News Round Up (9 June 2011)

Friday, June 10th, 2011

The number of Syrian refugees fleeing the country’s north into Turkey has surpassed 2,000 while reports suggest that as many as 30,000 Syrian troops are massed near the town of Jisr al-Shughour, whose 60,000 citizens have largely left en masse. The stories coming out of the refugees paint a grisly picture of soldiers refusing orders to shoot on unarmed people and being shot for insubordination. The Syria government insists that armed rebels killed the troops.

Syrian Refugees in Turkey

Reports from the town, (NYTimes) which remained without electricity, water and Internet access, were difficult to confirm. Rami Abdelrahman, a Syrian activist based in Britain, said that by late Friday morning all of his contacts in Jisr al-Shoughour and the surrounding area were “cut off.” Earlier in the day he spoke to residents there, who described a campaign of destruction against Jisr al-Shoughour and a cluster of nearby villages by the army. “They are burning fields all around,” he said.

Meanwhile, Russia appears likely to veto French and British efforts to table a Security Council resolution condemning Syria’s ongoing crackdown. (MidEast Channel FP) This Friday is named the “Friday of the Tribes” in an effort to bring along the Arab tribes, many leaders of which turned up at the Antalya opposition meeting last week.

This site – named Revolution Intelligence – is a worrying new phenomenon. It has a military theme and allows anonymous writers to inform on people they believe to be government informers or regime loyalists. It is not clear whether it is designed to encourage retribution or assassination, but I suppose it could. Just another indication of the darkening clouds that are gathering for Syria. A Lebanese Christian friend brought this site to my attention and remarked:

We’re clearly heading towards a kind of “civil war” there…. And the lists of that sort are a good fuel for such a conflict, believe an old Lebanese!! 😉 (seriously; the people named in these lists will dearly defend their skin, no?!; and besides, when you open the door to deletion, anyone can accuse anyone, his neighbor with whom he had a quarrel for a car parking, his doorman who did not wash the ca properly, the shopkeeper whom he suspects of looking at his wife… etc etc… J, and society becomes unlivable!!…). More than this, this site depicts a “mindset” in the opposition; a kind of “3aql amni” that resembles a lot the “3aql amni wa mukhabarati” that we find in the regime’s circles..; Strange and fascinating mimetism… it augurs of the worse once these guys takes power….

But you also touch a good point: I heard Haytham Mannah saying today “we don’t want any foreign interference besides a moral support; physically, we are capable of putting this regime down, with time and courage, and we have to if we want to stay free after”; nicely put. BUT… how without “troops”? And this is where tricks such as this kind of listing will play: people will begin turning against each other, on micro-levels, suspicion inside the ruling circles will grow, defiance also, and cracks will begin?

But I guess there’s more: if you noticed, Antalya was heavily attended by (among others) tribal leaders from the “3ashayer”; these are exactly the people who have the manpower to fight!! And these have been first antagonized by the Deraa wound, and now in Rastan, Hassakeh,Raqqa, and elsewhere… if they join in mass, along with Brothers that seem to near the point of taking arms, the “revolution army” is there… is it a coincidence that tomorrow has been labeled “Jom3at el-3asha’er”???!!….

After Golan clashes, is Israel rethinking the Assad (or Palestine) file?
by Daniel Levy

…For the peace rejectionist government of Prime Minister Netanyahu, the survival of an embattled, desperate, and thoroughly discredited Assad regime apparently hits that Goldilocks sweet spot — just the right outcome. Is this a calculation that still makes sense for Israel after Sunday’s clashes on the Golan?

Syria to hold advisory meeting with opposition in 10 days: offic 2011-06-09 11:19:21.503 GMT

DAMASCUS, June 9 (Xinhua) — A Syrian official said an advisory meeting with the opposition and non-partisans is expected to be held in ten days, the Syrian daily al-Watan reported Thursday.

According to the unnamed source, the meeting will be a preparatory step towards a comprehensive national dialogue that sets the headlines of Syria’s political and economic future.

“The meeting is open for anyone who likes to take part in, on condition of having no foreign agenda,” the source was quoted by al-Watan as saying.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has nominated Vice-President Farouk al-Sharaa and his assistant Mohammad Nasief, Vice-President for Cultural Affairs Najah al-Attar and Presidential Advisor Bouthaina Shaaban to take part in the dialogue with Syrian opposition figures inside Syria in order to reach a political solution to the country’s crisis.

The opposition, inside Syria, insists the killing of protesters must end, political prisoners be released and the right of expression and demonstration be guaranteed before any dialogue could begin.

“The meeting must aim at saving Syria from the current crisis,” Michel Kilo, a prominent dissident told Xinhua via phone.

Kilo, one of the four activists meeting with Shaaban one month ago, said “this is a political crisis which must be tackled through political means,” adding that Shaaban told him the Syrian president had ordered troops not to fire on pro-reform demonstrators.

The Balance of Power Is Shifting: The Tide May Slowly Be Turning Against President Bashar Assad

June 11 (The Economist) — A MONTH ago seasoned watchers of Syria reckoned that the regime’s ferocious crackdown would keep the lid on dissent, albeit with President Bashar Assad’s legitimacy badly impaired. Now the prevailing wisdom is changing. Rather than subside, the protests are spreading and intensifying. Having started in the south and spread to coastal cities such as Banias, they moved to Homs, Syria’s third-biggest city, and the surrounding central districts. More recently they have gripped Hama, the country’s fourth city, famed for its uprising in 1982, when 20,000 people may have been killed by the then president, Hafez Assad, the present incumbent’s father. After starting in the rural areas, the unrest has hit cities all over the country. And the death toll, well past 1,200, has begun to rise more sharply. On June 3rd, at least 70 people are reported to have been killed in Hama alone.

The first of two big questions is whether the revolt will get going in Damascus and Aleppo, the capital and Syria’s second city respectively, which have been relatively but by no means entirely quiet. The second big question is whether the security forces, on which the regime was founded when Assad père took over in 1970, will stay loyal. If the army’s middle and lower ranks, drawn mainly from the country’s Sunni majority, which comprises some 75% of the population, begin to turn against the senior ranks where the Alawite minority (10%, including the Assad family) predominates, the regime could begin to fall apart. The events of June 5th in the town of Jisr al-Shughour, near the north-western border with Turkey, suggest that this may be starting to happen…..

Refugees from north of Syria in Turkey are not allowed to talk to the press. Le Monde

A syrian dissident says that it is because Erdogan is afraid Bashar will unleash on Turkey the kurdish PKK.(sic)

…..Hors de question également de parler avec les réfugiés qui viennent de franchir la frontière : ils sont immédiatement pris en charge par des unités de gendarmerie, qui dirigent les personnes valides vers le camp, les blessés vers des hôpitaux, où la consigne est de ne pas admettre la presse.

..”Le gouvernement turc ne veut pas trop parler de ce qui se passe ici parce qu’il a peur qu’Assad lâche sur la Turquie les rebelles kurdes du PKK (Parti des travailleurs du Kurdistan)”, avance un dissident syrien installé à Antakya, parlant sous couvert de l’anonymat.

Syria crisis: Turkey refugees fear for Jisr al-Shughour

Other refugees tell much the same story. A group of three unemployed men aged 19, 25 and 30 respectively: The oldest of the group said that the people were simply demanding better economic conditions. “We try only to get enough food to survive. Nothing else,” he said. “Most people have to steal to live. We only want a better life because we are hungry. “If the government provided us with jobs then we would have no problem with it.”

CNN: France 24 files complaint over its own Syria story, 2011-06-09

A French television network said Thursday it has filed a complaint with the Paris public prosecutor alleging identity theft and impersonation related to an interview it broadcast Tuesday with a woman the network identified as Ambassador Lamia …

First lady struggles to live up to promises
By Lina Saigol in London, Published: June 9 2011 20:00 | Last updated: June 9 2011

Last January, Asma al-Assad stood up in front of an audience in Damascus and called on the people of Syria to play a more active role in society.

Speaking at The First International Development Conference, Syria’s first lady said citizens needed to become more vocal about the country’s social and economic challenges and she pledged to give NGOs more freedom.

Eighteen months later, Syrians are more than heeding her calls as thousands of protesters take to the streets daily demanding civil liberties and freedom in the face of a brutal government crackdown that has seen more than 1,000 people killed in 12 weeks.

It is not the outcome Mrs Assad had hoped for when she married President Bashar al-Assad aged just 25 in 2001 with high hopes of empowering Syrians and helping rehabilitate the country after years of sanctions.

“Asma genuinely wanted to do good for her country, but she married into the mob,” one family friend says.

With a penchant for designer clothes, Mrs Assad seemed to represent the epitome of secular western-Arab fusion, leading many Syrians to believe she and her husband would be more tolerant than her late father-in-law’s totalitarian regime.

Soon after her marriage, Mrs Assad set up the country’s first ever rural development NGO and another body aimed at enhancing youth employability and entrepreneurial spirit.

Aided by the connections of her London-based father, Dr Fawaz Akhras, she also tried to internationalise these efforts, but they have suffered in recent weeks.

Dr Akhras, a founder and co-chairman of the British Syrian Society, helped her establish the Syrian Heritage Foundation, a British-registered charity set up last year to promote and advance education in the arts, culture and heritage of Syria and the Levant.

Readers Comments:

Off the Wall:

Posting this video, and discussing it and any attempt at analysis discredits a lot of the serious discussions we have been trying to have here, to which you have also contributed. I am confident that the truth about events in Latakia will emerge much sooner than it used to regardless of any attempt by any side to suppress the truth. At this stage, who is trying to instill sectarian violence in Syria is less important than stopping it dead in its place.

Let me be blunt, I am proud of the courage many Syrians are showing. It is relatively easy to participate in a demonstration for the president, being protected by agents, and even supplied, such as the case in Aleppo, with musical band and entertainment. But it takes courage to participate in a demonstration with political demands that challenges the status quo, known for being the one of the most repressive in the Arab world. I like courage, for it tells everyone that Syrians can no longer be pushed around or fooled. Courage is motivated primarily by recognition of ones rights, and belief in the justice of ones cause. Syrians asking for freedom, for the right to object and/or agree have both motivations, hence comes their courage. The numbers belie the official press that it is only very tiny groups of infiltrators.

However, Syrians, of all stripes, are likely to show even more of the same courage when confronted with an existential threat such as attempting to saw sectarian violence. And based on what I have been hearing, many in Latakia are confronting gangs and banding together despite of the stressful condition. Everyone I talked to is saying similar thing and they are willing to work with authorities to fight the gangs, no matter who these gangs are. Their priority again is to stop sectarian division dead in its place.

The video you are pushing here was initially presented to entice fear and to ferment hatred. Neither emotion induces courage. They only breed blood lust, and manufacture rage against innocent people. Is this what you want?, the death of courage and the victory of blood lust….? I hope not.

Nafdik

I agree that we are facing a possibility of civil war. But we should be clear why this is the case. The reason civil war is a possibility is that because we have one party who wants freedom and the other that is willing to create genocide to avoid them reaching their goal.

Shami:

This hatred towards the Syrian Muslims will not solve your problem. Assad will be toppled sooner or latter. The Muslims are your eternal neighbors not the Assadian moukhabarat.

You have to face the reality as it is,the syrian muslims are the less extremist people in the world, especially those of Hama ,Aleppo,Homs,Latakkia and Jisr.

It shows how corrupt are the minds of islamophobic christians and pro shia theocracy people here. We have our own culture and history wich is different from that of Asad and his moukhabarat ,different from that the shia extremist minorities and different from the islamophobic sentiment of some christians.

You belong to Khomaini who got weapons from Israel secretly. And Ali Abass Shabiha were not Peshmerga from Iraq. It happens that many people you praise have long beards! But they belong to the theocracy of Qom.

The future is ours ! And you will taste the reality of Tadmor prison by yourself inshallah.

Of course once we finish with asad ,we will have something to settle with the SSNP and shia extremist theocrats in Lebanon.Their end is that of this regime.This is the reason of their support and the hatred that emanate from them here.

One shoe of an honest person worth all asad criminal gang and cronies. The future is ours !

abughassan said:

I do not know how anybody can seriously deny the fact that Syrians have suffered a great deal due to oppression and corruption. The regime carries much of the blame but many others were part of the problem by being willful participants. the regime did not survive for 40 years just because it was brutal,it received a lot of help and made a lot of friends (sometimes for the wrong reasons).people who rightfully oppose the regime and the transformation of Syria into a Kingo-republic need to remember that Syria is still a third world country and read about how fragile and unstable Syrian governments were prior to 1970.

They also must keep in mind how Lebanon became a tribal circus and how Iraq was converted into a sectarian shooting range despite elections and the glamor of western democracy (compare that to the safety Syrians enjoyed for 40 years). We all know how oppressive and brutal Saddam Hussein’s regime was (ironically,it was still better than the shia-ruled majority government today).

France and England’s sudden affection with the well-being of the Syrian people is nauseating knowing their despicable colonial history and how they divided the Middle East and created Israel,yet,many Syrians feel “grateful” for the lip service they receive from those countries….

Usama said:

If it makes you feel any better I think Tadmor prison was one of the few good things Rif`at did for Syria. 30 years of peace and quiet. Why do you hate the SSNP exactly?

ziadsoury said:

Usama,

My friend was killed in Tudmor. He was 16 years old. He had nothing to do with the MB. All what the parents were told: SORRY wrong person. How many kids like my friend were in there by mistake? How many innocent people died in that massacre? I wonder how many people were tried and convicted by a legal court. Zero ….and And you call that a good thing?

Nour said:

Shami, You remind me of the person who said “I am against sectarianism and against the Shia.”

Shami said:

Nour, I said extremist shias whose religion tell them to hate and to curse. They are divinized here by those who hate the moderate and middle way Islam of the syrian people.

I have no hatred at all towards the moderate Shias that are able to be integrated into the mainstream body and to respect their environment.

This is also valid when i attack the islamophobic Christians. Does that mean i’m anti christian? Both of these haters exists and both of them cultivate hatred towards their environment. So they hold an historical problem with the dominant culture. This is their choice and i have to right to answer.

The sectarians are those who cultivate a marginal culture which is constucted as anti thesis of the dominant culture with a lot of pasions, irrationality and hatred. Those kind of people would be happy if 20 000 millions Syrians die.

Be sure ,that no normal people are capable of killing thousands in some days other than these marginal minorities who feel bad in their environment and who cultivate a centuries old hatred towards it.

This is a known fact …that doesn’t mean that the Syrian people will massacre 10000’s of innocents as did asad in Hama ,Aleppo and in all parts of Syria,this is impossible because our culture is different, this is the difference. They are the same kind of people of those who collaborated with the Mongols and Crusaders in the annhilation of the umma.

You don’t feel the suffering of the Syrian people ,because you belong to Asad, Khomaini, Zakaria Butros not to the common culture in Syria ,Palestine or Lebanon.

Nour said:

Shami:

When you speak of a “dominant culture” in your country, then you are dripping with sectarianism. You seem to think anyone who is not “Sunni”, according to your own understanding of what “Sunni” is, is sectarian. You seem to think that the “Sunni” majority, which you believe is the sector that subscribes to your own view of society and life, should rule and impose their “culture” on the others because it is the “dominant” culture. This is nonsense. The Syrians are one people and one society. There is no “dominant” culture and “recessive” culture in Syria. Do you seriously believe that you have different social values, customs, and traditions than the rest of the Syrians? Do you seriously believe that you are of a different social psyche? If so, then Syria would suffer greatly if it were to fall into the hands of people who subscribe to this line of thinking.

Op-Ed Contributors: How Tyrants Endure
2011-06-10

WHY do certain dictators survive while others fall? Throughout history, downtrodden citizens have tried to throw off the yoke of their oppressors, but revolutions, like those sweeping through the Arab world, are rare.

Despotic rulers stay in power by rewarding a small group of loyal supporters, often composed of key military officers, senior civil servants and family members or clansmen. A central responsibility of these loyalists is to suppress opposition to the regime. But they only carry out this messy, unpleasant task if they are well rewarded. Autocrats therefore need to ensure a continuing flow of benefits to their cronies.

If the dictator’s backers refuse to suppress mass uprisings or if they defect to a rival, then he is in real trouble. That is why successful autocrats reward their cronies first, and the people last. As long as their cronies are assured of reliable access to lavish benefits, protest will be severely suppressed. Once the masses suspect that crony loyalty is faltering, there is an opportunity for successful revolt. Three types of rulers are especially susceptible to desertion by their backers: new, decrepit and bankrupt leaders.

Newly ensconced dictators do not know where the money is or whose loyalty they can buy cheaply and effectively. Thus, during transitions, revolutionary entrepreneurs can seize the moment to topple a shaky new regime.

Even greater danger lurks for the aging autocrat whose cronies can no longer count on him to deliver the privileges and payments that ensure their support. They know he can’t pay them from beyond the grave. Decrepitude slackens loyalty, raising the prospects that security forces will sit on their hands rather than stop an uprising, giving the masses a genuine chance to revolt. This is what brought about the end of dictatorships in the Philippines, Zaire and Iran.

In addition to rumors of Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali’s and Hosni Mubarak’s health concerns, Tunisia and Egypt suffered serious economic problems that kindled rebellion. Grain and fuel prices were on the rise, unemployment, particularly among the educated, was high and, in Egypt’s case, there had been a substantial decline in American aid (later reinstated by President Obama). Mr. Mubarak’s military backers, beneficiaries of that aid, worried that he was no longer a reliable source of revenue.

As money becomes scarce, leaders can’t pay their cronies, leaving no one to stop the people if they rebel. This is precisely what happened during the Russian and French revolutions and the collapse of communist rule in Eastern Europe — and why we predicted Mr. Mubarak’s fall in a presentation to investors last May.

Today’s threat to Bashar al-Assad’s rule in Syria can be seen in much the same light. With a projected 2011 deficit of approximately 7 percent of G.D.P., declining oil revenue and high unemployment among the young, Mr. Assad faces the perfect conditions for revolution. He may be cracking heads today, but we are confident that either he will eventually enact modest reforms or someone will step into his shoes and do so.

Contagion also plays an important part in revolutionary times. As people learn that leaders in nearby states can’t buy loyalty, they sense that they, too, may have an opportunity. But it does not automatically lead to copycat revolutions. In many nations, particularly the oil-rich Gulf States, either there has been no protest or protest has been met with violence. In Bahrain, for example, 60 percent of government revenue comes from the oil and gas sector; its leaders have therefore faced few risks in responding to protests with violent oppression.

This is because resource-rich autocrats have a reliable revenue stream available for rewarding cronies — and repression does not jeopardize this flow of cash. Natural resource wealth explains why the octogenarian Robert Mugabe shows no sign of stepping down in Zimbabwe and the oil-rich Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi has given little hint of compromise from the start in Libya. As NATO bombs fall on Tripoli, however, Colonel Qaddafi is discovering that he needs to convince remaining loyalists that he can re-establish control over Libya’s oil riches or they, too, will turn on him. Sadly, if the rebels win, they are also likely to suppress freedom to ensure their control over oil wealth.

Regimes rich in natural resources or flush with foreign aid can readily suppress freedom of speech, a free press and, most important, the right to assemble. By contrast, resource-poor leaders can’t easily restrict popular mobilization without simultaneously making productive work so difficult that they cut off the tax revenues they need to buy loyalty.

Such leaders find themselves between a rock and a hard place and would be wise to liberalize preemptively. This is why we expect countries like Morocco and Syria to reform over the next few years even if their initial response to protest is repression. The same incentive for democratization exists in many countries that lack a natural reservoir of riches like China and Jordan — a bad omen for authoritarian rulers and good news for the world’s oppressed masses.

Bruce Bueno de Mesquita and Alastair Smith are professors of politics at New York University and the authors of “The Dictator’s Handbook.”

Comments (117)

daleandersen said:

Memo to Asma al-Assad:

RE: the abyss

Remember, when you look into the abyss, it looks back at you. Be careful not to blink. Cheers…

http://playwrighter.blogspot.com/2011/05/hitler-and-arabs-nazis-in-middle-east.html

June 10th, 2011, 2:25 am

Enlightened said:

Hi Josh:

I have been reluctant to comment these past 3 months , mainly due to the fact that, I have been rather disappointed with the high level of sectarian comments exhibited here, which you and i over the years have sporadically discussed via email.

I do have a few questions, but would like to convey to you, what a stellar job you have done, under very trying circumstances.

My questions are:

1. What part strategically do you think Turkey will bring to bear on the Assad government for reforms, given that it can not and will not accept another de facto Kurdish independence on its doorstep (aka Northern Iraq)?

2. What will it take for the Syrian government to initiate and introduce reforms- what in your view would be the tipping point?

3. What time frame would you see as reasonable for the reforms to be implemented?

4. Why in your opinion has the Arab League been relatively silent on the situation in Syria, can there be a Arab solution to the internal conflict?

5. As a Syria specialist do you think there will be a positive outcome, ie reforms, elections, freedom of speach, multi party elections

ps Hope you are well

June 10th, 2011, 2:29 am

Souri333 (formerly Souri) said:

http://www.tayyar.org/Tayyar/News/PoliticalNews/ar-LB/syria-hh-9365.htm

June 10th, 2011, 3:04 am

Yeah, OK, pick the one post that makes me look like a nut, lol. And sure, while you’re at it, why not clip off that last short sentence I had in my original post. I still say Ziad is full of shit, like in all of his other posts.

June 10th, 2011, 3:09 am

Amir in Tel Aviv said:

“…A Syrian security officer who fled with the civilian refugees told the Hürriyet Daily News that they received an order by phone Friday to kill all the protesters in the town.

“We received a phone call from the center, and they ordered us to shoot and kill all the protesters,” said Ahmad Gavi, 21, a Syrian soldier who fled to Turkey following the deadly clashes in Jisr Al-Shughour.

“Five soldiers who refused to follow this order were killed immediately in front of me. Then commanders and some soldiers started to shoot each other,” Gavi said. “There were 180 soldiers at the security check post and 120 of them were killed.”

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=8216commanders-killed-the-soldiers-in-front-of-my-eyes8217-2011-06-09
.

June 10th, 2011, 3:29 am

“Erdoğan personally attacked Assad’s brother, Maher Assad, for the brutal clampdown and said that Syria, unlike Libya, is seen as akin to a Turkish domestic affair”.

“Sadly, they don’t behave like humans,” Erdoğan said, referring to Maher Assad and his team, which has been ferocious in crushing the dissent. “Now the barbarity… Now think [soldiers] pose [for a photo] in such an ugly way at the bedside of women who they killed… that these images cannot be digested,” Erdoğan said.

“Erdoğan recalled his telephone conversation with Assad several days ago but complained that the Syrian government had shrugged off his calls. “I spoke with Mr. Bashar al-Assad four to five days ago. I explained this situation very clearly and openly. Despite this, they take this very lightly. And sadly they tell us different things,” Erdoğan said”.

http://www.todayszaman.com/news-246828-turkey-deplores-inhumane-syrian-crackdown-reprimands-assad-family.html
.

June 10th, 2011, 3:36 am

Does anyone know where we can find the full vote results for the IAEA meeting on Syria? I know 17 voted for referral. I thought they needed 18 of the 35 members to vote yes, but I guess that’s not the case… The way US officials were speaking, I thought I’d see almost 30 voting for referral over “4 single radioactive particles” (quote from 873).

June 10th, 2011, 3:43 am

Syrian Commando said:

Usama,

The professor’s intention is to paint a picture matching his (sorry I have to say this) nonsensical analysis. He wants to paint a picture of sectarianism and civil war, because, as he has confirmed by this latest entry, he wants to set Syria on fire.

He didn’t back track on the “gay girl in damascus” claim either. Very interesting.

Good idea of getting the list of who voted for referrel. I will boycott every country on that list.

Amir in Tel Aviv,

Thanks for this report. Confirms that Erdogan is actually a trojan horse along with his government. My analysis is spot on. No wonder the media is picking it up.

June 10th, 2011, 3:51 am

Turkey will gain the most in post asad Syria,She is the natural ally of democratic Syria.

June 10th, 2011, 3:52 am

Turkey’s stability is finished, in a year’s time its economic growth will halt. It will only make gains if the UNSC resolution is passed.

If it fails, and I’m sure it will, Syria will tidy up house and the Turkey/Iran/Syria axis is over.

If Turkey was really “democratic”, there would be democracy for the Kurds and journalists would not be jailed without just cause. What a joke!!! Turkey kaput!

Also notice that Turkey is not letting refugees get interviewed but lets fake “soldiers” get interviewed. And it hurt’s Syria as well. This flies in contradiction with the professor’s deeply, deeply, flawed and media-orientated analysis.

June 10th, 2011, 3:57 am

Turkish PM criticizes Syrian president, calls crackdown on protesters ‘savagery’

http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5iGrcKedP8358HZFMDBh2AkTYLd6A?docId=7109126

June 10th, 2011, 3:58 am

Syrian commando ,Asad-Iranian Theocracy axis…Turkey never was part of it.

June 10th, 2011, 4:00 am

#12 It’s an economic axis. I like how you added theocracy there, because that’s the only thing that’s ever on your mind. A silly, 1-bit political discourse. That’s why you are quoted by the professor so often. You’re not even Syrian, despite your screen name, shlomo.

What is real savagery, is the Turkish terror brigades that entered Jisr al-Shaghour. Turkey has nothing but violence in its history and they want to speak to us about savagery.

Erdogan is going to destablise his country, I don’t think the military will let him complete his new term.

June 10th, 2011, 4:06 am

is the Turkish terror brigades that entered Jisr al-Shaghour.

are you programmed to swallow such obvious lies ?

When the turkish army will intervene then you will see what kind of brigades they have.
Erdogan said that Syria is like a part of Turkey and the syrian people are relatives to the turkish people ,it means what it means.

June 10th, 2011, 4:10 am

I broadcast this piece of news before the Syrian media even got to it, I don’t swallow lies, I broadcast the truth, unlike you sectarian hate monger.

There’s actual evidence on our side of the story.

Look at the videos, the phone calls, the fact that the army wasn’t even there when the idiots were declaring “divisions”.

What a pathetic joke.

>When the turkish army will intervene then you will see what kind of brigades they have.

If their army even dares to enter Syria, they’ll meet our actual army + air force, not just some policemen and security guards. Turkey will be utterly humiliated. Any armor they send will be teared to shreds by kornet missiles, any aircrafts shot down by HQ9. If they take things too far and bring their dear friend Israel into the conflict, we’ll have to calibrate our long range special weapon missiles towards Turkish cities (sad, since I have relatives there) as well as Israeli (also sad because I wish for peace) ones. Syria can hold its own territory. The question is, can Turkey survive such a conflict politically?

June 10th, 2011, 4:11 am

I don’t necessarily want to boycott countries that voted against Syria. Look at the ones that voted against us in the UNHRC. Some of them are so poor they really have no choice when they’re offered financial and economic incentives (or FOOD). I can’t blame them. I just simply want to see the list out of curiosity and for future reference.

Also you should remember the history of the Turkish army and their alignments. I would argue they are very happy with what is happening in Syria and with what Erdoghan is saying. As for the refugees flooding to the Turkish border, it’s mostly the sympathizers and families of the armed terrorists. Most of the Jisr residents dispersed to surrounding areas other than the liwa2, and their testimonies have been available for all to see and hear for last 3 days, but of course, all western and Arab media ignored them.

June 10th, 2011, 4:16 am

Syrian Commando,of course you dont believe what you are saying.

Mina said:

Josh,

The website with blacklists is simply meant to discredit any attempt of the inside-Syria opposition to participate the dialogue with the governement.
It is very clear that the people who are pulling the threads have been studying the unfolding of the events in Egypt and Libya, and that they apply exactly the same recipes. Now it is about calling the tribes, as it has been done in Libya, with the active help of al Jazeera TV. A month later, half the tribes they had mentioned for their support to Benghazi were in Tripoli taking cash from Ghaddafi.

I have never seen from the opposition outside any sign, from the beginning, that they would encourage ANY dialogue, or ANY reform. It was all as in the Champress article: if someone says that, say “too little too late”, if another says that say “we’ve been waiting for 40 years”.

I have friends in Egypt who own small businesses and are paying their employees from their own pockets since 5 months. I doubt this could every be seen in Syria. The region is heading for hunger and full-scale war.
These people who died on the streets of Syria are dying for Iran or Saudi Arabia, who play patience as to who will start the real big one.

June 10th, 2011, 4:18 am

#17

Of course I believe it and you better believe it too, zionist pretending to be Syrian. Why would you cheer for the Turkish army, an invader and occupier of our lands?

>I doubt this could every be seen in Syria. The region is heading for hunger and full-scale war.

Trust me, if this continues, Syria will have no other option but the “Samson option”. The idiots who think this is going to remain isolated in Syria will have the carpet pulled out from under them.

June 10th, 2011, 4:21 am

The coalition of pirates is ready to explode
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/gaddafi-regime-staked-16312bn-on-secret-deal-in-bid-to-open-peace-talks-2295343.html

June 10th, 2011, 4:26 am

USAMA,

Oh I know for sure that the army is happy with what Erdogan is doing now, but it’s only because they are short-sighted and stupid. They don’t realise that it’s going to backfire — that’s when they’re going to be unhappy with him.

Just keep your eye on the Kurds. They’re going to be granted major concessions which will hopefully spell the end to their brutal and unfair repression in Turkey.

>Most of the Jisr residents dispersed to surrounding areas other than the liwa2, and their testimonies have been available for all to see and hear for last 3 days, but of course, all western and Arab media ignored them.

We all saw it of course, but the morally corrupt and intellectually bankrupt do not even want to mention this.

Shami 14
It means what it means and you should see the eyes of these so-called sophisticated pro-MB academics and journalists when they visit the old Ottoman buildings and start dreaming of a caliphate.

June 10th, 2011, 4:32 am

mjabali said:

Turkey is playing with fire. Erdugan made a big mistake by sponsoring the Muslim Brothers, and their cronies. Now he got himself and Turkey into this mess. Sunni parties are showing their true colors.

They changed the color of the Syrian flag. Of course, they put Green in the place of red, although red is being spilled on the streets of Syria everyday. They do not care about that otherwise they would have called for the HALT of all types of demonstrating and VIOLENCE by all sides.

Us Syrians grew up on violence and should try to put a stop to all of that.
Things are obvious, Sunni romantic ideas about al-Khilafa wa Dawlat al-Islam.

Erdugan wants to be al-Khalifa, at least sometimes in his daydreams or when he meets with Sunni groups representatives.

The Sunni Muslim “Brothers,” have a regional agenda.

Turkey is a time bomb. Erdugan should consider that. The progress they had was because of the secular force and the money the ex-patriots were sending back. Now, or later this will change and the economic stagnation is coming. Do you think that this chaos and the destruction of these states will bring back wealth, or do you think that the bankrupt West is able to give these countries any financial assistance?

Turkey have the Kurds, many Alawis and the Sunnis, who together and with what is going on are not going to make it for long.

This chaos in the region is not good for any one.

Freedom is great of course and it could be attained through different means. Chaos is in the blood of those from that part of the world.

The Sunni collective is what is driving this madness, and that is expected from a history of destruction and chaos and no respect for any one.

The Sunnis have progressive force of course, but those sadly enough have went back home after participating in few demos for freedom in the beginning. It is total chaos now, the street is moving by revenge, sectarianism and the sheer force of Friday Sermons with the promise of Shahada facing the power of the Army and al-Assad’s forces.

This is going to reach Turkey sooner or later. Now, it appeared more than before that what went on in Syria has and will have to do of what goes on in the region.

In the meantime, the battle of Jisr al-Shughur just started according to my calculation and I have to go to work so keep us readers posted in this great board and website.

June 10th, 2011, 6:11 am

Mina,

Syria will be as advanced than Turkey ,few years after asad is send to jail or hanged.

June 10th, 2011, 6:23 am

Armed terrorist gang aka the vigilante shabi7a
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2fBGk7Xgy4
.

June 10th, 2011, 6:28 am

Are those scums who are going to fight the turkish army ?
Mjabali,the MB have nothing to do with the current uprisings,it’s purely internal reaction.
History has not stoped in Syria.
And yes the statues of Hafez Asad will be completly destroyed,why did they build them ?

June 10th, 2011, 6:32 am

Thanks Mjabali,
Keep us posted.
It would be important that Jad provides transcripts in English of the extracts he gives. At least some salient points, because it is crystal clear that the Western medias try to write their stuff without anybody speaking Syrian Arabic consulted.

I think Jordan should not be too happy to have stronger MB at the doors.

Just for memo, the MB’s cousins have colonized whole areas of israel at the detriment of the seculars who were left with only one option: emigration.
http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/jerusalem-old-city-s-jewish-quarter-almost-entirely-haredi-study-finds-1.366855

Shami

You live in Disneyland. You know how many years the Turkish community in Germany has been working 12 hours a day and sent money back home? You know how many Turkish workers are in Europe?
I am afraid your fellow Phoenicians will never show such solidarity (i guess i am going to be called names…)

By the way, Eastern Turkey has always been neglected and under heavy repression, and now they are the people working their ass for all these tourists. So again, the Turkish government is not doing anything for the sake of its country, but it is simply trying to light the spark that will lead to an Iran/Gulf war. Then the Israelis will say thank you and won’t need to come with any concessions on the Palestinian state or the Palestinian refugees.

June 10th, 2011, 6:38 am

syau said:

SANA reports the mission in Jisr Alshughour has begun. Syrian army units have started pursuing organised armed gangs and arrested some of the members.

It was also reported that the armed gangs have set fire to crops and forests surrounding Jisr Alshughour.

Syria news also reported that a man has come forward stating he was offered a large sum of money to act as an army defector, but refused the offer.

June 10th, 2011, 6:40 am

Al Jadeed Report

June 10th, 2011, 6:45 am

I had to explain a friend in Syria who was getting brainwashed by AlJazeera that of course the Syrian government sends detailed reports everyday to foreign embassies with the pictures and interviews of all the foreign ‘opponents’ participating in the demonstrations and violence. The problem is that most Syrian people have no political acuteness. For which indeed, we can blame 40 years of dictatorship (but you are left with the Russian-Iraqi complex: ‘we need someone strong to keep the mosaic.’)
This is why the role of the opposition INSIDE Syria is so crucial, and why people who manipulate the things from outside should be prosecuted. About the website with the blacklists, aren’t there laws condeming incitation to hatred and killing?

June 10th, 2011, 6:48 am

The Turkish people isn’t islamist. Read opinion polls from Turkey. The support for Hamas and HA stands at 3% each. They vote for the AKP because of the economy, stupid. And money coming to Turkey from expatriates is BS. Some money may be coming, but this cannot explain the Turkish economic boom. It’s simply successful economic policies, and the hard working Turks.

Turkish FM’s neo-Ottoman tendencies are OK with me. Why shouldn’t they have ambitions? They managed to sustain a vast empire for some 650 years. Not an easy task. But claiming that Turkey wants to retake the ME is childish. They want respect and influence. They deserve both.
.

June 10th, 2011, 7:09 am

mjabali, you’re playing right into their hands. It is true there are sects in Turkey, but what is important is the ethnic seperations as well. Unlike Syria, which is a secular anti-sectarian state with an unfortunate oligarchy, the sectarianism in Turkey is brutal. It is precisely that by supporting further sectarian in Syria, that it will back fire on Turkey.

They will pay for their crimes and fall on their own sword.

I don’t care for sects but you can say my family is Sunni (well, family wise, I’m not religious at all, i.e. agnostic) and these cavemen MB/Salafis do not represent me at all. Most of my friends feel the same way, these rotting corpses of history only represent IQs below 70.

The professor, amongst other westerners, want to promote a civil war by highlighting sectarian divides which don’t yet exist. They assume by repeating the lie, it will materialise in reality. I would have previously said this is an insane tactic, but look, it worked in Iraq. The Iraqi Shia fell for it. It took a lot longer for the Sunni people to fall for it and only as a means to defend their community. It was a vile and monstorous tactic for which the entire bush-controlled US administration (including Negroponte) should be tried for at the Hague. How many families have they destroyed to get what they want?

Anyone who promotes sectarianism has children’s blood on their hands. Think about this professor, as you type out your psychological warfare reporting. Think about the children you will potentially kill. Even if information coming in is uncertain, it’s better to err on the side of caution and not try to rock the boat.

#32

>They want respect and influence. They deserve both.

They’ll be lucky to maintain their own territorial integrity if they’re going to face a protracted civil war, like Saddam did. You cannot win against the Kurds, they are a very robust patriotic people without a nation … yet. I think Turkey will be a smaller country after this mistake.

I dream one day to stand on Syrian Iskenderun and visit Syrian Antioch, our rightful capital. I’d say its slightly more important than the Golan heights you stole from us, if we ignore the water.

At this point, I trust the disgusting vile regime in Israel more than I trust the backstabbing viper in Turkey. At least with the former, you know it won’t take stupid actions that will hurt itself!!!!

June 10th, 2011, 7:10 am

FACTS said:

“Meanwhile, Russia appears likely to veto French and British efforts to table a Security Council resolution condemning Syria’s ongoing crackdown.”

Mr. Landis,

UNacceptable!

June 10th, 2011, 7:40 am

#32
AMIR OF TEL AVIV,

“The Turkish people isn’t islamist”
No clue!!!!!

Did you ever heard of the Caliph of Cologne and the Caliphate State?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/1705886.stm

That’s`s why Europeans reject Turkey’s campaign to join the EU.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/article402403.ece

June 10th, 2011, 8:03 am

Sophia said:

This is my last comment here. I can browse the news myself. I am tired of having to read the news here. The round-ups are never exhaustive and they are almost always followed by personal testimonies. There are no objective analyses. The bias is evident.

Also, very few in the comment section read really the articles posted by commentators to complete the picture that is presented here. People watch more youtube videos that read the articles

And I am tired of having to take Youtube as an authority on what is going on in Syria. Youtube for god’s sake!

I wish my fellow commentators here a nice summer.

Although I will try to post my own news round-ups on my blog starting tomorrow and you are welcome to visit, I am not an authority on Syria and I cannot pretend to post serious analyses. But I will not be wasting any more time on this blog.

So Long.

June 10th, 2011, 8:04 am

European Union should never accept Turkey.

You can see what these people are like from their actions at Jisr al-Shughour, scale back immigration, let them rot away in their filthy backwater.

#36 SOPHIA

Thank you for your information I really appreciate it, I will visit and comment at your website.

June 10th, 2011, 8:05 am

هذا المواطن الذي رفض أن يكون عميد الزور ويمثل دور منشق ومفبرك

June 10th, 2011, 8:07 am

tara said:

Although I do not agree with everything said below. I must say I am no longer proud being شامية. If Damascus rose in its entirety, Bashar and company may have gotten it.

I very much agree with
و حاولت بالحسنى و الصراخ و الخناق و الترغيب و الترهيب لك كل شي بس من غير فايدة… أخي الشامي ما بدو يتظاهر…بيجوز الزلمة بيساندك من جوات قلبه بس أخي مظاهرات ما في. خلص حيونة.

And this was the climax:
و بعد ما لعيتلكن قلبكن بحب قلكن و أنا بكامل قوايي العقلية…إنو هدا التفكير كله زبالة…و أنا بستحي من حالي و من تربايتي أنا الشاغوري يلي من جوات السور…أنا قلبي مع كل السوريين و عم بحلم باليوم يلي الرصاصة لح تفوت بنص قلبي الشاغوري و تطلع من الطرف التاني و يجي أخي السوري و يقلي اتشهد لك اتشهد… والله عم حاول لم عدد مشان نطلع شي يوم و نكون معكن… بس عطونا شوية وقت… يعني آخرة الصوص لح يصير جاجة

This is the full comment and the source is http://bit.ly/iKPmxu

ايه و بعدين ؟ يا أخي حلو عنا نحنا الشوام ! لسا بحلي و ترحالي واحد
بيقلي صوص و التاني بيقلي **ـة و التالت بيقلي ما بعرف شو…أصلاً الحق عليكن إنتو الشوام بعتو القضية من زمان…مو هاممكن غير شغلكن إنتو الشوام…لو صارت مظاهرات بالأمويين بجزء من الثانية بيفرط النظام…شوام طنطات…

ايه و بعديييييييييييييييييييييين ؟

خيو أنا شامي مغترب و كاتب بهالموقع قبل بمرة…بحب قول للحمصي و الدرعاوي و الإدلبي إنتو على عيني و راسي و سياد الرجال…بس طولو بالكن علينا شوي! و الله أنا مالي صوص يعني

بصفتي ثورجي صرلي فترة عم خاطب شريحة عريضة من الشوام المغتربين و المقيمين داخل الشام من عدة طبقات يلي جدودهن إقطاعيين للي عم يشتغل ب 15 ألف و عليه جيش و يلي مغترب متلي و عم يبلع مصاري أهله بلع مشان يصير بني آدم…و حاولت بالحسنى و الصراخ و الخناق و الترغيب و الترهيب لك كل شي بس من غير فايدة… أخي الشامي ما بدو يتظاهر…بيجوز الزلمة بيساندك من جوات قلبه بس أخي مظاهرات ما في خلص حيونة… طيب يا ترى ليش ؟

أنا برأيي في عدة أسباب لهالظاهرة الفريدة من نوعها…أولاً يا حبيباتي الشامي ما بيعتبر حالو سوري…على الإطلاق…الشامي القح و خص نص يلي من جوات السور (الشاغور و القيمرية) بيعتبر نفسه إنسان هاي كلاس و شلته هنن شوام حصراً…بابا رباني على إنو الشوام هنن كل مين عاش داخل أسوار دمشق و أي واحد خارج السور (و حتى الميادنة) هنن شوايا…يعني البني آدم يا شامي يا شاوي ما في حل وسط.. طبعاً فلسطيني لبناني حلبي لادقاني هدا كله مفروغ منه…شامي أو شاوي

إذاً هالشامي هدا يلي الله خلقه و كسر القالب فريد من نوعه…و الجيل يلي أكبر مننا يلي هنن أبهاتنا و ستتاتنا الأغلبية الساحقة بتفكر بهالطريقة هي…يعني و لو طلع كل فترة و التانية شامي جونيور و حاول يفهم الكبارية إنو العالم كلها نفس الشي بيلاقي مقاومة عنيفة جداً…هدول مو شوام أبي خلصنا…

طيب…منجي لنقطة تانية…الشامي الكبير عادة ما بتكمل شاميته إلا بكم عقد أجار قديم إله أو قطعة أرض عم تستملكها الدولة أو معاملة حصر إرث لخال أو جد غني عطاك عمره من قريب و فيها شي أربعين وريث ووريثة… يعني هالشامي و لو كان شحاد على باب الله جاييته رزقة ماشي حالها عن قريب…و صار حاطط دم قلبه محاميين و رشاوي و طعن بقرارات محاكم لحتى ياخد لحسة من يلي كان إله أو لقرايبينه… لك ما تتظاهرو من 10 سنين هلأ بعد ما وصلت اللقمة للتم ؟ يلعمى ضربكن صعي

نقطة أخرى مثيرة للانتباه…الشامي بيتبع شيخو بالجامع يلي بالحارة و هو مصدر إلهامه و قراراته…شو رأيك شيخنا نجوزه للصبي ؟ على حد علمك شيخنا يلي بيدخن بيفوت عالجنة ؟ معي مليون ليرة بالبنك هدول أديش زكاتهن ؟ طيب شيخي هدول يلي عم يتظاهرو شو حكمهن بديننا ؟ و بظن رأي علماء و مشايخ دمشق بالثورة السورية ضد الأفندي معروف لدى الجميع…

تعو لقلكن…فلنفترض نص الشوام هنن إناث…لك أنا ما بعرف ولا بنت شامية قح من الشرق للغرب و من الشمال للجنوب إلها أي رأي سياسي أو القدرة على الحكم على الأشياء من غير الرجوع لسلطة ذكورية تتمثل في أب أو أخ أو زوج…إنو هيك زوزي بدو…بابا قال لأ يعني لأ…أخي ما بيهون عليه…سمعت بابا عم يقول لرفيقه هيك…إذن نحنا أوتوماتيكياً فقدنا نص ثوار مدينة دمشق لأسباب ثقافية…بلشتو تقتنعو إنو أنا مالي صوص؟

هدا غير يلي عم يشتغل مع الدولة و يلي مأجر عقارات و يلي ولاده عم يدرسو برا على حسابه و يلي معمله عم يجبله ملايين و يلي مصدر رزقه الوحيد هالمحل و قصص شوام إلها أول مالها آخر

بس إنو تجي إيد غشيمة و تعتدي على شرف شامي من عيلتنا أو من الحارة ؟ باااااااااااااااااااااااااااااااطل

أبو لجدي أبو سليم نزل ببربيش الأرجيلة يحارب بميسلون مع رفقاته من القهوة…قال فرنساوي قال…يا باطل

تجار الحريقة قلبو الدنية كلها لما تاجر من عندن نقله حيوان…باااااااااااااااااااطل

وهدا بيجيبني لآخر سبب بختم فيه المقالة قبل ما أعطي رأيي كشامي بيلي عم يصير بالبلد… الشامي لهلأ ما شاف شي عالتلفزيون يتعاطف معه و يحسسه إنو هو كمان يلي عم يصير بمسه…ما شاف ضرب رصاص بأبو رمانة… ولا حدا حرق دواليب بباب توما… و لساتها النوفرة بتعد و بتأرجل بهالهويات من غير ما حدا يشوف هويتك… و بتمر بالحاجز تبع المعضمية بتورجي العسكري هويتك شيت نقابة المهندسين أو الأطباء و اسم عيلتك شامي بيضربلك العسكري سلام و بيقلك لا تواخذنا يا معلم…

هدا يا إخوة يا كرام جزء بسيط من التفكير الشامي…و بعد ما لعيتلكن قلبكن بحب قلكن و أنا بكامل قوايي العقلية…إنو هدا التفكير كله زبالة…و أنا بستحي من حالي و من تربايتي أنا الشاغوري يلي من جوات السور…أنا قلبي مع كل السوريين و عم بحلم باليوم يلي الرصاصة لح تفوت بنص قلبي الشاغوري و تطلع من الطرف التاني و يجي أخي السوري و يقلي اتشهد لك اتشهد… والله عم حاول لم عدد مشان نطلع شي يوم و نكون معكن… بس عطونا شوية وقت… يعني آخرة الصوص لح يصير جاجة

———————–

المقالة بقلم: بكرجي

Tara is considering giving up her Damascene citizenship and applying for one from Izraa.

June 10th, 2011, 9:43 am

Leo said:

Sophia,

Maybe you can do something useful and demand the Syrian government to allow the media to enter and see what is happening with their own eyes. That way we can all go and see instead of having to watch YouTube.

June 10th, 2011, 9:51 am

So you are no longer proud of being from Damascus because Damscenes do not wish to participate in the circus? Are you not proud because there are no armed elements in Damascus shooting at soldiers and civilians? Are you not proud because no one in Damascus is burning and destroying public and private property? From my end, I would be VERY proud of being from Damascus because of the awareness of the Damascenes and their refusal to get sucked into this mess. I’ll settle for Halab though, as it has proven to be just as aware.

June 10th, 2011, 9:53 am

Syria no kandahar said:

Tara
5 millions Shami are going to have difficulty sleeping tonight,don’t be so harsh.

June 10th, 2011, 9:54 am

jad said:

“Tara is considering giving up her Damascene citizenship and applying for one from Izraa.”
As if you are Shamiyet*! but in any case الله معك.

* I have a very strong feeling that you are a Syrian-Palestinian.

June 10th, 2011, 9:56 am

Dear Sophia,
Don’t give up, giving up is not a solution.
Please consider staying on SC and don’t care of what the ‘Macho’ guys are writing to you, they only represent themselves and apparently don’t like to see any female commenting on politics, it takes away from their God given ‘Macho-ism’.

June 10th, 2011, 10:02 am

aboali said:

protesters in Dumier thank the international press for their coverage of events in Syria, and denounce local media as liars:

June 10th, 2011, 10:06 am

Tara said:

Nour,

It is about lost dignity. Your regime murdered our dignity for 40 some years. Do not get me wrong. I was fortunate enough to not have a family member killed or tortured by the regime and I know the regime took the life of many. It is the loss of the Syrian COLLECTIVE dignity that did me in. You know they raise us on text book descriptions of الكرامة and then made us live without it for half a century.

Halab does not impress me either.

June 10th, 2011, 10:11 am

Jad,

#43 is such a disappointment. I painted a very different mental image for you in my mind and you are distorting it now. I am not Syrian-Palestinian. I am Syrian-Syrian and only Syrian and from Damascus. Take my word for it.

When I read you, I believed there is hope. That people like you can see the suffering. I guess you can’t. I was wrong. You can only see your fear.

June 10th, 2011, 10:18 am

N.Z. said:

Standing with the regime while hundreds are being killed is simply unhealthy. Regardless where we stand, our criticism must be directed to those issuing the orders to kill, while the masses are left with no leadership.

Those blaming others, while giving a carte blanche to the regime is surreal. Turkey, Qatar,aljazeera, the West, reporters…including mr. Landis. The whole world including our own people are all opportunist and will pay dearly for not standing with the Assads and their cronies in their spree of killing civilians.

This will neither benefit Syrians, nor, the regime. Change should have come yesterday, not tomorrow.

Are we not entitled to hear from this autocratic leadership. Let us put ourselves in the spectator shoes for a moment and ask ourselves objectively, the protesters and their demands will not be quelled by force, what are the alternatives for this regime. They owe us, the Syrians an explanation. We do not want an ostrich, we want a leader who will bring positive, real change, a leader who is as brave as the protesters, a bold leader and not a coward.

We need an update and not more killings and humiliation. The silent majorities are loosing their calm. It is obvious that he and those in power have no much time. However, he owes Syrians a safe landing. He owes the Allawites more than any Syrian. He is acting in their name. United we shall remain.

June 10th, 2011, 10:19 am

Kandahar, Hay man

Have not talked to you in a while. Did not really understand what you meant? some elaboration please.

June 10th, 2011, 10:23 am

Tara,
-If you don’t have “dignity” it’s your own problem, speak of your self.
-Stop with this crap about seperating Syrian according to their cities, it’s as disgusting as your first sectarian comment
-Don’t you have a new born baby to take care of?
-I’m not waiting for you or any other newbie to tell me who I am, you better know who you are instead of those meaningless stupid comments.

June 10th, 2011, 10:24 am

The Turkish terror brigades have been mostly chased out of Jisr al-Shoghour (which they turned into a ghost town, a place with a population of 50,000, most of whom have ran into Syria NOT TURKEY AS IMPLIED BY THE HILARIOUSLY MISTAKEN SUMMARY BY THE PROFESSOR)…

But that’s not enough for them.

Edited [JL] for insults and accusations.

June 10th, 2011, 10:26 am

You are wrong again. It is not my own problem. It is Syrian collective problem and YOU KNOW IT.

June 10th, 2011, 10:27 am

TARA,

Maybe you should move to Afghanistan or Israel, you should be happy there.

LEO,

We’ve addressed the old “let the media in” rhetoric time and time again but it keeps coming up like a stinking turd in the toilet. The “international media” can’t even cover local events with honesty. Letting them in Syria would be a form of national suicide.

Edited [JL] for insults.

June 10th, 2011, 10:28 am

Commando,

Syria is mine and I am going no where.

I am afraid that people like you may need to think about exit strategy.

June 10th, 2011, 10:31 am

# 36 we have a saying in Syria that goes “bhafad” loosely meaning good riddance although there’s a nappy involved ….

yeah , don’t come back again please, French fascists aren’t welcome in Syria

Jad said:

Tara,
You represent yourself, talk about yourself not All Syrians depending on their sect, city or village.
You …

June 10th, 2011, 10:33 am

I agree with SC. Anyone who defends these thugs, after all they’ve done, are worse than criminals.

June 10th, 2011, 10:38 am

You are entitled to your opinion and I am too. It really is up to me to express where I feel I belong. It really is up to me to express to the whole world that Syrian do not want to live without dignity anymore. I am sorry if I sound obnoxious. I know the truth hurts.

June 10th, 2011, 10:43 am

TARA is anti-Damascus. Claims to be Syrian but isn’t proud to be from Damascus anymore.

Says Syrians have no dignity when the truth is we’re the most nationalist people on Earth besides possibly the Koreans and Japanese.

Truth is he/she probably isn’t even Syrian, they’re just here to make us look un-united. Tells me I need an “exit strategy” from Syria when I’m in the great majority which rejects the terrorists. Hilarious!

June 10th, 2011, 10:46 am

Abdullah Alghoul! of Turkey is ready to intervene even Military in Syria!? Maybe he can call Saiko France to coordinate.

June 10th, 2011, 10:51 am

Syrian Knight said:

More evidence surfacing that the slut girl in Damascus is fake:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2002101/Is-Gay-Girl-Damascus-blogger-really-student-Edinburgh-University.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

June 10th, 2011, 11:04 am

why-discuss said:

Tara

Are you the elusive gay girl in Damascus? You sound a lot like her

June 10th, 2011, 11:09 am

You know, it’s quite amazing that Syria is the only country on Earth capable of arresting and torturing ghosts. It really puts the technologically superior US to shame. Maybe the US should consider asking the Syrian secret service for some training.

June 10th, 2011, 11:18 am

phinathropist said:

Syrian commando, the nature of your name describes the sort of mentality you believe in. just as Damascus gay girl has said, the age for men like you is over. we are sick of people calling us traitors just because we have a different opinion. for once Syrians have demanded their voices be heard.who gives you the legitimacy to decide who lives in Syria. men like you and Bashar think they can decide who can be above or below the law. the world will be damned if men/women like you get to power.

June 10th, 2011, 11:27 am

Some suggestions for names fot coming revolutionary fridays:
-جمعه العراعر(المثليين
-جمعه الضرائر (جمع ضره
-جمعه الكراكر(جمع كر
-جمعه المنايك
-جمعه العرصات

الله شريعه عرعور وبس

June 10th, 2011, 11:36 am

Why,

No I am not. I am heterosexual. I am married with children. I am your average Syrian citizen. I have noعلامات فارقة . I know it is so difficult to make people on this site understand who I really am because they just can not reconcille it any otherway. I am the one who sat on the same Damascus University desk with you. I perhaps know your sister. I was the one who perhaps had a crush on your brother. I may have had lunch with your mom in your own house. I am the same boring face you see riding the bus or taking a taxi. I am the angry-face driver cursing at you when you try to cut me off and by the way:SURPRISE: I wear no hijab and no David star.

I told you before I am the silent majority. You may or may not believe it. It is up to you, but without this belief, we are not going anywhere.

June 10th, 2011, 11:37 am

EHSANI2 said:

Dr. Landis:

The revolution intelligence systems link that you posted above is indeed extremely concerning and dangerous. From the main page, one can click on the arkan al nizam (pillars of the regime) tab on the left. What you get is a list of 54 people. Particularly noteworthy are the names that appear under the heading of financiers for the so-called shabiha. The names of some of the most established business people are there. Imad Ghreiwati, Mourtada Aldandashi, Saeb Nahhas and Ayman Asfari in particular come to mind. That the people behind this website list such names and claim that they finance the Shabiha is beyond dangerous.

This so-called revolution is likely to soon morph into a war on the haves in the country. Every wealthy business man and industrialist is likely to be targeted soon. It is conceivable that we start to see their factories and businesses become a target of arson and attacks.

The final chapter of this tragedy will likely point to economics as main driver to what has transpired in front of our eyes since March. Many in the opposition side are already referring to the past 5 years as a “war on the poor”. The lifting of the subsidies while the rich were getting richer is likely to be seen as the straw that broke the camel’s back.

June 10th, 2011, 11:38 am

>I told you before I am the silent majority.

Hahahaha, I just love this western stratagem of speaking for the “silent majority”. Unfortunately it only works in the Anglo-sphere.

>This so-called revolution is likely to soon morph into a war on the haves in the country. Every wealthy business man and industrialist is likely to be targeted soon.

Soon? Read the champress document, they’ve been fighting the Capital from the start. Unlike what an idiot might think though, you don’t destroy capital by killing those who own it — you have to buy them out.

Killing them will only create troubles for you.

Hariri and his gulfies will find themselves dead in a ditch (where they belong) if they touches the real power in Syria, i.e. the wealthy.

June 10th, 2011, 11:39 am

You are right. I am full of shit. But that does not mean I am wrong. It is just an excuse no to challenge me. You are backing a bunch of thugs that time is running out on them.

I have an honest job that I need to attend to make a living so I do not have much time to answer immediately. While you and your friends on this site get paid to defend the thugs and their cronies.

My friend died for no reason and justice, sooner or later, will be served.

June 10th, 2011, 11:47 am

Tara,
I don’t usually get into this nationality discussion on SC, however, you wrote this:
” I was the one who perhaps had a crush on your brother”
No Syrian girl will never ever ever ever say or admit or write such statement, this is a pure western cultur cliche.
Many people can pretend to be Strians but if you are not from that culture living most of your life there it’s easy to be noticed, just saying.
Again I don’t care what your citizenship is or where you live but please don’t pretend, it’s not worth it and we are not in elementary school.

June 10th, 2011, 11:55 am

التلفزيون السوري : القاء القيض على مسلحين في جسر الشغور وتركيا تتحدث عن منطقة عازلة
قال ناشط في مدينة حماة باتصال هاتفي بان عشرات آلالاف المتظاهرين لا زالوا في ساحة العاصي وفي كثير من ازقة وشوارع مدينة حماة مع غياب امني كلي في المدينة.

واكد الناشط بان الاف ينوون التوجه حاليا الى مدينة حمص لفك الحصار عن المدينة على حد تعبيره ، فيما لم يتسنى لنا التأكد من هذه المعلومات من مصدر مستقل.

وخرجت مظاهرات كما في كل يوم جمعة بعد صلاة الظهر في كل من مدن دمشق القامشلي والحسكة وحمص وجبلة والبوكمال مع ملاحظة تراجع التدخل الامني في سير هذه المظاهرات.

من جهة اخرى اورد التلفزيون السوري بعد ظهر الجمعة بانه تم القبض على عدد كبير من المسلحين في جسر الشغور.

وكان التلفزيون الرسمي اعلن صباح الجمعة أن الجيش بدأ عملياته العسكرية في مدينة جسر الشغور، مشيراً إلى أن أهالي المدينة ناشدوا الجيش التدخل لإعادة الهدوء والأمن إلى المدينة التي ذكرت مصادر سورية رسمية إن “الجماعات المسلحة فيها قتلت 120 رجل أمن.”

وأفاد مراسل سيريانيوز في محافظة إدلب عن بدأ وصول عدد من سيارات الإسعاف إلى المستشفى الوطني في المدينة بعد انباء عن دخول الجيش الى المنطقة من ناحية قرية جورين واشتباكه مع “جماعات مسلحة” هناك..

وتناقلت وسائل اعلام مشاهد لاستمرار نزوح سوريين الى تركيا هربا من الاوضاع المتأزمة في المنطقة ، فيما تم نقل شهدات عن سكان وصولو الى مخيمات اقامتها السلطات التركية لاستقبال النازحين تخالف الرواية الرسمية لما يجري في جسر الشغور.

و اكد رئيس الوزراء التركي طيب رجب اردوغان بانه دخل الى تركيا 2500 نزح سوريا منذ بداية الاحداث مؤكدا بانه لن يغلق الابواب امام” السوريين الذين يحاولون النجاة من العنف.. ولكن إلى متى سنظل فاتحي الأبواب، هذا سؤال آخر.”

ونقلت وكالة انباء الاناضول عن اردوغان قوله لقناة تركية إن “الوضع في سوريا ليس كالوضع في ليبيا بالنسبة لتركيا، فهو أقرب ما يكون إلى وضع داخلي”.

وتابع اردوغان إن مجلس الأمن الدولي يعمل على قرار بشأن سوري، ولمواجهة العنف، لا يمكننا الاستمرار بدعم سوريا.. فلدينا أقارب هناك.

واشار اردوغان إنه اتصل بالرئيس بشار الأسد، قبل 4 أو 5 أيام، لمناقشة الوضع في سوريا، وأن “الإدارة السورية لا تتعامل مع الوضع بصورة إنسانية”.

وهذه ليست المرة الأولى التي يتحدث فيها اردوغان عن تعامل النظام السوري مع المتظاهرين ، فقد سبق له أن انتقده “لاستخدام العنف والقتل لقمع الاحتجاجات في سوريا”.

في ذات السياق ذكرت صحيفة حريت التركية في عددها الصادر اليوم بأن مسؤولي وزارة الخارجية التركية بانه “من بين السيناريوهات التي نوقشت مؤخرا انشاء منطقة عازلة اذا سعى مئات الالاف للجوء الى تركيا”.

سيريانيوز

June 10th, 2011, 12:03 pm

I beg you to disappoint me no more. You are very wrong about the Syrian girls. Really really wrong! To the extent one might also doubt your Syrianhood too but I won’t. I’ll find you an excuse. We are all now paranoid and suspicious. It is ok.

You may be from the older generation. I do not know. you may be married to non-syrian. You may be single. You may have never really known a Syrian girl. I just do not know? Your past comments about Iranian women actually consistent with this. You really do not know the Syrian girls.

I am sorry to disappoint you. I am not western. I really really am an average Syrian girl.

June 10th, 2011, 12:11 pm

تقرير شامل عن تجمعات يوم الجمعة 10 حزيران 2011

Dr. Landis

June 10th, 2011, 12:16 pm

Dear Ehsani,

I am against any violence whatsoever. However, I see nothing wrong with economic boycott of these people and their businesses if they are supporting the regime and their thugs.

June 10th, 2011, 12:31 pm

LOOOOOOOOOOOOL Orient TV claims that a Syrian helicopter was shot down in Hama. They add that this MUST BE defectors — yeah, they’ll instantly turn on their air force in an isolated incident when everything is calm.

The whole story is undoubtedly a fabrication. I’ll give it another 3 hours to settle and we’ll find out. These “journalists” are just pure noise.

>” I was the one who perhaps had a crush on your brother”
>No Syrian girl will never ever ever ever say or admit or write such statement, this is a pure western cultur cliche.

And she’s meant to be married — ooooof, big no no. Most people in Damascus take taxis as well, hillllllllllllarious. Nice catch!!!! I didn’t even read this bit but now we have absolute proof. Everyone’s want to be a Souri all of a sudden, lol. Just learn a bit of rudimentary Arabic and you too could be like the fake Gay girl that the fools fell for.

>I am sorry to disappoint you. I am not western. I really really am an average Syrian girl.

Just like the Gay girl from Damascus right?

I iterate that she says she speaks for the “silent majority” as well. Hey, doesn’t that make her (or more likely, him) the leader of the country? Whoever claims to speak for a “silent majority” is having a egotistical delusion.

There’s only way you can tell someone is a real Syrian online — if they truly want good for their people and their country. A Syrian will never want to harm their country, those who do are simply misguided and are taking a short term payment for long term regret. I bet when its over and the results don’t favour them, they will commit suicide rather than looking at their face in the mirror.

I’m of course talking about the destructive terrorists, not the peaceful demonstrators who are heroes (though, its time to let things cool off given the conspirators trying to destroy Syria).

June 10th, 2011, 12:32 pm

norman said:

Tara,

How do you think we can solve the problem in Syria

June 10th, 2011, 12:58 pm

William Scott Scherk said:

Sophia writes This is my last comment here.

I hope Sophia keeps her options open, and comes to understand that her personal frame on events is simply her personal frame on events — that her own point of view cannot be regnant at such a place as Syria Comment.

As I understand, Sophia is of Lebanese origin, fluent in English and French (and quite expressive in French), with one visit to a Syrian aunt sometime in the past, who now lives in the West (Canada, most likely), who does not participate in the Lebanese diaspora community.

I think Sophia can be said to represent a not-uncommon perspective on events and history in the Levant — a passionate expatriate perspective.

Her perspective is not without value, but I find it ironic that someone who enjoys the security and freedom of Canadian citizenship can utter diktat on ‘real Syrians’ and their internal affairs. I find it somewhat disturbing that she can tell Syrians how to think and how to be organized and how to arrange their political life.

That said, Sophia, please do not shut the door to participation here; even though I do not support your global diktat or your denunciations, I support your right to voice them.

I do not expect Sophia to give anyone her real name and her real location and her real history and her real family details and her real citizenship — since the internets can be dangerous — yet her lack of transparency on simple things troubles me: having been asked if she is Canadian, she avoids response. Having been asked to declare her interests (as have Revlon and NK and others, in detail), and refusing/avoiding to do so, it strikes me odd that she can so confidently judge details of the character and identity of the purported Damascus blogger in the news and other personalities, how she so resolutely denounces Joshua Landis and other fiends in her purview. Who is she to condemn Syrians? Who is she to scorn Revlon? Who is she to speculate on ‘real’ and unreal, on patriot and traitor? Where are her credentials in discussion to so cavalierly dismiss someone who has given his mind and heart to study and to love Syria, to understand it, explain it, nurture it, report on it, hope for it and cry for it? Who is this mysterious Sophia who attempts to judge and sentence those guilty of thoughtcrime?

The Mystery Of Sophia: She may be a he; s/he may be a grandparent; she may have had family members die in the Lebanese civil wars; she may have been educated in Quebec; he may be a pharmacist in Longeuil, a Victor Malouf in real estate, with four divorces and a cunning ex-wife; Victor/Sophia may be sixty years old or forty or fifty and suburban, in finance, in services, running a CLCC in Montreal, subsisting on disability payments and memories of old girlfriends; shocked to her bones by the violence she witnessed in Beirut; haunted by screams and blood and flashes of fire; sullen in her suburban comfort, blending easily on the Metro with Canada’s browns and blacks and pales and in-betweens; hating The West’s Crimes while bathing in its pure streams . . .

Please, Sophia, stay — enrich the conversation, guide critical attention to your special interests, contest the claims of others, propose a bold new vision . . . cloaked or uncloaked, declared or hidden, from your heart where it clenches and aches and urges you to expression.

Syria bleeds and grieves, Sophia! Can you help?

June 10th, 2011, 1:02 pm

Ehsani, Dr. Landis
I was also disturbed about such site putting people’s lives in danger like that.
Is there a way to contact the server host of that site to complain about the danger behind such sites calling for violence against individuals?
Alex, maybe know a way for that.

June 10th, 2011, 1:13 pm

Observer said:

I loved the SC comment about how the Turkish army will be completely crushed by the incredibly powerful Syrian army. The Turkish armed forces were massed once along the Syrian border and the late Hafez coughed up A Ocalan in two seconds after he saw that.
Also, the Turkish army is the largest in NATO after the US.

I am actually enjoying the comments on this blog for they are truly hilarious when it comes to the fantasy world in which some live in.

More to come

June 10th, 2011, 1:18 pm

Like I said, OBSERVER, the Syrian army is very strong in its own territory. Even if Turkey uses 100% of its forces, it will lose, just like Israel lost. We trained the Hezbollah, they are our proxy army.

Where do you think the Kornets came from? 😉

#78

I honestly don’t blame her, though I will miss her. If you read the comment thread from before and saw which ones the professor chose, you’d see the huge selection bias. It is clear he has selected the comments that demonstrate his own flawed analysis of the situation (i.e. pushing for civil war). Nevermind these statements were countered several times.

So by participating in this Syrian circus, we contribute to the legitimacy of these comments. You can’t change the past but you can learn from it — learn from the fact that everyone fell for the resignation, the gay girl and the defectors. The funny thing is these are only the tip of the iceberg.

People readily believe the western media, despite having shown themselves to be morally bankrupt and biased. But when its a local media (Syria) it seen as completely incredulous. Well, they did the same thing to RussiaToday, the only one with correspondents in Georgia during the 2008 conflict. Then, it turned out to be the only one telling the truth.

June 10th, 2011, 1:29 pm

AIG said:

Are you for real? You are worried about the “damage” a web site can do and yet support the mass murder the regime does?

If you want to minimize the damage tell your regime of mafioso to allow free speech and to let anyone post their views. Then, people will learn about how stupid this site is from other sites and the free press.

Are you so blind as to not see that the problem is with the regime that denies Syrians freedom and dignity?

June 10th, 2011, 1:35 pm

Yeah, everyone should have the freedom to carry an RPG, set fire to silos filled with food, kill policemen, hang 14 year olds with belts, mutilate bodies, target senior military officials for assasination, target academic professors for execution and then call for eradication of entire cities.

The vague notion of “Freedom” employed is bull crap, there’s no freedom without security, which involves giving up some freedom. Unless we have security, there is no freedom, which is why Syrians side with the army and Bashaar.

Reform must come, but not at the cost of Syria.
Reform must come, but not at the cost of Syria.
Reform must come, but not at the cost of Syria.

I don’t know how many times I have to repeat it before it enters your zionist skull.

June 10th, 2011, 1:37 pm

Saying “reform must come” after 40 years of Assad rule is a lame joke. If the Assads wanted reform, it would have come already.
“Syria” is the sum of the welfare of its citizens. They will say what is good for Syria once they are free to do so. Answering requests for dignity and freedom with violence and then complaining that freedom and dignity will be denied until there is “security” is a sad and useless trick that the majority of Syrians don’t buy.

June 10th, 2011, 1:50 pm

Questions of dignity and freedom that involve carrying fully automatic assault rifles, knives, batons and firing at anything that moves:

GIVE IT UP BOY, YOU’RE PLAYING FOOTBALL WITH BIG MEN. Your stupid arguments only expose you. For example:

>Saying “reform must come” after 40 years of Assad rule is a lame joke. If the Assads wanted reform, it would have come already.

I refer you once more to the bandar plan:
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=en/Article/view/86507

>- If he says change is coming, then the response must be: “We have heard this for more than 40 years”

Oh my, working right off their sheet. And you admit you’re not even Syria. The funny thing is, in the last 10 years there has been a lot of reform, albeit slow and with bad effects of liberalisation. But its there. To blame Bashaar for history that happened when he was a boy (and to simplify Syria’s history as “40 years of waiting [, give or take a few wars]”) is sheer retardation. Retardation because you think this will deceive us, lol.

June 10th, 2011, 1:54 pm

Akbar Palace said:

The Beatings will Continue until Morale Improves

there’s no freedom without security

Translation: No “security” unless our thugs stay in power and you shut up

By most accounts, the lack of security is simply the government shooting into crowds of peaceful demonstrators.

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

The vague notion of “Freedom” employed is bull crap…*

*Except when we apply it to “Zionist skulls”.

June 10th, 2011, 1:56 pm

That’s the funny thing.

Watch the video above to figure out where the “beatings” are coming from.

Reforms will happen the moment the assholes in the Gulf (inc. Hariri, a fake “Lebanese” Saudi man who killed his own father), Turkey and Europe stop breeding and funding terrorism in Syria.

Note that there was not ONE SINGLE INCIDENT in the last month in the Qamishli, because the protests were actually peaceful. AND also meaningful.

The ball is in your court, terrorists. Do you want us to have reforms or not?

Or do you want to continue to reply to my careful, informed and valuable analysis with one-liners like most Zionists do?

June 10th, 2011, 2:06 pm

Oh yes, the famous plan by aliens riding on unicorns to destabilize Syria. And the trick of showing a few people with weapons and claiming that all people are like that is a really low one. Look at the videos of the mass demonstration. How many people have weapons?

For 40 years there were no net real democratic reforms in Syria. Any that were made, were quickly reversed. Bashar has been in power 11 years. Get that in your head. He had plenty of time to reform if he wanted to.

June 10th, 2011, 2:08 pm

Better than the famous plan by Security forces to kill protestors in order to create more protest.

Yes, you are ridiculous, a conspiracy theorist, thinking up conspiracies that the Syrian government does.

But of course, the only ridiculous conspiracies are the ones that attack your Zionist-West prema-alliance, right?

I’ve already exposed you. Go bankrupt some more pensioners, AIG.

June 10th, 2011, 2:12 pm

louai said:

“Syria will be as advanced than Turkey ,few
years after asad is send to jail or hanged.”

after or during. the civel war?

June 10th, 2011, 2:21 pm

Al Jazeera showing on the english channel a video of a S.M.F (special mobile force) from Mauritian Island as a dead syrian soldier

How low and ridiculous can they go?

https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=10092&cp=all#comment-254970

June 10th, 2011, 2:25 pm

majedkhaldoon said:

SC
has the syrian army been tested in the last 40 years?
are you aware that the top officers in Syrian army are corrupt?
Do you remember that Hafez Assad backed when confrontation with the turkish army was imminent?

Alex : Are you happy with the personal attack on some who oppose the regime, by those who support the regime?
what happened to the rules of SC?

June 10th, 2011, 2:26 pm

SC,

Haven’t you learned already that only conspiracies that the west and the Zionists conjure up are acceptable. Like the Syrian-Iranian-Hizballah conspiracy to create a “Shiite” crescent. Or like the conspiracy of the Syrian moukhabarat and Lebanese security, dragging along with them some clownish witnesses, to kill Hariri.

>has the syrian army been tested in the last 40 years?

LOL, I’m glad these fakes are showing their ignorance.

Yes dear, they’ve INDEED been tested in that time period. Grab yourself a history book, hey, you can ask for a raise from your astroturfer funders.

I’m not making personal attacks, I’m calling a spade a spade. You’ve called me pro-regime in your post, which can be construed as a personal attack.

>Or like the conspiracy of the Syrian moukhabarat and Lebanese security, dragging along with them some clownish witnesses, to kill Hariri.

Pretty much, this is the dogmatic discourse of the west. They’re completely innocent and never conspire. But we’re like underworld creatures who stay up all night making devious little schemes.

*insert evil laugh here*

June 10th, 2011, 2:34 pm

Defense Secretary Warns NATO of ‘Dim’ Future

NATO is in trouble.

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/11/world/europe/11gates.html

“The mightiest military alliance in history is only 11 weeks into an operation against a poorly armed regime in a sparsely populated country — yet many allies are beginning to run short of munitions, requiring the U.S., once more, to make up the difference,” Mr. Gates said.

June 10th, 2011, 2:35 pm

It is quite simple. You live in the “west”. Are you allowed to say what you want? Yes. Are you allowed to blog what you want? Yes. Yet you support a regime and a president that have been denying this simple basic right from Syrians for 11 years. So freedom of speech is only good in the West (and you use it a lot) but not good in Syria? Your position has zero coherency. If you expect and demand freedom of speech from your government, why do you not demand it of Assad???

June 10th, 2011, 2:41 pm

If the West “conspires” there are plenty of people who can speak out against it if they think the evidence for some allegation is slim. For example, what you are doing on this blog.

Why do you deny this simple right for people in Syria???
Let the people have freedom of speech.

June 10th, 2011, 2:45 pm

We will have full freedom of speech, but not freedom of trechery or murder. We don’t want freedom to burn crops and terrorise old grandmothers.

Does anyone else find this empty rhetoric nauseating?

Just look at what the West is doing to people in Libya:

http://rt.com/news/libyan-teen-suicide-attempt/

This is freedom, west-style.

June 10th, 2011, 2:54 pm

And here is an example of how the Syrian government is a bunch of murderous liars:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/jun/10/syria-refugees-turkey-reem-haddad

June 10th, 2011, 2:55 pm

“We will have full freedom of speech, but not freedom of trechery or murder. We don’t want freedom to burn crops and terrorise old grandmothers.”

Just more excuses. 11 years Bashar is in power and there is no freedom of speech. That is a fact. Until there is freedom of speech in Syria nothing you say has any credibility because you are afraid to let Syrians speak their mind. The same right you exercise here, you deny them. How can you have any credibility?

June 10th, 2011, 2:58 pm

I think you mean, here is an example of the Western press as intellectually bankrupt.

There are interviews with 100+ families from Jsir al-Shaghour on Syrian television, all which corroborate the DNN report I’ve relayed.

The real murderers are flying above the skies of Iraq, Afghanistan and now Libya. The real terrorists are the people funded by the US’s biggest ally, Saudi Arabia. Armed by Turkey, NATO’s #1 donkey-worker.

>Just more excuses.

You call the horrors Syrians are facing excuses and you CALL YOURSELF A HUMAN BEING???

June 10th, 2011, 3:00 pm

It is your position that is completely incoherent. You pretend to care about the well-being of Syrians and repeat the same nonsense, assigning to us positions that we never took. You pretend to care about Syria more than we do, when we all know whose interest you have in mind. It is pointless to discuss with you the best methods of improving Syria and moving it forward because for you the only thing that matters is how Syria’s position affects the Jewish occupation in the south. The US does not care about freedom in Syria or anywhere else in the world, nor did it ever. It is getting involved in Syria for only one reason, and that is to change Syria’s national policies to ones that benefit the criminal entity in the south. The US is clearly now a state sponsor of terrorism, as it is clearly supporting the terrorists causing instability in Syria, and in that sense, yes, it, along with other western and Arab states, is conspiring against Syria. This is nothing new; world powers have conspired against other countries all the time. Why is it now so unbelievable that the US would conspire against anyone? Moreover, why doesn’t the US demand a change of regime in Saudi Arabia, when we know that the Saudi regime is the single most repressive regime in the region, if not the world. Why do they still treat Bahraini rulers with favor, even though their repression has far exceeded anything Syria has done, and they don’t even have the presence of the armed terrorists that Syria does? We are not dumb and we see what’s going on. So please spare us your BS lectures about rights and freedoms.

The violence in Syria is ALL the regime’s fault. They instigated the violence against peaceful citizens. And as for their inability to control a few criminal elements, who was boasting to the Syrian people about how well they provided security? The regime. If they cannot even provide security, what are they good for at all? Nothing. And now you lose your credibility even more when you use “security”, which the REGIME is responsible for, to deny Syrians freedom and dignity. So Syrians are to be denied freedom and dignity because the regime is doing a bad job???

June 10th, 2011, 3:17 pm

Seeing all those Zionists concerned about Syria and its future is so touching that it makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. I just hope one day we can return the favor and make them feel so warm and fuzzy inside, too!

Observer, #80

It’s interesting you fail to mention how brilliantly Hafez used Ocalan when Turkey would cut our water supplies. Let me just remind you that the formula of the region in 1998 was extremely different from the current formula. Who was going to help us back in 1998? Saddam? Lebanon? Jordan? You think Turkey was going to invade on its own? You think Syria was going to battle on just one front? In order to be an observer, sometimes you need to take a step back and… observe.

Majed, #91

You really are something special.

June 10th, 2011, 3:18 pm

More excuses from you. Such a simple question yet you cannot answer:
Why do you support a regime that denies Syrians freedom of speech, a right you are so fond of exercising???

June 10th, 2011, 3:19 pm

My comments are being edited out, I can’t exactly remember what I typed out, but obviously it was done while I was quite passionate.

It’s unfair that the dispassionate, poisonous lies are left untouched while things I’ve written that may have been accurate have been erased forever.

This is the freedom of speech AIG is promoting — freedom to hear the Zionist view only. Everything else is a conspiracy theory.

If you wanna give us freedom of speech FROM YOUR END, give us back the Golan heights, pull out of your occupied territories and stop threatening our security. That way Syria will become more stable and the reason to have heavy internal security will begin to fade away.

I’ll also answer your silly strawman:

>Why do you support a regime that denies Syrians freedom of speech, a right you are so fond of exercising???

No one is “supporting the government” here as far as I can tell. So your argument itself is incoherent. Being against the insurrection is not the same as supporting everything the government does.

Black and white, absolutist arguments, yet again. Kindergarten-level debate.

June 10th, 2011, 3:23 pm

Again, your spewing out BS. I am not in need of proving myself to you.

June 10th, 2011, 3:30 pm

So now more excuses why you deny Syrians freedom of speech, it is because Israel holds the Golan. That is the most ridiculous argument you have ever put forward.

You claim not to be a government supporter, but who can believe you when all the time you trump the regime line? You claim not to be a government supporter, but who can believe you when you think 11 years is not enough to make reforms? When you make no demands for real reform from the regime and constantly use the “security” excuse?

June 10th, 2011, 3:34 pm

Your whole position has been shown to be hot air because you cannot answer the simple question:
Why do you support a regime that denies Syrians freedom of speech, a right you are so fond of exercising???

June 10th, 2011, 3:36 pm

Cities in Syrian: a new strategy of ‘defensive only’ from the security officers as advised by Michel Kilo

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/syrians-flee-to-turkey-to-escape-crackdown/2011/06/09/AGcWXANH_story.html

Hama, peaceful demonstration

“In one sign of possible disarray( or a new strategy , security forces pulled out of the central city of Hama overnight Thursday, allowing tens of thousands of protesters to overwhelm its downtown Assi Square. Last Friday, troops killed 67 protesters in Hama in one of the single worst incidents of the uprising.

This Friday, “there are no security forces present at all,” said an eyewitness in the city, who spoke by telephone on condition of anonymity. “We are all in the square, and we will stay here until midnight, and then we will come back tomorrow. The whole city is shut down.”

Maaret Al Numan… defensive..
“Assad’s forces fired tank shells into the town of Maaret al-Numan after thousands of protesters overwhelmed security officers and burned the courthouse and police station there, the Associated Press reported.”

Aleppo.. few hundred…peaceful?

Activists anti-government demonstrators took to the streets in six Aleppo neighborhoods, although none of the protests numbered more than a few hundred people.

Idlib.. defense casualties?

Eleven of the latest victims were killed in the northern province of Idlib, where Syrian television announced that an operation had begun to rid the area of “armed groups.”

June 10th, 2011, 3:37 pm

In Egypt, Islamist Salafist movement vies for political power in wake of revolution
.It is just a beginning..
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle-east/in-egypt-islamist-salafist-movement-vies-for-political-power-in-wake-of-revolution/2011/06/02/AGw9ulNH_story.html

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — For years, the rugged Mediterranean shoreline here has been a favorite necking place for young Egyptian couples. But now menacing new messages have been spray-painted on the rocks.

“Would you find it all right for your sister?” one message says, addressing the men who bring girlfriends to the rocky area where waves break. “God sees you.” Other messages decry alcohol. One says simply, “Enough sins.”

June 10th, 2011, 3:41 pm

Sami Walid from Lattakia said:

Majedkhaldoon
I agree with you about the notice of the personal attacks by the regime supporters.

June 10th, 2011, 3:55 pm

Sami Walid from Lattakian said:

June 10th, 2011, 3:56 pm

Mohamed kanj said:

Mr landis ,

You post a video from “fox news” on your blog!!!! The news channel that even barrack Obama publically said was ” biased”. A news channel. That is run by the republicans and Zionist lobby.
This further proves your allegiance to the opposition funded by the Zionist . Why don’t you post anything to show the Syrian governments side???

June 10th, 2011, 6:54 pm

Re: “Asma genuinely wanted to do good for her country, but she married into the mob”

It’s called, sleeping with the enemy…

http://playwrighter.blogspot.com/2011/06/stuck-in-damascus-with-memphis-blues.html

June 10th, 2011, 7:37 pm

Yusef said:

Dr. Landis,

Don’t you feel a bit confused about the al-ASSad regime? You’ve been defending them for years. You must feel terribly conflicted. Vacation for you and the family in Aleppo this summer?

June 11th, 2011, 1:14 am

RE: Deserters

“…four young conscripts from Idlib defected from the army and joined the protest movement, according to one of them.

Taha Alloush, a 21-year-old soldier who provided his military identification number, said he fled to the northwestern border with Turkey from Damascus, with three other conscripts, before dawn Friday to avoid security checkpoints and snipers. ‘We’re defecting because of the massacres we saw in front of our eyes in Al Rastan and Tal Kalakh,’ Mr. Alloush said.

The two towns, north of Homs, Syria’s third-largest city, were hit last month by the army and security forces. ‘They would load corpses into containers and throw them into the sea,’ Mr. Alloush said by telephone…”

http://playwrighter.blogspot.com/2011/04/mahmoud-ahmadinejads-obituary.html

June 11th, 2011, 1:33 am