Two financially solvent superpowers with great leadership in power, Russia and China delivered last night a sane response (Veto) to NATO insane mayhem and plunder in the Middle East. Closing shut NATO newest plot against another sovereign country, Syria.

The apparent NATO move on Syria is now for sure looking like a serious attempt at hijacking of Syria’s spring by foreign intelligence agencies and colonial interests using cheap puppets. It also shows that Israel who is the primary beneficiary of Syria NEOCON roll back plan, covered with cloaks’ of lies, deceits and the usual western inspired bloody genocidal violence, may be actually orchestrating this affair or using it for sinister murderous plan against Syrians.

So far NATO hired puppets tried sanctions, U.N. resolutions, tried bloody terrorism, even attempted genocide, used Gulf and Western media to launch antiquated silly media dog tricks to smear the Syrians and misrepresent the true intent of NATO push, but all came to miserable failure. Direct NATO attack is about the only option left for now, however an assured massive retaliatory strike by Syria’s loyal forces, Hezbollah and Iran will make that move very costly. Oil resources in the Middle East will be decimated, per barrel price could reach $250-300, Europe is teetering on the verge of economic and social collapse and the U.S. is already drowned in debt and unemployment, An attack on Syria could be the last nail in the coffin for Western Economies.

NATO handful of Syrian mercenaries and the large virtually created ones on online weblogs operated by various shady Intel agencies are already threatening to Increase terrorism inside Syria. Syrian Nationalist Party Chief Strategist stated that this is counterproductive for the colonial plotters; their hired and paid agents have neither control of the operation theater nor the audience. More violence means increasing prisoner numbers and their suffering, more negatives feeling among Syrian masses and likely outright rejection of the so called Syrian Revolution 2011. The problem that is not well understood by the attacking west is that all those NATO sponsored opposition to a Sovereign Syria have zero backing in Syria, are now totally discredited as colonial thugs and hired mercenaries for NATO colonial push into the Middle East. More than 88.9% of Syria’s Sunni Moslems have backed long time president of Syria Basher Assad. The entire class and minorities, including all Christian sects in Syria, have joined forces with majority Sunnis in repelling the latest NATO move on Syria disguised as a campaign to bring freedom and Democracy to the country.

Syria’s majority rebuffed the false call for democracy when it was discovered that NATO is using the extremist terrorist group the Moslem Brotherhood as a mean to divide the Country into sectarian ruled city States, establish a NATO base in eastern Syria called “Syria Islamic State” ruled my Moslem extremist loyal to NATO. It was also discovered that Turkey was promised a part of Syria that is rich in fossil fuel in northwest part of the country, the region called Idlib Province. Turkey in the past grabbed another part of Syria the Iskenderun Province when they conspired with France against Syria.

NATO attempt to use the same cookie cutter they used in Libya is what really brought their dead end strategy to collapse. In Libya, they used foreign mercenaries and CIA trained assets, the Al Qaida Islamic terrorists to horrify the native Libyan population with the most vicious genocidal campaign since the Balkan attacks. The attempt to use the same Moslem terrorist thugs and few treasonous Syrians to act as front have primarily lead to the crash of the seditious plan against Syria. Syrians are notorious Nationalists who abhor colonial plot after suffering from such for decades.

For NATO today, the Syria game plan is over. For Syrian Nationalists, it is time to pick up the pieces and continue the struggle to free Syria of Baathist rule and oppression. SNP Chief Strategist says the work will be much harder now; Assad has managed to defeat NATO and is likely not to compromise with the legit Nationalist opposition on anything. The hijacking of the real struggle has failed, thanks in great part to the vision of great nations of China and Russia, both are lead by wise and great leaderships, but the work ahead is harder now and for the means left for us is to rely on the good office of Iran, China and Russia to bring solution to the crises in Syria.

http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=105353

West Leads in Wielding Veto Powers at Security Council
By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 5, 2011 (IPS) – When Russia and China exercised a rare double veto against a Western resolution aimed at punishing Syria, the two big powers were repeating a similar feat derailing two earlier resolutions: one against Myanmar (Burma) in 2007 and the other against Zimbabwe in 2008.

The Myanmar resolution was critical of that country’s deplorable human rights record, while the Zimbabwe resolution threatened to cut off arms sales to the beleaguered regime of President Robert Mugabe (who was being beefed up with both Chinese and Russian weapons).

Both Western-inspired resolutions were double-vetoed by Russia and China in an attempt to protect their allies – just as much as the last five U.S. vetoes (during 2004-2011) in the Security Council were meant to protect Israel.

The vetoed resolutions either condemned Israel for building settlements in occupied territories or were critical of its devastating military operations in Gaza.

But in the annals of the Security Council, Tuesday’s double veto is apparently not a political monopoly held by the Russians and the Chinese.

Stephen Zunes, professor of politics and chair of Middle Eastern Studies at the University of San Francisco who has done extensive research on voting patterns in the Security Council, told IPS, “Actually, it is the United States and its allies (UK and France) that hold the record for double (and triple) vetoes”.

There have been 23 double vetoes by the U.S. and UK and 13 triple vetoes by the U.S., UK and France, he said.

Most of them, he pointed out, were in regard to sanctions and related matters involving South Africa, Namibia or Rhodesia in the 1970s and 1980s.

The last triple veto was in 1989, in a resolution deploring the U.S. invasion of Panama. (UK and France also had two double vetoes during the 1956 Suez crisis.)

“I think it is worth pointing out that the United States holds the U.N. record in terms of vetoing resolutions threatening or imposing sanctions against governments engaged in human rights abuses as well as of resolutions simply deploring or condemning such governments,” Zunes said.

Although a majority of the Council members – nine out of 15 – voted in favour of Tuesday’s resolution (qualifying it to be adopted), the two vetoes negated the positive result.

The draft resolution, which strongly condemned the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by Syrian authorities, drew positive votes from Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, France, Gabon, Germany, Nigeria, Portugal, the UK and the United States.

The countries abstaining were India, Brazil, South Africa (known collectively as IBSA) and Lebanon.

The resolution, which had been co-sponsored by France, Germany, Portugal and the UK, also called on Syria to immediately cease the use of force against civilians.

If Syria failed to do so within 30 days, the Security Council would consider “other options” (a euphemism for economic and military sanctions).

Asked about the failed resolution, U.N. spokesman Martin Nesirky told reporters Wednesday that Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon “regrets” that the Council failed to adopt the resolution.

But he hopes the divisions will be overcome.

“We have a moral obligation to avoid further bloodshed and help the people of Syria out of this crisis,” Ban was quoted as saying.

He also reiterated that the violence in Syria – from any quarter – cannot continue.

Since mid-March, an estimated 2,700 people have been killed in Syria, according to the United Nations.

Syria’s growing protest movement is part of a wider uprising across North Africa and the Middle East this year.

Zunes told IPS that the double-veto was definitely a reaction to the decision by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) to go way beyond the U.N. Security Council mandate earlier this year to authorise force to protect Libyan civilians and to instead become an active participant in the civil war.

He said he found it interesting that four non-permanent members – Brazil, India, Lebanon and South Africa – abstained.

Asked whether Libya was the reason for failure of the Security Council resolution, U.S. Ambassador Susan Rice told reporters, “I think this is an excuse.”

“I think the vast majority of countries, even today, on the Council that were not able to vote in favour of this text know that this was a resolution that, in substance, was unobjectionable,” she said.

And their decisions to vote as they did, she said, may have had a lot less to do with the text than it did with some effort to maintain solidarity among a certain group of countries.

“So I think Libya has been beat to death, overused, and misused as an excuse for countries not to take up their responsibilities with respect to Syria,” Rice said.

Asked whether diplomacy had reached a dead-end on Syria, she refuted the argument by pointing out that the majority of members would have supported a sanctions resolution.

And the countries in the region are, every day, coalescing and raising their voices against what is transpiring in Syria, she added.

“This is not, as some would like to pretend, a Western issue. We had countries all over the world supporting this resolution today, and we have countries throughout the region who’ve been very clear that the brutality of the (Bashar) al-Assad regime has to end and that the behaviour of the regime is absolutely intolerable.”

The two dissenting countries – Russia and China – took a strong stand on their vetoes.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia said his country did not support the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad but the draft resolution would not promote a peaceful resolution of the crisis.

The majority of Syrians, he said, wanted gradual political change, rather than quick regime change, and the text of the resolution did not adequately take into account the behaviour of extremist groups in opposition to Syrian authorities.

Chinese Ambassador Li Baodong said the draft resolution was overly focused on exerting pressure on Syria, and included the threat of sanctions, which would not resolve the situation.

For all hypocritical Syrians who think Russia and China are so great, why do not you move there instead of living in the “awful” West about which you complain all the time? The regimes in both Russia and China are autocratic and there is not much democracy there.

Russia and China are only solvent as long as the West is solvent. It is Europe that buys Russia’s oil and gas and it is to the US the China needs to export.

AIG,

Don’t confuse the mnhebaks with facts.
.

You mean you did not know of the plan to move to the Syrian Golan Heights? it would not take SNP more than 3 days to clean it up. Other options are Kangbashi and Ordos and even retirement in Beloretsk. But, we think in 2 years will get our dream come true, turning Syria into California by bringing in these nice people over to help us make it so. Not all people are violent genocidal murderer like Israeli and East coast Neocons you know, there are people who know the Reptilian and their habitats and ruling front men.

http://telegraphindia.com/1111006/jsp/frontpage/story_14592988.jsp

India and allies shake UN power pillars
K.P. NAYAR

New York, Oct. 5: India, Brazil and South Africa (Ibsa), the world’s emerging pole of Third World democracies, yesterday broke the vice-like grip of the big powers on the UN Security Council, even if temporarily.

The chain of events also prompted the first-ever walkout in the UN’s history by a Council member — the United States of America — even as the West failed to get a hard line resolution on Syria passed by the 15-member body.

A day of dramatic developments at the Security Council’s famous horse-shoe table was preceded by hours of intense backroom consultations during which Europeans cajoled Ibsa ambassadors to vote for what would have been the first resolution against the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad since protests against his rule began in March.

India, Brazil and South Africa, along with Lebanon, abstained. India’s permanent representative to the UN, Hardeep Singh Puri, regretted that the resolution, which died on the Council floor when it attracted a double veto from Russia and China, did not address a variety of New Delhi’s concerns.

“It does not condemn the violence perpetrated by the Syrian Opposition. Nor does it place any responsibility on the Opposition to abjure violence and engage with the Syrian authorities for redressal of their grievances through a peaceful political process…. The resolution under the Council’s consideration does not accommodate our concern about threat of sanctions,” Puri told the Council in an explanation of India’s vote.

The resolution has been in the making for five months with no meeting ground between the western powers which are seeking Iraq-Libya-style regime change in Damascus and others like Russia, China and the Ibsa countries advocating moderation.

When India assumed presidency of the Security Council in August, Puri managed to reconcile differences within the Council for a while and in a show of unity issued a “presidential statement” which appeared to remove an imminent threat of war in Syria that the western powers were itching for.

Simultaneously, an Ibsa delegation which included Dilip Sinha, additional secretary for international organisations in the ministry of external affairs, visited Damascus and extracted a personal commitment from President Assad that he would initiate political reforms.

Yesterday’s resolution represented a fresh attempt by the Europeans and the US to sneakily obtain Security Council approval to go along the road to replace the Assad government using the same tactics they employed in Libya.

Russia and China have been vigilant against repeating the mistake they made earlier this year in the name of unity in the Security Council by agreeing on a Libya resolution which was subsequently misused by the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (Nato) to overthrow Muammar Gaddafi. The Ibsa countries were also on their guard against the western scheme.

The western strategy this time was to get the Ibsa countries to support the resolution co-sponsored by France, Germany, Portugal and Britain. The co-sponsors repeatedly watered down the text of their draft in the hope that Ibsa’s support would be forthcoming.

An earlier European draft called for an arms embargo and similar measures, but a watered down version went as far as to remove any direct references to “sanctions”. However, the final text of the resolution said the Security Council would review within 30 days how far Damascus had implemented UN demands. It would then “consider its options, including measures under Article 41 of the Charter of the United Nations”.

The Ibsa countries objected to any reference to Article 41 which would have allowed the West to later use non-military means against Syria, including economic and diplomatic sanctions. As in the case of the Libya resolution, there were fears on the Council floor that a smokescreen for further action by misusing a provision in the resolution to consider “other options” against Syria was being created by its passage.

The western hope was that if the Ibsa countries could be persuaded to support their final draft, then Russia and China — which exercised their veto yesterday — could be completely isolated in the Security Council or even shamed into at least abstaining in the name of unity within the Council. That would have enabled the passage of the resolution.

Yesterday’s vote saw two permanent members of the Council co-sponsoring a resolution and two others vetoing it while yet another of the big powers staged a walkout.

In recent years, the Big Five have almost always voted as a bloc — except on Israel — and have controlled the Council, reflecting its archaic structure created following World War II.

For Ibsa countries and other like-minded UN members, this has been an unacceptable predicament where the big powers pre-determine the way the world is ordered and then get the Security Council to rubber stamp their prescriptions. But New Delhi or Brasilia has been helpless in the matter.

Yesterday’s rare division among the five permanent members was a small victory for Ibsa, which stood together and took a common decision to abstain. They decided not to vote against the resolution along with Russia and China because India, Brazil and South Africa, all democracies, did not want to be seen as condoning Assad’s crackdown against a movement for political change.

They also felt that the government in Damascus had not moved fast enough on the promises Assad made to the Ibsa delegation to initiate political reforms and abjure violence against demonstrators.

The US delegation, led by its permanent representative, Susan Rice, walked out when her Syrian counterpart accused Washington of being a “party to genocide” by Israel and yet using its veto 50 times to protect Tel Aviv.

There was subdued amusement at the horse-shoe table when the British permanent representative, Mark Lyall Grant, continued to attend the Council proceedings for a while and then followed the Americans. Britain has often been accused of being America’s poodle.

The walkout by the US delegation was the first by any country in the history of the Security Council. During the early phases of the Cold War, the Soviet Union used to boycott Security Council proceedings to hide its isolation, but never walked out.

During the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, Kigali was on the Security Council, but it, too, never walked out. Like the Soviets, they simply stayed away from the Council when it discussed the genocide.

Rice could have exercised her right to reply to the Syrians instead of walking out, but some Council members were of the view that the US did not really have any answers to the charge that having vetoed resolutions on Israel, Washington was hardly in a position to criticise Ibsa abstentions or the Sino-Russian veto.

How many on this blog noticed that Israeli are most upset of all people at the failed staged Syrian Revolution, despite the fact that the Moslem extremist were slotted to rule? AMAZING indeed!! We gave them peace on the Golan Heights to share living peacefully on the hill and the greedy Jews turned the offer down, all they want is more chunks of Syria, divided and weak one, just like the Turk bastards. Spend another decade in COMA isolated in Israel, one day those Moslems that have no dignity or honor like their god Allah are going to drop that crap and pick up the stones.

Zoo

The most plausible story behind Zaynab is that she was indeed kidnapped by the shabeehas, not to force her brother to surrender but rather to stage a sinister plot against the support of the international media and the HRW of the revolution in order to portray them as biased and perhaps part of the conspiracy against Bashar   She was kept alive and was not tortured.  The family was led to believe by the hospital officials that the body of an unidentified defaced and mutilated girl was Zaynab.  The goal was to get the story out.  After all the regime reputation has already been trashed by multiple similar examples, a set up like that might be the only way to cast a doubt in regard to it’s brutality.  The news media across the globe did what is expected from a sensational case like that and reports and dwells on the brutality of the Syrian regime.  All of the sudden, on Tuesday, Oct 4th, the day when the UNSC is supposed to meet in regard to a resolution condemning the Syrian regime,  Zaynab appears on the state TV alive and well, coerced under the threat of torture to say she ran away because her brothers were beating her.  She declined providing info in regard to her whereabouts and states that the reason why she came clean is “her concern in regard to what to name to future children she may have when she gets married”.  

The evidence:

1- the mother was told by nobody else other than the regime that the body is Zaynab’s
2-the timing of the interview is very suspicious
3-it is very odd for an 18 year old from Bab alsbaa in Homs not only to run away, but also to find a family that gives her safe haven and does not call her parents with her whereabouts for more than 2month especially in the current circumstances.
4-the reason provided on camera by Zaynab for her going to the authority on is very suspicious unless she is coerced under torture or threat of killing her parents to do so.  Remember, her own brother was murdered by the regime yet she chose to contact the authority instead of her own mother and then asked her mother’s forgiveness.  This does not makes sense.  She is more likely to be forgiven by contacting the family directly rather than appearing on state TV. 

The Israeli lobby is on the rampage today. I’m amazed at how many of them are posting 24/7! Makes you wonder how many people are posting under the same ID hehehehehehehe!

L’chaim losers hehehehehehe!

Zainab’s mother confirmed her identity
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/06/world/middleeast/woman-believed-killed-by-syrian-forces-turns-up-on-tv.html
only few media outlets bothered to report that Zainab has resurrected from the dead, most were happy enough with
the initial spicier fabricated story.what is true and not fabricated is that Homs is becoming like Beirut in the 1970s with
scores of killings,kidnapping and other criminal activities and the regime’s continuous crackdown on anti regime figures
and suspected sympathizers.

8. Tara said:

Zoo

The most plausible story behind Zaynab is that she was indeed kidnapped by the shabeehas, not to force her brother to surrender but rather to stage a sinister plot against the support of the international media and the HRW of the revolution in order to portray them as biased and perhaps part of the conspiracy against Bashar ….
The evidence:

1- the mother was told by nobody else other than the regime that the body is Zaynab’s

……

REALITY

The “regime” was indeed “faulty” because when the mother of Zainab recognized the corpse as her daughter without any doubt , it believed her.

I am surprised that you don’t claim that the girl on TV is a clone of Zainab .

Zainab is alive and your MB propaganda is exposed.

Memo To: SYRIAN NATIONALIST PARTY

RE: “…turning Syria into California…”

Oh, I can see it all now. The West Coast California lifestyle transferred to Syria. Gay marriage, hippies, right-wing Orange County tea party fanatics, budget deficits, libertarians, Desperate Housewives, tree huggers, motor voters, sandals and hemp stores. Good God, it would drive Besho insane!

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

10. ghufran said:

Homs is becoming like Beirut in the 1970s with
scores of killings,kidnapping and other criminal activities and the regime’s continuous crackdown on anti regime figures
and suspected sympathizers.

REALITY

I would rephrase it to :

Homs is becoming like HAMA in the 1980s
with scores of killings,kidnapping and other criminal activities and
the regime’s continuous crackdown on criminals supported by the MB opposition to maintain a chaotic situation.

Ghufran, at last regime thugs are dying, why are you crying ?

And Tara, stop being a peacenik and admiring Nasrallah and Iran. This is War dammit !!! The Sunni Arab nation is at WAR with Shia, Pesrakins, Maarounis, etc. Pls stop your humanism and smell the coffee, Tara. We must prepare for WAR. We all must teach our children to shoot an AK 47 before their Alif Baa. If we had been an armed community and sent ALL of our children to join the Army like the Shia, Druzes, Alawis, Maarounis, Greek Orthdox, and all the other non-Sunni martial communities, then NONE of this oppression would have happened in the first place. Now after the Revolution each and every Syrian Sunni must promise to model our society like the Third Reich, ALL our children must be given arms training before learning the Alphabet, we must become an armed Police state, Alawis and Shias should be BANNED from all public life. We should be lenient towards the Christains and Druzes but we should watch them closely ( especially the Maarounis, Greek Orthodox and Melkites).

بسام الخوري
غريغوريوس الرابع..البطريرك الذي بكاه المسلمون قبل المسيحيين
von كي لاننسى كيف كانت سوريا, Mittwoch, 5. Oktober 2011 um 16:27

في العقد الأول من القرن العشرين، كان للكنيسة الأرثوذكسية في دمشق بطريرك هو غريغوريوس حداد..مشهود له بالوطنية، كتب عنه المرحوم محمد كرد علي في مذكراته ما يلي:

((عرفت صديقي البطريرك غريغوريوس حداد قبيل الحرب العالمية الأولى وبلغني عنه هذه الرواية، بسبب المجاعة التي أصابت شعوب هذه المنطقة أثناء الحرب العالمية الأولى استنهض البطريرك الهمم لمساعدة الجائعين والبائسين، وباع أملاك وأوقاف الطائفة الكثيرة في سورية ولبنان ليشتري بها طعاماً للمحتاجين.

ثم كان مرة من نافذة غرفته المطلة على ساحة البطريركية يراقب الشماس يوزع الخبز على طالبيه، فلفت نظره أن الشماس رد امرأة مسلمة، محتجاً أن القمح قد نفذ في مخازن البطريركية، نزل إليه ونادى المرأة، وقال للشماس، أعطني رغيف خبز، فلما تناوله قلَّبه بيده، وقال للشماس:

“أنا لم أرَ أنه قد كُتب على الرغيف أنه مصنوع من أجل المسيحي الأرثوذكسي، يا بني ادفع الصدقة لكل من يطلبها فالخلق كلهم عيال الله”، وناول المرأة حصتها فانصرفت شاكرة.

ويقال انه فتح أبواب البطركية للجميع أيام الحرب، واستدان أموالاً طائلة لإطعام الجائعين، ومن أخباره في هذا الشأن أنه كان له صليب ماسي أهداه إيّاه قيصر روسيا، نقولا الثاني، لما نفذت أموال البطريركية رهنه لدى صائغ يهودي دمشقي بألف ليرة عثمانية، فلاحظه أحد أغنياء المسلمين وفك رهنه وأعاده الى البطريرك، فأخذه وباعه من جديد دون أن يدري به أحد وحفظ مثيلاً له من زجاج، هذا لم يعرف به أهل الدار البطريركية الا بعد موته.

كما يُروى عن غبطته أيضاً أنه كان أول من بايع الملك فيصل عندما توِّج ملكاً على سورية، وبعد معركة ميسلون، وبينما الجيش الفرنسي يستعد لدخول دمشق، غادر الملك فيصل بالقطار الحديدي العاصمة، إلا أنه فوجئ بالبطريرك غريغوريوس قادماً وحده إلى محطة الحجاز ليودعه قائلاً “هذه اليد التي بايعتك ستبقى على العهد إلى الأبد” فما كان من الملك فيصل سوى أن قبّلها باكياً.

ولما مات عام 1928 جرى تشييع جثمانه من بيروت إلى دمشق، فاستقبلت الحكومة السورية جثمانه على الحدود بإطلاق مئة طلقة من المدفعية تحية له، فيما كانت الجماهير تصرخ: “مات أبو الفقير، بطريرك النصارى وإمام المسلمين، نزلت بالعرب الكارثة العظمى!”.وأرسل الملك فيصل من بغداد إلى دمشق مئة فارس على الخيل ليشتركوا في التشييع، كما يروى أن الجثمان عندما وصل إلى ساحة الشهداء في بيروت شرع أحد التجار المسلمين يرش الملبس على الطريق أمام الجثمان قائلاً : ((إن هذا القديس قد أعالني أنا وعائلتي طيلة الحرب العالمية الأولى))

كما شارك في الجنازة عدد كبير من شيوخ المسلمين منهم مفتي البقاع، محمد أمين قزعون، الذي قال على تابوته: “لو أجاز لنا ديننا الإعتراف بنبي بعد محمد لقلت أنت هو!” وقد قيل إن المسلمين أرادوا الصلاة عليه في الجامع الأموي الكبير

I am disappointed that Lebanon, India, Brazil, and South Africa opted to abstain in yesterday’s UN Security Council vote about Syria instead of voting against the resolution. The spokespeople of those countries haven’t been very clear about why they abstained. Here’s what they said.

http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sc10403.doc.htm
India‘s UN Representative is reported as saying: “Today’s draft did not address [India’s] concerns over sanctions, nor condemn violence even-handedly, nor adequately lead to the necessary dialogue. That was why we could not support that text.”
South Africa‘s UN Representative said the texts of earlier council resolutions had been abused, and implementation had gone far beyond mandates. South Africa was concerned about the imposition of punitive measures on Syria, believing that they had been designed “as a prelude to other actions”. The Council should not be part of any hidden agenda for regime change. The resolution’s sponsors had rejected language that had opposed military intervention in Syria. For those reasons, South Africa’s delegation had abstained.
Lebanon‘s UN Representative reiterated his country’s deep concern for the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Syria, as well as the safety of its people. He referred to the position previously stated by his country before the Council.
Brazil‘s UN Representative praised efforts by the resolution’s co-sponsors to take the views of various Council members into account, but she wished that more efforts would have been made to master broader support before the text had been tabled. It was very important that the Council be able to act with caution and with a single voice. A meaningful, inclusive national dialogue leading to reform was the only way out of the current crisis in Syria.

Bottom line from Russia yesterday: Russia cannot support a text that does not urge other countries not to become involved in Syria’s internal affairs (as Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov put it). I feel optimistic the words “Russia cannot support” will keep on meaning “Russia will vote against”. Большое спасибо bolshoye spasibo is Russian for شكرا كتير. Separately from that, there was a second bottom line from Russia yesterday: trade sanctions are meritless and counterproductive.

#8 Tara

Sorry, it is easy to build all kind of scenarios when the proofs are scarce and impossible to confirm. It is open-ended to all interpretations and the responsibility of the crime lies with anyone. It just depends on the side your want to blame.
During this period of strong emotion, violence, lies and manipulation, truth is more elusive than ever.

Ehsani said

1. Since then, the Syrian commercial banks have held their mandatory reserves with the Central bank in Euros.
2.If the E.U. sanctions the Syrian Central Bank, it would mean that the local commercial banks will not be able to hold their mandatory reserves in Euros either.
3.Moreover, they will not be able to do any buying or selling of both Euros and Dollars from the Central Bank.
4.It is worth noting that the Syrian Central Bank has not sold any foreign exchange to the local Banking system over the past few days.
5.Following the lifting of the import suspension, importers can source foreign currency using their private accounts overseas or by going to the local black market

REALITY
1. Nothing new , very usual
2. May be
3. May be
4. Really , not sold any foreign exchange to the local Banking system !!
5. Only 2 solutions , don’t you imagine a 3rd one .

Currency Convertibility

Convertibility of a currency determines the ability of an individual, corporate or government to convert its local currency to another currency or vice versa with or without central bank/government intervention. Based on the above restrictions or free and readily conversion features currencies are classified as:

Fully Convertible – When there are no restrictions or limitations on the amount of currency that can be traded on the international market, and the government does not artificially impose a fixed value or minimum value on the currency in international trade. The US dollar , Euro , Yen , Swiss Franc , Pound Sterling, A$ , C$ , … are examples of fully convertible currencies and for this reason, they are one of the major currencies traded in the FOREX market.

Partially Convertible – Central Banks control over international investments flowing in and out of the country, while most domestic trade transactions are handled without any special requirements, there are significant restrictions on international investing and special approval is often required in order to convert into other currencies.
Indian Rupee is an example for partially convertible currency.

Nonconvertible – Neither participate in the international FOREX market nor allow conversion of these currencies by individuals or companies. As a result, these currencies are known as blocked currencies. e.g.: North Korean Won and the Cuban Peso

re: 11. Areal

We’re seeing a psychological phenonmena labled “cognitive dissonance” in these ever more convoluted theories.

“Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. The phrase was coined by Leon Festinger in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, which chronicled the followers of a UFO cult as reality clashed with their fervent beliefs.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance

AIG

“For all hypocritical Syrians who think Russia and China are so great, why do not you move there instead of living in the “awful” West about which you complain all the time? ”

An you , why don’t you go back to your Daddy USA who has vetoed so many resolutions to allow you to stay on stolen land…

If you go back, you and your likes, you’ll also render the Palestinians and all the Arabs a great service.

16. Ya Mara Ghalba said:

I am disappointed that Lebanon, India, Brazil, and South Africa opted to abstain in yesterday’s UN Security Council vote about Syria instead of voting against the resolution.

REALITY

A resolution must be adopted by a majority of the 15 members AND not vetoed by one of the permanent member.

When a non permanent member is abstaining , it is NOT agreeing the resolution.

On 4 Oct 2011 the USA’s Representative at the UN, Susan Rice, said “the brutality of the Assad regime has to end and the behavior of the regime is absolutely intolerable.” She also said there was “need for tough, targeted sanctions and an arms embargo to protect the population.” She also said there was “a growing threat to international peace and security in Syria.”
On 15 Sep 2011 the President of the European Parliament, Jerzy Buzek, said “We cannot allow the Syrian regime to continue killing the Syrian people. Authorities in Damascus have lost all remaining legitimacy and must step aside immediately.”

Question for my pro-Syria friends: Do you think those and other Western politicians are just ignorant, bigoted and misled about the situation and they’re upholding their assessment in all sincerity. Or else do you think they’re willfully ignoring the truth and being devious and insincere.

@ AREAL: A non-permanent member can vote against a resolution, right?

To dear #14. Khalid Tlass,
I thought our goal was to turn Syria into a democratic country, where all people have equal rights and where freedom reins. You are picturing turning Syria into Afghanistan.
First, we Sunnis were never peaceniks. We contributed to the chaos as much as everybody else. We all have blood on our hands. No one is innocent.; second, all those other groups that you mentioned are Syrian, just like you and me. Some have been there before we arrived and have as much rights as any of us has. We are not “tolerating” others, we are living with others on our shared land. I do not want to model Syria like the Third Reich, nor do I want my kids to have arms training. I want them to be educated and to learn to live and let live.

19. jna said:

re: 11. Areal

We’re seeing a psychological phenonmena labled “cognitive dissonance” in these ever more convoluted theories.

“Dissonance is also reduced by justifying, blaming, and denying. The phrase was coined by Leon Festinger in his 1956 book When Prophecy Fails, which chronicled the followers of a UFO cult as reality clashed with their fervent beliefs.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance

REALITY
May Be.
more likely

Public Relations ( propaganda ) Damage control

France’ Juppe intends to make Syria pay for the UN humiliation with more sanctions.

“Juppe said one thing Russia and China wanted from Western countries, and which France categorically refused, was a text that condemned the Syrian authorities and rebels in equal measure.
…
Juppe said Paris planned to strengthen sanctions at European Union level and would “multiply” contacts with the Syrian opposition, saying he hoped it would also embrace the Christian minority.

“We don’t exclude reviving our initiatives at the U.N. Security Council with our European partners,” he added.

Members of Syria’s new transitional council will be part of a wider Syrian opposition group in Paris next week that aims to lobby the French government for help.

“France has a clear political line,” Juppe said. “We will not ignore what is happening for the good of freedom in Syria.”

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/05/us-syria-veto-france-idUSTRE7943YC20111005

Dear Khaled

We really are in a war with tyranny not in a religious war. I have read all your comments and still find it difficult to believe that you really mean what you say. We should never allow again a similar senarion where the army is composed of a single sect as this was the reason why it betrayed the people and sided with the tyranny but this is really not a religious war. Haven’t you read Mundas’s posts. He is shiaa and pro- revolution. What about Haytham Khouri? Yazan Badran? Those are our local guys on SC and there are many other outside. How about the Sunni shabeeha in Aleppo? How about Tara’s own family members? I understand your pain but I prefer to be the victim not the killer.

Yesterday on Syrian State TV, 18-year-old Zainab al-Hosni informed the world that the stories are bogus about her death and mutilation at the hands of security forces. A copy of the video of it at Youtube has got 599 likes (thumbs up), 406 dislikes (thumbs down). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3WhfsHtH1s I ask you, what’s to dislike about telling the truth?

Shortly after the European Union countries put trade sanctions on Syria’s oil exports, SyriaComment commenter PIROUZ made a short, well worthwhile and sensible comment: “When external ploys are directed against Iran (including economic sanctions), Iranians for the most part rally in support of their country. We’ll just have to see if the Syrian people are made of the same mettle.”

Among SyriaComment readers, PIROUZ got 7 likes (thumbs up) and 11 dislikes (thumbs down) for that comment. I ask you, why would 11 people see fit to give thumbs down to that very reasonable comment?

For one of my comments yesterday, I which I maintain is a good comment, it got 4 likes (thumbs up) and 14 dislikes (thumbs down) — ref. It seems to me that the silly anti-regime crowd give thumbs down to pro-regime comments most especially when the comment is a good comment.

I say that the intellectual quality of the anti-regime crowd at Syria Comment and elsewhere is abyssmal. When I say “anti-regime crowd” I mean to say the ones who want an unconstitutional overthrow of the regime. The ones who dissent from the regime’s policies and want a civil process of political reforms are a whole different class of people, with a lot more quality about them.

13 were Killed in Syria during demonstration today.

Memo To: KHALID TLASS

RE: “…Syrian Sunni must to model our society like the Third Reich…”

You poor deluded little sap! Of all the 20th century secular ideologies, you had to pick the one that was THE BIGGEST LOSER. True, Nazis had the coolest uniforms and their orchestras played Wagner tunes as their soldiers marched into battle to ultimate defeat. But they lost big time and they’re still getting their asses kicked. Just yesterday, the German gov’t initiated a new program to prosecute any Nazis still alive who worked in the death camps.

I suggest you rethink your proposal. Pick a society that has a real kick-ass winner. Albania. North Korea. Zimbabwe.

Forget about the Third Reich, Khalid. They were losers, like you…

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

Lebanon abstained from voting compared to voting no last time around. What is the reason for the change?

A Homsi Joke to lighten things up before Abboud resumes his posts:

A homsi travelled to Egypt and one day decided to stop at a cabaret. The singer came on stage and started with mawwal, leili ya leil…, to tune her voice and the bands instruments. People clapped for a bit but the Homosi kept on clapping. The singer waited for the Homsi to stop clapping but he did not, so she walked down the stage and approached the Homsi and with a smile asked:

Singer: Ah minsigam (minsijam)!
Homsi replied: La wallah min Homs!

حكم البابا
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=today%5C05qpt971.htm%20&%20arc=data%5C2011%5C10%5C10-05%5C05qpt971.htm
لماذا تضيعون وقتكم بمناقشة نماذج هزيله مثل من ينادي بذبح السوريين عالهويه ؟
نمور الورق لا يستحقون الرد و علاجهم الوحيد الإهمال
الصين و روسيا اليوم اكثر تأثيرا من تركيا و ايران و الدول الغربيه فيما يخص الوضع السوري و اذا فشلوا فلن يجد النظام من يتحدث اليه و سوف يسقط و ان نجحوا فهذا لمصلحة السوريين في النهايه
نفوذ روسيا له مخاطره و اولها امكانية تجميل النظام و لكن البديل هو عربدة الناتو و سفالة قطر و السعوديه
اي قرار من مجلس الأمن سيكون مقدمه للتدخل العسكري و هذا هو السبب في مشاعر الغضب عند البعض بعد فشل مجلس الأمن البارحه و ليس حبهم الجارف لسوريا

Despot Love

“…Syrian Sunni must to model our society like the Third Reich…”

Dale Andersen,

I was going to say Syria is already modeled after the Third Reich, except that at least Hitler got 44% of the vote in a multi-party election. Of course, like with most despots, on 14 July 1933, Hitler’s Nazi Party was declared the only legal party in Germany.

ثورجية ليبيا و الحبل ع الجرار
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=data%5C2011%5C10%5C10-05%5C05z498.htm&arc=data%5C2011%5C10%5C10-05%5C05z498.htm

Areal

“Under Article 27 of the UN Charter, Security Council decisions on all substantive matters require the affirmative votes of nine members.

Nine of the 15-member council countries, including the United States, voted in favor of adopting the resolution.

FOR THE RESOLUTION: Britain, France, Germany and Portugal,Bosnia, Colombia, Gabon, Nigeria and the United States.
(4 EU members, One South America, 3 Africa, USA)

(9). Abstention is not regarded as a veto despite the wording of the Charter

ABSTENTION: South Africa, India, Brazil and Lebanon abstained.

“A negative vote, or veto, also known as the rule of “great power unanimity”, by a permanent member prevents adoption of a proposal, even if it has received the required number of affirmative votes”

AGAINST and VETO: Russia China

The resolution was about to pass if China and Russia did not oppose a double-veto.

Note:
“Since 1984, China and France have vetoed three resolutions each; Russia/USSR four; the United Kingdom ten; and the United States 43 ”

So the Russia and China veto is VERY exceptional and show a determination to seriously challenge the EU and the United States. Why would they do that over Syria? how significant is Syria for China and Russia?

ولاية الفقيه في السعوديه و غلمان الملك في تيار المستقبل
عيلة الحريري المهجنه تملك المليارات و تجسم فوق صدور السنه في لبنان
http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=data%5C2011%5C10%5C10-04%5C04z494.htm
المشهد السياسي اللبناني محزن
السعوديه احتكرت السنه و ايران ابتلعت الشيعه

Haytham,

Just sent you an email

Another Homsi Joke to lighten things up before Abboud resumes his posts:

A Homsi walks into a bar with a frog on his head.

And the frog says to the bartender, “Hey, can you get this guy off my ass?”

Ya Mara Ghalbana

There are no real conclusions you can reach with the Thumb rating system. ( I hate you/I like you, Your comment is informative/useless, I agree with your comment/I don’t etc…)

In my view there should be two ratings

– The reader learned something from the comment (rated 0 to 5)
– The reader agrees with the contents ( rated 0 to 5)

That would be more meaningful and useful for commenters and readers.

I am sad today because Steve Job just died

@ Ziad #36.

I sent you back an e-mail.

It is a sad day, Steve Jobs of APPLE died today, he is survived by his wife and 4 children.

His contribution to world will be always remembered.

Riad al-Turk supports the SNC

أنا من اشد المعجبين بستيف جوبس
تركه والده عبد الفتاح الجندلي و هو سوري من حمص عندما كان رضيعا و تبناه
Paul and Clara Jobs
واحد من اعظم رواد التكنولوجيا و انجح رجال الاعمال في العقدين الأخيرين

Fact: Steve Jobs’ biological father is a Homsi.

dale,

And he was raised in the American culture and system,

We are deeply saddened. Health is everything.

When someone like Steve Jobs dies, the whole world will feel sad

http://friday-lunch-club.blogspot.com/

Steve Jobs lived and died a proud man. He did not associate himself with Islamist Terrorists, and he would never ask a foreign power to bomb and destroy his own country. Some of you cowards here, and you know who you are, don’t deserve to associate yourselves with proud people like Steve.

Memo To: ANN

RE: “…and you know who you are…”

Ann, has anyone told you lately what a tedious old gasbag you are?

Norman, this Friday lunch club is great stuff!

Thank you

@ Dale and Norman, although he was raised in American culture and system, that doesn’t make him genius, it is well known how lazy the american kids and all the kids of the foreigner are very successful most of the time, he had to have good genes that’s what matter.

But what is interesting that the TV channels and the rest of the media will never tell you that his biological father is from Syria, it is the same people who are pro Syrian revolution, they can’t say that his biological father is 80 y.o still alive. If the father was from Israel you would heard that thousands times by now, typical western media bias and hate to Syrians and Arabs in general.

Western anger over thwarted Syria plans
Published: 05 October, 2011, 19:37
http://rt.com/news/syria-west-anger-russia-129/

Western countries have sharply criticized Russia and China for vetoing a UN Security Council resolution against Syria’s ruling regime. They promised to impose more sanctions against Syria, declaring the veto will not stop them.
..
The Foreign Ministry response follows Western media publications which contained statements attributed to President Assad. According to the Western press he has threatened massive rocket and artillery fire against Israel. Assad himself has denied all such accusations.

“We think in this case we are dealing with gross provocation, an act of informational war against Syria,” the Russian Foreign Ministry said in its statement. “Obviously, forces interested in tarnishing the image of Syria and its rulers in the eyes of the world are behind that – to thus create the conditions to justify foreign intervention in Syria.”

‘West wants puppet democracy in Syria’

­As political analyst Igor Khokhlov told RT the Western push for sanctions against Damascus is fueled by the desire of the West to gain control in the region and the illusion that they can do it.

“A lot of political leaders in the West now have a bit romantic approach towards the whole idea, they think, yes, we are going to remove those regimes which have ruled those countries for decades and then we will be able to install some kind of puppet democracy and to continue colonial policy of the 19th century,” says Khokhlov.

“It is a complete illusion,” he continues, “that puppet democracy is possible in such countries as Syria or Libya for instance, the country is most likely to turn into complete turmoil and havoc for many years or even decades.”

Moreover, according to Khokhlov, if the country changes hands, there is a serious threat it will repeat the Iraq scenario and become a place frequently attacked by Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.

At the same time, Professor Mark Almond from Bilkent University, talking to RT, voiced another reason for such a strong push from Western countries on Syria.

Almond believes Western powers try to push though the resolution, because Syria is ally of Iran.

“More broadly, the geopolitical issue is Syria is now ally of Iran and Syria acts like Iran’s eyes on the Mediterranean and eyes towards Israel. If you could change the regime in Syria then the United States and Israel would see a fundamental shift in the balance of power in the Middle East because Iran will be much more isolated,” Almond said.

­Jacob Hornberger, founder and president of the Future of Freedom Foundation says that Western powers are so eager to carry out regime change in Syria that it does not matter to them how many people will suffer.

“It is a part of old imperial minds that if they can effect regime change and install one of their puppets, then they believe that it is all worth it. It does not matter how many people they kill,” Hornberger said.

­On Wednesday a senior aide Bouthaina Shaaban to Assad hailed vetoes by Russia and China.

“I feel that the vetoes that Russia and China have used stand with the Syrian people and give the time for us to enforce and enhance reforms,” AFP quotes Shaaban as saying.

“We are grateful to Russia, China, India, Brazil, South Africa and Lebanon for their position,” Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Mualem said on Wednesday.

From what I read,Steve’s biological dad left and his mom gave him for adoption. Look at the genius they gave away. That unfortunate event and the noble act of adoption produced the Giant called Steve Jobs,his departure is a sad day indeed.
Abdulfattah jandali was an educated man with a degree in political sciences,his only contribution was getting his partner,or wife,pregnant,this talk about his Syrian genes can not be serious,what helped Steve was his new parents,his brilliance and hardwork,and the country he lived in,The US.for the records,Steve did not take Wednesdays off.
I like it when the regime figures smear America every day but they fight tooth and nail to send their kids here and some run barefooted to get a green card.
البقاء لله

لقد سبق ان تسلم بشار الأسد رسالة من عقلاء الطائفة العلوية يدعونه فيها إلى تصحيح الأوضاع وعدم السماح لطموحات وجشع عدد من الضباط بتشويه صورة الطائفة العربية المشهود لها بالشهامة والكرامة وعزة النفس، وعليه ان يقدم على الإنقاذ والناس في سوريا سيكونون كلهم معه.. فهل يقدم الأسد على التصحيح بالتضحية بمن يثبت دورهم في جريمة اغتيال الحريري، وفي جرائم الفساد المعشش في عائلة الأسد ومخلوف وفي كل دوائر السلطة والإدارة والأمن في سوريا.

و يعمل بشار الأسد على قاعدة “لا يموت الديب ولا يفنى الغنم” أم سيندفع إلى العبارة التي تتردد كثيراً هذه الأيام: “عليّ وعلى أعدائي يا رب

Dear Shabbi7@71 previous post

Thanks a lot for explaining what could be the government point of view, I think you are right, politicians should not be emotional like me, if its up to me I would have sent this guy home long time ago, I just cant stand him interfering in our matters any more, God bless every one throw an egg or a tomato at him and every one refused him under his roof

Dear Shila , I would love to read your point of view regarding our government not expelling the US ambassador .

54. GHUFRAN said:

See Ghufran, no body has taken responsibility to blame this on the Assads yet -:) .

نظرية نديم محمد في الفاسدين من رجالات الحكم
(لا علاقة للبيتين بالوزير الحالي الذي لا اعرف عنه اي شيء لا منيح و لا قبيح)
يا وزير الاقتصاد الوطني ***** بالله قل لي كيف أصبحت غني ؟؟!!
لم تهاجر..لم تتاجر لم ترث**** عن أبيك الجحش غير الرسن !!!
(عذرا من الحمير)

Syrian tanks violated the lebanese borders and this is not the first time,If the news are true, I am sure this can be used as violation of the UN order for Syria to leave Lebanon,

Russia used the veto to block UN condemning Syrian violence, this is definitely a wrong move by Russia,and will encourage Bashar to continue his brutal murders and will support violence,any one who says different has to get his head examined by a psychiatrist.
Russia must have given up on any future in the Middle East.

DEAR GHUFRAN,
You tend to preach to others what you don’t adhere to!
You have been advocating to stop spreading rumours and posting unverified reports and videos.
Here is what you said in a couple of earlier posts:
_________________________________________________________________
67. GHUFRAN SAID:
فديو زينب الشهيده الحيه
كيف تريدون منا ان نصدق اي فديو او خبر بعد اليوم؟
دعوت الجميع للتحقق قبل نشر الاخبار و اعلنت شكوكي في الروايه المنشوره عن تقطيع زينب و لكن بدون فايده
اذا لم تستح فافعل ما تريد
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p3WhfsHtH1s
بهدلتونا الله يهديكم

101. GHUFRAN SAID:
يخاف المؤمنون من الكذب و لا يطلقون التهم بدون دليل
الحقيقه كما قال الغربيون حبه طعمها مر
كذب النظام معروف و لا شك فيه و لكن ليس النظام هو الكذاب الوحيد في سوريا
صارت الأكاذيب هواية عند الكثيرين
ارجو ان يتفق السوريون فيما بينهم و ان يتحدوا في تغيير النظام و نبذ العنف و رفض التطرف و العقليه القبليه
__________________________________________________________________

96. Alas, in this comment you said:
“the armed militias are busy kidnapping people,killing anybody who says no,and committing random acts of theft and terrorism as if Syrians did not have enough of the regime shabeehas and the security forces,and now they have to worry about anti regime armed thugs”

– Repeating a ficitional story 1000 times = 0 verified story.

– The fable of armed terrorists was claimed by Thug one in his first speach within only two weeks of the uprising. The victims were then merely the abducted children who were tortured and their nails puilled out and their families who were asking for their release whom were shot in cold blood or detained, tortured and eliminated.

– The only video evidence that the regime has presented in support of his claim thus far was shot by a fixed videocamera placed in the Dar3a Mayor’s flat which showed masked people shooting at TREES!
– Other evidence items were confessions to Regime Thugs aired on their Media.

Back to your claim Ghufran,
In which of the following categories would you place your evidence for the presence of armed terrorists, Ghufran?
A- Direct observation and verified by you
B- Direct observation and verified by independant reporter
C- Observation by yourself on youtube; Link please
D- Observation of someone independant, and whom you trust
E- AlJaziera
F- Addunia TV/SANA

I would like to remind you of what you said earlier on this blog: 740. الافضل للجميع الابتعاد عن التحريض و التحقق من الاخبار قبل نشرها لان الناس شبعت من الخوف و الأكاذيب من كل الجهات

Perpetuating the story of armed terrorists is indeed inflammatory and incites fear

Finally, I would like to repeat my earlier request to you:
Could you please state your method for verifying the news of events in Syria?

Ghufran is a hypocrat,just like Abughassan.

Revlon,
Enjoy

في موكب الفجـــر الطليق، يسير حُــرّاً كاليقـين
وأمامه ثورا ن شاخا في العرا ك مع الســـــنين
ويلفّ هيكَــــلَهُ المتيــــنَ، بد فتي ثــوبٍ متيــن
وعبـــاءةٍ بتــراءَ، يِعصبُــــــــــــها بزنارٍ ثخـين
ويغيبُ فيها تبغـــه، والـــزادُ من خبــــز وتيـــن
رضوانَ، حُبُّ الأرضِ سِرُغنائه العذ ب الرنيـن
أرأيت كيف يضمـــها؟ وترقُّ كالأم الحنـــــــون
عجلان، يسبح كالشراع من الشمال إلى اليميــن
والقـبراتُ على الجرا ح الخضر تسرح بالمئيـن
ويعودُ أزهى من جنا ح النَّسْــرِ مرفـوعَ الجبيــن
مِنْ خلفه بنتـــا ه تنســــحبا ن في صمت رزيــن
وضمامةالعشـب النضير، كفاء عجلهما الســمـين
فلاحنا الإنســان أغلى في العيــــون من العيــون

59. MAJEDKHALDOUN said:

“Syrian tanks violated the lebanese borders and this is not the first time,If the news are true, I am sure this can be used as violation of the UN order for Syria to leave Lebanon”

Quick Dr Khaldoun, get the US global hawks up in the air and start the bombing campaign before the tanks recross the border. Where is Tara, she has direct line to Ambassador Ford as to launch cruise missiles.

Darryl
What would Syria do if Turkey tanks violated Syrian borders?

I am sure the regime will use the veto at the UNSC to its advantage but it is too late to subdue the Syrian people who will eventually get what they want: a better government that is accountable and unable to oppress its people and treat them like disposable goods.
Revlon,if I was you I will focus on a solution to end this crisis without pushing Syria further into chaos and bloodshed. I stated my opinion and I am not big enough or knowledgeable enough to lecture other Syrians. There is enough professors on this blog.
جراحنا العظيم ماجد
Download a dictionary for free to help you spell those big words like “hypocrat”. I do not want others to think
That Syrian doctors in the US are unable to write a small paragraph without mistakes. You may consider writing in Arabic or Turkish
If it is easier for you.
تهمة النفاق عندما تأتي من شخص مضطرب مديح

“………….Syrian tanks violated the lebanese borders and this is not the first time,If the news are true, I am sure this can be used as violation of the UN order for Syria to leave Lebanon, ….”

Do you know how many times this month Israel violated Lebanon air space. Do you know how many times Lebanon filed complaint with the U.N. about Israeli violations of Lebanon air space. Now you want to ask U.N. to act against Syria? Your first obstacle here will be to get the Lebanese to file complaint about it to the U.N., you think Lebanon political landscape permits that, when nothing is done about Israel violation since the 06 war. Keep on digging deeper, love it.

Syrian Embassies Accused of Threatening Activists Overseas

64. MAJEDKHALDOUN said:

“Darryl
What would Syria do if Turkey tanks violated Syrian borders?”

Most likely bugger all (nothing). Syria has been violated by every Johnny came lately since Adam was a boy.

Israel has been violating Lebanese air space everyday, how come you have not complained to the UN?

أننا متساوون..أطباء يهود..يذكرهم التاريخ
by كي لاننسى كيف كانت سوريا on Monday, September 26, 2011 at 8:34am

اشتهرت دمشق على مر الأيام بعدد من أطبائها اليهود الذين كانوا مقصدا لعدد من مرضى دمشق و باقي المحافظات، فلم يكن من الحرج على المسيحي أو المسلم مراجعة طبيب يهودي و الاستشفاء على يديه، و هذه ميزة المجتمع الدمشقي والسوري عموماً، فكانت العائلات اليهودية كمثيلاتها من العائلات المسيحية و الإسلامية من حيث الحقوق و الواجبات .

و في ظل هذا التسامح الديني برز في دمشق عدد من الأطباء اليهود ، في عدة أحياء دمشقية (حارة اليهود – برج الروس – شارع المجلس النيابي) و في اختصاصات مختلفة ، درسوا في مدارس دمشق و تخرجوا من جامعتها و كان هؤلاء الأطباء يتقاضون أجرة رمزية من مرضاهم و أحيانا كثيرة يعطون المرضى الدواء مجانا من العينات الطبية الموجودة لديهم، و من هؤلاء الأطباء :

الطبيب جميل ربيع :

عرف هذا الطبيب اليهودي بدمشق خلال فتره الخمسينات و أوائل الستينات من القرن الماضي ، و كان اختصاصه الأمراض الداخلية ، و تقع عيادته بجانب مقهى الروضة في الطابق الثاني من البناء الذي لم يزل قائما و يوجد في مدخلة بائع الجرائد المعرف باسم أبو احمد ، و على ما اذكر كان لدى هذا الطبيب سيارة اوبل زرقاء ، و هو أصلع جسيم مربوع القامة ، و كان يتقاضى في ذلك الوقت 10 ليرات سورية اجره المعاينة الطبية ، و كان في نهاية الستينات يبلغ من العمر حوالي السبعين عاما ، و مات و دفن بدمشق .

الطبيب طوطح:

درس و تخرج من جامعة دمشق ، وتوفي و دفن أيضا فيها في الخمسينات من القرن الماضي، و كان من الشخصيات اليهودية المحبوبة و المحترمة، و تقول مهاة فرح خوري ان اسمه اسحق ، في حين يقول عز الدين علي ملا ان اسمه ربيع، بينما تذكر مصادر أخرى أن اسمه خليل.

و هذا الاختلاف ربما لكونه اشتهر باسم الطبيب طوطح ، أو كان بدمشق أكثر من طبيب من عائلة طوطح؟ و هذا الطبيب استقطب مرضى دمشق بحيث اغلب العائلات زارت عيادته، و يقال عنه ان وصفته الطبية غير مقروءة لسوء خطه حتى أن وصفاته الطبية كانت تؤخذ في كلية الصيدلة بدمشق كنموذج عن خطوط الأطباء السيئة، فمن يستطيع من طلاب الصيدلة قراءتها، فهو قادر على قراءة خطوط الأطباء الآخرين كافة.

وكانت عيادته تقع في منطقة القصاع مقابل النادي العائلي،وأجرة معاينته ما يستطيع المريض دفعه من المال أو مجانا، و خصص يوماً من كل أسبوع للمعاينة الطبية المجانية.

و يقال انه حين وافته المنية خرجت دمشق برمتها في المأتم المهيب و قُدّر عدد مشيعيه إلى مثواه الأخير بأربعة آلاف مشيع أكثرهم من المسلمين.

الطبيب باسم لاطي :

يقول سامي الجندي ان هذا الطبيب كان صديقه في كلية طب الأسنان بجامعه دمشق و هو شيوعي ، متزوج وله طفلان و طفلة حتى ذلك الحين ، ذهب إلى فلسطين عام 1948 مجبرا و لم يكن لدية شجاعة الرفض .

و يقول الجندي عنه: افتتح عيادة فقيرة جدا في حارة اليهود و كنت أزوره فيها، و كان زبائنه في معظمهم من فقراء الأحياء المجاورة و كان يعاملهم باحترام كبير ورحل إلى فلسطين مرغما ويقول: (سأرحل ، سأذهب إلى فلسطين . سأتمرد على طريقتي . سأقطن قرية عربية ، و لن أتلفظ بكلمة عبرية ، ما أن تبارح قدماي هذه الأرض)

من كتاب يهود دمشق الشام

للأستاذ شمس الدين العجلاني

Darryl I am not the one who will go to UN to complain, be smart little boy, it is Lebanon who complained several time, UN did not act,here we have an order from UN to Syria not to do that, UN may use it as a pretext.
So you said if Turkey violated Syrian border , syria should do nothing,, we will see.

The threat from Bashar to FM of Turkey,every one would say it is suicidal for Syria to attack Jordan or any other country in response to american bombing, I doubt that all his generals will follow his orders,He must be sure of himself, and I think he would be crazy to fulfill his words.a crazy man like Bashar should not be a leader of Syria, He is bombastic,and frankly dumm

Haytham Khoury
Find Friends

يسقط كتاب التشريح.. يعيش القمح السوري
by كي لاننسى كيف كانت سوريا on Friday, September 16, 2011 at 1:27pm

في العام الدراسي 1955-1956، في عهد الرئيس المرحوم شكري القوتلي، كانت قد أصدرت وزارة المعارف كتاباً للعلوم والتشريح لصفوف شهادة الدراسة الإعدادية (الكفاءة) من تأليف الدكتور (فيكتور الخياط)

كان الكتاب كبيراً وضخماً ولا يمكن إنجازه في ذلك العام الدراسي، لا من قبل الأساتذة ولا من قبل الطلاب، فاجتمع آنذاك طلاب شهادة الكفاءة من معظم ثانويات دمشق وقرروا إجراء إضرابٍ عام للمطالبة باختصار المقرر بشكل يتناسب مع الوقت وإالإمكانيات، وبالفعل فقد خرج طلاب “الكفاءة” من ثانويات دمشق في مظاهرات عارمة، ورفعوا الشعارات التالية: (يسقط كتاب التشريح).. و(يسقط الدكتور فيكتور الخياط)…و(تسقط وزارة المعارف)

اتجهت المظاهرات نحو الوزارة التي كانت آنذاك على ضفة بردى شرق التكية السليمانية، صعد وفد كان قد انتخب ممثلاً من كل المدارس وقابل المرحوم (رشاد برمدا من حزب الشعب) الذي كان وزيراً للمعارف آنذاك، وفي نهاية المقابلة طمأن الوزير ممثلي الطلبة ووعدهم بدراسة جدية وموضوعية لمطالبهم. وبالفعل ففي اليوم التالي كان هنالك قرار صادر من الوزارة بإنصاف الطلاب واختصار كتاب التشريح

وفي حادثة ثانية لشباب وطلاب تلك الأيام هي قضية اعتصامهم في مكتب وزير الاقتصاد (رزق الله الانطاكي) احتجاجاً على صفقة تصدير القمح السوري إلى فرنسا وتأييداً للشعب الجزائري، وفي النهاية ألغيت هذه الصفقة

كان الشعب السوري يتمتع بقدرة هائلة على الاحتجاج، ولم تكن تخيم على سوريا دائرة الخوف على الإطلاق

منقول عن الكاتب نقولا الزهر

طلاب……مثلنا تماماً….1953
by كي لاننسى كيف كانت سوريا on Friday, September 16, 2011 at 12:42pm

في بداية العام الدراسي 1953-1954، وفي أيام العقيد أديب الشيشكلي، صدر قرار من وزارة المعارف في دمشق بنقل مدير ثانوية جودت الهاشمي آنذاك، المربي الكبير وأستاذ الفيزياء المرحوم (هاشم الفصيح)، إلى منصبٍ آخر، ونظراً للمكانة والمحبة اللتين كان يحظى بهما هذا المدير لدى طلابه، فقد هبّوا لتوِهم ومن معظمِ الصفوف الإعدادية والثانوية، وأعلنوا إضراباً عاماً لإلغاء نقله وإبقائه على رأس إدارة جودت الهاشمي. دام الإضراب يومين كاملين، وفي النهاية استجابت وزارة المعارف لطلاب الثانوية وألغي قرار نقل المدير

وفي نفس العهد أي عهد الشيشكلي، وفي حفلة تسليم الشهادات للخريجين، رفض أحد خريجي كلية الحقوق وهو راغب هاني السباعي استلام شهادته وقال على رؤوس الأشهاد: أرفض استلام شهادة للحقوق في بلد لا تحترم فيها الحقوقمنقول عن الكاتب “نقولا الزهر

ثلاثة يهود في مجلس إدارتها……حلب
by كي لاننسى كيف كانت سوريا on Tuesday, August 9, 2011 at 10:53am

رحمو نحماد، سياهو شماع و جبرا صفدية، هم ثلاثة تجار يهود كانوا أعضاء مجلس إدارة في غرفة تجارة حلب وقد وردت أسمائهم في قوائم أعضاء مجلس الإدارة منذ العام 1919، ولغاية 1950 وبهذا الخصوص يقول الباحث “محمود حريتاني” بأن اليهود شكلوا قوة تجارية كبيرة، ولعبوا دوراً في العلاقات الاقتصادية الخارجية بين حلب والمدن الإيطالية الأولى

إن إدراج أسماء ثلاثة منهم ولفترة زمنية طويلة في قوائم مجالس إدارة غرفة التجارة إنما هو دليل على العيش المشترك والتآخي والانفتاح بين كل الطوائف، هذا التعايش الذي تميز به المجتمع الحلبي خصوصاً، والسوري عموماً منذ عهود بعيدة

من له أذنان للسمع فليسمع

كي لاننسى كيف كانت سوريا
آرام كارا مانوكيان
ولد عام 1910 في عنتاب. من الضباط الأوائل المؤسسين للجيش العربي السوري بعد الاستقلال 1946. كان والده آغوب أفندي محامياً.
تم تعيينه عضو هيئة الأركان عام 1949-1950. وكذلك قائداً عاماً للقوات المدفعية السورية بين عام 1949-1957
والجدير بالذكر أنه شارك في حرب فلسطين ضد العدو الاسرائيلي كقائد لسلاح المدفعية السورية، وأبلى فيها بلاء حسناً، ورفع إلى رتبة لواء فيما… بعد. كما أسندت إليه مسؤوليات عديدة في الجيش العربي السوري، فقد خدم على جبهة القنيطرة عام 1949.
كان كارامانوكيان يترأس العروض العسكرية التي كانت تقام بدمشق بمناسبة عيد الاستقلال بحضور الرؤساء والقادة العسكريين.
توفي في نيويورك عام 1996 عن عمر يناهز 86 عاماً. وحسب وصيته نقل جزء من رفاته إلى يريفان (أرمينيا) ليدفن إلى جانب شقيقه ليفون، ونقل الجزء الآخر إلى حلب ليدفن في مقبرة الأرمن الأرثوذكس بحلب
تميز بسمعته الحميدة وخصاله الطيبة وإخلاصه لواجبه الوطني وتفانيه في العمل. حاز على ميداليات وجوائز تكريمية من الحكومة السورية والفرنسية والمصرية واللبنانية والأرمنية.

بالإضافة إلى دوره المشرف في تنظيم الجيش وخدمة الوطن، وبعد تقاعده تم انتخابه نائباً عن حلب في المجلس التأسيسي والنيابي عام 1961. (كان عدد أعضاء حلب 11 مسلماً و5 مسيحيين. وجاء ترتيبه الثاني في قائمة مرشحي حلب). انتخب عضواً في لجنة الدفاع الوطني.
اللواء آرام كارامانوكيان الضابط الأرمني السوري الأول الذي تسلم دوراً قيادياً، وخدم الجيش العربي السوري مدة 32 عاماً بكل شرف وإخلاص ووفاء حتى تاريخ تقاعده

69. MAJEDKHALDOUN said:

“The threat from Bashar to FM of Turkey,every one would say it is suicidal for Syria to attack Jordan or any other country in response to american bombing, I doubt that all his generals will follow his orders,He must be sure of himself, and I think he would be crazy to fulfill his words.a crazy man like Bashar should not be a leader of Syria, He is bombastic,and frankly dumm”

Dr Khaldoun you would like to believe that the Syrian leadership is stupid and unstable to do something like that. We do not have a Gaddafi in Syria or an Ahmadenajad either. I think your hatred of the government and the fact you want to see military action against your country is causing you to believe anything. The Turkish government has denied this threat but it does not matter to you.

Memo To: HANS

RE: “…if Steve Jobs’ father was from Israel you would heard that thousands of times by now…”

Hans, that is total BS. It’s well known in the USA that Steve Jobs is an Arab and it’s been known for a long time. The papers have called him the “most powerful Arab in the world” which is false (Carlos Slim, the Mexican mega-billionaire of Lebanese descent is).

Today, the Financial Times ran an interview with Steve Jobs’ father. All the information about his being from Homs, Syria, was in there.

Your comments about “Lazy Americans” and “hard-working immigrants” says more about YOU, Hans, than it does about the USA. You need to get your head out of your behind and get a clue, okay dude?

Turkish military exercise on Syrian border. Assad threatens Tel Aviv if attacked – October 4, 2011, 5:03 PM

http://www.debka.com/article/21356/

War tensions between Turkey, NATO and Syria shot up again Tuesday, Oct. 4, with the announcement from Ankara that Turkey embarks Wednesday on a 10-day “mobilization” exercise in the southern province of Hatay along the Syrian border, through which arms are being funneled to Syrian protesters. Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan is expected on the same day to visit the 7,000 Syrians who have taken refuge in Hatay from President Bashar Assad’s troops.

debkafile reported earlier Tuesday that Syrian President Bashar Assad has for three months staved off a military attack by Turkey or NATO for halting the exceptional brutality of his crackdown on protest by explicitly holding Greater Tel Aviv’s 1.2 million inhabitants under threat of missile retaliation.

Our military sources note that the Turkish exercise was announced the day after US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta held talks with Israeli leaders, during which he emphasized the importance of restoring ties with Turkey for deterring Syrian, Iranian and Hizballah menaces.

And a week ago, on Sept. 27, NATO’s European commander Gen. James Staviris visited Ankara. Both visits were apparently part of the build-up for the Turkish exercise, which will involve the 39th mechanized infantry brigade and 730 reserve soldiers. Its target: the mobilization of reserves and their rapid transfer to the Syrian border.

The drill may well revive speculation in Damascus that Turkey is preparing to go ahead with a plan to carve out a buffer enclave inside Syria to protect civilians and provide rebels with shelter and logistical and medical assistance. The Assad regime would no doubt regard this act as a direct attack on sovereign Syrian territory by a NATO member.

The announcement from Ankara added that Turkey would soon announce a roadmap for further sanctions to be imposed against Syria in addition to those already underway.

Earlier Tuesday, debkafile’s exclusive sources reported:

For the past three months, Syrian President Bashar Assad has staved off a military attack by Turkey or NATO for halting the exceptional brutality of his crackdown on protest by explicitly holding Greater Tel Aviv’s 1.2 million inhabitants under threat of missile retaliation. Iran and Hizballah are exercising the same deterrent. This standoff was the main theme of the talks US Defense Secretary Leon Panetta held with Israeli leaders in Tel Aviv Monday, Oct. 3.

According to Western intelligence sources, Syria, Iran and Hizballah have charted a coordinated military operation for flattening metropolitan Tel Aviv, Israel’s financial, industrial and cultural center, with thousands of missiles launched simultaneously by all three – plus the Palestinian Hamas and Jihad Islami firing from the Gaza Strip.

Israeli officials have never publicly admitted that this threat is on record, but Western intelligence sources have reported that Israel reacted with a warning of its own: If a single Syrian missile explodes in Tel Aviv, Damascus will be first to pay the price, and if the missile offensive persists, one Syrian town after another will be destroyed.

The Israeli message to Assad cited the warnings Defense Minister Ehud Barak and other government members addressed in the past year to Hizballah, that if Tel Aviv comes under attack from its missiles, not only Beirut but all of Lebanon would go up in flames. Assad was given to understand that Syria would go the same way as Lebanon if it engaged in missile belligerence against Israel.
Bashar Assad’s threat to Israel was very much on Leon Panetta’s mind when he told reporters on the plane carrying him to Israel Monday for his first visit as defense secretary: “Real security can only be achieved by both a strong diplomatic effort as well as a strong effort to project your military strength,” he said.

Western military sources say that he was not only referring to Syria, Egypt and the Palestinians by this and other statements, but pointing at the widening rift between Israel and Turkey.

The US official believes that this rift plays into the hands of the Syrian ruler and grants him the freedom to issue dire threats against Israel to hold Turkey and NATO back from using military force against his vicious regime. For Panetta, this is a prime example of Israel failing to project its military strength for diplomatic gains that would be beneficial to the West in the uprisings sweeping the Arab world. The loss of Turkish-Israeli military cooperation, albeit not initiated by Israel, ties the hands of the US and NATO against striking Syria. Those sources report that Panetta does not absolve Ankara of responsibility for this situation.

Syria first threatened Israel with retaliation on Aug. 9 when Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spent six hours with Bashar Assad in an effort on behalf of his own government and NATO to persuade him to stop the carnage his troops were perpetrating against his people.

Davutoglu warned Assad that if he did not desist from his actions he would share the fate of Muammar Qaddafi at the hands of NATO and Turkish forces.

The Syrian ruler’s response was harsh: From the moment a shot is fired against Syria, “it will take only six hours for Syria to devastate Tel Aviv and ignite the entire Middle East,” he said.
Assad was spelling out the warning issued on May 10 by a close crony, international business tycoon Rami Makhlouf, who said then: “If there is no stability here, there’s no way there will be stability in Israel. No way, and nobody can guarantee what will happen after, God forbid, anything happens to this regime.”

The barrage of Syrian threats was reinforced from Tehran Monday, Sept, 26 by Ayatollah Jafar Shoujouni, a close associate of the all-powerful Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Shoujouni recalled that when he visited Hizballah leader Hassan Nasrallah in Beirut last May, he assured him: “If Israelis come near Tehran, we will destroy Tel Aviv.”

The Iranian cleric and the Syrian businessman spoke in the same vein in the same month. This was no coincidence. Their threat has since been repeated with greater emphasis to provide the Assad regime with insurance for its survival against foreign military intervention while continuing its pitiless onslaught on dissent.

Syria and Turkey are increasingly at odds, debkafile’s military sources report. This week, Damascus accused the Turks of smuggling automatic and anti-tank weapons to the protesters, claiming to have uncovered a consignment in the protest center of Homs.

Ankara has initiated the process of freezing Assad family members’ bank accounts and assets whose worth is estimated at half a billion dollars.

Turkey is also weighing unilateral sanctions after the UN Security Council last week imposed an arms embargo on Syria although Russia succeeded in blocking a tough council resolution. Moscow was punishing the West for its military intervention in Libya and flatly opposed to giving NATO another such opportunity in Syria.
Damascus repeatedly warned Turkey in the past week of reprisals if its inspectors dare open freights on transit to Syria by ship, plane or land vehicle to search for embargoed arms.
At a time of dangerously spiralling tensions, there is no knowing when the Assad regime will determine that the first Turkish shot was fired and how it will retaliate.

Steve Jobs, the son of Syrian political science professor Abdulfattah Jandali and American speech therapist Joanne Simpson, has died after a battle with pancreatic cancer and complications related to a liver transplant.

He was 56.

turkey by occupying Iskandarun is already inside Syria since 1939.

Army defectors aim to overthrow Syrian regime..

Is Ryad al Assad looking at Homs for the next Benghazi to start a new war in the Middle East or is it the usual fantasy world of Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue in AFP Amman.

…”The movement could propel the revolt by encouraging more senior level defections, or it could backfire horribly, giving the regime a new pretext to crack down even harder than it already has. Nearly 3,000 people have been killed in the violence since March, according to the U.N. and activists.

Until the rebels can secure a territorial foothold as an operational launching pad — much like the eastern city of Benghazi was for the Libyan rebels — the defections are unlikely to pose a real threat to the unity of the Syrian army.

“The Libyan model is looking increasingly attractive to the Syrian opposition,” said Shadi Hamid, director of research at The Brookings Doha Center in Qatar. However, he described the dissident army as a “high risk, high reward situation.”

He said territorial gains might encourage the international community to offer support and make regime change more real in the minds of outside observers.

“But the flip side of that is that it gives the regime … pretext to wipe out a city so it is a very risky move,” Hamid added.

http://news.yahoo.com/army-defectors-aim-overthrow-syrian-regime-185837829.html

Martin Katz,Professor of Government and Politics,
George Mason University

Some suggestions to Obama about Syria..

http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/syria-needs-more-sanctions-5977?page=1

“Yet the U.S. and its allies could provide money, arms and other support to the Syrian opposition. Airpower could be deployed to destroy Assad’s military bases and equipment now used to suppress the Syrian people. Assad now enjoys a near monopoly on the use of force, but Washington and its allies would raise the costs that the regime’s personnel face in obeying orders to suppress the population. At the same time, such actions would reduce the costs of defecting to the opposition. This alone could go a long way to change the dynamics of this hitherto one-sided contest

Martin Katz
Professor of Government and Politics
Department of Public and International
Affairs
George Mason University

Hmmm had Steve jobs grown up In assadistan, he would have probably been selling falafel all his life.

Dear SGID, Can you count for us how many Nobel prize winners did Syria produce before the Assads and after the Assads took over?

Also, while you are at it perhaps do a count on how many Nobel prize winners came from the Arabic world since the inception of the Nobel award.

Syria lifts ban on imports but troubles continue for Turkish firms

05 October 2011

http://www.sundayszaman.com/sunday/newsDetail_getNewsById.action?newsId=258991

Syrian officials on Tuesday announced the lifting of a two-week import ban, reversing a decision that barred imports from Turkey and other trading partners who had become critical of Syria’s regime.

The ban, which was originally designed to conserve the country’s foreign currency reserves in the face of internal turmoil, was abandoned by the regime of Bashar al-Assad after spiking and evoking ire from Syria’s merchant class. The lifting of the ban is likely to be only a brief respite for businesses both in Turkey and Syria, who have suffered from Syria’s political instability and now face the likelihood of Turkish and European sanctions against the Syrian regime.

“In the past years, we enjoyed serious increases in bilateral trade and tourism,” said Cahit Erbalcı, chairman of the Federation of Gaziantep Industrialists and Businessmen (GÜNSAİF), told Today’s Zaman on Wednesday. Now, says Erbalcı, trade has “greatly suffered” in the wake of worsening violence and instability in Syria.

Turkish-Syrian trade rose dramatically from a modest $820 million in 2005 to roughly $2.5 billion in 2010, but this year Turkish exports to Syria have failed to top $1.2 million. Erbalcı says a broad range of industries have been impacted by Assad’s crackdown against dissenters, commenting that instability has greatly complicated cross-border logistics. “We have not seen any Syrian companies unable to pay their bills; however, it is hard to do business in Syria because most often companies can only contact each other on the Internet,” the chairman stated.

Erbalcı says that communications difficulties have been just one problem for the regional tourism trade, which often shuttles visitors between Turkish and Syrian border cities. Ever since al-Assad began his campaign to violently quell opposition, Erbalcı says, “cross-border tourism has been affected more than any other industry. It has almost reached zero.”

Now, faced with the likelihood of comprehensive sanctions imposed by both Turkey and European nations, Erbalcı says the worst fear of regional businessmen is that the border between Syria and Turkey might be closed. “The land transport from Syria connects Turkey to the whole of the Middle East,” Erbalcı stated. If the border is closed to trade, the chairman believes it could seriously disrupt Turkey’s burgeoning eastern trade. Fortunately, Balcı added, “the closure of the border is unlikely.”

Cross-border trade is nonetheless likely to continue to suffer in the coming months, with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan announcing on Tuesday his intentions to go ahead with unilateral sanctions against Assad’s regime. Erdoğan’s announcement followed the veto of a UN plan to impose sanctions in the Security Council earlier in the day, and the prime minister, stating that “it is not possible for us to remain silent on this issue,” told reporters at a press conference in South Africa that Turkey and other countries would impose sanctions despite the veto. Sanctions are likely to cause further damage to an already reeling Syrian economy, which is currently suffering from an EU and American embargo on the Syrian oil industry.

As political tensions between Turkey and its southern neighbor increase, Balcı believes that the economic situation will likely continue on its current downward course. “It will take some time before we maintain the figures reached prior to the latest political crisis,” he stated.

Adrian Hamilton: We can’t control Syria – and we shouldn’t try

Thursday, 6 October 2011

http://www.independent.co.uk/opinion/commentators/adrian-hamilton/adrian-hamilton-we-cant-control-syria-ndash-and-we-shouldnt-try-2366038.html

They watered it down three times but still the Russians and Chinese vetoed the UN Security Council resolution condemning the Syrian government of Bashar al-Assad for suppressing his own people. Cue for outrage from all the western governments. Alain Juppé, the French Foreign Minister, declared it “a sad day for the Syrian people” and a “sad day for the Security Council”.

Susan Rice, the US representative to the UN, who walked out of the vote, went even further, calling it a “cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people”. The Syrian protesters, she declared, would now know who the true obstacles to their hopes were.

Well, steady on. China and Russia may be in part driven by a desire for pragmatic gain. Given Russia’s behaviour in the Caucasus and Chinese treatment of the Uighars, no one could call either of them friends of Islam. But their view on this vote was influenced more than anything by their response to events in Libya. They went along, by abstention, with a UN resolution supporting direct military intervention because Colonel Gaddafi had become so unpopular and his actions so brutally oppressive that it was unwise to look as if you supported him. They now feel – not without reason – that the UN resolution in the case of Libya was used to justify military intervention for the purposes of regime change and they now don’t want that to happen in Syria.

The western response to the unfolding tragedy of Syria has been the opposite. To the Europeans and the US the success of operations in Libya in toppling Gaddafi has only made them, and France and the UK in particular, all the more eager to ride the Arab revolution as it spreads.

The high rhetoric of the moment partly reflects the knowledge that, at present, the West can’t intervene militarily in Syria. Any such action would have too many consequences in the region and would not – unlike Libya – have the support of the Arab League.

But the rhetoric also reflects a hunger by western leaders after Libya to ride this wave and to be seen to be cresting it. David Cameron and President Sarkozy feel themselves the victors in Tripoli and would care to seem the same in Damascus. If push came to shove and world opinion really turned against President Assad as it turned against Gaddafi, then they would be up for military action as Moscow and Beijing fear. But without the international consensus they are determined to be seen to be “doing something” to support the democratic cause.

The problem is that there’s not very much they can do to influence events directly. Sanctions sound good but, in practice, as we know from Iraq, Zimbabwe and Burma, tend to reinforce the ruling regime rather than undermine it. You can make life more uncomfortable, and certainly more restrictive, by imposing sanctions on individuals but when it comes to trade and oil, the more you confine trade, the more it benefits the elite at the expense of the general public.

You can try, as the West did with the National Transitional Council in Libya, to help mould an alternative democratic opposition. Britain and France, as well as the US, are desperately trying to do this in Syria by helping with the creation of the Syrian National Council. But, again as we know from Iraq, such efforts are easier in theory than in practice.

Talking to the BBC this week, the US ambassador to Syria, William Burns, urged the protesters not to resort to arms but to keep their demonstrations peaceful. But this is just wishful thinking. Of course it would be nicer, not least for the West, if there could be a peaceful change of government in Syria. But regime-change is a game of power and the Alawite minority rulers have at the moment the weapons and the forces to keep the lid on revolution so long as it is peaceful and so long as Damascus and Aleppo remain under tight control. That may not last, as tightening economic circumstances turn the middle classes against the regime. But change now may only be possible by force of arms and army desertions.

The Assad regime is finished. Of that there can be little doubt. The best hope for peaceful change is an Alawite decision to let the family go as the price for keeping clan power. But even that now looks doubtful as the bitterness over the deaths across the country hardens into a desire for revenge.

There is nothing very much that the outside world can do but look on from the sidelines, hoping that the oppressed can overturn their oppressors with as little bloodshed as possible. But we can’t stop it. The honest thing would be to moderate the posturing and admit it.

Syrian president threatening Israel is media provocation: Russia

Oct 6, 2011, 03.31AM

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/world/europe/Syrian-president-threatening-Israel-is-media-provocation-Russia/articleshow/10250906.cms

MOSCOW: Russia blamed media for provoking a recent threat to attack Israel reportedly voiced by Syrian President Bashar al Assad, RIA Novosti reported.

The Russian foreign ministry described it “a part of a media war against Syria”.

Iran’s semi-official Fars news agency Tuesday quoted Al Assad as saying that

Damascus would need “not more than six hours to transfer hundreds of rockets and missiles to the Golan Heights to fire them at Tel Aviv”.

He was speaking at a meeting with Turkish foreign minister Ahmet Davutoglu.

Fars also reported the Syrian leader as threatening that “Iran will attack US warships in the Persian Gulf and American and European interests will be targeted simultaneously”.

Russian Foreign Ministry slammed the reports, saying that these quotes were definitely made by “the forces interested in tarring Syria and its government’s image…in order to justify intervention in Syria”.

Earlier Wednesday, Syrian ambassador to Moscow Riyad Haddad said that the Arab and international media were grossly distorting the situation in Syria and published “various insinuations, including the statements attributed to Syrian authorities that they had never made.”

The Syrian opposition and Western countries condemned Russia and China on Wednesday for vetoing a UN Security Council draft resolution urging the Syrian regime to immediately stop violence against protesters or face “targeted measures.”

Moscow maintains it would strongly oppose any attempts to overthrow “undesirable regimes” under the guise of a UN mandate.

Ponytail is glorifying his mother in a song!? شعب مسطول

Song for Mona Wassef أغنية منى واصف الرسمية.
http://youtu.be/-n2wsZ_Rb_o

Abdul Belhaj, head of the Libyan Islamic Fighting Group (LIFG), an official Al Qaeda affiliate and listed by both the US State Department and the United Kingdom Home Office as a terrorist organisation, is one of the head honchos of the NATO-backed TNC.

Not only does this known and convicted terrorist have NATO’s blessing to torture, brutalise and execute any Libyan who does not submit to TNC rule – and he’s been doing helluva lotta that in recent weeks – he even gets an op. ed. gig at one of the great pillars of the Western liberal media, The Guardian, to whitewash his known terror links.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/sep/27/revolution-belongs-to-all-libyans

Before Libya, this bogus war on terror/Al Qaeda, though utterly, transparently fake and misguided, might have had at least a smidgeon of logic. Now, it doesn’t even have that.

ألغاز مشروع القرار الدولي ضد سوريا
الجمل: عقد مجلس الأمن الدولي مساء أمس الثلاثاء 4 تشرين الأول (أكتوبر) 2011م، جلسة ساخنة، انتهت بعدم النجاح في تمرير مشروع القرار الدولي الساعي لاستهداف دمشق، الأمر الذي أدى إلى إثارة التوترات بين الأطراف الدولية الرئيسية داخل المجلس، وما كان لافتاً للنظر أن أنقرا وفرنسا كانتا الأكثر غضباً بسبب انهيار جهود تمرير مشروع القرار: ما هي ملامح الصراع الإقليمي ـ الدولي حول سوريا في مرحلة ما بعد الإخفاق الأمريكي ـ الأوروبي ـ التركي، هل باتجاه التهدئة أم التصعيد. وإلى أين سوف تمضي قافلة خصوم دمشق، وما هو تأثير ذلك على التوازنات الشرق أوسطية وعلى الفعاليات الاحتجاجية السورية الداخلية؟

* انهيار مشروع القرار الدولي: توصيف المعلومات الجارية

سعت أطراف مثلث واشنطن ـ باريس ـ لندن منذ بضعة أشهر إلى محاولة تدويل ملف الاحتجاجات السياسية السورية داخل مجلس الأمن الدولي، ضمن سيناريو يتطابق تماماً مع سيناريو تدويل ملف الاحتجاجات السياسية الليبية، وفي هذا الخصوص نشير إلى النقاط الآتية:
• أعلنت روسيا رفضها القاطع مراراً لتكرار جهود مثلث واشنطن ـ باريس ـ لندن الساعية لتدويل ملف الاحتجاجات السياسية السورية عبر مجلس الأمن الدولي.
• سعت الصين لجهة اعتمادها لنفس الموقف الروسي الرافض لعملية التدويل.
• بدت الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية أكثر اهتماماً لجهة القائم بدور المساند لجهود عملية التدويل وذلك من خلال الضغط على موسكو وبكين.
• سعت أربعة أطراف أوروبية (باريس ـ لندن ـ برلين ـ لشبونة) لجهة إعداد مشروع قرار يستهدف دمشق، وسعت هذه الأطراف لجهة القيام بعملية التعبئة الفاعلة داخل وخارج المجلس من أجل تحقيق النجاح وتمرير القرار.
• أكدت موسكو والصين مرة أخرى رفضهما لمشروع القرار، وبرغم ذلك ظلت الأطراف الأوروبية أكثر اهتماماً بالإلحاح على موسكو وبكين من أجل تمرير القرار.
• تم تعديل القرار أكثر من مرة، ولكن، كلما تم تعديل القرار، فإن الصيغة الجديدة، تفيد لنفس محتوى الصيغة السابقة المرفوضة بواسطة موسكو وبكين.
• سعت الأطراف الأوروبية هذه المرة إلى تقديم صيغة القرار إلى التصويت داخل مجلس الأمن الدولي، برغم تصريحات موسكو وبكين الرافضة.
تقول التقارير بأن عملية التصويت قد تمت داخل مجلس الأمن الدولي، مساء أمس الثلاثاء، وحصل القرار على مساندة 9 دول (فرنسا ـ بريطانيا ـ أمريكا ـ كولومبيا ـ البرتغال ـ ألمانيا ـ الغابون ـ نيجيريا ـ البوسنة والهرسك). وامتنعت أربع دول (الهند ـ البرازيل ـ جنوب أفريقيا ـ لبنان)، ورفضت دولتان هما روسيا والصين، واللتان استخدمتا حق الفيتو بشكل ثنائي، بما أدى بدوره إلى إجهاض عملية تمرير القرار.

* لماذا تقديم مشروع القرار للتصويت الدولي؟

درجت الأعراف التقليدية على قيام دول مجلس الأمن الدولي عل إجراء المشاورات المكثفة قبل أن يتم تقديم أي مشروع قرار للتصويت النهائي داخل المجلس، وفي هذا الخصوص فقد برز سؤال هام للغاية: لماذا أصرت الدول الأوروبية القريبة الداعمة لمشروع القرار لجهة طرحه للتصويت داخل المجلس برغم تصريحات موسكو وبكين المسبقة بعدم الموافقة على القرار؟
• الإجابة الأولى تقول، بأن أطراف مثلث واشنطن ـ باريس ـ لندن، ظلت تدرك بوضوح استحالية تمرير أي قرار دولي ضد دمشق، بسبب معارضة موسكو وبكين، ولكن لما كانت موسكو وبكين تعارضان مشروعات القرارات في مرحلة المناقشات فإنهما تلجآن للامتناع عن التصويت عندما يتم طرح مشروعات القرارات للتصويت النهائي، وقد حدث هذا الموقف مراراً وتكراراً، لذلك توقعت أطراف مثلث واشنطن ـ باريس ـ لندن، بأن موسكو وبكين لن تستخدما حق الفيتو لجهة الاعتراض والنقض. طالما أنهما لم تهددان علناً باستخدام الفيتو في مرحلة المناقشات النهائية، لذلك فقد سعت أطراف مثلث واشنطن ـ باريس ـ لندن لجهة تقديم مشروع القرار للتصويت النهائي في ظل تخمينات وتوقعات تقول بأن موسكو وبكين سوف تكتفيان بالامتناع عن التصويت.
• الإجابة الثانية تقول، سوف تضطر واشنطن إلى استخدام الفيتو ضد مشروع قرار الاعتراف الدولي بالدولة الفلسطينية، وهو أمر سوف يؤدي إلى إثارة غضب فعاليات الإسلام السياسي الناشطة حالياً في منطقة الشرق الأوسط، ولما كانت حركة الاحتجاجات السياسية السورية تحظى بدعم ومساندة فعاليات الإسلام السياسي الشرق أوسطية، فإن قيام واشنطن وحلفاءها بالسعي من أجل تمرير مشروع القرار الدولي سوف يحسن من صورة واشنطن وباريس ولندن على المدى القريب، وفي نفس الوقت يدفع فعاليات الإسلام السياسي لإثارة الكراهية ضد موسكو وبكين. ولاحقاً عندما تقوم واشنطن باستخدام الفيتو ضد مشورع قرار الاعتراف الدولي بالدولة الفلسطينية، فإن مشاعر الغضب الإسلامي الشرق أوسطي سوف تكون أقل ضرراً.
• الإجابة الثالثة تقول، لقد انتظرت أطراف مثلث واشنطن ـ باريس ـ لندن، فترة طويلة لكي تتصاعد حركة الاحتجاجات السياسية السورية بشكل ضخم وفاعل على النحو الذي يساعد فعاليات التدخل الخارجي. ولكن، وبمرور الوقت تبين أن حركة الاحتجاجات السياسية السورية التي بدأت محدودة وصغيرة الحجم، لم تستطع التمدد والانتشار، وإضافة لذلك استمرت محدودة وصغيرة الحجم، إضافة إلى أن حجمها بدأ يتقلص بما عزز التكهنات بأنها سوف تنتهي على المدى القصير، وبالتالي فإن القيام بتقديم القرار، سوف يؤدي إلى نتيجة ميدانية واحدة، وهي: إذا نجح مشروع القرار فإن واشنطن وباريس ولندن سوف يشرعون لجهة القيام بالخطوات التالية، وإذا فشل مشروع القرار، فإن واشنطن وباريس ولندن سوف يشرعون في الخطوات التالية البديلة، والتي في كلا الحالتين هي القيام بتكثيف الضغوط وتوسيع نطاق العقوبات ضد دمشق.
• الإجابة الرابعة تقول، سعت واشنطن وباريس ولندن لجهة الانتظار والتريث، ولكن المعارضة الخارجية السورية الوثيقة الصلة بواشنطن، بدت وهي أكثر اندفاعاً في ممارسة الضغوط على واشنطن وباريس ولندن، واتهامهم بالتباطؤ، وقد سعت هذه المعارضة من أجل تشكيل مجلس قيادتها، وكثفت ضغوطها على واشنطن وباريس ولندن لجهة القيام بالضغط من أجل تمرير مشروع القرار، وفي ظل توقعات امتناع روسيا والصين عن التصويت، فإن صدور القرار سوف يتيح فرصة الحصول على الاعتراف الدولي بمجلس المعارضة، وعلى الأغلب أن تكون باريس ولندن من أوائل المعترفين.
• الإجابة الخامسة تقول، سعت واشنطن لجهة مطالبة حلفائها الأوروبيين بتقديم مشروع القرار، وذلك برغم علم وإدراك واشنطن المسبق بأن روسيا والصين سوف تستخدمان حق النقض، وبالتالي فإن واشنطن ترغب في قيام موسكو وبكين بممارسة حق النقض. لأنه لا يعطي واشنطن حق الرد عن طريق قيام الكونغرس الأمريكي بإصدار قانون العملية الصينية، وقيام الإدارة الأمريكية بالمضي قدماً في خطوات الانسحاب من اتفاقية ستارت المتعلقة بضبط التسلح الاستراتيجي الدولي، والتي تبين أن واشنطن ترغب في التنصل منها وعدم الإيفاء باستحقاقاتها.
• الإجابة السادسة تقول، بأن واشنطن ولندن وباريس قد تفاهمتا مع تركيا وبعض خصوم سوريا الخليجيين لجهة القيام ببناء تحالف دولي خارج مجلس الأمن الدولي من أجل استهداف سوريا، وبالتالي فإن تقديم مشروع القرار الدولي، هو من قبيل الإسراع في إعلان المسار الدولي بما يتيح توفير الذراع والمبررات لواشنطن وحلفائها من أجل التحول باتجاه مسار العمل خارج مظلة المجتمع الدولي، دون أي التزام بإجراء المشاورات مع موسكو وبكين.

بدت ردود الأفعال الأمريكية ـ الفرنسية ـ البريطانية أكثر غضباً ضد موسكو وبكين، وفي هذا الخصوص فقد تحدثت السفيرة الأمريكية لدى الأمم المتحدة سوزان رايس موجهة الانتقادات ضد الموقف الروسي والصيني، وتحدث السفير الفرنسي في مجلس الأمن الدولي قائلاً بأن إجهاض مشروع القرار الدولي سوف لن يثني فرنسا عن المضي قدماً في استهداف دمشق، ونفس الشيء بالنسبة للتصريحات التركية. وما كان لافتاً للنظر هذه المرة يتمثل في روح الوعيد والتهديد التي انطوات عليها ردود الأفعال التركية والفرنسية، الأمر الذي ينطوي على مؤشرات تقول بأن دمشق سوف تنخرط في مواجهات دبلوماسية مرتفعة الشدة خلال الفترة القادمة ضد محور باريس ـ أنقرا، والذي وإن كان قد اختلف كثيراً حول منح عضوية الاتحاد الأوروبي، فإنه سوف يتفق بشكل واضح في مخطط استهداف دمشق.

الجمل ـ قسم الدراسات والترجمة
http://www.aljaml.com/node/76067

مصداقية الاستثوار السوري

Darryl,
I’m going on a wild guess here,
A lot of talent has been oppressed by the assadists,
For example we have Nizar qabbani, syria’s best modern poet
Malek jandali,
Ali ferzat
Even Adonis, who just won the Goethe prize, look at what he said regarding the regime!!!
Oh btw adonis is favored to win the Nobel prize.
Syria is the grave yard of talent.

87 Ann
Very interesting that, more than often, we see these “appels du pied” to Israel from Iran. Syria really needs to get rid of such an unreliable friend.

This is how Syria will be the heaven of talent,with these talented friends of SGNLID

This is how Syria will produce more Steve Jobs with the talents of SGNLID,DR MAJED and REVLON friends

The Steve Jobs Syrian connection is very real.

Steve Jobs was born out of wedlock to two graduate students studying in Wisconsin. His father was a Syrian overseas student and his mother a local. Steve was immediately adopted out to a couple in California. His parents then married and two years later had a daughter. The father was a brilliant student who earned a Phd in political science while he was very young. But he was erratic and soon after after left his wife and daughter, leading an unstable career as an academic before ending up in the hotel industry in Las Vegas.

Meanwhile Steve’s younger sister, Mona Simpson (she was born Mona Jandali, but adopted her stepfather’s name), grew up to became a successful fiction writer. Steve tracked her down when he was in his 20’s and they formed a close relationship. They also traced and connected with their father’s family in Syria (but did not reunite with their father). There were visits exchanged with their Syrian relatives and contact maintained. Mona in interviews has talked about her Syrian connection and her pride and interest in her Arab heritage (including her name Mona and her regret that she didn’t get to keep her father’s family name).

Jobs and his sister didn’t say much about their relationship and joint family background in public, although she and he and their families have been a strong family unit for over 30 years.

However, Mona Simpson has published at least two novels loosely based on her family. One is about a Silicon Valley entrepreneur and the other is about a young midwestern woman tracing her missing Arab father across America and in the Middle East. She also has characters with Arab backgrounds in other novels.

(Coincidentally, Mona Simpson married a producer who works on The Simpsons TV series who happens to be named Richard Appel!)

It’s all out there if you want to read about it.

82 Some guy

“Nizar Qabbani… oppressed by the Assadists?”

Life is that simple? Everybody around Hafez al Assad was an “Assadist”?
People are simply “good” or “bad” ? Not only Qabbani’s political writings were forbidden, many other political writings were at the time.

Now Qabbani’s books are toady available everywhere in Syria and he has the role of an icon with his poetry read on tv etc. After Kazem al-Saghir made him so popular it was unescapable.

But why don’t you mention that Qabbani’s daughter was working for the Iraqi embassy in Beirut, where she died in 1981 in a bombing? If you think the Syrian poet is necessarily pure, immaculate, wronged by the bad, awful, Assadist system, why did Nizar Qabbani get a job for his daughter in Saddam Hussein’ regime? Aren’t your guys calling for the hanging of any Syrian embassy civil servant these days?

Mina,
Are we going to play the “but he deserved it” game now?
Snk,
So what do you suppose we do? the assads must leave power. We need to end corruption, inequality, and lawlessness. Besho can’t deliver.

Some guy

“But he deserved it” is your logic, not mine.
You have 50 percent of the Syrian population who didn’t take the streets in March. Many did after seeing gruesome videos passed from cell phone to cell phone and broacasted on al Jazeera, but many of these turned out to be from Lebanon and Iraq. Pure manipulation to derail the Palestinian bid at the UN and to put pressure on Egypt and oblige the new leaders there to obey Saudi orders (easy, they were in such a jeopardy that the economy got so down that they quickly needed cash). This is where bringing in Qardawi and let the MB think they “had a chance” in all from Syria to Egypt and Yemen played a part in extending the chaos and taking down tourism.
Now you say that ending Assad will put an end to “corruption, inequality, and lawlessness”
I suggest you go Baghdad and ask their opinion to the guys in Abu Ghraib and in Maliki’s secret underground prisons, and the women who are obliged to prostitute themselves to the US soldiers in order to bring food at home.

Mina,
Calm down.
Many people demonstrating from Iraq and Lebanon??
please give me some credible proof.
Stop tying this revolution to the palestinian cause.

Ehsani,

These reactions against the veto remind me of Britain and France’s reaction toward not having it their way with Suez in ’56.

Sorry you don’t have satellite tv. Yes, there were many people demonstrating in Iraq (and in Jordan)in December and January. In Iraq, they were shot at from the beginning. Even al Jazeera talked about it. But they quickly decided to turn to Syria, much easier when you see what people like you can achieve in term of understanding politics.

Food for thought:

http://www.arabist.net/blog/2011/10/5/of-saudi-arabia-and-us-policy.html

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/04/donald-rumsfeld-al-jazeera-foukara_n_994885.html

“1168. TARA said:

UZAIR8 @1159

Thank you for your post. We have a local example in our SC community. A great guy with a name of Mundas. He posts occasionally when traveling outside Syria. He is Shiaa and fully support the revolution. You can search his comment using the search function. His comments are pleasure to read. This revolution is not about sects. Syrian Shiaa like the rest of Syrians excluding the regime’s cronies are equally oppressed and do differentiate between right and wrong. They do not suffer from minorities’ complex disorder and know the Sunni Syrians for who they are.

Mundas, I hope you and family are all well.

October 2nd, 2011, 12:45 pm”

Dear Tara,

Thank you very much for your kind words. We are doing fine. I didn’t think anyone noticed. Excuse me, but I suffer from “middle child complex” (lol)

You are absolutely right. We don’t suffer from a minority complex disorder. All i ask for is law and order. I lived (and so have many of you) as a minority in the US and always felt equal under the law.
I have to admit I was raised an anti-ba’ath. But if one has any humanity, one should be appalled and horrified by how Syrians get treated by the regime. Everyone’s heart should ache even if this were happening to people in another country. You don’t have to have any religious reference to condemn what this regime has done in the last 40 years. 
Even before the revolution, there was not a time that I saw JR’s or SR’s pictures, that I didn’t curse their mother for having such offsprings. 

Here’s a story I am sure you appreciate. My sister met Ambassador Ford at another foreign embassy’s reception. Although she wasn’t totally for his visit to Hama because she didn’t  want the revolution accused of being tainted, she walked up to him and thanked him for saving lives. He smiled and said “you’re welcome, you sound like you are مندسة”. (He said mundassa in Arabic.)

Khaled, 

Have you stopped taking your medication? You were doing fine for a while.

Khaled,

Have you stopped taking your medication? You were doing fine for a while.

“27. YA MARA GHALBA said:

I say that the intellectual quality of the anti-regime crowd at Syria Comment and elsewhere is abyssmal. When I say “anti-regime crowd” I mean to say the ones who want an unconstitutional overthrow of the regime. The ones who dissent from the regime’s policies and want a civil process of political reforms are a whole different class of people, with a lot more quality about them.

October 5th, 2011, 7:00 pm”

Look who’s talking. Someone defending a regime that changed the constitution in 5 minutes to appoint a 34 year old person not even qualified to be an assistant manager at KFC. Go thru a check point and then tell us how seriously these creatures take the constitution. You see it in how they look at you, how they check your ID, how they grab people off a bus and start beating him, how they post JR’s pictures at check points, how they post “الاسد الى الابد او لا احد” . Shall I go on? 

Your lack of intellect is what’s amazing. You are what’s called “useful idiots”. The regime will fight till the last one of you…

“189. SOME GUY NO LONGER IN DAMASCUS said:

مندس ,
Out of curiosity how do you differ now and when you were 15 years younger. You pretty much are on the spot, I’m a university student.

To all : I am no longer in damascus. SGNLID anybody??

 3  2

September 24th, 2011, 10:08 am”

Dear SGNLID,

Your youth, vigor, and energy all show thru your posts. Mine show bitterness, anger, and disdain for the regime. I’m one of those that say “هرمنا من اجل هذة اللحظة التاريخية” like the Tunisian guy on  habibti aljazeera

 I wouldn’t dare do what you have done video taping the church. I was at Moca and More Cafe at Malki Mall and I wanted to take a picture of the two giant Besho pictures outside Sami Droubi High School. They are gifted by “Iyad Kenj”‘ obviously, a relative of the Mohamed on this forum.

23. SHEILA said:

To dear #14. Khalid Tlass,

“You are picturing turning Syria into Afghanistan.”

No, I am picturing turning Syria into a Sunni Assadistan. Becoz that is the only way we can feel secure.

23. SHEILA said:

“second, all those other groups that you mentioned are Syrian, just like you and me. Some have been there before we arrived and have as much rights as any of us has. We are not “tolerating” others, we are living with others on our shared land. I do not want to model Syria like the Third Reich, nor do I want my kids to have arms training. I want them to be educated and to learn to live and let live.”

Actually most Syrian Sunnis are descended from Christians, believe me. We did not “arrive” “later” than the Alawis or Druzes or Christains. We WERE Christians and Alawis, etc. We were here from the beginning. We CONVERTED to ISLAM and they didn’t. We are not descendants of settlers from the Arabian Peninsula ( some of us are, especially in the east and south of the country), except perhaps the Sunni Arabs of the coastal cities like Banyas, who have Turkish descent.

23. SHEILA said:

“I do not want to model Syria like the Third Reich, nor do I want my kids to have arms training. I want them to be educated and to learn to live and let live.”

Well, if we do not fo that, then we are doomed, what with all these heavily armed minorities. You do not want your kids to have arms training ? What wil u say if your kids were abducted by Shabbeha and tortured and killed ? ( God forbid)…..just like the kids of thousands of Syrian Sunnis. We MUST give our kids arms training and send them to boot camps to get military training even before they begin their formal education. We must be like these armed warlike minorities like Maarounis, Alawis, Druzes, Shias, etc. who only understand the language of the gun.

Just look at Lebanon, throughout the Civil War, every group had their own militia, lots of weapons including artillery, tanks,etc., even the Palestinians. But the peaceful Lebanese Sunnis who are infact 25 % of the population could not float even a single militia of any effectiveness. Instead they chose to back the wheeling-dealing Rafiq Hariri to strike a deal with Assad and to accept his protection, while the Druzes who were just 5 % of the population were so heavily armed and ferocious that they struck terror into the hearts of the Lebanese Army and defeated them on several occasions, can you imagine that ?

I don’t understand why Sunnis always are left behind in the arms race, we should be like these armed minorities, even in Lebanon where Sunnis do not face any discrimination, they are just 7 % of the Lebanese Army. Why are Sunnis so under-represented in martial activities ? We should be armed to the teeth to be able to deal with these minorities, better sell our cars and TVs and buy an assault rifle to protect ourself.

مندس ,

Are you Shia ? Syrian or Lebanese ?

Khalid, relax. Sunnis in Syria and Lebanon usually live in urban areas, for historical reasons; conversely , most minorities especially Christians, Alawis, Shia and Druze live in rural especially mountainous, remote and rugged areas. Usually people who live in such terrain are more inclined to military service than urbanites, that explains why Sunnis do not have a good representation in the Army and why they are not into “martial activities”. Most Sunnis are in civilan econimic activities.

Now, why the non-Sunnis mostly live in rural mountainous areas, I think because Islamization and Arabization under the Ottoman caliphs could not fully penetrate these rugged areas.

There are several thousands soldier in Syria who are willing to defect,they are waiting for a chance so they do it whithout getting killed by the regime ,an area of possible protective zone could be Idlib, there is an urgent need for such zone, no fly zone also is a must, the regime is escalating the brutal crackdown, and this is the only possible response to its criminal acts.
Once this becomes reality, the regime will collapse rather quickly.

What a brilliant speech by the syrian U.N representative

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NHgKNHCjfKc

BTW how respectful has syria comment been without that extremist ABOUD. I think Syria Comment should have a poll on whether to ban him or not. I gaurantee the majority will vote in favour of him not being allowed back on this blog

Khalid seems to conveniently forget the Salafists of al-Tawheed (the Islamic Unification Movement) from Tripoli when he states that there were no Sunni-militias during the Lebanese civil war.

Are the Syrian people implementing their campaign of civil disobedience?

Are they refusing to pay taxes or gas/electricity bills?
If so how is this affecting the economy?

The regime thugs are supplementing their incomes by looting homes of valuables (gold, jewellery). Also arresting people amnd demanding payment for release. This may help pay the thugs but also will increase hatred for the regime. The people must defend their homes.

Even if the Assads have much less than the alleged $200 billion* stashed away then they should be able to fund the security crackdown for a long time to come.

If Iran did fund the regime with the alleged $6 billion then good. Iran will lose that money. I hope the Iranian people find out about this.

If civil war results then the opposition will target the weakspots of the regime. Target oil pipelines which are the lifeline of the regime. Tourism will completely end (the continued Shia tourists from Iran). Business activity (transportation of goods by road)within Syria will be disrupted to weaken the loyalty of the business community to the regime.

* http://www.sawtbeirut.com/world-news/it-profitable-to-be-dictator-syrias-assad-ruling-family-has-over-200-billion-in-world-wide-assets/

U.S. says ambassador to stay in Syria despite sanction attempt

2011-10-06 04:25:03

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2011-10/06/c_131175844.htm

WASHINGTON, Oct. 5 (Xinhua) — U.S. ambassador in Syria Robert Ford will stay in the country despite U.S. attempts to increase pressure on Syria at the UN, U.S. State Department said on Wednesday.

State Department spokesperson Victoria Nuland told reporters that American Ambassador in Syria Robert Ford has played an ” essential role” in showing support to the Syrian opposition and helping the U.S. understand what is going on on the ground.

Nuland’s statement came after some Syrian-Americans are questioning why the U.S. government, on the one hand, is trying to seek pressure at the UN against the Syrian government, while on the other hand, having an ambassador in Damascus.

She cited Ford’s “visible efforts” in Syria, including his controversial visit to the central city of Hama in July, which triggered the attacks on the U.S. embassy and ambassador’s residence in Damascus by some supporters of the Syrian government.

In response to U.S. Senator Joe Lieberman’s proposal to establish safe zone within Syria, Nuland said that military actions, including setting up safe zones within Syria, are not what “the Syrian opposition want us to do.”

Russia and China, the two permanent members of the UN Security Council, on Tuesday vetoed a draft resolution, which meant to strongly condemn “the continued grave and systematic human rights violations by the Syrian authorities” and threatened punitive measures against the Middle East country.

The draft resolution, presented by France, Germany, Portugal and Britain, won nine votes in favor, two against and four abstentions. South Africa, India, Brazil and Lebanon, the four non- permanent members of the Security Council, abstained.

If Kuwait can move, we can start dreaming
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2011/10/06/des-milliers-de-koweitiens-protestent-contre-la-corruption_1582830_3218.html

@113 M Kanj.

Sounds like apprehension at the imminent expiry of the ban.

‘TICK-TOCK’ ….. ‘TICK-TOCK’ …. ‘TICK-TOCK’…. ‘TICK-TOCK’

Mainstream media skewed on Syria – 06 October, 2011, 11:35

http://rt.com/news/syria-one-sided-coverage-187/

The mainstream media’s quick reaction often costs it in terms of fact-checking. As human rights groups continue to sound the alarm over multiple arrests and killings in Syria, one high-profile victim has made an amazing reappearance.

Zainab Al-Hosni was hailed as the flower of Syria, the symbol of the suffering under President Bashar Assad’s brutal regime. At least that is what much of the Western media said after her apparent butchering by security forces.

Several Western media outlets were quick to report Zainab Al-Hosni’s gruesome death – apparently the first woman to be killed in government custody.

But now it appears she is miraculously back from the dead, even being interviewed on Syrian TV.

“I came to the police station to tell the truth. That’s what I say to those lying channels – I’m now still alive, not dead,” Zainab Al-Hosni said.

Human rights groups like Amnesty International jumped on the bandwagon too, reporting Al-Hosni had been tortured, murdered and mutilated. It even claimed her mother found the body in a morgue last month. All assertions the group is now being forced to backtrack on.

“We will endeavor to be more cautious and phrase things a little bit more nuanced,” Amnesty International spokesperson told the BBC.

The state broadcaster says the interview is to dispel what it labels fabrications by foreign media to serve Western interests.

It is stories like this that have been used to prop up calls from the US, Britain and France for UN sanctions to be slapped on Syria, but their foundations are now looking shakier than ever.

Some video footage shows allegedly unarmed pro-Assad civilians being targeted by gun-toting rebels, whom the West views as peaceful opposition. It seems as Western media only looks in one direction.

“This notion that the US is part of this pro-democracy regime is ridiculous. They’re jumping on that bandwagon as an opportunity to get out in front of it and create this deceptive appearance, while at the same time they’re supporting the dictatorships that are aligned with them and the UN that are part of their empire,” claims Jacob Hornberger from the Future of Freedom Foundation.

Russia and China vetoed a UN resolution on Syria, seeing through it as a potential cover for another Libyan-style intervention.

There may not be any oil this time, but there is always an ulterior motive.

“[Syria’s] importance is as a geopolitical factor right next to Israel, a country which obviously America and Britain and the other Western powers strongly support. So that would be its ulterior geopolitical motive,” explains John Laughland from the Paris-based Institute for Democracy and Co-operation.

The vetoes were followed by a Security Council walkout from America over remarks during the Syrian envoy’s speech.

But the US promised to be back with another resolution, and undoubtedly more dramatic “evidence” to drive the point home.

Brilliant article by American clergymen who visited syria recently. A MUST READ

http://www.antiochian.org/reardon-syria-delegation-2011

110. KHALID TLASS said:

مندس ,

Are you Shia ? Syrian or Lebanese ?

Syrian Shia

1  2

October 6th, 2011, 6:24 am

Syrian

“118. UZAIR8 said:

Sounds like apprehension at the imminent expiry of the ban.

‘TICK-TOCK’ ….. ‘TICK-TOCK’ …. ‘TICK-TOCK’…. ‘TICK-TOCK’”

Aboud faced typical Baathist responses.. At one point recently, When he was absent for a couple of days, some pro-regime wished the mukhabarat got him. Last week, They couldn’t debate him, they silenced him.

6 October 2011

Syria unrest: Daring to speak in Douma

By Lyse Doucet
BBC News, Douma

As anti-government protests rock Syria, the BBC’s Lyse Doucet was granted rare access to the country. She visited the Damascus suburb of Douma, one of the few places in the capital the protests have reached.

Read more and watch 8 minute video:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15196524

Interesting report on what was going on in Bahrein in January-February. How timingly came the Syrian events ! At the same time in Baghdad they were shooting at protestors and in Yemen, using internationally banned nerve gases.
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/10/bahrain-update-case-of-ali-al-ekri.html
Bahrain Update: the case of Ali Al Ekri
From Angry Arab’s chief Bahrain correspondent: “He has a reputation for being one of the best doctors in Bahrain. He like many of the consultants in Salmaniya hospital could be making double had they gone to private practice but they didn’t, because as a group they believed in strengthening the public health system (although the govt is slowly trying to privatize it – advice from their best friends the Americans). The charges leveled by the government against the doctors are ridiculous – one charge is that they refused to treat sunnis. This is ludacris. Bahrain is a mixed society. The doctors treated everyone. They did not treat people based on sect. Now this story about dr Al Ekri volunteering in Gaza just shows you how crazy these charges are. I mean, I hate to even point this out, but the Palestinians are sunni after all. Its like the government is sectarianizing everything and we are forced to respond. According to his wife, the concept of dividing people by sect never even crossed his mind, and now that’s what the government is accusing him of.
The mission to Gaza was Dr Al Ekri’s idea. He took the lead in organizing it. It was completely humanitarian. When he came back he became a decorated hero. The King gave a speech about him – now all is forgotten.
Of course Dr Al Ekri’s problem was that he was doing his job and he was doing it well. Bahraini doctors are not used to seeing this many injuries. Many of them were traumatized. I mean, we don’t live in a war zone. The amount of injuries went beyond the hospitals capacity. But he, and the other consultants did a good job calming everyone and making sure they could do everything to save lives. I am speculating here but I assume that Al Ekri was one of the most experienced because of his experience in Gaza. On top of the injuries a lot of crazy things were happening in the hospital. I am fuzzy about the exact sequence of events but here it goes: The minister of health (at that time it was AlHamar) was preventing injured from getting treated in the hospital. Ambulances were disappearing. All of what I just told you was BEFORE the Saudi invasion and the official military takeover of the hospital. So some of the doctors started protesting against AlHamar in front of the hospital because he was not allowing them to do their job. The King responded by sacking Al Hamar and putting Nezar Al Baharna in his place (also sacked three other ministers including Fahmi Al Jowdar one of Bahrains most competent ministers thinking that replacing 4 sunni ministers – none of them heading particularly powerful ministries – with shia would solve the problem). During that time, the propaganda machine had already began and Bahrain state television was accusing the doctors of only treating shia. So Nezar AlBaharna personally called state TV and told them this was not true. In addition he stood at the gate of the hospital making sure everyone could go in (due to the problems before of the previous minister not letting the injured come in). A few days later for obvious reasons Nezar AlBaharna quit.
Now why target Al Ekri?? Well he talked a lot to the media. I believe he was the first doctor who spoke to the media. Of course later the saudi forces came in and the hospital was taken over by the military, and even more unimaginable things started happening which I’m sure you heard about. The doctors who appeared on camera or spoke to the media were arrested – and I really just mean appeared on camera such as the doctor who was arrested after a picture of her surfaced where she was hugging another doctor and crying right next to an injured protester. The other doctors were completely silenced and scared to talk after what happened to their colleagues.
Now these doctors are being sentenced to 15 years in prison for simply doing their job. The head of Physicians for Human Rights called this the worse violation of medical neutrality he had seen in the past 20 years. They worked all their lives in a government hospital treating patients and trying to make our health care system strong and this is how they get rewarded.
Imagine the physcological trauma they have to go through. They were arrested for no reason whatsoever, imprisoned, tortured, they went on a hunger strike, they were released, only to be convicted and to be sent back to prison where they will probably be tortured again.
Of course the Obama administration is supposedly troubled by the sentences (forgot the exact word they used). Well if they really have a problem with the sentences then why did they just sign an arms deal with Bahrain? Oh I know – the economy sucks so they need to sell some crappy old weapons to the Khaleeji puppets that can only be used against their own population.”

*** A RUN ON THE BANKS IN ERDOGANS LAND ***

Turkish Bank Wields ‘Big Stick’ on Lira as Dollar Reserves Dwindle

October 06, 2011, 5:18 AM

http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-10-06/turkish-bank-wields-big-stick-on-lira-as-reserves-dwindle.html

Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) — Turkey’s central bank offered to sell a record amount of dollars for the second consecutive day, depleting reserves in an attempt to stem the lira’s slide.

Lira Declined

Yesterday’s Turkish sale increased the total amount of foreign reserves spent by the central bank to defend the currency to $3.97 billion since Aug. 5. During the same time, the lira has declined more than 7 percent against the dollar.

The situation leaves Turkey’s “firepower insufficient to deal with sustained capital repatriation from debt and equity markets.”

Deficit Widened

Turkey’s 12-month current-account deficit widened to a record $74.6 billion in July, or about 10 percent of gross domestic product. Basci argues a slowing economy, combined with a weaker lira, will lead to a “rapid” adjustment in the current-account gap.

*** A TOOTHLESS PAPER TIGER LOL ***

Ann,
Seems like the Turk expats are smarter than Erdogan and are giving up sending money home?

For the record, when we talk about “medias”, al-Arabiyya is owned by no else than KSA King Fahd’s brother-in-law (see: http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/10/bahrain-update-case-of-ali-al-ekri.html )
and the media owned by Hariri have regularly to renew the plead of allegiance (after all, it may be his grandfather:
http://angryarab.blogspot.com/2011/10/groveling-to-house-of-saud.html )

Mundas

Ford called your sister “mundasa” is Ah.. So cool. The words “Mundas and Mundasa” are becoming so honorable and romantic in my eyes.

Every child has a “complex disorder” or a “syndrome”. I suffer from the “youngest child disorder” and believe me you do not want it.

“Mundas”, aka Aboud,
It’s not because for once you didn’t use for favorite phrase (“facepalm”) that we don’t recognize you. Someone has posted a few days ago a number of quotes where you were calling for some posters here to be banned and wishing to some posters to be censored and banned. As one of the moderator said, you can simply go to a friend and post under another identity. So what’s the problem? Not happy with the laws you were recently advocating?

Just imagine what enforcing a buffer zone will do to turkeys fragile economy, currency and stock market.

A U.N. veto buys Bashar time to kill
By Michael Young

Thursday, 06 October 2011

…….For a brief moment, Lebanon can say that it behaved relatively courageously in comparison to Russia and China at the United Nations.

Lebanon had little choice. As the Arab representative on the council, its decision reflected the discord in the Arab world over Syria. Abstention was the logical outcome of the region’s treacherous cross-currents. However, in light of the Russia and Chinese votes against, Syria cannot have been overjoyed with the non-committal Lebanese attitude. You have to wonder if the Syrian army’s brief incursion into Arsal on the day of the voting was not, partly, a warning to Beirut.

http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/10/06/170459.html

Syrian insurrection set to gather momentum

UN failure to pass sanctions resolution against Assad’s regime has convinced some that diplomacy cannot protect them

Martin Chulov in Beirut and Ewen MacAskill in Washington
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 October 2011 19.24 BST
Article history

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/05/syrian-insurrection-un-resolution-assad?INTCMP=SRCH

UN failure to secure a resolution against Assad’s regime has led to fears of more violence Link to this video

An armed insurrection inside Syria looks set to gather momentum after the failure to pass a UN resolution against president Bashar al-Assad’s regime, according to dissidents in two key Syrian cities.

Activists from Homs and Hama, where mostly peaceful protests over the past six months have lately become more aggressive and armed, say the failure of the US effort to threaten sanctions against Syria has convinced some that diplomacy cannot protect them.

“There’s no way out of this except to fight,” said an activist from Homs. “For the people of Homs the international community are not with us and we know that for sure. Russia and China will continue to protect Assad and as long as that happens, he will hunt us down.”

Britain, France and the US are expected to seek a fresh resolution on Syria before the UN Security Council after Russia and China on Tuesday night vetoed a draft that threatened sanctions, a security council source said.

The veto by Russia, supported by China, provoked the biggest verbal explosion from the US at the UN for years, with its ambassador Susan Rice expressing “outrage” over the Moscow and Beijing move.

Rice also walked out of the security council, the first such demonstration in recent years. While walk-outs are common at the UN general assembly, they are rare in the security council.

“It will not go away,” the source said. “It will not be next week. We don’t have a date. But there are a number of ways the security council can get back to this.”

The vote was 9-2 in favour, with four abstentions: South Africa, India, Brazil and Lebanon.

Rice, who before joining the Obama administration established a reputation as an outspoken critic of the failure of the west to intervene in humanitarian crises round the world, said after the vote: “The United States is outraged that this council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge and a growing threat to regional peace and security.”

Without naming Russia and China but making it clear they were the target of her words, she said: “Let there be no doubt: this is not about military intervention. This is not about Libya. That is a cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people.”

She added: “This is about whether this council, during a time of sweeping change in the Middle East, will stand with peaceful protestors crying out for freedom – or with a regime of thugs with guns that tramples human dignity and human rights.

“We deeply regret that some members of the council have prevented us from taking a principled stand against the Syrian regime’s brutal oppression of its people.”

The resolution had been weakened considerably since the original text was circulated to the 15 security council members in early August seeking to impose sanctions.

The draft resolution on Tuesday only said the security council would “consider its options” in 30 days’ time if Assad failed to stop the violence and seek a peaceful settlement of the crisis. It said the options would include sanctions. To further water down the resolution in an attempt to make it more acceptable to Russia and China, there was no hint of military intervention.

In Homs, where government forces are routinely clashing with armed members of the opposition – many of them former soldiers who defected with their weapons – outgunned protesters are now openly seeking weapons from outside the country.

“We know that we will not see Nato jets above the skies of Damascus,” said one Homs resident. “It is us against them. No one else will help us.”

In Beirut, where aid supplies to Homs and Hama are co-ordinated, aid workers said they had been receiving more requests for weapons than for food or medicine. “Of course we can’t help with this. But it shows how much their priorities have changed.”

Tribesmen say Deir al-Zour’s sheikh is dead; activists say four Syrian soldiers are killed

Thursday, 06 October 2011

A prominent sheikh has been killed in Syria, and there is evidence that he had been tortured, said the Council of Syria’s Tribes.

Sheikh Nawaf al-Bashir, who had been missing since June 2011, was explicit in his opposition against Bashar al-Assad’s regime, and was the leader of al-Bakara, a prominent tribe..

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/06/170492.html

A non Nobel winner that changed the world died today, His name Steve Jobs.

Jobs was born in San Francisco and was adopted by the Armenian family of Paul and Clara Jobs (née Hagopian) of Mountain View, California.

Paul and Clara later adopted a daughter, Patti. Jobs’ biological parents – Abdulfattah John Jandali, a Syrian Muslim immigrant to the U.S from Homs, Syria who later became a political science professor and Joanne Schieble (later Simpson), an American graduate student of German ancestry who went on to become a speech language pathologist – eventually married.

The marriage produced Jobs’ biological sister, novelist Mona Simpson. Jandali claims that he didn’t want to put Jobs up for adoption but that Simpson’s parents did not approve of her marrying a Syrian.

@129. ann said:

‘Just imagine what enforcing a buffer zone will do to turkeys fragile economy, currency and stock market.’

Just imagine what a 7 month+ uprising would do to Syria’s fragile economy, currency and stock market?

“113. MOHAMED KANJ said:

BTW how respectful has syria comment been without that extremist ABOUD. I think Syria Comment should have a poll on whether to ban him or not. I gaurantee the majority will vote in favour of him not being allowed back on this blog”

 Of course, if you can’t debate him, SILENCE him. This is coming from someone who said the following:

112. MOHAMED KANJ said:

ABOUD – Im gonna find you a nice prostitute to calm u down and get u out of ur own weird wahhabi terrorist world. Dont worry ABOUD ill make sure she is fully veiled, but wearing a g string 
September 25th, 2011, 5:06 am

117. MOHAMED KANJ said:
ABOUD – (comment deleted for excessive profanity………………ehsani).
September 25th, 2011, 5:40 am

In addition to your other pedophiliac comments, YOU should not be allowed to post.

Syria held up pretty well not just after 7 month of militant al qaeda Islamist terrorism but american sanctions, european sanctions, japanese sanctions, western media campaign of lies, a run on the banks, arab and foreign interference, UNSC aggression, turkish hotair, etc.

Rice: US will not rest until the council meets its responsibilities.

Source:
It (UN Resolution on Syria) will not go away
It will not be next week
There are a number of ways the SC can get back to this
– Further escalation in civil unrest
– A request by the Arab leage for intervention.
_____________________________________________________________

Syria sanctions: ‘outraged’ US seeks fresh resolution after double veto blow

US envoy says America will not rest until UN security council meets its responsibilities after Russia and China veto drama

Ewen MacAskill
guardian.co.uk, Wednesday 5 October 2011 17.29 BST
Article history

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/05/syria-sanctions-us-fresh-resolution?INTCMP=SRCH

US envoy Susan Rice said Russia and China’s move had meant the security council had ‘utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge’ Link to this video
The UN security council is expected to seek a fresh resolution on Syria after Russia and China on Tuesday night vetoed a draft that threatened sanctions, a security council source said.

The veto by Russia, which was supported by China, provoked the biggest verbal explosion from the US at the UN for years, with its ambassador Susan Rice expressing “outrage” over the move by Moscow and Beijing.

Rice also walked out of the security council, the first such demonstration in recent years. While walkouts are common at the UN general assembly, they are rare in the security council.

The US, France and Britain are planning to bring a new resolution at the first opportunity.

The security council source said that similar vetoes in the past had killed off attempts to intervene in crises ranging from Zimbabwe to Georgia, but this time it was different.

“It will not go away,” the source said. “It will not be next week. We don’t have a date. But there are a number of ways the security council can get back to this.”

Further civil unrest in Syria would offer an opportunity, as would a request by the Arab League for intervention.

Diplomats at the UN cannot recall an episode during the Obama administration in which the US has been so markedly critical of Russia.

The vote was 9-2 in favour, with four abstentions: South Africa, India, Brazil and the Lebanon.

The resolution reflects the shift in US policy, which began with hopes that Bashar al-Assad, the Syrian president, might be open to negotiation. But those hopes have gradually been abandoned by all senior figures in the US foreign policy establishment.

Rice, who before joining the Obama administration established a reputation as an outspoken critic of the failure of the west to intervene in humanitarian crises round the world, said after the vote: “The United States is outraged that this council has utterly failed to address an urgent moral challenge and a growing threat to regional peace and security.”

Without naming Russia and China – but making it clear they were the target of her words – she said: “Let there be no doubt: this is not about military intervention. This is not about Libya. That is a cheap ruse by those who would rather sell arms to the Syrian regime than stand with the Syrian people.”

She added: “This is about whether this council, during a time of sweeping change in the Middle East, will stand with peaceful protesters crying out for freedom, or with a regime of thugs with guns that tramples human dignity and human rights. As matters now stand, this council will not even mandate the dispatch of human rights monitors to Syria – a grave failure that may doom the prospects for peaceful protest in the face of a regime that knows no limits.”

Rice accused Russia and China of looking the other way as attempts at a peaceful settlement have been spurned by Assad. The international community now had to bring “real consequences” to bear, she said.

“In failing to adopt the draft resolution before us, this council has squandered an opportunity to shoulder its responsibilities to the Syrian people. We deeply regret that some members of the council have prevented us from taking a principled stand against the Syrian regime’s brutal oppression of its people.”

She said the US will not rest until the council meets its responsibilities.

The resolution had been weakened considerably since the original text was circulated to the 15 security council members in early August seeking to impose sanctions.

The draft resolution on Tuesday only said the security council would “consider its options” in 30 days’ time if Assad failed to stop the violence, and would seek a peaceful settlement of the crisis. It said the options would include sanctions. To further water down the resolution in an attempt to make it more acceptable to Russia and China, there was no hint of military intervention.

As well as expressing outrage over the veto, Rice walked out of the security council when Syria, exercising its right to speak, accused the US of backing genocide against the Palestinians.

The Russian ambassador to the UN, Vitaly Churkin, insisted Moscow did not support Assad, and opposed the resolution because it was confrontational, amounting to an ultimatum on sanctions.

Russia is still smarting from the way the US, Britain and France used a UN resolution on Libya as cover for intervention on scale that Moscow insists the resolution never envisaged.

The British ambassador to the UN, Mark Lyall Grant, said the draft resolution contained nothing any member of the council should have felt a need to oppose.

“Yet two members chose to veto. It will be a deep disappointment to the people of Syria and to the wider region,” he said.

111. ANTOINE

You’re not totally right. I believe that ever since the Ba’ath came to power, its followers Implemented exclusionary policies to monopolize power. Assad took that practice to another level. Urbanites contributed to this practice by not staying involved clearing the way for our present oppressors to get entrenched.

Dear Mundas,
Thank you so much for expressing so eloquently what many of us feel about this regime. In my view, this whole issue can be boiled down to two simple questions:
1- Do you want stability and peace at the expense of freedom, progress and human rights?
2- Are you willing to forego stability and peace when you have no concrete evidence that the alternative will be better?

Those who oppose the regime believe that the country has zero chances of progress when ruled by the current regime, since the regime’s sole goal is the enrichment of its members and not the betterment of the country. They see that toppling this regime will at least give Syria a chance.
Those who support the regime feel that this is a risk they can not afford to take. They still have the hope that this regime will work on improving the country and they do not believe that the country is actually in decline and has been in decline ever since this regime took power.

I think both positions are legitimate. It is the difference between risk takers and risk averse humans. It also reflects the difference between those who understand the potential for progress and those who don’t. But at the end of the day, both positions accept the fact that this regime is corrupt to the bone. Those arguing otherwise are either members of the regime or directly benefiting from the regime.

The Syrian Revolution 2011 الثورة السورية ضد بشار الاسد
الشبيحة يطالبون بحظر جوي في سورية كي تتوقف المظاهرات الطيارة.

Veteran activist Riyadh AlTurk addresses the Syrian Nation.
He welcomes the formation and expresses his suupport of the National Council of Syria.

أوغاريت كلمة المعارض رياض ترك إلى الشعب السوري بمناسبة المجلس الوطني السوري

Dear #57. Louai,
I am assuming you are asking me about the Syrian regime not expelling Mr. Ford and not why the US government is not expelling Mr. Mustafa.
I am not a political scientist and can not claim to know the answer to either question. In my view, it is obvious that neither country wants to obliterate the diplomatic channels between them, as either one will risk retaliation if the other took the first step. What is behind the desire to keep the channels open, is anyone’s guess. The decision making process of the Syrian regime has been quite interesting but understandable with the premise that dictators are usually surrounded by “yes” men and women therefore their decision making mechanism is flawed, in addition to the fact that the regime is under a lot of pressure that can result in rash decisions. At this point, it could be just the simple fact that they do not want to be completely isolated from the rest of the world. On the US side, it is hard to tell. There is no question that Mr. Ford is not just the champion of the Syrian people and is out there doing “the right thing”. Mr. Ford is not on a humanitarian mission. He is the representative of the US government, who happens to have strategic interests in Syria, mostly because of the US interests in Israel and Iraq. There is no question that the CIA is already active in Syria. There is no question that other intelligence agencies are also active in Syria. So, the decision to keep Mr. Ford there seems to be to coordinate all these efforts.
This is my personal opinion.
BTW, I know you are not really interested in my view and I fully understand your attempt, but I do not like to play games.

Terrorist let down by SC

Shame on Russia and china to let these peaceful angels down

What does “Mundas” mean?

“128. MINA said:

“Mundas”, aka Aboud,”

I’m honored you would compare me to Aboud. Believe me I don’t have his patience. I love the guy. He kept me sane patiently answering your misguided thoughts and opinions. I have to admit his English is a little better than mine.
I normally wouldn’t debate people like you. What’s there to debate? There’s a mountain of evidence against your beloved bandit that you choose to ignore. Who has the torture basements? Who implemented the dumbest economic policies? They have destroyed every aspect of life in syria.

If you loved your country, you’d ask for a change. Again, offer an exchange of your foreign citizenship, you’ll have 23 million takers.

Arabs are chained to their hate.
I couldn’t have said it better.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j1N1zhUm84w
.

Ann,

“Mundas,,, Infiltrator, spy, works for the other side,

“145. ANN said:

What does “Mundas” mean?”

Your Besho’s worst nightmare…..

Thank you Norman

Syrian unrest choking tourism to Lebanon: minister – 8 minutes ago

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/44801233/ns/travel/

BEIRUT — The number of Arab tourists who drive into Lebanon is down by 90 percent this year after months of political unrest in Syria, the only neighboring country with an open border into Lebanon, its tourism minister said on Thursday.

Fadi Abboud said: “600,000 Arab tourists normally drive through Syria (into Lebanon) every year … 90 percent of all overland arrivals have been lost in 2011.”

Overland arrivals through Syrian border crossings account for about a quarter of tourist arrivals to Lebanon, which has long promoted itself as a diverse country boasting Roman ruins, limestone caves, ski resorts, beaches and a vibrant night life.

Tourists from the Gulf, Jordan and Iraq usually drive through Syria to get to Lebanon, but the escalation of violence in Syria since anti-government demonstrations began in March has slowed the flow.

Some 2,900 civilians have been killed in Syria in a military crackdown against protesters aiming to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad, according to the U.N. human rights office.

The U.N. World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) says tourism revenues in Lebanon were down 20 percent in the first six months of 2011. Tourism accounts for 22 percent of GDP.

Abboud added Western tourists had shied away from the Middle East due to the “Arab spring” unrest.

But he said he believed Lebanon’s tourism sector could weather the storm.

“The main percentage of tourists coming to Lebanon are the jet setters and playboys of the Middle East … who come for the night life and cuisine,” he said. “They come into Lebanon through the airport and so they are not affected.”

ريما فليحان : بشار يريد أن يحكم ابنه ابنائي
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=34640

Amir

In regard to our previous exchange about the land’s ownership. I think the first step towards a just peace and conflict resolution is deep understanding of the others’ psych and position.

#142 Sheila

I agree with you. In addition, if Syria throws out Heckle Ford, they will be accused of hiding even more the truth as already, despite the numerous journalists who visited Syria, including the “friendly” BBC, the media keep repeating that all media are banned in Syria.
I think ALL ambassadors, except some arabs are in Damascus and they are a good source of information.
The return of the Japanese and Italian ambassador to Damascus has not been announced with the same media bzaazz than when they left. It was totally ignored.

Is the media ignoring that Heckle’s Facebook is the best documented and biased reporting of the situation in Syria as he and his CIA agents are sneaking everywhere with total immunity ( not of tomatoes though)?
Now that he got his long waited confirmation from GOP senat, will have to present his letters of credit to Bashar Al Assad? I’d like to see that. If it happens, I guess the western media will just skip it.

الأسد ما يزال في السلطة بعد أكثر من ستة أشهر على الانتفاضة السورية (الجزيرة)

الخميس 9/11/1432 هـ – الموافق 6/10/2011 م (مكة المكرمة)، 13:22 (غرينتش)

http://www.aljazeera.net/NR/exeres/8E03403D-1A88-4770-BE7B-B64DDD58304A.htm?GoogleStatID=9

قالت صحيفة كريستيان ساينس مونيتور الأميركية إن عمر الانتفاضة السورية الآن أكثر من ستة أشهر، قتل خلالها أكثر من 2700 شخص على يد قوات النظام، وما يزال الرئيس بشار الأسد على رأس السلطة.

سبب بقاء الأسد في السلطة يعود إلى وجود عدة محاور دعم له داخل البلاد، بالإضافة إلى دعم حليف دولي مهم.

وتلخص الصحيفة تلك المحاور كالآتي:

أولا: رجال الأعمال

تقول الصحيفة أن رجال الأعمال الكبار في العاصمة السورية دمشق ومدينة حلب قد وقفوا إلى الآن إلى جانب النظام، خشية من ضياع ثرواتهم وأعمالهم المرتبطة أصلا بالنظام السوري.

الصناعيون السوريون الكبار بضمنهم قطب الصناعة السوري وابن خال الرئيس الأسد رامي مخلوف ما يزالون يتحكمون بمرافق البلاد الاقتصادية.

وبشكل عام، فإن رجال العمال على اختلاف نشاطاتهم يسعون إلى تحقيق الأرباح لأنه مرتبط بالاستقرار.

ثانيا: الطائفة العلوية

ينتمي الرئيس الأسد إلى الطائفة العلوية التي تشكل أقلية في سوريا تبلغ نسبتها 12% فقط، ولكنهم يسيطرون على الحكومة والجيش وقوات الأمن الأمر الذي يمنحهم سلطة سيفقدونها إذا ما سقط نظام الأسد.

من جهة أخرى يشكل السنة 74% من سكان سوريا، ولطالما رزحوا تحت حكم العلويين. ومن جهة أخرى، يخشى الكثير من العلويين من التعرض للانتقام إذا ما أزيح الأسد عن السلطة وجاء حكام سُنة.

ثالثا: المسيحيون والأقلية الكردية

استطاع النظام السوري أن يقنع الأقليات المسيحية والكردية في سوريا بأنهم سيتعرضون إلى نفس المصير الذي آلت إليه الأقليات المشابهة لهم في العراق، بعد إزاحة صدام حسين وعدم وجود حاكم قوي في العراق.

يُذكر أن المسيحيين العراقيين تعرضوا لعمليات قمع بعد الاجتياح الأميركي للعراق عام 2003، أدت إلى هجرة نصفهم إلى خارج العراق طلبا للأمن.

وتكمل الصحيفة، صحيح أن المسلمين العراقيين تعرضوا لمخاطر واضطهاد مشابه وربما أكبر من ذاك الذي تعرض له المسيحيون العراقيون، إلا أن صغر حجم الطائفة المسيحية في العراق جعلت الذين تعرضوا منهم للاضطهاد والتهجير يشكلون نسبة كبيرة من الطائفة ككل.

رابعا: روسيا
أقامت روسيا الدنيا ولم تقعدها عندما استخدمت حق النقض (فيتو) في مجلس الأمن يوم أمس لمنع قرار ضد نظام الرئيس الأسد.

ورغم أن الكثير من المراقبين اعتبروا أن الدعم الروسي استند إلى دوافع اقتصادية، فإن الصحيفة ترى أن روسيا هي نفسها بلد قلق من الاضطرابات الداخلية الناتجة عن التنوع العرقي بين سكانها، وأن تأييدها للنظام السوري نابع من مبدأ فلسفي.

لكن مع ذلك تبقى حقيقة أن روسيا تمتلك علاقات تجارية مع سوريا تبلغ حوالي عشرين مليار دولار ولديها مصلحة قوية في بقاء النظام الحالي.

المصدر: كريستيان ساينس مونيتور

#137 Revlon

From Susan Rice’s angry reaction, it does look that the Veto was a strong slap on the face of the US and a humiliating experience for a country that always has its way even in starting wars with fabricated motives.

Of course they will retaliate… as they always do, flexing their tired muscles and using what they are only good at: financial sanctions and military threats.

To Ann @ 145,
So you know what Hamir means, but you have no idea what Mundas means?. Very interesting. I guess it is a good reflection of who you really are.

Bronco

I am so jealous. Can you find anything that I have written in the past( except for Mr. Ford) that you agree with me on?!

I am glad you did not disappear. The moment I like a regime supporter, he or she disappears from SC- I was thinking I should start liking Bashar al Assad. May be he would then resign and avert us all the pain.

To id Shaila @ 157

LONELY?

mina,
oh now i understand.
i thought you meant the demonstrators in syria were mobilized from lebanon and iraq.
well, i doubt thats the case mina,
in lebanon people can only demonstrate against the regime in tripoli, since the ssnp beats the demonstrators up in beirut.
furthermore i saw demonstrations in midan, mhajreen, zabadani.
we saw demonstrations in hama, homs ,aleppo and damascus near some distinguished land marks that confirms they were in syria.
for reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HDiAeP1pxx4 obviously in hama
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K4sRv_jGzBo obviously in homs
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0a2KXuqkKuA&feature=related obviously in aleppo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw_C_sfttaY obviously under the bridge in midan, damascus( dont look too hard, you might see me)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hHqqeIOEJvU obviously in dar3a
now ofcourse all this wouldnt matter if you believed this piece of Pulitzer winning news
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fk69_H9EMEU
————————————————————–
don’t be sad because steve jobs is dead, i have a feeling adounia will revive him, shoot an interview with steve displaying his ID on an Ipad,while he blames his pancreatic cancer on “foreign agents and conspirators”.

#125 Ann Ref: Turkey ‘zero problems’ policy failure

Just wait when the pro-Israel US financial lobbies start the real economical attacks on Turkey!

Problems are accumulating for the ‘most succesful’ country in the area.

– Escalating war against the PKK in Iraq and South east Turkey
– Increasing war of words with Israel
– Tensions with the EU about Cyprus and the gas fields
– Tensions with Syria now that a Syrian military rebel wants to build an army in Turkey to attack Syria
– Erosion of the Turkish Lira
– Potential loss of business in Syria and transit to arab countries
– Increased debt level
– Emerging antagonism from Arab leaders because of Erdogan’s pretention of leading the Arab spring.

No doubt Erdogan is becoming increasingly irritable and bully.

A frog that thought it was a bull.

اهلا مندس
Aboud is here somewhere in one way,or one name,or the other, and I personally had no problem with him except his periodic rage fits and sharp tongue.I prefer him over the less articulate and the more confused thawrajiyeh here.
http://www.syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=138218
The US used the veto more than 50 times mostly to support Israel,Hillary is wrong on this one.
Tara,that was really funny,please do not like me.

Tara

I have the same thing for Heckle Ford that you have for Bashar. I just can’t stop looking for more bad things to say about Heckle and more dire predictions that unfortunately do not materialize the same way yours don’t about Bashar.

Fortunately I know that Heckle has a time limit in Syria, while, from the way the situation is going in Syria, I think you’ll have Bashar for a long time to come. Save your breath.

The Erdogan Experiment

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/05/11/magazine/the-erdogan-experiment.html?pagewanted=all&src=pm

His father, according to a biography, was an authoritarian with a temper that could be tamed best by Erdogan’s kissing his shoes. Once, Erdogan’s father punished him for using bad language by hanging him from the ceiling by the arms. ”After that day, I never swore again,” Erdogan said.

Sheila #157

“I guess it is a good reflection of who you really are.”

Do you realize that this sentence tells a lot more about who YOU are?

Sheila #157
It was a very good comment, but I thought Bashar shot them all.

#164 Ann
Thanks, very interesting and subtly ironical (written by a NYT Jewish reporter)

Now we know better why he has all this anger within him! Not a serene personality, for sure.

139. SHEILA said:

 Sheila,
I’m now in a very beautiful city, but I’m enjoying this more. I envy you guys. You get to do this every day.

Let me start by mentioning those who call for and cheer the killing of their fellow Syrians. Those are killers and an accomplice in what’s happening to Syrians. There’s nothing to debate with them, because we’re not debating a tax law or abortion, etc…

As far as the two options you indicated, I say both are (unintentionally) put forward using the regime’s perspective. That’s what they’ve been promoting.
 I believe There’s a price that has to be paid. There are a lot of people that are willing to pay that price. I’m not talking about people like you and me. We can go to any place or eat any food we want. But there are people who barely make ends meet in addition to the abuse they get. As an example, I get treated with respect most of the time when I drive my car thru a check point, which is not the case with people on buses according to my employees. 
They have turned the country into a country of beggars. You see it as soon as you arrive at Damascus airport and you live it everyday in Syria. 
One of my employees told me recently that a lot of people (maybe it’s his opinion) say “I want NATO to start bombing, and they can start with my house”. 
I say, I will GLADLY point out the presidential palace, every mukhabarat and Division 4 site. علينا و على أعدائنإ. This government and its mukhabarat were not structured to protect us, but to oppress us.
With these thugs, we know their history and where we’re going. “Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it”, the regime never learned from its decisions. You know what drives their decision making process.

Give us a government like the US government and I will not ask for NATO.

Also, I would like to say that stability is NOT law and order. You have stability in North Korea and Cuba. What we have is “our neck is very stable under their foot” . The regime uses “stability” to scare us into accepting the status quo or even worse. And we did. They tried to use the Chinese model which is not applicable to Syria. Education and discipline are two things that come to mind that China has and we don’t. 

Lastly, all I can say is that when you have law and order, you will have stability, prosperity, and peace

To every Mabenhbak(except kaled the terrorist)

heres new info regarding the green buses the regime uses to transport the shabeeha
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15196524
to all PLEASE watch the VITAL video on the link provided, especially AREAL , remember the green buses you said were used civilian transport, well you were right!, they transport civilians to prisons!

As anti-government protests rock Syria, the BBC’s Lyse Doucet was granted rare access to the country. She visited the Damascus suburb of Douma, one of the few places in the capital the protests have reached.

Soldiers stand guard at sandbagged checkpoints. The army’s green buses are lined up near the main approach, ready to move if troops are called out.

As soon as we cross the first checkpoint with our government minder, we spot more soldiers with light machine guns. In their camouflage khaki they are all but hidden in a dusty olive grove.

We had asked the government for permission to visit this neighbourhood – the first in Damascus where Syrians had taken to the streets after protests erupted in the southern town of Deraa in March.

There have been reports of demonstrations in Douma almost every day since then.
Ghost town

We ended up making up two trips to this neighbourhood.
Continue reading the main story
“Start Quote

It’s very bad, the government is shooting and killing people”

End Quote Douma resident

On our first visit, a group of men described as our escorts hurried us along, refusing every request to film or record.

We asked to stop at a market, a mosque, any place where people gather.

Instead, we were taken to a petrol station and a traffic roundabout. Both were virtually deserted. From what we were able to see, Douma was like a ghost town.

We protested to our escorts that we were being told to leave without speaking to a single resident. We received apologies and a warning we could be attacked by “terrorists”.

We complained to the government and were given permission to visit again.

Syrian officials told us a bomb had been discovered on the roadside next to a main Douma roundabout. Three security officials were reportedly killed when they tried to defuse it.

The government insists most protesters belong to armed gangs.
BBC cameraman filming spot where government said bomb killed three security personnel A possible bloodstain where officials say a bomb killed security troops, but no damage to the tree

We stopped at the spot where dark blotches, said to be blood, marked the cement. But a small palm tree planted there still swayed in the gentle breeze. Only a few fronds were creased.

One man drove up on a motorcycle, saying in Arabic: “I don’t know, I don’t know.” He pointed to his ears to indicate he hadn’t heard an explosion.

A crowd quickly formed. There was confusion over what may have happened here.

I asked our government minder how a bomb powerful enough to kill three people, and wound a few passersby, could leave the tree intact.

“Palm trees are special,” he offered, searching for the right words. “It can lean with air and shocks, and then stand back again.”
Separated

As crowds grew around us, so did the presence of men in shell suits shadowing us, talking on telephones, listening in.
Still from unverified activist video purportedly showing protest in Douma – 16 September 2011 Douma was the first area of Damascus to see protests after they began in March

But unlike other neighbourhoods we had visited in Damascus, this did not stop people from speaking their mind.

“My 18-year-old son has been detained,” said one man who made his way through the crowd to talk to us.

“We were leaving the mosque, and there was a demonstration outside,” he explained, hiding neither his face nor his anger.

“We weren’t at the protest, but they started shooting toward us. We were separated, and I saw my son being dragged away.”

I asked him why he had decided to tell us his story. “I’m afraid now, ” he admitted. “But I’ve told you my story. What will happen, will happen.”

I asked one student about the situation. “It’s good,” he replied.

Another young man interrupted him: “It’s very bad, the government is shooting and killing people.”
Impromptu demonstration

We moved down the street toward the main mosque.
Video image from Lyse Doucet report on Douma Unlike in other Damascus neighbourhoods, people in Douma spoke their minds to Lyse Doucet

Young men immediately surround us. Within minutes, they’re chanting: “Freedom! Freedom!” And: “Down with the regime!”

Waving their mobile phones in the air, they shout: “The camera is our weapon.”

No sooner does this impromptu protest start than we see military buses moving down the street towards the crowds.

We are told we have to leave.

We linger, wanting to see how this looming confrontation unfolds, but are warned we should leave “for the sake of our safety”.

The protesters keep chanting. Some young boys tell us the soldiers will soon open fire.

One man slips us a computer memory stick before we drive off.
World apart

As we pass the roundabout again, we see it is now flooded with soldiers.

Later, we look at the contents of the memory stick and find grainy footage of clashes.

A narrator says it is from Douma, filmed in August and early September. Soldiers are shown opening fire on protesters and picking up bullet cases from the street to hide the evidence.

We can not verify this footage. Even our two trips to Douma with the government made it hard to establish what was really happening there, day in and day out.

But we saw enough to know this Damascus suburb is a changed place, and will never be the same.

Douma is a short drive on the highway heading south from the centre of Damascus. But it looks and feels like a world apart.
————————————————————–
hehehe snk, you remind me of the days i would wake up early and take the bus to school, the bus driver would blast feyrouz while drinking dark sweet tea. its a damascene tradition . are you from damascus?

Ann
Mundass means a good person,a helpful guy

Dear Mundas,
You said:
“What we have is “our neck is very stable under their foot””. How true is this statement.
I go to Syria every year to visit my family. I am always asked by my friends and relatives the same question: “can you see the country’s progress?”. Unfortunately, I could only see its decline. I think the concept of progress in Syria is quite shallow. It involves things like new malls and cafes, latest in gadgets, and girls wearing tighter than humanly tolerable jeans. The concept of your government working for you, is no longer something Syrians fathom.
I feel sorry for all those who struggle to make ends meet and they are rapidly increasing in numbers; I feel disgust at the loss of moral standards reflected in so many things, but highlighted in how rich Syrians treat their foreign domestic help; I feel despair when I debate people back home who are supposed to be highly educated and discover how shallow their education and thought process are and finally I feel anger that a country with so much potential like Syria, is where it is today, at the bottom of the totem pole.

محمود درويش و الوطن

01- جبين وغضب

وطني ! يا أيها النسر الذي يغمد منقار اللهب

في عيوني ،

أين تاريخ العرب ؟

كل ما أملكه في حضرة الموت :

جبين وغضب.

وأنا أوصيت أن يزرع قلبي شجره

وجبيني منزلا للقبّرة.

وطني، إنّا ولدنا وكبرنا بجراحك

وأكلنا شجر البلّوط ..

كي نشهد ميلاد صباحك

أيها النسر الذي يرسف في الأغلال من دون سبب

أيها الموت الخرافي الذي كان يحب

لم يزل منقارك الأحمر في عينيّ

سيفا من لهب ..

وأنا لست جديرا بجناحك

كل ما أملكه في حضرة الموت :

جبين .. وغضب !

To #169. Syria no Kandahar,
Thank you. That was a lovely song. Yes, SNK, we also love Syria very much, except we see things differently from you.
Thanks again for bringing back good memories.

NATO is supposed to protect civilians, but which civilians? the anti-Qaddafi or the pro-Qaddafi? It was not specified in the UNSC resolution.
Where is the count of the pro-qaddafi civilian deaths, quietly ignored? Where is the UN human rights when horrors are going on in Sirte and the press is supposed to be present?

No, the UN human rights, after the slap of the US got with the UN is rushing to have another urgent meeting of the HW to discuss .. Syria again.

While in Sirte, Nato is shamelessly killing with bombs, starving and destituted civilians who have no place to hide.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/10/06/us-libya-idUSL5E7KT4YC20111006

“Hajj Abdullah, in his late 50s, was at a Red Cross post on the edge of Sirte where food was being handed out. He said he had just escaped the city.

“My 11 year old died from the NATO rockets … I buried him where he died,” because it was too dangerous to go to the cemetery, he said. “There are random strikes in the city. People are dying in their houses.”

He said many civilians were unable to leave. “If someone doesn’t have petrol and has small kids, what does he do? … The ones who stayed behind are the poor and the weak.”

A NATO spokesman on Wednesday said the alliance’s warplanes had not made any strikes on Sirte since last weekend, and that they were doing everything possible to protect civilians.

But that message had not reached angry residents. “NATO is the one who hit the innocent. We will never forgive them,” said a 23-year-old from Sirte called Mohammed.t

Bronco

I had a similar cause to you in the past but the cause has now changed. The change happened when the brutality hit us close and hard. It became up close and personal for me to the extent all my other “causes” ceased to exist. As you said, your “passion” is similar to mine and that what made me like you. I understand your passion. Unfortunately, I see yours, you can’t bring yourself to see mine and therefore I perhaps becomes a “villain” in your eyes.

Did I tell you, I have sort of a six sense? Bashar destiny is sealed. It is not imminent but it is sealed.

Dr Majed
All the Hamir are not gon yet,we have many around(from all sides).in futut democratic Syria
When you go back you can employee your friend in this clip to help you in your surgeries.

More lies from the \”revolutionaries\”: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oct/05/syria-attack-media-beheaded-girl

What else will turn out to have been outrageous lies? Please put it on the main page, word needs to get out.

Gadaffi-viagra and abducted gay girls, what the hell is next from these people?

I feel despair when I debate people back home who are supposed to be highly educated and discover how shallow their education and thought process are and finally I feel anger that a country with so much potential like Syria, is where it is today, at the bottom of the totem pole.

Sheila,

Hopefully the Arab Spring will correct that. Do you have any feeling as to how long it will take? What are the opposition groups doing to get the international community involved? What can they do to speed up the process?

حسن عبد العظيم
ما موقف هيئة التنسيق الوطنية لقوى التغيير الديموقراطي من تشكيل المجلس الوطني السوري الذي يضم ثمانين بالمئة من المعارضة السورية؟
– ليس المهم نسبة المعارضة الممثلة في المجلس الوطني السوري، فالهيئة الوطنية لقوى التغيير تضم في صفوفها ثمانين بالمئة من المعارضة السورية وهي تمثل 16 حزباً من الأحزاب القومية والكردية والشخصيات المستقلة. وأعتقد أن خطوة تشكيل المجلس الوطني متسرعة وكان لا بد قبل الاقدام عليها من متابعة الحوار المشترك من أجل الخروج بمجلس وطني واحد، خصوصاً أنه لم يضم في صفوفه التيار القومي والشخصيات الوطنية المستقلة واقتصر على حركة الاخوان والتيار الليبرالي. واتمنى ألا يمهد هذا المجلس للتدخل العسكري الخارجي.
لكن المجلس الوطني السوري لم يطالب بالتدخل الخارجي إنما طالب بحماية المدنيين السوريين بالطرق السلمية. ما ردكم على ذلك؟
– نحن نتفق معهم على حماية المدنيين السوريين وعلى تأمين مراقبة مدنية من الأمم المتحدة لحماية الشباب من القتل لكننا في المقابل نتخوف من أي تدخل عسكري وخصوصاً أن بعض الأصوات تطالب بذلك، وفي رأينا أن التدخل العسكري أخطر من الاستبداد.
السفير الأميركي في سورية روبرت فورد تعرض خلال زيارتك لهجوم من عناصر قيل إنها موالية للنظام. كيف تفسر ذلك؟ وما هي أبرز النقاط التي ناقشتها مع السفير الأميركي؟
– قبل دخول السفير الأميركي الى مكتبي تعرض لهجوم من فرقة الشبيحة، والنقاش بيني وبينه دار في جو عاصف، وقلت له اننا نرفض التدخل العسكري وأكد ليّ أن المجتمع الدولي ليس بوارد شن أي حملة عسكرية على سورية كما حدث في ليبيا.
ما زالت روسيا حتى اللحظة متمسكة بدعم النظام السوري وتعرقل صدور قرار عن مجلس الأمن يدين العنف الذي يُرتكب بحق المدنيين. لماذا يتمسك الروس بموقفهم؟
– روسيا لديها مصالح في سورية وهي تحاول تأمين اكبر قدر ممكن من التوازن الأقليمي مقابل الدول الغربية، ونأمل من القيادة الروسية دعم الشعب السوري والوقوف الى جانبه.
يرى البعض أن النظام قد يستعمل الملف الطائفي للبقاء في السلطة. هل تعتقد أن الظروف التي تمر بها سورية اليوم تساعد على تعزيز هذا الخيار؟
– كل المحاولات لجر البلد نحو الطائفية فشلت. الشعب السوري متمسك بالوحدة الوطنية وبسلمية الانتفاضة.
هل تتخوف من تسليح الحركة الاحتجاجية؟
– طبعاً نتخوف من هذا السيناريو الذي يسعى اليه النظام، وإذا تم تسليح الثوار فإن هذا الأمر سيؤدي الى كارثة حقيقية، وما دامت السلطة متمسكة بالخيار الأمني فإن البلاد مفتوحة على كل الاحتمالات، ونحن في هيئة التنسيق بالشراكة مع بقية الاحزاب والشخصيات المستقلة ندعو الى الحفاظ على سلمية الثورة وتجنب أي تدخل عسكري كما حدث في ليبيا.

Some links to european medias:

Germanys reponse to the Syrian speach at UNSC:
Deutschland bestellt syrischen Botschafter ins Auswärtigen Amt ein
http://www.sueddeutsche.de/politik/nach-eklat-bei-der-un-deutschland-bestellt-syrischen-botschafter-ein-1.1156369
http://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/0,1518,790280,00.html

An other reaction to the UN vote:
http://souriahouria.com/2011/10/06/halte-a-la-terreur-detat-du-regime-el-assad-solidarite-avec-le-peuple-syrien-5102011/

Rafiq Shami is a well known Syrian author in Germany, often giving interviews now:
http://www.nzz.ch/nachrichten/politik/international/interview_rafik_schami_1.12851636.html

An other inside-story:
http://blog.goethe.de/transit/archives/284-Lieber-Haft-oder-Exil.html#extended

zainab al hosni cont:

Zainab al-Hosni, the “Flower of Syria,” Alive and on TV: Will Human Rights Organizations and Mass Media Issue Corrections?

by Yoshie Furuhashi

Zainab al-Hosni, dubbed the “Flower of Syria,” who the Syrian opposition claimed was tortured and murdered, burned and decapitated, by the Syrian government, has just appeared on Syrian TV, very much alive. Here is the video of the TV interview with Zainab, who says she fled from her family home because her brothers were beating her:

The case of opposition propaganda about Zainab al-Hosni is particularly noteworthy because this is one that Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, the most influential human rights organizations, both eagerly seized upon, seeking to turn its sensationalist character into a spur to prod the UN Security Council to act against Syria.

Will AI and HRW, and mass media such as CNN, France24, and the Associated Press, which followed the human rights organizations and also uncritically promulgated the Syrian opposition claim, issue corrections? Or will they continue looking for a new Syrian opposition remake of Kuwait’s “incubator babies” story or the Libyan rebels’ “African mercenaries” story?

http://mrzine.monthlyreview.org/2011/furuhashi041011.html

lying is in their blood. this is what the zionists and the zionized west do – lie, lie, lie. sometimes with good cheer. lying makes ’em happy. not as much as stealing and killing but a close 3rd.

Agatha, this is a very important message by Rafic Shami:
It’s wrong and politically stupid to encourage an armed struggle, it will be suicidal!

“Können diese Desertionen von Armeeangehörigen zur Gefahr für die Zivilbevölkerung werden?
Das ist die Kehrseite der Medaille: Viele dieser Deserteure rufen zum bewaffneten Kampf gegen das Regime auf. Und das ist nicht nur falsch und politisch dumm, sondern lebensgefährlich. Denn es gibt dem Regime die Legitimation zum Einsatz seiner hochgerüsteten Spezialeinheiten. Die verstreuten Gruppen und Grüppchen von Deserteuren werden vernichtet und ermöglichen damit dem Herrscher einen billigen Sieg. Wir haben das in der Stadt ar-Rastan gesehen, die von Spezialeinheiten zerstört worden ist. Das könnte der erste Schritt Richtung Bürgerkrieg sein, und das wäre eine Katastrophe für Syrien.”

(via aletho news) Truth and Falsehood in/re Syria By Jeremy Salt – Ankara

http://www.palestinechronicle.com/view_article_details.php?id=17159

excerpt:

12. In Syria the same media has followed the same pattern of misreporting and disinformation. It has ignored or skated over the evidence of widespread killings by armed gangs. It has invited its audience to disbelieve the claims of government and believe the claims of rebels, often made in the name of human rights organisations based in Europe or the US. Numerous outright lies have been told, as they were told in Libya and as they were told ahead of the attack on Iraq. Some at least have been exposed. People said to have been killed by state security forces have turned up alive. The brothers of Zainab al Husni claimed she has been kidnapped by security forces, murdered and her body dismembered. This lurid account, spread by Al Jazeera and Al Arabiyya amongst other outlets, was totally false. She is still alive although now, of course, the propaganda tack is to claim that this is not really her but a double. Al Jazeera, the Guardian and the BBC have distinguished themselves by their blind support of anything that discredits the Syrian government. The same line is being followed by the mainstream media in the US. Al Jazeera, in particular, having distinguished itself with its reporting of the Egyptian revolution, has lost all credibility as an independent Arab world news channel.

pay ’em to lie they lie. read the cubicle jewmates that post here.

Tara

A ‘villain’ no, I have no such judgment, I would say “naively idealistic”. Of course I understand ideals but I don’t get into the illusion that it can be achieved by having the US and Europe intervene. Their history of manipulation and their responsibility in massive crimes ( holocaust and much more recent ones) is far greater than anything the present Syrian government has ever done.

Therefore I just don’t trust their ‘human rights and freedom’ motives and I regret that the local opposition in Syria has not been able to get the message through to the government early enough that they would “negotiate” not “dialog” to avoid the destiny of Libya where there is an estimation of 50,000 death and it still going on quietly and hypocritically in Sirte (read my other post).
Now we cry for 3,000 Syrians dead, yet if the military rebels supported by Turkey, the US and EU are able to create an army, you are on for 10 times this number, plus the irreparable break of the social fabric of the country that has already started to have its toll. Who is cold and idealistic enough to take that chance?
Now that Russia is pressing Bashar in the hardest way and calling on the local opposition to negotiate, it is a unique chance to avoid the disaster.
I hope the opposition in Syria with the help of Russia are able to proceed this way as it is the only way out.

You have a sixth sense? Yes Bashar will leave but after his term as a president if he is not re-elected again.

Thank you Tara and Sheila @#23 #26 and others who are with the revolution and do not envisage a country along the lines of #14

And please don’t forget that many, many atheists 🙂 are against the ASsadist Mafia And Associates.

Must admit that sometimes I am forced to wonder if people like Khaled Tlass are actually regime infiltrators trying very hard to besmirch the image of the revolution by posting sectarian drivel like #14

Sorry, Khaled, but I’m not with you there, akhi

Regarding the story posted in #132. (The chief of the Baqqara tribe died under torture.)

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2011/10/06/170492.html

I read elsewhere:

If this news is true, Aleppo will not be sleeping anymore. There is a large part of the baqqara tribe living in Aleppo if I am not wrong.

Thank you Tara and Sheila @#23 #26 and others who are with the revolution but do not envisage a country along the lines of #14

Also please don’t forget that many, many atheists 🙂 are against the ASsadist Mafia And Associates.

Must admit that sometimes I am forced to wonder if people like Khaled Tlass are actually regime infiltrators trying very hard to besmirch the image of the revolution by posting sectarian drivel like #14

Sorry, Khaled, but I’m not with you there, akhi

#182 5 dancing

There is a saying: “Lie, Lie, there is always something that will remain of it” . It is technique widely used by Israel and many zionists media
Just remember the NYT lies about Iraq, the accusation that Iraq was involved in 9/11 that most American still believe…

The regime was hoping that the Arab Spring wouldn’t affect Syria. Instead it finds itself in deep trouble 7 months into an uprising with no end in sight.

Before the eyes of the world it is having to suppress peaceful protests as well as deal with the increasing international pressure. On the other hand it is now facing a growing number defectors fighting back. On top of this it is desperately trying to maintain the economy which is under severe stress.

Having lost friends and increasingly isolated, the regime is trying to save itself from collapse.

Yet the deluded regime supporters claim the revoloution is failing.

Many people have before wondered whether I’m a regime infiltrator….well I have only one thing to say, the regime is ALREADY trying to besmirch the revolution as sectarian, it has been trying from Day 1. I’m just an over-passionate guy, you can suspect me all you want, but Allah knows what I am. I am just very, very, very ANGRY. The regime has made this sectarin, now we should finish it. They kidnapped Burhan Ghalioun’s niece in Homs, do you now how she was freed ? By a revenge kidnapping of 3 Alawi women. This is the only way to deal with these thugs.

I’m not sure if the sound is authentic or if it is true but the conversation reveal some information about fabricating stories, using arms and destroying the mosque’s minaret for publicity:

عبد الله أبازيد شاهد عيان القنوات هو وراء تدمير المأذن
http://youtu.be/rJkpC3xkYPI

Thanks for the explanation Antoine, its plausible. What I am irritated by Sunnis is that they would prefer wheeling-dealing rather than pick up arms, the only ones willing to take up arms are the Salafis, it is because of the peaceful nature of Syrian Sunnis that we have been oppressed for so long, we all want to do business and earn more money rather than join the Army and destroy the system from within. ( like the Lebanese Shia did to the Lebanese system).

Mundas, are you really Syrain Shia ? Can you tell me why the Lebanese Shia ( except a handful of exceptions) are mostly pro-Bashar ?

Khalid Tlass

Just want to reiterate that I no longer think you are an infiltrator and I also do not believe you mean what you say because I understand the amount of anger you feel. I am deeply sorry that I thought you were one.

172. SHEILA said:

Dear Sheila,

That statement is very true. Like father like son. I said a long time ago that it was the same book, but different cover. If somebody wanted a proof, the last 7 months prove it. Has the regime’s structure changed since SR died? No.

I have gone thru and been told exactly what you have described. When i say they destroyed every aspect of life, what you described is some of what i had in mind. 

Syrians have been affected by their environment for so long, that it’s become the norm. They think you’re weird for saying otherwise. They don’t see or don’t want to admit that the country has deeper problems. I constantly saw how exited people were about the new cafes and malls that opened . That shows how silly and shallow Syrians have become. Syrians live in their own universe. Syria was put in a freezer during the most important 30 years.

Everything, including people, has been affected by the environment the Ba’ath created and the Assads promoted.
 I always say we don’t have a problem of skilled labor, we have the problem of unskilled managers and unskilled business owners. They got used to working in a corrupt environment, that they won’t be able to compete in a free market. They have skills (how to get a deal fixed) that someone who lived and worked overseas wouldn’t. An expat’s skills have no value in Syria. My own kid said once “we were all so naive when we came here”
As an example, The unskilled labor from rural India didn’t build Dubai. The environment, the supervisors, and the business owners are the ones that built Dubai.
When I hear the word ” elites”, I laugh. They can’t even stand in line at the buffet.
The situation of foreign maids typifies modern slavery. They have no privacy, and treated badly. As an example, some sleep in bath tubs, provide 24/7 service. Employees are so bad to each other, they gave the term “office politics” a different, more sinister meaning. Government employees openly blackmail  people with no accountability. Imagine a person, whose monthly salary is 10 thousand liras openly being squeezed out of 1000 liras to get his paperwork thru, would feel. Neighbors are rude to each. Relationships and respect are fake and insincere.
If I were to write a book about I’ve seen and gone thru, the book will be larger than the entire Encyclopædia Britannica. 
I laugh when I hear foreign people say “oh Syrian people are so nice”. They’re not. They’re so rude to each other. I regret saying that they feel a foreigner is superior.
I was the Syrian version of Dale Anderson, i annoyed everyone around me with my constant criticism of how backward the country is. I criticized Syria because I love my country. I wanted the best for Syria. If I hadn’t been lucky enough to study and work abroad, I’m sure I would’ve turned out just like them. the revolution changed me. I admire the protesters’ discipline and what they stand for.

As i said before, this revolution is not about people like you and me. This revolution was going to happen sooner or later. God help whoever will take over this country. The country needs a total overhaul. But if they fix the courts, that will make it easier.

PS. They’re saying on the news that demonstrations are spreading in the US, how many have been killed already? Damn those Hariri/salafist/MB/Israeli trouble makers!!!

Just remember the NYT lies about Iraq, the accusation that Iraq was involved in 9/11 that most American still believe…

Zoo,

Can you give a yes or no answer to the following:

Did the NYT lie about a UNSC resolution (1441) and was that resolution passed unanimously?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Nations_Security_Council_Resolution_1441

Mundas, you still did not answer my question, why do you think the Lebanese Shia are so solidly behind Bashar ? Is there any way we can change their minds and make them anti-Bashar ?

Mundas,
Your sporadic comments are great to read.and I agree oh so much with them.
Doesn’t it surprise you that all the inhabitants of Malki near Sami droubi school send their kids to the foreign or private schools which are all far away?

The western news sound more and more like those from the middle east: “the prosecutor blocks the arrest warrant of Livni during her visit to the UK”; Hillary Clinton “advises UNESCO to think again about (supporting) the Palestinian bid”, etc.
But in SC forum, they still have fans.

Commentary: Turkey — The Regional Bully – October 6, 2011

http://www.mirrorspectator.com/2011/10/06/commentary-turkey-%E2%80%94-the-regional-bully/

Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu took his office with a self-styled peace offensive to give a human face to his country’s battered foreign policy. His goal was double-pronged: zero problems with neighbors and spreading new Ottomanism to increase Ankara’s hegemony over nations formerly enslaved by the Ottoman Sultans. The two goals were inherently incongruous because peaceful relations with neighbors required respect towards their sovereignty, which Ankara’s policymakers did not seem to care about.

For those analysts studying Turkish foreign policy, Davutoglu’s policy was a force to reckon with. But it enjoyed the acquiescence and the encouragement of the major powers, because as Turkey began to implement its newfound policy, it was mindful to pay its dues to those powers. It did not take too long to divulge the farcical nature of that policy, as Turkey adopted a hostile posture against its neighbors.

Ankara’s arrogance is nurtured by its economic boom, just as the rest of the world — including its neighbor, Greece — is in alarming crisis. Russia and the Arab world are tributaries feeding Turkey’s economic recovery.

The irony of Turkish history is that countries which have armed Turkey and boosted its economy eventually become dependent on Turkey, which, in turn, becomes the necessary evil in formulating their policy and projecting their power in the region. Turkey boasts the second largest standing army in NATO, after the US. Therefore, the Turkish leaders believe they are entitled to a policing role in the region.

Ankara ruined its relations with almost all neighboring countries, while paying lip service to the idea of reducing its problems with them to zero. Let’s take a look at some of those “neighborly” relations.

To begin with, it shelved the much-heralded protocols with Armenia. However, recently it placed the issue again on the back burner of the parliamentary agenda to signal a gleam of hope to US Secretary of State Hilary Clinton, the architect of the protocol policy.

Relations with the legitimate government of Cyprus were already at a freezing point and Turkey not only refused to move in a positive direction, but it also threatened to send its warship to Cyprus to block the exploration of oil and gas on the continental shelf off that country. The matter was further complicated by the involvement of the American oil company, Noble, and Israeli participation in the exploration. But the bluff did not last long, since Ankara blinked first.

Ankara had already strained relations with Tel Aviv, over the Mavi Marmara incident, for which Turks demanded a public apology and which it did not get.

Not too long ago, Syria had become one of the major trading partners of Turkey, with whom the visa regime was eliminated with great fanfare. Ankara reversed its policy and hosted a Syrian government in exile, which angered Damascus to such a degree that it placed a ban on Turkish imports. At one point, Turkey announced that it was prepared to send its troops to Northern Syria (Der Zor included) to “protect” minorities, among them Armenians.

Today, Turkey is meddling in Syria’s internal affairs to destabilize that country.

Angry rhetoric was also exchanged across the border with Greece, which was asked to provide a military base to Israel after tensions escalated with Turkey. Ankara also frowned upon Azerbaijan over the warming of its relations with Israel, which is providing unmanned drones and military hardware to Azerbaijan. One of those drones was only recently shot down in Karabagh.

Israel makes a point with the world community that its security is compromised by rockets launched from the Gaza Strip. One must place the carcass of the Azeri drone next to those rockets, reminding the world that Armenia is equally entitled to secure its borders against drone attacks.

The Turkish onslaught on its neighbors is mostly derived by its domestic policy. It is in the interest of the government to keep its borders under tension, to silence internal dissent.

Ergenekon arrests have made the Turkish military restive. On the other hand, the Kurdish self-determination struggle is continuing relentlessly to warrant vigilance.

Turkey is getting away with murder, because, despite its vitriolic exchanges with Israel, basically it is serving that country’s long-term interests, by helping to dismantle all the hostile Arab regimes. Ankara has also agreed to install NATO rocket defense system in Malatia, supposedly to protect Europe from potential Iranian rockets, but actually the move is directed at Russia, by resurrected Cold Warriors, because Russia has a military base next door in Armenia. Even if the installation is limited to Iran, that still compounds Ankara’s hostility towards the Damascus- Tehran axis.

Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s diatribes against Israel are at best lip service designed to appease the credulous Arab street, so as to gain more lucrative contracts in Muslim countries.

A few words about the Arab spring or Arab awakening, which is nothing more but an Arab nightmare. Egypt for one, supposedly overthrew the dictatorship to bring anarchy, instability and a rise of Muslim fundamentalism. The same is prescribed to the other countries. Regimes which have been hostile to Israel at any given time are targets of this “awakening.” Iraq was the first one on the list and now Israel has set up shop in Northern Iraq. Although Muammar Qaddafi gave up all his nuclear and biological warfare ambitions, he was not forgiven because at one time he demonstrated hostility toward Israel. Now the overthrow of another sovereign nation, Syria, is on the agenda, through US muscle, and this time with Turkish cooperation, while Yemen is looming in the background, another hotbed for Arab nationalism!

Ankara’s bullying policy towards its neighbors was wrapped up in Erdgoan’s speech at the UN. He again paid lip service to the Palestinian cause, but the centerpiece of his discussions with President Barack Obama, while also supposed to be the Palestinian statehood, was switched by him that of fighting PKK “terrorism.” The US president agreed, after telling him bluntly that US was to veto Mr. Abbas’s bid for Palestinian statehood at the UN Security Council and the only way to attain that statehood was through negotiations with Israel. That way Erdogan did not compromise Turkey’s bid to be elected to the Security Council membership in the future.

Armenians have been patting each other on the back that the football diplomacy drove Ankara into a corner and that the ball is Ankara’s court. That ball might wait at that court for a long time, since Turkey has still a lot of bullying to do with its neighbors, with the open encouragement, duplicity and hypocrisy of the major world powers.

Syria: Assad family ‘selling off overseas property empire’; A multimillion pound property empire that includes flats and houses in London is being sold off and turned into hard cash by members of Syria’s Assad family, it has been reported.
By Nabila Ramdani
6 October 2011
13:58
Telegraph.co.uk

English
© 2011 Telegraph Group Limited, London

Properties include a £10 million town house in Mayfair bought by Rifaat al-Assad, the so-called ‘Butcher of Hama’, who is accused of leading a massacre of up to 40,000 people 30 years ago.

His nephew, Bashar al-Assad, is currently leading a ruthless and bloody campaign against pro-democracy campaigners. The UN human rights office on Thursday raised the tally of people killed during seven months of unrest to more than 2,900.

The selling off of the property suggests the Assads are liquidating their assets in the chance the regime is forced from power in Syria .

London property belonging to toppled dictators Muammar Gaddafi of Libya, Hosni Mubarak of Egypt, and Zine El Abidine Ben Ali of Tunisia, was seized soon after they fell.

According to the French satirical and current affairs magazine Charlie Hebdo, Rifaat, Bashar al-Assad’s uncle, “has sold off his huge property portfolio in the United States, London, Spain and France”, with the clan wanting to “liquidate their oversease homes as quickly as possible”. The liquidation of the properties was reportedly being carried out by two of Rifaat’s four wives, as well as his children.

The magazine, which has obtained official bank documents confirming the transactions, says that two “huge lots” belonging to the Assads in Puerto Banus, the marina town on Spain’s Costa del Sol, are on the market for up to £600 million.

Even this figure has been discounted by many millions, suggesting that the Assads are eager to get rid of their property as quickly as possible.

Rifaat al-Assad, 73 and the former vice president of Syria, moved into a Georgian mansion off Park Lane in 2009.

Although he has never been indicted by an international court for the Hama massacre in 1982, there are numerous independent accounts of his alleged involvement. Rifaat, who spends most of his time living in France nowadays, denies the claims. He was unavailable for comment.

Asma al-Assad, the wife of Bashar al-Assad, is a UK passport holder who was born and raised in London, where her parents still live, and where she still owns homes.

: 12 people were killed in clashes between soldiers and deserters in villages of northwest Syria yesterday, rights groups have said.

Telegraph Group Limited

194. KHALID TLASS said:

Mundas, are you really Syrain Shia ? Can you tell me why the Lebanese Shia ( except a handful of exceptions) are mostly pro-Bashar ?

 Dear Khaled,

Yes I am. 
I have no idea. I know a Lebanese Shia attorney and a Lebanese Shia driver, both don’t seem religious and both believe it’s a conspiracy against Besho. Your guess is as good as mine. All I could say is that we live in third world countries and people are easily influenced and not used to thinking for themselves. But again, if you have an IQ of zero, you will recognize all the crimes committed by the regime.

I actually understand your anger. Humans tend to remember recent history. In the past 40 years, crimes happened to be committed by people who happened to mostly belong to a certain sect. Some minority people want to talk about ancient history, I say “get over it”. How many of us know the name of their great grand father, I don’t.
Syrian Shias are really different. They go to Hajj, the Super Bowl of religious events, with Sunni groups.

If I have to follow what you’ve said in the past, I will have to kill my own kids as soon as I go back to Syria, they’re Sushi (my wife is Sunni). They have Sunni blood. But again, mmmmmm, they may try to kill me (lol) 🙂

I hope one day we talk about the next Syrian Steve Jobs rather than talk about third world topics like sects.

Dear مندس
@ 196

Unfortunately, Bashar is less intelligent than his father or rather is more stupid. His father would not have dealt with the situation differently.

http://haytham-khoury2.blogspot.com/2011/08/bashar-and-mounting-pressure.html
http://haytham-khoury3.blogspot.com/2011/08/blog-post.html

Our Political Vision:

By Shaykh Muhammad Al-Yaqoubi:

“We should remember that the worst tyrants of the Arab World in our modern history did not rule in the name of Islam but in the name of secularism and democracy. There first victims were not the seculars but Muslims who were suppressed and Islamic movements which were banned. Why then “Islamists” are feared and prevented from reaching power. It …was not “Islamists” who supported these oppressive regimes; rather the seculars, while the “democtaric world is helping these regimes stop the Islamic tide and applauding to them: France supported Ben Ali’ in Tunisia; USA supported Mubarak in Egypt; and the EU supported the Assad’s regime. It high time we proved that Islam is more tolerant towards its opponents than the fake democracies of the West which protect the secular and eliminate the religious under the claims of fighting extremism. All we are doing is replacing one alleged extremism by another already proven extremist. It is time for Islam to present its vision and solutions to the political, social and economic and crises in the Islamic World. For anyone who is trying to predict the future of the Middle East, I say, wait to see the Islamic choice being embraced by our people as the only guarantee to a better future. To all of that we see the start coming from Syria”

This one is for you Ghufran (AbuGhassan), Norman, and Daryll.

The following is a reiteration of just one key point in Russia’s policy about the situation in Syria, quoted from five different spokespersons of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

6 Oct 2011: Russia’s ambassador to Lebanon Alexander Zasypkin reiterated that Russia’s efforts at the UN Security Council aim at preventing any form of foreign interference in Syrian affairs. http://www.sana.sy/eng/22/2011/10/06/373921.htm

5 Oct 2011: Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Mikhail Bogdanov said Russia confirms its principled stance on the inadmissibility of outside interference in Syrian internal affairs. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c53/240792.html

4 Oct 2011: Russia’s Deputy Foreign Minister Gennady Gatilov said Russia cannot support a UN Resolution text that does not urge other countries not to become involved in Syria’s internal affairs. http://rthk.hk/rthk/news/englishnews/20111004/news_20111004_56_788754.htm AND http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15164829

5 Oct 2011 Russia’s Foreign Ministry isssued a statement that Russia is ready to do further work with the U.N. Security Council on a draft resolution concerning Syria. Russia’s draft is founded on the principle of Syria’s national sovereignty, territorial integrity, and non-interference by outside countries into Syria’s internal affairs. http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c53/241614.html

4 Oct 2011: Russia’s UN Representative Vitaly Churkin said that a major reason why Russia vetoed the UNSC Resolution against Syria was that Russia’s proposal for including wording on the unacceptability of foreign intervention was not incorporated into the text. At the heart of a text that Russia would support, he said, would be a statement of the sovereignty of and non-intervention into Syrian State affairs. http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/sc10403.doc.htm

Similary, Valentin Shurchanov, Member of the Russian Parliament who chairs the Russian-Syrian Parliamentary Relations Committee said on 6 Oct 2011 that the Committee he chairs believes that the Syrians are capable of resolving their problems on their own, and he stressed the importance of noninterference in Syria’s internal affairs. http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/06/373787.htm

This policy of Russia’s is also the publicly stated policy of the governments of Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia, and perhaps of other republics of the former USSR. It’s also the stated policy of China and India, and the stated policy of the Arab League. The following is a list of short statements by a dozen countries that each went on record independently supporting this policy last week — most of these countries are members of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC): https://www.joshualandis.com/blog/?p=12233&cp=all#comment-275662

you just gotta love how creative these rebels are!
they dyed the fountains of Damascus red, signifying the blood of the martyrs.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=173952682686935&set=a.111500728932131.19454.111444665604404&type=1&ref=nf

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMKfwiLGIuE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BaTFcphtyLU&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NKnQ_eBvy-4&feature=related
NOW THAT IS CREATIVITY!
note: more squares were dyed red, even the saba3 ba7rat square.
this was done by the midan coordination committee

“198. KHALID TLASS said:

Mundas, you still did not answer my question, why do you think the Lebanese Shia are so solidly behind Bashar ? Is there any way we can change their minds and make them anti-Bashar ?”

Dear Khaled,
I just answered you. Give me a break, I’m not fast at this. I’m not used to free speech. I live in Syria. I only post when out of that jail we call Syria.

I have no idea how we can change their minds. All I know is they blew it. So many people used to love them, but no more. They will have a lot of backtracking to do. I’m not sure if the damage can ever be repaired.

Steve Jobs, Son of a Syrian, Is Embraced in the Arab World; The Lede
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
6 October 2011
NYT Blogs
NYTB
English
© 2011 The New York Times Company. All rights reserved
Steve Jobs, the innovative force behind Apple, grew up in San Francisco but traced his roots back to Syria. It was a fact that many Syrians celebrated on Thursday even as they mourned his death and lamented how the political crisis gripping the country made it unlikely that a future Steve Jobs would emerge from Syria and stay there.
Ahmed, a 28-year-old in Damascus, told Reuters that he was happy to learn of Mr. Jobs’s Syrian background, but added: “I think that if he had lived in Syria he would not have been able to achieve any of this, or else he would have chosen to leave Syria.”
Many others voiced their feelings of pride at the connection to Mr. Jobs and resentment at the current situation in the country in posting on Twitter:
View “Steve Jobs, Syrian” on Storify
A headline on the New York-based International Business Times captured a sentiment that may have struck many American fans of Apple as unfamiliar: “Steve Jobs Dies: He Was The Most Famous Arab in the World.”
The United States Embassy in Damascus drew attention to his Arab lineage in a posting on its Facebook page on Thursday:
The city of Homs has been a hotbed of antigovernment protests against the president, Bashar al-Assad.
Mr. Jobs’s biological father, Abdulfattah Jandali, was a graduate student from Homs when he met Mr. Jobs’s biological mother, Joanne Carole Schieble, while studying in Wisconsin in the 1950s, according to a translation of an interview with Mr. Jandali in the pan-Arab daily Al-Hayat.
The couple surrendered Mr. Jobs for adoption after he was born in San Francisco in 1955, as my colleague John Markoff reports.
In his interview with Al-Hayat, published earlier this year, Mr. Jandali said he had given Mr. Jobs up for adoption because Ms. Schieble’s father “was extremely conservative and wouldn’t let her marry me, and she decided to give him up for adoption.”
He went on:
He added:
Mr. Jandali, now 80, is a former professor of political science and currently an executive at a casino in Reno, Nevada, where he lives. RazorianFly.com, an Apple-watching site, published a recent photograph in August.
In an interview with the New York Post less than two months ago, Mr. Jandali said that neither he nor his son had been willing to communicate. “This might sound strange, though, but I am not prepared, even if either of us was on our deathbeds, to pick up the phone to call him,” Mr. Jandali said. “Steve will have to do that, as the Syrian pride in me does not want him ever to think I am after his fortune.”
He lamented in the interview that he would likely not see his son again before he died and said that giving him up had not been his decision. “I honestly do not know to this day if Steve is aware of the fact that had it been my choice, I would have loved to have kept him,” he said.

170. some guy no longer in damascus said:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-15196524

Syrian officials told us a bomb had been discovered on the roadside next to a main Douma roundabout. Three security officials were reportedly killed when they tried to defuse it.

BBC cameraman filming spot where government said bomb killed three security personnel
A possible bloodstain where officials say a bomb killed security troops, but no damage to the tree

We stopped at the spot where dark blotches, said to be blood, marked the cement. But a small palm tree planted there still swayed in the gentle breeze. Only a few fronds were creased.

REALITY
Three Engineering Unit Members Martyred, 3 Injured while Dismantling Explosive Device in Douma

Oct 01, 2011

PROVINCES, (SANA)-Three members of a military engineering unit were martyred, 2 others were injured, when they were trying to dismantle an explosive device in Douma, Damascus Countryside.

A Police source told SANA correspondent that the explosive device, planted in a place expected to witness a turnout of protesters following Friday Prayers, suddenly blasted which caused the death of the three martyrs.

The source said that the competent authorities immediately summoned a military engineering unit to dismantle the explosive device before the prayers leave the mosques, which was placed in an iron tube and aimed to kill the largest number of citizens in Douma city.

http://www.sana.sy/servers/gallery/201110/20111001-004710.jpg

The three martyrs, Milhem Asaad Juma’a, Walid al-Ess and Warrant Officer Ahmad al-Mouti were dismantling the explosive device which was placed in a metal pipe in the Municipality Rotary where gatherings took place in recent weeks following Fridays, with the three men risking their lives in front of cameras when the device went off.

Milhem Asaad Juma’a left behind a wife and four children,
Walid al-Ess left behind a wife and seven children,
and Ahmad al-Mouti left behind a wife and two children.

MY NOTE

Waiting for the BBC’s report on the widow and orphans.

A good reporter would ask the Syrian TV for the original footage of the incident
but as we can see from the picture from SANA where is no palm tree near the ( half ) corpse.

“204. HAYTHAM KHOURY said:

Dear مندس
@ 196

Unfortunately, Bashar is less intelligent than his father or rather is more stupid. His father would not have dealt with the situation differently.”

I agree. I heard some people also say that even Basel would’ve dealt with the situation better. They say he would’ve punished Atef Najib in Daraa. And after everything calmed down, he would’ve taken care of any dissent.

Atassi
They can hide but not for long, they stole huge amount of money, and Syria will be good for two years with that money come back to the people of Syria.
Some of the money were spent on people like Ann and Mina, on Zoo and the other ,but those will not need the money, it will not help them in jail.
It is only few weeks, and we will see a decisive change.

#172 Sheila

Very true and extremely well put. Thanks for saying it. Lack of vision and shallow thinking is a big problem created by the Assad stranglehold. Anyone ignoring that is not understanding reality.

One of the things you say, “The concept of your government working for you, is no longer something Syrians fathom” hits the nail hard on the head for Arab Spring countries.

The Egyptians, Tunisians and Libyans (and soon let’s hope Syrians) have knocked over hated rubbish regimes. But like the old saying of a dog chasing a car then not knowing knowing what to do if it catches it, the new leadership teams in those countries urgently need to articulate and demonstrate that a government CAN work for its citizens.

Otherwise they are going to fail and fail fast. Mainly by a mass exodus or renewed rebellion by the young unemployed who desperately pushed for change.

Look at Tunisia today. It’s alarming that its next generation, many of them well educated and with energy and skills needed for their country’s development, aren’t hearing anything that makes them want to stick around. Instead they are rushing en masse to Europe in leaky boats because that’s still their only vision, not their own liberated homeland.

172. sheila said:

I think the concept of progress in Syria is quite shallow.
It involves things like new malls and cafes, latest in gadgets, and girls wearing tighter than humanly tolerable jeans.

REALITY
Sheila cannot stand girls not wearing Zainab’s dress.

http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/06/373808.htm
http://www.sana.sy/servers/gallery/201110/20111005-233654_h373808.jpg

What a wonderful tolerant MB opposition in Syria.

areal,
1) SANA has no credibility! i dont believe it, not a single word of it.
2) you cut out this part of the article :
One man drove up on a motorcycle, saying in Arabic: “I don’t know, I don’t know.” He pointed to his ears to indicate he hadn’t heard an explosion.

A crowd quickly formed. There was confusion over what may have happened here.

I asked our government minder how a bomb powerful enough to kill three people, and wound a few passersby, could leave the tree intact.

“Palm trees are special,” he offered, searching for the right words. “It can lean with air and shocks, and then stand back again.”

199. SOME GUY NO LONGER IN DAMASCUS said:

Mundas,
Your sporadic comments are great to read.and I agree oh so much with them.
Doesn’t it surprise you that all the inhabitants of Malki near Sami droubi school send their kids to the foreign or private schools which are all far away?

 2  3

Dear SGNLID:

Yes and no. 
It is not surprising that rich people want to send their kids to the best schools available. It happens in all countries. But again, this is another example of how bad the situation in Syria has become. There’s no middle class. The gap between rich and poor has gotten very wide. Education has gotten so bad.
The French school and the American school were for foreigners when I was a kid. I know people, who went to regular schools when they were kids, now have their own kids in those two schools.
What’s surprising is that the likes of Tlass, Kholi, and Asa’ad among others have their kids in those two schools.

Overall, a lot of people sent their kids outside Syria this year.

SGNLID,

Why did you leave Damascus ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sjc52X4D3N4
Form HOMS with LOVE

Ya Watani Yea Galli..” Our Dear country”

NOT Assad country… We love our Syria…

SGNLID,

Why did you leave Damascus ??

http://rt.com/news/syrian-opposition-violence-video-143/
Syrian opposition violence – shocking video
Torture, booby-trapped cars, machine-guns shooting in the air – RT has come into the possession of a video that deals with episodes of the day-to-day life of members of the Syrian opposition.
It shows members of the opposition wielding various weaponry – from sickles to pump-action shotguns – and using it, as well as some results of their actions.

Parts of it contain too much violence to be reproduced for an unprepared audience, the rest is available to demonstrate the scale of the humanitarian catastrophe Syria is dealing with.
Still in search of a solution
Meanwhile, Russia has declared its readiness to continue working on a new resolution on Syria and expects two delegations of the Syrian opposition to visit Moscow for negotiations in October.

While a massive group of Western countries last week proposed two resolutions, both of which included sanctions against current President Bashar al-Assad’s regime if violence against the opposition continues, Russia and China opposed any kind of sanctions.

Russia has condemned the Western resolutions as being designed to force a regime change in Syria, which, according to numerous statements made by Russia’s Foreign Ministry, will only encourage violence.

“Steve Jobs Dies: He Was The Most Famous Arab in the World.”
REALITY
In the 80’s , APPLE was blacklisted in Arab countries because it used Motorola processors which was also blacklisted.
Now , in 2009 , Motorola opened an office in Lebanon.

http://cablesearch.org/cable/view.php?id=09BEIRUT894&hl=%3Anewest+boycott

Murder Suspect Anas Al-Shami now on Aljazeera.
He is talking about the reform packages forgetting all 2900 reforms. What a gas bag… like every one who still defend this regime. No EXCEPTION.

Anas AlShami said
reform include lifting emergency law, he forgot to say it was replaced by worse suppression law.
right to demonstrate peacefully, he forgot that in Hama peaceful demonstrations met with sending army to kill civilian,
what he said is pure nonsense.
A regime of lies.

78. ann said:

Turkish military exercise on Syrian border. Assad threatens Tel Aviv if attacked – October 4, 2011, 5:03 PM

http://www.debka.com/article/21356/

Syria first threatened Israel with retaliation on Aug. 9 when Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu spent six hours with Bashar Assad in an effort on behalf of his own government and NATO to persuade him to stop the carnage his troops were perpetrating against his people.

Davutoglu warned Assad that if he did not desist from his actions he would share the fate of Muammar Qaddafi at the hands of NATO and Turkish forces.

The Syrian ruler’s response was harsh: From the moment a shot is fired against Syria, “it will take only six hours for Syria to devastate Tel Aviv and ignite the entire Middle East,” he said.

REALITY
Foreign Ministry Refutes Alleged Meeting between President al-Assad and Davutoglu

Oct 06, 2011

DAMASCUS, (SANA) – An official source at the Ministry of Foreign and Expatriates Affairs denied what has been said by some mass media on information about a meeting they claimed that it has been recently held between President Bashar al-Assad and Turkish Foreign Minister, Ahmed Davutoglu, stressing that what has been published about this alleged meeting is untrue.

In a statement to SANA, the source indicated that the last meeting with the Turkish Foreign Minister was held last August and no messages were conveyed from or to anyone during the meeting.

The source added that the fabrication and misleading by some media bodies, which reflect the hugeness and fierceness of the aggressive campaign launched against Syria, will not succeed in affecting the rightness and wisdom of the Syrian stances.
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/06/373877.htm

NOTE to ANN
debka is run by people with special “intelligence” .
Syrian government is fighting back the MB propaganda.

I’m sorry khalid, saying why I left damascus could reveal something about me. For my safety I won’t.
Rest assured I am safe and no I am not under pursuit.
My apologies

SGNLID,

You mentioned that you are a student. Just asking casualy….don’t you have classes to attend ? Just reply casually ok…no details.

215. some guy no longer in damascus said:

areal,
1) SANA has no credibility! i dont believe it, not a single word of it.

REALITY

Very easy to say .
Prove it !!!

Note: still waiting from YOU for al Jazeera and Amnesty International links regarding Zainab’s resurrection .

“145. ANN said:

What does “Mundas” mean?”
Your Besho’s worst nightmare…..

Ann, now that you know what Mundas (مندس ) is, do you know what Mundaaaaaas (منداس) is?
MAJEDKHALDOUN, please explain it to her 🙂

Just read this elsewhere:

‘Seems the death of Sheikh Nawaf Ragheb, Chief of Baqqara’s tribe to be hoax identical to the one of Zeinab.
Intelligence source tells “he is fine”.’

http://en.rian.ru/world/20111006/167449720.html
Protests in U.S. ‘giving voice’ to broad-based frustration – Obama
WASHINGTON, October 6 (RIA Novosti)
The Occupy Wall Street protests in the U.S. express the frustrations of the American public, U.S. President Barack Obama said on Thursday.
“The protesters are giving voice to a more broad-based frustration about how our financial system works,” Obama said at a White House news conference.
The protests began in New York on September 17. The demonstrators, encouraged by the protests in Egypt, Syria, Tunisia and other countries, condemn the big banks and corporations that reap huge profits while ordinary people lose their jobs and benefits due to the protracted crisis in the United States.
“The financial sector is very creative, and they are always looking for ways to make money,” Obama said. “That’s their job. And if there are loopholes and rules that can be bent and arbitrage to be had, they will take advantage of it,” he added.

Green bus in Damascus Syria

REALITY
Mar 2, 2011
in Damascus, I strongly recommend bus no. 15 (green bus). It goes from Harasta terminal to Marjeh Square (actually passes near Marjeh, but it’s only a 100 m walk to the square). From Marjeh, the same bus continues to the Al-Samaria karaj (for Bosra). At the same time, for Maalula karaj, the same bus, stops at the Abaseen Stadium (between Harasta and Marjeh), from where you have to go 200m around the stadium for the garage.

http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/thread.jspa?threadID=2027064

NOTE

I only concede that the foreign students in Syria and expats don’t use the green buses and may not know about them ,
they can easily afford taxis or micro buses when they don’t have a car with a driver.

MUNDAS, I’m sure know you’re my favourite guy on SC…u know who !!! *hugs* I really missed you.

Schools in Syria

My REALITY
In a large city in Syria ,
a ten year’s old don’t how to read and write (Arabic).
Why ?
She is dropping out of her school to accompany her mother during his day of work ( house cleaning ) in another quarter of the city .
The girl is not doing any work , just ” spying ” her mother on behalf of the father , “unemployed” but very religious man.
Interestingly , the girl is wearing a gold necklace.
The mother is dressed like Zainab when she arrives at work.
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/06/373808.htm
http://www.sana.sy/servers/gallery/201110/20111005-233654_h373808.jpg

Whatever could be the dedication of the teachers and the money spent by the state , the girl will be illiterate but she can watch Al Jazeera satellite TV ( or even worst ) at home .

Ann
Mundaaaaaas means a person you love

مندس
You think she passed the first grade?

205. KHALID TLASS said:

Since you have mentioned my name Mr Tlass, I will answer you by simply asking you, how come your are not living in Saudi Arabia instead of the UK?

I hope your are reading now so that you can answer me,as I will be away for the next few days at a wine festival to enjoy my self and will not be accessing this site at all. I have a few hours to spare for you to day only.

“232. KHALID TLASS said:

MUNDAS, I’m sure know you’re my favourite guy on SC…u know who !!! *hugs* I really missed you.”

Dear Khaled,

I didn’t get what you’re trying to say. But if you’re sending me “hugs”‘, then we made progress. Syrian Shias and Sunnis hugging paint a beautiful picture. Then we will send it to Besho to the hague after we write on it “ثوريا بخير”

STFU Daryll,

The sheikh is Syrian, in fact more Syrian than you fake wannabe Farangi Marouni !! How come you are living in OZ and not in Marouni-land under the gentle auspices of your God Hassan Nasrallah ?

Shut up Mundas, you know exactly what I’m trying to say. You are a clever Homsi….heheheheh…..hope you’re okay.

Btw, lest see if you are really Shia…where is the shrine of Sayyida Fatima bint Muhammad (ra) located in the world ?

FROM THYRIAN HAMTHTER TO MUNDATH

Theeing your Pothtth is very nithe. Jutht be careful.

People , when your introducing your self there’s no reason to state your religion. Being Syrian will suffice.
Khalid,
Mundas isn’t aboud. He is a patriotic Syrian.

Areal,
I got your idea of the importance of education and I’m a pro-education since I came to life and I believe that science has the answer for everything, however, mentioning that once should’ve been sufficient, but you are going too far in your attack on any female similar to Ms Zainab social, financial and religious background, that is extremely wrong.
Financial poverty is not a shame or something we should make an excuse to put down other people about, being religious and peaceful is something we should respect and nourish instead of attack, illiteracy we all should tackle and try to solve, with or without the government, true poverty is a status of mind not a status of how much money we have, discrimination against women must be attacked and abolish everywhere we see. Arab women are our societies’ true pillars if we really want to progress, and honestly, you should feel ashamed of yourself of keep attacking Ms. Zainab because of her appearance, she is a victim of our society and our regime and our hate, did anyone of the pro or the anti group thought of the courage of that young Syrian girl? or of the danger she is in right now, either by her family (honor killing) or by the radicals who used her story and she blow it for them or by the media and even by the regime?
I can assure you that nobody thought of that, this innocent Syrian female victim was used just as a ‘strike’ for the regime, nothing more, and the regime wouldn’t give her any protection, for it, 2700 victim or 2701 are all the same.
Please don’t use the victims of this horrible bloody and life costly struggle for personal issues. It already shattered the whole Syrian society and Syria and Syrians wont be the same anymore, the damage is already done and everything happening now on is nothing but ‘numbers’ to be added to the long list of our crimes.

Here you go areal,
http://www.youtube.com/user/aljazeerachannel#p/u/1/8V-5rZsZ7Lk
Regarding your article about the buses. It was written before the revolution started, things changed.

Mr Tlass, I asked you, how come you are not living in KSA?

I was not asking about the honorable Sheikh, I understand he has a job to do.

Btw guys I just realized!
Zeynabs home phone number is on her ID card, which Shown on the video I provided. WE CAN CALL HER.

Good start
SNK @ 177
Nicely done, the road to forgiveness starts with confession.

May be yes, may be no, who cares

I am not sure if the BS i am about to post is a rumer, a lie, a regime propganda, or just pure BS, but I will post it any way. Although I m not sure, it exposes the fake opposition.

SINK SANK SUNK

For once I have to agree with majed
Alassad reform can only be seen by those who still think the emperor wears cloth.

Dear مندس

May i have your permission to use your post # 196 as the new min featured post on a blog called حيطان ؟

Dear #241. Jad,
Thank you for defending Syrian women, but most importantly, poor Syrian women. That was very honorable and decent of you.

Hasan abdulazeem
http://www.syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=138250

لماذا نحن ( العلويون ) مع الأسد -1-
by Abass Ali on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 3:33am

لماذا نحن ( العلويون ) مع الأسد

المقال الأول

إن سوريا اليوم على شفا حرب أهلية ، وإن هذه الحرب لقائمة إن لم يك اليوم فغدا ، أكتب رؤيتي لموقف الطائفة العلوية، محاولا قدر الإمكان ، أن أكون حياديا متجاوزا إنتمائي إلى هذه الطائفة ، وأعلم أنني لن أوفق ولكن سأحاول قدر استطاعتي ، وأعلم أن حبي الشديد لبيئتي وضيعتي وأهلي ومجتمعي ، سيقلل من حياديتي ، ولكن آمل أن تكون نظرة من إنسان عاش ضمن هذه الطائفة ويعشقها إلى حد الجنون ، رغم أنه عقائديا ليس منها.

لكي نفهم موقفنا من الأسد اليوم ، لا بد أن نرجع للوراء ، الى ألف سنة ، فنحن نعشق الماضي ، وقصصه تحكى بيننا منذ نعومة أظفارنا ، ونسقط ماضينا على حاضرنا ، ولم ننجح بالخروج من المظلومية التاريخية المعقدة أشد التعقيد ، رغم وصولنا إلى الحكم وتفردنا به ، ما زالت هذه المظلومية تعشعش فينا ، ما زال الخوف من الآخر يسكننا ، ما زال خوفنا من التكفير وبسطار الله ورسوله يرجعنا الى الوراء ألف عام ، لا أدري حقيقة لم لا تستطيع آذاننا سماع سمفونية غير سمفونية التاريخ ، ولم نسقط ما جري منذ ألف عام على ما يجري اليوم ، سأحاول أن أعرف ولن أعرف، لأنني أنا نفسي لم أخرج بعد من هذا الطوق.

عقائديا لا أعرف بالضبط تاريخا محددا لطائفتنا ، فهي بشكلها الحالي ربما تكونت بعد وفاة الإمام الحادي عشر بم لا يقل عن مئتي عام ، وكان أن اعتمدنا على أحد بواب المهدي ، واقتصرت عقيدتنا على ما جاء به من تعليمات من المهدي المنتظر ، وخالفنا بذلك كل الفرق الإسلامية الشيعية الأخرى ، حيث لا يعترف ببابنا إلا قلة منهم، ولفترة قريبة كان أكثر من يخرجنا من الملة هم الجعفريون ، طبعا عقائدنا لن أدخل بالتفاصيل ، لأنني بصراحة لا أهتم بها ولا أعرفها جيدا ، يكفي أن أقول أنها قديمة قدم البشرية ، لربما قبل أن يخلق آدم نفسه ، ما علينا هذا أمر عقائدي ، تبقى عقيدة كلا منا أمر يخصه ، ما دامت لا تؤمره بالإعتداء على غيره ، المصيبة أن سوانا لا يؤمن بالسلام مع الآخر، ، ما يهمني هو أثر هذه العقيدة على حياتنا كطائفة ، وتأثيرها الشديد على موقفنا اليوم من الأزمة التي تمر بها سوريا.

تاريخيا لم تنل عقيدتنا على رضا أحد، وحوربت بشكل كبير ، وحوصرنا وحوربنا من كل الطوائف الأخرى ، بم فيها الطوائف التابعة للحاكم ، والمعارضة للحاكم أيضا ، مما جعلنا بين فكي كماشة ، وجعلنا نخفي عقيدتنا خوفا على حياتنا ، فلم يكن صراعا متكافئا ، ولم يكن نقاشا بم يسمى الخلاف لا يفسد للود قضية ، بل كان يقطع رأس القضية ورؤوسنا ، فأغلب المؤمنين بعقيدتنا قتلوا وأبيدوا ، وبقي قلة من السوريين منهم ، لن أخوض بتفاصيل حقيقة لا أعرفها جيدا ، ولكن نتائجها ، أننا اخترنا التقوقع في جبال وعرة ، وانعزلنا عن بقية الطوائف ، في سوريا ، حيث كان الحكم سياسيا أكثر منه دينيا ، فكان إمكانية وجودنا أكثر من أماكن أخرى ، لإنفتاح الشعب السوري منذ قدم التاريخ على عقائد مختلفة.

رغم هذا الإنفتاح لكن عقيدتنا بشكل خاص كانت مستهجنة من الجميع ، فكانت السرانية هي الحل ، ورضينا أن نكون تابعين لسوانا ، وحافظنا على هويتنا وعقيدتنا ، لم نختلط بالبقية وبقي عرقنا صافيا نقيا ، ولربما إلى اليوم نحن أكثر السوريون نقاء وانتماء وتعلقا شديدا ببلدنا وضيعنا وتراثنا وقيمنا ، فنحن نعشق أمور قد يراها سوانا سخيفة، ونحن هي تعني لنا الكثير ، فكاسة المتة بالنسبة لي أساسية لا أعيش من غيرها ، وتذكرني بسطح بيتي في ضيعتي بسهراتي بعشقي بصحبتي ، بينما هي وسيلة يتمسخر بها علي بقة السوريين ، نحن نحمل ضيعتنا وجبلنا وقريتنا وتقاليدنا هناك الى كل مكان ، هي بدمنا حتى لو عشنا بالشانزليزيه ، عند برهان غليون.

عشنا ظلم نظم الحكم المختلفة، كما عاشها بقية السوريون ، ولكن بالنسبة لنا كان ظلما مضاعفا عدة مرات، وكان كثيرون من السوريين يروه ظلما مستحقا ، لخلفيتنا الدينية والعقائدية ، لا ننكر مثلا أن نظام الإقطاع مثلا كان نظاما عاما، ولكن مع طائفتنا كان الظلم أشد ، كان ظلما يضاف إليه إهانات دينية عقائدية شديدة جدا ، وإهانات شخصية جدا عانى منها الجميع ، لم يتقبل إخوتنا في الدين والوطن عقيدتنا ، فقد كنا بالنسبة لهم كفار بكل ما تحمله هذه الكلمة من معنى ، لم يتقبلوا إسقاطنا لم يروه أساسات دينية ، كالحج والصلاة والصيام ، فنحن معرفتنا تكفينا عن هذه الفروض ، فكان أن استبحنا ، وقبلنا ورضينا أن نستباح ، رجالا ونساء كان ينظر إلينا أننا لا شيء ، عبر مئات السنين ، وصلنا الى الدرجة التي اقتنعنا بها أننا فقط نريد أن نعيش ، ولا نقتل .

صحيح أن غيرنا عانى وقاسى من بطش الحاكم ، ولكن نحن عانينا من بطش الحاكم ، وبطش الجمهور ، قتقوقعنا على أنفسنا بشكل رهيب ، وانعزلنا ، ورضخنا لرجال الدين ، كانوا هم مرجعيتنا بكل شيء ، وعشنا بفقر مدقع ، فقر متواصل وطويل جدا ، وجهل ، مصيبتنا الكبرى هي الجهل ، تقوقعنا وانكفائنا على أنفسنا ، وعدم انخراطنا ببقية مجتمعنا عبر مئات السنين ، خلق لدينا خرافات خاصة بنا ، وجهلا مركبا بل من الظلم أن نقول مركب ، هو جهل فوق جهل فوق جهل ، المجتمع بشكل عام كان أميا ، ونحن جهلنا كان مضاعفا عشرات المرات .

خوفنا على أنفسنا كان مبررا ، فقد أبدنا وقتلنا وروعنا ، وكانت عقائدنا سببا رئيسيا بموتنا ، بل وكنا محل تندر وتنكيت ومسخرة من جميع من يحيط بنا ، لأن عقيدتنا شملت أغلب الدينات السماوية ، وأخذت من كل بستان زهرة ، لم يكن لها معتقدات أحد هذه الأديان بشكل أساسي ، مما جعلها سخرية من الجميع ونبذت من الجميع ، أتكلم عن عصور كان الجهل سيدها وليس عن الآن ، ولكن أثر كل هذا يظهر اليوم بوقوفنا مع طاغية مستبد ، وحاكم ظالم فاسد ، وبتورطنا بالدم ضد أهلنا وإخوتنا ، ما أتكلم عنه قد لا يعني لسوري مسلم سني ، أو مسيحي ، أو سواهم ، أي شيء فهو لم يعان تاريخيا هذه المعاناة ، لم يردد أهله على مسمعه آلاف قصص الظلم والإهانات ، لم يأمره أحد بالسكوت وعدم التصريح عن معتقده ، فلن يفهم السوريون ما أتكلم عنه ، لأنهم ببساطة لم يعيشوه ، صحيح أنهم عاشوا عبر التاريخ شيئا مم عشنا ، ولكنه كان يسيرا ممكن نسيانه وتجاوزه ، وليس مثلنا.

والحديث يطول والشجون تطول وسأكمل ما بدأت

باكورة أعمال المجلس الوطني السوري- القصة الكاملة.

بعد أيام من إعلان تأسيس مايسمى بالمجلس الوطني السوري قام موقع يحمل اسم هذا المجلس National Council Of Syria بنشر الخرائط التفصيلية الجوية التالية لمنظومة الدفاع الجوي السوري :

خريطة توضح نوع كل منصة من منصات صواريخ أرض – جو وموقعها.
خريطتين تحددان دائرة وقطر التغطية لمنظومتي منصات صواريخ سام وصوريخ K12 في كامل أنحاء سورية.
خريطة تبين مواقع رادارات الإنذار المبكر في كل أنحاء سورية .
وبعد ساعات من نشر هذه الخرائط تم إضافة صورة جوية عالية الوضوح ومزودة بالعلامات اللازمة للمواقع التالية :

موقع صواريخ الدفاع الجوي الاستراتيجي في اللاذقية مع تحديد الإحداثيات والارتفاع.
موقع صواريخ الدفاع الجوي الاستراتيجي في جبلة مع تحديد الإحداثيات والارتفاع.
موقعي صواريخ الدفاع الجوي الاستراتيجي في طرطوس مع تحديد الإحداثيات والارتفاع.

الظهور الملفت لهذا الموقع كان على أحد أهم المنابر التي ترسم السياسة الخارجية الأمريكية وهو مجلة فورين بوليسي ، حيث أكدت المجلة أن هذا الموقع هو الموقع الرسمي للمجلس الوطني السوري بمقالتها المنشورة على موقع المجلة بتاريخ الثالث من أكتوبر 2011 وكانت المقالة ( ولاتزال ) بعنوان ( المجلس الوطني السوري ينشر خرائط الدفاع الجوي السوري ) والتي قام موقع خارج السرب المستقل بترجمة فورية لها ونشرت على الموقع في اليوم التالي ، وخلال ساعة أو اثنتين من نشر النسخة العربية المترجمة ، قامت مجلة الفورين بوليسي بإصدار تصحيح لتأكيدها السابق وذكرت أن الموقع يعود لأحد الأمريكيين المؤيدين للمجلس وليس للمجلس نفسه ، وحدث ذلك بتوقيت مريب يستدعي إلى الذهن الكثير من أقوال وأفكار هواة سبر أغوار مراقبة الانترنت والاستخبارات ومراقبة وتتبع المزاج العام.

في حقيقة الأمر أن هذا الموقع واكب كواليس تشكيل المجلس في استنبول بأدق التفاصيل ورصد تصريحات أعضاء ( المجموعة الأمريكية ) في المجلس ويروج لأهداف متطابقة حرفيا مع تصريحات منتمين لهذا المجلس أطلقوها علناً في بكائيات أمام المجلس اليهودي الأمريكي وأمام وزيرة الخارجية الأمريكية والتصريحات مسجلة ومثبتة ، بالإضافة إلى مجموعة من الأعمال التي تختص بتجييش العقوبات والحظر الجوي . كما في الموقع مساحات خاصة تتعلق بالأخبار العاجلة عن المجلس مرفقة بصور وفيديوهات عالية الوضوح والدقة ، والأنكى والأمر أن الموقع نشر الهيكل التنظيمي للمجلس وتراتبيته الإدارية.
هذا ناهيك عن نشر التصحيح بعد فترة قصيرة من عرض المقال على الرأي العام السوري باللغة العربية بفضل الجهود المميزة لموقع ( خارج السرب ) والتزامه الحرفية في ترجمة المقال عن فورين بوليسي ، ثم ترجمته السريعة للتصحيح الذي قامت به المجلة التي تعتبر الكرة البللورية الرصينة لصناعة لسياسة الخارجية الأمريكية. وللأمانة فقد اجتهد أصدقاء في عدد من التجمعات التي ننشط فيها كمجموعة من الشباب السوريين لمواجهة الأزمة بجهود ذاتية لتدقيق معلومة فورين بوليسي ، وبالفعل تبين لهم أن مؤسس الموقع هو الشخص التي ذَكرَتِ المجلة اسمَهُ وقام بشراء النطاق في الشهر السادس من هذا العام .
وقد اتصل به صديق من الفاعلين من أعضاء الجالية العربية في أمريكا فصرح أنه ليس على علاقة بالمجلس وأنه من المهتمين بالشأن السوري ومن المؤيدين للمجلس . وأكد أنه مهتم بسورية والأحداث الجارية فيها ولهذا السبب أنشأ الموقع .وسأله عن سبب نشره الخرائط فأجاب أنه يحاول مساعدة المجلس على توضيح الأمر العسكري والخطوات الأولى التي يجب أن تُتخذ لتحقيق ذلك ، فبادره الصديق بسؤاله أليس غريباً أن تتوقع أن حلف الناتو لايملك هذه المعلومات و ليس بانتظار خرائطك أو خرائط المجلس لتحديد ساعة الصفر ، فأجاب أنه يعي ذلك تماما إلا أن مايخفى على متابعي الشأن السياسي أن مايجري على المواقع أحد إن لم يكن أهم المؤشرات لأصحاب القرار في دول الغرب لجس نبض الشارع لأي قرار يتخذونه أو ينوون اتخاذه و على أساس الحركة في تلك المواقع يتم تحديد المزاج العام ، وقال أن مهمته الأولى الآن هي ايجاد اهتمام كبير بالموقع وهو جد متفائل بذلك فقد اتصلت به كبرى الصحف الاوربيه والامريكية للتقصي عن الموقع ومعلوماته، وأعلمني الصديق بتحليله الخاص قائلاً أن الرجل بدا واثق النفس جدا وعلى الأغلب أن له صلة أو صفة أمنية فطريقة حديثه واسلوب اسئلته توحي بذلك وهي ذات النمطية التي يتمتع بها مسؤولي الأمن الفيدرالي التي خبرها الصديق خلال عمله في تمثيل الجالية العربية في أمريكا وأفادني الصديق أن الرجل له خبرة ومعلومات سورية لا يعلمها إلا المتابع الدقيق لتفاصيل الأمور.

وعلى جميع الاحوال فالصوت الأمريكي في الموضوع مدوي برسالة واضحة لالبس فيها : الحظر الجوي المترافق مع تحطيم منظومات الدفاع الجوي السورية هو الخطوة التالية ، وبالمناسبة هذا الترافق هو بالضبط المحور الرئيسي في مقالة الفورن بوليسي. ويبقى السؤال لمن تتوجه ( المجموعة الأمريكية ) في المجلس بالخطاب ، أهو لباقي الأعضاء الذين يجهدون للحفاظ على ماتبقى من صورتهم الوطنية بعد انخراطهم بلعبة التدويل ، أم لعموم السوريين تحضيراً لهم لتقبل مجزرة من العيار الثقيل بجيشهم ؟ بل هو للإثنين معاً.

الموقف الوطني المجرد :

يعتبر نشر وثائق بهذه الدقة والأهمية عملاّ من أعمال الجاسوسية المتقدمة ، لابد معها أن يكون الموقف الوطني من استخدام وسائل بهذه الدرجة من استرخاص ثروات وطنية ( لاتعود لنظام بعينه ) تقدر قيمتها بمليارات الدولارات وأنهكت السوريين عقودا طويلة واقتصت من أرزاقهم لابد أن يكون الرفض المطلق والمطالبة بتطبيق أشد العقوبات بحق مرتكبي هذا العمل ، والمعروف أن هذه المنشآت ليست منشآت خالية من البشر ، بل على العكس فهي تغص بالجنود والفنيين السوريين المدربين من إخواننا وأهلنا.

بالمفهوم الأعم إن أعمال المتعاملين مع الدول الاجنبية لأغراض سياسية داخل سورية والتشجيع على اصطياد واحد أو أكثر من أهم ( الأصول Assets ) التي يحتاجها الوطن خلال الأزمات الوطنية الكبرى كائنا من كان على رأس السلطة ، هي خيانة عظمى للوطن ، ووقوعها من أي طرف سوري في الخارج هو بلاشك يقع تحت بند ثورات المنافي (Exile Revolutions ) التي درجت وكالة المخابرات المركزية الأمريكية على تنظيمها بغية التمهيد لاحتلال الدول التي تستهدفها لمنعها من تشكيل أي وزن مؤثر قد يتعارض مع مصالحها في الحاضر أو المستقبل كما حصل مع العراق وإيران وبنما وهاييتي والسلفادور وفيتنام وكوريا ، وسورية لن تكون استثناء لهذا الاستهداف ، وتلك هي الرسالة التي يجب أن ينقلها كل سوري للفئة الخائنة من بعض مزدوجي الجنسية السوريين الذين ارتضوا لأنفسهم ما لا يرتضيه أي وطني لنفسه ، إن التعامل مع الأجنبي وتعريض مقدرات الدولة في الطريق إلى إسقاط النظام هو خيانة ليس بعدها خيانة ، وسيفرض هذا العمل بالضرورة تنازلات عن مبادئ وأخلاق لا تستوي مع العمل الوطني ، فما بالك بالعمل المعارض المفروض فيه تصحيح المعوج ، وليس تكسيره

http://kharej-alserb.com/archives/1903/

Longterm trade sanctions against Syria, if they occur, will weaken Syria’s economy. Everybody in Syria will acknowledge that’s true, and at the same time it will strengthen support for the government. Historically worldwide, in a time of war or other external agression by foreigners, the spirit of the country becomes more united and the sitting government enjoys stong support as the chief representative of that unity. The same is and will be true in Syria. The following stuff from SANA dating from July and August expresses a very real and very powerful element in the public spirit of Syria and the hearts & minds of Syrians:

The Syrian people stand as one to say to the West that “no matter how much you incite and conspire, our homeland will glow with its national unity and is able to build its future with its people’s awareness and strong will”….. Popular, civil and youths activities continue across the Syrian governorates to express deep national belonging and unity of the Syrian people…. Participants chanted slogans lauding national unity…. The Syrian people have formed a solid national fabric…. Deepening national unity among all spectrums of the Syrian society….
More of the same dated 23 Aug 2011 at http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/08/23/365510.htm
More of the same dated 15 Jul 2011 at http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/07/15/358429.htm
More of the same dated 17 Jul 2011 at http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/07/17/358879.htm
More of the same dated 20 Jul 2011 at http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/07/20/359406.htm
More of the same dated 27 Jul 2011 at http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/07/27/360619.htm

Ehsani asks: Is the EU going to impose more trade sanctions on Syria? One must suspect it’s quite likely, because of what the newspapers of Europe have been reporting about the events in Syria, and what the European politicians have been saying. The upcoming trade sanctions (if the happen) will either have no effect on Syrian spirit or else have the effect of getting people be more patriotic, more unified, and hugging closer to their country’s established government. The trade sanctions are a kind of an attack on the country, an attack on people of the country at large. In countries around the word people “rally around the flag” under such circumstances. In Syria, the regime owns that flag — if you think I’m wrong about that you should eff off right now. Despite the fact that the trade sanctions are impotent to exert force in the direction the Europeans want, the Europeans can get a consensus to impose more sanctions on the grounds that European public opinion thinks the regime has committed crimes and crimes should be punished.

The newspaper reports that the regime has commited crimes are utterly bogus and fictitious — if you think I’m wrong about that you should’ve effed off before now. I don’t think the Europeans can be brought to see that they’re badly mistaken about the honourableness and integrity of the regime. Their mistake, which is of great magnitude and very clear to us, cannot be corrected by them until they can start believing what’s at SANA. Which they refuse to do. So, the argument the Europeans will be having among themselves will be about whether more trade sanctions would punish people at large without effectively punishing the government that deserves to be punished. Any European who thinks rationally — and does not have a prejudice against Syrian society evolving from its own genes — should be able to be persuaded that the effect of the trade sanctions will only be to weaken and punish the economy at large. Whereas the ones with prejudice against Syrian society won’t mind weakening the economy at large. We shall be finding out how many of the Europeans are anti-Syrian.

Role model Turkey, Secular? Democratic?
Thursday, October 6, 2011
YUSUF KANLI

Turkey is a democratic country. Over the past almost 90 years we could not manage to define what we understand from “secularism,” but Turkey is a country with an overwhelming Muslim population and “secular” and “democratic” governance. Turkey is the only island of “secular democracy” in the Muslim world.

With “secularism” the Turkish state, at least so far, understands controlling the practice of Islam through a state agency. That Religious Affairs Directorate or “Diyanet,” has a budget and organization bigger than six combined ministries. After all the great openings of the current Islamist government Diyanet “improved a lot,” it is reported that it will soon be elevated considerably in the state protocol as well, and has become the fundamental tool in persuading the people of this land to convert to Sunni-Hanefi, a certain sect of Sunni Islam. While Sunni-Hanefi believers are given a “more equal” status than the rest of Muslim folk, particularly of the Alevis, the minute non-Muslim sections of the society expect “equal treatment” from the state, believing that “secularism requires the state to remain at equal distance from all religions.”
For the “democracy” assumption, there are of course some who still believe in the “rule by people for the people” principle. However, they are in minority. The current prime minister, for example, believed for some time, nowadays he claimed to have changed that perception, that democracy is a wagon to be traveled on and left behind on reaching the final destination [Islamic governance].
{…}

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=role-model-turkey-2011-10-06

Not the Central Bank by The Commercial Bank of Syria. I thought it was already under previous sanctions, no?

What is the expected impact?

“The European Union is preparing to target a Syrian commercial bank and 29 Iranians accused of human rights violations in fresh sanctions to be announced in the coming days, EU diplomats said Thursday.

A decision to blacklist a commercial bank is expected to be formally adopted in the coming days and come into force at the end of next week, several diplomatic sources told AFP.

An EU diplomat named the bank as the Commercial Bank of Syria, targeted by a US assets freeze in August.”

http://news.yahoo.com/eu-sanctions-hit-syria-commercial-bank-29-iranians-173524442.html

@ Ehsani

“It is fair to say that this policy reversal was a major embarrassment to this government. The damage to the reputation of the economic team will take time to reverse.”

What reputation? The board of the Syrian central bank isn’t exactly a Who’s Who of the field of macroeconomics. We’re not talking about the likes of Bernanke, Summers, or Shapiro here. In the West someone would have resigned over a cock-up like that. This is another example of just how low the bar is set in Syria.

The REGIONAL National Dialogue Conferences recently concluded. The CENTRAL National Dialogue Conference is coming up — when? does any know when it’s scheduled to start?

“. In Syria, the regime owns that flag — if you think I’m wrong about that you should eff off right now.”

The regime doesn’t own the flag. You think regime supporters have a monopoly on patriotism. They don’t. The protestors aren’t anti-Syria, they’re anti Assad’s Syria. There’s a huge difference.

“European public opinion thinks the regime has committed crimes and crimes should be punished”

It’s not just Europeans that believe the regime has committed crimes, you’ll find plenty of Syrians saying the same thing.

“The newspaper reports that the regime has committed crimes are utterly bogus and fictitious — if you think I’m wrong about that you should’ve effed off before now.”

Finally, no one is “effing off” anywhere. Accept the changes that are coming or become a casualty of them. The choice is yours.

By the way, did Alex ever get round to writing his piece that was going to convince the world of the righteousness of the Assad cause? I have been eagerly awaiting the article for a while now.

255. DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

“What reputation? The board of the Syrian central bank isn’t exactly a Who’s Who of the field of macroeconomics. We’re not talking about the likes of Bernanke, Summers, or Shapiro here. In the West someone would have resigned over a cock-up like that. This is another example of just how low the bar is set in Syria.”

Firstly, I am not defending the Syrian economic team, far from it. However with all the brains and talent of the people you mention, do you know why the western nations are on their knees? How come these people did not prevent the west from nearly collapsing?

Digging Gold in Bosra

“We’re not talking about the likes of Bernanke, Summers, or Shapiro here”

Well, I don’t know if these are geniuses or dummies but you can’t say that the US economy is very healthy with huge debts and a rampant joblessness… Their degrees did no help much!

December 12th Date for Local Councils Elections
(Dp-news – Sana)

DAMASCUS- President Bashar al-Assad on Wednesday issued decree No. 391 for 2011 on specifying Monday, December 12th, 2011 as the date to conduct the elections of Local Councils.

Minister of Local Administration Omar Ibrahim Ghalawanji said in a statement to SANA that the issuance of the decree stresses the seriousness and credibility of the leadership in committing to have the elections conducted before the end of 2011 as it had been previously announced. {…}

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=98965

To #259. Darryl ,
You said: “ with all the brains and talent of the people you mention, do you know why the western nations are on their knees? How come these people did not prevent the west from nearly collapsing?”. This is unfair to western central bankers. You are way over simplifying the western financial systems. There are myriad reasons why the western economies are going through a bad recession. This is neither the time, nor the place to go over them. I think Digging for Gold in Bosra made his point.

Syrian dissidents gather in Damascus to build unity

Phil Sands, Oct 7, 2011
DAMASCUS // Opposition activists gathered on the outskirts of Damascus yesterday as their efforts to unite and organise in the struggle against the Syrian regime gained momentum.
….
Opposition figures advocating a continuation of a peaceful uprising met yesterday at a farmhouse in Dreesh, 15km north of Damascus. It was the second time the coalition of dissidents, known variously as the National Coordination Committees or National Board of Coordination (NBC), has openly gathered on Syrian soil.

Since their last meeting in mid-September when 300 dissidents, including street protesters, met at the same venue, a dozen NBC members have been arrested, according to officials with the group.

Yesterday’s gathering of some 84 activists, once again including those involved in regular street demonstrations and prominent dissidents such as the economist Aref Dalila, began with chaotic scenes as some NBC members insisted that the state-run Syrian television be excluded from recording inside the meeting hall.

The state news film crews initially refused to leave, insisting that anyone advocating democracy should not impinge media access, an argument that gained some support from a minority of NBC members.

Grassroots activists said they would not allow themselves to be recorded by the regime-affiliated reporters because they feared the footage would end up in the hands of the secret police. Other journalists were allowed to stay to report on proceedings.

“Allowing your face on state TV is like turning yourself into the security services. No one would do it,” said one activist.

The NBC is one of two main opposition groups to have coalesced into more-or-less coherent organisations since March. The other, the Syrian National Council (SNC), has held its meetings outside Syria although it has members based inside the country and has won the backing of the Muslim Brotherhood and local coordination committees.

Disunity among Syria’s opposition is a major hurdle to overcome if the uprising is to maintain momentum.

The formation of the SNC and NBC, which have brought old-guard dissidents together with the young generation of protesters, suggests an increased unity. NBC members have expressed reservations about the more confrontational SNC, fearing that it might become a vehicle to justify foreign military intervention in Syria. The NBC has unequivocally rejected all violence and foreign interference.

But NBC officials have disclosed close links to the SNC, and expect cooperation between the two. Both groups contain key members of the Damascus Declaration, a pro-democracy coalition that briefly rose to prominence in 2005 before being suppressed by the regime, and both have street protesters among their ranks.

“It’s logical that we will coordinate with the SNC,” said one leading NBC member, on condition of anonymity. “We are ready to do that. There is a complicated road ahead for the uprising and we must all be ready to work hard and innovate if we are to find the formula for success.”

The NBC was due last night to elect an executive board of 30 members, which would then select a leader.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/worldwide/middle-east/syrian-dissidents-gather-in-damascus-to-build-unity

From Xinua news:
The meeting came a few days ahead of the departure of a delegation from the body for a meeting in Moscow on Sunday with Russian officials, reportedly to present a clear vision of what is happening in Syria, as well as to try to reach, along with the Russians, a common perspective to find a way out of the crisis through dialogue
….

@ zoo and Darryl

The West didn’t ‘nearly collapse’. In 2008/2009 the economy could well have entered a depression, but the values that underpin Western civilisation aren’t threatened by economic malaise. The Bush administration’s consent to the use of torture and its practice of extraordinary rendition were by far the more serious threats.

Boom and bust are all part of the business cycle. That economies enter into recession every so often shouldn’t surprise us. However, policy mistakes are made, and when they do happen, those responsible can expect to be punished. If the US economy doesn’t start growing soon, Obama will join the growing lines of unemployed. That’s the key difference here: accountability.

Haytham @ 250

Thanks for this post. I am looking forward to read the whole series.

Khaled

I am curious you are insisting that Mundas is Aboud. Is it that you do not want to believe that Mundas is Shiaa and Shiaa are good people?

Ya Mara Ghalba

Why do you think Assad would win a fair election? Do you not think that the country would end up voting along sectarian lines? I’m thinking Lebanon.

Ehsani,

Can Syria use the Chinese money to buy and sell, it is stable now toward the Dollar and might even get higher in value .

can anyone else tell me if Alex has written the article that he promised he would? I might well have missed it.

Dear Jad #251:

I talked to Radwan Ziadeh today. He denied categorically that the site that published the satellite images you mentioned (http://www.nationalcouncilofsyria.com/nofly.html)is theirs. He thinks somebody is doing that to damage them.

2 days ago there was this announcement on the SNC facebook
تنبيه هام

نُحذر من جريدة إيلاف اللندنية اليومية , بالأمس أدرجت مقالاً نقلاً عن صحيفة أمريكية تقول فيه أنّ المجلس الوطني السوري أظهر على موقعه على الإنترنت خريطةً تظهر المواقع التي يجب أن يشملها الحظر الجوي أو الضربات الجوية ونحب أن نقول أنّ الخبر لا أصل له كما لا ندري عن أي موقع رسمي للمجلس يتكلمون .

اليوم تُصدر الجريدة نفسها مقالاً لكاتب غير معروف يحاول أن يدس السمّ في العسل ويتكلم عن المجلس الوطني السوري أنّه صناعة تركية وأنّ غالبيته إسلامية إخوانية رغم أنّ نسبة الإسلاميين فيه لا تتجاوز 22% كما أنّ الإخوان لم ينضموا للمجلس إلاّ في نهاية المطاف وفي نفس الوقت يصف كاتب المقال الإخوة الأكراد المنضمين للمجلس بالسذاجة ويتكلم عن مؤامرة تحيق لهم ..

Digging,

No not yet, i think that it will be a lead article and worth the wait.

A bit over a week ago Ehsani said:

“Much has been discussed of the fact that the Central Bank sits on a comfortable foreign exchange reserve position of nearly US$ 18 billion. In reality, this number is impossible to verify. The official government data and accounting is simply not transparent enough to confirm such claims…. I have tried my best to go through the Central Bank balance sheet to add the foreign exchange reserves. I was not able to come up with $ 18 billion. I was only able to add up much less.

The following spreadsheet at the website of the Syrian Central Bank contains fifty data tables about Syria’s finances up through the end of year 2010 and it is indispensible reading for anyone who wants to understand money in Syria.
http://www.banquecentrale.gov.sy/reports/Q-bulletin/Q-bulletin%202010%203-4-en.xls

BTW, that spreadsheet is downloadable from the following HTML page which also contains further historical data going back to the mid-1990s: http://www.banquecentrale.gov.sy/reports/belltin-eg.htm

According to this data, I too “was was only able to add up much less than US$18 billion”. See Tables 2, 3, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10 in the spreadsheet. I was not able to come across a consolidated figure of “nearly US$18 billion” at the website of the Central Bank. So the question I’d like to ask is: Ehsani, what is your source for the “nearly US$ 18 billion” figure? If you don’t have an official government source for it, and if you can’t point to a line item in the government’s accounts, then I say the right figure must be what the Central Bank is reporting in the above official publication — why would it be otherwise? The figure is a little less than US$5 billion, not counting foreign reserves held by Syrian banks other than the Central Bank of Syria.

الجرذون صديق ريفلون
هذا هو المرشد الروحي للثوره
كذب يكذب كذبا
يبدو ان الجرذان لاتستطيع العيش بدون زباله

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA,

I am also waiting for that very very long paper. I want to see how a very independent person who does not answer to anyone or take orders from anyone like Alex can justify the killings and abuse of his fellow Syrians. He also promised that I will not be able to read all of it or finish it because I am always friendly.

I am sure slave Imad would like to approve it before it is published.

ok, thanks Norman

DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA
Do you live in the US?

271. Ya Mara Ghalba ,

The $18 billion is the figure given repeatedly by various government officials. You did the same exact work that I did and you came up with numbers very close to those that I had.

I read the article posted by Zoo in #263 discussing the National Coordination Committee and that a delegation from that body is going to travel to Moscow to meet with Russian officials. Meanwhile, this Friday is named المجلس الوطني يمثلني انا وانت وكل السوريين. The NSC has representative from the known LCC ( Local Coordination Committee) as opposed to the NCC.

I have not heard of the NCC before. Who is that NCC that met in a farm in Damascus suburb and sending a delegation to Moscow? Is this a set up by the regime to make the opposition looks fragmented? I believe the regime is behind Muhamah Habash’s Third Way movement. Is the regime behind the NCC too?

Dear Shila

Thank you for your comment @142

trust me i am not playing games,I asked to know ,I read SC to speak to people who have other opinion than mine and like many of us to make sense of what is going on in Syria. am interested to know your opinion because you were a bit sarcastic about shabi7’s opinion

i also respect your opinion because in most of your comments you sound rational and realistic plus i don’t remember any comment of yours that make me judge you as a propagandist unlike some people here .

Dear #278. Louai,
Thank you. I appreciate your candor and honesty. I try to do the same and listen to the other side. I do not believe in black or white, rather all shades of grey. The death of a soldier hearts me as much as the death of a demonstrator. These are all Syrians. What is happening back home is very grave and concerning. I get very frustrated sometimes with SC posts. Many feel like direct assaults on my intelligence. I think that some posters are actually members of the Syrian Electronic Army or mukhabart.

@ Ehsani. Thanks for the reply. Unless I hear the Central Bank saying it — including seeing it in the Central Bank’s published accounts — I can’t give credence to this “nearly US$18 billion” in foreign reserves gossip. Can you cite a government official from the Ministry of Finance saying it, or from the Central Bank? Out of the “various government officials” you’ve heard reportedly saying “nearly US$18 billion”, can you link us to the ones you’ve heard whose credentials are closest to those of a person who should be knowing what he’s talking about — preferably from the Central Bank, and failing that then from the Ministry of Finance. If you can’t do that then I say you’re rehashing bad info from unreliable sources.

Thank you Shila

‘I do not believe in black or white, rather all shades of grey. The death of a soldier hearts me as much as the death of a demonstrator’ we need to hear more words like those from more people , Syria needs it we all need it .

by the way talking about the Syrian electronic Army did any one remember Joshua saying that Iran is supporting the Syrian electronic Army?

Al Arabia quoted him saying so ,

ونقلت الصحيفة عن جوش لانديس وهو أكاديمي أميركي يكتب في مدونة على الإنترنت عن التطورات في سوريا قوله، “إن إيران تقدم مساعدات إلكترونية هائلة للسوريين الذين يقودون حملة الجيش الإلكتروني، وإنه عندما بدأت المظاهرات المعارضة في سوريا كان رد الحكومة السورية هو محاولة إغلاق الاتصالات داخل سوريا وعزل سوريا إلكترونياً عن العالم الخارجي ومنع الصحافيين الأجانب من دخول سوريا”، مضيفا أن خبراء إلكترونيين واستخباراتيين إيرانيين ساعدوا في ذلك

another articla in English

Josh Landis, an American academic who writes in an internet blog about the developments in Syria, said that Iran is presenting immense electronic aids to Syrians who are leading the campaign of the electronic army, and that when the opposing demonstrates started in Syria, the Syrian authorities answered by attempting to close the communications and isolating Syria of the outer world electronically , in addition to forbidding the foreigner journalists from entering Syria, adding that Iranian intelligence and electronic experts had helped in such process

http://sy-street.net/?p=4928

Ya Mara Ghalba

I hope that you can read Arabic.

http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_news&id=8bbd1613ff977e187ab1cbd3df030896&ar=847401058

*** ABOUD TRUE IDENTITY REVEALED **

http://www.ajc.com/news/nation-world/calif-quarry-shooting-suspect-1195436.html

Haytham,
Dr ZiBALEH has zero credibility in my eyes, for me he is a LIAR, a COWARD and a TRAITOR with CRIMINAL mind, I despise him. His despicable ideas make me sick.
He is the first traitor to call, promote, pursue and still pursuing an international invasion of Syria, pure evil.

Louai

This is probably the source of Josh Landis comments about Electronic Army. Was posted here a while back. http://m.npr.org/news/Technology/140746510?singlePage=true

`zibaleh is alqaeda islamist man. He should be put away in jail with his al qaeda islamist brothers

@ Ehsani. Thanks for the good reply. If we also include the foreign currency assets held by Syrian banks other than the Central Bank (which I expect is what’s intended) it adds to ~US$13 billion according to Tables 6 and 7 of the official spreadsheet above. That’s still not US$18 billion. You’re right.

*** U.S. NOT GRATEFUL TO SYRIA FOR REFUGE PROVIDED FOR MILLIONS OF IRAQIS!!! ***
*** SHAME ON YOU VICTORIA NULAND! ***

U.S grateful to Turkey for refuge provided for 7,000 Syrians

http://en.trend.az/regions/world/usa/1941269.html

U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland voiced gratitude for Turkey for the refuge provided for Syrians, the department reported.

“Turkey has provided a safe zone inside Turkey for the many refugees, tens – more than 10,000 who have moved into Turkey, and we were very grateful to the Government of Turkey for the refuge that it’s provided for Syrians,” Nuland said in a daily press briefing on Oct.5. “But with regard to some kind of military action, we don’t believe that that is where the Syrian opposition wants us to be.”

Nuland said the Turkish authorities should speak to their own decision to conduct preparedness maneuvers on the Syrian border. They have described this publicly as routine preparedness. But I would leave it to them to characterize the timing and the exercises.

Moreiver, she said the U.S. will continue to work with as many countries as we can to increase the pressure on the Syrian regime.

“We have cut off our relationship completely on the economic front; we have called for President Asad to step aside. The European Union has completely cut its oil and economic relationship. We understand that Turkey is considering increasing the pressure on the Asad regime. And we do believe that the number of countries that is prepared to tighten the noose on the regime continues to grow and will grow, and we will work with them,” Nuland said.

The Turkish armed forces will hold exercises in the Hatay area bordering Syria on Oct. 5-13, the Hurriyet newspaper reported citing the Turkish General Staff on Wednesday.
The Syrian authorities have repeatedly concentrated the security forces in regions bordering Turkey due to exodus of the Syrians back after the riots.

Some in Turkey argue that the Syrian troops conducted an operation in the border area to capture soldiers, deserters, trying to break in Turkey.

The Turkish Foreign Ministry earlier expressed concern in connection with Syria’s military operations near the border and warned about the dangers of the Syrian side of such actions.

Meanwhile, the total number of Syrian nationals who fled to Turkey reached 7,605. They are housed in five camps under the administration of the Turkish Red Crescent.

Jad@284 and Ann@286:

I promise you the NATO won’t attack Syria. The council will meet in Cairo on Saturday and I am writing to declare their rejection any NATO military intervention.

When are you going to grow up haytham!

I would stick to calling and talking to the pope on your phone if I were you

Thank you JNA,

i wonder what source of Dr.Landis used, to be sure that the Iranians are helping the Syrian electronic army , it just dose not sound like Dr.Landis at all !!

­Syrian muslim brotherhood opposition violence – shocking video

http://rt.com/news/syrian-opposition-violence-video-143/

@ Ehsani. I think I might be seeing the missing billions of foreign currency assets. In table 13-14 in the above spreadsheet Syrian citizens have US$4 billion foreign currency assets held on deposit in Syrian banks. If you could legitimately count those as foreign currency assets, we’d have, in round numbers:
(1) US$5 billion in foreign currency assets held at the Central Bank (table 6)
(2) US$8 billion in foreign currency assets held by Syrian banks other than the Central Bank, of which US$7 billion is balances with foreign banks (table 7).
(3) US$4 billion in foreign currency assets held by Syrian citizens in Syrian banks (table 13-14). These billions are also listed as a liability of the Syrian banks in table 7. If you could legitimately add the US$4 billion in citizens’ foreign currency assets to the US$8 billion in Syrian banks’ foreign currency assets, you’d get to US$17 billion. But I wouldn’t suppose it legimate because surely it’s counting the same money twice. Maybe this or something like it is what explains the US$17 billion.

Bottom line: The Central Bank’s official statement says the Central Bank itself has less than US$5 billion in foreign currency assets.

Haytham
“I promise you the NATO won’t attack Syria.”
Seriously!!
You think that politician keep any promis they take? Come on, you know, I know, ANN knows and God knows that no politician believe any of his/her own promises, especially when they have no previlage over the malicious big liar parties they are promising on their behalf, i.e. the colonialists powers and the NATO!

I promise you that the NATO along ZiBALEH’s masters the American and the Europeans will intervene and invade Syria in any and every way they could.

Please wake up and see the reality of politics, it’s the art of deceiving.

لا للاستحمار!*
*(Thanks to whoever wrote this meaningful sentence)

P.S. I gave you a thumb up though! for trying 🙂

SNK,
This is the newer version of 3r3our’s clip, have fun 🙂
http://youtu.be/0ZuVG8wLu8U?t=2m25s

Motives Exposed

SNK @ يبدو ان الجرذان لاتستطيع العيش بدون زباله

Genius, now you know why this rat comes back to Syria Comment, you Menhebbaks (overt and covert) are a rich garbage mine.

Get over your Phronemophobia

SH
Do you want to make peace?I really don’t hate you?

From Facebook

الإعلام السوري .. قسم التشبيح الإخباري ..

زينب الحصني حيّة ترزق .. خبر مهم جداً ..
و لكن فتاة أخرى قد قتلت و قطعت جثتها .. مش مهم !
سارية حسون قُتل .. مهم جداً ..
… وقد قُتل معه أستاذ جامعي .. مش مهم !
أحمد البياسي حي يرزق .. مهم جداً ..
داسوه و مسحوا بكرامته الأرض .. مش مهم !
آل مطر استقبلوا السفراء الأجانب .. مهم جداً ..
ابنهم اعتقل و قتل تحت التعذيب .. مش مهم !

أعلم أن ليس بكم ذرة من حياء ..مهم جداً
ولكن ألم يبق في من يتابعكم ويصدقكم ذرة من عقل ؟!
أو بقايا من مشاعر إنسانية ؟! مش مهم

SANA is the real Zibaleh, beware what you willingly transport

This is the leader that every country can wish they had to govern them.

الجزيره قناة الصدق والمهنيه

Wanted
Mr. Sectarian @ 299

Yup, we want him so much that we are going to the international criminal court to get him and his mafia gang

SGNLD
So what’s up? Did you call Zeinab?

Thanks ZOO for this great article. It’s rare I read something caustic from the Turks. I give the full version.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=role-model-turkey-2011-10-06

Role model Turkey
Thursday, October 6, 2011
YUSUF KANLI

Turkey is a democratic country. Over the past almost 90 years we could not manage to define what we understand from “secularism,” but Turkey is a country with an overwhelming Muslim population and “secular” and “democratic” governance. Turkey is the only island of “secular democracy” in the Muslim world.

With “secularism” the Turkish state, at least so far, understands controlling the practice of Islam through a state agency. That Religious Affairs Directorate or “Diyanet,” has a budget and organization bigger than six combined ministries. After all the great openings of the current Islamist government Diyanet “improved a lot,” it is reported that it will soon be elevated considerably in the state protocol as well, and has become the fundamental tool in persuading the people of this land to convert to Sunni-Hanefi, a certain sect of Sunni Islam. While Sunni-Hanefi believers are given a “more equal” status than the rest of Muslim folk, particularly of the Alevis, the minute non-Muslim sections of the society expect “equal treatment” from the state, believing that “secularism requires the state to remain at equal distance from all religions.”

For the “democracy” assumption, there are of course some who still believe in the “rule by people for the people” principle. However, they are in minority. The current prime minister, for example, believed for some time, nowadays he claimed to have changed that perception, that democracy is a wagon to be traveled on and left behind on reaching the final destination [Islamic governance]. Some other politicians considered it a tool to come to power, fill the coffers of her/his political clan at all costs to the state and resign to Bosporus mansions. Some believed it was not just a word but a web of norms, values and of course rights. In the 1970s and 1980s they were imprisoned and they long have abandoned those goals and have become rich businesspeople. There are some idealists, or lunatics perhaps, who still hope that this country will eventually become a democracy.

Democracy, of course, cannot be achieved in the absence of either the principle of equality or the supremacy of law. It appears as a farce indeed to talk about a democratic country that might be a model for its neighborhood if in that there are “more equals” than others or where a prime minister can boast of having “my justice” or “my judges, my prosecutors” like “my policemen, my teachers, my civil servants” or whatsoever and a prison was converted into a gigantic concentration camp to isolate the “not so welcome critics,” potential adversaries, patriots, Kemalists and of course the retired soldiers (those active officers arrested are at a military prison) in small cells.

Turkey is a sovereign country. At least, many people, including the writer of this article, assume it as such. Yet, this sovereign country is now at a jaw-jaw stage, thank God not at a war-war affair, with a small country of the region over its arrogance, spoiled behavior and indeed barbarism over members of another nation that it has been occupying its land. The tall, bold and bald ever-angry prime minister aspiring to be an absolute ruler in this model “democracy” for the Muslim nations, has been very angry with that small neighbor. He has been rightly demanding it apologize and agree to pay compensation for an act of piracy and murder of nine Turkish citizens in international waters on the Mediterranean. Yet, when the Americans wanted to deploy a radar system – that the angry tall man originally opposed – to fend of possible Iranian missiles aimed at that small arrogant state, this country has become the host of the system protecting that arrogant neighbor. Well, this might be “real politik” but it stinks.

286. ANN SAID:
“zibaleh is alqaeda islamist man. He should be put away in jail with his al qaeda islamist brothers”

No due process!!!,
Like Thug One has ben handling the over 100,000 prisoners in his dungeons!

284. JAD SAID:
“Dr Zibaleh has zero credibility in my eyes”

“He is a COWARD”
Is that because he is speaking up his mind and challenging the brutal regime?

“A TRAITOR”
Khayen Yalli Byo2tol Sha3bo!

“CRIMINAL mind!”
He calls for the protection of civilians, while YOU and your likes with deeply disturbed conscience on this blog call for dialogue and cooperation with the cold blooded murderer and the
Number One suspect in crimes against humanity.

“He is the first traitor to call, promote, pursue and still pursuing an international invasion of Syria, pure evil”

No He is neither the first traitor nor alone!
He has been echoing the calls voiced for months now by the hundreds of thousands of traitors that have been either demonstrating or blogging across the world and calling for freedom and the end to this regime.
It is an honour to be a traitor to this regime and their supporters.
I believe that NATO strike should have been employed much, much, much earlier.
A NATO strike would have wiped out the murdering capabilities of the regime by knocking out all of the security forces headquarters all over Syria as well and the 4th division units and saved thousands of lives and and tens of thousands of tortured souls.
This would quickly remove the only obstacle standing in the way of the disintegration of the illegitimate and decadent, Asadist, Baathist army .
Such will enable the noncorrupt and the noncriminal elements to join the legitimate FSA.
Any military strike approved by the SNC, the legitimate representative of the Syrian revolution shall be welcome.
The regime is not synonymous with Syria. The strike will extricate the minority of elements that have taken the lives of thousands of people and held hostage the living of millions of Syrians for 4 decades.

Nato intervention should be a last last resort if at all.

Hopefully it will be a Turkish and regional intervention. But not yet. Hopefully not at all.

John Denver sings with Soviet singer Alexander Gradsky

Listen from 1 min 20 sec. If you want you can listen to the intro from the start.

Im sure its connected to the uprising somehow. Anyway.

What are we making weapons for?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCR0sHBrNKs&feature=player_embedded#!

We are seeing verses of a song being written before our very eyes in the unfolding Arab Spring.

‘He gave up his future to revolution
His life to a battle that just can’t be won
For this is not living, to live at the point of a gun’

However,this battle will be won. InshaAllah.

I’m really sorry Haytham, I have been a bit ungenerous in my coments about Christians….what can I do….I get very NAGRY when I read SC posts and when I see Christians like Norman, Darryl, etc. supporting Bashar. I’m really sorry, I didn’t mean it, I only hate Islamophobic racist wannabe Phoenician Christians, not proud Arab Christians like you.

http://forsecurity.org/putin-suggests-creating-eurasian-union-ces-basis
Putin Suggests Creating Eurasian Union on CES Basis

Syria interests in the introduction into the Customsunion
Besides Ukraine, the introduction into the union interests as well Syria. Natalia Sljusar has informed on it during the Congress of businessmen of Kazakhstan the director of legal department of the Commission of the Customs union, correspondent Business Resource transfers.

Syria: The Regime is besieging itself

By Diana Mukkaled

Friday, 07 October 2011

The image was distant and shaky, but it was real.

A little boy fearfully clasping his father’s neck as the latter tries to carry him away from the pursuing soldiers. Sprouting up everywhere like mushrooms, the soldiers are trying to arrest the boy amidst a jumble of screams, shouts and chaos in the street.

We don’t know whether the boy was arrested or whether his father’s attempts were successful in protecting him from a dreaded fate.

……The image of this trembling little boy is one of thousands which the regime has been trying over the past seven months to contain, monitor and curb until finally it all backfired …..

….The official account about armed gangs and infiltrators roaming the streets of Syria has been totally shattered and has grown exceedingly unconvincing, even for the closest of regime associates……

…..The claim that the regime is still powerful is unconvincing because it has become besieged by a scene that the world can no longer ignore. Yes, the regime is besieged by the scene of its innocent victims…….

…….What draws ridicule and contempt at the same time is the conceited attitude of the regime’s media while stating that protests have begun to register a marked retreat. It is as if those people are proud that the power of tyranny and unrestricted killing has gotten the better of the masses….

http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/10/07/170629.html
.

So when is ABOUD allowed back ?

SC would be boring me stiff if it weren’t for the surviving courageous trouble makers and MUNDAS but SC is so much better with ABOUD on board. Notice how in spite of his absence he still haunts the place.

Reminds me of that character in Munif’s Cities of Salt whose name I forgot.

Aboud was banned either on the 29th 0r 30th. Yesterday I went back to look for his ‘banning’ post but it seems to have been removed (or disappeared).

The ban will expire either today or tomorrow.

http://forsecurity.org/mahdi-darius-nazemroaya-libya-and-syria
Mahdi Darius Nazemroaya on Libya and Syria

http://forsecurity.org/blueprint-nato-attack-syria-revealed

Blueprint For NATO Attack On Syria Revealed
A Nato strike to disable the Syrian army is technically feasible according to experts, such as former French air chief Jean Rannou. But it could make the country’s internal situation worse.
Nato member countries would begin by using satellite technology to spot Syrian air defences. A few days later, warplanes, in larger numbers than Libya, would take off from the UK base in Cyprus and spend some 48 hours destroying Syrian surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and jets. Alliance aircraft would then start an open-ended bombardment of Syrian tanks and ground troops.

The scenario is based on analysts in the French military, from the specialist British publication Jane’s Defence Weekly and from Israel’s Channel 10 TV station.
The Syrian air force is said to pose little threat. It has around 60 Russian-made MiG-29s. But the rest – some 160 MiG-21s, 80 MiG-23s, 60 MiG-23BNs, 50 Su-22s and 20 Su-24MKs – is out of date.
Is latest SAMs could shoot down a handful of Nato pilots. In the past three years, Syria deployed hundreds of Russian-made SA-17s, which come up on radars for a very short time before firing. Israel in 2007 bombed a suspected nuclear site in Syria using a cyber attack cut electricity to air defences. The SA-17s are believed to be cyber-insulated and Israel might not share its secrets with Nato, however.

Syria in 2006 bought around 30 Russian-made Pantsyr-S1 anti-aircaft cannon…It has stocked up on modern SA-18 missiles from Belarus and Russia. But these are short-range weapons that would only pose a danger to Nato helicopters in a later stage of the operation.

There are also assymetric threats – Nato countries have vulnerable troops in Unifil, the UN mission in neighbouring Lebanon…

…

“I don’t see any purely military problems. Syria has no defence against Western systems … [But] it would be more risky than Libya. It would be a heavy military operation,” Jean Rannou, the former chief of the French air force, told EUobserver. He added that action is highly unlikely because Russia would veto a UN mandate, Nato assets are stretched in Afghanistan and Libya and Nato countries are in financial crisis.
…

Robert Baer, a former CIA officer in Syria, said there is small hope a Nato strike would bring peace: “Any force used on Syria would be a total shot in the dark, a hope the military under attack will turn on the regime. But when has this ever happened? It didn’t with [late Iraqi leader] Saddam or [Libyan leader] Gaddafi.”

Baer previously told this website the turmoil in Syria is more complicated than the image in mainstream media of a downtrodden Sunni Muslim majority calling for reform by the Shia Muslim ruling elite.

Alastair Crooke, a former MI6 officer and high-level EU advisor who runs an NGO in Beirut, backed up Baer’s views.

“Syrians want change. But whether Westerners believe it or not, most people in Damascus, in Aleppo, the middle classes, the merchant classes and the [sectarian] minorities believe Assad is the only person who can bring in reforms,” he said. “They fear two things above all else – civil war and Western intervention … They would like to avoid the example of Libya because it would lead them into civil war.”
Crooke said two important forces behind events are Sunni radicals and Syrian exile groups in France and the US.
He said the radicals follow the teaching of Abu Musab Zarqawi, a late Jordanian Islamist, who aimed to create a Sunni emirate in Jordan, Lebanon, Palestine and Syria called Bilad a-Sham. They are experienced urban guerillas who fought in Iraq and have outside finance. They infilitrate protests to attack Assad forces, as in Jisr al-Shagour in June, where they inflicted heavy casualties.
Crooke said the exile groups aim to topple the anti-Israeli regime. They are funded and trained by the US. They pay Sunni tribal chiefs to put people on the streets, work with NGOs to feed uncorroborated stories of atrocities to Western media and co-operate with radicals in the hope that escalating violence will justify Nato intervention.
“There is a huge difference with [the revolution in] Egypt,” he added. “But the picture you see in the European and American press is that you are dealing with peaceful protests and that Assad has nothing better than to do than to kill his own people.”

Mr. Aboud was ejected 1 week ago, Alex, any idea when:

– Mr. Aboud will be allowed to post?

– you’ll decide on your “moderation” poll?

723. Aboud said:

9 8
.September 30th, 2011, 12:29 am

Revlon,Ann Etc…
In 1991,Hafiz Assad joined Nato and USA in invading Iraq and killing great Arabic Iraqi army.Menhebbak supported him.
Now the irrational pro regime are against USA and NATO to invade Syria,
There is huge contradiction in their logic.

They, the pro regime, ignore that the regime is killing torturing thousands of Syrian, over 5000 dead and 25000 in jail,they do not want the people to arm and defend themslves,nor they want foreign help to protect Syrian.
It is the regime who is behaving criminal against the Syrian people,the regime who they should blame for Nato invasion,

All the reform talk the regime came out with,are nothing but deceiving tactic, it is true ISTI7MAR للاستحمار
It is Bashar who is LIAR,TRAITOR,COWARD, CRIMINAL.

ABOUD was allowed to write for a while now.

Dear #306. Khalid Tlass,
Thank you for apologizing to Haythem. My question to you is this:
Why did you associate Norman’s, Darryl’s and John’s position with their religion?. Why didn’t you do the same with Mohamad Kanj’s position? Here is a Sunni who is, in my view, far more pro-regime than Norman. Yet, I have never seen you attack his religion for his views. What I am trying to say is that Syrians from all sects and religions are supporting this regime, let us debate them for their opinion not their religion. This is true even if they used their religious fears to justify their positions. We are all Syrian first.

Hunting for Syria’s foreiogn exchange reserves (Ya Mara Ghalba and Ehsani)

Your are right that the Central Bank of Syria stats do not provide explicit details for foreign exchange reserves. The figures available for total net foreign assets is a proxy indicator, and gives the total of about US$13bn (of which just under US$5bn attributable to the central bank).

The IMF, however, does have a line for Syria’s international reserves, which gives an interesting indication of the trouble ahead. Its most recent figure is for June and shows SDR10.4bn (about US$16.25bn), a drop of more than US$3bn since the start of the year. We can only assume that reserves will slip further as the balance of payments gets hit by lower oil export and tourism receipts and outflows of capital.

The IMF data can be found on their eLibrary: http://elibrary-data.imf.org/DataReport.aspx?c=1449311&d=33060&e=162024

EIU,

Does the IMF have full aceess to the exact data?

I like Dr “Zibaleh” a lot. I expect him a great political future in the new Syria. It’s very clear why mnhebaks don’t like him.
.

Zoo @ 185

If Bashar is interested in dialogue, he should dialogue with the SNC that was declared by the demonstrators on the ground today as their representative.  It appears that the revolutionaries outsmarted Bashar’s attempt of propping up pseudo-movements of the oppositions such as the Third Way led by a member of his own regime, or the so called NCC (National Coordination Committee) that is sending a delegation to Moscow.  The youth on the ground however declared it UNEQUIVOCALLY today that the SNC is their representative!

The way I see it is that the SNC will shortly gain international support.  Bourhan Ghalioun will work his way for the SNC to represent 100 percent of the opposition as compared to 80 percent now.  It will be hailed by most of the world as “The Legitimate Syrian Opposition”.  It will establish strong diplomatic relationships.  Bashar will not negotiate with the SNC because he is interested in no real reform and will try to play his usual games of fabricating opposition movements.  Russia will come under international pressure as the brutality continues.  Syria will be brought up again in the UNSC with new evidence of Bashar not “dialoguing” with the legitimate opposition, SNC that is.  In the interim, hopefully, a deal will be cut with China and Russia in regard to preserving their interests and voilà..UNSC will eventually succeed in condemning Bashar,… Then he will have no one.. And shortly thereafter..I will bring him rotten halawa to Tadmur.  

Therefore, Zoo, my sixth sense is telling me that Bashar is not going to last until 2014.  Once that happened,  I will take the first plane to Syria.  I will be walking the Hamidieh hoping to miraculously cross path with nameless someone I have never seen before.       

Ehsani

We have to assume the IMF does have access — the figures it puts out in the IFS series are all taken from national sources.

Thug One claimed to Turkish FM that he does not throw all of his cards when he plays.
Yet he unwittingly did, and here is what he fancy achieving when attacked:
– I will put the middle East on fire,
– I will spread anarchy and fire around the Gulf Oil fields
– I will cause regimes to fall
– I will cause the international waterways to shut down.

Here are his cards:
1. Within 6 hours, I will mobilise my misssiles to the Golan and fire it on Israel.
2. I will ask 7izballah to open fire that no intelligence would ever expect on Israel.
3. Iran will take care of bombing US vessels in the Gulf.
4. Shiaa of the Gulf will spring to action by waging suicidal attacks on any western targets, including the hijacking of Airplanes.
End of personal translation.

Looks to me like the international version of his co-thug and cousin Makhloof plan for Syria that he confided to Sahdid of the NYT.
________________________________________________________________
تفاصيل حديث بشار الأسد لأوغلو : 6 ساعات كافية لإشعال الشرق الأوسط
2011/10/07
لندن ـ سوريون نت
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=34829

روى مسؤول عربي كبير فضل عدم ذكر إسمه لموقع أخبار بلدنا الاردني أن الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد صدم الموفد التركي إليه وزير الخارجية التركي أحمد داوود أوغلو خلال زيارة للعاصمة السورية دمشق قبل نحو شهرين،
فالرسالة التركية للأسد، المستندة الى ثقل وتفاهمات تركية سعودية أميركية تضمنت التهديد بمواجهة عسكرية دولية على غرار ما كان يحدث وقتذاك في ليبيا لإنهاء حكم العقيد الليبي المتواري عن الأنظار معمر القذافي،
إلا أن الأسد رد ببرود أعصاب شديد فاجأ ضيفه، حين سأل أوغلو: برأيك كدبلوماسي لماذا تتردد قوى دولية معروفة بعدائها لسوريا عن تكرار التجربة الليبية مع سوريا؟!.
ويروي المسؤول العربي الكبير أن أوعلو لم يجب سؤال الأسد، لكنه قاطع الرئيس السوري سائلا إياه إن كان يعرف معلومات وأسرار لا يعرفها هو كحامل رسالة للأمة التركية،
فأجابه الأسد: إن قوى عظمى كبيرة تدرك كل الإدراك أنه مع أول صاروخ يسقط فوق دمشق لأي سبب كان، فإنه بعد ست ساعات من سقوط هذا الصاروخ، سأكون قد أشعلت الشرق الأوسط، وأسقطت أنظمة، وأشعت الفوضى والحرائق قرب حقول النفط الخليجية، وأستطيع أن أغلق المضائق المائية العالمية.. لا تظن إنني أبالغ دوائر القرار في بلدك وفي بلاد أخرى تدرك إن كنت أقول وأفعل أم أقول فقط.

وأمام الحيرة والإرتباك الذي ظهر على محيا أوغلو تابع الأسد حديثه: تعرف أميركا كيف ساعدناها على إسقاط نظام صدام حسين لأننا كنا نريد ذلك..
وتعرف إدارات أميركية أن سبب ورطتها في العراق الآن هو سوريا،
وأننا نمزح معها فقط في العراق، ولو أردنا قتل الآلاف من جنودها، لفعلنا بلا تردد،
لكن السياسة السورية منذ القدم لا ترمي أوراقها دفعة واحدة على طاولة اللعب..
دمشق تلعب بمزاج عالي.

في هذه الأثناء يقول المسؤول العربي أن أوغلو أراد الإستئذان، والعودة الى بلاده لأنه شعر أنه لا يفهم شيئا، لكنه سأل الأسد: هل تريدني أن أنقل رسالة معينة لأنقرة،
فأجاب الأسد: الرسالة التي جئتني بها لم تكن من أنقرة، بل من عواصم كثيرة، وأريدك أن تنقل هذه الرسائل بحرفية.. وهنا صمت أوغلو منتظرا رسالة الأسد الشفهية.

قال الأسد: إذا حصل أي جنون تجاه دمشق،
فأنا لا أحتاج أكثر من ست ساعات لنقل مئات الصواريخ الى هضاب الجولان، لإطلاقها على تل أبيب،
وفي الوقت نفسه سنطلب من حزب الله اللبناني فتح قوة نيرانية على إسرائيل لا تتوقعها كل أجهزة الإستخبارات، كل هذا في الثلاث ساعات الأولى من الست ساعات،
وفي الساعات الثلاث الأخرى ستتولى إيران ضرب بوارج أميركية ضخمة راسية في مياه الخليج،
فيما سيتحرك الشيعة الخليجيين لضرب أهداف غربية كبرى، وقتل أميركيين وأوروبيين حول العالم، إذ سيتحول الشيعة في العالم العربي الى مجموعة فدائيين إنتحاريين صوب كل هدف يرونه سانحا،
وسيخطفون طائرات شرق أوسطية.

بعد كلام الأسد لم يعلق أوغلو، بل ودع الأسد في طريقه الى مطار دمشق، وفي تركيا كانت القيادة السياسية التركية تعقد أهم اجتماع لها، فالرد السوري بقد ما أعتبر إهانة لأنقرة، إلا أنه أعتبر أيضا ينطوي على قدر كبير من الرعب والحيرة، لهذا طار في اليوم التالي الرئيس التركي عبدالله غل الى المملكة العربية السعودية لإبلاغ القيادة السياسية في الرياض بمضمون رسالة الأسد، في حين تولى مسؤول إستخباري تركي نقل رسالة لواشنطن

Im Sunni.

The following is a recent comment from a gentleman on Shiachat. A previous comment from the same person was also posted here.

‘brother I am against the zionists and support iran and hizbullah in the resistance and their nuclear rights and most things and i am against turkey because it is still friends with the zionists and it bans the hijab and admits that its a secular system but regarding syria and al asad I have to disagree
i know he is the only arab standing in the face of Israel and has no embassy but he is not elected so the people have the right to overthrow him

its very simple he is not elected
this country is not his farm

if the majority want to be zionist be it you cant force religion on people

you keep telling me he has majority on his side ,,, who says this ? how can you prove this without an election?

I also wished that the arab spring starts from the gulf first because they are the Zionist puppets but its not in my hand once the syrians rose up and demanded legitimate things you have to give it to them

also i saw alot of crimes which i cant deny ,

lots of situations where they are asking the people to say bashar al asad is god

it is reminding me of saddam and dont forget that he is bathi the same ideology and mohamad baqir alsadr said bathis are kafirs.’

http://www.shiachat.com/forum/index.php?/topic/234992766-if-you-are-human-do-not-support-the-syrian-regime/page__view__findpost__p__2276280

Riyad Saif was beaten and arm was broken by Jr’s Thugs today.
AlHasan Mosqu, AlMidan, Damascus.

المعارض رياض سيف في المشفى بعد تعرضه للضرب على يد والشبيحة 7 10 2011

To Homs, SNC represents the revolution only if they approve and solicit international protection of civilians and a no-fly zone!

حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom
الله أكبر .. ثوار حمص قبل قليل في مظاهرتهم على الجزيرة مباشر .. طالبوا بحظر جوي وحماية دولية .. وقالوا أن المجلس الوطني يمثلنا .. فقط إذا نفذ مطالب الثوار وخاصة الحظر الجوي
3 hours ago

Revlon @321,

The Saddam Hussein model. Gee that worked!

Tara

Today Russia has reiterated strongly the pressure on Bashar to implement the reforms. So the time is ticking seriously now.

As for your suggestion, SNC said clearly in their last meeting it refuses any dialog with the regime, it wants to topple it. They are the ones closing the door and as they are the ones supposedly controlling the street, they bear a part of the responsbility to the tensions in the streets.
If they has called for a friday WITHOUT any demonstrations to show that the street supports them I would have believed they are in control. Having demonstrations in support of the SNC means nothing to me, it is part of the same scheme of friday after- prayer provocations.
The day the SNC will call for a halt to demonstrations countrywide and it happens on the ground, then I will believe they are a power to reckon with. Until them I have doubts and I am waiting.

As for the local opposition, I said it in the beginning, that it has shown no guts and have been bypassed by these computer and lobby vavvy expats with double nationalities and suspicious agendas.

My hope is that the Russians, who have a their reputation at stake, will boost the reluctant and weak local opposition and apply pressures on Bashar Al Assad to sit around a negotiating table and make common announcements.
Yet, even if this happens, I think that the part of the street that is manipulated by criminal gangs and the SNC, for fear of being left in the cold, will condemn these courageous and nationalistic opposition leaders as traitors and will exacerbate the provocations to neutralize them.
Then, there will be dangerous struggle and long: BNC+Russia versus SNC+EU+US over the destiny of Syria, until something really dramatic happens, targeted murders, chaos in Libya or change of regime in France or the US.

As for your detailed predictions, changes will occur of courses, but if you specify a precise time frame and it happens then you should look for a job a the White House that is known to consult psychic for their policies.

The whole process may take a long long time, even if there has been repeatedly predicting that it is a ‘matter of months and years’ before Bashar al Assad steps down.

Zoo

I am curious. Does it give you a personal satisfaction when you ask me to take a job for the white house? Can you avoid “fake moderate Islamist…a petite bourgeois, a white house job, etc ..a discourse like that turns me off. Why is it so difficult for you to accept otherwise?

If it does give you a sense of satisfaction, can I interest you in something else? Sorry to be blunt.

الأسعد: حيدنا الجيش النظامي لكننا سنضربه الآن بكل قوة.. والعرب خذلونا وكل ما نطلبه حظر جوي وبحري

2011/10/07
الشرق الأوسط
http://www.sooryoon.net/?p=34815

في جنوب تركيا، على بعد «رمية حجر» من الحدود السورية، يقيم نحو 65 عسكريا وضابطا سوريا في معسكر تحميه القوات التركية، يشكلون ما يشبه «مجلس القيادة» لما يعرف بـ«الجيش السوري الحر» الذي يقوده العقيد رياض الأسعد أكبر قادة الجيش السوري المنشقين رتبة حتى الآن.

يتجمع الضباط بقيادة الأسعد، في المكان الذي يتحفظون عن الإشارة إلى موقعه بالتحديد، والذي دخلته «الشرق الأوسط» لترصد حركة نشطة يقوم بها الضباط والجنود للتنسيق مع زملائهم في الأراضي السوري الذين يؤكد العقيد الأسعد أنهم «أكثر من 10 آلاف منشق بالتأكيد» يوجدون في كل أنحاء سوريا.

أنشأ «الجيش السوري الحر» في مقر قيادته مكتبا إعلاميا، يقول أحد المسؤولين فيه، النقيب عمار الواوي إن مهمته التواصل مع القنوات التلفزيونية والصحف وبقية وسائل الإعلام، مشيرا إلى تزويد المقر بأدوات الاتصال الحديثة لمواكبة هذه المهمة. النقيب الواوي الذي كان يرتدي زيا رسميا مع ربطة عنق زرقاء، تتناقض مع المحيط العسكري القائم على أرضية رملية وخيام بيضاء اللون. كان سعيدا بخبر ولادة ابنته الجديدة التي سماها كفاح، على أمل أن يطلق على من يليها اسم نصر بعد النصر الذي يتمناه مع بقية زملائه.

العقيد الأسعد الذي يتولى قيادة «الجيش» الجديد، يبدو هادئا ومتواضعا، ببزته الرياضية الزرقاء. صوته هادئ وخافت، لكن عندما يحين وقت «الكلام الجدي» يرفع نبرته ويتكلم بلهجة الواثق بانتصار يتوقعه، و«مصير مخز» يتنبأ به للرئيس السوري بشار الأسد وزملائه، «الذي لن يكون إلا مصيرا مشابها لمصير حليفه العقيد معمر القذافي الذي سمى نفسه (ملك الملوك)، فيما هو الآن هارب مع الجرذان التي شبه شعبه الثائر بها».

يؤكد العميد الأسعد لـ«الشرق الأوسط» أن عدد الجنود تجاوز بالتأكيد العشرة آلاف، انشقوا عن النظام ويوجدون داخل الأراضي السورية، كاشفا أن من معه في تركيا لا يتجاوزون 36 ضابطا، أما الجنود، فهم بمثل عددهم أو أقل. ويشير إلى أن مكان الجنود في ساحة المعركة. يقول: «لقد شكلنا جيشا متكاملا، ووزعنا الكتائب والسرايا وفقا للتراتبية المعمول بها في قيادة الجيش النظامي السوري». يبرر ذلك بأن «هناك حاجة لإيجاد نواة جيش تكون قادرة على الإمساك بزمام الأمور وتتحول إلى جيش رسمي مع سقوط النظام»، ويضيف: «في البداية، تحركنا في إطار فردي، لكن مع ازدياد عدد المنشقين، وجدنا أنه لا بد من تنظيم وتأطير لهذه الحركة حتى نستطيع التحول إلى قوة مؤثرة»، مؤكدا أن الجيش الجديد «سيكون بعيدا عن السياسة والحزبية والطائفية».
ويشير الأسعد إلى أن «الجيش الحر» يعمل على الأرض، ويقوم يوميا بعمليات ضد النظام، مطمئنا الشعب السوري الذي ينتفض على الظلم بأن «هذا الجيش قريب منهم وسيعمل لحمايتهم في كل نقطة على الأراضي السورية».

وأوضح الأسعد أن عمليات «الجيش الحر» اقتصرت في البداية على الشبيحة وقوات الأمن والاستخبارات الجوية التي تعمل على ضبط عمليات الانشقاق في الجيش، لكنه كشف أن هذا الجيش سيبدأ باستهداف الجيش النظامي، قائلا: «لقد كنا نستثنيه (الجيش السوري) في البداية، لكننا اضطررنا الآن إلى استهدافه، ونحن سنضربه بكل قوة. فلا مجال للمناورة، لأن أهلنا يذبحون بواسطة هذا الجيش، وهناك اليوم (أمس) قصف بالطيران الحربي يستهدف المدنيين، وهذا الطيران هو من القوة الجوية التابعة للجيش النظامي لا للشبيحة وقوات الأمن».

الجانب التسليحي لـ«الجيش» لا يزال ضعيفا، لكن الأسعد يؤكد أن الجيش «يقوم بتكوين نفسه، ويجمع السلاح شيئا فشيئا»، مشيرا إلى أن مصدر هذا السلاح «بعض الجهات السورية التي نتعامل معها، فنحن لا نتعامل مع جهات خارجية ولا يوجد لدينا أي دعم خارجي».

لكن الأسعد يشير إلى «أن التنسيق الوحيد الآن هو مع الأتراك»، آملا منهم اتخاذ موقف، متوقعا «قرارا قريبا جدا على قدر كبير من الأهمية من جانبهم». ويقول: «الأتراك هم الوحيدون الذين يقفون إلى جانبنا الآن، فقد خذلنا العرب، ولذلك لم يعد أمامنا سواهم»، مشيرا إلى أن «لا تنسيق عسكريا بعد مع تركيا»، لكنه لم يخف أمله في حدوث هذا. ويشير ردا على سؤال عن دلالة المناورات التركية، بأنه يأمل «أن تكشف الأيام المقبلة الكثير».

عندما يحين وقت الحديث عن السياسية، يكشف العميد الأسعد عن اتجاه للتعاون مع المجلس الوطني الذي سيتحول إلى الواجهة السياسية للمعارضة. ويقول الأسعد: «نحن نتمنى من المجلس الوطني أن ينسق معنا ويكون الواجهة السياسية لعملية إسقاط النظام، وبعدها تبدأ عملية بناء دولة وطنية تكون بالتأكيد مدنية». وردا على سؤال عن حجم التنسيق مع المجلس، يقول الأسعد: «حتى الآن هناك اتصالات مع بعض الشخصيات. هم يشكلون الهيئات الخاصة بهم. لقد شكلوا لجنة الشؤون الخارجية، وعندما يحين موعد لجنة الدفاع لا بد من أن ينسقوا معنا. فلا بد من أن نكون نحن هذه اللجنة»، مشيرا إلى أن قيادة الجيش حاولت الاتصال بكل أطراف المعارضة السورية، و«حاولت جمع هذه الأكراف». ويشكر الأسعد الله على أنه تم الاتفاق على تشكيل هذا المجلس «بعد تنازلات قدمها البعض».

يطلب الأسعد، ورفاقه في المنفى، من الشعب السوري «الصمود والبقاء أقوياء»، ويعدهم بأن «إسقاط النظام قريب، بل وقريب جدا، ومصير قائده سيكون مثل مصير القذافي الذي يهرب من مكان إلى آخر»، آملا من العالم أن يتخذ «مواقف أكثر حزما حيال النظام السوري» معتبرا أن هذا النظام هو «عصابة حاكمة». مشيرا إلى أن «الجيش الحر» يرفض أي تدخل عسكري أجنبي، وكل ما يريده هو «حظر جوي وبحري».

ورغم تشديده على استمرار الناس في ثورتهم السلمية، فإن الأسعد يرى أن النظام لن يسقط إلا بالقوة فـ«(الرئيس السوري حافظ) الأسد تسلم الحكم بالقوة، ولا يمكن إنزال هذا النظام إلا بالقوة».

#304. NEW REGIME NEW HOPE

“Hopefully it will be a Turkish and regional intervention”

Massacre for massacre, I think I prefer NATO with their planes to the Turkish army on foot, just ask the Armenians.

Turkey will probably occupy Kassab and Lattakia to “protect” the protesters and change their name to Erdogul and Guligan!

It’s entertaining that only those who support more violence, arms to all and the continue of killing process are the ones who came to the rescue of poor innocent ZiBALEH.
Is Hasan Adb Alzeem and his group also `Menhebbak` for refusing violence, foregin intervension and sectarianism?
No wonder your god ‘ZiBALEH’ got the Muntadhar Zaidi Shoe of the month award, he deserve it for his exceptional achievements:
————————————————————–

Mr. Ziadeh earned the July 2011 Shoe based on his activities inside the U.S. and abroad, his support for US intervention and meddling in Syria, and his lobbying efforts on behalf of a US foreign policy hostile to Syria and its people. The shoe is also awarded in recognition of his efforts to exploit the current unrest in Syria to endear himself to the Washington political class, and his willingness to reach out to racist, Zionist groups that support an entity which remains at war with Syria and occupies Syrian land.

Ziadeh has been affiliated with, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) which earlier this month presented him with a “Democracy Award.” Far from being a component of global civil society, the NED is a Washington-based, quasi-government organization that functions as a tool of the US government. Operating under slogans such as “promoting democracy” the largely US government-funded NED offers financial assistance and training to pro-US foreign actors, political parties, and individuals cultivating them for later use as pliant tools against regimes the US foreign policy establishment has deemed unfriendly to US economic and political interests. It’s expected, and common sense dictates, that any group or individual associated with and supported by the NED would be closely linked to US (Neo-liberal) economic, diplomatic and military policies and initiatives. This was evident in Ziadeh’s appearance on Aljazeera this week in which he defended anti-Syrian, pro-Israel US policies. He also expressed satisfaction with the flagrant violation of diplomatic protocol by the US Ambassador to Syria earlier this month, called for replacing the Syrian regime with one more friendly to Western governments and the Neo-liberal economic model, and argued for increased US intervention (did not exclude military) and meddling in Syria.

In addition to lecturing at the NED, maintaining a relationship with the State Department, and promoting US policies on Arabic language news channels, he also travels internationally claiming to be drumming up support from the “International community” to bring “freedom” and “democracy” to Syria. In reality he is operating as a global lobbyist for the US government’s anti-Syrian policies. His role was clearly on display during a recent trip to Moscow to lobby the Russian government and try to win its support for any US action targeting Syria in the UN Security Council. That trip was particularly amusing. The notion this barely intelligible, very unintelligent and stunningly superficial person could convince anyone, let alone the high caliber Russian diplomatic corps, of anything is laughable. This buffoon might win over a few of the mediocre personalities within the US Administration and State Department that view Arabs with contempt, but the Russian Foreign Ministry with its vast array of experts, a highly trained staff, and extensive knowledge of Syria and the Arab world wouldn’t take him seriously.

Ziadeh also recently appeared before the rabidly anti-Syrian, racist Zionist group The American Jewish Committee (AJC). The AJC is one component of the Pro-Israel Lobby in Washington. The group which has been described as the “foreign policy wing of the Israel lobby” has taken its activities abroad to promote and defend the Zionist entity. The group has also campaigned for defining any criticism of Israel, a hostile entity in a state of war with Syria that occupies the Golan Heights and remains committed to the destruction of Palestine, as anti-Semitic. The obvious questions are why was Ziadeh invited to share the stage with Zionist fanatics like Gary Bauer, Elliot Abrams, and Jeffrey Goldberg. What was it about Ziadeh that won him the approval of this pro-Israel organization and earned him an invitation to speak at their event? And why would any Syrian “Human Rights advocate” take his case to this group? These are but a few of the questions swirling around the activities of Washington’s favorite Syrian.

The competition for this month’s shoe was stiff, but this brief review of Mr. Ziadeh’s activities leaves no doubt he is most deserving of this honor. So on behalf of the Arab-American community, and the Syrian Arab people, in particular the legitimate, loyal (to Syria) opposition to the Syrian regime that has repeatedly distanced itself from the vision, policies and methods that Mr. Ziadeh represents, Ikhras is proud to present him with the July 2011 Ikhras shoe of the Month.

http://ikhras.com/2011/07/ikhras-shoe-of-the-month-award-july-2011/

#329 ZOO

I dont think I mentioned anything about a massacre?

If as a last resort there is a reluctant Turk/Arab humanitarian military intervention, it will be a liberation. The regime security forces will be targeted and prevented from massacring peaceful syrian protestors.

I hope the syrian people achieve their aims without foreign intervention.

The Zionist Entity vs. The Arab World

… has taken its activities abroad to promote and defend the Zionist entity.

JAD,

Wake up and smell the kawa. The “Zionist Entity” routine will not:

1.) … bring basic human rights to the Arab world or, specifically, to Syria.

2.) … hinder Israel’s PR as it makes the Arab world look more rejectionist and lessens the pressure on Israel to make more unilateral concessions.

Just a suggestion: find a better excuse

REVOLUTION @321

Ghufran has previously responded to the allegations, which you are trying to spread, about the alleged threats made by president Assad To Mr Davutoglu during their last meeting. Ghufran said that the Turkish government denied these allegations.
Had these fabricated threats been true, Mr Davutoglu would have walked away from their meetings, and not continued his visit to other Syrian cities.
Had these fabricated threats been true, an international crisis would have ensued that day, as these would have been very serious threats indeed.
You can believe what you want and what you fancy.
Any serious analyst would tell you that the president is not going to commit such an amateurish mistake.
Your post quotes a nameless person, allegedly a high ranking Arab official.
You are not able to provide a direct quote from Mr. Davutoglu, who would have been a credible source.
Do you realize the seriousness of your spreading these fabricated accusations of made up threats?

Akbar Palas, 7el 3an 6izna!

In a Washington Post article about Radwan Ziadeh the author cleverly suggested that Ikhras had criticized the Ahmad Chalabi of Syria for, among other things, addressing a Jewish group:

On a Web site called Ikhras — “shut up” in Arabic — he is described as an American-approved “democracy and human rights advocate” who does not represent the Syrian people or their aspirations. The writers rail at him for addressing the American Jewish Committee and mock his reedy voice and uninspiring speeches.

Without identifying the American Jewish Committee as a component of the pro-Israel lobby, which we did in our piece on Ziadeh, the reader is left with the impression that Ikhras was criticizing Ziadeh for meeting with a Jewish group, subtly raising the anti-Semitic charge routinely hurled at anyone who criticizes the Zionist state. Here is what we wrote in the context of raising questions about Ziadeh’s relationship with anti-Syrian, pro-Israel organizations in Washington DC:

Ziadeh also recently appeared before the rabidly anti-Syrian, racist Zionist group TheAmerican Jewish Committee (AJC). The AJC is one component of the Pro-Israel Lobby in Washington. The group which has been described as the “foreign policy wing of the Israel lobby” has taken its activities abroad to promote and defend the Zionist entity. The group has also campaigned for defining any criticism of Israel, a hostile entity in a state of war with Syria that occupies the Golan Heights and remains committed to the destruction of Palestine, as anti-Semitic. The obvious questions are why was Ziadeh invited to share the stage with Zionist fanatics like Gary Bauer, Elliot Abrams, and Jeffrey Goldberg. What was it about Ziadeh that won him the approval of this pro-Israel organization and earned him an invitation to speak at their event? And why would any Syrian “Human Rights advocate” take his case to this group? These are but a few of the questions swirling around the activities of Washington’s favorite Syrian.

http://ikhras.com/2011/09/washington-post-cleverly-quotes-ikhras/

Mr Ghalyoon has been/will be elected as the leader of the SNC; He should start therefore to speak and act like one.

He and other SNC members know that they would not have been where they are today had it not for the ongoing sacrifices of the revolution.

They need to remember that the SNC prime objective has been to support the revolution, not to promote their own individual priorities

They need to remember the claim that they made that the SNC represent the Revolution; therefore, their expressed views need to reflect the demonstrators and activisits needs and their demands the way they see it, not the way SNC members do!

They need to remember that the revolution forces are diverse and they ought to pay attention to their sensitivities.

The revolution is starting to lose patience with the labyrinthene/contradictory messages from Mr Ghalyoon and other SNC members.

A detailed plan and road map for the protection of civilians must be urgently produced and communicated to the Syrians in clear terms.

The SNC pressident ought to face the nation’.
He ought to look the people that he represents in the eye.

He needs to do that on a weekly basis, either through a Youtube video or on a Syrian revolution satellite channel.

Thanks for posting that, Mango.

One other thing I’d add to that defense perspective is the relative difference in logistics, comparing Libya and Syria. The former is more accessible, in terms of political geography.

A social element also to consider is what happens when young Syrian men begin dying as a result of potential NATO air bombardment?

And I keep hearing stories of a 2000 man army that’s gone over to the other side, but nowhere have I seen pics or video of this large a rebel deployment anywhere.

I’m also looking for video evidence supporting these more recent “activist” claims. Any URLs would be appreciated.

I continue to be be persuaded by Crooke’s assessment.

#331 New regine new hope

“The regime security forces will be targeted and prevented from massacring peaceful syrian protestors.”

And do you think the regime security will stay idle? and the criminals will not take advantage of the chaos? It will be a massacre.
50,000 dead in Libya for a population of 5 millions, remember… and Sirte still did not still fall and the civilians are being killed by Nato planes ‘protecting the civilians’. Go on, dream of the bloodless ‘liberation’

Rejectionism Redux

The group has also campaigned for defining any criticism of Israel, a hostile entity in a state of war with Syria that occupies the Golan Heights and remains committed to the destruction of Palestine, as anti-Semitic.

JAD,

Your description above in inaccurate. The AJC supports a negotiated settlement and a 2 state solution for Palestine. Of course, the AJC doesn’t refer to Palestine as the “Palestinian Entity”. Just FYI.;)

http://www.ajc.org/site/c.ijITI2PHKoG/b.5326605/k.C75B/Israel.htm

Revlon #335

“He should.., he needs,.., they ought to , they must urgently”

You sound very worried suddenly about the ability of the SNC to act as you are giving all these advices to Ghalioun..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynsNgzPKU8Y&feature=colike

Riad Sif .. attacked by the regime thugs “ Shabeeha”

حركة سوريا شباب من أجل الحرية Youth Syria For Freedom

بيان تنسيقية مدينة داريا – الشعب يريد اسقاط النظام ::

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم

بيان الى المجلس الوطني الذي شكل بناء على طلب من السفارات
للدول التي يقيمون بها

عليكم تنفيذ المطالب التالية وعدم المزايدة على دمائنا
او الأنسحاب من المجلس الى مكانكم المعهود اما في الداخل او الخارج

1- طلب حماية المدنيين دون دخول قوات على الأراضي السورية
2- حظر جوي لكي يتحرك الجيش الحر
3- حظر مدني على كافة اعضاء النظام
4- الموافقة على ضربة جوية لكل مقارات المخابرات السورية والأسدية
5- حظر اي امر يدين اي طائفة
6- وعلى برهان غليون ان يسحب كلامه على قناة الجزيرة ويطلب الحماية الدوليةحسب البيانات التي ادلينا بها
وكل من يخالف هذا البيان من المجلس الوطني عليه ان يرحل ويعود الى السفارة
التي يأخذ اوامره منها فالله معنا ولا نحتاجكم

فمن الخيانة ان يذبح الشعب وياتي غليون بيك ويقول لا نريد ضربة جوية
والحراك في الداخل ؟؟؟؟
15 hours ago

#337 ZOO

The besieged Syrian people will themselves decide the best time for intervention and call for it via their representatives (SNC). The decision will be theirs. They will know full well the necessity and consequences of intervention.

A time comes where people cannot stand by and watch unfolding evil and tragedy.

Finally a more balanced report from Reuters, not the usual poisonous Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue in AFP amman

Syria probing killings, international inquiry possible
By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) – Syria said on Friday that a national investigation was under way into killings, including those of 1,100 security forces, but denied allegations that loyalist forces had shot soldiers refusing to fire on protesters.

Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad said that only when Syria’s own investigation was completed could it consider letting in an international commission of inquiry, set up by the U.N. Human Rights Council.

Syrian authorities have cracked down hard on pro-democracy protests demanding an end to 41 years of Assad family rule that were inspired by popular uprisings that have toppled Arab leaders in Egypt, Tunisia and Libya this year.

More than 2,900 have been killed in Syria since unrest began in March, the United Nations said on Thursday.

“I would like to assure the international community that those who committed violations of human rights will be held to account,” Mekdad told reporters in Geneva.

“If our internal process is finished, we shall definitely study the possibility of receiving the human rights commission (of inquiry),” he said, declining to set a date.

Mekdad led a senior Syrian delegation to the 47-member body that examined its record in a three-hour debate on Friday as part of its regular review of all U.N. member states.

In a speech pledging democratic reforms, he also accused foreign powers of arming demonstrators and the media of waging a propaganda war against President Bashar al-Assad’s government.

More than 1,100 security personnel have been killed in the unrest, up from the government’s previous toll of 700, he said.

“I hope you will give us time, reform cannot be done when the Syrian people are being killed by extremist terrorist groups every day,” he told the talks.

A U.N. spokesman said on Friday that the names of some security forces were on a U.N. list of 2,900 documented deaths.

An initial U.N. team of investigators, in a report in August, said that there may be grounds for prosecuting Syrian officials for crimes against humanity. It cited allegations that loyalist forces killed soldiers refusing to fire on protesters.

“It is a big lie, these allegations,” Mekdad told reporters.

After six months of peaceful protests, some army deserters and dissidents have taken up arms, prompting military operations against them, especially in areas bordering Turkey and Jordan.

There had been no shelling of civilians and tanks were only used to protect security forces from violence, Mekdad said.

{…}
http://news.yahoo.com/syria-vows-reforms-blames-outsiders-unrest-093100315.html

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/peace/laureates/2011/

The Nobel Peace Prize 2011 was awarded jointly to Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Leymah Gbowee and Tawakkul Karman “for their non-violent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights to full participation in peace-building work”.

I propose awarding future Nobel Prize to The Syrian Razan Zaitouneh for her non-violent struggle fore the liberation of the Syrian people against the oppression. 

UZAIR8

“The besieged Syrian people will themselves decide the best time for intervention”

Please tell me how they will do that? who will talk in their names for that decision? the french-syrian SNC , the local BNC, the MB? The rebel syrian army in Turkey?

See above Revlon’s implied doubts about the SNC.

Zoo @ 345

The people of Syria are represented by the SNC. Watch the demonstrations today and you will find out for yourself.

Revlon
I expected the attack on Ryad Saif today, it was a mistake by some one,who mentioned his name in his interview.
Please watch what you say in any interview.

Zoo
You suggested that SNC call for a halt on demonstrating, That will never happen, this is what Bashar wants,this is silly call.

So Far it has been peaceful demonstrations,the violent incidents has been committed by defecting soldiers,and very few uncooperative gangs, The real and widespread violence has been committed by the regime,through Shabbiha and security forces, and lately by the loyal army.

UN must provide for protection and security to the Syrian people,enough crimes by this evil Assad and his supporters

As far as Asma Assad, she needs to leave Bashar, other wise she will face the same fate of Mossoulini wife, and Chousescue wife.
and Louis IV wife,Mary Antoinette.and wife of Russian caesar,people should learn from history.

339. Dear zoo:
“He should.., he needs,.., they ought to , they must urgently”
You sound very worried suddenly about the ability of the SNC to act as you are giving all these advices to Ghalioun..

I have no doubt that the SNC was the right step.
I think the SNC has the potential to deliver on the promises.
However, most of the SNC members if not all have not been in the host seats as political executives which explains their undue slow start.

I am worried that every delay in adopting actions to protect civilians means more loss of precious lives, and more risks for the conflict to spin out of control.

Thank you for your concern!

Tara

Demonstrations have been happening very friday, nothing new. How many thousands? what about the others 98% syrians? How do you know if they support the SNC? I have not seen any declaration from any group ( doctors, lawyers.. ) of such support. Deraa, Midan and Deir El Zor don’t represent all Syria, do they?

As I mentionened before if the SNC calls for NO demonstrations on friday and it happens then it would start to believe that have a power on the streets. Until then, I just don’t believe it.

Zoo

I must say that your suggestion of having the SNC call for no demonstrations ONE SINGLE Friday might be worthwhile in affirming to the whole world their legitimacy and their effectiveness. I actually do not have a problem with that. If it works, it boost their position tremendously.

Haytham,

What do you think?

The army will soon find itself compelled to withdraw from cities.
Its scattered units in civilian areas have become an easy target for the FSA guerillas.
Sniper barrak was destroyed today.

أموي مباشر #syria •◄ كتيبة ضباط خالد بن الوليد >> بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم قامت عناصر من الشبيحة بعمل متاريس بجانب مدرسة ابتدائية (رياض كنجو ) بعد دوار القاهرة بإتجاه مقبرة الكتيب وهذه المتاريس يتمركز بها قناصيين فقامت مجموعة من سرية حمص العدية بتدميرها كلياً بقذيفتين rpg الله أكبر الله أكبر
15 minutes ago

NO, NO, NO! This massacre and blood river must stop; it’s taking our best people in its way.

Mishal Timo is killed today in Alquamishli.

He was a prominent, respected and peaceful opposition figure, what a tragedy, it’s a true lost to all Syrians, this is going to inflame the situation even further.
It’s a pure political crime, by those criminals who want to make the situation explode.

May his soul rest in peace.

استشهاد المعارض السوري مشعل تمّو وإصابة نجله برصاص ملثمين في القامشلي
الجمعة – 7 تشرين الاول – 2011 – 15:36:58

إعلانات

استشهد المعارض السوري الكردي مشعل تمّو وأصيب أحد أبنائه اليوم الجمعة، برصاص مجهولين أمام منزله في مدينة القامشلي شمال شرق سوريا.

وقالت مصادر مقربة من تمّو إن “ملثمين أطلقوا الرصاص على مشعل أمام منزله حوالي الساعة الرابعة من بعد ظهر اليوم، ثم لاذوا بالفرار من دون معرفة أحد منهم”.

وذكر المرصد السوري لحقوق الانسان ان مجموعة من أربعة مسلحين ملثمين اقتحمت منزل تمو وقامت بقتله داخل المنزل وأصابت ابنه مارسيل وناشطة اخرى.

وقال مراسل عكس السير في القامشلي ابن مشعل التمو (مارسيل) و زاهدة رشكيلو عضو تيار المستقبل أصيبا بجروح، و تم نقلهما إلى مشفى “فرمان” في مدينة القامشلي .

ونفى مراسل عكس السير ما اشيع عن استشهاد ” مارسيل تمو”، مشيراً إلى أنه لازال يتلقى العلاج في المشفى.

وتناقلت مصادر إعلامية أنباء عن القبض على أحد قتلة ” تمو”، الأمر الذي لم يتسن لـ عكس السير التأكد من صحته.

وتمو مهندس زراعي متزوج، له ستة أبناء، عمل بين قيادات حزب الاتحاد الشعبي الكردي في سوريا (محظور) لاكثر من عشرين عاما، وأسس تيار المستقبل الكردي في سوريا و”هو تيار شبابي ليبرالي يرفض اعتباره حزبا سياسيا ويعتبر ان الاكراد جزء لا يتجزأ من تركيبة النسيج السوري”.

يشار الى أن تمّو خرج من السجن منذ حوالى 3 أشهر بعد أن أمضى فيه أكثر من عامين.

عكس السير

http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=aec82e19d72129a1f1a2d4e810a0dcce&ar=130693

Mish3al Tammo was excuted by a shabbeha death squad while in hiding. The owner of the house as well as Tammo’s son were seriously wounded.
The murder was excuted by a a group of 5 Shabbeha, 3 of who entered the house and did the killing.

Ugarit News | أوغاريت الإخبارية
أوغاريت || القامشلي :: من داخل مشفى فرمان تاكيد استشهاد مشعل التمو واصابة ابنه مارسيل مارسيل حالته خطرة وزاهدة صاحبة البيت الذي كان يختبا فيه مشعل وحالتها خطرة ايضا العملية تمت بواسطة خمسة اشخاص من الشبيحة وذلك بدخول اثنين منهما الى الداخل وتنفيذ الاغتيال

about an hour ago via HootSuite

This is the Assad regime
أكد فارس تمو، نجل الزعيم الكردي السوري المعارض مشعل تمو، في حديث لقناة “الجزيرة”، اغتيال والده، مشيراً الى أنّه “كان مستهدفاً من قبل النظام، وذلك على خلفية معارضته الحكم السوري، وكان يشارك على رأس التظاهرات المطالبة برحيل النظام السوري”.

REVOLUTION@335.

You say:
The SNC pressident ought to face the nation’.
He ought to look the people that he represents in the eye.

He needs to do that on a weekly basis, either through a Youtube video or on a Syrian revolution satellite channel.

I say:
Having observed Mr Ghalyoon closely these past few months, I think he will proceed with actions based on his convictions and beliefs, his own assessment of each situation and its needs, he will consult with colleagues whom he trusts in their wisdom and maturity, and he will not be bullied by the mob or the street.
I also don’t think that he will take your advice and come on “a Syrian revolution satellite channel”. For the simple reason that Barada, the “Syrian revolution satellite channel” was and is financed by the State Department of the US government.
Mr. Ghalyoon being a principled Syrian, although in opposition to the regime, he will take a principled stand and will not justify any means for any end of which he is not convinced.

@ Zoo# 349 & Tara# 350

The SNC has complete support from more than 90% of the people opposing the Assad.
I do not think they have to prove themselves to anybody now.
I think the have to prove themselves by bring the regime down. This is what they are doing now. This is their real test.

Something to keep an eye on.

http://politics.salon.com/2011/10/07/romneys_scary_middle_east_advisor/

Friday, Oct 7, 2011 11:00 AM 13:24:59 EDT
Romney’s scary Middle East advisor

It was ironic that the initial news reports about Romney’s foreign policy team referred to Phares as a “scholar.” Phares has not been seen in Middle East Studies conferences for many years. His writings are only relevant to Zionist discourse and polemics. But such is U.S. presidential politics: when the appointment of Israeli experts on terrorism is not possible, a man like Phares is the second best choice.

The killing of the moderate internal opposition seems to have started, i warned about that when somebody was asking about the imprisonment of Tayara, now we are seeing that, it is very clear that the external opposition do not want any replacement to their leadership.

I expect more of the same and the internal opposition are better off moving fast on cooperation with the regime before they all get killed by the external and the paid off opposition,

Shut up, Norman, you liar criminal terrorist.

K T ,

Eat your heart out.

Norman, riad seif is part of the internal opposition. Look what happened to him after he demonstrated peacefully. Walahee we tried to make this peaceful, we want to demonstrate peacefully like the people of ta7rir square, we want to gather in large numbers BUT THE REGIME WON’T LET US.

316. sheila said:

“Dear #306. Khalid Tlass,
Thank you for apologizing to Haythem. My question to you is this:
Why did you associate Norman’s, Darryl’s and John’s position with their religion?. Why didn’t you do the same with Mohamad Kanj’s position? Here is a Sunni who is, in my view, far more pro-regime than Norman. Yet, I have never seen you attack his religion for his views. What I am trying to say is that Syrians from all sects and religions are supporting this regime, let us debate them for their opinion not their religion. This is true even if they used their religious fears to justify their positions. We are all Syrian first”

Kanj did not use his Sunnism to justify his support for the regime, while Norman and a few other Christians have on and off used their religious identity to justify their support of the regime. I reallt like brave people like Hyatham, who have used his religion to justify his anti-regime stance. These poor retards do not know the damage the regime has done to Christians, do they know how many Churches were burnt down by Syrian Army in Lebanon during the civil war ? Do they know anything about the siege of Zahle, or the shelling of Ashrafieh ? Do they know that in the wee hours of 12th October 1991,in Beirut, 50 Christian Lebanese Army officers were lined up, shot and their bodies dumped in the sea by the Syrian Army ?

And I have made my stance clear on the pro-regime Sunni……it is very violent, you do not want to hear what I want for them. I have some menhebak relatuves, I want nothing but extreme misery for them. There are still plenty of pro-regime Sunni , look at all the people who pray behind Hassoun and AlBouti and listen to his speeches, not to mention the two essential collaborators – the Sunni businessman and the Sunni Army officer, but they are all opportunists, cowards, sell-outs or apostates.

It seems that Steve Jobs did not want to have anything to do with his father, or his Syrian origin; I wonder why…

iSad in Damascus: Syrians reclaim Steve Jobs

Jobs’ mother was a German-American woman who had an affair with Abdulfattah Jandali in the 1950s, when they were living in Wisconsin.

By Sami Moubayed – DAMASCUS

During the years of French Mandate Syria, Abdulfattah Jandali was born to a large landowning family in the midland town of Homs in 1931. Like most affluent and ambitious Syrians of his generation, he studied at the American University of Beirut before moving to the United States to complete his higher education in the 1950s.

During his teens, Abdulfattah’s cousin, Farhan Jandali, was rising to fame in Syrian political circles, serving as a member of parliament and education minister during the era of Syria’s pre-Ba’ath president, Nazem al-Qudsi.

The Jandalis probably believed that Farhan would be the most member of the family to reach nation-wide fame, if only briefly, in the 1950s and 1960s. That was until Abdulfattah had his first child – born out of wedlock – in 1955. This baby boy, little would he know, would become a legend of the 20th and 21st centuries combined. His name was Steve Jobs – or as many Syrians would love to call him, Steve Jandali.

Few people know that Apple founder and icon Jobs, who died on Wednesday at the age of 56 after losing a battle with cancer, originally came from Syria. As the news of Jobs’ death vibrated throughout the globe, young technology-savvy Syrians mourned his death, laying claim to a computer genius who revolutionized the world.

Steve’s groundbreaking creations, iPads, iPhones and Apple computers can be found all over Damascus and are especially popular with young Syrians, although because of US sanctions they cannot download any application from iTune stores.

“Steve Jobs was Syrian,” they proudly typed into their Facebook and Twitter pages, sadly acknowledging, however, that had he worked in Syria, he would probably not have achieved any of his innovations.

The story of Jobs’ Syrian origins was first published in Syria in early 2007, when the country’s English monthly Forward Magazine ran a story entitled “Forgotten Syrians”. The six-page report listed world celebrities who trace their origins, three to four generations back, to Syria. The list was a long and surprising one, and it included Bob Marley, Paula Abdul, Paul Anka, former Argentinean president Carlos Menem, and Steve Jobs.

Jobs’ mother, Joanne Schieble, was a German-American woman who had an affair with Abdulfattah Jandali in the 1950s, when they were living in Wisconsin. Her father refused to let her marry a Syrian Muslim, forcing them to give up the baby boy for adoption in San Francisco, where he was raised by Paul and Clara Jobs, an Armenian woman who after seven years of marriage was unable to conceive.

Eventually, Jandali and his girlfriend married, giving birth to their daughter (Steve’s sister) Mona Jandali, who went on to become a celebrated novelist in her own right, known by her husband’s family name, Mona Simpson. Her parents divorced when she was four, and in recent years, Simpson managed to reconnect with her father and brother, but no connection was made between Steve and his father.

After giving up the baby, Jandali became a political science professor at the University of Nevada, Reno. Then he moved into the hotel industry where in 1999 he became food and beverage manager at Boomtown Hotel & Casino. He kept that post until 2010, when he became vice president of the casino.

While Jandali was making a living running roulette and poker tables, Steve Jobs was leading a very different life; taking over the world was co-founder, chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of Apple. When he stepped down as CEO this summer, for further treatment of his pancreatic cancer, Jandali, now 80, mailed him his complete medical history, hoping it might help his ailing son – but Jobs still refused to speak to the man who had abandoned him 56 years ago.

Speaking to the London-based al-Hayat last February, Jobs’ father said he regretted having left his homeland Syria, and recounted stories of his university days in Beirut, where he was an ardent Arab nationalist. “If I had the chance to go back in time, I wouldn’t leave Syria or Lebanon at all. I would stay in my home country my whole life. I don’t say that out of emotion but out of common sense.”

He added: “Of course I miss the social life and wonderful food [in Syria], but the most important thing is the outstanding cultural attributes which in general you don’t find in the West.”

More recently, Jandali gave an interview to London-based The Sun, where he said: “This might sound strange, though, but I am not prepared, even if either of us was on our deathbed, to pick up the phone to call him. Steve will have to do that as the Syrian pride in me does not want him ever to think I am after his fortune. I am not. I have my own money. What I don’t have is my son … and that saddens me.”

He continued: “I honestly do not know, to this day, if Steve is aware of the fact that had it been my choice, I would have loved to keep him. I live in hope that before it is too late, he will reach out to me. Even to have just one coffee with him just once would make a very happy man.”

Steve Jobs never replied, and two months later, he was dead.

Abdulsalam Haykal, a World Economic Forum-recognized Damascus-based media and technology entrepreneur, typed in a Facebook status, “iSad” on Thursday morning. Commenting on Steve Jobs’ death, the president of the Syrian Young Entrepreneurs Association said:

Syrians have the right to claim Steve as their own, regardless of how fate interfered after he was born. Needless to say, Steve is a legend that everyone wants a part of. He was an inspiration to entrepreneurs around the globe, and his genius changed the world for ever. But nothing could change the fact that his father came from Syria and has a pure Syrian name. In a place where family and lineage means a lot to people, the connection needs no more emphasis.

Haykal, who is soon to launch the Steve Jobs Entrepreneurship Award, added:

Steve Jobs is a personal inspiration. I e-mailed him three years ago about the idea of two let-down young entrepreneurs in Syria. He e-mailed back briefly, expressing no interest, but probably with the intention of lifting up their morale, and prove my argument then to them that even Steve Jobs was reachable and they shouldn’t be giving up.

Many Syrian entrepreneurs have inspired the world with their genius and creativity. I just wish they will some day be able to make their success in Syria. I wish Syria could someday give its budding entrepreneurs the eco-system and supporting environment, and not only the genes. Our expatriates make us a truly global nation too.

A nation-wide campaign needs to start, many Syrians are saying, to reclaim Steve Jobs. Syrians have done it before, reclaiming, for example, the Cairo- and Beirut-based musician Farid al-Atrash, whom the world remembered as Egyptian rather than Syrian. They then did it again with his sister, the diva Asmahan.

Reclaiming Steve Jobs might be more difficult, but it is a success story that Syrians want to be proud of.

Sami Moubayed is a university professor, historian, and editor-in-chief of Forward Magazine in Syria. This article appeared in Asia Times Online on October 7, 2011.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=48439

Normam:

This is too much @358.

Misha’al Timo was one of the strongest opponent to the regime. This is the second attempt on his life. The first one was just before the latest Istanbul conference.

To Norman @358

كم يحزنني عقل لم يستوعب التاريخ ولا يريد ان يفهم الحاضر ولا يمتلك القدرة على دخول المستقبل , لكنه يدمر هنا ب_؟ وهناك بالدبابات ؟
by مشعل التمو on Thursday, October 6, 2011 at 3:56am

حول المجلس الوطني السوري .. لقاء مع زردشت محمد و مشعل تمو و عبد الحكيم بشار

2011-10-06

Welatî – المواطن

أجرى اللقاء و أعده هژار

خاص ولاتي

في سياق معرفة ردود الفعل و الآراء تجاه المجلس الوطني السوري الذي تم الإعلان عنه في استانبول قبل أيام ، قمنا بإجراء لقاءات مع ثلاثة من القادة الكورد لمعرفة موقفهم و رأيهم في هذا المجلس إضافة لأمور أخرى متصلة بهذا الموضوع .

اتصلنا بداية مع الأستاذ زردشت محمد عضو المكتب السياسي لحزب الوحدة الديمقراطي الكوردي في سوريا و كان اللقاء التالي :

• كعضو في المكتب السياسي لحزب الوحدة .. كيف ترون هذا المجلس ؟

أرسلت لنا دعوة لحضور هذا المجلس ولكن وصول الدعوة متأخرة إلينا حالت دون حضورنا في الإطار الفني ..

• كحزب يكيتي لم تحضروا المجلس ولكن هل أنتم موج ودون كعضو في إعلان دمشق ؟

نعم … فعدا عن الدعوة التي أرسلوها لحزبنا كانت هناك دعوة لإعلان دمشق ولهيئة التنسيق الوطنية وللجنة التنسيق الكوردية .. هذه الدعوات كانت موجودة رسمياً ومع ذلك فقد حضرت أطراف من المنظمة الآثورية ليس كمنظمة ولكن تم تدارك ذلك في استانبول .. عدم حضورنا اقتصر على الجانب الفني فقط وليس من جانب الموقف السياسي وذلك كما قلت لأننا لم نتلق الدعوة إلا مؤخراً في 27-10-2011

كنا موجودين كإعلان دمشق كوننا أحد المؤس سيين لهذا الإطار و حضور إعلان دمشق يمثلنا أيضاً .. وكموقف أي شيء يصدر عن أمانة إعلان دمشق يمثل موقف حزب الو حدة

• وبالنتيجة فإن أي موقف يصدر عن المجلس الوطني فهو يمثلكم وانتم جزء منه؟

نعم ، و ذلك طالما نحن أعضاء في إعلان دمشق فإن أي موقف يتبناه إعلان دمشق يعبر بالضرورة عن حزب الوحدة;هناك قوى كوردية حاضرة في المجلس رسمياً كحزب يكيتي بشخص عبد الباقي يوسف وحزب البارتي الديمقراطي بشخص كامير ان حاجو .. وكما نعلم فالأحزاب الكوردية لم ترفع بعد شعار إسقاط النظام .

• كيف ترى حضور هذه القوى للمجلس تحت هذا الشعار بينما لم تتبن ذلك في الداخل .. أليس هذا تبايناً في الموقف السياسي ضمن الحزب الواحد ؟

كموقف سياسي في حزب الوحدة نحن مع تغيير بنية وآلية والحاضنة السياسية والقانونية لهذا النظام .. ترجمة هذا الكلام عبر عنه الشباب بشعار إسقاط النظام.

• أي برأيك حضور هذ ه الأحزاب يمثل الشارع الكوردي ..؟

اعتقد إن المقاعد الأربعة المخصصة للكورد في الهيئة التنفيذية .. وكما اخبرونا و قد تكلموا معي شخصياً، فهم ينتظروننا لكي ننتخب هؤلاء المثليين من هنا عبر المؤتمر الوطني الكوردي .

• لكن هذه المقاعد الأربعة ألم يتم توزيعها بين ممثل لتيار المستقبل و آخر لحزب يكيتي (عبد الباقي) و آخر بارتي (كاميران ) إضافة لعبد الباسط سيدا؟

هؤلاء تم تسميتهم من هناك وليس من هنا لأنهم لم يرغبوا في أن نقوم نحن بانتخاب أربعة من الداخل ، ونحن نرى إن تمثيل الشارع والحركة الكوردية لا يكون عن طريق الأحزاب فقط بل عن طريق مؤتمر وطني تنتخب ممثلين يتكلمون باسم الشعب الكوردي .

• ألا ترى من عوامل النقص في هذا المجلس عدم وجود ممثلين عن القوى الشبابية الكوردية في الهيئة التنفيذية ؟

في هذا الصدد نقول كما قال الدكتور عبد الباسط سيدا في إن الأبواب ستبقى مفتوحة لأي قوى أو طرف في الانضمام للمجلس ونتمنى أن يكون هناك ترجمة واقعية لهذا الكلام .. وبرأيي مهما وجدت من ملاحظات فإن هذا الإطار الذي تم تشكيله من قوى المعارضة الوطنية السورية بهذا الكم وللمرة الأولى فهي تجربة جيدة وتستحق الدعم..ونحن سبعة أطراف كوردية في إعلان دمشق إما أن ننسحب من إعلان دمشق ونقول أنها لا تمثل رأينا أو نبقى فيه ونقول ما يتبناه إعلان دمشق يعبر عن رأينا وموقفنا .

بعد ذلك قمنا بالاتصال بالأستاذ مشعل تمو الناطق باسم تيار المستقبل الكوردي في سوريا و لهم ممثل في هذا المجلس ، و كانت لنا هذه الوقفة معه حول المجلس الوطني :

• كيف ترون المجلس الوطني الذي تم الإعلان عنه في استانبول قبل أيام ؟

حقيقة نحن نعتبر هذا المجلس هو نتاج لثورة قدمت تضحيات كبيرة جداً ، كانت هناك الكثير من المجالس في السابق التي كانت تضم قسم أو شريحة من المعارضة السورية لكن هذا المجلس – بتصوري – يضم أكثر من 75% من شرائح أو الكتل التي تعمل في إطار الثورة السورية لإسقاط النظام . أعتقد بأنها خطوة إيجابية و مباركة بغض الن ظر عن بعض السلبيات التي رافقت التأسيس و بغض النظر عن بعض الأخطاء وبعض الآليات التي اتبعتها ولكنها تعتبر خطوة أساسية في الاتجاه الصحيح ليكون بديل سياسي لهذا النظام.

• بالنسبة لهذه الأخطاء تكلمتم أيضاً عنها في تصريح لكم عن وجود بعض الأخطاء و السلبيات، ما هي ؟

من الناحية العملية هناك سلبيات أي عمل جماعي خاصة لمعارضة كانت تعيش أكثر من خمسين عام من القهر والقمع والتنكيل .. شيء طبيعي جداً أن يكون هناك الكثير من الأخطاء خاصة في مجال الرؤية والتعامل مع الآخر وا ختيار الشخصيات ، هذه المسائل تحصل في كل الثورات ولكن يبقى الهدف الأساسي هو الصحيح .هذه السلبيات ليست مبرراً لعدم المشاركة في هذا العمل الوطني طالما الهدف هو شيء وطني لذا يجب التغاضي عن الكثير من السلبيات .

• هذه السلبيات هل هي في الجانب الفني أم السياسي ؟

على الأغلب هي شخصية نتيجة لأداء بعض الشخصيات وبعض الكتل إضافة لعدم وضوح رؤية البعض الآخر ولكن الشيء الأهم في الحقيقة هو الهدف السياسي الذي وضع أمام هذا المجلس وهو صريح وواضح جداً وهو إسقاط النظام ا لسياسي وموضوع الحماية الدولية وبناء دولة مدنية تعددية ، هذه الأهداف الثلاثة هي واضحة وتكفي للتأسيس عليها لبناء معارضة قوية تساعد وتساهم في إنجاز خطة طريق لإسقاط هذا النظام .

• القوى الكوردية الأربعة الموجودة في الهيئة التنفيذية هل يمثلون الشارع الكوردي ؟

بالنسبة لمسألة التمثيل قد يخرج شاب ويقول أنا أمثل الكورد . ليس هناك معيار لهذه المسألة .. فهي مسالة سياسية ونسبية . . فلم نجر أي انتخابات لنعلم من يمثل القوى الكبرى أو الصغرى .. هناك أحزاب موجودة في الشارع وهناك كتل أخرى وهناك تنسيقيات شبابية وحراك شبابي موجود بالإضافة إلى الأحزاب الكلاسيكية .أعتقد بان الشعب الكوردي يمثل بعدد من الطرق ومسألة التمثيل دائما ً يكون نسبياً وليس مطلقاً ، فعندما نقول نحن نمثل فنحن نمثل جزء وليس الكل ولا يوجد أحد حتى الآن يمثل كل الشارع الكوردي حتى يدعي أن هذا يمثل و هذا لا يمثل … الكل يمثل و لكن الكل له نسبة محددة يمثلها .

• لماذا غابت القوى الشبابية الكوردية عن الهيئة التنفيذية للمجلس ؟

كانت هناك بعض الأخطاء و هي جزء من السلبيات التي حصلت نتيجة كثرة المؤتمرات و دخول شخصيات و اعتبار نفسها السباقة أثر ت سلباً على هذا الموضوع هذا من جهة ، و من جهة أخرى كان لابد من بعض المساومة لأن الأمور أخذت على شكل كتل و ليس على شكل نسب مئوية ، فهناك كتل أخذت على هذا الأساس و كمثال هناك كتلة المجلس الوطني السابق و كتلة الأخوان و كتلة إعلان دمشق و الكتلة الكوردية . الأمر أخذ على هذا الأساس رغم وجود بعض الشباب الكورد الموجودين و هم ضمن الأمانة العامة .

• هناك بعض القوى الكوردية لم ترفع بعد شعار إسقاط النظام أو الحماية الدولية و مع ذلك هي ممثلة في الهيئة التنفيذية ، كيف ترى هذا التباين في الموقف السياسي الكوردي ؟

نعتبر هذه المسألة مسألة ازدواجية و ضبابية و لم تعد لها أية قيمة ، و من المفروض على القوى الكوردية أن تدر ك أن هذا النظام قد انتهى و أن هذا النظام سيسقط ، و هي مسألة وقت فقط و يجب عليها أن تتدارك هذا الخطأ السياسي الذي هي فيه و تنحاز إلى الشارع الكوردي و إلى الشباب الكوردي و إلى أهداف الثورة السورية و من ضمنهم أهداف الشباب الكورد الذين ينادون بإسقاط النظام و ينادون ببناء دولة مدنية يكون الكورد فيها شركاء كاملي الحقوق و الواجبات . على هذه الأطراف أن تتخلص من هذه الازدواجية السياسية التي هي فيها فلم يعد هناك متسع من الوقت .

و في النهاية قمنا بالاتصال بالدكتور عبد الحكيم بشار سكرتير حزب الديمقراطي الكوردي في سوريا (البارتي ) ليوضح لنا موقف حزبه – الممثل في الهيئة التنفيذية للمجلس – من هذا المجلس ، و كان هذا اللقاء :

• كأحد الأطراف الموجودة في المجلس الوطني و هيئته التنفيذية ، كيف ترون هذا المجلس ؟

نحن كحركة كوردية المنضوية تحت إعلان دمشق بالإضافة لحزبي يكيتي و آزادي عقدنا اجتماعاً مساء 3/ 10/2011 و وصلنا إلى أننا لدينا شروط للاستمرار في هذا المجلس ، و قد قدمنا هذه الشروط ، و في حال التجاوب مع هذه الشروط سنتريث حتى انعقاد المؤتمر الوطني الكوردي الذي يجب أن يكون صاحب القرار و البت في أي أمر يخص مصير الشعب الكوردي .

• هل لك أن توضح لنا ما هي هذه الشروط ؟

أولاً أن لا تقل نسبة تمثيل الكورد في المجلس عن 15 – 20 %

ثانياً نحن كحركة كوردية نحن من نحدد ممثلينا في المجلس و لا يجوز أن يفرض علينا من يمثلنا من قبل قوى أخرى،

ثالثاً يجب أن يكون في كل هيئة رئاسية أحد ممثلي الكورد نائباً لها . فنحن قومية ثانية في البلاد و لا يجوز أن يكون تمثيلنا كتمثيل أي حزب عادي ، أي يجب أن يكون تمثيلنا على أساس أننا القومية الثانية في البلاد ، أي إذا أصبح هناك رئيس مجلس فيجب أن يكون النائب كوردياً ، و إذا صارت هناك لجنة علاقات مثلاً يجب أن يكون الرئيس أو النائب كوردياً . و لكن البت النهائي سيكون من خلال المؤتمر الوطني الكوردي الذي يجري العمل لعقده قريباً .

• من ناحية الخطاب السياسي تبنى المجلس شعار إسقاط النظام و المطالبة بالحماية الدولية ، هل هذا يعني أننا سنرى ارتقاءً في الموقف الحزبي الكردي ؟

لم ترفع الحركة الكوردية هذا الشعار بعد ، و نحن جزء من هذه الحركة ، كما أن إعلان دمشق أيضاً لم يرفع هذا الشعار كقرار سياسي بغض النظر عما يتم تناوله و طرحه عبر وسائل الإعلام ، إلا أنه لم يقر ذلك كقرار سياسي .جميع هذه القضايا سوف تدرس في المؤتمر الوطني الكوردي الذي سيتعامل مع جميع الملفات التي تخص القضية السورية عامة و الكوردية خاصة .

• إذا بقي شعار إسقاط النظام و المطالبة بالحماية ا لدولية في المجلس هل ستبقون فيه أم ستنسحبون ؟

القرا ر ليس بيدي ، كما قلت سنحيل هذه الملفات إلى المؤتمر الوطني الكوردي في سوريا الذي سينعقد قريباً و هو سيكون صاحب القرار و نحن كحزب سنلتزم بأي قرار يصدر منه .

• و لكن هناك ممثل عن حزبكم في المجلس ( كاميران حاجو )؟

هو شارك في المناقشات و لكن التمثيل و القرار النهائي متروك لنا كحزب ، اجتمعنا قبل أيام و قدمنا لائحة مطالبنا المقدمة للمجلس و طرحناها للنقاش ، فإذا لم تتم الاستجابة لمطالبنا فسنعتبر أنفسنا منسحبين .

• و لكن كاميران حاجو ممثل في الهيئة التنفيذية ؟

نعم ، هو ممثل للحزب و لكن القرار بيد الحزب في سوريا .

• لماذا غابت القوى الشبابية الكوردية عن الهيئة التنفيذية للمجلس ؟

المؤتمر عقد في استانبول ، و أحد مخططات الحكومة التركية ألا يكون هناك حل موضوعي للقضية الكوردية في سوريا لأن ذلك سينعكس سلباً على الحكومة التركية و إيجاباً على القضية الكوردية في تركيا ، لذلك دعم تركيا لاتجاهات معينة في المعارضة السورية و أسباب ذلك واضحة لنا ، لذا أعتقد بأن تركيا ستحاول إيجاد بديل للنظام في سوريا يكون على شاكلة الحكومة التركية ، أي بعض الإصلاحات الديمقراطية لكن القضية الكوردية ستكون لها خطاً أحمر ، لذلك تحاول أن يكون تمثيل الكورد تمثيلاً ثانوياً و خاصة إبعاد الأحزاب الرئيسة في الحركة الكوردية .

قامشلو

Norman

That was very thoughtful of you Baathists, not only did you kill Mr. Timmo, no you now want to blame the external opposition for this crime and use it to extort the internal opposition into having a “dialogue” with the real criminals before they too face the death squads of the “external opposition”.

Well maybe you haven’t seen this yet Norman
http://www.syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=138250

There is no dialogue, and there will never be any dialogue with this murderous regime, tell your friend in Damascus to stop asking because he’s just embarrassing himself, we want him out, period.

@ NORMAN

“the internal opposition are better off moving fast on cooperation with the regime before they all get killed by the external and the paid off opposition,”

Norman, sometimes you sound like a pretty reasonable guy, but every now and then, you pick up that crack pipe of yours and have one mighty big toke on it.

In case you weren’t aware:

1) The world ain’t flat
2) The CIA didn’t blow up the twin towers
3) Neil Armstrong did land on the moon
4) Elvis is dead

Jesus.

SGNLID

Do you know why Aboud is not posting?

“247. OFF THE WALL said:

Dear مندس

May i have your permission to use your post # 196 as the new min featured post on a blog called حيطان ؟”

Dear OTW,

Yes. No problem. 
But please change my name to protect my identity 🙂

368. Tara said:

“SGNLID

Do you know why Aboud is not posting?”

He IS posting. Hehehe…..not too many ppl on SC use smileys in their posts regularly…heh hehe.

Norman,

What you said is beyond stupid. Is conspiracy hallucinations, a genetic condition among Arabs?

Tara,

I wont be surprised if Aboud decided to end his participation on SC. This what I would do if the moderators here did shut me up, and “punish” me in the most childish way.
.

Memo To: MAJED97

RE: “…Steve Jobs was Syrian…”

No. He was half Syrian. Steve was a typical American, a little of this, a little of that. Kind of like Tiger Woods who is part Afro-American and part Thai.

The word on the street is, the Jandalis back home were not thrilled by Abdulfattah’s extramarital escapades. That’s understandable. Lots of Arab men I know come over here to fool around and learn about the mechanics of sex. They basically fuck their brains out and get it out of their system. They end up thinking American women are whores.

When it’s time to get serious and have a family, they go back home and marry a nice girl picked out for them by the family. And then they go on to live a dull life, a life of quiet desperation.

Besides, who knew little Steve would grow up to become THE MOST INFLUENTIAL ARAB IN THE KNOWN UNIVERSE?

I think Steve felt the rejection. I think he resented that was tossed out like last night’s empty beer bottles. I think that’s why he never reconnected with his father…

http://playwrighter.blogspot.com/2011/07/rock-casbah-yeahhhhhhhhhhhh.html

الأكراد أفهم و أوعى من طنجرة المخلوطة و العدس بحامض الناتجة عن فنونكم على فكرة هم ليسوا كورد بل أكراد و عربيتهم أفصح من ناطقي الضاد و منهم من درس حضراتكم اللغة العربية و النحو و الاملاء لن يجدي نفعا ملامستهم لهم انهم وطنيون غيورون سوريون أصلاء !!!

Tara,
As far as I know, Aboud is investing his spare time in something else. Rest assured he seems to be safe and well.
Oh and I repeat Aboud is NOT مندس.

Khalid Tlass Said,
(( Kanj did not use his Sunnism to justify his support for the regime, while Norman and a few other Christians have on and off used their religious identity to justify their support of the regime. I reallt like brave people like Hyatham, who have used his religion to justify his anti-regime stance. These poor retards do not know the damage the regime has done to Christians, do they know how many Churches were burnt down by Syrian Army in Lebanon during the civil war ? Do they know anything about the siege of Zahle, or the shelling of Ashrafieh ? Do they know that in the wee hours of 12th October 1991,in Beirut, 50 Christian Lebanese Army officers were lined up, shot and their bodies dumped in the sea by the Syrian Army ?

And I have made my stance clear on the pro-regime Sunni……it is very violent, you do not want to hear what I want for them. I have some menhebak relatuves, I want nothing but extreme misery for them. There are still plenty of pro-regime Sunni , look at all the people who pray behind Hassoun and AlBouti and listen to his speeches, not to mention the two essential collaborators – the Sunni businessman and the Sunni Army officer, but they are all opportunists, cowards, sell-outs or apostates.))

No we know that MR Tlass is a Lebanese from the Lebanese forces and the Future block,

We and i in particular are not with Syria because of it’s Christian or Sunni or Shia stand , we are with Syria because of it’s Arabic stand and it’s support for Arab right and the rights of the Palestinians , we stood against the Lebanese forces because they allied themselves with Israel and that will be the stand for Syria ,

yes i am Syrian Orthodox Christian and proud of it but I am first a Syrian Arab then Christian ,

And that is for you and Haytham to think about ,

And yes you should have more foresight as the only people that benefit from killing any Syrian opposition in Syria are the radicals that want a NATO invasion of Syria , they are killing and silencing the voices of moderation.

if i were in the opposition in Syria i would request government protection.

@ Norman 358
The regime is vicious, resistant to any repair and extremely insecure. One important thing about highly insecure people (that applies to insecure political systems) is that they can’t live with others in normal and respectful relationships. Deep in their mind, they believe that in order to live they should kill all “living” people around them (please refer to the analysis of Hitler personality in “Anatomy of Human Destructiveness”). They want people around them to be either completely subdued (spiritually dead) or physically dead. For this reason, the Syrian people’s struggle with the regime is a war of existence.; either the regime demises or the people “die”.
http://haytham-khoury2.blogspot.com/2011/07/how-ferocious-and-unrelenting-war-with.html

Khaled,

You are really weird, but funny. Billions of people use smileys on the Internet. I’m here releasing my frustration because I don’t post often. My posting skills are nowhere near his skills.

Moderator, pleeeeease tell this disturbed, obsessed person that I’m not Aboud.

Amir.

I corrected you before about Egypt and the soviet Union, but apparently you still in la-la land and the vision of ++++

it is going to take a long time to make you think, It is hard when you are not used to.

This sums up the menhebakites’ position regarding Zaynab Al Husni

http://on.fb.me/pf1bKN

Dear Amir

I hope Aboud is reading my response. If Aboud is going to allow his personal pride to silence him from posting on SC, then I recall all my past statements in regard to ever wanting to have a walk with him in Homs starting at the Falafel stand. While I may be mistaken and even paranoid, it does appear that some on SC are indeed foreign electronic shabeehas. Sc is read by 3000 people a day per Camille’s statistics and our side of the story needs to be heard. Same applicable to True…too

Haytham,
I have some doubt that the regime killed him, not that the regime won’t do it or it’s not criminal enough for adding another victim to the long list of crimes committed against the Syrians but it doesn’t gain anything by committing this crime.
In case you don’t know, the regime did avoid using force against the Syrian Kurds in that region from day one, for political gains, why to do this crime now with such a prominent and respected man like Mr. Mishaal, knowing that it will blow in its face, it doesn’t make any sense to ignite the Syrian Kurdish street now.
Turkey on the other hand is a legit suspect because of its recent struggle with the Kurd rebels. Mr. Mishaal’s party is a supporter of the PKK against Turkey, doing the killing does help Turkey more than the Syrian regime these days.
It’s all speculation but whoever did the killing either the regime, turkey, terrorists or even someone from the opposition must pay for this horrendous crime.
Mishaal Timo was a good opposition, decent and genuine Syrian man he is a big lost to all Syrians.

352. JAD
Mishal Timo is killed today in Alquamishli.
Contract killing !!!
This experience approved in Iraq!!! Any attempt an event on the Syrian earth is ordered by secret services of the hostile countries!!!

NK,

It is clear that the radical external opposition made their massage clear that death is what any local opposition will get if they talk to the government and try to save Syria and reach reform peacefully .so now i expect the local opposition to shy away from dialogue,

“…أموي مباشر #syria •◄ كتيبة ضباط خالد بن الوليد >> بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم قامت عناصر من الشبيحة بعمل متاريس بجانب مدرسة ابتدائية (رياض كنجو ) بعد دوار القاهرة بإتجاه مقبرة الكتيب وهذه المتاريس يتمركز بها قناصيين فقامت مجموعة من سرية حمص العدية بتدميرها كلياً بقذيفتين rpg الله أكبر الله أكبر

Brave Shia (the good Islam) Hezbollah fighters fought and liberated Lebanon from 20+ years long Israeli occupations, fought so many time Israeli advancements unto Lebanon and repelled them, and here we have the coward Khara Ibn Alwalid خرا ابن الوليد fighters (terrorists) killing Moslems and Syrians. Sunni are filth of Islam, read more about them here:

http://surrenderingislam.com/
http://surrenderingislam.com/surrendering-islam/muslim-brotherhood
http://surrenderingislam.com/surrendering-islam/saudis

“……radical external opposition …”
You mean the foreign Intelligence operatives, graduate of ALCIADA terrorist camps? I doubt there are Syrians, mostly Bedouions and Foreigners acting as one.

@ NORMAN

“if i were in the opposition in Syria i would request government protection.”

That’s like swimming with a crocodile because you don’t want a shark to bite you.

Mate, you should have just told everyone you were a doctor and left it at that. What you’ve just said is stupid even by the standards of the commentators on this board.

380. Tara said:

“Dear Amir

I hope Aboud is reading my response. If Aboud is going to allow his personal pride to silence him from posting on SC, then I recall all my past statements in regard to ever wanting to have a walk with him in Homs starting at the Falafel stand”

Tara, relax. I’m sure Aboud discovered some other pastime in this one week. This happens. I too got banned for 1 week at a certain online forum, and for one week I completely forgot avout it. Then even after by ban expired, I was not that interested in visiting that forum, bcoz I had discovered something more interesting. He’s just busy with something else, maybe he will come pn here in a couple of days. But I would personally suggest that he should take arms training with the FSA in Ratsan, that will be more worthwhile.

I’m sure Aboud is out there somewhere looming in the mist with the new high-powered rifle he just bought from Lebanese smugglers plotting the death of Bashar al-Assad. A tip for you, Aboud. Go for the neck, it’s so lonnnngggg and uglyyyy…

Dear Jad@ 381:

Misha’al Timmo was not fro the PKK. The only Kurdish faction operating on the Turkish land is the PKK. Mish’al Timmo always stated that the problems of the Syrian Kurds is a Syrian problem and behaved as such.

Dear Aboud,

Before i go back and become unable to post, I have to ask you to please start posting again. You have a lot of fans. And I am your biggest fan. I, personally, enjoyed and agreed with every single post of yours. You have some of the best debating skills I’ve seen. Please come back as you have always been.

Come back before I impersonate you and ruin your name.

@ All,

It is comments like the one at # 384 (SNP) which makes me spew more and more sectarian venom at Shia and Vhristians,

Now I would request all mamenhebak to report the comment at 384 for its hateful comment and get this faggot banned.

@ SNP, you little SNP faggot from Koura or Rue Hamaara, you love “brave Shiaa” because they are genetically linked to you Christian Lebs from the mountains ( Haplogroup J2 Y-DNA).

Really sorry Haytham, but again and again I encounter hateful comments from Christian posters on SC, and I respond in a like manner. Really sorry akhi, i do not mean it. Pls tell me most Christians are not like them.

مندس sounds like SNK to me.
.

Norman

As a good zionist Amir in Tel Aviv already knows the answer to his question, Is conspiracy hallucinations, a genetic condition among Arabs?, because he has already soaked up the teachings of another good Israeli zionist, Raphael Patai, whose book, The Arab Mind, is gospel to Neos, etc. So the question is purely rhetorical. Actually, to be more exact, he might have some doubts about the “genetic” as opposed to “cultural” condition.

Norman

Your assumption will sense if Mr. Timmo was indeed advocating dialogue with the regime, but since Mr. Timmo was not, what you’re saying makes absolutely no sense. You’re basically saying he was assassinated by radicals who refused dialogue because he was refusing dialogue!

Right now there are two major opposition groups one inside Syria and the other outside, both declared they want to bring this regime down and don’t plan on having any dialogue with the murderous regime, why are you so confused about this ?

Digging,

I do not want to call dumb or stupid and i appreciate it if you do not use that language,

There is chaos in Syria and when a person is killed ,
It could be the government,
the opposition
Contract killing,
Mos-sad,or other secret service as they are known to stir trouble,

Or could be his neighbor taking advantage of the situation
you just have to look on who benefit the most.

Just think and do not repeat what you hear and read.

Al Jazeera English. In Depth.

Turkey’s policy towards Syria is a success

Critics say Turkey’s Syria policy doesn’t work because Assad is not reforming – but the critics are wrong.

Nuh Yilmaz and Kadir Ustun 07 Oct 2011

[selected quotes]

Let’s start from scratch: Turkey’s main strategic goal is to maintain Syria’s territorial integrity, prevent civil war and sectarian conflict, and lead the country to structural democratic change in a gradual manner. Turkey learned lessons from the consequences of instability and sectarian conflict in Iraq. The infamous de-Baathification process in Iraq led Turkey to conclude that every single political, religious and ethnic demand need to be satisfied to some extent in the transition process. Accordingly, Turkey’s plan in Syria is to achieve a transition that would include all parties in the country, including the Muslim Brotherhood and the Baath Party.

………..

While the Saudis are trying to bring Sunnis into the Salafi fold, thereby creating an anti-Shia front, Iran is countering with an attempt to forge an anti-Sunni front by bringing Syria’s Alawite population closer to Shiism. This kind of sectarian politics is all too familiar from Iraq, and benefits certain countries that stoke these tensions, but it is against Turkey’s interests.

…………..

Turkey’s Syria policy is a continuation of its long-standing goal of trying to prevent civil war and sectarian conflicts, while preserving its neutral but constructive position. This is not wishful thinking, but actual policy that worked in Lebanon. Both Sunnis and Shia in that country now trust Turkey. The real “position of strength” for Turkey is based on its non-sectarian stance in a country that has long suffered from sectarian and ethnic conflicts. That is where Turkey’s true “leverage” lies.

http://english.aljazeera.net/indepth/opinion/2011/09/201192914823163510.html

Khalid,
Although I strongly disagree with Norman, there is no reason to take it out on the Christians, or shiites. They are Syrian as much as every one of us. If you think what Norman said is stupid dont Condemn him and his sect. Tackle the comment not the commentator. I don’t like to talk sects but if you were going to judge by sect, syrians from Sunni backgrounds have a fair share of the corruption. I have seen much worse comments from Mohammad kanj and Mohammad hamwi, who both claim to be Sunni( I could not care less what their religion is).
To all those offended by khalid’s remarks: I’m truly sorry, this is an isolated incident. I’m talking as a demonstrator, we are demanding for equal rights for all people regardless of religion. We chanted it before and we chant it again: wa7ed wa7ed wa7ed al sha3b al soori wa7ed. Living a life of dignity in Syria is a right for everyone, no sect ,majority or minority has the right to take it or give it.

NK, do not abuse the noble ideology of Arab nationalism by calling Norman a “Baathist”.

And Norman, you are neither genetically nor culturally “Arab”, you are Canaanite or Phoenician, so stop trying to be an Arab. You’re a linguistic Arab at best, Syrian Muslims are not genetically Arabs either, but at least we are culturally Arab. Abd you cannot be Arab unless you love Islam, none other than MICHEL AFLAQ himself said this.

Khalid,

I do love Islam, you are new here, I just do not think that Muslims are doing the religion a favor by scaring everybody on earth,

Khalid,
You don’t have the right to strip Norman of his identity. He is one of us.

Press tv

Golan rallies in support of Assad

Fri Oct 7, 2011

Hundreds of Druze living in the occupied Golan Heights have rallied in support of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

Waving Syrian flags and portraits of Assad, about 500 marched in the Israeli-controlled Majdal Shams village on Friday and chanted slogans in support of the Syrian president, AFP reported.

“We love you, Bashar … We are with the Syrian army,” the demonstrators chanted while holding banners reading: “We are for a dialogue aimed at national unity.”

The rally came two days after more than 1,000 Syrian Druze, living under Israeli occupation, took to the streets in the Golan village of Boqata to back Bashar al-Assad.

“We are supporting President Bashar al-Assad,” said one demonstrator, adding, “We say to those who are against him: ‘No’.”

Read more:

http://www.presstv.ir/detail/203338.html

Btw I’m not Lebanese as you think, I do take a deep interest in Lebanese politics bcz its linked to Syria in many ways. Don’t flatter us by comparing us with the Lebanese Forces or the Kataeb, the day Sunnis will be like them, all oppression against us will be OVER and all enemies will be FINISHED.

UZAIR you idiot PressTV is as authentic as the pickpocket that lives around the street corner.

The Dryze in both Lebanon and Syria and occupied Golan are 90 % against al Assad. I can show you rallies of 50,000 Druze from Lebanon that oppose Assad.

Some Christian Arab are as culturally Arab as any Muslim Arab can ever be. Being an Arab has nothing to do with religion. It is a state of mind and I must admit that was a learned fact for me that I credit some SC guys for it.

Khaled

Please watch your language. UZAIR is a respected guy. He is also pro revolution if you do not know.

Tlass,

You contaminate this forum with your Sunni-Islamist supremacist Taliban style propaganda. Did you already put your wife behind the blue burka with the crisscross, bars looking, piece of cloth ?

To me you sound like a Pakistani living in Britain.
.

#405 Khalid Tlass

I posted it so people would comment on the ‘apparant’ druze support for Assad in Golan. I have read on here positive comments about the Druze (from yourself).

Im aware Press Tv is a joke as well as Russia Today.

#407 Thank you Tara.

Tara, Uzair’s posting of the PressTv artucle really pissed me off. This is War dammit !!! We need to know who the enemy is.

Also, Tara, being Arab HAS to do with religion. Arab identity is linked to Islam, and none other than MICHEL AFLAQ, the Syrian secular Christian Baathist ideologue said it.

@ Amir Zionist,

Shut up Shin Bet, Abu Mazen is about to pin u guys down very soon, then Haniyeh will use his rockets and Tantawi in Egypt will support him,

Khaybar Khaybar Ya Yahud, Jaysh Muhammad Sayaud.

Regarding uzairs article,if these people went on an anti-regime demonstration, the regimes media would brand them as Israelis supporting the revolution.
Plus, the exiled golanis of hajjar Aswad and seydtna zeinab are demonstrating against the regime.

Tlass,

Sit on the Kazouk. You Pakistanis like it thick and deep, so I’m hearing.
.

Just because someone posts a piece from the opposite side doesnt mean anything. Even Ann and Zoo sometimes post articles that go against their positions risking the wrath of their superiors in the mukhabarat.

It may be that people post opposing articles to invite others to comment and clarify any confusion or simply ridiculing the article.

@ Amir Zionist,

Its not “Sunni-Islamist-Supremacist” moron, we Sunnis are fighting for our rights and our dignity, all us Manehebaks support it, do not think you are doing us a favour by shedding crocodile tears o murderer of Sabra and Shatila !!!!!

And yes my wife does wear the Burqa, and she’s much more dignified and pure than all the molls in Ziohell combined. Get off pur land, thats the bottom line, Ziohell is the source of all troubles in the Middle East, without you guys Assads wouldn;t even have been in power.

Khaled

The way I see it, you can’t claim to be culturally Arab and hate Islam. SC ‘s islamophobes can never be Arabs. There are many Christians however who are not Islamophobes and appreciate the Islam for what it is and are more Arab than perhaps Tara herself.

And also khaled, one might post an article to generate discussion even though he or she might not agree with it’s content

Abd lastly I’m not Pakstani, I’m as semitic as you.

I admit I did have second thoughts about posting the article. I thought it would stimulate discussion. I guess my intention was partially a response to boredom. I got my just desserts for poking a hornets nest..lol.

@412 SGNLID

Thanks for the info. I was sure I had heard of the Golan people taking part in protests.

@Tara. Thank you. (In case you missed the thank you in edited #409.)

LOL Uzair bro I;m sorry I misunderstood you. We already have our hands full what with all the e-shabih and their hi-tech helpers from Iran and Russia, we do not need mamenhebaks to post stupid articles from PressTv. We should take this more seriously, humiliate them wherever we can.

Dear Uzair

My pleasure. I am making Mahshi for dinner. Tfadal.

Khalid Tlass

Baath Ideology is noble on paper, it’s a dream that will never come true, and it’s been hijacked a long time ago by the likes of Hafez and Saddam and their cronies, the ideal Baathists you’re talking about don’t exist anymore.

As for Norman, I assure you I have much more in common with him than I do with a Moroccan, a Sudanese, an Iraqi, or a Saudi, genetically, culturally and linguistically.

Yes but the fact remains Baath ideolgy as it was developed by Michel Aflaq and Salahedin al Bitar and put into practical use by Nasser and Saddam ( in his early yaers) was pretty good. Its sad that it was hijacked.

update-SNC
http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_news&id=8ef3c857b16322485d3b82719763abe3&ar=665136646

@419 Khalid Tlass

Dont worry about it brother. I didnt take offence. Just a misunderstanding.

This is why someone is so anti Ghalyoun today:

إخوان سوريا يحاولون الاستئثار بالمجلس الوطني

دمشق: يتداعى نشطاء سوريون الى تنظيم لقاء في تركيا يضم قيادات تيارات ليبرالية ليكون هذا التيار في خدمة الثورة في حين أكد نشطاء ان هناك محاولات من قبل الاخوان المسلمين في سوريا للاستئثار بالمجلس الوطني الأخير عبر الدعوة الى انتخاب رئيس للمجلس بديلا عن الدكتور برهان غليون.

وأكد نشطاء في تصريحات لـ”ايلاف “أنهم سيجتمعون قريبا في اسطنبول لتشكيل تيار يضم ليبراليين سوريين، وأشاروا إلى أنهم لن يحاولوا محاربة المجلس الوطني الأخير الذي تم اقراره مؤخرا في اسطنبول واعتبروا “ان كثرة الخلافات أزاحت الطريق عن الهدف الرئيسي وهو اسقاط النظام وأضاعت البوصلة الحقيقية وهي الوقوف صفا واحدا ضد النظام في حين يموت العشرات يوميا”.

وقالوا ” ان هذا المجلس ضمّ فقط أقصى اليمين وأقصى اليسار ولا يضم ما بينهم، الذين سوف ينضوون معا ويشكلوا تيارا سوف يكون في خدمة الثورة بعيدا عن التكتلات السياسية “.

ومن الاسماء التي ستنضوي تحت لواء هذا التيار الدكتور عبد الرزاق عيد، وصلاح بدر الدين، ووحيد صقر، والدكتور عمار قربي، والدكتور عمرو العظم، وضياء دغمش، وصلاح بلال، وشادي خش.

وكشف ناشطون ان هناك محاولة من جماعة الاخوان المسلمين في سوريا للاستئثار بالمجلس عبر ترتيب لقاءات مكثفة اعلامية مع الدكتور برهان غليون ثم التداعي لعقد اجتماع للمجلس في القاهرة غدا وانتخاب هيئة ادارية ورئيس جديد للمجلس كبديل عن غليون، ولان الاغلبية في المجلس ذات طيف واحد وهو اسلامي سيخسر غليون الانتخابات خاصة بعد انتقاده اثر لقاءاته الإعلامية الأخيرة والتي اعتبرها الناشط السوري سيد السباعي على سبيل المثال “فاشلة”.

ومن المتوقع أن يخسر الدكتور برهان غليون الأصوات في ظل السيطرة الإسلامية على أغلب أعضاء المجلس ولن يفوز برئاسة المجلس الوطني السوري الأخير.

وبحسب ناشطين فان الاخوان لن يعيدوا أخطاء المجلس الوطني السوري السابق الذي تشكل في أنقره والذي اعلن عنه الناشط ضياء دغمش حيث أعلن دغمش أن برهان غليون رئيسا للمجلس ونشر أسماء 94 ناشطا ثم ما لبث غليون ان وافق على زعامة المجلس على أن يختار هو أعضاء المجلس الوطني أي رافضا اسماء الـ94 لذلك أراد الاخوان ان يتخلصوا مبكرا من غليون بعد لقاءات اعلامية جرى ترتيبها له واحراجه بالاسئلة ثم انتقاده والهجوم عليه.

وكان سيد السباعي قد هاجم غليون قائلا “بخصوص لقاء غليون مع احمد منصور فأحب ان اقول لغليون: “لا يعجبنا اطلاقا كلامك ولا لقاؤك ولاطريقتك في الحديث ولا افكارك ولارؤياك ( ان كان هناك رؤية اصلا ً)”.

وأضاف” ان كان ممثل المجلس الوطني لسوريا جمعاء مهزوزا ومترددا وبدون خطة عمل وغير واثق من نفسه فهذه مصيبة “.

وتساءل “هل فعلا تعتقد انه لايمكن ان يكون هناك رئيس للمجلس غيرك ؟ هناك الكثير من الاحرار الذين نثق فيهم، فلا داع لهذه الطريقة في الحديث عن نفسك فلا نريد ان نتخلص من أسد ويولد لدينا أسد جديد”، على حدّ تعبيره.

http://www.elaph.com/Web/news/2011/10/687639.html?entry=homepagemainmiddle

Uzair8 #46

“Even Ann and Zoo sometimes post articles that go against their positions risking the wrath of their superiors in the mukhabarat.”

I am honored that you read some of the articles I post and I thank you for your subtle admiration for my courage.

@ KHALID TLASS

“Now I would request all mamenhebak to report the comment at 384 for its hateful comment and get this faggot banned.”

“Pls tell me most Christians are not like them.”

You my friend are a first class idiot. Apparently the irony of what you have said has been completely lost on you. Do you have a problem with homosexuals?

“Please tell me most Christians are not like them.”

Where do I even start?

By the way, I don’t give a damn what religion you follow. I don’t see why you find it necessary to bring it up at every opportunity. Frankly, I think it’s all a fabrication, but that’s another blog.

KHALID TLASS

Just out of interest, what is your vision for Syria? Suppose you were President, what would your policies be?

@426 Zoo.

The Mukhabarat bit was a joke. No offence intended. 😉

I do not think zoo is a mukhabarat..

Uzair8
This is the AFP version of the Press TV that you posted and got the wrath of some commenters and you felt you had to apologize.
(For once that you posted something going against your position!)

http://news.yahoo.com/hundreds-golan-druze-rally-assad-191416006.html

Hundreds of Golan Druze rally for Assad

Some 500 Druze living on the Israeli-annexed Golan Heights on Friday held a rally of support for embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, an AFP photographer said.

Waving Syrian flags and portraits of Assad, the demonstrators marched through Majdal Shams. “We love you, Bashar … We are with the Syrian army,” they chanted.

Against the backdrop of the deadly anti-regime protests in Syria, their banners read: “We are for a dialogue aimed at national unity.”

Israel, whose police did not intervene in the demonstration, seized the Golan from Syria in the 1967 Middle East war and annexed the Druze-inhabited territory.

Around 18,000 Druze live in the Golan, most of who refuse to take up Israeli nationality. Syria insists on Israel’s return of the territory as the price for any peace deal with the Jewish state.

241. jad said:

Areal,
I got your idea of the importance of education and I’m a pro-education since I came to life and I believe that science has the answer for everything, however, mentioning that once should’ve been sufficient, but you are going too far in your attack on any female similar to Ms Zainab social, financial and religious background, that is extremely wrong.
Financial poverty is not a shame or something we should make an excuse to put down other people about, being religious and peaceful is something we should respect and nourish instead of attack, illiteracy we all should tackle and try to solve, with or without the government, true poverty is a status of mind not a status of how much money we have, discrimination against women must be attacked and abolish everywhere we see. Arab women are our societies’ true pillars if we really want to progress, and honestly, you should feel ashamed of yourself of keep attacking Ms. Zainab because of her appearance, she is a victim of our society and our regime and our hate, did anyone of the pro or the anti group thought of the courage of that young Syrian girl? or of the danger she is in right now, either by her family (honor killing) or by the radicals who used her story and she blow it for them or by the media and even by the regime?
I can assure you that nobody thought of that, this innocent Syrian female victim was used just as a ‘strike’ for the regime, nothing more, and the regime wouldn’t give her any protection, for it, 2700 victim or 2701 are all the same.
Please don’t use the victims of this horrible bloody and life costly struggle for personal issues. It already shattered the whole Syrian society and Syria and Syrians wont be the same anymore, the damage is already done and everything happening now on is nothing but ‘numbers’ to be added to the long list of our crimes.

Thumb up 13 Thumb down 5

MY COMMENT

In # 233 , I used ZAINAB’s image in my post only to show the kind of dress the mother used. I could have used another image with a woman dressed like that.

“”””
The mother is dressed like Zainab when she arrives at work.
http://www.sana.sy/eng/337/2011/10/06/373808.htm
http://www.sana.sy/servers/gallery/201110/20111005-233654_h373808.jpg
“”””

I am just telling the story of the young girl as it is .

You can have your OWN interpretation but please don’t write YOUR interpretation of what I could think of the story of the young illiterate girl and of the story of Zainab.

I invite you to read the story carefully and think seriously over it in the context of public versus private schools in Syria.

242. Some guy no longer in damascus said:

Here you go areal,
http://www.youtube.com/user/aljazeerachannel#p/u/1/8V-5rZsZ7Lk
Regarding your article about the buses. It was written before the revolution started, things changed.

REALITY

1. I am talking about a report on Zainab story on the Al Jazeera website in English similar to the articles they run to announce her “martyrdom” .

2. The green buses lines ( public transportation ) still exist.

I read somewhere that there had been resignations in the syrian media recently. Can anyone tell us more about this.

A realistic article (not from Zeina Karam and Bassem Mroue)about the NATO non-intervention and the growing international uncertainty over the eventual aftermath of Bashar Al Assad.

The message to the Syrian Free Army : Find yourself a “Benghazi” than maybe you’ll get military help.

Syria’s risks mute talk of Libya-style action

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP) — In shaky videos posted on the web, some protesters in Syria have begun flashing signs appealing for international help. “Where is NATO?” some messages ask amid crackdowns that have claimed nearly 3,000 lives.

The answer: Waiting on the sidelines with other world powers and showing no willingness to open a Libyan-style military offensive against the regime of Bashar Assad.

“No intention whatsoever,” emphasized NATO’s secretary-general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, earlier this week in Brussels.
…
“Israel is more worried if there is civil war,” said Meir Javedanfar, an Iranian-born regional analyst based in Israel. “During the chaos, Iranian-backed factions could take the opportunity to strike Israel. The last thing Iran wants is a Saudi-allied regime emerging in Syria. Iran will not sit by as spectators.”
….
Yet no one in Washington or elsewhere is raising the option of airstrikes — such as NATO’s campaign in Libya — or other types of military action to try to cripple Assad’s regime.

Libya shows another likely reason why: Gadhafi’s security forces battled for six months against rebels despite being hammered by NATO strikes, and they continue to fight in pockets a month after the fall of Tripoli.
Syria is believed to have a much stronger and cohesive military than Gadhafi’s. Its arsenal includes Russian-made MiG warplanes and modern air defense systems.

“Syria is not Libya,” said Khaled Mahadeen, a Jordanian columnist and former government adviser in Amman. “Any such action will have serious repercussions across the Arab world.”

For the moment, the most likely channel for possible outside military help runs through Turkey, where a group of Syrian military defectors have set up a faction called the Free Syrian Army. Its leader, breakaway air force Col. Riad al-Asaad, said “armed rebellion” may be the only path for the opposition.
…

The military rebels, however, may first need to claim a slice of Syrian territory before they can pitch for Western or Arab aid like the anti-Gadhafi fighters in their de facto capital Benghazi, said the Qatar-based analyst Hamid.

428. DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said:

“KHALID TLASS

Just out of interest, what is your vision for Syria? Suppose you were President, what would your policies be”

Bosra, I’m honoured that you asked me, and I;m only too happy to oblige

1. First I’ll make Syria follow a Westminster type parliamentary democracy.

2. Electoral constituencies reserved for all minorities, ethnic and religious.

3. But I’ll do gerrymandering to ensure that even in Alawi reserved constituencies, the candidate preferred by the Sunnis will win.

4. Next I’ll import 20,000 Sunni young men from Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, etc., give them citizenship and start giving them military training. Then I’ll create a new Republican Guard with them and tell the existing ones to get lost.

5. I’ll compell all Sunni Syrian families to send their sons to the military. This I’ll do by creating a law that you cannot get for any subsidy on any essential item unless you send your sons to the Military. each and every Sunni family in Hama and Homs will be compelled to send their sons to the Military.

6. Simultaneously I’ll try to retire ALL the Alawi officers, and the Alawi soldiers I will pst to the middle of the Syrian desert.

7. Christian officers and soldiers will be placed in special units to protect Chruches, and their job will be just that, nothing else.

8. I’ll spend 10 % of the GDP to buy all sorts of weapons like AWACS and have HUGE defence contracts wuth Turkey and Saudi Arabia so that IRAN does not even dream of a counter-revolution.

9. Ill send in hit squads to Iran, Iraq and Lebanon to assassnate all the Iranian officials and their stooges to make doubly sure.

10. I’ll invade Lebanon with 50,000 troops, just like Assad senior, but this time I will kick Nasrallah’s ass and place Hariri and his boys in the Grand Serail.

11. The Syrian Arab Army shall stand at 100,000,00 troops and most of them shall be Sunnis. If we can;t get enough Sunnis in Syria, we’ll import them from all over the world.

12. The economy shall be completely liberalised, we’re gonna cut all the red tape and invite the World’s corporates to set up business inside Syria and help us in our militarization drive against Iran.

13. Lastly I myself will fly a Mig-23 over Qurdaha, to flatten it.

And all of this will be done to give the Menhebaks a whipping they’re likely not to foorget in the next 1000 years.

Now tell me what you think about it.

Next I’ll import 20,000 Sunni young men from Iraq, Egypt, Lebanon, etc., give them citizenship and start giving them military training. Then I’ll create a new Republican Guard with them and tell the existing ones to get lost.

Simultaneously I’ll try to retire ALL the Alawi officers, and the Alawi soldiers I will pst to the middle of the Syrian desert.

7. Christian officers and soldiers will be placed in special units to protect Chruches, and their job will be just that, nothing else.

I’ll invade Lebanon with 50,000 troops, just like Assad senior, but this time I will kick Nasrallah’s ass and place Hariri and his boys in the Grand Serail.

I think it’s because of people like you, that people like Norman are worried about what will happen in a post-Assad world.

Point 4: Why does the military need to be composed of many Sunnis? Why are you so obsessed with having everything Sunni?

Point 7: It’s demeaning to suggest that Christian soldiers should only want to look after their churches and nothing else. It’s their country as much as it is anyone else’s.

Point 6: Ok. so nothing has been learnt from Iraq. Do you think the Alwaites are going to like being posted to the middle of the desert? Don’t you think that an Alawite reading your comment might think he’s better off in Assad’s Syria?

Point 10: You’ll invade Lebanon? The Shia are in the majority, why shouldn’t they be in government.

You didn’t answer my question about homosexuals. Would homosexuality be a crime in your Syria?

Riad Seif at French Hospital this evening. Hitten by shabbiha:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeOiUgy-cv0&feature=player_embedded

Short brief about what Riad Seif did for the country and how the regime paid to him for his efforts:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4hbc4nMH8Y&feature=related

Our support to this brave and right man. A live example to be followed.

One more trouble for Erdogan ‘zero problems’

Diplomatic tensions hit Franco-Turk ties

If Turkey does not recognize the (armenian) genocide claims and step toward reconciliation, the French president said he would consider proposing the adoption of a law criminalizing the denial of the killings as genocide. An earlier attempt by the French government was rejected by the French Senate in 2009.

Sarkozy intimated that Turkey should make the recognition before the end of his mandate in May next year.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=turkey-to-protest-france-over-8216genocide8217-remarks-2011-10-07

Reptilian Shia

Dumb Men7ebbaks, see, we are diverse, we have our own SNP, (Sunni Nationalist Party) party of one. Only in Khaled’s case, the reptilian aliens are called Shia. And when they are really bad, they are called Iranians.

Khaled, I must ask the same question Mundass has asked you, why the hell aren’t you taking your medication.

The difference between us, revolutionaries and you, murderer-lovers is that we don’t pat Khaled on the back lik you do SNP, we tell him flat out to get lost and to go play somewhere else. You bozoz keep thumbing the racists up
— How is Afram doing these days..

Sanity is a curse

‘Divisions are intensifying, especially now that resignations have begun to occur within the ranks of the Syrian media.’

Wednesday, 05 October 2011

http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2011/10/05/170271.html

436. Khalid Tlass

God forbid !
Does not look like much of a democracy to me.
I’d rather stay in exile than live in your Syria

@ JAD
Razan Zaitouneh also call for peaceful protestes
http://www.zeit.de/2011/41/Syrien-Tagebuch
and maybe now she will be heard more
http://souriahouria.com/2011/10/07/syrie-attribution-du-prix-anna-politkovskaia-a-razan-zeitouneh-7-octobre-2011/

Tunisian Islamist in favor of mild Shariah ( not the Erdogan’s)

Tunisia’s most important Islamist party would prefer to see a mild form of Shariah law implemented in the North African country rather than the “neo-laicism” promoted by Turkey’s prime minister during a recent visit to Tunis, the party’s leader has said.
{..}

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/n.php?n=tunisian-islamist-in-favor-of-mild-shariah-2011-10-07

What a sane and intelligent syrian thinks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VYfuroiYhs8&feature=related
´
Reward he gets for freedom of expression:

437. DIGGING FOR GOLD IN BOSRA said

“Point 4: Why does the military need to be composed of many Sunnis? Why are you so obsessed with having everything Sunni?”

Becoz the current regime is obsessed with having everyting Alawi, Christain and Shia.

Listen, these ppl came to power thru force of arms, and they are holding on to power thru force of arms. U realise what we’re dealing with ?

Don’t worry, my Syria won’t be a dictatorship, it will be a parliamentary democracy, just like South Africa was from 1949 until 1994, i.e, it will a totally liberal democracy, albeit for only one section of the population.

I forgot to add one more point –

14. We’ll create “reserves” for the Alawis in the mountains, where only Alawis can live, but their areas will be fenced in, and to move out of their reserves they have to have a “pass” issued from the military authoroty. If an Alawi wants to travel to Homs from Masyaf, he’ll need an authoriztion pass from the military authorities, confirming that he’s unarmed and doesn;t have hostile intentions.

Homosexuality will be legal, alas. I’m personally against homosexuality but I’ll have to permit it to make our country look “liberal” to the western world, so they will turn a blind eye to our sectarian policies. But if the foreign “imported” Sunni soldiers decide to unilaterally clamp down on homsexuality on the streets of Damascus, then I’m afraid I’ll be helpless to stop it.

Me thinks Khaled is more intelligent than he lets on.

Hmm… I wonder…

Menhebaks, the diffrence between you and us is that ppl like me do not get an ounce of support amonsgt our own , while you get cheered on.

Hamster, it is precisely becoz u guys don’t pat ppl like me on the back, 2,900 ppl have died already and the regime is killing and raping ppl with impunity. You guys need to smell the coffee, these ppl will never change, why should we be peaceniks ourselves ?

Been waiting for the latest Robert Fisk article for the last couple of hours. Normally its online about this time of the week. Keep an eye out for it people.

Im off to sleep after tucking in to some food. Its Rugby world cup quarter final in the morning.

Wales v Ireland.

England v France.

May God Almighty protect the Syrian revolutionaries.

Regarding Riad Seif I just wanna recall you that he was the most voted independent member of parlament in Rif Damascus. Riad was the only memeber of Parlament who expressed opposition in the election session that elected Bashar as president BILIJMA´. President of the parlament told him live he was going to be accounted for their words.

When Bashar came to power one of the first mesures against democracy was to imprison Riad Seif and other prominent Damascus Declaration members. Bashar was never a reformist. But many syrians were blind enough to believe he was.

Tara,

What spices you use for the Ma7shi? Is it just kusa, or you use other veggies?
.

Syria: Assad family ‘selling off overseas property empire’

A multimillion pound property empire that includes flats and houses in London is being sold off and turned into hard cash by members of Syria’s Assad family, it has been reported.

Why ? http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/8811097/Syria-Assad-family-selling-off-overseas-property-empire.html

“The selling off of the property suggests the Assads are liquidating their assets in the chance the regime is forced from power in Syria. “

@ Khalid Tlass

just like South Africa was from 1949 until 1994, i.e, it will a totally liberal democracy, albeit for only one section of the population.

You are either a troll or completely misguided.

It’s because of people like you that the protestors are labelled Islamists hell-bent on ethnic cleansing.

“but I’ll have to permit it to make our country look “liberal” to the western world, so they will turn a blind eye to our sectarian policies”

Again, I don’t even know where to begin. I feel that I am just wasting my time responding to you.

http://fr.ria.ru/society/20111007/191393699.html
L’organisation caritative Reach All Women in War a décerné le prix Anna Politkovskaïa 2011 à une militante des droits de l’homme et juriste syrienne, Razan Zaitouneh, rapporte un communiqué de presse de l’association.

L’activité des journalistes et des défenseurs des droits de l’homme étrangers étant limitée en Syrie, le portail internet SHRIL créé par Razan Zaitouneh est devenu la source principale d’information sur la torture des détenus syriens.

Accusée par le pouvoir syrien de complicité, la militante est contrainte à la clandestinité.

Rendant hommage à la journaliste russe Anna Politkovskaïa, le prix est attribué pour la cinquième année consécutive.

Dear #370 Mundas,
You said: “But please change my name to protect my identity”. Don’t worry. According to the regime, there are 23 million Mundas in Syria. You will just melt in.

Mr. Khaled has so many valuable and precious points, let him be, why to shut him up, let him talk, I thought that we all want to let everybody to speak their minds, isn’t it democracy what we all want.

Bosra asked him “Suppose you were President, what would your policies be” and Khaled with all honesty answered, why you guys/girls are so critical of what he wrote, he is speaking gems, you can help him do some tweaks her and there to few of his valuable and precious 13 points and Syria will be just fine especially with his liberal vision regarding homosexuality, the future of Syria with president Khaled Tlass is as colorful as the rainbow.

Annie
Welcome back,I hope you convince True to come back, I missed Aboud,
Khaled Tlass
You are extreme, there will be problems in your Syria, but Thanks God it will never be like what you say.

There is escalation by this regime,now they are targeting highly educated people, Professors, engineers,Doctors,Mashaal Tammo is the last to be assasinated.it is time to work fast ,.

Syrian authorities must conduct reforms or leave – Medvedev
Published: 07 October, 2011, 17:16
President Dmitry Medvedev has said that Russia is interested in the end of violence in Syria, but the authorities in that country must listen to the international community and commence reforms.

Speaking from his suburban residence of Gorky on Friday, Medvedev said that Russia will not allow any unilateral sanctions in the UN aimed at the authorities’ displacement in various countries of the world.

“Russia will continue to oppose the legitimization of unilateral sanctions aimed at the displacement of various regimes through the UN Security Council. The UN was not founded for this,” Medvedev told the Russian Security Council session.

The Russian leader said that the Security Council resolution on Syria blocked by Russia and China allowed for the implementation of the Libyan scenario in this country.

“We should accept with all certainty that the task of the permanent members of the Security Council have special responsibility for the fate of the peace on the planet and they must no longer give an excuse to create documents that allow to achieve one’s goals by military means through easy pseudo-law tricks,” Medvedev said. “This means only one thing: that our partners don’t rule out the repetition of the Libyan scenario, although in private conversations they have said ‘we understand that Syria is not Libya,’” he added.

The Russian President also recalled the UNSC resolution 1973 that was used by NATO countries to justify their involvement in the Libyan crisis.

At the same time, the Russian President stressed that the Syrian authorities must conduct changes in their country and if they fail to do so they must leave the top posts. He also said that Russia has always been repeating this to Syrian leaders since the start of the current Middle East crisis.

“We are using our channels and we actively work with the Syrian leadership, demand that they hold the necessary reforms,” Medvedev said. “If the Syrian authorities are incapable of making such reforms, they will have to go, but this decision must not be taken by the NATO or certain European Countries, but by the Syrian people and the Syrian leadership,” the Russian president said.

On Tuesday, Russia and China vetoed the UN Security Council resolution on Syria which was supported by nine other SC members with four abstentions. Russia’s envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said that Russia did not support the resolution because it was based on a totally different philosophy, “a philosophy of confrontation,” and contained “an ultimatum of sanctions.”

“The Russian Federation could not agree with the accusatory tone against Damascus, nor to the ultimatum of sanctions against peaceful crisis settlement,” says the official press release of Vitaly Churkin’s speech on the Russian Foreign Ministry’s website. “Russia’s proposals on the non-acceptability of military intervention, among others, had not been taken into account. There is no alternative to dialogue.”

The vote followed weeks of debate over whether to impose sanctions against Bashar al-Assad’s regime. Many countries had been working on finding a text that could result in a compromise among the 15 Security Council members.
http://rt.com/politics/authorities-reforms-medvedev-russia-287/

Bronco,

Read below. What do you think?

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Columnist/2011/Oct-08/150748-in-syria-a-us-diplomat-is-leading-not-a-soldier.ashx#axzz1a8hgzEdn

Ford’s mission has been to encourage the internal opposition to get its act together, politically. The two strongest groups of street protesters are known as the “Local Coordination Committees,” headed by a human rights lawyer named Razan Zeitouneh, and the “General Organization of the Syrian Revolution,” led by Suhair al-Atassi, the daughter of a prominent Syrian political family. The significant role of these women should help lessen Western worries that this movement is simply a creature of the Muslim Brotherhood.

more….

Khaled.

Your soft approach to homosexuality would go against your Islamist stance. If you legalized it you’d be bringing the curse and punishment of God onto Syria.

I think you’d be overthrown in a military coup by conservative Officers.

So what, your Al CIADA handlers ran out of names, nothing inspiring this Friday? Here is a nice catchy name for your next one, in remembrance for those paid to demonstrate and got arrested, pay them some tribute next Friday and call it
: جمعة حمار الديار

Agatha,
I support Razan Zeytouneh, she was a civil activist many years before the uprising, she was always the first to speak out when nobody dared to say a word, besides, she is not the only one who is rejecting violence and promoting peaceful means, Louai Hasan, Hassan Abd Alazeem and almost all the local opposition figures called for that and they have my respect and support.

@ KHALID TLASS

“But if the foreign “imported” Sunni soldiers decide to unilaterally clamp down on homsexuality on the streets of Damascus, then I’m afraid I’ll be helpless to stop it.”

So basically your vision for Syria is some vigilante free-for-all? Sounds great. Frankly, I don’t see the difference between what you are proposing and what already exists. You aren’t concerned with state-building; you seek only to exact revenge on a minority group. You should be ashamed of yourself.

Majedalkhaldoon

Ehsani wrote that Abboud is posting again. Haven’t you recognized him under one or more nicknames?

This is how it is in the US , are we going to behave the same way.one day,

http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/10/07/8211096-pastor-backing-perry-romney-not-a-christian

Amir 

I made Mahshi grape leave today.  It has rice and minced meet inside.  You cook it over lamb ribs in a pressure cooker and add lemon, 20 whole garlic, and salt.  It must be compressed by heavy weight so it is pressed together.  My mahshi has an international reputation…