The 3ar3our excerpt from Idleb shows him to be less sectarian than Buthaina Sha3ban in March 2011. His message (in the excerpt) is for rule of law, justice, and forgiveness among sects – I guess that’s just code. The video could have been pulled from Al Jazeera’s youtube feed, but for some reason the source is from a sectarian pro-Assad site that calls him a dog.

There is no evidence that 3ar3our is the top Islamic scholar for the FSA, which, as we are constantly reminded, isn’t united and represents a small minority of the armed opposition, and hasn’t adopted a mufti as far as I can tell.

Syrian writer is killed while imprisoned in the dungeons of the abominable regime of the criminal Assad, descendent of Nazi thugs and Mongolian rejects of humanity,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/07/242383.html

On the other hand, leaked documents provided by the opposition reveal that criminal Assad ordered the execution of Hassoun”s son in September last year. If you recall Hassoun, the so-called mufti threatened Europe with an endless stream of suicide bombers back then,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/07/242409.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-19864136
Libya had elections in June, but were not able to make anything of it. The PM quits today since he has failed to form a government.
As for Egypt, they prepare for the coming parliamentary election, although they cannot schedule it since it depends on finishing to write the constitution. They are not even sure who wants to stay or to quit the constituent assembly.

Alarabiyya is now forging documents by the hour? Why not using the 30,000 emails of the Syrian MFA published by Wikileaks a month ago? Nothing there?
http://angryarab.blogspot.de/2012/10/saudi-intelligence-forgeries.html

More on the writer mentioned by Visitor
http://angryarab.blogspot.de/2012/10/muhammad-al-madani-holocaust-denier.html

512. SANDRO LOEWE said:

506. SYR.EXPAT

Please check the link you posted. This is not about Nidal Makhlouf but about Jamil Al Tawil. Could you send the right link? I would like to read it.
—————————–
The link is correct and it’s not about Nidal Makhlouf, but about a security thug to whom Nidal Ma’louf (and not Makhlouf), the founder of the Syria-News online news organization, refers to as “Jamil Al Tawil.” At the bottom of the article, there are five links to a series of articles about “Jamil Al Tawil,” or whatever his real name is.

Here is a link to the first article in the series:
http://www.syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=151991

قررت الهيئة السياسية لكتائب الفاروق تنحية عبد الرزاق طلاس بعد اعترافه بتورطه في الفيديو الجنسي الذي انتشر على شبكة الانترنيت مع موظفة سورية في قناة العربية
وقال بيان صادر للكتائب “” إن اجهزة استخبارات النظام السوري استطاعت اختراق محادثات سكايب خاصة بالملازم أول عبد الرزاق طلاس ، إذ قامت أجهزة الاستخبارات بنشر بعض هذه التسجيلات”.
وحسب البيان فإن هيئة الرقابة الداخلية والهيئة الشرعية في الكتائب ” بعد أن تأكدت من صحة هذه التسجيلات المسربة من جهاز الملازم أول طلاس، قامت الهيئة بالتحقيق مع طلاس بشأن هذه التسريبات، و اعترف بصحتها أمام الهيئة الشرعية “.
و أوضح البيان أنه بناء على اعترافات طلاس فقد قررت الهيئة السياسية في الجيش الحر تنحية الملازم أول عبد الرزاق طلاس عن أي منصب ضمن “كتائب الفاروق” في سورية، تعيين المدعو “أبو سايح الجنيدي” قائداً عسكرياً عاماً لـ”كتائب الفاروق”

Desperate Islamist Terrorist plans

When you play with fire, it burns you! That’s what the Syrian regime has discovered. Not too long ago, the Assad regime used its contacts with terrorist organizations to send extremists to cause mayhem in Iraq.

“Maliki says 90 percent of foreign jihadists entering Iraq do so through Syria, including fighters he blames for two bomb attacks outside ministries in Baghdad that killed nearly 100 people last month.” http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2009/09/04/83919.html

Now, the extremist are back with vengeance.

To make matters worse, the Assad regime, which only knows thuggery, alienated the ‘ulema of Syria and all types of reasonable people and drove them out of the country. This has allowed the likes of ‘Arour to fill the void. You reap what you sow.

Assad and his thugs used extreme violence and showed no mercy to quell the Syrian people’s legitimate aspirations for freedom from tyranny. However, every action has a reaction. Extreme violence begets an extreme reaction.

FSA Terrorist: We won’t stop our Jihad until we conquer the White House
This video shows a typical US-backed “Free Syrian Army” (FSA) terrorist stating what he and his fellow Salafi terrorists believe regarding the fight that they are engaged in.

He says that their Jihad just started in Syria, but it will continue until the whole world and, eventually, the White House are ruled by their view of Islam (Wahhabi Islam).

Remember that the Obama administration and the government of the UK have pledged tens of millions of US dollars in support for these Islamic radicals whose intent is to conquer the Western world and the White House.

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

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

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

War ‘Not Far’ Off? Turkey retaliates against Syria for fifth day
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxid7ea7YbY&feature=share&list=UUpwvZwUam-URkxB7g4USKpg
Turkey has returned artillery fire at Syria for a fifth day, after mortar landed in the Turkish border town of Akcakale. The mortar shell came from a Syrian truck in the area. The Turkish military immediately responded to the fire. No casualties have been reported. It’s the latest move in the already tense relationship between the neighboring countries

Saudis hold heavy weapons back from Syrian rebels

US discourages such support

RIYADH, Saudi Arabia — For months, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have been funneling money and small arms to Syria’s rebels but have refused to provide heavier weapons, like shoulder-fired missiles, that could allow opposition fighters to bring down government aircraft, take out armored vehicles, and turn the war’s tide.

While they have publicly called for arming the rebels, they have held back, officials in both countries said, in part because they have been discouraged by the United States, which fears the heavier weapons could end up in the hands of terrorists.

http://bostonglobe.com/news/world/2012/10/06/saudi-arabia-and-qatar-refuse-provide-heavy-weapons-syrian-rebels-because-resistance/6d0frKn4c617wqzOYWEl4J/story.html

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Looking at those fascistic black clothes those bearded insurgents are wearing in the photo at start of the page!

It’s a very wise thing, not to provide SAMs to the Syrian insurgents, as they’re comprised mostly of radical islamists.

Just look at the Al Qaeda war black war flag they’re holding. The same black war flag you see in Iraq (Dawlat al Iraq al Islamiyyah) , Somalia (Al Shaabab), Afghanistan (Taliban), Mali/Azawad (Ansar Ad Din), this is the flag of sunni salafi takfiri terrorists.

Three western newspapers supported the suspicion that the mortars that fell on Turkey were probably the work of the rebels or the result of inner fighting in northern Syria , it does not make any sense for the regime to ignite another front and give the Turks a free gift .
We have not seen evidence that Syrian soldiers fired those mortars and Turkey never asked NATO to investigate the matter, that led Turkey’s allies to pressure Turkey to calibrate its response. My position is not due to the illusion that the Syrian army did not or could not bomb civilian targets.

The FSA did not execute any of the Iranian revolutionary Guards. Why were the empty threats?

Iranian official: NATO preparing the ground for intervention in Syria
http://en.trend.az/regions/iran/2073993.html

The fight against terrorism = The fight against plans of CIA, Pentagon and NATO!

Q- Would you agree that they’re just waiting for the right chance to invade Syria?

A- “That’s exactly it. What’s remarkable is the very day before, whatever the nature of the incident is that resulted in the deaths of the Turkish civilians near the border, the Deputy Foreign Minister of Russia, Genady Gatilov warned reporters of potential NATO intervention against Syria! The quote from him says, “In our contacts with our partners both in NATO and in the region we’ve called upon them not to look for pretext in order to carry out a military operation.” That’s a quote from the Russian Deputy Foreign Minister. And, ah, a paraphrase of his comment stated explicitly that some provocation could occur at the Turkish-Syrian border that may give NATO the green light to intervene in Syria, so, within 24 hours or perhaps less precisely such an event occurrs.
Hypothetical, if you will: What if Bashar al-Assad comes out, he condemns the deaths of the five Turkish citizens and initiates an investigation? Would that stop NATO, do you think?
The Syrian government has already expressed regret over the deaths of the Turkish civilians without being able to establish the cause of those deaths. And, ahem, my assumption will have to be at this point, that the “fix-is-in” and that no matter what the Syrian government says or does, Western plans – that is plans of NATO nations and their Gulf Cooperation Council allies in the Persian Gulf, they’re not going to back down. They are nothing if not relentless, we have seen that demonstrated repeatedly in the recent years in Yugoslavia, in Iraq, in Libya, and now Syria. And whatever the Syrian government can issue, and probably already has issued statements that should defuse the crisis but everything rides on how Turkey chooses to respond. We know that they’ve already launched artillery attacks inside Syria and according to Today’s Zaman, one of the leading newspapers in the country in Turkey, tanks, missile batteries and other military hardware have been moved up to the Syrian border again as it was at the end of last July.
RecepTayyip Erdogan said that any military equipment belonging to the Syrian armed forces which were to approach the border would be seen as a threat. Does that mean that Syria does not have the right to protect their borders?
Evidently that is what Erdogan means and what his western backers, his NATO allies intend which is to say that Syria has no right to protect its own borders from cross-border insurgent and terrorist attack, but that Turkey reserves the right to strike inside Iraq at will, to move, as we talked about a couple of times, fairly massive military formations up to the Syrian border, but that Syria doesn’t have a reciprocal right to protect its own border. Keep in mind Syria is a country under siege, not Turkey.
Georgian elections: beginning of end for Saakashvili and Turkish-Syria border clash: will NATO interfere?- interview
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_10_04/Turkish-civilians-killed-on-Syrian-border-NATO-ready-to-intervene-interview/

where are those – Friends of Syria ?
Russian humanitarian plane sets off to Syria
A Russian Emergencies and Civil Defense Ministry plane on Saturday delivered about 25 metric tons of humanitarian aid to Syria, mainly medicines, the ministry said.
In September, Russia sent some 80 metric tons of humanitarian aid to Syria, including canned food, sugar, baby food, blankets and tents.
The Il-76 aircraft has brought medicaments to Damascus in what proved the third humanitarian aid consignment from Moscow for Syria in the past month.
Russia earlier delivered some 80 tons of cargo, specifically tinned food, sugar, baby food, blankets and tents. The Syrian conflict has been raging since March 2011.
According to the authorities, some 8,000 people have died in hostilities. But the UN claims that the figure stands at more than 20,000.
The Syrian government insists that they are facing resistance by armed rebels who rely heavily on outside support.

Maghreb becoming a ‘terrorist’ hub: Tunisia president

TUNIS — Jihadists pose a “great danger” to the Maghreb region, which is turning into a “terrorist” hub, Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki warned in an interview with Arabic daily Al-Hayat published Tuesday.

“We can say that the centre for a group of jihadists — the so-called terrorist movement — is moving right now from Afghanistan and Pakistan to the Arab Maghreb region and there is great danger on our doorstep,” Marzouki said.

“There is a security problem that threatens the whole Maghreb region,” he told the paper in New York, during a visit to the United Nations.

He estimated that there were around 3,000 Islamist militants in his country.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5htKE1OYVnZCMG19ZZ7KyK7TjMT1g?docId=CNG.f31358aea7c19f04d766f5c6c315e488.541

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Rebels with an anti-Semitic cause

What began as a limited but genuine people’s uprising against a kleptocratic dictatorship has now been overtaken by a Saudi-backed project to destabilize Syria.

By Kapil Komireddi| 05:11 21.09.12 | 0

What will happen in Syria? The answer to that question holds immense significance for Israel. Yet, preoccupied with Iran’s nuclear program, Israel is neglecting the more immediate threat to its security that’s crystalizing on the other side of the Golan Heights. What began as a limited but genuine people’s uprising against a kleptocratic dictatorship has now been overtaken by a Saudi-backed project to destabilize Syria.
Bashar Assad, like his father Hafez, was never a friend of Israel’s – but nor was his worldview shaped exclusively by antagonism toward the Jewish State. The foreign fighters seeking his ouster, on the other hand, receive sustenance from a medieval theocracy that, in the words of John R. Bradley a preeminent Middle East expert who predicted the Egyptian revolution as early as 2009 “spews out a kind of anti-Semitic hatred not known since the Nazis.”

The results of Saudi Arabia’s tireless efforts were on display in Al-Midan, a suburb in southern Damascus where I recently interviewed rebel fighters. Mateen, a fighter who claimed to have traveled from Afghanistan, shared his ideas for Syria’s future after ridding it of the Assad dynasty.

“We have to build a society of respect and brotherhood in accordance with the Prophet’s commandments,” he told me in Urdu. “We will treat non-Muslims kindly, but we have a big fight against the Jews ahead of us. We will take that up, God willing.” This manifesto for the future was identical – almost word for word – to what Yahya Mujahid, a senior leader of the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Pakistan-based outfit charged with carrying out the Mumbai attacks in November 2008, told me in Lahore in 2009: that the LeT would take up the “fight” with the Jews after “liberating” Kashmir from Indian rule. One was a Kashmiri, the other a Pashtun; neither had met a Jew in his life. But both were united by a deep hatred, completely alien to their richly syncretic native cultures, exported by a distant Wahhabi monarchy that has suffused countless young minds in Islamic seminaries across South Asia with a fervor for jihad against non-Muslims.

This evangelical effort is now being replicated on an even more ambitious scale in Syria. The result is that a once-pluralistic society has descended into sectarian chaos. In the province of Homs alone, rebel fighters have driven some 80,000 Christians out of their homes. The opposition fighters have even carried out beheadings, a phenomenon unknown to Syrians. Young Shi’ite and Christian women, who mix freely with men in Damascus, told me they had to cover their faces and assume fake Sunni identities when traveling through rebel-held areas.

The man currently being groomed by Saudi Arabia as a possible replacement for Assad is Manaf Tlass, a high-ranking official in the Syrian army and a once-close friend of Assad’s, who fled Syria in July with the help of French intelligence. Tlass has now adopted the vocabulary of the “moderate,” but his family history should be of concern to Israelis. Tlass’ father, Mustafa, a former Sunni defense minister who wielded tremendous clout under Hafez Assad, is something of a scholar. I came across one of his best-sellers, “The Matzah of Zion,” in Damascus this summer. Complete with a lurid cover depicting ravenous Jews draining the blood of a Christian priest into a large bowl, the book attempts to revive the blood libel….

We have been here before – most glaringly in the 1980s, when the prospect of humiliating the Soviet Union in Afghanistan trumped every concern about arming the Taliban. Israel must now ensure that its best allies in the West don’t end up creating a launching pad for the most implacably anti-Israeli Islamists who have congregated in Syria. Otherwise, as John R. Bradley recently warned in Britain’s Jewish Chronicle, Israel may find itself “confronting an even more determined, uncontrollable and fanatical enemy than the Assad regime has ever proved to be.”

http://www.haaretz.com/opinion/rebels-with-an-anti-semitic-cause.premium-1.465997

These are the Viruses which the west is feeding in Syria ….it will not be too long before they infect the west:

العزيز Syria No Kandahar:

Your video is very interesting. It shows how these jihadists think. What interesting is how the lack of other ideologies, the Islamic hardline became the choice. They want to fight and they have a grudge to settle with the whole world.

Here is a link to 2 videos I find interesting.

In the First a Saudi fighting in North of Lattakia talking about Jihad. Remember this Saudi is attacking people in their villages like Balluran, Mashqita and Kfaryah…etc

The second video is from al-Qusayer where a man, with some religious authority explaining how it is kosher according to his Sharia to kill a number of pro Assads’. He also speaks about the officers who deserted al-Assad, and who is allowed to lead the revolution. He also speaks about the role of the civilian leadership.

“The corrupt Sheikh Adnan Al Arour. He twists the Koran to fit the its most radical interpretation. He feeds the anger and instinct for revenge among Syrians with God’s consent and blessing”

Sadly, you don’t have to go that far, there are many western educated AROURS living in the west and feeding anger and instinct for revenge on this blog and on the ground in Syria. To name few, The discussing MD in Pittsburg, الدجّال, شيخ الاسلام, and الكذاب الاشر Sandro loewe.

The evil prevails in Syria. Your god must like it! MF!!

None of them in the picture looks Syrian. Exterminate them President Assad, or give SNP the power to do so.

The Middle East Report – John R. Bradley

http://www.revelationtv.com Watch the Middle East Report with Simon Barret and John Bradley as they discuss issues pertaining to the Middle East.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7WEB_cu4oQ

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John R Bradley, the man who predicted the Egyptian Revolution/Crisis in 2009, exposes the Arab Spring now correctly referred to as the Salafi Spring for what it is. Genuine protest movements for economic justice have been hijacked by the barbaric bigoted backward sunni theocracies and autocracies of the gulf.

The West is playing with fire by backing sunni islamists in the middle east & north Africa against a geopolitical rival; the West is making the same mistake they made in the 80s.

This is not a Syrian revolution. It is a foreign invasion of Syria by proxy forces of Alciada/Mossad trained hordes of violent Islamic mercenaries, nothing more. Assad will need to specifically get Sunni and Christian militias to be equipped and trained to fight alongside the Syrian Nation against this foreign Islamic terrorist invasion. When these forces join in the fight with the Syria Nation, then quick victory is assured, so as lightning fast payola in the trillions from the criminals who financed, trained and backed these Islamic genocidal terrorists. Assad will never succeed in beating up the terrorists, he will ends up running for his life in the Alawite State. That is serving the Zionist Plan for Syria, no more. They are after the Mountain of Gold hidden under the Euphrates.

Seven high ranking Alawite officers, a brigidaire general, a general and five colonels, who occupied very sensitive positions have defected and arrived in Jordan.

The announcement of defection as well as the joining of the joint command of the FSA will take place in the few coming days.

It is expected that the event will constitute a major back breaking incident for the criminal Assad the K9, descendant of the Nazi criminals and Mongolian rejects, as the defecting officers hail from well known families most likely related to those affected by the recent Qardaha fighting.

I will not send an email to SNPier to come here to leave me thumb up on my comments, it is depressing to them. I promised them to work on contacting President Assad and maybe Iran or Russia if I was not able to deal with him, to beg him to allow SNP to form a Moderate Sunni Militia to combat the Alciada/Mossad Wahabi devil worshipper destroying the country. This militia will fight for Syria and Syrians against foreign and or foreign sponsored enemies and will be strong enough, in the event that the Alawites bolted to the mountain that we can exterminate the enemies, turn it into Sunni-Christian Civil War vs. foreign paid Wahabi terrorists mercenaries. The Shia and Alawites needs to stop serving the Zionist dream. Should Assad and his Shia helpers fails to permit this Sunni Defense Militia to stand up and fight, and should Alawi units end up bolting to the mountain, causing Syria disintegration, I will hold the Ayatollah, Hezbollah and the Alawites responsible for deliberately taking a course of action that is harmful and devastating to Syria and beneficial to Zionism.

دبي ـ رويترز: دعت قطر المعارضة السورية – التي تقدم لها الدعم الأكبر – الأحد للابقاء على حياة 48 ايرانيا احتجزتهم قبل شهرين قرب دمشق وهددت بقتلهم.
جاءت مناشدة رئيس وزراء قطر الشيخ حمد بن جاسم آل ثاني استجابة لطلب من إيران – حليفة الرئيس السوري بشار الأسد – بالسعي لاطلاق سراح الإيرانيين المحتجزين.
Tara, this may help answer your question. Iran does not want their citizens killed, the regime will benefit from any criminal bahavior the rebels committ, Qatar loves the attention.

Snc may be backing off from previous positions:
Ghalioun declared that the SNC is willing to accept a turkish suggestion that Farouk alsharaa leads a transitional government but he added that sharaa may not be able or willing to take the job.

Ghufran

Yes. I heard. I am against killing them if they were pilgrims but if they are enemy combatants, then they should be use as a negotiation card to preserve Syrians’ lives.

SNP will seek funding for the formation of a Sunni Islamic Defense Force in Syria from various countries having interest in peaceful resolution in Syria and share the majority of Syrians concern for rising extremist Islamic terrorist groups that are backed by known terrorist nations, in a bid to destabilize the Middle East and World Peace. The funding can be in exchange for various defense and security related technologies.

A group close to the regime and Aleppo merchants is accusing rebels of using this weapon to burn aleppo’s historic souq:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NC3DH2AWKrg&feature=youtu.be
(sadly, Turkey has the most to gain from destruction of Aleppo’s industrial centers)

مرسي قال، في الذكرى الـ 39 لحرب 6 تشرين أول “لا أنسي أن أُذكر القوات المسلحة والشعب المصري كله بأن الشعب السوري كان محاربا معنا على جبهة سوريا في حرب 6 أكتوبر”، لافتا إلى أن “المصريين والسوريين جسد واحد، ونحن مع الشعب السوري حتى يتحقق ما يريد من عزة وكرامة”.

The Al Arour’s army is in full force on this blog. Soon you will be asked to drink the kool-aid – Be ready.

Here are a few of the previous comments:
“I will not send an email to SNPier to come here to leave me thumb up on my comments, it is depressing to them. I promised them to work on contacting President Assad and maybe Iran or Russia if I was not able to deal with him, to beg him to allow SNP to form a Moderate Sunni Militia to combat the Alciada/Mossad Wahabi devil worshipper destroying the country. This militia will fight for Syria and Syrians against foreign and or foreign sponsored enemies and will be strong enough, in the event that the Alawites bolted to the mountain that we can exterminate the enemies, turn it into Sunni-Christian Civil War vs. foreign paid Wahabi terrorists mercenaries. The Shia and Alawites needs to stop serving the Zionist dream. Should Assad and his Shia helpers fails to permit this Sunni Defense Militia to stand up and fight, and should Alawi units end up bolting to the mountain, causing Syria disintegration, I will hold the Ayatollah, Hezbollah and the Alawites responsible for deliberately taking a course of action that is harmful and devastating to Syria and beneficial to Zionism.”

“John R Bradley, the man who predicted the Egyptian Revolution/Crisis in 2009, exposes the Arab Spring now correctly referred to as the Salafi Spring for what it is. Genuine protest movements for economic justice have been hijacked by the barbaric bigoted backward sunni theocracies and autocracies of the gulf.

The West is playing with fire by backing sunni islamists in the middle east & north Africa against a geopolitical rival; the West is making the same mistake they made in the 80s.”

“I will not send an email to SNPier to come here to leave me thumb up on my comments, it is depressing to them. I promised them to work on contacting President Assad and maybe Iran or Russia if I was not able to deal with him, to beg him to allow SNP to form a Moderate Sunni Militia to combat the Alciada/Mossad Wahabi devil worshipper destroying the country. This militia will fight for Syria and Syrians against foreign and or foreign sponsored enemies and will be strong enough, in the event that the Alawites bolted to the mountain that we can exterminate the enemies, turn it into Sunni-Christian Civil War vs. foreign paid Wahabi terrorists mercenaries. The Shia and Alawites needs to stop serving the Zionist dream. Should Assad and his Shia helpers fails to permit this Sunni Defense Militia to stand up and fight, and should Alawi units end up bolting to the mountain, causing Syria disintegration, I will hold the Ayatollah, Hezbollah and the Alawites responsible for deliberately taking a course of action that is harmful and devastating to Syria and beneficial to Zionism.”

“SNP will seek funding for the formation of a Sunni Islamic Defense Force in Syria from various countries having interest in peaceful resolution in Syria and share the majority of Syrians concern for rising extremist Islamic terrorist groups that are backed by known terrorist nations, in a bid to destabilize the Middle East and World Peace. The funding can be in exchange for various defense and security related technologies.”

To all the contributors on this blog; can you please explain to me on which planet
Warren, Aldendeshe, SNP, ZOO live.

I read their comments and I cannot fathom whether they are in full possession of their senses.

Thank you for enlightening me

عبد السلام حربا الملقب بعرعور القصير يحاضر في المناضلين

We are on planet earth, now which planet are you at? , or ALCIADA convinced you under Meth overdose you are at?

Mr Vizir knows better what the Syrians wants…

http://www.dp-news.com/en/detail.aspx?articleid=132501

Turkey says President al-Assad could be replaced by Vice-President Farouq Al Shar’a
(DP-News – agencies)

Turkey/Syria- Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in yet another broadside meanwhile against Syria, said President Bashar al-Assad should be replaced by Vice-President Farouq Al Shar’a, whom he said “is a man of reason.”

Ahmet Davutoglu on Sunday said Syrian Vice President Farouk al-Sharaa could replace Bashar Assad as president and lead a transition government in the war-torn country.

Davutoglu described Sharaa as “a reasonable man” who “did not participate in the massacres in Syria,” according to the French news service AFP.

Davutoğlu said he was convinced that the Syrian vice president was still in Syria.
The Turkish FM stressed that the Syrian opposition “is inclined to accept Vice-President al-Shar’a” as the future leader of the Syrian administration.

“No one knows the system better that he does,” said Davutoglu, adding that al-Shar’a candidacy is also acceptable to the Syrian opposition.

Farouq al-Shar’a is trusted by the regime and was foreign minister for 15 years before becoming vice-president in 2006.

Arab politicians come to Turkey for moustache implants to give themselves a boost of charisma…

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/arab-politicians-covet-tatlises-moustaches.aspx?pageID=238&nID=31866&NewsCatID=349

Moustaches like those of Turkish stars like Kadir İnanır (L) and İbrahim Tatlıses (R) seen in this one decade old photo are most frequently asked for by potential moustache implant patients. Turkey is today exporting moustache implants.
Turkey, which has made a name for itself in hair implants, has now begun to export moustache implants.

Deir Ezzor abandoned by the opposition
Hassan Hassan
Oct 8, 2012

http://www.thenational.ae/thenationalconversation/comment/in-syrias-east-the-revolutions-strengths-are-largely-ignored#page2

An unfortunate fact of the Syrian uprising is that different opposition forces focus on different areas depending on their narrow, cynical interests. The Muslim Brotherhood wields influence with many Arabic media outlets, and the news focuses on areas where the group is establishing a presence, particularly in the middle and north of the country. The Brotherhood’s influence in Deir Ezzor, as in many other areas, is highly unlikely.
….
This misguided opposition policy plays into the regime’s hands. The struggle must be unified, which would reduce the regime’s ability to manage the conflict. Focusing on one area – yesterday Homs, now Aleppo, tomorrow Damascus – helps the Assads win the propaganda war as they win one battle after another on the ground. The focus on single cities raises expectations and then disappoints – the truth is that Assad forces are beset in almost every corner of the country.

Future stability hinges on the current performance of the political opposition. Deir Ezzor’s residents are increasingly feeling abandoned by the opposition
…
Every region of the country can be an asset to the uprising in its own way. Aleppo has been an important province to secure supplies through Turkey, and to bring the fight to the regime in the country’s second city. Deir Ezzor is also a vital province for the regime because of its resources, and it could be the key to freeing the country’s east from regime control. Why cannot the political opposition take advantage of all of its potential assets?

@OBSERVER
Your ALCIADA Islamic terrorists been committing genocide in Syria and crimes against humanity for what, nearly 2 years now, are you really living on this planet, get off ALCIADA high quality, potent potion of Opium daily ration an ask yourself, WHO IS THE PRESIDENT OF SYRIA NOW, WHERE IS THE SYRIAN EMBASSY IN WASHINGTON IS LOCATED. IT IS PRESIDENT BASHAR ASSAD, and is very, very, very popular among Sunni Moslems, so much so, you degenerates Islamic terrorists could not even hold one city block or win the support of one tribe in Syria.

LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSER

FUC******ING Loser. He has no shame, he could not be Syrian. Syrian are humans, they have shame and dignity, this idiot is nothing more than GOYEM.

GOYEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEM
LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSER

ZIOSLAVE

الشيخ يوسف هنداوي
Sheikh Hindawi, who I heard is well regarded in Aleppo, was arrested a month ago by almukhabarat after he confronted soldiers in almasjid alumawi in Aleppo who were violating the rules for modest behavior (according to Hindawi sources), a number of people tried to mediate to win his release, the response they got was ” the sheikh will be released if he did not do anything that threatens the country”. No charges have been filed and we still do not know why the man is still in jail.
Syria is full of similar stories.
مصيبة البلد انها بين مطرقة النظام و سندان المعارضه
الله يساعد الناس

@GHUFRAN
There are more than 40,000 Sheikh and Mosque Imam in Syria. They all preach very loudly every Friday through minerates and powered speakers. Why no one arrested them. They probably have something on him, and used the TAHRISH by soldiers to arrest him peacefully without a gun fight. TRAITORS OF SYRIA MUST BE EXTERMINATED.

It may very well be… Turkish economy will suffer too.

Is al-Assad trying to pull Erdoğan into war?

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/is-al-assad-trying-to-pull-erdogan-into-war.aspx?pageID=449&nID=31891&NewsCatID=409

Can it be possible that al-Assad is trying to pull Erdoğan into his war and change the course of it by discrediting Turkey, especially given the fact that a majority of Turkish people don’t want to get into a war? Erdoğan has to keep up Turkey’s deterrence on one hand and keep from falling into al-Assad’s trap. That is not an easy job as the whole region is passing through a dire strait.

“صور بشار الاسد بوشاح فارس مالطا التي شطبها الإعلام السوري من أرشيفه”
http://all4syria.info/Archive/56167
فضولي”

الموضوع الذي نشره موقع كلنا شركاء عن بشار الأسد وفرسان مالطا، وحذف الخبر والصور من الإعلام السوري “الرسمي، أثار فضولي ودفعني للبحث والتنقيب ما أوصلني إلى رابط موقع الفرسان على الانترنت حيث وجدت التالي:

————————-

“President Bashar al-Assad of Syria becomes first Muslim Head of State to be invested into the Order of Francesco I. Duke of Calabria receives highest Syrian decoration on behalf of the Constantinian Order. Damascus – March 2004.”

http://constantinian.com/OLDWEB/news-2004.html

While Gulf countries compete for the highest tower and the biggest mall…

World’s best neurosurgical center to be built in Tehran

http://www.payvand.com/news/12/oct/1051.html

Professor Madjid Samii, the head of the Fifth International Neurosurgery Symposium, announced late on Thursday that the best neurosurgical center in the world will be built in Tehran.
Professor Samii said the building would be unique in its kind and the best center for science and neurology in the world.

“The staff I have chosen (for the center) is among the best brain specialists and each one is a star in the world”, he said.

He expressed hope that the center would be opened by the end of the next Iranian calendar year (March 20, 2014).

He also said in order to give medical services to all social classes in this center a few charities will be established to cover the medical expenses of the needy.

Professor Samii is a distinguished German-Iranian neurosurgeon and medical scientist and director of a neurosurgical center in Hanover, Germany.

Latest idea: wisemen council
ويضم «مجلس الحكماء» في عضويته المقترحة أسماء معارضين متنوعي التوجهات والانتماءات، بعضهم في الداخل، وإن كانت أكثريتهم من المقيمين حالياً في الخارج. وبين الأسماء المتداولة: ميشال كيلو، عارف دليلة، برهان غليون، عبد الحميد درويش، حسين العودات، أصلان عبد الكريم، الأب اسبيريدون، علي صدر الدين البيانوني، هيثم المالح، وشيخ درعا أحمد الصياصنة. وهكذا يتبدى ان المجلس يراعي في تشكيله ألا يستفز الداخل او الخارج، بحسب ما تعتبر المصادر المطلعة نفسها.

Egypt’s new president gives himself high grades

http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-president-gives-himself-high-grades-204748313.html
…..
The Morsi Meter,” a website tracking the Islamist leader’s achievements in his first 100 days in office, offered a different take on Morsi’s performance in his first 100 days in office.

It said the president’s achievements have so far been restricted to implementing penalties for fuel smugglers, raising awareness in speeches and through the media about the importance of proper disposal of trash, increasing the value of flour used to make bread, removing road blocks impeding traffic and implementing a reward system for positive performance of police officers.

The venue of Morsi’s speech and the day on which he delivered it appeared to be an attempt by the Islamist leader to associate his presidency with something greater and perhaps more enduring than the ballot box that gave him a narrow victory over Mubarak’s last prime minister in a June election.

Morsi chose the 39th anniversary of Egypt’s last war with Israel to give the longest speech of his presidency — 1 hour and 50 minutes — seemingly to try to take his place in history as Egypt’s first ever civilian president after nearly six decades of de facto military rule.

Libya hailed by the West for not choosing an Islamist for a PM is now kicking him out.
Is the Islamists wave, Moslem Brotherhood brand, back in the front line?

Libyan PM ousted after less then one month

http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57527570/libyan-pm-ousted-after-less-then-one-month/

TRIPOLI, Libya Libya’s parliament on Sunday ousted the country’s newly elected prime minister in a no-confidence vote, the latest blow to hopes that the country’s factions could agree on a government charged with restoring stability after last year’s civil war.

Mustafa Abushagur was Libya’s first elected prime minister after last year’s overthrow of dictator Muammar Qaddafi. He represented an offshoot of the country’s oldest anti-Qaddafi opposition movement, and was considered a compromise candidate acceptable to both liberals and Islamists.
….
Independent lawmaker Nizar Kawan, who is aligned with the Muslim Brotherhood in Libya, said the group’s party and a liberal coalition led by former rebel prime minister Mahmoud Jibril had been holding talks about replacing Abushagur with an independent figure who has no political background. The candidate would then be tasked with forming a government that is run by well-known professionals and is politically balanced and geographically representative.

نعيم مطانيوس
(FYI)
One of the two Syrian army officers who raised Syrian flag over the Golan heights in 1973 was killed in a terrorist attack in Kafar Sousah- Damascus.
تصبحون على وطن

The heroic Free Syrian Army continues inflicting defeats upon the criminal terrorist thugs of the K9 Assad.

The FSA (al-Farouq Brigade) inflicted ignominious defeat on the criminal band of thugs, mislabeled Syrian Army, in the Qusair region despite the desperate attempts of hizbillat to support the K9 thugs.

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/5f8f1487-b4d0-4a73-ac9f-0c706784e956?GoogleStatID=1

Another Mig was also shot down.

Warren at 18.

I’ve written a lengthy retort to Komireddi’s mistake-riddled article on my blog

http://amjadofarabia.wordpress.com/2012/09/21/kapil-komireddi-part-ii/

The man can’t seem to write two sentences without a third being a jibe against Saudi Arabia. Like Warren, he has an unhealthy obsession. Like Warren, he apparently hasn’t heard the phrase “Anger is like drinking poison and hoping your enemy does from it.”

By all means Warren, keep drinking 🙂

Also, when one analyzes things rationally, you can’t help but conclude that far from being a bunch of murdering extremists, the FSA is in fact the most moral and ethical armed group in the history of Arab armed groups

http://amjadofarabia.wordpress.com/2012/09/25/comparing-syria-crimes/

The FSA is taking on the unprecedented role of liberator, protector and aid agency. To the FSA, a family fleeing from a war ravaged area are countrymen in need. To the Assad junta, the same family are a job half finished.

The hypocrisy of the menhebakjis with regard to Israel is quite telling. On the one hand, everything and anything coming out of Israeli media is supposed to be nothing but lies and part of the great big Zionist plot against ze Doktor. On the other hand, they don’t mind quoting said conspiring media when it suits them. Any Arab journalist who had anything published in Haaretz would be persona non grata in Syria. But apparently the “resistance” rules dont apply to people who make the absurd claim that 80,000 Christians have been “cleansed” from Homs.

Seriously, 80,000? Where the hell are they all then? 80,000 Syrian refugees take up 12 massive camps in Turkey. You can’t go anywhere in southern Turkey without coming across signs of an exodus from Syria. And yet travel the length and breadth of Syria and the neighboring countries, and you won’t find a concentration of Christian refugees anywhere. Did they all get on the same plane as “Mother” Agnes Maryam?

Congratulation Chavez has “won” again, Venezuela will be ruled by him until 2019 (if God willing). Bashar and Asma still have a chance to have asylum under palmtrees, I heard Chavez owns some land on Isla Margarita, that could be a nice retreat after all that slaughter.

German state TV reports: Syrian rebels claim responsibility for attack on Turkey
http://www.zdf.de/ZDFmediathek#/beitrag/video/1745768/%22mittagsmagazin%22-vom-4Oktober-2012
“Rocket and mortar fire. Turkey takes revenge after an attack from the Syrian side. Yesterday afternoon Syrian rebels fired on a Turkish village close to the border. For weeks Ankara had warned against provoking Turkey. Meanwhile Syrian rebels officially claimed responsibility for the provocation.”

‘Ar’ur, Zawahiri (the brother): I start to think Guantanamo should stay open.
http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/1/64/54991/Egypt/Politics-/AlQaeda-leaders-brother-offers-to-mediate-end-to-S.aspx
“Mohamed El-Zawahiri, the former leader of Islamic Jihad and younger brother of Al-Qaeda leader Ayman El-Zawahiri, has said he is prepared to help mediate an end to the conflict between jihadists and the Egyptian military in the Sinai Peninsula.

El-Zawahiri added that he would require guarantees from the state that it would follow through on its promises to the jihadists.

He claimed the government still treated him as an unacceptable party despite the fact that he had offered to mediate an end to the conflict in Sinai, reported Al-Arabiya Net website Saturday.

El-Zawahiri added that his aim as a jihadist was to implement Islamic Sharia law.

He also stated that he did not believe in founding or joining political parties as “it is forbidden by Sharia,” and he would promote his belief via conferences, seminars and rallies.

Mohamed El-Zawahiri was among 59 jihadist prisoners released in March 2011. He was later rearrested and tried by a military court on various charges but acquitted in March 2012.”

Aleppo fighting rages, rebels routed in Damascus bastion

Aleppo, Syria: Aleppo was shaken on Sunday by the heaviest fighting of an almost three-month offensive against rebels in Syria’s second city, residents said, as the insurgents lost ground in the capital Damascus.

Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, in yet another broadside against Syria, meanwhile, said President Bashar al-Assad should be replaced by Vice President Faruq al-Shara, whom he said “is a man of reason.”

An AFP correspondent in Aleppo said warplanes were overflying the rebel-held Bab al-Hadid and Shaar neighbourhoods, where witnesses said fierce fighting had erupted.

“This is the worst fighting we’ve seen here since the beginning of the Aleppo war,” a Bab al-Hadid resident in his mid-20s told AFP.

“From early morning … there has been shelling on the area and clashes between the rebels in Bab al-Hadid and the army at the beginning of Arkoub district,” which is located near the Hanano barracks.

“It looks like the army is trying to push the rebels as far as it can from the Hanano (military) barracks,” the resident said, asking not to be named.

http://dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-07/190457-syria-rebels-advance-in-north-pushed-back-in-south.ashx#axzz28gxTZDOe

Syrian rebels warned by Qatar not to kill Iranian hostages

Qatar, a major supporter of Syrian rebels, yesterday urged them not to kill Iranians abducted two months ago near Damascus, after the captors threatened to start executing their 48 prisoners.

The Qatari prime minister, Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim Al Thani, made the appeal following a request from Iran, an ally of the Syrian president, Bashar Al Assad, to secure a release of the captives.

http://www.thenational.ae/news/world/middle-east/syrian-rebels-warned-by-qatar-not-to-kill-iranian-hostages

A survival plan for Syria’s Christians

As civil war engulfs Syria leaving a tragic stalemate, the fate of Christians in the country hangs in the balance.

The Vatican and others have addressed the condition of the Christian community in the Arab world, not only in Syria but also in the Levant in general, as if the myriad Christian sects were a single entity. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, the Christians make up theologically opposed, geographically dispersed and politically diverse communities, unlike the Sunnis, Alawites, Kurds and Druze.

A reductionist approach applying a one-size-fits-all standard to the Christians could well jeopardize the Christian presence in Syria. There are two grand approaches to the situation in Syria, and they each encompass certain Christian groups in the country and elsewhere. On the one hand are the proponents of what is effectively a largely Sunni revolt against the rule of the Assad family; on the other are those who back President Bashar Assad, fearing Sunni fundamentalism and the serious repercussions affecting minorities should the regime fall.

On its own, adherence to either of these options by Christians will not protect them in the protracted and bloody Syrian conflict. Nor will a prevalent anti-Western and pro-Palestinian stance for that matter. Look at the plight of Palestinian Christians and their ill-fated embrace of Arab nationalism and resistance. Sixty-four years after the Nakba, Palestinian Christians are more marginalized than ever before. They are suffering under the rule of the Hamas movement in the Gaza Strip, and their overall numbers are dwindling precipitously.

Iraqi Christians, who were oblivious to regional dynamics and committed themselves to an injudicious alliance with the Baathist regime of Saddam Hussein, have suffered equally from both Sunni and Shiite persecution. Yet they too espoused Arab nationalism and echoed its slogans. Indeed the only safe haven left for the Christians of Iraq is among the country’s non-Arab Kurdish population.

In Syria, there are different Christian communities, and they are scattered across a varied political, religious and ethnic landscape. The Greek Orthodox, the largest Christian community in Syria, is primarily concentrated in the western parts of the country and in Damascus. That means they are in areas currently controlled by the regime of President Bashar Assad and his Alawite minority.

The Syriacs, who form the second largest Christian community in Syria, are primarily concentrated east of the Euphrates River. They live in a large swathe of fertile land that is bordered by Kurdish-majority areas in Turkey to the north and Iraqi Kurdistan to the east. Northeast Syria is mainly Kurdish and effectively autonomous today.

As for a majority of Catholics and Armenians, they are concentrated in Sunni-dominated middle Syria, principally in Aleppo province, which is close to Turkey. The area is heavily infiltrated by the Free Syrian Army and has been the scene of intense fighting.

Therefore, the Christian tapestry in Syria shows specific concentrations in three distinct areas, each with its own political, sectarian or ethnic particularities. Given that the current balance of power will likely endure in the absence of any dramatic foreign intervention in the Syrian conflict, it becomes apparent that no single policy can safeguard all the Christians of Syria. That is why, to help guarantee the broad community’s survival in the midst of chaos, each community must adapt to its own political and cultural milieu.

A pro-uprising stance will only endanger the Greek Orthodox in Alawite-controlled areas, whereas a pro-Assad stance may have already sealed the fate of Catholics in Aleppo. And if Christians favor anti-Western rhetoric, this may be counterproductive for Syriacs living in predominantly Kurdish areas. As the conflict waxes and wanes, there will be no winners, only survivors

No effort should be spared to ensure the continued presence of these Christian Syrian communities, amid a protracted and increasingly sectarian crisis. Meanwhile, the notion that Lebanon’s Christians would gain from an exodus of Syrian Christians is absurd. Any displacement of the Syrian community would likely be irreversible, as with the Palestinian, Iraqi and even Lebanese Christians, whose numbers have been steadily falling in recent decades. Like hundreds of thousands of Christians before them, the Christians of Syria will migrate to the West. Lebanon, contrary to common belief, is only home to its own Christians, not to Middle Eastern Christians at large.

The salvation of Syria’s Christians lies not in ethereal notions or grandiose ideologies but rather in a sound policy based on complex regional dynamics. That means the Christians must, for their own protection, adapt to their surroundings in a bid for survival. Sweeping moral directives will fall on deaf ears. Eastern Christianity cannot be saved from bad judgment, and good judgment often comes from bad experience. God knows Eastern Christians have had quite a bit of that.

Basem Shabb is a Lebanese parliamentarian and a member of the parliamentary committee on defense. He wrote this commentary for THE DAILY STAR.

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Opinion/Commentary/2012/Sep-25/189093-a-survival-plan-for-syrias-christians.ashx#axzz28gxTZDOe

He did not curse Alawis. He cursed Alawis actively assisting Assad’s meat mincing machine by threatening to mince them. Poetic justice.

He clearly stated in the same video that the Alawis who stay home will be left alone, and the Alawis who support the revolution will be appraised along with the rest of the revolutionaries. He divided the Alawis into three categories and spoke of the fate of each one. I see nothing wrong with that, although his stupid choice of words has made unnecessary headlines.

#34 OBSERVER

Your rational query has no rational answer.

All we know is their uncontrolled screeching, hissing and frantic random cut-pasting is polluting and destroying this forum.

The result is the departure of many first-rate contributors who had been here for years. Just one more tragedy in the surreal nightmare Syria is going through.

Facebook help dismantling a djihadist cell while some members are currently in Syria
http://www.lemonde.fr/societe/article/2012/10/08/des-membres-du-groupe-terroriste-demantele-samedi-soupconnes-de-se-trouver-en-syrie_1771630_3224.html

Khalliku zay ma entu ya khuya…

26. ALDENDESHE said:

“….In the event that the Alawites bolted to the mountain….”

_________________________________________________________________

In that event, we are already waiting for them in the Mountain, in Jabal Turkman- Burj Kasab Latakia mountains, and in Qalaat-Hosn Krak des Chevaliers in Wadi Nassara.

26. Aldendeshe said:

“…., to beg him to allow SNP to form a Moderate Sunni Militia to combat the Alciada/Mossad Wahabi devil worshipper destroying the country. This militia will fight for Syria and Syrians against foreign and or foreign sponsored enemies and will be strong enough, in the event that the Alawites bolted to the mountain that we can exterminate the enemies, turn it into Sunni-Christian Civil War vs. foreign paid Wahabi terrorists mercenaries. ”

_________________________________________________________

How will a foreign recruited Sunni militia gain the support of a single Syrian ? How can they fight against strongly Syrian based FSA units. You may find many Sunni zealots who willing to fight what they believe to be lots of Wahhabis in Syria, but they will only be more target practice for FSA, lol.

Kid, give it up and bring all the SNP reps to discussions with FSA battallions.

Aldendeshe, the frustrated Nazi, not a single one of your numerous predictions has come true in the last 18 months, why should anybody give your blabberings any credibility ?

Assad is actually losing the War of the Mountains. FSA still well-entrenched in Krak des Chevaliers and surrounding areas, and in Lattakia’s northern countryside.

For the first time, FSA has captured an Artillery Gun, an M-46 130 mm field howitzer, in Jabal Wastani, Tartous, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLM6l0jhsts&feature=g-u-u

It will be put to good use on the Al@wi villages. Thank the Ottomans for having settled these ferocious and warlike Turkman Sunnis in strategic locations in the Alawi mountains. I love this.

Interview with Lieutenant-Colonel Ahmad Ali, Commander of the FSA Unit which captured the Artillery in Jabal Wastani –

Blood thirsty Antoine:

The Turkmen in northen Lattakia were mostly sheep herders. That is when the Ottomans let them take settle in that Syrian land.

It was an Ottoman genocide that preceded these herders settling there. Their area is small, and if we follow your logic mr. Antoine, the Alawites should drive these Turkmen out of Syria and back to Turkey. How about that scenario?

The other day the Turkemn stormed the village of Balluran and killed few people and raised Turkish flags. With the Turkmen there are lots of foreign Jihadis. Turkey is playing a dirty game.

Go Rmoney

Mitt Romney: arm the Syrian rebels
Republican presidential candidate is to call for an escalation of the conflict in Syria in a major foreign policy address
guardian.co.uk, Monday 8 October 2012 00.16 EDT
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/08/mitt-romney-arm-syrian-rebels?intcmp=239

Mitt Romney will call for an escalation of the conflict in Syria by arming rebels with the heavy weapons needed to confront president Bashar al-Assad’s tanks, helicopters and fighter jets.

Romney is to make the proposal on Monday in what his campaign team has billed as a major foreign policy speech in Lexington, Virginia.

In extracts published in advance, he opened up the prospect, if he becomes president, of a US-Iranian proxy war being fought in Syria.

“Iran is sending arms to Assad because they know his downfall would be a strategic defeat for them. We should be working no less vigorously with our international partners to support the many Syrians who would deliver that defeat to Iran – rather than sitting on the sidelines,” he said.

The proposal would mark a significant shift from Barack Obama’s administration’s policy of trying to keep the conflict a low-intensity one amid fears it might turn into a regional war. Obama is putting pressure on Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the main backers of the rebels, to restrict the supply of weapons to small arms.
…..
He accused Obama of failing to provide unequivocal support for the rebels in Syria. “I will work with our partners to identify and organise those members of the opposition who share our values and ensure they obtain the arms they need to defeat Assad’s tanks, helicopters, and fighter jets.”

He anticipated that the rebels will one day lead the country and the US should align itself with them, given the country’s position at the heart of the Middle East.

He said he and Obama share a desire for a safer, freer and more prosperous Middle East.

“I share this hope. But hope is not a strategy. We cannot support our friends and defeat our enemies in the Middle East when our words are not backed up by deeds,” he said.

You didn’t get it, Landis, it’s the flag of Islam !!
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/syria-rebels-braced-long-haul-aleppo
(…)”We tried to take the (Umayyad) mosque, but Assad’s soldiers spotted us easily from the Citadel,” Captain Abu Maher told AFP.

The lack of weapons and ammunition, along with their high cost, is a problem for the rebels. A Kalashnikov costs US$2,000 and each bullet two dollars.

Hajj al-Bab, a chief with 1,270 men under his command, explains that even when the rebels have $2,000 to spend, “$300 goes to buy bread and the remainder is set aside for arms”.

The former tailor turned warlord says the fighters must buy their own weapons. He complains, like everyone, that there has been no aid from the United States and Europe.

“Some say that we are linked to Al-Qaeda because we have black flags, but this is the flag of Islam,” said Bab. (…)

كشفت صحيفة “يورت” التركية أن القاذفة التي تم استخدامها لإطلاق قذيفة الهاون والتي سقطت على الاراضي التركية ما تسببت بمقتل 5 مدنيين، تستخدم فقط من قبل دول حلف الناتو، واعتبرت الصحيفة أن حكومة رجب طيب أردوغان هي من أرسلت مدفع الهاون والقذائف لعناصر الجيش السوري الحر”.‏
The source did not go as far as accusing Erdogan of bombing his own people.

Ghalyun welcoms Shara’
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/596519/

Assad’s cousin not in hand of rebels
http://arabic.rt.com/news_all_news/news/596539/

Totally defeated and discredited, does the SNC has any choice than to accept to negotiate with Syrian government’s members after months of refusals.
Miraculously Qatar and Turkey have suddenly found an “innocent” among Syria “criminal regime”: Sunni Al Sharaa who was watching Turkish serials when the fights, killings, defections were going on.

Syria opposition would not oppose role for Assad’s party

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-opposition-may-accept-role-assads-party-091644015.html

BEIRUT (AP) — The leader of Syria’s main opposition group said Monday that he would not oppose a role for members of President Bashar Assad’s ruling Baath party in the country’s political future as long as they did not participate in killings during the uprising.

Syrian officials say Assad will remain in his post until his 7-year term ends in 2014 followed by an election between Assad and other candidates.

Israel intelligence: Jihadi Attacks from Crumbling Syria

by Yaakov Lappin • October 8, 2012 at 4:30 am

http://www.gatestoneinstitute.org/

Al-Qaeda-inspired terror organizations cannot be deterred. Once Assad falls, the radical elements can raid Syrian military bases, arm themselves with a range of devastating weapons, and turn their sights to the Israeli border.

As Israel’s military watches Syrian sovereignty crumble and scores of militant groups form in the resulting vacuum, it is on alert for jihadi terrorist attacks from Syria.

The working assumption in Israeli defense circles is that sooner or later, Assad will fall, and Israel will have to deal with whatever will replace him.

The topping of Basher Assad will break the Tehran-Damascus-Beirut axis, which has seen Syria act as the critical bridge linking Iran to Hezbollah.

Should Syria’s Sunni-majority succeed in putting together a new government, it will accurately view Iran and Hezbollah as aiders and abettors in the massacres perpetuated against tens of thousands of Sunni civilians who tried to overthrow Assad.

A Sunni Syria will, however, in turn take its place in a new radical Sunni bloc of Middle Eastern states, and link up with the Muslim Brotherhood-ruled Egypt, Hamas in Gaza, and Islamist Turkey.

The menhebak is in a constant state of delusion and dishonesty. The SNC never called for de-Baathification. Negotiating with the government about a peaceful transition was always on the table, and it was the Arab League that recommended Shar3 to lead the government during this period.

Of course Assad and his genocide loving supporters reject any transition or political solution. They want to rule over our skulls, but in the end the Syrian people will crush their oppressors.

In any event, the real Baathis should be with the revolution. But sectarian hypocrites obviously have no principles, not even the ones they drilled into our heads for generations.

“رفض حزب البعث العربي الاشتراكي المفاهيم الإصلاحية, وآمن بالثورة على أنها الطريق الوحيد. الظروف الموضوعية لقيام الثورة تتمثل باشتداد فقر وبؤس الطبقات الكادحة التي لاتملك سوى قوة عملها. بالاضافة للفساد والفوضى وعدم قدرة الطبقات المسيطرة على ضبط حركة المجتمع الذي يحاول القيام بالثورة على هذا الواقع من خلال الاحتجاجات أو المظاهرات أو حتى الصدام بشكل مباشر. إن من دواعي قيام الثورة هو ضعف الفئات الحاكمة, وهي الفئات المستغلة التي عجزت لضعفها واستبدادها على النهوض بالاقتصاد القومي ومواكبة التطور الحضاري”

Congratulation America, a new Bin Laden is born, enjoy the next 20 years.

#74 Halabi

In your own delusion, you forgot an important detail that makes all the difference:
The SNC and the FSA do not put the condition that Bashar al Assad should resign anymore.
About to be totally defeated, after months of killings of death, they finally realized that to save their face and their skin they have no choice than to accept Annan plan that, contrary to the AL plan, does not call for Bashar al Assad to step down.
Next we will hear that the SNC loves the Baath party and call it a victory…

Romney: The boots out of the Afghanistan will be redeployed in Syria and in Libya and anywhere the USA can “help” democracy and Israel.

Romney Could Send Troops To Libya

Boots on the ground would break with Obama’s policy.
http://www.buzzfeed.com/zekejmiller/romney-could-send-troops-to-libya

Turkey who thought they isolate Syria are themselves isolated and in panic mode: The “worst case” for Turkey

The worst scenario is happening in Syria: Turkish president

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-worst-scenario-is-happening-in-syria-turkish-president.aspx?pageID=238&nID=31932&NewsCatID=338

“We have casualties. We’re constantly in touch with the General Staff and our government,” Gül said during a press conference with Estonian Ambassador to Turkey Miko Haljas.

“They are instantly taking all the necessary steps and this will continue. We cannot expect the situation in Syria to continue as it is. A transformation and transition period will definitely arrive,” he said.

“All we desire is for this to happen at once and with no more bloodshed. I think the international actors have to be active in this period,” Gül said.

A Dutchman’s Vendetta Against Hezbollah

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/dutchman%E2%80%99s-vendetta-against-hezbollah?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+AlAkhbarEnglish+%28Al+Akhbar+English%29

Dutch Foreign Minister Uri Rosenthal is determined to have Hezbollah designated a terrorist organization by the EU. The motivations behind his insistence on the matter reveal a wider political agenda.
…
Rosenthal is a hard-line Zionist, with family links to Israel. In addition to an Israeli wife, he has one sister living in Asqalan and another in Haifa. He is considered one of the most pro-Israeli senior politicians in Europe and among the most hostile to a “unilateral” declaration of Palestinian statehood.
…

Romney says Israel’s capital is Jerusalem, vows to move embassy

Mitt Romney on Sunday declared Jerusalem to be the capital of Israel and said he would seek to move the U.S. embassy there from Tel Aviv as president if the Israeli government ascents.

“A nation has the capacity to choose its own capital city, and Jerusalem is Israel’s capital,” the presumptive Republican presidential nominee said in an interview on CNN, conducted in Jerusalem. “I think it’s long been the policy to ultimately have our embassy in the nation’s capital of Jerusalem.”

Romney gave several televised interviews and delivered a speech in Jerusalem during a trip to Israel aimed at emphasizing his ties to the close U.S. ally and boosting his support among Jewish Americans and supporters of Israel.

http://thehill.com/blogs/global-affairs/middle-east-north-africa/240905-romney-says-jerusalem-is-israels-capital-vows-to-move-us-embassy

Mitt Romney: ‘Palestinians have no interest whatsoever in establishing peace’

Mitt Romney told a private audience of campaign donors in May that the pursuit of Middle East peace is likely to remain “an unsolved problem” because the Palestinians have “no interest whatsoever” in reaching a peace agreement with Israel.

Apart from the immediate political fallout, the remarks could compromise the GOP presidential candidate’s standing as an honest broker in the peace process should he win the election.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/decision2012/mitt-romney-palestinians-have-no-interest-whatsoever-in-establishing-peace/2012/09/18/5e185a12-0183-11e2-b260-32f4a8db9b7e_story.html

Romney riles Palestinians with digs at culture, economy

(Reuters) – Palestinians accused U.S. Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney of racism on Monday by suggesting disparities between the Israeli and Palestinian economies had cultural roots, while ignoring Israel’s occupation of the West Bank.

In a speech to fundraisers in Jerusalem, Romney, visiting Israel to boost his electoral credentials ahead of a November 6 election bid against President Barack Obama, said Israel’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was about twice that of the Palestinians.

He said Israel’s GDP per capita was $21,000, while for Palestinians it was $10,000, and called it “a dramatic, stark difference in economic vitality”.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/30/us-romney-israel-palestinians-idUSBRE86T0JV20120730

Source: Shaaban recording evidence of criminal involvement

October 08, 2012 03:10 PM
The Daily Star

BEIRUT: Statements captured on former MP Michel Samaha’s recording device are evidence of criminal involvement of Bashar Assad’s political adviser in the case of plotting terror attacks in Lebanon, a high-level security source said Monday.

“Bouthaina Shaaban’s involvement in the Samaha case is confirmed,” the source told The Daily Star.

“The recordings confirm Bouthaina Shaaban had knowledge of Samaha’s security and political activity as well as the tasks that were assigned to him,” the source added. He spoke on condition of anonymity.

“He would call her ‘our magnificent’ and she would speak to him in a commanding manner, [ordering] him to carry out the duties assigned to him, including the bombings,” the source said.

Read more: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Oct-08/190589-shaaban-recordings-evidence-of-criminal-involvement-source.ashx#ixzz28iyTS4FF
(The Daily Star :: Lebanon News :: http://www.dailystar.com.lb)

Support Syrian rebels so we can topple Israel: Al Qaeda leader

BEIRUT — In a recent audio recording posted on the Internet, Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri called on Muslims to support the Syrian rebels, saying it was a way to confront neighbouring Israel.

“Supporting jihad in Syria to establish a Muslim state is a basic step towards Jerusalem,” he said. “And thus America is giving the secular Baathist regime one chance after another for fear that a government is established in Syria that would threaten Israel.”

http://news.nationalpost.com/2012/09/13/support-syrian-rebels-so-we-can-topple-israel-al-qaeda-leader/

Got this link from Sh Yaqoubi’s twitter. I don’t know it’s significance.

U.S. blackout on the meeting (Ahmadinejad) with Jewish rabbis – Video

6/10/12

http://www.watan.com/news/politics/2012-10-06/15330

Pakistan ‘blasphemy’ family tell of fire threat

The family of a young Pakistani Christian girl, known as Rimsha, who is accused of blasphemy, say their Muslim neighbours threatened to burn them alive inside their home.

Speaking to the BBC under tight security, Rimsha’s father said he feared for their lives.

He insisted his daughter was innocent. Rimsha was released on bail on Saturday, but could still face charges.

She had been accused of burning pages from an Islamic textbook.

But a cleric who had accused her was arrested last week for allegedly planting evidence against her, and himself desecrating the Koran.

The case has sparked fresh concerns about the misuse of Pakistan’s strict blasphemy laws.

All praise be to Allah, the Most Powerful, Most High.

Another heretic criminal terrorist has been securely transported to his final abode in lowest hell,

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-08/190604-hezbollah-buries-fighter-killed-in-syria-border-area.ashx#axzz28j2tg4M7

FSA is committing a major error by not speedily trying and executing the terrorist bassij and RG criminals. Syrian people are looking for justice and not negotiations.

Israel launches strikes on Gaza after rocket fire

The Israeli military has carried out strikes on the Gaza Strip after Palestinian militants fired about 50 mortar rounds and rockets into Israel.

Several children were among those injured when Israeli forces shelled areas east of Khan Younis.

Earlier, rockets launched from Gaza landed in Israel’s Eshkol region and near Kerem Shalom. No-one was hurt.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19868078

Syrian forces advance into rebel-held Homs district

BEIRUT: Syrian forces advanced on Monday for the first time in months into the rebel-held Khalidiya district in the central city of Homs, rebels in the neighbourhood said.

Government forces fighting rebels seeking to topple President Bashar al-Assad have been bombarding 12 districts in the besieged city for four days.

“For the first time in months the Assad army has entered these areas in Khalidiya,” a fighter told Reuters by Skype. “They have occupied buildings that we were stationed in and we had to evacuate.”

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Middle-East/2012/Oct-08/190603-syrian-forces-advance-into-rebel-held-homs-district.ashx#axzz28j63zwVj

US imposes sanctions on Lebanese charities with alleged Hamas ties

The United States on Thursday imposed financial penalties on two Lebanese charities that fundraise for Hamas, an effort by the Obama administration to disrupt the Islamist group’s activities.

The US Treasury added the two Beirut-based charities, Al-Waqfiya and Al-Quds International Foundation, to its list of entities hit with asset freezes.

It is not known whether the two charities hold US assets. The Treasury Department did not provide details on any assets under US jurisdiction and declined to comment when asked.

The Treasury Department said Al-Waqfiya and Al-Quds “exist to support the families of Hamas fighters” as well as financing projects in the Palestinian territories “intended to spread Hamas’ influence and control.”

http://english.al-akhbar.com/content/us-imposes-sanctions-lebanese-charities-alleged-hamas-ties

Antoine 62,

I hope you do not take this Dendeshe seriously. He is a piece of crap baloney.

What SNP are you talking about?

It is a joke.

I usually read his comments to get a good laugh. I find them quite entertaining.

a voice crying in the wilderness

Syrian crisis likely to become a regional conflict

The Secretary-General said the Syrian crisis is a regional calamity with global ramifications and called for an end to the supply of arms to government and opposition forces.

‘Saudi weapons’ seen at Syria rebel base

BBC News has uncovered evidence that weapons intended for the Saudi military have been diverted to Syrian rebels.

Three crates from an arms manufacturer – addressed to Saudi Arabia – have been seen in a base being used by rebel fighters in the city of Aleppo.

How the small crates reached Aleppo is unknown, and the BBC was not allowed to film their contents. The BBC is seeking a response from the Saudi authorities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19874256

Many thanks to our Saudi brothers for sending the much needed weapons to Aleppo.

We ask our Saudi brothers to continue their military support to the Syrian Revolution and its army the FSA and increase the quantities and qualities of the weapons.

The BBC wants an answer but the UK govt will veto any inquiry, just like Blair did with other arm deals and bribes with KSA in the past?

It seems easier to send weapons to Syria than a letter to Lebanon or Egypt.

The Syrian Rebels lob a single mortar round across the border and Erdogan is ready to go to war against Assad. Tough talk for the man who did nothing at all when Israel attacked and murdered Turkish citizens in international waters two years ago!

Erdogan tells Turks to prepare for Syria war if necessary
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2012/10/08/265491/erdogan-asks-turks-to-be-ready-for-war/

Huge explosion in Damascus.

Romney is saying what Wall Street wants to hear. Syria is the net step in the “dollarification” of the oil producing nations; essentially returning to the world of Bretton-Woods in which all commerce had to go through the dollar, with the US making a fat premium off of those printed paper notes, in order to prop up the failed Ponzi-scheme private central bank.

But Romney is apparently quite disconnected from the American people (or he already knows he can only win through massive vote fraud) because Americans are a war-weary people, all the more so as they realize their sons and daughters have been sacrificed for little more than propping up the US dollar. So I expect the public response to this speech will be tepid at best.

In foreign policy speech, Romney will encourage military spending, Syria intervention
http://firstread.nbcnews.com/_news/2012/10/08/14279951-in-foreign-policy-speech-romney-will-encourage-military-spending-syria-intervention?lite
Go to the ……… Rmoney !

Sayda has visited Syria today, before the big meeting in Doha next week. In the meantime, they are greatful to suicide bombers to do the dirty job.
http://www.lemonde.fr/proche-orient/article/2012/10/08/le-president-du-cns-s-est-rendu-pour-la-premiere-fois-en-syrie_1772029_3218.html

Journalist Almost Assasinated for Exposing Turkey Delivering Weapons to Syrian Insurgents
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvujjlIJdek
Lebanese Journalist for Al Jadeed TV, Yumna Fawaz was embedded with Syrian opposition groups on the Syria-Lebanese border. When she witnessed Turkish officers distributing weapons to insurgent groups inside Syria, as a result she was taken hostage by the Turkish officers and her video tapes siezed. The intention may have been to execute and silence her and blame the Syrian government, because at the same her station received news from the Free Syrian Army claiming that she has been killed by the Syrian government. A phone call may have saved her.
Youtube seems to be advertising on my videos against my consent.

IDF deploys Patriot missiles to prevent interference in Israeli air space
http://rt.com/news/line/2012-10-08/#id38645
The Israeli Defense Force (IDF), has deployed a Patriot surface-to-air missile battery on Mount Carmel near Haifa. This comes two days after an unidentified drone entered Israeli air space and flew over northern Negev and southern West Bank. An IDF spokesman said that “this is not an unusual thing” and it is done to prevent further attempts, in case there are any, to send drones into Israeli air space.

Did you all hear what IRAN said about Isreal? The Iranians were mocking Israel about their anti-missile Defense system “IRON-DOME”, that proved incapable of detecting and intercepting the drone that sneaked into Israeli airspace undetected until it was finally spotted and brought down by a jet fighter. “It doesn’t work”,such was the conclusion by Iran and rightly so. Today Israel deployed patriot missiles and put them on alert. These patriot missiles are another inferior and useless anti-missile defense systems from the U.S. which were only 40% effective against CRUDE Iraqi SCUD missiles during the Gulf war.

Two explosions rock Syrian capital Damascus, eyewitnesses report casualties
http://rt.com/news/syria-damascus-explosions-casualties-950/
Two explosions have shaken the Syrian capital Damascus, targeting the Air Force intelligence building. Eyewitnesses have reported a large number of casualties.
Locals reported seeing ambulances rushing to the scene of the blasts.

‘The huge explosion in Harasta could be heard all over Damascus. People are cheering, this is major!

[…]’

http://yallasouriya.wordpress.com/2012/10/08/http-www-youtube-com-watch-vtjtxvaonn7cfeatureshare-first-pictures/

Syria on the Boil – Monday Oct 8th, 2012

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/10/08/18723273.php

What’s been ongoing for over 18 months looks all too familiar. It could continue for some time. It took most of the 1990s to fully balkanize Yugoslavia. America was the lead belligerent.

Whether or not Washington plans the same for Syria remains to be seen. Only the fullness of time will tell. For sure regime change is prioritized. Ravaging the country ruthlessly continues.

If full-scale war erupts, perhaps hundreds of thousands may die. America doesn’t keep count or care. Unchallenged dominance alone matters.

Mass slaughter and destruction are means to very ugly ends. Whether or not achieved, ruins and human misery testify to America’s ruthlessness. That’s how imperialism works. It terrorizes humanity everywhere it targets.

Syria may or may not be ground zero. It’s hard to tell. Washington wages so many direct and proxy wars. It’s official policy to ravage one country after another or in multiples.

No nation ever threatened human survival more than America. It’s no idle speculation. Mushroom cloud determination may decide things one way or another. Forget about who’s president next year. Policies remain the same.

Duopoly power mandates it. Permanent war is policy. World dominance is prioritized. Imagine what’s coming if not stopped.

NATO is very much involved. It’s a killing machine. It’s a dagger pointed at humanity’s heart. Any conflict America wages involves all 28 member countries if asked to participate.

Turkey is Washington’s lead regional belligerent. It’s playing with fire. It stands to lose much more than anything gained. Policy makers going along should be impeached and removed.

It’s hard imagining anyone in Ankara wanting war unless pushed by Washington. Bet on that behind the latest provocation.

Syria had nothing to do with mortar rounds landing in Turkish territory. Free Syrian Army militants admitted responsibility. A previous article discussed it.

Washington gave the orders. Turkey saluted and obeyed. Weapons were smuggled to Free Syrian Army (FSA) militants on Syrian territory they controlled. The provocation followed. Turkey shelled Syria border areas in response. Tit for tat has gone on for five days.

That’s how wars start. One thing leads to another and then full-scale fighting erupts. On October 6, the Tehran Times headlined “NATO preparing the ground for intervention in Syria: Leader’s advisor,” saying:

Ali Akbar Velayati formerly was Iran’s foreign minister. On October 6, he spoke in Tehran and explained what’s going on. Turkey is America’s lead regional stalking horse. At issue is instigating full-scale war on Syria.

False flags often start them. The latest border incident is Exhibit A. Syria has gone out of its way to avoid conflict with Turkey and other neighbors. It doesn’t matter when it’s wrongly blamed for something it didn’t do.

According to Velayati:

“Today, NATO is ready to issue a threat against Syria and intends to enter Syria under the pretext that one of the members of this organization….the neighboring country, has been threatened.” Washington and other Western countries have this in mind.

“The West is digging a hole so that Turkey, Syria, and the entire region will become stuck in it and the Islamic Awakening will be overshadowed.”

“Regional countries, including Syria, Turkey, and Iraq, should remain vigilant because the United States and its allies have plots for regional countries.”

Israel is very much involved. Its ambitions exceed its capabilities. It seeks regional dominance. It needs America’s help and acquiescence. It wants Washington to do its heavy lifting.

Plots are involved “to break up Syria and Afghanistan and create unrest in Pakistan,” added Velayati. Balkanization very much is policy. Iraq was targeted. So is Afghanistan and Pakistan. Perhaps Syria also, then Iran.

Washington planned war on Syria, said Velayati. It doesn’t matter that most Syrians support Assad. Foreign mercenaries were recruited and imported. Regional countries were “encouraged….to support them.”

“We have helped and are helping and will support Syria’s territorial integrity and the interests of the people and the government, provided that the reforms continue.”

Yevgeny Satanovsky heads the Moscow-based Middle East Institute. Ankara sees Syria as a “Turkish province, annexed by rebellious Arab rulers,” he believes.

On October 5, NATO belligerently called the border provocation a threat to the entire alliance. Reasons for such an incendiary comment weren’t given.

On October 6, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta warned that conflict between Turkey and Syria may escalate. Perhaps he knows something he’s not explaining. For sure he’s concealing Washington’s lead role in what’s ongoing and planned.

On October 6, the Syrian Arab News Agency (SANA) headlined “Austrian Newspaper: Turkey, Qatar, Saudi Arabia Responsible for Increasing Casualties in Syria,” saying:

Die Presse blamed them for providing weapons and safe haven protection.

“In an article published on Saturday, the newspaper warned against Turkey’s attempt to use the last case of tension on the Syrian-Turkish borders as a pretext for a military intervention that is meant to achieve special objectives, pointing out to the repeated calls of Turkish PM Recep Tayyip Erdogan for establishing a no-fly zone over Syria.”

His hawkishness threatens regional peace and stability. Qatar and Saudi Arabia share blame. So do other regional countries and NATO ones. Events advance the ball toward what no one should tolerate. At issue is it too late to stop it?

On October 6, SANA said Defense Minister and Deputy Commander-in-Chief Lt. General Fahd Jassem al-Freij spoke on national television. He said Syria’s engaged in global war.

It’s defending its homeland and people. He spoke on the 39th anniversary of its Tishreen (October) Liberation War. It restored Syria’s “pride, dignity and influential presence.”

Israel calls it the Yom Kippur War. It began on October 6, 1973. Al-Freij said Syria again is fighting for justice and international law inviolability. It affirms that no country may interfere in the internal affairs of others.

“Syria’s sons today, just like during Tishreen War, are committed to the components of identity and are against all forms of domination and submission.”

What’s ongoing reflects a “confrontation between the advocates of the Western-U.S.-Zionist project and the advocates of freedom, peace, sovereignty and dignity across the globe.”

“Our armed forces today are more resolved to restore security and stability to Syria and cut off the hand of whoever tries to harm it and eliminate the remnants of defeated terrorists wherever they are,” he added. Those who take up arms against Syria have no futures, he stressed.

Gareth Jenkins is senior associate fellow for the Stockholm-based Institute for Security & Development’s Silk Road Studies Program. On October 5 from Ankara, he told Voice of Russia that Turkish threats can’t be dismissed.

He calls the latest border provocation a cause for concern but not panic. It very much may escalate. Turkey is the Free Syrian Army’s (FSA) “main platform.” Militants move back and forth cross border freely. They’re well armed, trained, and treated in Turkish hospitals when wounded.

Whatever Turkey may want, he said, it’s very much involved and may “make things worse and they are already bad enough.” Anyone, including nations, playing with fire risk getting burned.

If full-scale war on Syria erupts, the entire region may erupt. If Iran is attacked, far worse consequences may follow.

With elections weeks away in America, Obama won’t start another war, especially against Iran. It’s hard distinguishing between Israeli rhetoric and intentions.

It’s certain Netanyahu won’t go it alone. He hasn’t the capability or intention of further rupturing US-Israeli relations. Amos Harel is Haaretz’s military correspondent and defense analyst.

On October 7, he headlined “Israel attack on Iran this fall is no longer in the cards,” saying:

Internal unrest caused by a much weaker Iranian rial and high prices changes the equation, he believes. In other words, he’s saying, perhaps sanctions really are biting hard enough to matter. They never do enough to topple regimes.

Up to now, Netanyahu downplayed them. Now perhaps he has second thoughts. In June 2013, perhaps another Green Revolution may accompany the presidential election.

The 2009 one achieved nothing. It was made in America. Days of street protests and clashes followed. Regime change plans failed. Washington’s fingerprints will be all over a repeat if intended. If so, expect no more success than before.

Iran’s well versed in American tactics. It’s prepared and ready to react. At the same time, ordinary Iranians are fed up with US imperialism and permanent regional wars. They’re not about to roll over supportively for violent regime change.

They want nothing to do with US belligerence. They want to live free and choose their own leaders. They want no outside interference.

Throughout summer 2012, said Harel, headlines speculated on whether “Israel would attack Iran’s nuclear facilities before the US elections….” Netanyahu’s bluster suggested the possibility. Red lines, deadlines, and timelines dominated news reports.

Things seem less urgent now. Summer 2012 replicated 2010 and 2011. Bluster turned out being smoke and mirrors. “How close were we to really doing it this time,” asked Harel?

Some observers thought it possible. More thoughtful ones knew otherwise. Rhetoric now proves them right – at least for the time being. Things can change fast. Post-November 6, anything is possible.

At the same time, internal Israeli opposition is significant. High-level past and current government, military, and intelligence officials strongly oppose war. It’s true as well in America. Public opinion in both countries oppose it.

“Netanyahu hasn’t abandoned the idea,” said Harel. Months from now or sooner, expect it to resurface.

Harel, of course, omitted two vital considerations. Netanyahu wouldn’t dare attack Iran or other nation without Washington’s approval and support.

[…]

http://www.indybay.org/newsitems/2012/10/08/18723273.php

The Wars in the Middle East and North Africa Are NOT Just About Oil … They’re Also About GAS
http://911blogger.com/news/2012-10-08/wars-middle-east-and-north-africa-are-not-just-about-oil-they-re-also-about-gas
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uFbpKKOEnAE
http://blog.curry.com/images/2012/02/07/gasSupplyAndDemand.jpg
http://blog.curry.com/images/2012/02/07/southAndBluestream.jpg
http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CaXVzRxWw8Y/Tz_0g68MSKI/AAAAAAAAK40/x3bnv5xGZe8/s1600/TAPI%2Band%2BIPI%2BPipelines.png
http://www.hydrocarbons-technology.com/projects/7207/images/143472/large/1l-image.jpg
http://blog.curry.com/images/2012/02/07/arabGasPipeline.jpg
http://blog.curry.com/images/2012/02/07/syria-turkey.jpg
http://blog.curry.com/images/2012/02/07/levantprovince2.jpg

‘Saudi weapons’ seen at Syria rebel base
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19874256

Turkey after having underestimated Syria’s determination, is now outsmarted by Bashar Al Assad.

Erdogan is now gesticulating, trapped and isolated, ready to put lots of pressure on the opposition to accept important compromises in order to stop the escalation that threatens its peace and economic stability.
Publicly Erdogan does not dare to admit that the rebels he helped are probably the ones attacking Turkey, as Paul Salem suspects…

Syrian cross-border salvos send message to Turkey

By ELIZABETH A. KENNEDY | Associated Press – 30 mins ago
http://news.yahoo.com/syrian-cross-border-salvos-send-message-turkey-183447857.html

BEIRUT (AP) — Syria’s cross-border attacks on Turkey in the past week look increasingly like they could be an intentional escalation meant to send a clear message to Ankara and beyond, that the crisis is simply too explosive to risk foreign military intervention.

With Turkey eager to defuse the crisis, the spillover of fighting is giving new life to a longshot political solution, with the Turks floating the idea of making President Bashar Assad’s longtime vice president, Farouk al-Sharaa, interim leader if the president steps aside.

A military option — which would involve foreign powers that already have expressed a deep reluctance to getting involved in the crisis — is still not on the table, analysts say, despite six consecutive days of Turkish retaliation against bombardment from inside Syria.

“Syria is aware that Turkey cannot go a step further,” said Ali Tekin, assistant professor of International Relations at Ankara’s Bilkent University. “The Turkish people don’t want a war and there are no vital national interests at stake to warrant a war. Syria sees this.”
…
While Ankara maintains that the shells are coming from the regular Syrian army, Paul Salem of the Carnegie Middle East Center, a Beirut-based think tank, did not exclude the possibility of “other sources, a rebel unit, firing across the border, trying to create conditions for Turkey to intervene in Syria.”

If anyone wants to look at CONSTRUCTIVE and intelligent thinking on Syria may I recommend:

http://www.strescom.org/

Check out the research and thinking on reconstructing different sectors.

It’s a healthy antidote to the relentless negativity, disinformation, self-serving fantasies and spiteful ill-will towards Syrians displayed by more than half the current posters on this forum.

Despite Morsi’s fund raising tours in Qatar and Turkey, is Egypt on the brink of bankrupt?

Egypt’s foreign reserves continue to drop
Associated Press – 4 hrs ago

http://news.yahoo.com/egypts-foreign-reserves-continue-drop-161523847–finance.html

CAIRO (AP) — Egypt’s central bank says the country’s net foreign reserves have dropped again in September, despite a boost from Qatar.

The bank said Monday the drop was $84 million and that foreign reserves stood at $15 billion dollars at the end of September, compared to $15.1 billion in August.

August saw a roughly $700 million boost to reserves, largely as a result of a partial deposit from Qatar’s promised $2 billion dollar aid package.

The London-based Capital Economics research and consultancy firm says Egypt’s “dangerously low” reserves level means the nation of 82 million people does not have enough to cover three months’ worth of imports.

Egypt is in talks for a $4.8 billion International Monetary Fund loan after its economy plummeted in the wake of last year’s uprising.

LOL
Russian Official: Obama is a Communist KGB Agent
http://fromthetrenchesworldreport.com/russian-official-obama-is-a-communist-kgb-agent/23029/
A Russian government official bragged that Barack Obama was a KGB operative and that his presidency had been planned since birth, an American physicist and government contractor reports. Tom Fife, an American computer networking specialist and international businessman, reported the alarming facts about the Kremlin’s connection to Barack Obama. The boast from a Communist Party official reportedly occurred during a business trip to Russia,16 years before Barack Obama was ushered into the presidency of the United States.

Dear JOSHUA LANDIS

For God’s sake rescue this forum from collapse!

The sinister “ANN” has just dumped a cut-paste of over FIFTY paragraphs here.

From their own indiscretions we know this person is an American with little knowledge of Syrian or Middle Eastern affairs.

So what would be their incentive for working round the clock for months cut-pasting pro-Assad junk? Go figure.

The name could be an acronym (the first letter for “American”?), possibly even a team.

Dear JOSHUA LANDIS
سياسة كم الأفواه من الطبيعي أن تؤدي بنا إلى أن نعيش أخطاء كبيرة بعد أن كانت الأخطاء صغيرة

Ordinary citizens cheering bombing attacks? I think not.

Gallup shows Mitt Romney and Barrack Obama even at 47% in a poll taken three days after the debate. Obama was leading by 5 points before the debate.

The first debate focused on domestic policy, which Obama believes was his high achievement in his first term. So much for that.

Considering that Obama has little to show in terms of foreign policy achievements during his first term, being hesitant, indecisive and mostly reactive to events rather than pro-active, Romney may find it easy to pull Obama another 5 points down in the next debate.

To 109. Syrialover

We’re grown up enough here to skip over a cut-paste of over FIFTY paragraphs if we don’t want to read it. Give Joshua a break! Ans I don’t find anything very sinister about Ann.

Answering 109. Syrialover

Charge them, Joshua.
Posters would be given a monthly allowance.They could use up their credit and would thereby limit their interventions to the essential.

That would spare my mouse having to run over the lengthy pastery of you know whom.

#113 JNA,

Quick, quick, red siren on, rush in with defensive comment for a systematic spammer.

So what “ANN” dumps here, its frequency and volume is welcomed by you?

Interesting.

Annie

Brilliant. Let Ann pays. I have a feeling that regime supporters do not like to pay money. My finger hurts me too. It amazes me how insensitive Ann to criticism..

I wish and pray God protects Homsis and the FSA fighting in Homs.  May a miracle happen and Homs becomes the graveyard for Assad and his traitor army.   

• The rebel stronghold of Homs is on the brink of falling to the Syrian army, according to opposition activists and residents. A resident told the Guardian that the army already controlled 75% of the city and was advancing swiftly. He said: “Homs might fall to the Syrian army at any moment. The army are taking street after street, progressing towards us little by little.”

• The Free Syrian Army commander in charge of defending Homs has made an appeal for weapons to help repel the government offensive. Colonel Qassim Saadeddine told the Guardian: “We only have light weapons. We desperately need heavy weapons to stop them.”

The Guardian

Syria conflict causing tension between Sleiman, Hezbollah
October 09, 2012 01:19 AM
The Daily Star

“Of course, there is tension between President Sleiman and Hezbollah. The president is escalating his position on Hezbollah’s arms,” Hilal Khashan, professor of political science at the American University of Beirut, told The Daily Star.

“The developments in the region, particularly in Syria have encouraged the president to go on escalation against Hezbollah’s arms,” he added.

Khashan said Sleiman was dissociating between Hezbollah’s arms and its role in resistance, meaning he was seeking “a compromise agreement” with regard to the party’s military wing.

“The president was saying: No to Hezbollah’s military wing in domestic Lebanese politics, yes to Hezbollah’s military wing to help defend Lebanon against a possible Israeli attack,” Khashan added.
….
“The president is taking advantage of Hezbollah’s involvement in Syria to voice his political opinion freely, including outlining the role of the party’s weapons in defending the country,” said Maalouf, a lecturer in political science and political history of Lebanon at Notre Dame University.
….
Sleiman’s statement drew an unprecedented quick response from Hezbollah’s No. 2 man. “We don’t have arms for the resistance and arms used for other purposes. We don’t have arms to face Israel and arms for domestic bickering,” Hezbollah’s deputy leader Sheikh Naim Qassem said during a graduation ceremony at UNESCO Palace in Beirut Saturday. “In Lebanon, there is one party called Hezbollah. We don’t have a military wing and a political wing. Hezbollah is a political party and a resistance party.”

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Oct-09/190673-syria-conflict-causing-tension-between-sleiman-hezbollah.ashx#axzz28kcME2Nm

A heartbreaking tribute to and plea for Aleppo’s beautiful heritage and current character.

It points out it’s in danger of being physically flattened by Syrian-hating Bashar the way Hama was flattened by his father.

Article: ‘It Is Our Soul’: The Destruction of Aleppo, Syria’s Oldest City

http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/it-is-our-soul-the-destruction-of-aleppo-syrias-oldest-city/263255/

According to Cham Press a pro regime site, the driver of one of the security chiefs left the car in the Harasata compound to explode and 20 minutes later a suicide bomber with an ambulance entered the compound and detonated the vehicle.

Here is the link.
http://www.champress.net/index.php?q=ar/Article/view/8961

Now SANA claims that only one person was killed and RT in Arabic reporter said that the fighting continued for an hour after the explosions and that ambulances had to ferry wounded for more than another hour.

In the meantime, four check points were destroyed in Maarat Numan and most of Idlib is free of regime troops and a new refugee camp is now established on the Syrian side of the border.

Also, troops and AC 130 gunships are being deployed into the ME. It is likely that therefore that NATO will come to the aid of Turkey which just deployed 40 aircraft to its southern base.

Now if we are to believe the regime and its supporters we are about to see the complete route of the rebels in one to two weeks.

Also the same site has a story that the dollar is now officially at 74 pounds.

So in the black market it should be higher.

Cheers.

…

They always ask: Which side are you on?

“What answer should I give?!” she says.

The rebels and al-Assad’s forces should stop fighting.

“I say, very bold, ‘Stop it!’ ” Alaita insisted. “What the hell we are doing? Where did we get ourselves to?”

http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/06/world/syria-normal-life/index.html

I am glad that we are hearing more voices in America calling to arm the revolution.  We have the manpower, we have the will, and we have the moral high ground.  We are just missing the means..

Romney Is Half-Right on Syria: the U.S. Should Arm Rebels
By the Editors Oct 8, 2012 6:45 PM ET

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney sought this week to distinguish the foreign policy he wants to conduct from that of U.S. President Barack Obama, in part by calling for rebels in Syria to be armed with whatever it takes to bring down the Syrian regime.
No one should expect a major foreign policy shift in the final weeks of a presidential election campaign. On this issue, however, Romney was right — even if he wasn’t clear or forthright enough in making his case.

Events in Syria have deteriorated so badly over the past two months that many of the concerns behind the U.S. reluctance to supply the rebels with sophisticated anti-tank and anti- aircraft weapons have eroded.
,,,,
The concern that U.S. weaponry could intensify the suffering of civilians in Syria, without toppling Assad, also seems less urgent, because the casualty rate is already soaring. Syrian activists who have been tracking the death toll since the start of the fighting say that 4,631 people died in September alone, bringing the total to more than 30,000. That’s about the same number of fatalities in a single month as in the first nine months of the uprising combined.
It’s impossible to know how accurate such figures are, but the trend is inarguable. The fighting has reached a stalemate, and there’s every reason to believe the bloodshed will continue on a scale similar to Bosnia in the 1990s, when 100,000 people were killed over almost four years of civil war.
..
As we’ve said before, the U.S. should distribute the weapons itself. It should seek out rebel units that have signed on to a code of conduct that is already circulating and are willing to commit to an inclusive regime to follow Assad’s. Six months ago, the U.S. knew virtually nothing about these people. Since then, it has been delivering nonlethal aid to the rebels, and we share the widely held assumption that the unstated purpose was to get intelligence officers on the ground to find out more.

Delivering arms would involve a significant escalation of that covert operation, one that should put special forces from the U.S. and its European and Turkish allies in Syria to train rebels to use the weapons. Expanding that distribution network could begin even before the Nov. 6 U.S. election, with the move from nonlethal to lethal aid to follow.
…,
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-10-08/romney-is-half-right-on-syria-the-u-s-should-arm-rebels.html

Re: 115. Syrialover

We call this “free speech”. You don’t like it, too bad.

The AC130 deployment is probably intended for some North African operation and not Syria or Turkey,

http://theaviationist.com/2012/09/13/deployment-benghazi/

If these planes are used for some combat role before November 6, it will be a last ditch attempt by Obama to raise his chances of re-election.

123. jna said:

*Your comment is awaiting moderation.*

Re: 115. Syrialover
We call this “free speech”. You don’t like it, too bad.

Oops.

Who the heck is moderating now?

JNA #124

You call those 50-paragraph spam cut-pastes “speech”?

And dumping them to disrupt a discussion forum being “free”?

Interesting.

Re: 126. Syrialover

Yes. And nobody appointed you (I hope) to decide what is “free” and what is “speech”.

Tara,”My finger hurts me too.”

30,000 dead and your finger hurts. Awful.

JNA #127

Just normal practice, internet precautions and common sense.

Not the world of spammers and meter-clicking-by-the paragraph propagandists.

باريس- اتهم إيف بونيه، المدير السابق لوكالة الاستخبارات الفرنسية، كلاً من السعودية وقطر بتمويل الإسلاميين المتطرفين في بلاده.
وقال بونيه، في مقابلة مع مجلة “لا ديبيش” الفرنسية نشرت الاثنين، إن مكافحة الإسلام السياسي تتطلب إغلاق مصادر التمويل، وإن “هناك مشكلة أخرى تتعلّق بهذه المجموعات وتتمثل في التمويل الذي تحصل عليه من بعض البلدان السلفية”، مشيراً إلى أن “أحداً لا يتجرأ على الحديث عن السعودية وقطر، لكن كان من الأفضل لهاتيتن الدولتين التوقف عن تمويل بعض الحملات المشبوهة”.
وعلّق بونيه على المعاملة الخاصة التي تحظى بها قطر في فرنسا، وقال “يوماً ما، سيتم فتح ملف دولة قطر، بسبب وقوفها وراء مشاكل كثيرة”، معرباً عن عدم اكتراثه للنجاحات التي حققها نادي “باريس سان جيرمان” الذي اشتراه رجل أعمال قطري.

Ghufran

Kindly send this to Abughassan

Is Ghufran paraplegic?

—————————–

In 7 months, the FSA destroyed 61 military aircraft.

Most likely, it would take less than a month to destroy the remaining aircraft once anti aircraft missiles become available.

Where are Qatar, Turkey, Saudi Arabia who promised the rebels than they will provide them with weapons and that they should fight to a sure victory?

Face to Face with a Revolution

By David Ignatius – October 7, 2012
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2012/10/07/face_to_face_with_a_revolution__115689.html
….
Faisal rages that his men are dying and he needs rocket-propelled grenades to fight the tanks of President Bashar al-Assad’s army. He’s 28, just graduated from law school, and crazy with the bravery and exhilaration of the revolution. The commander listens to his plea but says he’s reluctant. The Free Syrian Army doesn’t have enough weapons, and the military council that directs the fight isn’t sure Faisal and his men can deliver.
…
If the U.S. wants the rebels to coordinate better on the ground, it should lead the way by coordinating outside help. The shower of cash and weapons coming from Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait and other Arab nations is helping extremist fighters and undercutting any orderly chain of command through the Free Syrian Army.

Column: The Muslim world awaits its Great Separation

By Robert Sibley, Ottawa Citizen
http://www.ottawacitizen.com/opinion/columnists
Column+Muslim+world+awaits+Great+Separation/7357141/story.html

For more than a century and a half Catholics and Protestants had slaughtered each other in the name of the one true God. The Thirty Years War alone, between 1618 and 1648, devastated Europe to a degree not seen again until the wars of the 20th century.

Only in 1648, with the signing of the series of treaties known as the Peace of Westphalia, were Europeans able to bring their religious wars an end. The treaties not only established the principle of non-interference in the domestic affairs of sovereign states, but they also laid the groundwork for the separation of religion and politics, a concept that over time became a fundamental principle for liberal democratic order.
…
No such separation has occurred in the Muslim world. And that lack — some call it a failure — is, arguably, the deep source of the recent violence in the Muslim world, not some risible video mocking the Prophet Muhammad. It should be evident to everyone, except perhaps the Obama administration, that hardcore Islamists have used the video, The Innocence of Muslims, to push a political agenda that has as its ultimate aim a religious purpose.

The Islamists can get away with promoting violence by means of faux religious outrage because of the totalitarian nature of Islam.

I do not use the word “totalitarian” to be unnecessarily provocative. I mean that Islam is a totalitarian religion in the sense that it attempts to encompass the totality of human life, whether cultural, political, social or religious. In the words of one prominent Islamic scholar, Jaafar Sheikh Idris: “Islam cannot be separated from the state because it guides us through every detail of running the state and our lives. … For Muslims, the word ‘religion’ does not only refer to a collection of beliefs and rituals, it refers to a way of life which includes all values, behaviours, and details of living.”

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/news/Column+Muslim+world+awaits+Great+Separation/7357141/story.html#ixzz28lNKTVD5

Hey `syrialover (BATCHABAZEE, LONDABAZEE)

Here’s your chance to participate in the revolution you preach about

Ghufran

Qatar was loved by the Lebanese Shias, praised by the Libyans, admired by the Tunisians. They were so generous and “helpful”…

Now everybody hates them because they see the strings attached to that generosity.
France will soon realize what Qatar is all about. A tiny filthy rich family business with a big ego and a complex of inferiority who think they can buy the world with their money.

Are the Egyptian Sunnis going to have Al Azhar clerics “control” the country judicial system? It sounds more and more like Iran…

http://news.yahoo.com/rights-group-egypt-draft-charter-curbs-freedoms-200409226.html

Another article seeks to install Al-Azhar, Egypt’s premier Sunni Islamic institution, as the sole body authorized to interpret religious laws, effectively giving it a vetting legislative role over all laws to determine if they are in line with its interpretation of Islam.

This is not a class struggle.  This is revolution of a nation.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/09/world/middleeast/westerners-with-syrian-ties-trickle-in-to-help-rebels.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Westerners With Roots in Syria Trickle In to Help Rebels
By J. DAVID GOODMAN
Published: October 8, 2012

The night before leaving his parents’ home in Wayne, Tex., to join the rebels trying to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad in Syria, Obaida Hitto left a bouquet of white roses for his mother, with a sterling silver locket and a note: “You’ve made me what I am. But now I need to go and do what I need to do.”

Mr. Hitto, 25, a former high school football player, deferred his plans for law school to sneak into Syria to assist the rebels by making videos and spreading information on the Internet to help their cause.
….
Abdullah Aldahhan, 24, a medical student from Detroit, spent three weeks in the northern province of Idlib this summer, delivering medical supplies to makeshift clinics in a dozen cities for the American aid group Muslims Without Borders.

“That was my first time going into Syria,” he said, adding that he slept, traveled and ate with rebels. “We ate mostly cucumbers and tomatoes every single day, whatever they could grow in their backyard.”
….
Ranya Sabbagh, 39, said she made a weeklong trip to her native Syria in August to the town of Jebel al-Zawiya in Idlib, the hometown of a friend who helped get her into the country. “It’s not something I would recommend to others,” she said. “I got an hour and a half of sleep at night. I’m from Dallas, I’m not used to hearing gunshots except maybe hunting.”
..
Read more.. 

Long praised US gift to Israel, the “Iron Dome”, already failed? The Israeli air force shot down a drone on Saturday after it crossed into southern Israel

Drone flight shows Israel is vulnerable: Iran military official

http://news.yahoo.com/drone-flight-shows-israel-vulnerable-iran-military-official-094137185.html

Jamaluddin Aberoumand, deputy coordinator for Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, said the incident indicated that Israel’s Iron Dome anti-missile defense system “does not work and lacks the necessary capacity”, Fars news agency reported.

We have the suicide bombers,We have the cars and vans filled up wit explosives,
We have the north african,chechen,afghani,pakistani and turkish terrorists.We have
KSA money, we have Aljazera and Alarabia,We have Nabeel Alarabi and HBJ, We have explosive vists,We have 5 kurds,0.5 chrisian, and one durzi with us.We have
Abdulrazak Tlass sex power on the earth and we have the virgins in heaven.ALL WE
NEED IS THE SUPPORT OF SYRIAN MAJORITIES and we will be a successfull takfiri,wahabi,Aruri revolution.How can we get the love of Aleppo? how many kilograms of explosives does it take?how many Allah akbars will make Allah close
his eyes on our crimes? How many more times we will have to burn Syria to make
sure that it will never be built again? How many people believe our lies that it is all about Assad? How good is Assad free-dead Syrian cadaver? why is it that every time
we baptize a regime child with gulf money we do not get the blessing of syrian people holly spirit? How can you be a revolutionist,a kddnapper,a lier, a suicide bomber, a salafi, a takfiri, Alqaida member and a jihadist at the same time? How many syrians care about democracy any more?What kind of a democracy comes from alaroor icon islamists?
if and when all this fire is off syrians would have to answer to how much ignorant they were about Syria,and how much they caused irreversible damage they will all pay for.

Shaykh Adnan Araour is not the Imam of the Revolution, but he is certainly part of it.
http://freehalab.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/shaykh-adnan-araour-is-not-the-imam-of-the-revolution-but-he-is-certainly-part-of-it/

Prof. Landis if you could take a look that would be greatly appreciated.

The FSA arrests one of Batta’s sadist thugs who used to torture people. Well, his luck ran out after his tank was hit and he’s now in the good hands of the FSA. He was not tortured and was not abused, but according to his captors, will be tried and punished based on the findings during his trial. That should be left proper courts after the end of the revolution, but I won’t shed a tear over this criminal if they decide to give him quick justice.

الجيش السوري الحر يقبض على شبيح كان يعذب اهالي سوريا

SYR.EXPAT #145

No joy in what that shows.

It makes me deperate for this Assad-induced nightmare to be over so a generation of Syrians on both sides will stop becoming brutalized and criminalized.

Enough is known about wars to know that both brutalizers and brutalized are likely to be “damaged goods” for the rest of their lives.

Another one:

Shaykh Adnan Araour on Jabhat al-Nusra
http://freehalab.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/shaykh-adnan-araour-on-jabhat-al-nusra/

a great facebook page on the history of Syria, many unique pictures and comments

https://www.facebook.com/History.of.Syria

The latest Maysaloon
source : http://www.maysaloon.org/2012/10/farouk-al-sharaa-and-three-obstacles-to.html

Monday, October 08, 2012
Farouk al Shara’a and Three Obstacles to a Solution

Anything which will stop the flow of blood in Syria is something that I’d support, however imperfect it is. The news that Ankara called for a transitional government possibly led by Farouk al Shara’a, the vice president, and currently said to be under house arrest, is a good start. I don’t think it is a wise idea for people to dismiss him because of his association with the regime. As tyrannical as the Assad reign has been, the laws of politics required a functioning bureaucracy to run the country and ensure a modicum of order. To wipe this away in a wave of enthusiasm will leave the country a basket case. In Iraq, the American occupation made the fatal mistake of disbanding the army and precluding anybody with Baath party membership from continued political involvement. Syria should not do the same.

The problem in Syria was not the Baath party or its ideology, as idiosyncratic as it might have been. The real issue in Syria had been the subversion of constitutional processes and the undermining of the separation of powers which are the basis of a functioning state. Fatal to the Syrian republic was that power was concentrated into the hands of one man, usually through coercion, but also papered over by a rubber stamp parliament and a corrupted judiciary. The Arab disease of military men meddling in politics played a devastating role in Syria and is the root cause of many of our problems. In this light, the Baath party is itself a victim of the militarization of politics. It was the struggle between the civilian and military wings of the party which brought it under the control of the five man oligarchy – of whom Assad was a member – that ruled the country until Assad’s ascension to power. Because of this historical fact, membership of the Baath party should not itself be criminalized, and members of the regime on trial in a future Syria should be made aware that they are to be tried for their wrongdoing and not because they lost power.

As such, I think that al Shara’a is a personality which can suitably keep a grip on the underlying structure of the Syrian state, and drive a wedge between Assadism on the one hand, and a nascent Syrian republic. Syria is not a country, but rather an invisible network of relations, tribes and sects which are kept together through constant negotiations, agreements and pacts. As a state, Syria has not existed for over forty years. What is therefore needed is a man who can keep a grip on this byzantine mess until such time as a proper Syrian body politic can be resurrected.

There is nobody associated with Assadism who is not tainted in some way, but in light of Assad’s determination to burn the country to a crisp before going, the lesser of two evils could be preferrable to preserve what’s left of life and property. Unlike many people, I firmly believe that the removal of Assadism would leave its supporters in disarray, and if the Syrian state remains intact during the process, then it just might be possible for Syria to avoid the Iraq scenario – which should be foremost in everybody’s minds.

There are a number of obstacles to a successful Syrian transition led by Shara’a: Firstly Assad has to leave or be toppled, there is just no possibility of productive political dialogue or progress to occur so long as he is around to sabotage it; secondly the Syrian oppositions need to buy into this idea, and refrain from hamstringing the transition government; thirdly, the various armed groups that have emerged since the start of the revolution must be immediately reigned in, and either assimilated into a reformed Syrian army, or dismantled altogether. Any hope of stability in Syria rests on somebody overcoming each of these three problems.

Abu Hamza wife asked to consider downsizing London home

A London council has asked the wife of Islamist cleric Abu Hamza al-Masri to consider downsizing from the five-bedroom council property she lives in.

Hammersmith and Fulham Council believes Najat Mostafa lives in the house in Shepherd’s Bush, west London, with two of the couple’s eight children.

The council said it could not force her to move as there was no time limit on the tenancy agreement.

The preacher has been extradited to the US where he faces 11 terror charges.

He and four others were flown out of the UK hours after the High Court rejected final appeals against their extradition on Friday.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-19878777

Malalai Yusufzai: Young activist attacked in Pakistan’s Swat

A 14-year-old rights activist who has campaigned for girls’ education has been shot and injured in the Swat Valley in north-west Pakistan.

Malalai Yusufzai was attacked on her way home from school in Mingora, the region’s main town.

Nominated for an international peace award, she came to public attention in 2009 by writing a diary for BBC Urdu about life under the Taliban.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-19882799

__________________________________________________________________

This is what Pakis have to offer the people of Syria!

These Pakis fly terrorists into Syria and spew propaganda on the internet against the last secular regime in the middle east! Pakis like Uzair want to turn Syria into another sunni islamist dystopia like Pakistan.

The Emerging Doctrine of the United States
By George Friedman | Oct. 9, 2012

Over the past weekend, rumors began to emerge that the Syrian opposition would allow elements of the al Assad regime to remain in Syria and participate in the new government. Rumors have become Syria’s prime export, and as such they should not be taken too seriously. Nevertheless, what is happening in Syria is significant for a new foreign doctrine emerging in the United States — a doctrine in which the United States does not take primary responsibility for events, but which allows regional crises to play out until a new regional balance is reached. Whether a good or bad policy — and that is partly what the U.S. presidential race is about — it is real, and it flows from lessons learned.

Threats against the United States are many and complex, but Washington’s main priority is ensuring that none of those threats challenge its fundamental interests. Somewhat simplistically, this boils down to mitigating threats against U.S. control of the seas by preventing the emergence of a Eurasian power able to marshal resources toward that end. It also includes preventing the development of a substantial intercontinental nuclear capability that could threaten the United States if a country is undeterred by U.S. military power for whatever reason. There are obviously other interests, but certainly these interests are fundamental.

Therefore, U.S. interest in what is happening in the Western Pacific is understandable. But even there, the United States is, at least for now, allowing regional forces to engage each other in a struggle that has not yet affected the area’s balance of power. U.S. allies and proxies, including the Philippines, Vietnam and Japan, have been playing chess in the region’s seas without a direct imposition of U.S. naval power — even though such a prospect appears possible
http://www.stratfor.com/weekly/emerging-doctrine-united-states

أعلنت جماعة جبهة النصرة الإسلامية المتشددة في بيان على فيسبوك مسؤوليتها عن الهجوم الانتحاري على مجمع للمخابرات الجوية في ضاحية حرستا بسيارتين ملغومتين.

Why are the Saudi Armed Forces conducting maneuvers with the French military? And what is the significance of the terrain? Is Prince Bandar up to something?

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/09/242700.html

For those who still think Bandar has been killed, the Prince appeared well and healthy in the recent Macca Islamic Conference.

Nejjad must have been surprised and disappointed.

JNA

I did not realize that making my finger hurts would lessen your guilt supporting a murderous regime.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=54775

Syria opposition bloc plans massive makeover in Doha

DOHA – The opposition Syrian National Council, often accused of failing to represent the diverse blocs fighting the regime, is planning a major makeover at a meeting in Doha next week, a member said Monday.

“The secretariat preliminary meetings will begin on the 15th and 16th of October while the council members will hold a meeting on the 17th,” SNC member Louay al-Safi said.

“The most important point which will be discussed is restructuring the bloc and expanding it as a further step towards uniting the Syrian opposition under a broader framework,” he said.

Safi said new political and civil society groups will join the SNC — the main opposition bloc — including a Turkmen bloc and Nasserist socialists “as well as several political blocs, most of them from the revolt groups inside the country.”

Twenty-five new NGOs would also join the SNC.

Last month, the SNC agreed to expand to include more opposition groups, but not the National Coordination Committee for Democratic Change, which favours non-violent regime change and opposes foreign military intervention in Syria.
,,,

Is Bashar al Assad required to resign as a condition for the dialog accepted now by the Opposition?

Months after it was proposed by Annan, the SNC officially accept the dialog with the government without spelling out any condition other than it has to be done under the alleged “clean” sunni Farouk Al Shaara.

The opposition under very heavy pressure prefers to leave that crucial point unanswered. They want to appear to make compromises to please their masters who are fed up with the mess Syria has gone to and that is threatening them.
If the dialog is still conditional on Bashar Al Assad resignation, they’ll have to wait until 2014

وجه صحفي سوري معارض شتائم مقذعة للفنانة الكبيرة فيروز، و أنه يوجد من هو أهم منها ومن ابنها زياد فنيا على خلفية موقف منسوب إليها تؤيد فيه الحوار كحل للأزمة السورية ، وتؤيد المقاومة و الخط القومي العربي المناهض للغرب الداعم لإسرائيل .
وكتب إياد عيسى وهو صحفي سوري معارض على صفحته على الفايسبوك ” ببساطة… فيروز وزياد هم نتاج انتهازية.. وثمة من هما أهم منهما يالتأكيد…”
و أضاف ” ميزة الانتهازية انها مكسب مادي ومعنوي مجزٍ… وميزة التاريخ والقدر أنهما يكشفان تلك السفالة على عبقريتها……………..ههههههههههههههههههههههههههه.. قد اسمعت لو ناديت ثورياً سورياً؟!. ” .
و إياد عيسى صحفي سوري يقيم في القاهرة بعد استقالته من صحيفة الثورة الحكومية السورية ، وهو من عائلة يسارية سابقاً، اعتقل بعض أقاربه على خلفية محاولة إسقاط نظام الرئيس الراحل حافظ الأسد بالتحالف مع الطليعة المقاتلة لجماعة الإخوان المسلمين .
يشار إلى أن المذكور سبق له أن شتم الشاعر السوري أدونيس بسبب قيام صديق له بضمه إلى مجموعة تضامن مع حق أدونيس في حرية التعبير، في الوقت الذي تم إهدار دم الشاعر الثمانيني من قبل الجيش الحر الذراع العسكرية لثورة الحرية في سورية.
many people want to ignore the fact that regime thugs and rebels thugs have a lot in common,it is just embarrassing to admit that education,not money or guns, is what elevates humans, you can give a computer, a gun and money to a thug,what you get is a thug with a computer and money.

#156 Tara

Qatar is taking the SNC over from Turkey as Turkey is clearly distanciating itself from the opposition.
The opposition groups in Qatar will surely get some financial incentives to display show some kind of unity. That’s Qatar usual foreign policy.
That would be the nth time the opposition announces they will unite. Maybe this time money will talk.

Zoo

If Bashar does not step down or get toppled before the *2014 election*, he will forge the election and win the presidency. Please do not talk about the *elections* in Syria as if they are real. Dictatorships are short on democracy but not short on elections.

The SNC would be betraying the Syrian people if they agree to dialogue before Bashar is vanished.

Ancient City of Homs, Forgotten and Gone Forever
http://freehalab.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/ancient-city-of-homs-forgotten-and-gone-forever/

zoo,
pride and fear are making it very hard for Assad,his inner circle and hard core supporters to admit that he needs to go, Assad-Makhloufs et al have built a large network of businesses linked by bank accounts and “trusted” foreign agents that will be under threat if Assad leaves,Syria is being destroyed while many Syrians are only worried about their millions staying in “good hands”.
we have a lot of reasons to be depressed as Syrians,at the top is the fact that Syria is being raped by two competing types of thugs with no end in sight. the regime has succeeded in convincing most non sunni syrians that their future is bleak if Assad leaves and the regime collapses, that success was not possible without Qatar, KSA and the islamist thugs who want to transform Syria into a Syriastan.

Tara #160

The opposition is so weakened now that they may be obliged to compromise on that issue.

I think that as they did not spell it out last week, it means that they are on the way to renounce to that condition.
Don’t worry it will sugar coated when it will be announced to appear as a victory and not as a betrayal.

Please leave Fairuz alone. Fairuz should distance herself from politics. Please do not ruin the little things that have left for us.

And still the Syrians keep coming

Cross-border bombardment and an escalating influx of refugees are testing Turkey’s patience

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/syria/9594215/And-still-the-Syrians-keep-coming.html

..
Today, the rebel Free Syrian Army dominates a swath of territory along the country’s northern frontier with Turkey. That matters a great deal, because the insurgents also control formal border crossings, through which they are able to move recruits, weapons and supplies. Mr Assad’s options for dealing with this threat are extremely limited. He could launch a ground assault on the rebel zone of control, but his overstretched army, heavily engaged in a vicious battle of attrition in the streets of Aleppo, probably lacks the troops for the task.

That leaves him with two options: either turn a blind eye to the FSA’s dominance of Syria’s borderlands, or pound this region with mortars and artillery – even if this means that shells and bombs fly over the frontier into Turkey. The daily round of cross-border bombardment suggests that Mr Assad has chosen the latter option. Instead of a series of mistakes, the most plausible explanation for the attacks on Turkish soil is that Syria’s dictator has consciously decided to escalate.
..
..But Turkey is already waging a covert war against Mr Assad by providing bases and supplies to the FSA rebels.

As the conflict spills over the frontier, the question arises: for how long will this de facto cross-border war remain undeclared? As Syria “explodes” in accordance with Mr Annan’s prophecy, every neighbour risks being hit by the debris.

The SNC never counted for anything and it will never count for anything.

Just before I forget the NCB also did not count for anything.

Idol menhebkji are day dreaming.

Zoo

I think Erdogan will remain content with exchanging artillery fire across the borders unti more Turkish human casualties.. He will then have to response decisively. Bombing Bashar’s residence would be my preferred approach.
—

NATO declares its complete readiness to stand by Turkey.

While, France wants nothing less than Bashar’s neck. Some idol worshipers may think the neck is a tall order. I do not think so, except that it looks ‘tall’.

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/a820874e-3f25-4add-aa89-84ff91043edf?GoogleStatID=9

#162 Ghufran

Why would Bashar leave at a moment when the army has almost liberating all the large cities of Syria. ( remember the 70%)
The key issue now are the northern villages and the borders posts.
Most rebels have left the large cities to move North. Damascus is now under the threats of a small group of islamic terrorist suicide attacks that try to help the rebels by creating a psychological war.

As the battle of Aleppo is almost finished, the Syrian army is now squeezing the rebels on the Turkish borders and bombing them. Most villages are empty so the rebels can’t hide there and they are therefore exposed to the heavy shelling. Because of the proximity with the borders some of shell may be falling in Turkey. Yet it’s no more easy for the rebels to move in Turkey from these areas and the traffic of weapons through these borders has probably stopped.
In this area, the rebels are now sandwiched between the Syrian army and the Turkish army attacks.
If the borders posts are liberated, why would Bashar al Assad resign? It would be the opposition that will have to accept that it is no more in a position to make any conditions.
The announcement that the SNC accepted the dialog with the regime is a clear sign of the realization of their weakness.
In addition the Turks are pulling out their military support for the FSA. The only hope the opposition expresses to avoid military debacle is that Mitt Romney be elected in the USA!

#167 Tara

Erdogan does not want a real war. Turkish economy will immediately suffer.
In my view , it is a disguised way to kick the FSA out of Turkey.

Turkey’s Syrian dilemma takes a dangerous turn

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/turkeys-syrian-dilemma-takes-a-dangerous-turn.aspx?pageID=449&nID=31950&NewsCatID=416

Syria appears to be a problem for the Erdoğan government rather than for Turkey, none of whose vital interests were initially at risk due to the crisis there. Prime Minister Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Davutoğlu banked on an early departure for Bashar al-Assad and his regime. Because this did not happen, both have now made this issue a matter of honor.
….
This situation points to one of the key problems for Erdoğan and Davutoğlu: The simple truth is that Turks do not want war with Syria, a fact that has been corroborated by a host of opinion polls. The worst thing for any government is to prosecute a war that does not have the full support of the people. In authoritarian countries and dictatorships this does not matter, because the regime can either kill or imprison its opponents. This is not easy to do in a democratic country such as Turkey, however, where any attempt to come down on opponents to war in an authoritarian manner will clearly be met with mass protests.

As it is, thousands of Alevis were out over the weekend in Ankara protesting the government’s Syrian policy, which could not have gone down to well among the hardcore Sunni elements within the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP).

What makes matters worse for Erdoğan and Davutoğlu is that they have failed thus far to activate the international community to act militarily against the al-Assad regime. It is even doubtful that Turkey would receive the all-out military support of its NATO allies should it go to war with Syria. Bellicose towards the Damascus regime as these allies may be, none has thus far indicated an appetite for becoming militarily involved in that country.

In short, the government’s Syrian policy is like a rudderless ship adrift in stormy seas. How Erdoğan and Davutoğlu can continue to insist that this policy was and is the correct one, given that most of the public does not agree, is, however, the greatest mystery of all.

Heretic Bahrainis declare allegiance to heretic Khomeini and Khamenei.

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/09/242744.html

Where are you Dawoud?

Shaykh Muhammad al-Yaqoubi on Norwegian TV
http://freehalab.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/shaykh-muhammad-al-yaqoubi-on-norwegian-tv/

Can somebody tell me please that not all Arab Shiaa pledge alliance to the Persians!

Saudi Flag is the Banner of the “Free Syrian Army” Terrorists

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzg3dS6sSXg

__________________________________________________________________

FSA terrorists swearing allegiance to their Saudi Wahhabi maleek & paymaster.

Suicide for Sale: Saudi Arabia gets cash for blood in Syria

Outside support for the myriad of Syria’s armed groups is no secret. Saudi Arabia and Qatar alone funnel millions of dollars to the rebels every month. But, as Gayane Chichakyan reports, it’s not just cash and weapons being smuggled into Syria, but suicide bombers and ideology too.

Regarding Fairuz, she and her son are cheap opportunists. We would lose nothing if they just disappear and just save us the noise.

Reagrding the idiot Ahmed Isbir, so-called Adonis, he is the shame of Syria and particularly the alawites.

————————————-

Syrians will always raise the flag used by the KSA high above their heads.

Syrians will also always raise the flag shown in the main post high above their heads.

Those who do not like it will simply have to eat their hearts out.

Visitor

Do you listen to Fairuz?

France deport Saudi women for refusing to remove niqab

CAIRO: French customs officials deported three Saudi Arabia women on Monday after they had refused to remove their niqabs upon arrival in Paris.

A police official from the SGP-FO police union said in comments published by The Telegraph that “they refused to take their veils off, so they were turned away.”

France passed a new law last year that bars anyone from covering their face in public. While the law is applicable to all people in France, it is largely seen as a move against Muslim women who wear the full face veil, or niqab.

http://www.bikyamasr.com/69913/france-deport-saudi-women-for-refusing-to-remove-niqab/

TARA 178,

I told you already we would lose nothing by not listening to her noise.

Saudi school lessons in UK concern government

The government says it will not tolerate anti-Semitic and homophobic lessons being taught to Muslim children in the UK.

BBC Panorama found that more than 40 Saudi Students’ Schools and Clubs are teaching the official Saudi national curriculum to about 5,000 pupils.

One text book shows how the hands and feet of thieves are chopped off.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-11799713

War with Syria would be great mistake for Turkey

http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/737183.shtml

According to the latest poll in Turkey, 76 percent of the people oppose to Turkey’s unilateral intervention in the Syrian conflict. Only 17 percent support a Turkish military action against the Assad regime.

Turkey’s Syria policy proves to be a complete fiasco, said Emre Uslu, a prominent political analyst and superintendent of Turkey. Turkey lacks reliable and correct intelligence about Syria which has caused wrong calculations of Assad’s fall, failed prediction of Kurdish state establishment in north Syria and exaggerated expectation of Syrian oppositions, Uslu said.

Uslu argued that the false intelligence and short-sighted analysis were the most detrimental in Turkey’s Syrian policy. ” Given this lack of foresight and vision, Ankara must avoid waging a war.”

At the beginning of Syrian crisis, Turkey assumed that just like Hosni Mubarak and Muammar Gaddafi, Assad wouldn’t last long.

Both Erdogan and Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said Assad would soon go away.

However, the Syrian civil war has lasted for more than 19 months now, bring Turkey nearly 100,000 Syrian refugees and growing national security risk.
…
Turkish government overestimated the power of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) and failed to see the Syrian oppositions couldn’t unite due to the same weak strategic analysis, according to Uslu.

His opinion was shared by Erdemir from another perspective. ” Another problem is Turkish government only supports a narrow segment of the oppositions. It is close to Syria’s Muslim Brotherhood, which is from the same Sunni Islam background with AKP, while neglecting the other communities such as Christian, Jewish and secular groups in Syrian society,” Erdemir said.

“This policy would deepen the sectarian divide within Syria,” Erdemir added. Many analysts also doubt the ability of oppositions to form a united and stable Syria after the fall of Assad.

Visitor

Why do you act tough? I do not believe you do not listen to Fairuz and I do not believe you really are the way you are trying to come off.

Saudi Arabia is ‘biggest funder of terrorists’

Saudi Arabia is the single biggest contributor to the funding of Islamic extremism and is unwilling to cut off the money supply, according to a leaked note from Hillary Clinton.

The US Secretary of State says in a secret memorandum that donors in the kingdom still “constitute the most significant source of funding to Sunni terrorist groups worldwide” and that “it has been an ongoing challenge to persuade Saudi officials to treat terrorist financing emanating from Saudi Arabia as a strategic priority”.

In a separate diplomatic cable published by WikiLeaks last night, the militant group which carried out the Mumbai bombings in 2008, Lashkar-e-Toiba, is reported to have secured money in Saudi Arabia via one of its charity offshoots which raises money for schools.

Saudi Arabia is accused, along with Qatar, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates, of failing to prevent some of its richest citizens financing the insurgency against Nato troops in Afghanistan. Fund-raisers from the Taliban regularly travel to UAE to take advantage of its weak borders and financial regulation to launder money.

However, it is Saudi Arabia that receives the harshest assessment. The country from which Osama bin Laden and most of the 9/11 terrorists originated, according to Mrs Clinton, “a critical financial support base for al-Qa’ida, the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Toiba and other terrorist groups, including Hamas, which probably raise millions of dollars annually from Saudi sources, often during the Haj and Ramadan”.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/middle-east/saudi-arabia-is-biggest-funder-of-terrorists-2152327.html

Terror suspect admits to funding Mujahideen

FBI interrogation video of Sayfildin Tahir Sharif to be played in Edmonton courtroom

An Edmonton man wanted in the United States for terrorism told RCMP that he sent money out of the country to Islamic guerrilla fighters, a court heard today.

The comments came from parts of a videotaped RCMP interview with Sayfildin Tahir Sharif, 40.

A judge is tasked with deciding if the man will be extradited to the United States to face charges of murdering five soldiers in Iraq.

http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/story/2012/09/27/edmonton-sharif-interrogation.html

As Turkey has a mutual defense treaty with NATO, Syria has one with Iran.
Any attack by Turkey on Syria will see Iran’s military intervention.

Erdogan can bark as much as he can, but he can’t attack or invade Syria unless he wants to create a regional conflict.

Good Riddance

Saudi Arabia’s Crown Prince Nayef was a menace. We should be happy he’s gone, but worried about the aging House of Saud he leaves behind.

Washington woke on Saturday to the news of the death of Crown Prince Nayef, who was next in line for the Saudi throne. The collective sigh of relief by senior U.S. officials was almost audible — even though, within hours, President Barack Obama issued a statement about his “great regret” on learning the news.

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2012/06/18/good_riddance?page=0,0

Zoo

The Iranians are pragmatic enough to not destroy their country should the NATO and Turkey hit Syria. They will be involved in covert operations and that is it.

SNC’s Sayda spectacular ‘visit to Syria’ was limited to a few hours at Bab Al Hawa border.

Bashar al-Assad set to take fight to the north

From: AFP
October 10, 2012 12:00AM
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/bashar-al-assad-set-to-take-fight-to-the-north/story-e6frg6so-1226492340050

THE Syrian army moved to crush resistance in the Homs region yesterday, hoping to free up troops for the north, as exiled opposition leader Abdel Basset Sayda crossed from Turkey into rebel-held territory for talks with Free Syrian Army commanders.

“The army is in the midst of trying to cleanse the last rebel districts of the city of Homs,” a Syrian army commander said.

A security official said the army hoped to retake the besieged areas by the end of the week to free up troops for battle zones in the north, such as Aleppo. “It is a huge operation, and we hope to finish it off by the end of this week,” the source said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

“After that, we will concentrate on the north of Syria.”

188. Tara

I agree but threats and bellicose rhetoric have a role of dissuasion.
Despite Erdogan’s constant emotional outbursts, the Turks are pragmatic too and they have too much to loose in a war.
Both will be using local operators and let Syrians die.

Zoo

Yes. Very true.

The opposition evolution after 18 months of death: no more calls for Assad to go.

5 August 2012

Syrian opposition ‘will negotiate with government officials once Assad goes’

Leader of main political opposition group says he is ready to talk to officials whose hands are not ‘stained with blood’

8 October 2012

(BEIRUT) — The leader of Syria’s main opposition group says members of President Bashar Assad’s ruling Baath party can play a role in Syria’s political future as long as they did not participate in killings during the country’s uprising and civil war.

Abdulbaset Sieda’s comments Monday appear to be a softening of the opposition’s stance that it will accept nothing less than the complete removal of the Assad regime and its inner circle.

Read more: http://world.time.com/2012/10/08/syria-opposition-may-accept-role-for-assads-party/#ixzz28ooJjBQb

Golan Heights’ Druze Seek Israeli Citizenship

By:Adi Hashmonai posted on Sunday, Oct 7, 2012

After 45 years of rejecting [Israeli citizenship] — the war in Syria has caused a change

In the wake of the ongoing battles and atrocities on the other side of the border, recent months have seen an increase of hundreds of percent in the number of [Golan Heights Druze] applications submitted to the Interior Ministry for Israel citizenship

A Bukata resident says, “The residents are internalizing the fact that they have no longer a reason to return to Syria.”

Is the drawn-out war in Syria beginning to crack the 45-year-long loyalty of the Golan Heights Druze, to their [Syrian] homeland across the border? The data of the Population and Immigration Authority show that, in recent months, there has been a sharp increase of hundreds of percents in the numbers of applications to the Ministry of the Interior for Israeli citizenship — among Druze living in four villages in the Northern Golan Heights.

This is an especially sensitive and loaded issue. In fact, all the Druze residents of the Golan Heights that were interviewed for this article, refused to reveal their names and even expressed concern over a “social upheaval” in their villages.

“These are mainly the young folks,” a Majdal Shams resident said angrily. This interviewee had been a security prisoner in an Israeli prison, after he had been convicted of terrorist activity against the IDF [Israel Defense Forces]. “People are reaching the conclusion that Israeli citizenship is better than Syrian citizenship, since Syria kills its own citizens. They blame Assad for the situation, but Syria is our homeland. It is the country we belonged to in the past, present and future. In any event, they are not the ones who will decide on the political situation in the Golan. The ones who will decide are us, the Golan Heights residents. The Syrian nation will decide the future of the occupied Golan, in peace or in war.”

Ever since the conquest of the Golan [Heights] in the Six Day War [in 1967], the Druze residents of the four conquered villages have demonstrated their loyalty to their Syrian homeland. This loyalty intensified in 1982 after the Golan Heights Law, when the rule of the military government over the Golan Heights came to an end. Government representatives went to the four villages in the Northern part of the Heights and attempted to distribute blue [Israeli] identification cards. Most of the residents responded by burning the ID cards they had received and by conducting protest strikes lasting half a year. In addition, the local Sheikhs announced that anyone who would agree to receive Israeli citizenship and cooperate with the “Zionist enemy” would pay the price of religious and social ostracism, meaning exclusion from communal events, funerals and celebrations. Out of the 20 thousand residents living in Majdal Shams, Masada, Bukata, and Ein Kenya, only several hundred asked for and received Israeli citizenship in the last 30 years.

“The trickle will turn into a river”

Now a change has occurred: the Population and Immigration Authority explains that scores of applications for Israeli citizenship have recently been received, as opposed to the single-digit numbers of applications that were the norm until a year ago.

“I believe that the numbers will only increase,” says a resident of the Masada village who holds Israeli citizenship. “More and more people are internalizing the fact that here is an enlightened country where you can live and bring up children. That is preferable over becoming refugees in another country. There is mass murder in Syria and if they lived under Syrian sovereignty, they could become victims of these atrocities. People see children who are murdered and penniless refugees escaping to Jordan and Turkey, and ask themselves: Where do I want to bring up my children? The answer is clear — in Israel and not Syria.”

Other residents of the Golan villages think that the reason for the sharp increase in applications for Israeli citizenship, is the understanding that Assad will not stay in power for long. “I am an Israeli citizen, but I also support Assad,” says a resident of Bukata. “Even though an Assad opposition-group also rose in the Golan Heights, most of the residents know that Assad is good to the Druze who constitute a minority in Syria. The Druze denomination is second in importance in Syria, after the Alawite denomination to which Assad belongs, and the Alawites are also a minority in Syria. Before his [Bashar’s] father Hafez al-Assad rose to power, the Druze suffered greatly under a ruler who abused them. Assad the father caused a changeover in the Syrian government’s treatment of the Druze denomination. Now the residents are internalizing the fact that Assad’s regime will not be long-lived, and already understand that they have no reason to return to Syria.”

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/politics/2012/10/the-druze-on-the-golan-heights-w.html#ixzz28oq54eg0

George Soros’ Syrian Rebels and Possible Armageddon
http://keystoliberty.wordpress.com/2012/10/09/george-soros-syrian-rebels-and-possible-armageddon/

AJE Syria blog:

Syria 5 minutes ago
Al Jazeera’s Nasser Shadeed is with rebel fighters and reporting live from Maarat al-Numan in Idlib Province where fighting is underway with government forces (translated from Arabic):

“At the moment, the rebels are not fully in control of Maarat al-Numan. There are ongoing clashes at three remaining checkpoints out of 12 that surround the city and protect Syrian military bases of Mamidiya and Wadi al-Daif. Just short while ago, a fighter plane shelled the area and we are waiting for details of where exactly the target was. We also heard shelling in the village of Maar Shamshe.

“… Some soldiers surrendered and some defected. Those who are now in rebel custody will be questioned and trials are expected, the rebels have said that there will be no executions.”

http://blogs.aljazeera.com/topic/syria/al-jazeera-correspondent-reports-idlib-province-where-fighting-underway

Arab spring “Success” story turning sour?

After Libya Fires Its Prime Minister, Will the Country Itself Fall Apart?
A year after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi’s tyranny, the oil-rich nation is teetering into a maelstrom of factionalism and extremism

By Vivienne Walt | @vivwalt | October 8, 2012
http://world.time.com/2012/10/08/after-libya-fires-its-prime-minister-will-the-country-itself-fall-apart/#ixzz28os2z6wV
…
To those who have watched Libya for years, the political turmoil has come as no surprise. Ethan Chorin, a former U.S. diplomat in Tripoli in the mid-2000s and author of a new book on last year’s revolution titled Exit the Colonel, says the country’s politicians are rived between those who support the Muslim Brotherhood — whom Abushagur had included in his Cabinet — and those who do not, like Mahmoud Jibril, who served as Prime Minister last year and whose liberal coalition was excluded from the new government. There are also divisions between the returned exiles, like Abushagur, and those who spent years living under Gaddafi, as both Baja and Jibril did. Abushagur’s status as a U.S. citizen had also become a source of suspicion among many Libyans. “All have become points of contention,” says Chorin. “The Benghazi attack has heightened the pitch of these quarrels.”

I couldn’t believe it. Not only they murder them but also they f**k them in the A*s… What a sick culture and bloody history! Send them back to the desert or better yet, nuke them. Their turn is coming- Just a matter of time!

Uzair 195,

Maarat is in the hands of FSA, All Praise be to Allah, the Most powerful Most High.

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/db41cab2-5b23-47bf-9c70-6a04e8d2d9b7?GoogleStatID=1

In addition to 40 prisoners and several tanks.

————————————

Tara 183,

I am what Mina would call sharbat.

198. Visitor

It seems so.

I hope the rebels can stand their ground in Homs (Khalidiya). It seems the regime wants to take Homs quickly to free up troops for battles up north.

Shalom: Israel Will Never Cede the Golan

Deputy PM Silvan Shalom says that not only will Israel keep the Golan, but that Jerusalem’s vision is to settle 300,000 more Israelis there.

Deputy Prime Minister Silvan Shalom today toured the Golan Heights and said Israel will never cede the Golan Heights.

“We have been in the Golan Heights forever and shall remain eternally,” Shalom, who is also Minister of Negev and Galilee Development, said during a wine opening at the Lane School.

“There has been an almost continual Jewish presence in the Golan Heights for thousands of years and we will never leave,” he added.

Shalom told those present that the Golan needed investment to nurture and develop the excellent soil so Israel could build “a luxurious wine empire.”

The Lane School is dedicated to viticulture and attracts students interested in enriching Israel’s wine culture.

“This year we opened the medical school in Tzefat, which is anchored by the campus university in the Galilee, which will serve as the center for all colleges in the regionm” Shalom said.

He also noted, “The Golan Heights is a magnet for immigrants from around the world, and in Israel, young people and families, and we will continue to invest in the region to strengthen Jewish settlement.”

“Our vision is to bring 300,000 more residents to Galilee in the next decade,” he added.

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/155843#.UHMc4UJRrL8

SNC wants rebels to stop suicide bombings
The opposition Syrian National Council has refused to condemn last night’s suicide bombing in Harasta, but a leading member of the group revealed it was trying to persuade rebels to stop such attacks.

Khalid Saleh, an executive member of the SNC, told the Guardian that the opposition was concerned about civilian casualties caused by suicide bombings.

He said the SNC had had no contact with the al-Nusra Front, which has claimed responsibility for the two suicide car bombings against the intelligence complex in Harasta. But he conceded that it had carried out “some successful operations”.

In a telephone interview, he said:

The reality is that Syrians are having to defend themselves in the most primitive ways. We are facing the latest Russian MiGs at this point. The Syrian army is using very innovative ways to kill its people.

We are trying to co-ordinate with the different FSA units to try as much as possible to avoid carrying out suicide operations. But at the same time, when [people] are getting killed day in day out it is difficult for someone outside the country to say this is OK and this is not. The leadership on the ground is having to make tough decisions …

We do not communicate with the al-Nusra Front. They do exist on the ground. They have carried out some successful operations. They are usually keen to avoid civilian operations. But we do not communicate with them directly.

Saleh said there were currently major concerns in the opposition about the battle for control of the central city of Homs, but he claimed rebel fighters were still managing to push back Assad’s forces in the city.

Homs is in danger of falling into the hands of regime, but I still think that the guys who are fighting on the ground will put up a huge battle before allowing that to happen.

Read more
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/oct/09/syria-bombs-hit-security-compound-live

Uzair 199,

The regime is racing against the 6 November deadline.

—————————————–

There should be no condemnation whatsoever of any operation that targets regime sites. It doesn’t matter who is behind the operation. All is fair in war.

SNC should just shut up and find a Starbucks to meet and socialize

Four Former Israeli Generals Debate the Future of Syria

By:Sarah Leibovitz-Dar posted on Thursday, Aug 2, 2012

“I remember the Syrian city of Kuneitra as if I had been born there,” said Avigdor “Yanush” Ben-Gal, former Northern Command head. Ben-Gal commanded the 7th Armored Brigade that fought in the Golan Heights during the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and was the last Israeli soldier to leave the Syrian enclave in the Golan Heights after the cease-fire arrangements [October 24 1973]. “I climbed up to the top of the highest house in Kuneitra with another officer in order to say my farewell to Syria,” he recalls, “and suddenly I heard shouts of soldiers who were telling us to come down. The house is booby-trapped, they shouted. We’re going to blow it up. I told them, let me say my farewells to Syria peacefully. I looked all around me, to the Golan Heights and to Syria, climbed down from the house and joined the last jeep that left Kuneitra.”

http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/security/01/08/stopping-off-in-syria-on-the-way.html

Shalom: Israel Will Never Cede the Golan
سيعود من حيث أتى
he will return to his country of origin in the best of cases!

Pro- And Anti-Assad Camps Share Concerns Over Syria’s Possible Disintegration Into Separate Sectarian, Ethnic Entities
By: N. Mozes*

Introduction

“Everything in Syria these days is fragmented or divided. The regime is divided and crumbling, the land is divided, [and] the opposition is splintered and fragmented. Nothing is united… Aleppo is practically a separate [region], the Kurdish north is nearly independent, Damascus is isolated, the road to Al-Latakia is unsafe, and Homs is rebelling against the regime…”[1] This is how ‘Abd Al-Bari ‘Atwan, editor of the London daily Al-Quds Al-Arabi, described Syria, 60 years after its independence and 18 months into a violent struggle between the regime and its opponents. This situation has aroused concern in Arab and Muslim countries, and in the world at large, for Syria’s unity and geographical integrity.

The idea that Greater Syria is disintegrating into separate ethnic and sectarian entities is not new; at the 1920 San Remo conference, after World War I, France, who held the mandate over Syria and Lebanon, decided to split the territory into six national entities on a sectarian basis. Except for Lebanon, these entities remained separate until they were united under the French Mandate in 1936.

Throughout the years Syria has seen sectarian and ethnic tension, primarily from the Sunni Muslim Brotherhood (MB) and the Kurds. The MB objected to the secular character of the Ba’th regime, led by the ‘Alawite Hafez Al-Assad, and to the marginalization of the Sunni majority in favor of an alliance of sectarian minorities. This resistance peaked in the city of Hama in the early 1980s, and was mercilessly suppressed by the Assad regime. The Kurds also tried several times to rise up against the Ba’th regime, demanding self-rule or at the very least recognition of their national identity and rights; the regime responded in a similar manner.

http://www.memri.org/report/en/0/0/0/0/0/0/6717.htm

Idol worshipors of idiot agent of Satan will say this man, Muhammad Ahmed Abd al-Wahhab, is Wahhabi,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/09/242767.html

May Allah Have His Mercy on Shaykh Muhammad Ibn Abd al-Wahhab and give him the high place in Paradise that he rightly deserves.

Just so idol worshipers on this board will continue to eat their hearts out.

This article is spot on and is fitting for my last contribution here. Although I will miss exposing the lies and garbage coming from genocide enthusiasts and sectarian opponents of the opposition, it’s time to focus my mind and energy on doing some real work with my real name. I wish nothing but love and peace for my friends and hope that someday I can feel the same way about my enemies.

انتهى الكلام!
الياس خوري

نقول في العامية: ‘خلص الحكي’ كي نعلن لا جدوى الكلام، وتحوله الى تكرار ممل. عندما يطيل محدثك، ويستطرد ويبقى في المقدمات ولا يعطيك من الآخر، لأنه لا يريد ان يصل اليه، او لا يعرف ما هو، او يريد حجبه، ينتهي الكلام، ويصير النقاش طحنا للماء.
…
هذا حالنا مع النقاش الممل حول النظام السوري، فالمسألة ليست ايديولوجية او فكرية على الاطلاق. اذ لا اظن عاقلا يستطيع ان يبرر نظام الجمهورية الوراثية، او يتغنّى بعبقرية الديكتاتور الفكرية و السياسية، او يحدثنا عن فكر حزب البعث. ففكر الحزب اندثر لحظة استيلاء العسكر على السلطة، ويكفي ان يقرأ اي عاقل كتاب: ‘التجربة المرة’، لمنيف الرزاز، الذي انتخب خليفة لمؤسس الحزب ميشال عفلق في الأمانة العامة كي يتأكد من عبثية اي كلام عن ايديولوجية حزب البعث، التي داسها عسكر الحزب ببوطاتهم، قبل ان يرسم صدام حسين ذلك المصير المحزن لميشال عفلق، الذي انهى حياته في بغداد تحت رحمة الجلادين. لن اتحدث عن مسرحية اشهار اسلام ‘الاستاذ’، اذ يجب ان نترك هذا الفصل لأولاده، كي يعلنوا حقيقة نهاية والدهم المرة. كما لا أظن ان اي عاقل يستطيع تبرير افعال جلاوزة سجن تدمر، او سفاحي مجزرة حماه، او المشاركين في ذبح مخيمي تل الزعتر وشاتيلا.
…
لقد نجح النظام السوري في استغلال سذاجة وانهيار بعض بقايا المثقفين الذين اعتادوا على الخضوع والخنوع، كي يطلق نقاشا صاخبا، وصلت اصداؤه الى الصحافة الغربية حول علمانيته المزعومة، وكونه يشكل سدا في وجه الأصولية. والطريف ان منجّم النظام وفيلسوفه الجديد، الذي نجح في حشد بعض الأقلام الغربية لصالحه، هو المفكر ميشال سماحة! الذي يبدو ان مواهبه المخابرتية والتفجيرية لم تسعفه حين كانت الحاجة ماسة لتفجير الشمال اللبناني طائفيا، والصاق التهمة بتنظيم القاعدة!
…
فقد النقاش السياسي او الفكري او الثقافي كل دلالاته، وصارت الكتابة زعبرة. كيف تردّّ على منطق لا منطق له، وكيف تتحاور مح محاور اصيب بالصمم، يردد الكلمات نفسها، ويحدثك عن السيادة الوطنية ورفضه التدخل الخارجي، بعدما شرّع بلاده لكل اصناف التدخل، معتقدا انه يستطيع اقناعنا بأن ضابط المخابرات القابع في الكرملين، الذي يتطاول مُتقيصرا، هو خليفة لينين!
والعجيب ان منطق النظام يلتقي مع منطق اعدائه من ملوك النفط ومشايخ الغاز، الذين يشوهون صورة الثورة، مستغلين المآسي السورية، ليتمنظروا بمساعداتهم لمخيمات اللاجئين على التلفزيون، كما حولوا سلطتهم المالية الى وسيلة لشراء الذمم وتجيير بعض المجموعات المسلحة لحساباتهم الايديولوجية.
صرخ شاعر مصر الكبير صلاح جاهين: ‘عجبي’، بعد فجيعته بالهزيمة الحزيرانية، وكتب رباعياته التي صارت عنوانا للاحتجاج والقلق واليأس.
اما نحن الذين ابتلينا بزمن الزعبرة والوحشية والدم، زمن الدجل الذي يدفع ثمنه السوريون موتا ودمارا، فماذا نقول؟
هل سنجد كلمات تنقذ كلماتنا من الموت؟ وكيف نجدها ونحن عالقون في الرد على منطق لا منطق له؟
نقول للديكتاتور وبطانته من أصحاب منطق القتل والتدمير والقصف والتهجير، اذهبوا!خلص! انتهت اللعبة ايها السادة، لقد انقلب بكم الزمن على ايدي اطفال درعا، وجميع محاولاتكم للتهرب من شرب كأس النهاية سوف تذهب هباء.
اشربوا من الكأس الذي سقيتم منها شعبكم اكثر من اربعين عاما.
خلص! اذهبوا الى الجحيم!
اما شعب سورية فسيعرف كيف يرمم لغته وروحه، ويستعيد مدنه وقراه، ويحفر صورتكم في ذاكرة العار.

http://www.alquds.co.uk/index.asp?fname=data\2012\10\10-088qpt998.htm

Halabi,

That is sad. Will miss your contributions. I hope you reconsider.

A new low by militias in Harasta. Filling an ambulance with explosives and exploding it among the rescuers of the victims of the first bombing (including opposition prisoners).

وردا على سؤال بشأن الاتهام الموجه للجيش الحر بأنه لم يضع خطة عسكرية محكمة في معركة حلب مما أدى الى عدم تحقيق الانتصار فيها، قال الأسعد انه لا بد من توضيح بعض الأمور المتعلقة بهذه المسألة, وكشف النقاب عن أن الجيش الحر لم يكن موجودا في البداية في حلب أو دمشق, ولم يكن له علاقة بهذه المعركة, بل ان كتائب مسلحة تابعة لمجالس عسكرية أخرى هي التي قررت خوض هذه المعركة, وبالتالي فإن الجيش الحر لم يعط أي أوامر بخوض معركة حلب, وكان يعارضها لأنها معركة غير محسوبة ولم يخطط لها جيدا, لأنه لم يتم تجهيز المقاتلين لها بشكل جيد,خاصة أن المعارك في المدن الكبرى كدمشق أوحلب تحتاج للتجهيز الكامل لها مسبقا.
وأضاف قائلا اننا اضطررنا للاشتراك في هذه المعركة وأجبرنا على أن نزج بكتائبنا فيها حتى لا نترك اخواننا المقاتلين في الفصائل الأخرى وحدهم,لكن معركة حلب كانت في الحقيقة خطوة اعلامية غير مخطط لها, ولسنا مسئولين عنها لكن المسئول عنها هو من أعطى القرار بخوضها.

Soon انسحاب تكتيكي for the terrorists from Homs followed by انسحاب تكتيكي from Halab followed by انسحاب تكتيكي to hell.

Erdogan is ahowing some teeth against internal Turkish opposition,

أردوغان والمعارضة
على صعيد آخر انتقد رئيس الوزراء التركي رجب طيب أردوغان بشدة موقف المعارضة في بلاده من الأزمة مع سوريا.

وقال إن حزب الشعب الجمهوري يدافع عن قتلة أبناء الشعب التركي, وإن على الشعب التخلص من هذا الحزب, وشدد أردوغان على أن بلاده تدافع عن نفسها في مواجهة ما وصفه بالموقف العدائي للنظام السوري.

في المقابل، قال رئيس حزب الشعب الجمهوري المعارض في تركيا كمال كليجدار إن حزبه لا يمكن أن يقبل بزج تركيا في حرب مع سوريا. وجاءت هذه التصريحات ردا على انتقادات وجهها رئيس الوزراء رجب طيب أردوغان لرفض حزب الشعب التصديق على مذكرة عرضت على أنظار البرلمان تسمح باللجوء إلى الخيار العسكري ضد سوريا.

What is he up to?

It is a well known fact that no matter how much you try you can never praise Allah the Al-Mighty sufficiently enough. You will always fall short, try as you may.

Nevertheless, All Praise be to Allah the Most Powerful, Most High depite our human deficiencies.

Good news to the believers in Allah and the Revolution and to those who never strayed into hereticism away from True Belief. It seems definite that 75 heretic hizbillati have been securely transported to lowest hell as per the wishes of 3llak #211.

However, hizbillati is now spinning the incident to accuse so-called Zionists for the speedy transport to hell of its misguided followers. Hizbillati apparently is hard pressed to explain how can such a large number of its own heretics be eliminated by our great heroes of the Syrian Revolution, the valiant and courageous FSA,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/09/242803.html

Again All Praise be to Allah, the Most Powerful, Most High.

It is a known fact that no matter how much you try, you can never praise Allah the Al-Mighty sufficiently enough. You will always fall short, try as you may.

Nevertheless, All Praise is to Allah the Most Powerful, and Most High despite our human deficiencies.

Good news to the believers in Allah and the Revolution and to those who never strayed into hereticism away from True Belief. It seems definite that 75 heretic hizbillati have been securely transported to lowest hell as per the wishes of 3llak #211.
However, hizbillati is now spinning the incident to accuse so-called Zionists for the speedy transport to hell of its misguided followers. Hizbillati apparently is hard pressed to explain how such a large number of its own heretics can be eliminated by our great heroes of the Syrian Revolution, the valiant and courageous FSA,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/09/242803.html

Again All Praise is to Allah, the Most Powerful, and Most High.

After “Sheik” Murderous al-Assad, any sheik-including Sheik al-Arour (who is a Syrian/Muslim patriot)-is 1,000,000,0000 times better and more beneficial to Syria. If I have to choose between a Syria influenced by al-Arour or that (like today’s) dominated by Iran and Hizbillat, I choose the former!

Free Syria and Palestine!

P.S.,

Professor Landis should have mentioned that the video from al-Jazeera shows both Sheik al-Arour and Druze military commander from al-Souwaida (who is with the revolution) talking about national unity (for all segments of the Syrian society). They also talk about a country of “rule of law” and “freedom.” In short, please don’t scare Syrians and non-Syrians from a future Syria because of your own opinion regarding Sheik al-Arour!

Free Syria & Palestine!

“People that the west describes as ‘Syrian opposition’ are considered here, in Hatay, as just a bunch of renegades and bandits. It is hard to believe they actually call them refugees! Refugees with guns, roaming our streets; get real! They are not good people. Almost all of them wear beards, carry guns and make our citizens frightened.”
http://www.zcommunications.org/when-is-the-syrian-opposition-syrian-by-andre-vltchek

213. Visitor

Good Riddance to the “fighters” from Hizbillat and Ayatollah-istan (Iran) who die in Syria while killing innocent Syrians! To the hellfire, الى جهنم وبئس المصير

Free Syria and Palestine!

Dawoud 217,

I have to agree.

And Bahrain is Arab foreveeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr.

218. Vistor

Yes! Noway will Sunni Muslims allow Ayatollah-istan (Iran) from gaining control over Bahrain through al-Wifaq (which would be a clone of Hizbillat and al-Sadr’s Mahdi Army) and use it to “shi’asize” the Arab World and gain a land passage to our holly Mecca and al-Madina! NO WAY! Yes, for freedom and civil rights for ALL in Bahrain-including those Sunni Arabs whose civil rights require them to be naturalized as Bahraini citizens (over al-Wifaq objection).

Free Syria, Free Palestine, Bahrian is Arab Forever!

http://english.ahram.org.eg/NewsContent/2/8/54961/World/Region/Can-the-Syrian-Revolution-be-demilitarised.aspx

Hamza Al-Mustafa, a Syrian activist and researcher, noted in a Facebook post on 15 September that the number of peaceful protests and rallies across the country had dwindled remarkably since the month of Ramadan. This, he explained, was the result of putting the armed struggle ahead of all other forms of protest, hoping such a move would shift the balance in favour of the popular uprising against the Assad regime.

Over a year since the Free Syrian Army (FSA) was formed to represent the military wing of the revolution, Al-Mustafa and other prominent Syrian opposition figures have concluded that peaceful protests were – and should remain – the core of the revolution.

“The Syrian Revolution,” insists Al-Mustafa, “should not be reduced to a crisis between the regime and the opposition or a conflict between the regular army and the FSA… This is – and will remain – a popular movement to achieve legitimate demands.”

The same view was echoed by prominent Syrian writer Yassin Al-Haj Salih who, in a 3 October article posted on al-joumhouryia, a website which chronicles the Syrian Revolution, warned that “the revolution is in jeopardy.” Salih acknowledged that the armed resistance against the regime was one among several options. “We have ended up relying on the armed resistance to the exclusion of all other forms of resistance including the most important: peaceful protest.”

The two views reflect a concern that the revolution is losing its high moral ground by being reduced to an armed rebellion. Many, like Al-Mustafa and Salih, who supported taking up arms against the regime, are now taking stock of the past year’s events.

A series of recent events have shown the extent to which militarisation of the revolution is undermining the very cause for which it erupted. Several recent reports, in Saudi-financed outlets, have spoken about popular resentment and rejection of rebels in several Syrian towns and villages.

“People are fed up with the presence of armed men in our midst who sometimes use us as human shields and take over our houses and shops,” one local resident was quoted by the London-based Al-Hayat newspaper. Such resentment reveals the failure of rebels to win the hearts and minds of ordinary Syrians who perceive themselves as victims both of sides in the conflict.

But who started it?

From the outset, the Syrian regime defined the protest movement as an armed rebellion by terrorist gangs. It was this definition, along with the regime’s adoption of a security-oriented approach, which forced peaceful protesters to resort to carrying arms in self-defence.

Nirouz Satik, a young Syrian researcher from Latakia, agrees with this view. “Protesters had to be armed in reaction to the violence inflicted upon them by the regime’s security apparatuses,” Satik told Ahram Online.

While the protests remained peaceful for the most part, one study on violence within the revolution suggests protesters carried arms from the early days of the revolution, albeit in a primitive way reflecting the social and tribal structures in towns where the uprising erupted.

A study published by the Doha-based Arab Centre for Research and Policy Studies dates the emergence of armed protests to an attack by security forces on Al-Masjeed Al-Omari mosque in Homs on April 2011. When many protesters were killed and injured, a group of young Islamic-oriented men decided to take up arms in self-defence.

A new development took place in the town of Jisr Al-Shoughur after violence by security forces during the funeral of a young protester led to the killing of at least 38 people in early June 2011. A popular reaction ensued when armed protesters attacked security check points and killed 120 security personnel, according to the authorities.

Coupled with such incidents, Syrian officers defecting from the army sought to set up a military wing of the revolution. The first such attempts emerged in June 2011 with the setting up of the Free Officers Contingent led by Hussein Harmoush. A month later, this body had taken up the name of the Free Syrian Army whose first responsibility, according to Harmoush, was to protect the peaceful protesters. Defecting officers and conscripts constituted 20-30 per cent of the FSA, with former army conscripts and local militias making up the remainder.

The formation of the FSA was a clear indication that the revolution had changed. Such a move, as will be described later, has had grave consequences on the revolution and made it lose the popular backing of large segments of Syrian society, especially the middle and upper classes, as well as minorities. Some observers even say that militarisation has become a liability to the peaceful protest movement.

Militarisation has also resulted in an influx of fighters from abroad, the majority of whom view the conflict in purely sectarian lens and some of whom have committed sectarian killings. Some estimates put the number of foreign fighters in Syria at around 800. Burhan Gholyoun, former head of the Syrian National Council, has warned against “an international Jihad” in northern Syria and Damascus. Thanks to Saudi and Qatari funding, the stream of so-called “mujahedeen” continues to flock into Syria. It would take a regional settlement involving Iran, Saudi Arabia and Turkey for this to come to a halt.

What are there exit scenarios?

There are several possible ends to the militarisation of the revolution. One offers a grim prospect as the rebels continue to seek armaments and external actors continue to provide the supply. This could eventually lead to a civil war, signs of which are already showing, and the country’s ultimate disintegration.

In a second scenario the regime could manage to suppress the armed rebellion. This might take at least two years.

A third scenario, according to Satik, is to secure “a historic settlement” and the formation of a military council comprising of all military actors to take over the running of the country during a transitional period.

They announce their plans as they are
http://www.egyptindependent.com/news/jihad-movement-accuses-morsy-ignoring-reconciliation-attempts-sinai
The as yet unofficial Peace and Development Party affiliated with the Islamic jihad movement accused President Mohamed Morsy Tuesday of ignoring the initiatives that its leaders have proposed in Sinai.

Peace and Development leader Mohamed Abu Samra told Al-Masry Al-Youm that the party plans to form a coalition to make peace between the Armed Forces and jihadis in Sinai.

Abu Samra expressed wonder at what he called “the lack of vision on the part of the administration and its disregard for all initiatives presented by the jihad movement and the Salafi jihadis to stop violence in Sinai.”

“The presidency has not taken any move toward reconciliation or to stop the bloodshed in the Sinai between Salafi jihadi elements and the Armed Forces,” he said.

“The Peace and Development Party is forming a new coalition, comprising elements of the jihad movement and other jihadi organizations. It will be responsible for achieving a reconciliation deal between the military and jihadis in Sinai, especially after a large number of parties were reluctant to achieve peace,” said Abu Samra.

Abu Samra said some parties, that he did not name, wanted to maintain instability in Egypt by thwarting reconciliation attempts in Sinai. He added the movement would name those parties next week.

“The movement made a decision not to resort to violence or the use of arms at this stage, because we seek political activity,” he added, stressing: “We will not allow the use of violence in the Sinai.”

“The neglect of what is happening in the Sinai will necessarily lead to terrorism, and thus repeat the scenario of Jama’a al-Islamiya in the 1990s in Upper Egypt. But, the difference is that Sinai is an open area where the crisis will be difficult to contain,” Abu Samra added.

I think Jamil Hasan is the head of the air force intelligence.  I went to the same university one of his children went to.  We had to pass an oral exam.  His/her test was how the father was doing, to convey the professor’s best regards, and to tell the father that my co-student scored 95%.  This was his/her oral exam.  No other questions were asked.  The professor had no shame as the whole conversation occurred in front of me, and this was the Syria I ran away from years ago.  Dominated by thugs who despite their education remained peasantry thugs. 
—-
Statement on Harasta attack
A Syrian who describes himself as “a servant of the mujahideen” has sent us the text of a statement which purports to be the al-Nusra Front’s account of its attack on the intelligence complex near Damascus:

In a completion of the major operations blessed by God and in revenge for those who sustained injustice or being killed, a decision was taken to attack the air force intelligence branch in Harasta … This branch is well known for its bad reputation and being a castle of tyranny. The operation proceeded like this:

First stage: blowing up the building with a car loaded with nine tonnes of explosives, driven by hero martyr Abu Dhar al-Shami, may God bless his soul.

Second stage: After 25 minutes of the car blowing up, martyred brother Abu Yahya al-Shami, may God bless his soul, drove an ambulance loaded with a tonne of explosives to blow up a gathering for air force members who came to help.

Third stage: After the second explosion, the site was rained with mortar shells to finish anything left. Thank God for the success of the operation.

The Guardian

Rioting forces UN staff to abandon Syrian refugee camp in Jordan

The UN evacuated staff from the Za’atari refugee camp twice in the last day. With winter weather bearing down on the roughshod camp, the conditions refugees rioted against will only worsen.

By Nicholas Seeley, Correspondent / October 2, 2012

Amman, Jordan

Rioting has forced the United Nations refugee agency to evacuate its staff from the Za’atari camp twice in the last day, jeopardizing the primary source of support for the more than 30,000 Syrians living in the camp. By evening, they had returned to work, UN officials said, but the frequent disruptions are becoming a serious problem in the camp.

Rumors have swirled about the reason for last night’s riots, but UN officials and other sources blamed the unrest on the arrival of cold, wet weather. Last night, the first rains struck northern and central Jordan. Even in Amman, the air was filled with choking dust and mud and lightning split the skies.

In the camp, UNHCR’s canvas tents provided little shelter from the elements. Seeking respite from the weather, some refugees broke into the trailers serving as hospitals and offices while others tried to leave, sneaking over the fences ringing the camp or clashing with the Jordanian security forces that guard the area. Jordan does not permit the refugees to leave the camp.

http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2012/1002/Rioting-forces-UN-staff-to-abandon-Syrian-refugee-camp-in-Jordan

some of usefull talks

Arour is more complex than what is portrayed in the assadian propaganda.

Chavez: Venezuela to keep supporting Syrian govt – Tuesday, Oct. 09, 2012

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/10/09/3587217/chavez-venezuela-to-keep-supporting.html

CARACAS, Venezuela Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez says he will keep supporting Syria’s government and calls the country’s rebels “terrorists.”

Chavez said his ally Syrian leader Bashar Assad leads a “legitimate” government.

Chavez was asked about Syria during a news conference on Tuesday. He said, in his words, that the “the United States government is one of those most responsible for this disaster.”

[…]

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/2012/10/09/3587217/chavez-venezuela-to-keep-supporting.html

http://pennyforyourthoughts2.blogspot.ca/
Turkey’s unsavoury track record of invasion and occupation, not to mention the violation of the principles of international and European law, must also be kept in mind – claims MEP

On October 4, the Turkish parliament approved a law authorising the army to carry out operations in Syria. Since then, Turkey has been attacking targets in Syria.
Parliament last week authorised the deployment of Turkish troops beyond its borders although government officials said the move was meant as a deterrent rather than a “war mandate”.

The Syrian people have a right to self-determination so they can carry out much-needed reforms in their country without any foreign military interference.

The horrific humanitarian consequences of military interventions in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya have highlighted the urgent need for peace and negotiations. War only leads to more uncertainty, destruction, and loss of life.

Turkey’s unsavoury track record of invasion and occupation, not to mention the violation of the principles of international and European law, must also be kept in mind. The most notorious example of this is its ongoing occupation of the northern part of the island of Cyprus in violation of the UN charter and the human rights and civil liberties of the Cypriot people. Its prevention of a bicommunal, bizonal federation solution for Cyprus in line with UN resolutions is threatening the peace process and endangering stability in a volatile region.
Not to mention Turkey regularly striking in Iraq..

Now that NATO has stated publicly and unequivocally they have Turkey’s back, it would make sense that Turkey will continue attacking Syria. Though I still hold out hope that this will not escalate.

Retrieving Golan a key priority for Syrians, says Islamist preacher who fled Assad

To prevail over Damascus, rebels need more weapons, says Youssef Zoabi, who took refuge in Jordan last year. ‘Once we’ve won, we want an Islamist regime’

MMAN, Jordan — If Youssef Zoabi is right, Israel has good reason for concern. Speaking from an office in Amman, where he took refuge after fleeing his native Syria 14 months ago, Zoabi said the fall of the Assad regime will enable Syrians to realize their deepest aspiration — to regain the Golan Heights from Israel, “through negotiations or by force.”

“Why do Western countries not intervene in Syria on a humanitarian basis? Because of Israel,” he asserts. “Once the [Assad] regime disappears, people will start thinking about retaking the land which is rightfully theirs.

“We have no problem with negotiations [with Israel], as long as the outcome does not include concessions or capitulation,” he says. “The entire Syrian people agrees on regaining its rights first by peaceful means and, if that doesn’t work, through other means. Israel is terrified by this.”

Beneath a lighthearted demeanor, Zoabi is deeply frustrated both with the West and with the Arab world, which, he argues, have done nothing to save the Syrian people from an oppressive regime. Western countries such as France, which claim to be helping the rebels, are lying, he says, and aid from Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia or Qatar is no more than “a drop in the bucket.”

http://www.timesofisrael.com/retrieving-the-golan-is-the-first-thing-on-syrians-minds-says-islamist-preacher-who-fled-assad/

Al Nusrah Front launches complex suicide assault on Syrian Air Force intelligence HQ

By Bill RoggioOctober 9, 2012

The Al Nusrah Front for the People of the Levant, an al Qaeda-linked jihadist group that is fighting Bashir al Assad’s regime in Syria, has claimed credit for today’s complex suicide assault on an Air Force intelligence headquarters on the outskirts of Damascus. The terror group has now claimed credit for 27 of the 34 suicide attacks that have taken place in Syria since December 2011.

Al Nusrah released a statement claiming credit for the attack on the “Air Force Intelligence branch in Harasta, which is located on the Homs highway.” The statement was obtained and translated by the SITE Intelligence Group.

The terror group described the Syrian Air Force intelligence branch as “an infamous branch to an appalling degree, and a castle of tyranny and grievances about which only Allah the Almighty knows,” SITE reported.

According to Al Nusrah, the attack was launched in three stages. First, a suicide bomber named Abu Dhar al Shami attacked the building with “a cab bomb laden with 9 tons of explosives.”

Then, 25 minutes after the first suicide attack, a suicide bomber named Abu Yahya al Shami attacked Syrian personnel conducting rescue operations. Shami “launched with his ambulance bomb laden with 1 ton of explosives, to blow up the gathering of what remained of the Air Force elements and those who came to reinforce and rescue them.”

After the second suicide attack, mortar teams were “showering the site with mortar shells to complete harming them.”

Al Nusrah’s account generally matches those in the press. Multiple blasts were heard at the compound and more than 100 casualties were reported, according to Reuters.

http://www.longwarjournal.org/archives/2012/10/al_nusrah_front_laun.php

Qaeda-Linked Group Claims Responsibility for Blasts on Edge of Damascus

A jihadist insurgent group that Western intelligence officials have linked to Al Qaeda said Tuesday that its suicide bombers struck an intelligence compound on the outskirts of Damascus overnight. It was the second major attack in about a week claimed by the group on a government facility in one of Syria’s main urban centers.

The group, the Nusra Front for the People of the Levant, posted a statement with details of what it called three stages of the attack on a branch of the air force intelligence compound in Harasta, on the edge of Damascus. It released a video showing nighttime blasts that it said were set off by vehicles packed with explosives.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/world/middleeast/qaeda-linked-group-says-it-struck-compound-on-edge-of-damascus.html?_r=0

Why does the United States and its surrogate want to invade Syria and take control of countries like Iran, Iraq, Libya, Antarctica and even Venezuela? It has nothing to do with democracy or human rights or removing despotic dictators it has to do with oil.

As Michael Collins at OpEdNews said despite the situation being a complex one, the US and the NATO countries are the world’s biggest oil addicts and they will do anything to keep their dealers happy and ensure that they get their fix.
NATO invasion of Syria: coming soon, rated X
http://english.ruvr.ru/2012_10_09/NATO-invasion-of-Syria-coming-soon-rated-X/

http://english.pravda.ru/world/asia/09-10-2012/122398-turkey_syria-0/
Ottoman Empire wants to get rid of Syria’s political corpse
The current escalation between Ankara and Damascus demonstrates that the scenario approved by the U.S. and its NATO allies continues to develop in Syria. The Syrians have already agreed for a no-fly zone over a part of the border area. In these circumstances, Iran is unlikely to accept the loss of Damascus, its main ally in the region. Forecasts are unfavorable: analysts say that with the beginning of hostilities between Syria and Turkey, the world makes another step towards a dangerous point.

Al Qaeda leader urges support for ousting Syria’s Assad

(Reuters) – Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri has called on all Muslims to back the rebels in Syria, saying the overthrow of President Bashar al-Assad would bring them closer to the ultimate goal of defeating Israel, according to an audio recording posted on the Internet on Thursday.

Speaking on the anniversary of the September 11 attacks, Zawahri criticized Muslim governments in the Middle East and in Asia for failing to pursue the cause of political Islam. He chastised the new leadership in Egypt in particular for sticking to its 1979 peace treaty with Israel and Pakistan, which he described as a “government for sale and an army for rent”.

The 2011 Arab Spring revolutions have redrawn the political landscape in the Middle East, bringing in Islamist governments in Tunisia and Egypt and increasing the influence of Islamist political groups throughout the region, which Western governments have watched with concern.

Zawahri said the United States was propping up Assad because it feared the rise of another Islamist regime to threaten its ally Israel.

“Supporting jihad in Syria to establish a Muslim state is a basic step towards Jerusalem, and thus America is giving the secular Baathist regime one chance after another for fear that a government is established in Syria that would threaten Israel,” he said.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/13/us-alqaeda-zawahri-idUSBRE88C0KT20120913

Syria: Al-Qaida’s New Playground

ALEPPO, Syria | Syrian and foreign fighters sympathetic to al-Qaida are muscling their way into the Syrian conflict, analysts and Syrian rebels say.

While they share homegrown rebels’ goal of bringing down the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, they operate independently and are nudging the revolution toward a struggle for an Islamic state.

As the battle rages in its 18th month, a group that calls itself Jabhat al-Nusra and has links to al-Qaida, though denies being a part of the transnational terrorist group, appears to be gaining in strength and numbers.

GlobalPost confirmed a significant presence of Jabhat al-Nusra militants in Aleppo, Syria’s second-largest city and the scene of the latest regime offensive against rebel forces. A group of fighters in the key neighborhood of Salaheddine, for instance, openly operated under the group’s banner. However, rebels quickly ushered away journalists attempting to interview them.

Days later, the group paraded into recently won rebel territory in the adjacent neighborhood of Saif al-Dawla waving the flags of the Islamic caliphate from a caravan of trucks.

Tarik, a Syrian rebel fighter who has adopted a militant dogma, told GlobalPost from the frontlines in Aleppo that there were many more men like him who were now fighting not for the original aim of the uprising — to oust Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and establish a more democratic state — but to establish an Islamic government.

http://www.pbs.org/newshour/rundown/2012/08/syria-al-qaedas-new-playground.html

Breakdown: Turkish-Israeli battle over Cyprus pipeline
http://stratrisks.com/geostrat/4026

Turkish President Urges International Action on Syria
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wr4wJq_0jCM

NATO Signals Readiness to Attack Syria
http://www.infowars.com/nato-signals-readiness-to-attack-syria/

Syria: Why al-Qaeda Is Winning
Unnoticed by the West, al-Qaeda is seizing a golden opportunity.

Our collective excitement at the possibility that the Assad regime will be destroyed, and the Iranian ayatollahs weakened in the process, is blurring our vision and preventing us from seeing the rise of al-Qaeda in Syria. In March of this year, jihadis mounted seven attacks against Assad. By June, they had led 66 “operations,” and over half of these were on Syria’s capital, Damascus. The Syrian opposition is benefiting hugely from the terrorist organization’s determination, discipline, combat experience, religious fervor, and ability to strike the Assad regime where it hurts most.

The territory in the Middle East that al-Qaeda covets most is of course Saudi Arabia, but Syria is next on the list. Now, Syria is not Syria to jihadis, but part of Bilaad al-Shaam, what the region was called when when borders did not divide the lands we now call Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and, crucially, Israel and the Palestinian territories. To al-Qaeda, these modern-day countries are based on artificial borders created after the First World War by the British and French, descendants of the eleventh-century Crusaders who occupied Jerusalem. Yes, al-Qaeda has a long historical memory, but it also has plans for its future. And in Bilaad al-Shaam, the future is looking good for al-Qaeda.

As long as Assad governs Syria, brigades of Arab and other Muslim fighters will continue to gather in Bilaad al-Shaam to support the jihad of the Sunni Muslims against an Alawite infidel, as they see it. Assad offers them a rallying point. In the process, al-Qaeda’s local franchises will win support and create alliances with Syria’s tribes and Sunni religious leaders. In the event of Assad’s falling, al-Qaeda will probably gain de facto control of parts of Syria to serve as a new strategic base for jihadis in the Middle East, or at least enjoy tribal protection in the broader regions with Iraq and Jordan. A new government in Syria not only will be indebted to these fighters, but also will be in need of their cooperation to minimize the potential of militias fighting each other.

http://www.nationalreview.com/articles/314685/syria-why-al-qaeda-winning-ed-husain

President Abdullah Gul of Turkey is a person of great honor, integrity and dignity.

We look forward to a liberated Syrian coast soon Insha’aAllah.

And looking forward to a visit to the liberated coast in the very near future Insha’aAllah.

A liberated Syrian coast will save Syria from the idiot agent of Satan and the idol worshipors, and solve ALL of Turkey’s problems.

——————————————-

Someone will have a BMS run out.

Al Arabiya.

Syrian businessmen flee with their money to Egypt, Gulf
Tuesday, 09 October 2012

[Selected quote]

According to Basil al-Kuwaifi, former head of the Chamber of Commerce in Damascus and member of the Syrian Transitional Council, there is a remarkable rise in the number of Syrian investors in Egypt especially in the field of industry.

“The Assad regime has been systematically destroying economic institutions and factories. It is now impossible to get raw materials or hire laborers and equally impossible to transfer manufactured goods from factories to warehouses and from warehouses to the market,” he said.

Kuwaifi, who is an aluminum investor in Egypt, explained that internal trade in Syria has stopped, so investors don’t get any profit.

“Even when those investors try to export their goods, no one will take them because foreign buyers are not sure Syrian investors will be able to meet their commitments under the current circumstances.”

http://english.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/09/242731.html

Zoo, this is the regime you are defending: 

Tantalizing details about Batta.  All this time and I just can’t get over a profound statement I heard from one of Batta’s admirer who wants to spend her life studying the meanings she find in him.   A statement that brought tears to  my eyes… 

They brought pro government women and children to the massacre site to say the massacre was committed by the “armed gangs”.

Defecting Syrian propagandist says his job was ‘to fabricate’
updated 2:19 PM EDT, Tue October 9, 2012
Istanbul (CNN) — For years, Abdullah al-Omar rubbed shoulders with some of the most powerful people in Syria.

In case there is any doubt, he is quick to show photos in his phone as proof.
Scores of photographs show the corpulent Syrian beaming and shaking hands with government ministers, foreign dignitaries, and even the Syrian president.

Until he defected and fled the Syrian capital last month, al-Omar said, the bulk of his work consisted of lying.

During a four-hour interview in Istanbul, al-Omar described in detail some of the propaganda methods used by pro-government media.
During the government’s artillery bombardment of the rebel-held neighborhood of Baba Amr in the city of Homs, loyalist women were brought in and disguised as locals for government television interviews, he said.
“The women would say that the massacres against men, women and children were perpetrated by armed gangs, when it was actually the Syrian regime, security forces and the Shabiha” — the pro-government militia — “who were behind these horrendous acts,” al-Omar said.
These claims are backed by the accounts of residents of Homs, who spoke to CNN on condition of anonymity for fear of reprisal at the hands of Syrian security forces.

Asked how his former colleagues would react to his own defection, al-Omar said, “they will follow standard procedure and say Abdullah al-Omar has nothing to do with the press office, and doesn’t work in the presidential palace, and that they never heard of me and that I descended from heaven just to smear the image of the regime.
“But what will embarrass them,” he continued, “is that I appear in a lot of pictures and videos, practically in all the press conferences for Bashar al-Assad and his official reception ceremonies.”

There is ample photographic evidence to back this claim.
…
Omar offered tantalizing — and impossible to independently confirm– details about the inner workings of the presidential palace.

“Sometimes we would see him do things with his head, hands or feet that are not appropriate for a president,” he continued.
“One day I saw him kicking a table and he was cursing and swearing against the people of Homs, Rastan and Daraa, and he verbally abused the Sunnis and the Syrian people in general.”
…
“Two days after he returned from medical treatment in Russia, Maher al-Assad came to the presidential palace,” al-Omar said. “He had lost his left leg in the bombing and also the use of his left arm.”
…
“I swear I cried when I entered Atareb and saw that all the houses and shops were abandoned, everything was destroyed and burned,” al-Omar said.
“I never thought the situation was so bad, I just saw things on TV,” al-Omar continued as his eyes filled with tears. “When I saw these things with my own eyes I cried, ‘How can Bashar al-Assad do this? … I apologize to the Syrian people, because I worked at some point with this butcher and killer regime.”

More…
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/09/world/meast/syria-propagandist-defects/index.html

Sheikh Omar Bakri on the Popes visit to Lebanon

Salafi cleric Omar Bakri Fostock said: “The pope is not welcome in this country as far as I am concerned. I represent myself and the Islamic views I believe in, because he did insult my religion, insulting my beloved messenger Mohammed — may peace of God be upon him — in his public speech, when he said Islam is an evil call and it is not suitable for humanities, and Mohammed has spread it by force.”

A Prayer For Dark Days
By Novid Shaid, April, 2011

Oh Allah! Lord of the brightest mornings and the darkest nights!
Lord of our terrible times and the days of our greatest delights!
Oh Allah, protect us in these dark days of murder and strife
Wrap us in Your love, with Your cloak of security
Surround us with Your impenetrable forces of light
Repel and expel all destructive forces that seek to infiltrate
Our homes, our streets, our neighbourhoods and estates.
Oh Allah Most High, though we stand tall, we are nothing but a tribe of ants
And Your world is a heron, pecking at us, while we struggle to miss its blows
We need Your help to enshroud our innate fragility
Without You we have no hope of defeating our enemies,
Be with us always, O Allah, in times of ease and adversity.

@237

The Western ruling class doesn’t mind if Al-Qaeda wins. Ask yourself: ever since Al-Qaeda’s rise, what has happened for the Western 1% ?

1. They make more money than ever!
2. They own more assets than ever!
3. They have their militaries deployed in more countries than ever!
4. They have more laws, more police, and more prisons than ever, with fewer constraints than ever!

Aside from the miniscule statistical chance of being killed in an Al-Qaeda outrage, what do the rulers of the West have to fear from Al-Qaeda? From their rational secular utilitarian perspective, AQ presents them with great opportunities, with small risks. Most of the people AQ kills aren’t in the West, and definitely aren’t in the Western 1%. So why would they care?

This piece of information appeared on All4Syria. It explains the circumstances of demolishing the 75 hizbillati heretics at the hands of the most victorious FSA. They wre definitely demolished in al-Qusair as a punishment from Allah for their criminal behavior and their following of the heretic
mullahs. Good riddance.

هل قرّر نظام الأسد أن يعهد إلى “حزب الله” بتأمين منطقة الحدود اللبنانية-السورية من داخل الأراضي السورية القريبة؟ ربما كان ذلك هو السبب في زيادة خسائر “الحزب” في الفترة الأخيرة. وقد تحفّظ “الشفاف” على نشر أخبار سقوط أعداد كبيرة من مقاتلي الحزب في اليومين الأخيرين إلى أن تم التحقّق منها من مصادر مختلفة!

“الشفاف”

*

البقاع- خاص بـ”الشفاف”

أفادت معلومات خاصة بـ”الشفاف” عن مقتل 75 مقاتلا من حزب الله في خلال معارك عنيفة بدأت فجر اليوم في منطقة ربلة” غرب القصير السورية”.

وافادت مصادر الجيش السوري الحر عن محاولة مقاتلي حزب الله السيطرة على مجموعة حواجز في تلك المنطقة لتامين خطوط امداد بين مواقعها التي عُزِلت عن بعضها نتيجة عملية واسعة للجيش الحر خلال الايام الاربعة الماضية.

واكد قيادي في الجيش الحر لـ”لشفاف مقتلَ العشرات من مقاتلي حزب الله اثناء محاولة يائسة للسيطرة على حواجز وبلدة “ربلة”، وقال أن مقاتلي الحزب تقدموا كفصائل مشاة تحت غطاء مدفعي وصاروخي الى ان وقعوا وسط كمائن محكمة نتج عنها مقتل 75 مقاتلا على الاقل.

مصادر امنية لبنانية تحدثت عن وصول 30 جثة من لمقاتلين من حزب الله سقطوا في معارك داخل الاراضي السورية امس واليوم، وان الحزب يسعى الى سحب عدد مماثل خلال الساعات القليلة القادمة .

وتقاطعت هذه المعلومات مع مصدر طبي لم يفصح عن اسمه عن قيام الصليب الاحمر اللبناني بنقل جثث لمقاتلين تسلمها بعدما تم ايصالها الى الحدود اللبنانية من الداخل السوري.

On the other hand our FSA heroes have captured 13 hizbillati K9’s while committing their crimes inside Syria. FSA then threatened to transform south Beirut, the K9 house of hizbillat, to a battlefield for the FSA heroes who will undoubtedly demolish their slums flat with earth. A K9 so-called MP, on the other hand supplied lies and deception for the criminal hizbillat. However, FSA proved without any doubt that hizbillati K9’s captured in Syria are responsible for crimes against Syrians and humanity,

http://www.dailystar.com.lb/News/Politics/2012/Oct-10/190818-fsa-threatens-to-take-fight-to-hezbollah-stronghold-in-beirut.ashx#axzz28qsKEWVv

Surprise?

‘Saudi weapons’ seen at Syria rebel base

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-19874256

Box of weapons found in a mosque in Aleppo (October 2012) The BBC was not allowed to see the contents of this crate, found in a rebel base in Aleppo
http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/63364000/jpg/_63364591_ukraineweapons.jpg

BBC News has uncovered evidence that appears to suggest that weapons intended for the Saudi military have been diverted to Syrian rebels.

Three crates from an arms manufacturer – addressed to Saudi Arabia – have been seen in a base being used by rebel fighters in the city of Aleppo.

How the small crates reached Aleppo is unknown, and the BBC was not allowed to film their contents.

Saudi Arabia has refused to comment on the matter.

أقرت المعارضة السورية المسلحة بأن القوات الحكومية حققت تقدما على الأرض في مدينة حمص بوسط البلاد والتي كان عدد من أحيائها يخضع لسيطرة قوات المعارضة على مدى شهور.
وقال العقيد عارف الحمود نائب رئيس أركان الجيش السوري الحر لـبي بي سي إن قوات المعارضة نفذت ما وصفه بانسحاب “تكتيكي” من مناطق كانت تفرض سيطرتها عليها في المدينة.
وأشار إلى أن القوات الحكومية باتت موجودة في ثلثي مناطق حمص بعدما دفعت بتعزيزات كبيرة مدعومة بالآليات المدرعة. لكنه أوضح أن مقاتلي المعارضة لا يزالون منتشرين في المناطق التي استعادت القوات النظامية السيطرة عليها ومن بينها حيا الخالدية والبياضة.
Rebels are now leaving what is left of Homs proper and withdrawing towards Lebanon and Reef Homs with most being unable to head south due to army troops presence on the border with Lebanon. Rebels made advances in Idlebs as army forces seem to be “busy” in Aleppo, Homs, Reef Dimashq and northern Latakia. Without outside interference, rebels will not able to make any major advances outside Idleb and reef Halab.
Ibrahimi was asked to visit Syria to try to mediate a cease fire,it is unlikely that he will succeed. Ban’s request for a one sided cease fire will fall on deaf ears,both parties want to win as much territory as possible in the next 4 weeks, after that facts on the ground will determine how things go. I do not trust neither sides, most Syrians share my sentiment, what you read on this board does not reflect the thinking of Syrians who are sick of suicide bombing, regime attacks with heavy weapons and all politicians who did nothing to save Syria from this insane self destruction that is aided by the thugs in Turkey, Iran and the GCC.

The Arab countries moving slowly back toward Russia?

Russia to become Iraq’s second-biggest arms supplier
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19881858

Iraq has signed contracts to buy Russian arms worth $4.2bn (£2.6bn; 3.2bn euros) this year, Russian news agencies report.

Moscow, the main supplier of arms to Iraq under Saddam Hussein, thus becomes the country’s second-biggest arms supplier after the US.

The new contracts were announced after talks between the two countries’ prime ministers near Moscow on Tuesday.

Reports suggest attack helicopters and missiles are included in them.

#240 Tara

I don’t need to show what the opposition you support is doing with the Syrians. It’s all over the news… suicide attacks, human shielding, disunity, internal fights, nothing to be proud of.

That’s the result of the ‘too little too late’ mantra of the opposition in the first weeks on the uprising when it was still possible to find a compromise. Now, it is too late for the opposition to win and too much for the Syrians to bear.

Erdogan calls Iran, China and Russia “clutches’

http://news.yahoo.com/syria-clashes-intensify-near-turkey-border-141003510.html

“Assad…is only able to stand up with crutches,” Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan told a meeting of his ruling AK Party. “He will be finished when the crutches fall away.”

Needless to say that we are deeply thankful and grateful to our Saudi brothers for supplying much needed weapons to the Great Revolution of Syria.

We only ask our Saudi brothers out of our faith in their goodness and brotherly feelings to increase the amount of weapons as well as the type of weapons regarding effectiveness..

We are quite certain that our brothers will do their best.

Gazprom Shipments to Turkey Up 60%

http://gazday.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=2975:gazprom-shipments-to-turkey-up-60&catid=1:latestnews&Itemid=111

Russia has stepped up to compensate for Turkey’s loss of natural gas sales from Iran due to a pipeline explosion.

Syria-related terror arrests at Heathrow Airport – Oct 09, 2012

http://www.newswest9.com/story/19778989/police-syria-related-terror-arrests-at-heathrow

LONDON (AP) – British police said Wednesday that they had arrested two people at London’s Heathrow Airport as part of an investigation into travel to Syria in support of alleged terrorist activity.

Scotland Yard said in a statement released early Wednesday that counter-terrorism officers arrested a man and a woman, both 26, after they flew into the airport from Egypt late Tuesday.

Police did not make clear whether the suspects were thought to be returning from or heading to Syria. The statement said that officers were searching two homes in east London as part of the investigation.

The statement added that the pair were arrested on suspicion of the “commission, preparation or instigation of acts of terrorism.” The statement did not include the suspects’ names, nationalities, or any other identifying information. The suspects were taken to a central London police station and remain in custody.

A police spokesman said no further comment would be made until later Wednesday

Concerns are particularly acute in Britain, which is home to a large Muslim population and suffered a devastating 2005 terrorist attack perpetrated by British-born Islamists. Fears that British Muslims are slipping into Syria to join al-Qaida extremists were heightened in August when freelance photographer John Cantlie claimed he had been held hostage by a group of extremists including a man he identified as having a London accent.

[…]

http://www.newswest9.com/story/19778989/police-syria-related-terror-arrests-at-heathrow

Surge in violence, new training camps show al-Qaida revival in Iraq after US troop withdrawal – Oct 09 2012

http://www.therecord.com/news/world/article/814765–surge-in-violence-new-training-camps-show-al-qaida-revival-in-iraq-after-us-troop-withdrawal

BAGHDAD — Al-Qaida is rebuilding in Iraq and has set up training camps for insurgents in the nation’s western deserts as the extremist group seizes on regional instability and government security failures to regain strength, officials say.

Iraq has seen a jump in al-Qaida attacks over the last 10 weeks and officials believe most of the fighters are former prisoners who have either escaped from jail or were released by Iraqi authorities for lack of evidence after the U.S. military withdrawal last December. Many are said to be Saudi or from Sunni-dominated Gulf states.

During the war and its aftermath, U.S. forces, joined by allied Sunni groups and later by Iraqi counterterror forces, managed to beat back al-Qaida’s Iraqi branch.

But now, Iraqi and U.S. officials say, the insurgent group has more than doubled in numbers from a year ago — from about 1,000 to 2,500 fighters. And it is carrying out an average of 140 attacks each week across Iraq, up from 75 attacks each week earlier this year, according to Pentagon data.

“AQI is coming back,” U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, a Republican from South Carolina, declared in an interview last month while visiting Baghdad.

The new growth of al-Qaida in Iraq, also known as the Islamic State of Iraq, is not entirely unexpected. Last November, the top U.S. military official in Iraq, Army Gen. Lloyd Austin, predicted “turbulence” ahead for Iraq’s security forces. But he doubted Iraq would return to the days of widespread fighting between Shiite militias and Sunni insurgents, including al-Qaida, that brought the Islamic country to the brink of civil war.

The two senior Iraqi security officials said al-Qaida fighters have been easily moving between Iraq and Syria in recent months to help Sunni rebels overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad, whose Alawite religious sect is an offshoot of Shiite Islam. And in Anbar province, some fighters linked to al-Qaida have regrouped under the name of the Free Iraqi Army — an attempt to align themselves with the rebels’ Free Syrian Army.

Anbar tribal sheikh Hamid al-Hayes, a retired security official who helped U.S. forces fight al-Qaida in Anbar at the height of the insurgency, said the Free Iraqi Army is recruiting fighters and planning to overthrow the Shiite-led government in Baghdad. “They want to mimic the Syrian revolution,” he said. Al-Nauman, the counterterror spokesperson, denied that and said the group is merely a subset of al-Qaida fighters who adopted the new name to “attract the support of the Iraqi Sunnis by making use of the strife going on in Syria.”

Al-Qaida in Iraq for years had a hot-and-cold relationship with the global terror network’s leadership. It was the Syrian civil war, now in its 19th month, that prompted global al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri last February to embrace the Iraqi insurgency in hopes of recruiting fighters and support against Assad.

[…]

http://www.therecord.com/news/world/article/814765–surge-in-violence-new-training-camps-show-al-qaida-revival-in-iraq-after-us-troop-withdrawal

Syrian opposition forms special committee, unites ranks, prepares for transition

09/10/2012
By Yousef Diab.
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=31376

Beirut, Asharq Al-Awsat – Syrian opposition figures at home and abroad have agreed a process to form a new representative body for the Syrian opposition, which will be called the “Committee of the Wise”, with the objective of uniting all Syrian opposition factions in preparation for managing the transitional stage.

This committee will reportedly be comprised of between 12 and 15 prominent opposition figures, including Burhan Ghalioun, Abdel Hamid Darwish, Michel Kilo, Aref Dalila, Hussein al-Odat, Aslan Abdelkarim, Bishop Espiridon, Ali Sadr al-Din al-Bayanuni, Haitham al-Maleh and Deraa cleric Sheikh Ahmad al-Sayasina, amongst others.

Speaking exclusively to Asharq Al-Awsat, “Committee of the Wise” member, Michel Kilo stressed that “the project to form this committee is a serious one, and it was previously proposed by former Syrian National Council [SNC] chairman Burhan Ghalioun. This committee will be made up of between 12 and 15 opposition figures.”

He added “this committee will be tasked with managing everything regarding the transitional period, in order to bridge the gap between the different opposition factions, in preparation for a transition to democracy.”

The Syrian opposition figure stressed that “the first condition for members of this committee is that they do not have ambitions to occupy political office, and that when they finish their task they will all return to their homes.”

Reem Fouad…what a nice name, read on:  

http://m.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/saudis-line-up-against-syrias-assad/2012/10/07/7b06de8e-0e51-11e2-bd1a-b868e65d57eb_story.html

Saudis line up against Syria’s Assad  

Some analysts here said Abdullah wants to do more for the Syrian opposition, but he is being restrained by Washington. They said U.S. officials have discouraged Riyadh from sending heavier weapons, particularly shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, known as MANPADS, to combat Syrian government air attacks. They said U.S. officials are worried about such weapons ending up in the hands of extremist elements among the opposition forces, a concern reported over the weekend in the New York Times.

…
Abdullah has cracked down on clerics who have called for young men to travel to Syria, and Saudi Arabia’s official clerics have issued warnings telling young people not to join the fight.

The Saudi government fears kindling another generation of Saudi religious warriors like those who went to Afghanistan to fight the Soviets in the 1980s. Those fighters, including Osama bin Laden, eventually became a radicalized fighting force that turned on the Saudi royal family and gave rise to al-Qaeda.

“Saudis don’t want their youth going there. They do not want to repeat the mistakes of Afghanistan,” Khashoggi said. “Saudis in Syria are a recipe for terrorism.”

But that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening. Simon Henderson, a Saudi Arabia specialist at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said “exporting jihadis is what the Saudis have always done — to Afghanistan, to Bosnia, to Chechnya.”

Saud Kabli, political and foreign affairs columnist for the al-Watan newspaper, said the Saudi public was growing increasingly angry about the situation in Syria, which has put pressure on Abdullah to take a tougher stance. “This is the first time that the Saudi government bends to the will of the people on foreign policy,” Kabli said.
..
Many here have argued for the government to help overthrow Assad by force, either by more aggressively arming the Free Syrian Army or intervening as part of an international military force.

“I think we should be doing more,” said Sondus Al-Aidrous, 23, a therapist at a private hospital. Like almost all Saudi women, she was fully veiled in black, with only her eyes visible, as she shopped for makeup at the chic Kingdom Mall in Riyadh. “I know we send money, but we should have stopped the violence.”
..

Reem Fuad Mohammed, 46, a wealthy Saudi from Jiddah whose family is in the construction machinery business, said she was so saddened by televised images of the Syria violence that she collected $500,000 in cash and goods and shipped them to Syrian refugees in Lebanon in May.

She spent an additional $100,000 of her own money to equip a small health clinic in Lebanon and pay for medical treatment.

During an interview in her elegant Jiddah home, she picked up her iPhone and dialed Hasna Hassoun, a Syrian woman she met in Lebanon who lost her husband, two children and both legs in a Syrian government attack.

Hassoun spoke on the phone as she was lying in a hospital bed while a doctor measured her for prosthetic legs. “I was so happy that the people of Saudi Arabia were helping,” she said. “I felt like a whole family was taking care of me.”
……….

The Turkish opposition about Syria: Davutoglu is a “top notch” idiot and Erdogan has an “inflated ego”

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/the-highly-inflammable-turkish-syrian-border.aspx?pageID=449&nID=32067&NewsCatID=409

Kemal Kılıçldaroğlu, the leader of the main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) attacked Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu, saying “[He] must be a top-notch idiot” to have dragged Turkey into such a position. He also said that Prime Minister Tayyip Erdoğan’s main problem was his “inflated ego,” which he should give up at once for the sake of the nation.

# Tara

How moving.. “the iphone in the elegant flat in Jeddah”. I am refraining from crying in front of such humanity coming from an “oppressed” Saudi woman.

Remember this other generous ‘oppressed’ Saudi woman:

“Saudi Princess, Maha al-Sudani, former wife of Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Nayef bin Abdel Aziz had a bill of 7.5 million dollars in a french hotel he tried to avoid paying by sneaking out at night.”

Saudi women send money to help the wounded Syrians, the Saudi men send money to kill and wound more.

شن رئيس الحكومة التركية رجب طيب أردوغان، أمس، هجوما على المعارضة الداخلية الرافضة للتصعيد مع سوريا، معتبرا ان بلاده جاهزة لجميع الاحتمالات مع سوريا بعد القصف المتبادل في الأيام الأخيرة بين الجانبين، وأن «الشعب السوري أمانة أجدادنا في أعناقنا».
On behalf of many Syrians:
Mr Erdogan
طز فيك و بأجدادك مخترعي الخوازيق و ملوك الحرم لك

Regime thugs stormed Jamal Slaiman’s parents home in Qudsayya and turned its contents upside down except his mom’s diabetes medications.
الطز الثاني هذا المساء من نصيب زعران النظام

Robert Wright thinks that Syria and Turkey may be heading towards war:
http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2012/10/why-turkey-and-syria-are-heading-toward-war/263415/

The Washington Post article in TARA 256 is a clear testimony to the true brotherly nature of our Saudi brothers and the nobility of the people of KSA. The last two years only confirmed what has been known, and taken for granted, since the beginning of history that our true brothers, cousins, allies and friends are none but the people of the Arabian peninsula whence our ancestors descend. The fake Arab nationalist ideologies sought only to distance the people of Syria from their true roots by misguiding into a belief in false Arabism that has no relation to the true Arab Nation. Fortunately, the plot carried out by intruders to Arabism has failed and the truth is now becoming evident.

On the other hand shameless commentators on this blog who attack our dear brothers of KSA because Allah gave them the wealth, do so because of sickness in their hearts due to their dark jealousies and envy. They will surely perish by their own ills and hatred.

Our victorious FSA are preparing for another victory of strategic importance,

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/7845ac69-0ab2-4980-93e4-b62f3b16268f?GoogleStatID=9

87. Visitor said:

“””All praise be to Allah, the Most Powerful, Most High.”””

VATTY you half-educated plow horse, you just gave yourself up! Only an American would phrase that sentence the way you do. What stupid Hollywood movie did you steal it from?!

Any half self respecting Arab would say “All praise be to God” not Allah you Dmubass!

So what branch of the government do you work for, and how much is your stpuidity costing the taxpayers?!

Dear HALABI # 207,

I will be sorry not to see your comments here, which are superior reading – I always look out for your name.

I hope you’ll still visit sometimes.

That was a good article, thanks.

Maybe we’ll meet in the rebuilding of Aleppo project.

Annus Horribillis 294

You idiot she-dog bitch Illiterate piece of dung. Only species of your miserable kind do not recognize the True Name of Allah The Most Powerful, Most High.

Go to hell you useless, idiot, stupid piece of junk.

VISITOR #266

Two proverbs:

Never mud wrestle with a pig: You both get dirty, but the pig enjoys it.

Never argue with an idiot. They drag you down to their level then beat you with experience.

Do not worry SL.

259. GHUFRAN said:
“Mr Erdogan
طز فيك و بأجدادك مخترعي الخوازيق و ملوك الحرم لك”
جدو لااردوغان السلطان عبد الحميد رفض يبيع فلسطين ،انتًً”
جدودك باعوها
فالطز لجدودك انسب

Prize for ROLAND #243

Top award for being the conspiracy theorists’ conspiracy theorist.

Also a commendation in the section for strange, ill-informed and non-rational statements about the west.

Not bad. Considering you’ve got so much seriously rabid competition here on SC.

(Suggested subject matter for study: 9/11, London bombings, post-Saddam Iraq etc)

Heard on the radio syria is expecting thunderstorms, heavy rain and gusty winds over the next couple of days.

I guess Assad will have to ground his helicopters and MIGs for the duration. Maybe the rebels can help him out on this?

Being serious, it may be an opportunity for rebels to operate without fear of aerial attacks. (?).

Salad in perspective

Vegetable prices increase to the point of salad becoming a luxury as we helplessly watch the medieval Souks go up in flames. Just what is going on?!

Some will have you believe the current crisis is akin to Syria facing a modern version of the crusades with Assad as the modern Saladin, the medieval Syrian hero.

As the regime advises syrians to rear backyard chickens, it is in fact the chickens resulting from the regimes incompetent and brutal 40 year rule that are coming home to roost.

It’s an altogether different bird it should be concerned about right now. Backyard Turkey.

Was Buthaina involved or was she implicated?
Wed Oct 10, 2012

But {if} it was true that she was involved in any form, in Assad’s recent plot, which invoked very serious charges, the only explanation is that Assad deliberately implicated as many as possible of those around him, so that they do not even think about escape or staging a coup. This makes them partners in his crimes and therefore they must defend the regime until the very end.

http://english.alarabiya.net/views/2012/10/10/242880.html

___________________________________________________________________

Robert Fisk.

Plucky Turkey standing up to evil Syria? It’s not as simple as that
Tuesday, 9 October 2012

Now the usual caveat – which will be forgotten by those who wish to accuse the writer of being a member of the Syrian intelligence service: Bashar al-Assad is a despot, his regime is awful, its policemen torture on a scale that would stun the RUC thugs who beat up their Catholic prisoners in Castlereagh, and Syrian militias fill mass graves; there were no mass graves in Northern Ireland.

Read more:

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/robert-fisk/plucky-turkey-standing-up-to-evil-syria-its-not-as-simple-as-that-16221727.html

Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/robert-fisk/plucky-turkey-standing-up-to-evil-syria-its-not-as-simple-as-that-16221727.html#ixzz28sclBEOB

The Implosion Ahead!
Every passing day brings us a lot closer to it – the regional war that no one wanted but everyone somehow took part in contributing to its making. This is the natural outcome of a collective failure in leadership, and a testament to the utter irrelevance of existing international order.
http://syrianrevolutiondigest.blogspot.be/2012/10/the-implosion-ahead.html

Exiled Syrian writer honored for ‘Diaries’ of revolt

http://edition.cnn.com/2012/10/09/world/meast/syria-writer-award/index.html?hpt=hp_c2

Cruelty and spite. The “strategy” of Syrian-hating Bashar Assad.

Financial Times, October 9, 2012

Syrian massacre is veiled in silence

The Syrian forces told Um Mohammed they would be back in an hour with her husband and sons, along with the other men they snatched from the basement shelter in the Damascus suburb of Daraya. Instead, she said, they shot them all.

Now the matriarch fears President Bashar al-Assad’s loyalists could return for another round of killing, with no one willing or able to stop them.

“We are all scared because there are a lot of rumours they will attack Daraya again,” she said tearfully. “They keep saying it’s not finished yet.”

Daraya’s continuing anguish says much about the evolution – or regression – of Syria’s 18-month-old conflict and the world’s attitudes to it. More than a month after what local people say was the massacre of at least 500 people, the town is in a ghastly limbo, still surrounded by regime forces and aware that another blow could fall at any time with hardly anyone watching.

The Daraya massacre was among the bloodiest episodes anywhere during the Syrian conflict. It was deplored by both enemies and supporters of the Assad regime, although, as ever, claims about who was responsible diverged sharply.

The state news agency said the armed forces had “cleansed” Daraya of “remnants of armed terrorist groups who committed crimes against the sons of the town”. In a broadcast excoriated online by many Syrians, the pro-regime al-Dounia television station interviewed victims of the attack as they lay dying, proclaiming the violence to be in the cause of “freedom” – the narrative of a government that denies targeting civilians and claims it is the victim of a foreign-backed terrorist plot.

However, residents said regime forces – angered by rebel Free Syrian Army attacks on their positions and a nearby military airport – first shelled Daraya intensely then sent in troops and members of the notorious shabbiha militia, who went from house to house looting and killing.

Many other people were arrested, taking to more than 700 the tally of residents of the area whom activists say are now detained or missing. One local man, known as Derawi, said two of his brothers had been taken by the regime for allegedly not reporting an FSA arms cache near their house.

“They don’t even know what a weapon is,” Derawi said, adding: “This suffering will make the people more determined to get rid of Assad.”

Activists see the detentions – mainly of young men – as part of a wider government effort to collectively punish Daraya. Other sanctions include denying the suburb civic services and harassing, robbing and beating residents at official checkpoints.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/1dd947a2-10a3-11e2-a5f7-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz28tMlA1il

# 273

Bouthaina Shabaan – Dr B.S.?

I thought that croaking witch had died of ugliness.

Hurry up history and put her where she’s headed.

Well done Bashar! Great advice you’ve been getting from Russia and Iran, while you’re kicking tables and screaming curses at the people of Syria (to quote defector press official Abdullah al-Omar).

Story: NATO ready to defend Turkey against Syria

NATO is prepared to defend Turkey against Syria if the border conflict escalates, the intergovernmental military alliance’s top official said.

The organization includes a system of collective defense, with the 28 member states agreeing to mutual defense in response to an attack by any external party. Turkey is a NATO member.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/World-News/2012/10/10/NATO-ready-to-defend-Turkey-against-Syria/UPI-46031349852400/

Head of Turkish Armed Forces sends unmistakeable message to regime criminals in Damascus from the scene of the latest crime in Turkey, while Russia faces its day of reckoning when it will find that it has been left in the cold where it usually is and should be,

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/e698f0ea-21cb-43b9-90f7-1345af1f01a4?GoogleStatID=1

Standing by, waiting to hear from our SC closet shabeeha sitting on the fence.

Back to their ritual pointing the finger at the victims in Daraya. (# 276)

Turkey warns of ‘greater force’
Turkey’s military will respond with greater force if shelling from Syria continues to hit its territory, its chief of staff said today, as clashes between the Syrian army and rebels intensified along the border.

“We responded but if it continues we will respond with greater force,” state television TRT quoted Turkey’s chief of staff, General Necdet Ozel, as saying.

Several mortar bombs landed outside the Syrian border town of Azmarin early today and heavy machinegun fire could be heard from the Turkish side, Reuters reports citing a witness. Reuters continues:

It is not clear whether the shells that have hit Turkish territory were aimed to strike there or were due to Syrian troops overshooting as they attacked rebel positions.

Scores of Syrian civilians, many of them women with screaming children clinging to their necks, crossed a narrow river marking the border with Turkey as they fled the fighting in Azmarin and surrounding villages.

Residents from the Turkish village of Hacipasa, nestled among olive groves, helped pull them across in small metal boats.
,,,

Dijhadists are welcome to go to Syria but it’s forbidden to come back to Jordan
http://arabic.rt.com/news/596737/

If the expected heavy rain and storms reach Homs then this could benefit the rebels. Yesterday there was talk of the regime having entered Khalidiya (Homs) for the first time in many months in a massive push to retake the city. Rebels didn’t sound confident.

There would be low overall visibility. Regime tanks could get bogged down in the ensuing mud (and rubble) and there would likely not be any air cover during bad weather. The rebels could take advantage of such unexpected opportunities.

For the regime, the city would be harder to retake than first thought.

Finally a voice of wisdom

A third option in Syria
Forget about overthrowing Assad. Both sides need to avoid a long civil war and agree to meaningful reforms.

http://www.latimes.com/news/opinion/commentary/la-oe-pastor-syria-assad-20121010,0,4294365.story

Up to now, two strategies have been pursued. Kofi Annan, the former U.N. secretary-general and Brahimi’s predecessor as special envoy, tried to negotiate a cease-fire and forge a consensus among the great and middle powers. That failed.

A second strategy has been to assist the fragmented opposition to overthrow Syrian President Bashar Assad. Saudi Arabia, the Persian Gulf states and Turkey have provided guns. Other governments, including the United States, are helping.
….
This is the time for a new goal and strategy, and Brahimi is the man because it was he who defined the terms that provided Lebanon an exit from its long civil war. The goal should not be to overthrow Assad, however desirable that might be to many. The goal should be to construct a path to a political system that provides voice and vote for all Syrians, and institutional checks and balances to protect all minorities and sects.

What would the agreement look like? At the start of the uprising, the Assad government proposed reforms of election administration, political parties, the media and nongovernmental organizations, among others. That is the right agenda, but the reforms were so flawed that no one took them seriously. Last year, representing the Carter Center, Hrair Balian and I discussed with the Assad government an approach that would modify the reforms to make them credible and convincing to the democratic opposition.

Some senior government officials supported the idea, but at that time, the security forces were sure they could crush the opposition. They were mistaken.

As the government and opposition will not deal with each other, the special envoy should shuttle between them to craft credible reforms that could permit an internationally supervised election that protects all groups. A U.N. peacekeeping force would be essential to oversee and implement the agreement. With the conflict intensifying but stalemated, it is hard to imagine any serious leader denying the reforms.

Is democracy possible in Syria? It seems improbable. But the most likely alternative — a decade-long descent into self-destruction — is too awful to contemplate. The time might be ripe to place the weight of the international community behind a third option.

Protecting Jordan or preparing for an invasion?

Panetta: U.S. sends forces to Jordan-Syria border

10:17AM EST October 10. 2012 –
http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2012/10/10/jordan-syria/1624103/

BRUSSELS (AP) — The United States has sent military troops to the Jordan-Syria border to help build a headquarters in Jordan and bolster that country’s military capabilities in the event that violence escalates along its border with Syria, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday.

Speaking at a NATO conference of defense ministers in Brussels, Panetta said the U.S. has been working with Jordan to monitor chemical and biological weapons sites in Syria and also to help Jordan deal with refugees pouring over the border from Syria.

But the revelation of U.S. military personnel so close to the 19-month-old Syrian conflict suggests an escalation in the U.S. military involvement in the conflict, even as Washington pushes back on any suggestion of a direct intervention in Syria.

اكد وزير الدفاع الاميركي ليون بانيتا ان الولايات المتحدة ارسلت مجموعة عسكرية الى الحدود السورية الاردنية لدعم القوات الاردنية كي تكون قادرة على التحرك ازاء تصعيد العنف المحتمل على الحدود.
الملك السعيد في الأردن مشغول بالشحاده هذه الأيام

The Al Nusra Viral brigade of the FSA in action

Qaeda-Linked Group Claims Responsibility for Syrian Blasts
By ANNE BARNARD and CHRISTINE HAUSER
Published: October 9, 2012

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/10/world/middleeast/qaeda-linked-group-says-it-struck-compound-on-edge-of-damascus.html?_r=1&ref=world

BEIRUT, Lebanon — A jihadist insurgent group that Western intelligence officials have linked to Al Qaeda claimed responsibility on Tuesday for a multiple bombing by suicide attackers who struck an intelligence compound on the outskirts of Damascus overnight. It was the second major assault that the group has claimed to have carried out against a government facility in a Syrian urban center in about a week.

#281 Tara

Turkey’s daily, even hourly, dramatic threats just show a state of confusion and panic, contrasting with the coolness of the Syrian government’s declaration.

Zoo

Mass murderers usually sound cool and calm and emotionless, no?

This is how to obtain residence in Turkey:
http://www.aksalser.com/?page=view_articles&id=0c354e086892d0190d99784b957b19cf

Reports of Syrian workers beaten in Lebanon by Lebanese soldiers. Why?

Seeing how Iraqis, Lenanese, and Jordanians treating the Syrian refuger and having never heard that Syrians have beaten Arab workers for just the sake of it; Slowly but surely, I am losing my appreciation of Arabism. The Arabism seems to have been a big lie.

The mood is slowly building up…

The US is signalling to the Assad regime that it has contingency plans for what happens next, including potentially setting up buffer zones in Syria, according to analyst Shaskank Joshi.

News that the US military has sent a 150-strong taskforce of specialists to Jordan, represented a form of escalation, he said.

Joshi, a research fellow at the defence thinktank the Royal United Services Institute, said the US could be prompted into setting up buffer zones in Syria if there were more cross border incidence and an increase in refugees.

Speaking to the Guardian, Joshi said:

A cross-border act of shelling that kills large numbers of Jordanians would be one trigger. The other trigger would be a sudden escalation in refugee flows and that could occur if we see a reintensification of fighting in the south … if that goes back up and the Jordanians find they are simply unable to handle that number of refugees, that’s when the contingency plans for a buffer zone may kick in.

The US may become more “assertive” on Syria after next month’s presidential elections, Joshi predicted.

The US has told its rebel liaison outfits that ‘we are severely constrained before the US election we don’t want to take overly risky acts and we don’t want to provide weapons if we don’t know what happens to them’ … There is likely to be an escalation whether from a Romney administration or a second Obama administration. The mood is slowly building up. But there is still no appetite for an armed intervention, even under Romney administration.

There is also a lack of faith from the US in the cohesion and integrity of the rebel Free Syrian Army, he claimed.

“That concern will still be there [after the election] and it will act as a very significant break on the types of weaponry that flows to the rebels even in six or eight months time,” Joshi said.

He related a suspicion/joke in the west that rebel groups were changing their names to more Islamist titles to try to get more help from Arab backers.

A task force of 150 specialists to Jordan represents a trickle rather than an escalation of US involvement, Joshi said. But he added:

It does mean the US is less likely to be caught off guard. It is an escalation in the sense that there will potentially be some US forces in harm’s way, although they will mostly be assisting with logistics and other forms of rear area operations …

The Jordanian armed forces are very well trained but they would probably need more American assistance in protecting themselves against any escalation than the Turkish armed forces. There is a real concern that Jordan is a much more fragile country in political terms than Turkey – much less equipped to handle refugees … at a time when they are cycling through various prime ministers.

The US is very concerned that if there is a similar escalation on the southern border of Syria as that which has now occurred on the north that it does not lead to political fragility and transformation in Jordan itself.

Free Shaykh Yusuf Hindawi
http://freehalab.wordpress.com/2012/10/10/free-shaykh-yusuf-hindawi/

“Aware of just how much the violence is undermining popular support for the uprising, some rebel groups immediately tried to blame the government for staging the bombing. The government blamed the rebels. By nightfall, Jabhet al-Nusra, an insurgent group affiliated with Al Qaeda, claimed responsibility for the suicide bombings.”

…’now opposition commanders say defections have slowed to a trickle.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/10/04/world/middleeast/syria-rebels-press-harder-to-gain-more-fighters.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Turkish fighter jets intercept Syria airline plane en route from Moscow and force it to land in Ankara.

Turkey should confiscate the plane and hand it over to the FSA.

The heroic FSA is making great progress,

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/c612f066-2ea9-4e1f-85ac-30efdbcd9e58?GoogleStatID=1

289. Tara

Weak and guilty ones gets agitated…

I heard about the bad weather approaching the region in the early hours on radio. Listen from 3:27.30.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01n6364

A brief search on google gave a result from yesterday reporting heavy rain in Latakia and Tartous:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.422027671195488.101381.166379316760326&type=1

Anyway that’s enough on the weather.

Turkey suspended indefinitely flights to/from Syria.

The interception of the Syrian plane was a calculated move.

The choice of a plane flying from Moscow specifically could also have significance. Turkey is emboldened by the Parliament latest move as well as by NATO recent declarations.

Bashar will definitely cowered down now like the cat or K9 he really is.

Turkey made it clear to the criminal after the crime he commited against the Turks that they will move over to libertae Syria under one of four conditions. Bashar knew very well what those comditions are.

The Zoo mu3allik on this board is spinning the events of the last two weeks to imply that his idiot idol agent of Satan has scored some points that only exist in the mu3allik’s delusional mind. The truth of the matter is that Bashar has been squarely and securely placed in a cage, in the same zoo as the mu3allik, by Turkey. Erdogan took the key and threw it into the sea.

A cluster of articles related to the syrian economy:

Iran’s Tumbling Rial Undermines Its Support of Syria’s Economy
Oct 9, 2012

Although there are no accurate figures, it is estimated that Syria’s foreign currency reserves deplete at a rate of roughly $500 million per month. Syria’s need for other sources of foreign currency to maintain the value of its pound will increase as it becomes increasingly difficult for Iran to secure its own foreign currency needs.

Read more: http://www.al-monitor.com/pulse/business/2012/10/untitled.html#ixzz28vHWmA54

__________________________________________________________________

Iraq sends crucial fuel oil to Syria
October 8, 2012

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/58b9de0e-1143-11e2-8d5f-00144feabdc0.html#ixzz28vIGqWwh

__________________________________________________________________

Civil War Leaves Syrian Economy, Cities In Ruins
by The Associated Press

October 9, 2012

“In terms of infrastructure, major parts of Syria have effectively been bombed back to Ottoman times,” said Ammar Abdul-Hamid, a Syrian activist and a Washington-based fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=162582625

__________________________________________________________________

As Syria Economy Falters, Damascus Somewhat Spared
October 10, 2012

Still, a certain normalcy prevails. Goods are more expensive, but available.

A man who declined to give his name carried several full shopping bags, noting the price of imported goods is high. But he said locally manufactured products have risen less.

http://www.voanews.com/content/as_syria_economy_falters_damascus_somewhat_spared/1523809.html

Viewpoint: Echoes of Spanish civil war in Syria
by Fouad Ajami

“The Sunni countryside had been neglected, the relative prosperity in Aleppo and Damascus had passed it by. A merchant-military complex in the cities had hoarded things for itself.”

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-19882416
and
“Syrians fight alone. They invoke Allah more often than they did at the beginning of their struggle – which is perhaps an accurate reading of their solitude in the world of nations.”
heart breaking

Waooooo
ABC: No Protest Outside Libya Consulate Before Attack

Pentagon Confirms US Military Forces Deployed Along Syria Border
http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2012/10/10/pentagon-confirms-military-forces-deployed-syria-border-195161/
US Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta has confirmed that US troops have been dispatched to the Jordan-Syrian border using WMD concerns as an excuse.

As Turkey continues to use the false flag rebel terrorist bombing of a Turkey border town as an excuse to continue so-called retaliation strikes against Syria for a seventh day the Pentagon now admits they have deployed US troops along the Jordan-Syria border to the south of Turkey.

Defense Secretary Panetta has confirmed that the US Special forces have been in place along the border for some time time now using the excuse they are they to contain any violence that might spill across the border as well as to providing humanitarian assistance and to stop the proliferation of Weapons of mass destruction.

Of course these are outright lies as special forces would to little from stopping an Assad’s army from crossing over the border.

The excuse that a secretive group of special operation forces are providing “humanitarian assistance” to refugees is another bold faced lie that only propagandized corporate media stooges would report as truth………..

259. GHUFRAN
On behalf of many Syrians.
RIGHT ! 100%
أردوغان ذنب الكلب

TARA,

ZOO thinks Assad is way super cool. Fact.

But he also comments: “Weak and guilty ones gets agitated…”

Q. If the burning of Syria, its people, cities and hetitage is not an act of weakness, guilt and agitation then what is it?

Also, what about that interesting account from a former propagandist staffer* of Syria-hater Bashar Assad screaming curses about the Syrian people and kicking the furniture.

(* Abdullah al-Omar, a member of witch Bouthaina Shabaan’s team who recently defected).

The FSA is desperate to escalate the conflict.
Syrian Rebels Threaten Attacks in Lebanese Capital
Leaders of the Free Syrian Army (FSA) have announced that they captured 13 suspected members of Lebanon’s Hezbollah militia around the Syrian city of Homs, and threatened to launch full scale attacks against the Lebanese capital city of Beirut if Hezbollah doesn’t withdraw entirely from the region.

The FSA statement said that Hezbollah is “deeply involved” in the ongoing civil war, and suggested that it was up to the field commanders whether to keep the captives or just execute them.

It is the second time this month that Hezbollah has come up in ongoing fighting, after the FSA reported that it killed a Hezbollah commander, Ali Hussein Nassif, in a bombing attack in Homs.

Hezbollah MP Kamel Rifai denied the FSA allegations of involvement in the civil war, saying that Hezbollah’s charter forbids them from participating in battles with anybody except for Israel, whose invasion of southern Lebanon was the impetus for their founding.
http://news.antiwar.com/2012/10/09/syrian-rebels-threaten-attacks-in-lebanese-capital/

Turkey confiscates suspected cargo on board Syrian plane forced to land in Ankara,

http://www.alarabiya.net/articles/2012/10/10/243019.html

The chord is tightening around the neck of the giraffe.

Look for a massive quickly escalation!
Hitler went to an escalation in the war! Saddam also in Kuwait! Erdogan schizophrenic running to follow them
Turkey Syria Attack: More Force Vowed Against Syrian Shelling By Turkey
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/10/10/turkey-syria-attack_n_1953846.html

307 said

“Hitler went to an escalation in the war! Saddam also in Kuwait! Erdogan schizophrenic running to follow them”

You must have meant to say,

“Hitler went to an escalation in the war! Saddam also in Kuwait! BASHAR schizophrenic running to follow them”

—————————————-

Qardaha families infighting resumes.

Turkey find no weapons on the Syrian plane, despite insinuation by our local agent of Al Arabya.
Colonic Erdogan bans Turkish air space to Syrian planes.

http://www.hurriyetdailynews.com/syrian-plane-carried-military-communication-devices-report.aspx?pageID=238&nID=32169&NewsCatID=359

The search on the plane’s cargo revealed no arms or munitions, but some parcels carried by the plane held communications devices used for military purposes, said the report, without giving any further detail.

أين جرذان سلاح جو أردوغان المنغولي ؟

Newly re-elected Hugo Chavez says Venezuela will keep supporting Syria’s leader and government

By Associated Press, Published: October 9
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/chavez-says-venezuela-will-keep-supporting-syrias-government/2012/10/09/88af6a94-124b-11e2-9a39-1f5a7f6fe945_story.html

CARACAS, Venezuela — Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said Tuesday that he will keep supporting Syria’s leader and called for the U.S. to rethink its stance toward the war-shattered nation.

Chavez likened the violence in Syria to the fighting in Libya that preceded last year’s ouster and killing of Moammar Gadhafi, who was also a Chavez ally.
..
“How can we not support the government of Bashar al-Assad if it’s the legitimate government of Syria?” Chavez said. He called the rebels who are fighting Assad’s government “terrorists.
The Venezuelan leader said he thinks the conflict in Syria has been provoked by Syrian leader Bashar Assad’s enemies abroad to try to topple him.

“The government of the United States is one of those most responsible for this disaster,” Chavez said at a news conference, calling for President Barack Obama to take a different tack.

Publicly funded war for ultimate private control of oil, natural gas, the hegemony of petrodollars; THAT is what our sons and daughters, brothers and sisters, moms and dads, have been maimed for life, and killed for.this last 20 years.

At least, the reality is out in the open now: doesn’t that make you feel ever so much better about these endless wars, which are bankrupting this country morally and fiscally?!?
America citizen

Are the Wars in the Middle East and North Africa Really About Oil?

So yes, regime change was planned against Syria (as well as Iraq, Libya, Lebanon, Somalia, Sudan and Iran) 20 years ago.

And yes, attacking Syria weakens its close allies Iran and Russia … and indirectly China.

But Syria’s central role in the Arab gas pipeline is also a key to why it is now being targeted.

Just as the Taliban was scheduled for removal after they demanded too much in return for the Unocal pipeline, Syria’s Assad is being targeted because he is not a reliable “player”.

Specifically, Turkey, Israel and their ally the U.S. want an assured flow of gas through Syria, and don’t want a Syrian regime which is not unquestionably loyal to those 3 countries to stand in the way of the pipeline … or which demands too big a cut of the profits.

Pepe Escobar sums up what is driving current global geopolitics and war:

What you’re really talking about is what’s happening on the immense energy battlefield that extends from Iran to the Pacific Ocean. It’s there that the liquid war for the control of Eurasia takes place.

Yep, it all comes down to black gold and “blue gold” (natural gas), hydrocarbon wealth beyond compare, and so it’s time to trek back to that ever-flowing wonderland – Pipelineistan.

Postscript: It’s not just the Neocons who have planned this strategy. Jimmy Carter’s National Security Adviser helped to map out the battle plan for Eurasian petroleum resources over a decade ago, and Obama is clearly continuing the same agenda.

Some would say that the wars are also be about forcing the world into dollars and private central banking, but that’s a separate story.

Mu3allik Zoo lies in the same ta3leek.

<i"Turkey find no weapons on the Syrian plane"

And then,

“The search on the plane’s cargo revealed no arms or munitions, but some parcels carried by the plane held communications devices used for military purposes”

Obviously Turkey confiscated these equipment as it has declared it will do in preventing the trasnport of military equipment in its airspace.

But mu3allik is obviously a mu3allik.

But it could also be the effect of the Zoo environment.

The inevitable collapse of the leaderless FSA

Can FSA leadership be relevant again in Syria?

October 10th, 2012 By Daniel DePetris, Special to CNN
http://globalpublicsquare.blogs.cnn.com/2012/10/10/can-fsa-leadership-be-relevant-again-in-syria/

…
Yet despite being the first to stand up to al-Assad’s regime, Riad al-Asaad and his advisers have lost an enormous amount of credibility as the conflict has entered its 19th month. For much of that time, al-Asaad has been safely tucked away at an undisclosed location along the Turkish southern border, guarded by security forces and far removed from the bloody stalemate that has defined the Syrian civil war.
….
Technically, al-Asaad is the top commander of the Free Syrian Army. But in actuality, his orders are nothing more than guidelines and suggestions. Communication between the FSA leadership based in Turkey and anti-al-Assad battalions inside Syria is improving, but remains lackluster. There appears to be no command-and-control in the traditional sense, nor is the FSA a conventional army. Hierarchy is there, but is often not respected. Even when communication occurs and the FSA leadership issues a command, it is seldom taken as gospel. Instead, local branches of the FSA appear to be making decisions on their own, based on their own circumstances at any given time. Such confusion further undermines any prospect of Western military support to the opposition.

It seems highly doubtful that moving its headquarters from Turkey to Syria will resolve any of these dilemmas for the FSA. Certainly, no doubt sensing that its influence is waning and that the power of local commanders is increasing, the upper echelons of the Free Syrian Army appear to be making a dramatic move to shift closer to the front-lines. The hope is that the independent armed groups pressing the offensive will do more than just listen to their advice. But with the makeup of the civil war shifting fast, the young men dodging bullets and air strikes in the narrow alleys of Aleppo and in the plains of Deir al-Zor may be way out ahead of the FSA

Hello to World War III, Obama Just Signed another Executive Order
international corporate mafia interest?
Executive Order from the President regarding Authorizing the Implementation of Certain Sanctions Set Forth in the Iran Threat Reduction and Syria Human Rights Act of 2012 and Additional Sanctions with respect to Iran
EXECUTIVE ORDER
– – – – – – –
AUTHORIZING THE IMPLEMENTATION OF CERTAIN SANCTIONS SET FORTH IN THE IRAN THREAT REDUCTION AND SYRIA HUMAN RIGHTS ACT OF 2012 AND ADDITIONAL SANCTIONS WITH RESPECT TO IRAN
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2012/10/09/executive-order-president-regarding-authorizing-implementation-certain-s

USG,NATO Israel,Riyadh,Qatar etc are getting ready to use SOVERIGN nations like Syria(al Qaeda,Salafists etc),Iraq(MEK,al-Qaeda),Saudi(Wahhabi terrorists)and P.Gulf(petro-sheiks),Egypt(M/B &I/J)Gaza( M/B/Hamas),West Bank(Fatah,PLO)Jordan(Hashemites)and ANY OTHER Sunni-Arab proxies they can bribe,threaten,to allow their states/nations to be USED as an USG Arab-proxy(Sunni)ALL-OUT-WAR launch pad,on Shia Iran(Russia&China).
ALL BECAUSE OF ROGUE NUCLEAR ISRAELI ZIONIST ISLAMOPHOBIA and OIL!
With Turkey being used as the NATO Ottoman tool to “justify” this war on SHIA ISLAM NPT-IAEA Iran,that will ONLY turn around into MORE war on SUNNI Islam anyway!
SHAME ON YOU Turkey,for being a ZIONIST,IMPERI-OIL-IST TOOL!

The Battle for Aleppo
A report from the front lines of the Syrian civil war

Oct 8, 2012, Vol. 18, No. 04 • By JONATHAN SPYE
http://www.weeklystandard.com/articles/battle-aleppo_653225.html?page=2

Who’s winning, I asked. I expect a propagandistic reply. Instead, Abu Ahmed acknowledged a stalemate: “We’re pressing them all the time, but the regime is gathering its strength in the center of Aleppo, at the citadel, which it knows it has to hold.
…
“We’re short of weapons,” he continued. “Everything we get we take from the regime army. The world doesn’t back us because they think the revolution is Salafi [extreme Islamist].”
…
The FSA is almost exclusively Sunni Arab
…
The two most noticeable rebel units in Aleppo, and the only two who appear to transcend the general arrangement of local FSA-affiliated battalions, are the Tawhid Brigade and the Ahrar al-Sham group, both of which are tied to the Islamist current.

Ahrar al-Sham fighters, in their mode of dress and their slogans, clearly identify themselves as Salafist Islamists. Their checkpoints and positions fly white, black, and green flags with slogans from the Koran written on them. They are rumored to be supported by Saudi Arabia and to be affiliated with al Qaeda. My own contacts did not extend to this organization
….
In contrast to the FSA fighters and field commanders that I met, the Tawhid commander had no hesitation in describing his political ambitions for Syria. “All the forces want one thing, one thought—an Islamic state, but with protection for minority rights.”

He was predictably dismissive of the Syrian National Council, describing it as a “spokesman” for the Syrian people, rather than a political authority. “The real leadership is inside Syria, in the field—not in Turkey.”

As Turkey has lost any hope on it, the SNC is promising yet another rebirth in Qatar.

Syria’s main opposition bloc to restructure, seek new impetus

10/10/2012
http://www.asharq-e.com/news.asp?section=1&id=31393

PARIS, (Reuters) – Syria’s main opposition bloc will restructure itself in Qatar next week to seek fresh impetus, Syrian National Council leader Abdulbaset Sieda said on Wednesday, after months of criticism that it is too fractious and influenced by Islamists.

Sieda, speaking in Paris, also said the SNC reorganisation would precede crunch talks in the Qatari capital Doha with other opponents of President Bashar al-Assad aimed at creating a Syrian transitional government.

Western and Arab countries that have called for Assad’s removal are keen to improve cooperation among those trying to dislodge him, including the Istanbul-based SNC.

But the mainly-exiled political groups within the SNC have often been at odds with each other, and have not always agreed with rebel fighters or other political opposition movements operating within Syria, such as the Free Syrian Army, led by defected military officers.

“We want to create this government as quickly as possible, but speed doesn’t mean rushing it,” Sieda told reporters after being questioned by members of the French parliament.

Syria: Journalist Anhar Kochneva spoke about her experiences and opinions.
The Russian journalist Anhar Kochneva, who has several times already affirmed in reports and interviews that what is taking place in Syria is an organized terrorism supported by foreign sides and promoted by Arab and also foreign satellite channels to spread fear among Syrians and to spread false information into the world.

That al Arabiya and al Jazeera aren’t credible should be already clear for more and more people who try to follow the events and the coverage about the situation in Syria.

Anhar Kochneva (Kotschneva/Kotschnewa) is living and working in Syria since a long time and often travels through the country. This is no problem for her because the journalist Kochneva is able to speak Arabic fluently, thus the coverage of the events in Syria by her are indeed interesting and are carried out by own experiences and original statements; she doesn`t need a translator, for example.

On Tuesday, at a lecture delivery that has taken place at the Arab Cultural Center in Tartous in the Syrian coast town of Tartous (Tartus), the Russian journalist Anhar Kochneva has again stated that she has accompanied the Syrian Arab Army in several of military operations, e.g. in Damascus and the countryside of the Syrian capital.

She has documented and photographed her experiences. Afterwards, she has reported about these experiences in these the operations of the Syrian Arab Army. Anhar Kochneva has also visited the Syrian city of Homs and reported about the now sadly famous district of Baba Amr (Baba Amro) in June.

The journalist Kochneva has noted at this lecture delivery in Tartous that the Syrian soldiers of the Syrian Arab Army were committed to protecting the journalists who are with them, even if it cost them their lives while they try to protect the journalists.

She has again confirmed that the terrorist groups often try to attack the journalists who accompany the Syrian army and she also has affirmed that these groups of armed radicals have failed to affect the Syrians’ awareness and that is one of the reasons why these armed and Western-backed fighters and Islamists resorted to bombings, abduction, massacres and murder in order to manipulate the public opinion by using false-flag actions and staged videos / scenes, for example.

In addition, the Russian journalist Anhar Kochneva has also pointed out in her visit of this event in the Syrian city of Tartous (Tartus), that the Western main stream media broadcasts false news that are not based on the facts. Like a lot of other people in Syria and some foreigners who have also experienced this, the journalist has herself also verified personally the biased and false reporting by Western media.

Afterwards, Anhar Kochneva called on the Syrian media to continue in their coverage and to be faster with its reports from the ground in order to prevent e.g. the propaganda channels from some Gulf States like Qatar and Saudi Arabia from fabricating information and news again.

It is understandable that the Russian journalist also said that the non-democratic sanctions and the further decisions against the Syrian media confirm the Western hypocrisies and are finally something like a medal of honor for the Syrian journalists.

She also stressed that to emerge from the current crisis in Syria requires sacrifice, confidence, resilience, fidelity, and a lot of work, of course.

At this lecture delivery in the Syrian coast town of Tartous, this Russian journalist also showed some of her footage that she has personally recorded while she has entered areas with the Syrian Arab Army that were previously devastated by the U.S.-supported armed groups of fighters, religious fanatics, and mercenaries.

In further horrible videos, the other guests of this lecture delivery in Tartous were able to see, for example, that these armed groups of terrorists in Syria use children soldiers, even encourage them to wear weapons and to fight against the Syrian Arab army, but the videos also confirmed that these Western-backed terrorists commit massacres against Syrian civilians.
http://uprootedpalestinians.blogspot.com/2012/10/syria-russian-journalist-about.html

Arab monarchies: Muslim Brotherhood ‘source of all problems in Islamic world’

Published: 10 October, 2012, 19:23
http://rt.com/news/gulf-monarchies-muslim-brotherhood-008/

The rulers of several major Arab nations have accused the Muslim Brotherhood of ambitions to seize power illegitimately. Several governments branded the organization a major threat to stability as the party’s influence grows steadily.

­After the Muslim Brotherhood legally took power in Egypt’s elections, with Brotherhood member Mohamed Morsi becoming President, several Arab Gulf states expressed concern. Monarchies that narrowly escaped the Arab Spring were taken aback when a popular Islamist party suddenly became a key player in the region.

United Arab Emirate Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah urged Gulf states to deal with an alleged Muslim Brotherhood plot to undermine regional governments. “The Muslim Brotherhood does not believe in the nation-state. It does not believe in the sovereignty of the state,” Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed al-Nahayan said at a press conference.

The Brotherhood is banned in the United Arab Emirates, and Abdullah claimed his country’s security forces had arrested some 60 people this year belonging to the local group Al Islah (‘Reform and Social Guidance Association’), a nonviolent political association advocating greater adherence to Islamic precepts.

The Sheikh claimed that Islamists – some of whom are connected with the Muslim Brotherhood – were planning to stage a coup in the UAE.

The FSA should consider intensifying the battle in Horan near the borders with Jordan. That will recreate the crisis with Turkey in Jordan in term of refugee and cross border clashes. This will propp the US to put more weight in fighting Batta lest the fragile Jordan is destabilized.

Rebels are retreating “tactically” on two fronts,northern Latakia reef and Homs proper while not making any advances to brag about in Aleppo where rebels killed 4 garbage collectors for suspicion of being regime agents ( may be the rebels should send the garbage collected by the victims for inspection by Turkish authorities too). Some people here may feel better making up news, most of us prefer the truth. There is a definite link between turkey’s newly found bravery and the rebels losses in the above fronts and their failure in Aleppo, that is also the reason for the theatrical show of force on the Jordanian borders.

http://rt.com/news/turkey-lands-syria-plane-126/
17 Russians, including kids, reportedly onboard – Russian Foreign Ministry

“Newly re-elected Hugo Chavez says Venezuela will keep supporting Syria’s leader and government”

Gee, that’s cool news, thanks ZOO.

Should we assume that will continue into the next phase, when Syria gets a legitimate government?

Not that anyone will care either way, including the poor cheated citizens of Venezuela, with their economy, development and future being stifled by idiocy.

CITIZEN #319

Thank God for the gift to the world of Russian journalist Anhar Kochneva!

I hope she does similar cool (or should I say hot) investigative reporting in her own country.

Pulitzer prize journalism contestants and Nobel Peace prize candidates step aside, make way for Anhar.

Reuters confirms confiscation of suspected cargo from Syrian plane by Turkish authorties, thereby confirming in the process that the mu3allik from the Zoo (# 309) is outright liar and deceiver.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aviation_law
Turkish F16s intercept Syrian jet from Moscow over ‘suspicious cargo’
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCumNr3btss&feature=share&list=UUpwvZwUam-URkxB7g4USKpg
Turkish F16 fighter jets forced a Syrian airline passenger plane to land in Ankara over suspicions it was carrying “non-civilian” cargo, says the Turkish Foreign Ministry. The Damascus-bound plane, which had departed from Moscow, is being inspected

CrossTalk: Syria’s dogs of war

أصدرت مديرة مؤسسة الطيران العربية السورية بياناً ردت فيه على ما قالته وسائل اعلام تركية حول وجود مواد محظورة في الطائرة التي اجبرت على النزول في مطار انقرة بتركيا .
و  أفادت في تصريح لقناة “روسيا اليوم” إن الطائرة السورية وخلال عبورها الاجواء التركية اجبرت على الهبوط من قبل طائرات عسكرية “اف-16” في مطار انقرة، مؤكدة ان “الطائرة لا تعمل الا في مجال النقل المدني، وهذا ما سيتم اثباته”.
واشارت الى ان حالة الركاب “الصحية جيدة ولكن النفسية سيئة جدا لوجودهم لفترة طويلة بانتظار المفتشين وهذا عمل غير انساني لان الطائرة لا تحمل على متنها غير الركاب وحقائبهم وبضائع عادية”.
وأكدت عبد اللطيف ان هذا الاجراء التركي “هو خرق للتعامل مع شركات الطيران المدني والقوانين الدولية لوجود الركاب لمدة تجاوزت حتى وقته 5 ساعات متواصلة”.
ونوهت قائلة: “انا على مدار الوقت مع قبطان الطائرة اتابع معه حالة الركاب وتقديم الوجبات لهم والاهتمام بهم، فمن بينهم شيوخ واطفال وامهات، ويحملون جنسيات سورية وروسية”، مشيرة الى انها تتواصل مع قبطان الطائرة عبر خط اتصال مسافر روسي.
واكدت ان مؤسسة الطيران السورية ستقدم احتجاجا لدى اتحاد الطيران الدولي و”اتحاد الطيران العربي وجميع المنظمات الدولية والانسانية لهذا التعامل اللا انساني مع الركاب لان اي تفتيش يكون محضرا له مسبقا والراكب غير مجبر على انتظار وصول المفتشين”.

If England is supporting the revolution, why is it prohibited for British to fight for the revolution?  Had the doctor not been suspected in the kidnapping, would he be arrested? 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2215480/NHS-doctor-quizzed-terror-police-Syria-kidnap-plot.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
….
The man is accused of being part of a small British contingent among a 40-strong cell called Al Absi, which aims to convert Syria to sharia law.

On returning to Britain, Mr Cantlie said a doctor with a strong London accent used a saline drip and other equipment with NHS branding to treat a gunshot wound to his arm.

Mr Cantlie said the heavily-bearded AK-47-wielding medic, of Pakistani descent, claimed to have taken a sabbatical from his work in London to treat injured fighters in Syria.

He told the prisoners he wanted to wage ‘holy war’ and that his experiences on the frontline would serve as good training for a career in treating trauma injuries.

The man, who said he had a wife and child in Britain and kept his face covered with sunglasses and a scarf, said he held a senior post at a South  London A&E department.

The photographers were told during their ordeal that two Syrians would be beheaded for spying but they were eventually spared after repenting and promising to follow sharia law.

Mr Cantlie will now be asked if he recognises the man.  

He previously said there were up to 15 British nationals at the terrorist camp where the men were held in northern Syria. On one occasion Mr Cantlie heard the doctor on the phone to his family. ‘He was saying, “Hello babes, how’s the little ‘un? Put him on and let me hear him.”’ 

At another point, the man even complained to the hostages about the state of the NHS.

Mr Cantlie said: ‘I asked for his help as we were both from London but he refused to even send a text to my girlfriend to say we were alive. He said he would be beheaded if he did.

‘It wasn’t much fun expecting to end up on an execution video at the hands of extremists – one of whom was treating Londoners like me a few months ago.’
…,
The suspected terrorist and his 26-year-old wife were arrested after UK intelligence officers studied medical records and interviewed health sources to try and identify him.

Police are investigating whether the woman may have flown to Egypt to meet her husband as a ‘cover’ so they could pretend they had been on holiday when they returned at 8.30pm on Monday.

Officials believe that up to 100 British nationals have travelled to Syria to fight against Assad’s regime.

Analysts say the majority of people fighting the regime of President Bashar Assad are ordinary Syrians and soldiers who have defected. But an increasing number of foreign fighters with militant Islamic beliefs from countries including Britain and France are crossing the borders.

Foreign Secretary William Hague said the Government is monitoring evidence of British people who want to join the conflict. 

A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed the couple were arrested as part of an investigation into people travelling to Syria to commit terrorist acts.

He said two homes in East London were searched by officers following the arrests.

CITIZEN,

I am thinking about that super Russian journalist Anhar Kochneva (# 319).

Not only does she get invited into Syria on a magic carpet ride by the regime, she also gets carefully protected by the Syrian Army.

Meanwhile, obviously inferior woman journalists for example Marie Colvin and that Japanese journalist not only remain unprotected, they actually get killed by the same army!

How come, I think in puzzlement.

Then I looked up this picture of Anhar and saw the sly, kind of naughty look she is giving us. Some pot-bellied Syrian general obviously couldn’t resist!

http://www.myspace.com/566867155/photos/1361388#%7B%22ImageId%22%3A1361388%7D

Am I right, CITIZEN?

واشارت الى ان حالة الركاب “الصحية جيدة ولكن النفسية سيئة جدا لوجودهم لفترة طويلة بانتظار المفتشين
 وهذا عمل غير انساني لان الطائرة لا تحمل على متنها غير الركاب وحقائبهم وبضائع عادية”.
وأكدت عبد اللطيف ان هذا الاجراء التركي “هو خرق للتعامل مع شركات الطيران المدني والقوانين الدولية لوجود الركاب لمدة تجاوزت حتى وقته 5 ساعات متواصلة”.
ونوهت قائلة: “انا على مدار الوقت مع قبطان الطائرة اتابع معه حالة الركاب وتقديم الوجبات لهم والاهتمام بهم، فمن بينهم شيوخ واطفال وامهات، …

From Ghufran post.

The humanity displayed by the Syrian regime and the concern for the
psychological well being of the passengers is so touchy.  It brings tears to my eyes..

#322 Ghufran

It is clear that Turkey, Jordan and Lebanon are fed up with the armed rebels who have created a total mess of the ‘revolution’ by not being able to win or to unite or to even respect the neighboring countries that have helped them.
Turkey is now filtering the refugees. It has symbolically kicked out the FSA commanders who had announced that Hatay was their HQ, and it is now blocking the northern borders from the rebels trying to retreat in Turkey. Squeezed on both sides, the only victories that the rebels can claim are the terrorist attacks their AL Nusra Viral brigade is doing in Damascus using desperate youngsters as suicide bombers.
The harsh reality is that the countries who boosted them are now dumping them. Waking up to the bitter reality of politics is a trauma they will take years to recover from.

In shifting Syria conflict, Assad assumes command of forces

(Reuters) – The picture is deceptively normal. Posted on the Facebook page of President Bashar al-Assad of Syria, it shows the first lady Asma, dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, accompanying her daughter and three sons on their first day back at school.

Two of the boys wear camouflage shorts with khaki t-shirts and caps, in keeping with the spirit of a ruler under siege. Yet when she dropped off Hafez, the eldest, named after his strongman grandfather, only one other child had arrived in class because of rebel attacks in Damascus that morning.

The rebels are outgunned by the government but can still strike at will, and Assad has assumed personal command of his forces, still convinced he can prevail militarily.
,,,,

A Facebook picture of Assad dressed in military uniform sums up his transformation since a bomb attack in July killed his inner circle security leadership, including his brother-in-law and defense minister.

Recent visitors say the 47-year-old president has taken over day-to-day leadership. They speak of a self-confident, combative president convinced he will ultimately win the conflict through military means.

“He is no longer a president who depends on his team and directs through his aides. This is a fundamental change in Assad’s thinking,” said a pro-Syrian Lebanese politician with close ties to Assad. “Now he is involved in directing the battle.”

The endgame may have changed too. “Nobody is now talking about the control of the regime over all of Syria, they talk about the ability of the regime to continue.”

Other close observers of the conflict say Assad is deluded if he believes he can prevail.

“The problem is the regime lives in its own world. It is clear the people are rejecting this idea – the regime’s narrative – that it is a secular regime set upon by extremists, a battle between good and evil and Bashar will one day be vindicated. Bashar is not the victim. He is the cause of the violence,” said a Western diplomat.

http://uk.reuters.com/article/2012/10/10/us-syria-crisis-assad-asma-idUSBRE8990U220121010

Egypt needs to take note of Turkey’s latest commendable action and do likewise by closing the Suez Canal to any shipments destined to Syria.

Mr. Morsi has spoken enough. It is time to see some real action.

Are we going to conclude that Turkey is closer to Syrians than what we call our Egyptian brothers?

Time for Mr. Morsi to show the money.

Turkey was ridiculed by this incident as the Syrian passenger plane continued its route to Syria normally after a brief stop. Davutoglu avoided saying what merchandise was seized. It if was something significant, be sure he would have not missed detailing it. Maybe it was some Russian caviar?

http://news.yahoo.com/turkey-respond-greater-force-further-syria-shelling-080538936.html

Military jets escorted the Damascus-bound Airbus A-320, carrying around 30 passengers, into the airport in Ankara
…
“Today we received information this plane was carrying cargo of a nature that could not possibly be in compliance with the rules of civil aviation,” he said in Athens during an official visit, in comments broadcast live on Turkish television.

The Turkish authorities had seized some of the cargo, Davutoglu told reporters later in televised remarks. He said Turkey was within its rights to investigate planes suspected of carrying military materials but declined to say what was in the seized cargo.

The plane and its passengers later left the Turkish capital.

Thanks dear Turks.  We will never forget.

Escape from Syria into Turkey
A wounded Syrian man lies on a boat as he is transported to Turkey across the Orontes river on the Turkish-Syrian border near the village of Hacipasa in Hatay province 10 October, 2012. Scores of Syrian civilians, many of them women with screaming children clinging to their necks, crossed the Orontes, a narrow river marking the border with Turkey as they fled the fighting in Azmarin and surrounding villages. Residents from the Turkish village of Hacipasa, nestled among olive groves, helped pull them across in small metal boats. Photograph: Osman Orsal/Reuters

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/oct/10/syria-us-taskforce-to-jordan-live#block-507569b058f91d7bbadac256

315 citizen
Well yes hello ww3. i cant wait for it to blow out to all the countries supporting the effort to get rid of assad. who ever gave the US the right to kill over a milion iraqi children to find WMD! that were never found!
Assad has the right to run his country the way he sees fit. if we are not happy with him, we the syrians, will protest in the millions to get rid of him! we will fight to get rid of him. only people who sought intervention were terrorists in thongs and foriegn jihadi crazys!
US still hasn’t learnt they help these terrorist and these same terrorists freely say they will wage jihad on US and other western countries. I would feel stuipid being an american. u dont have a prime minster u have an idiot! what has america done for 9/11 affected families?

Tara,
You should not be surprised that the regime tried to score a point or two in the public opinion arena,that is how politics work. Tens of civilians were terrorized then trapped for 5 hours to make Erdogan look tough, i hope that circus act did not make any of you happy, the long term goal is to prevent any flights to Syria over turkey’s air space, some people think that is good for the opposition, I beg to differ.
هذه الحركه الاردوغانيه نوع من القرصنة الجويه الرخيصة
If Erdogan was serious about ending this crisis he would do something to stop the arms shipments from all sources through Turkey,we all know he is not.

338 Chris

“I would feel stuipid being an american”

You don’t have to be an American to be stupid, Chris. You can be Syrian and stupid. Like all the Syrians 40 years ago who bought into the idea that it would be really cool to have a Baathist Mafia running the show in Damascus. Talk about stupid! And now that it’s all blowing up in their goofy faces, they blame the Jews, the Saudis, the EU, al-Qaeda….everyone but themselves.

And Chris, one more thing. It’s not “stuipid.” It’s “stupid.”

Not that I know much about the Syriacs but they joined the revolution too.  All Syrians hate Bashar.. 

Syriacs join opposition to topple al-Assad government
Vercihan Ziflioğlu – ISTANBUL

A group of Syrian Syriacs have thrown their support behind the struggle against Syrian President Bashar al-Assad by forming an agreement with the leading representatives of the Syrian opposition, the Syrian National Council (SNC). In the agreement a democratic Syria is demanded, in which all peoples would have equal rights and could alternately come into power after the al-Assad regime falls. 
….

Turkey confiscated components of missile systems that were transported aboard the so-called civilian Syrian plane,

http://www.aljazeera.net/news/pages/0c14ca7e-4b9e-4a62-95d7-be9820bff9b4?GoogleStatID=9

It is now obvious that the criminal regime that has been murdering the people of Syria for almost two years does not shy from violating international laws thus clearly becoming a rogue and outlawed regime. Steps must be taken by the international community to ostracize this barbaric nazi-like criminal band of thugs in preparation for bringing the criminals in front of a court of justice.

Report in #334 (thanks TARA) excerpts:

“Recent visitors say the 47-year-old president has taken over day-to-day leadership. They speak of a self-confident, combative president convinced he will ultimately win the conflict through military means.

“He is no longer a president who depends on his team and directs through his aides. This is a fundamental change in Assad’s thinking,” said a pro-Syrian Lebanese politician with close ties to Assad. “Now he is involved in directing the battle.”

…”The problem is the regime lives in its own world. It is clear the people are rejecting this idea – the regime’s narrative – that it is a secular regime set upon by extremists, a battle between good and evil and Bashar will one day be vindicated.”

COMMENT:

– Isolated and delusional. Closeted with secretive Iranian and Russian advisers who provide him with strategies, means and encouragement to keep burning Syria to give the UN and west the finger.

– Isolated and delusional. Disregarding his Syrian aides and apparatchiks, making it easier for them to step back and think about heading out the door while they still can.

– Isolated and delusional. Like Gaddafi, Hitler and all those other psychopaths who didn’t make it out alive.

And meanwhile, those photos provide evidence that his undersized head, choked with Syrian-hating mantras, has shrunk even further.

Who is arming Syrian conflict?
http://www.cnn.com/2012/10/05/world/meast/syria-turkey-weapons-explainer/index.html?hpt=wo_bn8
Thinking that a decisive victory is possible in Syria is and always was an illusion, big and small competing parties can not afford to lose in Syria, one might think that this reality may help fighting factions come to their senses and sit down to reach a compromise but we are not at this stage yet despite losing 30,000 people, this is similar to the US losing 400,000 people in a civil war.
Hard core thugs from both sides and countries like Qatar have little to lose from this bloody mess,and without inflicting enough pain on rouge parties this conflict can drag on for years and spread to neighboring countries.

“Turkey was ridiculed by this incident” (ZOO #336)

By who ZOO, by you?

Ouch, it’s enough to make Erdogan and his full team feel small and crawl into a cave, having someone with your enigmatic pro-Assad connections and insights scoff at them.

The title of this thread has succeed to ridicule the opposition,not to mention the photos of disturbed person which emphasise the lunacies of the leaders involved in destroying Syria.
This blog should be called Saudi Comment.

Amazing how many alleged “Syrians” on this board are so eager for Syria’s historic enemies to invade Syria and “liberate” it. Some are even recommending provocative strategies for the FSA to draw in the big guns to win the revolution for them, which is certain to cause far more blood shed and destruction of the country, not unlike what we saw in Iraq and Libya. Yet, the same people are pretending on daily basis to care about Syrian lives by pointing the finger at the Syrian Army for killing so many people, as if any army would act differently in similar situation. whatever happened to the old saying: me and my brother against my cousin, and me and my cousin against the stranger?

MAJED97 #347 and JASMINE #346

Please, don’t cut your comments short.

Go on and tell us how you feel about the very active Iranian and Russian invovement in the conflict and interference in the fate of Syrians.

Don’t leave us guessing.

Prof. landis, you are still taking Ar’ur’s comments out of context. Specifically, he made the meatgrinder comment regarding those of the Alawis that are guilty of rape. Regardless of our take on his words, it is not true, as you say, that he made the meatgrinder comment with reference to all the Alawis fighting against the opposition.

This is a good read from the Guardian:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/oct/10/arms-supplies-syrian-rebels-rivalries
I support focusing on the armed forces, a credible and functional army will do three things:
1. Keep the country in one piece
2. Protect civil peace
3. Stop foreign terrorists

296. ZOO said:

289. Tara

Weak and guilty ones gets agitated…

hmmmmm, not Irritated?

AAAH! THOSE BRAVE OTTOMAN PIRATES!

Turks making Syrian pilot sign ’emergency landing, no F-16s’ statement – crew and passengers – 11 October, 2012

http://rt.com/news/plane-passenger-reaction-140/

Passengers onboard the plane intercepted by Turkish jets said that security forces were making the crew and passengers sign fraudulent papers suggesting that the plane made an emergency landing and no Turkish military were involved in the incident.

­Hours after Turkish authorities announced that the Syrian Airlines passenger plane intercepted by its F-16s was granted a departure clearance, the aircraft remained on the tarmac in darkness.

“Four people onboard have been beaten up, two crew and two passengers, as they tried to force them to sign documents,” Sherin Azis, a hostess on the plane, told RT by phone. “We don’t know what these papers are about. We are scared for the fate of the captain. He was taken away and threatened with arrest if he does not sign an emergency landing paper.”

Fatima al-Saman, a passenger and a mother of three, also told RT that the captain was being forced to sign a release stating that military planes were not involved and the plane just made an emergency landing.

“If we do not agree to these terms, they will take the captain kind of hostage,” al-Saman said. “They are threatening us. The captain has now returned and said that ‘either I sign the document that I made an emergency landing or they are taking me hostage.’”

The plane has been surrounded by people in masks who have detained all the cargo and were looking through what looked like boxes with documents, passengers said. The Turkish authorities were interested in some spare parts, which a businessman bought in Russia and was transporting to Syria, al-Saman said. She said that as far as she could tell, they were clearly not weapons.

“They started unloading some packages. They opened them, took pictures. There were many people. We all saw what was in there. There were no weapons. You could see it with an unaided eye!” she said. “They just had some spare parts and papers – objects, but there were no rockets. It is all a lie.”

The captain himself did not even know why the plane was ordered down, al-Saman said. She added that the search involved only luggage, and the passengers were mainly ignored by the Turks.

“Everyone is ignoring us, making it seem like we do not exist,” she said. “The Russian Consulate did not get back to us. A lady has called one of the passengers and told her that the [embassy staff] are not being allowed to enter the airport territory. They have led us out of the plane where we kept asking for help, but everyone seems to ignore us.”

[…]

http://rt.com/news/plane-passenger-reaction-140/

The fiasco of the Syrian plane

Erdogan wanted to humiliate Syria, but he also inadvertedly annoyed Russia and by nor finding any weapons, he has covered himself with ridicule. Russia’s embassy in Ankara is demanding explanations as 17 Russians were in the plane and were not allowed to meet the Russian diplomats at Ankara airport.

The grand Vizir said that there were articles that were ‘questionnable, objectionable”. What were they? His silence indicates that it was just a face saving declaration to avoid even more ridicule.

I thought the Turks were smart, but it seems that their smartness is limited to war of words, religion and money. As time passes, their real face is showing.
Was Turkey framed by a false alert? Now we will have the pro-chaos say that it was the work of the Syrian mokhabarat to mislead Turkey into ridicule.

‘Turkey violated Convention on International Civil Aviation’ – top aviation official to RT – 11 October, 2012

http://rt.com/news/turkey-violated-civil-aviation-convention-138/

The passengers of the plane forced by Turkish jets to land in Ankara spent over five hours inside the plane while its cargo compartment was searched in a breach of international regulations, the director of Syria’s civil aviation agency told RT.

­”After crossing into Turkish airspace, our plane was forced by Turkish Air Force F-16 jets to land in Ankara,” Geida Abdellatif told RT. After landing, the plane was subjected to a search of its cargo compartment.

“The crew and the passengers have been on board for five hours and 25 minutes,” she said. “Everyone is fine, but it was a stressing experience for them. Everyone on board is waiting for a check. This situation violates humanitarian norms. There is no cargo on the plane other than passengers’ personal possessions and luggage.”

RT: Do you think Turkey violated international regulations for civil aviation?

GA: Certainly the Convention on International Civil Aviation was violated. The crew members are assisting the passengers onboard, trying to comfort them, to overcome the stress. That’s the most important thing for us now. We are in constant contact with the captain of the plane. What we know about the situation on board comes from him. We are supporting him and the crew morally.

The passengers were offered food and drinks. Crew members are helping the passengers. Many of whom are old people, children and women. There are Syrian and Russian citizens among them. We contacted the captain via mobile phone.

RT: What are you doing in response to the events? What your reaction will be?

GA: We shall file a complaint with the International Civil Aviation Organization, with the Arab Civil Aviation Commission, with all the international humanitarian organizations, objecting to the inhuman measures taken against the passengers and our plane.

Turkey sends three flights [daily] to Syria, to Damascus and Aleppo, and never did the Syrian aviation authorities in any way abuse them.

RT: Turkey has cut its air traffic with Syria starting today.

GA: This will only hurt the Turkish side. We did not receive any preliminary request to detail the cargo onboard the plane; we were forced to land by military fighters. If we received such a request, we would have replied to it.

There were only civilians and their luggage on board. Searching them is possible only if all the rules are observed, and not in this inhumane manner, when all the passengers and crew members are held onboard the aircraft for such a long time.

[…]

http://rt.com/news/turkey-violated-civil-aviation-convention-138/

#349. GHUFRAN

Yeah, yeah, a marvellous idea, a credible and functional army.

But what to do about the current substitute for an amy, an Assad-sponsored militia now burning the country with the assistance of Iran and Russia?

An army that has been personally serving the Assads for over 40 years, which has as its main enemy the Syrian people?

Continue your comment, please Ghufran.

@ 263 (for now)
Any half self respecting Arab would say….

What follows in that comment proves beyond reasonable doubt that MJABALI’s dog knows better than someone on this forum.

ZOO #352,

You’re such a hard man, ZOO.

The poor battered Turks. With all your relentless hard-hitting verbal attacks they will be whimpering for help.

You’ll single-handedly be pulling NATO into this conflict if we’re not careful.

The U.S. Must Limit Saudi Influence in Syria
By Frank J. Mirkow, on 10 Oct 2012, Briefing

http://www.worldpoliticsreview.com/articles/12407/the-u-s-must-limit-saudi-influence-in-syria

As the civil war in Syria becomes more acute, the United States must reassess its strategy toward that key Middle Eastern state, in particular, its stance on the role that Saudi Arabia has been playing in the Syrian conflict. Continued Saudi influence in Syria will only further destabilize the situation on the ground, undermine U.S. interests in the region and dim the prospects for a future democratic Syria.
…
In addition to narrowing the base of support for the Syrian opposition, Saudi support for the religious extremist segments of the opposition will strike a blow against the future prospects for Syrian democracy. No government is more singularly unsuited to the fostering of a pluralistic democracy in Syria than the tribal absolute monarchy of Saudi Arabia. The nature of the Saudi regime guarantees that when it comes to postconflict reconstruction in Syria, the Saudis will be hostile to any form of government that does not hold a narrowly defined version of Sunni Islam at its center.
..
While the administration’s reticence to escalate its involvement in Syria is understandable, Saudi Arabia’s unobstructed interference in the Syrian conflict is likely to produce a political outcome that undermines both American interests and the prospects for a democratic Syria.

“Recent months have underscored a long-standing problem for Turkey: it remains reliant on multilateral action and on U.S. assistance to carry out military operations”

Could Turkey Beat Syria?

Aaron Stein, Dov Friedman
October 10, 2012
http://nationalinterest.org/commentary/could-turkey-beat-syria-7575?page=1

As the first news broke last week that a second Syrian artillery shell had struck Akcakale and killed five civilians, Turkey had already begun taking decisive action. Turkey immediately returned fire, and the following day, parliament approved the prime minister’s request to conduct cross-border military operations.

…The lack of military systems needed to carry out Turkey’s numerous threats has undermined Ankara’s attempts at coercing Assad to make concessions. While military confrontation was always unlikely, Assad has appeared unconcerned with Turkish threats on numerous occasions. Damascus quietly dismissed Turkey’s loud proclamations on possible unilateral intervention—eroding the threat of credible action and undermining Ankara’s overall policy objectives. The shelling, therefore, should not be viewed as the precursor to war but as Turkey enacting the most limited means of reprisal.

New thread started

rt, SPANN, ZOO, and their top aviation experts

Article 1
Sovereignty
The contracting States recognize that every State has complete and exclusive sovereignty over the airspace above its territory.

Article 4

Misuse of civil aviation
Each contracting State agrees not to use civil aviation for any purpose inconsistent with the aims of this Convention.

Article 16
Search of aircraft
The appropriate authorities of each of the contracting States shall have the right, without unreasonable delay, to search aircraft of the othercontracting States on landing or departure, and to inspect the certificates and
other documents prescribed by this Convention.

Article 35
Cargo restrictions
(a) No munitions of war or implements of war may be carried in or above the territory of a State in aircraft engaged in international navigation, except by permission of such State. Each State shall determine by regulations what constitutes munitions of war or implements of war for the purposes of this Article , giving due consideration, for the purposes of uniformity, to such recommendations as the International Civil Aviation Organization may from time to time make.
(b) Each contracting State reserves the right, for reasons of public order and safety, to regulate or prohibit the carriage in or above its territory of articles other than those enumerated in paragraph (a): provided that no distinction is made in this respect between its national aircraft engaged in international navigation and the aircraft of the other States so engaged; and provided further that no restriction shall be imposed which may interfere with the carriage and use on aircraft of apparatus necessary for the operation or navigation of the aircraft or the safety of the personnel or passengers.

Source: Convention on International Civil Aviation, AKA Chicago Convention, 1944

There are additional conventions. Turkey’s action must also be considered in light of the Montreal Convention (prohibiting use of force against civilian aircraft, but also under the Begin Convention (prohibiting the carrying of explosives on civilian air crafts.

Similarly, some week points in the Chicago convention is that state are provided with instruments to require the landing and search of unscheduled flights, but not explicitly of crafts suspected of violations on munitions clause. However, the munition clause listed above, provides for Turkey to use appropriate means.

Once an aircraft lands, in a designated costume ariport, a state has full right to search the craft.

Zoo
For anyone who has heard the French news today the Turks have found weapons, parts for missiles etc. Who is to trust?

…

ANTOINE said:

“In that event, we are already waiting for them in the Mountain, in Jabal Turkman- Burj Kasab Latakia mountains, and in Qalaat-Hosn Krak des Chevaliers in Wadi Nassara.”

———————————————————————-

Idiot. Wadi nassara is entirely christian, if anything they are fighting alongside the alawites emptying the nearby rebel strongholds (which they have i.e. tal-kalakh and qalaat-hosn)

and Jabal Turkman is fighting against incredible odds, turkmen are a minority there except for a few villages near the border of turkey. majority of residents there are alawite and christian (who are supported and reinforced by the army and security forces). the only reason they (i.e. turkmen insurgents) exist is because of their backer turkey across the border supplying them, whereas most of the civilian turkmen population in latakia fled syria into turkey: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V1Ih1KB-3Yk

And if you are waiting in the mountains, the alawites are waiting in the sunni stronghold of homs:
“The rebel stronghold of Homs is on the brink of collapse: alawite-dominated forces controls 75% of the city and is advancing swiftly”
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/middle-east-live/2012/oct/08/turkey-syria-border-clashes-live#block-5072a748c0e361310bc6c9b1

not to mention that the regime (which many perceive to be alawite-dominated) has alawite settlements and populations in and around the sunni strongholds of damascus