Opposition Claims 4 Jets Shot down Today – The Alawite Existential Dilemma
Posted by Joshua on Wednesday, November 28th, 2012
Opposition claims a total of 4 jets and a helicopter shot down today
Comment by Syrialover November 28th, 2012, 6:29 am said:
Joshua, you are buying into nonesense giving headlines to those claiming they�ll turn Syria into an Islamist state.
They might be helping to kick Assad hard, but they have also gotten in the way of the rebellion by providing an unhelpful distraction and excuse for support to be withheld.
The bottom line is they are arrogantly attempting a free ride on the backs of the majority of Syrians who have sacrificed and suffered for other ideals in this revolution.
I don�t believe it will achieve traction other than nuisance value once the dust settles.
Political Islam is a quick-and-dirty, ignorant, and above all, lazy route to claiming power. That�s what�s wrong with the MB.
Some claim it may have to run its course. Why? It would be another pointless disaster that wastes time and resources and stops the clock.
The economy, investment, employment, education, infrastructure development, modern legal and bureaucratic systems, foreign relations, trade, you name it would sit in the trash bin while self-appointed amateurs fool around with the lives of Syrians.
Hanzala said: November 28th, 2012, 6:52 am
I think the chances of Syria becoming an Islamic state after Assad are very high.. Dawla Islamiyya fil Sham.
Even FSA groups that started out as relatively moderate have started to take a strong Islamic leaning.
The FSA have made it this far without Western backing, and I believe they can go even further.
Do we have grounds for confidence that the Syrian rebels will represent an improvement over the regime? In ME, worse is always possible.
Mike Doran ?@Doranimated� .@tcwittes @davidfrum If it only deals a strategic blow to Iran and Hezbollah it’s a huge win, sez I.
Syria Debate between Radwan Ziadeh, Ayssar Midani, Joshua landis�Claude Guibal,�Ole Solvang is online – France 24 TV
According to Syrian state media, twin car bombs planted in Jaramana, a suburb just outside of Damascus, killed at least 34 people. Many Druze and Christian minorities live in that neighborhood. Meanwhile, witnesses claim that insurgents downed a government aircraft that was bombing the town of Daret Azzeh, west of Aleppo and near the Turkish border, although it’s still unclear exactly how they did so. “We watched a Syrian plane being shot down as it was flying low to drop bombs,” said Ugur Cuneydioglu. This comes just a day after the opposition recorded another major tactical success. On Tuesday, the opposition shot down a military helicopter outside Aleppo with surface-to-air missiles. As of now, it’s unclear if these gains are long-term and thus able to present a challenge to Assad’s air-power. In another tactical gain, members of the opposition have overtaken two military bases, both of which were used by the Syrian air force. The opposition has gained control of about six bases in just a week. Valerie Amos, the United Nation’s humanitarian chief, accused Syria of bombing refugees near the Jordanian border who are trying to flee the country.
En Syrie, la communaut� alaouite, base du r�gime, cherche une porte de sortie
27 novembre 2012 | Par Caroline Donati in Medipart
La capitale Damas bunk�ris�e, Qardaha, le village natal des Assad en col�re, la communaut� alaouite divis�e� La r�sistance arm�e parvient-elle � percer les lignes de d�fense du r�gime des Assad�? Plusieurs �v�nements r�cents le laissent penser. Il y a d’abord des t�moignages recueillis � Damas. Selon plusieurs t�moins, la capitale n�est plus seulement quadrill�e par des barrages. Des murs de b�ton sont d�sormais �rig�s pour prot�ger les principaux centres de s�curit� du r�gime. Le pouvoir se bunk�rise et Damas est compar�e � Bagdad et � sa zone verte, cette enclave ultra-s�curis�e o� sont regroup�s les centres de pouvoir.
Depuis le mois d�octobre, les quartiers g�n�raux de l’appareil de r�pression sont vis�s par des attaques spectaculaires revendiqu�es par des brigades de l�Arm�e syrienne libre (ASL). D�but novembre, � Kfar Souss�, o� r�sident de hauts dignitaires du r�gime, les bureaux du premier ministre et des services ont essuy� des tirs qui ont m�me atteint le palais pr�sidentiel. Puis, deux quartiers alaouites de Damas, habit�s par des recrues miliciennes, respectivement Mezzeh 86 et Hay al-Wouroud, ont �t� secou�s par des explosions.
Le r�gime a �galement perdu le 26 novembre le contr�le de Marj al-Sultan, le plus important a�roport militaire de la capitale, � vingt kilom�tres du palais pr�sidentiel, apr�s avoir �t� contraint d’abandonner d�autres sites strat�giques � l�est de Damas.
Les combattants de l�ASL avancent sur d’autres territoires jusqu’alors solidement tenus par le pouvoir�: la plaine et la montagne c�ti�re alaouite, d�o� sont originaires les dirigeants. Sur le point de contr�ler la zone nord, ils sont d�sormais aux portes du ��r�duit alaouite��. Ce territoire en majorit� habit� par des Alaouites, part du littoral jusqu�� la montagne voisine, et pourrait servir de base de repli si le r�gime venait � perdre Damas.
La vid�o ci-dessous a �t� tourn�e par les brigade Hijra lil-Allah dans le village de Kandassiyeh, aux portes du r�duit alaouite�:
D�but octobre, une brigade a m�me pouss� jusqu�aux portes de Qardaha, le fief familial des Assad. ��C’�tait une op�ration symbolique destin�e � montrer au pouvoir qu�aucune r�gion n�est stable et que l�ASL pouvait entrer � Qardaha � tout moment��, commente le responsable du r�seau m�diatique La Syrie en direct.
Pour Peter Harling, de l�International Crisis Group (ICG), ��l�ASL est d�cid�e � porter le conflit sur le territoire de l�adversaire et de sa base sociale, jusqu�� s�en prendre aux zones alaouites �pargn�es par les destructions��. C�est de ces quartiers que le pouvoir bombarde en effet les banlieues r�volutionnaires ou que les miliciens impliqu�s dans la r�pression sont originaires. ��Les tirs qui ont vis� le palais pr�sidentiel constituent un changement majeur, reconna�t l�opposant Abdel Raouf Darwich, membre du collectif du 15 mars pour la d�mocratie en Syrie. L�arm�e libre a d�cid� de s�attaquer aux zones vitales pour le pouvoir.��
Le pays alaouite constitue un verrou majeur pour le r�gime Assad. C�est en effet dans ces zones marginalis�es de la montagne et dans les p�riph�ries des villes c�ti�res, que le pouvoir a recrut� ses hommes. Exploitant la longue histoire de pers�cutions de cette communaut�, le r�gime des Assad a offert � ces alaouites paup�ris�s emploi et protection contre all�geance. Soutenir Assad, c�est se prot�ger en tant que minoritaires face � la majorit� sunnite, selon la formule de l�ancien pr�sident Hafez al-Assad�: ��Tu es avec Assad, tu es avec toi-m�me.��
Des affrontements mortels
Mais cette solidarit� de minoritaires se fissure. Car le pays alaouite enterre chaque jour sa jeunesse. ��Il n�y a pas un jour sans qu�il n�y ait un enterrement dans les villages de la montagne, raconte une opposante originaire de la r�gion. Les gens sont us�s.�� Le r�gime reconna�t avoir perdu 7�300 hommes, ce serait probablement le double. Tous ne sont pas morts dans des combats�: certains ont �t� tu�s pour avoir d�sob�i aux ordres du r�gime. Dans la montagne, certaines familles s�opposent aux hommes d�Assad venus enr�ler leurs enfants.
��Dans les villages, les familles sont perdues et commencent � �voquer ouvertement le d�part de Bachar al-Assad, poursuit cette opposante. Ce n�est pas la r�volution mais le d�but des divisions au sein de la communaut�.�� Devant l�incapacit� du pouvoir � venir � bout du soul�vement, les langues se d�lient. ��D�s l��t�, on pouvait entendre des familles se dire que le moment venu, le pr�sident Assad partira avec les siens et les laissera face � l�inconnu, une chose impensable avant��, raconte l�opposant Abdel Raouf Darwich, qui revient de cette r�gion dont il est originaire.
La petite classe moyenne a profit� de la politique confessionnelle du r�gime en acc�dant � des postes au sein de l�administration�: elle se sent aujourd’hui de plus en plus expos�e aux repr�sailles m�me si elle n�est pas impliqu�e dans la r�pression. Ces craintes sont nourries par la radicalisation de groupes arm�s de l’opposition qui ex�cutent des soldats de l�arm�e loyaliste et des miliciens. Mais les familles alaouites peuvent aussi �tre victimes des exactions des milices loyalistes. ��� Homs, les chabiha rackettent des Alaouites faute d�autres clients, rapporte un analyste occidental. Les Alaouites veulent se convaincre qu�ils repr�sentent l��tat et combattent pour l�int�r�t de la nation, mais ils savent que c�est une illusion car ce syst�me est en r�alit� li� � une personne, Assad.��
Perceptible depuis des mois, la tension qui couvait a fini par �clater au grand jour le 28 septembre au c�ur du fief des Assad�: des affrontements mortels se sont produits � Qardaha opposant des hommes du clan Assad et leurs alli�s � des familles respect�es de la communaut� alaouite, les Al-Khayyer, les Othman et les Aboud. Surnomm� le ��Seigneur de la montagne�� pour la terreur qu�il y fait r�gner avec ses milices, Mohammed al-Assad, le cousin du chef de l��tat, aurait ouvert le feu pour rappeler � l�ordre ses coreligionnaires qui critiquaient Bachar al-Assad� La fusillade qui a suivi aurait fait une dizaine de morts et plus de trente bless�s.
��Les Alaouites sont divis�s sur la gestion de la crise, explique l�historien Stefan Winter, sp�cialiste du Proche-Orient et de la Syrie ottomane � l�UQAM (Universit� du Qu�bec � Montr�al). Les proches de la famille Assad et les voyous, c�est-�-dire les contrebandiers et trafiquants de la montagne, estiment que la violence peut tout r�gler et qu�ils vont donner une le�on aux sunnites, et rappeler qui sont les vrais ma�tres du pays�; tandis que les grandes familles de notables et les intellectuels pr�nent depuis le d�but la mod�ration et une solution politique.�…..
Descendant d�un petit notable de Qardaha, les Assad appartiennent � un clan peu puissant et � l�une des tribus les moins consid�r�es de la montagne c�ti�re, les Kalbiyeh. Pour gommer ce handicap, l�ancien pr�sident s��tait appuy� sur des personnalit�s religieuses de second plan, et avait nou� des alliances avec les familles de notables par des mariages et des cooptations. Des membres de la famille al-Khayyer ont ainsi appuy� le pr�sident Hafez al-Assad. Les Assad ont ensuite soumis la communaut� en �liminant leurs concurrents. Tous les officiers alaouites qui auraient pu s�opposer � leur ascension au sommet de l��tat ont �t� �cart�s voire �limin�s, tant sous Hafez al-Assad que sous Bachar….
��Les familles d�intellectuels ou de religieux sont respect�es par la classe moyenne alaouite urbanis�e, qui est capable de penser une identit� religieuse alaouite moderne hors du leadership d�Assad, explique l�historien Stefan Winter. Mais � la diff�rence des grandes notabilit�s druzes, aucune figure alaouite n�a assez de charisme et de capital social pour rallier la communaut� qui est tr�s fragment�e et n�avait jamais connu de v�ritable leader politique avant les Assad.�� ….
Pas de prise sur l’arm�e
Les leaders de la montagne n�ont pas non plus d�ascendant sur les effectifs alaouites de l�arm�e. � Les all�geances tribales historiques ne comptent pas au sein de l�institution militaire car l�arm�e et les forces sp�ciales ont offert une promotion sociale aux alaouites en tant qu�individus et tous clans confondus, poursuit Stefan Winter. Les amiti�s qui se sont cr��es durent et les r�seaux sont si forts, ils d�pendent tellement du r�gime qu�il est difficile d�imaginer qu�ils se rebellent contre Assad. � Trop compromis dans la r�pression, les hauts grad�s savent aussi qu�il leur sera difficile de n�gocier une cl�mence quand bien m�me ils seraient en mesure de fomenter un coup d��tat…..
Coinc�s entre un r�gime qui les m�ne � la catastrophe et la peur de l�apr�s, les Alaouites pourraient choisir la fuite, vers la montagne c�ti�re syrienne et le littoral, ou encore dans l�arri�re-pays alaouite en Turquie. Selon nos informations, des familles enti�res de Damas ont franchi le pas. Les sp�culateurs aussi�: � Tartous, sur le littoral, les prix de l�immobilier ont d�j� flamb�.
Business Insider: The War For Syria Is Also A War For Iraq
2012-11-28
Divided by history, geography and God, Abu Mohammed and Abu Hamza both smoke Marlboro cigarettes and agree on one point: The war for Syria is also a war for Iraq. Driven from their homes by the 2003 US-led war in Iraq, both men, now in their 40s, …
Syrian rebels take two military bases in heavy fighting
BEIRUT � Rebel fighters took over two military bases in Syria after heavy fighting Tuesday, an additional sign that the ragtag force may finally be breaking a weeks-long stalemate and making progress in its battle against the government of President Bashar al-Assad….In the past week alone, rebels have taken control of about a half-dozen military bases across the country as well as the Tishreen hydroelectric dam near the Turkish border….In a video posted online Tuesday, which reportedly showed one of the captured bases, fighters affiliated with the Free Syrian Army stomped on a bust of Assad�s father, Hafez, at the 666th air force battalion base south of Damascus.
The second base, southeast of Aleppo, was overrun by fighters from Ahrar al-Sham and Jabhat al-Nusra, according to the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights. Both are religious extremist groups suspected of having ties to al-Qaeda.
That the two air bases were taken over by such radically different groups among the opposition indicates that the recent rebel gains may not have been coordinated by any sort of unified leadership. It also hints at potential problems ahead if Islamist and secular groups begin to fight one another for control of territory….
Hizb Allah�s Role in the Syrian Uprising
Chris Zambelis – Nov 28, 2012 – Combating Terrorism Center – West Point
…..The fall of the Ba`athist regime would certainly take Syria out of the Resistance Axis. This does not mean that Hizb Allah and its allies will stand idle. It is conceivable that Nasrallah�s explanations for Hizb Allah�s activities in Syria reflect this reality. A deployment of Hizb Allah operatives in strategically important areas along the Syrian-Lebanese border, especially in and around villages that are home to communities sympathetic to Hizb Allah or possibly the Ba`athist regime (or apolitical communities opposed to the FSA), ensures the group an operational foothold in Syria in any post-Assad scenario. A Hizb Allah presence in these areas also emboldens the Ba`athist regime, thereby allowing it to devote valuable military resources to other theaters. At the same time, Hizb Allah is also a relatively small organization that has worked hard over the years to foster its reputation as a Lebanese entity that exists to defend Lebanon against Israel. Hizb Allah, therefore, must be careful not to overextend itself in operational as well as political terms, especially as the Ba`athist regime continues to draw the international community�s scorn.
Some predict that the potential collapse of its patron in Damascus will leave Hizb Allah irreparably weakened and vulnerable in the face of its numerous Lebanese and regional foes, especially Israel. Subscribers of this view, however, would be advised to revisit Hizb Allah�s evolution over the years, specifically the period of tensions surrounding the �war of the camps� (1984-89) characterized by the years of open warfare between Hizb Allah and its present-day allies the Amal Movement and Syria during Lebanon�s civil war (1975-1990).[27] Hizb Allah has long established itself as an organic Lebanese organization that is able to wield tremendous social, political, economic, and military functions in Lebanon. Hizb Allah will remain relevant in Lebanon and beyond should the Ba`athist regime fall.
Shabiha Militias and the Destruction of Syria
Stephen Starr – Combating Terrorism Center – West Point
….The Syrian regime is running out of funds[20] and is losing territory to rebel forces.[21] Although the full extent of the government�s losses in the north and east of the country have not yet been fully realized and accepted by the regime and its shabiha enforcers, their reaction to the news that rebel forces are at the gates of Damascus�whenever that happens�will likely see them turn increasingly violent against local Sunni populations. Areas within their reach and previously known for resistance to the regime are likely to suffer most, and Dariya-like massacres may well become commonplace in the time until rebel forces finally overthrow the al-Assad regime.
The quickening rate of violence now coloring the revolt-turned-war means groups like the shabiha will play an increasingly central role in conducting violence as law and order breaks down in the major cities. If and when rebels reach Damascus after having taken control of much of the rest of the country, the shabiha, making a last stand, will likely unleash ferocious reprisals on Sunni-dominated neighborhoods and regions.
The psychology that Syria is �Assad�s Syria,� a country ruled by Alawites, is so prevalent that pro-Assad militias are unlikely to be easily brought to a negotiating table. This is further complicated by the fact that there are no immediately obvious shabiha leaders who could bring the roving militias under control. Little is known of the shabiha leadership, where it exists today, but prominent figures are likely to be trusted relatives of powerful Alawite groups such as the Shalish, Makhlouf and Deeb families.[22]
Once it becomes clear there is no future for the al-Assad regime, pro-government paramilitaries will likely flee Damascus and other mixed-religion areas around the country for the rural villages and towns of Qardaha, Shaykh Badr, Ain al-Tina and others in Syria�s coastal mountains�the Alawites� ancestral home. Without what they perceive as protection, thousands of Alawite civilians may also migrate to these safe areas because of fear of retribution from rebels and Sunni civilians. Yet for shabiha gangs cut off from safe zones and unable to get to the mountains along the coast, bloody �last stand� scenarios may occur.
The arguments outlined in this article paint a grim future for Syrians and their country. Given the growing acceleration of violence[23] and the international community�s reluctance to get more directly involved in solution seeking, less bloody outcomes for Syria�s immediate future are scant. The violence will continue and likely worsen before the al-Assad regime leaves or is forced from power.
?Afrin: Fighting near Qastal Jindu
KURDWATCH, November 28, 2012�On October 28, 2012, armed conflicts broke out near the Yazidi village of Qastal Jindu near ?Afrin. The conflicts occurred between units of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) Storm of the North Brigade, led by ?Ammar al?Dadikhi alias Abu Ibrahim. Fighters for the Storm of the North Brigade conquered the PYD checkpoint and arrested two PYD supporters. Shortly thereafter fighters for the ?Amr ibn al??As unit led by Ahmad ?Ubaid forced the Storm of the North Brigade out of Qastal Jindu; the PYD returned to the village. The exact reasons for the conflicts between the PYD and the various FSA units are unclear, but it is certain that the conflicts were not, as the PYD claims, anti-Yazidi attacks by the FSA on Qastal Jindu.
Ra?s al-?Ayn: Dozens dead after Syrian Air Force attacks
KURDWATCH, November 24, 2012�On November 12, 13, and 14, 2012, Syrian Air Force planes, supported by ground-to-ground missiles, attacked Free Syrian Army (FSA) positions in Ra?s al??Ayn (Ser� Kaniy�). In the process residential districts in which FSA fighters were entrenched were also bombed. As many residents had already fled the city shortly after the FSA’s invasion on November 8, 2012 [further information], the number of civilian deaths�at least twelve�remained relatively low. Turkish ambulances brought the injured to the nearby Turkish city of Ceylanp?nar. There are no reliable figures on the number of dead among the ranks of the FSA.
Ra?s al-?Ayn: Heavy fighting between PYD and FSA
KURDWATCH, November 23, 2012�On November 19, 2012, armed confrontations between the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and units of the Democratic Union Party (PYD) took place in the eastern part of the city of Ra?s al??Ayn (Ser� Kaniy�). An activist from Ra?s al??Ayn told KurdWatch that prior to the fighting, FSA representatives demanded that all PYD flags between Ra?s al??Ayn and al?Malikiyah (D�rik) be removed. FSA representatives explained that this was an order from the Turkish government, who supports them. The chief negotiator for the PYD wanted to discuss the matter first. The activist from Ra?s al??Ayn further stated: �At first [on November 8,2012] approximately five hundred FSA fighters came from Turkey. Around a hundred stayed at the border; the remaining four hundred marched into the city. Later, around two hundred additional fighters came from ar?Raqqah; they were joined by other people from the area. It isn’t really very many, but they are Islamists and they have come to die.� According to his estimates, the PYD has around one thousand armed fighters in the region.
CBS News: Firsthand view of deady car bombing in Syria
2012-11-29
(CBS News) DAMASCUS – In Syria’s civil war, at least 34 people were killed Wednesday when two car bombs ripped through a suburb of Damascus. The Assad dictatorship has been trying to crush a rebellion that broke out more than a year-and-a half ago. …
Turkey, Syria and the NATO umbrella: A reading from Brussels
Marc Pierini is a visiting scholar at Carnegie Europe and a Turkey
Based on a Turkish request, an agreement is being reached in NATO about the deployment of a temporary missile defense system. NATO units (possibly drawn from Dutch, German or U.S. forces) will position Patriot missile batteries in southern Turkey against threats coming from the Syrian regime. This is in response to the worsening Syrian crisis and the explicit threats from Damascus to use force at regional level.
The purpose of the Patriot deployment should not be mistaken for what it is not. Missiles such as these are used against incoming ballistic/tactical missiles and against aircrafts. Since the Syrian government alluded on July 24 to the use of chemical or biological weapons if �exposed to external aggression,� the main threat coming from the Bashar al-Assad regime is thought to be Scud missiles with chemical warheads. This is a purely defensive posture.
This is not equivalent to declaring a no-fly zone, not even implementing a safe area for displaced persons within Syria. Such objectives would need many more steps to be taken, both legally and technically. At this stage of the Syrian crisis, it is also out of question to take decisions such as sending troops into Syrian territory or aircrafts in its airspace. The Patriot deployment is typical of the �no-boots-on-the-ground-nor-in-the-air� posture of Western powers.
With such relatively limited objectives, what is the meaning of the Patriot deployment?
First and foremost, it draws a clear red line for Damascus: the Turkish territory is off-limit to the Syrian army and air force. Bashar al-Assad is known, like his father Hafez, for his inclination to internationalize a conflict…
The al-Assad regime has maneuvered itself in a corner. With a usable territory soon to shrink to Damascus and/or the Alawite mountain, how soon will the Assad-Makhlouf clan understand the hard fundamentals of their situation? That is the next question. At least, by now, they know that neighboring countries are off-limits.
�Syria Love:� Watching Syrian Propaganda in Iraq
Edith Szanto*
Ramadan 2010 was the last time I visited Syria.��I have been aching to go back, but the situation there does not allow it.��For the last year, I have been sitting across the street, in a manner of speaking, talking with neighbors, �and watching the events from a safe distance.��The place where I have been observing Syria is neighboring Iraq.��Iraqi Kurdistan to be exact.��From here, I have spoken with Syrians who have left before and during the current crisis.��Some of my students are Iraqis who have spent years in Syria.��They grew up in Syria and they miss it just as I do.
In the beginning, when I first I came to Iraq in the fall of 2011, Syrian friends in Iraq (but not all of my Iraqi students who lived in Syria) univocally supported the uprising.��Many have since reconsidered their stance.��They want neither religious�factions�to take over, nor do they want civil war.��They were optimistic in the beginning.��They were certain the regime would fall quickly.��Today, they expect Syria to turn into another Iraq, predicting a decade or more of violence.
Among the many questions raised by the uprising is why the Syrian government has lasted this long (in contrast to the Tunisian and Egyptian governments, which fell relatively quickly).��Moreover, what has the Syrian government done (besides employ sheer force) to remain in power?��In this article, I examine two Syrian TV channels through which the Syrian government has tried to promote itself and gain support.
When I settled into my new apartment in September 2011, I browsed the satellite TV channels in search of news about Syria.��I found Syria News and Syria Drama, the usual channels. �I was, however, surprised to discover channels entitled Syria Education, Syria Medicine, Syria Love, and Syria�Balad…..
Comments (150)
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Before this comment section is drowned by paid online mercenaries to post sectarian comments and derail the important issues, sort of like sports and por*no for the average. Please get a beer or glass of wine and read these links, then take a moment to assemble it all into Syria:
Clean Break White Paper:
http://pragmaticwitness.com/tag/a-clean-break/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A_Clean_Break:_A_New_Strategy_for_Securing_the_Realm
Khomenei was MI6 British Agent, a Jew, born to British father out of wedlock:
http://www.discoveringislam.org/Khomeini_british_agent.htm
The Zionist Protocols:
http://www.iamthewitness.com/books/Protocols.of.Zion/index.htm
November 28th, 2012, 8:47 pm
Aldendeshe said:
@GUHFRAN
You have consciousness, the Syrian warlords don’t have any, they are Zionist trained and Protocols sworn, they are professional war criminals and genocidal maniacs with 50 years of experience aided by the United Nations. Some have fought on various continents. What matter to them, is that they are millionaires now and will in the end go retire in luxury of Paris, London and Dubai.
November 28th, 2012, 8:50 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Turkish official proposes gas pipeline from Israel
Mithat Rende: Construction of a pipeline to Turkey is the best way to export Israeli gas.
_________________________________________________________________
http://www.globes.co.il/serveen/globes/docview.asp?did=1000800189&fid=1725
November 28th, 2012, 8:59 pm
Aldendeshe said:
Common Landis, now you are blatantly promoting CIA (the secret group within division) chill program Zeitgeist? It is just part of a cover for the Rockefeller Agenda 21 pushed by his owned and operated tool the U.N., it is another scam for New World Order that is advancing the Zionist protocols for one Jewish dominated world. They will own and rule everything and the rest slaves for them. Naive people are much more scary and detrimental to humanity future than those with guns. It is not that Jews are so smart, they are not, it is the fact that they managed to dumb-down humanity to such low level they can now pull any scam over most people eyes, just as they did 9/11
November 28th, 2012, 9:37 pm
Citizen said:
Haben die FSA-NATO-Proxy-Terroristen den Tishrin-Damm erobert?
http://urs1798.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/haben-die-fsa-nato-proxy-terroristen-den-tishrin-damm-erobert-syrien-syria/?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Net+News+Global&utm_term=Net+News+Global&utm_content=News+von+Net+News+Global
Vor etwa zwei Tagen wurde einige Videos hochgeladen bei den Aleppo-Terroristen-Kan�len.
Eines hie�, von den FSA-Terroristen ver�ffentlicht, sie h�tten den Tishrin-Damm unter Kontrolle. Wenn man sich die Karte ansieht, ist er eine wichtige Nachschubroute zwischen Ras Al Ayn an der syrisch- t�rkischen Grenze quer durch das kurdische Gebiet bis nach Aleppo.
Das Video wo die FSA-Terroristen die Kontrolle �ber den Staudamm verk�nden, hochgeladen auf einem Haffah-Kanal, am 25.11.2012 , Haffah (Deir Haffah) liegt nicht weit entfernt.
Und wie immer waren die CIA_Ajschmiera-Agenten vorne mit dabei. Und wieder hat Google-Map geholfen, das US-Kriegstool. Ob der BND ebenfalls Erkenntnisse geliefert f�r diese Operation? Mit dabei �brigens auch die Farouk-Henker-Brigaden, Salafisten mit Hang zu Al-CIAida. Ein Staudamm in diesen fanatischen kriminellen H�nden. Wie sagt einer der Terroristen, �Zenga, Zenga�� ist er einer der S�ldner aus Libyen, arbeitet er f�r Obama ? Wieviele westliche Special-forces waren beteiligt, wer hat die Operation ausgearbeitet und gef�hrt?
Was ist wenn sie die Angestellten, das Personal vom Staudamm umbringen? Allerdings scheint es unter dem Personal auch Verr�ter gegeben zu haben.
Ich hatte gehofft, die Terroristen w�ren wieder vertrieben worden, aber nun zeigen sie am 28.11.12 weitere Videos mit Geiseln, manche in Uniform, andere in Zivil.
Ein Staudamm in der Hand von Extremisten und Terroristen, wieviele Menschen w�rden z.b. in Raqqa sterben wenn sie ihn sprengten? Was w�re wenn sie behaupten w�rden die syrische Armee w�re es gewesen? Nicht auszudenken.
November 28th, 2012, 9:38 pm
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
Here is a real treat for you, it is being banned and will be removed if the poster loses battle. You cannot search for it, you must have the link to see it now, so hurry up and save it into your files, it is a gold mine of information that add to the Why, how and who done it.
_________________________________________________________________
November 28th, 2012, 9:53 pm
Citizen said:
unfortunately,this is precisely the outcome the US and Israel want to see happen – a continuing “bloodbath” until Assad is ousted, as a stepping stone to an attack against Iran.
Every time the US government has gotten itself into a real mess financially, it gets out of that mess by waging war. This time is no different, as the US government is perilously close to its debt ceiling right now.
The choice appears to be very clear for those in the bowels of power in DC: war, or financial oblivion, and default, and in their blinding desire to cling to the power they have, they will not even evaluate any other alternatives.
Those in power in this country are pathologically incapable of learning from other countries’ financial histories and successes, and the recent financial events in Iceland have proven the Icelandic government and their people very wise to repudiate their odious debt, and throw the bankers and politicians who enabled the creation of that debt into jail.
the thinking, peaceful people of US do not want a war with Syria, Iran, Russia, or China; we understand that the current, and future wars the US is fighting, and will be fighting, are for three primary reasons:
1. To prop up a collapsing petrodollar, because quantitative easing has not stimulated the economy, but made the economic depression here worsen badly.
2. To access other countries’ natural resources to which the US government has no moral right, as is the case with the soon-to-be unfolding proxy war in Mali, to control Mali’s gold.
3. To “neutralize” Israel’s alleged existential threats, which translates pretty much as all the other countries in the Middle East.
But until there are some fundamental changes in how the US Federal Government conducts itself, I fear that war will be the US’s only answer to its economic problems; and as a woman of both logic and faith, this troubles me greatly. A country which gets out of its financial difficulties through war is not a country which can ever claim the moral high ground for so doing.
And a global war right now would not necessarily insure a US military victory, because the US government doesn’t have the troop strength, the manufacturing, or the money to guarantee success.
the US People have absolutely no say whatsoever the country about the future of either domestic or foreign policy; The USA is now a government of the corporations; by the corporations; and for the corporations.
Oh yes, Americans do have this farcical, kabuki-like spectacle every 4 years of a Presidential election, which happens next week.
But at the end of the day, it is the unholy trinity of the banks, the corporations, and Israel which wins these elections every time, and it is the American people who have no real choice but are, and have been, the losers in every Presidential election for quite some years now.
In light of the fact that the United States of America is now a post-Constitutional republic, courtesy of the NDAA, the Patriot Act, and the Homeland Security Act, those people in this country who speak truth to power, no matter how peaceful or logical or condemnatory of violence they are, can be whisked away for “giving aid and comfort to the enemy”, and indefinitely detained without due process.
The US government is on an horrific precipice, which is why is why is racing toward either a world war, or an economic collapse; and it is the very actions of the Federal government which has put the American People, and potentially, the entire world, into this terrible predicament.
November 28th, 2012, 9:56 pm
sf94123 said:
Don�t see light at the end of tunnel. More killings and much more devastation! Very depressing! Oy vey!!
November 28th, 2012, 11:35 pm
ALI said:
Amjad,
Stop claiming that you know everything, it seems you tried many times to get a refugee status but got rejected, you poor boy always dreaming of a decent passport to avoid begging embassies for visa eh.
What I’m talking about is purely protection order, this happens if High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) decides that the seeker is in an imminent danger. for example Swiss accepted 39 Christians/Alawis from Homs just because Jihadists are attacking minorities. Everything was arranged for them even the airplane tickets while they were in Lebanon
http://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/politics/foreign_affairs/Syrian_refugees_arrive_in_Switzerland.html?cid=33549622
So why your Gulf countries does not allow Sunnis to flee to their countries? I hear there’s no way on earth to get a visa to a Syrian from Syria.
November 29th, 2012, 12:24 am
Aldendeshe said:
Some predict that the potential collapse of its patron in Damascus will leave Hizb Allah irreparably weakened and vulnerable in the face of its numerous Lebanese and regional foes, especially Israel.
_________________________________________________________________
I wonder who is the dumbf***k Jew that thought of that. Tel Kalakh, Arida and the several Mashata’s will be looking like Manhattan in a decade, money made out of the lucrative trade route Tehran-Homs-Baalbak gun and missile running. It will probably be cheaper for Iranians to deliver that way than Damascus airport and ports, the Baathists regime take big cut, way more than my cousins would for sure. This is just a cover story to sell, the real business in Syria is not Iran or the HizbuAli, it is oil and gas and pipelines.
November 29th, 2012, 12:35 am
Visitor said:
Hey Amjad, it looks like Ali now wants to DEFECT to a Gulf country.
He figured he is not safe in Canada after hanging around on SC for a while.
November 29th, 2012, 12:35 am
Ghufran said:
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A number of children got killed, the death toll is now over 50, that followed the death of a number of children and other civilians in different parts of syria including Aleppo, whether it is the regime’s bombs or the rebels suicide bombers, the theme is national suicide.
Death is the great equator in Syria, this is a nation that may not be salvageable.
( ??? ???? ?? ?? ??? ?????? ? ???? ???? ? ????????)
Only idiots and bloody liars still believe that this is a revolution.
November 29th, 2012, 12:43 am
Amjad of Arabia said:
So the pathetic Chemical Ali backtracked. From “hundreds of Syrians accepted into Canada”, he desperately searched the entire Internet and came up with a few dozen cases let into Switzerland, out of hundreds of thousands of cases. These menhebakjis should learn to think before they spout BS, especially when I’m there to catch them out.
See, in the article you quoted, it says the 36 were from one family. Where does it say they were “minority”? Where does it say they were even from Homs? Where does it say they even came from Lebanon? My God man, there is no limit to the amount of fantasy you need to get you through the day?
“So why your Gulf countries does not allow Sunnis to flee to their countries? I hear there�s no way on earth to get a visa to a Syrian from Syria.”
Sho ya tezi inta? How do you think I’m in Saudi right now? And there are no Gulf embassies in Syria nor Western ones because people like your shabiha daddy ransacked foreign embassies repeatedly. That’s what peasant low lifers do.
November 29th, 2012, 1:52 am
Amjad of Arabia said:
Look at all the holes in Chemical Ali’s daddy sob story.
http://www.cic.gc.ca/english/visit/supervisa.asp
See, as a resident of the “corrupt and evil decadent West”, Chemical Ali could have easily sponsored his shabih daddy for a two year visa to Canada at any time. No need to spin tales of asylum and tormented “minorities” banging on the doors of Western embassies. Menhebakjis can’t even spin a fantasy tale properly.
Never mind, just tell the embassy in question you’ll dump a load of chemical weapons on their doorstep if they dont let in Baba Shabih.
November 29th, 2012, 2:07 am
Syrian Nationalist Party said:
@AMJAD
How did you manage to escape Acshwicz? Hopefully your parents did not.
Here ZIOROBOT Poster AMJAD, now you can read about your masters NWO failing plots in up to date news, great site:
http://rebel-institute.org/index.php
November 29th, 2012, 2:23 am
Juergen said:
Sometimes it feels like that grownups have never left the playgrounds.
November 29th, 2012, 2:33 am
MarigoldRan said:
Ghurfan, this is a revolution. The death toll say so. Almost ALL revolutions are bloody. You think revolutions are cups of tea? Especially against a regime this brutal?
Destruction? Yes. But the regime will fall. Many Syrians will sacrifice for victory. Once this is over the minorities will never be allowed to rule Syria again. They had their chance, and look at what they did.
November 29th, 2012, 2:39 am
Amjad of Arabia said:
Days like this, you remember to thank heavens Israel had the foresight to bomb Batta’s nuclear reactor back in 2007. Thank you Ehud Olmert, I will say a prayer for you tonight.
Batta is still waiting for “the appropriate moment” to retaliate LOL!
November 29th, 2012, 3:04 am
Amjad of Arabia said:
“Tel Kalakh, Arida and the several Mashata�s will be looking like Manhattan in a decade”
And what a coincidence that those are the areas your family has land in. Trying to talk up the price per dunum?
November 29th, 2012, 4:03 am
Syrialover said:
Latest tweets from Jon Wilks, UK Special Representative to the Syrian Opposition:
– In Cairo with the National Coalition. Good meetings on setting up an Assistance Co-ordination Unit to help deliver more aid inside Syria.
– Important that National Coalition helps delivery of aid inside Syria. The UK and others are able now to do more with NC to make that happen.
https://twitter.com/JonWilksFCO
November 29th, 2012, 5:05 am
Syrialover said:
ALI,
I don’t agree with everything being said in the responses you’ve been getting. I think some of it is giving you big negative credit for things you don’t understand. There are Assad supporters on this forum who are far more sinister and worthy of invective and accusations.
You appear to be a young Alawi who has come here and found himself on a pretty rough voyage of discovery. To me, it looks like you are simply being yourself, naively calling the world as you see it, knowing only what you know. While doing this, you provide a glimpse into a parallel universe.
It is interesting that minorities are getting protection visas. I know respected Sunni professionals who have been forced to flee Syria under serious threat from the regime. They face certain prison or death if they go home, but they have pathetically few options and support outside Syria. They have quickly discovered that because they come from Syria there’s zero hope of any sort of visa to the west.
Regardless of whatever the full facts of the case are, this is why there is outrage that your father and others in his position can apparently score protection visas.
November 29th, 2012, 7:14 am
Michal said:
Mr. Landis, I don’t think you quite wanted to post a Zeitgeist video on your front page.
November 29th, 2012, 7:16 am
habib said:
Druze get bombed by Salafists, yet Jumblatt seems to blame them for not joining the uprising?
http://www.naharnet.com/stories/en/62738-jumblat-condemns-jarmana-bombing-urges-syria-s-druze-to-join-revolt
What a disgusting creature.
November 29th, 2012, 8:08 am
Tara said:
EU Sanctions on weapons to the rebells will be rolled over for only three months in a “clear warning” to Batta that all options remain on the table. � What a non-sense! �The West continues renewing Batta’s license to kill. �In any case, thanks but no thanks. �The rebells have their own Manpads now and by acquiring them, the revolution has reached a turning point. �Down to the Syrian air force that bombarded its own towns and cities.
—-
Arms and the Manpads: Syrian rebels get anti-aircraft missiles
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 28 November 2012 13.58 EST
Just as the clamour for supplying the Syrian opposition with sophisticated new weapons looked to be reaching a tipping point in the Gulf and the west, the rebels have clearly got hold of some arms of their own.
A video of a government gunship being brought down by a missile outside Aleppo, a first for the rebels, emerged at the same time as European diplomats agreed to change the terms of the EU arms embargo on Syria. From Saturday, it will be rolled over for only three months, signalling to President Bashar al-Assad that weapons deliveries to the rebels could start at short notice if the aerial bombardment of rebel-held areas continues.
“This sends a strong message to the regime that all options remain on the table and makes clear the need for real change. The regime’s indiscriminate use of violence against their people will not be ignored,” a Foreign Office spokesman said.
The warning came as the rebels’ principal backers, in the Gulf, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, have been chafing ever more loudly against the US veto on supplies of sophisticated, potentially decisive weapons such as shoulder-launched anti-aircraft missiles (widely known as Manpads � an acronym for man-portable air-defence systems) to the rebels.
….
“We did this as a favour to Obama,” a Gulf source said. “But now Obama has been re-elected, there is a question of whether we should still be bound by such an undertaking.” Shoulder-launched missiles could be bought in Pakistan or in Africa, the source added.
….
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/28/syria-middleeast
November 29th, 2012, 8:29 am
Visitor said:
Meet the fearless Jihadists of Zabadani, the first such batch of Jihadists to be rewarded with mansions overlooking Damascus
http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/11/29/252437.html
November 29th, 2012, 8:41 am
Dolly Buster said:
7. Citizen said:
Every time the US government has gotten itself into a real mess financially, it gets out of that mess by waging war. This time is no different, as the US government is perilously close to its debt ceiling right now.
�
You have it backwards. Free market economies are self-sufficient, and the U.S. is growing at 2,7%.
It is the dictatorships and Command Economies that always have financial problems. Because of that – they start invading neighbors. An example is Russia which always attacks neighboring countries.
Today Russia is supporting the Assad regime in bombing its own cities.
November 29th, 2012, 9:46 am
ann said:
For persecuted minorities by islamist monster killers
The Foreign Affairs Standing Committee has accepted to put forward a motion to start a family reunification program for Syrian’s in Canada and to expedite any visa demands for Syrian’s to unite with their families in Canada.
November 29th, 2012, 9:51 am
zoo said:
Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi holds forth on �Planet of the Apes�
Posted by Max Fisher on November 28, 2012 at 5:24 pm
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/28/egyptian-president-mohamed-morsi-holds-forth-on-planet-of-the-apes/
Mohamed Morsi, the engineer and Muslim Brotherhood ally who became Egypt�s first-ever democratically elected president this year and who last week sent his country�s political system into chaos by granting himself sweeping new powers, appears to hold strong views on the 1968 science fiction film �Planet of the Apes.�
November 29th, 2012, 10:07 am
Ghufran said:
Wait for attacks on Dalila, the Nusairi Mareq, to start as ” freedom lovers” start to discover that most genuine opposition figures with an education are at least suspicious of Islamists intentions and oppose their ways:
???? ???? ????? ???? ?????? ????? ????? ??????? ??????? ??????? ???????? ?? ????? ?? ???????? “????????” ?????? ?????? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????? ?? ????? ????? ?????? ???????. ???? ???? ?????:” “??? ?????? ??? ??????? ?? ????????? ?? ????? ????????? ??????? ???????? ???? ????? ???? ????? ????? ?????? ???????”.
( unlike most of you, Dalila, an alawi, defied conventional politics and the regime and was imprisoned a number of times and had no chance to vacation in Colorado. Another alawi, Adel N’aiseh is a harsh critic of islamists, Adel spent more than 20 years in Assad’s prison.
Both guys have a zero chance if Islamist thugs take over the government)
November 29th, 2012, 10:08 am
zoo said:
Despite what the headline implies, it is all about US’s total indecision and confusion on what to do in Syria to stop the killing
U.S. Weighs Bolder Effort to Intervene in Syria�s Conflict
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/29/world/us-is-weighing-stronger-action-in-syrian-conflict.html?_r=1&
November 29th, 2012, 10:23 am
Tara said:
Merci Spain.
Rebels attack Syria army base, Spain recognises opposition
November 29, 2012 11:11 AM (Last updated: November 29, 2012 04:13 PM)
….Spain announced it had recognised the Syrian National Coalition as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people, boosting the opposition’s bid to win wide support for its campaign to topple President Bashar al-Assad.
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Nov-29/196525-new-page-in-syria-war-as-rebel-missiles-hit-aircraft.ashx#axzz2DcrUsL5x
November 29th, 2012, 10:24 am
Dolly Buster said:
30. ZOO said:
Despite what the headline implies, it is all about US�s total indecision and confusion on what to do in Syria to stop the killing�
�
Obama doesn’t want to help. He could easily break the back of Russia, but chooses not to.
If you listen to Dinesh D’Souza lectures on my Google Plus, he postulates that Obama only favors interventions which weaken the U.S., but opposes those interventions which strengthen the U.S.
Because Obama is a “global power redistributor,” or something.
November 29th, 2012, 10:36 am
Ghufran said:
HRW report on Syria, the report repeats its criticism of the regime but the headline was the rebel’s use of minors in combat zones:
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/29/syria-opposition-using-children-conflict
On the ground, Emirates suspended its flights to Damascus as battles near airport forced a closure of airport road , rebels are also trying to take over Aleppo airport. You can cheer rebels advances now if you are obsessed with a regime change and the defeat of the Syrian army, but at one point those rebels and their supporters will find themselves facing a population that is distrustful of armed thugs and they must give Syrians a plan regarding the big questions for the day after, I assure you that such a plan does not exist yet because the goal was never a better political system and a unified country, do not blame minorities for protecting their towns and refusing to join rebels,Syrian minorities are not given any viable options except submission and potential persecution.
November 29th, 2012, 10:44 am
zoo said:
The fate of Syria is not anymore in the opposition or the government’s hand.
Whatever the FSA and its cronies may claim victory and throw threats, the rebels are far too outnumbered to sustain the control of these ‘liberated’ areas. The longer the conflict lasts, the weaker they’ll become and the Russians will probably supply to the Syrian army far more sophisticated equipment to counter attack.
It is clear that the fighting will last as long as there is no political settlement and an acceptable alternative to the regime.
Until now few western countries have recognized the new coalition as an alternative government. Neither the EU nor the AL nor the USA did. Yet, until now the opposition members in Cairo are still bickering and debating and not reaching the unity necessary to get a serious Western support.
The reason is simple: the majority of western countries are pressuring the opposition for a dialog with the regime, while the die-hard, France, Qatar and the GCC are pressing for a violent military solution. The coalition is pressured on both sides and unable to find a compromise without loosing their face.
As the die-hard, France and its Arab cronies are far too weak to engage alone in this costly and complex military adventure, it’s the US that will play a decisive role in the final strategy Yet, until now the USA is against a military intervention.
Russia will do anything possible to prevent the take over of Syria by violence and is pressing for the dialog option.
Ultimately the fate of Syria is not with Khatib or Zoheir Attasi or Ryad Al Assad, it is between Russia-China and the USA.
November 29th, 2012, 10:47 am
Dolly Buster said:
34 ZOO said:
Russia will do anything possible to prevent the take over of Syria by violence and is pressing for the dialog option.
�
Is that because the KGB is known to be a promoter of human rights ?
�
Or maybe because the evil Russian morons are about to lose their last maritime base on the Mediterranean.
November 29th, 2012, 10:54 am
Juergen said:
DER SPIEGEL writes that most of Syria is off from the Internet.
reports suggests that all 64 IP address points are closed down. Government sights such as SANA and the central bank are not reachable at this point. The blackout this time seems to be wider, almost all the country is off from the world wide web. Only rebel controlled areas in the north have access, mainly through turkish webdomains.
November 29th, 2012, 11:00 am
Ghufran said:
On this day in 1939, Turkey took Liwaa Iskandaron by force, this is how an MB leader responded to questions about the subject:
November 29th, 2012, 11:10 am
zoo said:
What is Ibrahimi discreetly cooking? Is that the subject of the bickering of the coalition in Cairo?
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=2&id=31984
.. This time, however, it is rumoured that he is touring regional capital cities in order to promote a new project which would see Bashar al-Assad step down in more than a year, being replaced following forthcoming elections that will take place under international supervision.
Due to Brahimi’s on-going silence, we have no option but to consider this as one of the potential solutions, particularly as his fingerprints are all over this.
….
( for the opposition) The solution is for al-Assad to step down and transfer power to the Syrian opposition, perhaps under international auspices until free elections can be held to allow the Syrian people to choose their president.
We know that Brahimi will respond sarcastically: If the situation is that easy, then why do you need me? We would answer that the Syrian people do not want him to put forward a political solution that would prolong the crisis and grant legitimacy to what remains of al-Assad�s presidency, and then see this criminal leave office with full honours
November 29th, 2012, 11:17 am
zoo said:
35. Dolly Buster
For both reasons and more that are beyond you..
November 29th, 2012, 11:19 am
zoo said:
Sample of what is going on in Cairo coalition meeting: The Moslem Brotherhood syndrome.
Disagreements mar Syria opposition meet
November/29/2012
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/disagreements-mar-syria-opposition-meet.aspx?pageID=238&nID=35710&NewsCatID=352
The SNC has 27 members in the new coalition and a clash immediately broke out as the meeting started as the council tried to increase its share, delegates at the meeting said. �Nothing will proceed until we work this out,� said one SNC member at the talks. �This is not a salad you mix and add to at whim. The future of Syria is at stake and the Brotherhood is pushing more of its hawks into the coalition, although it already has half of the seats,� said another delegate. He pointed to many non-coalition members who attended the meeting, or were present in the Cairo Hotel where the conference is taking place. Most were members of the Brotherhood.
�The problem is bigger than the Brotherhood issue. We do seem to be able to overcome a tribal quota mentality. It is just delaying discussing the serious issues of forming a government and responding to the international community,� said another delegate.
November 29th, 2012, 11:26 am
Albo said:
28. ZOO said:
“Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi holds forth on �Planet of the Apes�”
Wow, our wannabe dictator is really, really confused. I thought it was about evolution when I saw the excerpt. The chairman of the Egyptian Freedom and Justice Party, Saad El-Katatni, has a doctorate in microbiology and graduated in botany, so you wonder about his stance on evolution. In Turkey the AKP has been caught promoting rubbish creationism.
Since they base their power on the indoctrination of the masses, one shouldn’t expect them to be real men of science, or the brightest minds of Egypt anyway. ElBaradei’s credentials, for example and albeit in Law, come from a much more prestigious American university than those of Morsi.
November 29th, 2012, 11:26 am
Dolly Buster said:
Putin’s pissboy Bashar al-AssHat showcases the Russian vision for the future:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/29/a-stunning-chart-shows-syrias-internet-blackout/
November 29th, 2012, 11:29 am
zoo said:
A British journalist, Owen Jones, tells the truth about Gaza
November 29th, 2012, 11:36 am
Albo said:
Lol at Dolly’s comments about Russia, command economy, KGB etc…
Have you been comatose for the last 21 years?
November 29th, 2012, 11:41 am
zoo said:
#41 Albo
I think Morsi has in mind to transform Egypt in the “Country of the Baboons”. He being the leader.
November 29th, 2012, 11:41 am
zoo said:
Ghufran
Only Moslem Sunnis opposition members who were held in prison and tortured have a word in the new Sunnicratic Syria planned by the CNSROFL. The others moslems should shut up or will be shut up.
November 29th, 2012, 11:47 am
atassi said:
Major Syria army offensive along Damascus airport road: NGO
29 November 2012
11:42
Agence France Presse
AFPR
Syrian troops Thursday evening launched a major offensive in southeastern Damascus along the airport road, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said, after earlier reporting the route had been closed.
The army attacked rebel strongholds in a string of towns along the highway and near the airport, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP by phone. State media also reported operations in the area.
November 29th, 2012, 11:50 am
Tara said:
Zoo,
If I was Ibrahimi, I would thrive for a political solution that call for immediate resignation of Bashar and installing an acceptable Sunni-Alawi couples to lead the transition to internationally-supervised election in one year. Such solution should be acceptable to all parties and would save the country more destruction. Anything that would not include immediate resignation of Bashar will not fly.
November 29th, 2012, 11:54 am
Dolly Buster said:
44. Albo said:
Lol at Dolly�s comments about Russia, command economy, KGB etc�
Have you been comatose for the last 21 years? ?
�
Don’t you see that a disgusting civil war is PRESENTLY unfolding, thanks to the dirty Ruskies arming the dirty Raafidah ?
November 29th, 2012, 11:56 am
sf94123 said:
As a prominent Arab exclaimed to me this week, �Syria, as we know it, is finished!By Patrick Seale
http://gulfnews.com/opinions/columnists/syria-crisis-cannot-be-solved-militarily-1.1112026
November 29th, 2012, 12:11 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
I suspect Russia will force Assad to leave soon,I doubt Russia would agree for Assad to destroy Damascus as he did in all other cities, The head of the army will stage a coup, appoint Sharaa as president and Abdulaziz Khayyer as prime minister, and a negotiation will follow.
The Manpad missles are the turning point,Russia told Assad that chemical weapons must never be used,Assad may have to quit soon.The airport closure, and the army attempt to secure the airport may be a preparation for that.
November 29th, 2012, 12:19 pm
ann said:
51. majedkhaldoun said:
“”” I suspect Russia will force Assad to leave soon “””
“”” The Manpad missles are the turning point “””
November 29th, 2012, 12:33 pm
SYR.EXPAT said:
??????? ???? ?????? – ?????? ??? ????
November 29th, 2012, 12:34 pm
Albo said:
“Don�t you see that a disgusting civil war is PRESENTLY unfolding, thanks to the dirty Ruskies arming the dirty Raafidah ?”
Yes I’m disgusted by this civil war, but we have to thank many other regional and international actors for it besides the Russians.
Chill out, the middle east will still have diverse communities and they can’t be at war forever, so you should live and let live ;- )
November 29th, 2012, 12:37 pm
Tara said:
Ann,
You ran out of anything to cut and paste and now you link Frank Sinatra?
You know that there is a local crisis center near you. You may want to give them a call..
November 29th, 2012, 12:49 pm
Jamil Hanna said:
Any analysis of the current Syrian crisis ignores the fact that so far more than 120 suicide bombers detonated cars in various Syrian cities,will mislead the public.In order to track the dificiency of all parties concerned we have to analyze the Shabbiha as well as the suicide bombers,the confessional cleansing against the Christians and Alawists regardless of their political affiliation by the armed opposition ,mainly in Homs countryside. The Islamic Emirate in the north is a fact plus the forces of “promotion of virtue and prevention of vice”.This , I think is a priority.
November 29th, 2012, 12:57 pm
SYR.EXPAT said:
Just watched this interview which I linked to earlier. I think it is a must watch. What a beautiful man. I nominate him for president.
??????? ???? ?????? � ?????? ??? ????
November 29th, 2012, 1:05 pm
Syrialover said:
SYR EXPAT #57
Yes, I nominate him for everything and anything.
He’s calm, focused, authentic – and there’s a BRAIN at work there.
What a culture shock compared with Syria’s current “leadership” and its representatives.
November 29th, 2012, 1:31 pm
ghufran said:
rebels have shelled DIA to prove that they can target any area in Syria but this tactic has also made them less trustworthy in the eyes of foreigners and syrians alike. Regardless of the outcome of this battle around Damascus,violence is not likely to subside any time soon, removing Assad will mean very little if not done as part of a larger deal and if syrian armed islamists are not contained and foreign jihadists are not sent back to their countries or to hell, Bashar and his thugs are not my concern today,it is the fate of millions of innocent Syrians who may pay for the sins of the regime just to satisfy the urge for revenge that dominates the hearts and souls of some Syrians today.
I doubt that any Alawi politician or community leader will accept the role of a smiling useful idiot just to please the MB and improve the Islamists image,alawi communities will only accept a full partnership in Syria as the only acceptable deal,anything else will be seen as a sellout and will only lead to violence and a counter insurgency that can last decades,do not repeat the US mistakes in Iraq and do not allow another Maliki in Syria.
November 29th, 2012, 1:32 pm
Tara said:
Syrialover
“He�s calm, focused, authentic � and there�s a BRAIN at work there.”
And handsome too.
November 29th, 2012, 1:33 pm
Tara said:
Damascus International Airport should be destroyed by the rebels to prevent the regime from receiving air supply of weapons from Russia and Iran.
Destroying the airport would also help stopping daddy shabeehs and mum shabeeha to flee the country when time comes for justice to be served.
November 29th, 2012, 1:48 pm
Syrialover said:
# 51.MAJEDKHALDOUN
I pray you are right about the impasse somehow breaking with help from within and Russia backing out.
But they say Bashar & Co now only hear Iranian voices and follow instructions from that source. That the regime no longer listens to Russia the way they used to, regardless of how many banknotes Russia prints and flies in.
November 29th, 2012, 1:51 pm
Syrialover said:
TARA #60,
He’s that too. If he stands in an election, his team only need give him a couple of kittens to pose with and he’ll sweep in with the female vote.
All the hair products in the world can’t make pretty boy Manaf Tlass an electoral competitor.
November 29th, 2012, 2:00 pm
ghufran said:
I watched Moaz’ interview, the man presents himself well and is well-spoken, I am not sure if he is listened to though, the actions of rebels and mililtants speak louder than an interview designed as a PR move. Evenets in the near future will tell us if this man is a leader or just a cover, I certainly agree with most of what he said,I also noticed that he did not say that he was beaten or tortured and I liked his focus on the fact that most of those working for the government are as impoverished and oppressed as everybody else,however,if that is the case why are those people being killed daily by Moaz’ friends?
November 29th, 2012, 2:07 pm
Syrialover said:
Syria’s information minister is talking in shorthand when he says the internet has been shut down by “terrorists”.
He means by the terrorist regime, the only entity capable of suddenly taking the whole country offline.
Good to hear him admit the truth.
November 29th, 2012, 2:08 pm
Syrialover said:
GHUFRAN #64
There’s a heated, desperate, confused, massive battle for existence going on in Syria.
Until the gunfire dies down and the smoke clears and bombs stop raining from the skies nobody is going to sit still and listen to anybody.
November 29th, 2012, 2:15 pm
Tara said:
SL,
No. No. Absolutely NO kitten if you want female votes. Will dress him in a black leather jacket with stripped blue, green and white dress shirt.
And no eye glasses.
November 29th, 2012, 2:23 pm
Syrialover said:
Maybe pinhead Bashar Assad has ordered a communications blackout because of embarrassment at losing Damascus airport.
All those Syrians who keep carrier pigeons, your hour has come.
November 29th, 2012, 2:24 pm
Syrialover said:
TARA #67,
I would take your advice on that look for some occasions. But bear in mind the substantial number of women over 45 who will also have the vote. Maybe not holding the kittens, just having them near his feet or something.
November 29th, 2012, 2:29 pm
zoo said:
Extract from a conference in french from Aymeric Chauprade, french geopoliticien: It’s mainly the gas and oil war.
http://www.realpolitik.tv/2012/11/aymeric-chauprade-ou-vont-la-syrie-et-le-moyen-orient/
….Add to that Syria has reserves in its soil and probably offshore. August 16, 2011, the Syrian Ministry of Oil announced the discovery of a gas field in Qara, near Homs, with a production capacity of 400,000 m3 / d. Regarding the offshore, we talked earlier estimates of the USGS for the Levant basin, add the prediction of the Washington Institute for Near East Policy who thinks that Syria would have gas reserves the most important of all the eastern Mediterranean basin, still well above that of Israel. Again you can see, that’s my motto and what I have often said here, the future is the deep offshore and this will give the sea a considerable geopolitical dimension. Abandon the sea and its maritime space is for any country in the world, a tragic strategic error.
It is obvious therefore that if a changing policy environment favorable to Westerners, Turks, Saudis and Qataris intervene in Syria, and that it was cut from Russia (Russian warships anchored in the strategic port of Tartus, a port course can accommodate tankers supplied from pipelines that will arrive), then all the oil and gas geopolitics of the region would be upset to their advantage. Do not forget Egypt exporter of natural gas, and also would like to see the connected gas to Turkey via Syria.
This simple oil and gas is given us to understand why Syria is being attacked by the Turks, the West and the Gulf monarchies, and conversely why it is not released by the Russians or the Iranians or by Iraqis.
November 29th, 2012, 2:31 pm
MarigoldRan said:
The next couple of days will be important. The internet’s down. Big things coming.
November 29th, 2012, 2:31 pm
Visitor said:
What kind of missile is this one shown in the photo? Any information about its range? Can it reach Muhajereen, let’s say, from Eastern Ghouta?
http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/fbe80ace-4526-4ceb-b089-5fcfbfb943c3?GoogleStatID=1
November 29th, 2012, 2:38 pm
zoo said:
Tara
“installing an acceptable Sunni-Alawi couples to lead the transition to internationally-supervised election in one year.”
A couple: Basma and Delila… Or Khatib and Atasi.. Any other suggestion?
In the meantime, they are fighting with their egos under the fat shadow of HBJ, in Cairo
November 29th, 2012, 2:39 pm
zoo said:
61. Tara
What comes to you? You want to destroy everything? You sound really desperate.
November 29th, 2012, 2:41 pm
zoo said:
@51. majedkhaldoun
I guess you have your insiders in Russia.
By the way, Farouk Sharaa was in season 1, Tlass and Ghaliun in season 2, we are in season 3 with Al Khatib.
I wonder how many more seasons until 2014
November 29th, 2012, 2:49 pm
Tara said:
Zoo
” What comes to you? You want to destroy everything? You sound really desperate.”
What did I do?
I just want to dress him in a black leather jacket and stripped dress shirt. It gives some a sharp distinctive look. I love this look.. The kitten thing may appeal to male voters, definitely not to Syrian women voters (except perhaps to age 65 and up). Do I really need to discuss women’s psychology?
November 29th, 2012, 2:53 pm
Aldendeshe said:
???? – ??? ?? ?????? ?????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ???????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ???? ???????
November 29th, 2012, 2:54 pm
Tara said:
Zoo @73
Meant male couples. I don’t think we are ready for female president. Not now. We must heal first from the bad taste Buthina Shaaban left in our psych.
November 29th, 2012, 2:57 pm
zoo said:
Tara
Did you ask your family about the Alawite slaves before 1970?
http://www.realpolitik.tv/2012/11/aymeric-chauprade-ou-vont-la-syrie-et-le-moyen-orient/
“there is a need to understand who are the Alawites. This is a community issued, in the tenth century, in the borders of the Arab Empire and the Byzantine Empire, from a distant split of Shi’ism, and that practices a syncretism with elements of Shi’ism, Hellenistic pantheism of Persian Zoroastrianism and Byzantine Christianity. It is very important for our analysis to know that the Alawites are considered by Sunni Islam as the worst of heretics. The fourteenth century jurist Ibn Taymiyya Salafi, ancestor of the Wahhabi and a current important reference for Islamists worldwide, issued a fatwa calling for their systematic persecution and genocide.
This fatwa is still current among Salafis, Wahhabis and the Muslim Brotherhood, that is to say, all those the Alawite power is facing right now!
Before the coup Hafez el-Assad in 1970, the Alawites have known persecution from mainstream Islam, Sunnism.
You still need to know that until 1970, the Sunni bourgeoisie were still buying, under a notarized contract, young Alawite slaves.
Things got better with the installation of the Baathist nationalist ideology in 1963, which is Arabism precedence over all other considerations, and especially 1970.
November 29th, 2012, 3:02 pm
Tara said:
Uncle Dendeshe
??? ???.
November 29th, 2012, 3:02 pm
zoo said:
Tara
Since women are excluded, any suggestion for a “man couple” to rule Syria?
November 29th, 2012, 3:04 pm
Tara said:
Zoo
Khatib and any Alawi who has no blood on his hand, preferably someone who was imprisoned by the regime and not from a “novo rich” family. Abdul Azim al khair comes to my mind. Both can run a transitional government until an internationally-supervised election to be held in a year.
November 29th, 2012, 3:10 pm
Ghufran said:
??? ??????? ?????? ??????? ??? ????? ?????? ?????????? ?? ??? ??? ??? ?????? ??? ?? ???? ?????? ????? ???????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ????? ?????? ???????? ????.
???? ?????????? ?? “???? ????? ?? ????? ???? ?????????? ?????? ?????”? ????? ??? “???? ?????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ?????? ?? ?????? ??? ????? ??????? ???”.
???? ?????????? ??? ?? ??? ??? ??????? ??? ?? ???? ???? ???????? ?????????? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ??????? ????? ??? ?????? ????? ??? ??? ??? “?? ???? ??? ??? ?? ??? ????? ?? ????? ????? ???????? ???? ???????? ??????? ??? ????? ?????? ???????? ????”.
????? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ?? ?????? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ??? ???? ???? ???????? ??????? ???? ????? ??????? ?? ??? ????? ??? ??? “?? ???????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ???? ????? ??? ???? ????????? ?? ?????”.
The US is silent as a house mouse but I hopes that will end when Obama decides on a SOS and move to work with Librahimi for real , Syria is now too weak to threaten anybody except its own citizens, so in a way, one of the main objective of this dirty war is achieved, Syrians now need to lick their wounds and find a way to live together and rebuild, denying them a chance to do this will turn the whole region into another nightmare for all.
( Tara, how can you justify a call to destroy DIA while sitting thousand of miles away giving advice to men on fashion issues? )
November 29th, 2012, 3:14 pm
zoo said:
Tara
Who are the alawites and how did they get the power? (continue)
http://www.realpolitik.tv/2012/11/aymeric-chauprade-ou-vont-la-syrie-et-le-moyen-orient/
” In summary, today’s war is the new episode of bloody war supporters of Ibn Taymiyya against heretics Alawites, a war that has lasted since the fourteenth century! This fatwa is in my opinion a new source of potential genocide (similar to that of Rwanda) if the plan is to fall. This is an essential issue that Westerners are trying to ignore.
Hunted and persecuted for centuries, the Alawis had to take refuge in the coastal mountains arid between Lebanon and present Turkey while giving to their belief an hermetic and esoteric side, allowing themselves lies and concealment (the famous Taqqiya) to escape their tormentors.
But then you wonder, how the Alawites have they done to come to power?
Subject to foreign military occupations for centuries, the Sunni Syria bourgeoisie (a similar process occurred in Lebanon) committed the usual mistake of the rich after the country’s independence in 1943. The profession of arms was relegated to the poor and not the son of “good family.” The army was constituted by minorities: a majority of Alawites, but also Christians, Ismailis, Druze, Shia.
Hafez al-Assad came from one of these poor families of the Alawite community. He first became Chief of the Air Force and defense minister prior to seize power by force in order to give the community its revenge on History (with its allies Druze and Christians) .
So you understand immediately that the regime backed by 2 million Alawites, probably 2 to 3 million other minorities, but also a part of the Sunni bourgeoisie including Damascus, whose economic interests are now closely linked to the dictatorship has no choice but to fight to the death.”
November 29th, 2012, 3:21 pm
Tara said:
Ghufran
Fashion and strategy are not supposed to clash.
It is rather simple.
The regime gets regular weapon supply from Iram via Iraq by air delivered to DIA. The Iranian weapons among others have killed 30,000 Syrians and leveled cities. Destroy all airports that can possibly receive weapon shipments from Iran and Russia and voila, You cut the regime life-line.
November 29th, 2012, 3:23 pm
5 dancing shlomos said:
free markets are self sufficient by stacking the deck, printing counterfeit dollars and receiving transfusions from china, japan, s. arabia.
the opposition has made many claims. 1 in 100 might be close to reality, eg, the opposition’s claim that it is a donkey’s whore with guns is close.
mostly people just laugh at the opposition.
November 29th, 2012, 3:28 pm
Tara said:
Zoo
“You still need to know that until 1970, the Sunni bourgeoisie were still buying, under a notarized contract, young Alawite slaves.”
Zoo, I am against any subjugation of human beings in any shape or form. But having Alawis girls working as servants in Sunni bourgeoisie houses should not be avenged by slaughtering 30,000 Syrians including women and children. Women from southeast Asia work as servants in Syria. Do that give the Philippine Indonesia, etc the right to murder Syrians. Historical grievances can’t be dealt with via revenge. Revenge begets revenge and hatred beget hatred. A real democracy where all people are equal is what will move us forward.
November 29th, 2012, 3:37 pm
ALI said:
Syria Lover:
Thanks
November 29th, 2012, 3:41 pm
Dolly Buster said:
The US dollar is the #1 currency in the world, unlike the ruble, which is a joke.
If issuing money was easy, other countries would print it too, and be in the top 10 most important currencies. But in fact: Venezuela, Belarus, Iran, Cuba, and other Economic Wonders have rampant inflation and virtually worthless money.
November 29th, 2012, 3:44 pm
ALI said:
�You still need to know that until 1970, the Sunni bourgeoisie were still buying, under a notarized contract, young Alawite slaves.�
Yes they did that and more and we never did anything in response, it was our long term strategy to suck it in for a while till the right moment come. Exactly what goes around comes around, Sunnis started sucking up for minorities and seeking their friendship even if an Alawi guy hits on their women at the blue beach, they will just suck it in fear and maybe release their stress by bashing the kids or violently raping their women at night.
Now Sunnis are doing the same mistake, they just can’t see the big international picture. Syria is destined to be ruled by minorities and even if we decide to relinquish Bashar it’s not a biggi because Bashar is just a front face while our real decision makers always stay in the shadow.
November 29th, 2012, 3:48 pm
zoo said:
Tara
You are reducing 6 centuries of oppression, ostracism and abuses to a problem with “alwawite maids”!
I am not surprised by your reaction. It fits you very well.
November 29th, 2012, 3:56 pm
5 dancing shlomos said:
the no 1 forced currency. and it is on the way out.
soon its value less than a cig butt.
well, already is. only threat of nuking have others using it for something other than toilet paper.
but
that use is near.
so
stack your dollars.
November 29th, 2012, 4:06 pm
5 dancing shlomos said:
…and
other countries do not print counterfeit money. the u.s. does and pushes it onto others.
COUNTERFEIT.
November 29th, 2012, 4:08 pm
Tara said:
Zoo
Read what you wrote. How exactly you want to resolve “6 centuries” grievances. At what human cost the thirst for revenging those centuries gonna be fulfilled? At 100,000 lives, a million lives? Wiping out cities and towns? Forcing the masses to worship Batta’s toes while cursing Allah? When is this desire for subjugation in revenge would die out? Or would it ever?
It is like an Arabic movie of injustices and revenge playing out. Is that what you want?
And please stop fitting me in pre-perceived molds. All your past notions about me were incorrect.
November 29th, 2012, 4:11 pm
5 dancing shlomos said:
#94 “It is like an Arabic movie of injustices and revenge playing out”
that would be a jewish movie, book, mag, “news”paper article, “comedy”, daily fantasy, daily talking point, religion.
November 29th, 2012, 4:17 pm
Syrialover said:
ZOO #70
Nobody would be keener and more excited to hear that Syria has significant oil and gas prospects than me. But I have never read anything of substance to indicate that that’s the case. Frustratingly the opposite. All the new new resource prizes in the region are being handed to Israel and Cyprus. If you research industry and specialist news sources you’ll see this.
When I looked up your source Professor Aymeric Chauprade I found he prides himself on having dissenting views, including being a cospiracy theorist about 9/11. In this case he appears to juggle facts to suit his theories.
The various pipeline interests he talks about are not the same as those described by industry experts and which I’ve sometimes posted here.
November 29th, 2012, 4:18 pm
SYRIAN HAMSTER said:
Nice Job,
http://www.syrianembassy.be/
November 29th, 2012, 4:21 pm
zoo said:
Who are the Alawites .. continue
http://www.realpolitik.tv/2012/11/aymeric-chauprade-ou-vont-la-syrie-et-le-moyen-orient/
When I say fight to the death, I mean to distinguish the regime from Bashar al-Assad. The regime is more powerful than Bashar and can get rid of him if it considers that it is in its survival. But getting rid of possibly does not mean putting a democracy that would see inevitably (mathematically) the triumph of the Islamists, as in Tunisia, Libya, Egypt, Yemen …
Christians in Syria have seen what happened to the Christians of Iraq after the fall of Saddam Hussein. They see what happens to the Copts in Egypt, after the victory of the Islamists. Druze also know that they are, as the Alawites, considered heretics to be destroyed by the Salafi and the Muslim Brotherhood.
It is absolutely unrealistic to think, as we think in the West, that the Alawites will accept democratic reforms that would lead mechanically Salafists in power.
I repeat the mistake of thinking that the country went into civil war in 2011. It was already in 1980 when a commando Muslim Brotherhood introduced itself into the school Cadet Air Force Aleppo, set aside cadets Sunnis and Alawites and massacred 80 Alawite cadets under the fatwa of Ibn Taymiyya. The Muslim Brotherhood have paid dearly in 1982 in Hama, a stronghold of the Brotherhood, the uncle of the current President exterminated by making perhaps 20,000 dead. Sectarian violence have never really stopped but that does not interest the West because there was at that time no oil and gas agenda for Syria, or any agenda against Iran.
It is said that the regime is brutal and it is obviously incredibly brutal, but it is not brutal by itself. Syria has risen from the Ottoman occupation and its methods of skinning alive, the French Mandate from 1920 to 1943, former Nazi refugees from 1945 who became advisers and counselors and then the KGB. It is obvious that there is nothing to expect from this regime in human rights, democratic reforms … But there is nothing to expect either from Islamist rebels who want to take power and who have a fatwa allowing them to organize the genocide of the Alawites. And elsewhere are we expecting something of Saudi Arabia in terms of Human Rights?
November 29th, 2012, 4:27 pm
zoo said:
What of the ODSH that supplies information to the Western media.
It is an offshoot of the Muslim Brotherhood, which is led by Islamist militants and whose founder, Riyad al-Maleh was sentenced for violence. Based in London since the late 1980s, it is under the protection of British and American services and receives funding from Qatar and Saudi Arabia.
http://www.realpolitik.tv/2012/11/aymeric-chauprade-ou-vont-la-syrie-et-le-moyen-orient/
November 29th, 2012, 4:29 pm
Syrialover said:
TARA,
As the 21st century unfolded in Syria under the Assad regime’s stupidity, incompetence and indifference you saw increasing child labor and other signs of people losing their rights through grinding poverty.
Assad’s rule was turning more and more of the country into a kind of run down prison camp where people struggled and lacked hope for the future. Even getting a job as a maid would be a big prize for many in Assadist Syria.
This is why so many ordinary Syrians became desperate and prepared to risk their lives in the hope of improving the future.
November 29th, 2012, 4:33 pm
zoo said:
Syria, the center of the gas war in the Middle East
“Who controls Syria could control the Middle East.”
http://enricpatrick.over-blog.org/article-syria-the-center-of-the-gas-war-in-the-middle-east-104881443.html
The media and military attack against Syria is directly related to the global competition for energy, as explained by Professor Imad Shuebi in the masterly article we publish.
…..
According to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy (WINEP, the think tank of AIPAC), the Mediterranean basin contains the largest reserves of gas and it is Syria that there would be the most important. This institution also hypothesized that the battle between Turkey and Cyprus would expand because of the inability of Turkey to assume the loss of the Nabucco project (despite the contract signed with Moscow in December 2011 for the transport of part of South Stream gas via Turkey).
The revelation of the secret Syrian gas raises awareness of the enormity of the issue about it. Who controls Syria could control the Middle East. And from Syria, gateway to Asia, he will hold “the key to Russia House,” as stated the Tsarina Catherine II, as well as that of China via the Silk Road. Thus, it would be ability to dominate the world because this century is the century of gas.
It is for this reason that the signatories to the agreement of Damascus, allowing gas to pass through Iran Iraq and access to the Mediterranean, creating a new geopolitical space and cutting the lifeline of Nabucco, had said “Syria is the key to the new era.”
November 29th, 2012, 4:35 pm
Visitor said:
The dermatophagia ‘outbreak’ on SC among the lov-u-terribly clan is definitely on the rise as of today
Expect a houndoom reaction as usual in the next couple days.
November 29th, 2012, 4:37 pm
zoo said:
Syria, Turkey, Israel and a Greater Middle East Energy War
By: F. William Engdahl,* author of Myths, Lies and Oil Warsr
October 12th, 2012
…
As Escobar points out, “it’s clear what Qatar is aiming at: to kill the US$10 billion Iran-Iraq-Syria gas pipeline, a deal that was clinched even as the Syria uprising was already underway. Here we see Qatar in direct competition with both Iran (as a producer) and Syria (as a destination), and to a lesser extent, Iraq (as a transit country). It’s useful to remember that Tehran and Baghdad are adamantly against regime change in Damascus.” He adds, “if there’s regime change in Syria – helped by the Qatari-proposed invasion – things get much easier in Pipelineistan terms. A more than probable Muslim Brotherhood (MB) post-Assad regime would more than welcome a Qatari pipeline. And that would make an extension to Turkey much easier.”
November 29th, 2012, 4:42 pm
zoo said:
When are the average Syrian realize that they are been manipulated by slogans of freedom and liberty when it is all about sectarian revenge, calls for genocide on the Alawites, hatred of the Shias and Iran and to allow Qatar to get its pipeline through Syria?
The Syrians are dying for sordid sectarian feelings and for Qatar to become richer.
November 29th, 2012, 4:50 pm
Syrialover said:
HAMSTER #97
Great to see those guys are keeping busy while their internet access to Syria is interrupted.
November 29th, 2012, 4:58 pm
zoo said:
Who is Sheikh Ahmad Moaz Al-Khatib?
It’s Ambassador Robert Ford who has pushed his nomination
He is a geophysical engineer who worked six years for the al-Furat Petroleum Company (1985-1991), a joint venture company between the Syrian national and foreign companies, including Anglo-Dutch Shell. In 1992, he inherited his father’s prestigious preaching job at the Umayyad Mosque in Damascus. He is quickly relieved of his duties by the Baathist regime and banned from preaching throughout Syria. Why? Because at the time Syria supported the U.S. operation Desert Storm to liberate Kuwait and the Sheikh was opposed to it for the same religious reasons as Osama bin Laden: he does not want western presence in the land of Arabia. The sheikh settles in Qatar and in 2003-2004, returned to Syria as a lobbyist for Shell. He returned again in Syria in early 2012 where he ignites the neighborhood of Douma (Damascus suburb). Arrested and amnestied he left the country in July and settled in Cairo.
His family is of Sufi tradition, so normally moderate, but unlike what that AFP reported, he is a member of the Muslim Brotherhood and showed it during his inauguration speech in Doha. In short, as Hamid Karzai in Afghanistan, the Americans have got an oil lobbyist!
Now that we have given analytical elements of the internal forces in Syria, let’s look at the external regional forces….
November 29th, 2012, 5:01 pm
Tara said:
Palestine statehood passes 138-9, with 41 abstaining
UN resolution A/67/L28 granting Palestine non-member observer state status passes, 138-9 with 41 abstaining.
Huge applause breaks out in the hall. Abbas is receiving hugs.
A Palestinian flag is being unfolded on the floor.
CSPAN turns the camera on US Ambassador Susan Rice. She looks like she wishes she were in Benghazi.
November 29th, 2012, 5:42 pm
zoo said:
MABROOK to all Palestinians and to countries who hosted and supported them all these years.
November 29th, 2012, 5:45 pm
Tara said:
Please shut up Mrs. Ambassador.
Rice: ‘Resolution does not establish that Palestine is a state’
US Ambassador Susan Rice is speaking against the resolution. She says the resolution damages prospects for a peace process and does not establish a new benchmark for negotiations.
In short, she says the resolution is meaningless as far as the United States is concerned.
“This resolution does not establish that Palestine is a state.”
“The recent conflict in Gaza is just the latest reminder that the absence of peace risks the presence of war,” she says. That’s one lesson you could draw.
November 29th, 2012, 5:47 pm
zoo said:
Panic among the opposition: The Syrian government they’ve been trying to cripple, has stopped the internet service it was providing to all Syria.
I hope the Western allies will rush a ‘non lethal’ internet in replacement
November 29th, 2012, 5:53 pm
Hamoudeh al-Halabi said:
Children Massacred in Ansari Sharqi, Aleppo
http://freehalab.wordpress.com/2012/11/29/children-massacred-in-ansari-sharqi-aleppo/
November 29th, 2012, 6:05 pm
Tara said:
What is the regime up to cutting off the Internet? �Preparing for a grand scale massacre? It is now said you are not safe anywhere in Damascus except if you live in Malki. �
—-
Syria’s information minister blamed “terrorists” for the outage, but the communications shutdown was seen as an attempt to stymie rebel moves as militias try to co-ordinate an assault on Damascus. It was also thought to be aimed at thwarting any plans for advances in other towns and cities.
While officials have frequently shut down internet and mobile phone access to opposition-held areas since the uprising began in March 2011, sometimes for weeks at a time, they have never before cut web and voice communications nationwide.
Soon after noon on Thursday, all 84 of Syria’s ISP address blocks were unreachable, web specialists Renesys said. Five ISP addresses did continue to function. Renesys analysts said they were used to deliver malware to anti-regime activists earlier this year, a fact that would appear to link the addresses to the government.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/nov/29/syria-blocks-internet
November 29th, 2012, 6:05 pm
Tara said:
US to recognize Syrian opposition
The United States plans to join Britain, France and others in recognizing the Syrian opposition as the legitimate representatives of the people, the AP reports:
The Obama administration is preparing to recognize Syria’s new opposition council as the legitimate representative of the Syrian people in the coming weeks, paving the way for greater U.S. support for groups seeking to oust President Bashar Assad’s regime, officials said Thursday.
Announcement of the move � which has already been taken by several U.S. allies � is planned on or around a conference of more than 70 nations in Marrakesh, Morocco, on Dec. 12. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is planning to attend the latest so-called Friends of Syria gathering.
The new status is expected to be accompanied by pledges of additional humanitarian and nonlethal logistical support for the opposition, but is unlikely to result in U.S. military assistance, at least in the short-term. Providing arms remains a matter of intense internal debate inside the administration, the officials said.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/nov/29/egypt-crisis-morsi-constitution-live#block-50b7ac1bb579ff47064199ee
November 29th, 2012, 6:28 pm
Jarthouma said:
Oh Dear…….
Zoo the sectarian Alawite Butta scrap….
Paste, copy and paste NOW!!!!! The airport might fall and Batta needs your help…. I mean how long does it take to start this glorious counterattack that we have been waiting for ? Only a sharp and quick precision copy and paste attack can save the day
Shmuck! It’s over inshallah and we are off soon to piss on the grave of your divine daddy Batta in Qardha
November 29th, 2012, 6:49 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
Congratulations to Assad of Syria.
Internet closed today in all Syria.
Damascus Airport closed too.
But nothing happens, it is just war against gangs of terrorists….
All cities are destroyed, all those who could leave the country already did it, but nothing happens.
Assad will prevail because he is divine and eternal…. until he falls in the hands of the Great Syrian Revolution…. soon
IN SHA ALLAH
IN SHA ALLAH
IN SHA ALLAH
November 29th, 2012, 6:49 pm
SANDRO LOEWE said:
110. ZOO
Do not worry about the armed opposition, they have good telecommunication systems working with their own sattelites. Regarding the peacefull opposition it mainly left the country or is in prison.
War is the only language from now until the fall of Assad The Second and Last, The Border-Line Criminal.
November 29th, 2012, 6:56 pm
majedkhaldoun said:
The new Egyptian constitution says
The president has to be egyptian, and His spouse must be egyptian, It is not required to be Moslem.
November 29th, 2012, 7:39 pm
zoo said:
Big Sunni gains may bring Lebanon pain
November 29, 2012 08:44 PM
By Michael Young
http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Nov-29/196487-big-sunni-gains-may-bring-lebanon-pain.ashx#axzz2DdfCR7UY
In recent days, the regime of President Bashar Assad has suffered significant setbacks in northern Syria. This may not be the end, but it only affirms that the dynamics of the conflict are being driven by the armed opposition, so that for the first time since March 2011, Assad rule appears to be decisively shaken, not to say terminally ill.
From a Lebanese perspective, the greatest danger will come once the battle in Syria is over. Lebanese Sunnis will feel triumphant, and legitimately so, after decades when they were regarded as a threat by the Assad regime. Their sense of renewed empowerment, in parallel with that of their brethren in Syria, could make them overconfident.
Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2012/Nov-29/196487-big-sunni-gains-may-bring-lebanon-pain.ashx#ixzz2DfGF3Csg
November 29th, 2012, 8:19 pm
zoo said:
Syria: The clouds darken for Assad
by Rodger Shanahan – 29 November 2012 12:00PM
http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/post/2012/11/29/Syria-The-clouds-darken-for-Assad.aspx
….
But despite all the claims of unbroken rebel successes, there is no indication that the Syrian military is on the point of collapse. And there continue to be problems for the rebels and their supporters. Regular clashes between various rebel factions and Kurds in Syria’s north and northeast illustrate ongoing suspicions about the rebels’ intentions. And to reinforce those fears, Damascus recently released a list of over 140 foreign fighters from 18 countries that it said had been killed in recent fighting.
This, and the willingness of rebel groups to target civilians, adds to Western nervousness in publicly backing the rebels before they know better who they are and what they want. France and the UK have rather precipitously recognised the newly formed opposition umbrella group as the sole legitimate representative of the Syrian people, even though the opposition doesn’t control the rebel forces. Washington is right to be more circumspect. The more civilians killed by rebel forces, the more difficult it will be to argue that any assistance London, Paris or other countries provide is ‘non-lethal’.
November 29th, 2012, 8:21 pm
zoo said:
Which of the opposition or the government is more affected by the Internet shutdown?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/worldviews/wp/2012/11/29/a-stunning-chart-shows-syrias-internet-blackout/?tid=pm_world_pop
Syria�s apparent shutdown of all Internet services has now been confirmed by a second Web-monitoring service, Akamai. The company released this chart of Web traffic in and out of Syria, reporting that the country is �effectively off the Internet.� Akamai says the traffic is at zero, a remarkable indication of how swiftly and completely Syria seems to have taken its offline. Removing an entire country from the Internet is no small feat, and has potentially serious implications for Syria�s economy, its security and the uprising that began last year.
November 29th, 2012, 8:28 pm
zoo said:
Syrian army is cleaning up Daraya
???? ????? – ????? ?????? ?? ????? 29-11-2012
November 29th, 2012, 8:34 pm
Visitor said:
You guys want to hear the latest joke?
The regime so-called minister (or thug) of defense just pleaded with the people of Damascus to defend it against the FSA.
November 29th, 2012, 8:39 pm
MarigoldRan said:
Those satellite phones that the US provided to the opposition has suddenly become very, VERY useful. Good foresight by the US State Department.
It’s a desperation move by the regime.
@ Zoo
What the average civilian in Syria is coming to realize is that Assad is an evil man who likes to bomb them with jet planes. They may have reservations about the FSA, but I think they’re smart enough to realize that the regime is worse.
If Assad is trying to win the support of the average civilian, perhaps he should reconsider his strategy of BOMBING THEM? Don’t you agree?
November 29th, 2012, 8:42 pm
MarigoldRan said:
@ Zoo
Didn’t the regime “clean up” Daraya a month ago? Why are they cleaning it up again? Didn’t the regime (according to SANA) win a smashing success there two months ago as well?
How many smashing successes does the regime need to capture a suburb or a town?
Based on the official Syrian or Iranian news, you’d think the regime was winning.
November 29th, 2012, 8:46 pm
Tara said:
US accelerates intervention in Syrian war
Published: 29 November, 2012
http://rt.com/usa/news/us-intervention-syria-arms-925/
In an attempt to defeat Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, government officials told the New York Times that the US might bring its military resources to the region for either intimidation purposes or direct use in Syria.
NATO will likely decide next week whether or not to deploy surface-to-air Patriot missiles in Turkey, which would serve to protect the country from potential Syrian missiles that could contain chemical weapons, as well as intimidate Syrian Air Force pilots from bombing the northern Syria border towns.
The armed rebels currently control much of Northwest Syria along the border of Turkey, making the border a likely conflict zone should Syrian missiles be implemented.
Although State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the Patriot missile system would not be used beyond the Turkish border, military sources told Israeli news service DEBKAthat all of northern Syria � including Aleppo and Homs � would become controlled by the Turkish-NATO team.
….
�The administration has figured out that if they don�t start doing something, the war will be over and they won�t have any influence over the combat forces on the ground,� former Defense Intelligence Agency officer told the New York Times. �They may have some influence with various political groups and factions, but they won�t have influence with the fighters, and the fighters will control the territory.�
….
The Obama administration is also preparing to recognize Syria�s new opposition council as the official representation of Syria, likely during a Dec. 12 �Friends of Syria� conference in Morocco which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will attend, the Associated Press reports. The recognition will likely spur further US involvement in the conflict � if not militarily, then it will at least draw more humanitarian aid.
..more�
November 29th, 2012, 8:48 pm
Syrialover said:
10 Myths About Assad and What�s Happening in Syria
By Maher Arar
10 myths that have been circulating around since the very beginning. Many of these myths are, unfortunately, still being reinforced by many Western journalists and left-leaning anti-imperialism activists. The last three myths are being reinforced by pro-regime supporters.
1.The United States and its allies have been supplying arms to the Syrian armed opposition.
2.The fighting that has been taking place in Syria has an entirely sectarian nature and as such can be accurately described as a civil war.
3.Assad and his regime have been the most hard-core supporters of the Palestinian resistance. That explains why they are being targeted by Israel (and the West). It is simply a Western conspiracy against Syria.
4.All members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are Islamic extremists (also described as hard-core Salafists) who swore allegiance to either Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
5.The FSA has a single command structure and takes instructions from a single military council.
6.The FSA is exclusivity composed of Sunni Muslims.
7.All Shabiha belong to the Alawite minority.
8.The Syrian uprising was militarized from day one.
9.The Syrian army doesn�t target civilians.
10.Most of the anti-regime fighters are foreigners.
http://prism-magazine.com/2012/11/10-myths-about-assad-and-whats-happening-in-syria/
November 29th, 2012, 8:53 pm
zoo said:
Exclusive: Inside Future Movement’s Syria Arms Trade
By: Radwan Mortada
November 29, 2012
http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/exclusive-inside-future-movements-syria-arms-trade
Al-Akhbar has obtained recordings of Future Movement MP Okab Sakr organizing weapons transfers to the armed Syrian opposition at the behest of Future leader Saad Hariri.
The phone call is the first hard evidence of the role Sakr and his backers in Future were playing in providing arms and logistical support to the Syrian rebels.
In a three-part series built on documents, audio recordings, and interviews with sources close to Sakr, Al-Akhbar will shed light on Sakr�s attempts to hijack the Syrian uprising for his own means while running the armed opposition into the ground.
A few weeks ago, Al-Akhbar�s offices in Beirut received an anonymous phone call. The caller claimed he was in possession of �audio recordings which will expose MP Okab Sakr and his role is destroying the [Syrian] revolution.�
The news did not come as a surprise. Sakr�s connection to the Syrian opposition was well-known, and his role as an arms dealer to the rebels had been documented in the press.
Neither was it the first time that information about the existence of audio recordings of Sakr�s conversations had circulated.
Al-Akhbar initially doubted the caller and his motivations, but he promptly sent the first recording. It sounded a lot like Sakr�s voice, which was later confirmed by audio experts.
A few days later, the anonymous caller made another phone call to Al-Akhbar and gave his email address. Further communications were carried out over email and phone to identify the extent of the recorded material and its importance.
The source did not reveal the number of recordings in his possession, saying only that there were dozens. For further confirmation, he sent an excerpt from a second recording.
It was Sakr�s voice again and the voice experts were also inclined to believe so. Yet the recordings raised more questions about the identity of the source, including how the recordings came into his possession and what he hoped to gain by leaking them to the press.
It was soon revealed that the source had been working with Sakr for more than a year as part of an operations room established to support the Syrian uprising.
November 29th, 2012, 8:54 pm
Aldendeshe said:
108. zoosaid:
MABROOK to all Palestinians and to countries who hosted and supported them all these years.
_________________________________________________________________
F***k the bastard Palestinians. UNWORTHY BAS*TARD*S. Close their whore house slums in Syria and Lebanon and throw them to their masters the Jews in Israel, which they serve daily and toil for them for miserable pay. UNDESERVING THUGS, JEW SLAVE SERVANTS.
November 29th, 2012, 9:00 pm
zoo said:
Marigoldan
“Based on the official Syrian or Iranian news, you�d think the regime was winning.
Based on the biased western media, you’d think the rebels are winning.
Only time will tell, and two years after the regime was declared moribund, the army collapsing and Bashar al Assad’s days counted, time already told us that no one really knows, even the Cassandras in this blog…
November 29th, 2012, 9:01 pm
zoo said:
It seems the thugs are back spreading their insults and their vulgarity.
It’s time to leave the stage to their frustrated gesticulation.
Go ahead, dump your filth
November 29th, 2012, 9:09 pm
MarigoldRan said:
@Zoo
Um, the rebels are winning. Look at what they’ve been able to capture over the last two months. Look at the territory they control now. Compared that against the military situation 6 months ago.
It’s pretty obvious except to people with their heads stuck in the sand.
November 29th, 2012, 9:12 pm
zoo said:
Signs of winning? The opposition is enrolling children and exposing them to death.
Syria: Opposition Using Children in Conflict
Boys Report Serving as Fighters, Guards, and Lookouts
November 29, 2012
http://www.hrw.org/news/2012/11/29/syria-opposition-using-children-conflict
(New York) � Armed opposition groups fighting in Syria are using children for combat and other military purposes, Human Rights Watch said today. Children as young as 14 have served in at least three opposition brigades, transporting weapons and supplies and acting as lookouts, Human Rights Watch found, and children as young as 16 have carried arms and taken combat roles against government forces. Opposition commanders should make public commitments to end this practice, and to prohibit the use of anyone under 18 for military purposes � even if they volunteer.
Human Rights Watch interviewed five boys between the ages of 14 and 16 who said they had worked with the armed opposition in Homs, Daraa, and Khirbet al-Jawz, a small Idlib town near the Turkish border. Three of the boys, all age 16, said they carried weapons. One said he received military training and participated in attack missions. Two boys � ages 14 and 15 � said they, together with other boys, supported opposition brigades by conducting reconnaissance or transporting weapons and supplies. In addition, Human Rights Watch interviewed three Syrian parents who said their sons under 18 had remained in Syria to fight.
November 29th, 2012, 9:22 pm
Ghufran said:
Voting “no” Thursday were Israel, the United States and Canada, joined by the Czech Republic, Panama and several Pacific island nations: Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru and Palau. The Pacific nations typically support the U.S. and Israel at the U.N. on key General Assembly resolutions.
The UN passed the famous partition of historical Palestine on November,29,1947
November 29th, 2012, 9:23 pm
Syrialover said:
Ten Myths About Assad and What�s Happening in Syria
By Maher Arar
10 myths that have been circulating around since the very beginning. Many of these myths are, unfortunately, still being reinforced by many Western journalists and left-leaning anti-imperialism activists. The last three myths are being reinforced by pro-regime supporters.
1.The United States and its allies have been supplying arms to the Syrian armed opposition.
2.The fighting that has been taking place in Syria has an entirely sectarian nature and as such can be accurately described as a civil war.
3.Assad and his regime have been the most hard-core supporters of the Palestinian resistance. That explains why they are being targeted by Israel (and the West). It is simply a Western conspiracy against Syria.
4.All members of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) are Islamic extremists (also described as hard-core Salafists) who swore allegiance to either Qatar or Saudi Arabia.
5.The FSA has a single command structure and takes instructions from a single military council.
6.The FSA is exclusivity composed of Sunni Muslims.
7.All Shabiha belong to the Alawite minority.
8.The Syrian uprising was militarized from day one.
9.The Syrian army doesn�t target civilians.
10.Most of the anti-regime fighters are foreigners.
http://prism-magazine.com/2012/11/10-myths-about-assad-and-whats-happening-in-syria/
November 29th, 2012, 9:24 pm
MarigoldRan said:
And the regime is bombing little children. So what’s your point?
***************************
The regime is losing. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?
November 29th, 2012, 9:25 pm
Visitor said:
More criminal aircraft will be falling off the sky shortly…….Thanks to Qatar and Sheikh HBJ of course.
40 surface to air missiles, shoulder fired, have been delivered to the good shoulders of the FSA.
November 29th, 2012, 9:26 pm
Sheila said:
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=H40EsEVU1Wk&desktop_uri=%2Fwatch%3Ffeature%3Dplayer_embedded%26v%3DH40EsEVU1Wk
I have been crying for the last hour. “Uncle, I beg of you uncle” cried the little boy addressing a stranger. The boy is probably 10 or 11 years old. He is on his back trying to get up, but unable to. The stranger rushes to his help, tells him it is ok and then lifts him up to reveal the back of his head smashed and soaked in blood.. Welcome to hell: cars mangled up, bodies without heads and people chanting the name of God in an effort to give themselves the strength to help those in need. A man cries:”there is a woman still alive upstairs”. Another calls: “the building is going to collapse” yet people continue to rush in to see if anyone made it.
What punishment is worthy of such a crime? I really do not know. Nothing seems to be enough.
November 29th, 2012, 9:33 pm
Aldendeshe said:
people chanting the name of God in an effort to give themselves the strength to help
________________________________________________________________
Ohhhhh, that is damm good,they don’t need me, they got Allah to help. Will go back to watch por*n now.
November 29th, 2012, 9:47 pm
zoo said:
Lakhdar Ibrahimi will present his proposal to the UNSC on the 30th November
The proposal calls for negotiation for a transition government where Bashar al Assad will keep a representative role until the 2014 elections.
Randa Kassis who was excluded from the SNC for her anti-islamist stand supports that plan as she refused to see the arms race, the growth of islamic extremist and the increasing death toll of Syrians.
Interview in french on France 24
http://www.france24.com/fr/20121128-debat-partie2-syrie-bachar-assad-opposition
November 29th, 2012, 9:49 pm
zoo said:
Marigoldran
“The regime is losing. Do you agree or disagree with this statement?”
I don’t know.. am I the only one?
November 29th, 2012, 9:54 pm
zoo said:
In a meeting in close doors with the UNSC, Brahimi calls for the members full support and a peacemaking force to implement a cease fire..
Mediator: Syria peace progress rests with UNSC
By REUTERS
11/29/2012 21:36
UNITED NATIONS – International Syria mediator Lakhdar Brahimi said on Thursday he could not move forward with a peace plan unless it was backed by a UN Security Council resolution and he warned that a ceasefire would only hold if it was overseen by a peacekeeping mission.
A peaceful solution to the 20-month conflict could only be initiated by the Security Council, Brahimi told the 15-member body, which has been deadlocked on whether to take stronger action against Syrian President Bashir Assad.
“I have been challenged to produce a plan. I think that we now have the elements of a plan, but these elements cannot be put together until this council has come together and is ready to adopt a resolution that will be the basis for a political process (in Syria),” Brahimi told reporters after his briefing.
….
“No doubt what is very, very urgently needed is a ceasefire that can hold … a ceasefire will not hold unless it is very, very strongly observed, and that, I believe, will require a peacekeeping mission,” Brahimi said.
November 29th, 2012, 9:56 pm
Ghufran said:
???? ???????? ????? ????? ?????? ?? ???? ???? ???? ?????? ???? ???? ????? ???? ????? ???? ??? ?????? ?????? ??????? .
? ???? ????? ????? ???? ??? ???? ?? ????? ????? ??????? 533 ? ???????? ?????? ??? 542 ? ? ??? ???? ????????? ??????? ????? .
? ????? ??????? ” ?? ?????? ???? ????? ? ????? ???? ?? 300 ????? ?????? ?????? ?? ??????? ? ???????? ???????? ????? ?????? ??????? ????? ??????? ??? ???? ???? ??????”.
? ???? ??????? ??? ?? ????? ??????? ?????? ?? ? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ?? ?????? ???? ?? ” ??? ???????” ? ” ????? ????????” ?????? ????? ????? ??????? ??????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ???.
? ???? ?????? ???????? ?? ?????? ????? ????? ?????? ??? ??? ???????? ????? ????????? ? ??? ????? ???? ??????? ? ???? ????? ?????? ? ????? ?? ??? ???? ??????? ?????? ????? ???? .
? ?? ?????? ???? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ????? ??? ???? ??? ????? ?????? ? ?????? ? ??? ?????? ?????? ?? ?? ??????? ? ????? ? ????? ?? ???.
? ??? ?????? ???????? ???? ????? ???? ? ????? ? ???? ???? ???? ??? ????? ? ?????? ??????? ? ??????? ? ??????? ? ????? ????? ? ??????? ???????? ?? ???????.
?? ???????? ???? ????? ??????? ?????? ?????? ?? “?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ???????? ??? ???? ????? ??????? ?? ?????? ??????? ????? ? ??? ???? ????? ? ? ????? ??????? “.
? ???? ??? ??????? ” ? ??? ?????? ?????? ??? ??????? ??????? ??? ???? ?????? ? ????? ??????? ???????? ???????? ?? ???? ?? ??????? ??????? ????? “.
? ???? ????? ??????? ???? ??? ?? ???? ? ? ?????? ??????? ???????? ?????? ???? ????? ????? ???? ?????? ?????? ??? “????? ?????????”? ??? ?? ???????.
???? ?? ???? ????? ????????? ?????? ?? ????? ? ????? ???? ???? ???????? ???? ?????? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? .
There is no way to confirm the accuracy of this report but it seems like regime media is hiding something, if rebels surround DIA and defeat the army in E. Ghoutah then you can say that Damascus will be next,keep in mind that the army can probably stop the rebels but at a very high cost to civilians, I hope those who can influence Bashar may be able to convince him to stop an upcoming blood bath but I am not optimistic, there are elements in the regime ,that may include Bashar,that want this to be a fight to the end. No Syrian wants to see this madness gets extended to Damascus, for the life of me I do not see what Generals in the army are waiting for, somebody needs to send Bashar on a plane to Russia and starts talking to rebels to spare Damascus and save what can be saved if the only obsticle is Bashar.
November 29th, 2012, 10:06 pm
zoo said:
Gufran
41 abstention: Australia, UK, Germany…
“We want GCC oil and money but we want to remain friend with Israel and the US”
November 29th, 2012, 10:10 pm
Tara said:
Now that then regime is losing militarily, Batta may accept a peacekeeping mission and Russia may not veto out a UNSC resolution. I hope the coalition and the FSA would study such proposal and not make a hasty decision accepting it. Batta has proven himself not to be trusted in any potential political solution. Batta must disappear first and Ibrahimin should go home.
November 29th, 2012, 10:11 pm
Ghufran said:
Lebanese sources are saying that it is the regime that is on the offensive in Damascus not the rebels, I think both sides are lying, this battle, unless the army stage a coup or Assad is personally targeted, will last a long time,not just in Damascus, the army has no shortage of weapons and the regime is now enlisting civilians and giving them few weeks of training to try to mitigate the shortage of trained soldiers, this will be a long winter.
November 29th, 2012, 10:22 pm
zoo said:
Morsi in a hurry: Shariah-based Egypt charter rushed to vote
http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/shariah-based-egypt-charter-rushed-to-vote.aspx?pageID=238&nID=35797&NewsCatID=352
An assembly drafting Egypt�s new Constitution yesterday maintained the previous Constitution�s principles of Islamic law, Shariah, as the main source of legislation, as it rushed through the approval process in the face of objections from an opposition that argues more time is needed.
It also agreed to a clause stating that the principles of Christian and Jewish legal traditions would guide the personal and religious affairs of people belonging to those faiths.
November 29th, 2012, 10:23 pm
zoo said:
“President Obama has not signed off on the move, and the meetings to decide the issue have yet to be held.”
U.S. Moves Toward Recognizing Syria�s Opposition
By MICHAEL GORDON and MARK LANDLER
Published: November 29, 2012
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/30/world/middleeast/us-moves-toward-recognizing-syria-opposition.html?_r=0
….
A decision to recognize the group could be announced at a so-called Friends of Syria meeting that Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton is expected to attend in Morocco on Dec. 12. It is the most immediate decision facing the Obama administration as it considers how to end the government of Bashar al-Assad and stop the violence that has consumed Syria.
President Obama has not signed off on the move, and the meetings to decide the issue have yet to be held. Debates within the administration concern legal issues about the implications of diplomatic recognition, how such a move might affect efforts to enlist Russian support for a political transition in Syria and, most importantly, the state of the opposition.
…
�They are a legitimate representative of the Syrian people�s aspirations,� Robert Ford, the American ambassador to Syria, said Thursday at a conference on the Syrian humanitarian crisis. �They are making real progress and I expect that our position will evolve as they themselves develop,� he added.
November 29th, 2012, 10:32 pm
MarigoldRan said:
@Zoo
Ok, that’s fair. The answer of “I don’t know” is a overly-cautious but reasonable position on the state of affairs in Syria.
However, based on the evidence, I’m confident the regime is losing. Compare the situation in March to the situation now. The FSA has more soldiers, more weapons, more territory and more support (Jordan) than in March. THEREFORE the FSA is winning.
@Ghurfan
BOTH sides lie during the middle of a battle. DO NOT TRUST ANY BATTLE REPORTS FROM EITHER SIDE. However, you can tell how the battle is going by WHERE they’re fighting. If the battle is at the airport or spreads to central Damascus, the rebels are winning. If the fighting retreats back to East Ghouta, the regime has pushed the rebels back.
This battle is going to take a long time to end. However, if the rebels can sustain a battle of Damascus, this is BAD news for the regime. It means the rebels have enough weapons and their supply lines are secure.
November 29th, 2012, 10:36 pm
Syrialover said:
ZOO #119
That Roger Shanahan has written pompous lightweight pieces for many, many months about how the rebellion by Syrians against the Assad regime is a bad idea and doesn’t deserve to work.
He also constantly insists al qaeda is driving the whole thing and it’s wrong for the west to care or get involved.
Here he is – http://www.lowyinterpreter.org/page/Rodger-Shanahan.aspx
November 29th, 2012, 10:46 pm
AJ said:
136. VISITOR said:
“More criminal aircraft will be falling off the sky shortly��.Thanks to Qatar and Sheikh HBJ of course.
40 surface to air missiles, shoulder fired, have been delivered to the good shoulders of the FSA.”
90% of the FSA achievements were made thanks to the Syrian people only. Most weapons were captured from within the Assad regime. Qatar and KSA promised a lot, helped Libya get rid of a dictator, but did nothing to overthrow Assad.
Trickled weapons were only meant to put a thorn in Iranian influence in the region.
The Syrian people have been left alone by the regional powers and we will never forget nor forgive them for it.
November 30th, 2012, 12:28 am
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