I’m sorry but I just had to laugh. The idea of the word “elite” being applied to any part of jaysh abu shahata has really proven quite ludicrous the past three years. Assad’s forces have performed worse than the Italians did during World War 2; just as German units had to be deployed to stiffen the resolve of every Italian formation, Assad today is incapable of launching any offensive unless his forces are augmented with Hizbollah terrorists or Iraqi Shia mercenaries.

If this were a strategy game, Assad would have been playing on “easy-peasy” mode, and still managed to end up losing. He has had every advantage a tin-pot dictator could dream of; a monopoly on air,artillery and armor. A disunited and lightly armed opposition, and unlimited support from the Ayatollocracy and Russians. And yet after three years, he has not the slightest hope in the world of reconquering the country he inherited from his daddy.

Elite? Please! Thank God Syria never went to war with Israel in recent memory, it would have been the mother of all fiascoes.

The Syrian army has many flaws and much of that is due to a culture of corruption and nepotism cultivated by half a century of Baathist rule most of which was dominated by the Assad family and their small circle, the army today is a tool for the regime and that did not serve Syria very well to put it mildly, add to that the fact that Syrian Sunnis are underrepresented in the army command and you will understand why the army can not and should not stay as is regardless of who wins the war.
Now, let us move to the part some of you prefer not to talk about. The army, not the FSA, is today the only force that have a chance of defeating Islamist terrorists and foreign jihadists and the only reason why there are still areas in syria that have some level of security and normalcy, every city or village that is ruled by jihadists has become a haven for religious zealots and thugs. At the end of the day, millions of syrians when faced with two bad choices will choose the army many of you love to hate because the opposition failed in its efforts, assuming that they actually tried, to create a national defense force that can serve as a better alternative to the existing army. The tragedy in Syria is not just due to the brutality of the regime but also the incomoetence and self destructing armed opposition.
Dandashi’s post is superficial and emotional as it only reflects an understandable anger and disappointment but stops right there, a teenager could have written a better piece.

If Mr. Kerry had announced the failure of Obama’s policy toward Syria, Qatar changed its policy and Saudi Arabia earned the disappointment of interference in Syrian affairs and now their rulers hate will end their rule!
Turkey is apprehensive of going to facing
the Slippers of Syrian army !
So it was left for you only bla bla bla!

http://youtu.be/o_rMONl62UQ?t=1s

Aboud Dandachi,

Right on. Seems SC is going to start selling Baathist trading cards with a stick of stale bubble gum. Kids love’em.

Thank you, Dr. Landis, for sharing this post.

I think that the war keeps mutating into various root causes and forms.

My middle eastern background and with years of habituation into intolerance and survival during the Lebanese civil war from 1975-1990, I honed a national skill: To detect a religious, and at times, denominational affiliation from the names. I trust Albir Sama’an al-Umuri is a Christian.

Holding the premise above true, first but not as importantly, I am not sure how his family feels about him dying and being labelled a martyr and the inscription above his head that translates into “When Allah’s men commit, they follow through.” More importantly, I think that various unaffiliated denominations and ethnic groups are forming alliances to save themselves from certain shredding upon the victory of the unruly and savagery reciprocating-and-delivering fighters. They have to band together, even if it is Satan, to survive the inferno.

While in the Middle East in May, 2012 and having arrived to Damascus four hours after an explosion, I talked with a Syrian Sunni cleric. He told me this, “The rebels told me that upon victory, they will behead me.” Why? Because he opted to stand down.

There are countless groups forming. It will be almost impossible to inventory all the fighters and fighting groups. The mutations of civil wars produce civilians intent on everlasting retributions. Their children internalize thoughts of revenge. One day, they will take pay back to a whole new level of grotesque crimes. A very sad sad place. My heart breaks!

By Cem Ertür- an independent researcher and peace activist, currently based in Istanbul
http://www.globalresearch.ca/nato-and-turkeys-genocidal-war-on-syria/5377216

NATO Members Conduct False Flag Terror In Attempt to Whip Up War
http://www.washingtonsblog.com/2014/04/nato-member-conducts-false-flag-terror-try-whip-war.html

Not a word in the post, but let me guess. Most of the members of this militia, if not all of them are Alawites.
==

Oh GHUFRAN, GHUFRAN (#2),

There you go again, you can’t take a straight line. You earnestly agree the Assad side are no good, but then suggest they are much better than those opposing them.

Your reaction to ABOUD DANDACHI’s incisive comment in #1 was telling.

You are clearly offended.

But it’s real world reality. What Dandachi says about Bashar Assad’s failure is the factual perspective that’s going to be recorded in history.

That poster above commemorating the dead Desert Falcon fighter with pictures of Hafez and Bashar Assad is something that his family in future years will cringe at. Once they are free of the hysteria and look back at what was inflicted on them.

They will see their lost family member with a skinny elderly man who appears to be blind, and a weird-looking pinheaded guy in the background wearing suits.

They will think WTF! Wtf was that about??

Just like the rest of the world does when they see images of the weak-looking creepy Assads.

سيطر الجيش السوري على بلدة رنكوس في القلمون
Rankous is under army control, this leaves Zabadani and a couple of areas including Maloula and Adra as the only areas available for rebels and foreign jihadists to go to. Qalamon is now almost completely out of rebels reach and soon the borders with Lebanon can be sealed to stop the flow of terrorists and car bombs that killed scores of Syrians and Lebanese civilians. Another challenge is the mortar bombs that seem to be coming from Jobar and Douma and the soon to be free Mlaiha, it seems that the army sees Damascus as a prime target compared to Latakia for two reasons: the regime needs to be in control in and around Damascus to survive, and Latakia will not be as hospitable to rebels as other areas in Syria, however, that is a risky approach because it allows erdugang thugs to expand their Uthmani filth slowly into one of Syria’s most valuable pieces of real estate which also has strategic and economic value especially after the new gas and oil discoveries in the Medit. Sea.

This story’s so obvious it’s not worth saying – except maybe to GHUFRAN and a couple of others here whose perspective meters are badly malfunctioning:

“Syria regime atrocities ‘far outweigh’ rebels’ crimes, UN says”

‘You cannot compare the two,’ UN high commissioner for human rights says

http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/syria-regime-atrocities-far-outweigh-rebels-crimes-un-says-1.2603277

Elite my foot!

this is yet another example that the entity known as the Syrian Arab Army does not exists any longer. It has turned into a Bunch of militias, supported by foreigners.

Personally, I find it odd those that lament the opposition for their reliance on foreigners are silent about the foreign militias fighting for the Assadists.

If Sydney was in Syria

A friend of Abuna Frans remembers him

A Man of Peace: Fr. Frans van der Lugt, SJ

https://thejesuitpost.org/2014/04/11881/

Error alert.

APPLE_MINI declared (and MJABALI endorsed) this confusing statement in the previous thread:

“Syria and all middle east need to kick Islam out of state and public institutions. Only then, we can see truly liberated population taking up the responsibilities of a progressive society by using their unfettered brain power and mind.”

This obviously means only the theocracies in Iran and the failed MB experiment in Egypt. Because otherwise it’s nonsense, referring to Syria and the rest a in the present tense.

To correct the error, it should have read “Syria and all middle east need to kick Islam and TRIBALISM out of state and public institutions.”

Then the statement reads spot on for Assad-run Syria – especially the bit about kicking them out to make way for a progressive society where the population is able to use its unfettered brain power.

MJABALI,

You seem to be unhappily surprised at the comment (previous thread) that there are reports that Hilal Assad did not die in battle but was assassinated outside a family residence. And speculation that his death could be the result of internal tensions and not an opposition attack.

You demanded to know where this was said. I am not going to spend time going back searching – you can and should be doing that yourself.

But here, to get you started is one report: http://www.rozana-sy.fm/ar/node/3983

It was also discussed in several well-informed twitter threads.

And before you go denying and dismissing the sources, please remember:

1. People have pointed out that nobody in groups fighting the regime boasted they were responsible for Hilal Assad’s death (despite the fact it would have been a huge PR and prestige coup for them).

2. Speculation and confusion remains about who really planted the bomb that killed Asef Shawkat and cost Maher Assad his legs. Leaving open the possibility it will be revealed post-Assad to be an inner circle job.

3. Hilal Assad, because of what he was and how he lived, would have built up countless bitter rivals, victims and revenge cases around him. People who might see their chance to get even during the confusion of war.

dear APPLE_MINI, how can you condemn your brethren to this?

http://youtu.be/i6BtmMbQ9j8

I am not amused by the lack of depth and the ostrich attitude radiating from posts that glamorize the rebels and hide behind the overused, yet true, slogan of how bad and brutal the regime is. Remember that the burden of proof lies on the shoulders of those who were selling the armed rebellion to Syrians and the West as the holy cure to all of Syria’s ills.
You guys are adding nothing to what we already know but you better answer the nagging questions asked by Syrians and non Syrians alike about what did the armed rebellion really achieve after 3 years of blood shed and massive destruction of infrastructure.
Until I hear an intelligent and honest answer I will conclude that guilt has become so poweful inside your psyche that any deviation from your scripted lines will be too distressing for you.
كل ثوره و انتم بخير

Syria “lover” said:

“You seem to be unhappily surprised at the comment (previous thread) that there are reports that Hilal Assad did not die in battle but was assassinated outside a family residence. And speculation that his death could be the result of internal tensions and not an opposition attack.”

Actually, unlike you mr. Syria lover, I follow the events in Syria day by day. When Hilal al-Assad died things were very hot in the mountains north of Lattakia, in case you have not heard, or noticed.

Your link is lame and weak. You quoted a ghost.

Your link and argument is nothing but conspiracy theory. It has nothing to do with reality. Yes: he could have enemies….but, HELLO…he went to a battle…a very tough battle….

Syria “lover” please respect our minds. Your conspiracy/emotional rants does not work. Bring some logic.

You claimed your source is this ghost who is from the FSA, well, here for you mr. Syria lover I introduce Rami Dalati, a member in the FSA military council, telling us the Hilal al-Assad died in the battles in Kasab.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjHiP53UCP0

So what do you have to say to this?

Syria “lover” said:

“This obviously means only the theocracies in Iran and the failed MB experiment in Egypt. Because otherwise it’s nonsense, referring to Syria and the rest a in the present tense.”

Do you know what we are talking about and how this discussion evolved? Of course not…

Please stick to the topic and do not divert and take us in a wild ride. We are talking about Islam in all of the Middle East.

It is obvious that you did not understand what is being discussed. Hello! Hello!…Hello!

The statement is about Islam and its role into not letting people live together.

Please mr. “Lover” respect our minds and do not try and drag us into your maze.

After the huge loss and near complete collapsing inflicted upon Islamists in Homs, those desperate Islamic militants set off two car bombs today. The first one was near a sweets shop.

It was pure evil with nothing short of vicious or nefarious mind by choosing women and children as their main target. Those terrorists killed 27 and wounded at least 100.

Then we have the ostentatiously deceitful SOHR saying the dead might have included some pro-government gunmen.

The reality is that we cannot find even one opposition member or rebel supporter who is not delirious. We know an Alawite woman from Damascus, being an opposition member, hates it to guts as being Alawit.

Look back the last three years: the corrupted and impotent regime never really learned; the opposition has turned even more fanatic and obdurate. Let’s not forget those freak shows done by global Jihadists.

We can only hope SAA, NDF and falcon brigades can bring back more security first.

1. Anyone heard the military communication tape where an officer scolds a besieged unit telling them that they are not allowed to retreat even one meter even though the unit was almost decimated and had many wounded.

2. News from Aleppo hint at friction between ass-sadist forces and their minders from hizbulla and other sectarian gangs from iraq. This comes from some semi-credible sources, which is why I take it with a grain of salt. Yet it seems logical that nus-lira kids would recognize their own limitation outside their sectarian hive and would want to say hasta la vista, while the leading “elite” ass-sadist forces would wantg them to stay and keep playing… there were stories of exchange of baklava (oops, i meant bullets) between the two faces of evil…

3. ass-sadist forces are being plummeted where it counts, in Aleppo.

And again, while this happens,The Landis dream-team conjures up a happy martyrdom story about an “elite force unit” right after the cockroach glorification article….. go figure…. In a recent article, Landis himself declared it “khelset” when he informed the “west”, much like any good “eastern” scholar,that they made a poopoo by insisting the buffoon must go and put themselves in the losers’ corner.

no… don’t go figure… just get bemused.

Assad is there to stay. Change will come only under his leadership or his guidance. Understanding with him is the only way to internal and regional stability. More or less he has succeeded in turning the “huge magnet” for international terrorists into their killing field.
http://www.intifada-palestine.com/2014/04/assad-stay/

Arming rebels with US-made BGM-71 TOW anti-tank missiles is only going to add to the misery of the Syrian people, because any doctrinal difference between the rebels and the people of Syria are viewed by these rebels as an act of war!

The immoral and inhumane U.S. and EU or the “international community” as they narcissistically call themselves, with number of oil-rich Gulf State monarchies, by direct Western coordination and logistical support have—in violation of international law—heavily funding sectarian extremists and al-Qaeda affiliates in Syria.
Continued support for foreign extremists and al-Qaeda affiliates is no longer simply a regional threat; it has become a global threat much greater than what existed in Afghanistan.

I am surprised about, how Mr. Joshua stand on the sidelines towards it!
Does Mr. Joshua think, that the behavior of the western will serve the interests of Syrian nation? This is a strange and scandalous!

Twenty five civilans killed, 107 injured by twin terrorist car explosions in Homs
http://sana.sy/eng/21/2014/04/09/537984.htm

So if to follow the rhetoric of regime simpletons in order for an Alawite to oppose Assad they need to be self hating Alawites. And only the “right kind” of Sunnis support Assad.

The rest can die in hardly a masscare or hardly a barrel bomb.

If this is not callousness and visceral hatred of mankind I dont know what is.

Also notice the leaders of the Assadists militias are thugs, thieves, and career criminals. Simpleton s want to sell these criminals as the security solution. Yes rapists and thugs are known for security…

We are particularly concerned by the information that about 150 mercenaries from US private security firm «Greystone», dressed in the Uniforms of Ukrainian special forces squad SOKOL, are taking part in operation of eastern Ukraine! MFA of RF
http://youtu.be/FdLX5rGzGaI?t=1s
Oh! If this is a wonderful idea, we need to establish private companies to prepare warriors for fighting overseas! This has allowed by Uncle Sam!!! Come to establish companies for commandos,
Suicide special forces and special forces for assassinations, and all that is permitted in place with Uncle Sam!!!

Sami:

There are and there will always be Syrian Alawites against al-Assad.

What Apple Mini was trying to tell you that he knows an Alawite opposition figure that the Opposition (Mostly Sunnis) hates her because she is an Alawite…I agree with this. I see it all the time. Mundhir Khaddam and Fu’ad Humayra are an example recently.

Sunni Opposition figures did not give any real chance to incorporate any Alawite with them. They had Alawites here and there: but: there was never anything that could encourage more Alawties to join. What happened is the opposite.

All the available evidence indicates that U.S., U.K., Israel, Turkey, France and Saudi Arabia meticulously planned the genocidal covert war on Syria for years before actually launching it in 2011. Right from the beginning, Turkey has been at the epicenter of this war in every possible respect. In the face of the increasingly brutal and reckless attacks across all of its land borders, the Syrian state, army and people have been displaying an outstanding resistance, courage and solidarity.

As the prospect of a decisive victory by the Syrian army becomes ever more certain, the orchestrators of this genocide are disseminating all sorts of propaganda on a global scale to obfuscate and cover up their monumental war crimes. However, Turkey and NATO’s overt participation in the ongoing cross-border offensive on Kasab provides an incontrovertible evidence of these crimes for those who seek peace and justice for Syria and the entire humanity.

http://axisoflogic.com/artman/publish/Article_66524.shtml

Looks like the US Government’s effort to covertly topple Assad regime is not going too well!
http://sana.sy/eng/337/2014/04/10/538215.htm
glory and long livr for brave our SYRIAN ARAB ARMY !

Salaam alaikum, I request the Muslims be matured. Why not learn Islam and have good understanding. Some people making fool specially the millitents and encouraging people against their government and creating chaos in Islamic countries. Don’t be the toys of Russia and America. Russia gives weapons to Assad to kill Muslims. America gives weapons to millitents to kill Muslims. Their should a united military of all Muslim nations to protect Muslims and Muslim nations.

Mjabali,

“trying to tell you that he knows an Alawite opposition figure that the Opposition (Mostly Sunnis) hates her because she is an Alawite…

And you agree with her?! We hate opposition member if they are Alawis?!

What a cheap lie!!!!!!!

Some people are willing to say anything to support their rhetoric. There is NO integrity.

I lost respect!

This is becoming a car bomb revolution, it seems like the art of killing civilians is being perfected by Muslims in Syria, Pakistan, Iraq and even Egypt, if that is not a proof of how violent and brutal this generation of Muslims is I do not know what else is:
تبنت جبهة النصرة لأهل الشام تفجير سيارتين مفخختين أمس الاربعاء في حي كرم اللوز بمدينة حمص والذي يقطنه مواطنون من الطائفة العلوية، حيث أدى التفجيران لاستشهاد 22 مواطناً بينهم ما لا يقل عن 11 طفلاً و مواطنة، و مقتل 5 عناصر من القوات النظامية والشرطة، بينهم مساعد أول
rebel supporters tried yesterday to blame the regime for bombing its own supporters in Homs, today Nusra admitted carrying the deed which killed 11 civilians according to SOHR along with 5 officers in army and police unit.
Nusra, on US terrorism list, has received words of support from many rebel leaders and opposition figures, some of you also stated their support or indirect acceptance of that terrorist group by glamorizing their acts of violence against civilians and refusing to condemn their crimes, yet the same people have no problem lecturing us about human rights and the brutality of the regime, hiding behind the FSA cover has become an old and silly game since most of the fighters who are attacking regime forces are Islamist terrorists, the FSA is now officially a paper tiger.

Tara:

Let us see:

You personally insulted the Alawaites across the board many times. You insulted them and their culture on many occasions. So, if the opposition are like you…hahhaaaahhahahahahahaha

We are talking here about how the Alawites were treated by the opposition. It has been three years so far: What did the Alawites in the opposition face? I am asking you…

Who in the opposition made an effort to reach out to the Alawites, besides very minuscule efforts here and there?

What did the opposition had achieved so far after three years in terms in their relationship with the Alawites?

Again if you are an example of how the opposition view the Alawites ,I say there is no future.

The comments here seem to mainly be angry bitter sectarian Sunnis upset because their beloved rebels are getting spanked by the Sunnis, Christians, Alawites, Druze, etc. of the Syrian Arab Army and affiliated militias. To which I say: Lol.

ghufran, tell me again how there would no law & order without the nazis?

Damascus Leaks published names of commanders in Daesh linked to the regime

MJABALI #19

Wrong. I understood all too well what APPLE_MINI’s nonsense statement was getting at.

It was making the bizarre suggestion that political Islam has actually been operating and running Syria and the rest of Middle East. A claim which smelt like the usual subtle game of pushing the alternative of the Assad regime. But re-read #14 and see that I kindly suggested it was an “error” and offered a simple correction that would draw it in line with reality.

And with regard to your comment #18 – I am sincerely sorry to see you so distressed and anxious about Hilal Assad’s death and any possibility it was not at the hands of the opposition but his closer personal enemies.

I knew you would lash out at any sources suggesting this. But you know, and I and everyone else knows that truth is impossible to get in regime-controlled Syria. And 2 million times more so if it’s an embarrassment to the regime.

PS I will excuse you as emotionally overheated for the following comment:”Actually, unlike you mr. Syria lover, I follow the events in Syria day by day.”

What a luxury if this was true. With family across Aleppo I am often following events hour by hour, feeling sick with anxiety.

An “Armenian genocide” resolution has passed the U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee on April 10 by bipartisan voice.

Bob Menendez, a Democrat from New Jersey who chairs the Foreign Relations Committee, and Mark Kirk, a Republican from Illinois, had presented the bill last week.

“Next year will mark the 100th anniversary of the Armenian Genocide, during which 1.5 million Armenians were killed by Ottoman Turkey … To honor the survivors and the memory of those lost, and to lead globally on human rights, the United States should finally join the European Union and 11 of our NATO allies in officially recognizing the Armenian Genocide,” Kirk had said.

Armenians say up to 1.5 million of their forebears were killed in 1915 and 1916 by the forces of Ottoman Empire.

This is from LA Times:
Kasab exiles say their ancestral homes are occupied by rebels, including elements of the Al Qaeda-affiliated Jabat al Nusra, or Al Nusra Front, whose ranks include non-Syrian fighters. A Moroccan fighter and former inmate at the U.S. lockup on Guantanamo Bay was among those killed in the Kasab area in recent fighting, various websites reported.

“I telephoned my house and someone answered, ‘We are Jabat al Nusra,'” recalled Maral, 40, still stunned at the turmoil that has torn apart her once tranquil family life. “They are helping themselves to our food, to our homes.”

The day of the attack, she noted, was Mother’s Day in Syria. Many had prepared pastries and other treats.

She and others bemoan their current predicament: dependence on the generosity of relatives and friends, the inability to enroll children in schools, the absence of homes where most resided all their lives — all of the unfortunate realities of life as a refugee, now so familiar to multitudes of Syrians. That they are better off than many Syrian refugees living in tents and abandoned buildings is of little consolation.

“People have been very kind to us, they are sharing everything,” said Maral, a mother of three. “But Kasab is our home, not here. We all dream about Kasab. We dream about what we left behind.”

The LA times story makes a nice bed-time (oops… may be a mattress-time) story to the children in Zaatari camp…

عزير
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Bk6xIgsCIAAKqNk.jpg

Wondering what has happened to the predicted southern spring offensive?

“the rebels’ supporters seemed more interested in conflict management than in a victory”

Warily, Jordan Assists Rebels in Syrian War

By BEN HUBBARD
NYTimes, Irbid

the Obama administration is giving just enough to keep the rebel cause alive, but not enough to actually help it win
. . .
There is no military solution to this conflict. What is needed is a negotiated political transition

The Turkish Foreign Ministry has condemned a resolution that recognizes the 1915-16 killings of Ottoman Armenians as a genocide, which passed at the U.S. Senate’s Foreign Relations Committee on April 10 by bipartisan vote.
The ministry warned the U.S. Congress not to “harm bilateral ties” between the two countries through further carrying the resolution to the legislative agenda.

contact your congressman and demand that he/ she votes to pass the resolution and give a message to the new Ottomans:
http://www.house.gov/representatives/find/

As bad as the GCC is, at the end of the day those sheikhs can not say NO to the US, they depend on the US to stay in power and they need the US to protect them from internal and external threats, real or not. Turkey is a different story, for this war to end few things need to happen, containing or reaching an agreement with Turkey is a prerequisite, Erdugang is directly responsible for the terrorists incursion inside Syria and his government supervised the theft of Aleppo factories and the transfer of weapons to Terrorists in the north including certain chemical agents. The ringleader of the group, Haytham Qassab, appeared in court where a Turkish prosecutor demanded 25 years imprisonment, but he was later released “pending trial”. They have all since disappeared, while Turkey’s ambassador to Moscow was later to dismiss the arrests, claiming that the ‘sarin’ was “anti-freeze”.

@@@@@
http://youtu.be/H-XkPMrj3NA?t=1s
@@@@@

@@@@@@
http://youtu.be/pkoMTCeZ148?t=1s
@@@@@@

Do we need to establish private companies to prepare warriors for fighting overseas???
http://youtu.be/YIxoTCYFZ-8?t=1s

Alan #38

Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi tweet:

The liberation of Palestine will be done through Syria, as told in several hadiths; ousting Assad is the first right step towards it.

22nd Apr 2012

https://twitter.com/Shaykhabulhuda/status/193877271956815872

You won’t believe this. Remember the other day we were talking about tall and short leaders? On Ir.Mil.For. someone posts an image and article (al-Akhbar) of a recent meeting between the King of Jordan and President Putin. He mocks the King, not realising he’s by extention mocking Pr. Putin.

Here are his words as an intro to the article:

“well, well, well, the dwarf king is meeting with putin…hmmmm.”

http://www.iranmilitaryforum.net/military-conflicts/updates-on-military-action-in-syria/msg242032/#msg242032

I have not seen a confirmation but if this is true you can make a safe guess that something is being cooked out of the NC kitchen:
نشر موقع كلنا شركاء المعارض قبل قليل خبراً عن ترتيبات لزيارة يقوم بها وفد سوري معارض للعاصمة الإيرانية طهران برئاسة الشيخ معاذ الخطيب لكنه اكد ان الوفد سيضم عدة أسماء منها:
ميشيل كيلو – حسن عبد العظيم – هيثم مناع – لؤي حسين – سمير العيطة – حسن كامل وبرهان غليون وعلى ان يلتحق بالاجتماع في اليوم الثاني كلا من محمد فاروق طيفور ونذير الحكيم وحسان الهاشمي و زهران علوش زعيم الجبهة الإسلامية.
the inclusion of Zahran Aloush and MB figures makes the story hard to believe but who knows !!

Labwani’s hallucinations about Israel:

Dutch priest shot dead in Homs
Francis van der Lugt appears to have been targeted by lone gunman in rebel-held district of Syrian city

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/apr/07/dutch-priest-shot-dead-homs-syria

The terrorists killed father Frans in the model of his monestry and then condemned The act but t the same time they did not allow his body out to be buried in proper way and did not allow his people to say good buy to the body.

His love and service to Syria was far more than one man can do, he loved Syrians not Christians.but this is not enough for the terrorists to spare his life.

While other countries get on with building a future, Bashar Assad has proudly built his own catastrophic legacy and top spot in the Dictators’ Hall of Shame:

Fact: almost 8 million Syrian children now without schooling

What plan does the Assad regime have in mind for them later? Slave labor?

DJ Uzair:

So in your country Pakistan they charged a 9 month old with attempted murder this week.

If you want to tell me that you have not heard about it: Search BBC this week and see for yourself if you are not busy with Shiachat….

I am baffled by this, and really would like you, if you not busy djaying, to tell us about Pakistan, because your expertise in Syria is proving to be nothing more than Takbeer and the unknown words of an unknown unimportant Sheikh…who is this guy you quote everyday? What is his real weight in Syrian politics? Zero?

..care to share with us what you know about the topic? And if they put you in charge of Syria in your organization as an Amir, would you do the same to the Syrian children? Are you going to bring this Pakistani model of justice to Syria?

49. SYRIALOVER said:
/Fact: almost 8 million Syrian children now without schooling/
Here respond to you Mr. Tony Cartalucci!
….
Syria itself, its allies, and activists around the world must shine more light on the suffering the Syrian people are enduring through the intentional destruction of their economy. This destruction has been exacted through both the West’s premeditated and intentionally perpetuated attempt to violently overthrow the Syrian government, and the sanctions they have imposed upon the Syrian people. They have done this to intentionally create a desperate, dependent population that they hope will submit to a new pro-Western client regime……
The Weaponization of Western “Aid” for Syria
http://www.thedailysheeple.com/the-weaponization-of-western-aid-for-syria_042014

Syria “lover”

1- Apple Mini said Islam should be banned and did not talk about political Islam, as you mentioned.

2- To insist on accuracy is not a sin these days. I look for the truth. Many are like me sick of the lies of all parties.

3- You seem to be a fan of conspiracy theories, and not privy to the fact that in civil wars people lie a lot about their opponents.

4- As for Hilal al-Assad, I grew up seeing him a lot and want to know exactly how he died, and would hate people who would lie about this piece of news. He was a thief and a thug. I saw this first hand. So when you come and start circulating fabrications do not get upset when you get called out for it.

5- I do not claim to know what goes on in Allepo more than someone who is with them. But, I claim to know what goes on in the city of Lattakia to a very good extent and wish I could learn more.

at 6:36 on timer, a former syrian intelligence officer says the saudi government gave assad regime a $100 million dollars.

sounds crazy at first blush but then recall rifaat’s sister is married to king abdullah (as you probably already know.)

Omen said:

“sounds crazy at first blush but then recall rifaat’s sister is married to king abdullah (as you probably already know.)”

Wrong…Of course I will not tell you the right answer……

Is Syria a kingdom to be ruled by a man and his son for 44 years, assuming that the son does not get to stay as a king for another 14 years ?
Are we morally corrupt to the point that we have to apologize for terrorists and accept Islamists appointed by turkey and the GCC as a good alternative to a bad regime ?
What happened to the principles of tolerance and freedom that are the blocks civilized nations are built on ?
How can we glamorize the killing of civilians in the name of self defense and pretend that this is god’s will?
When was the last time nations led by dictators and sheikhs / priessts progressed and prospered ?
If you think this dilemma is limited to Syria that is because you are limited yourself, this exclusionary and regressive mentality is a disease that affects the whole Muslim world.
يا أمة ضحكت من جهلها الامم

Rebels murdered 10 people in Aleppo:
1- مهند شحادة بن عمر 12 سنة ( الخالدية) قذيفة هاون
2- يحيى العيسى بن عبد الغني 4 سنوات طلق ناري
3- عبد الكريم عباسي بن أحمد ( صلاح الدين) قذيفة
4- محي الدين عجوز بن عبد الله 49 سنة ( ضاحية الأسد) قنص
5- فاروق وليد اسماعيل 16 سنة ( حمدانية) قذيفة
6- هيثم طرطوربن حسين 25 سنة( خالدية)قذيفة
7- محمد فتوح بن بشير 53 سنة (حمدانية)قذيفة
8-عبد الكريم معيري 10 سنوات (صلاح الدين) قنص
9-هدى غش 12 سنة (حمدانية) قذيفة
10-وائل علوش بن أحمد 26 سنة (حمدانية)قذيفة
What was the crime those people commit to deserve the death penalty ?
They happen to live in areas under regime control.
How is this different from the crime of killing civilians in areas under rebel control ?

It looks like one of my thawrajiyyeh friends is changing his views, at least on paper, about political solution and minorities, read and reflect:

“We are not for revenge, ,we must have leadership that talk and advocate protection of minorities, at the same time when we ask for weapons we are not seeking absolute military victory, but we need to convince the enemies and the friends that we want to create envoronment where the only solution is for both sides to understand that military solution is not possible, and we are going for honest and true dialogue , that will lead to free democratic system, we are against dictatorship, against the rule of one family, and we will not accept extremism or any side that has connections with AlQaida, that I mean Da’esh or Nusra, and that we will share the minorities in governing Syria , we are not going to accept defeat in Qalamoun that gave the imprssion to Assad that he can win, a major victory in the south is needed, and yes we need to get back Qalamoun, we must convince Assad that he can not win, so he will be forced by his supprters to accept true and transparent dialogue, then he has to leave, his supporters are cloistered by fear and false propaganda, we must alleviate their fear, and have communication with them , the roaming insanity must be eliminated, and we can only do that by communications”

# 57 Ghufran

Good thoughts from your friend.

The International community has collectively agreed on one thing: that no side should be allowed a total victory in Syria. They have also got themselves in a place where a long-term conflict in Syria is acceptable to them politically and morally. Syria is not a front-page news any more so it can be ignored for years to come.

This means it is the Syrians who must find a solution soon if they want to save Syrians’ lives. The moderates on both sides must take matters in their hands. This means pushing aside Daesh, Alnusrah on one side, and Assad’s family, his cronies and hard-core Baathists on the other side.

The U.S. and EU or the “international community” as they narcissistically call themselves, with number of oil-rich Gulf State monarchies has collectively agreed on one thing: that no side should be allowed a total victory in Syria?
They are rule LOW INTENSITY MODEL DIRTY IMMORAL and INHUMANE WAR , Against the humanity of Syrian population!

America is a cancer, covertly eating foreign nations away from inside their democratic structures.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=ec6_1397096451

OMEN #54. Seems you’ve missed a lot.

About the Saudis giving the Assads money.

This could come from a cover story being thrown out by thief and war criminal Rifaat Assad, Bashar’s exiled uncle who is currently under investigation by French anti-corruption agencies.

Rifaat Assad is (finally!) being formally accused of abusing power and embezzling public funds, the French authorities stating that his fortune is far beyond what he earned as a military commander or vice-president before he left Syria in 1984.

They allege that his hundreds of millions of dollars worth of assets in Europe must have been amassed by pilfering Syrian public funds and abusing power.

Rifaat has a couple of conflicting cover stories to explain things. One is that he was given his land in France by the Saudis because of his connection with the Saudi royal family.

And what’s that connection? One of Rifaat’s four wives, who is said to be Lebanese, is the sister of one of Saudi King Abdullah’s ex-wives (note he has 26 ex-wives and 4 current!).

Another of Rifaat’s implausible cover stories is his claim in a media interview that he lost all his money in the stock market and lives on the charity of his 16 children(many of whom are married into wealthy Assad-affiliated Syrian families that also deserve to have their assets scrutinized).

Whatever. Let’s hope they are forced to dig deep into their secret stashes to pay daddy Rifaat’s legal fees when he’s dragged before an international war crimes tribunal in connection with the 1982 Hama massacre in Syria. He was in charge of this exercise that killed up to 30,000 people, using means which may have included chemical weapons.

But the biggest, most obscene and bizarre cover story of the lot, being furiously spun with big $$$ by his sleazy son Rabal and other offspring is that Rifaat Assad is a serious “democratic” contender to take over Bashar’s throne when he’s gone.

All this in an effort to stave off a potential war crimes investigation.

In comment #21 Syrian Hamster said:

“3. ass-sadist forces are being plummeted where it counts, in Aleppo.”

I’ve just read the following on a Salafi type forum. I wonder if there’s any truth to it. I’ll pop into Edward Dark’s twitter to see what he has to say. Haven’t been there for a while anyway:

Reports on Twitter say that mujahjdeen from Checnya are making a mockery of Assad forces in Aleppo. Theyre over running western Aleppo!!!!!!!! They are leading the assault in Aleppo and oh boy.. Check these tweets:

“URGENT!! Chechen mujahideen overrun most Assad-positions in Western Aleppo. Largest parts of Zahra-district and Ramouseh-district taken!!!!!”

“Assad-forces are crumbling and retreating in chaos towards Aleppo-city-center,including to the large University-complex.Chechens advance!!!!”

“Let´s recall, that the chechen mujahideen are leading the most assaults in these days in Western Aleppo. Arab contingents only support them”

“Assad-forces in Aleppo now concentrated 500 meters west of the University. Chechen mujahideen advance very quickly in these hours,CONFIRMED!”

“Aleppo: Chechen advance-teams have reached the western perimeter of the Nile-street, the main street leading to the Aleppo-city-center!!!”

“Chechens are in the “main combat line”,while all other syrian and foreign mujahideen clean the remaining buidlings in Zahra-district!!!”

“Mujahideen also advance north from Ramouseh-district! Same situation here! Chechen elite-mujahideen in the advance-line,all others follow”

“#Aleppo,#Idlib,#Latakia,#Quneitra
Syrian rebels seem to be on the verge of a breakthrough,#Assad’s army and allies on the verge of collapse.”

http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f18/syria-thread-4-0-read-rules-before-67862/index270.html#post753703

Seems Assad forces are in big trouble in western Aleppo. Just posted a comment that’s gone into moderation.

It was sharing some claims made on a salafi type forum:

http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f18/syria-thread-4-0-read-rules-before-67862/index270.html#post753703

I know Syrian Hamster in #21 said:

“3. ass-sadist forces are being plummeted where it counts, in Aleppo.”

Also there’s this in AJE:

‘Syrian rebels advance in Aleppo City’

http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2014/04/syria-rebels-advance-aleppo-city-2014412101712303691.html

An interesting comment on that Salafi type forum:

It’s clear that the leadership of ISIS is nothing but the old Iraqi Ba’ath regime in religious garbs. Most of the senior leadership is somehow connected to that regime and if you look at their policy and the methods they use against their enemies (torture, no tolerance for differences or even minor disagreements within the group, and etc) and their bully tactics with everyone around them, it’s hard not to see the similarities. They’re politicians who are after power and twist the religion to aid their cause. Anyone who disagrees with their policy is conveniently made takfeer of and killed. Many from the leadership are ex-baathists who all of a sudden became religious when Iraq was invaded.

http://forums.islamicawakening.com/f18/syria-thread-4-0-read-rules-before-67862/index270.html#post753715

The immediately following comment also echoes the same sentiment. ISIS are being exposed for what they are. Nothing to do with the revolution and nothing to do with Islam.

In my comment that went into moderation I mentioned I would check Ed. Darks twitter for info on the Aleppo claims.

It seems something is going down in Aleppo and confirms some of the claims on that forum. Some tweets:

– The Jihadist terrorists Turkey, Gulf & their Western backers sent to destroy Aleppo & its people are doing a good job. Hope ur proud #Syria -(47 min ago)

– Pandemonium & fear in Aleppo as Jihadist rebels assault the north west suburb of Zahra’ & its residents flee #Syria -(5 hrs ago)

– All hell is breaking loose in Aleppo tonight. all out war, bombs, shells, explosions #Syria -(15 hrs ago)

– the assault on Aleppo city is lead by Chechnyan extremist Jihadists …that’s what the “Syrian revolution” has come down to ..pitiful #Syria -(Apr 10)

– Very fierce night of fighting as Islamist rebels attack West Aleppo. Explosions & shells everywhere #Syria -(Apr 9)

– unprecedented rebel assault on Aleppo city for 3rd day, the most vicious fighting so far the city has seen, and it has seen a lot #Syria -(Apr 9)

https://twitter.com/edwardedark

Suhair Atassi resigns from the NC, this follows the removal of big names from the NC leadership:
سوريا (آسيا) : أعلنت سهير أتاسي، القيادية في المعارضة السورية، إستقالتها من الإئتلاف المعارض إحتجاجا على الأوضاع السيئة في محافظة حمص.
وقبل تقديم إستقالتها كتبت اتاسي على صفحتها على موقع التواصل الإجتماعي، ” أعلن من هنا عن تجميد عضويتي بالائتلاف الوطني السوري حتى إشعار آخر، فهناك مناطق محاصرة، مناطق ضربت بالكيماوي، و حمص للأسف مهددة بالسقوط بين ليلة وأخرى”.
اتاسي عادت بعد وقت قليل، لتتساءل: “هل تم خطف فاتح حسون قائد المنطقة الوسطى، كما يشاع؟، أم أنه قد توارى عن الأنظار ليخفي العار الذي لحقه مما يصيب حمص الحبيبة”.
نائبة رئيس الإئتلاف السابقة، لم تتأخر في إتخاذ قرارها النهائي بعد مرور ساعات على تجميد عضويتها، فخرجت لتعلن إستقالتها من الائتلاف الوطني السوري”، مشيرة “إلى انه لم تعد لي أي علاقة به أو بأي هيئة من هيئاته”، وتوجهت إلى رفاقها في المعارضة بالقول: إخوتي سامحوني إن لم أكن على قدر المسؤولية التي أردتموها مني فكل يغني على ليلاه في هذا الائتلاف، تصبحون على وطن حر”.
Atassi said that she made that decision because of the deteriorating situation in Homs and its impending fall in the hands of government troops.

Turkey, Suhair’s host, is dealing with another unwanted surprise, this time it is from Moody’s:

ISTANBUL — Moody ‘s cut the outlook of Turkey’s sovereign rating to negative yesterday, citing political turbulence, increased external financing pressure and weaker growth prospects triggering losses in the lira. The agency reaffirmed the country’s current bond rating of Baa3, just one step above a so-called “junk” level, which is out of bounds for many pension and savings funds seeking safer investments.
Fitch Ratings affirmed on April 4 its BBB- rating for Turkey, also the lowest investment-grade rating, but with a stable outlook. Standard & Poor’s in February switched the outlook of its rating of BB+ for Turkey, the highest speculative-grade, to negative, citing a risk of a hard landing for the country’s economy.

Remember the reports of the Aleppo Governer being forced/bullied into sending reinforcements to Latakia? Well it seems he’s (Governor) losing Aleppo.

Also, I’ve had a read through Aboud’s twitter line and there is talk of a fresh chemical attack and the regime blaming Nusra, though as Brown Moses tweets, the attacks were connected with barrel bomb drops. Seymour Hersh and Fisk are useful cover for the regime false flag attacks.

Now, we could well be seeing the regime lose Aleppo and we may well get foreign intervention due to alleged chemical use by a desperate regime.

I did say last week how I had a strong feeling Assad’s time was almost up.

Allah Knows best.

Also, people questioned the move on Latakia. Perhaps now we can see the wisdom behind the decision as Aleppo has opened up for rebels as the regime (+ reinforcements) was distracted by Latakia.

70. Screen champion UZAIR8
Can consider the nomination of your talents to Hollywood!
I always heard from you about the programs can not be achieved only in a fantasy world!your dreams are florals Dude! 🙂

Most people, me included, can not understand certain military movements in a difficult and fluid battle field environment like Syria but these are the headlines now:

1. there is a stalemate in Kasab for now with daily bombardment of terrorist positions in and around the town. Predictions of a major assault have not materialized yet and locals are afraid that terrorist will not leave Kasab until it is destroyed.
it is obvious that the army does not see this as a top priority.
2. the army has already entered Jobar in Damascus suburbs, if Jobar falls Douma will follow and that can be as significant as the fall of Qsair.
3. the army controls more areas in Aleppo than it did a year ago and that is even clearer in Reef Aleppo. What the rebels are doing now is trying to take Aleppo back to 2013 and I do not see that happening any time soon, most of the reported “victories” in Aleppo are too small to make a difference unless terrorists there take over the AFI compound, so far that has not happened.
4. Homs may be witnessing the end of rebellion, there is a real potential to secure all of Homs proper within days or few weeks, that leaves Rastan where a cease fire will be tried and may have a chance this time.
5. Hama Reef is likely to witness a major battle as both sides want to be in control of this area that lays between Homs and Aleppo and is not too far from Tartous. As of now, Hama proper is under tight regime control.
6. Daraa and Qnaitra is where pro KSA rebels are trying their hardest to achieve a breakthrough with help from Israel and Jordan, that will not reduce pressure on rebels around Damascus unless rebels achieve a near total control of Daraa. Israel would love to use Syrian traitors to create a security zone in Qnaitra similar to what it did in Lebanon after the 1978 invasion, we all know how that ended !!
7. finally, the forgotten zones are Raqqa, Aljazeera and areas bordering Iraq. These sections of Syria are dominated by Al-Qaida elements and Nusra (the two just finished a bloody battle in Bukamal that killed over a 100 rebels). The area has oil and gas and will be the next big battlefield if other more urgent issues are settled. The regime does not see losing these areas as an immediate threat to its survival, Syrians there will be under the mercy of Islamist terrorists for the near future.

The comment at 3:43 is what amount to being in the spin zone from ghufran news network!

I like the new Ghufran News Network, Syrian, I will call it GNN, please tell us if the news were spin or not, I say not.
I also like Farzat’s latest cartoon about Assad
http://www.alquds.co.uk/?p=155140

Thanks Alan for the time you spend knocking down what is said here that’s not the truth.

I already said we are watching the spin zone.
Glad you liked the GNN term but don’t quit your day job.you are mostly talking to yourself here.

I already said we are watching the spin zone.
Glad you liked the GNN term but don’t quit your day job.you are mostly talking to yourself here.

#62 Alan

Seems like you have not been reading about statements by Iranian and Russian officials lately. They also have been saying the same: “no party will have military victory in Syria”. It is the one thing that almost everyone seems to agree on. Other than the Syrians of course.

Sohr poll:
After rebels advances in Latakia and Idleb do you think the Syrian war will end militarily or politically ?
Militarily 68.2%
Politically 31.8%
بعد تقدم المعارضة ميدانياً في ادلب واللاذقية, هل تتوقع حل سياسي ام عسكري للازمة السورية ؟
عسكري – 68.2%
سياسي – 31.8%

For now, a new war has started in eastern Syria between nusra and Isis with Arab tribes being split between the two which will only add more fuel to the war.

GNN:
after 3 weeks of retreat then a stalemate there seems to be a new offense against foreign jihadists around Kasab. It is very likely now that terrorists will withdraw to Kasab which is now almost empty from its armenian residents who now fear that their city that was looted by Turkmen and chechnyans terrorists will become a battle field which can destroy another beautiful city.
In Aleppo, nusra is still trying to capture a strategic compound known as Alamn Aljawwi that has prevented the jihadists from entering areas controlled by government troops. For now terrorists are shelling residential areas in west Aleppo on a daily basis.

#80 Ghufran

The age-long problem: one man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter!

My definition of a terrorist is someone who deliberately targets and kills civilians (of any race, nationality, etc.) to achieve military or political objective. This definition includes:

1. SAA units dropping bombs on civilian areas
2. Rebels who kill civilians without trials
3. Rebels who kill civilians because of their religious or ethnic affiliation
4. Rebels who blow up car bombs in civilian ares
5. Rebels who fire rockets on civilian areas
6. Government security personnel who arrest, torture and kill political dissidents

Being from Chechnya means you are a foreign fighter, perhaps a mercenary, but not necessarily a terrorist. Being a thief/looter does not mean you are necessarily a terrorist.

I have not seen any evidence that the rebels in Kasab have committed any terrorist activities. If you have please share the source. I know you are against the rebels attack on Kasab on moral and political grounds, and I understand your position, but unless you saw evidence that they conducted terrorist activities, I think you should not rush to judgement.

Posted on Yalla Souriya a short time before:

#Syria, we have already posted about that news. It is confirmed 100%. A regime warjet dropped a TNT barrel at 3.00 am on Saydnaya frontline killing 56 of Halesh mercenaries in a friendly fire.
الخبر مؤكد 100% قامت طائرة الساعة الثالثة ليلآ بإلقاء برميل متفجر على جبهة صيدنايا وبقدرة رب العالمين يسقط على مقر لحالش ويقتل 56 فطيسه

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2014/04/13/syria-we-have-already-posted-about-that-news/

@@@@@@@@
Israel is seeking to launch a joint operation with Saudi Arabia to train foreign-backed militants operating against the Syrian people. The Israeli military chief convinced Dempsey that they could deal with the threats posed by resistance to Zionist backed insurgents in Syria
http://youtu.be/6Gox9slNKeM?t=1s
I think that the time has come to take the fight to their land!!!!!
@@@@@@@@
Has Assad carried out new chemical attacks? Britain and U.S. to investigate claims toxic substances have been used on four occasions
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2602463/Has-Assad-carried-new-chemical-attacks-Britain-U-S-investigate-claims-toxic-substances-used-four-occasions.html#comments
@@@@@@@@

Mr. Putin! The stop of bloodshed in Syria requires a bleeding body of adversaries!!! The contour attack is also the case of defense!

As always, Hopeful has painted a picture of Syria as if it was a war of justice vs. injustice with some tinges of distraction like those “extremists” who have been caught under limelight for what they did in Syria.

Today, there is a new article on NY Times about Syria:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/13/world/middleeast/in-jordan-town-syria-war-inspires-jihadist-dreams.html?hp&_r=0

Quote, ““There is no such thing as Syria for the Syrians,” said Munif Samara, a doctor and prominent Islamist in Zarqa. “If there is Islamic land, it is our duty to implement Shariah.”

Islamist fighters came to Syria with their crystal clear “subliminal” goal.

Those guys would have a good laugh if they could read what Hopeful has been writing about them.

It is at least an embellishment if it is not propaganda.

Hopeful,
where did I say that rebels committed violent atrocities in Kasab ?
Rebel leaders know the world is watching and so does the man who sent them, erdugang. Thugs who invaded Kasab were engaged in looting, forceful evacuation of residents, kidnapping and desecration of churches. There is no other way to describe armed thugs who detonate car bombs and launch rockets and Grad missiles on civilian areas but to give them the name they earned: terrorists, those who defend those acts are simply terrorists sympathizers and apologists. I am not suggesting that only rebels committed terrorist acts against civilians in Syria, I voiced my condemnation of Syrian pilots dropping barrel bombs on heavily populated areas from day one, keep in mind that the occupation of armed thugs of Syrian towns and neighborhoods is the excuse given for those attacks, also remember that rebels CHOSE to invade civilian areas and hide in heavily populated residential neighborhoods using civilians as human shields.
Our Thawrajiyyeh friends, who can now be safely called liars, kept lecturing us about how clean and virtuous this “revolution” is only to discover that their PR stunts were part of a well organized campaign of misinformation and internet Jihad. The rebels many of you support brought nothing to Syria but destruction, death, hatred and division, their violent and despicable acts were met with brutality and disregard for civilian rights from the regime, something most of us knew it will happen if lethal force is used against the army.
In summary, this is not a revolution, it is a war, and those who actively pushed for it, financed it and kept it raging should not complain about the cost, most Syrians have little to do with this evil war and they want it to stop, if you still care about Syria you need to help needy Syrians and support efforts to end this war. Syria needs an army, the FSA is not an army, and Islamist armed gangs can not and will not form an army, we have no choice but to support the army for now but demand that it gets under civilian leadership and not security forces, I also support calls for Assad to step aside then step down, Syria needs a new beginning, trusting Islamists and GCC loyalists expats as an alternative to Assad is not a beginning it will be the end of Syria as a moderate tolerant state, conservative Muslims have the right to run for parliament seats but should not be allowed to form religious parties or dominate the army or the government.

Mr Putin ! please go ahead!
Obama administration urged Israel to attack Syrian Army
http://sana.sy/eng/22/2014/04/12/538550.htm

#86 Ghufran said:

“Syria needs an army, the FSA is not an army, and Islamist armed gangs can not and will not form an army, we have no choice but to support the army for now but demand that it gets under civilian leadership and not security forces, I also support calls for Assad to step aside then step down”

You will finds millions of Syrians, myself included, in support of this solution. The main obstacle to it is Assad himself. How do you suggest to resolve that?

GNN 4, 13, 2014 2 PM EST

Daily log of terrorist attacks by Islamists on covilians:
إستشهاد مواطنان وجرح 13 آخرين اثر سقوط قذيفة صاروخية على حي الإنشاءات في حمص
Inshaat in Homs (2 killed and 13 wounded)
إصابة 10 أطفال إثر سقوط قذائف هاون على حي الدويلعة في ريف دمشق
10 children injured in D’waylaa-Damascus
إصابة 15 مدنيا إثر سقوط قذيفة هاون على حافلة نقل داخلي على
الطريق بين جسر الرئيس وساحة الأمويين في دمشق
15 civilians were injured when a mortar bomb fell on a bus in
Damascus (between Jisr Al-Raees and Umayyad Square)
استشهاد فتاة وجرح 22 مدني اثر سقوط قذيفة هاون على شارع بيروت في دمشق
A girl in Damascus (Beirut street) was killed and 22 wounded after terrorists attacked a busy street with mortars.

Hala Jaber of the Sunday Times, UK accuses rebels of killing father Francis van der Lugt:

Syria: Killing of priest was ‘rebel punishment’
A Christian cleric who refused to leave his flock may have been shot for helping others to leave, writes Hala Jaber in besieged Homs.A week before he was shot dead, Van der Lugt, 75, was badly beaten by rebels who are losing ground in this battered city in the face of a Syrian army onslaught.

“The death of the priest is a scandal for the rebels,” said Mahmoud Taha, an antigovernment activist in Talbiseh, a village near Homs where the Jesuits run a center for the elderly. Mr. Taha speculated that the local Homs fighters had become radicalized. “They no longer accept anyone but those who are like them,” he said.

These are the words that cost him his life beside arguing in favor of a truce in Homs:
“Most Syrians do not support the opposition,” he wrote. “Therefore, you cannot say that this is a popular uprising.” Brenda Stoter Boscolo, a Dutch journalist, said Father Frans still said he felt that way in 2013, after the government had bombarded the Old City for months.

… and you still want Syrians and the world to feel sorry for your rebel terrorists ?

Hopeful

What do you call it when Chechens, Morrocans and Saudis take over Kassab and kill captured pro Assad soldiers in the bathroom? Remember those Assad soldiers are Syrians and are getting killed in their homeland by foreigners, some under the leadership of a Guantanamo prisoner?

What do you call it when these peace loving jihadi fighters shoot rockets into civilian areas in Lattakia?

What do you call it when these hoards of foreigners call it Kassab al-Islam while driving thousands of its Syrian Armenians out ? A War Crime?
Religious cleansing?

Hopeful:

I agree with your stand against anyone who ordered or did the killing of any Syrian citizen.

Long beard UZAIR!
Pakistan’s Syrian Dilemma: a Test of Diplomacy & Economy
http://journal-neo.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/03_Pakistan-Syria_Webf-300×196.jpg
A major challenge that has presented itself rather problematically to the foreign policy makers in Pakistan, in the current year, is the crisis in Syria. Not only has it put Pakistan in a conundrum, but also has caused a lot of controversy with regard to its bi-lateral relations with Saudi Arabia on the one hand, and on the other hand, with Iran as also with regard to its changing foreign policy outlook. By implication, Pakistan is caught between devil and the deep sea: it can support Saudi Arabia only at the expense of the “regional pivot” it has been trying to make for last two-three years now, which significantly includes inculcating ‘better’ relations both with Iran and Russia. In this complex web of inter-state relations, the crisis in Syria has turned out to be a pendulum, swinging Pakistan from one side to other, and forcing it to ‘play’ diplomacy to secure its vital interests, which are both geo-political and geo-economic.

In simple words, the Syrian case has turned out to be a test of Pakistan’s diplomacy, requiring a stance that should serve the interest of the state; and, Pakistani authorities are also not unmindful of the importance of its “regional pivot” in bringing Pakistan out of the particular crisis she itself has been facing since the commencement of the US led ‘war on terror.’
…
The crisis in Syria has much significance for Pakistan even if it refrains from directly engaging itself. Not only is it a foreign policy predicament but also a matter involving significant economic consequences, which Pakistan can certainly not afford under current circumstances. And, if Pakistan chooses to side with Saudi Arabia, needless to say, it will be like adding fuel to the fire to burn one’s own self.

http://journal-neo.org/2014/04/13/pakistan-s-syrian-dilemma-a-test-of-diplomacy-economy/

Situation is worsening in the Ukraine, the country is facing 3 choices:
A civil war, Probably not, i hope not
Partition, quite possible
Loose federation with near independence given to areas with Russian majority, preferred by most.
NATO is not going to commit groups for combat but may boost kieve military and impose more sanctions on Russia. The best the west can get is the third option, federation, and an agreement that satisfies Putin in return of guarantees that Russian troops will stop their advancement and stay away from other republics like Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
What does that mean for Syria ?
Russia today is not the same as Russia in the 1999s and the days of the cold war, or a more timid version of it, are back. This situation favors autocratic regimes, you do the math.

صفقة تبادل بين ‘النصرة’ والنظام السوري في درعا
اطلاق روان بطلة رواية ‘جهاد المناكحة’ مقابل راني مخلوف

So when the “less bad” chemical regime parade a 13 years old girl on tv, forcing her to make false statements about her father that he forced her to have sexual relations with other men. then Alnusra comes in and trade a captured Alawi shabih with her and 7 other women from the regime dungeons, who do you think the people of Dra’a will thank?
Of course regime supporters and apologist will find a way to justify the regime actions so they can sleep at night and when they come here they just take off the skin of their behind and wear it on their faces.

I am all for any efforts to release prisoners and stop the insanity called the Syrian war. The war continued against the will of most Syrians who are being used to help people and nations who do not need or do not deserve help. I have not met a Syrian who thinks that this war should continue to the bitter end, the truth is that in this case the end does not justify the means when the price is the destruction of Syria and its people.

#91 Mjabali

“What do you call it when Chechens, Morrocans and Saudis take over Kassab and kill captured pro Assad soldiers in the bathroom? Remember those Assad soldiers are Syrians and are getting killed in their homeland by foreigners, some under the leadership of a Guantanamo prisoner?”

I call it fighting a war. Iranian, Iraqi and Hizbullah fighters are also roaming the country and fighting Syrian fighters. It is an unfortunate result of a terrible leadership.

“What do you call it when these peace loving jihadi fighters shoot rockets into civilian areas in Lattakia?”

I call it terrorism.

“What do you call it when these hoards of foreigners call it Kassab al-Islam while driving thousands of its Syrian Armenians out ? A War Crime?
Religious cleansing?”

If they indeed forced people out of their homes, I call it ethnic cleansing. If people left to avoid violence, as millions have done all over Syria, it is a refugees problem. So long as Assad continue with the military solution, and so long as the rebels decide to continue to fight, people should expect fighting to be anyplace anywhere in Syria, not only places they like to fight in.

#85 Apple_mini

“Islamist fighters came to Syria with their crystal clear “subliminal” goal.”

First, let me be very clear, as I always have. I want all foreign fighters out of Syria. I never condoned their presence.

Second, I am for establishing a democratic free system in Syria, not an Islamist state.

Third, while I object to their mission, I cannot call them all terrorists, because they are not all terrorists. Terrorists are those among them who attack civilians intentionally. A suicide bomber is not a terrorist, unless he/she intentionally detonates his/her bomb in a civilian area, with the intention of killing civilians. While this happened in Syria unfortunately, it is not at a scale seen in other conflicts like Lebanon, Israel, and Iraq.

Forth, firing rockets on civilian areas is terrorism. Both the regime and the rebels are engaged in this activity. Perhaps at a ratio of ten to one, with the regime being the “winning” side.

This is from Assafir as terrorists in Aleppo opened a fourth front and showed their love, again, for Armenians:
المعركة الجديدة التي بدأت فجر أمس، شهدت بحسب مصدر ميداني محاولات عديدة للتقدم من داخل حي بستان الباشا إلى حيي الميدان وسليمان الحلبي، بالتزامن مع قصف عنيف بالقذائف المتفجرة (اسطوانات الغاز)، وقذائف الهاون والصواريخ المحلية الصنع، والتي تسببت بدمار كبير تركز في حي الميدان، وأدى في إحصاءات أولية إلى مقتل وجرح نحو 10 مدنيين، جميعهم من الأرمن (سكان حي الميدان معظمهم من الأرمن)، الأمر الذي دفع سكان هذا الحي أيضاً إلى ربط هذا الهجوم بذلك الذي شنته فصائل متشددة على منطقة كسب في ريف اللاذقية الشمالي، خصوصا ان هذه المنطقة تعتبر احدى أبرز المناطق التي يقطنها الأرمن، والذين يستقبلون بعد أيام الذكرى المئوية لـ«الإبادة» التي نفذها العثمانيون
بحقهم
rebels shelled Al-Midan in Aleppo (heavily inhabiteted by Armenians)with rockets, gas and mortar bombs killing and wounding 10 civilians, all Armenians.

This came after the initial attack on AFI compound failed and other attacks seem to only force civilians to flee and fighters from both sides to die with no real change in the military map in the area. It seems like the goal is to keep the army busy on many fronts to reduce the chances of further losses, however this has not worked very well so far, we yet to see any major military breakthrough against government forces. Even in Kasab, rebels are on the retreat now after suffering heavy losses. it tells you something about the FSA when most fighters, including dead fighters, are either foreigners (90 from Morocco alone) or Nusra terrorists, yet many of you insist that this a national war of liberation !!

CIA, MI6 and Turkey’s rogue game in Syria
http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/cia-mi6-and-turkeys-rogue-game-in-syria-new-claims-say-ankara-worked-with-the-us-and-britain-to-smuggle-gaddafis-guns-to-rebel-groups-30183069.html

The Heinrich Böll foundation has published this article on the forced confessions in Syrian state Tv.

Forced confessions on TV: A Syrian Drama
by Haid Haid

“The Syrian state television began several years before the Revolution to broadcast “confessions” convicted criminal on television. Most Syrians can still remember “The police in the service of the people,” a television program that turned out the performance of the police in the arrest of criminals and thieves. Once aired the week, the show gave the audience the Syrian public, ​​is merely not to go into difficulties since the Syrian security forces would come to them on the ropes anyway. Not to mention how the multi-talented moderator, Alaa al-Din al-Ayoubi, would be drawn on national television. In general, the program began with the moderator a brief overview of the case provided, according to which, or the criminals went into the details of the committed act. The day ended with a short interview with the chief of police or prosecutor, to thank him for his work and the opportunity to offer him to advise viewers how they could protect themselves. The show served as a rich source for Syrians scorn: The mustache of the moderator and his demeanor showed clearly to his unfulfilled career aspirations as a police officer. Spectators mocked the fact that criminals formally appealed to him as “sir,” as if he were really one. In addition, all confessions followed the same script: What did you spend your loot? For my own pleasure, sir. And did you have to steal? Not at all, sir. Why so you’ve done it? The Devil and bad friends, good sir. Do you regret it now? In any case, my dear sir, I am very sorry. What do you want to say to the audience? I would advise them to stay away from the path that I have chosen, my dear sir. It was so predictable that parts of the interview were quoted in everyday conversations, to provide laughter or amusement.”

http://translate.google.de/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.boell.de%2Fde%2F2014%2F04%2F11%2Ferzwungene-gestaendnisse-fernsehen-ein-syrisches-drama&edit-text=

Islamist rebels were kicked out of Maloula. Initial reports indicate that rebels cut the heads of a number of christian statues, desecrated churches and looted many homes and christian artifacts, those deeds and the murdering of 3 journalists from almanar TV who were reporting from Maloula summarize rebels achievement in that historical town since September 2013.

One of the 3 Almanar “journalist” killed today in Maloula posing for the camera with an anti tank missile on his shoulder, he is as much a journalist as Joseph Goebbels was a journalist.hopefully he is in hell next to him
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=229243283938736&id=148809471982118&set=a.149084628621269.1073741828.148809471982118&source=46

There is no doubt that almanar journalists were supporters of hizbullah and like some pro rebels journalists they want their side to win. In almanar’s case those journalists have seen their areas in Lebanon targeted by car bombs and rockets by the same people who invaded Maloula and other towns close to lebanon, it is naive to expect them to be neutral.
This is a dirty war and it needs to stop and I want to see all foreign fighters go back to where they came from or at least to the countries that financed their jihad, it tells a lot to see Turkey and the GCC encouraging those jihadists to kill Syrians but arrest them if they try to go back !!
While rebels keep throwing rockets and mortars at residential areas and were busy looting churches, towns under rebels control keep falling one by one, Homs is about to fall and so is the rest of qalamon and probably Douma and Jobar, things have changed a lot in the last 12 months because Assad has reliable friends compared to the armed opposition which imported foreign jihadists and relied on NATO and the GCC and believed the myth that Erdugang will come to their rescue.

Then don’t call their death a murder. They were military correspondence to a group that has been designated as a terrorist organization by the US government, a group that killed 256 marinas who spilled their blood for you have the good life in the US.
I have yet to see you condemning the terrorists of HA on this site.

Another organization of Syrian sheikhs is formed in Turkey:
أعلن في إسطنبول الاثنين، عن تأسيس المجلس الإسلامي السوري، بعد اجتماعات استمرت يومين، حيث يضم نحو 40 هيئة ورابطة إسلامية من أهل السنة والجماعة في الداخل والخارج، وتضم الهيئات الشرعية لأكبر الفصائل الإسلامية في جميع أنحاء البلاد.
وفي مؤتمر صحفي عقد في إسطنبول، أعلن رئيس المجلس الشيخ أسامة الرفاعي، عن “تشكيل المجلس استجابة لكلام الله تعالى ورسوله الكريم، انعقد اللقاء التأسيسي للمجلس في إسطنبول بتاريخ 11 و12 نيسان الماضي، بحضور جمع كبير من علماء سوريا ودعاتها، أفرادا وممثلين للهيئات والروابط الإسلامية”.
The new organization announced that it will contact syrian Sunni who are still supportive of the regime. In reality this is a recycling of the MB after it was pronounced a terrorist organization by Egypt and is being looked at with suspicion by KSA, UAE and some western countries.

Syrian, killing journalists who were not fighting in a battle is not justified and is a murder, journalists who were accompanying rebels and were killed in Syria were called martyrs by thawrajiyyeh and were presented with a ticket to heaven while you condemned almanar journalists to hell !!

The last words of that “journalist” wearing army fatigue and carrying an anti tank messile launcher on his face book page hours before his death was
” with the blessed blood of the martyrs, and the strength of the heroic fighters,tonight we will be sleeping in Ma’loula Alsfir hotel”
Here is the LINK
https://m.facebook.com/1aksalser/photos/a.557457264339472.1073741827.548364715248727/616152541803277/?type=1&source=46
those are not the words of a journalist, those are the words of a fighter and a foreign one to add to that,
The Syrian citizens who died covering the atrocities of the chemical regime I do wish for them to be in heaven same way I’m hoping this terrorist foreign fighter be in hell.

Syrian, it looks like you are digging a deeper hole when you suggest that maloula was better off occupied by chechnyan and Tunisian terrorists than being ready again to welcome its historical citizens. Time will tell that hizbullah fighters will be the first to leave when the threat of rockets and car bombs from jihadists go away.i did not support the incursion of hizbullah into Syria because I knew it will inflame sectarian hatred but the biggest threat to Syria’s security and identity does not come from hizbullah fighters,as much as I like for them to go back to Lebanon, but from foreign jihadists who belong to alqa’eda and Nusra, it is now the choice between bad and worse do not kid yourself, everywhere those jihadists put their feet chaos and terrorism followed. Hizbullah my friend has tens of thousands in Lebanon and can occupy Beirut in 6 hours but they do not, they also do not cut heads and slaughter other Muslims in Lebanon. The political wing of hizbullah participate in elections and take part in the government as dysfunction as the Lebanese government is, tell me when was the last time jihadists accepted elections or helped form a government. I do not support religious organizations including hizbullah but those guys look like saints compared to your head cutting heroes who are now the backbone of the armed rebellion in Syria.

Ghufran, you are the only one who is digging himself in bigger hole, you putting words in my mouth dose not mean I said them or even suggested them,
But your describing the US designated Terrorist group Hizbollah as “saints”is a hole you can not get out of
Those “saints” killed 256 marines who were on a peace mission,kidnapped American citizens and kept them hostages for years some like Terry white for 7 years, hijacked an American TWA plane killed a passenger and through his body on the tarmac and they cap it of by hanging a US CIA officer, then bombing a place of worship for the Jews in Argintiana,
For someone who lives with his kids and grand kids in the US and call that terrorist group “saints”is an insult to the families of those brave marines who are protecting your and your family way of life.

The rockets and the car bombs targetting Hizballah came AFTER they entered Syria and not before.

Also HA has been doing the EXACT same thing for decades, they have perfected car bombings and the indiscriminate rocket attacks. To say they are in Syria to fight the very same thing they are guilty of is laughable at best and ignorant at worst.

# 108 Ghufran

” I do not support religious organizations including hizbullah but those guys look like saints…”

You must have forgotten about HZ firing rockets indiscriminately at Israeli cities, killing civilians. Isn’t that terrorism? How about killing children? Was Mughniyah a terrorist or a saint?

For me, it is all terrorism. Targeting civilians is terrorism. Hizbullah is a terrorist organization, and so is Alqaeda and all it’s branches in Syria and outside Syria.

This is why the world is stepping back and watching. In Syria, terrorists and fascists are fighting each other, why get involved? The real victims are the Syrian people who rose up for their freedom and dignity, and the Syrian people who decided they have no dog in this fight. Everyone else is a terrorist: the regime, the jihadis and Hizbullah and Iranian fighters.

I never said that bombing civilians is not terrorism, indeed I was among the first posters here to denounce attacking heavily populated areas or using civilians as Human shields but let us not kid ourselves, in every war civilians pay the heaviest price, all nations democratic or not were involved in atrocities against civilians at every war and this includes Israel, uk , france, and the USA among others.. This is why the Syrian war should not have started despite the brutality of the regime, just watch what others have done to destroy Syria and keep this war raging and be ready to throw up. The argument was whether jihadists are better than hizbullah, please read my whole post, in a perfect world you want this conflict to be solved by Syrians and you do not want others to ” help” one Syrian to kill another, we all know that is impossible in the middle east.
Hearing our friend Syrian who openly support jihadist groups who killed thousands of Americans and non Americans is a piece of black comedy. I stand by my statement regrading the comparison between hizbullah and alqa’eda affiliates, it is perfectly acceptable to remind us that hizbullah is on USA terrorism list and it is equally legitimate to denounce any terrorist acts committed by hizbullah and others but comparing anybody to alqa’eda et al carries a high degree of dishonesty and ignorance.

Gufran, I dare you to post any of my comments that says I supported “jihadist groups who killed thousands of Americans and non Americans”
Other wise you are nothing but a lair of the worst kind.

#112 Ghufran

“all nations democratic or not were involved in atrocities against civilians at every war..”

It is terrorism when attacking civilians is intentional to gain military or political advantage. The regime is doing this in Aleppo, the rebels are doing so by shelling civilian areas, and Hizbullah made a career of doing just that. Democratic nations, at least in the past 50 years or so, have not done that.

“This is why the Syrian war should not have started despite the brutality of the regime”

Yes, I agree. But no one could have stopped it. The same can be said that no one can stop Palestinians from fighting until a settlement is reached between Israel and the Palestinians. The question now, for Syria, is how to reach a settlement and who will do it. The International community seems to have given up (or do not care anymore)

Ghufran

“comparing anybody to alqa’eda et al carries a high degree of dishonesty and ignorance”

They both have leaderships that consider the deliberate attack on civilians a legitimate mean of fighting for their cause. That makes them equal. You may argue that some of their foot soldiers are more brutal than others, but at the end of the day it is the leadership that sets the policies and ideologies. As far as I am concerned, they are the two sides of the same coin.

Now, remember that Hizbullah is a centralized organization, while Al-Qaeda is an affiliate and an ideology. That’s why HZ is more disciplined. But if anything, this should be more of a strike against HZ’s terrorism tactics, since we know that these attacks are not only condoned by the leadership, but the leadership must also be the one who planned and executed it.

Regardless, I do know that you have denounced attacking civilians on this forum many times before, and I do not doubt your sincerity. I do wish you could be more fair in your condemnation of atrocities committed by both sides. I do see you as a reasonable voice on this forum, but sometime you tend to be too one-sided. For example, your posts are filled with “rebels” and “terrorism” in the same sentences, but I have yet to see the word terrorism come out of your post in relation to the regime and HZ.

The main reason why we have a war, hopeful, is because we had a corrupt and brutal government. Some of you are not ready to believe this but many alawites and Christians supported demonstrating against the regime and holding Assad and his security chiefs accountable, most Syrians including minorities wanted a regime change.
Sadly, it took the opposition less than 4 weeks to start attacking non combatant army units and even civilians (Banyas) then after 4 months a thawrajiyyeh army supported by Turkey and the GCC, and then Israel, was formed and was designed at proactively attacking the syrian army anywhere soldiers are found ( they even attacked air defense facilities that hold SAMs and radars), and within less than a year we started hearing about alqa’eda and other jihadist groups fighting in Syria to kill Syrians.
It was the action of rebel supporters, not just the regime, that transformed a peaceful revolution in the making into a destructive war that sidelined millions of Syrians and made Assad look less bad in the eyes of many in comparison to the head cutters who are leading the rebels on many fronts, and now our thawrajiyyeh friends here expect us to accept car bombs and random shelling of cities as part of the ” revolution” !!
At the end of the day this is a war that could have been avoided but the incompetence and brutality of the regime with the sheer evil of islamist rebels have destroyed Syria. Foreign nations were of course more than happy to help finish the job, Syrians were simply stupid and angry participants. Our argument about who is more evil in this conflict is not important now, except for the sake of irritating people who disagree with us, the damage is done and we all deserve the label others put on the back of our heads, Just watch the allies of opposing sides talk business and cut deals while we are busy trying to find better ways to kill our own citizens , then you will understand why I like to end my posts with this:
يا امة ضحكت من جهلها الامم

JUERGEN
German journalist: “The new Ukrainian government consists of criminals.”
http://youtu.be/H1wy_hW3K_I?t=1s

The attacks against the army was the exception not the norm. Even after the revolution turned to arms the vast majority of Syrians were non combatants while the government, and the army saw them differently.

Blaming the revolution for the brutality of the regime is blaming the victim.

The vast majority of the deaths during the early parts of the revolution was of innocent civilians dying in peaceful protests that the army shot at them.

And to this day the Assad regime and its militias attack and arrest those who help create a viable alternative to the Assadists.

Fence sitters and apologists always talk about how Syria lacked a Ghandi or a Mandela. Well we have plenty of them and sadly many died under torture in the Assadists dungeons. What Syria was and is still missing is a DeKlerk from the Assadists side.

Is there a singlr figure in the Assadists regime willing to break rank and help save Syria. My guess after 3 years is no. Cowards and yes men never accomplished anything and they never will.

#118 Sami

Thank you. Very well said.

There are still a few Mandelas in Assad’s prison. On of them is Abdulaziz Khayer. I urge the “fence-sitters” (Ghufran and others) to focus their energy on helping release these people if they truly care about the future of Syria, NOT the future of the regime. They hold the key in breaking the gridlock that exists today.

You will not find those Mandelas among the Jihadis or, understandably, among the fighting rebels who have lost family members.

Analysis: Why Assad can have confidence in his survival

By Jim Muir
BBC News, Beirut

“Bashar al-Assad and his leadership are there to stay. It did not really need one of his closest allies and saviours, the Lebanese Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah, to say it.

It is now the working assumption of most observers and analysts, Western diplomats who have toiled to dislodge him, and even some of the more realistic elements among the Syrian opposition.”

“In the current configuration, the only feasible settlement would require the opposition and their backers to accept that Bashar al-Assad and his power circle remain in place with some cosmetic reforms, something the rebels cannot do without negating their own raison d’etre. ”

“It is a startling turnaround. Many observers – including this one – who barely 16 months ago believed the collapse of the regime under rebel pressure was imminent, have had to eat their words.”

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-27018798

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlROarPIUAATSZI.jpg:large

There are no taboos! Thus, the assets of the game with Uncle Sam! But you should not be surprised later! Take care of yourself!

http://youtu.be/v822Y9FVaFY?t=1s

#120 Majed97

Thanks for the good read. The analysis is solid and incisive.

Unfortunately, the opposition and its backers refused to see the reality. They holed in the mindset of removing Assad at all cost even the country would have been destroyed completely in the end. This kind of Pyrrhic revolution put the last nail in the coffin for the revolution.

It has been clear to people who can take a subjective view of the Syrian crisis: Assad and his regime have been thriving on this war.

Assad survived only because of this war and that is exactly why he has survived this war.

Is there opposition to explain this?
1 killed, 60 wounded as Armenian school in Damascus comes under fire
http://panarmenian.net/eng/news/178000/

BBC faking attacks and distorting truth
http://youtu.be/FHVRE0QzwIA

The BBC’s Jim Muir also wrote:

“He may be confident that the worst of the storm has passed. But it is not yet over, and the damage it has wrought will transform the country. The clock cannot be turned back.”

From Veterans Today (VT):

Syria False Flags Exposed – War is Over

“But I couldn’t find much to disagree with in what Peterson said. He pointed out that the so-called Syrian rebels have distinguished themselves by their incompetence and their propensity to commit atrocities, and that the Syrian government has clearly won the war.

The best thing that could happen now, Peterson said, would be for the international community to admit that the war is over, withdraw all support from the rebels, and start hammering out a solution based on the reality that the current Syrian government will remain in power.”

http://www.veteranstoday.com/2014/04/15/game-over/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=game-over

Patrick Seale, the well-known British historian and journalist who has just died at 83, came to have his reputation tarnished by his closeness to the Assad regime. He was seen as a naive apologist for Hafez Assad, whose biography he wrote in the 1980s, but stubbornly defended his views.

But even Seale couldn’t stomach Bashar Assad.

To quote from his obituary in the Financial Times:

“[Seale] had a very low opinion of Bashar al-Assad, Hafez’s heir, thinking him a butcher without brains or vision”

A couple of other interesting quotes from the same article:

“Towards the end of his life [Seale] even wondered whether it was a matter of regret that the Arabs broke the shackles of Ottoman rule nearly a century ago.”

and

“Syria’s occupation of Lebanon in 1976-2005, for instance, had two components: regime security and looting (the rackets and businesses Syria’s nomenklatura were involved in at the height of this pan-Syrian Anschluss were worth something of the order of $3.5bn a year).”

(source:http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/2014/04/loss-of-authoritative-middle-east-voice-as-patrick-seale-dies/)

COMMENT: That last bit includes involvement (and financial dependence) by Syria’s senior military establishment in large-scale drugs trafficking and smuggling in Lebanon.

Syrian army Major General assassinated, not killed in combat:

https://twitter.com/THE_47th/status/455636975060389888

HOPEFUL,

To your comments defining terrorism and terrorists above, I would like to add state-sponsored terrorism.

Iran and Libya were the biggest and busiest dogs in that pack, but Syria made the official international list of a state sponsoring terrorism back in 1979. Syria was known to be providing funding, training camps, safe havens and encouragement to a variety of international terrorist groups.

Syria is now believed to have been the home of a terrorist cell that carried out the 1988 Lockerbie aircraft bombing on behalf of Iran (that’s right, not Libya).

And the death of Lebanon’s leader Rafik Hariri in a downtown bombing in 2005 is widely seen as linked to the Syrian regime.

Here’s what was being said about Syria even back in 1987:

“Observers believe that Assad has long used terrorism to further Syrian policy objectives in the Middle East. Over the years, Jordanian officials have accused Syria of assassinating Jordanian diplomats. PLO leaders have accused Syria of the assassination of Arafat’s chief of staff and close aide, Saad Sayil (known as Abu Walid), killed near a Syrian checkpoint in the Biqa Valley in eastern Lebanon in 1982. According to the report by the United States Department of State on “Patterns of Global Terrorism: 1983,” several attacks by members of the Abu Nidal organization reflected Syrian opposition toward the proArafat Fatah faction of the PLO. In 1983 these attacks included the assassination at the International Conference of Socialists in Portugal of PLO observer Issam Sartawi, who had advocated dialogue with Israel. The same report also charged Syria with encouraging the radical Shia Lebanese group, Islamic Jihad, to carry out the 1983 suicide bombing attacks against the United States Embassy in Beirut and the headquarters of the United States and French contingents of the Multinational Force (MNF) in Beirut, which resulted in 557 casualties. ” (http://terrorism.about.com/gi/o.htm?zi=1/XJ&zTi=1&sdn=terrorism&cdn=newsissues&tm=106&f=00&tt=11&bt=9&bts=9&zu=http%3A//www.photius.com/countries/syria/national_security/syria_national_security_sponsorship_of_terro~1676.html)

APPLE_MINI said in #123:

“It has been clear to people who can take a subjective view of the Syrian crisis: Assad and his regime have been thriving on this war.”

But the objective view is that they are in ugly, prolonged death throes, sustained temporarily on life support by Iran and Hezbollah.

I agree that a revolt among fence sitters and soft backers of the regime will be a game changer but those people are typically pragmatic individuals who do not believe in violence and always want another ship to jump to before they abandon the ship they are stuck in.
One of the biggest failures of this rebellion is burning all bridges with the same people some of you are blaming for not supporting rebels. It will take time for many of you to admit that using counter violence was counterproductive and it only helped the regime,it is usually hard to reach those type of conclusions when there is so much blood shed. Not matching or trying to match the regime violence was a very hard task and most people on the rebels side took the easy route but that route carries the highest sticker price for all.
Rebels managed to kill tens of thousands of army and security officers but failed at everything else, so you can argue that the rebels succeeded if the goal was to inflict maximum pain on Assad supporters but the strategic mission of creating a better and stronger Syria was lost. Assad regime, not Assad himself necessarily, is better off today than a year ago especially after finishing victorious in Qalamon and getting ready to declare Homs proper as a rebel- free zone. Yes this can be reversed but that can take a long time and it will destroy the little left of Syria today.

Good luck winning any fence sitter with this type of statements :

“With every war there are those who run away from the fight only to become refugees, with the coast battles where would those civilian go to?, they have two options, south to Lebanon, or south to Damascus.but they will be followed
Actually their best bet is to go back to Taloqan”

Too bad for the butcher Bashar and his gang. Forensic evidence of their massive crimes isn’t going away – in fact it’s sticking and gathering momentum.

The UN Security Council sat in in stunned silence a few hours ago when shown the evidence of industrial-scale slaughter by starvation, torture and strangulation of imprisoned Syrians by the Assad regime. (http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/04/15/uk-syria-crisis-un-idUKBREA3E1RJ20140415)

Council delegates were shown information and some of the 55,000 images from the report which embarrassed the Assad regime when it was released during the talks in Geneva in January. Here’s what the shocked UN delegates were shown: http://www.un.org/ga/search/view_doc.asp?symbol=S/2014/244

A chilling detail: “He displayed photos of corpses with distinctive patterned bruises on their necks … identified to have come from strangulation with an auto timing belt.”

COMMENT: It’s very hard not to wish that some of those auto timed killing devices are gathered up and kept handy if Syrians decide to inflict the death penalty on the depraved scum responsible when they round them up and put them on trial post-Assad.

(See also Syria’s killing machine: http://blogs.ft.com/the-world/2014/01/the-syrian-regimes-killing-machine/?)

Stand by to have another laugh at hysterical antics from Syria’s so-called UN envoy Bashar Jaafari in response to the Security Council meeting mentioned above.

He last week screeched that the UN Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay was a lunatic” and “irresponsible” and “biased” for stating that abuses by the Syrian government far outweigh the atrocities committed by opposition forces. (http://www.nytimes.com/2014/04/09/world/governments-abuses-far-outweigh-syrian-rebels-rights-chief-says.html)

Jaafari also issued a melodramatic warning through the Russian media last week that wicked terrorists were about to stage a chemical attack on Damascus (coincidentally, just before another suspected poison gas attack by the regime on a village outside Damascus).

Jaafari should look in the mirror, note the huge damp and dirty patch everyone sees on his trousers and creep offstage.

Not that he can go far now the US govt has restricted his movements to NY. He must be rapidly getting closer to being kicked out altogether. The UN has seen some clown performances in its time (eg Gaddafi and the like) but Jaafari is bringing a whole new level of sinister nonsense and inappropriate behavior to the place.

#133 Ghufran

Fence-sitters will always find quotes from the rebel side to justify remaining on the fence. There is no way to stop that. As Israelis will forever be able to find people who speak about “throwing all Jews in the sea” to justify remaining silent about the need to find a just solution for the Israel/Palestinian conflict.

On the other hand, fence-sitters can look for the positives if they choose to truly contribute. For example, the NCC (National Coordination Committee) has been very consistent in saying and doing the things that these fence-sitters would want to hear and see, but I have yet to see the fence-sitters do anything to support/empower/rally behind these guys. The NCC in general, and Haitham Mannaa specifically, has gone to the extreme in voicing these issues that they even alienated many in the opposition and international community. Still, instead of supporting them, the soft-backers of the regime either remained silent or opening endorsed their arrest and imprisonment.

My point is that the opposition today comes in all shades, from the extreme crazy Jihadis to the opposition figures who are actively involved in the Syrian government. This is a good place for a compromise and a settlement to be reached. On the other side, regime supports (hard and soft) are all of one color, and it is black and white to them (Either Assad or a fight to the end) – at least in public. Unless this changes, no settlement is possible. Today you find many voices among the opposition willing to take on the radicals (even fighting them on the ground). I have yet to hear a single voice within the regime willing to take on Assad. These voices are either killed, imprisoned (Khayer), or forced to exile (Mohammad Habash).

We all agree that the Jihadi network in Syria needs to be dismantled, but the fascist network, represented by the regime and its security apparatus, need to come down as well for a new Syria to emerge. Once voices from within the regime emerge (forcefully or by intentionally loosening the grip on them), then a settlement among Syrians is possible.

Several weeks ago, the Saudi king issued a decree to condemn to death any Saudi citizen going to fight in Syria. What did that stop? Nothing! Why? Because the core of the problem is NOT the Saudis going to fight in Syria. For over 60 years, the Israelis have been hoping that ‘terrorism will stop” if they fight it hard enough. For 13 years the Americans have been saying that “terrorism” in Afghanistan will stop if they fight it hard enough. While fighting terrorism is indeed a useful tool (I wish the Syrian Army heads to Raqqa and fight Daesh), it is never a full-stop solution.

#133 Ghufran

Fence-sitters will always find quotes from the rebel side to justify remaining on the fence. There is no way to stop that. As Israelis will forever be able to find people who speak about “throwing all Jews in the sea” to justify remaining silent about the need to find a just solution for the Israel/Palestinian conflict.

On the other hand, fence-sitters can look for the positives if they choose to truly find a solution to the crisis. For example, the NCC (National Coordination Committee) has been very consistent in saying and doing the things that these fence-sitters would want to hear and see, but I have yet to see the fence-sitters do anything to support/empower/rally behind these guys. The NCC in general, and Haitham Mannaa specifically, has gone to the extreme in voicing these issues that they even alienated many in the opposition and international community. Still, instead of supporting them, the soft-backers of the regime either remained silent or opening endorsed their arrest and imprisonment.

My point is that the opposition today comes in all shades, from the extreme crazy Jihadis to the opposition figures who are actively involved in the Syrian government. This is a good place for a compromise and a settlement to be reached. On the other side, regime supports (hard and soft) are all of one color, and it is black and white to them (Either Assad or a fight to the end) – at least in public. Unless this changes, no settlement is possible. Today you find many voices among the opposition willing to take on the radicals (even fighting them on the ground). I have yet to hear a single voice within the regime willing to take on Assad. These voices are either killed, imprisoned (Khayer), or forced to exile (Mohammad Habash).

We all agree that the Jihadi network in Syria needs to be dismantled, but the fascist network, represented by the regime and its security apparatus, need to come down as well for a new Syria to emerge. Once voices from within the regime emerge (forcefully or by intentionally loosening the grip on them), then a settlement among Syrians is possible.

Let me offer and example. Several weeks ago, the Saudi king issued a decree to condemn to death any Saudi citizen going to fight in Syria. What did that stop? Nothing! Why? Because the core of the problem is NOT the Saudis going to fight in Syria. For over 60 years, the Israelis have been hoping that ‘terrorism will stop” if they fight it hard enough. For 13 years the Americans have been saying that “terrorism” in Afghanistan will stop if they fight it hard enough. While fighting terrorism is indeed a useful tool (I wish the Syrian Army heads to Raqqa and fight Daesh), it is never a full-stop solution.

#135 SL

I read a quote once that “good leaders always look in the mirror when things go bad, and look through a glass window when things go well”. We cannot expect a rotten corrupt brutal leadership (Assad, Jaafari, etc.) to ever look in the mirror. This rotten system, along with all its members, needs to come down if Syria is to ever rise again from its wounds.

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http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=ru&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fnstarikov.ru%2Fclub%2F38556
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http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/18870?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+StratRisks+%28StratRisks%29
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http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article38241.htm

http://northerntruthseeker.blogspot.com/2014/04/the-upcoming-war-on-syria-new-report.html

I was in London last week and came across the European edition of Time Magazine.
The front cover reads
Christians and Tyrants.
It is an article about the decision of ME Christians to side with Tyrants fearful of an Islamist win in elections or in wars.

Here is the title of the article as I found it on line
“Christians in the middle east find themselves at a crossroads in a region rocked by war and revolution”

The conclusion of one Christian in the ME was stark and glaring at the end of the article:

WOULD JESUS HAVE SUPPORTED ANY OF THE TYRANTS OPPRESSING THEIR PEOPLE TODAY OR WOULD HE SUPPORT THE CRY FOR FREEDOM AND JUSTICE AND DIGNITY ?

So for the insider closet Shabih on this forum, WWJD is more apt than ever.

Now another indication there is less money coming from Iran or more expense to keep the war going:
Increase in gasoline prices. So the minister of Oil says: If you can afford to have a car then you can pay 120 pounds for the liter.
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=ar/Article/view/38559

Now, the dollar is 170 to the pound so 120 is about 80 cents to the liter or 4$ to the gallon. This in a country that has a collapse of the economy and therefore to be able to drive it is going to be a hardship.

Long live the black market. As the oil is in the hands of the rebels perhaps they will make more money as well.

He he he he he.

Observer,

Can you please link or fully post the Christians and tyrants article. I can’t access it.

https://twitter.com/RamiAlLolah/status/456067763333636098“>jarba met with one of our new overlords.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlRHNuNCIAA5BVK.jpg

SyriansRISE_UP @SyriansRISE_UP ·3h
Assad and Nasrallah`s recent boasting of victories is to address the current state of panic of their supporters

https://twitter.com/SyriansRISE_UP/status/456443793005244416

Kou Kou!
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=ru&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fmeganovosti.net%2Fnews%2F2848836-full.html

Tel Aviv Reveals Murder of Head of Technological Intelligence Department in WB
General Barokh Mezraahi, served the army intelligence for 25 years, working in the eavesdropping unit at the Palestinian borders with Lebanon and Syria.
The Israeli media considered that the murder operation is so professional and needs a great logistic help, adding that identifying the real murderers is a very hard procedure.

syrian trap
http://youtu.be/4XJJm023YQI?t=1s
@@@@

https://twitter.com/HaraldDoornbos/status/456504473016217601

Harald Doornbos ‏@HaraldDoornbos ·3 hrs
This pic circulating on facebook is pretty hilarious: “The new candidates for president of the Syrian Arab Republic” pic.twitter.com/V0TKA9p7o0

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

Vandy ‏@Vandaliser ·3 hrs
I like the look of candidate number 8. can someone tell me how is policies differ from bashar? #Syria

Aboud Dandachi ‏@AboudDandachi ·3 hrs
Instead of president forever, he promises to rule just for the duration of his life

Watch as Putin grinds and winds Russia’s economy and society backwards.

After McDonalds pulled out of the Crimea (apparently for security reasons), there is now a “patriotic” anti-American campaign whipped up by one of Russia’s cowboy politicians calling for McDonalds to quit Russia.

(http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2014/04/16/how-mcdonalds-went-from-hero-to-zero-in-russia/?wpisrc=nl%5Feve)

Comment from one reader of the above story:

“I’ve lived in Russia. McDonalds taught a generation of Russians some basic principles of customer service, restaurant management and cleanliness, development of supply chains, and quality control that were missing in the old Soviet state. They made a profit there but their footprint was much larger than that. If there is a real taste for going back to the old Soviet ways, then it will be an eventual loss to the Russian public. Much of the Russian population has no experience with the mid 1990s-late 1990s. They will learn with Putin’s heavy direction.”

It was the print edition Tara and I tried to go on the time website european edition but was not able to get it. You may try Time web site and then add european edition and then search under Christians and narrow to the March April months.

I will try.

By the way your post of a simple question got 7 down thumbs. Mindless shabiha at work

I found it

http://time.com/57168/christians-and-tyrants/

Burhan Ghalioun is angry and has declared that the NC hit a wall and can not be trusted to lead:
ما تناهى إلى مسامعي عن أول اجتماعٍ للهيئة السياسية الجديدة لائتلاف قوى الثورة والمعارضة السورية، والتي انبثقت عن انتخابات السادس من إبريل/ نيسان الجاري في اسطنبول، يقضي على أي أملٍ بالإصلاح، ويضع الأمور في طريق مسدود. لم يرفض “قادة” الائتلاف الجدد الدوام في مكاتبهم، والتفرغ للقيام بواجباتهم، فحسب، وإنما رفضوا، أيضاً، القبول بالتعاون مع الهيئة الاستشارية، ولا يزالون يصرون على أنهم قادرون، في أوقات الفراغ، على قيادة ثورة شعبٍ كامل، يخوض صراعاً دموياً، لم يشهد شعب في التاريخ نظيره.
Hopeful,
Let us remember who prevented manna3 and his friends from attending Geneva 1 and 2 before we ask why the NCC is not at the table. I said that before: expats should only play a supportive role and they must allow Syrians inside Syria to lead.

Rankous rebels withdrew to Zabadani and Bloudan where locals are now trying to arrange for a cease fire that spares the two towns any further destruction, however one of the rebels may not have made it according to a fresh report, his name is Ammar Baloush who started his thawrajiyyeh life by murdering two fellow students inside Damascus university:
عمار بالوش أقدم في 27 كانون الأول / ديسمبر 2011 ، وهو طالب في كلية الهندسة الطبية بجامعة دمشق ، على إطلاق النار على زملائه في قاعة المحاضرة فقتل اثنان وأصاب آخرين بجروح ، قبل أن يولي هاربا, حيث أكدت الانباء حينها أنه التجأ الى رنكوس

Sohr poll, readers expect rebel’s to lose Homs :

هل تتمكن المعارضة المسلحة من منع النظام وحزب الله من السيطرة على حمص بشكل كامل بعد الحملة العسكرية الاخيرة على المدينة ؟
نعم – 27.6%
لا – 72.4%

72.4% rebels will not be able to stop the regime and hizbullah from controlling Homs
27.6% rebels will be able to stop the regime and hizbullah from controlling Homs

عزير
It is important to understand that evil has a thousand guises. Sometimes disguised by goodwill and good intentions are hiding the darkest and destructive manifestations of our lives. do not want to talk about the possible global shocks – should warn about what the consequences Lunar Eclipse may have for you and your loved ones. Take care.

This is from RT today

Putin on Kiev op: ‘Tanks, jets against own people?! Are they nuts?!’

Well well he seems to think it is rational in Syria.

Observer,

Thanks observer. You’re one if the reason I am still hanging on to SC. I lost taste to SC. Joshua is biased. ( sorry Joshua, I still love you ). I am doing a real work now. And I never felt as much fulfilled.

Too bad, Ammar Baloush was killed in Rankous.

I would love to see him to be put on trial for his hideous, cold-blooded murder.

He was hailed as a hero by the opposition after he committed the murder.

That single incident alone has cost considerable support for the opposition and its “revolution”.

A Sunni professor in a private college received death threats after he refused to join the “revolution”.

An Alawit woman with a civil state institution saw her Facebook comments containing stuff like “we are coming to cut your head off”. She had to register another account with a pseudonym.

For more than three years, all we heard from the opposition have been accusations and threats.

And the opposition are still mad at fence sitters.

Up to today, we can confidently declare the opposition have lost their “revolution”. To my dismay, the country is not heading to brighter future.

#159 Apple_mini

So you must now relate to the Israelis who’ve claimed, over the past sixty years, that it was the Palestinian terrorism, failure to have a unified leadership, fanaticism, and violence, that have led to the inability to find a settlement to the Palestinian and Israeli problem.

I personally do not believe that. The Palestinians do have all of the problems above, but none of these issues is the real reason why there is no settlement yet.

The Syrian “opposition’ did not lose the “revolution” (they did not start it to begin with). The revolution is a transition from one system to another. This transition has been bloody and destructive, thanks to a regime that is holding on to the old system. We all know that there is no return to the old system. The question is how much more damage and pain everyone needs to incur before the transition is over.

BTW – I am not “mad” at the fence sitters. My feeling towards them is a combination of sadness, sorrow and disappointment. I am, however, mad as hell at Assad and his regime for missing out on a historical opportunity to peacefully transition Syria into the modern world’s system, and choosing instead to create the worst humanitarian disaster in human history. If this is NOT failed leadership, I do not know what is!

157. OBSERVER
whether there are in Kiev hundreds of thousands armed thugs from eighty five countries via four neighbouring countries came to fight for petrodollar benefits with direct support of utmost amount of the secret services of the entire western and Atlantic Alliance ???

Explain to us please! Why the Muslim Brotherhood first throw their military wing in politics (ie war first as doctrine repeated)? Can you explain this?

https://scontent-a-ams.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/t1.0-9/10246427_301007443390941_584639334235744884_n.jpg

This is for those arguing that the regime is viable alternative and that this revolution is “dead”.

As Pierre Frank, French Trotskyist, once wrote : “Let us note that the greatest theoreticians of Marxism did not at all define the political nature of a bourgeois regime by the positions which the latter held in the field of foreign policy but solely and simply by the position it occupied in relation to the classes composing the nation”.

The roots of the revolutionary process are the absence of democracy and increasing social injustice as a result of neoliberal policies, especially as implemented to a high degree with the arrival to power of Bashar Al Assad in 2010.

The advent of Hafez Al Assad to power had marked a new era in Syria whereby independent popular organizations from trade unions to professional associations and civic associations came under the regime’s authority after harsh repression. Professional unions of doctors, lawyers, engineers and pharmacists were dissolved in 1980. They were the main organizations previously leading the struggle for the return of democratic freedoms and the lifting of the emergency rule. They were re-established but their leaders were replaced by state appointees.

In the school system, the regime targeted principally leftist teachers from different tendencies in the 1970s onwards, simultaneously allowing religious fundamentalist currents to develop. Independent intellectuals, such as Michel Kilo and Wadi Iskandar, and university teachers, including Rif’at Sioufi and Asef Shahine, critical of the régime, were also the targets of the regime.

No immunity was granted to university campuses, neither to teachers nor students. Security agencies could actually arrest students inside lecture halls and/or on campus and they did.

In a similar manner the regime imposed its domination on the bureaucracy of the trade union workers, and this is what hindered the labour struggle against neo-liberal policies pursued by the authoritarian regime since 2000, which has allowed the decline in the standard of living of the majority of the people, as well as political répression.

These were the main causes which launched the wave of protests, causes that in these years revolved around the economy. For example, in May, 2006, hundreds of workers protested outside the public construction company in Damascus and clashed with security forces, and at the same time that taxi drivers were going on strike in Aleppo.

More recently, the trade unions as an institution have been completely silent in the face of the repression of the Syrian people, and more specifically against the workers, even when the latter were the target of repression. Successful campaigns for general strikes and civil disobedience in Syria during December 2011 nevertheless paralysed large parts of the country, indicating a level of activism on the part of the working class and the exploited, who are indeed the heart of the Syrian revolution.

Repression also included all political parties that refused to submit to the diktat of Hafez Al Assad and the obligation to enter the umbrella of the National Progressive Front, where they had no right to any political activity except under the approval of the régime. These parties suffered from harsh repression ever since his advent to power, and not only at the hands of the Muslim Brotherhood. In the beginning of the seventies, various secular political parties, especially any with leftist tendencies were the targets of the regime, including the movement of February 23 (the radical tendency of the Baath close to Salah Jadid), the League of Communist Action (Rabita al amal al shuyu’i) whose members came mostly from the Alawi sect, and to a lesser extent the Communist Party Political Bureau (CPPB) of Ryad Turk. The National Assembly, so-called for including various leftist parties, was also severely repressed at the beginning of the 80s.

This trend has continued into the 2000s with the coming to pwoer of Bashar Al Assad. An opposition movement gathering of intellectuals, artists, writers, scholars and even politicians who demanded reforms and democratization of the state between 2000 to 2006 was brutally repressed by the various wings of the security apparatus. This was accompanied also by the opening up of debate forums, and, between 2004 and 2006, by a multiplicity of sit-ins, a new political phenomenon in Syria. Calls for sit-ins came from political parties and civil organizations at one and the same time. The government of Bashar Al Assad cracked down on this movement, forums were actually closed, sit-ins were severely repressed and many intellectuals who launched this call for civil society and democratization were imprisoned. At the same time, the Kurdish Intifada of 2004 was severely crushed.

Syrian society came increasingly under the control of the regime in all its various components. The Baath Party was the only political organization which had the right to organize events, lectures and public demonstrations on the campus of a university or military barracks, or the right to publish and distribute a newspaper. Even the political parties allied to the regime in the National Progressive Front, did not have the right to organize, to issue statements or to have the slightest official presence. The Baath also controlled an array of corporatist associations through which various societal sectors were brought under regime tutelage. They were called popular organizations and set their sights on incorporating peasants, youth and women.

http://www.opendemocracy.net/arab-awakening/joseph-daher/roots-and-grassroots-of-syrian-revolution-part-1-of-4

All four pieces by Joseph Daher are worth reading as they dispel every Assadist lie and exposes the fallacies apologist keep spreading as nothing more but cheap propaganda

Chicago! stand up!
The whole world is looking at you!
http://youtu.be/OM4bHxKUKVs?t=1s

Those vulture 1% who are backing the devastation of MENA region, are picking apart Syria, Iraq and the other Arab Spring carcasses
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8f5_1397688607

Is U.S. Media Coverage of Ukraine and Syria Even Worse than Its Coverage of Iraq? Unprecedented Propaganda Blitz

Over the last year, we’ve documented that – despite all of the mea culpas for horrible Iraq coverage – the U.S. media’s coverage of Ukraine and Syria is just as biased, superficial and pro-war.

Former Associated Press and Newsweek reporter Robert Parry – who broke several of the biggest stories regarding Iran-Contra, and recipient of the George Polk Award for National Reporting in 1984 – writes of U.S. media coverage of the conflict in Ukraine is even worse than Iraq…….
http://www.globalresearch.ca/is-u-s-media-coverage-of-ukraine-and-syria-even-worse-than-its-coverage-of-iraq-unprecedented-propaganda-blitz/5378114?utm_source=feedly&utm_reader=feedly&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=is-u-s-media-coverage-of-ukraine-and-syria-even-worse-than-its-coverage-of-iraq-unprecedented-propaganda-blitz

Chicago go ahead !!!

http://www.globalresearch.ca/obama-and-nato-escalate-the-anti-russian-campaign-over-the-ukraine/5378144

Ford: Russia will soon face more Chechens who have acquired skills in Syria!
He threatened a diplomatic way!!!
https://twitter.com/AlMayadeenNews/status/456850279573356544
http://youtu.be/CbZCTU7hM6k?t=1s
Chicago go ahead !!!

بسام الخوري
2 hours ago ·
بمناسبة الجمعة العظيمة أريد ان أذكر اخوتي المسيحيين المؤيدين لبشار بعذابات المعتقلين السوريين في سجون حبيبكم بشار الذين يعذبون حتى الموت فارجو ان تتذكروهم هذا اليوم وأن يصحى ضميركم قليلا

‎بسام الخوري‎ shared a photo.
1 hour ago ·
الصورة التي اخذت المرتبة الاولى بعدد التعليقات وتسببت بالغاء الكثير من الاصدقاء المسيحيين لصداقتي مع انو والله ما حكيت شي غلط ههههههههه
كتبت في 16 ابريل نيسان 2012 ما يلي
العالم كله صرعونا بآلام المسيح …بشرفكم آلام أي معتقل ألا تعادل عشرة أضعاف ما تعرض له المسيح …عذابه لم يتجاوز 24 ساعة …كم سوط على ظهره …حملوه صليب بضعة مئات الأمتار …ثلاث بسامير بالأطراف …وبالنهاية عسكري روماني شفق عليه وطعنه ليسلم الروح ….قسما بالله خلاني بشار الأسد وجلاديه اكفر بالعبري ….والشاطر يلي عم يتبكوك على المسيح وفيروز لبست الأسود ومزقت ثيابها …من يحب المسيح يقول كلمة حق لهذا الطاغية …بأقبية النظام يمثلون كل يوم 1000 جمعة آلام تفوق فيلم ميل جيبسون آلام المسيح

Was that a “russian” made/designed ultra-mobile laptop in front of putin… don’t think so.

However, these Russian firms get my respect and admiration any moment, market competition is good for every innovative company

Yandex: Search engines
Kaspersky Lab: smart, get hackers and make them virus fighters, brilliant.
ABBYY: text recognition was revolutionized with these nerds.
Rosnano: wow, a venture capitalist for innovation
Rosatom: going from nukes to nuclear (or as my fav guy would say nucular) medicine.
M2M Telematics: the alternative to US dominance of GPS signals.
Mikron: dirt cheep scannable chips for smart cards.
Lukoil: clean energy and carbon sequestering tech… thinking of the future big time.

Hahahaha.

This is great stuff.

Bouthaina “Botox” Shaaban (Assad representative and the ugliest woman in the world) has just tripped and triggered some very embarrassing statements from Iran.

In response to suggestions in some Assad-friendly media that the regime would not have survived this long without Iran and Hizbollah she reportedly hissed:

“This is unacceptable. Syria has resisted with its people who have so far given more than a quarter of a million martyrs,”

When her remarks attracted media attention, Bouthaina Shabaan clumsily denied her statement.

But damage to the myth of the regime “fighting against terrorism” was done. Read on …

Article: “Denial does not alter the truth that Iran helped Assad regime to survive”:

EXCERPT

“Shortly after Mr Al Assad’s adviser dismissed the statement, Iran’s Revolutionary Guard air force chief said: “The Assad regime did not fall because Iran did not want that.” This announcement not only confirmed that the Syrian regime has survived because of Iran’s total support, but also that Hizbollah’s intervention was ordered by Iran.

“Let’s face it – what is happening today in Syria is a war between the Syrian people, and Iran and its agents. The Syrian army’s role has become marginal to a large extent. The regime’s troops have lost thousands of their men in the battle and can no longer afford to lose more.

“This is why, the writer continued, the army mostly provides air and artillery cover and leaves the efforts to regain rebel-held areas to Hizbollah troops and Iranian-trained fighters coming from outside. Syria, as it stands, is practically occupied by Iran and its agents.

“In the same vein, Abdulrahman Al Rashid argued in the London-based daily Asharq Al Awsat that had Iran not taken a strategic decision to rescue the Assad regime, it would not have made it to the year 2013.

“This explains the ecstasy and bragging of Iranian military leaders, namely the air force chief who boasted that it was Iran that saved the Assad regime. This is also what prompted the Hizbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah to say during an interview with the Lebanese newspaper Al Safir that the mistake was not intervening in Syria, the mistake was rather intervening late.

“Albeit true, the statements from allies were an insult and an embarrassment to Mr Al Assad and his troops. Hence Ms Shaaban’s statement that the credit for the victory goes to Mr Al Assad’s army, not to Iran or Hizbollah.

“The Syrian regime has reportedly imposed restrictions on Iran-affiliated television personnel to ensure they did not attribute victories to Iran and its proxies. Some reports even suggested that the Syrian regime planned the killing of journalists from Hizbollah’s Al Manar broadcaster, who were covering the events in Maaloula without the government’s permission.”

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/denial-does-not-alter-the-truth-that-iran-helped-assad-regime-to-survive#ixzz2zBWlj287

PS The article above also makes a conclusion worth quoting:

“Despite celebrations of victories in Damascus, Tehran, Moscow and Hizbollah’s strongholds in Lebanon, the Assad regime must know that such victories are temporary and that the end will be different because the facts on the ground are more important than short-lived outcomes of battles.

“First, Mr Al Assad’s forces and allies’ militias control only one-third of Syria. If they continue the war across the rest of the country, they would be further exhausted. And even pro-Assad foreign militias will not be able to withstand the long-running war of attrition.

“Second, the facts on the ground have changed and the regime-people relationship has been shattered. The Syrian army that is under the president’s command has greatly shrunk in numbers as a result of defections and losses during the three-year conflict.

“Moreover, President Al Assad, his forces and allies represent a small sectarian minority in control of a large majority, about 70 per cent of Sunnis. Syrians now no longer buy the Baathist propaganda that it is a nonsectarian government. This fight will last until the regime falls, despite support from Iran and its militias..”

(From “Denial does not alter the truth that Iran helped Assad regime to survive”)

SAMI, thank you very much for that excellent read and lead to related articles in #164.

Clear facts. Shining through the thick fog of toxic fumes the Assad regime farts out.

#173 SL

I second that. Excellent read. Thank you Sami.

” …who argue that Assad is a lesser evil to the Jihadists. In fact we should oppose both, because they nurture each other and are both seeking to establish an authoritarian system.”

Let’s see if the fence-sitters will agree with this basic premise. No to an authoritarian system means say no to Assad and no to the jihadis.

One sign of change: regime soft backers are shocked that the Assad regime is using the old methods of organizing school students to go out on demonstrations supporting his election. They thought that after all that’s been done, that the regime would indeed change. Little that they knew: this dog does not hunt!

170- HAMSTER
Russian Academy of Sciences designed computers the ability of 1 quadrillion process / sec

Uzair ! your dream is false!
http://youtu.be/d3UjsMSbfDo?t=1s
@@@

Turkey funded “Sultan Murat Brigade” target Armenian majority neighborhood with heavy mortars

There is a new clip posted on livelead today. The rebels committed another horrific animal act in village of Qmenas, Idlib.

The pictures are extremely graphic and gory. Strongest view discretion has been given.

You do not see that kind of stuff everyday, or ever. Unless you are reconstructing a scene from history when all humans were barbarians.

How low can inhumanity go? How much can evil turn a human into a monster? How can a human be devoid of any human decency?

Islam is like the zombie ant fungus which turns ants into zombie ants. In the same way, those Islamists have nothing related to human under their skin except their human husks.

An array of anti-tank missiles were fired against the Syrian Arab army over the past two weeks by Harakat Hazm, an Islamist group created by NATO in January 2014. Apparently, hundreds of BGM-71 TOW have been delivered via Turkey to these mercenaries, as part of the secret war orchestrated by Washington.
http://www.voltairenet.org/article183295.html

http://youtu.be/QsRKI8InDsU?t=1s

http://youtu.be/ihVszNrz6dQ?t=1s

It turns out that Bandar was ousted under US pressure.

Bandar had been the most vocal and effective military supporter and supplier for the rebels. You can call him the person who defined the battleground on the rebel side.

Yet, he was still expendable and disposable. If even Bandar got that kind of disheartening treatment and calamitous end, who else in the opposition figure could end up better than Bandar?

What can we expect? Does anyone believe an intractable puppet can still be put on stage?

After Bandar has gone, who’s next?

Syria: As the bombs fall, the people of Damascus rally round Bashar al-Assad
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10770311/Syria-As-the-bombs-fall-the-people-of-Damascus-rally-round-Bashar-al-Assad.html

Alan said:
‘As the bombs fall, the people of Damascus rally round Bashar al-Assad’

With barrel bombs being dropped everywhere the safest place would be beside Assad, the least likely place they’d drop barrel bombs.

#176 Alan

I’m heartbroken. The Zionists have shown their true face, the mask has slipped, they’ve thrown their full support behind Assad. They’ve removed the prince to inflict a blow on the revolution but they’ll fail. The rev will double its efforts and win. We’ll do it for the prince.

181. ALAN said:

‘Syria: As the bombs fall, the people of Damascus rally round Bashar al-Assad’

The people are wise, they know that with barrel bombs being dropped everywhere the safest, the least likely place they’d be dropped would be beside Assad.

So the gruesome and Brutal murder of Soldiers that happen to be Alawaites is a massacre but the same thing happening to hundreds of civilians who happen to be Sunni is hardly one.

Disgusting.

APPLE_MINI in #180 appears to make one of the most confused statements I have read on this forum.

Translated, it reads:

The religion Islam = Islamists = ISIS = rebels

Quote: “Islam is like the zombie ant fungus which turns ants into zombie ants. In the same way, those Islamists [committing animal acts against ordinary Syrian villagers] have nothing related to human under their skin except their human husks.”

I would like to let APPLE_MINI know that 99.9999% of the world’s Muslims have nothing in common with and no connection with the extremists infesting Syria. Nor do almost all Syrians fighting Assad.

In fact, all Muslims around the world, and even more so ALL Syrians are the unfortunate victims of those verminous predatory “holy warriors”.

Those lunatics and criminals are insulting and defaming Islam by claiming bizarre made-up versions to justify their sick behavior.

And they are preying on and cruelly victimizing the people of Syria as they make the Assad-wrecked country their fantasy playground.

Unless Little Apple can mentally comprehend and sort that out, it is impossible for LA to constructively and rationally discuss Syria.

Here’s another highly significant fact the Little Apples of this world need to accept:

“… Iran’s Revolutionary Guard air force chief said: “The Assad regime did not fall because Iran did not want that.” This announcement not only confirmed that the Syrian regime has survived because of Iran’s total support, but also that Hizbollah’s intervention was ordered by Iran.

“Let’s face it – what is happening today in Syria is a war between the Syrian people, and Iran and its agents. The Syrian army’s role has become marginal to a large extent. The regime’s troops have lost thousands of their men in the battle and can no longer afford to lose more.

“This is why, the writer continued, the army mostly provides air and artillery cover and leaves the efforts to regain rebel-held areas to Hizbollah troops and Iranian-trained fighters coming from outside. Syria, as it stands, is practically occupied by Iran and its agents.”

(http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/denial-does-not-alter-the-truth-that-iran-helped-assad-regime-to-survive#ixzz2zBWlj287)

COMMENT: If only there was a way to leave the jihadists and Iranian/Hezbollah militia (protecting the cowardly Assad regime)to slog it out to the death so Syrians could get on with reclaiming rebuilding the country.

Neither group has any legitimate reason or purpose for being on Syrian soil, let alone wrecking the country and terrorizing and murdering Syrians – which is what both are solely engaged in doing.

#186 Syrialover

I agree SL.

For someone who constantly claimed to be the “protector” of Syria’s sovereignty and independence, Assad has turned Syria into a playground for foreign and local terrorists of all kinds to roam around. He is at worst a pathetic criminal lier who does not give a sh** about Syrian’s sovereignty, or at best a miserable failed leader who’s turned his once-proud country into a swamp of foreign fighters and mercenaries.

And still, some people want him to stay in power and do more damage! Go figure!

Conclusion- /And still, some people want him to stay in power/

It’s time for the United States to take antipyretic medication!

Fisk has a new follower:

Syria: As the bombs fall, the people of Damascus rally round Bashar al-Assad
The West may oppose Assad’s regime, but on the streets of the capital the people fear a greater evil

By Peter Oborne

“Nevertheless, I do think the words of my shopkeeper friend are worth pondering. If the insurgents who killed his mother win the war, there will be no Christian churches in Syria any more (just as there aren’t in Saudi Arabia at the moment). Life will be similarly terrible for many of the ordinary Muslims who make up the great majority of the population.

“There are no “good guys” in Syria’s civil war. But we should not be blind to the fact that there is a project out there to destroy its rich, pluralist and unbelievably intricate culture and replace it with a monochrome version of Wahhabi Islam, of the kind favoured by Saudi mullahs. And for reasons that history may come to judge very severely, Britain, the United States, and the West have been aiding and abetting this project. ”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/10770311/Syria-As-the-bombs-fall-the-people-of-Damascus-rally-round-Bashar-al-Assad.html

HAPPY easter
I would like to offer you my warmest regards on this bright holiday. Christ always warms you in good deeds.
Let’s join forces in the name of creative works in ending wars and conflicts for whatever reasons there may be, wherever they may occur, and help deliver peace to humanity.

Some tweets to put on amplifier and play when closet shabiha do their ugly act:

# Assad isn’t fighting US, NATO, Israel, Gulf States or al-Qaeda but killing Syrians & destroying Syria for seeking freedom from his regime.

# Assad is fighting these “foreign terrorists” but Hezbollah, Iranian, Iraqi & Russian gangs were born & bred in Syria?

(source: https://twitter.com/RevolutionSyria)

ALAN, did you send your nice message in #190 to those “leaders” in Damascus, Moscow and Tehran who need it more than the rest of current humanity put together? I hope so.

JUERGEN $189,

Sickening. That writer is ignorantly and callously kicking the people of Syria in the guts, as if they didn’t exist or matter.

Why? Look under his desk and you’ll find a closet shabiha gripping him tightly on his private parts.

I know it’s not nice, but it would be appropriate if some local London jihadists gave him a taste of the alien terror and shock Syrians are suffering.

Then we could say to him, oh that’s too bad but only to be expected because there are no “good guys” in London.

#193 Syrialover,

So after a journalist wrote what he had seen and what he had heard, you find it is sickening.

And you would not hesitate to call in a Jihadist to give the writer a special “treatment”.

Isn’t this terrorism and Fascism? Isn’t this what the opposition have been trying to convince us they are fighting against, even the price would be the whole nation and millions of Syrians?

APPLE_MINI so you AGREE with and SUPPORT the closet shabiha line that there are no good guys fighting in Syria? (#194)

Agree that the only players and options are Assad or extreme jihadists – both of whom have a fair and just chance of winning, according to that version. With Assad the lesser evil.

It’s sickening when a smart-ass western journalist who has no stake in Syria makes that ignorant and distorted Assad-propagandist statement.(see #189)

That’s sensationalising and glorifying both terrorism and fascism in one stupid hit.

But it’s even worse when someone who has some connection with and knowledge of Syria endorses it. That’s a person with zero respect, care or belief in the people of Syria and their country.

(You are right, the journalist was sure to be writing what he had “heard”. Rather than do any basic research or follow the subject properly, he sat back lazily and took notes from some closet Assadist with a grip on his private parts – #193).

192-SL
I already did for all! my favorite Moscows regularly read SC!
http://youtu.be/Z-O_WzDoiKQ?t=1s
@@@

189. JUERGEN
Thank you for your post.

http://nsnbc.me/2014/04/20/bombing-of-syrian-red-crescent-convoy-implicates-nato-in-war-crimes/

Dear moderator!

Gives the impression that this blog boycotted! where is the number of people who participated before?

wherein you were wrong?

Dr. Faisal Al-Qassem:

List of candidates for the presidential election of the Arab Republic of Syria:

-Baschar Assad
-Dr. Baschar Assad
-Dr. Baschar Hafiz Assad
– Field General Baschar Hafiz Assad
– Field General Dr. Baschar Hafiz Assad
– Field General of the Army and Commander of the armed troops Baschar Hafiz Assad

-General Secretary of the Socialist Arabic Baath Party , the Comrade Baschar Assad

Shall I continue writing?!!

المرشحون لرئاسة الجمهورية العربية السورية:
– بشار الأسد
– الدكتور بشار الأسد
– الدكتور بشار حافظ الأسد
– الفريق الركن بشار حافظ الأسد
– الفريق الدكتور بشار حافظ الأسد
– الفريق الدكتور القائد العام للجيش والقوات المسلحة بشار حافظ الأسد
– الأمين القطري لحزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي الرفيق بشار حافظ الأسد
بيكفي هدول المرشحين ولا كمل؟!!

SL

Oborne is not keen on Syria to my knowledge, I believe that Syria nowadays only issues you a press visa if the story is basically prewritten prior to the “organized” trip by the regime. I really get sick reading such articles, especially when someone like Oborne gets such an easy target for the regime propaganda. His tone is quite stupid, when he realizes that no security was seen near his hotel, I must assume either he is quite naive or this was his first trip to Assad-Syria.

189+201 JUERGEN
/ I really get sick reading such articles, especially when someone like Oborne gets such an easy target for the regime propaganda./

You are posting this article refers to the man and the link! You are posting this propaganda!!! And A TOW DAYS AFTER reversed it? What does this mean?
It you have symptoms of heat and cold In the brain at the same time!

ALAN
your Russia will be bankrupt making weapons and drones. Mine will be a competitive economy making decent living for its citizens. Key is get putin out.

As for the academy of sciences, design is meaningless, the key is commercialization.

هامستر
A basic principle of modern Western system of government , which for some reason they are called ” democracy ” , although the system of government, such as the EU or the U.S. is a power of financial oligarchs , multiplied by thoroughly corrupt bureaucracy and corrupt politicians – is that Home life should not take part in direct political control.

In the modern West , in general, engage in politics multibillionaire disdain . But exceptions are perceived more as a personal eccentricity of a representative super-rich family.

A lieutenant colonel retired and hundreds of Germans turn to Putin
http://www.silviacattori.net/article5528.html
Dear Mr. President , with our modest means ordinary citizens , we intend to do everything possible to ensure that the planned division of Europe does not take place, and to the contrary , the ideas of Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz found a new life and vigor.

We are convinced that if only the states and peoples of the Eurasian continent twice could settle their affairs in peace with each other , respectfully , cooperatively , on the basis of law and without external interference, their agreement could only communicate in rest of the world . We see you , from this point of view, an ally. For your mandate this and , hopefully , for the next , we wish you strength, endurance and wisdom.

With our deep respect,

This political and media deception must stop …. it is intolerable , unbearable …
Syria : Journalists mainstream media should have the courage to admit that they have deceived the public
http://www.silviacattori.net/article5529.html

A lieutenant colonel retired and hundreds of Germans turn to Putin
http://www.silviacattori.net/article5528.html

Mai Skaff, a Syrian actress hailed as a hero by thawrajiyyeh makes a U-turn according to her Facebook page, which has not been declared as hacked to my knowledge. The lady who was arrested by regime forces on more than one occasion was very harsh in her criticism of those who appointed themselves as leaders of the ” revolution”:
 على نحو مفاجئ ودون مقدمات، تراجعت الفنانة السورية مي سكاف عن موقفها المعارض وتبرأت من الثورة السورية التي دافعت عن مواقفها منذ اليوم الأول وحتى يوم أمس
. وقالت على صحفتها في الفيس بوك: لا تستغربون كلامي… فقد بلغ السيل الزبا.. من صفحتي الرسمية والوحيدة أؤكد أنني أخطأت عندما وقفت في صفوف ثورة مزيفة لا تحمل للشعب السوري إلا العداء.. ثورة يقودها لصوص وتجار مخدرات.. يتطلعون إلى مصالحهم الشخصية على حساب مصلحة سورية وشعبها.. بعد أكثر من ثلاث سنوات؟”.
وتساءلت: ماذا حملت تلك الثورة سوى الخراب والدمار؟ القتل والموت لشعب كان يتغنى بالأمان الذي يعيشه على مدار سنوات؟. وأضافت: أتبرأ من هذه الثورة البغيضة… أتبرأ ممن يقبض بالدولار ليبيع بلده… أتبرأ ممن يحمل لواء الإسلام بشعارات عدائية جهادية أعادت البلد إلى العصور الحجرية.. نعم سأعود إلى بلدي… سأعود إلى حضنها… ونادمة كل الندم على كل لحظة قضيتها في الدفاع عن الفورة… إنها فورة وليست ثورة ولا تحمل أية مبادئ ثورية.. دمتم بخير وعاشت سورية.

another crack in the GCC, this time it comes from Oman’s FM:
Yusef Bin Alawi said that his counry’s relations with Iran are due to history, he also asked :Why it is OK for Chechnyans to fight in Syria but not for Iranians ?
اعتبر وزير الخارجية العماني يوسف بن علوي أن “العلاقة الوثيقة التي تربط بلاده بطهران تعود إلى التاريخ”.رفض بن علوي أن تكون مساندة ايران للنظام السوري مشاركة في القتل بالمعنى الذي يتردد، فهي تشارك في أزمة، في حرب أهلية فيها جهات خارجية كثيرة”، متسائلاً “لماذا يجوز للشيشانيين أن يدخلوا ويقاتلوا في سوريا ولا يجوز لإيران”.
Alawi said that Syria is witnessing a civil war with many outside participants.

this seems to signal towards good news:

Negotiations ongoing for Italian Jesuit’s release in Syria

(ANSA) – Beirut, April 21 – Negotiations have been ongoing at various levels in Syria and outside the country for the liberation of Father Paolo Dall’Oglio, an Italian Jesuit priest who went missing in the north of the country in July, for several months, ANSA sources said Monday. The sources close to the negotiations, who asked to remain anonymous, said that “there was comforting news about Dall’Oglio being alive” two weeks ago.

i was talking to a journo and she said the 4 french journalists recently released is a good sign because italy is always willing to pay, referencing father paolo. not every country is willing to negotiate for ransom. i asked her if US was one of those countries unwilling to negotiate. she wasn’t sure.

isn’t that crazy? imagine having a family member abducted abroad and US unwilling to cooperate to win their release.

206. SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

As for the academy of sciences, design is meaningless, the key is commercialization.

Well Syrian Hamster during Putin’s rule the Russian economy has developed fast. After that legendary drunk Boris Jeltsin, who was loved by the West, Russian economy was in chaos and much of the properties were in hands of oligarchs. During Putin’s first seven years Russian economy did grow rapidly (with >7 percent YEARLY).
See the chart.

By the way
RUSSIA $17,884 (2013) (PPP)
UKRAINE $7,400 (PPP, 2013)
Hmmmmm ……

You are terrible in your propaganda making efforts. Well hamsters have a brain which weights about 1.4 gram, so maybe I am to demanding when wanting better quality propaganda.

I admire Mai Skaff for her courage and sensibility. If most of members of the opposition were on par with Mai Skaff, this ugly and hideous war would have been over by now.

I hope Mai Skaff would be watching her back from now on since that kind of statement has definitely stirred up the hornet’s nest in the “opposition”. And we have seen how many times a public figure who spoke out to criticize the opposition being silenced, while as always the opposition would go on blaming the regime behind those murders.

Saudi Arabia’s Prince Al-Waleed’s Boeing 747.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/Blxxpj2CUAIkIVR.jpg

211. Ghufran said: Mai Skaff, a Syrian actress hailed as a hero by thawrajiyyeh makes a U-turn according to her Facebook page

for argument sake, let’s pretend she wasn’t coerced to issue such statement. does the word of one person trump 10 million syrians displaced and made homeless by the regime?

what of layla awad? is she less noteworthy than mai skaff? how is layla doing in prison?

A friend, who is not necessarily an opposition supporter but is not a regime’s sympathizer either, said something to me yesterday that made me think:

“Never in history did we see a government/regime drop bombs on its own citizens and destroy its own cities”. I did some research and he is right. What Assad is doing to Syria is unprecedented. Only foreign occupiers deserve this honorable mention.

The other Jihadists that apologists like to ignore or pretend they don’t exists:

مقاتل عراقي: ’حزب الله كذب علينا بشأن الدفاع عن المقدسات بسوريا‘
http://al-shorfa.com/ar/articles/meii/features/2014/04/18/feature-01?change_locale=true

حزب الله يغرّر بالشباب اللبناني للمشاركة في الحرب بسوريا
http://al-shorfa.com/ar/articles/meii/features/2014/04/21/feature-01

Both pieces expose the lies and fallacies HA proclaims in doing and exposes them to be a sinister organization willing to deceive and lie to the people they pretend to “protect” in order to further the cause of Iran.

I caught Prof. Landis on BBC Radio 5 last night about 2.20am talking about the upcoming so-called ‘elections’.

Listen from 1:19

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0418mjg

Btw, just before Pr. Landis was on, an American guest, former special assistant and speech writer for Pr. Reagan was talking about the Ukraine situation.

He talked about how Putin has privately been joking about Obama and his red line (Syria) and doesn’t take Obama seriously, seeing him as weak.

Obama made some mistakes on Syria for which we are seeing consequences now (Ukraine, Putin’s/Russian behaviour).

It could be that the US will decide to make some move on Syria to restore lost authority/respect and ake up for the ‘errors’.

Hopeful,

I’m predicting Bashar al-Assad will win the election by a huge margin. You heard it here first.

202. ALAN said:
Dear moderator!
Gives the impression that this blog boycotted! where is the number of people who participated before?
wherein you were wrong?

Alan, are your comments the product of Google Translate?

dear moderator!
I just wanted to draw attention to the monotony of the comments section! Is your answer substantive? Are you looking for the reasons for a particular purpose?

Probably i will stop the participation here! maybe it will be convenient to others!

No, not Google translate.

Alan genuinely is a combination of Elmo and Yoda. Don’t leave Alan. You’re far too much fun!

226. UZAIR8
I was actually enjoy jokes with you! ! You are a good Pakistani person, but an astray British . I excuse you.
http://journal-neo.org/2014/04/22/setting-the-stage-for-war-with-pakistan/

So ALAN (#224) feels alone and outnumbered on SyriaComment. But a bit of history might give a very different perspective.

ALAN is mourning the loss of the recent era here where Assadist propagandists ZOO and REVENIRE and Co often occupied 70% of this comments forum (by number of posts – probably more if measured in length through cut-pastes). They posted relentlessly for months, day in day out, around the clock.

Their efforts (and their various different posting identities and associates) just about destroyed this forum in the last couple of years.

Quality long-term participants quit in droves and haven’t returned. This forum has been going since 2006, but from 2012 the level of debate and range and standard of contributors was diluted by pro-regime propagandists, and finally crashed dramatically as they overran it.

REVENIRE & ZOO and their various team mates and different identities were allowed to roam free and do damage for a long time before they were finally (too late) banned by the moderator for offensive and threatening posts (REVENIRE) and posting under multiple identities (ZOO).

ALAN might feel he’s struggling with a too-big burden carrying the Assadist/Russian message here now with so little assistance. But he is fighting in the ruins of a greatly reduced field. His former team members wrecked this forum for everyone.

I suggest ALAN go back and study the archives. He’d be greatly comforted to be reminded how much his “side” dominated things here earlier.

It was a case of “Assad or we burn SyriaComment”. And they did – exploiting the tolerant, open door policy here, recognizing this forum as an easy propagandists paradise.

HOPEFUL #218 I have made that point here from the day Assad started burning Syria. It is unprecedented in world history for a so-called sovereign government to do this to its own population and country.

And the extent of human loss, infrastructure destruction, and shocking long-term damage Syrians have suffered per capita would be hard to match by that inflicted on any country by any outside enemy anywhere else in history.

This is all being lost in the current exhaustion and propaganda fog. But history will treat the actions of the Assad regime as a very sick and shameful landmark in human experience.

The army has taken Jib Al-Jandali in Homs according to SOHR and other sources:
محافظة حمص – المرصد السوري لحقوق الإنسان: :استعادت القوات النظامية مدعمة بقوات الدفاع الوطني وكتائب البعث السيطرة على حي جب الجندلي بشكل كامل وذلك عقب اشتباكات عنيفة مع مقاتلي الكتائب الاسلامية والكتائب المقاتلة
In Aleppo, the attack on Jawiyyeh and other major security and army compounds failed and rebels in Latakia north are on the defense.
In summary, rebels are not doing well now but that can change if there is no progress on the political front, supporters of the regime and the rebels alike can keep this war raging for another 5-10 years until there is not much to fight about.
Assad’s plan to “run” for another term as president is a step in the wrong direction and it gives more weight to those who say that Assad and his cronies are ready to burn Syria to stay in power even over a destroyed country. Assad wants a decisive military win so he can draft a solution on his terms, my fear is that without a regime change at the top and an inclusive government this war is not likely to end any time soon.
On the issue of destruction, I am not willing to take the rebels and their supporters off the hook despite the fact that most of the destruction is caused by massive fire power, especially from the air, that was used by the regime. rebels lack resources but they do not lack the intention to kill and destroy, they have shown on numerous occasions that they have little problem killing civilians and destroying civilian targets and infrastructure, they just happen not to have access to jet fighters and enough tanks, however, they are firing mortar bombs and Grad missiles daily on many cities around Syria killing civilians and spreading terror. Rebels also CHOSE to hide in civilian areas exposing innocent residents to the wrath of a regime that was KNOWN to be brutal, it is as if rebels wanted the destruction to happen so they can use it to look less destructive in the eyes of the world !!

228. SYRIALOVER
Traditional Bla Bla!
Dear moderator! I actually made a valuable advice! It is unreasonable to have the comments section, composed of a single color! Except if that was your goal !

Alan
you’s so funny. CCCP is gone… russia nowadays is the heaven of predatory oligarch…Even with all of its capitalists, the us would like a socialist country in comparison with the mafia controlled oligarchy in russia.

omg that explains so much!

Alan, are your comments the product of Google Translate?

here i thought alan was just adorably quirky.

re 211. & 215.

look Apple_mini, another syrian forced to confess just to appease your guilty conscience.

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/BlIqovnCUAA43aW.jpg

how considerate of the regime to torture people in consideration of their supporters’ confidence.

feel better yet? does this affirm the righteousness of your cause?

230. ghufran

countless examples of regime targeting civilians with nary a rebel in sight. breadlines, souqs, vegetable markets, schools, hospitals, doctors were/are specifically targeted. yarmouk was still pounded after all the fighters left.

there is no excuse valid enough to justify this.

203. Juergen

I heard Bashar al-Wahsh is also considering throwing his hat in the ring in this late hour. A possible dark horse according to the bookies.

Bombing heavily populated areas is inexcusable but in this war both parties showed a criminal disregard for civilian lives, the difference is in the scale not the intent. Give rebels more tanks and few jet fighters and see what they will do, for this insanity to stop the war needs to come to and end, that is not possible until the big players sit down and agree on a cease fire and unite to achieve common goals, it is hard to see a scenario where this happens any time soon especially when the rebels are dominated by competing terrorist groups and Assad remains at the top, the west clearly prefers to watch Assad fight those groups so they, western countries, do not have to deal with Islamist rebels. In the process Syria is getting destroyed and Syrians become a nation of refugees or refugees in the making.

# 237 Ghufran

“that is not possible until the big players sit down and agree on a cease fire and unite to achieve common goals”

The big players already agreed on two common goals: 1) no military victory by either side, and 2) Syrians must decide among themselves what a political settlement should be like….

The problem is that it is the Syrians who cannot seem to find a path forward. The main obstacle is the insistence that one person is more important than the entire country. A path can be easily attainable. For example, Assad can appoint a strong man to head the army, transfer all his political authority to Farouq Al-Sharaa, and step aside. This will put Syria on the path of recovery and reconciliation. Assad could have done that more than 2 years ago and saved Syria from the death and construction it faced.

His refusal to do this, or an equivalent solution, leads me to believe that he is either in it for himself (and his mafia), or that he still lives in his bubble land. Either way, this is not good news for Syria, as the war will either continue for years to come, or will turn into another long-term Middle-Eastern problem, not unlike the Israeli-Palestinian problem or the Kurds problem.

Uzair

Its a cynic game, but what else should we expect? About 10 million Syrians are displaced and exiled, the second largest city is in great parts not ruled by the regime, the northeast is in the hands of the Kurds. In any democratic state an election would be obsolete, but apparently the results are already in the drawers.

Here is a video of the eye doctor showing his compassion for the destruction of Maaloula. I was in both monasteries many times, the St. Thekla was never my favorite, I think due to the fact that the sisters there never heard about smiling and laughter. Later I learned that Assads mother makes every year great distributions to the monastery. The Sergius and Bacchus monastery was a jewel, once a temple in pre-Christian time, due to the oval altar we know that the church goes back to the early 3rd century. I hope that the rare icons were saved from the destruction.

On the Syrian election:

“Syria scholar Joshua Landis… said the announcement of the election given the current circumstance is almost ironic.

“We used to laugh at (Syrian) elections won by 99 percent,” said Landis. “Today, you just have to cry. It would be laughable, if it weren’t so tragic.”

(http://www.voanews.com/content/syria-holding-june-3-presidential-vote/1897573.html)

But there is still plenty of mockery and laughter at the bad joke of Bashar Assad’s fake Syrian election:

“Assad planning rubble to rubble campaign across Syria”

http://www.panarabiaenquirer.com/wordpress/assad-planning-rubble-rubble-campaign-across-syria-ahead-june-elections/

It is difficult to fathom the collective mentality of Assad and the regime. Isn’t a postponement of the election which would still allow them enjoy de facto power and benefits better than this insidious and scathing election while buildings are still burning in Damascus and Homs?

It is just as stupid and cruel as his public speeches in 2011 when he categorically and conveniently called everyone protesting him and the regime terrorist.

While SAA and NDF are making gains, Assad and the regime must show efforts to conciliate the whole nation. Fail to do so will bring more rifts and suffer to Syria and her people.

In the end, Assad and his goons will pay for their reprehensible and moronic decision and arrogance.

St. Anania’s Chapel, Damascus

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

Syrias state tv just stated that:

Mahir Abd al-Hafis Hadschdschar is the choosen opposition candidate for the presidential elections.
He has a 0,000001 % chance of winning the elections in Syria.

This “parliament” member is hardly known by anybody. I bet he has written the most daring epic lovepoem for the historic reelection of Phoenix Bashar al Assad…

#242 Apple_mini

I appreciate your voice of reason. Assad and his regime are incapable of reforms. It is unfortunatel that the opposition has not been able to give you and others a credible alternative yet.

Realistically speaking, is it the least worst option?

Why the Middle East Matters – a keynote speech by Tony Blair

Syria. This is an unmitigated disaster. We are now in a position where both Assad staying and the Opposition taking over seem bad options. The former is responsible for creating this situation. But the truth is that there are so many fissures and problems around elements within the Opposition that people are rightly wary now of any solution that is an outright victory for either side. Repugnant though it may seem, the only way forward is to conclude the best agreement possible even if it means in the interim President Assad stays for a period. Should even this not be acceptable to him, we should consider active measures to help the Opposition and force him to the negotiating table, including no fly zones whilst making it clear that the extremist groups should receive no support from any of the surrounding nations.

‘No government in the world kills its people, unless it’s led by a crazy person’: Syria’s Assad – interview on US television December 2011

Bashar’s future plea to the war crimes court: not guilty on the grounds of mental illness?

I would love to find out what Mjabali thinks of this intriguing article about the Alawi faith and sect

http://www.all4syria.info/Archive/140043?wpmp_tp=4

Hopeful,
I disagree, press conferences do not matter today, big players on both sides seem to enjoy this bloody dance at the expense of Syrians. Little pressure was applied on the forces that keep this war raging. Assad is happy to see Russia and the USA go back to a new cold war because that serves his attempts to stay in power, the latest display of this new reality is the ” reelection” of Assad which takes the political track back to the pre 2011 era.
The key is the army which has been losing young men since april of 2011 and is seen as the savior by some and as the big evil by others. as long as the war is taking the form of a sectarian fight and as long as minorities have no partners they will choose the existing regime because rebels and their supporters have been pushing for a “winner takes all” approach since July 2012 or before. The boneheads of the opposition failed to give potential sympathizers anything but hostile and empty rhetoric and showed a great deal of political ignorance and confusion which made them irrelevant (to the benefit of militant armed groups).

242. apple_mini

are there two apple_minis? what i miss?

awful awful

regime took out a vegetable market in aleppo.

https://twitter.com/TahrirSy

245. Hopeful said: #242 Apple_mini I appreciate your voice of reason. Assad and his regime are incapable of reforms. It is unfortunate that the opposition has not been able to give you and others a credible alternative yet.

are you blaming the opposition for the regime remaining? how is that fair? the opposition could consist of 10 million mother teresas but the regime would still be implacable and would still continue to mow people down.

and the undecideds and loyalists stuck in neutral would continue to be immobilized by fear.

discounting the opposition as unworthy of any support doesn’t sound very hopeful.

in fact, blaming the opposition excuses the fearful from admitting their own responsibility for lacking the courage to withdraw support for the regime.

it doesn’t make sense on one hand acknowledge the regime is irredeemable and then turn around & blame the opposition for the regime remaining.

the regime is to judged on its own merits. the regime’s blame belongs to the regime alone.

the regime must go no matter what. no matter the faults and weaknesses of the opposition.

to continue the fault the opposition for everything only strengthens the grip of vicious paralysis.

credible alternative

opposition successes of self organization & rebuilding are given little credit. here is but one example out of several:

In Idlib’s southern countryside, a small village of roughly 8,000 residents provides an example of successful local governance.

Great comment Omen! Excellent!

SubhanAllah!

MashaAllah!

SYRIA LOVER
The word is not crazy…. A bastard SOB is the right word to describe this abomination.

On a second thought, he ain’t a bastard. Apparently he is the abominable crap coming from an abominable father.

245. Hopeful

that said, i do appreciate apple’s seemingly new appraisal of the junta. i know you were being supportive of that.

i wonder what brought on this new willingness to fault the regime.

242. apple_mini said: It is just as stupid and cruel as his public speeches in 2011 when he categorically and conveniently called everyone protesting him and the regime terrorist. …
In the end, Assad and his goons will pay for their reprehensible and moronic decision and arrogance.

“i wonder what brought on this new willingness to fault the regime”

Perhaps this report sheds some light:

If Assad Wins War, Challenge From His Own Sect May Follow

By ANNE BARNARD, Damascus
The NY Times

Are the Desert Falcons part of the Syrian Arab Army or a paramilitary?