Haplogroup U – Are We More United And Similar Than We Think? – By EHSANI
Posted by Ehsani on Monday, January 9th, 2012
The Syrian crisis was always going to be different than what we all witnessed in Tunisia, Egypt and Yemen thus far. Every country has its own nuances that render it a unique case. One of the glaring characteristics of the current Syrian conflict is to do with its sectarian fault lines.
Syrians like me have always been apprehensive about discussing our sectarian and religious differences. Indeed, the subject matter has been taboo in Syrian society.
Like it or not, it is clear that this crisis has been taking on an undeniable sectarian character. While this is not surprising, I feel compelled to share a personal experience with the many Syrian readers of this note:
Back in 2010, I had read about “The Genographic Project”. This was a collaborative effort by National Geographic, IBM and the Waitt Family Foundation. For a fee, a person’s DNA results will be identified. The task will then involve finding out which branch on the Human family tree this person belongs to. Naturally, I was skeptical at first. In the end, I decided to participate in the project with my brother. I would track my paternal ancestors while he would track our maternal side (each person can only choose one). With a simple swab from our cheeks and a 9-digit number to identify us we were promised an answer within six weeks.
Our DNA results identified us as belonging to the “Haplogroup U”. As geneticists know, scientists believe that the human story begins in Africa sometime between 150,000 and 170,000 years ago, with a woman whom anthropologists have nicknamed “Mitochondrial Eve”. This discovery was made in 1987 when it was confirmed that all people alive on the planet today can trace their maternal lineage to her. This is not to say that Mitochondrial Eve was the first female human. Eve was a survivor. Other Homo sapiens who evolved in Africa around 200,000 years ago became extinct. A maternal line can become extinct for a number of reasons. A woman may not have children, or she may bear only sons. She may fall victim to a catastrophic event such as volcanic eruption, flood, or famine, all of which have plagued humans since the dawn of our species. None of these extinctions happened to Eve’s line.
EVE’s first ancestral line was L1/L0 who are now found exclusively in Africa.
L2 and L3 are also found all over Africa but they were the first descendents who moved north of the continent around 80,000 ago.
Those who made it across the Sinai Peninsula (present-day Egypt) formed group “N”.
After several thousand years, humans sharing a female ancestor from this N clan started making it to Anatolia (present-day Turkey) and formed Haplogroup R.
We now arrive at my own clan:
Most members of my “U” group are found in the eastern Mediterranean who descend from a woman in the R branch who lived around 50,000 ago.
Based in North America and only identified with a 9-digit number, this Genographic Project was able to identify my descendants as having lineages found in the eastern Mediterranean from some 50,000 years ago. This is 46,488 years before Moses. It is also 47,988 years before Jesus and 49,430 before the prophet Mohammad.
Presumably most of the inhabitants of what is Syria today may share the same DNA lineages as me. My wish is for the whole country to participate in this Genome project. It would be interesting if the results confirm that members of the SNC, NCC, Tansiqiyat, Mokhabarat, Fourth division, Baba Amr, Daraa, Free Syrian Army and the whole of Qurdaha all share the same ancestral mother that had reached this land some 50,000 years ago well before all of our Prophets.
Many members of my immediate family have started talking about migrating out of this land. Having reviewed my 2-year old genome test this morning, I wonder if the current Syrian crisis qualifies as my family’s own version of a catastrophic event that forced us out of the region after 50,000 of finding refuge there.
Comments (1,179)
sheila said:
Dear Ihsani,
What can I say. This is a very sobering article. It just puts the whole thing into perspective. Our area has always been very mixed as many civilizations came and went but not before leaving some of their DNA on our land. We have been through wars, major earthquakes and famines, yet, we still managed to keep the diversity that made us who we are. Is our history going to be defined by how a single family managed to get us to kill each other based on religion, sect or ethnicity?. Only time will answer this question. I sure hope it will never happen.
January 9th, 2012, 10:40 am
Mina said:
A welcome reality check by Ehsani.
But unless you convince satellite channels to broadcast it (on a daily basis, preferably), it will remain a voice in the desert.
January 9th, 2012, 11:05 am
Observer said:
It is a catastrophic event.
i spoke with my family recently and they are packed and ready to leave on a moment’s notice and this from family members in their seventies and eighties. There are mysterious explosions and sounds of gunfire during the night. There are reports that even if the President were to give in one inch he would be shot by his own entourage. It is a sectarian civil war. Parts of the country are no go for the army and security services and there are killings based on one’s identity card as happened in Lebanon.
Now for the dialogue part. I know that some would love to give a breathing room for the regime to come out of the hole it dug itself into.
Here are the arguments that I would use based on the regime’s narrative itself.
1. Syria is not a democracy, the President himself and his spouse have indicated that fact more than once. The article 8 of the constitution enshrines the single party system in leading all aspects of life in Syria. Therefore in a country that has an explosion of the population, increased connectivity to the world, increased education there is now a demand for participatory rule and this emplies CHANGE and it implies abolition in principle and in practice of the egregious non democracy. To gain the trust of the people I would remove all armed elements and allow for demonstrations. I would ask the UN and the BRIC countries to come in to help in the transition
2. Syria is ruled by the Arab Baath party and henceforth excludes some non Arab minorities such as the Kurds and Armenians and Circassians from the ability to organize politically and socially and linguistically and culturally apart from the Arab society. Therefore change in the constitution should be immediate. This lag in implementing the reforms is not acceptable and the longer it lasts the less confidence there will be that a new day will emerge.
3. Syria has a directed state economy based on the socialist model that has failed and it was liberalized to allow for a monopoly of the few over the many. Therefore it needs to be dismantled. It is not sustainable. It is draining the effort and resources of the people into a sink hole
4. There is no independent and honest judiciary the LINCHPIN of the reform strategy. Without it there is no way that crony capitalism and graft and arbitrary abuse of power can be stopped. Help from the UN and other bodies is needed to reform the system.
5. There is an urgent need for independent media to enter the country and see what the situation is on the ground. Balance between so called pro and anti regime media can be achieved by having RT and Aljazeera, PressTV and Alarabyia, Chinese TV and France 24, Venezualan TV and the BBC.
I do not know why and how those pro regime would object to any these measures.
Now the narrative of armed gangs will lose its impact as the regime has cornered itself into a dead end. If there are armed gangs and only armed gangs it has not been able to stop them in 10 months and therefore it is incompetent. If it is legitimate resistance and self defense then it has used brutality to crush peaceful demonstrations. If there are genuine opposition then bring them into the regime structure and appoint them as ministers and what have you. If they are genuine opposition they will refuse without substantial guarantees if they accept they commit political suicide at this stage.
6. Question the legitimacy of changing the constitution to allow for the President to be nominated at age 34. How is that possible? 7. Since the office of the president is that of commander in chief and that of supreme court judge and that of the secretary of the party he and he primarily is responsible for the situation. He is either incompetent or dictatorial. He cannot be the agent and target of genuine change without checks and balances. If I were him I would resign and leave the post to the vice president to conduct the change. There are more than one country that can harbor him and give him political asylum. Is there anyone on the pro regime side on this forum against the President resigning in favor of his VP? He failed in quelling the uprising, he failed in remaining within the Arab League, he failed within the international community, he failed in preventing economic sanctions, he failed in bringing stability, he failed in ushering in reforms, he failed in defending the land against Israeli raids and Mossad killings, he failed in preventing terrorist infiltration, he failed in economic reform, he failed in administrative reform. He even failed to bring those that killed and tortured children to justice from the very beginning therefore nipping the crisis in the bud.
January 9th, 2012, 11:14 am
Mina said:
Observer, you gave the answer in the introduction: “There are reports that even if the President were to give in one inch he would be shot by his own entourage.”
Journalists are on the ground (check Ian Black, of the Guardian, for example) but the security apparatuses don’t let them go even when they carry a presidential laissez-passer.
How do you dismantle a million-man security mafiosi apparatus? Look at Iraq. No answer there.
As for the Kurds, Armenians and Circassians, they are pretty well socially organized in clubs, churches and associations. But of course every citizen should have equal rights (including rights of religious belonging): where does that exist in the region? In Israel? No. In KSA? No. In Egypt? No. There should also be some accountability. But have you seen any accountability in the Gulf or Afghanistan, recently?
January 9th, 2012, 11:43 am
mjabali said:
There is no solution to save Syria but SECULARISM.
Secularism is the only way out of this mess.
Secularism is the only guarantee to reign in the lunatics.
Secularism is the only way to have the people of Syria live in the Modern Times.
Secularism is the only way that would make all Syrians equal.
on the other hand: there is no other way but dialogue between all parties to stop this madness. There is no other way. War is going to drag for a long time and cause too much pain and destruction for ALL.
Also, there is no way to force real change but through elections and the establishment of REAL parties that represent the Syrian people.
You can not force change through this type of opposition that live outside that is as rigid as a rock. Cool heads should come out and take charge instead of these hell bent unknown people. We need opposition that is ELECTED and not APPOINTED.
This is the only way and the last ten months proved this and the next months is going to prove it again, because as I could tell the hostilities and this stalemate is going to keep on going because as we all know most of the participants in this mess are hard headed.
Syria needs calm people to lead through this storm.
January 9th, 2012, 11:53 am
Juergen said:
Just found this gruesome footage which is from last Friday, it was shot at Ar Rifai Mosque in Damascus, the same mosque which got stormed and devastated some months ago. Just click on the link, then on the peicture youll find in the beginning of the article. The commentary is in german, but the pictures clearly indicate who is beating who.
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/ausland/0,1518,808015,00.html
January 9th, 2012, 12:49 pm
canadian said:
For years, i observed the Syrian population do nothing with the government it had. my father and his generation were instrumental in forcing the french out, they risked their lives to promote freedom and equality for all. i am once again proud of the Syrian population for standing up. now it is time for cool heads to prevail.
we can not allow the country to disintegrate or live through a civil war. the president must become a leader and step aside to allow reform to take place. had he implemented changes when he first took power, he would have been acclaimed as a hero of the country. now he will leave as a brute dictator that was completely inefficient and ineffective. he will follow the examples of Saddam Hussain and Moubarak n Egypte. hiw sad.
January 9th, 2012, 12:50 pm
defender said:
ZOO
What do you offer?
January 9th, 2012, 1:19 pm
Jasmine said:
Being Racist or Secterian doesn’t diminish with brains,it is a disease,a sickness,it may incubate in ignorance but it doesn’t necessarily disappear with the gaining of knowledge and wisdom.
January 9th, 2012, 1:57 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Ehsani
This is interesting, my daughter just had her results last week and she told me that her DNA showed her origin is african and later anatolian too, as you said this happened 100,000 years ago, I think most of us has the same DNA it is possible Eve and Adam were created in Africa, I like to see this test which cost around $100,should be done on several people from different areas, if All came from Africa then this add credence to the theory that we all came from Adam and Eve
January 9th, 2012, 2:26 pm
Ehsani said:
majedkhaldoun ,
Was it Haplogroup R?
January 9th, 2012, 2:28 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
I will ask her
but interesying that an american friend of her had this test too and he too had his root first in Africa
January 9th, 2012, 2:39 pm
Ehsani said:
As the note states, everyone on this planet does.
January 9th, 2012, 2:43 pm
ann said:
Shooting the Messenger in Syria – January 8th, 2012
At issue is discrediting Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa al-Dabi. He’s Arab League observer mission head in Syria. More on him below.
The phrase “shooting the messenger” is centuries old. Shakespeare wrote “Don’t shoot the messenger” in Henry IV, part two. In Antony and Cleopatra, she reacted to Antony jilting her by threatening to treat the messenger’s eyes as balls.
In Antigone, Sophocles said, “No one loves the messenger who brings bad news,” and Plutarch’s Lives noted that a messenger bearing bad news “had his head cut off for his pains.”
Today, corrupt politicians and media scoundrels vilify truth-tellers of all stripes. Among others, they include social justice activists and whistleblowers. Even Washington-approved generals heading pro-imperial missions aren’t spared when they fail to deliver the goods.
Al-Dabi was considered safe. Sudan backed NATO’s Libya war. Assuming automatic anti-Assad support appears misguided. At least so far.
Instead of reporting regime violence, his comments included:
* “The situation seemed reassuring so far;”
* “Yesterday was quiet and there were no clashes;”
* “Some places looked a bit of a mess but there was nothing frightening;” and
* Assad’s government has been “very cooperative.”
In other words, he contradicted Western propaganda and confirmed evidence of an externally generated insurgency. As a result, he’s now assailed as unreliable. Efforts are made to discredit him. Media scoundrels cheerlead it. It’s their customary role. “Shoot the messenger.”
On December 27, State Department spokesman Mark Toner stopped short of vilifying al-Dabi but came close saying:
Arab League monitors “bear a heavy responsibility in trying to protect Syrian civilians from the depredations of a murderous regime.”
Because Al-Dabi points fingers elsewhere, he’s assailed for not cooperating.
On January 2, New York Times writer Kareem Fahim headlined, “Chief of Arab League’s Mission in Syria Is Lightening Rod for Criticism,” saying:
Instead of confirming regime violence, he said Assad’s “government had withdrawn tanks and artillery from cities, and had released nearly 3,500 prisoners” after releasing hundreds more in November and December.
As a result, he’s now criticized and accused of being “mired in controversy: a Sudanese general who, (unnamed) rights activists say presided over the same kind of deadly and heavy-handed tactics in Sudan that the Arab League is seeking to curb in Syria.”
Al-Dabi “once ran Sudan’s notorious military intelligence agency, and has only compounded the criticism with his recent statements.”
“Last week, he spoke dismissively about the damage in Homs….On Sunday, he publicly contradicted an Arab League observer,” saying government snipers were shooting people. Interviewed by BBC, he said: “But he didn’t see.” He was referring to a hypothetical case.
Fahim and other Times contributors are notorious propagandists. During NATO’s Libya war, his managed news lacked truth.
Last summer on the Progressive Radio News Hour, Middle East/Central Asia analyst Mahdi Nazemroaya (from Tripoli) said some Western journalists performed fifth column duties. They included intelligence gathering, locating targets, and supplying bombing coordinates for NATO.
Fahim reported from Tripoli and other Libyan locations. Whether he was involved isn’t known. Clearly, however, his material lacked credibility.
Now he’s at it again, vilifying al-Dabi, calling him a “liability,” blaming Sudan’s “friendly relations with Syria,” and claiming “government attacks on civilians have continued,” instead of pointing fingers the right way.
In his book, “Winning Modern Wars,” General Wesley Clark said Pentagon sources told him two months after 9/11 that regime change was planned in Sudan, as well as Iraq, Libya, Syria, Iran, Somalia and Lebanon.
Balkanizing Sudan was planned. Strategy included vilifying its government. At issue is political and economic ties to China, especially for oil.
Washington wants it cut off. North Sudan has modest reserves, but southern Sudan is oil-rich. In July, it declared independence. As a result, China may be affected.
Though exaggerated and overblown, Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir’s disturbing human rights record is pretext, including in Darfur and South Sudan. So is Al-Dabi’s likely role. He held various high posts, including military intelligence chief, foreign security director, deputy military operations chief, and Qatar ambassador.
At issue is geopolitics; namely, Washington’s longstanding plan for unchallenged world dominance. Achieving it requires turning independent regimes into client ones, including violently when other methods fail.
Al-Dabi’s not cooperating. On Monday, Arab League director Nabil al-Araby said he’s a “capable military man with a clean reputation.” However, he conceded that mission observers can’t stop bloodshed. At the same time, he didn’t lay blame on Western-backed insurgents.
On Sunday, the Arab League’s advisory body called for mission observers to leave because violence continues. Its pro-Western Kuwaiti head, Ali Salem al-Deqbasi, claims ongoing regime “flagrant violations,” adding: Observers allow “cover to commit inhumane acts under the noses of the Arab League.”
In fact, most AL members are notorious pro-Western despots. Their record includes attacking, killing, arresting, imprisoning, and brutalizing their own people for protesting for political, economic and social justice.
They’re also serial liars, pointing fingers the wrong way instead of at themselves and Western partners.
On December 27, Foreign Policy (FP) associate editor David Kenner headlined, “The World’s Worst Human Rights Observer,” saying:
Al-Dabi “may be the unlikeliest leader of a humanitarian mission the world has ever seen. He is a staunch loyalist of Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who is wanted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for genocide and crimes against humanity….”
Fact check
Charges are way overblown. The ICC is a notorious imperial tool. It ignores appalling Western crimes, especially America’s. Its chief prosecutor Jose Luis Moreno-Ocampo is a reliable Washington ally.
WikiLeaks exposed his willingness to ignore US war crimes in Iraq. Throughout his tenure (since June 2003), he abstained from imperial prosecutions. He chose soft targets like Libya and Sudan. He absolved culpable major ones in Washington, Tel Aviv, London, Paris and other Western capitals.
FP is the influential Council on Foreign Relations’ publication. Kenner serves as associate editor. In his customary role, he assailed al-Dabi. He made unfounded/overblown accusations. He criticized his “checkered past,” including responsibility “for the worst atrocities during the Darfur genocide.”
His report lacked credibility. It was one-sided attack journalism. It’s typical corporate media managed news, not the real thing everyone deserves.
January 9th, 2012, 2:44 pm
jad said:
Mina
Observer is a typical case of the expat supporting the unknown, they are armed with no plans, no visions, no solutions, nothing really but the illusion of making Syria like Switzerland in one day and to transform Syrians to become ‘Harvard’ graduates geniuses the moment they take power, hence, the moment he or his family are in the middle of the chaos that he himself was a pioneer for in some way or another, at that exact moment they are ready to use their money and leave for the West safe haven and forget all the mess behind them for others to deal with without even the need of trying to fix it.
Mission accomplished!
Very depressing and alarming comment Mr. Observer. Welcome to the grave yard called ‘new’ Syria that we’ve been promised with…Thank you!
January 9th, 2012, 2:57 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
Dr. majed Khaldoun,
If your daughrer has African and Anatolian DNA,
What is your family’s skin colour ?
Also don’t you think Syrian Sunni Arabs are generally darker skinned than Alaiwi, Jabali Christains, Druze and Kurds ?
Also Anatolian DNA is no surprise. Is your family origin in rural area or urban area in Syria ? Because I have geard that Sunnis from urban areas in Syria are of 2 types – one is Turkish and the other is Bedouin.
January 9th, 2012, 3:12 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
JUERGEN,
What is the meaning of “Biedermeier” in German ?
January 9th, 2012, 3:14 pm
ann said:
Syria – Turkish Public Rejection to Erdogan Government Policies Mounts – 1.9.2012
The Turkish public rejection to the policies of the Justice and Development Party government led by the prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, mounts as the Turkish people see Erdogan’s government as a tool to implement Western schemes in the region.
Ahmet Aday, Chairman of the Peace and Democracy Party-Ankara Department, told the Syrian TV “In Turkey, we have a regime, prime minster and a state committing genocide against its own people, and Erdogan is in no position to speak about Syria or Libya or the Middle East, especially in the Islamic world.”
A Turkish citizen said “We have plenty of problems that need to be tackled. As for other countries, we can help them but we don’t have the right to interfere in their affairs.”
”I don’t think there is a crisis in Syria, ” said another Turkish citizen, ”but it is a pressure exerted on Syria by the imperial powers, and we regret the fact that Turkey has become involved in it. I call upon the Turkish government to remember that Syria is a brotherly country and we don’t have to stand by imperial powers.”
January 9th, 2012, 3:16 pm
Mina said:
Poor Tlass, he felt some salaf empathy for Majed, but now that the guy may have a droop of black blood, he got all up side down. He is also unable to understand the sentences in Ehsani post. Poor thing.
I hope Bilal will pardon you…
January 9th, 2012, 3:17 pm
Son of Damascus said:
Khaled,
http://lmgtfy.com/
This website will teach you step by step how to use the mystical wizard called Google. Google will answer all your questions, you just need to type you question in, and press enter. I even filled out “Meaning of Biedermeier” for you.
Side note I never knew Salafis are into 18 century German furniture
January 9th, 2012, 3:29 pm
Antoine said:
2. ALDENDESHE معتز الدندشي said
“As long as they have self sufficiency in wheat, corn, burghul, tahini, garlic, Onion and Lemons, Rice and meat and fish, they well maintain a stable economy”
But the three major agricultural producing regions – Idlib , Daraa and Deirezzor – are totally engulfed by the uprising and almsot daily clashes between the Army and the defectors. large agricultural producing regions in these parts are infested with armed gangs and it is estimated half the men are in prison and half are in the armed gangs. Plus the agricultural lobby in Daraa and Idlib and openly allied against the reime ( correct me if you have more accurate info abt this). Don’t you think picture is a bit gloomy ?
January 9th, 2012, 3:35 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
S.O.D,
That was not funny. The reason I am obsessed with that question is some Lebanese Christian friends of mine are very racist and claim that Syrian sunnis expecially in big cities like Damascus, Aleppo, Homs, are originally Turkish, and they say it is proved by their smaller, mongolid eyes, shorter height and stockier frame. I introspected and found that it was partially true, most of the people do look like Anatolians, when compared with the Minorities, who have more Phoenician / Assyrian/ Kurdish features.
An Alawi member of this blog, name of MJABALI, also claims the same thing.
Abt Biedermeier, I was reading a book about Berlin’s 1848 revolution by Hagen Schulze and came across the word several times, I looked up Google Translate but it couldn;t provide an answer.
January 9th, 2012, 3:43 pm
ann said:
Pope Benedict XVI says observers can foster ‘fruitful dialogue’ in Syria – 9 Jan, 2012
http://www.upi.com/Top_News/Special/2012/01/09/Pope-praises-Arab-team-in-Syria/UPI-79791326121213/
http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/news/news-by-industry/et-cetera/pope-benedict-xvi-says-observers-can-foster-fruitful-dialogue-in-syria/articleshow/11424638.cms
VATICAN CITY: Pope Benedict XVI on Monday called for a “fruitful dialogue” between political forces in Syria with independent observers present and said Arab Spring states should oppose discrimination.
“I pray for a rapid end to the bloodshed and the beginning of a fruitful dialogue between the political forces, encouraged by the presence of independent observers,” he told 160 ambassadors to the Vatican in a speech.
The Arab League is leading an observer mission in Syria aimed at halting 10 months of bloodshed between the government and the opposition, but it has been accused of only serving to cover up the regime’s deadly crackdown on protests.
The head of the Roman Catholic Church pinpointed youth malcontent in the wake of the global economic crisis as one of the driving factors behind the Arab Spring revolutions and said that the countries affected were still in a state of uncertainty.
“It seems evident to me that the best way to move forward is through the recognition of the inalienable dignity of each human person and of his or her fundamental rights,” he said.
“Respect for the person must be at the centre of institutions and laws.
“The building of stable and reconciled societies, opposed to every form of unjust discrimination, particularly religious discrimination, represents a much vaster horizon than that of short-term electoral gains,” he added.
The rise of Islamist political forces in North Africa following last year’s revolutions in Egypt, Libya and Tunisia has raised concern in the Vatican over the future of Christian minorities in the region.
January 9th, 2012, 3:57 pm
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
Dear Ehsani,
Welcome back!
“…This is 46,488 years before Moses. It is also 47,988 years before Jesus and 49,430 before the prophet Mohammad”.
Great wording. I believe that what you meant, is that we’re all humans, regardless of our beliefs, and let’s “go back” to being the wonderful warm family, that we used to be 50,000 years ago.
factually, this is not true. Humans always fought each other. Just like any other species. Sometimes my cats fight until there’s blood and the living room’s floor is filled with bunches of fur.
This is a basic and a natural fight over territory and resources. Our aim shouldn’t be stopping this fight, because it’s in our genes. It should be, reshaping the means and the quality of this fighting.
.
January 9th, 2012, 3:59 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
It is possible that Enki / Ptah was in his daughter Adobe (ruled land) in South Africa- Kenya area where he needed the [ADAMU] a Sumerian word meaning “Primitive Worker” to dig up the monatomic Gold mines and toil for food after the IGIGI (otherwise known today as the Grey, which Orientals evolved from) rebelled and refused to do the hard labor any longer. But other evidence points to a Northern origin of ADAMU in Sinai Peninsula or around that area in Atlantis as Sinai was connected to the land mass that is now sunk and is called the Mediterranean Sea.
All the crap you read in Quran is a third hand re-hatch of Hebrew / Moses 5 books which are proven now that they are nothing more than at a second hand, corrupt version, re-hatched from older texts and stories told in the Babylonian [Enûma Eliš ] Enuma Elish tablets.
So grow up and stop believing in crap like the Quran and that Moses sat for 40 days and 40 nights on Mount Sinai talking to god and sharing Coffee latte. The problem with Modern Science today, is that (by evil design) is segmented into fields and each one of the science fields researched and reached conclusions that are in direct conflict with other results reached by other fields. Great ideas only came from those with multi-desplanary (Uuuggh you spell it please) researchers.
http://www.enkispeaks.com/Essays/14EnkiThothNinmahCreateSlaveSpecies_2.html
http://www.enkispeaks.com/Essays/16EaLovesHybrids_Mother2Adapa&Titi_2.htm
http://www.bibliotecapleyades.net/sitchin/sitchinbooks_enki02.htm
January 9th, 2012, 4:00 pm
ann said:
Syria’s Assad to address the nation Tuesday – 2012-01-10
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/10/c_131350927.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will appear on the state-TV to address his nation on the recent development in Syria and the region, the private Elkhbaria TV and the official SANA news agency reported.
The speech due on Tuesday, the third since the eruption of unrest in mid-March of last year, comes as the country is facing escalating violence and crescendo of international condemnation as well as repetitive calls on Assad to step down.
January 9th, 2012, 4:04 pm
ann said:
Syrian Muslims, Christians hold prayers in honor of unrest victims – 2012-01-10
Colette Khoury, a prominent Syrian novelist and poet, said ” there is no sectarianism in Syria … Throughout history, they have worked hard to foment sectarian rift but they didn’t succeed . .. All of us are brothers and the conspirators are working from outside Syria and want to damage our homeland … they are traitors.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/10/c_131350909.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) — Syria’s Christian and Muslims clergymen held on Monday a joint prayer ceremony at a time-honored church in the Syrian capital of Damascus in tribute of Syrians killed since the eruption of violence in Syria in mid March.
The clergymen, during the prayers performed at al-Salib (cross) church, voiced support with their leader in the face of what they described as a “conspiracy” against Syria, and urged the Arab League (AL) and the United Nations “to change their opinions about Syria …”
Scores of Muslim and Christian Syrians gathered outside the church and waved the Syrian flag and photos of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Some held up banners that read “stop the terror against Syrian people.”
The Syrian government said a total of 2,000 army and security personnel were killed during the months-long unrest, while the United Nations put the death toll in the country at more than 5, 000.
During the ceremony, Syrian grand Mufti sheikh Ahmed Hassoun addressed the Syrian president saying “we, at this year, wait for reunion, closing ranks and the unity of the word … combat the corruption and we are all with you … draw a new road for this country to take it away from this big plot and to stop bloodletting.”
“Enough killing,” he appealed to those who he said carry weapons, and said “drop your weapons and Syria would be reborn this year.”
Hassoun underscored the depth of national unity in Syria and urged the AL and the United Nations “to change their opinions about Syria and not to bet on sects, doctrines, parties and groups in Syria.”
Meanwhile, Archbishop Luqa Khoury, who led the prayers along with Hassoun, said Syria is subject to a “sinister conspiracy” adding the United States and its agents want to damage Syria. He said those “killers have killed civilians, damaged the infrastructure and smashed service establishments.”
Colette Khoury, a prominent Syrian novelist and poet, said ” there is no sectarianism in Syria … Throughout history, they have worked hard to foment sectarian rift but they didn’t succeed . .. All of us are brothers and the conspirators are working from outside Syria and want to damage our homeland … they are traitors.”
The government said the turmoil in Syria is not an uprising but the work of terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs.
January 9th, 2012, 4:06 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
SNP,
Since you know a lot abt racila theory,
Can u tell me the credibilty of claims that a large proprtion of Syria’s Sunni Arabs are actually descende dfrom Turks ?
January 9th, 2012, 4:17 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Khaled Tlass
I am white with blue eyes
I am urban from the heart of Damascus,Rawda,Maliki area
January 9th, 2012, 4:19 pm
Atheist Syrian Salafist Against Dictatorships said:
#3
if the President were to give in one inch he would be shot by his own entourage
I have believed this to be the case from day one, and it is more valid today. Besho is but a front for the million strong Mafia organization that has been in control of the deep south-style prison farm called Syria.
#5
Secularism is the only way out of this mess
Grand, sign me up.
But, wait, is that enforced secularism? i.e. secularism at the point of a gun? And doesn’t that contradict the latter part of the post calling for elected opposition? What happens if the people elect Islamists as did happen in the Palestinian and Algerian elections and recently the Tunisian and Egyptian elections? Hamas was OK because it in line with the Mumana3a charade, but all the others are not, eh?
I get the feeling that your use of the secularism requirement is a roundabout way of saying that since the current Assadist Mafia and Associates claim to be secular (which they are NOT by any stretch of the imagination as the owner of this here blog would testify to the fact) then they should rule because secularism trumps everything else, including the freedom of the people to choose whomever they want to be their representatives in both government AND opposition.
Sneaky.
Speaking of electing one’s representatives, I want to give my vote to George Sabra to be the next president of SNC. Dr Ghalioun was excellent but electing Mr. Sabra should shut up those who keep carping on about “outsiders” as he is nothing but an insider who also happens to know the inside of many a Syrian jail.
January 9th, 2012, 4:20 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Aldendeshe said:
@ 21. Antoinesaid. You are right in what you said. But there is a catch here: The reason these agriculture and grain baskets areas are against the regime now, and they were adamant supporter of the Baathist Socialism and Land Confiscation for decades, which gave them the land for free and seeds for almost nothing, is that now, with the living standard in Syria diverged between rural and the Four Season hotel area, it became unsustainable for farmers to toil the small plot of land given to them by the Baathists with cows and asses for a whole year, only to sell the harvest to a Socialist State owned companies that, by laws, dictate to the farmers, what it will pay for the bushel. That price is not negotiable and there is no other way to sell the harvest except to the Socialist baathshit mafia monopoly. They cannot export it, because again, only the Socialist State has the export monopoly, and farmers cannot simply go and obtain export license except for Alawites areas growing Strawberries.
The price the State pays per bushel, having this monopoly, has reduced the farmers into serf with servitude to Socialist Baathists overlords. Now they see that the Agha and Beik was more generous and fair, at least their kids got educated and into the army college, where is now they discovered their bleak future. Add to this now the draught and it will be worsening in the next seven years.
January 9th, 2012, 4:22 pm
Antoine said:
. “Now they see that the Agha and Beik was more generous and fair, at least their kids got educated and into the army college, where is now they discovered their bleak future”
@SNP by Agha and beik do you mean the Ottomans ? Serioulsy ? Do you think Syria was better-off economically under the Otomans than it is now ?
And btw Land Confiscation in Syria started as early as 1958 under the UAR, the Baathists merely consoldiated it and accomodated some members of the Landed Class into the Baathist-Socialist mafia-bureaucracy. ( again correct me if u have more accurate info ).
January 9th, 2012, 4:44 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
@ 32. Antoinesaid:
Of course I am exaggerating and speaking subjectively. At no time in the past 1000 years and to this day has Syria, as a nation, prospered and excelled in any field. But the status of peasant and workers now, under Baathist Socialism scam (which is really nothing more than a cover mean for Alawites to control all economic aspects of Syria) is far worse that they were in 1963 or 1958, of course, this is relatively speaking, look at Syria landscape, do you see any sign of that glorious achievements going back a 1000 years or in present?
Yes, it was that idiot Sunni deceiver Al-Hakir Abd Alkhaser (Nasser) that started the land confiscation fad in Syria, but the early Sunni Baathist confiscated far more and reduced land owning families of Syria to face abject poverty or immigration. Alawites Baathists did nothing more than consolidated the evil plans and that is why I give them a break and a chance to undo what the Sunnis did.
January 9th, 2012, 5:03 pm
Darryl said:
32. ANTOINE said:
“And btw Land Confiscation in Syria started as early as 1958 under the UAR, the Baathists merely consoldiated it and accomodated some members of the Landed Class into the Baathist-Socialist mafia-bureaucracy. ( again correct me if u have more accurate info ).”
Yes, that incompetent fool Jamal Abdul-Nasser exported this ridiculous policy to Syria, which he used in Egypt to Bankrupt the Copts who were large land owners as well as owned private enterprises.
Many of Syria’s current problems can be traced to that unproductive era when some idiot in Syria thought it was a good idea to unite with Nasser, who was, BTW, an Islamist in sheep’s clothing.
January 9th, 2012, 5:11 pm
Observer said:
Good. I feel that the post has actually brought some frontal brain responses rather than the thalamic hypothalamic region responses ( those areas of the brain involved in rage and basic instincts ) except I must confess for JAD who is incredibly frustrated with I presume of course an inability to defend the indefensible.
Again you cannot be the agent of change and the agent of control of that change for you will not allow for change to happen.
Again it is but a rumor that the President is held hostage and this is one explanation the other is that he is part and parcel of the security house of cards that his father built.
So far everyone of his speeches has resulted in significant disappointment.
Again it is not secularism that holds the key to this crisis it is the establishment of the following
1. Independent uncorrupted judiciary
2. Open information for 1. to work effectively
3. Outside help to establish 1. and 2.
4. Removal of all violence from any confrontation between the people and the regime
As for those that are promoting the false idea that the Syrian people need long education in the travails of free and democratic system let me remind them of the following
1. Shishakli resigned and did not hold on to power.
2. The rule of law applied to all. My father used it to stop a clerck from opening his mail and listening on his conversations in the early fifties.
3. Corruption was punished as the son of the President in 1946 was denied entry to the university until he passed his baccalauret despite the insitence of the president. I know it for my grandfather was dean of the university and refused the enrollement on the basis of lack of credentials. The President backed down.
Finally what happened was coup d’etats and this is where our forefathers failed us. If they had demonstrated against the use of force to change the political system on the matter of pure principle then we would not have had recurrent forceful change of regime until we got to the most ruthless of the mafiosi who insituted in the 70’s the security house of cards for he knew how he came to power and therefore knew how he could lose power.
For JAD and others the entire security house of cards need to uprooted. It can happen peacefully or with a lot of damage. The ball is in the regime’s hand. Unfortunately there is a complete lack of imagination and a complete lack of foresight and a deep feeling that this piece of earth belongs to a family.
How do you dismantle the private smuggling ports and borders crossings and airport lounges that are used by the regime cronies? How do you calmly dismantle the telephone monopoly which was about to be extended to the electricity sector/ how do you dismantle the graft associated with every weapon purchase and every public work project how do you fix the 40% loss of water due to poor pipe and irrigation system in urban areas? how do you bring back the textile industry after the market was opened to cheaper imports for the sake of a quick profit.
That is why the people are fed up and they cannot imagine going back just as the other side cannot imagine having to account for anything.
It does not matter where I live or what I do and whether I am in comfort or not. What matters is that the country is in catastrophic situation and cannot be fixed from within the regime. I am actually proposing a way out by bringing BRIC experts and UN experts and even Iranian experts to help transition to a civil society and a truth and reconciliation commission that allows for everyone’s greivances to be aired and for protection against revenge and all the terrible things that a civil war will surely bring.
Remember the baboon who puts his hand in the nook of a tree to eat a fruit or a nut lodged there and cannot get his fisted hand out of the nook and dies of hunger as he refuses to let go. This is what is happening.
January 9th, 2012, 5:20 pm
Juergen said:
Khaled
We usually talk about this time in german history (1815-1848) in not a good way, we usually think that people lived under their own dictatorship of morals and remained silent in times of oppression. The people were much more interested in their own affairs than in the country. It was a time of social order and social control.
We say until now people with a limited mind or imagination.
But we do owe something of the famous german romantic era, which enabled the literature and the culture in a whole to prosper, so for me its a two sided medal, Goethe our Hafis wrote the Diwan in this time, for me the best book ever writen in German relating to the divine. He wrote in in it:
God is the Orient!
God is the Occident!
Northern and southern lands
Rest in peace in his hands.
January 9th, 2012, 5:21 pm
SQI said:
The Syrian nation is one society
your DNA does not matter.
from Antun Saadeh:
The Syrian nation is the product of the ethnic unity of the Syrian people which developed throughout history.
This principle defines what constitutes the nation mentioned in previous articles. lt reveals the concrete actuality of the nation which is the final outcome of the long history of all the people that have settled in Syria, inhabited it, interacted with each other and finally became fused in one people.
This process started with the people of the Neolithic age who preceded the Canaanites and Chaldeans in settling this land, and continued through to the Akkadians, the Canaanites, the Chaldeans, Assyrians, Arameans, Amorites, and Hittites. Thus the principle of Syrian nationhood is not based on race or blood, but rather on the natural social unity derived from homogeneous intermixing. Through this principle the interests, the aims and the ideals of the Syrian nation are unified and the national cause is guarded against disharmony, disintegration and strife that result from primitive loyalties to blood ties.
The alleged racial purity of any nation is a groundless myth. It is found only in savage groups, and even there it is rare. The Syrian nation consists of a mixture of Canaanites, Akkadians, Chaldeans, Assyrians, Arameans, Hiffites, and Metanni as the French nation is a mixture of Gauls, Ligurians, Franks, etc… and the Italian nation of Romans, Latins, Etruscans, etc… the same being true of every other nation.
The Syrian nation denotes this society which possesses organic unity. Though of mixed origins, this society has come to constitute a single society living in a distinguished environment known historically as Syria or the Fertile Crescent. The common stocks, Canaanites, Chaldeans, Arameans, Assyrians, Amorites, Hiffites, Metanni and Akkadians etc…whose blending is an indisputable historical fact constitute the ethnic-historical-cultural basis of Syria’s unity whereas the Syrian Fertile Crescent constitutes the geographic-economic-strategic basis of this unity.
January 9th, 2012, 5:25 pm
Antoine said:
SNP, I also heard that Nasser deliberately tried to create a famine in central Syria so as to break the Bedouin tribal resistance which was being funded by Saudia ( as part of Saudi-Nasser cold war), basically between 1958-1963 large parts of rural Syria was depopulated as the tribal people moved to new slums and ghettos in Hama and Homs, ultimately Hama and Homs proved to be breeding grounds for Islamists.
January 9th, 2012, 5:44 pm
defender said:
something for the second half of glass !
Dylan Ratigan (rightfully) loses it on air
January 9th, 2012, 6:16 pm
Darryl said:
38. ANTOINE said:
“SNP, I also heard that Nasser deliberately tried to create a famine in central Syria so as to break the Bedouin tribal resistance which was being funded”
I am interested in SNP’s answer too. However, Antoine, as I have said previously here, during Nasser’s experiments in Syria, there was a drought and it literally stopped raining in Syria. Hence, Syrian’s in that era used to joke that Allah hated Nasser so much that, He halted rain fall in Syria and all the wheat crops failed. Nasser wanted Syria as the bread basket for Egypt the same way it was as a bread basket for the Romans.
January 9th, 2012, 6:22 pm
defender said:
http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=25955
January 9th, 2012, 6:29 pm
Tara said:
Despite the cost in human lives, I am happy that the AL’s mission failed. If succeeded, Bashar reign of terror could have perpetuated itself through reincarnation a Bashar- like leadership. What we need is radical changes, a complete and total reset of the mentality of governance.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/09/syria-protesters-arab-league
….
Despite all that, the failure of the Arab League’s initiative may be preferable to its success. Had there been more progress, the result would have been protracted talks about political “reform”.
The fact is that the Syrian regime cannot reform – at least, not to the extent that would be required – without destroying its own support base. Negotiating with the regime at this late stage would not lead to a workable solution. It would simply create a diversion and throw President Assad a temporary lifeline.
That, more or less, is what has already happened in Yemen where the Gulf Cooperation Council’s “transition” plan has stymied a revolution. Though the “transition” may result in President Saleh leaving office and being confined to the sidelines, its overall effect is to prevent radical change by preserving the status quo.
The reality, harsh as it may be, is that there is very little that outsiders can usefully do to help the Syrian uprising beyond isolating the Assad regime as much as possible. This does not mean the revolution is doomed but it does mean the protesters will have to depend mainly on their own resources. In the long run, that could be beneficial if it eventually produces a government that is self-reliant and relatively independent of foreign influences.
….more
————
Dear OTW
I very much noticed your statement alerting everyone to “read more” that “Tara likes” on Heetan. Thank you for remembering. Heetan is blossoming. I was pretty impressed with Amal Hanano joining in. She has such a wonderful style, fine art I call it. And the site is being noted in international press. Amazing achievement in just short time!
January 9th, 2012, 8:04 pm
ann said:
U.S. ready to offer technical help to monitors in Syria: spokeswoman – 2012-01-10
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/10/c_131350973.htm
WASHINGTON, Jan. 9 (Xinhua) — The United States said on Monday that it stands ready to offer technical help to the Arab League monitors, as the regional bloc has offered to give enough time for them to fulfill their mission in trying to stop the violence in Syria.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland noted that the monitors had asked for technical help before they entered Syria in late December, and the United Nations as well as the European Union were providing some help.
“We’re obviously supportive of any direct requests that come to us,” she said at a regular news briefing. “You know, as I said, this is a first outing for them as international monitors. It’s a very important and valuable capability for the Arab League to be developing.”
“And we obviously stand by to help if that’s wanted,” she added.
At their meeting in Cairo on Sunday, the Arab League foreign ministers decided to continue the observer mission in Syria, despite criticism that the mission had so far failed to stop violence and bloodshed in the country.
The meeting also called on the Syrian government to “completely and immediately” implement the peace plan it signed with the regional group, which calls for ending of all acts of violence, withdrawal of armed elements from populated areas and the release of all political prisoners, in addition to allowing in monitors to conduct a field study of the situation in the Arab nation.
Syria was plunged into turmoil in mid-March when anti- government protests broke out.
The ministerial meeting asked for a report by Moustafa Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi, a Sudanese serving as head of the observer mission, by Jan. 19.
“So we will await their final report and their assessment,” Nuland said. “I think we are not going to give a report card to this mission until we see what the Arab League monitors’ own report is.”
January 9th, 2012, 8:29 pm
jad said:
The two pathetic liars Erdogan and Oglu, talking about their fear of a civil war in Syria while they keep financing, arming, supporting and facilitating every terrorist armed militia in Syria.
While the renewed King Ghalyoun and his MB cornice never stop calling for the NATO to come and screw every inch of Syria.
«المجلس الوطني» يمدّد لغليون وأردوغان يحذّر من حرب أهلية
حتى ساعات متأخرة من ليل أمس، لم يكن المجلس الوطني السوري قد أعلن رسمياً تجديد انتخاب رئيسه برهان غليون لشهر إضافي. فيما أعلن أن سبب التمديد يتعلق «بإيجاد آلية أفضل للانتخاب»
شهدت العاصمة التركية إسطنبول حدثين بارزين أمس. فمن جهة، أعلن مصدر في «المجلس الوطني السوري» أن أعضاء المجلس المجتمعين في المدينة جددوا انتخاب برهان غليون رئيساً للمجلس، فيما حذّر رئيس الحكومة التركية رجب طيب أردوغان من نشوب «حرب أهلية وحرب ديانات» في سوريا.
وقال المصدر في «المجلس الوطني»، وهو على اتصال مباشر بمندوبين يحضرون الاجتماع المغلق: «مددت فترة الأشهر الثلاثة التي تولى فيها غليون المنصب، لشهر آخر ريثما يجري التوصل إلى آلية أفضل لانتخاب رئيس المجلس». إلا أن المتحدثة باسم المجلس، بسمة قضماني، رفضت تأكيد القرار، مشيرة إلى أن بياناً سيصدر في ختام الاجتماع.
تجديد انتخاب غليون جاء على وقع تحذير أردوغان الذي أعلن في مؤتمر صحافي أن «تطورات الوضع هناك تدفع في اتجاه حرب أهلية، حرب عنصرية، وحرب ديانات ومجموعات. لا بد لهذا أن يتوقف». وأضاف: «على تركيا أن تؤدي دوراً. إن اندلاع حرب أهلية سيجعلنا في وضع صعب (…) ويضعنا تحت تهديد».
وانضمت تركيا إلى الجامعة العربية والدول الغربية لفرض عقوبات اقتصادية على دمشق. وقد علقت اتفاقات مالية مع سوريا وجمدت أرصدة لمسؤولين سوريين. وأعلن أردوغان أن بلاده باشرت تطبيق هذه العقوبات، مؤكداً أنها ستُشَدَّ بحسب تطور الوضع.
وكان وزير الخارجية التركي أحمد داوود أوغلو، قد دعا المعارضة السورية إلى مواصلة تحركاتها ضد نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد «بالسبل السلمية»، وذلك خلال لقاء عقده الأحد مع وفد من المجلس الوطني السوري، على ما قال متحدث باسم الخارجية الاثنين.
وقال المصدر، لوكالة «فرانس برس»، إن «المعارضة السورية تطالب بالديموقراطية، وقلنا لهم خلال لقاء أمس (الأحد) إنه ينبغي القيام بذلك بالسبل السلمية»، مشيراً إلى أن برهان غليون رئيس المجلس الوطني كان من بين أعضاء الوفد العشرة الذين شاركوا في الاجتماع. وهو اللقاء الثالث منذ تشرين الأول بين داوود أوغلو والمجلس الوطني السوري، كما أعلن المتحدث الذي أضاف أن المجلس الوطني افتتح مكتباً في إسطنبول. كذلك، يتولى العقيد السوري المنشق رياض الأسعد من تركيا التي لجأ إليها قيادة عمليات عسكرية يشنها «الجيش السوري الحر». لكن الحكومة التركية أعلنت مراراً أنها لا تسمح بشنّ هجمات على سوريا من الأراضي التركية.
إلى ذلك، استكمل المجلس الوطني السوري أمس حملة على فريق عمل المراقبين التابعين للجامعة العربية، وذلك بعد أن قررت الجامعة إبقاء بعثتها هناك. وقالت عضو المجلس ريما فليحان، إن التقرير الأولي للجامعة العربية يتسم بالغموض الشديد ويتيح للنظام المزيد من الوقت. وأضافت أن المعارضة تريد أن تعرف ما ستفعله الجامعة إذا واصل النظام السوري قمعه في وجود المراقبين. وقالت إن الأمر يحتاج في لحظة ما إلى إحالة سوريا على مجلس الأمن.
وقالت جماعة الإخوان المسلمين، في بيان يحمل عنوان «بعثتهم لم تعد تعنينا»، إن البعثة متهمة بحماية النظام «من أي موقف جاد للمجتمع الدولي». وندد البيان الذي يحمل توقيع زهير سالم، الناطق الرسمي باسم جماعة الإخوان المسلمين، بـ«استرسال الأمانة العربية للجامعة العربية في استرضاء النظام السوري حتى قبل استقبال بعثة المراقبين العرب».
من جهتها، وجهت الهيئة العامة للثورة السورية نداءً إلى الأمين العام للجامعة العربية نبيل العربي، وإلى الوزراء العرب «نعت» فيه مبادرة الجامعة العربية لحل الأزمة في سوريا، ودعت إلى إحالة الملف السوري على مجلس الأمن. وقال أحمد الخطيب، عضو الهيئة، إن تقرير الجامعة العربية كان من الممكن أن يكون أكثر إدانة، لكنه على الأقل اعترف بالحاجة إلى نشر المزيد من المراقبين.
(رويترز، أ ف ب)
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/29243
January 9th, 2012, 8:40 pm
Ghufran said:
Speaking of DNA
هذي دمشقُ وهذي الكأسُ والرّاحُ إنّي أحبُّ وبعـضُ الحـبِّ ذبّاحُ
أنا الدمشقيُّ لو شرّحتمُ جسدي لسـالَ منهُ عناقيـدٌ وتفـّاحُ
و لو فتحـتُم شراييني بمديتكـم سمعتمُ في دمي أصواتَ من راحوا
زراعةُ القلبِ تشفي بعضَ من عشقوا وما لقلـبي –إذا أحببـتُ- جـرّاحُ
الا تزال بخير دار فاطمة فالنهد مستنفر و الكحل صبّاح
ان النبيذ هنا نار معطرة فهل عيون نساء الشام أقداح
مآذنُ الشّـامِ تبكـي إذ تعانقـني و للمـآذنِ كالأشجارِ أرواحُ
للياسمـينِ حقـولٌ في منازلنـا وقطّةُ البيتِ تغفو حيثُ ترتـاحُ
طاحونةُ البنِّ جزءٌ من طفولتنـا فكيفَ أنسى؟ وعطرُ الهيلِ فوّاحُ
هذا مكانُ “أبي المعتزِّ” منتظرٌ ووجهُ “فائزةٍ” حلوٌ و لمـاحُ
هنا جذوري هنا قلبي هنا لغـتي فكيفَ أوضحُ؟ هل في العشقِ إيضاحُ؟
كم من دمشقيةٍ باعـت أسـاورَها حتّى أغازلها والشعـرُ مفتـاحُ
أتيتُ يا شجرَ الصفصافِ معتذراً فهل تسامحُ هيفاءٌ ووضّـاحُ؟
خمسونَ عاماً وأجزائي مبعثرةٌ فوقَ المحيطِ وما في الأفقِ مصباحُ
تقاذفتني بحـارٌ لا ضفـافَ لها وطاردتني شيـاطينٌ وأشبـاحُ
أقاتلُ القبحَ في شعري وفي أدبي حتى يفتّـحَ نوّارٌ وقـدّاحُ
ما للعروبـةِ تبدو مثلَ أرملةٍ؟ أليسَ في كتبِ التاريخِ أفراحُ؟
والشعرُ ماذا سيبقى من أصالتهِ؟ إذا تولاهُ نصَّـابٌ ومـدّاحُ؟
وكيفَ نكتبُ والأقفالُ في فمنا؟ وكلُّ ثانيـةٍ يأتيـك سـفّاحُ؟
حملت شعري على ظهري فأتعبني ماذا من الشعرِ يبقى حينَ يرتاحُ؟
January 9th, 2012, 8:45 pm
jad said:
وصفة لعلاج الشتاء الإسلاموي
جان عزيز
هل من ردّ حضاري إنساني على شتاء الإسلامويين؟
كل الحراك القائم اليوم يبدو محاولات تجريبية للتفاعل مع هذا الشتاء. حتى في الخطين اللذين يمثّلان ردّي الفعل البارزين ضد أن يكون ثوب السباحة في حمامات تونس منّة من ذمة الغنوشي، أو أن يكون قداس الميلاد في القاهرة قمة من سماح محمد بديع…
الخط الأول حسم خياره واستقراره على مكوِّن الخوف من الإسلامويين، وذهب بالتالي إلى المواجهة معهم، على نحو واضح أو مقنَّع. والصحيح أن ضمن هذا الخط قراءات مختلفة، تتمايز في أسلوب التظهير أو التقديم، لكنها تلتقي عند التناقض الأساسي. فثمة كلام مثلاً عن أن من الخطأ اعتبار المنطقة الممتدة من المحيط إلى الخليج، والمستهدفة بكرة ثلج شتاء الإسلامويين، أرض معركة واحدة. فهي جغرافياً وبشرياً واستراتيجياً مقسومة بوجود إسرائيل. وهي لذلك منطقتان: شمال أفريقيا والمغرب العربي من جهة، والشرق الأوسط الصغير بمتحده المشرقي من جهة ثانية. ويقول أصحاب هذه القراءة إن ما يسري على «المغرب» لا يصح على «المشرق». في المنطقة الأولى قد توجد أكثرية مذهبية تمثّل حقلاً خصباً لسلطة الإسلامويين. لكن في المشرق الأمر مختلف. فلا أكثرية هنا، بل جماعات متساوية القوة والنسبة، ولا قدرة لتعميم نموذج تونس والقاهرة والرباط وطرابلس الغرب. فأقليات الأمازيغ والإحيائيين والأقباط وسواهم بين السويس والأطلسي، ليست هي نفسها الجماعات الوطنية المتكافئة في القوة والحضور، بين شيعة ومسيحيين ودروز وعلويين وسنّة، بين الخليج والمتوسط… باختصار يقول أصحاب هذا الرأي إن المواجهة مع الإسلامويين ممكنة في «المشرق»، وبالتالي يغلِّفون «حلف أقلياتهم» بنظريات وتسويغات لتحسين شروط المواجهة وظروفها.
وفي المعسكر نفسه من يقول إن خيار المعركة ممكن لأن الإسلامويين أنفسهم، فور وصولهم إلى السلطة، سينتجون تفسّخات وتذررات داخل معسكرهم. بين إخوان وإخوان أولاً، وبين إخوان وسلفيين ثانياً، وبين إسلاميين وحلفاء في «الوهم الربيعي» ثالثاً، من ليبراليين أو يساريين أو ديمقراطيين رومانسيين، سرعان ما سيكتشفون فورية تحوّلهم مجرد «قدد» لجسر العبور إلى السلطة، أو حطب أحلام ثوراتهم… ما يسهل لاحقاً وسريعاً عملية المواجهة مع الإسلامويين. هذا الرأي يمثله بوضوح معظم الخطاب السياسي لمسيحيي الأكثرية الحكومية الحالية في بيروت اليوم.
في المقابل ثمة رأي آخر، ينطلق في خلفياته الكامنة والدفينة من الخوف نفسه، لكنه يذهب في التعبير عن ذاته في صيغة خيار «الهروب إلى الأمام»، وذلك بالتماهي مع شعارات «الربيع» والمزايدة في طروحاته، والرهان على مآله ونتائجه. ويحكي أصحاب هذا الطرح، بوضوح وقلق وأمل، أن رهانهم الأساسي هو أن يؤدي الزلزال الحاصل في المنطقة إلى كسر مطلقية الفكر الإسلاموي، على مستوى الاجتماع السياسي ومنطق الدولة وعلاقتها بالدين، وبالتالي إلى نقله في مدى زمني مقبول إلى مرحلة ظهور «بروتستانت» إسلاموي داخل تلك الفئات، تماماً كما حصل مع المسيحية قبل قرون حين كسرتها الثورات وأجبرتها على إنهاء «مساكنتها» مع السلطة. يعتقد أصحاب هذا الرأي أن مرحلة انتقالية في هذا السياق قد تحمل خسائر أو سلبيات، لكن مؤداها النهائي سيكون حتماً زاهراً ومشرقاً. ويمكن إعادة قراءة خطاب كامل لسمير جعجع ليلة رأس السنة الفائتة، يمثّل بامتياز هذا الطرح.
بين القراءتين هل من ردّ أفضل وأمثل؟ يقود البحث عن ثغر الخطاب الإسلاموي إلى تحديد مكمنين قابلين للطعن: الحريات، وفلسطين.
أولاً الحريات لأنها حافز إنساني لا يمكن تجاوزه، ولا تقدر أي أدلجة أخرى على تخطّيه، حتى المقدَّس، خصوصاً متى تزاوجت الحريات مع حافز آخر هو الجوع. هكذا يمكن لثنائيتهما أن تمثّل رأس الحربة المثلى لمواجهة المقدس الإسلاموي.
ثانياً، فلسطين. فالثابت أن في عمق الشتاء الإسلاموي عملية تسووية في إطار الصراع الإقليمي والدولي، على حساب فلسطين.
وذلك انطلاقاً من النظرية الأميركية ـــ الإسرائيلية بأن «السلام القومي» مستحيل، فيما «الصلح الديني» ممكن، إذ ثبت لمحور واشنطن ـــ تل أبيب أن العروبة لا يمكن أن تسالم إسرائيل، بينما يمكن الإسلامويين أن يتصالحوا مع «اليهود»، بذرائع السوابق والتاريخ، فيما جغرافيا القوميات جامدة، لا تتزحزح ولا تتجزّأ. وهو ما ألزم حافظ الأسد البقاء ثلاثة عقود متعنّتاً عند مترين من شاطئ طبرية، فيما عاد أنور السادات مغتبطاً من كامب دايفيد، ومتأبطاً شعار «دولة العلم والإيمان» لإمرار مشروع مناحيم بيغن تحت ستار الدين.
بين حلف الأقليات ـــ خيار الانهيار، وحلف «الرقص مع الذئاب» خيار الانتحار، وحدهما شعاران يختصران الرد الممكن: الحريات وفلسطين، على الأقل كي لا يكون الإسلامبولي قد اغتال السادات ليذهب هو إلى تل أبيب.
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/29233
January 9th, 2012, 8:48 pm
Afram said:
Human palaeontology, the study of ancient remains, suggests that the species Homo sapiens originated in Africa, probably East Africa, about 200,000 years ago, but it was only about 60,000 years ago that anatomically modern humans began their long and arduous journey out of Africa.
In recent years, with the ability to decode the human genome quickly and cheaply, it has been possible to compare the palaentological record with historical information on human movements stored within our DNA.
Over time, human DNA has amassed a bewildering variety of mutations that scientists can now exploit to build a picture of how men and women today are descended from the first people who moved along these ancient migratory routes.
One of the first big surprises of the Genographic Project, for instance, is the discovery that the initial journey out of Africa may not have been through the “northern route” of the Sinai Peninsula and Middle East, as initially proposed. Instead, they seem to have moved out of Africa by a “southern route” at the Bab-el-Mandeb straits at the mouth of the Red Sea separating East Africa from southern Arabia.
This migration may have required boats to traverse the shallow waters that would have existed there 60,000 years ago. But even with this apparent physical obstacle, scientists believe that the DNA analysis of the female X chromosome of present-day humans suggests it is still the most likely route taken out of Africa. “This was really the first study that had used that kind of genetic information to look at global patterns of human variability,” said Spencer Wells, director of the Genographic Project and explorer-in-residence at National Geographic, one of the project’s sponsors.
“What it confirmed was that the earliest migration out of Africa, and probably the major migration, had gone out through the Bab-el-Mandeb Strait to India. There could have been subsequent migrations out via the Middle East but certainly the majority of people trace back to that original migration event, and we’re still tracing out the details of exactly what happened.”
The DNA evidence shows clearly and unequivocally that Africa was the homeland of anatomically modern humans, neat, independent confirmation of the palaeontology. The genetic variation within people living in Africa, which is related to the length of time spent on the continent, is greater than all the variation in the rest of the world put together. “We see more variation in Africa than in any other group so that tells us we’ve been accumulating variation for longer than in any other group,” Dr Wells added.
“Outside of Africa, we see more variation in India than anywhere else which tells use we’ve been living in India for longer than any other place outside Africa. The question is, how many waves of migration out of Africa were there, and what were the timings of those events?”
The information being gathered by the Genographic Project is starting to put dates to the key crossroads in the greatest journey of human history.
The Maternal Journey of Mitochondrial DNA
The haplogroups of our five UK-resident volunteers originated from different parts of the world many thousands of years ago.
Lionel Shriver, American author: V haplogroup
One of the great migrations west from Central Asia eventually resulted in the haplogroups found in western Europe. Lionel Shriver’s V haplogroup is relatively new, probably about 15,000 years old, suggesting that it came about as the ice sheets retreated at the end of the Ice Age, allowing small bands of early Europeans to expand their range from their southern refuges into the ice-free territories further north.
Evgeny Lebedev, Russian-born businessman: H haplogroup
Closely related to the V haplogroup, the H group of Evgeny Lebedev is one of several that are associated with the European expansion that occurred at the end of the Ice Age. This colonisation is associated with the spread of the Aurignacian culture, which is known for significant innovations in the design and use of tools. H is considered a western European lineage, but it is also found further east.
Bonnie Greer, British-American author: L3 (Subclade L3b)
The “L” haplogroup is closest to “Mitochondrial Eve”, a woman who lived about 150,000-170,000 years ago. It is commonly found among Africans today. The L3 subclade of Bonnie Greer’s maternal line eventually left Africa about 60,000 years ago and is ancestral to all non-African mitochondrial groups.
Shazia Mirza, British-Asian comedian: M haplogroup
The M haplogroup of Shazia Mirza is one of two that are known to have split off from the L3 group soon after emerging from Africa. People carrying the M haplogroup are likely to have travelled across the Bab-el Mandeb Straits into Arabia from the Horn of Africa. From there they went on to populate India, south Asia and Australia. The Mhaplogroup is common in southern parts of Pakistan and north-west India.
Ching-He Huang, Taiwanese-born chef: B haplogroup
The B haplogroup of Ching-He Huang is commonly found in East Asia and derives from a nomadic migration across the steppes of Central Asia between the Caspian Sea and Lake Baikal. It is about 50,000 years old, one of the founding populations of East Asia and today comprises about 1 in 5 of the Chinese population. It is also found among Polynesians and Native Americans, indicating just how far this ancient genetic group has travelled.
Indigenous tribes
In addition to analysing DNA from about 425,000 members of the public, the Genographic Project has so far taken about 75,000 DNA samples from indigenous tribes around the world. The aim is to study the genetic roots of traditional people to shed light on their origins and broader relationships with people living elsewhere.
An intriguing journey of discovery of my chromosomes’ origins
Paul Nurse
I was very interested to take part in this analysis as in my lifetime as a geneticist, sequencing the human genome has made possible extraordinary advances in understanding our origins. This analysis identifies tiny changes on the Y-chromosome that do not interfere with the function but do identify where the chromosome comes from.
The changes are markers that can help trace back the origin of the chromosome. Different changes arose in different places in the world, at different times. This allows you to determine the journey your own Y-chromosome has taken before it ended up in you. For example knowing you have a particular change can tell you that one of your ancestors lived in Central Asia 35,000 years ago.
I have known for years the general pattern of migration of Homo sapiens from East Africa to western Europe but it somehow feels more real when you realise that your own Y-chromosome has actually taken that journey. I had not fully appreciated how far east the common migration routes of my ancestors are likely to have gone, taking them deep into Central Asia.
It is strangely reassuring to know that two out of three people I see on my way to work will have a Y chromosome related to my own.
Sir Paul Nurse, Nobel Laureate, is president of the Royal Society
January 9th, 2012, 8:51 pm
jad said:
While Turkey through its special voodoo magic of ‘facilitate’ and ‘support’ every radical terrorist militia ‘predict’ a civil war, Qatar role is to finance and to keep doing its trick by sabotaging any Arab effort to help Syria:
مصادر دبلوماسية عربية | دور قطر التآمري يتعرّض لنكسة.. ومعلومات عن “تنشيط” المجموعات المسلّحة قبل التقرير النهائي
قد يكون التقرير التمهيدي الذي أعدته بعثة المراقبين العرب إلى سورية، والبيان الذي صدر عن اجتماع اللجنة الوزارية العربية في القاهرة أول من أمس، لا يفيان بالغرض المطلوب على مستوى التعاطي بحيادية كاملة وشفافة مع الواقع الميداني الذي يحصل في سورية، إنما جاء التقرير ومعه بيان اللجنة الوزارية يتعاطيان “بحد أدنى” من التوازن في النظرة إلى الأحداث التي مرت وتمر بها سورية، ولهذا تنظر مصادر دبلوماسية عربية في بيروت بحسب صحيفة البناء إلى ما تمخضت عنه وقائع الساعات الماضية وفق الآتي:
1 ـ لأول مرة يخرج اجتماع عربي بناء على تقرير بعثة المراقبين بنوع من الحيادية، من حيث عدم وضع مسؤولية العنف بالكامل على عاتق الحكومة السورية، بل إنه تحدث عن وجود جماعات مسلّحة، تقوم بهكذا أعمال مسلحة، وبالتالي تعاطى البيان ببعض المصداقية مع حقيقة الأمور التي تجري داخل سورية، بعكس ما جرى في اجتماعات سابقة للجنة الوزارية ومجلس وزراء الخارجية العرب، حيث أخذت هذه الاجتماعات بحملة التحريض والأكاذيب التي مارستها ما تسمى “المعارضة السورية” ومعها وسائل الإعلام المشبوهة في الخليج، وغيره، فكان أن جاءت بيانات هذه الاجتماعات تتناغم مع الحملة الأميركية ـ الغربية، ضد سورية.
2 ـ لقد أعطت اللجنة الوزارية، بناء على تقرير بعثة المراقبين، المهلة الزمنية المعقولة لعمل هؤلاء قبل الحكم على نتائج عملهم، وهذا يعني أن كل المحاولات والضغوط التي مورست قبل الاجتماع على عمل المراقبين، سقطت أمام التسهيلات التي قدّمتها السلطات السورية للبعثة.
3 ـ لقد ظهر بعض الانحياز في مضمون بعض بنود بيان اللجنة الوزارية العربية، من خلال اعتبارها أن الحكومة السورية نفّذت جزئياً التزاماتها للجامعة العربية، وبالتالي رهن استمرار عمل المراقبين بتنفيذ سورية هذه التعهدات، ما يعفي “المعارضة السورية” التي ترعى المجموعات المسلحة من مسؤولية تسهيل عمل المراقبين، ودعوتها لوقف اعتداءات هذه المجموعات، وكأن المطلوب من السلطات السورية ترك هذه المجموعات المسلّحة تعبث بالأمن والاستقرار، من دون أن تقوم الأجهزة الأمنية بأي رد فعل، لإعادة الأمن والاستقرار إلى الداخل السوري.
إلا أن المصادر الدبلوماسية تلاحظ، رغم بعض الثغرات في بيان اللجنة الوزارية ـ سقوط المحاولات القطرية المدعومة من بعض أنظمة الخليج والدول الغربية، لخروج الاجتماع بمواقف تتناغم مع حملة القوى المتآمرة على سورية، انطلاقاً مما سبق الاجتماع، والذي تشير إليه المصادر بالتالي:
أولاً: لقد سعت قطر، مدعومة غربياً، لكي يكون البيان منحازاً إلى جانب ما يسمى “المعارضة”، وتالياً أن يحمل السلطات السورية مسؤولية تعثّر مهمة المراقبين، بعكس التسهيلات التي قدمت لهم من جانب الحكومة السورية. وقد ظهر هذا المسعى القطري ـ الغربي بالحملة الشديدة التي تعرّض لها المراقبون في الأيام القليلة التي سبقت اجتماع القاهرة.
ثانياً: لقد فشلت محاولات قطر المدعومة غربياً من الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة، لكي يخرج الاجتماع بطلب تطعيم المراقبين العرب بمراقبين “دوليين” كخطوة أولى، لفتح الباب أمام تدويل الوضع في سورية، وفق ما تطالب به “المعارضة”، وخاصة ما يسمى “المجلس الوطني السوري” لكن هذه المحاولة سقطت في ظل ما تضمنه التقرير التمهيدي للمراقبين، علماً أن رئيس وزراء قطر كلف نفسه قبل اجتماع القاهرة بزيارة الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة في نيويورك، سعياً وراء دفع اجتماع اللجنة الوزارية لتبني هذا التوجه، وذلك في سياق الدور المشبوه الذي تلعبه قطر في الأزمة السورية.
لذلك فالسؤال هو هل أن التقرير في نهاية الشهر الأول من عمل المراقبين والمتوقّع في 20 الشهر الحالي سيكون متوازناً، ويساهم في حلحلة الوضع داخل سورية، أم تتجه الأمور نحو اتجاه مغاير، بما يفتح الطريق أمام التدويل؟
في معلومات المصادر الدبلوماسية، أن قطر ومعها واشنطن وعواصم غربية، إضافة إلى “المعارضة السورية” وخاصة “مجلس اسطنبول” سيعملون لممارسة الضغوط على المراقبين، للخروج بتوصيات تفتح الباب أمام التدويل، ولذلك ستتضاعف في الأيام المقبلة حملة التحريض والابتزاز وبث الأكاذيب والأخبار الملفقة عن الوضع الأمني في سورية، وفي الوقت نفسه، ستسعى هذه القوى مجتمعة في سبيل تحريك المجموعات المسلحة، للقيام بأكبر قدر ممكن من الاعتداءات والتخريب ضد المنشآت الحيوية والقوى الأمنية والمواطنين، بما في ذلك اللجوء إلى “العمليات الانتحارية”، على غرار ما حصل في دمشق يوم الجمعة الماضي، لإظهار أن العنف يتسع في سورية، سعياً وراء تحميل السلطات السورية مسؤولية توسع الأحداث الأمنية.
لكن المصادر تعتقد أنه حتى لو نجحت القوى المتآمرة بذلك، فإن هذا الحلف سيصطدم بالموقف الروسي والصيني في مجلس الأمن، مع احتمال سعي هذا الحلف لإصدار مواقف عن هيئات “دولية أخرى” أو إقليمية ضد سورية، وهذا يعني في تقدير المصادر، أن الصراع سيبقى مفتوحاً حول الوضع في سورية، خصوصاً وأن رهان الحلف الغربي ـ الأميركي، يعمل لاستنفاد كل ما يملك من أدوات المؤامرة على سورية، وما تمثل عربياً.
البناء
January 9th, 2012, 9:00 pm
ann said:
Turkish party slams meddling in Syria – Tue Jan 10, 2012
Leader of Turkey’s Felicity Party Mustafa Kamalak says any military intervention in Syria would damage peace and security in the Middle East
http://presstv.com/detail/220223.html
He closely observed the situation in Syria during a recent visit to the Arab country.
Heading a delegation from his party during his visit to Syria, Kamalak held talks with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and several Syrian officials.
He said that the Syrian president had told the members of the delegation that he did not want them to paint a rosy picture of the situation in Syria and had said that he only expected them to reflect the reality they have witnessed in the country.
Kamalak said that journalists who had accompanied him and his delegation in Syria will share their observation with the public.
Some of the correspondents who had visited Syria say that what they witnessed in the country was different from what they were told by Turkish media.
The party’s visit to Syria comes as the Turkish government seems to be determined to continue its pressure on the Syrian government.
Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu announced Turkish sanctions against Syria in November 2011.
The Felicity Party says that the ongoing crisis in relations between Ankara and Damascus will damage the interests of both countries.
January 9th, 2012, 9:12 pm
Ghufran said:
Jad
The regime will only respond to pressure, and regardless whether Bashar is sincere or not,he is the head of a vicious mafia that transformed Syria into a lost land, then came the anti regime militia and an army of sudden politicians and revolutionists. I often clash with Islamists on this blog but you need to keep in mind that if there was a decent government in Syria those Islamists will have a very small audience to preach to.
Syrians deserve better,you have to agree with me on this one.
January 9th, 2012, 9:13 pm
Ghufran said:
CNN in Syria:
http://m.cnn.com/primary/wk_article?articleId=urn:newsml:CNN.com:20120109:syria-robertson-qa:1&branding=&category=cnnd_world&pagesize=10
January 9th, 2012, 9:21 pm
Ghufran said:
في بلاغ تقدم به إسلاميون على خلفية رسمه نقاباً ولحية لميكي ماوس
إحالة رجل الأعمال المصري نجيب ساويرس إلى المحكمة بتهمة ازدراء الأديان
القاهرة – مصطفى سليمان
January 9th, 2012, 9:26 pm
Ghufran said:
انقرة- (ا ف ب): دعا وزير الخارجية التركي احمد داود اوغلو المعارضة السورية الى مواصلة تحركاتها ضد نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد “بالسبل السلمية” خلال لقاء عقده الأحد مع وفد من المجلس الوطني السوري، على ما قال متحدث باسم الخارجية الاثنين.
وقال المصدر لوكالة فرانس برس إن “المعارضة السورية تطالب بالديمقراطية، وقلنا لهم خلال لقاء امس (الأحد) انه ينبغي القيام بذلك بالسبل السلمية” مشيرا الى ان برهان غليون رئيس المجلس الوطني كان من بين اعضاء الوفد العشرة الذين شاركوا في الاجتماع.
Translation: turkey for the time being is only watching.
January 9th, 2012, 9:31 pm
Afram said:
10. majedkhaldounsaid:
“it is possible Eve and Adam were created in Africa”
hahaheeheeeeeeeehahaooooooooffffffffff……!!!?????
majed,s brain cells are flat/—————————dead
religion is the human MIND puplic enemy #ONE
according to ur stupid religion books allah created Adam&Eve in paradise….NOT in africa ya nutt!
ur crazy allah kicked ADAM,S&EVA asses out of paradiso to EARTH coz they disobeyed the maniac allah order…NOT TO EAT THE FRUITS OF THE TREE OF NOWLEDGE..Africa is not in paradise MR.ZIFT
SCIENCE IN… RELIGION OUT
January 9th, 2012, 9:35 pm
Ghufran said:
My last post of the day, I need to go and check my DNA and see if I am worthless and watery enough.
الفضائيات، او معظمها على وجه التحديد، لم تتعاط بحرية ومهنية وموضوعية مع الشأنين الليبي والسوري مثلما تعاطت مع الشأنين المصري والتونسي، الامر الذي الحق بها ضررا كبيرا في نظر العديد من المشاهدين، خاصة اولئك الذين ينتمون الى الطبقات المثقفة والمتعلمة، ويبحثون عن تغطية تغلب عليها الموضوعية واحترام عقل المشاهد.
صحيح ان المحطات الارضية والفضائية التابعة للسلطات السورية كانت مضللة في معظم تغطياتها لوقائع الانتفاضة واعمال القتل، خارجة عن كل حدود المهنية والتهذيب في تعاطيها مع خصوم النظام، وهذا ليس غريبا عليها، فهي تنطق باسم نظام شمولي لا يعرف الديمقراطية، ولا يحترم الحريات والحقوق الانسانية، ولكن ما هو غريب ان تنحدر بعض الفضائيات العربية التي تدعي المهنية وتقول انها تتمسك بالموضوعية الى اساليب المبالغة والتضخيم لاوضاع لا تحتاج الى ذلك، لان اعمال القتل التي يرتكبها النظام وقواته واضحة للعيان ولا تحتاج الى تضخيم اساسا.
January 9th, 2012, 9:36 pm
Afram said:
10. majedkhaldounsaid:
“it is possible Eve and Adam were created in Africa”
hahaheeheeeeeeeehahaooooooooffffffffff……!!!?????
majed,s brain cells are flat/—————————dead
religion is the human MIND puplic enemy #ONE
according to ur stupid religion books allah created Adam&Eve in paradise….NOT in africa ya nutt!
ur crazy allah kicked ADAM,S&EVA asses out of paradiso to EARTH[pradise!1!] is way up there next to the black hole not in africa ya baboon coz they disobeyed the maniac allah order…NOT TO EAT THE FRUITS OF THE TREE OF KNOWLEDGE..Africa is not in paradise MR.ZIFT
SCIENCE IN… RELIGION OUT
January 9th, 2012, 9:46 pm
ann said:
51. Ghufran said:
“””CNN in Syria:
http://m.cnn.com/primary/wk_article?articleId=urn:newsml:CNN.com:20120109:syria-robertson-qa:1&branding=&category=cnnd_world&pagesize=10“””
cnn / robertson arrived to Syria 24 hours ago. He never left Damascus. But his headline already reads:
“””Robertson: Syria appears divided”””
cnn is a joke!
January 9th, 2012, 9:46 pm
Rubbish said:
No offense, but this article is based on a primitive view of evolutionary science. It is a proven fact that Man has evolved from different primates at different times at different locations. Those who were evolved in Asia for example come from a different evolutionary tract that those in Africa.
January 9th, 2012, 9:50 pm
Norman said:
What divide the Syrian people is not genetics, it is culture and religion,It is going to take a lot more than genetic testing to unite the country.
January 9th, 2012, 9:52 pm
Norman said:
Ann,
CNN is right , Syria is divided, 95% withe president and 5% with the opposition, still called divided.
January 9th, 2012, 9:54 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
47. Aframsaid:
I don’t trust, nor have any respect, to any Paleontologist, Archeologist, Anthropologist, not even Geologist or any institution that research or teach these subjects until they stop hiding the facts and evidences that are available now to us and are in direct conflict to each and every theory being taught and introduced as valid one by the Academia. They must stop hiding, conspiring with NSA, ridiculing others, discrediting the valid and compelling evidences and respond, address the million questions asked of them regarding all discovered evidence in the field of Astronomy, Geology, Archeology etc….
First and foremost, are the items labeled under: “forbidden archeology”, giant humanoid skeleton, elongated egg shaped alien skull, Sphinx Ice age anomalies, 250 out of this planet DNA and a whole bunch of solid evidences hidden in deep underground vaults of various museums.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NyPeDLQNFA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1RD49XG12Y
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t-5nojvv9O0
January 9th, 2012, 10:12 pm
Norman said:
We all remember that Tara promised us massive demonstrations with the presence of the AL monitors,as witnesses but with the monitors there we saw no significant opposition demonstrations and that indicate that the opposition support is not as large as they want the world to believe and because of that they wanted the monitors out so they can not testify to the lack of support for the opposition and their violent nature, so now they are calling for ending their mission so nobody will know the truth,
January 9th, 2012, 10:15 pm
Darryl said:
58. NORMAN said:
“What divide the Syrian people is not genetics, it is culture and religion,It is going to take a lot more than genetic testing to unite the country.”
Norman, Syria needs more Syrian Nationalists like the Mufti Dr Hassoun, his speech at the Saleeb church was magnificent. I think Dr Hassoun is the modern example that all Syrians and Muslims should follow.
January 9th, 2012, 10:31 pm
Norman said:
Darryl,
Unfortunately Hassoun is in the minority between the Syrian Sunni, don’t you think?
January 9th, 2012, 10:48 pm
Son of Damascus said:
Darryl,
Is this the same Hassoun that called out for suicide bombers to attack Europe and the US, is he really a nationalistic hero for anyone to follow? A man that calls out for the death and destruction of innocent civilians is your modern example of what Syrians should look up to?
Don’t you find the irony at all when menhebaks call the opposition “terrorists” while supporting a state proclaimed terrorist in a mufti outfit?
No wonder you have a negative outlook at moslems when you look up to a weasel like Hassoun!
January 9th, 2012, 10:56 pm
ann said:
58. NORMAN said:
“””“What divide the Syrian people is not genetics, it is culture and religion,It is going to take a lot more than genetic testing to unite the country.””””
You’re right Norman it’s absolutely not genetics. The problem of some 5% of Syrians is poverty caused by 5 years of drought. Poverty breads discontent and ignorance. Discontent breads treason, and ignorance breads religious fanaticism.
Treason and religious fanaticism are fertile ground for anyone with money, religious absolution and guns.
January 9th, 2012, 11:14 pm
ann said:
63. Norman said:
“””Darryl,
Unfortunately Hassoun is in the minority between the Syrian Sunni, don’t you think?”””
Norman at least 60 of the 75% Sunni population in Syria, that’s 4 out of 5 Sunnis are pro government, and against the destruction of their country.
January 9th, 2012, 11:25 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
“……..Norman at least 60 of the 75% Sunni population in Syria, that’s 4 out of 5 Sunnis are pro government, and against the destruction of their country….”
They are not pro Government, they just don’t want the destruction of their country.
January 9th, 2012, 11:40 pm
ann said:
67. Syrian Nationalist Party said:
“””They are not pro Government, they just don’t want the destruction of their country.”””
Well, the government is against the destruction of Syria.
January 9th, 2012, 11:43 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Good program to watch
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/5FEFFCD2-BF5A-40E2-8470-B706C7BF2454.htm
January 10th, 2012, 12:01 am
Darryl said:
64. SON OF DAMASCUS said:
Dear SOD, you are one of the few people I respect, but please do not take his words out of context. The Mufti was not calling for terrorism as you would like to believe. He is a proud nationalist as he spoke in nationalistic terms only, I saw no wrong in the way he put things when it came to defending Syria’s sacred soil and its people.
I wonder if the US and NATO may a few thousand tons of depleted Uranium looking for a home in a flat country not too far from where thousands of tons have already been deposited?
January 10th, 2012, 12:09 am
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
“……Well, the government is against the destruction of Syria…”
I believe they are more concerned about the destruction of their power and its facade, The Baath party. Bashar Assad would have used his Presidential decree power to effect immediate serious changes in Syria, one that is not “TSHKILIYA” but serious one that can really preserve the country. The claim that he is not permitted to effect these changes by others is ferbelous. He can for sure go the people and gain their support when he has the agenda and goals at heart. I think self-preservation is more what is of importance to them all now and that is all.
January 10th, 2012, 12:19 am
Son of Damascus said:
Dear Darryl,
I just can’t stand anyone who thinks Syrians are pawns that can be used, especially pawns in a retaliatory way that is not appropriate in any means whatsoever.
Suicide bombings target innocent victims, they are not done to win a war but to maim and scar the innocent. I abhor terrorism with all its ugly masks!
To me every Syrian soul is sacred, and they should not be used either as pawns to further benefit a select few, or as pawns for some regional or international stooge. It is up to us Syrians to protect our country and not fool ourselves with the notion that the devil I know is much better than the devil I don’t, if we don’t want our country hijacked by Western Hegemony or by a group of self appointed thugs, then we must take it upon ourselves to do so.
Which ever side of the aisle you might stand you have to see that state has failed us, if you are in the opposition it has failed to hear you, and if you are in the supporters camp it has failed you in security. With all our branches of A’mn, Harass, jeish, moukhabarta and the mou3amara is not only still going but just as strong if not more brazen.
January 10th, 2012, 12:54 am
jad said:
Dear Ghufran
“Syrians deserve better,you have to agree with me on this one.”
I already agree with you on this and many more than this one, even from before all this bloody struggle get started.
“The regime will only respond to pressure”
What pressure are you talking about my brother Ghufran? The terrorist pressure? the unjustified sanctions against average Syrians? Turning a country into pieces pressure? or have a civil war pressure?
When pressure turns innocent people to sand bags and feed over their misery, blood, sadness and tears it becomes a barbaric torture to our humanity.
In case you don’t know, the pressure is already shifted from the regime to the average Syrians now, the pressure is tearing down the already weak country and it starts to destroy our social fabric, our humanity, our culture and tradition, our religions and every shred of hope we have for the future.
I can’t under any reasoning or any promise regardless how rosy it may sound to accept of getting involved in such pressure on the average Syrians and I’m not going to accept seeing any Syrian suffer or die in the name of a better future, I simply can’t, it’s too much for me to accept.
This is not the way I want to see Syrians go through for the future, as you wrote they deserve better and I say they deserve the best this life can offer them and the best we should try to give them.
It’s brutal and barbaric when everybody enjoy watching our people suffer in the name of freedom without even helping in staging the right environment and space and language for dialogue and solution.
I know that there is a solution but it doesn’t need to be paid in this much blood and misery, but obviously nobody wants to solve anything, every entity, every power and every politician involved in this bloody struggle is using it to its own advantage at the expense of our Syrian fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters, children, nephews, nieces, grandparents and grandchildren blood, tears and souls.
Its an endless tragedy and we all are watching it without having any say…it’s hopeless and depressing case and every day goes by without starting the solution we are loosing Syria.
What really affected me emotionally today is Observer’s note about his family leaving the country..How devastating is that? and what makes it even more affecting that it’s coming from someone who was promoting the split of Syria in 4 from day one.
I can’t express you my sadness today, honestly, its beyond any word.
January 10th, 2012, 1:04 am
Juergen said:
Ann
You cant be serious to blame that there is an opposition because of 5 years of drought? But may be you are right,there is an even longer period, 41 years drought of freedom in Syria.
January 10th, 2012, 1:37 am
Syria no kandahar said:
With Islamists it is going to rain explosions every day.
January 10th, 2012, 1:45 am
Juergen said:
SNK
Stick to your beloved leader, he has done a lot for the islamists in Syria, he is playing the bad guy, nuturing not only salafi opposition but also keeping terrorist organizations like Hisbollah an active player in neighboring Lebanon.
January 10th, 2012, 1:51 am
Khalid Tlass said:
SOD, just ignore Daryll. He is an Islam-hater through and through. He even criticised Nasser for bringing the Copts to heel. His crusader brethren will be erased from the sacred Arab lands soon, he can eat his horse-manured garlics then, that is if we allow it.
January 10th, 2012, 2:57 am
Syria No Tehran said:
Looks like the AL really brushed off the lame, pathetic false flag operation which the regime did in Damascus.
January 10th, 2012, 3:09 am
Juergen said:
Syria’s protesters are on their ownWhile Arab League monitors have failed to stop the bloodshed, this may be preferable to protracted talks about political ‘reform’
by Brian Whitaker
….Despite all that, the failure of the Arab League’s initiative may be preferable to its success. Had there been more progress, the result would have been protracted talks about political “reform”
The fact is that the Syrian regime cannot reform – at least, not to the extent that would be required – without destroying its own support base. Negotiating with the regime at this late stage would not lead to a workable solution. It would simply create a diversion and throw President Assad a temporary lifeline….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/09/syria-protesters-arab-league
January 10th, 2012, 3:45 am
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
I really feel sorry for the revolutionaries. This speech is designed to drown your hopes in a barrel of empty words. This clown is talking as if he was a president of a superpower, not as a head of a murderous illegitimate junta.
This speech is meant to exhaust you, to drive you into despair.
Ahaa.. and remind him that he promised free elections in “February or March”. This is in 21 days from today.
.
January 10th, 2012, 5:06 am
Uzair8 said:
@79
I agree.
Assad is giving the impression he and the regime are fine and in a strong position hoping this will dishearten the revolutionaries. People can say these months of struggle haven’t had much effect on the regime, what’s the point?
Another thing. After being silent for a while Assad chooses to make his speech during the AL observer mission. This perhaps another tactic in controlling the consequences and outfall of the observer mission. Carefully spaced out and timely diversions and distractions.
January 10th, 2012, 5:46 am
Uzair8 said:
Syria: is this true?
By Tariq Alhomayed
Tuesday, 10 January 2012
There is confusing and disturbing information relating to the Arab League, its thought process, its dealings with the Syrian crisis, and likewise how it perceives the Syrian opposition. I have obtained this information from several high-level, informed and reputable sources. For the purpose of this article I will reveal such information in an effort to seek the truth, without judgments, so we can give the Arab League the benefit of the doubt, and allow it to explain its position.
Firstly, a senior official in the Arab League told one of my sources, during his explanation of the situation in Syria and how to deal with it that in Syria there are only three thousand activists who are orchestrating the demonstrations there. The Bashar al-Assad regime is looking for them, and when it finds them, it will be able to eliminate the threat. The Arab League official believes that this will then put a stop to everything in Syria, and indeed he expects the al-Assad regime to be able to put a stop to everything by the end of February!
This is not all of course, as the same Arab League official also doubted the seriousness of the Syrian opposition, and questioned its sources of funding. He said that the opposition has “a lot of money…and I wish I knew where it was from!”
Read more:
http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2012/01/10/187452.html
January 10th, 2012, 5:48 am
Juergen said:
Its an other basharshow. He turnes oout to had some sidelessons by his friend Chavez how to dull his people in hourlong programmes. May be syrian tv should start an Hello president show like the one with Chavez.
I like this reaction of Rosemary Davis UK Foreign Office
Listening to Bashar #Assad talking, and talking, and talking. What a windbag!
The Guardian wrote: 9:48 am Foreign correspondents are getting bored:
I’m falling asleep (Bashar) reminds me of a boring history teacher #Syria JAVIER ESPINOSA via Twitter
President Assad of Syria. Not known for natural speaking ability. 48 minutes and counting… Tim Marshall via Twitter
Some highlights:
“We do not have national division” in Syria so need for national unity government, #Assad argues. Sense of unreality growing by the minute. Ian Black via Twitter
Assad suggests that Syrian opposition activists are not genuine revolutionaries. “If they were true revolutionaries, you and I would be following them,” he said.
He says it is difficult to know when the “conspiracy” against Syria will come to an end. It will end when the Syrian people become “submissive”, he ominously says. ( is that a bloody joke?)
Assad accuses the Arab League of hypocrisy over calling for reforms in Syria.
“It is like a doctor who advices the patient to stop smoking while having a cigarette in his mouth,” he tells his audience.
He says the Arab League knows nothing about democracy and is a mirror for failures in the Arab world. “The League has been doomed for ages,” he said.
Assad says disastrous ABC interview was “fabricated” part of hostile media campaign against Syria. Ian Black via Twitter
He calls on citizens and the media to help combat low level corruption. “Many of the people I meet say the president must be held accountable. The president cannot replace state institutions,” he says.
January 10th, 2012, 5:50 am
Mina said:
Jürgen
Sure, to take the advices of the wealthy journalists who are letting Europe and the US seek into deep-poverty by not reporting on sensitive issues, or giving more often Naomi Klein and Chomsky views on international crises, financial or not, is what you call a very honnest path!
I started to think you might have a double agenda when you mentioned Hitler’s crimes and limited them to the killing of the Jews, with no mention of the systematic elimination of the Gypsies, the Communists and the Homosexuals, already since the 30’s.
After all, there is a crisis in Germany. Continue dud’, if you get as good on Twitter as Wissam Tarif and Mayor Khayrullah, you may get a nice job in a CIA-funded “think” (undestand: bow and kiss)-tank (understand: financial-military lobby).
January 10th, 2012, 5:56 am
Juergen said:
Amir, he talked only about an referendum in march, so the first free and democratic parlamentary elections seem to be off the table. Probably he thinks its to dangerous to have them. He also stressed tht in times of crisis there can be no reform, what an lame excuse is that?
January 10th, 2012, 5:57 am
Mina said:
If the West needs a war to better its economy, why not staging it in the West, for once, and not on a Middle East theatre?
Why would Kuwait let the AL support protests?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/31348/World/Region/Kuwait-warns-stateless-against-protests.aspx
“Kuwait’s interior ministry said in a statement that the ministry will not allow any processions, gatherings or demonstrations (by stateless), regardless of their nature or aims.”
Why would Tunis let the AL say there is an unemployment problem?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/31351/World/Region/-Jobless-Tunisian-dies-days-after-selfimmolation-h.aspx
Why would Egypt let the AL discuss with revolutionaries, some of them having participated in Western NGOs seminars in the recent years?
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/31313/Egypt/Politics-/-Revolutionary-figures-remain-targets-for-military.aspx
Solution: Reform the AL, and then you can move forward. It will take more than just barking and painting colourful banners.
January 10th, 2012, 6:03 am
Juergen said:
Mina
I always thought you dont have something in common with the beloved leader, obviously you still have trust in this criminal.
I assume that nowadays everyone with some knowledge will know that not only jews were a victim of Hitlers reign, everyone with an opposing view or people who would listen to BBC on radio could end up in gas chambers( wonder if Assad would come up with an law prohibiting watching Akl Jazeera). To my knowledge no systematic killing took place prior to 1933, you can name me what you meant?
I dont know what kind of media you are consumming, in what i read economics, the growing poverty is an common issue,but I assume you like it more dramatic.
I always thought you are fond of Chomsky, well you seem to change sympathy fast nowadays.
January 10th, 2012, 6:06 am
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
Juergen,
“…He also stressed tht in times of crisis there can be no reform, what an lame excuse is that?”.
Exactly. I can assure you, there will be no referendum in March. This boy-king (as OTW calls him) does not believe in Arab democracy. I wonder what the mnhebaks will be saying now. They claimed that Bashar will reform. Now it’s clear, because he said it: there will be no reform any time soon.
.
January 10th, 2012, 6:09 am
Mina said:
Jürgen
Very interesting logic here… Indeed by the thirties I meant from 1933 on. But what do you mean by claiming that opponents to Hitler were killed and include in this the genocide of the Gypsies and the Homosexuals?(and again, your example of Asad banning al Jazeera… you have an obsession with Syria, why not looking for Bielorussia next door? Can anyone who understand Arabic fail to see the bisaed coverage of al Jazeera? Did you read in Le Monde article that more than 130 foreign journalists are or have been in Syria since the beginning of December?)
Indeed, I have loved Chomsky for a while. I discovered him in Al Ahram Weekly, published in Cairo, where his articles and those of Edward Said were often published. It’s not from the French media I heard about Chomsky, he was considered in France as an anti-semitic because he dared condemning the Zionists, without mention to the fact he was himself Jewish! The nice old ways of the European media with anyone who oppose the rule.
Keep sticking to the fake news of protests, they will soon be used to cover the real massacres when they will happen. After all, it is another Faluja we are going to see for the extremists. With a nice Western-Arab caution. Don’t forget to prepare them some asylum documents to settle a new Londonistan in Hamburg.
January 10th, 2012, 6:51 am
Darryl said:
77. KHALID TLASS said:
Happy New Year Khalid, I am not an Islam hater, I only dislike your version which is pure ignorance with a thick sugar coating. There is nothing you can do to eliminate Christianity from the Arabic world Khalid, in fact the opposite is happening. KSA, gulf states, yemen, Egypt, Libya, Tunis, Algeria, Morocco are all coming back to the Lord of Lords, the Messiah. Closer to home, Syrians, Lebanese, Jordanians, Palestinians, Iraqis’ even the Turks and Iranians are coming back.
And if you dare to lift the death penalty against apostates, you will be a minority as most Muslims will leave to join the swelling number of secret followers of the Messiah. Just check out what happened when Calif Abu Bakr took over. Fear, terror and privilege holds Islam together, Christians are there to stay. And if they leave, it will be their choosing and backwardness will prevail in the ME. Enjoy the Christian privileges in the west!
January 10th, 2012, 7:00 am
Mina said:
Jürgen, Amir,
Sorry but I fail to understand your support to an opposition which remains unorganized, unable to get organized and most often totally unarticulate (not to mention the calls for violence, since the beginning of the uprising). Why do you need to attack personnaly the regime to express that you would like to see more freedom in the Middle East? Is the Syrian regime the sole cause of the absence of freedom in the Middle East?
Let’s say Bashar is Stalin and you are living in Moscow. Protests start, organized on one side by some Hitler admirers, on the other side by Rosa Luxemburg (sorry for the anachronism) and also by a group of Tsarists. Will you join the protesters? Wouldn’t you think that this opposition will start its own war as soon as the old regime falls? There must be more intelligent ways, no?
January 10th, 2012, 7:00 am
ann said:
DARRYL, KHALID TLASS is none other than that ABOUD propaganda ID 😉
The anti-Syrian crowed shared their e-mail addresses with him.
January 10th, 2012, 7:21 am
ann said:
Syria’s crisis poses serious test to Syrians nationalism: president – 2012-01-10
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/10/c_131352909.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) — Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said Tuesday that the ten-month-old events that wracked Syria has “blooded the heart of every Syrian and imposed circumstances that pose a serious test for us in nationalism.”
In his fourth speech since the eruption of unrest in Syria in mid March, Assad said it’s no longer possible for some regional and international parties who want to destabilize Syria to fraud facts and events, adding hundreds of world media have worked against Syria “to push us to a state of collapse but they failed.”
Standing before a crowd of supporters in Damascus University, in dark suit and tie, Assad said he would not step down because he still has the support of his people.
He said Syria is facing an unprecedented battle, and that victory is imminent thanks to the Syrian people’s steadfastness and patience.
Meanwhile, Assad said his country will not close door to any Arab solution respecting the Syrian sovereignty and the independence of the country’s decision, adding he was the one to suggest the need for Arab monitors to find out the truth in Syria.
Commenting on Arab League’s (AL) halting of Syria’s membership, Assad said an AL without Syria is no longer an Arab organization. “The question is who would lose, the Arab League or Syria? The Arabism of the Arab League would remain suspended without Syria.”
Besides, Assad said a committee entrusted with rewriting the Syrian constitution is at its final stages. He noted that the upcoming constitution will be focused on political, party pluralism and institutions.
Assad said there would be a referendum on the constitution at the beginning of March.
Meanwhile, Assad said Syria seeks to establish a broad government that included a mixture of politicians and technicians and represents all spectra of society.
“We are at the threshold of changes, a great part of them focus on the youth generation that has confronted this crisis,” he said, however, he noted “restoring security is the ultimate priority for Syria at this stage.”
Assad vowed to fight terrorism with iron fist and accused foreign conspiracy of trying to destabilize Syria. The Syrian government has blamed the country’s turmoil on terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs.
Assad said the country’s policies are to continue reforms and combat terrorism, adding that Syria’s dignity is stronger than instigators’ armies and wealth.
January 10th, 2012, 7:28 am
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
Mina,
I pity you. For how little, if at all, faith you have in your own people. I assume you’re an Arab.
It’s not the first time that you demonstrate your low self esteem and acute pessimism. Pessimism BTW stems from low self esteem.
Arabs, contrary to your very low expectations, can do much better, if not people like yourself, and the ideas and fixations that you hold.
.
January 10th, 2012, 7:31 am
majedkhaldoun said:
I heared parts of his speech
He said the constitution is not constitution of the state.
He said Khase2tum,
He said no reform at the time of crisis.
He said he is not looking for an official authority,here he sounds like Gaddafi and Mubarak.
He said Arab League will loose in Isolating Syria
He said the economy is worsening because the Lira is down
He said he will only leave office when the people want him to leave,the question is: is he not watching what the people say?
To me all what he said are not what a leader should say. another disappointing speech, he will not leave till he is forced by power, the revolution must turn to arms and with Bashar is using security power and military power he is to blame for arming the revolution.
There is over 6000 dead officially, there are over 50,000 prisoners, we do not know what happen to them, probably we will discover their burial places after Bashar leaves, those who say there will be more dead if we use arms ,they must remember that we already has tens of thousands of death .
January 10th, 2012, 7:31 am
majedkhaldoun said:
The speech did not come up with solutions or hopes, but rather tell us he will not change and things will get worse.
January 10th, 2012, 7:45 am
ann said:
Yea Mina,
I pity you, yea, yea, you Arab, you low self esteem, you pessimist, you, you, you 😉
Guess no big box of chocolate from israel for you today MINA 😀
January 10th, 2012, 7:52 am
Ghat Al Bird said:
A reality check for all concerned. The results of actions taken by the US at the request of Bibi, and his group of American[?] advisors named Richard Perle, Douglas Feith and other neocon zionists to make Iraq a democratic state and save israel.
These are the Iraqis in Fallujah that are not enjoying life……
Would be interested to see how many of the commentators on SC enjoy the fotos.
http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2012/01/08/fallujah-babies-under-
a-new-kind-of-siege/
January 10th, 2012, 7:52 am
Juergen said:
Mina
i do not like the idea that there are 1st class nazi victims and 2nd class nazi victims. In my history classes in the communist regime fe. the victims who were pointed out were mostly communists, so i do think that we should care and remember all victims regardless of the reason they were prosecuted.Mina sorry i do believe that we are responsible until now, and i dont mind that we pay retribution to nazi victims, i think that the least we can do. Hitler fe killed more than half of the members of Parlament, many members of the socialdemocratic party ( the oldest we have) were imprisoned and killed. Needless to say that there were many brave people who lost their live by propagate how the nazis commit atrocities, there is the famous Sophie Scholl who produced leaflets and who got killed with her brother. I am obsessed so to speak in your terms because i do see in Syria my second home, i have never felt this way for any other country before, and dont worry when i was in Minsk i was talking the same way i talk about Assad about Lukashenko, and there were people like you who told me all is fine in Belarus. Sure its fine as long as you shut up and dont cross the red line. ( actually there is a ban i heard on satellite channels in Syria, i dont know how this ban is observed)
Mina if all is so great why do Christians of all denominations flock out of Syria? There are now 15% of once 60%, they are already coming to live in Europe and the US, not to mention the big numbers of christian syrians who settled in South America.
The biggest reason why people leave Syria and the whole region are the poor economic conditions, and i think that Christians care a lot about private schooling and therefore they might be better educated, but thats just a guess from observations in Syria.
Antisemitism is still an big issue in europe, we have it in our law, if you deny the Holocaust you could end up in prison. I do not like any censorships, and fe Hitlers book is not on sale in Germany. Sometimes we see that Antisemitism is declared by some groups as an knockout argument over an debate or discussion. At this stage i am much more concerned about the islamophobia we face throughout Europe since 2001, given that those populistic right wing parties even form european governments nowadays, that i find scary.
Mina i dont think anyone of us has a cristal ball( just this weirdo who spoke in Syrian state tv that Assad will stay in power) to predict the outcome of the revolution. I wont rule out that in the transition we will see more violence, i am certain that many are interessted in the status quo. I do believe nonethertheless that everything will be better than this regime, i understand the fears for a transition, but if we have let always our fears guide us, we would have never dared to leave the caves.
January 10th, 2012, 7:57 am
Observer said:
The baboon’s fisted hand is stuck in the nook of a tree holding on to “power” and cannot leg go. It is now screaming loud and wide its frustration for being stuck there. That was the speech today.
January 10th, 2012, 8:12 am
Uzair8 said:
http://blogs.aljazeera.net/liveblog/syria-jan-10-2012-1524
Israel is making preparations to house refugees from Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s minority Alawite sect should his government fall, Israel’s military chief told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
“On the day that the regime falls, it is expected to result in a blow to the Alawite sect. We are preparing to take in Alawite refugees on the Golan Heights,” a committee spokesman quoted Lieutenant-General Benny Gantz as saying.
Assad has faced 10 months of popular revolt in which more than 5,000 people have been killed, according to United Nations figures. Israeli officials have said they do not expect his government to last more than a few months.
[Lol- the Alawis would have no shame if they ran to Isreal. What about the ‘resistance’ and ‘anti-zionism’?]
January 10th, 2012, 8:27 am
Juergen said:
Uzair8
thats a big joke that Syria was always antiisraeli. On the propaganda front they might said so, but there is even secret economic deals with Israel, so i do believe they even had the best silent alliance with Israel. The saying goes: he is a bastard, but he is our bastard…
January 10th, 2012, 8:40 am
sheila said:
To #58. Norman,
You said:
“What divide the Syrian people is not genetics, it is culture and religion”
That is your Syria. In my Syria, there is no such division. Yesterday I was working on helping an Alawite friend who is trying to flee the situation is Syria. I talked to a Christian friend to ask for her help, which she gladly offered. This is my Syria.
January 10th, 2012, 8:57 am
Valerya said:
The second group of USA Naval Forces goes to Arabian sea
The striking naval Forces of the USA has entered into Indian Ocean led by a nuclear aircraft carrier “Charles Vinson” and goes to Arabian sea, has informed the central command of armed forces of the United States.
In Arabian sea now already there is American group led by an aircraft carrier “John Stennis”, marks “Interfax”. Being in an operative range of the fifth operative fleet of Naval Forces of the USA, the group aircraft carrier will render aviasupport to NATO armies in Afghanistan, will take part in doctrines and joint operations with allies and regional partners, is told in the message.
Besides, the group which structure besides an aircraft carrier with 90 planes and helicopters onboard includes a rocket cruiser “Bunker Buster» and a rocket destroyer “Helsi”, will be engaged in navigation safety in the region located in immediate proximity from the Iranian coast.
“We will operate together with our partners in region to show our adherence to business of safety and stability in region”, – the commander авианосной grouping rear admiral Thomas Shannon has told.
The aircraft carrier group left from base in California on November, 30th last year. After a three-day stop in Hong Kong where it has arrived on December, 30th, the group has gone to Indian ocean.
It is not excluded that “Charles Vinson” goes to Arabian sea to replace “John Stennis” at whom expires term of stay in area of Persian gulf and Arabian sea. The aircraft carrier “John Stennis” together with the ships fighting охранения has been directed there on July, 25th last year for seven-mouth term. Its problem included aviasupport rendering to the American armies in Iraq. After their conclusion on December, 18th last year “John Stennis” has passed through strait of Ormuz to Arabian sea where is now.
Earlier last year Persian gulf was left by group led by an aircraft carrier “George Bush” which is based in Norfolk, American state Virginia.
http://www.vesti.ru/doc.html?id=680553
January 10th, 2012, 9:01 am
sheila said:
Dear Ghufran,
You are one of very few people here who are still on the fence. You have not made up your mind yet. You see the problems in the regime and you see the problems in the opposition. I would like to invite you to 7ee6an. We have been discussing people in your position who we call the “fence-sitters”. This should not affect your contribution to SC. Many of us write on both blogs anyway.
January 10th, 2012, 9:02 am
Valerya said:
«The USA Financial Minister Gaytner has arrived to Beijing. During forthcoming numerous meetings with the high-ranking Chinese representatives he can demand from the Chinese party to reduce purchases of the Iranian oil», – it was marked in the message, transfers “Interfax”.
Relations of Teheran and Washington are heated to a limit
http://www.vesti.ru/only_video.html?vid=389607
January 10th, 2012, 9:12 am
Revlon said:
66. annsaid
((Norman at least 60 of the 75% Sunni population in Syria, that’s 4 out of 5 Sunnis are pro government, and against the destruction of their country).
My mother, sister and husband, brother with his wife and 18+ kids who make up all of my first degree relatives remaining in Syria are sunnis, and are staunch anti-regime and Assad-Makhloof clan: That equals 10/10 Sunni middle class anti-regime!
All of my classmates in elementary school whom I never knew to be 3alawi, went on to assume high posts in the intellingence system. They had a long carreer in abusing Sunnis, including some of their classmates.
All of my sunnis classmates that I have kept contact with are strongly anti-regime: that is another 100% middle class.
The unofficial figures of unemployment rate among youth in Syria is 40%. To claim that those are also pro-Assad is beyond wishful thinking!
Academic surveys on support of the revolution and Asad as early as May showed more than 80% support for the revolution and disdapproval of the regime.
This figure is supported by the increasingly apparent sectarian division whereby the vast majority of 3alawi and Christians have remained with the regime, along with a small Sunni minority, altogether making 20% of the population.
January 10th, 2012, 9:14 am
mjabali said:
Mr. Against Dictatorship comment # 30
Secularism has nothing to do with elections and who is the victor. It means to separate the religion from the state and the way the state view its citizens (according to their religions or not).
Democracy comes from the constitution/law which is the guarantee for both democracy and secularism. Law makes the heavy hand of the government, which is police/army/others, make sure secularism, democracy are protected. Here you need a constitution to draw the lines and makes the definitions. Things are simple. Democracy has nothing to do with Secularism.
If the Islamists come to win in an election that does not mean Secularism could not be upheld.
As for Islamist parties winning, I think Syria is not Egypt or Tunisia and the Islamists would do well but they may not win.
If there is a real opposition and parties in Syria the Islamists would win like 30 percent on their best day. That is my estimate. This 30 percent is between traditional Ikhwan and Salafis. Qatari money and Saudi would play a role here to drive masses to elect so Salafis. But I would not think they would get more than this like their showing in Egypt. There are way too many trends that would prevent a landslide like Egypt.
This would be very interesting to see who would come out and I think there are more Salafis than traditional Ikhwan or Sufis these days.
As for al-Assad being secular, I say that is very debatable because the secular elements in Syria are older than al-Assads. They (Assads) did protect it while at the same time wanting to play Sunni which led to the mushrooming of Islamic trends like al-Qubaysiyat (Read Nabil Fayad article about them) and thousands of mosques and Islamic schools. Now half of the Sunni kids reads religious texts before going to bathrooms. This happened under al-Assad so do not tell me he is secular.
With all of these elements, Syria needs Secularism and a new law/constitution that is modern and make sure the rights of every individual is guaranteed.
January 10th, 2012, 9:16 am
irritated said:
74. Juergen
What’s political freedom of expression without bread? Dignity? The Tunisians and other Arab freedom seekers are starting to learn it.
They are now begging the western countries for bread. Where is their dignity now? What are they doing with their freedom?
Get the bread first than talk about political freedom.
January 10th, 2012, 9:34 am
Valerya said:
Can be on the back if Israel is in not calculated conditions
January 10th, 2012, 9:35 am
irritated said:
Uzair8
“Assad is giving the impression he and the regime are fine and in a strong position”
It is not an impression, it is a reality.
The pathetic SNC and its military Robin Hood, Ryad Al Assad are the ones who desperately try to show unity and strength while they are getting close to the first state of decomposition.
January 10th, 2012, 9:41 am
norman said:
Sheila,
You made my point, why did your Alawi friend need your help to flee, Culture and religion,
Did you see what AL Homsi said in AL meeting, you should find out,
January 10th, 2012, 9:46 am
zoo said:
Israel becoming “humanitarian” and insidiously trying to discredit the Alawites.
Israel ‘preparing to take in Syria refugees’
AFP
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-preparing-syria-refugees-141610205.html
Israel is preparing to receive Syrian Alawite refugees on the occupied Golan Heights if the regime of President Bashar al-Assad collapses, Israel’s army chief of staff said on Tuesday.
“On the day the Assad regime falls, it is expected to harm the Alawite clan. We are preparing to receive Alawite refugees on the Golan Heights,” Lieutenant General Benny Gantz told MPs at the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs and defence, in remarks communicated by a spokesman.
{…}
January 10th, 2012, 9:47 am
Revlon said:
Feed the mouth so the eyes oblige!… something like that
اتحاد تنسيقيات الثورة السورية | Syrian Revolution Coordinators Union
10/01/2012
http://www.facebook.com/monasiqoon
اللاذقية المحتلة :: اللجنة كانت تتعشى بالليل بفندق روتانا مع المحافظ وأمين فرع الحزب ورؤساء الأفرع الأمنية بالإضافة لرائد من السياسية , وكان معهم عدد من التجّار حدّثوهم عن الإرهاب والعصابات المسلحة , و وردتنا معلومات بأن اللجنة كتبت الذي سمعته ورحلت خارج مدينة اللاذقية في الساعة 12 ظهرا .
Occupied Lattakia:
ALC were guests for supper at Rotana Hotel (5 star) of the Mayor, Baath party branch secretary, heads of security branches and several businessmen. They made notes of information provided by their hosts on terrosism and armed gangs.
31 minutes ago
January 10th, 2012, 9:52 am
zoo said:
Amal Hanano’s argument to discredit the observer mission
Observing the Observers
The Arab League’s monitoring mission in Syria has been a miserable failure, and no international white knight is waiting in the wings. Syrians are on their own.
BY AMAL HANANO | JANUARY 9, 2012
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/09/observing_the_observers
January 10th, 2012, 9:58 am
Tara said:
Revlon
This is quite pathetic. The AL ‘s mission should not accept social invitations by the regime. This should have been discussed with the delegate before arrival in Damascus. Were dancers provided? It looks we have many people that can provide entertainment for the cause. Are there cameras in the delegate’s hotel rooms so Buthaina Shaanab can blackmail the observers?
January 10th, 2012, 10:00 am
majedkhaldoun said:
Sheila
You helped An Alawi friend thru christian friend, this is exactly what I believe Syrians are about, This revolution is not sectarian revolution, it is not about religion either it is about freedom and dignity,The regime and his supporters are trying to depict it as salafist or as sectarian anti Alawite, it is not either.
The revolution is against inheritance of authority, when people revolt they revolt against such inheritance, kings are no longer accepted, when Yazid inherited his father Ma3awiya Hussain revolted, Monarchy in Europe lost to republican system, Russian revolted against Caezar,power comes from bottom up, not from top down, Kings or presidents who act like kings,are no longer accepted, their system is where corruption grows, the people are against corruption, it is rare to have a good dictator, the rule is dictators are evil people.
January 10th, 2012, 10:03 am
Uzair8 said:
107. irritated
If you compare the regime’s and SNC’s/revolutions previous states to the their current states then one can only say that the SNC/revolution has done remarkably well to reach their current position out of nothing. Seen in this way then the opposition is relatively strong and getting stronger.
On the other hand compare the regime’s move from percieved impenetrable position to its current much weakened position of desperately holding on for dear life. Their position is getting weaker and will continue to do so.
January 10th, 2012, 10:32 am
Revlon said:
This child’s eye and his brain were blown up by one of Assad’s professional snipers.
AlFatiha upon his soul,
May God bless his family with solace and empower them with fortitude.
Baba Amr neighbourhood, Homs city
07/01/2012
Jr has ended the life of this kid.
He deprived his mother and father from the joy of seeing him grow to become a good son, and the dream to see and hold his grand children.
He left his family with a life long pain of loosing a child.
He left them with one dream; Justice for their child
ALC observers in the meanwhile, were either resting or dining in their hotels or consoling/ allaying fears of shabbeeha in minorities neighbourhoods.
AlDabi the brave shall not find such sight feareful.
His reporting shall be professional and objective: The perpetrators were armed terrorists!
Al Mu3allem could not agree more!
January 10th, 2012, 10:33 am
Juergen said:
Irritated
I agree that the most will care for their part of the cake, most will be happy with bread and a job to pay that.
I dont see that Tunesia is doing bad now, as i hear from Tunesian friends (they arent from annahda) they are quite optimistic and actually say that finally they come to terms with their own coutry. One told me that this revolution could have easily slipped into an civil war. They dont have many christians or jews, but tribes and the innertunesian regions are bitterly poor compared to the rich coastal area. The moment when the regime started to shoot at the people this was the moment i started to demonstrate with the people my friend from Karthage said.
There was in the beginning just demonstrations for the change of the regime, for dignity which was a nonexistant word fopr more than 40 years in Syria. When the regime used lethal forces, only then the people called for the downfall of the regime. If Assad would have wanted to really reform that would have been the time to implement meanful reforms. By now the people who are opposing the regime have shifted their peaceful means to a more militay combat with the regime, the longer people face this “revolutionary live” the more they will not go back. A friend of Damascus told me,. even if i want to have a normal life again, i cant, the moment i do have a normal life i will face the regimes revenge.
By the way, in our revolution in eastern germany few started to fight for civil rights, in the beginning we thought we could reform the regime, and some wanted just the same good life the west germans had with fanca cars and bananas, az the end with the masses there was no control anymore, and the calls for reunification were rising. I do believe that Assad has lost his grip, he had a chance to reform but has shown now that the regime has no chance left to recover, the question is no longer if but when it will collapse.
.
January 10th, 2012, 10:38 am
zoo said:
Syria crisis amplifies black market arms demand
January 10, 2012 01:54 AM (Last updated: January 10, 2012 03:45 PM)
By Nicholas Blanford
The Daily Star
BEIRUT: As Abu Rida reels off a list of the latest prices for weapons and ammunition on Lebanon’s black market, his small audience lets out low whistles of surprise.“$2,000 for an RPG?” said one man, referring to a rocket-propelled grenade launcher.
“I swear to God,” replied Abu Rida who has seen his profits skyrocket over the past year. “The prices are crazy. And it’s all going to Syria.”
Black market arms dealers like Abu Rida are struggling to cope with a soaring demand from Syria that has driven the prices of weapons and ammunition in Lebanon to record highs over the past 10 months.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Jan-10/159341-syria-crisis-amplifies-black-market-arms-demand.ashx#ixzz1j4HBTcAd
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
January 10th, 2012, 10:40 am
jad said:
Gene Sharp interview:
Puppets & Dictators: ‘Revolution Guru’ on OWS, Egypt, Libya
http://youtu.be/pE_1Ywu72dc
“Despite an Arab League observer mission in Syria, there has been no let up in the bloodshed. Author and scholar Gene Sharp told RT in exclusive interview that non-violence is the only way for people to bring about a democratic change.”
January 10th, 2012, 10:51 am
Uzair8 said:
105 MJABALI.
I read your earlier comment and A.S.S.A.D’S reply. I’m aware of the similar discussion on ‘The Walls’ however I’d like to respond here.
I came across a forum thread elsewhere which I think is related to this issue. In that thread and elsewhere on the internet an alleged final ‘hidden’ speech of the founder of Pakistan Mohammed Ali Jinnah is being shared and discussed.
In that speech Mr Jinnah criticises the western models of politics and economy and proposes Islamic models to present to and save mankind.
I thought to myself if Islam/muslims/Ummah have their own mission (including political and economic) which they want to implement and present to the world then how would they be able to do that if, as some wish, Islam and religion should be kept out of politics and instead confined to the home and mosque?
Here is the transcript of the speech by Mohammed Ali Jinnah (Quaid e Azam). The link to the video is at the end:
Quaid-e-Azam’s last speech which has been hidden from us.
The Quaid’s Speech on the Occasion of the opening ceremony of State Bank of Pakistan on July 1, 1948:-
“I shall watch with keenness the work of your Research Organization in evolving banking practices compatible with Islamic ideals of social and economic life. The economic system of the West has created almost insoluble problems for humanity and to many of us it appears that only a miracle can save it from disaster that is now facing the world. It has failed to do justice between man and man and to eradicate friction from the international field. On the contrary, it was largely responsible for the two world wars in the last half century.
The Western world, in spite of its advantages of mechanization and industrial efficiency is today in a worse mess than ever before in history. The adoption of Western economic theory and practice will not help us in achieving our goal of creating a happy and contented people.
We must work our destiny in our own way and present to the world an economic system based on true Islamic concept of equality of manhood and social justice. We will thereby be fulfilling our mission as Muslims and giving to humanity the message of happiness and prosperity of mankind.”
January 10th, 2012, 10:53 am
jad said:
I wonder how Mr. Christian Wulff is doing theses days..not so good I guess….corruption…threatening…journalism…phone calls…a speech…hmmm….boring…ok, lets go talk about Syria it’s more exciting for every German.
January 10th, 2012, 10:57 am
irritated said:
Juergen
I guess your friends are not the ones who are after bread and suffering unemployment.
Read this:
January 10, 2012 10:01 am
Tunisia urges G8 to materialize aid pledge in face of economic crunch
“Tunisia’s new Ennahdha-led government is faced with increasing public anger due to the slowness of reforms and increasing unemployment.”
http://balita.ph/2012/01/10/tunisia-urges-g8-to-materialize-aid-pledge-in-face-of-economic-crunch/
“If Assad would have wanted to really reform that would have been the time to implement meanful reforms”
Assad attempted to offer reforms at start and it was received with more demonstrations and protests. He quickly understood that offering quick reforms was never going satisfy the instigators of the demonstrations whose aim was his toppling. He acted very smartly in refusing to make any compromise under threat. As in his speech, he made no “concession”, as this would be immediately taken as a sign of weakness. He knows that his supporters and the silent majority are still on his side. Obviously his tactic succeeded as we see that the opposition got increasingly divided and confused and the international community is quietly changing its opinion about the near future of the regime.
January 10th, 2012, 10:59 am
Revlon said:
The bodies of 6 soldiers, all Sunnis, who defected in October and later arrested by 3alawi commanded military security branch in Bab AlSsba3 neighbourhoos in Homs city.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=P3uK7LmjLEU
حمص :استلام 6 جثث شهداء من برادات المشفى العسكري10/1
– Most had their eyes neatly gouged.
I strongly suspect that the globe was harvested to be sold for corneal grafting.
– All had marks of torture by electrocution.
– One had his jaw blown up, indicating a ponit blank execution.
– ALC observers did not show up to witness; they claim the reime did not permit them to enter to Bab AlSba3.
These are crimes against humanity.
They are commanded by a 3alawi mob.
They are tolerated or condoned by the AL representatives of the Arab regimes.
They are tolerated by the international community under the leadership of the superpowers.
January 10th, 2012, 11:01 am
Tara said:
Peaceful revolution is non- sense at this time. Not after 6000 dead. There is no light at the end of the tunnel except with armed resistance. Harrini should provide financial support to the FSA. Erdogan should turn blind eye to weapon smuggling from Turkey. The most important next step is to establish connection between the army defectors so they are not operating independently. They need to get more organized in order to provide a striking power. The SNC should lobby the Americans and the Europeans to get some sort of advance technology so the defectors can remain connected and not intercepted by the mafia.
January 10th, 2012, 11:03 am
Uzair8 said:
@122
Tourism is more or less at a stop in Syria.
Im sure potential tourists will not risk visiting with their families. Seems like a good chance they may be detained and have their organs/eyes etc removed for commercial use (by the regime).
Without tourism the regime still has the oil for revenue. If this was removed too then it surely can’t survive? Any chance of the oil lifeline being targeted?
January 10th, 2012, 11:12 am
Mina said:
119 Uzayr
And do you think the record of Pakistan, Afghanistan, KSA, Sudan, is not enough for the beautiful demonstration you wanted to give to “mankind” (i guess that excludes women). By the way, the ummah is by no way homogenous, so do you intend to start new ridda-wars to convince the different trends that you follow the only good one?
Jürgen, you are in good company!! Continue dud’ and we’ll get you a job at Blackwater.
January 10th, 2012, 11:12 am
irritated said:
114. Uzair8
I am amazed by your analysis. The Syrian regime had no official defections, except the mysterious Bakkour and another who has disappeared into oblivion after his show on Al Jazeera.
The Army is strong and united despite the daily claim of 15,000 20,000 35,0000 etc… defectors.
Not a single ambassador defected. The economy in Syria is still better than Tunisia’s and Egypt’s despite the enormous sanctions.
The facts show that the regime has been consistent in its approach and most western journalists admit now that it is holding very well after 10 months of relentless condemnations, unrests and media attacks.
In the contrary, the SNC despite the powerful political, media and financial support of France, Turkey, Qatar, the USA and most of the EU is an arrested development embryo. Divisions, political amateurism, indecision, incoherent strategies, internal dissensions, ego issues, it offers a very depressing spectacle of what is expected in Syria should this bunch take over the country.
You can continue imagining another reality, the facts on the ground don’t say the same.
January 10th, 2012, 11:19 am
Juergen said:
irritated
i can not help it but suggesting what he may have said sounds like the Kremlin reporters who would interprete every eyemove of the leader. Assad made it clear, no reforms, no election, no democracy. He promised an iron fist ( like it was a soft fist before) for the crackdown. I would not be so sure that the overall support is still in favor for him or the regime(one has to seperate that to be honest) the majority is silent, and does not want to get involved, they want to survive, and yet to say they are with the regime or the president is an assumption one should be careful about.
January 10th, 2012, 11:21 am
Juergen said:
@Uzair
I wonder if Iranians are still on theri way to Zainab and Ruaqqayah tombs, may be some of the hotels have shifted to this religious tourism group, which i think until now has always outnumbered the amount of foreign tourists to Damascus.
January 10th, 2012, 11:25 am
irritated said:
124. Uzair8 said:
“Tourism is more or less at a stop in Syria.”
For your information, Iranian tourists that made the largest number of tourists in 2010 are still flocking in Damascus, filling the hotels in Marjah and shopping in Hamidiyah.
I doubt their eyes and liver are participating in the ‘organs’ market that is only in your hopes of further demonizing Syria.
January 10th, 2012, 11:27 am
irritated said:
127. Juergen
As long as they are not against, they have no influence on the course of the events. They would only have an influence in free elections in March, that I am sure will be supervised by the AL observers.
January 10th, 2012, 11:31 am
jad said:
The wise politician
قناة ال: BBC الدكتور هيثم مناع
http://youtu.be/yUV4KtXlBAE
Part of the Syrians
المواطنون السوريون خطاب الرئيس الأسد شامل ومهم
http://youtu.be/cjRWaqE860g
And the crazy:
Ashraf Almoukdad Agrees with his sister in violence Tara, he is calling for more terrorist attacks and chaos which is in his view the shortest way to get the international military intervention, why those same people who are calling for more violence and more weapons don’t go back to Syria buy a weapon and use it instead of telling others to do it and die for them:
دعوة عامة لشعبنا الثائر:
ادعوكم لوقف اي تعاون مع الجامعة العربية وإحقاق اكبر فوضى ممكنة وأكثر عمليات عسكرية ممكنة فكلما فلتت الأمر عن سيطرة آل الاسد سيقرب التدخل الدولي الوحيد القادر على الحل النهائي لبشار ومجرميه..لا تنتظروا المجلس المعطوب أو هيئة الخيانة …وحدكم القادرون على التاثير …وعلى قلب الأمور
January 10th, 2012, 11:52 am
jad said:
Why the shortage in gas and fuel, because of the terrorist attacks against pipes and trucks transporting those materials between the Syrian cities are attacked on daily basis:
وتستمر محاولات الضغط على حلب .. مسلحون ينصبون كميناً لقافلة بنزين متجهة إلى حلب وإصابة خمسة من الجيش بينهم ضابط
نصب مسلحون كميناً مسلحاً لقافلة صهاريج محملة بالبنزين كانت في طريقها إلى حلب، في منطقة سراقب، عصر اليوم الثلاثاء، ما أدى إلى إصابة خمسة من عناصر الجيش الذين يرافقون القافلة لتأمين الحماية لها، كما تضررت أربعة صهاريج من القافلة.
وقال مصدر مسؤول، فضل عدم الكشف عن اسمه، لـ عكس السير : ” تعرضت القافلة التي تضم اكثر من 35 صهريج بنزين لكمين مسلح في منطقة سراقب، حيث فتح مسلحون كانوا يتمركزون على أسطحة مبان مطلة على الطريق العام النار على الصهاريج”.
وتابع ” وقع اشباك بين عناصر الجيش المرافقين للقافلة، وبين المسلحين، حيث أصيب خمسة من عناصر الجيش بينهم ضابط، في حين تضررت أربعة صهاريج”.
وبين المصدر أن القافلة تابعت مسيرها، ودخلت حلب بأمان.
ونقل المصابون إلى مشفيي العسكري، وحلب الجامعي، حيث تبين أن إصابة أحدهم خطرة، وتم إدخاله إلى العناية المشددة.
وذكر مصدر طبي في مشفى حلب الجامعي لـ عكس السير أن المشفى استقبل ثلاثة مصابين من الجيش، بينهم ضابط، وتم تقديم الإسعافات اللازمة لهم، في حين تم إدخال احد العناصر إلى العناية المشددة في المشفى.
واستقبل المشفى العسكري في حلب المصابين الباقيين، حيث بين مصدر طبي أن وضعهما مستقر.
وتتعرض صهاريج المازوت والفيول والبنزين إلى اعتداءات متتالية من قبل مسلحين يهدفون إلى منع وصول هذه المواد إلى حلب، في محاولة لشل حركة المحافظة التي تعتبر العاصمة الاقتصادية لسوريا، الأمر الذي دفع السلطات إلى تأمين حماية لهذه القوافل.
يشار إلى ان حلب تعرضت خلال الأيام القليلة إلى أزمة بنزين ” خانقة”، وصلت ذروتها الأحد، حيث فقدت المادة من جميع محطات الوقود .
وكان قال مصدر مسؤول في محافظة حلب لـ عكس السير انه سيتم توزيع 500 ألف لتر زيادة عن حاجة حلب لتغطية الطلب الإضافي الثلاثاء، حيث سيتم توزيع مليوني لتر من البنزين على المحطات، علماً أن حاجة حلب تبلغ نحو مليون ونصف مليون لتر، على حد تعبيره.
وعانت حلب خلال الشهرين الفائتين من عدة أزمات مؤقتة في البنزين، عملت بعض المحطات على تضخيمها، عن طريق قطع الطرق الموازية لها، والتحكم في توزيع المادة.
عكس السير – حلب
http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=c4476db4087d0fa78fd2664187c0677e&ar=75377501
January 10th, 2012, 12:00 pm
sheila said:
To #108. norman said:
You said:
“You made my point, why did your Alawi friend need your help to flee, Culture and religion,
Did you see what AL Homsi said in AL meeting, you should find out”.
My Alawi friend is not fleeing culture and religion, he is fleeing a country that is in shambles: no mazot, no propane and no electricity to name a few. A country where the ruler is willing to burn the whole thing down to keep his throne.
As for Al Homsi, yes I have heard what he said and I think he should be ashamed of himself. What he said is absolutely deplorable. The good news is that his opinion is not the main stream acceptable logic. Considering all the killings, my hat’s off to the Syrian people.
January 10th, 2012, 12:02 pm
Mina said:
Today’s speech makes perfect sense when reading this
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NA11Ak05.html
The clock is ticking, the script is unfolding. Why paving them an easy way by offering more transitional chaos?
If a war starts, it won’t be about delivering freedom to the Syrians, but about continuing the silent genocide of secular and educated Arabs, plus the destruction of eastern christianity.
January 10th, 2012, 12:10 pm
sheila said:
Dear Irritated,
You are amazed at Uzair’s analysis and everybody else is amazed at yours. You said: “The Army is strong and united despite the daily claim of 15,000 20,000 35,0000 etc… defectors.
Not a single ambassador defected. The economy in Syria is still better than Tunisia’s and Egypt’s despite the enormous sanctions”.
You sound exactly like the Iraqi minister claiming on TV that the Americans did not enter Baghdad, while the American tanks are moving in the background.
Yes, if it makes you feel better, keep dreaming, Soria bkhair.
January 10th, 2012, 12:18 pm
norman said:
Sheila,
Syria and the Syrians had Mazot, electricity, affordable essentials until your Friends the ones you call opposition decided that they want to take power by force and convinced Arabs and non Arab countries to impose sanctions only so they can hurt the Syrian people and push them to hate the president, tell honestly , which part of the Syrian president policies you do not agree with economic, political, Palestine , Arab rights, which one , there are no policies that i do not like , the only reason that you and others want to take power by force because he is an Alawi, look at the flag you use , it is the flag of the separation between Syria and Egypt, i rest my case, there is no way that you can take power by force so join the political system before you lose everything you would have gained for the Syrian people but i am not optimistic, Arabs are known to miss opportunities time and time again , because of greed.
January 10th, 2012, 12:25 pm
Tara said:
Jad
Aren’t you tired of playingالذئب في ليلى و الذئب disguising as Layla’s grandmother or to translate, the ugly wolf in Little Red Riding Hood. To continue hammering us with your usual role of being against the regime when all you do day and night during awakening hours is dumping regime’s propaganda is becoming quite repulsive. You would be much more effective when you show your true face as no one is being fooled, believe me. We are way beyond that stage. The tears you spent when a Syrian get killed are worse than the crocodile’s tears as you selectively spend them on the Shabeehas and not even on children. Reading your posts, which I now rarely do, indeed trigger lots of negative emotions I never knew I can have. Fake emotions or fake anything are repulsive.
January 10th, 2012, 12:30 pm
Son of Damascus said:
Dear Sheila,
Who can forget Baghdad Bob (Mohammad Al Sahhaf), that man had a major problem with reality (like many on this site)
For anyone who does not remember him here is a best of clip for Baghdad Bob:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=bd8c248ca2
January 10th, 2012, 12:31 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
S.O.D.
Just like Sahhaf we in Syria have Sharif Shahadeh,Taleb Ibrahim
and some here on S.C.
In a way Bashar today is acting like Sahhaf
January 10th, 2012, 12:40 pm
mjabali said:
Mr. Uzair8 Comment # 119
you said: “In that speech Mr Jinnah criticises the western models of politics and economy and proposes Islamic models to present to and save mankind.
I thought to myself if Islam/muslims/Ummah have their own mission (including political and economic) which they want to implement and present to the world then how would they be able to do that if, as some wish, Islam and religion should be kept out of politics and instead confined to the home and mosque?”
I say:
Islam is not one uniform entity. You have Sunnis, Shia, Alawis, Druz, Zaidis, Ismailis, Sufis, ….etc Also, Islam and through 1400 years of its history failed to establish one successful economical model to follow. Not one single model that is fit for our times now.
We always hear the slogan: “Islam is the solution” but we never saw that in real terms. Islam created more problems than solutions. Probably it creates solutions on a personal level when one person is looking for peace and finds it through Islam, but, Islam was never able to provide any solutions for economic issues, for example, especially those we encounter at this day and age.
You need modern laws for modern solutions. Leave Islam to the individual to do with it as he/she pleases. Leave the state for the community especially if this community includes people from many religions.
January 10th, 2012, 12:51 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Chief of staff in Israel has just said , if Assad fall he expect his supporters to run to Israel as refugee, and he is preparing for that
January 10th, 2012, 1:25 pm
annie said:
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/10/us-israel-golan-syria-idUSTRE8090XV20120110
(Reuters) – Israel is making preparations for the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a flood of refugees from his minority Alawite sect into the Golan Heights, Israel’s military chief told a parliamentary committee on Tuesday.
January 10th, 2012, 1:31 pm
Mina said:
This looks like a new provocation towards the Palestinian refugees, no? Why would the Alawites flood the Golan? It makes strictly no sense in the present context of witch-hunt and supposedly pending international condemnations and extraditions… Or are these just more cynical jokes?
January 10th, 2012, 1:37 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
المواطنون السوريون خطاب الرئيس الأسد شامل ومهم
اي وللله شامل كان سألت صديق قومي عنه وقللي شامل العلا ك وطئ حنك البعثية المصدي العرب والعروبة واللأسلام والمسلمين وحتى مانسي الفلسطينيين وتحريرهم يعني كان اختصر الساعتين وقال اسطوانة ل ب بجملة واحدة وهي بعثية بعثية بعثية امة عربية اسلامية واحدة بلا أي رسالة تحيا ايران والسلام عليكم
January 10th, 2012, 1:37 pm
irritated said:
#135 Sheila
As usual, your comment are full of good intentions but sound phony as obviously you have no arguments than comparing Syria to Iraq.
It only show how intelligently you grasp the political reality of the region. I guess you better limit yourself to the other blog that you are promoting where the commenters are all on your level.
January 10th, 2012, 1:41 pm
SQI said:
#131. JAD said:
The wise politician
الدكتور هيثم مناع
in 2004 Haytham Mannaa signed a letter along with 105 other self-proclaimed ‘intellectualls’ expressing their gratitude to george Bush and tony Blair for invading Iraq.
that shows clearly that his position against foreign intervention in Syria is not genuine.
i would never trust this man when it comes to syria’s public interest.
Falloujah et son ode à Haytham al Mannaa
http://www.dedefensa.org/article-falloujah_et_son_ode_a_hatham_al_mannaa_09_01_2012.html
http://www.saotaliassar.org/Frei%20Kitabat/FreiKitabat/Intelgent.htm
January 10th, 2012, 2:00 pm
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
خطاب بعثي تافه جدآ الزعبرة البعثية الاصولية مهتمين بلفلسطينيين وتحرير وطنهم الخرافي بس ما مهتمين بلوطن السوري ومأساة شعبه وتحرير اراضيه المحتلة والمسلوخة ماحد غير المهبول بيشتريه
January 10th, 2012, 2:02 pm
jad said:
Tara
I guess I triggered a nerve asking you to go back to Syria, buy a weapon and start your mission of shooting others, didn’t I? Why not, since you are trying to be SC Rambo and ‘THE’ model for other rebels and since my first advice to you was to stay safe for your kid’s future didn’t please you much and you and your friends took it in the worst way possible.
Did my question expose the hypocrisy of spreading violence while someone is staying safe behind their computer screens preaching for people to hold weapons against their brothers and sisters?
What you want Tara is one thing, you want to shut up every person on SC who doesn’t surrender for the twisted violence views that are promoted all over the wed, because, wrongly, you think that you don’t have any other alternative and unfortunately, you stuck in the message of hate and you can’t see that violence is not a solution, it’s a tool of destruction not for construction.
Your problem with me personally is that you can’t figure out how to shut me up, you tried almost every trick you know, from sending emails for people to ban me, to emotional blackmail to asking others to attack me, to orchestrate some cheap personal attacks to twist my views and to use my disagreement with my own friends as a way to make them to stop exchanging comments with me and you failed.
It’s time to accept that I’m here to stay and I have one message that I’ll keep repeating loud and clear to every person and every side that is:
[Corporation and Dialogue between all sides is the only way out, nothing else.]
Look Tara, SC is a place for everybody to write their opinions, some are honest, some are liars, some are here for the news and some are simply here to understand other side opinion and to learn from other people’s experience in these horrific days of Syria.
I and many others on this site refuse the violence as an answer and a tool for change, we prefer using reason over emotion regardless of how miserable, sad, ugly, bloody, unfair and unjust the situation may be, defiantly there is a way out and we have to find it, when God/Allah closes all doors he/she leaves us a window or a small crack in the wall to see the light and we need to use that small crack to open another door to go out of our dark and ugly prison.
I may be everything but a fake or a liar in what I write as you claim, I write what I truly believe in and if you don’t like it or you disagree with, it’s your own issue not mine to deal with, you have to learn to live with others even when they disagree with you (unless they promote violence), which seems that you can’t at the moment and everything for you is either black or white and always personal, it’s not. Get it already.
I came to a conclusion that violence and hatred won’t bring Syria anything but misery and life filled with regrets and that is not what anybody wants and if you agree on this principle then you have to look for another way out.
One last word, why don’t you concentrate and promote your politicians’ views, people that you truly like instead of being all about SC commentators, have a message of hope and be the messenger instead of wasting yours, and other commentators’, time in personal messages. You will feel better.
All the best.
January 10th, 2012, 2:04 pm
defender said:
Nikolay Starikov is a Russian publicist and the author
In information war of accidents doesn’t happen. As in usual war there are no casual approaches. If there is an information dump, means it have prepared and have tried to count effect from this provocation. And when the Internet is suddenly filled with rollers showing “horrors” you should understand that these rollers and this hysteria prepared IN ADVANCE. According to plan, under the scenario. Which was done not by guys on knees, and the whole Institutes in the West.
January 10th, 2012, 2:10 pm
defender said:
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=41085
Santorum Calls for a ‘Long War’ to ‘Eradicate’ Islam
Richard Silverstein – Tikum Olam January 10, 2012
Max Blumenthal has dug up a speech (transcript) delivered by Rick Santorum at David Horowitz’s invitation in 2007, in which he stated that Islam was a religion that had to be “eradicated” in a “long war:”
…This will be a long war. This will — remember, when they [Muslims] had the technological ability to fight us, they did, for a thousand years. A thousand years. This is hard for us to understand — a country scantly 250 years of age. A thousand years is incomprehensible to us. It is not to them. It is not to them. Their history is that history.
And they know their history. They know who they are. They know who we are. And we have no idea who they are…
…They are in a whole new war with us. We can choose not to be in one; doesn’t mean we aren’t. We are in a war, and theology is its basis. Just like we were in a war against Communism, and ideology was its basis. We need to understand that.
January 10th, 2012, 2:28 pm
norman said:
Santorum is a racist bigot,
January 10th, 2012, 2:33 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
I had a chance to listen to the speech again, certainly Bashar made concessions he admited that reform can not happen at the time of violence, he in this admits that the security solution failed and to do reform he must stop the oppression, I think he lies he is continueing the oppression so he does not want to do reform.
he seems to accept to talk to the opposition, and sent message to MB to talk,they refused, but here again he is lying he does not want to to talk to SNC.
this bashar as we expected is a lier.
All of us do not like violence, but while some claim that ,they support the regime , the regime who is using violence so they are lying too.
January 10th, 2012, 2:35 pm
defender said:
China rejects linking trade and Iranian nukes ahead of Geithner visit to lobby for sanctions
Associated Press – January 9, 2012
A top Chinese diplomat on Monday rejected linking Iran’s nuclear program to trade, adding to tensions with Washington on the eve of a visit by U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner to seek support for sanctions on Tehran’s oil industry.
A deputy foreign minister, Cui Tiankai, said China’s trade with Iran, an important oil supplier, has nothing to do with the Iranian nuclear program.
Washington is pressuring Tehran to abandon what Western governments say is an effort to develop nuclear weapons. Sanctions approved by President Barack Obama on New Year’s Eve would bar financial institutions that deal with Iran’s central bank from the U.S. market.
“The normal trade relations and energy cooperation between China and Iran have nothing to do with the nuclear issue,” Cui told reporters. “We should not mix issues with different natures, and China’s legitimate concerns and demands should be respected.”
China’s fast-growing economy is the world’s biggest energy consumer and obtained about 11 percent of its oil imports from Iran last year. Industry analysts say Beijing is unlikely to support an oil embargo against Iran because such huge imports would be next to impossible to obtain from other sources.
The sanctions have led to a clash of interests between Washington and key commercial and strategic partners in Asia.
South Korea and Japan also depend on Iranian oil and are negotiating with Washington in an effort to keep supplies flowing. South Korea obtains up to 10 percent of its oil from Iran, while Japan gets nearly 9 percent.
The dispute threatens to add to irritants in U.S.-Chinese ties, which are strained by disputes over market access and pressure on Beijing to ease currency controls that Washington complains are swelling its trade surplus.
Cui, one of the top officials in charge of relations with Washington, said Beijing supports nuclear nonproliferation efforts but believes Iran is entitled to develop peaceful atomic energy.
He rejected suggestions that anyone who does business with Iran is providing money for nuclear programs.
“According to this logic, if the Iranians have enough money to feed their population, then they have the ability to develop nuclear programs. If that is the case, should we also deny Iran the opportunity to feed its population?” he said.
“We believe the livelihood of the Iranian people and the normal economic ties between countries in the world and Iran should not be affected.”
Chinese purchases of Iranian crude averaged about 560,000 barrels per day in 2011, rising to 617,000 barrels in November, close to one-third of Iran’s total exports of 2.2 million barrels per day, according to oil industry analysts Argus Media.
January 10th, 2012, 2:36 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
You know by now that neither SNP or Metaz giva a dam about thumb downs or thumb up for matter of fact, you can mark dozen of them if you like, one email dispatch and will have 400+ thumb up if we needed to do so.
The point of the two comments above by Aldendeshe and SNP is very clear, enough is enough. Stop playing the Baathist Istwani Bashar, let’s cut the 2 hours long Baathist speeches and start introducing some serious reforms using Presidential Decrees, or get out of the way please, take your Baathists, Arab nationalists, Socialists, Communists, Nasserites and Salafi’s and Iranians and Shia of Lebanon HA as well with you please. Syria has suffered enough for six decades from these crappy idiots who all they cared about is self interests and or self enrichment.
It is time to leave Syria for Syrians and Syrian Nationalists to put the nation back into the track of destiny after a whole Millennium of abuse and neglect.
STOP PLAYING THE GOD DAMM BAATHIST ISTWANI PLEASE, WE CAN NOT TAKE IT ANYMORE. WE WANT PEACE WITH ISRAEL AND START BUILDING OUR SYRIAN NATION.
January 10th, 2012, 2:44 pm
defender said:
Anastassia Michaeli: A Naughty Knesset Member!
January 10th, 2012, 2:52 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
DARYLL,
Is there an anti-apostasy law in Turkey ? In Tunisia ? hell, in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan ? I donlt think so, yet mre than 90 % of the population report themselves Muslim in every national census.
So what abt ur stupid claim that Muslims are returning to Christianity ?
And btw I respect Western Christains and Reformed Churches like Lutheran, Calvinist, Presbyterian and Anglican. they introduced modern civilization, industrialization, political and social reforms, I admire them.
We have problems with superstitious, backward, Eastern and Orthodox Christains like Maronites, Melkites, Greek Orthodox, Syriac, Armenian Apostolc, Russian Orthodox, all the other orthodox churches, Assyrian, Chaldean.
If Arabic speaking Christians become reformed and Protestants there will be better relations with Sunnis.
And btw you will have to give bayah to Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Khalid ibn al Walid.
January 10th, 2012, 3:18 pm
b said:
Neocon Israel Mouthpiece Writes Syrian Opposition Intervention Paper
and he throws the real opposition on the ground under the bus.
January 10th, 2012, 3:22 pm
Mina said:
Wonderful, after the Christian Zionists who want all the Jews in Israel to become Christians to get a chance to see the Messiah live, now we have the Tlass US sect, who want every eastern Christian to become protestant.
Superstition is a problem among Christians, according to him, but it’s no problem that the Wahhabis sell the “miraculous water of the zam-zam well in Mecca”, after killing thousands in Yemen and elsewhere because they would have comitted shirk by visiting the graves of old saints; and still behead women for witchcraft.
The US is such a great place, they can produce new weirdoes by the minute.
January 10th, 2012, 3:36 pm
Darryl said:
119. UZAIR8 said:
Mr Uzair8, can you please explain the following things per you post and a previous one linking Sheikh AlQarney:
1. While the west produced giants the like of Kant, Voltaire, Newton, Leibniz, Gauss, Faraday, Ampere, Einstein, Fleming, Bell, Shannon, Shockley etc etc too many to list.
Islam was doing what besides NikaH and navel gazing under the 400 years of Ottomans, and before and after? Was Islam not ruling the Islamic world at the time?
Was there anything notable that was produced under the ISLAMIC Ottomans while Europe and America produced the above giants and all modern things that we take for granted?
2. There are 1.5Billion Muslims (your count) that produced 6 Nobel prizes, 23 Million Jews produced over 170 Nobel prize winners.
Islam was doing what besides producing children that were going no where and wasn’t Islam in control of the Islamic world?
3. Who is feeding you Islamic nations Mr Uzair8, who came to the aide of Somalia and the famine that infests most Muslim nations? Not KSA or Sheikh AlQarney, they only give money to convert people, not to sustain them.
It is time to remove your head from the sand pile, you are suffocating! beside pissing me off!
January 10th, 2012, 3:44 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
DARYLL,
Is there an anti-apostasy law in Turkey ? In Tunisia ? hell, in Azerbaijan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan ? I don’t think so, yet more than 90 % of the population report themselves Muslim in every national census. Chechnya was under Russian Orthodox Christain domination for 150 years and Soviet pseudo-atheist domination for 72 years,yet it is one of the most Islamically inclined and religious regions in the World.
So what abt ur stupid claim that Muslims are returning to Christianity ?
And btw I respect Western Christains and Reformed Churches like Lutheran, Calvinist, Presbyterian and Anglican. they introduced modern civilization, industrialization, political and social reforms, I admire them.
We have problems with superstitious, backward, Eastern and Orthodox Christains like Maronites, Melkites, Greek Orthodox, Syriac, Armenian Apostolc, Russian Orthodox, all the other orthodox churches, Assyrian, Chaldean.
If Arabic speaking Christians become reformed and Protestants there will be better relations with Sunnis.
And btw you will have to give bayah to Abu Bakr, Omar, Othman and Khalid ibn al Walid.
January 10th, 2012, 3:57 pm
Mina said:
In Turkey, laicity was imposed with an iron fist and a cult of personality that has outlived its founder Ataturk and is almost a religion.
In Algeria some guys have been arrested and charged last ramadan for eating in the street before iftar.
In Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan the only apostasy is to criticize the local despot, ruling for 20++ years, having survived the USSR and now great allies of the US.
At least, al Azhar speaks out for freedom of belief:
http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/node/594171
and As’ad Abu Khalil comes out of the wood:
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/angry-corner/propaganda-and-coverage-syria
January 10th, 2012, 4:06 pm
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
“….people after throwing out corrupt and autocratic leaders will demand economic reform and personal freedom, and any party or leader who fails to give people what they want will be voted out….”
Keep it quite please, don’t teach Islamists the tricks of the trade, the facts of life. Go for the political lies and say Islamist will rule in Syria. Why, because we needs them to fight and die first man, kick the Shia منافقين out of Syria and that terrorist state within state, Shia power usurpers out of Lebanon. Let them go for it with gusto and the ballot boxes will finally take good care of Syria. In the future, I guarantee you that, and even more, not one Shia will ever get elected in Syria by a ballot of votes, even if he to bribe his way with a lot of stolen cash robed from the Noble Persian nation by the منافقين Mullahs . The only concern, is that Islamists are illiterate, exceptionally dim witted, even more than Ayatollah Khemenei of Iran, more like the reptilian god Allah (SIN) they worship, but not as much as those training and funding them, the backers are even dumber, stupid as hell, and that is the problem, they are not going anywhere but backward.
Send them all over to SNP, will trains them in the right ways, the peaceful ways, the other benevolent aliens among us ways that I met couple of times. When they here [Islamists], will teach them that a word is worth more than a thousand swords. Their god, the moon dweller will not allow it most likely, he may even needs them to clean all those bases on Mars and the Moon, he even needs them for food, “SIN” is a human flesh eater, he eats human alive, I am not kidding you, there are people who died a horrible death when they opened their mouth and spilled the beans publicly, I met a bunch of these brave people. There are some who walked out on $400,000 yearly salary because they could not handle the facts they discovered on the job. That is all I want to tell you about this.
Anyhow, they are welcome here for proper training that will get them to be useful in bringing Syria into Democracy and freedom from oppressive Baathist Sunnis and Shia that ruled Syria for nearly 60 years, rather than being useful idiots in Syria’s enemy hands. But we do have some conditions:
1- They need to secure at least 200 billion in aid from Allah and his bowing imbeciles.
2- They need to recognize Israel right to exist and support today rabbinical decision in circulating pictures of the “Temple Mount” without that reptilian god edifice on top of it, just as SNP already did couple of years ago and started using that clean image to send greetings to our Jewish brothers and sisters. So we all should celebrate Israel re-creation and its rise from the ashes, help them to set up own rightful Temple without any hindered or hostilities from Syrians.
3- They should accept SNP peaceful means of regaining the Golan and for Iskenderun.
4- Accept closing all Palestinian camps and slum dwellings and removing inhabitants for permanent settlement in Jordan. It is a country that is half ruled by Palestinians and that Palestinian lady ruler did nothing to help her people.
I do command the Moslem Brotherhood for refusing to meet with the Ayatollah representative. He was not nice to SNP and most likely will treat Syrians with contempt just like he treated Hamas when they got wacked in Gaza, who needs Half-men like that? In fact many Persians told me for a fact that most Ayatollahs have a “MADE IN UK” stamp under their beards and one eyewitness said that once he saw Khatami in restroom and he had a hairy p******y.
January 10th, 2012, 4:07 pm
Tara said:
Anwar Malek, an observer withdrew from the mission and stated the mission is serving the regime’ s agenda. He withdrew because he was afraid turning to a Shabeeh. He also said that the regime started to kill supporters to convince the mission of armed gangs. Norman, please do not visit Syria yet. The regime is not to be trusted. Bashar is killing his supports to keep the chair.
January 10th, 2012, 4:08 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
2- “They need to recognize Israel right to exist and support today rabbinical decision in circulating pictures of the “Temple Mount” without that reptilian god edifice on top of it,”
We can recognise Israel but they will have to cede total control of Masjid al Aqsa if they want that.
“3- They should accept SNP peaceful means of regaining the Golan and for Iskenderun’
The Islamists do not want 500,000 extra Alawis in Syria and want “zero problems” wuth Turkey. How about regaining Mosul and Ninewa from Shia Iraq ?
Golan is okay though. Druze people are good.
“4- Accept closing all Palestinian camps and slum dwellings and removing inhabitants for permanent settlement in Jordan. It is a country that is half ruled by Palestinians and that Palestinian lady ruler did nothing to help her people”
Agreed, but Palestinian Salafists must have Syrian citizenship, and also, if we agree to resettle Palestinians in Jordan, you must pay compensation to families of victims of Sabra-Sjatila, Karantina, Tal el Zaatar from Lebanese funds and Baathist confiscated properties.
January 10th, 2012, 4:24 pm
Atassi said:
KUss Amak Ye arssa Walla la Nick Amak y aldendeshe معتز الدندشي
“this will get the attention of the Admin to this Ass ldendeshe معتز الدندشي ” last comment… F him
January 10th, 2012, 4:27 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
TARA, which country is Anwar Malek from ?
I thnk they are killing their own Sunni supporters and Bouqs, just like Sari Hassoun kiling.
But believe me, it is not Bashar who is stubborn, it is his community and their brothers-in-faith in Lebanon, Iraq and Iran.
January 10th, 2012, 4:27 pm
Tara said:
Khaled
He sounded Morocon to me. But, I am not thet expert in figuring people nationality based on their accent? He could be Tunisian.
January 10th, 2012, 4:31 pm
SQI said:
#160. KHALID TLASS
…. I respect Western Christains and Reformed Churches like Lutheran, Calvinist, Presbyterian and Anglican. they introduced modern civilization, industrialization, political and social reforms, I admire them.
We have problems with superstitious, backward, Eastern and Orthodox Christains like Maronites, Melkites, Greek Orthodox, Syriac, Armenian Apostolc, Russian Orthodox, all the other orthodox churches, Assyrian, Chaldean.
—–
the Truth is, You and your wahabi and salafi ilk love to be dominated; and bend over to the power-obssessed protestants.
you have a problem with Eastern Christians because they won’t play your perverted game.
January 10th, 2012, 4:32 pm
atassi said:
January 10th, 2012, 4:34 pm
sheila said:
To #136. Norman,
You have asked and I shall oblige. It is a very difficult question because it will take what amounts to a book to answer, but I will try to make it short and sweet.
Your question: “which part of the Syrian president policies you do not agree with economic, political, Palestine , Arab rights, which one , there are no policies that i do not like”
Her is my answer:
I do not like any of the above. You would be hard pressed to find a worst ruler for Syria.
I do not like him ruling the country like his private farm. I do not like the fact that we have no freedom of assembly which rendered the only possible political movement in Syria, the one that can meet in the mosque. I do not like that you can be arrested without a warrant and can be jailed without trial. I do not like that when you are arrested you are beaten and tortured and treated like a sub-human. I do not like that all the enterprises in Syria are owned by the president and his clan and those that are not owned by them are forced to partner with them. I do not like that our educational system is horrible. That kids have to study something called “national education” a total waste of time. That you can get to any university you want by parachuting from a plane, while others study so hard and get nowhere. That you can not speak your mind without risking humiliation or even death. That some people in Syria have to write ”reports” about their family and friends to make ends meet. As for the economic policy or lack thereof, I do not like that to get a business license in Syria can take up to a year or more and a massive amount of bribes.
I am now tired of typing, but if you do not yet get what I do not like, I will be happy to explain further. I can literally fill a book.
Now it is my turn to ask you a question:
If you like the Syrian president’s policies so much why did you come to the US?
January 10th, 2012, 4:42 pm
trustquest said:
I’m familiar with genome project and what you are up to Ehsani, it is too late for such call. We know we are all humans and we know too that crime might be pay for sometime but not for all the time. There is also limitation to human suffering and to human pain. What we have seen in the last 10 months surpassed human bearing. We are going into WW2 and WW1 drama and atrocities with difference it is played on slow motion on the hands of group have no human feeling. This group are very focus on the State as entity above all humans existence, such as individuals are not counted, and very soon they will enter the phase of some sects or this city or that group are not important and could be taken to out of this earth to save the “State” which mean for them “OUR STATE”…sorry to see you still writing and can not/or did not say what you should say…
January 10th, 2012, 4:45 pm
Tara said:
Attasi@ 169
Thank you very much for posting the link to the interview of the observer who withdrew from the mission.
—–
I am still waiting to hear comments from the pro regime. Is he an Islamist, or neocon? May be a Jew? Where is Bronco? I would love to hear what he can possibly say! I bet he will remain quiet as there is nothing to say. This is very incriminating.
January 10th, 2012, 4:51 pm
son of Damascus said:
Dear Darryl,
Let me remind you of a few Moslem scientist:
Avicena, Jaber Ibn Hayan (Father of Chemistry), Al Kawarizmi (father of Algebra), Omar Al Khayyam, Ibn Taymieha, Al Jahiz, Al Jazairi, Fatima Al Fihri (who established the oldest continuous University and was a woman) and the list goes on.
a few modern Moslems:
Mustafa Akkad, Mohammed Ali, Malcom X, Ahmad Zeweil (Nobel laureate in Chemistry), Fazlur Khan (Sears Tower, John Hanckok Tower), Fareed Zakaria, Aziza El Hibri (who has a seat in the US administration)
If the 1.5 billion Muslims had the same opportunities as people from the West (in terms of governance, social welfare, education, political stability, freedoms,..) you would see a lot more names on the Noble Laureates list. That would include as well Indian, Chinese, South American and pretty much the rest of the world that is not “western”.
For your info out 853 Nobel Prizes US got it 333, China 11 times.
January 10th, 2012, 4:53 pm
aldendeshe said:
“…The Islamists do not want 500,000 extra Alawis in Syria and want “zero problems” wuth Turkey. How about regaining Mosul and Ninewa from Shia Iraq ?
We should regain Ninevah from the non-moslem SOFA Shia , they have no use or respect for it, they wants Karbalah, they can have that dump. You are confusing Alawites Shia Twelvers who are awaiting a Mahdi with the Alevi of Iskenderun. Alawites originated from Iran, while Alevi are natives to the land of Syria and Anatolia.
“………The Alevi (in English /ælɛˈviː/, also /æˈlɛviː/ or /əˈleɪviː/) are a religious and cultural community, primarily in Turkey, constituting probably more than 15 million people.[1] Aleviness is a syncretistic religious tradition, historically grown out of the Bektashi-Sufi lineage within Shi’a Islam, incorporating many elements of local Anatolian folk culture. The Alevi are also known as Alevi-Bektaşi to distinguish them from the Alawis (also known as Nusayris), another Shi’a sect who are primarily found in Syria, but in smaller numbers in Turkey, as well. The Alevi-Bektaşi are ethnically Turkish or Kurdish, while the Alawi are ethnically Arab……”
Anyway, SNP plan is not to fight and regain Iskenderun all back to Syria, but rather calls for one separate autonomous administrative state ruled by Syrians, Turkmen and Alevi or a geopolitically divided region in which Syria will gain part of the coastal area and the City of Antioch. For the Golan Heights, It will be returned to Syria proper, but will also be ruled administratively by the Golan Council and the Golan Development Authority, whereby both Syrians and Israeli will jointly administer the heights and its resources, development. Israelis will remain on the heights, no evacuation of settlements is required, but financial compensation must be paid if these settlements are encroaching on deeds held by others in Syria. Israeli did a great job on the Golan, they developed it into a small Napa valley in a way, something Baathists will not ever do in their wildest corrupt dreams.
Yes, no one plans on trucking the Palestinians and dumping them on Jordanian side of boarder. Resettlement of Palestinian is to be under careful planning in every way and funded by all able nations to put the issue to rest once and for all.
No, you have no right to the mount area that has always been Jewish owned, Jewish Land and Jewish property. Just because Moslems Illegally built on top of it, it does not mean they can claim it now. There exist Roman documents in the Vatican ancient archive underground vault that back that Jewish claim.
January 10th, 2012, 5:02 pm
trustquest said:
January 10th, 2012, 5:09 pm
Uzair8 said:
Dear Jeurgen & Irritated,
Yes you’re right about the Iranian tourists. Frustrating isn’t it?
However, there was an article not too long ago regarding the Syrian economy and tourism. In the article it was mentioned how the continued Iranian tourism was not much consolation for those dependant on the tourism industry as the Iranians were ‘low-spending’ tourists.
“As the uprising gained momentum through the year and the violence grew, the most profitable areas of the tourism sector evaporated, with only low-spending Iranian pilgrims left.”
http://www.albawaba.com/syria-economy-country-should-brace-financial-collapse-407196
January 10th, 2012, 5:47 pm
Uzair8 said:
Dear Jeurgen & Irritated,
Yes you’re right about the Iranian tourists. Frustrating isn’t it?
However, according to a previous article this isn’t much consolation for the Syrian tourism industry.
“As the uprising gained momentum through the year and the violence grew, the most profitable areas of the tourism sector evaporated, with only low-spending Iranian pilgrims left.”
http://www.albawaba.com/syria-economy-country-should-brace-financial-collapse-407196
January 10th, 2012, 5:51 pm
jad said:
Nir Rosen discusses the situation in Syria
http://youtu.be/yu8jxX5JhgM
“Al Jazeera interviews Nir Rosen, a journalist who has been in Syria for the last two months, on the situation in Syria, and his opinion of the Free Syrian Army.”
January 10th, 2012, 6:33 pm
jad said:
رأس السلطة : حوالي ساعتين من “اللعي” و”اللغو” المنفصل كليا عن الواقع ، وتلويح بمزيد القمع
الخطاب أصرّ على الاستمرار في التركيز على “البعد الخارجي” للأزمة والتنكر لبعدها الداخلي الذي هو أس القضية وأساسها
دمشق ، الحقيقة ( خاص): أنهى رأس السلطة قبل قليل خطابه على مدرج جامعة دمشق ، والذي استغرق حوالي ساعتين ( ساعة و 48 دقيقة). وبخلاف ما سربته وسائل إعلام السلطة عن أنه سيكون خطابا “مفصليا”، جاء ليكرر ويجتر أحاديثه السابقة عن المؤامرة والإرهابيين مع الكثير من “اللغو” و “اللعي” عن العرب والعروبة ، الذي بدا كما لو أنه تنويع على عبارات الفنان الراحل نهاد قلعي ” إذا أردت أن تعرف مافي البرازيل ، عليك أن تعرف ما في إيطاليا”! لكن المشكلة تكمن في أن لاتكون تعرف شيئا في إيطاليا ، عندما ستكون المصيبة أعظم ، لأنك لن تعرف أي شيء هنا أو هناك!
مع ذلك ، والحق يقال، الشيء “المفصلي” الأساسي الذي كان واضحا في خطابه ، والذي لم يكن ” لغوا” ، هو تلويحه بالمزيد من القمع وسفك الدماء تحت عنوان مكافحة الإرهاب ، أو بتعبير أدق: إعطاء القمع بعدا فاشيا سافرا . فقد ألمح إلى فكرة دفع الموالين للسلطة إلى التحول إلى ” جيش رديف” للأجهزة الأمنية ، رغم أن ممارسات من هذا النوع جرى اللجوء إليها في أكثر من مكان وأكثر من مناسبة. وهو ما يوحي بأن الخطاب ” كتب من قبل الجهاز الأمني وليس من قبله”! ومن الواضح أن هذا التلويح بالمزيد من القمع لا يصدر إلا إلا عن الشعور بالقوة، سواء أكانت قوة حقيقية أو متخيلة.
الجانب”المفصلي” الآخر في خطابه هو استمرار التركيز على البعد “الخارجي” للأزمة والتنكر شبه الكامل لبعدها الداخلي الذي هو أس القضية وأساسها. ولا يغير هذا ، بطبيعة الحال، شيئا من حقيقة أن الأزمة الداخلية ، أي أزمة وفي أي بلد ، يمكن أن تكون مجالا لعبث القوى الخارجية وركوب كل من له مصلحة في ركوبها ، لاسيما في بلد كسورية له وضع وموقع استراتيجيان في منتهى الأهمية والخطورة.
بلى ، ثمة شيء “مفصلي” آخر في الخطاب هو تصادفه العجيب مع خطاب زين العابدين بن علي في مثل هذا اليوم من العام الماضي، والذي كان خطابه الأخير!
ولمن يريد معرفة ما جاء فيه من درر ، ولديه وقت شاغر لذلك ، يمكنه الضغط هنــــا
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6424/Default.aspx
January 10th, 2012, 6:38 pm
jad said:
عزيزي بشار الأسد: هل لك بالتكثيف في خطابك التالي؟!
من بين كل سأقوله في هذا النص، اخترت هذه الفكرة تحديدا للعنوان، لأنها باتت “قضية” تستحق أن يشار لها، وليس من باب التنديد أو التمجيد. فحين ينتظر ملايين من الناس ما ستقوله، وكل حركة ستأتي بها، وكل ابتسامة أو تقطيبة.. نظرا لكونك رئيس جمهورية تعيش أزمة جدية وعميقة، حين يكون الأمر كذلك، يصير من المهم فعلا أن لا يضطر هؤلاء للبقاء ساعة ونصف متسمرين أمام الشاشات حتى ينال منهم التعب وتتشتت أذهانهم ويجبرون على قطع متابعتهم لأسباب عدة (بعضها محض بيولوجي)،
يصير من المهم فعلا أن تقال الأمور بتكثيف دقيق ومختصر،
وإن كنت لا ألومك كثيرا في هذا،
لا ألومك لأنك تقوم بالدور الذي يجب على الإعلام الحكومي أن يقوم به. وبات حتى الحمقى يعرفون أن هذا الإعلام، في سورية، أغبى من الغباء ذاته، وأنه شريك كامل الشراكة بغبائه أو “حنكته” بما يحدث في سورية اليوم، بحيث أتفهم جيدا شعورك بضرورة شرح كل شيء، رغم أنك لو بقيت لعشرة ساعات تتكلم، وليس ساعة ونصف، فسوف لن تنجو من مجزرة الإعلام الحكومي السوري بحال، مثلما لن تنجو من مجزرة الإعلام غير الحكومي في الداخل والخارج. إذ يبدو أن مشكلتنا مستعصية فعلا مع “الإعلام”.
وأعرف أن عددا من الناس سوف يشنون حربا شعواء ضد هذه الملاحظة، ويسألوني: من أنت لتقول مثل هذا الكلام للسيد الرئيس؟ لكنني سأبتسم فقط، لأن الأمر يستحق فعلا.
المهم، ما أريد قوله اليوم بضعة أمور متعلقة بخطابك الهام جدا اليوم (الثلاثاء 10/1/2012)، والذي يصعب عدم تسميته بمحطة فاصلة، سواء لمن يتفق معه أو يخالفه (لأي سبب كان). فهذه المرة الأولى التي توضع بعض “النقاط” على كلمات أساسية في واقعنا الأحمر القاني اليوم. وطبعا، وكالعادة: ما أقوله يمثلني وحدي، كمواطن لم يرغب يوما، ولا يرغب اليوم بكل تأكيد، بالتخلي عن حقه بقول ما يفكر به بصوت عال. ولا يمثل أي شخص أو جهة أخرى.
ولا يتعلق كلامي أبدا بكل تلك الهستيريا الفرويدية التي أظهرت اليوم وجها جديدا للشعب السوري، من أقىصى الموالاة إلى أقصى المعارضة! هستيريا ستكون مفيدة جدا في المستقبل لكل دارس لعلم النفس الاجتماعي (والقطيعي أيضا). وهي، بكل حال، لا تستحق حتى القراءة والاستماع، عدا عن الرد والنقاش.
– أعجبني جدا أن تشيد بالجيش السوري. فهو كان بحاجة فعلا لهذه التحية. لا أقصد كبار الضباط الذين تعرفهم خيرا مما نعرفهم! بل الجنود الذين عانوا الأمرين خلال الأشهر الماضية، عدا عن الضحايا الذين سقطوا منهم وما زالوا يسقطون. والذين (بعيدا عن أخطاء فردية فعلا، وعن محاولة البعض التلاعب بهم وزجهم في مآزق أخلاقية عميقة وخطيرة) أثبتوا أنهم مواطنون لا يترددون في حماية بلدهم تحت أي ظرف كان.
لكن، وبلا رتوش، لم يعجبني أبدا أن تشيد بالأجهزة الأمنية السورية، لأسباب أكثر من أن تعد، أهمها أن هذه الأجهزة هي نفسها التي استولت على حياتنا عبر عقود من الزمن حطمت فيه كل معارضة مدنية، وكل تفكير عقلاني، وكل نفس علماني، وكل مواطنة، حتى صار ما نراه اليوم ممكنا بكل هذا المستوى المدهش من السهولة في سفك الدم، وطلب الاحتلال، وما إلى ذلك.. دون أن يعرف أحد أين رأس ذلك وأين قدميه!
وإذا كنت أعرف، مثلما يعرف غيري، أن عناصر هذه الأجهزة ليسوا إلا أخوتي وأهلي، فإنني أعرف أيضا أن هؤلاء العناصر هم، فعلا لا قولا، “عبد مأمور” يمكنه دائما أن يتحول إلى وحش متوحش بأمر، مثلما يمكنه أن يتحول إلى إنساني عظيم بأمر! وأن هذه الأجهزة ما تزال تشكل خطرا جديا وداهما في الانقلاب بسورية إلى الوراء! وبعضها لا يمانع من تدمير سورية بأمها وأبيها ليعود إلى الزمن الذهبي المتمثل بفرض حالة الطوارئ. فهم يعرفون أن مجرد توقيعك برفع حالة الطوارئ هو توقيع بالنعي النهائي لسلطاتهم المطلقة، حتى وإن تأخر استكمال ذلك بعض الوقت.
وإذا كان من المستحيل اليوم، في قلب المعركة، إنجاز كل شيء (خاصة دمج وإعادة هيكلة أجهزة الأمن، وتحديد صلاحياتها بكل وضوح)، وإذا كانت هناك تغيرات حقيقية على الأرض متعلقة بممارسة هذه الأجهزة لا ينكرها كل متابع جدي، فإن هذا لا يغير من واقع أن هذه الأجهزة ما زالت تمارس الاختطاف والاعتقال والتعذيب الوحشي بحق آلاف من الشباب الديمقراطي المدني الذي رفض كل أساس للتدخل الخارجي، مثلما رفض عنف المجرمين تحت أي مبرر.
– أعجبتني جوانب كثيرة من تحليلك لأسباب ما وصلنا إليه اليوم. لكن، وبإطلاق، لم يعجبني تجاهلك التام لحقيقة بسيطة إلى حد “مرعب”: غياب المواطنة خلال القرون الماضية (وليس فقط العقود الماضية) هو الجذر الأول والأساس لكل ما وصلنا إليه.
وغياب المواطنة، كما تعرف، مكرس في الدستور السوري بكل وقاحة، كما هو مكرس بكل فظاظة في الكثير من القوانين السورية. ولكن الطامة الأكبر أنه مكرس في الحياة المؤسساتية اليومية على مدى العقود الماضية برعاية وحماية وتنفيذ “حالة الطوارئ” السياسية المقبورة والقائمين عليها.. وحالة الطوارئ الدينية المستمرة والقائمين عليها.. وحالة الطوارئ “الجنسية” المستمرة أيضا..
ومهما فعلت سورية (وأنت وقيادة النظام والدولة والمعارضة والشعب و…) من أجل المضي قدما، وأيا كان المكان الذي سوف نصله غدا، فسوف نبقى نائمين على بركان متفجر ما لم يبدأ حل جذري لمشكلة غياب المواطنة هذه. بركان سيجد سريعا ألف قناة وقناة لينفجر بوجوهنا.
ولا يخفى عليك أن المواطنة ليست شيئا آخر سوى كل الترجمات لعنوان واحد بسيط هو: الحقوق المتساوية والواجبات المتساوية لكل سوري وسورية بغض النظر عن الجنس والدين والعرق والقومية والاعتقاد..
والخطر الذي نعيشه اليوم، ويستشعره الكثيرونأت غدا، يتعلق فعلا بأن التمييز سوف يستمر على ما يبدو. خاصة التمييز الديني المشرع في الدستور السوري الذي يجري تعديله الآن (ويبدو أنه سيحافظ على عنصريته الدينية هذه)، والتمييز الجنسي بين النساء والرجال، والتمييز القومي بين الأصول القومية المتنوعة للسورين والسوريات. واستمراره في الدستور المعدل (أو المرقع حسب تسميتي) سوف يعني استمرار، أو حتى المزيد من التمييز في القوانين وتعليماتها التنفيذية! أي: الحلقة كاملة!
– أعجبني أن تصر بكل وضوح، وبلا لبس، على ترافق الحل الأمني بمواجهة المجرمين المرتزقة والخونة، مع الحل السياسي المتمثل بتثبيت وتنفيذ الإصلاحات الجذرية التي بدأت (خاصة إلغاء حالة الطوارئ وإلغاء محكمة الموت المسماة محكمة أمن الدولة العليا، وهما العمود الفقري لكل ديكتاتورية)، وخاصة استثناءك المجرمين القتلة وطالبي الاحتلال من أن يكونوا معنين بأي نوع من الحوار. وأراحني إلى حد ما وصفك “أخوان الشياطين”، وإن كنت ما زلت متخوفا بشدة من أراهم غدا (وغيرهم من الإسلام السياسي الذي يطاوع اليوم النظام!) على طاولة اقتسام مستقبل الشعب السوري!
ولكن قلبي سقط من بين أضلعي وأنت تتكلم عن “اللجان الشعبية” والمجموعات التي حمت بعض تشكيلات الجيش! فلم أستطع أن أمسك بالضبط قصدك: هل أنت تلمح إلى أن هذه هي ميليشيا جديدة تقاتل من أجل النظام وبالتالي فهي تحصل على نوع من “الشرعية” لأنها تدافع عن النظام؟! أم أنه مجرد وصف سريع وغير موفق لواقع حال صحيح، ولكنه ترافق مع واقع حال صحيح آخر هو أن هذه المجموعات لم توفر إمكانياتها في أن تكون مجرمة وقاتلة وبنفس أساليب الأخوان المجرمين والوهابيين والخونة، وإن بعناوين مختلفة؟!
يزيد من خوفي هذا حديث تردد على مسامعي، من أشخاص في النظام نفسه. حديث دار حول أن “سحب سلاح” هؤلاء سيبدأ فقط بعد أن يتوقف إجرام المرتزقة! بما كان تأكيدا شبه صريح على قبول هذه الميليشيا؟!
إن هذا يحتاج، أقله، إلى توضيح حاسم لا يترك مجالا للشك بأن الدولة سوف لن تغض النظر عن هذه المجموعات المسلحة، حتى وإن كان الواقع قد فرض وجود بعضها مثلما فرض وجود بعض مجرمي “الثورة”، عدا عن أن تعطيهم أي نوع من الشرعية.
لأن الاحتمال الآخر هو فتح باب الجحيم بحد ذاته!
– أخيرا، في هذا الاختصار: تحدثت عن الشباب كعادتك في كل خطاباتك السابقة (بعد الأزمة وقبلها)، لكنك تجاهلت مرة أخرى مئات آلاف الشبان والشابات السوريين/ات ممن يمكن وصفهم بأنهم الخاسر الأكبر في هذه “المعمعة”.
فلأسباب كثيرة تمت “خيانتهم” من كل الجهات، بدءا من أمعات الثقافة والسياسة في سورية (ما كان يسمى بنخبة وأظهر حقيقته كتفاهة منقطعة النظير)، الذين استغلوهم أبشع استغلال دون أن يقدموا لهم أي خبرة أو معرفة أو آلية تنظيم مدنية أو.. مرورا بأجهزة الأمن التي لم توفر فرصة لضربهم واعتقالهم وتشتيتهم حتى أنهكتهم إلى آخر نفس فلم يعد باستطاعتهم مقاومة تيار الإجرام والخيانة الذي استولى لاحقا على الحراك جملة وتفصيلا، وليس انتهاء بالأخوان المجرمين وشركاهم من الوهابيين والسلفيين والعثمانيين وواجهتهم القذرة أمثلا غليون وقضماني وبقاعي والشقفة والبيانوني والقربي و…
هذا الشباب لا يحتاج إلى “عفو” لا خاص ولا عام. ولا يحتاج إلى أية شروحات حول من هم أولئك المجرمين المرتزقة فهو يعرفهم خير من جميع أجهزة أمن النظام بلا استثناء. كما أنه لا يحتاج إلى مواعظ في الوطنية ولا في الديمقراطية.. بل يحتاج، حصرا، إلى ما يجعله يصدق انه لن يكون ضحية للنظام ثانية وثالثة ورابعة.. وأن الطريق مفتوح أمامه فعلا للمضي في طريقه الاساسي الديمقراطي المدني والسلمي.
وأنت أدرى، (وأعرف أنك تعرف أنك أدرى) بمدى أهمية هذه الحاجة اليوم. وبأن مفتاح تلبية هذه الحاجة ليست في مكان آخر خارج النظام نفسه. النظام الذي أنت رئيسه. وتفاصيل تلبية هذه الحاجة قد تكون كثيرة، لكن أيا منها ليس مستحيلا ولا بالغ الصعوبة، إلا أن أيا منها لن يكون له أية جدوى دون أن يتكامل مع ما تبقى.
هؤلاء الشباب (وهم مئات الآلاف بكل تأكيد)، هم الرهان الحقيقي على مستقبل مدني ديمقراطي وآمن، رهان العمل المدني المستمر في مواجهة كل عنف وتمييز وفساد و.. ولكنهم أيضا هم الوقود المحتمل للمرتزقة القتلة باسم الحرية أو باسم الله. فمأزقهم اليوم ليس أبدا مجرد حكاية أو وهم. بل مأزق يجب أن يوضع في مقام عال جدا من الاولوية والاهتمام.
إذا، أظن أن “شحذ الهمم” و”التحدي” وما إلى ذلك مما حفل بها خطابك، قد أدت مؤداها. لكن هل هذا المؤدى سيتجاوز أن يكون محض عاطفي؟! أم أنه ككل عاطفة “جياشة” سرعان ما ستصطدم بواقع لا يمكن فيه لأي شيء أن يحل محل نداء معدة جائعة، أو طفل عريان.. فيكف بأزمة بالتعقيد الذي باتت عليه الأزمة السورية؟
http://bassam-alkadi.com/index.php/on-the-crisis-in-syria/665-dear-bashar-al-assad
January 10th, 2012, 6:45 pm
Syria no kandahar said:
Tara &Khaled Tlass and all the criminal MB family
Your ALAAROOR god in action:
January 10th, 2012, 6:59 pm
zoo said:
“There’s only one problem with that offer: There aren’t many Alawites on the Golan Heights.”
Will Assad’s supporters flee to Israel?
Posted By David Kenner Tuesday, January 10, 2012 – 11:09 AM
http://blog.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/01/10/will_assads_supporters_flee_to_israel
Reuters has a small, strange story today about Israeli preparations to offer refuge to members of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s sect in the event that his regime falls. “We are preparing to take in Alawite refugees on the Golan Heights,” said Israel Defense Forces chief Benny Gantz to a Knesset committee on Tuesday.
There’s only one problem with that offer: There aren’t many Alawites on the Golan Heights. The region is overwhelmingly Sunni and Druze — communities that would likely come out on top in a post-Assad Syria. Ghajar, a disputed village of a couple thousand along the Syrian-Lebanese border, appears to be the last Alawite community in the region.
So to flee to Israel in any significant numbers, Alawites living in Damascus or Syria’s northwestern mountains would have two options: They could brave the journey across the presumably hostile Golan Heights, or they could travel into Lebanon and cross along its southeastern border, presumably at Ghajar. Why these Alawites would prefer Israel over south Lebanon — home of the Assad’s longtime ally, Hezbollah — is a mystery.
Given the improbability of this scenario, the most likely explanation is that Gantz was trying to tweak Assad — saying, in effect, that Israel would offer relief to his people once he no longer could. But the premise of his remarks — that Alawites would be forced to flee for their lives after Assad fell — isn’t a sentiment that Syria’s opposition will welcome. Gantz’s statements may have been anti-Assad, but they weren’t pro-revolution.
January 10th, 2012, 7:29 pm
jad said:
Nawar Abd Almalk aka Anwar Malek the Algerian observer reality was on Syriatruth 3 days ago.
Pretty CV! I think that he was a bit late going to Aljazeera, he should’ve done that before Syriatruth report about him not after.
Regardless of the bashing report, denying the weapon smuggling and the armed militias while many TV channels and Newspapers documented that in details even before his team visited Syria and the same point was clearly mentioned in the first report his team submit to the AL is an obvious political lie, his account on torture sounds right though, I think that his interview will be answered by his own team soon.
جزائريون يكشفون حقيقة أنور مالك عضو “الجماعة الإسلامية المسلحة” وفريق المراقبين العرب في سوريا
اسمه الحقيقي ” نوار عبد الملك “، وهو ضابط مطرود من الجيش الجزائري بسبب السرقة ، انتحل صفة”دكتور” وهو عضو في جماعة عنتر الزوابري التي كانت تذبح الأطفال بالسواطير!؟
باريس ، الحقيقة ( خاص) : لفت انتباهنا الصحفي السوري نزار نيوف إلى ضرورة العودة إلى أرشيف عضو فريق المراقبين العرب في سوريا ، المدعو أنور مالك ، والكشف عن حقيقته . وقد أحال لنا ـ مشكورا ـ عددا من المواد التي سبق ونبهه إليها صديقه الصحفي الجزائري عبد العالي رقاد من ” قناة فرانس 24″. وطبقا لما يستفاد من هذه المعلومات ، وهي منشورة منذ أكثر من عام تقريبا ، فإن أنور مالك ليس اسمه الحقيقي ، بل ” نوار عبد الملك”( وهو من مواليد العام 1972). كما أن فضائحه وقصصه الاحتيالية معروفة في الجزائر منذ أن أثيرت قبل أكثر من عام ونصف في الصحافة والإعلام الجزائريين. فهو ـ كما يوصف في هذه المواد ـ “نصاب ومحتال” و ضابط مطرود من الجيش بسبب السرقة والخيانة وسوء الأمانة. والأخطر من ذلك أنه “كان يوقّع بيانات الجماعة الإسلامية المسلحة” التي التي كان يقودها المجرم عنتر الزوابري ، والتي كانت نسخة جزائرية من “القاعدة” و تنظيم الزرقاوي في العراق . وقد تمكنت قوات الأمن الجزائرية من قتله في العام 2009 بعد أن أعمل ساطوره في رقاب الجزائريين ذبحا، بمن فيهم الأطفال، منذ أن ترأس الجماعة المذكورة في العام 1996.ويوصف الزوابري بأنه نسخة الجزائر من ” أبو مصعب الزرقاوي” ، إلا أنه أكثر إجراما ودموية ووحشية منه. فقد كان يغير على القرى ويحرقها بعد أن يكفّر أهلها ويقتلهم!
وطبقا لشهادة صحفي جزائري وردت في إحدى المواد التي أحالها لنا نيوف ، وهي شهادة مسجلة بالصوت والصورة كان نشرها قبل أكثر من عام ، فإن أنور مالك كان ينتحل لقب”دكتور” رغم أنه “لا يعرف كتابة جملة مفيدة”، وكان يجري مقابلات مع نفسه وينشرها في الصحافة الجزائرية على أنه “باحث ومحلل ودكتور”! أي ـ بتعبير آخر ـ نسخة جزائرية من المحتال السوري ، الشرطي الملاحق بتهم جنائية، وحيد صقر!؟ وأكدت مصادر صحفية جزائرية مقربة من”جبهة الإنقاذ في الجزائر” لـ”الحقيقة” أن الكتب التي أصدرها أنور مالك ، بدعم من الأخوان المسلمين ، حررها على الأرجح مرجعية الأخوان المسلمين في الجزائر ” أبو جرة السلطاني” المقيم في سويسرا!؟
وكانت قضية أنور مالك أثيرت في سوريا يوم أمس حين أنشأ صفحة على الفيسبوك وبدأ يروي فيه قصصا عن “مشاهداته” في سوريا ، رغم أن مهمته تمنعه من ذلك قانونيا. وقد ادعى أنه “حين يمشي في الشوارع السورية يدوس على الجثث بسبب تراكمها”. ولأنه تعرض للانتقاد ، بادر أصوليون سوريون تابعون للمجلس الوطني والأخوان المسلمين إلى إنشاء صفحة “تضامن ” معه!
وإلى ذلك ، علمت “الحقيقة” أن أنور مالك هو من معارف وأصدقاء برهان غليون ، ويمت بصلة قرابة لزوجته الجزائرية السابقة ، رغم أن هذا لم نستطع التثبت منه من مصدر مستقل!!؟
ـ رابط الجزء الأول مما كشفه صحفي جزائري وصديق سابق لأنور مالك عن حقيقة هذا الرجل
http://youtu.be/F1V_JZXkh1o
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6396/Default.aspx
January 10th, 2012, 7:37 pm
Dale Andersen said:
From the Jew/EU/Saudi/al-Qaeda/CIA Salafist Press:
“…Bashar al-Assad has pledged to remain in power and crush conspirators and “terrorists” with an “iron fist”. Speaking for the first time since June, Assad, looking thin and haggard, again said that foreign powers and armed groups were behind Syrian unrest instead of “true revolutionaries”, counting himself among their number. “Our priority . . . is to regain security in which we basked for decades. And this can only be achieved by hitting the terrorists with an iron fist,” he said during a rambling 100-minute speech at Damascus university. “We will not be lenient with those who work with outsiders against the country.” Blaming foreign media for misrepresenting the situation, he said he had never ordered the security forces or army to fire on protesters and praised the military…”
Jesus, what a pathetically obscene pantload of shit Besho is. He should be forced to personally apologize to every man, woman and child on the face of the Earth…
January 10th, 2012, 7:53 pm
Tara said:
UN says Syria killings rise after monitors arrive
http://in.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/syria-idINDEE8090AS20120111
A senior U.N. official told the Security Council on Tuesday that Syria had accelerated its killing of pro-democracy demonstrators after Arab League monitors arrived to check on implementation of an Arab peace plan, U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Susan Rice said.
“The under-secretary-general noted that in the days since the Arab League monitoring mission has been on the ground, an estimated 400 additional people have been killed, an average of 40 a day, a rate much higher than was the case before their deployment,” Rice told reporters.
Rice was speaking after Lynn Pascoe, U.N. under-secretary-general for political affairs, briefed the 15-nation Security Council behind closed doors on Syria and other major crises. She said the figure did not include more than two dozen people killed in a suicide bombing in Damascus last week.
“That is a clear indication that the government of Syria, rather than using the opportunity … to end the violence and fulfill all of its commitments (to the Arab League), is instead stepping up the violence,” she said.
January 10th, 2012, 7:55 pm
Observer said:
If all the misery and the problems are coming from armed gangs and infiltrators how come the security services famous across the ME for their efficiency have not been able to quell the violence? If it is a popular uprising how come the armed gangs that are supposedly shooting at peaceful demonstrators not claiming any responsibility?
Once again
1. You cannot be the author and recipient of change. You cannot eat the cake and eat too; something that the former regime did and this regime thinks it can continue to do.
2. Reforms means that mistakes and shortcomings have happened and therefore who is accountable and how do you make for accountability. The buck stops with the President especially where the constitution vests so much power in the post.
3. There is no room for dialogue let alone negotiations when there is ongoing violence. It has to stop first and knowing that it is not going to stop there is no reason not to expect reciprocal violence. At this level, the regime thinks it has the upper hand but I doubt it very much. If in 10 months there is worsening of the situation I do not think that the military solution is going to work.
4. For Syrians to remain part and parcel of Syria the definition of a Syrian has to be broad based, unequivocal, and most importantly it has to supersede any other affiliation: Arab, Kurd, Ethnic X, Religion Y etc….. So far I have not seen anyone on this blog who can demonstrate to me that this national concept has taken hold.
5. There is no stability with this regime. The regime was given 11 years to usher in change and reform and came out wanting. For those that advocate sitting down and talking I would say the following:
a) Is the head of the fourth division part of this nice chat?
b) Is the head of military intelligence part of this coffee break?
c) Is the head of aviation security part of this water cooler hang out?
d) Is the head of the central bank part of this soiree?
6. Again to avoid further bloodshed, I would suggest that army units be withdrawn and for BRIC and Iran and Venezuela and Lebanese and Iraqi observers in their thousands come and help the monitoring of the situation. Norwegians and Finns and Swedes may come as well. Nepalese troops may be needed. How about Indonesian troops as well. Heck they have Indonesian maids already.
The greatest losers of the Arab spring on the long run are going to be
1. Iran, for it is a Persian Shia country and now Sunni Islamic parties will take the lead
2. Israel as it will have to bend to the will of the people of the ME
3. Fundamentalist Islamic militants as there is no fuel to stoke their fire of oppression and alienation.
On a final note, the boundaries drawn by the colonial powers being purely fictitious and utterly artificial are going to disappear in a variety of ways beginning in the ME and continuing in Africa as we see in the Congo basin and on to other parts of the world.
Sheers latest reports indicate no bread in Aleppo. Any one confirming this please?
January 10th, 2012, 8:01 pm
Ghufran said:
Jad
I hope I am not reading too much in your post about Bashar speech,are you ready to convert and agree that Bashar is not doing his job as president and that Syria will be better off with a transitional government?
The guy does not get it,and his circle sees this crisis as a personal challenge that they must win while the truth is clear: the regime is the problem and a regime change is the solution.
January 10th, 2012, 8:10 pm
Ghufran said:
حسام الدين محمد
اتمنى كواحد من ملايين المشاهدين ان يظهر احد فقهاء الدراما الايرانية ويشرح لي كيف تستقيم حقيقة ان اثنين من ابناء الحسن بن علي بن ابي طالب كان اسماهما: ابو بكر وعمر، مع التنظير المذهبي اللاحق الذي جعل من الخليفتين الشهيرين عدوّان لعليّ وللحسن والحسين ولأمة كاملة من المسلمين الشيعة؟
كما اتمنى مثلا ان يشرح احد فقهاء الدراما السعودية لماذا توفّي الامام الأعظم، ابو حنيفة النعمان، دفاعا عن البيت العلوي بعد رفضه التعرّض لأبناء عليّ واتباعهم، وكيف يستقيم ذلك مع قيام شيوخ مدللين في السعودية بالتعريض بالشيعة والعلويين؟
January 10th, 2012, 8:49 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
more and more Booha is getting more threatening, more determined,more brutal, he said he will deal with an iron fist, he said to the demonstrators KHase2tom,he is contradicting himself,he lies.
Ghufran said
the regime is the problem and a regime change is the solution.
I am glad to hear that from him,we need freedom and democracy,we need to put an end to inherting presidency,and an end to corruption, we need to unite the syrian people, we need to extend this revolution to Iraq and KSA, we need civil rule,not religious rule, we need protection to all minorities, we need to look forward, what ahead of us is better Syria for syrian to live in, better Arabic state where we could unite,
I call on Others to support me , the more we get togather the more the chance for peacefull change.
Remember the syrian revolution IS the greatest revolution, there where history is truely will be made.
Congratulation to Ron Paul he made it with few money,and got 25%
January 10th, 2012, 8:51 pm
jna said:
Propaganda and Coverage of Syria
By As’ad AbuKhalil – Tue, 2012-01-10 00:00- Angry Corner
After months of intense and feverish coverage of Syria, it is high time that we ask: how bad has the coverage been? How much have we been served as readers by the coverage? To what extent has the Arab (Saudi and Qatari) media converged with Western media? And why do Western media toss out all token adherence to minimum standards of professional journalism when the coverage targets an enemy of the US (and Israel)? I keep waiting for an article in the Columbia Journalism Review to no avail.
Thus far, Western media has been playing games in its coverage about Syria. For the first few months, Western media insisted (against claims to the contrary by the repressive regime) that the Syrian uprising was peaceful: that is, it was part of the touted “Arab spring.”
Western media insisted that all claims about armed elements of the opposition were mere fabrications by the regime. Yet, when an opposition “army” was announced, and when news of armed clashes in Homs and other places appeared, there were no explanations in the Western press. There was no attempt to reconcile the claims and the later reportage.
But what is also curious is that Western media was desperate to deliver propaganda services to the cause of the Syrian National Council (there is opposition in Syria beyond the council, of course). Western media have been mere cheerleaders for the Syrian National Council. (This criticisms also applies to the news media of the Saudi and Qatari ruling dynasties). Every demonstration is massive, and every strike is successful, and every Friday has topped the previous Friday in the size of protesters. But how true is that? Has there been a demonstration that was not massive? Has there been one Friday that has not been successful?
Of course, in Arab media it is even worse: demonstrations are declared a success even before they take place. Thus, Aljazeera and Al Arabiya declare a demonstration massive the day before it starts. Not once, have the media stated that a particular demonstration was not massive, or that protests this week were less intense than last week, when protests—naturally—go through ups and downs.
Furthermore, Western media rarely covers demonstrations in support of the regime: and those protests have often been rather massive. Western media felt that it would be useful to the regime to admit the obvious: that the regime has some bases of support.
Western media’s propaganda (not coverage) has been so useless from the information point of view that there was no explanation provided for the resilience that has characterized the regime thus far. How does one explain that there has been not one diplomatic defection and no major government defection (notwithstanding the defection of an inspector general in an accounting department of the Syrian government.)
Why is it difficult for the media to even inform the readers of what is happening? Why are they insisting that the token Christian representative in the executive body of the Syrian National Council is a true representative of all Syrian Christians. Why do they view their mission as primarily political and propagandistic?
Of course, one does not expect the truth from the Syrian regime media. But, would one expect any better from the Saudi and Qatari regime media? Are we now to trust the propaganda outlets of the ruling dynasties of Qatar and Saudi Arabia? Have the rules changed and are we to follow the thrust of Saudi media that only Arab republics are undemocratic and that the Gulf kingdoms, princedoms, sheikhdoms, and sultanates are an oasis of freedom?
There are attempts at telling the truth. In Arabic, New TV of Lebanon tries to cover both sides and has snuck its correspondent into Syria. New TV has been criticized by both sides in Syria. In the US, Anthony Shadid and Nir Rosen have tried to cover aspects of the uprisings that are not covered in the mainstream press. The coverage is largely lazy: the unverified claims and wild exaggerations of the pro-Saudi Syrian Observatory for Human Rights basically fill in the space in all Western articles on Syria.
The regime has stayed in power thus far, at great cost to the Syrian people. But the story about Syria is not being told. We don’t have an explanation. People are afraid of defying the will of Syrian National Council and its propaganda message. But the readers are not being served. It is understandable that the Syrian regime and the Qatari-run Syrian National Council are lying. But it is less so that the media partake in the lying charade.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/angry-corner/propaganda-and-coverage-syria
January 10th, 2012, 8:56 pm
Ghufran said:
Sheila
I looked at hitaan but I have yet to see the site condemning violence by anti regime armed gangs or see a single post that does not belong to the group thinking that infected hitaan.
I am an observer who loves Syria,provides material help to Syrians but unlikely to return and not interested in playing a politician. My views reflect my anti violence philosophy and that makes me look like a fence sitter,I am more comfortable here and I see no reason to join hitaan until it becomes a diverse site,like SC (with all of its limitations),
January 10th, 2012, 8:58 pm
Ghufran said:
Majed
Was that you or another guy in the previous post?
Anyway,I agree with the main message in your post.
Ron is my guy too,I am afraid we have more in common than either one of us is willing to admit,we still can disagree but all of us must help Syrians and insist on a better government in Syria,however,the devil is in the details.
January 10th, 2012, 9:04 pm
Tara said:
The author argues that Assad must genuinely believe in his analysis of the Syrian crisis and that ” my people love me”‘ as the alternative – dealing with hard reality- would amount to surrender and shame. I ask how about the dictator’s family, wife, mother, and children do they really believe “people love him”.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9005030/Syria-Inside-the-deluded-mind-of-a-dictator-at-bay.html
As he stood before his sycophantic audience, at once strutting, monotone and hollow-eyed, Mr Assad showed that inconvenient thoughts had been banished from his mind. He will never entertain the unwelcome truth that the challenge is against him personally, and the cause of Syria’s bloodshed is a struggle between the Assad clan and most of their country.
Did he genuinely believe the farrago of delusion and double-think that passed for his analysis of Syria’s crisis? The answer is that he must do, for this is part of the dictator mindset and the alternative – dealing in hard reality – would amount to surrender and shame.
Mr Assad, a doctor by training, might serve as a prime specimen of a specific condition – let’s call it “dictator delusion syndrome” – suffered by the tiny class of humanity who run authoritarian regimes. The most striking feature of this mental state is its consistency. The themes that ran through Mr Assad’s speech have cropped up time and again whenever oppressive rulers have been forced to confront the anger of their peoples.
The first and most familiar refrain is that all the trouble has been got up by outsiders. A dictator is psychologically programmed to believe that he basks in the adoration of his people. If he ever stops clinging to that vital reassurance, then his regime really would be a criminal enterprise dedicated to plunder and self-preservation. So the comfort blanket of universal popularity must remain immovable, and the facts have to be adjusted accordingly.
Thus Colonel Gaddafi watched as hundreds of thousands of Libyans wrested entire cities from his control, while spraying choice obscenities over every available picture of his face, before declaring on television: “My people love me!” With an original flourish, he added that “foreigners”, the inevitable cause of the rebellion, had incited Libyans against their leader by the novel method of drugging their cups of Nescafé coffee.
When Robert Mugabe faced the first significant opposition party in Zimbabwe’s history, his first thought was to blame its existence on the British. Adding a personal touch, he chose to pin the culpability on Tony Blair. In a remote corner of the Zimbabwean bush, where an ally had won an obscure by-election, Mr Mugabe duly declared: “We have defeated Blair!”
Even the leader of a theocratic regime, who believes himself to carry a divine right to rule, resorts to the old comforting refrain. Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, the Supreme Leader of Iran, watched a million people march in Tehran against a rigged election in 2009, before declaring that “foreign enemies” were behind everything.
If outsiders are the cause of all the trouble, it must follow that their aims go wider than the downfall of a particular leader. They must be plotting against the country itself. So the dictator-at-bay eases himself into the next source of reassurance: his interests and those of the nation must be one and the same. In fact, the distinction between country and leader is non-existent: he is the nation and the nation is him.
…
All of us occasionally console ourselves with harmless thoughts that may have little bearing on the real world. The delusions of dictators are, however, intensely harmful. Because Mr Assad believes that all the protests against his rule are the work of malevolent foreign powers, it follows that he considers any Syrian taking part in the demonstrations to be a traitor. And those who march against him deserve the harshest treatment. The methods that would be used to combat an invasion could justly be used against this threat from within.
Hence the bloodcurdling atrocities perpetrated by Mr Assad’s security forces, as documented by the UN. The ripples of delusion spread outwards from the leader: if he believes he is fighting a gang of hired traitors, so will many of those who serve him. The Syrian intelligence agents who tortured small boys – also recorded by the UN – will convince themselves that this was necessary punishment for treachery.
More…
January 10th, 2012, 9:15 pm
sheila said:
Dear Ghufran,
Thank you for your response. 7ee6an was not infected by anything, it was established as such. It is not like SC at all. I would also like to tell you that many of us are anti-violence and some are big advocates for civil disobedience and peaceful demonstrations only. I think your presence on 7ee6an would add another dimension and a deeper understanding to certain issues; however I fully understand your position.
January 10th, 2012, 9:19 pm
Ghufran said:
نقلت وكالة الأنباء الفرنسية عن تقرير أصدرته المؤسسة العربية للاتصالات الفضائية (عربسات) أن إيران هي مصدر التشويش على قنوات شبكة الجزيرة الفضائية، وذلك بعد عمليات تشويش تعرضت لها الشبكة الشهر الماضي مما اضطرها لتغيير تردداتها عدة مرات.
وذكر التقرير أنه “لوحظ تأثر باقة الجزيرة عن طريق حاملين جرى إرسالهما من موقعين مختلفين في إيران بالقرب من طهران وقرب مدينة مراغة شمال غرب البلاد”.
January 10th, 2012, 9:27 pm
irritated said:
MajedAlkhaldoon
After the ‘boring’ Bashar’s “iron fist” threat, I guess the opposition should beg the observers to stay on.
January 10th, 2012, 9:35 pm
zoo said:
Iran jamming Al Jazeera broadcasts: document
Tue Jan 10, 2012 9:40am EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/10/us-iran-jazeera-idUSTRE80916Z20120110
DOHA (Reuters) – Iran is jamming broadcasts by Qatar-based news channel Al Jazeera, according to a document from satellite operator Arabsat obtained by Reuters Tuesday, with the broadcaster saying it believed it was because of its coverage of Syria.
Interference is coming from two locations in Iran, one west of Tehran and the other near the northwestern city of Maraghen, the document showed.
“We believe that this is happening because of our coverage of Syria,” a senior official at Al Jazeera told Reuters, declining to be identified.
The official said they believed other channels in the region had also been jammed.
Neither Arabsat nor Iranian officials were immediately available for comment.
Iran’s regional ally Syria has mostly barred foreign media from the country and has criticized Al Jazeera’s coverage of the upheaval there.
Saturday Al Jazeera announced a new frequency for Arabsat viewers due to “continued interference.”
“Over the past few months, Al Jazeera has faced sustained interference to our satellite transmissions,” the channel said in a statement.
Al Jazeera, owned by the Qatari government, aired round-the-clock coverage of uprisings that brought down veteran rulers in Tunisia, Egypt and Libya last year.
It frequently has had difficulties with Western and Arab governments in a region where governments have traditionally kept tight control over state media.
(…)
January 10th, 2012, 9:39 pm
Ghufran said:
حسام الدين محمد ٢
تعجبني ‘حكايات’ اكرم خزام التي تعرضها قناة ‘الحرة’ فهي تخرج المراسل الذي رأيناه يتجوّل من محطة الى اخرى كالبدو الرحل من جو الأخبار المتشنج ومن صيحته الشهيرة ايام عمله في ‘الجزيرة’: ‘اكرم موسكووووو’.
في حلقة السابقة من حكاياته (بثت بتاريخ 23 كانون الأول /ديسمبر) تعرض خزام لقضية تعنيف النساء واختار مدينة المحمدية المغربية لعرض بعض نماذج من هذا التعنيف كان أكثرها فجاجة (وطرافة سوداء) حلاق يدعى مصطفى النجار الذي صرّح هذا التصريح اللطيف: ‘ضروري ضروري المرأة تنضرب ولو مرة في الأسبوع’!
‘حتى لو لم ترتكب خطأ’ يتساءل خزام مندهشا فيجيب النجار: ‘ولو لم ترتكب عشان يكون الحب بينك وبين المرأة بتاعتك’.
يقوم النجار باجتراح ما يشبه نظرية في التربية القائمة على الضرب (مثل نظرية الرئيس الأسد) فلولا ان اباه كان يضرب أمه لما صارت اما ممتازة ولما نجح هو واخوته في حياتهم واعمالهم.
خزام كان بالمرصاد للنظرية الضربية مجددا وعاجله بالقول: ‘وهل توقفت امك عن كونها ممتازة بعد ان توفي والدك وتوقف عن ضربها؟’
‘نعم بطّلت تكون ممتازة’!
توقف البطش فتوقفت المعجزة التربوية. الآن فهمت خطاب السيد الرئيس!
January 10th, 2012, 9:42 pm
Norman said:
Shiela,
I came to the US because my family and country provided for me free education and health care but did not provide the opportunity that is available in the West to be able to take care of others, i did not come to the US to eat , i came to the US to make a difference, Syria has many problems but has nothing to do with who is the president as these problem are all over the Mideast with other Arab countries, our culture of bribery corruption and lack of helping others and provide for the community is endemic, i saw people in Syria, in Homs who will do nothing to buy a Cat Scan machine for the public hospital or join their resources to have open heart surgery, but they are fast to know their way to Lebanon for health care even for minor problem, when people are called stupid when they do not accept bribes, that is not the president mistake , that is the society mistake, Syrians and Arabs in general need to have more stake in their country by paying enough taxes to lift the poor Syrians, instead of going to the US or the EU for vacations then complain about the price of Mazzot or Gas, Syria is not the president farm and he never took Syria and the Syrian for granted, but he inherited a regime that put him in power, they he is part of but not the king that can change everything and until march 2011 he was the most popular Arab leader because of his positions on Iraq , Palestine and the economy and Lebanon, he was trying to improve the economy to build middle class then move on political reform so people will not vote out of anger but out of self interest, he did not have the chance to finish what he wanted, do you really think that i like waiting in line and people being treated badly, no, no but that is again related to our culture as it is all over the Arab world,
By the way , i think that you and your family have more friend in government that i ever have or will have as you said in another note that your family used it’s influence to find out about somebody, i do not have or want to have anything with the government in Syria , i just want Syria to be the place that one day my children can go to in the future and be equal and proud . i doubt that day will come.
January 10th, 2012, 9:53 pm
Tara said:
http://lebanonspring.com/2012/01/07/syria-diagnosis-stockholm-syndrome-72-protesting-bashar-assad-hafez-worship/
I don’t agree with the diagnosis. I just think some people enslave themselves therefore deserve to be slaves. Viewing the picture in the link is pretty painful, whether it is Bashar or someone else. Public display of affection should be reserved to lovers only not to slaves and master. It is repugnant.
January 10th, 2012, 9:57 pm
Ghufran said:
استخدم الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد نحو 10 آلاف كلمة في خطابه اليوم الثلاثاء، والذي يعتبر الأطول من بين خطاباته الأربعة منذ بدء الثورة في سوريا.
واستغرق الخطاب الجديد 99 دقيقة، متجاوزا فيها خطاب العقيد الليبي الراحل معمر القذافي الذي بلغ 76 دقيقة.
وحاول الرئيس الأسد إيصال أفكاره عبر تكرار عبارات محددة حضرت بالكثافة ذاتها في خطاباته السابقة، فكلمة “العروبة” كان لها النصيب الأوفر إذ أتت على لسانه 40 مرة.
أما ثاني الكلمات، فكانت “الإصلاح” التي حافظت على كثافة حضورها بذكرها 35 مرة، بزيادة مرة واحدة عن آخر خطاباته.
ولم تسلم جامعة الدول العربية من نيران الرئيس الأسد، حيث هاجمها وذكرها بالاسم 28 مرة، وذكر أيضا جملة “حالة الطوارئ” 12 مرة في الخطاب الجديد.
أما عن حالة التصفيق المصاحبة لجميع خطابات الرئيس الأسد والتي قطعت تسلسل كلامه، فشهدت تراجعاً في خطابه الأخير بعد أن سجلت 17 مرة، في حين بلغت 20 مرة في الخطاب الثاني و44 مرة في الخطاب الأول في مجلس الشعب.
January 10th, 2012, 10:24 pm
Ghufran said:
باريس..
نفى رئيس “هيئة التنسيق” هيثم مناع ان تكون “الهيئة” من بين القوى التي يحاورها الرئيس بشار الأسد لتشكيل حكومة جديدة وقال لـصحيفة الحياة : لا علاقة لنا بهذا الحوار، واذا طلب الرئيس الاسد مني غداً تشكيل حكومة سأطلب منه أن “يتنحى” أولاً من رئاسة الجمهورية .
كما نفى ان تكون الهيئة مستعدة للحوار مع الحكومة السورية وقال ان الرئيس السوري “يتحدث عن جماعة أخرى في البلد، ولا يتحدث عنا. هناك مجموعات أخرى ربما يكلفونها (بمناصب حكومية)، و (الظن) في هيئة التنسيق هو بسبب تشويه المجلس الوطني لصورة الهيئة”.
واعتبر مناع أن خطاب الرئيس الأسد “يعيش في خيمة الخطيئة الأصلية للسلطة التي تعتبر الحراك الثوري المدني مرفوضاً”، ودعا قوى المعارضة الى “الجرأة في اتخاذ موقف حاسم وواضح من التسلح والعنف حتى نواجه استراتيجية النظام، ونواجه سياسة الجزأرة التي يسير عليها”.
ورأى أن “الخطاب يعيدنا الى المربع الأول، إذ يتكلم الرئيس الأسد مثلما تكلم في خطابه الثاني وكأن الأمور تحت السيطرة” ولفت الى ان “هذه الطمأنة سببها أنه يدافع بسلوكه الميداني عن الجزأرة، وأعني المثال الجزائري في التسعينات الذي تمثل في عمليات عسكرية مرتبة يقوم بها البعض ممن هم متغلغلون في أمنه ثم الرد عليها وتحميل مسؤوليتها للارهاب”.
وقال مناع أنه “لو كنا (المعارضة) صوتاً واحداً ونترقب عقد المؤتمر السوري العام لكان الرئيس الاسد يرتجف. لكنه يعرف أن هناك من لا يملك قراره ولا يستطيع ان يتوحد ولا يريد أن يتكلم بثقة، اضافة الى التعويل على الخارج، وهذه الدعوة صارت جزءاًَ من المجلس الوطني السوري”.
وخلص الى “أن مهمتنا اليوم هي استعادة المبادرة كمعارضة وطنية ديموقراطية لبناء قطب ديموقراطي مدني يتكون من ثلاثة عناصر هي أبناء المدن والأقليات والبعد المدني”، ورأى أن هذه العناصر يمكن ان ينضم اليها الجيش. لكن بصورتنا الحالية فإن المعارضة غير جذابة، وهي اتفقت على وثيقة بعد 37 يوماً من المفاوضات (بين المجلس الوطني وهيئة التنسيق) ثم تأكلها كما يأكل النمر بقايا الطعام”، وشدد على ان “اي ضابط شريف لا يرهن حياته ليقف معنا اذا كنا (في المعارضة) غير موحدين. فعلينا النظر في وضعنا ومشكلاتنا وتجاوزها حتى نتمكن من هز شباك النظام”.
January 10th, 2012, 10:29 pm
Ghufran said:
Simon Tisdall on Bashar:
1. Flight
If the situation gets simply too hot to handle, Assad could try making a run for it, as did the Arab spring’s first victim, Tunisia’s former president, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali. He headed for Saudi Arabia, a favourite refuge for displaced dictators such as Uganda’s Idi Amin and Yemen’s Ali Abdullah Saleh. Assad turning up on their doorstep would be an embarrassment for Saudi leaders (who do not like him), but if it brought stability back to the region, it might be worth it.
Alternatively, Assad could make a dash for Iran, his long-time ally, or even Russia, which has consistently shielded his regime from international censure and has sent a naval taskforce to the Syrian port of Tartus in a show of solidarity. If he does decide to leg it, a key consideration will be what to do with his British-born wife, Asma, and their three children. Any request from her to return to her family home in Acton, west London, could present Britain with an interesting diplomatic and security headache.
Assad insisted in his speech that he was not going anywhere. But Gaddafi-style, he also sounded seriously deluded. “I am not someone who abandons responsibility. I am in this position because of support from the people and if I leave, it will be because of the desire of the people.”
2. Fight
The current approach to the crisis comes straight from the play-book written by Assad’s late father, Hafez. He notoriously put down an earlier uprising in Hama in 1982, when up to 10,000 people are said to have died. The difference this time is that, so far at least, bloody repression has not worked and the unrest in not confined to one city or region. Increasingly, regime opponents backed by defecting military personnel have resorted to armed resistance across the board. Assad also says they are getting assistance from abroad, a claim that is difficult to verify.
“The situation in Syria is heading towards a religious, sectarian, racial war, and this needs to be prevented,” Recep Tayyip Erdogan, Turkey’s prime minister, warned this week, voicing a concern that is shared across the region and in the west. Assad’s dilemma is that if the killing continues unchecked – in other words, if he cannot definitively reassert his control – the Arab League mission may be discredited and withdrawn, leading to direct UN security council action and possible Libyan-style intervention.
So far there is no sign the violent crackdown is working. But in his speech, Assad suggested he would not change tack – while again appearing to deny reality. “There is no cover for anyone. There are no orders for anyone to open fire on any citizen,” he said. His main aim was to restore order and this could only be achieved by “hitting terrorists with an iron fist … there is no tolerance for terrorism or for those who use weapons to kill”.
3. Negotiation
Assad again floated vague promises of reform, including a constitutional referendum on a proposed multi-party system in March. But his credibility is shot among many, if not most, Syrians after years of failing to carry through similar pledges. If Assad pushed for genuine change, he could risk being dumped by regime associates, notably by his tough-guy brother, Maher, the most powerful man in Syria’s security apparatus who is blamed for much of the recent killing.
Assad has also burned his boats with leading Arab states and western countries, including the US and Britain, which initially entertained high hopes of his leadership when he took over in 2000. They and neighbours such as Turkey now see no alternative but for him to stand down. Ironically, Israel – Syria’s old enemy – might prefer it if he survived, for the sake of a stable border. And if the alternative to Assad is an anti-western, Sunni Muslim-led regime, then the US and Iraq, for different reasons, might also secretly prefer him to stay.
Apparently heedless of such nuances and of his need for support if he is to negotiate his way out this mess, Assad poured contempt on fellow Arab leaders in his speech. “The Arab League has failed for six decades to take a position in the Arab interest … We should not be surprised,” he said. Yet at the same time he said Syria would not “close the door” to any Arab proposal that respected its sovereignty and unity. This suggests he still hopes for some face-saving regional formula that would enable him to stay in power.
Egypt may yet serve as a model for what happens in Syria. In this scenario, the regime figurehead – Hosni Mubarak/Assad – is removed and put on symbolic trial but the regime itself, represented by the military and other powerful insider forces, having offered up this high-profile sacrifice, remains largely intact. The revolution appears to have succeeded, the violence mostly stops, and there is a big celebratory party. But the morning after, it slowly dawns that nothing much has really changed.
January 10th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Afram said:
توضيح من عرب تايمز : انور مالك الذي ظهر على شاشة الجزيرة كاتب متبرع في عرب تايمز وسبق ان اتهم المحطة القطرية بانها مخترقة من قبل المخابرات الجزائرية
January 10 2012 17:30
عرب تايمز – خاص
فجأة وبدون مقدمات وجدت عرب تايمز نفسها في مواجهة سوريا والجزائر والمخابرات القطرية بعد ان ظهر احد كتابها المتبرعين ( انور مالك ) على شاشة الجزيرة التي قدمته على انه عضو في لجنة التفتيش التابعة للجامعة العربية وانه قرر الانسحاب احتجاجا على عمليات القتل … انور مالك كان قد اتهم محطة الجزيرة في مقال نشره في صفحته على موقع عرب تايمز بانها مخترقة من قبل المخابرات الجزائرية ويومها اتهمنا من قبل الاعلام القطري بالنشر لكاتب جزائري يعمل مع اجهزة امنية اجنبية ضد قطر ويبدو ان السحر انقلب على الساحر واصبح الكاتب الامني الذي يكتب في عرب تايمز ضد قطر احد ضيوف محطة الجزيرة البارزين .. بل واحد الرجال الذين استعان بهم نبيل العربي للتفتيش على سوريا
http://www.arabtimes.com/portal/article_display.cfm?Action=&Preview=No&ArticleID=4188
اوساط الصحفيين العرب في اوروبا بدأت تتحدث عن صفقة تم بموجبها شراء كاتب في عرب تايمز لخدمة مخطط قالت انه قطري امريكي يهدف الى التشكيك بتقرير لجنة التفتيش العربية مع ان عرب تايمز لا ناقة لها ولا جمل في الامر .. فالسيد انور مالك كاتب متبرع في عرب تايمز ( اي انه ليس موظفا ولا يتقاضى اجرا عن مقالاته ) وقد امتلك صفحة في بورتلها مثله مثل غيره من الكتاب وهو بالتأكيد يعبر في مقالاته عن رأيه وليس عن رأي عرب تايمز ووفقا لما هو مذكور في صفحته فهو كاتب جزائري مقيم في باريس ولا ندري كيف انضم الى لجنة المراقبة التابعة للجامعة العربية بخاصة واننا فهمنا ان اللجنة تضم خبراء عسكريين
الطريف ان خبر انسحاب انور مالك من لجنة التفتيش كان الخبر الاهم اليوم على شاشة الجزيرة ويبدو ان انور مالك موجود الان في الدوحة لان المذيعة ليلى الشيخلي استضافته في استوديوهات المحطة في الدوحة مما يعني ان انور مالك طار من دمشق الى الدوحة مباشرة حتى يسجل اللقاء الذي قال فيه انه لا يريد ان يكون شاهد زور مع ان النقلة السريعة له الى الدوحة عززت الاتهامات الموجهة له بانه رجل احترف شهادة الزور .. وتاجر بها
January 10th, 2012, 11:00 pm
Norman said:
Ghufran,
Assad is going no where and the Syrian army and the Baath party know that the goal is to their elimination Iraqi style, so the Egypt scenario is not an option, therefore there is no chance for the Syrian government to give up, they just have to move toward reform and whoever joins wins, the rest will lose .
January 10th, 2012, 11:01 pm
aldendeshe said:
“….they just have to move toward reform and whoever joins wins, the rest will lose ….”
Well for 10 months everyone wanted to join and Assad refused to share with anyone else. After all the killings, no one wants to even talk with him, let alone joining his Baathist Mafia. Handing over power is about the only way out for him now, or be ready for NATO / ARAB moves on Damascus.
النصيحة الذهبية ارحل ياافندي خود البعثية والاشتراكية والشيعة معك واولاد الحرام الآتاسية معك عميل معروف خلي الوطن والشعب السوري يطلع من هل كابوس الي مدا اكثر من ستين سنة
January 10th, 2012, 11:22 pm
irritated said:
Ghufran
Bashar al Assad is not a senile man like Mobarak or Ben Ali or a retarded hippie like Qaddafi and contrary to all these, he was an relentless ennemy of the US and the West and already under sanctions.
After 10 months, he has a strong support from his officials sunnis, christians and alawites, the army and more than 50% of the Syrians. The opposition and the western world are having a hard time getting used to the idea that he is here to stay until he secures a transition that will preserve Syria’s political position and assets in the region. The rest is just talks to fill newspapers.
January 10th, 2012, 11:27 pm
Ghufran said:
How many Syrians actually believed Bashar’s old and new promises?
The problem ,in one sense ,in Syria is that many Syrians do not trust the regime and many do not trust the opposition,but the regime bears most of the responsibility and I yet have to see anything that makes me change my mind about the regime’s inability to listen to the people’s legitimate demands.
This regime will only respond to pressure but not the type of pressure armed militia is trying which only benefits the regime and supports its line about the ” terrorist revolution”.
January 10th, 2012, 11:44 pm
zoo said:
Syria in the heart of a regional and international arm wrestling
By Scarlett HADDAD | 11/01/2012
(L’orient le Jour, translated from french)
As it has become a habit, the Lebanese political class has closely followed the speech by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and,as expected,the reactions to the speech varied according to the political camp. In the majority camp, the tendency is to consider the words of Assad as those of a man who still holds the reins of power and is determined to move forward with reforms, provided they do not sell out the national sovereignty. It is also for these groups the words of a man sure of the strategic importance of his country and confident in its future.
From the side of the March 14, however, comments are highly critical, calling the speech of Assad” aleady heard” and coming from a man overtaken by events, who does not understand that his days in power are numbered. Sources of March 14 in fact believe that the Syrian regime is about to collapse and they announce the “good news” for the next few weeks, assuring that efforts are made now to push the people close to Bashar Assad to defect.The idea is to isolate the Syrian president by depriving him of his support within the regime. But for this it is necessary to find a significant personality ready to join the opposition. So far, the figures that have done it were secondary positions and could not be considered as vectors of opinion.
Those who want the head of the Syrian regime consider in this regard that he is holding the reins of power with his army, which has proven to be an institution still solid. But all this can collapse overnight like a house of cards on the condition to find the element that could cause this fall. According to sources from March 14, it would be a matter of weeks. And at that time, the fall of the Syrian regime would have the effect of an earthquake in Lebanon. Once this regime gone,Hezbollah would necessarily be weakened as well as its Iranian sponsor. Especially since, according to the sources, the Arabs, Qatar in the lead, have decided to put all their efforts to reach this goal. To the March 14, it has already registered a victory by successfully separating Hamas from Iran and by trying to bring the organization into its fold, after having for long refused to grant it an office thus having pushed it to settle Damascus and get funding from Iran. Now it is the reverse process that is taking place, Qatar is offering to install the Hamas in Doha and is promising financial aid if that organization leaves Syria.
The sources of the March 14 recognize that the case is not yet fully completed, but it it is well under way and, so, Hezbollah would be deprived of the card of the resistance it wields with Hamas and that gives it a great popularity in the Arab world, surpassing its own community. According to reports, contacts have been made even with the Lebanese parties to create “a new structure of resistance” parallel to Hezbollah and even to return to a national resistance (as was the case between 1982 and 1985), which would not be mostly Shiite, thus cutting the grass under the feet of the party and depriving of its popular legitimacy. Qatar, who chairs the committee in charge of the Arab Syrian track would be the driving force behind this project, seeking to recover the Arab resistance movements and confirming the current trend of promoting Sunni Islamist movements as emerging forces in the Arab world, facing Iran and the Shias in general.
For the people close to Hezbollah, this scenario is part of the chimeras transmitted by the March 14 and its Arab and Western allies, and shows the inability of the enemies of the Syrian regime to get it to fall after 11 months of the outbreak of protests in Syria. For these groups, the Syrian track has become a strategic issue that embodies the new cold war between, on one hand, the United States and Europe, and, on the other, Russia and the so-called emerging countries. On one hand, the Syrian regime still enjoys broad popular support and has its entire state apparatus intact and on the other, its regional support (Iran) and international (Russia) allow it to hold on and withstand many more months. Building hopes on the defection of a personality close to Bashar al-Assad proves that all other means have failed, including the use of violence by the opposition. For the circles close to Hezbollah, the Syrian track is not a simple question of reform and popular protest, but a field on which is played the new confrontation between the American power and its detractors. The Middle East is the place that best shows that the world is changing. Although the United States remains a great power, these circles add, it is no longer able to decide alone the fate of the world. But no power is yet able to take this role. Hence the uncertainty and confusion in which the region is immersed. It is in Syria that it all happens, but the game is far from over.
January 11th, 2012, 12:09 am
jad said:
The real ugly face of the gulf states, KSA is deporting Syrians according to their religions, sects and political views, Alawites, Druz, Christians and Ismaelis.
Yet this kingdom along the similar way of thinking Qatar are telling Syria how to fix its constitution and the political system:
السعودية تبدأ تطبيق العقوبات على سوريا وإبعاد أبناء “الأقليات”الدينية والمذهبية من السوريين
الإبعاد يشمل كل من كتب عبارات يشتمّ منها تأييده للسلطة في سوريا أو “هيئة التنيق الوطني” أو انتقاد لـ”المجلس الوطني السوري”!؟
دمشق ، القاهرة ، الرياض ـ الحقيقة ( خاص): أبلغت السعودية جامعة الدول العربية رسميا بأنها ستبدأ تطبيق قرار وزراء الخارجية العرب بفرض عقوبات اقتصادية على سوريا .وطبقا لمصادر صحفية سعودية مختلفة ، فإن المملكة أبلغت الجامعة بأنها ستبدأ بالتنفيذ المباشر للعقوبات من تاريخ إرسال البرقية ( يوم أمس). وطلبت من الجامعة توزيع هذا الإعلان على جميع المندوبيات والسفارات العربية بما فيها سفارة الجمهورية العربية السورية.
على صعيد متصل ، وطبقا لإفادات أكثر من عشرين مواطنا سوريا ، ولنشطاء حقوقيين في السعودية ، فإن المخابرات السعودية بدأت منذ حوالي شهر من اليوم إجراء “مسح طائفي ومذهبي” للسوريين العاملين في السعودية من أجل إبعادهم . ويقدر عدد أبناء الجالية السوري في السعودية بحوالي نصف مليون . وعلمت”الحقيقة” من أطباء أسنان وأطباء بيطريين ومهندسين سوريين آخرين ، من حمص ومحافظات أخرى ، أن أكثر من ثلاثين مواطنا من هؤلاء تبلغوا فعلا قرارات بإبعادهم لأنهم ” مسيحيون أو دروز أو علويون أو اسماعيليون” ، حسب التصنيف الأمني السعودي. وقال هؤلاء إن أجهزة الأمن السعودية في مناطق عملهم ( لاسيما جدة ومكة ويثرب “المدينة المنورة” وتبوك والرياض والقطيف والدمام والظهران) استدعتهم وطرحت عليهم أسئلة تتعلق بانتماءاتهم الدينية والمذهبية ، فضلا عن أسئلة أخرى تتصل بمواقفهم من الأزمة في سوريا وما إذا كانوا يؤيدون السلطة السورية أو “المجلس الوطني” أو ” هيئة التنسيق الوطني” ، وموقفهم من إيران وحزب الله ! ولاحظ هؤلاء أن المحققين كانوا يطرحون أسئلة عليهم استنادا إلى تقارير موجودة لديهم وإلى أنشطتهم وكتاباتهم على صفحات ” فيسبوك” الخاصة بهم. وأكد أحد هؤلاء ، وهو مهندس يعمل في شركة ” آرامكو” للنفط في الظهران وينحدر من ريف مدينة حمص، إن المحققين ، وعندما أكد لهم أنه محايد ولا اهتمامات سياسية له ، طلبوا منه التوقيع على تصريح يؤكد أنه ” يعارض بقاء النظام العلوي حاكما في سوريا”، وعندما رفض التوقيع ، مؤكدا على أنه ” غير معني بهكذا أمور” ، جرى استدعاؤه مرة ثانية ( أول أمس) وإبلاغه بإنهاء إقامته!
وقال طبيب أسنان سوري يعمل في جدة في رسالة إلى “الحقيقة” إن ما فهمناه من بعض النشطاء السوريين المعارضين هو أن عضو قيادة “المجلس الوطني السوري” ، المحامي هيثم المالح ، وخلال زيارته الأخيرة للسعودية في تشرين الثاني / نوفمبر الماضي التي التقى فيها عدنان العرعور ، طلب من السلطات السعودية إبعاد أبناء “الأقليات” الدينية والمذهبية من السوريين واللبنانيين ، لأنهم ” يدعمون النظام السوري بتحويلاتهم المالية و / أو ويقومون بأنشطة تجسسية على المعارضة لصالح المخابرات السورية “!
وأكد معارض سوري يقيم في لندن ، وهو من مناصري “المجلس الوطني السوري” وممن يعرفون محمود الدغيم ، المشرف على موقع ” شام تي في” ، إن هذا الاخير تقدم الصيف الماضي بمذكرة مشابهة إلى السلطات السعودية عن طريق سفارتها في لندن حيث مقر إقامته الدائم!؟
يشار إلى أن عددا من الدول الخليج لجأت إلى إجراءات مشابهة ضد مواطنين لبنانيين خلال الأزمة التي أعقبت اغتيال الحريري و حرب تموز 2006 .
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6426/Default.aspx
January 11th, 2012, 12:15 am
jad said:
UN is still out of the game until further notice:
الروس قالوا كلمتهم ومجلس الأمن فشل اليوم في الاتفاق على قرار بخصوص سوريا
عقد مجلس الأمن الدولي اليوم جلسة مشاورات مغلقة حول الأوضاع في سوريا حيث إستمع في خلالها إلى إفادة من نائب الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة لشؤون عمليات حفظ السلام لين باسكوا حول الأوضاع في سوريا.
وقالت مصادر مطلعة في مجلس الأمن الدولي إن مجلس الأمن لم يستطع حسم أي توجه في شأن إصدار قرار حول الأوضاع في سوريا بسبب التشدّد الروسي في موضوع أي تعديلات طرحتها الدول الغربية والولايات المتحدة على مشروع القرار الذي تقدمت به موسكو، وبدا من خلال جلسة الإستماع هذه أن الوفد الروسي غير مستعد بعد لمناقشة أي تعديلات.
وهنا عبّرت المندوبة الأميركية في الأمم المتحدة السفيرة سوزان رايس عن إستغرابها لهذا الأمر كما أسفت لأن الجواب الروسي حول بعض التعديلات التي تقدمت بها بعض الدول الغربية وواشنطن كان غير واضح وغير مفهوم وكشفت في المقابل أنه قبل نهاية العام كانت أرسلت تعديلات عدة على مشروع القرار المذكور التي طالبت بأن يكون أكثر مصداقية وشاملاً. وأكدت السفيرة الأميركية أن مجلس الأمن الدولي تأخير كثيراً في التعامل مع الأزمة وأنه يتوجب عليه إصدار قرار قوي في هذا الإطار.
ووفق المعلومات فإن الدول الغربية ستواصل مشاوراتها في الأيام المقبلة من أجل الدفع نحو إصدار قرار عن مجلس الأمن الدولي خصوصاً وأن روسيا لم تتقدمّ بأي صيغة جديدة لمشروع قرارها.
وأوضحت مصادر دبلوماسية أن الدول الغربية ستنتظر حتى ما بعد التاسع عشر من الشهر الحالي أي بعد صدور التقرير الثاني عن بعثة المراقبين لمناقشة بعض الإقتراحات الخاصة بتحرّك مجلس الأمن الدولي ولا سيما في ضوء الإقتراحات التي تقدمت بها عدد من الدولي ومنها ألمانيا.
من جهته رفض المندوب السوري في الأمم المتحدة السفير بشار الجفعري أي حديث عن التشكيك بمهمة بعثة المراقبين العرب وقال إن هذا الأمر يضعف مصداقية الجامعة العربية، ودعا إلى عدم إستباق نتائج مهمة المراقبين، وأضاف: إن من يتحدث عن فشل مهمة المراقبين العرب منذ الآن إنما يسعى إلى الإضرار بمصداقية الجامعة العربية، ويسعى إلى نقل الأزمة في سوريا برمتها إلى ايدي أولئك الذي يتآمرون على سلامة وإستقرار سوريا داخل مجلس الأمن وخارجه، وقال يجب إعطاء الفرصة للمنظمات الإقليمية ومنها الجامعة العربية لكي تقوم بمهامها ولا سيما في ضوء الوصاية المعطاة للمراقبين العرب، فيجب إعطاءهم الفرضة لكي يقوموا بواجبهم.
وأكدّ السفير السوري أن الحديث عن فشل مهمة المراقبين العرب وعن نقل الملف وجلبه إلى مجلس الأمن الدولي فإن هذا أمر لا يستهدف سوريا وإنما يستهدف مصداقية الجامعــة العربية، ويستهدف الأداء العربي، وهذا أمر يشكل خطراً إستراتيجياً على الأداء العربي في المحافلا الدولية.
ورداً على سؤال قال الجعغري إن إستهداف المراقبين العرب هو سعي لاستهداف ما تقوم به الجامعة العربية.
January 11th, 2012, 12:18 am
Darryl said:
173. SON OF DAMASCUS said:
“Let me remind you of a few Moslem scientist:
Avicena, Jaber Ibn Hayan (Father of Chemistry), Al Kawarizmi (father of Algebra), Omar Al Khayyam, Ibn Taymieha, Al Jahiz, Al Jazairi, Fatima Al Fihri (who established the oldest continuous University and was a woman) and the list goes on.”
My dear SOD, where is the rest and there were at least two of the above who were atheists, certainly Ibn Sina just like Abu Alla Al-Maari.
“a few modern Moslems:
Mustafa Akkad, Mohammed Ali, Malcom X, Ahmad Zeweil (Nobel laureate in Chemistry), Fazlur Khan (Sears Tower, John Hanckok Tower), Fareed Zakaria, Aziza El Hibri (who has a seat in the US administration)”
And these individuals have contributed to revolutionize our way of life?
“If the 1.5 billion Muslims had the same opportunities as people from the West (in terms of governance, social welfare, education, political stability, freedoms,..) you would see a lot more names on the Noble Laureates list. That would include as well Indian, Chinese, South American and pretty much the rest of the world that is not “western”.”
My dear SOD, Islam never provides opportunity to anyone except those who are on the “privilege receiving end” that is how it was then and that is how it will stay. The rest will have to live with the mind control part and chase their tail for life.
Please ask Mr Uzair8 to contribute to your answer and tell me how Islam is going to solve the above opportunity problem since it has not managed to do it for the last 1400 years?
Dear SOD, thanks for trying anyway.
January 11th, 2012, 12:57 am
Antoine said:
204. Norman said:
You talked about the revolution flag as the “Flag of separation between Egypt and Syria”, that flag was the National Flag of Syria from 1946 till 1958, the current Flag is the “unity flag” which is meaningless anyway, Syria and Egypt were united for only 3 yars and Syria got the worse of it ; anyway what is the use of unification between 2 countries 1000 miles apart and like chalk and cheese ?
January 11th, 2012, 1:08 am
Son of Damascus said:
Dear Darryl,
I would say all religions would like to control their subjects, not just Islam. Throughout history you see normal people rising up against the established norm, a prime example of that (although he is by all means not just a mere normal man whatever your faith might be) would be Jesus rising against the established practices of his time (whether Roman or Jewish), or Martin Luther nailing his 95 Thesis to a Catholic Church door, or Galileo when he predicted that the earth was not the centre of the universe. Where these men all not called heretics, and persecuted by their respective established religions? Those three men went on to shape the world, as did Mohammed, Khayyam, Ibn Battuta …
Darryl I am not defending Islam because I might think it happens to be correct, or the better, or … because for every good thing I can point out I am sure there is a negative you can shed a light on, and I am sure I can reciprocate towards your faith the same sentiment; however I will not because I understand your faith is what is right for you, it is what you believe to be correct and who am I to say other wise!
In reality my dear Darryl all religions Achilles heel are us humans, we have corrupted and hijacked whatever goodness they might offer. Mere humans have no business in godly matters.
January 11th, 2012, 2:00 am
ann said:
191. Ghufran said:
“””Majed
…Was that you or another guy in the previous post (188)?”””
Good catch Ghufran! That obviously was not majed and I don’t need to tell you who it was 😉
Peace
January 11th, 2012, 2:21 am
Mina said:
Jad 209
This has nothing to do with the AL and UN “sanctions” on Syria, but everything with the preparation of a Gulf-Iran war, just as the Wikileaks were full of on-going talks on that. The AL/UN sanctions are just an umbrella for more Saudi racist and sectarian madness.
About 210 and the UN, did you notice in the http://www.innercitypress article posted by Ann and available on their website that the simple way for Russia to refrain other members to discuss Syria is to say “okay, but then we’ll have to discuss Palestine as well.”
January 11th, 2012, 2:42 am
ann said:
INTERVIEW: Syrian patriarch says Christians feel betrayed by West – Jan 11, 2012
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/middleeast/news/article_1684906.php/INTERVIEW-Syrian-patriarch-says-Christians-feel-betrayed-by-West
Istanbul – Syria’s Christians, who make up more than 6 per cent of the population, are fearful they will be caught up in the 10-month power struggle between the Alawite-dominated government of President Bashar al-Assad and the largely Sunni opposition movement.
In an exclusive interview with dpa, Patriarch Ignatius Joseph III, head of the Syriac Catholic Church, which is in full communion with Rome, accused Western governments of sacrificing the rights of minorities in the Middle East in pursuing their geostrategic and economic interests.
dpa: In recent months there have been talks between Syrian churches on the position Christians should take in the conflict between al-Assad and the protest movement. What is the current position here?
Ignatius Joseph III: We Christians of the Middle East are disappointed at the policies pursued by the European Union and the United States, because we note that the Europeans and the Americans regard the problems of the Middle East solely from a political and economic viewpoint.
They have come to the conclusion that it is inevitable that Islamist religious fanatics will come to power in these countries and they have given up. We Christians feel that we have been betrayed by them.
dpa: What do you say to the accusation from the opposition that Syria’s Christian churches are supporting the regime, even though it is violating human rights?
Ignatius Joseph III: Yes, we are accused of being on the side of the regime, but all we aim to achieve in the end is that our communities will be able to live in peace. We always have the negative example of Iraq in mind, where many of our co-religionists had to emigrate.
dpa: Certain Syrian Christians say they are, on religious grounds, unable to support a regime that uses violence and kills children.
Ignatius Joseph III: This is a totalitarian regime – that cannot be denied. This is regrettable. But in Syria there has been no democratic education. Apart from a brief phase following the end of the colonial period, we have never had democracy…
It is true that this is a police state, and there are many political prisoners … But when there is conflict, and the security forces want to re-establish order in an area, then this cannot happen without the use of force.
dpa: Have you spoken to Western governments, which are banking on the fall of the Syrian government, in order to highlight the situation of the Christians?
Ignatius Joseph III: In May, I met French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe in Paris, and I realized that France and the EU have a preconceived opinion of the Baath regime in Syria. They think this is a monstrous regime that kills its own citizens.
Yes, there have been and there are massacres. But nobody talks about the hundreds of thousands of deaths that took place in Iraq (after the US-led invasion) or of the tens of thousands who died recently in Libya.
What would a solution to the conflict in Syria look like, now that so many people have died in a way that has set in motion a spiral of violence on both sides?
Ignatius Joseph III: There should be dialogue … But in our society we still have the concept of revenge. It is not the way it is in Turkey, where there is an Islamic party in power, but which shows a certain tolerance of those who think differently…
Why not have dialogue? Because 5,000 people have been killed? After World War II, which caused the death of millions, Germany and France also engaged in dialogue.
January 11th, 2012, 2:43 am
Mina said:
172 Tara
About your friend the Algerian Anwar Malek, if you can read Arabic, there is a post by Afram where his former colleagues from the Arab times explain he seems to be a Qatar-paid spy, because what he says now and what he used to write are so totally incompatible that it doesn’t make sense otherwise. But you certainly won’t believe there exists such thing as “paid-journalists”…
January 11th, 2012, 2:53 am
ann said:
At UN on Syria, Europeans Go Off Camera, Ja’afari Chides TV, Says Wait Til March
http://www.innercitypress.com/syria1tv011012.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 10 — After the UN Security Council heard about Syria behind closed doors on Tuesday, a series of European Permanent Representatives came out and spoke to the press, off camera but on the record.
UK Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said that Russia, which preemptively put out a draft resolution in December when it was president of the Council, has been asked to circulate a new draft, updated with the many suggestions made.
He said the Council should take action before January 19, when another Arab League statement is expected, or immediately after that.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin emerged and told the press that action before January 19 is “unlikely.” He called the Arab League the “game” in town, and said that all Council members agreed on that.
German Ambassador Peter Wittig said some have proposed that the Secretary General of the Arab League come and brief or engage with the Security Council.
After these off camera semi-engagements, US Ambassador Susan Rice and then Syrian Permanent Representative Bashar Ja’afari took to the stakeout, in (strange) context the main event.
Ja’afari chided two television networks for “jumping to conclusion” that the Arab League observers were attacked by “supporters of the government.” He asked, “How do you know they were supporters of the government? These things can be prefabricated.”
Ja’afari went on to describe letters he has written to the Secretary General, Ban Ki-moon, complaining that some of this information was never “transpired to the Security Council.”
While Churkin has said wait until (at least) January 19, Ja’afari said that Bashar al Assad was saying wait until March, which Ja’afari called “tomorrow.” He said that Egypt still has an emergency law; he described reforms and said that countries which allow on their territory armed opponents of the Assad government, to talk about their military plans, are violating the UN Charter. And then he was gone.
January 11th, 2012, 3:02 am
ann said:
217. Mina said:
“””172 Tara
…About your friend the Algerian Anwar Malek, if you can read Arabic”””
israeli propaganda artists are fluent in Arabic MINA 😉
January 11th, 2012, 3:07 am
ann said:
At UN, Raising Israel’s Settlements Called “Ill-Timed,” After Child Soldiers Meeting
http://www.innercitypress.com/unsett1caac011012.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 10 — The humanitarian consequences of Israel’s policy of settlements was raised in the UN Security Council late on Tuesday afternoon, after a closed door meeting about Children and Armed Conflict.
Morocco, replacing Lebanon as the Council’s Arab member, requested that the Council get a briefing on the topic. There was an attempt to expand the topic to cover other issues, and actors, but it was resisted.
And then “one country” — the host country, the US, a well placed source told Inner City Press — called Morocco’s request “ill-timed and counter-productive.” Others said after that it is the settlements that are ill-timed.
The request made by Morocco was foreshadowed by recent statements by Palestine’s Observer to the UN Riyad Mansour. He often refers, including on the question of Palestine’s application for full UN membership, to the opposition of “a single powerful member,” the US.
Whether or not there are now nine votes in the Council in favor of Palestinian UN membership, the US remains the outlier, the source said, even behind closed doors.
January 11th, 2012, 3:14 am
ann said:
Turkey’s ‘Syrian intervention’ scenario – – 11 January, 2012
http://rt.com/news/syria-turkey-war-intervention-497/
Turkey has been keenly watching events unfold in Syria, fearing its near-neighbor’s violence could spill over the border. However, there are fears that Turkish government may not be getting an accurate picture of what is really happening in Syria.
As soon as Syria’s president promised to completely revamp the constitution in an attempt to resolve the crisis in the country, Turkey expressed support for a humanitarian intervention, saying it must do all it can to prevent a civil war.
With the bloody status quo in the Syrian crisis having been maintained for months, there is a danger that violence may start spreading beyond the country’s borders.
And its close neighbor Turkey – once a close friend too – is now a harsh critic of Damascus.
“Syria’s first priority should be to listen to its people and meet their demands, not to denounce others; instead of massacring its people, it should listen to them,” says Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu.
Faruk Logoglu, the deputy chairman of the Republican People’s Party in Turkey, is a harsh critic himself, but he is critical of the Turkish government.
Ankara is on the side of the Free Syrian Army and the Syrian National Council – a military and diplomatic force aimed at overthrowing the regime of Bashar al-Assad. It supports a “buffer zone” and a “humanitarian corridor” – which some fear could bring Turkish troops to Syrian soil.
“What does that mean according to international law? It means aggression against a country, it means war,” Faruk Logoglu says.
But any intervention would be different from the one in Libya – since Russia and China have made it clear: no more no-fly zone resolutions. It means the role of regional players like Turkey increases dramatically.
But Faruk claims Ankara’s behavior is irresponsible and risky.
“It is the larger implications beyond the bilateral context of Turkey and Syria as such. The situation in Syria must be handled with great care by all powers. And unfortunately I do not see that care, especially from the Turkish government,” he says.
Oytun Orhan works for the Middle East Strategic Studies Center, based in Ankara.
It is sponsored by the Turkish Foreign Ministry to help shape policy. And its opinion on Syria is clear.
“The regime of Syria is killing its own people,” says Oytun Orhan, Middle East analyst the Center for Middle Eastern Strategic Studies (ORSAM).
Or not always that clear.
“Nobody has objective information as to what is going on in Syria,” says Oytun Orhan.
The center’s specialists have not been to Syria for over a year.
It means the picture they paint for officials in Ankara is unlikely to be an accurate one.
The sources of some videos are often questionable, so it is easy to be misled or get a false picture of what is really happening.
Although that does not stop researchers from coming to firm conclusions.
“The military option, this is the last option Turkey does not want to see. But this is an option,” says Oytun Orhan.
Turkey may have declared it does not welcome a military solution to the Syrian crisis, but it has not ruled it out either, playing an “if” game: if there is massive migration from its troubled neighbor Turkey says it will have to protect its own people.
And while officially Ankara insists it wants peace and stability in the region, its troops are ready just kilometers from the border with Syria.
January 11th, 2012, 3:16 am
Juergen said:
Uzair
I would be afraid something will happen to the iranian pilgrims, i would say that they are in danger, with this regime playing the sectarian card, they are in danger. God forbid this regime will place an other bomb. I remember that there was a bomb attack a couple of years ago while i was in Syria on a bus nearby the grave of Zainab, never heard anything about it again, and thats not a good sign in Syria.
January 11th, 2012, 3:29 am
defender said:
January 11th, 2012, 3:30 am
ann said:
Bomb kills Iran nuclear scientist; Israel accused – Wednesday, January 11, 2012
http://zeenews.india.com/news/world/bomb-kills-iran-nuclear-scientist-israel-accused_751914.html
Tehran: An Iranian nuclear scientist was killed by a bomb placed on his car on Wednesday in an attack Tehran’s Deputy Governor blamed on Israel, raising the diplomatic temperature in a stand-off with the West over Iran’s nuclear program.
The bombing, which a city official said was similar to attacks a year ago on nuclear scientists in Iran, came as the United States sought to persuade a skeptical China to help efforts to toughen sanctions against Iran.
“The bomb was a magnetic one and the same as the ones previously used for the assassination of the scientists, and is the work of the Zionists (Israelis),” Iran’s semi
January 11th, 2012, 3:33 am
ann said:
Saudi oil output nearing capacity limit – Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Riyadh traditionally sets aside 1.5 mln bpd
http://www.emirates247.com/business/energy/saudi-oil-output-nearing-capacity-limit-2012-01-11-1.437082
Top oil exporter Saudi Arabia is nearing its comfortable operational production limits and may struggle to do much to make up for shortages that arise from new sanctions imposed on Iran by the West, Gulf-based sources said.
The kingdom, now pumping just under record rates of 10 million barrels per day, has poured billions of dollars into its vast oil fields, which on paper should ensure it has the ability to ramp up to 12.5 million bpd.
Long-standing oil policy by Riyadh, the heavyweight in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), sets aside some 1.5 million bpd as protective spare capacity.
But industry sources said pumping anywhere near the declared production capacity might involve extracting heavy crudes the market might not want. It would also be difficult to sustain higher rates for lengthy periods.
“There is very little unused capacity in the Gulf,” said an oil official in the region. “Saudi Arabia could comfortably manage an extra 500,000 barrels a day or so and, if pushed, could go up to 11 million (barrels a day).”
A steady rate beyond 10 million bpd would offer immediate relief to world oil markets, but it would take the kingdom’s production to untested levels.
Saudi officials are confident, however, of achieving higher flows.
“Saudi Arabia can easily make 1 million to 1.5 million (barrels per day) available,” a Saudi source said about output beyond current volumes.
Since June of last year, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates have been cranking oil out after failing to convince Iran and other OPEC members to agree a coordinated increase to cover the supply disruption from Libya’s civil war.
The trio has kept up the higher pace, despite the return of Libyan crude, to supply rising demand from Asia and in effort to bring oil prices below $100 a barrel to help nurture global economic growth. Increased deliveries have left Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates producing nearly flat out.
That will make it a stretch to fill a sizeable gap left by any punitive cuts in Iran’s oil exports of about 2.5 million bpd.
After spending huge amounts on fortifying their production, the Gulf countries are now reluctant to push output to the very brink and leave them bereft of a supply cushion.
CHINA LOOKING AROUND
The United States and its allies in Europe and elsewhere are trying to put pressure on Iran to curb its nuclear programme, worried that Tehran is attempting to develop its own atom bomb.
Iranian oil officials said shipments from the Islamic Republic are continuing as normal.
There are, however, reports that some traditional buyers of Iranian crude, such as China, may be looking elsewhere. This may be part of a negotiating ploy over contract renewals.
The European Union has brought forward a ministerial meeting that is likely to match new U.S.
measures to tighten the financial screws on Tehran. At stake are roughly 500,000 bpd of Iranian exports to EU members.
The U.S. has long embargoed Iranian crude, but the new sanctions target institutions that deal with Iran’s central bank.
Asia’s big consumers of Iran’s oil – Japan, China and India – are already taking precautions. Tokyo has asked Saudi Arabia and the UAE to help it to plug any gap.
And China’s Premier Wen Jiabao is set to visit Saudi, the UAE and Qatar amid signs that Beijing wants to expand its options as the U.S. ratchets up measures against Iran.
Despite the diplomatic efforts, there have been no hard requests from buyers.
“So far, there are no extra orders (from buyers) that would require Saudi to increase production,” a Gulf industry source told Reuters. He repeated Riyadh’s vow to meet any extra demand.
January 11th, 2012, 3:37 am
ann said:
Japan Wants to Keep Importing Iranian Crude – JANUARY 10, 2012
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970204257504577153670108313172.html
TOKYO—Japan wants to keep importing crude oil from Iran despite rising pressure from the U.S., its key ally, to cooperate in strengthening sanctions over the Islamic Republic’s uranium enrichment program.
“We are concerned about an impact on global energy prices,” an official at Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday. “We are also worried about how a fuel shortage might impact rebuilding” after the massive earthquake and tsunami that hit Japan in March, added the official, who asked not to be named.
The comments came a day before the planned meeting between U.S. Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner and Japan’s Finance Minister Jun Azumi. The two ministers plan to meet Thursday morning, with a possible ban on Iranian crude oil and Japan’s currency intervention likely to be on the agenda, which a spokesman at the Ministry of Finance declined to discuss.
Mr. Geithner arrived in Beijing on Tuesday, where it is believed he is meeting stiff opposition to the U.S.’s sanctions plan.
“We urge all relevant nations to remain calm, exercise restraint, refrain from taking actions that will intensify the situation and make common efforts to prevent war,” Chen Xiaodong, a top Chinese diplomat on Middle East affairs said in an online interview with the state press.
Meanwhile, Japan’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Koichiro Gemba is touring the Middle East this week, asking major oil-producing countries, including Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, to increase oil production in order to stabilize prices, and urging Iran to back down from its threats to close the strategic Strait of Hormuz in case of an embargo on Iranian crude exports.
Mr. Gemba’s visit to the oil-rich region is aimed at enhancing “Japan’s energy security in general” and “does not mean that Japan accepts Iranian oil sanctions,” the foreign ministry official said.
JX Nippon Oil & Energy Corp., Japan’s largest refiner by capacity, said Tuesday that it has been in talks with Saudi Arabia and a few other oil producers about possible purchases in case of a ban on Iranian crude.
Japan imports roughly 300,000 barrels a day of crude oil from Iran, nearly 10% of its total crude imports.
January 11th, 2012, 3:47 am
ann said:
China says war over Iran will bring disaster – 20 hours ago
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5jqqTq7QgXNRul6tegDJGlCXbhKIA?docId=CNG.de1b6202342d998e00eb801ac291148e.401
BEIJING — A top Chinese diplomat said Tuesday war over the Iranian nuclear issue would bring disaster to the world economy and urged all nations involved to exercise restraint and prevent hostilities.
The remarks by Chen Xiaodong, a top Chinese diplomat on Middle Eastern affairs, came as Iran’s showdown with the West slid closer to confrontation as alarm over its new uranium enrichment plant and Tehran’s death sentence for a “CIA spy” raised the stakes.
“We urge all relevant nations to remain calm, exercise restraint, refrain from taking actions that will intensify the situation and make common efforts to prevent war,” Chen said in an online interview with state media.
“Everyone knows that 40 percent of the oil shipped daily to every part of the world goes through the Strait of Hormuz, so once war starts in this region not only will the relevant nations be affected and attacked, it would also … bring disaster to a world economy deep in crisis.”
The International Atomic Energy Agency’s confirmation on Monday that Iran had begun enriching uranium in a new, underground bunker southwest of Tehran was seized upon by the United States, Britain, France and Germany as an unacceptable “violation” of UN Security Council resolutions.
On Monday, a Revolutionary Court in Tehran sentenced an American former Marine, Amir Mirzai Hekmati, to death after convicting him of being a CIA spy.
The United States has called for the release of Hekmati, 28, who also holds Iranian nationality through his family who settled in the United States before his birth.
Chen’s statement comes as US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner arrived in Beijing for talks expected to be focused on a new set of sanctions imposed by the United States on Iran late last year.
Energy-hungry China — which relies on Iran for 11 percent of its imported oil supplies — has repeatedly said sanctions will not resolve the nuclear issue and urged all sides to seek a diplomatic solution through dialogue.
January 11th, 2012, 3:50 am
Juergen said:
I am sorry to post this translated commentary, but i think its a very good comment on the last speech of the “beloved leader”.
Chief cynic Assad spoke again
By Ulrich Leidholdt, ARD radio studio Amman
Firing order – by who ? Popular uprising – no question! Syria is a dictatorship – ridiculous. Chief cynic Assad has struck again. This time verbally. If this man now unrealistic, stubborn or calculating? A madman, some try to label him, he isnt in any case. Assad knows very well what he is doing.
The Syrian despot is a cool-calculate player. He flays time and tried the ten months sustained uprising against his regime continue to shoot. At the same time he successfully tricking with new tricks to paralyze the world community.
Assad relies on the deterrent effect of his prediction that the entire Middle East is on fire, if you run like a military intervention against Syria like in Libya. Pulled in the fear into a conflagration with unimaginable consequences to be mixed in the foreign state of shock – the West and the Arab world as well. In addition, Assad must still rely on the two veto powers in the UN Security Council, Russia and China, which prevent every attempt to form an anti-Assad resolution.
The so unusual active approach of the Arab League to get Assad under control through their observers, has failed tremendously. Some neighboring countries are not observing the sanctions against Assad, the debacle of the observer mission is so obvious that Assad can claim political victory even before its end. The mission of his grace, which is more forbidden than allowed, makes puppets out of the frustrated Arabs and the Syrian opposition.
Assad’s speech, only the fourth since the start of the revolt was recognized by the opposition as an expression of weakness and cynicism. The opposition had not expected anything anyway and would never sit down with this deadly regime at a table.
But the half-hour speech with accusations against foreign nations and the innerself-expression of the regime quite an addressee: namely, the silent majority of Syrians – those people who do not dare to protest on the street, without being supporters of the regime. They fear the chaos after a fall Assad more than his repressive apparatus. Assad has them thoroughly inculcated the fear of many years of ethnic and religious civil war like in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein.
Suicide attacks are like before Christmas and last week, with 70 dead in the middle of Damascus – whether orchestrated by the regime or by Islamist terrorists. For decades, intimidated, or frightened by the strong leader convinced Syrians and minorities alike.
Also one can assume that the disunited opposition has no plan for the time after the fall of the regime. Assad is counting on time – and that the remaligned foreign powers abroad can not or will not get at him.
Of course, this regime must fall – only when, that is when these conditions are not predictable. Let alone what comes next. As long as Syrians will continue to die, watched by the world and scorned by Assad – because that is not only stubborn, but also calculating.
http://www.tagesschau.de/kommentar/kommentarassadrede100.html
January 11th, 2012, 5:11 am
b said:
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/01/neocon-israel-mouthpiece-writes-syrian-opposition-policy-paper.html
/excerpt/
The neocon org’s communications director and excecutive director of a “mouthpiece for Israel” Michael Weiss writes a paper to further military intervention in Syria for a U.S. State Department funded expat Syrian think tank which then gets adopted by the expat militant Syrian National Council.
Weiss then takes to the pages of Foreign Affairs where he excommunicates the anti-intervention local Syrian protesters as “cover organization pushing reconciliation” to then claim that military intervention is endorsed by all factions involved in the Syrian protests.
/end-excerpt/
January 11th, 2012, 6:20 am
Mina said:
No democracy in the Middle East. Not a single one.
More colonization in the name of “retaliation for Unesco admission”, is just a fascist policy. Nothing else.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-subsidizes-west-bank-housing-breaking-promise-to-u-s-1.406609
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced plans to build 277 new housing units in Efrat as part of a series of reprisals for the Palestinian Authority’s admission to UNESCO in October. The tender was published at the end of last month and is due to close at the end of February.
But it turns out that of these 277 units, 213 are being offered under the “Mechir Lamishtaken” program, under which the government sells the land to contractors for less than its full market value.
http://www.haaretz.com/news/middle-east/le-figaro-israel-s-mossad-recruiting-iranian-dissidents-to-work-against-tehran-regime-1.406712
How come the UN, which has spend millions of dollars if not billions, in Iraqi Kurdistan, has let it transform into a US-Israeli military base?
January 11th, 2012, 7:08 am
Revlon said:
1 in every 600 Sunni inhabitants of Homs gevernorate have been killed at the command of 3alawi authorities over the last 10 months.
The latest toll of martyrs stands at 2356 in Homs and 6336 in Syria http://www.facebook.com/Syria.Revolution.Intelligence#!/photo.php?fbid=282432835148195&set=a.194980847226728.50763.178929398831873&type=1&theater
The claculated rate takes into account an often quoted 20% rate of non-Sunni inhabitants and a total population of Homs governorate of 1,763,000, as per 2010 census. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homs_Governorate
January 11th, 2012, 7:10 am
Mina said:
It is kind of getting weird this trend of illustrating every article about Syria by a PRO-REGIME demo!!!
Look at this one:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/world_now/2012/01/israel-syria-refugees.html
(Asad’s picture on the right, people carrying the Syrian flag and not the one used by the opposition)
and this one:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-assad-faces-his-peoples-hatred–but-as-their-anger-grows-his-excuses-are-still-just-the-same-6287792.html
I remember last June in a Turkish newspaper the picture of a Hatay refugee camp with a group of 30 refugees seating on the floor and carrying Bashar’s pictures! Journalists are not ashamed at all: they can’t read the news in Arabic, and even for pictures, they prefer not to show the small demos of the heavy bearded opposition and their toddlers…
January 11th, 2012, 7:15 am
Mina said:
Bashar al Asad gave a speech on a Damascus square today, and was joined by his wife and children.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/31471/World/Region/Syrias-Assad-speaks-to-crowd-in-Damascus-square.aspx
What we read elsewhere are just plain lies and a last attempt for an escalation. The Gulf is real dumb if some there think that Iran or Syria will shoot the first shot. But if the US and Europe have no other plan to get out of their financial crisis (make me a war and we’ll arrange you a tiny bantustan like Palestinian state), they will continue to follow the script. After all, Guantanamo is still open three years after Obama’s promess (10th January… didn’t make the frontpage yesterday.. nor al Jazeera had a special programme I bet…)
My Syrian friends are still writing emails, still using Skype, still talking of the events on the phone. Some are traveling and going back there. The problems are only in Homs and Idlib.
January 11th, 2012, 7:37 am
Norman said:
Antoine,
How far is Alaska and Hawaii from the US mainland, Egypt and Syria are closer,don’t you think?
January 11th, 2012, 7:55 am
Juergen said:
Mina
nice piece of propadanda, but where are the photos of him and Asmaa, i just found those pictures on sana:
http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/01/11/393580.htm
and no Asmaa and no children…
In your link they said that
The crowd shouted “Shabiha forever, for your eyes, Assad”
Sounds like a mafia reunion to me
January 11th, 2012, 7:59 am
Mina said:
Jürgen,
The video is on your belove Guardian’s blog, the one where you took the Twitter quotes during the speech yesterday.
No doubt you know what you are talking about when it comes to propaganda. Any news from the car belonging to the German embassy that was supposedly caught in Damascus? Since you inform us of any honor crime involving Syrians in Germany, I am surprised you did not mention this one.
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cwvDKKbUz2Y&feature=player_embedded)
January 11th, 2012, 8:14 am
irritated said:
228. Juergen
So ridiculous that you can’t imagine that the opposition iranian-haters (as we have a lot on this blog) would be better candidates to put a bomb to discourage iranians pilgrims to visit Seyyeda Roqaya mausoleum and give a further blow to Syria’s declining tourism in Damascus!
Instead you accuse preemptively the Syria government.
Soon you will accuse the Syrian governemnt to put bombs in Kerbala!
You bad faith is amazing.
“Sounds like a mafia reunion to me”
Another of your ridiculous denial statement.. I guess your house of card is falling right in front of your eyes. Syria is not East Germany, wake up or shut up!
January 11th, 2012, 8:32 am
Valerya said:
‘Mossad hiring Iranians in Iraq to spy on Iran
January 11, 2012
The Mossad has managed to infiltrate the autonomous Kurdish region in northern Iraq in order to spy on Iran’s nuclear program, French daily Le Figaro reported Tuesday.
According to an unnamed security source in Baghdad, Israel has hired Iranian Kurdish refugees in the autonomous region to gather information about Iran’s nuclear program, and to target nuclear experts in the Islamic Republic.
Iran’s judiciary said on Monday a death sentence had been passed for an Iranian-US citizen on charges of spying for the United States, the students news agency ISNA reported.
“A death sentence has been issued for Amir Mirza Hekmati for cooperating with the hostile government of America and spying for the CIA,” ISNA quoted spokesman for the judiciary Gholamhossein Mohseni-Ejei as saying.
“The court found him (Hekmati) Corrupt on Earth and Mohareb (waging war on God),” semi-official FARS news agency said.
Hekmati, a 28-year-old of Iranian descent, was arrested in December and Iran’s Intelligence Ministry accused him of receiving training at US bases in neighboring Afghanistan and Iraq.
Iran’s judiciary said Hekmati admitted to having links with the CIA but said he had no intention of harming Iran.
The US responded that same night to the death sentence, demanding Iran release Hekmati immediately.
“We’ve maintained from the beginning that the charges against him were a fabrication and we call on the Iranian government to release him immediately,” State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.
Iran has blamed the US and Israel for infiltrating the Islamic Republic, and targeting its nuclear scientists – five of which have been killed since 2007. One scientist died Wednesday when a bomb attached to his vehicle exploded near Tehran University.
Both the US and Israel have denied the espionage charges.
January 11th, 2012, 8:38 am
irritated said:
239. Mina
Thanks for the video.
For a ’embattled’ and ‘unpopular’ president, he is rather bold and courageous to appear so casually and without protection in front of a ‘massive’ cheering crowd.
I can hear teeth grinding on this blog.
January 11th, 2012, 8:42 am
Uzair8 said:
Robert Fisk: Assad faces his people’s hatred – but as their anger grows, his excuses are still just the same
Wednesday 11 January 2012
It was the Assad Speech of the Year. There was an international conspiracy against Syria. True. Arab states opposed to Syria were under “outside pressure”. True, up to a point. Nobody could deny the seriousness of these plots. True. After all, the Syrian government itself registers 2,000 dead soldiers, while the UN estimates civilian dead at 5,000. And when Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan warned that the violence in Syria was “heading towards a sectarian, religious war”, there were few supporters of President Assad who would disagree with him.
As for foreign plots, who doubts that weapons are pouring into Syria from Assad’s enemies in Lebanon? Syria’s Defence Minister, Fayez Ghosn, has stated that al-Qa’ida had infiltrated the northern Lebanese town of Arsal – a dodgy claim since the only death there appears to have been caused by Syrian troops. The Lebanese Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, still nominally an Assad ally, suggested officials should not use such all-encompassing words that mean anything to anyone. True again. Jumblatt said the recent explosions in Damascus that killed at least 25 Syrians raised “many questions” – because they coincided with the Arab League monitors’ visit.
Read more:
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-assad-faces-his-peoples-hatred–but-as-their-anger-grows-his-excuses-are-still-just-the-same-6287792.html
January 11th, 2012, 8:43 am
zoo said:
Turkey: Business first!
Turkey Resists US Sanctions Against Iran Despite US Envoy Visit
By Dorian Jones, VOA, Istanbul, Turkey
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State William Burns is visiting close ally Turkey to further press international sanctions against Iran over its controversial nuclear energy program. However, Ankara remains opposed to the new U.S.-led measures.
{…}
http://www.payvand.com/news/12/jan/1095.html
January 11th, 2012, 8:47 am
Uzair8 said:
More from the R. Fisk article in 246.
Mission to Syria: Arab League unease
22 December Arab League delegates start arriving in Syria to monitor a plan calling for the withdrawal of troops from cities.
23 December Syria suffers its first suicide bombing since unrest began in February. Forty people are killed, but activists are suspicious of the timing.
27 December Foreign Policy magazine labels the mission’s Sudanese head, Mohammed Ahmed al-Dabi, the world’s worst human rights observer because of links to abuses in Sudan.
28 December General Dabi says the situation in parts of Syria is “reassuring”. The next day, 25 people are shot dead by security forces.
1 January A body advising the Arab League says it should pull monitors out.
5 January Qatar’s Prime Minister admits Arab League monitors made “mistakes”.
6 January Another bomb explodes at a busy intersection killing 26 people, with state media blaming “terrorists”.
January 11th, 2012, 8:52 am
Juergen said:
Very nice documentary about democracy in Tunesia by Arte. Unfortunatly its only available in German and French. I have linked the french version directly from Arte and sometimes its not visible if you watch it outside of Europe, there is the same video available through youtube.
I love democracy
Pour le premier numéro de la collection I love democracy, Daniel Leconte a choisi la Tunisie. C’est en effet la révolution de Jasmin qui a donné le coup d’envoi du “printemps arabe”. Et la Tunisie est aujourd’hui devenue le baromètre de tout le monde arabo-musulman. Un an après la chute du régime de Ben Ali, ce film plonge au coeur de cette démocratie naissante : il capte les enthousiasmes, les espoirs, la formidable énergie d’un pays qui découvre la liberté, mais pointe aussi les menaces, les peurs et les combats à venir. Il raconte de l’intérieur, à travers des histoires particulières, les paradoxes de la Tunisie nouvelle. Des témoignages complétés par des interviews exceptionnelles, en particulier un entretien exclusif avec Moncef Marzouki, le nouveau président tunisien.
http://videos.arte.tv/en/videos/i_love_democracy-6317684.html
January 11th, 2012, 9:20 am
Juergen said:
Irritated
you are right Syria is not East Germany. Its worst than East Germany, our regime made life to hell for the ones who dared to speak up, the syrian regime killed thousands and take the whole country as hostages.
And by the way i will not silence, thats what freedom has brought for me, never i will be silent in presence of a murderous regime.
January 11th, 2012, 9:25 am
Revlon said:
Mother of martyr Bilal Mkhaiber mourns her young son, and pray to God to avenge his death by excising justice from Jr and his family.
10/01/2012
القصير10 1ام الشهيد بلال مخيبر هكذا خنسوات ينجبن هكذا أبطال اللهم صبرهاوانصرنا
January 11th, 2012, 9:36 am
Juergen said:
Mina
What really makes me wonder that they found only this car and not an israeli license plate. Really i thought you have at least your own opinion, obviously you shifted to state propaganda instead.
Thank you for the link, i watched it with an Aleppine friend and he said to me that he feels sorry for Bashar, he looks like as he is loosing it, jumping from one topic to the other like Maryam Noor.
January 11th, 2012, 9:39 am
Juergen said:
Irritated
Sorry you said you find it brave of Baschar to show up like this. See the video, you think he is a brave man? Guearded by 20-30 shabihas on stage, 20 m corridor between him and the security forces, even Saddam or Ghadaffi were not that cautious when they met their “children”. Good Assad said that the school children in front of him came voluntarily, what a lame joke. Nothing is spontanous and voluntarily in this regime.
January 11th, 2012, 9:44 am
defender said:
http://www.davidicke.com/headlines/59126-syria-next-the-return-of-the-incubator-style-lies
Syria Next – The Return of the ‘Incubator’-Style Lies!
Kuwaiti Baby Incubator Lies
January 11th, 2012, 9:54 am
Tara said:
Dear Juergen
I am sorry that you are getting exposed to Syrian vulgarity on this site. I used to call vulgar people “peasants” but I understand it can offend real farmers therefore I am trying to limit my use of such a word. I assure you that the sample you are exposed to here does not reflect us, the majority Syrians who are polite, generous, and cultural.
Ann,
Oh boy, my taste is changing. I started to develop a taste to the dullness in your posts. You manage to make me smile, Thank you.
January 11th, 2012, 9:56 am
Juergen said:
Tara
Dont worry i know how kind and openminded Syrians are. Here in Berlin the mnhbakjs will be demonstrating on Saturday, i will see if i can stop by and count the lebanese who will come to dance dabke. The regime can not even get all syrian students who get state scholarships to come and wave an syrian flag. Last time they did that the germans who passed by got really upset with them.
Have you heard that one western journalist was killed today in Homs today? I have only seen an report by Reuters, others havent reported that yet.
January 11th, 2012, 10:04 am
jad said:
A terrorist attack in Homs killing Syrians and a French/Belgium journalist with many injured:
حمص /عاجل :
سقوط 7 شهداء و مقتل صحفي فرنسي و اصابة 10 اخرين بعيد استهدافهم ب3 قذائف ار بي جي في حي عكرمة و نداءات للتبرع بالدم في مشفى الزعيم بحمص
خاص شبكة أخبار حمص الاولى
http://www.facebook.com/HNN.SYRIA
في تفاصيل العملية الارهابية التي نفذتها أيدي الغدر
في منطقة عكرمة الجديدة
سقطت قذيفة هاون بالقرب من سوبر ماركت البتول
في اللحظة التي كان فيها الوفد الإعلامي بالقرب من مشفى النهضة
وعند سماعم لصوت الانفجار
توجهوا مباشرةً إلى موقع انفجار قذيفة الهاون
لمعاينة الضرر ولتوثيق الإرهاب السلمي الذي ينادوا به
مجلس الاسطبل التركي
وأثناء تحركهم سقطت قذيفة أخرى بالقرب منهم
أصابت الوفد وجميع المواطنين المتواجدين بالقرب منهم
وحسب مراسلنا المتواجد هناك
أفادنا أن عدد الشهداء من الوفد الإعلامي
ارتفع إلى 3 شهداء
نوافيكم بأية تفاصيل فور جمعها
خاص شبكة أخبار حمص الاولى
http://www.facebook.com/HNN.SYRIA
من موقع الحدث في حي عكرمة غضب عارم واستنكار شعبي كبير
للعمليات الارهابية التي يقوم بها المسلحون على المواطنين الآمنيين
حيث استطعنا التوصل إلى بعض أسماء المصابين والشهداء
من الوفد الإعلامي الغربي :
استشهاد الصحفي جيل جاكي وهو من قناة فرانس 24
وإصابة الصحفي ستيفان هولندي الجنسية بشظايا في العين
واستشهاد كل من محمد سعد الدين
والشهيد عبادة ونوس المكلفين بمرافقة الوفد الإعلامي وكلامهما من العسكريين
كما استشهدت المواطنة : هيام يونس
أما أسماء الإصابات من المواطنينن فهم :
بشار منصور
عمار سلوم
نبيل الضاهر
عمار خرمى
ابراهيم محسن
– أما عن حالة المصابين في المشفى الأهلي
بعد أن استهدفت قذيفة الهاون ساحة حي السبيل
بلغت عدد الإصابات إلى 18 إصابة
من بينهم شهيد واحد وهو الشهيد : عماد الفحام ـ رحم الله روحه الطاهرة ـ
بينما باقي المصابين تنوعت إصاباتهم
ومنهم من يخضع إلى عمليات جراحية الآن
ولكن الحالة العامة لهم وحسب الأطباء المشرفين جيدة ومستقرة تقريباً
الرحمة على أرواح الشهداء
وتمنياتنا بالشفاء العاجل لكل المصابين
خاص شبكة أخبار حمص الاولى
http://www.facebook.com/HNN.SYRIA
January 11th, 2012, 10:06 am
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
Notice that the junta now is changing it’s PR tactics. They allowed CNN and others to cover Syria from within, and they showed Bashar in a pro-rally. I suspect we’ll see Bashar more frequently than we’re used to. Have to admit that this is quite wise, from their point of view. Did they hire PR international consultants?
.
January 11th, 2012, 10:13 am
jna said:
Syria’s Kurds mistrust government and opposition: activists
9:14am EST Wed Jan 11, 2012
By Jon Hemming
ARBIL, Iraq (Reuters) – Syrian Kurds, the country’s largest ethnic minority, do not trust President Bashar al-Assad, nor the opposition, so for now have largely kept out of the uprising against the government, exiled Kurdish opposition representatives said.
The Kurds are also wary of Turkey’s growing influence on the Arab groups trying to overthrow Assad, fearing that if they succeed, they will crush Kurdish hopes for autonomy in Syria, due to Ankara’s opposition to home-rule for its own Kurds.
“There is no trust between the Kurds and the Arab opposition that’s why there are not huge protests in the Kurdish cities,” said Majed Youssif Dawi, a Kurdish member of the Syrian National Council main opposition umbrella group.
“We don’t have any agreements with the Arab opposition in terms of Kurdish rights,” he told Reuters in the Iraqi Kurdish capital Arbil. “We don’t have any agreement on how to change the system … also the statements of the heads of the Arab opposition do not give us any reason to trust them.”
While mainly Sunni Arab cities in Syria have seen 10 months of large, almost daily demonstrations against Assad, the mainly Kurdish towns and cities in northeast Syria, after initial protests, have remained much more calm.
“The Kurds don’t support the regime. We Kurds have been against the Syrian regime for more than 20 years and the Kurds were the one of first who came out onto the streets,” said Dr. Sarbast Nabi, a Syrian Kurdish politics professor at Salahaddin University in northern Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan.
Syrian Kurds clashed with security forces for days, leaving several dead, after an incident at a football stadium in the main Syrian Kurdish city of Qamishli in 2004.
“At that time I was in Damascus,” said Nabi. “I don’t want to mention any names, but those who are now the heads of the opposition stood against the demands for Kurdish rights … They still support the ideology Arab-isation and political Islam.”
As well as the lack of trust between the Kurds and the main opposition groups, the Syrian Kurds have deep divisions among themselves and are backed by different regional players, some by the Iraqi Kurds, and another by the Turkish Kurd rebels, the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), independent analysts said.
The Syrian government has increased its support for the PKK as a counterweight to Turkey’s backing of the Syrian opposition, the analysts said, and therefore the PKK’s proxies inside Syria had not joined in the struggle to overthrow Assad.
KURDS WARY OF TURKEY’S ROLE
Mahmoud Mohammad Bave Sabir, a leading member of the Democratic Union Kurdish Party of Syria, one of the oldest Kurdish opposition groups, said Assad was playing on Arab fears of Kurdish separatism and Kurdish fears of Arab nationalism.
Any Kurdish protests, he said, had not been met with the same level of forces as elsewhere, where security forces have used live ammunition and killed hundreds of demonstrators.
That, he said, was because Assad feared the reaction of the many thousands of Kurds living in the capital Damascus, and the commercial hub Aleppo, which have until now remained much quieter than outlying smaller towns and cities.
But Kurdish activists inside Syria are still mobilizing the youths who took to the streets regardless of the Kurdish opposition parties, said Dawi, a student activist imprisoned for two months in Syria before feeling to Iraqi Kurdistan.
He is now in daily contact with fellow activists in the Kurdish towns and cities inside Syria as well as lobbying for greater recognition of Kurdish rights from within the main opposition umbrella group based in the Turkish city of Istanbul.
The support for the opposition by Turkey’s government, which evolved from a series of banned Islamist parties, has led to Sunni Arab Islamist groups coming to the fore of the protests, the Syrian Kurdish representatives said.
If those groups came to power, the Syrian Kurds said, they would likely still pursue the Arab nationalist policies of the Assad government and stand in the way of Kurdish demands for self-rule, similar to that of Iraq’s Kurdish autonomous zone.
“I think the revolution in Syria has not remained in the hands of the Syrian people, but has become a conflict between the regional powers,” said student activist Dawi. “We should not trust those big countries because they are putting their own interests first.”
“We are afraid of any Turkish role inside Syria,” said Professor Nabi. “I am sure Turkey will face strong Kurdish resistance in Syria.”
For now, he said, Syria’s Kurds were keeping their powder dry, awaiting the outcome of the uprising, but were ready to fight to defend their rights when needed.
“I don’t believe they will remain neutral because they are obliged to defend themselves, either against the regime, or after it changes because then the struggle will become multi sided.”
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/11/us-syria-kurds-idUSTRE80A12O20120111
January 11th, 2012, 10:16 am
zoo said:
The mantra of the embattled SNC
http://news.yahoo.com/assad-speech-incitement-violence-syria-rebels-154914230.html
“Our next step therefore is to go in a speedy way to the Security Council with the support of the Arab countries which are now convinced that this regime has not cooperated during the (Arab League) mission and is quite unlikely to cooperate in any manner,” she said.
“This is a message that members of the Security Council should carefully read and understand that by preventing decisive action by the council … the regime is encouraged to continue its crimes,” she said.
The SNC hit out at the Arab League over their report which said the “killing has been reduced” and had recommended that a team of Arab monitors continue their mission.
January 11th, 2012, 10:19 am
irritated said:
Juergen
“20 m corridor between him and the security forces,”
Do you happen to know that any gun or grenade can reach further than 20 m?
How many Arab leaders (or even western leaders) are courageous enough to appear in a public gathering?
Please continue your Hollywood deconstruction of any pro-regime demonstration, it is becoming entertaining to watch how far your imagination can go in denying the realities.
January 11th, 2012, 10:27 am
irritated said:
…
January 11th, 2012, 10:34 am
zoo said:
The emergence of a new entity in Syria’s hot spots: The ‘unindentified gunmen’
Gunmen Fire RPGs at Foreign Journalists in Syria’s Homs, Many Killed
2012-01-11 23:02:56 Xinhua
http://english.cri.cn/6966/2012/01/11/2724s675781.htm
Unidentified gunmen fired three Rocket-Propelled grenades (RPG) on a delegation of foreign journalists in Syria’s central Homs province, killing eight people including a French journalist and injuring dozens of others, Syria ‘s private Sham FM radio and Ekhbaria TV reported.
There was no immediate confirmation that all eight people were journalists, but Syria’s private media confirmed that a French journalist was among the killed, as another journalist is in critical condition and was hospitalized to nearby hospital in Homs.
PARIS – Le journaliste occidental tué mercredi à Homs, dans le centre de la Syrie, est Gilles Jacquier, grand reporter à France 2 et prix Albert-Londres en 2003, a indiqué la chaîne à l’AFP à Paris.
January 11th, 2012, 10:45 am
jna said:
241. Juergensaid: …nice piece of propadanda, but where are the photos of him and Asmaa
Watch video to see Asma and kids (doesn’t look like England).
January 11th, 2012, 10:49 am
Mina said:
The journalist killed and those wounded were covering the start of a “staged” pro-regime demo, according to the Guardian’s Ian Black (see on the Live Guardian blog).
January 11th, 2012, 10:51 am
Juergen said:
Irritated
Well i happen to have met Assad during a dinner he made for Chavez 2 years ago, and seriously he wasnt much afraid then, he was driving in his car and if i wanted to i could have run and kiss his hand as others did.
Please dont compare his behaviour with the democratic elected heads of state of europe. We do not have such a paranoia about getting killed, thats may be because the actions of so many elected does not revoke such behaviour.
I leave it to you to think that such an speech we saw today is an act of bravery. If he can not be safe among his mnbaks, where can he be safe?
Too bad Asmaa is still in the country, i wonder if the EU has her on a travel ban, i suppose not.
January 11th, 2012, 10:51 am
Mina said:
The new Ben Laden is from Nigeria. Not sure he’ll become as famous as the other.
Qardawi was not available for comment.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16510929
January 11th, 2012, 10:55 am
Mina said:
Jürgen,
Who is going to buy your dream version of Europe? As a guy who meet the powerfuls in this world (you entertained us also about your trips to Saudi Arabia once), you certainly have nothing negative to say. A failed diplomat or a failed academic?
Check any article on Sarkozy’s visits: praetorian guard and only selected UMP (his party) supporters or no-union-guys when he visits factories or provincial towns…
January 11th, 2012, 10:58 am
jad said:
مسلحون يستهدفون وفداً إعلامياً أوروبياً بحمص الأمر الذي أودى بحياة صحفي بلجيكي و8 مدنيين
قالت مراسلة شوكوماكو في حمص أن مجموعة إرهابية مسلحة استهدفت وفد إعلامي أجنبي كان يزور مجمع صحارى في حمص.
وفي التفاصيل وأثناء خروج الوفد الإعلامي من المجمع أطلقت مجموعة إرهابية مسلحة قذائف آر بي جي وهاون على الوفد الأمر الذي أودى بحياة صحفي بلجيكي و8 مدنيين كانوا بجوار الوفد، إضافة إلى إصابة صحفي بريطاني نقل على الفور إلى العناية المشددة.
وكان الوفد الإعلامي الأوروبي قد زار اليوم الأربعاء المشفى العسكري في حمص حيث تجول في معظم أقسامه واجتمع مع مدير المشفى والتقى عدداً من الجرحى وذويهم، كما وجال في قسم الإسعاف للمشفى، وأشارت مراسلتنا أن الوفد وأثناء وجوده في قسم الإسعاف وصل شرطي مصاب بطلق ناري جراء استهدافه من قبل المسلحين.
كما وزار الوفد المشفى الأهلي وجال في أقسامه اطلع على الأضرار جراء استهدافه من قبل العصابات الإرهابية المسلحة.
http://www.shukumaku.com/Content.php?id=39716
————————————————–
Bombardements en Syrie: un journaliste français tué, un Belge peut-être blessé
En voyage autorisé par le régime syrien, un groupe de journalistes a été bombardé. Gilles Jacquier, grand reporter à France 2, serait mort. Selon plusieurs médias, un Belge aurait également été blessé.
L’obus tombé à Homs en Syrie sur un groupe de journalistes aurait tué un journaliste français, Gilles Jacquier. Agé de 43 ans, ce grand reporter de France 2 a couvert la plupart des conflits des 20 dernières années. Il y aurait également plusieurs blessés, dont peut-être un Belge, selon plusieurs médias. Contacté par Bel RTL, le ministère belge des Affaires étrangères a affirmé qu’aucun Belge n’est en tout cas décédé dans l’attaque. Le groupe de journalistes se trouvait à Homs dans le cadre d’un voyage autorisé par le régime syrien qui limite les déplacements des médias étrangers en Syrie. Le ministère de l’information syrien a indiqué qu’il était au courant d’un incident impliquant des journalistes étrangers à Homs, mais qu’il n’avait pas d’autres détails.
“Un véritable chaos”
Selon l’agence Belga, la chaîne flamande VRT a décidé de rapatrier ses deux équipes présentes sur place le plus rapidement possible. “C’était un véritable chaos”, a témoigné le journaliste de la chaîne publique Jens Franssen sur les ondes de Radio 1.
Foyer de l’insurrection
Homs est un des foyers de l’insurrection contre le régime du président syrien Bachar al-Assad qui a débuté il y a dix mois et a fait, selon une estimation de l’ONU, plus de 5.000 morts.
Selon l’Observatoire syrien des droits de l’Homme (OSDH), “des obus sont tombés entre les quartiers de Akrama et Al-Nouzha où se trouvait un groupe de journalistes. Un journaliste occidental a été tué ainsi que six Syriens. Il y a eu des blessés”. L’OSDH a demandé l’ouverture d’une enquête indiquant qu’il ignorait l’origine de ces tirs, alors que les militants dans la ville ont accusé les autorités.
http://www.rtl.be/info/monde/international/849446/syrie-un-journaliste-belge-aurait-ete-tue-dans-les-bombardements-a-homs
January 11th, 2012, 10:59 am
Juergen said:
Mina
failed diplomate or failed academic, you made my day today Mina…
I get airline deducted staff tickets, so i can travel may be more than others, and its my goal to have seen every arabian country before i say farewell to this world.
January 11th, 2012, 11:08 am
Uzair8 said:
‘Freedom convoy’ to try to cross Syria border
Wednesday, 11 January 2012
Hundreds of Syrian and international activists will try to cross into Syria from Turkey and Jordan on Thursday in a bid to take humanitarian aid to the Syrian people, various sources said.
“Our aim is … to deliver humanitarian aid to the families in the afflicted areas that suffer from daily brutal bombing and totally unacceptable living conditions,” said a statement posted on the website of the group called “Freedom Convoy.”
The group composed of around 1,500 “independent young Syrians” accompanied by peace activists from all over the world intends to cross the border Thursday from Gaziantep in the southeast Turkey and from Ramtha, Jordan.
If Syrian authorities refuse to let them cross, activists say they will stage a three-day sit-in protest on both sides of the border, with the participation of Syrian artists.
Read more:
http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/11/187694.html
[Maybe they should get George Galloway involved if possible along with Viva Palestina.]
January 11th, 2012, 11:09 am
irritated said:
Juergen
It is obvious that you were taken off guard when you saw that Asma and the two kids were present and mixed with the crowd without much security. You tried to come up with plausible explanations and diversions to dispell your annoyance.
No, there is no ban about her travel, and you knew it.
When is the last time we saw a European democratic leader with his children at a popular gathering?
January 11th, 2012, 11:11 am
irritated said:
Juergen
“I get airline deducted staff tickets”
Spies too
January 11th, 2012, 11:15 am
Juergen said:
Anyone has a clue how the regime will respond with the killing of an foreign journalist, my guess would be that they either tighten the security among them or will throw out the remaining free press for their own safety though…
Mina
come on, Sarko could do well with the arab despotits, and dont forget to mention Berlosconis best buddy was ghadaffi. I dont think both play in the same league when we talk about Cameron, Merkel or Rajoy. The difference is surely that we can get rid of those through elections a choice many dont have.
January 11th, 2012, 11:16 am
Mina said:
How cool, you should give me the address where you get free miles PLUS easy visas. Every tourist gets an invitation for dinners with Chavez and Asad!
Your ego fails you.
Again, if 51 percent of Syrians are conservative and scared of being the new Iraq, it is not for a 5 percent of Syrian expats to decide.
January 11th, 2012, 11:18 am
Revlon said:
Hama 1982 massacre: The tragedy of modern times
A 58 minutes documentary recorded in 1984 and uploaded on the internet for the first time.
وثائقي عن مجزرة حماه 1982 سجل عام 1984 يعرض لأول مرة
It includes
– An introduction to the city
– Scenes of massive residential destruction
– Eye witness accounts of two surviving kids of scenes of bodies in the streets.
– Eyewitness account of mass executions.
– The Long Market, the business hub of the city, and a historic 1500 long historic bazaar was systematically looted by Assad forces and then burnt to the ground.
– The Gold market was systematically looted by Assad Special Forces, and burned to the ground.
– Scores of historic mosques, partly destroyed by shelling, were later bombed after looting their carpets.
– The two churches in Mdeeneh district were bombed and brought to the ground after looting all of their furniture. One of them took 15 years to build and was about to be officially opened for prayers.
– Al3azm Palace was destroyed after being looted.
– AlKailaniya historic quarter (Registered with UNESCO) was destroyed completely.
Some questions to ponder:
Did it matter what the victims or the perpetrators DNA Haplogroups were?
Would those victims have celebrated their torture, hunger, and execution had they known that their murderers shared with them Haplogroup-U
Would it make their ‘surviving family members, neighbours or friends feel any better to know that they share the same DNA Haplogroups?
Justice is coming.
It shall be based on criminal evidence!
Perpetrators shall be hunted down no matter where they may be, or how long it may take.
Perpetrators shall be brought to civil justice, irrespective of their DNA Haplogroups.
January 11th, 2012, 11:21 am
irritated said:
271. Uzair8
‘Freedom convoy’ to try to cross Syria border
In case they can’t cross, they could use the idle and celebrated MAVI turkish flotilla?
January 11th, 2012, 11:22 am
Juergen said:
irritated
wise heads of state leave their family matters private, regimes love to show their loved ones. fe. we germans just know by chance that Merkels husband is an professor for physics. But its an improvement for Bashar, his mother fe, was unknown to 90% of the syrians, no picture no public appearances.
Being a spy? With my background sorry, i would fail their security tests for sure.
Sorry no i did not know for certain there is no ban on her travel, i supposed their might be no such thing. Unfortunately we have in Europe quite an tendency to be mediochre when it comes to dictators. I am afraid that they even would let the whole Assadclan live in England, but that would be fun to see this Rifaat finally getting his family reunion. What a shame!
January 11th, 2012, 11:24 am
irritated said:
Mina
“a 5 percent of Syrian expats to decide.”
and even less from an European ‘frequent flyer’ coming from a country responsible of the death of millions of innocents!
January 11th, 2012, 11:24 am
irritated said:
Juergen
“wise heads of state leave their family matters private”
Oh yes, Obama is dumb showing his family, or is he a in-the-closet dictator?
Spies act so innocent that that they always fail security tests, this is why they are hired.
“mediochre when it comes to dictators”
Only when it comes to dictators?
January 11th, 2012, 11:29 am
Juergen said:
Mina
Mina
just work for an travel agency or for an airline
I was not invited to the dinner, this Bashar boy has a good taste in restaurants, he happens to like two restaurants which i always visit when i am in Damascus. It was funny i was with an jewish friend that evening, and we enter the place and they told us that we can not have the table downstairs, this time i would have to eat upstairs. In a joke i told her you better have a good reason for doing so, the president may be and she smiled and said yes he is coming. I was suprised though that we were still allowed to eat there, and just minutes before he came there were security of him and Chavez. Chavez came a bit late and i was joking with my friend, i told him wait a moment Ahmedinejahd will come too just to please you. Needless to say, Assad came after us, but was served first…
January 11th, 2012, 11:30 am
Revlon said:
Jr, the eye doctor has many supporters in the field.
Dr Amira Stephano, a family physician and director of the Nursing school of Aleppo turned out to be a snitch.
She contacted security forces to arrest activists while taking their examination at the school.
10/01/2012
Syrian Revolution Intelligence System جهاز إستخبارات الثورة السورية
#Aleppo #Syria Anti.Aleppo.Mercenaries ضد مرتزقة حلب
شبيحة خطيرة
الدكتورة أميرة ستيفانو
اختصاص طب الأسرة
مديرة مدرسة التمريض في حلب
أخبرت عن طلاب المدينة الجامعية وساعدت في عملية اعتقالهم أثناء تقديمهم الامتحانات
January 11th, 2012, 11:37 am
Juergen said:
Irritated
In the USA family values are important in elections, so an single atheist president wont make it to the white house i suppose.
When Sarko is showing off with his wife i will just say watch out for short men…
January 11th, 2012, 11:38 am
zoo said:
Anwar Malek, the Algerian intellectual who withdrew form the Al observers mission after qualifying it to Al Jazeera as a ‘farce’ in an interview with Ben Jeddo:
The Arabs are backward and hopeless.
January 11th, 2012, 11:47 am
Juergen said:
Revlon
I would suggest youll find the worst kind of Assadis in the school services.
this one for example reminds me a lot of my principal when i was in school:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15102862
(watch her from 1:49 m on)
Can you give us again the link for the hama video, i think the link is wrong which you added.
January 11th, 2012, 11:49 am
irritated said:
Juergen
“In the USA family values are important in elections”
In many Middle East moslem countries too. I guess the king of saudi Arabia would avoid showing his family for good reasons.
January 11th, 2012, 11:51 am
jad said:
Mina,
Every German citizen knows what is the job of Angela Merkel’s husband.
The Germans are busy with their own president’s problem now..funny enough, many are asking him to resign and he refused and went on TV to apology yet he managed to LIE even more 🙂 so in the German media the big question asked is: are asking Hat Wulff die Qualitäten eines Bundespräsidenten??
January 11th, 2012, 11:54 am
jad said:
Another message to kill someone by name is announced on SC..keep the good work makeup dude.
January 11th, 2012, 11:57 am
Juergen said:
Zoo
whats wrong with his assumptions? Do you know how many books are printed in all arab countries in a year? As much as in Spain.
I guess the bearer of the truth needs to be hanged.
January 11th, 2012, 11:58 am
Tara said:
When some Arabs kneel to kiss the dictator’s picture and put out a Facebook page to worship his toes, they are indeed backward and hopeless, and I add deserve nothing but contempt. Don’t you think?
January 11th, 2012, 11:58 am
Son of Damascus said:
Irritated,
Um what elections are there in Saudi for the King to show off his family?
I am not defending the royals but don’t understand your statement, it makes no sense. I guess your Irritated bowel Syndrome is getting to your brain cause you are just spewing crap these days.
January 11th, 2012, 11:59 am
Juergen said:
Jad
no i dont agree with you when you say every german knows what the job is of Angela Merkels husband, most wont even know the name of our president if asked.
Anyway good to know that morality is still an concern, and this wont be the end of the world if we get an new president. I admire Israel that they sent Katzav to prison, that would never happen in my country though.
January 11th, 2012, 12:02 pm
jad said:
Jurgen
“no i dont agree with you when you say ”
I agree to disagree.
“I admire Israel that they sent Katzav to prison, that would never happen in my country though.”
Finally, the admiration!
However, I do understand that you can’t say otherwise especially for a German commenting on Israel.
January 11th, 2012, 12:04 pm
zoo said:
Juergen
These are not assumptions, they reflect the colonized inferiority complex. Many North African suffer of it. I guess they miss ‘french culture”
Didn’t you wonder why you prefer to visit so frequently the Arab world that produces nothing ‘cultural’ and befriend with “uncultured” arabs instead of other countries who produce a lot of books?
January 11th, 2012, 12:06 pm
jad said:
Zoo,
I guess you missed the story I linked about Anwar Malek:
جزائريون يكشفون حقيقة أنور مالك عضو “الجماعة الإسلامية المسلحة” وفريق المراقبين العرب في سوريا
اسمه الحقيقي ” نوار عبد الملك “، وهو ضابط مطرود من الجيش الجزائري بسبب السرقة ، انتحل صفة”دكتور” وهو عضو في جماعة عنتر الزوابري التي كانت تذبح الأطفال بالسواطير!؟
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6396/Default.aspx
January 11th, 2012, 12:07 pm
aldendeshe said:
@275. Revlon said:
Was not Khaddam on top of the regime when that attrocity happend? What did they Sunni Arabs do then? anything close to what they are doing now going to the SC. And why if this massacre of importance to MB they would go on and join in Khaddam NSF? the word MUNAFIKIN comes to mind dude.
January 11th, 2012, 12:09 pm
Mina said:
When Revlon calls for murder, as in #281, no one here except Jad has a problem with it? What a great “resistance” movement.
If the journalists were moving freely in Syria they would be butchered. And what of foreign journalists being allowed in Saudi Arabia to report on beheadings and the “trials” that lead to them?
Well put Dendeshe! Try to explain that to Ian Black before he gets us a Khaddam interview from Paris.
January 11th, 2012, 12:10 pm
irritated said:
Juergen
“I admire Israel that they sent Katzav to prison”
There are many in the IDF who deserve prison, but in Israel, sexual misconduct with an Israeli woman is much more reprehensible than killing thousands of palestinians.
There is nothing to admire in their fake justice that just covers up their crimes with the veil of “democracy” ans ‘women rights’
January 11th, 2012, 12:11 pm
ann said:
Russia calls for “utmost restraint” in Iran standoff – January 11, 2012
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=351349
Russia on Wednesday said a military attack on Iran would be a “grave mistake” that will reverberate across the world, calling for utmost restraint in the West’s escalating tensions with Tehran.
“A military operation against Iran would be a most grave mistake, a very crude miscalculation.
“The consequences of such a hypothetical development of events would be most far-reaching for regional and global security,” Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state ITAR-Tass news agency.
“There cannot, by definition, be a military solution of the task to revive trust in the peaceful nature of the Iranian nuclear program,” Ryabkov was quoted as saying.
“We believe it is categorically unacceptable and call on our partners in the six-party talks, all those who have in recent days begun actively discussing this topic to come to their senses and demonstrate utmost restraint.”
Nuclear negotiations between Iran and six world powers – the United States, Britain, France, Russia, China and Germany – collapsed a year ago.
Russia, which has relatively close ties with Iran and built its first nuclear power station in the southern city of Bushehr, spoke out amid escalating tensions between Iran and the West over Tehran’s nuclear program.
The European Union has announced plans to join the United States in ramping up sanctions on Iran, and threats and counter-threats are being increasingly backed with displays of military muscle.
Russia earlier this week voiced concern at the announcement Iran had begun uranium enrichment at a new nuclear plant but Ryabkov condemned sanctions and called for the resumption of talks.
“We believe that preconditions to continue the talks are ripe, and this chance cannot be missed now,” he was quoted as saying.
January 11th, 2012, 12:14 pm
zoo said:
#295 Jad
Thanks Jad,
Al Jazeera knows how to pick its stars…
January 11th, 2012, 12:14 pm
jad said:
The history is repeating itself with the exact same players!
إعترافات الإخوان بجرائمهم في الثمانينيات 2010
http://youtu.be/S-GH4MXkM58
“جماعة الإخوان المسلمين ، ذلك التنظيم المسلح الإرهابي والذي أرهب الناس والعباد والبلاد ، خرج زعيمهم المنتمي لذلك التنظيم المسلح ومراقبهم العام ” رياض الشقفة ” في مقابلة مع البي بي سي عام 2010 ليعترف بجرائمه وجرائم الجناح الإرهابي التابع له والمسمى ” الطليعة المقاتلة التابعة لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين ” وأبرزها ” تفخيخ الباصات والسيارات ، حادثت الأزبكية والمدفعية الدمويتين ، واغتيالات في صفوف الأساتذة والضباط ، ولزيادة في المعلومة فإن الجناح المسلح المسمى ” الطليعة ” هو نتاج فكر الأرهابي الإخواني ” مروان حديد ” الذي افتخر ويفتخر أتباعه بمقتل عشرات الجنود وتصفية الناس حسب انتمائاتهم الدينية في تلك الفترة قبل أن يعتقله النظام ويقدمه للمحاكمة ، ” الطليعة المقاتلة ” برئاسة حديد الأرهابي الذي يعتبره الإخوان أهم رموزهم ، يتلبك الأخوان ويتحيرون عندما يرد ذكرهم ، فلا يستطيعون نفي انتمائهم عنهم ، ولا يجرئون على الاعتراف بهم ، إلا ان الشيء الوحيد هو أن كلا الفئتين تنتميان إلى نتاج الفكر الإرهابي الداعي الى العنف والطائفية وعدم الإعتراف بأي أحد إلا اذا كان ينضوي تحت زعامتهم ، الاف المدنيين والعسكريين في حلب ودمشق وحماة واللاذقية وإدلب سقطوا نتيجة تطرفهم وإرهابهم وعنفهم وفتنتهم حتى استطاعت القيادة السورية ان تقضي عليهم وتنفي من بقي منهم خارج سوريا ، وها هم اليوم يعودون بنفس الأسلوب ” التفجيراتي ” ليقتلوا بعنفهم وإرهابهم وفتنتهم أكثر من 2250 عسكري وجندي ورجل أمن ، والالاف ممن يخالفوهم ويعارضوهم ويرفضون وجودهم في ريف دمشق وإدلب وحماة وحمص ، طبعا عدا الفتنة الطائفية وتكفير الآخر والدعوة إلى ذبحه وإبادته ومحوه من الوجود”
January 11th, 2012, 12:16 pm
irritated said:
#290 SOD
“what elections are there in Saudi for the King to show off his family?”
Obviously, you thick mind is unable to grasp the irony.
You want a drawing?
January 11th, 2012, 12:19 pm
jad said:
Zoo,
Isn’t it strange that until today and after 10 months of the tragedy, they couldn’t get ONE respected person on any TV channels to defect or tell one honest and sincere story without the need for the extra accessories of lies that comes with every person goes on Alarabiya and Aljazeera?
I mean we all know how how brutal and corrupted our regime is yet NOT A SINGLE RESPECTED PERSON TO BE HEARD, they only show the worst liars as the only SHOWCASE. Very strange.
Check this out..no laughing please:
إضحك مع العربية..وتحليل غليوني بإمتياز.. 2.1.2012
http://youtu.be/nmg160R0DG4
Irritated, SOD,
I never ever saw the Saudi king family..never, any of you did? Who are the first four ladies of KSA? Even the first ‘Banana’ of Qatar is not the first lady and I never saw them as a family with the kids and the maids and the salves out.
January 11th, 2012, 12:22 pm
Juergen said:
Zoo
as much as i am against colonalism and surely there are many who who have complexes about being less cultivated. I dont mean that reading books or publishing them does mean you are civilized.
I will give you an example. I have an kuwaity friend who visited Germany for 4 weeks. I met him the last two days of his visit. I asked him if he had visited the famous Cologne dome. He asked me why should i go to a church? I was quite shocked to hear that from an university educated guy.
Whenever i was travelling in Syria especially in the summer i happen to meet gulf arabs alot in Damascus, Latakia and Aleppo. I did not see any gulf arab in Qualaat Samman or Hosn Akrad,Palmyra. The only place i saw them was in Bosra in the old roman theatre, you can guess why. May be for many this is a european approach to visit museums or historic places during holidays. In the US they made an test for every school student, where they asked what is an elevator. Surely native american students may not know what an elevator is, but does that make them stupid or less intelligent. Nobody suggests that Arabs are less intelligent or cultivated. But there is an ignorance which is part of the games regimes play in the region. I dont know of any syrian writer of prestige whom is read outside of Syria. The ones who are famous Adonis and Rafiq Schami are kept silent ghosts to ordinary syrians, alot will never have heard from them.
January 11th, 2012, 12:26 pm
Mina said:
How things go in the Middle East: media and politics
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/bin-talal-coup-what-remains-lbc
Jad
They must be afraid one of the wives takes a chance to shout to the TV reporter that her husband is gay!
January 11th, 2012, 12:29 pm
zoo said:
Jad #303
As Scarlett Haddad explained it in the post #214 ,
“Sources of March 14 in fact believe that the Syrian regime is about to collapse and they announce the “good news” for the next few weeks, assuring that efforts are made now to push the people close to Bashar Assad to defect.The idea is to isolate the Syrian president by depriving him of his support within the regime. But for this it is necessary to find a significant personality ready to join the opposition”
It may or may not happen. Until now, the 2 low level defectors, after a lot of media noise, have disappeared into thin air.
January 11th, 2012, 12:35 pm
jad said:
The first footage of the criminal coward attack against the Syrians and the Journalists in Homs…it’s a disgusting TERRORIST attack with no goal but to kill innocent people.
دون مونتاج- مشاهد من الجريمة النكراء بحمص
http://youtu.be/q0hRhhyiM_4
January 11th, 2012, 12:37 pm
Revlon said:
284. Dear Juergen:
((Revlon, Can you give us again the link for the hama video, i think the link is wrong which you adde))
Thank you for alerting me to the problem and your link.
Here is the correct link to Hama massacre documentary:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=JFxDn0ZHFqA
Cheers
January 11th, 2012, 12:38 pm
ann said:
AL asks Algeria to send more monitors to Syria – 2012-01-11
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/11/c_131353275.htm
ALGIERS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) — Abdelkader Hadjar, Algeria’s Ambassador to Egypt and permanent representative of Algeria in the Arab League (AL), said Tuesday the AL ministerial committee in charge of following up the Syrian issue requested Algeria to send more observers to Syria.
The local El Khabar newspaper quoted Hadjar as saying that the AL request of adding another 10 Algerian observers to Syria has been referred to Algeria’s foreign ministry.
The ministry has previously sent 10 monitors, including officials, military officials and journalists, to Syria as part of the Arab observer convoy.
“Algeria is committed to the AL roadmap as a unique solution to the crisis in Syria,” Algerian Minister for Maghreb and African Affairs Abdelkader Messahel said Sunday in Cairo during a meeting of the AL ministerial committee on Syria.
“The Arab monitors are qualified enough to do the mission,” he said, urging all the Syrians, Arab and international parties to implement the AL peace roadmap.
January 11th, 2012, 12:39 pm
jna said:
French journalist killed at pro-regime rally in Syria
Published Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Nine people were killed, including French journalist Gilles Jacquier, when shells struck a pro-regime rally in the Syrian city of Homs on Wednesday.
French television network France 2 confirmed their journalist Jacquier had died covering the rally, while Belgian journalist Steven Visner from Belgian radio was also seriously wounded.
“Another journalist from Belgium is in a very bad situation,” Mazen Darwish, director of the Syrian Center for Media and Freedom of Speech, told Al-Akhbar.
Jacquier is the first foreign journalist to have been killed in Syria since the uprising began last March.
Darwish, citing local sources, said RPGs were fired on the protest in the Akramah neighborhood by unknown armed men.
The journalists were in Syria legally after receiving permission from the Ministry of Information, Darwish said.
“Last week the Ministry of Information allowed 135 journalists to enter Syria, some of them got permission for a few days. These two journalists were among them,” he said.
Darwish expressed concern that the attack will deter journalists from trying to reach Syria to cover the crisis.
“We’ve been fighting a long time for independent journalists to come to Syria. I will be sorry if journalists stop coming to Syria and getting coverage from inside Syria,” he said.
Foreign journalists have been unable to freely cover the crisis in Syria, with few exceptions granted to those willing to be escorted by the regime.
In explaining his ban on foreign media coverage in Syria, President Bashar Assad said the media lacked legitimacy.
“We chose to keep the media out because they lack legitimacy to report [on the crisis] from outside, let alone inside the country,” he said in a Tuesday speech.
Saleem Kabbani, a member of the opposition Local Coordination Committees (LCC) reportedly in Homs, said told Al-Akhbar he was not aware of the attack.
“Protest with the regime? I don’t know anything about it,” he said.
But the LCC member insisted on blaming the regime for the attack, stating that Assad is “killing people loyal to him in order to create internal and sectarian strife.”
The attack was an attempt to “scare off pro-regime loyalists who have not joined the revolution yet,” Kabbani said.
When asked for further details, Kabbani said he would not be able to get information from pro-regime neighborhoods as he “would get slaughtered.”
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/french-journalist-killed-pro-regime-rally-syria
January 11th, 2012, 12:43 pm
Mina said:
Thanks a lot Jad for the link, I had missed it too. I paste it here because it is really important. Obviously he didn’t belong to the Algerian team of observers, so he was even put into the team by France or by Qatar.
جزائريون يكشفون حقيقة أنور مالك عضو “الجماعة الإسلامية المسلحة” وفريق المراقبين العرب في سوريا
08 كانون الثاني 2012 07:01 عدد القراءات 4076
27
اسمه الحقيقي ” نوار عبد الملك “، وهو ضابط مطرود من الجيش الجزائري بسبب السرقة ، انتحل صفة”دكتور” وهو عضو في جماعة عنتر الزوابري التي كانت تذبح الأطفال بالسواطير!؟
باريس ، الحقيقة ( خاص) : لفت انتباهنا الصحفي السوري نزار نيوف إلى ضرورة العودة إلى أرشيف عضو فريق المراقبين العرب في سوريا ، المدعو أنور مالك ، والكشف عن حقيقته . وقد أحال لنا ـ مشكورا ـ عددا من المواد التي سبق ونبهه إليها صديقه الصحفي الجزائري عبد العالي رقاد من ” قناة فرانس 24″. وطبقا لما يستفاد من هذه المعلومات ، وهي منشورة منذ أكثر من عام تقريبا ، فإن أنور مالك ليس اسمه الحقيقي ، بل ” نوار عبد الملك”( وهو من مواليد العام 1972). كما أن فضائحه وقصصه الاحتيالية معروفة في الجزائر منذ أن أثيرت قبل أكثر من عام ونصف في الصحافة والإعلام الجزائريين. فهو ـ كما يوصف في هذه المواد ـ “نصاب ومحتال” و ضابط مطرود من الجيش بسبب السرقة والخيانة وسوء الأمانة. والأخطر من ذلك أنه “كان يوقّع بيانات الجماعة الإسلامية المسلحة” التي التي كان يقودها المجرم عنتر الزوابري ، والتي كانت نسخة جزائرية من “القاعدة” و تنظيم الزرقاوي في العراق . وقد تمكنت قوات الأمن الجزائرية من قتله في العام 2009 بعد أن أعمل ساطوره في رقاب الجزائريين ذبحا، بمن فيهم الأطفال، منذ أن ترأس الجماعة المذكورة في العام 1996.ويوصف الزوابري بأنه نسخة الجزائر من ” أبو مصعب الزرقاوي” ، إلا أنه أكثر إجراما ودموية ووحشية منه. فقد كان يغير على القرى ويحرقها بعد أن يكفّر أهلها ويقتلهم!
وطبقا لشهادة صحفي جزائري وردت في إحدى المواد التي أحالها لنا نيوف ، وهي شهادة مسجلة بالصوت والصورة كان نشرها قبل أكثر من عام ، فإن أنور مالك كان ينتحل لقب”دكتور” رغم أنه “لا يعرف كتابة جملة مفيدة”، وكان يجري مقابلات مع نفسه وينشرها في الصحافة الجزائرية على أنه “باحث ومحلل ودكتور”! أي ـ بتعبير آخر ـ نسخة جزائرية من المحتال السوري ، الشرطي الملاحق بتهم جنائية، وحيد صقر!؟ وأكدت مصادر صحفية جزائرية مقربة من”جبهة الإنقاذ في الجزائر” لـ”الحقيقة” أن الكتب التي أصدرها أنور مالك ، بدعم من الأخوان المسلمين ، حررها على الأرجح مرجعية الأخوان المسلمين في الجزائر ” أبو جرة السلطاني” المقيم في سويسرا!؟
وكانت قضية أنور مالك أثيرت في سوريا يوم أمس حين أنشأ صفحة على الفيسبوك وبدأ يروي فيه قصصا عن “مشاهداته” في سوريا ، رغم أن مهمته تمنعه من ذلك قانونيا. وقد ادعى أنه “حين يمشي في الشوارع السورية يدوس على الجثث بسبب تراكمها”. ولأنه تعرض للانتقاد ، بادر أصوليون سوريون تابعون للمجلس الوطني والأخوان المسلمين إلى إنشاء صفحة “تضامن ” معه!
وإلى ذلك ، علمت “الحقيقة” أن أنور مالك هو من معارف وأصدقاء برهان غليون ، ويمت بصلة قرابة لزوجته الجزائرية السابقة ، رغم أن هذا لم نستطع التثبت منه من مصدر مستقل!!؟
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6396/Default.aspx
January 11th, 2012, 12:51 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Only the syrian army has the kind of weapon that was used in Homs, that killed the journalist
January 11th, 2012, 12:52 pm
jad said:
Mina, Zoo,
Did you read Robert Fisk article linked earlier on SC?
I guess he will be declared INSANE for daring to agree on many TABOO the Syrian said from the first day of the tragedy of Syria.
Robert Fisk: Assad faces his people’s hatred – but as their anger grows, his excuses are still just the same
It was the Assad Speech of the Year. There was an international conspiracy against Syria. True. Arab states opposed to Syria were under “outside pressure”. True, up to a point. Nobody could deny the seriousness of these plots. True. After all, the Syrian government itself registers 2,000 dead soldiers, while the UN estimates civilian dead at 5,000. And when Turkish Prime Minister Erdogan warned that the violence in Syria was “heading towards a sectarian, religious war”, there were few supporters of President Assad who would disagree with him.
As for foreign plots, who doubts that weapons are pouring into Syria from Assad’s enemies in Lebanon? Syria’s Defence Minister, Fayez Ghosn, has stated that al-Qa’ida had infiltrated the northern Lebanese town of Arsal – a dodgy claim since the only death there appears to have been caused by Syrian troops. The Lebanese Druze leader, Walid Jumblatt, still nominally an Assad ally, suggested officials should not use such all-encompassing words that mean anything to anyone. True again. Jumblatt said the recent explosions in Damascus that killed at least 25 Syrians raised “many questions” – because they coincided with the Arab League monitors’ visit.
So far, then, so good. Assad also promised a referendum on the constitution around March and elections mid-year. The problem, of course, is two-fold. Although President Assad was giving his first public address in six months, it contained little new. The foreign plotters, the Arab states under foreign pressure, the threat to hit the regime’s armed enemies with “an iron fist”, are statements that we have all heard before.
What has changed, however, is the extent and speed of the deterioration in Syria, an ever more blood-curdling battle in which Assad’s opponents are ever more heavily armed and readier to assault the regime’s forces. The “Free Syria Army” or the “Free Army” is steadily growing in size, although it will not be taken seriously by its armourers unless whole Syrian military units defect.
Assad’s government, however, has still found itself unable to deal with the news side of the crisis. By allowing few international journalists to enter the country, officials have allowed the stunning YouTube images of the opposition to lead public opinion. When Al Jazeera can broadcast a Muslim imam in a crowded mosque shouting “Assad’s soldiers – God curse them – say Assad is their God; if that doesn’t make you angry, what will?” and then give specific details of protesters’ demonstration tactics in a suburb of Damascus, the Syrian Ministry of Information has a real problem.
The President can say – as he did yesterday – that “according to the law, nobody should open fire – only in self-defence or in a battle with an armed person”, but dozens of YouTube phone videos on Al Jazeera suggest that such laws are widely ignored by the regime.
Of course, Al Jazeera is funded by the Emir of Qatar, and the Qatari royal family’s influence has now reached its zenith in the Arab League – which has threatened to allow the whole bloody business to go to the UN Security Council. It’s not difficult to see how – from a sparse Baathist drawing room – this looks more like conspiracy than coincidence. The League has been boasting of its sense of resolution, while Assad believes it was his idea to bring the League’s monitors to Syria. And that’s exactly what he told us all yesterday. The Kuwaitis, meanwhile, said that two of their League military monitors in Syria had been slightly wounded by “unidentified protesters”. It would be interesting to know whom the protesters were protesting against.
http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/fisk/robert-fisk-assad-faces-his-peoples-hatred–but-as-their-anger-grows-his-excuses-are-still-just-the-same-6287792.html
January 11th, 2012, 12:53 pm
ann said:
Cyprus allow Russian ammunition ship to go – 2012-01-11
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/11/c_131355330.htm
NICOSIA, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — The Cyprus authorities on Wednesday allowed a Russian-owned ship reportedly carrying a “dangerous cargo” of military munitions to Syria to leave after it changed its destination.
“We decided to release the vessel after the ship changed its destination and will not go to Syria,” said government spokesman Stefanos Stefanou.
But he did not specify the new destination of the vessel.
A foreign ministry statement said the Saint Vincent and Grenadines-flagged M/V “Chariot” was forced to anchor off the southern Cypriot port of Limassol on Tuesday afternoon for refueling due to rough seas.
The Cypriot authorities originally prohibited refueling of the ship after customs found it carried a hazardous cargo.
However, the ship was given permit to sail after it had been confirmed that EU regulations and European Council decisions on Syria were not violated.
“We has decided that it was in the public interest to allow the ship to leave”, said Finance Minister Kikis Kazamias, who is in charge of the Customs Department. He did not make clear what the public interest involved here was.
About 500 tons of confiscated explosives exploded near the country’s biggest and newest power station last July, killing 13 people, triggering a government crisis and deepening the country’s financial problems.
January 11th, 2012, 12:58 pm
Revlon said:
295. Dear aldendeshe:
((@275. Revlon said:
Was not Khaddam on top of the regime when that attrocity happend?))
No he was not! He was the foreign minister.
You should know better what a minister is worth in Assad Syria.
((What did they Sunni Arabs do then? anything close to what they are doing now going to the SC. ))
Neither Arabs nor others did anything then! They pretended they saw and heared nothing.
Youtube and Facebook has made the difference between then and now. The world feels compelled to react; nevermind how or whether they want to!
((And why if this massacre of importance to MB they would go on and join in Khaddam NSF?))
This massacre is important to every human being who believes in the sanctity of human life, irresepctive of race, citizenship, or ideology!
Hama was bombed and shelled indiscrimanately.
Homes were destroyed over their inhabitants heads; men, women and children.
The murderers did not arrest people or interrogated them to know their political inclinations; they just executed them.
What do children, women or old people have to do with politics.
What happend then was like what is happening now; sectarian cleansing, Alawi commanded forces annihalating Sunni populace from the aged to the todler, destroying their historic neibourhoods and looting their hard earned living.
January 11th, 2012, 1:01 pm
Mina said:
Jad, yes I read Fisk’s article, did you notice that just as in the LA Times, they use pro-regime demos as illustrations!
January 11th, 2012, 1:05 pm
defender said:
IAEA leaked secret info to Iran enemy’
News 11.01.2012
A senior lawmaker says assassination of Iranian scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan proves that the confidential information provided to international bodies by Iran has been leaked to the country’s enemies.
“The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) must be trusted by nations because nations and governments give their documents to the agency,” said speaker of the Majlis (parliament) National Security and Foreign Policy Committee Kazem Jalali on Wednesday.
“How the enemies of [the Islamic] establishment have obtained the names and information of our country’s elite is a question we would like to know the answer to,” he added.
Jalali stressed that the IAEA, international community and the UN nuclear agency’s member states using their membership against the Islamic Republic must be held accountable for their actions.
The lawmaker said the resemblance of the Wednesday assassination and other Zionist-American killings indicate that the “principle of assassination has been institutionalized in the American system and Zionist regime.”
“Assassinations like what happened in Tehran this morning lack operational value as such assassinations are called blind [acts of terror] which prove the maximum frustration of the enemies because they have not been able to weaken the [Iranian] nation’s resolve and therefore resort to any shameful measure,” Jalali said.
Ahmadi Roshan was a Sharif University of Technology chemical engineering graduate and served as the deputy director of marketing at Iran’s Natanz nuclear facility.
On Wednesday morning, an unknown motorcyclist attached a sticky bomb to Ahmadi Roshan’s car near Allameh Tabatabaei University in Tehran.
Ahmadi Roshan was immediately killed as the result of explosion, and his driver, who had sustained injures, passed away a few hours later in hospital.
The latest terrorist attack comes as Iran has reached an agreement with the P5+1 — Britain, China, France, Russia, and the United States plus Germany – to hold negotiations in Turkey.
The US, Israel and their allies accuse Iran of pursuing a military nuclear program and have used this allegation as a pretext to sway the UNSC to impose four rounds of sanctions on Iran.
Based on these accusations, they have also repeatedly threatened Tehran with the “option” of a military strike.
This is while in November 2011, some of the US presidential hopefuls called for conducting covert operations ranging from assassinating Iranian nuclear scientists to launching a military strike on Iran as well as sabotaging Tehran’s nuclear program.
The calls for assassinations are not idle threats as a number of Iranian scientists have been assassinated over the past few years. Professor Majid Shahriari and Professor Masoud Ali-Mohammadi are among the victims of these acts of terror.
On November 29, 2010, Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi were targeted by terrorist attacks; Shahriari was killed immediately and Dr. Abbasi, the current director of Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization, only sustained injuries.
Iran says as the UN Resolution 1747, adopted against Tehran in March 2007, cited Abbasi’s name as a “nuclear scientist,” the perpetrators were in a position to trace their victim.
According to reports, Ahmadi Roshan had recently met International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors, a fact which indicates that the IAEA has leaked information about Iran’s nuclear facilities and scientists.
PressTV
January 11th, 2012, 1:08 pm
jad said:
‘Alqaeda’ message in Syria:
تنظيم القاعدة في سورية- كتيبة الفرقان
http://youtu.be/ZmBKdHQxuAo
“تنظيم القاعدة في سورية ,كتيبة الفرقان بقيادة ابو اسامة الشامي وموجود على الحدود السورية التركية والحدود السورية اللبنانية
كتيبة الفرقان التابعة لتظيم القاعدة تتعهد بالقتال في سورية بالاضافة الى حزب التحرير الاسلامي”
January 11th, 2012, 1:14 pm
aldendeshe said:
@REVLON
“..You should know better what a minister is worth in Assad Syria…”
Worth nothing, but did he resign or helped the regime further for decades and became VP, then helped them again by handing it over?
And why MB joined his worthless front? SNP was already on the net and SC and they choose NSF because teh Saudis and Americans told them so, not only proven to be a tool of “Munafekeen” but puppets as well. Syrians are now stuck between Saudi/American murdurous Puppets and Mukhabrat/Iranian Shia genocidal puppet, neither have any leadership quality, Syria, in fact the whole Middle East, needs a visionary leadership that care about Syria, the homeland and the nation as well as the Levant, our fertile Crescent we all call home. Syrians are tired of being ruled by puppets and mercenaries, we need INDEPENDENCE, FREEDOM and DEMOCRACY, PEACE… Puppeteers are out.
January 11th, 2012, 1:18 pm
jad said:
Mina,
They did that many times in the newspaper, before they used to call them Anti-regime demonstrations, now they are simply using the pictures to give the impression of big Anti-regime gathering since nothing that big is going on anymore.
There is a heart breaking clip of the massacre that happened in Homs today online. It’s graphic and very emotional I wont link it, but it seems that Homs is already in a civil war where people are killed according to their sect.
All the world now know that they can’t hide the armed militia crimes anymore even Alain Jupee didn’t try to accuse the Syrian regime of the criminal attack in Homs.
It became too obvious now that the terrorist that Turkey, Qatar, Franc and Britain support, finance and armed are nothing but criminal gangs and they are leading us to full destruction and a full scale civil war, they must be stopped.
January 11th, 2012, 1:24 pm
Observer said:
Is this spontaneous appearence reminiscent of someone that used to appear in his famous square with adoring crowds?
Do I smell rats and germs?
Well, if there is ever increasing armed gangs and strife and now delegates being fired on and journallists killed then there is somewhere clear incompetence.
Can anyone tell of one case of accountability for the incompetence of the security services to protect the people? Did the minister of interior resign? How about the head of the police?
What do people make of the speech? Was the picture that of Asma and her children? Was it staged as it was very brief and with her head covered?
Is there any basis for the rumor that she left and asked for divorce?
January 11th, 2012, 1:28 pm
ann said:
Qatar offered the Syrian foreign minister $250 MILLION to defect, he declined.
January 11th, 2012, 1:28 pm
Mina said:
Important details about the attack here:
TÉMOIGNAGE – Le correspondant de la BBC en arabe se trouvait mercredi à Homs en même temps que le reporter de France 2 Gilles Jacquier.
Mohammed Ballout, envoyé spécial de la BBC en arabe, présent à Homs, raconte:
«Nous étions deux délégations de journalistes étrangers présents ce mercredi après-midi à Homs. La première, escortée par le ministère de l’Information syrien, était composée, outre moi-même, de journalistes des chaînes américaines CNN et CBS et de l’AFP. La seconde délégation était escortée par une religieuse libanaise et comptait dans ses rangs Gilles Jacquier et un autre journaliste de France 2, cinq Belges, deux Suisses, deux Libanais et un journaliste syrien.
«Nous avons fait le tour des hôpitaux dans les quartiers de Homs qui sont toujours sous le contrôle de l’armée et, vers 15 heures, mon groupe a quitté le secteur alaouite de Zahira. Quelques instants plus tard, devant l’hôpital de Zahira, un attroupement s’est formé de militants pro-Assad qui ont commencé à scander des slogans favorables au régime. Soudain, une roquette RPG a frappé la foule. Huit activistes pro-Bachar ont été tués sur le coup, il y a eu des blessés également.
Gilles Jacquier était arrivé samedi dernier à Damas.
Gilles Jacquier était arrivé samedi dernier à Damas. Crédits photo : KENZO TRIBOUILLARD/AFP
Un bastion alaouite
«Les journalistes du groupe de Jacquier sont accourus pour voir ce qui se passait. À ce moment-là, un deuxième RPG a été tiré dans leur direction. Gilles Jacquier est mort sur le coup. Un journaliste de la radio flamande VRT a été blessé à la tête. Le caméraman de France 2 n’a pas été blessé. L’attaque s’est passée dans la rue.
«Zahira est un bastion alaouite qui a été visé plusieurs fois dans le passé par les manifestants. Dans ce quartier, il y a souvent des tirs de snipers de la part des manifestants», ajoute Mohammed Ballout, qui s’est rendu à plusieurs reprises ces derniers mois en Syrie.
Gilles Jacquier était arrivé samedi dernier à Damas, invité par Sœur Marie Agnès, une religieuse libanaise favorable au pouvoir syrien. Gilles Jacquier était grand reporter à France 2 depuis 1999 et prix Albert-Londres en 2003. La France demande que «toute la lumière soit faite sur les circonstances» de sa mort, a déclaré le ministre des Affaires étrangères, Alain Juppé.
Gilles Jacquier est le premier journaliste occidental à trouver la mort en Syrie depuis le début de la révolte populaire lancée en mars contre le régime de Bachar el-Assad.
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2012/01/11/01003-20120111ARTFIG00506-gilles-jacquier-un-journaliste-present-a-homs-temoigne.php
January 11th, 2012, 1:35 pm
Uzair8 said:
Ann @321
:Faceplam:
http://static.rcgroups.net/forums/attachments/1/9/9/7/a2172193-51-laughing%20monkey.gif?
January 11th, 2012, 1:38 pm
jna said:
‘Neocon Israel Mouthpiece Writes Syrian Opposition Intervention Paper’
“… The paper was written for the Strategic Research & Communication Centre, a somewhat mysterious organization in Britain that claims to offer “Informed insight on Syria”, founded in 2010 and run by the Syrian expat Ausama Monajed who “previously served as the director of Barada Television”. As is known from Wikileaks cables:
We can safely assume that Ausama Monajed, who’s current organization does not reveal its funding sources, is still on that indirect U.S. State Department payroll.
The paper Weiss wrote to argue for military intervention is endorsed as a Special Report by the expat Syrian National Council on its slick new website… … …
See, that nasty “cover organization pushing reconciliation” that represents the real protesters in Syria is now simply done away with.
The neocon org’s communications director and excecutive director of a “mouthpiece for Israel” Michael Weiss writes a paper to further military intervention in Syria for a U.S. State Department funded expat Syrian think tank which then gets adopted by the expat militant Syrian National Council…”
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/
January 11th, 2012, 1:38 pm
Uzair8 said:
@321 Ann.
On second thoughts Mr Muallem and the regime have missed a golden opportunity. They could have had him pretend to defect and once the money was recieved re-join the regime.
Imagine what $250 million would mean for the regime running out of funds? I’m sure Mr Muallem could have played hardball and raised the sum? $300 million?
January 11th, 2012, 1:45 pm
jad said:
Thank you Mina for the article.
Now I understand the emotional reaction of Sister Agnes, she feels responsible because she invited him. she said that in Syria there are no true oppositions any more the criminals took over the streets and all the news about Syria are intentionally full with lies.
January 11th, 2012, 1:46 pm
Mina said:
I wait for Ian Black or anyone still to mention Soeur Agnes today.. and the BBC-journalist quoted says he has been several time to Homs in the recent months and that in this Alawite neighborhood there are often pro-regime demos and often “protester snipers”.
«Zahira est un bastion alaouite qui a été visé plusieurs fois dans le passé par les manifestants. Dans ce quartier, il y a souvent des tirs de snipers de la part des manifestants», ajoute Mohammed Ballout, qui s’est rendu à plusieurs reprises ces derniers mois en Syrie.
Of course, his views were not reported on the BBC world service.
January 11th, 2012, 1:50 pm
Uzair8 said:
{I hadn’t heard Sky News’ Tim Marshall’s thoughts for a while so did a search and will share the following from Dec 23, 2011. It sets out 3 possible scenarios for the twin december bombings in Damascus:}
Damascus Bombs New Departure For Syria
By Tim Marshall, foreign affairs editor | Sky News – Fri, Dec 23, 2011
The twin bombings in Damascus mark a new departure for Syria after almost a year of turmoil.
The reasons behind the attack and the identity of the perpetrators is unknown but there are various possibilities.
The government was quick to blame al Qaeda.
Al Qaeda does have a strategy of trying to further destabilise already unstable countries in order to try and collapse them and then step into the vacuum.
This has not been successful and al Qaeda is not thought to be able to operate in Syria without extreme difficulty given the pervasive presence of the domestic intelligence agencies.
Nevertheless, the possibility that it has entered the Syrian crisis remains.
The bombs struck a security and intelligence complex. This makes it possible that a breakaway faction of the uprising against the regime has decide to step up attacks against the state.
However, there were many civilian casualties and the opposition groups are trying to unite the country in their favour which this attack will not achieve.
A third scenario is one the opposition is already circulating – that the government planted the bombs itself in order to “prove” its claim that there is not a popular uprising in Syria but there are “armed terrorist groups” fomenting violence.
The attacks came the day after an advance party of Arab League observers arrived in the capital to set up a monitoring operation which should include 150 monitors by the end of the month.
Opposition groups claim the bombs were designed to persuade the monitors that the government claims are correct.
When the Arab League teams are in place they will fan out across the country in groups of 10.
The agreement Syria signed with the Arab League grants them free, unannounced access to all parts of the country and to take media with them.
A test of the agreement will come when a team attempts to go to one of the flashpoint cities such as Homs and Deera.
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/damascus-bombs-departure-syria-161540623.html
January 11th, 2012, 1:57 pm
Badr said:
An interview with Ali Ferzat, currently in Kuwait receiving treatment
http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/console/p00mrj7n
January 11th, 2012, 1:58 pm
ann said:
325. Uzair8 said:
@321 Ann.
“””On second thoughts Mr Muallem and the regime are stupid. They could have had him pretend to defect and once the money was received re-join the regime.”””
It is impossible for an israeli to understand honesty and honor
January 11th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Tara said:
The regime’s despicable crime killing the French journalist and others should not pass unpunished. The UNSC must meet emergently and sanction an international invertigation committee. Assad crimes must be stopped and he must face justice. The world should not tolerate these crimes anymore.
January 11th, 2012, 2:04 pm
Shabbi7 said:
First off, I am greatly disgusted by what happened today and I condemn this and all other terrorist acts all over Syria. That is something you won’t hear the dabbi7a saying as they will desperately try to blame this cowardice act on the regime (with comprehensive support from western and “Arab” media).
Mina, I’m sure you noticed how the AL (ie Hamad) kept talking about “snipers” and all the media just said “pro-government snipers.” Then in the latest AL statement, when they called on the Syrian government and the “armed groups” to stop all violence, again all the media said “AL calls on Syrian government to stop killing civilians” and no mention of armed groups whatsoever. This has been the case with Syria since… forever really. It’s always kind-hearted people like Sister Agnes that get trampled over and ignored by the global media gang, which just leads to more and more killing.
The west doesn’t care about us. They never have, never will. Syrians have to depend on themselves and all those counting on NATO support are nothing but COWARDS and TRAITORS. How can this be called a revolution? Can you imagine Che and Fidel asking for NATO support in their revolution? Let’s put it this way: there are Che shirts everywhere, but you will never see Abdul-Jalil (aka Abdul-NATO) shirts. I used to think Hafez was being harsh exiling all those “dissidents” but now I see he was showing mercy. They should have been hung.
January 11th, 2012, 2:08 pm
Mina said:
Tara,
Give us a break. And take a risk to kill Sister Agnes, one of the best advocate of the regime in such places as the Vatican, where some real power still lies?
January 11th, 2012, 2:08 pm
Uzair8 said:
Ann @330
I meant from the point of view of the regime. They missed an opportunity.
I wouldn’t think they would care about honesty and honour while fighting for their lives. Anyway, nobody would know about this story as Qatar wouldn’t make it public out of embarrassment. The Assad regime wouldn’t make public the matter.
January 11th, 2012, 2:12 pm
zoo said:
303. Juergen said:
Juergen, there is an Arab in the prestigious Academie Francaise: Amin Maluf, a Lebanese.
The Arabs are generally hedonists and fatalist and do not attach great importance in cultivating memories.
January 11th, 2012, 2:30 pm
ann said:
Four army men killed in ambush by “terrorists” near Syrian capital – 2012-01-11
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/11/c_131355310.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Four army personnel were killed and eight others wounded early Wednesday when “an armed terrorist group” attacked a military bus in a suburb of the capital Damascus, state-run SANA news agency reported.
The bus was blown up by an explosive device in Ya’four district, some 20 km southwest of Damascus, killing four and wounding eight others, according to SANA which didn’t mention the ranks or identities of the personnel.
Separately, a colonel and two law-enforcement forces were killed Tuesday near Damascus by gunshots, according to SANA, noting colonel Jihad Qaddour and the two law members were attacked while on their way to a military unit in Damascus’ suburbs.
Three other members were wounded and taken to a military hospital in Damascus, it added.
January 11th, 2012, 2:44 pm
Tara said:
The footage of the murder is very disturbing. It is believed to be a mortar attack. A mortar on the roof or on the ground in a fortified Alawite neighborhood in Homs can not belong to any entity except the regime. The regime’s fingerprint is all over. Who kill the innocents and torture children in cold blood? Who banned foreign journalists for 10 month to hide the truth? Who planted plastic bags near a pool of blood to be filmed by the al Dunya TV after the second car bombing in Damascus? Who incited violence on his last speech? Who has plans to kill his own supporters to look like a victim? And in case the regime has nothing to be afraid of, why not allowing an immediate French or international investiation into this heinous murder?
January 11th, 2012, 2:48 pm
irritated said:
329. Badr
An interesting account of Ali Ferzat’s ordeal
Yet, he did not answer the question on how he left the country (facing the security officers at the airport?) while he said he left the country because he was afraid of the security officers roaming the hospitals in Syria.
After being mistreated by the ‘authorities’ that he directly accuses, it is puzzling that he seems so confident that he will go back and work normally in Syria.
January 11th, 2012, 2:52 pm
jna said:
Today’s murders by RPG in Homs:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jan/11/syria-400-dead-during-arab-league-mission-live-updates#block-21
Mohammed Ballout, described by Le Figaro as an Arabic-speaking journalist for the BBC, has given this account of events in Homs today.
Like the Guardian’s Ian Black, he was in the other group of journalists, but heard an RPG exploding either near or in the crowd of pro-regime supporters.
January 11th, 2012, 2:52 pm
zoo said:
Thanks Mina #323
I am giving an english translation of the important part.
The french Figaro reports the circumstances of the killing:
According to Mohammed Ballout, special envoy of BBC arabic, present in Homs:
… a moment later in front of the Zahira hospital, a group of pro-regime activists formed and started to shout pro-Bashar slogans. Suddenly a rocket hit the crowd. 8 pro-Bashar activists were killed instantaneouly and there has been wounded too.
….
Gilles Jacquier arrived saturday in à Damas, invited by Sister Marie Agnès, a Lebanese nun supporting the Syrian regime.
..
«Zahira is an alawite stronhold that has been targeted several times by protesters. In this area, there are often protesters snipers.
…
http://www.lefigaro.fr/international/2012/01/11/01003-20120111ARTFIG00506-gilles-jacquier-un-journaliste-present-a-homs-temoigne.php
January 11th, 2012, 3:04 pm
jad said:
Mina,
-She can’t, she has a big piece of wood in her eyes.
-The contract killing are exclusive to the makeup dude.
January 11th, 2012, 3:07 pm
jad said:
“جاء في الإثم الكنعاني من نشوء الأمم لأنطون سعادة
-ما دمنا قد بلغنا حدّ الوجدان القوميّ الّذي هو أبرز الظّواهر الاجتماعيّة العامّة العصريّة فقد بلغنا هذا الدّين الاجتماعيّ الخصوصيّ الّذي أعطى الكنعانيّون فكرته الأساسيّة للعالم ونعت في بعض الظّروف بالخديعة الكنعانيّة(238) أو الإثم الكنعانيّ
-القوميّة، إذن، هي يقظة الأمّة وتنبّهها لوحدة حياتها ولشخصيّتها ومميّزاتها ولوحدة مصيرها. إنّها عصبيّة الأمّة. وقد تلتبس أحياناً بالوطنيّة الّتي هي محبّة الوطن، لأنّ الوطنيّة من القوميّة ولأن الوطن أقوى عامل من عوامل نشوء الأمّة وأهمّ عنصر من عناصرها. إنّها الوجدان العميق الحيّ الفاهم الخير العامّ، المولّد محبّة الوطن والتّعاون الدّاخليّ بالنّظر لدفع الأخطار الّتي قد تحدق بالأمّة ولتوسيع مواردها، الموجد الشّعور بوحدة المصالح الحيويّة والنّفسيّة، المريد استمرار الحياة واستجادة الحياة بالتّعصّب لهذه الحياة الجامعة الّتي يعني فلاحها فلاح المجموع وخذلانها خذلانه
-القوميّة هي الرّوحيّة الواحدة أو الشّعور الواحد المنبثق من الأمّة، من وحدة الحياة في مجرى الزّمان. ليست القوميّة مجرّد عصبيّة هوجاء أو نعرة متولّدة من اعتقادات أوّليّة أو دينيّة. إنّها ليست نوعاً من الطّوطميّة، أو نعرة دمويّة سلاليّة، بل شعور خفيّ صادق وعواطف حيّة وحنوّ وثيق على الحياة التي عهدها الإنسان. إنّها عوامل نفسيّة منبثقة من روابط الحياة الاجتماعيّة الموروثة والمعهودة، قد تطغي عليها، في ضعف تنبّهها، زعازع الدّعاوات والاعتقادات السّياسيّة، ولكنّها لا تلبث أن تستيقظ في سكون اللّيل وساعات التّأمل والنّجوى أو في خطرات الإنسان في بريّة وطنه أو متى تذكّر برّيّة وطنه
-إنّ الإثم الكنعانيّ لا يزال فاعلاً فينا وقد أصبح فاعلاً في العالم كلّه”
January 11th, 2012, 3:12 pm
irritated said:
Jad
I think the killing in Homs is going to have a serious impact on the international media as it is becoming increasingly clear who are the “unidentified” gunmen and snipers.
This is probably a turning point in the media war.
January 11th, 2012, 3:19 pm
Mina said:
The extremists among the opposition need more bloodshed because they know that the AL mission and even a UN handling of the crisis would take months of bureaucratical procedures, observers, deployment of peace corps etc. Some of the important players have elections in the coming months Iran, France, Russia, the US, so they have actually no interest in a conflict now (except for the maniacs who think they have here a window of opportuniy for imposing silence on the peaceniks). The non-extremist believe that the AL mission is the time to create a momentum, but they don’t see that the extremists and the FSA are looking only for escalation…
January 11th, 2012, 3:28 pm
irritated said:
322. ann
“Qatar offered the Syrian foreign minister $250 MILLION to defect, he declined.”
Qatar (and the opposition) are desperately looking for high level defector to finally start the “Libyan” scenario that is 10 months late. Offers are going up.
Until now they were able to convince two dubious men: The invisible Bakkour and the Al Jazeera star, Mahmoud al-Haj Hamad
January 11th, 2012, 3:28 pm
zoo said:
Call to its supporters: The FSA need money to buy weapons
FSA buying weapons from pro-regime militia– Senior FSA officer
10/01/2012 By Caroline Akoum
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=28044
Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – Questions continue to be asked regarding where the anti-regime Free Syrian Army [FSA] – made up predominately of Syrian army defectors –is obtaining its weapons and arms from. A senior FSA commander, speaking to Asharq Al-Awsat on the condition of anonymity, described the FSA’s financial capability as being “weak”, and revealed that the FSA obtains most of its funds from “ordinary Syrian citizens.” He stressed “if the FSA had greater capabilities the situation on the ground would be very different, and we would have overthrown the regime by now.”
The FSA commander also revealed that FSA soldiers are only equipped with light weaponry, such as RPG’s [rocket propelled grenades] and AK-47s. He told Asharq Al-Awsat “we obtain these weapons from a number of sources, and this includes defectors who bring weapons with them, as well as from successful attacks [on the Syrian army], whilst we also purchase a large proportion of our arms from the pro-regime Shabiha militia.” The FSA officer also claimed that the anti-regime organization also obtains arms and weaponry from Alawite Syrian army officers who are sympathetic to the revolution but too afraid to come out publicly and endorse the uprising against the rule of Alawite Bashar al-Assad.
{…}
January 11th, 2012, 3:37 pm
zoo said:
Tunisia is doing well?
Jobless Tunisian ‘dies days after self-immolation’
10/01/2012
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=28037
TUNIS, (AFP) — A Tunisian man who set himself on fire to protest unemployment has died, a hospital official said Tuesday, a year almost to the day after a fruit-seller’s self-immolation sparked the Arab Spring.
Ammar Gharsalla, a 48-year-old father of three, had been among protestors staging a sit-in outside the Gafsa government office last Thursday to highlight the unemployment problem in the region.
He doused himself with petrol and set himself alight after three ministers of Tunisia’s first post-revolution government who were visiting the area had refused to meet the group, sources said.
{..}
January 11th, 2012, 3:40 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
The killing of Iranian scientist should be considered as crime against humanity
The appearance of Bashar in Amawyen square along with his wife and children is very unusual and we will know in the future explanation for it, I very much doubt what the Shabbiha here on SC are saying, I believe there are talk about Bashar is ready to run away,or may be his wife is planning to leave to London
January 11th, 2012, 3:43 pm
Antoine said:
It seems Bashar al Assad is killing Allaouites. ( this is not the first time though ).
January 11th, 2012, 3:51 pm
aldendeshe said:
@JAD
I been told my Arabic is that of a Six grader, that SSNP Saadeh comment is way above my Arabic skill to understand. I never read Mien Kampf and neither Noushou Al-Umam.
It is obvious that a cruel monopolistic and ultra gready Baathshit mafia running the show in Syria with a front puppet to give it a better face. It is obvious that they have no care whatsoever about the people, the country or the nation. IRHAL YA ZALAMI IRHAL. Take your mafia bosses and move on to live rich ever after. 60 Years of Baathist hell and nightmare needs to come to end in Syria. I am still polite and restrained.
January 11th, 2012, 3:54 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
ارحل عنا يازلمي خود عصابتك وارحل دخيلك
January 11th, 2012, 3:58 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
@ Aldendeshe
Don’t worry, the fake pseudo-Islamists like MB ( mirror image of Shia Islamists) will not have much of a say in independent Syria. Real people, I mean real people are rising and already in charge with adrenaline pumping. They will not stop at any obstacle to bring every single bitch starting with Khaddam and Rifaat Assad, whoever served in that Cabinet, Peoples Council, Defence Companies, Provincial Governmebt between 2 February 1982 and 1 March 1982. bound and gagged hands and feet, to Al Assy Square in Hama.
USA France Saudi do not and will not have much of a say in new Syria so basically Khaddam and Rifaat are COOKED MEAT. A new dawn awaits us, trust the real guys, not the MB circus animals.
January 11th, 2012, 4:07 pm
Juergen said:
Zoo
Sorry i truly believe that arab hedonism is owned by the lebanese only, so far i havent met more hedonists than in Lebanon.
Amin Maalouf is one of my favorite writers, his book The Crusades Through Arab Eyes ( i love the german title more: “the holy war of the barbarians” ) should be made a obligatious in schools. We have quite an romantic view on the crusades, through him i understood how much this chapter of history is still so important in the ME.
January 11th, 2012, 4:14 pm
defender said:
ثورات و حقائق سرية
الأناركية و الفوضى الغير خلاقة التي تواجه العالم
http://revfacts.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post_04.html
الطرف الثالث
http://revfacts.blogspot.com/2011/12/blog-post_28.html
January 11th, 2012, 4:34 pm
Halabi said:
The millions of pro-Assad terrorists that turned up at his rally today.
January 11th, 2012, 4:51 pm
Son of Damascus said:
Halabi,
Wow, that is an abysmal amount of people. From what the menhebakji made it out to be you would have thought they were millions.
One thing that really surprised me is that someone used their camera phone inside the Syrian TV HQ to film this, wonder if it was filmed for memorabilia sake or the person is pro revolution, if so I am sure he/she would have more videos to share that can shed some more light on the regime lies.
January 11th, 2012, 5:00 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
@ Aldendeshe
Don’t worry, the fake pseudo-Islamists like MB ( mirror image of Shia Islamists) will not have much of a say in independent Syria. Real people, I mean real people are rising and already in charge with adrenaline pumping. They will not stop at any obstacle to bring every single bitch starting with Khaddam and Rifaat Assad, whoever served in that Cabinet, Peoples Council, Defence Companies, Provincial Government, Mukhabarat, between 2 February 1982 and 1 March 1982. Bound and gagged hands and feet, to Al Assy Square in Hama. In fact Rifaat al Assad is Prime Accused and convicted, NOT Hafez.
USA France Saudi do not and will not have much of a say in new Syria so basically Khaddam and Rifaat are COOKED MEAT. A new dawn awaits us, trust the real guys, not the MB circus animals.
January 11th, 2012, 5:26 pm
zoo said:
306. jad
This is the most horrifiying live video I have ever seen of the killings. I am in a state of shock.
January 11th, 2012, 5:32 pm
irritated said:
Majedalkhaldoon, Antoine and the “angels” supporters
We are hearing near hysterical reactions from the supporters of the FSA after the horrible and well documented killing in Homs that leaves no doubts about who are the killers and the snipers.
Now we read inepties like that:
Bashasr kills alawites and NUNS!
Bashar is surely packing to leave
Bashar is behind the killing in Homs
The weapons belong to the army not to the FSA angels
I guess we will hear more of that as the western media and the observers are discovering how much they have been mislead in accusing only one side.
January 11th, 2012, 5:45 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Thank you Halabi
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2QsXgLiepHk
this is staged video,we will hear more about it
January 11th, 2012, 5:49 pm
jad said:
Zoo,
I know, I’m very very sorry that I have to link this, the voice alone is telling of the tragedy:
A mother saying good bye to her kid and a brother kissing the feet of his lost brother asking the same question we all do, Why?
https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=353718537987682
The names of the martyrs and injured of today terrorist bombing attack in Homs:
أسماء المصابين و الشهداء نتيجة قصف حي عكرمة بقذائف الهاون من قبل إرهابيي بابا عمرو :
الإصابات التي وردت إلى مشفى النهضة :
الشهيدة هيام اليوسف .
الشهيد محمد سعد الدين عسكري
الشهيد عبادة ونوس الشرطة العسكرية .
… … … … بشار منصور حالته مستقرة مدني
عمار سلوم حالته مستقرة مدني
نبيل ضاهر حالته مستقرة مدني
عمار خرمة حالته مستقرة مدني
ابراهيم محسن حالته مستقرة مدني
الإصابات التي وردت إلى مشفى الزعيم :
عمار النقري استشهد منذ قليل.
ياسر نصر حالته خطيرة مدني
حسين محسن حالته متوسطة مدني
بشار اليوسف (أخو الشهيدة هيام اليوسف ) حالته مستقرة
الاصابات من الوفد الصحفي :
ميل جاكييه توفي بلجيكي الجنسية يعمل لدى قناة فرانس 2
ستيفان دارسبرغ هولندي الجنسية شظايا بالرأس حالته جيدة .
وضاح ميخائيل عساف سوري الجنسية وهو مصور صحفي حالته مستقرة .
لطفل نادر حسان الفجر مصاب بشظيتين واحدة في الراس والاخرى في الوجه والان هو بالعناية الالهية بمشفى الاهلي
الرحمة لشهداء الوطن .
January 11th, 2012, 6:22 pm
Tara said:
Irritated
“I guess we will hear more of that as the western media and the observers are discovering how much they have been mislead in accusing only one side.”
I thought there is a cosmic conspiracy against Syria plotted by the west and the gulf. I thought there is no free press in the whole wide world and that every and all western news media are working under an agenda to bring down the boy-king. That what you have been feeding us for the last 10 month… Now you are hoping the western media and the observers discovering how much they have bee mislead? I thought when they have an agenda, it doesn’t matter what the truth is….Guys, not that you have ever had credibility but your credibility is becoming below zero…can you stick to one version and be consistent. Choose whatever version you like and best fit your narrative but stick to it.
January 11th, 2012, 6:28 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
Syria is being driven by Assad to economic collapse, material devastation, civil war and social disaster. He may long 6 months, one year, two or ten. But the more he lasts the more Syria will be destroyed and controlled by foreign political and economical forces when Assads leave. So, the best thing Assads can do is leaving right now.
For Syria, for the syrians, for the arabs, for the world, for your own mafias please go, ASSAD GO.
January 11th, 2012, 6:50 pm
jad said:
Seriously!! Don’t we have one sane person in the regime to recognize the tragedy they are imposing on Syrians and putting Syria in the danger of disappearing?
Not a single opposition member who wants to try to help solve the struggle instead of spreading lies, propaganda and hatred.
Not one country is willing to mediate to help us see the light at the end of this misery.
What all these elements are waiting for I don’t understand.
What is the logic of letting this shower of blood to go on endlessly in every street of Syria? What is the logic of financing, arming and supporting armed militia and terrorists? What is the logic in empowering rigid and lost oppositions? What is the logic of seeing a mother, a father, a brother, a sister saying goodbye to their beloved ones without knowing the reason of their lost and begging to kiss the feet of their diseased beloved ones…It’s beyond depressing.
Why Syrians have to pay by their own blood and souls for the shortcoming of every criminal side?
It’s a crime against every Syrian by everybody; by the criminal regime that took every brave reasonable Syrian man and woman and mad them disappear in prison for torture or killing without any accountability, consequently it opens the streets for every criminal and thug to use in the name of the revolution, by the stupid oppositions who insist of not seeing the terrorists that are doing every atrocity against innocent Syrians in their names without exposing them, and by the criminal greedy foreign powers that are intentionally making the situation getting worse and worse for political gains and to add more cards to their collections.
————————————————
Un journaliste français tué en Syrie, Paris exige une enquête
Gilles Jacquier, grand reporter de la chaîne de télévision France 2, a été tué mercredi lors d’un reportage à Homs dans le centre de la Syrie. Nicolas Sarkozy a dit attendre des autorités à Damas de faire “toute la lumière sur la mort” du journaliste.
C’est le premier journaliste occidental à trouver la mort en Syrie depuis le début de la révolte il y a dix mois. Gilles Jacquier, grand reporter de la chaîne de télévision France 2, a été tué mercredi lors d’un reportage à Homs dans le centre de la Syrie.
Selon un photographe de l’AFP qui se trouvait avec lui, le journaliste français de 43 ans a été atteint par un obus tiré sur un groupe de journalistes occidentaux. Ce groupe se trouvait à Homs, haut lieu de l’insurrection anti-régime, dans le cadre d’un voyage autorisé par Damas qui limite drastiquement les déplacements des médias étrangers. Lors de l’attaque, un photographe indépendant néerlandais a également été atteint par des éclats. Il a été blessé aux yeux. Détail sinistre, la compagne de Gilles Jacquier, une photographe de presse, se trouvait aussi sur les lieux.
Origine des tirs ?
Au-delà du triste bilan, il reste à déterminer les responsabilités dans cette attaque sanglante. La télévision officielle syrienne a accusé “un groupe terroriste” d’avoir “tiré des obus sur des journalistes étrangers”, alors que des militants pro-démocratie sur place ont accusé le régime de Bachar al-Assad confronté depuis le 15 mars 2010 à une contestation populaire qu’il réprime dans le sang. L’Observatoire syrien des droits de l’Homme (OSDH) a précisé que six Syriens avaient également été tués dans l’explosion des obus. L’organisation basée en Grande-Bretagne a demandé l’ouverture d’une enquête, indiquant ignorer l’origine des tirs.
Pour l’heure, seul le témoignage du photographe de l’AFP permet de retracer les évènements qui ont mené au drame : “Nous sommes arrivés à Homs encadrés par les représentants du gouvernorat. Tous les journalistes ont insisté pour se rendre sur le terrain. Les autorités ont décidé de nous emmener à Hadara, un quartier alaouite”, la communauté religieuse du président Bachar al-Assad, a raconté le photographe. “Un premier obus est tombé sur un immeuble, alors que nous étions en train d’interviewer des anifestants pro-Assad qui nous ont suivis vers cet immeuble”, a-t-il poursuivi. “Nous sommes montés sur le toit. Entre-temps un second obus est tombé sur l’immeuble et en redescendant, j’ai vu des morts à terre et j’ai commencé à les photographier”, a-t-il ajouté.
“Acte odieux”
Puis tout s’enchaîne : “Les autres journalistes sont descendus pour voir ce qui ce passait et ceux qui sortaient de l’immeuble ont reçu de plein fouet le troisième obus”. “Devant l’immeuble, les militants pro-Assad ont également été touchés. En redescendant, j’ai vu Gilles qui gisait dans une mare de sang. Une ambulance est arrivée, j’ai sauté dedans. A l’hôpital, c’était le chaos et l’hystérie totale, toutes les cinq minutes un nouveau blessé arrivait”, a-t-il ajouté.
Le président français Nicolas Sarkozy a dit attendre des autorités à Damas de faire “toute la lumière sur la mort” du journaliste. Son ministre des Affaires étrangères Alain Juppé a condamné un “acte odieux” et demandé au pouvoir syrien “d’assurer la sécurité des journalistes internationaux sur son territoire”. Dans la soirée, la chef de la diplomatie européenne Catherine Ashton a exigé elle aussi une enquête, de même que l’organisation de défense de la presse, Reporters sans Frontières. “Gilles Jacquier est le premier journaliste étranger tué en Syrie depuis le 15 mars. Nous demandons aux autorités, avec le concours des observateurs de la Ligue arabe, de faire toute la lumière sur cette tragédie”, a déclaré RSF. Londres a condamné ce décès et Washington l’a “déploré”.
Gilles Jacquier était grand reporter pour France 2 depuis 1999. Il a en particulier couvert l’Irak, l’Afghanistan, le Kosovo et Israël. Il a réalisé de nombreux reportages pour l’émission Envoyé Spécial. Né en 1968, il a débuté à France 3 Lille en 1991, avant de rejoindre la rédaction nationale de France 3 en 1994. En 2003, le prix Albert Londres récompensait sa couverture de la deuxième Intifada et de l’opération Rempart menée par l’armée israélienne en avril 2002.
http://lci.tf1.fr/monde/moyen-orient/un-journaliste-francais-tue-en-syrie-paris-exige-une-enquete-6930285.html
January 11th, 2012, 7:26 pm
Halabi said:
After Syrian TV used the Lords of the Rings soundtrack as a promo for Harmoush and Israeli spy (which seems like such a long time ago), Addunia raises the bar to the Star Wars Imperial March to showcase the amazing Assads.
http://youtu.be/b8qRHDBwN5c
Now I understand Menhebaks. If Bashar is Darth Vader, then we have to love him through fear, but with the hope that his son Hafez, Luke, will bring balance to the force. This also explains the universal conspiracy.
January 11th, 2012, 7:45 pm
jad said:
Malek story reaches FLC and the UN
The Algerian Arab League ‘observer’ is a fraudulent former member of the ‘Armed Islamic Group’ (GIA)
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/2012/01/algerian-arab-league-observer-is.html
Algerian FM on the ‘fraudulent’ Arab League observer: “Other Algerians didn’t speak, they might have different opinions!”
“… But most press questions directed to him concerned Syria, including about Anwar Malik, the Algerian member of the Arab League observer mission who left the mission in disgust, calling it a farce. “Other Algerians didn’t speak,”Medelci responded, saying that “they might have different opinions.”
And Medelci is seemingly among them, emphasizing that the violence in Syria does not only come from the government, calling the claims and counterclaims “intriguing.” He said Algeria is opposed to strong cuts of Syria air flights, says it punishes civilians, not the government and its officials….”
http://www.innercitypress.com/syria1algeriaws011112.html
التضليل الاعلامي 11-1-2012 كذب أنور مالك و يونس اليوسف
http://youtu.be/KPMiN4tNUjk
January 11th, 2012, 7:48 pm
jad said:
It seems that Alarabi and Hammoudeh are not coordinating what they say, Alarabi seems more balance than the Qatari scum.
Hammoudeh and his masters want to finish the AL mission in anyway they could the faster the better, without any alternative other than NATO. It’s interesting that Clinton spoke on behalf of him!
نعي أميركي قطري مبكر لمهمة المراقبين
وقالت مصادر سورية لمراسل «السفير» في دمشق زياد حيدر إن القيادة السورية ستبدأ الأسبوع المقبل الاتصال مع القوى السياسية السورية المحتملة لتشكيل حكومة وطنية موسعة ربما تشهد النور في شباط المقبل، وذلك بعد أن أعلن الأسد عن توجه لتشكيل حكومة موسعة قال إنه يمكن تسميتها بحكومة وحدة وطنية أو حكومة ائتلافية موسعة، مشيرا إلى أنها ستضم الهيئات السياسية والقوى الراغبة في الانضمام إليها.
ورفضت «هيئة التنسيق السورية»، أحد أهم فصائل المعارضة في البلاد، المشاركة في حكومة كهذه، كما رفضت الحوار مع السلطة في سوريا، في الوقت الذي رحب كل من أمين حزب الإرادة الشعبية قدري جميل (شيوعي) ورئيس الحزب السوري القومي الاجتماعي (جناح معارض) علي حيدر بالفكرة. وقال جميل على صفحته على «فيسبوك» إنه يؤيد فكرة تشكيل حكومة تحمل لقب حكومة وحدة وطنية في أسرع وقت ممكن. كما ذكر في تصريح لصحيفة «الوطن» السورية أول أمس أن اتصالات «غير رسمية» جرت معه في هذا الاتجاه، معتبرا أن هدف هذه الحكومة هو «الوصول الى تحقيق مصالحة وطنية شاملة». وفي السياق ذاته كشف حيدر للصحيفة عن لقائه «أغلب القيادات السياسية والأمنية وأغلب أصحاب القرار في البلاد» لهذه الغاية.
من جهته، قال رئيس تيار بناء الدولة السورية لؤي حسين، على صفحته على «فيسبوك»، إن أية اتصالات لم تجر معه، لا لهذه الغاية أو غيرها، مشيرا إلى أنه لا حوار بينه وبين السلطة منذ أيلول العام الماضي، رافضا فكرة الحكومة الموسعة المطروحة حاليا.
إلا أن المصادر السورية أبقت على رغبتها في الاتصال مع الهيئة وقوى أخرى للمشاركة، على الرغم من اطلاعها على ردود الأفعال السابقة، مشيرة إلى أن الاتصالات ستشمل كل القوى الموجودة على الأرض داخل سوريا، ولا سيما التي لم يسبق لها المشاركة في حكومات في السابق، وذلك في اشارة لسؤال «السفير» عما إن كان هذا الأمر يعني قوى الجبهة الوطنية التقدمية.
وحول الموعد المرتقب لهذه الحكومة، قالت المصادر إن القيادة تستهدف بدء الحوارات والاستشارات ابتداء من الاسبوع المقبل، من دون أن يكون لديها موعد ملزم للتشكيل، فيما أشارت تقديرات الى أنه ربما يحل مع بداية الشهر المقبل، والذي سيشهد مؤتمرا قطريا لحزب البعث سربت مصادر الحزب أنه سيشهد تغييرات في البنية العامة للحزب كتنظيم وتغيير واسع في قياداته. وتبدأ في هذا السياق اليوم الانتخابات الفرعية للحزب، استعدادا للمؤتمر القطري المقبل، على أن تستكمل خلال 10 ايام.
وفي سياق مختلف، أكد مصدر سوري رفيع المستوى لـ«السفير» تمسك دمشق بالحل العربي للأزمة السورية خلافا لما روجته وسائل إعلام عربية تعقيبا على خطاب الأسد أول أمس. وقال المصدر إن «سوريا متمسكة بالحل العربي، وتعمل على إنجاحه بكل الوسائل المتاحة»، مشيرا إلى أن رئيس بعثة المراقبين الفريق السوداني محمد أحمد مصطفى الدابي سمع هذا الكلام رسميا من وزير الخارجية وليد المعلم.
العربي
وقال العربي، في مقابلة مع قناة «الحياة» المصرية، إن «زيادة عوامل الضغط والمقاطعة الاقتصادية والسياسية من عدة دول على النظام السوري والمعارضة أيضا قد تؤتي ثمارها في وقف العنف». وأعرب «عن تخوفه من نشوب حرب أهلية في سوريا في ظل استمرار العنف والأحداث الجارية»، مؤكدا أن «ما يحدث لا يعد في صالح سوريا والعالم العربي، خاصة أن سوريا دولة مؤثرة وأي مشاكل فيها سيكون لها تداعياتها على دول الجوار والمنطقة».
واستبعد العربي «تكرار سيناريو التدخل الأجنبي في سوريا على غرار ما حدث في ليبيا، وأنه ذكر ذلك مرات عديدة للمعارضة السورية»، موضحا أن «الموضوع في سوريا معقد للغاية، بالإضافة إلى أن سوريا تؤثر تأثيراً مباشرا في دول الجوار». وأضاف «سوريا ليس فيها إغراء بالنسبة لدول تستخدم السلاح وتجد من يدفع الفاتورة، ليس فيها نفط، كما أن الولايات المتحدة لديها انتخابات هذا العام، وبالتالي لا أظن أنهم يرغبون في الدخول في مغامرات عسكرية». وتابع «أنا أتحدث عن اللحظة الحالية، وقد تتغير الظروف في ما بعد، وإن كان مجلس الأمن أيضا لا يرغب بالدخول في هذه المغامرات في ظل المعارضة الصينية والروسية».
قال رئيس غرفة عمليات المراقبة في القاهرة عدنان الخضير إن المراقبين الذين أعلن من قبل أنهم سيتوجهون إلى دمشق نهاية الأسبوع الحالي سيتأجل سفرهم حتى يتضح الموقف بعد الهجوم على فريق المراقبين في اللاذقية الاثنين الماضي، حيث أصيب بجروح طفيفة 11 مراقبا.
كلينتون وحمد
ووصفت كلينتون، خلال مؤتمر صحافي مشترك مع الشيخ حمد في واشنطن، خطاب الأسد «بالمستهجن». وقالت «بدلا من تحمل المسؤولية ما سمعناه من الأسد في خطابه أمس (أول أمس) الذي ينطوي على سوء نية بشكل مفزع لم يكن سوى انتحال أعذار وإلقاء اللوم على دول اجنبية ومؤامرات».
وأضافت أن «حكومة الأسد لم تف بوعودها بوقف العنف والافراج عن السجناء وسحب قوات الأمن من المدن». وتابعت «أعتقد أن من الواضح لرئيس الوزراء ولي أن بعثة المراقبة ينبغي ألا تستمر إلى أجل غير مسمى. لا يمكن أن نسمح للأسد ونظامه بالإفلات من العقاب. والشعب السوري يستحق تحولا سلميا». وقالت «نحن نتطلع إلى العمل مع الجامعة العربية عند انتهاء المهمة الحالية لمراقبي الجامعة في 19 الحالي، ونتطلع إلى قيادة رئيس الوزراء القطري مرة أخرى في هذا الصدد».
وقال الشيخ حمد، الذي تتولى بلاده رئاسة الجامعة العربية، إن الشكوك تتزايد بشأن فاعلية المراقبين. وأضاف «بصراحة، لا أرى حتى الآن أن البعثة ناجحة»، معتبرا أن التقرير النهائي بعد انتهاء المهمة في 19 الحالي يمكن أن يساعد في تحديد الخطوات التالية بشأن الأزمة السورية. وتابع إن «التقرير سيكون مهما للغاية بالنسبة لنا لإصدار الحكم الصائب. نأمل ان نحل نحن الازمة لكن الحكومة السورية لا تساعدنا حاليا».
وأشار حمد إلى أنه «إذا قال الأسد إن هناك في الجامعة العربية 6 عقود من الفشل ففي سوريا هناك 4 عقود»، مضيفاً أن «الحكومة السورية ليست جاهزة حتى الآن للقيام بالتغيير». وأكد أن «ما يهم هو وقف القتل في سوريا وحتى الآن لم يتم ذلك بما يتفق مع البروتوكول».
وقالت متحدثة باسم وزيرة خارجية أوروبا كاثرين اشتون، في بيان، ان الخطاب الذي ألقاه الاسد وتطرق فيه الى فكرة «توسيع الحكومة مخيب للآمال بشكل كبير وغير واقعي». وأضافت ان «النظام وعد منذ بدء الانتفاضة بإصلاحات لم يتم احترامها أبدا. وانطلاقا من ذلك، نذكر بأن الاسد فقد كل مصداقية وينبغي ان يغادر السلطة لكي يسمح بعمــلية انتقالية حقيقية في سوريا».
واعتبر وزير الخارجية التركي احمد داود اوغلو، في مؤتمر صحافي عقده في أنقرة مع نظيره التونسي رفيق عبد السلام، ان الهجمات على المراقبين في سوريا تثير شكوكا حول مواصلة مهمتهم. وقال داود اوغلو، الذي دعي الى المشاركة في 23 كانون الثاني الحالي في اجتماع يعقده في بروكسل نظراؤه الأوروبيون لمناقشة الاوضاع في كل من سوريا وإيران، «من غير المقبول ان تستمر إراقة الدماء فيما لا تزال البعثة على الأرض».
ميدانيا
قتل الصحافي جيل جاكييه، الذي يعمل لحساب شبكة «فرانس 2» في حمص اثر سقوط قذائف على مجموعة من الصحافيين. وهو أول صحافي غربي يقتل في سوريا منذ بدء حركة الاحتجاج في 15 آذار الماضي. وقال شاهد في حمص إن الإصابات وقعت نتيجة لقذائف أطلقت أثناء اجتماع حاشد لمؤيدي الأسد.
وذكرت «سانا» «أقدمت مجموعة إرهابية مسلحة على إطلاق قذائف هاون على وفد إعلامي أجنبي وتجمع للمواطنين المتضررين من الإرهاب في حي عكرمة بحمص ما أدى إلى استشهاد 9 أشخاص بينهم صحافي فرنسي وإصابة صحافي بلجيكي بجروح خطيرة إضافة إلى إصابة 25».
وقال مصدر مسؤول في وزارة الإعلام السورية إن «الوزارة تعبر عن أسفها الشديد وحزنها العميق لسقوط شهداء من سوريا ومن ضيوفها وتستنكر هذا الاعتداء الإرهابي وتؤكد أنه يشكل امتدادا لسلسلة الإرهاب التي تتعرض له سوريا، ويأتي في سياق محاولة الإرهابيين تغييب الصورة الحقيقية لما يجري من أحداث في سوريا».
وقال وزير الخارجية الفرنسي آلان جوبيه ان باريس طلبت «توضيحا كاملا لملابسات» مقتل جاكييه (42 عاما) في سوريا. وأضاف، في بيان، «نحن نندد بشدة بهذه الفعلة الشنيعة»، مطالبا السلطات السورية بـ«ضمان أمن الصحافيين الدوليين العاملين على اراضيها وحماية حرية الاعلام التي هي حرية اساسية».وأعربت واشنطن عن «أسفها» لمقتل جاكييه.
وذكر المرصد السوري لحقوق الانسان، في بيان، ان «اربعة مدنيين قتلوا برصاص قوات الامن السورية في حماه حيث تدور مواجهات بين الجيش ومنشقين عنه، بينما عثر على جثة مدني كان خطف قبل يومين في حمص». وذكرت «سانا» «استشهد أربعة عسكريين وأصيب ثمانية بعبوة بريف دمشق». («السفير»، سانا، أ ف ب، أ ب، رويترز، أ ش أ)
http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionID=2048&ChannelID=48648&ArticleID=930
January 11th, 2012, 8:31 pm
Tara said:
AL is putting a hold on sending new observers. Is this an implicit admittance of failure?
http://gulftoday.ae/portal/8d2b46c3-f483-4d0e-8998-c1d60f8d9025.aspx
AL decides against sending new observers to Syria
January 12, 2012
CAIRO: The Arab League (AL) is putting on hold a decision to send new observers to Syria after three monitors were slightly wounded in an attack this week, an official at the Cairo-based bloc said.
The official also dismissed remarks by an Algerian monitor who said he quit the Syria mission, accusing the regime of war crimes, saying all his claims were unfounded because he was bedridden and was never in the field.
“The Arab League will not send more observers to Syria for the time being until the situation calms down,” following Monday’s attack targeting observers in the port city of Latakia, the unnamed official said.
Meanwhile, Syrian President Bashar Al Assad vowed to vanquish “foreign conspirators” plotting to end his rule.
In the latest violence, a Western journalist was among eight people killed in Homs, Syria’s Addounia television said, adding that 25 people had been wounded.
It said the dead journalist worked for France 2 television and that among the wounded was a Dutch journalist. The death would be the first of a foreign reporter in Syria in 10 months of unrest.
A smiling Assad, in a dark jacket and open-necked shirt, greeted thousands of rapturous supporters in a Damascus square, only a day after breaking a six-month public silence.
The crowd shouted “Shabiha forever, for your eyes, Assad,” a reference to loyalist militiamen.
Assad’s wife Asma and their two children joined him for his surprise appearance in Umayyad Square.
“I belong to this street,” Assad, 46, said, adding Syria faced foreign conspirators. “We will make this phase the end for them and their plans. We are going to win without any doubt.”
His remarks followed a 100-minute speech on Tuesday in which he mocked the Arab League.
January 11th, 2012, 8:48 pm
Tara said:
Second Arab monitor may quit Syria over violence
http://www.en.apa.az/news.php?id=163434
Baku-APA. An Arab monitor said on Wednesday he might quit a fraying Arab League team of observers in Syria because the mission was proving ineffectual in ending civilians’ suffering there, exposing rifts in an Arab peace effort, APA reports quoting Reuters.
His comments come a day after Anwar Malek, an Algerian observer, told Al Jazeera TV he had quit Syria because the peace mission was a “farce.”
……
Another resignation would further undermine its credibility.
Asked if he agreed with Malek’s characterization of the mission as a failure, the monitor said: “It is true, it is true. Even I am trying to leave on Friday. I’m going to Cairo or elsewhere… because the mission is unclear…. It does not serve the citizens. It does not serve anything.”
“The Syrian authorities have exploited the weakness in the performance of the delegation to not respond. There is no real response on the ground.”
The monitor, speaking by telephone from Syria, asked not to be named as he was not authorized to speak to the media.
“The military gear is still present even in the mosques. We asked that military equipment be withdrawn from the Abu Bakr al-Siddiq mosque in Deraa and until today they have not withdrawn.”
….
The monitor said the Syrian authorities had shown little genuine willingness to comply with the plan while the observers lacked the expertise to do their mission justice.
“There is oppression. There is strong oppression and there is suffering, a lot of suffering, more than you imagine,” he said, describing one part of the central city of Homs he had visited.
“This is a very big problem and it is related firstly to the general will of the Syrian authorities to cooperate with the delegation in a genuine manner and without maneuvering,” he said.
“Secondly, it is related to the expertise of the delegation… It needs experts in the fields of monitoring, of diplomacy, of international law.”
….
Monitors had been allowed to visit any area they chose, but Syrian authorities had refused to accompany them in particularly tense neighborhoods, forcing them to make a decision to either stay away or take the risk of going in alone, said the monitor.
He arrived in Syria on December 27 and has visited Homs, Damascus and Deraa. The Bab Amr area of Homs was in a particularly dire way, he added.
….
January 11th, 2012, 9:05 pm
Tara said:
The footage is gruesome. It is bringing memories of the veiled Banias woman gunned down by the regime and as she fell, her denture fell off in front of her dead body. I hope who ordered as well as who committed these crimes are cursed forever and never to have a moment of peace in their life.
Top EU Diplomat Demands Inquiry Into French Journalist’s Death In Syria
2 hours, 44 minutes ago
(RTTNews) – Wednesday, European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has condemned the death of a French journalist in an explosion in Syria earlier in the day and demanded an immediate investigation into the incident.
Ashton called for “a rapid investigation to clarify the circumstances leading to this tragedy,” and stressed that Syrian authorities “have a responsibility to guarantee the safety of journalists in their country.”
Syrian media reported that eight civilians were also killed in the resultant blast. Although it is not clear who fired the rocket-propelled grenade, activists in Homs are blaming Syrian security forces.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe condemned what he described as an “odious act” and called for full clarification of what happened. Separately, French President Nicholas Sarkozy paid tributes to the deceased journalist and said his government expects “Syrian authorities to to shed light on the death of a man who was simply doing his job.”
January 11th, 2012, 9:15 pm
jna said:
We got it Tara. You don’t want Arab observers in Syria to restrain the violence. You don’t want the opposition to negotiate with the regime a transition to democracy. You do want foreign forces to make war against the Syrian army. You do want terrorism against the regime, army, and supporters. You want Syrians and others, on all sides, to sacrifice their lives, but you don’t put your life on the line.
January 11th, 2012, 9:31 pm
irritated said:
The hardline opposition whose mantra is still the UNSC have apparently succeeded in its strategy of keeping to themselves the exclusivity of reporting the facts on the ground and making any potential protection of the civilians by the AL observers a failure. More AL observers are on hold and many journalists of the 135 journalists allowed in Syria have returned home.
Yet, the killing of the french journalist in the open will probably trigger an international inquest. There were so many reliable eye witnesses that the truth will easily prevail. It may be a turning point for the international community approach to the Syrian crisis.
January 11th, 2012, 9:34 pm
newfolder said:
there was an animal on the loose today after Bashar’s appearance in Damascus, thankfully they caught it soon:
January 11th, 2012, 9:36 pm
aldendeshe said:
“…. You don’t want the opposition to negotiate with the regime a transition to democracy. …”
What a B.S. 10 months, death of thousands and this is started out from first speach as a farce, gave him the b.o.d and in the last one, there was no doubt at all, it was plain clear that is was all along a farce by cruel baathist mafia nice boy face.
January 11th, 2012, 9:46 pm
zoo said:
Russia has many reasons to defend Syria’s regime
January 11, 2012 01:25 AM
By Hussain Abdul-Hussain
The Daily Star
….
Should the Arab mission be deemed a failure, world opinion would certainly tilt in favor of U.N. intervention. In that case, Russia would find itself alone at the U.N. fending off another Western diplomatic offensive. Meanwhile, indicators show that Assad’s grip on power is weakening and his finances – needed to keep his military machine going – deteriorating. In a second diplomatic showdown at the U.N., expected in February, Russia might not rush to Assad’s defense and could instead compromise with other world powers over his removal.
Perhaps sensing that Moscow’s pro-Assad stance could change, the head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, told Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov during a meeting in Moscow in mid-November that should Assad fall, Russian interests in Syria would be “guaranteed.”
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2012/Jan-11/159469-russia-has-many-reasons-to-defend-syrias-regime.ashx#ixzz1jCyPCMtE
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
January 11th, 2012, 9:46 pm
irritated said:
French TV 1 just announced that Homs was under an attack by the army when the rockets fell and killed the french journalist.
How far can the French TV lies go?
January 11th, 2012, 9:51 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
واحد حمصي لاقى ديك هربان ! مسكوا و اخدوا على البيت
و قال لمرتوا اليوم بدك تطعمينا ديك مشوي بالفرن!!!
قالتلوا ما في غاز !
قال طيب بفرن الكهرباء قالت مقطوعة الكهربا!
قالها:طيب اشوي على الصوبيا!
قالت مافي مازوت!
نط الديك و صاح الله سوريا بثار و بس
January 11th, 2012, 9:53 pm
Tara said:
JNA
Playing victim now? Not good at it. Mnhebaks can play anything except victims. Providing support to children killers make you an active accomplice in the horror.
Please open the links. You may find it interesting.
http://www.france24.com/en/20120110-2012-01-10-2049-wb-en-webnews
LATEST UPDATE: 11/01/2012
Reactions to Bashar al-Assad’s speech
January 11th, 2012, 9:55 pm
zoo said:
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/middleeast/2012/01/20121111976555870.html
“Mortar shells hit a pro-government rally, leaving seven Syrian nationals dead besides Jacquier, Omar Homsi, an opposition activist based in the area, told the DPA news agency by phone.”“
January 11th, 2012, 10:35 pm
jad said:
The Al denies the report that it will hold sending observers, it’s sending some 40 observers to Syria the coming week
الجامعة العربية تنفي وقف ارسال المراقبين الى سوريا
الأربعاء 11 كانون الثاني 2012، آخر تحديث 21:20
نفت الجامعة العربية الأنباء عن وقف ارسال المراقبين العرب الى سوريا، مشيرة الى انها سترسل 40 مراقبا جديدا نهاية الاسبوع المقبل.
#360
Another fabrication discovered:
محاولة فاشلة لتزوير مسيرة الامويين وخطاب الاسد 11.1.2012
http://youtu.be/DTRZ0CTj0TU
“حاولت صفحات الفتنة والفجور تزوير مسيرات الامويين التي جرت في دمشق يوم الاربعاء 11.01.2012 والتي ظهر فيها السيد الرئيس بشار الاسد والقى كلمة رائعة بين الجموع الغفيرة….. ولشدة حقدهم وغيظهم لم تسعفهم افكارهم الجهنمية سوى محاولة تزوير هذه المسيرة وتشويهها واظهارها انها مسيرة خالية من المؤيدين فقاموا بتصوير ساحة الامويين في بداية التجمع في ساعات الصباح الاولى وطبقوا صوت السيد الرئيس على الفيديو بطريقة فاضحة وتافهة لم يكن من الصعب علينا نحن شبكة شام المؤيدة كشفها بسهولة شكرا لله الذي ارسل لنا الشمس والعلم والعقل لنسخرها في خدمة الوطن والحق والوقوف بوجه الباطل للنصر على عملاء الشيطان اتباع الاخوان المجرمون”
January 11th, 2012, 10:39 pm
Shabbi7 said:
I’m so proud of the Syrian youth that take the time to expose all the lies and fabrications of the dabbi7a douchebags. It was clear that the video showing a much smaller pro-Asad demonstration was a fabricated voice-over. So many retards on SC. Fabrication after fabrication, on YouTube and on “professional” media, are exposed on a daily basis, and they’re still pretending like there’s a popular movement. Popular revolutions don’t need fabrications nor NATO bombs.
January 11th, 2012, 11:23 pm
irritated said:
#380 Jad
The need to make these fabrications shows well the state of the hardline opposition.
The lies and the media manipulation are unravelling one by one.
January 11th, 2012, 11:27 pm
Jerusalem said:
This opposition is such a disgrace.
الجامعة العربية تنفض يدها من انور مالك … هيثم مناع هو الذي بعث به
الى سوريا … وعرب تايمز توقف صفحة مالك على موقعها
January 11 2012 17:06
عرب تايمز – خاص
نفضت الجامعة العربية رسميا يدها من ضابط المخابرات السابق انور مالك ( كاتب سابق في عرب تايمز ) الذي ظهر على شاشة الجزيرة ليزعم ان اعضاء البعثة يراد لهم ان يصبحوا شبيحة للنظام السوري وكشفت الجامعة النقاب عن ان المدعو مالك انضم اليها بترشيح من منظمة حقوق انسان في فرنسا في اشارة الى منظمة يديرها هيثم مناع الذي تربطع علاقة غير مفهومة مع انور مالك
وأكد السفير أحمد بن حلى نائب الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية أن الناطق الرسمى الوحيد باسم البعثة هو رئيسها الفريق أول أحمد الدابى وأكد بن حلى، بعد أن بثت الجزيرة تصريحات لانور مالك أن مالك جاء فى إطار منظمة حقوقية تعنى بحقوق الإنسان من أوروبا واضاف : ان كلام مالك فى الإعلام لا نريد أن نتوقف عنده أو التعليق عليه، وما يصدر عن رئيس البعثة الفريق الدابى هو الذى يعتد به ويؤخذ فى الاعتبار”.وذكر نائب الأمين العام للجامعة العربية، أنه دون الفريق الدابى لا يعبر عن الجامعة العربية أو بعثتها أى شخص آخر
هذا وقد اوقفت عرب تايمز صفحة انور مالك على موقعها ومنعته من الدخول اليها لانه خالف شروط النشر فالموقع – وفقا للجريدة – هو منبر حر للاحرار واصحاب الرأي وليس لضباط المخابرات وعملاء الاجهزة الامنية
January 11th, 2012, 11:28 pm
Jerusalem said:
من قلم : راكان غزنوي
تصميم عرب تايمز ….. جميع الحقوق محفوظة
سوريا بين دهاء النظام وغباء المعارضة
عندما قلنا هنا أن المعارضة السورية لاتملك الكاريزما القيادية وأن برنامجها مشوش وأنها تفتقر الى تصور جلي لسوريا المستقبل تنافخ البعض هنا وأنبروا يكيلون الاتهامات بأننا ندافع عن النظام السوري لا بل ذهب بعضهم الى القول أننا نقبض من النظام السوري ولايدري هؤلاء أنني ما دخلت سوريا الا مرة مناضلا وخرجت منها وقد طلقت النضال والمقاومة بالثلاث وأنا أرى نضالا تحول الى مكاتب وياقات بيضاء وبساطير تركب وتترجل من سيارات المرسيدس والأودي الفارهة ولا تحمل ذرة من غبار معركة .
بالأمس كنت أستمع باهتمام الى خطاب الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد والحقيقة أن الرجل عرض ما عنده وما في جعبته وما يعتبره ويقدره هو وحكومته كحل للأزمة السورية ومن منطلق موضوعي وجب علي أن أحترم وجهة نظره وما جاء في خطابه سواءا اتفقت معه أم اختلفت على كل ما قاله أو بعضه فالمشكلة لاتكمن هنا بأي حال من الأحوال المشكلة الحقيقية تكمن في عدم استيعاب المعارضة السورية وعدم استيعاب كثير من العرب ممن يتعاطفون معها حقيقة حنكة ودهاء النظام السوري الحاكم وأعتقد جازما أن هذه الحنكة والدهاء مصدرهما وزير خارجيته وليد المعلم الذي أستطيع أن أصفه بعمرو بن العاص النظام السوري فهذا الرجل الذي يتسم بهدوءه لايمكن لأي سياسي أن يستهين به وبقدراته وهذه حقيقة أعلمها انا شخصيا عنه منذ زمن طويل ويعتبر الرجل خوري سوريا الثاني بحكمته وخبرته ودهاءه وليس هذا مدحا انما الحق بالحق يقال ، هذا الدهاء كان ولازال في مقابله غباء معارضة تأرجحت بين غرب وعرب ودولار وبترودولار وتناقضت بين داخل وخارج واختلفت بين خارج متفرنج وخارج غير متفرنج أو بين خارج أوروبي وخارج أمريكي وبناءا عليه توزعت الساحة السورية المعارضة بين معارض متظاهر مسالم وأخر مسلح ومقاوم ، هذه الفسيفساء التي رتبت خطأ كانت صنيعة معارضة أستطيع أن أصفها بأنها ذهبت بالشعب السوري المعارض للنظام الى نفق لا بل أخذته الى متاهة كلفته الكثير من دماء وحياة أبناءه .
أنا حقيقة أستهجن كيف لمسؤول عربي يعتقد أن دويلته هي أكبر امبراطورية في العالم ليوجه كلامه للنظام السوري ويطلب منه أن يأخذ خطوة تاريخية ولم يوضح في خطابه أبعاد هذه الخطوة ولا أدري كيف قام هذا ببناء رأيه هذا وعلى أي أساس ن فاذا كان الكلام قد أسس اعتمادا على معارضة فكل الشواهد تقول أنها معارضة لا في العير ولا في النفير وأن حنكة ودهاء النظام السوري قد أوقعتهم في مأزق الراعي والذئب وأهل القرية .
أنا اعلم أن البعض هنا سوف يستشيطون غضبا وسوف يرجمون بكلام ساقط لا يعبر الا عن مستواهم الفكري والأدبي والاجتماعي ولكن أقول لهؤلاء جميعا وسلفا اذا كان لابد من تغيير النظام السوري فاعلموا أن هذه المعارضة أعجز من أن تغير مختارا يتولى زمام حي أو ضيعة وأن من توهم أن دويلته صنيعة العام 1971 هي قوة عظمى جراء نعمة الغاز والمازوت تأمر وتنهى وتمول وتحرم ليس الا ذلك الرجل الذي علق فوق رأسه جرة العسل وتوهم بزوجة وولد ثم هش بعصاه لتأديب ولده “الوهم” فأطاح بالجرة وما بها على رأسه . فاذا كانت المعارضة السورية تهتم حقا بصالح الشعب السوري وكانت سورية خالصة لله وللشعب فعليها أن تدرك ذكاء وحنكة النظام ودهاءه خاصة بعد أن سقط من أيديهم استدراج الغرب وأمريكيا الى المأزق السوري وهذا ما كان النظام السوري متأكد منه لابل موقن لكنهم لعبوا على حبل ولا عبهم النظام على أكثر من حبل ولعل المطلب الرئيس الوحيد الأن أن يتسائل السوريون عن المسؤول الحقيقي عن ذبح أبنائهم وعن كل تلك الدماء التي أريقت بلا ثمن …نعم بلا ثمن يذك
January 11th, 2012, 11:33 pm
ann said:
On Syria, Medelci Calls Anwar Malik Just One Algerian, W. Sahara a Colonial Issue
http://www.innercitypress.com/syria1algeriaws011112.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 11 — When Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci held a press conference at the UN midday on Wednesday, he wanted to talk about his country, emphasizing that it has no foreign debt, and about the Group of 77 and China, of which Algeria has the chair from Argentina.
But most press questions directed to him concerned Syria, including about Anwar Malik, the Algerian member of the Arab League observer mission who left the mission in disgust, calling it a farce. “Other Algerians didn’t speak,” Medelci responded, saying that “they might have different opinions.”
And Medelci is seemingly among them, emphasizing that the violence in Syria does not only come from the government, calling the claims and counterclaims “intriguing.” He said Algeria is opposed to strong cuts of Syria air flights, says it punishes civilians, not the government and its officials.
That is what he explained about the 165 member Arab League mission: it includes 10 representative of the Algerian state, who have not quit, and “a few dozen representatives of NGOs,” including (until he quit) “one Algerian.”
He was asked by a Turkish journalist if he believes that France committed genocide in Algeria. While remaining diplomatic, he said that “our children need to know about… massacres” committed by France.
Inner City Press asked Mourad Medelci if he thought Morocco joining the Security Council changes things. He did not answer this part of the question. As the Moroccan mission has argued to Inner City Press, Western Sahara is by no means their only interest. And this is true: as Inner City Press reported yesterday, Morocco has requested a Council briefing on the humanitarian consequence of Israel’s settlement policies.
On Wednesday Inner City Press asked Moroccan Permanent Representative Loulichki for the status; he said the Council’s president is consulting with members but he is an “optimist.” And, like Medelci, a diplomat. Watch this site.
January 12th, 2012, 12:17 am
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
مقال جفص وغبي ، لآ حاجة لحفظ حقوقه إلى كنت تحتفظ بالزبالة . بتقول ؛ أن تدرك ذكاء وحنكة النظام ودهاءه ؟ بالحقيقة هي قلّة ذكآء العرب والآميركان اللي عم تنعكس .
January 12th, 2012, 12:18 am
Revlon said:
370. Dear Tara,
((Top EU Diplomat Demands Inquiry Into French Journalist’s Death In Syria 2 hours, 44 minutes ago
(RTTNews) – Wednesday, European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton has condemned the death of a French journalist in an explosion in Syria earlier in the day and demanded an immediate investigation into the incident.
Ashton called for “a rapid investigation to clarify the circumstances leading to this tragedy,” and stressed that Syrian authorities “have a responsibility to guarantee the safety of journalists in their country.” )).
Thank you for this post.
This murder might form a turning point in the international course of action towards the regime.
Insistence of the EU on sending a fact finding mission or the participation in the investigation, whether rejected or allowed by the regime shall be backed by a widespread EU public support, and provide a political cum legal platform for the buildup of EU-spearheaded, international intervention.
January 12th, 2012, 12:26 am
ann said:
Syrian President Assad joins supporters at massive rally in Damascus
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/photo/2012-01/12/c_131355893_4.htm
January 12th, 2012, 12:28 am
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
@ Ann
شنتر حفانا ، حنشل ، مبين من لباسهم وشكلهم انه مآجورين . شوفي كل الصور وفرجيني أكآبر واحد . عمال النسيج وبساطين سوق الخضرة ، وين صورة البو صتات ؟
January 12th, 2012, 12:53 am
Mina said:
If the EU investigation is as efficient as their early evaluation of the Syrian protests or as efficient as their pressures on Netanyahu to stop colonization, i can’t wait.
January 12th, 2012, 12:59 am
Mina said:
366 Jad
It reaches the UN but the media yesterday (Le Monde, BBC, Guardian), and 24 hours after the Arab Times article, were simply repeating one after the other the story without any reference to his identity and the doubts that have emerged. If the Western journalists are unable to Google an Arabic name, search on Youtube for his former statements, and look for articles on him, why not letting Arab journalists who live in Europe do their job? Are the Arab emigrants half-citizens? Europe is pretty good at tracking the private life of people, so it wouldn’t be too difficult for news outlet to have an enquiry and be sure the guy does not get 6-digits paychecks by a governement or another…
January 12th, 2012, 1:12 am
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
وعن مسؤولية رأس السلطة بشار الأسد عن هذه الاختراقات ، قال نيوف “هذا الكلب الأجرب هو المسؤول عن كل هذه الجرائم. فطوال عشر سنوات كان همه الأول حشد جرائه وكلابه وخنازيره في أجهزة الأمن لمطاردة الوطنيين الحقيقيين وإحصاء أنفاسهم وتعقب حتى المقالات السخيفة التي يكتبها شبان على صفحات الإنترنت، في الوقت الذي كانت كل أجهزة المخابرات في العالم ، وعلى رأسها الموساد، تصل حتى إلى مكتبه العسكري الخاص وتجند حتى مساعده العسكري الأكثر قربا منه( محمود سليمان). وها هو جهاز الموساد يصل اليوم إلى أحد أخطر ضباط الأمن والخبراء العاملين في حقل يمس جوهر الأمن الوطني في الوقت الذي كان يتمنظر فيه مثل قحبة في مربع ليلي أمام قطعان الغنم والماعز من أنصاره في ساحة الأمويين ، الذين لا يعرفون ما الذي يجري في بلادهم ، وما الذي فعله رئيسهم الساقط بأمنها ، وما الذي جره عليها من ويلات طيلة عشر سنوات”. و أضاف “حتى لو وضعنا جانبا كل الجرائم التي ارتكبتها أجهزته الأمنية بحق الأبرياء ، فإن جرائم الاختراقات الأمنية الأجنبية لأمننا الوطني تكفي وحدها لدق عنقه تحت المقصلة أكثر من عشر مرات. هذا الصبي التافه يجب أن يعدم بتهمة الخيانة الوطنية ، رغم أني ضد عقوبة الإعدام من حيث المبدأ. لكني سأتسامح معها لمرة واحدة إذا كان من تنفذ به هذه العقوبة بشار الأسد تحديدا ودون أي شخص آخر في نظامه”!
January 12th, 2012, 1:17 am
Mina said:
353
You certainly know what you mean by hedonism, aren’t you?
I remember a website where a German had posted pictures on young Arab men with comments like “how cute…” and the text was supposedly denouncing pederasty in the Gulf. But it looked rather like some advertisment for the website owner. I think it was a guy from Berlin…
January 12th, 2012, 1:19 am
Juergen said:
Mina
are you trying to get personal here? nice try but you have to try harder.And before others seek, i do not operate websites.
Before you or an other fan of the beloved leader will post it, Ill do it.
Here is a gruesome video how US soldiers urinate on dead taliban fighters.
January 12th, 2012, 1:33 am
Juergen said:
Us embassy in Damascus will shorten services to the public
In a statement from the US state department it was annonced that more personal from the US embassy in Damascus will return to the US.
The state department reacted on their revised travel warning to Syria for US citizens. A spokesmebn of the ministry said that given the nature of the violence in the country the public services and the support for its citizens can no longer be provided on a 100% level. The embassy will remain open but appointments are needed to enter the embassy.
January 12th, 2012, 1:44 am
jad said:
Mina,
More funny story telling by Malek, no wonder the AL denies his stories and state that Malek didn’t really leave his hotel room because he was sick
الجزيرة أنور المالك النظام السوري يقوم باغراء لجنة المراقبين بالفتيات
http://youtu.be/1Xq89odeXVg
January 12th, 2012, 1:47 am
annie said:
http://www.yalibnan.com/2012/01/11/hezbollah-amal-baath-members-are-arming-syrian-rebels-report/
Hezbollah, Amal, Baath members are arming Syrian rebels, report
January 11, 2012 ⋅ 11:52 pm ⋅ Post a comment
Filed Under Amal, arms, Assad, Baath, Hezbollah, Lebanon, Syria, Syrian rebels
Lebanese security sources have confirmed that “dozens of members of Shiite Hezbollah and Amal movement are involved in smuggling arms across the Syrian border to the Syrian rebels.” These elements buy the weapons in Lebanon and Libya and smuggle them to the “Free Syrian Army”, mainly to Damascus countryside and Homs.
The sources pointed out that “the leaders of Hezbollah in the southern suburbs of Beirut and the Bekaa, arrested a number of these cadres and seized some of the arms shipments.” According to the sources, the smugglers use the same illegal border crossings used by Hezbollah for the past 10 years to smuggle Iranian arms from the Syrian regime
The sources noted that officers of the regime’s Syrian army have been facilitating the entry of the smuggled arms to the rebels in return bribes by the Hezbollah smugglers.
Lebanese security sources revealed also that “military units loyal to the Syrian government killed over the recent period a number of smugglers trying to deliver arms to the rebels in the town of Zabadani, close to the Syrian Lebanese border. In one case near Lebanon’s northern border, a number of Hezbollah members were arrested and a truck loaded with weapons was seized. In addition, Syrian forces arrested several Syrian officers, including one colonel, who were involved in the operation.
In a related development, a former member of the Amal movement revealed that “there are senior political figures in the Syrian ruling Baath Party who are involved in the arms smuggling to the rebels. The main sources of these illegal weapons are Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan and Turkey. Senior bankers, businessmen and traders contribute to financing the purchase of weapons and smuggling into Syria. They choose to make this in order to secure their future in the event of the success of the revolution and the downfall of the (Syrian President) Bashar al-Assad. ”
Source: Al Bawaba
Discussion
January 12th, 2012, 1:59 am
Juergen said:
Ann
if any of those accusations are true, then your beloved leader will have serious problems with his henchmen in Lebanon. May thats why we sont see the Hisbollah flags so often in the pro rallys anymore. Just counted one yesterday.
Ungracious bunch dont you think?
January 12th, 2012, 2:08 am
Son of Damascus said:
juergen,
That was Annie that posted the article not Spammie Ann. Although their names might be close one is not a cut and paste bot, while the other is.
January 12th, 2012, 2:16 am
Mina said:
Repeat after me: the crisis in Syria is completely unrelated to the need to divert people’s attention from the Palestinian status-quo, and no link with the Western and Israeli threats against Hizbollah and Iran. Annie and Jürgen may find out today that Syria has been involved in smuggling weapons to the aforementioned for years.
Jürgen: I don’t need a beloved leader, I need a self-reflecting society and WOMEN RIGHTS. Since you claim to have travel a lot thorugh the Arab world, can you tell me where you have seen women enjoying as much rights as in Syria?
EU on verge of abandoning hope for a viable Palestinian state
Israel’s foreign ministry denied that Israeli settlers were taking water resources from the West Bank
The Palestinian presence in the largest part of the occupied West Bank – has been, “continuously undermined” by Israel in ways that are “closing the window” on a two-state solution, according to an internal EU report seen by The Independent.
The report, approved by top Brussels officials, argues that EU support, including for a wide range of building projects, is now needed to protect the rights of “ever more isolated” Palestinians in “Area C”, a sector that includes all 124 Jewish settlements – illegal in international law – and which is under direct Israeli control. It comprises 62 per cent of the West Bank, including the “most fertile and resource rich land”.
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/eu-on-verge-of-abandoning-hope-for-a-viable-palestinian-state-6288336.html
January 12th, 2012, 2:33 am
Revlon said:
392. Dear Syrian Nationalist Party!
Wow!
Could you kindly link to Mr Nayouf’s article please!
Cheers!
January 12th, 2012, 2:54 am
Juergen said:
Annie
sorry, i see you arent the same person… Mea culpa!
January 12th, 2012, 3:01 am
SYR.EXPAT said:
364. JAD
“It’s a crime against every Syrian by everybody; by the criminal regime that took every brave reasonable Syrian man and woman and mad them disappear in prison for torture or killing without any accountability, consequently it opens the streets for every criminal and thug to use in the name of the revolution, by the stupid oppositions who insist of not seeing the terrorists that are doing every atrocity against innocent Syrians in their names without exposing them, and by the criminal greedy foreign powers that are intentionally making the situation getting worse and worse for political gains and to add more cards to their collections.”
Many good questions I must admit. However, as was said many times before, the responsibility of what’s is happening lies with the government first and foremost.
Had the government not used its ruthless iron fist from day one, things wouldn’t have escalated. Had the government made serious compromises, things would not have gone that far.
Bandar and NATO didn’t force Atif Najib’s to jail and torture the school children in Der’a for writing anti-government graffiti at a time of revolutions in the Arab world. Qatar didn’t prevent Assad Jr. from personally going to Der’a to resolve the matter. I can go on and on about the many missed opportunities.
What do you expect the people to do? They can’t take it anymore and they can’t go back. If they stop protesting, the Mukhabarat will get them one by one slowly, but surely.
A regime that targets doctors for treating the injured and allows its henchmen to shoot at those trying to retrieve the dead or injured is beyond barbaric. How can people trust such a regime?
We said many times that despite everything, Assad could have put a stop to the torture and humiliation of the people. He could have freed the political prisoners. He could have compromised and offered some measures to establish some form of trust, but he didn’t want any of it.
In the interview before the last, he admitted to “many mistakes” committed by his forces. When a ruthless dictator admits to “mistakes,” you know we’re talking about major crimes and atrocities. How come these “mistakes” keep happening? How come the heads of the security branches were not sacked for committing those “mistakes” and for failing stop the “global conspiracy against Syria.”
As long as the opposition is on the run in Syria and abroad, things will only deteriorate. As long as the pro-regime crowd can gather in big squares without any fear of being gunned down or viciously beaten by the security thugs, but not the opposition, things will get worse.
Right now, many people want revenge for the killing of their loved ones by the government. If the regime doesn’t act, a fully blown civil war will ensue. However, despite all that, the global conspirators cannot prevent Assad from starting a real transition and a South-Africa-type national reconciliation.
The government got us to where we are today, but it also holds the key to way out of this.
January 12th, 2012, 3:47 am
Juergen said:
Mina
I would say that in Tunesia its comparable that women have similar rights, may be the Tunesian women had the most modern rights of any arab country to my knowledge since 1958 Bourguiba introduced rights which allowed women the right to divorce and abolished polygamy. I checked and there was never an policy which allowed or tolerated honor killings, so overall i think Tunesia is better off than Syria when it comes to women rights.
January 12th, 2012, 4:54 am
Juergen said:
Syr Expat
very good comment on the situation. If we believe one moment what they are saying about the armed terrorists operate right within higly secured parts of the capital, then something goes seriously wrong within the regime. Its kind of like 9/11 Bushs visit to tenet and the clap on his shoulder pic, like good job guys. the biggest failure of the securuity services and 2 weeks later the CIA bos is visited by a friendly president, sometimes its hard to believe what one is seeing.
I wish that Syrians can start an reconciliation process like the South Africans in their truth commissions, i wish them also an end of their muhabarat spying on every citizen, i wish that every syrian citizen will be able to read his file after the regime will collapse. Lets hope that there is a Bishop Tutu style personality which could unify all Syrians under the banner of truth and reconciliation.
January 12th, 2012, 5:06 am
Mina said:
Jürgen,
Tunisia was the first Arab country to have a constitution; Tunisia was colonized by the French quite longer than Syria (and in Morocco too and Algeria you find educated women, as a result of the decades long exchanges and education system); Tunisia has a non segregated school system based on the French school programmes and education is customary until 16.
So yes, Tunisia stands apart. It is homogenous, only 6 million people, and does not witness a competition between the religious leaders of the different sects (which always result in a crush on women… they need scapegoates).
If honour crime is the criterium, why should the West hail Jordan? why doing business and political alliances with the Saudis who cannot even admit a church (or even a non-Muslim visitor to Mecca)?
Syr Expat
“As long as the opposition is on the run in Syria and abroad, things will only deteriorate.”
As if the opposition was able to agree on anything…
January 12th, 2012, 6:09 am
Mina said:
http://blog.lefigaro.fr/malbrunot/2012/01/comment-la-syrie-et-la-russie.html
14 comments, almost all raising doubts on the Western propaganda and its real goals.
January 12th, 2012, 6:19 am
Uzair8 said:
Shabbi7,
This appears to be a provocative username.
January 12th, 2012, 6:48 am
Juergen said:
Mina
you will not hear a single good word from me for this wahabi/salafi country or their way of islam, to me thats the cancer within modern islam,as much as they say bidah to everything, i would say they are the biggest bidah.
Your argumentation regarding Makkah sounds just like the right wing populistic parties here in europe. as long as no church bell is ringing in Makkah, we wont accept another Mosque. I doubt you want to belong to such right wing rednecks.
Women rights are an issue but not the most important, what sense does it make that women can wear miniskirts but are being imprisoned for their thoughts? Tunesia may have a great school system, probably the best if we see how many tunesian teachers work in the arab world, but did this change the fact that this regime under Ben Ali was among the harshest in the aarab world?
January 12th, 2012, 7:18 am
majedkhaldoun said:
mina
Are you communist?
January 12th, 2012, 7:48 am
Uzair8 said:
@410 Jeurgen
Excellent comment.
January 12th, 2012, 8:05 am
irritated said:
400. Son of Damascus
Thanks for the useful intervention to clarify who is Ann and who is Annie. We would have missed this crucial distinction.
January 12th, 2012, 8:28 am
Juergen said:
anyone can confirm that the AL has suspendend their mission in Syria? I just found one source in german tv saying so, no others confirm that yet.
January 12th, 2012, 8:32 am
zoo said:
Arab League’s indecision is fuelling Assad’s belligerence
Michael Young
Jan 12, 2012
When lost, continue walking around in circles. That is the motto of the Arab League in dealing with the crisis in Syria. And judging from the wavering in Arab capitals over what to do next with the regime of President Bashar Al Assad, little is likely to soon change.
{…}
Saudi Arabia has also been strikingly hazy on Mr Al Assad’s repression. The kingdom has condemned the actions of the Syrian regime, but it has also shied away from shaping Arab agreement on events in Syria. Riyadh has played a largely passive role, in contrast to its interventions in Bahrain and Yemen. That could be because the Saudi plate is full and the royal family is going through a transition; perhaps, too, the Saudis prefer a slow corrosion of Syria’s regime. That said, the prospect of ensuring that Iran loses a vital ally in the Levant has appeared not to galvanise Saudi decision-makers
,,,,
The Saudis’ response on Monday to the Arab League monitor’s report showed that they still prefer to have it both ways. The council of ministers issued a statement calling on the Syrian government to carry out the Arab plan and protect civilians. Yet it also implicitly supported pursuing the plan, affirming that it has been “partially” implemented – which the opposition rejects.
Other Arab states have also shown no enthusiasm for aggressively applying Arab decisions. Iraq, Algeria, Sudan, Morocco, Jordan and Lebanon have either been openly sympathetic to Mr Al Assad or have gone with the flow. Most of the Gulf states will follow the Saudi lead, which has been to step back. Qatar has stood out as the exception, but in March it relinquishes the rotating presidency of the Arab League to Iraq, which has defended Mr Al Assad.
There is no Arab momentum to side with the Syrian population against their leaders. This risks dangerously alienating the Syrian opposition, leading to radicalisation of the uprising. That may be precisely what Mr Al Assad wants, but it is also what the Arab states claim they want to avert. Syria is now an urgent matter for the UN Security Council, and has been for months. Arab indecision shows why.
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/arab-leagues-indecision-is-fuelling-assads-belligerence_
January 12th, 2012, 8:35 am
defender said:
415. ZOO ??????
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/arab-leagues-indecision-is-fuelling-assads-belligerence_
The requested page does not exist
TheNational.ae
January 12th, 2012, 8:45 am
zoo said:
#416 ooops, correction
http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/arab-leagues-indecision-is-fuelling-assads-belligerence
January 12th, 2012, 8:51 am
zoo said:
Arab League says no delay in sending more observers to Syria
2012-01-12 20:14:33
CAIRO, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — An Arab League (AL) official denied on Thursday there would be a delay in sending more observers to Syria.
Adnan al-Khodair, head of the AL’s monitoring operations room in Cairo, told Xinhua when the AL would dispatch a new batch of observers depended on the security situation and the request of observers already in Syria.
“If the observers in Syria need more support, we will immediately send another batch,” he said.
Khodair said the AL had received applications from many Arab countries and organizations to send observers. The AL will make arrangements for the mission according to the situation in Syria.
Currently, there are around 160 AL observers in Syria. An Arab diplomatic source said the AL would not send more observers to Syria for now until the situation becomes stable, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported Wednesday.
Syria signed the AL observer protocol on Dec. 19, 2011 in Cairo after the AL threatened to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council.
The observers are monitoring the situation in Syria as part of the AL peace initiative to end the months-long turmoil in Syria. The Syrian government said some 2,000 army and security personnel were killed since the unrest began in March, 2011, while the UN said more than 5,000 people have died in the violence.
On Tuesday, the AL condemned attacks on monitoring teams in Syrian cities of Latakis, Deir al-Zour and some other areas by pro- government people or the opposition.
Related:
Syria restates commitment to Arab League amid attacks on monitors
DAMASCUS, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Syria has stressed its commitment to the Arab League (AL) as news came out that monitors of the bloc were attacked in the troubled country.
While denouncing any action that might “hinder the observer mission in Syria,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem said Tuesday that his country will continue shouldering its responsibilities to protect AL observers. Full story
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/12/c_131356877.htm
January 12th, 2012, 9:00 am
Mina said:
In a previous post i mentioned the women issue as the key to the empowerement of society, of children education, and of the demographic problem. If the only thing you have to bring about this is “Women rights are an issue but not the most important, what sense does it make that women can wear miniskirts but are being imprisoned for their thoughts” I am afraid there is no debate. Do you know how difficult for women in Egyptian villages to go to an hospital, unless a male relative accepts to rent a car and bring them?
The problem is not about churchbells in Mekkah, it is about principles towards the other, another human being, be it a woman or someone of another religion.
January 12th, 2012, 9:03 am
zoo said:
Arab League mission in Syria faces challenges from both parties to conflict: diplomat
2012-01-12 04:35:59
UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 11 (Xinhua) — Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci warned here Wednesday that Arab League observers in Syria face challenges from both the Syrian government and the opposition.
“Today there is a type of violence, which pits the regular armed government against an opposition, which is also armed,” he said through an interpreter. “The difficulties met by the commission and observers of the Arab League not just difficulties having to do with the Syrian government.”
Medelci made the remarks at a press briefing following Algeria’ s assumption of the chairmanship of the diplomatic Group of 77 ( G77).
…
Medelci said it will likely take a bit more time for the Arab League mission to determine the full truth about what is happening in Syria and for the commission to facilitate a dialogue between the opposing parties.
“We are starting to advance, there is more clarity, we better understand what’s happening, but I think that the commission needs at least another 10 days and when we meet in Cairo on the 20th of January the commission will come to make its second assessment and based on that, at that time, it will probably appear that some initiatives could be taken to improve the mediation process further, which is being conducted by the Arab League now,” he said.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/12/c_131355383.htm
January 12th, 2012, 9:03 am
irritated said:
419. Mina
Funny that for some ‘human rights’ do not include ‘women rights”.
Women rights is the most important key to any development of a future healthy society. This is probably one of the major problem of the moslem-arab society that is hindering its harmonious growth.
January 12th, 2012, 9:10 am
majedkhaldoun said:
Mina
Do you have a religion, or code of ethics and morality, do you have children, are you communist? is your support of Assad is based on principals or on personality? do you support dictatorship and hate freedom? is lying O.K. to you ?is revenge ,is it part of your thinking or do you prefer to forgive?do you like planting? are you married with good relation with your husband, and children? do you describe your self as a happy woman or angry person?
You sound that you are from Egypt is it true?
January 12th, 2012, 9:14 am
zoo said:
Turkey, US planning Syria no-fly zone: Russian secretary
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-us-planning-syria-no-fly-zone-russian-secretary.aspx?pageID=238&nID=11330&NewsCatID=353
NATO and Gulf countries are trying to go from indirect meddling in Syria’s internal affairs to a direct military intervention, Russia’s National Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev said today.
Patrushev assessed the situation in the Middle East in an interview with Interfax agency, the website of the Voice of Russia reported.
Patrushev said Turkey and the United States were planning to create a no-fly zone in Syria to secure a base for the country’s opposition. According to Patrushev, Turkey, which had “excellent” relations with Syria until recently, is vying for influence in the Middle East with Iran.
The reason for a military intervention in Syria would be Damascus’ close ties with Tehran, Patrushev said, and not the crackdown on the opposition by the Bashar al-Assad regime.
“The West fears that weapons and ammunition go through Syria to Iran, Lebanon and the Hezbollah,” Patrushev said.
{…}
January 12th, 2012, 9:14 am
Juergen said:
Mina
My question was what does it bring to the people to have women rights when the civil rights are not granted or abused? Either you have total freedom in all civil and human rights. See its this same kind of argument i had with an persian who told me how great Iran was under the Schah. Surely you could find women who enjoyed their freedom, while many others were left in illeteracy and the dungeons of the Schah.
The debate should rather focus how can we achieve civil rights and liberties and grant all women the rights.
The problem Mina is that in such regimes like Syria youll never have an continuancy, always the rule of right can change upon the taste of those ruling, one time hijabs are banned from syrian universities, and then miracously through a presidential decret allowed again. So you mean that never ever we will see democracies in the ME, so as I read through this you suggest that we should stick to the regime, because it provides shelter and power to the minorities and provide women at least some sort of rights. Isnt that exactly the deal the Assads, Mubaraks and ben Alis made with their “children”?
January 12th, 2012, 9:35 am
Mina said:
How does your code of ethics apply in Iraq? Why should men watch unveiled women on TV all day but ask their household to “look islamic” and forbid a wife to ride the bus by herself to go to the hospital because she needs a “muharim”? Why don’t you see books in most houses? How can children respect studies when they have never seen someone holding a book and that some Salafis are telling them that “even the sciences are in the Quran?” What can you understand of the Quran without 1) a dictionary 2) studying grammars, which have to give exemples from poetry, literature and proverbs? 3)studying history for the references it makes?
January 12th, 2012, 9:40 am
defender said:
The Death of American Democracy
January 12th, 2012, 9:44 am
Shabbi7 said:
Uzair,
I used to post on here under a different name, but dabbi7a like Tara (and many others) kept calling me (and others like me) shabbi7a or mukhabarat. Of course, they said the same thing about the millions of Syrians that gathered in all governorates of Syria in support of Bashar al-Asad and reform under his leadership. Then I stopped visiting SC because of the gross infestation of dabbi7a retards with empty slogans, but every now and then when I would really want to comment, I decided I should do so as Shabbi7 🙂
If the choice is between shabbi7 or dabbi7, then shabbi7 forever is my choice, just like how the massive crowds in Damascus chanted for Bashar al-Asad yesterday (it definitely put a smile on my face, and reading Tara’s dismay about it, that smile went double).
Also as long as they’re going to call us shabbi7a, I’m calling them dabbi7a. Best part is that the dabbi7a came up with that name for themselves on their own while chopping off the arm of a dead soldier in Deir ez-Zor, so I encourage everyone here to use the dabbi7a label on them just like how they use the shabbi7a label on us.
January 12th, 2012, 10:00 am
Mina said:
Jürgen and Majedkhaldoun’s logic is: if you don’t want a NATO sponsored bloodbath, it is because you are pro-Asad, “the beloved leader”.
This is an insult to the intelligence of the Syrians, among other things.
Continue to pray for your Iraq-redux, for you “Lebanese war, part II”, I won’t follow.
If it is about human rights, why shouldn’t the Christian of Syria first get a guarantee that the constitution will have “a person of ANY religion or any sex can be president of Syria”?
January 12th, 2012, 10:01 am
Mina said:
January 11, 2012 7:12 PM
A rare look inside Syria, under Assad’s thumb
By Elizabeth Palmer
(CBS News)
HOMS, Syria – The deadly violence in Syria has been mounting for ten months, leaving more than 5,000 people dead – mostly anti-government protesters – according to the United Nations.
The protesters demand that long-time dictator Bashar Assad step down immediately, but his family has held Syria in an iron grip for 40 years, and he is determined to hang on at any price.
Assad has kept most foreign journalists out of the country. CBS News applied for visas six months ago, and on Wednesday, CBS News correspondent Elizabeth Palmer finally gained official access to the closed nation. She saw only what the government wanted her to see, but the brutality and violence was still apparent.
Another group of Western journalists were midway through their own government-supervised tour of the embattled city of Homs when the area came under fire Wednesday.
One French reporter was killed. So were eight Syrians – ordinary residents of this middle class neighborhood. Just 20 minutes earlier, the CBS News crew was on the same street to hear from the people who say the threat of snipers and kidnapping is constant.
CBS News wasn’t allowed out of sight of the government minders, but from the bus windows, Homs looked eerily quiet. Armed opposition groups opposed to the regime now control whole neighborhoods, which are off limits to all government vehicles.
The bus driver didn’t dare drive across town, instead driving all the way around it to the next destination on the official tour: the Nader Shaqfah Military Hospital, where CBS News was shown injured Syrian soldiers in every bed.
Doctors say an average of 25 wounded soldiers arrive daily, along with four to five dead.
In Damascus, President Assad made a rare public appearance at a pro-government rally on Wednesday.
Speaking to a vast crowd of supporters, he once again blamed the violence on a foreign plot, and promised to crack down hard on people he has repeatedly deemed “terrorists,” who he says are merely acting out the will of foreign groups and governments.
There are very disturbing signs, however, that in spite of international attempts to mediate in this conflict and quell the violence, the situation is actually escalating.
There is already a lot of evidence to suggest we’re looking at the opening chapters of a civil war already underway between the two main Islamic factions in Syria.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57357434/a-rare-look-inside-syria-under-assads-thumb/
(I hope you will all have appreciated the “international attempts to mediate in this conflict and quell the violence”… For 6 months you just have to read the comments here to know there is a civil war in Homs, but these guys can’t.)
January 12th, 2012, 10:10 am
majedkhaldoun said:
Mina
I understand that you are secretive person and a person who is full of fear, and you want to talk about women right from very narrow vision,but you are against human rights, and you are against society rights you must have read some books and you thought of yourself as educated woman,you seem to have special cult and you want to apply it to every one,with no respect to freedom, revenge and angr dominate your thinking
While I love human rights and beleave in freedom I fully aware that freedom has limitation, it must not touch other freedom and never without respect to society rights,I am for women right and beleave women have been deprived of a lot of rights, but in no way that should blind me from defending human rights and society rights.
Your understanding of Islam is wrong,just like a lot of religious ulama are interpreting Islam wrong, in Islam women are equal to men,In inheritence women sometimes get half,some times get equal, sometimes get twice as much,this is conditioned on society nature and natures that are obvious from difference between women and men, when the prophet was asked who should I love more, the prphet answered Your mother,women need love men need respect.
When women are deprived of their right they suffer and feel tortured, all people must not be tortured, your support of dictatorship contradicts your support for women right, Human suffering is wrong everywhere, all the time.
When I asked you about yourself , it is not that I expect answer, it is for you to analyse your personality and always to strife to improve yourself once you know your personality.
January 12th, 2012, 10:18 am
Juergen said:
Mina
interessting that you point that out, but do you think that education or the missing of educational values are unique to Muslims only?
I mean i can give you an example, when i was a boy the tv was just for fun times, it never was running when we were eating. When i lived in the US, it was common to have the tv run all day, same applies when i visit some syrian families, the tv is i suppose an status symbol and few make a difference and read for example.
But who am i to criticise arabs for their culture? When i was in Tehran one see only people who read, basically everywhere.
Some salafis might tell us that arabs have more of an oral tradition, whoever will buy this excuse.
Mina, i dont rule out that some people have narrow minded views not only upon their lives but also on their religion. It is as always an question of ones character. And thinking is not an obstacle towards it. I met once a guy who converted to islam. He invited me to his apartment. The walls in his living room were all green, i asked him if this is his favorite color. He told me: this is the color of Islam and the prophet and all muslims like it… well what can you say to some who think the world is like their sheikh is saying?
By the way, i totally agree with you that the snc is on a wrong path if they really pursue that only a muslim could become president.
January 12th, 2012, 10:22 am
Shabbi7 said:
Mina,
Every time they said they were mediating, they were actually escalating. The only reason those terrorists are still killing today is because every time the government stops in their face, it gets condemned internationally (that’s called mediation). It’s scary knowing that the UNSC was close to condemning our government while labeling these terrorists as unarmed civilians, and all based on “activists said this” and “dissident with contacts in Syria said that”.
“One French reporter was killed. So were eight Syrians – ordinary residents of this middle class neighborhood. Just 20 minutes earlier, the CBS News crew was on the same street to hear from the people who say the threat of snipers and kidnapping is constant.”
Look at this paragraph where a reader will automatically assume the protesters are anti-government and that the snipers and kidnappers are pro-government, when in fact it’s exactly the other way around. The filth of the media and the dabbi7a never stops.
January 12th, 2012, 10:23 am
majedkhaldoun said:
Mina said
why shouldn’t the Christian of Syria first get a guarantee that the constitution will have “a person of ANY religion or any sex can be president of Syria”?
They should,It was Hafez Assad and Bashar who wrote this in the constitution that the president should be Moslem and in Lebanon the constitution clearly say the president must be christion , you should object to it there too.
January 12th, 2012, 10:23 am
Tara said:
Shabeeh
I think you are a former Habib. If true, don’t get paranoid. I promise you I don’t have inside info. I just have a feeling which could be very well wrong. I never called you Shabeeh. I remember I was pretty nice to you. I am in general nice with polite people. I once told you that I was less angry. That was a phase. I am very angry again. You guys disappointed me. You should have overcome that Bashar is Alawi and at least requested accountability from the get go. If armed gangs now present, it is because you guys turned a blind eye on extreme injustices and cornered the victims. You roved we were never one people and this is saddening. You by the way means general you not you personally.
January 12th, 2012, 10:24 am
jna said:
379. Tarasaid:
JNA Playing victim now? Not good at it. Mnhebaks can play anything except victims. Providing support to children killers make you an active accomplice in the horror.
Tara, I’m not a victim in any way. The people of Syria are victims of crimes and stupidity committed by both government and opposition. It’s past time for all sides to reassess and find a way out of the mess. Take advantage of the observers as a way to utilize international support for a transition process. Syria needs more observers, not removing them.
January 12th, 2012, 10:34 am
Shabbi7 said:
Tara,
Armed gangs have always been present. This has been proven on SC back in April, at least! That’s not to mention the police officers that were killed and the buildings and cars burned since the first day of the “peaceful revolution” in Dar`a. You guys are the ones turning the blind eye to facts on the ground and then you give us the whole bleeding heart speech about mothers and children; mothers and children whom your dabbi7a killed and then started peddled with their blood. We will never forget that people like you were advertising NATO intervention as a good thing, and advertising that the US, EU, and Mr. Hamad were “honorable” people looking for the well-being of Syria and the people of Syria. You have failed miserably with this shabbi7, at least.
January 12th, 2012, 10:36 am
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Odd..I did but sorry, for some reason the link was not posted with the quote from an article found at Al-Hakika… Communists, but very good Syrian Nationalist in a way, nice people we can live with. Here is the link to the site:
http://www.syriatruth.org/
January 12th, 2012, 10:37 am
Son of Damascus said:
Irritated,
Your welcome, I know people like you with “special needs” need some help connecting the dots, I am more than happy to provide it.
Here is another thing that I will help clarify to you,
Your god Bashar is the scum of the earth, and anyone that looks up to this weasel is morally and ethically corrupt. He is single handedly ripping our country apart so that he can keep his inheritance, well guess what I am not nor is any Syrian his property to be inherited.
January 12th, 2012, 10:40 am
zoo said:
….
January 12th, 2012, 10:44 am
Tara said:
Shabeeh
I am interested in replying to your post. I am pretty involved at work. I will respond later.
January 12th, 2012, 10:44 am
Uziar8 said:
@435 JNA.
“The people of Syria are victims of crimes and stupidity committed by both government and opposition.”
Let’s go along with this comment for a moment.
The Syrian people are victims.
The Syrian opposition are also victims.
The only party that is not a victim is the regime.
The Regime is the stronger party here and carries the major portion of the burden of responsiblity. You’re talking as though the regime and opposition are equal parties the way the neo-cons/zionists portray the Isreali – Gaza situation.
January 12th, 2012, 10:46 am
Uzair8 said:
@436 Shabeeha
What the Syrian people have achieved (with God Almighty’s help) has been remarkable and has outdone all other Arab revolutions. I for one don’t want NATO intervention. For one it would ruin what the people have achieved by themselves so far.
I’d rather some form of Turkish/Arab involvement. However, this is for the Syrian people, in particular the Syrian Street, to decide and not me.
January 12th, 2012, 10:53 am
Mina said:
432 Sabbih
This is why I quoted the article. Today le Monde and the Guardian are selling to all that the “Syrian regime” killed the journalist… And Ian Black says that just before it happened they were in this neighborhood and people were telling them about killing and kidnappings “all from the same sheet”, that is, taking a position to say the people he interviewed were lying and repeating government propaganda. How do you want hatred not to spread with such racist idiots? It has been in a state of civil war in this area for 6 months, but because they are somehow supporting the presence of the army to stop the sectarian killings, Ian Black knows better.
What if journalists were interviewing people in Iraq, if they say “i am okay with the US troops and Malaki torturing the terrorists” and they’ll say: you repeat the governement sheet?
By the way, there is still another possibility, which is that the mafias among the security apparatuses did it in answer to Bashar al Asad speech in the morning, to make clear to him that he should not go the “Mahmud Abbas way”.
January 12th, 2012, 10:57 am
jna said:
440. Uziar8said: …The Regime is the stronger party here and carries the major portion of the burden of responsiblity. You’re talking as though the regime and opposition are equal parties the way the neo-cons/zionists portray the Isreali – Gaza situation.
Internally,the regime is stronger. Internationally, the opposition is the stronger party. Slice and dice it however you want but a legitimate transition to democracy cannot be carried out without opposition participation in the process.
January 12th, 2012, 10:57 am
jad said:
Dear Mina,
Do you have a religion?
See, it’s very important that we know your religion and sect because of the survey we are conducting, the bad news is that most probably you will be labeled as a Kafira (la sama7 allh), the good news is that because you are a women you will be labeled as a Half Kafira (la sama7 Allah) including all the priceless prizes that come with the title.
Have a nice day my friend 🙂
Shabbi7,
I agree, the name is much better than Dabbi7! Ya la6eef!
January 12th, 2012, 11:13 am
Mina said:
Escalation: in Egypt too, and from a self-proclaimed activist group on FB…
Majed: of course I am against these stupid discriminatory measures. But do you think anyone in the Middle East has enough power now to reverse that?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jan/12/syria-arab-league-monitors-cannot-stop-the-killing
(at 2:55 quoting ahramonline
http://english.ahram.org.eg/~/NewsContent/1/64/31544/Egypt/Politics-/Islamist-Morality-Police-to-train-volunteers-in-us.aspx)
A self-declared “Morality Police”- official title: the Committee for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice- has announced it will hold its first training session for volunteers in Cairo tonight.
Ahram Online reports that the group proclaimed on its new official Facebook page that it had acquired 1,000 tazers to be distributed to volunteers who will promote “virtue” and combat “vice” in the Egyptian street.
The “Morality Police”, which models itself on a similar group in Saudi Arabia that monitors citizens social behaviour, added in its announcement that these electric shocks batons will help in self-defence against any possible attacks on volunteers, adding that volunteers would be instructed to use the tazers only in “extremely necessary” situations.
The Facebook page announced that the first field training session for volunteers will be on Thursday evening in El-Mandara neighbourhood in Alexandria.
Question: how can they buy tazers? I can’t believe this is not forbidden under Egyptian law.
Jad: i did mention it last spring. Let’s not follow this path…
January 12th, 2012, 11:15 am
Ghufran said:
Expat, welcome back.
المندسه حول جيش سوريا الحر
http://the-syrian.com/archives/61293
January 12th, 2012, 11:18 am
Mina said:
Two Arab League monitors quit Syria amid conflicting claims
Head of league’s Syria mission challenges claims by Algerian monitor that Al-Assad regime is guilty of war crimes
AFP , Thursday 12 Jan 2012
Two Arab League monitors in Syria have quit, officials said on Thursday, as the head of the operation accused an Algerian observer who resigned of making unfounded claims about the operation.
“Two monitors have excused themselves – an Algerian and a Sudanese,” Syria operations chief Adnan Khodeir said at Arab League headquarters in Cairo.
He said that the Algerian monitor quit “for health reasons,” while the Sudanese “was returning to his country for personal reasons.”
On Wednesday, Algerian Anwar Malek told Doha-based Al Jazeera that he had quit the mission and accused the Syrian regime of committing a series of war crimes against its people and of duping his colleagues.
But the head of the mission slammed Malek’s claims as “baseless” because, since his deployment to the flashpoint city of Homs in central Syria, he stayed in his hotel room and did not join other observers in the field.
“What observer Anwar Malek said on satellite television is baseless,” General Mohammed Ahmed Mustafa Al-Dabi, former head of Sudanese military intelligence, who leads the operations in Syria, said in a statement.
“Malek was deployed to Homs as part of a team, but for six days he did not leave his room and did not join members of the team on the ground, pretending he was sick,” Al-Dabi said in the statement.
He echoed remarks by an unnamed Arab League official who had said that Malek was bedridden throughout his assignment in Homs and that his accusations were unfounded.
“What I saw was a humanitarian disaster. The regime isn’t committing one war crime but a series of crimes against its people,” the Algerian observer had told Al Jazeera.
“The mission was a farce and the observers have been fooled. The regime orchestrated it and fabricated most of what we saw to stop the Arab League from taking action against the regime,” he said.
According to Al-Dabi, the Algerian monitor requested leave for medical treatment in Paris but departed before waiting for the green light.
Meanwhile, Arab League chief Nabil El-Arabi told a private Egyptian television station late Wednesday that reports he was receiving from Al-Dabi on the mission were “extremely worrying.”
Earlier this week, El-Arabi warned that the mission – launched on 26 December to end the Syrian regime’s crackdown on democracy protesters – could be suspended after three monitors were hurt in an attack.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/31586/World/Region/Two-Arab-League-monitors-quit-Syria-amid-conflicti.aspx
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/31576/World/Region/Arab-observers-face-tough-mission-in-Syria-China.aspx
January 12th, 2012, 11:23 am
Revlon said:
الأسد فاجأ مؤيّديه بنزوله إلى الشارع معهم وأكد أنه “سننتصر على المؤامرة”
الخميس 12 كانون الثاني 2012- السنة 78 – العدد 24616
http://www.annahar.com/article.php?t=arab&p=3&d=24616
فاجأ الرئيس السوري بشار الاسد الآلاف من انصاره في ساحة الامويين
بدمشق، إذ شاركهم شخصيا في تحركهم المؤيد للنظام، وتعهد دحر من وصفهم بالمتآمرين الاجانب الذين يخططون لانهاء حكمه قائلا: “سننتصر على المؤامرة”، وانسحب أحد مراقبي بعثة جامعة الدول العربية من سوريا واتهم السلطات بارتكاب جرائم حرب. وقتل صحافي فرنسي في حمص وهو أول صحافي أجنبي يسقط منذ بدء الاحتجاجات في سوريا.
قال الاسد الذي وصل فجأة الى مكان تجمع مؤيديه في ساحة الامويين بدمشق: “سننتصر من دون أدنى شك على المؤامرة… انهم في مرحلتهم الاخيرة من المؤامرة وسنجعلها نهاية لهم ولمخططاتهم”.
واضاف في حضور زوجته أسماء الاسد واثنين من أولاده، لانصاره الذين تجمعوا تعبيرا عن دعمهم للاصلاحات التي تحدث عنها في خطابه اول من امس: “جئت لكي استمد القوة منكم. لم أشعر بالضعف يوما ما بفضلكم”.
وهتفت الحشود: “شبيحة للابد لعيونك بشار الاسد” في اشارة الى الميليشيات المؤيدة له ومعظم افرادها من الاقلية العلوية التي اكتسبت شهرة ببث الرعب لدورها في قمع الاحتجاجات المناهضة للرئيس. وجاء هذا التجمع في اطار سلسلة تظاهرات دعم للنظام نظمت في مدن وبلدات سورية عدة، استنادا الى مشاهد بثها التلفزيون السوري
__________________________________________________________________
Personal Comment
Jr’s confidence in own supporters’ approval, and wisdom of his policy appears to have been badly shaken.
In over 10 years in office, he never felt the need, or attempted to look people in the eye and address them as constituency.
He always addressed “Institutions” that owe their existence and persistence to his late father, and himself respectively.
The failure of 10 months old brutal crackdown by his mighty army, republican guards, and security agencies to put an end to the descent of a “handful of protesters” has shattered his long held conviction of being beloved, adored, and rightful.
Assad sought a breather from the several months long security-imposed house/hideout confinement; the world’s vastness now feels so oppressively tight!
January 12th, 2012, 11:24 am
Ghufran said:
المندسه حول المناع
المناع ما غير موقفو
نحن يلي عملنا
نحن كنا نشوف اي واحد بنتقد النظام على اي شي بفترة ما قبل الثورة كمعارض
اي واحد بحكي او بكتب علنا بالمواضيع يلي ما منحكيها الا ادام المقربيين الموثوقين كان تلقائيا بصير معارض
اما هل الايام فازا الزلمة ما طلع و لعن روح حافظ شي الف مرة و هدد بشار بالوعيد فما بكون “معارض”
المناع بقي مخلص لمبادئو واهدافو يلي كان عم ينادي الها من زمان ابل الثورة حتى
كيف طلع معي هيك؟
الجواب
مناع بعرف منيح عن النظام وعايش فترة التمانينات وجرائمها يلي بتشيب الراس و السجون المرعبة يلي الناس كانت تفوت الها وما كانت تطلع, حتى لو جثث, وبالتالي العداد ضد النظام عندو معبي للاخير ومالح يزيد شو ما انسفك دم اضافي يعني بالمختصر المفيد هو بنى اهدافو اعتمادا على تفكير عميق و طويل وما كان عبارة عن رد فعل على الامور الحالية او الامور العاطفية يلي عم ترافقها
واحدة من الوسائل المستخدمة لتفهم الزلمة ليش اتخذ قرار معين هي انك تشوف شو هي المعلومات يلي بملكها و تحط حالك بموقفوا و تحالوا تجاري تفكيروا اعتمادا على اسلوب اتخاذوا القرارات بالماضي و بتشوف شو هي القرارت يلي لح تتخزها انت بهديك الحالة و بتشوفها ازا بتطابئ القرارات يلي اتخذها ولا لأ
ازا كانت مطابقة فغالبا وليس دائما عرفت ليش اتخذ هو القرار تبعو
اما ازا كان لأ فغالبا في المشكلة بمحاولتك مجارات تفكيرو او بسبب انو معلومات اضافية هو بعرفها و انت ما بعرف انو بعرفها او ممكن انك ما بتعرف بوجودها حتى
طبقت هل الاسلوب على هيثم مناع:
هو من جماعة حقوق الانسان مهتم بحقوق المرأة و الاقليات يعني متل اليسار الاوربي الغربي غالبا بكره سفك الدم وبفضل انو يكون الضحية على انو يكون الجلاد
فيلو تاريخ شيوعي قبل ما يضطر يغادر البلد ليعيش في فرنسا فترة طويلة فهو كمان من هل الناحية لح يكون متل اليسار الاوربي بكره السياسة الامريكية “الامبريالية العسكرية” وان كان غير معادي للغرب
فمناع كان ضد فكرة الغزو للعراق من شان الاطاحة بنظام صدام حسين (جزار الملايين ) يلي هو اشد بكتير من وحشية حافظ يلي بشار اقل وحشية منو (ابدا لا تفكر تقارن بين واحد امر بابادة 40 الف باقل من شهر بحماة مع مجازر متفرقة ضد المدنيين في لبنان و حلب و جسر الشغور يعني بكل المناطق يلي خالفتوه مع بشار يلي معدل ضحاياه حوالي 1000 كل شهر) وبتوقع قرار معارضتو للحرب نابع من رفض مبدأ الغزو للاطاحة بنظام مهما كان متوحش ودموي.
فبتوقع انو اهدافو هي متل اهداف اليسار الاوربي تتمثل بتحقيق دولة ديمقراطية محترمة لحقوق الانسان و الاقليات والمرأة مع نوع من الرعاية الاجتماعية
وسائله هي السلمية والسياسية بشكل كامل باعتبارو برفض سياسة الحوار بالبسطار او مجرد الدعس فيه على بشار حتى دون حوار بالاضافة الى الحفاظ على الدولة و محاولة استئصال النظام ببطأ خطوة خطوة حتى لا تســتأصل الدولة بالغلط مع النظام
فمنشان هيك منشوفو عم يحاور الكل دون استثناء “روسيا و النظام ومنشوفو على قنوات العالم والمنار”
اما ازا سألتني كيف هاد الشي لح يشتغل و ينفع مع بشار؟
ما بعرف وباعتباري بتصنف مع اليمين ما مع اليسار و شخصيا بؤمن انو بشار بفهم لغة القوة بس فمصطلح “حوار مع بشار” بالنسبة الي عبارة عن طلاسم ما بفهمها, بس بعرف شو بتعني
فدور على حدا غيري يجاوبك انو كيف ممكن هاد الشي يشتغل؟
بس بتوقع انو وسيلتو للتغير هي انو يخلي الروس يضغطوا على بشار متل ما الامريكان ضغطوا على مبارك, ما عندي جواب تاني!
هل الشغلة خارج مدى ادراك عقلي. ياريب لو حدا بعرف يحط الجواب
طيب ليش واحد يميني متلي بتلائيه ساكن بكل الاماكن يلي بترفع مستوى الادريناليين بالدم لمستويات قياسية عم دافع عن واحد من اليسار عاش حياتو دفاعا عن حقوق الانسان و يلي تقريبا شخصيتو مختلفة بشكل كامل عن شخصيتي وبشوفو جبان و بشوفني مجنون؟
لانو الزلمة معارض للنظام من ابل ما انولد انا نفسي
ربما سياستو ممكن تأدي لمخرج انا ما لي شايفو
بس مشكلتي معو هي انو بدو يفرض اجندتو السلمية بشكل ديكتاتوري علينا عن طريق رفض التدخل الدولي كسياسة عامة ما الاجندة السلمية المطلقة بحد ذاتها
January 12th, 2012, 11:28 am
majedkhaldoun said:
Comment #444 is very silly
January 12th, 2012, 11:31 am
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
الشعب السوري والوطن السوري بحاجة ماسة لقآئد حقيقي لا واجهة لعصابة مجرمين تعمل تحت اسم حزب البعث.
January 12th, 2012, 11:33 am
jad said:
‘Dabbi7a’ of Deir Alzor throwing dynamite toward the security froces
رمي ديناميت على رجال الامن في دير الزور 12.1.2012
http://youtu.be/aRX-qRsAv-Y
January 12th, 2012, 11:48 am
jad said:
#450,
I’m glad that you see how silly your questioning ‘Syndrome’ is.
January 12th, 2012, 11:51 am
irritated said:
Mina #448
Lies and disinformation is a disease that even AL observers are catching thanks to the generous remuneration of Qatari owned’s Al Jazeera
January 12th, 2012, 11:58 am
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
It is time to hold Shia Iran to account. They have proven to be a tool of the devil in continuing not only their clandestine Nuclear program that is threatening the entire Middle East, but unabated support to the Baathist criminal Mafia in Damascus that murdered more than 180,000 Moslem Syrians in the past 30 years. This is genocide the world is silent about. But for Iran, an Islamic State that falsely proclaim Islam as their only true religion, a front position advanced to encroach on real Moslem land in the west, it is beyond hypocrisy to continue funding the Baathist regime while it continue to kill Moslems even in Mosques and Holly places.
Shia Munafekeen, المنافقين الشيعة are out kissing hands of every enemy of Syria and western puppets as well, they claim to be Moslems ( that is fraud by itself) but did nothing to help Syrians free their live from the clutches of a criminal gang operating under non-legitimate front, pretending to be a political one, but in fact , it is just a classic organized crime family using a fictitious political name Baath party and a front man, supposedly a President ( what a sick joke) he has no power or any leadership quality whatsoever, just your old plain coward criminal front-man like Al Capone lawyer basically.
January 12th, 2012, 12:04 pm
zoo said:
Israel and the US resort to “terrorism” to stop Iran’s nuclear program
“After all, killing civilian scientists and civilian leaders, even if you do it quietly, is unquestionably terrorism. That’s certainly what we’d consider it if Hezbollah fighters tried to kill cabinet undersecretaries and planted bombs at the homes of Los Alamos engineers.
If you think Iran is a mortal enemy that needs to be dealt with via military force, you can certainly make that case. But if you’re going to claim that terrorism is a barbaric tactic that has to be stamped out, you can hardly endorse its use by the United States just because it’s convenient in this particular case.
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/11/more_murder_of_iranian_scientists_still_terrorism/singleton/
January 12th, 2012, 12:05 pm
Revlon said:
Future benefactors of Free Syria
Karm AlZeitoun, Homs
10/01/2012
January 12th, 2012, 12:12 pm
ann said:
AL monitoring team head in Syria denies his mission “farce” – 2012-01-12
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/12/c_131357052.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Head of the Arab League (AL) observer mission in Syria Moustafa al-Dabi on Thursday dismissed as “untrue” the remarks of a former AL observer in Syria, who decried the monitoring mission to the country as a “farce.”
Al-Dabi was quoted by state-run SANA news agency as saying that Anwar Malek, an former Algerian member of the monitoring team, hadn’t left his hotel room since he was dispatched to central city of Homs for field trips.
In a recent interview, Malek told the Doha-based al-Jazeera TV that he resigned because of what he saw, saying that the mission was falling apart.
“What I saw was a humanitarian disaster. The regime is not just committing one war crime, but a series of crimes against its people,” he said, according to al-Jazeera.
“The snipers are everywhere shooting at civilians. People are being kidnapped. Prisoners are being tortured and none were released,” he said, adding that security forces did not withdraw their tanks from the streets, but just hid them and then redeployed them after the observers left.
Meanwhile, al-Dabi said “He (Malek) hadn’t even joined his team through the field mission in Homs,” adding that Malek stayed in his hotel room citing his illness that prevented him from joining his colleagues.
“Malek has requested permission to leave Syria for treatment in Paris and we granted him that permission but he didn’t wait for his departure arrangement and booked his plane ticket on his own expense,” al-Dabi said.
Al-Dabi’s team renewed its calls on the media to stick to objectivity and to be accurate in its coverage, according to SANA.
Meanwhile, an AL official denied Thursday there would be a delay in sending more observers to Syria.
Adnan al-Khodair, head of AL’s monitoring operations room in Cairo, told Xinhua when the AL would dispatch a new batch of observers depended on the security situation and the request of observers already in Syria.
“If the observers in Syria need more support, we will immediately send another batch,” he said.
Khodair said the AL had received applications from many Arab countries and organizations to send observers. The AL will make arrangements for the mission according to the situation in Syria.
Currently, there are around 160 AL observers in Syria. An Arab diplomatic source said the AL would not send more observers to Syria for now until the situation becomes stable, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported Wednesday.
Syria signed the AL observer protocol on Dec. 19, 2011 in Cairo after the AL threatened to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council.
The observers are monitoring the situation in Syria as part of the AL peace initiative to end the months-long turmoil in Syria. The Syrian government said some 2,000 army and security personnel were killed since the unrest began in March, 2011, while the UN said more than 5,000 people have died in the violence.
On Tuesday, the AL condemned attacks on monitoring teams in Syrian cities of Latakis, Deir al-Zour and some other areas by pro- government people or the opposition.
January 12th, 2012, 12:13 pm
jad said:
Haytham Manna3 position is correct by refusing all kind of international intervention, he is also correct that the Russian will Veto any military resolution by the UNSC, it’s obvious, yet some delusional oppositions are still insisting of giving people false promises they can’t deliver or can’t even deal with the results of those promises, killing the hopes of people like that has one result full scale civil war or a regional war.
The oppositions must learn politics and diplomacy for the sake of all Syrians including the regime itself, they can help instead of being promoters of chaos.
خارجية فرنسا: نعمل مع شركائنا لقرار بمجلس الأمن يدين النظام السوري
أكدت الخارجية الفرنسية أن “خيار فرض حظر جوي على سوريا غير مطروح حالياً”، مشيرةً إلى أنها “تواصل السعي مع شركائها لاعتماد قرار في مجلس الأمن يدين النظام السوري ويدعم مبادرة الجامعة العربية”.
وشدد المتحدث باسم الخارجية الفرنسية رومان نادال، في مؤتمر صحافي، على أن “موقف فرنسا من سوريا لم يتغير، فأمام القمع الدموي الذي يمارسه النظام، ندعم بشكل كامل مبادرة جامعة الدول العربية وتنفيذ الخطة في أبعادها الأربعة، أي وقف القمع، وتحرير جميع السجناء السياسيين، وعودة القوات الأمنية إلى الثكنات، ودخول وسائل الإعلام الدولية إلى الأراضي السورية”.
وتمنى نادال أن “يتحمل المجتمع الدولي مسؤولياته لدعم الخطة العربية”، مجدداً “إدانة جميع الهجمات ضد المراقبين”، ومذكراً السلطات السورية بأن “من واجبها حماية بعثة المراقبين”.
هذا ورحب نادال بـ”نية اللجنة الوزارية العربية إستمرار التنسيق مع الأمين العام للأمم المتحدةبان كي مون”، معتبراً أنه “من الضروري الآن أكثر من أي وقت مضى أن يلتزم المجتمع الدولي ويتعاون مع الجامعة العربية لإنهاء القمع في سوريا”.
وأضاف أن “التعاون مع الأمم المتحدة سيعزز مهمة البعثة من دون أن يتمكن النظام من عرقلة أو إخفاء الواقع”.
January 12th, 2012, 12:17 pm
ann said:
Arab League says no delay in sending more observers to Syria – 2012-01-12
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/12/c_131356877.htm
CAIRO, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — An Arab League (AL) official denied on Thursday there would be a delay in sending more observers to Syria.
Adnan al-Khodair, head of the AL’s monitoring operations room in Cairo, told Xinhua when the AL would dispatch a new batch of observers depended on the security situation and the request of observers already in Syria.
“If the observers in Syria need more support, we will immediately send another batch,” he said.
Khodair said the AL had received applications from many Arab countries and organizations to send observers. The AL will make arrangements for the mission according to the situation in Syria.
Currently, there are around 160 AL observers in Syria. An Arab diplomatic source said the AL would not send more observers to Syria for now until the situation becomes stable, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported Wednesday.
Syria signed the AL observer protocol on Dec. 19, 2011 in Cairo after the AL threatened to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council.
The observers are monitoring the situation in Syria as part of the AL peace initiative to end the months-long turmoil in Syria. The Syrian government said some 2,000 army and security personnel were killed since the unrest began in March, 2011, while the UN said more than 5,000 people have died in the violence.
On Tuesday, the AL condemned attacks on monitoring teams in Syrian cities of Latakia, Deir al-Zour and some other areas by the opposition.
January 12th, 2012, 12:17 pm
jad said:
Stop using innocent children, they have no place in this bloody struggle.
.لا لتجييش الأطفال تحت أي مسمى كان، انها جريمة بحق كل سوري
.أماكن الأطفال المدارس والملاعب وليس السياسة أو الحروب
January 12th, 2012, 12:20 pm
jad said:
Homs, ‘Dabi7a’ shooting RPG in a residential area
إرهابيو حمص يقصفون المنازل بالآر بي جي
http://youtu.be/KrPsoD8XNOc
“السلمية تتجلى بأبهى صورها ، التي لا تفرق بين عسكري ومدني وبين بريء ومتهم وبين مؤيد أو معارض ، الكل سواسية تحت القصف بالأر بي جي ، والجميع متماثلون في حقهم باختيار الموت إما قتلا بالسكين والسواطير أو ذبحا تحت أنغام التكبير – والدين منهم بريء – أو تحت الموت والتشتت أشلاء تحت قصف الصواريخ والهاون والار بي جي”
January 12th, 2012, 12:27 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
@JAD
Then why the genocidal criminal Baathist Mafia keep killing them by the hundred? Tell them to stop too please.
January 12th, 2012, 12:27 pm
jad said:
Algeria, Egypt and Iraq are against taking the Syrian file to the UN (My guess it’s a message to Hammoudeh of Qatar)
وزير خارجية الجزائر: الحكومة السورية اتخذت خطوات لنزع فتيل الأزمة
أشار وزير الخارجية الجزائر مراد مدلسي، يوم الأربعاء، إلى أن الحكومة السورية اتخذت خطوات لنزع فتيل الأزمة في البلاد، وإن حمل المعارضة للسلاح ينذر بأعمال عنف أوسع نطاقا، كما بين أن الجزائر والعراق ومصر ستعارض على الأرجح إحالة الملف السوري إلى مجلس الأمن، إذا قالت الجامعة العربية أنها فشلت في سورية.
وقال مدلسي، في مؤتمر صحفي بالأمم المتحدة، نقلته وكالة (رويترز) للأنباء، إن “الحكومة السورية اتخذت بعض الخطوات، ربما لا تكفي لكن اتخذت بعض الخطوات بمعنى أنه قد تم سحب الأسلحة الثقيلة من المدن التي تواجه مشاكل الآن”.
وكان الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية نبيل العربي، قال مؤخرا، إن الجيش السوري انسحب من المناطق السكنية، الأمر الذي واجه انتقادا من “المجلس الوطني السوري” المعارض الذي قال إنه بعد اتصاله مع رئيس بعثة المراقبين تبين أن النظام سحب قسما من دباباته من مراكز المدن إلى أطرافها ولم يسحبها إلى ثكناته.
وأضاف مدلسي أنه “جرى إطلاق سراح بضعة آلاف من السجناء لكن هناك الكثير لم يطلق سراحهم بعد، وهناك انفتاح لوسائل الإعلام، رغم أن هذا الانفتاح غير كامل إلا انه حقيقي”.
وكانت السلطات المختصة، أخلت سبيل 552 موقوف، خلال الشهر الجاري، كما أخلت، سبيل 3400 موقوفا خلال الشهرين الماضيين، ممن تورطوا في الأحداث الأخيرة، التي تشهدها سورية مؤخرا، ولم تتلطخ أيديهم بدماء السوريين.
وإخلاء سبيل المعتقلين وسحب المظاهر المسلحة من المدن هو أحد بنود الخطة العربية لوقف “العنف” في سورية، والتي وافقت عليها القيادة السورية، إضافة إلى فتح حوار وطني مع المعارضة في مقر الجامعة، والسماح لوسائل الإعلام والمراقبين بالدخول إلى سوريا والإطلاع على الأوضاع فيها.
وقال وزير خارجية الجزائر إن “الشعور هو أن الحكومة السورية تعكف على بذل مزيد من الجهد لكن جامعة الدول العربية لديها مشاكل بشكل خاص مع المعارضة المسلحة”، موضحا أنه “لا يعتقد أن سوريا حاليا في حرب أهلية”، كما أشار إلى أن “العنف يقتصر على عدد قليل من المدن”.
لكنه بين أنه “إذا استمرت المعارضة في تسليح نفسها فسيكون هناك خطر، قد يضعنا في موقف عنف أوسع نطاقا.”
وأكد رئيس بعثة المراقبين العرب الفريق محمد مصطفي الدابي، في وقت سابق، على ضرورة استكمال مهمته وفق البروتوكول الموقع بين الجامعة ودمشق، لافتا إلى أن “كافة الأطراف السورية تتحمل مسؤولية القتل”، على حد تعبيره.
وفيما يخص انسحاب العضو الجزائري أنور مالك من بعثة الجامعة العربية، قال مدلسي إن “مالك ينتمي إلى منظمة غير حكومية وان الجزائريين الآخرين لديهم أراء مختلفة”، لافتا إلى “وجود 10 مسؤولين من الحكومة الجزائرية في فريق بعثة الجامعة العربية لسوريا والذي يضم 165 عضوا”.
وكان احد المراقبين العرب أنور مالك، أعلن يوم الثلاثاء انسحابه من مهمته بسبب ما اسماه “المشاهد المروعة” التي رآها في مدينة حمص و”الأوضاع المأساوية” التي شهدتها المحافظة, على حد تعبيره.
وقال وزير خارجية الجزائر إنني “سأندهش إذا قالت جامعة الدول العربية أنها فشلت وأنهم ذاهبون إلى مجلس الأمن”، لافتا إلى أن “دولا مثل الجزائر والعراق ومصر ستعارض على الأرجح الإحالة إلى مجلس الأمن”.
وحذرت مصر، في وقت سابق، من مغبة احالة ملف الأزمة السورية إلى مجلس الأمن, لافتة الى انها مازالت ترى امكانية نجاح الحل العربي, في وقت اعلنت فيه الجزائر ان هناك متسع من الوقت امام الحل العربي للازمة التي تشهدها سورية منذ اشهر.
وكانت اللجنة العربية الوزارية عقدت اجتماعا، يوم الأحد الماضي، لبحث تقرير بعثة المراقبين العرب، حيث أقرت اللجنة أن هناك “تقدم جزئي” في تنفيذ التزامات تعهدت بها الحكومة السورية بموجب خطة العمل العربية، إلا أنها دعت الحكومة السورية إلى التنفيذ الفوري والكامل لجميع تعهداتها، وقررت في الوقت ذاته منح بعثة المراقبين الحيز الزمني الكافي لاستكمال مهمتها، على أن يقدم رئيس بعثتها تقريره في نهاية الشهر الأول.
وكشف مساعد الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة للشؤون السياسية بي لين باسكو، في وقت سابق، أن عدد القتلى في سورية بلغ 400 منذ بدء مهمة المراقبين العرب، فيما أكد مندوب سورية في الأمم المتحدة، بشار الجعفري أن العنف في سورية يرتكبه ارهابيون يتلقون الدعم من دول أجنبية.
وبدأت بعثة المراقبين العرب مهامها في سورية في 27 كانون الأول الماضي, حيث قامت بزيارة كل من حمص ودرعا وحماه وادلب ودمشق وريفها وحلب, وذلك لمراقبة تطبيق الخطة العربية لحل الأزمة في سورية.
ووقع نائب وزير الخارجية فيصل المقداد الشهر الماضي، في العاصمة المصرية القاهرة على مشروع بروتوكول خاص بإرسال مراقبين عرب إلى سورية لمعاينة الأوضاع، حيث ينص على أن بعثة المراقبين إلى سورية التي ستقوم بعملها لمدة شهر ستقوم بالمراقبة والرصد لمدى التنفيذ الكامل لوقف جميع أعمال العنف ومن أي مصدر كان في المدن والأحياء السكنية السورية.
سيريانيوز
http://www.syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=142618
January 12th, 2012, 12:30 pm
jad said:
SNP
I’m telling the criminal side of the regime, the criminal side of the Baathi or any political party and the criminal side of the oppositions to stop this madness, it’s not a one way message, it’s a message to all.
January 12th, 2012, 12:34 pm
ann said:
Arab League chief unhappy about Syria crisis – Jan 12, 2012
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/12/63750747.html
Speaking to reporters in Cairo on Thursday, Arab League Secretary-General Nabil al-Arabi expressed concern about the latest developments in Syria.
“What we currently witness in the country is no doubt a revolution,” al-Arabi said referring to a recent report by Arab League observers on Syria.
He also said that the Syrian opposition may play a “useful role in halting the violence.”
Al-Arabi added that a repeat of the Libyan scenario in Syria is unlikely because “there is no oil in Syria and consequently no-one will cover expenses for the international interference.”
He called the imposition of international sanctions one of the ways to prevent the Assad regime from cracking down on Syrian people.
January 12th, 2012, 12:39 pm
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
سورية ، دمية ، وبس
January 12th, 2012, 12:41 pm
Mina said:
At 12h40 (UK time = 13h40 French time) the Guardian published that, in total contradiction with Le Monde’s article published in the morning
12:40 Thierry Thullier, editorial director of France Télévisions, is travelling to Syria today along with the two editors of Envoyé spécial, the France 2 programme for which Jacquier worked.
In a message posted earlier this morning by Celia Mériguet, editor-in-chief of FTVi, said the purpose of their trip was to “bring back to France the cameraman Christophe Kenck, the photographer wife and the body of the journalist, which is at the French hospital in Damascus.”
A doctor and a psychologist is accompanying them. They will take care of the two survivors, who are in shock.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/jan/12/syria-arab-league-monitors-cannot-stop-the-killing
no further change or correction.
This is what Le Monde was stating at 11h50
“Après son décès, le corps de Gilles Jacquier a été transporté dans un dispensaire chrétien de Homs. Ses proches ont dû empêcher les services de renseignements syriens de s’emparer du corps, jusqu’à l’arrivée de l’ambassadeur de France, Eric Chevallier, qui est rentré à Damas avec le corps de reporter de France 2 et les autres journalistes.”
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2012/01/12/la-mort-d-un-journaliste-en-pleine-folie-syrienne_1628878_3218.html#ens_id=1481132
(no further change or correction).
January 12th, 2012, 12:43 pm
Revlon said:
Child Tasneem AlAbrash was killed by a bullet while returning home with her family from Der Alzor; She is finally in peace with God.
AlFatiha upon her soul,
May God bless her family with solace and empoower them with fortitude.
Her unarmed father failed to defend and protect her precious life and probably his own as well.
Jr offered her no gurantee of excemption from deadly mistakes of his forces.
NCB and peaceful SNC members can use her death to add more peaceful pressure on the regime, so they can secure a secular, democratic state that respects the rights of minorities…ah and also women’s rights!
ادلب معرشورين الشهيدةالطفلة تسنيم الأبرش استشهدت على جسر سراقب اثناء عودتها من دير الزور 12 1 2012
January 12th, 2012, 12:47 pm
Juergen said:
What Assad really said…
January 12th, 2012, 1:12 pm
jad said:
“so they can secure a secular, democratic state that respects the rights of minorities…ah and also women’s rights!”
Good to know that you only care for [SPECIFIC] [MEN]’s right in a country like Syria known for its diverse society and enlightened women.
How morally bankrupt using the murder of an innocent child to promote Taliban’s style country filled with discrimination against women and minority and empty of any tolerances in the 21st century, only ‘Jahala’ advocate such Syria.
January 12th, 2012, 1:12 pm
Mina said:
As the Greeks are asked to live with 300 dollars salaries to help bail their banks, EU-NATO seem to prepare its military bases “for a much bigger destiny”. I doubt the Greeks or the Europeans citizens will be asked for any democratic authorization before it starts…
http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1383501-greece-still-splashes-out-billions-defence
(Happy Jürgen, it’s all German weapons! The German citizens must applaud.)
January 12th, 2012, 1:14 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Revlon
Poor child,is the word stop is all what the thugs on SC has for this innocent child, is the word stop will bring back this child to life,
For those who tell the regime stop, and tell this child stop, they should be ashamed of themselves, theu have no values, they have no ethics and morality,they are the criminals in this world.
January 12th, 2012, 1:14 pm
defender said:
459. JAD
لا لتجييش الأطفال تحت أي مسمى كان، انها جريمة بحق كل سوري
هل استدعاء جيوش الأطلسي فضيلة ؟
هل تدمير البنى التحتية للدول المختلفة فضيلة؟
هل تمويل مشاريع الاطاحة بأنظمة دول الرغيف فضيلة؟
هل قسمة الشعوب الى فريقي اقتتال فضيلة ؟
هل التستر بالحق عند اللعب لصالح الباطل فضيلة ؟
هل قسمة السودان و نيجيريا فضيلة؟
هل البكاء على ما كان فضيلة ؟
هل الاقتراض من صندوق النقد الدولي فضيلة؟
هل اضاعة الأوطان فضيلة !
January 12th, 2012, 1:16 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
העם הסורי והעם הסורי במצוקה קשה של מנהיג אמיתי ולא מול עבור החבורה של פושעים הפועלים תחת השם של מפלגת הבעת’.
Сирийский народ и сирийский народ остро нуждается в настоящий лидер, а не прикрытием для банды преступников, действующих под названием партии Баас.
叙利亚人民和在一个真正的领袖,而不是为根据的阿拉伯复兴社会党的名义经营的罪犯团伙面前迫切需要叙利亚的国家。
敘利亞人民和在一個真正的領袖,而不是為根據的阿拉伯復興社會黨的名義經營的罪犯團伙面前迫切需要敘利亞的國家。
Syriske folk og de syriske nation i hårdt brug for en sand leder og ikke en front for den bande af kriminelle, der opererer under navnet af Baath-partiet.
Peuple syrien et de la nation syrienne dans le besoin d’un vrai leader et pas une façade pour le gang de criminels opérant sous le nom du parti Baas.
Syrischen Volkes und der syrischen Nation braucht dringend ein wahrer Führer und nicht eine Front für die Bande von Kriminellen, die unter den Namen der Baath-Partei.
सीरिया के लोगों और एक सच्चे और कारण बॉथ पार्टी के नाम के तहत ऑपरेटिंग अपराधियों के गिरोह के लिए एक सामने नहीं नेता की सख्त जरूरत सीरियाई राष्ट्र.
Popolo siriano e la nazione siriana un disperato bisogno di un vero leader e non un fronte per la banda di criminali che operano sotto il nome del partito Baath.
真のリーダーとしないバース党の名の下に動作する犯罪者のギャングのための前面の緊急に必要でシリア人とシリアの国家。
시리아 사람과 진정한 리더가 아니라 Baath 파티의 이름으로 운영 범죄자의 조직에 대한 전면이 원활에있는 시리아의 국가.
Syrus Syrus gente in gentem et dirum caput et non opus est in caterva ante sceleratis operating sub nomen Baath cursus.
مردم سوریه و ملت سوریه، نیاز مبرم به یک رهبر واقعی و یک جبهه برای این باند از مجرمان عامل تحت نام حزب بعث نیست.
Syrianska folket och den syriska nationen i stort behov av en sann ledare och inte en front för banditgäng verkar under namnet Baathpartiet.
Suriye halkı ve gerçek bir lider değil, Baas Partisi adı altında faaliyet gösteren suçluların çete için bir ön şiddetle ihtiyacı olan Suriye ulus.
شام کے لوگ اور ایک سچے رہنما اور نہ بعث پارٹی کے نام کے تحت کام کر مجرموں کے گروہ کے لئے ایک سامنے کی سخت ضرورت شام قوم.
סיריאַן מענטשן און די סיריאַן פאָלק אין דייר דאַרפֿן פון אַ אמת פירער און ניט אַ פראָנט פֿאַר דער באַנדע פון קרימאַנאַלז אָפּערייטינג אונטער די נאָמען פון די באַאַטה פארטיי.
Συρίας ανθρώπων και της Συρίας έθνος απόλυτη ανάγκη από ένα πραγματικό ηγέτη και όχι ένα μέτωπο για την συμμορία των κακοποιών, που δρουν κάτω από το όνομα του κόμματος Μπάαθ.
January 12th, 2012, 1:22 pm
zoo said:
Israel and the US resort to “terrorism” to stop Iran’s nuclear program
“After all, killing civilian scientists and civilian leaders, even if you do it quietly, is unquestionably terrorism. That’s certainly what we’d consider it if Hezbollah fighters tried to kill cabinet undersecretaries and planted bombs at the homes of Los Alamos engineers.
If you think Iran is a mortal enemy that needs to be dealt with via military force, you can certainly make that case. But if you’re going to claim that terrorism is a barbaric tactic that has to be stamped out, you can hardly endorse its use by the United States just because it’s convenient in this particular case.
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/11/more_murder_of_iranian_scientists_still_terrorism/singleton/
January 12th, 2012, 1:24 pm
jad said:
Defender
Apparently all what you wrote is ‘Fadila’ for Dr. ‘Syndrome’ and his likes.
January 12th, 2012, 1:29 pm
zoo said:
Turkey: A Nation Divided Over Islam’s Revival
by Marvine Howe
http://www.powells.com/biblio/61-9780813342429-0
The secular Republic of Turkey, which has gone further towards Westernization than any other Muslim country, has been caught up in the Islamic revival sweeping the world from Morocco to the Philippines. Three-quarters of a century after Mustafa Kemal Ataturk abolished the trappings of the Islamic state and replaced them with Western institutions, Turkey has become dangerously polarized. Ataturk’s disciples see his revolution under threat and are engaged in a new crusade against the spread of political Islam. On the other hand, a reinvigorated Islamic movement chafes at official restrictions on Islamic practices and is seeking ways to gain political power.Turkey Today is about the Islamic surge in today’s Turkey, the only Muslim country with one foot in Europe and an active member of the Western Alliance. It is about Ataturk’s legacy, its successes and failures. It is also a personal view of the multi-dimensional nature of Islam in Turkey… as a political, moral, spiritual force.The New York Times bureau chief in Ankara before and after the 1980 military coup, Marvine Howe returns to Turkey to give an in-depth account of the Islamic revival in that rigidly secular country. She discusses the questions on many peoples minds: Why has political Islam reemerged in Turkey today? How does the observance of Islam in Turkey differ from that of other Muslims in the region? Does the Islamic movement pose a threat to the secular state and its relations with the West? What are the chances for an Islamic-secular dialogue and accommodation?Here is a close-up view of some of the many faces of Islam in Turkey: the fundamentalist who would sacrifice higher education for a headscarf, radical cult leaders who prey on youths, the Islamist author who openly seeks to return to Sharia (Islamic Law), ordinary students in the controversial Imam Hatip schools, a leading Islamic reformist who would be satisfied with the American Bill of Rights.Here too, you will meet the Kemalists imbued with the Ataturk mystique. There is the judge who firmly believes that all sectors of the Turkish society have been infiltrated by the Islamic movement. Above all many women are obsessed with the Iranian revolution and the possibility it might happen in Turkey. Their close allies are the military, who promoted religion against Communism in the 1980s, and a decade later launched a virulent campaign against what they perceive to be radical Islamic activities.This reportage-monograph also focuses on other aspects of contemporary Turkey: the Kurdish imbroglio, the mood of the minorities, the Islamization of the arts, the economic boom in the provinces, the reappraisal of Turkish foreign policy.Turkey Today is a lively engaging portrait of this richly diverse society, a fair and even-handed treatment of all sides.
January 12th, 2012, 1:32 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
AlQuds said
Jordan will train 10,000 Libyans to become security officers.
January 12th, 2012, 1:39 pm
jad said:
Zibaleh only answer to everything is: Bomb Syria and kill everybody so he can rule.
Unfortunately for Syrian, the masters of this garbage of a man didn’t teach him any other thing to say.
الأهرام: المجلس الوطني السوري سيطالب الأمم المتحدة بإقامة منطقة عازلة
علمت “بوابة الأهرام” أن “المجلس الوطني السوري المعارض برئاسة برهان غليون قرر إرسال وفد إلى الأمم المتحدة حاملاً رسالة مهمة لمجلس الأمن الدولي تطلب إقامة منطقة عازلة لحماية المدنيين السوريين”.
وأفاد مصادر في المجلس أن “الرسالة التي اقترحها مسؤول العلاقات الخارجية رضوان زيادة ووافقت عليها الأمانة العامة للمجلس تحمل نفس المضمون الذي طلبه المجلس الانتقالي الليبي من مجلس الأمن الدولي من قبل”.
ولفت عضو المجلس الوطني والمجلس الأعلى لقيادة الثورة السورية خالد كمال في حديث إلى “بوابة الأهرام” إلى أنه “تم الاتفاق أيضا على تمديد رئاسة غليون للمجلس حتى يوم
“Radwan Ziadeh
شهادة المراقب أنور مالك ربما ستشكل ضغطاً حقيقياً على الجامعة في تقريرها في 19 من الشهر الحالي من أجل تحويل الملف إلى مجلس الأمن لكن بنفس الوقت نريد بقاء المراقبين وزيادة عددهم من أجل تشجيع المظاهرات لكن لما فشلت المبادرة العربية في وقف القتل فيجب اللجوء إلى مجلس الأمن لحماية المدنيين وفق الفصل السابع من ميثاق الأمم المتحدة المادة 42 والتي تنص على استخدام كل الوسائل الضرورية والتي تعني استخدام القوة ”
After Russia, Egypt, Algeria, and Iraq, Chian told the AL its rejection to take the Syrian file to the UN:
الصين تبلغ الجامعة العربية عن معارضتها لنقل الملف السوري إلى مجلس الأمن الدولي
أبلغت الصين الأمانة العامة للجامعة العربية أنها تعارض نقل الملف السوري إلى مجلس الأمن الدولي، مجددة ثقتها في إمكانية حله في الإطار العربي.
وقال الممثل الصيني الخاص في الشرق الأوسط فو سيكيه عقب لقاء الأمين العام للجامعة نبيل العربي في القاهرة يوم 12 يناير/كانون الثاني: “إن جامعة الدول العربية هي الجهة التي تناسب بشكل أفضل لمهمة حل الأزمة السورية”.
وأكد الدبلوماسي الصيني دعم بكين لعمل بعثة المراقبين العرب في سورية وأضاف: “يتمثل الموقف الصيني حيال الأزمة السورية في تأكيدها على ضرورة وقف العنف وبدء الحوار السياسي بمشاركة جميع الأطراف من أجل تنفيذ الإصلاحات اللازمة”.
January 12th, 2012, 2:52 pm
annie said:
French journalist killed in Homs, some questions
Posted: 01/12/2012 by Mary Rizzo in Middle East, Newswire,
Written by Lorenzo Trombetta for Sirialibano, translated by Mary Rizzo
Gilles Jacquier
A French journalist, Gilles Jacquier, reporter for France 2 (photo), was killed in Homs by an explosion in the Alawite neighbourhood of Akrama. He is the first Western journalist to lose his life in Syria since the beginning of the repression of the anti-government protests.
His life was not lost in Gaza, in Afghanistan, in Iraq, in Libya. He lost his life in Syria. One of his Dutch colleagues – Steven Wassenaar, a freelance journalist – was slightly injured in an eye (initially he was reported as being Belgian). Another seven Syrians – states the TV channel Duniya, close to the regime – were killed.
As a photographer for AFP, witness to the event, states, the journalists were part of a tour organised by the authorities in the third city of the nation and epicentre of the repression and the consequent revolt. They were going to follow a march of loyalists when the group was struck by shells. This fact stimulates some spontaneous questions.
1) Who has the possibility to use shells and mortar in Syria?
a) if they are deserters, to say it the way the conspiracy people do, the salafites-infiltrators-terrorists-zionists, then this is REALLY a piece of news. It means that a military escalation is underway. Up to this point, the deserters, and the civilians who have joined them, have shown that they are able to use automatic rifles and RPGs. At Jabal Zawiya (Idlib) they said that they were able to bring an anti-missile rocket launcher. But mortars up to this point, no one has any knowledge of that.
b) if it is not the deserters, then it must be the regime. Because the protesters at this point are still not equipped with anything of the sort.
2) If it was the deserters with brand new mortars – which came to them from the French-Turks-NATO-Israel, still bearing the plastic wrapping and tags – why aim them into a loyalist neighbourhood?
a) because, some will say, since they are really bad people, they can’t wait to exterminate their enemies, the Alawites who are victims of the conspiracy. By chance, in that moment, there were also Western journalists. But in the regime’s rhetoric, aren’t Western journalists in the service of the conspiracy? On the one hand, the agents of the conspiracy are described as being very shrewd, on the other – if it is true that they killed one of their accomplices by accident – the reporter – they show themselves to be simply bunglers.
3) If it was the regime, why shell a loyalist neighbourhood and risk killing – as had in fact happened – your own supporters and some foreign journalists?
a) to demonstrate, others will say, that Homs is dangerous and it is important to stay away from the city. Observers and accredited journalists have now been warned. To then attribute the attack to terrorists who impede free access to information operators, freely welcomed by the authorities of Damascus.
4) Why are the agents of the conspiracy attacking Syrian civilians (Damascus, 6 January) when they should have been trying to collect internal consensus? And why do they attack Arab observers (11 of them have been injured in Lattakia and Homs on 9 January), when they should have tried to convince them of the worthiness of their cause? And why attack Western journalists, when they should instead have them as allies to serve for receiving international support?
6) Why, for the first time, have the terrorists-bad guys attacked a loyalist march, and why precisely when there is a Western journalist?
7) Why does the regime organise tours only in the loyalist neighbourhoods with an Alawite majority (a circumstance confirmed by at least four authoritative colleagues who have participated in these trips)?
a) because, some will say, the other neighbourhoods are too dangerous for the Syrian authorities, who are responsible and care about the safety of their guests. For reasons of safety, in essence.
b) because, others will say, the regime does not want to show the other face of Homs. The one in revolt against the government and the one that is under siege and bombarded by loyalist artillery.
We furthermore report that it took around an hour and a half after the killing of a journalist in Homs for dissemination of the first news for the activists to be able to release any amateur videos on Internet. “Because Akrama is a zone that is forbidden to us, no one can enter at all except for the loyalists,” was what I was told by telephone from two inhabitants of Homs that were reached by phone and who live in the neighbourhoods with a Sunni majority.
The TV channel al Duniya was speedy, instead, in releasing news, something which in these ten months it has never been – which is the same case as the State-run channel Sana – which has been this fast only in case of attacks attributed to Al Qaeda, to salafites and to terrorists.
We await your questions and possible replies. In the meantime, an homage to Gilles Jacquier, winner of the Ilaria Alpi prize in 2011 for the best international reportage for his Tunisie, la révolution en marche.
ORIGINAL: http://www.sirialibano.com/short-news/ucciso-giornalista-francese-a-homs-qualche-domanda.html
January 12th, 2012, 3:03 pm
annie said:
We are all Hamza Alkhateeb
URGENT : PLEASE SHARE THIS
SYRIAN REGIME MURDER OF FRENCH JOURNALIST AND 7 CITIZENS
ADDOUNIA BLOW IT AGAIN: the first time they broadcast the firing on journalists yesterday… they forgot to edit the State TV cameraman and another man shouting…”DON’T FIRE! DON’T FIRE! THIS MIGHT CAUSE US A PROBLEM. WAIT! WE HAVE SOME FOREIGN JOURNALISTS HERE!”
(presumably into their ear pieces and mikes, always worn when controlling their own movements for ‘visitors’. And presume the shooter was misled by half the journalists having just left)
January 12th, 2012, 3:08 pm
Juergen said:
Well the united ulemas of Syria have decided: USA and Israel provide the funding for this unrest: I say Amen…
http://news.nawaret.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/%D9%85%D9%81%D8%AA%D9%8A-%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%81%D9%89-%D8%B5%D9%84%D8%A7%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B3%D9%8A%D8%AD%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A5%D8%B3%D9%84%D8%A7%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D9%85%D8%B4%D8%AA%D8%B1
January 12th, 2012, 3:26 pm
Juergen said:
Does this regime think that the world is buying their lies?
how come most victims were almost torn into pieces, but Syrian state tv can show this photo for the alledged “terrorist”?
What is that CSI Dimaschq???
http://news.nawaret.com/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%85-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B9%D8%B1%D8%A8%D9%8A/%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%AF%D8%A7%D8%AE%D9%84%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%B3%D9%88%D8%B1%D9%8A%D8%A9-%D8%AA%D9%86%D8%B4%D8%B1-%D8%B5%D9%88%D8%B1%D8%A9-%D8%A7%D9%84%D8%A5%D8%B1%D9%87%D8%A7%D8%A8%D9%89-%D8%A7
January 12th, 2012, 3:35 pm
ann said:
Crude Oil Plunges on Report EU Will Delay Iran Embargo By Six Months – 1/12/2012
http://community.nasdaq.com/News/2012-01/crude-oil-plunges-on-report-eu-will-delay-iran-embargo-by-six-months.aspx?storyid=113904
Crude futures plunged late, sliding under the $100 a barrel market for the first time since the start of the year. Light, sweet crude for February delivery settled at $99.19 a barrel, down 1.67, falling nearly $2 a barrel in the final 15 minutes of the NYMEX floor session.
Undercutting price were reports the European Union would delay imposing Iran sanctions. Citing an EU official with knowledge of the talks, Bloomberg News reported that an EU embargo on imports of Iranian oil would probably be delayed for six months to allow countries such as Greece, Italy and Spain to find alternative supply.
January 12th, 2012, 3:55 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Syrian Nationalist Party
When will the Baathist genocidal criminal Mafia and its front face boy KIM YUNG ASSAD concludes that there is a real revolt against the Baath / Alawite /Shia rule in Syria, and not just a foreign paid and inspired conspiracy plot?
The mafia proved to be incompetent, their Shia backers in Tehran proven to be a bunch of dim witted weak users playing Imperialism with other poor nation. WE WANT SYRIA BACK TO THE SYRIANS. Move on before the stronger Mafia force you out. Syrians are not going to sit and wait for the Front-Man to gain a grain of brain, intellect and courage’s to say to his henchmen NO, and get on with reform for real. We are not going to wait until the meaner mafia moves in when Syrians are scrapping rice and seeds from the ground. Move out now, while we can somehow stay afloat. MOVE OUT, you and your father, and uncles stole billions, starved Syrians and sent all the cash overseas. OUT, OUT, OUT or will get the bigger Mafia to force you out. Get ready to account for all the Billions sold in crude Oil revenue since the early 80’s while you are packing in a hurry.
سوریه ، حزب ناسیونالیست
هنگامی که بعثی نسل کشی مافیا جنایی و جلو صورت پسر کیم یونگ اسد نتیجه می گیرد که شورش علیه حکومت بعث / علوی / شیعه در سوریه، و نه فقط خارجی پرداخت و الهام گرفته از طرح توطئه وجود دارد؟
مافیا نشان داد به ناشایسته، حامیان شیعه خود را در تهران ثابت می شود یک دسته از کاربران تیز هوش کم نور ضعیف بازی امپریالیسم با کشور دیگری فقیر. ما می خواهیم سوریه BACK به سوریه است. در حرکت قبل از مافیا قوی تر به شما زور از. سوریه می رویم بنشینند و برای مرد جبهه صبر کنید برای به دست آوردن یک دانه مغز ، عقل و شجاعت می گویند به نوکران اوست که NO، و با اصلاحات واقعی است. ما قصد نداریم تا حرکت meaner مافیا در زمانی که سوریه scrapping برنج و دانه از زمین صبر کنید. خارج در حال حاضر ، در حالی که ما به نوعی شناور باقی می ماند. حرکت، شما و پدر و عمو به سرقت برده میلیارد، سوریه گرسنگی و تمام پول نقد در خارج از کشور فرستاده شده است. از، خارج، خارج و یا مافیا بزرگتر را به زور از شما. آماده به تمام میلیاردها درآمد نفت خام از اوایل دهه 80 به فروش می رسد را به حساب در حالی که شما در حال بسته بندی در یک شتاب.
סיריאַן נאַטיאָנאַליסט פארטיי
ווען וועט דער באַאַטהיסט דזשענאַסיידאַל פאַרברעכער מאַפיאַ און זייַן פאָרנט פּנים יינגל קים יאַנג אַסאַד אויס אַז עס איז אַ פאַקטיש ופשטאַנד קעגן די באַאַטה / אַלאַוויטע / שיאַ הערשן אין סיריע, און נישט נאָר אַ פרעמד באַצאָלט און ינספּייערד קאַנספּיראַסי פּלאַנעווען?
די מאַפיאַ פּרוווד צו ווערן קאַליע, זייער שיאַ באַקערז אין טעהראַן פּראָווען צו ווערן אַ בינטל פון טונקל וויטיד שוואַך ניצערס פּלייינג ימפּעריאַליסם מיט אנדערע אָרעם לאַנד. מיר וועלן סיריע צוריק צו די סיריאַנז. מאַך אויף איידער דער שטארקער מאַפיאַ צווינגען איר אויס. סיריאַנס ביסט ניט געגאנגען צו זיצן און וואַרטן פֿאַר די פראָנט-מענטש צו געווינען אַ קערל פון מאַרך, סייכל און מוט ס צו זאָגן צו זיין כענטשמאַן ניט, און באַקומען אויף מיט רעפאָרם פֿאַר פאַקטיש. מיר זענען נישט געגאנגען צו וואַרטן ביז די מינער מאַפיאַ באוועגט אין ווען סיריאַנס זענען סקראַפּינג רייַז און זאמען פון דער ערד. קער אויס איצט, בשעת מיר קענען עפעס בלייַבן אַפלאָוט. קער אויס, איר און אייער פאטער, און אַנגקאַלז סטאָול ביליאַנז, סטאַרווד סיריאַנס און געשיקט אַלע די געלט מעייווער – לייאַם. אויס, אויס, אויס אָדער וועט באַקומען די ביגער מאַפיאַ צו צווינגען איר אויס. באַקומען גרייט צו באַריכטן פֿאַר אַלע די בילליאָנס פארקויפט אין גראָב אָיל רעוועך זינט דער פרי 80 ס בשעת איר זענען פּאַקינג אין אַ ייַלן.
Сирийские Националистическая партия
Когда баасистского геноцида уголовную мафию и ее передней мальчик Ким Юн АССАД к выводу, что существует реальная восстание против Баас / алавитов / шиитской правления в Сирии, а не только иностранные платных и вдохновили заговор сюжет?
Мафии оказались некомпетентны, их шиитские сторонники в Тегеране оказались кучей тусклом сообразительные слабые пользователей, играющих Империализм с другой бедный народ. МЫ ХОТИМ ВЕРНУТЬСЯ К СИРИЯ сирийцев. Переходите перед тем сильнее сила мафии вас. Сирийцы не собираемся сидеть и ждать фронт-Man, чтобы получить зерно мозга, интеллекта и мужества, чтобы сказать его приспешники НЕТ, и продолжать реформы по-настоящему. Мы не собираемся ждать, пока злее мафии движется, когда сирийцы слом рис и семена из земли. Перемещение прямо сейчас, пока мы можем как-то остаться на плаву. Выехать из квартиры, вы и ваш отец, и дяди украли миллиарды, морили голодом сирийцев и отправил все деньги за границей. OUT, OUT, OUT или получите больше мафии, чтобы заставить вас. Будьте готовы к ответу за все миллиарды проданных в сырой нефти доходов с начала 80-х годов, пока вы упаковка в спешит.
叙利亚国民党
当复兴党种族灭绝犯罪黑手党和其前脸的男孩金容阿萨德得出的结论是一个真正的起义反对在叙利亚复兴党/ Alawite/什叶派规则,不只是一个支付和灵感的外国阴谋情节?
被证明是不称职的黑手党,在德黑兰的什叶派支持者被证明是一堆点心打帝国主义与其他贫穷国家的机智弱的用户。我们也希望叙利亚叙利亚人。前黑手党强迫使你移动。叙利亚人都不会坐下来,等待接待人获得粮食的大脑,智慧和勇气的无说,他的心腹,并获得真正的改革。我们不会等到寡情黑手党动作时叙利亚人取消从地面大米和种子。现在,虽然我们可以在某种程度上维持下去。搬出去,你和你的父亲和叔叔偷了数十亿美元,饿死的叙利亚人和发送海外所有的现金。 OUT,OUT,OUT或将获得更大的黑手党,迫使你。准备好为所有在80年代初以来销售十亿美元的原油收入帐户,而你是在急于包装。
Partido Nacionalista Sírio
Quando é que o partido Baath Mafia genocida criminal e seu rosto na frente menino YUNG KIM ASSAD conclui que há uma revolta real contra a regra Baath / Alawite / xiita na Síria, e não apenas uma trama de conspiração estrangeiros pagos e inspirado?
A máfia provou ser incompetente, apoiantes seus Shia em Teerã provado ser um monte de dim witted usuários fraco jogar com imperialismo nação outro pobre. QUEREMOS VOLTAR PARA SÍRIA os sírios. Seguir em frente antes do mais forte Mafia forçá-lo para fora. Sírios não vão sentar e esperar para o front-man para ganhar um grão de intelecto cérebro, e coragem para dizer a seus capangas NO, e continuar com a reforma de verdade. Nós não vamos esperar até que os movimentos fraco máfia em quando sírios estão a demolição de arroz e sementes do chão. Sair agora, enquanto nós podemos de alguma forma se manter à tona. Sair, você e seu pai, tios e roubaram bilhões, sírios fome e enviou todo o dinheiro no exterior. OUT, OUT OUT, ou vai ter o maior Mafia para forçá-lo para fora. Prepare-se para dar conta de todos os bilhões vendidos em receita do petróleo bruto desde o início dos anos 80, enquanto você está de embalagem em uma pressa.
המפלגה הלאומית הסורית
כאשר המאפיה רצח הבעת’ פלילית ילד מול הפנים שלה קים יונג אסד למסקנה כי יש מרד נגד שלטון הבעת’ אמיתי / העלאווי / השיעית בסוריה, ולא רק מזימה זרה קונספירציה שילם השראה?
המאפיה הוכיח שהוא לא יוצלח, שיעים התומכים שלהם בטהראן הוכיחה להיות חבורה של מטומטמים עמום משתמשים חלש משחק האימפריאליזם עם העם המסכן אחרים. אנחנו רוצים סוריה לראש הסורים. העבר לפני המאפיה חזק להכריח אותך החוצה. הסורים לא מתכוונים לשבת ולחכות Man-החזית להשיג גרעין של אינטלקט המוח, של אומץ לומר ואנשיו לא, ולהמשיך רפורמה אמיתית. אנחנו לא מתכוונים לחכות עד המהלכים המאפיה מרושע כאשר הסורים מבטל אורז זרעים מהקרקע. העבר עכשיו, בעוד אנחנו יכולים איכשהו לצוף. לעזוב את הבית, אתה ואבא שלך, דודים גנבו מיליארדים, הסורים מורעבים ושלח את כל המזומנים בחו”ל. החוצה, החוצה, החוצה או יקבל את המאפיה גדול להכריח אותך. תתכונן לתת דין וחשבון על כל מיליארדי נמכר בהכנסות הנפט הגולמי מאז תחילת שנות ה -80 בעת האריזה ממהר.
Syrische Nationalistische Partei
Wann wird die Baath-Völkermord kriminellen Mafia und seiner Stirnseite Junge KIM YUNG ASSAD kommt zu dem Schluss, dass es eine wirkliche Revolte gegen die Baath / Alawite / Shia Herrschaft in Syrien, und nicht nur eine fremde bezahlt und inspiriert Komplott?
Die Mafia erwies sich als inkompetent, bewährt haben Shia Hintermänner in Teheran zu einer Reihe von dim schlagfertig schwachen Benutzer spielen Imperialismus mit anderen armen Nation zu sein. WIR WOLLEN Syrien zurück, die Syrer. Move on vor dem stärkeren Mafia zwingen Sie sich. Syrer sind nicht zu sitzen und für die Front-Man wartet auf eine Korngröße von Gehirn, Geist und Mut ist, um seine Schergen sagen NEIN zu gewinnen, und wieder mit der Reform für die Echtzeit. Wir werden nicht bis zum gemeiner Mafia bewegt sich in, wenn Syrer sind Verschrottung Reis und Samen aus dem Boden warten. Bewegen Sie sich jetzt, während wir uns irgendwie über Wasser halten können. MOVE OUT, stahl dir und deinem Vater und Onkel Milliarden, ausgehungert Syrer und schickte das ganze Geld in Übersee. OUT, OUT, OUT oder wird der größere Mafia erhalten Sie Kraft aus. Machen Sie sich bereit für all die Milliarden in Rohöl Einnahmen seit den frühen 80er Jahren verkauft Konto, während Sie in Eile Verpackung sind.
シリアの民族主義党
意志バース党大量虐殺の犯罪マフィアとその前面少年KIM YUNGアサドは、シリアでバース党/アラウィー派の人/シーア派のルールだけではなく、外国のお支払いとインスピレーションを得た陰謀のプロットに対して、実際の反乱があると結論するのはいつですか?
マフィアが無能であることが証明、テヘランでの彼らのシーア派の支持者は、他の貧しい国と帝国主義の再生を暗く鈍い弱いユーザーの束であることが実証。我々は戻っシリア、シリアを求めています。強力なマフィアがあなたを強制的に前に移動します。シリア人は座って待ってフロントマンのために脳、知性と勇気、NO彼の部下に言ってそれの穀物を得るために、そして実際に改革を上取得するつもりはありません。私たちは、シリアが地面から米や種子を廃棄する際に意地マフィアに移動するまで待つつもりはありません。我々は何とか浮いたままでいることができますが、今外に移動。退去、あなたとあなたの父、そして叔父は十億、飢餓シリアを盗み、海外のすべての現金を送った。 OUT、OUT、OUTまたはあなたを強制的に大きくマフィアを取得します。急いで荷造りしている間80年代初期以来、原油収入で販売されるすべての十億を考慮して準備をしなさい。
Suriye Milliyetçi Parti
Baas soykırım suç mafya ve ön yüz çocuk KIM YUNG Esad Suriye’de Baas / Alevi / Şii kural değil, sadece bir yabancı ödenmiş ve ilham komploya karşı gerçek bir isyan olduğu sonucuna zaman?
Mafya yetersiz olduğunu kanıtladı, Tahran’daki Şii destekçileri, diğer yoksul milleti ile Emperyalizm oynuyor loş zekâlı zayıf kullanıcıların bir demet olduğu kanıtlanmıştır. Suriyelilerin GERİ İSTİYORUM SURİYE.Güçlü mafya zorla önce üzerinde hareket ettirin. Suriyeliler Ön-Man için oturup beklemek, beyin, akıl ve cesaret NO uşaklarının diyelim bir tane elde etmek için ve gerçek reformu ile almak için gidiş değildir. Biz Suriyeliler, pirinç ve tohum yerden hurdaya zaman ahlaksızca mafya hamle kadar beklemek zorunda değildir. Biz bir şekilde ayakta kalabilirler, şimdi taşıyın. OUT MOVE, sizin ve baba ve amcalar milyarlarca hasret Suriyeliler çaldı ve yurtdışı tüm nakit gönderdi. OUT, OUT, OUT ya da zorlamak için büyük mafya alacak. Aceleniz paketleme ise 80’lerin başından bu yana ham petrol geliri satılan tüm Milyarlarca açıklamak için hazır olun.
Arabic Machine translation is funny. I can imagine the others, but hey, let the people of the world knows the fact.
January 12th, 2012, 3:57 pm
Haytham Khoury said:
January 12th, 2012, 4:03 pm
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
@ANN
I would not call $98.92 pbl a plunge. It is more like a 50% Fibonacci correction to previous low. looks like ready to move up again soon after a bit of couple falling knife candles action.
January 12th, 2012, 4:04 pm
jad said:
No CSI Berlin!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-10677946
January 12th, 2012, 4:13 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
SNP, so have you defected ? ( though admittedly you were never a mnhebak). We have our differences but I think we can work together, atleast we agree to our basic point, we have to get rid of IRAN first, kick Iran out of Syria and Lebanon and hopefully Iraq as well, Iran is the problem and Shia Imperialism is the devil.
January 12th, 2012, 4:16 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
SNP, so have you defected ? ( though admittedly you were never a mnhebak). We have our differences but I think we can work together, atleast we agree to our basic point, we have to get rid of IRAN first, kick Iran out of Syria and Lebanon and hopefully Iraq as well, Iran is the problem and Shia Imperialism is the devil, it has been so since 1979.
January 12th, 2012, 4:19 pm
defender said:
http://revfacts.blogspot.com/2012/01/blog-post.html
January 12th, 2012, 4:23 pm
defender said:
US State Department tells bold lies regarding the latest assassination in Iran as it harbors MEK terrorists in Iraq.
http://alexandravaliente.wordpress.com/2012/01/11/mek-american-backed-terror-in-iran/
January 12th, 2012, 4:36 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
Well looks like the charlatan closet Shia “Mufti” Hassoun has some problems coming his way.
January 12th, 2012, 4:36 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
The MEK or MKO led by Massoud and Maryam Rajavi has been harboured by the Iraqi people since 1984 to defend the Middle East from the Safavid Imperial Threat. The MKO are not terrorists, they are real Iranian patriots and guests of the Iraqi people.
January 12th, 2012, 4:39 pm
defender said:
‘Israel finger mark over Syria unrest’
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/220570.html
Syrian security forces reportedly seize yet another cache of weapons, bearing traces of Israel’s contribution to unrest inside the country.
The shipment had been smuggled into the country for anti-government armed groups.
According to authorities, it included bombs manufactured by Israel.
The cargo is not the first one containing Israel-made weaponry meant for armed saboteurs fighting the central government in Damascus.
On October 16, the Syrian ambassador to the Arab League told a meeting of the regional grouping in the Egyptian capital Cairo that Syrian security forces had seized Israel-manufactured weapons trafficked into the country through Lebanon’s soil.
Youssef Ahmad said, “They are Israeli made automatic weapons,” which are used by the “armed opposition to kill the sons of our nation.”
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in favor of President Bashar al-Assad’s government.
Hundreds of people, including many members of the Syrian security forces, have been killed during the unrest.
The Syrian government says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the turmoil and deadly violence, while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.
Damascus also says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country and that the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.
January 12th, 2012, 4:42 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Syrian Nationalist Party
Metaz K M Aldendeshe
Chief Startegist
I am a bit puzzled by the low number of thumb downs; we were hoping thumb-downs organic clicks will be greater than 20+ spontaneously clicked ones, which mean the new campaign is very effective in its message and goal. Now I am sitting wondering if majority of Syrians are plain brain dead and exhausted or what. I need data man, not too many objecting, are you in shock, or just broke?
January 12th, 2012, 4:46 pm
defender said:
http://www.strategic-culture.org/news/2012/01/12/syria-to-form-new-government-in-early-february.html
Syria to form new government in early February
News | 12.01.2012 | 18:02
A new government to include opposition members will be formed in Syria early next month, the Al-Watan newspaper close to Syrian authorities reported on Thursday.
The newspaper said consultations to form a new cabinet will begin early next week.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who faced deadly protests inspired by uprisings across the Arab world last year, said “a government of the whole country, not of one party” must be formed.
“With the adoption of the new law on parties new political forces emerged in the country and this should be taken into account,” the president told students in the University of Damascus.
According to UN data, Assad’s crackdown on the protests has killed more than 5,000 people. Syrian authorities blame the violence, which erupted last March, on armed gangs and say 1,100 soldiers and police have been killed.
January 12th, 2012, 5:02 pm
Haytham Khoury said:
شهادات 4 صحافيين تتكامل لتلقي شبهة على تورط حكومي في مجزرة الزاهرية
http://www.youkal.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=41429%3A2012-01-11-18-12-17&catid=3%3A2009-11-15-22-49-31&Itemid=109
January 12th, 2012, 5:30 pm
Haytham Khoury said:
الجزيرة | تقرير خاص عن اغتيال الصحفي جيل جاكي
January 12th, 2012, 5:32 pm
defender said:
Panetta: Iran not trying to build a nuke, they are trying to build capability
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdiGahJItOA
US Defense Secretary Admits “Iran Not Trying to Develop Nuclear Weapon”
Mish’s Global Economic Trend Analysis
All the tin hats that disputed Ron Paul’s position that Iran was not developing nuclear weapons can now hear the same thing from US Secretary of Defense. Please consider Panetta admits Iran not developing nukes.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta let slip on Sunday the big open secret that Washington war hawks don’t want widely known: Iran is not developing nuclear weapons.
Appearing on CBS’s Face the Nation on Sunday, Panetta admitted that despite all the rhetoric, Iran is not pursuing the ability to split atoms with weapons, saying it is instead pursuing “a nuclear capability.”
That “capability” falls in line with what Iran has said for years: that it is developing nuclear energy facilities, not nuclear weapons.
“I think the pressure of the sanctions, the diplomatic pressures from everywhere, Europe, the United States, elsewhere, it’s working to put pressure on them,” Panetta explained on Sunday. “To make them understand that they cannot continue to do what they’re doing. Are they trying to develop a nuclear weapon? No. But we know that they’re trying to develop a nuclear capability, and that’s what concerns us. And our red line to Iran is, do not develop a nuclear weapon. That’s a red line for us.”
That admission by Defense Secretary Panetta proves just how preposterous the US position is. Hopefully Europe has second thoughts over the absurd embargo it is considering later this month.
January 12th, 2012, 5:35 pm
defender said:
In Readiness for War On Iran: US Builds Military Hospitals in Georgia
Thursday, 12 January 2012
‘The United States is sponsoring the construction of facilities in Georgia on the threshold of a military conflict in Iran, a member of the Georgian opposition movement Public Assembly, Elizbar Javelidze has stated. According to the academician, that explains why President Mikhail Saakashvili is roaming the republic opening new hospitals in its regions.
“These are 20-bed hospitals…It’s an American project. A big war between the US and Iran is beginning in the Persian Gulf. $5 billion was allocated for the construction of these 20-bed military hospitals,” Javelidze said in an interview with Georgian paper Kviris Kronika (News of the Week), as cited by Newsgeorgia website. The opposition member stated that the construction is mainly paid from the American pocket.’
January 12th, 2012, 5:42 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
@BAATH APPROVED DEFENDER
“……A new government to include opposition members will be formed in Syria early next month, the Al-Watan newspaper close to Syrian authorities reported on Thursday….”
Yeah… here is the correct translation from the Arabic Newspaper:
“……A new government to include approved loyal Socialist opposition members that passed mukhabrat and Mafia subordination, Shipples cowards’ screening will be formed in Syria early next month, the Al-Watan newspaper close to Syrian authorities reported on Thursday….”
Common man, what are you, a dimwitted Baathist from some boon dog dirt road village. Do you really think that Syrians are going to buy this crap and go on as the criminal Baathist mafia did for decades, sending a Mukhabrat to someone they approve off and ordering him to run for Majlis, assuring him that his ballot boxes will be pre-filled properly. You are an idiot just like the regime to even think this is still will pacify the people. It just shows how far removed you are, hopeless idiot, when will your boss pack up and hands over that crude oil sales tally since 1971.
“With the adoption of the new law on parties new political forces emerged in the country and this should be taken into account,” the president told students in the University of Damascus.”
What Party Law? The one you need to meet few million hurdles and pass the Baathist mafia exam? Get approved by the Ayatollah of Tehran. Tell your boss to shove it, and get a real one that protects all Political Party constitutionally without Baath Mafia red tapes, subornation and approvals or will get NATO to help us do it. Hurry up, we have no patience left, one more two hours Baathist Istwana and it will assuredly do it.
January 12th, 2012, 5:43 pm
defender said:
Wow! Talk about racism!!! Better read this story now to see how evil it gets!
http://news.yahoo.com/israels-top-court-backs-bar-palestinian-spouses-135427485.html
Israel’s top court backs bar on Palestinian spouses
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel’s top court has upheld a law denying citizenship to Palestinians married to Israelis, with one judge saying it helped the Jewish state fend off “national suicide”.
By a 6-to-5 vote, the Supreme Court late on Wednesday rejected petitions against the 2003 ban, which civil liberty groups denounced as racist for potentially forcing members of Israel’s 20-percent Arab minority who wed Palestinians to emigrate.
The former centrist government championed the law chiefly on security grounds given Palestinian gun and bomb attacks.
But Interior Minister Eli Yishai, who congratulated the Supreme Court on Thursday, made clear that shoring up Israel’s Jewish majority was also a concern. Yishai’s party, run by rabbis, is a powerful partner in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s rightist coalition.
The ruling, Yishai told Israel Radio, served to stem “a situation in which, not too many years hence, we would find yourself losing the majority, (and) faced with terrorism”.
Israeli law guarantees full civil rights, including political representation, to Arab citizens, who are mostly Muslim. But they often complain of entrenched racism.
Many Israeli Jews have been outraged by pro-Palestinian displays among their Arab compatriots, especially given the rise of hostile Hamas Islamists in Gaza and stalled peace talks with the secular Palestinian leadership in the occupied West Bank.
Justice Asher Grunis, whose nomination as the Supreme Court’s next president was welcomed by conservatives, voted to keep the citizenship law, saying in the ruling that rescinding it “would mean thousands of Palestinians entering the country after marrying Israeli citizens”.
RIGHTS, RIGHTISTS
“Human rights do not prescribe national suicide,” he wrote.
Grunis framed his remarks around fears of infiltration by Palestinian militants, saying: “The (law’s) blow, as presented, to family life must be viewed against the certain harm, given past experience, to the lives and bodies of Israelis.”
Dissenting, Supreme Court President Dorit Beinisch and four other justices described the freedom to marry as being at the heart of democratic principle.
The Association for Civil Rights in Israel, one of four petitioning groups, accused the Supreme Court of perpetuating a “racist law” and “failing to uphold basic human rights in the face of the tyranny of the Knesset (parliament)”.
The judicial review was also watched closely after right-wing politicians pursued procedural changes that would have helped them to influence selection of Supreme Court judges.
On the attorney-general’s advice and citing the need to preserve the court’s independence, Netanyahu blocked that legislation.
Normally Israel naturalizes the spouses of its citizens, though it sometimes offers as a stop-gap permanent residency, a similar status but without the right to vote. Many Palestinians see economic opportunity in being an Israeli citizen or resident, as well as access to health and other state benefits.
Sawsan Zaher, a lawyer for the Israeli Arab lobby Adalah, another petitioner, said the ruling showed “the country is interfering in the choosing of spouses”.
Seeking to play down the law’s disruptive effect, Yishai said his ministry issued an average of 1,000 special entry permits a year to Palestinians and other non-Israelis on the basis of what he called “family unification”.
January 12th, 2012, 5:51 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
Yesterday images of Bashar Al Assad at Omayyad Square with some 3 thousands moukhabarat and shabbiha around him, with official cameras trying to show the ¨crowds¨ around the leader, reminds me of the last months of Gaddafi at the Green Square. I hope I am wrong because I do not wish any harm to the President but every day he is nearer to the typical dictator´s violent ending. I pray for him to react in time and dismantle the mafia state while leading a total change, if it is still possible. If not, then those who survive will have lost a decade of their lives.
January 12th, 2012, 6:06 pm
Tara said:
Shabeeh
If you think that the revolution want to win the Sabeeha over, you are mistaken. After 6000 dead, it is quite clear that people who took sides aren’t going to change. The revolution started sacred and peaceful. It was born in Deraa after few school children got tortured. You can’t deny it as Bashar himself admitted it. When asked about bringing Atef Najeeb to justice, he answered that no one sued Atef, additionally that “Atef is my cousin”. You said it was proved on SC that armed gangs were present from the beginning. Proved to whom? To the regime’s supporters who believed the regime’s narrative from the beginning?
No one can deny the criminality of the regime, it’s corruption, it’s culpability in killing women, children, and the innocents, it’s brutality….It is natural consequence at this day and age for people to revolt against the oppressor. It is a natural consequence for people to armed themselves to defend their own. It is natural for outsider to meddle to achieve their agenda and the revolution can’t be held responsible for that. The full culpability if foreign intervention to take place belongs the regime and it’s supporters.
It is saddening though that the overwhelming majority of Alawis support the killer. This was a historical mistake for the Alawi community. Assads never belived in co-existance. They built a whole structure of mostly Alawis (4th division, the republic guards, and the security forces) and used them to terrorize a whole country. They built a sectarian army with the sole purpose of keeping the chair. They robbed you from your Alawism and made you Shabeehs and unfortunately, even the educated fell for it and that is what is saddening. We have never been one people. There was an institutionalized strategy over the last 40 years to subjugate the majority through militarizing the minority and brainwashing them. Brainwashing that renders you incapable of feeling our pains whether we are gunned down, tortured, raped, or humiliated and subjugated to the bone. We have in your eyes become subhuman, traitors, islamists, terrorist, zionists, conspirators and therefore deserve our punishment.
Assad is falling. I have no doubt what so ever. The doubt I have is if we can ever truly reconcile. It will be an enormous task.
January 12th, 2012, 6:32 pm
Tara said:
Syria forms committee to probe killing of French journalist in Homs
http://www.poten.com/NewsDetails.aspx?id=11985972
It is like the rapist being the forensic examiner. The EU must insist on an independent international investigation.
January 12th, 2012, 6:43 pm
ann said:
Bloomberg View: Learning from Iran (Yep, Iran); the Fed’s Plan to Jump-Start Housing – January 12, 2012
Iran’s model for fuel-subsidy reform; Congress should take up the Fed’s suggestions to help revive the housing market
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/bloomberg-view-learning-from-iran-yep-iran-the-feds-plan-to-jumpstart-housing-01122012.html
January 12th, 2012, 6:55 pm
syria no kandahar said:
Tara MB
The rapists are your dudes,it is slowly becoming clear.YOU ARE A RAPIST AND CHILDREN KILLERS SUPPORTER.
January 12th, 2012, 7:02 pm
zoo said:
The Fate of Bashar Assad: Will He Be the Next Gaddafi or the Next Milosevic?
By Tony Karon | @tonykaron | January 12, 201
…..
Or, in other words, Balkanization. It’s worth remembering that Syria, like Yugoslavia, was invented after World War I on the remains of a collapsed empire. One reason its ruling ideology has been more Pan-Arabist than nationalist, per se, is that the bonds of nationhood tying together its disparate communities may not be particularly deep or enduring. Whether Syrian nationhood would survive a civil war is an open question—one that international and regional powers mindful of the consequences of a centrifugal collapse of state power in Syria may not be willing to ask.
That leaves Syria’s opposition facing a long, bitter and lonely fight, in which foreign pressure is likely to be restricted to the economic strangulation that will slowly degrade the regime’s ability to maintain its support base. Milosevic ultimately got his comeuppance in 2000, when he was overthrown by his own people and soon after packed off for trial at The Hague, where he eventually died. But that was nine years after he plunged Yugoslavia into bloody chaos.
Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/01/12/is-syrias-bashar-assad-the-next-gaddafi-or-could-he-be-the-middle-easts-milosevic/#ixzz1jIB4O2tU
January 12th, 2012, 7:08 pm
zoo said:
Syria’s Future and the Arab League
by Robert M. Danin
January 12, 2012
http://blogs.cfr.org/danin/2012/01/12/syria%E2%80%99s-future-and-the-arab-league/
….
To salvage its own credibility, the Arab League is going to have to answer for the results, or lack thereof, of its mission when it reports on January 19. That will be a critical moment. The Arab League will have to take decisive action, referring the Syrian issue to the United Nations, implementing the sanctions it announced but has so far failed to enforce, and denouncing Assad unequivocally. Otherwise, the Arab League’s critics will be proven right, and the regional organization will relegate itself to utter irrelevance in the post-2011 Arab world.
{…}
January 12th, 2012, 7:11 pm
syria no kandahar said:
Tara almost had a heart attack from being so happy watching another lier.She and her MB dudes have lies for breakfast,lunch and dinner,they dream lies and live in a constant revolutionary day dreaming status:
كد الفريق الأول الركن محمد الدابي رئيس بعثة مراقبي جامعة الدول العربية في دمشق أن ماتحدث به المراقب أنور مالك عبر إحدى القنوات الفضائية لا يمت للحقيقة بصلة.
وقال رئيس بعثة مراقبي الجامعة في تصريح صحفي إن مالك منذ أن تم توزيعه ضمن فريق حمص لم يغادر الفندق طيلة ستة أيام ولم يشارك أعضاء الفريق النزول إلى الميدان متعللاً بمرضه الذي يحول دون مرافقة الفريق في جولاته داخل حمص.
وأضاف الدابي ان مالك وقبل مغادرته دمشق بيوم طلب السماح له بالسفر للعلاج في باريس وتمت الموافقة له لكنه غادر قبل اتخاذ الإجراءات التي تستلزم سفره ومن دون أن يسلم العهدة التي تسلمها لمشاركته في المهمة في حمص ولم ينتظر استخراج تذكرة للسفر وسافر على حسابه الخاص.
وأوضح رئيس بعثة مراقبي الجامعة أن مالك حنث بالقسم الذي أداه إلى جانب أن ما صرح به إنما يقع على مسؤوليته الشخصية وهو ما يؤكده أعضاء الفريق الذي ذهب إلى حمص.
وجدد الفريق الدابي دعوته وسائل الإعلام إلى تحري الدقة فيما تنشر وأن تلتزم برسالتها في المنهجية والموضوعية.
January 12th, 2012, 7:13 pm
Tara said:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2085297/Asma-Assad-British-wife-Syrias-President-takes-children-cheer-dictator-daddy.html?ITO=1490
Asma used to be prettier, I think the black cap does not look good on her, also Zein is not pretty. Kareem is a handsome little boy. I heard he is adorable.
January 12th, 2012, 7:13 pm
zoo said:
Turkey and US ‘discuss no-fly zone’ for Syria
Zoi Constantine
Jan 13, 2012
http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/turkey-and-us-discuss-no-fly-zone-for-syria
BEIRUT // Nato members and some Gulf states are discussing possible military intervention in Syria, according to a senior Russian security official.
Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Security Council of Russia, said the United States and Turkey, both Nato members, were discussing the possibility of a no-fly zone.
“Working under the ‘Libyan scenario’, they intend to move from indirect intervention in Syria to direct military intervention,” said Mr Patrushev, former head of the FSB, the intelligence agency that succeeded the Soviet-era KGB.
There has been speculation that the crisis in Syria might follow a trajectory similar to the uprising in Libya, where a Nato-imposed no-fly zone and bombing campaign helped to topple Muammar Qaddafi.
Some Syrian opposition groups, including the Free Syrian Army, have been calling for a no-fly zone and buffer zones to assist the 10-month revolt against the regime of the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad. Russia is expected to oppose any Nato role.
{…}
January 12th, 2012, 7:16 pm
ann said:
Armed groups kill eight government troops in northern Syria – 2012-01-13
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/13/c_131357095.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — At least eight law-enforcement members were killed Thursday by “armed groups” gunfire in northern Idlib province, the official SANA news agency reported.
“Armed groups” targeted a bus carrying law-enforcement forces at the Khan Sheikhoun area, said SANA, adding the bus was showered with heavy gunfire, killing the law forces.
In a separate incident, a small boy was killed when an explosive device, planted by “terrorists,” went off at Huraitan town, a suburb of the northern Aleppo province, according to SANA. The Syrian government says more than 2,000 army and security personnel were killed during the months-long unrest, while the United Nations put the death toll in the country at more than 5, 000.
January 12th, 2012, 7:18 pm
Tara said:
Kandahar,
Read this:
Doubt hangs over Arab monitoring mission in Syria
Published on Thu, Jan 12, 2012 at 16:32 | Source : Reuters
http://www.moneycontrol.com/news/wire-news/doubt-hangs-over-arab-monitoring-missionsyria_649864.html
….
Malek, an Algerian who quit the monitoring team this week, said many of his former colleagues shared his chagrin.
“I cannot specify a number, but many. When you talk to them their anger is clear,” he told Reuters by telephone, adding that many could not leave because of orders from their governments.
He said a Moroccan legal specialist, an aid worker from Djibouti and an Egyptian had also left the mission.
Their departures could not immediately be confirmed, but another monitor, who asked not to be named, told Reuters he planned to leave Syria on Friday. “The mission does not serve the citizens,” he said. “It doesn’t serve anything.
….
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Wednesday that the monitoring mission cannot continue indefinitely and dismissed Assad’s speech on Tuesday as “chillingly cynical”.
…
“The journalists were attacked in a heavily militarised regime stronghold,” said Wissam Tarif, of the Avaaz campaign group. “It would be hugely difficult for any armed opposition to penetrate the area and launch such a deadly attack.”
…
Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim al-Thani, who heads the Arab League committee on Syria, said doubts were growing about the effectiveness of the monitors.
“I could not see up until now a successful mission, frankly speaking,” he told a joint news conference with Clinton in Washington. “We hope we solve it, as we say, in the house of the Arabs, but right now the Syrian government is not helping us.”
January 12th, 2012, 7:19 pm
zoo said:
The new love affair: The USA and the Moslem Brotherhood
Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood hails ties with US
AFP
Thursday, January 12, 2012 11:24:58 AM
CAIRO – The head of the political arm of Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood on Wednesday hailed US-Egyptian ties during talks with the US State Department’s number two, but also said they must be “balanced.”
http://213.158.162.45/~egyptian/index.php?action=news&id=22933&title=Egypt%27s%20Muslim%20Brotherhood%20hails%20ties%20with%20US
January 12th, 2012, 7:20 pm
syria no kandahar said:
May be 300 millions arabs one day will stop Qatar from dictating
their future:
نقل موقع «بوابة الأهرام العربي» أن حركة “اللجان الشعبية للدفاع عن مصر” تنوي تنظيم وقفة احتجاجية أمام السفارة القطرية بالقاهرة يوم غد الجمعة للمطالبة بإسقاط عضوية قطر من الجامعة العربية، وذلك اعتراضًا على ما أسمته “الدور المشبوه” الذي تقوم به لخدمة الأجندة الأمريكية.
وقالت الدكتورة منال المصري، مؤسس الحركة للموقع المصري: “سيتم عرض فيديوهات ومستندات تثبت بالدليل القاطع تورط قطر في التحالف مع المخابرات الأمريكية والموساد الإسرائيلي”.
وأبرز دليل على ذلك حسب المصري ما قاله رئيس وزراء قطر، أن “بلاده أرسلت 5 آلاف جندى قطرى لمساعدة الليبيين بالتخلص من القذافي، إضافة إلى ما نشرته ويكيليكس عن الدور المشبوه لقناة الجزيرة، وأن وضاح خنفر المدير السابق للقناة كان يتلقى تعليماته من المخابرات الأمركية”.
وتقول د. منال المصري “إن دولة قطر خالفت ميثاق جامعة الدول العربية ومعاهدة الدفاع العربية المشتركة بإرسالها 5000 جندى قطري إلى ليبيا، بالتنسيق مع حلف الناتو، لإسقاط القذافى، إضافة إلى تمويلها نشر الفوضى في سوريا، وأكدت منال، أن الوقفة الاحتجاجية ستتسع فى كل أنحاء مصر للمطالبة بإسقاط عضوية قطر من الجامعة العربية بعد تحالفها مع “الناتو”.
January 12th, 2012, 7:20 pm
Tara said:
Kandahar@510
I do not eat breakfast and I eat very very little at lunch in case you are interested. I could not sleep last night thinking about the French journalist. I felt as if he was family. He survived Afganistan, Iraq, and Israel but he was murdered in Syria. My heart aches for him.
January 12th, 2012, 7:24 pm
ann said:
Syria forms committee to probe killing of French journalist in Homs – 2012-01-13
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/13/c_131357107.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — The governor of central Syrian city of Homs Ghassan Abdul al-Al issued a decision Thursday to form a committee to investigate the circumstances of the attack that occurred a day earlier and claimed the live of French journalist Gilles Jacquier, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
The committee consists of a judge, two weapons experts, and a representative of the France 2 TV channel, according to SANA.
Jacquier, the correspondent of France 2 TV, was among other nine people, who were killed Wednesday when identified gunmen fired mortars on a crowd of people, who were giving testimonies to foreign journalists that were inspecting in the Ekrima neighborhood in the city of Homs, a hotspot in the months-old Syrian crisis.
Abul-Al called the attack “an appalling crime that targeted civilians and journalists.” But he also told Xinhua that the group of foreign journalists went independently to Homs and requested to be alone and move freely without protection from the government.
The Syrian Information Ministry expressed on late Wednesday its deep grief and regret over the deadly attack. It condemned the incident, saying that the attack came in the context of the terrorist attempts to cover the true picture of what is happening in Syria, according to SANA.
In Paris, French Foreign Minster Alain Juppe immediately condemned in strong words the killing of Jacquier, who is the first Western journalist that was killed in Syria since the unrest began in March last year.
“We vigorously condemned this odious act,” Juppe said in a statement, adding that “we demand an investigation so that the circumstances of this tragedy be clarified.”
Juppe urged the Syrian authorities to conduct its duty to protect foreign journalists in the country, and noted that the French ambassador in Damascus would arrive at the scene immediately.
Also, the foreign policy chief of the European Union (EU) Catherine Ashton on Wednesday strongly condemned the attack and expressed her condolences in a statement to the family of Jacquier, and the families of all the victims in the Homs attack.
“The Syrian authorities have a responsibility to guarantee the safety of journalists in their country,” Ashton said, “The press must be allowed to carry out its vital role of providing independent information on events in Syria without fear of violence or repression.”
Ashton called for an immediate end to violence in Syria, and expressed her concerns on the recent escalation of violence in the country. She also called for a rapid investigation to clarify the circumstances leading to Wednesday’s tragedy.
January 12th, 2012, 7:27 pm
ann said:
Chinese envoy stresses Arab League’s role in solving Syrian crisis – 2012-01-13
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/china/2012-01/13/c_131357112.htm
CAIRO, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) — Chinese special envoy to the Middle East Wu Sike said on Thursday China supported the efforts exerted by the Arab League (AL) in solving the Syrian crisis.
After talks with AL chief Nabil al-Arabi in Cairo, Wu told reporters that the pan-Arab body is the proper framework to resolve the Syrian crisis and that the AL and its members are capable of doing this.
China opposed the internationalization of the Syrian crisis and urged all sides in Syria to immediately stop violence and carry out inclusive political dialogue, he said.
As to the AL’s observer mission, Wu expressed regret over the recent attacks on observers in Syria.
China supported the AL to dispatch observers and hoped the observer delegation to continue fulfilling their mission, Wu said.
China called on the Syria government and different blocs to create favorable environment for the activities of observers, he added.
January 12th, 2012, 7:38 pm
zoo said:
Turkey aims to limit France’s Mideast role
Thursday,January 12 2012
ANKARA – Hürriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-aims-to-limit-frances-mideast-role.aspx?PageID=238&NID=9992&NewsCatID=338
Turkey’s sanctions aim at limiting French presence in the Mideast and Caucasus and will remain even if the French Senate disapproves the ‘genocide’ bill
…
Two of the Middle East’s key countries, Syria and Lebanon, where France replaced the Ottoman Empire as the colonial power after World War I, are seen as being crucial for the entire region’s stability and still have close ties with Paris. Though the turmoil in Syria precipitated rapprochement between Turkey and France, recent developments indicate that the power struggle between the two sparring countries will now be exercised in the Middle East.
“Turkey will do everything to prevent a meeting on Syria and other key topics under the aegis of France,” a diplomat said.
However, this development has seriously disturbed the United States since the tension is likely to weaken the international community’s position vis-à-vis Syria.
…
January 12th, 2012, 7:41 pm
jad said:
Alawite Shaikh replied to the Israelis “The Sunnis are our brothers both in religion and the homeland”
“شيخ علوي” يرد على التصريحات الإسرائيلية: أهل السنّة إخوتنا في الدين والوطن
فجأة قرر أحد شيوخ الطائفة العلوية الكريمة أن يقطع مشاركته في مناسبة دينية في إحدى قرى ريف اللاذقية، ويجيب على رسائل موقع “سيريا بوليتيك” التي تهاوت على جواله، وأزعجته على مدار أيام طالبة منه الرد على التصريحات الإسرائيلية بخصوص العلويين. وآثر أخيرا، الشيخ غير المكترث بالسياسة ومن أنصار ابتعاد رجال الدين عن السياسة والذي يؤلف الكتب في مجال العلوم الإنسانية والأديان منذ سنوات طويلة وينشرها في لبنان، إلا أن يرد مطولا على رسائلنا معلقا على التصريحات الإسرائيلية.
وكان رئيس أركان الجيش الإسرائيلي، الجنرال بيني غانتز قال إن اسرائيل تهيئ نفسها لاستقبال لاجئين من الطائفة العلوية التي ينتمي إليها الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد، في حال سقوط نظامه. ونقل ناطق بإسم لجنة العلاقات الخارجية في الكنيست الاسرائيلي، قول الجنرال غانتز أمام اللجنة انه من المتوقع ان تتضرر الطائفة العلوية في اليوم الذي يسقط فيه نظام الأسد وإن اسرائيل تستعد لاستقبال لاجئين علويين في هضبة الجولان.
فماذا قال الشيخ العلوي، المنحدر من عشيرة القراحلة، لموقع سيريا بوليتيك ؟. قال الشيخ ، الذي فضل عدم نشر اسمه، إن “إسرائيل تريد الفتنة من وراء هذه التصريحات، وتريد أن تثير العلويين على إخوانهم السنة، لتندلع حرب طائفية مدمرة لنا جميعا”.
وأضاف الشيخ العلوي “لن نلجأ إلى إسرائيل، وإذا ما أصابنا مكروه لن نلجأ إلا إلى أهلنا الحمويين والشوام والحلبيين وكل السوريين، فنحن نفهم أنه يوجد غلاة متطرفون يريدون الانتقام منا، ولكن لا يجوز التعميم، لأن الكراهية والتطرف لا تتحمل مسؤليتها الطوائف والمذاهب والأديان، وإنما الأفراد الذي يروجون لهذه الأفكار في المجتمع”.
وقال الشيخ “عندما قام الطيار الخائن بسام العدل بسرقة طائرة الميغ 23 وتسليمها إلى إسرائيل قبل ثلاثين عاما، لم يكن يمثل تصرفه ذاك المذهب السني الكريم، ولا أي مذهب آخر، وإنما كان يمثل نفسه”.
وأضاف الشيخ ” هذا لا يمنع وجود هواجس كبيرة لدينا من القادم، وقد روى لي شيخ فاضل من المهتمين بالسياسة إن شخصين من المعارضة السورية في لندن وباريس حاولا التواصل معه، فطلب منهما طلبا واحدا هو أن تصدر بادرة طيبة عن المعارضة عبر كتابة جملة واحدة وهي تطمين الطائفة العلوية بأنها لن تتعرض لانتقام وأذية، وأنها ستتابع حياتها بشكل طبيعي في أي مرحلة سياسية قادمة، فتحجج المعارضان بأن المعارضة لا تسمي الطوائف باسمها وهي تتحدث فقط عن الوحدة الوطنية والأقليات، فرد الشيخ عليهما قائلا لكن تتم تسمية الطائفة عندما تصدر فتاوى تكفير من قبل بعض الفضائيات التي يطل فيها شيوخ يدعون لقتلنا ولم يصدر عنكم أي بيان يدين هذه الفضائيات بل العكس تدخلون وتشاركون على مواقعهم الالكترونية، كما أنكم ذكرتم أسماء الاقليات القومية فلماذا لا تذكرون أسماء الاقليات الدينية”.
وقال الشيخ “نحن لم نتدخل في السياسة يوما، ولن نتدخل، هل شاهد أي سوري شيخا علويا يخطب في الناس يوم الجمعة على الفضائية السورية مثلا ؟ هل شاهد السوريون وفدا من الشيوخ العلويين يزورون مواقع حكومية رسمية ؟ هل قرأ أو سمع أو شاهد أي سوري فتوى صادرة عن شيخ علوي تدعو لقتل أحد ؟ ؟ لا .. هي مو شغلتنا بالمرة.. آلاف السجناء السياسيين من طائفتنا عارضوا النظام لم نقل ضدهم كلمة واحدة وعندما خرجوا من السجن كنا نذهب إليهم مهنئين بالسلامة”.
وأكد الشيخ “عندما قمعنا العثمانيون وارتكبوا بحقنا أفظع الجرائم هربنا إلى الجبال، وعشنا التهميش والجوع والفقر في قرانا ومع ذلك تعلم أولادنا عندما كانوا يمشون حفاة إلى المدينة، ويعودون مع غياب الشمس، واليوم نسمع بعض الأصوات التي تقول بأنها سوف تعيدنا من مزة 86 وعش الورور إلى قرانا، ولكن لن نكترث لها، فهذا وطننا ووطن كل السوريين، وأرضنا وأرض كل السوريين، عشنا فيها وسنموت فيها، ولن نلجأ إلى إسرائيل، وأهل السنة في سوريا أخوتنا في الدين والوطن، ونحن ندرك وجود الغلاة والمتطرفين في كل زمان ومكان من الذين يسعون للقتل والفتنة والانتقام الذي يبدو أنه بدأ بالحصول، ولكننا ندرك أيضا أنها أصوات فردية لا تمثل دينا أو طائفة، ويدنا لن تمتد إلى يد إسرائيلية، ونفضل ألف ألف مرة أن نمد يدنا لابن بلدنا حتى لو كانت السكين في قبضتها، وهي لن تكون (أي السكين) بإذن الله لأن أهل السنة السوريين أهل اعتدال ومحبة وتسامح وكما تعايشوا مع المسيحيين سوف يتعايشون أيضا مع العلويين.. ولكن نتمنى أن يبتعد رجال الدين عن السياسة ويتفرغوا لأمور حياتية مجتمعية وللعبادة، فالسياسة لها أهلها وشبابها..ونتمنى على المعارضين من أبناء بلدنا أن يعلنوا صراحة خطابا تطمينيا بكل وضوح وشفافية، وأن يقلدوا الشيخ الجليل ابراهيم هنانو وليس غيره.. الدين لله والوطن للجميع.. والسلام عليكم .. وفقكم الله يا ابني والله يحمي هالبلد وأهلها من عيون الأعداء وعيون المخربين في الأرض”.
http://syria-politic.com/ar/Default.aspx?subject=306#.Tw98QKUePla
January 12th, 2012, 7:46 pm
irritated said:
Obvious dilemma
The foreign journalists want to roam alone without Syrian security accompagniying them
“But he also told Xinhua that the group of foreign journalists went independently to Homs and requested to be alone and move freely without protection from the government.”
At the same time,
““The Syrian authorities have a responsibility to guarantee the safety of journalists in their country”
January 12th, 2012, 7:47 pm
Tara said:
Al-Assad does not let activists into Syria
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/al-assad-does-not-let-activists-into-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=11386&NewsCatID=352
“We want to draw attention to the humanitarian crisis taking place in Syria. However, the al-Assad regime did not allow us. Now we will set up our tents and wait at the Syrian-Turkish border in order to protest the regime,” the spokesperson for the group, Hasan Hatip told to Hürriyet Daily News in an interview yesterday.
Up to 150 activists, brought together by a campaign on the social networking website Facebook, left the southeastern city of Gaziantep in buses and cars, carrying token relief supplies of blankets, medicine and food. The groups carrying Syrian flags and singing songs in Arabic, have chanted slogans calling for the freedom to Syrian people. Comprising of Syrian expatriates from Europe, North America and the Arab world, the group was stopped by the police before entering Kilis.
Border camp
After their meeting with the deputy governor Erkan Çapar, eight people carrying Syrian passports were allowed to pass the border in order to talk with the Syrian authorities. “We want to go to Syria to show to the whole world what is happening there,” said Moayad Skaif, a 30-year-old Syrian journalist from Qatar on one of “Freedom Convoy to Syria” coaches. “al-Assad does not want the truth to come out.” Hasan Hatip said they wanted to make an impact on world public opinion like the Mavi Marmara flotilla incident has caused. “We want the whole world to see what is going on in Syria,” Hatip said.
However, the group was refused entry to Syria and set up a camp in the Turkish border in protest of the Syrian regime. Turkey’s foreign ministry sources said they had been in touch with the convoy, but did not say whether Turkey supported the campaign.
January/13/2012
January 12th, 2012, 7:48 pm
jad said:
أيام صعبة في الأزمة السورية… بسبب إيران
سامي كليب
أراد الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد لخطابه الأخير أن يكون رسالة حزم أمني وانفتاح سياسي. وأراده أيضا تعبيرا عن قوة النظام في وجه الرياح العاتية التي تعصف به من كل حدب وصوب. تزامن ذلك مع تفاقم التهديدات المتبادلة بين إيران والولايات المتحدة، ومع تجاذبات لافتة حول المراقبين العرب. ووصل المشهد إلى نقطة خطيرة مع مقتل الزميل الفرنسي جيل جاكييه الذي سقط شهيد جرأته الصحافية الجديرة باحترام كبير.
لم يأخذ الغرب من خطاب الأسد سوى جانبه الأمني. كذلك فعلت المعارضة السورية والدول العربية والإسلامية الداعمة لها. ارتفعت اللهجة القائلة بانسداد الأفق السياسي وعقم تجربة المراقبة العربية للأوضاع في سوريا. ازدادت الدعوات لسحب المراقبين. وهم على الأرجح سيُسحبون عاجلا أم آجلا لأن المطلوب في الأسابيع المقبلة زيادة الضغط لإعادة فتح الملف السوري في مجلس الأمن الدولي. مرفوض عربيا ودوليا أن يشعر النظام باستعادة زمام المبادرة.
كانت واشنطن وفرنسا في طليعة من شجب خطاب الأسد. تبعها بعض العرب. تخلل ذلك لقاءان منفصلان جمعا وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية هيلاري كلينتون مع رئيس الوزراء القطري الشيخ حمد بن جبر آل ثاني ووزير الخارجية السعودي الأمير سعود الفيصل. استكمل المشهد بلقاءات هي الأولى من نوعها علنا بين وليم بيرنز الرجل الثاني في وزارة الخارجية الأميركية وجماعة الإخوان المسلمين في مصر. كان جيفري فيلتمان، كبير مستشاري وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية، قد مهد لها قبل فترة وقيل إن لهذه الزيارات أهدافا عديدة، ولكن أبرزها إيران وسوريا ومستقبل العلاقة مع إسرائيل وأميركا.
حديث الأسد عن الحكومة قبل الانتخابات وعن دعوته مختلف الأطراف للمشاركة فيها لم يلق أي صدى ايجابي عند الدول المطالبة منذ فترة بإسقاطه. لكن الرئيس السوري قدم بذلك ورقة إضافية لحلفائه الروس، وقدم الأمر على انه احد أبرز التطبيقات الفعلية لمشروع الإصلاح. أريد للكلام عن الحكومة والانتخابات أن يقطع الطريق على من يلوم الأسد على انه كثير الوعود قليل التنفيذ. ومع ذلك فان الآذان بقيت صماء وتم تسليط الأضواء مجددا على الخيار الأمني.
الخيار الأمني مستمر، والأسد لم ينف ذلك بل عززه. لكن الرئيس السوري سعى لرمي الكرة السياسية والإصلاحية في ملعب المعارضة، ذلك أن رفضها التجاوب مع دعوته يعني أن المعارضة هي التي لا تريد الحوار. لم يكتف الأسد بذلك. قرر حماية خياراته بسند شعبي. قفز فوق كل النصائح الأمنية ونزل مع زوجته وأولاده إلى ساحة الأمويين.
كان الأسد يقول لمناصريه في ساحة الأمويين «سننتصر .. وإنهم في مرحلتهم الأخـــيرة من المؤامرة وسنجعلها نهاية لهم ولمخططاتهم». فهم مناصــروه الكلام على انه مصدر قوة، وقالت عنه المعارضة انه عـــنوان ضعف. لكن ليس كل ذلك مهما، الأهم أن كلام الأســـد جاء فيما كانت المياه الإقليمــية من الخليج إلى البحر الأبيض المتوسط تغلي بتحــركات عســكرية بحــرية أميركــية وروسية.
غليان البحار رافق ارتفاعا كبيرا في حرارة اللهجة الإيرانية. هددت طهران بإغلاق مضيق هرمز. كشفت عن استمرار وتفعيل عمليات التخصيب النووي. قابل ذلك ازدياد الكلام عن إرسال قوات أميركية إلى المنطقة وإسرائيل.
يوحي كل هذا المشهد، بان الأزمة وصلت إلى ذروتها، لم يبق إلا الانفجار أو الصفقة. كلا الاحتمالين وارد. لا يوازي القلق من الانفجار سوى الخطوات المتلاحقة للتهدئة. تتصدر روسيا قائمة الكابحين للتفجير. رئيس الحكومة الروسية فلاديمير بوتين يصل إلى حد التوعد بالرد على أي عمل من طرف واحد يقوم به الغرب. يريد لكلامه كبح جماح الاندفاع صوب التصعيد والذي تغذيه إسرائيل علانية أو تحت الطاولات. تتكرر التحذيرات الروسية حيال أي عمل عسكري في المنطقة. تسحب موسكو البساط من تحت أقدام الغربيين بقولها إنها لا ترى أي دليل على تطوير إيران قنبلة نووية. يتذكر السامعون تلفيقات الإدارة الأميركية حين كانت تتحدث عن اسلحة دمار شامل عند الرئيس العراقي الراحل صدام حسين.
تحوم حول تركيا كافة الإغراءات. يدعو الاتحاد الأوروبي وزير الخارجية التركي احمد داود اوغلو للانضمام إلى لقاءاته حيال إيران وسوريا. تحاول إيران قطع الطريق فتكثف اللقاءات والاتصالات مع أنقرة، رغم صعوبة المحادثات بينهما بشأن سوريا. تستشعر قطر اقتراب الخطر ويحق لها أن تكون أبرز القلقين في حال تعرضت إيران لعمل عسكري، فهي في فوهة المدفع الإيراني. يقول رئيس الوزراء القطري من واشنطن بضرورة تخفيف التأزم في الخليج. تريد الدوحة أن تتحول إلى وسيط من نوع خاص بين طهران وواشنطن، ولكنها لا تستبعد أي احتمال لوضع أسوأ.
في أوج هذا التأزم يُقتل الصحافي الفرنسي جيل جاكييه في حمص. الزميل الأربعيني العمر والأب الحديث لطفلتين تميز بشجاعة لافتة في كل مساره الصحافي. وضع روحه على كفه مرارا من كوسوفو إلى أفغانستان وليبيا واليمن وصولا إلى سوريا. سيكون مقتله نقطة مفصلية في الأزمة السورية، ودمه مرشح لأن يتحول إلى قميص عثمان. من الصعب السماح للسلطة السورية بتحميل المسؤولية للمسلحين. سترتفع الأصوات القائلة بان النظام هو مدبر القتل. أما إذا تحول مجرى الرياح وصار لا بد من تهدئة فيمكن تحميل المسؤولية لاحقا لمسلحين مجهولي الهوية.
هب العالم اجمع مستنكرا مقتل الزميل الفرنسي. سارعت واشنطن والاتحاد الأوروبي وفرنسا لمطالبة السلطات بكشف الملابسات. لكن اللافت أن أحدا من هذا العالم لم يستنكر في اليوم نفسه اغتيال عالم نووي إيراني. اكتفت واشنطن بإعلان البراءة من دم العالم الشاب. أدركت أن اتهام إيران لها ولإسرائيل يعني تحميلها جزءا كبيرا من المسؤولية التي قد يترتب عليها رد إيراني. تستطيع طهران أن ترد بسهولة على واشنطن لكنها تتريث للرد على إسرائيل، وهي على الأرجح سترد في مكان وزمان يناسبانها، ولعل لدى «حزب الله» كثيرا من الخطط لعمليات ينفذها حين يحين موعدها على غرار ما اعتاد سابقا رغم تغير الظروف في محيطه.
كل هذا التلبد في غيوم المنطقة يجري وسط ارتفاع حرارة التنافس الانتخابي في الولايات المتحدة. تثار مجددا قضايا هزيمة أميركا في العراق. يعاد فتح ملف معتقل غوانتانامو الذي وعد الرئيس الأميركي باراك أوباما بإقفاله ولم يف بالوعود بعد. تدخل قطر على خط التسوية الأميركية مع حركة طالبان، تتقدم الوساطة القطرية خطوة وتتعثر خطوات ولم يعرف مآلها النهائي حتى الساعة. وفي فرنسا ترتفع لهجة الاتهامات الحزبية للرئيس نيكولا ساركوزي في حمأة الاستعداد للانتخابات المقبلة وذلك فيما يجاهد الغرب لحل أزمة ديونه.
بعد عشرة أشهر على الأزمة السورية يريد الأسد أن يقول انه قادر على التلويح بالعصي الأمنية الغليظة بيد، والتلويح بحل سياسي بيد أخرى شرط أن يكون الحل بإشرافه ورعايته. لكن المعارضة ومعها دول كثيرة تريد إسقاطه حتى ولو اختلفت أهداف هذه الإرادة. لم تنفع محاولاته للانفتاح السياسي في إقناع المعارضة بالحوار حتى ولو انه فتح الباب هذه المرة للجميع.
بات إسقاط الأسد جزءا من الحرب الإقليمية والدولية الأوسع. صار الربط بين دمشق وطهران و«حزب الله» أوثق من أي وقت مضى في حرب المحورين في المنطقة. لابد من انفجار أو صفقة. المنطقة تغلي. إدارة الأزمات تبدو عقيمة وهي خطيرة على الجميع. كل شيء مرهون بمستقبل الملف الإيراني. من غير المنتظر إذا أي حل أو انفراج في الأزمة السورية قبل وضوح الرؤيا في الملف النووي. هنا بالضبط تكمن كل الخطورة، ولكن أيضا قد يكمن الأمل بالانفراج. الوقت الراهن يوحي بالخطورة أكثر من الانفراج. التجارب الإيرانية السابقة مع الانتخابات الأميركية توحي بان ثمة أشياء كثيرة تجري تحت الطاولات. إيران المحاصرة ما تزال قادرة على رفع سعر النفط بمجرد التهديد بإغلاق مضيق هرمز، وقادرة أيضا على إثارة الهلع عند الناخب الأميركي والتأثير سلبا على أوباما، لكنها لم تســقط حتى الآن في فخ جرها إلى الحرب. تدرك أن المبادر إلى الحرب المقبلة سيكون خاسرا. من جانبه يدرك ســـيد البيت الأبيض أن أي خطوة ناقصة قد تطــيح بكل آماله للعــودة إلى مكتبه البيضاوي. ولكن إسرائيل تكثف الضغوط لوضع حد للبرنامج الإيراني والقضاء على «حزب الله» وتصب نظرية وزير دفاعها إيهود باراك بان ذلك يتحقق عبر إسقاط نظام الأسد، خصوصا بعد أن انتزع الأميركيون من «إخوان» مصر قــرارا بالحفاظ على المعاهدات لفترة طويلة. فكيف للأزمة الســـورية أن تنتظر حلا قريبا؟ التصعيد سيبقى سيد الموقــف لفترة غير قصيرة وسوف يزداد. لا الحرب سهلة ولا الصفقة جاهزة، وكل طرف سيزداد شراسة.
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January 12th, 2012, 8:03 pm
jad said:
هل الخلاف مميت بين «الإحياءين»
السني والشيعي؟
حبيب فياض
وزير خارجية تركيا ينعى «الإحياء الشيعي» في المنطقة، ويبشر بولادة «الإحياء السني» من رحم الثورات العربية. وفيما يبدو انه تحذير تركي لإيران بضرورة تحمل التبعات في حال رفضت طهران تمدد أنقرة الإقليمي يقول أوغلو: «إيران، بالخيارات التي ستعتمدها، سيكون لها تأثير، إما في الاتجاه السلبي أو بالاتجاه الايجابي. سوف توضع أسس المئة عام المقبلة. وعلى كل طرف أن يحدد موقفه تبعاً لذلك». ويضيف رئيس الدبلوماسية التركية مخاطباً الايرانيين «إذا ظهر أن إيران هي التي تقف خلف الصدامات المذهبية في سوريا ولبنان والعراق فماذا ستفعلون؟ وكيف ستقيمون علاقات مع جبهة سنية تقف بوجهكم؟ السنّة سوف يتكتلون ضدكم. عليكم إجراء حسابات بهذا الصدد».
كلام صاحب نظرية تصفير المشاكل، الذي جاء في أعقاب زيارته الأخيرة الفاشلة الى طهران، اقرب الى المبالغة والتهويل منه الى الجدية في توصيف الواقع. الموقف التركي يرمي الى دفع الدور الايراني في الاقليم الى التراجع تحت وطأة التلويح بالمواجهة المذهبية. وليس استحضار مقولة الإحياء، من أدبيات عصر النهضة امراً بريئاً، بل يراد منه إعادة إنتاج عثمانية جديدة وربطها بمشروع نهضوي، على طريقة رائد عصر النهضة جمال الدين الأفغاني. يقول هذا الأخير: إن عوامل النهوض، حال توفرها، هي نفسها عوامل السقوط في حال انتفائها. الثورات العربية، في الرؤية التركية، توفر عامل نهوض الدور التركي الاقليمي بعد سبات امتد عقوداً طويلة.
النهوض التركي يراد منه توسيع نفوذ انقرة في الإقليم، لكن من خلال تعميم النموذج، وليس على طريقة التمدد الامبراطوري. النموذج هذا، بشكله الراهن، يستند الى قوة الفكرة في الجذب اكثر مما يستند الى أي عنصر آخر. حزب «العدالة والتنمية» يؤمن، بأن الاسلام التركي وحده قادر على ردم الهوة الحضارية بين الاسلام والغرب بعيداً عن منطق التحدي والغلبة. لهذا يتمحور الدور التركي، في زمن الثورات العربية، على تدجين الاسلاميين مقابل اعتراف غربي بشرعية وجودهم في السلطة.
في الأصل، لم يكن التباين بين المشروعين التركي والايراني نابعاً من اعتبارات مذهبية. الدور التركي الجديد، يدفع أنقرة، على خلفية الثورات العربية، الى التهويل بالخلاف المذهبي بوصفه تأشيرة عبور للتوازن الاقليمي مع طهران. قبل الآن، قام المشروع التركي – منذ بداية عهد العدالة والتنمية – على ثلاثية المصالحة مع الغرب تمهيداً للشراكة معه، التمسك بالاسلام المعتدل في المجتمع والسلطة مقدمة لتعميمه، التوتير مع اسرائيل جلباً للتأييد العربي والاسلامي. بالمقابل، يقوم مشروع ايران الاقليمي على ثلاثية مباينة: التوازن والندية مع الغرب تمهيداً لإخراجه من المنطقة، الاسلام المبدئي في المجتمع والدولة تعزيزاً لمنطق السيادة، العداء النهائي لإسرائيل مقدمة لإزالتها عن الخارطة.
توزعَ الحضور الشيعي في الاقليم على أربعة انماط: دولة في ايران، سلطة في العراق، مقاومة في لبنان، أقليات معارضة في دول الخليج. الحضور هذا كان وما زال يتحرك ضمن «إحيائية» استمدت ديناميتها من تبني القضايا المشتركة للمسلمين، وإذا كان الحراك الشيعي في موقع ما يتمظهر على شكل خصوصية مذهبية، فإن القاعدة التي تحكم ذلك، غالباً ما تكون دفع الضرر وليس جلب المنفعة. والفارق بين الامرين كبير.
لإيران، الجمهورية الاسلامية، مصالح غالباً ما تتخلى عنها من اجل مبادئها، فيما لتركيا، حزب العدالة والتنمية، مبادئ غالباً ما تضعها جانباً في سبيل مصالحها. مبادئ الاولى ستلتقي مع مصالح الثانية عند ضرورة الابتعاد عن المواجهة الساخنة والفتنة المذهبية، وكل ما دون ذلك ممكن بينهما.
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January 12th, 2012, 8:12 pm
jad said:
Aleppo story:
«صمت» حلب: اقتناع بـ«المؤامرة» أم خوف من الأصوليّين؟
أثارت حلب، عبر شهور عشرة من عمر الاحتجاجات السورية، الكثير من التساؤلات عن سبب عزوف مواطنيها عن الانضمام بفعالية إلى حركة الاحتجاج، الأمر الذي جعل الحلبيين عرضة للسخرية من قبل الناشطين المحتجين على مواقع التواصل الاجتماعي، وهدفاً للسلب على الطرقات العامة في مناطق التوتر، حيث بات للمنشقين قدرة لا يستهان بها على التحرك
زياد الرفاعي
حلب | كثرت في الشهور الأخيرة أعمال السلب التي طالت المواطنين الحلبيين على الطرقات العامة من قبل المسلحين المنتشرين بين مورك في حماة حتى سراقب، على تخوم حلب، المحافظة التي تضم 6.5 ملايين مواطن وتعتبر عاصمة البلاد الاقتصادية. منذ بداية الأحداث كان للدم حضور كبير، إضافة إلى كل مبررات الاحتجاج الأخرى من توريث وقمع واستبداد أمني، لكن حلب كانت تعيش في العقد الأخير ربيعها الاقتصادي، كان هناك في عموم سوريا غضب مكبوت ونزعة انتقام من فترة الثمانينيات الدموية التي خاض فيها الإخوان المسلمون صراعهم مع سلطة البعث. النزعة تجددت لدى شريحة من السلفيين صقلتهم التجربة العراقية التي خاضوها، وغضب مستجد بعد أخبار القتل التي كانت ترد عبر الفضائيات.
أعداد المتظاهرين في مدينة حلب بالعشرات، وحتى المئات، كما تبين ذلك مقاطع الفيديو التي يبثّها ناشطون على شبكة الإنترنت، تستمر لدقائق معدودة، ويعتقد كثيرون في حلب أن الأمر يحصل لغرض تزويد الفضائيات، إذ تحصل وتنفض التظاهرة خلال دقائق.
هذا الأمر لا يقلق المحامي المعارض إسماعيل الذي يقول «المهم أن حلب في قلب الثورة، ويومياً يوجد تظاهرات في المدينة وفي الريف بنحو أكبر بكثير، رغم الرصاص والقتل. فليبعد النظام الأمن والشبيحة، وسترى بعد ذلك كيف سينزل الملايين إلى شوارع مدينة حلب».
وينقل المحامي المعارض عن أحد السياسيين من مرحلة الخمسينيات قوله: «دوماً تقف حمص مع التغيير منذ البداية، وتنضم حلب إلى المنتصر في النهاية». وخرج إسماعيل بخلاصة مفادها أن «هذا ما سيجري اليوم، النظام لن يصمد أمام الضغط الشعبي والعقوبات الاقتصادية ووجود المراقبين والانشقاقات في الجيش».
ورغم مقتل شاب قبل نحو أسبوعين نتيجة تلقّيه ضربة بهراوة على رقبته، فإن التظاهرة التي رافقت التشييع في قلب حلب القديمة في اليوم التالي لم تضم أكثر من 1000 مشارك، وهو ما يعتبره زهير حمامي «مؤشراً قطعياً على قرار مدني حلبي بعدم الانخراط في حركة الاحتجاج التي غاصت في الدم والتزييف ولن تحمل الحرية، بل ترى فيها الطبقة الوسطى المدينية خطراً كبيراً على الحرية الحقيقية والاستقرار والاقتصاد، وقبل كل شيء الأمن والأمان». ويضيف «هل تتوقع أن يخرج أهل حلب في ثورة يقودها «إخوان» يسعون إلى الانتقام، أو مسلحون أصوليون في ريف إدلب، لم يتركوا طريقة لإهانة أهل حلب إلا فعلوها، حتى وصل الأمر إلى حرق أكبر مصنع خاص للنسيج في حلب مرتين في أسبوع حتى دمروه، وحرموا 1800 عائلة من مصدر رزقها». ويسأل: «إذا كانت بدايتهم كذلك، فكيف ستكون عليه بعد سيطرتهم على سوريا؟».
الحساسية المدينية التي تقارب «النعرة» أحياناً، واضحة في كلام كثير من المثقفين. يقول كاتب مسرحي، عضو في اتحاد الكتاب العرب، «هل الحلبيون من السذاجة لكي يلتحقوا بثورة سلفية مسلحة نجح الإعلام في تغطية سلاحها». مثقف آخر يضيف «صديقنا الليبرالي ذاك الذي يدخّن الغليون، كان يشمئز من لفظة أصولي، لكنه اليوم يروّج لهم ولدورهم في ثورة الحرية، رغم مقتل مئات العسكريين والضباط وأفراد الشرطة على أيديهم. ولقد كشفت الأحداث عمق الأزمة في سوريا، وهي أزمة نخب تتعامل في السياسة بعقل براغماتي غير مقبول». ويؤكد «الإصلاح هو الخيار الأفضل الذي يمنع الانفجار الذي تسعى إليه قوى كبرى، ويحقق تغييراً متدرجاً، ويبعد عنا خطر العرقنة واللبننة. سوريا إذا انفجرت فستقدم مصطلحاً جديداً هو: السورنة»، مشدداً على أن «أحداث الشهور العشرة المنصرمة تؤكد ذلك، من ضرب وسلب وإهانات وانتهاك أعراض، إنها الفوضى الخلاقة الموعودة، لا الحرية المشتهاة».
بدوره، يقول الناقد فاضل الكواكبي إن «حركة الاحتجاج السورية تميّزت بنزعة مناطقية ودينية على حساب النزعات الطبقية والاجتماعية والسياسية. فتظاهرات حمص ترفع لواء التضامن مع درعا، ودوما تحيي اللاذقية، وبانياس تهتف لحماة، وهكذا غلبت نزعة تصعيدية مناطقية على حساب النزعة السياسية الوطنية». ويتابع «هذا ما أسمّيه انتفاضة الفزعة، وهو بالضبط ما ردّده المحتجون في درعا بقولهم: فزعة يا حوران فزعة». ويتابع «الصبغة العشائرية ومفهوم النصرة لقوم على قوم آخرين، هو مفهوم غير سياسي، بدائي غير واع»، موضحاً أنه «في النهاية غلبت النزعات المحلية على النزعة الوطنية، وأفسحت في المجال لتسلل معادين للمقاومة، ويقدمون رفضهم لموقف السلطة الإقليمي وتحالفها مع المقاومة وإيران على أي بعد آخر، ما جعل قمعهم أكثر تبريراً لدى السلطة».
ويرى الكواكبي أن «حلب بتراثها المدني ترفض أن يقطرها فكر وهّابي أو سلفي ريفي تحت دعاوى الحرية، لأن قيم الحرية والليبرالية لا يمكن أن تنطلق إلا من المدينة بما هي مركز صناعي وتجاري متعلق بشدة بالدولة، وأشدد على الدولة كمفهوم، لا بالنظام الحالي»، مؤكداً أن «الطبقة الوسطى والعمالية في حلب ترى ما يحصل بعين مرهفة، وشكوكها حقيقية في مآلات حراك شعبي تحول إلى تمرد مسلح بلبوس أصولي وشعبوي يقطع الطرقات ويهين الكرامات على أساس عنصري لكل من لا يقف معه. أي على طريقة (جورج) بوش، إما معي أو ضدي».
روائي معارض يرى أن النظام يمضي بنفسه إلى خيار يشبه الخيار الليبي «الجيش الحر المنشق يواجه، ويكبّده خسائر بالعشرات يومياً». ويعتقد أن «العامل الاقتصادي سيدفع حلب، ومجتمعها المدني إلى الثورة. فانقطاع الكهرباء وندرة المازوت، وفقدان الأسواق نتيجة عقوبات الدول، واستخدام الشبيحة لقمع التظاهرات، والركود الاقتصادي، كل هذا سيدفع حلب إلى الثورة وستتحول إلى بنغازي سوريا». ويضيف «حلب الصامتة الآن ستنضم إلى الثورة».
ويرى محمود، وهو محامٍ إسلامي، أن السلطة فوّتت كل الفرص عليها منذ آذار الماضي، وهي أكبر خادم للثورة بسلوكها. «دوماً تأتي خطواتهم متأخرة وفوقية وغير صادقة، الوقت تجاوزهم ولا حلول لديهم لوقف العنف وإبعاد خطر التدخل الخارجي الذي لا نريده بل هي التي تسعى إليه». ويشير إلى أن «السلطة دمرت روح الإنسان وعقله في حلب، فأصبح غير مبال بما يجري في بلده من قتل وسفك للدماء، مشغولاً بالشواء وأكل الكبّة، وأصبح ابن حلب مثاراً للنكتة والسخرية على صفحات الثورة في الفايسبوك».
معارض آخر يرفض الإهانات المتكررة لحلب، ويقول «النظام هو من يحرض ضد حلب ويخوّفها من الثورة رغم سلميتها، وأنا أعرف أن في اللاوعي لدى الحلبيين ذكرى عام 1980حيث انتفضت حلب ولم تتحرك معظم سوريا معها». ويضيف «عامة الناس يبررون رفضهم المشاركة بأنهم يعرفون ماذا سيجري، ويسألونك هل وقفت حمص ودرعا أو الرستن أو إدلب معنا قبل ثلاثين عاماً؟ أم كانوا وقتها مناضلين في حزب البعث يأخذون الوظائف على حسابنا؟». وينهي كلامه «حلب تعرف طريقها إلى الثورة التي تنضجها الظروف، وأرفض تناول موقف حلب بهذا الشكل المهين. حلب ناضلت ودفعت الثمن، لا أحد يزايد عليها، وقريباً ستنتفض وسيندم من أهانها».
سمير، وهو سوري مغترب عاد لاستطلاع الأوضاع، يقول «انحدر المستوى السياسي في تفسير موقف حلب إلى اعتبار أن أهلها مشغولون بالشواء وتناول الكباب والكبة. هذا تسطيح، لم تنجز المعارضة دراسة واحدة عن الاقتصاد السوري، لا قبل الأزمة ولا خلالها، ومجمل تعاطيها ساذج وانتقامي». ويرى أن الإعلام يقوم بتضليل كبير ويشن الحرب على سوريا. ويضيف: «أنا في إيطاليا أرى أكاذيب الإعلام الغربي، وأحفظ طرقهم. ولكن متابعتي للقنوات العربية، وعودتي إلى سوريا، كشفتا لي حجم المؤامرة».
زياد، وهو معتقل سابق، يرفض المقاربات التي تتهم السلطة كطرف أوحد في الأزمة، ويقول «تبين عبر عشرة أشهر أن هيبة الدولة هي المستهدفة، وليس هيبة النظام. الثوار يقطعون الطرقات ويسلبون المواطنين، وبالأخص أهل حلب. يروي الناس قصصاً مرعبة عمّا يتعرضون له خلال مرورهم في إدلب، إلى درجة أن الحركة تكاد تقتصر على الضروريات فقط».
ينتقد المعتقل السابق المعارضة «التي تتذمر من فقدان الأمن وتبرّئ الثورة ومسلحيها من أي مسؤولية». ويقول «مواقفهم تنمّ إما عن صبيانية أو لامسؤولية وطنية. إن الاستقرار هو أصل كل شيء، ومن لا يمكنه الحفاظ على سلمية الاحتجاج فليس من حقّه جرّ البلاد إلى حرب أهلية».
كلام زياد يلقى رفضاً من صديقه كاتب القصة، الذي يرى أن «النظام علة العلل. عليه أن يرحل. النظام تلهّى بقمع المثقفين والعلمانيين، وترك السلفية والإسلاميين ينتشرون في كل مكان».
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/29473
January 12th, 2012, 8:17 pm
ann said:
Commentary: Foreign intervention in Syria would compromise popular uprising – Jan. 12, 2012
Contacts are deepening between the international side of the Syrian opposition, the Syrian National Council (SNC), and agents of the neoconservatives who pushed the U.S. to invade Iraq. On Dec. 20, the SNC appealed to the international community to create “safe zones for civilians” and for “prompt intervention to stop the massacre.” A day later, the Foreign Policy Initiative sent an open letter to President Obama that called for “crippling sanctions” on Syria and support for the military capacity of the opposition.
The Foreign Policy Initiative, the Washington Institute for Near East Policy and the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies are lobbying for an aggressive U.S. role in Syria, in the name of freedom and protection of the dissidents. All three institutions have right-wing leanings and a hidden agenda: ensuring the passivity of a future Syrian regime on matters regarding Israel.
Targeting Iran is also part of the agenda. The neocons have been vigorously rationalizing a U.S.-Israel coordinated attack on Iran. These same advocates of “goodwill” are justifying the use of force to establish a no-fly zone in Syria.
So far, the Obama administration has not changed its policy of staying out of Syria. There is no appetite for new military missions. But things could change as the political vacuum in Syria widens and election pressure on President Obama mounts.
Marwa Daoudi is a visiting scholar at Woodrow Wilson’s School of Public and International Affairs at Princeton University. She cautioned against international intervention in Syria, her native country. She wants liberation through community-based resistance.
Ms. Daoudi explains her people’s mind-set: “It is safe to say that the majority of the Syrian population has been appalled by the ‘solutions’ implemented in Iraq and Libya. American troops have finally withdrawn from Iraq, leaving several hundred thousands of Iraqi civilian casualties in their trail, a million refugees and a country in shambles and civil war. Libya is in turmoil, and the spoils of war remain a source of conflict between internal and external powers.”
Ms. Daoudi expresses the aspirations of the Syrians who wish to achieve radical reform without exposing the country to external manipulation. She also ties the transformational quality of the revolution to the discipline of nonviolent resistance. Sobering lessons from Iraq should not be forgotten in dealing with Syria.
January 12th, 2012, 8:19 pm
Ghufran said:
Queen Beatrix took on the fiery leader of her country’s anti-Muslim party, Geert Wilders, on Thursday by dismissing as “nonsense” his criticism of her decision to wear a headscarf during a recent visit to a mosque.
The queen made her unusually forthright comment to Dutch reporters covering her state visit to the United Arab Emirates and Oman. Her comments were not recorded, but Beatrix told reporters she wore the head scarf in the UAE and again on a visit to an Oman mosque to show religious respect.
Comment: Queent Beatrix did what every foreign visitor does when visiting a foreign religious place of worship,show respect.
January 12th, 2012, 8:24 pm
Ghufran said:
The Arab League chief has cast further doubt on the delegation his organisation has sent to monitor the crisis in Syria, describing ongoing violence as “very worrisome” and saying the mission was not going to plan.
Nabil al-Arabi’s comments on Thursday come a day after the Cairo-based organisation said it would not send more monitors to Syria until the violence was under control – a tacit admission that the monitors’ month-long mission has done nothing to stop it.
Question: what is next if the AL mission stops?
أبدى الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية نبيل العربي استغرابه للهجوم الشديد الذي شنّه الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد على الجامعة. وفي مقابلة تلفزيونية مع قناة “الحياة” المصرية أعلن العربي أنّه أجرى اتصالاً مع وزير الخارجية السوري وليد المعلم ونقل إليه هذا الشعور، مؤكداً أن “زيادة عوامل الضغط والمقاطعة الاقتصادية والسياسية من عدة دول للنظام السوري قد تؤتي ثمارَها في وقف العنف”.
العربي وفي ردّه على سؤال، أجاب: “هناك موضوع هام، وهو أن سوريا ليس فيها أي إغراء بالنسبة لدول تستخدم السلاح وتجد من يدفع الفاتورة، فليس في سوريا نفط أو بترول، كما أن الولايات المتحدة لديها انتخابات هذا العام، وبالتالي لا أظن أنهم يرغبون في الدخول في مغامرات عسكرية”. إلى ذلك قال العربي إن “مهمة المراقبين العرب لن تتمكن من أن تتحقق هدفها بالشكل المتوقّع، لأن المسألة تعقدت جدًا”، مشيرًا إلى أن التقارير التي تصله من مكتب الجامعة في دمشق عن طريق رئيس بعثة المراقبين العرب الى سوريا الفريق أول الدابي “مقلقة للغاية”.
ولفت العربي إلى أن “المجلس الوزاري للدول العربية سيكون صاحب القرار بشأن الوضع السوري”، مؤكدًا أنه “ليس هناك عصا سحرية لحل الأزمة إذا رفعت الجامعة العربية يدها عنها، لأن مجلس الأمن إذا كان يريد التدخل لكان قد تدخل بالفعل، وهو ليس بحاجة لقرارات الجامعة لكي يتصرف”.
January 12th, 2012, 8:28 pm
Ghufran said:
كلام مواطنه بسيطه
هلق اللي صادمني كتير كتير هو زفارة لسان بعض السوريين! من الطرفين بس من المنحبكجية أكتر بكتير. يعني أول مرة بسمع كلمة نابية على التلفزيون ..هي من شبيح سوري عالجزيرة. وقف شعر راسي و انحولت. عم بسمع كمّ من الشتائم هائل. بعمري ما سمعت كلام بهالبذاءة بهالكترة بهالوقت القصير. يعني شي مقزز. و أنا و الله مو سينييه كتير ها! يعني عايشة كنت بحارة شعبية!
بس يللي صدمني أكتر شي و رح تبقى معي هالصدمة لآخر عمري هو أنو في إنسان بالعالم ممكن يعمل بأخوه الإنسان هيك. شلون بيقدر حدا يحط شبابنا و يعذبن هيك؟ واحد بيعذبوه لانو عمل مناشير و التاني بيعذبوه لأنو بسيارتو مكبِّر صوت! أنا ما عم بقدر أتخيل شلون في حدا قلبو بيطاعوا يمد ايدو على وش آدمي و يطالعلو عينو من محلها؟شلون بيقدر يسلخ جلد بني آدم؟ هدول جوات صدوره في قلوب و للا حجار؟ و للا صدورن فاضية؟ ايش ممكن تقول لإنسان أو كيف ممكن تشحنو بطريقة تخليه يقلع أظافر إنسان؟ هدول الناس سوريين؟ يعني عن جد أكلوا فول و حمص متلنا؟ و بيشربوا شاي كتير متلنا؟ و تربوا معنا بنفس الحارات و حبوا نفس الأغاني و أفلام كرتون اللي كنا نشوفها؟ لكن شلون طلعوا هيك؟ شلون سورية وصلت لهون؟ ليش ولا الدولة من الدول العربية حَوَت نفس الوحوش؟
والله يا سورية ما عم بعرفك!
January 12th, 2012, 8:41 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Tomorrow is the week to support the FSA,this army that deserves all respect and love, they sacrificed their life to protect syrians, they risked their family life to do that, they are syrians not foreigners,they have the determination of the syrians, they are protectors of our country.
It is O.K. for the Tuniseans to join them, and it is good for the Libyans to join them, they both will be welcomed by their brothers in Syria, after all we are one nation.
We welcome Jordanians too, a lot of them liberating Syria is an honor to all Arab.
January 12th, 2012, 8:42 pm
Ghufran said:
بعد مرور عام كامل على الثورة التونسية التي أطاحت بالرئيس زين العابدين بن علي، تستطلع “العربية” آراء الشباب الذين كانو وقودها، لمعرفة هل تحقق ما ثاروا من أجله أم أن خيبة الأمل باتت تحرقهم من جديد.
وحي التضامن، أكبر حي شعبي في تونس، من حيث خرجت أولى مظاهرات العاصمة التي أجبرت الرئيس السابق زين العابدين بن علي على ترك السلطة حاملة مطالب اجتماعية وسياسية، هؤلاء الشبان الذين شكلوا وقود الثورة يشعرون كما يقولون بخيبة أمل مع مرور عام من عمر الربيع التونسي.
وعلى حد قول أحد شباب الثورة “الأمور بقيت على حالها بعد الثورة لا عمل ولاكرامة ولاهم يحزنون”.
في الحي من يشتكي من أن أقلية من صفوة المجتمع هي من يجني ثمار ثورة أشعلها العاطلون عن العمل والمهمشون.
ومنهم من قال”إنهم خاطروا بأرواحهم لكي تنتصر الثورة في العاصمة وواجهوا الرصاص والغاز”، بينما تحدث آخر عن استمرار محنته الشخصية بعد الثورة”.
والقصص التي استمعت إليها العربية في أزقة وشوارع حي التضامن الذي يقطن فيه نصف مليون شخص هي نفسها، فهم يعتبرون أن لا شيء تغير في حياتهم، المزاج العام في الحي على هذا النحو وانتظارات الشباب هنا تبقى عريضة رغم التوجس من المستقبل.
الاحتقان الاجتماعي يبقى مسيطرا في تونس خاصة في الأحياء الفقيرة المكتظة بالسكان في الوقت الذي تطالب فيه الترويكا الحاكمة بهدنة اجتماعية لتغيير وجه الحياة في البلاد.
January 12th, 2012, 8:51 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Syria does not have money to pay for foreign intervention, Syria has friends, and the money that Bashar and his gang stole is enough to pay for NFZ,the money Bashar stole will be used to burn him and his thugs supporters.
January 12th, 2012, 8:52 pm
ann said:
Syria: Next Government To Include Opposition Figures – January 13, 2012
http://www.eurasiareview.com/13012012-syria-next-government-to-include-opposition-figures/
Syrian sources on Thursday were quoted as saying that later this month the formation of new government including figures from “the national opposition” will be announced.
The sources said contacts are expected to begin early next week in preparation for the formation of a new government, which will include the Syrian national opposition, The sources expected the government to start its work early next month.
Meanwhile, Ambassador Adnan Khudayr denied Chairman of the Operations Chamber of the Arab Observer Mission has denied that the Arab League had decided to suspend sending observers to Syria. However, Khudayr called on the Syrian authorities to provide protection to the observers. “The Arab League will send by the end of next week some 40 new observers,” he told Al-Jazeera TV.
January 12th, 2012, 8:56 pm
Ghufran said:
Taxes and fees collected in Damascus by the Ministry of Finance rose 11 percent in the first eleven months of last year. Tax evasion is a common practice in Syria where many businesses are cash-based and many others cook the books and bribe tax collection officers. The only section of the Syrian society that can not cheat on taxes is public sector employees.
January 12th, 2012, 9:01 pm
ann said:
INTERVIEW-Carter says Egypt army unlikely to give up all powers – 12 Jan 2012
http://www.trust.org/alertnet/news/interview-carter-says-egypt-army-unlikely-to-give-up-all-powers
* Says Muslim Brotherhood expects army privileges prolonged
* Military faces growing public anger over transition period
* Says outside military intervention in Syria “tragic mistake”
CAIRO, Jan 12 (Reuters) – Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said on Thursday, after meeting Egypt’s military rulers and political parties, the army was unlikely to surrender all of its powers by mid-2012, highlighting the potential for further power struggles.
The military council, in power since an uprising ousted President Hosni Mubarak in February, has faced mounting public anger over what is widely viewed as stalling and mismanagement of the transition period.
Dozens of protesters demanding an end to army rule have been killed in bouts of violence in the past 11 months.
“I think to have an abrupt change in the totality of the military authority at the end of June or this year is more than we can expect,” Carter told Reuters in an interview.
“A clear message has to go out that in the future for Egypt, whenever that time comes, there will be complete civilian control over all aspects of the government affairs and the military will play its role under the direction of an elected president and an elected parliament.”
Public dismay pushed the ruling generals to accelerate the timetable to relinquish power, pledging to stand aside by mid-2012. But many dissidents say the military is keen to preserve its privileges and broad business interests.
Carter, 87, is in Cairo with a group from his human rights organisation, the Carter Center, to help monitor the end of the final round of Egypt’s first parliamentary elections since Mubarak was ousted.
“My guess is that the military would like to retain as much control as possible for as long as possible, still accepting the results of the revolution and the election,” he said.
The Nobel Peace Prize laureate said he met with Egyptian political parties, including the Muslim Brotherhood, leading in the parliamentary vote, who also foresaw the military rulers holding on to power beyond the scheduled June date.
PRIVILEGES
“When I talked with the Muslim Brotherhood and others, they contemplate a period extended beyond the end of June where the military might have some special privileges,” he said.
“But they should be terminated at the end of a certain period, and the permanent limits on the military should be clearly expressed in a constitution to be written in the next two or three months.”
The new parliament’s first job will be appointing a 100-strong assembly to write a new constitution which will define the president’s powers and parliament’s clout in the new Egypt.
All Egypt’s rulers have come from the army since a 1952 coup against the monarchy. The military keeps its internal budget and business interests from civilian oversight.
Carter’s views on Egypt carry extra weight, among both the Egyptian and the international community, due to his role in the 1978 Camp David accords cementing peace between Egypt and Israel.
He said he expected Egypt’s new government to focus more than the previous leadership on Palestinian rights as highlighted under the accord.
“This new government will probably be much more concerned about the rights of the Palestinians than have the previous rulers or leaders in Egypt, but in my opinion that will be conducive to a better prospect of peace between Israel and its neighbours,” he said.
Carter added that any external military intervention in Syria, engulfed for ten months in a political upheaval that has killed thousands, would be a “tragic mistake”.
The Arab League last month deployed a monitoring mission to Syria to assess whether Damascus is acting to end the bloody crackdown on protests. But some monitors have quit the mission over the persisting violence.
“I think the Arab League, obviously, is not a strong organisation, it doesn’t have the major staff that it requires, but here [on Syria] the Arab League might encourage that sort of discussion to accommodate the interests of both parties and to do it peacefully,” Carter said.
“But to try to resolve it by military means, as has been the case in the past, or by the intrusion of military forces from the outside, I think would be a tragic mistake.”
January 12th, 2012, 9:13 pm
Tara said:
I am hoping that Why-Discuss did not buy Syrian Liras as he was planning to do.
http://www.aina.org/news/20120112105454.htm
Iraq Deplores ‘Currency Attack’ As Dollars Flow to Syria, Iran
Posted GMT 1-12-2012 16:54:54
Iraq’s central bank said it’s under a “currency attack” as traders buy U.S. dollars in daily auctions and resell them on the black market in Syria and Iran, which face hard currency shortages due to sanctions.
Demand for the greenback at the central bank auctions has risen since November to about $200 million to $300 million a day, compared with about $160 million in the prior 12 months, the deputy central bank governor, Mudher Salih, said in an interview in Baghdad Jan. 10.
“Now we are checking the applications to buy dollars from the auctions more closely. We are afraid that some of it may be related to money laundering,” Salih said. “We are now under a currency attack because of the regional situation.”
Iranians are having trouble accessing foreign currencies due to the rial’s plunge, U.S. Treasury Undersecretary David Cohen said Dec. 1. The Iranian currency weakened this year after the U.S. and allies prepared for further sanctions that may include an oil embargo, the state-run Mehr news agency reported on Jan. 2. The allies accuse Iran of a covert plan to build nuclear weapons, a charge Iran’s government denies.
Syria, Iran’s regional ally, has also come under greater U.S., European and some Arab sanctions over a violent crackdown on pro-reform protests that began early last year. A European oil embargo is affecting Syria’s revenues and giving the state far less access to foreign exchange, David Butter, regional head for the Middle East at the Economist Intelligence Unit, said Dec. 14. Pressure on Reserves
Rising demand for dollars “is affecting our dollar-sale auction,” Salih said. “This isn’t in the interest of the Iraqi economy and it will suck foreign currency reserves.” Foreign exchange reserves in Iraq, holder of the world’s fifth-largest crude deposits, touched $60 billion this year, the most in its history, he said.
…
January 12th, 2012, 9:17 pm
jad said:
More about the work of the terrorist and radical gangs in HomsStan, FSA is just a cover of these killers:
الحقيقة السورية – ظهور علني للمسلحين في حمص
http://youtu.be/tp13KDxFH0w
“لايوجد مسلحون … ولا ارهابيين … ولا قاعدة … ولا اي تنظيمات ارهابية هذا مايتفلسف به المعارضة والداعمين لما يسمى بالثورة السورية … الكثير والكثير من الناس لم تعترف الى الان بوجود جماعات مسلحة .. تنشر الفوصى في المدن السورية … وتتهم الامن والجيش والحكومة السورية بكل حادثة وفات … وكان الارهابيين يحملون اغصان الزيتون السلمية … ويوم بعد يوم نحاول ان نبين اكثر الحقيقة … ولكن هنالك من وضع غشاء على اعينه لكي لا يرى الحقيقة …. هذا الفيديو لمجموعة مسلحين في مدينة حمص … تطلق النار عشوائيا وتصيب ماتصيب لان دماء السوريين رخيصة عندها . ولا تبالي بمن ترديه قتيلاً ..”
January 12th, 2012, 9:46 pm
Ghufran said:
ولا تخفي العديد من الأوساط السياسية التونسية خشيتها من تزايد النفوذ القطري في تونس، حيث يذهب البعض إلى حد القول إن تعيين وزير الخارجية التونسي رفيق عبد السلام تم بقرار قطري، علما وان عبد السلام هو صهر راشد الغنوشي رئيس حركة النهضة، وعمل لسنوات مديرا في مركز الدراسات التابع لشبكة “الجزيرة” في قطر.
وإعتبر شكري بلعيد أمين عام حركة الوطنين الديمقراطيين التونسية، أن زيارة أمير قطر وزوجته الشيخة موزة إلى تونس “ستزيد من توتير الأوضاع السياسية في تونس خاصة مع الرفض الشعبي الواسع لهذه الزيارة”.
وأشار في تصريحات إلى أن حركة النهضة استدعت أمير قطر “عرّاب الإسلام السياسي في المنطقة”، لترد له الجميل، وقال “أستغرب أن يزورنا أمير قطر التي تشكو بلاده من فقر في نسيجها السياسي أن ينظر للديمقراطية وهو صديق الناتو وحليف الولايات المتحدة والكيان الصهيوني”.
ومن جهته، أعلن حمة الهمامي الأمين العام لحزب العمل الشيوعي عن رفضه للزيارة، ودعا في تصريحات نُشرت الخميس إلى “التعبئة العامة” رفضا لهذه الزيارة، فيما نشرت صحيفة “الحقيقة” التونسية صورة كبيرة لأمير قطر في صفحتها الأولى تحت مانشيت عريض “لا أهلا ولا سهلا يا حمد…تونس ليست للبيع”.
January 12th, 2012, 9:46 pm
zoo said:
ALL medias were happy to say that Syria prevented the caravan to enter in Syria. In fact it is the the Turkish police that stopped it.
Syria: 200 activists in vain attempt to enter from Turkey
Caravan of freedom blocked at border, sit-in starts
12 January, 19:46
(ANSAmed) – ANKARA, JANUARY 12 – A group of around 200 activists, almost all of them Syrians living abroad, today attempted in vain to enter Syria from Turkey to protest against the bloody repression of the ongoing uprising in their country.
The “Caravan of freedom” was pushed back without incident thanks to filtering and mediation by the Turkish authorities, leading activists to camp out close to the border, south of Gaziantep, for a sit-in that is expected to last at least three days The “Freedom convoy for Syria”, which was organised by on the internet and consists of five buses and a number of cars, was aiming to bring food, medicine, blankets and other aid into Syria. Participants in the initiative come from the US, the Middle East and Europe (Bulgaria, the Netherlands and France in particular) and organizers say that they number more than 250.
Al Jazeera, however, puts the figure at around 150, an estimate backed up by pictures showing a reduced number of people.
“Perhaps not everyone will camp out here tonight, but they will come back tomorrow and be more numerous,” a spokesperosn said, confirming that a sit-in, which it was said in a previous announcement yesterday would last three days, was indeed taking place. A website for the initiative says that “some Syrian artists” are also taking part.
The convoy left from Gaziantep airport at around 11:00 this morning under the watchful eye of the Foreign Office in Turkey, a country once allied with Syria but which has now backed sanctions against Damascus. After around 60 kilometres, the “caravan” was stopped just outside the city of Kilos, around 15 kilometres from the border crossing at Oncupinar, along the road leading to Aleppo. Police prevented the group from reaching the border in a dangerously compact formation. Rumours on Twitter suggested that on the other side of the border, the activists were awaited not only by Syrian security forces but by threatening “pro-Assad groups”.
In the early afternoon, a Turkish provincial governor was part of an eight-strong delegation that went to talk to Syrian border guards, who, as was widely expected, ordered them to stop.
During the brief and fruitless talks, activists protested waving green, white and black Syrian flags and chanting slogans against the repression in the country.
A similar caravan was originally due to enter Syria from Jordan, but the initiative was cancelled, presumably as a result of the refusal by the authorities for the caravan to come close to the Syrian border. (ANSAmed).
http://ansamed.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/sections/generalnews/2012/01/12/visualizza_new.html_43393388.html
In other developments, Turkish police prevented a convoy of about 200 Syrian activists from crossing into their country to deliver humanitarian aid, an AFP reporter at the scene said.
Authorities demanded that a delegation from the activist group should have clearance from Syrian officials for the group to enter the country.
Agence France-Presse
http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/01/12/syria-regime-liquidating-journalists-opposition-council-says/
January 12th, 2012, 9:57 pm
zoo said:
Turkey: to help with reconstruction of mosques in Gaza
Announcement by Turkish religious authority
12 January, 17:48
http://ansamed.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/sections/politics/2012/01/12/visualizza_new.html_43341652.html
January 12th, 2012, 10:02 pm
Ghufran said:
قال القيادي بائتلاف دولة القانون عزت الشابندر إن تركيا تنام على أطنان من المشاكل، وأن العراق يستطيع تحريك الأوضاع الداخلية بتركيا كما تتدخل أنقرة بشؤونه.
وأضاف في حديث له مع قناة السومرية ، أمس الأربعاء، أن “العدوان التركي على قرى كردية عراقية آمنة، لا يمكن السكوت عليه، وحتى المجتمع الدولي لا يستطيع أن يغطيه” ، مشيراً إلى أن “هناك أزمة في تركيا وهذه الأزمة تنفست وأصبحت واضحة بعد أن توسع الأتراك في خارجيتهم الفاشلة وتعمقوا في قتل الديمقراطية داخل بلادهم”، مشيرا إلى أن “القادة الأتراك يغفلون أنهم ينامون على أطنان من المشاكل”.
وقال الشابندر إن ” تصريحات أردوغان بشأن العراق محاولة منه للهروب من مشاكله الداخلية، ليغطي فشله الخارجي وعدوانه على الأراضي العراقية”، متهماً تركيا وقطر “بأنهما أحد أهم الأطراف الداعمة لمسألة الأقاليم في العراق”،حسب تعبيره.
من ناحيته طالب القيادي في ائتلاف دولة القانون ياسين مجيد وزارة الخارجية العراقية باستدعاء السفير التركي في بغداد وتسليمه مذكرة احتجاج بشأن تصريحات رئيس الحكومة التركية رجب طيب أردوغان ، مؤكدا أن العراق لم يعد ولاية عثمانية ليتلقى أوامره من الباب العالي.
January 12th, 2012, 10:10 pm
jad said:
Zoo,
This is one of the caravan member, an ex militia man:
https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/408262_308829599160257_204642496245635_910300_359489093_n.jpg
January 12th, 2012, 10:35 pm
Syria no kandahar said:
المعارضه السوريه المعارصه المسلحه المشرذمه الحقيره العميله الوهابيه العرعورييه
January 12th, 2012, 10:36 pm
jad said:
The KSA-Qatar competition in Washington.
زيارة سعود الفيصل لواشنطن والتنافس القطري ـ السعودي على الحظوة الأمريكية
الجمل: شهدت العاصمة الأمريكية واشنطن دي سي أول أمس الثلاثاء 10 كانون الثاني (يناير) 2012 زياردة وزير الخارجية السعودي الأمير سعود الفيصل، والذي عقد لقاءات دبلوماسية رفيعة المستوى، الأول مع الرئيس الأمريكي باراك أوباما، والثاني مع وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية هيلاري كلينتون: فما هي طبيعة دبلوماسية الوزير السعودي في واشنطن وما هي طبيعة بنود وأجندة العلاقات السعودية ـ الأمريكية خلال استهلالة هذا العام الجديد والذي بدأ أكثر سخونة بفعل التوترات الشرق أوسطية والدولية الجارية حالياً بفعل تأثير ملف الحدث السوري والملف الإيراني إضافة إلى العراق وبقية الملفات الأخرى؟
* جدول أعمال وزير الخارجية السعودي في العاصمة الأمريكية واشنطن:
تقول المعلومات بأن وزير الخارجية السعودي، الأمير سعود الفيصل قد وصل إلى العاصمة الأمريكية واشنطن في زيارة دبلوماسية وصفت بأنها شديدة الأهمية، التقى خلالها مع الأطراف الآتية:
•لقاء الرئيس الأمريكي باراك أوباما: أكد اللقاء على أهمية الروابط السعودية ـ الأمريكية، والتي وصفت خلال اللقاء بانها “استراتيجية”، وبالذات فيما يتعلق بملفات المصالح الأمريكية، والتعاون الأمريكي ـ السعودي إزاء القضايا الشرق أوسطية والدولية المشتركة، وأضافت التسريبات بأن الأمير سعود الفيصل قد سلم الرئيس أوباما رسالة من الملك السعودي عبد الله، ولم يتم الكشف عن فحوى الرسالة، وما كان لافتاً للنظر أن الرئيس الأمريكي قد كلّف الأمير سعود بنقل تمنيات الرئيس الأمريكي للملك السعودي عبد الله بدوام “الصحة والعافية”.
•لقاء وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية هيلاري كلينتون: تقول المعلومات والتسريبات بأن لقاء كلينتون ـ سعود الفيصل قد تطرق إلى الملفات الشرق أوسطية الجارية: الملف السوري ـ الملف الإيراني ـ الملف العراقي ـ الملف اليمني ـ الملف البحريني، إضافة إلى ملف عملية سلام الشرق الأوسط. وأضافت المعلومات بأن لقاء كلينتون ـ الفيصل قد تميز بالوضوح الشديد إزاء تفاصيل كل سيناريوهات المنطقة الجارية حالياً.
لاحظ العديد من الخبراء والمحللين السياسيين أن زيارة الأمير سعود الفيصل للعاصمة الأمريكية واشنطن سوف تعقبها المزيد من التحركات الدبلوماسية الأمريكية ـ السعودية المتزامنة والمشتركة إزاء ملفات المنطقة، وبالذات ملفات سوريا ـ العراق ـ إيران، باعتبارها الأكثر أهمية بالنسبة لمحور واشنطن ـ الرياض. وفي هذا الخصوص تقول التسريبات بأن واشنطن سوف تسعى لجهة القيام بدور أكبر خلال الفترة القادمة إزاء ملف الحدث السوري.
* فعاليات مثلث واشنطن ـ الرياض ـ الدوحة: التعاون أم الصراع
أشارت تحليلات الخبراء إلى أن زيارة وزير الخارجية السعودي الأمير سعود الفيصل قد جاءت مباشرة بعد زيارة رئيس الوزراء ووزير الخارجية القطري حمد بن جاسم الأخيرة إلى الولايات المتحدة الأمريكيةـ والتي عقد فيها لقاءات مع كبار المسؤولين الأمريكيين وأيضاً مع الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة بان كي مون، وفي هذا الخصوص سعت تحليلات الخبر إلى رصد مسببات زيارة الأمير سعود الفيصل وفق النقاط الآتية:
•التفسير الأول: زيارة وزير الخارجية السعودي لواشنطن، تهدف إلى تكملة الفعاليات التي بدأها وزير الخارجية ورئيس الوزراء القطري حمد بن جاسم، وذلك لأن هناك توافقاً قطرياً ـ سعودياً إزاء الملف اليمني والملف السوري والملف الإيراني إضافة إلى الملف العراقي.
•التفسير الثاني: استطاعت الدبلوماسية القطرية خطف الأضواء من الدبلوماسية السعودية، وبالذات لجهة التحركات القطرية الأخيرة، إزاء ملف سوريا وملف ليبيا، وملف تونس، الأمر الذي أدى إلى خلق انطباع دولي عام بأن السعودية وإن كانت تمثل القوة الاقتصادية القائدة في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي والشرق الأوسط، فإن قطر أصبحت تمثل القوة الدبلوماسية القائدة في نفس المنطقة، الأمر الذي دفع بدوره وزير الخارجية السعودي لجهة التحرك من أجل استعادة زمام المبادرة والسيطرة الدبلوماسية قبل أن تكتمل عملية اختطاف هذا الزمام بواسطة الدبلوماسية القطرية.
•التفسير الثالث: سعت الدبلوماسية القطرية لجهة القيام بالمزيد من التحركات الشديدة الخطورة في المنطقة، وكانت الرياض أكثر وعياً بطبيعة المنطقة وبعدم واقعية الدبلوماسية القطرية، فقد تريثت الرياض إلى حين دخول الدبلوماسية القطرية في “الورطة”، وبالفعل عندما لم تنجح الدبلوماسية القطرية في إدارة الملف السوري والملف اليمني إضافة إلى تزايد الرفض الليبي والتونسي للتحركات الدبلوماسية القطرية، فقد تحركت الدبلوماسية السعودية بكل هدوء لجهة استعادة دورها الريادي الشريك لواشنطن في ملفات وقضايا المنطقة.
•التفسير الرابع: بدأت التحركات الدبلوماسية القطرية ضمن تفاهم سعودي ـ قطري، تمّ بموجبه توزيع الأدوار، وظل الأمر هكذا لبضعة سنوات، ولكن طموحات القيادة القطرية أصبحت لا تقبل بأقل من تولي دور القائد الأعلى لدول مجلس التعاون الخليجي، وبالتالي فقد أدركت الرياض بأن الانتظار سوف يؤدي إلى جعل الدوحة تمسك بزمام كل أوراق الدبلوماسية والشرق أوسطية، ومن هنا جاءت تحركات الدبلوماسية السعودية.
•التفسير الخامس: تقول المعلومات، بأن تسريب المحادثة التلفونية التي نقلت حديث وزير الخارجية القطري ورئيس الوزراء حمد بن جاسم، التي وصف فيها القيادة السعودية بأنها هرمت وبأنه لابد من تغييرها قد عززت شكوك الرياض إزاء مدى مصداقية نوايا الدوحة الجديدة إزاء السعودية، وبالفعل سعت الرياض لجهة استعادة تعاونها السابق مع واشنطن ودفع الدبلوماسية القطرية إلى المقاعد الخلفية.
أما ما هو أكثر أهمية فيتمثل في التسريبات القائلة بأن الخلافات القطرية ـ السعودية قد تزايدت بسبب تعدد خطوط التواترات المرتفعة الشدة مع السعودية، فهناك خلاف بين شيوخ السلفية القطرية وشيوخ السلفية السعودية، ومثلما سعت الدبلوماسية القطرية لجهة القيام بالدور القيادي في المنطقة، فقد سعى شيوخ السلفية القطرية لجهة القيادة للحركة السلفية العالمية، وبالفعل قامت السلفيات القطرية بفتح المكاتب الخاصة بمعظم الحركات السلفية وحركات الإسلام السياسي، بما في ذلك حركة طالبان وغيرها في قطر، وإضافة إلى ذلك، أشارت المعلومات إلى أن بعض المصادر الأمريكية الرفيعة المستوى والوثيقة الصلة بالسعودية قد سرّبوا للرياض معلومات بالغة الخطورة، تقول بأن كبار المسؤولين القطريين قد دخلوا في تفاهمات مع كبار رموز جماعة المحافظين الجدد وجماعات اللوبي الإسرائيلي، إضافة إلى بعض الإسرائيليين ذوي العلاقات مع الدوحة حول ملف إنفاذ مشروع تقسيم المملكة العربية السعودية، بما يؤدي إلى تفكيك الكيان السعودي وتحويله إلى مشيخات وسلطنات وإمارات صغيرة، وهو المشروع الذي طالما حلمت به دوائر جماعة المحافظين الجدد وجماعات اللوبي الإسرائيلي، خاصة أن تفكيك وتقسيم السعودية يندرج ضمن أهم بنود جدول أعمال خارطة الشرق الأوسط الجديد، والتي بدأت أولى فعالياتها بتقسيم السودان إلى شمالي وجنوبي. وحالياً نجحت محاولة تقسيم اليمن. وإذا نجحت مخططات تقسيم السعودية، فإن ذلك سوف يحقق قفزة هائلة في خارطة طريق إنفاذ مشروع الهيمنة الإسرائيلية على المنطقة..
الجمل ـ قسم الدراسات والترجمة
http://www.aljaml.com/node/79987
January 12th, 2012, 10:45 pm
Syria no kandahar said:
Turkey’s and Qutar puppets taking Syrian soldiers
As hostages:
January 12th, 2012, 10:47 pm
Jerusalem said:
For all those who desire international intervention in Syria will eventually die like the Afghan corpses with Foreign soldiers / marines urinating on you. Enjoy it. That’s what really gruesome lady Tara, in your own land foreigners piss all over you.
January 12th, 2012, 10:57 pm
jad said:
SNK
It seems that today the terrorist fighters are promoting their work in HomsStan allover the Youtube with Alqaeda style songs.
After all these months of denial they are going out of the closet and showing their real face…the ‘Angels’ of death…I’m sure that they have hands in the attack of Homs yesterday, the western media frantic denial of the obvious is not convincing and there is no way that the Syrian security forces will do such deadly attack act against its own people it doesn’t make any sense besides it’s publicly suicidal.
About the clip of the Syrian soldiers hostages, tomorrow they will force them to say that they are ‘Shabi7a’ then they kill them and claim that they were killed while defecting or because they refused to kill innocent people, the typical and repeated story.
January 12th, 2012, 11:01 pm
Ghufran said:
وقال أيهم كامل من مجموعة يوراسيا لاستشارات المخاطر إن الأسد ‘يحاول الاستفادة من الأجواء في سورية ليلقى قبولا لدى القاعدة التي تدعمه… السوريون المعتدلون وليس المعارضة’.
وأضاف كامل الذي توقع قبل إلقاء الأسد خطابه أن يستمر الرئيس السوري في الحكم ‘خلال معظم عام 2012’ إنه يتوقع سياسة مزدوجة المسار تهدف الى طمأنة أغلبية السوريين بأن الإصلاح قادم مع تكثيف الحملة على معاقل الاحتجاج الرئيسية.
وتغير الجدول الزمني الذي حدده الأسد لإجراء انتخابات برلمانية اكثر من مرة وأحدث موعد مستهدف هو ايار (مايو) او حزيران (يونيو) وهو ما يعني تأجيلا لثلاثة أشهر أخرى.
لكن كامل يقول إن الانتظار الى أن يتم إقرار الدستور الجديد ينطوي على احتمال بأن يدلي السوريون بأصواتهم في انتخابات لا تضمن الفوز لحزب البعث الحاكم.
وأضاف ‘هذا مهم ليس للمعارضة وإنما للسوريين الوسطيين الذين قد يرغبون في تفادي حرب أهلية و(استغلال) الفرصة للتصويت في انتخابات حرة نوعا ما’.
وتابع أنه من ناحية أخرى ستكون الحملة على المعارضة في المناطق الساخنة مثل حمص وإدلب اكثر عنفا. وقال ‘في غياب الإصلاحات لن يفيد العنف وحده’.
واستطرد قائلا ‘اذا نفذ (الاسد) هذه المبادرة بالفعل… قد يغير هذا الديناميكية في سورية’.
Who still believes anything Bashar says about reform and elections?
When the regime is the problem,one man can not fix it even if he wants to.
January 12th, 2012, 11:11 pm
Ghufran said:
عبد الباري عطوان
الرئيس السوري يعترف بان المعارضة ترفض في معظمها الجلوس الى مائدة الحوار معه، والمشاركة في حكومة وحدة وطنية، ولكنه لم يقل لماذا تتخذ هذا الموقف الرافض، والاجابة بسيطة وهي عدم الثقة بجدية الحوار، والتزام النظام السوري بتطبيق ما يتم الاتفاق عليه في نهايته من خطوات عملية، ومن المؤكد ان هذا الرفض سيزداد بعد الاغراق في اطلاق التهديدات بسحق الانتفاضة، لأنها تعني اضعاف المناعة الامنية، وتخلق الاجواء الملائمة لتسلل الارهاب واتساع ضرباته بالتالي.
ثم كيف يمكن ان تأتي المعارضة الى مائدة الحوار مع نظام يخونها، ويتحدث عن ارتباطاتها بقوى خارجية معادية وتشارك في تنفيذ مخططاتها، وكيف يقول الرئيس بشار انه مستعد للحوار حتى مع المتورطين في مواجهات حماة عام ،1982 أي الاخوان المسلمين، ثم يصفهم في آخر الخطاب بأنهم اخوان الشياطين؟
‘ ‘ ‘
January 12th, 2012, 11:22 pm
jad said:
Mina
Egypt becomes a Saudi colony now:
“الأمر بالمعروف” تسلم أعضاءها 1000 عصا كهربائية وتبدأ نشاطها اليوم بالإسكندرية
أعلنت صفحة “هيئة الأمر بالمعروف والنهى عن المنكر بمصر”، على صفحتها الرسمية بموقع التواصل الاجتماعي “فيسبوك”، أن إدارة التجهيزات والشئون الإدارية استلمت 1000 عصا كهربائية، تم توزيعها على المتطوعين بالهيئة.
وقالت الصفحة: إن العصي ستساعدهم فى ما وصفته بـ” شئون الدفاع عن النفس وصد الاعتداءات التى قد يواجهونها خلال تأدية عملهم”، وأكدت الهيئة أنها نبهت على المتطوعين عدم استخدام تلك العصا نهائيًا إلا عند الضرورة القصوى.
وكانت سلطات ميناء السويس قد أحبطت محاولة تهريب 1000 عصا كهربائية خاصة بالهيئة من قبل، وعلقت الصفحة بالآية الكريمة: ” يريدون أن يطفئوا نور الله بأفواههم ويأبى الله إلا أن يتم نوره ولو كره الكافرون”.
كما كشفت الهيئة أنها ستبدأ أولى جولاتها الميدانية، مساء اليوم الخميس، فى حى المندرة بمحافظة الإسكندرية، كجولة تدريبية للمتطوعين .
يذكر أن الهيئة كانت قد أعلنت عن احتياجها لحوالى 1000 شاب فى وظيفة “مطوع”، بنظام المكافأة الأسبوعية قدرها 500 جنيه، كما أنها تحبث إمكانية توظيف عدد محدود من المطوعات لنشرهم بالأماكن التى يقتصر وجود النساء بها مثل عربات مترو الأنفاق.
http://gate.ahram.org.eg/News/159468.aspx
January 12th, 2012, 11:24 pm
Jerusalem said:
Turkish prosecutors have charged the Duchess of York for secretly filming a documentary critical of conditions in Turkish orphanages,
No….Ordogan has freedom of expression in his country and his so concerned about Syrians he forgot about his own orphans and busy prosecuting the Duchess of York. Hilarious.
January 12th, 2012, 11:29 pm
jad said:
Lebanon, like Iraq will be the victim of chaos if the Syrian regime fall, and the Americans confess that Alqaeda does exist, does that mean anything? Bronco?
قلـق أميركي من موضـوع «القاعدة».. والرسـالة وصلـت إلى المعنيين في بـيروت
سـقوط النظام السـوري يعني عمليا نهاية مفاعيـل اتفـاق «الطائف»… والتسـوية مع «حـزب اللـه»
عن واشنطن و«التحالف الوسطي» في لبنان على إيقاع الحراك السوري
ميقاتي جنبلاط (م.ع.م)
حين كتبت «السفير» في 28 نيسان 2009 حول توقع «مصادر أميركية» بروز تحالف وسطي بين رئيس المجلس نبيه بري ورئيس الحكومة نجيب ميقاتي والنائب وليد جنبلاط، كان هناك عتب من بعض المسؤولين في واشنطن وبيروت لكن مع مرور الوقت ثبتت صحة هذا التقييم الحكومي الذي استند التقرير إليه.{…}
رسائل الادارة الاميركية الى حكومة ميقاتي ان هناك «مجموعات متعاطفة» مع تنظيم «القاعدة» في لبنان، وعلى الحكومة اللبنانية التعامل مع هذا الامر، اي اذا كان «حزب الله» او حكومة ميقاتي قلقين ايضا من هذا الامر، عليهما المساعدة على ضبط الحدود اللبنانية ـ السورية من جهة الدخول والخروج. موضوع «القاعدة» خط أحمر بالنسبة للادارة الاميركية وهذه الرسائل وصلت الى المعنيين في بيروت… وهناك إدراك لحساسية هذا الموضوع عند القيادات السنية اللبنانية، ومنها ميقاتي، وبالتالي قد لا تعلّق الادارة على هذا الموضوع علنا.
الاهتمام الاميركي بالتطورات اللبنانية بدأ يزداد الآن بعد تجاهل لفترة قصيرة، لا سيما مع تفاعل التطورات السورية والتجاذب الايراني والنقاش حول تنظيم «القاعدة» في لبنان. في النظرة من واشنطن، أنه بعد سقوط النظام السوري، ستنعكس المعادلة اي أن لبنان سيحدد استقرار سوريا وليس العكس كما كان يحصل سابقا. وهناك خوف اميركي من توتر سني ـ شيعي من بوابة تنظيم «القاعدة» وسلاح «حزب الله»، وبالتالي ليس هناك تحفظ اميركي اذا وجدت الاطراف اللبنانية او بدأت منذ الآن بالتفكير الهادئ والطويل الامد بصيغة تسوية مع «حزب الله» مقبولة من جميع الاطراف لان سقوط النظام السوري يعني عمليا نهاية مفاعيل اتفاق «الطائف».
الاهتمام الاميركي هو في خريطة اقليمية جديدة على وقع مصلحة استراتيجية لتحصين مسألة النفط التي تبقى مادة دسمة للمفاوضات مع الداخل اللبناني، وهذه الحكومة اقرت قوانين التنقيب عن النفط والغاز بسرعة قياسية. التجاذب الايراني- الاميركي سينتقل قريبا الى الداخل السوري، والسؤال المطروح في الادارة الأميركية كيف سيكون دور لبنان في هذه المعادلة؟ كيف سيتصرف «حزب الله» وهل سيلجأ الى المواجهة؟ ومن هنا يأتي الايحاء الاميركي بضرورة التفكير الداخلي بمستقبل لبنان بعيدا عن الحراك السوري، حتى لو تطلب الامر تسوية مع «حزب الله».
http://assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2049&articleId=1028&ChannelId=48677
January 12th, 2012, 11:46 pm
jad said:
So it’s not that the SNC can’t make agreements with other oppositions it’s that it can’t make any agreement with any peaceful opposition, they prefer more blood, chaos and destruction over logic. Now we understand all the fuss about the agreement with the NCB, they weren’t criminal enough to become partners.
المجلس الوطني السوري والجيش الحرّ يتفقان على تفعيل آلية التنسيق بينهما
التقى وفد من المكتب التنفيذي للمجلس الوطني السوري قياد الجيش السوري الحرّ ليل الخميس/ الجمعة (12 – 13 ك2/ يناير 2012) بهدف رفع وتيرة التنسيق وتفعيل آليات التواصل بين الطرفين.
وصرح مصدر إعلامي في المجلس الوطني أن الوفد الذي ترأسه الدكتور برهان غليون ناقش بشكل موسع الوضع الميداني والتنظيمي للجيش الحرّ مع العقيد رياض الأسعد ونائبه العقيد مالك الكردي، ووقف عند الجوانب والاحتياجات التي تخص إعادة تنظيمه وهيكلة وحداته، حيث اتفق على وضع خطة مفصلة تتناول إعادة تنظيم وحدات الجيش الحر واعتماد خطة لاستيعاب الضباط والجنود وخاصة كبار العسكريين الذين ينحازون إلى الثورة ضمن صفوفه.
وأضاف أن المجلس الوطني تقدم ببرنامج عمل حول وسائل وآليات الدعم التي سيتم تقديمها للقطاعات العسكرية المؤيد للثورة، إضافة إلى إنشاء قناة اتصال مباشرة بشأن الوضع السياسي والمواقف الإقليمية والدولية، حيث يتم وضع قيادة الجيش والضباط الأحرار في صورة الأوضاع المستجدة لضمان التنسيق الفعال بما يحقق خدمة أمثل للثورة السورية.
ومن المقرر أن ينشئ المجلس الوطني مكتب ارتباط لدى الجيش الحرّ بهدف التواصل المباشر على مدار الساعة، كما سيقيم حلقات وبرامج للتوجيه السياسي للعسكريين الذين يؤيدون خط الثورة، إلى جانب التعاون في مجال النشرات والأخبار والبيانات الإعلامية.
وكان المجلس الوطني والجيش الحرّ عقدا سلسلة لقاءات في الأسابيع الماضية أسفرت عن تعاون بين الطرفين في الجوانب السياسية والإغاثية، ومن المقرر أن يتم زيادة التعاون خلال الفترة المقبلة.
وقد شارك من جانب المجلس الوطني أعضاء المكتب التنفيذي سمير نشار وفاروق طيفور ومطيع البطين وأحمد رمضان، وعضو الأمانة العامة بشار الحراكي، وعضو مكتب التنظيم والإدارة محمود عثمان. ومن طرف الجيش الحر عدد من الضباط وأعضاء القيادة العسكرية، إضافة إلى رئيس الجيش العقيد رياض الأسعد ونائبه مالك الكردي.
المكتب الإعلامي للمجلس الوطني السوري
January 13th, 2012, 12:19 am
jad said:
Hammoudeh, his money can buy him everything:
لا تخف، إن المال معنا
شبلي شمايل
يبدو جليا أن السيد حمد بن جاسم قد تعب من اللعبة السورية ولم يعد يحتمل أن تطول أكثر. فقد ملّ رؤية نفس الأشخاص وسماع نفس الأخبار وكأي مراهق يتعامل مع المرأة والسياسة والكحول والكلينكس بنفس الطريقة، فقد قرر أن يسير على إيقاعه الخاص ولوحده هذه المرة. ويذهب لمجلس الأمن بدون أمين عام الجامعة العربية نبيل العربي الذي يحاول مقاومة الإغراءات حتى لا يحرق كل أوراقه منذ العام الأول لولايته.
إن كون القضية السورية عند حمد، هذه الشخصية الباثولوجية، تشبه أية لعبة لشخصية بارانوئية، جميلة في البدء مقبولة في المنتصف ومملة في الفصول الأخيرة، فقد قرر أن يمر من سرعة 100 ميل بالساعة إلى سرعة 300 ميل بالساعة. ورغم أن نظيره الفرنسي قد انعزل على نفسه بتصريحات نارية تحرق أصابع صاحبها بعد أن تركه ساركوزي يرقص وحده في الحلبة الشرق أوسطية وذهب لخوض معركته الإنتخابية، ورغم أن نظيره التركي أوغلو قد اكتشف أن “الجيش الحر” لعبة في غاية الخطر لأن المتطوعين العرب من الخليج وليبيا فيه من السلفيين الجهاديين الذين فجروا في اسطنبول وأنقرة أكثر من مرة، والمتطوعين الإسلاميين السوريين أكثر من المنشقين، وأن ما لا تستطيع تركيا استيعابه من متطرفين، يقوم حزب التحرير وشركاه في طرابلس باستقطابه. فما زال حمد بن جاسم يعتقد بأنه سيد اللعبة، وأن بإمكانه أن يستحضر الناتو كما استحضر أكبر قاعدة أمريكية خارج الولايات المتحدة لقطر لإكمال الثلاثي القطري البائس: الجزيرة، القاعدة الأمريكية، القرضاوية.
لا يمكن لهذا التاجر الربوي الذي يتقاسم مع حمد بن خليفة أهم المشاريع الاقتصادية في المزرعة القطرية، أن يتصور أن الشعب السوري أكبر بكثير من أمواله. وأن هذا الشعب ليس حفنة من طالبي المال الخليجي. ولهذا ينظر للثورة السورية من نافذة واحدة: هي صفقة، مثلها مثل شركة الطيران القطرية، صفقة تعزز دوره كسمسار دولي في الربيع العربي، سمسار قادر على لجم الثوريين باسم الثورة وشراء الضمائر باسم المغتصبات الحرائر وزج أشباه المعارضين في خطط الناتو والأمريكيين.
في يوم واحد، تناغم هائل بين قناة الجزيرة ومجلس اسطنبول وسفر حمد بن جاسم لتدويل القضية السورية. الجزيرة تعلن أن المعارضة السورية تطلب إحالة الملف السوري لمجلس الأمن، فيصل القاسم يتصل بأحد زبائنه المعتادين في برنامجه الأسبوعي (أنور مالك) ويطلب منه ترك بعثة المراقبين والقدوم إلى الدوحة، ويتصل بموظف أمن الدولة السابق في رئاسة الوزراء ووكالة الأنباء السورية والملاحق في جريمة اختلاس أموال الدولة (بسام جعارة) لكي يلتحق بالدوحة للهجوم على أصحاب الحل العربي الرافضين للتدويل، تسع مداخلات تلفزيونية للمجلس الاسطنبولي تطالب بالتدويل حتى أن جورج صبرا رفع عدد الشهداء اليومي إلى 300 شهيد. بيان من مجلس اسطنبول يطالب بالتدويل، بأمر من القرضاوي حركة الأخوان المسلمين في سورية تعتبر تدخل الناتو أمرا ضروريا لحماية المدنيين. مؤتمر صحفي لبرهان غليون دائما من اسطنبول يقول فيه بأن النظام أنهى المبادرة العربية ويطالب بالسفر إلى مجلس الأمن، وبعد ساعات من التغطية السياسية والإعلامية لخطوات حمد بن جاسم، يصل سوبرمان العرب والعجم إلى أمريكا ويعلن فشل المبادرة العربية وضرورة تدخل مجلس الأمن.
كم هو جميل هذا التنسيق والعزف المشترك على أقدام حمد بن جاسم وعلى أوتار الناتو. ما هي هذه القدرة العجيبة لهذا الرجل التي تجعل غليون وقضماني والمالح ورمضان والنشار والمطيع والعبيدة والعبدة بل ورياض الترك يركعون على أقدامه؟ كيف تحول علمانيون مثل برهان غليون وصادق جلال العظم وياسين الحاج صالح لمروجين للحل القطري؟ هل أصبح النوم في فنادق السبع نجوم ضرورة ثورية؟ هل أصبح امتلاك رصيد مصرفي كبير واجب نضالي؟ هل تحولت معارضة اسطنبول إلى بوق لحمد بن جاسم؟ أليس هذا الإنحطاط هو الذي يعطي بشار الأسد القوة من جديد ليعود ويتحدث في الإرهاب والمؤامرة ؟ وأي سوري شريف يمكن أن يثق بمعارضة يصرف الواحد فيها في يوم وليلة ما يكفي لمساعدة ابن شهيد لعام؟
إذا نجح الإسفلت الخليجي الأسود في تسويد صورة الثورة، فسيضطر الشعب السوري لدفع فاتورة مضاعفة من أجل الإنتصار، فاتورة الوقت الضائع في اكتشاف الدور الخليجي المدمر للثورة واكتشاف من باعه من أبناء جلدته بأبخس الأثمان !!
http://www.ahewar.org/debat/show.art.asp?aid=291214
January 13th, 2012, 1:18 am
Juergen said:
Ghufran
I saw those images of her in Oman, its very nice indeed. It reminded me of Queen Elisabeth, i think it was the first time the world saw her with a head scarf and without shoes.
This Geert Wilders is a maniac, he produced an film called fitna where you hear the whole time the Quran and see images of 9/11 and images of islamist training camps. The message of him and his party is clear: Islam needs to be forbidden, its faschistic and he really wants the Quran to be on an index. Unfortunataly this is a european reality, religious hatred and islamophobic politicians who form parties. We had in Germany 2 years ago an guy who was a politician and in high ranks who wrote a book concerning our immigrants, and he specifically said that muslim immigrants are not smart enough, they depend too much on state subsidies and are not willing to intergrate in the country. It was like a slap on the muslim immigrants. He prooved his findings in saying that its proven that the genes are not like f.e jewish immigrants who always do very good in integration. It may be only me, but i feel sometimes the muslims in Europe now can live out the prosecution the jews were going through in the early 30s. So far we dont have a party in Germany which has so much success like Wilders party, but who knows.
January 13th, 2012, 1:55 am
Mina said:
515 Zoo,
One should also mention the new love affair with the MB in Sudan. After all, Bashir was public enemy for years, and now that he has accepted the partition, helped with the fall of Ghaddafi, traveled to Tripoli, he will soon be sold as a model for the Arab world! (He recently boasted that the Egyptians should take some inspiration from his policy towards Sudanese Christians!! What having strong friends can make you say…)
January 13th, 2012, 2:17 am
VOLK said:
Russian weapons ship arrives in Syria
A Russian-owned ship reportedly carrying weapons to Syria docked in Tartus on Thursday despite assurances it would change destination, Turkey’s Hurriyet Daily News reported.
“The Turkish navy has learned that the Russian ship MV Chariot docked at the Syrian port today,” the paper said, citing Turkish Foreign Ministry official Selcuk Unal.
Russia maintains a Soviet-era naval maintenance site near Tartus, which is the country’s only military foothold on the Mediterranean.
The cargo ship MV Chariot, flying the St. Vincent and Grenadines flag, was en route from St. Petersburg to the Syrian port of Latakia carrying from 35 to 60 tons of ammunition and explosives meant for the Syrian Defense Ministry.
The Russian Foreign Ministry said the ship carried a “dangerous cargo,” but did not elaborate. According to the documents, the cargo sender was the Russian state arms trader Rosoboronexport.
http://en.rian.ru/russia/20120112/170725460.html
January 13th, 2012, 2:20 am
SYR.EXPAT said:
406. JUERGEN
The country needs national reconciliation and truth commissions big time.
446. GHUFRAN
Thank you! I drop by SC from time to time.
407. MINA
Syr Expat “As long as the opposition is on the run in Syria and abroad, things will only deteriorate.” As if the opposition was able to agree on anything…
Your comment is not related to the quote and does not make sense.
First, the opposition agree on certain thing, but don’t agree on everything, which is not bad at all. Second, the opposition is, at some level, infiltrated by the mukhabrat. So there will always be someone who will try to derail the efforts to have a strong opposition. Third, the opposition doesn’t have the ability to organize inside of Syria, unless it’s under the control of the mukhabarat. Before the Baath party took over, they took advantage of the freedoms Syrians enjoyed then to organize and build a strong base of support. After they took over, they changed the rules of the game so that no real opposition can emerge. So your blaming of the opposition is at best naive. One thing for sure, Stalinist regimes have become out of fashion and are on their way out. Make sure you’re on the right side of history.
January 13th, 2012, 2:21 am
Mina said:
Jad
Egypt as a Saudi colony: don’t tell me. They used to sell at least one daughter to an elderly Saudi, in the last 20 years, in most lower-middle-class families. So as a result, many have relatives in Saudi Arabia (these connections would also help one brother of the girl find a job there).
Last June I also saw a Saudi flag on the roof of a mosque in Giza,in a highly exposed place a I was just walking to the sphinx…
That’s the kind of regression the Homsis are wishing.
Today Le Monde is selling again the story that the French journalist was killed by the authorities “since they were the only ones to know that a delegation of journalists were in Homs”. What a joke. We are talking about blind attacks with mortars and they try to use it as a pressure tool. Sick and desperate because the presidential campaign is going on and most want Sarkozy out.
January 13th, 2012, 2:27 am
Mina said:
Syrexpat
Since you believe there is such thing as “the right side of history” (you are taught that in marketing classes? the win-win deals??)
could you tell me where you see it in Iraq and Afghanistan?
I have written repeatedly since last march that the mukhabaraat are hayawan and I have no doubt that the stalinist regime will fall, BUT
I disagree with the US expat couch-potatoes (like Revlon and Majed, “we welcome” “we won” “we achieved”…) on the method. I think there will be a new governement soon and there will be an election ousting Bashar. But why holding an election when any enemy country can use it for escalation and manipulations? (see what happened in Egypt).
To get to a culture of dialogue takes time, so this dialogue is now happening, on the internet and between people there. But as you saw in Iraq, it is not by letting just the head fall and send 1 million baathists and military home that you solve the problem, quite the opposite, you make it worse. So let these people see and decide what they will do in the next stage. They can leave or they can think of starting something else.
One year after the Egyptian “revolution”, one can definitely say that it was not a revolution: IT didn’t change ANYTHING in the countryside. A revolution changes things for everybody, man and woman, from any corner of a country. This insurrection of the Egyptian has simply led to the legalization of the MB and a more transparent election. That is not what I call a revoltion.
January 13th, 2012, 2:42 am
Juergen said:
creative syrian revolution
January 13th, 2012, 3:57 am
defender said:
http://www.thetruthseeker.co.uk/?p=41254
India to buy Iran oil despite US sanctions -minister
January 13th, 2012, 5:49 am
defender said:
http://alexandravaliente.wordpress.com/2012/01/12/russia-the-real-danger-of-u-s-military-strike-on-iran/
RUSSIA: THE REAL DANGER OF U.S. MILITARY STRIKE ON IRAN
SOURCE
MOSCOW: Russian Security Council secretary Nikolai Patrushev warned that military escalation is likely in Iran, with “real danger” of a US strike, in an interview published Thursday.
He added that Syria, which has refused to break its ties with Tehran, could also be a target for Western intervention.
“There is a likelihood of military escalation of the conflict, and Israel is pushing the Americans towards it,” Patrushev said in an interview published on the website of the daily Kommersant.
“There is a real danger of a US military strike on Iran,” the senior Russian security official said.
“At present, the US sees Iran as its main problem. They are trying to turn Tehran from an enemy into a supportive partner, and to achieve this, to change the current regime by whatever means,” he added.
“They use both economic embargo and massive help to the opposition forces.”
Patrushev said that “for years we have been hearing practically next week that the Iranians are going to create an atomic bomb, (but) still nobody has proved the existence of a military component of Iran’s nuclear programme.”
Iran said Wednesday it had firm evidence that “foreign quarters” were behind the killings of Iranian nuclear experts and demanded UN Security Council condemnation of the deaths.
Patrushev said the current tension over Syria was linked to the Iran issue.
“They want to punish Damascus not so much for the repression of the opposition, but rather for its refusal to break off relations with Tehran,” he insisted.
“There is information that NATO members and some Arab states of the Persian Gulf, acting in line with the scenario seen in Libya, intend to turn the current interference with Syrian affairs into a direct military intervention.”
In this instance, the Russian official said, “the main strike forces will be supplied not by France, Britain and Italy, but possibly by neighbouring Turkey.”
Washington and Ankara may already be working on plans for a no-fly zone to enable armed Syrian rebel units to build up, he said.
The United States said Wednesday it would reduce the number of staff at its embassy in Damascus amid fears for their safety over the Syrian government’s deadly crackdown on pro-democracy protests.
– AFP/fa
January 13th, 2012, 5:52 am
defender said:
US to Occupy Persian Gulf? ‘Iran is not a sitting duck!’
January 13th, 2012, 6:55 am
defender said:
The 4th Reich
By Jim Kirwan
1-12-12
http://rense.com/general95/4th.htm
January 13th, 2012, 7:08 am
Ghat Al Bird said:
VOLK@ 557.
For comparison purposes could you provide….” how many ships reportedly carrying weapons to Israel docked in Haifa” during the same period time ” that the one Russian boat stopped in Syria ?
January 13th, 2012, 7:13 am
defender said:
Santorum Says That ‘The Murder of Foreign Scientists is a Wonderful Thing’
January 13th, 2012, 7:14 am
majedkhaldoun said:
It is unlikely that US will attack Iran during the next two months,or even imposing more sanctions,Syrian regime change must precede such major endeaver.Russia has no choice but to veto any UN resolution against Syria,Tartous is the only place where Russian fleet can get help in the mediterrian sea.
Bashar, in attacking Arab League in his speach, shows how Naive he is in politics,this is not the first time he makes such mistake.
I will not be surprised that Mr. Dabi resigns as more lies come from him.and I expect more observers will be injured.The French journalist murder is done by grenade in Area chosen by pro regime gang ,this indicate they have done it,there is no FSA member there.
January 13th, 2012, 8:20 am
Mina said:
From the Angry Arab
Situation in Damascus
Zaid sent me this (I cite with his permission): “My uncle travels to Damascus from Baghdad every six months to see a doctor for his heart. Last time he was there, he had the same view as everyone else, that things were very calm in Syria, that the media has exaggerated the impact of the revolution and that Damascus was completely normal. He returned from Damascus just now and he says that Damascus has become militarized, chaotic. He says that he heard gunfire regularly, that there are checkpoints everywhere, that the city feels like it is under siege. He says that he felt very unsafe (this coming from a Baghdadi) and that he won’t return until the revolution is over. ”
Ah… 6 months ago everything was quiet? I remember hearing of “millions of protesters” here and there. Peter and the wolf?
As’ad Abu Khalil on yesterday’s speech. Very sharp.
http://english.al-akhbar.com/blogs/angry-corner/assad%E2%80%99s-speech-rhetoric-arrogance-and-insensitivity
January 13th, 2012, 9:11 am
Juergen said:
Mina
and we heard a lot of millions hearing the beloved leader speak yesterday…
I hear the same from my friends, everybody goes home. Last week one did not celebrate his birthday, she thought its too much of a risk to meet up with friends in a restaurant.
January 13th, 2012, 9:28 am
Mina said:
Where did you read about millions on Umawiyin square? On the BBC? Gulf satellite channels? If you watched the clip, you can decide by yourself. Arabs are not used to demonstrations as we are in Europe so they hardly see the difference between 50,000 and 500,000, but exaggerating the numbers in the pro-regime demos is not exactly going viral.
Bahrein has forbidden a demo yesterday, and as Cameron was landing in Saudi Arabia, 3 Shiis were killed in a demo in Qatif. But you can pray the AL to oblige Syria “to authorize demonstrations”. That is, if you’re naive enough.
You can insult these poor guys brought on Umawiyin square if you want, but you will not take out the head of most of the real poors that they will be the losers of any transitional period. Ask anyone of the dwellers of Cairo’s city of dead.
January 13th, 2012, 9:39 am
Ghufran said:
2012 is not likely to produce a political settlement in Syria,it is an election year in the US and no candidate including Obama will dare to do anything that makes him look weak against Iran. The Goats Emirates ruling gangs see Iran,not Israel,as their real enemy,and this twisted view has not changed since 1979,this is why they will never sign on any deal until the big Daddy in Washington orders them to do so.
The hype about Iran is similar to the diarrhea of lies that preceded the invasion of Iraq except that Iran will be far more costly to attack than Iraq was in 2003.
An attack by the US in 2012 is a remote possibility but Israel may use the political environment in the US to do something stupid on their own but I still think such an action by Israel is unlikely due to the fear of a wider confrontation.
Iran is under pressure now to respond to the assassination of 5 nuclear scientists who were most probably killed by the Mossad with help from anti regime groups inside Iran.
The regime knows all of that and they also believe that the UNSC can not pass any aggressive resolution against Syria as long as Russia has a veto card.
It remains to be seen whether the regime will take this opportunity to take any meaningful step towards reconciliation, from what I see so far,Bashar is only interested in molding a government that fits his needs and that can only lead to more unrest and bloodshed.
January 13th, 2012, 9:54 am
irritated said:
# 559 Mina
““since they were the only ones to know that a delegation of journalists were in Homs”.
Eh, cell phones, twitter, what happened to them?
January 13th, 2012, 10:00 am
Haytham Khoury said:
http://www.aawsat.com/details.asp?section=4&article=658722&issueno=12099&fb_source=message
January 13th, 2012, 10:01 am
Jerusalem said:
Please don’t laugh while watching.
January 13th, 2012, 10:02 am
Akbar Palace said:
defender,
(Re: #565)
How many of the 6000 or so deaths this past year in Syria were killed by zionists?
January 13th, 2012, 10:02 am
Haytham Khoury said:
محللون يتوقعون إحالة الملف السوري لمجلس الأمن الدولي
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/13/188106.html
January 13th, 2012, 10:03 am
Mina said:
Will Syria be the new Pakistan in the heart of the Euro-Mediterranean?
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/NA14Df02.html
Negotiations and great games in Afghanistan
By Brian M Downing
Hopes for a negotiated settlement in Afghanistan are beginning once more, but the problematic Byzantine geopolitics are not readily apparent. It is not the bipolar confrontation between Britain and Russia that it was in the 19th century. Nor is it simply the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) against the Taliban.
The war in Afghanistan involves Pakistan against India, China against India, the Pashtun Afghans against the northern peoples, Saudi Arabia against Iran, and Russia against China. So arcane
and intricate are these conflicts that the US is allied with enemies and at odds with allies.
(…)
Iraq sounds more and more like Poland in 1938: make up your choice, the Hitlerian Saudis or the Stalinist Iranians?
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Middle_East/NA14Ak03.html
January 13th, 2012, 10:09 am
zoo said:
Ghufran
“Bashar is only interested in molding a government that fits his needs and that can only lead to more unrest and bloodshed.”
The opposition turned out to be so pathetic and unreliable with its ridiculous and premature description of the future foreign relations of Syria with Iran, Russia, Israel and the US that they have offered Bashar Syria on a silver plate. No wonder he will take advantage of their disunity and stupidity. The sanctions will be used to demonize even more the Western countries.
In addition the islamic ‘moderate’ sunni wave in North Africa and Egypt needs to be prevented to deferlate on the middle east countries as they present a threat to all the countries that do no have a homogeneous islamic population. Israel, Lebanon, Iraq and Syria will never mould harmoniously in a sunni model. The Copts population in Egypt are gradually been sidelined. This will not happen easily in the other countries. Iraq and Syria are in the process of joining Lebanon in opposing the ‘moderate’ sunni model promoted bu Qatar and Turkey. They may turn out to become secular just to protect its diversity of ethnicity and religions.
Syria is on the first line of this transformation.
January 13th, 2012, 10:17 am
Afram said:
Islam and islamic[freedom?!?]not for me&the civilized world
COGNITIVE DISSONANCE AND ISLAMIC DEVIANT REACTION
The world is fast changing. Philosophy, sociology, psychology, science, technology, and living concepts are fast changing. The dramatic change in culture, environment and thought system influences nations, groups,individuals and families. Dramatic changes create an uncomfortable feelings, a Cognitive Dissonance in us. Normal, healthy, civilized people adjust to this cognitive dissonance resort to motivational change to reduce dissonance. We do this by changing our attitudes, belief and actions. Some neurotic individuals continue the old, dysfunctional belief system and try to hide behind a thick wall of denial and try to reduce dissonance by blaming others for their uncomfortable feeling caused by sudden changes. Muslims react to sudden changes resorting to their own defense mechanisms, rationalization and neurotic responses to reduce discomforts.
How do Muslims respond to Cognitive Dissonance? Islamic nations, communities, groups and individual cling on to outdated, desert originated dogmatic belief system and follow dysfunctional action strategies to reduce discomfort from cognitive dissonance. Muslims refuse to change their deviant belief system, attitude towards infidels, and embrace the desert fundamentalist dogma and reductionist and false belief system. They also construct a wall of denial, blame game and justification of their sixth century doomed dogma. Educated, cultured, and skilled professionals and laymen who adjust to rapid changes promote coexistence,peace and harmony and spirituality.
It is time for Muslims around the world to realize that the power has shifted from those who follow rigid, non-compromising and reductionist and dysfunctional belief system. Those Jihadis who cling to old ways and indulge in blame game are doomed to extinction.
The new global leaders will be who can transmit new knowledge, freedom, coexistence, and reason to its followers. Those who accept new knowledge, embrace changes, accept emerging technology and responsible behavior can build new empires. It is imperative for Jihadis to realize that they cannot move forward by looking backward and finding answers for new problems from their desert, doomed Islam. In this ever changing world, Jihadis cannot move forward, influence people with Islamic swords and crude bombs any more.
Since Muslims are determined to promote Allahism through Jihadi terrorism, they have two choices today. To be a member of the winning, civilized world community by accepting pluralism and changing concepts or to continue Islamic obsession and continue their compulsive-deviant behavior.
To be accepted as a member of the civilized world community Muslims must abandon their past brutal behavior.
THE ISLAMIC PARADOX
How do Muslims react to changes in knowledge? Changes of all kinds—social-cultural-technological-political-psychological-religious and philosophical is happening at the terrific phase around the world. If Muslims want to enjoy freedom, peace and coexistence, they have to abandon Islamic plan for conquering the world for Allah. With reduced results from cognitive dissonance, Muslims have to unlearn what they have learned from Islamic school, and relearn positive way of living. Rather than trying to resist change, Jihadis need to learn how to embrace coexistence, change, and work for the benefit of all and not for the benefit of Muslims alone or work for promoting crazy Ideas of Mohammad.
Rather than trying to refuse new cognitive processes and change, Muslims must seek harmony, peace, coexistence, tolerance and pluralism. Jihadis must abandon terrorism and violence in the name of Allah. Instead of fighting against infidels and kafirs who advocate changes or revisions for Islam, Muslims must learn to live harmoniously in a democratic society and learn religious tolerance. Jihadis must learn from past mistakes, and not repeat or resort to past Islamic brutality.
No society can survive for long with terrorism. Muslim’s obsession and compulsion on Islamic trilogy wreck havoc in their lives and around the world.. Those who are trapped in their closed, rigid thinking may find it hard to escape to freedom.
January 13th, 2012, 10:17 am
Mina said:
The Arab spring paradox: how can you let a country that beheaded a 60 years old woman for witchcraft (for those who did not follow: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16150381) own satellite tv-s ?
Oh, sorry, and be an incontrovertible ally of the US, the UK and now all the EU?
January 13th, 2012, 10:21 am
Juergen said:
Mina
I just qoted what regime supporters have said about this gathering among their leader on facebook, Sana modestly said huge crowds…
I will see the city of death next month when i am in Cairo, this time it will be first time to see this site though.
January 13th, 2012, 10:30 am
irritated said:
Juergen
“Afraid meet up with friends in a restaurant?”.
If the restaurant was close to a police station or a baath party office or in Homs or Edlib, I understand her concerns.
January 13th, 2012, 10:30 am
zoo said:
Advance of the Zealots
The Growing Influence of the Ultra-Orthodox in Israel
By Juliane von Mittelstaedt
http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,808252,00.html
Veiled women, radical rabbis and gender segregation: Israel is facing a rise in the influence of ultra-Orthodox Jews. Their efforts to impose a strictly conservative worldview has led to growing tensions with the country’s secular society. A resolution to the conflict is vital for Israel’s future
…
“The non-religious Jews have long since lost Jerusalem. They may have a secular mayor, but they just imagine that they are in charge.” Kraus laughs. He is familiar with the birth statistics and he knows that time is on his side. “We run Jerusalem,” he says.
January 13th, 2012, 10:35 am
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
Mina,
Let me tell you a personal account.
During the 3-4 years of the second Intifatha 2000-2003, what you saw on international news channels reporting from Israel, was ruined buses, bombed cafes, shattered malls, war and destruction.
One could have had the impression that you cannot walk the street in Israel without being (suicide) bombed. That there is destruction and chaos everywhere.
During all those years I was living in Tel Aviv, and never ever witnessed even one such event. One time, I heard a far away loud explosion, which to this day I’m not sure whether it was a suicide bomber exploding himself, a sonic boom or a thunder.
I saw it on TV just as all the millions around the world, but never saw or heard, or witnessed any of this with my own eyes and ears. Can you believe it? Life was as normal as normal can be.
This doesn’t mean that I didn’t feel at war. Of course I felt.
What I’m trying to say here, is that appearances might be misleading. I’m sure every single Syrian feels and senses the tension. Even if there’s calm in a certain Damascene street, it doesn’t mean that there’s no civil war going on.
.
January 13th, 2012, 10:37 am
Ghat Al Bird said:
Defender @ 565.
How many dogs did the Syrians kill like a Jewish court did last year?
http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/06/17/jewish-court-sentences-dog-to-death-by-stoning/
January 13th, 2012, 10:41 am
Ghufran said:
Zoo,
The SNC is only part of the opposition,not the whole opposition,Bashar had 11 years to act since he was awarded the presidency and 10 months since the uprising to reform his regime and he failed. Whether he personally is as evil as the rest of his chiefs or not is irrelevant,Syria is much bigger than a person,and the president of Syria must serve the country not his family or his regime.
He may very well be able to survive 2012 and beyond but he needs to let go,and the sooner he does this the better. I did not advocate debathification or the elimination of everybody who works for the regime because that led to civil war in Iraq and caused more problems for Iraqis,but we have to produce a government that is inclusive and chosen by people not almukhabarat or albaath,until this is done,we have to hold the regime responsible for most of the problems we see today.
January 13th, 2012, 10:42 am
jad said:
Germany is asking its citizens to leave Syria:
“الخارجية الألمانية تطالب رعاياها بمغادرة سوريا
دعت الخارجية الألمانية رعاياها الذين لا يزالون في سوريا الى مغادرة البلاد بسبب استمرار تردي الوضع الأمني هناك”
————————————-
Russia is still in contrast with the western countries regarding the UN resolution:
روسيا : التعديلات الغربية على مشروع قرار موسكو بشان سورية تفرغ المقترح الروسي من مضمونه
“إجراء جولة جديدة من المشاورات بشان مشروع القرار ستتم خلال الأيام المقبلة”
أعلنت الخارجية الروسية أن التعديلات الغربية فيما يتعلق بمشروع قرار موسكو الذي قدم إلى مجلس الأمن مؤخرا حيال سورية تفرغ المقترح الروسي من مضمونه, مشيرة إلى أن إجراء جولة جديدة من المشاورات بشان مشروع القرار ستتم خلال الأيام المقبلة.
ونقلت وكالة “انترفاكس” الروسية عن نائب وزير الخارجية الروسي غينادي غاتيلوف قوله “للأسف أن الموقف الغربي يختلف جذريا عن موقفنا وانطلاقا من مضمون التعديلات التي قدموها فان هذه التعديلات تستهدف تغيير النظام في سورية وإفراغ المقترح الروسي من مضمونه”.
ويأتي ذلك بعد يومين من إعلان نائب وزير الخارجية الروسي غينادي غاتيلوف أن المشاورات حول مشروع القرار الروسي الخاص بسورية في مجلس الأمن الدولي لم تدخل في “مأزق”.
وأوضح غاتيلوف أن “الموقف الروسي يتلخص في دعوة الطرفين إلى إنهاء العنف وبدء عملية سياسية دون أي تدخل خارجي ودون حل القضايا السورية الداخلية بالقوة بينما يركز موقفهم على أن الحكومة السورية مذنبة جملة وتفصيلا ويجب التغاضي بكل الوسائل عن الأعمال التي ترتكبها المعارضة المسلحة”.
وقدمت روسيا, التي تترأس مجلس الأمن الدولي, في منتصف شهر كانون الأول الماضي مشروع قرار للمجلس يدين “العنف “من قبل جميع الأطراف ومن ضمنه الاستخدام “المفرط للقوة” من قبل السلطات السورية، ويحذر من تدهور متزايد للأوضاع.
وأضاف غاتيلوف “بالرغم من موقفهم غير البناء فان روسيا على استعداد لمواصلة المشاورات بشأن نص مسودة القرار لكي يكون عاكسا بموضوعية للوضع في سورية”, لافتا إلى “إجراء الجولة الجديدة من المشاورات خلال الأيام القادمة.”
وأكد غاتيلوف ان “روسيا لن تغلق الأبواب أمام مواصلة المشاورات وعلى استعداد للحوار مع كل الأطراف في مجلس الأمن لغرض التوصل إلى نص مقبول لدى الجميع”.
وعقد مجلس الأمن الدولي عدة جولات مشاورات على مستوى الخبراء لمناقشة المشروع الروسي، إلا أنها أظهرت وجود خلافات عميقة بين الدول الغربية وموسكو بشان مشروع القرار.
وأبدت عدت دول غربية ترحيبا متحفظا بمشروع القرار الروسي , معتبرة أن هذا المشروع غير متوازن ويتطلب الكثير من التعديلات, رافضة مساواته للأطراف, في حين اعتبرت الخارجية الروسية أن مشروع القرار موضوعي.
وكانت عدة دول غربية اتهمت روسيا بالتقاعس عن مناقشة مشروعها المتعلق بالوضع في سورية, مطالبة إياها بتسريع مناقشة هذا المشروع.
وكانت روسيا بالتعاون مع الصين قدمت مشروع قرار إلى مجلس الأمن منذ أشهر قليلة يدعو جميع الأطراف في سورية إلى الدخول في الحوار، ولا يتضمن تدخلا عسكريا أو أية إجراءات تهدف إلى تكرار السيناريو الليبي.
وكانت عدة دول غربية قدمت في شهر تشرين الأول الماضي, مشروع قرار مدعوم من الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية, إلى مجلس الأمن يدين ما يجري في سورية, إلا انه فشل نتيجة إسقاط كل من روسيا والصين هذا المشروع باستخدام حق النقض الفيتو.
وعن عمل بعثة المراقبين العرب في سورية, أشار غاتيلوف إلى أن “روسيا تدعم عمل المراقبين العرب الموجودين حاليا في سورية وتعتبره عاملا مساعدا في الاستقرار والتوجه نحو التسوية السياسية وهي تطالب باستمرار عمل المراقبين وتنفيذ المهام التي حددها تخويل الجامعة العربية”.
وكانت روسيا أيدت جهود بعثة المراقبين العرب المتواجدين في سورية , مشددة على ضرورة وقوف المراقبين على أعمال العنف والتخريب التي تحدث في سورية. {…}
http://syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=142660
January 13th, 2012, 10:57 am
Revlon said:
NCB leadership does not care or even represent its members views!
Member of Central Council of NCB, Mayyah AlRa7bi resigns over lack of transparency and authoritarian practices of its leadership.
13/01/2012
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/45943أعلن انسحابي من هيئة التنسيق الوطنية للتغيير الوطني الديمقراطي في
سورية للأسباب التالية:
I hereby announce my resignation from NCB central council for the following reasons:
– بؤس المعارضة السورية بجميع فصائلها، والتي لم ترق إلى مستوى التعبير السياسي عن آمال وطموحات شعبنا وتضحياته، وبقيت أسيرة تاريخ سياسي يحمل أمراضا سياسية وتنظيمية مستعصية، خلقت بينها وبين الحراك الشعبي هوة غير قابلة للجسر، ورفضا معلنا، لم يشفع لها فيه التاريخ النضالي المشرف للكثير من شخصياتها.
Failure of all opposition groups to represent the political aspirations of our people due to a legacy of recalcitrant political and organisational ineptness, which lead to estrangement of the ground movement.
– لم تتوان الهيئة عن التنازل عن بعض مبادئها وشعاراتها عند أول منعطف تفاوضي، مساومة بذلك على دماء شعبنا ومستقبل أمتنا.
The NCB did not hesitate to bargain for its principles at the first round of negotiations.
– أعطت الهيئة تفويضا كاملا لمغامرين سياسيين، باتوا مقيمين خارج سوريا، يقومون بزيارات واتصالات، ويدلون بتصريحات، لاعلم لأعضاء الهيئة ومكاتبها بها، يساومون على قضايا مصيرية تخص شعبنا وأمتنا، دون إلزامهم بالرجوع لمؤسسات الهيئة.
The NCB gave a free hand to an adventurous bunch of politicians who have become stationed abroad, and started negotiating and making statements without reference to the NCB institutionn.
– يتحكم بقرارات الهيئة ثلة من الأشخاص يمتلكون القرار، دون الرجوع إلى الهيئة، بحيث بات أعضاء الهيئة يجهلون ما يجري في دهاليزها، إلاّ ما يرشح منه إلى وسائل الإعلام، في غياب للديمقراطية والشفافية، فإذا أضفنا إلى ذلك سياسات الإقصاء والتهميش التي تمارسها قيادة الهيئة، والتلكؤ في تشكيل وتفعيل صيغ وتشكيلات مؤسسية، يلح علينا سؤال: ما الذي يميز الهيئة من حيث الجوهر عن أي سلطة قمعية استبدادية؟
Decision making in NCB is centralised; A few own the decision making while other members learn about inner issues from public media!
Such begs the question: Is the NCB any different in its structure and practices from any authoritarian regime?
– أنا أعلم تماما أن الهيئة غير معنية بانسحابي – وأنا عضوة في المجلس المركزي للهيئة-، أو حتى انسحاب 90% من أعضائها، لأنهم كم عددي لايعني لأصحاب القرار فيها أي شيء، وبالمقابل فإن الهيئة لاتعنيني بقدر ما يعنيني إيضاح موقفي أمام أبناء شعبنا الأبيّ.
I a m fully aware that the NCB leadership care less about the resignation of myself or even 99% of NCB members.
What matters to me is to make clear where I stand to the proud Syrian people.
– وكي لا يساء فهمي لابد أن أوضح هنا بأنني ناضلت وأناضل وسأبقى أناضل من أجل سورية دولة وطنية مدنية ديمقراطية، دولة الحق والقانون، دولة جميع أبنائها دون تمييز بينهم على أساس الجنس أو العرق أوالدين، ولا زلت اؤمن أن النضال السلمي هو طريقنا الأسلم لبلوغ أهدافنا التي نطمح إليها، وأن علينا جميعا العمل على الخروج من هذه الأزمة بدولة قوية حرة ذات سيادة، وأن الاستقواء بالشعب هو البديل عن الاستقواء بأي قوة خارجية، فأي تدخل عسكري أجنبي سيكون مدمرا، والأمثلة على ذلك كثيرة وقريبة ولا زالت محفورة في أذهاننا، وأن وحدة سورية أرضا وشعبا مسألة غير قابلة لا للمساومات ولا للتنازلات.
إنني أنحني إجلالا لأرواح الشهداء وتضحيات أبنائنا وإخوتنا المناضلين الشرفاء الصامدين المرابطين، غير المعنيين بهؤلاء الذين يدعون تمثيلهم، ويساومون على دمائهم.
ميّة الرحبي
January 13th, 2012, 11:00 am
jad said:
ردا على ما بثته الجزيرة من كذب المدعي عبد الجليل السعيد
http://youtu.be/a5ikvrabP0w
“مفتي الجمهورية: لا ارتباط للمدعو عبد الجليل بدار الإفتاء وما أدلى به على قناة الجزيرة محض كذب وافتراء
نفى سماحة الدكتور أحمد بدر الدين حسون مفتي الجمهورية ما نقلته قناة الجزيرة عن ارتباط المدعو عبد الجليل عبد السعيد بن صالح بدار الإفتاء مؤكداً أن ذلك محض كذب وافتراء وأن المذكور لم يكن في يوم من الأيام موظفاً في الدار ولا في وزارة الأوقاف ولم يعمل يوما مديراً للمكتب الإعلامي لسماحة المفتي وليس له علاقة به كما ادعت القناة.
وأضاف سماحة المفتي في تصريح له اليوم أنه ليس له أي علاقة بالمدعو عبد الجليل وليس قريبه ولم يسافر معه يوما كما ادعى الأخير وأنه لا وجود لمنصب مدير مكتب إعلامي في دار الافتاء مشيراً إلى أن هذا التلفيق من قبل قناة الجزيرة يظهر حجم الكذب والافتراء والتحريض الذي تمارسه هذه القناة وغيرها من وسائل الإعلام العدوانية ضد سورية وشعبها.”
January 13th, 2012, 11:00 am
jad said:
Again, Ashraf is explaining why they extend to Ghalyoun in the SNC, he is saying because they don’t have a better candidate to cover the MBs real face and because they have a fierce clashes for the chair by many like Haytham Almale7 who is threatening to go out of the SNC and talk against them I guess if they don’t put him the ‘president’…and they have a big problem putting a christian as their new face:
Ashraf Almoukdad
ماذا يعني تمديد المجلس العطوب والمشلول لبرهان غليون لمدة شهرواحد فقط: يريدون ان يتخلصوا من غليون ولكن لا يوجد بديل بمصداقية….أو هناك تقاتل رهيب وراء الستائر
الحقيقة كلاهما صحيح…فلا يوجد بديل حقيقي أو ورقة توت كبير لتغطية تحكم الإسلاميين لهذا المجلس المعطوب….ويعاني الإخوان من تهديدات سخيفة مخزية بالإنسحاب من هيثم المالح وفضح المجلس…وغيره بالطبع….وخيار غير مقبول اخوانيا بشخص جورج صبرة
فالفضيحة ستكون اذا اضطروا للتمديد لغليون مرة ثانية….أو الحل الغير مقبول شعبيا بسمير النشار……فالحقيقة ليس لديهم طريقة الا بترفيع صبرة من الأمانة العامة الى المكتب التنفيذي بحركة بهلوانية تشبه تغيير الدستور لبشار الاسد وهي حركة مفضوحة رخيصة وبائسة….باي حال هذا المجلس وكما يقوا صديق عزيز “على الباي باي” ومزبلة التاريخ
And here, as usual of Ashraf, he is bashing Haytham Almale7 and some people of SNC accusing them of being Bashar/Iran’s agents and calling the SNC supporters ‘Minhebakjyeh’!
قصة خروج هيثم المالح من سورية
by Ashraf Almoukdad
في مقالي السابق عن اصنام هوت : https://www.facebook.com/ashraf.almoukdad?ref=tn_tnmn#!/note.php?note_id=335118186507954
استعرضت غيضا من فيض عن الصنم هيثم المالح وماذكرت طبعا لايشكل الا جزء بسيط من تاريخ اكبر تاجر لحقوق الإنسان بسورية يشكل الكذب والسرقة و التعدي ومحاولة الإغتصاب جزءا لا يتجزأ من تاريخ هذا الرجل المزركش.
مشكلتنا أننا في مواجهة حملة تقديس وحشية يقوم بها النظام “لبشاره” نقوم بردة فعل بمحاولة تقديس مشابهة رخيصة عمياء….فما يدهشني الا التعليقات الغبية التي تتهمني لمهاجمة “الرموز”!!!!أي رموز هذه؟ فهل كان سيقوم نشامى حوران ضد المجرم لو احترموا رموز القهر والظلم؟؟؟ وما تدمير تماثيل المجرم وابيه الا تعبير عن سقوط الخوف….وهالة القدسية المزيفة حول الجزار وابيه والنظام برمته.
لن تستبدل رموزا بأخرى ابدا والا كنا كاذبين وغير أمناء على مااسشتهد عليه أعز فلذاتنا…فالذي أوصلنا الى هذا اليوم هو عدم مسائلتنا “للرموز” أو حتى معرفة من هم على حقيقتهم…وعندما يعرف السبب يبطل العجب….فعندما نعرف تاريخ هؤلاء نعرف لماذا لدينا مجلس معطوب..لا يطالب بما يطالب به شهدائنا ولماذا هذا التخبط والضياع.
السرية…ثم السرية…ثم السرية هي سلاح المجرمين والقتلة والنصابين والحرامية…والشفافية هي حماية الديموقراطية والحرية والكرامة…..لهذا أتابع هذه السلسلة وأنا بهذا أرمي قفاز التحدي لكل من أذكر لكي يظهر ما يناقض ما أكتب……
في شهر نيسان 2011 وبعد أربعة اسابيع من وقفة نشامى حوران…بدا واضحا وضوح الشمس لرجال النظام ان الثورة هي ثورة حقيقية….منتشرة وليس هناك قوة لديهم لإطفائها
من هنا بدأت المرحلة الثانية من محاولة التحكم بنتائجها….والإختراق هو ما يمتاز به النظام المخابراتي في سورية بإمتياز يمتد هذا الإختراق وبإمتياز لتنظيم الإخوان المسلمين
والجوادث كثيرة ومشهورة (كتسليم عدنان عقلة واستشهاد ايمن شربجي وغيرهم الكثير).
هدف النظام اليائس هم منع التدخل الدولي بأية طريقة…فهو يعرف وياقن بان التدخل الدولي هو الوحيد الذي سينهيه …..لذالك أبقى القتل لحد أدنى(وأنا اسف لهذا التعبير)
وبدأ باستخدام كل أداة له في محاولة لإغراق المعارضة بعملائه اولا ثم ليمنع اي حراك متوحد لها والأهم من هذا كله منعها من المطالبة الجدية بالتدخل الدولي مهما كلفت هذه من كشف عملاء أو التضحية…..
في أواخر شهر نيسان ….كان الوضع كما يلي: أحمد رمضان (أبوشفايف) في الضاحية الجنوبية مديرا لأخبار القدس الحمساوية وهو صلة وصل مع شبكة عريضة من “الإخونجية السابقين والذين اعلنوا الهدنة مع بشار منذ ثلاث سنوات قبلها
عماد الدين الرشيد (كتّيب الاحجبة) نائب عميد كلية الشريعة في دمشق…ونعرف ماذا يعني ذالك…..فداء السيد في بانياس “يهدىء النفوس” لا وبل ضيف عشاء عزيز على مائدة جامع الجامع (بشهادة وحيد صقر الذي تحدث مع قريبته زوجة الجامع واخبرته باذلك وصور العشاء موجودة لدى وحيد على ما اعتقد)
وطبعا إذا استعرضنا أسماء معدّي “مؤتمر الإنقاذ” الإستانبولي”سترى خريطة توزع هؤلاء في شهر نيسان
فجأة دبت الحياة المعارضاتية بهؤلاء……وبدأ الإعداد امؤتمر الإنقاذ…..وفجأة ظهر عماد الدين الرشيد بالأردن ليتحدث عن فساد في سورية على الجزيرة ليعود الى إعتقال “صوري” لمدة 6 ساعات(غداء يعني) وتطبيل وتزمير عن هذا الإعتقال
المضحك ان هذا الرجل غادر مطار دمشق 3 مرات لينظم لمؤتمر الإنقاذ وعاد اليها من تفس المطار……الخطة كانت أن يعقد المؤتمر وأن يشكل هذا المؤتمر “حكومة إنتقالية”
(حكومة وليست رئاسة انتبه) …وبدأت المفاوضات والبحث عن “رأس لهذه الحكومة”…..فأخرج هيثم المالح…….ثم…لا وبل صرح تصريحات نارية من داخل دمشق
هيثم المناع وبكل خيانته يقول الحقيقة باجتماع في الجامعة العربية (في مفاوضاته مع المجلس المعطوب) عندما أخرس هيثم المالح والذي كعادته القذرة برميي إتهامات الخيانة على كل من لايعجبه عندما ذكره بصفقة إخراجه من السجن بوساطة حزب الله بناء على طلب هيثم المنّاع وعلى ماظهر لاحقا بناء على طلب حماس بشخص احمد رمضان
فتكتمل الصورة هنا…..
أخرج المالح من سورية بجواز عم بيلمع لمع ورافقه للمطار “كوكب” زوجته الجديدة….وشخص “غامض” وسافر بكل احترام وتبجيل ليصل الى استانبول والى ذراع احمد رمضان وعماد الدين الرشيد والخطة لجكومة مؤقتة يرأسها المالح جاهزة….لبصمته!!!
لم يحسبوا حساب معارضة غليون الشرسة…..لا لوطنية مفاجئة…ولكن لإحساس غليون ان هذه الحكومة لعبة لإقصائه….وترادح الإثنين أمام العالم كله وسمى غليون المالح “بالخرفان”….وغليون بالملحد من قبل المالح وسقطت الحكومة “الإنتقالية” وكما العادة في محاولات النظام عندما تفشل اي من خططه أن ينسى مباشرة ويتحرك للخطة “يلي بعدا”
اليوم هؤلاء هم نفسهم في المجلس المعطوب…فها من استغراب أن هذا المجلس ما دعى الى التدويل؟؟؟؟ حقيقة وليس بردة فعل (جزيرية تلفزيونية فارغة الغرض منها امتصاص الغضب الشعبي فقط)؟؟؟؟؟!!!!!
فهل من المستغرب ان يستقصي هذا المجلس وبعناد شديد وطنيين مخلصين لا شك في ثورتهم واصطفافهم وراء الثورة وأهدافها؟!!!!!
هل من العجيب ان يوقع غليون بإسم هذا المجلس المعطوب اتفاق الخيانة مع هيئة التنسيق بشهادة المالح نفسه والتي أول بند بها هو “عدم التدخل الدولي؟؟؟؟؟؟!!!!
هذه أسئلة اتركها للقراء….وللمنجبكجية…..ليس لبشار بالطبع….لكن للمجلس المعطوب……
المتسائل: اشرف المقداد
January 13th, 2012, 11:13 am
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
Ghat Birdovski,
This (#586) of course never happened. Only in the sick and obsessed minds of haters as yourself.
Google translate this
http://www.presspectiva.org.il/cgi-webaxy/sal/sal.pl?lang=he&ID=990560_camera&act=show&dbid=press&dataid=157
.
January 13th, 2012, 11:18 am
jad said:
Mina,
Sister Agnes talking about Le figaro story
الام اغنيس تدلي بتصريح هام داخل المشفى بعد حادثة بحمص
http://youtu.be/mOtGli2umcc
January 13th, 2012, 11:25 am
jad said:
نبيل العربي للوسيط العراقي مع سورية: ليلة حمد مهبّبة
كتب نضال حمادة:
يروي مصدر عراقي مسؤول في القاهرة بعض ما جرى في المباحثات حول الأزمة السورية بين رئيس الوزراء العراقي نوري المالكي ورئيس الولايات المتحدة الأميركية باراك اوباما أثناء زيارة المالكي الأخيرة لواشنطن في 11 كانون أول الماضي، ويقول المصدر العراقي المسؤول الذي التقينا به في القاهرة أن المالكي اتصل بالوسيط الذي يدير التواصل بينه وبين القيادة السورية من واشنطن للوقف على الموقف السوري وإيصاله لأوباما وذلك قبل يوم واحد من اجتماعه بالأخير في البيت الأبيض ويضيف المصدر العراقي أن الوسيط أخذ من القيادة السورية ما يشبه التفويض الكامل لرئيس الوزراء العراقي في طرح الموضوع السوري مع أوباما.
ويكمل المصدر العراقي المسؤول حديثه بالقول أن المالكي أثناء عرضه الموضوع السوري مع أوباما قال أن الأوضاع في سورية يجب أن تصل لحل قريب مبديا خشيته من تأثيرات سقوط النظام في دمشق على الاستقرار في العراق وطالبا من الرئيس الأميركي تأييدا أميركيا للوساطة العراقية في الأزمة السورية وفي نهاية اللقاء قال اوباما للمالكي أنا أؤيدك وأتمنى لك حظا سعيدا.
هذا الجواب الأميركي الذي يحمل في وقت واحد الإيجابية والخبث أخذته القيادة العراقية على محمل الإيجابية وعملت به على هذا الأساس، يقول المصدر العراقي، الذي يؤكد أن المالكي كان له الدور الأكبر في إقناع القيادة السورية بقبول توقيع بروتوكول الجامعة العربية بعد الدور الروسي ولا يدري لماذا زج نبيل العربي بحركة حماس كوسيط لعب دورا مؤثرا في قبول سوريا على التوقيع.
لقد كنا الذين أقنعوا الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد بقبول توقيع البروتوكول وكنا الطرف الذي اخبر الجامعة العربية بالموافقة السورية، يقول المصدر العراقي المسؤول، الذي يروي فحوى المحادثة الهاتفية التي جرت بين الوسيط العراقي وأمين عام جامعة الدول العربية والتي اخبر فيها العراقيون الجامعة بقرار سورية بتوقيع البروتكول :
الوسيط: سوريا وافقت على توقيع البروتوكول
العربي: بتقول إيه؟
الوسيط: أقول سوريا سوف توقع البروتوكول في الساعات المقبلة
العربي: أنت متأكد
الوسيط: نعم
العربي: دي ليلة حمد مهببة.
المصدر العراقي المسؤول يقول أن بلاده بدأت عمليا خطوات على الأرض مع المعارضة السورية حيث دعت ممثلين عن المجلس الوطني السوري وهيئة التنسيق السورية المعارضة إلى بغداد. وقد أرسل المجلس شخصيتين إلى بلاد الرافدين اجتمعت مع القيادة العراقية وتم الاتفاق أن يقوم وفد من المجلس بزيارة ثانية الى بغداد لكنها لم تحصل. ويرجح العراقيون أن تكون كل من السعودية وتركيا وقطر السبب في وقف الاتصال بين المجلس السوري وبين المسؤولين العراقيين، فيما لم يحضر أي شخص عن هيئة التنسيق الوطني السورية إلى بغداد حسب المصدر العراقي وقد أكد لنا قياديون في الهيئة التقينا بهم في القاهرة صحة هذا الكلام.
غير أن العراقيين يبدون ثقة كبيرة بمقدرتهم على لعب الوسيط الأكثر كفاءة وقوة في الموضوع السوري وهم يعتقدون أن الأمور أصبحت دوليا وإقليميا في مرحلة توزان، يحتم صفقة آو اتفاق لأن الصدام آمر لا يريده احد خصوصا في الغرب، لذلك سوف تشهد المنطقة وسوريا بالتحديد حالة من المراوحة مع محاولة خليجية للذهاب إلى مجلس الأمن وهناك تؤكد المصادر العراقية أن الفيتو الروسي بانتظار أي مشروع ، وسوف يكون دور العراق محوريا في نهاية شهر آذار المقبل حيث تنتهي رئاسة قطر لمجلس الجامعة العربية ويستلم العراق الرئاسة في أول شهر نيسان المقبل حيث سيتغير تعاطي مجلس الجامعة مع الملف كليا ..
فلننتظر ونرى..
http://www.almanar.com.lb/adetails.php?eid=165976&cid=51&fromval=1&frid=51&seccatid=161&s1=0
January 13th, 2012, 11:31 am
Revlon said:
Celebratory demonstrations
Today, Friday of Support-For-FSA
Hama Governorate
شام – حماه – حلفايا – جمعة دعم الجيش الحر 13/1/2012ج1
One sign reads: AlDabi has joined Shabbeeha
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9504UQlujR4
شام – حماه – حلفايا – جمعة دعم الجيش الحر 13/1/2012 ج3
Another: Regards to withdrawn observers Anwar Malek, Khaled AlRbai3an, and Abduljalil Alsaeed.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JosGXwxbxIo
A huge demonstration in Tayyebet AlImam.
It is centered by a miniature, Card board replica of Homs Central Square Clock , which has come to represent defiance and freedom throughout Syria.
شام – حماه – طيبة الامام – جمعة دعم الجيش الحر 13/1/2012 ج1
January 13th, 2012, 11:34 am
Tara said:
It appears that Aroor and Agnus reserving seats near each other in life after death. Funny their names start with the same letter.
January 13th, 2012, 11:41 am
zoo said:
Ghufran
“the regime responsible for most of the problems we see today.”
For decades, the world of finance in democratic countries have ignored the problems of the debts, loans and credit until it blows up on their face. Now they are trying to mend it after having created a worldwide crisis. Who is to blame?
Inertia is a natural human tendency, especially in authoritarian regimes.
If the expat SNC had emerged 10 years ago and rallied the same international support for a democratic change, maybe the Syrian regime would have made changes. At that time, the whole focus was on Lebanon-Israel war, Iraq invasion, Israel settlements, Iran nuclear program and Gaza war. No one cared about the undemocratic practices of Egypt, Yemen, Bahrain etc.. No wonder the Syrian establishment was not in a rush to make any changes, until it blew up on their face.
Without the ‘Arab spring’ trigger, changes may have happened in 10 or 15 years.
Who is to blame?
January 13th, 2012, 11:42 am
Revlon said:
Large demonstrations
HOMS Governorate
Today, Fridy of Support –for-FSA
Town of Deir B3albi
الوف في جمعة دعم الجيش الحر ديربعلبة
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=AQAty8ZD46Y
Twon of AlQaritein
حمص القريتين جمعة دعم الجيش الحر جـ1 13 1 2012
January 13th, 2012, 11:49 am
Revlon said:
Large demonstration
Idlib city
Today, Fridy of Support –for-FSA
مدينة ادلب – جمعة دعم الجيش الحر 13-1-2012
January 13th, 2012, 11:53 am
Revlon said:
Large demonstration
Baba Amr neighbourhood, Homs city
Today, Fridy of Support –for-FSA
باباعمرو جمعة دعم الجيش الحر ج2 13-1-2012
January 13th, 2012, 11:55 am
Ghat Al Bird said:
AMEER @592.
This never happened too?
http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/2011/04/23/mocking-jesus-on-israeli-tv-צליבת-ישו-the-crucifixion-of-yeshu/
January 13th, 2012, 12:11 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Is her name Agnus or Angas
January 13th, 2012, 12:12 pm
zoo said:
Brotherhood claim 46 percent of Egypt parliament
13/01/2012
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=28084
CAIRO, (Reuters) – The Muslim Brotherhood will control close to half the seats in the first Egyptian parliament elected since an uprising swept Hosni Mubarak from power last year, according to a projection posted by the group Friday.
Underlining the depth of change in Egypt since Mubarak was toppled, the Islamist group banned under the ousted leader will secure 232 seats, or 46 percent, of the lower house in the election that started in November and is now drawing to a close.
..
The Brotherhood appears anxious to project a moderate image to ease concerns about what a government led by Islamists could mean for Egypt, a country whose economy depends on tourism and which has a peace treaty with Israel
..
Under the transition plan, the parliament’s main task is to pick a 100-member body that will draft a new constitution to replace the one that kept Mubarak in power for three decades. The FJP supports the idea of a system which would move more power to the parliament, diluting the president’s authority.
…
The more hardline Nour Party, which advocates the strict application of Islamic law, has emerged with 113 seats, or 23 percent, putting Islamists of different stripes in control of more than two thirds of the chamber, according to the figures.
January 13th, 2012, 12:12 pm
irritated said:
Majedalkhaldoon
The name is Agnes, taken for a Catholic Roman girl who was martyred for her faith and became a Saint.
I guess you would not like people to mock islamic figures, so please refrain from mocking Christian figures.
January 13th, 2012, 12:18 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
She is not christians, she worship Bashar, christians are good, tose who worship Bashar are enemy of God.
January 13th, 2012, 12:23 pm
zoo said:
Man dies, 130 injured in Jordan clashes
12 january 2012
http://www.muscatdaily.com/Archive/Stories-Files/Man-dies-130-injured-in-Jordan-clashes
A man died and 130 people were injured on Friday as pro-reform protesters and government supporters clashed in Amman, prompting police to use water cannons to disperse them.
“Khairy Saad Jamil, 55, died today at the Prince Hamzeh Hospital” in Amman, a medical source told AFP without specifying the cause of death.
It was the first death since the outbreak of pro-reform protests in Jordan three months ago.
{….}
January 13th, 2012, 12:28 pm
irritated said:
605. majedkhaldoun
And it is you who decides who is christian and who is not? Please stick to your own kind.
January 13th, 2012, 12:29 pm
Mina said:
Irritated,
Might be that her name was on the target list of Revlon.
Zoo,
Am I wrong or didn’t any “Western” (except Russian) media report the killing of the Russian kid on the motorcyle with his father by a father, that you posted a few months ago?
Might be like the liquor shops which explode in South Lebanon these days, probably the “regime” did it too…
Jad,
Thanks. About the story with Mufti Hassoun, I read it on the Guardian’s blog. It just parrots what comes on al-Jazeera. Then BBC, Le Monde and others repeat. Then the Syrian street repeats it (I felt like that when I met a friend last june and he told me all the rumours I had heard and read the week before, while he heard them in the demos… Of course he was one of this guys who had always believed that Bashar al Asad was an Israeli agent, so about believing rumours…)
January 13th, 2012, 12:32 pm
defender said:
576. AKBAR PALACE
all of them 100 % !!!
You swim in superficial water
January 13th, 2012, 12:36 pm
zoo said:
Syria unrest: Al-Arabi dismisses mission criticisms ( audio)
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16538517
He dismissed Anwar Malek criticisms and ignore Bashar al Assad’s critics.
He hints at other international measures if violence persists.
January 13th, 2012, 12:38 pm
Revlon said:
Imam from Baba Alsiba3 flees the country and gives his account of three meetings with B. Assad.
13/01/2012
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/BC2075B5-A550-4ABA-80E8-626A7AA5F836.htm?GoogleStatID=20
قال الشيخ أنس سويد أبرز شيوخ باب السباع بمدينة حمص إن الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد “عاجز ولا يملك من أمره شيئا” ولم يتمكن من اتخاذ أي قرارات في سبيل إيجاد حل للأزمة التي تعيشها المدينة التي باتت تلقب بـ”عاصمة الثورة السورية”.
وأضاف سويد، الذي التقى الأسد ثلاث مرات منذ بداية الأزمة، أن حمص تعيش وضعا يفوق الكارثة الإنسانية، وأن 70% من سكانها باتوا مهجرين إما داخلها أو خارجها بسبب العنف الذي يمارسه النظام.
وفيما يلي الحوار الذي أجرته الجزيرة نت مع الشيخ سويد:
لو حدثتنا كيف بدأت الثورة في مدينة حمص؟
– عندما بدأت الثورة في درعا كان الناس في باب السباع، بل في حمص كاملة في توتر شديد. لم يتحمل الناس هناك ردة الفعل القاسية والعنيفة التي كانت من النظام.
وقبل ذلك كان أهالي حمص يعانون من ضغوط كبيرة عليهم من محافظ حمص إياد غزال، وهو أحد أقارب بشار الأسد، حيث مارس كل أنواع الضغط والعنف على أهالي حمص، فمنعهم الكهرباء والماء، وضيق عليهم في كل شيء وحول “حلم حمص” إلى دمار لحمص.
ما هو حلم حمص؟
– “حلم حمص” هو مشروع لترحيل لكل أهل السنة من السوق التجاري والمجيء بإخواننا العلويين لاستلام مراكز المدينة الأساسية، حتى إن تجار حمص كتبوا ردا على حلم حمص “نعم لبشار الأسد ولا لحلم حمص” لأن المشروع الذي أتى به المحافظ هدم الكثير من الأبنية وضيق على الناس بشكل لا يوصف، حتى أن أهل حمص كانوا يقولون إن بشار الأسد يحكم سوريا كلها بينما حمص يحكمها إياد غزال.
وأول المظاهرات قبل أحداث درعا كانت تطالب بإسقاط المحافظ، وعندما خرجت درعا خرجت أول مسيرة في باب السباع ورفعت شعار “بالروح بالدم نفديك يا درعا” وأنا خطبت خطبة حاولت فيها تهدئة الناس ركزت فيها على معنى “متى استعبدتم الناس وقد ولدتهم أمهاتهم أحرارا” راجعت بسببها معظم فروع الأمن.
وبعد ذلك امتدت المظاهرات إلى بابا عمرو والخالدية وهكذا حتى انتشرت المظاهرات في حمص كلها، والمغذي الأكبر للمظاهرات وانتشارها هو النظام بسوء تصرفه وقمعه وقهره.
هل صحيح أن أحد أسباب توسّع المظاهرات هو تغذية الطائفية؟
”
هناك طائفية بامتياز من قبل النظام الذي يمارسها على أهل السنة في حمص بشكل لا يمكن تخيله
”
– أود الإجابة أولا على سؤال: هل في حمص طائفية فأقول: هناك طائفية بامتياز من قبل النظام الذي يمارسها على أهل السنة في حمص بشكل لا يمكن تخيله، تصور أن كل أحياء السنة في حمص تقطع فيها الكهرباء مدة ثماني ساعات في اليوم، وكل أحياء السنة إذا خرجوا مظاهرات يمنع عنهم الخبز لأيام، لتبدأ الأحياء الأخرى بتهريب الخبز لهم من الأحياء الأخرى، الكهرباء تقطع بالأيام عن أهالي حمص إضافة للاتصالات.
ولكن لا بد أن أنوه إلى أن علاقتنا مثلا بإخواننا المسيحيين في الحي علاقة إخوة وانتابنا الحزن لسقوط بعض الشهداء منهم وقمنا بتعزيتهم، أما إخواننا العلويون فبعضهم يجمعنا بهم إخوة الرضاعة، لكن النظام دمر علاقتنا بالعلويين عندما قام بتسليح أحيائهم، حتى أنه عندما يعتقل ثائر من العلويين يعذبه أضعاف الآخرين ليبعدهم عن الثورة.
ماذا عن لقاءاتك مع الرئيس الأسد، نعرف أنك كنت ممن التقوه أكثر من مرة، ماذا دار بينكم؟
– اللقاءات التي حضرتها مع الرئيس خلال الثورة كانت ثلاثة لقاءات، اللقاء الأول في أبريل/ نيسان، وكنا نحو عشرين من علماء حمص وتكلمنا معه لأربع ساعات ونصف الساعة، واللافت أنه كان يظهر الاستغراب في كل شيء. حدثناه عن ممارسات الأمن والشبيحة، والحاضرون ذكروا له كل شيء بالتفصيل وكان يسجل الملاحظات بنفسه.
اللقاء انتهى إلى عدم وعدنا بأي شيء، وطلب منا أن نساهم معه في تهدئة المظاهرات حتى تترتب الأمور، وخرجنا من عنده بلا نتيجة. كان المشايخ لا يستطيعون الوقوف في وجه المظاهرات وكل شيخ كان يحاول تهدئة المظاهرات كان الناس يضربونه على المنبر ويمنعونه من إمامتهم في الصلاة.
بعدها دعيت للقاء مع مشايخ فلم أذهب، فاعتقلني الأمن العسكري وسألني لماذا لم أذهب، فبررت الأمر بأنني آثرت ترك الأمر لغيري.
في اللقاء الثاني أرسل الرئيس يطلبني لوحدي، وجاءت الدعوة لأن المظاهرات في باب السباع كانت مشتعلة بشكل كبير، فسلم علي وسألني إن كنت شيخ باب السباع فأجبته بالإيجاب فرحب بي، رغم أنني كنت عازما على عدم الطلب منه أي طلبات لأن المرة الأولى انتهت إلى لا شيء ولم يتغير شيء.
بدأ الرئيس حديثه بالدعوة إلى تهدئة المظاهرات، وكان يقول إنه يعلم أن كل المشاكل سببها ممارسات الأمن والمخابرات والشبيحة، قائلا “إذا كان لديك ألف صورة في ذهنكم ففي ذهني عشرات آلاف الصور، فلا تحدثني عن الممارسات السلبية وأعرف أن الحل هو سحب الأمن، لكنني لا أستطيع سحب الأمن إلا بعد تهدئة الشارع”، وأعاد هذا الحديث في اللقاء الذي استمر لأكثر من ساعتين ثلاث مرات.
رددت عليه بالقول إنك يا سيادة الرئيس تطلب منا معادلة خاطئة لو سمحت، فقال: تفضل، فقلت: أنت تطلب أن نهدئ الشارع لتسحب الأمن، وهذا لا نقدر عليه لأن الشارع ليس ملكنا، والشيخ الذي يتحدث مع الناس بغير وتيرة الشارع يضرب ويعتبر خائنا، فالأفضل أن نبقى طرفا محايدا بين الدولة والناس.
كما قلت له إن الناس يقولون إنهم لن يهدؤوا حتى تنسحب قوات الأمن، وما هو الضامن إذا جلسوا في بيوتهم ثم يأتي الأمن لأخذهم من هذه البيوت، هم ثائرون الآن ويتم قتلهم فماذا سيحدث إن عادوا للبيوت، فرد الرئيس: أنا لن أكرر أخطاء الثمانينات.
”
سألت الرئيس عن سبب إرسال أكثر من مائتي دبابة لبابا عمرو عاثت فيها دمارا، فأجابني: هناك عصابات مسلحة، فقلت له نحن سمعنا كما سمعتم فهل ألقيتم القبض عليها، فقال إنها هربت والمشكلة أننا عندما نرسل الجيش لمكان تهرب هذه العصابات لمكان آخر
”
فسألته: سيادة الرئيس ما هو الضام؟، فقال: هذه هي المشكلة أن الثقة فقدت.
فقلت له: الحل سياسي وليس بأن نخرج للناس لتهدئتهم، فجاوبني: أنا نظرتي للمشايخ خطأ وكنت أخاف من صاحب كل لحية والمحجبات، ومرة ذهبت إلى حلب وجلست في المطعم فوجدت نساء كلهن محجبات، فقلت: شو أنا بأفغانستان، بعدها سألت الدكتور البوطي عن سر الحجاب الكثير في حلب هل هم طالبان أم القاعدة؟ فأجابه البوطي أن هؤلاء أناس متدينون على الفطرة.
تخيل رئيس دولة تحدثه عن الأمة وعن الحل السياسي فيخرج بك إلى أمثلة لا علاقة لها بالموضوع.
ثم سألته: ماذا إذا ذهبنا للناس وضغطنا بكل قوة لوقف المظاهرات، وهذا أمر يحتاج ربما لشهر، ولكن لن ينجح ما دام هناك شهداء يسقطون كل يوم فهل عندكم مجال على الأقل استبدال الرصاص الحي بالمطاطي، فأجاب: المشكلة أن الاقتصاد عندنا منهار، هكذا كان جواب الرئيس.
بعد ذلك طلبت من الرئيس أن أتحدث بأريحية وأن يعطيني الأمان وأبلغته أن فروع الأمن حاسبتني على ما قلته أمامه في المرة السابقة، فضحك وقال: المهم ما يحاسبوني أنا.
فقلت له سيادة الرئيس الناس يتساءلون في الشارع: هل رئيسنا يملك القرار أم أنه عاجز، فقال: ما هو السبب؟، فقلت: أنت تقول إنك لم تعي أوامر بالقتل لكن القتل مستمر لماذا لا تعاقب من يعصون الأوامر وهناك قتلة من الجيش اشتهرت أسماؤهم في كل محافظة -وذكرت له بعض الأسماء- علقِ المشانق لهؤلاء وبعدها نظم انتخابات وِثق أن الناس سينتخبونك.
فأجابني بطريقة صدمتني وقال -والله على ما أقول شهيد- أنا عاقبت عاطف نجيب اللي قلع أظافر الأطفال، وعاقبت ابن عمي في اللاذقية جميل الأسد، وعندما تحركت بانياس عزلت زوج بنت خالتي، والله عندما عزلته اتصلت خالتي وعمرها كبير وعاتبتني ووعدتها بأن أعيده لمنصبه بعد أن تنتهي الأزمة، واتصلت الوالدة لنفس الأمر…، فأنا صدمت وقلت كيف هو السبيل للحديث مع هذا الإنسان، وهو يتحدث بجدية عن “زعل” خالته ولم يأسف للشعب الذي يموت، لذلك احترت بأي لسان سأتحدث معه.
والحقيقة التي كشفها الحوار مع الرئيس أن من يدير البلد أسرة كاملة، بشار الأسد جزء منها، وما يقال عندنا في حمص إن القائد المحرك الحقيقي هو والدة بشار التي تملك خبرة مما عايشته مع حافظ الأسد.
أيضا سألته عن سبب إرسال أكثر من مائتي دبابة لبابا عمرو عاثت فيها دمارا، فجاوبني: هناك عصابات مسلحة، فقلت له نحن سمعنا كما سمعتم فهل ألقيتم القبض عليها، فقال إنها هربت والمشكلة أننا عندما نرسل الجيش لمكان تهرب هذه العصابات لمكان آخر.
ما هي خلاصة اللقاءات بعد هذه الجولات الطويلة من الحديث؟
– الخلاصة أن الرئيس لا يريد منا إلا أن نهدئ الشارع الذي لا يهدأ رغم القتل والمجازر، ونحن كنا نقول له إن الشارع ليس ملكنا وإنما هو ملكك أنت، فعاقب من أساء وأخطأ وسينضبط الشارع لوحده.
لماذ خرجت من حمص الآن؟
– خرجت لأن تهديدات النظام طالتني، ووصلتني تهديدات بالقتل والخطف من قبل الأمن والشبيحة، وحاولوا الضغط علي بعد أن بثوا مقابلة مع شاب أعرفه على قناة الدنيا يقول إنني من العصابات المسلحة، وحاول عقيد في القصر الجمهوري الضغط علي بهذا الاعتراف، علما أن الشخص الذي اعترف عاجز ولديه إصابة كبيرة في رجله ولا يمكنه استعمال السلاح.
وطلب مني هذا العقيد إما أن أفتي بحرمة التظاهر والخروج على الحاكم وإدانة الثوار في حمص أو أن أواجه السجن، فرتبت أموري وحضرت لأحد أفرع الأمن ووجدت كاميرات قناتي الدنيا والسورية بانتظاري وتحدثت بخطاب لم يعجبهم، فطلبت إمهالي يومين لأرتب أموري من جديد، والحمد لله يسر لي الله الخروج من سوريا.
كيف تركت حمص؟
– لا يمكن أن أصف ما تعانيه إلا أنه كارثة إنسانية، حمص تعيش أكبر من الكارثة، وأكثر من 70% من سكانها إما باتوا مهجرين داخلها أو خرجوا إلى مدن أخرى، وكل يوم يتأخر فيه العالم عن التدخل تزداد الكارثة والمأساة
January 13th, 2012, 12:43 pm
jna said:
Cracks emerge in Syrian opposition amid ongoing anti-government protests
france 24
http://observers.france24.com/content/20120113-syria-cracks-emerge-opposition-amid-ongoing-anti-government-protests-assad
January 13th, 2012, 12:58 pm
zoo said:
19 January deadline for the AL mission, renewal or else?
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-rallies-called-support-armed-rebels-095519645.html
…
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov rejected Western-proposed amendments to a draft Security Council resolution on Syria which Moscow circulated last month.
“Unfortunately, the West’s approach radically differs from ours,” Gatilov said.
“Judging by the contents of their proposed amendments, their goal is clearly aimed at removing Assad’s regime in Damascus,” he said.
Gatilov said that Russia had full confidence in much-criticised Arab League observer mission in Syria since December 26 to oversee a deal to end the b bloodshed.
“We feel their presence is a stabilising factor in Syria that promotes the chances of a peaceful settlement,” he said.
The Syrian opposition has called for the Arab League to pull out the observers or at least seek UN tactical support, saying they have been ineffective in ending the violence and have been repeatedly duped by the authorities.
But the League’s Syria operations chief Adnan Khodeir insisted that the observers would see the mission through until its initial one-month term finishes on January 19.
….
January 13th, 2012, 1:05 pm
Revlon said:
الثائر السوري وقوة القرار الذاتي
مهنا الحبيل
The Syrian Revolutionist: The might of a Sovereign
Mhanna Al7bail
13/01/2012
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/05C4A295-ED2A-474C-A219-19EF33EBD24F.htm?GoogleStatID=24قوة الميدان وحنكة السياسة
هل سقط المشروع الإيراني الروسي؟
المراقبون المضطربون
دور هيئة التنسيق في المشروع
توضيح مفصلي
القوة الذاتية والانطلاقة الثانية
الاستنفار الأخير لتطويق الثورة السورية كان الأقوى والأكثر تنسيقاً منذ انطلاقتها في الخامس عشر من مارس/آذار العام المنصرم, وتعطي دلائل هذه الفترة الزمنية بذاتها مؤشرات تقييم الثورة وقدراتها في قراءة: حراك التفويج الثوري السياسي والإعلامي والمدني, وصولاً إلى حسم التوجه المركزي للثورة وضبطه من الداخل, وربط أداء معارضة الخارج بمعيار ورؤى قيادة الثورة القوية بناءً وأداءً في الداخل, مع مساحة دبلوماسية وسياسية واسعة لهذه المعارضة لكن لا تخرج عن خط الثائر السوري المبدئي.
قوة الميدان وحنكة السياسة
إنّ قوة الإعلانات السياسية ووحدتها ودينامكية المتابعة المذهلة التي تصدرها قيادة الثورة في الداخل كانت مركزاً مهماً لحماية الثورة من أي اختراق وعامل ضبط نوعي فريد لوحدة الإستراتيجية الذي حمى مؤسسات الثورة في الخارج وأبرزها المجلس الوطني السوري, ممّا أعطى رسالة قوية بأن هذه الثورة لديها ممانعة صلبة من الاختراق تُثبت قدرات إسقاطها لأي مشروع بل وحتى مؤسسة قد تُستدرج خطأً أو اختراقاً, لتعود الثورة من الداخل لرسم خط الصعود البياني من جديد.
”
حين يتعرض المجلس الوطني لضغط يكون الحسم أن الثورة التي تعطي مساحة كبيرة ومرنة للدبلوماسية لا تسمح وبكل ثقة بأي اختراق لمشروع الثورة لمصلحة النظام
”
وبلا شك بأن هذا العمق قد تمثّل في علاقة هذا البعد بحراك المجلس الوطني السوري وتصحيح ودعم ثورة الداخل له التي تمثل في الأصل مفصل مشروعية المجلس, وهذا يُعطي طمأنة أكبر للمؤسسة التي من الطبيعي أن تمنحها الثورة مساحة كبيرة للحراك السياسي والدبلوماسي ولكنها أيضاً ضامنة لذات المؤسسة ومطمئنة لخطها الأصيل حين يتعرض المجلس لزاوية ضغط ضخم ومحاصرة فيكون الحسم بكل بساطة أن الثورة التي تعطي مساحة كبيرة ومرنة للدبلوماسية لا تسمح وبكل ثقة بأي اختراق لمشروع الثورة لمصلحة النظام, والدليل حسم الشارع الميداني القادر على إسقاط أي مؤسسة والمُلهم للسوريين بفدائيته وإستراتيجيته والمحبط للنظام ومشاريع الحلفاء.
هل سقط المشروع الإيراني الروسي؟
سواء انتهى المشهد الدبلوماسي الحافل مؤخراً بكل قدرات الحراك الإقليمي لتطويق الثورة السورية إلى سقوط المشروع الروسي الإيراني أو دخوله في مرحلة اضطراب شديدة سببتها إرادة الثائر السوري وتحوله إلى موقف ميداني وسياسي ممانع وصلب رغم الابتعاد المفاجئ من بعض الأطراف, فالنتيجة واحدة وهي تتجه إلى تصدع المحاولة الأخيرة لاغتيال الثورة.
ومن غير شك أن هذا المشروع من أقوى ما حُبك لتطويق الثورة وتصفيتها وإحباطه دليل نوعي لقوة الجبهة الثورية السورية وتماسكها, وقد كان تحرك الحلفاء على مسارات عدة الأول الرعاية الدولية الروسية التي طرحت المشروع الأممي كصيغة تمهيد للأضلاع الأخرى, مع وصول دعم ضخم من السلاح الروسي بعد تفريغ كمية ضخمة من الذخيرة في جسد الشعب السوري, ومارس الروس ضغطا على الجامعة العربية اعتمد تزكيتها بتوجيه معنوي خادع لتنعطف الجامعة مع خطة موسكو طهران, وليس لحماية السوريين.
المراقبون المضطربون
في ذات الوقت وضح أنّ حجم الضغط من محور طهران موسكو استدعى بالفعل تدخلا عربيا مؤيدا له في عمل وتشكيل بعثة الجامعة إضافة للرديف الإيراني المتمثل في دعم حكومة المالكي المالي الضخم لنظام الأسد والفريق الذي أرسلتُه بغداد المرتهنة للمحور من المراقبين المفترضين والذين مثّلوا نصف الدفعة الأخيرة.
ورغم بقاء جزء من الصورة غامضا في مهمة المراقبين وإن تداعى أكثرها, حيث أن بعض المراقبين ذوي خلفيات نزيهة يُرجى أن توثّق الحقائق اليقينية التي قدمها ممثلو الثورة المدنيون ودلائلها وهي أكبر من أن تطرح للنقاش, إلا أن المؤشرات واضحة في بعض التصريحات لبعض المراقبين وحتى الأمين العام بأن المشروع الروسي الإيراني تداخل مع مهمة المراقبين واضطرابها.
دور هيئة التنسيق في المشروع
لا يوجد أدنى شك لأي مراقب في المنطقة أن حركة تضخيم هيئة التنسيق الوطني رغم ضآلة تمثيلها وعجزها عن إقامة أي حراك شعبي داخلي مهم, كان يُقصد منه بعثرة صورة الثورة المتحدة في إستراتيجيتها وفي فرضها ممثلا للسياسة الخارجية لها بإرادتها, في حين كانت إيران وموسكو تستثمر الهيئة لضرب حراك الشارع وصلابة موقفه والتشكيك المستمر في المجلس الوطني لإلهاء الرأي العام وإحداث فجوات سياسية وإعلامية للنفوذ لتطويق الثورة.
”
حركة تضخيم هيئة التنسيق الوطني رغم ضآلة تمثيلها وعجزها عن إقامة أي حراك شعبي داخلي مهم, كان يُقصد منه بعثرة صورة الثورة المتحدة في إستراتيجيتها
”
غير أن الهيئة سقطت شعبياً من حجم الإساءات التي وجهتها بعض شخصياتها إلى ثوار الداخل واتهامهم بأنهم مرتشون برفع لافتات صمود الثورة وهم يُستشهدون في ميادينهم الفدائية, إضافة إلى التكثيف الضخم من عناصر الهيئة لتحييد الثورة ميدانياً وقبول فترة انتقالية للأسد لا يوجد لها أي ضامن سياسي ولا ثوري.
وتزامن هذا التغوّل ضد الثوار مع الكشف عن أن المشروع الروسي الإيراني يتضمن دوراً كبيراً في الشكل وصورياً في التنفيذ لهيئة التنسيق للحكومة التي سيشكلها الأسد للمرحلة الانتقالية التي تؤسّس لتحييد الثورة, غير أن عجز هذا المشروع أمام ثوار الداخل كثّف الضغط على المجلس الوطني لتحقيق اختراق نوعي له وهو ما انتهى إلى فشل هذه الورقة, وربما تكون الاستخدام الأخير لورقة هيئة التنسيق.
توضيح مفصلي
من أهم عناصر التعمية للمشروع الإيراني الروسي ضخ قضية التدخل العسكري الشامل كأنه بند مواجهة لهيئة التنسيق, وهذا غير صحيح فحتى الآن ما يُطرح هو دعم حقوقي دولي على الأرض لحماية المدنيين معزز بآليات سياسية وإعلامية وإدانة قانونية وفرض عقوبات على النظام, مع تبني كامل وشامل للمنطقة العازلة لحماية المدنيين والمجندين المنشقين على أوامر القتل على الحدود التركية وتغطيتها كأمر طبيعي بالطيران التركي ودعمه دولياً, في حين ترفض أطراف من هيئة التنسيق ذلك لأنه سيشكل إستراتيجيا حركة انهيار النظام الشاملة.
والذي يراقب تصريحات هذه الأطراف يجدها متناغمة مع محور موسكو إيران والمخاوف الإسرائيلية وهو أن القضية هنا هي رفض هذه الجهات للحكم المدني البديل لأسباب أيديولوجية مزعومة ولو ترتب على ذلك بالنسبة لهم تصفية هذه الثورة وهو ما يُخرج هيئة التنسيق وفريق الدعم لها من العلمانية المتطرفة من أي موقف أخلاقي أو وطني.
إذاً الهدف تحييد الثورة كُلها وليس تحييد التدخل العسكري الشامل غير المطروح, والذي كان موضحاً في موقف المجلس منه, وبالإمكان تأكيده بإعادة صياغة طرحه في وثيقة من داخل مؤسسات المجلس ويدعى له الوطنيون من الهيئة, ومن الواضح أن ضمان المنطقة العازلة الذي يحتاج لقرار أممي بناءً على الشرط التركي هو بالفعل من يؤمّن هذا الانتقال الأكثر أمناً لسوريا ومستقبلها المدني, لكن يبدو أنّ البعض قضيته مع هذا الانتقال وليس التدخل العسكري.
القوة الذاتية والانطلاقة الثانية
في كل الأحوال ومع تداعي فرص تحييد الثورة تبرز لنا هنا مؤشرات مهمة لعناصر إيجابية لانطلاقة ثانية نوعية تبنى على خلاصة الانطلاقة الأولى تعتمد على التالي:
1- الإدراك بأن روح الشعب الإيمانية الأسطورية وتعامله مع فكرة الخلاص والاستشهاد الديني والوطني لتحقيق الحرية المدنية بات إكسيرا متدفقا لم يستطع النظام من كسرها ولا تعطيلها ولن يستطيع.
2- تمتع هذا الجمهور المؤمن برسالته الإسلامية بروح مدنية متضامنة منفتحة على الطوائف أثبتت قوة إرادة في إحباط كل محاولات الفتنة الطائفية فتخرج الجموع من المسجد لتلتف في حمص عاصمة الثورة الفدائية مع فدوى العلوية وتهتف معها ومع ساروت لحرية سوريا, وهو ما أضحى يرتد على البناء الاجتماعي السوري لمصلحة الثورة.
3- بدا أن الثورة تدرك مفاصل الحراك ومعاييره الزمنية وضرورة الحفاظ على هذه الأرواح التي تتنافس للفداء لكن ذلك يضاعف مسؤولية وضع كل عناصر الحماية الممكنة لأرواح تلك المجموعات الشبابية والأطفال التي تُصرع ضمائرنا العربية معها كل يوم.
4- تحذير وليد جنبلاط لدروز سوريا من أي استجابة لتوريط النظام لهم وإعلانه أن ثورة الشعوب لا تتراجع تؤخذ في صعيد استشعار الرجل المعروف بحساسيته نحو التغيير القادم.
5- أمام المراقب صورة نوعية ذات بعد إستراتيجي لانهيار النظام وهي تزايد عدد المنشقين والمنضمين للجيش الحر ونسبة الشهداء في الدفعات الجديدة التي لم تستطع الوصول لمواقع الجيش الحر.
6- تزايد قدرات الجيش الحر والالتحام الشعبي معه وتوسع مساحته وتطور أدائه وموقفه الإستراتيجي الذي وصل لطرح مشروع شامل بديل لو تعثرت جهود المجلس الوطني.
”
طهران تحرق أكبر قدر من إمكانياتها الذاتية أو التابعة كحزب الله بجنون لدعم قمع الثورة إلا أن الناتج على الأرض يثبت أن هذه المحاولات تتبخر أمام إرادة الشعب السوري
”
7- عدم قدرة المركز العربي لاحتمال فترات إضافية من تصدع الوضع وشعورهم بأن الخيار الحاسم بانتصار الثورة بأي ثمن يجعلهم يخرجون من مرحلة الكمون, وقد يُغير ذلك من أداء الجامعة حتى لو فشلت مهمة المراقبين.
8- وضعية تركيا باتت أكثر تأثراً مهما أُعطيت صورة الدبلوماسية الهادئة مؤخراً إلاّ أن الصورة من أنقرة تؤكد أن مصالح تركيا مهددة عبر مواسم إطالة عمر النظام.
9- المتابع للحراك الإيراني يُلاحظ بأن طهران تحرق أكبر قدر من إمكانياتها الذاتية أو التابعة كحزب الله بجنون لدعم قمع الثورة إلا أن الناتج على الأرض يثبت أن هذه المحاولات تتبخر أمام إرادة الشعب السوري.
هنا تبرز لنا حقيقة التوجه النهائي لقطار الثورة بأنه لم يضعف وأن سر قوته كما أكدنا في مقالات سابقة إرادته الذاتية وإيمانياته وأن من يقف في وجهه قد يشعر أحياناً أنه يستطيع حرفه عن السكة لإيقافه, لكنه سيُفاجأ بأن ضريبة ذلك أن القطار سيقصمه حين يصل إليه فيتمنى إعادة حساباته السياسية, حينها لا مجال للمهادنة مع الثورة السورية
January 13th, 2012, 1:22 pm
Haytham Khoury said:
لبيك لبيك لبيك يالله
January 13th, 2012, 1:24 pm
Uzair8 said:
@612. jna said:
“Cracks emerge in Syrian opposition…”
I understand what you’re trying to do but it’s an exaggeration to talk about ‘cracks’ in the opposition when everyone full well knows that the opposition is a loose coalition of many groups and organisations.
When something solid like the regime begins to show signs of weakening that’s what you would call ‘cracks’.
January 13th, 2012, 1:37 pm
ann said:
‘West aiming to topple Syrian regime’ – 13 January, 2012
http://rt.com/politics/russia-syria-west-us-resolution-689/
Russia says Western-backed amendments to a Russian resolution on Syria are aimed at toppling the government there.
The amendments put forward by a number of Western countries to the Russian-proposed draft of a UN Security Council resolution on Syria is designed to bring about regime change in Damascus, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov has told Interfax.
“Unfortunately, the Western approach radically differs from ours, and judging from the content of the amendments that have been submitted, they are obviously aimed at toppling (President Bashar Assad’s) regime in Damascus,” the diplomat said.
Gatilov said the Western amendments dilute the Russian version, giving the draft resolution “a radically different approach.”
“These amendments take the essence out of our text,” he said.
Since January 2011, the Syrian government has been facing large, and occasionally violent, anti-government protests as part of the so-called Arab Spring. The ensuing violence has left hundreds of dead and injured on both sides of the conflict.
The Western-backed amendments, according to the Russian diplomat, shift all the blame to the Assad government.
“Our position is to call on both sides to stop violence and start a political process without any outside interference or any pressure that might influence the handling of Syria’s internal problems, while their position is to shift the entire blame on the Syrian government and play down the acts committed by the armed opposition,” he said.
Despite the radical difference of approach, the diplomat said Russia will continue to work with its Western partners in an effort to find a solution to the Syrian crisis that is acceptable to all parties.
“Despite this non-constructive approach of our partners, we express readiness to continue consultations on the text of the draft resolution that would objectively reflect the present situation in Syria,” Gatilov stressed. “The next round of these consultations will take place in the coming days. We are holding the door open to further consultations and are ready for a dialogue with our partners towards agreeing a mutually acceptable version.”
January 13th, 2012, 1:38 pm
ann said:
Syria: Nato ‘planning direct military intervention’, Russia claims – Friday 13 January 2012
Nato is planning “direct military intervention” in Syria, a top Russian official has claimed, suggesting the alliance may set up a no-fly zone and dispatch Turkish troops to the troubled country.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9010349/Syria-Nato-planning-direct-military-intervention-Russia-claims.html
The head of Russia’s security council said he had seen intelligence indicating plans for a military incursion were well advanced.
“We are getting information that Nato members and some Persian Gulf States, operating according to the Libya scenario, intend to move from indirect intervention in Syrian affairs to direct military intervention,” Nikolai Patrushev, the head of the Kremlin security body said in an interview published in Russia’s Kommersant newspaper on Thursday.
“This time it is true that the main strikes forces will not be provided by France, the UK or Italy, but possibly by neighbouring Turkey which was until recently on good terms with Syria and is a rival of Iran with immense ambitions.” America and Turkey were even now possibly already refining options for a no-fly zone that would allow armed Syrian opposition fighters to mass in the designated areas, he added.
Mr Patrushev, a Kremlin hawk who used to run the FSB security service, the Russian successor agency to the KGB, went on to claim that the real reason Syria was coming under so much international pressure to end a brutal crackdown on the opposition was largely geopolitical.
“Syria has not become an object of interest for a new coalition of the willing in itself,” he said. “The plan is to punish Damascus not so much for repressing the opposition as for its unwillingness to sever its friendly relations with Tehran.”
January 13th, 2012, 1:48 pm
Revlon said:
أنور مالك: النظام السوري حاول إغراء المراقبين بكل الطرق
13/01/2012
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/01/13/188097.html
………
وقال مالك إن النظام السوري خاول إغراء المراقبين بكل السبل بما فيها النساء، كما استخدم معهم التهديد أيضا وكان يتنصت على مكالماتهم ويصور غرفهم
…….. More
Resigned AL Observer Anwar Malek to Al Arabia: The Syrian regime used all kinds of enticements and threats to influence us, including offering women for pleasure, tapping our phones and taking photos of our bedrooms.
January 13th, 2012, 1:51 pm
jad said:
Morocco prince in opening a ZOO, check out the hands kissing 🙂
أتحدى أي شخص يتمالك أعصابه لما يشوف الفيديو ده
http://youtu.be/0yUjhjHHYsc
January 13th, 2012, 1:53 pm
ann said:
Russia Says West Plans No-Fly Zone in Syria to Aid Rebels – January 12, 2012
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2012-01-12/russia-says-west-plans-no-fly-zone-in-syria-to-aid-rebels.html
Jan. 12 (Bloomberg) — Russia received information that members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and some Persian Gulf countries are preparing military intervention in Syria, the head of the Russian Security Council said.
Turkey, a NATO member, may play a key role, Nikolai Patrushev, who used to head the country’s intelligence agency, the Federal Security Service, told Interfax in comments confirmed by his office. The U.S. and Turkey are working on a possible no-fly zone to protect Syrian rebels, Patrushev said.
“We are receiving information that NATO members and some Persian Gulf states, working under the ‘Libyan scenario’, intend to move from indirect intervention in Syria to direct military intervention,” the Russian security chief said.
U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said yesterday that the Arab League monitoring mission in Syria should end after failing to deter the government’s 10-month campaign of violence against dissidents. She spoke after meeting Qatari Foreign Minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jabor al Thani, a day after President Barack Obama held talks with Saudi Foreign Minister Saud al-Faisal at the White House.
Turkey’s Foreign Ministry and NATO’s press service in Brussels didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.
Russia, which has Soviet-era ties with Syria, argues that United Nations-sanctioned bombing of Libya by NATO to protect civilians was used to bring about regime change and that Western governments are trying to repeat that scenario in Syria.
Iranian Alliance
The West is putting pressure on Syria because the country refuses to break off its alliance with Iran and not for repressing the opposition, said Patrushev, who served with Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in the Soviet-era KGB.
“This time, it won’t be France, the U.K. and Italy that will provide the main strike forces, but perhaps neighboring Turkey, which was until recently on good terms with Syria and is a rival of Iran with immense ambitions,” Patrushev said.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad rejected calls for his resignation on Jan. 10, accusing “foreign conspiracies” of aiming to divide his country. Unrest in Syria since March 2011 has claimed more than 5,000 lives, according to the United Nations.
The Arab League imposed sanctions on Syria on Nov. 27. Russia and China have blocked efforts by the U.S. and the European Union for the UN Security Council to condemn the crackdown.
Russia, which has a naval base in Syria and sells weapons to the Middle Eastern country, is more concerned that Islamic radicals may come to power, said Irina Zvyagelskaya, a Middle East analyst at the Academy of Sciences in Moscow.
Russian Fear
“Our fear is that Syria could collapse and extremist Islamic forces will seize control that no one will be pleased about,” Zvyagelskaya said in a phone interview today. “This could destabilize the entire region.”
While Russia would block any effort to seek UN approval for a no-fly zone in Syria thanks to its veto-wielding power as a permanent member of the Security Council, Western nations and their allies may form a coalition like they did for the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, said the analyst.
“There are scenarios which different countries are looking at,” Zvyagelskaya said. “We have seen before what a no-fly zone means, it will be used to overthrow the regime.”
No-Fly Zone
Defectors from Assad’s army who have set up an opposition force called the Free Syrian Army called at the end of last year for a no-fly zone and two buffer areas with international backing as they seek to topple the Syrian government.
The group wants a buffer zone in the north, on the Turkish- Syrian border, and another in the south near the border with Jordan to help them bring the fight closer to Assad, Riad al As’ad, a former Syrian colonel who leads the Free Syrian Army, said in a phone interview from Turkey on Nov. 18.
Russia may have obtained intelligence about Western military plans in Syria or may be sending a signal that it will actively oppose any such efforts, said Fyodor Lukyanov, an analyst at the Council on Foreign and Defense Policy in Moscow.
“After the Libyan experience, Russia will do everything to stop this scenario from happening,” he said in a phone interview. “Syria is much more important than Libya from Russia’s point of view.”
January 13th, 2012, 2:08 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
Amir in Tel Aviv,
This one’s for you
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QTaN_lWN4VE
And don;t forget to give ur reactions about the man ( Abu Ammar).
January 13th, 2012, 2:09 pm
jad said:
Calm and good interview with Haytham Manna3, he talks about Malek that he is lying and he defend the observers’ mission, most of the interview is good to watch.
I have no idea how the SNC keep attacking such a person so viciously. As I wrote before, the SNC don’t want any reasonable and peaceful person to exist, they prefer to partner criminals instead.
قناة فرنسا 24: الدكتور هيثم مناع
http://youtu.be/5pDo6fOGDzE?t=16m52s
Someone on FB wrote these questions about the grave mistake in changing the uprising to an armed struggle, but nobody is listening anymore:
الى دعاة عسكرة الثورة : لا بدّ من طرح بعض الأسئلة ليجيبونا عليها قبل أن يأخذونا إلى حيث لا نعلم ولا يعلمون…
من سيسلّح الثوار ولماذا سيسلّحهم؟ من سيدفع الفاتورة وكيف سيدفعها؟ ألن تكون مقدّمة انتداب جديد بكل ما تحمل هذه الكلمة من معنى؟ اذا انتصرت لوحدك كانت لك فرحة النصر وحدك، أمّا اذا شاركك غيرك المعركة كان شريكك في النصر وفي الغنيمة، ولربّما سعى لأن يستأثر بها وحيدا.
من يضمن أن لا نرفع السّلاح بوجه بعضنا البعض في المستقبل؟ من يضمن أن لا نتحوّل لمدن مربّعات أمنية لكل عصبة أجهزتها ومخابراتها وأمنها؟ من يضمن أن لا تشتعل أعمال الانتقام والثأر والغاضبون يمسكون الأسلحة بأيديهم ويقفون على بركٍ من دماء؟
من سنسلّح تحديدا؟ هل سنسلّح كل من مدّ يده لحمل السّلاح؟ هل سنسلّح أبناء مناطق معيّنة ونترك مناطقا أخرى؟ هل سنسلّح أبناء طائفة ما ونترك أبناء طائفة أخرى؟ ألا نكون بذلك نؤسس لحربٍ أهليّة نعلم بدايتها ولا نعلم نهايتها ويذهب ضحيّتها المدنيّون والأبرياء؟
ماذا ستكون مهمّة الثوّار؟ مواجهة الجيش؟ مواجهة الأمن؟ ألا يوجد في الجيش أبناؤنا واخوتنا وجيراننا وأصدقاؤنا؟ ماذا اذا اختبأ الجيش والأمن في الحارات والمشافي والمدارس والأبنية؟ هل سنتبادل قصف الأبنية بمن فيها؟
متى نتوقّف عن القتال؟ هل برحيل اشخاص معيّنين؟ وهل نكون بذلك حقّقنا مُرادنا وأسّسنا الدّولة المدنيّة؟ أم بإبادة كل من ساندهم فنحوّل بلادنا لمزرعة يُذبح فيها البشر بدون حساب؟ كيف نعاود جمع الأسلحة من أيدي الشعب بعد انتهاء المعارك؟ كيف نعيد تأهيل كل أولئك الذين شاركوا حمل السّلاح وإراقة الدّماء؟
“مقتبس”
January 13th, 2012, 2:17 pm
Juergen said:
Uzair
Do you know the grand sheikh of the Naqshibandiyah order in Damascus? Are they affiliated with the Konya line or with Sheikh Nazim in Lefke?
January 13th, 2012, 2:29 pm
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
Jad #620,
What is the difference between this pitiable child, and the boy-king that you admire. The same Arab political culture that you protect with your acute mnhebakism.
.
January 13th, 2012, 2:30 pm
jad said:
Telling us the obvious, American-Qatari agreement to withdraw the AL observers from Syria and the killing of the French Journalist in Homs was planed by foreigners and executed by the militias who control the rebels area in Homs.
معلومات قوية عن اتفاق أميركي ـ قطري مدعوم ببعض العرب لسحب المراقبين من سوريا
صحفي فرنسي يجزم بأن قذائف المورتر التي استهدفت فريق الصحفيين الأجانب في حمص كانت بناء على إحداثيات أعدت من قبل عناصر من المخابرات الفرنسية !؟
واشنطن ، دمشق ـ الحقيقة ( خاص): كل الدلائل ، والكثير من المعلومات أيضا ( بعضها مؤكد)، يسمح بالقول إن اتفاقا جرى إبرامه خلال الساعات القليلة الماضية بين قطر وواشنطن لسحب المراقبين العرب من سوريا ، ولم يكن الاعتداء الآثم الذي استهدف حياة مراسل”القناة الثانية” الفرنسية ، جيل جاكييه ، وزميله الهولندي ، خارج السياق!
على المقلب الأول، تفيد معلومات خاصة حصلت عليها”الحقيقة” من أوساط “المجلس الوطني السوري” بأن رئيس الوزراء القطري ، حمد بن جبر، اتفق مع وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية هيلاري كلينتون على وجوب سحب المراقبين العرب من سوريا قبل اكتمال مهمتهم أو حتى تمديدها شهرا آخر وفق ما يسمح به “البروتوكول” الموقع مع الخارجية السورية. وتقول هذه الأوساط إن هذا المطلب كان الوحيد تقريبا الذي حمّله “المجلس” للوزير القطري الأول قبل توجهه إلى واشنطن بعد اجتماع الوزراء العرب المعنيين بالمسألة السورية في القاهرة يوم الثلاثاء الماضي. وثمة اعتقاد في الأوساط الأميركية ـ القطرية وتوابعها في المنطقة يقول بأن سحب المراقبين أمر لا بد منه ، من بين أشياء أخرى ، لإنضاج طبخة التدخل الدولي ، وإن بصيغ غير عسكرية مباشرة ، وإحراج الروس والصينيين . ولكن سحب المراقبين لا يزال يصطدم بالفيتو المصري والجزائري والسوداني في “اللجنة الوزارية العربية” المعنية بالأمر. ويكشف قيادي بارز في “هيئة التنسيق الوطني” أن قناة”الجزيرة” ، وتحديدا فيصل القاسم ، هو من تولى ( بتوجيهات قطرية) سحب المراقب “النصاب” أنور مالك ، المنحدر من أوساط ” الجماعة الإسلامية المسلحة” في الجزائر. حيث اتصل به قاسم وطلب منه مغادرة دمشق حالا. وقد فعل ذلك فعلا ” على نفقة قناة الجزيرة ، وحتى دون أن يسلم ما بعهدته من أمانات تخص فريق المراقبين”!! . وكان لافتا أن مالك غادر إلى قطر مباشرة ، وليس إلى مقر إقامته في فرنسا أو مقر الجامعة العربية كما يقضي المنطق ، حيث استقبلته”الجزيرة” في الحال ليدلي ما بما أملي عليه من الجهات القطرية المختلفة . وهو ما كانت الجامعة العربية نفت صحته ، مشيرة إلى أن مالك قضى معظم وقته نزيل فراشه في الفندق بسبب المرض ، ولم ير شيئا مما ادعى أنه رآه. ولفت ديبلوماسي في الجامعة العربية ( انظر صحف يوم أول أمس) إلى أن مالك “يعمل وفق أجندات خاصة” ، مشيرا إلى أنه يمت بصلة مصاهرة لبرهان غليون! كما وكان لافتا أن المراقبين القطريين غادروا في اليوم نفسه دير الزور عائدين إلى دمشق دون أن يكملوا مهمتهم ، ولم يفسروا سبب خطوتهم تلك ، رغم أنهم لم يتعرضوا لأي مضايقة هناك!
في هذا الوقت بالذات ، كان الوزير القطري الأول يجري لقاءات في واشنطن ليس مع وزيرة الخارجية فقط ، ولكن ـ وهذا ما يلفت الانتباه ـ مع مسؤولين في مكتب الأمن القومي الأميركي . وهو ما لم تسلط وسائل الإعلام الضوء عليه!؟ وبالتزامن مع هذه الاجتماعات يقتل الصحفي الفرنسي في حمص ، الأمر الذي سيتحول إلى ” قميص عثمان” في قادم الأيام القليلة ، رغم أنه تحول إلى ما يشبه ذلك فعلا منذ اللحظة الأولى ، حيث تنادى المسؤولون الأوربيون والأميركيون ، والفرنسيون بطبيعة الحال، إلى الاستنفار الإعلامي للتنديد بالجريمة ، وهي جريمة تستحق فعلا الاستنفار ، ولكن ليس استنفار القتلة!
في المقلب الثاني من القصة، وبعيدا عن منطق المؤامرة ، ثمة معلومات متداولة في أورقة بعض وسائل الإعلام الفرنسية “المحترمة” تشير إلى أن جيل جاكييه “اغتيل ولم يقتل ، وكان الفريق الصحفي كله مستهدفا بالقتل ، وليس جاكييه فقط” ، في إشارة إلى فعل مدبر ومخطط له عن سابق إصرار وتصميم . وهنا يرفض أصحاب هذه المعلومات اتهام النظام السوري جملة وتفصيلا بالجريمة. ويقول صحفي عريق في ” لوفيغارو” ، لا يحظى النظام السوري بأي احترام في سجله المهني، “إن المجنون فقط ، أو الحاقد لمجرد الحقد، من يعتقد أن النظام السوري يقف وراء قتله . فالنظام السوري يعرف قبل غيره أن قتل مواطن أجنبي على أراضيه ، فكيف بالأولى إذا كان فرنسيا وصحفيا أيضا وفي هذا الوقت بالذات، سيكون بمثابة عش دبابير غربي يفتح بوجهه. وهو ما حصل فعلا خلال أقل من ساعة على انتشار خبر الجريمة”. الصحفي العريق يجزم بأن القرار بقتل جاكييه وزميله الهولندي( لا يزال في حالة حرجة) ، وبقية أعضاء الفريق الصحفي الذي ضم عشرة صحفين أوربيين ، اتخذ خارج الأراضي السورية ليكون الحدث نسخة سورية من جريمة اختطاف وتصفية الباحث الفرنسي “ميشيل سورا” والصحفيين الفرنسيين الآخرين الذين اختطفوا و / أو قتلوا في لبنان . ويقول هذا الصحفي علينا أن نراجع”السجل الميداني” للواقعة . وبمراجعة ما هو متوفر منه حتى الآن ( كما رواه الصحفي البلجيكي ينس فرانسين الذي كان في المكان ) يتضح أن قنبلة أو قذيفة ألقيت على بعد مئة متر من تجمع لبعثة الصحفيين والأهالي في “حي عكرمة” المعروف عن سكانه أنهم يناصرون النظام السوري. ويبدو أن هذه القنبلة أو القذيفة لم تكن سوى ” طعم” يثير شهية وفضول الصحفيين الأجانب الذين كان معروفا مسبقا أنهم في “حي عكرمة”. وهذا ما جرى. فما إن ألقيت القنبلة على بعد مئة متر منهم ، كما يقول فرانسين، هرع الصحفيون والمرافقون لهم إلى مكان سقوطها لمعاينة المكان. وما إن وصلوا حتى انهالت ثلاث أو أربع قذائف عليهم أدت إلى سقوط 8 شهداء في الحال ، وجرح 25 شخصا آخر. لكن ما هو مؤكد هو أن ما سقط كان قذائف مورتر و” آر بي جي” . ويتضح من الشريط الذي بثته الفضائيات المحلية والأجنبية أن بقايا قذيفة مورتر واحدة على الأقل ( أجنحة التوازن الصغيرة في مؤخرة القذيفة) جرى استخدامها في الجريمة. وهو ما يؤكد أنها قذفت من حي آخر لا تسيطر عليه السلطة. ومن المعلوم أن الأحياء التي يسيطر عليها مسلحو ” كتيبة الفاروق” و ” خالد بن الوليد” ، وهما مخترقتان من قبل المخابرات الفرنسية ، فضلا عن غيرها ، تقع مباشرة على حد وتخم الحي الذي وقعت فيه الجريمة ، أي على بضع مئات من الأمتار فقط .
هنا يستعيد الصحفي الفرنسي في “لوفيغارو” ما كانت كشفت عنه صحيفته نفسها أواخر تشرين الثاني / نوفمبر الماضي لجهة تورط المخابرات الفرنسية في تزويد مسلحي رياض الأسعد في شمال لبنان ومدينة حمص بالمعلومات الاستخبارية عبر الأقمار الصناعية ، فضلا عن الأسلحة التي تعمل بالأشعة تحت الحمراء. أما وجود قاذفات المورتر ( الهاون) مع مسلحي ” الفاروق” و ” خالد بن الوليد” في حمص ، فقد أصبح من البدهيات . وقد حصلوا عليها إما من عناصر فارين من الجيش أو من الخارج ، بالنظر لسهولة حمل ونقل واستعمال النوع الخفيف والمتوسط منه ( أقل من عشرين كغ). ويصل مدى النوع المتوافر بين أيدي المسلحين إلى حوالي 2 كم . أي يمكن إطلاقه بسهولة من الأحياء التي يسيطرون عليها.
خلاصة الأمر ، من تورط في التخطيط لارتكاب مجزرة الأزبكية (المخابرات الفرنسية) وإعطاء الأوامر لعملائه داخل تنظيم ” الأخوان المسلمين” بالتنسيق مع المخابرات العراقية، لارتكابها ، لن يتردد في قتل مواطنيه الفرنسيين والأوربيين إذا كان له هدف سياسي دنيء من وراء ذلك! وجريمة الأزبكية التي نفذت في العام 1980 بقيت طي الكتمان و”لغزا” من ألغاز محنة الثمانينيات 25 عاما ، أي إلى العام 2005 حين نشر نزار نيوف في موقع ” إيلاف” تقريره الشهير الذي كشف فيه عن القصة و” ودفع الثمن” جراء ذلك وجرّاء قضايا أخرى مشابهة، ولا يزال يدفعه حتى اليوم!!
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6453/Default.aspx
January 13th, 2012, 2:43 pm
defender said:
سلام من أبو اسكندر لمذكور سابق على SC
http://www.hurriyet.com.tr/english/world/9691338.asp?scr=1
Hurriyet Diely News
Russia considers nuclear missiles for Syria.
Russia is planning to install Iskander surface missiles in Syria and its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad, in a response to United States missile interceptors in Poland and U.S.-Israeli military aid to Georgia, an Israeli news agency reported on Monday.
Moscow seems to be eying Poland, the Middle East, and possibly Ukraine, as the main arenas for its reprisals, as Russia is reported to plan arming warships, submarines and long-range bombers in the Baltic and Middle East with nuclear warheads, DEBKAfile reported.
The plan includes the establishment of big Russian military, naval and air bases in Syria and the release of advanced weapons systems withheld until now to Iran, with the S-300 air-missile defense system, and the nuclear-capable Iskander to Syria.
Shortly before the Georgian conflict flared, Moscow promised Washington not to let Iran and Syria have these sophisticated pieces of hardware.
The Iskander’s cruise attributes make its launch and trajectory extremely hard to detect and intercept. If this missile reaches Syria, Israel will have to revamp its anti-missile defense array and Air Force assault plans for the third time in two years, as it constitutes a threat which transcends all its defensive red lines.
Moscow’s military planners know this and are therefore considering new sea and air bases in Syria as sites for the Iskander missiles, DEBKAfile reported. Russia would thus keep the missiles under its hand and make sure they were not transferred to Iran, it added.
Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be invited to Moscow soon to finalize these plans in detail, according to the report.
Military spokesmen in Moscow also said at the weekend that Russian military planners started redesigning the nation’s strategic plans as a fitting response to the U.S. decision to install 10 missile interceptors in Poland and over the recent clashes in Georgia, DEBKAfile reported.
January 13th, 2012, 2:45 pm
Juergen said:
I read that the german foreign office has called upon all remaining germans to leave Syria. They have already shortend the embassy personal and reports from the ministry suggest that the consulate section will be most likely totally closed in the next days.
There were reports that 2 foreign journalists have been arrested in Damascus, anyone heard about that?
January 13th, 2012, 2:45 pm
defender said:
http://en.rian.ru/mlitary_news/20120113/170743544.html
Russia to test over 70 new missile systems in 2012
MOSCOW, January 13 (RIA Novosti)
About 70 new rocket and missile systems will be tested at Russia’s Kapustin Yar test range in 2012, an increase of 150 percent from last year, a Defense Ministry spokesman said on Friday.
The systems are part of more than 160 ongoing projects, said Col. Vadim Koval, without providing any details.
Last year, more than 500 missile test launches were made at the Kapustin Yar rocket launch and development site, he added.
Almost all the missile and rocket related branches and services of the Russian Armed Forces, including the Strategic Missile Forces, the Air Defense Forces, and the Missile Forces and Artillery conduct their tests at Kapustin Yar, located in the Astrakhan region, between the cities of Volgograd and Astrakhan.
January 13th, 2012, 2:52 pm
defender said:
http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c32/315736.html
World to take attack on Iran, new sanctions as power change try
MOSCOW, January 13 (Itar-Tass) —— The world community will take a military attack on Iran and new sanctions as an attempt at power change in the country, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov told reporters on Friday.
“An obvious tendency has been reported recently for a deteriorating situation over Iran,” the Russian high-ranking diplomat said. “Unilateral sanctions imposed by Western countries under the UN Security Council decisions will have a negative impact on the population and economy in Iran. This policy undermines the efforts of the international community to settle the problem of the Iranian nuclear program,” Gatilov said.
“Our position is that with due account of the previous UN Security Council resolutions, which restrict military cooperation with Iran, the sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council are fully exhausted,” Gatilov said, “Everything that can be offered for the approval in the UN Security Council beyond the framework set in the resolutions, has no bearing with the task for a stronger nuclear non-proliferation regime,” he said.
“Additional sanctions against Iran, as well as a probable military attack on Iran, will be doubtlessly taken in the international community as those pursuing the goal of power change in Tehran,” the Russian deputy foreign minister underlined.
January 13th, 2012, 2:56 pm
jad said:
الثورة السورية..طريقك الأسرع الى المشافي النفسية
خاص عربي برس- سوزان يحياوي
يحتار المرء في توصيف ما يجري من أحداث في سورية، فالمعارضة تسميها ثورة شعبية ولدت من رحم معاناة لن تقف حدودها إلا بتحقيقها جميع المطالب التي ترفعها، بينما السلطات تعتبرها فورة عابرة يريد أصحابها العبث بمصير وطن أصبح ذا وزن اقليمي في منطقة الشرق الأوسط، يقارع الغرب والمستعمرين، يحتضن حركات المقاومة بكافة أطيافها.
بين ما تنادي به المعارضة، وما ترتأيه السلطات، يقف المواطن السوري مواجهاً للعقوبات والإنفجارات، يحاول ردع الاثارات السلبية التي لا توفر معارض أو موالي، مسببة الرعب والاضرابات النفسية.
وحدها المشافي النفسية عادت عليها الأحداث السورية بالفائدة، فاصبحت تعج بحالات الامراض النفسية والتي كثرت نسبتها في الاشهر الاخيرة الفائتة وذلك نتيجة الضغوطات الناجمة عن توتر الاجواء السياسية التي انعكست تاثيراتها على الحياة الاجتماعية.
يستقبلك الطبيب في قسم الطواريء بمشفى المجتهد سامر عمر، ببسمة تعلو ثغره، بسمة تبدأ بالأفول بعد سؤاله عما يجري في أروقة المشفى الذي يعمل فيه، سامر يؤكد أن قسم الطوارئ والحالات الاسعافية مكتظ بالمرضى، ولدى سؤالنا إياه عن سبب الإكتظاظ يجيب بحسرة “الاسباب متعددة ومختلفة، وفي بلد كسورية يعاني اليوم ما يعانيه، لا يعود الفقر وسوء الأحوال الإجتماعية، والإقتصادية مسيطراً، فتصريحات المعارضة بجناحها الخارجي الداعية الى تدخل دولي وحده كاف لزيادة عدد الزائرين الينا، يتابع ساخراً “وحدها تصريحات رياض الأسعد تساهم في تخفيف الإحتقان، فتهديدات ال”عقيد” لا يكاد يعبر صداها حدود مخيم هاتاي”.
السيد جميل صاحب معمل سكاكر يبدأ حديثه بالقول ” لو كانت الأزمة رجل لقتلتها”، الرجل التي القت الاحداث السورية بظلالها عليه، يطمئن “ان الأزمة لا تستهدف دور سورية بقدر ما تستهدفني، ومصالحي الإقتصادية، ويتساءل ” اذا كانت قرارات الجامعة العربية تستهدف حماية السوريين، والتضييق على النظام، فلماذا العقوبات الإقتصادية التي فرضتها الجامعة، ولم تفرق بين موال ومعارض”.
جميل الذي لا تعنيه مسيرات تأيدية، اومظاهرات معارضة يؤكد “أن الأزمة ساهمت بإغلاق معمله، واحالة عماله الثلاثين الى قسم البطالة”، متابعاً ” تكبدي لخسائر طائلة جراء اقفال مصدر رزقي أصابني باكتئاب حاد عرقل حياتي، وتفاعلي الاجتماعي، لم أعد أشعر بما يدور حولي، أشاهد التلفاز والبرامج التي تتناول ما يدور في سورية، فلا أتمكن من التمييز بين عدنان العرعور، وبرهان غليون، الى ان جاء اليوم الذي فقدت فيه الوعي وشعرت بالم حاد في صدري، أصبت على اثرها بنوبة قلبية، وتم نقلي الى المشفى”،.
الطبيب سامر يلفت الى “ان الانفجارات التي وقعت في دمشق سببت انهيارات نفسية للعديد من الناس وحتى اللذين لا يجاورون الاماكن المستهدفة :كثير من الناس تأثروا بسبب حالات الانفجار وهم ممن يتابعون الاخبار عادة ولا يحتملون مشاهدة مناظر الجثث والدمار، وهناك من وقع ضحية الامراض بسبب مجاورته مواقع الانفجار التي سببت لهم انهيارت نفسية وحالات اغماء واستدعت حالاتهم العناية الطبية والمسكنات.. ويضيف : كما ان لهؤلاء الذين تاثرت اعمالهم وفقدوا وظائفهم مؤخرا النصيب الاكبر .. فهم اكثر عرضة للاصابة بالاكتئاب والازمات القلبية التي صادفنا العديد منها”..
تقول ايناس وهي شابة في مقتبل العمر “كادت الشكوك تقتلني بعد سماعي خبر الانفجار على التلفاز فزوجي كان ذاهبا لاداء صلاة الجمعة لحظة وقوع الإنفجار، سارعت للاتصال به ولكن هاتفه كان مغلقا واجريت عدة اتصالات مع اقاربنا الذين أكدوا لي أنهم لم يروه، فجأة ظهر اسمه على إحدى الشاشات العربية أنه من بين القتلى أحسست بدوار، أغمي عليّ”، تتابع والدموع تنهمر من عينيها :”لم اشعر بنفسي الا وانا في المشفى، قال لي الطبيب اني مصابة بانهيار عصبي، وتمكنت من استعادة بعض عافيتي بعد رؤيتي لزوجي حياً يرزق وبصحة جيدة”.
أحمد شاب يعرف عنه تأثره الكبير بعدنان العرعور، ساهمت خطابات الشيخ وفتاواه في تركه للعمل، والركون امام شاشة وصال بشكل شبه دائم يستمع الى الشيخ ومحاوره، أحمد الذي رفض الإدلاء بأي تصريح بداية عاد وشرح لنا ما يعانيه يقول أحمد ” منذ بدء الأحداث وانا اتابع احاديث الشيخ العرعور، واتوسم خير عند سماعي له فهو كان يمدنا بجرعات معنوية، بلغ تفاؤلنا قمته مع تعليق الجامعة العربية لعضوية سورية، وحديث الشيخ ان ايام النظام باتت معدودة، ولكن مرت الأيام وتلتها الأسابيع والأشهر، ولم يسقط النظام، ولم تنتصر ثورتنا، لم أعد قادراً على شراء علبة السجائر بعد توقف عن العمل مع اطلاق الشيخ ندائه في أواخر شهر اب، والذي دعا فيه الى العصيان، رفض رب عملي السابق السماح بعودتي الى العمل، عانيت ما عانيته، وبعد تفكير ملي وصلت الى نتيجة مفادها الإنتحار يشكل حلاً نهائياً لمعناتي”، أقدم أحمد على تناول عقاقير مهدئة، ولكن حساب حقل انتحاره لم يتطابق مع حساب بيدر أهله الذين سارعوا الى نقله الى المشفى، وبعد تمكنه من استعادة جزء من وعيه ونشاطه أقسم أنه لن يعد يلتفت الى ما يجري، وأنه بدأ بالبحث عن عمل جديد عله يتمكن من بناء مستقبله بعيداً عن فتاوى، وتمنيات الشيخ العرعور، واحباطات الواقع.
http://www.arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=17010
January 13th, 2012, 3:00 pm
Uzair8 said:
@624 Jeurgen
I wouldn’t know, sorry. I’m not Syrian.
Come to think of it, I remember Sheikn Nazim appointing their son to Shaam.
January 13th, 2012, 3:01 pm
defender said:
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/204237.html
UN: Afghan opium production up by 61%
A recent UN report says insecurity and rising opium prices have driven Afghan farmers to increase cultivation of the illicit drug despite the presence of nearly 150,000 foreign troops in the country.
The UN said in its report on Tuesday that cultivation of the poppy crop reached 131,000 hectares in 2011, seven percent higher than in 2010 “due to insecurity and high prices”, AFP reported.
The report added that overall opium production in Afghanistan would potentially rise by 61 percent in 2011 as the crop yield per hectare rose markedly from last year.
The price of dry opium also rose 43 percent this year compared to 2010, and total farm-gate income is set to increase by 133 percent to reach $1.4 billion in 2011, or nine percent of Afghanistan’s GDP.
“If the profits of manufacturing and trafficking heroin are added to this figure, opium is a significant part of the Afghan economy and provides considerable funding to the insurgency and fuels corruption,” the UN report pointed out.
It stated that about 78 percent of cultivation was concentrated in southern Afghanistan, where the United States has concentrated its troops to beat back militants’ influence.
“This confirms the link between insecurity and opium cultivation observed since 2007,” the report said.
The UNODC’s representative in Afghanistan, Jean-Luc Lemahieu, said that on average the drugs trade made a $2 billion profit in Afghanistan between 2001 and 2010, turning into a $66 billion profit abroad.
“The total amount of hectares eradicated increased by 65 percent in 2011. However, the area eradicated represents only three percent of the total cultivation area,” Lemahieu noted.
MP/JR
January 13th, 2012, 3:08 pm
jad said:
يخاف هذه المعارضة، النظام السوري ظلمه ومنعه من الكتابة لكنه لم يخفه
نزيه أبوعفش: المثقفون إذا واجَهْتَهم أوحِ لهم دائماً أن معك سلاحاً… سلاح السلاح أو سلاح الوقاحة والفجور والاحتقار
سامر محمد اسماعيل
لا يمكن في حضرة شاعر مثله إلا أن تصغي جيداً لكل نأمةٍ تصدر عنه، فهو لا يتكلم هنا عن ديوانه الأخير «الراعي الهمجي» الصادر أخيراً عن دار المدى بدمشق، بل يسجل ما كان قد كتبه على مدى أربعين عاماً وقاله منذ بداية الأزمة السورية على صفحات الفايس بوك؛ شارحاً موقفه إزاء ما يجري في بلاده، والذي تعرض لقاء ما كتبه عنه لوضعه على ما يسمى بـ« قائمة العار»..
السفير الثقافي التقت الشاعر السوري نزيه أبوعفش وكان الحوار الآتي:
” في سوريا أيضاً هم لا يحذّرون من حرب أهلية، بل هم يدفعوننا دفعاً إلى حرب أهلية، ويخشون أن تتجاوز سورية المحنة دون أن تقع هذه الحرب الأهلية، سوريا.. من هي سوريا؟.. سوريا ليست العلم ولا النشيد الوطني ولا الجغرافيا أو التراب المقدس، ولا حتى الوطن، فهذه أشياء أقرف عند سماعي بها، فنحن اليوم لسنا ذاهبين إلى لينينغراد لنقيم الثورة البلشفية، نحن مدفوعون بالقوة وبانعدام الضمير العالمي إلى الحرب الأهلية، وهذه لا تعني إلا الموت العام، نحن لا نعنيهم، ولا يستطيعون الانتصار إلا إذا متنا، فإن لم ندخل في لعبة الموت حتى النهاية وإلى أمد طويل فماذا سيستفيدون؟ هيلاري كلينتون تقول: يُخشى من حرب أهلية في سوريا، لا نحن لسنا أغبياء، لقد بلغتُ من العمر خمسة وستين عاما وأعرف القراءة والكتابة، لا يا سيدة كلينتون أنتم لا تخشون من وقوع حرب أهلية؛ بل أنتم تصنّعونها. إن كل من يساهم في صناعة الحرب الأهلية في سوريا أو يوافق عليها، أو لا يحتج على وقوعها، أو ليس لديه الطاقة الأخلاقية على رفضها والعمل على إيقافها، هؤلاء جميعهم مجرمون، وإذا كنت أنتَ منهم فأنت مجرم، لا تغطي لي الجرائم بأقنعة الورد وبمفردات اللغة الجميلة الحلوة كالديمقراطية والحرية وغيرها، من قال لك أن الديمقراطية هي سورة المائدة؟ الديمقراطية في اللغة الإسلامية هي كالطهارة والنجاسة، عليكَ أن تختار أنت طهارة أم نجاسة؟ ديمقراطي أم غير ديمقراطي، لا يا صديقي الديمقراطية هي حيلة القتلة واللصوص لتسويق أعمالهم، دُلني في العالم أين توجد هذه التي يسمونها ديمقراطية؟ في أميركا؟ حتى هناك في أميركا يدفعون مئات ملايين الدولارات لتمويل الحملات الانتخابية فقط من أجل أن تختار مرشحاً من أحد حزبين جمهورياً أو ديمقراطياً، فإذا اخترت أحدهما تذهب بك الحكاية لما بعد أربع سنوات، وعندها ستختار أيضاً إما جمهوري أو ديمقراطي، عدا ذلك لا يمكنك المطالبة بأي شيءٍ آخر، هذه هي الديمقراطية. ”
“÷ أفهم من كلامك أنه لا أمل بإيجاد دولة ديمقراطية في سوريا؟
} المشكلة أنني مضطر إلى شرح المشروح وتفسير المفسر، بينوشيه لم يقتل الديكتاتور أليندي، بل قتل الديمقراطي أليندي، لقد أباد بينوشيه الآلاف من الديمقراطيين التشيليين، وهؤلاء لم يكونوا لا مجرمين ولا قتلة، لكن تم قتلهم بأيدي الديمقراطيين وعلى مرأى من الديمقراطية، ثم ماذا حدث؟ مرت الجريمة واعتبر الغرب نفسه منتصراً للقيم الديمقراطية التي انتصرت بدورها بأيدي المجرمين والقتلة، هل أذكر لك أمثلة أخرى عن الديمقراطية؟ ما يحدث في سورية هو نفس ما جرى ويجري في العالم كله، سورية ليست اختراعاً، أنا أعرف أن النظام أحدث مشاكل كبيرة طوال أربعين عاماً من الحكم، لكن ما حدث في الأشهر التسعة الماضية لم يستطع النظام أن يفعله خلال مئة عام بأن يوصل البلد إلى هذا المستوى من الكارثة، أجل هناك ظُلم، وهناك أناس شكّلت معارضة لسنوات طويلة، ودخلت السجون، وثمة من ضحى بعمله أو حريته، وهناك من احتُقر أو أهين، حسناً.. لكن الآن الرهان ليس على حريتك أو على حقكَ في العمل، الرهان اليوم على حياتك، هذه لعبة قمار شيطانية، الناس لا تقبل أن تراهنها على حياتها، يمكنكَ أن تراهنني على نقودي؛ على ملابسي، على حقكَ في أن تجلس على كرسي أعلى من الكرسي الذي أجلس عليه، هذه رهانات مقامرين، لكن أن تراهنني على حياة الناس، وأنت تعرف أن الناس لا يربحون في المقامرة على حياتهم فهذه جريمة، أو دفع إلى الجريمة، يقولون لنا معارضة، يا أخي أين المعارضة؟ أنا أعرف أسماء المعارضين السوريين منذ سنين، أصدقاء كنتُ أحترمهم وأختلف معهم في السنوات الأخيرة، رغم أنني منذ ثلاثين عاماً كنتُ معهم حتى في أصغر التفاصيل، المعارضون السوريون معروفون وعلى رأسهم عارف دليلة وميشيل كيلو، الآن أصبحت هذه المعارضة منبوذة، وينبغي التخلص منها وإقصاؤها؟ هل لكون هذه المعارضة مثل كل المعارضات العاقلة الموجودة في العالم ودفعت ثمن مواقفها من حياتها الشخصية، هذه المعارضة أصبحت مطرودة ومرفوضة اليوم لأنهم يريدون معارضة أخرى لا أعرف صفتها ولا لونها ولا هيكلها، أجل يريدون إصلاحات، وهذا ما كنا نتحدث عنه أربعين عاماً، لكنهم اليوم لا يريدون هذه الإصلاحات، بل إنهم يعملون جاهدين لعدم إنجاحها وتحققها، هم يسعون اليوم لمنع المؤسسة السورية من تحقيق هذه الإصلاحات، وهذه جريمة أخرى، فهم لن يمهلوا النظام السوري للقيام بالإصلاحات، فهذه لا تكون في يوم وليلة، ولا يمكن أن تتحقق عبر النداء على الناس بالميكرفونات، نحن نعرف كيف تبنى الدول، وكيف تتحقق الإصلاحات الاجتماعية والسياسية، الإصلاح لا يتحقق في ست ساعات، ولا في ستة أشهر. منذ ثمانية أشهر قلت في أمسية لي في بيروت: إنني محبط وحزين، الآن أنا أكثر من ذلك، وهنا لا أتحدث باسمي الشخصي أنا أتحدث باسم الناس، يقولون لك يريدون حواراً بين المعارضة والنظام، وأنا أقول أن هناك طرفا ثالثا يجب أن يمثّل في هذا الحوار، وهو أكبر من المعارضة ومن النظام، هناك الشعب، أنا أيضاً أريد الدخول إلى هذا الحوار، وليس فقط برهان غليون والنظام يدخلون إلى هذا الحوار، أنا الشعب الذي أريد أن أكون في هذا الحوار وليس فقط رضوان زيادة يدخل إلى هذا الحوار، «فزيادة» يحاور من واشنطن، والنظام يحاور من دمشق، بين هذا وذاك ثمة شعب حجمه بحجم الشعب، لكن أحداً لا يريد لهذا الشعب أن يكون في الحوار، لا أعني فقط الشعب الذي خرج في مظاهرات أو مسيرات، أعني الشعب القابع في بيته ضجراً وخائفاً وليس لديه الحماس للخروج، هذا الشعب أعرف كيف يفكر، ولكن البنادق وأصحاب البنادق لا يريدون للشعب أن يقول كلمته، سواء الليدي كلينتون أو السيد أردوغان أو المسيو جوبيه، لا.. لا أنتم أيها المعارضة ولا أنتم أيها العرب تريدون للشعب السوري أن يكون في الحوار، أنتم تكذبون عليّ، وأنا لستُ شخصاً، أنا ابن الشعب، وكلمة الشعب هنا أعني بها الناس، الناس الأحياء المتورطون في الدخول إلى لعبة الموت، إلى متى سيظل ممنوعا على الناس المشاركة؟ إلى متى سيبقى الخائف والمظلوم بحاجة إلى حلف مثل حلف الأطلسي.؟ ”
“أخاف من هذه المعارضة
÷ يعني نحن اليوم أمام الكارثة التي تحدث عنها نيتشه، عندما تساءل متى تقع المأساة، فأجاب: تقع المأساة عندما يقتتل طرفان كل طرف منهما يشعر أنه على حق؟
} أريد أن أوضح شيئاً هنا؛ إذا انهار النظام في سوريا الذي عارضتُه أربعين عاماً إلى أين سأذهب؟ إلى المعارضة؟ أنا أخاف من هذه المعارضة التي ابتدأت مشوارها ومنذ الأسابيع الأولى بشعار «لا للحوار» النظام السوري لم يخفني، ظلمني في عملي أجل، ومنعني أحياناً من الكتابة، لكنه لم يخفني كما هذه المعارضة، كيف سيتعاملون معي غداً؟ هل سيتعاملون على أنني عميل للنظام؟ أم على أنني لم أستطع أن أكون جندياً في جيشهم؟ إلى متى سنبقى خائفين؟ هذه مصيبة، لقد قالوا لا للحوار، هل هناك كائن عاقل في الدنيا يقول لا للحوار تحت أي ظرف وفي أية مناسبة؟ أنا أخجل أن أقول لا للحوار حتى مع الإسرائيليين الذين أشمئز منهم ومن جرائمهم، وأحتقرهم، إلا أنني أخجل أن أصرح وأقول لا للحوار معهم. عندما تقول المعارضة لا للحوار هذا يعنيني أنا شخصياً، فهم لا يريدون الحوار معي، إذاً ماذا تريدون؟ أنتم تريدون أن تروني مقتولاً فقط، وأنا أرفض أن أكون مقتولاً، من خاضوا الحرب العالمية الثانية جلسوا في النهاية إلى طاولة الحوار، اليابانيون والأميركيون جلسوا في نهاية هذه الحرب الكبرى إلى طاولة الحوار، بل حتى في أثناء الحرب كان هناك حوار بينهم، وفي النهاية تصالحوا وجلس الياباني في أحضان الأميركي. تقول لي لا للحوار فيما أعداء الحرب العالمية الثانية تحاوروا؟ ، الحوار كان من الممكن أن يجنّب البشرية مئات ملايين القتلى، فيما المعارضة السورية قالت ومن الأسابيع الأولى: لا للحوار.”
“المثقفون أخافهم
÷ لكن المعارضة تصر على أن ما يجري في سوريا هو ثورة من أجل الديمقراطية والحرية والعدالة؟
} إنهم يمارسون فعل الإلغاء عبر تصنيفات تبررها كلمات كالثورة والديمقراطية والحرية، فليس كل من قال أنه الثورة أركع وأشعل له شموعاً، مُرحباً به: أهلاً وسهلاً أنت الثورة، لا تخيفوني بكلمة الثورة، هذه الكلمة العظيمة والمباركة التي يجب أن أقف لدى سماعي لها باستعداد، لو كنتُ سأقف لكلمة الثورة باستعداد لوقفت لها منذ أربعين عاماً، لكننا لم نقف وقتها باستعداد ولم يعاقبنا أحد على ذلك، أجل دفعنا بعض الضرائب، لكننا لم نخف لأننا لم نغنّ للثورة، أما الآن فأنا لا أجرؤ حتى على القول بأنني ضد الثورة، لا أجرؤ على إعلان موقفي من هذه الثورة، اليوم صار هناك أكثر من خمسين كلمة مقدسة وعليك أن تقول لدى ذكرها على مسامعك: صدق الله العظيم، عليك أن تقول صدق الله العظيم على كلمة المعارضة، وصدق الله العظيم على كلمة الحرية، وصدق الله العظيم على كلمة الطهارة، وصدق الله العظيم على كلمة الديمقراطية، أنا شخصياً هارب من التصنيف، وأرجو أن لا ينسى أحد أنني رجل ماركسي شيوعي علماني لي عدو وحيد على هذه الأرض هو النظام الأميركي، وعندما أقول النظام الأميركي فضمناً أعني إسرائيل. ”
” سعدي الذي لم تكفِه سكاكين المثقفين العراقيين للفتك به فانضمت إليها سكاكين الجيش السوري الديمقراطي على صفحات الفايس بوك؛ رأيتهم كيف هجموا عليه بصفته شاعراً ماركسياً، وهنا سأكتفي بقول: اللعنة. ماذا تريدون.. ديمقرطية؟ الديمقراطية أداة للعيش على ما يسمونه البلاد، العيش مع بشر، لكن أن تريد ديمقراطية دون بلاد ودون بشر فهذه دعارة، أنا شخصياً لا أعرف كيف أتصرف مع الديمقراطية، وخصوصاً ذلك الصنف من دعاتها؛ هؤلاء الذين ومن الأسابيع الأولى للأزمة عندما كتبتُ عدة جمل قلتُ فيها إن ما يحدث اليوم في سوريا ليس خلافاً على حائط بيت، أو على ملكية شجرة، الخلاف هنا على ميدان حياة بشر؛ نحن جميعنا منهم، قلتُ لهم الآن يجب أن نحتكم إلى الحوار وإلى التفكير بهدوء، فهبوا عليّ جميعهم غاضبين: أي حوار؟ لقد فات أوان الحوار، اللعنة.. كيف فات موعد الحوار؟ إنه لم يبدأ بعد حتى ينتهي! فكتبت لهم في صفحتي على الفيسبوك: البيت يوشك في الانهيار على رؤوس الجميع وأنتم تتذابحون على من يحق له بأن يحمل المفتاح، فردوا عليّ أن هذا ليس بيتاً، اذهب وابحث لكَ عن بيت، لكن هذا بيتي؛ ومعي صك ملكية به ولي جزءٌ من عتبته وجداره وشجرته وهوائه؛ إذاً هو بيت؛ لكن يبدو أن الديمقراطية الفاشستية التي تتشدقون بها لا تعني إلا شيئاً واحداً: هي حقكم في أن تكونوا أنتم طغاة وسفاحي المستقبل، بعدها كتبتُ يومية عنونتها بـ«الهالكون» والتي قلتُ فيها: «إذا كان لابد من موت أحد ونجاة أحد فهذا يعني أن الجميع هالكون» فانقض عليّ اثنان من
عتاة الديمقراطيين السوريين المقيمين في باريس، أحدهم قال لي أنني بكلامي هذا أساوي بين القاتل والقتيل، مع أن هذا الكلام قلته منذ أربعين عاماً وتماماً في مقدمة كتابي «كم من البلاد أيتها الحرية» عندما كتبت: وأما أنا فأرى أن الحرية قضية عظمى تستحق أن يعفى الإنسان من الموت في سبيلها، كانوا وقتذاك هم أنفسهم يتمسحون بي ويعتبرونني صوت ضميرهم لأنني كنت أقول هذا الكلام؛ أجل إنني لا أساوي بين القاتل والقتيل، بل أساوي بين القتيل والقتيل، وأضيف ما لن يرضيهم أبداً: وأساوي أيضاً بين القاتل والقاتل، ثم خرجتُ من الفيس بوك؛ هذا الميدان الدموي هو بالفعل ليس إلا إسطبلا للفاشستية الديمقراطية. ”
{…}
January 13th, 2012, 3:32 pm
defender said:
Elite’s Plan for Global Extermination {2011}
January 13th, 2012, 3:50 pm
defender said:
http://www.directdemocracyireland.org/community/video/view/3
A global revolution is coming, believe me or not. The American system is at a point where it collapses on itself because it can no longer support itself. People are finally realizing what’s going on around them. Don’t stop fighting! Stay peaceful and let our voices be heard!
January 13th, 2012, 4:22 pm
defender said:
http://www.truth-out.org/israeli-source-assassination-iranian-nuclear-scientist-joint-mossad-mek-operation/1326486799
Israeli Source: Assassination of Iranian Nuclear Scientist Joint Mossad-MEK Operation
January 13th, 2012, 4:25 pm
defender said:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/russia-warns-of-syrian-nofly-zone-claim-6288966.html
Russia warns of Syrian no-fly zone claim
Russia has claimed that Nato is preparing to impose a no-fly zone in Syria to protect rebel fighters, a move that would dramatically escalate the 10-month uprising.
Nikolai Patrushev, who heads the Kremlin’s security council, said that he had received intelligence suggesting that the military alliance is planning a Libya-style intervention, a step that Moscow has repeatedly warned the international community against.
“We are getting information that Nato members and some Persian Gulf states intend… direct military intervention,” the confidant of premier Vladimir Putin told Russia’s Kommersant newspaper.
The claims, however, were immediately denied by Nato. Spokeswoman Carmen Romero told Bloomberg that there was, “no discussion of a Nato role with respect to Syria”. A number of Nato members also denied Mr Patrushev’s claims.
Russia, a major arms supplier to Syria, has emerged as one of the main stumbling blocks to Western efforts to curb President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown against the uprising.
Mr Patrushev said that any military action against Syria by Nato would most likely be led by Turkey, suggesting that Ankara was battling for hegemony with Iran, Syria’s major backer.
“This time it is true that the main strike forces will not be provided by France, the UK or Italy, but possibly by neighbouring Turkey which was until recently on good terms with Syria and is a rival of Iran with immense ambitions,” he said.
January 13th, 2012, 4:30 pm
defender said:
http://nightslantern.ca/02.htm
Genocide Warnings & Updates
from our suppressed news pages – this is not a complete list.
The omissions are due to lack of resources or understanding of a particular area.
archives
2008 – 2011
January 13th, 2012, 4:40 pm
Syrialover said:
Defender,
Please check the title of this blog.
Why inflict 9 irrelevant news items on us in two hours?
You look like you are staging a challenge to the frantic spammer Ann.
Give us a break! Think two words before you post: Syria and Comment.
January 13th, 2012, 5:01 pm
irritated said:
Revlon
ref: the AL “defector” Malek
“The Syrian regime used all kinds of enticements and threats to influence us, including offering women for pleasure, tapping our phones and taking photos of our bedrooms.”
Thanks, it’s so funny, what was he doing in his bedroom that called for photos???
The guy is real clown
January 13th, 2012, 5:03 pm
zoo said:
Mossad disguised in CIA
False Flag
A series of CIA memos describes how Israeli Mossad agents posed as American spies to recruit members of the terrorist organization Jundallah to fight their covert war against Iran.
BY MARK PERRY | JANUARY 13, 2012
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/13/false_flag
January 13th, 2012, 5:05 pm
defender said:
http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/01/13/false_flag
False Flag
A series of CIA memos describes how Israeli Mossad agents posed as American spies to recruit members of the terrorist organization Jundallah to fight their covert war against Iran.
BY MARK PERRY | JANUARY 13, 2012
January 13th, 2012, 5:06 pm
defender said:
642. ZOO
for 1 second you are faster than me
! lol
January 13th, 2012, 5:08 pm
Tara said:
Irritated,
Surprised? Haven’t you heard that Buthina Shaban threatened the gulf emirs with video tapes of their sexual encounters in hotel rooms in Syria? Blackmailing is not a new low for the king-boy or to Buthbuth.
January 13th, 2012, 5:15 pm
Syrialover said:
Irritated #641
You are obviously uninformed and oblivious to what goes on with surveillance and harassment. The hotel bedrooms were the observers’ only private space and would have been a prime target of spying and invasion by the Syrian authorities.
One day it might happen to you, so make sure you don’t do anything in a hotel bedroom that might interest your enemies.
January 13th, 2012, 5:15 pm
defender said:
He is not in realities
David Cameron Criticises Russia Over Links With Syria
http://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/2012/01/13/david-cameron-criticises-russia-over-syria_n_1204966.html
January 13th, 2012, 5:15 pm
tarek said:
——————————————————————————–
أمير السلفية الجهادية في العراق يهاجم الشيخ القرضاوي
عبدالرحمن الماجدي GMT 4:00:00 2012 الجمعة 13 يناير
الشيخ مهدي الصميدعي يتهم الشيخ يوسف القرضاوي بالعمالة والتحريض على الطائفية
اتهم الشيخ مهدي الصميدعي رئيس هيئة إفتاء أهل السنَّة والجماعة في العراق الشيخ يوسف القرضاوي بالعمالة لأميركا وإسرائيل والتحريض على الطائفية والإزدواجية، من خلال خطبه التي يدعو فيها إلى الثورة على عدد من الحكام العرب، الذين كان يمتدحهم سابقاً، حسب كلام الشيخ الصميدعي.
——————————————————————————–
أمستردام: شنّ أمير السلفية الجهادية في العراق الشيخ مهدي الصميدعي هجوماً حاداً على رئيس الاتحاد العالمي لعلماء المسلمين الشيخ يوسف القرضاوي، متهمًا إياه بالعمالة لإسرائيل والولايات المتحدة والازدواجية في الحديث عن الربيع العربي، والعمل على التحريض الطائفي بين شعوب المنطقة.
وأوضح الصميدعي أن “القرضاوي يخاطب الشيعة، ويقول لهم إنكم إخواننا، فيما يتهم الحكومة السورية بالطائفية”. و”يصف ما يحصل في البحرين بالثورة الطائفية”، حسب تعبيره.
وأضاف الصميدعي خلال حديث له مع وكالة أنباء “السومرية نيوز” مساء الخميس أن “ولاء رئيس الاتحاد العالمي لعلماء المسلمين يوسف القرضاوي لليهود والأميركيين أكثر من ولائه للإسلام والعرب”. مبينًا أن “العديد من قيادات الثورات العربية قد كفر القرضاوي قبل عشرين عامًا”.
وأكد رئيس هيئة إفتاء أهل السنَّة والجماعة في العراق أن “يوسف القرضاوي كان يصف معمّر القذافي بأنه سيف الله في الأرض، وعاد ليحرّض على قتله بعد الثورات العربية التي شهدتها المنطقة”، واصفًا القرضاوي بأنه “رجل مفتون”.
واشتهر الشيخ يوسف القرضاوي “86 عامًا” رئيس الاتحاد العالمي لعلماء المسلمين بدعواته من خلال قناة الجزيرة القطرية، وهو يقيم في الدوحة، وبفتاويه من منبر صلاة الجمعة المساندة لتظاهرات وانتفاضات الربيع العربي، التي انطلقت منذ عام في دول عربية عدة، وأسقطت رؤساء تونس ومصر وليبيا، ولما تزل متواصلة في اليمن وسوريا.
ويدعو إلى إسقاط رؤساء تلك الأنظمة والقصاص من بعض الزعماء العرب، مثل الرئيس المصري السابق حسني مبارك والزعيم الليبي الراحل معمّر القذافي، وقد وصف القرضاوي الثورات العربية في تونس ومصر وليبيا واليمن وسوريا بأنها “نفحات من عند الله”. وشنّ هجومًا أخيرًا على رئيس الوزراء العراقي نوري المالكي على خلفية الاتهامات الموجّهة إلى نائب الرئيس العراقي طارق الهاشمي بدعم الإرهاب في العراق.
ويعتبر الشيخ مهدي الصميدعي أمير السلفية الجهادية والأمين العام للهيئة العليا للدعوة والإرشاد والفتوى لأهل السنَّة في العراق، وكان إمام وخطيب جامع شيخ الإسلام ابن تيمية في بغداد، واعتقل مرتين لمدة ستة أعوام عام 2004 بعد مداهمة القوات الأميركية لجامع ابن تيمية، والمرة الثانية في العام نفسه، وبقي معتقلاً لمدة أربع سنوات حتى العام 2008.
وأفتى الشيخ الصميدعي رئيس هيئة إفتاء أهل السنَّة والجماعة أخيرًا بأن أي شخص يحمل السلاح بعد الانسحاب الأميركي يسعى إلى قتل العراقيين، رافضًا أي تجاوز على الشعب العراقي.
ورد على أمير السلفية الجهادية في تونس “أبو عياض التونسي” بالجهاد في العراق بعد الانسحاب الأميركي، بأن في فتوى التونسي تجاوزاً لرأي الجماعة، التي درست الواقع عن كثب، وأصدرت فتوى بضرورة العمل على بناء لحمة المجتمع، ونبذ العنف والتطرف الفكري، وعدم جرّ المسلمين إلى أمور لا تحمد لها نهاية. وانضم الصميدعي إلى مشروع المصالحة الوطنية في العراق، الذي ترعاه الحكومة.
http://www.elaph.com/Web/news/2012/1/708968.html
إغلاق النافذة
January 13th, 2012, 5:29 pm
irritated said:
Syrialover, Tara
Obviously you suffer from deep paranoia. Imagine all hotels rooms in Damascus watched by security officers!
Malek was all day long in his bedroom, the cameras can prove it! This is why he is upset.
January 13th, 2012, 5:56 pm
irritated said:
Tara
“Haven’t you heard that Buthina Shaban threatened the gulf emirs with video tapes of their sexual encounters in hotel rooms in Syria?
She is was absolutely right. You, who denounce hypocrisy and claim women rights, you should be the first one to approve her!
January 13th, 2012, 6:04 pm
zoo said:
Freedom of expression Libyan style
Rival Libyan militias clash, killing 2 fighters
By RAMI AL-SHAHEIBI | Associated Press – 2 hrs 7 mins ago
TRIPOLI, Libya (AP) — Rival Libyan militias clashed south of the capital on Friday, firing machine guns and rockets at one another in fighting that left at least two people dead, officials said.
The clash underscored the tenuous security situation in the North African nation since revolutionary forces overthrew the regime of longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi last year after eight months of civil war. Libya’s new leaders are still struggling to rein in the various militias that played a key role in toppling Gadhafi but have largely refused so far to disarm or submit to the interim government’s authority.
http://news.yahoo.com/rival-libyan-militias-clash-killing-2-fighters-205907791.html
January 13th, 2012, 6:08 pm
Tara said:
What is The AL waiting to call it a quit? Tanks rolled in into Madaya and the Zabadani today. Aljazeera aired footage of a boy about to commit suicide by throwing himself from the third floor in order to avoid being capturer by shabeeha with Alawi accent. Meanwhile the king-boy doesn’t hear, see or know….The AL is making a mockery out of itself. Enough already. Next phase please.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16557204
Syria tanks and troops ‘enter protest town, Zabadani’
The Syrian authorities have sent troops and tanks into the town of Zabadani, near the Lebanese border, following big demonstrations there against President Bashar al-Assad, activists say.
The army bombarded the town, but met some resistance, according to reports.
Tens of thousands of people took part in rallies across Syria in support of the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors seeking to topple Mr Assad.
One activist group says 12 civilians were killed, three of them children.
{…..}
January 13th, 2012, 6:09 pm
zoo said:
Opposition figure criticizes SNC ties to Syrian rebels
Published Friday, January 13, 2012
Opposition figure, Haytham al-Manna, criticized on Friday the Syrian National Council’s (SNC) decision to deepen its relations with army defectors waging an armed insurrection against the regime.
The SNC announced in a press release on Thursday that it aimed to “improve cooperation [with the Free Syrian Army] in the political and relief arenas.”
SNC head Burhan Ghalioun met with Free Syrian Army (FSA) chief Riad Al-Asa’ad and his deputy Malek Kurdi to thrash out means to “increase the level of coordination and activate mechanisms of communications” between the two groups.
“The SNC proposed a plan of action concerning mechanisms and avenues of support to be offered to pro-revolution sectors of the Syrian military,” the statement read.
“The parties agreed to formulate a detailed plan, to include the reorganization of FSA units and brigades, and the creation of a format to accommodate within FSA ranks additional officers and soldiers, especially senior military officials, who side with the revolution.”
The two organizations also “intend to establish a liaison office… in order to maintain direct communications around the clock.”
The SNC – an umbrella organization that includes the Muslim Brotherhood as well as secular activists – formerly opposed the use of military force against the regime, releasing a political program in November that stressed the “peaceful nature” of the revolution.
Ghalioun had also previously urged the FSA to refrain from offensive attacks and remain a defensive force, which appeared to have no effect on the rebels’ actions.
{,…}
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/opposition-figure-criticizes-snc-ties-syrian-rebels
January 13th, 2012, 6:11 pm
Tara said:
Irritated,
Elaborate further..Blackmailing men with their sexual encounters is not a women’s right. Not in my book… People’s behavior in bedrooms is their own business. I am non-judgmental in that regard. Knowing about it or exploit it to someone’s advantage does not make me a woman with rights. No?
January 13th, 2012, 6:17 pm
zoo said:
Tunisia : fourth self-immolation in a week, a woman this time.
http://rt.com/news/tunisia-revolution-anniversary-755/
13 January 2013
On the eve of the anniversary of regime change in Tunisia a female protester has set herself ablaze. As it is the fourth such case in a week, many ask if anything has changed since a similar self-immolation triggered the revolution nearly a year ago.
One year after former Tunisian President Ben Ali was toppled the country is still battling severe unemployment and pressing economic problems.
A trauma center in the Tunisian capital reports that over a hundred people have set themselves alight since the overthrow of the government on January 14, 2011.
The protests leading to the revolution began after Mohamed Bouazizi, a market vendor, set himself on fire on December 17, 2010, as a protest against police brutality.
(…)
January 13th, 2012, 6:21 pm
irritated said:
#654 Tara
I see, you are in favor of prostitution and exploitation of poor Syrian women by sexually frustrated rich Gulf citizens.
You respect men’s bedroom rights and now I understand where you stand about women’s rights, brilliant!
January 13th, 2012, 6:25 pm
Norman said:
people who do not want to be blackmailed, should not do anything that is embarrassing and can be blackmailed about,
honest people do not have to worry,
January 13th, 2012, 6:32 pm
Tara said:
Irritated
Twisting the answer is not a good come back. I am not impressed. You can do better.
January 13th, 2012, 6:32 pm
irritated said:
Tara #658
I surely can. Impressing you is the least of my worry. I won’t accept orders, sorry.
Norman
Agree, they would get what they deserve for exploiting poor women.
January 13th, 2012, 6:38 pm
zoo said:
NATO denies military intervention plans in Syria
2012-01-13
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/13/c_131359071.htm
BRUSSELS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — A NATO spokeswoman on Friday rejected Russian allegations that the alliance was planning Libya-style military action in Syria.
“At present, there is no discussion at all of a NATO role with respect to Syria,” NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero told Xinhua by phone. “We have followed and will follow events in Syria, but there is no discussion for NATO’s role.”
NATO and some of Syria’s neighbors are considering a military intervention like the one in Libya that helped topple Muammar Gaddafi, Nikolai Patrushev, head of the Russian Security Council told Interfax on Thursday.
Turkey, a NATO member, may play a key role and is working with the United States on a no-fly zone to protect Syrian rebels, he said.
January 13th, 2012, 6:45 pm
Tara said:
Can Assad’s “Iron Fist” Be Broken?
Posted: 1/13/12 04:32 PM ET
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/amb-marc-ginsberg/can-assads-iron-fist-be-b_b_1205408.html
Syria’s Assad stood before a well-bribed crowd a couple of days ago at Damascus University defiantly blaming a conspiracy of “outsiders,” “terrorists,” “the international news media,” the Arab League, along with his favored rogues’ gallery of other perceived demonic forces for fomenting the nine month uprising against his despotic regime. I watched his churlish tirade on Arab television. It was a pathetic, delusional performance that squarely lands Assad in the pantheon of other deranged tyrants (think of Milosevic or Idi Amin). If there were such things as magic lamps, let alone divine interventions, the entire Assad brood would be handcuffed (better straight-jacketed) onto a one way flight to the International Criminal Court in The Hague to rot for the blood they have on their hands.
Tragically, as Amr al-Azm, a Syrian born Ohio university professor recently told the New York Times “Bashar’s father’s playbook said “shoot!” so they keep doing that.” And over 6,000 Syrians have been killed, let alone the tens of thousands that have been rounded up, tortured or wounded in the regime’s instigated violence. “Avaaz” — a Syrian human rights group declared on January 5 that the regime is holding over 37,000 Syrians in secret detention centers. No other “Arab Spring” nation has endured this calamity, not Libya, not Yemen, and certainly not Egypt. Assad’s vow to use an “iron hand” to crush his adversaries augurs more killings, hardship, and tragedy for the Syrian people.
Is there any way to “break” the regime’s so-called “iron hand” short of outside Libya-style military intervention, which is just not in the cards for both practical military and diplomatic reasons? So far, there really is no light at the end of this tunnel….
{….}
January 13th, 2012, 6:46 pm
zoo said:
The AL and opposition snipers in action
Gunmen snipe at army position in Syrian Homs, killing two
2012-01-13
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/13/c_131359193.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — Two government forces were killed Friday by unidentified gunmen in Syria’s central Homs province, a hot spot in the ten-month-old crisis, the Syrian media reported.
The snipers targeted a military recruitment division in Bab Houd neighborhood, killing a law-enforcement member and a soldier, according to the private Elekhbaria TV. The attack came a day after gunmen killed eight law-enforcement members in an ambush in northern Idlib province.
“In a recent interview with Xinhua, secretary general of Syria’s communist party Ammar Bikdash agreed with the Syrian government that the turmoil in Syria is not an uprising but the work of terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs.
“There have been incidents of terrorism, mass and individual murders, as well as attempts to incite violence on sectarian or national basis,” he said.
January 13th, 2012, 6:48 pm
Tara said:
Awaiting for the smear campaign. I am sure it is coming shortly.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/intel-general-defects-from-syria-to-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nID=11463&NewsCatID=338
A second high-ranking Syrian commander has defected to Turkey and is helping lead the fight against Damascus, Turkish officials confirm.
A brigadier general in charge of intelligence defected to Turkey from the Syrian military two weeks ago and held a secret meeting with the leaders of the Syrian National Council in Hatay on Jan. 11, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned.
Mostafa Ahmad al-Sheikh, the deputy commander in charge of Syria’s northern army, defected to Turkey two weeks ago and has been staying in the same camp as Col. Riad al-Asaad, the leader of the Free Syrian Army and another defector.
Turkish Foreign Ministry sources have confirmed the al-Sheikh’s defection and the Jan. 11 meeting in the southern province.
The Jan. 11 meeting in Hatay brought together the two high-ranking defectors and council leader Burhan Ghalioun, as well as the body’s executive committee members; Mahmud Osman, who sits on the council, said the body decided to support the Free Syrian Army both financially and morally.
Osman said they had also set up two criteria for the restructuring of the anti-government army. “Priority will be given to the soldiers who defected earlier from the Syrian army. But defecting soldiers’ former ranks in the Syrian army will also be taken into consideration.”
(…)
January 13th, 2012, 6:55 pm
jad said:
This report is claiming that a new face to be the head of the SNC soon, not Haytham nor George, it’s more likely Louai Safi, he fits the criteria needed for the job, religious, age and educational wise and can be trained as Ghalyoun.
انشقاق داخل المجلس الوطني السوري واتجاه إلى استبدال “غليون” بـ”لؤي صافي”
قالت مصادر أن حملة “التنسيقيات الثورية” الداخلية على رئيس المجلس الوطني السوري برهان غليون, لاتخاذه مواقف معاكسة للثورة والثوار لناحية رفضه طلب تدخل دولي من مجلس الامن “بلغت حدود المطالبة باستقالته من رئاسة المجلس, مقابل وقف مقاطعة الفئات الثائرة في المدن والقرى والمناطق السورية التي كانت أيدته لدى إعلان قيام المجلس”.
ونقل عن قياديين في المجلس في تونس, قولهم “إن هناك بلبلة قوية وخلافات حادة بين اعضاء المجلس بسبب مواقف غليون الأخيرة التي دعمت توجه المعارضة الخارجية والداخلية العاملة تحت عباءة نظام البعث بالامتناع عن نقل الجامعة العربية الملف السوري الى مجلس الامن كي يتخذ قرارا بالتدخل لإنقاذ الشعب السوري , وقد ادى هذا الاحتقان الحاصل داخل المجلس الى ظهور تحديات لزعامته وقيادته رئاسة المجلس منها ترشيح البروفسور لؤي صافي الذي يقيم في الولايات المتحدة ويشغل منصب استاذ محاضر في جامعة جورج واشنطن لخلافته, اذا توصلت اجتماعات المجلس في تونس الى ضرورة تنحي غليون عن رئاسته نزولا عند رغبة الثوار الداخليين وعدد كبير من اعضاء المجلس نفسه الذي اصيب بانشقاق حاد حيال توقيع الاخير وثيقة الامتناع عن تدويل الازمة السورية هيثم المناع الاسبوع الماضي”
January 13th, 2012, 8:03 pm
jna said:
661. Tarasaid: …BLAH, BLAH, BLAH…
I’m surprised you bothered to post this over the top Zionist rant. Bored? Not enough killing today?
January 13th, 2012, 8:05 pm
zoo said:
Egypt Tourism Salafi style: Ghettos no contact with local population?
Egypt, Salafi-govt dispute over Spanish trade fair
13 January, 14:18
http://ansamed.ansa.it/ansamed/en/news/nations/egypt/2012/01/13/visualizza_new.html_44085243.html
….
The Salafis want to apply Sharia law to tourism, which would entail a segregation between foreign visitors and Egyptians. ”As part of the Sharia, we respect privacy,” Nur said. ”Foreign visitors will be able to enjoy the beach in swimsuits. Their privacy will be preserved.” However, the application of Islamic law demands that there be private beaches for tourists so as to avoid contact with the local population. This would also lead to new planning for tourist resorts in the country. In any case Mohamed Nur underscored that tourists will have to respect the customs and traditions of the Muslim country.
January 13th, 2012, 8:27 pm
jad said:
SNC and FSA (which is a cover of an armed radical militias) agreement is a declaration of a bloody and terror period allover Syria with more focus on Aleppo:
مسلحو الأسعد يتحولون رسميا إلى “جناح مسلح” لـ”المجلس الوطني” الذي لم يعترف برتبته الجديدة!؟
اجتماع عمل وتنسيق ضم برهان غليون والعميل رياض الأسعد في إطار خطة المخابرات التركية لـ” إعادة هيكلة” ما يسمى “الجيش السوري الحر” للانتقال إلى المرحلة الثانية من الإرهاب المنظم
استانبول ، الحقيقة ( + وكالات): في خطوة كرست عمليا تحول مسلحي العميل رياض الأسعد ، أو “أنطوان لحد سوريا”، إلى “جناح عسكري” لـ “المجلس الوطني السوري” ، قال بيان لهذا الأخير إنه اتفق مع المسمى “الجيش السوري الحر” على تفعيل آلية التنسيق بينهما وتعزيزها «بما يحقق خدمة أمثل للثورة السورية”. وطبقا للبيان الذي وزعته “رويترز” و ” وكالة الصحافة الفرنسية” ، فإن الإجراءات التنسقية بينهما شملت”إنشاء مكتب ارتباط للمجلس الوطني لدى الجيش الحر بهدف التواصل المباشر، وإقامة حلقات وبرامج للتوجيه السياسي للعسكريين الذين يؤيدون الثورة، والتعاون في مجال النشرات والأخبار والبيانات الاعلامية”.وقال البيان إن «وفداً من المجلس الوطني السوري برئاسة رئيسه برهان غليون التقى قيادة الجيش السوري الحر الخميس ( 12 /1) بهدف رفع وتيرة التنسيق وتفعيل آليات التواصل بين الطرفين»، مضيفاً أن وفدي الهيئتين «ناقشا بشكل موسع الوضع الميداني والتنظيمي للجيش الحر مع (قائده) العقيد رياض الأسعد ونائبه العقيد مالك الكردي، ووقفا عند الجوانب والاحتياجات التي تخصّ إعادة تنظيمه وهيكلة وحداته”.
وتابع البيان أنهما اتفقا على «وضع خطة مفصّلة تتناول إعادة تنظيم وحدات الجيش الحر، واعتماد خطة لاستيعاب الضباط والجنود، وخاصة كبار العسكريين الذين ينحازون إلى الثورة ضمن صفوفه»، مشيراً إلى أن المجلس الوطني «تقدم ببرنامج عمل حول وسائل وآليات الدعم التي سيجري تقديمها للقطاعات العسكرية المؤيد للثورة، وإنشاء قناة اتصال مباشرة بشأن الوضع السياسي والمواقف الاقليمية والدولية، حيث توضع قيادة الجيش والضباط الأحرار في صورة الاوضاع المستجدة لضمان التنسيق الفعال بما يحقق خدمة أمثل للثورة السورية”.كذلك، لفت البيان إلى أن المجلس سينشئ «مكتب ارتباط لدى الجيش الحر بهدف التواصل المباشر على مدار الساعة، وسيقيم حلقات وبرامج للتوجيه السياسي للعسكريين الذين يؤيدون خط الثورة، إلى جانب التعاون في مجال النشرات والأخبار والبيانات الإعلامية»، متحدثاً عن «سلسلة لقاءات عقدت في الأسابيع الماضية وأدت إلى تعاون بين الطرفين في الجوانب السياسية والإغاثية»، ومؤكداً أن «من المقرر أن تجري زيادة التعاون خلال الفترة المقبلة”.
وتأتي هذه الخطة ، وفق معلومات أمنية متداولة في تركيا، في سياق التحضير للانتقال إلى مرحلة ثانية من الإرهاب والتخريب المنظم على الأراضي السورية. وطبقا لمراقبين في تركيا ، فإن سوريا ستشهد خلال الأسابيع والأشهر القادمة تصعيدا دمويا غير مسبوق في عمليات الاغتيال والتخريب والتدمير المنهجي المنظم على أيدي المسلحين الأصوليين التابعين لرياض الأسعد وفاروق طيفور. ويقول هؤلاء المراقبون إن مدينة حلب ، التي فشل “المجلس الوطني” في استقطابها، مرشحة لأن تكون الميدان الرئيسي لهذه الأعمال الإجرامية المنتظرة ، سواء لجهة ما يتصل بشخصياتها الرسمية والخاصة ، أو لجهة تدمير وتخريب المؤسسات الصناعية والخدمية والعسكرية الاستراتيجية . وكان مسلحو الأسعد أقدموا خلال الأسابيع الأخيرة على اغتيال عدد من الصناعيين ورجال الأعمال في حلب و / أو حرق مصانعهم انتقاما منهم لعدم انحيازهم لـ”المجلس الوطني”!
يشار إلى أن “الجيش” المذكور عبارة عن واجهة لمسلحي المنظمات الإسلامية والأصولية الإرهابية ، سواء منهم السوريون أو الذين تدفقوا إلى سوريا خلال الأشهر الماضية من العراق وغيره . ولا يشكل العسكريون الفارون منهم أكثر من 3 ـ 5 بالمئة وفق تقارير استخبارية غربية. وينتمي هؤلاء في معظمهم إلى “الأخوان المسلمين” و بقايا “الطليعة الإسلامية المقاتلة” والجيل الثاني من أبنائهم الذين ولدوا في الخارج بعد هرب أو مقتل آبائهم خلال المواجهات مع السلطة خلال الثمانينيات ، لاسيما بعد إعلان “الثورة الإسلامية المسلحة” في العام 1980 من قبل تنظيم ” الأخوان المسلمين”. ويعتبر نائب المراقب العام للأخوان المسلمين ، محمد فاروق طيفور، وهو نائب رئيس “المجلس الوطني السوري” ، بمثابة ” المرشد الروحي” لما يسمى ” الجيش السوري الحر” ولرئيسه العميل رياض الأسعد.
اللافت في بيان “المجلس الوطني” أنه أورد رتبة رياض الأسعد القديمة ( عقيد) ، ولم يعترف بالرتبة التي أعطاها لنفسه مؤخرا ( لواء)! وكان الأسعد ، وفي سياق إعادة هيكلة “جيشه” بإشراف الاستخبارات التركية والأميركية، أصدر نشرة ترفيعات مثيرة للسخرية رفع نفسه فيها إلى رتبة لواء ، بينما رفّع زملاءه إلى رتب أخرى مشابهة أو أدنى منها ، بما في ذلك ترفيع عرفاء ورقباء إلى ضباط بهدف سد النقص الهائل في الملاكات ، حيث لا يتوفر لديه سوى عدد محدود جدا من الضباط ، بينما العسكريون الفارون لديه عبارة عن مجندين هاربين من خدمة العلم في أغلبيتهم الساحقة!
يشار إلى أن “الحقيقة” كانت كشفت في تقرير نشرته في 20 كانون الأول / ديسمبر الماضي أن المخابرات التركية بدأت عملية ” إعادة هيكلة” لما يسمى “الجيش السوري الحر” على ثلاثة مستويات ، سياسية وإعلامية وتنظيمية. وقد جاء بيان “المجلس الوطني السوري” يوم أمس ليؤكد ما جاء في التقرير المشار إليه.
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6459/Default.aspx
January 13th, 2012, 8:28 pm
jad said:
العربي يلحظ هدوءاً ويحذر من «حرب أهلية» مقتل 8 وموسكو تتهم الغرب باستهداف الأسد
كرر الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية نبيل العربي، أمس، تحذيره من «اندلاع حرب أهلية» في سوريا، مجددا الدعوة الى عقد لقاء بين الحكومة السورية والمعارضة في القاهرة. وبالرغم من دفاعه عن أداء بعثة المراقبين العرب في سوريا، الذين انتشروا في 6 مناطق جديدة، موضحا أن وجودهم شجع السوريين على المشاركة في التظاهرات السلمية، فإنه أشار إلى أن اجتماع اللجنة الوزارية العربية الخاصة بالأزمة السورية في 19 الحالي، هو الذي سيقرر وضعهم مستقبلا.
وأعلن معارضون «مقتل 8 أشخاص برصاص قوات الأمن، في تظاهرات حاشدة في مدن عديدة»، وهو ما يشكل تراجعا ملحوظا مقارنة بالحصيلة اليومية التي كانت تقدمها المعارضة في ايام الجمعة طوال الشهور الماضية. وصعدت موسكو لهجتها حيال الدول الغربية، مؤكدة أن رفض الأوروبيين قبول مشروع قرار في مجلس الأمن الدولي حول دمشق بالشكل الذي طرحته موسكو، هدفه تغيير النظام في سوريا.
وأعلن رئيس غرفة عمليات بعثة المراقبين إلى سوريا عدنان الخضير أن «بعثة المراقبين تواصل انتشارها في المزيد من المناطق والمحافظات السورية، حيث توزعت ستة فرق على مناطق دير الزور ـ البوكمال، والسويداء، والقامشلي ـ الحسكة، وتدمر ـ السخنة، وطرطوس ـ بانياس، والرقة ـ الثورة».
وأضاف إن «غرفة العمليات مستمرة في تلقي تقارير البعثة عن مشاهداتها وأنشطتها في سوريا، كما تتلقى بلاغات المواطنين السوريين وتحيلها إلى البعثة للتحقق منها، وأن المراقبين العرب يواصلون مهمتهم من دون الالتفات إلى الشائعات، ووفق ما نص عليه البروتوكول الموقع بين جامعة الدول العربية والحكومة السورية»، مؤكدا أنه «سيتم إرسال المزيد من المراقبين العرب إلى البعثة خلال الأسبوع المقبل».
وأعرب العربي، في تصريح لهيئة الإذاعة البريطانية (بي بي سي)، عن «أسفه للهجوم الذي شنه الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد على الجامعة» في كلمته التي ألقاها الثلاثاء الماضي. وألمح إلى أنه «تبادل عبارات قوية مع الأسد في محادثات خاصة بعيدا عن الإعلام. ودافع عن أداء بعثة المراقبين في سوريا، مؤكدا أن «وجود بعثة المراقبين شجع السوريين على المشاركة في التظاهرات السلمية».
وقال العربي، في تصريح قبيل سفره إلى سلطنة عمان والبحرين، إن «الصورة تتعقد في سوريا»، مضيفا «إن الهدف الأساسي هو سياسي بالدرجة الأولى، وإن موضوع المراقبين ما هو إلا آلية والهدف السياسي هو أن تكون الأمور هادئة»، مؤكدا أنه «من المهم جدا للمعارضة بجميع أطيافها أن تجلس في مؤتمر يعقد في مقر جامعة الدول العربية مع الحكومة لبحث مستقبل سوريا». وشدد على أن «المستقبل في سوريا لا يقرره إلا السوريون».
وأعرب عن «أسفه لاستمرار القتل والعنف». وقال «ربما تكون الوتيرة أهدأ بعض الشيء لكنها مستمرة، وعندما يقتل شخص واحد فإن الضمير الإنساني لا يتحمله»، مشيرا إلى أن «هناك اجتماعا للجنة الوزارية الخاصة بالأزمة السورية في 19 الحالي، وسوف يقرر ماذا يحدث بالنسبة للمستقبل في ضوء التقرير الذي سيرفعه رئيس بعثة المراقبين الفريق محمد مصطفى الدابي».
وأضاف «أما بالنسبة للأمانة العامة للجامعة فإنها تبحث الوضع الآن حول هل من المفيد في أن تستمر البعثة في ظل استمرار العنف باعتبار أن حقن الدماء لم يتوقف حتى الآن خاصة أن لدينا أفرادا محدودين، وهم 163 فردا على وجه التحديد ينتشرون في 16 مدينة، لكن لا يستطيعون تغطية كل شيء».
وقال العربي، في مقابلة مع وكالة «اسوشييتد برس»، ان النظام السوري قد لا يكون يستجيب للاتفاق الموقع مع الجامعة او يستجيب له جزئيا. وأضاف «نحن قلقون جدا، لانه لم يتم الامتثال لبعض التعهدات». وتابع «إذا تواصل هذا الامر، فقد يتحول الى حرب اهلية».
روسيا
وقال نائب وزير الخارجية الروسي غينادي غاتيلوف، لوكالة «انترفاكس»، إن رفض الأوروبيين قبول قرار بشأن دمشق بالشكل الذي تريده موسكو، هدفه تغيير النظام في سوريا.
وانتقد غاتيلوف التعديلات الغربية لمشروع القرار الذي تقدمت به موسكو بشأن سوريا، معتبرا أن هذه التعديلات هدفها تغيير النظام السوري. وقال «للأسف، الرؤية الغربية تتعارض مع رؤيتنا. بالنظر إلى التعديلات التي عرضوها علينا، فإن هدفهم هو التوصل إلى تغيير نظام (الرئيس بشار) الأسد في دمشق». وأضاف إن «التعديلات تجعل مضمون نصنا عقيما. ندعو الطرفين إلى وقف العنف وبدء عملية سياسية من دون تدخل أجنبي».
وكانت روسيا تقدمت منتصف كانون الأول الماضي بمشروع قرار إلى مجلس الأمن الدولي يدين أعمال العنف التي ترتكبها «كل الأطراف، بما في ذلك الاستخدام المفرط للقوة من قبل السلطات السورية». لكن واشنطن دعت موسكو إلى التخلي عن مبادرتها هذه ودعم مشروع قرار أكثر حزما أعدته مع دول أوروبية يهدد بمعاقبة النظام ويطالب بفرض حظر أسلحة له.
وكرر غاتيلوف تأييد موسكو للجهود التي يبذلها المراقبون العرب في سوريا. وأوضح أن «روسيا تؤيد تأييدا كاملا نشاط وعمل المراقبين العرب المتواجدين حاليا في سوريا»، مشيرا إلى أن «موسكو تعتقد أن عمل المراقبين هو عامل استقرار من أجل المساعدة في التوصل إلى حل سياسي في البلاد».
وقال مصدر في شركة روسية مقرها سان بطرسبورغ إن سفينة تشغلها الشركة وتحمل «شحنة خطيرة» وصلت إلى سوريا وذلك بعدما تم احتجازها قليلا خلال توقفها في قبرص للتزود بالوقود. وأحجم المصدر عن التعليق على تقارير لوسائل إعلام روسية وقبرصية أفادت بأن السفينة «تشاريوت» تحمل حوالى 60 طنا من الذخائر. وقال مسؤول قبرصي «كان بها رصاص. كان على متنها اربع حاويات».
وأعربت واشنطن عن قلقها لموسكو بشأن السفينة. وقالت المتحدثة باسم وزارة الخارجية الاميركية فيكتوريا نولاند «في ما يتعلق بهذه السفينة، اعربنا عن قلقنا لروسيا وقبرص، التي كانت المحطة الاخيرة لهذه السفينة». وأضافت «ما زلنا نسعى للحصول على ايضاحات حول ما حصل»، مذكرة بأن الادارة الاميركية زادت دعواتها الى بلدان تستمر في بيع او تزويد سوريا بالاسلحة من اجل وقف هذه النشاطات.
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http://assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2050&ChannelId=48702&ArticleId=1179&Author=
January 13th, 2012, 8:32 pm
irritated said:
Jad
The SNC is drowning politically as Turkey and France are at each other throat and they face failure on multiple fronts.
The alliance with the NCC failed. An alliance with the FSA is their only chance to survive. They will now share the praise and the blames for all the FSA violent actions.
January 13th, 2012, 8:42 pm
jad said:
إصلاح يبدل النظام وينقذ الوطن
ميشيل كيلو
كان المعلم الياس مرقص يقول: نحن بحاجة إلى إصلاح يكون أكبر من ثورة. واليوم، نحن في ثورة لأن الحكام احتجزوا الإصلاح وحالوا دونه، فهل يقنعهم استمرارها وعجزهم عن القضاء عليها، والجديد الذي يبدو جليا للعيان من سماتها، بضرورة إجراء إصلاح ينقذون به أنفسهم وبلدانهم فيكون قولا وفعلا أكبر من الثورة، التي تعصف ببلدانهم، ويبدو أنها ستطيح بكراسيهم واحدا بعد آخر؟
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“أعود الآن إلى سؤال البداية، بعد أن جرى ما جرى ووقعت ثورة شرعت تنتقل من بلد إلى آخر، يحتم وقوعها تماثل الأوضاع العربية، وتماثل المشاعر والرغبات والحاجات الشعبية، وتماثل اليأس مما هو قائم، وخاصة على الصعيد السياسي، وتماثل إدراك السانحة التاريخية المتاحة، وتماثل وعي المرحلة، وهو أن زمنا ولى وآخر يتخلق، وبأن ما ولى هو زمن الاستبداد ونظمه وما يبزغ فجره هو زمن الشعوب. والآن: هل ما زالت هناك حقا فرص جدية لإجراء إصلاح يكون أكبر من ثورة، يحقق مطالبها فيسهم في إخراجها من الشارع وأخذها إلى واقع يرضي الشعب ويصون كراسي الحاكمين؟
لست ـ ولن أكون يوما ـ مدافعا عن أية كراس، ولست معنيا بإيجاد طرق لصيانتها. لكنني عندما أراقب ما يجري في الواقع وأقرأ تجارب التاريخ، أجد نفسي مجبرا على الإجابة على السؤال بكلمة «نعم». لقد قطع الإصلاح الألماني الطريق على ثورة فرنسية تجتاح ألمانيا. وقام الإنكليز بإصلاح كان هدفه المعلن إنجاز ثورة من فوق تحول دون نشوب الثورة من تحت، حسب ما قاله ساسة ألمان ونمساويون كثيرون أطلقوا شعار تلك المرحلة: تجنب ثورة فرنسية من تحت عن طريق ثورة من فوق. وهكذا كان.
تستطيع البلدان العربية التي لم تحدث فيها ثورة بعد، إنجاز ثورة من فوق، تحول دون نشوب ثورة من تحت. لكن هذا صار يستدعي في واقع العرب التاريخي الراهن بأزماته المستعصية والمستشرية عملا يتخطى إصلاح النظام إلى تغييره، على غرار ما حدث في أوروبا، حيث انتقلت ألمانيا من الإقطاع إلى الرأسمالية، وسرّعت إنكلترا انتقالها إليها، بينما نشبت الثورات في كل مكان أحجم حكامه عن تغيير نظامهم أو حاولوا تجديده والحفاظ على ركائزه وأبنيته. يضع هذا يدنا على سمة الإصلاح الأولى: إنه لم يعد جهدا حكوميا هدفه الحفاظ على النظام، بل إن هدفه الوحيد سيكون تغييره، إذا كان يريد حقا أن يحقق من فوق ما تريد الثورة تحقيقه من تحت: تغيير النظام.
لم يعد هناك إصلاح يحافظ على الأمر القائم، الإصلاح يغيره فيكون ثورة أو أكبر من ثورة، كما قال المعلم الياس مرقص، أو انه لا يكون إصلاحا. ينطبق هذه على البلدان التي تعيش ثورة، لأنها فوتت على نفسها فرصة إصلاح كان يمكن أن يكون محدودا وانتقائيا، قبل موجة الثورات الحالية. أما اليوم، فإنه يغير النظام أو يرفضه الشعب، الذي استوطن الشوارع وشرع يقوض النظام في مناطق وأماكن عيشه وعمله، ويقدم من التضحيات ما يجعله عازفا عن قبول إصلاح يبقي على نظام مرفوض. لذلك، لن ينجو نظام ما لم يقم بتغيير من فوق يحقق أهداف الثورة، فالإصلاح صار يعني الثورة، أيا كانت مداخله ومخارجه. ولعله من اللافت اليوم أن بلدا كسوريا شهد محاولات إصلاح جزئية، متفرقة وغير جدية، لم ينجح نظامه في تفادي الثورة، وربما كانت إصلاحاته قد لعبت دورا مهما في إشعال نارها، من حيث أقنعت الشعب أن مطالبه لن تنفذ، وأن عليه النزول إلى الشوارع إذا كان يريد تحقيقها.
لم يعد هناك متسع لأي إصلاح لا يحقق أهداف الثورة ومطالبها،. والدليل، ما وقع في سوريا، التي تعيش منذ نيف وعشرة أشهر حالة تمرد مجتمعي أطلقه احتجاز الإصلاح، والتعامل باستخفاف مع رغبة الشعب في تحقيقه، وتناقض ما قاله قادة السلطة الكبار حوله وتحويله إلى حقل تجارب، جزئية وناقصة، كان القصد منها إثبات عدم حاجة البلد إليه. بعد نشوب الثورة وتوطدها وديمومتها، صار من الضروري إضافة بعد جديد إلى الإصلاح، يجعله خطوة تتجاوز تغيير النظام إلى إنقاذ الوطن، وتحقيق مطالب الشعب إلى وقف ومنع انهيار المجتمع والدولة وتفتت البلاد والعباد، ذلك يكون بالتخلي عن سياسة تسعى إلى الإبقاء على وضع فقد معظم مقومات وجوده وشرعيته في عالم تبدل وزمن تغير وبيئة داخلية تغرب عنها وتغربت عنه، ظلمها وقمعها فتمردت عليه. لم يعد الإصلاح قضية نظام بل صار مصلحة وطنية عليا، تتحقق بإخراج سوريا من مأزق مضاعف: يتمثل حده الأول في نظامها، وحده الثاني في الوضع الذي يدفعها إليه، ويهدد كيانها وربما وجودها. من هنا، يكتسب الإصلاح اليوم طابعا وطنيا يتخطى أية سياسة وسلطة، ويندرج في إطار مصالح الدولة والمجتمع العليا، التي يعني تجاهلها تدمير الوطن وتقويض الدولة وتمزيق المجتمع، بينما يعني تحقيقها إضفاء طابع جديد ونوعي على التغيير، يكسبه معاني تتخطى أية أزمة تحدث في أي قطاع ،مهما كان حجمها.
هل يستطيع النظام القيام بإصلاح هذه وظيفته، ينقذ الوطن عبر التخلي عن السلطة للثورة، بعد أخذ ضمانات منها بأنها ستحقق هدفين رئيسين: التغيير ووحدة الوطن وتماسك الدولة والمجتمع؟. أعتقد أن هذا صار صعب التحقيق بيد أهل السلطة، بعد أنهار الدم التي سالت في كل مكان، إلا إذا كان هناك بين هؤلاء من يريد أن يفاجئنا بالعكس: في واقع غني بشتى الاحتمالات.”
http://assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2050&articleId=1067&ChannelId=48715&Author=%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%B4%D9%8A%D9%84%20%D9%83%D9%8A%D9%84%D9%88
January 13th, 2012, 8:43 pm
ann said:
Syria sees limited anti-gov’t protests as Arab observers continue mission – 2012-01-13
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/13/c_131359291.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — Limited anti-government protests erupted on Friday after Muslim’s midday prayers in several Syrian provinces, mainly in the north region, as teams of Arab observers carried on with their mission across Syria over the weekend.
Protests erupted in the northern provinces of Deir al-Zour, Qamishly, Idlib, and some suburbs of Aleppo, most of which were dispersed peacefully within a short time, the private Sham FM radio reported, adding pro-government demonstrations took place in areas including the city of Aleppo and coastal Tartous city.
January 13th, 2012, 8:51 pm
jad said:
Irritated,
SNC, by doing that is actually taking Syria to the Libyan scenario and opening the gates of hell on everybody, including themselves if the major powers decided to take this destructive path.
I think the SNC is hijacked by non-political immature gamblers with criminal thinking who become drunk by the illusion of power they get, forgetting their real size and thinking that going to war is their only chance to get to the chair, forgetting the heavy price they are forcing on the Syrian society to pay, by blood, by political independence and by economy, it’s an irrational, criminal and suicidal decision to every one.
January 13th, 2012, 8:53 pm
ann said:
U.S. says many countries barring weaponry into Syria – 2012-01-14
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/14/c_131359342.htm
WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — The U.S. State Department said on Friday that many individual countries including the U.S. have taken unilateral steps to bar weaponry into Syria.
Acknowledging that Syria is not under any UN Security Council arms embargo, department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the weaponry may be used by the government against its own people, and the U.S. has called for all countries that continue to trade and supply weapons with Syria to stop.
“Obviously, many individual countries, the United States included, have taken unilateral steps to bar weaponry into Syria,” she said at a regular news briefing.
“As you know, in the context of our conversation about a UN Security Council resolution, among the things that we might be seeking would be stronger efforts to control this kind of thing into Syria, because obviously we all have concerns that the Syrian regime is using it against its own people,” she said.
The spokeswoman said that the U.S. had raised its concerns with both Russia and Cyprus, as a Russian-owned ship has landed in Syria with military munitions aboard. Cyprus was the last port of call for the ship.
“And we are continuing to seek clarification as to what went down here,” she added. “But I’m not in a position to really say definitively what was aboard.”
January 13th, 2012, 8:54 pm
ann said:
Recent weekend bombings in Syria inspire ominous sentiment on Fridays – 2012-01-14
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/14/c_131359353.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — The recent fatal bombings in Syria have cast dim shadows on Fridays, keeping the majority of Syrians indoors, out of fears that fresh attacks might befall on a day that used to be of prayers and family picnics for Muslims.
Last Friday, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station in al-Midan neighborhood in the capital of Damascus, killing 26 people, including policemen and civilians, and leaving dozens more wounded.
Since the eruption of mass protests against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in March 2011, it was the second deadly attack in the Syrian capital, which had been immune from such attacks for over 30 years. On Dec. 23, also a Friday, twin suicide bombings targeted two intelligence centers in Damascus, where 44 people were killed and 166 others injured.
Fears mounted shortly ahead of this Friday’s noon prayers, as the two previous bombings occurred approximately at this time.
“We spent Friday’s morning either flipping between TV channels or praying that no more blasts will happen in Damascus. We are extremely worried,” Samir Hamed, a merchant, told Xinhua on Friday.
“This morning passed quietly and lifelessly,” Hamed said. But he said he would certainly be as much anxious seven days later.
Not only weekends, the latest attacks have also panicked the Syrians and cast a pall on their everyday life.
Streets look semi-deserted especially with the nightfall, while shopping and dining areas have turn less abustle in recent days.
Around buildings related to intelligence units or security forces in the capital city, extra road checkpoints have been set up, and some streets nearby are cut off.
An increasing number of plainclothes security agents are stationing protectively in key areas, while police cars can be seen everywhere. Fire engines are even parked near some foreign embassies.
The Syrian authorities have said the string of attacks bore the fingerprints of al-Qaida or an affiliated Salafi group. It meanwhile exchanges barbs with the opposition, as each holds the other responsible for the surge of violence across the country.
The government contends that the opposition, backed by regional powerhouses, is targeting security agents, army personnel and law- enforcement members in a drive to undermine the country’s stability as a prelude to topple the current administration.
It pointed out that some postings on Facebook had talked about the al-Midan explosion hours ahead of the bombing.
Meanwhile, the opposition accuses the rulers of fabricating attacks to disgrace the rebels and justify a bloody crackdown on dissidents.
However, the recent threats made by a defected army officer about escalating attacks have reinforced the government’s argument that the protests in Syria were not peaceful as the opposition has long insisted.
Riad al-Assad, a Syrian defected colonel and head of the so- called Free Syrian Army, said recently that he was discontent with the Arab League (AL) observers’ attempts to rein the military campaign against protesters, and warned that he would wait only for a few days ahead of stepping up attacks.
The government said the opposition were painstakingly working to take the Syrian crisis to the United Nations Security Council and turning down all attempts by the government to settle the crisis internally or at least with in the Arab framework.
In a statement on Tuesday, the fourth since March, President al- Assad vowed to beat with an “iron fist” whoever tries to mess with Syria’s security and stability.
He, however, noted that a new national government would be formed soon, hinting that the opposition would hold major portfolios, apparently giving vent to feelings of strain in the Syrian streets and undermining attempts to take the Syrian crisis to the Security Council.
Yet, Haitham Maleh, dubbed the sheik of the Syrian opposition, said the internationalization of the Syrian crisis is “inevitable. ”
The AL has said it would give the Arab observer mission to Syria more time to go on with the field task which they started in Syria in the last days of 2011 to verify the Syrian government’s commitment to an AL plan to end its alleged crackdown on dissidents.
The decision came in spite of the outcry of the opposition figures who have blatantly accused the observers of attempting to cover the government’s practices.
Syrians look with suspicion to the job of the Arab observers and some of them have further linked the surge in deadly attacks with their presence.
January 13th, 2012, 8:57 pm
Ghufran said:
طيب تيزيني
– كنت أتمنى من الرئيس أن يعلن تعازيه لأرواح الشهداء، وأن يعلن عن وجود ازمة سياسية حقيقة في سورية. كما كنت أتمنى أن يحدد كيفية مواجهة هذه الأزمة عبر تحديد السبل الاصلاحية دون أن ننكر احتمالات المؤامرة الخارجية.
• وجهتَ دعوة الى الرئيس بشار الأسد من أجل التنحي هل ما زلت تدعوه الى ذلك؟
– نعم، وأتت دعوتي له الى التنحي اشفاقاً على هذا البلد، وكنت أودّ من هذه الرسالة إبعاده عن مسائل قد تكون أكثر خطورة وخصوصاً أن هناك أطرافاً تعمل من أجل تدمير البلاد وهي جزء من النظام.
• الى ماذا تدعو الرئيس الأسد بعد خطابه الأخير؟
– أدعوه الى مواجهة الحقيقة وليس في ذلك غضاضة، وأحياناً التنحي يكون انتصاراً للرئيس نفسه وخصوصاً حين تكون الرغبة من هذا التنحي الحفاظ على الوطن.
January 13th, 2012, 9:05 pm
irritated said:
#672 Jad
The SNC has no choice, they are about to collapse, so they hang on to anything they can. Their egos is at stake, not Syria’s fate.
January 13th, 2012, 9:07 pm
ann said:
AL to send more observers to Syria within one week – 2012-01-14
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/14/c_131359356.htm
CAIRO, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — The Arab League (AL) said Friday that more observers would be sent to Syria within one week although two monitors have quit the mission.
Adnan al-Khodair, head of the AL’s monitoring operation room in Cairo, said in a statement that the observers were continuing their work early on Friday in six places in Syria.
The operation room has received reports from the observer delegation about what they saw and heard in Syria. The observer office also received complaints from Syrian nationals, he added.
Khodair said on Thursday that an Algerian and a Sudanese have quit the observer delegation for different reasons.
Currently, there are 163 observers in Syria.
The AL ministerial committee on Syria decided on Sunday to give the observers enough time to fulfill their mission. Head of the observer mission, Sudanese Moustafa al-Dabi, is expected to submit his report by Jan. 19 to AL chief Nabil al-Arabi.
January 13th, 2012, 9:12 pm
jad said:
وثائق الدعوى القضائية بحق من زعم انه مدير مكتب مفتي سورية
هل سيتقدم حميد غريافي بطلب مقاضاة قناة الجزيرة الفضائية؟
سؤال طرحه احد الظرفاء تعليقا على الحال الذي اوصلت قناة الجزيرة نفسها اليه، حتى من الناحية المهنية والصحافية يمكنك ان تمارس البروباغندا السوداء المبنية على الاكاذيب والفبركات كما يفعل الاعلام الاميركي مثلا ولكنك يجب ان تحافظ على حد ادنى من المصداقية ولو مع نفسك ولكي تحترم نفسه
هل يحترم العاملون في الجزيرة انفسهم؟ حتى ولو كان لكثير منهم توجه طائفي او مادي يبرر كل الاوساخ التي يمرغهم فيها حمد بن جاسم فهل هذا الاسلوب المذل لمن يفعله من الكذب الصريح والفبركات الرخيصة هو ما يمكن للمرء ان يفخر به يوما؟
يعرف كل من يملك عقلا في الجزيرة ان انور مالك كذاب وان فيصل القاسم يتلو عليه ما يجب ان يقوله في مشاركاته معه منذ سنين ، ويعرف كل من يملك عينان في الجزيرة ان ما قاله انور مالك عن سورية وزيارته اليها مفبرك لسبب بسيط وهو ان الرجل بذاته مفبرك ومأجور ويكذب غب الطلب بناء لطلب فيصل القاسم فهل يصدّق المرء كذابا يكذب بأجر هو سبق ودفعه له ؟
قضية انور مالك فضيحة فالرجل ترك سورية وعاد الى قطر مع ان المفروض فيه لو كان يحرص على مصداقيته المفترض فيه ان يعود الى مقر الجامعة التي ارسلته مدسوسا من قطر وجزيرتها على مهمة المراقبين ، لكنه عاد بغباء الى قناة الجزيرة وظهر بلباس العيد (سترات المراقبين) من استديو القناة ليضطر اثرها نائب الامين العام للجامعة العربية ورئيس لجنة المراقبين الى تكذيب قناة الجزيرة بطريقة مهينة لن يمحو اثرها ابدا ان ترسل الجزيرة مراسليها في العواصم ليطلبوا من الناس مدح قناة الثورة الا في قطر والخليج.
الغباء الذي تفوقت به الجزيرة على غبائها في موضوع انور مالك يتمثل في قصة الفبركة التي هدفت الجزيرة من خلالها الى ضرب مصداقية مفتي سورية حيث فبركت مديرا لمكتبه مع ان الرجل اي المفتي مشهور عنه امر بالغ الغرابة وهو ان مدير مكتبه اشهر منه لماذا ، لان مدير مكتب مفتي الجمهورية العربية السورية هو المسيحي باسل قس نصرالله وهو اشهر من معلم
إذا كنت الجزيرة افعل ما شئت ولعلها فرصة لكي يعين حمد بن خليفة الشخصة المناسب في المكان المناسب في الجزيرة لذا نقترح عليه مديرا عاما للقناة مناسب جدا لها في حلتها الجديدة هو اكثر الكذابين شهرة بان كل ما يكتبه كذب وهو حميد غريافي الذي يزعم يوميا من لبنان انه يعيش في لندن ويقابل يوميا سفراء اميركا وبريطانيا في واشنطن (هكذا) وينقل عنهم قصصا تخجل عجوز من ان تنسبها لنفسها لفضائحية الكذب الوارد فيها
حميد كاتب يومي في صحيفة السياسة ويناسب الجزيرة حاليا فقد اصبحت وصحيفة السياسة الكويتية تؤأمان سياميان وعقبال البكاري
فيما يلي مستندات قضائية تبين ان المدعي بانه مدير مكتب المفتي ملاحق قضائيا
http://www.arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=17367
January 13th, 2012, 9:13 pm
Tara said:
I came across this today..
http://m.youtube.com/index?desktop_uri=%2F&gl=US#/watch?v=C2aPX4qP2U8
January 13th, 2012, 9:19 pm
jad said:
Irritated,
I think SNC have all the support they want financially and in the media, yet they prefer to use lies, intimidation and cheap propaganda as their only means to get the support, they refuse to take responsibility on any mistake which is an alarming for the future, on the other hand the NCB with its limited financial resources and poor media is winning some steady support only because it doesn’t use lies, hatred and vengeance as a tool.
I highly respect Haytham Manna and Abd Alazeez Alkhayer for that, they are well known for Syrians way before anybody else in the SNC and through their honesty are trying to gain support and you can see how they are attacked daily by the SNC propaganda machine.
I don’t think that the SNC is collapsing as you suggest, I think that they are delivering a specific agenda written for them, they have no vision or plan whatsoever and their agreement with the FSA shows their destructive mission.
January 13th, 2012, 9:25 pm
irritated said:
Jad
The AL league has not recognized the SNC. In fact no country has, even the countries that support them financially. They just get taps on the back and money just in case.
They make a lot of noise but the they are going nowhere.
Their alliance with the FSA is another trick to impose themselves as the ‘official opposition’. Now they will have to share the funds they receive with the FSA to buy weapons. It may turn out to be a burden and the source of internal tensions.
In addition France and Turkey, their main political supporters are now attacking each other.
This is why I think the SNC is in a bad shape and fights for its survival.
I really hope that the national Syrian opposition gets a higher visibility and succeeds in taking a lead in the opposition
January 13th, 2012, 9:38 pm
Ghufran said:
مراسل ب ب سي يتعرض للتهديد من المعارضين
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2012/01/120113_ballout_syria.shtml
This is a sample:
الى جميع الناشطين في سوريا..إلى ثوار سوريا الأبطال احذروا الشبيح الصحفي اللبناني محمد بلوط الذي يعمل مراسلا لتلفزيون بي بي سي في دمشق حاليا ..
لقد زود هذا الشبيح فرع المعلومات بأمن الدولة بصور خاصة و اسماء لشبان من بلدة ببصرى في درعا، و ذلك …عندما اجرى تقريرا من هناك للمحطة منذ نحو 4 أيام، كما يحاول البحث عن الناشطين بدمشق للوصول إليهم و تزويد الفرع بذلك، لقد خالف بلوط كل المعايير المهنية في التقرير الذي أجراه عن بصرى، و بكشف معلومات لها علاقة بالناشطين للأمن، و أريد أن اذكر أن هذا الشبيح هاجم في صحيفة السفير لقاءات المعارضة في فرنسا و اتهمها بالعمالة و الارتباط، مما اضطر صحيفة السفير للاعتذار بعد مقال البلوط، كما تعمل زوجته المدعوة ديما ناصيف و هي مراسلة قناة روسيا معه بنفس النفس و نفس الضرر، يرجى الحذر، و الحذر الشديد منه و من زوجته،و كذلك هو من تورط بكشف معلومات تحريضية و مغلوطة عن الثوار في قرية كفر عويد البطلة في جبل الزاوية و التي ارتكب النظام فيها بعد ذلك مجزرة حقيقة مروعة،
لقد أرسل لنا أحد الناشطين معلومات مؤكدة عن خطورته و تكليفه من قبل العميد غسان خليل رئيس فرع المعلومات بجلب أخبار الناشطين بدمشق و كشف الشبان السريين الذي يعملون مع التنسيقيات المحلية..الرجاء الحذر ..و الحذر..و عاشت سوريا حرة أبية و الموت للخونة و قتلة الشعب السوري.
January 13th, 2012, 9:41 pm
ann said:
Russia stands shoulder-to-shoulder with besieged Syrian leader – Friday, Jan. 13, 2012
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/world/russia-stands-shoulder-to-shoulder-with-besieged-syrian-leader/article2302589/
Russia has served notice that it has no intention of abandoning Syria’s embattled leader Bashar al-Assad to Western demands that he surrender all power in the face of persistent opposition.
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov flatly rejected Western proposals that the UN Security Council adopt a resolution that would hold Mr. al-Assad responsible for the deadly crackdown on opposition protesters and fighters.
“Unfortunately, the West’s approach radically differs from ours,” Mr. Gatilov said Friday. “Their position attempts to completely and wholly place the blame on the Syrian government and in every way possible absolve the actions of the armed opposition.”
“Their goal is clearly aimed at removing Assad’s regime in Damascus,” he said.
Russia and China vetoed such a proposal in October and Russia, at least, seems prepared to do so again.
January 13th, 2012, 9:45 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
During the civil war in Libya, 50,000 died, Hafez Assad killed over 35000 men ,30,000 of them were in Hama, Bashar so far has killed 7000,and several thousand are in jail with over 20,000 we do not know what happened to them, presumably dead, Bashar in his second speech mentioned that over 64000 will be put in jail,
The thugs on SC keep telling us they do not want violence,yet their God the criminal Bashar has been committing extreme violence ,and after that they defend Bashar,and they criticise the FSA.
do those thugs here on SC , do they think they can deceive us?they lie,they deceive, they promise us mirage, they suggest silly ideas ,they talk nonsense.all will not help.they are barking like dogs,they are quoting like pigs
January 13th, 2012, 9:52 pm
Haytham Khoury said:
غليون : نحن على مفترق الطرق, الى الحرية أو الهاوية…
أيها الثوار الأحرار يا أبناء سورية العظيمة
انطلقت ثورتنا المجيدة من رفض الظلم والتمييز والقهر الذي عانيتهم منه لعقود طوال. وكانت ثقافة الكرامة وحب الحرية وتأكيد الأخوة الوطنية ووحدة الشعب والوطن قلبها ومحركها. بثقافة المحبة والاتحاد هذه حقق الشعب الانتصارات وزعزع أركان الطغيان. وبها تعززت هويتنا القومية وزالت خلافاتنا وتوحدت صفوفنا وذهبت مشاعر الحقد والضغينة والانتقام من قلوبنا، وفيها ولدت سورية الجديدة، سورية المستقبل التي ننشدها لنا ولأبنائنا، سورية المساواة التي تحتضن جميع أبنائها دون تمييز قومي أو مذهبي أو سياسي.
وفيها أيضا تعرفنا على أنفسنا شعبا واحدا، وازدهرت روح الأخوة الوطنية تضامنا وتساميا في كل فرد منا. فصار كل واحد منا يفتدي الآخر بدمه وحياته، وأصبحت كل مدينة او محافظة تهتف باسم المدينة ألاخرى وتدافع عنها حتى الموت. هكذا استمرت الثورة ونجحت في مواجهة سياسات القتل والارهاب والترويع. وكعادتها عبر تاريخ سورية تحملت مدينة حمص مسؤولية جمة في استمرار النضال السلمي ضد الاستبداد. حتى أجمع الثائرون على تسميتها ” عاصمة الثورة” لما عانته من قهر ودمار وتهجير.
لكن أشهرا طويلة من القتل المنهجي المنظم وإذكاء النظام الاجرامي الفتنة الطائفية بين أبناء شعبنا وشحن فئة من المجتمع ضد فئة أخرى قد أضعفت دفاعات بعضنا في مواجهة مخاطر الانقسام والتصادم الطائفي. وأصبحنا نشهد منذ أسابيع عمليات خطف واغتيال وتصفية حسابات بين أبناء الشعب الواحد، بل بين أبناء الثورة أنفسهم. وهو ما يشكل تهديدا خطيرا لمكاسب الثورة ويقدم خدمة كبرى لنظام القتل والاستبداد الذي يترصد بنا ويؤخر الانتصار.
باسمي وباسم المجلس الوطني وجميع ابناء الشعب الحريصين على انتصار الثورة وقطع الطريق على مناورات السلطة الغاشمة ومؤامراتها، أدعو جميع أبناء الشعب السوري إلى التوقف القطعي عن هذه الاعمال المدمرة ونبذ روح الفرقة والانقسام، والعودة إلى روح الأخوة والوطنية الحقة التي أشعلت الثورة وكانت السبب الأكبر لاستمرارها وتقدمها.
وأتوجه بشكل خاص إلى أحرار حمص وثوارها الأبطال من كل الفئات والمذاهب، وادعوهم إلى تغليب حسهم الوطني، ووقف الاعتداءات وعمليات الخطف والانتقام والترفع عن الاحقاد والالتفاف حول ثورتهم الجامعة وأحثهم على ضبط النفس ورفض الانجرار وراء ممارسات بغيضة تزكي الحقد بدل المودة والألفة وتكرس الانقسام بدل الوحدة
أيها الاخوة الاحرار
نحن على مفترق طرق. احد هذه الطرق يؤدي بنا الى الحرية والكرامة واخر
يؤدي بنا الى الهاوية والانجراف نحو حرب اهلية لم يكف النظام عن محاولة اشعالها ليجهض ثورتنا المباركة منذ أشهر. واجبنا في هذه اللحظات الحساسة ان لا ننجرف وراء مشاعر سلبية بغيضة لن تجلب لنا الاالهزيمة والدمار.
أدعو جميع الثوار إلى نبذ تلك الممارسات المدمرة للشعب والثورة وإدانتها وتحريمها والعمل معا على إطلاق سراح كل المختطفين وتكوين اللجان المحلية للتعاون من أجل منع تكرارها.
لا تدعو الاحقاد الصغيرة تهدد ثورتكم العظيمة، ولا تقعوا في فخ النظام، وأنتم على ابواب انتصارات اكيدة على قاب قوسين أو أدنى من تحقيق اهداف ثورتكم المجيدة، ثورة الكرامة والحرية والإخاء.
عاشت سورية حرة أبية وعاش شعب سورية حرا عزيزا واحد موحدا
برهان غليون
January 13th, 2012, 10:01 pm
Ghufran said:
القدس العربي
ديمتري روجيزين سفير روسيا لدى حلف شمال الاطلسي المنتهية ولايته صرح بالامس ‘بان اي تدخل عسكري مرتبط بالبرنامج النووي الايراني يعتبر تهديدا لأمن روسيا الوطني’. وقال ما معناه ان ايران جارة لنا ولا يمكن ان نقبل بأي عدوان عليها. بينما ذهب نيكولاي باتروشيف رئيس مجلس الامن في الكرملين والمقرب من فلاديمير بوتين ان اسرائيل تدفع بالولايات المتحدة نحو الحرب مع ايران.
خطورة هذه التصريحات الواضحة والقوية تأتي في وقت تتزايد فيه احتمالات الحرب ضد ايران، وتتصاعد الضغوط العربية والداخلية لاسقاط النظام السوري. ويجب الاخذ في عين الاعتبار ان روجيزين الذي يعتبر الحرب على ايران تهديدا للامن الوطني الروسي صدر قرار بتعيينه نائبا لرئيس الوزراء، اي بوتين، لشؤون الدفاع، وسيباشر مهامه فورا.
زمن التفرد الامريكي في منطقة الشرق الاوسط وحروب تغيير الانظمة بالحصارات او التدخلات العسكرية بات في طريقه للانقراض.
فواشنطن غيرت النظامين الليبي والعراقي لانهما منحا عقودا نفطية وتجارية لشركات روسية وهندية وصينية، ولذلك فان الاستسلام الروسي لمشاريع الهيمنة والتفرد الامريكية سيؤدي الى انهيار المصالح والوجود الروسيين في منطقة هي الاغنى في العالم بأسره، وهذا ما يفسر استخدامها مع الصين الفيتو المزدوج في مجلس الامن ضد فرض عقوبات على سورية.
موسكو زودت سورية بصواريخ اس 300 المضادة للطائرات، تحسبا لاي تدخل لحلف الناتو في شؤونها، ومن غير المستبعد ان تتراجع عن قرارها بحجب الصواريخ نفسها عن ايران، لانه من الواضح انها تخلت عن مواقعها السابقة في ترك المنطقة برمتها للنفوذ والحروب الامريكية.
January 13th, 2012, 10:25 pm
ann said:
US wants to control Russian cargo to Syria – Jan 14, 2012
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/14/63827758.html
The United States has expressed concern about the arrival of a ship to Syria, which allegedly contains a Russian cargo of ammunition according to State Department spokes person Victoria Nuland, Washington has sent a request to the Russian Foreign Ministry on this issue.
The U.S. does not yet have precise information on the goods being transported, she said and stressed that America would like to tighten international controls over the shipment of weapons to Syria.
Previously the ship from Russia had been detained and then released by the authorities at the port of Limassol Cyprus.
They reported that there were in fact weapons on board.
The ship entered the Syrian port of Tartus on Thursday.
January 13th, 2012, 10:39 pm
zoo said:
Syria sees limited anti-gov’t protests as Arab observers continue mission: media
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/13/c_131359291.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) — Limited anti-government protests erupted on Friday after Muslim’s midday prayers in several Syrian provinces, mainly in the north region, as teams of Arab observers carried on with their mission across Syria over the weekend.
Protests erupted in the northern provinces of Deir al-Zour, Qamishly, Idlib, and some suburbs of Aleppo, most of which were dispersed peacefully within a short time, the private Sham FM radio reported, adding pro-government demonstrations took place in areas including the city of Aleppo and coastal Tartous city.
Syria’s abroad-based opposition activists have called for nationwide rallies in support of the Free Syrian Army, An anti- President Bashar al-Assad militia group, reportedly comprised of Syrian army deserters, who have been given refuge in Turkey.
The Syrian government has said that the turmoil in Syria is plotted by terrorists and foreign-backed armed gangs.
January 13th, 2012, 10:47 pm
Ghufran said:
كشف النائب الكردي برهان محمد فرج عن اجتماعات تجري في اربيل بين رئيس المجلس الوطني السوري المعارض برهان غليون وقيادات في المعارضة الكردية السورية لتنسيق المواقف وبحث مستقبل الاكراد بعد سقوط النظام.
وقال فرج في تصريح لصحيفة “المستقبل” إن “غليون يجري سلسلة اجتماعات بالمعارضة الكردية السورية لبحث مستقبل اكراد سوريا ودورهم في المعارضة”. وأضاف: ان هذه الزيارة تتركز على الوصول الى اهداف مشتركة مع الاكراد وتحديد الاولويات بشأن دورهم المستقبلي وخاصة ان المعارضة السورية ترغب في إشراكهم بشكل حقيقي والتحدث عن القضية الكردية في كردستان سوريا”، مشيراً الى ان “اللقاء مهم جدا لتناول القضايا السياسية فالأكراد يبحثون عن دورهم السياسي”.
ولفت إلى أن “الأسد مستعد لمنح الأكراد في سوريا حكماً ذاتياً لكنهم يرغبون في تحقيق مطالب منها الفدرالية والحقوق القومية ومسألة الجنسية”، مشددا على ان “اقليم كردستان العراق والكتلة الكردية في البرلمان العراقي يدعمان الديموقراطية في سوريا ومطالب اكرادها، لكن رئيس الاقليم مسعود بارزاني والرئيس العراقي جلال الطالباني لا يتدخلان في شؤون اكراد سوريا”.
Comment: how does Turkey feel about empowering the Kurds in Syria?
Syrian Kurds will be given more promises from both the regime and the SNC but I am not sure that any Syrian government will be able to duplicate the Iraqi model in a country that is already at risk for division. Kurds like all Syrians deserve to live in freedom and dignity but creating a state within a state is never the answer.
January 13th, 2012, 10:48 pm
irritated said:
#684 Majedlalkhaldoon
Now SC commenters who don’t agree with you are dogs and pigs…
Coming from you, it is a compliment.
January 13th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Ghufran said:
Take a break from hateful posts and listen to Amal Maher on MBC,what a beautiful voice.
January 13th, 2012, 10:54 pm
ann said:
Cantor: US allies have doubts about policies to control Iran – 01/13/12
http://thehill.com/homenews/house/204151-cantor-us-allies-have-doubts-about-obama-policies-stop-iran
House Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.) said Friday that key U.S. allies in the Middle East are voicing doubts that efforts to curtail Iran’s nuclear ambitions through economic sanctions and oil embargoes will be successful.
In an interview with The Hill, Cantor said that during a week-long trip abroad, he heard warnings from neighbors of Iran who believe that the clerical regime in Tehran can’t be stopped — simply because “it has nothing to lose.”
“We have got to do everything that we possibly can to stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons capability,” the majority leader said in a phone interview from France, the fifth leg of a congressional delegation trip that included stops in Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates. “But I am coming away with a sense that there are players in the region who feel that also, while we are on this track of doing everything that we can with sanctions, with oil embargoes, cutting Iran off from the international financial community, that we also have to be in the planning stages, we also have to realize that these things may not work.
“There are in fact neighbors of Iran that feel — some feel — that you’re not going to be able to stop this clerical regime in Iran, because frankly things are bad in Iran but the regime has nothing to lose.”
Asked if by “planning stages” he meant U.S. military action, Cantor replied: “I think everything is on the table.”
Cantor was joined on the trip, known as a CODEL, by eight other House members, including the chairwoman of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-Fla.), and the chairwoman of the Appropriations subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations and Related Programs, Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas). One Democrat, Rep. Peter Welch (Vt.), also took part.
Cantor said Iran policy was a focus of the visits, which came at a time of heightened tension between Washington and Tehran.
In response to tighter sanctions from the West, the Iranian regime has threatened to close the Strait of Hormuz, a move that could restrict access to about one-fifth of the world’s daily oil trade. The New York Times reported Friday that the Obama administration had used a secret communications channel to warn Iran that closing the strait would cross a “red line” and provoke an American response to reopen the waterway by military means.
The possibility that Iran would close the strait came up in discussions with senior officials from Saudi Arabia and the Gulf states, Cantor said.
“Obviously the free world relies on that region for so much of its fossil fuel supply, its energy, and I think defense-wise, closing the Strait of Hormuz is an unacceptable action by Iran, so we would have to respond,” Cantor said. “I think the feeling is in the Gulf that something like that really couldn’t last.”
The most palpable impact for Americans could be a spike in gas prices because of a significant disruption in the global oil supply. Cantor said the officials the delegation spoke to reported there was enough excess supply in the region to meet regional demands, at least initially.
“The conclusion … was [that] there is enough capacity to meet those demands so as to maintain some stability in the price of oil,” he said, citing supplies in Iraq, Libya and Saudi Arabia. “There’s currently enough capacity right now.”
The saber-rattling from Iran has increased following the assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist that Iran has blamed on Israel.
Cantor has joined other Republicans in criticizing the Obama administration’s policy toward Israel, and he and Ros-Lehtinen have helped lead a congressional push for legislation to strengthen sanctions against Iran, which is widely seen as posing an existential threat to the Jewish state. Cantor, the only Jewish Republican serving in Congress, visited Israel with another bipartisan congressional delegation in August.
The Virginia Republican has not been a loud critic of other elements of the president’s foreign policy, but as he reflected on his conversations with U.S. allies he expressed concern about the administration’s handling of a number of problem areas in the Middle East, including Iraq, Syria and Egypt.
On Iraq, Cantor was asked whether he believed President Obama’s decision to remove all U.S. military forces from Iraq at the end of 2011 was a mistake.
“People in the region seem to think that we have [made a mistake], and that was a repeated message to us,” he said. “I’m going to return to Washington and urge the administration to continue to exert influence.
“We obviously have a lot invested in Iraq in blood and treasure, and we should be able to make sure that the moderates are able to prevail and assume power and continue in power in Iraq. That is a concern of those in the region — that we’re not headed in that direction. A lot of concern, a lot of different places.”
Cantor blamed the success of Islamist factions in the recent elections in Egypt in part on poor planning by the administration when a popular revolution forced former President Hosni Mubarak from power last spring.
“The thought is that an ally of ours for 30-something years fell, and yet there was no real plan going forward and a vacuum created and now we have the Muslim Brotherhood and the Salafi movement in Egypt competing for power,” Cantor said. “One would have trouble imagining a more troubling situation than that. We need to insist that we are not for the extremists, that we are for the defense of our allies and our assets and interests in the region.”
Cantor praised the French government and President Nicolas Sarkozy for being “more vocal” than the Obama administration in trying to oust the Assad regime from power in Syria.
“I would urge this administration to get serious and focus on the situation in Syria,” he said.
Democrats have lampooned Cantor and House Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) for taking lengthy overseas trips during the congressional recess rather than returning early to Washington to begin work on extending the payroll-tax cuts and unemployment benefits through the end of the year. A website created by the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee depicted Cantor in a beret as a tourist in front of the Eiffel Tower.
Cantor, however, described a busy schedule of meetings with high-ranking government officials, including the equivalent of the French national security adviser, a top aide to the French foreign minister and his counterpart in the French national assembly.
He lauded the Sarkozy government for its positions on Iran, Israel and Syria. That is a shift in tone from the prevailing GOP sentiment toward France during the George W. Bush administration, when Republicans were quick to criticize and even mock the French over their opposition to the U.S.-led war in Iraq. (That tone has lingered in the Republican presidential race, where Newt Gingrich is running an ad criticizing Mitt Romney for being able to speak French.)
Cantor highlighted French support for sanctions against Iran’s central bank and an oil embargo by the European Union, and he said French officials thanked the congressional delegation for a provision in the recently enacted National Defense Authorization Act that would bar countries that do business with the central bank from accessing the U.S. financial system.
January 13th, 2012, 11:01 pm
irritated said:
Ghufran #689
The Syrian Kurds are just testing the SNC to check what the Turks( whom they have always distrusted) have to offer in exchange for the Kurds joining the uprising. This is also a way to put pressure on Bashar to grant them more rights. They’ll follow the one who they believe has the best offer and will deliver.
If Syria offers more autonomy to Kurds, it will be big blow to Turkey and I guess Syria is ready to do it to avoid the Kurds joining the uprising and as a revenge on Turkey. The Kurdish area in Syria does not have oil, so its autonomy is not such a threat to Syria’s economy, but it is a threat to Turkey.
One more reason for Turkey to work for the fall of Bashar.
January 13th, 2012, 11:08 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Irritated
I am not allowed to say worse on SC,there are a lot of words that describe these thugs more accurate
January 13th, 2012, 11:09 pm
ann said:
Edging toward intervention in Syria – Friday, Jan 13, 2012
As the crackdown continues, Obama policymakers cite “responsibility to protect,” while neocons seek regime change
http://www.salon.com/2012/01/13/edging_toward_intervention_in_syria/singleton/
On Monday, a unity agreement between Syria’s two main anti-regime groups collapsed over the issue of foreign military intervention in the country’s 11-month-old internal conflict. As anti-government demonstrations and police violence continue, there is still no immediate prospect of a NATO or international military intervention like that undertaken in Libya. But that doesn’t mean it won’t happen.
Syria is a unique case. Unlike Libya it doesn’t have a lot of oil. Unlike Egypt, it is not controlled by a U.S.-funded ally. What it does have is an increasingly violent dictatorship and a growing but divided opposition. The government of Bashar al-Assad shows no signs of weakening resolve, and Arab League monitors in the country have drawn criticism (and live fire) for their work.
The Syrian National Council, which is dominated by Syrian émigrés in Turkey and Europe, has reiterated its calls for foreign military intervention despite contradictory remarks from some of its members. The SNC wants to establish a no-fly zone over northern Syria to provide a safe haven for refugees and the loosely organized “Syria Free Army” in preparation for NATO and Arab League-backed operations against Assad’s loyalist forces.
The National Coordination Body, composed of left-wing Syrian Arabs and Kurds operating inside Syria, continues to warn against foreign intervention and expansion of armed resistance to Assad.
The unity agreement’s collapse — and reports suggesting that a majority of the Syrian opposition and demonstrators now favor foreign military intervention — may help strengthen the hands of those in the West who have argued for such action from the beginning. In Washington a “time-limited, scope-limited military action” as implemented in Libya this past year appeals to both Obama administration policymakers who say they are guided by a “responsibility to protect” and to neoconservatives who favor “regime change” in Damascus to isolate Iran and Islamist groups.
The SNC consists of representatives from seven factions, according to former French diplomat Ignance Leverrier, including “the local coordinating committees organizing resistance on the ground in Syria; the Muslim Brotherhood (which was banned by Syria’s secular opposition parties in the Damascus Declaration); ‘independents’ who belong to no political party; technocrats; the Kurds; and the [Bedouin] tribes.”
Leverrier, who supports recognition of the SNC as Syria’s legitimate government, says the council is better-informed and more representative of popular opinion than the National Coordination Body. He acknowledges, though, that the council is led by émigré intellectuals who have had limited interaction with people inside of country. His call for intervention echoes last year’s call among Europeans, especially the French, to act in Libya, though in this case of Syria, Europe’s position is probably more about asserting its littoral influence than securing economic opportunities in a post-regime environment.
For outside interlocutors assisting the SNC, there is the London-based Henry Jackson Society, which is described by the Guardian as a British group with close ties to American neoconservatives. (The group is named for the hawkish senator from Washington state, who died in 1983.) The American-born communications director of the HJS, Michael Weiss, drafted the “Safe Zone for Syria” document cited by the SNC and advocates of intervention as a blueprint for creating a no-fly zone. The document was prepared with the input of Syrians, according to HJS.
Writing in Slate last June, Weiss assured his audience that “intervention at this moment would be premature, because Syria’s various opposition groups have yet to coalesce into a unified political force worth backing.” But he added that the Syrian opposition constitutes “the most liberal and Western-friendly of the Arab Spring uprisings,” with the clear implication that they deserve U.S. support.
“The more time the world gives Assad, the more he makes a mockery of the ‘responsibility to protect’ doctrine and the more people begging for Western assistance are simply wished the best of luck and left to their grim fate,” he wrote recently in Foreign Affairs,
Other prominent voices in the insular but influential world of neoconservative thought include a team of defense specialists at the hawkish Washington Institute for Near East Policy who recently issued a report concluding, “Intervention in Syria would be a demanding mission carrying significant risks,” while also asserting that “intervention also presents policy opportunities.”
Marwa Daoudy, a former U.N. official and critic of intervention, has noted that idea is supported by a who’s who of Iraq War boosters. One of them is Fouad Ajami, a professor at Stanford, who endorsed NATO airstrikes against Moammar Gadhafi’s forces this past year. Last March, Ajami wrote that “Benghazi would have been Barack Obama’s Srebrenica” if he had not intervened militarily in Libya. “The right thing, at last,” Ajami wrote of NATO’s intervention. “The cavalry arrived in the nick of time.” Ajami is critical of Obama and Hillary Clinton’s allegedly “paralyzing caution” toward Syria.
As Ajami’s comments show, the tragedy of Srebrenica in 1995 – a horrific eruption of ethnic cleansing that killed 8,000 people within sight of a U.N. “safe zone” – animates all sides of the Syria debate. So too has the Rwandan genocide of 1994. Weiss has referenced it in his writings, and at least two prominent Obama officials found President Clinton’s refusal to intervene in that conflict appalling and pushed a reportedly hesitant Pentagon to move quickly.
One of the most influential advocates for intervention in Libya was Samantha Power of the National Security Council, who is only half-jokingly described as Obama’s Paul Wolfowitz by reporter David Rieff. Power is the administration’s most outspoken advocate of “the responsibility to protect” concept, which in its broadest interpretation “holds that when a sovereign state fails to prevent atrocities, foreign governments may intervene to stop them.”
United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, an NSC staffer during the Clinton administration, was in the interventionist camp in Libya that drew lessons from Rwanda. Time reported that it was Rice who, by virtue of her forceful maneuvering at the U.N., got Secretary of Defense Robert Gates off the fence about committing U.S. air assets over Libya. The National Review suggested that the Pentagon was “outmaneuvered by three women: Clinton, Power, and … Rice.”
To their number should also be added Anne-Marie Slaughter, who up until the month before the U.S. intervened in Libya was head of the Obama State Department’s in-house “think tank.” Since leaving her post, she has praised the success of the “responsibility to protect” approach in Libya:
For the first time, international law and the great powers of international politics have recognized both the rights of citizens and a specific relationship between the government and its citizens: a relationship of protection. The nature of sovereignty itself is thus changed; legitimate governments are defined not only by their control of a territory and a population but also by how they exercise that control. If they fail in that obligation, the international community has the responsibility to protect those citizens.
Obama, though, did not make his decision solely on humanitarian impulses. Mark Thompson of Time notes how Obama implemented the “responsibility to protect” doctrine: with “a push toward multilateralism and a willingness to hand off command (and responsibility) to others.” Even so, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol praised Obama as a “born-again” neoconservative on Libya.
The interventionists continue to push. The SNC has met with Hillary Clinton, and State Department spokesman Mark Toner said on Dec. 28 that the U.S. “would consider other means” in Syria besides sanctions if Assad did not back down. Until at least 2010, President Obama continued the Bush administration’s funding of overseas Syrian dissident groups. And Foreign Policy reports that the administration has convened a National Security Council policy forum with officials from the Treasury and State Departments. Fred C. Hof, a diplomat and academic considered one of the main people linking the U.S. State Department to the Syrian opposition, is a leading member of this small and secretive convocation.
Another factor is Turkey’s role. Any effort to enforce a NATO no-fly zone — either to maintain humanitarian corridors or protected base areas for anti-Assad fighters — would require active cooperation from Turkey. While Turkey denies reports that it has been planning to intervene militarily, the “Free Syria Army” – a loose coalition of anti-Assad fighters – is operating from Turkey, and the Turkish Foreign Ministry is holding meetings with SNC representatives. It is clear that Ankara is taking a hard look at the possibility of a post-Assad Syria. Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan told reporters this week that Syria is on the verge of civil war. Since November, Turkish diplomats have been dropping hints that Ankara would consider intervention if the violence gets worse.
Israel is mostly concerned about the influence of Iran. Top Israeli officials have expressed their dismay over the Arab Spring, asserting that it will only empower Islamist groups. But Defense Minister Ehud Barak has also said that Israel views Assad’s overthrow as a matter of when, not if. He did note that military intervention did not seem appropriate at this stage, mainly because in Israel’s view, there is no group yet that Tel Aviv feels it can engage with when Assad is gone.
Syria’s sectarian divisions and central position between Israel and Turkey make it far harder for Washington to reach a consensus on the SNC. At the same time, the centrality of Syria makes it a tempting prize for Washington to gain influence in, if its opposition can somehow be managed. As the Syrian opposition remains fractured and the conflict threatens to spill over into Syria’s neighbors, Burhan Ghalioun’s promises to distance a new Syrian government from Iran and Hezbollah may carry enough weight in Washington to tip the scales in the interventionists’ favor.
January 13th, 2012, 11:10 pm
Jad said:
Irritated,
Good points regarding the SNC plan, I agree on the financing issue, they have to share the money coming together and arming the FSA will be covered by since it will show as ‘democracy’ funding not terrorism.
Haytham
Another Mou3allaqa from Ghalyoun…good but too little too late from an EX president.
January 13th, 2012, 11:11 pm
irritated said:
694. majedkhaldoun
I am not surprised, you are full of it.
January 13th, 2012, 11:19 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Irritated
And you are packed of it
January 13th, 2012, 11:24 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Very soon Bashar wife and Maher wife and their relatives will be added to sanction and freezing their assets.
Russia should remember that they have problems in Georgia and Ukrania
January 13th, 2012, 11:41 pm
ann said:
US contingency plans drawn in case of Israeli strike – 14 January 2012
http://www.focus-fen.net/index.php?id=n268660
Washington. The US government is concerned that Israel is preparing to take military action against Iran over US objections, and has stepped up contingency planning to safeguard US facilities in the region, The Wall Street Journal reported late Friday, as quoted by AFP.
The newspaper said President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta and other top officials have delivered a series of private messages to Israeli leaders, warning about the dire consequences of a strike.
Obama spoke by telephone on Thursday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, will meet with Israeli military officials in Tel Aviv next week, the report said.
The Journal noted that the US military was preparing for a number of possible responses to an Israeli strike, including assaults by pro-Iranian Shiite militias in Iraq against the US Embassy in Baghdad.
Up to 15,000 US diplomats, federal employees and contractors still remain in Iraq.
To deter Iran, the United States is maintaining 15,000 troops in Kuwait, and has moved a second aircraft carrier strike group to the Persian Gulf area, the paper said.
January 13th, 2012, 11:54 pm
SYR.EXPAT said:
An astute observer discovered that contrary to the claims of Mufti Hassoun that he doesn’t have a press office, the Mufti’s official website has at least one press release sent by his own press office. You don’t believe me? Just take it from the source:
بالنسبة لكذبة انه ما عنده مكتب اعلامي..
هاي الصفحة من موقعه الرسمي..
http://www.drhassoun.com/news.aspx?id=162
حمصي فهمان في كانون الأول 14th, 2012
January 14th, 2012, 12:13 am
Juergen said:
MAJEDKHALDOUN
Its a shame that Rifaat and his family enjoy a live here in Europe. He should be tried as well with Bashar and his whole clan, Good if Europe will add her and the children to the list, it wont impress them, but it sets a sign.
January 14th, 2012, 12:44 am
syria no kandahar said:
This is the love behind US/WEST/MB marraige:
Tweet تعليقات(0) طبع البريد سركيس نعوم
2012-01-14
resize resize small يعتقد باحث غربي متعمِّق في شؤون منطقة الشرق الاوسط أن الأجواء السياسية في الولايات المتحدة بدأت تحضر لتوجيه ضربة عسكرية الى ايران الاسلامية مباشرة أو عبر سوريا آل الاسد المتحالفة معها من زمان، او الى الاثنتين معاً. فالسيناتور جوزف ليبرمان، الذي ترشح يوماً لنيابة الرئاسة في بلاده، طالب مطلع العام الماضي 2011 “البنتاغون”، أي وزارة الدفاع وحلف شمال الاطلسي، بشن حرب على الدولتين المذكورتين. وترافق ذلك مع بداية “الربيع العربي”. لكن موقفه لم يكن، استناداً الى معطيات الباحث، مرتبطاً بهذا الربيع ومدى تطوره مستقبلاً، لأنه كان مفاجئاً للعالم كله في بدايته طبعاً. ويعتقد ايضاً أن اغتنام الرئيس باراك اوباما فرصة فرض عقوبات على نظام الاسد، بسبب قمعه الشعب السوري المطالب باسقاطه، لفرض مزيد من العقوبات القاسية على ايران لم يكن صدفة. فايران هذه كانت مستهدفة من اميركا ولا تزال. والنيل منها في رأي المسؤولين الكبار في واشنطن يمكن ان يتم على نحو غير مباشر اي باستهداف سوريا. ومن شأن ذلك اضعاف ايران ومعها كل حلفائها في المنطقة، مثل لبنان “حزب الله” وفلسطين “حماس”، وربما عرقلة نجاح روسيا والصين في مساعيهما لتوسيع مناطق نفوذهما كلّ في منطقتها. اما الدافع الى استهداف اميركا ايران وسوريا عسكرياً فهو، في رأي الباحث نفسه، معرفتها ان خروج جيوشها من العراق، (وهذا حصل) سيفتح “كوريدورا”، اي ممراً بين لبنان وسوريا وايران. وسيكون ذلك كابوساً لواشنطن وفي الوقت نفسه لاسرائيل. لأنه سيقوي معسكر “المقاومة” للأخيرة ويضعف السيطرة التي كانت لها في المنطقة وخصوصاً على الصعيد العسكري. انطلاقاً من ذلك يرجح هذا الباحث الغربي وآخرون غيره، ان يكون الأميركيون قرروا الضغط على سوريا بسبب انسحابهم العسكري من العراق وذلك باستغلالهم لمشاكلها الداخلية العادية، اي قبل اندلاع الثورة، وبضغطهم على لبنان كي يُضعف نفوذ وتأثير حلفائها على أرضه. ويرجحون أن تكون الثورة المشار اليها وفّرت لهم فرصة التدخل المباشر لمساعدة “الشعب” السوري على تحقيق مطالبه في الاصلاح والديموقراطية، وفي الوقت نفسه لتأمين المصالح الاميركية والغربية عموماً، بإنهاء الحلف الاستراتيجي بين دمشق وطهران. وطبيعي أن يتسبّب ذلك بتراجع جيو – استراتيجي مهم لايران. وكل ما تفعله اميركا اليوم يرمي الى تأسيس حقيقة جيو – بوليتيكية جديدة في المنطقة، والى استعادة موقعها ونفوذها وهيبتها فيها بعد سنوات عانت فيها الكثير من ايران ومن تحالفها مع سوريا، وأخيراً من نجاحها في الوصول الى قلب المنطقة العربية والى الوقوف مهددة على حدود اسرائيل من لبنان وسوريا وفلسطين، ومُهدِّدة على حدود اميركا في الخليج. وفي اطار التحضير هذا، نشر الأميركيون غالبية جيوشهم المنسحبة من العراق في دول مجلس التعاون الخليجي. وكانت حصة الكويت القوة التي يفترض ان تعود الى العراق في حال تدهورت الاوضاع الأمنية فيه على نحو خطير جداً، او في حال نشوب حرب اقليمية واسعة تتورط فيها الدول الاقليمية الكبرى كلها وفي مقدمها ايران. وبهذا المعنى يكون الرئيس اوباما يفعّل حالياً “تحالف المعتدلين” في العالم العربي والاسلامي الذي “خلقه” سلفه جورج بوش الابن الذي يفترض ان يستهدف ايران وسوريا وحلفاءهما. وربما يجب اضافة صفة الاسلاميين على المعتدلين.
في اختصار، ان الاحداث المحيطة بسوريا والاخرى الجارية فيها تتعلق بالجيوبوليتيك في الشرق الاوسط اكثر من تعلقها بسوريا وحدها. ولذلك فان الاستعداد لاستغلالها تحقيقاً لمصالح دولية وتحديداً غربية وخصوصاً اميركية، وفي الوقت نفسه تحقيقاً “لمصالح” الشعب السوري الثائر، يسير على قدم وساق. فاسرائيل تستعد لصراع كبير يستمر سنوات مع ايران مباشرة وعبر حلفائها. واميركا تبني منذ سنوات وجوداً عسكرياً مهماً في المنطقة وخارجها استعداداً للمواجهة مع ايران. ولهذا السبب ارسلت معدات عسكرية متنوعة الى اسرائيل ودول خليجية عدة. وللسبب نفسه يستعد حلفاء اميركا في المنطقة مثل تركيا، وفي العالم مثل كندا وبريطانيا، لتقديم الدعم لها في المواجهة المرتقبة اذا تبين لها ان لا بد منها. وما يخشاه الباحث الغربي نفسه هو ان تتعدى المواجهة حدود المنطقة بحيث تشمل روسيا والصين وحلفاءهما. وذلك ممكن اذا رأت الدولتان ان اميركا سائرة نحو جعل ا
January 14th, 2012, 12:55 am
syria no kandahar said:
Analysing whatreally is behind the seen in the Syrian crisis is probably the most difficult political analysis ever,almost like solving an equation with five unknowns:
هل صحيح أن الولايات المتحدة الأميركية تريد تغيير النظام في سوريا قبل أن تعرف شكل النظام البديل؟ وهل تريد تغيير أهل النظام أيضاً وعلى رأسهم الرئيس الأسد؟ وهل صحيح أن إسرائيل تريد بدورها تغيير هذا النظام وتغيير من هم على رأسه، أم إن ثمة خلافاً بين القيادة العسكرية الإسرائيلية والقيادة السياسية حول ما إذا كان النظام البديل أفضل لإسرائيل؟
وإذا كانت الإدارة الأميركية الحالية مع تغيير النظام في سوريا ومع دعم الثورات العربية حتى وإن أتت بأنظمة أخرى أكثر تشدداً، فهل تستمر هذه السياسة إذا أفرزت الانتخابات الرئاسية الأميركية المقبلة إدارة جديدة قد تكون لها نظرة مختلفة إلى مجمل الوضع في منطقة الشرق الأوسط وإلى السياسة مع إيران، وقد تكون سياسة تلتقي والسياسة الاسرائيلية أو تختلف معها؟
وزير في الحكومة يرى وجوب العودة إلى تصريح أدلى به مستشار وزارة الدفاع الاميركية السابق ريتشارد بيرل لفت فيه إلى تفرّق المعارضة السورية. وهو مع تأييده للتغيير في سوريا فإنه لمح إلى إمكان قبول تغيير جذري يدخله النظام على نفسه، لكنه أبدى تشاؤماً في إمكان حدوث ذلك مستخدماً عبارة: “إن الاسد لا يغيّر جلده”… أما إذا غيّر النظام السوري سلوكه بشكل جذري يكفل التحوّل من الديكتاتورية إلى الديموقراطية وإنهاء العداء للولايات المتحدة الأميركية، فإنه يكون بذلك قد أقام نظاماً جديداً، فهل يفعل ذلك؟
وقال بيرل إنه عندما التقى عدداً من المعارضين السوريين، ظن انها ستكون فرصة للالتقاء بمعارضة موحدة للنظام السوري، لذا دعاهم الى التوحد وراء المبادئ التي تؤهلهم للحصول على دعم الولايات المتحدة وغيرها من الدول، وشدد على ان التغيير في سوريا يبدأ بتوحيد المعارضين للنظام خلف برنامج واضح. فإذا كانت المجموعة المعارضة تشمل اسلاميين يريدون خطف سوريا من ديكتاتورية علمانية الى ديكتاتورية دينية، فلن تحصل على اي دعم. لكن ركناً معارضاً في هذه المجموعة قال إنه سيتم التنسيق مع القوى المعارضة الموجودة داخل سوريا وخارجها للتشجيع على التغيير الديموقراطي، وعلى تشكيل حكومة تحافظ على مصالح سوريا القومية، لافتاً إلى أنه شخصياً لا يدعم “الأخوان المسلمين”، ولكن في وجود نظام ديموقراطي مفتوح من حق الجميع ان يشاركوا في العملية الديموقراطية، ومن حق الشعب السوري أن يحصل على حقوقه المشروعة ولكن القرار له.
وخالف بيرل قول من يرى ان الشعوب العربية لا تصلح لها الديموقراطية، بل ان من حق كل شعب أن يختار من يحكمه شرط أن تكون الانتخابات حرة ونزيهة، لا أن تكون كما جرت في إيران مثلاً.
ومع ان المستشار السابق لوزارة الدفاع الاميركية أكد ان رأيه هذا يعبر عن وجهة نظره الشخصية ولا تعكس وجهة نظر الحكومة الاميركية لأنه لا يشغل اي منصب رسمي، فإن تصرّف إدارة الرئيس أوباما حيال النظام السوري حتى الآن فيه شدة بالكلام فقط.
وفي حديث للمسؤول السابق في الاستخبارات الاميركية روبرت بير أدلى به لمجلة لبنانية، أكد أن الرئيس السوري لن يستمر في الحكم أكثر من شهر آذار، وان حلف شمال الاطلسي سيتدخل بعد اسابيع ليفرض مناطق عازلة وبعد قتل مزيد من السوريين(…) وتوقع ان تشهد سوريا حرباً أهلية عقب رحيل الاسد قد لا تنتهي الا بالتقسيم… وعزا عدم تورط أميركا في سوريا الى ان الشرق الاوسط لم يعد ذا أهمية بالنسبة اليها(…).
وبسؤاله عن التغيير في المنطقة وكيف سيتم أجاب: “ان المثال في مصر حيث سيطر الاسلاميون على السلطة بينما تسيطر ايران وتركيا على الشرق الاوسط على حساب الولايات المتحدة الاميركية (…) والجميع في هذه الدول سيتبعون النموذج التركي”. وأبدى تخوفه “من حصول تطهير عرقي في سوريا تسفك فيه دماء كثيرة بحيث تشهد حمص ما شهدته حماه عام 1982، وعندئذ تفرض المناطق العازلة لحماية المدنيين ويصبح تدخل الاطلسي مطلوباً. وستأتي مرحلة المناطق العازلة بعد الانتهاء من قضية المراقبين لجامعة الدول العربية وإن بعد سقوط مزيد من القتلى، فهذه ولا شك كارثة ولكن هذه هي الثورات.
فعصر ثورة الشعوب السنية العربية بدأ وبدأت تظهر بوادر الخلافة الاسلامية من جديد. فالاخوان المسلمون هم وحدهم القادرون على تغليف الشرق الاوسط بالنموذج التركي وليس بنموذج بن لادن. فالشعوب تريد التغيير والتخلص من الفساد، والاستعمار الجديد مات بعد غزو العراق”.
إذا كان هذا هو رأي المستشار السابق في الاستخبارات الاميركية حول ما يجري في المنطقة، فما هو رأي اسرائيل؟
ثمة من يقول ان اسرائيل ستخيّر الحكام العرب الجدد بين القبول بسلام يجعلها تعيش مع غيرها داخل حدود آمنة، أو جعل الانظمة الهشة فيها تعيش حال فوضى لن تتوقف الا بتفكيكها لتصبح قابلة لقيام دويلات مذهبية وعرقية.
January 14th, 2012, 1:03 am
Mina said:
Did anyone note that in Bashar’s speech before the killing of the journalist, he was calling all the Syrians to come out schools, mosques, homes, into peaceful demonstrations? The answer was the attack in the Alawi neighborhood where the journalists had been brought. There has systematically been a bloddy escalation within 24 hours of any of Bashar’s speech.
January 14th, 2012, 2:03 am
Juergen said:
Mina
Interview with Alaa al Aswani author of the Yacobinian building
“The military counsel is engaging in an counterrevolution”
on Syria
“We see that in the last hours of the dictaorship all dictators act in the same way, even though the circumstances are different each time.
(Question) Do you think democracy will come to Syria? Yes of course, i am sure that we all are witnesses of the end of an era in the arab world. All of those countries had been occupied by English or the French. In the 50s and 60s those countries gained independence and all slided from occupation into dicatorships.What is happening now is the end of this era. That does not mean that all arabic countries will be democracies by tomorrow, but we will see substantial change because there is no way back.”
http://videos.arte.tv/fr/videos/square-6305150.html
January 14th, 2012, 3:24 am
Syria no kandahar said:
ألطريقه الاخوانيه الوهابيه القطريه التركيه لانقاذ المدنيين السوريين
January 14th, 2012, 4:06 am
Badr said:
Life in Damascus far from normal as crisis deepens
By Tim Whewell
BBC Newsnight, Damascus
January 14th, 2012, 4:12 am
majedkhaldoun said:
Mina
I, like others here on SC, we do not understand at all what you mean, you talk so vague and senetences that are unrelated and unconnected, if you want to make a point ,please make it clear,
Badr
People in Damascus are depressed and scared, they yearn for a change, they are not quiet among themselves,but are quiet in public, when they come to USA they tell horrible stories.
Please Badr, comment more.
January 14th, 2012, 7:49 am
Juergen said:
Syria crisis: Qatar calls for Arabs to send in troops The emir was also the first Arab leader to join military intervention in Libya Continue reading the main story
Syria CrisisDamascus far from normal as crisis deepens
Arab mission test
Civil war fears
Q&A: Syria sanctions
The ruler of the Gulf state of Qatar has said Arab countries should send troops into Syria to stop government forces killing civilians there.
Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani told US news channel CBS “some troops should go to stop the killing”.
It is the first time an Arab leader has publicly called for military intervention in Syria.
More than 5,000 civilians have been killed since anti-government protests erupted in Syria in March, the UN says.
Qatar was the first Arab country to join the Nato-led operation in Libya, which led to the downfall of Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi.
It has also led regional criticism of the crackdowns on protesters by President Bashar al-Assad in Syria and in Yemen by President Ali Abdullah Saleh.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16561493
January 14th, 2012, 8:19 am
Juergen said:
Mohamed ElBaradei will end Egypt presidency bid Mr ElBaradei has been an outspoken critic of Egypt’s military govenrment Continue
Egyptian politician and former head of the UN nuclear watchdog Mohamed ElBaradei is dropping his candidacy in presidental elections later this year.
Mr ElBaradei, who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2005, said he had taken his decision in protest at the way Egypt’s military rulers governed “as though no revolution had taken place”.
A military council has run Egypt since President Hosni Mubarak was ousted.
The election is scheduled to take place in June 2012.
A BBC Arabic reporter in Cairo said Mr ElBaradei – seen as one of the leading liberal candidates – had been the subject of a smear campaign even before he declared his candidacy.
Constitution
In his statement, Mr ElBaradei praised the young people who led the uprising against Mr Mubarak, who was toppled in February 2011 after 18 days of street protests.
“My conscience does not permit me to run for the presidency or any other official position unless it is within a democratic framework,” he said.
The BBC’s Jon Leyne, in Cairo, says the comments are fairly damning, coming from someone with such international prestige.
However, Mr ElBaradei’s critics will say he never stood much chance of becoming president, our correspondent adds.
Mr ElBaradei had wanted a new constitution to be drawn up from scratch before any elections took place.
However, the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (Scaf) opted to go ahead with parliamentary elections first.
The third round of voting has just concluded. The lower house of parliament will elect a 100-member assembly which will then draft a new constitution.
Mr ElBaradei played a prominent role in the Egyptian uprising but his secularist politics have been eclipsed by the main Islamist parties, the Muslim Brotherhood and the conservative Salafist Nour party.
The Islamists took the lion’s share of the vote in the first two rounds of elections and will dominate the new parliament.
Even on the liberal wing of Egyptian politics, feelings about Mr ElBaradei are very mixed, our correspondent says.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16561273
January 14th, 2012, 8:21 am
majedkhaldoun said:
Juergen
Qatar says the Arab states should send troops, I am sure this will be opposed by Algeria and Iraq, KSA will not send troops, Jordan may not participate,so who will send troops?I think it is wrong statement to make, I think they should help the FSA both by money and weapons,at the same time support an Iraqi revolution to neutralize Maliki,while the Gulf states must apply very strict sanction economically.
January 14th, 2012, 8:48 am
Juergen said:
majedkhaldoun
I agree, i think its just an verbal attack, they do not get this support by the others, not even the gulf council would alone be able to invade. I think Assad has shown that he is playing on time. Qatar knows that its power will end by 1st of March when Iraq will take over to preside the AL. I think the smartest move would be for Qatar to address the UN and I suppose not even all diplomatic options have been used yet.
January 14th, 2012, 9:04 am
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
Sanctions don’t mean a S***T if expats remittance and cash entry is not under those economic sanctions. That is 5-6 billions, added 5-6 Bil. from المنافقين الشيعة Munafekeen Shia in Iran, additional help from SOFA shia’s in Iraq, this can be a long ride for a decade or two. How many Syrians will perish by then? Few millions, you have another Pol Pot Regime in Damascus, you want me to prove it, just wait a decade.
January 14th, 2012, 9:47 am
Juergen said:
Aldenshe
i agree that sanctions are meaningless if member states offer loopholes. But dont you think you should leave labeling munafeekun or kafirun to salafis or better to the divine itself?
January 14th, 2012, 10:30 am
SANDRO LOEWE said:
The most incredible thinkg will be the faces of those from the status quo, including military, officials, decaying pro-modern Jr bourgoisie, corrupted new industrials and specially those new bourgoisie coming from the state ranks. Sons of a …. state rank. What will they say and what will their faces express when the ends come to the regime and its leader? How will they deal with the rest of those who never loved so much the regime?
January 14th, 2012, 10:45 am
Tara said:
Mina
Do you believe me now? There is no link between your statements. One sentence does not lead to another. We can’t understand your point most of the time. Please change. It is good to listen to the others. I limited my use of ” peasants” after told to do so. I hopefully became more “firm” after told to do do so. I am no longer posting a whole article, only a summary. Since you post a lot, it becomes quiet annoying when we don’t understand your point. Please make your posts worth reading by making your point clear. It raises my blood pressure when I read you.
January 14th, 2012, 10:47 am
SANDRO LOEWE said:
Many people is being tortured right now in many prisons and detainees centres in Syria. We always denounced Guantanamo. Well, what happens in Syria as you all know is much worse. Please just think of any human being who is being tortured, maybe he was picked up from the streets without having held a gun in his entire life. But specially think in their families, wives and sons who wait for days, weeks or months until they know if his husband or father is alive or simply died in unknown circumstances. Some of the pro Assad will spit at my face without feeling anything. But just think about it, maybe one day you or your families will find yourselves in the same situation.
January 14th, 2012, 10:52 am
zoo said:
Assad finds his margin to maneuver
Tony Badran , January 12, 2012 share
http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=351594
One of the more curious things about Bashar al-Assad’s latest rambling speech on Tuesday was his aggressive and typically condescending attack against his Gulf Arab foes. Coming 10 days before the Arab League monitoring mission is due to file its report, the timing of the Syrian dictator’s tirade was noteworthy. It seems that Assad, recognizing the divisions within the League’s ranks, estimated that the Arab body is paralyzed to move against him. With the international community equally immobilized, Assad is convinced he has a margin to maneuver.
What has allowed for Assad’s triumphalist posturing has been Russia’s unwavering support at the UN Security Council. With Moscow’s help, Assad succeeded in freezing the earlier momentum of the Arab camp, spearheaded by Qatar, which had been pushing to refer the Syrian case to the Security Council. Furthermore, having exacerbated Arab divisions by agreeing to the monitor mission, Assad is confident that there will be no consensus at the League to push for international action.
The Obama administration, meanwhile, is waiting for the monitors’ report before determining how to proceed. Leaks have emerged about the options the administration is mulling, and those continue to revolve mainly around plans for a strong Security Council resolution. However, this option remains unlikely in the near future, given the likelihood of continued Russian resistance. In other words, there seems to be nothing drastic on the horizon that would change the existing dynamic in Syria.
What has been remarkable about the administration’s policy is its apparent failure to anticipate the current quandary. In looking for the Arab League to assume leadership, Washington badly misread Arab dynamics. In that sense, betting so much on the Arab initiative was effectively a self-laid trap, of which Russia took full advantage.
The result of this approach has been to cede the initiative to the Russians. One thing Moscow has apparently tried to do is sponsor a national-unity government bringing together Assad and elements of the opposition, namely the National Coordination Body (NCB) led by Haitham Mannaa. This plan had Iranian support as well, as Tehran had reached out to Mannaa months ago.
This proposal was the other notable thing Assad referenced in his speech. While claiming openness to dialogue with the opposition, Assad set out to define his interlocutors and the terms of the dialogue. On the one hand, he rejected dialogue with an opposition “that sits in [foreign] embassies” – a reference to the Syrian National Council (SNC). On the other hand, Assad added, “We don’t want an opposition that talks to us in secret, so as not to upset anyone.”
The latter reference was to the NCB. In order not to discredit themselves, Mannaa and the NCB hid behind the Arab League initiative’s call for a national dialogue, and for a unified opposition, which Mannaa wanted to become the body that dialogues with the regime over the transitional period, as he told LBCI on Tuesday.
Assad wanted to corner the NCB into either entering into dialogue on the regime’s terms, or to push it to reject dialogue, thereby shifting the blame onto it. Indeed, following the speech, an NCB spokesperson rejected participating in a dialogue, let alone a joint government, with the regime before it ends all violence and detentions, releases all political prisoners, and allows peaceful protests – none of which will happen, of course.
Moreover, it’s possible that Assad also sought to impose his terms on the Russian initiative. Rejecting the moniker “national-unity government,” he instead called for an “expanded” government that would include oppositionists, alongside technocrats, loyalists and “independents.” In other words, Assad will not even allow for parity between him and the opposition. With Moscow’s proclivity to criticize the opposition’s supposed rigidity, the Syrian president may well figure that the Russians might continue to pressure the NCB. Either way, he buys more time.
It is obvious then that Assad still believes he can set the parameters of any initiative – as he continues to strike the protest movement “with an iron fist.” This cockiness is typical for Assad, but such tactics are also all he’s got. Furthermore, with the US still shying away from real leadership, the vacuum is being filled with such problematic proposals that only provide Assad with more time to act with impunity.
In the end, what is most alarming is the fact that the Obama administration continues not to advance a serious policy option. It also seems unsure how to proceed following the crashing failure of the Arab League initiative on which it had banked.
Having allowed others to call the shots, Washington has wasted time and must now operate in an even messier context. This all but ensures that the situation in Syria will get a lot worse, as Assad, playing a zero-sum game, feels he has little to fear in terms of active intervention to stop him
To read more: http://www.nowlebanon.com/NewsArticleDetails.aspx?ID=351594#ixzz1jRrpVoSt
Only 25% of a given NOW Lebanon article can be republished. For information on republishing rights from NOW Lebanon: http://www.nowlebanon.com/Sub.aspx?ID=125478
January 14th, 2012, 10:55 am
Juergen said:
Sandro Loewe
Can you imagine how weird it was today to hear and see 100 or so pro Assad demonstrators dancing their leader dabke and shouted their silly slogans inmidst of Berlin?
I am sure after the downfall you will just find people who always were in opposition to the regime, i guess its a human thing, no one likes to be in the loosing team.
January 14th, 2012, 10:59 am
irritated said:
Mina
The wild bunch is showing its ugly teeth. No wonder. They resort to attacking the messenger ‘style’ because the message disturbs them to the point they can’t understand it.
Be generous, that’s all they have left, insults and personal attacks.
January 14th, 2012, 11:26 am
majedkhaldoun said:
توقع إعلان انشاء المجلس العسكري السوري الأعلى المناهض للنظام في تركيا
Al Quds said
January 14th, 2012, 11:33 am
Revlon said:
Syria’s army weakened by growing desertions
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
AMMAN | Fri Jan 13, 2012 6:42pm EST
AMMAN (Reuters)
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/13/us-syria-defections-idUSTRE80C2IV20120113
The most senior commander to abandon the Syrian military during a 10-month uprising against President Bashar al-Assad said desertions were wearing down the army but rebels could take more than a year to topple him.
………………..
“If we get 25,000 to 30,000 deserters mounting guerrilla warfare in small groups of six or seven it is enough to exhaust the army in a year to a year-and-a-half, even if they are armed only with rocket-propelled grenades and light weapons,” he said in the telephone interview from south Turkey on Thursday.
……………….
“The desertions have been locally based and in small groups. Mass defections will occur when there is an open horizon and when the soldier feels there is an international decision to bring down the regime,” Sheikh said.
“Safe havens will help. If they are set up, whole units will defect and the regime will fall much quicker,” he said, referring to a possible buffer zone on the border with Turkey.
……………….
Sheikh said he decided to desert after he was told that a security police unit gang-raped the 20-year-old bride of a young anti-Assad activist in the countryside near Hama, and after security police sexually abused and filmed students who had rallied in the main commercial hub of Aleppo, whose influential merchants support Assad or have taken no side in the conflict.
January 14th, 2012, 11:54 am
mjabali said:
Dear Mina:
I am a fan of many of your ideas. I also enjoy reading your take on things.
I listen to what the “professionals” had to say against your solid ideas and I hear nothing of value: just a pile of waste.
An example for this is what they had to say when you were arguing for Women’s Rights. They scampered and pranced around with not one single idea that is fit for this time and age.
When you were talking about Women’s Rights, of course they did not understand you. You were talking from a different planet to these illiterate clowns.
They live in the Seventh Century. See their take on violence and how all of those opposing you are hardcore fans of violence. They have no respect for others of course.
One of them today is calling to incite violence in Iraq, a democratic state that elects its officials and has a modern party system. Notice, he is doing this while living in the United States, the country helped setting up this current good system in Iraq.
It is Hatred that is controlling them and making them thirsty for revenge so do not worry Mina if they can not understand your words: they are blinded, or your writing and ideas are really above their modest level.
January 14th, 2012, 12:14 pm
zoo said:
The Arab spring’s legacy. A year after Jasmine and Tahrir
Chinmaya R. Gharekhan January 14, 2012
http://www.thehindu.com/opinion/lead/article2799237.ece
The euphoria generated by the Jasmine and Tahrir revolutions has all but dissipated during the past year. The unrealistic expectations, the hype built up mainly by the western governments and the media have given way to doubt, disappointment and even despair over the fate of ‘Arab Spring.’ The concern of most observers in the international community is now focussed on the direction in which “people’s movements” in various countries will proceed, and on the loss of lives that occurred in Libya, Yemen and, to a less extent, Egypt, and that is continuing in Syria and can be expected to happen in some other countries in the region in the coming months.
….
Strengthening of Islamist groups
In all countries which have witnessed some degree of protests, Islamist groups have gained significant ground. In Tunisia, a ‘moderate’ Islamic party has won plurality of the vote. In Libya, where regional forces are refusing to give up their arms or disband their militias, hard-line Islamists, including loyalists of the al Qaeda, have secured influential positions. Egypt has surprised most observers, including knowledgeable Egyptians, by giving a huge electoral mandate to the Muslim Brotherhood and, more ominously, to Salafists; together, the two Islamist groups will control about 70 per cent seats in Parliament, to the great disappointment of the ‘secular’ forces. Similarly, in Yemen, the extremists have gained ground and will emerge as the most influential force as and when President Saleh leaves the country. The same phenomenon is evident in Syria in an acuter form. Bahrain is possibly an exception in the sense that the conflict there is between the minority Sunni ruling family and the majority Shia community.
The success of the Islamists by itself need not be seen as a negative outcome, except perhaps by Israel. Their success is an indication of the disillusionment of people with the ‘secular’ authoritarian regimes as well as the reward for the socially useful work they have been doing such as running hospitals and schools. Whatever the nature of the new governments, people will enjoy more freedoms and will have a greater say in running the affairs of the state.
….
More attention on Palestine
The Palestinian issue will receive much more attention and focus from the new regimes, which probably would mean more support for Hamas. Israel, which already feels threatened by Iran’s nuclear programme, will be under increased pressure to suspend settlement building.
…
Syrian issue
Syria is a complex case but certain facts are clear. (1) There is genuine popular demand for reform. (2) There is repression and use of ruthless force by the regime — at the same time, it continues to enjoy the support of the security forces and significant sections. (3) There is open intervention by external powers and groups such as the Brotherhood as well as elements subscribing to the al-Qaeda ideology, if not the al-Qaeda itself. (4) Many dissident groups are well armed and have killed a number of security forces. (5) Western powers are determined to bring about regime change. (6) Israel is greatly interested in seeing Bashar Assad removed even if the alternative will be a fundamentalist regime. Its priority is Iran and whatever weakens Iran in the region is considered to be in Israel’s interest. Bashar’s removal will greatly diminish the Hezbollah’s ability to threaten Israel and also reduce Hamas’ clout. (7) Unless a solution is found soon, the country will be headed towards a bloody civil war.
…
Increased Shia-Sunni tensions
The Saudi hostility to Damascus has everything to do with the Shia-Sunni divide. Turkey’s current antagonism to Syria has many explanations and the Shia-Sunni factor is one of them. The Turkey-Syria-Iraq triangle offers quite a few fertile grounds for conflict — water, the Kurdish problem, Shia-Sunni hatred, etc. There is a tendency to downplay the Shia-Sunni tension but it is very much a fact of the Muslim life and it is better to recognise it.
In sum, the region is likely to remain unstable for quite some time. It would become destabilised should the Iranian nuclear issue lead to extremely harsh sanctions — and the process has begun — or worse, military action.
{…}
January 14th, 2012, 12:17 pm
irritated said:
Majedalkhaldoon
“I think they should help the FSA both by money and weapons”
Did it occur to you, that except for a few cynical warmongers, nobody has any trust in the FSA. Even Qatar the Great ignores them.
January 14th, 2012, 12:24 pm
ann said:
Terrorists attack a fuel train in northern Idlib province – 2012-01-14
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/14/c_131360489.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — A train ferrying fuel was derailed and set ablaze Saturday when an explosive device planted by “terrorists” went off in Idlib province in northern Syria, state-run SANA news agency reported.
The “terrorist” attack led to the wounding of three crew members and caused damages worth around 30 million Syrian pounds ( 600,000 U.S. dollars), said SANA, adding the train was set ablaze but the fire was later extinguished.
George Muq’bouri, general director of the railway institutions, was quoted by SANA as saying that the attack was carried out at 8: 00 a.m., noting that the train was ferrying about 20 tankers loaded with 1,000 tons of fuel used for generating electricity.
He said the first carriage, and 14 fuel tankers overturned, adding that a number of carriages caught fire.
On July 23 of last year, sabotaging groups have attacked a passenger train at al-Souda area in central Syria, the driver was killed instantly and a number of passengers wounded, according to SANA.
The train was on a journey from Aleppo to Damascus carrying aboard 480 passengers most of them women and children, said the TV.
January 14th, 2012, 12:28 pm
irritated said:
#723 Revlon
Do you happen to know many soldiers deserters does the FSA have now?
The number seems to be kept secret.
January 14th, 2012, 12:31 pm
ann said:
Syria condemns suicide attack on Shiite pilgrims in Iraq – 2012-01-15
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/15/c_131360600.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — Syria’s foreign ministry on Saturday condemned the suicide bombing attack that targeted Shiite pilgrims in Iraq earlier in the day, which left 53 people killed and dozens of others injured.
In a statement faxed to Xinhua, the ministry expressed its deep condolences to the families of the victims and condemned the ” terrorist act that led to the killing of innocent people including women and children.”
Up to 53 people were killed and some 137 others wounded in a suicide bomb attack targeting Shiite pilgrims in Iraq’s southern city of Basra on Saturday as hundreds of thousands of Shiites converge on the holy city of Karbala, some 110 km south of Baghdad.
This is the latest in a series of attacks that targeted Shiite pilgrims during the past two weeks leading to the climax day of the Arbaeen ritual, which marks the end of 40 days of mourning for Imam Hussein, Prophet Mohammad’s grandson who was killed in the battle of Karbala in 680 A.D.
According to official figures, up to a total of 16 million pilgrims have passed through Karbala city during the past two weeks, the state-run television of Iraqia reported.
Among them were some 500,000 Shiite pilgrims from 32 Arab and other countries to mark the Arbaeen ritual, the official channel said.
Insurgents frequently attack Shiite pilgrims who perform communal rituals in Iraq, in an attempt to provoke sectarian strife in the violence-shattered country.
January 14th, 2012, 12:33 pm
Revlon said:
Qatar emir suggests sending Arab troops to Syria
By Khaled Yacoub Oweis
AMMAN | Sat Jan 14, 2012 10:07am EST
AMMAN (Reuters) –
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/14/us-syria-idUSTRE8041A820120114
Qatar has proposed sending Arab troops to halt the bloodshed in Syria, where violence has raged despite the presence of Arab League monitors sent to check if an Arab peace plan is working.
Asked if he was in favor of Arab nations intervening in Syria, Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani told the U.S. broadcaster CBS: “For such a situation to stop the killing … some troops should go to stop the killing.”
The emir, whose country backed last year’s NATO campaign that helped Libyan rebels topple Muammar Gaddafi, is the first Arab leader to propose Arab military intervention in Syria where protesters are demanding President Bashar al-Assad stand down.
CBS said on its website that the interview would be broadcast in its “60 Minutes” programme on Sunday.
Qatar’s prime minister heads the Arab League committee on Syria and has said killings have not stopped despite the presence of Arab monitors sent there last month.
In the preview of the interview on the website, the emir did not spell out how any Arab military intervention might work.
……………….
Personal Comment
The quote does not show that the Emir uttered the words “Arab troops” . Instead, he said: “some troops”
Will have to see the full interview to clarify that point.
The mandate is: to stop the killing!
Who shall approve the mandate? AL? Syria?
– AL can not approve such mandate in the presence of Iraque, Algeria, Sudan, Yemen, and Lebanon.
– Jr, as late as a couple of days ago made it clear that he was bent on finishing off the conspiracy!
The only mandate underwich the regime would allow Arab troops into Syria would be to help them quel the uprising.
Of course the commander and most of the force members shall be hand picked by Jr from one of the pro-regime states.
My estimation is that the Emir would not have made such suggestion without a prior consultation with, or suggestion by the US!
January 14th, 2012, 12:34 pm
Revlon said:
728. Dear irritated:
((#723 Revlon: Do you happen to know many soldiers deserters does the FSA have now? The number seems to be kept secret)).
Sorry! I do not know!
Cheers!
January 14th, 2012, 12:38 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
Zabadani and Madaya region has no phone coverage. Most probably they do no have electricity either. I have spent last 2 days trying to contact mobile and fix numbers and it is impossible. Massacre may be still ongoing. Many thanks to the AL (Anti-democratic League) for sponsoring Assad Dictatorship while giving it time to massacre armed and unarmed opposition, civils and desertors. Just when most countries in AL turn to be democratic the AL will be ready to defend democrats against dictators. In Europe it took some revolutions, 2 world wars, being conquered by USA and URSS to begin to be some kind of west democrats. Let´s see what is the Syria itinerary.
January 14th, 2012, 12:40 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Irritated
Last friday the demonstrators all over Syria call for the support of FSA, all 498 demonstrations ,million people call to support the FSA
Further more and more are joining the FSA and deserting the army, remember they all Syrians .
Mjabali
Mina english is very weak, I suspect this is her third language, for example Bloddy, or when she says the answer to Assad speach come out school ,,into peaceful demonstrations, where did Assad said that?
Again you consider Iraq democratic country, that says what your level.
and please stop personal attack, as I proved to you we can match it, remember where you came from, but what we need here is your idea not personal attack.
January 14th, 2012, 12:43 pm
Tara said:
Asma said she married Bashar because of the values he embodied! I very well know this is an utter lie
http://uk.news.yahoo.com/syrias-first-lady-falling-grace-111237882.html
But today, Syria’s First Lady is being likened to a modern-day Marie-Antoinette, drawing criticism for staying mum on a crisis that has left more than 5,000 people dead in her country.
The British-born Asma al-Assad, who virtually disappeared from the public eye after the revolt broke out in Syria in mid-March, made a surprise appearance this week to support her husband Bashar as he spoke at a pro-regime rally.
….
“This shows that she is standing by her man, that she and him are on the same page,” said Andrew Tabler, an expert on Syria and former press adviser to local charities run by the First Lady.
“She is clearly part of the regime.”
Her appearance, however, has also drawn scathing criticism.
“Bashar’s wife and kids cheer on daddy the dictator,” one tweet scoffed.
“The British should withdraw Asma Assad’s passport and those of her parents as accessories to a war criminal,” fumed another.
But the former investment banker continues to attract admiration among supporters of the Assad regime.
“You deserve to be the First Lady of the whole world!” gushed a post on one of the many Facebook pages dedicated to the slim, brown-haired Asma.
….
Tall, stylish and charismatic, Asma al-Assad is the picture of glamour: in designer outfits and her trademark Christian Louboutin heels, her impeccable British accent and credentials have helped promote the soft side of an iron-fisted regime.
“She was an important part of the public relations of the regime,” Tabler said.
“She has an obsession with fashion,” he added. “How do you reconcile this princess-like image with one of the poorest countries in the Middle East?”
….
During a 2010 visit to France, Asma told French weekly Paris Match that she had married Bashar for the “values” he embodied.
Read more…
January 14th, 2012, 12:48 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
I suggest that all members sharing posts in Syria Comment, when copying and pasting an article just give the link, and not the whole pasted article. If you give the link we can decide if we wanna read it or not. I mean SC should not be a press revue but a forum for comments and opinions on Syria from people with special links and knowledges about the region. When I read fully copied articles posted by IRRITATED, DEFENDER, MINA, JAD, SNK, etc I feel I am in a kind of free of charge propaganda forum. I do not think news written by a stageur indian, russian, canadian or chinese young reporter who has never been in Syria, and probably not out of his own country can add too much to the depth of the whole question.
January 14th, 2012, 12:49 pm
ann said:
735. SANDRO LOEWE said:
“””I suggest that all members sharing posts in Syria Comment..”””
I suggest you leave SC
January 14th, 2012, 1:02 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
I wonder who wrote this about Asma Al Assad:
¨Tall, stylish and charismatic, Asma al-Assad is the picture of glamour: in designer outfits and her trademark Christian Louboutin heels, her impeccable British accent and credentials have helped promote the soft side of an iron-fisted regime.¨
Take any bedouin girl and dress it by a stylist and you will get the Queen Zenobia herself. The most hilarious is when it says STYLISH AND CHARISMATIC…. Stylish…. I am not too much introduced in fashion world but everyday and night I meet one hundred girls more styilish in Damascus, Homs, Aleppo, Beirut, Amman, Deir ez Zor and even in the desert bedouin tents.
As per CHARISMA, of course when idolatry is promoted by a source of power like a state charisma comes quickly. But frankly I do not see anything he did for reaching merits.
Finally, IMPECCABLE BRITISH ACCENT, I remind you that JACK THE RIPPER had a perfect english accent too.
January 14th, 2012, 1:05 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
736, ANN
I guess you have fascist tendencies and dictatorial impulses.
In our democracy´s concept one can express an idea without being invited to leave. In your democracy any idea should be fighted by trying to make disappear the actor not the word. This is the difference. We talk about ideas and projects for the future, while you would make disappear people who do not accept your ideas.
January 14th, 2012, 1:13 pm
Tara said:
Sandro
I agree. On the beauty level, I give her 4-5 out of 10 as a baseline that improve to 5-6 based on hairstyle. On the charisma level, may be 4 to 5. Syrian girls in general are typically prettier.
January 14th, 2012, 1:15 pm
ann said:
738. SANDRO LOEWE
DEGAGE!
January 14th, 2012, 1:18 pm
irritated said:
Tara and Sandro Loewe
Jealousy, night and day you torture me…
January 14th, 2012, 1:28 pm
mjabali said:
Majedkhaldoun:
Of course I know where I came from and as for personal attacks: I never cursed at you at all while you cursed at my mother and sister and never apologized.
If I was not polite describing you: that is another matter, but still does not justify why you cursed at my mother, my sister, and the sect you suspect I am from. You have Zero respect for many people in your logic and this is wrong especially when you live in a society with multi cultures. What’s wrong with you didn’t you learn from living in America?
You cursed at the sect you think I am from on numerous occasions. All I did was to be impolite here and there and of course be of a different opinion other than yours. Of course I know where I came from, and there they teach us how not to curse at people’s mothers and sisters.
As for language you are the last to talk about Mina’s language. She is above your level.
As for my ideas: do you think you can open your ears and listen and agree on something with the likes of me who is not from your non-Kafir sect? Can you look beyond the limited scope of your sect?
Can you learn how to respect other people’s opinions? Can you learn how to be inclusive and comprehend that people who are not like you are not Kuffar/infidels?
My ideas for Syria starts with the call for the immediate halt to all violence can you agree on that? Can you help implement it?
ALL indications now point to more violence and rising in the level of military operations. At the end all Syrians are going to die and for sure I know where they came from: mostly poor.
January 14th, 2012, 1:34 pm
aldendeshe said:
@737. SANDRO LOEWE said:
“I wonder who wrote this about Asma Al Assad:”
Someone that got paid a lot of money to lie big. He/ she makes a living at it, so don’t read the crap, trust your own opinion.
January 14th, 2012, 1:36 pm
zoo said:
“the Free Syrian Army said it had about 40,000 fighters under its command.”
Intel general defects from Syria to Turkey
Saturday,January 14 2012, Your time is 2:03:07 P
ISTANBUL – Hürriyet Daily News
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/intel-general-defects-from-syria-to-turkey.aspx?pageID=238&nid=11463
A second high-ranking Syrian commander has defected to Turkey and is helping lead the fight against Damascus, Turkish officials confirm.
A brigadier general in charge of intelligence defected to Turkey from the Syrian military two weeks ago and held a secret meeting with the leaders of the Syrian National Council in Hatay on Jan. 11, the Hürriyet Daily News has learned.
Mostafa Ahmad al-Sheikh, the deputy commander in charge of Syria’s northern army, defected to Turkey two weeks ago and has been staying in the same camp as Col. Riad al-Asaad, the leader of the Free Syrian Army and another defector.
Turkish Foreign Ministry sources have confirmed the al-Sheikh’s defection and the Jan. 11 meeting in the southern province.
The Jan. 11 meeting in Hatay brought together the two high-ranking defectors and council leader Burhan Ghalioun, as well as the body’s executive committee members; Mahmud Osman, who sits on the council, said the body decided to support the Free Syrian Army both financially and morally.
Osman said they had also set up two criteria for the restructuring of the anti-government army. “Priority will be given to the soldiers who defected earlier from the Syrian army. But defecting soldiers’ former ranks in the Syrian army will also be taken into consideration.”
The council and the high-level defectors “extensively discussed the situation on the ground and the organizational capacity of the [anti-government army],” the body said in a statement, according to an Agence France-Presse report.
“The parties agreed to formulate a detailed plan, including the reorganization of [anti-government army] units and brigades and the creation of a format to accommodate within [its] ranks additional officers and soldiers, especially senior military officials, who side with the revolution,” it said.
Formed from deserters from the regular army who mutinied over the regime’s deadly 10-month crackdown on anti-government protests, the Free Syrian Army said it had about 40,000 fighters under its command.
The numbers cannot be independently verified, although Syrian authorities have acknowledged mounting losses at the hands of the rebels in recent months.
“The [council] proposed a plan of action concerning mechanisms and avenues of support to be offered to pro-revolution sectors of the Syrian military,” the group’s statement said. “Additionally, a direct channel of communication between the [council] and [the anti-government army] will be established … to ensure effective coordination between the two. The [council] intends to establish a liaison office with the [the anti-government army] in order to maintain direct communications around the clock.”
The council initially opposed the use of force against President Bashar al-Assad when an uprising against his rule erupted last March.
January 14th, 2012, 2:05 pm
Juergen said:
Sandro
usually to get such press one pays for it. There were reports that there was an us pr company which made the embarrassing article in the vogue magazine possible. I have seen journalists who write such articles, usually there is a plot which is written beforehand, kind of what kind of message the article should transport. They did not leave anything to the uncertain,the message was surely to portray her as the new Diana of the Orient, even the star photographer Mario Testino was flown in to make the photos of her, needless to say that the most famous pictures of Lady Di were always his creation. The Christian Louboutin heels part is definately from the article itself. Usually such images are kept and portrayed further, so you change the image of a person, thats how professional pr is working.
Here is the original article:
http://www.alaa-alazem.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=242%3Aasma-al-assad-a-rose-in-the-desert&catid=45%3Aothers&Itemid=18&lang=en
January 14th, 2012, 2:06 pm
zoo said:
Qatari Leader Favors Sending Arab Troops to Syria
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: January 14, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2012/01/14/world/middleeast/AP-ML-Syria.html?_r=1
BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Qatar has said that Arab troops should be sent to Syria to stop a deadly crackdown that has claimed the lives of thousands of people over the past 10 months..
Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s comments to CBS “60 Minutes,” which will be aired Sunday, are the first statements by an Arab leader calling for the deployment of troops inside Syria. They come amid growing claims that a team of Arab observers dispatched to the country to curb the bloodshed has failed in its mission.
Asked whether he is in favor of Arab nations intervening in Syria, Sheik Hamad said that “for such a situation to stop the killing some troops should go to stop the killing.”
…
On Saturday, the leader of Lebanon’s militant Hezbollah group, a strong ally of Assad’s regime, urged Iran, Turkey and Arab states to work on ending the crisis in Syria which many fear could ignite a sectarian war in the region between Sunni and Shiite Muslims.
Sheik Hassan Nasrallah also urged Syria’s opposition groups inside and outside the country to “cooperate with President Assad to carry out reforms” and end the crisis.
…
January 14th, 2012, 2:11 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
JUERGEN,
Thanks for this link, very ¨charming article¨.
Everyday I see begging children sleeping in the streets and bridges of Damascus and other 5 to 10 years old childs smoking and asking money in front of restaurants I wonder WHERE IS THE ROSE OF DAMASCUS and her CHILDREN FOUNDATIONS?
Also I wonder if she ever founded a charity association for victims of torture and long stays in syrian prisons for political reasons.
January 14th, 2012, 2:15 pm
ann said:
Arab FMs likely to discuss observer mission report on Syria on Jan. 22 – 2012-01-15
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/15/c_131360615.htm
CAIRO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) — Arab League (AL) Deputy Secretary General Ahmed Ben Helli said Saturday that Arab foreign ministers are likely to meet on Jan. 22 to discuss the report of the AL’s observer mission in Syria.
The AL official was quoted by Egypt’s official news agency MENA as saying that the AL ministerial committee in charge of handling the Syrian crisis is likely to meet on Jan. 21, and the report issued by the Arab monitors will be discussed a day later.
Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mostafa al-Dabi, head of the Arab observer mission in Syria, is to submit his report to AL chief Nabil al-Arabi on Jan. 20.
Helli added that the AL will hold another meeting on Jan. 29 to discuss the recent developments of the Palestinian reconciliation, the Israeli violations and the judaization of Jerusalem.
January 14th, 2012, 2:22 pm
Juergen said:
Sandro
The only good thing is that we dont know until now if she has committed any crimes, in Romania Elena Ceaucescu was much more feared than her husband, also our first lady was a living hell to some as minister of education it was her who decided if children were taken into custody if the parents were in opposition. Of course her intention was to safe the children from their crazy parents.
January 14th, 2012, 2:23 pm
Dale Andersen said:
From the CIA/Saudi/Salafist/Jew/EU/al-Qaeda Press:
“…in an interview to be broadcast Sunday, the emir of Qatar, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, told the U.S. television network CBS that some Arab troops should go to Syria to stop the killing…”
January 14th, 2012, 2:38 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
الشعب السوري رهينة عصابة مجرمين دموية تعمل تحت اسم حزب سياسي ولها واجهة وتؤيدها دولة المنافقين الشيعية- انقذو الوطن والشعب السوري من الذل وسفاحين الدماء اللذي واجهتهم بشار الأسد
העם הסורי ערובה כנופיה של פושעים הדמים ההפעלה תחת השם של מפלגה פוליטית
叙利亚人民人质下的政党名称经营的罪犯团伙的血腥
Syriske folk gidsel blodige bande af kriminelle, der opererer under navnet politisk parti
Сирийский народ заложником кровавая банда преступников, действующих в рамках названия политической партии
Suriye halkı rehin siyasi partinin adı altında faaliyet gösteren suçluların kanlı çete
Syriska folket gisslan blodiga banditgäng verkar under namnet politiskt parti
Συρίας ανθρώπων ως ομήρων, αιματηρή συμμορία κακοποιών, που δρουν κάτω από το όνομα του πολιτικού κόμματος
Syrische Volk als Geisel blutige Bande von Kriminellen, die unter dem Namen der politischen Partei
सीरिया बंधक राजनीतिक पार्टी के नाम के तहत ऑपरेटिंग अपराधियों के खूनी गिरोह लोग
Povo sírio refém sangrentas entre gangues de criminosos que operam sob o nome de partido político
مردم سوریه گروگان باند خونین جنایتکاران عامل تحت نام حزب سیاسی
January 14th, 2012, 2:40 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Mjabali
All of us are against violence, It is the regime who started and continue the violence in a very brutal way I did not hear you condemning Assad, more that that Assad is using Shabbiha and security forces and army all of them are controlled by Allawis, the mojority of Alawis are supporting Assad in his brutal and criminal violence ,I did not hear you saying anything against them.
Mjabali, let me teach you something, there is difference between personally insulting someone and call him stupid,Ajdab,Az3ar and saying your idea is stupid, you have insulted me personally several time I had to respond to teach that you must stop, personal insult is stupid,and you certainly started this.
Further Mr Mjabali, IT was not respect from you to insult any religion, religion is personal, and when you insult religion you are not respectful, you did not like it for me to insult your family, family and religion must not be insulted, do you understand , you must be polite and never attack religion,and this is a red line if you repeat it again I will consider that personal insult and will respond in personal attack.
January 14th, 2012, 2:43 pm
ann said:
Qatar backs foreign invasion of Syria – Sat Jan 14, 2012
Qatar’s Emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, has said he believes Arab troops should be deployed to Syria to stop what he refers to as the deadly crackdown by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221060.html
The comments were made during an interview on CBS’s ’60 Minutes’ program, which is due to be aired on Sunday. The Associated Press, however, received excerpts of the interview on Saturday.
Sheikh Hamad is the first Arab leader to publicly call for the deployment of Arab troops in Syria.
The Qatari emir has ruled the Persian Gulf state since 1995. He came to power after deposing his father in a palace coup and was crowned on June 2000.
Moreover, Sheikh Hamad hardly tolerates any dissent and controls the country’s discretionary system of law.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March, with demonstrations being held both against and in favor of President al-Assad’s government.
Hundreds of people, including many members of the Syrian security forces, have been killed during the unrest.
The Syrian government says outlaws, saboteurs, and armed terrorists are the driving factor behind the turmoil and deadly violence, while the opposition accuses the security forces of being behind the killings.
Damascus also says that the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country and that the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians.
January 14th, 2012, 2:44 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Syria is ruled by a puppet and deployed Baathist puppets ببغاء to repeat this mantra:
“…the security forces have been given clear instructions not to harm civilians….”
6000+ dead Syrians so far, when it will stop. Help Syrians, please put stop to this Shia backed and supported genocide against Syrians.
January 14th, 2012, 2:57 pm
Juergen said:
The brave people of Homs. I dont know if you all know this story that the Homsi people are seen as a bit crazy or better say they have an special attitude towards life. Rafik Schami, this syrian author who lives in Germany wrote a nice story about them. Syria 1400, The Mongols were on their way to destroy Homs on the way to Aleppo, Damascus was already destroyed by them.The council of Homs debatted what to do to survive the barbaric Mongols. So they decided on a funny plan. The next day the whole city met on the river Orontes and all inhabitants crossdressed, some were naked and wore nothing but a turban. As the Mongols arrived and saw the Homsi people act so strangely they left the city as they thought there is a strange fever in this city. Since then the people of Homs have the reputation of being a bit more crazy than the rest of the country, and the people of homs are smart enough to keep it that way…
French reportage about life in Homs, filmed in December.
January 14th, 2012, 3:03 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
“……..religion is personal, and when you insult religion you are not respectful…”
The key word here is PERSONAL. You cannot demand nor should you expect respect for your religion if it leaves the personal believes roam and enter the PUBLIC POLITCIAL roam. You can, and should expect, violence against you and your religion, when it claims that it is the only truth and it force its way to publicly rule an entire nation of millions as a Political Force. Especially, when it claims to be and rule as the only POLITICAL REGIME allowed in a country.
January 14th, 2012, 3:06 pm
irritated said:
#750 Dale Andersen
Thanks for parroting #746 and #753.
January 14th, 2012, 3:11 pm
Mina said:
The Mongols in 1400?? You mean 1260.
January 14th, 2012, 3:13 pm
Juergen said:
the proassad demonstration today in Berlin has not published yet their musicvideo, so addicted to the supreme leader wait a bit, i will post it as soon its online, so far only our video of our protest against their demonstration is out:
January 14th, 2012, 3:20 pm
Juergen said:
Mina
there were two wars with the Mongols in 1260 under Kublai Khan and 1400-1402 under Timur Lenk, Homs was targeted both times.
January 14th, 2012, 3:26 pm
Juergen said:
The Pro Assad demonstration in Berlin today, no dabke dancing today, last time they had an music system and a truck. Well
sic gloria transit mundi, Thus passes the glory of the world!
January 14th, 2012, 3:36 pm
Mina said:
Irritated, Mjabali,
Thanks for your support!
Now that Israel, the Gulf, the US and the EU are in complete agreement to attack Iran (and even the “democracies” among them will not put that to referendum), I cannot see how could Bashar resign, even if he wanted. Since Syria is an ally of Iran and Lebanon, for geopolitical and historical reason, it simply makes no sense. Just as the alliances between the UK-US and the Gulf is not one that can vanish in a day (and even when 90 percent of their democratic citizens would like so).
Jürgen,
Usually, Timur is considered the first Timurid, not the last Mongol.
January 14th, 2012, 3:43 pm
irritated said:
#760
Homs: After the Mongols horses, the Qatari elephants.
January 14th, 2012, 3:45 pm
Juergen said:
probably the younges defector and the only girl ever to defect?
January 14th, 2012, 3:45 pm
Juergen said:
Thank you Tunisia!
The regime may thought that the song of Quashush would disminish, here is a vital sign it has survived, even though the potrayed statesmen claims in the ABC interview he doesnt know it…
January 14th, 2012, 3:52 pm
Syria no kandahar said:
Terrorgen
Keep the kids out of this killing and dirty civil war.
January 14th, 2012, 3:55 pm
irritated said:
Juergen #764
I hope that that the FSA will be provided with funds for a kindergarten soon.
Why wasn’t any collection of the funds for the FSA kindergarten in the Germany inspiring anti-regime demonstration that you proudly posted?
January 14th, 2012, 4:00 pm
defender said:
لا يوجد أبطال في الحروب الأهلية، ومن يتدخل فيها هم أبطال سلبيون”.
“يجب ترك سورية وشأنها ومساعدة الأطراف المتنازعة في إيجاد مخرج من المواجهة نحو الحوار السياسي. ليس هناك طريق آخر. كل حرب تنتهي بسلام، والسؤال – ما ثمن هذا السلام. لذلك لا يجب التدخل في سورية، إذ أنه أمر خطير”.
“إننا نرى أن تدخل الغرب من أجل ديمقرطة الأنظمة السياسية في الشرق الأوسط وشمال أفريقيا نتج عنه في جميع الاحوال وصول الإسلاميين إلى الحكم. إذا كان الغرب يعتقد بأن العيش بجوار الدول التي تعتمد أنظمتها السياسية على الشريعة سيكون مريحا له، فهذا اختياره بلا شك. لكني أعتبر أنه يتميز بقصر النظر”.
دميتري روغوزين – نائب رئيس الوزراء الروسي، الممثل الخاص للرئيس الروسي للعلاقات مع حلف الناتو
January 14th, 2012, 4:00 pm
Syria no kandahar said:
مزيدا من الاعمال البطوليه لخنازير وخراتيت سوريا امثال terrorgenوThe terrorist MD
January 14th, 2012, 4:05 pm
Mina said:
Since Qatar knows how a country should be ruled, could we know more about its institutions? If the guy dies from a heart attack tomorrow, will there be another coup like the one who brought that guy instead of his father?
Qatar is becoming the new paradise of outlaws in this world: Sakher Matri, who was Tunisia’s Rami Makhlouf, the Taliban, Qardawi, soon Hamas. Who else is to come?
http://blog.lefigaro.fr/malbrunot/2012/01/rencontre-au-qatar-avec-le-gen.html
For Bashar’s speech, it was wishful thiking: I heard only the beginning of the sentence that says:
“”I salute you while you get out from Mosques, churches, schools and universities as to stand against westernization and to support Arabization, and assert the role of your institutions, on top of which the institution of the Army and Armed Forces, whose martyrs are every day martyred so that we are secure and free,” underscored President al-Assad.”
By the way, I am not sure anyone has pasted the full speech at Damascus university:
http://www.muslimnews.co.uk/news/news.php?article=21467
January 14th, 2012, 4:07 pm
defender said:
640. SYRIALOVER said:
Why inflict 9 irrelevant news items on us in two hours?
comment pl.
745. JUERGEN
749. JUERGEN
755. JUERGEN
759. JUERGEN
760. JUERGEN
761. JUERGEN
764. JUERGEN
765. JUERGEN
January 14th, 2012, 4:09 pm
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
Juergen #765,
Wow this clip is powerful! I believe it was taken during the demonstration in Tunis, commemorating Buazizi R.I.P. and the beginning of the (so called) Arab Spring. Just one year… to me is seems like ages.
.
January 14th, 2012, 4:29 pm
zoo said:
Qatar’s presence criticized:
““We thank them for selling Tunisia to these people!”
Tunisia: Pride and despair one year after revolt
14/01 16:54 CET
http://www.euronews.net/2012/01/14/tunisia-pride-and-despair-one-year-after-revolt/
The Arab Spring is one year old and they have been celebrating in the place where it all started – Tunisia.
People gathered in Bourguiba Avenue in Tunis where protests against the then President Ben Ali reached their climax, forcing him to flee a year ago today.
Despite Tunisia’s progress since, problems remain including poverty, unemployment and corruption.
Others are angry about close ties between Tunisia’s new Islamist-led coalition and Qatar which is accused of buying influence in the country.
“We are grieving today,” a woman said.
“The current regime is giving us a day to celebrate the revolution. They are giving an invitation to Qatar to celebrate this occasion,” she added, referring to the visit of its Emir.
“We thank them for selling Tunisia to these people!”
Our correspondent in Tunisia, Jamel Ezzedini, said:
“Tunisia’s revolution is marking its first anniversary but it still has a long way to go before its objectives are reached. Tunisians are in the streets today to celebrate, but also to remind the leadership that the revolution that toppled Ben Ali can get rid of them too if they have not yet learned the lesson.”
One man in the crowd said he had been suffering for the last six months and that nobody cared.
“They arrested my son for no reason, six months ago. He was wrongly accused. He went to the police station to pick up an identity document and never came back,” he said, struggling to hold back tears.
January 14th, 2012, 4:34 pm
defender said:
one fisherman sees another from afar!
January 14th, 2012, 4:46 pm
Mina said:
The picture that the BBC has picked says it all!!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16561493
January 14th, 2012, 5:02 pm
Syrialover said:
Defender #771
Good point. But there are important differences between that and what you and others now do on this site.
1. Juergen is thinking and COMMENTING (not only randomly cut-pasting) and 2. it is about SYRIA and 3. he is aware of and responding to the DISCUSSION.
If you did the same there would have been no objections from me.
And the comments section on SC would regain some of the interest and quality it used to have. Go back over the years and have a look.
January 14th, 2012, 5:12 pm
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
SC lately is infested with flocks of acute mnhebaks. It became an emotional challenge to enter this blog. And also a physical one. I have to fight hard the urge to puke when I see what the mnhebaks write here.
.
January 14th, 2012, 5:13 pm
irritated said:
Mina #775
You can’t blame the BBC photograph, he did his best.
January 14th, 2012, 5:26 pm
irritated said:
Amir in Tel Aviv
“I have to fight hard the urge to puke when I see what the mnhebaks write her”
It’s bad for your health to fight that urge. Relax, internet does not carry smell yet!
January 14th, 2012, 5:30 pm
zoo said:
Interview with Amr Moussa
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=28098
….
[Asharq Al-Awsat] There have been claims that the Muslim Brotherhood affiliated Freedom and Justice Party will back current Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby for the presidency. Have you given this scenario any thought?
[Moussa] No, I have not thought about this. I am in contact with everybody, and with Dr. Nabil Elaraby, and also with [Advisory Council president] Mansour Hassasn, and others. Their position is that they are outside of the scope of presidential candidacy, however even if this did occur…then I welcome it. When the name of Nabil Elaraby, or any other, is put forward, this does not bother me, indeed I welcome it.
….
About SYRIA
[Asharq Al-Awsat] What about the Syrian regime continuing to kill Syrian citizens at this time? It seems that the Arab League is not dealing with the Syrian revolution in the same manner as the Libyan revolution. Why is that?
[Moussa] Libya was in between two countries where change had taken place, namely Tunisia and Egypt; therefore it was hard to avoid such change. Syria is in a region that does not respond to revolutions. It is also an extremely sensitive region…being next to Israel, as well as Arab states that fear certain political developments. Syria is next to Iraq, Turkey, and others. However this by no means justifies the use of violence against citizens, nor does it justify the death of 5,000 citizens in clashes with the government. I am not in the picture regarding what precisely the Arab League is doing [with regards to Syria], but I believe that the Arab League delegation of monitors must be considered a first step, and not the end of the road. As I said, the situation in Syria is different to Libya. There are a number of complexities surrounding the Syrian situation; however this does not justify the bloodshed that is being seen in the Syrian streets. I believe that the Arab League should take a clear position regarding change [in Syria], and that violence against the [Syrian] citizens must stop, otherwise it is up to the relevant international security authorities to take action.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] If you were the Arab League Secretary-General today, how would you resolve this crisis?
[Moussa] Firstly, there must be a halt to the violence against the citizens.
[Asharq Al-Awsat] However how would you achieve this?
[Moussa] The Arab League observers must submit daily reports about what is happening. How can Syrian citizens be fired upon when they are in Syria? Moreover Arab diplomacy must become more active, and the Arab States must act together as a group, not individuals, along with the Arab League, to communicate with the international community [about the situation in Syria]. All countries are concerned about what is happening in Syria, due to the sensitive regional position it occupies. The Syrian crisis is already internationalized, but this did not take. Egypt must also play as prominent a role as Turkey and Iran in confronting and resolving the situation in Syria.
{…}
January 14th, 2012, 6:00 pm
zoo said:
The Arab League game
14/01/2012
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashed ( General manager of Al Arabya TV)
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=28097
We must understand that a game is being played by certain parties within the Arab League in order to cover up for the massacres that are taking place in Syria and prevent the al-Assed regime from being ousted. Therefore the team of Arab monitors being sent to observe the situation in Syria, and the mediation being initiated by Khaled Meshal of Hamas and Iran, represent nothing more than a game whose sole objective is to buy time for the al-Assad regime to kill more activists and save its own neck.
…
History is repeating itself. Today, the Arabs who want to save al-Assad’s regime from collapse are using a strategy that is based upon two concepts; preventing international intervention and granting al-Assad more time to kill or detain the political activists. This is the true story behind the rejection of international intervention, which deprives the Syrian people of their most basic human right, namely the right to save their lives, and is something that should not be denied, whatever the pretext. Unfortunately, Arab League Secretary-General [Nabil Elaraby] seems to believe his job is to prevent the Syrian people from being saved from the massacre they are facing, in addition to granting the al-Assad regime more time to carry out these massacres.
January 14th, 2012, 6:09 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rzvT8RFBf6k
In this video Kataeb Zabadani and Madaya give 24 hours to the Assad force to go back. If they do not do it, they promise to:
1-Destroy Barada water pipelines that supply Damascus
2-Destroy electricity main net that unites Syria with Lebanon
3-Destroy Syritel communication centres in theregion
4-Closing the main road to Lebanon
The question is: are they really capable of executing just one single point from the above list? If they did, conexion with HA would not be affected since they have other ways to enter easily but effects would damage seriously the image of the regime in the capital.
January 14th, 2012, 6:10 pm
Tara said:
SL
I don’t know if they are capable of excuting any of the above but Assad needs to take Ahl Madaya’s and Zabadani’s threat seriously. My parents have a house in Halaya and I have had good exposure to the natives there. They have NO fear. They should not be underestimated.
January 14th, 2012, 6:28 pm
zoo said:
More sharp criticism of the Arab league
The destroyed Arabs
By Tariq Alhomayed (mouthpiece of KSA)
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=28092
…..
The fact of the matter is that the Arab League is not a pseudo-Arab organization, as al-Assad claimed, but rather it is an organization that has been destroyed, by saboteurs like al-Assad and other tyrants, and also by some within the Arab League itself, particularly those who are defending the Syrian leader, granting him one opportunity after another, in the same manner as they did with Saddam Hussein following the invasion of Kuwait. The Arab League is not a pseudo-Arab organization, rather it is an organization that unfortunately is full of Arabs whose Arabism has been destroyed!
January 14th, 2012, 6:32 pm
Syrialover said:
Mina #778 At least Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad is condemning Arab people being mass killed by their own leaders. The Arab world would be looking even worse if he didn’t.
Though to me his IQ level and ethics are under suspicion for enabling the disgraceful leadership and performance of the Arab League observation mission in Syria.
Here’s an article about the Egyptian people (not their “leaders”) being warm and welcoming to Syrians, but it suggests that in contrast Beirut, Jordan and Turkey aren’t completely safe and nice havens for Syrians.
“Egypt beckons for Syrian exiles” -Financial Times 11 January 2012 Link: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7adf7a30-386c-11e1-9f07-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz1jTkCf866
January 14th, 2012, 6:39 pm
Tara said:
Russia’s evolving position on Syria
Because of their vested interests Russia has every reason to support the status quo, but only while President Assad remains a feasible option. However, with the death toll rising and the eventual fall of Assad — one way or another — seemingly an eventual inevitability Moscow is probably realizing that it may have to abandon its long-time friend. Hence, it has begun to hedge its bets.
To read more:http://www.todayszaman.com/columnistDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=268571
January 14th, 2012, 6:41 pm
zoo said:
The USA starts to worry about its largest trading partner in SubSahara that supplies the USA a fifth of its oil.
Arab Spring sequel? Nigeria faces mass anti-government protests
Published: 13 January, 2012, 21:41
http://rt.com/news/nigeria-mass-protests-strike-723/print/
Nigeria: Protesters held anti-government banners calling President Goodluck Jonathan a ‘dictator’ and a ‘tyrant’ and demanding an end to corruption and poverty in the country.
Despite its oil resources, Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, does not have a high standard of living. Half of its population of 160 million live on less than $2 a day. Following the increase in petrol prices, the cost of food and transportation has also skyrocketed, thus adding to people’s hardships.
….
Given its vast oil reserves many protesters are puzzled by their poor economic situation and accuse the government of corruption and poor management.
Lawrence K Freeman, from the Executive Intelligence Review Magazine, told RT that Europe’s economy will face grave consequences if Nigeria stops exporting oil.
“The entire transatlantic financial system, especially the eurozone, is bankrupt. So you add the increasing price of oil from Nigeria’s two million barrels of oil pumped out each day and this could be the detonator for sinking the entire euro system.”
{…}
January 14th, 2012, 7:07 pm
Ghat Al Bird said:
amir @777.
Here’s something from your kind of people to help make you puke.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078771/Israel-braced-protests-treatment-women-girl-8-spat-Jewish-extremists.html
January 14th, 2012, 7:15 pm
Tara said:
I hope that democracy is the solution of terrorism. Killing the 53 people just because they are Shiaa (or XYZ for that matter) is beyond comprehension.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/14/us-iraq-violence-idUSTRE80D0AU20120114
(Reuters) – A suicide bomber disguised as a policeman killed at least 53 people and wounded scores in an attack on Shi’ite Muslim pilgrims at a checkpoint on Saturday.
{….}
January 14th, 2012, 7:19 pm
Ghufran said:
Bashar is now a liability for his own supporters and a bigger liability for most minorities who will pay a price for crimes they have not committed.
The lack for any political initiatives by the opposition to address the minorities fears is playing in the hands of the regime who also benefits from random violence and assassinations that often affect people who have nothing to do with the regime. The political idiocy we see today in Syria means more blood shed and more division among Syrians which will make it harder for any future government to govern and be listened to.
January 14th, 2012, 8:12 pm
Syrialover said:
#798 Mina
Everything about Shiia-Sunni conflicts has ALWAYS been beyond comprehension.
For the past 12 centuries. And now in 2012 it’s become even more destructive and sinister with the turn of events in Iraq, Iran, Bahrain etc and possibly tragically Syria…
It’s like an inherited virus that thrives and mutates in the absence of freedom, rule of law and economic development.
January 14th, 2012, 8:23 pm
Dale Andersen said:
Memo To: IRRITATED
RE: “…internet does not carry smell yet…”
But you’re working on it, aren’t you. Garlic Boy?
January 14th, 2012, 9:11 pm
zoo said:
US trained Saudi Army in action
French, Saudi warplanes collide in Saudi
http://news.yahoo.com/french-saudi-warplanes-collide-saudi-204704933.html
A French Mirage and a Saudi F-15 collided in the kingdom’s northern region of Tabuk without causing casualties, state news agency SPA quoted a military official as saying on Saturday.
……
Last May a Saudi F-15 crashed in the kingdom’s east and its pilot was killed. The aircraft had been on a “training mission” in the Eastern Province when it came down, the news agency said at the time.
January 14th, 2012, 9:49 pm
irritated said:
#792 Dale Andersen
Thanks for your interest but I am not allowed to discuss new cyber products with Israeli citizens or sympathizers.
January 14th, 2012, 9:51 pm
irritated said:
#791 Syria Lover
Protestant-Catholic hatred still resists to ‘democracy’ in Northern Ireland.
Democracy is not a cure for people whose DNA is imprinted by generations of hate.
January 14th, 2012, 10:13 pm
Jerusalem said:
To
785. Syrialover said:
Mina #778 At least Qatar’s Sheikh Hamad is condemning Arab people being mass killed by their own leaders.
I didn’t read anywhere that Qatar is condoning Bahrain’s king or for this matter the recent killing in Kuwait that Jazeera didn’t bother reporting and when I wrote a comment about it, I was ejected from the blog. It’s laughable since they are so promoting democracy in Syria.
اقسم برب الكعبه كانت مظاهرتنا سلميه وكل ما طلبناه حقوقنا الانسانيه كبشر ولاشيئ غيرها
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-nQFNFnEEw
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lAJAgaL59wI
Same in Saudi Arabia
Saudi Activist ‘Shot Dead’ as David Cameron Flies in to Meet Regime. The question is why the double standards?
January 14th, 2012, 10:53 pm
Ghufran said:
كلام المندسه للنقاش
تعديل بعض الشعارات، فبدل شعار “إعدام الرئيس” فلنرفع شعار “محاكمته” ترسيخاً لمبدأ العدالة المرجوة في سوريا الجديدة وبدل شعار “يلي ما بيشارك مافيه ناموس” فلنرفع شعار “وينك يا سوري وينك”. وبدلاً من مهاجمة بعض المدن التي لا تشارك علينا البحث والوقوف على أسباب عدم تحركها بالشكل الكافي ومحاولة تقديم يد العون والأفكار والدعم لهم، كما أنه من الواجب علينا المساهمة في توسيع التغطية الإعلامية لبعض المناطق المظلومة إعلاميا كمدن السويداء وحلب والسلمية والرقة.
العمل فوراً على الضغط على جميع أطياف المعارضة لوضع برنامج سياسي موحد، يشمل الحد الأدنى من النقاط المتوافق عليها، والضغط على المستقليين لأخذ دورهم في المساهمة في وضع حد لشلال الدم، وبلورة استراتيجية تجبر العالم الخارجي على الوقوف مع الشعب السوري وتلبية طموحاته.
ضبط النفس ومحاولة التواصل مع شركائنا في الوطن من جديد، والابتعاد عن التأجيج الطائفي والمناطقي قدر الإمكان، لنستطيع بعد زوال النظام وضع أيدينا سوياً لبناء مستقبل سوريا والعمل على عقد مصالحات وطنية في المناطق المتوترة والسماح بتدخل العقلاء لحل المشاكل.
العودة لتسمية أيام الجمع بأسماء جامعة وتدعو لثوابت الثورة ومبادئها الأساسية.
الابتعاد عن الخطاب الديني والتأكيد على أن الثورة هي ثورة الشعب السوري كاملاً وعدم السماح للمشايخ بالتدخل في الحياة السياسية.
تقديم كافة وسائل الدعم لطلاب الجامعات والمعاهد وعدم مهاجمة المثقفين باعتبارهم وقوداً يضاف إلى هذه الثورة.
ابتعاد التنسيقيات وأعضائها عن أي عمل سياسي في الوقت الحالي والتركيز على العمل الميداني والتخطيط والتنسيق فيما بينهم.
عدم إغلاق الباب أمام أي تسوية سياسية أو تفاوضية مع بعض أركان النظام والتي من الممكن أن تساهم في النقل السريع والهادئ للسلطة؛ الأمر الذي قد يكون مطمئناً لباقي شرائح المجتمع السوري.
January 14th, 2012, 11:43 pm
Ghufran said:
المندسه للنقاش2
صفحة الثورة السورية من البداية حملت اسم الثورة ضد بشار الأسد ومن هنا شخصنة القضية في الوقت الذي كان الأسد لا يزال يتمتع بشعبية عاليه في المجتمع السوري.
شعارات الثورة السورية تغيرت، فبدلاً من حمل اللافتات الداعية للحرية والكرامة والعدالة والمساواة والوحدة الوطنية والعيش المشترك ومدنية الدولة وحكم القانون تحولت لافتاتنا لتحمل المطالبة بالناتو والحظر الجوي وإعدام الرئيس.
انتقال أسماء الجمع من أسماء جامعة لعموم السوريين لمطالب سياسيين أو بعض فئات المجتمع السوري والغريب محاولات استجداء الغرب فبعد أن سميت جمعتين الأولى الله معنا والثانية لن نركع إلا لله وبعد أن كسبنا احترام الجميع من شرق الأرض إلى مغربها بدأنا بالتوسل للغرب والعالم وجامعة الدول العربية مما جعلنا نتحول من شعب صامد إلى شعب مستجدي.
بدون قصد ومع احترامنا للدين وعدم تقليلنا من شأنه، صبغ البعض الثورة بلون ديني واحد حتى في بعض شعاراتها فأصبحت كأنها ثورة طيف واحد من أطياف المجتمع ورفعت لافتات تحيي الشيخ هذا أو المجلس ذاك وتلعن ما عداهم، على الرغم من أن ثورتنا هي ثورة حرية وكرامة والمطالبة بالديموقراطية التي تحتم علينا احترام رأي الأخر حتى لو لم نتفق معه.
لعب النظام على وتر الطائفيه والتسلح والعصابات المسلحة ولم نستطع تقديم خطاب جدي وقادر على دحض هذه الرواية مع العلم انها غير صحيحة ناهيك عن السماح لأشخاص ومنابر طائفية ترتدي ثوب المعارضة بالخروج على بعض وسائل الإعلام دون مراقبه أو انتقاد من طرف الثوار.
خرج السوريون للشارع تحت شعار “الشعب السوري واحد” والأن بدئنا بتفرقت المجتمع فأصبح لدى الثوره علمها ولباقي الشعب علمهم أصبح للثوره جيشها الحر ولهم جيشهم مع العلم أنه من المفترض أن يسمى الجيش الحر “الجيش السوري” والجيش النظامي “كتائب الأسد” ونراعي أن هناك العديد من الأحرار الذين يرغبون بترك كتائب النظام والإلتحاق بركب الثوره ولكن لظروف معينه هم غير قادرين بعد.
لم نقدم للشارع السوري خصوصا في أكبر مدينتين وأكثرهم قدرة على إسقاط النظام “دمشق وحلب” خطاباً سياسياً واضحاً يظهر تفاصيل المستقبل مع العلم أن دمشق من المستحيل أن تتحرك نحو المجهول وهذا واقع يجب علينا مواجهته وليس الهروب منه والتصادم معه بحجج أو بأخرى.
كانت الثورة بحاجة لواجهة سياسية تقوم بتوجيهها وتقودها للوصول لمطالبها، ولكن مع الأسف أصبح لدينا مجلس وطني أعرج وهيئة تنسيق مشلولة، وكلاهما يسير خلف الشارع وغير قادر على إقناع أي جهة دولية أو عربية بقضية الشعب السوري، وغير قادرين على توجيه الثورة، مما جعل أمد الثورة يطول وساهم بزيادة الدماء المهدورة في سوريا وصار الواقع السياسي لهم هو من يقصي الأخر ومن يحكم من ومن هو الزعيم هنا والقائد هناك، واشتعلت بينهم حروبا منها ما ظهر ومنها ما بطن وأصبح التهافت على المناصب هو السمة الأبرز فلم يقدروا على انتزاع اعتراف من دولة واحدة على الأقل.
دخول الأغلبية من التنسيقيات والتجمعات الثورة على الأرض في لعبتي المال والسياسة مما أدى إلى تراجع الأداء على الأرض
عدم تقديم ضمانات شعبية أو سياسية للمنشقين عن النظام أو من يرغب بل على العكس يحاول البعض بحال كان هناك منشقين يحاولون الدخول باللعبة السياسية بسبب معرفتهم في مواطن ضعف النظام بأن يضعوهم بالصف الثاني وربما الثالث بحجة أنهم سيواجهون ردة فعل عنيفه من الشارع.
فقدان عامل ضبط النفس والانجرار خلف الانفعالات التي أدت في بعض الأحيان لكوارث وتجاوزت أهداف وهتافات الثورة التي رفعها نفس الثوار الذين قاموا بتلك الأفعال.
January 14th, 2012, 11:46 pm
Norman said:
Ghufran,
President Assad is the only one trusted by the regime supporters including the minorities that are stronger than you think with influence reaching Russia and the EU and the US , there is no chance that anybody is comming to help the opposition and be responsible for the civil war that will follow, so sooner or later and i hope sooner that the opposition will salvage what they can of the reform they won for the Syrian people and live to fight another day, but i am not not hopeful as it seems to me that the opposition are going for all or nothing and the courage that the president showed so far of not cutting and running as they expected, is making many supporters stand by him as they feel he will be there for them or die trying.nobody can call him coward ,
January 14th, 2012, 11:47 pm
Ghufran said:
ريما فليحان (few days ago)
قالت ريما اليوم :
منذ بدأت الثورة السورية , و أنا منها بـ كل جوارحي , و بغض النظر عن التقلبات في الاماكن , الا أن شيئاً واحداً , لن يتغير , و هو ولائي لـ هؤلاء الشباب الثائر , و ارتباطي بـ ارضي و ايماني بـ هذه الثورة ,, هذا لن يتغير ابدا , بغض النظر عن مكاني و وجودي ,,,
اعلن انني الان انسحبت من المجلس الوطني السوري ,, والمجلس الاعلى لـ قيادة الثورة ,, اتمنى لهما التوفيق في خدمتهما لـ الثورة و امال الشباب ,,
بـ النسبة لي , سأبقى على العهد , و لن يختلف ادائي لـ خدمة وطني لـ الامثل , وسأكون أكثر حرية الان في التعبير عن ارائي , و اكثر حرية في ان أكون ضمير حر ,, الثورة تمثلني ,, الشباب المتظاهر يمثلني ,, و سوريا الحره هدفي وانتمائي كما الله ربي ,,
January 15th, 2012, 12:05 am
ann said:
‘Qatar is aligned with US in destabilizing Syria’ – 15 January, 2012
http://rt.com/news/qatar-us-syria-intervention-807/
The emir of Qatar has become the first Arab leader to voice support for military intervention in Syria should the bloodshed continue there. Does that mean Doha is aligned with the West’s agenda in the region?
Sheikh Hamd bin Khalifa Al Thani made the statement during his interview with US news channel CBS. Speaking about the conflict in Syria, Sheik Hamad said “For such a situation to stop the killing, some troops should go to stop the killing.”
Patrick Henningsen, an associate editor for infowars.com told RT that Qatar is aligned with the US in destabilizing Syria, as it was in Libya.
“Qatar played a crucial role in the destabilization of Libya and actually provided 1,600 troops on the ground during the Libyan uprising. Qatar also was the country that signed the deal back in February 2011 to market crude oil from Libya – this is way in advance of toppling Gaddafi,” he explained. “Qatar hosts US Central Command. So there is definitely synergy there with whatever America’s agenda is.”
The statement by Qatari leader comes amid growing criticism of the Arab League observer mission to Syria for failing to stop the bloodshed in Syria, which has already claimed over 5,000 lives according to UN estimates.
The organization’s chief, Nabil al-Arabi, said on Saturday the league would reassess the work of its mission at a meeting later this month. “There has been partial progress until now but there is daily bloodshed in Syria that the League aims to end,” he told Agence France Presse.
However, Henningsen expressed doubts about the Arab League’s capability to assess the situation in Syria. “The countries that represent the Arab League are petrol monarchy dictatorships. I don’t think the Arab League has a real democracy mandate. It’s a bit of an oxymoron,” he said.
Also on Saturday there were reports from a major opposition group that a Syrian brigadier-general had defected to Turkey, becoming the highest-ranking officer to flee the army.
The Syrian National Council said that Mostafa Ahmad al-Sheik had joined the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors fighting the government.
President Bashar Assad has stated that the violence in the country has been organized by armed terrorist groups orchestrated from abroad.
Henningsen claimed that the US may be buying off defectors financially or promising them a major role in a new Syrian regime. “There is power broking going on behind the scenes.”
January 15th, 2012, 12:06 am
ann said:
The Chutzpah of Israel offering its land to Syrian refugees – January 15th, 2012
http://m.albawaba.com/en/node/408875
With the news that Israel has put itself forward with the good grace to receive the expected influx of Alawite refugees from Syria, we should check what feels a little wrong with this picture.
Israel’s military chief has revealed that Israel expects the fall-out of the sinking Assad regime to involve minority Alawites left vulnerable, and therefore, likely to seek refuge across the border with Israel. According to Gantz, “we are getting ready to take in Alawite refugees in the Golan Heights.” Israel’s forecast for the coming months includes the ouster of increasingly hot-under-the-collar Assad – who just days ago announced confidently that ‘there is no revolution’ – and accordingly, their contingency charitable good-will plan to receive Syrians fleeing a regime collapse. Defense Minister Ehud Barak shared his prediction for Assad’s rapid decline: “In my opinion … he won’t see the end of the year. I don’t think he will even see the middle of this year. It doesn’t matter if it will take six weeks or 12 weeks, he will be toppled and disappear.”
Does Israel, the home of the fiercely contested Holy Land, have place to accommodate any refugees when it is notoriously and adamantly keeping Palestinian refugees from 1948 – in Lebanon and Syria – and even those who left after 1967 (many camping out in Jordan) from ‘returning’. Israel, while the receiver of Jewish aspiring Israeli citizens of the world, is not known for its generosity with its land since ’48 and ’67 mass land seizures and accompanying expulsions. What’s more, as it acquires more space through colony-like settlements, it is hardly positioned to be generous with ‘occupied’ spaces. Add to that the fact that the Palestinian Authority just submitted a bid for statehood in 2011 on modest grounds within current state lines, that amount to a claim for some of the 22% of historical Palestine contested since 1967. This claim upset Israel, the USA and a Security Council that froze stiff. Any land, therefore, from the ‘land for peace’ theoretical peace premise is pretty premium and not to be spared lightly.
Generosity with disputed land
A brief look at Israel’s record of dealing with refugees generally shows a quite the story of generating them, with the odd incidence of receiving them. After creating a refugee problem on quite a catastrophic scale in 1948, of at least 100,000, it took care of them by making them an Arab problem. Lebanon, Jordan and Syria primarily, though not exclusively, took care of the refugees created as collateral damage from the birth of Israel, and those that remained internally were reluctantly either absorbed into ambivalent Israelihood or kept in camps or refugee gatherings. One could be forgiven for wondering if it would behoove them to refrain from taking on more refugees, until they were managing their ‘own’ refugees, and internally displaced peoples.
The audacity of offering Arabs land (not for peace): A Golan shaped space for Alawites
Internationally recognized as Syrian territory, Golan Heights, became occupied and governed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. This region is of strategic value to Israel, supplying the country with one-third of its water an advantageous look-out post for the region.
Who inhabits Golan today? 10% of Syrian Golan Druze have accepted Israeli citizenship. After Israel annexed the Golan region, the 20,000 Druze living in five villages to the north were given the choice of becoming citizens. Of those that didn’t accept the offer, some chose to be recognized as “Syrians abroad.”
In spite of Jewish settlements that are on the rise, the majority of the population remains non-Jewish. So Alawite arrivals could be quite at home with their Druze ‘cousins’ (both forming minority sects as offshoots of Islam). There is reason then beyond proximity to the choice of Golan.
However, where sectarian strife is at play, bearing a close or distant relation to another sect, has never guaranteed friendship, and can be source of aggravated tensions. Israel by bringing Syrian Alawites together with Syrian and Israeli Druze could in fact exacerbate the plethora Arab problem(s).
Incidentally, Israel has a history of getting involved in neighboring hostile Arab countries’ sectarian strife. It has used another countries moral strife to claim moral superiority in the past.
Lebanese Refugees: Not the Palestinians, nor the Lebanese from the South’s War on Israel
Lest we forget Israel lending a helping hand to those Lebanese deviants who got in neck deep by 2000, here’s an overview of Israel allied with Lebanon that we hear less and less of since Hezbollah’s 2006 War. Under Ehud Barak’s decision to unilaterally withdraw his troops and with them effectively his commitments to his Lebanese allies, the Lebanese faction that was the South Lebanon Army (SLA), Israel offered its floundering friends some concession – indeed a life-line. Having left this renegade offshoot of the main Lebanese army vulnerable to a wider Lebanon who considered them traitors for aligning with Israel, it opened its usually firmly shut, noncompromising borders to a hefty amount of (mainly) Christian Lebanese allies. Israel had over-stayed its sojourn in South Lebanon, and so was keen to be shot of all comittments in the country, so instead invited its ally in war, the SLA back to the homeland for security.
Friend of Israel: SLA
This homegrown Lebanese militia, the SLA, a breakaway band of initially about 2,500 mostly Christian Lebanese who split from the Lebanese Army in 1976, had in some fashion sold out its own people per say, for an Israeli occupation army that later sold them down the (Litani) river. The SLA comprised of both Christians and Shiites who allied themselves with Israel to protect their homes initially from Palestinian gorilla groups present in the South at one time, or later against Hezbollahin the ’90s.
The decision for an IDF unilateral, perhaps abrupt, withdrawal with respect to their co-dependents the SLA, caused this former military stronghold in the South to disintegrate into havoc and despair. Southerner of SLA affiliation feared being massacred immediately by Hezbollah or being tried and tortured or worse as “enemies of the state” by the Lebanese authorities. Many members of the SLA, including some with their families, fled to Israel, whose borders were opened and ready to receive Lebanese (mostly Christian) refugees from the fall-out of a withdrawal. The Israeli retreat left these southern forces to fend for themselves against a hostile Hezbollah who quickly entered the vacuum left behind by the Israeli presence that had kept them at bay. In effect, the Israeli government abandoned an SLA that very much wanted to stay in existence, but was forced to disband due to the sudden halt in reinforcements that had propped them up and bolstered their campaigns.
Since Israel’s withdrawal gambit of the year 2000, there remain some 2000 Lebanese refugees living in Israel – the majority of the initial wave have since left or found other alternative lives. Israeli Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin today responsible for these people’s welfare, speaks fo the 7, 200 that Israel initially harbored with now 2,200 remaining. All together, about 6,500 dispossessed Lebanese fled into Israel, which was unprepared for such large numbers of refugees. Apparently, Israeli authorities had expected only 500-plus Lebanese –principally the senior intelligence personnel and officers, and their families, to end up in Israel, and were not prepared for such a response when they extended their offer to open their borders.
Over a decade later, those remaining in Israel are largely unemployed, socially excluded and economically faring quite poorly. The 50% who work takw up lower-rung labor positions in the services or agriculture industries and factories. Many live below the poverty line. According to recent interviews obtained with some Lebanese living in a sea of Israeli nationals in the Galilee area – in the districts of Tiberias, Nahariya, Safed, andKarmiel, amongst others – these disenfranchised Lebanese are accusing Israel of neglect and not looking after them as promised. They feel that Israel has forsaken them, reneging on their responsibility and honor with respect to first their strategic alliance, and now their welfare.
At one time, they’d feared returning to the home-land as they’d be tried for treason. Yet in recent interviews, many state they would rather face their fate in Lebanon than wallow in their miserable lives as refugees in Israel. In fact, many SLA members who stayed behind and either surrendered themselves to the authorities or were captured by Hezbollah, received a widely reported civilised and lenient treatment at the hands of Lebanese military courts trying them for treason. Typically they received short sentencing at most.
Israel claims it is trying to help them as much as possible, freeing up housing for them. Avi Lecther, in charge of this file of people, makes the point that at the end of the day, they are not strictly their responsibility or charge: ‘These Lebanese refugees did what they did for their own gains and advantage at the time, and Israel helped them to defend their own homes and cause; and it is only down to Israel’s moral character that we sheltered them in our land.’ These Lebanese across the Israel border feel somewhat let down by statements as this that leave them feeling sold out.
All Quiet on the Golan Front
Meanwhile, back to the border with Syria that is just this week under scrutiny, and all is so far, so quiet. Israel invaded and occupied the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Despite the distinct lack of peace between the two countries who are technically at war, the Golan frontier has largely remained quiet, with a rare scuffle only occuring in this tempestuous past year of Arab revolutions, 2011, with a brief May forray of Palestinian supporters the ‘Syrian’ side of Golan charging or making a run at the border. Syria houses thousands of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war of Israel’s foundation. Syrians living in the Golan territory are under occupation technically, just as the Palestinians living in the OPT.
While initially it was apparent that Israel had kept quiet during much of the Assad domestic crackdowns, and has made minimal comment since the crisis last year began, it is now taking a pragmatic view to the ‘change’ that might occur and beset its 30-year peaceful Syrian ceasefire border. Such was the extent of the untroubled border, that Israeli governments, on the back of the peaceful track record of direct relations with this Arab neighbor have sought peace with Assad, seeing his government as a pivotal counter for wider Israeli-Arab compromise.
Assad has so far kept attention from the Golan front, not attempting to divert attention from the hot angry areas as Homs, Derra, Alleppo or Hama. In truth, while Syria famously in international rhetoric professes big enemiship with Israel, together with Hezbollah, Hammas and Iran, it has kept hostilities away from its own borders, with not one bullet fired in 30 years until 2011.
In the eventuality that Alawites should flee their Syrian country lines to enemy state Israel, they would be shown up to be traitors to the Syrian cause as well as the Arabist agenda of the Ba’athist regime. Such a divisive exodus that breached enemy lines would prove explosive for communal relations in multi-sect Syria. In fact, Israel’s diplomatic leak of this anticipation or expectation in itself could rock the dividing communities in Syria further, deepening the sectarian edge to this crisis. With Sunnis viewing these Alawites as traitors before the act, they would be left with even less choice but to turn to Israel for sanctuary.
Escape into Israel
Israel is generally anticipating change to strike its once serene separation line on Golan, that for 30 years has upheld the truce between the two nations commendably. If the Golan border became a focal point for sectarian strife, it might also result in re-ignited hostilities with Israel. Israel, initially wary of the prospect of the Syrian regime falling, may be fearful of Islamic extremists entering the Golan and aggravating the erstwhile stable and calm front.
Israel has recently changed tack and accepted the fact that the Assad regme will fall eventually, this year they insist, and seems less than rattled as they make contingency plans to accept Alawites seeking safe-haven. Their grip on supposed reality and their pragmatic foresight of this possible regime collapse, has produced an announcement that may only fan the flames of simmering sectarian strife in Syria.
In fact, it sounds as if Israel wouldn’t be altogether unprepared if trouble started brewing on its formerly quiet restrained border in a similar way to Egypt’s embassy fiasco and renewed border tit for tat post Mubarak. Apart from border agitations or threats to Israel, Syria could slip into a sectarian civil war between the majority Sunni Muslims and the Alawites and other minorities which support Assad.
Sectarian aggravation is fine by Israel!
The Israeli Druze community in Israel, some 125,000, both in and out of Golan are known to be loyal and affiliated with the state of Israel. A marginal community, these Druze have a major role in Israel’s elite army. Thousands of Druze are currently in the army, according to an IDF spokesperson, and have an established tradition of service for 55 years now.
Israeli’s high intake of Druze Arab Israeli occupation soldiers are already a source of tension within Israel between the general Arab minority Israeli population (and non-Israeli Palestinian population). Israeli Arabs, whether Muslim or Christian, are not eligible for membership to the Israeli army, so this service right sets the Druze Israelis off from their fellow Arabs in and out of Israel. Several hundred Druze are currently in the army, according to an IDF spokesperson and many have died in service.
Israel positively might have a political interest in engineering or provoking such a Syrian sectarian spill-out if it led to security reinforcements rather than threats to the state of Israel.
January 15th, 2012, 12:25 am
aldendeshe said:
Here Ann the crap you posted was not long enough so I am helping you out here:
801. annsaid:
‘Qatar is aligned with US in destabilizing Syria’ – 15 January, 2012
http://rt.com/news/qatar-us-syria-intervention-807/
The emir of Qatar has become the first Arab leader to voice support for military intervention in Syria should the bloodshed continue there. Does that mean Doha is aligned with the West’s agenda in the region?
Sheikh Hamd bin Khalifa Al Thani made the statement during his interview with US news channel CBS. Speaking about the conflict in Syria, Sheik Hamad said “For such a situation to stop the killing, some troops should go to stop the killing.”
Patrick Henningsen, an associate editor for infowars.com told RT that Qatar is aligned with the US in destabilizing Syria, as it was in Libya.
“Qatar played a crucial role in the destabilization of Libya and actually provided 1,600 troops on the ground during the Libyan uprising. Qatar also was the country that signed the deal back in February 2011 to market crude oil from Libya – this is way in advance of toppling Gaddafi,” he explained. “Qatar hosts US Central Command. So there is definitely synergy there with whatever America’s agenda is.”
The statement by Qatari leader comes amid growing criticism of the Arab League observer mission to Syria for failing to stop the bloodshed in Syria, which has already claimed over 5,000 lives according to UN estimates.
The organization’s chief, Nabil al-Arabi, said on Saturday the league would reassess the work of its mission at a meeting later this month. “There has been partial progress until now but there is daily bloodshed in Syria that the League aims to end,” he told Agence France Presse.
However, Henningsen expressed doubts about the Arab League’s capability to assess the situation in Syria. “The countries that represent the Arab League are petrol monarchy dictatorships. I don’t think the Arab League has a real democracy mandate. It’s a bit of an oxymoron,” he said.
Also on Saturday there were reports from a major opposition group that a Syrian brigadier-general had defected to Turkey, becoming the highest-ranking officer to flee the army.
The Syrian National Council said that Mostafa Ahmad al-Sheik had joined the Free Syrian Army, a group of army defectors fighting the government.
President Bashar Assad has stated that the violence in the country has been organized by armed terrorist groups orchestrated from abroad.
Henningsen claimed that the US may be buying off defectors financially or promising them a major role in a new Syrian regime. “There is power broking going on behind the scenes.”
0 0
.
January 15th, 2012, 12:06 am
802. annsaid:
The Chutzpah of Israel offering its land to Syrian refugees – January 15th, 2012
http://m.albawaba.com/en/node/408875
With the news that Israel has put itself forward with the good grace to receive the expected influx of Alawite refugees from Syria, we should check what feels a little wrong with this picture.
Israel’s military chief has revealed that Israel expects the fall-out of the sinking Assad regime to involve minority Alawites left vulnerable, and therefore, likely to seek refuge across the border with Israel. According to Gantz, “we are getting ready to take in Alawite refugees in the Golan Heights.” Israel’s forecast for the coming months includes the ouster of increasingly hot-under-the-collar Assad – who just days ago announced confidently that ‘there is no revolution’ – and accordingly, their contingency charitable good-will plan to receive Syrians fleeing a regime collapse. Defense Minister Ehud Barak shared his prediction for Assad’s rapid decline: “In my opinion … he won’t see the end of the year. I don’t think he will even see the middle of this year. It doesn’t matter if it will take six weeks or 12 weeks, he will be toppled and disappear.”
Does Israel, the home of the fiercely contested Holy Land, have place to accommodate any refugees when it is notoriously and adamantly keeping Palestinian refugees from 1948 – in Lebanon and Syria – and even those who left after 1967 (many camping out in Jordan) from ‘returning’. Israel, while the receiver of Jewish aspiring Israeli citizens of the world, is not known for its generosity with its land since ’48 and ’67 mass land seizures and accompanying expulsions. What’s more, as it acquires more space through colony-like settlements, it is hardly positioned to be generous with ‘occupied’ spaces. Add to that the fact that the Palestinian Authority just submitted a bid for statehood in 2011 on modest grounds within current state lines, that amount to a claim for some of the 22% of historical Palestine contested since 1967. This claim upset Israel, the USA and a Security Council that froze stiff. Any land, therefore, from the ‘land for peace’ theoretical peace premise is pretty premium and not to be spared lightly.
Generosity with disputed land
A brief look at Israel’s record of dealing with refugees generally shows a quite the story of generating them, with the odd incidence of receiving them. After creating a refugee problem on quite a catastrophic scale in 1948, of at least 100,000, it took care of them by making them an Arab problem. Lebanon, Jordan and Syria primarily, though not exclusively, took care of the refugees created as collateral damage from the birth of Israel, and those that remained internally were reluctantly either absorbed into ambivalent Israelihood or kept in camps or refugee gatherings. One could be forgiven for wondering if it would behoove them to refrain from taking on more refugees, until they were managing their ‘own’ refugees, and internally displaced peoples.
The audacity of offering Arabs land (not for peace): A Golan shaped space for Alawites
Internationally recognized as Syrian territory, Golan Heights, became occupied and governed by Israel in the 1967 Six-Day War. This region is of strategic value to Israel, supplying the country with one-third of its water an advantageous look-out post for the region.
Who inhabits Golan today? 10% of Syrian Golan Druze have accepted Israeli citizenship. After Israel annexed the Golan region, the 20,000 Druze living in five villages to the north were given the choice of becoming citizens. Of those that didn’t accept the offer, some chose to be recognized as “Syrians abroad.”
In spite of Jewish settlements that are on the rise, the majority of the population remains non-Jewish. So Alawite arrivals could be quite at home with their Druze ‘cousins’ (both forming minority sects as offshoots of Islam). There is reason then beyond proximity to the choice of Golan.
However, where sectarian strife is at play, bearing a close or distant relation to another sect, has never guaranteed friendship, and can be source of aggravated tensions. Israel by bringing Syrian Alawites together with Syrian and Israeli Druze could in fact exacerbate the plethora Arab problem(s).
Incidentally, Israel has a history of getting involved in neighboring hostile Arab countries’ sectarian strife. It has used another countries moral strife to claim moral superiority in the past.
Lebanese Refugees: Not the Palestinians, nor the Lebanese from the South’s War on Israel
Lest we forget Israel lending a helping hand to those Lebanese deviants who got in neck deep by 2000, here’s an overview of Israel allied with Lebanon that we hear less and less of since Hezbollah’s 2006 War. Under Ehud Barak’s decision to unilaterally withdraw his troops and with them effectively his commitments to his Lebanese allies, the Lebanese faction that was the South Lebanon Army (SLA), Israel offered its floundering friends some concession – indeed a life-line. Having left this renegade offshoot of the main Lebanese army vulnerable to a wider Lebanon who considered them traitors for aligning with Israel, it opened its usually firmly shut, noncompromising borders to a hefty amount of (mainly) Christian Lebanese allies. Israel had over-stayed its sojourn in South Lebanon, and so was keen to be shot of all comittments in the country, so instead invited its ally in war, the SLA back to the homeland for security.
Friend of Israel: SLA
This homegrown Lebanese militia, the SLA, a breakaway band of initially about 2,500 mostly Christian Lebanese who split from the Lebanese Army in 1976, had in some fashion sold out its own people per say, for an Israeli occupation army that later sold them down the (Litani) river. The SLA comprised of both Christians and Shiites who allied themselves with Israel to protect their homes initially from Palestinian gorilla groups present in the South at one time, or later against Hezbollahin the ’90s.
The decision for an IDF unilateral, perhaps abrupt, withdrawal with respect to their co-dependents the SLA, caused this former military stronghold in the South to disintegrate into havoc and despair. Southerner of SLA affiliation feared being massacred immediately by Hezbollah or being tried and tortured or worse as “enemies of the state” by the Lebanese authorities. Many members of the SLA, including some with their families, fled to Israel, whose borders were opened and ready to receive Lebanese (mostly Christian) refugees from the fall-out of a withdrawal. The Israeli retreat left these southern forces to fend for themselves against a hostile Hezbollah who quickly entered the vacuum left behind by the Israeli presence that had kept them at bay. In effect, the Israeli government abandoned an SLA that very much wanted to stay in existence, but was forced to disband due to the sudden halt in reinforcements that had propped them up and bolstered their campaigns.
Since Israel’s withdrawal gambit of the year 2000, there remain some 2000 Lebanese refugees living in Israel – the majority of the initial wave have since left or found other alternative lives. Israeli Minister of Justice Yossi Beilin today responsible for these people’s welfare, speaks fo the 7, 200 that Israel initially harbored with now 2,200 remaining. All together, about 6,500 dispossessed Lebanese fled into Israel, which was unprepared for such large numbers of refugees. Apparently, Israeli authorities had expected only 500-plus Lebanese –principally the senior intelligence personnel and officers, and their families, to end up in Israel, and were not prepared for such a response when they extended their offer to open their borders.
Over a decade later, those remaining in Israel are largely unemployed, socially excluded and economically faring quite poorly. The 50% who work takw up lower-rung labor positions in the services or agriculture industries and factories. Many live below the poverty line. According to recent interviews obtained with some Lebanese living in a sea of Israeli nationals in the Galilee area – in the districts of Tiberias, Nahariya, Safed, andKarmiel, amongst others – these disenfranchised Lebanese are accusing Israel of neglect and not looking after them as promised. They feel that Israel has forsaken them, reneging on their responsibility and honor with respect to first their strategic alliance, and now their welfare.
At one time, they’d feared returning to the home-land as they’d be tried for treason. Yet in recent interviews, many state they would rather face their fate in Lebanon than wallow in their miserable lives as refugees in Israel. In fact, many SLA members who stayed behind and either surrendered themselves to the authorities or were captured by Hezbollah, received a widely reported civilised and lenient treatment at the hands of Lebanese military courts trying them for treason. Typically they received short sentencing at most.
Israel claims it is trying to help them as much as possible, freeing up housing for them. Avi Lecther, in charge of this file of people, makes the point that at the end of the day, they are not strictly their responsibility or charge: ‘These Lebanese refugees did what they did for their own gains and advantage at the time, and Israel helped them to defend their own homes and cause; and it is only down to Israel’s moral character that we sheltered them in our land.’ These Lebanese across the Israel border feel somewhat let down by statements as this that leave them feeling sold out.
All Quiet on the Golan Front
Meanwhile, back to the border with Syria that is just this week under scrutiny, and all is so far, so quiet. Israel invaded and occupied the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war. Despite the distinct lack of peace between the two countries who are technically at war, the Golan frontier has largely remained quiet, with a rare scuffle only occuring in this tempestuous past year of Arab revolutions, 2011, with a brief May forray of Palestinian supporters the ‘Syrian’ side of Golan charging or making a run at the border. Syria houses thousands of Palestinian refugees from the 1948 war of Israel’s foundation. Syrians living in the Golan territory are under occupation technically, just as the Palestinians living in the OPT.
While initially it was apparent that Israel had kept quiet during much of the Assad domestic crackdowns, and has made minimal comment since the crisis last year began, it is now taking a pragmatic view to the ‘change’ that might occur and beset its 30-year peaceful Syrian ceasefire border. Such was the extent of the untroubled border, that Israeli governments, on the back of the peaceful track record of direct relations with this Arab neighbor have sought peace with Assad, seeing his government as a pivotal counter for wider Israeli-Arab compromise.
Assad has so far kept attention from the Golan front, not attempting to divert attention from the hot angry areas as Homs, Derra, Alleppo or Hama. In truth, while Syria famously in international rhetoric professes big enemiship with Israel, together with Hezbollah, Hammas and Iran, it has kept hostilities away from its own borders, with not one bullet fired in 30 years until 2011.
In the eventuality that Alawites should flee their Syrian country lines to enemy state Israel, they would be shown up to be traitors to the Syrian cause as well as the Arabist agenda of the Ba’athist regime. Such a divisive exodus that breached enemy lines would prove explosive for communal relations in multi-sect Syria. In fact, Israel’s diplomatic leak of this anticipation or expectation in itself could rock the dividing communities in Syria further, deepening the sectarian edge to this crisis. With Sunnis viewing these Alawites as traitors before the act, they would be left with even less choice but to turn to Israel for sanctuary.
Escape into Israel
Israel is generally anticipating change to strike its once serene separation line on Golan, that for 30 years has upheld the truce between the two nations commendably. If the Golan border became a focal point for sectarian strife, it might also result in re-ignited hostilities with Israel. Israel, initially wary of the prospect of the Syrian regime falling, may be fearful of Islamic extremists entering the Golan and aggravating the erstwhile stable and calm front.
Israel has recently changed tack and accepted the fact that the Assad regme will fall eventually, this year they insist, and seems less than rattled as they make contingency plans to accept Alawites seeking safe-haven. Their grip on supposed reality and their pragmatic foresight of this possible regime collapse, has produced an announcement that may only fan the flames of simmering sectarian strife in Syria.
In fact, it sounds as if Israel wouldn’t be altogether unprepared if trouble started brewing on its formerly quiet restrained border in a similar way to Egypt’s embassy fiasco and renewed border tit for tat post Mubarak. Apart from border agitations or threats to Israel, Syria could slip into a sectarian civil war between the majority Sunni Muslims and the Alawites and other minorities which support Assad.
Sectarian aggravation is fine by Israel!
The Israeli Druze community in Israel, some 125,000, both in and out of Golan are known to be loyal and affiliated with the state of Israel. A marginal community, these Druze have a major role in Israel’s elite army. Thousands of Druze are currently in the army, according to an IDF spokesperson, and have an established tradition of service for 55 years now.
Israeli’s high intake of Druze Arab Israeli occupation soldiers are already a source of tension within Israel between the general Arab minority Israeli population (and non-Israeli Palestinian population). Israeli Arabs, whether Muslim or Christian, are not eligible for membership to the Israeli army, so this service right sets the Druze Israelis off from their fellow Arabs in and out of Israel. Several hundred Druze are currently in the army, according to an IDF spokesperson and many have died in service.
Israel positively might have a political interest in engineering or provoking such a Syrian sectarian spill-out if it led to security reinforcements rather than threats to the state of Israel.
January 15th, 2012, 12:35 am
majedkhaldoun said:
40 years of opression and dictatorship, generation grew in this envoroment, people in Damascus forgot how to demand freedom and they no longer know what are their rights, we have a disease of loyalists,and semi loyalist,who are happy because this regime permited corruption, they prospered and benefited from corruption, however the only thing that is different is the increase in population, 40 years ago we were 4 miliion, now we are 23 million, the the poor and the increasingly getting poor from the middle class, along with rural people, they are depressed and worried about their future,syrian president inherited the rule from his father, his father knew what to be poor, he never felt this way, he is no longer feels the people suffering and their worries,he is also not intelligent and dissociated from the people.
Mr. Dabi either will resign or will be pushed away on 19 of January
Hasan Nasrallah called for dialogue, which will not happen as long as the regime continues the killing and jailing and torturing.
sending Arabic troops will depend on convincing Jordan to co-operate, not all the troops in the current syrian army are participating in fighting the demonstrators, they will desert the regime and join the Arabic troops
The issue is not whether the regime falls ,the issue how long it will take
January 15th, 2012, 1:01 am
Revlon said:
Marines peed on bodies of Taliban fighters.
The General Commander of Syrian Army was incensed by the sight of Taliban/Alqaida-like, Hijab-dressed Syrian ladies.
فجاوبني: أنا نظرتي للمشايخ خطأ وكنت أخاف من صاحب كل لحية والمحجبات، ومرة ذهبت إلى حلب وجلست في المطعم فوجدت نساء كلهن محجبات، فقلت: شو أنا بأفغانستان، بعدها سألت الدكتور البوطي عن سر الحجاب الكثير في حلب هل هم طالبان أم القاعدة؟ فأجابه البوطي أن هؤلاء أناس متدينون على الفطرة.
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/45991
Jr’s (General Commander of armed forces of Syria) spontaneous reaction to the sight of Syrian ladies wearing Hijab was to exclaim whether they were Taliban or Alqaida?
His statements prompted me to make the following conlcusions:
– It was an unpleasant sight. It probably dampened his expectations to have a dinner in a cosmopolitan ambiance.
– It was negative in conjuring up images of Taliban or AlQaida.
– It showed how disconnected he was from the realities on the ground. In this instance, the conservative life style of Syrians, even those who go to fancy restaurants that fit his taste.
– It revealed his deeply sectarian mind. Jr’s aversive attitude towards Hijab is not secular. A secular preaches separation of religion from the state but remains mindful and respectful of people’s rights and choices, including their dress code. Jr. measured others’ worthiness by how close they matched his 3alawi traditions; not wearing Hijab in this instance.
– Jr was never suitable to rule Syria, where the majority of ladies wear Hijab, a choice supported and cherished by their families.
– Jr’s equation of Islamic conservatism with presumed political aspirations and militancy is a false belief shared by ultra-conservatives of other cultures, including Jews, Christians and Hindus, as well as Oppressive regimes of Algeria, Sudan, China, and Russia.
– Considering that Jr represents the top of the heap of the 3alawi community in the level of tolerance and enlightenment, as his supporters on SC continue to argue, one can only imagine how bad the views of his subordinates and the household of the rest of the 3alawi community are of their Sunni neighbours.
The Marines show of disgusting disrespect for the dead is painfully endured daily by helpless, living, under-torture Syrian activists in Assad prisons.
January 15th, 2012, 1:16 am
agatha said:
759 + 761
Good morning Jurgen
After watching the videos I wunder, there were much more proAssad demonstrators then antiAssad demonstrators. Was you there personaly? If yes – is my impression right?
If yes – have you an idea why more people demonstrate for Assad then against him in Germany?
January 15th, 2012, 1:47 am
Syrialover said:
# 795 Irritated
I deliberately didn’t use the word “democracy”. But the fires of sectarian hatred and violence in Northern Ireland were ignited and kept alight by long-term social inequality and poverty and a well-grounded sense of injustice and distrust in the British government. Social, economic and political changes have brought peace.
# 796 Jerusalem
I agree. But the point is though Sheikh Hamad’s stance might be inconsistent and inadequate (and maybe even insincere),at least an Arab leader has openly done SOMETHING to oppose the actions of violent criminal “leaders” who have inflicted so much suffering on the innocent citizens of Libya, Yemen and Syria. Again, I wouldn’t say that the Qatari ruler is promoting democracy, but at least he’s showing the world that not all Arab office bearers accept that such behavior is always OK.
January 15th, 2012, 2:26 am
Syrialover said:
804. Majedkhaldoun
You’re speaking sense. The Syrian population has been ground down, disabled and cheated of the chance to develop their country and society, which would have put the brakes on population overgrowth and desperate rural poverty.
January 15th, 2012, 2:40 am
Mina said:
Sheikh Hamad knows when to speak: it gives him popularity while not moving an inch in the calendar. Why would the AL help implement anything else than (more) brothels, I wonder. Send the problem to the UN will just buy time. When finally both the Syrian and Palestinian questions will be discussed by the UNSC, it will be elections in the US. Netanyahu can sleep well. The Syrian martyrs’ blood is only shed to give a justification in bringing UN peace corps and implement some transfers of population from Lebanon, Syria and Jordan.
To give credit to Qatar as if the AL countries were not practicing torture and discrimination of minorities is ridiculous and naive.
Now after his bright ideas of the “Arab troops” on the ground, can he tell us who he thinks about? Certainly not Gulf people, apart from the Saudis, I cannot see any army in the Gulf which is not a patchwork of mercenaries on contract. So who? The Jordanians? The Yemenis? The FSA hired through a Qatar-army contract?
It is just another trick to buy time.
January 15th, 2012, 3:22 am
Mina said:
Here it is. They will continue with the script that has been followed since march: paying for more attacks, while the “official way” through the UN will be “tried”, just to give a legal caution. As if they needed one. Have you seen parliaments consulted for any war? Why call it democracy?
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Jan-14/159896-top-syria-army-defector-to-set-up-high-military-council.ashx#axzz1jVw3jeNG
January 15th, 2012, 3:35 am
Juergen said:
Agatha
Good morning to you too!
Well i could not make it this time, but al who were there i know from similar protests before. The one who is organizing all the arab protests is a young 19 year old egyptian boy i must say, he is for all of us an living example how to be. Since a year now he brings people to the streets, and also he is engaging in anti-pro demonstrations. It is our opinion that we dont let the Assadis demonstrate without showing the public that we totally disagree with them. I think to the public of Berlin, they are used to demonstrations and they know for sure whose child is it. Almost all pro Assad demonstrations work in the same way, they give out tshirts and posters to the people. We have seen that a big number of those on the streets arent even Syrians, most are lebanese and with palestininan background. The majority of the lebanese then are from hisbollah and a unique coalition was formed there is an mosque here in Berlin called Omar Mosque, they are followers of Sheikh Ahkbash, usually they hate the hisbollah like the pope the devil. I assume an shared aim will bring even enemies together.
I saw always two men whom i have seen always in the syrian embassy when applying for a visa. An syrian friend who studies here told me that they try always to get students on the demonstrations, but most of them say then they are sick, so they dont have to come.
We have had demonstrations against Assad with a turnout of 1000 people or so in the summer. Last time the mnhbaks were on the sreet in October we got beaten by them and they had robbed our coordinator his jacket with his id, keys to his apartment and his mobile phone with numbers of activists allover Europe. After the demonstration he got attacked in my neighborhood, he had to run basically for his life to a police station. He then slept 2 weeks in different homes, he was afraid that those would come to his address.
The vulgarity of their speaking really shocked me, in the internet they published our photos and asked if anypone knows where the dogs are living. I must say that surely there must be clear thinkers behind the scenes, but the ones we have met and interacted with are not much of an educated kind.
January 15th, 2012, 3:54 am
Juergen said:
I assume that if the imam in a mosque says we will go to a demonstration the turnout is bigger. We dont want to do that, we have people who are there for the cause only not because someone told them to go, and we dont want that just muslims are on the street, we do have alawites, syrianic and one womens oncle is a bigshot in the regime she always comes and demonstrate.
January 15th, 2012, 3:57 am
Syrialover said:
#809 Mina
Get the bigger and more urgent picture. We have a vacuum because there are no elected Arab rulers anywhere to voice opinion that the world can respect. It’s part of modern Arab tragedy that there is only the voice of a Gulf despot speaking up for fellow Arab people.
But as the world is watching, it’s better than it’s at least hearing that voice instead of just indifference and weak silence from all Arabs in offical roles.
(And naturally Hamad has a lot to hide under the carpet in his own home. Even compared with their Gulf brothers, the Qataris win the prize for new lows for their treatment of migrant workers.)
January 15th, 2012, 4:02 am
Juergen said:
Jürgen Todenhöfer on the Arab spring- in arabic
http://www.azzaman.com/pdfarchive/2012/01/14-01/P14.pdf
January 15th, 2012, 5:17 am
Juergen said:
watch out Bashar, they have vegetables!!!
January 15th, 2012, 5:27 am
Juergen said:
very good video about the most basic human right the freedom of expression
You can watch it with english subtitles if you click on the cc bouton in the player.
January 15th, 2012, 5:37 am
Uzair8 said:
Activities of Writing Longest Letter in the World Started
Jan 15, 2012
DAMASCUS,(SANA)- Activities of writing the longest letter in the world started on Sunday under the title “Message of Loyalty to the Homeland and its Leader” at ten centers distributed among Damascus and its countryside.
The 10-Kms long letter will tour all the Syrian provinces, and it will be written and signed by all the spectrums of the Syrian people.
The letter is made of Felix paper ,and it is divided into ten parts with a length of 1,000 meters for each part, the ten parts will be tied together to form one letter which carries the Syrian flag at the middle of which.
On the sides of the letter, there will be square-shaped tables including about one million and a half letters.
H. Zain / R. al-Jazaeri
http://www.sana.sy/eng/21/2012/01/15/394359.htm
Let them sign it. This letter (signatures) can be used as evidence in the post revolution era of the Great Investigations.
January 15th, 2012, 6:22 am
Juergen said:
Amir
Max Liebermann the famous painter said regarding to the Nazi rule in Germany: I can not eat as much as i would like to puke…
here is an other video from Tunis:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=I8HQVvopnrQ
Yes it seems like ages ago, i hope Ben Ali is watching tv lately…
January 15th, 2012, 6:48 am
defender said:
640. SYRIALOVER
comment this pl.818. JUERGEN ! You write a nonsense!
January 15th, 2012, 6:58 am
Mina said:
To boast of having for ally a country where you can give lashes for “blasphemy and insult of the prophet’s companion”, you really need to be cuckoo.
Could foreign journalists report on what is going on in Saudi Arabia?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/dec/07/australian-sentenced-lashes-saudi-arabia
God almighty has reduced the sentence on this poor Australian Muslim to 75! God is great.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/01/if-he-were-asian-his-head-would-be.html
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2012/01/last-night-in-awamiyyah-in-saudi-arabia.html
January 15th, 2012, 7:10 am
Uzair8 said:
If you didn’t catch George Galloway’s say on the American soldiers urinating on ‘Taliban’ here it is. You wont be disappointed.
Choose the 2330 till 0000 slot and listen from 16 min 25 seconds.
Should be available for several more days. Not sure if it is available outside UK.
http://www.talksport.co.uk/radio/listen-again/episode/63088
January 15th, 2012, 7:20 am
Mina said:
http://www.romandie.com/news/n/_Le_president_tunisien_juge_suicidaire_une_intervention_etrangere_en_Syrie150120121301.asp
Texte
Le président tunisien juge suicidaire une intervention étrangère en Syrie
ALGER – Le président tunisien Moncef Marzouki s’est opposé dans une interview diffusée dimanche à une intervention étrangère en Syrie, jugeant qu’elle serait un suicide et conduirait à une explosion de tout le Moyen-Orient.
Interrogé par le quotidien algérien El-Khabar, il évoque un spectre irréalisable qui serait un suicide en parlant de l’éventualité d’une intervention étrangère pour mettre fin à la répression de la contestation du régime du président Bachar al-Assad, qui a déjà fait plus de 5.000 morts selon l’ONU.
Une telle intervention signifierait que la guerre va sétendre à toute la région, ce qui ouvre la voie à toutes les puissances, à linstar de la Turquie, d’Israël, de lIran et du Hezbollah. Cela voudrait dire toute la région va exploser, a ajouté le président tunisien.
L’émir du Qatar s’est dit samedi favorable à l’envoi de troupes arabes en Syrie afin de mettre fin à la tuerie dans le pays, secoué depuis dix mois par une révolte populaire réprimée dans le sang, la première prise de position de ce type d’un dirigeant arabe.
M. Marzouki est lui-même un ancien opposant au régime du président Zine El Abidine Ben Ali renversé il y a un an par la première révolution du printemps arabe.
Evoquant la Libye du colonel Mouammar Kadhafi, dont le régime est également tombé l’an dernier, le président tunisien dit que nous navons accepté lintervention étrangère que quand la situation a atteint des proportions alarmantes. Nous lavons acceptée mais sans conviction, a-t-il souligné.
(…)
January 15th, 2012, 7:59 am
Ghat Al Bird said:
The truth of the matter……water, water, water, water. [ an excerpt from xymphora ]
SUNDAY, JANUARY 15, 2012
Water from the Litani River
The attacks on Iran and Syria are about the Jews stealing the water from the Litani River in Lebanon.
The 2006 Jewish slaughter of completely innocent civilians in Lebanon – an altercation that left them defeated in an embarrassing way by Hezbollah – was an attempt by that band of thieves and murderers known as Jews to steal south Lebanon and its water. That band of thieves and murderers known as Jews need the water for the agricultural and industrial expansion planned by the tiny group of oligarchs who run Israel. That band of thieves and murderers known as Jews are group supremacists, and thus couldn’t accept that Hezbollah could have defeated them fair and square. Hezbollah must have cheated! The cheating was material support by the Iranian government mostly funneled through Syria.
Thus that band of thieves and murderers known as Jews have planned a two-pronged attack. First, they have started a civil war in Syria. The intent isn’t regime change – they quite like Assad and his inability to recover the stolen Golan Heights. Rather, it is a form of blackmail. That band of thieves and murderers known as Jews will allow Assad to have Syria back, and call off the civil war, if Assad agrees to cut ties with Iran and Hezbollah. Assad is smart enough to know that bands of thieves and murderers aren’t to be trusted, and has resisted the blackmail.
Secondly, that band of thieves and murderers known as Jews want regime change in Iran. The problem is how. They tried sponsoring the Green Movement, and tried to create a civil war in Iran, but failed, largely due to the fact that the group they supported were widely seen to be Zionist stooges. Israel is incapable of attacking Iran, and hasn’t been able to fool the Americans into yet another War For The Jews as this War For The Jews, unlike all the many, many previous Wars For The Jews, would cause the almost instant loss of literally trillions of dollars of wealth to the American 1%. On top of this, any kind of bombing attack on Iran would not only not cause regime change, but would actually permanently entrench the current Iranian regime in power. Ironically, bombing Iran would start the Iranian nuclear bomb program which that band of thieves and murderers and liars known as Jews claim is the reason for the attack on Iran. Doubly ironically, a bombing attack on Iran would likely unleash the Hezbollah rockets on Israel, starting the mass exodus of Jews with an IQ over 100 which will lead to the end of the land of thieves and murderers.
And it is all about stealing the water from the Litani River in Lebanon.
AT 1/15/2012 07:20:00 AM
January 15th, 2012, 8:37 am
Juergen said:
Uzair
I dont know what to think of this guy. He kind of reminds me of Rush Limbaugh sorry and after seeing such images:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3orFvKvTS3Y&feature=related
i think he is discredited. Any appeasement even for the sake of peace in presence of an murderous regime is wrong.
January 15th, 2012, 8:43 am
Revlon said:
Assad grip on restive areas is loosening slowly, but surely.
Demonstrators raise the independence flag on Khirbet Ghazaleh’s police station.
14/01/2012
خربة غزالة الثوار يرفعون علم الاستقلال فوق مخفر خربة غزالة اليوم 14 1 2012
January 15th, 2012, 9:15 am
Revlon said:
Assad grip on restive areas is loosening!
Demonstrators raise the independence flag in a major square in Idlib City
14/01/2012
مدينة ادلب-رفع علم الإستقلال فوق دوار المحراب
January 15th, 2012, 9:25 am
Mina said:
Did violence stop in Yemen with Saleh’s resignation? No.
http://www.reuters.com/places/yemen
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/norwegian-un-worker-kidnapped-in-yemen-6289963.html
Shadid on Syria:
Fear of Civil War Mounts in Syria as Crisis Deepens
By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: January 14, 2012
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The failure of an Arab League mission to stanch violence in Syria, an international community with little leverage and a government as defiant as its opposition is in disarray have left Syria descending into a protracted, chaotic and perhaps unnegotiable conflict.
The opposition speaks less of prospects for the fall of President Bashar al-Assad and more about a civil war that some argue has already begun, with the government losing control over some regions and its authority ebbing in the suburbs of the capital and parts of major cities like Homs and Hama. Even the capital, Damascus, which had remained calm for months, has been carved up with checkpoints and its residents have been frightened by the sounds of gunfire.
The deepening stalemate underlines the extent to which events are slipping out of control. In a town about a half-hour drive from Damascus, the police station was recently burned down and in retaliation electricity and water were cut off, diplomats say. For a time, residents drew water in buckets from a well. Some people are too afraid to drive major highways at night.
(…)
January 15th, 2012, 9:50 am
Revlon said:
The Syrian Revolution is worthy of a politician like Louay Safi to lead the SNC.
His soft spoken demeanor, succinct and clear responses, lucid understanding of the complexities of the global context, and genuine embodiment of the spirit and goals of the revolution make him a highly desirable political figure to lead the SNC.
The following is a link to a sample of his performance at a recent interview.
Louay Safi on regime escalation of military crackdown
الجزيرة تحاور لؤي صافي حول التصعيد العسكري
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=7K-E45iFoCU
Uploaded by luramuma on Jan 14, 2012
في حديث مفصل مع أحمد صبحي، تعرض لؤي صافي، عضو المجلس الوطني السوري ومدير مكتب التخطيط والسياسات، إلى جملة من القضايا، شملت التحديات التي تواجه المجلس، وعلاقاته مع القوى الإقليمية والدولية، والاعتراف الرسمي بالمجلس، والعلاقات مع تركيا وإيران والعراق، وغيرها من الموضوعات الحيوية المرتبطة بالثورة السورية. جرى الحوار يوم السبت الواقع في 14 كانون الثاني/يناير 2012
January 15th, 2012, 10:15 am
Tara said:
Revlon
It is rather disappointing that Ghalioun remained at the helm. I think it was a mistake not to change him. Ghalioun is a big asset and should remain pretty active but should’ve given a chance to another figure to continue and improve on SNC’s accomplishment. We need to utilize all the talents we got.
January 15th, 2012, 10:21 am
Ghat Al Bird said:
SURPRISE, SURPRISE……..has the worm turned?
US, Israel postpone major joint military exercise: radio
JERUSALEM – Agence France-Presse
January 15, 2012
January 15th, 2012, 10:28 am
Mina said:
… after Netanyahu has rebuked Obama for being too shy on Iran
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/netanyahu-deputy-voices-disappointment-with-obama-on-iran-1.407450
January 15th, 2012, 10:50 am
Ghufran said:
Revlon,
I watched Louai Safi on aljazeera,I am not sure what he can add to the SNC. He is polite and calm but he is rather boring and flat,the opposition needs a charismatic and well- spoken figure who is able to respond to a changing political environment,and Mr Safi is yet to show that he’s got what it takes to save the SNC from the situation it put itself in after sticking to unrealistic remands and refusing to entertain painful options that may be politically expensive but still needed to rescue Syria. Manna’ is so far the best rep for the opposition despite being called a regime collaborator,he understands that Syrians are divided and his approach reflects this reality. The SNC leadership on the other hand fell in the trap they made or was made for them.
January 15th, 2012, 10:52 am
Ghufran said:
في ذكرى أربعينية الحسين، وفي مشهد أعاد إلى الأذهان حادثة إنقاذ الشاب “السني” عثمان العبيدي لزوار “شيعة” من الغرق ثم موته غريقا عام 2005، اختار “سنيّ” آخر وهو الملازم نزهان الجبوري ابن الحويجة في كركوك أن يبعد شبح الموت عن زوار “شيعة” متوجهين من الناصرية إلى كربلاء بوضع جسده كعازل بينهم وبين انتحاري أراد تفجيرهم فانفجر حزام الموت فيه.
قررت “أم نزهان” أن لا تبكي كحال أي أم فقدت فلذة كبدها في أحد التفجيرات في العراق، واستقبلت مبتسمة نبأ مقتل ابنها الملازم نزهان الجبوري الذي وافته المنية بعد تصديه لانتحاري حاول تفجير نفسه وسط زحام الزائرين الشيعة في الناصرية جنوب العراق.
وكان قدر نزهان السني ابن الحويجة في كركوك أن يرسم بموته صورة ناصعة لوشائج الترابط بين أبناء العراق بكلِ طوائفه وقومياته حين اختار أن يضع جسده حاجزاً بين حزام الموت وقاصدي كربلاء من أجل إحياء أربعينية الحسين.
أم نزهان والدة الشهيد ملازم نزهان الجبوري قالت “الحمد لله رفع روسنا، رفع روس العرب ماشاء الله ربي الحمد لله ياهالشهادة، عفيه ابني عفيه ابني ما خيب ضني عفية ابني الي دافع عني”.
January 15th, 2012, 11:02 am
newfolder said:
must see this, worshipers at Al Aqsa mosque, Jerusalem rally in support of the Syrian revolution
January 15th, 2012, 11:54 am
ann said:
Iran’s Green Opposition endorses imperialist intervention in Syria – January 15, 2012
As the Western powers and Turkey prepare for an intervention in a developing civil war in Syria, key figures in the Iranian “Green” opposition have denounced Tehran for refusing to support the so-called “Syrian Revolution.” By backing the West and its Syrian proxy forces, these Greens are again highlighting their role as propagandists of imperialist war and plunder of the Middle East.
The Green movement was assembled before Iran’s 2009 presidential election, to mobilize affluent sections of the urban population in Tehran and other large cities behind the campaign of former “reformist” Prime Minister Mirhossein Mousavi. This movement received financial and logistical support from Iranian oligarch and ex-President Ali Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, and the political backing of Washington. It also received the backing of large layers of petty-bourgeois “left” parties in the West.
One of the prominent Green figures calling for Western military intervention in Syria is the former secretary of the Islamic Student Association (Tahkim Vahdat), Ali Afshari. Afshari was brought to the US in 2004 and in 2006, as a representative of the student movement in Iran; he spoke at a panel discussion organized by Senators Rick Santorum and Joe Lieberman at the US Capitol. He regularly publishes articles on web sites and online news agencies affiliated with the Greens, particularly those run by “liberal” student groups, and appears in Voice of America’s Persian-language programs.
In October he wrote an article titled “Libya and Humanitarian Intervention,” dismissing oil as a factor in NATO’s war against Libya. Advancing the absurd claim that a market-based global economy leaves no place for colonialist policies, he welcomed more such wars to come. He wrote that he was hopeful that improved tactics would “lead to perfection of humanitarian intervention in future instances”.
Afshari went on to glorify the alleged motives of the Libyan war, which caused an estimated 50,000 deaths and installed a pro-Western puppet regime in Tripoli. He wrote: “the purpose of humanitarian intervention is to stop state oppression and create an equal and fair playground for the struggle between pro-government and opposition forces. Humanitarian intervention [as in Libya] is different from the US invasion of Iraq and Afghanistan, since in those countries foreign forces intervened militarily in the absence of any popular protest.”
Such a formula, effectively legitimating imperialist intervention any time popular protests confront an authoritarian regime, gives a blank check for the US to attack any Middle Eastern country where the working class emerges in political struggle. This expresses the profound class antagonism between the working class and the social layer represented by the Greens. On this basis, they give their support to imperialist campaigns for waging war in Syria and preparing war with Iran.
Thus in December, in an interview with Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), Afshari said that the “international community should destroy the state repression apparatus of Bashar Assad”. He demanded the “imposition of a no-fly zone and destruction of armored vehicles and tanks to stop Assad’s blood-shed.”
Another high profile figure of the Greens, Shirin Ebadi, is a lawyer who was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2003. Ebadi went into exile following the 2009 presidential election protests and has taken an active role in Western propaganda against the regime’s crackdown on the Greens. Over the last year, she has written repeatedly to defend Western intervention in Syria, hoping that it could boost the Greens’ influence inside Iran itself.
In April, in a speech at the Institute for Middle Eastern Studies at George Washington University, she expressed the hope that the fall of Assad in Syria would “spur democracy in Iran”. In that speech, she followed the US policy of stoking sectarian tensions, describing the rule of the secular Ba’ath party as the imposition of the will of minority Shiites over majority Sunnis. She also repeated claims that Iran is sending forces to suppress the Syrian uprising.
She has now taken this position to its logical conclusion, explicitly endorsing the campaign of sanctions and imperialist provocations by the Western powers against Iran.
In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal of December 30, she writes: “Only the Security Council, with coercive levers at its disposal, can meaningfully pressure Iran’s rulers to stop their violations of citizens’ fundamental rights. International sanctions against Iran’s human-rights abusers should also be expanded and deepened. Policy makers in the U.S. and Europe deserve praise for sanctioning leaders of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, agents of the intelligence ministry, and other top officials responsible for the violent crackdown that followed the 2009 uprising.”
The Greens leaders who are still inside Iran know very well that explicit calls for “humanitarian intervention”—that is to say, imperialist attacks—in Iran would be politically suicidal, further alienating the population and exposing them to charges of treason from the Iranian regime. Nonetheless, they are repeating the same basic points, albeit in a thinly disguised way.
In October the coordination committee of the Green movement, which is in direct contact with Mousavi, sent their warmest greetings to the Supreme Council of the Syrian Revolution, a component of the Western-backed Syrian National Council. It stressed the solidarity of the Green movement with the Syrian protests. The Greens have also launched a Facebook campaign of “Iranian support for the Syrian revolution”, uncritically posting Western propaganda against the Assad regime.
Mostafa Tajzade, a leading architect of the Green movement and post-election demonstrations, wrote an open letter to Shiite clerics in August, from Evin prison. In that letter, he argued against Iranian support for the “blood-thirsty” regime of Bashar Assad. He claimed that such support sows hatred in the hearts of the Middle Eastern masses and gives Turkey a pivotal role as a representative of democratic, moderate Islam.
He then continues, “such policies pursued by the Iranian and Syrian governments are setting the stage for military intervention and spread anti-Iranian and anti-Shiite sentiments among the Middle-Eastern masses”. He states that “the Iranian nation should consider the Syrian protest movement as part of its own struggle against autocracy, such as the June 2009 uprising [post-election protests], and declare its solidarity with the uprisings of Libyan, Egyptian, Yemeni and Syrian masses”. Finally he urges Shiite clerics to issue fatwas calling for peaceful protests as a corrective measure to autocratic governments to avoid a confrontation with the US.
These positions are definitely adopted in coordination with imperialist maneuvers in the region to isolate and ultimately align the Iranian regime with US interests if possible and if not, to destabilize it. The Iranian opposition, particularly the Greens, are hoping to instigate fresh protests on the eve of 2012 parliamentary elections
Such protests would provide the opportunity for further imperialist intrigues among leading circles in Iran, and potentially provide a justification for imperialist intervention, as in Libya and Syria.
It is in this context that Afshari, in his latest article of January 2 on the upcoming elections, refers to them as an opportunity for new protests. “Since election is the largest political season in Iran, it should not be treated indifferently. Though by election, I mean an atmosphere which consists of more than just ballot boxes”. He argues that launching protests and demonstrations against the election can revive the Green movement in Iran.
January 15th, 2012, 12:11 pm
Revlon said:
829. Dear Tara
((It is rather disappointing that Ghalioun remained at the helm. I think it was a mistake not to change him. Ghalioun is a big asset and should remain pretty active but should’ve given a chance to another figure to continue and improve on SNC’s accomplishment. We need to utilize all the talents we got.))
I second your call .
I agree that Mr Ghalyoon has a lot to offer both as a member of the executive council and as an advisor to the upcoming, president elect of the SNC.
832. Ghufransaid:
((Revlon, I watched Louai Safi on aljazeera,I am not sure what he can add to the SNC. He is polite and calm but he is rather boring and flat, the opposition needs a charismatic and well- spoken figure who is able to respond to a changing political environment, and Mr Safi is yet to show that he’s got what it takes to save the SNC from the situation it put itself in after sticking to unrealistic remands and refusing to entertain painful options that may be politically expensive but still needed to rescue Syria.))
Mr Safi’s main contribution would be his ability to restore the confidence and support of the ground movement that is powering the drive for change in Syria.
His other contribution would be his political skills, namely keeping focus on the demands of the revolution while maintaining openness and flexibility in approach.
SNC needs the leadership of a skilful politician who both value and enjoy team work; Charisma is a bonus that can be dispensed with.
((Manna’ is so far the best rep for the opposition despite being called a regime collaborator, he understands that Syrians are divided and his approach reflects this reality.)).
Manna3 may be the best “Representative” for the NCB.
However, he is not eligible to represent the people who are fueling the drive for change, which he wants to lead!
He can not represent people against their wish; otherwise we will have another tyrant!
If he has supporters on the ground then why has he not ask them to march on the streets chanting NCB slogans?
Representation has every thing to do with popularity and much less to do with credentials. Ronald Reagan won the elections in the eighties by a land slide because he was popular; he did not have better credentials than his rival, W Mondale, or did he?
January 15th, 2012, 12:19 pm
Syrialover said:
A sobering piece on the Syrian situation “Syria in deep crisis may be slipping out of control” by Anthony Shadid was mentioned by Mina #827 but she didn’t say where it was from.
It’s in the NY Times:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/world/middleeast/syria-in-deep-crisis-may-be-slipping-out-of-control.html?_r=1&nl=todaysheadlines&emc=tha2
January 15th, 2012, 12:20 pm
ann said:
USA today, tomorrow the world – 15.01.2012
Adolph Hitler made a famous proclamation to his followers. He said to them, “Today all Germany is ours, tomorrow the world!” In the exact same fashion, American leadership follows in his footsteps.
However, it was George Bush who said, “You’re either with us or against us!” Now this was purposely interpreted wrong to refer to the fake, contrived war against terrorism, but what he really meant is “either do what we want and what we tell you or we will destroy you.” This is today’s American empire.
The latest victim was Libya, now under siege by thousands upon thousands of foreign mercenaries and terrorists, one set of terrorists installed as a “government.” However, this motley group is only able to function in the capacity of giving press conferences for the western Goebbels press. Otherwise, they can’t do a damn thing in Libya because not only do they hate and kill each other, but the people of Libya hate them.
Now the Empire marches on to its next victims, emboldened by the lack of opposition from the impotent, divided world community. They are targeting Syria and Iran for the same treatment as they gave Libya.
The war against Iran has been ongoing, for decades, back when they brought down the Iranian government to install a brutal dictator, the Shah. The Iranian government had dared to not be “with them” to allow the theft of profits from Iranian oil.
Then the Iranians rebelled and overthrew the Shah. So now another war is being conducted against Iran, both overtly and covertly. The Jundallah terror organization, funded and supported by the Empire, is engaging in kidnappings, smuggling of drugs and violence.
There were the Twitter terrorists trying to overturn the elections by creating violence. There are the terrorist actions against Iranian military facilities. There was the cyberterrorist Stuxnet virus attacking Iranian nuclear reactors. There is the ongoing assassination of Iranian nuclear scientists.
There is no justification whatsoever for these assasinations, and they fool no one with their denials, trying to attribute these murders to “internal problems.”
However, the propaganda campaign against Iran in regards to its nuclear program has been quite successful in fooling the gullible. Most uninformed citizens in the west believe that Iran is trying to produce nuclear weapons to use on “poor, innocent never did nothing to nobody Israel.” After all, Ahmadinejad did say he was going to “wipe Israel off the map.”
In fact, that was a purposeful mistranslation. Pravda readers should know that. What he really said was, “The Imam said that the regime in Israel will vanish from the pages of time.” That does not mean, “We are building nuclear weapons to go out of our way to destroy you” (no matter how suicidal that would be) as Goebbels media would have you believe.
The Empire’s modus operandi:
1. Search the pond slime and sewers in the victim country for criminals and greedy traitors who will sell out their country. Promise them the moon, the stars and a huge bank account living in power and luxury.
2. Organize a demonization of the country and its leadership in the Goebbels media.
3. Call the target country’s leader a dictator, no matter how many times you’ve been told that the people love him and/or he was elected.
4. Send in groups of terrorists, mercenaries and criminals to organize the local garbage against the government. Employ the latest technology with Twitter and Facebook.
5. Have their stooges attack peaceful citizens and blame it on the government of target country.
4. Impose sanctions on target country.
5. Have empire leaders and their stooges call for the leadership of target country to “step down.”
6. Threaten and then organize a military attack.
7, Infer that the leader of the target country is crazy when he says that outside forces are trying to cause trouble.
Thus, they called Gaddafi “crazy” when he told people that Al Qaeda and terrorists were causing trouble in his country. As it turns out, the man was 100% correct, as the Al Qaeda, terrorist and criminal backgrounds of “rebel” leaders have been exposed.
So then they move on target Syria. It’s the same pattern as in Libya. In his speech the other day, Assad said the following:
‘External conspiring is no longer a secret because what is being plotted in the pal talk rooms has started to be clearly revealed before the eyes of the people. It is not possible anymore to deceive others except for those who do not want to listen or see; as the tears shed by the dealers of freedom and democracy for our own victims can no longer conceal the role they played in the bloodshed which they tried to use for their own purposes.”
Assad is 100% correct, as was Gaddafi. However, speaking on behalf of the Empire, Hillary Clinton used the Goebbels nonsense as previously:
“Instead of taking responsibility Syrian President Bashar al-Assad only made ‘excuses, blaming foreign countries and conspiracies’.”
She went on to say that the televised address by President Al Assad where he vowed to “strike terrorists with an iron fist” was “chillingly cynical.”
“We cannot permit Assad and his regime to have impunity,” she said.
Isn’t that special? We are reminded that the US has destroyed how many persons and countries all in their moaning, groaning and whining about 9-11, and how they have broken every international law, the Geneva Conventions, the UN charter and violated UN resolutions in the commission of war crimes worse than that of Hitler and the Nazis with total impunity.
Somebody should put their foot through that female’s face the next time she opens her poisonous lying mouth.
Assad also mentioned the lock step demonization by the Goebbels media in the campaign against Syria.
At the beginning of the campaign against Gaddafi and Libya, the Goebbels media shamefully claimed that Gaddafi had fled or was planning to flee to Venezuela. That was one huge, egregious LIE. Assad tells us:
“There were continuous rumors like saying that the president has left the country, as to say that the president has given up on his responsibilities. They did their best to circulate those rumors but we say to them, ‘in your dreams, for I am not a person who surrenders his responsibilities.’
Just as Colonel Gaddafi has never left his people or country…
Included also in Assad’s speech was his view of how he sees his position:
“We are talking now about responsibility, and this responsibility derives its importance from public support. This means that I acquire a position with the support of the people; and when I leave it, it will be with the will of this people. This is final, and regardless of what you heard, I always based my external policy in all our positions on public support and public will.”
That doesn’t sound like the evil, arrogant dictator the Goebbels media has portrayed him to be.
And what’s with Qatar having their stinking, greedy hands in all of these terrorist operations in Libya and Syria? It seems that Qatar needs to make up for lack of oil by playing a more proactive political role in region in serving the Empire. They have provided the Empire with thousands of terrorist foot soldiers. In fact, an invasion by Qatar, an act of war.
Another disturbing report has come that there are 12,000 American troops in Malta waiting to invade Libya. To remind, the UN Resolutions providing for a “no-fly” zone over Libya neither gave permission for bombing the living daylights out of the country, destroying its infratructure, nor to “boots on the ground” and it has expired.
January 15th, 2012, 12:20 pm
zoo said:
799. Norman
While the AL and the UN can put pressure on Syria as a recognized state by imposing sanctions, they have no way to put pressure on the opposition.
This is where the problem lies.
The AL has hoped that the opposition unifies to be able to deal with a coherent recognized entity and press it to negotiate but the opposition has remained disunited and slippery.
Unless the supporters of the SNC, that is France, Turkey, Qatar and the US starts to putting pressure on the SNC while Russia and the UN puts pressure on the regime (which they are already doing), there can only be an escalation of violence.
Yet there is a perceptible change with the Arab countries.
The criticism of the Syria’s regime from Arab countries is now slowly reversing as many major Arab countries are starting to realize the danger of replacing the present regime by an opposition that has no credibility neither with the large majority of the Syrians nor with the international community that has consistently refused to recognize it.
Hardline countries, like Qatar, Turkey and France who were the creators of the SNC are bearing the consequences. They are loosing their influence as it is becoming obvious that instead of of contributing positively in solving the conflict by pressing both the regime and the opposition into negotiations, they have made it worse by supporting blindly the SNC.
The key is now in the hands of the USA and Russia.
The Russian are trying to convince the US to help in that, but the US is still mulling that move, watching what the AL and other arab countries are doing as well as the Iran crisis development before taking a coherent position. This explain the total silence of ambassador Ford.
The situation in Syria, now linked to the Iran crisis and the regional problems, is not about to change soon.
January 15th, 2012, 12:33 pm
Mina said:
Sorry Syrialover, I forgot the link.
Sana has just reported a new bomb near Idleb, killing 6 and injuring 16 workers.
http://www.portalangop.co.ao/motix/fr_fr/noticias/internacional/2012/0/2/Six-ouvriers-tues-par-une-bombe-sur-une-route-pres-Idleb,cda844f8-c385-4cf3-b94b-5a98c77ff2da.html
January 15th, 2012, 12:39 pm
zoo said:
Syria’s President Assad grants amnesty for crimes committed during unrest
BEIRUT – Syria’s state news agency says President Bashar Assad has granted a general amnesty for crimes committed during the unrest of the past 10 months.
SANA says the amnesty issued Sunday covers those who have peacefully demonstrated, those who have carried unlicensed weapons and those who hand over their weapons to authorities before the end of January.
It also applies to army deserters who fled military service if they turn themselves in before Jan. 31.
It was not clear how many prisoners would be affected by Sunday’s pardon.
Since the outbreak of the uprising against Assad’s rule in March, Assad has freed 3,952 prisoners, according to SANA.
The opposition claims there are thousands more in Syrian prisons.
Assad’s action comes after the U.N. Secretary General demanded Sunday that he stop killing his own people, saying the “old order” of one-man rule and family dynasties is over in the Middle East.
In a keynote address at a conference on democracy in the Arab world, Ban Ki-moon said the revolutions of the Arab Spring show that people will no longer accept tyranny.
“Today, I say again to President (Bashar) Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people,” Ban said during the conference in Beirut.
Thousands of people have been killed in the Syrian government’s crackdown on a 10-month-old uprising, which has turned increasingly violent in recent months. The Syrian regime blames the revolt on terrorists and armed gangs — not protesters seeking an end to nearly four decades of Assad family rule.
Arab League observers began work in Syria on Dec. 27 to verify whether the government is abiding by its agreement to end the military crackdown on dissent, but the bloodshed has only increased. The U.N. says about 400 people have been killed in the last three weeks alone, on top of an earlier estimate of more than 5,000 killed since March.
Opposition and army defectors meanwhile have increasingly been taking up arms to fight back against government forces.
Ban acknowledged challenges facing Arab states in the wake of the uprisings sweeping the Arab world, in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya and Syria.
“Democracy is not easy,” he said. “It takes time and effort to build. It does not come into being with one or two elections. Yet there is no going back.”
He encouraged Arab countries to usher in real reforms and dialogue, and to respect the role of women and the young.
“The old way, the old order, is crumbling,” Ban said. “One-man rule and the perpetuation of family dynasties, monopolies of wealth and power, the silencing of the media, the deprivation of fundamental freedoms that are the birthright of every man, woman and child on this planet — to all of this, the people say: Enough!”
The U.N. chief also urged an end to “Israeli occupation of Arab and Palestinian territories … Settlements, new and old, are illegal. They work against the emergence of a viable Palestinian state.”
On Saturday, the leader of Qatar was quoted as saying that Arab troops should be sent to Syria to stop a deadly crackdown on anti-government protests.
Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani’s comments to CBS’ “60 Minutes,” which will be aired Sunday, are the first statements by an Arab leader calling for the deployment of troops inside Syria.
Asked whether he is in favor of Arab nations intervening in Syria, Sheik Hamad said that “for such a situation to stop the killing some troops should go to stop the killing.”
Excerpts of the interview were sent to The Associated Press by CBS a day before it was to be aired.
Qatar, which once had close relations with Damascus, has been a harsh critic of the 10-month crackdown by President Bashar Assad’s regime. The wealthy and influential Gulf state withdrew its ambassador to Syria in the summer to protest the killings.
Since the Arab Spring began more than a year ago, Qatar has taken an aggressive role, raising its influence in the region. It contributed war planes to the NATO air campaign in Libya, tried to negotiate an exit for Yemen’s protest-battered president Ali Abdullah Saleh, and has taken the lead in Arab countries pressuring Assad.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/world/2012/01/15/un-chief-demands-syrias-president-assad-stop-violence/#ixzz1jY9zW2YJ
January 15th, 2012, 12:43 pm
zoo said:
Shadid is not so sure anymore about the imminent fall of the regime.
Fear of Civil War Mounts in Syria as Crisis Deepens
By ANTHONY SHADID
Published: January 14, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/15/world/middleeast/syria-in-deep-crisis-may-be-slipping-out-of-control.html?_r=1
BEIRUT, Lebanon — The failure of an Arab League mission to stanch violence in Syria, an international community with little leverage and a government as defiant as its opposition is in disarray have left Syria descending into a protracted, chaotic and perhaps unnegotiable conflict.
…
Mr. Assad still commands a largely loyal government. Unlike in Libya, defections from within the leadership, or even diplomatic service, have been few — so rare, in fact, that the departure of a mid-ranking cleric from the state’s religious establishment recently was hailed as a victory by the opposition.
For many, the calculus remains much as it did at the beginning of the uprising. Though some soldiers have defected from the military, the more essential security forces, dominated by Mr. Assad’s own Alawite clan, have remained cohesive. Their loyalty, along with support from nervous Christians — who with the Alawites make up more than a fifth of the country — means his fall is not imminent or even likely.
……
Activists admit to a growing vacuum in embattled streets, as the bitterly divided exiled opposition fails to connect with the domestic protest movement.
“They don’t understand the situation on the ground, and they have to be blamed for that,” said Wissam Tarif, an activist with Avaaz, a human rights and advocacy group. He warned about a growing armed presence in Syria, with no leadership. “It’s a very dangerous business. The vacuum will eventually be filled. By whom, we don’t know.”
Another resident in Damascus, where blackouts are becoming more frequent and longer, cast the future starkly.
“Each side is trying to eliminate or belittle the other,” he said. “They both refuse to acknowledge the other side. When you talk to them, they will convince you that, come on already, it’s a done deal, God is with them. God must be torn, I tell you.”
January 15th, 2012, 12:49 pm
Revlon said:
حماة المحتلة
15/01/2012
http://www.facebook.com/TheSyrianNationalCouncil
مرسوم العفو الصادر اليوم يدل على عدة نقاط
:
1- النظام في مأزق لأنه من أول الثورة وحتى الآن يصدر أول عفو رئاسي عن الجرائم الواقعة على أمن الدولة (المواد 285/286/287/ 291/294/307/ 308/ 327/328).
2- تضمين العفو جرائم حمل وحيازةالأسلحة وهذا أولاً للإستمرار في الإصرار على الرواية الرسمية بوجود عصابات مسلحة لكنه يعفو عنها أيضاً وهذا مستغرب… بعد أن قتلتهذه العصابات المسلحة أكثر من 6 آلاف مواطن سوري لماذا يتم العفو عنها؟!!
3- العفو عن مرتكبي جرائم الفرار الداخلي والخارجي يعكس ببساطة حجم الفارين من الجيش وبالتالي يعكس الحجم الكبير للإنشقاقات التي حصلت في الجيش السوري منذ بدأ الثورة.
4- الغريب هو عدم استفادة المتوارين من مرسوم العفو إلا إذا سلموا أنفسهم… يعني طالما أنه سيعفى عنكامل العقوبة فما الغاية إذا من تسليم “المجرمين” أنفسهم طالما أنه سيفرج عنهم؟
من الواضح أن النظام في مأزق… يعكسمرسوم العفو عن حاجة النظام إلىإطلاق سراح المعتقلين بأعداد كبيرة لتثبيت فكرة الإفراج عن المعتقلين من قبل النظام… لكن من الواضح أنهيسعى إلى إلقاء القبض على القيادات السياسية والميدانية للثورة، والتي من المعروف أنها متوارية تماماً وهذا يعكس سوء نية النظام.
لا داعي طبعاً للتحذير لأي من النشطاءمن تسليم أنفسهم مهما كانالسبب… إنتم اعتقالك لاحقاً بأي طريقة (على حاجز أو مداهمة أو بأي طريقة أخرى) فأول كلمة يجب أن تقولها للمحققين أن جرائمي سقطت بمرسوم العفو ولا توجد جريمة لأحاكم عليها.
ويلعن روحك يا حافظ 🙂
about an hour ago
January 15th, 2012, 12:57 pm
ann said:
Syria allows 12 Arab observers’ cars into the country – 2012-01-15
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/15/c_131361471.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — The Syrian authorities have allowed around 12 vehicles belonging to the Arab League (AL) to cross into Syria to ensure the movement of the Arab observers mission in the country, private al-Watan daily reported Sunday.
Syria’s customs officials have given permission to the drivers of the cars, which hold Qatari and Emirates plates and have been parking a few days along the Jordanian borders, to cross into Syria, said the paper.
The paper said that Syria had provided all arrangements for the vehicles’ entry “but there is something that hindered their crossings from the Jordanian side.”
It hinted that “political impediments” from the Jordanian side have delayed AL cars crossings.
The AL has recently implored Arab countries to logistically support the mission of the Arab observers mission in Syria, which has started in December of last year to monitor the country’s unrest on ground.
A day earlier, AL Deputy Secretary General Ahmed Ben Helli said that Arab foreign ministers are likely to meet on Jan. 22 to discuss the report of the AL’s observer mission in Syria.
The AL official was quoted by Egypt’s official news agency MENA as saying that the AL ministerial committee in charge of handling the Syrian crisis is likely to meet on Jan. 21, and the report issued by the Arab monitors will be discussed a day later.
Sudanese General Mohammed Ahmed Mostafa al-Dabi, head of the Arab observer mission in Syria, is to submit his report to AL chief Nabil al-Arabi on Jan. 20.
Syria signed the AL observer protocol on Dec. 19, 2011 in Cairo after the AL threatened to take the issue to the United Nations Security Council.
The observers are monitoring the situation in Syria as part of the AL peace initiative to end the months-long turmoil in Syria. The Syrian government said some 2,000 army and security personnel were killed since the unrest began in March, 2011, while the UN said more than 5,000 people have died in the violence.
The observers mission has been widely criticized as ineffective in stopping the violence both inside and outside the country.
Meanwhile, Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani said in excerpts of an interview released on Saturday that he favored sending Arab troops to Syria to stop the violence there, citing the observers failure to curb the escalating violence in the Middle East nation.
The emir became the first Arab leader to publicly suggest military intervention when he said that “For such a situation … some troops should go to stop the killing.”
The emir, who once had a friendly relationship with Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, has become one of his harshest critics after failing to convince him to halt the violence in his country.
January 15th, 2012, 1:01 pm
Dale Andersen said:
From the EU/Salafist/Saudi/CIA/Jewboy/al Qaeda Press:
“… Syria’s state news agency says President Bashar Assad has granted a general amnesty for crimes committed during the unrest of the past 10 months…”
What a guy!
January 15th, 2012, 1:02 pm
ann said:
Syria allows foreign journalists to cover unrest – 2012-01-15
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/15/c_131361540.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — Syrian Information Minister Adnan Mahmoud confirmed Sunday that the ministry has granted local and foreign media work permits to cover the months-long unrest in Syria, according to state-run SANA news agency.
In a statement, Mahmoud said 147 permits have been granted to Arab and foreign TV channels, newspapers and news agencies since the beginning of December, adding 116 of them have already entered the country to work alongside 90 accredited media channels.
He stressed that the ministry is facilitating the job of all journalists in different parts of the country.
Mahmoud said the ministry gives work licenses to journalists for ten days that can be extended, adding that the ministry also ensures field visits, tours to all provinces, as well as interviews with all political and economic figures and government officials.
He confirmed that journalists have full freedom to work and move in Syria in accordance with the currently enforced laws and regulations.
“The ministry is permanently working to facilitate the job of journalists to convoy the reality of what is happening in Syria to the world public opinion and to contribute to making the mission of the Arab League observers a success,” he said.
At the same time, he cautioned that since the start of the observers’ mission in Syria, the size of provocations has been doubled and facts have been distorted by some media, adding that a surge in terrorist acts by armed groups has also been registered.
He warned that some media channels are conveying a “one sided picture connected to beforehand agendas and political stands towards Syria.”
January 15th, 2012, 1:04 pm
newfolder said:
this is so damn heartbreaking,the face of the Baba Amro revolution Khaled AbuSalah, says an emotional farewell to his martyred brother
January 15th, 2012, 1:10 pm
norman said:
Newfolder,
That is not AL Aqsa mosque.
January 15th, 2012, 1:12 pm
zoo said:
Asharq Al-Awsat Interview: Turkish President Abdullah Gul
15/01/2012
By Tha’ir Abbas
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=3&id=28104
Ankara, Asharq Al-Awsat- In an exclusive interview, Turkish President Abdullah Gul denied that his country has abandoned the Syrians, stressing that it supports the legitimate demands of its people.
{..}
January 15th, 2012, 1:51 pm
zoo said:
Will the Salafis change?
15/01/2012
By Abdul Rahman Al-Rashid ( general manager of Al -Arabiya television)
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=28105zoo
…
I fear that the less politically aware Salafis might push their movement towards increasingly hard-line positions, in competition with the Muslim Brotherhood. In turn, this will make Salafi politics more radical, which we will see in the Egyptian scene over the next four years. Meanwhile, this will all take place under difficult conditions because of the fragility of the new Egyptian regime, and the willingness of all parties that lost out in the elections to exacerbate the scene, like the nationalist parties and the military council.
January 15th, 2012, 1:56 pm
Mina said:
Tunisia:
The Salafists of Sejnane attack journalists after they report on the pressures they make on women and the rest of the society.
http://www.liberation.fr/monde/01012383067-a-sejnane-laisse-aux-mains-des-salafistes
http://kapitalis.com/fokus/62-national/7731-des-journalistes-tunisiens-et-francais-agresses-a-sejnane-par-des-salafistes.html
The Al-Aqsa mosque hoax: It seems to be in Lebanon according to the comments. Amazing! The banner says : the umma wants an Islamic caliphate. Jürgen, Tara and Revlon, what do you think of your Lebanese friends? Do you think we should simply ask the UN for a partition of the country, with the emirate of Tripoli as independent?
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4v87m3cJy4)
January 15th, 2012, 1:59 pm
irritated said:
Dale Andersen #845
Thanks for parroting #841. You seem to be a specialist of duplicating comments adding your imaginative heading and comments.
January 15th, 2012, 2:00 pm
irritated said:
Mina #85
Freedom of expression Tunisian style
The tunisian authorities dominated by islamic Al Nahda make no attempt to stop the gradual transformation of the Tunisian town of Sejnane into a Salafi emirate.
Are we seen in Sejnane, Tripoli, Hama and Ban Amro, the emergence of a cross border Salafi caliphate?
January 15th, 2012, 2:10 pm
Mina said:
Irritated
I guess we should be happy that the MB + Salafis have won with a landslide in Egypt. Within 6-8 months, people will see that they are as useless as those who were before them. If the Liberals had won a 30 percent of the seats, the MB could still have claimed that they were blocked by these.
Let’s hope the more the califate mirage will disappear and the more a civil society will emerge.
January 15th, 2012, 2:17 pm
Mina said:
Qatar’s ban on alcohol didn’t reach the frontpage in December…
http://www.arabist.net/blog/2012/1/15/qatars-impromptu-alcohol-ban.html
The sale of alcohol (and use even for cooking) has been banned on The Pearl (where I live) since mid-December, but a month later businesses have still not received formal notification of the reason for the prohibition or when and if it would end, according to interviews with more than a dozen people affected at various establishments (…)
Maybe it was a preliminary request of the Talibans?
On year after, the social media prove they are indeed impossible to control. It started like the best way to take down the Islamic republic of Iran, and it ends up the best way to establish half a dozen Sunni republics with one aim in mind: “an Islamic califate”! (Do they have a candidate? Hamad bin Khalifa? Or they think about a collegial, democratic presidency?)
January 15th, 2012, 2:36 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
الشعب السوري رهينة عصابة مجرمين دموية تعمل تحت اسم حزب سياسي ولها واجهة وتؤيدها دولة المنافقين الشيعية- انقذو الوطن والشعب السوري من الذل وسفاحين الدماء اللذي واجهتهم بشار الأسد
העם הסורי ערובה כנופיה של פושעים הדמים ההפעלה תחת השם של מפלגה פוליטית
叙利亚人民人质下的政党名称经营的罪犯团伙的血腥
Syriske folk gidsel blodige bande af kriminelle, der opererer under navnet politisk parti
Сирийский народ заложником кровавая банда преступников, действующих в рамках названия политической партии
Suriye halkı rehin siyasi partinin adı altında faaliyet gösteren suçluların kanlı çete
Syriska folket gisslan blodiga banditgäng verkar under namnet politiskt parti
Συρίας ανθρώπων ως ομήρων, αιματηρή συμμορία κακοποιών, που δρουν κάτω από το όνομα του πολιτικού κόμματος
Syrische Volk als Geisel blutige Bande von Kriminellen, die unter dem Namen der politischen Partei
सीरिया बंधक राजनीतिक पार्टी के नाम के तहत ऑपरेटिंग अपराधियों के खूनी गिरोह लोग
Povo sírio refém sangrentas entre gangues de criminosos que operam sob o nome de partido político
مردم سوریه گروگان باند خونین جنایتکاران عامل تحت نام حزب سیاسی
January 15th, 2012, 2:52 pm
Ghufran said:
I do not what it will take for Assad supporters to accept the fact that his presence at the helm of the regime is not in Syria’s best interest or even the interest of the people who are more likely to want him to stay out of fear or due to personal convictions,greed,etc
Asking him to leave does not mean that Syria will suddenly be at the mercy of the Islamists,it simply means that no person is more important than the country and nobody in Syria is above questioning or big enough to defy the will of the people.
Assad did not become president through clean elections and his supporters claim that he is entitled to finish his second term is in violation of fairness and justice especially that he did not offer a road map or a timetable for a peaceful transfer of power. People will always look at any election under his rule and any new constitution he writes as being tainted and biased. Only clean elections and a unity government that represents all Syrians has the legitimacy to change the constitution.
January 15th, 2012, 3:10 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Ghufran
Manna is not an opposition, he has no practical solution he has no support from the street and he talks in cloudy flummoxed way, I do not think he is normal person. further he reached agreement with the persian goverment.this will make him suspicious.
We need someone who can lead and has strong charisma, a good speaker too and respected one, I think Burhan Ghalion has good intention and well respected and now he is known figure.He is not effective yet.
The new leader must be able to mobilize the Arab states and able to get money and weapons to the FSA, The FSA will be able to liberate Syria,they need to organise themselves and the leader has to be one of them, Maher Nu3aimi is the best qualified
The FSA is our only hope,yes there will be casualities, the syrian people who acquiesced to this brutal regime over 40 years they are to blame for the power and brutality of this regime and they are to blame for the massive casualities Syria will suffer.
There is no peaceful solution,practically.
January 15th, 2012, 3:13 pm
Humanist said:
SNP,
What made you finally give up on Bashar? His last speech about “arabism”?
January 15th, 2012, 3:21 pm
Khalid Tlass said:
TARA
The FSA is getting stronger and stronger by the day. The defection rate is between 10 and 20 per day on average, sometimes even 30.
Even better news is that they have managed to get hold of Anti-Tank Guided Missiles (ATGM) which can destroy heavy T-72 tanks from a distance of 2 to 3 kms, they have several of them.
Don’t be depressed.
January 15th, 2012, 3:28 pm
Humanist said:
I hope somebody with knowledge can answer this:
I wonder about people giving the “nazi” (roman) salute in pro-regime rallies. I guess it has a bit different meaning in Syria.
Is it related to baath or other nationalist/fascist ideologies?
January 15th, 2012, 3:30 pm
Ghufran said:
Majed
How will the FSA liberate Syria and topple the regime?
Since when a violent campaign can bring peace to a divided country?
Praising Manna’ does not mean that the man is flawless or he is entitled to be president,his anti regime position has not changed since March and he does not have an agreement with Iran that I know off,even Louai Safi said he is willing to talk to Iran.
If the new government is dominated by the army,how can trust them to hand power to a civilian president?
How will the FSA handle tens,or may be hundred,of thousands of soldiers and officers who somehow are expected to pledge loyalty to a junior officer like Na’eemi or even Alas’aad?
The FSA brings more trouble and questions than solutions and answers especially that they are threatening to blow up civilian targets in reef dimashq to
retaliate against the regime,that threat was aired on anti regime channels including almustaqbal.
January 15th, 2012, 3:30 pm
zoo said:
Gufran #857
Once a new constitution is approved within 3 months or so, Bashar Al Assad will have to resign as the election of a new president will have to follow the new Constitution (said to be largely influenced by the Turkish one). The role of the president would be reduced in favor of the prime minister. This is a whole new game and promising for a healthy democratic move if only the hardline opposition transforms itself into opposition parties instead of militias.
Therefore, Syria may have its constitution ready before Egypt and Tunisia.
The hardline opposition who refuses such a move and prefer a total upheaval with the SNC taking power will surely increase provocations and violence. The next 2 months are crucial for the fate of Syria.
January 15th, 2012, 3:46 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Ghufran
Since when a violent campaign can bring peace to a divided country?
Always, the american revolution was won violently, they delivered thye best country, Hitler was opposed militarily, now Europe is better, Mao in China won militarily and so many examples
“The FSA brings more trouble and questions than solutions and answers especially that they are threatening to blow up civilian targets in reef dimashq ”
This is not true, it is pure pro regime fabrications unfounded and unprovened.Al Mustaqbal is not spoke radio to FSA.
You ask how will FSA topple the regime.
Certainly but I am not going to reveal the plan here.
January 15th, 2012, 3:59 pm
zoo said:
Sheikh Hamad, now Amr Moussa
“Former AL chief Amr Moussa urged on Sunday in the Lebanese capital of Beirut that the AL should study a proposal on dispatching Arab forces to Syria, according to MENA.”
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/15/c_122589179.htm
January 15th, 2012, 4:02 pm
jad said:
The works of the terrorists fsa militias, the military arm of SNC continue, attacking train transporting fuel and hydro power towers, yet they want people to support this terrorist entities as an alternative…Sure!
مسلحو “المجلس الوطني” يرتكبون جرائم جديدة في إدلب ودير الزور: تفجير قطار محمل بألف طن فيول، ونسف أربعة أبراج كهرباء
دمشق / محافظات ـ الحقيقة ( خاص): فجر مسلحو رياض الأسعد ، الجناح العسكري لـ”المجلس الوطني السوري”، قطارا محملا بالفيول في محافظة إدلب صباح اليوم ، ما أدى إلى خروج القطار عن السكة واحتراقه ، وإصابة 3 من طاقمه بجروح بالغة. وجاء في التفاصيل أن قطارا محملا بألف طن من مادة الفيول مخصصة لمحطة “الرضوانية” لتوليد الكهرباء في حلب كان يتجه في طريقه عند الثامنة صباح اليوم بين محطتي ” محمبل” و” بشمارون” ، قادما من مصفاة بانياس، عندما انفجرت عبوة ناسفة وضعت تحت السكة . الأمر الذي أدى إلى انقلاب الرأس القاطر بالإضافة إلى 14 مقطورة ـ صهريجا واشتعال النار في عدد منها ، بما في ذلك الرأس القاطر، وإصابة رئيس القطار ومعاونيه بجروح بليغة نقلوا على أثرها إلى مشفى جسر الشغور الوطني. وقدر المهندس جورج مقعبري ، المدير العام لمؤسسة السكك الحديدة، الخسائر المادية بحوالي 30 مليون ليرة ( حوالي 600 ألف دولار). (شاهد الشريط المنشور نهاية التقرير).
على صعيد متصل، أقدم مسلحو “المجلس الوطني السوري” في محافظة دير الزور، الذين ينشطون تحت اسم ” كتيبة عمر بن الخطاب” و ” كتيبة القينقاع”، على نسف أربعة أبراج لخطوط التوتر العالي ( 400 فولت) الذي يغذي محطة الربط الكهربائي بين “محطة التيم” في دير الزور ومحافظة الحسكة ، ما أدى إلى انقطاع وسقوط الكيبلات الناقلة للكهرباء في منطقة ” رويشد”( حوالي 50 كم شمال شرق دير الزور). ولم يكتف “الثوار” بذلك ، بل عمدوا إلى قطع الكيبلات وسرقتها بعد سقوطها. وقدرت مصادر فنية قيمة الخسائر ( ما بين تخريب وسرقة) بحوالي خمسة ملايين ليرة ( حوالي مئة ألف دولار). وكان “ثوار” ينتمون إلى مجموعة مسلحة تنشط أيضا تحت اسم ” الجيش السوري الحر” استهدفت في 28 من الشهر الماضي بعبوة ناسفة البرج رقم 34 في منطقة الشيخ مسكين بمحافظة درعا ، المخصص لحمل كيبلات التوتر المتوسط( 230 فولت) الواصل بين المنطقة ومنطقة “الكوم” في السويداء. الأمر الذي أدى إلى انهيار البرج والكيبلات!
وكان رئيس” رئيس المجلس الوطني السوري” ، برهان غليون ، أبرم يوم أول أمس اتفاقا في استانبول مع العميل رياض الأسعد لتعميق التنسيق بين الطرفين ، بما في ذلك ، تصعيد الكفاح المسلح لخدمة الثورة وإسقاط النظام. ويبدو أن تفجير قطار الفيول وإسقاط أبراج الكهرباء كان الثمرة الأولى للاتفاق الجديد، فإسقاط النظام ” يمر حتما” بإسقاط أبراج الكهرباء والقطارات!؟
يشار إلى أن مراقبين في تركيا رجحوا يوم أمس ، في سياق التعليق على الاتفاق الجديد بين غليون والأسعد، أن تكون مدينة حلب أول ما سيجري استهدافه بالموجة الجديدة المتوقعة من الاغتيالات والتخريب من أجل معاقبة المدينة وأهلها على رفضهم دعم “المجلس الوطني السوري”. ويبدو أن العقوبة الأولى كانت استهداف الفيول المخصص لمحطة الكهرباء في مدينتهم!
القطار الذي فجره مسلحو”المجلس الوطني السوري” في إدلب
http://youtu.be/tzGGHbByIYc
January 15th, 2012, 4:04 pm
irritated said:
Majedalkhaldoon #864
“Certainly but I am not going to reveal the plan here.”
You better don’t, as it is doomed like all the predictions you made for the last 5 months.
January 15th, 2012, 4:05 pm
jad said:
The amnesty includes most of those who demonstrates since march 15th, hopefully that will see the release of all the detainees:
شمل “إضعاف الشعور القومي” و “وهن نفسية الأمة”.. عكس السير يفند مرسوم العفو رقم 10 الصادر عن الرئيس بشار الأسد
شمل العفو وفي المادة الأولى الفقرة /أ/ منه كامل العقوبة بالنسبة للجرائم المنصوص عليها المادة 285 المتضمنة عقوبة الاعتقال المؤقت لمن قام في سوريا في زمن الحرب أو عند توقع نشوب حرب بدعاوة ترمي إلى إضعاف الشعور القومي أو إيقاظ النعرات العنصرية أو المذهبية.
كما شمل العفو كامل العقوبة بالنسبة للجرائم المنصوص عليها في المادة 286 المتضمنة نفس عقوبة المادة السابقة لمن نقل في سورية في الأحوال عينها أنباء يعرف أنها كاذبة أو مبالغ فيها من شأنها أن توهن نفسية الأمة.
وشمل العفو كامل العقوبة للجرائم المنصوص عليها في المادة 287 والمتضمنة عقوبة الحبس ستة أشهر على الأقل وبغرامة تتراوح بين مائة وخمسمائة ليرة لكل سوري يذيع في الخارج وهو على بينة من الأمر أنباء كاذبة أو مبالغاً فيها من شأنها أن تنال من هيبة الدولة أو مكانتها المالية
كما شمل المادة 291 التي تعاقب بالاعتقال المؤقت خمس سنوات على الأقل لمن يقوم باعتداء يستهدف تغيير دستور الدولة بطرق غير مشروعة.
وشمل العفو كامل العقوبة للجرائم المنصوص عليها في المادة 294 التي تعاقب بالاعتقال المؤقت لكل من قام باعتداء قصد منه منع السلطات القائمة من ممارسة وظائفها المستمدة من الدستور.
كما شمل العفو كامل العقوبة للمادة 307 التي تعاقب بالحبس من ستة أشهر إلى سنتين وبالغرامة من مائة إلى مائتي ليرة وكذلك بالمنع من ممارسة الحقوق المذكورة في الفقرتين الثانية والرابعة من المادة الـ 65، لكل عمل وكل كتابة وكل خطاب يقصد منها أو ينتج عنها إثارة النعرات المذهبية أو العنصرية أو الحض على النزاع بين الطوائف ومختلف عناصر الأمة.
وشمل العفو كامل العقوبة للمادة 308 المتضمنة العقوبات ذاتها في المادة السابقة لكل شخص ينتمي إلى جمعية أنشئت للغاية المشار إليها في المادة السابقة.
كما شمل العفو كامل العقوبة للجرائم التي نصت عليها المادة 327 والمادة 328 اللتان تعاقبان بالحبس من ستة أشهر إلى سنتين وبالغرامة من مائة إلى خمسمائة ليرة، لكل شخص كان متولياً وظيفة إدارية في جمعية أو جماعة سرية وكان غرضها منافياً للقانون وكانت تقوم بأعمالها أو ببعضها سراً.
وحددت المادة 327 من قانون العقوبات الجمعيات السرية بالوصف ان غرضها مناف للقانون ولم تعلم السلطة، بعد أن طلب إليها ذلك، بأنظمتها الأساسية وبأسماء أعضائها ووظائفهم وبموضوع اجتماعاتها وبيان أموالها ومصدر مواردها أو أعطت عن هذه الأمور معلومات كاذبة أو ناقصة.
وهكذا فإن المادة 1 الفقرة /أ/ من هذا المرسوم شملت:
المتورطين بتهمة إضعاف الشعور القومي وإيقاظ النعرات العنصرية أو المذهبية.
كذلك المتورطين بتهمة نقل الأنباء الكاذبة التي من شأنها وهن نفسية الأمة.
وكذلك من تورط بإذاعة أنباء كاذبة في الخارج من شأنها إضعاف الشعور القومي.
وكذلك المتورطين باعتداءات تهدف إلى تغيير دستور الدولة بطرق غير مشروعة.
وكذلك من قام باعتداء قصد منه منع السلطات من ممارسة وظائفها.
وكذلك المتورطين بالانتماء إلى جمعية سرية أو شغل فيها وظيفة إدارية
وتضمنت المادة 1 الفقرة /ب/ من المرسوم العفو عن كامل العقوبة بالنسبة للجرائم الواردة في المرسوم التشريعي رقم /54/ الصادر بتاريخ 21-4-2011 المتضمن قانون التظاهر السلمي والمعاقب عليها في المواد من /335/ إلى /339/ من قانون العقوبات الصادر بالمرسوم التشريعي رقم 148 لعام 1949 التي تضمنت عقوبة الحبس من شهر إلى سنة والغرامة مائة ليرة لكل من كان في اجتماع ليس له طابع الاجتماع الخاص سواء من حيث غايته أو غرضه أو عدد المدعوين إليه أو الذين يتألف منهم أو من مكان انعقاده أو كان في مكان عام أو بمحل مباح للجمهور أو معرض لأنظاره فجهر بصياح أو أناشيد الشغب أو أبرز شارة من الشارات في حالات يضطرب معها الأمن العام أو أقدم على أية تظاهرة شغب أخرى.
مما يعني أن الفقرة /ب/ شملت كل من اعتقل على خلفية المظاهرات غير المرخصة المخالفة لنص قانون التظاهر السلمي رقم 54، والمعاقب عليها بالمواد السابقة.
كما شمل العفو في المادة 1 الفقرة /ج/ كامل العقوبة بالنسبة لجرائم حمل وحيازة الاسلحة والذخائر من قبل المواطنين السوريين بدون ترخيص المنصوص عليها في قانون العقوبات وفي المرسوم التشريعي رقم 51 لعام 2001 وتعديلاته ويستفيد من أحكام هذه الفقرة كل من لديه سلاح غير مرخص اذا بادر الى تسليمه للسلطات المختصة خلال مدة أقصاها 31-1-2012.
مما يعني ان مرسوم العفو شمل جرائم حمل السلاح واشترط تسليمها خلال مدة أقصاها 31-1-2012
وشمل المرسوم في المادة 1 الفقرة /د/ كامل العقوبة لمرتكبي جرائم الفرار الداخلي والخارجي المنصوص عليها في المادتين /100/و /101/ من قانون العقوبات العسكرية الصادر بالمرسوم التشريعي رقم 61 لعام 1950 وتعديلاته .
مما يعني شمول المرسوم لحالات الفرار من الخدمة العسكرية الداخلية والخارجية.
يضاف إلى ذلك كله أن المادة 2 من هذا المرسوم حددت المستفيدين منه حيث لايستفيد المتوارون من أحكام هذا العفو العام إلا إذا سلموا أنفسهم خلال مدة أقصاها 31-1-2012.
عابد ملحم – عكس السير
http://www.aksalser.com/index.php?page=view_articles&id=8afa38a512891c0e7d3360e86af2eebe&ar=414405616
January 15th, 2012, 4:20 pm
jad said:
I’m glad to see that Ghalyoun Menhebakjieh are now preparing themselves to become Louay Menhebakjieh before he becomes the new face of the MBs council.
As I wrote before, he fits the criteria needed, religiously, personality (weak) and educational (Dr.) wise.
He is a bit boring though but that’s ok as long as he repeats what they tell him to say.
January 15th, 2012, 4:34 pm
ann said:
Syria releases 190 prisoners under Assad’s amnesty – 2012-01-16
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/16/c_122589246.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — The Syrian government released late Sunday about 190 prisoners under the general amnesty that was granted earlier in the day by Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, which covered all crimes committed during the country’s 10-month- old unrest.
Another batch of prisoners would be released Monday once their papers are finished, according to Syrian officials.
Assad’s amnesty covered those who have peacefully demonstrated, and those who have carried and possessed unlicensed weapons and ammunition, in addition to those who would hand over their unlicensed weapons to the government before the end of this month.
Meanwhile, head of the Arab League (AL) observers mission in Damascus, Sudanese Jaafar Kobaideh, said that the amnesty granted by Assad has come in accordance with a protocol signed between Syria and the regional group on ending the unrest in the country.
Kobaideh, who was talking to journalists during a government- escorted trip to the central Adra Prison on the outskirts of Damascus to monitor the release process, said the move reflects the government’s commitment to the protocol.
He said the report, which the observers would submit to the AL next Saturday, would not deviate from what they have seen, noting that the observers have taken the oath and “they must be honest, truthful, transparent and objective.”
January 15th, 2012, 5:00 pm
ann said:
In Beirut, Ban Brags About Democracy with Saleh Advisor, Travel Pay Undisclosed
http://www.innercitypress.com/ban1undemoc011512.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 15 — At first UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon resisted confirming he would participate in a “democracy” conference in Beirut, and his spokesman Martin Nesirky declined to provide any speakers list.
Now that he’s there, the “Roundtable” list put online includes “Abdel Karim al Eryani, Former Prime Minister, Yemen” — that is, a long time political adviser to dictator Ali Saleh, who went on Saleh’s behalf to negotiate immunity in the Gulf Cooperation Council deal. Democracy?
Ban Ki-moon spoke with Saleh, but told Inner City Press he did not directly discuss with Saleh the immunity — that is, impunity — Saleh was seeking first through the GCC then through the US-supported deal being pushed by his cabinet.
Now, speaking at the conference, Ban intoned “from the very beginning of the … revolutions, from Tunisia through Egypt and beyond, I called on leaders to listen to their people. Some did, and benefited. Others did not, and today they are reaping the whirlwind.”
So who is it, that listened to Ban Ki-moon and to their people and benefited? Could it be Ali Saleh, who spoke with Ban (and use him a pass-through for the claim he could and would come to the US for medical treatment) and held out for an impunity deal?
Before his speech in a dinner toast e-mailed out by Ban’s spokesman’s office, Ban said “Countries are moving closer to answering the calls of people who have peacefully gathered in the streets of Tunis, Cairo, Benghazi and Tripoli, Sana’a, Der’a, Hama and Homs.”
What about Bahrain? What about the United Arab Emirates, where Ban heads next?
Before leaving on the trip, Inner City Press twice asked Nesirky to disclose if any party outside of the UN would be paying for Ban’s travel, as recently for example Qatar did for Ban’s travel from Nairobi.
Inner City Press: one follow up on this, and it goes back to something from December where I am wondering, is it possible to say if in this, even just this first leg that has now been confirmed, UAE and Lebanon, whether any of the travel would in fact be covered or paid for — the planes paid for by any country or other party?
Spokesperson Nesirky: If that is the case, I will let you know.
Nesirky has yet to make this basic disclosure.
Other UN sources have long complained that the UNESWA trips in the region feature, draped in UN blue, a businessman who is related to the UN’s business only by marriage. This is Ban’s UN.
Footnote: In his speech, Ban also said “One-man rule and the perpetuation of family dynasties, monopolies of wealth and power, the silencing of the media, the deprivation of fundamental freedoms… To all of this, the people say: Enough.” As other have nearly immediately noted, about about closer to home for Ban — how about Kim Jong UN? Watch this site.
January 15th, 2012, 5:14 pm
ann said:
Syria approves second political party creation – 1/16/2012
http://www.kuna.net.kw/ArticleDetails.aspx?id=2214934&language=en
DAMASCUS, Jan 15 (KUNA) — Syria said Sunday it approved creation of a new political party, the second since the ratification of the parties law.
Interior Minister and Chairman of the Parties Committee, Mohammad Al-Shaar, said the application of the “Syrian Democratic Party” was accepted.
The first political party to be approved by the Syrian government was the Solidarity (Tadhamon) Party.
Al-Shaar the Parties Committee was ready to receive applications for new parties.
January 15th, 2012, 5:22 pm
jad said:
Creative Syria is active again with a new blog called The Syria Page:
————————————————————–
“The “Syria Page” will feature a series of 20 articles by Camille Otrakji, a Syrian Canadian commentator, regarding the recent events in Syria.
The articles will attempt to demystify the Syrian revolt and uncover the underlying chronological facts leading to the current situation. They will attempt to separate facts from fiction or opinions.
Some articles might appear to be biased towards one side or the other – based on the reader’s own perceptions. The author, however, sincerely hopes that all posts are read in their entirety with an open and critical mind before making a decision. The author will provide links, news clipping, and several corroborating items to support the arguments presented. Please take the time to fully visit these links and read associated artifacts.
The author believes that due to the extensive diversity of the Syrian population, the protest movement will fail to replicate the successes of similar movements elsewhere in the Arab World or Eastern Europe. However, success can still be achieved, in a unique Syrian way, by gradual but accelerated reforms that lead to a sufficiently democratic and liberal system of government over a few short years. Finally, the author firmly believes that high expectations of radical changes are irrational and unrealistic and they will lead to anger and to further bloodshed.”
——————————————————–
Until today the blog has three interesting posts, I’m sure that it will attracts lots of criticism and lots of support and regardless of every person’s opinion, the work is well written and backed with so many articles, clips and graphics, not to mention the usual amazing design of any page of the author:
—————————————————-
The first one deals with the media and the propaganda we all went through in the last ten months:
“The two narratives vs. reality of the Syria crisis”
http://creativesyria.com/syriapage/?p=53
“Predictably, both the regime and its opponents are constantly attempting to influence Syrian public opinion and world opinion at large. Although most agree that the authoritarian regime and its state owned or controlled media outlets are not to be fully trusted, we find a tremendous amount of unwarranted, almost blind, trust in the news communicated on behalf of the regime opponents.”
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The second one represent four scenarios of the Syrian conflicts
“Three roads and a fictitious highway to democracy”
http://creativesyria.com/syriapage/?p=76
“Here are four different scenarios for rate, direction and extent of change in Syria:”
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The third one is published today and its titled say, it presents ten reasons with some explanations of why after then months of the uprising in Syria many Syrians are still not convinced of backing it by going in the streets and prefer to stay out of this bloody struggle from the writer’s point of view supported by links
“Ten reasons why many Syrians are not interested yet”
http://creativesyria.com/syriapage/?p=79
“Syrians are paying attention to the changes that are taking place in every Arab country. Although there are improvements and hopes for further improvements in the future, the picture today is generally not that bright:”
——————————-
Enjoy The brand new “Syria Page”
http://creativesyria.com/syriapage/
January 15th, 2012, 5:24 pm
Tara said:
Khaled
I have no doubt that Bashar al Assad would’ve repeated Hama 1982 if he could. Not only in Hama but in every and all Syrian towns to maintain power. The international community at this age and time is not going to be “forgiving” with massive killing but is apparently remaining inactive with the low level killing that is occurring on daily basis. I am certain that Bashar’s conscious is not fluttering with the killing of 40 Syrians a day and will continue to do so until he is killed or captured. It is not a matter of appealing to his conscious anymore. I am sure his brain is now restructured in perceiving himself as Syria and the opposition as traitors; and that it is a just cause to kill the traitors. You can’t argue with psychopathic brain and therefore the FSA is our only hope. The psycho and his clique need to be removed by power. Selmiah did not work for 11months and is not going
to work. The LCC should focus their creativity to encourage more defection.
January 15th, 2012, 5:41 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
@Humanist
@others who sent emails, reply here:
The new strategy is primarily to avert a mutiny and a fifth round of splits in the already splintered groups. SNP four group member are united against Baathism and are for Strategic Peace with Israel. But opinions varied on all other issues, especially on Iran. We needed a cohesive strategy that can keep us united and determined. In the past we hoped that (relied on) the believe that Bashar is an independent decision making power and he will take a leadership position to satisfy SNP members and bring Syria out of the mess that we hold the Baathists solely responsible for it all. All along I promised that the position taken in support of Assad is a Strategic one to avert collapse and Civil War in Syria. That should Bashar fail to make any serious reforms SNP will abandon him.
The first speech left us in a state of shock, the second speech in a state of disappointment and regrets, but we could not maneuver out, while Syria under fire, despite the fact that after passing the Party law, by decree, it became apparent that it was hopeless. We kept the same position so that he can maintain the state from disintegration. However the third speech, made us very upset, we were hoping for serious initiative to come out and not more gory bloody iron fist action and bull s***t Arabism, spiced up with Islamism. After 16000+ tortured, 6000+ dead Syrians, we get this nearly Two hour long disgusting Baathist Istwani, Vey cruel indeed.
Frankly “Arabism” was a second issue to the Iron fist (more killing). Iran attempt to talk to MB vs SNP and his offer to negotiate with them vs permitting SNP to open office in Syria incensed us far more than the 44 Arabism calling cards he tossed. As chief strategist, I have finally concluded these:
1- Assad is not a leader in charge, he has no vision for Syria, and he has no powers in State affairs.
2- He stuck to Alawites / Shia as his support base and needed non others.
3- He stuck to Shia Iran in exchange for Cash
4- His regime was not able to reform ever ( that is old news)
5- Like that of Iranian Shia, he and the mafia regime only responded to pressure and hostility, it was apparent that he is not a Statesman; he fooled many for long with that well faked image. It was obvious, after 10 months that his regime is more of a Mafia gang than a republican elected Government. So force and stronger power does effects his (regime) decisions, he gives in not to act of kindness and sophisticated goals. He is a thug and his regime henchmen are just thugs. Exactly like that of Iran, any act of negotiating, compromising position is construed as weakness and will cause immediate regression in positive Iranian negotiating position.
6- There is no chance whatsoever to abandon Arabism out of the regime mind. It has no legitimacy in Syrian public eyes and the Arabism is the security blanket to draw on that ligitmacy. Very few Syrian share this.
7- The majority of Syrians, more than 90% are praying for regime change. The problem is that the Western/Arab promoted oppositions are not credible and will not ever achieve that credibility in the Majority eyes. Adding the bloody sectarian conflicts which now caused irreprebable damage, the majority of Syrians just clanged on to the Assad regime, and will continue to cling to it no matter how bad the economic situation will worsen, for as long as, the sectarian and terror state remains.
8- The goals of SNP are building of a modern Syrian State. That requires first and foremost peace with Israel. We have devised a plan that we believe it can be successfully negotiated. Many of our members are Greek Orthodox and have an affinity to Iskenderun; we managed an agreement of that too. But Shea Iran did not seem interested in resolving the Middle East conflict, the fake Jerusalem calling card waved by Iran will be in direct contradiction to SNP most important political aim. We have tried to show Iran that they too can benefits from Free Syria at peace with Israel, but that rung on deaf ears, it is no go.
9- Assad is a puppet taking orders from hard core Alawites and Baathists who structure Syria into a Mafia family whereby all political and economic powers are monopolized into a corrupt enterprise. The only way out, is an all out war and the use of force to bring this criminal enterprise down and establish a new Syria.
10- Our support to Assad is no longer ethical and moral, now that it is concluded Bashar Assad and his regime will continue to murder Syrians and bring no positive change whatsoever, because there exist no serious military opposition to his Baathist regime.
The strategy used by foreigners will not work, it is a miserable failure. FSA is a farce, those other 3 letters oppositions are laughing joke. Assad knows that, so it is of no concern to him. His regime realize only MB is the strike force he needs to fear and so he and Iran are offering negotiation. Foreign intervention will lead to Iraqization; Assad knows few Syrians will back it and that means many will join in with him in a Civil War.
Back in 2005, SNP is short only 5 million to complete its program. Now, that we gave up on Iran support, we will stay independent and keep SNP available funds for SNP budgetary expense to launch the party in Syria. We will no longer want to fund any operation against Assad Baathist Government. Let others do it and carry that expense. Will sit and wait until the 3 letters farce, I can’t remember them, loose all steam and credibility and let the Syrian hang dry before making any move.
January 15th, 2012, 6:04 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Irritated,
In april you will be more irritated, Syria crisis has to end before US deals with Iran,
If Arab decided to send troops to Syria, it is certain foreign troops will be involved in a matter of weeks,Iran will be dragged to war
January 15th, 2012, 6:19 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
Syrian Member of Parliament resigns from Cairo and stands against the regime. Interview:
January 15th, 2012, 6:23 pm
Ghufran said:
Comparing america’s civil war to Syria’s condition ignores the two countries vast differences in culture ,composition,size, external factors,etc,I am actually surprised we are even bringing the subject up,and I am not even starting to tackle the situation in Germany,China,etc.
Everybody says that Syria is unique but then they want us to copy other countries’ experiences,most of which did not lead to a better government or a healthier country.As for a “secret” plan by the FSA to topple the regime,the only plan is to kill and destroy and refuse to talk and negotiate no matter what.
As my family doc says : John’s medicine may not be good for Adam. John’s medicine may actually kill Adam,welcome to the 21st century.
January 15th, 2012, 6:37 pm
jad said:
The article in Arabic on the new Syria Page blog:
رؤيتان مختلفتان، و مقارنتهما بواقع الأزمة في سوريا
لعله من المتوقع أن يعمل كل من النظام و مناوؤه بشكل دؤوب على التأثير على الرأي العام، سواءً منه الداخلي السوري، أو الخارجي العربي و الدولي. و مع أن آراءً كثيرة تتفق على أن أدوات النظام الإعلامية، سواء منها الرسمية أو غير النظامية، يجب ألا تمنح مصداقية عالية، إلا أننا لا نجد هذه الدرجة من الحذر في التعامل مع ما يرد من الطرف الآخر. بل إن هناك تماهٍ و تصديق شبه أعمى لكل الأخبار و التحليلات التي ترد من طرف مناوئي النظام، و سنحاول هنا أن نقارن بين طروحات الطرفين.
http://creativesyria.com/syriapage/?p=93
January 15th, 2012, 7:08 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Ghufran said
“the only plan is to kill and destroy and refuse to talk and negotiate no matter what.”
NO,That is not true
January 15th, 2012, 7:14 pm
jad said:
الحكومة السورية الموسّعة تتصدّر المشهد وتقسّم المعارضة
حديث أهل السياسة في دمشق يتركز هذه الأيام على مسألة الحكومة الموسعة. وفيما بادرت تيارات سياسية معارضة إلى الإعلان عن قبولها المبدئي بالمشاركة في حكومة موسعة، حسمت أحزاب «هيئة التنسيق الوطنية السورية لقوى التغيير الديموقراطي» أمرها لجهة رفض المشاركة في أي حكومة قبل وقف إراقة الدماء
طارق عبد الحي
دمشق | يبدو المشهد السياسي في دمشق مشغولاً بمسألة الحكومة الموسعة التي خرج البحث فيها إلى العلن إثر حديث الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد عنها في خطابه الأخير، مشيراً إلى كونها حكومة تضم مختلف الأطراف بدلاً من تسمية حكومة وحدة وطنية. وقد سبق ذلك تسريب شبكة دمشق الإخبارية المعروفة بموالاتها للنظام أنباءً عن طرح حكومة جديدة ذكرت أنه ستدعى إليها أسماء معارضة مثل ميشيل كيلو وحسن عبد العظيم وعارف دليلة، وهو ما تلاقى مع تسريبات عن مبادرة روسية لتسمية المعارض هيثم منّاع لرئاسة حكومة تضم شخصيات معارضة.
وبعد خطاب الأسد الأخير، بدأت الاتصالات للبحث في شكل الحكومة الموسّعة، مع إعلان بعض الشخصيات المعارضة أو المستقلة تأييدها لمثل هذا الطرح الذي تجاهله معارضون آخرون، كأن الأمر لا يعنيهم. هكذا يشير المنسق العام لهيئة التنسيق الوطنية المعارضة حسن عبد العظيم، في حديث إلى «الأخبار»، إلى أن «الهيئة ليست معنية بالحكومة الجديدة، فهي لا تزال متمسكة بالمبادرة العربية وضرورة زيادة أعداد المراقبين إلى أكثر من ألف، وتزويدهم بالخبرات الفنية المطلوبة على أيدي مدربين من الأمم المتحدة، إضافة إلى دعمهم بالقدرات اللوجستية مع دخول الإعلام إلى المناطق الساخنة، ووقوفه على حقيقة ما يجري. فالأولوية لحماية المتظاهرين ووقف العنف وإطلاق سراح المعتقلين، وبعد ذلك من الممكن عقد مؤتمر برعاية عربية لبحث العملية السياسية. أما في ظل استمرار العنف وقمع المتظاهرين وعدم اعتراف النظام بالأزمة، فلا يمكن الاشتراك في الحكومة. فالأهمية هي حماية المتظاهرين قبل أي شيء». ويتابع عبد العظيم «إن الهيئة معنية بوحدة قوى المعارضة في إطار واحد، لكن ثمة أطراف لا تريد التوحد ولا ترضى بالهيئة، ونحن مهتمون بالتواصل مع من لديه بوادر للالتقاء على رؤية واحدة وخطاب سياسي واحد، وهو مطلب شعبي وعربي ودولي يعزز وحدة قوى الانتفاضة السلمية». ويكشف عبد العظيم عن استعداد الهيئة «لدرس موضوع الاستعانة بقوات ردع عربية من دول صديقة للشعب السوري، ومن المقرر بحث الأمر في اليومين المقبلين، فالمهم بقاء الحل العربي، ولكن ليس على حساب قتل الشعب».
كلام هيئة التنسيق في الداخل يقابله كلام المعارض الأكثر إثارة للجدل في الآونة الأخيرة هيثم مناع الذي نفى بشدة مسألة وجوده في الحكومة في حضرة النظام، قائلاً «إذا طلب مني غداً (الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد) تأليف حكومة، فسأطلب منه أن يتنحّى أولاً عن رئاسة الجمهورية».
في المقابل، يقول رئيس تيار بناء الدولة المعارض لؤي حسين، في تصريح إلى «الأخبار»، إن «الحديث عن حكومة موسّعة لا معنى له، ولا دور لمثل هذه الحكومة في حل الأزمة، بل هي التفاف لتقويض الانتفاضة السورية وضرب جميع أهدافها. فالحكومة مجرد هيكلية إدارية لا معنى لها في القرار السياسي والحياة السياسية في البلاد، وقد راج هذا الكلام منذ أشهر من قبل بعض الدول الحليفة للنظام، كمحاولة لتسوية الصراع وإبقائه من دون حل جذري». وأضاف «نحن في تيار بناء الدولة نرفض المشاركة في مثل هذه الحكومة بل سنواجه أي طرح من شأنه إجهاض الانتفاضة أو الحيلولة دون تحقيق أهدافها». لكنه يستدرك قائلاً: «يمكن القبول بالتفكير في سلطة ائتلافية تشارك فيها كل الأطراف السياسية والاجتماعية المعنية في البلاد، بحيث تكون بديلاً للسلطة الحالية، وتؤسس لمرحلة انتقالية، تمهيداً لانتخابات تقبل بها جميع الأطراف، هذا إن طرحت السلطة ذلك الآن، أما بعد ذلك فلكل حادث حديث. وقتها ستكون المسألة متأخرة للغاية»، مذكراً بأن «حلول السلطة تأتي متأخرة، ولو كانت في وقتها لجنّبت البلاد الكثير من المشاكل». وتساءل «ألم يكن تعديل الدستور في بداية الأزمة ليجنّب البلاد هذه المخاطر؟». كذلك يرفض حسين جملة وتفصيلاً أي دعوة لدخول قوات عربية إلى سوريا لما من شأنه أن «يزيد من وتيرة العنف والانقسام، ويجر البلاد إلى مزيد من الفوضى»، مشيراً إلى أن «الكرة الأساسية ليست مع النظام ولا الرئيس، بل هناك قوى مجتمعية وناشطون أفرزهم الحراك الحاصل، ومنهم من كان قبل ذلك، وهؤلاء ليسوا ضمن هيكلية الأحزاب، ولكنهم صانعو الحياة السياسية في سوريا».
وتتألف الحكومة في سوريا بمرسوم صادر عن رئيس الجمهورية بعد موافقة القيادة القطرية لحزب البعث. وهنا يطرح السؤال الأول: هل سيختار الرئيس بنفسه شخصية معارضة لرئاسة الحكومة، وبالتالي من هي الشخصية التي ستكون مقبولة من قبل النظام وتعبّر عن رأي المعارضة؟ أم ستبقى الرئاسة لحزب البعث من دون طرح اسم معارض لكي يتولّى ترؤسها؟
وفيما تشير أغلب التسريبات الإعلامية إلى ترشيح المعارض الشيوعي قدري جميل لرئاسة الحكومة الموسّعة المقبلة، فقد حاولت «الأخبار» الاتصال برئيس «الجبهة الشعبية للتغيير والتحرير» لكن الوصول إليه كان متعذراً .
وكان جميل قد أعلن في تصريحات سابقة، عقب خطاب الرئيس الأسد الأخير ودعوته إلى حكومة موسعة، أن من المهم الاتفاق على صلاحيات ومهمات الحكومة والآجال الزمنية لتنفيذ مهماتها وصولاً إلى المصالحة الوطنية الشاملة، مشدداً على أهمية أن تمتلك الحكومة المرتقبة صلاحيات سياسية استثنائية وواسعة، باعتبار أن حل الأزمة «سياسي بامتياز»، ويتطلب وقف العنف وخلق مناخ الحوار. وعمّا إذا كانت صلاحيات هذه الحكومة ستشمل المؤسسات الأمنية وعملها، قال «هذه المؤسسات تتبع للدولة، ومن مهمات أيّ حكومة العمل المشترك والتنسيق مع كل أجهزة الدولة ومؤسساتها». وعن توقعاته بشأن استعداد السلطات لمنح الحكومة هذه الصلاحيات، توقّع التوصل إلى توافق ما مع السلطة، قائلاً «لم نتطرق إلى ذلك بعد، لكننا لن نشارك في حكومة وحدة وطنية ليس لها صلاحيات». وعمّا إذا كانت السلطات أجرت اتصالاً مع حزبه لمعرفة موقفه من تأليف الحكومة الموسعة، قال «رسمياً لم تجر اتصالات، لكن عقدنا لقاءات شبه رسمية وشخصية جرى خلالها جسّ النبض وتبادل الآراء». وأشار إلى أن «رغبة بعض قوى المعارضة في سقوط النظام تلاشت نهائياً، وخاصة أن التدخل الخارجي العسكري بات مستبعداً جداً، وثبت أن النظام قوي والجيش متماسك، ما جعل الحديث عن إسقاط النظام غير واقعي وغير عملي، وخاصة في ظل الوضع الدولي الحالي».
وفي السياق، رأى رئيس الحزب السوري القومي الاجتماعي علي حيدر أن «المشاركة في الحياة السياسية المقبلة تبدأ من الحكومة الموسّعة التي تمثّل فرصة جيدة للجميع للمشاركة في فريق العمل للنهوض بسوريا المقبلة». وطالب حيدر بمنح هذه الحكومة صلاحيات واسعة مثل «العمل الميداني الطارئ والمستعجل للخروج من الأزمة، والعمل على المستوى الاستراتيجي لتغيير السياسات الاقتصادية السابقة»، مشيراً إلى أنه «يجب منحها صلاحيات الحوار مع كل قوى المعارضة الأخرى لإشراكها في الحياة السياسية، ويجب أن يكون لها دور سياسي على عكس الحكومة الحالية». وعن الحوار بين حزبه والسلطة، قال «التقينا أغلب القيادات السياسية والأمنية، وأغلب أصحاب القرار في البلاد، وأيّدنا فكرة الحكومة الموسعة التي طرحوها علينا، وخاصة أننا أول من طالب بها».
بدوره، قال رئيس المبادرة الوطنية للأكراد السوريين، عمر أوسي، إنه يجب أن تضم الحكومة وزراء أكراداً يمثلون الشارع الكردي في سوريا ويلامسون هموم الكرد كسوريين، عندها فقط يمكن أن نسميها حكومة موسعة.
وأضاف أوسي، في تصريح له أمس، «لن نرضى بعد اليوم بأن يجري إقصاء الأكراد وتهميشهم في الحياة الحزبية والسياسية الوطنية السورية. من حقهم الطبيعي أن يمثّلوا في الحكومة وفي البرلمان وفي جميع مؤسسات الدولة». ورأى أوسي أن «استثناء المكوّن الكردي من الحكومة العتيدة، كما جرى في السابق مع الحكومات المتعاقبة في سوريا، يخرج حكومة عرجاء لا تمثّل جميع شرائح الشعب السوري وأطيافه».
حديث أهل السياسة يقابله رفض مطلق من قبل الناشطين على الأرض، كما يشير إلى ذلك الناشط والمدون حسين غرير بقوله: «أعتقد أنها مسرحية سياسية هزلية لن يكتب لها النجاح، لأن الغاية منها ليس إحداث تغيير جذري في معنى السياسة لدى النظام السوري، بل هو تجسيد حقيقي لما تعنيه السياسة بالنسبة إليه، بما هي مجرد تجميل للواقع من دون العمل على تغييره. كذلك فإنه لم يعرف عن الدكتور قدري جميل، المرشح الحالي لرئاسة الحكومة بحسب التسريبات، لم يعرف عنه أنه معارض للنظام سابقاً ولا حالياً. وبذلك تكون هذه الحكومة هي ائتلاف بين مختلف (الأطياف) السياسية التي تتنافس على خطب ودّ النظام وأجهزته الأمنية».
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/29650
January 15th, 2012, 7:28 pm
jad said:
Ghufran
Please read this article about the armed militia, mainly armed civilian and a collection of criminals and outlaws.
According to writers they are the main tool to be used by many foreign powers to take the country to a civil war, that is their main goal.
«الجيش السوري الحر»: عسكرة الاحتجاجات أم حمايتها؟
“ويرى بيتر هارلينغ، المحلل في المجموعة الدولية لمعالجة الأزمات، الذي قضى عدة سنوات في دمشق، «أن الجيش السوري الحر مجرّد مظلة لمقاتلين متباينين أكثر من كونه مركز قيادة حقيقياً. الناس يرون مصدراً للشرعية في مسمى «الجيش السوري الحر» هذا، لكن ما لدينا هو مجموعات تظهر على مستوى شديد المحلية أغلبها من المدنيين الذين ينضم إليهم منشقون. لكنها ديناميكيات محلية وليست على مستوى البلاد». والتحليل نفسه يطلقه المحلل المقيم في لندن، جوليان بارنز ديسي، الذي يرى أن «معظم هذه المجموعات تعمل على أساس محلي شبه مستقل».
وبحسب قول أحد الناشطين الميدانيين في حمص، إن «تعداد المنشقين في حمص وحدها بالآلاف، وهم متنوعو الرتب ويتمركزون في مختلف أحياء المدينة التي تشهد مواجهات يومية بينهم وبين الجيش النظامي وفرق الأمن، ويقومون في كل ليلة بتطويق التظاهرين منعاً من استهداف الأمن لهم، أو في حال وصول الأخير فإن المنشقين كفيلين بالاشتباك مع القوى الأمنية، وهو ما يتكرر في عدة مناطق سورية رفض العديد من الناشطين فيها الحديث عن مدى انتشار المنشقين».
لكن التدقيق الميداني يظهر أن مصطلح «منشقين» بات يطلق على كل من يحمل السلاح في وجه النظام، أما الجنود والرتباء والضباط المنشقون، أي الفرار في تعبير أدق، فلا يتجاوزون 3% من المسلحين، وهم صفر في بعض المناطق. وكشفت قائمة القتلى في «مجزرة كفر عويد للجيش الحر» كما يطلق عليها، أن قتيلين فقط هما فرا من الخدمة، من أصل ما يتجاوز 120 قتيلاً، هم جزء كبير من مجموعات مسلحة صورها صحافيون أجانب على أنهم من الجيش المنشق.”
{…}
“إلى جانب الدور الميداني الذي يثير الجدل للمنشقين، فإن علامات استفهام كبرى باتت توضع عن حقيقة «الجيش السوري الحر». ويتحدث الناشط طارق عبد الله من دمشق، عن أسماء كتائب الجيش المنشق التي تكون في غالب الأحيان ذات طابعين: مذهبي وطائفي، يثير الاستفزاز، فيما يعرف عن الجيش السوري النظامي علمانيته. من جهة أخرى، يضيف الشاب أن عمليات المنشقين تطاول في كثير من الأحيان جنوداً وعناصر أمن ليسوا في موقع اتخاذ القرار، بمعنى استهداف أشخاص على الحواجز الأمنية ليسوا سوى منفذين للأوامر، ما يدفع البلاد إلى مزيد من الانقسام.
وعن العلاقة بين المسلحين والعقيد المنشق رياض الأسعد من جهة، والسلطة التركية من جهة أخرى، يضيف عبد الله، أنه رغم تمركز الأسعد قرب الأراضي السورية على الجانب التركي، فإن حكام أنقرة يصرون على إبقاء دورهم محدوداً، ما دام المجتمع الدولي لم يحسم قراره العسكري ضد النظام. ولعل تراجع الدعم التركي للجيش الحر هو السبب، بحسب رأي عبد الله، الذي دفع رياض الأسعد إلى إطلاق تصريحات مدوية في الأسبوع الماضي، تدعو إلى شنّ هجمات على مؤسسات النظام، وهو دفع الكثيرين إلى توجيه أصابع الاتهام للجيش المنشق بتنفيذ التفجير الأخير في الميدان وسط دمشق. أما الناشط عبد الله أبازيد، فيشير الى دور محوري للجيش الحر، ولولاه لما استمرت الاحتجاجات، أو على الأقل حافظت على قوتها، وخصوصاً في المناطق المضطربة كما في حمص ودرعا وإدلب.
ويتابع أبازيد: «إن ضعف المؤسسة العسكرية للنظام، أفاد الثورة لجهة كثرة الانشقاقات التي نراها يومياً»، مشيراً إلى أن «الجيش الحر ليس له أي صفحة على موقع التواصل الاجتماعي فايسبوك الذي أغلق جميع صفحاته لكونها تدعم العمل المسلح، وهو أمر يعني أن العمليات التي تظهر باسمه ليست بالضرورة أن تكون صادقة، بالإضافة إلى أن انشقاق عدد من العسكريين أوجد نقمة عليهم؛ لأن النظام زاد البطش والقصف في تلك المناطق للقضاء على المنشقين. لكن رغم ذلك تبقى فوائده أكثر من سلبياته، وهو يتمتع بدعم بل حصانة شعبية، وهو ما نلاحظه بهتافات المتظاهرين».
كلام أبازيد يقابله رأي آخر للناشط رامز محمد؛ إذ يشير إلى أنه لم ير أي دور له على الأرض في دمشق، لأن التظاهرات في العاصمة لا يجري فيها أي نوع من أنواع الحراك المسلح. ويرى محمد «أنه إن كان هناك فعلاً جيش حر، فإن مهمته تتمثل في حماية التظاهرات والمدنيين فقط، فدوماً عندما يصبح القتل من طرفين يتصارعان على شيء ما، يبتعد الموضوع عن الثورة الشعبية، ومن غير المقبول استهداف حواجز أو مقارّ للأمن فيها أبرياء. لكن السؤال هو: هل الجيش الحر هو من يقوم بهذه العمليات، أم أن النظام هو من يقوم بها مستغلاً تصريحات رياض الأسعد الذي يقيم في بلاد الأتراك ولا يمون على أي مجند منشق في الداخل؟».
ويتابع الشاب المقيم في الميدان بقلب دمشق، قائلاً إن «نقاط القوة في الجيش تتمثل في ثقة الناس وتأييدهم له، وهو ما قد ينقلب فجأة إذا طال استهداف أي من أبنائهم الذين يؤدون الخدمة العسكرية، إضافة إلى أنه يعمل على طريقة الميليشيات التي تعتبر أصعب طريقة يواجهها الجيش النظامي غير المتدرب على حرب الشوارع، فيما تبدو نقاط الضعف في فرق ميزان القوى بينه وبين جيش النظام، إضافة إلى عدم تمويل أو دعم لوجستي جدي له». ويختم الشاب حديثه بالإشارة إلى «إصرار التنسيقيات على حشد التظاهرات المطالبة بالحظر الجوي والمنطقة العازلة»، معتبراً أنه ينقصها الكثير من الخبرة السياسية لتقدير أمور كثيرة كهذه، وخصوصاً مع الرفض الدولي لهذه الأفكار واضطرار بعض السياسيين إلى السير مع ما يقوله الشارع المحتقن بالأصل.”
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/29562
January 15th, 2012, 7:34 pm
ghufran said:
Robertson-CNN, a good journalist and a good video to watch
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/15/zakaria-interviews-nic-robertson-on-syria/?hpt=hp_t3
January 15th, 2012, 8:03 pm
Haytham Khoury said:
January 15th, 2012, 8:06 pm
Tara said:
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/b8de8e630faf3631/id/202676488/cs/1/ht/UN%20Chief%20to%20Syrias%20Assad%20Stop%20Killing%20Your%20Own%20People/
UN Chief to Syria’s Assad: Stop Killing Your Own People
Sunday 15th January, 2012
U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon issued a call to Syria’s embattled President Bashar al-Assad Sunday to stop killing his own people.
In a keynote address at a conference in Lebanon focused on democracy in the Arab world, Ban said “the path of repression is a dead end.”
Ban told those in attendance in Beirut that the Arab world’s revolutions show that people there are no longer content with one-man rule.
” Do not read more..it is nothing new”
January 15th, 2012, 8:27 pm
Tara said:
Arab League Chief Holds Press Conference
http://www.bna.bh/portal/en/news/489347
11 : 44 PM – 15/01/2012
Manama, January 15. (BNA) Arab league Secretary-General Dr. Nabeel Al Arabi confirmed today that the Kingdom of Bahrain took brave and unprecedented measures to heal the effects of the events of last year, pointing to the decision to form the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry under the United Nations, and the debut of implementing its recommendations.
Asserting that all nations in the world have internal problems, however, the important is how to resolve them.
He also affirmed, during a press conference held today in the presence of Foreign Minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed bin Mohammed Al-Khalifa, that HM the King’s s suggestion to form the Arab Court of Human Rights reflects an intellectual, political, civil and legal advancement.
The Secretary-General denied news about the failure of the observers’ mission in Syria, and said that the observers were sent upon the acceptance of the Syrian government of our initiative.
He clarified that the mission they were sent for was modified and evolved due to the events, and after being attacked and shot at.
“I salute them for their bravery in confronting these attacks” He added.He underlined that a meeting is to be held end of this week to discuss this matter, as well as other meeting in the headquarters of the Arab league with the different groups of the Syrian opposition in order to demand a unified stance followed by an invitation to government to meet with the opposition.
Al-Arabi confirmed that the case of Syria is already before the Security Council, since Russia presented a draft of resolution concerning Syria end of last year.
The Security Council is able to study the matter if it desires.
And concerning forming an Arab peace keeping force to be sent to Syria, the Secretary- General said that this matter will be on the agenda of the next meeting of the Leagues council and of the next Arab Summit. He assured that there is an intention to form such force.
The Arab League formed an independent commission, presided by the former Algerian foreign minister Al Akhdhar Al Ebrahimi, with a mission to study methods to developing the Arab league.
Regarding the Iranian threats to block the Strait of Hormuz, and threats to the states of the region, Al Arabi explained that the stance of the Arab league is clear in this regard and is in respect of the international law.
He pointed out the existence of a law for international waters that should be enforced on all countries, this law confirms the liberty of using this strait.
The Foreign minister Shaikh Khalid bin Ahmed Al Khalifa said that Bahrain was looking forward to this visit, and underlined that secretary-general was updated of the latest events on the Bahraini scene and of what was implemented of the recommendations of the BICI report, as well as HM King Hamad’s initiative of creating an Arab Court for Human Rights.
Bahrain will present a note of this court to be included in the agenda of the Arab Summit due beginning of next month in Baghdad.
January 15th, 2012, 8:49 pm
ann said:
Iran warns of consequences if Arabs back oil sanctions – Sun Jan 15, 2012
* Warning stokes tension over Iran’s nuclear course
* China seeks more access to Saudi oil
* Saudi Arabia pledges to fill any oil supply gap
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/16/iran-idUSL6E8CG00920120116
January 15th, 2012, 8:51 pm
zoo said:
883 Ghofran
Thanks for the link on CNN Nic Robertson’s report
The apparent rebound of Bashar al Assad is making wave in the region. Qatar mishaps in Tunisia and Nigeria are weakening its anti Bashar stance, Jordan is having second thoughts, Egypt, Iraq and Algeria seems to want to give more time to the regime. More time for what? The triggering event that Nic Roberson mentions that could get the country out of the stalemate is not major army defections, but it could simply be the announcement of the new Constitution with a host of comprehensive reforms and a referendum ( probably with Arab league or international observers) These won’t be “vague promises” but tangible ones with a time table.
Until March when bellicose Qatar will leave the AL leadership, time is running out for the hardline opposition. For Bashar al Assad it is a race against the clock to give his government enough time to get ready for that unexpected and overwhelming announcement.
January 15th, 2012, 9:30 pm
Ghufran said:
Even that a new constitution and fair elections are 49 years late,Syrians will undoubtedly welcome the return to the pre 1963 era,so where is the problem?
In a nutshell the problem is Bashar and the people around him who are used to treating people like disposable items. This regime will only respond to pressure and any new government will have to deliver justice to those who unjustly killed Syrians.
I say,regardless of what happens,Syrians should not trust the regime and must insist on results not speeches,I am ,even being free and respected in my
new country, absolutely mad at what Assad and his hit men and thieves have done to Syria,but what I want most is not revenge but a new beginning for my mother land.
January 15th, 2012, 10:08 pm
Ghufran said:
شر البلية ما يضحك
غزة ـ قالت منظمة حقوقية فلسطينية، الأحد، إن الأجهزة الأمنية التابعة للحكومة المقالة التي تديرها حركة حماس، اعتدت على ما يقارب 20 شخصاً ينتمون للمذهب الشيعي أثناء إحيائهم ذكرى أربعينية الإمام الحسين داخل أحد المنازل شمال قطاع غزة.
وقالت الهيئة المستقلة لحقوق الإنسان “ديوان المظالم” في بيان الأحد، إن “مجموعة من العناصر الأمنية قامت السبت بالاعتداء بالضرب على نحو 20 مواطناً، ينتمون للمذهب الشيعي أثناء إحيائهم ذكرى أربعينية استشهاد الإمام الحسين”.
January 15th, 2012, 10:21 pm
Ghufran said:
الخرطوم- أفتى زعيم حزب الأمة القومي، إمام طائفة الأنصار، الصادق المهدي، بجواز حضور النساء لمناسبات عقد الزواج شاهدات، وتشييع الموتى مشيعات ابتغاء للثواب.
واعتبر اصطفاف النساء خلف الرجال في الصلاة مجرد عادة، قائلا إن الصواب أن يقفن محاذيات للرجال كما في الحرم المكي، نقلاً عن وسائل إعلام سودانية.
ودرج المهدي على إطلاق فتاوى دينية جديدة أثارت نقمة السلفيين والجماعات الأصولية في السودان والمنطقة
ودعا المهدي في خطابه أمام ملتقى لشباب حزب الأمة الجمعة الماضي، لإزالة كافة وجوه التمييز ضد المرأة، وأشار إلى عادات فرضت عليها سلوكا جائرا، منها النقاب الذي يلغي شخصيتها، موضحا أن النقاب في المجتمعات الحضرية يوفر وسيلة لممارسة الإجرام، على حد تعبيره.
وتابع أن المرأة غير مطالبة “بما يسمى حجاب” لأن هذه العبارة تشير للستار الذي يقوم بين المؤمنين وأمهات المؤمنين، وقال إن “المطلوب منها الزي المحتشم على أن لا تغطي وجهها وكفيها بحسب حديث الرسول، صلى الله عليه وسلم”. وزاد أن “الحشمة تكون للنساء والرجال”.
إلى ذلك، أبدى المهدي تعاطفا مع أجيال الشباب، قائلا إن هذا الجيل من الشباب منكوب بغلاء المعيشة وانتشار المخدرات، والأمراض الجنسية، والعنف الذي بلغ درجة غير معهودة.
January 15th, 2012, 10:26 pm
Norman said:
Ghufran,
Do you think after what you wrote that we Arabs deserve democracy and free choice to elect our leaders,
The Emir of Qatar suggested troops in Syria in November.
http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/
January 15th, 2012, 10:27 pm
zoo said:
Ghufran
You want justice? I guess it should be more like South Africa, a reconciliation not an endless cycle of account settling and trials that would divide the country even further and for a longer time.
Yet, we are far from having reached that stage..
A constitution ( no speeches) plebiscited by a referendum is the starting point of that process.
January 15th, 2012, 10:33 pm
jad said:
Oglu pasha asking HA to drop the Syrian regime and he will make them work together with the SNC in the period after Assad:
أوغلو لحزب الله: ” النظام السوري ساقط فلنحضر معاً للمرحلة المقبلة “- كتب موسى عاصي كتب موسى عاصي- بيروت
مضى عام كامل على آخر لقاء جمع حزب الله ومسؤولين أتراك، عام قلب الموازين وفرق الى حد الشرخ بين خطي تركيا التي تحولت قبل ” الربيع العربي” الى احد رموز الممانعة لإسرائيل في المنطقة، وحزب الله ” المتهم” اليوم بدعم النظام السوري الى حدود تحوله واحداً من العوامل المانعة لسقوطه.
احمد داوود اوغلو التقى رئيس كتلة الوفاء للمقاومة محمد رعد، والحديث بحسب مصدر موثوق في حزب الله لم يتعد الوضع السوري، شرح الطرفان كل وجهة نظره مما يجري في سورية، وبحسب الكلام المعلن لرعد فان وجهتي النظر كانتا مختلفتين، اما ما تم تسريبه عن فحوى اللقاء لعربي برس هو ان اوغلو أتى يقدم عرضاً لحزب الله قوامه ان يتخلى الحزب عن دعم السلطات السورية “لان النظام ساقط لا محالة” وأن ينأى بنفسه عن اي تداعيات يمكن ان يعكسها سقوط النظام السوري على لبنان وعلى وضع الحزب في لبنان.
وابلغ اوغلو رعد ان أنقرة على استعداد لاشراك حزب الله في عملية التحضير لمرحلة ما بعد الاسد ولتمتين العلاقة بين الحزب و”المجلس الوطني السوري” الذي يأخذ من اسطنبول مقراً له، وذلك بهدف طمأنة حزب الله من ان السلطات الجديدة في مرحلة ما بعد سقوط الاسد لن تأخذ مواقف معادية من الحزب في حال اعلن تمايزه عن “النظام السوري” وأوقف دعمه له.
لكن رد حزب الله جاء مماثلاً للرد الايراني الذي سمعه اوغلو قبل ايام. رعد اكد لأوغلو ان الاسد لن يسقط وان سورية من وجهة نظر حزب الله دخلت في مرحلة الأمتار الاخيرة من أزمتها وهي مسألة وقت لتعود الامور الى طبيعتها، وشدد رعد على ان حزب الله لا يرى في الأزمة السورية أزمة إصلاحات بل هي مؤامرة واضحة لاسقاط سورية بسبب دعمها للمقاومة في لبنان وفلسطين.
وبحسب مصادر حزب الله فان رعد طلب من وزير الخارجية التركية مراجعة المواقف من سورية ووقف المساهمة في الحملة الدولية والاقليمية عليها.
http://www.arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=17519
January 15th, 2012, 10:54 pm
Ghufran said:
That is what foreign invasion and Iranian intervention gave Iraqis:
Iraq now finds itself at a juncture that in many ways is more dangerous and instructive than the darkest days of 2006, when all remnants of state control crumbled as sectarian war took hold. Back then there was no expectation the state could lead Iraq to a better place. Six years on, and with violence much lower, Iraqis have even less faith in the state, despite it being much better placed – at face value – to provide for its citizens.
Iraq appears to have three paths from here. The first is partition: separate states for Shias, Sunnis and Kurds who would govern themselves and consign Iraq to a historical dustbin. This option would benefit the Kurds, who have been busy building a state in all but name for the past nine years, and who stand to reap an enormous bounty from the oil reserves under their feet. It may also be attractive to the Sunnis, who don’t have oil in their heartland and fear they don’t have a hope under a Shia majority government anyway.
The second option is a form of federalism, where regions have more autonomy in their own affairs and less of an allegiance to Baghdad. The Sunni provinces of Anbar and Diyyala have made steps in this direction, but Maliki has vowed to prevent any such move taking hold.
And then there’s the fallback, “do nothing” option (one that Iraq seems to adopt almost by default these days): this means muddling along from one crisis to the next, with institutions remaining largely useless and citizens knowing that the state will rarely be behind them. Underlying this option – the most likely of the three – is a gradual slide into chaos. There are, it seems, too many trigger points inside Iraq and around the region these days to avoid it.
January 15th, 2012, 10:54 pm
jad said:
Norman,
Hammoudeh Al6abl wants to send the Qatari army to Syria and he is asking Jordan to help him 🙂
اكيد الجيش السوري شخ على حاله من الخوف … انباء عن تهديدات لشيخ قطر بارسال قوات عسكرية قطرية الى سوريا
عرب تايمز – خاص
لاحقا لمطالبته بارسال قوات عسكرية عربية الى سوريا هدد شيخ قطر في حديث خاص سرعان ما تسرب الى وسائل الاعلام بارسال قوات عسكرية قطرية الى سوريا ولم يكشف المصدر وسائل نقل القوات القطرية الى الاراضي السورية ولكن جهات صحفية اردنية قالت ان شيخ قطر طلب من الاردن مساعدته في ذلك
ولقطر جيش عرمرم يتكون من ستة الاف رجل منهم خمسمائة قطري يعملون في الشئون الادارية للجيش وخمسة الاف عسكري جمعهم شيخ قطر ( كوكتيل ) من هنود وافغان وكوريين وعمانيين وكم سوداني على كم ضابط اردني متقاعد وفوقهم كم مستشار عسكري انجليزي ويتراس كل هؤلاء ضابط قطري من العائلة الحاكمة انهى الاعدادية بنجاح
وكان شيخ قطر قد طالب بارسال قوات عربية الى سوريا وثنى على طلبه عمرو موسى الذي عيره وزراء مجلس التعاون – يوم كان امينا عاما للجامعة – بانه شحاد وانهم يدفعون له ثمن ( السيجار ) الذي يدخنه – وامير قطر الذي دعمت بلاده حملة حلف شمال الاطلسي العام الماضي والتي ساعدت المعارضين الليبيين في الاطاحة بمعمر القذافي هو أول زعيم عربي يقترح مثل هذه الخطوة.ويرأس رئيس الوزراء القطري لجنة الجامعة العربية بشأن سوريا. وقال ان القتل لم يتوقف برغم وجود المراقبين العرب الذين ارسلوا الى هناك الشهر الماضي .وفي تنويه عن المقابلة على موقع القناة على الانترنت لم يوضح أمير قطر كيف يمكن لأي تدخل عربي أن ينجح
http://www.arabtimes.com/portal/news_display.cfm?Action=&Preview=No&nid=10275
January 15th, 2012, 10:56 pm
Ghufran said:
Norman,Zoo
I do not want to forget that Syria is a developing country that has potential but also has a lot of problems. I expect syrians to reach a consensus where they accept a gradual move towards a free and democratic country and this can not happen in a year or two.
The call to hold killers from all sides acountable is natural and does not equal revenge.
National reconciliation does not require acquitting people like atef najeeb but it includes giving people with minor crimes a second chance.
Peace requires some form of justice,we all can agree on that.
January 15th, 2012, 11:06 pm
Ghufran said:
اعتبر رئيس هيئة التنسيق الوطنية هيثم المناع، أن “إعلان المجلس الوطني السوري أن المفاوضات بين الطرفين وصلت إلى مرحلة اللاعودة يخدم النظام الذي يستفيد من انقسام المعارضة عندما تفقد قوتها ووحدتها وهذا ما عكسه خطاب الرئيس بشار الأسد السابق”.ورفض المناع في حديث لصحيفة “الشرق الاوسط” القول بأن إسقاط النظام ليس من أولوية عمل هيئة التنسيق الوطنية وهدفها، ولفت الى ان “من ليس له تاريخ في المعارضة عليه أن لا يزايد على الآخرين. نحن أم الولد، لم ولن نضحي بالشعب والثورة لأن هناك مزاجيات وأصواتا ترفض الوحدة التي نحن بأمس الحاجة إليها كي نحترم من الداخل والخارج”.وشدد على أنه “نحن نملك قرارنا واستقلالنا السياسي الذي لو هم يملكونه ما كانوا تراجعوا عن كل ما وافقوا عليه بل وقعوا عليه في الوثيقة”، ولفت إلى أنه “في حال عقد المؤتمر السوري العام تحت رعاية الجامعة العربية ستعمد الهيئة إلى تقديم الوثيقة التي سبق لها أن وقعتها مع المجلس الوطني إضافة إلى بنود أخرى منها تلك التي تتمحور حول مفهوم المواطنة والضمانات الأساسية لحقوق الأقليات”.
January 15th, 2012, 11:56 pm
jad said:
Ghufran,
BBC denies the allegations against its reporter in Syria and stands behind him:
بي بي سي تنفي مزاعم ضد موفدها إلى سوريا
نفى متحدث باسم بي بي سي المزاعم التي تنشر على مواقع سوريّة بخصوص موفدها محمد بلوط الذي كان في مهمة لتغطية الأحداث في سوريا.
وقال المتحدث ان “هذه الشائعات ليست لها أي أساس من الحقيقة ولا يمكن اعتبارها سوى نوع من أنواع النميمة بغرض التشهير”.
وقال إن بي بي سي “تنفي بشدة تلك المزاعم، خصوصا ان محمد بلوط من بين أكثر مراسلينا احتراما”.
وكانت بي بي سي قد طلبت من بلوط مغادرة سوريا “خوفا على سلامته”.
وقد غطى بلوط خلال العام الماضي الانتفاضات في البلدان العربية، فقد كان في ليبيا في أحدث تغطية سبقت توجهه الى سوريا. وقد أصيب بطلق ناري في منطقة بني وليد الليبية وخضع للعلاج بعد هذا الحادث.
وتعد مهمته في سوريا الأولى في الشرق الأوسط منذ شفائه من اصابته.
يذكر أن مزاعم دارت في مواقع معارضة وصفحات اجتماعية اتهمت مراسل بي بي سي بالتحيز ضد المعارضة ولصالح الحكومة السورية.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/middleeast/2012/01/120113_ballout_syria.shtml
“BBC denies allegations against their envoy to Syria
===========================================
BBS spokesman denied allegations published on social pages of Syrian opposition about their envoy to Syria “Muhammad Ballout” who was in a mission to cover and report the events in Syria.
The spokesman said that “these rumors are untrue , and considered as defamation”.
He also said that BBC strongly denies these allegations, specially that “Muhammad Ballout” is BBC’s most respectful reporter.
BBC asked “Ballout” to leave Syria, in concern of his safety.
“Ballout” covered -during 2011- the uprisings that took place in some Arab countries, and he was in Libya before heading to Syria.. and he was shot while he was in “Bani Walid” in Libya and was treated accordingly.
His mission in Syria is considered the first in the Middle East since his recovery.. it is mentioned that allegations took place on opposition websites and social pages, which accused the reporter of bias against the opposition and siding with the Syrian government.”
January 16th, 2012, 12:39 am
Juergen said:
Elisabeth Palmer ( CBS) filmed prisoners who got released from prison. Note the man who has a shaking hand. I guess there are still believers out there who think syrian prisons are better holiday resorts. Those detained and released were protesters from March. Can one sane human understand why to hold someone who protested for 10 months in prison? There is a chapter in the syrian constitution allowing to freely express ones opininon, but as it looks like it depends what kind of an opinion you bring on to the streets.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18563_162-57359489/syrias-assad-gives-amnesty-shocking-many/?tag=stack
January 16th, 2012, 1:38 am
majedkhaldoun said:
The Qatari suggestion to send Arabic troop to Syria,seems to be a very serious plan,it is supported by KSA, and Most likely Jordan,The syrian Army , the part that is not very loyal to Assad has sent messages that they may not fight arabic troops,and change position, the loyal troops are busy with internal revolution,.
The arabic troops ,while seems arabic will be supported by foreign equipments,like Awax which will be stationed over Jordan.and by rockets and missiles that could be launched from Jordan,It seems that Turkey may mass large army on the northern borders but most likely will not intervene,this will help splitting the syrian army some will be stationed in the north and some in the south,this mobilizations will cost Syria a lot of money,at a time the moral of the syrian troops is getting very low.
The plan is already presented to the high command.
Both SNC and CB said they do not consider that as foreign troops,and they may support such an Idea.
January 16th, 2012, 1:39 am
Juergen said:
part two of Jürgen Todenhöfers view on the arab spring in arabic
http://www.azzaman.com/azzaman/ftp/today/p14.pdf
January 16th, 2012, 2:07 am
Mina said:
Jad
Ballout is the BBC guy who dared say that indeed the Homs “opposition” had snipers shooting blindly from top roofs, even in such an Alawi stronghold as the one where the French journalist was killed. He was the only one to say so, and see where it gets him. Very nice people to deal with. I am surprise the al aqsa hoax didn’t make more fuss yet. How base can be the people who organized that?
January 16th, 2012, 2:51 am
Antoine said:
@ SNP “FSA is a farce”
Do you have credible information about this ? Isn’t it true that they have at least 20,000 in their ranks, spread throughout the length and breadth of the country ? Also, how much credibilty do you give to the statement that the average Syrian soldier has very little loyalty to the regime and at least 60 % of the Army will defect once “buffer zones” are set up in Idleb ?
January 16th, 2012, 4:00 am
Mina said:
Qatari sponsored democracy in Libya:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-16570594
Two die as Libya militias clash near Tripoli
By Gabriel Gatehouse BBC News, Gharyan
A weekend of clashes in Libya has left at least two people dead and more than 40 injured.
Rival armed groups fired rockets and heavy machine guns around the town of Gharyan, about 80km (50 miles) south of the capital, Tripoli.
January 16th, 2012, 4:02 am
Mina said:
Next time you want to buy something in a duty free shop in the US, think twice:
One U.S. family is responsible for half of Netanyahu’s donations
Owners of Duty Free America, a large chain of duty-free shops that operates in 13 airports, pledged half of NIS 330,000 Netanyahu raised.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/one-u-s-family-is-responsible-for-half-of-netanyahu-s-donations-1.407485
January 16th, 2012, 4:08 am
Juergen said:
Just a short example how familymembers of Despotes are pampered in Europe. DER SPIEGEL has reported on the case of Saif al Ghadaffi, the youngest son of Muamar Ghadaffi.
Saif al Arab Ghadaffi lived in Munich, Germany from 2006- early 2011. He was 24 when he arrived in Munich on a italian tourist visa. Regulations in Germany require that legal papers are requested by the person directly after arrival, and regulations in this matter are quite strict. The report suggested that the german foreign office has intervened to the bavarian authorites to not file charges against him for entering the country without proper visa status. He then stayed in Munich for five consequent years without regular via papers. He studied at the technical university in Munich and lived in the beginning in one 5 star hotel. He was known in Munich to be a living playboy, he was usally seen in one of his numerous sportscars racing in the innercity. 11 charges have been filed during his stay. Charges included: driving without license, caring of weapons without permit, sale and illegal transfer of weapons, physical fights, insults of policemen.
The local police chief was a constant visitor to the Hotel, and tried to put influence on him by playing a more low profile in the city. After the beating of an housemaid in Geneva by Hanibal and his wife, and the severe consequences for Switzerland, the german foreign office and the secret services agreed it would not be in Germanys interest to pursue any jurisdiction upon Saif alarab, for the sake of the safety of german businessman in Libya.
So we see that if good realations are needed even family members who have no official papers or diplomatic immunity will receive special care by the european authorities.
January 16th, 2012, 6:05 am
Uzair8 said:
Jeurgen
The speech of George Galloway in #824 is old. George has since distanced himself from the regime. He wrote a piece several months ago explaining his position.
January 16th, 2012, 7:47 am
Valerya said:
By Jeremy Salt – Ankara,Bilkent University
In his speech to university students this week, Bashar al Assad spoke of a conspiracy against Syria. Use another word if you like, but of course there is one. The foot soldiers in the campaign to bring down the Syrian government are the armed men calling themselves the Free Syrian Army and the random armed gangs. None of them could maintain their violent campaign without outside support. Short of open armed intervention from the outside, they cannot overthrow the Syrian government. All they can do is keep killing and causing chaos in the hope that it will eventually collapse. Their sponsors are the US, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the Muslim Brotherhood, the Syrian National Council, assorted ‘activists’ in exile, some closely linked to the British Foreign Office and the US State Department, and every salafist across the region. Reform is not the issue. Their agendas vary but converge at one point: their determination to destroy the Baathist government. For the US, Britain and France – ‘the west’ – the destruction of a government and a political party that has long got in their way is the issue. For Saudi Arabia, the issue is confronting Iran and containing Shiism across the region. For the Muslim Brotherhood, the issue is revenge for Hafez al Assad’s repression of their revolt in 1982, the destruction of a secular government and the installation of a sharia-based substitute which they expect to dominate. For both the Muslim Brotherhood and the salafists the issue is also the destruction of the Alawis as a socio-political force in Syria.
For the US and Saudi Arabia, Iran, Syria and Hizbullah are three parts of the same problem. Saudi Arabia regards Iran as the ‘head of the snake’ and wanted it attacked in the last years of the Bush administration, but a direct attack, removing the veil from the covert war already being involved, would be enormously dangerous to the countries waging it. This is what hinders them from going ahead, not the catastrophe that such a war would be for the people of Iran and the region. (It is extraordinary that although Iran has lived under the threat of such an attack for years, the western media still has not deal with the consequences of a military attack on live nuclear reactors.) Iran would be seriously weakened by successful open (as opposed to the covert war presently being waged) armed intervention in Syria. Such an attack would have much the same immediate effect as a direct attack on Iran. In 2006 the two countries signed a defence agreement to confront ‘common threats’, and Iran would regard open intervention in Syria as the prelude to an attack on itself. The most likely form of armed intervention would be the declaration of a no-fly zone or a ‘humanitarian corridor’ just over the Turkish-Syrian border. The template for this kind of war was Libya, where up to 50, 000 people were killed after France, Britain, the US and their lesser allies decided to attack in the name of maintaining a no-fly zone. Russia and China have indicated that they would block any moves at the UN Security Council to set up such arrangements. In the light of these difficulties, destabilising Syria with the aim of achieving the same objectives as an open attack is a second best option. Bringing down the Syrian government, rupturing its strategic relationship with Iran and Hizbullah, is an end in itself for the US and its western and gulf allies. Insofar as Iran is concerned, removing Syria from the calculus of war by throwing it into such turmoil that it could not respond would significantly strengthen the US-Israeli position and perhaps make war more likely.
Since the beginning of the year the geopolitical map of the region has been significantly redrawn. Islamist parties have come or are coming into government in Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt, and are likely to do well when elections are held in Libya. What parties say when in opposition and what they feel obliged to do in office are usually two different things and the Islamist parties are no different. On the critical question of relations with Israel, Rashid Ghannushi, the leader of Tunisia’s Al Nahda party has held quiet talks with the Israelis in Washington and has indicated that Palestine will not be a priority for the new Tunisian government. Conflicting signals are coming from the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. According to the US State Department, the brotherhood has given an assurance that it will uphold the 1979 treaty with Israel. Almost immediately this was denied, with senior brotherhood figures saying that the treaty could not be regarded as sacrosanct and repeating the possibility of a referendum being held so the people could decide. This will be the trickiest of questions for the new government to handle but as the new Egyptian government will need the billions of dollars of aid pledged by the US, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the IMF (last year an offer of $3 billion was not taken up but will be discussed again this January), pragmatism is likely to win out, in the short term and perhaps for as long as Israel itself does not put the treaty at risk through another savage attack on Gaza or Lebanon.
In this rapidly changing environment Syria is a holdout state, standing firm against the US and Israel on the one hand and the rising Islamist/salafist trend on the other. The peaceful opposition was swamped in violence a long time ago, with the army still battling ‘defectors’ and the armed gangs the media keeps telling us are an invention of the state. The western media has yet to interview the families of the thousands of soldiers and civilians who have been killed by ‘defectors’ and other armed bands to see what they think about what is happening in their country. Relying on the unverified accusations of ‘activists’ or suspect sources outside Syria, the media has played a critical role in the development of a false narrative. Last week the Guardian hit a new low point with the accusation by of a London-based ‘activist’ that the Syrian security forces are packing detainees into container ships and dumping them at sea. It had no evidence for this claim, but then this is how the Guardian has been ‘reporting’ this crisis throughout. When Damascus was bombed, both the Guardian and the BBC led with the claim that these bombings were the work of the government – according to activists. They had no evidence for this accusation either, literally made while Syrians were still washing the blood off the streets and picking up the body parts of the civilians who had been killed. When the Arab League issued an interim statement on the work of its monitors in Syria, it called for an end to the violence by the state and by armed gangs. On its web page, the BBC reported only that it called on the Syrian government to end the violence.
The west is on the hunt for another war in the Middle East. This is the essence of the campaign against Syria. Iran is being provoked every other day. This week another nuclear scientist was assassinated. The clear intention is to goad Iran into retaliating, providing the pretext for the armed attack that many in Israel and the US want. There is no question that Syria needs to reform but anyone who thinks that the US, Britain, France, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are campaigning against Syria for the cause of reform is living in a dream world. Every wild accusation made by activists and dutifully reported by the media is grist to their mill. They don’t want the violence to end. They want it continue until the Syrian government is destroyed, and they have the resources to keep this going virtually endlessly. If they take the plunge and launch an open attack on Syria or Iran they are likely to trigger off a regional war and, in the view of some, a global war. In their grey suits and pastel ties, these people are as crazy as any fascist in a brown uniform.
————————————————————
without comment
January 16th, 2012, 8:00 am
Valerya said:
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/s720x720/392749_101490013307824_100003404762944_6016_2057544586_n.jpg
January 16th, 2012, 8:05 am
Juergen said:
uzair
i am the last person who is against someone who changes his mind, but i have seen other radio shows on youtube where he explicitly defends the regime, it may not be the overall Kotau which he showed in his speech, but still i find him a bit strange, or lets put it better, i dont trust him. He reminds me of the role of Ralph Giordano an famous leftwing jewish writer here in Germany. He was kind of the public conscience, and an energetic advocate of free thinking and against racism and nazism. He changed when a local turkish community wanted to build an mosque in Cologne. He became the biggest critic of this mosque, calling upon people to go on the sreets against the islamication of society. He joined the efforts of an other famous writer Günther Wallraff in his project to held an public reading of Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses in a mosque. He was always against nazism and rascism, yet he comparred islam with fascism at its worst, and at the end he is isolated now from mainstream discussions and debates and more severly the poulistic right wing up to full level nazis are aplauding him for his brave stand…Does Galloway still have credibility among left wing Brits?
January 16th, 2012, 8:31 am
Uzair8 said:
Jeurgen
I know what you mean. I used to like Hugo Chavez but now I have turned against him over his support of the the Assad regime.
Here is Mr Galloway’s article from August.
http://www.votegeorgegalloway.com/2011/08/george-galloway-on-syria.html
A 5 min youtube clip of GG on the BBC’s The Daily Politics show from June.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6PFs7R5fng
As long as GG speaks the truth then he will have support (esp amongst muslims). I’m not sure about the state of the ‘Left’ in the UK. GG’s Respect Party hasn’t made much inroads.
January 16th, 2012, 8:54 am
Valerya said:
Slave!
January 16th, 2012, 9:21 am
Juergen said:
Uzair
Thank you for posting the links, i will see the youtube part later on. I do liked this part:
“That’s why I must say it looks like five minutes to midnight in Syria for me. For years the President has talked of reform. But the more he talked the faster his relatives counted their ill-gotten gains.”
January 16th, 2012, 9:33 am
Valerya said:
January 16th, 2012, 9:59 am
jad said:
These images are from Homs, it shows the results of a fight between the army and the terrorist militias in the middle of a residential neighbourhood:
نتائج عمليات المجموعات الارهابية في وادي السايح بحمص
http://youtu.be/wK1-4E1rr18
“نعم يا صديقي هذه الصورة ليست من افغانستان او من العراق او من جراء قصف الناتو للمساكن الليبية صدق ما تراه عيناك انه وادي السايح انها حمص وهذا ما فعله ارهابيو الفكر السلفي التابع لتنظيم القاعدة الارهابي بك يا وطني هذه هي السلمية هذه هي الحرية التي تريدون حرية الخراب والدمار والدم هذه هي قصص البطولة التي سترونها لاولادكم واحفادكم في المستقبل …. ستقولون لهم لم نقاتل ونجاهد ضد العدو الصهيوني الذي اغتصب ارضنا وشرد اهلنا بل اكرمناه وعززناه ومدحناه ووجهنا بنادقنا وقنابلنا على ابناء بلدنا و اهلنا واخواننا ووطننا
بئس هذا الدم الذي ستورثوه لاولادكم واحفادكم…. اهاليكم اورثوكم النضال والجهاد والانتصار في حروب الشرف على العدو وانتم ستورثون اولادكم الخزي والعار والسمعة السئية سياتي يوم ويعير ابنك بان اباه قاتل وسياتي يوم سينفر الناس من طلب يد ابنتك لان اباها خائن وسياتي يوم يلعنك فيه احفادك على اللقب المخزي الذي التصق بهم من وراء افعالك عندها ستهتز عظامك في قبرك من الم العذاب وسياتي يوم تقف فيه امام الشهداء الذين قتلتهم تطلب السماح والمغفرة في وقت رفعت فيه المصاحف واقفلت فيه ابواب الرحمة والغفران عندها فقط ستحصد ثمار ما تزرعه الان في سوريا”
January 16th, 2012, 10:12 am
jad said:
Next stop Zabadani:
خاص عربي برس-سيناريو المنطقة العازلة يصل إلى الزبداني.. حواجز لمسلحين ونزوحُ للأهالي
خاص عربي برس – الزبداني
يبدو أن السيناريو ذاته يتكرر في المناطق السورية المتوترة؛ مظاهرات سلمية، يحمل على اثرها المسلحون السلاح من اجل احتلال منطقة ما وإغلاقها بالمتاريس والحواجز لإعلانها منطقة عازلة، السيناريو المتكرر من درعا إلى إدلب وحماه وحمص ودير الزور وبعض مناطق ريف دمشق، حط رحاله اليوم في منطقة الريف الغربي لدمشق، وتحديداً في الزبداني ومضايا ومحيطهما..
أوردت وسائل الإعلام العربية ووكالات الأنباء الغربية أخباراً تقول أن وحدات كبيرة للجيش السوري تحاصر منطقة الزبداني ومضايا تمهيداً لإقتحامهما، مضيفةً “أن الإتصالات مقطوعة عن المنطقة”، إلا ان أعضاء هيئات التنسيقيات يتواصلون بشكل دائم مع قناتي العربية والجزيرة.
مراسل عربي برس التقى ببعض الأهالي الذين اكدوا صعوبة الدخول الى المنطقة والخروج منها بسبب الحواجز الكثيفة المنتشرة للجيش العربي السوري من جهة، وتحصن المسلحين بين الأحياء السكنية للمنطقة، مرتدين بدلات الجيش السوري، مضيفين”ان لا وجود لمنشقين عن الجيش السوري في صفوف الجيش الحر بل فقط بعض من ابناء المنطقة الذين اثروا حمل السلاح”.
الأهالي أشاروا الى “أن المنطقة حتى الآن لم تشهد أي اشتباكات ذات أهمية مقارنة بحجم الأسلحة المتوفرة لدى المسلحين وعديد الجيش السوري المنتشر، حيث سمع فقط أصوات عدة قذائف صاروخية غير معروفة المصدر او الوجهة او الهدف، واشتباكات متفرقة على مداخل مدينة الزبداني، أدت الى سقوط عدد من الجرحى في صفوف المسلحين، تمكن الجيش بعدها من السيطرة على الطرقات الرئيسية، وقام بتمشيط منطقة البساتين الزراعية الواقعة في الجهة الغربية لطريق الزبداني – دمشق، ونزع العبوات الناسفة والمتفجرات التي زرعها المسلحون على مداخل المنطقة وفي المفارق الرئيسية، في ظل طقس بارد ادى الى تساقط الثلوج التي وصلت في بعض الأماكن إلى ما يقارب 10 سم، وحرارة تصل في الليل إلى ما دون درجة التجمد..
المنطقة شهدت مغادرة الأهالي الذين لم يشاركوا في المظاهرات، أو الذين ليس لديهم أبناء بين المسلحين، إلى دمشق، فيما انتقل قسم آخر إلى بلدة بلودان القريبة، التي عمد اهلها الى فتح منازلهم لإيواء القادمين من مضايا والزبداني.
بعض اهالي بلودان ممن التقاهم مراسل عربي برس المحوا الى “أن المسلحين يحضرون منذ فترة لعملية كبيرة عمادها الأساسي مسلحو الزبداني ومضايا، تقوم على إفراغ المنطقة من السكان والسيطرة عليها، لإعلانها منطقة عازلة، وطلب دعم خارجي انطلاقاً من المنطقة الشرقية المحاذيه، والتي يسيطر على قسم منها تيار المستقبل التابع لسعد الحريري رئيس الوزراء اللبناني السابق”..
الأهالي يتوقعون أن يقوم الجيش السوري النظامي باقتحام البلدات بناء على معلومات وصلتهم، بينما يقلل بعض السكان من اهمية هذه الأخبار معتبرينها مجرد تخمينات، وبأن الجيش لو أراد الهجوم على البلدات لقام بذلك منذ اليوم الأول، خاصة وأن فريقاً من مراقبي الجامعة العربية سيزور المنطقة ، وتريد الجهات المختصة أن تطلعه على الحواجز التي أقامها المسلحون وعلى الأسلحة التي يحملونها، وسط تأكيدات تفيد بأن المسلحين “كانوا قد هددوا عبر تسجيلات بثت على شبكة الانترنت باسم كتائب أبو عبيدة بن الجراح وحمزة بن عبد المطلب، بأعمال تخريب ستطال عدة منشآت حيوية في المنطقة ومنها آبار المياه الجوفية التي تغذي دمشق وضواحيها، وخط التوتر العالي الدولي الذي يمر من المنطقة الحدودية، وتفجير الطريق الدولي الذي يربط لبنان بسورية”.
أحد الأهالي الهاربين من بلدة مضايا إلى بلودان قال لعربي برس “يجب على الجيش أن يقوم بمهاجمة المنطقة وتمشيطها بشكل كامل، وهي فرصة مواتية للتخلص منهم وتوجيه ضربة قاسية، وخصوصاً أنهم يتحصنون بالبلدة ولا يستطيعون الهرب خارجها بسبب محاصرة الجيش وبسبب الثلوج التي تغطي الجبال والتي تمنع أي شخص من الاختباء فيها، ويضيف “تعبنا من هذا الوضع، أصبحنا كموالين للحكومة مضطرين للمشاركة في مظاهراتهم حتى لا يقتلوننا، لأن أي شخص لا يشارك هو برأيهم عوايني (مخبر لدى الأمن) ويجب قتله”…
وعن الوضع داخل البلدة قبل هربه يقول “قام المسلحون بالتحصن وتفخيخ الطرقات والمداخل الرئيسية والفرعية بعد الكمين الذي نصبوه في منطقة سهل بقين لدورية عسكرية والعمليتين اللتين حصلتا في بلدة الديماس، كما قاموا بتوزيع السلاح على مناصريهم ممن لا يملكه، مرتدين البدلات التي يلبسها الجيش النظامي للدلالة على انهم منشقين عن الجيش، وأحضروا سيارات كبيرة تحمل اتربة وصخور ووضعوها كحواجز في مداخل البلدة، حتى يمنعوا الجيش من الدخول، ووزعوا على كل حاجز مجموعة من الشباب يتراوح عددهم بين 10 و15 شخص، كلهم مسلحين برشاشات روسية و بنادق أمريكية، وقاذفات “أر بي جي”، مؤكداً “أنه شاهد شخص ينصب مدفع هاون على أحد التحصينات التي اقامها المسلحون “.
وعن أعدادهم يقول “تكاثروا في الأيام الأخيرة، بسبب ترويج المسلحين لعملية عسكرية كبيرة ستقوم بها الجهات الأمنية، تهدف لتدمير المنطقة فوق رؤوس ساكنيها، وقتل الرجال واغتصاب النساء (بحسب زعمهم)، وقد قاموا بالفعل بتخويف الناس قبل أسبوع من اليوم، حيث قاموا بضرب قذائف يعتقد أنها “هاون” على البيوت الآمنة للإيحاء أن الجيش يقصف البيوت بالدبابات”.
ولدى سؤاله عمن يقود مجموعات المسلحين يجيب ” في مضايا يقود المجموعات محمد دياب النموس، وعدد من افراد ال عيسى وهم يعملون على تأمين السلاح والمال”، مضيفاً “كل حاجز له قائد يأتمر بأمره”، أما في مدينة الزبداني فتعددت القيادات، وأصبحت موزعة بين عدة أشخاص بعد مقتل سيف الدين رحمة وهو الذي كان يوصف بأنه قائد المعارضة في المنطقة، وفرار الرجل الثاني في المجموعة عبد الله السيد الى اميركا عن طريق لبنان، وهو عسكري طرد من الخدمة منذ أكثر من 15عاماً، عمل في السعودية وعاد منذ سنتين، عمل على تدريب المسلحين وتأمين الدعم لهم.
الهارب يعرب عن امله في انتهاء الأحداث في المنطقة كما انتهت في مناطق أخرى، وأن تعود المنطقة إلى الأمان والطمأنينة التي كانت تنعم بهما في الفترة السابقة”…
http://arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=17593
January 16th, 2012, 10:16 am
Juergen said:
Tintin en Syrie
http://30.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lxuk0pdE0y1qjg0hto1_400.jpg
January 16th, 2012, 10:44 am
irritated said:
Jad #917
Looking for a border city to occupy.
Jisr al shoroour: Jordan,
Edlib: Turkey
Hama: Turkey
Homs: Lebanon
Deraa: Jordan
Deir El Zor: Iraq
Zabadani: Lebanon.
After repeated failures, the FSA is desperately trying to occupy and control an area near the borders to be able to infiltrate weapons and fighters. They trigger demonstrations so when the Syria army try to disloge them they claim that it is a crackdown on ‘peaceful demonstators’.
The trick does not fool anyone except the ones who want to be fooled.
It is clear that the Syrian army will not let the area taken at any cost.
Next will be Kuneitra…
January 16th, 2012, 10:50 am
zoo said:
France, Turkey Compete in Mideast
The empires are making nice with former colonies
* Published: 16/01/2012 at 12:00 AM
http://www.bangkokpost.com/opinion/opinion/275291/the-empires-are-making-nice-with-former-colonies
As Egyptians and Tunisians vote to replace ousted despots and the Syrian government teeters on the brink, two old imperial powers are competing to exert their political influence over Arab countries in upheaval.
And they are not America and Russia. After years of cold-war competition over the Middle East and North Africa, it is now France and Turkey that are vying for lucrative business ties and the chance to mould a new generation of leaders in lands that they once controlled.
…
Turkey may have the upper hand in soft power, but France has more hard power, as the recent war in Libya and its veto power at the United Nations make clear. ]
And despite Turkey’s phenomenal growth since 2002, the French economy is more than twice the size of Turkey’s, and France is still dominant in North Africa.
….
January 16th, 2012, 10:59 am
Revlon said:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
بيان هام صادر عن الجيش السوري الحر
FSA Announcement
16/01/2012
http://www.freesyrianarmy1.com/ar/node/190
نظراً لإصرار نظام بشار الأسد على عدم تنفيذ بنود مبادرة جامعة الدول العربية وفشل الجامعة في وقف شلال الدم على الأراضي السورية وقيام بعض الأطراف الدولية لدعم هذا النظام بالمال والسلاح لقتل الشعب السوري.
Due to failure of Assad regime to comply with the AL agreeemnt, inability of the ALC to stop the bloodshed,and the redering of logistical support to the regime from cetrtain international parties,
فإننا في الجيش السوري الحر وإنطلاقاً من حرصنا وواجبنا تجاه شعبنا السوري ندعوا جامعة الدول العربية إلى إحالة الملف السوري وبأقصى سرعة ممكنة إلى مجلس الأمن الدولي كما ندعو المجتمع الدولي ممثلاً بمجلس الأمن إلى التدخل الفوري بإصدار قرار ضد النظام تحت الفصل السابع من ميثاق الأمم المتحدة وذلك حرصاً على السلم الأهلي بإعتباره جزءً من السلم والأمن الدولي بالمنطقة.
and to safeguard peace in the region, which is a component of the regional and global peace, We hereby invite the AL to refer the Syrian dossier to the SC as soon as possible. We also invite the SC to immediately intervene undert Chapter 7.
العقيد رياض موسى الأسعد
قائد الجيش السوري الحر
January 16th, 2012, 10:59 am
Jad said:
Irritated
I agree, they choose Zabadani because of its location.
And they are getting help by many, even the Lebanese phone company is enforcing its signal strength to cover many areas in Syria
كتب حسين مرتضى: ” أهلا بكم في لبنان ” من حمص…اسرار الاجتياح اللبناني لسورية
http://www.arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=17707
And the German, as usual, doing their part by putting their technology and ships in the med to transfer information to the side they serve best.
“دير شبيغل”: سفينة حربية ألمانية قامت بمهام تجسسية قبالة شواطئ سورية
كشفت مجلة “دير شبيغل” الألمانية عن أن سفينة حربية ألمانية قامت بمهمة تجسسية قبالة شواطىء سورية، مشيرة الى أنه تم رصد السفينة الألمانية التي تقل 85 بحاراً على مسافة قريبة من الشواطىء السورية تصل إلى 15 ميلا بحريا فقط أثناء قيامها بمهمة تجسسية بالمنطقة.
وأكدت “دير شبيغل” أن المهمة السرية التي تم تكليف السفينة بإنجازها تمت من دون علم البرلمان الألماني، وكانت تهدف لجمع معلومات باستخدام أجهزة استشعار عن بعد سمعية وبصرية، لافتة إلى أن سفنا حربية المانية قامت بمهام تجسسية مشابهة قبالة الشواطئ الليبية إبان الحرب الأهلية هناك.
وكالات – عربي برس
http://www.arabi-press.com/?page=article&id=17606
January 16th, 2012, 11:13 am
Valerya said:
922. JAD
has been JUERGEN on board ?
January 16th, 2012, 11:16 am
Revlon said:
Three consecutive announcements have been issued by the FSA denying recent claims of impending structural changes posted on the SNC website and other media.
15-16/01/2012
http://www.freesyrianarmy1.com/
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
بيان صادر عن الجيش السوري الحر
إن قائد الجيش السوري الحر يؤكد على بنية الجيش النتظيمية المعروفة سابقاً
وأنه لايوجد أي تشكيل أو هيئة جديدة تحت أي مسمى كما يؤكد على رفضه لأي تشكيل أو هيئة جديدة إلا ببيان رسمي صادر عن قائد الجيش السوري الحر العقيد رياض موسى الأسعد
Commander of the FSA emphasizes that established FSA structure shall remain as is. Announcing the formation of a new assembly or forum shall by any one other then FSA commander shall be consider null and void.
عاشت سورية حرة أبية
الجمهورية العربية السورية
الجيش السوري الحر
تفويض
إن قائد الجيش السوري الحر العقيد رياض موسى الأسعد
يفوض السيدة لمى الأتاسي بإدارة المكتب الإعلامي للجيش السوري الحر في باريس
Mrs Lama Al Atasi is hereby commissioned with managing FSA media office in Paris.
بيان هام صادر عن الجيش السوري الحر
إن الصحفي المدعو فهد المصري لا تربطه بالجيش السوري الحر أي علاقة وهو غير مفوض من قبلنا ولا تعتبر تصريحاته والبيانات الصادرة عنه معبرة عن وجهة نظر وسياسة الجيش السوري الحر كما أن هذه التصريحات التي يطلقها ليست إلا خدمة للنظام الأسدي
The journalist Fahd AlMasri has no official ties with the FSA. He is not commissioned by FSA. His announcements serve the ends of Assad regime and do not represent FSA.
January 16th, 2012, 11:21 am
jna said:
We’re glad Netanyahu deputy is “disappointed” with Obama on Iran.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/sns-rt-us-iran-nuclear-israel-usatre80e0d9-20120115,0,6753540.story
January 16th, 2012, 11:22 am
Jad said:
‘Banyas’ second version in Zabadani area this time. How many times did we see the exact same steps taken before!
Now the FSA knows the UN section 7!! I wonder if Zibaleh wrote them the statement.
الحقيقة السورية | انتشار للعصابات المسلحة في الزبداني
January 16th, 2012, 11:26 am
Tara said:
A girl to be the spokesperson for the FSA! Good job!!
January 16th, 2012, 11:30 am
zoo said:
If Syrians have reasons to lack fuel and mazut, in post revolution Egypt no one knows why there is no more fuel at gaz stations.
Fuel shortage in Egypt leads to rising tensions
http://news.yahoo.com/fuel-shortage-egypt-leads-rising-tensions-154409389.html
CAIRO (Reuters) – A gasoline shortage in Egypt has led to long queues at fuel stations and raised suspicions among drivers that it may be a prelude to a cut in subsidies, despite official reassurances that there is no plan to hike prices.
The streets of Cairo and other cities have been blocked by queues of cars, often snaking around the block, since shortages started becoming apparent on Saturday.
Many drivers have reached the pumps only to find fuel had run out, stoking tensions in a nation already reeling from months of political unrest and leaving many people frustrated that the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak in February last year has not yielded the economic dividend they expected.
January 16th, 2012, 11:34 am
sf94123 said:
‘Russian initiative’ to guide Syria? by Sami Moubayed
http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/russian-initiative-to-guide-syria-1.966843
January 16th, 2012, 11:46 am
irritated said:
927. Tara, Revlon
ref:Lama al Attasi
And what credentials! A good friend of Bernard Henri Levy.
January 16th, 2012, 11:49 am
Revlon said:
FSA fighters patrol the streets of Zabadani today!
مقابلة في الزبداني مع عناصر الجيش الحر أثناء صدهم لاعتداء ميليشيات بشار الاسد 16-1 – سوريا – أموي
January 16th, 2012, 11:49 am
Haytham Khoury said:
هل تذكرون أول شهيد في الثورة السورية الشهيد محمود جوابرة درعا البلد 18 3 2011
January 16th, 2012, 11:50 am
Tara said:
Irritated
Is that true or propaganda as usual?
If true, it is stupidity in action on behaf of the FSA.
January 16th, 2012, 11:54 am
irritated said:
#930 Jad
After the multiple attempts by the FSA to create a militarized enclave, will the Syrian army give a final blow to the FSA fighters and mercenaries who moved to Zabadani?
January 16th, 2012, 12:00 pm
irritated said:
#937 Tara
Lama Atassi, the Zionist connection
“The call for the conference, issued through BHL’s journal La Règle du Jeu, was joined by France-Syrie Démocratie ”
Lama Atassi, the president of France-Syrie Démocratie as well as a participant in the Antalya conference, took credit for linking up the Antalya opposition with BHL
http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/furuhashi060711p.html
January 16th, 2012, 12:07 pm
Mina said:
South Sudan, the first Qatar push… “Honey, I’ve shrunk the Middle East”
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/31698/World/Region/Horrors-of-tribal-violence-devastate-South-Sudanes.aspx
January 16th, 2012, 12:19 pm
Revlon said:
Lama Al-Atassi: Rebuttal of statements of members of the SC who vetoed or abstained the resolution concerning Syria.
UN debate: Syrian activist takes on lies of Assad regime & allies
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OhG_qszdKJA
Uploaded by HumanRightsUN on Aug 24, 2011
Transcript of the speach
http://blog.unwatch.org/index.php/2011/08/22/syrian-democracy-activist-addresses-un-urgent-session-on-syria/
January 16th, 2012, 12:20 pm
Haytham Khoury said:
January 16th, 2012, 12:29 pm
aldendeshe said:
Lama Al-Atassi!!! Check out who her father and ancles are. Surprise Islamists don’t have her on the dangle list.
January 16th, 2012, 12:40 pm
Juergen said:
can any of the believers of the supreme leader explain me since when are members of the armed forces to wear beards nowadays? I never heard that this is allowed in the Syrian army…
So since when does the FSA have tanks? Or shall it be true that there are army units dressed up as islamists?
January 16th, 2012, 12:41 pm
aldendeshe said:
But again why should they. Islamists kissed the hand of the Baathist regime lowest servant Khaddam as well.
January 16th, 2012, 12:43 pm
Mina said:
943
This is the “Paris list”. If Bernard-Henri Levy has been welcomed in Benghazi while all his family money (one of the biggest fortune in France at the time) has been made entirely on the exploitation of Algerian forests during French colonisation, nothing should surprise us anymore.
January 16th, 2012, 12:44 pm
Humanist said:
Report from Zabadani:
http://edition.cnn.com/2012/01/16/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?hpt=imi_c1
Shows both sides. Great reporter I think.
January 16th, 2012, 1:14 pm
jad said:
Egypt refused to be part in any Arab army intervention and is against such proposal:
مصدر مصري مسؤول : القاهرة لن ترسل أي قوات عربية إلى سوريا أيًا كان قرار الجامعة
أكد مصدر مصري مسؤول أن القاهرة لن ترسل أي قوات عربية إلى سوريا أيًا كان قرار جامعة الدول العربية إذا ما قدمت قطر اقتراح أميرها بذلك رسميًا إلى اجتماع الجامعة في الحادي والعشرين من الشهر الجاري.
وأوضح المصدر في تصريح لـ صحيفة “صدى البلد” أن الوضع في سوريا مختلف عن ما تم بخصوص الأزمة الليبية التي اشترك فيها قوات عربية ضد النظام الليبي السابق، لافتًا إلى أن الإرادة العربية لن تتفق على هذا الاقتراح ولا توجد دولة عربية مستعدة لإرسال قوات من جيشها للقتال في سوريا.
وأشار إلى أنه من المؤكد أن تتم مناقشة هذا الاقتراح في اجتماع الجامعة السبت المقبل، إلا أن مصر تستبعد مقدمًا الموافقة عليه، وتستمر على موقفها الرافض لأي تدخل أجنبي في سوريا أو تدويل هذه القضية، كما تشدد دائمًا علي مطالبتها النظام السوري علي ضرورة الالتزام بالمبادرة العربية الداعية إلى “سحب قوات الجيش من الشوارع وإقامة نظام ديمقراطي قائم على التعددية وممثلا به كافة أطياف الشعب السوري”.
ورفض المصدر أن تكون مصر طرفًا فيما أسماه “تصفية الحسابات الشخصية على حساب الشعب السوري” موضحًا أن حل الأزمة لن يتم إلا بتكاتف الجهود العربية دون الدخول في معارك شخصية.
January 16th, 2012, 1:18 pm
Mina said:
Humanist,
“Both sides”? Where? The same news as the ones given by the Guardian’s blog, which gives the tweet it originates from.
The “raid on Aleppo dorms” is being used almost every month since April, and if it has been raided so often, one wonders why would any student remain in such a dangerous place.
January 16th, 2012, 1:20 pm
Humanist said:
Mina,
I think you only watched the beginning
see the END of the video (dead government soldier)
January 16th, 2012, 1:26 pm
Halabi said:
CNN report from Homs. http://youtu.be/ZV9b0D9pPBQ
Pretty one-sided, so Menhebaks won’t like it. But they should still watch so they can identify all the terrorist women and children attending the protests that they want Assad’s army to kill.
January 16th, 2012, 1:31 pm
zoo said:
#905 MajedalKhaldoon
No plan to send Arab troops to Syria: League source
Sun, Jan 15 2012
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/01/15/us-syria-troops-idUSTRE80E0CX20120115
CAIRO (Reuters) – The Arab League has not received any official request or suggestion that it send Arab troops to Syria, an Arab representative to the Cairo-based League told Reuters on Sunday.
Qatar’s emir, Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, said on Saturday that Arab troops may have to step in to halt the bloodshed in Syria since the start of protests against President Bashar al-Assad in March.
“There is no official suggestion to send Arab troops to Syria at the current time … There has been no Arab or a non-Arab agreement on a military intervention in Syria for the time being,” the representative to the League said.
There is little appetite in the West for any Libya-style intervention in Syria, although France has talked of a need to set up zones to protect civilians there.
It was far from clear if Arab countries would be willing to beef up the team of civilian monitors currently in Syria, let alone send in troops without broader international support.
It was also not clear if Qatar envisaged the troops playing a peace enforcement or other role. An earlier idea of asking the United Nations to provide technical support and experts to bolster the Arab monitoring team has so far made little headway.
January 16th, 2012, 1:40 pm
irritated said:
Juergen
“Or shall it be true that there are army units dressed up as islamists?
Alloween is long gone and the false beard suppliers in Hamidieh are out of stock ( made in Turkey).
These are simply peaceful islamists who stole a tank from the Syrian Army to decorate it for the flower festival in the areas conquered by the FSA angels( Majedalkhoon copyright). Be happy, its happening finally, just acknowledge it.
January 16th, 2012, 1:45 pm
zoo said:
#901 Ghufran
“Peace requires some form of justice,we all can agree on that.”
South Africa vs Nuremberg
The Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) was a court-like restorative justice[1] body assembled in South Africa after the abolition of apartheid. Witnesses who were identified as victims of gross human rights violations were invited to give statements about their experiences, and some were selected for public hearings. Perpetrators of violence could also give testimony and request amnesty from both civil and criminal prosecution.
The TRC, the first of the nineteen held internationally to stage public hearings, was seen by many as a crucial component of the transition to full and free democracy in South Africa. Despite some flaws, it is generally (although not universally) thought to have been successful.
…
The TRC’s emphasis on reconciliation is in sharp contrast to the approach taken by the Nuremberg Trials after World War II and other de-Nazification measures. Because of the perceived success[citation needed] of the reconciliatory approach in dealing with human-rights violations after political change either from internal or external factors, other countries have instituted similar commissions, though not always with the same scope or the allowance for charging those currently in power. The success of the “TRC method” versus the “Nuremberg method” of prosecution is open for debate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Truth_and_Reconciliation_Commission_%28South_Africa%29
January 16th, 2012, 1:51 pm
irritated said:
909. Mina
Libya is in a mess simply because many are asking Qatar to stay away (like in Tunisia) and Qatar is trying to keep its malicious influence in its proud goal of creating a pro-western islamic sunni stronghold (more than 50,000 dead and more) using its money as the bait.
January 16th, 2012, 1:59 pm
irritated said:
#880. majedkhaldoun
“In april you will be more irritated, Syria crisis has to end before US deals with Iran”
In April, I may change my nickname to “Relaxed” and I guess you understand why.
January 16th, 2012, 2:04 pm
zoo said:
“The purpose of manipulating the media coverage is to persuade the West and its Arab allies that conditions in Syria are approaching the point when they can repeat their success in Libya. Hence the fog of disinformation pumped out through the internet.”
Whose hands are behind those dramatic YouTube pictures?
January 16, 2012
The Newsfakers
by PATRICK COCKBURN
http://www.counterpunch.org/2012/01/16/the-newsfakers/
….
So technical advances have made it more difficult for governments to hide repression. But these developments have also made the work of the propagandist easier. Of course, people who run newspapers and radio and television stations are not fools. They know the dubious nature of much of the information they are conveying. The political elite in Washington and Europe was divided for and against the US invasion of Iraq, making it easier for individual journalists to dissent. But today there is an overwhelming consensus in the foreign media that the rebels are right and existing governments wrong. For institutions such as the BBC, highly unbalanced coverage becomes acceptable.
Sadly, al-Jazeera, which has done so much to shatter state control of information in the Middle East since it was set up in 1996, has become the uncritical propaganda arm of the Libyan and Syrian rebels.
The Syrian opposition needs to give the impression that its insurrection is closer to success than it really is. The Syrian government has failed to crush the protesters, but the latter, in turn, are a long way from overthrowing it. The exiled leadership wants Western military intervention in its favor as happened in Libya, although conditions are very different.
The purpose of manipulating the media coverage is to persuade the West and its Arab allies that conditions in Syria are approaching the point when they can repeat their success in Libya. Hence the fog of disinformation pumped out through the internet.
January 16th, 2012, 2:09 pm
zoo said:
The AL observers in Zabadani
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-syria-observers-20120116,0,4634824.story
A team of Arab League observers is warmly greeted in one town, but the desperate crowd later becomes hostile. The observers flee, and bullets fly, but who is firing?
By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times
January 16, 2012
Reporting from Zabadani, Syria—
When observers from the Arab League drove into this mountain town in southwestern Syria, a hotbed of dissent against President Bashar Assad, they received a hero’s welcome.
Residents mobbed the observers’ car, clamored to tell of their plight, and carried one of them away on their shoulders in celebration.
But just hours later, the five league representatives sped away under a hail of bullets. It was impossible to determine who was doing the shooting.
The episode Sunday was a rare, unsettling glimpse into the spiraling conflict that is threatening to plunge Syria into civil war and the challenges faced by about 160 monitors who are trying to verify wildly divergent versions of events under sometimes dangerous conditions.
Opposition activists and even some monitors have already declared the monthlong mission a failure, saying it was not given the time, the resources or the independence to determine whether the government is fulfilling its pledge to end a military crackdown that the United Nations says has claimed more than 5,000 lives since March. The government disputes the figures and says most of the casualties have been members of the security forces, who they charge are being targeted by foreign-backed terrorists.
..bv
Residents said that on Friday security forces surrounded the town and began pummeling them with tank rounds and gunfire.
“Kids are dying here and we can’t take them to the hospital,” one man said Sunday. “We’ve been three days without electricity or water.”
The five monitors, including representatives from the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Qatar, were dispatched to investigate what was happening.
Syrian officials, who are responsible for the mission’s security, informed the team that explosive devices had been found on the road to Zabadani and urged them not to go. If the observers insisted, they said, their security escort could not accompany them into the town, which residents acknowledge is defended by military defectors fighting under the banner of the Free Syrian Army.
It was not the first time they were presented with such a choice, the observers said. In some cases, they decided against a visit. This time they said they would see how far they could get on their own.
“With these things, we never know if it’s a real threat or they are just trying to keep us away,” one said. Like others interviewed, he asked not to be identified because the league has instructed the monitors not to speak to journalists.
They set off from Damascus in a speeding convoy full of armed security force members. Less than half an hour from the bustling streets of the capital, they entered an area that looked and felt like a front line in a war.
The road emptied of traffic and checkpoints dotted the way, manned by grim-looking officers in helmets and flak jackets with the occasional armored vehicle. About 15 miles outside Zabadani, the security escort peeled off. A car carrying the observers pressed on, stopping every few miles to ask residents and security force members what lay ahead.
At a checkpoint about 10 miles from Zabadani, an anti-riot police officer led the observers up a muddy path to a stable yard, to show them what he said were several recovered roadside bombs. They photographed what appeared to be rusty fuel canisters with wires attached.
“Where are the detonators?” an observer asked. The officer said he was not an engineer, but thought the canisters contained explosives.
As they got closer, the monitors came across families fleeing on foot and in cars with little or no luggage. Asked whether there was trouble ahead, a woman in a long black coat snapped back, “If there weren’t trouble, we wouldn’t be escaping.”
“We are walking now in the street and we don’t know where we are going,” said the woman, who asked to be identified only as Aisha, for fear of retribution.
The town appeared eerily deserted until the observers turned down a narrow street dubbed “Free Syria” in bold black graffiti on a wall. Young men raced into the road to clear away an improvised checkpoint and lead the vehicles to a small square where hundreds of people were waiting for them. The crowd erupted in cheers and chants.
January 16th, 2012, 2:29 pm
jad said:
Zoo,
Here is an Arabic version of the Counterpunch article you linked earlier, it seems that the leftist media in the US is somehow on a mission to expose the false propaganda used by the Syrian uprising media. They are not alone, many voices in the media are getting louder and at some point the main stream media wont be able to continue spreading one side propaganda anymore. It seems that letting the media in worked against what was planned.
I’m not sure how is that going to affect the public’s opinion on the France-Turkey-Qatar destructive plans to Syria:
Whose hands are behind those dramatic YouTube pictures?
The Newsfakers
by PATRICK COCKBURN
كوكبرن:بي بي سي تعمد لبث صورعن سورية لاتتأكد من صحتها
قال الكاتب البريطاني باتريك كوكبرن إن شبكة “بي بي سي” الإخبارية البريطانية وعددا كبيرا من المحطات التلفزيونية الأخرى تعمد إلى بث صور ليلية من اليوتيوب لأحداث تقول إنها في سورية متنصلة في الوقت نفسه من المسؤولية فيما يتعلق بصحة هذه الصور وقد باتت تتكرر هذه العبارة حتى أصبحت تحمل من التأثير على المشاهدين مثلها مثل التحذيرات من أن التقرير الاخباري قد يضم صورا صادمة.
وأضاف كوكبرن في مقال حمل عنوان “أيدي من تقف وراء صور اليوتيوب الدرامية” إن الناس الذين يشاهدون تقرير بي بي سي سيتوصلون لاعتقاد جازم بأنه لو لم تكن ” بي بي سي” والمحطات الأخرى مقتنعة بصحة صور اليوتيوب لما كانت ستستخدمها كمصدر رئيسي للمعلومات حول سورية .
وقال الكاتب البريطاني إن التضليل وتشويه المعلومات والدعاية الكاذبة أمر قديم قدم الصراعات المسلحة نفسها وانتشار شبكة الانترنت ساهم فقط في زيادة فرص انتشار ضباب الحروب والصراعات مضيفا إن الشائعات انتشرت في الماضي لكنها كانت موصومة بالسمعة السيئة وبانها كذبة لذلك فإن الصحفيين لن يستطيعوا قطعا الحديث عن مجزرة أو تعذيب أو اعتقالات واسعة اعتمادا على الشائعات غير أن ما يحصل هو أن الصحفي بدأ يأخذ هذه الشائعة ويستبدل اسمها باليوتيوب أو المدون ليستخدمها كمصدر من المفترض أن يكون موثوقا لمعلوماته.
وأضاف إن وسائل الاعلام الدولية تتكتم الى حد كبير بشان سهولة التلاعب بصور اليوتيوب حيث ان تصوير مظاهرة صغيرة من زاوية معينة يجعلها تبدو وكأنها تجمع لعشرات الآلاف من المتظاهرين كما يمكن استخدام اطلاق النار في شارع واحد في مدينة واحدة لخلق دليل على حدوث إطلاق نار في عشرات البلدات.
وتابع كوكبرن إن المظاهرات لا تكون بالضرورة تصويرا لاحداث حقيقية التقطها مواطنون مهتمون مستخدمين كاميرات الهواتف المحمولة كما قد يكون السبب الوحيد لتجميع مجموعة من الاشخاص على انهم مظاهرة هو فقط لالتقاط صور لها وتوفير المادة اللازمة لليوتيوب.
وقال إن شركات التلفزيون لن ترفض أو تحاول التاكد من مراحل تصوير فيلم ياتيها مجانا ويكون مؤثرا و مجاريا للاحداث وهي غير قادرة على الحصول على نظيره من مراسليها المعتادين وافراد طاقمها الاعلامي على الرغم من انفاق الكثير من المال.
وأضاف إن أخذ المعلومات من المدونين سهل ايضا على الرغم من انه لا يوجد اي دليل على معرفتهم بما يجري على الارض و من هنا كانت سهولة قيام طالب اميركي في اسكتلندا بالادعاء بأنه فتاة شاذة ومضطهدة في دمشق .
وتابع الكاتب..إن قناة الجزيرة القطرية وللأسف تحولت إلى سلاح الدعاية بالنسبة لمن وصفهم بالمتمردين في سورية وليبيا مضيفا إن المعارضة السورية تحتاج إلى إعطاء الانطباع بأنها اقرب إلى النجاح مما هي عليه حقا.
وختم كوكبرن بالقول ان الغرض من التلاعب بالتغطية الاعلامية هو إقناع الغرب وحلفائهم العرب بأن الأوضاع في سورية تقترب من نقطة يمكنهم عندها تكرار ما فعلوه في ليبيا وانطلاقا من ذلك فانه يتم ضخ ضباب التضليل من خلال شبكة الانترنت.
January 16th, 2012, 2:49 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
956 IRRITATED
I hope you are much more relaxed partly thanks to the HASSOUK minhebbaks are going to receive. Just prepare yourself. The end is coming soon. All thing have a limit in life. Syrians patience has it too.
January 16th, 2012, 2:51 pm
zoo said:
The gradual integration of Islamic ‘extremists’ anti-Israel movements in the international institutions is infuriating Israel. I guess they have to get used to be sitting with Islamists as most Arab world is moving into this direction.
http://news.yahoo.com/israel-fury-hamas-attends-global-parliamentary-forum-183650299.html
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on Monday slammed the decision of the Swiss-based Inter-Parliamentary Union to invite the Palestinian Islamist movement Hamas to attend its 2012 session.
“This is just another example of international hypocrisy,” Lieberman told Israeli public radio.
“In all international organisations, the 57 Muslim countries and the many non-aligned nations have the majority and consistently take anti-Israel positions,” he charged.
Three Hamas MPs left Gaza on Thursday for the meeting in Geneva, marking the first time parliamentarians from the Islamist movement will attend a session of the IPU.
….
Le Matin quoted Pierre Weiss from the centre-right Radical party and head of the Switzerland-Israel Association condemning the decision to invite “a specialist in the theory of stoning women adulterers and cutting hands off of thieves.”
….
January 16th, 2012, 2:52 pm
irritated said:
#960 Sandro Loewe
Are you the SC Psychic number three? I hope your predictions work better that the other two.
Just be more precise in the time frame you associate with ‘soon’
January 16th, 2012, 2:57 pm
zoo said:
Jad #959
Even the Guardian mentioned this article with a mitigated comment.
Something is going on in the western medias.
January 16th, 2012, 3:00 pm
Uzair8 said:
Last year my football team Liverpool FC (the most successful club in England) were talking to Syrian ex-footballer and businessman Yahya Kirdi who was leading a consortium to buy the club. In the end the club was sold to the current American owners.
Imagine if the club was owned by the Syrian led consortium with possible ties to the regime.
I don’t know a great deal about him but found this:
One UK newspaper made a worrying suggestion about where Kirdi’s money could come from. The Daily Mirror reported that Kirdi was “backed by Montreal group Gameday LMC and, apparently, Syrian businessman Rami Makhiouf.”
http://onthekop.com/forum/index.php?topic=23233.0;wap2
January 16th, 2012, 3:10 pm
jad said:
Zoo
I agree, even for BBC to defend its reporter against the vicious smear campaign against him after what he said as a witness regarding the killing of the french journalist and to stand behind his report is worth to recognize.
Until now, Anthony Shadid is probably the only journalist who tried to be neutral in writing his stories, besides, propaganda has its limit in a long term struggle, it may work for a short term ones but the longer the struggle goes one sided propaganda can’t win and some of the truth will surface one way or another. Will see.
——————–
Hasan Abd Alazeem regarding the amnesty:
“المعارض عبد العظيم: مرسوم العفو يمثل استجابة لمطالب الجامعة العربية ولا يعتبر مقدمة للحوار
قال المنسق العام لهيئة التنسيق الوطني للتغيير الديمقراطي حسن عبد العظيم ان “مرسوم العفو الذي اصدره الرئيس بشار الاسد يمثّل استجابةً لأحد مطالب الجامعة العربية لكنه لا يعتبر مقدمة للحوار لأن الأولويةَ الآن تكمن في وقفِ العنف”.
وكان الرئيس بشار الاسد اصدر يوم الأحد المرسوم رقم 10 لعام 2012 يقضي بمنح عفو عام عن الجرائم المرتكبة على خلفية الأحداث التي وقعت من تاريخ 15-3-2011 وحتى تاريخ صدور هذا المرسوم في 15-1-2012.
وأضاف عبد العظيم في مقابلة مع قناة روسيا اليوم, نشرت مقتطفات منها على موقعها الالكتروني يوم الاثنين, ان “عدد الذين سيطلق سراحهم بعد اعلان العفو الرئاسي يصل الى 35 الف وذلك بحسب منظمات حقوقية سواء المنظمة العربية لحقوق الانسان او المرصد السوري”، موضحا ان “العفو يشمل الأفعال المتعلقة بأمن الدولة الدخلي”.”
http://syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=142767
———————————————-
The licence of the third independent political party in Syria, this is the right way:
“ثالث حزب منذ إقرار قانون الأحزاب .. لجنة شؤون الأحزاب تعلن تأسيس حزب “الشباب الوطني السوري”
وافقت لجنة شؤون الأحزاب، اليوم الاثنين، على تأسيس حزب “الشباب الوطني السوري”، في وقت درست فيه اللجنة طلبات مقدمة إليها من الراغبين بتأسيس أحزاب جديدة وفقا لقانون الأحزاب الصادر بالمرسوم التشريعي رقم 100 لعام 2011.
http://syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=142781
—————————————————
January 16th, 2012, 3:17 pm
jad said:
Russia is asking the US to respect the Syrian sovereignty and help in a political solution to the struggle by supporting the negotiation process between the regime and the oppositions:
موسكو تدعو واشنطن الى احترام سيادة سورية والمساهمة في التسوية السياسية السلمية فيها
تدعو موسكو واشنطن الى احترام سيادة سورية والمساهمة في التسوية السياسية السلمية فيها. جاء هذا التصريح في اعقاب اللقاء الذي عقد يوم الاثنين 16 يناير/كانون الثاني بين ميخائيل بوغدانوف نائب وزير الخارجية الروسي ووليام بيرنز نائب وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية.
ونقلت وزارة الخارجية الروسية ان الطرفين تبادلا وجهات النظر حول آخر التطورات في سورية حيث اكد الطرف الروسي ضرورة احترام سيادة سورية والمساهمة في التسوية السياسية السلمية للأزمة الداخلية فيها من قبل السوريين أنفسهم عن طريق وقف اعمال العنف بغض النظرعن مصدره واطلاق الحوار بين السلطات والمعارضة وفقا لمبادرة جامعة الدول العربية ودون شروط مسبقة.
واكدت وزارة الخارجية الروسية انه خلال اللقاء اعرب الطرفان عن رأيهما المشترك في ان الأحداث الجارية في المنطقة يجب الا تعرقل ضرورة التقدم نحو تسوية الصراع العربي الاسرائيلي على الاساس القانوني الدولي المعروف.
في هذا الشأن نوه الطرفان الى أهمية الاتصالات المباشرة بين المفاوضين الفلسطينيين والإسرائيليين التي استؤنفت في بداية يناير/كانون الثاني بمساعدة اللجنة الرباعية الخاصة بعملية السلام في الشرق الاوسط والاردن.
واضافت وزارة الخارجية الروسية ان الطرفين أعربا عن أملهما المشترك في التسوية السلمية للأزمات في المنطقة وتحقيق استقرار الوضع في الدول العربية في أسرع وقت ممكن ومراعاة طموحات الشعوب العربية ورغبتها في حياة افضل وانجاز الحقوق والحريات السياسية والاقتصادية.
كما اكد الطرفان على الحاجة العالية الى تبادل الأراء بين روسيا والولايات المتحدة حول جميع القضايا في الشرق الاوسط وتعزيز التعامل من اجل استقرار الوضع في هذه المنطقة.
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/576311/
January 16th, 2012, 3:21 pm
Halabi said:
The best part of the translated counterpunch on fake news is that it doesn’t include this paragraph from the original:
“The iron grip of police states over the media and all other sources of information was broken across the whole Middle East. Governments discovered that the crude repression of the past could be counter-effective. In Hama in central Syria in 1982, President Hafez al-Assad’s forces killed an estimated 10,000 people and destroyed the Sunni rebellion but there was not one picture of a corpse. Today scenes from such a massacre would be on every television screen in the world.”
Of course citing ten thousand deaths in Hama as fact goes against the author’s main argument: that we can’t uncritically rely on bloggers, photos and videos for news. The people of Hama and historians say 10,000 to 38,000 people died in 1982. The Syrian government says the number is closer to 0. No one knows the real number, so I guess it’s best to believe that it never happened.
January 16th, 2012, 3:45 pm
zoo said:
Davutoglu and the Ascendancy of the Muslim Brotherhood
By: Ibrahim al-Amin
Published Monday, January 16, 2012
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/davutoglu-and-ascendancy-muslim-brotherhood
….
“His message is that Arabs and Muslims, whatever their religious, political, or intellectual persuasions, must get used to the idea that the course of history in the Arab and Islamic worlds is at present being led by the Sunni Islamist current.”
….
This is based on the notion that the Sunni Islamist majority is prepared at this juncture, while still in the ascendancy stage, to conclude a deal with the region’s powerful Shia minority. He very much wants that deal to be struck primarily with Iran, in order to enable him to deal more easily with Syria, Lebanon, and Palestine.
….
He is therefore deluded if he thinks he can use the Arab revolutions and the successes of the Islamist current to urge everyone else to accept a new political status quo. If what Turkey seeks is to have any moral, political, or even religious legitimacy, Ankara would first have to renounce Israel and sever ties with it in addition to redefining its relations with the colonial West accordingly.
If it is incapable of doing that, it is incapable of envisaging changes – unless it opts to adopt the view that Davutoglu is a good intellectual theoretician but a failure as a practical politician.
Ibrahim al-Amin is editor-in-chief of Al-Akhbar.
January 16th, 2012, 4:04 pm
Juergen said:
Irritated
good one, if true there would be a big new syria flag painted on it…
may be time to switch sides like SNP before its too late?
January 16th, 2012, 4:10 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
966 JAD
Please do not be so optimistic about the new political parties. You know better than anyone that the real problem is the security services controlling everything. It does not matter how many political parties you have as long as the moukhabaraat will pervert and will cooperate only with corrupt promoting those from inside the regime. This is how it was and this is how it will remain until the regime falls.
January 16th, 2012, 4:48 pm
jad said:
Counterattack by Hammoudeh against Egypt, Algeria, Tunisia and Mauritania as well as Alarabi!
All of them are asking him personally for money, Alarabi asked for 50M just to side with the ‘moral’ Qatari side….but poor Qatar it doesn’t have that much money to give to those ‘immoral’ countries, Qatar and Hammoudeh only have some millions to arm and finance poor terrorist militias.
رئيس وزراء قطر يشكو : دول عربية تبتزنا للمساندة في الملف السوري
أخبار بلدنا من الدوحة- خاص
علم موقع اخبار بلدنا ان رئيس الوزراء- وزير الخارجية القطري الشيخ حمد بن جاسم آل ثاني ابلغ قيادات سياسية وأمنية وعسكرية أميركية وقطرية وعربية التقاها في مقر إقامته في العاصمة الأميركية واشنطن مساء يوم الأربعاء الماضي، أن تعثر الدبلوماسية القطرية في مطاردة سياسية للنظام السوري بقيادة بشار الأسد عبر إتصالات مع الجامعة العربية وحكومات عربية يأتي بسبب إصرار بعض الدول العربية على مقايضة الدوحة بمكاسب مالية ضخمة، مقابل الإنضمام للحملة القطرية التصعيدية ضد دمشق، وهو أمر فوق طاقة قطر، كما أن دولا عربية من بينها مصر والجزائر وتونس وموريتانيا تريد عشرات المليارات من الدولارات مقابل مساندة قطر ضد النظام السوري.
وفي حديث لهيلاري كلينتون وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية كشف رئيس الوزراء القطري أن الأمين العام لجامعة لدول العربية قد طلب منه بصفة شخصية مبلغ 50 مليون دولار أميركي لقاء تبنيه حملة إتصالات عربية ضخمة لإقناع عواصم عربية مترددة بالإنضمام في حملة ضد النظام السوري، كما أن الامين العام الذي دعمته الدوحة لخلافة الأمين العام السابق على رأس الجامعة العربية قد طلب مبالع إضافية ليطلق تصريحات معادية ضد الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد، في حين طلبت دولة عربية تمتلك حدودا مع سوريا في مقابل إقامة منطقة عازلة على حدودها الشمالية لتسهيلات عسكرية وإنسانية للثورة السورية أن تمنحها قطر ثلاثة مليارات دولار أميركي سنويا، وكميات ضخمة من الغاز المسال يوميا، الى جانب تشغيل عشرات الآلاف من مواطنيها في مشاريع قطرية تخص مسابقة كأس العالم عام 2022، إضافة الى تشغيل آلاف في مشاريع قطرية على الأراضي الليبية، وأن الدوحة لا تزال تتفاوض في هذا الجانب.
http://baladnanews.com
January 16th, 2012, 4:52 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
I wonder why Mr. Assad is always finding conspiracies around his power system? Maybe he has been learned only conspiracies as main political instrument and he knows nothing else about politics, since as we all know he is not a self-made politician but a simple inheritor brought to palace. That would explain why all his ¨political thinking¨turns around conspiracies and more conspiracies. The people is not worth a penny, has no initiative and no power, when the people moves then there are conspiracies. So the basis of Assad political thinking is that The People Of Syria Worths and thus Deserves Nothing. And I am sure many of those supporting the repression have the same ¨democratical feelings¨.
January 16th, 2012, 5:25 pm
irritated said:
#971 Jad
Qatar does not want to be seen as a cash cow, it wants to be seen as savvy politician and powerful “Crescenter” propagating the Moslem Brotherhood moderate solution into the Arab World to achieve the GCC/USA vision of the new Sunni Arab culture: Soccer games, Towers, Consumption and Shopping Malls.
But for most Arabs , Qatar is a cash cow.
January 16th, 2012, 5:51 pm
irritated said:
#972 Sandro Loewe
“I wonder why Mr. Assad is always finding conspiracies around his power system? ”
Because the highly paid Pentagon, CIA and Mossad operatives spend their days playing backgammon.
January 16th, 2012, 5:55 pm
zoo said:
Mostafa Ahmad Al Sheikh: Most defectors are not fighting
….
He told Reuters that up to 20,000 soldiers, mostly Sunnis, had defected from the army, but that most were engaged in avoiding the intelligence services rather than fighting the regime.
ACTIVE FREE SYRIAN ARMY NOW JOINED BY ASSAD’S DEPUTY NORTHERN COMMANDER:
The Free Syrian Army is still active and claims to be growing by the day as more and more soldiers defect from Assad’s forces. The most recent and highest level recruit is Mostafa Ahmad al-Sheikh, the deputy commander in charge of Syria’s northern army, who it is claimed by the Syrian National Front (SNC) fled to Turkey two weeks ago.
Brigadier General Al-Sheikh is the most senior officer to desert Assad’s army.
He told Reuters that up to 20,000 soldiers, mostly Sunnis, had defected from the army, but that most were engaged in avoiding the intelligence services rather than fighting the regime.
In his opinion, with Assad’s Alawite loyalists concentrated in the elite units, it could take up to a year to defeat Assad.
One group of army defectors, who are loyal to the Opposition and take their orders from the FSA based in Turkey, are themselves based just across the Syrian border inside Lebanon. Zeina Khodr from Al Jazeera spoke to them and has a video report HERE:
Many injured Syrian protesters have also turned to Lebanon, particularly the northern town of Tripoli where private hospitals and clinics are taking in the wounded and getting them fit enough again to return to Syria to continue the fight against Assad and his regime.
…
Sheikh Nawwaf Bashir of the Baggara tribe is also reported to have defected to Turkey saying that the whole of the Baggara tribe is supporting the revolution.
{…}
http://www.petercliffordonline.com/syria/
January 16th, 2012, 6:44 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
974 IRRITATED
Frankly I did not expect any other answer from you.
So, as a consequence all syrians in Homs, Hama, Banias, Tell Kalakh, Saraqeb, Maarat Numan, Jisr Shugur, Daraa, Deir, Zabadani, Duma, Maidan, etc, etc, etc, are Mossad agents. It sounds as you are really out of reality. Or maybe they do not know they are acting for the Mossad, of course they are stupid, as all we all know The People of Syria is worth nothing for the democratic reformist regime of Assad and family of corrupts.
January 16th, 2012, 6:53 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
irritated wants to change his name to irrelaxed, or irrlevant, call yourself what you want,they all start with irr
January 16th, 2012, 7:32 pm
Son of Damascus said:
Sandro Loewe,
Many of the pro regime sympathizers call us blind, what they don’t understand is calling someone blind does not necessarily mean they have vision.
January 16th, 2012, 7:34 pm
Ghufran said:
لم تنف الادارة الامريكية حتى الآن التقارير التي تقول انها اوفدت 12 الف جندي الى مالطا كخطوة اولية للانتقال الى ليبيا في محاولة للسيطرة على الاوضاع المتدهورة فيها، كما ان الفضائيات العربية قللت من اهتمامها، وتغطياتها بالتالي، لهذه الاوضاع، بعد نجاح مهمة حلف الناتو في الاطاحة بالنظام السابق وسحل رئيسه، وتدمير آخر معقلين له، اي مدينتي سرت وبني الوليد فوق رؤوس ساكنيهما.
المعلومات القادمة من ليبيا حسب العديد من التقارير الاخبارية المنشورة في صحف غربية تقول ان المقاومة للمجلس الوطني الانتقالي تلقى تأييدا متزايدا في اوساط قطاع من الليبيين، كما ان سلطات رئيس المجلس السيد مصطفى عبد الجليل تتآكل بشكل متسارع مقابل تصاعد نفوذ الميليشيات المسلحة وقادتها الميدانيين.
الميليشيات المسلحة تشكل الهاجس الاكبر لسكان العاصمة طرابلس خاصة، وعموم الاراضي الليبية بشكل عام، حيث بات الاهالي يخشون على حياتهم وحياة ابنائهم من هذه الظاهرة، فمعظم المدن الليبية تحولت الى غابة من البنادق، وباتت تتقاسم احياءها الميليشيات المتصارعة التي تتمثل في اربع مجموعات رئيسية ابرزها كتائب الزنتان، وكتائب المجلس العسكري لطرابلس (عبد الحكيم بلحاج)، وكتائب مصراتة، والجيش الوطني الليبي الذي يتزعمه خليفة حفتر رئيس هيئة الاركان.
السيد اسامة الجويلي وزير الدفاع في حكومة الدكتور عبد الرحيم الكيب حدد اكثر من مرة مواعيد لسحب الاسلحة من المدن، وحل الميليشيات، واستيعاب عناصرها في الجيش ولكن هذه الوعود لم تنفذ كما لم يتم الالتزام باي من هذه المواعيد، وبقيت الفوضى الامنية على حالها.
الدول الغربية غير قلقة بالشكل المطلوب من جراء هذا الوضع، فطالما ان النفط الليبي يتدفق الى موانئها فهي سعيدة بانجازها باطاحة النظام، والفوضى لا تعنيها من قريب او بعيد، اللهم الا اذا ظهرت مقاومة مسلحة يمكن ان تهدد صناعة النفط الليبية، وتضرب الانابيب المتجهة الى موانئ التصدير.
January 16th, 2012, 7:59 pm
equus said:
I met by pure coincidence today someone from Zabadani, Syria He stated that in the middle of the night there were people who write graffiti on the walls, slogans such as death to the regime or Assad and so forth. However, the indigenous people of the village did not recognize their faces or who they are. On the other hand, he confirmed they were not defectors from the army, they had no weapons and wear long dresses. I asked for a description he said they look more like Afghanis…….I know Syria is far from Afghanistan they couldn’t have trans-passed? Right?
January 16th, 2012, 8:02 pm
Ghufran said:
Results of a web survey from alarab online,2500 readers participated:
تشهد الأزمة السورية تصعيدا خطيرا في اتجاه نقطة اللاعودة، برأيك هل سيؤول الوضع إلى:
التدخل الدولي
45.2
الحرب الأهلية
4.4
صمود النظام
50.4
January 16th, 2012, 8:06 pm
Ghufran said:
Iran’s nuclear scientists are not being assassinated. They are being murdered
Killing our enemies abroad is just state-sponsored terror – whatever euphemism western leaders like to use.
Mehdi Hasan
guardian.co.uk, Monday 16 January 2012 16.29 EST
January 16th, 2012, 8:11 pm
jad said:
وقائع من حوارات الوزير التركي في بيروت حول الملف السوري
«جزرة» أوغلو: التغيير يخدم قوى المقاومة… والممانعة!
عماد مرمل
لعل الاستنتاج الرئيسي الذي يمكن استخلاصه من حصيلة لقاءات وزير الخارجية التركي أحمد داود أوغلو في بيروت هو ان أنقرة أحرقت كل مراكب العودة الى الشواطئ السورية، وحشرت نفسها في زاوية ضيقة لا تحتمل سوى خيار من اثنين: الربح الكامل او الخسارة الكاملة.
لم يعد هناك من مساحة في الحسابات التركية لمنطق التسوية أو الحل الوسط، بعدما قررت انقرة ان تصبح المعركة التي تخوضها مع النظام السوري معركة حياة او موت، لا مكان فيها للأبواب الخلفية ومخارج الطوارئ، ولا تحتمل نصف إنتصار أو نصف إنكسار، بحيث أصبح سقوط النظام، هو الممر الوحيد والإلزامي لـ«خروج آمن» للقيادة التركية من هذه المواجهة، وكل شيء عدا ذلك يعني الهزيمة.
ولذلك، لا يبدي رئيس الوزراء التركي رجب طيب أردوغان وفريقه حماسة لأي نوع من أنواع الوصفات السياسية التي من شأنها أن تقود الى تعويم نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد وإعادة الاعتبار إليه، بما فيها وصفة المبادرة العربية التي يراهن الأتراك على سقوطها عاجلاً أم آجلاً، مفترضين أن الرئيس السوري لم يعد يستحق منحه المزيد من الفرص والوقت المستقطع، نتيجة إصراره على مواصلة سياسة المناورة.. بالذخيرة الحية.
لكن هذه الاندفاعة التركية الجامحة، وبرغم انها تعكس ظاهرياً صلابة في الموقف والخيار، إلا انها باتت تعبر في جوهرها عن «مأزق» حقيقي، بسبب العجز عن استثمارها الحسي على أرض الواقع، حيث تبين أن موازين القوى – سورياً وإقليمياً ودولياً – هي أكثر تعقيداً مما كان متوقعاً.
وإزاء هذه المراوحة في المكان، انزلقت أنقرة الى مستنقع الاستنزاف الذي يتسبب يوماً بعد يوم بتآكل مصداقيتها وهيبتها، بعدما اكتشـفت أنها ليست قادرة على مواصلة التقدم الى الأمام مع نجاح الأسد في الإمساك بالوضع، تماماً كما أنها ليست قادرة على التراجع الى الوراء تفادياً للتداعيات السلبية التي ستطالها.
وهكذا، يبدو ان الورقة الوحيدة التي ما زال يملكها الأتراك هي ورقة الوقت، حيث يراهنون على ان يلعب عامل الزمن لمصلحتهم وان يداوي نقاط الضعف في الجبهة المعادية للنظام السوري، وصولاً الى تمهيد الطريق امام تدويل الهجوم على دمشق، توطئة للضربة القاضية.
ولأن تركيا وصلت في عدائها لنظام الأسد الى مكان تصعب العودة منه، فإن أوغلو لم يتردد في التأكيد أمام بعض الشخصيات اللبنانية التي التقاها في بيروت ان نظام بشار الاسد آيل الى السقوط عاجلاً أم آجلاً، لا سيما وانه بات يعاند شبه وحيد على ضفة.. ومعظم العالم في قبالته على ضفة أخرى. ورأى أن بقاء هذا النظام سيكون مدعاة لعدم الاستقرار، ليس فقط داخل سوريا وإنما في المنطقة ككل، لافتا الانتباه الى ان تمسك الأسد بالسلطة سيؤدي الى تنامي الأزمة الداخلية، وبالتالي تفاقم تأثيراتها على المحيط العربي والإقليمي، وربما ينتهي الأمر الى استدعاء التدخل الأجنبي.
سريعاً، سمع أوغلو الجواب من معارضي هذه المقاربة، وفحواه ان العكس صحيح وان إسقاط النظام هو الذي سيطلق حالة من الفوضى في المنطقة وليس استمراره، مع العلم ان إسقاطه غير وارد أصلاً، والمعادلة المطروحة هي إما أن يبقى النظام في وضعية مستقرة وإما ان تندلع مواجهة مفتوحة في المنطقة، لا أحد يمكنه ان يقدّر مسبقاً مداها وعواقبها.
وفي ما بدا أنها «حقنة تخدير» موضعية أو «حبّة مسكنات» سياسية، حاول أوغلو ان يخفف على حلفاء القيادة السورية من وطأة السقوط الافتراضي للنظام السوري، معتبراً أن التحولات الجارية في العالم العربي نحو الإصلاح والديموقراطية والتي ينبغي أن تُستكمل في سوريا، من شأنها ان تخدم قوى المقاومة والممانعة وان تحسن شروط الصراع مع إسرائيل.
ورداً على هذه القراءة، قيل لأوغلو بعدما انتهى من التلويح بالجزرة: «من سيحسّن شروط الصراع ويفيد خط المقاومة والممانعة؟ هل هو برهان غليون الذي أعلن صراحة عن نيته فك تحالف سوريا مع إيران و«حزب الله» في حال وصوله الى السلطة؟ وكيف تظنون أن تغيير النظام الحالي في دمشق سيكون لمصلحة القوى المناهضة لإسرائيل في حين أنه هو الذي وقف الى جانبها منذ عام 1982 وحتى اليوم مروراً بحروب 1993 و1996 و2006، إضافة الى انه تحمل عبء الضغوط المترتبة على احتضانه السياسي لقيادة حركة «حماس» التي يريد البعض أن يخرجها من العمق السوري الداعم للمقاومة الى موقع آخر. ولعلمكم، ما يراد تحقيقه في سوريا ليس الإصلاح وإنما ضرب خياراتها الاستراتيجية».
وكان لافتاً للانتباه ان أوغلو همّش كلياً دور المجموعات المسلحة في الاضطرابات التي تشهدها سوريا، موحياً بأنه ما من وجود مؤثر لهذه المجموعات، معتبراً ان هناك معارضة شعبية وسلمية هي التي تتحرك بشكل اساسي لبلوغ الحرية الديموقراطية، وتلقى قمعاً من الجيش السوري والأجهزة الأمنية.
وتعليقا على هذا الإستنتاج، قيل لأوغلو ان محطة «سي أن أن» الأميركية هي التي أعدت تقريراً يرصد بالصوت والصورة وجود مسلحين في سوريا، وهناك معطيات مؤكدة حول تسلل العناصر وتهريب السلاح إليها عبر الحدود التركية واللبنانية. وأضاف من تولى الرد على الوزير التركي: المستغرب أنكم تعتبرون ان كل من يتحرك في الشارع ينتمي الى المعارضة الديموقراطية والسلمية، فعلى أي أساس تضعون المعايير، وكيف يكون سلمياً من يستخدم السلاح ويقتل المدنيين، وكيف يكون ديموقراطياً وإصلاحياً من يتلقى الأوامر من الخارج ويرفض الرأي الآخر، وكيف تكون المعارضة شعبية في حين ان الكثيرين من رموزها لا يستطيعون تسيير مظاهرة حقيقية ضد النظام، بينما يتظاهر مئات الألوف تأييداً للنظام والإصلاحات.. ألا يعني لكم هذا الأمر شيئاً؟
واستشعر بعض الذين التقوا وزير الخارجية التركي انزعاجه من الموقف الصريح الذي عبّر عنه الرئيس بشار الأسد عندما أكد انه سيستخدم الحزم في مكافحة الإرهاب من دون تهاون او مهادنة، الأمر الذي قرأ فيه الأتراك إشارة الى انه سيضرب عرض الحائط الضغوط الدولية والإقليمية التي يتعرض لها لوقف العمليات العسكرية. كما لامس أوغلو الخلاف القائم مع إيران حول كيفية التعامل مع الملف السوري، مشيراً الى ان طهران ترى انه من الممكن تطبيق الإصلاحات تحت مظلة نظام الاسد.
http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionId=2052&ChannelId=48758&ArticleId=1368&Author=%D8%B9%D9%85%D8%A7%D8%AF%20%D9%85%D8%B1%D9%85%D9%84
January 16th, 2012, 8:13 pm
Jerusalem said:
To Jad,
leftist media in the US is somehow on a mission to expose the false propaganda used by the Syrian uprising media.
That’s great news. All Syrians who love their country and wish not see their <> a puppet dancing to the west’s tune should write and encourage the leftist media further more. It doesn’t take a genius to realize that Syria needs reform but not necessarily to be an arena to the West or Arabe Leagues to clean bets or old debts. Once foreign power is in…may God help you!! For a fact he didn’t help any Iraqi or Palestinian. We’ll wait and see how successful are the Libyans to kick out foreigners like they have proudly kicked Kadhafi.
January 16th, 2012, 8:15 pm
irritated said:
#976 Sandro Loewe
“Frankly I did not expect any other answer from you.”
I am glad that my reply was able to fill your expectations, Unfortunately yours did not. I thought you were smarter
January 16th, 2012, 8:16 pm
irritated said:
#984 Jerusalem
“the Libyans to kick out foreigners”
Iraqis were able to kick out the Americans but I doubt the Libyans who owe their’ freedom’ to the NATO and western countries and desperately need foreigners to exploit their resources have enough pride and courage to do it.
Contrary to the Tunisians and the Egyptians, they had to beg and pay colonialist powers to help them topple Qaddafi, what can you expect from them.?
January 16th, 2012, 8:27 pm
jad said:
The UN will train the AL observers and the SNC and the FSA are planning for more ‘military’ works aka terrorist attacks against Syrians, so if the regime didn’t kill the average Syrians those terrorist will finish the job as if Syria is short of terrorist bloody attacks to complete the scene:
“الجامعة تدرس الاقتراح القطري وموسكو توزع مشروعاً جديداً على مجلس الأمن
الأمم المتحدة تلتزم تدريب المراقبين العرب
أعلنت الامم المتحدة، امس، أنها ستبدأ خلال أيام تدريب مراقبين عرب قبل إرسالهم الى سوريا، وذلك بعد ساعات من دعوة الأمين العام للأمم المتحدة بان كي مون مجلس الأمن الدولي إلى التحرك «بطريقة متماسكة وبتقدير لخطورة الموقف» والتحدث «بصوت واحد» بشأن سوريا، معربا عن أمله في مواصلة المراقبين العرب مهمتهم في سوريا، فيما دعت موسكو واشنطن إلى احترام سيادة دمشق و«المساهمة في التسوية السياسية السلمية للأزمة الداخلية فيها من قبل السوريين أنفسهم». ووزعت روسيا في مجلس الأمن نسخة جديدة من مشروع القرار الذي اقترحته حول سوريا، من دون أي تغيير في الجوهر.
وأعلنت متحدثة باسم الامم المتحدة أن المنظمة الدولية ستباشر خلال أيام تدريب مراقبين عرب بناء على طلب الجامعة العربية لإرسالهم لاحقا الى سوريا. وأوضحت ان هذا القرار يأتي ردا على طلب رسمي تقدمت به الجامعة العربية على ان يبدأ التدريب في القاهرة بعد الاجتماع العربي الوزاري المقرر في القاهرة الاحد المقبل لمناقشة تطورات الوضع في سوريا وعمل المراقبين.
وأوضحت المتحدثة فانينا مايستراكي «سيتولى التدريب موظفون في المفوضية العليا لحقوق الإنسان في الأمم المتحدة». وقالت «بناء على طلب الجامعة العربية، وافقت المفوضية العليا على تدريب مراقبين وستتوجه لهذا الغرض إلى القاهرة». وأشارت إلى أن التدريب كان ينبغي أن يبدأ أسرع ولكنه تأجل بطلب من الجامعة العربية إلى ما بعد اجتماع اللجنة الوزارية في القاهرة. ولم تتمكن المتحدثة من توضيح عدد المراقبين الذين سيتم تدريبهم ولا عدد خبراء الأمم المتحدة المشاركين في التدريب.
في هذا الوقت، أعلن وزير الخارجية العراقي هوشيار زيباري، في أبو ظبي، أن اقتراح أمير قطر الشيخ حمد بن خليفة آل ثاني إرسال قوات عربية إلى سوريا سيكون على جدول أعمال اجتماع مجلس الوزراء العرب في 22 كانون الثاني في القاهرة.
وقال نظيره الإماراتي الشيخ عبد الله بن زايد آل نهيان، ردا على سؤال بشأن اقتراح إرسال قوات عربية إلى سوريا، «نحن في مرحلة مشاورات وتبادل رؤى والاستماع إلى اقتراحات، بما فيها اقتراح أمير قطر. أعتقد أن اجتماع 22 الشهر سيكون بغاية الأهمية».
وكان مسؤول في الجامعة العربية قد قال إن الدوحة لم تتقدم بأي طلب رسمي إلى الجامعة العربية لبحث موضوع إرسال القوات. وحذر من أن الدولة العربية الوحيدة القادرة على إرسال قوات إلى سوريا هي مصر، بسبب ضخامة جيشها وعلاقتها التاريخية بسوريا، لكنه استبعد حصول مثل هذا الأمر.
ومن المقرر أن يقدم رئيس بعثة المراقبين الى سوريا محمد مصطفى الدابي تقريرا إلى لجنة في الجامعة العربية الخميس قبل الاجتماع الموسع لوزراء الخارجية العرب الأحد لبحث الخطوة التالية. وقال رئيس غرفة عمليات البعثة عدنان خضير إن المراقبين قد يبقون في سوريا حتى 22 كانون الثاني، في حين ينتظرون نتيجة اجتماع وزراء الخارجية العرب. وتنتهي بعثة المراقبين رسميا بعد غد الخميس.
وقال بان كي مون، خلال مؤتمر صحافي على هامش قمة حول الطاقة في أبو ظبي، «آمل أن يتناول مجلس الأمن الوضع في سوريا بطريقة متماسكة وبتقدير لخطورة الموقف»، مكررا دعوته المجلس للتحدث «بصوت واحد» بشأن سوريا.
وأضاف «لقد وصل عدد القتلى إلى مرحلة غير مقبولة لا يمكننا معها أن نسمح باستمرار الوضع على هذا المنوال… أقدر لجامعة الدول العربية تقديرا كبيرا إجراءها مناقشات مع الرئيس (بشار) الأسد. وآمل صادقا أن تستمر ويجب أن يكون لديها إحساس واضح بضرورة التحرك».
وأشاد بان كي مون بالجامعة العربية لإرسالها مراقبين إلى سوريا. وأضاف «آمل بصدق أن يتمكنوا من مواصلة» مهمتهم. وتابع «لقد دعوت الرئيس (بشار) الأسد باستمرار إلى وقف القتل والاستماع إلى شعبه». وقال «يتعين على المسؤولين أن يكونوا دائما على اتصال مع شعوبهم. عندما ينقطع مسؤول عن الواقع وعن شعبه، فإن مثل هذا الوضع يصبح محتوما».
موسكو
وأعلن دبلوماسيون، في نيويورك، أن روسيا وزعت على أعضاء مجلس الأمن نسخة جديدة من مشروع القرار الذي اقترحته حول سوريا. وهذا النص الذي يبدو انه لا يغير في جوهر الموقف الروسي، سيبحث على مستوى الخبراء اليوم.
وقال متحدث ألماني إن «الوفد الروسي قال انه وزع مشروع قرار جديداً». وأضاف «آن الأوان ليجري المجلس مفاوضات جدية حول القمع» في سوريا.
وأوضح دبلوماسي غربي أن النص الروسي الجديد «يجمع التعديلات المقترحة من قبل أعضاء المجلس» من دون إحراز تقدم في الجوهر. ورأى «أنها مناورة جديدة تسويفية». وتساءل «هل لدينا الآن قاعدة عمل واضحة لمفاوضات محتملة إذا أظهر الروس حسن نية بدلا من محاولة كسب الوقت».
وبعد أن استخدمت روسيا والصين الفيتو على مشروع قرار في مجلس الأمن حول سوريا في تشرين الأول الماضي، عرضت موسكو منتصف كانون الأول مشروع قرار يدين أعمال العنف من قبل الحكومة والمعارضة على حد سواء. لكن الدول الغربية اعتبرت انه غير كاف، وطالبت بقرار يهدد دمشق بعقوبات.”
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“انشقاق
إلى ذلك، أعلن رئيس عشيرة البكارة وعضو الأمانة العامة «لإعلان دمشق» نواف البشير انه لجأ إلى تركيا والتحق «بالمجلس الوطني» المعارض، فيما أعلن النائب في مجلس الشعب السوري عماد غليون، في القاهرة، دعمه للاحتجاجات.
وقال البشير، لقناة «العربية»، انه «عضو في المجلس الوطني السوري وأتيت (إلى تركيا) من أجل تفعيل المعارضة والتنسيق مع الداخل». وأكد إيمانه «بأن الثورة السورية هي طريقنا وان الشباب السوري في ساحات الوطن يقدم أغلى التضحيات من أجل غد أفضل، ومن أجل كرامة الشعب السوري ومن أجل إسقاط هذا النظام ولا نقول تنحيه».
وفي القاهرة، أعلن غليون، النائب عن حمص في مقابلة مع «العربية» أيضا، «دعمه للحراك الثوري» في سوريا. وقال «لا أريد أن أنتسب إلى معارضة معينة، بل أريد المعارضة التي تحقق مصالح الشعب السوري، والتي توصله إلى حريته وكرامته وبناء مجتمع تعددي ديموقراطي يحفظ حقوق جميع الأعراق والفئات وأطياف المجتمع السوري». وتابع «يعيش الشعب السوري أسوأ فترة. إن المواطنين في حمص محاصرون والوضع في المدينة مزر جدا».
إلى ذلك، أعلن «المجلس الوطني السوري» في بيان «إنشاء مكتب ارتباط مع قيادة الجيش السوري الحر». وقال «أنشأ كل من المكتب التنفيذي للمجلس الوطني وقيادة الجيش الحر خطا ساخنا لمتابعة التطورات الداخلية ومتابعتها على المستويين الميداني والسياسي، إضافة إلى تكوين مكتب ارتباط دائم يتولى التنسيق المشترك».
وأوضح البيان أن «لقاءات ستتم قريبا يشارك فيها خبراء عسكريون تهدف إلى وضع خطط وآليات تعزز من قدرات الجيش الحر في مواجهة قوات النظام وتسعى إلى توفير الحماية للمناطق المدنية، وخاصة التي يحاول النظام الدموي اقتحامها أو قصفها باستخدام الأسلحة المتوسطة والثقيلة».
ودعا «الجيش الحر»، في بيان، «مجلس الأمن إلى إصدار قرار ضد النظام السوري تحت الفصل السابع الذي يتضمن استخدام القوة».
كما يستعد العميد الركن «المنشق» مصطفى أحمد الشيخ، الذي لجأ إلى تركيا، للإعلان عن «إنشاء المجلس العسكري السوري الأعلى الذي سيتولى التخطيط للعمليات العسكرية ضد النظام بالتنسيق مع الجيش السوري الحر». وقال مستشار «أبناء الجالية السورية في الخارج» فهد المصري، من باريس، إن «المجلس العسكري الأعلى سيضم كبار الضباط وسيكون بمثابة هيئة تشريعية للعمل العسكري من حيث الدراسات والتخطيط وتنظيم عمليات الانشقاق والاتصال مع قياديين في الجيش لتحفيزهم على الانشقاق كفرق وليس فقط كأفراد والانقلاب على النظام».
من جهة أخرى، أعلن منظمو «قافلة الحرية» التي تحمل مساعدات إنسانية إلى سوريا أنهم سيحاولون دخول البلاد من تركيا في 15 آذار المقبل، المصادف الذكرى الأولى لانطلاق الاحتجاجات ضد النظام بعد فشل محاولة أولى الأسبوع الماضي. ”
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http://www.assafir.com/Article.aspx?EditionID=2052&ChannelID=48756&ArticleID=1411
January 16th, 2012, 8:28 pm
jad said:
Irritated, Jerusalem
Libyans got a French prize already; the most stupid people in the world, pathetic!
تصنيف فرنسي لأغبى شعوب في العالم
http://youtu.be/hIF_T9wRmN4
January 16th, 2012, 8:37 pm
irritated said:
988. jad
Thanks Jad, hilarious!
January 16th, 2012, 8:51 pm
Tara said:
Guys, please, do not get excited about one or 2, or even 10 western journalists parroting the regime’s propaganda. Did you guys forget? The opposition has organized a cosmic conspiracy against the retard and they are damn good at it. If extraterrestrial life is suddenly discovered, they are also going to be against your Besho. Enjoy him as long as you have him. He ain’t gonna last long.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/comment/telegraph-view/9017040/Syrian-echoes-of-Saddam.html
Like Saddam Hussein before him, Bashar al-Assad twists and turns as foreign pressure on his murderous regime mounts. Its latest ploy is to offer an amnesty for what it calls “crimes” committed during the 10-month uprising. The American State Department has rightly advised Syrians against taking up the offer. On this score, their president is wholly untrustworthy. His true face is not magnanimous; rather, it is the one shown during a rare public speech last week in which he said he would crush his opponents, branded as “terrorists”, with an “iron fist”.
Any doubts about his determination to smash the uprising should have been dispelled in the three weeks since Arab League monitors arrived in Syria. In that time, the UN estimates that about 400 people have been killed. Having accepted a league plan to halt the violence, Mr Assad has cocked a snook at its architects, seemingly confident that, however damning the findings, no military action will be taken.
In the past 10 months, Mr Assad has antagonised not just his usual critics but also Turkey and the Arab world. Yesterday, Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, added his voice to those who would have the president step down. “The old way, the old order, is crumbling,” he told a conference on democracy in Beirut. “One-man rule and the perpetuation of family dynasties, monopolies of wealth and power, the silencing of the media, the deprivation of fundamental freedoms to all of this, the people say: Enough!” Disgracefully, that forthrightness has found no echo in the Security Council, where last autumn China and Russia vetoed a Western draft resolution condemning Mr Assad. The Ba’ath party fell with Saddam in Iraq in 2003. Until it is toppled in Syria, regional instability can only grow.
January 16th, 2012, 9:06 pm
zoo said:
#982 Ghufran
Sunday Times: Mossad agents behind Iran scientist assasination
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/sunday-times-mossad-agents-behind-iran-scientist-assasination-1.407593
Report reveals the step-by-step procedure behind the killing of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan as he was on his way to the Natanz uranium enrichment.
By Haaretz
A Sunday Times report revealed Monday that Mossad agents were behind last week’s assassination of an Iranian nuclear scientist.
According to the report, the assassination of Mostafa Ahmadi-Roshan was similar to that seen in “espionage films” – planned over a period of many months, and including extensive surveillance and intelligence gathering. The Sunday Times quoted an unnamed Israeli sources who claimed that the killing was a precursor to a military strike, which would make rebuilding nuclear facilities more difficult for Iran, should they be bombed.
The report further claimed that small groups of Israeli Mossad agents had carefully observed key areas in Tehran deemed relevant to the Roshan’ assassination.
“There is zero tolerance for mistakes. By nature, every failure not only risks the neck of the agents but also risks turning into an international scandal,” said the Israeli source.
According to the Sunday Times, Roshan, 32, was monitored from a makeshift control room in a safe house nearby as he was preparing to leave for work. Israeli agents were also watching the entrance to Iranian intelligence headquarters in the city center, when they noticed a number of cars and people running, followed by police rushing into the nearby streets. Another agent monitoring radio traffic between the Tehran police and security forces confirmed unusual activity, said the paper.
The report states that as Roshan’s bodyguard was driving him to Natanz uranium enrichment site, where he served as director, a masked person on a motorbike weaved through traffic, planting a bomb on the car shaped to deliver its full force at the passenger.
The Sunday Times report stated that hundreds of regime supporters swore revenge at Roshan’s funeral on Friday. “Two targets were always in Mustafa’s mind,” Reza Najafi, a friend, said. “To fight Israel and to become a shaheed (martyr). He achieved both his targets.”
The United States ruled out any connection with the assassination. “We were not involved in any way with regards to the assassination that took place there,” said Secretarty of Defense Leon Panetta, although he did hint that he had “some idea” of who was.
According to the report, the British Foreign Office also said Britain had “no involvement whatsoever” in the attack.
January 16th, 2012, 9:13 pm
ann said:
Brigadier general assassinated in Syria – 2012-01-16
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/16/c_131363421.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — A Syrian army officer was killed Monday by an armed terrorist group in the Damascus Countryside governorate, the official SANA news agency reported.
Mohammed Abdul-Hamid al-Awwad, a brigadier general, was assassinated after gunmen opened fire on his car in the Gotta area on Monday morning, according to SANA.
Al-Awwad was believed to be heading for his office at one of the military units in Gotta when the fatal shootings, which also wounded his driver, took place.
Army and law-enforcement members, as well as policemen have been the targets of “terrorist” groups in Syria as the country enters the tenth month of the widespread unrest.
On Thursday, at least eight law-enforcement members were killed in northern Idlib province after armed groups showered their bus by bullets in Khan Sheikhoun area.
On Jan. 6, a suicide bomber blew himself up near a police station in al-Midan area in the capital city of Damascus, killing at least 25 people and wounded dozens, among them many were policemen who were changing shifts when the attack occurred.
January 16th, 2012, 9:15 pm
ann said:
Syrian official paper dismisses UN chief calls on Assad to “stop killing his people” – 2012-01-16
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/16/c_131363369.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — A Syrian state-run newspaper Monday dismissed the UN chief’s calls on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad to stop violence and killing people as an “unacceptable impudence,” saying the statement came in the context of the ” concentrated campaign” against Syria.
The state-run Al-Thawra daily lashed out at Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary-general, saying in its editorial that he wasn’t in need of U.S. certificates of good conduct, “as he has frequently got them from Washington for the role he is perfectly doing.”
Addressing a conference on democracy in the Arab world in Beirut, the UN chief said on Sunday “today, I say again to President Assad of Syria: Stop the violence. Stop killing your people.”
“If Ban Ki-moon was keen about the Syrians and what they are facing, he could come to the places he is talking about and see the facts on ground for himself,” the Syrian official paper added.
January 16th, 2012, 9:19 pm
irritated said:
#992 Ann
The FSA-SNC to the high ranking officers in the army: Defect or be murdered
January 16th, 2012, 9:19 pm
Tara said:
Enjoy this opinion from a Canadian site.
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/editorials/world+must+intervene+Syria/6004903/story.html
The world must intervene in Syria
BY MAHER ARAR JANUARY 16, 2012 8:06 PM
The signs are clear: Bashar al-Assad is in a state of desperation, and his latest speech in front of Syrian parliament proves it: having played most of the cards at his disposal in attempting to crush the Syrian uprising (including the murder of peaceful protesters), he is now playing his final card, the “patriotism” card, by insisting that the turmoil taking place in Syria is the result of a “foreign conspiracy.” He has promised that he will resort to an “iron-first” approach to deal with the “terrorists” (i.e. peaceful protesters). If anything, this ad hominem attack shows how truly bankrupt his regime has become, to be so completely unable to offer any meaningful solutions to a nation that so badly wants freedom and political change.
It is rather astonishing that at no point, not even once, has Assad accepted a share of the blame, either personally or for his regime. To blame the current unrest on foreign conspirators is absurd, to say the least. Although I am certain that there have always been few governments interested in bringing instability to Syria, there is nothing unusual about this in the game of politics played between sovereign states (one example is Syria’s attempt to destabilize Lebanon since the withdrawal of its troops from that country). But the unrest we see in Syria is from the people of Syria who risk, and frequently lose, their lives in peaceful protests against Assad’s regime.
The best way for any government to protect against foreign plots is first and foremost to be legitimate, i.e. one that is elected by popular will, and one that treats its citizens with respect and dignity. None of this applies to Syria: Assad inherited the presidency from his father like it was property, despite his personal fantasy that he was elected by the majority of Syrians. As far as the authenticity of the brutality of the regime, you only to have watch a few of the thousands of YouTube video clips available online to realize that Assad’s promised “iron fist” has been in use from the very beginning. In fact, the abuse and torture that Syrians are undergoing openly right now have been happening for decades, albeit in relative secrecy, mostly confined to prisons and detention centres.
The question that many people have on their minds about Syria is: What’s next? The answer is in front of our eyes: Syria has already descended into civil war. Members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA), mostly Sunnis, have witnessed their brethren being slaughtered by a regime that is mostly controlled by Alawites. While still small in number and lacking the necessary heavy weaponry to take on the regime face-to-face, there are signs that this is changing. The FSA is gaining strength and has recently carried out retaliatory attacks that targeted the Shabiha (a pro-Assad criminal gang that is responsible for murdering protesters) and soldiers who were mandated by Assad’s regime to crush the uprising. The FSA has stated that its mandate is only to protect peaceful protesters, and that their operations are only carried out in self-defence. Thousands of Syrians across the country have descended to the streets to voice their support for the FSA, as it is becoming increasingly clear that their hope in the international community to put a stop to the killings has faded.
Since the arrival of the Arab League monitoring team in Syria, the level of violence against civilians has actually increased, as confirmed by many observers. This gave the regime the necessary cover to continue to implement its campaign of terror and violence against its own citizens. The Arab League mission has clearly been a complete failure, and it is equally clear that the only way to stop the escalating violence in Syria is for the United Nations to intervene, not eventually, but immediately. The UN mandate to do so is clear, under its Responsibility to Protect resolution. Every day that passes results in an escalation of violence and more innocent lives lost. Waiting is not an option.
Maher Arar is a human rights activist and publisher of Prism Magazine. Twitter.com/ArarMaher
January 16th, 2012, 9:22 pm
ann said:
Russia welcomes amnesty for anti-government protesters in Syria – 2012-01-17
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/17/c_122593757.htm
MOSCOW, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) — Russian Foreign Ministry expressed its welcome Monday to the large-scale amnesty announced in Syria for anti-government protesters, believing this would facilitate the crisis settlement in this Middle East country.
Moscow believed the measure taken by Damascus authority would ensure that the crisis could be resolved with no outside intervention, said the foreign ministry statement.
“This is the first large-scale amnesty. Moscow considers this act by Syrian authorities positive in promoting the initiative of the League of Arab States and the peaceful settlement of the internal crisis by Syrians themselves without any external interference,” it said.
The amnesty on Sunday was not the first one Damascus announced although it is the largest so far. The previous amnesty freed over 3,500 opponents of the Syrian government.
The latest amnesty applies to Syrian citizens accused of various illegal activity between March 15, 2011 and Jan 15, 2012.
January 16th, 2012, 9:22 pm
irritated said:
NOS-TARA-DAMUS #990
Thanks for the updated predictions and warning. Very informative.
January 16th, 2012, 9:23 pm
ann said:
994. irritated said:
“””#992 Ann
The FSA-SNC to the high ranking officers in the army: Defect or be murdered”””
Take a Qatari/Saudi bribe and betray your homeland or we will kill you
January 16th, 2012, 9:26 pm
zoo said:
Turkey-Iraq increasing tensions
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/iraq-dilemma-arbil-thaw-vs-baghdad-chill.aspx?pageID=238&nID=11640&NewsCatID=338
Turkish-Iraqi ties have seen a hectic day as both countries summoned each other’s ambassador to express unease over each other’s policies on an ongoing sectarian conflict in Iraq. In the meantime, Turkey is becoming closer with Arbil, a city at odds with al-Maliki’s rule
…..
“Recently we noticed their surprise interventions with statements, as if Iraq is controlled or run by them,” al-Maliki said in an interview with private al-Hurra television channel late Friday.
….
Turkey is playing a role that might bring disaster and civil war to the region, and Turkey will suffer because it has different sects and ethnicities.”
Accusing al-Maliki of aiming to run a Shiite-dominated country, Çelik warned that Iraq might be a satellite country in the future under his rule.
“From now on Iraq has a serious al-Maliki problem. Turkey has no problem with Iraq and fully supports Iraq’s unity,” Çelik said.
January 16th, 2012, 9:41 pm
ann said:
On Syria, New UN Draft Amid Question of 3 Week Lull, Low Level on Nigeria Unrest
http://www.innercitypress.com/sc1syruswa011612.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 16 — Before the UN Security Council met on Monday morning, French Ambassador Gerald Araud was asked about his foreign minister Alain Juppe “decrying” the Council for lack of action on Syria. Would France be submitted a draft resolution in the place of the Russian draft, on which not even consultations have been held this year?
Araud replied that it would be meaningless to introduce a new draft if it would only be vetoed; he said that “momentum” is needed in the Security Council.
As the Council’s meeting, about West Africa, began in the chamber a spokesman emerged and told Inner City Press that “one delegation” had asked to discuss Syria afterwards, specifically the dormant Russian draft.
That delegation, it is now clear, was not France. Rather, a German spokesman came out afterwards and said that when his country — which was represented Monday by Deputy Permanent Representative Miguel Berger — raised the issue, the Russians responded that they had circulated a new draft 45 minutes ago.
Many in the Council were unaware. The Russians said they had sent the new draft to “the experts,” that is at a level lower than DPR Berger (and the US representative in the Council on Monday, see below.)
In the first consultations on Syria since December 27, the Council members’ expert at now scheduled to meet on January 17 at 3 pm. Watch this site.
Footnote: As some of the few correspondents outside the Security Council on Monday commented on the “low level” at which most Council members “including the US” were represented for the West Africa and then Syria consultations, Inner City Press asked two US Mission spokesmen in writing about their level of representation, including on the West Africa topics of Boko Haram and the fuel subsidy protests in Nigeria.
Two hours later when the meetings ended there had been no response from the US Mission.
Yes, it is the Martin Luther King’s day holiday. But the UN is open, and the Security Council meeting, including on Syria. Press – Mission relations are a two way street, at least when the UN is open. South Sudan questions remain outstanding – watch this site.
January 16th, 2012, 9:43 pm
Tara said:
Mnhebaks
Tara being a girly girl has very soft heart and wants everybody to live happily ever after. Please you all promise that no matter what happens to your Besho, you are not going to react like the guy in the clip at about 0:58. That would break my heart. You are going to compose yourself. Ok? Promise?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pSWN6Qj98Iw
I especially worry about some people. Yes, I do have favorites.
January 16th, 2012, 9:49 pm
zoo said:
Syria further away from end of crisis as violence rises
2012-01-15
by Zheng Kaijun
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/indepth/2012-01/15/c_131361507.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) — The kickoff of the hard-started Arab League (AL) observers’ mission once gave Syrians the hope of ending their country’s months-long crisis soon and within the regional framework, but the citizens now find themselves in an even more perilous situation.
Over the past weeks, the AL observers who began their field work in the last days of 2011, have witnessed a string of terrorist attacks which threatened the lives of all Syrian people.
RISING VIOLENCE
….
On Friday, NATO spokeswoman Carmen Romero rejected Russian allegations that the alliance was planning Libya-style military action in Syria. But rumors from Moscow were circulating that Turkey, a NATO member, may play a key role and it is working with the United States on a no-fly zone to protect the Syrian rebels.
It is widely believed that, having suffered from the 10-month- old crisis, the Syrian people are in dire need of an exit. Besides the Syrian government’s efforts to draw new constitutions and carry out promised reforms, the AL should also play a constructive role and avoid nonfeasance.
But if it turns out that the AL mission is nothing but a dead end, it is inevitable that some Western powers may involve themselves into the unrest, when no one can be sure about whether the future of Syria is decided truly by its own people, analysts said.
January 16th, 2012, 9:51 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
When Bashar dies, those who are his supporters on SC will commit suicide, they are free to do that.no one should stop them,
January 16th, 2012, 9:59 pm
Tara said:
Shortly, your Besho is going to lose the “Kurdish card”.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/dissidents-to-control-kurdish-card-in-syria.aspx?pageID=238&nID=11627&NewsCatID=352
Dissidents to control ‘Kurdish card’ in Syria
Cansu Çamlıbel
ISTANBUL / Hürriyet
The Istanbul-based opposition group Syrian National Coucil (SNC) is trying to secure the rights of Kurds in Syria in order to prevent possible security problems that might emerge in the aftermath of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
Basma Kadmani, SNC spokesperson, told daily Hürriyet the group was in contact with Erbil and Ankara in order to take a possible Kurdish problem under control. “We need to reach agreements and arrangements before the end of the revolution and collapse of the regime. We have to have that card under control,” said Kadmani. “There are of course steps that Turkey can take domestically, but then there is a regional dimension. You need the regional partners, namely Syria and Iraq, to deal with the regional dimension,” said Kadmani, adding that there was a possibility of consulting the Iraqi Kurds, too. The Syrian regime is not an interlocutor anymore, the SNC spokesperson said. “The Kurds of Iraq are very important to the Kurds of Syria. They have strong connections with high influence,” said Kadmani, adding that an SNC delegation recently met with President Masoud Barzani in Erbil to discuss this issue.
A road map on the PKK
The SNC was discussing options on the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) issue with Ankara, said Kadmani, adding that by determining a road map on the issue they could control the Kurdish card. “We need to have bilateral agreements [pacts of stability between Turkey and Iraq] during the time of transition. Definitely explicit written agreements will be necessary.”
Kadmandi said the Kurds in Syria were not a unified block; they were divided into around 17 parties, and the majority supported the revolution. Some of the Syrian Kurds supporting the revolution seek the right to self-determination but the SNC does not accept radical goals, said Kadmani. Kadmani said that they plan to “recognize Kurds as a national group with linguistic and cultural rights. Any discrimination against the different ethnic groups will be punished.” Also, local governments will be strengthened. Praising Turkey’s role in Syria, Kadmani said the new regime in Syria must be secular.
January 16th, 2012, 10:00 pm
ann said:
Respect Syrian sovereignty – Moscow – Jan 17, 2012
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/17/63977701.html
Moscow calls on Washington to respect the sovereignty of Syria and facilitate a peaceful political settlement in that country. This was stated by the Foreign Ministry after a meeting between Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov and U.S. Undersecretary of State William Burns.
Russia’s position remains unchanged, the crisis in Syria should be resolved by the Syrians themselves “with a focus on ways to end the violence, from whatever quarter.”
Moscow believes that the dialogue between authorities and opposition should begin without preconditions, in accordance with the initiative of Arab League.
It is necessary for Damascus to comply with their obligations under the plan of the inter-Arab organization in good faith.
Moscow considers the Syrian government amnesty for participants in large-scale anti-government protests to be an important and positive move.
January 16th, 2012, 10:00 pm
Tara said:
Majed@1003
OMG. You are right. That would be tragic. Mnhebaks: please see your primary care physician as soon as possible. This can be very serious. The last thing I want is to see is you guys being institutionalized for suicidal attempts after the death or capture of your Bushbush. Please do not despair. You can all be started on an SSRI if you are not on it already. It is a class of medicine that fight depression.. If you are on it and you feel it is not working, then… try prayer..
Please hurry. The clock is ticking…
January 16th, 2012, 10:11 pm
ann said:
980. equus said:
“”” I met by pure coincidence today someone from Zabadani, Syria He stated that in the middle of the night there were people who write graffiti on the walls, slogans such as death to the regime or Assad and so forth. However, the indigenous people of the village did not recognize their faces or who they are. On the other hand, he confirmed they were not defectors from the army, they had no weapons and wear long dresses. I asked for a description he said they look more like Afghanis…….I know Syria is far from Afghanistan they couldn’t have trans-passed? Right? “””
They are imported mercenary islamist terrorists transported and paid for by Qatar and Saudi Arabia
January 16th, 2012, 10:12 pm
ann said:
On Syria, UN At Noon Denies Arab League Request, Then Selectively Confirms – 20 minutes ago
http://www.innercitypress.com/syria1unossg011612.html
UNITED NATIONS, January 16 — At the public UN noon briefing on Monday, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon’s Deputy Spokesman Eduardo del Buey was asked, “Has the Arab League made a formal request for help to the UN?”
Del Buey answered, on camera, “I don’t believe they have, no.”
Action returned to the UN Security Council, where a German spokesman complained to the Press that Russia’s re-draft of their resolution on Syria had only just been e-mailed out, and only to the experts. Click here for that Inner City Press story.
Hours later, some in the UN press corps complained that Del Buey’s public answer had been superseded, but only to a few. There was an Agence France Presse story, quoting not Del Buey but a lower ranked UN spokesperson Vannina Maestracci that, “At the request of the League of Arab States, the OHCHR has agreed to train observers and will deploy to Cairo to do this training.”
So what changed, between the public noon briefing, which Inner City Press and other attended, and this quote? To be sure, Inner City Press e-mailed Ms. Maestracci and asked “if you said the below, when, to whom and in response to what?”
She replied, “yes, at the request of the League of Arab States, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has agreed to train observers and will deploy to Cairo to do this training. You can find this information in the transcript of today’s briefing.”
And sure enough, although not e-mailed out to UN correspondents, even those few present at Monday’s UN noon briefing, there was this addendum, inserted in brackets:
[The Deputy Spokesperson later said that, at the request of the League of Arab States, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has agreed to train observers and will deploy to Cairo to do this training.]
What does this mean – that Del Buey read out this answer over the UN’s internal “squawk” loudspeaker, only to those journalists who were sitting waiting in their cubicles?
January 16th, 2012, 10:18 pm
irritated said:
1004 NOS TARA DAMUS
“Please hurry. The clock is ticking…”
“Shortly, your Besho is going to lose the “Kurdish card”
Two predictions and two warnings in a day? You are generous…
January 16th, 2012, 10:19 pm
Equus said:
Tara said:
Enjoy this opinion from a Canadian site.
Dear Tara,
Just for your information Maher Arrar has a personal grudge against the regime. The RCMP in Canada labelled him as a terrorist from some reason and while travailing in the US. The US government sent him to Syria because they wanted to rub it in Syria’s government that it’s true Syria is producing terrorists. He stayed more than a year in Syrian prison and he claimed he was tortured which is the case of prisoners in Guantanamo. His wife camped day and night in Ottawa to put a pressure on the Canadian government to release him. Finally succeeded after two years. When he returned to Canada he sued the Canadian government for a Million dollar. We won and divorced his wife for a girl in her twenties. yehhh!!! so for Human right activist. Last but not least, he hired the biggest JEWISH lawyer to win his case.
January 16th, 2012, 10:28 pm
Jerusalem said:
This is funny to share from Arab times: How well is prepared Qatar to send troops to Syria:
ولقطر جيش عرمرم يتكون من ستة الاف رجل منهم خمسمائة قطري يعملون في الشئون الادارية للجيش وخمسة الاف عسكري جمعهم شيخ قطر ( كوكتيل ) من هنود وافغان وكوريين وعمانيين وكم سوداني على كم ضابط اردني متقاعد وفوقهم كم مستشار عسكري انجليزي ويتراس كل هؤلاء ضابط قطري من العائلة الحاكمة انهى الاعدادية بنجاح
January 16th, 2012, 10:31 pm
jad said:
داوود أوغلو يواصل التحريض على سورية والعلاقات الاقتصادية إلى مزيد من التراجع
استمر تدهور العلاقات السورية التركية الاقتصادية، حيث أعلنت وزارة السياحة أمس فسخ العقدين الموقعين مع شركة ديديمان التركية لإدارة فندقي دمشق وتدمر، وترافق التردي الجديد مع توتر شديد في العلاقات السياسية بين سورية والحكومة التركية بسبب المواقف التحريضية التي اتخذتها الأخيرة. ولم تتوقف الحكومة التركية عن سياسات التحريض على سورية، فسعى وزير الخارجية التركي أحمد داوود أوغلو في آخر هذه الحلقات أمس في حديث لصحيفة «الأخبار» اللبنانية، إلى ارتكاب مغالطات تاريخية مستخدما ما يحدث في سورية رغم أن العديد من مرتكبي المجازر بحق الشعب السوري مؤخراً قد تم تدريبهم وتمويلهم بإشراف مسؤولين أمنيين في الحكومة التركية.
وفي حين شدد داوود أوغلو على أن أنقرة ترفض إقامة منطقة عازلة داخل الأراضي السورية، مرر في الوقت ذاته عبارة تحمل مغالطات تاريخية حيث قال «في حال حصول حدث كبير أو تدفق هائل للاجئين إثر مجزرة شبيهة بما حصل في «حلبجة» العراقية مثلاً، فحينها نكون مضطرين إلى اتخاذ إجراءات أحادية الجانب»، رغم أن العديد من التقارير التوثيقية تؤكد أن مجزرة حلبجة ليست سوى نسخة عن مجازر أجداد داوود أوغلو العثمانيين ضد الأرمن والكلدان والآشوريين.
وأوضحت مصادر في الوزارة أن فسخ العقدين يعود للنتائج التي توصلت إليها لجنة المراقبة والتقييم لعمل الفنادق، إذ تبين ارتكاب مخالفات قانونية ومالية وفنية وإدارية تمس جوهر العملية التشغيلية لهذه الفنادق أدت إلى خسائر تكبدتها الوزارة من دون وجه حق.
وكشفت لجنة الرقابة في تقريرها انعدام الأسس الإدارية التي يبنى عليها اتخاذ القرارات الإدارية في هذه الفنادق ما أسهم في إرباك العمل وخلق جو من التوتر وعدم الارتياح بين العاملين في الفندقين المذكورين، بحسب وكالة الأنباء السورية «سانا».
وكانت وزارة السياحة فسخت عقد فندق ديديمان حلب منذ أسبوعين بسبب إخلاله بالشروط العقدية المتعلقة بالإيرادات المالية وسوء الإدارة وغيرها من الأمور.
http://alwatan.sy/dindex.php?idn=115813
January 16th, 2012, 10:48 pm
syria no kandahar said:
TARA ALTHARTHARA @ MAJEED SARSOUR.MB
you guys are really typical wahabis.you think any one who is not pro terrorists and loves his motherland is just menhebak.your analysis if any is at your Islamic stuped leaders analysis level.
Even when you try to be funny you try to use words like suicide,no wonder you are importing suicide bombers to Syria.Do you have a brain?dont you see wher Syria is going?what singl good thing have your destruction movement achieved on the streets?are Syrians happier?are they safer?richer?smarter?.Do you forsee any good futur coming from people who are just driven by hate ,revenge,anger,religion,and forign interests?
i dont care who you are but i feel that all of you who claim to be revolutionists have not even one gram of Syrianity in you:you and Revlon likes are just sick minded,twisted soles,empty consciousness,national gabmblers bunch of traitors,most likely traumatized by stupit experiences by the stupit security services,which made your soul and love for syria drop from your heart to the sole of your foot.
January 16th, 2012, 10:49 pm
jad said:
EQUUS
After all the she did to him!!! I remember how much effort and work she did for him in the media, she also contacted every politician in Canada to help, so after getting the money he divorced her that is super low.
January 16th, 2012, 10:51 pm
ghufran said:
Anybody who is making excuses for the assassination of scientists and academic figures must remember this:
فيما يتعلق بالفائدة نقول ان البرنامج الذري الايراني الذي مركزه نتناز هو اليوم مشروع ضخم يعمل فيه مئات العلماء وآلاف التقنيين. ويصعب ان يخطر بالبال ان اغتيال عالم واحد مهما تكن قدراته ورتبته سيكون ضربة حقيقية للمشروع كله تسبب له تأخيرا كبيرا. ان المشروع الذري الايراني قد اجتاز منذ زمن المرحلة التي يستطيع فيها مصير شخص ما ان يؤثر في مصير المشروع كله.
هذا الى انه لا ينبغي فقط ان نأمل ان تؤخر اغتيالات أفراد المشروع كثيرا أو تفضي بقادة المشروع الى تعديل أغراضه السياسية الاستراتيجية بل العكس. فمن شبه المحقق ان الاغتيالات ستفضي الى نتيجة عكسية فهي ستعزز فقط التصميم الايراني على الاستمرار بلا احجام.
ولمنع هبوط الروح المعنوية بين العلماء، سيصنع الايرانيون كل شيء ليكسبوا الثقة بوعدهم بأن يأتي الانتقام حتما.
اذا كانت اغتيالات في جانب فيجب ان نفترض ان توجد محاولات اغتيال في الجانب الآخر ايضا، واذا لم توجد حصانة للعلماء الايرانيين فلن تكون حصانة ايضا لعلماء من دول يُشك في أنها تنفذ الاغتيالات. وفي حين امتنع الايرانيون في الماضي على نحو ظاهر بالقاء التبعة على دولة ما فان الادارة والاعلام هذه المرة أشارا خلال ساعات الى اسرائيل والولايات المتحدة على أنهما المسؤولتان عن الاغتيال ووعدا بالانتقام.
ابتهجت اسرائيل في الحقيقة لسماعها بالاغتيال، لكن من المثير ان نعلم ماذا كان رأي كبار الجماعة العلمية في البلاد ولا سيما علماء الذرة، في اغتيال علماء يتولون مناصب في مؤسسات اكاديمية معروفة (فلأكثر العلماء الكبار في البرنامج الذري الايراني وظائف في الجامعات ايضا). لا شك في انه كانت عندهم تحفظات على الحكمة في توسيع حرب الظلال الى نطاق العلماء.
ان من يجعل اغتيال العلماء في طهران مشروعا يُعرض للخطر الأمن الشخصي لعلماء من الجانب الآخر. وقد تفضي المرحلة القادمة من حرب الاغتيالات الى ان تصبح مؤتمرات علمية دولية ساحات اغتيال.
من الممكن جدا ان تكون أضرار الاغتيال أكبر من فائدتها بكثير.
‘ استاذ كرسي في مركز ابحاث منع نشر السلاح الذري في معهد الدراسات الدولية في مونترييه، كاليفورنيا، ومؤلف كتاب ‘اسرائيل والقنبلة’
هآرتس 16/1/2012
January 16th, 2012, 11:01 pm
irritated said:
#1103 Majedalkhaldoon
“When Bashar dies, his supporters on SC will commit suicide”
They won’t need to, they’ll be already dead of old age.
January 16th, 2012, 11:12 pm
ann said:
*** Observations of a Libyan mercenary terrorist from inside Syria ***
No shelter for Free Syrian Army rebels on Turkish border – January 17, 2012
“I had a Libyan rebel come and visit me here two months ago,” Yassin said as the hard rain poured down and gunfire echoed across al-Baida.
“He thought he wanted to join us but left after half a day and one night. He told me it would take another five years before our revolution could look like Libya’s.”
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/syrian-rebels/story-e6frg6so-1226246329271
January 16th, 2012, 11:16 pm
jad said:
On top of blowing up gas trucks, fuel pipelines, trains and cars with handicapped men they kidnap people and force them to say anything before they kill and cut them in pieces:
بالصوت والصورة : هذا ما يقوم به مجرمو ” كتيبة الفاروق” في حمص ..قتل وتعذيب وانتزاع اعترافات كاذبة بالقوة
دمشق / حمص ـ الحقيقة ( خاص): منذ أشهر ونحن ننشر هنا المزيد من التفاصيل حول ما يقوم به مجرمو “كتيبة الفاروق” في مدينة حمص وماحولها من قتل وتعذيب وتخريب للمتلكات العامة ، كتفجير أنابيب النفط والغاز. وستقوم قريبا بنشر تحقيق حول هذه الكتيبة الإجرامية التابعة لما يسمى “الجيش السوري الحر” الذي يقوده العميل رياض الأسعد ، وعلاقاتها بتنظيم “القاعدة” في العراق ، وكيف أن بعض رموز هذه الكتيبة كانوا سابقا من أبرز من عناصر “أبو مصعب الزرقاوي” في الفلوجة والأنبار.
هذه المجموعة الإجرامية ، التي اختطفت وقتلت ومثلت بالجثث ، وصل بها الأمر إلى حد اختطاف أبرياء أو عسكريين وتعريضهم لتعذيب وحشي لانتزاع اعترافات كاذبة منهم . وبعد أن تشاهدوا هذا الشريط ، وتروا ما الذي حل برهينتهم ، بإمكانكم أن تقدروا ما إذا كان الشخص الذي تعرض لهذا الإجرام سيعترف أو لا يعترف بأن العنزة تطير ، وبأن الأرنب يعوي ، والحمار يمكن أن يزقزق! إنهم الوجه الآخر للسطة . بل إنهم أسوأ منها في الكثير مما يمارسونه ويقومون به من جرائم .
وقاحة مجرمي هذه الكتيبة وصلت حد أنهم باتوا يصورون جرائمهم ويتشرونها والتباهي بها! وعلى الشعب السوري أن يتعظ ويأخذ العبرة ، فهذا ما سيحل بهم لو وصل هؤلاء المجرمون ومن يرعاهم ، لاسيما “المجلس الوطني السوري” ، إلى السلطة . فعندها سنرى الناس معلقة في الشوارع على أعمدة الكهرباء كما الشياه المسلوخة …بتهمة أنهم كانوا من ” شبيحة الأسد” ، كما كان يفعل الزرقاوي بضحاياه في الفلوجة والأنبار.
هذه هي “أخلاق الثورة ” التي بشر بها “منظروها”!
هذا ما يقوم به مجرمو”كتيبة الفاروق” من تعذيب لرهائنهم
http://youtu.be/2x6VlVKCN8M
January 16th, 2012, 11:19 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Syrian Nationalist Party
Metaz K M Aldendeshe
Chief Strategist
“……..But rumors from Moscow were circulating that Turkey, a NATO member, may play a key role and it is working with the United States on a no-fly zone to protect the Syrian rebels…..”
This strategy will not work in Syria. It is WWI style of conflict. Baathist Mafia has all it needs to decimate them by mortars, missiles, tank fire, even cannons, you name it they have plenty of it, and are one of the best army in the world trained for this kind of land conflict. It will be daily massacres of insurgents. Unless of course No fly Zone means NATO or Arab/Turkish fighters jet will control the sky and deal with the air defenses as well as those land force shouting stuff parabolically at the zone. Then it will work. Given time the zone can be advances south and east from the appropriately named Jabal Alzawiye (the Corner), so fan out south and east from that corner, as more defector joins in, until they are within sight of Damascus. You can add a southern front from either the south eastern corner moving west, or from the southwest corner moving north. It is all the old fashion hard, hard, hard way and the genocidal Baathist Shia mafia regime foot soldier are well trained for it. A lot of casualty and expect high depletion rates of liberating forces, but remember no zone is worthy of a S***t unless there are appropriate air offense to take care of what is coming unto the zone .
Otherwise, take the easy, easy, easy way and come to review what SNP can offer. OK will meet with Hijabed Moslems and ragheads; I may consider them buddies again if they stay away from anyone with names like Khaddam, Atassi or Baathist period. I will even stop calling them all the adjectives names if they will help Syrians to be proud nation again. Especially if the old man ABDUL will pour some cash to get a face lift for that country the Baathist turned into a “Model Somalia”. Bastards Baathists, their day is coming.
And if you don’t show up, no biggy, I will be soliciting Israeli Venture capital in Tel Aviv to discus a partnership and turn over SNP technologies portfolio to jointly develop what we need in hardware’s. And they (Israeli) get to make Billions selling it to guess who, LOL Turkey, India, Brazil, Russia and China LOL and LOL and ROFLOL.
So get busy taking account for stolen cash from the Syrian Nation and start making the Judicial lists of genocidal and corrupt criminals to bring justice in the end to those Syrians, but do go back to March 8, 1963 to be fair please. Those awful videos the revolutionaries put up finally gained our outrage and sympathy.
January 16th, 2012, 11:22 pm
jad said:
Dear SNK
what do you expect from people supporting terrorists not principles?
مسلحون يقتلون شقيقين و يخطفون اثنين من عائلة واحدة
http://youtu.be/q7aOqj8zlWU
January 16th, 2012, 11:25 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Kandahar no syrian
Your name Kandahar actually rhym with Tharthar,so Tharthar is your desciption, as you are tharthar, you can do har,,,m
Irritated
you are right you will age very very quickly
January 16th, 2012, 11:32 pm
Son of Damascus said:
Equus,
Maher Arar was arrested by the US Government (INS) from a tip by the RCMP, he was deported to Syria (not to Canada) to be tortured by yours truly the Moukhabarat.
A commission by the government of Canada absolved him of any connections with terrorism, and he received a formal apology from the Canadian Prime Minister Stephan Harper. The Gov’t of Canada settled out of court to the tune of $10.5 Million (which in my opinion is way too little, the Charter of Rights should not have been infringed upon).
Whether his lawyer was Jewish or not is in all regards irrelevant to his story, what is relevant is that not only did the Canadian government recognize the role it played in his torture (rather than blame it on a foreign conspiracy), but actually apologized publicly for its role (As did the RCMP).
Now imagine if your idol besho did the same back in March, he would be sitting comfortably upon his throne. Sadly for him he chose not to do that, and happily for Syria the hangman’s noose will keep tightening around his neck.
January 16th, 2012, 11:51 pm
irritated said:
1017. ann
These poor souls who made the choice they thought was the right one and who can’t go back anymore. It is depressing.
January 16th, 2012, 11:57 pm
irritated said:
1022. Son of Damascu
I wonder if Maher Arar is actively helping the revolution and these desperate defectors in Hatay ( see Ann’s post).
But from what I saw of the guy, I think he is probably enjoying his millions in Florida, after having quickly recovered from the trauma and dumped his wife.
January 17th, 2012, 12:05 am
Son of Damascus said:
A menhabak writing about principles.
Lets examine those principles shall we:
– It is O.K. to kill Syrians, but not the Syrian moukhabarat.
– The Foreign media has an agenda against Syria for its role in the resistance, except when they write something they like then they are honest, and unbiased.
– If you ask for humility, you deserve humiliation. If you ask for freedom you deserve death.
– Anybody and everybody that is protesting are: A) High on drugs B) Paid to demonstrate C) are infiltrators D) Salafi/MB/KSA/CIA/MOSSAD/TURK/… sympathizers.
– Using sources such as (Communist, obscure blogs, Sana, Dunnya, …) is totally acceptable as long as it follows the narrative they are looking for.
January 17th, 2012, 12:10 am
Syria no kandahar said:
Jad
That is so sad
Majed Alarbeed swims in infidel Colorado Hotels
While his terrorists friends kill based on sectarian .what an MB pig.
January 17th, 2012, 12:17 am
jad said:
Irritated
“dumped his wife” I’m having hard time believing that he divorced his wife Monia after all what she did for him.
SOD,
I left all principles for a rich well connected kid like you to support every act of violence done by the criminals in your name against your fellow Syrians, but I guess your principle is that it’s OK for terrorist to kill but we have no right to criticize them otherwise we will be kidnapped and tortured for daring to say no to your new opposition criminal gods….Vive la revolution!
January 17th, 2012, 12:19 am
Son of Damascus said:
irritated,
Since he is writing for the OTTAWA CITIZEN one could safely assume he still lives there, and not in Florida as you claim. As for his marital status I don’t really give a shit if he divorced his wife or not, nor do I want to speculate on the reasons of his marriages demise (I am sure being tortured for over a year had affected him in many ways).
As for your comment about him getting “over” his wounds, I hope you never experience that in your life, because if you do you would know that money won’t heal those wounds.
January 17th, 2012, 12:21 am
irritated said:
Majed al Cocoon
It suits you. Stay in it.
January 17th, 2012, 12:21 am
Mick said:
I see the brave Salafist Army, that has Allah on its side, is now begging the West to save its butt.
http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/B13DE37A-002E-43DD-BEE1-8A21492EF776.htm?GoogleStatID=9
Maybe they should have used a confederate flag. At least the Republican Party loves to pretend that a group of people fighting historic battles still makes since.
January 17th, 2012, 12:22 am
irritated said:
1028 Son Of damscus
Sorry, he can’t be in Florida because he is still in the USA No-fly list.
I agree, it is a terrible experience. I have no right to judge or talk about it lightly.
I apologize.
January 17th, 2012, 12:32 am
Syria no kandahar said:
Son of B..ch/Damascus
You and your animal terrorists friends are as bad as mukabarat.watch the clip Jad linked about كتيبة الفاروق and find out why you are not son of Damascus but son of B..h for supporting such animals.listen to your fu..king Islamic terrorist pig saying:
شو بدك قبل ما تموت ولاك
Is this the freedom Syria is getting SOB?
In a lay Syrian you deserve :
كول خر..
اخو الشر..
January 17th, 2012, 12:33 am
ann said:
1023. irritated said:
1017. ann
“”” These poor souls who made the choice they thought was the right one and who can’t go back anymore. It is depressing. “””
There’s nothing depressing about men financed by foreign countries, who took up arms with foreign mercenary terrorists. Kidnapping, terrorizing, killing their own people and destroying their homeland.
These men are traitors. They committed high treason against their own homeland. They deserve no mercy.
They’ve made their bed, now they have to lie in it.
January 17th, 2012, 12:35 am
jad said:
About Monia Mazigh:
“Mazigh first entered the public spotlight when her husband was deported to Syria in 2002 by the US government, on suspicion of terrorist links. He was tortured and held without charge for over a year before being returned to Canada. Mazigh joined with a number of human rights groups to press the government for his release. She appeared frequently in the media and was widely respected for her tireless efforts. Of her willingness to speak out, she has said that she was never afraid: “I had lost my life. I didn’t have more to lose.”
January 17th, 2012, 12:38 am
jad said:
الإخوان المسلمون» والجمهوريّون والديموقراطيّون يتنافسون على الرئاسة الأميركية والاستطلاعات ترشح «الأخوان»
شهران حاسمان في تاريخ الشرق الأوسط «صفقة شاملة أو حرب شاملة»
رئيس مخابرات دولة عربية كبرى زار دمشق بعد انفجار الميدان
رضوان الذيب
نقل زوار دمشق الى مسؤولين لبنانيين معلومات عن زيارة قام بها رئيس مخابرات دولة عربية كبرى الى دمشق منذ اسبوع والتقى خلالها المسؤولين السوريين وتحديدا بعد انفجار السيارة المفخخة في حي الميدان، وانه جرى عرض لمختلف التطورات دون ان ينقل الزوار اي معلومات مما جرى في اللقاء.
وينقل الزوار «ان رئيس مخابرات الدولة العربية بحث مع المسؤولين بمختلف التطورات وجرى تبادل للمعلومات حول كيفية تفجير السيارة المفخخة في دمشق وتورط عناصر من القاعدة في هذا التفجير خصوصا ان التفجيرين الاخيرين تركا قلقا دوليا وتعاونا حول هذا الملف»، ويقول الزوار «ان العديد من مسؤولين امنيين عرب واجانب ابدوا اهتمامهم بالتفجير الانتحاري في دمشق وتورط القاعدة، وانهم طلبوا معلومات عن التفجير والطريقة المستخدمة ولكن ذلك لا يعني ان الخلافات السياسية انتهت وان مرحلة جديدة فتحت بين هذه الدول ودمشق لان التعاون الامني لا ينقطع بين الاجهزة الامنية وفي عز الازمات».
وتقول المعلومات : ان الازمة السورية مفتوحة حاليا على كل الاحتمالات، والمنطقة امام شهرين حاسمين، اما التسوية الشاملة او الحرب الشاملة، وحال المراوحة بين الحسم واللاحسم لا يحتملها لا النظام السوري ولا القوى الخارجية الضاغطة على سوريا، لكن معلومات تؤكد بان التصعيد الاعلامي ربما كان مقدمة لصفقة شاملة كبرى تشمل المنطقة برمتها من فلسطين الى سوريا والعراق وغيرها، فيما تشير معلومات اخرى الى ان المشروع الاميركي القائم على دعم الاخوان المسلمين للوصول الى الحكم في الدول العربية يفترض تقسيم سوريا وحصار ايران وروسيا. وهذا ما يفرض حربا اقليمية شاملة وكبيرة. لكن حال اللاحرب واللاسلم لا يحتمل اكثر من شهرين.
وتضيف المعلومات، ان القرار الاميركي واضح بدعم الاخوان المسلمين في الدول العربية وباكستان وبالتالي فان الاخوان المسلمين هم الورقة الاساسية لدى الحزبين الجمهوري والديموقراطي وحتى ان الاخوان المسلمين يزاحمون الحزبين الجمهوري والديموقراطي على الرئاسة الاميركية، وان الاستطلاعات تعطيهم التقدم لصالح وصول رئيس اميركي للسلطة ذي «ميول اخوانية».
في حين تقول معلومات اخرى، ان باب التسويات مفتوح، وانه في موازاة التصعيد فان خطوط الاتصالات السرية لم تنقطع بين الدول المختلفة نظرا لتهيب الجميع للموقف ولخطر اندلاع مواجهة كبرى ستطيح بالجميع، وهذا القلق نقله سعود الفيصل الى الاميركيين واهمية سوريا وايران لاستقرار المنطقة.
وتحاول المراجع المتابعة الايحاء بوجود مثل هذه الاتصالات وتعطي مثلا على ذلك انضمام القائد الافغاني «حكمتيار» المقرب من ايران الى المفاوضات بين واشنطن وطالبان مقابل تجميد اجراءات عدم استيراد النفط الايراني لمدة ستة اشهر من اوروبا.
وتقول المعلومات : ان العرب اقتنعوا بان معالجة الوضع في سوريا لا يمكن عبر «انصاف الحلول» او «نصف حرب» او «نصف حل»، واي اهتزاز في سوريا سيؤدي الى حرب كبيرة نتيجة موقع سوريا الاستراتيجي وارتباط مصالح روسيا بهذا الموقع وبالتالي فان المحاولات القطرية لجعل تركيا قاعدة لاستيراد الغاز القطري واستغناء اوروبا عن الغاز الروسي عبر مد انابيب من دول الخليج باتجاه تركيا، هذا الامر وحده يفتح حرباً عالمية، وبالتالي فان الاجراء القطري هو محاولة لمقاضاة روسيا على موقفها من سوريا، لكنه سها عن بال القطريين ان المدخل لحماية المصالح الروسية حماية سوريا التي تمنع تحول تركيا الى دولة اقليمية عظمى على حدود روسيا حتى ان تركيا ظهرت «نمر من ورق» في مواجهة الازمة مع سوريا وهذا يريح موسكو المتخوفة من تركيا الاسلامية وامتدادات ذلك الى الداخل الروسي ومسلمي الشيشان الاشداء الذين اضطر ستالين وعظمته الى مسايرتهم في عز قوة الاتحاد السوفياتي. وهناك من يقول بأن عدم انضمام تركيا الى الاتحاد الاوروبي وراءه روسيا ولذلك يصبح الحفاظ على سوريا و«سيبتها» للمنطقة قراراً روسيا استراتيجياً وليس «تكتيكا» وهذا ما ابلغه المسؤولون الفرنسيون الى امير قطر ومسؤولين عرب بأن روسيا مستعدة للدخول بالمواجهة بشكل مباشر اذا تعرضت سوريا لخطر جوي، وسترد روسيا عبر ايران وسوريا بفرض حظر جوي على المنطقة باكملها. وهذا ما ابلغه الروس الى كل العالم عبر القنوات الديبلوماسية.
ومن هنا تقول المعلومات : ان رئيس وزراء قطر سمع كلاماً اميركياً من كلينتون بضرورة ابقاء الملف حالياً في الجامعة العربية وزيادة الضغط على دمشق عبر تعديل عمل المراقبين وزيادة اعدادهم مع الحرب الاعلامية، والمطالبة لاحقا بدخول قوات عربية. لكن المشكلة التي واجهت قطر وتركيا، بأن بعض الدول العربية وخصوصاً «المعرضة» لخطر الاحداث الداخلية وتنامي الاسلاميين، التقطت الرسائل الاميركية المترددة واظهرت معارضة للتوجهات القطرية داخل الجامعة العربية وتحديداً العراق والجزائر والسودان واليمن وصولا الى الاردن وغيرها، وكذلك المسؤولين المصريين المتخوفين من تنامي الاصوليين، لأن سقوط سوريا يعني سقوط هذه الدول حكماً بيد الاسلاميين، وبالتالي اصبح الوقوف مع سوريا وقوفاً مع مصالحهم، ولذلك جاءت حملات قطر على بعض المراقبين العرب وادوارهم.
في حين تقول معلومات أخرى أن التريث الاميركي والاوروبي حاليا يعود الى قناعة هذه الدول بضعف المعارضة السورية وهذه هي المشكلة الكبرى. وأن برهان غليون ليس مؤهلا لقيادة المعارضة وما تمثله سورية وموقعها من «سيبة» للمنطقة كلها، ومن هنا لم يتم الاعتراف الرسمي الغربي والاميركي بالمجلس الوطني حتى الآن، وان الرهان يبقى على الاضطرابات لدفع الرئيس الاسد الى التنازل، أما الرهان الغربي الثاني فيتركز على انشقاق الجيش السوري، وهذا هو الرهان الاميركي اولا وثانيا وثالثاً. اما المعارضة السورية فلا احد يراهن عليها، واذا حصلت التسوية الكبرى فان مصير المسلحين السوريين سيكون مشابها لمصير عناصر جيش لبنان الجنوبي الذين فروا الى اسرائيل فيما المسيحيون السوريون لن يجدوا دولة تستقبلهم وحتى تركيا ربما والايام القادمة مليئة بالمفاجآت والتطورات، لكن الامور دخلت ما قبل مرحلة الحسم بشهرين فقط، والمنطقة على ابواب «ربيع الفوضى» وليس «الربيع العربي».
http://diyar.charlesayoub.com/index.php/aldiyar-topic-article/16/11913
January 17th, 2012, 12:52 am
Son of Damascus said:
SNK,
You are a vile human being, the scum of the earth. You claim to be a patriot when you are nothing but a germ infecting Syria, how fucking dare you call my mother a bitch!!!!
You are nothing but a piece of crap that I would like to do nothing but flush down the toilette, you belong with the shit you idolize hiding in the sewer.
WHO ARE YOU, was I ever speaking to you you nasty excuse for a human, I don’t care for you or your ignorant rants that make no sense but to a buffoon.
I hope you continue for the rest of your life in this ignorant and bigoted approach to others, for it will be very short.
Keep spewing hatred you ignoramus ass …
Sincerely
Son of Damascus
January 17th, 2012, 1:05 am
Son of Damascus said:
Jad,
I might be a rich boy that is well connected, but at least I am aware of reality. I don’t live in a make belief world were I lay the blame on the opposition while the Syrian regime continues to murder and detain innocent Syrians that asked for dignity.
I am sorry that I don’t subscribe to your idolatry towards Bashar, or your hypocrite ideals towards Syria.
January 17th, 2012, 1:20 am
ann said:
Is The Fall of Bashar Inevitable? – January 12, 2012
Nicholas Noe on “the dangerous myth of the inevitable collapse” of the Syrian regime:
Washington and others will start to have to come to term with the poverty of the discourse which they almost immediately launched – that this regime will inevitablly (and some suggested effortlessly and/or with a manageable level of bloodshed) collapse.
http://beirutspring.com/blog/2012/01/12/is-the-fall-of-bashar-inevitable/
I don’t usually see eye-to-eye with Noe, but he’s making a point here that we all should think about. The common wisdom and the undertone of most coverage of the events in Syria is that the regime is going to collapse sooner than later. How true is that?
There are many reasons why a sense of inevitability has spread:
* Crippling Economic and political sanctions on Syria that hit vital sectors of the economy. The argument is that the Syrian bourgeois will eventually abandon the regime because they start to feel the pinch.
* Constant media coverage of an unrest that seems to be growing by the day and an army that keeps shedding defectors.
* Social proof: Many world leaders are saying that the regime will fall, including some Lebanese leaders who seemed to have staked their entire political careers on it
But if we look closer, there are reasons why the believers in inevitability should pause and take stock:
* It might take years before the economic sanctions really start to bite
* The opposition in Syria is finding it difficult to convince key power brokers that they are united and are a viable alternative to the regime.
* Some previously combative regional leaders (Qatar and Turkey) have noticeably toned down their criticism of the regime
* The Arab league abandoned its brief stint as fire-breathing monster and returned to its cozy paper tiger roots
* Fatigue with media coverage of events in Syria: If the news is the same every day, people start losing interest
January 17th, 2012, 1:25 am
Juergen said:
I watsched the video of Zabadani alot yesterday, and i am a bit surprised as i was in the beginning that things started in Deraa. I know Zabadani mostly from the summer as a retreat from the heat. Strange that no one of the mnhbaks would argue that this town is fully in the hands of the gulf arabs who would always flock to this town in the summer. If the rest of Syria is looking like this small town, its basically the end of the regime. When you see the behaviour of the army its pretty obvious that their nerves are gone. Seeing the madmax testosteron steeled rambos in the leaked video shows it all. The regime produced their golem, the question is is it still controlling it?
January 17th, 2012, 1:36 am
jad said:
SOD
I’m not sure what’s your deal today?
You suddenly start the attack even when nobody said or wrote anything to you.
If you were looking to talk, it would’ve been very easy to direct your comment to the person you wanted to talk to without the need to attack out of the blue, then after you opened with an attack and I replied in the same manner you did, you get defensive and you attack even more.
It shouldn’t be this way, I do respect your calm and kind tone when you write, I’m just surprised of your sudden attitude, besides, I have no clue why you feel guilty of being rich and connected, you shouldn’t, we are who we are, you can be rich or poor and have any political view you want, that shouldn’t take anything from your stand. (just saying)
Keep in mind that we all are unhappy and sad and depressed about what’s happening in Syria, not only you.
January 17th, 2012, 1:40 am
ann said:
Officer, Five Army members martyred by Rocket missiles in Sahnaya, Damascus Countryside – Jan 17, 2012
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2012/01/17/394558.htm
GOVERNORATES, (SANA)-An officer, five soldiers were martyred by rocket missiles fired by an armed terrorist group on a checkpoint near Sahnaya in Damascus countryside.
SANA reporter on Monday learned that seven other army members were wounded as a result of the terrorist attack.
Armed terrorist group assassinates Brigadier General Mohammed Abdul-Hamid al-Awwad
An armed terrorist group on Monday assassinated Brigadier General Mohammed Abdul-Hamid al-Awwad by shooting him in Ghotta area while he was heading for work.
A source told SANA’s correspondent that a terrorist group opened fire on the car of Brigadier General al-Awwad while he was heading for his work at one of the military units in the Eastern Ghotta which led to his immediate death, while his driver was injured.
The assassinated brigadier general’s driver told the Syrian TV “As we were heading to the Brigadier General’s military unit, we saw a taxi on the right of the road…it overtook us and then blocked our way. Four gunmen started shooting at us. Brigadier al-Awwad was shot in the head and I was also injured.”
The martyr’s brother said that those who claim to be promoting freedom for Syria are behind the martyrdom of his brother, adding that they are not Muslims, but rather terrorists.
Railway Engineer Assassinated in Homs
In Homs city, an armed terrorist group assassinated railway engineer Haidar Abbas Ismail in front of his home in al-Shammas neighborhood.
SANA’s correspondent was informed that the body of Ismail, who worked for the Railways General Establishment, was transported to Homs National Hospital.
Arms-Loaded Car Seized in Deir Ezzor
The competent authorities in Deir Ezzor seized a Toyota Pickup car loaded with weapons after chasing it on al-Shoula road.
SANA correspondent reported that PKC gun, 33 automatic rifles, ammunition, fake passports and 335 drugs were seized inside the car, which carried a fake plate.
Armed Terrorist Groups Attack Paint Factory and a Municipality in Hama Countryside
Armed terrorist groups on Monday opened fire on a Paint Factory, attacked the Municipality of al-Naeimiyeh village in Hama Countryside and stole a car belonging to Health Directorate in the governorate.
An official source at the governorate told SANA correspondent that 10 terrorists in two cars opened fire on the Municipality of al-Naeimiyeh village in al-Salamiyeh area and no injuries were reported.
The source added that another armed terrorist group fired on Dhimesh Paint Factory on Hama a al-Salamiyeh highway, near the crossroads to al-Moubarakat village and also no injuries were reported.
The source said that an armed terrorist group stole a white double cabin pickup Toyota car which belongs to the Health Directorate in the governorate from in front of a Vaccination Center in al-Ba’ath neighborhood in Hama City.
Armed group abducts citizen in Hama
An armed terrorist group today abducted citizen Ahid Khalil, 44, while going to his work in Hama Tires’ Factory.
An official source in Hama told SANA reporter the armed men intercepted Mr. Khlil near his village Kfar al-Ton while going to his work. The terrorists took him to unknown place and stole his Sham-car.
The source added that the competent authorities in Homs found a body for an unknown citizen, killed by a bullet and beside him the citizen Maher Abdul-Ghani Othman, unconscious with bruises on his body.
Law-Enforcement Member martyred in Homs
A member of the Law-enforcement personnel was martyred today after an armed terrorist group shot fires at him near a checkpoint for the security forces at Dir Balaba neighborhood in Homs.
SANA reporter in Homs learned from an official source in the city that the terrorist group shot fires on the law-enforcement members in Dir Balba, leading to the martyrdom of Saad Younes Afifi.
Citizen Murad Salim, who was abducted by a terrorist group yesterday was martyred today of his wounds at the Labor Hospital in Homs.
January 17th, 2012, 1:57 am
jad said:
Egyptian diplomats are against the suggestion of sending Arabic troupes to Syria:
دبلوماسيون مصريون: اقتراح أمير قطر بإرسال قوات عربيه لسوريا مرفوض
اكد المدير التنفيذي للمجلس المصري للشؤون الخارجية السفير شلبي ان “اقتراح امير القطر الشيخ حمد بن خليفة آل ثاني بإرسال قوات عربية الى سوريا تقف امامه اخطار وعراقيل كبيرة للغاية ومن الصعب تحقيقه”، منوها الى “موافقة دول الجامعة العربية علي ارسال بعثة مراقبين عرب لسوريا ولكن لا يمكن مقارنة ذلك بإرسال قوات عسكرية حيث لن يتم التوافق على ذلك”.
واضاف شلبي في تصريح لـ”الجمهورية” المصرية انه “بدون موافقة النظام السوري علي ارسال قوات عربية واعتراض النظام السوري عليه فسيؤدي ذلك الى الدخول في حرب عربية عربية وهو امر لا يتصوره احد وغير واقعي”. واشار الى انه “في حرب الكويت رفضت مصر دخول اي جندي لها الى العراق واعتبرت ان هذا تدخلا في اراضيها ورفضت ان يقتل عربي اخيه العربي”، مؤكدا ان “اقتراح الامير القطري بإرسال قوات عربية لسوريا غير ناضج”.
من جانبه اوضح سفير مصر الاسبق لدى لبنان السفير أبو زيد ان “اقتراح امير قطر لإرسال قوات عربية الى سوريا يأتي بعد الصعوبات التي وجدتها بعثة المراقبين العرب لسوريا نتيجة الانتقادات التي تواجه الجامعة العربية بعد استمرار حدوث عمليات قتل واصابات في التظاهرات التي جرت في سوريا بعد ارسال بعثة المراقبين العرب”.
اضاف ابو زيد في تصريحات خاصة لـ”الجمهورية” المصرية ان “اقتراح امير قطر يجب ان يعرض على مجلس جامعة الدول العربية على مستوى وزراء الخارجية حيث ان رئيس اللجنة المعنية بالأمر هو رئيس الوزراء القطري وبالتالي فان كل الامور المتعلقة بسوريا يجب عرضها على المجلس الوزاري لدراسته وتفاعل الوضع بسوريا والحراك السياسي الذي يحدث وموقف النظام السوري منها ومدى صحة حدوث اصابات نتيجة هذا الحراك وطبيعة التعامل مع بعثة المراقبين العرب لكي يتخذ مجلس الجامعة العربية قراره في ضوء معطيات تفصيلية وواضحة لاتخاذ القرار السليم بها”، مشيرا الى ان “قرار ارسال قوات يعتبر خطوة او درجة من التصعيد للموقف من الملف السوري قد يقود لإرسال قوات دولية”.
January 17th, 2012, 2:09 am
ann said:
*** BRAVE YOUNG MAN ***
US responsibilities at home, not overseas – January 17, 2012
http://cw.ua.edu/2012/01/17/us-responsibilities-at-home-not-overseas/
Like many of you, I read Mr. Gaddis’ column “America has a responsibility to all,” and maybe unlike many of you, I am worried about what his article was advocating. His article is nothing but a half-masked call to invade Syria in order to put an end to human rights abuses.
Mr. Gaddis, how many American lives are you willing to trade for Syrian lives? America has tried your idea in the past and, believe it or not, it hasn’t always worked out for us. Vietnam, Granada, Somalia, Haiti, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Iraq are all places where we traded American lives overseas to help another country’s population, with no advantage to us.
Instead of worrying about a foreign country halfway around the world, why don’t you take a minute and look around at things that you could advocate for right here in our own country. What about the current attempt at Internet censorship through SOPA/PIPA? What about the police abuses against the Occupy Wall Street groups? What about the NDAA, which allows the administration to hold American citizens indefinitely without trial?
Now I understand none of these pull at the heartstrings of the reader quite as well as the murder of Syrians (although the story of Iraq vet Scott Olson being shot in the head with a 40mm tear gas grenade at Occupy Oakland does have a similar ring to it), but they all have a direct impact here at home that don’t involve sending other people overseas to get shot at.
Mr. Gaddis, if you really do believe that “the U.S. facilitates the important role of policing the world” as much as your article says, there is something that you can do to participate in that role. I know of a couple of recruiters right off of campus that would be more than willing to put you in a position to help these people firsthand.
January 17th, 2012, 2:15 am
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
Geeees ANN, It does not look that Bashar has this problem under control as he bragged for 2 hours long speech past week. He said he won, it is coming to end. That does not sound like it from what you reporting, whose lying, whose fabricating, whose delusional and who is just plain wishful thinker here?
January 17th, 2012, 2:21 am
Son of Damascus said:
Jad,
What is my deal today you ask?
Well I have been called a terrorist sympathizer repeatedly today, you might have not personalized it directly to me, but you choose to call anyone that does not support the regime terrorist sympathizers (I don’t support the regime). I merely pointed out some observations I had from your posts, you are the one that chose to personalize by calling me a “well connected rich kid”.
I agree with you it should not be this way, it is about time that we Syrians recognize the evilly of this regime and try to do something about it. You claim you don’t support the regime, yet you trumpet their cause, does that not seem odd to you?
I am glad you follow my posts (even at other blogs), however you misinterpreted my specific post. I don’t feel guilty because I am rich, I feel guilty because a 14 year old in the name of Hamza Al Khateeb had to die in the most heinous way, for me to realize that the people I chose to call my friends were directly involved in his death (and the cover up there after), that my relatives married into this regime (and their fate, and the fate of their children is in danger), I feel guilt for the factory workers that I have known since childhood have all been through hell while close family members claim everything will be fine, this is all just a mouamara against Syria.
I understand your sentiments, I was there Jad (believe me I really was). It is really tough giving up on something that you have known your entire life, so many beliefs turned upside down, not knowing what reality is anymore. The fog is dense and hard to cut through, the cult of so called Baathist secularism were the Assad Clan turned into gods is like a drug, I remember chanting the Abou Basil Song ( Abou Basil Qaaednah bisismouh be niqtil 3adounah) and think it was great. We saw our leaders (Sr, Basil, Jr) as resisters and liberators instead of jail wardens. I still remember meeting Basil the first time I was 5 years old at a relatives wedding in the Sheraton, I was starstruck so much so that if you ask me of another memory of when I was 5 it would be very difficult for me to do so as precisely as the aforementioned.
I hope you will see that Syria without Assad will survive, and that you Jad have a lot to offer to Syria when Assad is gone, more so even. I share your fear that religious fundamentalist will attempt to hijack our country, and that is why it is so prudent that the non religious make their voices heard, and guarantee that our right to freedoms will never be infringed upon again, that the state fear us above all, the constituents, no matter who is in government. People like yourself Jad have been exposed to great democracies, that have in place a system of checks and balances; you live in it, you know it, and most importantly you partake in it. That experience alone Jad 22 some million people in Syria are not aware of, and many are striving for.
6000+ killed, god knows how many tortured, and imprisoned. All asking for freedom, something I hope you never take for granted.
January 17th, 2012, 2:50 am
Syrian Commando said:
SNP,
Your strategic thinking is disappoint for a chief strategist.
Do you think Syria will fight fairly if it is on the verge of being overwhelmed? At that stage, or more accurately BEFORE such a war begins, our mutually assured destruction strategy is activated.
You can consider the middle east, israel and parts of Europe uninhabitable zones if it came to it. No Syrian soldier/commando would defect, even in the wastelands which are formerly our neighbouring countries we will make sure the survival rate is absolute zero.
Needless to say, this will trigger a global conflict. So no, this stupid no fly zone was rejected by NATO. Even that idiotic Tunisian president said basically what I said but in his own donkey style.
January 17th, 2012, 3:16 am
jad said:
Dear Son of Damascus,
Thank you for the calmer reply, I trully appreciate you taking time to share your stand with me.
I apologize that I won’t be able to answer your questions/notes now, but I’ll reply to every point you raised later today so you better understand my position.
Regards
January 17th, 2012, 3:18 am
Son of Damascus said:
Jad,
I did reply you in that personalized post after I replied SNK, if i came on too aggressive and personal my apologies, SNK did get me really riled up by calling me a son of a …., maybe i should have not responded to you so soon after SNK. Again my apologies.
January 17th, 2012, 3:27 am
William Scott Scherk said:
I very much appreciate the apology from Irritated (#1031).
Maher Arar is a fine man, a fine Canadian. His wife Monia is a fine woman — I am proud of her and her accomplishments and very glad she chose to become Canadian. Although a nameless nobody like EQUUS can say that Maher divorced her to marry a younger woman, this is not true. Indeed, nothing in Equus’s original post was true in fact.
Indeed, I wonder now if EQUUS will henceforth specialize in nasty, gossipy, untrue sleaze. In any case, how sad for you, EQUUS, that you can make up such stories — that you invite scorn and derision upon a man like Arar — a man who does not deserve it.
Do many of you here on Syria Comment know someone personally who has been in detention, or who is currently in detention? Have any one of you who hold out for a prolonged, Assad-led ‘reform’ of Syria’s institutions of governance — have any of you been fearful of those prisons?
If, by chance, someone close to you reported the same brutal treatment as given to Arar, would you still find it easy to demonize anyone and everyone (almost) who hopes for the end of the brutal system?
Thank you, Irritated, for that apology. It means a lot to me, and maybe to Canadians like me who honour Arar and who are still ashamed at the terrible treatment he received from our Government during and after his rendition to Syria.
The thought of all those like Arar in prison — that disturbs me most about Syria today. How many Syrians have been imprisoned and tortured like him? How many remain? What is to be their end?
January 17th, 2012, 3:42 am
majedkhaldoun said:
We got mad when Israel bombarded Lebanon, and Gaza, we should get mad when Bashar bombarded Homs and other Syrian cities, but no, Menhebbakji love it, where are the principles of Menhebbekjies they have no principals, we the opposition are the right side.
The good thing is that they will commit suicide, or they will shut up at least.
January 17th, 2012, 4:47 am
majedkhaldoun said:
Zibari, Iraq FM, said sending troops to Syria will be on the agenda in the next fm meeting ,on 21 of january,I think Syria will oppose it but it will be the begining of more aggressive suggestions.
January 17th, 2012, 4:53 am
Juergen said:
William Scott Scherk
thank you for clearing out this smear campaign. As it looks like the people of the regime get quite upset now, is that a good sign?
i think even 32.000 detained is a modest number by any guess. I do have worst fears for those detained, if the regime is running out of money will they feed the detained? A friend of mine from Damascus who works in the citadel told me that in the reconstruction they have found truckloads of dead bodies who were found digging in the courtyard of the citadel.Assad sen used this place inside old Damascus until the end of the 90s as a prison, and a sure sign to the public what will happen to enemies of the state. An friend of mine is from Idleb. His grandfather was imprisoned from 1982-2005. He has no memories of him when he was a child, he was three when he was put in prison for sympathy with the ichuan movement, he told me a beard was enough at that time to get imprisonment. When his grandfather came back in 2005 he was a broken man, distant to the family, like a stranger. Until now he does not talk about what has happend to him in prison.
We have also an Arar case in Germany Muhammad Haidar Zammar is german citizen since 1982, and originally from Aleppo. Reports suggested that he was aqqainted with Muhammad Attas group in Hamburg and our secret service oberservated him and found not enough to arrest him. They found out that he had close relations to the Hamburg cell which caused the 9/11 attacks as well as Mr Mamoun Darkazanli an Syrian with Alqauida contacts. Zammar was on surveillance when he bought an planeticket to Casablanca and return. The german secret police informed the US authorities as well as their moroccan counterparts. In Morocco Zammar was arrested by the police under US supervison. Zammar was brought to Syria for the usual torture treatment, his rights as an german citizen were never acknowledged, it was a clear hijacking and an calculated move out of legitimate means.
In 2005 it was revealed that the german secret service saw Zammar in Damascus and were able to interrogate him, this was seen as an criminal act by government agencies. Zammar was eventually sentenced in 2007 for imprisonment for 12 years.
One can be sure, we will see and hear many stories like this after the regime will fall, there are many missing lebanese too.
January 17th, 2012, 6:33 am
Juergen said:
Here is a graphic report of how treatment is in syrian prisons by Maysaloon:
http://www.maysaloon.org/2011/07/torture-of-my-father-by-syrian-regime.html
January 17th, 2012, 8:37 am
Syrialover said:
Ann 1033
That is a comment that reveals the writer is unlikely to have actually been to Syria or even know any Syrians.
It’s a shallow remark showing poor understanding about the current situation, Syrian people or history. Smartass words from someone who doesn’t have any real reason to care about the outcome or what happens to Syrians.
How lucky you are to have no stake or closeness to what’s happening but are playing around on this blog just for fun.
January 17th, 2012, 8:58 am
Revlon said:
A dual crime:
Teen girl, Aisha was cowardly shot by Assad sniper in the head.
The onlooking youths who evacuated her stood by helpless while she was groaning her last breaths!
Unarmed civilians under fire could not manage access to a decent humane care.
Crimes against humanity have been so graphically depicted for so long without humanitarian intervention.
Those who could have helped save Aisha and others, including governments and individuals, but did not are morally guilty of allowing crimes against humanity.
Baba Amr Neighbourhood, Homs city, yesterday.
18+ 16 1 Homs أوغاريت حمص حي بابا عمرو , الشهيدة عائشة دياب الصبوري برصاص قناص
January 17th, 2012, 9:32 am
Revlon said:
Syrian Revolution Intelligence System جهاز إستخبارات الثورة السورية
Photo of FSA officer brandishing Passport of one of a group o Iranian mercenaries captured early in Homs.
http://www.facebook.com/Syria.Revolution.Intelligence#!/photo.php?fbid=286028578121954&set=a.194980847226728.50763.178929398831873&type=1&theater
#Homs #Syria صورة من مجلة فرنسية للبطل المنشق عبد الرزاق طلاس مع الإيرانيين الذين تم القبض عليهم. ( عبد الرزاق طلاس ماسك بإيده جواز سفر إيراني )
January 17th, 2012, 9:39 am
Syria no kandahar said:
Revlon,the terrorists puppet
Killed by Assad sniper,you have seen it ?you were standing by?
Your Angels have no weapons?they are impotent?they are not getting enough
Viagra from Your gods Hamad and Erdogan ?
January 17th, 2012, 9:48 am
Revlon said:
Structuring of FSA is underway.
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
أمر إداري
Administrative directive
بيان صادر عن قائد الجيش السوري الحر
Commander of the FSA
إن قائد الجيش السوري الحر يعيين العقيد بسام محمد السنبكي قائداً عسكرياً لمنطقة دمشق اعتباراً من تاريخه 16-01-2012
Colonel Bassam Mohammad AlSunbki has been appointed as commander of Damascus Region as of 16/01/2012.
January 17th, 2012, 9:52 am
Tara said:
Dear Revlon,
Appointing a commander for Damascus is a great step as any operation against the regime in Damascus defending the revolution is going to hurt the regime so intensely. The FSA should target the murderous 4th brigade and the republic guards.
January 17th, 2012, 10:00 am
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
1046. Syrian Commandosaid:
SNP,
Your strategic thinking is disappoint for a chief strategist.
Do you think Syria will fight fairly if it is on the verge of being overwhelmed? At that stage, or more accurately BEFORE such a war begins, our mutually assured destruction strategy is activated.
You can consider the middle east, israel and parts of Europe uninhabitable zones if it came to it. No Syrian soldier/commando would defect, even in the wastelands which are formerly our neighbouring countries we will make sure the survival rate is absolute zero.
Needless to say, this will trigger a global conflict. So no, this stupid no fly zone was rejected by NATO. Even that idiotic Tunisian president said basically what I said but in his own donkey style.
ان الإنسان مسير لا مخير ـ هذا ماكتب في الإ نجيل
ISAIAH 17:1
“Behold, Damascus is taken away from being a city, and it shall be a ruinous heap”
January 17th, 2012, 10:03 am
Revlon said:
بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم
بيان صادر عن الجيش السوري الحر كتيبة حمزة بن عبد المطلب
Announcement by FSA Unit
قامت كتيبة حمزة بن عبد المطلب بنصب كمين للعصابات الأسدية في منطقة الزبداني حيث تم أسرهم و السيطرة على كامل عتادهم وبعد التحقيق معهم أطلق سراحهم
والنصر لشعبنا الحر الأبي
We ambushed an Assad forces unit in Zabadani and captured all of its members and confiscated their amo and weapons.
They were released after interrogation.
Long live our honourable people.
16/01/2012
http://www.freesyrianarmy1.com/ar/node/193
January 17th, 2012, 10:03 am
Syria no kandahar said:
تعيين العقيد سنبكي هو مؤشر لمستقبل ينتظر الكثير من الأمهات هدية من عصابة العميل رياض لحد اللتي تقتات بفتات العثمانيين وتحصد ارواح جنودنا البواسل
الجيش السوري البطل سيجعل كلبك سنبكي يشخ
January 17th, 2012, 10:07 am
Revlon said:
Agents orange have exposed an activist and virtually handded him over to the security forces.
المركز السوري للإعلام والاتصال | Syrian Centre for Media & Communication
Activist Mustafa Sheehan was arrested by AL observers’ entourage of security forces while talking to the observers.
Riqqa
16/01/2012
https://www.facebook.com/Syrian.Centre
أمن النظام يعتقل شاهد عيان تحدث إلى بعثة المراقبين العرب (تصريح صحفي)
علمت “الرابطة السورية للدفاع عن حقوق الإنسان” أن أجهزة الأمن المرافقة لبعثة المراقبين العرب في مدينة الرقة قامت الثلاثاء (16/01) باعتقال الناشط السوري مصطفى شيحان (32 عاما) أثناء تحدثه لوفد المراقبين العرب واقتادته إلى جهة مجهولة.
ولم تفلح مناشدة الناشط السوري للمراقبين بالتدخل لحمايته من الاعتقال، الذي تم تحت سمع وبصر أعضاء الوفد المراقب.
الرابطة السورية للدفاع عن حقوق الإنسان إذ تدين هذا الاعتقال التعسفي الذي جرى خارج إطار القانون، فإنها تحمل المسؤولية الكاملة لهذا الاعتقال لأفراد بعثة المراقبين العرب الذين لم يحركوا ساكنا حيال هذا الاجراء.
وتتساءل الرابطة السورية للدفاع عن حقوق الإنسان في هذا السياق عن جدوى وجود مراقبين تابعين للجامعة العربية في المناطق الساخنة في سوريا إذا لم يضطلعوا بمسؤولياتهم بحماية المدنيين الذين يحاولون الوصول إليهم لتزويدهم بالمعلومات، وترى الرابطة في تقاعس أفراد البعثة عن حماية الناشط مصطفى شيحان سببا آخر يضاف إلى تحفظاتنا السابقة على حيادية هذه البعثة ونزاهتها.
عبدالكريم ريحاوي رئيس الرابطة السورية للدفاع عن حقوق الإنسان
January 17th, 2012, 10:15 am
SYRIAN HAMSTER said:
ARMEEEE
So, whatever happened to Rami Theresa Makhlouf Economic Army?
January 17th, 2012, 10:20 am
jad said:
السلطات السورية تفرج عن المعارض السوري البارز نجاتي طيارة
January 17th, 2012, 10:43 am
Revlon said:
Video showing body of Martyr Mohammad Hamzeh with marks of torture and mutilation inflicted while in detention by Assad “heroic’Forces.
AlFatiha upon his soul,
may God bless his family with solace and empower them with fortitude.
القصير 17-1 الشهيد محمد حمزة وآثار التعذيب
January 17th, 2012, 10:47 am
jad said:
Qatar will be spending its money on terrorism so it wont loose how criminal is that, using the Syrian blood for a worthless the goat prince Hammoudeh:
——————————————
Qatar has little to lose in opposing Assad
By Roula Khalaf
Doha committed to Syrian regime’s removal
There is something Qatar watchers agree on: when Doha sets its mind to a cause, it champions it all the way, whatever the cost, whatever the risks. So it is through this lens that the emir’s call for the deployment of Arab troops in Syria should be seen.
As one person familiar with decision making in Doha tells me, the emir’s comments, recorded back in November by a US television show and released at the weekend, underline above all the total commitment that the Qataris have towards Syria’s uprising. “They are focused on this file completely; they’re not going to let go,” says this person.
Not that this means Arab troops will be sent to Syria. I doubt this would be a desirable outcome in any case. The Arab League can barely manage the team of monitors who appear to have been lost in the fog of state violence and manipulation. An Arab military force is unlikely to fare better.
Some observers believe that Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani, the Qatari ruler, has given up on the Arab League altogether. He is said to be shifting his focus on Syria to other means, perhaps including backing the Free Syrian Army, the group of military defectors who are fighting regime forces.
Such a move would be a repeat of Qatar’s strategy in Libya, where Doha backed the rebels with its financial and diplomatic muscle and provided military advisers. Except, of course, that the stakes in Syria are much higher, and Qatar’s all-out strategy is a lot riskier.
The emir’s comments are perhaps meant to spark a debate over military intervention, a prospect that governments in the west, and within the Arab world itself, are loath to consider, though they know it might eventually become inevitable.
At this stage, even Syria’s opposition is in two minds. Activists on the ground are crying out for help, asking specifically for a no-fly zone. But disagreements over outside intervention were the main cause of the collapse of the recent Arab League-brokered unity deal between the two main opposition groups.
Qatar’s policy on Syria has had mixed results so far. True, Doha helped move the Arab League towards a more aggressive policy on its one-time friend, Bashar al-Assad. But that policy also ended up with the dispatch of Arab observers whose mission has been exploited by the Syrian regime, leaving officials in Doha as perplexed as the Syrian opposition.
Unlike Libya, there is no hope for a green light for intervention from the UN Security Council, where Russia has been determined to block the mildest of condemnations of the Syrian regime.
And how would Iran and Lebanon’s Hizbollah react to military support from Arabs or western states? Would intervention stall or accelerate Syria’s descent into civil strife? The Syrian crisis, as one regime ally says, is already playing out as a “game of nations” with potentially dangerous consequences for all those involved.
For Doha itself, lobbying for bolder action on Syria could pose a security risk: however preoccupied it might be by domestic upheaval, the regime in Damascus is ruthless and it could attempt to retaliate, with Qatar likely to be at the top of its list of targets.
The Qataris are aware of the dangers yet they appear to believe that the Syrian crisis has reached a point of no return and so gambling against the regime is worth the effort.
David Roberts, of the Royal United Services Institute in Doha, says Qatar’s risk-benefit calculations are not misplaced. “They [the Qataris] lose if Assad stays in power for the next 10 years but relations are already finished and the security concerns from Syria are already there,” he says. “The cost has already been paid … so what does the emir lose by trying to be at the forefront?”
Qatar has invested much capital on Syria, Mr Roberts adds, and wants to affect some kind of resolution.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/11a0ad34-403f-11e1-82f6-00144feab49a.html#ixzz1jjOy0XWS
January 17th, 2012, 10:55 am
majedkhaldoun said:
US plan in absorbing the Arab revolutions.
It is obvious that US and Europe will not intervene militarily in Syria, and US will not give green light for Turkey to intervene either, US will only limit its support to the syrian revolution, limit it to diplomatic and to economic sanction, US is putting pressure on SNC so they continue the revolution as peaceful, and in return SNC is tying the hands of FSA,preventing the FSA from carrying major military actions, FSA needs money and weapons, they can not carry any attack on Assad criminal regime, without some money and logistics, US is against all these revolutions, they do not benefit from all of them, they would rather keep Bashar as a weak ruler, than risk future regimes that will create new enviroment that put Israel in danger, US wants to protect their cronies in the Arab world,like the Saudi and jordan king,the military junta in Egypt are all tools in the hands of US, actually US does not have clear plan for Egypy, they only want a transitional goverment to passify the people, US only want to buy time in Egypt to absorb the revolution, the absurd theatrical maneuver in Yemen is another plan by US and the gulf kings.Saleh is still there,controling Yemen and Basandoa is unable to do anything.
The FSA is fooled by the US Turkey position, FSA has to defend themselves SNC has to wake up to this fact, People in Syria are right in their Slogans , Ma Lena Ghayr Allah, we have nothing but God.
SNC should be led by the FSA, not the other way around, CB with Haytham Manna as its head they do not support the FSA ,in that they commit treason to the Syrian people, Only the FSA will liberate Syrian from Bashar the tyrant and the majority of Alawite officers who feel free tp kill our best Syrian the young and the children, I hope Qatar will lend support to the FSA, I hope KSA people not the king give financial support to the FSA, FSA is getting larger in number, they have the support of the syrian people, in their hand lies the future of Syria,they are the ANGELS that God sent to us to free Syria.
The FSA should have plan to concentrate on Damascus, without Damascus Bashar will be gone in one month, Actions in Zabadani and Horan and in the immidiate suburbs of Damascus must increase , The appointment of General Bassam Sanbeky hopefully will co-ordinate actions by FSA Maher Nu3aimy our hope too, the Assad army is bound to get weaker as its morals deteriorate, his Alawite officers will gradually loose trust in their sunni officers and soldiers, the economic situation will deteriorate,encouraging common Damascene people to support the FSAonly then we will see the actual fall of the regime, and I am sure the end of Bashar will be the same as the end of Gaddafi, there will be tens of thousands dead, but remember the Assad family has killed hundred thousand syrian and retaliation wil be justified, there is only one way to this revolution, it will not stop till it is victorious, The Syrian people decided, and their decision is to eliminate Assad and his regime, God bless the Syrians.
January 17th, 2012, 10:58 am
jad said:
Syria refuses the Green Hats mission:
الخارجية السورية: تصريحات مسؤولين قطريين حول إرسال قوات عربية إلى سورية مرفوضة
“هذه الدعوات من شانها تازيم الوضع وإجهاض فرص العمل العربي وتفتح الباب لاستدعاء التدخل الخارجي في الشؤون السورية”
استغربت وزارة الخارجية والمغتربين اليوم الثلاثاء صدور تصريحات عن مسؤولين قطريين حول إرسال قوات عربية إليها، مؤكدة رفضها القاطع لمثل هذه الدعوات التي من شأنها تأزيم الوضع وإجهاض فرص العمل العربي وتفتح الباب لاستدعاء التدخل الخارجي في الشؤون السورية.
وقال مصدر في الوزارة في بيان له إن “الشعب السوري الفخور بكرامته وسيادته، يرفض جميع أشكال التدخل الخارجي في شؤونه وتحت أي مسمى كان وسيتصدى لأي محاولة للمساس بسيادة سورية وسلامة أراضيها”، لافتا إلى أنه “سيكون من المؤسف أن تراق دماء عربية على الأراضي السورية لخدمة أجندات معروفة، لاسيما بعد أن باتت المؤامرة على سورية واضحة المعالم”.
وكان أمير قطر حمد بن خليفة آل ثاني اقترح، مؤخرا، إرسال قوات عربية إلى سورية لوقف ما أسماه “إراقة الدماء”، حيث تعتبر تصريحات أمير قطر الأولى من نوعها، يدلي بها زعيم عربي بهذا الخصوص.
وأثار هذه الاقتراح ردود فعل عديدة، فيما لم يستبعد الأمين العام لجامعة الدول العربية نبيل العربي، الأحد، إمكانية بحث فكرة إرسال جنود عرب إلى سوريا لاحتواء “العنف”، خلال اجتماع اللجنة الوزارية العربية المقرر في 21 كانون الثاني الجاري في القاهرة.
وأضاف المصدر أن “سورية في الوقت الذي توفي به بالتزاماتها المتفق عليها بموجب خطة العمل العربية، فأنها تجدد الدعوة للدول العربية وجامعة الدول العربية للقيام من جانبها ببذل جهود ملموسة لوقف حملات التحريض والتجييش الإعلامي الهادفة إلى تأجيج الوضع في سورية، والمساعدة في منع تسلل الإرهابيين وتهريب الأسلحة إلى الأراضي السورية تحقيقاً للأمن والاستقرار الذي يمهد للحوار الوطني البناء الهادف لإيجاد حل سياسي للأزمة في سورية”.
وكان الرئيس بشار الأسد قال في خطاب ألقاه على مدرج جامعة دمشق، يوم الثلاثاء الماضي، إن الخارج أصبح مزيجا من الأجنبي والعربي وللأسف الجزء العربي أكثر عداءا وسوءا من الأجنبي، مبينا انه بعد فشل أعدائنا في مجلس الأمن كان لابد من غطاء عربي.
وكشف وزير الخارجية الإماراتي الشيخ عبدالله بن زايد يوم الاثنين، عن مشاورات قادمة بين وزراء الخارجية العرب حول إرسال قوات عربية إلى سورية، فيما أعلنت مصادر في الأمانة العامة للجامعة العربية في وقت سابق، أن الأمانة العامة لم تتلق أي مقترحات من أي دولة عربية بإرسال قوات عربية إلى سورية لوضع حد لتدهور الأوضاع فيها، مبينة أن الاقتراح كان “مجرد فكرة”.
واقترح اعضاء من “هيئة التنسيق الوطنية”، مؤخرا إرسال “قوات ردع عربية” إلى سورية، في حال فشل مهمة المراقبين العرب.
ووقعت السلطات السورية في شهر كانون الأول الماضي، في العاصمة المصرية القاهرة على مشروع بروتوكول خاص بإرسال مراقبين عرب إلى سورية, حيث باشرت البعثة في 27 من الشهر الماضي مهامها في حمص وامتدت جولاتها إلى ريف دمشق وادلب ودرعا وحماه والسويداء وحلب وطرطوس, والتقت المواطنين هناك, وذلك للتأكد من مدى التزام السلطات السورية ببنود الخطة العربية.
وينص مشروع البروتوكول على أن بعثة المراقبين إلى سورية التي ستقوم بعملها لمدة شهر ستقوم بالمراقبة والرصد لمدى التنفيذ الكامل لوقف جميع أعمال العنف ومن أي مصدر كان في المدن والأحياء السكنية السورية.
ومن المنتظر أن تناقش اللجنة الوزارية العربية الخاصة في سوريا يوم السبت القادم، تقرير بعثة المراقبين العرب إلى سوريا الخاصة بالإطلاع على مدى التزام السلطات السورية في تطبيق الخطة العربية.
وكانت اللجنة الوزارية العربية دعت مؤخرا، في ختام اجتماع ناقشت فيه تقرير أولي لبعثة المراقبين العرب إلى سوريا، الحكومة السورية إلى التنفيذ الفوري والكامل لجميع التعهدات إنفاذا للبروتوكول الموقع بين الجامعة العربية وسوريا وضمان توفير الحماية للمدنيين السوريين.
وتشهد عدة مدن سورية منذ نحو 10 أشهر تظاهرات، مناهضة للسلطات، ترافقت بسقوط شهداء من المدنيين والجيش وقوى الأمن، حيث تقدر الأمم المتحدة عدد ضحايا الاحتجاجات في سورية بنحو 5000 شخصا، فيما تقول مصادر رسمية سورية أن عدد ضحايا الجيش والأمن تجاوز 2000 شخص، وتحمل “جماعات مسلحة” مسؤولية ذلك.
سيريانيوز
http://syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=142813
January 17th, 2012, 10:59 am
ann said:
*** TURKEY IS A COUNTRY RUN BY ISLAMIC TERRORISTS ***
Rick Perry Camp Explains Suggestion That Turkey Is Led By ‘Islamic Terrorists’ – 10 hrs ago
http://news.yahoo.com/rick-perry-camp-explains-suggestion-turkey-led-islamic-050104804–abc-news.html
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – In response to a question about whether or not Turkey should still be a part of NATO, Rick Perry suggested some consider the country to be ruled by “Islamic terrorists.”
“Obviously when you have a country that is being ruled by what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists,” Perry said during the debate.
Victoria Coates, foreign policy advisor to Perry, further explained the governor’s remarks, saying that some view the leaders of Turkey as Islamic terrorists due to their support of Hamas and the flotilla against Israel.
“The governor was responding to the questioners references to violence against women and to association with Hamas, I think both of which are things that many people do associate as he said with Islamic terrorists,” Coates told reporters in the spin room. “He was referring to those things, and while he would welcome the opportunity to work with Turkey on regional issues like Syria or Iraq, this kind of behavior on the part of that country is disturbing and I think we should concerned about it.”
Asked if the leaders of Turkey have performed any actions which place them in the category of Islamic terrorists, Coates responded: What he said was that many people associate that kind of behavior with that of Islamic terrorists. I think also their support for the flotilla against Israel this fall. It’s deeply concerning, and I think it’s something any future American president needs to be aware of.”
January 17th, 2012, 11:02 am
Revlon said:
Tnak shelling of civilian residences in Homs city, today
The video shows two, 4th floor apartments getting destroyed by two artillary/tank shells.
Khaldiyi, Homs!
It shall take mountains of self restraint to punish the perpetrators fairly, yet without inflicting similar destruction on their families’ properties!
القصف في شارع القاهرة 17-1-2012.wmv
January 17th, 2012, 11:02 am
jad said:
The Iranians in the picture shown by the terrorists armed militia is for the kidnapped Iranian engineers:
أول دليل بالصورة على وجود المهندسين الإيرانيين المختطفين بين أيدي مجرمي “كتيبة الفاروق” في حمص
المقارنة التي أجرتها “الحقيقة” مع الصور الأصلية للمخطوفين تؤكد أن الصورة حقيقية ، و ” تنسقية مصياف” تنضم إلى قطاع الطرق ولو .. بالتشجيع!؟
باريس ، الحقيقة ( خاص): نشرت الصفحة الخاصة لـ”تنسيقية مصياف” صورة مأخوذة من إحدى المجلات الفرنسية تظهر الملازم الأول الفار عبد الرزاق طلاس مع أربعة أشخاص قالت الصفحة إنهم من المهندسين الإيرانيين الذين اختطفهم مجرمو ما يسمى “الجيش السوري الحر”. ولم تذكر الصفحة اسم المجلة الفرنسية التي أخذت منها الصورة ولا تاريخ صدورها. وبدا في خلفية الصورة علم الانتداب الفرنسي وقد ظهر عليه نصف عبارة ” كتيبة الفاروق”. وهذا ما يؤكد تقرير”الحقيقة” الذي نشرته في 26 من الشهر الماضي ، بعد اختطاف المهندسين بأربعة أيام، لجهة أن “كتيبة الفاروق” هي الجهة الإجرامية التي وقفت وراء عملية الاختطاف.
“الحقيقة”، وبعد العودة إلى صورة كانت وزعتها وكالة أنباء “مهر ” الإيرانية ، تستطيع أن تؤكد أن من يظهرون في الصورة مع المجرم عبد الرزاق طلاس هم فعلا بعض التقنيين الإيرانيين المختطفين . ويلاحظ أن اثنين منهم لا يزالان يرتديان الملابس نفسها التي كانا يرتديانها عند اختطافهما. إلا أن الصورة تطرح سؤالا كبيرا ، فهي لا تظهر سوى أربعة من المختطفين ، فأين الثلاثة الآخرون؟ هل أقدم المجرمون على قتلهم!؟
يشار إلى أن مجرمي “كتيبة الفاروق” التي روعت الناس قنلا وذبحا في حمص وضواحيها، ودمرت أنابيب الغاز والنفط في المنطقة، يهيمن عليها عناصر من “القاعدة” وتنظيم ” أنصار السنة” كانوا يقاتلون في الفلوجة والأنبار في العراق ، وعادوا إلى سوريا في وقت لاحق. وعلى رأس هؤلاء خالد زغيب ( ” أبو قصي”).وكان هؤلاء أقدموا على اختطاف التقنيين في 21 من الشهر الماضي بينما كانوا في طريق عودتهم من محطة جندر لتوليد الطاقة الكهربائية ، حيث يعملون على تركيب وحدة لتوليد الطاقة تعمل على الغاز باستطاعة 500 ميغا واط كان ينتظر أن ينتهي نهاية العام 2011. ولكي تتنصل من الجريمة، عمدت ” كتيبة الفاروق” إلى اختراع تنظيم وهمي كواجهة باسم “حركة مناهضة المد الشيعي في سوريا” تبنى عملية الاختطاف في بيان سلم حصرا لوكالة الصحافة الفرنسية!! وهو ما يؤكد أن ” كتيبة الفاروق” ، وكما أشرنا سابقا ، عبارة عن مجموعة تشكل واجهة لأنشطة المخابرات الفرنسية في حمص والمنطقى الوسطى عموما. وكانت صحيفة” لوفيغارو” كشفت في تشرين الثاني / نوفمبر الماضي عن أن المخابرات الفرنسية تدير المسلحين في حمص وضواحيها من شمال لبنان ، حيث تمدهم بالسلاح والصور الفضائية عن تحركات الجيش السوري!
تبقى إشارة أخيرة حول التعليق الذي وضعته صفحة” تنسيقية مصياف” على الصورة ، وهو تعليق يمجد ويشيد بعملية الاختطاف التي تسميها ” إلقاء القبض”! وهذا ما يؤكد أن التنسيقيات في قسم كبير منها مجرد واجهات لترويج الجريمة المنظمة. وستكون المصيبة أعظم إذا ما تأكد أن هذه الصفحة تقف وراءها سيدة واحدة تدعى ندى الخش ، العضو في حزب الاتحاد الاشتراكي الناضري الذي يقوده حسن عبد العظيم!؟ والسؤال الآن : منذ متى كان آل الخش ، الذين نعرفهم أبا عن جد، يمجدون قطع الطرق واختطاف الرهائن و / أو قتلهم؟
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6477/Default.aspx
January 17th, 2012, 11:05 am
irritated said:
Ann #1033
“These men are traitors. They committed high treason against their own homeland. They deserve no mercy.”
From the article, they sound more to me like lost kids who were mislead in becoming heroes and who suddenly realize the hole in which they have fell. I feel pity for them and a strong resentment for the manipulators that lead them where they are now.
January 17th, 2012, 11:12 am
Tara said:
No one believes that the captured Iranians were engineers. We don’t lack engineers in Syria. They probably were IRG specialized in women and children killing.
January 17th, 2012, 11:14 am
zoo said:
Why the Turkish model is not applicable to Egypt or any Arab country.
There is no ‘Turkish model’ for Egypt
January 17, 2012 02:25 AM
By Sebnem Gumuscu
The Daily Star
In Egypt, a number of younger and more moderate Islamists have pointed to Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) as a source of inspiration, citing legal reform, successful economic management, and electoral victories as models to be emulated.
In some policy quarters, Turkey has even been presented as an overall model for the Arab world – a characterization which derives largely from its seemingly unique ability to couple secular democracy with a predominantly Muslim society. But those who talk of “the Turkish model” misunderstand that country’s transformation. The coexistence between Islam and democracy has come to pass in Turkey not from the AKP’s development of institutional and political structures that accommodated both Islamic and democratic principles, but rather because Islamists themselves came to accept the secular-democratic framework of the Turkish state.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2012/Jan-17/160089-there-is-no-turkish-model-for-egypt.ashx#ixzz1jjRAwTiB
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)
January 17th, 2012, 11:14 am
zoo said:
Russia Excludes Syria Military Intervention in New UN Resolution
By Henry Meyer – Jan 17, 2012
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-01-17/russia-excludes-syria-military-intervention-in-new-un-resolution.html
Russia introduced a new version of its draft United Nations resolution on Syria that excluded Western proposals aimed at military intervention in the country, Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Lukashevich said.
“We are disappointed that Western nations during consultations on the Russian draft resolution tried to introduce a whole series of amendments which removed all the positive aspects,” Lukashevich said in a phone interview today. “Nothing in this resolution should be seen as opening the possibility of a military solution to the problem.”
The latest Russian draft resolution was circulated yesterday and there hasn’t been any response yet from the U.S. and European nations, said Lukashevich.
Russia last week accused the U.S. and its European allies of seeking to overthrow Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and a top Russian security official said NATO was preparing to establish a no-fly zone to protect Syrian rebels. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization and three alliance members denied any such plans.
Russia opposes changes to its draft resolution on Syria proposed by western governments because “their goal is to engineer the overthrow of Assad’s regime,” Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Jan. 13.
January 17th, 2012, 11:16 am
Juergen said:
Ann 1070
Do you think any of those redneck republican could point out on a map without their advisors where Syria is? Do you really believe they have a better view on Syria? For most US citizens its all Osamaland out there.
January 17th, 2012, 11:17 am
Revlon said:
FSA unit patrols AlBayada neihgbourhood and draws cheers and supportive slogans from elated crowds.
حمص البياضة ظهور الجيش الحر في الحي17_1_2012.mp4http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=Sen-hLdYkms
January 17th, 2012, 11:17 am
Juergen said:
Funny statement offered today in the Mubarak trial…
The defender described the deposed Egyptian rulers as “clean” head of state. Mubarak has worked tirelessly for the good of his country, but is now subject to malicious allegations, Farid al-Deeb said in his opening statement on Tuesday. He asked for justice for Mubarak.
Is Bashar planning for his defence team? May be one should send him the telephone number of Jaques Verges soon, just in case…
January 17th, 2012, 11:20 am
zoo said:
Syria: Sending Arab troops only increase violence – Egyptian “Desert Storm” commander
17/01/2012
By Mohamed Abdu Hassanein
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=28134
Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat – Egyptian General Muhammad Ali Bilal, who commanded Egyptian troops during the First Gulf War, described the proposal to send Arab troops to Syria to help halt the violence that has been taking place in the country for more than nine months as being “incorrect”, saying this proposal “has not been correctly studied.” In an interview with Asharq Al-Awsat, the Egyptian “Operation Desert Storm” commander said Arab troops being sent to Syria could serve as a prelude to foreign intervention in the country, and would only escalate the violence. He asked “will the [Arab] troops go to support the Bashar al-Assad regime or to stand with the revolutionaries?” adding “whatever the case, the country will face a dangerous state of violence and division.”
Arab League Secretary-General Nabil Elaraby confirmed on Sunday that the next Arab League ministerial meeting, which is scheduled to take place on 22 January, will discuss the proposal put forward by Qatar to send an Arab peacekeeping mission to Syria to stop the violence.
General Muhammad Ali Bilal, described this proposal as being “incorrect”, stressing that it has not been studied correctly and could serve as a “prelude to foreign international intervention in Syria.”
The Egyptian general also told Asharq Al-Awsat that Arab troops cannot intervene in an Arab country to protect the regime or secure power in the country, without becoming embroiled in a major conflict with one party or the other; either with the revolutionaries and the political activists, or the Syrian regime and military.
He added “the presence of Arab troops in Syria will put them in an awkward position and result in the question: are they going to support the Bashar al-Assad regime against the Syrian people, or will they support the revolutionaries against the regime?”
He said “whatever the case, this will result in greater violence between all parties, and there will be a great amount of bloodshed as a result of this.”
Drawing on his military experience, General Bilal, who is expected to stand as a candidate at Egypt’s forthcoming presidential elections, said that troops being sent into any country will usually have a specific mission, such as physically serving as a buffer to separate opposing forces, securing vital infrastructure, etc. As for troops being sent into a foreign country to secure peace, the Egyptian general said that in such cases, this is achieved by supporting the regime, not standing with those who are revolting against it.
Using Operation Desert Storm as an example, General Muhammad Ali Bilal said “the mission was to [physically] separate the forces” adding “whilst the mission of the Gulf [Peninsula Shield] forces who entered Bahrain months ago…was to protect the state infrastructure, not to stand between the Bahraini security forces and the demonstrations.” He stressed “all of these cases are different from the situation in Syria.”
General Bilal acknowledged that it would be easy to form and equip an Arab peacekeeping force to enter Syria; however he asserted that difficult questions remain, such as would be in charge of this force. The Egyptian general said that he expected the majority of Arab countries to refuse to take part in any Arab [military] force being sent to Syria, with the exception of one or two countries, like Qatar. He stressed “no country would risk sending armed forces to any other Arab country, because this would have complex political repercussions.”
The Egyptian general added “it would be very difficult for an Arab soldier to confront his [Arab] brother from another state…this would, of course, have a complex psychological impact.”
Bilal also claimed that such a decision could serve as a prelude to international intervention in Syria, as it would serve as a “bridge” to this. He stressed that a political solution – rather than a military one – to the crisis in Syria would be ideal, namely dialogue and agreement between the Syrian regime and opposition to reach a practical solution to the crisis.
January 17th, 2012, 11:28 am
Revlon said:
Assad Anarchists were here!
A videoclip of a house that was vandalised and looted.
Furniture, and even some fixtures and refrigerator food stock were looted.
The perpetrators left their signature: SNK cum Shabbeeha-style profane graffity everywhere!
حمص دير بعلبة سرقة احدى المنازل من قبل شبيحة الاسد وكتابة عبارات غير اخلاقية
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=FF-QwsvAiWE
Uploaded by ayadsyria4 on Jan 16, 2012
January 17th, 2012, 11:30 am
Juergen said:
Very good article on maysaloons blog. Those who havent read the wikileaks Syrian docs, its worthwile reading.
From Maysaloons:
“When the propagandist is asked about democracy and human rights in Syria, they would respond with something about Iraq; if you question the killing, they talk about Gaza or Bahrain; if somebody criticises the torture, they would counter with something about Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo.”
Sounds familiar to me here on SC…
http://www.maysaloon.org/2012/01/one-of-most-widely-read-and-interesting.html
January 17th, 2012, 11:31 am
Tara said:
Juergen
Mubarak’s trial is funny. I am not aware of any chronic medical condition (except for paraplegia) that requires a patient to stand trial lying down on a stretcher. They are pampering Mubarak too much. The should cut the nonsense and have him sit in a wheel chair.
January 17th, 2012, 11:37 am
zoo said:
‘Russian initiative’ to guide Syria?
Policy-makers could be relying on the Yemeni solution, which produced a win-win scenario for Saleh and the opposition
By Sami Moubayed, Special to Gulf News
Published: 00:00 January 17, 2012
http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/russian-initiative-to-guide-syria-1.966843
Driving down the Mezzeh Autorstrade in the heart of the Syrian capital, one finds a gigantic Russian flag covering the main residential building. A little further down the road, at the Umayyad Square, a big sign reads: “Thank you Russia.” These are sincere gestures by ordinary pro-regime Syrians who feel that they owe Russia a lot, for using its veto at the Security Council in October, and for firmly standing behind their government since the crisis began in mid-March, 2011. Elsewhere, on the outskirts of Damascus, angry anti-regime demonstrators are burning the Russian flag and chanting, “Down with Russia.” Both streets — the pro-regime and opposition one — seemingly fail to understand what Russia wants from Syria and why it has stood firmly behind the Syrian government — so far.
Contrary to what many people believe, the biggest pressure currently being applied on Damascus is not from the Arab League, or from the US, or Europe. It is from Russia, their main ally. The Russians, many in Syria believe, have been mandated by the international community to find a solution to the crisis. They have been through this before and know that one-party rule and a police state cannot last forever. The Syrian state needs to be democratised from within, they claim, like what happened to them after collapse of the Soviet Union, rather than being dismantled completely, as in the case of Iraq in 2003. This, of course, is music to the ears of Syrian officialdom. The Russians are worried that if the regime falls in Syria, more pressing than presidential elections would be fundamental issues like who is going to traffic police on the streets, who is going to collect garbage, who is going to control the borders, who is going to administer jails, and who is going to handle the economy? They happen to know the Syrian scene inside out; they know who matters in Syria, and what buttons to push to make change happen. Russia has a clear vision for what it wants from Syria, whereas the Americans — apparently — do not. The US has asked Syria’s President Bashar Al Assad to step down, but to date; it has provided no roadmap as to how this can be done, and what the transition period would look like. Moscow, however, is seemingly more in the picture on how it wants Syria to look three, six, and 12 months from now.
For starters, Russia wants to maintain its political and military influence in the Arab World, via Syria. Meaning, they are more interested in Syria itself, with which they have had strong relations since 1957, rather than the Syrian regime. The Syrian port of Tartus, for example, is the only base of the Russian Navy in the Mediterranean Sea. What Russia worries about is losing that influence to the Americans and the Turks who, it believes, will take the lion’s share of the spoils, if the Syrian regime falls — completely ejecting Russia from the Middle East at large. The Russians will continue to back the Syrians so long as Syria offers them something tangible in return, and the minute they feel that their fortunes are diminishing with Syrian officialdom, they too will start looking the other way. Russian policy-makers have been very impressed by the Yemeni Solution, which produced a win-win scenario for President Ali Abdullah Saleh, and the Yemeni opposition. It still believes that such an outcome can be achieved for Syria, and is laying the final touches on a “Russian Initiative” which doesn’t necessarily mean replacing Al Assad before presidential elections in 2014. Before such an initiative sees the light, Russia wants Al Assad to do the following:
1) Dismantle the Baath Party monopoly on power through an upcoming Baath Party Congress
2) Introduce a new Constitution
3) Begin a power-sharing process, no matter how sluggish, with the Syrian opposition.
The Baathists would give up power, if asked to do so by Al Assad, who would need to convince them that this is the best way forward for Syria. If they are forced out of power — something along the lines of de-Baathification in Iraq — then they would turn violent, and probably resort to arms to defend themselves. The transition — as far as Russia is concerned — needs to be orderly, neat, and more importantly, taken up willingly by the Baathists themselves. Russians feel that they can make that happen, only via Al Assad.
A new Constitution is already in the works, which drops Article 8, a controversial 1973 article that says that the Baath Party “is the leader of state and society”. Those changes would go hand-in-hand, according to the Russians, with a cabinet of national unity that includes members of the opposition. Consultations are currently underway for a new cabinet, replacing the nine-month government of Adel Safar. The idea is either to name an opposition figure as Prime Minister, or keep a Baathist at the job (until Article 8 is formally abolished) and give the opposition the job of Deputy Prime Minister. Reportedly, certain figures in the Coordination Committee, a broad coalition of opposition figures that includes secularists and Kurds, will be invited to join the new government. The Coordination Committee’s two heavyweight leaders, Hasan Abdul Azeem and Haitham Manaa, have already said that they would not join such a government, although other figures are toying with the idea — if presented to them as part of a “democracy package” that comes with real Russian guarantees. Many of them have been invited to Moscow, specifically for this purpose. These figures have given up hope of bringing down the regime altogether and are advocates of democratizing it from within — just like the Russians are thinking. In his recent speech at Damascus University, Al Assad acknowledged existence of the opposition, and said that he was willing to bring them onboard. Regardless of how that resounded with the opposition itself, since he slammed opposition figures talking to the regime “under the table,” it was the first time since 1963 that a President has admitted that there is such a thing called “opposition” in Syria.
Will the demonstrators back down, given that they listen neither to the Russians or to Syrian officialdom or to the Coordination Committees? They have been calling for nothing less than complete regime change, and feel that all these changes are cosmetic, aimed at buying time for the Syrian government. Most foreign players have gotten carried away with the Syrian opposition, forgetting that it commands very little influence on the Syrian street and cannot end the demonstrations, even if it wanted. The presidential speech, the new cabinet, and the upcoming Baath Party Congress that will be held in early February — all have Russia’s fingerprints. Russia, however, is still pushing for more, feeling that Syrian authorities have been slow — to say the least — in implementing real political and economic reform. In order for them to help Syria, the Syrian government has to first start helping itself. The main challenge remains; how can the Syrians — and Russians — restore calm to the Syrian street? That is a subject to which Moscow, to date, does not have an answer to, and certainly, nor does the Syrian government.
Sami Moubayed is editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Damascus, Syria.
January 17th, 2012, 11:46 am
Syria no Kandahar said:
Angels on white horses have defected gods army and joined FSA,They will participate in kidnapping ,killing,raping and stealing:
أعاد عالم الدين السعودي الشهير الشيخ محمد العريفي ذكريات حرب الأفغان ورفقاء دربهم العرب في قتالهم السوفييت إبان حقبة الثمانينات الميلادية، إذ نقل العريفي في خطبة أمام حشد من مريديه رواية تقول إن “خيالة” يركبون أحصنة بيضاء يقاتلون إلى جانب ثوار سوريا.
عالم الدين السعودي محمد العريفي
زايد السريع من الرياض: يتداول السعوديون مقطع فيديو يعيد إلى الأذهان قصصاً لا تزال ذاكرة الكثيرين تحتفظ بها، عندما كان وعاظ الجهاد، وخصوصاً الفلسطيني الشهير عبدالله عزام، ينقلونها في مساجد السعوديين حضّاً على “الجهاد” ضد السوفييت.
مقطع الفيديو يؤكد من خلاله عالم الدين السعودي الشيخ محمد العريفي أن رجلاً سورياً أخبره عن قصة خيول بيضاء تقاتل إلى جانب ثوار سوريا.
وبيّن العريفي خلال خطبة جمعته بمريديه قائلاً “حدثوني، حدثني أحدهم عن ولده، وهو شيخ كبير، وقد استشهد ولده، قال خرج ولدي يوماً فأصيب، فرجع إلينا، وجعلنا نحاول أن نعالج إصابته، فإذا بمجموعة من الزبانية يدخلون علينا، وكانوا يضربون الولد، وكانوا يكررون من الخيالة البيض الذين معكم؟”.
وأضاف العريفي أن “الزبانية كانوا يسألون الشاب السوري “من الرجال البيض الذين يركبون خيولاً بيضاً؟، أين هم؟، اعترف من هم؟”، ثم يضيف العريفي أن الشيخ السوري قال له “يا شيخ والله ما كان معهم رجال ولا خيول بيض، إلا أن تكون ملائكة من السماء”. وأكد العريفي أن الشاب “استشهد” بعد ذلك.
وكانت فترة الثمانينات الميلادية شهدت كثيراً من هذا العمل القصصي حول أحداث و”كرامات” تُنقل عن “المجاهدين” هناك، كأن يفجّر أحدهم دبابة روسية بحفنة تراب، بعد أن ينفد مخزونه من الذخيرة، أو أن يسقط أحدهم طائرة بحجر.
لكن هذه الظاهرة انحسرت بانحسار ظاهرة الأفغان العرب، وإن طرأت قليلاً في حروب العرب أمام الروس أيضاً في الشيشان في مطلع التسعينيات، إلا أن هذه الظاهرة عادت بقوة إبان العمليات الإرهابية في المملكة على يد تنظيم القاعدة، إذ حفل العديد من إصداراتهم الصوتية والمرئية بهذه القصص، وخصوصاً في جانب الابتسام عند الموت أو عدم تعفن جثة قتلاهم.
تباينت ردود فعل المعلقين على هذا المقطع بين مكذب مطلق ومصدق واثق، إلا أن الكثيرين توسطوا بين هذا وذاك، قائلين إن في القرآن ما يثبت وقوع مثل تلك القصص تاريخياً، خصوصاً قتال الملائكة إلى جانب المؤمنين، مضيفين إن ذلك لا يعني تكرارها وتجييرها، كلٌ لمصلحة قضيته واستغلال العاطفة الدينية، التي قد تفضي إلى تشويه الثورة، ووضعها في إطار الحرب المقدسة، لا ثورة التغيير نحو الحرية.
إطبع
تعليقات القراء 102
جميع التعليقات المنشورة تعبر عن رأي كتّابها ولا تعبر بالضرورة عن رأي إيلاف
January 17th, 2012, 11:54 am
jad said:
Zoo
In my opinion the Turkish state model won’t work in any Arab country except probably in Tunisia, because it’s based on a strict secular constiuation protected by the army, when you have such a strong base you can have a Taliban government if people wants and that won’t change the state.
The government in Turkey comes third after the constituation and the army, this is why the model is working there.
If Syria manage to do that it may work but a strict secular constituation today in Syria is not possible.
January 17th, 2012, 11:56 am
Revlon said:
This article includes a testimony of the late, Syrian writer and journalist Rida Haddad who was tortured at the hands of no one else but General H Bakhtiar and his Boss Ali Douba.
H Bakhtiar’s name is currently circulated as likely Candidate to head the Baath party!
هشام بختيار: مجرم حرب عضو في القيادة القطرية
Hisham Bakhtiar: War criminal for a member of the National Command Council of the Baath Party
2012/01/17
Subhi Hadidi
AlQuds AlArabi
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/46722
صبحي حديدي : القدس العربي
لكي يبرهن نظام بشار الأسد على حقيقة انتمائه بالكامل إلى ماضي (وبالتالي: إلى حاضر) نظام أبيه حافظ الأسد؛ ولكي تُضاف خيبة جديدة إلى سلسلة خيبات الذين راهنوا ـ لأسباب تخصّ قصور الرؤية، أو الشيخوخة الكفاحية، أو مزاج المهادنة، أو حتى الإنتهازية السياسية الصرفة ـ على “الرئيس الشاب”، وعلّقوا الآمال على قراراته “الإصلاحية” التي تأتي ولا تأتي، سنة بعد سنة بعد سنة؛ وأخيراً، لكي يبرهن حزب البعث أنه ـ وهو الهيولى الأقرب إلى جثة هامدة، رغم المليونين من أعضائه الدهماء والرعاع والمننتفعين واللصوص والعسس والمنافقين والأزلام… ـ ليس سوى استطالة شعبوية فاشية، وعميل مباشر لدى مافيات الفساد والإستبداد وأجهزة الأمن الحاكمة… لكي يتأكد كلّ هذا بجلاء ما بعده جلاء، وحتى دونما أي اكتراث من السلطة بالإبقاء على ورقة توت واحدة تستر العورة القبيحة، انتخب المؤتمر العاشر لحزب البعث اللواء المتقاعد هشام بختيار، رئيس جهاز أمن الدولة ومجرم الحرب وأحد أقذر جلاّدي “الحركة التصحيحية” وأكثرهم وحشية وسادية، عضواً في في القيادة القطرية.
الآلاف من أبناء سورية، وبصرف النظر عن عقائدهم الفكرية وتنظيماتهم السياسية وانتماءاتهم المذهبية، ذاقوا أمرّ ألوان التعذيب على يد هذا الجلاد، إسوة بالعشرات أمثاله من الوحوش البشرية التي سهر حافظ الأسد شخصياً على تربيتها عاماً بعد عام، ومنحها ترخيصاً مطلقاً بانتهاك كلّ محرّم إنسانيّ وقانوني في سبيل الحفاظ على أمن النظام. السطور التالية اقتباس مباشر من الشهادة المكتوبة التي دوّنها ـ للتاريخ، وليوم مثل هذا تحديداً ـ الكاتب والصحافي والرفيق المناضل السوري رضا حداد (1954 ـ 1996)، أحد أنبل وأجمل ضحايا هشام بختيار. ولد الشهيد رضا حداد عام لأب دمشقي وأمّ لبنانية جنوبية، ودرس في بيروت، ونشط في صفوف حركة “فتح” ومنظمة العمل الشيوعي في لبنان، وشارك في نضالات المقاومة الفلسطينية والحركة الوطنية اللبنانية. درس اللغة الفرنسية وآدابها في جامعة دمشق، وعمل في الصحافة. انضم إلى صفوف الحزب الشيوعي السوري (المكتب السياسي) عام 1979، واختطفته المخابرات العسكرية من أحد شوارع دمشق أوسط تشرين الاول 1980، وبقي في الإعتقال حتى العام 1995، تنقّل خلالها بين سجون الشيخ حسن والقلعة وعدرا. توفي مساء الاثنين 10/ 6/1996، بعد صراع مع السرطان.
وفي هذه الفقرات من شهادته يتحدث رضا حدّاد عن مجرمَي الحرب هشام بختيار وعلي دوبا:
“(…) تجنبت طوال الحديث السابق الكلام عن مرحلة الإعتقال الأولى، وفترة التحقيق، لأن ذكراها تؤلمني، تشوشني، تحيي في داخلي كل مشاعر الذل والمهانة والألم النفسي، عندما تصبح لا شيء وهم يؤكدون لك بوسائلهم في كل لحظة انك مجرد رقم يمكن أن تمحى ليس من سجلاتهم بل من الوجود متى شاؤوا وببساطة. رقمي أنا كان 61… هذا ما علمته بعد عودتي من المشفى إلى فرع التحقيق. قضيت في المستشفى سبعة أيام، إثنين منها في غرفة العناية المشددة وأنا بحالة غياب كامل عن الوعي. والسبب ببساطة [أنهم] طلبوا مني بعد اعتقالي بدقائق وأنا معصوب العينين ومغلول اليدين والقدمين، طلب مني هشام بختيار، وهو عميد حالياً، كما طلب فيما بعد علي دوبا رئيس شعبة الإستخبارات العسكرية، تزويده بمعلومات لا أملك منها شيئاً. قال: “قل ما نريد و ستعود إلى عملك وبيتك، أنت صحفي ومثقف ونحن لا نريد إيذاءك”. رغم شعوري بالخوف ابتسمت في سري، خمسة عناصر مسلحون بالرشاشات الكلاشينكوف يسوقونني في منتصف الشارع ويخطفوني من الطريق، يعصبون عيني ويكبلون يدي بالأصفاد، ويقول “لا نريد إصابتك بأي أذى”! أكدت لهما عدة مرات أني لا أملك معلومات عن الموضوع الذي يحققون به. نعم، أنا صديق ومؤيد لخطّ الحزب الشيوعي السوري (المكتب السياسي)، لكن هذا لا يعني إمتلاكي المعلومات التي تطلب، أجبت السيد علي دوبا.
وبدأت دورة العذاب الجهنمية التي تركت آثارها في أيامي وطيلة حياتي المتبقية. آثارها جسدية تمثلت بأعطال شبه دائمة وأخرى مؤقته، وآثار نفسية لن تمحوها السنوات. عُلقت على سلم حديدي مرتفع، يدي مشدودة إلى عارضة حديدية وجسمي يلوح في الهواء مرتفعاً عن الأرض بقدر متر تقريباً، بعد أن جُردت من كافة ملابسي. كل هذا وعيناي معصوبتان بعصابة سوداء، مع عدة لكمات في البطن وأسفل الظهر. لم أستطع تحديد الوقت الذي بقيت فيه معلقاً أتأرجح في الهواء. كل ما أذكره الألم الفظيع في عضلات البطن، ثم تشنج وصبيب من العرق، وغياب عن الوعي. صحّوني لتبدأ مرحلة أخرى من العذاب. الضرب بالكابلات على القدمين حتى تورمتا تورماً كاملاً. وكلا الضابطين يعيدان نفس الأسئلة أثناء عملية الضرب، وأنا أؤكد أني لا أملك أية معلومات تفيدهم في الموضوع المطروق. إغماء مرة أخرى. وجدت نفسي بعدها مربوطاً إلى كرسي، وركبتاي تبرزان إلى الأمام وتسبب في ثني ساقي وربطهما بطريقة لا أعرف كيف تتم حتى هذه اللحظة، لأني كنت في حالة تشوش عالية، ولا تزال العصابة على عيني وفخذي في وضعية الفسخ.
تناول العميد هشام جسماً صلباً مفلطحاً وأخذ يضربني بشدة ولؤم على ركبتي ويكيل لي السباب والشتائم بلغة فاحشة مليئة بالبذاءة والرذيلة: “يا كلب، يا حيوان، أنت حشرة سأمعسك بقدمي. يا إبن الشرموطة سأفعل وأترك بأخواتك وأمك “… ويعيد الضرب، وأنا أكرر الإجابة ذاتها. كان اللواء علي دوبا أمهر منه بكثير في السباب والشتائم، ولا غرابة في ذلك فهو رئيسه. وبعد أن ثار غضبه، أخذ علي دوبا يكلمني ويركلني بقدميه، وقال: “والله يا كلب، يا إبن الشرموطة، إذا ما إعترفت، لأحضر زوجتك، هالشرموطة، وأعريها قدامك هون، وأفعل فيها”… أصبت بدوار شديد وشعرت برغبة شديدة في تقيؤ كل محتوياتي في وجه هذا الوحش. غبت عن الوعي مرة أخرى. وصحوت لأجد نفسي ممدداً على الأرض. وقد ربطوا بأصابع يدي ورجلي سلكين كهربائيين، وبدأ التيار يسري في جسدي وأنا ممدد على أرض مبللة بالماء. العميد بختيار يقف عند رأسي، واللواء علي دوبا يجلس على كرسي. للحظات قليلة استطعت مشاهدته من خلال فرجة تحت عصبة العينين السوداء لأني كنت في وضعية استلقاء كاملة. كان يرتدي بنطالاً سكرياً حريرياً، يضع رجلاً على رجل، وفي فمه سيكار ضخم، و يحمل في يده كأساً من الويسكي. هذا ما شاهدته حقاً وأنا أرتعد من سريان التيار الكهربائي في جسدي، والألم يمزق كل خلية في جسمي وبشكل خاص دماغي. كانوا يقفون للحظات يعيدون السؤال، ثم يسكبون الماء على جسدي، و يعودون لتمرير التيار الكهربائي. لم أستطع معرفة مقدار المدة الزمنية التي قضيتها تحت التعذيب. وفي المرحلة الأخيرة لم أعد أقدر على إحتمال الألم. رأسي كرة تلتهب، أشعر بأني أتمزق وأتلاشى، دماغي تكاد تنفجر من شدة الألم والتيار لا يتوقف عن السريان في عروقي. بيأس كامل أخذت ألطم رأسي بشدة بالأرض، بكامل القوة التي بقيت في جسدي كنت أرفع رأسي لأخبطها وأضرب الأرض بشدة. أخذوا يشتمونني. أمسكوا برأسي. وقف علي دوبا مغتاظاً من عدم وصوله إلى أية نتائج مرجوة لمعلومات لا أملك منها شيئاً، وأخذ يركل رأسي بحذائه بقسوة، ويدوس على رقبتي، ويدخل مقدمة حذائه في حلقي وهو يقول غاضباً: “بدّي موتك ياعرص يا إبن الشرموطة! تريد أن تموت بطلاً؟ سألبي لك رغبتك، موت يا شرموط يا إبن العاهرة “. وسمعت شتائم لم أسمعها طيلة حياتي من بشر. ثم تناول خيزرانة وأخذ يضربني بها على مختلف أنحاء جسدي. وهشام يشاركه الضرب بكابل نحاسي. لقد فقد صوابه، وتكسرت عصاه، فتناول الكابل من يد هشام وأخذ يتابع ضربي بشكل هستيري. لم أعد أشعر. غبت عن الوعي تماماً. بعد مضيّ ساعات وجدت نفسي في مشفى لا أعرفه، علمت فيما بعد أنه مشفى المزة، حيث قضيت سبعة أيام، أعدت بعدها إلى فرع تحقيق المنطقة، حيث قضينا خمسة عشر يوماً ملقيين على أرضية غرفة تقع تحت الأرض. خمسة وخمسون رجلاً في أربعة أمتار مربعة لا نعرف ليلاً من نهار، عيوننا معصوبة في الليل والنهار وأيدينا مكبلة بالأصفاد طيلة أربعة وعشرين ساعة، والسجان مقيم معنا في الغرفة. كل عدة ساعات يغيرون السجان الذي يحمل في يده كابلاً نحاسياً لمعاقبة كل من يحاول الكلام مع جاره. العقوبة ضربات وركلات وشتائم لكل من يهفو بحرف إلى جاره الذي يلتصق جسده بجسده، أو يحاول التخفيف من أثر العصابة التي على عينيه بأن يحك عينه من فوق العصابة الجلدية الضاغطة على العينين.
أنا شخصياً كنت في شبه حالة انفصال عما يحدث، لأني أعاني من آلام حادة في كافة أنحاء جسدي لم أكن أستطيع الوقوف أو المشي دون مساعدة أحد للسير عدة أمتار خارج الغرفة لقضاء حاجتي في التبول. أما التغوط فلم يحدث، فقد أصبت بإمساك حاد، طيلة أسبوعين لم أستطع التغوط مما أدى إلى إصابتي بتشققات شرجية توسعت مع سني السجن الطويلة الخمسة عشر، وعانيت بسببها آلاماً مبرحة. اكتشفت بعد استعادتي لوعيي بالتدرج أني مصاب بشلل نسبي في يدي، فأنا لا أستطيع حمل السندويشة بأصابعي، بل بجماع كفي وكذلك كأس الماء (…) وها أنا أكتشف بعد أربعين يوماً من إطلاق سراحي أني مصاب باللوكيميا، ابيضاض الدم. رغم أني غادرت السجن إلا أنه لم يغادرني. فآثار آلامه تغلغلت في دمي، لكن روحي ما زالت تهفو إلى الحرية والكرامة والعدالة”…
January 17th, 2012, 12:00 pm
newfolder said:
video of some of the 300 children killed by security forces in Syria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iL2ItfkPuk
Assad’s forces shell houses in Khaldieh Homs today:
January 17th, 2012, 12:02 pm
ann said:
Six people gunned down by “terrorists” in northern Syria – 2012-01-17
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/17/c_122598704.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — A total of six people, including two law enforcement personnel, were killed Tuesday in separate attacks carried out by “armed terrorist groups” in Idlib province in northern Syria, the state-run SANA news agency reported.
Two law enforcement force members were killed and two civilians were injured when armed groups opened fire at a police vehicle that was passing by al-Mala’ab roundabout in Idlib, said SANA.
Also in Idlib Tuesday, about four civilians were killed and seven others were injured when an explosive device “planted by terrorists” went off on the road connecting Idlib with the town of Saraqeb, another hotbed of violence in northern Syria.
The explosive device was detonated from a distance, said SANA, adding that the intensity of the blast caused the bodies of passengers to get seriously distorted.
The injured were taken to hospitals, according to SANA.
The attacks came just one day after at least nine people were killed in separate attacks across Syria, according to Syria’s private and official media.
Earlier this month, Riad Asaad, the Turkish-based commander of the rebel Free Syrian Army, threatened to step up attacks on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s security forces.
January 17th, 2012, 12:04 pm
ann said:
Russia opposes possible military deployment to Syria – 2012-01-17
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/17/c_122598636.htm
MOSCOW, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Russia won’t support a possible deployment of Arab League peacekeepers to Syria because the alliance lacks legal authority for such a move, the Foreign Ministry said Tuesday.
Moscow was sceptical regarding any plans to dispatch the peacekeepers to Syria, Deputy Foreign Minister Gennadi Gatilov told reporters.
He expressed doubts that if the U.N. Security Council makes such a decision, it will “not lead to anything good, nor to the settlement of the problems of this country.”
However, Moscow would support an Arab League mission to Syria in the future because it has been “positive in general” and Russia has been ready to continue work on a U.N. resolution on Syria, the diplomat said.
He also criticized the Syrian opposition for acting in non-constructive ways and rejecting any possibility to start a political process.
January 17th, 2012, 12:07 pm
Juergen said:
Tara
i have no pity for him, its like Ghadaffi, they choosed this path, why havent they left the country with the gold and the bulgarian nurses to rest from their despotism? And if i were Mubarak i would just think what ungrateful bastards have i brought up…
January 17th, 2012, 12:33 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Does anyone know what is the value of dollar compare to syrian Lira lately?
January 17th, 2012, 12:37 pm
Revlon said:
الأمن العسكري يمنع الإفراج عن الناشط البارز نجاتي طيارة
Najati Tayyara was re-arrested, this time by a different intelligence forces, the militaty one, as he was leaving Homs Central Prsion.
His release order was issued first in late August yet he he was re-arrested then by Air Force intelligence while on his way out of prison.
2012/01/12
http://all4syria.info/web/archives/46746
للمرة الثانية تمنع السلطات الأمنية الإفراج عن الناشط البارز نجاتي طيارة مع عدد من الناشطين، فقد علمت “كلنا شركاء” من مصدر موثوق أنه بعد أن قرر قاضي التحقيق بحمض الإفراج عن نجاتي طيارة ظهر يوم أمس الاثنين 17/1/2012، وقبل خروجه من باب سجن حمص المركزي قامت دورية من الأمن العسكري باختطافه من على باب السجن واقتياده إلى جهة مجهولة مع الناشط رضوان القصاب.وأضاف المصدر أنه تم أيضاً اعتقال كلاً من الناشطين سبيع شوفان محمد تركي الفاتح وعلاء معصراني قبل خروجهم من سجن حمص المركزي .
ويذكر أن محكمة الجنايات بحمص كانت قد قررت يوم 29/8/2011 إخلاء سبيل طيارة بكفالة مالية وقدرها خمسة آلاف ليرة سورية على أن تتم محاكمته طليقاً، إلا أن فرع المخابرات الجوية بحمص كان له رأي أخر فأمر باعتقاله من جديد قبل أن يخرج من سجن حمص المركزي.
وكان الناشط نجاتي طيارة قد اعتقل من قبل المخابرات الجوية التي يرأسها اللواء جميل حسن يوم الخميس في 12/5/2011 على خلفية نشاطه الكبير في فضح الحملة العسكرية التي تعرضت لها مدينة حمص . وطيارة معتقل سياسي سابق ولعب دورا بارزا في الحركة المطالبة بالحريات السياسية المعروفة باسم ربيع دمشق التي سحقت عام 2001 بعد عام من تولي بشار الأسد الرئاسة خلفا لوالده الراحل حافظ الأسد.
ويأتي هذا الاعتقال خلافاً للقانون السوري وتعطيلاً لقرار قضائي، وهذا ما يثبت للمرة الألف أن القرار القضائي في سورية ليس له أية قيمة، فالقرار الأول والأخير هو للأجهزة الأمنية التي تتحكم بالبلاد والعباد.
January 17th, 2012, 12:45 pm
Juergen said:
Majed
here you always find the offical rate
57.78 for 1 Dollar
I have no clue what the black market rate is…
I have never seen any higher euro rate than now, not even after the Hariri murder.
http://www.banquecentrale.gov.sy/main-eg.htm
January 17th, 2012, 12:50 pm
jad said:
Dear Son of Damascus:
I’m aware that you already know this but please take it as a friendly advice, we don’t need to take every bad word we get from any anonymous commentator on SC or any where else literally or seriously, especially the cursing ones since it doesn’t mean more than a sign of frustration and disagreement and it will end the moment those words are written, so lets try to ignore it if it’s a one time incident.
I apologize in advance for a very long comment with plenty of typos and grammar mistakes, sorry, I didn’t have time to review it:
In #1025 you wondered:
A menhabak writing about principles
-‘Menhabak’ term becomes a little bit old, besides, Ghalyoun/SNC supporters proved to be more ‘Minhebakjieh’ than the Assad’s ones, so they deserve that term more than anybody else.
-‘principles’ Yes, human beings have principles that dictate the way they live, we may share the same one and differ in others, but for most of us that doesn’t change the fact that the act of killing by anybody must be rejected regardless how much we may support or like that person/group, therefore your sentence as sarcasm doesn’t work when the word ‘principles’ in my comment were directed to those who support the act of killing by the people they support and keep defending every atrocity done under their names, that is a betray of human ‘principles’ in my book.
Lets examine those principles shall we:
– It is O.K. to kill Syrians, but not the Syrian moukhabarat.
Killing anybody is forbidden and should be condemned, not all the 2000+ army, security, police men and regime supporter killed in this struggle deserve to be killed. It’s not O.K. it’s wrong and a crime.
– The Foreign media has an agenda against Syria for its role in the resistance, except when they write something they like then they are honest, and unbiased.
You already know that there is no media outlet in the whole universe that doesn’t have a specific agenda, political, financial, or personal. And you also know that ‘resistance’ is a bad word since 1948 and you know that no writer is honest or unbiased, so everything we read in the media regardless how much trust we have for the writer has a message in it to support the ‘agenda’ of that specific outlet, in short, the sentence you wrote hold lots of reality than what you meant.
– If you ask for humility, you deserve humiliation. If you ask for freedom you deserve death.
Nobody on SC called for what you described, every sane Syrian is calling for freedom and justice, but we disagree on the tools used to bring freedom and change.
Freedom coming by guns and more killing is not sustainable and won’t build Syrians any viable safe and diverse country we all are calling for. So our mission is to shape the freedom we want without the need to deform it just because we don’t want to critics the wrong doing, if we want to start right, this is the right time to say NO to everything that won’t bring us what we want. Later we won’t be allowed to say anything, dictatorship starts the moment we stop questioning facts and let our emotion to lead us. Logic must prevail over emotion in any struggle.
Sectarianism, violence, revenge, discrimination, hate, lies shouldn’t be tolerated anymore by any side under any reason. Seriously don’t you feel bad when you read the most outrageous comments by Revlon? Didn’t you ask yourself, how come nobody challenges the sectarian, violence and hate message he keeps spreading?
– Anybody and everybody that is protesting are: A) High on drugs B) Paid to demonstrate C) are infiltrators D) Salafi/MB/KSA/CIA/MOSSAD/TURK/… sympathizers.
Not sure where did you read that or if you referring to me personally because until today I didn’t write what you described.
No, I don’t believe that everybody protesting is what you wrote but I believe that many thugs and criminals and terrorists are using innocent people as human shields and blanket for their aggressive actions, we saw it many times already and I condemn these actions, it’s a pure terrorist action against all of us and against those people who are dying in vein as a result of such terrorist actions.
– Using sources such as (Communist, obscure blogs, Sana, Dunnya, …) is totally acceptable as long as it follows the narrative they are looking for.
Every one of us is free to use any resource he/she likes, we have no rights in censoring what people linked but we have brains to either accept, refuse or debate what’s presented, this is the beauty of SC now, because you read from every side not one sided story all the time until you become detached from reality and stuck to the white/black way of thinking. So for me it’s totally accepted and encouraged to bring news from any resource and anybody else has the right to ignore/support the link. Freedom is what we want right?
In #1045
Well I have been called a terrorist sympathizer repeatedly today, you might have not personalized it directly to me, but you choose to call anyone that does not support the regime terrorist sympathizers (I don’t support the regime). I merely pointed out some observations I had from your posts, you are the one that chose to personalize by calling me a “well connected rich kid”.
As you wrote, I didn’t personalized the ‘terrorist sympathiser’ to you and I won’t, my comment was directed to people who repeatedly support any action of violence done by the armed militia without questioning the results and how are those actions affecting our society, for me that is ‘terrorism’ and I refuse to accept any action of violence by any side out of emotional reaction or as the only way out.
It should be known by now since I repeated many times already, I disagree of using violence as a method to solve any issue, nothing good comes out of that other than more blood, revenge and hatred between the society elements which means a bleak future filled with madness, bloody struggle, civil strives and no democracy in any form which takes away the only one cause that people went out for at the beginning.
If that sounds biased or immoral to you and many others it’s not my problem anymore, it’s yours to deal with, I have one message that I keep repeating, dialogue and reconciliations not wars and calling for revenge to speed up the vicious circle of violence is what we need right now. It’s ‘logic’ what we should look for nothing else if we really want a way out of this evil hole we stumbled in.
it is about time that we Syrians recognize the evilly of this regime and try to do something about it. You claim you don’t support the regime, yet you trumpet their cause, does that not seem odd to you?
Do you think that Syrians don’t recognize the brutality and corruption of the dictatorship regime they live under? Most if not all Syrians recognize that, but for many reasons, many of them, me included, lost the trust in the message of the revolution, after a very short time of the peaceful beginning the message got twisted in the most ugly way possible, we saw nothing out of this struggle but misery, blood, poverty, sanctions, lies, weapons, violence, international power manipulation, treason, and many of the ugliest crimes Syrians ever seen throughout their modern history.
We already know that more than half of those crimes are committed but the regime but what’s forgotten, hidden and lied about is the other part that is committed under the name of every Syrian went in the street calling for what’s right. For every brave Syrian who died I the street by the regime another Syrian was also killed by terrorists, yet we should only glorify those killed by the regime and curse and forget those innocent Syrians killed by the terrorists? Why? Why a Syrian life shouldn’t be equally respected and be saddened for? How wrong is that?
If I or anybody else doesn’t challenge the propaganda out there that meant to convince us with the right side how can we have a better vision of the future we supposedly going toward, what I see today that we are going from one dictatorship to another.
Unfortunately, and I mean it, the message of the uprising was hijacked and manipulated by everybody, each for its own reasons, then it was handed to us through endless manipulation of emotions and a vicious propaganda that kept refusing to show the most dangerous segment of truth most probably out of fear that reality may hurt the cause more than it helps. But today this small mistake of not being honest and brave enough to face reality as Haytham Manna did early on is what is hurting the cause the most in the eyes of many Syrians.
Many Syrians don’t want dictatorship but at the same time they don’t want civil war, they don’t want occupations, they don’t want violence, they don’t want for every criminal to talk on their behalf, Syrians want what they deserve, a better, safe and thriving future for them and their children away from the violence that will bring them destruction and misery.
I happened to believe that the peaceful phase of the revolution did end and what we are seeing now is nothing but the ugly phase of what many people do not want.
So my answer is NO I don’t see it odd that I’m trying to show the other half of the story, someone should do this, we’ve been driven like sheep for too long, it’s time to bring in every piece of this puzzle to see clearly where we are heading. I don’t want to read the news without questioning it.
I feel guilty because a 14 year old in the name of Hamza Al Khateeb had to die in the most heinous way, for me to realize that the people I chose to call my friends were directly involved in his death (…) I feel guilt for the factory workers that I have known since childhood have all been through hell while close family members claim everything will be fine, this is all just a mouamara against Syria.
Son of Damascus, I can’t write anything about your guilt feeling and disgust of some people close to you that you think they commit the crime, because I don’t know what happened or who did the killing, I can only say: (la tazr waziraton wizra oukhra). Every person should be responsible of his/her actions, the crime of Hamza Alkha6eeb is unforgettable and whoever committed such atrocity must pay, period.
The same feeling you have many from the other side have too, but you were brave enough to write what you think about, what about Sari Sa3oud? Did you read from any opposition figure about the guilt feeling you have? Isn’t that strange that nobody feels guilty for Sari? Is he not a kid? Is he not a victim of violence? Doesn’t he have a mother and family too? You got my point.
“claim everything will be fine” Not only your family said that, most of the Syrians actually BELIEVED that. So don’t be too hard on yourself, you couldn’t do anything better than what you are doing. You are a brave man Son of Damascus.
It is really tough giving up on something that you have known your entire life, so many beliefs turned upside down, not knowing what reality is anymore. The fog is dense and hard to cut through, the cult of so called Baathist secularism were the Assad Clan turned into gods is like a drug
We are not giving up ‘something’ we’ve been asked to give up ‘everything’ for the unknown, which is inacceptable any way you looked at.
Funny enough you mentioned the Bass and Assad, because all my life in Syria I was never in any political party, never been forced to go into a demonstration, and never believed what
I hope you will see that Syria without Assad will survive
I have no doubt that Syria will survive without Assad, what I really want is a dialogue that will lead to a more organized transition not a chaos or a civil war or an occupation.
I share your fear that religious fundamentalist will attempt to hijack our country, and that is why it is so prudent that the non religious make their voices heard, and guarantee that our right to freedoms will never be infringed upon again, that the state fear us above all, the constituents, no matter who is in government.
I wish that too, but from what we read in the news it’s not promising, sorry for being a pessimist on this point, but when nobody is addressing the legitimate fear Syrians have for their future and without any clear plans and visions, we have no choice but to be worried and suspicious of what’s planned for Syria behind closed doors.
22 some million people in Syria are not aware of, and many are striving for.
Democracy is a built up culture, it doesn’t bloom in one day, so the democracy we are experiencing in the western world was already rooted for many generations before it’s at the shape is today.
We all wish that Syrians can enjoy such culture now, we just need to be more realistic about our expectation, the culture of democracy to flourish it will take some time, especially in a an area where old traditions and strong distinctive social and religious cultures dominating every aspect of Syrian lives, therefore we have to start somewhere in the middle to go forward and the first step there is to learn how to talk to each other without the need to kill each other, hence the dialogue is the starting point from my understanding.
6000+ killed, god knows how many tortured, and imprisoned. All asking for freedom, something I hope you never take for granted.
I share your sentiment, however, sometimes, we have no choice but to deal with reality and try to make the best outcome possible, not what we dream of.
January 17th, 2012, 2:13 pm
Syrialover said:
#1084
Historian-writer Sami Moubayad always manages to keep one rose colored lens in his glasses.
“..[Russia] are more interested in Syria itself, with which they have had strong relations since 1957, rather than the Syrian regime.”
Fact: The current Russian leadership and Syrian regime share a strong bond of corruption, violence and scorn for rule of law, and are the object of rising condemnation, distrust and contempt both by their own countrymen and the rest of the world.
Russia’s default foreign policy stance, no matter how they frame it, is that of insisting any bad guys must be left in peace to get away with it.
January 17th, 2012, 2:17 pm
Juergen said:
Voltaire net has published this video on Gilles Jacquiers death.
The “expert” suggests that Jaquier was a spy.
I find those Voltairenet folks always amusing, its quite an effort to find behind every action an conspirancy, with the issue of Syria my amusement went down to zero…
January 17th, 2012, 2:22 pm
Tara said:
Hamas did not criticize the regime openly but managed not to anger the Syrian people. This is very much in contrast to the contemptible HA who is killing Syrian…I honestly believe that HA is going to be the biggest loser at the end. Assad is going to be toppled but he never had legitimacy so essentially he is going to lose something he has never had. This is in sharp contrast to Nasrallah who once had it all.
http://www.officialwire.com/main.php?action=posted_news&rid=192782
Hamas officials say senior members of their exiled leadership will evacuate their families from the group’s headquarters in Syria.
….
The officials, speaking from Damascus, said Tuesday that the evacuations are in response to the deteriorating security situation in Syria, where President Bashar Assad has been resisting a 10-month uprising.
The officials say the families of three top officials — Moussa Abu Marzouk, Mohammed Naser and Izzat Risheq — are set to leave at the end of the month, while the three men will remain in Damascus.
In recent months, Hamas has pulled lower level officials and their families out of Syria.
The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were discussing the inner workings of the secretive group.
January 17th, 2012, 2:46 pm
newfolder said:
video showing a T72 tank destroyed today by the FSA in Zabadani
January 17th, 2012, 2:49 pm
newfolder said:
#1092 the black market value of the dollar today is 71.5 lira
January 17th, 2012, 2:57 pm
aldendeshe معتز الدندشي said:
Some idiot Said”
لكي يبرهن نظام بشار الأسد على حقيقة انتمائه بالكامل إلى ماضي (وبالتالي: إلى حاضر) نظام أبيه حافظ الأسد؛ ولكي تُضاف خيبة جديدة إلى سلسلة خيبات الذين راهنوا ـ لأسباب تخصّ قصور الرؤية، أو الشيخوخة الكفاحية، أو مزاج المهادنة، أو حتى الإنتهازية السياسية الصرفة ـ على “الرئيس الشاب”، وعلّقوا الآمال على قراراته “الإصلاحية” التي تأتي ولا تأتي، سنة بعد سنة بعد سنة؛ وأخيراً، لكي يبرهن حزب البعث أنه ـ وهو الهيولى الأقرب…………”
وين كنت يامسلم حقير لما صرلنا من عام ١٩٨١ نكافح ضد حزب البعث هيك ناقصنا بدوي مسلم جاهل حقير يلطشنا ـ تلحظ طيزي مهبول ـ شو كتبت يا أبن العرصة لما عربك المسلمين المنافقين بعتو المليارات للبعثية العلوية ـماكان من اقل من سنة موسخ الحرمين قاعد بواجهة بشار الأ سد بدمشق متل الصبي المأجور وعم يمدح النظام البعثي ويقول أنه بشار متل ولده غالي عليه ـ يابدوي مسلم حقير بدلا من تسخيرنا لحماية وطننا أعتزر يا مسلم بلا شرف أو ناموس على فصول البدو المسلمين الحقيرين ضد الشعب السوري السنة ـ يلعن شرفك وعرضك واطي
بدلأ من يبعت طنبور مليان بالذهب ورساءل اعتزار من الجهلأ البدو قاعد من لندن يلطشنا القذر
العمى على هل الرزالة والوطاويه
January 17th, 2012, 2:57 pm
jad said:
Some works of the “Angels”:
شاهد كيف تقوم العصابات المسلحة بالتفجيرات في حمص
http://youtu.be/PGLo71Lm544
“الجيش يقصف …. الجيش يدمر …. الجيش يحرق …. الجيش يخرب الابنية …. الخ
هذا مايتم تداوله في الاعلام المغرض عند حدوث اي تفجير في سوريا … وفي كل الاحيان يتهمون الجيش والامن والدولة …
هذا فيديو نضعه بين ايديكم يبين العصابات المسلحة وكيفية قيامها باستهداف الابنية وكيف تضع المتفجرات وتفجرها بعد وقت قصير ….
شاهد بنفسك …..”
اختطاف اربعة رجال والاعتراف بالاكراه – الزبداني
http://youtu.be/4TOIA_Nol_8
“خلال بحثنا على اليوتيوب اليوم استوقفنا هذا الفيديو وهو اعتراف للشبيحة كما زعمو … و خلال مشاهدتنا الفيديو والتدقيق فيه لاحظنا انه اعتراف بالاكراه بكل ماتعنية الكلمة فعندما يقول احد المخطوفين انه من امن الدولة يصرخ احد الاشخاص من وراء الكاميرا ويقول له بالسياسية … بالسياسية … والملاحظ وجود كدمات واثار لاستخدام العنف وتلقين الكلام الواضح في اخر الفيديو
ترددنا في نشر الفيديو ولكن بالنهاية اتفقنا على نشره لكي يرى الناس سلميتهم واذاوماذا تعني كلمة الجيش الحر ( جيش الارهاب والخطف والقتل )
ولكنا مايسعنا سوى الدعاء بان يفك اسرهم وان يرجعو الى اهلهم سالمين معافين
اسماء المخطوفين حسب ورودهم في الفيديو :
محمود عامر بيطار – رنكوس
فايز علوش – الشام
فندي عقاب الطويل – السويداء
فؤاد عبد الكريم ناصر – حمص”
January 17th, 2012, 3:15 pm
defender said:
Muslim-Christian conference warns of new US conspiracy
January 17th, 2012, 3:18 pm
newfolder said:
Tik tik tik ya im Bashar, revolution song mocking Bashar dedicated to all the freedom prisoners:
January 17th, 2012, 3:27 pm
Tara said:
@1104
فرقة بنوتات… Ah, so cool!
Yes, I believe that the Syrian women are the cornerstone of this Syrian revolution. This revolution could not have possibly lasted 11 months and counting without the women’s involvement. This involvement may not be apparent to inexperienced eye but it is the women who send their men to war. There is Razan, Fadwa, , Basma, Suhair, and Mai in almost all free Syrian woman and it in my opinion what will make us victorious.
January 17th, 2012, 3:44 pm
Observer said:
The unofficial rate is 72 to the dollar if you can find someone to sell you dollars. Some have said it is up to 80 to the dollar.
It is interesting that I have looked into the youtube videos that people have posted. What is interesting is that there are some on this blog that post a youtube to demonstrate the presence of armed terrorists. What I found is that on the margin of the youtube video there are other videos the majority of which show the brutality of the regime’s actions. I guess these are just copy and paste without realizing that they are also giving us access to many more youtube videos of the brutality of the regime
Tayara was just interviewed on AlJazeera and spoke of horrendous prison conditions he actually used the word hellish or jahanamiah in describing his detention.
I have no clue what the regime wants, an iron fist, a dialogue, a national unity cabinet, an AL conference of dialogue and reconciliation, a reform or just a soap opera in bad taste.
If the matriarch is running the show still she has miscalculated big time.
Today’s WSj had a superb article about the currency woes in Iran and the precipitous drop in the value of over 55% and the rapid rise of inflation to 20% that is whay the Iranian central bank raised the interest rate to 21% to stem the tide and has banned unofficial exchange offices with police raids.
Now I do sympathize with the Iranian revolution since their country was taken hostage through the Shah for decades and I do support their quest for independence in all spheres be it financial or technical or military or what have you but I regret to say that they have miscalculated the Arab Spring and have seen the world through a one size fits all prism that does not fit with reality. After all, the Baath party is deeply anti religious and almost racist in its Arabness.
Cheers the end is near the germs have multiplied and have antibiotic resistance
January 17th, 2012, 3:53 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
It is funny, Menhebbakjie dont like this name,they may prefer Shabbiha.
January 17th, 2012, 3:54 pm
Syrialover said:
1095. Jad
Thank you. I’ve taken in what you’ve written and appreciate the thoughts you’ve shared. It’s worth the long read.
Please give us more thoughtful contributions like this instead of the endless cutting and pasting which now makes the comments section almost impossible to scroll through and read.
Incidentally, it’s time people stopped going on about solving everything by getting democracy. I agree with those who point out the main aspiration must be rule of law and competent policy makers and bureaucracy.
Syrians are going to need a lot of assistance to build those things on the scorched wasteland of the Assad era. Holding elections is the really easy bit.
January 17th, 2012, 3:54 pm
defender said:
http://www.infowars.com/real-events-on-the-ground-in-syria-completely-contrary-to-media-depictions/
Real events on the ground in Syria completely contrary to media depictions
January 17, 2012
The British journalist Lizzie Phelan said the image of events on ground in Syria is completely contrary to what some media try to depict and present to the public opinion.
Phelan, who is now on a visit to Syria, said that she was surprised upon her arrival in Damascus as a journalist 6 days ago to see the situation as it is, as she had thought, based on the image presented by media, that Syria is not safe where chaos is prevailing, the army deployed in the streets and the anti-government protests are being held daily and everywhere.
She stressed in an interview with the Syrian TV that what she has seen during her visit is that life is normal and that people go to their businesses and schools in spite of some problems.
She asserted that the city of Damascus is very safe as she has been moving in it alone in the late hours of the night and has not been faced with any problem or seen any big anti-government protests.
Phelan pointed out that she saw the huge pro-government rally in the Umayyad Square and was surprised with the reality of the situation in Syria, which she said is completely different from what is being conveyed to the West, the US and other countries.
The British journalist considered that President Bashar al-Assad’s coming out to the Umayyad Square and his direct talk to the people was “very interesting” for her since the media such as the BBC and al-Jazeera TV channels claim that the Syrian people are not with President al-Assad, noting that the tens of thousands of people who gathered in the Square were very glad to see him and expressed their love and support for him.
January 17th, 2012, 4:10 pm
jad said:
From the NCB FB:
هيئة التنسيق الوطنية في سوريا
مشاركة :
==========================
جيش منشق ضعيف العدة والعتاد + مجلس يستجدي الخارج بلا جدوي = ضياع الثورة السلمية وسيطرة النظام المستبد مرة أخرى
جيش منشق ضعيف العدة والعتاد + مجلس يستجدي الخارج + تدخلات عسكرية للدعم = تدمير البلد وقتل مئات الآلاف وتفتييت البلد وحرب طائفية وشروط تفقد الشعب قراره الحر وكرامته.
جيش منشق ينضم للثورة السلمية بدون سلاح + مظاهرات سلمية + إضراب عام + عصيان مدني + لافتات حضارية + مراقبين عرب محايدين وإعلام مستقل= تفكك في النظام المستبد ورحيل وحل سياسي وطني ودولة مدنية ديمقراطية وكرامة وحرية.
فأيهم تفضل أيها السوري؟
=======================
أحمد حجازي
January 17th, 2012, 4:42 pm
Syrialover said:
#1109
The bottom line on Iran: its domestic oil industry is a poorly run shambles with huge undercapacity in production.
Those holding onto power by the gun in Iran simply lack the qualifications to run the country. They are criminally wasting Iranians’ lives and resources and have created a desperately bleak situation without hope for young people.
And that’s what the moronic Assad has always chosen as a best friend and closest ally for Syria! There’s another bottom line to reflect on.
January 17th, 2012, 4:53 pm
newfolder said:
#1109 hahaah, the dumbass Liar Lizzie Phelan has been recruited by Assad, lol this should be fun. See her “award winning” bullshit reports from Libya when Tripoli fell:
“Eyewitnesses dismiss rebel advances on Tripoli as misinformation 21 08 2011”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=27TjUb8n6jo
January 17th, 2012, 4:54 pm
Amir in Tel Aviv said:
I read somewhere that Anisa told her son boy-king, that he has no choice but to follow his father’s steps. Any confirmation ?
.
January 17th, 2012, 5:04 pm
Syrialover said:
1106
The bottom line on Iran: its domestic oil industry is a poorly run shambles with huge undercapacity in production.
Those holding onto power by the gun in Iran simply lack the qualifications to run the country. They are criminally wasting Iranians’ lives and resources and have created a desperately bleak situation without hope for young people.
And that’s what the moronic Assad has always chosen as a best friend and closest ally for Syria! There’s another bottom line to reflect on.
January 17th, 2012, 5:07 pm
newfolder said:
وحدهم يقاومون
الياس خوري
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today\16qpt998.htm&arc=data\201211-16\16qpt998.htm
السوريون وحدهم، هذا ما كان وما سوف يكون، كل الكلام المبتذل عن طلب التدخل الخارجي، او التذرّع بالتدخل الخارجي، تهاوى. وحده النظام يستعين بالخارج ويستجلب الاسطول الروسي، ويستقوي بالسلاح المستورد من موسكو، وبحليفه الايراني.
اما شباب سورية وشاباتها، الذين غطت دماؤهم السماء، فانهم وحدهم.
وحدهم يتظاهرون ووحدهم يموتون.
وحدهم يصنعون الأمل، ووحدهم يتدثرون باليأس.
وحدهم، هتافاتهم واهازيجهم وصمودهم وبطولاتهم، تكتب الصفحة الأكثر اشراقا في تاريخ بلادهم وتاريخ العرب.
وحدهم، متروكون لمصيرهم. لا امريكا ستفعل شيئا لأجلهم، ولا عرب امريكا يريدون ذلك او قادرون عليهم.
وحدهم، لأنهم طرقوا بوابة المستحيل، وقالوا ان قلب العرب يجب ان ينبض من جديد، فاجتمعت ضدهم اعتى آلة عسكرية فاشية، وامعنت فيهم قتلا، والعالم يتفرج.
المراقبون العرب لم يكونوا سوى نتاج البؤس العربي، الذي حوّل العالم العربي الى ملعب للقوى الاقليمية والأجنبية.
والجامعة العربية تقول ما لا تفعل، تغطي فتوق العجز بالكلام، ولا تملك اي وسيلة ضغط فعلية كي تتوقف المذبحة.
اما العالم الغربي، الذي عشنا عقودا في ظل تواطئه مع الدكتاتور العربي، والذي حاول ان يستلحق نفسه بعد سقوط بن علي، ولا يعنيه من الثورة المصرية سوى دعم الانقلاب العسكري خوفا على معاهدة كامب دايفيد، والذي ساهمت طائراته في اسقاط الدكتاتور الليبي طمعا في جنة النفط، هذا العالم يقف مترددا امام الثورة السورية، وهذا ما كنا منذ البداية على اقتناع تام به. فامريكا لا تريد سوى مصلحة اسرائيل، ومصلحة اسرائيل تكمن في اضعاف سورية كوطن، وارهاقها، كي يصير دكتاتورها مجرد دمية لا حول لها.
كل النقاش الذي تورط فيه المثقفون السوريون كان وهماً. كل الكلام عن تدخل خارجي كان بلا معنى.
الخلاف ليس بين من يريد تدخلا لن يحصل، وبين من لا يريد تدخلا، هو خلاف وهمي.
السؤال هو كيف تنتصر الثورة السورية.
بعد عشرة اشهر من اندلاعها، تجد الثورة السورية نفسها مهددة. لقد ضاع الكثير من الوقت والجهد على التحالفات الدولية والعربية، وكان الأحرى ان ينصب الجهد كله من اجل بناء مؤسسات الثورة، كي يستطيع الشعب الوصول الى هدفه في اسقاط النظام.
هذا هو السؤال.
السؤال يبدأ من واقع آن للجميع قراءته بدقة: الشعب السوري وحده في مواجهة آلة القمع.
هذا هو الواقع الذي يجب الانطلاق منه، بل هذا ما كشفه الواقع منذ الأيام الاولى لاندلاع اكبر انتفاضة شعبية في تاريخ العرب المعاصر.
المواجهة بين شعب اعزل وبين نظام فاشي، بنى آلة عسكرية مخيفة في انتظار لحظة الانقضاض الشاملة على الشعب.
كان الرئيس السوري واضحاً في خطابيه الأخيرين، فهو يعلن ببساطة ووضوح وبلغة لا التباس فيها انه قرر ان ينتصر على الشعب!
تم حشد الناس بالطريقة ‘البعثية’ اياها، كي يقف فيهم الرئيس خطيباً ويقول انه سينتصر عليهم، وأنه لا يبالي بأحد.
يقول للناس وللعالم انه قرر ان ينتصر على شعبه، يستخدم اللغة الملتبسة اياها في الكلام عن الاصلاح وما شابه، يناور في كل شيء ولا يعطي شيئاً، لكنه يبقى ممسكاً بالبندقية، كي يعلن انه لن يتراجع عن قراره بالحسم.
لعبة النظام صارت واضحة، انها استدراج الثورة السورية الى الحسم العسكري، وهناك يستطيع الابن ان يستعيد ‘امجاد’ الأب، محولا سورية كلها الى حماه ثانية.
هذا هو الخطر الذي يجب ان يعيه الجميع. النظام يستطيع ان يلجأ الى الحسم العسكري الشامل، وعبر غزو المدن والقرى.
لكن لعبة الحسم العسكري رغم خطرها الأكيد لم تعد تخيف السوريين، لا لأنهم يملكون جيشاً موازيا يستطيع مقاومة الجيس النظامي، بل لأنهم يملكون ما لا يستطيع اي جيش الانتصار عليه: الارادة والوحدة.
ليس التنسيق بين المجلس الوطني والجيش الحر هو ما سيغير المعادلة، رغم ضرورته، وليس البحث المتعثّرعن قواسم مشتركة للمعارضات السورية هو الجواب، رغم ان هذا المسعى يجب ان يستمر.
الجواب هو في الابداع الشعبي الذي تصنعه حمص وادلب ودير الزور وريف دمشق وحماه وحي الميدان وطلبة حلب… انه القرار بأن لا عودة الى الوراء، وان اية قوة عسكرية في العالم، مهما عظمت لا تستطيع ان تقهر ارادة شعب قرر ان يقاوم الى النهاية.
الجواب في تنسيقيات الثورة، التي تنهض بعد كل ضربة وموجة اعتقال، في شجاعة الناس وهم يحتقرون الذل ولا يخافون، الجواب هو في الأيدي المرتفعة والأقدام التي تقرع الأرض، والدموع التي صارت بلون الدماء.
الجواب كان وسيكون سورياً.
المعركة طويـــــلة. الثورة السورية هي الأصعب والأكثر جذريــــة والأكثر كلفة. لا وجود هنا لجيش يقف على الحياد على الطريقــــــة التونسية، او لجيش يصطاد الثورة بما يشبه الانقلاب على الطريقة المصرية، او لطائرات الناتو التي دمرت اكثر مما حمت المدنيين على الطريقة الليبية.
في سورية ثورة طويلة بشروط معقدة وكلفة عالية وتضحيات كبرى.
لا تستطيع الثورة ان تنهزم او تتراجع، خيارها الوحيد هو الاستمرار حتى اسقاط النظام.
السوريون وحدهم، وهم يعلمون ان مهمتهم هي الأكبر، لأن مصير ثورتهم سيحدد مستقبل بلادهم ومستقبل العرب.
January 17th, 2012, 5:08 pm
Dale Andersen said:
From the EU/CIA/JewBoy/Saudi/Salfist/al Qaeda Press:
“…’they are nothing but mafia, they are tyrants, sinners and murderers,’ Sheikh Nawaf al-Bashir said of Bashar and his regime. Criticizing Syria’s traditional allies, Russia and Iran, he went on to say, ‘The Syrian regime is buying weapons from Russia and Iran to kill the Syrian people.’…”
He’s talking about your boy, Jaddie and Spammie Annie. You better rush and get some cut-and-paste bullshit up on SC before your minders cut your paychecks for sleeping on the job…
January 17th, 2012, 5:12 pm
ann said:
News Analysis: Syrian analysts dismiss Qatari proposal of Arab troops “irrational” – 2012-01-18
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/18/c_122598781.htm
DAMASCUS, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Syrian analysts shared their government’s rejection to the Qatari suggestion of sending Arab troops to Syria, saying the proposal is “irrational” and that the Arab countries “don’t have the military capability to do so.”
“The Qatari proposal could not be serious as the Arab countries are not ready to send their troops outside their borders,” Hamdi Abdullah, a political analyst told Xinhua Tuesday.
“There are two possibilities. Either the Arab troops would come in coordination with the Syrian government, which will not happen, or they would come in the form of invasion, and in this case, a war would start between them and the Syrian army… The Arabs don’ t have the military power to start such a war,” said Abdullah.
Qatar Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al Thani said in excerpts of an interview released on Saturday that he favored sending Arab troops to Syria to stop the violence there, citing the Arab League (AL) observers’ failure to curb the escalating violence in the Middle Eastern nation.
The emir became the first Arab leader to publicly suggest military intervention when he said “for such a situation … some troops should go to stop the killing.”
Meanwhile, George Gabbour, former parliamentarian, said the Qatari leader is trying to push Arab troops to act according to his will after failing to internationalize the Syrian crisis.
“He should, instead, call for more observers in Syria because their presence will help curb the simmering violence in the country,” Gabbour told Xinhua by phone on Tuesday.
Ahmad al-Haj Ali, former advisor to the information minister, said Qatar “is still working to further fuel the sedition in Syria and tear the country from inside.”
He dismissed the proposal as “unwarranted and futile,” adding that “it unveils the bad intentions of Qatar and exposes its policies.”
Earlier in the day, Syria’s Foreign Ministry rejected the Qatari suggestion.
Syria confirms its absolute rejection to such calls that could aggravate the situation, abort the Arab efforts and open the doors for foreign intervention, Syria’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Syrian people “rejects all kinds of foreign intervention in its affairs, under any title, and would confront any attempt to infringe upon Syria’s sovereignty and integrity of its territories, ” the statement said.
The ministry noted that Syria, while reasserting its commitment to what has been agreed upon in accordance with the Arab plan, renews its call for Arab countries and the Arab League to exert tangible efforts to stop all instigating campaigns and media mobilization that aim to deteriorate the situation.
The statement urges the Arabs to assist Syria in battling terrorist infiltration and weapon smuggling to “reinforce stability and security that would pave the way for a constructive national dialogue that aims to find a political solution to the crisis in Syria.”
“it would be regrettable to see Arab blood shed on the Syrian soil for the service of well-known agendas,” the statement said.
The Qatari proposal was also dismissed by Russia, a key ally to Syria. Russian foreign ministry said Tuesday that Moscow will not support a possible deployment of AL peacekeepers to Syria because the alliance lacks legal authority for such a move.
Deputy Foreign Minister Gennadi Gatilov also expressed doubts that if the UN Security Council makes such a decision, it will ” not lead to anything good, nor to the settlement of the problems of this country.”
However, Moscow would support an AL mission to Syria in the future because it has been “positive in general”, said the diplomat, who also criticized the Syrian opposition for acting in non-constructive ways and rejecting any possibility to start a political process.
January 17th, 2012, 5:26 pm
ann said:
AL to send 10 more observers to Syria – 2012-01-18
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-01/18/c_122598762.htm
Cairo, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — The Arab League (AL) will send 10 more observers to Syria to join an AL team monitoring the situation there, Adnan al-Khodair, head of the pan-Arab body’s monitoring operations room in the Egyptian capital of Cairo, said Tuesday, Egypt’s official MENA news agency reported.
The 10 observers are from Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Somalia, Khodair said.
Currently, the AL has 155 observers in Syria, after 10 left for their countries on private businesses. Khodair stressed that their withdrawal is totally for personal reasons.
He added that the Syria mission mandate will be extended for three days until Jan. 22, when the Arab foreign ministers will convene to review a report to be submitted by head of the Arab observer mission Moustafa al-Dabi.
January 17th, 2012, 5:45 pm
Uzair8 said:
@1109 Defender:
“The British journalist Lizzie Phelan…”
I thought I’d google her to find more on her. Found this on wiki:
However her credibility as a neutral journalist has been repeatedly questioned, and she has been accused of acting as a mouthpiece for the Gaddafi regime. She added credance to this by referring to the rebels as ‘rats’, echoing the words of Gaddafi.
….
Lizzie Phelan has been reporting for Russia Today, Press TV, Pravda.ru, and the Voltaire Network.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lizzie_Phelan
January 17th, 2012, 6:25 pm
ann said:
Rick Perry doubles down on Turkey terrorism charge – Tuesday, January 17, 2012
http://thecable.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/01/17/rick_perry_doubles_down_on_turkey_terrorism_charge
After Turkey’s Foreign Ministry lashed out at GOP presidential hopeful Rick Perry for saying that Turkey is led by “Islamic terrorists,” the Perry campaign doubled down on those remarks and told The Cable the incident shows why Perry is bolder than President Barack Obama and GOP rival Mitt Romney on foreign policy.
“Governor Perry will not apologize because he doesn’t think the comments merit an apology. He will not back down from the comments,” Perry’s top foreign policy advisor Victoria Coates told The Cable on Tuesday.
Coates was reacting to the Turkey’s statement that it “strongly condemned” Perry’s comments at Monday’s GOP presidential debate, when Perry said Turkey was ruled by “what many would perceive to be Islamic terrorists.” He continued by saying, “Not only is it time for us to have a conversation about whether or not they belong to be in NATO, but it’s time for the United States, when we look at their foreign aid, to go to zero with it.”
“Turkey joined NATO while the governor was still 2 years old,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry statement said. “It is a member that has made important contributions to the trans-Atlantic alliance’s conflict-full history. It is among countries that are at the front lines in the fight against terrorism.”
Perry himself defended the comments Tuesday afternoon. “This is a country that’s got some explaining to do to the United States,” Perry told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer, “The idea that [Prime Minister Recep Tayyip] Erdogan’s regime has somehow or other earned our respect is not correct.”
Coates pointed to the question by Fox News Channel’s Bret Baier, which referred to the increased murder rate of women in Turkey, the lack of press freedom, and Turkey’s support for the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
“The key to the whole business is to look at the question and the way it was asked,” she said. “It’s an important distinction that what [Perry is] saying is that the Turkish leadership is engaging in behavior that many people would associate with Islamic terrorists.”
She added that Perry, who lived in Turkey as an Air Force pilot decades ago, would prefer to have a good relationship with Ankara, but “the governor’s point is that [Turkish bad behavior] is not going to get better if we ignore it.”
So would Perry, if elected president, put Turkey on the State Department’s list of state sponsors of terrorism, along with Hamas supporters Iran and Syria? Not exactly.
“No, we would not list Turkey as a state sponsor of terrorism. We don’t have any evidence of them engaging in international terrorist acts,” Coates explained. “I think we know they are extremely supportive of Hamas, but these things go in stages.”
But what about the new U.S. missile defense installation in Turkey and the Obama administration’s efforts to encourage Turkey to push for positive change in Syria?
“We need to be very mindful of how much responsibility we hand over for something as important as the missile defense sites,” said Coates. “And up until recent days, Turkey has been quite close to Syria.”
Coates then called out the Romney campaign for not yet weighing in on the issue.
“It is not untypical for Gov. Perry to be more forthright about situations like this than Gov. Romney. He has less concern for niceties and is more concerned with the national security of our country,” she said.
The Obama administration is ultimately responsible for “appeasing unfortunate Turkish behavior” — part of its larger foreign-policy flaw of pursuing engagement at all costs, according to the Perry campaign.
“It is a pattern of the Obama administration that [Gov. Perry] finds deeply concerning, that outreach and engagement is the goal, whereas Gov. Perry feels that furthering American interests is the goal.”
State Department spokesman Mark Toner defended Turkey at Tuesday’s press briefing and said Turkey is not run by Islamic terrorists.
“We absolutely and fundamentally disagree with that assertion,” Toner said. “Turkey, as I said, is a strong partner in the region. We’ve seen it make a very courageous stand against what’s going on in Syria, for example. It continues to play a very positive and constructive role in the region. And it is, as often cited, an example of so-called Islamic democracy in action.”
The Romney campaign did not respond to requests for comment.
January 17th, 2012, 6:36 pm
zoo said:
Hamas is the rising star of the Moslem Brotherhood.
They deny they are moving their headquarters out of Syria
http://www.imemc.org/article/62796
but the media as speculating on Jordan or Qatar as candidate. Jordan wants the families but not the headquarter. Qatar seems more open.
Jordan Allows Hamas to Take Up Residence on Its Soil
By Karl Vick | @karl_vick | January 9, 2012 | 3
Exiled Palestinian Hamas leader Khaled Meshaal addresses a meeting with some 40 Palestinian prisoners who were freed by Israel but are to be deported overseas, in Cairo on October 18, 2011.
In what sure looks like further evidence of diminishing American influence in the Middle East, the country that summarily ejected Hamas a dozen years ago is opening its doors to senior leaders of the group Washington and Israel regard first and foremost as a terrorist organization.
Jordan kicked out Hamas way back in 1999 under pressure from the United States. The Palestinian organization had been anchored in Amman, but was forced to move its headquarters to Syria, where it officially remains. Life in Damascus has gotten mighty uncomfortable over the last year, however. Though the Islamic Resistance Movement has tried mightily to stay entirely out of the conflict between the Syrian government that is its host and the Syrian people that government has been shooting in the streets, it has not been a terribly comfortable neutrality, nor one that reflects well on a movement so proudly grassroots. Quietly, senior Hamas officials began moving their families out of Syria months ago, and despite routine denials, the organization has been looking for a new home for its headquarters, too.
Jordan will provide the former, but not the latter, Prime Minister Awn Khasawneh explains to TIME in an interview.
The idea is not to bring them back as a launching pad for jihad against Israel or whatever. But as individuals they should be allowed to come back. I thought from the very beginning that their expulsion was unconstitutional and it was the wrong move from the point of view that it stands to reason that if you have many alternatives for as long as possible, it’s the good sign of effective diplomacy.
…
Mashaal, who was nearly killed by Israeli agents in a botched 1997 assassination attempt in Amman, will be among those setting up housekeeping in the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, roughly half of whose residents are Palestinians who made their way across the Jordan either in 1948, in 1967, or in the steady flow of “soft immigration” that has gone on since.
“We will be finding modalities to bring back members of Hamas and their families to come,” Khasawneh says. “We don’t want them to establish another organization here.”
As a new site for Hamas headquarters, Qatar is the nation most often mentioned. The petroleum-rich Gulf monarchy is both a U.S. ally and a longtime supporter of Hamas, a duality that clearly irked the Jordanian premier, given complaints from Washington over Jordan’s decision to renew hospitality. “I know that some people in the United States are against this,” Khasawneh says, “but Qatar, a much more erstwhile ally of the United States, enjoys their presence without anybody in Congress saying anything.”
Read more: http://globalspin.blogs.time.com/2012/01/09/jordan-allows-hamas-to-take-up-residence-on-its-soil/#ixzz1jlHsdexM
January 17th, 2012, 6:44 pm
zoo said:
YouTube Freezes Palestinian Media Watch Account, Pulls Fatah Video Calling for Religious War with Jews, Born of ‘Apes & Pigs’
The Blaze Fatah Video Jan 9 2012
http://news.yahoo.com/youtube-freezes-palestinian-media-watch-account-pulls-fatah-100449486.html
Palestinian Media Watch is an organization whose stated mission is to monitor, translate and disseminate all forms of media broadcast by the Palestinian Authority. These translations, videos and transcriptions showcase a steady stream of virulent anti-Semitic and anti-Western sentiment, often with direct calls for physical violence.
(…)
This is the video
PA Mufti calls for the killing of Jews quoting Islamic Hadith
January 17th, 2012, 6:56 pm
ann said:
‘PKK using Israeli drones to attack Turkish troops’ – 01/18/2012
Kurdish militants have access to intel gained from UAVs to set up bases in northern Syria, Turkish daily reports.
http://www.jpost.com/MiddleEast/Article.aspx?id=254076
Israeli unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are being used in southern Turkey to assist the Kurdistan Worker’s Party, a Turkish newspaper reported Tuesday.
The party, known by its acronym PKK, has a long history of violence in pursuit of Kurdish- self rule and is considered a terrorist organization by the United States and European Union.
Today’s Zaman newspaper reported that two months ago, Turkish intelligence had detected two Israeli Heron UAVs operating in the southern Turkish provinces of Hatay and Adana. The UAVs were reportedly collecting data on Turkish military units, then using the intelligence to set up PKK bases in northern Syria for confronting Turkish troops.
The report also claims that Kenan Yıldızbakan – a PKK member who led an assault against a Turkish naval base in Hatay in 2010 – has visited Israel on numerous occasions, further raising suspicions of his organization’s ties to the Jewish state.
Today’s Zaman is the English version of the Turkish paper Zaman, a mass-circulation daily linked to the Gulenist movement – an influential Islamist organization led by a Turkish religious scholar living in exile in the United States. Its coverage is broadly favorable to the ruling Justice and Development Party, or AKP.
January 17th, 2012, 7:06 pm
zoo said:
‘The lessons of Libya: Chaos is no surprise’
Published: 17 January, 2012, 18:00
http://rt.com/news/libya-chaos-us-oil-989/print/
Throughout history, military attacks on sovereign nations have always meant death, destruction and chaos which don’t end once invasion is complete. Look at Iraq, Afghanistan, Palestine, Vietnam, Northern Ireland – even World War II and the Cold War.
So why should Libya be any different?Today, the Western media are “appalled” at the continued gunfights among warring factions; Reuters reports that “clashes between rival Libyan militias have killed two people and wounded 16, in the latest violence involving armed groups refusing to hand in their weapons.”
….
The boys and girls doing geopolitical planning at the Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Trilateral Commission, American Enterprise Institute and AIPAC, have far too much experience to stumble over the same stone time and again.
Does that mean they destroyed Libya on purpose?Of course they did!!!
…
I mean, look at what they’re doing now in Iran, where they have no qualms about openly admitting that they are running through the streets of Tehran murdering scientists and civilians and bombing facilities and installations.
Can anybody provide a clearer example of state-sponsored terrorism than that? Openly admitted by its very perpetrators, Israel, the US and the UK??
No, no.The destruction of Libya and other “Rogue States” has served and is serving as a key objective of the Global Power Elite.For it carries a message to the whole world, eloquently warning and threatening every nation on Earth, saying “if we can do this to Libya; we can do this to any country we damn want to!”“You’re either with us or against us” runs the 9/11 Baby Bush Doctrine…
Did you hear that, Venezuela?Did you hear that, Syria?You too, Ecuador, Nigeria, Pakistan, Bolivia….!!Sure, the distance in time running from threat to action is inversely proportionate to how close the target “Rogue State” is to China and Russia…
In my 30th December 2011 article for RT, “2012: The Year of World Government,” I described 12 “triggers” the Global Power Elite embedded in the US, UK and European Union are using to impose global domination upon us all.Trigger No. 10 specifically refers to “Attacks on Rogue States.”
You see, there are patterns if you know where to look.For instance, Gaddafi’s Libya, Iran, Syria, Venezuela and many Muslim countries have Central Banks that are truly independent, but not of local government, as Harvard and CFR eggheads demand, but rather independent of the IMF, Goldman Sachs, CitiCorp and the Rothschild-Rockefeller parasitic usury-based global banking cabal.
Another pattern?Gaddafi was getting ready to introduce the Gold Dinar (a currency made of real gold and not just flimsy paper like the dollar and euro) to trade Libyan oil (Libya has the world’s ninth largest oil reserves, and the largest in Africa) and then – why not? – to trade African and Middle Eastern oil too… A direct attack on US dollar hegemony in the oil trade!
Saddam Hussein did something similar when he decided to use the $1 billion “oil for food” allowed to Iraq under UN sanctions to trade in euros rather than dollars.That was in November 2002; if I remember correctly, old Saddam ran into some trouble in March 2003…
Another pattern?Leaders in countries like Libya, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Serbia have been shortsighted on key geopolitical issues, so when the heat is on them they invariably find themselves alone in the crossfire; they forge no strategic alliances and so are left high and dry.
Gaddafi did even worse: he spent the last dozen years before being murdered making amends with the US, UK, Italy; the EU.That’s why the media is brimming with cute pictures of Gaddafi embracing Bush; Gaddafi embracing Tony Blair, Gaddafi and King Juan Carlos, Sarkozy, Rodriguez Zapatero, Cameron, Brown, Obama, Chirac… Why, we even have Gaddafi’s hand being kissed by Silvio Berlusconi!! (In September 2010: it’s on video…)
So: Nine Lessons from Libya:
1) Don’t trust the Western Powers; especially the US, UK, France, Italy and Israel….
2) Don’t hang onto power for too long.Especially when you can transfer it to an intelligent and articulate heir like Saif-Gaddafi.Dad should have done that at least five years ago…
3) Don’t trust the Western Powers…
4) Don’t be left alone.Get a good ally: Russia or China, for example.(Ask Iran, who understands this very well).
5) Don’t trust the Western Powers…
6) Be very wary of Western terror organizations, aka CIA, MI6, Mossad and their private brethren, Blackwater/Xe, Halliburton and others.
7) Don’t trust the Western Powers…
8) Don’t let the “Western Media” handle global news of what’s happening in your country.Russian, Chinese, Iranian, Latin American media outlets are growing to become of crucial importance.
9) Lastly, don’t trust the Western Powers!
Adrian Salbuchi for RT
Adrian Salbuchi is a political analyst, author, speaker and radio/TV commentator in Argentina http://www.asalbuchi.com.ar
January 17th, 2012, 7:07 pm
ann said:
A Spring test for the Arab League – 18 January 2012
AS the year turned into the first anniversary of the start of the Arab Spring, so did hopes awaken for a mediated end to the conflict in Syria.
http://www.nst.com.my/opinion/columnist/a-spring-test-for-the-arab-league-1.33719
The arrival of Arab League monitors on Boxing Day was a landmark — nothing of the sort had ever been attempted by the 22-nation regional grouping, whose autocratic leaders were more concerned about covering each other’s backs than advancing democracy.
By forcing it into activism, the Arab Spring promised to transform the moribund League into an agent of change for the whole of the Middle East.
That appeared to be the case when Syria was suspended in November and during Christmas week as the monitors were mobbed by anti-government demonstrators emboldened by their presence. Not even the dubious human rights credentials of mission chief General Mustafa al-Dabi of Sudan could dent their initial credibility.
Neither were the monitors operating in a vacuum. The Russians have been busy behind the scenes, using their influence from Cold War days to lean on Damascus for concessions under a grand Arab League-sponsored bargain.
Sami Moubayed, an academic and magazine editor in Syria, reported on Asia Times Online that a “democracy package” was being negotiated, whose elements included a new constitution removing the Baath Party’s stranglehold on power.
He was under no illusions, however. By the time the article appeared on Jan 7, the mission in Syria was falling apart — on the proverbial shoals of Arab disunity.
The unprepared and inexperienced monitors managed the opposite of what they were meant to do. Both sides accused them of partiality and, far from defusing tensions, they became a lightning rod for violence. The death rate rose to 40 a day, mostly in the hotbeds of rebellion they had just visited.
An Algerian monitor, Anwar Malek, announced last week that he was quitting, dismissing the mission as a “farce”. Algerian Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci promptly added to the burlesque last Wednesday by distancing himself from Malek (who is not a government official) and soft-pedalling on President Bashar Assad.
“The feeling is that the government of Syria is in the process of making more of an effort, but the Arab League is especially having problems with the armed opposition,” he said.
Malek and Medelci dramatised the splits in the mission and the Arab world generally — between Syria’s closest neighbours who incline towards Bashar because they fear instability should he leave, and those farther away who fear instability should he stay.
This chronic, indeed legendary, absence of unanimity points to a larger question about the Arab Spring: an equal dearth almost region-wide of critical-mass constituencies for liberal reform.
(The photogenic crowds in Liberation Square do not represent functioning majorities. Ask the Islamists, the protests’ major electoral beneficiaries, who know better than to show their hand.)
The Arabs’ “fragmentation”, according to Adeel Malik and Bassem Awadallah, is the main reason for their nations’ persistent political and economic backwardness, and thus for the persistence of their reactionary regimes.
In a paper last month on “The economics of the Arab Spring”, Malik, a fellow at the Oxford Centre for Islamic Studies, and Awadallah, a former finance minister of Jordan, explain the cause of the uprising simply as a shortage of jobs and other types of fulfilment for growing numbers of increasingly educated young people.
Aided by history, the Arab countries rigged up closed, crony capitalist economies incapable of adapting to rapidly changing demographics.
“Arab revolutions had a clear economic underpinning; they were fuelled by poverty, unemployment and lack of economic opportunity,” Malik and Awadallah say. “The real struggle for change in the Arab world will only begin when the dust from its youth revolutions has finally settled.
“After emergency laws are lifted, constitutions are drafted and elections are held, policymakers in the Middle East will be faced with a tough practical challenge: how to create economic opportunities for its teeming millions.”
Malik and Awadallah characterise the challenge of fostering a thriving private sector as the region’s greatest “since the fall of the Ottoman Empire”. Yet it barely figures in internal or international discussions of the Arab Spring.
“Observers of the Middle East have long bemoaned its political repression. Few have appreciated, however, the scale and intensity of its perpetual state of economic repression.”
For all their commonalities, the Arab states have maintained trade barriers against each other that counterparts such as Asean, not to mention Europe, have progressively dismantled.
“Even as regional cooperation is welfare-enhancing, there are few stakeholders for it; by contrast, the status quo is fiercely defended by a small, cohesive and well-organised elite,” Malik and Awadallah say.
The same goes for the unhappy Arab League enterprise in Syria, although its monitors can still salvage some dignity by coming out with a fair appraisal. Bashar, on the other hand, is free to condemn the League as worthless to a captive domestic audience. (His popularity is not a fib. Polls put his support at 40-50 per cent and possibly higher as his country’s security situation deteriorates.)
The complexity and deep-rootedness of the Middle East’s problems argue for more diplomacy, at least while Bashar still has friends, and against precipitate military intervention as was carried out on Libya.
It could even work. The dictatorship’s recent tough talking might be a last bit of posturing before it settles on the Arab League compromise it has apparently agreed to.
In Malik and Awadallah’s analysis, Syria will stand a better chance if Bashar throws open the economy to an expanding business community and middle class than if he were to be evicted by foreigners who have no other plan for the country than to get rid of an old foe.
January 17th, 2012, 7:12 pm
Humanist said:
Dale Andersen,
another part of the article:
“The tribal leader, who commands the loyalty of an estimated 1.2 million Baqqara….”
Sounds like bad news for Assad. Very dangerous to loose the tribes in the East. This will probably mean more “revenge” against the regime.
(Not very peacefull people generally – pardon me if I am incorrect)
January 17th, 2012, 7:19 pm
ann said:
*** THE TRUTH FROM THE GARDIAN!!! ***
Most Syrians back President Assad, but you’d never know from western media – Tuesday 17 January 2012
Assad’s popularity, Arab League observers, US military involvement: all distorted in the west’s propaganda war
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/jan/17/syrians-support-assad-western-propaganda
Suppose a respectable opinion poll found that most Syrians are in favour of Bashar al-Assad remaining as president, would that not be major news? Especially as the finding would go against the dominant narrative about the Syrian crisis, and the media considers the unexpected more newsworthy than the obvious.
Alas, not in every case. When coverage of an unfolding drama ceases to be fair and turns into a propaganda weapon, inconvenient facts get suppressed. So it is with the results of a recent YouGov Siraj poll on Syria commissioned by The Doha Debates, funded by the Qatar Foundation. Qatar’s royal family has taken one of the most hawkish lines against Assad – the emir has just called for Arab troops to intervene – so it was good that The Doha Debates published the poll on its website. The pity is that it was ignored by almost all media outlets in every western country whose government has called for Assad to go.
The key finding was that while most Arabs outside Syria feel the president should resign, attitudes in the country are different. Some 55% of Syrians want Assad to stay, motivated by fear of civil war – a spectre that is not theoretical as it is for those who live outside Syria’s borders. What is less good news for the Assad regime is that the poll also found that half the Syrians who accept him staying in power believe he must usher in free elections in the near future. Assad claims he is about to do that, a point he has repeated in his latest speeches. But it is vital that he publishes the election law as soon as possible, permits political parties and makes a commitment to allow independent monitors to watch the poll.
Biased media coverage also continues to distort the Arab League’s observer mission in Syria. When the league endorsed a no-fly zone in Libya last spring, there was high praise in the west for its action. Its decision to mediate in Syria was less welcome to western governments, and to high-profile Syrian opposition groups, who increasingly support a military rather than a political solution. So the league’s move was promptly called into doubt by western leaders, and most western media echoed the line. Attacks were launched on the credentials of the mission’s Sudanese chairman. Criticisms of the mission’s performance by one of its 165 members were headlined. Demands were made that the mission pull out in favour of UN intervention.
The critics presumably feared that the Arab observers would report that armed violence is no longer confined to the regime’s forces, and the image of peaceful protests brutally suppressed by army and police is false. Homs and a few other Syrian cities are becoming like Beirut in the 1980s or Sarajevo in the 1990s, with battles between militias raging across sectarian and ethnic fault lines.
As for foreign military intervention, it has already started. It is not following the Libyan pattern since Russia and China are furious at the west’s deception in the security council last year. They will not accept a new United Nations resolution that allows any use of force. The model is an older one, going back to the era of the cold war, before “humanitarian intervention” and the “responsibility to protect” were developed and often misused. Remember Ronald Reagan’s support for the Contras, whom he armed and trained to try to topple Nicaragua’s Sandinistas from bases in Honduras? For Honduras read Turkey, the safe haven where the so-called Free Syrian Army has set up.
Here too western media silence is dramatic. No reporters have followed up on a significant recent article by Philip Giraldi, a former CIA officer who now writes for the American Conservative – a magazine that criticises the American military-industrial complex from a non-neocon position on the lines of Ron Paul, who came second in last week’s New Hampshire Republican primary. Giraldi states that Turkey, a Nato member, has become Washington’s proxy and that unmarked Nato warplanes have been arriving at Iskenderum, near the Syrian border, delivering Libyan volunteers and weapons seized from the late Muammar Gaddafi’s arsenal. “French and British special forces trainers are on the ground,” he writes, “assisting the Syrian rebels, while the CIA and US Spec Ops are providing communications equipment and intelligence to assist the rebel cause, enabling the fighters to avoid concentrations of Syrian soldiers …”
As the danger of full-scale war increases, Arab League foreign ministers are preparing to meet in Cairo this weekend to discuss the future of their Syrian mission. No doubt there will be western media reports highlighting remarks by those ministers who feel the mission has “lost credibility”, “been duped by the regime” or “failed to stop the violence”. Counter-arguments will be played down or suppressed.
In spite of the provocations from all sides the league should stand its ground. Its mission in Syria has seen peaceful demonstrations both for and against the regime. It has witnessed, and in some cases suffered from, violence by opposing forces. But it has not yet had enough time or a large enough team to talk to a comprehensive range of Syrian actors and then come up with a clear set of recommendations. Above all, it has not even started to fulfil that part of its mandate requiring it to help produce a dialogue between the regime and its critics. The mission needs to stay in Syria and not be bullied out.
January 17th, 2012, 7:31 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Ann
Assad popularity is less than 20% stop kidding yourself with lies and hopes, , I talked to syrian everyother day, his support is bottoming due to the security solution, the economy is deteriorating rapidly, I would not be surprised if the dolaar reach 100 lira in two weeks,along with it there will be increase in prices of necesseties,to a level the people in Damascus can no longer tolerate.
Syrialover
You in 1108 asking too much, We know his opinion, he is Mukhabarat, he is paid to do that, he has strong attachment to Mukhabarat,he says he is against violence ,but he support the regime who is committing the violence, his job is to spread lies .
January 17th, 2012, 7:52 pm
Humanist said:
Ann,
Well, the author “forgets” to mention that only 97 Syrians out of 1,000 (arabs) were asked in that poll. And that it was done by internet.
So make your own conclusion of its reliability…
January 17th, 2012, 7:54 pm
Son of Damascus said:
Dear Jad,
I very much appreciate your response. I will be replying you soon, I just have not had the time to do so yet today.
Thanks again
January 17th, 2012, 8:08 pm
zoo said:
“Fundamentalism is also a dictatorship because it practices suppression in the name of God.”
Gemayel Admits Disagreements with March 14 over Syria
by Naharnet Newsdesk 18 hours ago
Phalange party leader Amin Gemayel confirmed on Tuesday that he disagreed with his allies in the March 14 forces on the situation in Syria, saying Lebanon had no interest in shoving itself in the internal affairs of the neighboring country.
In an interview with As Safir newspaper, Gemayel said: “We have differences on how to deal with the Syrian issue and this is no secret.”
“We support change but we don’t see any interest for Lebanon to shove itself into the Syrian internal affairs,” the former president stressed, rejecting to turn the Syrian uprising against the Assad regime into a Lebanese conflict.
The Western backed March 14 opposition says it is in favor of Assad’s collapse against rising protests but Hizbullah and its allies, which make up the majority of the government, are staunch supporters of the Syrian president.
“Lebanon is a sick man, arms are spread throughout Lebanon and there is a lot of tension. So, any spark could put the country in flames,” Gemayel said.
But the Phalange chief also expressed concern at the possible rise of extremists to power in Syria if the Assad regime was toppled.
If fundamentalists come to power, then change won’t be efficient, he said. “Fundamentalism is also a dictatorship because it practices suppression in the name of God.”
Asked about his party’s ties with Hizbullah, Gemayel said: “We haven’t cut our relations with anyone.”
“We are open to dialogue but what is asked for is dialogue and not monologue,” the ex-president told An Nahar, stressing that “there is no point in sitting at a table with any team that holds onto its ideological stances.”
“That would lead nowhere,” he said.
Hizbullah leader Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah announced Saturday that the party was ready to engage in dialogue with its foes but the March 14 forces have conditioned their participation in the all-party talks at Baabda palace on putting the country’s defense strategy as the only item on the agenda of the National Dialogue.
January 17th, 2012, 8:11 pm
Tara said:
There is no wonder why everyone loves Damascus. There is special charm about this oldest city that no one can resist. This is a very nice article about People in Damascus.
“On the face of it, Damascus is calm. The bloodiest frontlines of the revolution may be in Homs, Hama, Idlib and Deraa, but the appearance of normality in the capital is deceptive. Intrigue, fear and anger are just below the surface.
For the Syrian security people, the solution now is to kill until it’s all over and wait until there is some change in the position of the west,” said a well-connected but despairing businessman.”
Read more:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/jan/16/syria-collapse-damascus-change
January 17th, 2012, 8:14 pm
jad said:
انفصام الحالة السوريّة
سمير الحسن
قد تكون أحداث سوريا أكثر إشكاليّة من بقية الأحداث في العالم العربي، فهي تتجاوز القراءة العامة، أو السطحية، وتطرح جدلاً يتناول ماهيات التحركات في العالم العربي، إن كانت ثوراتٍ، أو حراكاً اعتراضياً، أو تحريكاً، أو خليطاً من كل من تلك الظواهر. فالانقسام الحاد بين القوى والتيارات والنخب على الواقع السوري ليس من قبيل الصدفة، إنما قد يكون حول فهم الواقع وجوهر الصراع. فالأزمة السورية هي من جهة أعمق من رؤية الإصلاح، ومن جهة ثانية أبعد من نظرية المؤامرة.
للوهلة الأولى يظهر الصراع في سوريا، وفجأة يصبح على سوريا. وبقدر ما تبدو واجهة الأحداث تعبيراً عن سخط الشارع رداً على سلوك النظام، تتجلى قوة الهجمة والتدخل الخارجي. بذلك يصبح الجدل في ماهية الثورة مشروعاً، والسؤال عن الأحداث، هل تفجّرت أو فُجّرت، سؤال مشروع أيضاً.
أيّهما واجهة الأحداث: التفجّر من الداخل أم التفجير من الخارج؟ الإجابة غير ممكنة الآن، لكن من المؤكد أنّ سوريا اليوم هي نقطة اصطدام دولي، انطلاقاً من تطوراتها الذاتية، والعودة القوية للحرب الباردة، وإعادة اقتسام النفوذ في العالم. إنّها لحظة مفصلية بين مشروعين، سينتصر أحدهما، وبعد معركة سوريا سيتشكل واقع مختلف، ونُظُم ومنظومات أخرى.
قد يكون الصراع بدأ محلياً، وشعبياً خالصاً، بنيات صادقة. لكن لعبة الأمم أكبر من أحياء ومناطق المطالبين بالإصلاح. ربما جاء توقيت الحراك الشعبي مناسباً لعودة روسيا إلى المحافل الدولية، أو وجد حلف «البريكس» فرصة لهزيمة التحالف الأميركي ـــــ الغربي. وربما اصطدمت الثورة السورية بالقدر، فعاصمة الأمويين ليست بنغازي، وهي نقطة اشتباك وممرر إجباري للتسويات والمؤامرات، وتلك إشكالية يصعب تجاهلها.
على مدى عقود، أخذت سوريا تتشكل كقوّة محورية في المنطقة، ولعبت دوراً مركزياً فيها، وشكلت نقطة توازن عربية ـــــ عربية. لم تعد سوريا تلك الدولة الملحقة، أو المتأثرة، كما في الحقبة الناصرية، بل تعدّت المسألة الموقع وانتقلت إلى الدور، كحاضن لقوى المقاومة الفلسطينية، العراقية، اللبنانية، وحركات التحرر، وخاصة بعد خروج مصر من الصف العربي في 1978.
وبالرغم من انتهاء الحرب الباردة، وتفكك الاتحاد السوفياتي وسقوط المنظومة الاشتراكية، تمكنت سوريا من الصمود وتجاوز أزماتها واللعب في الساحة الدولية والإقليمية، وتفرّدت في رمزيتها وحملت عناوين قلّ نظيرها. وجاءت الثورات العربية في غمرة صعود سوريا، ربما كحراك طبيعي نظراً إلى سلوك الأنظمة العربية التي قمعت شعوبها ونهبت ثرواتها وعهّرت قضاياها، وحطّمت أحلامها وفشلت في تطوير مجتمعاتها وبلدانها، وعاثت فساداً في مؤسساتها. لكن بعد سبات وركون واستسلام، استفاقت الأمة على حريق البوعزيزي. هبّت تونس وتبعتها مصر، ثم بدأ التلقيح، وانتقلت العدوى واشتعلت المنطقة.
كان السوري يعتقد أنّه بمنأى عن الثورة وبعيد عنها، طالما لا يزال يرفع شعارات الممانعة والمقاومة، من دون أن يدرك أنّ تلك الشعارات وحدها لا تكفي. لقد أشعل أطفال درعا الثورة السورية وكسروا حاجز الخوف، ودخلت سوريا مرحلة غير مسبوقة من المواجهات، وعلى سوريا دين كبير.
وما بين الحروب الإعلامية وفلسفات المحللين السياسيين وتخيّلات شبّيحة الإعلام وفرضيات خياليّة وتهيّؤات لا تمتّ إلى الواقع بصلة، استمرت الأزمة وازدادت تعقيداً.
الموالون للنظام يتحدثون عن مؤامرة خارجية تستهدف سوريا والنيل منها نتيجة موقفها القومي والمساند لحركات التحرر والمقاومة. والمعارضة الخارجية (المجلس الوطني) وجدت مهنة بعدما كانت عاطلة من العمل وتتسكع في المقاهي وتعتاش على فتات موائد السياسيين، فوجدت في الحركة فرصة، وبالتالي لا تريد لهذه الأزمة أن تنتهي. من الواضح أنّ كلا الطرفين بعيد عن حقيقة ما يجري. لا الموالون أدركوا طبيعة الأزمة، ولا المجلس الوطني على صلة بالحراك الشعبي. والتنسيقيات الميدانية للثورة تقود الشارع بدون تنسيق مع المجلس الوطني ولا تعترف به. وبدأت حراكها حالمة بالتغيير والإصلاح. وعلى هذا دخلت المخاض بدون برنامج أو رؤية موحدة.
إنّ استعجال السلطات الخيار الأمني هيّأ بيئة متمردة ـــــ مسلحة. فالمجموعات المسلحة (المقاومة الشعبية) هي نتاج السلوك الأمني والبطش العشوائي، فتجمع قبضايات المناطق والأحياء لحماية مناطقهم. قد تكون السلطة استدرجت هؤلاء لهذه اللعبة، لكن الخلاصة أنّ الجميع تورط بها، وكلما توسعت تورطت بها أطراف عدّة وأخذت أشكالاً أخرى.
وما بين غباء السلطة وارتباط المجلس الوطني بالخارج، دخلت المعارضة الحقيقية نفقاً مجهولاً، وأضحت أسيرة واقع مرير، فالتراجع غير ممكن مع استمرار تعنّت السلطة، واستمرار النزف الدموي. لكن إطالة عمر الأزمة سيضعف المجلس الوطني ويعزز حضور التنسيقيات الميدانية (بالداخل) ويعطيها شرعية المعارضة.
لقد تحوّلت معارضة الخارج إلى نوع من التوابل في حركة المجتمع الدولي ليس إلا، فاعتقد المجلس الوطني أنّ السرعة في مواكبة الضغط الخارجي مهمة بالنسبة إليه، ولكن جاء ذلك بشكل سريع غير محسوب، ما وضعه في دائرة التبعية بالكامل، وأسقط عنه شرعية تمثيل حراك الداخل، الذي لغاية الآن لم يستطع بلورة موقفه نظراً الى صعوبة الوضع الميداني واستحالة التواصل بين المناطق والمدن. ومن الأخطاء المميتة التي وقع فيها المجلس الوطني، الخروج من ثوابت سوريا التاريخية، والذهاب بعيداً بالتبعية للغرب، وهذا ينفي عنه ثوريته. فأصبح يشكل حالة انقلابية تآمرية، فالعناوين القومية والعروبية هي التي حوّلت سوريا إلى لاعب أساسي في المنطقة.
أما التنسيقيات الميدانية فإنّها تنطلق من تخوين النظام وترفض وطنيته، حتى اتهامات التنسيقيات لحزب الله فهي طارئة وليست أصيلة، وأعتقد أنّ المواجهات ستنتج قيادة أكثر وعياً ونضجاً وطنياً. من هنا أهمية تفهّم السلطة واقع الأمر، وترك لغة التخوين والاتهامات الفارغة والبحث عن سبل للحوار والإصلاح والمصالحة. وذلك، دون إغفال تدخل الغرب وأدواته على خط الأزمة السورية. من هنا أخذت الأحداث بعداً دولياً، وباتت تهدد المنطقة بحرب شاملة تأكل الأخضر واليابس.
إنّ التداخل في الأزمة السورية بين أطماع الغرب وإسقاط سوريا كبلد مقاوم، وبين مطالب الشعب السوري بالحرية والإصلاح، يشكل تقاطعاً حيناً، وانفصاماً حيناً آخر. كلتا المقاربتين صحيحة. ولكن تكمن المشكلة في التوقيت، والاستهداف، والبديل.
إلى أين تتجه سوريا في المدى المنظور؟ لا تزال الأمور غامضة، والتطورات متلاحقة، وهناك خشية من مزيد من التعقيدات التي تطيل أمد الأزمة، وتضعها أمام مصير مجهول.
http://www.al-akhbar.com/node/30369
January 17th, 2012, 8:28 pm
jad said:
Is Zabadani going to be Jisr Ashghour V2.
The terrorists ‘Angels’ threatening to destroy the water well resources of Damascus region and the main power line connecting Syria and Lebanon:
استمرار نزوح الأهالي من الزبداني ، ومسلحو الأسعد يتوعدون بتدمير خطوط الكهرباء والآبار الإرتوازية
بيان مصور من المسلحين يتوعد بتدمير الآبار الإرتوازية التي تزود دمشق وريفها بالمياه ، وتدمير خط التوتر العالي الدولي الذي يمر من المنطقة إلى لبنان!؟
دمشق ، الحقيقة ( خاص): استمرت عمليات نزوح الأهالي من مدينة الزبداني في ريف دمشق إلى البلدات المجاورة ، وبشكل خاص مضايا وبلودان، حتى ساعة متأخرة من مساء أمس الثلاثاء بسبب الممارسات الإجرامية لعصابات العميل رياض الأسعد التي تطلق على نفسها اسم “الجيش السوري الحر”. وقال نازحون عن البلدة إن المسلحين يزرعون والفوضى والخراب في المنطقة ويمارسون عمليات القتل والتنكيل ضد كل من لا يؤيدهم. وذكرت معلومات ميدانية أن ما لا يقل عن عشر بيوت جرى نسفها بالمتفجرات بعد أن اتهم المجرمون أصحابها بأنهم “عواينية” للسلطة ( مخبرون)، رغم أنهم من أبناء البلدة الأصليين. ووزع نشطاء من البلدة أشرطة على موقع ” يوتيوب” تظهر بعض بيوت “البعثيين” و النقابيين وقد جرى تحطيم محتوياتها أو حرقها أو تخريبها بمتفجرات. وقال أحد النشطاء المحليين إن ما لا يقل عن عشرين سيارة “بيك آب” و ” صالون” شوهدت مساء أمس وهي تغادر البلدة بما خف حمله من الملابس الضرورية إلى البلدات والقرى المجاورة بعد أن استحال عليهم البقاء فيها بسبب الممارسات الميليشياوية الإجرامية التي يقوم بها المسلحون.
وكان أحد مسلحي رياض الأسعد في المنطقة وزع بيانا مصورا قبل ثلاثة أيام باسم” كتيبة حمزة بن عبد المطلب في الجيش السوري الحر” على شبكة يوتيوب تعهد فيه بتمدير آبار المياه الإرتوازية والبنى التحتية الملحقة بها التي تزود المنطقة والعاصمة بمياه الشرب ، فضلا عن تدمير خطوط الكهرباء وقطع الطريق الدولي بين دمشق وبيروت ، وغيرها من المنشآت الحيوية الحساسة، إذا لم ينسحب الجيش السوري من المنطقة!! وشبه أحد النشطاء ما يحصل في المدينة بما حصل في الرستن وجسر الشغور! ( شاهد الشريط المنشور جانبا).
يشار إلى أن معظم المسلحين في المنطقة هم من المهربين الذين تعج المنطقة بالآلاف منهم منذ سنوات طويلة. وتعتبر المنطقة من أكثر المناطق الحدودية في سوريا خروجا على القانون ، حتى في الظروف العادية، بسبب هؤلاء المهربين الذين يعتبرون بمثابة ميليشيا حقيقية . وفور انلاع الانتفاضة تحول هؤلاء ، مثل بقية المهربين والمجرمين وأصحاب السوابق في المناطق الآخرى ، إلى ” كتائب” تنشط باسم “الجيش الحر”! وتحتل مدينة الزبداني موقعا استراتيجيا ، سواء على المستوى الداخلي أو الخارجي. فهي المدخل الغربي لمدينة دمشق ، ولا تبعد عن الحدود اللبنانية أكثر من 10 كم. كما أنها تقع على امتداد سلسلة الجبال والوديان التي تتصل بالسفوح الشمالية الشرقية لجبل الشيخ حيث تتمركز وحدات جيش الاحتلال الإسرائيلي ومحطات الرصد والاتصال التابعة لأجهزة استخباراته. وهي إضافة لذلك تقع في قلب منطقة تتوضع فيها وحدات عسكرية من ” الفرقة 14″ و ” الحرس الجمهوري” والوحدات العسكرية الأخرى. الأمر الذي يعني أن السلطة لن تسمح باستمرار ما يجري في المدينة حتى وإن اضطرها الأمر إلى قلبها رأسا على عقب بالجرافات . ولهذا يتوقع عدد من المراقبين أن تقوم السلطة بعملية تطهير عنيفة للمنطقة خلال الساعات أو الأيام القليلة القادمة. وإذا لم تقم بذلك ، فهذا يعني عملياى خروج منطقة في غاية الحساسية والأهمية الاستراتيجية عن سيطرتها يمكن أن تكون ” بتغازي سورية” نموذجية جدا!؟
http://www.syriatruth.org/news/tabid/93/Article/6481/Default.aspx
مسلحو الأسعد يتوعدون بتدمير الآبار الإرتوازية!؟
http://youtu.be/mH6QmaOGaxw
شريط يتوعد فيه مسلحو “الجيش الحر” بتدمير الآبار الإرتوازية التي تزود دمشق بالمياه ، وتخريب خطوط الكهرباء وقط الطريق الدولي بين دمشق وبيروت! إنه منطق العصابات الإجرامية وقطاع الطرق.
January 17th, 2012, 8:36 pm
Ghufran said:
حديث في مصر عن صفقه
المصادر أكدت أن الصفقة تتضمن تجنيب أعضاء المجلس العسكري السقوط في فخ المحاكمات كما يحدث مع مبارك، سواء عما وقع في بدايات الثورة من أحداث وما تورطوا فيه من مشاركة أو تجاهل متعمد أثناء عمليات الاعتداء على المتظاهرين – منها موقعة الجمل – أو عمليات القتل العمد التي وقعت بعدما تولوا السلطة خاصة أحداث ماسبيرو ومحمد محمود ومجلس الوزراء التي خلفت مئات القتلى والمصابين، والتي تورط فيها رجال وضباط القوات المسلحة بشكل علني التقطته كاميرات الصحف العالمية، كما تتضمن الصفقة الحفاظ على ممتلكات أعضاء المجلس العسكري وعلى ما لدى أبنائهم وزوجاتهم من ثروات، وأن يحصلوا على حصانة من تحقيقات جهاز الكسب غير المشروع، ولا يتم فتح أي تحقيق حول مصادر تلك الثروات، وكذلك النص على وضع خاص ومميز للجيش بالدستور الجديد، يمنح رجاله حرية إدارة القوات المسلحة بعيدا عن أي أجهزة رقابية قد يتسبب تدخلها في المستقبل في كشف ما لا يجب الكشف عنه.
الصفقة تتضمن في المقابل، قيام المجلس العسكري بمنح صلاحيات كبيرة وغير مسبوقة لمجلس الشعب ورئيسه، تمكنه من القيام بعدة مهام في طريق تشكيل وبناء الدولة الجديدة – لم يقطع المصدر بنقل سلطات رئيس الجمهورية لرئيس مجلس الشعب من عدمه – وهو الأمر الذي سيتم الإعلان عنه في الجلسة الافتتاحية المرتقبة لمجلس الشعب في 23 يناير القادم، وهي أولى الخطوات الفعلية لتنفيذ الصفقة، والتي توقعت المصادر أن تتضمن عدة قرارات جذرية من شأنها ضرب الاستعداد للثورة الثانية التي يروج لها شباب الثورة في 25 يناير، وامتصاص غضب الشارع بشكل كبير.
الصفقة لم تتجاهل الرئيس السابق، الذي يهم أعضاء المجلس العسكري ألا يخرج غاضبا في النهاية، خوفا من المفاجآت التي يمكن أن يفجرها سواء هو أو أبناءه أو زوجته تحديدا، والتي تتعلق بأعضاء العسكري ومنهم المشير طنطاوي والفريق عنان بالأخص، فقد أضافت المصادر، أن الإخوان يتعدون طبقا للصفقة بأن تسير محاكمة الرئيس المخلوع بشكل قانوني بعيدا عن دعاوى المحاكم الثورية وما إلى ذلك، وألا يتم إخراجها عن إطار القانون الجنائي – العسكري يحاول حاليا دعم الموقف القانوني للرئيس المخلوع عن طريق إخفاء الأدلة وإتلافها وإجبار أجهزة الدولة على عدم التعاون مع جهات التحقيق والسعي لتبرئة أغلب المتهمين من ضباط وقيادات الداخلية – لكي يحصل في أسوأ الظروف على حكم مخفف – خاصة مع عامل كبر السن – ليقوم بعدها الرئيس المخلوع بقضاء فترة العقوبة في المركز الطبي العالمي إلى أن يقضي الله أمرا كان مفعولا. سيحصل نجلي مبارك على أحكام بالسجن نتيجة التربح والفساد وسيتم إخراجهما من قضية قتل المتظاهرين لأنهما لم يكونا أصحاب قرار، في الوقت الذي تم إخراج سوزان وزوجتي علاء وجمال من القضايا برمتها وتجاهل أدوارهن تمام لضمان سلامتهن من المحاكمات، ما سيمكن الأسرة بكاملها في المستقبل، من استكمال حياتها خارج مصر بعدما يقضي علاء وجمال العقوبة، والتي من المتوقع ألا تكون كاملة، بعدما يخرجا حسن سير وسلوك أو بعفو من رئيس الجمهورية الذي قطعا سيكون للإخوان دور جوهري في اختياره.
January 17th, 2012, 9:06 pm
Tara said:
Syria’s report card is going to be ugly:
Arab League meeting to condemn Syria brutality
The Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad looked dangerously isolated last night, with a wall of regional opposition steadily building around him and Arab League sources suggesting his regime will face unprecedented condemnation when the organisation meets this weekend.
.
“Everyone is saying it will be bad,” said one Arab League source who spoke to The Independent last night. “There was a meeting today with delegates from across the region. Nobody thinks it will be good for Syria.”
The League is due to hold a meeting this weekend where member states will decide what action to take.
Despite the presence of international monitors this month – after they were reluctantly allowed in to see whether Assad would comply with an Arab peace plan – the shooting of protesters has continued unabated, according to the UN.
It leaves Arab League delegates with the unenviable task of deciding how to punish one of its own, a country which, until recently, was a cornerstone of regional politics. The options range from ditching the monitors, to extending the mission or even allowing in armed protection and ramping up the international presence.
But according to Wissam Tarif, a Syria specialist from the New York-based Avaaz human rights group, Assad – whose name means lion in Arabic – may be beyond taming. “He is under the illusion he can manipulate the whole world,” he said.
…..
Today a coalition of 140 NGOs from across the Middle East, including some of the region’s most high profile organisations, released an open letter which criticised the Arab League mission and called on Dr Nabil el-Araby, the organisation’s chief, to refer the Syrian crisis to the UN Security Council.
Read more:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/arab-league-meeting-to-condemn-syria-brutality-6291075.html
January 17th, 2012, 9:19 pm
Tara said:
Remember Nawaf al Bashir? Confirming what we knew all along. People are coerced to appear on state TV in Syria to praise Bushbush. From Hamza al khateeb’s father to Zainab, to …, to…
The regime is embodied the devil and knees no redline.
Nawaf al-Bashir, prominent Syrian opposition figure and leader of Syria’s largest tribe Al-Baqqara, Mahmud Suleyman Hajj Hamad, chief inspector of the Syrian Prime Ministry, and Enes Sueyd, the imam of the Bab-ı Sıbaa Mosque in the besieged city of Homs, have defected to Turkey and called on the international community to take urgent action to stop the massacres in Syria.
Al-Bashir said he had been coerced to appear on state television in Syria to praise the reforms which President Bashar al-Assad said he had launched. “They threatened to kill my family and destroy our home if I didn’t appear on state television. I had to praise the so-called reforms of Bashar al-Assad with a gun pointed at my face. I apologize now to the Syrian people for lying to them,” al-Bashir said.
Al-Bashir was a key supporter of the Damascus Declaration, issued by opposition leaders in 2005 to press for reform. He said he had been interrogated by the security services more than 75 times.
Read more:
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syria-sees-new-defections.aspx?pageID=238&nID=11719&NewsCatID=352
January 17th, 2012, 9:41 pm
irritated said:
#1135. NOS TARA DAMUS
“Syria’s report card is going to be ugly:”
I sincerely hope that just for your reputation this prediction will materialize as most of your previous ones did not happen.
January 17th, 2012, 10:15 pm
zoo said:
Syria ready to extend Arab observers mission
Jan 18, 2012 06:02 Moscow Time
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012/01/18/64057526.html
Syria is ready to extend for a month the Arab observers mission. Their mandate expires on January 19. Scheduled for January 22 in Cairo is a meeting of foreign ministers of the Arab League, which must decide the fate of the mission. Following consultations with Damascus, the Arab League said it might continue its work in Syria.
Russia and China have come out with a call to give observers more time. This, in their opinion, is necessary to “avoid outside interference.”
The Syrians agree to a technical boosting of the monitoring group and an increase in employee number. However, Damascus says it is not prepared to admit observers to places of military operations and allow them to conduct investigations. (TASS)
January 17th, 2012, 10:20 pm
zoo said:
المنطقة امام شهرين حاسمين إما التسوية الشاملة أو الحرب الشاملة .. الديار عن زوار العاصمة السورية : رئيس مخابرات دولة عربية زار دمشق بعد انفجار الميدان
المنطقة امام شهرين حاسمين إما التسوية الشاملة أو الحرب الشاملة .. الديار عن زوار العاصمة السورية : رئيس مخابرات دولة عربية زار دمشق بعد انفجار الميدان
نقلت صحيفة “الديار” عن زوار دمشق أنهم “نقلوا الى مسؤولين لبنانيين معلومات عن زيارة قام بها رئيس مخابرات دولة عربية كبرى الى دمشق منذ اسبوع والتقى خلالها المسؤولين السوريين وتحديدا بعد انفجار السيارة المفخخة في حي الميدان، وانه جرى عرض لمختلف التطورات”، من دون ان ينقل الزوار اي معلومات مما جرى في اللقاء.
ونقل الزوار أن “رئيس مخابرات الدولة العربية بحث مع المسؤولين بمختلف التطورات وجرى تبادل للمعلومات حول كيفية تفجير السيارة المفخخة في دمشق وتورط عناصر من القاعدة في هذا التفجير خصوصا ان التفجيرين الاخيرين تركا قلقا دوليا وتعاونا حول هذا الملف”.
وأوضح الزوار أن “العديد من مسؤولين أمنيين عرب واجانب ابدوا اهتمامهم بالتفجير الانتحاري في دمشق وتورط القاعدة، وانهم طلبوا معلومات عن التفجير والطريقة المستخدمة ولكن ذلك لا يعني ان الخلافات السياسية انتهت وان مرحلة جديدة فتحت بين هذه الدول ودمشق لان التعاون الامني لا ينقطع بين الاجهزة الامنية وفي عز الازمات”.
ولفتت المعلومات الى أن “الازمة السورية مفتوحة حاليا على كل الاحتمالات، والمنطقة امام شهرين حاسمين، أما التسوية الشاملة او الحرب الشاملة، وحال المراوحة بين الحسم واللاحسم لا يحتملها لا النظام السوري ولا القوى الخارجية الضاغطة على سوريا، لكن معلومات تؤكد بأن التصعيد الاعلامي ربما كان مقدمة لصفقة شاملة كبرى تشمل المنطقة برمتها من فلسطين الى سوريا والعراق وغيرها”، فيما أشارت معلومات اخرى الى أن “المشروع الاميركي القائم على دعم الاخوان المسلمين للوصول الى الحكم في الدول العربية يفترض تقسيم سوريا وحصار ايران وروسيا. وهذا ما يفرض حربا اقليمية شاملة وكبيرة. لكن حال اللاحرب واللاسلم لا يحتمل اكثر من شهرين”.
وتابعت المعلومات، إن “القرار الاميركي واضح بدعم الاخوان المسلمين في الدول العربية وباكستان وبالتالي فان الاخوان المسلمين هم الورقة الاساسية لدى الحزبين الجمهوري والديمقراطي وحتى ان الاخوان المسلمين يزاحمون الحزبين الجمهوري والديمقراطي على الرئاسة الاميركية، وان الاستطلاعات تعطيهم التقدم لصالح وصول رئيس اميركي للسلطة ذي “ميول اخوانية”.
في حين أوردت معلومات أخرى، أن “باب التسويات مفتوح، وانه في موازاة التصعيد فإن خطوط الاتصالات السرية لم تنقطع بين الدول المختلفة نظرا لتهيب الجميع للموقف ولخطر اندلاع مواجهة كبرى ستطيح بالجميع، وهذا القلق نقله سعود الفيصل الى الاميركيين واهمية سوريا وايران لاستقرار المنطقة”.
وأشارت المعلومات الى أن “العرب اقتنعوا بأن معالجة الوضع في سوريا لا يمكن عبر انصاف الحلول او نصف حرب او نصف حل، واي اهتزاز في سوريا سيؤدي الى حرب كبيرة نتيجة موقع سوريا الاستراتيجي وارتباط مصالح روسيا بهذا الموقع وبالتالي فان المحاولات القطرية لجعل تركيا قاعدة لاستيراد الغاز القطري واستغناء اوروبا عن الغاز الروسي عبر مد انابيب من دول الخليج باتجاه تركيا، هذا الامر وحده يفتح حرباً عالمية، وبالتالي فان الاجراء القطري هو محاولة لمقاضاة روسيا على موقفها من سوريا، لكنه سها عن بال القطريين ان المدخل لحماية المصالح الروسية حماية سوريا التي تمنع تحول تركيا الى دولة اقليمية عظمى على حدود روسيا حتى ان تركيا ظهرت “نمر من ورق” في مواجهة الازمة مع سوريا وهذا يريح موسكو المتخوفة من تركيا الاسلامية وامتدادات ذلك الى الداخل الروسي ومسلمي الشيشان الاشداء الذين اضطر ستالين وعظمته الى مسايرتهم في عز قوة الاتحاد السوفياتي”.
وزادت المعلومات “إن رئيس وزراء قطر سمع كلاماً اميركياً من وزيرة الخارجية الأميركية هيلاري كلينتون بضرورة ابقاء الملف حالياً في الجامعة العربية وزيادة الضغط على دمشق عبر تعديل عمل المراقبين وزيادة اعدادهم مع الحرب الاعلامية، والمطالبة لاحقا بدخول قوات عربية. لكن المشكلة التي واجهت قطر وتركيا، بأن بعض الدول العربية وخصوصاً “المعرضة” لخطر الاحداث الداخلية وتنامي الاسلاميين، التقطت الرسائل الاميركية المترددة واظهرت معارضة للتوجهات القطرية داخل الجامعة العربية وتحديداً العراق والجزائر والسودان واليمن وصولا الى الاردن وغيرها، وكذلك المسؤولين المصريين المتخوفين من تنامي الاصوليين، لأن سقوط سوريا يعني سقوط هذه الدول حكماً بيد الاسلاميين، وبالتالي اصبح الوقوف مع سوريا وقوفاً مع مصالحهم، ولذلك جاءت حملات قطر على بعض المراقبين العرب وادوارهم”.
الثلاثاء 17-01-2012
جميع الحقوق محفوظة لوكالة الأنباء شام برس © 2009
http://www.champress.net
January 17th, 2012, 10:26 pm
Ghufran said:
The SNC has not secured recognition from foreign governments including those who are opposed to the regime,now,voices from the opposition claim that the council is infiltrated by the regime and that the SNC failed to do the job of supporting the revolution.
A recent article goes as far as claiming that Hizbullah has two spies,with names made public,in the SNC executive committee.
Another dimension of the conflict is the release of a number of criminals,not your usual anti regime protestors,after they ,reportedly,paid $20-100,000 to security forces chiefs,this explains why the regime kept educated peaceful people in prison while they set hundreds of thugs free.after all,what is the difference between regime thugs and anti regime thugs?
Instead of trying to find a political exit to this mess in Syria,the regime and the opposition alike seem more interested in testing the water of war thinking that they can win.
The regime may well collapse even if this collapse occurs in slow motion,but that collapse will not be limited to security forces and the army but it will include all aspects of public life transforming Syria into a jungle with no king to be found.
Syria without a political settlement will be the Arab version of Greek Tragedy giving Nuzar’s famous line about “the homeland we killed with our love” a new meaning.
January 17th, 2012, 10:30 pm
Syrialover said:
Those responding to Ann – no point. She doesn’t herself even read the torrent of stuff she obsessively cuts and pasts, let alone the comments and analysis of others.
She has no interest in Syria. It’s just a game to her to see how much she can dominate this site.
We are suffering enough over Syria without sad pests like Ann mocking and vandalising SC.
January 17th, 2012, 10:51 pm
Ghufran said:
القاعدة بسيطة: عندما يزيد الطلب على العرض يرتفع الثمن، لذا تجار سوق السلاح السوداء في لبنان يحققون أرباحا مضاعفة بالنظر الى أسعار سوق العام الماضي، ومما لا شك فيه هو أن هذه الأسعار ستتصاعد ما دامت الانتفاضة السورية بلا نهاية في المستقبل المنظور.
يبدو أن التجار اللبنانيين يجاهدون للإيفاء بحجم الطلب السوري المتعاظم على السلاح، نتيجةً للانتفاضة التي تقارب مدة السنة، اذا اخفقت المظاهرات الشعبية حتى الآن في إسقاط نظام الرئيس بشار الأسد، كما أن هذا الأخير نفسه عاجز عن إخمادها، بينما المجتمع الدولي يقف متفرجا على سقوط أكثر من خمسة آلاف قتيل من الجانبين تبعا لتقديرات الأمم المتحدة.
ورغم أن محاولة السلطات السورية السيطرة على حدود البلاد وشبه انعدام سوق السلاح المحلية يحبطان أي عمل لإزاحة النظام بالقوة، فإن تجار السلاح اللبنانيين يجنون أرباحا هائلة وفقا لتقرير نشرته صحيفة “تايمز” البريطانية.
وتنقل الصحيفة عن أحد هؤلاء، ويدعى أبو رضا، قوله: “الأسعار قفزت بشكل جنوني بسبب الطلبيات السورية المتزايدة.”
ويدعم الواقع هذا الحديث، فقد قفز المدفع الرشاش ايه كيه 47 (كلاشنيكوف) من نحو 1200 دولار قبل سنة إلى أكثر من ألفي دولار الآن، كما ان طرازه القصير الماسورة الذي يسمى “مدفع بن لادن” (لأنه كان المفضل لدى زعيم القاعدة) ارتفع سعره من ثلاثة الاف دولار العام الماضي الى 5500 دولار حاليا.
وبالمثل صعدت أسعار المسدسات الأوتوماتيكية بنحو الثلث، فصار سعر الـ”غلوك 9 مليمترات” أكثر من 3 آلاف دولار مقارنة بنحو ألفين السنة الماضية، وإذا ابتغى المشتري قوة نارية ضاربة واختار المدفع الرشاش الثقيل “الدوشكا” (روسي) المضاد للطائرات أيضا فعليه أن يدفع نحو 5500 دولار، إضافة الى سعر ذخيرته الغالية (1.65 دولار للشريط الواحد).
وتبعا لأبو رضا فهناك ارتفاع حاد في مبيعات قاذفات القنابل الصاروخية المضادة للمدرعات، وأدى هذا الطلب الى مضاعفة أسعارها فبلغت أكثر من ألفي دولار، بينما تضاعفت أسعار ذخائرها خمس مرات على الأقل عما كانت عليه قبل سنة.
January 17th, 2012, 10:58 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
Syrialover
watch it Ann is infested with prions.
After confrontations between the regime forces and FSA in Zabadani, the two parties reach an agreement that the Regime troops will withdraw from Zabadani area, and the FSA will hide, while peacefull demonstrations may continue.the question is why did the regime back up?
Irritated do you have explanation?
January 17th, 2012, 11:16 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
The agreement to withdraw regime troops from Zabadani,must pull out to Maysaloon area, the area is surrounded by high steep mountains except from the south, the regime failed to subdue the area because of the FSA and because of the defection,and the troops that are loyal to the criminal Bashar,are busy in Homs ,may be they are exhausted,the point I am refering to is that this regime must not be trusted
January 17th, 2012, 11:51 pm
Son of Damascus said:
Dear Jad,
Sorry I did not respond sooner, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts, and urge you to share them more often. Your passion and love for our country is genuine, I can read that from your post. Below is my response it is long as well, I hope other commentators don’t feel I am trying to drown them out with my long post (or rant whichever way they want to see it) I just felt it important to give you post the time and effort it so deservedly entitled to.
“-‘Menhabak’ term becomes a little bit old, besides, Ghalyoun/SNC supporters proved to be more ‘Minhebakjieh’ than the Assad’s ones, so they deserve that term more than anybody else.”
I really don’t believe that the opposition supporters hold Ghalyoun on any member of the SNC in the same regard as Bashar is held within his supporters, and more importantly Ghalyoun and the SNC are not a political party, it is a group of Syrians that are trying to form a legitimate opposition to the rule of the Assad clan (which is a herculean of a task given the fact they are facing one of the most brutal regimes today). Personally I am more inclined to believe the SNC over the Syrian regime, however it does not mean it is not taken with a grain a salt. As for the FSA that is a mix bag of emotions for me, the right for self defence and forming and arming a militia when your own government is persecuting you is a justified right, however when you go with an armed element you end up with an opening for people with agendas, where many times they argue the end justifies the means. I have said this before and will say it again every man in military garb that swore to protect me ended up caging me, I don’t trust my freedom to a gun but to a much higher power a true, solid, and most importantly sacred constitution. A constitution that guarantees beyond any shadow of the doubt the right for every Syrian to his/her individual right.
“-‘principles’ Yes, human beings have principles that dictate the way they live, we may share the same one and differ in others, but for most of us that doesn’t change the fact that the act of killing by anybody must be rejected regardless how much we may support or like that person/group, therefore your sentence as sarcasm doesn’t work when the word ‘principles’ in my comment were directed to those who support the act of killing by the people they support and keep defending every atrocity done under their names, that is a betray of human ‘principles’ in my book.
Killing anybody is forbidden and should be condemned, not all the 2000+ army, security, police men and regime supporter killed in this struggle deserve to be killed. It’s not O.K. it’s wrong and a crime.”
I would first like to quote Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience to put it in words that I can never accomplish: “The soldier is applauded who refuses to serve in an unjust war by those who do not refuse to sustain the unjust government which makes the war;”. It is important that we keep reminding ourselves that every Syrian soul is sacred, no matter what side of the aisle they choose to stand in. Those that have unnecessary blood on their hands need to be persecuted and their crimes exposed (Which ever side they are on), however when an armed militia and the military enter into a military scrimmage then this should be looked at in a military law terms, not civilian.
“You already know that there is no media outlet in the whole universe that doesn’t have a specific agenda, political, financial, or personal. And you also know that ‘resistance’ is a bad word since 1948 and you know that no writer is honest or unbiased, so everything we read in the media regardless how much trust we have for the writer has a message in it to support the ‘agenda’ of that specific outlet, in short, the sentence you wrote hold lots of reality than what you meant.”
You are absolutely correct Jad, nobody is unbiased. However it is important to listen to people and organizations that have a more balanced approach, that don’t blatantly call for the murder of Syrians, or make up stories on how the protestors are high on hallucinogenic drugs. When SANA calls for sunny days, I bring an umbrella with me, when the BBC/Amnesty/UNHRC say that the regime is killing mainly peaceful protestors I am inclined to believe them. As for the resistance I am sorry I really don’t like that term, because for resistance sake we gave up on our freedoms, for resistance sake we bowed down to mere mortals that had the sake of their coffers a priority over our country.
“Nobody on SC called for what you described, every sane Syrian is calling for freedom and justice, but we disagree on the tools used to bring freedom and change. Freedom coming by guns and more killing is not sustainable and won’t build Syrians any viable safe and diverse country we all are calling for. So our mission is to shape the freedom we want without the need to deform it just because we don’t want to critics the wrong doing, if we want to start right, this is the right time to say NO to everything that won’t bring us what we want. Later we won’t be allowed to say anything, dictatorship starts the moment we stop questioning facts and let our emotion to lead us. Logic must prevail over emotion in any struggle. Sectarianism, violence, revenge, discrimination, hate, lies shouldn’t be tolerated anymore by any side under any reason. Seriously don’t you feel bad when you read the most outrageous comments by Revlon? Didn’t you ask yourself, how come nobody challenges the sectarian, violence and hate message he keeps spreading?”
Again we totally agree on many points, however you fail to mention that we live in a dictatorship that is bloody efficient at trying to quell our voice. Bashar Inc. does not want to relinquish its suffocating grip our necks trying to make sure we fall back into line. I can’t speak for Revlon, nor will I attempt to. However when I read a comment where someone is calling for sectarian killing, or turning themselves into a bigot by interpreting who in Kaffer or not, I call them out on that. The same when I read some that claim nothing good ever came out of Islam, or that we dumb Arabs should learn more from other “greater” civilization. Its not how much you make, or your race, or creed that dictates you are better than I, it is what is in your head on how you choose to use it is what dictates that.
“Not sure where did you read that or if you referring to me personally because until today I didn’t write what you described. No, I don’t believe that everybody protesting is what you wrote but I believe that many thugs and criminals and terrorists are using innocent people as human shields and blanket for their aggressive actions, we saw it many times already and I condemn these actions, it’s a pure terrorist action against all of us and against those people who are dying in vein as a result of such terrorist actions.”
No you did not mention that, and it was a generalization that a wrongfully attributed to you, and I am sorry.
I am not sure what is your definition of terrorist is exactly, but when the military takes siege to a residential area that is terrorism, when the regime sends in roaming hyenas that are called Shabbi7a I call that terrorism. I also call it terrorism when suicide bombs are used against civilian targets (or any bomb for that matter), or when people are kidnapped and killed just because of their creed. I remember once about five years ago I was having a conversation with a group of lebanese friends of mine, how I told them with absolute certainty and arrogance that we Syrians are above the sectarian BS that they went through, for I have never experienced that in Syria. The most really I would look out for is people in Damascus that approach you starting with Qerd Woula, whenever you hear that in Damascus it is an Oh Shit moment, I mostly heard that parking like a douche going to Zenobia Store in Malki however.
“As you wrote, I didn’t personalized the ‘terrorist sympathizer’ to you and I won’t, my comment was directed to people who repeatedly support any action of violence done by the armed militia without questioning the results and how are those actions affecting our society, for me that is ‘terrorism’ and I refuse to accept any action of violence by any side out of emotional reaction or as the only way out. It should be known by now since I repeated many times already, I disagree of using violence as a method to solve any issue, nothing good comes out of that other than more blood, revenge and hatred between the society elements which means a bleak future filled with madness, bloody struggle, civil strives and no democracy in any form which takes away the only one cause that people went out for at the beginning. If that sounds biased or immoral to you and many others it’s not my problem anymore, it’s yours to deal with, I have one message that I keep repeating, dialogue and reconciliations not wars and calling for revenge to speed up the vicious circle of violence is what we need right now. It’s ‘logic’ what we should look for nothing else if we really want a way out of this evil hole we stumbled in.”
When you are faced with an immovable object, you sometimes need more words to take it down. At what point is self defence justifiable in your eyes, when do we Syrians have the right to bear arms against our state that has taken our entire country hostage? If 6000+ is not justifiable then what is? 20000, 1 million …. ?
“Most if not all Syrians recognize that, but for many reasons, many of them, me included, lost the trust in the message of the revolution, after a very short time of the peaceful beginning the message got twisted in the most ugly way possible, we saw nothing out of this struggle but misery, blood, poverty, sanctions, lies, weapons, violence, international power manipulation, treason, and many of the ugliest crimes Syrians ever seen throughout their modern history. We already know that more than half of those crimes are committed but the regime but what’s forgotten, hidden and lied about is the other part that is committed under the name of every Syrian went in the street calling for what’s right. For every brave Syrian who died I the street by the regime another Syrian was also killed by terrorists, yet we should only glorify those killed by the regime and curse and forget those innocent Syrians killed by the terrorists? Why? Why a Syrian life shouldn’t be equally respected and be saddened for? How wrong is that? If I or anybody else doesn’t challenge the propaganda out there that meant to convince us with the right side how can we have a better vision of the future we supposedly going toward, what I see today that we are going from one dictatorship to another. Unfortunately, and I mean it, the message of the uprising was hijacked and manipulated by everybody, each for its own reasons, then it was handed to us through endless manipulation of emotions and a vicious propaganda that kept refusing to show the most dangerous segment of truth most probably out of fear that reality may hurt the cause more than it helps. But today this small mistake of not being honest and brave enough to face reality as Haytham Manna did early on is what is hurting the cause the most in the eyes of many Syrians. Many Syrians don’t want dictatorship but at the same time they don’t want civil war, they don’t want occupations, they don’t want violence, they don’t want for every criminal to talk on their behalf, Syrians want what they deserve, a better, safe and thriving future for them and their children away from the violence that will bring them destruction and misery. I happened to believe that the peaceful phase of the revolution did end and what we are seeing now is nothing but the ugly phase of what many people do not want. So my answer is NO I don’t see it odd that I’m trying to show the other half of the story, someone should do this, we’ve been driven like sheep for too long, it’s time to bring in every piece of this puzzle to see clearly where we are heading. I don’t want to read the news without questioning it.”
Why would you give up so easily, and so early? We Syrians are at a crossroad in our rich history, our country is demanding change that is true and meaningful. I will leave it to Thoreau again to best convey my feelings: “To speak practically and as a citizen, unlike those who call themselves no-government men, I ask for, not at once no government, but at once a better government. Let every man make known what kind of government would command his respect, and that will be one step toward obtaining it”
“Son of Damascus, I can’t write anything about your guilt feeling and disgust of some people close to you that you think they commit the crime, because I don’t know what happened or who did the killing, I can only say: (la tazr waziraton wizra oukhra). Every person should be responsible of his/her actions, the crime of Hamza Alkha6eeb is unforgettable and whoever committed such atrocity must pay, period. The same feeling you have many from the other side have too, but you were brave enough to write what you think about, what about Sari Sa3oud? Did you read from any opposition figure about the guilt feeling you have? Isn’t that strange that nobody feels guilty for Sari? Is he not a kid? Is he not a victim of violence? Doesn’t he have a mother and family too? You got my point. “claim everything will be fine” Not only your family said that, most of the Syrians actually BELIEVED that. So don’t be too hard on yourself, you couldn’t do anything better than what you are doing. You are a brave man Son of Damascus”
Thank you for the kind words, but the brave are the likes of Sari and Hamza. Two young boys that should haunt every Syrian soul to push us to improve our country and most importantly to never ever allow such heinous crimes go unpunished, or allowed ever again.
“We are not giving up ‘something’ we’ve been asked to give up ‘everything’ for the unknown, which is unacceptable any way you looked at. Funny enough you mentioned the Bass and Assad, because all my life in Syria I was never in any political party, never been forced to go into a demonstration, and never believed that”
Neither was I really, however I grew up not far from the Haras jemhouri Barracks in Malki (I could almost smell what they were cooking). They had their yearly celebrations (Youm el Jaish) were they loved to sing those military Sha3bi songs, it was fun watching them and remember some ahl el harra partaking in it also. But I did believe that Havez was actually protecting us, and remember a sadness of as if I lost a loved one when he and Basil died. I still remember the micro Buses that had the eye with the tear drop and Basil written in there, I genuinely believe that many Syrians felt sadness when they died. I know and understand that those were misguided feelings now, feelings that I questioned from an early age but never really followed through in it because of fear and numbness towards the status quo., and most importantly the brainwashing mind numbing propaganda did its job.
“I have no doubt that Syria will survive without Assad, what I really want is a dialogue that will lead to a more organized transition not a chaos or a civil war or an occupation.
I wish that too, but from what we read in the news it’s not promising, sorry for being a pessimist on this point, but when nobody is addressing the legitimate fear Syrians have for their future and without any clear plans and visions, we have no choice but to be worried and suspicious of what’s planned for Syria behind closed doors.”
I don’t wish for Syria civil war, foreign occupation, or chaos. However to have a civilized transition in power you first must deal with a civilized regime, no? What is the current regime doing to avoid any of the scenarios you mentioned? Should we not hold the regime to higher standard? As for the planning since when was the regime ever transparent with their dealings with the people? And is it really safe to discuss alternatives to the regime in the open currently in Syria?
“Democracy is a built up culture, it doesn’t bloom in one day, so the democracy we are experiencing in the western world was already rooted for many generations before it’s at the shape is today. We all wish that Syrians can enjoy such culture now, we just need to be more realistic about our expectation, the culture of democracy to flourish it will take some time, especially in a an area where old traditions and strong distinctive social and religious cultures dominating every aspect of Syrian lives, therefore we have to start somewhere in the middle to go forward and the first step there is to learn how to talk to each other without the need to kill each other, hence the dialogue is the starting point from my understanding”
You are right, although we don’t need to experience all the growing pains that the western nations lived through with democracy, for it not a Democratic Country that enslaved a 6th of its population, was it not a democratic country that voted the evil scum Hitler and his Mein Kampf ideology, but we should learn from them, and apply it to our country in a way that reflects upon our deep heritages and multi ethnicity and religions, but most importantly on our Syrianhood.
“I share your sentiment, however, sometimes, we have no choice but to deal with reality and try to make the best outcome possible, not what we dream of.”
I will allow T. E. Lawrence a.k.a Lawrence of Arabia to answer you from his book Seven Pillars of Wisdom: “ All men dream: but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dreams with open eyes, to make it possible.”
January 18th, 2012, 12:19 am
irritated said:
$1145 Majedalkhaldoon
If you want my interpretation of the situation, this is what I think happened. I am sure you will disagree…
I think the FSA was trapped and rounded up in Zabadani and about to be totally crushed as I had predicted. The Syrian army did not want to create a situation where they would be accused of a ‘massacre of civilians’ under the eyes of the observers and the media. On the other hand, the FSA were not heroic to the point of committing suicide by continue to fight in a position of weakness, therefore they accepted a negotiated settlement, beneficial to both side: No vanquished and not victorious.
If this is true, it is a turning point as it shows that the FSA and the Syrian army can reach a ceasefire. I am sure both have come to realize that it went too far and it was a dead end for both. Therefore I am hopeful that the next step may be a complete ceasefire and a beginning of serious negotiation.
Anyway,let’s hear the news before getting to conclusions
January 18th, 2012, 12:22 am
irritated said:
#1145. Son of Damascus
Ouf…. A concise text reads better.
January 18th, 2012, 12:27 am
Son of Damascus said:
Irritated,
Sorry I gave your scrolling finger a work out.
January 18th, 2012, 12:31 am
irritated said:
1141 Syria Lover
“We are suffering enough over Syria without sad pests like Ann mocking and vandalising SC.”
You win the reward of the dumbest and most reprehensible comment on SC this week.
Learn how to respect the others, Syria needs it.
January 18th, 2012, 12:32 am
majedkhaldoun said:
irritated
you said
“I think the FSA was trapped and rounded up in Zabadani and about to be totally crushed as I had predicted.”
That is not true and you proved that your predictions as usual is wrong
FSA control Zabadani now and they are very strong, and the regime who backed up.
You said the regime avoided an image of Massacre, that did not stopped the regime before, in Hama, in Homs , In Jisr ashougoor, so you are wrong again,again you are assuming a lot.
You did not explain why Asef Shawkat was involved.
The real reason will be known soon, but this could be a turning point, I agree on this point, I have a feeling that HA was part of the reason,
January 18th, 2012, 12:58 am
ann said:
Iran, Syria, US: Russia speaks out – 18 January, 2012
http://rt.com/news/russia-foreign-policy-lavrov-023/
Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov outlines the priorities of Russian foreign policy, directions for its development, and challenges on the international scene at his annual press conference.
RT’s live stream of the event will start at 07:00AM GMT.
Russia’s stance towards the situation in the Arab World, AMD deployment in Europe, and the effects of WTO accession are expected to be in the spotlight during the meeting.
The evolution of economic and political collaboration within the BRICS bloc, and the course of Russia’s foreign policy following the upcoming presidential elections are listed among other significant topics for discussion.
January 18th, 2012, 1:01 am
Juergen said:
Amir
As i know from my syrian friends, they all have never seen Anisa live, she wasnt portrayed as the first lady as Asmaa is now. She was first seen by many in the funeral of Hafez. I know one women who works in an hospital. They had made all personal go out of the building,she was in the bathroom so she did not know, when she came out on the hallway there was Hafez visiting an doctor, and he looked very eiry she said, kind of a very distant guy. I think in his nature he trusted no one and saw misshief where others did not see it.
JAD/SOD
very good comments, we should have more of such debates here
Uzair
Good job about this women mercenary wrting for who pays most. We have such an women in german journalism too, Katrin Leukefeld, she is awefully quiet now about Syria, wonder why…
Its kind of an attraction to some such dictatorships, i know an german-northkorean friendship coalition, they organize trips to North Korea, with Kotaus in front of the mirror casket of the supreme leader. Its kind of like those massmurderers in prison, they get the most fanmails and love letters by some desperates.
All
I have a question to all of you. When i lived under communist rule we had about 5 channels in tv, 2 government and 4 west german tv programmes. We usually watched only the news of the west german tv stations, my grandfather used to say: we watch government tv news to see how the world should be and western tv news to see how the world is. We had some areas in my country where the people had no western tv at all, one could think those regions were the most loyal ones, it was actually in those regions that the popular uprise began.
I wonder with 300+ tv stations reachable by Syrians does the majority watch state tv? Its hard for me to believe that the regime is controlling its people by this. From my friends no one watches dunia or state tv, they told me that some shop owners and in restaurants they show the state tv as a sign we are with the regime. Is it true that satellite dishes are forbidden?
January 18th, 2012, 1:01 am
ann said:
Chavez and Putin agree to defend independence and sovereignty of Syria and Iran – Wednesday, January 18th 2012
The sovereignty of Syria and Iran should be defended against ‘foreign interferences’ and from the siege of ‘colonial powers’ Venezuela’s President Hugo Chavez and Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin agreed during a telephone conversation, according to the Venezuelan Foreign Affairs ministry.
http://en.mercopress.com/2012/01/18/chavez-and-putin-agree-to-defend-independence-and-sovereignty-of-syria-and-iran
The two leaders agreed on the need to craft a common approach to defend “the independence and sovereignty of the Syrian Arab Republic and the Islamic Republic of Iran, against the harassment and interference by foreign powers” added the Venezuela release.
While Chavez has openly expressed support for the beleaguered Syrian president Bachar al Asad, Moscow opposes any foreign intervention and the use of force against Syria as happened in Libya, and advanced that it will reject any UN resolution proposal that includes sanctions against the regime.
January 18th, 2012, 1:09 am
Son of Damascus said:
Juergen,
State TV has some wonderful local programmes in Syria, shows like Maraya, Ayam Shamieh, or any Ghawar or Yasser Admeh series were always a joy to watch, not to mention syrian advertisements with the Russian ladies mouthing arabic words while dancing, they had really catchy tunes.
However when it comes to news it is better to take everything that any arab state media says with a block of salt.
January 18th, 2012, 1:53 am
ann said:
Russia digs in heels on Syria resolution – Tue Jan 17, 2012
Russia signaled on Tuesday it would not make major concessions over its draft Security Council resolution to end bloodshed in Syria, sticking by its key ally in the Middle East.
Moscow and Western members of the U.N. body have been deeply divided over the uprising against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, and Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov did little to suggest there was sufficient common ground to agree a resolution with France, Britain and the United States.
Gatilov said the West’s proposed changes to its December 15 draft resolution had “in essence emasculated” the document, removing text affirming Syria’s sovereignty and the principle of non-intervention in its internal affairs.
“These most important, key clauses were simply crossed out by our Western partners,” Gatilov told a news conference. “We cannot accept that approach.”
Any resolution had to assign blame to both the government and its opponents, he said. “To say only that the Syrian authorities are responsible for everything would be wrong.”
At the same time, he added, Russia was “not shutting the door on negotiations on the draft. We are ready to discuss all questions with our Western partners.”
Gatilov spoke as mid-level diplomats from Security Council members, including China, prepared for talks on the third version of the draft resolution, a document Western diplomats said on Monday was confusing
As well as stressing Moscow’s opposition to any Western backed intervention in Syria, similar to NATO’s campaign in Libya, Gatilov also cautioned against Arab involvement, as Qatar has mooted.
He said anyone thinking about sending troops should “consider very carefully what the use of forces from outside, Arab or otherwise, could lead to.”
“I don’t think this would lead to anything good, and it certainly would not lead to the resolution of the problems that exist.”
January 18th, 2012, 1:53 am
Juergen said:
SOD
Yes i forgot those series are funny to watch and a relief to those lebanese soaps, wherelse can you hear the real dimaschq slang?
January 18th, 2012, 2:03 am
jad said:
Dear Son of Damascus,
Reading your comment was such a treat, I can clearly see a very respected man of culture behind those words, many thanks for elevating the level to the usual standards SC known for.
I will try to answer you later and I promise our friend Irritated to make it short since we mostly agree on many points.
Regards
January 18th, 2012, 2:09 am
ann said:
Iran Mocks US With Toy Drone – 13 hrs ago
http://news.yahoo.com/iran-mocks-us-toy-drone-174851478–abc-news.html
The Iranian government, which captured a U.S. stealth drone in December, has agreed to give the top-secret spy craft back, but with a catch.
Instead of the original RQ-170 Sentinel drone, the Islamic Republic said Tuesday that it will send President Obama a tiny toy replica of the plane.
Iranian state radio said that the toy model will be 1/80th the size of the real thing. Iranian citizens can also buy their own toy copies of the drone, which will be available in stores for the equivalent of $4
January 18th, 2012, 2:13 am
Son of Damascus said:
Dear Juergen,
I am really glad a fellow like yourself is so open and loving to my Syrian culture. I find your country an inspiration of how not only to over come the banality of evil, but to overcome a divide that had separated families and countrymen/women by an actual wall.
January 18th, 2012, 2:19 am
Son of Damascus said:
Dear Jad,
I look forward to it, our conversation has been a real eye opener for me.
I think us Syrians are sometimes too quick to put a label on people and ideas, especially people that might think contrary to our beliefs.
Regards
January 18th, 2012, 2:44 am
Badr said:
Remembering child victims of Syria’s military crackdown
January 18th, 2012, 5:08 am
Shabbi7 said:
Freedom dabbi7a firebomb yet another school, but this time original video obtained including parts intended to be edited out.
January 18th, 2012, 5:55 am
Shabbi7 said:
Dead and injured dabbi7a who are neither dead nor injured.
January 18th, 2012, 5:56 am
Shabbi7 said:
The 5 Iranian “mercenaries” that were allegedly captured turn out to be the 5 Iran engineers (supporting a power generation plant) that were kidnapped recently. What idiots believe IRGC would walk around with Iranian passports? Oh yeah, the dabbi7a supporters.
https://www.facebook.com/SyrianFreePress/posts/293359607378944 (I think our dabbi7a friend Revlon posted a bigger version of the picture)
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/221601.html
January 18th, 2012, 6:02 am
Shabbi7 said:
The Free Dabbi7a Army should use disco lights next time to look more effective 😉
January 18th, 2012, 6:07 am
irritated said:
#1150 Majedalkhadoon
Syrian Army Remains in Besieged Town Amid Talk of Withdrawal
By Massoud A. Derhally – Jan 18, 2012 7:12 AM ET
Syrian troops remain in the besieged town of Zabadani, near the border with Lebanon, where they have clashed with defectors, even though there are reports of a truce between the two sides and an agreement to withdraw, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
“Its illogical for President Bashar al-Assad to say last week he will strike with an ‘iron fist’ and for the army to give up in Zabadani,” Rami Abdel Rahman, the head of the UK-based observatory, which has a network of activists in the country, said by telephone today. “If that’s true then the regime is finished. This isn’t true.”
While on the phone, Abdel Rahman called a resident in Zabadani, who said soldiers were still in the town and gunfire could still be heard though shelling had stopped. Zabadani has been besieged by the army, which deployed tanks to the area and had fierce clashes with defectors yesterday, Mahmoud Merei, head of the Arab Organization for Human Rights, said by phone today.
{…}
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-01-18/syrian-army-remains-in-besieged-town-amid-talk-of-withdrawal.html
January 18th, 2012, 9:48 am
irritated said:
Majedalkhaldon
The media reported that the Syrian army proposed a ceasefire because they were ‘surprised’ and ‘forced’ by the strenght of the FSA. Nothing can be as illogical. ( The Guardian: Free Syrian Army resistance forces brief truce in Zabadani)
The FSA is under siege in Zabadani and they are stuck because on the Lebanese border they are getting no support and no free access. They are the ones on a dire situation, they are the ones who need a ceasefire. ( The Guardian reported that the mosques in Zabadani were calling for the ceasefire)
I think that in Zabadani, the FSA fell into a trap. They are now stuck and in disarray hoping that the AL and the international community will rescue them.
The regular army side has a dilemma, they are surrounding Zabadani and can either shell areas where there is a concentration of weapons or keep the siege. Keeping the siege too long may create an humanitarian crisis and alert the human rights organizations.
The army accepted a cease fire just to show their good will and their reluctance to create a massacre under the eyes of the observers, not out of military weakness. Now the ceasefire fell through. Maybe the ceasefire was just a tactic for the Syrian army or maybe because some die hard FSA (and mercenaries) preferred to fight rather than end up judged and executed. Some others rebels maybe have preferred to take advantage of the amnisty announced by Bashar al Assad. This is why they are probably divided. Now, the army can shell and squeeze enough the FSA that they will call for a truce or surrender.
The media is presenting the city on siege as a humanitarian crisis and putting pressure on the Syrian government to stop the shelling.
With sanctions already in place and the international community paralyzed, I doubt anything can be done except allowing the civilians to leave the city and wait.
It is not a coincidence that this is happening as the UNSC meeting is soon… This may change the cards again.
January 18th, 2012, 10:14 am
zoo said:
In Libya, a New Fundamentalist War Against Moderate Islam Takes Shape
By Steven Sotloff / Tripoli Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2012
…
Puritanical Muslims known as Salafis are applying a rigid form of Islam in more and more communities. They have clamped down on the sale of alcohol and demolished the tombs of saints where many local people worship. The small town of Zuwara near the Tunisian border, dominated by a heterodox Muslim sect despised by the Salafis, is quickly becoming the battlefield for competing visions of Libya’s future.
Read more: http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2104578,00.html#ixzz1jp8TfT00
January 18th, 2012, 10:25 am
Juergen said:
new anthem new Syria…
January 18th, 2012, 11:22 am
zoo said:
test
January 18th, 2012, 2:24 pm
zoo said:
Russia vows to block Western intervention in Syria
by ZEINA KARAM | Associated Press – 38 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/russia-vows-block-western-intervention-syria-183440104.html
BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s powerful allies in Russia vowed Wednesday to block any Western attempts to intervene militarily in Syria as Damascus fights off an increasingly chaotic 10-month-old revolt against President Bashar Assad.
The support came as Assad was showing fresh confidence that he can ride out the uprising with the help of a small — but influential — set of friends in Russia, China and Iran.
Iran also gave Syria another boost Wednesday. According to Iran’s semi-official ISNA news agency, with the commander of Iran’s Quds Force, Brig. Gen. Qasem Soleimani, said Assad’s government enjoys public support and won’t collapse.
….
The comments by Russia’s Foreign Minister Lavrov were one of Moscow’s strongest statements of support yet for Assad. As one of five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, Russia can veto any Council resolution that would authorize military intervention in Syria.
“If some intend to use force at all cost … we can hardly prevent that from happening,” Lavrov told a news conference in Moscow. “But let them do it at their own initiative on their own conscience. They won’t get any authorization from the U.N. Security Council.”
…
Lavrov said Russia was acting in full respect of international law and wouldn’t be guided by unilateral sanctions imposed by other nations.
“We haven’t violated any international agreements or the U.N. Security Council resolutions,” he said. “We are only trading with Syria in items which aren’t banned by international law.”
Lavrov accused the West of turning a blind eye to attacks by opposition militants and supplies of weapons to the Syrian opposition from abroad.
“They are dodging the main question: Why we should keep silent about the extremist opposition’s actions against administrative buildings, hospitals, schools?” He urged the West to use its contacts with the opposition to pressure activists to refrain from violence.
He said that arms supplies to the Syrian opposition are “unacceptable and absolutely counterproductive because it only fuels more violence.”
January 18th, 2012, 2:25 pm
Tara said:
Zoo
There is a new post written by Josh.
January 18th, 2012, 2:30 pm
Jason Rocklin said:
Dear President Obama: Please do something about a cease-fire in Syria and getting Syrian civilions to flee from the bloodshed/violence by getting the U.N. Army to go go Syria and get the U.N. Army planes to get lots of Syrians to flee from sectarian violence/bloodshed going to refugee countries like Canada, U.S. and other safe countries
January 19th, 2012, 3:07 pm
zoo said:
Zabadani: The town President Assad does not control
Jeremy Bowen
Video
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-16663264
January 20th, 2012, 6:30 pm
irritated said:
#1174. Jason Rocklin
Sorry, Obama does read this blog, it is much too pro-regime.
Try your luck on Abboud’s blog where all the anti-regime pro-US commenters write.
January 20th, 2012, 6:35 pm
zoo said:
Tara
Thanks…
January 20th, 2012, 6:36 pm
Tara said:
Zoo,
Pleasure…
January 21st, 2012, 8:55 am
Mary said:
Quiet interesting that two of the seemingly most concerned countries about Syria are prior occupiers: France who occupied Syria and split it into two, and Turkey who currently occupies syrian territories: Iskenderon ( where Turkey is currently training opposition armed groups to fight in Syria) and Antioch.
January 24th, 2012, 2:49 pm
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