News Round Up (Sept 25, 2012)

Tuesday, September 25th, 2012

A bleak future for Syria
Bob Bowker – ABC news, Australia

Professor Bob Bowker, from ANU’s Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies, says the Assad regime is capable of preserving itself, but the institutions of the state are being reduced to rubble, both figuratively and literally.

An excellent analysis by Nir Rosen in the London Review of Books on the place of the Alawite minority in Syria, their dominance within the regime and their strong sense of vulnerability as a community should the regime fall provides an insightful appreciation of the outlook for Syria.

Rosen underlines the unwavering support for Bashar al-Assad among ordinary Alawites, no matter what violence is deployed by the Syrian regime against its opposition. He emphasises that for the Alawite rank and file, this is a primordial, existential conflict.

Rosen also makes the point that the regime continues to enjoy backing from privileged Sunnis as well. That remains an important, and generally under-reported factor: the regime would have fallen long ago if its base was exclusively Alawite.

Whereas the larger part, at least, of the Sunni population is now looking forward to an end to the regime which has brutalised their lives, it can continue to expect the urban Sunni middle class in Damascus and Aleppo to calculate the odds where their own interests are concerned.

They continue to back Bashar as a distasteful but superior alternative to the chaos that would follow a fall of the ruling elite, and the even greater consequences of an Islamist ascendancy for their interests, lifestyles and values. The likelihood, if not the inevitability, of such ascendancy is very high.

The material impact at present of jihadist fighters is easily over stated. Some analysts are reluctant to highlight it because it accords with the regime’s efforts at depicting the conflict as one against ‘terrorists’.

However the longer the conflict continues, the more likely it is that the jihadists will come to the forefront of the Islamist opposition, because they are clearly, by virtue of their experience, external support and commitment, a superior fighting force.

Meanwhile the Islamists more generally can be expected to develop the organisational skills and political capacity to draw upon the frustrations and anger of the lowest end of the Sunni socio-economic spectrum better than any secular-minded opposition groups.

Rosen finds the Alawites are not thinking (at this stage, at least) of withdrawing to an Alawite bastion based around their community in the mountains along the Mediterranean seaboard. They continue to see the state as their instrument for achieving their goals (which they appear still to define, in their own minds, in national, rather than sectarian terms).

Given the intermingling of Sunnis and Alawites in urban areas since the 1970s, and the proximity of differently-aligned villages to each other, especially on the plains to the east of the Alawite mountains, and the deployment by the regime of heavy weapons against civilian areas occupied by rebel forces or sympathisers, the scope for killing is vast. In practice, that may mean an even wider degree of bloodletting if the regime collapses.

Bashar al-Assad is a complex part of this picture. That he and those around him deserve to be on trial for crimes against humanity is beyond dispute. The application of overwhelming violence against civilian populations, no matter whether they harboured elements seeking to overthrow the regime, is despicable. But there is something deeply enigmatic, even tragic, about his role.

Bashar al-Assad never wanted to be the president of Syria. He was by inclination a reformer who failed miserably to show the qualities of leadership that the situation demanded, and that his own popular audience expected him to deliver, in the early phase of the uprising. The task was beyond him, as it would have been for most ordinary mortals. The choices he made (or perhaps was obliged to take by those around him) deepened the crisis. But few others from the elite would have performed at a level that might have averted the catastrophe that is now upon Syria.

If Assad sought to restrain those Alawites who are most disposed to use violence, he would probably be replaced by someone who was seen by the Alawites as more resolute. Those outsiders who call for Assad to go should be cognisant of that likelihood. Though no-one would wish it to happen, their approach is tantamount to opening the way to an even higher level of violence, because there is no political program that would prevent a last-ditch effort by the Alawites to put down their opponents, or the ethnic cleansing of the Alawites and their supporters by a victorious opposition.

Barring the effects of an assassination and a sudden collapse of Alawite morale, Syria has embarked on a conflict that is going to continue until the various parties are exhausted by the killing. There is no desire for a political solution, nor is there such a solution available. The external players all have interests in keeping their proxies in the field. The costs for them are minimal (except perhaps for Turkey, now facing growing pressure in regard to the refugee presence).

The Lebanese civil war continued for 15 years until the exhaustion factor took effect. Iraq has been subjected to political violence for nine years. We should not be surprised if the Syrian conflict matches those time scales.

The capacity of Arab countries to rectify the physical damage of conflict, especially when Arab funds begin to flow, should not be discounted. Jordan recovered from the material losses of the conflict with the Palestinians in 1970-71 as Gulf investors and then oil money fled Beirut. Lebanon, with Saudi funding, has recovered in most ways from the destruction and trauma of the civil war. Iraq, using its oil revenues, is moving gradually and painfully forward.

But it is not possible to predict how long it may take to rebuild the credibility and authority of the institutions of government, and a sense of political community, in countries where the social and political scars of conflict remain vivid, decades after the event.

In the case of Syria, the regime is capable of preserving itself, but the institutions of the state are being reduced to rubble, both figuratively and literally. Socially and perhaps territorially, the country is fragmenting.

What political and ideological orientation Syria may take on over coming years will depend on whether the Assad regime does indeed survive the state. It will also depend, to some extent, on what happens in Iraq, Iran and Saudi Arabia over the next decade. But no country in the region will be immune from the consequences of what is now unfolding.

Bob Bowker is Adjunct Professor at the Centre for Arab and Islamic Studies at the Australian National University. He served in Damascus from 1979 to 1981, and was accredited as Australian ambassador to Syria from 2005 to 2008. View his full profile here. He was also ambassador to Egypt and Jordan.

President Obama – Why is the US supporting Al Qaeda in Syria? – Live Leak, Reality Check – short video, first several minutes particularly good.

Class Is Not in Session: The tragedy of Syria’s schoolchildren – FP

The Syrian Alawites and Negotiated Departure for al-Assad
Strafor

Summary:

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad reiterated in an interview published Sept. 21 in Egyptian weekly magazine al-Ahram al-Arabi that the rebels seeking the collapse of his regime will not succeed. He added, however, that the door to dialogue remains open. The leaders of the Syrian military — who belong to Syria’s minority Alawite community, the pillar of the al-Assad regime — have thus far rejected the U.S.-led international offers to make a deal with the opposition. This is because al-Assad has managed to slow rebel advances, and because the Alawites are fearful of their status in a post-Assad Syria. But their opposition to a deal with the rebels does not mean they will continue to insist that al-Assad remain head of state.

Analysis

The Alawites do not necessarily oppose a negotiated removal of the al-Assad clan from power, but they do oppose any deal that would lead to a weakening of their sect’s hold on power. This meshes with Washington’s desire to see regime-change in Syria but continuity of the state machinery. Ideally for the United States, Syria’s military-led security establishment would abandon al-Assad and negotiate an agreement with the opposition backed by the West, the Arab states and Turkey.

Zalmay Khalilzad, a prominent Bush administration envoy to the Middle East and South Asia, called Sept. 20 for the Obama administration to encourage Syria’s generals to carry out a coup against al-Assad. Washington has in fact sought just this. It has hoped that growing pressure from the rebellion would induce al-Assad’s generals to cut a deal to preserve the regime without al-Assad.

A Battle of Attrition

So far, the Alawites have not shown any interest in the international offer. All signs suggest that despite its setbacks, the military has decided to remain allied with al-Assad. To a great degree, this has been due to the situation on the battlefield, which is at a stalemate. While the fighting continues, neither side has been able to secure all of Aleppo or any other major urban center. The fighting in Syria instead has been a battle of attrition, with each side seeking to outlast the other. The regime weathered serious jolts over the summer, such as the bombing of the national security council building that claimed the lives of three top members of the Syrian security elite and the defection of prominent Brig. Gen. Manaf Tlass, who had been associated with al-Assad.

The bombing and the Tlass defection demoralized the core of the military and led to further defections. Significantly, Tlass is a Sunni. Contrary to expectations, no further defections by prominent Sunnis have taken place, and the Alawite core remains intact.

Visit our Syria page for related analysis, videos, situation reports and maps.

Alawite reticence goes beyond battlefield assessments to fears of a loss of influence in any post-Assad power-sharing agreement. At this point, they have decided to stand their ground and fight. In his first interview since his defection, Tlass made the telling remark Aug. 30 that his main work is to convince the Alawites that they do not have to “commit suicide along with the regime.”

Convincing them to abandon al-Assad is one thing, since the Alawites have long realized that the beleaguered president is not salvageable. But convincing them to share power will be quite another. Any power-sharing deal will see them lose some of the privileges they have enjoyed since modern Syria’s creation in 1946. At best, they will be relegated to the status of junior partners in a Sunni-dominated regime. They will face the specter of retribution killings by Sunnis who long endured brutal suppression at the hands of the Alawite regime. Thus the Alawites have not leaped at the offer from the United States to mount a coup against al-Assad. At this point, they hope to avoid any major shifts so they can maintain a position of relative strength from which to better negotiate a deal with the opposition, hence their focus on the battlefield.

The Syrian Alawites and Negotiated Departure for al-Assad

A number of recent developments have worked in the Alawites’ favor. For many months, international stakeholders have grown wary of the possibility that ousting al-Assad and eliminating Iranian-led Shiite Islamist regional influence may be paving the way for Sunni Islamism, and perhaps even transnational jihadism. Last week’s violence and militia action in reaction to a U.S.-produced film deemed offensive to the Prophet Mohammad has reinforced this perception.

The Syrian regime hopes that the killing of the U.S. ambassador in Libya and other attacks on U.S. and Western facilities and personnel across the region will force the rebels’ international backers at least to pause and reassess the situation. One of the regime’s key demands has been that weapons and fighters flowing into the Levantine country need to be stopped. It is not clear to what extent this will actually happen, though any efforts in this regard would help the regime.

The Challenge of a Negotiated Settlement

Ultimately, all parties and international supporters involved want a negotiated settlement. Whether they can achieve it is another matter. Such a settlement depends on reaching a mutually acceptable balance of power between the Alawites and the Sunnis — on creating a formula where the Sunnis can achieve a significant amount of power without the Alawites losing too much of it. Something along the lines of the 1989 Taif Accords that ended 15 years of civil war in Lebanon would be required. Similar to the Taif agreement, a settlement in Syria will require a great deal of bargaining between Western and regional powers. The accord that ended the conflict in Lebanon required the region’s two main sectarian rivals, Saudi Arabia and the Iranians, reach an understanding, and Syria played a critical role in ensuring the implementation of the agreement.

Now that Syria itself is the subject of civil war, the situation is much more difficult. Sectarian polarization in the region has increased exponentially since 1989 due to the rise of Iran and its Arab Shiite allies. International stakeholders’ competing interests will also complicate the situation.

Talk also has centered on attaining a Yemen-like solution for Syria, in which President al-Assad exits the scene and the various elements of the regime reconfigure themselves into a new government without regime change. But such a settlement would entail a new power-sharing agreement that brings in the Sunni opposition. It is also not at all certain whether al-Assad would agree to step down quietly. Convincing him to could only take place if his generals, the Iranians and the Russians pressed him and he was given financial, legal and political guarantees.

Assuming he did agree to depart, there is still the question — much on Iranian and Russian minds — of whether the Alawites could remain a strong force without the al-Assads at the helm. A new, capable Alawite leadership would thus have to emerge before the Alawites would be comfortable having al-Assad exit.

Al-Assad’s departure is not imminent, however, in large part because Iran — the most influential player that could facilitate or hinder such an outcome — has been kept out of the process. But in the past few days, initial signs have emerged that the United States might be willing to allow Iran a role in planning Syria’s future.

When were the minorities oppressed?
By Michel Kilo, Monday, 24 September 2012 – al-Arabiya

Just as the militarized Ba’athist regime incited the people against their Kurdish brethren, it also incited all Syrians against one another, carefully implanting doubts amongst them, instilling and fortifying various prejudgments and poisoning their consciousness. It became increasingly easy for the regime to charge citizens with any amount of hostility, playing an important role in shaping their opinions and attitudes towards one another. The regime was unable to win over its citizens after the role it played in the Arab and Syrian defeat during the June Aggression (Six Day War), and therefore did not fulfil any of its promises but in fact achieved their opposite, drawing out a comprehensive strategic game of ‘divide and conquer’ instilled to tear the community apart, hell bent on pitting citizens against one another, exploiting any differences found amongst them or those that the regime was successful in implanting. Such policies had no purpose other than to transform the Syrian society into discordant conflicting factions, unable to agree on any one uniting ideology or common principle other than those ridiculous ones related to the health of the regime’s policies and the ingenuity of its omniscient leader, as well as the inevitability of continued devotion and loyalty to him under any condition or circumstance, on the basis that he was the foundation, the immortal father whom the mortal obsolescent populace owed everything to, including their very existence.

This strategy was the essence of the regime’s internal policy for almost half a century,….

The oppression of minorities will end with the end of a regime that had been hell bent on awakening sectarian strife and implicating Syrians in conflicts they were successfully moving past. Had that not been the case, it would not have been possible for Hafez Al Assad and scores of Alawite youth to move up the army ranks; they would not have been able to participate in the heart of power, eventually usurping it.

“Barbarians Arrive as as UN Judges Syria,” by Vijay Prasha, Sept. 25,

“The Mystery of the Syria Contact Group,“ Sept. 22,

Fearful Alawites pay sectarian militias in battered Homs
Tuesday, 25 Sep 2012 | Reuters, by Solomon

(The identity of the journalist has been withheld for security reasons)

HOMS, Syria (Reuters) – “Shabbiha” militias in Syria’s most shell-shocked city used to offer fellow minority Alawites protection out of solidarity. Now, security comes at a price: About $300 a month.

Alawite residents in Homs say they are being coerced into helping fund the war effort of the “shabbiha”, brutal sectarian militias supporting President Bashar al-Assad’s crackdown on an 18-month-old rebellion.

“The shabbiha exploit our fear. Every time, there is some excuse – they need food or ammunition. But it’s basically a silent understanding now that each month the wealthier families pay,” says Fareed, a greying surgeon who lives with his family in Zahra, an Alawite district of Homs.

The cost of war is rising at the site of the longest- running battle between Assad’s forces and the rebels. Fareed fears his children could be kidnapped for ransom if he doesn’t pay the shabbiha what they call “protection money”.

Shabbiha are formed mostly from members of Assad’s own Alawite sect, an offshoot of Shi’ite Islam. They have been the fiercest enforcers of a bloody crackdown on the uprising led by Syria’s majority Sunni Muslims, even accused of massacres.

The disgust some Alawites have at the idea of paying for them symbolizes a greater inner conflict many in their sect are struggling with: Do they risk rejecting the crackdown by their Alawite-led government and its brutal militias? Or do they buy in, literally, to the shabbiha argument that this is a fight for existence against Sunnis determined to take revenge?

“I’m not comfortable with it, it seems wrong. But I have no choice,” says Saeed, 40, a balding engineer in a slick black suit. “If I didn’t pay, I could be at risk. These guys are dangerous.”

After months of fighting, only the shabbiha-guarded Alawite enclaves like Zahra are relatively unscathed. Zahra has swelled to nearly 200,000 Alawites in recent months.

The neighborhoods belonging to Hom’s large Sunni population have become graveyards of bombed buildings and shattered streets. Very few families remain.

“THE SAFEST PLACE IN SYRIA”

With jobs and money drying up due to the unrest, the $300 fee is no small sum.

But Alawites in Zahra say that while they know the money they pay is extortion, and that shabbiha violence towards Sunnis puts them more at risk, they are regularly reminded of how precarious their fate is.

As the sound of crashing mortars in the distance shakes the silverware on his dining room table, Fareed stops his rant against shabbiha and sighs.

“Some days, I think we really do need them to protect us,” the elderly doctor says, surveying his four children silently eating their meal.

The fight for Homs has fallen off the front pages as battles erupt in Syria’s bigger cities, Damascus and Aleppo, but it has not eased. Gunfire perpetually rings in the background. Buildings are collapsing in the daily hail of mortars and rocket-propelled grenades.

Shabbiha gangs used to rake in money by looting rebellious Sunni districts in Homs after the army raided them. But now that source of cash has run dry. Asking for “protection money” may be a way to make up for that.

The groups have become well organized in Homs. They have divided Zahra into six regions, each with a local “boss”.

In each area, the boss sends young men with shaved heads and camouflage pants to monitor, strutting about with their rifles in hand. The army stays out, only manning road blocks on the outskirts of the district.

“There is no state presence in Zahra any more, even though it is surrounded by Sunni areas. Yet it is the safest place in Syria,” says Saeed, reluctantly giving the shabbiha their due.

One improvement residents say their donations funded is the building of two 20-metre high blast walls towering over Zahra’s main square. The street had once been within easy range of rebel gunmen atop buildings in neighboring districts.

“This used to be the deadliest spot in Zahra,” says Manhal, the surgeon Fareed’s son, as he walks behind the two massive white-washed walls.

Instead of seeing residents scurrying below, all gunmen nearby can see now is a giant poster that shabbiha plastered over the wall: A portrait of former President Hafez al-Assad, Bashar’s father, who ruled for nearly 30 years until his death.

Frustrated rebels have taken to shooting at the picture instead. The eyes, nose and mouth are riddled with bullet holes.

NOWHERE TO GO

Not far from Fareed’s family home, Wael “the accountant” combs a thick glob of hair cream into his dark hair and gets on his motorbike to make the monthly rounds for his boss.

“In my area we have 15 families. I get the money for the boss whenever there is a need: weapons, gas, car repairs, food for our boys,” says the 25-year-old tough.

Wael doesn’t think what he does is exploitative. He sees it as a service that residents need to pay to maintain. Unhappy residents can leave Homs if they want, he argues. “We even arrange convoys to help them get out – that costs 10,000 lira ($120).”

There is no end in sight to Syria’s civil war. International powers are too deadlocked to negotiate. Fighters show no interest in laying down their arms. Meanwhile, groups like the Alawites feel more vulnerable, and the shabbiha have taken advantage.

Umm Hani, a mother of two in Zahra, noticed the trend after a stunning bomb attack in July that killed four top security officials in Damascus.

“After that, the regime was shaken. And the shabbiha started to take more power, they started to demand more money. Without saying a word, they made their message clear: We are the ones responsible for you. Pay up.”

There are deep wrinkles around Umm Hani’s blue eyes after months of anxiety. Alawites like her feel trapped. She doesn’t have enough savings to leave Syria. She feels she would be unsafe in the mostly Sunni refugee camps on the borders. Paying is the only choice.

“Where can we go? Who would accept us? So we stay, and we deal with our new little pharaohs.”

Comments (234)

annie said:

This is not for Zoo; apologies if it has already been posted but this is no Hollywood fantasy and has not been filmed in the famous Qatar studios

http://youtu.be/PUKy-FgIMho

September 25th, 2012, 5:56 pm

ghufran said:

ألقت السلطات السورية القبض اليوم على مدير دائرة النفوس في محافظة اللاذقية “محمد منجد حسون” من مكان عمله بتهمة “التعامل مع الجماعات الإرهابية”.
وذكرت الوسائل الإعلامية الإلكترونية المؤيدة للنظام أن المدعو “حسون” تم إلقاء القبض عليه في مكان عمله، وتهمته إعطاء هويات مزورة وضلوعه بتسهيل تهريب أخطر “الإرهابيين” من المدينة.
وأضافت أن من الذين تعاون معهم “حسون” هو “تركي قنيفذة” معاون قائد الشرطة السابق الذي انشق عن النظام.
يشار إلى المدعو “محمد منجد حسون” من جبل الأكراد باللاذقية من قرية مرج الزاوية ناحية كنسبا
the regime made so many enemies over the years, there are Syrians who sympathize with the anti Assad movement in every office and in various army and security establishments, there are also Syrians who have a price for every service they can offer including providing information on regime officials and regime forces movements.

September 25th, 2012, 6:21 pm

Visitor said:

Again, I reiterate that Rosen is an Alawite apologetic mouthpiece that is not worth the time to waste on reading him.

Also, the argument that the alawites must continue to have disproportionate power in the new Syria will not fly.

Sorry there are no buyers.

If they prefer to commit suicide, then may be it is time they get what they want.

Syrians are resolved to end this abomination of minority rule, no matter what it takes.

September 25th, 2012, 6:24 pm

Tara said:

I too would not vote for Alawite president this time around. I have had enough and will not risk the history repeating itself. If and when Syria becomes a full fledge democracy with institutions, the sect of the president would not matter but now it does. I too do not believe the poll results. I think Sunni Syrians are very idealistic but one must learn from history otherwise history is destined to have a re-run. I have much changed..unfortunately.

September 25th, 2012, 6:43 pm

Annie@1

OMG! OMG! OMG!

I hate them. I hate them. I wish them the worst death ever. Those are animals. I wish they burn in hell for ever and ever and ever.

September 25th, 2012, 6:51 pm

ann said:

President Obama – Why is the US supporting Al Qaeda in Syria?

Good news report from Fox19 channel about Syria and American support for the Jihadists in Syria.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=86a_1348427615

September 25th, 2012, 7:28 pm

Free syrian army attacking innocent civilians houses in Latakia,Syria

the camera man: allah akbar, we just made here, now we are in the villages of “alawites”, thx god we made it

here……………/*alawites refers to a small sect in islam.(they are infidels in the opinion of the free syrian army*/.

the gang or the free syrian army members start burning and attacking innocent civilian houses in this small peaceful village..

Note: free syrian army seeking only destruction and killings inside syria…

i dont think these cavemen are looking for democracy and freedom……….

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=0f3_1348603671

September 25th, 2012, 7:34 pm

Syrian said:

Annie and Tara
Here the pictures and video of their bodies found days later
https://m.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=354774724606683&set=a.257548800995943.63182.100002224760921&type=1&theater&_rdr
+18

September 25th, 2012, 7:39 pm

alahu akbar.. alahu akbar.. “BOOM” alahu akbar.. alahu akbar..

Syria – SAF Mig-21 striking FSA positions 24/09

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=90a_1348592063

September 25th, 2012, 7:40 pm

Battle For Syria: View from the Frontline! (English subtitles)

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=d2f_1348588214

War has been raging in Syria for a year and a half. An endless series of
special operations, victories and retreats, a struggle between
government forces and an armed opposition that takes place both with
weapons on the ground and on the TV screen. Even seemingly
unimportant local battles are being discussed far abroad because the
result of this war will impact not only the future of Syria. The
situation here is splitting the world in half. This undoubtedly is
another internal conflict with global consequences.

The Russian film crew
has spent 2 months on the frontline with the soldiers of Syrian army
and civilians trying to answer these hard questions:

Who is the Syrian army fighting?
What is the armed opposition fighting for?
And why are there so many interested parties in this conflict?

This film was made in field conditions to better tell the story of what’s happening here.

September 25th, 2012, 7:46 pm

Here is the picture of one of the killers,and the hunt is on
http://m.facebook.com/Altal.Revolution?id=142198065849086&_rdr#!/photo.php?fbid=377752808960276&id=142198065849086&set=a.311184328950458.67127.142198065849086&__user=100003131418721

September 25th, 2012, 7:48 pm

The time is on the side of the revlution, we can lose many rounds or set backs but all we need is one winning round, then it is all over

September 25th, 2012, 7:50 pm

EXPOSED! CAUGHT ON CAMERA…FREE SYRIAN ARMY COMMON THIEVES ROBBING A STORE

LOCATION: YABROOD, SYRIA
THE FREE SYRIAN ARMY ARE BUNCH OF CRIMINALS AND PRISONERS SEEKING DESTRUCTION AND KILLINGS INSIDE SYRIA

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=8cc_1348576441

September 25th, 2012, 8:06 pm

Syrian

My heart is very heavy and I will not be able to sleep tonight. The image of the victims’ slow motion in response to this savage beating, their semi-conscious state not being able to even scream their pain away is terrifying and heart wrenching. Nevertheless, I am happy that the picture of one of those killer is made public. He should be haunted down . He would easily provide the names and the location of all the co-killers who should be also haunted down until the last one.

September 25th, 2012, 8:11 pm

Ghufran said:

Jamal Sulaiman who was called ” Nusairi majusi” by jihadists is now a target of pro regime Facebook soldiers who published a picture of him having a good time in front of a belly dancer.
كشف الفنان جمال سليمان حقيقة الصورة التي ظهر فيها مع راقصة في مطعم، واصفا ناشريها بـ”الكلاب الإلكترونية المفلسة”.
Jamal said the picture was taken 5 years ago in a public Egyptian restaurant .
I do not know how anybody can defend shelling apartment buildings with rockets then criticize Jamal for having non lethal fun 5 years ago.
There is plenty of blame to go around but the mother of all evil is the killing of innocent civilians regardless of who is doing it.

September 25th, 2012, 8:23 pm

Democratic and Civilized FSA supporters speaks out in Sydney, Australia.

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=681_1348443544

Abu Anas comments on upon the “martyrdom” of Mustafa Al Majzoub: “Today my brothers is the battle between Islam as a whole and Kufr (Kufr = Infidels) as a whole. For a centery the youth of the Ummah have been sacrificing, the mujahidoon have been sacrificing and then the Secularists hijacked the revolution. We must put an end to this humilation, this shame. For this blood in Al-Sham, by Allah, least that should be accepted in this life is for the flag of tawhe
ed (Black Banner of Islam) to be raised. Without the flag of tawheed we have not gained anything. It is not our role to die (as martyrs) only, but to die to bring life to Islam, not to die so that the Secularists can lead our nations once again and detach Islam once again. The kuffar have divided it, they have given part of it to the Jews – Palestine, another part to the Masons – Jordan another to the kuffar in Syria and have given the rest to the Christians in Lebanon. O God, we ask you to punish America, Europe, China, Russia, Iran and the Arab treacherous leaders, those who have betrayed Syria and all those who have conspired against Syria and all the tawaghit”

Look for yourself. What a nice bunch of people, wouldn’t you agree?

September 25th, 2012, 8:27 pm

Target Practice “BOOM”

Mig-21 Fishbed Over Boota, Aleppo Governate

http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=665_1348439475

4 bombing runs for a single flight, Albatross L-39 was just appetizer for the FSA terrorists, now they are getting their fill of lead.

No snack bar but the guy says “SIHT” at 2:06

September 25th, 2012, 8:52 pm

Selective outrage is a form of hypocrisy. Crimes against humanity in Syria are well documented by the UN and HRW, in a civil war there are no saints. The fact that regime forces committed many or most of those crimes does not exonerate the other side whose crimes are also documented and that did a lot of damage to the noble cause of revolting against the brutal regime in Syria. The focus should be to save what is left of Syria not to bring back torture videos, it is too late to try to take the clock backward, nobody today buys the myth that the rebels are the Davids that are fighting the Goliathes. The video in post # 1 is an effort to open further an already open wound when national interest goes in the opposite direction, that does not mean allowing murders to go unpunished.
Anti rebels activists have a collection of videos showing how rebels treated live and dead bodies of their opponents, I have no desire now to look at those videos, there will be a day when killers of innocent civilians pay for their crimes but for now it should help all to remember the golden rule: all who take up the sword will die by the sword.
violence has not achieved anything but a failed state and a sick society.

September 25th, 2012, 9:12 pm

At UN, Obama Twice Cites KFC, No Congo, Mali or Sudan, Nor UN Reform

By Matthew Russell Lee

UNITED NATIONS, September 25 — Twice in US President Barack Obama’s speech to the UN General Assembly he cited the destruction of restaurants, by fire and smashing.

Among with these two apparent references to the attack on Kentucky Fried Chicken in Lebanon (KFC has since closed its stores in Pakistan), Obama delivered a 3900 word speech which did not mention Sudan, or the Democratic Republic of the Congo, or Haiti, or the need for UN reform.

Obama drew applause, after saying he was Christian, by saying he supports the right to be harshly critical of him. In a portion of the speech that Ban Ki-moon, notably, has not echoed Obama defended freedom of speech. He chided Iranian leader(s), it seems clear, for Holocaust denial, and called for criticism of attacks on Shiite pilgrims and Sufi shrines.

But what about mausoleums in Timbuktu? The words Sahel or Mali did not appear in Obama’s speech.

Earlier, Ban Ki-moon had said that “the crisis in the Sahel is not getting sufficient attention.” Ya don’t say. But on September 19 when Ban Ki-moon held a pre-GA press conference, of the 10 questions chosen none were on Africa.

Africa is over 50% of the world of the Security Council and UN, but it featured little not only in Ban Ki-moon’s press conference but also in Obama’s speech. Syria is the big one

[…]

http://www.innercitypress.com/obama1kfc092512.html

September 25th, 2012, 9:28 pm

Low Syria Expectations as Brahimi & Westerwelle Spin & FSA Shifts HQ from Turkey

UNITED NATIONS, September 24 — Even before Lakhdar Brahimi briefed the UN Security Council about his three weeks as envoy to Syria, expectation were low. A Council member told Inner City Press, “Don’t expect any breakthroughs.”

In fact, there’s been resistance to how to mention Syria in a draft Presidential Statement that Germany, this month’s Council president, hopes to have adopted at another ceremonial Council session on September 26.

When Brahimi emerged to take six questions from the media, he mostly said, give me time, I’m only in the post six months. He quickly agreed that the Syrian National Council or the opposition more generally might be closer to unifying.

But what impact would that have on the fighting on the ground which is mostly what is pointed to in speeches about Syria?

Inner City Press, hand up at the stakeout, would have like to ask or have answered what Brahimi thinks of the Free Syrian Army moving its headquarters out of Turkey and into Syria. But this was not selected. The last question concerned Iran, by an Iranian journalist with an Egyptian newspaper.

German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle, who had been expected to hold a press conference Wednesday at 9 am — now Evo Morales of Bolivia has that spot — emerged and took questions, including these two, paraphrased:

Q: You revived a six point plan that proved it was not implementable, is this not impotence?

Westerwelle: I am not spokesperson for [Mr.] Brahimi and I made this statement in my capacity as German foreign minister… I want to underscore this once again, this is his work and his responsibility and it was important in the briefing what we just had about this, I talked about the substance of six point plan and I would not give up the substance of the 6 point plan as long as we do not see a better alternative. I am frustrated like you are about the situation, but once again, what is the alternative? We have to help the people, support the people, we have to work with all we can and to do our utmost to finish the violence in Syria. But on the other hand it is also important to be wise, that we do not to run into a conflagration in the whole region. This is also something that concerns me, the effects and consequences on some neighboring countries and we all agree we have to avoid when we see this conflict in Syria set on fire one country after another.

Q: Kosovo style?

Westerwelle: I don’t have anything to add to what I just said about this. We have enough meetings, there are many meetings about this week and we have this subject and we will discuss this subject. We have another meting on Friday we had telephone conference last Friday and if you allow me to add one point I think it would be wise and necessary that the opposition unites itself and not only united against regime of Assad but united on a common democratic pluralistic platform because if we want to promote this process of erosion in the regime of Assad, it is necessary that the people who live in the country see that they have perspective in the country and includes pluralistic structures, this includes religious and ethnic tolerance. This inclusive approach, I advise.

http://www.innercitypress.com/syria1westerhimi092412.html

September 25th, 2012, 9:33 pm

توقّف في مطار رفيق الحريري الدولي بعد ظهر امس وفد سوري رفيع المستوى برئاسة وزير الخارجية وليد المعلم وعضوية نائبه فيصل المقداد وهشام قاضي وعدنان حموي لفترة وجيزة بعدما وصل اليه على متن طائرة خاصة تابعة لشركة ‘لوفتهانزا’ في رحلة عادية متوجهة الى فرانكفورت ومنها الى نيويورك للمشاركة في اجتماعات الجمعية العامة للامم المتحدة. واتّخذت للغاية في المطار تدابير امنية مشددة.
وفيما غاب عن استقبال الوفد السوري الرفيع اي مسؤول لبناني كون المحطة السورية غير رسمية والتوقف في المطار للترانزيت لا يشكّل زيارة للبنان لايفاد من يستقبل الوفد، حضر الى المطار سفير سورية في لبنان علي عبد الكريم علي.
I thought that EU sanctions prevent German airlines from taking up Syrian officials

September 25th, 2012, 9:45 pm

نجا القيادي في الجيش السوري الحر قاسم سعد الدين من محاولة اغتيال قام بها مسلحون تابعون للقوات النظامية في محافظة حماة في وسط البلاد، بحسب ما أفاد مسؤول الإعلام المركزي في القيادة المشتركة للجيش السوري الحر في الداخل فهد المصري.
وأكد المصري أن موكب العقيد سعد الدين تعرض بعد منتصف الليل الماضي لكمين من قبل من وصفهم بالشبيحة في السلمية في محافظة حماة.
وأشار المصري إلى وقوع “معركة كبيرة إثر المحاولة، ما تسبب بمقتل عدد من المسلحين. وأوضح أن الحادث حصل لدى عودة سعد الدين من حلب بعد اجتماع له مع رئيس المجلس العسكري في محافظة حلب العقيد عبد الجبار العكيدي.

September 25th, 2012, 9:58 pm

Powerful blast rocks eastern Turkish city, seven reportedly killed (PHOTOS) – 25 September, 2012

http://rt.com/news/powerful-rocks-eastern-city-959/

At least seven soldiers are feared dead after a powerful explosion hit the center of Tunceli, a provincial city in eastern Turkey. Security sources believe it was a terrorist attack.

Several injuries have also been reported, and ambulances have been dispatched to tend to the wounded, according to local media.

The blast happened as an armored police vehicle was passing through a downtown thoroughfare on Tuesday at approximately 6:00 pm local time. Security sources said an explosive device was planted in a parked car by the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). The explosive-laden car was detonated remotely when the vehicle passed by.

Scores of ambulances and fire trucks are at the scene as a plume of smoke could be seen rising above the city. The explosion caused a fire in the area, and several cars in the vicinity were scorched. Several of the injured soldiers were whisked to the Tunceli State Hospital. There is no confirmation on the exact number of casualties, though sources say some of the injured died while in transit to hospital.

Gunfire was also reportedly heard at the scene, but reporters could not confirm if a clash was underway as the area was sealed off, local Hurriyet Daily News reports.

Tensions have risen between the PKK and the Turkish army recently, as Kurds across the border in Northern Syria have begun clamoring for greater autonomy following the uprising against President Bashar al-Assad.

PKK fighters killed 10 soldiers and wounded at least 60 last Tuesday when they ambushed a military convoy with rocket fire in eastern Turkey.

The attack came as Turkey has targeted PKK camps along the southeastern border region with Iraq in recent weeks with airstrikes. Last Monday, Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that 500 Kurdish rebels have been killed in September alone.

A regional prosecutor was also wounded last week in a separate attack blamed on Kurdish rebels in the Tunceli province, located in Northern Kurdistan, which makes up roughly the easternmost third of Turkey. The ambush was allegedly staged by two members of the PKK, a security source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

September 25th, 2012, 10:04 pm

Syrian war being fought by mercenaries – Brahimi – Sep 25, 2012

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_25/Syrian-war-being-fought-by-mercenaries-Brahimi/

There are currently approximately 5,000 foreign mercenaries involved in the armed struggle with the Syrian authorities according to a statement by the United Nations and the Arab League envoy to Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi.

According to diplomatic sources, during a closed meeting of the UN Security Council, Brahimi pointed out that, according to Damascus, the armed conflict is the result of an “international conspiracy.”

Last week, the media reported that in Aleppo, Syria’s second most important city, more than a hundred Afghan militants were killed.

According to independent Syrian newspapers, more than 75 percent of those who are at war with the regime of Bashar al-Assad are citizens of other Arab countries.

September 25th, 2012, 10:17 pm

Hundreds of Christians kidnapped in Syria – Sep 26, 2012

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_26/Hundreds-of-Christians-kidnapped-in-Syria/

In Syria some 300 Greek-Catholic faithful have been kidnapped in the village of Rableh, near the country’s border with Lebanon.

According to a report by Radio Vatican, a group of armed men arrived Monday at a local garden where the Christians were picking apples and took away about 150 of them, including women and children. The abductors returned the following day taking away about as many more Christians.

This is the first time local Christians have been abducted by an armed group. Experts fear the Christians may be used as hostages by the rebels.

September 25th, 2012, 10:20 pm

Militias in Libya and Syria outwit the CIA – Sep 24, 2012

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_24/Militias-in-Libya-and-Syria-outwit-the-CIA/

The New York Times daily came out with interesting revelations about the details of the attack against the US mission in Benghazi, Libya. The American officials whom the newspaper quotes on its pages confirm that the two American compounds in Benghazi, including the one where the American ambassador J. Christopher Stevens died of smoke inhalation, were used by the CIA for “secret missions.”

Meanwhile, Mohamed al-Magarief, the head of the Libyan National Council and the interim head of state, issued an order disbanding all militias and ordering them to pull out of the army’s barracks and other public property before Tuesday. Experts, however, question the ability of Libya’s new government to reestablish order in the country in such a brief period of time.

From the latest reports it also became clear that the CIA had a big staff in Libya and in Benghazi in particular. In an interview to The Wall Street Journal Libya’s deputy prime minister, Mustafa Abushagour, expressed his surprise at the scope of the CIA’s operations in Benghazi, which became apparent to him only when a “surprisingly large number of Americans showed up at the Benghazi airport to be evacuated.” “We have no problem with intelligence sharing or gathering, but our sovereignty is also key,” Mr. Abushagour is quoted by The Wall Street Journal as saying. New York Times reports that CIA operatives listened to Libyans’ phone conversations, intercepted and analyzed a huge amount of E-mail messages, SMS messages and other personal information.

These facts, coupled with worrying reports on the militias’ activities in Sirya, Libya and neighboring Mali, pose some more general questions, whose significance goes well beyond the borders of Libya alone. Here are some of these questions: how conscious is the United States of the real aims of the forces that surfaced in Arab countries thanks to the so called Arab Spring? How could it happen that massive CIA presence did not make the US authorities enlightened enough to predict the dangers that faced their own diplomatic staff? And if the reports about the inner divisions inside these militias and their infiltration by Islamists are true, then aren’t these militias a greater danger to their countries’ populations than the “dictatorships,” which these militias are fighting?

Obviously, the new Libyan authorities were hard pressed by the United States to do something about the terrible and, among other things, humiliating incident with the US ambassador killed there. The government is making “all the right moves” – or so it seems from the official reports. Mr. al-Magarief, the official head of state, issued the order on disbanding militias – a move, that, according to expert opinions, will require the use of force. According to a report by the French daily Le Figaro, at least 10 people were killed on the first day of the “new peaceful order,” i.e. before al-Magarief’s ultimatum actually expired. The newspaper reports that the two militias where Islamist presence is at its strongest – Ansar al-Sharia and Abu Slim – had prudently evacuated their facilities in Benghazi long before the government clamped down on militias. Instead of raiding the Islamists, people whom the New York Times calls “an angry mob demanding law and order” attacked the barracks of the more or less loyalist brigade of the local militia leader Rafallah Sahati. Le Figaro, however, suspects that it was not law and order, but Rafallah Sahati’s arms depots that the mob was after. Especially if one bears in mind that the attack started at dawn – the time when “normal” mobs are not at their most active.

Will the situation in Syria be any different from what we are now seeing in Libya? Georges Malbrunot, a veteran French reporter on Middle Eastern affairs, writes in his blog on the “growing influence of radicals” in the so called Free Syrian Army which announced today it was moving its operating headquarters from Turkey to Syria. FSA, created soon after the start of the “peaceful” rebellion in Syria, in June 2011, is now “just a label behind which rag-tag antiregime militias hide,” Malbrunot writes. The French journalist adds that this armed force, actively supported by money and by arms from Saudi Arabia, Qatar and Western countries, “is torn apart by internal divisions.” The official commander of FSA, colonel Riad al-Assad (no relation to the ruling Syrian president), is reported to channel all the Saudi aid and arms to his loyalists inside Syria. “He created his own militias inside Syria, and now he wants to be better placed in the fight for power in the long perspective – in post-Bashar Syria,” Malbrunot quotes his sources among the Syrian rebels as saying.

September 25th, 2012, 10:25 pm

Mercenaries in Syria – who are they? – Sep 24, 2012

http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_09_24/Mercenaries-in-Syria-who-are-they/

The Guardian has released an article which says that radical Islamists from all over the world are arriving in Syria to join the rebels.

The tone of the article makes it clear that The Guardian journalists are no longer that optimistic about the possibility of the revolution in Syria. Such kind of publications could mark a changing attitude to the Arab Spring uprising.

The Guardian report says that Islamists from different parts of the world are heading to Syria to join a war against the Assad regime. Among the mercenaries there are many veteran jihadists who fought in Iraq, Yemen, Afghanistan and Chechnya. There are also some rebels of Palestinian origin who believes that the Syrian government is their second worst enemy after Israel. The mercenaries do not seem to be put back by difficulties with illegally crossing the border and dealing with the special forces.

One should mention that some differences have already emerged between jihadists and members of the so-called Free Syrian Army: the latter are not glad to see the mercenaries trying to join the war as Al-Qaida rebels. They fear that NATO could stop supporting the Syrian opposition if they learn that it has extremists among its members. These, however, appear to be premature concerns as the alliance does not see anything wrong with the mercenaries proclaiming themselves Al-Qaida rebels.

The USPermanent Representative to the United NationsSusan Rice, known for her approval of the US interventionist policy, has been actively lobbying the idea of military intervention in Syria. Neither she nor her supporters seem to be bothered with a possible unity of jihadists and the US forces.

The Syrian crisis is going to dominate the upcoming UN General Assembly session on Tuesday. Many experts believe that how the events will unfold further depends greatly on Mrs. Rice`s speech. Some critics mention the selective character of the US human rights policy. Kenneth Roth,executive director of Human Rights Watch, thinks that Mrs. Rice is ready to turn a blind eye on crimes against humanity committed by the US or its closest allies.

If those who support a military solution to the Syrian crisis have their position backed by the majority, the US-led NATO forces will fight together with the world`s No.1 terrorists. If the goals of the militants are clear (they want to oust the Assad regime), what makes Washington seek an Islamist government in Syria remains a mystery!

September 25th, 2012, 10:31 pm

Bashar Al-Asad: “Turkey dreams of a new Ottoman Empire” – 25.09.2012

http://english.pravda.ru/hotspots/conflicts/25-09-2012/122260-ottoman_empire-0/

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad on Thursday criticized Turkey for supporting the insurgents fighting the government in Damascus and sees that his neighbor has the ambitious dream of establishing “a new Ottoman Empire.” Moreover, the Syrian president spoke of Qatar and claimed that this Arab country is using terrorists.

In an interview with the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram, the full text will be published on Friday, Ankara regretted that instead of worrying about “the interests of their people” Al-Asad focused “solely on their ambitions, including the creation of a new Ottoman Empire. ”

The Ottoman Empire, also known as the Turkish Ottoman Empire was a multi ethnic and multi-ruled by the Osmanli Dynasty.

Moreover, the Syrian president spoke of Qatar and claimed that this Arab country is using “the power of money and revolves in the Western orbit by providing weapons and money to terrorists to repeat the Libyan scenario.”

In this regard, he said that Qatar has been one of the premier governments in fueling the violence in Syria.

Finally, the Syrian authorities said that Turkey, Qatar and Saudi Arabia, which have supported the insurgents in his country “would not win the battle.”

Since mid-March 2011, Syria lives with strong disturbances and bloodshed, orchestrated from abroad, a critical situation that worsens every day due to the incessant terrorist acts seeking foreign military intervention.

Ed. As is well known, Turkish history is one of tremendous bloodshed, the Turks being a nomadic tribe that murdered the original inhabitants of the land that now comprises the artificially created entity known as Turkey. Turkey has been a useful vessel through which the various western powers have exerted their will in the region.

September 25th, 2012, 10:45 pm

قال الرئيس المصري محمد مرسي إن بلاده تعارض اي تدخل اجنبي بالقوة في سوريا، مشيرا إلى أنه لا يمكن حل الأزمة في سوريا من دون انخراط دول مجموعة الاتصال الرباعية (مصر والسعودية وتركيا وإيران) في إيجاد حلول لتلك الأزمة، معتبر أنه “لا خيار أمام الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد سوى الرحيل”.
وأشار مرسي في حديث مع تلفزيون (بي بي اس) الأميركي، يوم الاثنين، إلى أن “مصر تعارض اي تدخل اجنبي بالقوة في أحداث سوريا، وسيكون خطأ كبيرا اذا حصل ذلك”، لافتا إلى أن “الأهم حاليا هو وقف حمام الدماء الجاري في سوريا”.
For once,I have to agree with Morsi. I hope the four countries with support from UNSC can deliver,but I realize how difficult that will be. As for Hamad of Qatar,he is irrelevant now.

September 25th, 2012, 10:51 pm

Robert Baer-Time magazine:
(Robert is a former CIA officer)
The incidents of the past two weeks suggest it may be time to admit that large parts of the Middle East have fallen off the cliff for the U.S., and large parts of it will be beyond the ken of intelligence for the foreseeable future. Something terrible is going on in Syria, but because it’s too risky to put American intelligence officers on the ground there, it’s unclear just how terrible it is and how it could be ended. There’s simply no way for Americans to tell whether the armed rebellion is dominated by militant Islamists or Jeffersonian democrats. Nor can Americans get a picture of how the men leading the fighting forces on which Bashar Assad is most reliant might be turned.

September 25th, 2012, 11:05 pm

French Surgeon: Half of Rebels In Syria Are Al-Qaeda Terrorists – September 25, 2012

Fighters cite Jewish school attacker Mohamed Merah as inspiration

http://www.infowars.com/french-surgeon-half-of-rebels-in-syria-are-al-qaeda-terrorists/

A French Surgeon who worked at a hospital in Aleppo admits that at least half of the militants he treated for injuries were Al-Qaeda terrorists whose goal is to impose sharia law across Syria and the whole region. These are the same rebels being funded to the tune of tens of million of dollars by the Obama administration.

During an interview with France Info, Jacques Bérès, founder of Doctors Without Borders, said that although the city of Aleppo is portrayed as a rebel stronghold, it still has many areas that are loyal to Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad.

Bérès added that most of the people he treated were fighters and relatively few were civilians or children. This contradicts the claim routinely made by establishment media outlets that the Syrian government is indiscriminately bombing its own citizens.

Asked if the fighters he treated were Jihadists or Salafists, Bérès responded, “I would say at least half of them are Salafist Jihadists with the headband with Quranic verses, even the cars transporting them had Al-Qaeda flags on them, and the Salafist look with the mustache gone while keeping a beard.”

Bérès explained that his job was to treat wounds and not to make judgments on political motivations. However, he revealed that some of the fighters were French jihadists, including two he talked with who said they saw Mohamed Merah, the Islamic terrorist who attacked and killed two French soldiers as well as three children at a Jewish day school in Toulouse earlier this year, as an “example to follow.”

Bérès said he found this conversation “a bit troubling,” adding that the goal of the militants is to impose sharia law and a global caliphate over Syria and the whole region.

As we reported last week, despite the fact that the Obama administration has sent Syrian rebels and their foreign cohorts over $76 million dollars in humanitarian aid, in addition to a further injection of funds and non-lethal weapons under a covert White House directive, opposition forces in both Aleppo and Homs were videotaped burning an American flag in the aftermath of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

As we have previously highlighted, Syrian rebel fighters are routinely photographed wearing the Al-Qaeda motif. There are also innumerable You Tube videos that show opposition forces flying the Al-Qaeda flag – the same distinctive black flag with white Arabic lettering that has been flown by rioters during anti-U.S. demonstrations in numerous countries over the last few weeks.

In July, the London Guardian reported that Al-Qaeda militants meet “every day” with Syrian rebels in order to train them how to build bombs. Syrian rebels have also attempted to use unwitting prisoners as suicide bombers.

The Obama administration has failed to condemn terrorist attacks carried out by Al-Qaeda militants and rebel fighters in Syria, and has in some cases all but welcomed them.

Given the political heat Obama is currently enduring due to his promise of bringing calm to the Middle East going up in flames, the fact that a huge proportion of the rebels fighting in Syria are not only foreigners but Al-Qaeda terrorists who have previously fought against U.S. troops is a major problem for Obama because it dismantles the geopolitical capital he has accrued by constantly citing the killing of Osama Bin Laden

September 25th, 2012, 11:11 pm

88. ATHEIST SYRIAN SALAFIST AGAINST DICTATORSHIPS said:

“It’s a new day and (I suppose) the one on which Ghufran wears the revolution demonizing hat? OK, you’re not lecturing, excellent! but why accuse the opposition of miscalculating -to give the impression that it was a set plan with some people sitting down and drawing up a flow chart of “we do this, they do that, then we…”.
More importantly, why start in the middle? What about the Assadists’ “miscalculation” , and such a word is almost too neutral when used to describe the VERY calculated criminal and bloody response from the regime to the peaceful demonstrations, micro-managed to the smallest detail. The calculated officialdom/media response and the early “they want a sectarian war” declarations. You can certainly talk about a flow chart here.
You keep dumping the responsibility on the opposition for making mistakes, for relying on this or that, for accepting money from this dirty ruler or that, but you cannot run away from the glaring fact that this whole tragedy is 100% the making of the Assadists: when they decided to unleash their campaign of terror on the peaceful demonstrators, and at every turn chose to escalate the situation rather than try to enact serious and credible reforms that the majority would have been quite happy to accept (and declare Assad a hero) if they saw them leading to real and meaningful change.
“Bloody idiots, they should have realized that the regime will never allow itself to be pushed around or dictated to by its own people. What absolute folly to even think about changing this regime, they should just go back to their homes and let their masters run the country.” is the hidden message behind your analyses ever since I started reading your comments here.
Well, sorry mate, but every single drop of Syrian blood, every single cry of agony and pain, every mother’s tear over her dead child, and every single crushed building will forever and SOLELY be the responsibility of Assad and his Mafiosi associates. I despise the long beards, but for once I am going to partially borrow the words of one of them: “putting Assad and his thugs (and this does not mean Alawis as the Sheikh said, hark!) in the meat grinder and feeding their flesh to the dogs” will not be enough punishment for their “miscalculation” in Syria.
There, you can quote me on that”
Great comment
It was placed in the wrong post

September 25th, 2012, 11:29 pm

Halabi said:

Mr. Landis on Al Jazeera from last week. Even the Russian analyst said the regime has nothing to offer other than death.

http://youtu.be/EPzAGDo9HOU

September 26th, 2012, 12:07 am

خطفت عصابة مسلحة مواطنا في حي “المحافظة” بمدينة حلب أمس الثلاثاء ، قبل أن تسلبه مبلغا كبيرا من الدولارات، في حادثة يبدو أنها أصبحت إعتيادية في ظل الحالة المأساوية التي تعيش مدينة حلب منذ قرابة الشهرين ، مع احتدام الصراع بين الجيش النظامي و الجيش الحر.
و مع عجز الطرفين عن “الحسم “، و انشغالهما في حشد قواتهما و إدارة المعركة ،لا يبدو أنهما يلقيان بالاً لحالة الفلتان الأمني الذي يعاني منه السكان ، التي تبدو أشد وطأة من الانقطاع الطويل للمياه و الكهرباء، إذ كثرت في الأونة الأخيرة حالات الخطف و السطو المسلح.
After 19 months of revolt , are Syrians better off? How long this bloody mess will take?
what happened to all of those deadlines and promises of a regime collapse?
What needs to happen to convince hard heads that there can not be any military wins in this war?

September 26th, 2012, 12:08 am

أعلنت 17 كتيبة من كتائب الجيش الحر انضواءها تحت ما أطلق عليه “لواء الأمويين” في حلب
Despite my opposition to the idea of forming a parallel army, it is better for any future solution to have all armed rebels under one flag, whether this attempt to unify rebels will succeed or not is a totally different matter, without a dejidadization process, all efforts about such unification will remain elusive, a number of those groups in the new list is known to have a heavy presence of jihadists and foreigners.

September 26th, 2012, 12:28 am

Juergen said:

wife of Saudi prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Ibn Saud speaks out about the protests against the Muhammed film as well as about womens rights in KSA

http://amanpour.blogs.cnn.com/2012/09/20/saudi-princess-opens-up-about-womens-right-in-saudi-arabia/

September 26th, 2012, 1:00 am

So no one is allowed to show videos of the most heinous crimes imaginable committed by uniformed soldiers who we have to submit to and have a dialogue with, but the constant barrage of kidnapping here and sectarian murders there, never with a source, is somehow the mature way of doing things.

And the lectures, always the lectures from someone who doesn’t even know what the golden rule is.

If there were no sectarian opponents of the revolution, if regime supporters and sectarian haters saw that the people of Daraa were being brutalized and killed without cause rather than say foreign gangs from Iraq, Lebanon and Algeria were responsible for murder, the revolution would have succeeded and we would be on the path to democracy. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case, and those who support the revolution have paid the highest price. My parents are refugees and my Homsi cousins lost their homes. But the Zahra neighborhood in Homs seems to be doing ok, despite all the Nato airstrikes, Al Qaeda bombing and Jihadis killing minorities based on their IDs.

September 26th, 2012, 1:04 am

zoo said:

#29 Ghufran

The key question Morsi must be asking himself is whether the bloodshed will stop if and when Bashar al Assad steps down leaving a leadership void and a confused army.
In my view, the Arab quartet should theoretically secure a military force to prevent the chaos if and when the Syrian army will find itself headless. But, building that armed force is a gigantic and probably impossible diplomatic task as no Arab Armies, except for the Syrian army in Lebanon, has ever been involved in peacemaking in another Arab country.
Ideally, they could consider dividing the country like Germany or Iraq was divided with parts under the Egyptian army, another under the Iranian army and others under Turkish and Saudi army. In practice it is the recipe for the total dismembering of the country.

Morsi will soon come to the conclusion that in any plan, removing Bashar is certainly the last step to consider if violence must be stopped and a process started to “build a consensual democracy”. Bashar’s presence in these processes seems essential as he is the only one who can hold together a large support among the Syrians and the army.

A real dilemma for Morsi and the quartet.

September 26th, 2012, 1:06 am

Beware: If you photograph any US embassy you end up in jail

ABU DHABI // An Iranian who was jailed after photographing the American Embassy from a variety of angles told a court he meant only to celebrate being issued a green card.
M, 26, remained in jail for 20 days after he was caught taking the photos while visiting the UAE as a tourist with his parents.

September 26th, 2012, 1:09 am

Atheist Syrian Salafist Against Dictatorships said:

Gee, so many things to comment on since this new post’s gone up. But firstly thanks to SYRIAN for re-posting my comment #88 from the last post. In spite of what I wrote in it the person that inspired it is still putting on one hat (now not for a whole day, but for minutes) only to take it off and wear the hat of the opposite side soon afterwards. Is this true impartiality? I would rather be on the side of RIGHT and cop it rather than be impartial.

ANN, bless her/his heart is back WITH A VENGANCE, all refreshed and ready to go after a beak? But watch out for the fake videos ANN (ASSADIST NEWS NETWORK?) slippd in here and there, folks: two purporting to be of FSA doing evil things show no proof whatsoever that the armed men belong to the FSA. The one where the narrator tells us they are FSA attacking and ransacking an Alawi farmhouse in an Alawi village is FAKE FAKE FAKE. No damage is done, the smoke in the beginning is a ruse, and the attempts to bash down a steel door to a room are laughable, all they had to do is break the glass of the side window if they really wanted to get in and it ends with “fighters” posing theatrically for the camera. ANN chose videos from this site called liveleak, which I suspected to be an outlet for fake videos by Assad worshippers, but to my surprise it also had videos of Syrian Army personnel declaring their defection to join the fight against the “murderous Assadis regime”. Obviously ANN would not post something like this: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=6e7_1325183191 or this: http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=34c_1339266164

September 26th, 2012, 7:58 am

I'm A real American said:

visitor,
if you only vote for sunnis who do you vote for in canada? why choose to live in a secular country like canada when you admire the persian gulf sheikhdoms so much?

September 26th, 2012, 8:02 am

Citizen said:

http://rt.com/news/syria-regime-change-un-stalemate-991/
Syria much more complex than simply overthrowing the government
Conn Hallinan

September 26th, 2012, 8:04 am

Another comment I put up late in the last post that deserves a look, I think. Or is Ghufran going to tell us that we should not bring up crimes like these anymore?

91. ATHEIST SYRIAN SALAFIST AGAINST DICTATORSHIPS said:

Why won’t the Syrian regime allow an international investigation into the use of rape and sexual torture by Syrian security forces? A former (defected) security branch chief agreed to be interviewed and claimed that under his watch no such crimes were committed. Was Fergal Keane naive enough to expect him to admit to such practices even though he has switched sides?!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19718075

September 26th, 2012, 8:13 am

habib said:

3. Visitor

“Will not fly”?

What are you gonna do? Call NATO? With no NATO help, the Salafists are doomed. This hybris is incredible.

September 26th, 2012, 8:23 am

Excuse me folks, but voting for an Alawi or a sunni is NOT the issue!

It is VOTING, period. We want to be able to vote in fair and free elections under the rule of law. We want the right for anyone to stand for elections and to campaign freely, whether he be Sunni, Alawi, Shi’i or 3ifriti.

If Aaref Dalilah and Munzer Makhous were to stand for election, I’d vote for them. Both are Alawi. But I would not overlook other candidates, either. Michel Kilo is an honest man that would get my vote, so would George Sabra, AbdelRazzaq 3id, Hassan Abdelazeem, abdelAziz al-Khayyer are others. And what about the up and coming youth of Syria (assuming the Assadists don’t manage to kill most of them in the interim)? In any case, I hope we won’t have a presidential system and would prefer a multi party-based parliamentary one.

September 26th, 2012, 8:41 am

In Syria some 300 Greek Catholics have been kidnapped in the village of Rableh, near the country’s border with Lebanon.
According to a report by Radio Vatican, a group of armed men arrived Monday at a local garden where the Christians were picking apples and took away about 150 of them, including women and children. The abductors returned the following day taking away about as many more Christians.

This is the first time local Christians have been abducted by an armed group. Experts fear the Christians may be used as hostages by the rebels fighting an uphill battle with the government forces.

RIA

September 26th, 2012, 8:54 am

Real American 41,

The candidate in my district is Sunni. So I vote for him. I also vote for those candidates who run with him and are friends with Sunnis. Currently my candidte and those who run with him are MP’s.

A.S.S.A.D. 45

Bala 3alak

The issue IS voting for the right Sunni candidate.

I will never ever vote for non-Sunni in Syria. In addition he/she has to be observant. Otherwise he/she will not get my vote.

September 26th, 2012, 9:05 am

areal said:

TV correspondent Maya Naser assassinated in Damascus

Mr Maya Naser has been killed by sniper fire of foreign-backed terrorists while reporting in the Syrian capital, Damascus, on Wednesday, Press TV reports.
http://worldmathaba.net/items/1715-press-tv-correspondent-maya-naser-killed-in-damascus

Maya Naser’s September 7 interview with Morris Herman:
http://youtu.be/allosbfiyrs

مايا شهيد الكلمة الحرة ، الشاب الشهم والخدوم، له قصة تروى وسنرويها في عربي برس الى يوم يبعثون.

الرحمة للشهيد الاول من فريقنا والشفاء العاجل للجريح الزميل في قناة العالم حسين مرتضى
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1700354&l=3ec1528503&id=466185613405403

https://twitter.com/nasermaya

September 26th, 2012, 9:08 am

Antoine said:

SOURIA BI KHAYR

September 26th, 2012, 9:11 am

#46 Keep trying to stir up those sectarian fears. Once a sectrarian always a sectarian.

Who is to say that they were kidnapped by rebels? If RIA thinks so they should furnish indisputable proof with the claims. If Assadist regime thugs are willing to shake down Alawis in Homs in the name of “protection”, are they above robbing and kidnapping other Syrians for whatever ends, monetary or political? It works both ways, bud.

Tara:
I am a bit sad you skimmed over my comments in the last post and didn’t see that I’d posted that video of the poor men being tortured mercilessly. I had to think for a long time before going ahead and posting those horrible scenes, but did so in the context of a comparison to a video of interviews by the FSA of some of their captives (which I don’t necessarily think are 100% credible, BTW). Maybe you didn’t like my sarcastic and mocking tone ;-( ?

Well here is a poet who uses sarcasm too AHMAD MATAR:
مقاومٌ بالثرثرة
ممانعٌ بالثرثرة
له لسانُ مُدَّعٍ
يصولُ في شوارعِ الشَّامِ كسيفِ عنترة
يكادُ يلتَّفُ على الجولانِ والقنيطرة

مقاومٌ لم يرفعِ السِّلاحَ
لمْ يرسل إلى جولانهِ دبابةً أو طائرةْ
لم يطلقِ النّار على العدوِ
لكنْ حينما تكلَّمَ الشّعبُ
صحا من نومهِ
و صاحَ في رجالهِ
مؤامرة !
مؤامرة !
و أعلنَ الحربَ على الشَّعبِ
و كانَ ردُّهُ على الكلامِ
مَجزرةْ

مقاومٌ يفهمُ في الطبِّ كما يفهمُ في السّياسةْ
استقال مِن عيادةِ العيونِ
كي يعملَ في ” عيادةِ الرئاسة
فشرَّحَ الشّعبَ
و باعَ لحمهُ وعظمهُ
و قدَّمَ اعتذارهُ لشعبهِ ببالغِ الكياسةْ
عذراً لكمْ
يا أيَّها الشَّعبُ
الذي جعلتُ من عظامهِ مداسا
عذراً لكم
يا أيَّها الشَّعبُ
الذي سرقتهُ في نوبةِ الحراسةْ
عذراً لكم
يا أيَّها الشَّعبُ الذي طعنتهُ في ظهرهِ
في نوبةِ الحراسةْ
عذراً
فإنْ كنتُ أنا ” الدكتورَ ” في الدِّراسةْ
فإنني القصَّابُ و السَّفاحُ
و القاتلُ بالوراثةْ

دكتورنا ” الفهمانْ ”
يستعملُ السّاطورَ في جراحةِ اللسانْ
مَنْ قالَ : ” لا ” مِنْ شعبهِ
في غفلةٍ عنْ أعينِ الزَّمانْ
يرحمهُ الرحمنْ
بلادهُ سجنٌ
و كلُّ شعبهِ إما سجينٌ عندهُ
أو أنَّهُ سجَّانْ

بلادهُ مقبرةٌ
أشجارها لا تلبسُ الأخضرَ
لكنْ تلبسُ السَّوادَ و الأكفانْ
حزناً على الإنسانْ

أحاكمٌ لدولةٍ
مَنْ يطلقُ النَّارَ على الشَّعبِ الذي يحكمهُ
أمْ أنَّهُ قرصانْ ؟

لا تبكِ يا سوريّةْ
لا تعلني الحدادَ
فوقَ جسدِ الضحيَّة
لا تلثمي الجرحَ
و لا تنتزعي الشّظيّةْ
القطرةُ الأولى مِنَ الدَّمِ الذي نزفتهِ
ستحسمُ القضيّةْ

قفي على رجليكِ يا ميسونَ
يا بنتَ بني أميّةْ
قفي كسنديانةٍ
في وجهِ كلِّ طلقةٍ و كلِّ بندقية
قفي كأي وردةٍ حزينةٍ
تطلعُ فوقَ شرفةٍ شاميّةْ
و أعلني الصرَّخةَ في وجوههمْ
حريّة
و أعلني الصَّرخةَ في وجوههمْ
حريّةْ

September 26th, 2012, 9:30 am

The last moments of Maya Naser’s life before he was killed by an FSA sniper.

#RIPMayaNaser

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M43olFYqRPw

He was wearing only civilian clothes , no helmet , no bullet proof vest , …

http://t.co/6uXsoWIU

Also

Hussain Mortada was also shot in the stomach today. However, he is recovering well and it is not life threatening.

September 26th, 2012, 9:40 am

Mina said:

Modern shari’a in modern Tunisia
http://www.lemonde.fr/tunisie/article/2012/09/26/en-tunisie-une-femme-violee-est-poursuivie-pour-atteinte-a-la-pudeur_1765985_1466522.html

September 26th, 2012, 9:43 am

For those who didn’t know him:
Brave Journalist MAYA NASSER, courageous and honest, always on the field reporting truth

By MKERone

Just a couple of videos to show to the world who was Maya Nasser. A brave man, full of courage that gave his life for reporting truth. He was always on the field, even during shootings, to expose western media lies and give people an exclusive view on what has been unfolding in Syria.

He was a real journalist. On the field, talking about what he knew, saw, experienced. Not like the so called pundits, confortably sat in skycrapers MSM studios, talking about Syrian conflict thousands of miles away from Syria.

That is the reason why GCC/NATO/EU/USrahell/UN needed to kill Maya Nasser. To silence him.

Rest in peace dear brother ! May peace be upon you

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnpXUalLQPc
http://youtu.be/k85zcEb5jVE
http://youtu.be/RFkj7EsHxLo

https://counterpsyops.com/2012/09/26/for-those-who-didnt-know-him-brave-journalist-maya-nasser-courageous-and-honest-always-on-the-field-reporting-truth/

September 26th, 2012, 9:49 am

Visitor:

The usual answer to your comment in free countries is “Hey, it’s a free country and you can vote for whomever you bloody well like”, or that’s what they’d say in N.Z., at least. You’re also at liberty to try to influence those around you WITH LOGIC AND ARGUMENT that they should vote for Sunni this or 3ifriti that. The free country and elections that Syrians want will not include picking or disqualifying candidates on the basis of their sectarian affiliation or degree of religious observance! Are you going to hold a gun to people’s heads and force them to do what you want them to do? If your answer is yes then let it be known that I believe you to be a regime supporter masquerading as a revolutionary, end of conversation, or ‘3lak’ as you termed it.

September 26th, 2012, 9:54 am

Kicked out of Aleppo, the proud FSA resorts to coward terrorist acts in the capital.
The collapse of the FSA is nearing…

September 26th, 2012, 9:55 am

Maya Nasser Press TV shabbiha in Damascus was killed by FSA snipers, WOOOHOOOOO !!!!!

September 26th, 2012, 9:58 am

شهد مؤتمر المعارضة السورية بالداخل الذي يجري اليوم الأربعاء في دمشق مشاركة عدد من ضباط وعناصر “الجيش الحر” كأطراف في الحوار حيث أعلن بعضهم عودته عن الانشقاق.
وقال المقدم “خالد عبدالرحمن الزالم” ممثل المجلس العسكري في المنطقة الجنوبية “للجيش الحر” في كلمة أثناء المؤتمر:” نرفض حمل السوري السلاح بوجه أخيه السوري.. بدأنا نفكر بما آل اليه وطننا الحبيب ورأينا ان رفع المعاناة عن شعبنا يتطلب عمل وجهد كل المؤمنين والمخلصين وهذا يجب السعي اليه بحق… لذلك قررنا العودة عما أقدمنا عليه والتعاون مع وزارة المصالحة الوطنية لتسوية أوضاعنا ولنضع انفسنا تحت تصرف قيادة الجيش”. وأضاف المقدم الزالم:” الحل في سورية يكون بالعودة عن الخطأ فكلنا سوريون ونرفض الثورة التي تبدأ بالدم وتحلل قتل الأبرياء”.
كما أكد ان “الطريق مفتوح ليعود البقية من رفاق السلاح لان الحل في سورية سياسي ويجب علينا جميعا الاتفاق على ما تحتاجه سورية ويحتاجه الشعب السوريب الاصلاح وليس بالتدمير”.
بدوره قال قائد سابق لمجموعات مسلحة في حلب واسمه “ياسر العبد”:” أؤيد جهودكم لحل الأزمة وأنا معكم من أجل ذلك.. أرادوا إحراق بلدنا والمستهدف هو وطننا ولذلك تخليت عن السلاح”.
eventually, if there is a sincere desire to save the country, Syrian army officers who defected should be given the option to retire or rejoin without being prosecuted, similar standards must be used for existing officers in the army, the real problem will be security forces, those forces are directly responsible for turning this uprising into a bloody mess,they are more corrupt than everybody else and they will be the hardest to reform,there is no doubt that many of their leaders should go to prison.
As for justice and criminal courts, I would let Syrians inside Syria set the standards and decide how to proceed, we as expats did more damage to Syria than good, your babbling here does not change this fact.

September 26th, 2012, 10:03 am

3allak # 54,

You are speaking for your self of course. I doubt you can influence what will come out in Syria. When you say “The free country and elections that Syrians want will not include picking…” you’re going way over your head and claiming things that you have little say in other than your presumed vote. This is what I call 3alak.

As you being a declared atheist by monikor, rest assured you will have the least say in new Syria.

I do not need or seek recognition from a non-relevant atheist regarding my political views or support for the revolution, to which I have contributed far more than you can ever dream in your lifetime, and I will have much more say than your pathetic atheist non-relevance

I end the conversation when I feel like it and not you.

September 26th, 2012, 10:17 am

Oh, please sah, do let me babble just a bit mo.

You are finally starting to show your true colors, sir.

“OH, my brothers and sisters! Come to the folds, my dear people, Big Brother will forgive you and lead you on the straight righteous path.”

September 26th, 2012, 10:22 am

Observer said:

” Bleak future for Syria “.

Future? What is that? I thought Our Leader till Eternity is Hafez Al Assad and therefore we do not need a future. We arrived at Paradise, so why think of the future. He had the answers for his time and for time immemorial. His words and teachings and actions are eternal and therefore there is no need for a future.

As a matter of fact, Ibrahimi conceded that this is fight to turn the clock back to that glorious day when Corlenone the father ruled.

Cheers.

September 26th, 2012, 10:25 am

Hassan said:

WE WANT A WAR DR. PRESIDENT !!!

INVADE QATAR AND TURKEY !!!!!!

WE YOUR SPECIAL FORCES, PARATROOPERS AND MAN-EATERS ARE AT YOUR COMMAND !!!.

3allak # 59,

So now you want to talk more?

I like the ‘sah’. Who are you trying to immitate? The British? Typical inferiority complex!

But, truthfully, you only made yourself incoherent.

No surprise here. This is a well known atheist characteristic.

Mana’a will be very happy to add you to his collection of invalids.

September 26th, 2012, 10:29 am

Hey OBSERVER,

Isn’t it funny how some are so self obsessed they think everything is directed at them? It looks like we already have one person who has announced the start of a campaign to install the next Brother Dictator of Syria.

September 26th, 2012, 10:40 am

3allak # 63,

Are you calling for help in this comment?

So, you cannot handle things on your own?

And you expect to speak for others as in your ta3’aleek #54?

You should practice saying ‘sah’ more often. Try it in front of a mirror or even better in the shower.

September 26th, 2012, 10:54 am

Son of Damascus said:

A.S.S.A.D,

Some self delusional people on here really think they have a say in anything and everything.

Luckily for us and our country he is just a visitor from lebanon….

Going back into my drunken stupor, hoping to dodge another Fatwa promising to leash me.

Sincerely

Garbage of Damascus 😉

September 26th, 2012, 10:57 am

Western MSM reporting at its best :
“par un tir de sniper” versus exchange of gunfire

La chaîne iranienne Press TV a annoncé que l’un de ses journalistes, Maya Nasser, avait été tué “par un tir de sniper”. En outre, le chef du bureau de la chaîne Al-Alam à Damas, Hussein Mortada, a été blessé. On ignore si M. Mortada, dont Press TV n’a pas précisé la nationalité, se trouvait avec le journaliste lorsque ce dernier a été abattu.

http://www.france24.com/fr/20120926-syrie-damas-services-renseignement-etat-major-conflit-explosion-assad

Press TV journalist killed

Iran’s Press TV said one of its correspondents was killed in an exchange of gunfire following twin blasts in Damascus on Wednesday morning.

The channel identified the reporter as 33-year-old Maya Nasser, a Syrian national.

http://www.france24.com/en/20120926-syria-twin-blasts-explosions-bomb-strike-damascus-army-headquarters-fire-umayyad-

September 26th, 2012, 11:04 am

55 Zoo
As usual, the initiative to keep with holding the Damascus conference met with a few angry reactions: kidnapping of 2 opposition members on their way back from China, FSA announcing “we are also belonging to the resistance inside, therefore we send a video ‘from inside'”, the jihadist in the Guardian saying ammunitions are coming, and Qatar and KSA pretending there is no such thing as the contact-group and the Damascus meeting…
Not to mention some pathetic efforts on a certain website to sell Ammar and Manaf as clean insiders!

September 26th, 2012, 11:08 am

Ibn-Dimashq

I think you’d said that you were originally from al-midan, right?
Well from ibn souq saroujah to Ibn-il-midan: watch out, brother, those fatwas are issued at such a pace we won’t be able to dodge them no more! (I think at least half a dozen were ordered for my head just in the last half an hour) Lucky for you, you can use a drink or two to dull the resulting anxiety attacks 😉 , I don’t drink, what am I gonna doooo?

September 26th, 2012, 11:20 am

3allak # 68,

Who threatened you? And who would put even a dime on your worthless head? You really think you’re that important?

Baggage of Damascus turned into Garbage of Damascus:

So you’re from Midan, eh? What a waste? And now you will rot in the quebec cold until hell freezes while drinking your micro brain away.

You have a new buddy with not much to offer like your khayyam idol. He does not drink. O yes he is a salafist atheist. That is a differnt breed of atheist, a very strict observant of no drink, no smoke, no sex outside marriage. You guys will enjoy each other’s company. He also cannot stand on his own feet? can you BOD/GOD lend him a cane to lean on? But, it has to be a special British-made cane, SAH!

And you, BOD think you know where I am from? That’s moronic to say the least! What have you been brewing? It smells very low grade. Or is it just the micro head?

September 26th, 2012, 11:37 am

Just got a message answering my question aboveand would you believe it, it is from the one who preaches forgiveness: “just join the fold, admit your mistakes and big brother will forgive you and might even give you a post in his newly re-structured security services, but you have to learn a few torture techniques without leaving any marks”

Nope, I think I’ll take my chances with the fatwas (gone up to a dozen now, another message says).

September 26th, 2012, 11:40 am

قادة في الجيش الحر يعلنون عودتهم عن انشقاقهم خلال مؤتمر لاحد اطراف المعارضة السورية بالداخل
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/595527/

العربي: المقترح القطري لا يتضمن إرسال قوات مقاتلة عربية الى سورية
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/595533/

September 26th, 2012, 12:04 pm

Thank you MINA for doing the right thing and providing the link to to the news item which others so often ignore to do and only give us the bit that they want to use out of context. Here is the Arabic text, (forgive me rt, for I have sinned and copied and pasted all of your article:
شهد مؤتمر لأحد اطراف المعارضة السورية بالداخل الذي يجري اليوم في دمشق مشاركة عدد من ضباط وعناصر “الجيش الحر” كأطراف في الحوار حيث أعلن بعضهم عودته عن الانشقاق ووضع امكانياته مجددا في سبيل “وحدة سورية” والعمل “بالاصلاح وليس بالتدمير والتخريب” من أجل مصلحة الشعب السوري، على حد قولهم.

وقال المقدم خالد عبدالرحمن الزالم ممثل المجلس العسكري في المنطقة الجنوبية للجيش الحر في كلمة أثناء المؤتمر:” نرفض حمل السوري السلاح بوجه أخيه السوري.. بدأنا نفكر بما آل اليه وطننا الحبيب ورأينا ان رفع المعاناة عن شعبنا يتطلب عمل وجهد كل المؤمنين والمخلصين، وهذا يجب السعي اليه بحق… لذلك قررنا العودة عما أقدمنا عليه والتعاون مع وزارة المصالحة الوطنية لتسوية أوضاعنا ولنضع انفسنا تحت تصرف قيادة الجيش”. وأضاف المقدم الزالم:” الحل في سورية يكون بالعودة عن الخطأ، فكلنا سوريون ونرفض الثورة التي تبدأ بالدم وتحلل قتل الأبرياء”.

كما أكد ان “الطريق مفتوح ليعود البقية من رفاق السلاح لان الحل في سورية سياسي، ويجب علينا جميعا الاتفاق على ما تحتاجه سورية ويحتاجه الشعب السوري بالاصلاح وليس بالتدمير.

بدوره قال قائد سابق لمجموعات مسلحة في حلب واسمه ياسر العبد:” أؤيد جهودكم لحل الأزمة، وأنا معكم من أجل ذلك.. أرادوا إحراق بلدنا والمستهدف هو وطننا، ولذلك تخليت عن السلاح”.

وهذا هو اللقاء الثاني للتيارات السياسية المعارضة في داخل البلاد، والذي يجمع أكثر من 30 تياراً وحزباً، بين أحزاب خرجت إلى العلن بموجب قانون الأحزاب الجديد وقوى لها وجود تاريخي في البلاد، مثل الشيوعيين والقوميين السوريين، بالإضافة إلى قوى أخرى تطالب بالتغيير السلمي.

على أن اللافت في المؤتمر هو أن عدداً من القوى المشاركة فيه أعلنت عنه اثر استبعادها من مؤتمر اخر لمعارضة الداخل سمي “مؤتمر الإنقاذ” الذي اعتبرت فيه “هيئة التنسيق الوطنية” أن هذه القوى(التي اجتمعت اليوم) ليست معارضة بقدر ما هي تمثل فريق السلطة، وبالتالي لا مكان لها في فريق المعارضة،

وهو الأمر الذي دفع هذه القوى المستبعدة إلى عقد مؤتمر آخر بغية طرح مبادرة لبدء الحل السياسي في البلاد، ومحاولة التغيير السلمي، بما يجنب البلاد مزيداً من الموت والدمار والمزيد من الخسائر الاقتصادية والبشرية، كما تشير مختلف بيانات هذه التيارات.

المصدر: روسيا اليوم

So what does this tell us over and above what we were lead to believe through reading just a snippet of this article? Read the bold text part (my work, no omissions, though) and it becomes all clear. Should I hazard to guess that these “munshaqeen” who ‘saw the light and re-joined the fold of Big Brother’ were ones who had done so only in order to join the FSA and spy for BB? (big brother or Bashar the butcher, take your pick) Wasn’t the main reason for defecting the unbearable guilt at and rejection of having to shoot one’s own people in the first place? So are they re-joining the fold now with special dispensation to take up missionary work instead?

Stop insulting people’s intelligence, please!

September 26th, 2012, 12:31 pm

Dear A.S.S A.D

I always read your posts. I just do not open all the links. My psych can’t tolerate too so I often try to shelter myself until I gather some courage.

September 26th, 2012, 12:34 pm

jna said:

The bastards had to eliminate the voices which countered Opposition propaganda. Maya Naser was a very brave man and daily faced death fearlessly.
https://twitter.com/nasermaya

“The Syrian opposition Free Syrian Army (FSA) immediately took responsibility for the attack, and conversely claimed the attack killed dozens of people.”

“Iran’s Press TV correspondent, Syrian Maya Nasser, was killed by a sniper in the clashes that followed the explosions. The Damascus bureau chief, Huseein Murtada, was also wounded.”
http://mideast.foreignpolicy.com/posts/2012/09/26/at_the_united_nations_president_obama_calls_on_world_leaders_to_fight_extremism

September 26th, 2012, 12:35 pm

Visitor,

It is becoming so painful to read some of your posts. Why are you doing this?

September 26th, 2012, 12:37 pm

I am not sure if we’ve lost Sherk and Jürgen because of the maths or because it doesn’t sound too cool to be supporting that kind of fellows:
http://angryarab.blogspot.de/2012/09/soldiers-of-god.html

By the way, for the Canadians on board, they may start their humanitarian duties from right around the corner next door?
http://angryarab.blogspot.de/2012/09/lebanese-war-criminals-in-us-and-canada.html

September 26th, 2012, 12:41 pm

His next to last tweet:

Maya Naser‏@nasermaya

@_no_surrender say it put loud, I am on twitter with my real name and real location, what more loud than that???

September 26th, 2012, 12:48 pm

Atheist,
It’s not big news to say that the people in Syria, including those who want the fall of the regime, are divided.

You just have to read the posts of some here these days!

While they are at it, with their universal law on blasphemy, please ask the world authorities to have one declaring that females are full humain beings.

“While they are at it, with their universal law on blasphemy, please ask the world authorities to have one declaring that females are full humain beings.”

Hey, I’m flattered, but you picked the wrong fella. I’m just a lowly atheist, you know. You oughtta direct your request to His right-hand on-earth, the one designing the next election system for Syria and expressly appointed by Him to run the election campaign of the next Brother Dictator. But if you choose to support the really FREE version of Syria, you can propose any declaration you want and put it to the people.

September 26th, 2012, 1:04 pm

Tara 73 said,

“Visitor,

It is becoming so painful to read some of your posts. Why are you doing this?”

Do you think you have a crowd that you can really conduct a reasonable conversation with? Come on you must be seeing things that I do not see! And I usually see things quite well.

When you have people like so-called A.S.S.A.D., SOD/BOD, Jabali/Jeblawi, SNP/Dendeshee, Ann/Spam, the Zoo, the Irritated and the many others like them, then what else do you expect?

I told you many times I am not polite with such crowd.

I do not change my policy to please any.

September 26th, 2012, 1:05 pm

observer said:

Yes I do start the day visiting the pro regime web sites including Iranian and HA and Syrian and I do have an idea then of where the regime and its supporters stand.

It is telling that we have a celebration of FSA defectors; that is those that are returning to the fold according to SANA and AL ALAM and yet when defectors leave the regime it is called “self cleaning” scrubb bubbles action.

The regime is in deep trouble.

No news so far. This is going to take years.

September 26th, 2012, 1:30 pm

Ghiufran said:

نقلت وكالة “رويترز” للأنباء أن فريدريك هوف – الذي
يشكل مع السفير الأمريكي لدى سوريا روبرت فورد الركيزة الأساسية لفريق وزارة الخارجية المعني بالأزمة السورية- أبلغ كلينتون انه يعتزم الاستقالة.

September 26th, 2012, 1:35 pm

Damage to Syria’s army headquarters was extensive, reported a witness from CNN affiliate ITN, who also described the building’s insides as charred. A crater marked the location outside the facility where a car bomb exploded.
Closed-circuit television images showed a white van driving near the headquarters before exploding.
Comment: the size of explosion and the extent of damage make it hard to believe that only 4 people got killed. The FSA is now in the business of killing the journalists they do not like.let the insanity continue and allow this bloody dance to go on.

September 26th, 2012, 1:41 pm

Turkey is in the mood to take a tougher line with Syria
While western and Arab states fail to act on Syria, Erdogan’s ruling party bash is likely to involve serious plotting to get rid of Assad

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/sep/26/turkey-mood-tougher-line-syria

Simon Tisdall
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 September 2012 12.00 EDT

Growing fears that Syria’s civil war is spilling over into neighbouring countries are driving urgent discussions involving Turkey and Arab states about a tougher, joint response, including possible military intervention. A focal point is this weekend’s Turkish ruling party convention in Ankara, which several Arab leaders are expected to attend…
…
“The security council failed to reach an effective position. In view of this, I think that it is better for the Arab countries themselves to interfere out of their national, humanitarian, political and military duties and do what is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Syria,” Hamad told the UN general assembly. Countries should provide “all sorts of support”, presumably including arms, to the opposition.

Direct military intervention in Syria by Arab countries remains extremely unlikely at present. But indirect, covert means are already being applied, and militarily weak governments continue to push others to act on their behalf. It was reported in July, for example, that Saudi Arabia and Qatar had induced Turkey to set up a secret “nerve centre” in Adana to direct military, intelligence, logistics and communications aid to Syrian rebels. This supposed operation may also have tacit CIA support. All the countries mentioned deny supplying arms.
…
Among all the neighbours, it is militarily formidable Turkey that is suffering the most, principally as a result of Assad’s decision to offer Syrian bases and backing to Kurdistan Workers’ party (PKK) fighters in their ongoing separatist struggle..

The price of such enmity is high. PKK-related violence inside Turkey has now reached a 10-year high and is spreading, according to recent reports. Tuesday saw another attack in which six Turkish soldiers and one civilian were killed. Iran, Syria’s ally, is covertly supporting Assad’s Kurdish strategy, and this has led in turn to new strains in its relations with Ankara.

Turkey is being pressed by France to create and defend “liberated zones” along its border with Syria, an idea harking back to the Iraq “safe havens” of the 1990s and from which the US and Britain have so far distanced themselves. But while Erdogan will not act on the French proposal without UN or at least US and Nato backing, he may well be in the mood to hit back at Assad over his provocative support for the PKK. This weekend, several regional leaders opposed to Assad, including Egypt’s Morsi, will attend Erdogan’s ruling party bash. Expect ever more urgent plotting on the theme: Get Bashar.
…

September 26th, 2012, 1:56 pm

ولربما نستطيع تكهن سبب إستقالته؟ قرفاً واحتجاجا على تردد الحكومة الأمريكية على مساعدة الشعب السوري في نضاله ضد البطش الأسدي?

September 26th, 2012, 1:58 pm

Was HBJ’s recent declaration of plan B just a hot air or a prelude to a real scenario in the make?

Well it was a hint at the cause of the division between the opponents, inside and outside Syria. Never mind (it was not addressed, by the way, only the beginning was).

By the way, when are we going to read opinion polls about what the Qatari average citizen (ok they are not so many) thinks about his government’s policy? After all, we see those concerning Syria from Turkey, Israel, the US, isn’t it?

Ghufran, the bomb exploded at 7 AM so supposedly there shouldn’t be too many people? Maybe it is the “selmiyya” version of car bombing? (unless there was someone driving the van). But some reports mention another bomb in Abu Romaneh. Is this one of the usual journalists mistakes about the neighborhood or there were indeed 2 coordinated attacks?

September 26th, 2012, 2:01 pm

In Europe, they have “other kinds” of problems
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/businesslatestnews/9566520/Spanish-austerity-protest-turns-violent-in-pictures.html?frame=2350937

And same in Greece.

September 26th, 2012, 2:14 pm

The Battle for Damascus is now due.
—-
Khatab, a resident of Damascus who lives less than a kilometre from today’s bombings, has been talking via Skype with our colleague Mona Mahmood.

When the first explosion took place at seven in the morning, I was in bed. I woke up to massive sounds of explosion, followed by gunfire that lasted for almost half an hour. Soon afterwards, another explosion was heard. We could see clouds of smoke.

I asked some of my friends who live in Hay al-Muhajireen about the gunfire that followed the explosions. They said some of the military men who work in the building and facilitated the explosion and had defected were engaged in clashes with other members of the Syrian army.

All the routes that lead to Umayyad square were sealed off till 11am. The checkpoints nearby were in panic and they began to shoot in the air at random. There are 60 to 70 checkpoints in Damascus city and the rate of checking people is very high today. They [normally] stop people whom they suspect, but today they are stopping every single car to check the trunk and the front and people’s IDs.

Access routes to Damascus from the suburbs and provinces were sealed off.

I have seen more than 10 ambulances moving injured people to hospitals, including the military hospital.

After all that panic, at 11.30am we heard a massive gunfire again from Umayyad square. Some of the regime supporters in General Staff buildings and the Syrian TV staff were marching in support of the regime and President Assad and were firing in the air for the killing of the defectors at the building.

Traffic is almost dead as most of the people decided to stay at home. Snipers are deployed at the top of the buildings. There are also cars with guns on top of them in front of some of the buildings.
…
The Guardian

September 26th, 2012, 2:18 pm

Have the rebels taken responsibility for the bombing? I remember seeing pictures , maps and analysis of the incident on one sycophant site, like, minutes after the BBC announced it in their ticker tape.
What I’m hinting at is don’t be so hasty with your conclusions, there is a possibility of it being a regime job, the reasons for which won’t become apparent until a while later. Just hold your horses, folks. This regime is so devious with always something up its sleeve. That latest “opposition” conference and all that talk about “renouncing violence and coming back into the fold” is but one mild example.

Y’all be good, it’s way past my bed time!

September 26th, 2012, 2:19 pm

81. observer

What, there are FSA defectors now? Unprecedented in any conflict I’ve heard of! Defecting defector? FSA is doomed, lol.

September 26th, 2012, 2:31 pm

تبنى “تجمع انصار الاسلام-دمشق وريفها” الاسلامي التفجيرين اللذين استهدفا مبنى الاركان العامة في دمشق، مؤكدا ان منفذيه هم خمسة من افرادها بينهم انتحاري، بحسب ما جاء في بيان نشر على الانترنت.
وقال التجمع في بيان “قام احد مجاهدينا الاستشهاديين باستهداف المدخل الرئيسي للمبنى عن طريق تفجير سيارته”، بينما “قامت مجموعة ثانية مؤلفة من اربعة مجاهدين باقتحام المدخل”، وقاموا “بالتعاون مع بعض الشرفاء من داخل المبنى” بتفجير “العبوات المزروعة في الطابق الثالث”.

September 26th, 2012, 2:39 pm

According to Le Monde, a “djihadist group” (tajammu’ ansar al islam) have claimed responsibility, as well as 3 FSA brigades. It was a suicide bombing according to the dijhadists.
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2012/09/26/syrie-deux-explosions-pres-du-batiment-de-l-etat-major-a-damas_1765673_3218.html

For those of you rejoiced the killing of the American Ambassador to demonize the Arab Spring, read below. The world is not buying it.
—-
David Cameron attacks UN for inaction on Syria
Prime minister tells general assembly that blood of Syrian children is ‘terrible stain’ on reputation of United Nations
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 26 September 2012 13.59 EDT

http://www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2012/sep/26/david-cameron-un-inaction-syria?newsfeed=true

David Cameron has launched his strongest attack on the United Nations over its inaction on Syria, declaring that the blood of young children is a “terrible stain” on its reputation.

In a display of Britain’s impatience with Russia and China, which have blocked a series of UN security resolutions on Syria, the prime minister declared that “no one of conscience” could ignore the suffering.

Cameron, who was speaking to the UN general assembly shortly after the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, cited a recent report by Save the Children which said that schools were being used as torture centres.

The prime minister said: “The blood of these young children is a terrible stain on the reputation of this United Nations. And in particular, a stain on those who have failed to stand up to these atrocities and in some cases aided and abetted Assad’s reign of terror.
…
The prime minister said: “One year on, some believe that the Arab spring is in danger of becoming an Arab winter. They point to the riots on the streets, Syria’s descent into a bloody civil war, the frustration at the lack of economic progress and the emergence of newly elected Islamist-led governments across the region.

“But they are in danger of drawing the wrong conclusion. Today is not the time to turn back, but to keep the faith and redouble our support for open societies, and for people’s demands for a job and ..

“The fact is that for decades, too many were prepared to tolerate dictators like Gaddafi and Assad on the basis that they would both keep their people safe at home and promote stability in the region and the wider world. In fact, neither was true. Not only were these dictators repressing their people, ruling by control not by consent, plundering the national wealth and denying people their basic rights and freedoms, they were funding terrorism overseas as well.”
…

September 26th, 2012, 2:42 pm

Farewell Morsi’s contact-group
After KSA ‘s withdrawal, it is the turn of their new pet Turkey to be excused…
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/egypt-cancels-regional-syria-talks-because-turkey-s-absence

I bet they are all very busy writing their new anti-blasphemy laws.

September 26th, 2012, 2:44 pm

شيع الآلاف من الليبيين في مدينة مصراتة جثمان أحد الثوار الذين ألقوا القبض على العقيد الراحل معمر القذافي ومن ثم قتلوه ونكلوا بجثته في اكتوبر/تشرين أول الماضي.
وافادت وكالة الأنباء الليبية “وال” يوم الاربعاء 26 سبتمبر/ايلول بأن “جنازة شعبية أقيمت أمس الثلاثاء في المدينة الرياضية بمصراتة أدى خلالها الآلاف من أهالي المدينة وثوارها والمدن الأخرى صلاة الجنازة على عمران جمعة شعبان الذي توفي أول أمس الاثنين في إحدى المصحات الفرنسية نتيجة لإصابته بطلق ناري بعد تعرضه للاحتجاز من قبل مجموعة مسلحة خارجة عن القانون في منطقة بني وليد”.
remember the golden sword proverb.
mina,
the withdrawal of KSA, if confirmed, from the Quartet tells a lot about KSA’s lack of interest in negotiating an exit to the Syrian crisis.

September 26th, 2012, 2:52 pm

25 September 2012
Syria ex-detainees allege ordeals of rape and sex abuse

Fergal Keane’s report contains graphic accounts of sexual violence

In Syria, details continue to emerge of sexual violence against prisoners, and the BBC’s Fergal Keane has been hearing harrowing stories of some former detainees.

The first thing he saw was a woman in the corner of the basement. “They were raping her. It was clear that they were raping her. There was blood coming out of her body and she just stayed in the corner.”. “They hit me, they kick me, they slap me and they (did) something unfriendly and offensive… I know what happens when they arrest someone. I feel like this is the end.” The “rapist officers” behaved like animals, the former detainee says
At first, he says, a security official began to touch him sexually. There was also an officer who watched what was happening but remained silent. Then he was attacked by a group of three officers.

“The three guys, they are like animals. I tried to protect myself but I’m just a short guy… when they were raping me, I start to say: ‘Please don’t do that, please don’t do that.'”
…
Another witness, a woman, told me she had been held for two months in the notorious Palestine Branch of Military Intelligence in Damascus – a building bombed by rebels last May.

The woman was arrested at a checkpoint in Homs late last year.

As part of the torture, she alleges, rats and mice were used by interrogators to violate women. She described an assault on another prisoner which she says she witnessed.

“He inserted a rat in her vagina. She was screaming. Afterwards we saw blood on the floor. He told her: ‘Is this good enough for you?’ They were mocking her. It was obvious she was in agony. We could see her. After that she no longer moved.”

September 26th, 2012, 3:00 pm

here is the answer to a question about Turkey:
قال متحدث باسم الرئاسة المصرية ان “الرئيس محمد مرسي ألغى اجتماعا لاربع قوى اقليمية بشأن أزمة سوريا بسبب غياب رئيس الوزراء التركي رجب طيب اردوغان عن اجتماعات الجمعية العامة للامم المتحدة”

September 26th, 2012, 3:18 pm

US Special Forces Deployed in Iraq, Again
The irony is that the US is protecting a pro-Iran Shiite regime in Baghdad against a Sunni-based insurgency while at the same time supporting a Sunni-led movement against the Iran-backed dictatorship in Syria. The Sunni rebellions are occurring in the vast Sunni region between northwestern Iraq and southern Syria where borders are porous.

During the Iraq War, many Iraqi insurgents from Anbar and Diyala provinces took sanctuary in Sunni areas of Syria. Now they are turning their weapons on two targets, the al-Malaki government in Baghdad and the Assad regime in Damascus.

The US is caught in the contradictions of proxy wars, favoring Iran’s ally in Iraq while trying to displace Iran’s proxy in syria

http://tipggita32.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/us-special-forces-deployed-in-iraq-again/

September 26th, 2012, 3:20 pm

http://www.democracynow.org/2006/7/21/u_s_arming_of_israel_how

September 26th, 2012, 3:22 pm

NATO Terrorists Bomb School in Syria
http://www.activistpost.com/2012/09/nato-terrorists-bomb-school-in-syria.html
France seeks no-fly zone over Syria to repeat Al Qaeda Benghazi-blowback.
As NATO desperately attempts to cover up a botched false flag operation in Benghazi, Libya which left a high-ranking US diplomat dead, France has urged a repeat performance in Syria. That is, arming and providing air support for the very terrorist battalions now operating in Syria that have ravaged and overrun Libya, leaving it a perpetually wrecked, destabilized terrorist epicenter.

The announcement made by French President Francois Hollande came on the heels of a deadly terrorist bombing in Damascus targeting a school rebels claim baselessly claim was being used by Syrian security forces.

Western propagandists are now calling the school a “security building.”

Reuters reported in their article, “Syrian rebels bomb security building in Damascus:”
Protection for ‘liberated’ areas would require no-fly zones enforced by foreign aircraft, which could stop deadly air raids by Assad’s forces on populated areas. But there is little chance of securing a Security Council mandate for such action given the continuing opposition of veto-wielding members Russia and China. Before quoting Hollande who said: ‘How long can we accept the paralysis at the U.N.?’
…….

September 26th, 2012, 3:25 pm

Russia 24 TV
Battle For Syria: View from the Frontline! (English subtitles)

September 26th, 2012, 4:17 pm

I do not care if Morsi is an MB or not, if his action matches his rhetoric and he manages to put Egypt back in its rightful place I will be the first to call him a hero, it is obviously too early to judge the guy:

Mohamed Morsi, addressing the United Nations as the first democratically chosen leader of Egypt, called the Syrian war “the tragedy of our age” for which the whole world was responsible – and accused the Assad regime of “killing its people night and day”.
President Morsi called for the replacement of the regime with a democratic government representative of all the country’s ethnic and religious groups, but said this should be done without outside military intervention. Instead, he pointed to a new diplomatic initiative begun by Egypt, Turkey and Iran, and called on other nations to join it.
Before discussing the Syrian conflict, Morsi said the UN should make a priority of addressing the plight of the Palestinian people, saying that it was “shameful” that successive UN resolutions on the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories had not been enforced.

September 26th, 2012, 4:18 pm

Westerwelle Won’t Comment on Spying on Syria, Elaraby Easy on US

UNITED NATIONS, September 26 — When German foreign minister Guido Westerwelle and the Arab League’s Nabil Elaraby appeared for an 8:30 am press conference on Wednesday, seven hours before the German-organized UN Security Council meeting about the Arab League, each made a point of speaking in their native language, for the home audience.

But Inner City Press got in two questions in English, one of which was dodged and the other not directly answered.

Inner City Press asked Westerwelle about reports that German ships have been collecting intelligence from Syria, for example on army movements, and providing it to the Syria opposition.

Westerwelle said he would not comment on that. It was in the German newspaper Die Welt. Some say there are countries that want to be able to tell their home audience they are helping the rebels, but then… don’t want to answer questions about it.

Elaraby had said that Palestine is the most important issue. Inner City Press asked about the draft(s) of a Council Presidential Statement for the afternoon, and about what Council sources tell Inner City Press is the “Host Country’s” opposition to a reference to Palestine and the Arab peace initiative.

But Elaraby did not answer about this specific opposition, rather saying that the tragedy of Palestine was caused by the Security Council, and should be fixed by it.

http://www.innercitypress.com/un67ga1germlas092612.html

September 26th, 2012, 4:31 pm

War Scenes
http://www.moonofalabama.org/2012/09/war-scenes.html#comments

September 26th, 2012, 4:43 pm

67. Mina

Yes, Mina that’s how Qatar, Turkey and the vampires react when they see that their plans to make Syria a puppet of the West and of the oil oligarchies by promoting exiled Syrians, foreign terrorists and pseudo-westernized Syrians to take over the country, is counteracted by the secular opposition within Syria and by a united army.

These terrorists attacks and the flurry of tempestuous declarations just show their fear that the local Syrian opposition may hijack their bloody, tainted and polluted revolution away from them.
Ultimately the Syrians IN Syria will decide.

September 26th, 2012, 4:52 pm

Jacques Bérès French War Surgeon Says Nearly Half of Rebels In Syria Are Jihadist Terrorists

September 26th, 2012, 5:05 pm

It sounds like Qatar is getting desperate, after failing to allure NATO, the mouse that roars now calls for Arab armies to intervene in the ‘unacceptable phase’ where the Syrian army is making Qatar’ s money spent on weapons and rebels salaries going in dust.

World leaders clash over Syria
Ban calls on countries not to assist either side

…
Sheik Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani of Qatar called on Arab nations to “interfere out of the national, humanitarian, political and military duties and do what is necessary to stop the bloodshed in Syria” because the U.N. Security Council has failed to forge an effective position on ending the violence

Read more: World leaders clash over Syria – Washington Times http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/sep/25/arab-ruler-calls-full-support-syrian-rebels/#ixzz27c4va1zJ
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter

The fighting in Syria has entered an “unacceptable phase,” he said.

September 26th, 2012, 5:23 pm

http://translate.google.de/translate?hl=de&sl=ru&tl=en&u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.centrasia.ru%2FnewsA.php%3Fst%3D1348640460
A.Ivanovsky: American blitzkrieg. Possible scenario for the U.S. military operation against Bashar al-Assad
26.09.2012 10:21
Chorus of voices calling for the U.S. leadership to use military force in Syria, it sounds hard and loudly enough for the past three months. More on June 11 leader of the so-called Syrian National Council – the largest association of the Syrian opposition, Abdel Basset Sid said that the Western powers should “protect civilians against President Assad.” And, regardless of any international legal standards, “If the Security Council fails to reach agreement, some countries may take action without a UN mandate.”

Tension in the area of Syrian conflict is growing. In Turkey acts “help center” Syrian rebels, jointly organized by Ankara, Washington and a number of Arab countries in the Persian Gulf. According to news agency Reuters, the Centre deployed in the city of Adana, located near the Syrian border. The opposition Syrian National Council has said that the government of Saudi Arabia and Qatar helped the rebels with money and weapons, and Turkey, a NATO member, has organized a base for supplies and training rebels of the Free Syrian Army. Very close, by the way, near the Turkish city of Incirlik military base is the U.S. Air Force

September 5 this year in a number of influential U.S. newspaper has information that the U.S. started consultations with its allies in NATO and in the Gulf region in order to develop a plan of military operations. American media reports that the U.S. has come up with a “democratic” excuse to use military force in Syria. According to preliminary data, the plan of military operations includes delivery of additional weapons Syrian opposition, the establishment of no-fly zone over Syria, and in the case of “necessity”, the introduction of ground troops to Syria. …..

September 26th, 2012, 5:43 pm

It is obvious that the criminal regime of thugs is getting more desperate day by day.

Its recent attempt to stage the comedy of a so-called dialog of the deaf (just as we see here on SC) by so-called regime-opposition with presumed defectors who defected on their defections is reminiscent of the theatrics of al-Sa7hhaf we witnessed not long ago. This of course will not avail the thugs of their final descent to the dustbin of history wherein they will abide.

The theatrics that the criminal regime of thugs began resorting to recently reflect only the deep state of desperation it finds itself in after it became obvious to the world that it is a bankrupt band of thugs bent on rampage killing, that no civilized state is willing to tolerate.

This is of course meant for media consumption, with the chorus provided by none other than the similarly rogue states of mullah Iran, mafia Russia and commically red China.

September 26th, 2012, 5:54 pm

Is the USA panicking in secular Nato’s jewel: Libya?

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-cia-libya-20120926,0,5855746.story

WASHINGTON —- About a dozen CIA personnel were evacuated from eastern Libya after heavily armed men stormed the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi and killed four Americans, setting back an important intelligence operation and prompting a debate about how much risk CIA officers should assume in dangerous overseas posts.

The decision to withdraw the team from Benghazi drew criticism from former CIA officers, who called it an overly cautious response to the Sept. 11 attack, which killed two security officers, an information technology officer and the U.S. ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens.

September 26th, 2012, 6:35 pm

In Syria’s continuing tragedy, the Syrians have lost the dignity they were made to believe they didn’t have.

Many of the refugees had to leave their homes in Syria quickly, carrying little with them beyond their clothes. To survive, some are now marrying their daughters off, often minors and to strangers. A taxi driver in Amman told me that four of his colleagues had married Syrian girls, on condition of providing homes to them and their families. He said he planned to marry a refugee but changed his mind after considering the costs of hosting her family.
…

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/in-syrias-continuing-tragedy-dignity-is-the-latest-victim

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/on-syrias-southern-border-proof-of-the-worlds-failures#page2

September 26th, 2012, 6:49 pm

Fine Arabic calligraphy and street art may seem worlds apart, but for artist eL Seed, they’re one and the same thing.

eL Seed, a 31-year-old French Tunisian artist, has just used his distinctive style of Arabic street art, which he calls “calligraffiti,” to decorate the tallest minaret in Tunisia with a verse from the Quran that tackles intolerance.

The mural, on the Jara Mosque in eL Seed’s hometown of Gabes is 47 meters tall, 10 meters wide and covers two sides of the minaret, his biggest artwork to date.

eL Seed said he was reacting to clashes between hardline Islamist Salafists and artists at an art fair in Tunis in June that showed works the Salafists believed was insulting to Islam.

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/19/world/meast/el-seed-grafitti-minaret/index.html

Gee I wish our foreign office would have aides like Hillary has…
Hillary Clinton Aide Tells Reporter To “Fuck Off” And “Have A Good Life”

As the State Department’s story about what happened in Benghazi crumbles, Clinton’s personal spokesperson, Philippe Reines, loses his temper. “Have a good day. And by good day I mean Fuck Off.”
http://www.buzzfeed.com/buzzfeedpolitics/hillary-clinton-aide-tells-reporter-to-fuck-off

September 26th, 2012, 6:55 pm

Failing to unite the Syrian opposition, Fred Hof resigns

US Syria hand Fred Hof to resign
Posted on September 25, 2012 by Laura Rozen

Veteran US diplomat Fred Hof, the US Special Advisor on Transition in Syria, is resigning his post, Al Arabiya Washington bureau chief Hisham Melham reports.

Hof’s last day at State is Friday, a former senior American official told Al-Monitor Tuesday.

Hof has “worked tirelessly to unify Syrian opposition,” Melhem wrote on Twitter Tuesday, calling the diplomat a “real Mensch,” and his departure a tremendous loss to the Syrian people.

September 26th, 2012, 7:09 pm

Assad blames everyone but himself for Syria’s ‘chaos’

The Arab Spring has achieved nothing but “chaos”, according to none other than President Bashar al-Assad of Syria. In one of his increasingly rare interviews, the beleaguered dictator of Damascus has chosen to opine that the successful revolutions in Tunisia, Libya and Egypt have “not worked in the interest of freedom, democracy or ending social injustice as much as [they] helped create chaos”..

Mina, this is my motto of the week:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151193078943633&set=a.177180783632.119963.132153568632&type=1&theater

http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/davidblair/100182188/syrias-chaos-is-nobodys-fault-but-assads/

Aldendeshe said:

“….Veteran US diplomat Fred Hof, the US Special Advisor on Transition in Syria, is resigning his post,..”

Looks like the transition of Syria into a suburb of Turkey and Israel failed, so as U.S. Syria transition plan into ALCIDA poppy farm. He thrown the towel fast man, no match to ASSAD here -LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSER

Hof has “worked tirelessly to unify Syrian opposition,” Melhem wrote on Twitter Tuesday,

He never called me (the Archstone/ Chief Stone), he is just as dumb and arogant as every one else. LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSER.

“………..calling the diplomat a “real Mensch,” and his departure a tremendous loss to the Syrian people…”.

Who giva a dam about him, one in a mllion of low aschivers born every day LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSER, Syrians will not, maybe neocon will. They failed in Syria so as their man.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSERS.

Let me think, I been dealing wih losers here, 4×1 = hofx0=zero

September 26th, 2012, 7:51 pm

Reem is a university student from Damascus forced by her refugee status to work for a Lebanese family as a glorified maid. Time will come when Assad female members beg to find a domestic help job once the money their family stole return to its people. Make no mistake about that. Syrians shall never forget.

September 26th, 2012, 7:54 pm

Aldendeshe

Keep going. You will bring it up to what? Mid 70s

September 26th, 2012, 8:20 pm

Is that one of the reason Turkey kicked out the FSA headquarters?

Turkey is gearing down in Syria

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkey-is-gearing-down-in-syria.aspx?pageID=449&nID=31056&NewsCatID=405

Turkey is hitting the brakes on the issue of Syria, some news reports claim. As a matter of fact, the voice of the government is not as loud as it used to be. It looks as if the tempo has slowed down. I think Turkey is doing the right thing.

At the beginning, mostly with the agitation of Saudi Arabia and Qatar, we set off as a large group headed by Washington and Europe. For the sake of humanity, despite Russia and Iran, the Bashar al-Assad dictatorship should have been brought to an end. If need be, there would be embargoes imposed and no-fly buffer zones formed, leaving al-Assad with no breathing space.

And it was our roaring voice that was heard the most.

We yelled and cried a lot and have been dragging him through the mud until now. We gave him five- or six-month deadlines. It didn’t happen. We raised our voice more. We thought he would not be able to resist too long and would leave in a few months; it didn’t happen. We postponed the deadline to one to two years; again, it didn’t happen.

We opened our doors; we accepted Syrian refugees. We said we would be able to handle them until their numbers reach 50,000. Now, they are reaching 100,000. But, they are still flowing in; the costs are reaching $400 million. Nobody seems to be willing to contribute either.

We provided facilities for the Syrian opposition in our lands. Not knowing most of the details, we did what we could. Then we saw that their power was not sufficient. On top of that, all of a sudden, we found ourselves being accused of “arming the Syrian opposition, providing bases for them.”

September 26th, 2012, 9:07 pm

Johannes de Silentio said:

Two comments.

1. How could Alde-Makes-No-Sense-deshe get 65 thumbs up for the piece of garbage he posted in 116? Is everyone stupid in here?

2. In the review of Nir Rosen’s new book above, this statement: “…for the Alawite rank and file, this is a primordial, existential conflict.” Everyone these days is suddenly using the word “existential” when speaking of certain kinds of conflicts. I see it used by pundits when referencing the Israeli-Iran thing. But I’ll bet no one can define what they mean.

September 26th, 2012, 9:09 pm

Bye Bye to Morsi’s aborted quartet, welcome to Ahmadinejad’s dozen

AP Interview: Ahmadinejad pushes Syria solution
Associated Press – Tue, Sep 25, 2012

http://news.yahoo.com/ap-interview-ahmadinejad-pushes-syria-solution-234050233.html

NEW YORK (AP) — Iran President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (ah-muh-DEE’-neh-zhahd) says nearly a dozen countries are forming a new contact group to try to end the 18-month civil war in Syria.

He said in an interview with The Associated Press Tuesday that the group, including countries in the Middle East and elsewhere, would meet in New York “very soon.”

He said the group hopes to get government and the opposition to sit across from each other.

Ahmadinejad says, “I will do everything in my power to create stability, peace and understanding in Syria.”

Ahmadinejad spoke to the AP in a wide-ranging interview on the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly — his last as president of Iran.

September 26th, 2012, 9:17 pm

Vengeance is a meal eaten cold ( a french saying)

Death of Libyan rebel (who captured Qaddafi) raises calls for vengeance
By AYA BATRAWY and ESAM MOHAMED | Associated Press – Tue, Sep 25, 2012

http://news.yahoo.com/death-libyan-rebel-raises-calls-vengeance-220259309.html

MISRATA, Libya (AP) — One of the young Libyan rebels credited with capturing Moammar Gadhafi in a drainage ditch nearly a year ago died Tuesday of injuries after being kidnapped, beaten and slashed by the late dictator’s supporters — the latest victim of persistent violence and instability in the North African country.

The death of Omran Shaaban, who had been hospitalized in France, raised the prospect of even more violence and score-settling, with the newly elected National Congress authorizing police and the army to use force if necessary to apprehend those who abducted the 22-year-old and three companions in July near the town of Bani Walid.

September 26th, 2012, 9:22 pm

First signs of the collapse of the FSA? Will this de-defection snowball among the disillusioned defected soldiers?

Defected Syrian officer returns to Assad’s army

Published: 09.26.12, 23:46 / Israel News
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4286113,00.html

A Syrian rebel commander said Wednesday that he was withdrawing from the uprising and returning to the army.

“We decided to return to the ranks of the army and to cooperate with the Ministry of National Reconciliation”, said Lt. Col. Khaled Abdel Rahman al-Zamel, in a meeting of opposition groups in Damascus. (AFP)

September 26th, 2012, 9:31 pm

103 Ghufran

“Egypt back in its rightful place.”

What is Egypt’s rightful place? Prior to her recent freedom in the 1950’s, she was somebody else’s property for almost 3,000 years. This is not a country to have a lot of confidence in.

Egypt’s long history of colonialism:

900 BC Libyan
750 BC Nubians
600 BC Assyrians
500 BC Persians
300 BC Macedonians
50 BC Romans
650 AD Arabs
1200AD Mamluks
1500AD Turks
1920AD British

Egypt’s rightful place. Hmmm. I don’t know what that is. All I know is, whatever one’s place in the world, it has to be earned.

September 26th, 2012, 9:34 pm

A video of the two explosions that targeted the army HQ in Damascus. The first was a suicide car bomb, the second was an internal explosion that required help from within:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/arabic/multimedia/2012/09/120926_syria_attack_cctv.shtml

September 26th, 2012, 9:43 pm

20:58 السعودية : استشهاد إثنين من الحقوقيين في العوامية بالمنطقة الشرقية خلال عملية لقوات الأمن في البلدة تخللها إطلاق نار على المواطنين
They killed two civilians then they called them “martyrs”

September 26th, 2012, 9:52 pm

Why should young Syrian men die for the criminal Assad and his Mafia?
Sadly because he has managed to dupe them into buying his version of the story. Then come proponents of “Da Sunni Ruulz” new type dictatorship to pump rotten blood into the body of the anaemic argument of the dictator and his father.

فيا أولاد العم في الجبل
إن الشعار الوحيد الذي يجب الصراخ به هو ليس الشعار البعثي الفارغ
وحدة .حرية..اشتراكية بل

حرية حرية

واحد واحد واحد الشعب السوري واحد

Grim determination in Assad Alawite heartland

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19699446

September 26th, 2012, 10:26 pm

Turkey is certainly in trouble,and blaming the Syrian regime for it is not good enough. More than 45,000 people lost their lives in the Turkish-Kurdish conflict since 1984. Now, turkey has to deal with Syrian refugees, the bill reached $ 400 million, the economic loss due to troubles in the south , and the escalating violence inside its borders. Erdogan responded by throwing thousands of people in jail and even withdrawing immunity from Kurdish members of the Turkish parliament. Divorcing the FSA is one step among others Turkey may consider in the coming months, nobody wins when Syria has a civil war and loose borders,it took 19 months for some idiots to discover that. Ironically, a regime change will not solve Turkey’s problems,the Kurds can not be stopped now.

September 26th, 2012, 11:01 pm

Darryl said:

Dear Visitor,

I know you do not need my support, but I, as a strong believer in free speech, I support you in what ever you say even though I do not agree with you on many things.

“75. TARA said:

What has happened to ” Hay direct all the way”?

Even thought you spelled “hay” wrong. It should have been “hey”, hay is dried grass that is fed to animals in winter, FYI.

September 26th, 2012, 11:05 pm

Darryl 129 said,

“Dear Visitor,

I know you do not need my support, but I, as a strong believer in free speech, I support you in what ever you say even though I do not agree with you on many things.”

Well, I appreciate your support. After all we are all doing the same in supporting what you’re supporting. However, free speech must come with responsibilities. The way it is now dealt with is irresponsible.

When I deal with what is looked at immaturely by many Syrians as taboo, I am indirectly encouraging free speech. Many Syrians like to pretend to show they are a good fit for what they wrongly perceive as progress and being modern. This is very immature but can be forgiven as a flaw caused by the last fifty years of enslavement. Someone has to take the initiative to encourage them to speak their minds without any pretense otherwise they will never be truly liberated. Liberation starts within your own mind first.

Tara can be forgiven for the small oversight. We all do it one way or another.

September 26th, 2012, 11:30 pm

Vitol,a giant Swiss oil trader, bought 2 million barrels of oil from Iran and sold it to china.
Vitol is not required to abide by EU sanctions against Iran. Similar companies are willing to deal with anybody to make a buck. When was the last time sanctions toppled a regime or made it take a U turn? Sanctions have teeth than only bite the poor and the needy.

September 26th, 2012, 11:54 pm

Anyone who believes the “confessions” on Syria TV is absolutely brain dead. The so-called defector from the FSA previously said he killed some men in Aleppo in March. Yet it was Ali Haidar who convinced him to drop his weapons and join the government-sponsored dialogue.

http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=5d48ace8ffb5a4763c2d56103667fb40&ar=379844116

For the record, zero people have defected from the revolution to join the regime, while hundreds of thousands have left Assad and his worshipers to fight for freedom. Or to put in words that sectarian opponents of the revolution understand, there have been defections from both sides…

Qatar, in a ‘humanitarian’ gesture is moving to rescue France’s economy and buy out Hollande’s regime. No wonder Hollande is crawling but there are voices showing concerns about the Moslem Brotherhood smell of Qatar..

Qatar makes a new French connection

Colin Randall
Sep 27, 2012

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/qatar-makes-a-new-french-connection

MARSEILLE, FRANCE // Qatar’s busy programme of global investment has taken a surprising turn, with a pledge to plough millions of euros into small businesses and job creation in disadvantaged districts of France.

The Arabian Gulf state is better known for buying stakes in a range of interests from car making, banking and property to top-class football and glamorous hotels.

Qatar owns the French Ligue 1 club, Paris Saint-Germain, arming it with huge resources designed to build a team that can be champions of France and a major force in European football. Hotel takeovers include prestigious establishments in Paris and on the Riviera.

In its new partnership with the socialist government of the French president, Francois Hollande, and private enterprise, the emirate intends to help some of France’s most deprived areas.

Although attention has focused on the benefits for the banlieues – where a largely immigrant population lives in intimidating blocks of low-cost flats on the fringes of Paris and other French cities – officials insist that “abandoned” rural areas will also receive help.
,,,
Lionnel Luca, a member of parliament for Mr Sarkozy’s Union for a Popular Movement (UMP), called for a commission of inquiry into Qatar’s increasing presence in French commercial and social life.

In a letter to Claude Bartolone, the president of the national assembly, he said there would be no concern if foreign support came from a “secular democracy” or even a “non-proselytising religious state”.

But, he claimed, Qatar “practises a fundamentalist Islam” and sought to encourage it “everywhere in the world, which arouses some anxiety about the real nature of its investments in our country”.

There is uncertainty about the extent of Qatar’s proposed commitment. Initial media reports talked about €100 million (Dh472m), half of it from public and private French sources. But Fleur Pellerin, the minister for digital economy, said the total amount to be pumped into regenerating such areas would be 10 times higher.

September 27th, 2012, 12:45 am

Ghufran

dont you find it handy that there is always an camera ready to shot the scene of an soon to be site of an suicide car blast? I have seen some of those places before, the only thing what you could see is the overwhelming apperance of security and muhabarat thugs, yet modern zooming in surveillance cameras seem a bit to modern for Assad Syria 2012( especially in the Midan streets) , but again honi soit qui mal y pense, right ?

excerpt of Stephen Starrs book, until now, in my opinion the best book written so far on the revolution in Syria
http://www.opendemocracy.net/stephen-starr/excerpt-from-%E2%80%98revolt-in-syria-eye-witness-to-uprising%E2%80%99

September 27th, 2012, 1:06 am

SYRIAN HAMSTER said:

The more time one spends forging thumbs, the less time one has writing crap being thumbed. Kindly teach Ann how to forge thumbs, for this is the only remaining forgery that character has not yet mastered.

One can only imagine the level of mental deformity for someone to spend that much time gratifying themselves with such forgery. I bet the fool considers these thumbs up genuine and sleeps happy. But yet again, one espousing a fascist ideology is used to forgery and self deception. Just read the crap Ann posts and you know the length at which fascists go to deceive themselves.

How similar is that to athad media bringing in a captured FSA commander, whose taped confession was aired in March and presenting him as a defecting-defector. It is from same witch-brew pot that regime loyalists find their cut-and-paste self deceiving blather.

Keep at it, you will be the first to believe in the new martyr-god cult that will surface upon athad’s upcoming demise in Damascus sewer. Your problem will then be with those waiting for the real Mahdi. For sure they will not accept the foolish buffoon as his replacement.

As for the demented forger, i suspect that his theory would be that athad has join his lizard makers in their space ship and that he now leads their intergalactic fleet.

September 27th, 2012, 2:33 am

As for athad being thuperior crowd, here is thomthing for you to read from no other than OTW. I am posting it because I think it is the only comment relevant to the good prof’s post.

Superior!?… my a…..

Sep 26

Posted by OFF THE WALL

The latest selections of posts by Professor Landis betray what seems to be an affinity to the privileged. We first have a post presenting one of the most privileged people within the regime and who is a zero entity among the fractious opposition circles as the uniquely qualified person to hold Syria together.

Then comes a classical “Assad-the-enigmatic” style apologist post. Combining the professor’s reading of a Syria-experts, and that of Nir Rosen who, like many well-connected Syria specialists and insiders, continue to play the old bad melody of Assad the a reluctant murderer doing what he does because his sect wants him to stay in power in fear of losing privilege. The post, of course, attempts to inform us, in no uncertain term that all will be hell if this murderer and his gang lose power, and that Assad is viewed as the “superior” alternative to chaos.

Notwithstanding the very bad taste and choice the word “superior”, both posts prominently feature a declaration by general Tlass Jr., which received near zero second of attention by any of the many circles forming the real opposition to the mafia militia and is being hyped as a declaration of road-map and assurances through the traditional “I know-Syria” analysts in the US academia and press.

Both posts attempt to engineer opinion and both posts do display a lack of understanding, intentional or otherwise, about the seemingly stagnant, yet evolving situation in Syria. They also expose a lack of understanding of human nature. This is not because of missing facts, but for the machination of the facts in the interest of preserving the privileged status of those who ruled Syria by blood and gore for nearly fifty years.

Most tellingly, what the latter post ignores, which seems also to be a common deficiency among most US based analyses, usually written in favor of presenting those supporting Assad as future victims, is that there are no more privileges to have. The foundation of regime supporters enjoying special status, independent of their sect, was not power itself, military or otherwise, but the fear induced by the threat of exercising such power. In that sense, a thug can enjoy his privilege only in docile times when the hostility of the bereaved and oppressed is suppressed by this fear. This was only possible given that measures of violence remain personal and where examples are made through a limited, albeit, relatively huge number of people being brutalized by worst of the violence. The rest of the population has to be given a sense of deformed normalcy where accepting corruption, suppression, and despotism seem to be the safer option. It helps to throw in a bone of a central, larger than individuals cause to present the petty thief and murderer as a strong charismatic leader. These conditions would provide a wide margin for the privileged to use fear in relative safety and protection with minimal cost to themselves.

Fear is no longer. It has been replaced with open and courageous hostility, deep contempt, outright rejection, and tit-for-tat, albeit asymmetric violence directed against the regime’s privileged and their symbols. The current asymmetric military power and the wanton destruction and murder by the “Assad or we burn the country” has not helped in returning the clocks backward. On the contrary, the inhuman scale of the catastrophe wreaked solely by the ugly sectarian Assad-gang and their defenders has done exactly the opposite. It has exposed the limitation of the mindless violence in intimidating the will of the people once they have risen against the cheap and foolish ignoramus and his militia.

“Khelset” (crisis is over), Assad worshippers shouted more than a year ago. Today, they murdered 343 Syrians, many of whom were murdered in cold blood massacres. Everyone who still support this regime is accountable for their death.

Note on Copyright
And BTW, OTW’s site 7ee6an is a creative commons site. So don’t go wetting your pants happily thinking that i have violated SC rules by posting his full post.

September 27th, 2012, 2:44 am

The latest Walls delivery (http://7ee6an.wordpress.com/2012/09/26/superior-my-a/):

September 27th, 2012, 3:35 am

SC moderator, please delete my last post. Syrian Hamster beat me to it but his post was not visible when I put mine up.

September 27th, 2012, 3:48 am

Thirty minutes worth watching on the recent Aleppo battle and else (posted above by Citizen)

September 27th, 2012, 3:59 am

Any analogy with Menhebaks and Revolutionaries ?

http://youtu.be/IAgLORiZqcc

September 27th, 2012, 4:02 am

Ghufran 96
Why would they want an exit? It is very convenient to have all the dummy djihadists gathered in one place waiting for the Mahdi to show up instead of having them bombing around other countries. Sad truth.

September 27th, 2012, 4:05 am

98 Ghufran
Cheap excuse, showing how low they take their audience. Erdogan had announced he would not attend the UN General assembly more than a week ago, so he could very well send someone. The contact group is not run by prime ministers only, anyway.

September 27th, 2012, 4:29 am

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X8t3rpebRB4&feature=share&list=UUvN18T77PNY_6oweWn7Ewbg
OTPOR-RIVOLUZIONE(CIA)

September 27th, 2012, 7:19 am

Misr bi khayr?
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/police-seize-181-artifacts-smuggling-attempt

September 27th, 2012, 7:49 am

This debate is excellent (although I do not understand everything)

http://youtu.be/ZAzXmJDlt84

September 27th, 2012, 8:04 am

The comment by Off The Wall confirms what I was saying about Rosen and Manaf Tlass.

However the comment goes further and confirms what most already know that Landis himself has an agenda. Basically, the comments confirms the general view shared by readers that Landis speaks from both sides of his mouth.

—————————–

Mina 141,

Not that I believed you when you said to me a while ago that you are Sunni seeking my opinion about so-called ‘un-believers’ and Jews and Christian, for it is clear from most of your comments that you are a Copt, but why did you have to lie to me in the first place?

I did not want to expose your lie then because I wanted to be polite with you at the time which is uncharacteristic of me. Lucky you, I guess!

Any Sunni who reads your comment knows immediately that you know nothing about Sunnism!!!

——————–

Faysal al-Qassim is always superb (as in 145).

The verses of the opening poem is exhilirating.

But I disagree with him when he refers to so-called Lebanese ‘resistance’ as great. I think Faysal is still one of those many Arabs who are still fooled by Hassan of Iran and his Hizbillat. It is time for Arabs to dispell this myth.

September 27th, 2012, 8:41 am

Ah yeah, because the guy in military uniform has the same feminine voice as Ar’ur? I guess it’s only in Syria you can find soldiers who can speak fluent classical Arabic. That at least, they should credit “the nizam” for. But his delirium about people dreaming of Bashar as the “everlasting qa’id”, sorry, I can’t buy that. Same old tune. The “North Korea” of the Arabs… Come on…

September 27th, 2012, 8:42 am

أكد “سيرغي لافروف” وزير الخارجية الروسي أن بلاده لن تمنح اللجوء السياسي للرئيس السوري “بشار الاسد” في حال تنحيه عن الحكم كما انها لن تدعوه الى الرحيل، قائلا في سياق رده على سؤال خلال مقابلة مع الصحفي “تشارلي روز” نشرت اليوم الخميس حول ما اذا كانت روسيا ستمنح “الاسد” لجوءا سياسيا “كلا، نحن لن نقدم له اللجوء.. وكما قلت هو (بشار الاسد) كان صديقا لدول اخرى تقع في شمال غرب سورية”، مشيرا أنه في حال قرر “الاسد” الرحيل فهذا “سيكون قراره.. لكننا لن نقول له ارحل.. ليس لأننا نعتبر بأنه لا بديل عنه، لا ابدا على الاطلاق.. بالنسبة لنا سواء من سيقود سورية ما دامت سورية ديمقراطية وحرة ومريحة بالنسبة للاقليات”.
واستطرد قائلا “لكنه (الرئيس السوري) لن يرحل ما لم يقرر ذلك بنفسه.. وهذا امر واضح”، محذرا من حشر “الاسد” في الزاوية ” في حال اعتقد الناس انها طريقة سيتوصلون من خلالها الى هدفهم، وهذا مخططهم، لكن جميع الدلائل تشير الى ان حشره في الزاوية يجعل منه اكثر عنادا للمحاربة للنهاية”.
وقال “لافروف” “بالنسبة لنا الأهم ان يتم الحفاظ على حقوق جميع من يسكن في البلاد من السنة والشيعة والعلوية والدروز والمسيحية والاكراد وحفظ أمنهم والحقوق الاقتصادية والسياسية والاجتماعية ايضا”، مؤكدا انه “هذا اهم بكثير من اصطياد شخص واحد”.

September 27th, 2012, 9:27 am

Lavrov on Syria and the asylum issue:

“There’s one simple thing that we are blocking: an attempt to obtain permission from the UN Security Council to support one party in the internal conflict,” Lavrov said.
Moscow “doesn’t even have it in its thoughts” to give asylum to Assad, he said.
“Those who try to put this idea into the minds of the international community have dishonest objectives for doing so. We neither are nor were the closest friends of the Syrian regime. Its closest friends are in Europe, and if there is anyone who wants to solve this problem this way, let them think about their resources,” Lavrov said.

September 27th, 2012, 9:33 am

بيان انسحاب من المجلس الوطني السوري
المهندس مطيع البطين عضو المكتب التنفيذي و رئيس مكتب الحراك الثوري و مسؤول ملف اللاجئين
أعلن انسحابي من المجلس الوطني لأسباب أهمها :
أولاً : لا يمكن القبول أن يبقى عشرون مليون يورو منذ أكثر من شهر بينما شعبنا بحاجة لقمة العيش .

ثانياً : هنالك في المكتب التنفيذي من لا يريد أن يعمل و لا يرضى لغيره أن يعمل , و أخص بالذكر السيد أحمد رمضان الذي يقف في وجه صرف الأموال للإخوة اللاجئين , يقوم بهذا رداً على جولة قمت بها لزيارة اللاجئين في تركيا مع فريق مكون من الأخ منهل باريش عضو لجان التنسيق , و الأخ طالب يحيى عضو المكتب المالي , و عضوي المجلس الأعلى أحمد زيدان و محمد سطلة , و كان الأصل أن يغطي هو بصفته رئيس المكتب الاعلامي هذه الجولة فبدلاً من ذلك يقف في وجه العمل الواجب , و قد رفض قبل ذلك مراراً و تكراراً أن يضم الدكتور عوض سليمان و هو يحمل شهادة الدكتوراه في الإعلام , عضو المجلس الوطني إلى المكتب الإعلامي مع أننا ينبغي أن نحرص على تفعيل القدرات في المكان المناسب .
ثالثاً : إن الهيكلة التي نريد أن نذهب إليها ستعيد الوجوه ذاتها الى المكتب التنفيذي لأنها هيكلة و انتخابات بمقاييس تكرر الوجوه السابقة , و لا شك أن هذا سيجعلنا مكان رفض من أهلنا و شعبنا , ارجو أن يكون الإخوة في المكتب التنفيذي مقدرون لخطورة هذا , و أن يتركوا المجال لغيرهم من القدرات و الطاقات التي قد تقدم أفضل و تستطيع أن تنهض بشعبنا و أمتنا .
رابعاً : لقد كان الحراك الثوري سبباً في إعطاء المجلس شرعيته , و بصفتي رئيساً لمكتب الحراك أرى أنه لا يجوز لي أن أسكت على تهميش الحراك بكل مكوناته , و لقد حاولت مراراً أن يُصحح هذا الوضع لكن دونما جدوى , فالحراك يغيب عن المحافل و الزيارات الدولية و بالتأكيد عندما يكون الحراك واحد من ثلاثة عشر عضواً في المكتب التنفيذي فإن المعادلة و الموازنة غير صحيحة .
ختاماً ارجو من إخوتي الذاهبين الى اجتماع الهيكلة في قطر أن يجعلوا من هذا الإجتماع فسحة أمل يعيشها شعبنا في سوريا , أن يختاروا من يحفافظ على مبادىء ثورتنا و يعمل لنصرتها .
الرحمة لشهدائنا الذين سنبقى أوفياء لدمائهم , الشفاء لجرحانا الأبطال , الحرية لمعتقلينا الأحرار بإرادتهم , العودة القريبة للمهجرين , و النصر لكل السوريين الشرفاء .

September 27th, 2012, 9:38 am

94. Tara

The West is not buying it? Rather the West is still self-destructive.

I wonder how much mercy western governments will have on the Salafists once they demand “freedom” (i.e. caliphate) in Europe.

September 27th, 2012, 9:48 am

Armed rebels shelled sulaymanieh, an area in Aleppo supportive of the regime, and killed five civilians:
ضحايا استهداف الجيش الحر لحي السليمانية بقذائف الهاون ارتفع إلى خمسة قتلى من بينهم أم وطفلتها وزوجها .
و الضحايا هم ماريا فحمة و طفلتهما جويل فحمة و إلياس عبد النور ، و فادي حداد بالإضافة إلى وارطان مطافيان وهو نازح من دير الزور إلى حلب .
وكان مسلحو الميليشيات استهدفوا منطقة السليمانية بقذائف الهاون مما ادى إلى وقوع خمسة قتلى و اكثر من عشرين جريحاً .

September 27th, 2012, 9:49 am

Mina, time and again you show that you know nothing about Syria. Hafez is called the eternal leader. Ila Alabad is the slogan for Assad supporters.

Abdul Hamid Zakaria is an officer in the military and a medical doctor from Aleppo. He was a good man when he was with Assad’s military, as most of the Syrian soldiers, and is well respected among the opposition. His command of Arabic denotes intelligence and education, which I understand are things brain dead genocide enthusiasts sneer at.

As for his voice, I don’t think there is any sane or objective person who watched the show and thought that he had the odd voice. The barking and absolutely deranged mannerisms of your best friend from Egypt showed the Arab world the type of people defending the Assad regime. Almost an hour of discussion and he couldn’t answer one question: why hasn’t Assad’s army fired a single shot in almost four decades to reclaim the Golan?

September 27th, 2012, 9:50 am

Dawoud said:

Do the Wilayat al-Faqih Press TV analysts attend the secret funerals for Hasan Nasrilat’s shabiha, who are killed in Syria while killing innocent Syrians?
Free Syria and Palestine!

http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/hezbollah-increases-support-for-syrian-regime-us-and-lebanese-officials-say/2012/09/26/d1970396-0591-11e2-afff-d6c7f20a83bf_story.html

Hezbollah increases support for Syrian regime, U.S. and Lebanese officials say

By Babak Dehghanpisheh, Published: September 26

BEIRUT — Hezbollah, the Lebanese Shiite political and militant group, has ramped up its support for the Syrian government, sending in military advisers to aid in the bloody struggle against the opposition, U.S. and Lebanese government officials say.

Hezbollah’s involvement is a clear indication that the uprising, now a year and a half old, is drawing in Syria’s neighbor and broadening a conflict that has the potential to destabilize the entire region. It also marks a worrying turn for the Syrian rebels, who already face one of the region’s most potent armies and now must contend as well with a disciplined and sophisticated militia.

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A look at the Syrian uprising: Thousands of Syrians have died and President Bashar al-Assad remains in power, despite numerous calls by the international community for him to step down.

Interactive: Recent events in Syria

The U.S. government this month accused Hezbollah of providing aid to the Syrian government, an allegation the group has denied. Any acknowledgment that it is sending help to the regime of President Bashar al-Assad risks worsening tensions in Lebanon between Hezbollah and Lebanese Sunnis who support the mostly Sunni opposition in Syria.

But Lebanese officials say the support is becoming harder to hide and has markedly increased since a July 18 bomb attack in Damascus that killed four senior security officials, including Assef Shawkat, Assad’s brother-in-law.

Lebanese officials and analysts say Hezbollah militants are now fighting — and dying — in the conflict, although U.S. officials have not confirmed the group’s combat role. The Lebanese officials cite as evidence quiet burials in Hezbollah-dominated areas of Lebanon, with the families of the “martyrs” warned not to discuss the circumstances of their sons’ deaths.

“Hezbollah has been active in supporting the Syrian regime with their own militia,” said a Lebanese government official allied with a political bloc opposed to Hezbollah who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the issue’s sensitivity. “They’ve been quite involved in a combat role, quite involved in fighting.”

Hezbollah has a well-armed and trained militia that is considered the strongest fighting force in Lebanon. But the group also oversees a powerful political party and runs a number of organizations that provide social services to Shiite Muslims, its main supporters, throughout the country.

Recruitment efforts
[…]

September 27th, 2012, 10:17 am

P.S.,

I think that Hizbillat’s # 1 shabih/sectarian murderer, Hasan Nasrillat, should go to Syria and fight alongside his fellow murderer, Bashar the Murderous Dictator! Why is his he hiding? “1/2 men?” “Pseudo Men?”

Free Syria, Free Lebanon, Free Palestine!

September 27th, 2012, 10:24 am

Dear Mr. Landis:

In an interview a few weeks ago, I heard you saying that the Syrian opposition has not provided evidence that Hasan’s Hizballah militia has been fighting in Syria alongside Bahsar. Please (1) read the WP post article I am partially posting above. (2) Please see the link below, which shows the picture of a funeral for one of Hasan’s shabiha-who was killed while killing innocent Syrias.

حزب الله شيع الشهيد موسى شحيمي إلى روضة الشهيدين [Good Riddance, to the Hell fire]
http://www.alintiqad.com/essaydetails.php?eid=64614&cid=7

Any thoughts Mr. Landis? Please mention this next time you are on NPR or elsewhere!

Free Syria, Free Palestine!

September 27th, 2012, 10:39 am

The pro-chaos supporters who have exhausted throwing insults are now hastily calling from behind the wall to rescue their dull and repetitive posts.
I wish they find ‘creative’ posts to share with us, instead of the rants hiding behind a ‘pseudo-intellectual’ wall.

September 27th, 2012, 10:44 am

The overwhelming evidence regarding the complicity of your sectarian idol in killing Sunni Syrians is troubling to you! One has to be less intelligent than the creatures who live in the entity similar to your chosen name not to see the truth! 🙂

September 27th, 2012, 10:50 am

The new FSA high-tech weapon provided by Qatar and KSA: “Carefully orchestrated” suicide bombs killing civilians

Rebels strike Syrian power center with car bombs KARIN LAUB – AP –

http://news.yahoo.com/rebels-strike-syrian-power-center-car-bombs-200519499.html

Syrian rebels struck deep in the fortress-like inner sanctum of President Bashar Assad’s rule Wednesday in Damascus, detonating two car bombs that engulfed the army
The suicide bombings and subsequent gun battles in the Syrian capital killed at least five people, including a reporter for Iranian TV.

عملية تطهير رئاسة هيئة الأركان 26-09-2012

September 27th, 2012, 11:01 am

France “will not hesitate” to expel those who threaten French security or secular values in the name of Islam, Interior Minister Manuel Valls said Thursday in a speech for the inauguration of the largest mosque ever built in France.
comment: the idea from the beginning was to expel trouble makers and send them to the Middle East, wstern governments have done nothing to stop the exportation of terrorists to Syria.

September 27th, 2012, 11:03 am

Neo-Con warmongering continues…

5 Reasons to Intervene in Syria Now
By MICHAEL DORAN and MAX BOOT
Published: September 26, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/27/opinion/5-reasons-to-intervene-in-syria-now.html?_r=1

WHETHER you agree or disagree with President Obama, there is no doubt that he has formulated a coherent approach to the use of American power. The Obama Doctrine involves getting into a conflict zone and getting out fast without ground wars or extended military occupations. This approach proved its effectiveness in Libya last year.
But the president is not applying his own doctrine where it would benefit the United States the most — in Syria. One can certainly sympathize with his predicament. Syria is a mess, and it is tempting to stay out, especially in an election year. Yet inaction carries its own risks. There are five reasons to bring down President Bashar al-Assad sooner rather than later.

September 27th, 2012, 11:07 am

Uzair8 said:

farooos ‏@farGar
“Stop the killing” is cute but who are you addressing? A regime that tortures kids, or the Syrians protecting their families?

https://twitter.com/farGar/status/251324044694147072

i never thought that I will see the day when the army HQ will be attacked by a suicide car bomber and that armed rebels could enter the compound and try to occupy it. it is obvious that neither one of the fighting parties has any plan for Syria except killing the other guy. At this rate, no solution will be found until one side prevails, both sides seem “confident” winning this war ,and it does not matter what happens to the country in the process.

September 27th, 2012, 11:14 am

…

September 27th, 2012, 11:20 am

‘Autumn clean-up’ in Turkey to crush Turkish-Kurds ‘terrorists’

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/two-soldiers-13-militants-killed-as-army-launches-autumn-clean-up-against-pkk-.aspx?pageID=238&nID=31109&NewsCatID=341

Two Turkish soldiers were killed and four were injured in clashes with militants from the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) in the eastern province of Hakkari today
…
The soldiers were part of a large-scale military operation launched by Turkish Armed forces, called “Autumn clean-up.”

September 27th, 2012, 11:26 am

#161 Gufran

“France “will not hesitate” to expel those who threaten French security or secular values in the name of Islam”

What about Moslem French citizens? Expelled where?
Hollande and his team are pathetic.

September 27th, 2012, 11:38 am

163 Uzayr
This is certainly not in defense of the regime but if you remember, there are severeal Yemenis in Guantanamo who are under 18. Unfortunately journalists are not allowed to ask them if they have been tortured.

153 Halabi
I did not deny that “al marhum” is called the eternal leader by some, but as you know, Bashar had tried for a while to break with these habits, until he was taken back to earth by the governors and others high-rank figures he inherited. My point is that the FSA guy uses this argument saying that “people dream of al Asad” etc. Well sorry for them, but this is not the all population.
As for the other being stupid and inarticulate, you should appreciate it as typical with al-Ittijah al-mu’aqis. It gives such a high idea of the Arabs that I believe each week a few Muslims in the world apostasy after they have watched the program.
As for the question, is Bashar not a puppet of the Zionists since he has not fired a bullet in Golan, please keep asking, as this is the best way people like you make it totally unconceivable the West will ever try to come to the rescue. This is sad for the Syrians, but frankly, if you have been witnessing the plight of the Palestinians, you would never have expected much from UN/NATO.
I have talked recently with a Sunni friend in Syria and she said that the “rebels” are shooting indicriminately at people (look at Suleymaniye today, not everybody is Christian there…) which confirms also what the Guardian’s journalist and the French surgeon have said: their state of mind is: after we finish with the regime, we imposte “sharia islamiyya”.

September 27th, 2012, 12:00 pm

Mina

Do you think that people have respect to those who lie?

Why did you say you are Sunni? Did you think we are stupid?

September 27th, 2012, 12:04 pm

Tara 169 said,

“Mina

Why did you say you are Sunni? Did you think we are stupid?”

I believe many but not all of the minorities living in our midst in the Arab world have learned to pracice Taqiyya when it suits them

That is one reason I prefer direct assault when it comes to addressing these issues. Some may find it impolite but it is far better than the taqiyya of dissimulation.

————————

Zoo appears to be losing his mind completely. He seems to be in the process of moving from the Zoo-land to the halu-land (halu is for halucination. it is my own invention and addition to the English dictionary).

Ghufran is also following suite.

So is Habib.

————————————

we must analyse what these guys are saying very carefully. Most of what they say falls under the category of a fifth column narrative.

September 27th, 2012, 12:12 pm

156. Dawoud said:
Dear Mr. Landis:
In an interview a few weeks ago, I heard you saying that the Syrian opposition has not provided evidence that Hasan’s Hizballah militia has been fighting in Syria alongside Bahsar. Please (1) read the WP post article I am partially posting above.

Washington Post article reads: “Asked about the role that both Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guard are playing in the Syria conflict, a senior U.S. intelligence official said that both have expanded their presence and role in Syria in recent months. But the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the subject, said it appears that they have stopped short of carrying out operations or attacks.”

In other words, U.S. intelligence says that Dawoud is wrong… Hezbollah is not fighting in Syria.

September 27th, 2012, 12:28 pm

It is so pathetic to watch again that for some sectarian primitives, unless you condemn blasphemy and admire self proclaimed sheykhs “then you must be a Copt”. Sorry guys, your racism is pathetic. Full point. I am proud to tell you that there are many Muslims on earth who don’t buy your tribalism and reject this whole stupid fight between Sunnis and Shiis, even though they can have their own personal beliefs as to the status of Ali.
I will repeat you what a Syrian friend told me: kullu ma taqtarib min madhhab tabta’id min al din wa kullu ma taqtarib min din tabta’id min Allah.

Anyway, it’s now a tsunami of inshiqaqaat, even the Lebanese Daily Start is changing tune:
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Sep-27/189319-aleppo-residents-caught-in-crossfire-losing-faith-in-rebels.ashx#axzz27de3Dgob

Let’s hope this will lead to the beginning of a dialogue between all parties. (Not on SC, of course).

September 27th, 2012, 12:53 pm

Spin it as much as you want. You lied and I do not like that.

September 27th, 2012, 12:57 pm

Why should I lie? Because you decide I am a Copt???

Obviously you have no more urgent thing to be concerned with. Good for you. It’s good to see you have finally got something to agree upon. Let’s hope you guys make up your mind about armed revolt and the role of religion in society. Good luck!

Tunis is now joining the Qatari proposition (except that the Arab League Nabil Arabi denied the “soldiers on the ground” part.) Who should be trusted?
الرئيس التونسي يطالب بارسال قوات حفظ سلام عربية الى سورية
http://arabic.rt.com/news/595623/

Now the West and Israel are going to choke. I hope Syria will accept the interposition force!

September 27th, 2012, 1:09 pm

Mina 172 said,

“I am proud to tell you that there are many Muslims on earth who don’t buy your tribalism and reject this whole stupid fight between Sunnis and Shiis, even though they can have their own personal beliefs as to the status of Ali.”

Mina, you are hardly in a position to speak about Muslims and Islam in general when not long ago you asked me by disgusing yourself as Sunni the question about what Sharia says about Christians and Jews and so-called ‘unbelievers’.

And today you blew it. Yoy have proven that you know nothing whatsoever about Sunnism.

As to you being Copt, it is written all over your face (sorry comments). If you think you can advance your case in Egypt by speaking nice about Shiites, you are deluding yourself. The Shiites have been kicked out of Egypt 1000 years ago by the Egyptians who experienced at their hands similar massacre as the Syrians of today are experiencing. And that was a one way expulsion. Their remnanats are now living as esoteric druze in Lebanon and Syria mountains.

And what dialogue are you hoping for?

The dialogue has come and gone. Sorry you missed the train. There will be no dialogue with heretics, believe me. May be after the mullahs and their stooges are destroyed there may be hope. Full stop.

Assuming (and I doubt very much), as you say, that you are not a Copt, then are you an Egyptian Shiite? If you say yes, then you are even more delusional for the same reason above. There is no future for you in Egypt. Another full stop.

September 27th, 2012, 1:14 pm

First things come first.

FSA heroes are on the offensive in Aleppo. Criminal regime positions attacked and overran by the valiant heroes of the Syrian Revolution:

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/27/240525.html

——————————-

Second things ome second.

Some interesting developments going on in NYC:

1) Iranian foreign ministry spokesman gets a beating in NYC by Iranians,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/27/240527.html

2) Egyptian radical Mona Ta7hawi gets a lesson from an American woman about Free Speech after which Mona gets arrested by NYPD:

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/27/240543.html

Watch the embedded video and…..Enjoy.

September 27th, 2012, 1:39 pm

Here is an answer by an jewish jihadi:

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=415170758532106&set=a.415170755198773.90257.399130800136102&type=1&theater

September 27th, 2012, 1:45 pm

Jasmine said:

# 175
“The secular state is the guarantee of religious pluralism. This apparent paradox, again, is the simplest and most elegant of political truths.”

Christopher Hitchens.

September 27th, 2012, 1:46 pm

The Russian “documentary” is a must see. The propaganda is much more advanced than regular menhebak productions. I didn’t know that Assad’s military has been running regular evacuations of civilians by helicopter. I like how the Barri killings were alluded to as sectarian – it’s a nice touch of deception.

The Russian wife who previously believed her Halabi husband’s mantra of the delusional, Ma Fi Shi, is seen packing her bags. I doubt she will return to Syria any smarter.

Not quite Syria Truth garbage, but solid waste to feed that haters and genocide supporters.

http://youtu.be/2iAnhGCaG6s

September 27th, 2012, 1:47 pm

177. JUERGEN
if you like a strong article about Jews that can safely make choice at http://theuglytruth.wordpress.com/

September 27th, 2012, 2:04 pm

The new Palestinians housed and fed by the UN

Up to 700,000 Syrians may flee by year-end: UNHCR
By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA | Thu Sep 27, 2012 9:55am EDT

(Reuters) – Up to 700,000 Syrian refugees may flee abroad by the end of the year, the U.N. refugee agency said on Thursday, almost four times its previous forecast for the exodus from the deepening crisis.

About 294,000 refugees fleeing 18 months of conflict in Syria have already crossed into four neighboring countries – Jordan, Iraq, Lebanon and Turkey – or await registration there, it said.

“This is a significant outflow taking place, 100,000 people in August, 60,000 in September and at the moment 2,000 or 3,000 per day or night,” Panos Moumtzis, regional refugee coordinator for the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR, told a news briefing.

“For example, Zaaatri camp, which is a town, did not exist until 30 days ago, it was a piece of desert basically,” he said.

The UNHCR’s previous forecast – of 185,000 refugees – was surpassed in August. It had been made in June.

September 27th, 2012, 2:21 pm

Libya: End of the Honeymoon Period

By: Reem al-Barki

Published Thursday, September 27, 2012
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/libya-end-honeymoon-period

The Libyan capital Tripoli is awaiting a renewed wave of protests as the new parliament prepares an emergency law to contain the unrest.

Tripoli, Libya – The angry protests sweeping the streets of Tripoli on Wednesday closed in on the vicinity of the Turkish Rixos hotel and the General National Assembly (parliament) headquarters.

Demonstrators besieged the building and managed to attack and assault some of the MPs.

In the luxurious Corinthia hotel, angry protesters reached health minister Fatima al-Hamoresh. She held a press conference on Wednesday night to comment on the incident.

Hamoresh maintained that she had come under attack for attempting to fight corruption ever since her appointment. The signs held by demonstrators demanded her resignation for failing to properly handle the compensation of the wounded during the revolution.

In the last few months, tombs have been vandalized, army officers have been assassinated, and parliamentary sessions have been suspended.
She insisted that she had called the interior ministry several times, but did not receive protection.

September 27th, 2012, 2:48 pm

Putin blames West for global chaos
http://rt.com/politics/putin-west-syria-russia-chaos-128/
The Russian leader did not hesitate to name who is responsible for sowing the seeds of disorder that is gripping many parts of the world, including in Syria.

“Our partners just can’t stop,” Putin said at a meeting with representatives of one of Russia’s regions. “They have already created chaos in many territories, and now they are continuing the same policy in other countries, including Syria.”

Commenting on the “Arab Spring” and the ongoing Syrian conflict, he said: “Our position is to help carry out changes for the better in all countries but not to try to force on them – especially by armed force – what we consider to be right.”

It is important to encourage developments from within, Putin stressed.

The Russian leader criticized the militant foreign policy of the West, arguing that Russia’s repeated warnings went unheeded.

“We did warn that prudent action was needed and that it would be wrong to try to achieve anything by force, otherwise chaos would ensue,” he said. “And what do we see today? Chaos prevails.”….

September 27th, 2012, 2:51 pm

Henningsen on RT: ‘US unleash hell in Syria, new violence levels reached’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A4esu8MrRcQ
———————————–
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p_mr13A1j1g

September 27th, 2012, 3:33 pm

Jasmine 178 said,

“# 175
“The secular state is the guarantee of religious pluralism. This apparent paradox, again, is the simplest and most elegant of political truths.”

Christopher Hitchens.”

The simplest and most elegant truth about western secularism in the Middle East is that it has developed a very bad reputation during the last century. We are witnessing its final demise in the region by the fall of the dictators who were appointed as its agents.

The second most elegant truth is that the Middle East being predominantly Muslim is hostile to western secularism. The reason is because Islam is inherently hostile to atheism which is recognized, tolerated and even encouraged by western secularism. Atheism and Islam can never co-exist. A ten year old should be able to decipher this simple truth.

Another form of secularism may eventually flourish in the Middle East that will not be hospitable to atheism. In fact, this form of secularism existed during the early centuries of Islam when Europe was still ruled by the Church and knew nothing about secularism. In other words that form of secularism may experience a revival. But seculaism with atheism is a non-starter in the Muslim world.

America (USA) is supposed to be founded based on this type of secularism but it is now straying away from its roots.

Full stop.

September 27th, 2012, 3:34 pm

Visitor # 185
Secularism has noting to do with Atheism,it embrace the religious and non religious.
Why is it so hard for you to differentiate between?
Another question !!
Why Islam is so scared from Atheism?
Why you are blaming secularism for a failing politicians?

September 27th, 2012, 3:57 pm

Where is MajedKhaldoun and where us Bronco?

September 27th, 2012, 4:05 pm

Jasmine 186,

Obviously you do not understand secularism.

So, do not preach what you do not understand.

Second,

You should not ask the question “Why Islam is so scared from Atheism?”

Because Islam is NOT scared of atheism. Islam understands atheism better than any other religion. Islam considers it its mission to stamp out atheism. I said Islam and atheism cannot coexist. That does not mean Islam is scared of atheism.

Your last question means that you do not understand the history of the Middle East of the last century.

So, we cannot lecture here.

Understand and acquire the relevant information and then come back for discussion. It is like you cannot go to second or third year before completing 1st year.

September 27th, 2012, 4:06 pm

Visitor 188
You could have answered me like this:
Islam hasn’t developed yet to embrace the need of humanity in the 21 century.

As a personal rules,I don’t like to reveal my education to strangers.
And if your prejudice can make you feel more content with yourself,this is your issue.

September 27th, 2012, 4:31 pm

Darryl,

I skipped a grade in elementary school, therefore I misspell *hey*. Sorry, one should never skip a grade.

September 27th, 2012, 4:46 pm

Jasmine 189,

I believe I have the sole prerogative to answer the way I feel suitable. The way you like others to answer simply exposes your own shortcomings and ignorance and by no means prove any shortcomings of others or even Islam which has experienced more formidable opponents than ytou and vanquished them all.

I also do not need you to reveal any education levels you may have acquired. I am quite capable of making my own judgement based on your questions and answers. Actually, I will never ask you or anyone else about levels of education.

You are not currently capable of conducting the conversation about the topic(s) you would like to preach.

September 27th, 2012, 4:47 pm

Maya Naser murdered by terrorists

Mimi al-Laham:

The last time he spoke, he told me a very powerful story that he asked me to keep off the record. But now I feel like he left it with me.

He had invited 3 heads of the FSA, salafists to Damascus at his expense assuring them on his word they will not be harmed. He hoped that seeing a different way of life would change their attitude. After they had been in Damascus for 3 days, he invited them to dinner in front of a restaurant which was in front of an old church and an old mosque that existed together peacefully for a long time.

He asked them how they felt about Damascus, they said it was nice. Then he asked them to be honest and again gave them his word that they would come to no harm. One replied ‘frankly sir we respect you, but we are going to kill you and take the women of your family. And our religion tells us to do this’.

Maya then pointed to two girls who were sitting beside him, one with a head scarf and one without.

He said. You see those two girls? This is Syria. And I will die to keep it this way. After I die, then I don’t care what you do.

Those were his last words to me. He was true to his word and the salafists left safely, that’s just the kind of person he was.

I think he knew he was going to die because there had been many attempts on his life in previous months. But he kept going… he was committed to the truth and his country.

Syria lost a hero today.
But Martyrs don’t die, they live forever.

http://english.pravda.ru/opinion/columnists/27-09-2012/122277-maya_naser-0/

September 27th, 2012, 4:59 pm

Visitor 191
You sound very angry !!!
Islam shouldn’t be at war with the other religions and if one doesn’t agree with you,it doesn’t mean he hates your believes and why do you need a sense of supremacy when you are conversing with the others and why religion has to give you this sense.

September 27th, 2012, 5:01 pm

193 J,

I have no idea how you think I sound angry!!!

Do I have to add comprehension deficiency to your resume which is building in my mind?

There is nothing in 191 which indicates to anyone that I am angry.

Do I need to feel a sense of supremacy? This is another dumb question. Why? do you feel inferior?

“Islam shouldn’t be at war with the other religions”

This is another dumb statement. All religions are by nature competitive. Do they go to war? sometime they do, but not always.

I can go on and on and show you how dumb your statements are.

So, you see? it doesn’t take much for anyone to decipher your educational level. It is mediocre to almost practically nil!!!

September 27th, 2012, 5:13 pm

Words From The Grave Maya Naser – No Civil War in Syria

SyrianGirlpartisan :

https://www.youtube.com/user/SyrianGirlpartisan

Interview starts at 5:00] Press TV Journalist Maya Naser was martyred yesterday by FSA Mercenary Snipers while he was covering a bombing in the Syrian capital of Damascus .
He was a patriot and a brave hero that risked his life for the truth.
Three weeks before his death I interviewed him on wether or not there was a civil war in Syria. I waited to put it out because i wanted to edit it, and now it’s too late for him to see it. I had hoped to interview him again, ‘inshallah’ he said, ‘god willing’.

I apologize for my bad editing and long intro ad the beginning.

September 27th, 2012, 5:27 pm

194
Can you see why the revolution in Syria is not winning?
Can you try to be convincing without making assumptions and reaching conclusions?

September 27th, 2012, 5:30 pm

أعلن عبد القادر الصالح قائد لواء التوحيد ، أحد أكبر تشكيلات الجيش الحر في حلب و ريفها، بدأ معركة “الحسم” في مدينة حلب اليوم الخميس.
و قال ” الصالح” في شريط مصور بثه اللواء على صفحته الرسمية بموقع الفيس بوك لمجموعة من مقاتليه ، أن هجوما شاملا بدأ على الجيش النظامي ، مشيراً إلى أن إنشقاقات في صفوف القوات النظامية.
و دعا “الصالح” مقاتليه إلى الثبات و الصدق مع الله، مذكرا بعدم التعرض لأسرى القوات النظامية ، و تسليمهم لمجلس أمن الثورة ،في إشارة الى المجلس الذي شكله مجموعة كبيرة من كتائب و ألوية الجيش الحر بهدف ضمان الأمن في المناطق المحررة.
و جاء هذا البيان مع استعادة الجيش الحر مناطق في حي العرقوب، الذي أعلنت وسائل الإعلام الناطقة باسم النظام السوري “تطهيره” منذ أيام.
و يأتي إعلان معركة ” الحسم” ليرسم صورة مغايرة عن الوضع العسكري لكتائب الجيش الحر ، بعد أن قالت صحيفة “الغارديان” اليوم الخميس أن ذخيرة مقاتلي المعارضة أوشكت على النفاذ ، ما أدى إلى تراجعه في بعض المناطق.
For good or bad, the situation in Aleppo needs to come to an end, Syrians want to live and let live and most are not particularly loyal to the regime but are not sure if the rebels will bring peace and security, thawrajiyyehs expected influence of the rebels to spread among syrians but the rebels failed to secure any major town and they helped bring destruction to Homs, Aleppo and Idleb among other areas. For obvious reasons, many of us still support a political solution because we want the bloodshed to end and would like to see Syrians move forward, many others disagree and insist that this regime only knows the language of force. The regime clearly believes that the rebels will lose militarily, rebel supporters say the exact opposite, I think the relative advntage of regime forces now is not big enough to crush the rebels for the long term, this is why a lot of people do not see a quick end to this bloody war.

September 27th, 2012, 5:44 pm

196,

Change of topic?

What makes you think you’re better equiped to discuss this topic?

Your first question indicates you’re blind. The revolution in Syria has won and continues to make gains day by day. Only delusionals continue to deny these facts.

You may want to think about switching conversation and talk to the Zoo (halu-land) or better even Ghufran or habib. you would be a great fit with them.

Your second question shows your inability to comprehend. Every thing I said to you is based on facts. you just have to read and understand my previous comment which exposes you from your own statements. These statements are facts about you because you made those statements. can you understand that much?

But since you are incapable of comprehending I am not counting much that you would be able to understand.

September 27th, 2012, 5:45 pm

“The mosques in Aleppo are praying for the FSA” and I too

FSA claims ‘decisive’ battle in Aleppo

The Free Syrian Army has announced the start of what it claims will be a “decisive” battle for Aleppo. Our colleague Mona Mahmood called Bashir al-Haji, commander of Tawheed brigade in Aleppo, via Skype, and asked him to explain. The sound of the shellfire could be heard as he spoke.

The decisive battle for Aleppo started at 4pm local time. We wanted to suprise the Syrian army which had started to creep forward towards the southern neighbourhoods. The Tawheed brigade was enticing the Syrian army forward to face all the fighting brigades in the city.

We have been reconsidering this a battle for a week. The plan to launch the battle today was top secret, and now the mosques in Aleppo are praying for the FSA.

There are 6,000 fighters of the Tawheed brigade taking part in the battle now, in addition to a few other brigades like al-Fatah and Ahfad al-Fatiheen for the Turkmen. We have prepared good ammunition for the battle, we have confiscated a lot of weapons from Masaken Hananou belonging to the Syrian army. We have Russian weapons used by the regime and we will use them against the Syrian army.

After every liberation of a military barracks, we confiscate weapons to attack the Syrian army – we are killing them with their [own] weapons. Though we wish that the Syrian army will fight on the ground we know that they will resort to aerial shelling to support their army. In fact, the planes have never stopped striking the city. They have been shelling for almost 24 hours and they get even more active if there is any action by the FSA.

He denied that the FSA had proclaimed “decisive” battles for Aleppo before.

We are not aiming to liberate the whole of Aleppo with this battle but to regain control of most of the city and get back as many neighbourhoods as we can.

It is a retaliation battle against regime’s forces and to get a foothold at the centre of the city where there are security bases for the Syrian army. Fighters of the FSA are no longer scared of the planes, they are treating them now like guns.

We are doing our best to launch our attacks and battles in areas empty of civilians. We are helping civilians who need to get out of the site of fighting. We do not know how long the battle might last.

We only need anti-aircraft rockets to control the way from Aleppo to Damascus.

The Guardian

September 27th, 2012, 5:59 pm

Assad’s regime at its ‘worst stage’: Syria’s defected PM Hijab

Thursday, 27 September 2012

Hijab explained that Bashar’s brother, Maher, was the decision-maker and that his cousins Rami Makhouf and Hafez Maklouf were the most influential of his aides.

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/27/240565.html

September 27th, 2012, 6:25 pm

A good step towards self redemption.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9571297/One-of-Syrias-richest-men-to-help-fund-a-rebel-army.html

One of Syria’s richest men to help fund a rebel army

The Syrian regime’s richest opponent, the business magnate Firas Tlass has pledged his fortune to the “revolution”, promising to fund rebel groups, humanitarian aid and an organisation to deal with the chaos after President Assad has gone.

“I am supporting a complete program [to oust the regime]. I am putting my fortune behind this, totally, until the end,” said Mr Tlass. “But this is nothing. If I give all my money it is not worth one gram of the blood spilt by the Syrian people.”

September 27th, 2012, 6:31 pm

Visitor @ 198
And it was very nice having a dialogue of deaf with you !!

September 27th, 2012, 6:43 pm

SANDRO LOEWE said:

Strange rummors about Dictator Assad having been poisoned with a developed agent that could end his life in a maximum of 4 months?
Anyone heard about it?

September 27th, 2012, 6:44 pm

187. Tara

Flunked math.

201. Tara

So it’s yet another opportunistic Tlass playboy. No surprise there.

September 27th, 2012, 6:47 pm

202 J,

You are quite welcome. And wish you a good trip in or out of halu-land whichever way you choose.

September 27th, 2012, 6:53 pm

Now we can see the chaos created by Putin and Iran for trying to avoid the sovereign people express and fulfill their demands. This chaos could have been avoided had been Assad a reformer. But he was not, he pretended to be a merely modernizer and even this was not true. As a result Syria and its people is destroyed in total chaos and disarray.

Well maybe I misunderstand the whole issue. Assad is in fact a real reformer, with his acts he will open the door to a regime change and the rebuilding of almost all syrian villages and cities. He will even offer his own life for Syria. Congratulations Assad The Last.

September 27th, 2012, 6:56 pm

Jasmine

The revolution is winning? Winning what? The country is half destroyed, Syrians whom the FSA promised to protect are either dead or in a refugee camps, the rebels keep claiming they liberated 70% of the country, yet they keep begging NATO, the USA, Turkey and now an Arab army to save them from total destruction.
Even Qatar said that the situation has reached an ‘unacceptable stage’, meaning that the rebels are loosing and wasting Qatar’s money and they need to be rescued urgently by any means.

The FSA, whose vocation is to protect the civilians is now sending car bombs with suicidal young men that ended up killing only civilians. That’s winning?
That’s getting closer to the cliff.

September 27th, 2012, 7:20 pm

What the Salafis Want: An Interview with the Blind Sheik’s Son
He wants his father freed and Shari‘a imposed unquestioningly on Egypt. Other than that, Mohammed Abdel-Rahman doesn’t want to cause trouble
By Ashraf Khalil / Cairo | September 27, 2012 | 3

http://world.time.com/2012/09/27/what-the-salafists-want-an-interview-with-the-blind-sheiks-son/?iid=gs-main-lede

To even approach Mohammed Abdel-Rahman, you have to take off your shoes. The son of the man Americans call the Blind Sheik — Omar Abdel-Rahman, who is serving a life sentence for seditious conspiracy in a North Carolina prison — spends part of each day calling for his father’s release at a makeshift open-air sit-in outside the walls of the U.S. embassy in Cairo. A collection of blue straw mats are spread across the concrete, ringed by about eight pairs of shoes along the edges. Several times a day, the mats become prayers rugs, so no shoes are allowed.

I went looking for him to talk about the role of Salafis — the controversial and conservative Islamists who are wielding new and often troubling political influence, in the eyes of Westerners and secular Arabs — in the new Egypt and in the Arab world after over a year of uprisings. The interview would be part of a major story by Bobby Ghosh in the Oct. 8 issue of TIME

September 27th, 2012, 7:22 pm

I hope this is not true,but I read two reports about a suicide bomber in Idleb on a motorcycle who had his son,a minor, behind him. The two were killed along with a soldier and one civilian, please tell me the story is not true.
Despite the mess, Iran managed in winning the release of 3 Iranians who were kidnapped in Azaz and lavrov revealed that the US had direct contact with the regime about the chemical weapons while alarabi “clarified” hamad’s statement about sending Arab military force to Syria claiming that what Hamad meant was a peace keeping force, even Jinblat was uncomfortable with the attack on army HQ saying that the army who is now killing Syrians is the same one that fought in 1973 and tried to defend Lebanon in 1982. Army source said that none of the rebels killed and captured in the attack were Syrian.
FSA was vague about who carried the attack but a jihadist group claimed responsibility.
The bloody race to score a victory before US election has started, I agree that Bashar will be Assad the Last, I just hope we do not see another dynasty under the flag of Islam,I still believe that Syria can only be governed from the middle.

September 27th, 2012, 7:39 pm

Erdogan wants a dialogue with the PKK
انقرة – أشار رئيس الوزراء التركي رجب طيب اردوغان إلى العمل على اجراء محادثات جديدة بين الدولة والمقاتلين الأكراد، في الوقت الذي تواجه فيه حكومته تصاعدا في العنف الانفصالي في جنوب شرق البلاد.
وقال اردوغان في مقابلة تلفزيونية مع القناة السابعة في وقت متأخر من الأربعاء “فيما يتعلق بإيمرالي من الممكن إجراء المزيد من المحادثات”، في إشارة إلى جزيرة في الجنوب من اسطنبول يحتجز فيها زعيم حزب العمال الكردستاني عبد الله اوجلان.

September 27th, 2012, 7:52 pm

The video from Al Manar showing the taking back of the army HQ building is quite interesting
1. This so called losing revolution is able to hit at the heart of the army HQ
2. Three stories are left completely gutted and burning
3. Three dead are found inside, with three having held off the “men of Assad ” as they call themselves.

And yet we have a delusional pro regime supporter telling us that they are losing.

This is happening in the country called Syria, known for its ever pervasive and most omnipresent security services that require a check on every single aspect of your life. Having a wifi in your home for example require a security clearance and a visit to at least three ministries.

The most difficult thing that a person does is to look hard just beyond its nose.

In the meantime, the sectarian Iraqi regime is paying Syria’s generosity with smuggling Iranian weapons and denying Syrians a refuge from oppression. These are the same that suffered under the helicopter attacks of Saddam.

What a huge demonstration of stupidity, obtuseness, barbarity, and utter backwardness that this regime and its supporters have turned to be.

Cheers

September 27th, 2012, 8:08 pm

It was a very bad day for the Iranian delegation in the Big Apple today.

After the beating of FM spokesman by his own countrymen, AhmadiNejjad gets snubbed by another Arab Spring leader.

Yemeni President refuses to meet with Nejjad in NYC,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/09/28/240572.html

It looks like Hadi has outmaneuvered Morsi by miles.

September 27th, 2012, 8:09 pm

On a different note the speech by that stupid Bibi today clearly shows why in Europe a secret poll has indicated that the vast majority of Europeans believe that Israel is the number one threat to world peace.

After all the wars and occupations and displacements and colonization, this stupid guy with his stupid evil Zionist ideology wants another war and with Iran now.

Even though Iran is playing dirty in Syria I do still believe that Zionism is at the root of all the ills of the ME, with a huge dose from our own shortcomings to boot.

September 27th, 2012, 8:37 pm

US official predicts that FSA will on its own defeat the criminal regime this November.

The US despite its bad performance on Syria still has some good intelligence that can be relied on.

September 27th, 2012, 8:46 pm

The de-defection was a forgery. What a retarded regime! They lied in March, 2012 and forgot about their lie in Sep 2012. How many time they have been caught? They really are utterly stupid.

One of the defectors (seen on the far right in Russia Today’s photograph) has been identified as Yasser Fawzi Abd, whose defection to the regime was first announced six months ago.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/sep/27/syria-bloodiest-day-yet-live?commentpage=1#block-50644a00c0e3eab0be492970

September 27th, 2012, 8:55 pm

“186. JASMINE SAID:
Visitor # 185
Secularism has noting to do with Atheism,it embrace the religious and non religious.”

Secularism DOES NOT embrace religious and non-religious beliefs, it separates them from the state.

“185. VISITOR SAID:

My dear Visitor, this is an interesting comment here. My philosophically view of the early part of “Islamic secularism” that you are alluding to here was a necessary state of existence, rather than a principle. In those early years, the majority of people were still not Muslims and even those who called themselves Muslims were not quite sure what it means to be a Muslim as the foundations of the religion were still fluid and being formulated. Hence, in those early years “The Islamic” system was more flexible to accommodate the various people who lived under an Islamic rule and different their thoughts were tolerated, their was a fair degree of free speech also. I cannot see some of the ahadeeth and “sirat al rasool” being written in today’s environment.

Therefore, I will put to you that Islam is more “workable” when it is not a majority that dominates every facet of daily life so that competition is not eliminated.

September 27th, 2012, 9:03 pm

This is a clear example of the delusional Ghufran who claims in 209 that even Jinblat was uncomfortable with the attack on the army HQ in Damascus. Ghufran was insinuating the Jinblat as he spelled the name is having a change of heart and criticizing the revolution. However, if you read the full story as linked below you would realize that Jinblat or Jumblat was in fact attacking idiot prethident and the kremlin,

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Sep-27/189411-damascus-bombings-signal-civil-war-in-syria-jumblatt.ashx#axzz27imKygON

This is one example of many delusional spins that we often see spun here on SC by the likes of Ghufran. The objective is always to paint the revolution in dark colors while, if it is not possible to defend idiot assad, at the least ignoring his idiocy.

This revolution will not tolerate half solutions or those who speak from different sides of the mouth as Ghufran does. Those who follow this practice are clear enemies of the Syrian people and partners in the crimes perpetrated against Syrians.

It is very unfortunate that Ghufran, a non-Syrian, was raised in Syria. He is an example of those who do not appreciate hospitality and generosity of the good Syrian people. People like that cannot be trusted. I have known, unfortunately, many Palestinians with similar traits but also other Palestinians who have good traits and appreciate hospitality. Ghufran is the bad kind.

September 27th, 2012, 9:06 pm

The rebels should also target Batta and his family as well as the regime’s thugs with a similar message.

Syria texts rebels: ‘Game over’
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5hZNigrS37l37SWcB9ozbf52c6kMg?docId=N0444791348761252932A
(UKPA) – 5 hours ago

Syrian authorities have sent text messages nationwide with a message for rebels fighting President Bashar Assad’s regime: “Game over.”
The messages signed by the Syrian Arab Army also urged the rebels to surrender their weapons and warned the countdown to evict foreign fighters has begun. The texts appear to be part of the regime’s psychological battle against the rebels, but are highly unlikely to have any effect on fighters intent on toppling Mr Assad.
Syrians say they began receiving the messages a day after rebels bombed a military command centre in Damascus – a major security breach of the heavily guarded capital that highlighted the regime’s growing vulnerability in the face of a rebellion growing in confidence and capabilities.
People with mobile subscriptions received the messages while those with prepaid phones did not, residents in the Syrian capital said.

September 27th, 2012, 9:09 pm

216 Darryl,

Your knowledge about the history is doubtful and deficient. Islam ruled Arabia and all the Arabs were Muslims before it spread out to the rest of the world. The myth that you keep perpetrating about Muslims being non-majority in conquered lands is fundamentally flawed. While Muslims conquerors tolerated non-Muslims and still do based on Qura’nic injunctions it took less than a century to convert Egypt, north Africa, Mesopotamia, Persia and Muslim parts of Asia. During the reign of Caliph Umar Ibn Abd-al-Aziz majority of Syrians and Iraqis were Muslims,

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

Umayyad rulers to whom we owe the greatest Islamic conquests in history were culturally secular in the same vein as you would look at the US when it was first founded. They did not need any input from non-Muslims to establish their rule.

The Abbasids followed in their footsteps as they inherited the state intact. Muslim Spain owes its greatness to the Umayyad and not to backward Christians of the time who did not even understand their own faith.

In brief, stop implying and insinuating that Islam needed input from indigenous populations. If true, we would not see any trace of Islam in countries that stretch as far as Indonesia, Malaysia and other places whose populations in many respect are better Muslims than many Muslim Arabs.

September 27th, 2012, 9:22 pm

The test messages the regime sending to the rebels are a sign of desperation. It took only 3 men from the FSA to terrorize the fort that is called رئاسة هيئة الأركان, the very symbol of the regime. Next target is the presidential palace. A source from Damascus told me Batta can’t sleep anymore. I suggested some alcohol. I hope with the sanctions, he can only find very bad and cheep brands.

September 27th, 2012, 9:42 pm

219. VISITOR said:

“Your knowledge about the history is doubtful and deficient. Islam ruled Arabia and all the Arabs were Muslims before it spread out to the rest of the world. The myth that you keep perpetrating about Muslims being non-majority in conquered lands is fundamentally flawed.”

My dear Visitor, stop reading your myth books. Based on your argument, there should be no non-Muslims in Syria, Iraq or Egypt.

“While Muslims conquerors tolerated non-Muslims and still do based on Qura’nic injunctions it took less than a century to convert Egypt, north Africa, Mesopotamia, Persia and Muslim parts of Asia.”

Stop reading those myth books again. All tolerance verses toward non-Muslims in the Qur’an have been abrogated or simply have conditions. There is very very little tolerance and lots of convenience.

“During the reign of Caliph Umar Ibn Abd-al-Aziz majority of Syrians and Iraqis were Muslims,.”

please desist from reading those myth books for the love of Allah and His Messenger!

“Umayyad rulers to whom we owe the greatest Islamic conquests in history were culturally secular in the same vein as you would look at the US when it was first founded. They did not need any input from non-Muslims to establish their rule.”

The early Ummayyds were just barely Muslims. It was under Abdel Malik that the Ummayyds became more Islamic. Please desist from reading the myth books for a bit.

“The Abbasids followed in their footsteps as they inherited the state intact. Muslim Spain owes its greatness to the Umayyad and not to backward Christians of the time who did not even understand their own faith.”

Absolutely right, it owed the greatness to the Byzantine Christian culture in Syria and Greek culture in North Africa that was adopted and spread by the Ummayds. The Ummayads thankfully did not spread the tent culture of Arabia to Spain.

September 27th, 2012, 10:19 pm

Reuters reported what we predicted months ago. The absence of state security forces and the attacks by rebels gave shabeehas and thugs a business opportunity. People are paying an average of $ 300 a month for protection in alzahraa-Homs which now hosts more than 200,000 people,mostly alawis.rebels are also collecting “taxes” in some sunni dominated areas according to western reporters. This is an EOE Syrian style, next will be insurance against kidnapping.

September 27th, 2012, 10:49 pm

221 Darryl

“the tent culture of Arabia”

Thank you, Darryl, for reducing Visitor (AKA VAT) to his basic chemical properties. That little putz has been kicking his can all over SC for far too long, telling all and sundry how it shall be when the 12th Iman (or somebody) shows his face on Planet Earth.

But it’s cruel and a bit extreme to refer to the Quran as a “book of myths.” And I’m sure you didn’t mean it in a general sense. You were simply saying it to VAT specifically in the hope that he would soil his diapers in rage.

At some point in the near future, I would hope you’ll apologize to the many good and moderate Muslims on SC for this inappropriate reference to their holy book, over which poor VATTY obsesses unhealthily.

On a separate note, Walid Jumblatt has to be the winner, hands-down, of the Middle East Ugly Man Contest.

September 27th, 2012, 11:06 pm

I have a comment in response to Darryl 221 that only Dr. Landis can release from the filter. I tried twice to post it and it doesn’t show.

It answers all your allegations Darryl.

I’ll try to rephrase it again in order to bypass the filter, but it is long. I hope Landis releases the current comment in his filter and save me the trouble.

For some reason, if you take longer time to write in the SC editor before hitting the submit button, then the comment ends up in the filter. And once it goes to the filter the next submit will automatically filter it.

September 27th, 2012, 11:29 pm

223, I have no idea why Darryl has to apologize to Muslims? Are you imagining Things he did not say? Or are you another comprehension deficient reader?

September 27th, 2012, 11:35 pm

224. VAT:

“I have a comment in response to 221 that only Dr. Landis can release from the filter. I tried twice to post it and it doesn’t show. It answers all, Darryl.”

We’re all literally choked with anticipation, VATTY

September 27th, 2012, 11:36 pm

The recent proof of US intelligence excellency in the middle east is the absurd killing of the US ambassador in Libya

September 27th, 2012, 11:52 pm

Intervention Won’t Save Syria: (There is no need as the Sunnis majority rebels are surely winning the war against the ‘oppressive quasi-Shiite Alawite minority’)

Gary C. Gambill
|
September 27, 2012
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/humanitarian-intervention-wont-save-syria-7501
…
Instead, it is Syria’s Sunni Arab majority that is suffering at the hands of an oppressive minoritarian regime.

Also in sharp contrast to major intervention precedents, this group is already on track to win the war. With a fivefold demographic advantage over President Bashar al-Assad’s quasi-Shiite Alawite sect and growing material support from surrounding states, the overwhelmingly Sunni rebels are sure to eventually overpower regime forces. That’s why they have zero interest in negotiating with the Syrian president.
….
The best-case scenario of such a settlement (assuming a highly unlikely change of heart by Russia and the acquiescence of Iran) would mean a Lebanon-style interim power-sharing formula, which might cut down on the violence but only at the cost of stunting Syria’s political recovery. This is precisely why the rebels will never agree to it.

Absent a workable plan for saving lives or a compelling strategic rationale for intervention, the United States should stay out of the conflict—while using all means short of force to dissuade the participants and their regional backers from committing egregious human-rights abuses. Once the smoke clears, Syria will need a benefactor with clean hands to help it pick up the pieces.

September 28th, 2012, 12:11 am

#213 Observer

An anonymous thumbs up won’t do here, I have to put it out there on the record for all to see:

HEAR, HEAR!

Hope you won’t mind my borrowing your last line, Observer, to use here and there as the need arises, with credits of course

September 28th, 2012, 12:24 am

Will Erdogan become Turkey’s first popular voted president in 2014 election: The struggle against Abdullah Gul has already started.
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/a-survey-that-upset-erdogan.aspx?pageID=449&nID=31153&NewsCatID=416
…
But if one is to go along with the findings of the Metropoll survey, 51 percent said they would rather see the incumbent, Abdullah Gül, win the contest for the presidency if he were running against Erdoğan.
….
Meanwhile, the Metropoll survey also showed that 56 percent of those questioned did not approve of the government’s Syrian policy. In addition to this, there is the fact that Erdoğan, who is increasingly accused of displaying authoritarian tendencies, has been a divisive, and not a unifying figure in Turkey.

Today we see a country that is even more divided than before along the religious-secular, Alevi-Sunni, Turkish-Kurdish fault lines. This is clear evidence that Erdoğan has not used his strong mandate (he got one out of every two votes in the June 2011 elections) to unify the country.

His and the AKP’s mission appear instead to push an ideological line that has Islamic conservatism at the core. This is apparent, for example, in the changes to the education system that have opened the path to more Islamic education at a younger age. This appears to be in line with Erdoğan’s openly declared desire to see a “religious generation emerge in Turkey.”

America’s Inevitable Retreat From the Middle East
By PANKAJ MISHRA
Published: September 23, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/24/opinion/americas-inevitable-retreat-from-the-middle-east.html?pagewanted=all

THE murder of four Americans in Libya and mob assaults on the United States’ embassies across the Muslim world this month have reminded many of 1979, when radical Islamists seized the American mission in Tehran. There, too, extremists running wild after the fall of a pro-American tyrant had found a cheap way of empowering themselves.
But the obsession with radical Islam misses a more meaningful analogy for the current state of siege in the Middle East and Afghanistan: the helicopters hovering above the roof of the American Embassy in Saigon in 1975 as North Vietnamese tanks rolled into the city.

That hasty departure ended America’s long and costly involvement in Indochina, which, like the Middle East today, the United States had inherited from defunct European empires. Of course, Southeast Asia had no natural resources to tempt the United States and no ally like Israel to defend. But it appeared to be at the front line of the worldwide battle against Communism, and American policy makers had unsuccessfully tried both proxy despots and military firepower to make the locals advance their strategic interests.

September 28th, 2012, 12:33 am

#209 Ghufran:

So will you actually BELIEVE us if we tell you that it is not true?
In fact one wonders at the real objective of your repeating the story here and asking that question. And pardon me for repeating again: how about linking your source? You’ll have many telling you the obvious immediately: that “the letter’s content is apparent from the address” as the Arabic saying goes.

Ditto for the Jumblat story: let us see the whole thing! link it, man! Or is that going to reveal how you choose only bits to base your conclusions on? AND AGAIN, one has to wonder at the the real objectives, especially when a little decoy of “I agree that Bashar will be Assad the Last” is stuck on right at the end there, almost surreptitiously after a series of several glaring attempts to besmirch and sully the revolution.

حرية حرية
واحد واحد واحد
الشعب السوري واحد
والنصر آت بالرغم عن أنف كل أسدي مجرم ح.ق.ي.ر

September 28th, 2012, 12:46 am

Zoo,

To me, “The national Interest” should change its name to “The Israeli Interests” since a lot of what one reads there, though without explicitly stating it, is directed at looking out for the Zionist entity’s welfare first and America’s second, or even at great detriment to the US’s.

September 28th, 2012, 1:38 am

Zoo 207
I never said that the revolution is winning !
My argument is that with these fanatics around,soon Syria will need a second revolution to counteract their miserable doing in the country.
Very sad indeed.

September 28th, 2012, 2:37 am