيل كشف في صفحته على ” فيسبوك” أن القتيل خالد الراجح هو ابنه حسين بندر المفرع الخالدي. وقد حفلت الصفحة بالتعازي التي اتصفت غالبيتها بأسماء وهمية، تكشف في جانب منها صبغة طائفية وعشائرية. وفيما قال الملقب بحمد سعيد هواش مسلط الملحم «باسمي نيابة عن آل الملحم وقبيلة الجبور أتقدم بأحر التعازي لعائلة الشهيد ولقبيلة بني خالد البطلة والأصيلة ولجميع شهداء سوريا وأبطال حمص الأبية»، تقدمت صفحة «الحلف السني» بتعازيها لـ«الشيخ المفرع الخالدي أعزك الله، صبرك الله، قواك الله، أحسن الله إليك»، مضيفة إن «لله ما أعطى وله ما أخذ ونحسبه شهيدا سعيدا ولأبويه شفيعا …اللهم اسكنه الفردوس وانتقم ممن قتله من حلف القرامطة والمجوس”. ومن المعلوم أن هذه اللغة يقتصر استخدامها غالبا على المجموعات الإسلامية ـالوهابية مثل “القاعدة” وأخواتها ، التي كانت أول من أدخل عملية الذبح بالسكاكين ( جز الأعناق تحديدا) إلى المنطقة من خلال “القاعدة” في أفغانستان و “الزرقاوي” في العراق.
وكان سبق لأئمة سعوديين أن ناصروا «الجهاد في سوريا، وهو موقف نأت السعودية رسمياً بنفسها عنه». وكان وزير الخارجية السوري وليد المعلم طالب الرياض، في مؤتمر صحافي له أمس الأول، «بلعب دور إيجابي» في الأزمة السورية.

وإلى ما تقدم ، أقر مصدر سعودي في صحيفة “الشرق الأوسط ” الصادرة بلندن لـ”الحقيقة” بأن المقتول ” هو أحد عناصر الجماعات السعودية المسلحة التي أرسلتها الاستخبارات السعودية للقتال في العراق ، وكان دخل سوريا قبل أسابيع قادما من من هناك متسللا” . وقالت مصادر محلية في حمص إن الخالدي هو من أحد عناصر المجموعات التي تتولى ذبح الأبرياء بالسكين على الطريقة الزرقاوية بعد اختطافهم من سيارات الأجرة ( السيرفيس) التي تعمل على خطوط المواصلات بين المدينة وعدد من الضواحي والقرى التي يقطنها مواطنون من أقليات دينية معينة. وكان عدد من هذه السيارات قد وقع في كمائن مشابهة على طريق حمص ـ مصياف الذي يمر في منطقة الحولة ، وعلى طريق حمص ـ المخرّم ، بينما نشر مؤخرا شريط على شبكة يوتيوب يظهر أحد عناصر هذه الجماعات وهو يذبح مواطنا من هؤلاء بالسكين كما تذبح الخراف ، بينما كانت أصوات رفاقه ترتفع بالتكبير. وتعتذر “الحقيقة” عن نشره بسبب فظاعة المشهد. و يتجنب الإعلام الرسمي نشر أي شيء من عمليات الذبح من هذا النوع ” لعدم تأجيج المشاعر الطائفية”، رغم أن ضحاياها في حمص ومنطقة قلعة المضيق في حماة بلغ أكثر من مئة عملية خلال الأشهر الثلاثة الأخيرة التي لم يجد أي منها طريقه إلى الإعلام.

https://www.facebook.com/

Comment 106 links are interesting. UN council ranging states based on Freedom House rating is laughable and gives this list:
“Worst of the Worst” and “Threat to the council”:
-China,
-Russia,
-Cuba
-Saudy Arabia

Freedom House Being funded by US government, 1st three are “Worst of the Worst” because of politics, but we can guess SA is really bad but still got to UN council. A few more resolution against Syria and SA can claim overall positive voting record.

@ 108 newfolder: According to Bloomberg news, “Russia and China voted against today’s resolution.” Altogether there were 122 votes in favor, 13 against and 41 abstentions. I can’t as of yet find the roll call of who voted what way, nor find the text of the resolution but Bloomberg reports that the resolution “calls on the Assad regime to… comply with an Arab League ultimatum”. Since Russia’s foreign ministry is on record with criticisms of recent Arab League actions, I’d expect that Russia voted against. I see that Associated Press is reporting that Russia and China abstained.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-22/un-resolution-condemning-syria-abuses-passes-with-arab-backing.html

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hclvkQdZv0g5ZYhotl3Wxtk6rQmw?docId=7bc4c5d661384c09bad406fa6c0e175d

Ya Mara Ghalba ,

You and i know that article 3 is worthless and a cause for division, the Christian think that they have no chance of ever become presidents but they do not have that chance without the article as with 80% Muslim Sunni i see no chance for that, it is bad as many Sunni will start as they are doing now pointing out who is a real Muslim or who is not, they do not consider the Alawat as muslims and the Druz are Druz,

this article will only divide the Syrian between citizens or not.
and will give set aside and quotas to Muslim leaders as they are the only ones who can lead,

I have another question for you, why would you want to deny the 80 to 90 Muslims the chance of electing a christian for president, isn’t that a denial of their rights, so leave it clean all Syrians are eligible, we all know that a christian will need about 200 years if ever to become president,

About the Islamic values that you talk about,
The Arab Christians that live in Syria adhere to the christian/ Islamic values they are closer in their values to the Muslims than to the western Christians,

Islamic organization can have what the christian organization have in the US ( the Christian moral majority), they can call the Muslim moral majority , as long as they do not impose their views on others, they can convince others but not blackmail anybody.

by the way i asked this question before and the majority agreed that there is nothing in Islam for a Christian leader.if qualified and what more you want than the Syrian choice.

Beware of “huge believers in American freedom”!

How nicely edited and soft is the language of this WashPost article… The guy was “caught up” in Tahrir’s clashes, he was just planning to get back to the US next month…
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/derrik-sweeneys-father-son-caught-up-in-the-hype-of-egypt-protests/2011/11/22/gIQAbMTOlN_story.html

Derrik Sweeney headed off to Egypt in August filled with American idealism and the youthful vigor of a conservative 19-year-old, his father said Tuesday. And after several months amid the tumult of revolutionary Egypt, the Georgetown University student had been looking forward to heading home to Missouri next month. But Tuesday he got caught up in the violent chaos of the Cairo streets and was arrested by Egyptian authorities for allegedly throwing molotov cocktails at police.
(…)
“He’s a huge believer in American freedom,” he said. He said his son interned this year with Rep. Blaine Luetkemeyer (R-Mo.) in Washington.

“I suspect what happened is . . . their government probably isn’t absolutely free,” he said. “I suspect it’s a military government. . . . and I suspect that being with a bunch of Egyptian students, he probably got caught up in something. Who knows?

Dear Irritated:

I know it is no binding resolution, however it is important Symbolic victory. It shows the extension of the regime’s isolation.

#115 No, Russia and China abstained. That was later corrected/added to the Reuters report:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/22/us-syria-un-idUSTRE7AL1U320111122

look at the bottom of the page –

(This story corrects Russian and Chinese votes to abstain in third paragraph)

Dear Norman @ 22,
I agree 100%. Why should the president be Muslim? He or she should be the most qualified for the job, regardless of their religion or ethnicity. I have no problem voting for a Christian, a Jew, an Ismaili, a Druze, a Kurd or an atheist for that matter. I also believe that most Syrians share my opinion.

Norman, you live in the USA and you were not born there. Under the Constitution of USA, only individuals who were born in USA are allowed to be candidates for president of USA. What harm does that do to you? None. You can’t vote for Arnold Schwartzenegger for president (former governor of California who was born in Europe). What harm is that? There are hundreds of thousands or even millions of native-born individuals in USA who are qualified to be President and would do a decent job of it if they were elected (getting elected is by far the hardest part). The removal of Arnold from the list does no harm because there are so many native-borns who’d be equally as good and better.

Likewise in Syria, there are so many, many Muslims who’d do a passably good job as President that it is harmless for the country to exclude the Christians from candidacy. Harmless for the Christians in the country too. And the question is totally academic anyway because there’s no Christian aiming to be a presidential candidate who’s got any chance of being elected. Maybe the country could revisit this question in 25 years time, when Bashar will have reached retirement age. Until then, it’s “a tempest in a teapot”, having no practical value. The restriction of the Presidency to Muslims is symbolic. The symbolism is harmless to non-Muslims.

The Russian and Chinese abstention is of important significance. It means primarily that the Russia is not anymore labeling the Syrian revolution as an armed rebellion, as its FM Lavrov claimed many time.

I told we would see the results of Ghalioun’s visit to Russia shortly.

@Newfolder Post 108

Wow that gave me goose bumps, this child is a brave soul.
I’m not sure I would have done the same after a severe beating like that, the courage this child exhibits is more powerful than any tank shell, bullet, shabeeha, or any other tool the regime uses.
Everyday I get humbled further by the brave people that in spite of the horrendous actions of the regime keep going out and protesting for their rights, and to be free!

108 Newfolder

“Russia and China abstained at the UN Human Rights Council”

Because they know it is a useless and purely symbolic resolution that has no effect whatsoever only to give good conscience to the UN that is is doing something. Also why bother antagonizing the human rights defenders considered by the UNCR as a “threat to the council” such as Saudi Arabis’ democracy and Bahrain in the middle of human rights violation.

China and Russia are keeping their veto to more serious resolutions.

Haytham 118

After 27 resolutions by the HCR towards Israel, how isolated it is?

#120 a prominent M.B leader said on a satellite channel they have no problem with a Christian president in Syria, so long as he’s elected fairly.

The M.B have come a long way since the 80’s, having lived abroad all these years made them moderates. The younger generation, many born or brought up in the west are very liberal.

#124 sure buddy, keep day dreaming. And when they finally drop the steaming pile of dung that is the Syrian regime’s liability, then you’ll just say they were part of the universal conspiracy against good ol’ Bisho and co all along, but were just hiding it for dramatic effect!

#12 Haytham

“the Russia is not anymore labeling the Syrian revolution as an armed rebellion”:

Do you seriously think that Russia will drop the position they’ve held for the last 8 months because of a UNCR resolution sponsored by the most violators of the Human Rights, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain?

Come on, it is a just a political tactical move as Russia and China are recurrent human rights violators and they want to appear more conciliatory to the UN after the veto they have given to the UNSC.

Newfolder #129

How wonderful! The MB is becoming “very liberal”, exactly like their master, model and fund providers Saudi Arab and Qatar.

Who believes that ridiculous propaganda, except other MB sympathizers ?
Who is that proeminent MB leader anyway?

The restriction of the presidency to Muslims is politically useful for the regime. It helps to shore up the support for the regime among Syrian Muslims of the more conservative kinds. It gives the Muslims a symbolic “moral anchor” and reassures them that the State is not a risk of drifting into some set of values that are alien to Islam. I want them to get that assurance because Syria is not at any such risk in any case, and furthermore because I want the regime to reduce its future risk of getting challenged from a political competitor of a quasi-Islamic type. It would be bad news for the non-Muslims of Syria if this Assad secular regime lost a swathe of its popular support to a quasi-Islamic competitor.

@ Irritated. I agree with your several posts there. Except — now going off-topic — I don’t know what’s your evidence for your remark that Russia is a “recurrent human rights violator”.

Y M G,

the reason that foreign born can not be president of the Us because of the fear about their loyalty, i understand that as i do not know how i feel if the US was in war with Syria but i can tell that my children are fully committed to the US , i do not see any rule that Muslims can not be president even after 9/11/01, or Jews, they have their own state so why should be presidents in the US , i hope you do not think that the Christian Arab Syrians are not as loyal as the Muslims, i can tell you about jol Jammal and others ,

About there are enough Muslims to chose from, they are enough Christians in the US and even in Syria to chose Christian president , should that be the case , I say NO,NO, let the people decide whom they want .

The AL problems are arriving all at the same time. Which one is the highest priority to tackle?

– Syria crisis
– Egypt crisis
– Yemen crisis
– Kuwait crisis
– Libya crisis

Thank God, Tunisia, Lebanon and Palestine are quiet for now

What else is on the way?

134. Ya Mara Ghalba

If you look at the UNCR site:

http://www.unwatch.org/site/apps/nl/content2.asp?c=bdKKISNqEmG&b=1330815&ct=2454195&msource=UNHRC&tr=y&auid=1758634

“Worst of the Worst” and “Threat to the council”:
-China,
-Russia,
-Cuba
-Saudi Arabia

IRRITATED and all other menhebaks wlad il [Deleted by admin: Warning. Next time you will be banned for one week]

Your time is coming very soon.

Norman, I am a hard-core atheist in my religion. In most countries, including your USA, atheists cannot get elected to the presidency. The Constitution allows it, but the voters don’t. That is worse than a symbolic prohibition in the Constitution.

@38 Khalid Tlass

Spare your insults, just join your likes, the salafists in Egypt or Libya, at least there you have a chance to create your Caliphate where they were sandals not boots.

The wave of Islamism sweeps Arab countries

“In Parliament, the PJD initially focused its efforts on social and religious issues like the Islamic headscarf for women and the sale of alcohol, but has since adjusted its message to focus on issues with wider resonance, like fighting corruption, reforming education and combating rampant unemployment.”

Morocco’s Islamists may bolster next government on friday’s elections
22/11/2011
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=27396

RABAT, Morocco (AP) — Once seen as a threat to this North African kingdom, Morocco’s Islamist party may now be key to the government’s credibility.

The opposition Islamist Justice and Development Party is poised for a strong showing in Friday’s legislative elections — the second elections prompted by Arab world uprisings this year. Facing a protest movement calling for a boycott of the vote, Morocco’s rulers are ready to embrace the once-feared PJD to restore confidence in the system.

While Morocco’s own Arab Spring protests never seemed to truly threaten the ruling system, they still prompted King Mohammed VI to introduce constitutional reforms and hold early elections.

With the victory of an Islamist party in Tunisia’s elections last month, and religious movements in Egypt and Libya set to compete in contests there, eyes are now on how Morocco’s PJD it will do on Friday. Victory would solidify the sense that the choice of the newly empowered masses of the Arab world is an Islamist one.

Though once described by Morocco’s secular elite as a threat to the country’s way of life, the PJD has cast itself as a moderate, anti-corruption crusading party ready to work within the system and, most importantly, fully supporting the monarchy.
{…}

SANA. His Excellency President Assad has signed a decree ordering the clocks to be turned back one hour.

Al-Arabiya: BREAKING NEWS:

The Arab League see through this latest attempt by the Syrian regime to buy time.

[Joke]

Canada laments cracks in Iran, Syria sanctions

Canada’s top diplomat on Tuesday lamented cracks in the West’s imposing of sanctions on Syria and Iran while also urging Russia and China to get onboard.

“We’d like to see others follow suit with the tough sanctions that Canada has” imposed on Iran, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird said one day after new sanctions against the Islamic republic were announced by the United States, Britain and Canada.

On Syria, he added: “We can’t even get a resolution of condemnation, let alone sanctions… through the UN Security Council.”

“That’s regrettable,” he said in comments directed at Russia and China after the two permanent members of the Security Council blocked UN sanctions against Syria.

{..}
http://news.yahoo.com/canada-laments-cracks-iran-syria-sanctions-172826494.html

The overwhelming support for the committee’s non-binding resolution showed how isolated Damascus has become. Compared to the three other countries singled out for condemnations by the General Assembly’s Third Committee — Iran, North Korea and Myanmar — Syria had the least number of supporters.

Arab states voting for the declaration were Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Libya, Mauritania, Morocco, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia and the United Arab Emirates. Syria was the only Arab state to vote against it, while Algeria, Comoros, Lebanon and Yemen abstained.

http://af.reuters.com/article/egyptNews/idAFN1E7AL1HJ20111122?pageNumber=1&virtualBrandChannel=0

I am delighted that Russia and China abstained , I hope Bashar get the message

Y M G

Then let the people of Syria say whom they want for president and do not put in the constitution,
in you desire the appease the Islamist you are going to make the Christians feel as not equal and lose their loyalty,

Congraulations to all Assad and status quo supporters. If this is the result of 40 years working hard for the arab cause and for the liberation of arab people, then your regime is a total default and useless.

Unity, Freedom and Socialism. The Baath Party maxima.

Freedom never existed. Socialism was destroyed due to the liberalism reforms of Assad which lead to this rural revolution. Unity is what was only achieved by ideological totalitarism but even Unity has finally been destroyed due to the stupidity of the president of Syria.

Once again, my sincere congratulations to all urban decaying assadists. This is what I call destroying a country, its culture, its elites and traditional burguoise, its mid-classes, its dignity, its national pride and even its golden past history by letting think the world Syria is a wild and unhuman place to live in.

As linked to by #143 Haytham, the resolution says the committee “strongly condemns the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities, such as arbitrary executions, excessive use of force and the persecution and killing of protesters and human rights defenders.”

Egypt, Oman and UA Emirates voted in favour of that condemnation. That is bad news for us on the pro-regime side.

Repeating myself from earlier, the reason why the Arab countries voted that way is that the anti-regime side won the media war in the Arabic countries (other than Syria). They won it through falsehoods, and the reason why they won it is that the Arabic newspapers in those countries didn’t send their own reporters to Syria to find out the truth, and relied instead on Western agencies — see #56 above. But the regime won the media war in Syria, and won it with the truth, so the regime has a lot of strength in Syria.

147 SANDRO LOEWE said:
“Congraulations to all Assad and status quo supporters. If this is the result of 40 years working hard for the arab cause and for the liberation of arab people, then your regime is a total default and useless”

Thank you. We accept your congratulation.
Also would like to congratulate you on free democratic Egypt. If this is the free democracy you are seeking then I would love to be under the Assad regime forever.

One should moarn the Egypt under Mubarak regime.

145. majedkhaldoun said: “I am delighted that Russia and China abstained , I hope Bashar get the message”

We are not paranoid, please tell us what the message is. There has been many messages that the president has to get esp from you, any one of your messages became a fact. I do not think so. Russia and China will support a stable Syria, regadless of the regime. I hope you got his message.

Alex; where are you, we have some one out of control. See comment 138 by Tlass. Mr. Tlass wrote before that he changed and becoming a nice person after having some anger control. Please review his comment

“138. Khalid Tlass said: IRRITATED and all other menhebaks wlad il sharmout,Get ready to lick our boots. Your time is coming very soon”.

SS 149

The fight for people´s civil political freedoms and democracy is not over in Egypt. The military just tried to survive by sacrifying Mubarak. But egyptians know very well their objectives and will keep on pushing until the fuc++++ militars leave political power they own since 1952. Nasser was a militar, Sadat was a militar, Mubarak was a militar. They are represent the same power that is still governing the elections in Egypt. Revolution will not be completed until military are not sent home in Yemen, Syria, Egypt and everywhere.

Syria and the Arab sanctions

“Syrian businessmen meanwhile said whatever the case, the imposition of Arab sanctions on the country, in addition to a raft of US and EU measures, will make life miserable”

“We want to strangle financially the Assad regime, not punish the people,”

“Another trader said the poor would suffer the most, regardless of Arab League assurances that it wants to spare the Syrian population of any added hardships.”

Isolated Syria eyes Iraq, Lebanon economic lifelines to counter sanctions
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/11/22/178634.html
Tuesday, 22 November 2011

Syria, isolated over its deadly protest crackdown, hopes to cash in on support from neighbors Iraq and Lebanon to counter Arab sanctions that threaten to choke its economy.

“We know how to manage when the going gets rough, because we have been facing sanctions for years,” a Syrian official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

“Russia is our political shield while Iraq, Lebanon and Iran are our economic lungs,” the official added.

The Arab League, which has suspended Syria’s membership in the 22-strong bloc, has threatened Damascus with punitive measures over the crackdown on protests and is due to meet on Thursday for more crisis talks.

Lebanon had voted against suspending Damascus along with Yemen at an emergency meeting of the bloc on November 12, while Iraq abstained. Syria’s traditional allies Russia and Iran both slammed the suspension.

The European Union and the United States have already imposed a raft of sanctions on the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and his inner circle to press for an end to the bloodshed.

More than 3,500 people, mostly civilians, have been killed in the country since mid-March when the wave of anti-regime protests erupted, according to the United Nations.

The Arabs are also preparing to punish Syria after it failed to implement a plan that had been endorsed by Damascus to pull its troops from the streets, free prisoners and engage in talks with the opposition.

And experts warn that the raft of sanctions the Arabs plan to impose could asphyxiate the country.

“We want to strangle financially the Assad regime, not punish the people,” Arab League deputy chief for economic affairs Mohammad Twaijri said in statement published on Monday in the Saudi business daily Al-Iqtissadiya.

The Arab sanctions could include “travel bans, halting bank transfers, freezing Syrian assets in Arab countries, halting Arab projects in Syria and joint Arab-Syrian projects,” the paper said quoting Twaijri.

He also said Syria’s membership in the Arab free trade zone could be frozen and that an Arab League economic and social committee would meet to decide which sanctions to impose before asking the bloc to vote on them.

According to Syria’s bureau of statistics, 52.5 percent of all Syrian exports went to Arab countries in 2009 while 16.4 percent of imports came from Arab nations.

Neighbouring Iraq, whose ties with Damascus have improved in the aftermath of the fall of Saddam Hussein’s regime, tops the list of importers, buying up 31.4 percent of outgoing Syrian goods.

“I don’t think that Iraq will take part in sanctions against Syria,” a government official with close ties to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki told AFP.

Syria also imports 4.1 percent of its goods from Lebanon, where the government is dominated by the Syria- and Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group.

A European economic expert based in Damascus says the Arabs have no legal basis to freeze Syria’s membership in the Arab free trade zone.

“There are no clauses in the pact calling for exclusion or suspension of a member. A nation can pull out but cannot be excluded. There is no legal basis for that,” the expert said.

Furthermore Syria can hit back and punish the Arabs by closing its borders with neighbors Turkey and Jordan – which have been critical of the crackdown – cutting off a major conduit for the transit of European goods destined for Saudi Arabia and other Gulf nations, the expert added.

Syrian businessmen meanwhile said whatever the case, the imposition of Arab sanctions on the country, in addition to a raft of US and EU measures, will make life miserable.

“We’ll breathe with much difficulty but we won’t die as long as the government sets up a real economic strategy” to counter the sanctions, said a Syrian who imports medical products.

Another trader said the poor would suffer the most, regardless of Arab League assurances that it wants to spare the Syrian population of any added hardships.

“For years we have faced Western embargoes and it has forced us to become inventive,” the businessman said.

“Many Syrians have set up offshore companies in several countries, including Lebanon, to sell or buy merchandise,” he added.

131. irritated said:
“#12 Haytham

“the Russia is not anymore labeling the Syrian revolution as an armed rebellion”:

Do you seriously think that Russia will drop the position they’ve held for the last 8 months because of a UNCR resolution sponsored by the most violators of the Human Rights, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain?”

This is called a day-time dream. A syndrome affecting most of the opposition. Let them enjoy their dreams

To #61. Ya Mara Ghalba,
I think all Muslims would appreciate your warm and fuzzy sentiments; however, I would like to disagree with you. Why can’t a Christian be president? Most Christians in Syria are indigenous population. Same goes for ethnicity. Why can’t a Kurd rule Syria? They are also indigenous population. Imagine that Salah Aldeen can not be the president of Syria today. What a great loss to our nation. With that rule, we might well be excluding some of our brightest and best.

The US should add sheikh Hassoun, the mufti guy to the terrorists list after he threatened to unleash suicidal Syrians and Lebanese in Europe and North America. He should be at least banned from traveling abroad except to sissy Iran. That would be a nice slap on the face. People should be responsible for their positions.

SS
You are desperate,
1- The people of Syria sent Your God a strong message that he should leave.
2- AL sent him a message that he is isolated and must reform or leave
3- The turkish PM and president told Bashar he should leave
4- Russian president told him reform or leave,
5- United Nations now told him to leave.
6- Europe and USA said Bashar lost his legitimacy,and he should go.

I hope you get the message by now.

Erdoğan has grown increasingly critical of the Syrian regime, and he said last week that the world must urgently “hear the screams” from Syria and do something to stop the bloodshed.

Erdogan wanting the world to “hear the screams from Syria and do something to stop the bloodshed” means that he can not wait until the AL declares their failure and subsequently get their Blessing as well as the international community blessing to interfere.  Recently, there has been no single day when Turkey did not criticize Bashar al Assad’s brutality.  Turkey does not want foreign intervention in Syria nor did she want it in Libya, but Turkey is not going to allow the killing to continue indefinitely.  I have on many times described Erdogan as a paper tiger.  I now retract.  It is very logical for the Turks to wait for a final saying from the AL as well as an implicit approval by the west in case things get sour and the NATO is needed to neutralize Iran.  Turkey will not have it’s troop in direct conflict with the Syrian army, it will establish and maintain a buffer zone and let Syrians finish the job.  

#153

“We know how to manage when the going gets rough, because we have been facing sanctions for years,” a Syrian official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

That was true when people were behind the government not when they are in direct confrontation with it.

Egyptian revolutionists are back to Tahrir Square. It is unprecedented, at least for my generation, to see Arabs not settling for crumbs.

They fought for their dignity and they reclaimed it. Now they are free, they want transparency.

Their demands will be met. They dictate their needs, the government have no choice but to answer to THEM, The People, The EGYPTIANS.

With freedom comes responsibility. We will not fail ourselves. The sky is our limit.

Bravo YA MASR! Syria, the New Syria will be born. And soon all the Arab world….the complacency of my generation is getting paid with the blood of the new generation, our children, our youth.

We owe them a lot, our full support is the least we can give.

SS,

It is mind bugling, to let someone as #138 on SC, is he untouchable or what? Or perhaps he serve a certain agenda? I am flabbergasted by the red carpet treatment this creature has enjoyed…still.

Ah. Someone out there agreed already to #158

Arab States, Turkey Plan ‘No-Fly Zone’ Over Syria
Written by: Al Bawaba News
http://www.eurasiareview.com/22112011-arab-states-turkey-plan-no-fly-zone-over-syria/

November 22, 2011

 
Senior European sources said that Arab jet fighters, and possibly Turkish warplanes, backed by American logistic support will implement a no fly zone in Syria’s skies, after the Arab League will issue a decision, under its Charter, calling for the protection of Syrian civilians.

The sources told Kuwait’s al Rai daily that the no fly ban will include a ban on the movement of Syrian military vehicles, including tanks, personnel carriers and artillery, adding that this move would aim at curbing the movement of Assad forces, and cripple their ability to bomb cities. The European sources said the no fly ban might lead to the paralysis of the Syrian regime forces “in less than 24 hours.”

Meanwhile, it is reported that the leadership of the Turkish General Staff informed all the concerned parties with the Syrian issue its rejection of the idea that the Turkish army would launch any invasion to the Syrian territory including the area adjacent to the Turkish border to establish a “buffer zone” to protect civilians fleeing the violence.

http://syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=140274
one good article for Ghufran and Norman,from Syria News

Tara

“… Having said that, I sense a resentful sentiment on your part towards Sunni. Am I over reading? ..”

Yes, you are over reading. I make no distinction with the people of any race and religion, what counts for me is the integrity of the person.

“The European sources said the no fly ban might lead to the paralysis of the Syrian regime forces “in less than 24 hours.”

The Arab protection of Syrian will cover southern Syria,Deraa, The turkish NFZ will cover Idleb ,it will be hard to apply it to Homs area.
However I do not understand how they will cause a regime collapse in 24 hour,unless….
I am optimistic.

Iran summons Turkey’s envoy over attack on Iranian bus
2011-11-23

TEHRAN, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) — Iran’s Foreign Ministry summoned Turkey’s ambassador to Tehran on Tuesday to protest Ankara’s inaction towards a terrorist attack on an Iranian bus in Turkey earlier this month, the local satellite Press TV reported.

On Nov. 15, armed men opened fire on an Iranian bus, which was headed for Syria with 40 passengers in the Ercis district of the eastern Turkey’s Van province. Nine Iranian nationals were injured in the attack.

During the meeting with Turkey’s envoy Umit Yardim, an Iranian Foreign Ministry official urged Turkey to protect the lives and property of Iranian nationals in the country and to identify and sue the perpetrators behind the Nov. 15 attack, said the report.

Yardim promised to convey Iran’s objection to Turkey’s government.

Bronco

😉 good to know.

What do you think about my “new prediction” in # 162, realistic? If so Syria will celebrate white Christmas as opposed to red.

Rana Kabbani from London: more rumours

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/nov/21/syria-end-assad-in-sight

“As rumours fly around that Bashar has been offered asylum by the UAE, and has allegedly bought property in Dubai for $60m to live in, we see the end in sight for the “banality of evil”. It’s been a long and painful time coming.”

Majed,
I read the article when it was published and I do not disagree,you are preaching to the choir here,the regime is the problem and a regime change is the solution,however,unlike some Syrians,I am not willing to ignore the external factor and the destructive role it plays along with militant islamists. The regime was wrong in using force against unarmed Syrians,and the opposition is wrong in using violence,remember,clear self defense is not the type of violence I am referring to. We are not yet ready for the total collapse of the regime,we still need to guarantee the safety of Syrians,all Syrians,and agree on certain principles that govern the transitional period,and the SNC is just starting to talk about this after 8 months of blood shed.Saying that the SNC and its military arm,the FSA,can do the job unaided and unwatched is irresponsible and simply untrue.

“Even China, which voted against a Syria resolution in the Security Council in early October, would likely vote in favor of the Wittig resolution this time. Until now, Beijing has persistently adhered to a principle of non-intervention, says Chinese Middle East expert Ma Xiaolin, but if the Arabs themselves are willing to avert a humanitarian catastrophe in Syria, China will also have to support sanctions. “Beijing doesn’t want to antagonize the Arab League.”
The Arab League, officially called the League of Arab States, was founded 66 years ago. It took a generation before the League’s summit meetings no longer served the sole purpose of satisfying the Arab officials’ appetite for pageantry, but also could arrive at political decisions that reflected the needs of their people. “Perhaps we are now seeing how our civil uprisings and revolutions are reaching the elite for the first time, the ones who still control the majority of governments in the region,” says Lebanese journalist Rami Khouri. “It looks as though the regimes were beginning to recognize the sentiments and moral values of their people.”

http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,799070,00.html
11/22/2011
By Matthias Schepp, Wieland Wagner and Bernhard Zand

 
AP
Eight months after the deadly uprising began in Syria, the country seems to be reaching a turning point. The Arab League, previously an obstacle to change, is now pushing for an end to the Assad regime. The Emir of Qatar is spearheading the movement.

  A magnificent building from the 1980s, but only four stories tall and 70 meters (230 feet) long? It was too old, too small and not tall enough. Bulldozers demolished the building a few weeks ago.

The structure in the capital of Doha that once housed the Foreign Ministry of Qatar in a prominent location along the waterfront promenade, the Corniche, next to the emir’s palace, is now a pile of rubble.
Qatar’s 59-year-old Emir, Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, has built a new headquarters for his diplomats. It is a glass tower in a neighborhood of skyscrapers at the opposite end of the bay, a building so large that each of the ministry’s three top officials received an entire floor to himself. Each chose the impressive view he would have from his desk: overlooking the roundabout popularly known as the TV Roundabout, because of its location next to studios run by Al-Jazeera, the Arab world’s most important television network; across to Khalifa Stadium, where the opening ceremony for the 2022 FIFA World Cup will probably be held; or out to Al Udeid Air Base, the largest air base in the Middle East, where a US military jet takes off for Iraq or Afghanistan every few minutes.

The emirate is too small for its emir. Hamad is the ruler of a country only about half the size of the US state of New Jersey, with a population of only about 250,000. Nevertheless, Qatar currently has more diplomatic clout than most of its much larger neighbors.

Armed Insurrection

As the holder of the rotating chairmanship of the Arab League, Qatar is not only pursuing its own interests in Libya, Egypt and Tunisia, but is also pressing ahead with negotiations on the most important issue in the Middle East today: What is the Arab position on Syria?

No two countries in the Arab world are as drastically different today as the calm, rich emirate on the Gulf and the police state on the eastern shore of the Mediterranean, which is currently coming apart at the seams. There is now only one way to interpret the news coming out of Syria since last week: An armed insurrection is beginning.

Last Tuesday night, a unit of Syrian army defectors attacked an intelligence base on the outskirts of Damascus. According to eyewitness reports, the battle lasted four hours. The rebels reportedly fired on the base with rocket-propelled grenades, while the regime troops returned their fire from combat helicopters. There were 70 casualties on last Monday alone, while some 300 people were killed in the first two weeks of the month. It already seems clear that November will likely be the bloodiest month of the insurrection.

So far, Syria’s neighbors have done little more than criticize Damascus and threaten to impose sanctions. They had feared that the country, divided both ethnically and along religious lines, could descend into a civil war, much like Lebanon in the 1970s and Iraq after the fall of Baghdad in 2003.

This concern now seems to have given way to the realization that Syrian President Bashar Assad is no longer viable and, as his regime will not step down voluntarily, a violent end to the crisis can no longer be averted.

Assad Under Attack

“If I were in his shoes, I’d step down,” Jordanian King Abdullah II said last Monday. Prince Turki bin Faisal, Saudi Arabia’s longstanding intelligence chief, said: “There will be growing popular opposition to him, and killing every day. I think it’s inevitable that he will have to step down in one form or another.”

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan launched the sharpest attack against the Syrian leader, saying: “Bashar Assad should see the tragic ends of the ones who declared war against their own people,” adding that history tends to remember men like Assad as “bloodsuckers.” When a Syrian mob attacked the Turkish embassy in Damascus soon afterwards, even the otherwise moderate Turkish president, Abdullah Gül, issued an open threat of war, saying: “If Syrian authorities do not take the necessary measures, if these attacks are repeated, then our reaction will certainly be a different one.” The pro-government Turkish newspaper Zaman followed Gül’s statement with the headline: “The countdown for Assad has begun.”

There has only been one other instance in the recent past in which the region’s leaders have so openly called for one of their own to step down: In mid-March, when an international coalition joined forces to bring down then Libyan dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

As in the case of Libya, the condemnation of Assad was preceded last week by a surprising resolution on the part of the Arab League, which was pushed through by Qatar. For weeks, the emir and his cousin, Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, had urged fellow Arab League members, from Rabat to Muscat, to eject Syria, one of the organization’s founding members.

On the Saturday before last, the Arab League issued a resolution that carried far more weight for Damascus than any appeals or threats from the West: If the regime did not withdraw its troops from Syrian cities within four days, and if it did not allow international observers into the country and enter into a serious dialogue with the opposition, it’s membership would be suspended.

Arab League Acts

The Syrian foreign minister reacted with an angry outburst. The Arab League’s decision was “shameful and malicious,” he said. “We wanted the role of the Arab League to be a supporting role, but if the Arabs wanted to be conspirators, this is their business.” He added that when the Syrians mentioned “Arabs” in this light, they were referring to the residents of the Arabian Peninsula.

The Arab League suspended Syria last Wednesday and gave the country another three days before imposing economic sanctions. But this deadline could now be the last. “We want solutions, not more speeches,” Qatari Foreign Minister Hamad bin Jassim said threateningly.

Does this mean that the Syrian regime could end in much the same way as the Gadhafi regime in Libya?

Though the West wants to see a new government in Damascus, the inclination to attack Syria militarily is much less pronounced in Washington, Paris and London, even after the enormous death toll of the last eight months. The country is more complex than Libya, its population is almost four times as large, and its army of 300,000 men is much stronger than Gadhafi’s was.

The Assad regime also has a strong ally in Russia. Although Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met with a delegation of the opposition Syrian National Council last Tuesday, the criticism he voiced two days later was not directed at the regime, but at the opposition. The attack on the intelligence base near Damascus was an act of “civil war,” Lavrov said. He also warned the insurgents and the West against forging “plans for acts of war.”

Turkish Intervention?

Most of all, however, even the Syrian opposition has shied away from calling for intervention by an international coalition. “The people do not want Western intervention,” said Mohammed Riad Shaqfa, the leader of the Syrian Muslim Brotherhood and a member of the Syrian National Council.

But he could very well imagine Turkey intervening, Shaqfa continued. Strategists and diplomats in Doha and Ankara have been weighing this possibility for weeks. In addition to a no-fly zone, they are also considering the establishment of a buffer zone that would extend up to 30 kilometers (19 miles) into Syria from the Turkish border, and that could offer the growing numbers of refugees safe haven and serve as a military base for Syrian army defectors.

“We hope that there will be no need for these type of measures,” Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said last week, “but there are certain universal values all of us need to respect and protecting citizens is the responsibility of every state.” According to the pro-government newspaper Sabah, Ankara had informed the Syrian opposition that there were three conditions: that a no-fly zone be supported by a United Nations mandate, that the initiative be introduced by the Arab League and that the European Union and the United States serve as guarantor powers.

German UN Ambassador Peter Wittig plans to submit a resolution threatening Syria with economic sanctions to the UN General Assembly this week. Qatar and other Arab countries support the measure. This is “progress,” Wittig told news agency DPA, noting that it shows “what fundamental changes the Arab Spring has brought about.”
…
Translated from the German by Christopher Sultan

How can you expect Syria to be free and democratic if non Muslims can not run for the presidency? Qualified candidates must be allowed to run and then it is up to the people not just islamists to elect their president.
According to the proposed constitution,somebody like Ar’our may run for president but not a man like Michel Kilo !!
It is disgusting to see that most opposition figures are silent about this issue. Salafi and militant Egyptian figures are already making it clear that voting for non Muslims in any election is Haraam in their sick mind,and what is next is declaring that certain Muslims have to pass a test before they are considered “trye” Muslims who are allowed to run for public office.
يا أمة ضحكت من جهلها الامم

Tara

What shameful victory would it be. The Syrians who fought like lions against the French and the Otttoman for their independence are now begging Turkey and some pathetic countries like Saudi Arabia and Qatar to rescue them from their own brothers.

That would be the most humiliating event that could happen to Syria.
Syria, that has been proud and owed nothing to nobody will become forever endebted and submitted to the USA and EU and to these rich and arrogant authoritarian regimes that took their revenge on the proud Assad. At least they can sleep, Iran is weaker now and Israel is safe.

If your predictions materializes, Christmas 2011 will be the darkest, reddest and saddest Christmas in the history of Syria and probably the last one for the Christian who will accept Sarkozy’s offer.
Nothing to rejoice… I think Syrians who love their country will be sad.

@171. Ghufran

After Bashar is gone, your criticism will be irrelevant. Christians won’t have any voice because probably most of them, like the Copts in Egypt, will be gone.

I wonder what will happen if Syria is attacked from the north and south, Syria will probably end up in a major civil war and i would not be surprised if Syria does not leach all the weapons that it has on Jordon and probably what can reach the Gulf on Qatar.

Who’s next?

If the government of Syria falls, the next is certainly Bahrain.

Irritated,
The King of Bahrain and Saudi Arabia sold out the Arab , the price for keeping the Saudi family in power after 9/11/01 is to support the US without question and since then they kept their part of the deal, so o , They will be here, they are not going anywhere.

174. Norman

The Arabs are not fool, they know that Jordan will be hit first.
They will avoid any military confrontation and will prefer to starve the Syrians hoping they will go against their leader.

In my view the opposite will happen. Syrians will suffer but will regroup around their leader even more as the foreign-funded opposition, Turkey, the USA, the EU and the AL have failed to create a Shalabi as an alternative acceptable leader. Therefore they are unleashing the only weapons they have, sanctions, knowing well they would painful yet ineffective.

Norman #176

Iran will not stay quiet if they see they could be cut out from Syria. They will stir Bahrain as much as they can. Bahrain is already shaken by the Human rights report coming out soon and is vulnerable to more uncontrollable cycles of violence.
Hitting Bahrain is hitting Saudi Arabia, that’s Iran probable retaliation to the Arab-Western coalition against Syria and against the recent sanctions from the US, UK and Canada.

@ Ghufran Post 171

As it stands today no one can run or become President of our beloved Republic unless he is from the House of Assad.

@ Ya Mara Ghalba Post 148

You said:

“Repeating myself from earlier, the reason why the Arab countries voted that way is that the anti-regime side won the media war in the Arabic countries (other than Syria). They won it through falsehoods, and the reason why they won it is that the Arabic newspapers in those countries didn’t send their own reporters to Syria to find out the truth, and relied instead on Western agencies”

My Response:

You must be kidding me right? No media outlet including your beloved SANA has unfettered access to Syria, and this was the case BEFORE all of this ever happened. The regime does not want reporters on the ground that they can’t control, asking questions they can’t spin, or having any form of journalistic integrity. They want mouth pieces that are following party lines and nothing less.

As for your criticism of the democratic system in the US, far from being perfect it does not discriminate against creed, race, or sex. If the people of the US are not ready for a non-christian to be President then that is their right, and it is their right to change their mind as well. 50 years ago a black man would have never been able to be president, 20 years ago a homosexual could not become a member of congress, 80 years ago woman had not right to vote. What I’m saying is that as long as the legislation does not discriminate, then everyone and anyone that is qualified has the right to be President, they might not succeed today but they could down the road.
As long as there is an article that discriminates against other creeds and races, then it is inherently prejiduce and racist. Our republic can be lead by any Syrian, as long as they are right man/woman for the job.

Bronco,

I just hope that Syria will close the border in the face of any citizen from any Arab country that imposes sanctions and ban their trucks from entering Syria, cars , let them go to Lebanon through the suez Canal, Jordon is most vulnerable any attack on Syria and Jordon will become a republic,

Irritated,

I doubt that Iran will start any kind of war as it knows that the US and KSA are waiting for Iran to make a move so they can justify an attack, i expect Iran if it is going to help Syria is to that in Syria, not Bahrain,

Usually, a no-fly zone is to prevent anything to fly, no? But for Syria, things go different. We are talking of a no army movement zone! I hope this is only propaganda.

http://www.eurasiareview.com/22112011-arab-states-turkey-plan-no-fly-zone-over-syria/

(…)

The sources told Kuwait’s al Rai daily that the no fly ban will include a ban on the movement of Syrian military vehicles, including tanks, personnel carriers and artillery, adding that this move would aim at curbing the movement of Assad forces, and cripple their ability to bomb cities. The European sources said the no fly ban might lead to the paralysis of the Syrian regime forces “in less than 24 hours.”

Will see if Saif Al-Islam goes to court or gets killed like his brother and his dad
تتناول الكثير من المواقع الإخبارية، بالإضافة إلى مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي، فيديو يظهر فيه سيف القذافي وهو يحظى بمعاملة ودية من قبل ثوار الزنتان، حتى أنهم سألوه عن ما إذا كان يريد دواء أو عصيرا ليشربه، فرد عليهم سيف الإسلام: “لا شكرا والله لا أريد”.

غير أن نجل العقيد معمر القذافي سخر من “الحكام الجدد” لليبيا، وخاطب الثوار الذين يحيطون به: “بعد فترة من الزمن ستجربون هؤلاء الحكام وتعرفونهم على حقيقتهم، وخص بالاسم عبد الحكيم الخويلدي بلحاج، قائد المجلس العسكري للثوار في طرابلس، الذي ظهر كقائد لعملية تحرير العاصمة الليبية طرابلس (عملية فجر عروس البحر).

وتابع سيف الإسلام كلامه الساخر: “ستجدون أن هؤلاء الحكام (ملائكة) ومثل العسل، والله قدمت لهم الكثير من الخير في السابق، ولكن لم أجد فيهم ذرة خير”.

وقال أحد الثوار لسيف الإسلام: “باسم الشعب الليبي نؤكد أننا سنضمن لك محاكمة عادلة، ولن نظلمك، بل سنوفر لك أي محام تريده، وإذا كنت مذنبا ستنال جزاءك، وإن كنت بريئا، فإنك ستعيش سالما بين إخوانك الليبيين الطيبين”.

فرد سيف الإسلام: “أنا لا أعرف ما مصيري السجن او القتل، وقسما بالله إذا مشيتم وراء فكرهم (الحكام الجدد) سترون منهم ما لم ترونه من القذافي الذي حكمكم أكثر من 40 سنة”.

We now know what the US advised Yemen and Egypt to do with protesters, use a new kind of very powerful US-made tear gas “as much as you want”. People who have been to Tahrir in the recent days said the police and army had all sort of brand new weapons.

From the BBC live coverage that ended because too much tear gas was in and around Tahrir to stay outside anymore:

Ian Lee
tweets: “Protesters bang metal and shout ‘God is great’. The police emit a low, loud tone. #egypt #tahrir.”

Ian Lee
tweets: “The police in their latest offensive have taken to banging metal as well. They pushed the protesters back toward #tahrir #egypt”

2017:
Multiple Twitter reports say a new round of tear gas has been released in Tahrir Square. Egyptocracy tweets: “Makeshift ambulances (motorcycles) carrying out fainted women” and posts a photo of people leaving the square.
2025:

Egypt’s main stock market index closed down 5% after trading had been suspended for one hour when the main EGX-30 index fell 172.82 points to 3,688.17 points, according to the Egyptian Exchange website. The index has now fallen 47% this year.

Issandr El Amrani, on The Arabist
asks “what next?” and suggests two possible outcomes: “At this rate, the situation will be calmed one of two ways: massive force by the police and army, which seems unlikely for now, or a much grander gesture than what Tantawi is offering tonight, one with a convincing vision for Egypt’s future.”

2030:
The state-run Egyptian Channel 1 says protesters continue to flock to Tahrir Square despite Field Marshal Tantawi’s address, BBC Monitoring reports. Video footage broadcast by the television showed hundreds of people in the square and dozens chanting slogans.

Sharif Kouddous, an independent journalist and Democracy Now! Correspondent
tweets: “Tear gas just hit the square forcing people to rush in all directions. Was on 9th floor balcony and was unbearable even here.”

Lyse Doucet BBC News, Tahrir Square
tweets: “Such heavy tear gas #Tahrir. We taste it even on far edge of square. Wail of ambulence sirens hasn’t stopped for hours.”

2043: Yolande Knell BBC News, Cairo
says that while Field Marshal Tantawi’s announcement fell short of what demonstrators have demanded, they might be enough to convince many Egyptians who have not joined them on the streets.

Annie Rebekah
tweets: “This gas is evil. I’m on the 12th floor and just had to baking soda my friend’s eye after literally two minutes on the balcony. #Tahrir”

Mohamed ElBaradei,
pro-reform leader, presidential candidate and Nobel Peace laureate, tweets: “Tear gas with nerve agent & live ammunition being used against civilians in Tahrir. A massacre is taking place.”

Holly Pickett, a freelance photojournalist
tweets: “Difficult working conditions = darkness, tear gas, confusion, panic, and men of all ages packed shoulder to shoulder. #Tahrir #Egypt.”

2101: Hugh Sykes BBC News, Tahrir Square
in the crowds says there is a constant to-and-fro movement between police firing tear gas, and demonstrators throwing stones and petrol bombs.

2122: Hussein, a student in Cairo
tells the BBC how tear gas forced him out of Tahrir Square this afternoon: “It was very crowded, I haven’t seen it that crowded for months. After a while we went to Mohammed Mahmoud Street but it was even worse there. People were pushing and shoving. The tear gas was very bad, I almost suffocated. People were lying down injured all over the street. The gas was so bad we had to go home.”

Sarah Carr
tweets: “Got impression from Twitter that Tahrir was being chemical bombed went there found a bit of teargas had blown in. Stop it.”

Hadeel Al-Shalchi, Middle East Correspondent, Associated Press
tweets: “Mohd Mahmud is a panic. Hundreds flowing in then run back after being gassed. #tahrir.”

Adam Makary, Cairo producer for al-Jazeera English, in Alexandria
tweets: “Police clearing the streets, putting out fires, still shooting tear gas. Seems like the battle street is theirs…at least 4 now #Alexandria.”

2130:
This concludes our coverage of a renewed day of protests in Egypt as the country’s ruling military council has confirmed a deal to hand over power by next July after crisis talks with key politicians.

Dear Bronco

“If your predictions materializes, Christmas 2011 will be ….. the last one for the Christian who will accept Sarkozy’s offer.

Bronco, why are you saying this? It is 2011 after the birth of Jesus Christ and there are Christians living in Syria and just because Bashar al Assad fall,  Christian will be eliminated from Syria? Don’t you think you are not being fair?  It is sad that you probably have never had a deep relationship with a Sunni family from Syria.  If you did, you would’ve known better.  

How is it plausible to be painfully similar but 180 degree apart.  After watching the very same events unravel, You declare Syria a proud country and Tara declares it humiliated to the core.  How can being proud mean different things to different people?      

33 killed today by the regime, including 6 children.  Yaman al Qadree, a 21 yo female medical student is imprisoned, perhaps being raped or tortured as we speak.  Is she a Mussad? A conspirator? A Bin Ladin Islamist, or perhaps an imaginary figure fabricated and never existed?  Why doesn’t that mean a thing?  When someone declares his/her love to a country, is it love for the actual physical geography? the people? the government? the system? the leader?  Please tell me. 

Are the Palestinian to be condemned for fighting to exist.  If not, why then condemning the Syrians for fighting to live…without slavery.   

Asleep at the Switch

Norman states:

I wonder what will happen if Syria is attacked from the north and south…

Norman,

Isn’t Syria already being attacked? They’re saying at least 3500 dead.

Norman

Iran will not start a war, it never did.
I will actively support the majority Shia in Bahrain to squeeze the King even more and provoke the Saudi army in violent acts. It has been and will be accused of helping the Bahraini already. These are covert actions.
I expect very soon renewed internal violence in Bahrain.

The guy who led the brutal attack on Syrians in Egypt,at AL HQ,is Haitham Almaleh assistant and body guard,he was spotted carrying Haitham’s bag at one of Istanbul’s conferences and sitting with Asala and her husband at a Casino in Egypt.
In that attack,women were beaten and dragged on the streets while the Egyptian police looked the other way. What saved the women was a group of Egyptians who prevented those thugs from kidnapping four women and undressing one girl and trying to tape her naked in the street.
بهدلتونا الله يهديكم

Tara

We obviously have a different notion of pride. I use to have pity for Tunisians, Egyptians and Yemenis under their rulers pampered by Western countries, but never for Syrians who had a ruler hated by the West because he refused to bow and his people were like him.

Now, I have admiration for the Tunisians, the Egytians and the Yemenis, and for many Syrians but more of pity for the Libyans. And you guess why.

A revolution that begs for outside help does not not earn any of my admiration, in the contrary. I have no respect for the SNC and its cronies and much less for Qatar and Saudi Arabia, that are the most sneaky, repressive and pathetic countries in the region. Countries such as France and the UK do not deserve any of my respect either when they want to relive some of their colonialist glory.

You have a rosy view of the aftermath of Bashar al Assad that I can’t share. In my experience, the humiliation of being dictated and controlled by foreign hypocrite leaders cannot but affect every Syrian and will have a negative ripple effect on the whole society. There is nothing to rejoice about.

In any case, we are at 180 degrees, so let’s stay where we are.

Ghufran said
“the FSA,can do the job unaided and unwatched is irresponsible and simply untrue.”

Can you explain such statement
I think FSA can do a lot.

From Angry Arab

It is all about the Egyptian-Israeli peace treaty
There is no question that the US/Israel are trying to postpone the inevitable. They know that a new democratic Egypt would alter the relations with Israel and US. To avoid that, the US has been in collusion with the Military Council to postpone democratic transition.

Tunisia and Egypt as enemies of Libya
US appointed man in the Libyan Army command talks about Tunisia and Egypt as enemies. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZwRJJ_-TAE

CIA operations in Lebanon
Not a word in the New York Times about the CIA operations in Lebanon and the exposure of agents at the local Pizza Hut. Not a word. Comrade Ibrahim Amin writes on the story. He reminds us that when Hasan Nasrallah first told the public about the CIA agents who were uncovered, the US embassy in Lebanon issued an official denial. So now we know the US embassy was lying. But why should I be surprised that the New York Times is ignoring the story? The US press and the British press all ignored the exposure of more than 160 Israeli agents in Lebanon. The head of Syria and Lebanon in Israeli military intelligence apparatus shot himself in the office, and there was not one word about this embarrassing episode of Israeli intelligence. As for the Israeli press, they are obedient to their military censor.

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/
Posted by As’ad AbuKhalil at 9:30 AM

The media is doing its best not to mention numbers when it comes to Tahrir, now that it could be used for comparison with other countries. The biggest number I read today in the Guardian I think was 100,000. It is obvious to anyone who has been there that a packed Tahrir with people still coming from its entrances (as yesterday afternoon to follow the 6th April Youth Movement call) is minimum 1 million people.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gallery/2011/nov/23/egypt-protests-tahrir-square-in-pictures#/?picture=382224878&index=0

Could you believe you would ever read in the Guardian an article stating that “Prime minister Abdulrahman El Keib has sent Libya on a bumpy road towards democracy by naming a cabinet of secularists and thereby snubbing prominent Islamists.” (…) “President Mustafa Abdul Jalil had declared previously that sharia law will form the basis of a new constitution. But the failure to include Bilhaj raises a question as to how stable the new transitional authority will be. Its chief task is to draft a constitution and to oversee elections next year.” ???

The US/UK/EU are in need of Gulf money. These beggars are not ashame to shout it out plain and clear.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/nov/22/libyan-prime-minister-abdulrahman-el-keib

Majedalkaldoon #89

“I think FSA can do a lot.

Like what?

Like claiming they attacked more Baath party buildings and then when they get a bad look from Professor Ghalioun, they deny it.

Norman “I doubt that Iran will start any kind of war as it knows that the US and KSA are waiting for Iran to make a move so they can justify an attack”

I agree with you Iran will not start any war. But I disagree that they think that US or Saudi Arabia are waiting to make a move. A move on Iran, you gotta be kidding me. Iran arrested a dozen of British Sailors and jailed them and no war happened. Iran is the only country in the ME that had even the guts to do that while US was heavily invested in Iraq and all its troops were there. If the west was able to attack Iran they would have not waited a second and they do not need any justifications. They can create ones.

IN yuor previous posts where if syria gets attacked from North and South then it perhaps will leach its missiles to Jordon. Did not you find a better example than Jordon. Would you waste your power on Jordon or Bahrain??? I am sure you are smarter than that and you would know better.

Mina

It sounds like the Western countries were hoping for an islamist government and are disappointed it did not happen: strange.

I can’t believe the story Seif Al Islam was betrayed. I think he gave himself up and he is now helping the NTC to get his brother ‘arrested’. I think Seif Al Islam has made a secret deal with the NTC for him and his brother.

Bronco@188

I also prefer that Syrians do it all alone without any help from any foreign power.  But I am no body to even express an opinion in front of these sacred people dying for their freedom.  I think they call this “survival guilt”…  I live in the US and I am not directly physically affected, although to be fair to myself, I am emotionally shaken to the core….  I was pretty happy where I was….From Disney’s princesses to beheaded, skinned, burned corpses and tortured livings.  

Just please remember the brutality unleashed on the Syrians (who are against the regime…To be preemptive…) is monstrous, ghoulish, evil, and definitely not godly.  Tunis and Egypt had different environment.  Casualties were not that high, the army stayed neutral in both countries while the Syrian army and security forces are slaughtering civilians so the circumstances are not comparable.

And yes staying where I am at on my 180 degree corner is the least minimal thing I can do to live with myself. 

SS,

I think you mean Israel, do you think that Syria will attack Israel without a clear indication of an Israeli attack, I think that Syria will not do that, over the last 8 months, the enemies of Syria are clear to be the Arab states , KSA, Jordon and Turkey

At least when Israel attack it attacks Syria in her face and does not stab in the back like the KSA, Jordon, Turkey and Hariri,

157. majedkhaldoun said:
SS
“You are desperate”; Why to be desperate. I am a proud Syrian and I am proud that my president is Bashar Alassad. I am not pushing for him to stay, he is staying because it is the fact so why should I be desperate. Plus I am not 24/7 on SC to be desperate.

1- “The people of Syria sent Your God a strong message that he should leave”: Be specific. Say MB, Salafi, Radial wants him out. All cities are in peace and if ALL people of Syria wants him out then he should be gone months ago. He is not. He is still the president because most of the people of Syria are around him. You can beg your Ker Dogan to come and help your cause.

2- “AL sent him a message that he is isolated and must reform or leave”: If I send a message to you that you are an MB; does it make you so. So what if AL send him a message that he is isolated.

3- “The turkish PM and president told Bashar he should leave”: I know its really depressing that even your Ker Dogan told him to leave and he is not. I am sure he will listen to you

4- “Russian president told him reform or leave”. Russia never gave up on Syria. The only country that is supporting Syria till now is Russia.

5- “United Nations now told him to leave”: We are not leaving

6- “Europe and USA said Bashar lost his legitimacy,and he should go”: So what. Why your beloved friends do not get in and take him out. If you are so desperate just go in, attack, do your war and take him out. If you believe that everyone on earth does not want him, and he is isolated then why you do not conduct this war. Where is your FSA

“I hope you get the message by now”: Sure I did. I did get your frustration. Will be here reading your comments. You have been lecturing us on his quick fall for 8 months. Why should we get your message now

197. Norman said:
“I think you mean Israel, do you think that Syria will attack Israel without a clear indication of an Israeli attack, I think that Syria will not do that, over the last 8 months, the enemies of Syria are clear to be the Arab states , KSA, Jordon and Turkey. At least when Israel attack it attacks Syria in her face and does not stab in the back like the KSA, Jordon, Turkey and Hariri”

So you believe that the Arabs just back stabbed Syria without getting any siupport and direction to do so. Do you believe that ABO MET3EB is the only mistro of this unrest. Come on man.
Do you think the west will run to help your Arabs like Jordon or they even care about ABO MET3EB. The only and only and only and only and only and only reason WAR will not happen is because Syria with its allies are, THOUGH NOT ABLE TO WIN A WAR, but they can cause significant damage and no one in the region is interested in that including Israel. When you are locked up in a burning building I hope you use the EXIT door, do not take the elevatr. Its called survival.

“We were expecting it to fall earlier, but the government powers have clamped together. Our new estimate ranges between six months to two years.”

Christian minority prolongs Assad’s power

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=8216paid8217-does-not-solve-the-real-problem-of-military-service-2011-11-22
MEHMET ALİ BİRAND
Turkey is seen as the country to change government in Syria by the international public. However much we reject this role, this tag nevertheless has been glued to us. We are seen as if we are responsible. Also Ankara has adopted the tag. It is gearing up its efforts to topple Bashar al-Assad as soon as possible. The president, prime minister and even the foreign minister issue harsh statements almost every day. They drag their old friend through the mud. Hitting Assad has become a daily exercise. Foreign policies are explained, trying to be justified, sanctions are mentioned and military scenarios are being discussed.

However, there is no movement in the Assad power. Neither is there a drop in its public support. Despite all efforts, the Syrian regime remains standing. It neither pays attention to the decisions of the Arab League nor trips over salvos coming from Ankara.

Nowadays, when you ask Turkey’s foreign policy strategists: “You have been working to topple Assad for months. When do you assume he will leave power?” you always receive the same answer: “We were expecting it to fall earlier, but the government powers have clamped together. Our new estimate ranges between six months to two years.”

Well, what has happened to make the Assad regime so resilient? The latest information reveals a very interesting situation.

The biggest support to Syria comes from Iran. It provides daily and concrete support. Russia’s and China’s political support for the Damascus administration in the U.N. Security Council is also extremely important.

The most important factor that slows down, even postpones, international pressures stems from the 2.5 million person Christian minority that makes up 10 percent of the population. The biggest fear of this group is that extreme Islamists will come to power after Assad and disrupt all the comfort enjoyed by the Christian segment. For this reason, they fiercely support the Baath Party and the power structure. This too eases Assad’s life and increases his resistance.

This stance of the Christian minority affects Europe and the United States. For this reason, the shyness of the West continues, which Prime Minister Erdoğan frequently complains about. The Christian world cannot increase its pressure because they cannot predict the after-Assad era. Similarly, Israel is also shy. Washington has thrown the ball into Turkey’s court.

This situation bothers Ankara. It warns the opposition and points to the dangers after Assad. The opposing powers have not reached a definite decision yet.

These are the most important elements that complicate Ankara’s business.

SS
You said you are proud of your God Bashar
Are you proud of a dictator?
Are you proud of a thief he and his family stole Syrian money and deposited in foreign banks?
Are you proud of criminal ,who killed his people, he was supposed to protect the people,instead he killed them ,put them in jail tortured them,killed children?
Are you proud of a lier?
Are you proud of a president,he did not adressed his people in this crisis?
I am not proud of this thug.go pray and kneal to his feet,he is like Hitler who committed many many crimes he is the devil,you worship devil.

It is clear that the situation in Egypt is getting out of hands, the USA has a strong grip on the Egyptian military. The revolution being hijacked there as it is being hijacked in Syria.
The MB has a better chance to take the power in Egypt in full, given they are the most organized and well prepared on the ground.
the question is the Egyptian people want to replace authoritarian regime with an ideological or theocratic one.
it seems Libya heading toward the Sharia law as Qatar and KSA would like them to do so.
In Syria even some Sunni don’t want to use the Sharia law which belongs to dark age of the civilization. Syria revolution is unique in the Arab world because it started in part due to a society divided between people who have and people who have not, add to that the years and decades of human oppression due to authoritarian regime.

The Christians were the light of the Arabic civilization and without them the Islamic civilization would have never seen any progress and darkness would have prevailed over the military success which was achieved through oppression and persecution of invaded civilizations.
Islam as it is, can’t stand the winds of the 21st century, it is against progress, you can’t make a human being leached to mosque teachings and expect to have a Quraan civilization, it is wishful thinking it is like the french trying to have the Francophonization prevail again where people in France learn and speak English and the people in America learning Chinese, you can’t bring teaching belongs to 6th century and make Apple adapt it. Apple changes their system every nine months and that’s how the world is moving at the speed of light and beyond therefore the Mosque teaching is for people who are with low IQ the least to describe the situation.
If Muslims don’t leave and retire the religion and the mosque as it did happen to Christianity during the middle ages, Europe has spun out darkness when religion became part of people life not the church controlling people life.
Islam at a conflict within itself, you have the imams who want people to follow backwards teachings and you have Apple and Google leading the civilization and controlling the minds of the younger generation into fast progressive civilization. Islam forbid Alcohol but allows smoking which causes most of the cancers ever known to human being, does it make sense to reasonable and wise people, I think human being is in charge of a religion not the opposite. Any religion insist on evangelical goal is doomed, people are out and beyond the restrictions society ever imposed on them, that is what is the result of revolutions through Europe, north and south america, Asia and finally the Arabs.
if Arabs don’t take the secular, humanistic and democratic helm of the revolutions, it is going to bring people backward instead of advancing the humanity… Some may say the colonial west and USA is using the Arabs Spring to control the Arabs through having radical regimes in place of the current ones, but surely that’s a major ticking bomb against the west security.
It is kind of naive to believe that any of the three major religion are the god’s words to people even the Jewish religion, the orthodox Jew are worse than the Muslims they still live in a conch and it is impossible to see outside the walls.
People thousands years ago, were so deep into the conscious and amago and have this teaching and felt it came from GOD.
I am not denying its existence but what I am saying it is hard to accept any religion in the 21st century as it was millenium ago.
you can’t hate me for saying that but you must love what you don’t like because it could have lots of truth to it.

Hans
This revolution is not about religion,it is about freedom and dignity, it is a secular revolution,forget about your illusions do not tell us it is about religion,nine month and you do not understand, I am surprised to hear someone like you still fixed to illusion, it is for freedom and dignity.

A deal should be negotiated that will include the departure of Assad and a number of “unacceptable” figures after certain guarantees are given and the veto by army generals is overcome. Russia,and surprise: USA,with the shy support from Europe and Egypt,seem to accept that a hybrid government in Syria is preferred over a civil war that will not be limited to Syria. One loser will be Iran and to a lesser degree Hizbullah which is able to survive and thrive on its own but may have to be more “flexible” with Hariri and his clan.
Like anything in the Middle East,this will require time which will be needed to agree on critical political and legal issues before elections are held. Assad
and his supporters will not accept any solution that is seen as a sell out or a humiliation,and I believe they will not hesitate to fight till the bitter end if they are forced out in the manner advocated by extreme elements in the opposition and abroad.
If the grapes,Syria’s future,is what people is after,they do not have to kill the farmer and his daughters to get it.
Count your blessings and try to enjoy Thanksgiving,
All in a Word

By Aileen Fisher

T for time to be together, turkey, talk, and tangy weather.
H for harvest stored away, home, and hearth, and holiday.
A for autumn’s frosty art, and abundance in the heart.
N for neighbors, and November, nice things, new things to remember.
K for kitchen, kettles’ croon, kith and kin expected soon.
S for sizzles, sights, and sounds, and something special that abounds.
That spells ~~~THANKS—for joy in living and a jolly good Thanksgiving.
Salaam

The reason for the diesel shortages is due to the army deployment of tanks, APVs, military trucks, and other fuel guzzling vehicles.

This massive load was not drawing from the system the same time last year.

@203 MAJEDKHALDOUN – are u being serious when u say the revolution in syria is a secular revolution?? You still are in complete denial. A secular revolution without any involvement of more than 1% of christians, allawites,druze, kurds and 80% of sunni’s? A secular revolution where every friday they protest after coming out of a mosque? Is this secular? A secular revolution where they chant ALLAH AKHBAR? Does sheik arour represent your secular revolution? You claim it is for freedom and dignity? Does freedom and dignity mean chopping off christian and allawite heads off? Does freedom and dignity mean shooting at busloads of employees? Wake up to urself mr delusional. You and ur fellow terrorist extremists are nothing more than a mere 5% of the syrian population hiding in those alley ways. Know i why why my family and relatives and 99% of syrian living in Aleppo are disgusted with cannibals like u. Why isnt the muslim brotherhood involved and distanced itself from the anti government rallies in EGYPT? Smells fishy doesnt it. Muslim brotherhood taking orders from their sheiks in the gulf and British government. It is obvious to every single syrian what is going on now and the conspiracy.

@204 – GHUFRAN why dont we negotiate a deal whereby you stop annoying us on syria comment with your rubbish opinions and theories. Bashar al Assad is not going nowhere. He is the protector of us moderate sunni’s, christians,druze,allawites, kurds, merchants. Any leader other than Bashar will become a puppet to the west and to the Gulf countries.When the Gulf countries can negotiate a transition to a democratic elected government, than Syria will follow. When the western countries stop ignoring the human rights abuses in Yemen, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, than maybe we can start talking about a transition. When the western countries and the gulf jihadis stop financing terrorists into syria, we can talk about democracy. When Israel gives back palestine to pre 1967 borders we can talk about democracy in Syria. When the western countries accept Hamas which was democratically elected, than you can start with democracy in Syria. When Israel gives back the Golan Heights and gives up its nuclear weapons, than we can begin with democracy in Syria. UNTIL ALL OF THE ABOVE ITEMS ARE PUT IN PLACE, BASHAR AL ASSAD IS THE PRESIDENT OF SYRIA. No double standards. “What’s good for the goose is good for the gander”.

@ 206
thank you!
I guess you are another Shabeeha according to 203!, it is clear who hijacked the revolutions in Syria, Egypt, although it started as a demand from the people it turned into demands from the radicals and their bosses, the USA/British and the goat princes of the GCC.
That is why many of the Sunni are not supporting the revolution and that’s why it is prolonging and dragging almost a bleeding body causing it to die in the dirty devil connected hands, which are involved in killing Syria as the best fabric of the middle east.

Mr Kanj,
What is amusing,and I am not going to call it rubbish,is your claim that 80% of Sunnis are supporting Bashar. Merchants,on the other hand,want a free market and a less corrupt system while minorities want equal protection under the law,Bashar is now a liability to minorities and the whole country.I am glad you are a moderate Sunni but I do not see that sticking to Bashar’s rule is “moderate”,however,I am relieved that you chose to put your beliefs ahead of your sectarian loyalty,I did the same but picked a different route for the country I love.
Syria since 1963 suffered enough and the time has come for a change,this change can not wait until your wish list is fulfilled.
Bashar,like him or not,is one person in a country of 23 million,and he needs to allow others to run and be elected president in a peaceful and civilized way,if not now,may be in the next few months or by the end of his next and last term even though I tend to believe that he should resign before 2014 for the sake of national unity.
Get used to my “rubbish” ,I have a lot of it (just kidding).

“BASHAR AL ASSAD IS THE PRESIDENT OF SYRIA”

LOL, just hearing this makes me feel at ease, feel that there are some sane and realistic people still around. Despite the fact that his Baathist regime is one of the worst ever existed, the loco’s out there, and here on SC mentally scares the hell out of me and for sure many Syrians. We need to focus on having that Party Law passed recently scrapped and a new one, one that all can operates under without Baathist B.S. red tapes and buerocracy instituted. That is is the first step forward in the right direction. This will allow for the establishment of political force in Syria, coupled with new constitution and free election, Syria will be o the right track to create a Modern Society and up to date State that wil surpass most others. Syrians are resoursful and creative in commerce and business, with added economic policy reform (Freedom) Syria will be one of few boom towns. Neither Assad, nor those puppets for hire see this road map clear.

By priorities :

1-Party Law (before the constitution) so that people can drop guns and pick up agenda and platforms
2-New Constitution (get rid of Article 8 and Presidency for Moslem only) The world has changed since Ottoman times.
3-New Parliament (more representatives by seat numbers per (M) constituent, not sects)
4-New free Election and law (let people choose representative by constituency)
5-new election districting (it is a must, so all can be represented fairly in fragmented Syria)
6-Free economy (get off the back of people, let them start whatever they want and prosper)
7-Education reform (that is one of Syria worst problem, drop Baathism and socialism education style)

Now, Mr. Assad, why this smilingly simple resolution cannot be attained, it has been 9 months, If I was in power in Syria, all the above will be dome in less than 30 days. SO GO FIGUERE.

And “Mohammad Kanj”, that is a very unique name in Syria, it could not be yours, it is my father name as registered in Tel Kalakh Saraya, so why are you using it?

A syrian who works in Lebanon has just killed a christian young girl who went to her church with a bible in her hand,praying to get a job,he kidnapped her on the stairs,and as she refused to give him sex,he killed her and threw her body down the hill, what a crime!

M Kanj
Whether you agree or not the revolution is a secular revolution, against your criminal thief and lier Bashar,very soon he and his supporters will meet their fate,there is no return.

After Besho is dead, his senior ministers and generals and the heads of the various security organizations will stand trial. I hope they don’t whine and weasel and lie like this guy:

“…The deputy leader of the Khmer Rouge regime blamed for 1.7 million deaths in Cambodia’s ‘killing fields’ insisted Tuesday he carried out its policies for the sake of Cambodians and to protect the country from foreign invaders. The communist movement’s chief ideologist did not directly respond to the horrors that prosecutors described a day earlier at the start of the U.N. tribunal. Instead, Nuon Chea gave a political history of Cambodia and insisted his role was patriotic, and blamed Vietnam for much of the country’s troubles. ‘I had to leave my family behind to liberate my motherland from colonialism and aggression and oppression by the thieves who wished to steal our land and wipe Cambodia off the face of the Earth,’ Nuon Chea said in his first public comments at the trial…”

So let me get this straight. He and the other leaders of the Khmer Rouge killed over a million of their own countrymen to fight foreign colonialists and imperialists. I’m sure all the people he killed are grateful for his patriotism.

I hope Besho’s deputies are following the proceedings of the tribunal in Cambodia. Change a few names and dates and it could be about them.

200. zoo said:
“”“We were expecting it to fall earlier, but the government powers have clamped together. Our new estimate ranges between six months to two years.”
Christian minority prolongs Assad’s power””
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=8216paid8217-does-not-solve-the-real-problem-of-military-service-2011-11-22

Excellent article ZOO thank you. It confirms what William Hague and Hillary Clinton said publicly in the media but was not widely reported on.

Haig:

426. ann said:

To recap what William Hague said:

1. United platform and a unified body.

2. NON VIOLENT PROTEST.

3. Respecting the rights of minorities.

4. Democracy means not only holding elections in the future but
entrenching human rights including the rights of minorities
in Syria. That will give reassurance both within Syria and
to people who wish the Syrian people well all over the world.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/william-hague/8904482/William-Hague-Syrian-opposition-must-develop-a-common-platform.html

Clinton:

22. ann said:

Clinton says it will take time to help stabilize Egypt, start new pages in Syria, Yemen

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/clinton-says-it-will-take-time-to-help-stabilize-egypt-start-new-pages-in-syria-yemen/2011/10/11/gIQAHfmXdL_story.html

On Syria, she voiced support for the burgeoning opposition against the regime of Syrian President Bashar Assad, but said the primarily Sunni protesters “have a lot of work to do internally” toward becoming a truly national opposition movement that also represents the aspirations of Syria’s minorities.

“It is not yet accepted by many groups within Syria that their life will be better without Assad than with Assad,” Clinton said. “There are a lot of minority groups that are very concerned.”

NUFF SAID

يا زهرة الجنوب
زهرة بلاد الشام الجريحه
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=%D9%8A%D8%A7%20%D8%B2%D9%87%D8%B1%D8%A9%20%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AC%D9%86%D9%88%D8%A8%20%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%B2&source=web&cd=1&ved=0CDQQtwIwAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3DUG80XA5omwM&ei=e5LMTqbDCJSctwe4iaVm&usg=AFQjCNEtMTB8SQfiMUbNqTKRLhku4Ie_sQ

Ann,
I got lashed at when I hinted that the US and others are taking a careful look at their options in Syria. More often than not,the right path is not the easiest. If the opposition had the support of 80% of Syrians Assad will be gone by now,and if the Assad truly enjoyed the support of 80% of Syrians,this uprising will be dying off. Both parties are too stubborn to admit the obvious: the country is divided and only a unity government and a political compromise can save Syria.
“nuf said”

@Ya mara ghalba 110

First of all, i believe that we are in an open debate, so who are you to ask me to shut up? Without getting further into the basics of human behavior,i will comment on the subject.

You have just a few moments in history in which you have the power to change a constitution of a country. When the Assad regime is gone Syria needs a new constitution as well as what we call in German an Aufarbeitung- kind of what the South Africans tried to do in their Truth Commissions. I can only assume and only after the fall of the regime we will know, there must be millions working secretly with the muhabarat, you need to include those who committed crimes against their friends neighbors, spouses in a new Syria, whatever your feelings may tell you, still you need them. Those who tortured or killed need to be made responsible, no question about that.

Now, when we take it carefully that Syria is a secular country, and it will remain so, we need to abandon limited thinking. In the 21st century we see that a government ruled by an christian, a women is not a crime, in an ideal country it should not matter where you come from, what religion, what sex or sexual orientation one has. All what matters is that the candidate is capable of govern all Syrians alike and will be respected by all. Syria has a choice to make in their new constitution,what Syrians have endured in over 40 years of the Baathist regime should be reflected in the new constitution, too make sure such a regime can never rule so easily its own people by emergency laws for example. Torture and capital punishment should also be abondoned. But most of all the Syrians need to reconsile.

@Mina 115

You got it right….
I see such debate culture here in Berlin too, we tried to talk to some lebanese at a pro Assad rally here two weeks ago, well it almost ended in a fistfight.

Syria crisis needs negotiated solution – 2011-11-23

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/indepth/2011-11/23/c_131264240.htm

BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) — The UN General Assembly Third Committee adopted a resolution Tuesday condemning Syria for human rights violations, but the move spearheaded by France, Germany and Britain is not conducive to solving the crisis in Syria.

As Wang Min, China’s deputy permanent representative to the United Nations, said after Tuesday’s vote on the Syria resolution, “China has always believed that constructive dialogue and cooperation is the only right approach to the promotion and protection of human rights.”

China and Russia — two permanent members of the UN Security Council — abstained from the vote on the resolution, which “strongly condemns the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities.”

Following the fall of former Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi’s regime with the help of NATO air strikes, the European nations were heaping pressure on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government to halt what they called a bloody crackdown against civilians.

However, any UN resolution should be conducive to easing the tensions in the violence-wracked country, and help maintain peace and stability in the Middle East.

In this sense, world powers should avoid sending a wrong signal to the Syrian opposition that the international community backed their violent bid to oust President al-Assad.

The confrontation between security forces and pro- and anti-government protesters, which the United Nations estimates has left more 3,500 people dead, must be defused.

The months-long crisis in Syria triggered by anti-government protests since mid-March can and should only be resolved by dialogue and consultation.

To that end, all the parties to the dispute should exercise restraint and start a national inclusive and balanced reconciliation process immediately so as to avoid more bloodshed or conflicts.

On the one hand, the Syrian government should keep its promises for economic and political reforms.

On the other, the opposition should halt attacks by what the government called armed groups on civilians, policemen and army personnel.

The new UN resolution serves as a reminder of a defeated European-sponsored draft at the UN Security Council last month, which threatened Syria with “targeted measures” in the name of protecting democracy, human rights and rule of law.

Russia and China vetoed the draft resolution on the grounds that it only advocated sanctions or threat of sanctions against Damascus with no reference to encouraging a peaceful settlement of the dispute through dialogue.

The two veto-wielding permanent members of the UN Security Council killed the draft also for fears that the European nations would attempt to replicate the Libya-style military intervention in Syria.

NATO’s military mission in Libya was widely accused of exploiting UN resolutions, which only mandated a no-fly zone, to launch a full-scale air war against Gaddafi’s forces.

Although Gaddafi was toppled and killed, the protracted armed conflict in the North African country has resulted in heavy civilian casualties and huge property damage.

As an important country in the Middle East, Syria has witnessed violence in the past eight months. Foreign intervention might make its already volatile situation more complex.

China calls on int’l community to create conditions to ease tension in Syria – 2011-11-23

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/23/c_122320581.htm

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 22 (Xinhua) — China on Tuesday called on the international community to create conditions for the easing of tension in Syria as exerting pressure through country-specific resolutions is not conducive to resolving differences.

Wang Min, China’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, made the remarks after the UN General Assembly Third Committee vote on the draft resolution on the human rights situation in Syria.

“China has always believed that constructive dialogue and cooperation is the only right approach to the promotion and protection of human rights,” Wang said in his explanation of vote, “While exerting pressure through country-specific resolutions is not conducive to resolving differences.”

China abstained from the vote of the draft resolution, which was adopted with 122 states voting in favor, 13 against, 41 abstained. The resolution “strongly condemns the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities.”

Stressing that China attaches great importance to the current situation in Syria, Wang said China calls on parties in Syria “to immediately put an end to violence and launch as early as possible the inclusive and balanced political process in order to restore as soon as possible national stability and social order.”

China welcomes the mediation plan of the League of Arab States, Wang said. “The international community should play a constructive role in order to create conditions for the easing of tension in Syria,” he added.

@Hans 202
Please do not recall the Middle ages which have just been dark ages for us Europeans, Muslims have not experienced an dark middle age. Europe engaged in mass killings and genocide for religios or ideological reasons, Islam and muslim civilization never has seen such times. Who threw an Atomic bomb on Hiroshima and Nagasaki? It was our former “christian” colony the USA. ( i assume that the USA was founded in a religious spirit, even though that spirit always combined not only christian beliefs)

The sharia is already part of syrian jusrisprudence for muslims and the major source of social order throughout the region.
What makes the islamic political parties so attractive in Tunesia and Egypt? To my opinion it is because they have been persecuted so severely that people feel they are rightious or at least credible people not yet corrupted as many politicians . From Tunesia i know personally women without hijab with university degree who voted for an nahda, as well as beer drinking men.
If you have secular countries lke Syria who still lack on wide middle classes who would influence the agenda of politics, we have to live with politics which will be extreme, or at least not conform with our westernized mindset.

We in the west have to accept that first of all our influence on dictatorships with granted us peace like on a graveyard, is gone. Secondly we have to accept that conservative islamic parties are on their rise throughout the region, but that does not mean that we have to be afraid or shed such fear openly. I am convinced that such glamour which some of the parties are enjoying at the moment will soon be gone after a period of hard decisions which lay ahead for the postrevolutionary countries. It took France more than 70 years to establish an democratic republic( after the 1789 revolution), we should all hope and work for it that this timespan will be in months not years.

Some will say that the revolution is neither secular nor Islamic.

Secularism and Arab Nationalism are regarded as rivals to Islam.

The point about Arab Nationalism is mentioned in the following video by Sheikh Imran Hossein: {Vid should start from relevant point (1hr 12 min 20sec) , listen for next minute or so for the mention of Arab Nationalism -For topic of Syria listen from 1hr 2 min}

@210 syrian nationalist party – this is my real name. i have cousins and relatives living in tripoli,lebanon. You will find that their is plenty of kanj’s in tripoli,lebanon. My great grandfather moved to aleppo decades ago and married a halabi girl. Lets face facts and reality. It is impossible to have democracy anywhere in the middle east. The problem is that religion and fanatics overpower democracy. Their will always be corruption. As long as the west and evil powers like the Gulf countries have oil and money and no DEMOCRACY, their will never be a democratic country in the middle east.

@209 -GHUFRAN – you said “Merchants,on the other hand,want a free market and a less corrupt system while minorities want equal protection under the law,Bashar is now a liability to minorities and the whole country.I am glad you are a moderate Sunni but I do not see that sticking to Bashar’s rule is “moderate”,however,I am relieved that you chose to put your beliefs ahead of your sectarian loyalty,I did the same but picked a different route for the country I love”.

First of all, merchants are and always be part of the corrupt system. They thrive on it. And minorities want equal protection not under any law. Speak to any mechant in damascus and aleppo, and he will say to u that he wants these extremists executed. They know that these extremists fanatics do not beleive in law.The world we live in, being the middle east, rules only by the IRON FIST. The only way to treat them is to go against the law and that is to hunt them down one by one. Ask any minority in syria and he will say to u that he/she expects these extremists be treated with the full force. And dont use turkey as a model of democracy. They have jailed thousands of journalists and kurds without charge. They murdered millions of armenians and kurds. They are sending and financing and training mercenaries to murder your fellow SYRIANS.

GHUFRAN, stop living in ur own romantic fantasy world. The middle east isnt for u. Stick to reading ur poems and watching twilight and titanic. Until you speak or engage with any minorities in syria, you will not know how fanatical and attached they are to the president Bashar Al Assad. Maybe u should visit the christian neighbourhood in Bab touma, in saidnaya, in hamadieh homs, in wadi nasara homs, in hardi hama, in aleppo city,christians in raqqa, the druze in the golan heights, in sweida, the allawites in latakia and in tartus and homs, the sunnis in damascus city and aleppo. I was in syria in July, August of this year and i travelled to all those areas and interacted with them. The longer these atrocitites go on in syria, the harder their support becomes for bashar al assad. Their is no room for dreamers like u in syria.

ABC (Australian Broadcasting Corporation)
Lateline.

Syrian violence heading towards prolonged conflict
Updated November 19, 2011

Fawaz Gerges, professor of Middle Eastern politics and international relations at the London School of Economics, joins Lateline to discuss the rising tensions in Syria.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-18/syrian-violence-heads-to-civil-war/3681496

Robert Fisk: Egyptian crisis gives Syria time to talk about democracy
This is great news for President Assad

Egypt is the best thing to happen to Syria for a long time. Just when Western leaders – and Qatar – were hounding President Bashar al-Assad for his brutal suppression of opposition demonstrations, along comes the latest crisis in Egyptian cities where security men brutally suppress opposition demonstrators who want the army to obey the orders of a real democratic parliament and to stop posing as the “guardians” of a new constitution.

Of course, Syria is not Egypt, which, I suppose, accounts for the mouse-like silence of the Obamas, Clintons, Camerons, Sarkozys and the Emir of Qatar over events in Cairo.

This gives yet more time for Damascus to talk about democracy, reform, pluralistic politics and a new constitution while its army fights the armed insurgency that has spread from Homs – a city that is now the centre of a vicious sectarian war. Is it still possible, conceivably, that President Assad will use this tiny bottle of oxygen from Egypt to prove that he really – really – means what he says about democracy, pluralism, etc?

Dr Faisal Mokdad, Assad’s Deputy Foreign Minister, is a believer. “Syria is changing and the old Syria will never come back,” he told me in the new Battlestar Galactica-style foreign ministry. “It will be a country free for the press. The ballot box will decide.” The Anglo-American invasion of Iraq set back early plans for reform, Dr Mokdad insists. I have my doubts about this, but take note of the minister’s conviction that Obama made the right decision in withdrawing from Iraq.

“Today, I heard that the number of young American soldiers killed in Iraq – quite apart from the huge civilian casualties – was 4,600. This is a question the American people should ask themselves. Saddam Hussein has gone – but was it worth $400bn? In Libya, I’m told the cost was 30,000 dead.” Needless to say, I had to turn to the little matter of civilian casualties in Syria and the UN’s claim that 3,500 had died. Was it worth it?

Dr Mokdad is the right man to ask, for he was the official chosen by President Assad to face the bereaved families of Deraa when two teenagers died under torture by state security police after writing anti-Assad graffiti on the walls of the city last February.

“There were peaceful demonstrations in Deraa,” Dr Mokdad says. “What happened should never have happened. I was sent to Deraa to give condolences for the dead. I faced angry people. I told them the President did not want this to happen, that the President had nothing to do with it. I gave them the President’s condolences and they said they knew mistakes were made, that the President had nothing to do with this. He fired the governor and he established an independent judicial committee to investigate. What I do know is that armed groups are killing demonstrators.”

But demonstrators killed by “armed groups” is not what the YouTube pictures from Homs suggest; today, however, these “armed groups” are certainly killing Assad’s soldiers in very large numbers; opposition groups deny they are behind the insurgency, though they express enough frustration to make anyone suspect they are.

Dr Mokdad believes foreign journalists should be in Syria, but tells me he does not want me to risk my life in Homs and that “the British Government will blame us if you are killed”.

Cameron: War looms in Syria

David Cameron urged world leaders to “engage” with Syrian opposition groups yesterday as he warned the country was on the brink of a full-scale civil war.

The Prime Minister praised interventions by Turkey and the Arab League against Bashar al-Assad’s brutal suppression of protests. Speaking alongside Turkish President Abdullah Gul in Downing Street, he said: “Today we had important discussions on Syria, where now a full-scale civil war is a real possibility.

“The world now needs to get behind with concerted pressure on the regime and positive engagement with the opposition, who can represent Syria in an inclusive transition,” he added.

“Syria is now at a dead end so change is inevitable,” Mr Gul had earlier said.

The text of yesterday’s UN Human Rights Committee’s condemnation of Syria is downloadable in PDF fileformat by clicking “ENGLISH” at http://www.un.org/Docs/journal/asp/ws.asp?m=A/C.3/66/L.57/Rev.1

Commentary on the UN Human Rights Committee’s condemnation of Syria by the UN representatives of various countries is at: http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs//2011/gashc4033.doc.htm

As quoted at the above page, the representative of Egypt, in his speech at UN chambers yesterday explaining why Egypt voted in favour of the text of condemnation, said: “The text preserves the unity of Syria and its territorial integrity and could not be interpreted as an invitation for foreign intervention. Indeed, the recently added preambular paragraph 8 includes clear language reaffirming the commitment of all Members States to refrain in their international relations from the use or the threat of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State.”

The preambular paragraph 8 just referred to states: “the UN General Assembly, guided by the charter of the United Nations… reaffirming that all States Members of the United Nations should refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any State or act in any other manner inconsistent with the purposes of the United Nations…” and then the body of the text goes on to condemn “the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities.”

As a footnote, in view of what some SyriaComment commenters said earlier in this thread about Russia, the remarks of the representative of Russia about the resolution are perhaps worth noting: “The Russian Federation has consistently opposed unilateral country-specific resolutions. History showed such texts were ineffective. States themselves are responsible for the protection and promotion of human rights and it fell to the international community to provide technical assistance…. The human rights situation in any country could be a source of concern for the international community. However, those issues should in no instance be used as an excuse for interference.”

@ Juergen #216: As I read you, you’re just ventilating your own personal values, without plugging yourself into the political reality in Syria. Your personal values are worthless and uninteresting, and so are mine, insofar as they are detatched from the context. I asked you to “shut up complaining” — no disrespect intended, Juergen — until you can first specify what damage Article 3 has done to non-Muslims in Syria over the 38 years since it was enacted in 1973.

What’s Good for us isn’t Good for You NewZ

Mohamed Kanj said:

Lets face facts and reality. It is impossible to have democracy anywhere in the middle east. The problem is that religion and fanatics overpower democracy. Their will always be corruption. As long as the west and evil powers like the Gulf countries have oil and money and no DEMOCRACY, their will never be a democratic country in the middle east.

Firstly, are saying that Arabs shouldn’t strive for human rights and don’t deserve them?

Secondly, there is a democratic country in the ME. Guess which one?

Lastly, explain why human rights are important for Palestinians but not for all other Arabs.

IMHO, all people in the ME and the world over not only deserve human rights, but are guaranteed human rights. That includes free speech and the election of government officials.

3 Officers and 7 soldiers defect and join the FSA
22/11/2011
شام ::: ‫إنشقاق مجموعة من الضباط والمجندين وانضمامهم…

#222 Mohamed Kanj said:

“You should visit the christian neighbourhood in Bab touma, in saidnaya, in hamadieh homs, in wadi nasara homs, in hardi hama, in aleppo city, christians in raqqa, the druze in the golan heights, in sweida, the allawites in latakia and in tartus and homs, the sunnis in damascus city and aleppo. I was in syria in July, August of this year and i travelled to all those areas and interacted with them. The longer these atrocitites [by armed dissidents] go on in syria, the firmer their support becomes for bashar al assad.”

I agree. All pro-regime people agree with that. Louay Hussein, Michel Kilo, and similar dissidents agree with it too. Regardless of religious affiliation, the great majority of Syrians are strongly rallied around the government in reaction to the daily murder of security forces. They cannot be talked into “defecting” from the government under circumstances of violent rebellion. This is one of the reasons why the regime is so politically strong and the dissidents so politically weak right now.

Statement of AllahuAkbar Phalange of the FSA on its units operations against Asad forces:
– A military vehicle was ambushed and destroyed, killing its 8 passengers.
– A personnel carrier was ambushed and directly hit.

بيان عمليات كتيبة الله أكبر سرية زيد بن حارثة بتاريخ 18 11 2011

Yurgen

“From Tunesia i know personally women without hijab with university degree who voted for an nahda, as well as beer drinking men.”

The same happenned during the Iran revolution, and gradually they had to wear the hejab and the man stop drinking. Once you get the religion in the law to control people behavior, you’re on a down slope that cannot be fought because it is the rule of God.

Look how oppressive christian religion has been on Europe, and look at the result, a total rejection of it. It took centuries for Europe to exclude religion from the laws.

Father of late, Saudi Engineering student said that his son’s body was exhumed and taken to an unknown place by Asad paramilitia (Shabbeeha).

Husein was killed on the last day of his AlAdha holiday break at a security checkpoint in Homs, as he was heading back to UK to continue his studies as a final school student in Engineering.
“شبيحة الأسد” ينبشون قبر العنزي وينقلون جثته لمكان مجهول

2011/11/23
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=38996
سبق – الرياض:

أكد والد الشاب حسين العنزي الذي قتل الاثنين الماضي في مدينة حمص، معلومات حصلت عليها “سبق” حول نبش الأمن السوري قبر ابنه، ونقل جثته إلى مكان مجهول.

وقال والد الشاب في اتصال هاتفي مع “سبق”: إن معلومات وصلته من أقارب ابنه في سوريا, عن نبش قبر ابنه وأخذ جثته إلى جهة غير معلومة, وقال: إنه لا يعلم من فعل ذلك, ولكن أقارب حسين قالوا إنهم “الأمن السوري” مضيفاً: “لا أعلم من هم الأمن السوري؟”.

وأضاف أن عدداً من أفراد الشبيحة كانوا قد اعتدوا على مشيعي ابنه يوم الاثنين الماضي، في محاولة فاشلة لاختطاف جثته.

وأضاف: “كنا قد طلبنا دفنه هناك, فإكرام الميت دفنه, ولكنهم لا يحترمون لا جثة ولا ميتاً”, مضيفاً: “إنهم لا يحترمون الحي فكيف يحترمون الميت؟”.

وكانت معلومات انتشرت حول قيام السلطات السورية بنبش قبر الغنزي الذي قُتل فجر يوم الاثنين في حمص على يد الشبيحة في سوريا, وهو طالب في كلية الهندسة في السنة الأخيرة ببريطانيا, وقُتل عندما كان في طريقه للمطار للعودة إلى دراسته, بعد قضاء إجازة عيد الأضحى بسوريا بجانب أقاربه, إلا أن عدداً من الرجال المسلحين التابعين لشبيحة بشار الأسد, اعتقلوه ثم قتلوه بالرصاص

اتحاد تنسيقيات الثورة السورية نقلا عن وزير خارجية عربي: النظام السوري يُدخل أعداد كبيرة من شيعة العراق لتجنيسهم ونشرهم على الحواجز الأمنية
Arab Foreign Minister to Syrian Coordination Committees Union for the Syrian Revolution: Syrian regime has given fake Syrian citizenship papers to a large number Iraqui Shiaa who were brought in to man security check points and aid in crackdown on demonstrators.

2011/11/23
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=38973
لندن ـ سوريون نت:

كشفت اتحاد تنسيقيات الثورة السورية عن قيام النظام السوري بإدخال أعداد كبيرة من مواطتي دولة العراق الشقيقة واختارهم ( من الطائفة الشيعية ) ويمنحهم جنسيات سورية خلبية، ومن ثمّ يضعهم على الكثير من الحواجز الامنية المتفرقة وليدهم صلاحيات كبيرة في عمليات القتل والقمع والإعتقال وهذه الحالة خطيرة جداً لأنّ النظام يدقع من خلالها إلى تصادم مكونات المجتمع وإشعال فتيل الحرب الأهلية في سوريا ( كحل أخير ) ينجو به من السقوط الحتمي
على جميع التنسيقيات إصدار بيان صريح وواضح جدا يدين تواجد البوارج الروسية الحربية واعتبارها تدخلاً سافراً ووضعيا في الشأن السوري الدخلي وإرهاباً للمحتجين

AlFarouq Phalange unit intercepted and arrested 11 armed Asad paramilitia and Hizballah agents who were travelling using an ambulance.
The confiscated rifles and heat guided misiles had the emblems of Hizballah
Bayadah, Homs
23 11 2011 Homs أوغاريت حمص إلقاء القبض على سيارة الاسعاف وبداخلها اسلحة الشبيحة والجيش

Will the momentum against Bashar al Assad be missed?

We are approaching the climax of the orchestrated attack on Syria. Yet there are four important elements that may crash the path to that climax and postpone the change of regime in Syria to ‘six month or two years’ according to Turkish analysts.
– The bad player in the orchestra is the SNC. It has not improved its credibility. It keeps giving contradictory statement about foreign intervention as well as the role of the FSA. As a result it got only a tap in back from Cameron and a slap from Russia and a shrug from the AL and Turkey.
If it gets more recognition from the Arabs on Thursday, then it may play a role, otherwise it is just noise.
– The situation in Egypt is making the Western country more and more anxious. The Egyptian army has always had a conciliatory attitude to the Israel-Egypt peace agreement but now they are on their way out. If they leave, the whole systems of institutions in Egypt may collapse together with the peace treaty as either the Moslem brotherhood or a youth government who may take over are known to want to reject any deal Mobarak did, including the peace with Israel. Egypt will become a danger to Israel.
– The third is the pass over of the power of Saleh in Yemen to his VP. This can be seen as a success for the GCC and confirm them in their ability to deal with Arab problems without military intervention. There has been no military action, no sanctions and through negotiations, an agreement seem to be reached. Whether it will sustain or collapse like Egypt is still in question.
Yet it could serve as an example of negotiations versus sanctions.
Of course Bashar Al Assad has much more support than Saleh in Syria and will not accept such negotiations unless Russia press him to and if there is a serious opposition that would attract his supporters away from him.

– The weakest link is Bahrain. If Iran to support Syria, retaliates by instigating more serious trouble in Bahrain and the danger of the uprisings spilling in their own country become more obvious, then the Saudi Arabia and Qatar may temper their actions on Syria

If the AL vote for sanctions, they may push the resolution of the situation far into 2012 and it may turn bloodier. If in the contrary the show willingness to press the opposition to a negotiated dialog then there is a chance the resolution could happen without blood and faster.
If the hawks in the Al, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are only looking to settle a score with Assad and weaken Iran by squeezing Syria then the area is bound to fall in a turmoil.

@Bronco

I agree Iran is definatly an bad example, but seriously i do not see that history is repeating itself here. I mean Tunesia will have a new constitution, and I dont think they will adopt the iranian way by sending a copy of the Quran as the Mullahs did to the UN.

I know that religion has an essential meaning to the people of the Middle East, i think its hard to believe an truly secular state is possible to achieve, and when it comes to the sharia, its already implemented in the laws of most ME countries.

I just find it hard to have the opportunity to write a new constitution and still have the ban for Christians and other beliefs from leading the government. I dont think the lebanese system will work either. But likewise ya mara Ghalba said, its not our wishful thinking which will bring change, all depends on the people in syria, i assume we can most of us agree that first the Assad regime has to go, hopefully not by all means necessary.

Damascus slams UN resolution on Syria – 2011-11-23

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/23/c_131265083.htm

BEIJING, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) — The United Nations General Assembly Third Committee Tuesday adopted a resolution condemning Syria for human rights violations, drawing sharp criticism from Damascus, which called it a U.S.-inspired political move.

The non-binding resolution, sponsored by Britain, France and Germany, was approved by a vote of 122-13 with 41 abstentions. It calls on Syrian authorities to implement an Arab League peace plan calling for the withdrawal of government tanks from the streets.

It also calls for the release of political prisoners, an end to attacks on civilians, and allowing observers into the country.

Syria’s UN envoy Bashar Ja’afari said the resolution wouldn’t benefit Syria and claimed it was a U.S.-inspired political move.

“Although the draft resolution is submitted primarily from three European countries, it is not a secret that the United States of America is the mastermind and main instigator of the political campaign against my country,” Ja’afari said.

China abstained from the vote. The country’s Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN Wang Min has called on the international community to help ease tensions in Syria, saying that exerting pressure through country-specific resolutions won’t resolve differences.

“The international community should play a constructive role in order to create conditions for the easing of tension in Syria,” Wang said, adding that China welcomes the mediation plan of the Arab League.

Triggered by anti-government protests in March, the crisis in Syria has lasted for months. The uprising has mainly been peaceful, but is growing more violent with some protesters taking up arms.

Confrontations between security forces and pro- and anti-government protesters have left more than 3,500 people dead, according to UN estimates.

As the crisis unfolded, a Syrian committee charged with drafting a new constitution said it had already laid out the basic principles for the suggested constitution and had established a mini-committee for its final formulation, the independent al-Watan newspaper reported Tuesday.

Quoting a source in the committee, the paper reported that the mini-committee would complete its mission next week and a press conference would be held to clarify the new basic principles for the constitution.

According to the source, the new constitution would be devised on the basis of a democratic and civil state. It said the committee had reviewed a number of constitutions, including the French and Moroccan ones, and was working on a daily basis to complete its mission.

This committee was formed in mid-October by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to prepare for a new constitution.

Russia determined not to repeat Libyan scenario in Syria – 2011-11-23

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-11/23/c_131265557.htm

MOSCOW, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) — As the UN Security Council prepares to discuss a new resolution concerning Syria, Russia keeps trying to define its own tough stance on the issue.

Prime Minister Vladimir Putin reaffirmed Friday that Russia opposes any military strike against Syria and its position in the Security Council on the issue would be “restrained and prudent.”

Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Monday criticized Western calls for the Syrian opposition to refrain from dialogues with the government, describing the effort as “political provocation.”

Local experts believe that Russia should now mend the shortcomings of its diplomacy in the Libyan crisis and try to avoid stepping twice into the same river.

LEARNING FROM LIBYA LESSON

“Russian leadership attempts to distance itself from the Western position, partly because Moscow’s neutrality in the early stage of the Libyan crisis has born no fruits for Russia eventually,” Guren Gukasyan, a Mideast expert from the Russian Academy of Science, told Xinhua.

Irina Zvegelskaya, a professor at the Moscow-based Oriental Studies Institute, agreed that the Kremlin has learned from its unsuccessful diplomatic efforts during the similar crisis in Libya.

“Now Moscow would read the UN draft resolutions with double attention,” Zvegelskaya said.

She said that at the same time Moscow also tries to persuade indecisive Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to take some real steps toward political reforms.

“This is the only way Assad could avoid to repeat the gloomy fate of Muammar Gaddafi,” Zvegelskaya said.

The analysts pointed out that although Russia has less direct economic interests in Syria than in Libya, it considers Syria its key ally and a major Mideast weapons market.

Ties between Syrian and Russia were established during the Soviet era, when a large number of Syrians went to study at Russian universities. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia maintained its close relations with Syria.

Due to Western sanctions on Iran and regime changes in Iraq and Libya, Russia has seen a drastic decline in both its arms sales and number of allies in the Mideast in recent years. Moscow apparently does not want to lose Syria as well, local experts say.

Observers note meanwhile that Russia maintains a navy base in the Syrian port of Tartus. The installation is Russia’s only overseas military base outside the Commonwealth Independent States (CIS) countries and in the Mediterranean sea.

Therefore, to defend Syria is, in fact, to defend Russia’s own geo-strategic interests in the Mideast, said Syrian presidential advisor Bassam Abdullah.

MAKING FULL PREPARATIONS

Russia knows, however, that it has limited tools to influence the situation in Syria, so it has to make two-handed preparations, analysts said, noting that Moscow invited the Syrian opposition to visit in June, September and November.

Russia fears that if Assad is gone, he would be replaced by “not-so-moderate Islamists,” and Syria would become a “permanent source of tension,” Zvegelskaya said.

But so far the Syrian opposition has not listened to Russian calls to start political negotiations with Assad, Zvegelskaya said, because it feels like it has strong support in the West.

Gukasyan agreed that Russia’s influence on the Syrian opposition is weaker than that of the West.

“The failure of the talks between Russian top diplomats and Syrian opposition held in Moscow in the last week demonstrated this weakness clearly,” Gukasyan said.

The UN General Assembly Third Committee adopted a resolution Tuesday condemning Syria for human rights violations.

India HPCL looks at buying Syrian crude-Sources – Wed Nov 23, 2011

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/11/23/india-hpcl-syria-idUSL4E7MN1KX20111123

* Shipping Corp will not use its vessel to import Syria oil-source

* India’s IOC also looking at Syrian crude imports – source

By Aniruddha Basu and Nidhi Verma

MUMBAI/NEW DELHI, Nov 23 (Reuters) – Hindustan Petroleum (HPCL) is looking to buy crude from sanctions-hit Syria and has asked state-run Shipping Corp of India (SCI) to arrange a vessel, sources familiar with the plan said on Wednesday.

Sanctions aimed at crude oil exports have warded off regular buyers of Syrian crude, mainly European customers, offering an opportunity to big Asian importers like India and China that have stakes in Syria’s oil business.

SCI is scouting for an Aframax vessel for HPCL, the sources said. The issue is complicated because sanctions bar the necessary P&I insurance for ships loading with Syrian oil which means SCI cannot use its own fleet.

“The oil industry has requested SCI to do it. SCI cannot be a direct party, but can be a facilitator. However SCI is not assuring it will be done, but is trying to help them and making some enquiries (for vessels),” a shipping source said.

At present, India imports no crude from Syria. A trade source said the Indian companies might be attracted to the Syrian crude because of potential discounts.

Syrian oil represents less than one percent of daily global production but accounts for a vital portion of Syrian government earnings, which Western powers say could be used by President Bashar al-Assad for a bloody military crackdown on the opposition.

A joint venture of India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC) holds a stake in Syria’s main oil producing consortium Al Furat Petroleum Co, operated by state-run Syrian Petroleum Co. and Shell.

Two sources at ONGC said because of EU and U.S. sanctions output of fields in which the Indian firm has a stake has declined from around 84,000 barrels per day to about 70,500 bpd.

“This is a forced cut because the Syrian government asked all operators to reduce output as vessels are not lifting volumes due to sanctions,” said one of the ONGC sources.

ONGC had earlier this year tried to ship crude to India from Al Furat for its unit Mangalore Refinery and Petrochemicals Ltd but insurance problems due to sanctions halted the plan.

The shipping source also said Indian Oil Corp is also exploring whether Syrian crude can be brought in through national-flagged vessels.

HPCL is still looking for a payment mechanism for the Syrian crude, an industry source said.

“There are issues with P&I cover and also with payments. They need to check if a payment could be made to ONGC in rupees,” said the industry source, adding HPCL was keen to buy ONGC’s share of oil in Syria.

Sanctions on Iran triggered a payments crisis for Indian refiners buying its crude which was only resolved in July by using Turkey’s Halkbank as a conduit and there is no channel yet for payments to Syria.

Iran has already lifted crude from Syria, the country’s first export since late September. Buyers from Russia and China are also lining up vessels, the International Oil Daily reported on Wednesday.

Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and Total have cut Syrian oil production as international sanctions make exports impossible, industry sources said earlier this month.

Did you notice the latest trends and patterns?

= You hardly see the present Syrian flag in demos. Only the green-black=white flag.
= The demonstrating crowds are much younger plus many more women.
= The crowds go near army posts and shabbiha, insulting them and calling them traitors, from quite a close proximity. Fear is totally gone.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oDCaeOwFwcM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt445KhRyxQ
.

Warfare in Syria ushers in a transition
By Rami G. Khouri

Wednesday, 23 November 2011

A civil war in Syria remains unlikely, though, in my view, because once things start moving in that direction we will see the collapse or defection of one or more of the regime’s five pillars of its incumbency (military, business class, Alawites, minorities, Aleppo-Damascus silent middle classes). This would probably trigger a Romanian-style sudden collapse of the existing order, as the regime’s thin support systems are exposed, as happened in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya. Unlike Lebanon, Somalia, Algeria or other Arab lands that endured years of destruction and death, civil war-like strife in Syria would probably be short-lived, as domestic and regional responses quickly would lead to the overthrow of the regime, ushering in a new political era.

http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/11/23/178725.html

الأردن لواشنطن: سنلجأ إلى المادة 50 من ميثاق الأمم المتحدة في حال استخدام”الفصل السابع” ضد سوريا

رئيس الحكومة الأردنية : لن نلتزم بأية عقوبات ضد سوريا يمكن أن تؤذي الأردن أو تمس حقوقه الأساسية في التجارة والاقتصاد

عمان ـ من : بسام بدارين: واجه رئيس الوزراء الأردني الخبير بالقانون الدولي والهيئات الدولية عون الخصاونة الحماس الأمريكي لفرض عقوبات جديدة وصارمة على النظام السوري الحالي بالسلاح الأفضل الذي يحمله رئيس حكومة الأردن الحالي في جعبته وهو ميثاق الأمم المتحدة الذي يعتبر الخصاونة كقاض دولي من الخبراء في تطبيقاته.
وقد حصل ذلك قبل عدة أيام عندما قابل الخصاونة مسؤولا بارزا في الإدارة الأمريكية حضر لتدريب عواصم المنطقة على كيفية المشاركة بفعالية في نظام العقوبات الأخير المقترح على سورية.
خلال الحديث طلب رئيس الوزراء الأردني من المسؤول الأمريكي العذر رسميا ومسبقا لان بلاده لن تلتزم بأي حال بأي نظام عقوبات جديد على سورية يمكن أن يؤذي الأردن أو يمس بحقوقه الأساسية في التجارة والإقتصاد.
المفاجأة كانت عندما قال الخصاونة: ببساطة إذا فرضتم عقوبات جديدة صارمة بموجب الفصل السابع سنستخدم المادة 50 من ميثاق الأمم المتحدة.
حسب الشروحات الرسمية الأردنية هذه المادة تعطي الدول المجاورة التي تتضرر جدا من أي عقوبات دولية الحق في الإستثناء وعدم المشاركة في هذه العقوبات وهي حصريا المادة التي كان الأردن أول من إستخدمها على مستوى العالم في الحصار القوي الذي فرض على العراق قبل أن يستخدمها الاخرون.
ذلك بلغة سياسية لا يعني إلا حقيقة واحدة فعمان تعتذر مبكرا من الأمريكيين وغيرهم على أساس أنها لن تكون طرفا في أي عقوبات جديدة صارمة تفرض على السوريين إستنادا إلى حقوقها التي تضمنها المادة 50 من ميثاق الأمم المتحدة كدولة جوار.
السؤال الآن: هل هذا موقف سياسي جديد للأردن بعد الجدل الذي أثارته دعوة تنحي الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد وهي الدعوة التي لاحظ وزير الخارجية الأردني الأسبق عبد الإله الخطيب في جلسة خاصة بان العالم إختبأ وراءها حتى يصطاد النظام السوري.
طبعا الجواب غير متاح بسرعة فالمشاورات التي تجري في مكتب رئيس الوزراء الأردني توصلت لإستنتاجات محددة أهمها: إذا كنا لن نلتزم بحصار سورية وإذا فرضت عقوبات بموجب الفصل السابع فكيف سنسمح وتحت أي ظرف بإستخدام الأرض او الحدود الأردنية في أي عمل عدائي تجاه النظام السوري؟… على الأقل هذا الإنطباع الذي فهمته ‘القدس العربي’ مباشرة من رئيس الوزراء الأردني بعدما شاركته في عشاء سياسي أقامه النائب البارز في البرلمان خليل عطيه.
في عمق الحديث الأردني الرسمي عن الموضوع السوري يمكن تلمس بعض التوضيحات المفصلية فالخصاونة رفع ‘فيتو’ بوجه أي محاولة لمشاركة أردنية محتملة في نظام عقوبات ضد سورية وفيتو آخر ضد أي أفكار لسحب السفير الأردني على أساس أن قرار الجامعة العربية بالخصوص إختياري وليس إجباريا وعلى أساس ان العقوبات العربية التي فرضها مجلس الجامعة ليست منطقية في الواقع ولا يوجد ما يساندها قانونيا في ميثاق الجامعة العربية.
ولذلك أسباب حسب الحيثيات الأردنية فمناطق الشمال برمتها تعتمد على التجارة مع سورية والحدود مع دمشق هي المنفذ البري الوحيد المتاح أمام التجار الأردنيين لتصدير بضاعتهم لأوروبا وهنا شرح الخصاونة لبعض النواب الذين سألوه عن تطورات الموقف الأردني من سورية: لا نملك لأسباب مفهومة إستخدام ميناء حيفا وبقية حدودنا مع الأشقاء العرب لا تنفعنا لوجستيا في التصدير لأوروبا.. ذلك يعني أن منفذنا الوحيد هو سورية التي نعتمد عليها في تصدير منتوجاتنا وعبور شاحناتنا.
لذلك تقول عمان اليوم أنها لن تسحب السفير ولن تغلق الحدود ولن تشارك في نظام عقوبات صارم ضد سورية بموجب الفصل السابع ولسنا بصدد تأمين منطقة عازلة أو إستقبال منشقين.
بإختصار، قال وزير الخارجية ناصر جوده في جلسة خاصة – لنا مصالح حيوية لا مجال للمجازفة فيها.
بقيت إذا وفي التحليل السياسي مسألة التنحي التي أثارت الكثير من الجدل مؤخرا ودفعت وزير الخارجية السوري وليد المعلم لتهديد عمان ضمنيا عندما قال بأن الأيام دين وإقتراض بين دول الجوار.
هنا حصريا اجتهد كثيرون لتوضيح الأمر وشرحه سواء في الديوان الملكي الأردني وفي بعض الصحف المحلية أو في الإطار الدبلوماسي وإرتكز التوضيح على النقطة التالية: الصحفية في بي بي سي أصرت ولأكثر من 20 دقيقة متتالية على طرح السؤال بصيغ متنوعة على الملك عبدلله الثاني بعنوان’لو كنت مكان بشار الأسد.. ما ذا تفعل؟’ .. مقابل هذا الإصرار والطرح المتتالي للسؤال نفسه خرجت العبارة الإفتراضية التي يقول فيها الملك الأردني ‘لو كنت مكان الرئيس لرتبت الأمور قم تنحيت’.
القصد هنا حسب المعنيين كان واضحا وهو نصيحة وقراءة للمشهد وليس موقفا سياسيا جديدا للأردن كما قال المحلل السياسي عريب الرنتاوي.

“القدس العربي”

The two soccer teams are KSA and Qatar. The former has an imperialistic dream based on religious proselyticism that once stretched to Pakistan, Indonesia, Central Asia and Senegal, and now plainly achieves the annexion of Bahrein (already done) and Yemen (an old one, but getting even more concrete). The later has an imperialistic dream that started from its media network and the influence it started to have after the Israeli attack on Lebanon (which resulted in Nasrallah’s pictures everywhere in Sunni groceries in the Muslim world) and the Israeli attack on Gaza. They have two things in common: Wahhabism and piles of cash. But as the US economy was getting weaker, they started to invest in the EU economy. There they met Russia.
And what follows still has to be written.

MAJEDKHALDOUN#203, MOHAMED KANJ#206, GHUFRAN#209,

http://www.facebook.com/haytham.khoury?v=info#!/SyrianChristians

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/259970707370236/?notif_t=group_activity

http://www.facebook.com/#!/SyrianArmenians

http://www.facebook.com/#!/groups/259970707370236/?notif_t=group_activity

http://www.facebook.com/#!/SRCSMMM

http://www.facebook.com/haytham.khoury?v=info#!/Christians.Against.Luka.Khoury

http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/%D8%B3%D9%83%D9%88%D8%AA_%D9%87%D9%88%D9%84-%D8%AB%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D9%8A-%D9%88%D8%A3%D8%AD%D8%B1%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%B6%D8%AF-%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%AF-Jesus-Revolution/205462722815680

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Bronco, you might find these news linked to your last comment:

-جوبيه يؤكد دعم بلاده لتشكيل جبهة معارضة سورية شاملة وموحّدة

أكد وزير الخارجية الفرنسية آلان جوبيه دعم فرنسا والمجتمع الدولي لتشكيل جبهة معارضة سورية شاملة وموحّدة تحضيراً لإنتقال السلطة السلمي في هذا البلد.
وذكرت الخارجية الفرنسية في بيان، أن جوبيه أكّد خلال لقائه رئيس المجلس الوطني السوري برهان غليون، في مقر الوزارة على “دعم فرنسا والمجتمع الدولي لتشكيل معارضة ديمقراطية موحّدة تمثل جميع القوى الديمقراطية السورية من أجل التحضير لإنتقال سلمي في هذا البلد”.
وأضاف البيان أنه في هذا الإطار شدّد جوبيه على “أهمية تعاون الجامعة العربية مع المجلس الوطني السوري”.

-توقيع المبادرة الخليجية لنقل السلطة في اليمن بين الرئيس صالح والمعارضة
وقّع الرئيس اليمني علي عبدالله صالح وممثلو المعارضة اليمنية في الرياض على المبادرة الخليجية لنقل السلطة وانهاء الخلاف في اليمن، بحضور الملك السعودي عبدالله بن عبد العزيز والأمين العام لمجلس التعاون الخليجي عبد اللطيف الزياني.

-لجنة التحقيق في البحرين توصي بالتحقيق في ممارسات قوى الأمن
أعلن محمود شريف بسيوني رئيس لجنة تقصي الحقائق في البحرين المكلفة التحقيق باحداث البحرين بين شباط وآذار وتداعياتها، خلال مؤتمر صحافي ما توصلت إليه اللجنة في تحقيقاتها.
وأشارت إلى أنه “تم تقديم 9000 ألاف شكوى وإفادة وتم القيام بـ5000 مقابلة فردية وعشرات من الاجتماعات وعشرات المعاينات في البحرين، وقد سعت لحث الأطراف على حل مشاكل الطلاب الجامعيين والموظفين المفصولين”.
ولفت إلى أن “اللجنة حرصت على شفافية واستقلالية التحقيق وعلى سرية المعلومات وحماية الذين تقدموا بها”.
أما الملاحظات والخلاصات التي انتهى إليها تقرير اللجنة، فتشير إلى “مواجهة المظاهرات يوم 14 شباط بالقوة والأسلحة التي أدت إلى موت المدنيين، ما زاد من السخط الشعبي ورفع سقف المطالب”، وأضاف أنه “مع استمرار الاحتجاجات حتى منتصف آذار تطورت الأمور ووقعت هجمات على المغتربين وأهل السنة”.
وأضاف أنه “الملك وافق على قيام ولي العهد بالتفاوض مع مختلف الجمعيات السياسية للتفاوض لحل سلمي، وعلى رغم الجهد المضني إلا أن الحل السياسي لم يكلل بالنجاح”، معتبرا أنه “لو كانت المبادرة قد قبلت لكانت قد مهدت الطريق لإصلاحات سياسية واجتماعية كبيرة”.
ولفت إلى أن “التحقيقات كشفت عن إجراء جهات انفاذ القانون لعدد كبير من عمليات القبض دون أوامر رسمية أو إخبارهم بأسباب القبض، ولجأت الجهات في الحكومة إلى القوة المفرطة وغير الضرورية وسلوك بث الرعب واتلاف غير ضروري للممتلكات على خلاف التعليمات الصادرة عن في قمة الوزراء”.
وأكد “تعرض الموقوفين للتعذيب داخل السجن ما دل على وجود أنماط سلوكية تجاه فئات من الموقوفين”، لافتا إلى أن “حجم سوء المعاملة يدل على ممارسة متعمدة تهدف لانتزاع اعتراف بالاكراه والانتقام من الأشخاص”.
وإذ عدد بعض الطرق التي تم في خلالها معاملةالموقوفين، ومن بينها “تعصيب العينين والوقوف لفقرات طويلة واللكم والضرب بخراطيم مطاطة والضرب بالسياط والصعق بالكهرباء”، رأى أن “تلك الأفعال تندرج ضمن التعريف المقرر للتعذيب المنصوص عليها في معاهدة مناهضة التعذيب التي وقعت عليها البحرين وانتهاك لقانون المعاقبة في البحرين”.
وأضاف أن “اللجنة سجلت انتهاكات عديدة للحق في المحاكمة المنصفة، والأسلوب التي اتبعته أجهزة الأمن فتح أمام ارتكاب انتهاكات جسيمة لحقوق الإنسان”.
وتابع “غياب الاشراف القضائي سمح بارتكاب المزيد من هذه الاتهاكات”، مشيرا إلى “وقوع 35 حالة وفاة مرتبطة بأحداث شباط وآذار الماضي بينهم 30 مدني وخمسة أشخاص من الأجهزة الأمنية”.
وأضاف أن “اتهامات الأمن تتعارض مع حرية التعبير”.
وأشار إلى أن “معظم دور العبادة غير المرخص لها تعرضت لأعمال هدم”، لافتا إلى “وجود أدلة كافية حول استهداف أبناء الطائفة السنية من المتظاهرين”.
وعن ضلوع إيران بالأحداث في البحرين أكد النحقيق “عدم العثور على دليل على علاقة إيران فيها، كما أنه لا دليل على تورط لقوات درع الجزيرة”.
وأوصت لجنة التحقيق في البحرين بـ”التحقيق في ممارسات قوات الأمن وبتعيين أبناء كافة الطوائف في الأمن”، كما أوصت “بتمكين المعارضة من الحضور على الإعلام”، مطالبة “الملك حمد بن عيسى آل خليفة بوضع جدول زمني لتنفيذ التوصيات”.

-ملك البحرين يعلن قبوله توصيات لجنة التحقيق: نرفض التدخلات الخارجية
-الملك عبدالله: الاستقرار والوئام في اليمن مسؤولية جميع الاطراف

Jad, 242, “ils ne sont pas à une contradiction près”… Am I dreaming or is the UK in a concerted operation (Fisk, Doucet, etc) to stop this madness?

I forgot to paste the article about Yemen in my previous post:
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/2/8/27422/World/Region/Saleh-to-sign-exit-plan-but-Yemen-protests-rage-on.aspx

Now we get rid of another dictator, Ali Abdullah Saleh, his speach was a speach from someone who has hate and feeling bitter,he is another thug like Bashar.
What is left is Bashar.he must go.
Saddam, Ali Zain AlAbideen,Mubarak,Gaddafi,and now Saleh,,Bashar is next.

Welcome to the former “model of democracy” that the West saw in Yemen.
“During the first three months of the agreement, Hadi will also form a committee that will oversee the restructuring of Yemen’s deeply divided armed forces and security services. Saleh’s son Ahmed commands the Republican Guards, his nephew Yehya heads the central security services, and Tariq, another nephew, controls the presidential guard.”
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/2/8/27422/World/Region/Saleh-to-sign-exit-plan-but-Yemen-protests-rage-on.aspx

Will Bashar survives until new Year? I hope he will not, since We all want to celebrate this new year in HOMS in Bab elsebah….

FYI.. Bashar and Mkhalouf bought houses in Dubai .. Bashar paid $60M for his…

Will Bashar survives until new Year? I hope he will not, since We all want to celebrate this new year in HOMS in Bab elsebah….

FYI.. Bashar and Mkhalouf bought houses in Dubai .. Bashar paid $60M for his…

International criticism of Egypt’s rulers mounts – 23 mins ago

http://news.yahoo.com/international-criticism-egypts-rulers-mounts-152056428.html

CAIRO (AP) — International criticism of Egypt’s military rulers mounted Wednesday as police clashed for a fifth day with protesters demanding the generals relinquish power immediately. A rights group raised the death toll for the wave of violence to at least 38.

The United Nations strongly condemned authorities for what it deemed an excessive use of force. Germany, one of Egypt’s top trading partners, called for a quick transfer of power to a civilian government. The United States and the U.N. secretary general have already expressed their concern over the use of violence against mostly peaceful protesters.

Navi Pillay, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights, deplored the role of Egypt’s security forces in attempting to suppress protesters.

“Some of the images coming out of Tahrir, including the brutal beating of already subdued protesters, are deeply shocking, as are the reports of unarmed protesters being shot in the head,” Pillay said. “There should be a prompt, impartial and independent investigation, and accountability for those found responsible for the abuses that have taken place should be ensured.”

She said the actions of the military and police are enflaming the situation, prompting more people to join the protests.

“The more they see fellow protesters being carted away in ambulances, the more determined and energized they become.”

Clashes resumed for a fifth day despite a promise by the head of the ruling military council on Tuesday to speed up a presidential election to the first half of next year, a concession swiftly rejected by tens of thousands of protesters in Tahrir Square. The military previously floated late next year or early 2013 as the likely date for the vote, the last step in the process of transferring power to a civilian government.

The clashes are the longest spate of uninterrupted violence since the 18-day uprising that toppled the former regime in February.

The standoff at Tahrir and in other major cities such as Alexandria and Assiut has deepened the country’s economic and security crisis less than a week before the first parliamentary elections since the ouster of longtime authoritarian leader Hosni Mubarak.

Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi tried to defuse tensions with his address late Tuesday, but he did not set a date for handing authority to a civilian government.

The Tahrir crowd, along with protesters in a string of other cities, want Tantawi to step down immediately in favor of an interim civilian administration to run the nation’s affairs until a new parliament and president are elected.

The government offered more concessions on Wednesday, ordering the release of 312 protesters detained over the past days and instructing civilian prosecutors to take over a probe the military started into the death of 27 people, mostly Christians, in a protest on Oct. 9. The army is accused of involvement in the killings.

The military also denied that its troops around Tahrir Square used tear gas or fired at protesters, an assertion that runs against numerous witness accounts that say troops deployed outside the Interior Ministry were firing tear gas at protesters.

Street battles have been heaviest around the heavily fortified Interior Ministry, located on a side street that leads to the iconic square that was the epicenter of the uprising earlier this year. Police are using tear gas and rubber bullets to keep the protesters from storming the ministry, a sprawling complex that has for long been associated with the hated police and Mubarak’s former regime.

The protesters, who have withstood tear gas and beatings, say they do not want to storm the ministry but are trying to keep the police and army from moving on nearby Tahrir Square.

An Associated Press reporter at the scene said a truce negotiated by Muslim clerics briefly held in the late afternoon, after both the protesters and the police pulled back from the front line street, scene of most of the fighting. State television, meanwhile, broadcast footage from the scene of the clashes showing army soldiers forming a human chain between the protesters and the police in a bid to stop the violence.

The truce was soon breached when police fired a barrage of tear gas and rubber bullets and the protesters responded with rocks. It was not clear who resumed the fighting.

A short while earlier, tension was high in the area on the side streets leading to the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for the police, with many young protesters vomiting and coughing incessantly from the tear gas fired by the police. Others wounded by rubber bullets were hurriedly ferried by motorcycle to field hospitals.

Elnadeem Center, an Egyptian rights group known for its careful research of victims of police violence, said late Tuesday that the number of protesters killed in clashes nationwide since Saturday is 38, three more than the Health Ministry’s death toll, which went up to 35 on Wednesday. All but four of the deaths were in Cairo.

The clashes also have left at least 2,000 protesters wounded, mostly from gas inhalation or injuries caused by rubber bullets fired by the army and the police. The police deny using live ammunition.

Human Rights Watch on Tuesday cited morgue officials as saying at least 20 people have been killed by live ammunition.

Shady el-Nagar, a doctor in one of Tahrir’s field hospitals, said three bodies arrived in the facility on Wednesday. All three had bullet wounds.

“We don’t know if these were caused by live ammunition or pellets because pellets can be deadly when fired from a short distance,” he said.

The turmoil broke out just days before the start of staggered parliamentary elections on Nov. 28. The votes will take place over months and conclude in March.

The Muslim Brotherhood, Egypt’s strongest and best organized group, is not taking part in the ongoing protests in a move that is widely interpreted to be a reflection of its desire not to do anything that could derail the election, which it hopes win along with its allies.

Hundreds of Brotherhood supporters, however, have defied the leadership and joined the crowds in the square. Their participation is not likely to influence the Brotherhood’s leadership or narrow the rift between the Islamist group and the secular organizations behind the uprising that toppled Mubarak and which are behind the latest spate of protests.

Sixty years after it was banned, the Brotherhood found itself empowered in the wake of the Feb. 11 ouster of Mubarak. It moved swiftly after the overthrow of Mubarak to form its own party, Freedom and Justice, to contest the parliamentary election.

Notorious for its political opportunism, the Brotherhood and its allies are hoping to win enough seats in the next legislature to push through a new constitution with an Islamic slant and bring this mainly Muslim nation of some 85 million people closer to being an Islamic state.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel, meanwhile, was said by a spokesman to be following events in Egypt “with great concern.”

“In the new Egypt, which wants to be free and democratic, repression and the use of force against peaceful demonstrators can have no place,” spokesman Steffen Seibert said in Berlin. “The demonstrators’ demands … for a quick transition to a civilian government are understandable from the German government’s point of view,” he added.

France want to recognize SNC as the opposition representative.

“……FYI.. Bashar and Mkhalouf bought houses in Dubai .. Bashar paid $60M for his…”

Great, there is nothing wrong in an orderly transition of power in Syria. The concern if he to relocate to that 60 mil mansion is how much of worthless fiat currency will be left at the Central Bank, for sure there will be no gold or hard currency, NIL, Iran will be paid first, before handing of power and there not available reserve to pay that debt. Another concern is who will run Syria afterward, are there going to be a cohesive body ready to take over or will, in revenge, get left to the Allahu-Akbar throat slitters to finish the job. Finish Syria and Syrians off. The best plan is to deny the Baathists that luxury vacation for life and help them fix the mess they made in Syria first.

From the Angry Arab (As’ad Abu Khalil) today:

Anti-`Alawite bigotry in Al-Quds Al-`Arabi
Al-Quds Al-Arabi (Qatari-funded) published an apology in its issue. It said in its translation of Anthony Shadid’s piece about Homs it “mistakenly” translated `Alawite in the article as “shabbihah” (armed goons). I kid you not. (Check the PDF version of the paper in the Arab affairs section).

Trial in Saudi Arabia: not a word in the New York Times
“A court in Saudi Arabia sentenced 17 men to prison sentences of up to 30 years on Tuesday for sedition and other offences, a lawyer for some of the defendants said. “Myself, their families and judges whom we know on the bench are all shocked,” defence lawyer Bassim Alim told Reuters. He added that the judge had promised a written verdict in two to three weeks, at which time a 30-day window for lodging appeals would be open to the accused – who have been described by Amnesty International as proponents of peaceful reform. Justice Ministry spokesmen were not available for comment. Most of the group of activists, academics and lawyers were detained in 2007 after they met in the Red Sea port city of Jeddah to discuss potential political change in Saudi Arabia, an absolute monarchy governed by a strict form of Islamic law. Amnesty International described the men in its 2011 annual report as “advocates of peaceful political reform”. They were charged, among other crimes, with attempting to seize power, incitement against the king, financing terrorism, electronic crimes, money laundering and trying to set up a political party, Alim said before the sentencing.” But I recommend that you read the Arabic text. They list a whole range of accusations and offenses and just in case this does not stick in Western capitals–it will of course–they throw in links with Al-Qa`idah.

He is not a Muslim, after all
“He did have a slight worry at one point during the chemotherapy process when he discovered that one of the surgeon’s name was “Dr. Abdallah.”
“I said to his physician assistant, I said, ‘That sounds foreign — not that I had anything against foreign doctors — but it sounded too foreign,” Cain tells the audience. “She said, ‘He’s from Lebanon.’ Oh, Lebanon! My mind immediately started thinking, wait a minute, maybe his religious persuasion is different than mine! She could see the look on my face and she said, ‘Don’t worry, Mr. Cain, he’s a Christian from Lebanon.'”
“Hallelujah!” Cain says. “Thank God!”
The crowd laughs uneasily.”

http://www.angryarab.com

Contrary to what we have read here and there there have been no clashes on Tahrir yesterday and today, just in Muhammad Mahmud street, an adjacent street which hosts the ministry of interior. The attacks on police buildings seems to have been concerted.

http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/517820
Citizens form popular committees to defend police stations
Arabic Edition
Wed, 23/11/2011 – 15:50
Beheira residents formed popular committees to defend police stations following reports of attacks.

“Several rioters are abusing the current events to attempt to break into police stations to help prisoners escape and spread chaos,” the Ministry of Interior said in a statement Wednesday.

Attempts were carried out in several governorates to seize weapons and assault policemen, the ministry statement said.

The statement said the attacks targeted the ministry and the security directorates of Cairo, Alexandria, Daqahlia, Gharbiya, Sharqiya, Suez, Ismailia, Port Said, Damietta, Fayoum, Beni Suef, Minya, Assiut and Qena.

Police forces, aided by large numbers of citizens, stopped the attacks in accordance with the law, the statement added.

The clashes led to the injury of 187 policemen.

Translated from the Arabic Edition

What people on Tahrir want in priority is: that the figures associated to the Mubarak regime and corruption get tried (Suzanne Mubarak is giving weekly lectures at Nadi Heliopolis!!); that the people who have been injured since january get free treatment and compensations; that the inequality between the salaries of the old guard (still in control in most institutions, governement newspapers etc) disappear and that these people as well as the policemen and officers convicted of crimes be judged. I went to Tahrir today and there was no tear gas to be smelled except when you approach Muhammad Mahmud street where you could also here the sounds of ambulances. By comparison, after the heavy use of teargas on Saturday, the irritation could still be felt in the metro on Sunday and Monday.

Bashar’s Western water carriers

Hussein Ibish, November 23, 2011

The situation in Syria continues to deteriorate, while the brutality of the regime, which has killed over 3,500 people and tortured even children, has escalated. Meanwhile, a motley crew of Western commentators continues to carry water for President Bashar al-Assad.

These commentators cannot be immune from responsibility for their words. Their defense of a brutal dictatorship cannot go unchallenged or unexamined. While they have every right to their opinions, the rest of us have not only a right but a responsibility to draw the conclusion that these individuals, in fact, oppose freedom for the Syrian people by supporting a regime denying Syrians their freedom.

The essentially pro-regime stance of Professor Joshua Landis of the University of Oklahoma is well-established. To mention one small example, last April he praised what he called “the stability that the Assad family has enforced in Syria and… the vision of tolerance and secularism they have promoted.”

Read more:

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=335209

Ghofran

“and if the Assad truly enjoyed the support of 80% of Syrians,this uprising will be dying off.”

I disagree. It needs less than 2% to create enough trouble on the 80% who are peaceful and passive and don’t know how to counteract acts of provocation and violence. These 80% rely on the state to protect them not on arming themselves. This is why they can’t cope with the 2%.

Here is a live update of the events of today in Cairo. It confirms all the fighting is taking place in Muhammad Mahmud street.
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/517749

7:30 pm: A Tahrir doctor is reported to have died from teargas used against demonstrators.

Eyewitnesses say the police shot teargas directly at the field hospital on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, causing the doctor, Rania Fouad, to faint and enter a coma. They also say the police forbade her colleagues from moving her away from the scene.
7:15 pm: On Mohamed Mahmoud Street, military sets up barbed wire in front of central security forces.

7:10 pm: The Popular Socialist Alliance Party issued a statement in which it blasted Field Marshal Tantawi’s speech Tuesday night, and demanded the ruling military council give up power to a powerful and trusted national salvation government headed by presidential hopeful Mohamed ElBaradei.

The party denounces what it calls lies of the military council, which claims it hasn’t shot protesters with live ammunition or spread false accusations.

The party asserts that it firmly supports the popular uprising and rejects negotiations or dialogue with the military. It also says that it has continued to suspend all electoral campaigning until the bloodshed ends and those responsible for it are held accountable.

5:50 pm: Clashes renew at Mohamed Mahmoud Street.

4:30 pm: The military’s hands are tainted with protesters’ blood, according to a press release issued Tuesday by the New York-based organization Human Rights Watch.

The report urged Egypt’s Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) to immediately order riot police to stop the use of “excessive force” against protesters and to reduce their troops around Tahrir Square “to a level that allows for the maintenance of security while permitting free assembly.”

The organization accused both riot police and military personnel of shooting live ammunition and rubber bullets at demonstrators and beating them up.

The press release quoted Sarah Leah Whitson, the organization’s Middle East director, as saying: “With parliamentary elections a week away, the military rulers are facing a serious crisis of confidence because of their management of the transition… It has not yet learned the most basic lesson of the January uprising: that Egyptians have and know they have a right to peaceful protest, which repressing a demonstration with brute force cannot take away.”

The organization demanded that the office of the public prosecutor conduct “a transparent investigation” into the use of “lethal force” and the involvement of military personnel in the brutalities.

4:20 pm: The official death toll of the clashes around Egypt has risen to 35, the Health Ministry said. There have been 31 deaths in Cairo, two in Alexandria, one in Ismailia and one in Marsa Matruh.

4:15 pm: Five Egyptian human rights groups have issued a statement declaring their intention to prosecute General Hamdy Badeen, head of the military police; General Hassan al-Roweiny, commander of the central military district; and Interior Minister Mansour al-Essawy, among other senior security officials, for the killing and injuring of protesters in clashes that started Saturday in many governorates around Egypt.

The signatories said that the actions of the police and military forces in the last four days constitute “criminal offenses,” which they said have led to 40 deaths and 2000 injuries. They warn that if the Egyptian judicial system fails to bring those responsible to justice, its members will be prosecuted in international courts.

To counter what they call false claims by the military that it hasn’t engaged with protesters, the organizations started gathering evidence of the use of excessive force by military forces with intent to cause death or serious injury since the beginning of the clashes.

The statement is signed by the Egyptian Initiative for Human Rights, the Hisham Mubarak Law Center, the Arab Network for Human Rights Information, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and Al-Nadeem Center for Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence.

4:10 pm: Clashes on Mohamed Mahmoud Street stopped after police forces retreated. The army is now securing the area around the Interior Ministry.

4:00 pm: Protesters have built three levels of barricades from the debris along Mohamed Mahmoud Street to protect the square from any potential attack that might happen, as well as to prevent people from advancing and to stay inside the confines of the square. People are chanting, “The people demand the revolution inside the square.”

Army officers are still present along the streets leading to the Interior Ministry.

3:15 pm: An Al-Azhar imam from the group that went to negotiate with the army, Ismail Mohamady, has said the two sides agreed they will stay in the square and no side will attack the other.

Fekry Mohamed, a 29-year-old protester, said that one Central Security Forces officer waved the victory sign, took off his helmet and threw down his weapon. He and some other protesters raised him up on their shoulders and started chanting “peaceful,” and the security forces withdrew.

“This is a victory for us, we are peaceful protesters and we will now stay inside the square until we topple SCAF,” Mohamed said.

Protester Amal Hamada, 43, said: “We will not leave Tahrir until our demands are met: stopping military trials for civilians, the handover of power to a civilian authority, and trying all the criminals from police who murdered protesters. We put the blame on Tantawi for every drop of blood that was shed.”

2:55 pm: Police forces have retreated from Mohamed Mahmoud Street.

2:30 pm: A number of Al-Azhar imams have organized a group of people to negotiate a truce with the army forces, which have recently appeared on the side streets around Tahrir Square.

2:15 pm: A fire has broken out at the American University in Cairo (AUC) main campus in downtown Cairo, an Al-Masry Al-Youm correspondent says. The building is on Mohamed Mahmoud Street, where most of the heaviest fighting is.

2:20 pm: The Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) issues a new statement on its official Facebook page, denying using any tear gas canisters against protesters in Tahrir Square or anywhere else. The statement stressed that the armed forces won’t use weapons of any kind against the Egyptian people. The SCAF demanded youth not to follow rumors.

1:50 pm: Harassment of journalists appears to be on the rise. Al-Masry Al-Youm journalist Nadine Marroushi was detained by police officers, who questioned her about her purpose in the square. They released her but kept her cell phone and press ID card. Earlier in the day, Ola Galal, a reporter for Bloomberg, was arrested while taking pictures behind the police lines. An officer cursed at her and threatened to delete her photos. She was then released.

11:00 pm: Fighting continues between protesters and police on Mohamed Mahmoud Street.

Earlier in the day

Increasing numbers of protesters began swarming into Tahrir early Wednesday morning after continuing clashes between security authorities and protesters near the Interior Ministry in downtown Cairo.

Eyewitnesses said security forces continue to fire tear gas. They said field hospitals in Tahrir are receiving dozens of injured people, most of whom suffer from convulsions, apparently from tear gas, and varying cuts from stone-throwing.

Meanwhile, more than 150 school students organized a march from Haram, in southern Cairo to Tahrir to express support for the protesters.

The students, marching from Giza square to Tahrir, chanted “The people want to bring down the regime” and “Down with military rule” in rejection of the use of violence against protesters.

The Ahmed Maher Front of the April 6 Youth Movement announced in a statement on Tuesday that it will continue its sit-in in Tahrir and other governorates until its four demands are achieved.

The movement called for setting a date for the presidential election so that it is held before the end of April, transferring power to a civilian presidential council, forming a national salvation government with full powers independent from the SCAF, and launching immediate investigations into the clashes in Tahrir.

The movement criticized Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) leader Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi’s speech, in which he pledged to conduct presidential elections before the end of June.

Meanwhile, field doctors in Tahrir called on citizens to supply them with medications, saying their supplies are quickly running out.

On Twitter, doctors sent out cries for help to urge other doctors to head to Tahrir immediately, saying several protesters are dying from gunfire.

236. Juergen said:

“I agree Iran is definatly an bad example, but seriously i do not see that history is repeating itself here. I mean Tunesia will have a new constitution, and I dont think they will adopt the iranian way by sending a copy of the Quran as the Mullahs did to the UN. ”

Juergen, in Iran, in the first year after the revolution, they had a secular president and there was no restrictions on clothes etc.. It came in gradually when the Mullahs took roots in the system.
Iran is still a moderate country compared to Saudi Arabia because Shia are more moderate that Wahhabis, but still the religion is deeply embedded in the law.
Tunisia’s economy is based on tourism. No tourist will show up if they can’t drink and undress. This is why Tunisia’s government is trapped. If they implement strict Sharia laws then, either there will be two systems, one for tourists, one for Tunisians: The tourists will be allowed to drink and wear bikinis and the Tunisians won’t, or they adopt one system whereby everybody will be allowed to drink and undress. This later one will create waves of violent attacks from religious people who will not tolerate it.
In both cases it is artificial.
Turkey has excluded the Sharia law from its constitution and have left it only to deal with personal issues. Tunisia has rejected this ‘secular’ model. I am curious to see how thy will deal with their conflicting needs.
For now, we are hearing promises, but in time, this is going to be complex problem to deal with.

#254 Uzair quotes Joshua Landis speaking of “…the stability that the Assad family has enforced in Syria…”. Joshua’s language is false and wrong because no family or cabal can enforce or create stability in Syria. My language is “…the stability that the Establishment has created in Syria…”. The Syrian Establishment is a sociologically broad group that covers all geographic parts of the country, nearly all religious groups, all age groups, all professional occupations, all big private enterprises, and all components of the State. Syrian society also contains a smallish anti-Establishment, most of it alienated poor people with Wahabi or Wahabi-like political ideas, which today is “riding the wave of popular and justified demands” to try to overthrow the Establishment. The Establishment is big and broad enough to weather the storm.

#241 Uzair quotes Rami G. Khouri saying: “The regime’s political support systems are thin…. The regime’s four pillars of its incumbency are: military, business class, non-Sunnis, Aleppo-Damascus silent middle classes….” Taken together, those four pillars of support are strong, not thin. And you must take the four together; they are not independent of each other; they mutually support each other as a single nationwide societal Establishment, unified in its opposition to the anti-Establishment. An anti-Establishment of size 2% can create a lot of Events if they put their hearts into it (as IRRITATED said above). But they can’t seriously challenge the Establishment. That’s how I see the situation.

More details about the 3 American students caught in Cairo

3 American Students Held in Protests, Egyptians Say
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
Published: November 22, 2011

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/23/world/middleeast/3-american-students-arrested-in-cairo.html

Three students at the American University in Cairo were arrested and accused of participating in violent protests in the Egyptian capital, the university said Tuesday, after images of the men were broadcast on satellite and cable television channels around the world.

The Egyptian state broadcaster, Nile TV, showed police video of the men standing against a wall in front of a table displaying bottles filled with colored liquid — identified as firebombs — along with several identification cards and at least one Indiana driver’s license said to belong to one of the men.

A spokesman for the Justice Ministry, Adel Saeed, said the men had been arrested by the police on Monday “for throwing Molotov cocktails from atop the A.U.C. building” near Tahrir Square, the epicenter of Egyptian protest. The university has a campus near the square with several low buildings; the main campus building had been used by government forces during the revolutionary battles in the square in February.

As of Tuesday afternoon local time, the men remained in police custody, the ministry spokesman said. “We are waiting for them to be transferred to the prosecutors office,” he added. “A lawyer from the embassy is with them now.”

The United States Embassy in Cairo said that it was “unable to confirm reports of detention of any specific American citizen” but that it was investigating “all reports.”

The arrests of the three Americans came as deadly street clashes between security forces and protesters stretched into a fourth day, with hundreds of thousands of people converging on Tahrir Square to voice their opposition to the military-led government.

The men were studying abroad for the semester and were scheduled to return to the United States at the end of this term, said a spokeswoman for the American University in Cairo, Morgan Roth.

After contacting their families, the university identified the students as Gregory Porter, 19, of Glenside, Pa.; Luke Gates, 21, of Bloomington, Ind.; and Derrik Sweeney, 20, of Jefferson City, Mo.

Messages posted over the weekend to a Twitter account under the name of Luke Gates and with references to the American University in Cairo and a picture resembling one of the arrested men included several messages related to the protest. One message read: “yes live bullets we have the shells, i was here!!” and included a link to a news report on deadly street clashes. Another message was: “we were throwing rocks and one guy accidentally threw his phone.”

Mr. Gates, a junior at Indiana University, is pursuing a double major in political science and near Eastern languages and culture, said Ryan Piurek, a university spokesman.

Mr. Porter is a sophomore and an international area studies major at Drexel University in Philadelphia. In a statement, the university said it was in contact with his parents, as well as the American University in Cairo and the American Embassy, in order “to have Porter released and returned home safely.”

A spokeswoman for Georgetown University, where Mr. Sweeney is a junior, said in a statement that the university was also working with American officials on his case.

“He looks absolutely terrified,” said Nicole Sweeney, Mr. Sweeney’s sister, in an interview with CNN on Tuesday.

Bronco @ 257

You are giving me no hope. Then what is the solution for ME countries? Either a brutal dictator to enforce secularism or democratic ascendency of strict interpretation of Shariaa law?

@jad 244

Thanks, it does confirm to me that these issues are linked to each other and it is a race against time as many events are unfolding together and may play against or for the statu quo of the Syrian regime.

The key question is how would the majority of Syrians react to the sanctions that may be imposed by the AL directed by the goat-hawks.
Would they regroup around Bashar Al Assad and vent their frustrations on the treason of the Arabs and the victimization by the western countries, or they would turn against the government?
As long as the SNC is getting pampered by France, hosted by Turkey, ignored by Russia, and tolerated by the UK without offering any acceptable and peaceful alternative, I think that despite the painful sanctions the majority of Syrians will stick with Bashar.

Democracy for sure!
From the Crusaders ‘safe’ passage wars of the 12th century to the French mandate in the 20th century to today’s ‘Safe Humanitarian Passage’ plans nothing changed but the number of the century, the same westerner colonization war driven mentality, nothing changed!

جوبيه: طلبنا من الاتحاد الاوروبي بحث انشاء ممرات انسانية في سوريا
أعلن وزير الخارجية الفرنسي آلان جوبيه أن المجلس الوطني السوري هو المحاور الشرعي باسم سوريا، لافتا الى ان فرنسا طلبت من الاتحاد الاوروبي بحث انشاء ممرات انسانية في سوريا.

I find it very hypocritical the way all Assad-loyalists/worshipers/fans on this blog are posting articles about and are cheering for the “revolutions” in all arab countries… EXCEPT SYRIA…

I also noticed very negative posts about Turkey recently.

When will they post articles about the massacres by Russians against Chechens?*

*–> Expect that to start happen ONCE Russia finally decides “to give up” Syria…

Bronco

” I think that despite the painful sanctions the majority of Syrians will stick with Bashar.”

Hay..NOT FAIR! Can you practice what you preach? I thought we agreed that neither me NOR YOU have a proof of what the majority of Syrian want. Remember?

You keep coming back with the assumption that ” the majority of Syrians want this and want that…” remember?

Ban Ki Moon opens his eyes on Lybia.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/leaked-un-report-reveals-torture-lynchings-and-abuse-in-postgaddafi-libya-6266636.html

(…)
The report says that “while political prisoners held by the Gaddafi regime have been released, an estimated 7,000 detainees are currently held in prisons and makeshift detention centres, most of which are under the control of revolutionary brigades, with no access to due process in the absence of a functioning police and judiciary.”

Of particular worry was the fate of women being held for alleged links with the regime, often due to family connections, sometimes with their children locked up alongside them.

“There have also been reports of women held in detention in the absence of female guards and under male supervision, and of children detained alongside adults,” says the report.

A number of black Africans were lynched following the revolution following claims, often false, that they were hired guns for the Gaddafi regime.
(…)
The UN findings chart the vicious abuse carried out by the regime until the final days of the civil war. In a personal note in the document, Ban Ki-Moon said: “I was deeply shocked by my visit to an agricultural warehouse in the Khallital-Ferjan neighbourhood of Tripoli where elements of the Gaddafi regime had detained civilians in inhuman conditions, had subjected some to torture and had massacred as many as they could and burned their bodies.

Humanist,
You are welcome to share the news you have on Syria. But apart from unverified rumours of buying properties in Dubai and killing more peaceful protesters (without giving any evidence), we haven’t heard much these days. I am sure the Arab League observers will do a wonderful job when they go there (if only they can organize themselves and meet somewhere else than at the Arab League quarters on Tahrir… after all it is the 21th century, they can use phones and video conference, no? Even a hotel would fit, no?)

There is a bunch of journalists currently in Syria, so you can probably look for their reports, no? The last “political” news I have read were that William Hague was asking the many currents of Syrian opposition to find a common platform and stop violence. Could you enlighten us if you have more?

Tara @260

If you believe the West reassuring new song that the Sharia law included in the constitution can only be moderate and compatible with democracy, then you have hopes that countries like Tunisia will give an example to follow to other countries.
If in the contrary you believe, like I do, that any religious law imbedded in a constitution that is vague enough to be subject to ‘human’ interpretation, present a danger as the system can be abused and can become oppressive, then you have doubts about the future of human rights (freedom of speech and women rights in particular) in these newborn Islamic republics, claiming that the Sharia law is the basis of the country laws.

I am not for a dictatorship but for a strong leader who is “hardwired” secular and who has enough power to control the ‘human’ interpretations of the laws that could lead to extremism, and also counter the pressures that could come from Moslem hardliners, either local or funded by rich known extremists countries.

The problem is to find that person, preferably an orphan, so his family and relatives would not abuse of his power for their own interests, right?

#264 Tara

Agree. I should have said the ” the pro-regime and the majority of undecided syrians”

@humanist

“I also noticed very negative posts about Turkey recently.”

I wonder why you are suprised about that. Turkey is playing a dirty game in Syria it has been appointed by Western countries as the ‘Terminator’ of Bashar al Assad.

Do you expect the pro Assad to write niceties such as the 10 inches boots Mrs Gul was wearing when she met Queen Elizabeth?

Dear Bronco

You made me laugh (for a change).  An orphan is an excellent idea as long as he/she was not abused.  Abused children tend to abuse others when they grow up as a general rule.     

I agree with you that any religious law imbedded in the constitution is subject to interpretation and can be certainly abused.  The problem with a “powerful leader” is that absolute power corrupts absolutely.  So if you give anyone vast power, it is a human nature to abuse it, then you are running a risk of turning him into a dictator especially when people around the strong leader start to fear him and only tell him what he/ she wants to hear.

To solve our problem, I think we need to work on our education system where concepts of separation of state and religion, democracy and election get introduced and practiced in elementary school.  I also think we should borrow from the Turks experience of handling religion.  Why don’t they have terrorist Turks even though the vast majorities of them are Sunnis?  Doesn’t that negate the assumption of associating terrorism with sects?  

Tunisia will be the Light Unto the Arab Nations. I have very good feeling about it’s political future. Even if it’s constitution will have reference to Sharia. Tunisia will prove that Islam cannot be imposed on the people, the same way that secularism can’t be imposed. See Syria.
.

University moves to stop mingling (of men and women)
Melanie Swan
Nov 24, 2011

ABU DHABI //A strict set of rules has been introduced at Zayed University’s new Dh3.7 billion campus after parents expressed fears of interaction between male and female students.

The university, which opened as a women’s school in 1998, admitted its first male students four years ago.

The campus features separate sides for men and women, with a 2.4-metre wall separating the two and a swipe-card system to ensure tight security.

But an email sent to all staff last Monday describes areas of the university that will be completely out of bounds to staff and students, and outlines strict rules for common areas such as the library.

Only 700 of the 4,000 students are men, but the issue of segregation has been of concern to parents since the campus opened in September.

Amir

Does Israel has a problem with ultra-right Jews wanting to enforce their interpretation on others?

Tara 269

Yes, total power corrupts, this is why power should be given only temporary to people.
Turkey had secularism forced through their throat by Ataturk who was a dictator, let’s not forget. He succeeded in Turkey thanks to the steel hand of the army who ensured the ‘secularism’ of all the different Constitutions created since 1922. Yet, nothing is sure. A resurgence of islamism may come back again in Turkey in case of economical hardships or moral decadence.

Actually in Turkey the army played the role of the “hardwired’ secular strong force garanteing secularism.

Iran went through similar forced ‘secularization’ by Reza Pahlavi and we see the result 2 generations after.
In Turkey religion is by law a private matter, not a public one and it took 40 years for Turkey to become a real ‘secular’ democracy.
Syria with enough time and a better regime could have become a real secular country on the way to democracy, but now all the cards may be changed and we just don’t know what it could become

Majedalkhaldoon

I expect all the anti-regime afficionados to contribute in financing the ‘angels’, the FSA heroic soldiers

“The Facebook page attributed to the Free Syrian Army even uses its site to ask for contributions, routinely posting the details of a Turkish bank account.

#272 Tara,

There is a constant struggle between all parts of society (secularists, mild-religious, nationalistic-religious and Orthodox- religious). Eventually, and somehow, we manage to live together and resolve the differences in a peaceful manner, and by the idea that nothing should be imposed.

It’s important to notice though, that none of Israel’s leaders (political, military and judicial) is religious. Israel is a secular state. Despite what some who have no understanding about Israel, say.
.

It’s important to notice though, that none of Israel’s leaders (political, military and judicial) is religious.

Amir,

What are you talking about? There are plenty of religious “leaders” who are MKs and members of religiously-affiliated political parties. There are also secular parties and Arab parties. Right, Left, you name it…

They all pull and tug to their own direction and create coalitions. This is how they gain their voice and power. In the end, the voting population determines the size of each party and whether or not they get into power. This is democracy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Knesset

@Amir

I share that optimism for Tunesia. I was quite critical about the politics which Bourguiba enforced in Tunesia, he seemed afterall more like a philosopher than an brutal dictator, which by the way he was. Nonevertheless almost every Tunesian says nowadays that thanks to him Tunesians know better and have at least one of the best educational systems in the arab world, even though that did not help them having an high unemployment rate. What makes Tunesia strong is the ability of its people to unite and feel they are one country, that was never certain, Ben Ali has always created more jobs for the western coast, leaving the center almost to its rual hardships, no wonder the revolution started there.

Akbar,

Yes. There are plenty of religious people holding important functions in politics, judicial, army etc.

But if you look at the highest positions: PM, Opposition leader, house speaker. Defense, foreign-affairs, financial ministers. Head of the supreme court. IDF’s Chief of stuff and the top army command. Heads of Mossad, police and Shabak. All of them aren’t religious.
.

#277 Juergen,

And what is your optimistic/pessimistic barometer telling you about the rest?

I’m quite pessimistic about Egypt, Yemen, Jordan. And about Syria, 55% optimistic, 45% pessimistic.
.

EXPECTATION
HUMANIST @ 263

It does not have to as drastic as dropping betho off, these fanatic sycophants do not tolerate even the tiniest of words besmirching their pencil neck god. The first criticism from Putin or his sideshow at betho, Putin will no longer be squeeeeeecky clean, but a murderer (but not in Chechnya), it will be Georgia.

Funny thing was that an irritable persona around here was happy using Israel’s logic and a well known neocon site to badmouth the UN and the GA’s Human Right Committee. I was laughing my little tail off imagining Akbar’s grin, but at the same time I was sad that irritation robbed a Syrian of the capacity for straight thinking.

#234:
“23 11 2011 Homs أوغاريت حمص إلقاء القبض على سيارة الاسعاف وبداخلها اسلحة الشبيحة والجيش”

Your terrorist friends are not as smart as you:

HNN| شـبكة أخـبار حمص
قام مجرمو الإخوان المسلمين و عملاء الناتو على أرض حمص الطاهرة اليوم بتاريخ 23.11.2011 باختطاف سيارة اسعاف فيها أحد المتوفين إلى حي الخالدية و قد قاموا بإحراقها و محاولة استثمار جريمتهم إعلامياً ليبرهنوا مرة أخرى كيف يكون العهر الأخلاقي و كيف يكون الإجرام و العمالة
مرة أخرى تلتقط رادرات شبكة شام عهرهم و يساعدنا في ذلك غباءهم الذي قادهم إليه مسح عقولهم المريضة و قلوبهم السوداء
الجريمة صورت و استثمرت مرتين و بطريقتين متناقضتين و كلتاهما روايتان فيهما من الغباء و التفاهة أكثر من أن نستطيع شرحه
في الاستخدام الأول الذي اتهموا فيه الأمن السوري كما قالوا يظهر مقطعان من زاويتين مختلفتين-شكراً لغبائهم- و يظهر أحدهم محاولاً التخفي و هو حامل مسدساً بيده بينما سيارة الإسعاف تحترق
أما الاستخدام الآخر و المضحك المبكي على غبائهم فهو ليس فقط مناقض لروايتهم الأولى بل هو من ينسفها و يبرهن على إجرامهم و عمالتهم و انحطاطهم الديني و الأخلاقي..ألا شاهت وجوهكم و شلت أياديكم يا عملاء الناتو
و حق تراب بلادنا لنكسنكم من شوارعنا و ذاكرتنا كما تكنس الزبالة

البياضة فضيحة سيارة الإسعاف و كذبة اعتقال مقاومين
http://youtu.be/8H3o403WKR0

The Samaritans

Hey Tara, have you done the reading on the Samaritans yet? You know the Samaritans are a mix of Syrians (Assyrians) and Israelites. The Samaritans are also mentioned in the Qur’an and there is a “spicey” story when the Israelite tribes were coming out of Egypt and built a golden Ox to worship from all the stolen gold.

Anyway, the Torah tells the story of how the Israelites ganged up on Aaron (brother of Moses) to built them an Oxen god to worship as Moses failed to return from the mountain where he was receiving the Law from God. This story took place about 600 years before the city of Samaria was founded by king Omri of Israel.

In the Qur’an, we find Allah is given 99 good names (like Al-RaHman etc etc) but Allah has other titles like He can be the best deceiver, He can be the worst torturer etc etc. In the Qur’anic story, we find that Allah can also be a good Chef as He decided to add some spice to the original story and it goes like this:

According to the Qur’an, the Oxen god was built by “the Samari” and not Aaron by taking horse manure from the Angel Gabriels’ horse manure and mixing it with gold and off course the Oxen would make the “Mew” sound that cows make (the sound effects did not exist in the Torah story).

Trouble is that the Samari who did this job was non other than Simon the Samari who was a famous magician who lived around 100 AD or so and his story is part of the Myth that Jewish tribes recount. Simon the Samari was reputed by Jewish myths to make things come alive including making stone oxens with sound effects.

So Allah decided to spice up the story over the Jewish version by transporting Simon the Samari from about 100AD past the date when Samaria was founded to the day the Israelites were lead out of Egypt by Moses. Off course we now have a major problem as we do not know which version is correct, the Torah version which agrees with historical facts or the Qur’anic version of the story.

I hope this story enlightened you Tara about Samaria and break up all these boring post about Syria.

Amir,

I understand what you’re saying” “highest positions”…OK. BTW – was Menachem Begin “religious”?

Anyway from the list below, here are the number of seats of policial parties with fairly strong religious/jewish platforms:

Shas – 11
Jewish Home – 3
United Torah Judaism – 5
National Union – 4

That’s about 20% of all seats.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_political_parties_in_Israel

I was laughing my little tail off imagining Akbar’s grin, but at the same time I was sad that irritation robbed a Syrian of the capacity for straight thinking.

Syrian Hamster,

Stop bad-mouthing Neo-Cons or I’ll report you to the Zionist Elders that control the world and all the protesters in Syria.;)

Darryl,

More on Samaritans. This website shows a population of 350 people. Would be nice to interview them…

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samaritan

@Amir 279

Well i tend to be more pessimistic for all the rest.

I was in Cairo 4 weeks ago, and i was shocked after talking to coptic christs and Muslims alike for their vison of Egypt.
The copts were terrified and two i met were sitting basically on packed suitcaes. I did not know that between the two is a big gap of misunderstandings and horrible rumors. The lack of suitable education could be a blame, Mubaraks regime the other to be blamed. I met Coptic who never have set a foot into a mosque, and Muslims who believed that coptic service in church means regular homocide of children. The military regime there seems to play the sectarian card here.

Concerning Syria, i am quite pessimistic but not for the overall outcome, its clear to me that this regime will go and frankly i feel that Syria will have a better future without this regime.
I am just not convinced that we will see a regimechange with those sanctions already in progress, those business sanctions never really bring the result one is wishing.
Seeing some of the loyal supporters in Syria itself or here in Germany makes me wonder, for some Assad seems more or less a Goddess, there is almost no insight why people would be on the streets against this regime, and i am afraid that those beton like supporters will act as the regime wants them, the sectarian card could once more played.