Most Americans don’t even know where Syria is. I’m not trying to demean my fellow countrymen, only to highlight a fundamental truth these days.
__________________________________________________________________

At recent gathering in an affluent area of South Orange County, California, less than 15% of respondents knew where Syria is. Many did not know what the “Middle East” is when told that Syria in the area. The easiest way to explain, was to say, it is next to Israel. At which most older aged respondents added this: stated that large part of the problem over there is “Our Government” oil interests.

In younger group 22-30, Minorities knew where Syria was located far more than WASP. Few under 22 knew what Syria is, no hint that it is a country name at all. Most confuse it with Sicilia!!!

This is more important news today. Nice collection of articles.

Fredo the mouse is just like his father now cowed by Turkish reinforcement on the border. Last time the father coughed up Ocalan this time, I am not sure Fredo has anything to cough up except to abjectly apologize and offer regrets.

Typical bully cowardly behavior, tough on the weak and meek with the tough.

Germs will overake this regime fully.

The revelation of torture centers and names is double edged sword for those named will not defect except of offered some way out or reduced sentence. On the other hand, knowing them is essential for justice to be metted out.

What a lousy excuse. If it was an Israeli jet, most probably it would have landed safely in his home base in Israel.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Mole_Cricket_19
Syria’s air defense didn’t change much since this operation took place in ’82.
.

If true this is great news! Riad al Assad hasn’t defected!
Also let me steal Ann, Zoo et al’s thunder:

riad al asaad ‏@fsa_hq_syria

A meeting of Syria’s splintered opposition in Cairo on Tuesday descended into scuffles and fistfights that will dishearten Western leaders

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2012/07/03/riad-al-asaad-%e2%80%8ffsa-hq-syria-a-meeting/

@OBSERVER,

Well said, but the last time Israeli air force bombed to dust military installation in Deir Alzour, he did not even fire a shot. At the least, he should have apologized to Syrians for that. to him, they are just undignified serfs, not worth irritating Israel with an apology for having at his palace a Mossad agent (Suleiman) working full time at Syria’s payroll expense. Syria for 40 years was fully owned and poorly managed Baathist-Alawi farm/MAZRAA and this obscene management team getting worse by the hour.

What a lie,does he think the world is stupid to believe him,
The plane turned back and forth twice at one point it was spotted over Turkey, Why would anyone think it is Israeli jet before he thinks it is Turkish? unless he is Assad .

3. AMIR IN TEL AVIV
after such comments, you should invite a commission of Vinogradov!

Dear moderator !
so it is impossible to debate!

I agree, Observer, today’s news round up will make anxious reading for the Assad regime promoters and apologists.

And it’s only going to get worse for them.

‘We took their fingernails out with pliers and we made them eat them. We made them suck their own blood off the floor’

Some arguments from pro-regime loyalists? Is this how you understand AlMahabba wa AlSalam and the syrian hospitality?

We all know this is nothing compared to what has been going on inside syrian prisons. I myself saw electrical shock devices when I was inside Kafr Sousse moukhabaraat complex time ago.
And I have seen shabbihas explaining to me personally in detail how they hit people with cables.

Ahmah Jibril is going to fight with Batta.  He should start looking for another host country.  He is not welcome any more in Syria- how about Iran?

First Published: 2012-07-03
Moscow accuses Western nations of distorting Syria deal

DAMASCUS – Russia accused the West on Tuesday of seeking to “distort” an agreement for a political transition in Syria, after international peace envoy Kofi Annan said a ceasefire was “imperative.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov hailed the Geneva accord based on proposals by Annan as an “important step” but said that Western capitals had read more into the final statement than what was written on paper.

“These (Geneva) agreements are not there to be interpreted. They mean exactly what is said in the communique and we need to follow the agreements that were made,” he said.

His comments came soon after Annan’s spokesman Ahmad Fawzi had told reporters that a “shift” in positions by Russia and its diplomatic ally China at the Geneva talks should not be underestimated.
…
“Russia was invited. They made it known that they did not want to participate, which is not a surprise,” he told reporters. Russia, a traditional ally of Syria, and China did not attend any previous meetings of the group.
….

In the event of “a foreign attack, we discussed with our brothers (in the Syrian regime), with (Hezbollah chief) Hassan Nasrallah and our brothers in Iran, we will be part of this battle,” said Ahmed Jibril of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command.
…..

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=53185

hopefully sooner than later, I believe Alex is working on resolving this issue. Thank you for your patience as well to all the other commentators I know it can be frustrating waiting sometimes.

SC Moderator

Dear Moderator

Thank you for your effort quickly releasing comments. Any update in regard to when this is going to be fixed?

Amir
its a lame excuse, everyone who knows how military intelligence works knows how to define the aircrafts of your enemy from those of lesser enemies.

Paul Craig Roberts prances around as a “maverick” former academic and public servant who has made a career by safely slamming his own country and employers.

However, when you read the following idiocy (from main post above):

“the American press pretends that an evil Syrian government is murdering innocent citizens who only want democracy”

Roberts exposes himself as ill-informed, nasty, 73-year-old retired nutter. I hope he gets publicly shamed and shunned for this cheap way to push his own crank causes.

# 4. Uzair8

Though when I see your post I wonder if Riad al Assad is now an agent provocateur.

5. aldendeshe said: this obscene management team getting worse by the hour.

but earlier you said you were staying neutral.

4. Uzair8 said: If true this is great news! Riad al Assad hasn’t defected! Also let me steal Ann, Zoo et al’s thunder:

A meeting of Syria’s splintered opposition in Cairo on Tuesday descended into scuffles and fistfights that will dishearten Western leaders
.

is there video?

Hurry up with the moderation glitch will ya!

Some of the spammers are going cold turkey.

more on the jet story:

[Assad] said that the plane was flying in a corridor inside Syrian airspace that had been used by Israeli planes in 2007, when they bombed a building under construction in northern Syria. The UN nuclear agency has said that the building was a nearly finished reactor meant to produce plutonium, which can be used to arm nuclear warheads

“The plane was using the same corridor used by Israeli planes three times in the past,” Assad told Cumhuriyet. “Soldiers shot it down because we did not see it on our radars and we were not informed about it.”

so bashar has ceded even syrian air space to israel?

assad lies even when he doesn’t need to. why not be honest and simply admit his forces mistakenly shot down the turkish jet because they feared another defection from the regime air force?

@OMEN

We been saying Baathists must go since before you where playing with Whinny the Pooh. Neutral: refers to not join the insane ones who are after finishing each other. Can you say that Assad and his Baathist stooges are not committing insane acts against the Syrian nation, driving its people insane and its feeble state and infrastructure to oblivion. Can you say that Islamists are not committing acts of insanity against Syrians, just to help Israel and the Zionists. How sectarian insanity is a good strategy and is going to liberate Syria, who came up with this failed plot that robbed Syrians of genuine political revolution, and set them on the path of sectarian hell and disintegration. Are they going to be convicted for their crimes against humanity? Are they any different than the Baathist regime?

Will take over in the aftermath. You got to understand something, Syrians had it with Arab, Moslems, Shia, Baathi, Turkmen, Arabism, Nasserites, Brotherhoods, Communism and Socialism. That leave one Political movement still intact and clean- Syrian Nationalists. All we doing now is working on the campaign for the morning after.

They going to be haunted and found.   

William Hague warns ‘no hiding place’ for Syrian ‘torturers’
William Hague gave warning on Tuesday that there would be “no hiding place” for Assad-regime intelligence chiefs identified as the overseers of a brutal “torture archipelago” in Syria.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/william-hague/9373676/William-Hague-warns-no-hiding-place-for-Syrian-torturers.html

“By publishing their locations, describing the torture methods, and identifying those in charge we are putting those responsible on notice that they will have to answer for these horrific crimes.”
…
Shortly after the report’s release Mr Assad showed contrition for the first time since the uprising began in March last year – although it was directed towards Turkey rather than his own people.
….
Mr Assad also welcomed an international plan drawn up in Geneva on Saturday that called for the formation of a government of national unity, while leaving open whether the Syrian president could lead it. He said he was pleased that the initiative had left the decision about Syria’s future to its people.
……

Ah…it is working now. Thanks moderator and Alex.

Majed and others:

I think victory is coming soon..

Watching all the videos of the FSA accomplishments, it appears that we are going to celebrate 4th of July next year in Damascus.  My family have a house in Halaya with a breathtaking view of Zabadani valley.  All pro revolution crowds and some not so pro revolution guys are invited to a big party.  I am already thinking about the menu…

SNK, I may invite you..Are you going to come or you’d boycott the party?

Douma after the fights

تقرير قناة العالم من دوما 3-7-2012

Reposted: Turkey watching its borders with Syria
That was expected as part of Turkey’s compliance with the Geneva agreement.
Turkey will not allow the FSA fighters to move freely anymore near the Syrian borders. Turkey calls it ‘terrorist leaks’.

Turkish military firm completes border-watch system

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkish-military-firm-completes-border-watch-system.aspx?pageID=238&nID=24647&NewsCatID=341

The Turkish Military Electronics Company (ASELSAN) has completed a patrol system that will monitor Turkey’s land borders around the clock.

The Transportable Autonomous Patrol System for Land Border Surveillance (TALOS) project aims to provide control of the land borders and stop terrorist leaks.

The land vehicles are equipped with cameras and will watch over the borders in areas soldiers cannot reach, sending a live feed of information to their command center. The vehicles can also autonomously engage in fights with threats.

July/03/2012

Great predictions for the usual Cassandras on the blog.

While we heard them more than 15 months ago, now the adrenaline is up: The Army will all defect and join the FSA in Turkey. The FSA, now 300,000 motivated soldiers and well paid by Saudi Arabia will invade Syria and topple the regime in a matter of days, not month or years….

A new president will be immediately elected. The tough competition is between Ghaliun, Georges Sabra or Abdel Baset Siada or… Ryad al Assaad when he’ll be back from Bulgaria.
The Syrians will be enthusiastically united to be able to vote for these heroes.

Peace and Karama will be restored…
And you can all go to Tara’s party in her rich relative’s villa in Zabadani to celebrate victory, while the poor Syrians in their destroyed villages will wonder whatever happened to the Syria they knew and loved…

Michael Weiss, usually very assertive, seems puzzled and confused

Is the US restraining Turkey from military action in Syria?

By Michael Weiss World Last updated: July 3rd, 2012
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaelweiss/100168621/is-the-us-restraining-turkey-from-military-action-in-syria/

….
And why not? (Turkey)It’s not motivated not by humanitarian imperative but by national security. It fears further cross-border raids into its territory by regime forces. It sees itself as already intervening by hosting and arming Syrian rebels. And it is absolutely terrified that Assad’s sleeper proxy in Syria, the PKK, will begin a new terrorist assault even as Turkey continues to try and destroy the group’s strongholds in southern Turkey and northern Iraq.

Tara
Thank you, I will be there, I will have a nice gift too.I hope you will not refuse it.

Irritated, you too are getting delusional , you said that Ryad Al Asaad was in Bulgharia, Is the water in western NY is polluted?

First one to defect was Mukaddam Husein Harmoush,one star general, then Ryad Asaad,Aqeed, two star general,then came Amid three star general Mustafa Al Sheikh, them followed by several Amids, now we have Liwa2 four star general,there is only one Fareeq,He is a kid, when is he going to defect?he will defect if he can provide safety for his wife Asmaa and his kids

The opposition meeting in Cairo to agree a ‘common vision’ ends up in a total failure, a pathetic farce applauded by Victoria Nuland.

Deep disagreements laid bare among Syria’s opposition at Cairo meeting meant to build unity
Aya Batrawy,Ben Hubbard, The Associated Press Jul 03, 2012 18:38:00 PM
http://www.680news.com/news/world/article/378970–deep-disagreements-laid-bare-among-syria-s-opposition-at-cairo-meeting-meant-to-build-unity

….
The conference ended late Tuesday with an agreement on two documents, both of them vague. One provides a general outline to guide the opposition through a transitional period, while the other lays out the fundamental principles envisioned for a post-Assad Syria.

The delegates agreed in general terms on support for the Free Syrian Army, the dissolution of the ruling Baath Party and the exclusion of Assad or other senior regime figures from a place in the transition.

But they failed to reach an agreement on forming a unified body to represent the opposition.

Arguments were rife among the roughly 250 conference participants over key questions, including whether to ask for foreign military intervention to halt the violence and what role religion would play in a post-Assad Syria.
…
Opposition group members interviewed at the Cairo conference by The Associated Press brought into sharp relief their vast disagreements on issues not addressed in the draft charter, suggesting it papered over the divisions that have prevented them from presenting a united front to the international community.

“It’s very dangerous at this point,” said Abdel-Aziz al-Khayyar, who spent 14 years in Syrian prisons and is now part of the Syrian National Coordination Body. “If we fail to unify as the opposition, it is the greatest gift to the regime.”
…
The two largest opposition groups at the meeting distrust each other. Members of the Syrian National Council accused the Syrian National Coordination Body, known as the NCB, of being too close to the regime. For its part, the NCB accuses the SNC of being a front for the Muslim Brotherhood and Western powers.

Late Tuesday, it appeared that efforts to bring all groups under a unified leadership might collapse – not least of which because Kurdish activists walked out over how the draft charter spoke of their minority.

Sheik Morshid el-Huznawi, one of the Kurds to storm out, declared the conference a “failure.”

Irritated #26

You can be as sarcastic as you like about those who long for and anticipate the collapse of Assad’s regime. But your comments sound like the muffled squeak of a mouse when put beside the thunder of the sickening facts on Syria’s torture Gulag reported by Human Rights Watch.

You say: “while the poor Syrians in their destroyed villages will wonder “whatever happened to the Syria they knew and loved…”

They won’t wonder. They already know it was deliberately vandalised, tortured, burnt, shelled, bombed, starved and kicked to death by the Assad regime.

A regime that was looking for a convenient way to get rid of as many poor Syrians in their villages as possible. Assad has repeatedly demonstrated how he sees them as a nuisance with no value to him as “owner” of Syria.

Irritated

Playing the world’s saddest song on the world’s smallest violin….  

Ah…You emotions are suddenly pouring towards those poor Syrians.  What happened to “cleansing and disinfecting” them? Did you forget?

Don’t worry, will establish a non-for-profit tax free charity to help them and your generous donation will be much appreciated.  

Do you regret your statement 100%. Bashar regretted downing the plane, he said 100%. Did they not teach him how ton talk? In any case, it appears to be high time to offer regret.    

#28 MajedalKhaldoon

I am not saying Ryad al Assaad is in Bulgaria, the media is saying it. He also was absent for the commanders meeting of the FSA. Why would he miss to appear at such important meeting?
If you know where he is please provide the information contradicting these news. Otherwise it means he is in Bulgaria and has defected from the FSA before it’s too late.

#30 Syria Lover

“the muffled squeak of a mouse when put beside the thunder of the sickening facts on Syria’s torture Gulag reported by Human Rights Watch.”

Sorry I don’t know to to write so lyrically… I squeak like a mouse

#31
I don’t present apologies to warmongers.

Tunisia post revolution, season 2 episode 3

Tunisia minister resignation deepens government problems
02/07/2012
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=30183
TUNIS, (Reuters) – Tunisia’s anti-corruption minister has quit, accusing the government of failing to do enough to overhaul the public sector and root out corruption, in a move that shows deepening cracks in the Islamist-led ruling coalition.

The weekend’s resignation of Administrative Reform Minister Mohammed Abbou follows a spat last week between the Tunisian president and the government over the latter’s decision to extradite Muammar Gaddafi’s former prime minister without the president’s knowledge.

Analysts said on Monday that the resignation shows growing contrast within the ruling coalition and may plunge Tunisia – the first Arab country to oust its leader and hold free elections as Arab Spring uprisings spread around the region last year – into crisis.
…

Unusual criticism from a KSA mouthpiece.
Are the Friends of Syria part of the problem?
03/07/2012
By Tariq Alhomayed
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=30193
….
Certainly there is something wrong here, and the blame lies with those who sympathize with the Syrian revolution, because there is something wrong in the way they are dealing with the tyrant of Damascus. The most prominent mistake is the lack of leadership and the failure to take responsibility in a clear manner, particularly as we are all well aware of the danger posed by the survival of the al-Assad regime or the collapse of the situation in Syria, and that this is something that will impact upon everyone without exception.

What is happening in Syria is confusing, hard to know who has the upper hand, hard to believe that the government can lose, still we see many defections that must be humiliating if true, the question is, is it true or a cam pain to lies to decrease the morals of the Syrian Arab army, at the same time the opposition is fighting about power that is as bad for them as the defection in the Syrian army, By now, I think that if Syria changes it’s policy, and direction toward Iran, The Palestinians and Hezbollah, The US and the West will change course and declare the opposition a terror group that are responsible for all the crimes and that the whole world should support the Syrian people and government, The question comes back to, will the Syrian government trust the US and the West and change course or will stick to her supporters and fight ,

The Kurds have got to get over whatever it is that makes it so hard for them agree to compromise and stick with anything.

They have a disastrous legacy of also fighting among themselves which has cost them dearly over the years.

Why is it no surprise to see them complicating and destabilizing the process of organizing a coherent Syrian opposition?

News report:”The Kurds withdrew because the conference rejected to an item that says the Kurdish people must be recognized,” said Abdel Aziz Othman of the National Kurdish Council. “This is unfair and we will no longer accept to be marginalized.”

You have to wonder if that’s the status they secretely prefer, after this latest misjudged and badly-timed insistence on making their separate cause centre stage.

I’m sorry, we all know they have had a terrible time in Iran,Iraq, Turkey and Syria. But this latest tantrum makes the Kurds look terminally addicted to dissent and disruption.

Never was there a more important opportunity for them to shut up and work with others towards achieving a shared vision and goals.

#37 Norman

I agree that things in Syria are confusing, but you are dreaming when you say:

“The US and the West will change course and declare the opposition a terror group that are responsible for all the crimes ”

Worse, hallucinating.

It’s over for Assad. No future. He’s a vicious criminal, ruler without legitimacy and disgusting and dirty to all western governments forever.

So the Kurds withdrew. This leads credence to my previous posting that Syria as some imagine it does not exist simply because people have put their local identity ahead and above that of the nation.

It does not matter that the Kurds have withdrawn; they are still in the same mold of the outside opposition who want to wear the bear’s mantle before killing it. The opposition has realized that it has to kill the bear first before fighting over its hide.

The internal opposition and the FSA is going to destroy this regime and the common regular people who have come to realize that there is no compromise with this regime.

This regime whether it abandons Iran and HA or not is doomed. It is no one else but the Syrian people who are going to do it.

Now the silence of KSA is always very interesting for they usually do not say anything when they are active and they tend to talk when they are inactive.

What to make of Iran threatening to close the straits? What to make of the military exercise? What to make of Lavrov claiming that the Geneva accord are finding new interpretation? Has heen been fooled?

HRW report is damning and clearly shows that the security system is responsible for the abuse and destruction.

Now pray tell us ZOO what does Tunisian post revolution events have to do with Syria’s crisis now? Are you trying to scare us of the future post Fredo? Don’t you realize that the current situation is 10 000 times worse than any future Tunisia or Libya may give us as a glimpse of your fear of change? Why don’t you go to the NYT web site and watch the video of Douma after the “cleansing” or of the pictures of Homs courtesy of the work of the so called Syrian Arab army that Norman is dreaming of its fake existence as a professional patriotic and effective force?

Why don’t you go visit the outskirts of Damascus and Aleppo and watch the ring of camps meant to preserve the regime in place as their only role?

I do not know in what world the pro mafia live in?

Once again the mouse squeaked his 100% regret to Turkey just as any real bully is meek with the strong and bully with the weak. Coward retarded stupid and brutal bully.

Even RT does not post any news from Syria and if so as the last posting.

# 33. Irritated

Now, don’t be like that. A mouse is not sinister. And I didn’t say rat, did I.

But I think Tara’s words about playing the world’s saddest song on its smallest violin were better than mine.

Norman
If Assad switch side,HA Iran,and Russia will be against him, then he will have no friend,

Did we forgot that Abdel Basset Saida is Kurdish? Kurds and Druze are divided,and so are the Christians, George Sabra is Christians,the same for Michael Kilo, even 20% of Alawis are against Assad

Zebari said Syria is ruled by dictater Tyrant, what about Nouri Maliki, is he out of control?

Observer said
Has he been fooled? talking about Lavrov, Fooled may be ,stupid yes, He agreed to have a neutral government with full power and authority, does he not know that it means Assad will be without authority? this is why Annan said Russia has made major changes toward the regime.

# 28. Majedkhaldoun

Do you imagine his brother and brother-in-law will allow him to defect? They have him on a leash like a puppy dog, he will wet his pants at the suggestion of anything to annoy them.

Maybe he will get the Ghazi Kanaan ending.

Or better, they will have him “assassinated by al qaeda”.

Geneva decisions on Syria already being distorted – Lavrov
http://rt.com/politics/russia-us-syria-geneva-talks-282/
—————————
Media PSYOP to Justify NATO Invasion? ‘Crimes Against Humanity’ Cited in Report on Syria’s Torture Network
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/07/media-psyop-to-justify-nato-invasion.html
————————–
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/07/hrw-report-on-syrian-torture.html
HRW Report on “Syrian Torture” Nonsensical, Hypocritical

Syrialover
He will commit suicide with two or three bullets

Syrian army ‘haemorrhaging’ troops to Turkey

Thomas Seibert
Jul 4, 2012

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/syrian-army-haemorrhaging-troops-to-turkey

…..
Sinan Ulgen, the chairman of the Centre for Economy and Foreign Policy Research (Edam), a think-tank in Istanbul, said although defections were not isolated cases, they were still below a level that would worry Mr Al Assad.

“It has not gone beyond a trickle yet, there are no mass defections that would have an impact on the military balance on the ground,” Mr Ulgen said yesterday.

Referring to the structure of the Syrian armed forces, where key positions are held by loyal supporters of Mr Al Assad, including the president’s brother Maher and other members of the ruling Alawite elite, Mr Ulgen said loyalties at the top of the regime would be “difficult to unravel” by the government’s foes.

“The regime has proven to be much more resilient than initially estimated,” Mr Ulgen said.

Sorry folks, Fredo aint a mouse. He his a monster, and a dull, stupid one at that.

I know my relatives, they are far more honorable than to be associated wit any of the Assad clan.

MAJED:
Suicide is not an option, only acceptable option is trial.

ANd BTW,
Alqaida just came to the rescue. They adopted the attack on the Ikhbaryya… How convenient?

stick and stone may break my bones…

If insults and derogatory language could have ever brought down any government, Syria would long ago be in the hands of US/NATO/GCC stooges…

Increasing personal attacks and use of abusive language by the oppositionists belies a growing frustration and desperation.

Don’t worry guys, you still have the MSM behind you, and you only need to last until Jan/Feb 2013 to see if the US will throw its full support behind your cause instead of just sending its local satraps scurrying to aid.

The last few days of news have been disappointing for you, but hang in there. I am sure you will get plenty of opportunities to cheer the blood and gore to come in the name of what you refer to as “freedom.”

And when it’s all over, and against all odds, you come out on top. You can plant your flag high on top of the pile of corpses and you can call it “Free” Syria.

Then you can join in the birth of a new middle east, with peace and love for all…

The Kurdish people is the real victim of the ME imperialist past. Not the fake Palestinians. They should be recognized as a nation, and must be given their natural right to govern themselves. The Kurdish nation is more real nation than the artificial Sykes–Picot nations of Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan etc.

The new ME MUST include a free and independent Kurdistan for the Kurdish nation and people.

If you support the Palestinians, but not the Kurds, then you are hypocrites.
.

All Kurds were waiting for valuable comments from Tel Aviv to understand and be a landmark!

http://www.moonofalabama.org/

Syria: Erdogan’s Threat Is Already Diminishing

When the Syrian air defense shot down a Turkish reconnaissance jet, according to Pentagon officials within Syrian airspace, the Turkish prime minister Erdogan claimed the jet was downed in international air space and issued a threat:

“The rules of engagement of the Turkish Armed Forces have changed,” Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised speech. “Any military element that approaches the Turkish border from Syria and poses a security risk and danger will be regarded as a threat and treated as a military target.”
This led me to ask Is This Erdogan’s Backdoor For Implementing Safe Zones?

What is the distance that is described with “approaches the Turkish boarder from Syria”? Is this a fifty meter no-go zone or a 100 miles deep buffer zone within which Turkey will go after any Syrian troop movement?
The answer is in:

Two F-16s took off from İncirlik air base in the southern province of Adana at 9:12 a.m. as a Syrian MI-17 approached Turkish airspace from the south of Hatay.
Another alert was given at 3:05 p.m. when a Syrian MI-8 helicopter again approached Hatay and got as close as four miles. Two F-16 from the “scramble wing” took off from İncirlik air base and patrolled the border area.

The final scramble order was given at 6:05 p.m. as an MI-8 helicopter approached the border near the southeastern Mardin province. Two F-16s immediately took off from an airbase in Batman in southeastern Turkey.

No air space violations occurred in the incidents, the General Staff said.

As the Turkish journalist Mahi Zeynalov commented:

The incident shows Turkey won’t allow any Syrian aircraft to approach closer than 4 miles to Turkish border, creating de facto buffer zone…/../…

Here’s what Angry Arab had to say about the Cairo “unity” meeting:

Syrian Opposition Unity in Cairo

PS Oh, since I posted this I learned something more: that during the warm unity meeting, some people got into fist fights.

http://angryarab.net/2012/07/03/syrian-opposition-unity-in-cairo/

Please use the handle chosen by commentators.

SC Moderator

49. Amir in [Edit By Moderator] do you know what is the difference between Kurds and Palestinians versus Jews? Palestinians and Kurds have many religions of which they choose and still be Kurds and Palestinians. Jews do not have that luxury. Amir history knows many famous Jewish Kurds, which proves that Judaism is simply a religion, not a race or a nation. By the way Amir there are numerous famous Jewish Brits, Germans, Frenchmen and citizens of Soviet union. Name all Kurdish or Palestinian famous Frenchmen. 🙂

Amir should the new Israel be in Poland, Ukraine or in New Jersey? Is a person who supports Israelis (Jews) and Kurds, but not Palestinians a human rights hypocrite? Or is it hypocritical to support both Palestinians and Kurds, but not Israel (Jewish side)?

What happened in Cairo when the opposition met can explain a lot.

1- The opposition is composed of a number of odd characters with no real political education.

2- There is no clear head of the opposition. Not even close.

3- There is no parties, even the Muslim Brotherhood is still in hiding, why don’t they come up in the open.

4- Even the Kurds: they are way too many parties.

5- Seculars are nowhere to be found.

6- They all want bloody violent revenge.

7- As the habit of the Arabs: The disagreed on everything.

8- They all wanted to talk to the camera.

9- They resorted to violence, or at least tried to, to solve disagreement.

10- Most of them have no real weight of what is going on in Syria today.

To make matters a littler clearer, here is a link to a video from Cairo:

Here is some education about the Alawis and their stance from what is going in Syria.

http://www.azadi-syria.com/index.php/2012-02-03-10-48-47/695-2012-03-28-04-08-40

Here is also another good article from al-Hayat/London about the Alawis by Ali Mulhem.

http://alhayat.com/OpinionsDetails/415654?fb_comment_id=fbc_10150943059238598_24803090_10150944106033598#f3b652cdefef096

Suha Arafat claims that Arafat was indeed poisoned in 2004. She has sent clothes of Arafat to an lab in Lausanne and they have found extremly high charges of Polonium 210. With this radioactive element Alexander Litwinenko was killed in London in 2006. Doctors gave a statement saying that the doctors report on the illness of Arafat dont show clear signs for an poisening with polonium 210. Suha is determined to exhumate her husband for further investigations.
An israeli spokesperson to the ministry of foreign affairs commented on the issue: “If ridiculous statements could kill, then this report would be the prime suspect.”

Syria
How the news gets out

NEWS reports on Syria come with a routine disclaimer: “This cannot be independently verified”. Over the 16 months since the uprising against president Bashar Assad began, the press has been largely restricted from getting into or around Syria, now dubbed the most dangerous country in the world for journalists by the New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists. Yet though the war has forced many journalists who used to work in Syria to leave, we can still get a good idea of what is going on.

Much information relied on by the media comes from citizen journalists and activists inside Syria. Working out which ones are credible sources can be tricky because many use pseudonyms. Some are known personally to your correspondent (unfortunately they go missing at a rapid rate—fleeing the country, arrested or, worse, killed). Making contact can be hard too. Phone lines can be monitored so many use Skype, which can be intermittent thanks to power cuts and communication blackouts in areas undergoing military operations. Many activists are armed with satellite phones. Wherever possible we try to corroborate information with longstanding Syrian contacts on the ground.

http://www.economist.com/blogs/newsbook/2012/07/syria

opinion editorial from DER TAGESSPIEGEL Berlin

“Who holds on to Assad fails to recognize the reality
It is assumed that the erosion of central government control, and ultimately the collapse of the regime, the situation for the population will continue to deteriorate. At this time the opposition is unable to take effective control. That it succeeds in meeting the various opposition forces on 2/3 July in Cairo under the auspices of the Arab League to overcome the disunity of the opposition is extremely unlikely. The rebels of the so-called free Syrian army (FSA) for example, boycotted the meeting. The FSA has also still not central command structure or a civilian leadership. Many rebel groups are only nominally to the FSA, their loyalty, ideological orientation and methods are highly questionable. In recent months, retribution and brutal attacks on state institutions increased by the rebels. Above all, the regime has left its rearguard actions scorched earth and not even spared massive human rights violations.”

http://translate.google.at/translate?sl=de&tl=en&js=n&prev=_t&hl=de&ie=UTF-8&layout=2&eotf=1&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tagesspiegel.de%2Fmeinung%2Fsyrien-konflikt-verhandlungen-mit-assad-werden-scheitern%2F6829508.html

Is the US restraining Turkey from military action in Syria?

What’s going on between Turkey and the United States with respect to Syria? In the last fortnight:
• An unarmed Vietnam-era Turkish reconnaissance plane performing a military exercise was shot out of the sky by Syrian air defences. Turkey insisted that the plane, after having briefly and accidentally dipped into Syrian airspace, was downed in international skies, about 13 nautical miles off the Syrian coast, by an anti-aircraft missile. Damascus said the plane was in Syrian airspace and gunned down by machine-gun fire which can only reach a shore-hugging 1.5 miles. The rescue plane sent to look for the two missing F-4 pilots was also allegedly fired upon.
• Turkey invoked Article IV of the Nato charter and turned up at the resulting meeting a few days later asking the alliance to draw up no-fly zone contingency plans, a request which surprised other Nato members. Nato condemned Syria but took no further action and, for the umpteenth time in the last year and a half, Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen disavowed any desire for military intervention in Syria, while Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff General Martin Dempsey praised Turkey’s “measured” response to the incident.

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/michaelweiss/100168621/is-the-us-restraining-turkey-from-military-action-in-syria/

Watching Syria’s War Videos and images of the continuing conflict in Syria
The New York Times is tracking the human toll of the conflict in this feature. The primary source is the online video that has allowed a widening war to be documented like no other, and posts try to put the video into context. Edited by J. DAVID GOODMAN

http://projects.nytimes.com/watching-syrias-war?smid=fb-nytimes

any one can guess the age of this boy ?
http://youtu.be/6T_u35ZPAy8

Under Syria’s new constitution
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=4VfU82Fs2Uc
.

SimoHurtta,

Take me for example. I’m totally godless secular atheist.. call it what ever you like.. I’m against religions (any of them), I don’t trust them. Yet I feel 100% Jewish. The Jewishness in me, I can feel in any cell, any drop of blood in my veins. I am Jewish before Israeli.
65% of Israeli Jews define themselves the same way.
How can explain it? Am I religious?

.

US Intelligence Says Turkish Warplane Downed in Syrian Waters – July 4, 2012

http://www.globalresearch.ca/index.php?context=va&aid=31755

[…]

Ankara falsified its account. An unnamed senior US defense official also said:

“We see no indication that it was shot down by a surface-to-air missile….”

If a missile struck the plane, Damascus would have ordered it. Antiaircraft fire suggests “a local commander” spotted the plane and acted “on his own initiative,” according to US officials and analysts.

The Journal said antiaircraft fire suggests Turkey’s plane “was flying low to the ground….(It) likely came closer to the Syrian shoreline than Turkey says, US officials say.”

A former unnamed US official with close ties to Turkey said Ankara didn’t act by mistake. He stopped short of what he knows was a willful provocation, whatever other reasons were involved.

One official said both countries test each other’s air defenses. They’re “testing how fast they get picked up and how fast someone responds. It’s part of training.”

In fact, Turkey’s provocation went far beyond a normal exercise. Flying low and fast clearly shows hostile intent.

Journal writers said discrepancies in Ankara’s account could strain relations with Washington. Don’t bet on it.

Turkey is a valued ally. It’s a NATO country. American missile shield installations will be based there. It shares a common border with Syria. It provides safe haven territory for insurgents. It supplies them with weapons. It runs cover for Washington. It participated in its Libya war. It’s ready for more against Syria if asked.

[…]

Syria opposition fails to agree leadership – July 4, 2012

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/995924c2-c5c8-11e1-a3d5-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1ziTIYg9R

Habib 4th Amreeka

Russia monitoring situation in Syria to assist compatriots – July 2, 2012

http://rt.com/politics/russia-syria-uprising-arab-spring-411/

[…]

“Of course, we are not indifference to our compatriots’ fate,” he said. “We met with them.”

Sokolov said there is no need at the time being “to sound the alarm to evacuate the compatriots.”

The Chamber has asked the Foreign Ministry to strengthen Russia’s consular presence in Syria, while adding that it did not believe the situation is “catastrophic” at present.

Maxim Grigoryev, Public Chamber working group member, believes the element of foreign interference does not allow the Syrian authorities to implement the necessary reforms in full.

“It seems that everything was prepared earlier,” he observed. “There is information the militants before the beginning of the protest actions (which began on March 15, 2011) rented apartments in various cities in Syria.”

“Apparently, they (the organizers of the protests) had prepared themselves for such developments,” he added.

Grigoryev mentioned that President Assad still enjoys majority support across the country.

[…]

60. Amir in Tel Aviv said: I’m against religions (any of them), I don’t trust them. Yet I feel 100% Jewish. The Jewishness in me, I can feel in any cell, any drop of blood in my veins. I am Jewish before Israeli. 65% of Israeli Jews define themselves the same way. How can explain it? Am I religious?

in an argument i got into with partisans quarreling that israel should be declared a jewish state, i was told “jewish” is an ethnic classification, more so than religious.

how do the other 35% of israeli jews define themselves?

Syria Welcomes the Concluding Statement of Geneva Meeting, Foreign Ministry – July 4, 2012

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=125290

DAMASCUS- “Syria Welcomes the Concluding Statement of Geneva Meeting, Particularly on Commitment to Syria’ Sovereignty, Independence and Territorial Integrity.” Syria`s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.

In a statement, which DP-News received a copy of it, an Official source at Syria`s Foreign Ministry stated that Syria welcomes the concluding statement of Geneva meeting, particularly the fundamental points on commitment to Syria’s sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, an official source at the Foreign and Expatriates Ministry said on Wednesday.

The source cited other fundamental points including those of putting an end to the violence and human rights violations, disarming the armed groups, non-militarization of the situation in Syria, protection of civilians and launching a Syrian-led political process that meets the legitimate aspirations of the Syrian people and starts with national dialogue among all the groups and spectrums of the Syrian society so as to reach a decision that is Syrian.

[…]

54. mjabali said: What happened in Cairo when the opposition met can explain a lot.

so what? the snc isn’t committing genocide.

you have to account for regime moles within the organization whose sole task is to stir up dissension. even elements of the kurdish faction are working for the regime.

you’ve got some nerve complaining about rhetorical disagreement as “violence” when your regime is slaughtering children.

So, those so called Syrian refugees are really Palestinians! They hold’em in refugee camps and count’em as Syrians!

HRW: Jordan bias against Palestinians from Syria – July 4, 2012

Authorities arbitrarily detaining them in refugee holding centre, group says

Amman: Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday accused the Jordanian authorities of forcibly returning some Palestinians from Syria and threatening others with deportation.

“Since April 2012, the authorities have also arbitrarily detained Palestinians fleeing Syria in a refugee holding centre without any options for release other than return to Syria,” the US-based watchdog said in a statement.

“The Jordanian authorities should treat all Palestinians from Syria seeking refuge in Jordan the same as Syrian asylum seekers, who are allowed to remain and can move freely in Jordan after passing security screening and finding a sponsor.”

[…]

bodies of the two Turkish pilots were found

Amir In Tel Aviv

The Jewishness in me, I can feel in any cell, any drop of blood in my veins. I am Jewish before Israeli.

You happen to be Israeli, you could have been Polish if the Europeans did not massacred your parents. You could continue to be and feel jewish safely in United Palestine.

The (not so) useful friends of the FSA

Monitor group says jihadists claim Syria attacks

Associated Press – 1 hr 39 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/monitor-group-says-jihadists-claim-syria-attacks-105517332.html

BEIRUT (AP) — Shadowy militants claimed dozens of attacks across Syria, including some carried out by suicide bombers, a group that tracks jihadist chatter on the Internet said Tuesday.

The SITE monitoring group cited statements by the Al-Nusra Front on jihadist websites claiming the attacks were to avenge the killings of Syrians by the regime of President Bashar Assad.

Syria’s widening insurgency has raised fears that Islamist extremists are playing a larger role in the fighting.

It looks very credible !

Norman #37

Trust the USA? who in the Arab trusts them anymore? Because they are powerful and rich, they are unavoidable, but trust??? They have proved in the last decades that they are opportunistic and back stabbers in Latin America and the Arab world.

The two adversaries of Syria are the FSA+ (with their allied armed gangs, Al Nusra and other criminals) and the political Opposition (SNC and Co)
The SNC and Co on which Hillary had much hopes are in total disarray, the lastest proof is the catastrophic outcome of the long waited Cairo meeting that showed that they can never unite on anything else than calling Bashar to got. So the SNC and Co are out of the equation for a long time to come.

The strategy of the Syrian government is now to divide and weaken the FSA+. Already the rumors of Ryad Al Assad disappearance are growing and the FSA is not denying it. Sooner or later, they’ll have to either confirm it or deny it. Turkey is worried about a unpopular military confrontation, especially after Bashar Al Assad addressed himself to the Turkish people when he apologized and not to Erdogan. Therefore Turkey is now watching the borders for fear of ‘terrorist leaks’. This may hinder the FSA+ soldiers, gangs and weapons passing through the borders. Turkey is also being watched by the international community after being accused of arming the rebels in breach of the Annan plan. In addition it is probable that many reported Syrian Army “defections” are agents infiltrating the FSA to foment dissension in its ranks.
Succeeding in weakening the FSA through intelligence and fights will decrease pressure on the Syrian Army.

Finally, in the absence of a united political opposition, the Western countries as well of Turkey will never allow an unreliable groups of defectors to take over the country. It may expose it to more violence that will, without any doubts, affect the neighbors.

Opposition is in a dead end. They can’t go further, they are stuck in idealism, hatred, revenge and personal ambitions disregarding the fate of the Syrians who, contrary to them, live and suffer in the country.

52. Osama said: Syrian Opposition Unity in Cairo

the fat man seated at the conference table, isn’t he a member of the regime?

.

72. shami, please provide context.

I am very bored with the patronizing comments and pettiness about the Syrian opposition meeting and the failure to immediately create a perfect package.

What is happening is a normal and inevitable process. It’s how change and history actually happens.

It would be unnatural, unprecedented and probably unsustainable if a strong coherent opposition body suddenly dropped out of the sky so soon after Syria’s turmoil started and while the revolution is still unfolding.

This is a new world and a new game and it is being constructed from raw materials without a blueprint.

And Syrians are working hard on it, slogging on with the heavy lifting. A lot of decent, intelligent and dedicated people are doing their best in incredibly volatile, frustrating, fluid, pressured and uncertain circumstances.

Note that even the super-organized and long-established MB in Egypt is now being forced to re-group internally, transform externally and evolve fast to keep up with current realities.

Syrian opposition players are struggling with a tough, accelerated steep learning curve. They are being expected to instantly become pragmatic and flexible and trusting. And to be even more so than professional politicians in the west!

But the usual spoilers need to sober up. It’s time for the Kurds to start being constructive and not confrontational – they aren’t dealing with Assad or Saddam Hussein this time.

# 73. Bronco said:

“Opposition is in a dead end. They can’t go further, they are stuck in idealism, hatred, revenge and personal ambitions disregarding the fate of the Syrians who, contrary to them, live and suffer in the country.”

That’s what you seem to hope.

I guess their other unforgivable shortcoming in your book is that they aren’t INSIDE Syria debating and deciding a way forward for the future.

Get real.

The FSA are currently doing their job. The rest of the process will follow.

Bronco which one of those you love the most :Aoun ,Nasrollah or Assad?
Are you Syrian?

Bidak Hurrieh (You want Freedom), while they mercilessly pummel their fists and wallop their whips into his body.

“Who is your God?” they keep asking in between thumping on his body with their boots, while his battered and bruised body mumbles out Bashar.

(Graphic)

Btw for those that can’t read Arabic on the wall is written “Assad’s men” and “Assad or we burn the country”

douma:

“These are pieces of our children we’re pulling out of dumpsters …

@Amir in Tel Aviv

All the people of the Middle East are victims of its past and even worse, most likely its upcoming future. What ” The Kurdish Nation” you are talking about, you mean the Kurdish people (tribes). Like Israel, they have no historical prove that they ever had a nation, a king, a ruler, a law and a royal seal, a currency or a capital city (ADOBE) none whatsoever. Like Israel, they can never prove and present today ONE SINGLE Archeological evidence from any of the millions of discovery made in the Middle East past in the past 200 years. Millions of artifacts and records dug up by various world renowned Universities all over the Middle East, not ONE mentioned of a Nation called Israel or Kurdistan, not one mentioned a king appointed, not one mentioned a trade made, or battle waged against such a state or kingdom, not one coin ever dug up in Israel or Iraq that prove a State, kinship or rulership did exist in Kurdistan or Palestine ever in the past, that is a scientific prove, not one made up by nationalist religious leaders. That said, it does not mean that ethnic people should not have rights, right to own land, to rule themselves, to speak own language, to protect own unique ethnic heritage, to raise their children as what they are, to protect their identity, to live in peace and allow their neighbors states, clans and tribes to live peacefully as well.

The Sykes–Picot which many have grievance with is in fact becoming more and more an idea that was great to the Middle East, not bad at all. At the least, it forced and elevated the clans and tribes of the Middle East to unite and live under some sort of STATEHOOD.

Leaving the Zio-Khazzar aside (they are more Assyro-Babylonian than Jews-Hebrew) Both the Kurds and Hebrew were mentioned in ancient texts as tribes that lived outside the sovereignty of the kingship that was instituted by the Annunaki in the Middle East. In Zechariah Sitchin, Chronicle of Earth book series, numerous tablets he translated, mentioned both people as tribes. There is specific Archeological evidence discovered on tablets in Iraq that stated the Kurds as “The Mountain People” just north of Assyria. Amen-Marduk, used these people when his forces attempted attack on Nineveh. KUMARBI, hid among them as well when he attempted to depose ANU who deposed his grandfather ALLAHLU from NIBIRU kingship. Nearly 485,000 years ago ALLAHLU set shop on earth and starts mine the monoatomic gold.

…”Enlil brought out of the mountains those who do not resemble other people, who are not reckoned as part of the Land, the Gutians, an unbridled people, with …” Nanar-Sin proclaimed in one tablet.

Kinship was instituted (lowered from heaven, the exact term) by the Annunaki, there never existed a state or ruler for Palestine or the Kurdish mountain. A federal system, such as Greater Syria, can accommodate all the various ethnic minority that maintain a rich and unique historical heritage. It must be incumbent on such Syrian State to preserve the rights and uniqueness of the various tribes, especially it’s unique linguistic heritage. Each language is a tremendous assets for modern human to learn about the hidden past. Hidden history of human and their cut off from the Universe.

For your reference:
Essential movies: Stargate, Dark City, The Arrival
Essential reading: Zachariah Sitchin, Chronicle of Earth,
Essential youtube: Annunaki, Enki, Secret Rulers of the Earth

^ ALDENDESHE,

What is SNP views about the 1960s-1970s forced relocation of Arabs from al Raqqah and Reef Halab to the Kurdish region of al Hassaka during building of the Tabqa Dam ? Is it true that many Kurds were dispossessed from their lands in Qamishli and Hasakah ? I hope you know there is a Syrian Kurdish demand that these Arabs must be evicted from the North-East and returned to their original places and the land returned to the Kurds, does SNP agree with these type of solution in post-Assad Syria ?

Also will SNP delete “Arab” from Syrian Republic’s name ? Will it recognize Kurdish as a recognized ethnic language ?

Syria Lover

It would be unnatural, unprecedented and probably unsustainable if a strong coherent opposition body suddenly dropped out of the sky so soon after Syria’s turmoil started and while the revolution is still unfolding.

Unnatural? Unprecedented? Short memory? It did happen in Libya and Tunisia and fast enough. What is unnatural is that it did not happen in Syria and may never happen unless there are Syrians who accept that an opposition can’t be build outside political parties with a real constituency of real people, not fanatics, warmongers , facebook or youtube addicts.

77. Shami said:

“Are you Syrian?”

I am Chinese, any objection?

After the disaster of the opposition Cairo meeting, the expected ineptia of the next Paris’s FOS meeting, the new Western idea is trying to boost itself by the manipulation of the media. First they distorted the Geneva meeting declaration to claim that Russia has dumped Bashar Al Assad, now they continue in the same line by deciding where he should be exiled. Russia says : Niet
Selling the bear’s skin….

http://news.yahoo.com/west-trying-distort-syria-deal-says-russia-032828655.html
….
Russia’s Kommersant daily reported that Western nations led by the United States are seeking to persuade Moscow to host Assad in exile.

Quoting a Russian diplomatic source, it said there were “active attempts” to persuade Moscow to offer a home to Assad, whose fate has become a major sticking point.

But Russia has so far not been receptive to the idea, even though Kremlin sources put Assad’s chances of political survival at “10 percent,” it said.

China has not said whether it will attend the Paris FOS meeting or not.

http://news.yahoo.com/west-trying-distort-syria-deal-says-russia-032828655.html

China said on Wednesday its position on plans for a transition of power in Syria remained firm, and that it wanted the “spirit” of the Geneva agreement to be followed.

“China believes that the urgent task is that the spirit of the communique of the action group on the Syrian issue should be implemented,” foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin said in Beijing.

Liu was non-committal over whether China would attend the Paris meeting, the third such gathering after one in Tunis in February and another in April in Istanbul.

ammar abdulhamid:

Russians have their own doublespeak as well, and we just have to find ways to decipher it which the Russians themselves often provide. In my conversations with Russian policy experts back in late May, mention of Saudi Arabia was as frequent as that of Syria and the U.S. The bottom line was: “what can you (the opposition) and the Saudis can offer us to help us change our position?” Some did indeed put it as bluntly as this, so I didn’t really have to struggle to piece things together.

These are the future Syria leaders?

Fights break out at Syrian opposition meeting in Cairo
Published: 07.03.12, 23:01
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4250921,00.html

A meeting of Syria’s splintered opposition in Cairo on Tuesday descended into scuffles and fistfights that will dishearten Western leaders calling for unity against Bashar Assad.

A Syrian Kurdish group quit the meeting, sparking mayhem and cries of “scandal, scandal” from some delegates. Women wept as men traded blows, and staff of the hotel used for the meeting hurriedly removed tables and chairs as the scuffles spread.

zoo, if only the snc had hacked the delegation to pieces. maybe then they’d have won your support.

Bronco ,if you were chinese you would not have killed yourself for this specific regime in accordance with your love for Aoun ,Nasrollah and Khamainei .The answer was in my question anyway.

A twin brother of Why Discuss !

Colonel Al Assaad exclusive talks to Shark al Awsat. So he did not defect?

http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=30211

“we, the FSA and the revolution, are in control of approximately 70 percent of Syrian territory,
…
“The FSA commander also revealed that “more than 40,000 armed soldiers of the FSA are fighting on the ground in Syria, whilst there are 100,000 more who are waiting for arms to join the ranks of the fighters and who are ready for battle.”
…..
Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, FSA commander Colonel Riad al-Asaad confirmed that “a large group of soldiers defected from the regime’s forces and joined the FSA in Turkey.”

He added “the increasing pace of defections is due to the deteriorating morale of the Syrian army, and its belief that the al-Assad regime has begun to collapse, and that the tide has turned in the favour of the revolution.”

Colonel al-Asaad also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that “90 percent of the military units affiliated to the al-Assad regime are being provisioned with food by helicopters, because they no longer possess the military capabilities to move freely on the ground in Syria for fear of being targeted and attacked.”

He added “we, the FSA and the revolution, are in control of approximately 70 percent of Syrian territory, but we will not reveal the names of the provinces under our control in order to avoid them being targeted by aerial bombardment.”

The FSA commander also revealed that “more than 40,000 armed soldiers of the FSA are fighting on the ground in Syria, whilst there are 100,000 more who are waiting for arms to join the ranks of the fighters and who are ready for battle.”

Colonel al-Asaad also stressed that “the FSA has not received any arms or material support from any Arab or foreign state. The FSA draws its support from Syrian donors, for we are not coming out to ask for money but in order to fight and topple this criminal regime.”

Answering a question as to whether all Syrian defectors are fighting against the al-Assad regime on the ground, Colonel al-Asaad told Asharq Al-Awsat that “there are officers and soldiers who defected out of belief [in the revolution], and they are fighting on the ground, whilst others may not have defected out of belief, and they are present in the camps and not carrying out any operations.”
….

#89 Shami

If you always know all your answers, why ask?

President al-Assad accuses Turkey for of helping Syrian “Terrorists”
(Dp-news – Sana)

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=125299

DAMASCUS-President Bashar al-Assad stressed in part 2 of the interview he made with the Cumhurieyt Turkish daily that the Government of Erdogan has gone beyond the fraternal relations with Syria to direct interference and to get involved later in the bloody events through providing logistical support to terrorists.

Following is part 2 of his interview with Turkish daily the Cumhurieyt:
….

Just one question, please whoever knows camn answer :

Are Syrians in Jordan considered as culturally closer to East Bankers or Palestinians ?

Secondly, can anyone please link the map which shows the civilan death toll province-by-province ?

Free Syria, Free Palestine!

I hope you know there is a Syrian Kurdish demand that these Arabs must be evicted from the North-East and returned to their original places and the land returned to the Kurds, does SNP agree with these type of solution in post-Assad Syria ?

Also will SNP delete “Arab” from Syrian Republic’s name ? Will it recognize Kurdish as a recognized ethnic language ?

___________________________________________________________________

It started before the Euphrates Dam building, under Nasser Arabism. Both Kurds and Armenians suffered from his rule in Syria, (me personally and my family as well).

If the land was State owned land, then it should be voluntarily departure for them, who knows they are an ARAB for sure, what that mean? Someone can prove that they came from Mecca, or just a general label for all non ethnically and speaking -Kurds. Who knows if these so called Arabs are not in fact Arabised Kurds, Jews or Turkmen, did someone conduct a historical, anthropological, genealogical or DNA research to determine who these people that were relocated really are. I am sure the relocated, so called “Arabs” are just as unhappy to be forced out of their land and relocated among the Kurds. Nevertheless a solution should be reached by the nationalist State of Syria to reach a compromise on this dispute.

We have demanded from Assad to do so for the past 12 years, remove the four letter French word in the middle of the Republic name. Many of our members refuses to hold Syrian passports, or allow children to do so because of it. We will also withdraw from the United Nations and all its agencies, refuse to cooperate or honor any signatory agreement with it or with any of its agencies, as well as the Arab league and Islamic Organization OIS, NAM etc. will work to form a new greater “Asian Alliance” and work thru it exclusively.

SNP already recognize Aramaic, Syriac, Armenian, Hebrew and Kurdish as spoken Native Languages in Syria. SNP does not recognize Arabic as a Native language, we deal with it from practical aspects..All these languages can be taught in Public and Private schools as an electives where a specified number of citizens either vote, pass referendum or sufficient number of students are there to warrant financially the employment of the a particular language teacher. The Syrian State must at University level, make all these languages available on its curriculum.

It is in SNP general view, that Kurds are not a civically mature, nor politically sophisticated to maintain full confederate status in Syria. As such will lead quickly into a demand or insurrection toward a separation from Syria, whereby such a separate State can be used by Syria’s enemies to establish bases to undermine the sovereignty and well being of the nation. But Syrian Kurds can maintain under National Syrian Sovereignty a local Kurdish Assembly, one that is chartered with agreement with the Syrian national Government and State institutions, can send / elect representatives from the Kurdish Assembly to the Syrian National Assembly ( The Syrian Senate), that is what the acronym stands for:
SSNPS : The Syrian Senate and Nationalist People of Syria.

Additional material cut and pasted from my previous internal writings, it may or may not be in parts relevant to your questions.

Unlike Armenians, who are purely native Syrians inhabited the Syrian region of Aleppo for thousands of years until their escape in ancient time from Assyrian invasion and Islamic hordes in later time to the North of Syria, made habitat just below the Caucasus tribes and the murderously barbaric Khazzar, who now adopted brutal Zionist Jewish ideology. The Kurds are not pure ethnically, they are a hodge-podge mixtures of various outlaw tribes from Iraq, Iran and Syria that escaped from oppressive kingship rules to live among the Mountain people, which all together now make up a sort of a Kurdish identity. This is exactly what the Israelite are made of to the south of those kingship between Aram and the Pharoenic kingship’s. They (Israelite) are made up of hudge podge tribes led by the Hexos who escaped Egypt.

The Hexos were not Semite tribes, the story of Ismail is embedded into the human conscious just like many to deceive. It is my conclusion that the Hexos, were brought by Amen-Ra to help rule over Egyptian oppressively, a police state, that enslaved them and all resources to benefit of Amen-Ra temples bosses, until finally Egyptians rebelled against them. All leads points to the fact that the Hexos are not of Planet Earth, they were transported here from other planet. The bible say that in latter years, mankind will rise up against the same oppressive rule and wars led by the modern day Hexos descendants and that spaceships will be sent to earth take away 144,000 of them, take them to inhabit another planet.

Syria reverts to socialist economic policies to ease tension
Wed Jul 4, 2012 Reuters

[Selescted quotes]

“Economic policy is now subordinate to political priorities and for the Assad regime this is retention of power,” said one senior Syrian businessman who serves on the board of several quasi-government bodies.

[…]

“The authorities realize that the economy’s collapse could speed the regime’s downfall so they are doing everything possible to prevent that – even at the cost of piling up a massive deficit, which no one really knows the size of except those in the close circle around the regime,” he said.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/07/04/uk-syria-economy-socialist-idUKBRE8630FE20120704

Assad doesn’t look too well in this photo. I’m assuming it’s new.
Doesn’t have the strength to smile?

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9376895/Bashar-al-Assad-warns-Turkey-to-stop-interfering-in-Syria.html#

Moving on. It’s Shab e Barat tonight in UK. A night of blessings and a chance to pray. I hope and pray all have a prosperous night and all, especially syrians, have their prayers answered.

Bashar is in face of a dilemma , killing,corrupting and torturing with the inavoidable bloody end or to escape to Russia as a coward ,for sure he lacks the courage to face the nation as it’s and end the assadian accident of history himself in an honorable manner.

http://youtu.be/zZM1cnyF4Ow

This disgusting chaos needs to be on the front page.

Syria is doomed if any of these obtain power…

# 96. Uzair8

The words creepy and weird aren’t strong enough to describe Assad in that photo.

It’s also very likely that he’s on some sort of tranquillizer to stop him looking nervous and close to tears in public.

(Reuters) – A Syrian loyal to President Bashar al-Assad was stabbed to death by a Syrian dissident in Beirut on Wednesday, Lebanese security sources said.

The killing tinged the Lebanese capital with violence from the conflict in neighboring Syria for the first time since the uprising against Assad began 16 months ago.

Lebanese security said the pro-Assad man was leaving his work in bustling Hamra street in the early hours on Wednesday when the dissident approached him and stabbed him with a spear.
[…]
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/04/us-syria-crisis-lebanon-idUSBRE8630A820120704

93. ANTOINE said: Secondly, can anyone please link the map which shows the civilan death toll province-by-province ?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/mar/02/syria-arab-and-middle-east-protests#zoomed-picture

http://lissnup.wordpress.com/2012/03/29/syria-death-toll/

http://www.understandingwar.org/sites/default/files/EthnoRelig_Map.pdf

# 98. Habib said:

“This disgusting chaos needs to be on the front page.

Syria is doomed if any of these obtain power”

I guess you want it to distract from the non-disgusting chaos in Syria that is currently on the front pages.

And yeah, we can’t risk having Syria doomed because of the people in power. Imagine that!

JNA

Selective empathy towards killing appalls me.

Care to explain why you find it important to share the link of the killing of a pro regimist and ignored the thousand and thousand reports discussing the killing of Syrian civilians, anti regimists, and children?

I do not want to personalize the discussion but unless you come up with a good reason, I personally would not bother anymore to read your posts.

Tara, I will not be offended if you did not bother anymore to read my posts.

JNA

Thank you for your politeness. I was sure you won’t be offended.

Surgical strike:

Israel’s June deficit swells to 1.4 billion U.S. dollars – 2012-07-04

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-07/04/c_131695631.htm

[…]

Bank of Israel Governor, Stanley Fischer, is expected to meet with Standard & Poor’s (S&P) financial rating agency officials on Wednesday, according to the Globes business newspaper, in hopes of dissuading them from lowering Israel’s current A+ credit rating.

Israel’s credit rating reflects the risk level of government bonds. The rating is a critical figure for raising capital on international markets, since it affects the interests on bonds issued and the cost of raising them.

There is a direct connection between the rating and the interest rate.

Israel’s geopolitical situation also affects the rating, and its position has deteriorated in the past year, due to events in Iran, Egypt, and Syria.

[…]

Amir

“Take me for example. I’m totally godless secular atheist.. call it what ever you like.. I’m against religions (any of them), I don’t trust them. Yet I feel 100% Jewish. The Jewishness in me, I can feel in any cell, any drop of blood in my veins.”

Interesting statement, and I’ve heard this assertion from Jews before.  I would like to explore this further so I will ask you a question if I may.  

What is the essence of being Jewish in your opinion?  Being born into a Jewish mother? Believing that jews are the chosen people? Believing that Palestine is the promised land? Identifying with the previous suffering of the Jews? a combination of all above?  what exactly  is your Jewishness?

I often thought I am an Arab 100%.  I also used to feel Arabism in any cell and any blood drop in my veins.  I could really never pinpoint what it meant to me being an Arab.   I think I eventually figured it out.  It boils down to identifying with the Arab’s historical pains and aspiration.  As simple as that.

Ok, the opposition considers Cairo and Geneva conferences as a waste of time and a sell out,it seems like the only acceptable option for much of the opposition is taking up arms and kiiling anybody associated,or suspected of being associated,with the regime,at this rate it will take years for one side to
” finish” the other. Syria is being torn apart in front of our eyes but one poster,non Syrians I believe, is still interested in a map with the number of dead Syrians per province,this is a form of necrophilia.
Bashar,on the other side,is getting ready to settle scores with those who want him out,keeping his throne is obviously more important to him than ending this madness, Arab rulers are led to believe that the well being of their country is directly related to the health of the rulers testicles and their ego,anything that can lead to a change of seats at the very top is seen as an invitation for self destruction and eternal shame,this mentality is what kept Arab societies in the middle ages,politically speaking. without freedom,there can not be any progress in a country like Syria ,a nation of 23 millions that is poor in natural resources but rich in man power,the Syrian citizen as a moderate,educated and innovative figure is the target today.

Bronco,

You happen to be Israeli, you could have been Polish if the Europeans did not massacred your parents. You could continue to be and feel jewish safely in United Palestine.

I will continue to feel Jewish any and everywhere. Safely in united Palestine? No I don’t think so.

Jews living outside of Israel are often being accused of double loyalty. Or even worse, that they are more loyal to the Jewish nation than to their nation of origin (French, German, American etc). I believe it’s true. They are Jews, belonging to the Jewish nation, and their loyalty lies with their people.

Omen,

how do the other 35% of israeli jews define themselves?
Practicing religion, and/or religious. Most Israelis will drive on Shabat-day (Saturday). Something that a religious person will not dare to do.
.

‪

US‬ THINK TANK: ‪Syria‬ Army “will likely collapse – sweeping away much of the Regime in the process”

Ghufran you said :kiiling anybody associated,or suspected of being associated,with the regime

This is not true at all ,did you see one alawite district or village bombed by the FSA,if we follow your logic it could easily be done ,because a good percentage of alawites that come from these villages and districts have joined the shabiha ,armed assadist forces or are already spies ,torturers and civil moukhabarat.As individuals those are 100 % legitimate targets ,why shall they not be ?
Despite all that ,the FSA avoided to target civilians in a blind way tha(s what the regime always did.
Also notice how many alawites of al zahraa in Homs are looting the destroyed city of Homs.
This is just incredible that reprisal from the side of the people has been avoided !it shows how much the syrian people are civilized.

Tara,

I think I eventually figured it out. It boils down to identifying with the Arab’s historical pains and aspiration.
Yes, it’s true.

For me it is also, Jewish values (the public pressure to free Gilad Shalit, for an example), a Jewish way of living (hard to explain but obvious to those who live this way), feeling a link in a thousands of years long chain of ancient tradition and history. Pride over great achievements of my people (that all humanity enjoys, yes it sounds pompous).
When I go to Jerusalem (something I try to do every 3 months at least) I feel something completely different. It’s like being close to god. The real god, not the fake god that the religions appropriated to their uses.
I definitely feel lucky to be part of this magic. Call it chosen. I’m thankful to whoever chose me…

And much more….
.

maybe it’s your arab roots you feel resonating, amir.

Jews and Arabs share a common ancestor and are more closely related to one another than to non-Jews from other areas of the world.

Amir

What about the “value” of the resurrection of the state of Israel at the expense of subjugating the Palestinians? Has this not reached the Jewish inner psych and made the magic less magical. While the world Jews has had lots of accomplishments, it appears that majority of Israeli Jews are lacking on the fundamental value of humanity. Humanity to me is to value another and completely different human being as much as you value your own.

This is a sincere opinion without fake indignation or dramatization.

The opposition agreed to one thing.  Assad is an enemy of the Syrian people and he must go.  What else should they be united for?  I thought democracy is all about allowing diversity of opinions then taking all to the voting ballots.  The western powers hiding behind the so called “disorganized” and “fractious” opposition is a lame excuse they are using to hide either their impotence or lack of genuine interest to help the oil-less Syrian people.  

http://www.cnn.com/2012/07/04/world/meast/syria-unrest/index.html?eref=rss_topstories

(CNN) — Residents across Syria woke up to a particularly bloody day Wednesday, when at least 17 people — including six children — were killed in early morning violence, opposition activists said.
In a country where scores of daily killings have become a tragic way of life, this week’s violence has been especially lethal. More than 300 people have been killed in the first half of this week, according to tallies by opposition groups.

The surge comes despite a new plan by world leaders to stop the carnage and a push by opposition members to unite their efforts against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
On Tuesday, leaders of various opposition groups met for a second day in Cairo to devise a plan for a new Syria if al-Assad were to fall. But the opposition remained splintered on how al-Assad’s regime would be removed from power.

One thing activists did agree on is that al-Assad must have no role in a transitional government.
“He is the enemy of our people. He should leave before any step in the transitional period of free Syria,” said Habib Haddad, a former Syrian information minister.
 Will Russia finally turn on Assad? A Syrian military defector Syria rebel groups struggle to unite The two sides of the Syrian conflict
…..

Syrialover

Great post @ 75
—–

I am getting disheartened by some Kurdish groups. I think some are infiltrators implanted by the regime to sow chaos. I think from now on, the SNC should not attend any and every meeting where there is general invitations to all interested parties. It is nonsense. The parties invited should be well selected and possible infiltrators should be weeded out. The SNC or the FSA should form an intelligence unit to spy on the regime in order to expose those infiltrators.

Tara,

We enter the mined field of politics.

Judaism started here in the holyLand. Can you deny it? The Jewish people came home.
Jewish traditions tell us to treat the non-Jew (Goy) as he was one of us. Another Jewish value tells us: “he who comes to kill you, kill him first”. We try to manage and find the thin line between those Jewish values. It is the Arabs who deny the connection between the Jews and their homeland. If not this denial, we could have found the proper ways to live side by side in peace of the brave, as you call it.
.

the majority want peace.

(Dec. 9) — Most Israelis are apparently willing to make the tough territorial sacrifices required for a lasting peace with the Palestinians, even if their government seems far from doing so.

.

The majority of Palestinians support a peace agreement with Israel

.

According to some polls, he said, 83% of settlers say “compensate us and we will relocate.”

Amir

Will table the discussion for now.
—-

Omen

I find it extremely difficult to believe that you don’t have Syrian ancestor, unless your field is Middle Eastern studies. You’re so committed! I like people who have a passion, whatever that passion might be( as long as it is not aimed at a dear leader)

You may not answer if you don’t want too.

Aleppo in HD

it is clear how many lies are posted here. with the admission of the western reporters about the western media bias, fabrications.
it may burn the west what is being done in syria currently.

MANBIJ

102. Syrialover

Lol, at least the people currently in power are able to communicate internally without immediately turning to fist fights.

Or well, are you going to bring the old “some regime guy shot another regime guy in the stomach” rumours and myths?

Swiss gov’t denies weapons exported to Syria – July 5, 2012

http://www.china.org.cn/world/2012-07/05/content_25813672.htm

The Swiss Federal Department of Economic Affairs (FDEA) Wednesday denied an accusation of selling Swiss-made hand grenades to feul the conflict in Syria, the FDEA said in a statement.

The weapons pictured in Syria might be redirected through its export to the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the FDEA added.

Swiss newspaper Sonntagszeitung last Sunday published a picture of a hand grenade allegedly discovered and photographed by a reporter on June 28, in the town of Marea in Syria.

According to the initial findings of the investigation initiated by the FDEA, the hand grenade photographed came from a shipment made by Swiss state-owned arms manufacturer RUAG to the UAE in 2003 when a total of 225,162 hand grenades were exported to the UAE armed forces. To restrict the deal, a non re-export declaration was signed following the sale.

[…]

#100 JNA

The Turks were cleaver enough to park all the Syrian refugees in camps watched by armed turkish soldiers. These refugees have no right to leave the camp. FSA men live in a different camps than their family. There are no media allowed in these camps so no one knows the psychological situation of these refugees.

Lebanon and Jordan have allowed the Syrians to settle where they wanted, freely without any control. With the exacerbated tensions, frustration and revenge running between the factions, it is bound to explode in cycle of violence.
That’s what the Western countries are worried about, the spill over on neighboring countries.

#118 Tara

“The SNC or the FSA should form an intelligence unit to spy on the regime”

They have that, but unfortunately they spy on each other instead. Do you expect harmony and cooperation when both have megalomaniac egos?

Syria gov’t welcomes results of Geneva meeting, opposition rejects it – 2012-07-05

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-07/05/c_131695692.htm

• The Syrian government welcomed Wednesday the outcome of the Geneva Conference.
• The Conference meant to pave the way for a political-transitional process in Syria.
• Syria’s fractured opposition abroad rejected the plan, calling it a “farce.”

[…]

The abroad-based opposition, however, regarded the latest international move as a “farce.”

Burhan Ghalioun, ex-leader of the Turkey-based opposition group Syrian National Council (SNC), referred to the statement as “the worse one to emerge from talks on Syria.” The SNC totally rejects any form of dialogue with the government from the beginning of the anti-government movement.

Head of the suspended UN Supervision Mission in Syria (UNSMIS) said here on Wednesday that the Geneva meeting was very important, adding that its outcome was the best possible one.

Maj. Gen. Robert Mood said “it was difficult. But in my view, for a possible peaceful way forward for the Syrian people, we have reached the best possible outcome,” adding “the urgency of stopping the violence is maybe the most important issue for everyone involved,” he said.

Turks not fighting a war, they are fighting fires close the border.
Is it a way for Syria to ‘virtually’ close these borders and prevent the FSA and weapons to move freely in and out?

Turkey battles fires along Syrian border
http://www.usatoday.com/news/world/story/2012-07-04/turkey-jet-syria/56011060/1

YAYLADAGI, Turkey (AP) – Turkish firefighters were battling several blazes along the Turkish-Syria border on Wednesday in areas that thousands of Syrians have crossed to flee the fighting in their country.
Mehmet Harbi, a forestry official, claimed the fires were “deliberately started” at four different points on the Syrian side of the border and spread to Turkey due to strong winds. Turkey’s state-run TRT television said Syrian forces are believed to have started the fires to deny shelter to rebels along the border area. Harbi and TRT provided no evidence to substantiate their claims.

More than 35,000 Syrians are living in refugee camps on the Turkish side of the border that were opened to care for the many people fleeing Syria’s unrest. Sporadic clashes between Syrian forces and activists also have occurred on the Syrian side of the border.

#128 Ann

Over the last months, the opposition has shown that they have zero diplomatic skills and totally lack creativity. As they have learned nothing yet, it seems they need years to learn the basics.

For now they are puppets that only know how to say NO.

Switzerland suspends arms shipments to United Arab Emirates – July 5, 2012

http://www.presstv.com/detail/2012/07/05/249403/switzerland-suspends-uae-arms-shipments/

[…]

Antje Baertschi, a spokeswoman for the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) said as a “provisional” measure, Switzerland immediately moved to “freeze all arms export permits to the UAE.”

“We took this matter seriously because something similar happened last year when a journalist covering Libya found crates of Swiss munitions in Libya,” she said.

[…]

Irritated #130 said:

“Over the last months, the opposition has shown that they have zero diplomatic skills and totally lack creativity. As they have learned nothing yet, it seems they need years to learn the basics.”

Facts:

The Assad regime for over 40 years has lacked interest and understanding in the basics of governance and management and demonstrated a catastrophic lack of creativity and diplomatic skills.

In contrast, even in a short space of time and during chaotic uncertainty, the Syrian oppositions’ policies, priorities and public statements are visibly light years ahead of the Assads.

A huge leap in sophisticated thinking, knowledge, integrity, relevance and capabilities was dramatically evident from the first statements made by opposition players.

This is what’s giving Syrians the courage and determination to fight for change.

There is much to learn from despotes like Lukashenko, the last european dictator.

I bet Lukashenko would allow Abu Hafez an save haven, and all his buddies, Chavez, and Putin could come and spent time with him…

article out of “Berliner Zeitung”

The small Lukashenko

To be the son of a president is not always easy: one is constantly dragged on dates, you can not play like other children and you are constantly in public. This is what happens also to Kolya Lukashenka.

On Tuesday was once again a great day for Kolya Lukashenka. While other Belarusian children could enjoy the free day without school beacuse of its national day, the seven year old was in a suit and tie at his father’s hand and watched the parade of the armed forces. It is not the first time that the little Nicholaj can be seen in this role, his father, Alexander Lukashenko, the authoritarian ruler to the country, takes him everywhere. On Sunday Kolya sat between the President of Georgia and Armenia to watch the soccer cup final. A few days ago he was in Venezuela with Hugo Chavez. “That my son Nicholas is here, shows that we establish our relationship seriously and for a long time, and that someone will take over the baton in 20 to 25 years,” Father Alexander had announced.

That was a bizarre statement. Lukashenko ruled for nearly two decades, how could he seriously believe that he would add a couple of decades more to his rule until his son could climb to the presidential throne? On Monday night, Alexander Lukashenko, hurriedly stated that inheritance of the presidency by his children is not an option. “My children have enough of their father’s presidency .”

But then one wonders why the little Kolya is dragged day and nights on dates that are not suitable for children. He sat during official talks in Yerevan on Daddy’s lap, and as a year ago, a bomb exploded in the Metro of the captital , little Kolya immediately visited the scene with its pools of blood and body parts.

Kolya is not to be envied, that’s for sure. Much is uncertain. He is an illegitimate child, for wife Galina Lukashenko has lived for ages not with her husband. Kolya’s mother, Lukashenko said in 2008, “works as a doctor. It’s no secret. “Probably it is Lukashenko’s former personal doctor, chief of the president hospital. You just never see her at Kolya’s side. Does he grow up without his mother?

That Lukashenko uses Kolya to portray himself as a warmhearted family man, is by far unlikely. He claimed that the boy would follow him just anywhere. “Such a bright boy! I’m in the helicopter – and he jumps in as well, “he once declared, and that the boy only allows his father to dress and feed him.

Belarus is not Azerbaijan, where a dynastic transfer of power worked, but if they should still work, then Kolya is unlikely to be the successor. Finally, there is Lukashenko’s eldest son, Viktor, 36 He is a security adviser to the president and is considered to be influential. And compared to Kolya he still has one big advantage: He was allowed to grow up carefree when his father had not lost touch with reality.

wise words:

When asked what he would say to those Syrians who are afraid and silent, Father Paolo says:

I say to them: Fear can make us accomplices of the regime, they can make us an integral part of the regime and they can make us a war criminal. No one should imagine that fear makes him innocent.

At the same time I say to the entire opposition and to the Revolution: What political guarantees do we have? What legal guarantees we have given? What guarantee do we have provided for the protection of religious, ethnic and ethnic circumstances?

We do not want to climb up on Qardaha with the cry “Allahu akbar” on our lips. That is not our revolution, and that’s not what we want. The criminal will be handed over by the Alawis themselves to the international jurisdiction. That’s what we want and that’s what we work on – and on this model will win the revolution.

The question is: Will we win or do we lose ourselves? If you dont show your enemy an convincing way out and instead forces him with a battle to the death, he will fight to the last breath, and without regard for losses.

In all religions – including Islam – nothing is more stronger than revenge, except for the reconciliation. No one is stronger than the angry – except for the forgiver. We want this country with all its nuances, every village, every town, all his people. For me, the Alawite who remains silent on the side of the regime, is by far more oppressed than others, for his dignity, his values​​, his heart is gnawed upon, because he was confronted to this hideous despotism, and is used by it. In the end it is this Alawite and this Christian fellow citizen we want assure that we want him – as a free citizen in a united country.

Malek Jandali:

“The mad dictator Bashar Al-Assad is now bombing houses of God in Syria including this historical “Saint Mary Church of the Holy Belt” in my beloved hometown of Homs dating back to 50 A.D. What would Jesus do?”

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150951449725000&set=a.119233479999.103645.22623079999&type=1&theater

an other example of a destroyed church:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150951897040000&set=a.119233479999.103645.22623079999&type=1&theater

Malek Jandali on Doha debates, “Censorship Makes a Mockery of the Arts”

Manaf Tlass officially defected…

Syria opposition rifts give world excuse not to act – July 4, 2012

A brawl at a meeting of the Syrian opposition this week in Cairo put on display the divisions among those struggling to oust President Bashar al-Assad and provides an excuse for world powers who have been wary of intervention to sit on their hands.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/04/us-syria-crisis-rifts-idUSBRE8630J620120704

The row that spilled into the marble-lined corridors of a five-star Cairo hotel on Tuesday came at the end of a two-day meeting sponsored by the Arab League that had begun with appeals from ARAB and TURKISH Ministers for a show of unity.

There was little sign of solidarity from the outset as the 200 or so members of Syrian opposition groups and activists, ranging from Islamists to secularists, most of them living in exile, haggled over the shape of a post-Assad Syria.

“Such disputes will tarnish the image of the opposition and destroy the spirits of our rebel fighters inside,” said activist Gawad al-Khatib, 27, who watched in tears of frustration when Kurdish activists stormed out after trading blows with rivals inside the meeting hall. Opponents shouted abuse as they left.

[…]

“If you are sitting in Moscow, this reinforces the point of view … that there is no alternative to Assad,” said Nadim Shehadi of London’s Chatham House after the two-day talks.

But he said U.S. President Barack Obama’s administration, after extricating U.S. forces from Iraq, also wanted to avoid becoming bogged down in a new conflict. “Let’s face it. The United States doesn’t want to do anything. The disunity of the opposition is a convenient excuse not to do much,” he said.

[…]

After Kurds stormed out, Radwan Ziadeh, a leader in the opposition Syrian National Council, said fresh discussions would be held on Wednesday evening to bridge gaps. But the overture was rejected by Kurdish National Council leader Morshed Mashouk, who said he would not sit with “those narrow-minded people.”

[…]

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=448462175188656&set=a.231943573507185.70410.231618680206341&type=1&theater

“But the overture was rejected by Kurdish National Council leader Morshed Mashouk, who said he would not sit with “those narrow-minded people.”

Hilarious!!!

Mr Mashouk, the self-satirist of the year!

Give the guy a banana and lock him in a playpen.

hmm the eyedoctor seems to change his opinion who has the power in the country like other people change their underwear.

#135 Juergen

Very wise words from that man. Thank you.

I hope he will also help Syrians with words of comfort and healing for those who have been tortured.

I worry about them all the time, and what can be done to help repair their spirit and rebuild their minds and bodies.

Those responsible for their torture are failed human beings. People now with nothing inside but black emptiness, unease and dirty secrets.

Bashar Assad is creating in Syria many thousands more of these damaged, tainted outcasts; they can never undo what they have done and become with his regime.

# 134. Juergen

That ugly, emotionally needy dictator and his young trainee son.

Remember Saddam Hussein and Gaddafi both took their sons when young to witness torture and executions.

Very likely Basil and Maher Assad received similar training and encouragement from their father, and maybe Bashar too, which would explain a lot.

Sordid, sick people. Failed, damaged goods.

141. JUERGEN
and you do not want to ask how many people will be against all of you! You all got tired ! If you think that the Syrians will be wearing flowers do not forget to get the council in Iraq!

Canadians in Halifax Protest Against Endless Wars – Potent News Blast #8
http://youtu.be/PyF4I7Rnad8

Reports of Turkish and Saudi Troops Massing on Syrian Borders as NATO Presses for Regime

Russia monitoring situation in Syria to assist compatriots
http://rt.com/politics/russia-syria-uprising-arab-spring-411/
…/../..
Grigoryev mentioned that President Assad still enjoys majority support across the country.
“The number of participants in rallies in support of the current authorities is more than the number in the opposition demonstrations,” he said. “Nobody forces people to go to meetings in support of the government.”
Grigoryev, citing various reports, revealed that militants in Homs protected themselves with the civilian population and did not allow civilians to leave the area. Also those in refugee camps are not being allowed to return to Syria, and humanitarian organizations are denied entry.
The Syrian opposition has refused to accept all international efforts to end the violence if President Assad plays any part in a transitional government.
Robert Bridge, RT

http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=6d93127a2ab1f70588cceda47226fdeb
Gas station in Aleppo

أربع دول خليجية ضمن قائمة من عشر دول تم تصنيفها أكثر الدول التي تضم البدناء. الكويت وقطر والإمارات والبحرين تربعت على قائمة أكثر عشر دول في العالم من حيث البدانة والسمنة، بنسب وصلت إلى أعلى من معدلات البدانة الطبيعية.
An obesity crisis there,reform may not be enough,a regime change is needed

“We tell them what to say on the TV”, the manufactured narrative. 

5 July 2012
The view from inside Syria’s propaganda machine
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-18717647
By James Reynolds

Many journalists who cover Syria struggle to convey the complexities of the country’s conflict. But Syria’s prominent al-Akhbariya network has no such problem.

It portrays a reasonably straightforward world: a brave Syrian government leads the fight against foreign-led terrorists.
…
Now, one of the channel’s former reporters reveals how the channel does it. Ghatan Sleiba, 33, escaped to Turkey at the end of June.

* Managing messages

Ghatan Sleiba: “We produce the news according to what the channel’s managers want”
Mr Sleiba doesn’t have any footage of himself reporting for the channel, but he is keen to pass around a photo showing him holding an Akhbariya microphone.
“We talk to people before we interview them,” Mr Sleiba says, continuing to use the present tense about his work as a reporter for the channel.
“Syrian citizens don’t know anything – they don’t know what to say – so we tell them what to say on TV in order to get the best report that we can. As a journalist my success is in getting my report to the channel. I do the reporting and I present it to the citizens – to the nation.
“For example, we tell the interviewees to tell us that they support Bashar al-Assad and they will always support him. And they accept this and say whatever I tell them. We do this to please the authorities who watch us.”

* Mr Sleiba explains how instructions are issued to reporters.
“The Ba’ath party sometimes appoints a representative to give orders on its behalf. They generally contact us through an information office. The committee tells us to go and take pictures of this particular event, to take pictures of the martyrs, and so on.”

* ‘Simple nation’
I asked if he had ever have to broadcast something that he knew to be untrue.
“We produce the news according to what the channel’s managers want. If I produce a report that echoes their opinion, I get a bonus. But if it’s based on my opinion without representing their view it won’t get on air.
al-Akhbariya’s offices in Damascus were recently attacked by gunmen, killing three
“For example Syria’s energy minister says there is plenty of petrol available. But in reality there aren’t enough supplies in the country. We journalists are liars to the nation. The people can’t trust us. This is very frustrating.”
…
“The Syrian nation is a simple nation. They believe whoever smiles at them on TV and they believe whoever cries. God help the Syrian nation.”
….

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/07/05/249423/nato-begins-mission-in-mediterranean-sea/
NATO warships move into Mediterranean Sea: Report
A convoy of NATO warships has left Turkey for the Mediterranean Sea purportedly to carry out anti-terrorism operations in the region, a report says.
According to a July 5 report published by the Turkish Hurriyet Daily, the Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 set off from Istanbul.
The group consists of Turkey’s TCG Gediz, France’s Courbet and Germany’s Bayern warships and the three frigates have a total of 545 crew members on board, with Germany leading the mission.
German Rear Admiral Thorsten Kahler said on Wednesday that the mission of the maritime group is “to give a clear message to terrorists in the region that NATO is on duty.”
“We are not telling our whole schedule, but we will stay in the region.”
Kahler said the anti-terrorism mission is “the only Article 5 mission of NATO so far.”
Article 5 of the Washington Treaty of NATO says the member states “agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all.”../../..

Assad blames Syria unrest on “outside forces”
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_07_05/Assad-blames-Syria-unrest-on-outside-forces/

In his interview to the Turkey’s Cumhuriyet paper, Syria’s embattled president Bashar al-Assad has blamed the ongoing unrest on foreign radicals, saying the current situation in Syria has nothing to do with processes inside the country.
According to Mr. Assad, these “outside forces” are pushing through with a three-point plan.

The first step was to organize peaceful payup protests.

The next move, said Assad, was to arm Syrian regions to help them “liberate themselves” as it was the case with Libya’s Benghazi – an attempt foiled by the Syrian army.

[…]

Syrialover

I was in Belarus as part of an effort by the EU to let young students meet up with young belarussian students. I was the only eastgerman in that group and well to me Belarus was like a madmans dream of an stalinist country. It felt like being transported back in time, if you compare Russia and Belarus one can hardly think both countries exist just km away from each other. KGB is still called KGB, big pictures of Stalin still on display, people queuing up for groceries. The belarussian students we met were handpicked and seemed even when we had no formal meetings uptight and very loyal to their ruler. One day we were greeted by the son of Lukashenko( the older one) who was at that time the young fresh face of this last dictatorship of Europe.Funny enough he is until now the head of the olympic comitee( like his friend Udai Hussein was) and is known also for punishing those athletes who could not comply with the medal aspirations of the ruler. Half a year later I was told that Lukashenko had invited Saddam and his family to live in exile in Belarus.

amir (5:53pm) i had missed your “fake palestinians” comment earlier. appalling. you wouldn’t much like it if somebody called you a fake israeli (because your roots are really european) would you? how could you deny someone their identity, thus their humanity?

and you rejected bronco’s kind offer to be welcome to a free palestine. that was poor manners. do you routinely knock out of someone’s hand when they try to offer you a gift? even if you don’t intend on accepting it, do have the good graces to thank the person for making the offer in the first place. dismaying to see olive branches offered to be stomped on the ground instead.

(wait, bronco was kind?)

Why no Kandahar is silent when his [Edit by Moderator] Bashar bombs churches and their librairies that have been preserved by our parents for centuries !

Warmongering British Empire Declares War On Syria!!

William Hague: action on Syria possible without support of Russia and China

William Hague, the Foreign Secretary, has said that Britain would be prepared to take action to resolve the conflict in Syria without the support of Russia and China.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/9378241/William-Hague-action-on-Syria-possible-without-support-of-Russia-and-China.html

China and Russia : Niet to Laurent Fabius FOS theatrical meeting

http://news.yahoo.com/west-trying-distort-syria-deal-says-russia-032828655.html

China joined Russia on Thursday in boycotting a “Friends of Syria” meeting aimed at coordinating efforts to stop violence in the country, where three senior regime officers are among the latest to be killed.

In Beijing, foreign ministry spokesman Liu Weimin told reporters China would not attend the Paris gathering on Friday.

“(China) at present does not consider attending the meeting,” he told reporters.

NEWS!

wikileaks is publishing millions of emails from the ASSAD regime!

Today, Thursday 5 July 2012, WikiLeaks began publishing the Syria Files – more than two million emails from Syrian political figures, ministries and associated companies, dating from August 2006 to March 2012.

This extraordinary data set derives from 680 Syria-related entities or domain names, including those of the Ministries of Presidential Affairs, Foreign Affairs, Finance, Information, Transport and Culture.

Over the next two months, ground-breaking stories derived from the files will appear in WikiLeaks (global), Al Akhbar (Lebanon), Al Masry Al Youm (Egypt), ARD (Germany), Associated Press (US), L’Espresso (Italy), Owni (France) and Publico.es (Spain). Other publications will announce themselves closer to their publishing date.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange said: “The material is embarrassing to Syria, but it is also embarrassing to Syria’s opponents. It helps us not merely to criticise one group or another, but to understand their interests, actions and thoughts. It is only through understanding this conflict that we can hope to resolve it.”

At this time Syria is undergoing a violent internal conflict that has killed between 6,000 and 15,000 people in the last 18 months. The Syria Files shine a light on the inner workings of the Syrian government and economy, but they also reveal how the West and Western companies say one thing and do another.

The range of information extends from the intimate correspondence of the most senior Baath party figures to records of financial transfers sent from Syrian ministries to other nations.

[…]

http://wikileaks.org/Syria-Files.html

What were the Turkish trucks bringing in Syria? Tomatoes?

Syrian military fires on Turkish trucks

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-military-fires-on-turkish-trucks.aspx?pageID=238&nID=24809&NewsCatID=341

Syrian soldiers destroyed five Turkish cargo trucks yesterday in Aleppo’s Azez neighborhood with arms fire, daily Milliyet reported.

The trucks’ drivers managed to escape and reached the Turkish border with the help of members of Syria’s opposition.

“Syrian soldiers fired on our vehicles. Five trucks were burned,” the drivers said. “The Syrian opposition helped us to cross to Turkey by bringing us to the border.”

July/05/2012

151. TARA said: (via the defected tv reporter) : “The Syrian nation is a simple nation. They believe whoever smiles at them on TV and they believe whoever cries. God help the Syrian nation.”
….

is it really that simple? are the syrian people so gullible? i don’t believe it. isn’t there still a range of alternative media syrians can avail themselves to apart from regime media?

that recently defected alawi activist said even within the alawite community, half know the regime is lying.

#160 Juergen

Two millions emails make a good and boring summer reading.

110. GHUFRAN said: Syria is being torn apart in front of our eyes but one poster,non Syrians I believe, is still interested in a map with the number of dead Syrians per province,this is a form of necrophilia.

no, this is called holding bashar accountable.

or would you rather have all of the war crimes the regime has committed be swept under the rug, uncounted and ignored?

your disinterest in hard numbers echoes the pentagon’s when asked about the number of iraqis murdered, general franks dismissively replied “we don’t body counts.”

#162 Omen

is it really that simple? are the syrian people so gullible?

The american people beat everybody in gullibility. Their leaders know that well.
As for Amir, he represents the typical good hearted Jewish Israeli: Torn.

Boosted by the Geneva aggrement, it appears that the UN mission in Syria is not dead, quite the contrary

Chief of UN observers says his mission to be consolidated with “Team Sites”
English.news.cn 2012-07-05 18:05:51

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/world/2012-07/05/c_131697690.htm

“We are consolidating the mission to enable better support to the Syrian people in the coming days,” Mood said, adding that “we will reinforce our presence into regional team sites to give us, once our operations resume, the flexibility to effectively work on facilitating political dialogue and stability projects.”

“In the next week we will consolidate our 8 local team site locations into regional ones,” Mood said, adding that “the mission will relocate personnel and assets from Hama, Idlib and Tartous to boost our presence in other locations.”

Mood stressed that “this consolidation will not affect the mission’s current mandate or the total deployed personnel.”

Mood made it clear that “Now, we are in a situation in which we have contacts and knowledge, but we have no ceasefire. So it is time to stop spreading ourselves out too thin and restructure in a way that will allow us once we resume our activists.”

The Westerm media is weighing if the regional “spinoffs” of Al Qaeeda can go full blast, the Iraqi way, or are just aiming at local wars.

By William Maclean

LONDON | Thu Jul 5, 2012 10:11am EDT
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/05/us-security-qaeda-idUSBRE86408D20120705

(Reuters) – Osama bin Laden would not have approved.

Spinoff groups from al Qaeda have become increasingly engrossed in insurgencies in Africa and the Middle East, inflicting death and mayhem on local communities. But this emphasis on the pursuit of the enemy nearby has cast doubt on their commitment, in practice, to bin Laden’s war on the “far enemy” – the West and the United States in particular.
….
An influx into Syria of fighters hardened by attacking U.S. troops in Iraq has alarmed Western governments. They also fear that sophisticated weapons may fall into the hands of rebel groups, including al Qaeda, that may threaten Western interests

But the influx has also prompted some analysts to raise the prospect of a repeat of al Qaeda’s experience in Iraq.

“I see the same thing happening in Syria,” said Camille Tawil, a historian of Islamist armed groups and writer for al-Hayat newspaper. He said a shadowy militant group called Jebhat al-Nusra, which has claimed mass killings, was alienating the majority of the Syrian opposition.
…

#156 Ann

“Decaying” British Empire Declares War On Syria!!

Stopping the western media hysteria,
Russian FM says no plans to grant asylum to Assad

http://www.rt.com/news/line/2012-07-05/#id33783

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov .. described this as “an unscrupulous attempt to mislead serious people dealing with foreign politics or failure to understand what… Russia’s position is.” Lavrov stressed that “only the Syrian people can decide on Syria’s fate, including the fate of its leaders.”

Who said that Jordan closed its borders to Syrian refugees?

Mass influx of Syria refugees reaches Jordan

http://gulfnews.com/news/region/syria/mass-influx-of-syria-refugees-reaches-jordan-1.1045142

Dubai: Up to 5,000 Syrians have sought refuge in Jordan over the past week from the bloodshed in their country, in a possible prelude to a largescale influx, the UN refugee agency said on Thursday.

UN urges Jordan to open camp for Syrian refugees
There are estimates of an average of 400 Syrians crossing into Jordan daily
July 3, 2012, 4:55 pm

AMMAN, Jordan (AP) — Jordan must open a refugee camp for thousands of Syrians fleeing the fighting in their country, a U.N. official said Tuesday, just hours after another 1,000 crossed the border.

The appeal from Andrew Harper, the U.N. refugee agency’s representative to Jordan, came during a sudden spike in numbers, adding to 140,000 Syrians already in the country.

For now, though, a new camp remains unused because of Jordan’s desire not to anger its powerful Syrian neighbors.

Are the Syrian refugees an asset or a liability?

The increased flux of Syrian refugees fleeing Syria is claimed in the media and by the opposition as an defeat for the Syrian government and a sign of the collapse of the state.
Yet in my view, this flux of civilians fleeing the ‘hot’ areas ( 70% of Syria according to Ryad Al Assaad) to Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon is an advantage for the Syrian army that feels free to attack the areas in the hands of the armed rebels and get hold of them.
The neighboring countries are spending millions to host the refugees and they are exposing themselves to dangers, should some of the refugees are islamist extremists, criminals or spies.

These refugees may end up by staying a long time in exile and many would want to settle there ( especially in Turkey where the economy is booming), creating enormous problems for the host countries.

pictures of Homs

The ghost town

http://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Fpolitik%2Fausland%2Fsyrien-neue-fotos-aus-homs-zeigen-zerstoerung-a-842708.html

http://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=de&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.spiegel.de%2Fpolitik%2Fausland%2Fsyrien-neue-fotos-aus-homs-zeigen-zerstoerung-a-842708.html

Bronco

are you pointing out that the regime should be gracious to got rid of unthankful elements of their society?

Juergen

are you pointing out that the regime should be gracious to got rid of unthankful elements of their society?

Not at all, quite the contrary. The people who flee can no more be used as human shields as the ones trapped in Homs.
Some will come back if they feel safe again in their regions.

God save Syria and the Syrians from this folk

Reform by Murder: Extremism Comes to Egypt
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/reform-murder-extremism-comes-egypt

170. Juergen said:

pictures of Homs
Bronco

are you pointing out that the regime should be gracious to got rid of unthankful elements of their society?

You shall know very well what kind of problems and risks mass migration and uncontrolled migration pose to the hosting countries.
You shall also know very the discussion in Germany concerning the migrants from Kosovo, Turkey and arabic countries.

“Deuschland schafft sich ab”

#159 ZOO

What were the Turkish trucks bringing in Syria? Tomatoes?

No, pomegranate!!!