From http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-homs-frontline-baba-amr

….
Afterwards one of the Free Army fighters showed me a video he had taken in December. A dozen men in Syrian army uniform were lined up facing a wall. They arms were raised; one turns to the camera looking petrified. Some were still bleeding. Despite their army uniforms, he said their ID cards showed they were Shabiha, or “ghosts”, the hated government paramilitary force.

“We killed them,” he told me.

“You killed your prisoners?”

“Yes, of course, that is the policy for Shabiha.”

I checked with an officer. While soldiers were released, he said, members of the Shabiha were executed after a hearing before a panel of Free Syrian Army military judges. To explain, they showed me film taken from the mobile phone of a captured Shabiha. Prisoners lay face down on the ground, hands tied behind their backs. One by one, their heads were cut off. The man wielding the knife said, tauntingly, to the first: “This for freedom.” As his victim’s neck opened, he went on: “This is for our martyrs. And this is for collaborating with Israel.”

In Homs, after we left, there were reports from human rights activists that the Shabiha, going house to house, had murdered three families, men, women and children. To most of the Free Syrian Army fighters, “executing” the Shabiha seems only just.

Turkey miscaculations
ألقاب مملكة في غير موضعها كالهرِّ يحكي انتفاخاً صولة الأسد” ـ أبو البقاء الرندي/ شاعر أندلسي
لؤي توفيق حسن

لعل أشد ما ينطبق على السيد رجب طيب أردوغان المثل الشعبي الرائج: “من يخلعْ ثيابه يُصِبْهُ البَرْد”. لكن المتتبع سيكتشف بأن أردوغان فعلها منذ أيام (أستاذه) نجم الدين أربكان الذي أدرك بعمق بصيرته مع رؤيته الإسلامية الراسخة أن مستقبل تركيا هو بالاستدارة إلى شرقها. والكف عن التملق للغرب الذي لن يقبلها إلا خفيرا في الحلف الأطلسي يتلقى الضربة الأولى. ونقول “خفيرا”! انطلاقاً من رأي الخبراء العسكريين حيث وجدوا بأن نوعية السلاح التي بيد الجيش التركي لا تتناسب وحجمه الضخم ـ الثاني في التعداد ـ. وهو بقناعتهم مُعدٌّ لتلقي الصدمة الأولى، والإعاقة فقط. وذلك بالنظر للمستوى التقني الأدنى له قياساً لما في حوزة أعضاء الحلف الأوروبيين من أسلحة متطورة. ومن المؤكد قياساً بما لدى كيان العدو الصهيوني!. أما الأستاذ اربكان فقد كان كاشفاً لتلميذه من قبل حتى وصفه عام 2007: “تلميذ فاشل هرب من المدرسة من الباب الخلفي” ـ صحيفة ” الشرق الأوسط” عدد 1055ـ.

والحقيقة أن ما أسماه اربكان بالهروب كان انقلاباً من التلميذ على مبادئ حزبه: (الرفاه) الإسلامي. غير أننا الآن لسنا في وارد نبش التاريخ الذي ما زال غير بعيد. لكن ما يهمنا منه الآن أن أردوغان اعتقد منذ اللحظة الأولى بأن لا مستقبل لحزب “العدالة والتنمية” إلا بالتقاطع مع أمريكا!. وهذه مسألة معروفة وكان عرّابها “صديقه!” غراهام فولر مدير مكتب الـ CIA في أنقرة. إذ كان هذا الأخير صاحب نظرية تدعو إلى “إنهاء الأتاتوركية ودعم الإسلام المعتدل”! ليتم منه نشر “أفكار السوق الحرة” ثم لتعميم هذا على “كل بلدان الشرق الأوسط والقفقاس”!.

لكن أردوغان لم يقرأ جيداً إمكانيات الجغرافيا، وجديد الحاضر، حتى تخيل بأنه قادر أن يستعيد تاريخاً “للباب العالي” مضى وولّى!.

كان في البداية أكثر واقعية عندما حصر أفقه في إطار المنظومات الاقتصادية، من حيث تبادل المصالح والأدوار. فكانت اتفاقية التجارة الحرة مع سوريا. الاستثمار في الأسواق الحرة الداخلية السورية. السوق الحرة المشتركة مع إيران. التبادل التجاري بين البلدين بلغ رقماً قياسياً ـ 30 مليار دولارـ، مع تطلع لضم أذربيجان سريعا إلى السوق هذا كمقدمة لخطوة مماثلة مع روسيا. ومنها أيضاً المشاريع المشتركة مع هذه الأخيرة لضخ الغاز إلى شمال أوروبا عبر البلطيق فيما يسمى “التيار الأزرق”، ومؤخراً الاتفاقية لضخه إلى جنوبها ـ “السيل الجنوبي” ـ عبر المياه التركية في البحر الأسود.

والحقيقة ان ما فعله أردوغان جاء بناءً على توصيات الوثيقة التي وضعها مجلس الأمن القومي التركي والتي تعرف أيضا باسم “الكتاب الأحمر” أو “الدستور السري”، وقد جرى فيها لأول مرة شرح مسهب لمفهوم “ضمان الأمن الاقتصادي القومي”. وجاء فيها، أن أحد الاتجاهات المحورية لحل هذه المسألة يتمثل في تحويل تركيا الى مركز عالمي لمرور وتخزين موارد الطاقة

تجدر الإشارة إلى أنه من بين ما ورد في الوثيقة المذكورة رفع أسماء كل من سوريا وروسيا وايران واليونان من قائمة الدول التي تشكل “تهديداً للأمن القومي التركي”. وإذا علمنا بأن هذه الوثيقة قد جرى إصدارها في 28 كانون الأول/ ديسمبر 2010، وأنها تخضع للمراجعة كل خمس سنوات، لأدركنا سبب تذمر الجيش، والأجهزة الأمنية من أردوغان بسبب انقلابه على هذه الوثيقة. هذا بصرف النظر عن تداعياته لو سلك الأمر طريقه إلى التطبيق!.

قايض أردوغان على مكتسبات ملموسة مقابل سرابٍ باعه له الأمريكيون.. وعليه انضم إلى اللعبة موعوداً بترتيبات تُحَضَّر عربيا لخربطة الوضع السوري تضعه أمامه على طبق من فضة. ما أطلق لخياله العنان كي يصبح طبعة ( عصرية!) لسلاطين بني عثمان!.. لا شك بأنه وغول اقتنعا بأن القوس الممتد من تونس الى مصر وسوريا سيضع بالتواتر بلاد الخليج في (العباءة العثمانية الجديدة)، من باب (الثقل الاستراتيجي) الذي يعززه إمساكه بحاجاتها المائية يبيعها لها من سدوده المنتشرة جنوباً!.

لقد اقتنع الثنائي: غول ـ أردوغان بأن مجرد تبني أمريكا للمشروع فإن حظوظ نجاحه سترتفع!، كما وجاء من يقنعهما بأن روسيا لن تذهب في الوقوف مع سوريا إلى آخر الشوط وستكتفي (بجنة!) الاتفاقات النفطية مع تركيا. إذ لم يخطربمخيلة هذين بأن روسيا لا تبيع بالمفرق!. وأن التضحية بسوريا لا تعني وحسب تصفية آخر قواعدها في “المياه الدافئة” كما يتصور البعض؛ وإنما أيضاً تحطيم قاعدة السد الكبير في وجه التمدد الأمريكي إلى وسط آسيا الممتد من شرق المتوسط إلى إيران!. وهذا أيضا هو أشد ما يقلق الصين. فضلاً عن المس المباشر بالأمن القومي للجمهورية الإسلامية الإيرانية إلى الحد الذي جعلها تقفز فوق مصالحها الاقتصادية مع تركيا لتبعث برسائلها لهذه الأخيرة ومفادها بأنها لن تتردد في ضربها فيما لو ضربت سوريا.

[…]

Ehsani!
what a good job!
I truly believe the regime will last into the 2013 at least.
The losers in the war are the people who die young innocently. The winners for sure not any Syrian but the radicals and the retards!
The phony democracy is hijacked by the terrorists, MB, Israel and the pigs of GCC.
I don’t see Syria anywhere but to worse in the coming months if not years.
who will rebuild Syria? no one it is not Libya or Iraq.
it is a poor country my understanding that Syria budget is the size of medium US city budget at best.
Putting Syria decades behind is the goal here.
Assad built more mosques for the Sunni then he built schools in Syria, i guess it was his fault to give the MB a way in.
His dad was smarter i guess.

Speaking on behalf of the pro-regimers, I agree with Ehsani that (1) We think we can win. That means we think we can win any and all free and fair elections and the main thing we’re fighting for now is the ability to have those elections in a peaceful atmosphere. (2) We think we are virtuous and we are fighting an evil opposition (we think some of the opposition is respectable, not evil, but that part is inconsequential at the moment). One thing on which I differ with Ehsani’s comments above is where he focuses what I’ve just now said into an issue about “the leadership”. It is not about the leadership as such; the leadership is very responsive to public opinion and it will do whatever its millions of supporters want. For the leadership and for all its supporters including myself this conflict is about the society. The leadership acts on behalf a certain social Establishment. The conflict is about whether to evolve from the foundation established by the last 40 years of Assad rule, or to discard that foundation and make a leap into a largely unknown void that’s known to have evil elements in it. The known foundation is a good foundation.

39 dead soldiers and police men were buried today 11 feb 2012, of whom 16 were army conscripts. They were killed in Homs and Reef Damascus, and none from the Aleppo bombings are included, as I interpret http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/11/399781.htm . That’s the highest burial count in one day over this past year. I’m not disturbed, and in fact I’m kind of pleased because it’s as a sign the army is genuinely engaging in combat with the enemy, which is something that’s badly needed, as everyone on the pro-regime side has been saying. But I dislike seeing the relatively high number of conscripts among the dead. I believe there are enough professionals to do the dangerous attack work all by professionals, without conscripts. Here’s SANA’s record of burials of security forces in February so far:

11 feb 2012. 39 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 16 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/11/399781.htm

10 feb 2012 (Friday). No record. [No burials].

9 feb 2012. 8 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 3 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/09/399441.htm

8 feb 2012. 13 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 9 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/08/399246.htm

7 feb 2012. 30 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 9 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/07/399070.htm

6 feb 2012. 14 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 3 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/06/398839.htm

5 feb 2012. 3 dead soliders and police men were buried. No conscripts. sana.sy/eng/21/2012/02/05/398527.htm

4 feb 2012. 22 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 5 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/04/398394.htm

3 feb 2012 (Friday). 1 dead solider or police man was buried. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/03/398247.htm

2 feb 2012. 19 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 7 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/02/398119.htm

1 feb 2012. 8 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 5 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/01/397853.htm

39 dead soldiers and police men were buried today 11 feb 2012, of whom 16 were army conscripts. They were killed in Homs and Reef Damascus, and none from the Aleppo bombings are included, as I interpret http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/11/399781.htm . That’s the highest burial count in one day over this past year. I’m not disturbed, and in fact I’m kind of pleased because it’s as a sign the army is genuinely engaging in combat with the enemy, which is something that’s badly needed, as everyone on the pro-regime side has been saying. But I dislike seeing the relatively high number of conscripts among the dead. I believe there are enough professionals to do the dangerous attack work all by professionals, without conscripts. Here’s SANA’s record of burials of security forces in February so far:

11 feb 2012. 39 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 16 were conscripts.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/11/399781.htm
10 feb 2012 (Friday). No record. [No burials].
9 feb 2012. 8 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 3 were conscripts.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/09/399441.htm
8 feb 2012. 13 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 9 were conscripts.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/08/399246.htm
7 feb 2012. 30 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 9 were conscripts.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/07/399070.htm
6 feb 2012. 14 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 3 were conscripts.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/06/398839.htm
5 feb 2012. 3 dead soliders and police men were buried. No conscripts.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/02/05/398527.htm
4 feb 2012. 22 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 5 were conscripts.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/04/398394.htm
3 feb 2012 (Friday). 1 dead solider or police man was buried.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/03/398247.htm
2 feb 2012. 19 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 7 were conscripts.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/02/398119.htm
1 feb 2012. 8 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 5 were conscripts.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/01/397853.htm

http://www.france24.com/ar/20120211-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A7-%D8%A7%D8%AD%D8%AA%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AC%D8%A7%D8%AA-%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%86%D8%B8%D8%A7%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A-%D8%A8%D8%B4%D8%A7%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D8%B3%D8%AF-%D8%B1%D9%88%D8%A8%D8%B1%D8%AA-%D9%81%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%AF%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%81%D9%8A%D8%B1-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A3%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%8A%D9%83%D9%8A

Robert Ford speaking as if he is one of the regime people, he is talking about the armed groups, the destruction its effects on the Syrian grounds.
he is advocating the political solution to the situation, i thought Bashar has been being this all along weird, does he know to speak arabic well
He is not even saying that Bashar has to go!! weird, really weird, it is almost a blank check to destroy all these armed groups.

39 dead soldiers and police men were buried today 11 feb 2012, of whom 16 were army conscripts. They were killed in Homs and Reef Damascus, and none from the Aleppo bombings are included as I interpret http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/11/399781.htm . That’s the highest burial count in one day over this past year. I’m not disturbed, and in fact I’m kind of pleased because it’s as a sign the army is genuinely engaging in combat with the enemy, which is something that’s badly needed, as everyone on the pro-regime side has been saying. But I dislike seeing the many conscripts among the dead. I believe there are enough professionals to do the dangerous attack work all by professionals, without conscripts. On 7 feb 2012, 30 dead soliders and police men were buried, of whom 9 were conscripts. sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/07/399070.htm

HANS, above, gave a link to an interview of Robert Ford by France24 in Arabic language, dated today.

France24 also has an English language news article summarizing the interview at http://www.france24.com/en/20120211-military-intervention-syria-usa-ambassador-robert-ford-bashar-al-assad

Robert Ford, 11 Feb 2012: “The US position is that we reject any kind of military intervention in Syria, let’s be clear about that. We are striving for a peaceful political solution. Even the Syrian people do not want a military solution to this crisis. We believe Assad should step down, but at the end of the day the Syrian people will make the decision, not the US.”

“What is absolutely paramount is that the Arab League make a decision on what they want exactly and we are then going to see how we should deal with that decision,” he added.

This seems to be true:
A cease fire in Zabadani, and the army enters town without any further confrontation.

MB in Egypt wants to expel the Syrian Ambassador from Cairo.

He is to join his brethren in Syria, the other expelled diplomats from Tunis, Libya, and the GCC. I am hoping they establish a society or some kind of support group. I bet it helps…I fear they may get depressed otherwise…

Anybody who wants to explain the logic behind the assassination of dr Issa alkhouli in Damascus?
Brig General alkhouli was a Rheumatologist who is a relative of M.alkhouli, an ex intel chief.

67 killed by the murderous Syrian regime on Saturday.

Tara the 67 are killed by your terrorists not the regime stop the lies, even the CNN admits it.
the west started talking about the armed groups they created.
that’s who is killing the innocent in the streets of Syria.

Syrian tanks

The Russian Embassy’s School in Damascus has decided to close by the end of February. Students have been advised to return to Russia to continue their studies. Take from this what you will.

Hans #5

Here’s a non-weird report of former US Ambassador Ford’s comments on Syria. He’s very clear that Assad should go:

http://www.france24.com/en/20120211-military-intervention-syria-usa-ambassador-robert-ford-bashar-al-assad

And here’s Ford’s Facebook page showing satellite images of Government military operations in Homs:

https://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=10150545674871938

Trying to judge which side has commited worse crimes is trying to cheat reality. We know who commited more crimes in terms of human lifes, detentions and tortures. This is clear not only from 15.03.2011 but for last 40 years.

Coming back to the question of whose crimes are worse, let try to analyze bringing back worse accusations:

ASSAD REGIME CRIMES:

1- Torture of disidents (including children and women) even before 15.03.2011

2- Shooting at peace rallies by shabbiha, snipers from HA and Iran and forcing militars to kill or be killed from 15.03 onwards.

3- Massive detentions of political oppositors and demonstrators
(randomly some times) without judgment, followed by tortures to death in some cases.

4- Denying help to any person with injuries and sending to prison and eventually torture to hospital personel who accepted them in a hospital and to doctors who tried to heal them.

5- Closing and bombing whole towns, cutting power, communications of all kind, fuel and water. This chapter includes bombing hospitals.

CIVIL OPPOSITION CRIMES:

1- Asking the resignation of the President

ARMED OPPOSITION CRIMES:

1- Buying arms illegally for eventual self-defense against shabbiha attacks.

2- Receiveing arms from foreign actors to build an army to fight the regime back.

3- Killing all possible shabiha and moukhabaraat found in place.

4- Fighting against the official Assad army.

I think anyone who reads this lines and who has the minimum common sense can conclude who is the responsible for the mess in Syria. No more questions.

@ Ghufran: The logic behind the assassination of rheumatologist Dr Issa Alkhouli in Damascus is the logic of terrorism. Some types of terrorism are so crazy that they’ve given a bad name to terrorism as a logical strategy. But there is a logic to terrorism, or some types of it, if you think about it.

More on Zabadani:

ونقلت رويترز عن المعارض السوري في المنفى كمال اللبواني تأكيده أن دخول الجيش النظامي للمدينة الواقعة قرب الحدود مع لبنان، جاء بعد الاتفاق على وقف إطلاق النار مع الجيش السوري الحر.
وقال اللبواني إن الاتفاق الذي تم التوصل إليه بعد قصف بالدبابات والمدفعية استمر أسبوعا وخلف مائة قتيل على الأقل في البلدة التي يقطنها نحو 20 ألف شخص، يقضي بأن يعيد الجيش السوري الحر أسلحة ومدرعة استولى عليها من القوات السورية مع عدم ملاحقة أفراده.

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Find below a link with whole information about Zabadani agreement, and humanitarian crisis specially in Madaya after one week of bombings.

http://youkal.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=43336%3A2012-02-11-23-29-57&catid=54%3A2011-04-29-12-25-44&Itemid=126

Hans

Do you know who Um Kalthum is? I have not listened to her in the past. Her songs were …not my type. All the sudden I can’t get enough of her?

Any how do you know when are they going to vote on Syria in the General Assembly? I am afraid that Jaafari will be quoting Um Kalthum then..

13. HAYTHAM KHOURY said:

ZSU-23-4 SPAAG being utilized in urban operations. It seems in this case the rebels are short of RPGs and are relying on assault rifles. If so, they’re woefully outgunned.

Note the SPAAG is adorned with images of Assad.

Contrast this with the successful Iranian revolution in 1979, where it was the defecting troops that took with them their APCs and military trucks, adorned with images of the revolutionaries such as Khomeini.

I think Ehsani’s right. At this point in time, the Loyalists think they can win.

Just in case you are not cross-eyed yet:
قدم معارضون سوريون، قراءة ثالثة، لحقيقة التفجيرين اللذين وقعا أمس الجمعة في حلب بسوريا، ووجهوا اتهاما لجهات أمنية وصفوها بغير المنضبطة، وذكروا أنها فجرت الموقف في حلب، وهي تخطط لتفجيرات أخرى، للاستمرار في الحل الأمني، على حساب الحلول السلمية، وحل اقتصادي للأزمة ينادي به سوريون سيعقدون مؤتمرا لهم هذا الشهر في باريس.

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@ PIROUZ: I appreciate the Iranian reference points you bring. The same uploader also has a video of another SPAAG tank in Douma neighborhood Damascus on 8 feb 2012 spray-painted with the graffiti “Syria Al-Assad”:

Can somebody explain to me please why are Lebanese killing each other for Besho’s eyes? Can they get more retarded than that? Who live in Jabal Muhsen in Lebanon, supposedly pro-regime and who live in Bab al Tabaneh, supposedly anti-regime. Now seriously, are they stupid?

2 Lebanese died and 23 wounded for Bushbush today. What a pity.

Congradulations to every one who loves Syria

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Tara, your Revolution opened a Pandora’s box, if this crises does not end with the Syrian government winning it is going to be a lot more complicated and wide spread, enjoy,

Ghufran, Killing the Doctor remind me withe killing of DR Sayegh who was The medical school Endocrinologists ,

by the way , when are we going to see the new constitution,?

The surrender of more than 300 armed militiamen to the Syrian army in Homs:

“الحقيقة” تنفرد بمعلومات خاصة عن المواجهات التي دارت في حمص وضواحيها خلال الأيام الماضية

استسلام حوالي مئتي مسلح واعتقال أكثر من 300 بينهم فرنسيون وأفارقة وعراقيون، ومقتل المئات، وضبط أجهزة اتصال وقناصات في منتهى التطور

دمشق ، الحقيقة ( خاص من : مازن ابراهيم): كشفت معلومات خاصة ومؤكدة حصلت عليها “الحقيقة” من مصادر ميدانية في حمص أن المواجهات التي دارت في المدينة وضواحيها أنزلت ضربات قاصمة بالمسلحين الذين ينشطون تحت اسم ” كتيبة الفاروق”. وقالت هذه المصادر إن حوالي مئتي مسلح استسلموا دون مقاومة بعد أن شعروا بأن السلطة قررت “الحسم العسكري” في المدينة ، وأن الأمر لا رجعة عنه مهما كلف الأمر سياسيا وأمنيا. وجاء استسلام هؤلاء نتيجة لمداخلات أمنية و محلية تولت الاتصال بالمسلحين قبل بدء العملية يوم الإثنين الماضي. حيث جرى تقديم ضمانات لهم بأنهم ” لن يتعرضوا لأي أذى أو إهانات إذا ما قرروا الاستسلام دون مقاومة. ونتيجة لهذه الوساطات والاتصالات ، وافق حوالي مئتي مسلح منهم على تسليم أنفسهم مع عتادهم الكامل”. وكشف المصدر أن حوالي 350 مسلحا آخر جرى اعتقالهم بعد بدء تنفيذ العملية العسكرية ـ الأمنية المركّبة ، وبعد أن رفضوا الاستسلام طواعية ، بينما قتل أكثر من مئتي مسلح في الحد الأدنى. وقال المصدر” أنا أتحدث هنا عن المسلحين حصرا ، ولا أتحدث عن الخسائر الجانبية التي سقطت في أوساط المدنيين الأبرياء بسبب تحصن المسلحين في الأزقة والزواريب والبنايات والشقق السكنية بين المدنيين واتخاذهم دروعا بشرية رغما عنهم”. وفي هذا السياق، كشف شريط حصلت عليه قناة “روسيا اليوم” الإنكليزية عن إقدام المسلحين على إطلاق النار من بين البيوت الأمنة ، بينما المدنيون على بعد أمتار منهم . ( شاهد الشريط المنشور جانبا). وقال المصدر”إن ما تقوله بعض الجهات المعارضة المرتبطة بالمجلس الوطني السوري عن الضحايا محض أكاذيب وتضليل، فهم يسوقون أرقام الضحايا بشكل مجرد ، الأمر الذي يوحي للمستمع والمشاهد بأن من يقتلون عبارة عن متظاهرين أبرياء “. وأوضح بالقول “نحن لا ننفي سقوط أبرياء بين المدنين ، وقد سقط العشرات منهم فعلا . ولكن هؤلاء لم يسقطوا وهم يتظاهرون. لقد سقطوا في الأزقة والزواريب والأبنية التي يتحص فيها المسلحون الذين اتخذوا منهم دروعا بشرية”.

على الصعيد نفسه ، كشف المصدر عن جانب من الخطة العسكرية ـ الأمنية التي تتبعها السلطة في عملياتها العسكرية ـ الأمنية بحمص ، حيث أشار إلى أن العمليات تقوم على مبدأ ” استهداف نقطة معينة ، يتحصن فيها المسلحون، بالقصف المركز المدعوم بدبابات T72 التي جرى اللجوء إليها بعد اكتشاف وجود قواذف متطورة بحوذة المسلحين لا تستطيع المدرعات وناقلات الجنود مقاومتها. وبعد ذلك تقوم مجموعات مختارة من نخبة القوات الخاصة باقتحام النقطة المستهدفة من أجل الإجهاز على المسلحين واعتقال من بقي منهم على قيد الحياة أو أصيب بجروح، ثم الخروج من النقطة فورا وعدم البقاء فيها . وهكذا ..”. وأكد المصدر أن القوات الهاجمة ” استخدمت خلال الأيام الخمسة الماضية ما مجموعه 1200 قذيفة من مدافع الدبابات والهاونات” ، كاشفا أن الكثير من هذه القذائف “جرى نزع رؤوسه المتفجرة قبل استخدامه ، وأن الكثير منها عبارة قذائف صوتية. والهدف منها إرهاب المسلحين و جعلهم ينهارون عصبيا بسبب الخوف”.

[…]

http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6684/Default.aspx

Dear Ehsani
I value your opinion, and feel your frustration and desperation.
However comparing investing in stocks to the syrian crisis,which is best described as war,is not a good comparison, in stock you can cut your losses,and withdraw temporarily,this is a conservative approach, in war there is nothing that you call concervative, if you withdraw you end up dead,
It is apparant and most of the people in Syria agree and the opposition agree that the future is to support the FSA,and that the FSA is the power that has the only chance to overthrow this brutal regime, I think you agree that the demonstrations started peaceful,and up till now the majority are peaceful, ,FSA in Homs is DEFENDING the people, and not initiating the violence.FSA is not using tanks,artillary fire,and helicopters, it is the regime who is using these killing machines.
The more powerful the FSA becomes the more will join them,that is why I strongly support supplying the FSA with the best weapons to face the regime who depends only on Brutal killing oppression.
Let us not forget as Napoleon said, THE BEST DEFENCE IS OFFENCE.
Allah Souriah FSA wa bass.

This film shows life in Khaldiya and Bayada days before the shelling this week. It captures the plight of children, the resolve of the revolutionaries and the general state of the neighborhoods. These are the people that Bashar has to destroy in order to survive.

وثائقي طريق الموت – قناة العربية
http://youtu.be/VA3o2kBiA9c

Now that Homs is cleansed from the FSA terrorists, can these people come out and protest under the protection of Assad’s soldiers, as they like to call themselves? No, they will be under siege until the army has to go quell a different hot spot, then the FSA creeps back in and the cycle continues.

Notice how it all comes back to protests, people refusing to continue to submit to a tyrant and a corrupt police state. Homs was bombed because of protests, Hama and Daraa were invaded for the same reason. Most of the world think that what the Syrian people are doing in this film is admirable. Menhebaks think it’s a capital offense.

Dear Tara,

I couldn’t help replying to your comment about Um Kalthoum.
If she wasn’t your style and now you like her, is because you are in love. It has nothing to do with politics. If you need information about her I collected binder of her lyrics with composers and poets. She sang at the Opera de Paris for Charlles De Gaulle. She stood by Naser until the last minute although he is considered a dictator by many.

Let me understand when Shimon Peres quoted Nizar Kabbani on several occasions did not awaken sleepy beauty and the fact that Jafaree quoted him it wakened you with rage???

Ehsani, you raise a critical issue. Understanding the mentality of the Assad regime matters.

There were huge information and comprehension gaps distorting the decisions and actions taken by Gaddafi and Saddam Hussein. This will be no different.

Advice, data, reports etc fed into the Assad inner sanctum will be riddled with deception, errors and denial, the same as the stuff that has always come out of it.

Their agendas, crippling paranoia and idea of success would also make zero sense to most outsiders.

Jad ,why are you taking so easily obvious lies or the exaggerated stories” ,your favorite happens to be the truth of nayyouf.
History can not be stopped ,Syria’s main character is not going to change and you can not deny that the muslim brotherhoods will still be present and more influent than in 1970 after assad regime ends,those amongst the islamophobs or extremist shiites who see that their fate depends on the survival of a mafia regime are declaring themselves doomed.
In post Assad Syria ,how would you explain your today stance ?

30. SYRIALOVER

Great point. Someday we will see all kinds of crazy communiques and intelligence files from mukhabarat offices and the presidential palace. I read about 50 pages of reports that were taken from an intelligence bureau in Libya. It was fascinating.

For now we can see some information trickle out from the emails. Here’s an article that shows the government is paying the bills for the pro-Assad rallies, proof that they aren’t spontaneous. Menhenbaks in the west, please send your brethren a few bucks for t-shirts, banners and a sound system – you should be embarrassed that your government has to subsidize it’s own supporters.

http://www.ayyam.org/english/?p=219

I didn’t examine this site closely, but it doesn’t call itself Syria Truth which is always a good start.

Syria asked Libya and Tunisia to close their embassies in Damascus

Jad #27

The news of the capitulation of the rebels in Zabadani (elegantly reported by western media as “ceasefire” or a ‘truce” not to hurt the “sensitivity” of the opposition) will probably spread within the country. Many other rebels in Homs and Edlib, unless they still want to become martyrs, will think that it is probably better to return their weapons and go home. The oil on fire that the Western countries through the media and the money for more weapons the GCC is pouring may have less effect now that the rebels are realizing that neither NATO, nor Turkey, nor Qatar’s army, nor anyone will rescue them from the dead end they have reached militarily.

Are we going to see growing defections among the defectors?

33. Norman

The Syrian have also given 72 hours for the Tunisian ambassador in Syria to leave.

“…….pouring may have less effect now that the rebels are realizing that neither NATO, nor Turkey, nor Qatar’s army, nor anyone will rescue them from the dead end they have reached militarily….”

You made laugh tonight Bronco, I guess you do not want to offend the sensibility of the opposition as well. But I was under the impression a year ago that these paid mercenaries will face dead end more than just militarily, but politically and soon economically as well, when the payors gets it, IT DOES NOT WORK LIKE THAT IN SYRIA.

Can we help Syria without making things worse?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/can-we-help-syria-without-making-things-worse/2012/02/08/gIQAD6HJ4Q_story_1.html

…
Too often, U.S. policy has focused on removing the dictator and not on filling the void that his exit leaves behind. In Egypt, Hosni Mubarak is gone, but the military clings to power. In Iraq, civil war followed Hussein’s fall. The recent departure of Yemen’s President Ali Abdullah Saleh, a move the United States encouraged, has not brought stability to that country. Like Assad, all these dictators undermined their countries’ political and judicial institutions and tried to divide their opponents to stay in power. And with their departures, Iraq, Libya and Yemen all are at risk of becoming failed states.

So it is not enough for Assad to go — the key question is who replaces him. The Syrian opposition is divided by region, sect and political orientation, and the movement fears penetration by regime spies. It is not clear how much, or if, opposition groups outside the country, such as the Syrian National Council, speak for those bearing the brunt of Assad’s repression. One official representing part of the internal opposition told the Guardian newspaper that “the revolution has two arms” and lamented the division between “the people outside, who have no weight on the ground, and the people inside, who are actively leading.”
….
The United States also shouldn’t expect gratitude for turning against Assad. In Egypt, where U.S. pressure helped ease Mubarak out, a poll taken after the revolution shows that only a fifth of Egyptians have a favorable view of the United States
…
Whatever the United States decides to do, it won’t be about just Syria. It will be about Russia and Iran, too, countries that are already providing military support to Assad. In Libya, Gaddafi had no friends — his reckless foreign policy had alienated everyone. But in Syria, Western military intervention would only increase Moscow and Tehran’s attachment to Assad.
…
Building the opposition may be more important for Syria’s future and U.S. interests than a single-minded focus on removing Assad, who in the end is only a dishonest and brutal leader of an illegitimate and brutal regime.
{..}

Ambassador Ford

36. Aldendeshe

Since you consider yourself an authority on ‘HOW IT WORKS IN SYRIA’, please enlighten us.

42 reasons to dismiss Susan Rice’s rage
February 11, 2012 01:55 AM
By Rami G. Khouri
The Daily Star
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Feb-11/162875-42-reasons-to-dismiss-susan-rices-rage.ashx#axzz1m4jZ7Kc6
I chuckled softly to myself last week when I followed the news coverage of how angrily the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Susan Rice, condemned the Russian and Chinese vetoes of a Security Council resolution that sought to end the escalating conflict in Syria. The media emphasized that Rice was really, really angry, as only a righteous American ambassador can be when condemning moves by other great powers to use their veto to stop collective action by the council in the service of applying the rule of law.
..
The problem she has in being taken seriously is that the U.S. has used its veto power in the council 42 times since 1972 to kill resolutions seeking to affirm international law and stop assorted Israeli actions in the occupied Palestinian territories.
…
This is doubly tragic because at once it neutralizes the collective power of the Security Council to be a force for peace, security and stability, and it also reduces the capacity of the U.S. to do good and be taken seriously around the world. This leaves Washington in its current dilemma of finding that across the world many of its policies, and all of its anger, elicit mainly a soft and sad chuckle.
….
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Feb-11/162875-42-reasons-to-dismiss-susan-rices-rage.ashx#ixzz1m8VcthAO
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

Naaaaaaah…..Bring me a cashier check/Bank draft from top 20 World Banks to cover the 7 million operational cash SNP is short and I will tell ya how it works. Sorry for the crude reply, but I am firm on that.

FSA is now 40,000 says Davutoglu and that Homs is not Benghazi but Sarajevo

Turkey urges international help for Syria
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/turkey-urges-international-help-for-syria/2012/02/10/gIQAzxyQ4Q_story.html
…
Davutoglu, who is due to meet with Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton Monday, said that a fifth of the Syrian Army, up to 40,000 troops, has now defected to the opposition. Many have crossed the border into Turkey, where senior military defectors say they are directing the internal resistance, but Davutoglu said his government is not providing any military support.

Assad, he said, is “now fighting against his own people. This cannot be tolerated. We cannot wait and see like Sarajevo,” the Bosnian capital where Serbian forces rained artillery on civilians while the international community hesitated to intervene.
….
Davutoglu said that discussions were continuing on the details of how humanitarian supplies could be delivered to cities he said were suffering from a lack of food and medical goods without armed protection. “When I say access, it doesn’t always have to be a land corridor,” he said, suggesting that the answer might be initiatives by the International Red Cross or its partner Red Crescent organization.
….
Lavrov said he obtained a pledge to stop the violence, just as the shelling on Homs began.

“We told Russia that the same promises were given to us five times last year” during visits to Assad, Davutoglu said. “We hope Russia will make a new assessment” of cooperation with the international community, he said.
{..}

New UN resolution unlikely to change Russia and China’s minds on Syria
Published: 12 February, 2012, 00:07
http://rt.com/news/syria-un-resolution-russia-097/

A week after vetoes from Russia and China put an end to a UN resolution on Syria its supporters are coming back with another draft.

­Saudi Arabia, backed by the West and the majority of Arab countries, is hoping the document will be presented before the UN General Assembly, as opposed to the Security Council. Unlike the council, no country has the power of veto in the assembly, but its resolutions have no legal force.

Little in the text appears to have changed since the previous presentation. The resolution lays the blame for the Syrian violence, which has taken thousands of lives, at the door of President Bashar al-Assad. It also calls for him to step down before a transitional period to a democracy.

Early signs suggest that the new document will suffer the same fate as the previous one. Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Gennady Gatilov, has already dismissed the resolution as “the same unbalanced draft resolution text.”
­In an interview with RT, Sara Marusek, a researcher from Syracuse University, said the re-submission is “not unexpected.”

“It doesn’t seem like the West is ever willing to negotiate and compromise.”

“They are interested in regime change in Syria, and they will not stop until they deliver a different government that is more sympathetic to Western interests, which is quite naïve. Any new government will also not be sympathetic to US and Israeli aggression in the region.”
­{..}

“…..FSA is now 40,000 says Davutoglu and that Homs is not Benghazi but Sarajevo……….”

_____________________________

What a liar. I guess his is embaressed by the routing Assad handed him out. Even 40,000 could not win against Assad 10,000 hardcore and well equipped units, but Assad can put on the streets five time that with ease, after sending every Sunni in the army home for extended paid vacation.

Warda accuses Al Jazeera for bloodshed

Tunis- Nabil Zaghdod
http://www.arabstoday.net/en/2012021188797/warda-accuses-al-jazeera-for-bloodshed.html

Algerian singer Warda Al Jazairia assured that “Al jazeera” Qatari channel is responsible for killing thousands of Libyans and attempting to kill the maximum number of innocents in Syria through using the media as a mass destruction mean to instigate sedition and spreading lies.
“You have killed thousands of Libyans and you are still reaping many innocent Syrian lives while you will swear you have never carried a weapon. My answer is that you are the one who hold the most powerful weapon for mass destruction: the media. If you misuse the media, it will kill the sons of your Arabism,” said Warda addressing Al Jazeera’s staff in a message published by the Tunisian newspaper “Al Maghreb”.
The singer added: “If your masters are paid by oil, we are paid by the Arab blood because you are nothing but a toy in their dirty hands.”
“The more you lie, fabricate and kill in order to fulfill your masters’ plan, the more you get paid.”

Nocholas Noe- The Guardian: We can’t stop the bloodshed in Syria without talking to Assad
Even though the Assad regime is spreading great destruction now, it’s an incredibly weak player in the overall balance of power.
This is the link:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/feb/12/nicholas-noe-negotiate-assad-syria

Hamas ‘will never recognise Israel’: Gaza premier
AFP – 17 hrs ago
http://news.yahoo.com/hamas-never-recognise-israel-gaza-premier-says-081409922.html
Hamas “will never recognise Israel,” Gaza prime minister, Ismail Haniya, said Saturday in a speech in Iran that is likely to complicate Palestinian efforts to form a unity government in the teeth of opposition from the Jewish state.

“They want us to recognise the Israeli occupation and cease resistance but, as the representative of the Palestinan people and in the name of all the world’s freedom seekers, I am announcing from Azadi Square in Tehran that we will never recognise Israel,” Haniya said.

“The resistance will continue until all Palestinian land, including Al-Quds (Jerusalem), has been liberated and all the refugees have returned,” he said.

Haniya’s reiteration of Hamas’s long-held stance was made on the occasion of Iran’s commemoration of its 1979 Islamic revolution.
{…}

This report from BBC is a good read and it reflects a new understanding about the tragedy in Homs:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/11/syria-homs-frontline-baba-amr

“It is apparant and most of the people in Syria agree and the opposition agree that the future is to support the FSA”
That is an opinion,it is not a fact. Just saying.

 أعربت الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية وإيطاليا عن دعمهما جهود الجامعة العربية ونيّتها إرسال بعثة جديدة للمراقبين إلى سورية، حيث أكَّد وزير الخارجية الإيطالي، جوليو تيرزي، بعد لقاء مع وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية، هيلاري كلينتون، في واشنطن، على رغبة بلاده في مشاطرة الجامعة العربية عملها، في إرسال بعثة جديدة للمراقبين، ستكون أكبر عدداً، وأكثر وضوحاً، مؤكِّداً أنَّ هذه البعثة يمكن أن تدعمها مجموعة “أصدقاء الشعب السوري”، أو من الممكن أن تضمَّ الجامعة العربية ومجلس التعاون الخليجي والاتحاد الأوروبي في آن واحد..
بينما أعلن مجلس الدوما الروسي، على لسان رئيسه سيرغي ناريشكين، استعداده لتوجيه موفديه إلى سورية في مهمة المراقبة، ولكن عند الضرورة.
وكان الأمين العام المساعد لجامعة الدول العربية، أحمد بن حلي، أشار إلى أنَّ وزراء الخارجية العرب سيدرسون الأسبوع الحالي اقتراحاً بإيفاد بعثة مشتركة من الجامعة والأمم المتحدة إلى سورية، بعد فشل الفريق العربي في إنهاء العنف في البلاد.

[Link added by Moderator: http://www.baladnaonline.net/ar/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=59851&Itemid=55 ]
Anything that can help stop the blood shed must be welcomed by Syrians regardless of how they feel about the regime and the opposition.

A prime example of regime supporters and their ethics!

I am glad obama moves from one ditch to another and not intervening in syria probably is the best decision he ever made if the zionist lobby makes him change his policy expect few more thousands americans dead in the street of Syria and worse for no money, oil, or natural resources.
will see what the zionists are planning for the middle east and syria in specific with the help of the dirt bags GCC bigs and traitors and losers like SNC and et al.

52. Dear NK:
((A prime example of regime supporters and their ethics))

….., and a probable reason why a Dr., General boss of this, and other Assad controlled medical facilities could meet the same fate as this dead soldier!

There is no “deployed artillery” in Syria. The State Department Lies With Its Satellite Pictures Of Syria

/quote/
There is A note from Ambassador Ford on recent events in Syria which shows a satellite picture of Homs, Syria, titled “Security Operations Escalate in Homs” and “Bab Amr Neighborhood”. The picture was allegedly taken on February 6, 2012 though the copyright mark says “© 2011 Digital Globe”.

A deeper look at the ambassador picture reveals that it does not show what its labels say. In fact the picture shows only ambiguous stuff from the very border edge of Bab Amr not from within the city.

There are additionally satellite pictures at the State Department’s website allegedly showing “operational deployment” of Syrian artillery.

Analysis of the State Departments satellite pictures clearly shows that these pictures of artillery guns “operational deployed against XYZ” were all taken of guns training within military barracks or well known training areas and not in active deployment. There is so far no proof that any artillery has been deployed at all though it is known that mortars have been used by the rebel side. The State Department obviously knows what the pictures really show but is trying to use the lie of artillery deployment against the rebels as a pressure argument for military intervention.
…
/endquote/
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/02/lying-with-pictures.html

At least the humor isn’t dead yet

think sponge bob is the most dangerous of all.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=TXgU2rpIyUQ#!

Out of sight but not forgotten!
Colonel Harmoush handing over to outlawed Assad force is being investigated in Turkey.

القضاء التركي يحقق في تسليم هرموش إلى السلطات السورية
أنقرة – ا ف ب – أعلنت وكالة أنباء الأناضول التركية أمس ان نائبا عاما تركيا فتح تحقيقا لمعرفة كيفية تسليم الضابط السوري المنشق حسين هرموش وشخص آخر من مخيم في تركيا إلى السلطات السورية.
ونقلت الوكالة بيانا صادرا عن مكتب النائب العام في اضنة في جنوب تركيا جاء فيه ان حسين مصطفى هرموش ومصطفى قاسم اللذين كانا يقيمان في مخيم التينوزو للاجئين في محافظة هاتاي قرب الحدود مع سورية، سلما «بالقوة» إلى أجهزة الأمن السورية. وأضاف البيان انه تم اعتقال خمسة أشخاص بينهم عنصر في جهاز المخابرات التركية (ام اي تي)، كما استدعي عدة مسؤولين من هذا الجهاز للتحقيق معهم في ملابسات هذه المسألة. وجاء في البيان أيضا انه يتم التحقيق مع المشتبه بهم على خلفية «اتهامات بالتجسس السياسي» حسب ما نقلت الوكالة
12/02/2012
http://www.facebook.com/TheSyrianNationalCouncil

55 B
((There is no “deployed artillery” in Syria. The State Department Lies With Its Satellite Pictures Of Syria))
Where is your, or the regiem’s counter proof?

((“© 2011 Digital Globe”))
That would be the copyright of the software!
As you see it only specifies the year!
It has nothing to do with the date of the images.

((Analysis of the State Departments satellite pictures clearly shows that these pictures of artillery guns “operational deployed against XYZ” were all taken of guns training within military barracks or well known training areas and not in active deployment))

What analysis are you talking about?
Who did the analysis?
Where is your visual proof?
So you want people to discard tangible evidence and take your devine words?!!

Malek Jandali

Freedom
Quashoush symphony

Iraqi militants help Syrian opposition

Iraq’s Deputy Home Minister Adnan al-Asadi has acknowledged that some forces in Iraq are supplying the Syrian opposition with weapons, and that Iraqi radical groups are fighting on the Syrian opposition’s side.

He said this in an interview with France Press news agency on Saturday.

“Our intelligence services report that a big number of Iraqi militants have penetrated to Syria and that some Iraqis are smuggling weapons to the Syrian opposition,” Mr. al-Asadi said.

Earlier, Syrian authorities have said several times that there are foreigners fighting on the side of the Syrian opposition.

http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/02/12/iraqi-militants-help-syrian-opposition.html

NATO’s “Secret War” on Syria: Replicating the Libya Model
British Special Forces Supporting Rebels
by Stephen Lendman

In January, Michel Chossudovsky reported British media confirming UK/CIA/MI6 operatives in Syria training anti-Assad Western-backed insurgents. They’re also supplying them with arms, ammunition, and equipment.

“These reports confirm unequivocally [they’re illegally] interfer[ing] in the affairs of a sovereign state. This is not a popular uprising. The insurrection as well as the killings of civilians were sponsored by the Western powers from the outset.”

More on this below. Events replicate the Libya model a year earlier.

In February 2011, US/UK/French special forces and intelligence operatives actively began helping anti-Gaddafi NATO-backed militants. An armed insurgency followed, including bombing weeks later.

A year later, BBC confirmed it, saying:

“….British special forces were deployed on the ground in order to help the UK’S allies – the Libyan ‘revolutionaries’ often called the National Transitional Council or NTC.”

Knowledgeable sources said “they did a tremendous job” conquering Libya. “The existence of E Squadron is well known within the special forces community but has not hitherto been discussed publicly. It was formed five years ago to work closely with the intelligence service MI6, and is mainly involved in missions where maximum discretion is required, say Whitehall insiders.”

Composed of SAS, SBS, and Special Reconnaissance Regiment forces, it “often operates in plain clothes and with the full range of national support, such as false identities, at its disposal.”

Last March, other British media provided similar accounts. The London Daily Mail, said “hundreds of British special forces troops have been deployed deep inside Libya targeting Colonel Gaddafi’s forces – and more are on standby.”

“It is understood that just under 250 UK special forces soldiers have been in Libya since before the launch of air strikes to enforce the no-fly zone against Gaddafi’s forces.”

Another hundred or more were on standby. They were comprised of Special Forces Support Group (SFSG) paratroupers drawn from the SAS (Special Air Service) and SBS (Special Boat Service). They were resupplied from Cyprus. Moreover, 800 Royal Marines were “on five days notice” to deploy to the Mediterranean.

Last March, six squadron members were caught red-handed. Dropped in by helicopter, they were dressed in black, well-armed with weapons, explosives, maps and false passports. Britain claimed they arrived to protect diplomats and monitor events in Benghazi, not military operations.

An official Ministry of Defense statement said, “We neither confirm nor deny the story and we do not comment on the special forces.”

The Libyan model’s being replicated in Syria, so far short of bombing. Expect it if current tactics don’t achieve regime change.

On February 9, Russia Today (RT.com) reported:

“British and Qatari troops are directing rebel ammunition deliveries and tactics in the bloody battle for Homs,” according to the Mossad-connected DEBKAfile.

On February 8, it reported:

UK and Qatari “special operations units are operating with rebel forces under cover in (Homs), according to DEBKAfile’s exclusive military and intelligence sources.”

Allegedly not engaged in fighting, they’re tactically aiding and abetting foreign insurgents illegally against a sovereign government.

DEBKAfile reported an Ankara plan to send Turkish/Arab forces to Homs and other “flashpoint cities.” Earlier, Assad said full-scale war would confront Turkish or other forces if they invade.

On February 8, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu visited Washington for help. Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan’s enlisting support from Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states. Anti-Assad pressure’s building.

Qatar’s ruling Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, openly admitted supporting insurgents with cash, weapons and munitions. In mid-January, he said he’s ready to send troops.

On February 8, London Daily Mail writer Tim Shipman headlined, “Britain will help Syrian rebels says (PM) Cameron as Assad army bombs continue to rain down on Homs,” saying:

Details of “a three point plan to force” out Assad “were signed off yesterday” at a National Security Council meeting.

According to a Whitehall security source:

“The training is taking place on a one to one basis with opposition leaders outside Syria.” No further information about direct intervention was supplied.

On February 10, Daily Mail writer Lee Moran quoted a US State Department source saying the Pentagon’s considering arming insurgents. Earlier, Obama said no “option(s are) off the table.”

On February 8, London Telegraph writer Alex Spillius headlined, “International ‘militarisation’ in Syria growing closer, warns US official,” saying:

Washington debate shifted from diplomacy “towards more robust action since Russia and China blocked” Security Council action. “Any plan to supply aid or set up a buffer zone would involve a military dimension to protect aid convoys or vulnerable civilians.”

“The Pentagon Central Command has begun a preliminary internal review of US military capabilities in the region” to provide options if ordered. An unnamed senior US official said “increasingly it looks like (military intervention) may not be avoidable.”

If initiated, regional allies will be involved, including Turkey, Gulf states, and perhaps Israel. Last August, Ria Novosti headlined, “NATO plans campaign in Syria, tightens noose around Iran – Rogozin,” saying:

Russia’s NATO envoy Dmitry Rogozin said NATO’s planning to oust Assad and establish a beachhead for attacking Iran. Izvestia quoted him saying:

Planning for a military campaign “is well underway. It could be a logical conclusion of those military and propaganda operations, which have been carried out by certain Western countries against North Africa.”

Rogozin added that NATO plans intervening only against those regimes “whose views do not coincide with those of the West.” As a result, he envisioned a possible “large-scale war in this huge region.”

Military intervention now seems likely. Expect regional proxies to be used. Air power support may follow. UK, Qatari, and perhaps other Western elements inside Syria represent initial steps toward what appears planned.

A Final Comment

The business of America is permanent wars for unchallengeable wealth, power, and dominance, while homeland needs go begging.

Obama’s a war profiteer front man. He plans them while talking peace. Ravaging Afghanistan continues. Thousands of US troops remain in Iraq. Others were repositioned nearby. Increased numbers were added to establish a larger regional footprint, combining air, ground, and naval units for future combat operations.

Syria’s target one, then Iran. Whether full-scale war’s planned isn’t clear.

However, proxy operations may develop that way whether or not intended.

Washington wants total regional dominance. Nothing’s off the table to achieve it.

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=29224

Bronco,
Thank you for the excellent analysis you wrote about the american strategy of changing the religiously conservative societies, it makes lots of sense.
What do you think of the Americans’s accusations of Alqaeda being involved in the Syrian violence?
Is it a ‘coincidence’ that Alazawahri give his support to Syrian uprising just 2 days after the bombing in Aleppo and after the american accusations?
Very suspicious!
—————————————————————
Zawahiri supports Syria uprising in new video: SITE

Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri has voiced his support for the Syrian uprising in a new video message released on jihadist forums, US website monitors said on Sunday.

In the video titled Onwards, Lions of Syria, Zawahiri criticised the Syrian regime for crimes against its

citizens, and praised those rising up against the government, the SITE Intelligence Group said.
Zawahiri, shown in front of a green curtain in the video released Saturday which runs for over eight minutes, urged Syrians not to rely on the West or Arab governments, whom he said would impose a new regime subservient to the West.

He called on Muslims in Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, and Lebanon to support the uprising and remove the current regime which he condemned as anti-Islam.

Since March last year, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s government has carried out a bloody crackdown on an uprising in which more than 6,000 people have been killed.

Arab League foreign ministers will meet on Sunday in Cairo to discuss their next move over the crisis.

Long al Qaeda’s number two, Zawahiri took over the helm of the group after Osama bin Laden was killed in May 2011 during a US special forces night raid deep in Pakistan.

The video is the latest of a number in which the militant chief has attempted to seize on the Arab Spring revolutions.

Al Qaeda has been absent from the popular protests that swept the Arab world last year, leading to the fall of leaders in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia and provoking major unrest elsewhere.

Analysts argue that the phenomenon has left the global terror outfit weakened and increasingly irrelevant.

The United States said last year that it believed Zawahiri, who has been in hiding since the United States declared a “war on terror” after the September 11, 2001 attacks, was still in Pakistan.

http://www.hindustantimes.com/world-news/RestOfAsia/Zawahiri-supports-Syria-uprising-in-new-video-SITE/Article1-810228.aspx

very good report by Arte, the women reporter stayed 1 week among the Farouk Brigade of the FSA in Baba Amro

Abdelrazak Tlass is shown and interviewed many times

The report is in German, but the arabic interviews can be heard.

The reporter raised the question if Salafi fighters were among the rebels. The soldiers deny that but say that the weapons they got come from supporters of the MB and from supporters in Saudi Arabia.

New UN resolution unlikely to change Russia and China’s minds on Syria
http://rt.com/news/syria-un-resolution-russia-097/

http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/340389.html
Crimes in Syria committed by terrorists backed by Western and Arab countries
BEIRUT, February 11 (Itar-Tass) — The Syrian Foreign Ministry sent last night a message to the United Nations, the Islamic Cooperation Organisation and the Arab League, concerning the terror acts in Aleppo.
“The above terror acts are in line with the anti-Syrian campaign, backed and funded by some countries in the region and provoked by well-known mass media, nudging armed gangs to murders of civilians,” says the statement of the Syrian Foreign Ministry as quoted by the SANA news agency.
“These crimes were committed by terrorists, backed by Western and Arab countries which do not fulfill their international obligations and seek to undermine security of Syria and its citizens.”
The Foreign Ministry emphasized that Syria had the full right to protect its citizens from terror and violence and demands that the UN Security Council fulfill earlier resolutions on struggle against terrorism.
“We demand that countries, sheltering gunmen in their territories, should extradite them to Syrian authorities in compliance with international laws on struggle against terrorism as well as stop their support and funding in conformity with resolutions of the UN Security Council on struggle against terrorism,” the document says.
As a result of several terror acts, 30 people were killed and 235 were wounded in the Syrian city of Aleppo last Friday. Responsibility for this was taken by the so-called Free Syrian Army.
Several blasts, including in the central areas of Marja and Sahhur, thundered in that city, located 340 kilometres from Damascus. Terrorists also attacked the headquarters of military intelligence and the barracks of interior troops in the district of Dummar-el-Basil wherefrom the greatest number of casualties were received.

http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/us-debates-arming-syrian-opposition-as-defense-strategy/
US debates arming Syrian opposition as “defense strategy”

59. Juergen:
((Malek Jandali
Freedom
Quashoush symphony))

Genius!
The theme note of Qashoush has been brilliantly composed as Symphoney of Freedom.

63. Dear Juergen:
((very good report by Arte, the women reporter stayed 1 week among the Farouk Brigade of the FSA in Baba Amro))

Could u please post the correct link? Thank you.

if the so-called doctor bashar al assad and his allies are telling the truth why don´t they allow al jazeera and al arabiya to report ?

let them in and unveil their alleged “lies” … wouldnt be that hard huu

The regime remains relentless and reckless as you can see :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxtQQ2H2GEI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-snYcGuPvI

An well timed, insider view of a “neutral”, informed figure who worked for the regime for over a decade, of the uprising and its regime handling and prospects.
__________________________________________________________________
مذيع سوري منشق: اتهمنا الشهداء بالعصابات العميلة
أعلن انشقاقه عبر “العربية.نت” في أول ظهور له بعد خروجه من سوريا

Defected Syrian TV anchor to Al Arabia:
– Official media has been a partner in the killing

– It was very illogical that the official media hosted over a 1000 pro-regime analysts, writers, and artists who alternated on glorifying the regime and its policies without hosting a single opposition figure who dare to question the security apparatus’s actions.

– It was very illogical that the official media covered all festivities and celebrations of pro-regime crowds while wakes for victims of freedom seekers were being held across Syria.

– Collapse of the regime is imminent.
First, the army resorts to shelling from distance, while streets and neighbourhoods of shelled areas are out of their control and are run by FSA fighters.

Second, the regime’s economical and financial situation is shaky. Wealty supporters have been subjected to international sanctions, fled the country with their cash, or are on their way to bankruptcy.
Economic blues have been made worse by the drying up of income from tourism, taxation and export activities, and the collapse of Damascus stock market. Agriculture, oil and industry have also been hit.
………………………………………………..
اعتبر الصحفي السوري هاني الملاذي، أن الإعلام الرسمي في بلاده كان شريكاً في القتل، وهو ما دفعه للانشقاق عن التلفزيون الرسمي والسفر خارج البلاد.

…………………………………..

وأضاف أنه من غير المعقول أن تستضيف شاشات الإعلام الرسمي أكثر من 1000 محلل وكاتب وأديب وفنان خلال العام الماضي يتناوبون على مديح النظام والسخرية من مطالب المتظاهرين، دون أن تستضيف معارضاً واحداً يجرؤ على انتقاد ضابط أو عنصر أمن.

…………………………………..

وأضاف “لقد نقل الإعلام السوري أفراح واحتفالات المؤيدين وتجمعاتهم وأغانيهم في الساحات، فيما كانت مجالس العزاء لشهداء المعارضين منتشرة في كل مكان، معتبرا أن أي عاقل لديه “ذرة إنسانية” لم يكن ليقبل ذلك.

…………………………………..
انهيار وشيك
وتوقع هاني الملاذي انهياراً وشيكاً للنظام، مدللاً على ذلك بالمؤشرات العسكرية والاقتصادية.

وأوضح أن الجيش النظامي يواصل قصفه البعيد عبر المدفعية لغالبية المناطق والمدن السورية بغية إعادة إخضاعها، فيما شوارع وحارات هذه المناطق خارجة عن سيطرة النظام، وتدار أمنياً من قبل الجيش الحر.

كما أن المؤشر الثاني الذي سيعجل بانهيار النظام السوري حسب تقديره، هو البنية المالية والاقتصادية المتهالكة، وذلك أن كبار رجال الأعمال الداعمين للنظام عوقبوا دولياً أو هرّبوا أموالهم أو في طريق الإفلاس، في وقت توقفت فيه عجلة التنمية الاقتصادية منذ الأشهر الأولى للاحتجاجات.

وما زاد في انهيار الاقتصاد السوري حسب الملاذي، هو انعدام العائد السياحي تماماً، وشبه انعدام العائد المالي والضريبي، وانهيار بورصة دمشق، وشلل الصادرات، فيما تضررت كل القطاعات وخصوصاً القطاع الزراعي الذي يعتبر محرك الاقتصاد السوري، وكذا تدهور القطاعان الصناعي والنفطي.

الأحد 20 ربيع الأول 1433هـ – 12 فبراير 2012م
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/02/12/194118.html

Juergen,

Please correct the link of the RTL report. Thanks!
.

Good news to start a Sunday.  Enjoy:  

Arab recognition of the opposition Syrian National Council is imminent, 

SNC member Ahmed Ramadan said in Qatar on Saturday, ahead of key talks in the Egyptian capital on the crisis.
“We have confirmations of an Arab recognition (of the SNC) that will soon take place, though not necessarily on Sunday,” when the Arab League holds a ministerial meeting on Syria in Cairo, Ahmed Ramadan told AFP.

“But there will be strong signals on Sunday, especially from Gulf Cooperation Council states,” whose foreign ministers will also meet in Cairo before joining the Arab League meeting, Ramadan said.

Ramadan’s comments come a day after two other SNC figures said they expected recognition of their coalition of major opposition parties, grouping Islamists — including the Muslim Brotherhood — liberals and nationalists.

On Friday, Imad Hussari, a spokesman for the group and leader of the “Local Coordination Committees” which mobilises protests inside Syria, said “there should be an official recognition of the SNC by several Gulf countries.”

Another SNC figure, Istanbul-based Khaled Khoja, confirmed he expects recognition “by several Arab states in the coming days.” The opposition members did not specify the extent of recognition they expected from Arab states.

Currently, only Libya’s post-revolutionary interim government recognises the SNC and does so as its sole legitimate Syrian interlocutor.
….

Saudi King Abdullah said on Friday that world confidence in the United Nations had been shaken after the world body failed to adopt the resolution.

“We all used to take pride in the United Nations which used to bring us together and not divide us … but what took place does not augur well as world confidence in the United Nations has undoubtedly been shaken,” he said.
…
Ramadan had said that the opposition will “begin documenting the regime’s crimes, in cooperation with international human rights groups, and will present these (documents) to the International Criminal Court.”

More….

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/34236/World/Region/Arab-recognition-of-Syria-opposition-imminent-SNC.aspx

@REVLON @58

“What analysis are you talking about?
Who did the analysis?
Where is your visual proof?
So you want people to discard tangible evidence and take your devine words?!!”

I LINKED to the analysis with the all the pictures and maps provided there: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/02/lying-with-pictures.html

As for who did it, this German engineer with experience as a tank officer in the German army.

The analysis provided by Mr. Bernhard Billmon in his post: “The State Department Lies With Its Satellites Pictures Of Syria – No Artillery “Deployed””, posted on his site Moon of Alabama, is an eye opener.
In the frenzy of propaganda churning by the Bush administration prior to the Iraq invasion in 2003, The state department used fabricated satellite pictures and fabricated evidence, about mobile chemical and biological laboratories. Those fabricated pictures and evidence were used by Mr. Powell, the State Secretary at the time, in his presentation to the UN in the drive to get a UN resolution to back a US/NATO invasion of Iraq.
The satellite pictures furnished by the state department of artillery pieces, claiming to be “Operationally Deployed Against” Zabadany, Halbun and Rankus, are another hoax by the state department, in their effort to fabricate evidence, to be presented to the UN, when the time comes, to issue a resolution supporting a US/NATO invasion of Syria.
Ambassador Ford’s posting of the state department satellite pictures showing artillery pieces, is part of the current effort by the state department in fabricating the false evidence required to present to the UN.
Years later Mr. Powell admitted that he was provided false evidence. Mr. Powell was a four star general officer and a joint chief of staff of the armed forces prior to being a secretary of state. I don’t believe that he had no clue that the evidence he used was fabricated.
Ambassador Ford and whoever else was involved in the fabrication of false evidence, using the satellite pictures, should be subject to an investigation, in order to prevent a repeat of an ill advised Iraq invasion, with a Syria invasion this time around.
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/02/lying-with-pictures.html

@ Revlon + Amir: The thing Jurgen was intending to link today was linked to by me on this board two or three days ago. Here it is again, but for people like yourselves I think it has no new content for you: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=aaxYkyZDAMA#t=94s

As liked to by Haytham Khoury at #39 ambassador Robert Ford said on 10 Feb 2012:

“I find it completely disingenuous for defenders of the Assad regime to say that the armed opposition is shelling Homs. We know who’s shelling Homs. It’s not the armed opposition groups; it’s the government…. The armed opposition has machine guns, and it has a few rocket propelled grenades. But is doesn’t have artillery. Only one side in this has artillery, the kind of artillery that we’re looking at the films and that are bringing down whole apartment buildings.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=8PZ2_7gBZ8o#t=323s

As linked to by commenter “B” above, you can find one angle of refutation of Ford at http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/02/lying-with-pictures.html

Here’s a different angle of refutation of Ford. The defenders of the Assad regime (plus the regime itself) are NOT saying that the armed oppositions is shelling Homs with artillery. We know the opposition has essentially no artillery fire. We are saying that the opposition has planted explosives inside buildings in Homs. They have blown up buildings. One video example of such an explosion I can readily point you to is the one linked to by Joshua Landis on 8 Feb 2012 — pay close attention at time 4:35: http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=2V0LsKSCYVs#t=264s

Here’s what the government’s official news agency said on 7 feb 2012: “SANA correspondent quoted some inhabitants as saying that the armed terrorist groups booby-trapped several buildings after their inhabitants have deserted them at al-Inshaat neighborhood in Homs and exploded them. They added that the terrorist groups also booby-trapped Nazihin and Ashireh neighborhoods in preparation to explode them, in addition to burning car tires over the roofs of the houses in a number of neighborhoods to give the impression that the army is shelling them…. An armed terrorist group exploded two explosive devices behind the building of the Technical Services at al-Dablan Neighborhood in Homs. The terrorists also shelled with mortars several neighborhoods of Homs. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/02/07/398723.htm

In case you’re foggy about the difference between “mortar” and “artillery”, look up “Mortar (weapon)” and “Artillery” at Wikipedia.

64. Juergen said:

“Abdelrazak Tlass is shown and interviewed many times”

Does she know if Tllass is dead or not? Having been so close to the brigade , she should know and either confirm it or deny it. A silence would be suspicious.
In any case ARTE is a strongly pro-Israel channel. On the artistic side, they are excellent but on the political side, they are very biased. Once a week they show a film or documentary about the Holocaust and ignore totally the plight of the Palestinians.
I’ll take the political side of report with a big pinch of salt.

#71 Tara

The Saudi already said they will NOT recognize the SNC as THE opposition group REPRESENTING THE SYRIANS but they MAY recognize it as AN opposition group among others. Great consolation for the SNC that has shown to be a total failure and is desperate to gain some recognition, any will do.
I doubt the Saudi will be stupid enough to change that position.

Jerusalem

It is beyond love.  It is عشق..  Is there an equivalent word in English?

Please avoid the burqa and the Israeli accusations next time you speak to me if you are interested in a reply.

there is something about Syria news posts and commentators that same people who get thumb down and the other same people who get thumb up for their posts that would tell me that the blog is a totally polarized in one direction but the truth is that many of the SC posters are pro Syria which makes the thumb down less than the thumbs up except the ones who are trying to incite and spread propaganda here.
I am not going to post any names of either direction but it is clear who are the pro Syria ( not pro regime) and who are the pro Wahabis/western devils here.
although i have to admit that i miss few who were crazy zealous who use to report here and now writing on more Jihadis sites and the other crazy ones who are banned from writing here at all.

Jad #62

“What do you think of the Americans’s accusations of Alqaeda being involved in the Syrian violence?”

I think Zawahiri will jump on any wagon to claim responsibilities on murders in countries ruled by ‘kuffar’. So it is no surprise but but doing so, he is actually discrediting the FSA that appears now associated with it.
It seems that the USA that is very sensitive to any move by Alqaeda in the region is getting worried that Al QAeda could move its fighters in Syria to use as a new base now that they have almost lost Iraq and on the way to loose Afghanistan. Yemen and Syria are the two possible bases if they able to create enough chaos so the country become lawless. Syria will be a very convenient place for Al QAeda because of its border with Israel ( let’s liberate Al Quds) and with Iraq and because Syria have a majority Sunni population who are loosing a ‘revolution’ against a Alawi minority close to Iran and would welcome any help in toppling the regime.

This is playing very well for the Syrian regime who has been claiming that for a long time and its is certainly shaking the US administration, worried that like in Yemen, that the removal of a resolutely “anti-Al Qaeda” regime may create more problems that it would solve, especially for Israel and the ‘moderate’ Arab neighbours.

If that fear grows within the USA, and the opposition is not able to rally the Syrian army totally on its side, I think we will see a switch in the USA approach to Syria.
It is ironic that the Libya political disaster and the Al Qaeda ambitions may allow the regime to survive long enough top make a long waited transition.

Syrian Rebels Plot Their Next Moves: A TIME Exclusive
By Rania Abouzeid / near Guvecci Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012

TIME’s Rania Abouzeid sat in on a meeting in Turkey of rebels from northern Syria as they tried to plot out a campaign, even as the regime is believed to be mining the border and massing troops in the area.

….
Abu Hikmat, a civilian “revolutionary commander” who describes himself as a “bridge that supplies pass over” opens the discussion. “We don’t have ammunition,” he says. “We need money for supplies.”

“The opposition that has money is the Muslim Brotherhood, [radical Saudi-based Sunni cleric Sheikh Adnan] Arour, and the Free Syrian Army command. Forget about them, they won’t help you,” the doctor says. “The Free Syrian Army in Turkey is a game, a façade to tell the world that that there is a command. I am here to tell you that nobody on the outside says you are militias, everybody knows that [Turkey-based FSA commander] Riad al-Asaad is controlled by the Turks, the Syrian National Council (the de facto opposition group) represents itself. The revolution inside must unite and every area should set up an operations command center. I’m here to help you with that.”
(..)

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2106648,00.html#ixzz1mAyKjonu

Revlon

here is the link

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-ci2uo8EP0

Amir

here is the link for the RTL report

http://www.rtl.de/cms/news/rtl-aktuell/blutige-kaempfe-in-syrien-die-arabische-ehre-gibt-s-nicht-mehr-1e951-51ca-17-1021525.html

Irritated

no, there is no indication about his fate, not even after the report by the announcer

General Al Dabi resigns.

A former UN Special envoy to Libya, Abdul-Illah al-Khatib, is expected to be named as the Arab League’s new special envoy to Syria.

http://rt.com/news/syria-league-observer-mission-un-117/

Juergen #81

After being so close, the ARTE journalist surely has news from the contacts there. A silence is a sign of complicity in the manipulation of the media. Not very ethical.

RE POSTED
Jad #62

“What do you think of the Americans’s accusations of Alqaeda being involved in the Syrian violence?”

I think Zawahiri will jump on any wagon to claim responsibilities on murders in countries ruled by ‘kuffar’. So it is no surprise but but doing so, he is actually discrediting the FSA that appears now associated with it.
It seems that the USA that is very sensitive to any move by Alqaeda in the region is getting worried that Al QAeda could move its fighters in Syria to use as a new base now that they have almost lost Iraq and on the way to loose Afghanistan. Yemen and Syria are the two possible bases if they able to create enough chaos so the country become lawless. Syria will be a very convenient place for Al QAeda because of its border with Israel ( let’s liberate Al Quds) and with Iraq and because Syria have a majority Sunni population who are loosing a ‘revolution’ against a Alawi minority close to Iran and would welcome any help in toppling the regime.

This is playing very well for the Syrian regime who has been claiming that for a long time and its is certainly shaking the US administration, worried that like in Yemen, that the removal of a resolutely “anti-Al Qaeda” regime may create more problems that it would solve, especially for Israel and the ‘moderate’ Arab neighbours.

If that fear grows within the USA, and the opposition is not able to rally the Syrian army totally on its side, I think we will see a switch in the USA approach to Syria.
It is ironic that the Libya political disaster and the Al Qaeda ambitions may allow the regime to survive long enough top make a long waited transition.

Indeed, you showed your true colors…

You suggested the opposition lay down their arms, and find a different path – but articulated none.

You defended the actions of the Government, particularly the assault on Hama and Homs, as if they were a natural reaction. I’m not sure what universe you live on, but wanton shooting and killing of civilians is not acceptable under any circumstances.

Let’s say the elements of the opposition lay down their arms today, will the government have mercy on them? I think you know the answer. You actually want this scenario to pan out – the opposition to lay down arms, have them subsequently be arrested and summarily executed, and for the old guard to reassert their control. That’s exactly the position you are advocating. You admit above that they will not sign their own death sentences by relinquishing power — we will thus not see any change.

The Syrian people tried peaceful demonstrations for several months. It did not work. They were met with bullets, arrests and torture. In India, this worked because the British were human beings. In Syria, you know what we are dealing with – we are dealing with wahoosh – animals that cannot be tamed and know no limit to torture and killing.

We all sat waiting for the leadership to capitulate and resign in response to widespread protests after the initial onslaught in Deraa, or at least admit it was an overreaction. Or Bashar simply could not have overreacted to graffiti on the walls of Deraa. He and his ham-fisted brother pushed us to war, so don’t hold those who are only defending their towns and homes with the responsibility for where we are today. There is no turning back at this point — anything solution short of Bashar leaving power will mean that thousands will disappear and never be heard of again. “Don’t ask” they’ll tell you. “La Tis2al” where they are. Sometimes they’ll tell you to not even dream about it. I had 2 members of my family suffer this fate under Hafez al-Assad. The worst is not knowing where they are, whether they’re alive or dead. With the country subdued, they will have the time and means to track down every person sympathetic to the revolution in the country — thousands more will be arrested and never heard from again.

The one major and devastating flaw in the analysis of Ehsani is the premise that the present regime is a seamless continuation of the rule of the late Hafez Assad.

First, the father understood very clearly that to be able to rule one needed to provide a glimmer of hope and an opportunity for betterment to the general population. People have no hope and they are being faced with another worse 40 years if the regime were to win. They are willing to die rather than live under this rule.

Second, the father understood that allowing dissent within the confines of the broad inclusive strategic position of the country would allow for isolation of both the extreme right and the extreme left. The dissent now is to be completely crushed like a bug with no compromise. The core security and army units were created to prevent a coup not to be spread thin over 23 million people. The regime can count on the sectarian elements and the rest of the armed forces being left deliberately weak cannot suppress and fall apart with defections.

Third, and this is most important, even though he created competing security and military units, he never allowed anyone to create fiefdoms and exclusive areas of control and complete gutting of the state institutions. Many an instance were well known where the father and the elder brother treated other family members who acted out their connection very harshly.

Fourthly, his alliances around the world kept the decision making process firmly within his hands and never compromised his freedom of movement.

I am certain that if the father were still alive, or even if the older brother Basil was still alive, Atif Najib the cousin would have been hanged from the central square of Marjeh in Damascus thereby nipping the protest in the bud, showing really who is boss, reminding the “family” that the country is more important than them.
He would have seen what has happened around him and taken a lesson.

He would still remain abhorrent in my eyes and certainly ignorant but at least he had the smarts and the street smarts.
The father was Vitto Corleone, the elder brother was Michael Corleone, the current brother is unfortunately for everyone is Fredo Corleone.

There is an impending humanitarian disaster in Homs and Hama,urgent actions are required by the AL, and not only talk and meet around a table,the option of doing nothing should not be on the table, we keep hearing about scheduling another meeting two weeks away, this is actually doing nothing.The least they should do is provide humanitarian aid to the people, this include food , medicine and other necessities.

Does the West including USA has strategic interest in Syria?,absolutely, it is first moral interest,and second it is stability in the middle East, Stability depends on democratic regime in Syria,The regime in Syria is not resistant regime,it is the mastermind of terrorism center,aimed to provide protection of the Assad family rule, it is not aimed to protect the rights of the arabic people,nor it is aiming to improve the conditions of the syrians.

Today we are watching the AL meeting, AL in the past has proved to be incompetent,while genocide is going on, supporting the FSA is extremely important, SNC is the only opposition supporting FSA, it is the true opposition,and AL must recognize SNC as THE syrian opposition.
I mentioned two weeks ago that AL DAbi must go, and I am glad to see him fired.
Allah,Syria and FSa WA BASS.

Syria condemns Israeli calls to storm al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem – 2012-02-12

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/12/c_122690711.htm

DAMASCUS, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) — The Syrian Foreign Ministry on Sunday strongly condemned the calls made by Israel’s Likud Party to storm into the al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem to build the Jews alleged temple, saying such calls pose an “extremely dangerous development.”

In a statement faxed to Xinhua, the ministry said that such calls are “systematic provocation,” urging the International community to shoulder its responsibility towards this “dangerous development.”

It added that Israel should bear the consequences of such ” uncalculated adventure,” and that this step is a direct threat and a disregard of the Arabs and Muslims all over the world.

[…]

Hey Ehsani, how dare you tell the dabbi7a to give up their arms without giving them a new plan? As an economist, you should be able to give a clear and detailed step-by-step plan of how the dabbi7a can take down the government. Included in the plan, you should also include ways where the dabbi7a supporters on SC can save/get more money on their tax returns in the US.

Keep that in mind next time you try to give advice to the sacred free dabbi7a.

PS: I don’t agree with most your anti-government-leaning analysis, but even I felt the dabbi7a supporters on SC were conducting some high-level professional tashbee7 against you. They were doing it so well that I felt jealous of their tashbee7 skills. Maybe some day I can be as good as them.

72. B:
((@REVLON @58
“What analysis are you talking about?
Who did the analysis?
Where is your visual proof?
So you want people to discard tangible evidence and take your divine words?!!”

I LINKED to the analysis with the all the pictures and maps provided there: http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/02/lying-with-pictures.html))

First,
To be fare to the linked blog, the writer said there was “No proof of deployed artillery, and not as you put it “there is no artillery deployed in Syria.

Second!
Assuming he was right about the old dated nature of the analysed images (2011), his conclusion about lack of proof of artillery deployment would only be applicable to the time the images where taken; could be as early as January 2011 before the revolution started!

Third, the extent of destruction and the myriads of related youtube videos, and the hundreds of casualties that have been incurred leave no doubt about the presence and massive extent of shelling of Baba Amr and other neighbourhoods and towns in Syria.

Fourth, comparing the satellite images of Baba Amr before and after Feb 4th as done on CNN (linked to earlier) a couple of days age showed the extent of damage done to the roofs of the buildings of that neighbourhood.

Thank you for your reply.

Syrian Rebels Plot Their Next Moves: A TIME Exclusive
By Rania Abouzeid / near Guvecci Saturday, Feb. 11, 2012

TIME’s Rania Abouzeid sat in on a meeting in Turkey of rebels from northern Syria as they tried to plot out a campaign, even as the regime is believed to be mining the border and massing troops in the area.

….
Abu Hikmat, a civilian “revolutionary commander” who describes himself as a “bridge that supplies pass over” opens the discussion. “We don’t have ammunition,” he says. “We need money for supplies.”

“The opposition that has money is the Muslim Brotherhood, [radical Saudi-based Sunni cleric Sheikh Adnan] Arour, and the Free Syrian Army command. Forget about them, they won’t help you,” the doctor says. “The Free Syrian Army in Turkey is a game, a façade to tell the world that that there is a command. I am here to tell you that nobody on the outside says you are militias, everybody knows that [Turkey-based FSA commander] Riad al-Asaad is controlled by the Turks, the Syrian National Council (the de facto opposition group) represents itself. The revolution inside must unite and every area should set up an operations command center. I’m here to help you with that.”
(..)

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2106648,00.html#ixzz1mAyKjonu

81. zoosaid:
((General Al Dabi resigns.
A former UN Special envoy to Libya, Abdul-Illah al-Khatib, is expected to be named as the Arab League’s new special envoy to Syria.))

Thank you for the link.
Here is an excerpt from wikipedia on this Gentlemen:

Born in 1953, Abdul Ilah Mohammad Khatib or Abdelilah al-Khatib (Arabic: عبد الإله الخطيب‎) is a former Minister of Foreign Affairs for Jordan. On March 11, 2011 he was appointed as the UN Special envoy to Libya. [1]

Married, and the father of three children, Khatib graduated with his Masters degree in International economics from Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, a Masters degree in International Communications from the American University in Washington, D.C., and a Bachelor’s degree in political science from the School of Political Science in Athens, Greece.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abdul_Ilah_Khatib

The AL “opening” contacts with the opposition? I thought they had a few months ago. Anyway It is time they worry about the ‘health’ of the SNC and how ready it is to enter in the dialog requested explicitly by the defunct UNSC
Is the AL going to be more creative this time?

Arabs mull contacts with Syria opposition
By Murad Murad | AFP – 33 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/arab-ministers-meet-over-escalating-syria-crisis-033005032.html
The Arab League is considering opening contacts with Syria’s opposition and launching a joint Arab-UN peace mission to the unrest-swept country, according to a proposed text to be debated on Sunday.

Ministers meeting in Cairo were to discuss ending all diplomatic ties with President Bashar al-Assad, leaving it to each of the bloc’s 22 members to implement such a decision, according to the draft resolution obtained by AFP.

The draft calls on the United Nations Security Council to form a joint UN-Arab League peacekeeping mission in Syria, where activists say a bloody crackdown on dissent has killed more than 6,000 people since March last year.

It also stresses “the implementation of economic sanctions and an end to commercial transactions with the Syrian regime, except in what concerns the Syrian people directly.”
(…)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8t5fq3VQO1U&feature=youtu.be
This is a video of a boy, he was found huddled in his attic in the protective embrace of his mother. His family all murdered and he somehow miraculously survived. Five days he sat huddled in his mothers arms, the water from the blown out tanks above flooding the room below he’s cramped in. His mind. His mind is shattered. He believes his family is on a trip, a trip to Saudi Arabia he says. The despair in his voice is clear. The loss too much for his young mind to bear. His eyes dark and his lips quiver unknowing the truth or desperately pretending the truth to be something it is not.

Full article : http://syndicatingfreedom.wordpress.com/2012/02/12/tonight-i-write-from-grief/

90. Revlon

Abdel Ilah Al-Khatib

In view of the 50,000 death in Libya after the UN-AL sponsored NATO intervention and the appointment of Al Khatib as a UN envoy to Libya to ‘stop the killings of civilians’, I am not sure he’ll be welcomed in Syria.

In addition to his US education background (Master in International Media), his intimacy with the Jordanian government whose King has asked Bashar al Assad to resign and who has a peace deal with Israel, who is resolutely anti-Iran, anti-Shia and pro-American, his closeness to Saudi and French business world do not qualify him for an independant and serious leader of the observers. As the AL is in the hands of the GCC, anything can be expected but until now, it solved nothing, in the contrary.

In March 2011
“Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today introduced newly appointed Special Envoy to Libya Abdel Ilah Al-Khatib who will travel to Libya on Monday to meet with all parties with the objective of “stopping the killings and ending the suffering of the civilian population.” UNTV ”
http://www.unmultimedia.org/tv/unifeed/d/17192.html

Tunisia to host ‘Friends of Syria’ meeting
By HAMZA HENDAWI | AP – 3 hrs ago

CAIRO (AP) — Tunisia says it will host the inaugural meeting of the “Friends of Syria” group to explore ways to further isolate President Bashar Assad, support his foes and end violence.

(…)
Read more:
http://m.yahoo.com/w/news_america/tunisia-host-friends-syria-meeting-140627134.html?orig_host_hdr=news.yahoo.com&.intl=us&.lang=en-us

54. Revlon said:

“””””52. Dear NK:
((A prime example of regime supporters and their ethics))

….., and a probable reason why a Dr., General boss of this, and other Assad controlled medical facilities could meet the same fate as this dead soldier!”””””

This Syria Comment poster is promoting and justifying the cold blooded killing of Syrian physicians working in medical facilities.

Is this acceptable on this blog?!

Revlon

On Libya, on the 16th november 2011, at the UN, Al Khatib called for a ceasefire and a negotiated political solution with Qaddafi, not for a regime change. The West and NATO wanted and got a bloody regime change.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/xjvckh_khatib-briefs-unsc-on-libya-situation_news

Tara #93

With friends like those , who needs enemies…

The new ‘decisive’ action plan of the AL

http://news.yahoo.com/arab-league-wants-un-peacekeepers-syria-171412065.html

– The Arab League will call Sunday for the U.N. Security Council to create a joint “peacekeeping force” for Syria
(or is it just a Arab-U.N. monitoring team? )

– The draft resolution calls for an immediate cease-fire in Syria and demands regime forces lift the siege on neighborhoods and villages and pull troops and their heavy weapons back to their barracks.

– It urges Syrian opposition groups to unite ahead of a Feb. 24 meeting in Tunisia of the “Friends of Syria” group,” which includes the United States, its European allies and Arab nations working to end the uprising against Assad’s authoritarian rule.

– Foreign ministers from the Gulf Cooperation Council — Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, United Arab Emirates, Oman, Qatar and Bahrain — are also proposing the expulsion of Syrian ambassadors from all Arab League nations during the meeting in Cairo.

– The GCC ministers also proposed that Arab nations withdraw their ambassadors from Damascus, according to the officials.

– The League also wants to provide the opposition groups with political and material support.

– It calls for a halt to all diplomatic contacts with Syria and for referring officials responsible for crimes against the Syrian people to international criminal tribunals.

– It urges a tightening of trade sanctions previously adopted by the League but not been fully implemented.

– The League officials said the group would also call on Syrian opposition groups to close ranks and unite under one umbrella, a move that they said would place more pressure on the Assad regime.

– The group meeting in Cairo was also considering a proposal to expel Syrian ambassadors from Arab capitals

– Arab League officials said the Elaraby has accepted the resignation of Gen. Mohammed Ahmed Al-Dabi, the head of the Syrian observer mission, and nominated former Jordanian Foreign Minister Abdul-Illah al-Khatib as the new envoy.
– “The new mission must be totally different from the previous one,” Elaraby told the foreign ministers as he proposed a joint Arab League-U.N. mission to Syria. “The previous experience has shown that there can be no restoration of security without a political vision.”

The AL is at it again today, pretending to have any credibility or relevancy.

Syrians need to come to terms with their unique identity as Syrians, with a diverse history and culture shaped by the many civilizations that that governed the region, including Arab. When is the Syrian leadership going to have the courage to divorce itself from this so called Arab world? Arabs have always conspired against Syria, and today is no exception. Syria needs to move full speed in building new alliances, away from the regressive Arab world, which has betrayed Syria consistently.

Here is an example of how the Arabs conspired against Syria in the 1973 war.

Strange ¨sincerity¨ indeed on web page about Asma al Assad:

http://www.asmaassad.com/

Even if she recognizes she is the wife of Assad Mafia´s ¨Il Padrino¨ I will always wonder to myself why she did not do anything about tens of thousands of children in cities and specially in the Aljazeera, Idlib, Daraa and Albadia regions living in misery?

Look who joins Obama/Clinton and the GCC in the discussion of what is good for Syria:

http://jihadology.net/2012/02/11/as-sa%E1%B8%A5ab-media-presents-a-new-video-message-from-al-qaidahs-dr-ayman-al-%E1%BA%93awahiri-onward-oh-lions-of-syria/

New video message from al-Qā’idah’s Dr. Ayman al-Ẓawāhirī: “Onward Oh Lions of Syria”

Late Saturday, al-Qaida chief Ayman al-Zawahri threw the terror network’s support behind Syrian rebels trying to topple President Bashar Assad, raising fears that Islamic extremists are exploiting the uprising that began peacefully but is quickly transforming into an armed insurgency. The regime has long blamed terrorists for the revolt, and al-Qaida’s endorsement creates new difficulties for Western and Arab states trying to figure out a way to help force Assad out of power.

“it is impossible to have democracy with religion”

Are the following practices disqualifiers for democracy?

– “In God We Trust” is the official motto of the US
– “So help me God”, a phrase used as part of an oath of office in some countries
– Coronation of the British monarch, performed by the Church of England
– Church tax in some European countries
– Easter and Christmas being public holidays

Syria rejects the decisions of the Arab League. Assad thinks he can kill his way to victory with the protection of the Russian veto. He might succeed and return the Assad version of oppressive stability, or push the country into a prolonged civil war. Either way, if Assad is in power than that’s victory.

Supporters of the revolution are always asked to give assurances to minorities, explain how the country will be governed, define the freedom they want, offer carrots to our killers, etc. Then we spend time talking about democracy and freedom, only to be told that we are naive or traitors and terrorists.

Why should we support Bashar Al Assad? Will Syria be a better place if return to oppression, but this time coupled with isolation from the Arab world, Europe, the U.S., Canada and many countries in Africa and Asia? Will we be safer if we give free reign to security forces to imprison anybody who dares to speak a word, even if they are just asking about the status of their loved ones in Assad’s dungeons?

What will the economy look like under prolonged sanctions? What happens to our real estate and businesses that are geared for export to Europe and the Arab world? Most Syrians will survive hardship, but why do they have to suffer so Hafez Makhlouf can buy $4 million homes with money stashed away in Swiss bank accounts?

Based on Bashar Al-Assad’s record over the past 11 years, and more specifically the past 11 months, and the record of the one party system since 1963, can any regime supporter offer a coherent argument in favor of giving them another 20 years at the helm?

Is the Arab League envisioning a peace agreement or long term truce in Syria?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peacekeeping

“Peacekeeping is anything that contributes to the furthering of a peace process, once established. This includes, but is not limited to, the monitoring of withdrawal by combatants from a former conflict area, the supervision of elections, and the provision of reconstruction aid. Peacekeepers are often soldiers, but they do not have to be. Similarly, while soldier-peacekeepers are sometimes armed, they are not obligated to engage in combat.

Peacekeepers were not at first expected to ever fight. As a general rule, they were deployed when the ceasefire was in place and the parties to the conflict had given their consent. They were deployed to observe from the ground and report impartially on adherence to the ceasefire, troop withdrawal or other elements of the peace agreement. This gave time and breathing space for diplomatic efforts to address the underlying causes of conflict.

Thus, a distinction must be drawn between peacekeeping and other operations aimed at peace. A common misconception is that activities such as NATO’s intervention in the Kosovo War are peacekeeping operations, when they were, in reality, peace enforcement. That is, since NATO was seeking to impose peace, rather than maintain peace, they were not peacekeepers, rather peacemakers.”

Dear Mr. SANDRO LOEWE,
I’m not trying to persuade you to change your opinion of Assma Assad. But I must tell you my scientific side of the story. She worked so hard on the deafness cases in Syria. There is one on six children born deaf in Syria. Her team contacted many American and British companies and organizations. I know this because my girl friend works on innovation technology of hearing aids at university of Cincinnati research center. Hearing aids technology is far from advanced. Scientists have zillion of challenges in the mathematical algorithms to make a microprocessor intercepts word and discriminates noises like the brain.
Long story short, in North America we start with sign languages. Many opposed her as the sign languages must be in Arabic in order for the child to interact with his family. We in North America did not have anyone familiar with Arabic sign language which is also far from developed in comparison to English or French sign languages. So we couldn’t help. Japanese on the other hand volunteered 25 integrated hearing aids, meaning surgically implanted on the mastoid (bone behind the ear). Some were successful others fail for multi reasons. So if these kids were from Aljazeera, Idlib, Daraa and Albadia regions, I don’t know, but I know Syrian government invested on special computers for hearing impaired to develop child speech. If you can’t hear you can’t speak, thus you cannot be integrated in the society.

Equus #107

1 out of 6 (which is 16.6%) of Syrians are born deaf ? could you please share the source of your information.
I think 1-6 per 1000 newborns is much closer to reality.

Adonis’ interview with CNN
http://www.cnn.com/2012/02/09/world/meast/syria-adonis-poet/index.html?hpt=imi_bn2

Contrary to what the negative propaganda media tells us. Life goes on uninterrupted, and Syrians resilient as ever celebrating life.

Time-honored ice cream parlor in Damascus, Syria – 2012-02-12

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-02/12/c_131405444.htm

ENJOY!

Since many claim this is an islamist uprising, I’m actually surprised very conservative Aleppo still hasn’t joined.

You probably see more women in niqab (and less women in general) there than in all other places of the Levant….

So what do you think is the main reason? Pro-regime imams?

Celebrating life? On the bodies of dead people? A gruesome mental image not enjoyable by most people, Ann except to… Fill the blank

Veteran in freedom of speech and most prominent and oldest opposing figure since Assad signor & Assad jr.: Mr. Michel Kilo wrote in Assafir: حماقات ثوار آخر زمن

حماقات ثوار آخر زمن http://www.assafir.com/article.aspx?EditionId=1991&ChannelId=47121&ArticleId=3076

from alquds alarabi:
دمشق ـ قالت الفنانة السورية هنوف خربوطلي إنها تعرضت لمحاولة اعتداء بالضرب في دمشق القديمة – باب توما، من امرأة مجهولة الهوية تضع ملاءة سوداء على وجهها.
وأوضحت خربوطلي لموقع “ام بي سي.نت” “بعد خروجي من تصوير مسلسل، فوجئت بهجوم امرأة عليّ ترتدي الأسود من رأسها حتى أخمص قدميها، وتغطي وجهها بالكامل. وشتمتني تلك المرأة بأبشع الألفاظ، وحاولت ضربي لأني لا أرتدي الحجاب”.
وأضافت الفنانة السورية “كنت أرتدي لباسًا محتشمًا، وهو بنطال جينز وجاكيت طويل، ولم يظهر مني سوى شعري ووجهي. وعندما حاولت تلك المرأة أن تخرج شيئًا من جيبها دفعتها عني فورًا وركضت لأني خفت أن تخرج من جيبها سكينًا أو ماء نار”.

[NOTE: Provide links for quotes, please. Unlinked stories, articles, editorials, blog entries, comments, excerpts, quotes, tweets, FB postings — they may be moderated or deleted. ]

Thank you Ghufran,

I don’t know about Adonis’ poetry, but his opinions about secularism is great!

Unfortunately I heard he is mostly unknown in Syria and the Arab world , is this correct?

The wonderful Syrian writer Adonis who glorified Galioun for a while on Al-Jazeera told the Austrian Profile magazine (will be distributed on Monday) how can we build true government with same people who occupied Syria in reference to the French occupation?

Somebody changing stance…

comment 112 <— this was not meant as a pro-regime or anti-regime statement by me, just a question what you think!

Not sure if this has been posted here:

It’s the “Moon of Alabama” take on the satellite photos of Syria:

http://www.moonofalabama.org/

Personally, I wasn’t impressed by the sat pics. I haven’t seen photo or video evidence of towed artillery DF or IF fire being employed by the SyA. I have seen MBTs using their main armament in DF mode. But the satellite pic portrayals are attempting to suggest towed artillery fire, and MBT’s in IF mode.

Judge for yourselves.

http://thepassionateattachment.com/2012/02/12/israels-favourite-arab-proposes-a-kosovo-model-for-syria/
Israel’s Favourite Arab Proposes ‘A Kosovo Model for Syria’

Bill Clinton’s bombing of Serbia should serve as an inspiration, Fouad Ajami opines in the Wall Street Journal:

In this Syrian ordeal, President Obama has a similar opportunity to stop “the killing of innocents” in Homs, Hama and Deraa. The Damascus regime is living on bluster, running out of money, and relying on an army that has no faith in the mission given it or in the man at the helm. It could be brought down without a massive American commitment.

We could, with some moral clarity, recognize the Syrian National Council as the country’s legitimate government, impose a no-fly zone in the many besieged areas, help train and equip the Free Syrian Army, prompt Turkey to give greater support to defectors from Syrian units, and rally the wealthy Arab states to finance the effort.

There are risks to be run, no doubt. But at present we have only the shame of averting our eyes from Syrian massacres. If we act now, President Obama, when he pens his memoirs, could still claim vindication, or at least that he gave Homs and Hama and Deraa his best.

This is the same Middle East expert who predicted in 2002 that “after liberation in Basra and Baghdad, the streets are sure to erupt in joy.”

[ …]

Ann

Maybe you should care about the israeli agenda against YOUR homeland (Amrika)!

107. EQUUS

All first dames use to promote this kind of good acts to try show they are so sensitive and good in promoting charity for the unabled. But I am sorry to tell you that reality is much more cruel that what they want to show us. By this kind of charity actions they just help probably 1 in every 1.000 unabled. They help people with physical needs but never people with material needs (not to talk about people with lack of rights and basic needs as freedom). Because it is much easier to help 1 in 10.000 than helping 50 per cent of the population. By this they try to show a good and modern image outside while keeping corruption and repression inside. This is just marketing. Nobody says helping the deaf is bad. What we say is that this is just a scapegoat for hiding the real nature of the regime. But thanks God everything is already exposed in the outside press. All the money stolen by the regime could help 100 % all unabled in The Arab World.

Israel Plans to Set Up Military Station in Cyprus
http://info-wars.org/2012/02/12/israel-plans-to-set-up-military-station-in-cyprus/

Moscow and the formation of The New World System
http://info-wars.org/2012/02/12/moscow-and-the-formation-of-the-new-world-system/
Imad Fawzi Shueibi examines the reasons and consequences of Russia’s recent position at the Security Council. Moscow’s backing of Syria is not a posture but the result of an in-depth analysis of the shifting global balance of power. The current crisis will crystallize into a new world configuration, which, from the unipolar model inherited after the collapse of the USSR, will gradually evolve towards a multipolar system. Inevitably, this transition will plunge the world into a period of geopolitical turbulence the repercussions of which are scrutinized by the author.

112. Humanist said:

“”””” You probably see more women in niqab (and less women in general) there than in all other places of the Levant…. “””””

The use of the so called “levant” term is common among israelis, neocons, and their friends as part of their desperate effort to rewrite the history of Syria.

Alzabadani today:

جولة حسين مرتضى- في الزبداني 12-02-2012
http://youtu.be/b6TeTykMtTo

‘US backs Al-Qaeda to mutually destroy Syria’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0ZCgGJig0c&list=UUpwvZwUam-URkxB7g4USKpg&index=1&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ubftx7evkm0

Al-Qaida calls on Muslim world to support Assad opposition forces
New video of terror group’s chief Ayman al-Zawahri urging the ouster of Syria’s ‘cancerous regime’ follows report of al-Qaida links to recent series of bombings in the country.

Ed note–now, assuming that the video is what it appears to be and is NOT a CIA/Mossad concoction, what we are left to deduce from this is that the Americans and Israel are ‘ONCE AGAIN, SURPRISE SURPRISE, in bed with the very same ‘terrorists’ they presume to be fighting. Do the people of the world NOT find it troublesome that the ouster of Assad is being called for by Zawahri while at the same time Israel, America and other western countries are trying to bring this about as well?

Will the American people recognize this fact, as war mongering Israel-First brigades continue their chorus for NATO intervention?

Answer–no. The math is as simple as 2+2, but the American people–glued to their TV’s to find out EVEN MORE about the death of Whitney Houston, will give it not an ounce of their very meager brain power.

Haaretz

The head of al-Qaida is calling on Muslims across the Arab world and beyond to support rebels in Syria who are seeking to overthrow President Bashar Assad, and says they cannot depend on the West for help.

In a new videotaped statement, Ayman al-Zawahri calls on Muslims in Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Turkey to join the uprising against Assad’s “pernicious, cancerous regime.”

The 8-minute video was posted on extremist websites late Saturday. A copy of the video was provided Sunday by the SITE Intel Group, a U.S.-based organization that monitors militant messages.

A senior Iraqi intelligence official says al-Qaida-linked fighters already are flowing from Iraq to Syria.

The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he’s not authorized to brief the media.

What are your thoughts on this issue? Follow Haaretz.com on Facebook and share your views.

On Saturday, U.S. publication McClatchy cited U.S. officials as saying that al-Qaida’s branch in Iraq carried out two recent terrorist attacks in the Syrian capital, Damascus, and was likely responsible for the bombings in Aleppo on Friday that killed at least 28 people.

U.S. intelligence reports were said to show that the Syria bombings were ordered by al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri, seemingly verifying Syrian President Bashar Assad’s assertions of al-Qaida involvement in the uprising in Syria.

The two Aleppo bombings on Friday were the worst attack to hit the country’s commercial hub during the revolt against the Assads’ 42-year dynastic rule.

No one claimed responsibility for the Aleppo bombings but they took place as Assad’s forces grow more ferocious in operations to crush the uprising. Some opposition figures accused the government of manipulating events to discredit them.

Earlier Sunday, Saudi state news agency SPA cited an official at the country’s foreign ministry denying reports that Saudi Arabia formally presented a new resolution on Syria to the United Nations General Assembly.

“No provision of any draft resolution on behalf of the Kingdom has been presented to the General Assembly,” he told SPA.

جولة دمشق وريفها 12/2/2012 ( المزة -المعضمية – قطنـا – عرطوز )
“عودة جديدة معكم بجولة اخترناها لكم لتكون مميزة نوصل من خلالها صورة كاملة عن مدينة دمشق وريفها لهذا اليوم .
جولتنا اليوم ابتدأت من مركز المدينة ساحة المرجة مروراً بشارع المعرض ومنطقة المزة لنتوجه بعدها إلى ريف دمشق قاصدين عدة مناطق ( المعضمية – قطنــا – خان الشيخ – دروشة – وتنتهي في عرطوز ) نرصد لكم فيها الحركة العامة لتلك المناطق والطرق المؤدية لها ونضع الصورة بين أيديكم لتكونوا أنتم الحكم ونترك لكم التعليق والمشاركة لإيصالها إلى كل من يظن سوءً بما يُبث على شاشات الفتنة .”
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=273736949361371

One way of finding out what is the right course to take in Syria is doing the opposite of what a guy like Sen Liberman says:
http://arabic.cnn.com/2012/syria.2011/2/12/Lieberman-Syria/index.html
Humanist,
Adonis,and two other Arab philosophers and poets at least,should have received the Noble prize for literature,but the prize is politicized like anything else in life today. Adonis is not well known in Syria for a number of reasons.
I will post a summary of his bio later on,the guy,with all of his shortcomings,is a national treasure,those who do not like him are either unable to appreciate fine writings or are irritated by Adonis secular views, few critics have publically said that Adonis Alawi roots are the reason for his anti religion philosophy.

#107 Equus

You will hear other stories like this of Asma Assad’s wonderful good deeds from people in the west. I have. People charmed by her pretty little face and act of interest in the causes they care about. But they are very easy wins and planned to impress. Small and safe projects which were a playtime distraction in the context of Syria’s real health, education, social and economic needs.

“There is one on six children born deaf in Syria”.

I think in shock, what the hell is going on with health in the country! If true, that is real poverty and misery indication and not helped much by some small volunteer projects.

Believe me, I agree the cause is very important and I now worry and want to help deaf children in Syria. And I looked at the web site for this and I can see what is being done by people who care.

But it is better that they did not give Asma a free ride on their bus. She lives in and supports the house where the problem and neglect of it is caused.

There are so many gaps, so much need, so much waste, so much inequality, so many problems ignored by those whose job it is to prevent and fix it. That’s why Syria is in crisis.

Think what could be done for deaf children with the state funds spent on Asma’s wardrobe and household. And the weaponry and security networks needed to keep her husband’s family (ie her family) in control.

According to multiple sources,the new constitution draft is finalized and ready to be put for a referenedum,here is the problem(s):
1. usually,elections are held,then the constitution is written by a committee that reflects the balance of power in a new and freely elected PA. Bashar appointed the paeople who wrote the new constitution,this will alienate a lot of people, and make it easy for a large section of Syrians to consider the new constitution illegitimate.
2. how can you expect people to vote when Homs has been in a state of civil war and violence is claiming the lives of syrians every day? How can we expect a clean referendum without the supervision of a neutral and credible body?
3. if I was a syrian christian,I would pack my bags and leave since I am not considered syrian enough to be president,according the article-3. Ar’our,for example,may be a viable candidate while Micael Kilo is not !!
4. no constitution will survive the corruption and brutality of this regime or any similar regime. without a radical change in the security forces and the judicial system,all of the work related to a new constitution is more like windows dressing.

Ghufran
What do you expect from a failed ‘State’ run by a failed regime killing a failed society with a failed opposition!
I’m surprised that you are surprised?

Notice the “concluded”, as oppose to “suspected”.

Amnesty International has concluded that crimes against humanity are taking place in Syria – a finding also made by a UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry in November – and called for the situation to be referred to Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court,..
{…}

More:
http://www.amnesty.org.nz/news/syria-brutal-assault-homs-must-end 

Big show by Putin and his team interfering out there to save the Assad regime.

Sorry to interrupt, but what about this:

“Undeterred by subzero temperatures that froze their breath and left icicles adorning many men’s mustaches and beards, tens of thousands of Russians marched through the streets of Moscow on Saturday demanding fair elections just a month before they are to go to the polls to choose a new president.

Despite fear that the frigid weather and bickering among the opposition would curb the turnout, the third mass protest in two months against the rule of Russian leader Vladimir Putin appeared to have been the largest Moscow has seen in a generation.”

(http://articles.latimes.com/2012/feb/04/world/la-fg-russia-protests-20120205)

Syria related posts by As’ad Abukhalil today:

Arab League
I am not making this up. The Arab League said today that it is opposed to foreign intervention in Syria but called for the formation of an Arab-International peace-keeping force in Syria.
Posted by As’ad AbuKhalil

Reform
Reform is a trick invented by US and by tyrannical Arab regimes to save the regimes. Who wants reform when you can get rid of the regime–as people chant?

[…]

Posted by As’ad AbuKhalil

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/

Arab league call for so called “peacekeepers” was rejected by the Syrian government.

Sectarianism in Syria

Khaled sent me this in response to a post linking to an article by Ilyas Khuri from Al-Quds Al-`Arabi:
“Some may argue that sectarianism is the least of the problems of Mr. Khoori.

Schizophrenia, as implied by the statement: “لكن لا الفيتو الامريكي سوف يوقف النضال الوطني الفلسطيني ولا الفيتو الروسي يستطيع ان يغّير المعطى الذي رسمه نضال الشعب السوري في انتفاضته الكبرى” is a more dangerous disease, and accounts for multiple political stands, including: sectarianism and anti-sectarianism. Otherwise the gentleman believes that the American leopard can change its spots… which is another symptom of departure from reality!

This latter possible diagnosis is suggested as well by the statement: “ما بات يعرفه الجميع هو ان المعارضة السورية مدت للروس اكثر من يد” which comes some a few months after the ‘National Council’ severed its relations with Russia and exactly 48 hours after هيئة التنسيق refused to travel to Moscow. Other Opposition groups, who are within Syria, did travel to Russia, and did oppose the use of NATO to pulverize Syria in order to complete the encirclement of Russia, China and even India, once Iran is brought down.

[…]

Posted by As’ad AbuKhalil

http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/02/sectarianism-in-syria.html

“amnesty international” is a pro israel organization.

Jad #62

“What do you think of the Americans’s accusations of Alqaeda being involved in the Syrian violence?”

I think Zawahiri will jump on any wagon to claim responsibilities on murders in countries ruled by ‘kuffar’. So it is no surprise but but doing so, he is actually discrediting the FSA that appears now associated with it.
It seems that the USA that is very sensitive to any move by Alqaeda in the region is getting worried that Al QAeda could move its fighters in Syria to use as a new base now that they have almost lost Iraq and on the way to loose Afghanistan. Yemen and Syria are the two possible bases if they able to create enough chaos so the country become lawless. Syria will be a very convenient place for Al QAeda because of its border with Israel ( let’s liberate Al Quds) and with Iraq and because Syria have a majority Sunni population who are loosing a ‘revolution’ against a Alawi minority close to Iran and would welcome any help in toppling the regime.

This is playing very well for the Syrian regime who has been claiming that for a long time and its is certainly shaking the US administration, worried that like in Yemen, that the removal of a resolutely “anti-Al Qaeda” regime may create more problems that it would solve, especially for Israel and the ‘moderate’ Arab neighbours.

If that fear grows within the USA, and the opposition is not able to rally the Syrian army totally on its side, I think we will see a switch in the USA approach to Syria.
It is ironic that the Libya political disaster and the Al Qaeda ambitions may allow the regime to survive long enough to make a long waited transition a reality.

Communication, political, and financial support to be offered by our Arab brethren to the opposition (read SNC), …then come the full recognition of the SNC as the one and only legit representative of the Syrian people.  

The Arab League said it agreed on Sunday to open contacts with Syria’s opposition and to ask the United Nations to form a joint peacekeeping force to the unrest-swept nation in moves swiftly rejected by Syria.
Arab diplomats “will open channels of communication with the Syrian opposition and offer full political and financial support, urging (the opposition) to unify its ranks,” it said in a statement obtained by AFP.

…more
http://news.yahoo.com/arab-ministers-meet-over-escalating-syria-crisis-033005032.html

#137 Tara

“crimes against humanity are taking place in Syria”

The question would be to find out who is perpetrating them.
It won’t be a surprise, its both sides.

Fresh Arab calls for peacekeepers in Syria to further fuel violence – 2012-02-13

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/13/c_122690760.htm

DAMASCUS, Feb. 12 (Xinhua) — Syrian analysts and observers believed that the recent Arab League’s (AL) resolution to dispatch joint Arab-foreign peacekeepers to Syria would further inflame the already-simmering violence in the unrest-torn country.

Loai Hussain, head of the opposition “Building Syria State Party,” regarded the calls as “illogical and unrealistic.” He told Xinhua that such attempts won’t be conducive in solving the Syrian crisis, but rather to escalate it and push it towards a civil conflict.

According to a resolution adopted by Arab foreign ministers on Sunday in Egypt’s capital Cairo, the AL called on the United Nations to form a joint UN-AL peacekeeping force for Syria. They also decided to tighten economic sanctions on Damascus and called on Arab countries to stop all diplomatic cooperation with the regime of President Bashar al-Assad.
[ … ]

Ghufran #130

This new constitution is the basis of the regime’s entire solution. The Russian’s want to see some progress at reform and this is the start. The recipe is constitution and killing, when you take away the cosmetic reforms you are just left with killing.

How is the regime going to sell this, when even its supporters are saying the regime is a failure and the country is garbage?

I really hope article 3 stays in. It’s a perfect example of the hypocrisy and racism of the regime. I am against any religious requirement for any government position. But I would allow a ban on non humans and people who are named after animals.

Bronco
Thank you for the reasonable explanation, however, if as your wort the american may start to be cautious about supporting the Syrian opposition linked to ‘Alqaeda’, then what happened in the AL today won’t play well with the Americans since the gulf goats of qatar and ksa are now taking sides with Alqaeda instead of caring for the States. Isn’t that an issue?
On the other hand it seems that Turkey is very cautious not to offend the Americans and they are very slow in taking any decision or making any stupid statements like the Arabs.
I wonder how is that going to play on the MBs council and how the gulf states will recognize them when they are obviously have no power whatsoever, especially after their armed wings lost big time in Homs and Zabadani.

In this interview, Adonis shares his views on the “revolution” and the Middle East in general; very insightful. The fact that a progressive thinker like Adonis is dismissed by the revolution, while hate mongers like Arrour are glorified, exposed this “revolution” for what it is; a religious dictatorship in the making

Ann #140

Armed Peacekeeping or unarmed monitoring?
Before that, there must be a ceasefire!

Neither the Arab League, nor Turkey or Qatar, nor the SNC have any power on the armed gangs that have hijacked the FSA and the protesters.
The only “ceasefire” is a total capitulation of all the armed man in Homs, Edlib, etc.. like in Zabadani and the return of all these areas under the control of the army.
Then we can think about an unarmed ‘peacekeeping’ force that will monitor the areas to avoid clashes.
In any case Syria cannot accept any ‘armed peace keeping forces’ on its land and rightly so.

El-Arabi Proposes Arab League-UN Monitoring Force for Syria
February 12, 2012, 3:03 PM EST

“The Arab League will ask the Security Council to issue a decision to form a “joint Arab-UN peacekeeping force for monitoring and verifying that a cease-fire is enforced,” according to a draft league statement circulated among reporters in Cairo. The draft also demands that members end “all forms of diplomatic cooperation with representatives of the Syrian regime.”
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-02-12/el-arabi-proposes-arab-league-un-monitoring-force-for-syria.html

Article 3 in the ‘new’ ‘mighty’ constitution not only ban the Christians, it also ban Syrian Kurds as well as Sherkes, Armenians and every NON-ARAB ethnicity in the diverse Syria to apply, how convenient!
Only ARAB MUSLIMS are allowed, which in couple months after the MBs take over Druz, Alawites and Ismailis will be declared NON MUSLIMS/Kuffar, hence they can’t be part of the presidential game either.

122. Humanist

I agree. I often wish that people sitting in the west idly cutting and pasting all day to flood the SC comments section with whatever catches their eye (regardless of its information value) would instead devote a small portion of that energy to cutting and pasting and flooding the office of Senator Lieberman and others who fanatically support Israel at their expense. Now THERE’S a challenge for them!

There was an article in the BBC that mourners have to bury their dead at night to escape the government forces. If you look at the http://www.nytimes.com/ just now before they change the main picture it shows no tanks, no government forces and bright day light.
The picture says: Mourners attended a funeral in Idib for a Syrian rebel.

#141 Tara

Sorry, that’s what the AL said about the opposition:

“Arab League diplomats “will open channels of communication with the Syrian opposition and offer full political and financial support, urging (the opposition) to unify its ranks,” said a League statement obtained by AFP.”

There isn’t a single reference or promises of recognition to the SNC as it announced it earlier and that you were so sure of. That’s another slap to the already red cheek of the SNC.

The AL and western countries’ mantra to the opposition (the 4 or 5 groups) has been and still is UNIFY, UNIFY.
We have seen that these greedy, arrogant and egomaniac SNC would never unify as they believe they are THE opposition.
Unless someone twist their hands, nothing will happen and the regime will continue in the path it has set to itself.

@151. jad said:

I read that the new constitution decreases tremendously the power of the president in favor of the prime minister. Then it is interesting to find out if the same ban applies to the prime minister too.
If the prime minister can be of any ethnic or religious group, then restricting the presidency to an Arab Moslem part of the country majority is not such a big deal.

@ Irritated: You said earier “The Saudis already said they will NOT recognize the SNC as THE opposition group REPRESENTING THE SYRIANS but they MAY recognize it as AN opposition group among others. I doubt the Saudi will be stupid enough to change that position.”

I know very little about how the Saudis think and I intend to keep it that way. But I feel the Saudis are capable of changing their position, and I feel that the change wouldn’t necessarily be a stupid move from their point of view, inside their framework of thinking. The following item published this evening at Ahram.org.eg is reporting from an anonymous “informed source”. I don’t know whether it’s true, but I don’t see why at this stage you should be suprised if it is true.

Date: 12 feb 2012. A press conference scheduled to follow a day of intensive Arab League meetings on Syria was cancelled on Sunday evening due to a lack of consensus among league member states on a proposal by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) to recognise the opposition Syrian Transitional Council (STC) as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, informed sources told Al-Ahram Online. The lack of league support for the GCC proposal reportedly prompted Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Hammed Ben Jassim to cancel the scheduled conference, with the consent of Arab League Secretary-General Nabil El-Arabi.

Arab foreign ministers also failed to agree on a draft resolution to be presented to the UN Security Council on a proposed peacekeeping mission in Syria.

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/34383/World/Region/Arab-League-presser-called-off-due-to-disagreement.aspx

Bronco
There is no specific ban on the prime minister, however, traditionally the Syrian PM has been always a Sunni, except Fares Alkhouri.
Besides, if the future president is just a position without much power what’s the point of excluding non-Arabs and non-Muslims, it doesn’t make sense. No?

http://www.aljazeera.net/Portal/KServices/supportPages/vote/vote.aspx?voteID=3661&yourAnswer=0&actionType=0&dispType=1
only 6% of aljazeera.net readers think that sending observers to Syria will stop the blood shed.

154. irritated said:

The AL and western countries’ mantra to the opposition (the 4 or 5 groups) has been and still is UNIFY, UNIFY.

We already heard from 2 different Syrian opposition parties in the article I posted earlier:

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/13/c_122690760.htm

1. Loai Hussain, head of the opposition “Building Syria State Party,”

2. Qadri Jammil, head of the opposing Popular Front for Change and Liberation and leader of a Syrian Communist Party

They both rejected the arab league dictates.

Irritated, Mawal,
Add this to the ‘strange’ news collection:

After the GCC meeting was canceled KSA is giving Bashar 72 hours to stop military actions or KSA will invade Syria!…(From where? they have to either invade Jordan or Iraq before they reach Syria)

عاجل : ملك السعودية يمهل الاسد 72 ساعة والا سيتدخل عسكريا

اعلنت القناة السعودية الاولى ان الملك عبد الله عاهل السعودية قد امهل بشار الاسد مهله قدرها 72 ساعة للتوقف عن قتل الشعب السورى او اعلان دخول القوات البرية السعودية الى سوريا .

جدير بالذكر ان اخر مهمه عسكرية قامت بها القوات السعودية كانت فى اخماد ثورة البحرين ومهاجمه ميدان الؤلؤة

http://www.akhbarak.net/articles/7047144-%D8%B9%D8%A7%D8%AC%D9%84_-_%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D8%B9%D9%88%D8%AF%D9%8A%D8%A9_%D8%AA%D9%85%D9%87%D9%84_%EF%BA%8D%EF%BB%B7%EF%BA%B3%EF%BA%AA_72_%EF%BA%B3%EF%BA%8E%EF%BB%8B%EF%BB%AA_%D9%84%D9%84%D8%AA%D9%88%D9%82%D9%81_%EF%BB%8B%EF%BB%A6_

160. jad said:

KSA will invade Syria!

If that news is accurate, oil futures will go through the roof derailing the fragile economic recovery.

MAWAL #155

Isn’t surprising that NO western country (except France) and NO Arab country (except Libya and Tunisia) has given ANY recognition to the SNC, not even as AN opposition group?
The SNC has been snubbed by just everybody for the good reason that it is clear that it has no credibility whatsoever within Syria.
The SNC has a strong lobby in the US, France and Turkey, so I am not surprised these lobbies are pressuring some Arab countries (probably Tunisia, Qatar and Saudi Arabia) to push for an exclusive recognition to the SNC.
Yet I doubt Qatar and Saudi Arabia will make any unilateral move in favor of the SNC.

Irritated @144

144. IRRITATED said:

“crimes against humanity are taking place in Syria”
The question would be to find out who is perpetrating them.
It won’t be a surprise, its both sides.
——
Sorry Irritated, it is crystal clear to the Amnesty International who are the perpetrators.  This is from their web page.  I have provided the link in my previous post.  

Amnesty International has concluded that crimes against humanity are taking place in Syria – a finding also made by a UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry in November – and called for the situation to be referred to Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, as well as for a comprehensive arms embargo to be imposed on Syria and an assets freeze against President Bashar al-Assad and his close associates. 

Our freedom champion, Saudi Arabia, used Interpol’s system to get journalist arrested in Malaysia for insulting the Prophet Muhammad on Twitter.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/feb/10/interpol-journalist-arrested-muhammad-tweet

SANA: Syria draft constitution submitted to Assad – February 12, 2012

A commission tasked with drafting a new Syrian constitution submitted a draft charter to President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday, the official SANA news agency reported.

“Assad on Sunday received a copy of the new draft constitution from the head of the national committee charged with drafting a new constitution for the Syrian Arab Republic,” SANA said.

“Assad is to review the draft constitution and refer it to the People’s Assembly before putting it to referendum,” it added.

http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=363954

Irritated @153

“Arab League diplomats “will open channels of communication with the Syrian opposition and offer full political and financial support, urging (the opposition) to unify its ranks,” said a League statement obtained by AFP.”

There isn’t a single reference or promises of recognition to the SNC as it announced it earlier and that you were so sure of. That’s another slap to the already red cheek of the SNC.
——

I agree that formally establishing communication with the opposition and offering FULL political and financial support is a real slap, but not on the opposition face, rather on Bashar al Assad’s face.  Twist it all you want, it is in effect is a declaration of war against the regime…While SNC was not mentioned by name, I believe the SNC is what the AL and the western media mean when they mention the opposition.  All other pseudo-opposition who are willing to negotiate with Bushbush are not recognized by anyone except Bushbush himself and his patrons.

#157 Jad

As long as the official religion of Syria is Islam, it is logical that the president be a Moslem.
While I disagree on the exclusion based on ethnicity (Kurds, Tcherkes), I think that the historical identity of Syria is Arab and the official language is Arabic therefore should be excluded only individuals whose mother language is not Arabic.

The Tunisian debate on this subject:

“When asked about the exclusion of non-Muslims he referenced the overwhelming Muslim character of Tunisia. “Islam is the religion of the majority of Tunisians, and the official religion of Tunisia is Islam. It is normal for the president of the country to be Muslim.”

The Sunni Muslim religious demographic of Tunisia accounts for more than 98% of the country’s population.

Mohamed Benour, spokesperson of the center-left party Ettakatol, said that theoretically non-Muslims should have the right to run for presidency. However, in reality, the president of Tunisia cannot be a Jew or a Christian while the majority of Tunisians are Muslims. “I don’t think the Tunisian president will make an oath on the Bible or Torah. The constitution states that Tunisia’s official religion is Islam.”

I am sorry because civil war is yet a fact. Many syrians will pay with his life to get to destroy or to defend the Assads falacy. But since this is the only possible way Assad left for liberation or for status quo remaining, then this is the only way that can be chosen. Martyrdom for nothing is not a way many can chose.

Assad is going to bite the dust soon. But on the way to defeat Assad will kill as many as he can to try to delay his defeat. Today Assad can be considered done. Arab League declaration and decissions make impossible to the syrian dictatorship to turn down the situation. Arms and aids are going to be sent massively to the syrian people under attack and repression. UN General Assembly is on the way. Assad is encircled by his worse nightmares and due to a serie of incredible mistakes.

Minhebbaks can write whatever they like, critize whoever they need, insult and call pigs the same nations they adored some years ago. But the fact is that syrian regime is falling to pieces in a limited period of time. The fall can take months or even one year or more but Assad is against the ropes. I guess Hafez was a political Lion but Bashar is a domesticated cat who believed himself a Lion. His final will be terrible.

Tara #165

What you say is your own assumptions, if I don’t say fruits of your
own hopeful imagination. The text and the facts do not say that.

“I believe the SNC is what the AL and the western media mean when they mention the opposition. I believe the SNC is what the AL and the western media mean when they mention the opposition.”

So why does the AL ask the opposition to UNIFY? Unify with itself?

Why is the AL resolution calls for a dialog of all “the different groups of the opposition”?

“Twist it all you want, it is in effect is a declaration of war against the regime…”

The AL plan calling for Bashar al Assad was already a declaration of war, this one is nothing new, just words to cover the emptiness of the new plan.

Arab League’s plan for joint force difficult to be realized – 2012-02-13

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/13/c_122690939.htm

“To form a joint force may help stop bloodshed in the Syrian lands, but it has to be based on certain conditions,” said Noha Bakr, political science professor at the American University in Cairo.

“The first condition to get such peacekeeping missions in work is to send them into the lands where violence has already stopped, but the violence is still going on in Syria, so the decision is useless,” said Bakr.

“The second is the approval of the host country. (Syrian President Bashar al-Assad won’t accept such a mission,”

The 22-member AL urged the Arab countries to tighten economic sanctions on Syria and to stop any diplomatic cooperation with those who represent the Syrian regime.

“I don’t think all these sanctions will lead to an end to the Syrian crisis,” Noha said.

Saed Lawendy, political analyst with Ahram Center for Political and Strategic Studies, slammed the AL stance towards the Syrian crisis .

“The decision on AL-UN troops was an attempt by the AL to cover its disgraceful sin, as it wants to refer the issue to the UN by any means,” he said.

“The AL pretends as if it is an active figure in the picture, but in fact it isn’t at all,” he added.

Secular Syrians need to voice strong objection to any constitution that has any religious biases. It would be a shame for Syria to miss this opportunity to show real progress. Such constitution will only embolden the Islamists, and alienate the secularists, leaving the government with more unhappy citizens (oppositions); not a wise move…

ANN

Just the link, remeber. When we see it´s a XINHUANET or RUSSIANMAFIA link we simply do not open. Anyway I do not believe a non-minhebbak reads the posted article. Maybe it serves the aim of reaffirming your own position or having the warm feeling that China or Russia will save you. Well if it can serve you to cross through this bad nightmare you are suffering then we can pass it for once. But please do not abuse.

Irritated

There is 2 version for each political statement. One version is for public consumption and the other is the real intention. Of course, the AL would ask the opposition to unify. But, in the interim, who do you think the political and financial support will pour on? Haytham Manaa or the SNC?

For the record, to the contrary of what you may believe, I do not have emotional ties to SNC in particular. I would support any opposition figure as long as two basic principals are respected, the first is absolutely NO negotiation with Bashar, and the second is Syria belongs to all Syrians.

When your closest friends are a theocracy in Iran and an armed political group that calls itself the party of god, it makes sense to adopt a racist constitution based on Islamic laws… I won’t dwell on this because I’m sure Buthaina, Besho or perhaps one of their stooges are going to explain why having Islam in the constitution is secular, but having religious parties is forbidden.

Hypocrisy and double-speak, that’s all we get from Assad. Whatever the constitutions says, it can always be changed in five minutes if the regime wants – they might have to lower the age requirement for the presidency to 8 so Hafez Bashar can take over, or the IQ test to 70 so Maher can have a go.

169. irritated

The so called “arab league” is completely irrelevant. All they’ve done so far (in football parlant) is “kick the ball” to the UNSC hoping the international community do their dirty work for them overthrowing the legitimate Syrian government and replacing it with Moslem brothers (SNC)

It feels that we are entering a new phase where regime supporters are clinging into wishful thinking trying to console each other.

Commenter HUMANIST above asked a question: What do you think is the main reason why almost none of the people of Aleppo have joined the uprising? Nobody answered the question and I expect nobody will. I haven’t heard anyone in anti-regime quarters with an answer to it. I think they need an answer to it in order for them to understand their situation.

177. Mawal95 said:

Commenter HUMANIST above asked a question: What do you think is the main reason why almost none of the people of Aleppo have joined the uprising?

I did. I gave him an answer but he didn’t like my answer, and was all worked up about it. Then, the moderator deleted my post!

Mawal95

The answer is because everyone in Aleppo loves Bashar and the Baath party too. They are strong supporters of the خلصت theory. Even though it seems that I’m against Bashar, as a Halabi, I secretly adore him.

This revolution is all about the destruction of the utopia that is Syria so it can be delivered it Israel and Homsis can collect a few dollars. The people in Aleppo and Damascus figured it out. The killings are all fabricated, the only people dying are the brave soldiers and innocent minorities who are killed for supporting Bashar. Every pro-government rally is viciously attacked by armed gangs and terrorists.

That’s why “almost none” of the people of Aleppo are with the revolution.

In a press conference on 11 Feb 2012 the Syrian deputy foreign minister Faisal Mikdad denied as “media fabrication” the reports that the Syrian army has used tanks to shell residential neighborhoods in Homs. And he said “law-enforcement officials [in Homs] are moving very cautiously and carefully not to cause any damage to civilians or properties.” — http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-02/12/c_131404986.htm

More bad news to Assad.

Turkey plans to lodge a formal request with the United Nations for a humanitarian operation to help Syrians suffering a “humanitarian tragedy” in their country, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Feb. 11.

“I gave instructions today to lodge a request with the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Geneva on the subject of humanitarian aid,” Anatolia News Agency quoted Davutoğlu as saying during a visit to Washington. “Turkey is launching an initiative at the U.N. office in Geneva to put in place a flow of humanitarian aid towards Syria,” he said. As the OHCHR does not have a humanitarian remit, the initiative would likely be taken up by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA). 
…. 
Speaking of Turkey’s plans to lodge a request for a humanitarian operation, Ahmet Davutoğlu said Ankara would “bring the issue to the attention of the OHCHR” as well as other U.N. bodies specializing in humanitarian aid such as OCHA, which is also based in Geneva. “We will step up our initiatives both to bring the subject before the General Assembly […] and to bring humanitarian aid to our Syrian brothers in the framework of the OHCHR,” he said.
 
(..)…more
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/arab-league-brings-syria-more-isolation.aspx?pageID=238&nID=13618&NewsCatID=352 

@ ANN or @ moderator: Why did the moderator delete ANN’s post answering the question about why Aleppo has been quiet?

@ ANN: Why do you think Aleppo has been quiet?

179. HALABI

That wasn’t so hard, was it?!

Thank you!

182. Mawal95 said:

@ ANN: Why do you think Aleppo has been quiet?

I think HALABI just summed it up eloquently in 179.

Thank you HALABI. I gave you thumbs up.

I’m not sure if this has been posted. Piers Morgan interviews Joan Juliet Buck, the Vogue journalist who wrote the infamous Asma Al-Assad profile last year.

http://youtu.be/4ZF-Bx-yAe0

Ghufran raises the stark and obvious points about a Baathi crafted-in-secret revision of the Syrian constitution.

Constitution-crafting in secret is the old way, to my eyes. It won’t stick. Whatever lump of paper and slogans that comes out of the gnomic vastness of the Presidency next week will not be a constitution that lasts.

The much vaunted dialogue (not ‘consultation’) and comprehensive reform programme was all crafted by the Syrian version of the Kremlin. None of its work was public or part of open public debate. Nothing that Syrians pay for — government — was made transparent or able to be guided by citizens (aside from some pathetic one-way mirror E-Gov polls, and feeble one-way polls at Daypress. No Syrian official media paid any attention to the committee’s work, agenda. No open discussion. No rallies, no speeches. No ‘conference’ on TV. Nothing. The spell of absolute obedience to the party line is well apparent.

So, if it is safe to conclude that a strongly authoritarian government comes up with a secretly-blended document, and then puts it up for a Take It Or Leave it vote in the middle of a civil crisis — what kind of legitimate process is that? I think Ghufran is quite right:

No constitution will survive the corruption and brutality of this regime or any similar regime. without a radical change in the security forces and the judicial system, all of the work related to a new constitution is more like windows dressing.

Carrying a placard calling for constitutional change, gathering in groups to put pressure on government, denouncing the Syria justice, prison and detention system — all these are crimes in the Syrian Penal Code to this day. Anything you say or do can be used against you, and off to detention you may go.

No new party has been allowed that steps out from Mukhabarat dictates of red-lines. No unlicensed party is allowed to hold meetings, by law. All of the “new” licenced parties so far have been an Nth iteration on Socialist/Nationalist/Patriotic bumf, cousins to the Front — or else “new” assemblies of aged communist leadership willing to work under the roof of the nation (under Assad).

Political activity such as several here conduct is punishable by prison in Syria to this day, along with loss of civil rights (to vote, leave country, enter country, register children). By law. What kind of election can be held under this kind of suppression?

No new media outlet has been allowed to broadcast, distribute its printed material, open an office, accredit a reporter.

Official censorship and editorial direction and control rests with the Baathi state in all organs of communication in Syria.

How can a clean referendum, let alone any normal political life occur in today’s Syria? The official timetable for reform seems to me to be a cruel, cynical charade.

A familiar voice from the Xinhua, PressTV and SANA desk expounds that Amnesty International is beholden to Israel, allowing us to infer that a human rights organization that ignores oppressive Israeli practices cannot be an honest reporter of Syria’s woes.

The implication is false, as it turns out. Amnesty International has been accused repeatedly of anti-Israel bias or undue focus on Israeli detention practices, by a wide variety of Zionist and non-Zionist worthies. Ann, can you please post some non-SANAized Xinhua facts about Amnesty International work documenting and reporting Israel practices? AI has been charged (by Israelis) with “obsession with Israel” and “persistently condemns Israel while ignoring suffering elsewhere”.

Irritated raises some questions regarding ARTE reporting, and its journalist Sofia Amara — in response to Juergen’s post of a new report on ARTE’s German-language outlet (I watched the French version at ARTE Reportage).

A silence is a sign of complicity in the manipulation of the media. Not very ethical.

Does she know if Tllass is dead or not?

I asked Sofia Amara in a message via her Facebook page. Her broadcast footage shot in Syria is from December; we do not know if anyone on the December crew is currently holding silent or not, less that they ought be viewed as unethical, or worse, complicit in media manipulation.

As for ARTE being pro-Israel and thus suspect, is it not also true that ARTE, like Amnesty International, pokes its nose deep into the actions, policies, procedures and effects of occupation? See their special reportage on Palestine dated just last fall: La marche vers un État palestinien.

Irritated continues with a subtle demonizing line. If it’s not goat emirates, traitors and losers, fat sheiks, conspiring reporters, if its not an SNC stuffed with garbage, egomaniacs, greed and arrogance, it’s an SNC without a shred of support in Syria.

This is said so confidently, but I wonder: if the SNC membership is partly composed of representative LCCs (local coordinating committees) — who are a main engine of reporting atrocities and coordinating dissent — if LCCs are part of SNC, then how can SNC have, in Irritated’s words, “no credibility whatsoever within Syria.”

Such al or nothing talk! It is as if LCC representative Imad Hussari spoke to us and some cannot yet hear. It is as if we do not keep track of active SNC members inside and outside Syria, the ferment, the discussion, the sturm und drang of politics.

SNC may have low credibility in Syria, or medium, or high, but it hardly has zero level of support. The very nature of calls to Unify were what impelled the original (terrorist traitor MB/Liberal/Kurd/Leftist/Lcc) SNC to form, after fitful starts — as a response to calls for a representative opposition body.

Here’s a question for pro-regime people which I bet they can’t answer. The new Constitution is the backbone of the reforms and it is still not published. Why not?

SANA, dated 7 Feb 2012: “The National Committee tasked with preparing the draft Constitution for the Syrian Arab Republic has finished its work. The Committee, according to a statement received by SANA, would submit the draft Constitution to President Bashar al-Assad.” http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/02/07/398990.htm
SANA, dated 12 Feb 2012: “President Bashar al-Assad on Sunday received a copy of the new draft Constitution from the head of the National Committee charged with drafting a new constitution for the Syrian Arab Republic, during a meeting with the Committee’s members.” http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/02/12/400003.htm

The Constitution is still not published as of today 12 Feb 2012. Why they delay? I have to presume the delay is motivated by something. But I’m clueless as to what. Bashar announced the intention to rewrite the Constitution on 20 Jun 2011 and he said on that date that Article 8 was kaput. Yasser Al-Houria, a senior member of the Baath Regional Leadership, said on 23 Aug 2011: “I hope that the President will soon make an announcement concerning Constitutional reforms. Reform is a national imperative. We all believe in reform.” Then on 15 Oct 2011 the President gave a new Committee four months to do redo the Constitution, which was a needlessly lengthy chunk of time. I think there must be a tactical explanation for why Constitutional reform has taken so long and has still not been published yet. I don’t think there can be an explanation in terms of the amount of labour or dialog required.

By the way, I mentioned a few days ago on this board that I’d heard a leak or rumour that under the newly drafted Constitution a person wanting to compete as a candidate in the Presidential election must receive the endorsements of 20 percent of the members of parliament, and another leak that it was 5 percent. I’ve since read another source, Qadri Jamil, who’s a member of the drafting Committee, who’s saying the percentage is 35 percent. http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/video/2012-02/10/c_131403182.htm

Turkey plans to lodge a formal request with the United Nations for a humanitarian operation to help Syrians suffering a “humanitarian tragedy” in their country, the Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu said Feb. 11.

No problems.

The turks already tried that approach with humanitarian aid for the Palestinians living in Gaza. israel said it will accept it first and then distribute it to the Palestinians after.

The Syrian government will just have to toe the israeli line.

186. Mawal95

I think you don’t publish a DRAFT since it’s still a DRAFT (not the final version) and will probably still have amendments added to it.

#184

Thanks Halabi. She’s frank in describing how she now sees she was manipulated and makes clear her disgust at the Assads. She finds zero excuse for Asma, and remarks at how English she actually found her to be and the regime’s efforts to disguise that.

So Asma Assad: Fakeness within falseness.

Those who keep asking why Aleppo’s been quiet are revealing a lack of basic knowledge (or even recent reading) about Syria.

For those of us with people in Aleppo it is painful to see this on SC.

The policy of appeasement continue with the new constitution, Syria should just adopt the American constitution, works well,

For the people that think that the constitution should be written after the election, i disagree, the majority of the people should not have the right to deny the minorities their rights with a constitution that is difficult to change, The American constitution was written by few people, and still the best around,

The opposition does not think that the president is Muslim enough to be president, so what changes with the new constitution,

President Assad still has a chance to assert himself to his supporters and enemies by cancelling article 3, hope he does or he is going to lose his support, the sad thing is that Muslims need that in the constitution to be sure that the majority Syrians will not vote for a christian, Jew, Kurd or Armenian,

The main thing about the new Constitution is that it eliminates Article 8 of the current Constitution. That elimination creates the “level playing field” that other political parties deserve in competing against the Baath Party in parliamentary and presidential elections.

Article 3 of the current Constitution is an excellent provision as I’ve argued before and it will be retained in the new Constitution and will continue to be very popular with the people of Syria. Article 3 says Islam is a moral anchor. It gives Muslims a concrete statement their morals and values will be upheld by the State. The great majority of the good people of Syria want that moral anchor and they are going to keep on getting it from this regime.

191. Norman said
The policy of appeasement continue with the new constitution, Syria should just adopt the American constitution

You mean equal rights for all!

God forbid! The moslem brothers, saudis, qataris, turks and their aarours will have a fit!

Ann,

I wish that the Christians in the Mideast are treated the way Muslims and Jews are treated in the US, It might be time for the US to declare that the president has to be Christian and put that in the constitution, I am just tired of the discrimination that the Christians face in Muslim countries and in Israel.

Would you believe that Christians are not allowed to be Obstetricians or Urologists in Egypt, I hunk it might be the right time for the Christians to ask for their own country in the Mideast or be treated equally.

New thread started on SC

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=13440#comments

Ann said: “The Syrian government will just have to toe the israeli line.”

If Israel is the world’s worst human rights offender, then why should Assad’s Syria become more like them? Shouldn’t that kind of behavior be opposed. If you want to win me to your side I need more consistency.

Right now the pro Assad position is: “Israel is the enemy, we hate it and want to destroy it, we will never attack directly, but when necessary we will adopt its worst oppressive and apartheid practices, massacre our enemies and deny the world to give them aid.”

As long as Assad wants to mimic Israel, how about bringing some freedom of speech, rule of law and free and fair elections – just for the chosen ones in Aleppo, Damascus and Latakia? I guess that’s the plan. Assad wants to make his regime to resemble Israel so he can show the world how bad Israel is. Brilliant.

191. NORMAN said:

Dear Norman, if article 3 is cancelled, then Islam cannot be Islam with its core doctrine of being discriminatory against all non-Muslims. If the discrimination part is eliminated, then many will abandon the faith, so we should not be going at them too hard mate. They already have a tough life, give them a break.

@175. Tara

I would say that the pro-chaos are seeing a glimpse of hope from the apparent rebound of the Arab league after the humiliation and the rage on the double veto.
Yes, put all your hopes in the Arab League, the Qatar rising star and the decrepit Saudi foreign minister. It’s full of wind as were the previous plans.

Ephansi –
Thank you for your comment. Very interesting. But, consider two “realist” observations:
1. WillSyria will be subject to a dominating influence by the US or Europe should the Assad regime fall? This is a false assertion broadcasted by the present regime. The answer is no. A realistic assessment is the longer civil disturbance continues the more dependent the Assad regime will become on Iran and Russia. That is the outside dominance to anticipate. Iran has already stated dominance is one of its foreign policy goals. Russia holds too many loans from Syria to stand by quietly while its borrower fades away.

2. No coincidental convergence of circumstances will prompt the Assads to leave Syria. They will shoot it out in their bunkers. Several years ago I had a discussion on this site with a top ranking member of the Assad government on how to interpret Syria’s foreign policy. Simply put, the reply was ‘whatever it takes to keep the Assads in power.’ So it is now. Like Gadafi the Assad family will do whatever it takes to stay in power. It precludes any other alternative. Even the Russian diplomats will go home empty handed.

The FSA will have to grow to 15,000 well equipped and trained.
1 year. In the meantime look for assassinations and car bombs to keep the regime unstable and the supportive population anxious.

Mjabali,

Racism is wide spread in the Mideast.sad , really sad,

FIA,

Do you think that the US is repeating Afghanistan of the Eighties in Syria, defeating the Russians only to have the Taliban or the MB,

185. William Scott Scherk

One would attempt to “demonize” a powerful entity, not a weak one that all countries with few exceptions, have ignored after giving them a tap on the back and saying: Unify and come back.
I don’t need to demonize the SNC, it’s a pathetic failure, it needs people like you to believe in them.

I won’t discuss Arte, that’s the result of my personal observations on their programs that favor Israel and Jews with recurrent references to the holocaust much more than Palestine and the Arab suffering. You are free to disagree.

Irritated says, “I won’t discuss ARTE.” That’s fine, it means to me that you acknowledge that yours is but an opinion, not subject to change, challenge or correction, but an opinion nevertheless. Thank you for that acknowledgement. So, confident statements of fact you may make on sundry subjects is but opinion, should you not wish to discuss, respond to questions, accept fact-checks or marshal an argument.

I will just restate my opinion: ARTE is not particularly suspect as a source, neither pro-Israel nor pro-Palestine. My opinion was backed up by a few observations and facts.

As for demonizing the SNC, and cheapening of discourse with Black/White descriptors, I stand by my observations. I say using emotionally-laden language to denigrate and debase an opponent is not good argument and is not particularly effective. It demeans and dehumanizes people on no good basis and to no good end.

Here is what is not acknowledged as an error: If LCCs comprise a part of the opinion landscape in the umbrella SNC, then SNC has more than zero credibility. To repeat that it has none, is failing, will tip into the bog, all run screaming from it … this approaches rant, not reasoning.

I object, as I always do, to the sneering “people like you” slur in irritable comments. This is another cheapening of discussion, and I wish we could avoid it as assiduously as some avoid the ins-and-outs of dialogue.

203. William Scott Scherk

The confirmation of my ‘opinion’ about the irrelevance of the SNC is in Idaf’s post.

44. ALDENDESHE said :

“Naaaaaaah…..Bring me a cashier check/Bank draft from top 20 World Banks to cover the 7 million operational cash SNP is short and I will tell ya how it works. Sorry for the crude reply, but I am firm on that.”

Will SNP accept Bak Draft from those who are currently funding FSA ?

Norman @ 201
The specialists I have talked to, or listened to, say they are very sensitive to the question you raised. The present diplomatic position is to cooperate with middle eastern countries already concerned such as Turkey, Lebanon, Jordan, Saudi Arabia. I include the Saudis because they see the struggle with Iran as their dominant foreign policy concern. In my judgment 2012 may be a difficult year for America to be more assertive.

The situation in Syria is changing. Weapons are pouring over the borders on Syria’s east, south and west. Put in the hands of disciplined rebels, in 2012 the army and police will likely cede parts of the country and life in Damascus will become more unstable. The other senario is Iran and Russia will bring in even more weapons than it has already and the Assad government will terrorize the countryside. I forecast a very unsteady 2012 in Syria.

Not a pretty forecast for those who have so earnestly advocated peaceful non violent solutions, such as yourself and many others. You have my respect. Wish it could happen, but I never thought the Assads would agree to peaceful negotiations unless they felt confident the outcome would be preservation of Assad’s rule with all of the insistutions that suppport the regime intact.

Our own Syrian commando becoming famous

http://syrianwomenmujeresdesiria.blogspot.com/2012/01/syrian-commando-exposed-syrian-commando.html

From what I see,Bashar has decided not to run again,and I support that decision,also,according to his own new const.,his terms have already ended in 2010.
The points I mentioned about the proposed new const. do not refer to that document as “bad” , I raised questions about how the committee was formed,how the referendum will be conducted and how to ensure that this regime,and any new regime,will abide by it.
I did not read the whole document,for lack of time not lack of interest,but I have not seen where it says the president has to be a Muslim,however,even regime supporters have said,until lately,that the article about the religion of the president was not removed,I hope it was,Syria must be a leader for the Arab World in tolerance and human rights and not bow to pressure from islamiists. If there are checks and balances,there should be no veto over the religion of any public figure running for office.