Very disturbing news. What kind of a sick ideology or agenda is behind such attacks?

…..
Some outside observers have speculated that that attack was the motivation behind the assassination of a top Syrian commander involved in the country’s nuclear programme in August.
……

I am not sure what the Telegraph is trying to say here.

Luckily it is a weekend and no children were in the damaged elementary school in the location.

Syrian TV was the only source of information and footage so far. Some images here:
http://www.syria-news.com/readnews.php?sy_seq=83046

مراسل سيريانيوز: طوق أمني شديد ودوي الانفجار سمع في مناطق تبعد 6 كم عن مكان الانفجار

وزير الداخلية: كل الضحايا من المدنيين وستعلن نتائج التحقيقات الجارية

لقي 17 شخصا مصرعهم وجرح 17 آخرون في انفجار سيارة مفخخة على طريق المتحلق الجنوبي في مدينة دمشق قرب مفرق السيدة زينب.

وأعلن التلفزيون السوري الرسمي أن السيارة المفخخة كانت تحمل 200 كغ من المتفجرات وانفجرت في منطقة سيدي مقداد جنوبي دمشق, مشيرا إلى أن القتلى والجرحى هم من المارة المدنيين.

وقال شهود عيان لـسيريانيوز إن الانفجار وقع تمام الساحة السابعة وخمس وأربعين دقيقة صباحا وتصاعد دخان كثيف من مكان الانفجار الذي يعد أَضخم انفجار يودي بهذا العدد من القتلى والجرحى في سورية منذ عقود.

وقال مراسل سيريانيوز في المكان سعد الله خليل نقلا عن شهود عيان أن دوي الانفجار سمع في مناطق جرمانا ودويلعة وكشكول التي تبعد حوالي 6 كم عن الموقع.

وأضاف المراسل أن السلطات الأمنية ضربت طوقا حول المنطقة، مشيرا إلى أن الانفجار أدى إلى تكسير زجاج المنازل حتى مسافة 200 مترا عن مكان الانفجار ما أدى إلى جرح بعض الأهالي بالزجاج المكسور.

وأفاد أن أكثر من 15 سيارة إسعاف تواجدت في مكان الانفجار وتم إغلاق طريق المتحلق الجنوبي بالاتجاهين كما تم تحويل السير عن طريق مطار دمشق في المنطقة القريبة من مكان الانفجار.

وقال وزير الداخلية بسام عبد المجيد إن التحقيقات جارية من قبل وحدة مكافحة الإرهاب المركزية للتوصل إلى هوية المتورطين بهذا الانفجار.

ووصف عبد المجيد هذا الانفجار بأنه “عملية إرهابية جبانة استهدفت منطقة مزدحمة”, مشيرا إلى أن كل الضحايا مدنيون.

وأكد الوزير أنه سيتم الإعلان عن نتائج التحقيقات الجارية عند ظهور نتائج التحقيقات رافضا تحميل المسؤولية لجهة معينة في الوقت الحالي.

A foreign media operative most likely to be part of the ongoing psychological warfare being cooked up by the new Zipny & Associates.

How else would she want to start her first Sabah as a new PM?

By far the most likely suspect considering the timing and location of the attack which seems intended to create religious tensions.

Sad sad news, 17 innocents killed, why?

I am wondering why the Syrian regime did not provide the results of its investigation of the killing of HA Imad Mughnieh and Syrian Military Commander Suleiman!!! Although Syria is controlled by a police regime who has its intelligence officers (Mukhabarat) in the whole country.

Syrian, US FMs meet in New York
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5iF1tXKPCgmC4bMATm3GZ-qqmCEyQ

DAMASCUS (AFP) — Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem has met his US counterpart Condoleezza Rice at the United Nations for talks on Iraq, Lebanon, and the Middle East peace process, the official SANA news agency reported on Saturday.

It said the meeting was held “following a request by the US secretary of state and on the sidelines of a meeting by the international Quartet for the Middle East.”

SANA said Turkish-mediated indirect talks launched in May between Syria and Israel were also discussed.

The agency said Rice “voiced US satisfaction towards positive events that have taken place in the region and the readiness of the United States to contribute to comprehensive peace” in the Middle East.

The Rice-Muallem meeting was their second since November 2007 when they held talks on the sidelines of a conference on Iraq. The two first met in May last year during another gathering on Iraq.

Syria and its key regional ally Iran have been repeatedly accused by the US administration of President George W. Bush of fuelling unrest in Iraq.

Washington accuses Syria of turning a blind eye to foreign fighters crossing into Iraq to battle US-led forces, and claims that Iran supports elements that target coalition troops.

The United States also accuses Syria and Iran of meddling in Lebanon. Both countries deny all the US allegations.

Bush on Tuesday again accused Syria and Iran of sponsoring terrorism, saying in a farewell speech to the UN General Assembly that such violence “has no place in the modern world.”

Earlier this month Iraqi President Jalal Talabani reassured Bush that Iran and Syria now pose “no problem.”

If one has to make a guess as to has done it: Two sides come to mind: Israel and the Takfiri Jihadists. In a way the explosion is similar to the explosions that rocked the Chrisian areas of Beirut a couple of years ago ( proportionaly low casulties, at semi-deserted locations, at a low traffic period).

But let us not blow it out of proportion. In the end, it is more like playing hardball negative PR to show that Syria is not as stable as it claimes to be than anything of more serious consequences or implications. The area is not a prime target sort of thing and hardly heavily secured

Ausama
I don’t agree. This is the third criminal event in a few months and without any results in the first two, it can be interpreted as weakness in the Syrian’s security apparatus and therefore may have important consequences.
Iranians pilgrims who make the largest part of the tourists (and tourism revenues) may be deterred of coming as the explosion was not far from Seyyeda Zeinab’s shrine, the European tourists and businessmen encouraged by Sarkozy’s visit, will think twice before coming and investing. Efforts to put the economy on track may be hampered.
If the authorities find the culprits and take tough actions, then it may change the picture but the present appearance of weakness, contrary to the reputation of ruthlessness of the dreaded mokhabarat, is not a good omen.
By opening up to the West and to Israel, Syria will undoubtedly be exposed to terrorist acts of Al-Qqaeda and Islamic/Jewish extremists opposed to such deals. Unless the authority show their muscles NOW, Syria can fall in the cycle of violence it has avoided until now.

[…] Syria affairs expert Joshua Landis links to a Telegraph article for the news. Commentators on his post were quick to […]

Ausama –
That the explosion occurred at a low traffic location is an interesting observation. I think you are on to something. But what? Were there too many casualties for this to be a just a subtle demonstration? One commentator said the explosion occurred after the truck was involved in a vehicle accident at the intersection. Is that correct? Following this lead, was the truck bound for the airport where it could have caused serious damage at “arrivals” or “departures?” Maybe the passenger lists of arriving and departing aircraft should be reviewed. Was the name of a significant political or military figure traveling through the airport? If not, was the objective simply to cause havoc at the airport? Who stands to gain?
If the objective was to attack the shrine, the truck failed to reach its objective. Accident? Loss of nerve by the driver-terrorist? So, was the explosion at the intersection premature or was it the selected location?

It is amazing to what length a dictatorial regime such as that of Syria may go in order to smear a presumably existing group for the only purpose of desperately hanging to power. In this case, the regime is willing to kill its own people in order to launch a propaganda campaign against a ghost. This is not the first time this despicable regime commits a crime against its own citizens. There is no doubt that the satanic nature of this regime as Mr. Daniel Pipes eloquently articulated is revealing itself in front of the world. Cutting the head of this satanic snake is the only hope for the Syrian people to live normal lives like everyone else.

Is the internet down in Syria today?

Before we all start wild speculations as to who did this, based entirely on our prejudices and political convictions and no facts, let’s first express some sorrow for the dead. This is a heinous act. I am thinking of all Syrians today. Keep your head up, Syria… peace will come.

Brad,

America is a modern country that has to solve serious problems. You can not solve serious problems with the strategy of the Inquisition.

And if there are some “satanic snakes” meandering in your mind … not a world problem … not an american problem…

Our condolences to the innocent victims of this attack.
But what really the target was ?
Time will tell ,i hope.
The regime should also understand that he has a big share in Syria’s problems and other tragedies, instead of looking for a deal with France ,the USA and Israel for a renewal or to be a proxy of other countries , it will be smarter move if it makes peace with the syrian people ,Muslim brotherhood included.

Let’s think and pray for the victims and their families – instead of how this attack supports our narrow view of the world.

SHUAL,
You seem to be addressing me with your comment. I find your comment vague and incoherent. I would appreciate it if you elaborate so that I can address your concerns properly.

Car bomb targeted senior senior security official – report

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/articles/article_1433413.php/Car_bomb_targeted_senior_senior_security_official_-_report__3rd_Lead__

Brad,

You are welcome here, but you will need to calm down.

You can tell us about your hypothesis, that the Syrian regime organized this attack (to blame the Islamists?), but I hope you leave the satanic motives and the snakes at the door.

Joshua,

Champress editor Ali Jamalo is blaming Israel. He says one should never trust Israel.

Many secular Syrians I spoke to blame Saudi backed extremists.

Others reminded me that Syria hosts 1.5 million Iraqi refugees without running extensive security checks on them. It is a miracle that things remained quiet until now.

We also have half a million Palestinian refugees. Many pro Fatah who can be hired to do things inside Syria.

I suspect any of the above.

Why Israel? … nervous Israeli generals (army and intelligence) have been worried for months about being the target of a revenge attack from Hizbollah following Israel’s assassination of Hizbillah’s top general Imad Moughniyeh.

The Damascus attack could be a message to Syria to put pressure on Hizbollah to promise to not retaliate for Mughnyieh, … or else Syria could pay a price too, as demonstrated today.

Who knows.

But Al-Qaeda types are the most experienced and motivated in this type of messages.

By the way, I read somewhere that the Russains warned Syria last month to expect terrorist attacks from Saudi backed Salafi groups.

A skeptic mind would say, before rushing to make “wild” speculations accusing either Israel or the Syrian regime for this criminal act, it behooves to have some hard evidence.

Doesn’t ayatollah Fadlallah also gives sermons there, once a month, in a mosquee near by? It wouldn’t be the first time that he is the target of a carbomb.

Ausama and Friend in America — good thinking. I drove past this place twice today, and was very puzzled about the location and casualty figures. I personally think the Sayeda Zayneb connection and, also, maybe, the security building will turn out to be red herrings. Even though it’s true this is the main turn-off to SZ, the shrine is several miles away and it doesn’t “feel” near. Re: the mukhabarat building, it seems to be on the other side of the road, and, honestly, these places are pretty much everywhere. Also, it doesn’t seem to have been symbolically important – more to do with looking after official cars.
On the other hand, the site is near some major roadworks which involve a “chicane” — zigzagging across the two sides. I wouldn’t be surprised if the truck was on its way somewhere else and had an accident. I think 17 is a high casualty figure for an accident on a road, but if all the traffic was bunched up…
The really interesting question is how come someone was driving around undetected with a truckload of explosives in what we thought was a police state?

Alex,

I am truly saddened to see innocent lives lost in Syria, or anywhere else, so that someone, or some group, makes a “statement”. For me, I see only one statement coming out of such a cowardly attack, and it says “We (the perpetrators) disrespect human lives. We believe only in violence.” I find it hard to believe Israel was involved, first because apparently no particular “high ranking enemy figure” was killed, and second because doing so would only create an angrier enemy, with greater determination and resolve to punish Israelis or Jews worldwide. But for those 17 innocent people that died today, countless others that were injured, and all of these people’s families left behind, none of this matters.

Too easy habibi Alex,there is no backed Saudi salafi groups ,those are in war with the Saudi regime,most of jihadist groups in the region are probably infiltrated by many security apparatuses and among them the syrian ,the iranian and the israeli of course.
Alex,when the regime assassinated the Kurdish Sheikh Al Khaznawi did they say the truth or they used the easy card ,that he was killed by an extremist group,they used the same excuse when they assassinated the so called sheikh al qaqaa who was an agent for them .And there is also few doubts that the syrian regime had infiltrated the jihadist networks destined for Iraq and when it backs the iranian proxy in Lebanon ,it’s like a call to the moderate lebanese to revert to extremism.

Shai,

I don’ think Israel is the top suspect. The Salafi groups are.

But my Israel hypothesis comes from my belief that what we are both calling “Israel” is not collectively as wise as you are. Your logical argument is yours… The average Middle Easterner does not think like Shai.

If you try to imagine how many Israeli generals feel having to live for the past few months with many security restrictions on their movements, designed to protect them from being an easy target to the anticipated HA revenge attack … it gets tiring after a while.

The easier way to deliver a message to HA is delivered through the less revolutionary Syria … Syria is more sensitive to such attacks than the people of south Lebanon where they got used (along with their HA fighters) to Israeli punishments that are much larger than a simple car bomb.

But again … this is not a high probability thing.

Everything is possible, even what Karim is suggesting.

Karim,

It is a good thing that the Syrian intelligence agencies have penetrated some of the Salafi groups.

I am not claiming that Syrian intelligence is made of a collection of Saints who would never do bad things, but .. in this case I don’t think I can see why they would do it .. especially that 17 people died… if the Syrians did it (to blame others), it would have been a bomb that explodes somewhere where no one will be injured and only some building will be destroyed.

We need to wait to see how the different sides react.

Why Discuss,

I think this is different from Mughnyieh, and different from Suleiman’s assassinations.

Offended asks:

Very disturbing news. What kind of a sick ideology or agenda is behind such attacks?

The same sick ideology that the Arab and Muslim governments promote and glorify.

Samer Marzouq said:

Sad sad news, 17 innocents killed, why?

Why? Because Arab and Muslim governments arm, fund and glorify these terrorists. And the Arab/Muslim street concur. That’s why.

Why is everybody so surprised?

Akbar,

It could also be because revenge is considered a good in the Middle East.

Many are angry and need revenge to calm down.

And this applies to your Israelis and my Arabs.

US Rice Says Deadly Damascus Bombing Is ‘Concerning’
2008-09-27 18:13:58.110 GMT

NEW YORK (AFP)–U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Saturday described as “concerning” the car bombing that killed 17 people in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

“I just learnt this morning about the bombing in Syria. Obviously, any activity by extremists is concerning. But I don’t know the details,” she told reporters at the start of a meeting with Organization of the Islamic Conference Secretary-General Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu in New York.

Earlier, Gordon Duguid, a spokesman for the State Department, said: “We condemn the bombing and all terrorist actions and send our condolences to the victims families.”

“There is no evidence that American citizens were kiled or injured in this incident,” he noted, pointing out that there was no evidence of specific threats against the American community or embassy in Damascus.

The spokesman said that in view of heightened concern about security at the U.S. embassy in Damascus, the consular section of the mission there would close for all but emergency services for American citizens from Sept. 28 to 30.

Because of the Eid al-Fitr festival, which marks the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, the embassy will not reopen until Oct. 5.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires
09-27-08 1413ET
Copyright (c) 2008 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.(AP-DJ)–09-27-08 1413EDT

we are “so surprised” because Syrians are not occupying other people’s land like you
we are “so surprised” because Syrians are not racist against everybody else like you
we are “so surprised” because Syrians are not enjoying other people’s suffer like you
and I’m personally “so surprised” that you don’t know that your people glorify their terrorist as well….

Terrorism is bad, full stop.

What they are trying to do is to make Syria crack down even more on dissidents thereby stopping the little economic development there is. In the end, it is not terrorism that will bring Syrian regime down, but lack of economic development. Car bombs are a very serious matter and the only explanation is that the car came either from Iraq or Lebanon.

Unfortunately, AP is right. The Arabs have brought this pox upon themselves with their “understanding” of suicide bombings and terrorism against civillians. All the ridiculous arguments as to why terrorism is justified or understable in the case it is used against Israel can easily be used to “show” that it is justified and understable when used against Arab regimes. When you play with fire, you sometimes get burned.

On July 17th 1981, Israel murdered 300 civilians by bombing residential tower blocks in Beirut which may or may not have housed PLO offices. On March 8th 1985, the CIA failed to kill Ayatullah Fadlallah with a car bomb in Beirut, but succeeded in killing 80 of his neighbours. So this could well have been the US or Israel – Mughniyeh was killed by a car bomb, and we will never hear of the target of yesterday’s attack if he wasn’t killed. Close to Sitt Zainab, the target could have been a Sadrist leader, an Iranian official, a Hizbullah man .. This means the power with the motive could be .. the Hakim group, the CIA, March 14-linked Salafis, etc, etc

I certainly hope it was Israel, because then there will be some sort of political economy to the violence (though 17 dead is pretty damn expensive). I fear that the Salafi connection is more likely, and I dread this. If there is a concerted attempt to bring Iraq’s sectarian war to Syria, the near future is going to be nasty. God save us. Allah yastoor.

It could of course be some kind of grand Saudi-Israeli-Salafi plot. Or anything else. This is all speculation – but let’s have a good speculate, friends, because we’re not going to get any closer to the truth.

JAD,

There are people, who instead of showing a minimal amount of sympathy towards a nation of people who suffered a terrible event today, will prefer to “dance” over their loss with further accusations. As if they cannot hold themselves back for even one more day. I’m sorry for that – hopefully most would not think of such things at moment like these. As you well said, our side has its own share of crimes to consider, before making accusations of others. Now is not the time for this, while hundreds of people are mourning the loss of their dear ones. Death is the same everywhere – it is the loss of a human life that could have lived for many more years, and could have brought others help and happiness. And now it is gone.

All the Syrian official and non official experts asked by Al Arabiya believed that the car has most likely exploded prematurely. Hence it is not possible to know for sure what the target could have been, and for that matter the political message behind it.

Akbar, I also fail to understand why would you gloat over such sad events?

Terrorism is not a trademark of arabs or muslims.

If I have failed to express my condolences to the families of the dead and wounded and to all the people of Syria, let me say so now. Speaking for the people of America we are concerned, dismayed and and saddened. Terrorism is a top agenda item here in America. It does not matter where it occurs. This terrorist attack is serious, and ferreting out the perpetrators should be the goal of everyone.

The only “goal” of the attack at this location would be the security building and its occupants, but the driver did a poor job of locating his vehicle. He could have driven into the building and then detonated. If the terrorists had a different target, then it was in this sense a failed mission in spite of the fact lives were taken and others wounded.

Is there any past experience of Salafi terrorism of this type outside Saudi Arabia? What would be their political/social motive?

I dont believe in a Saudi- Salafi link for the simple reason is that the salafi jihadists have no popular support in Syria and they can not pose a threat to the syrian regime or any other arab regime, if the Saudi really wanted to dangerously hurt the syrian regime ,in this case it would be easy ,they can support a syrian opposition that has a potential of gaining popularity like the moderate islamists ,Damascus declaration and the brotherhood.
The target could be an officer in the syrian regime ,in this case most likely it’s not the extremist jihadists ,it could also be an attack that target the region of Sitt Zeinab which contain the offices of extremist shia groups backed by the iranian regime , from Iraq ,Lebanon ,Bahrain ,Saudi Arabia and in this case ,the Salafi jihadist link is likely but not a certainty because many refuse this syrian regime green light to the iranian policy in Syria and especially in Sitt Zeinab which is inhabited by many Palestinians and Syrians.

It is most likely done by the Salafi who originated in Northern Lebanon with the help of KSA and Hariri, It is time for Syria to make it clear with force that it will not allow extremists on it’s border , I expect a round up of extremists and a close monitoring of Saudis in Syria,

Didn’t Bender threatens England with attacks if they did not stop the investigation in his financial dealing with airplanes deal.

I would not be surprised if this is part of The KSA role to create conflict between Shea and Sunni so the Arabs and Muslims are busy killing each other and leaving the West alone , I believe that this the job and the goal of KSA in return of leaving the Saudi family in power , at the end of the day 17 of 19 hijackers on 9/11/ 2001 were Saudis.and the US should have attacked the source of evil,KSA,

[…] o especialista em assuntos sírios Joshua Landis [en] linca para um artigo no Telegraph dando a notícia. Os comentaristas responderam rapidamente a […]

Norman,

Bandar did not exactly threaten England with Attacks,if they don’t stop investigating the commissions he made on British arms sales to Saudi Arabia, … he said that he would stop supplying England with intelligence that they need to stop future attacks on them by Salafi extremists.

I like a classic line from Time Magazine about trying to ask people what happened in Syria today:

In Syria “Those who know don’t talk and those who talk don’t know”

Why? Because Arab and Muslim governments arm, fund and glorify these terrorists. And the Arab/Muslim street concur. That’s why.

Well Akbar it is more than highly likely that neither Syria or Iran was behind this bomb. So what Arab and Muslim government was it? One of those US (and so Israeli) “puppets” or even the puppet master? What is your theory?

Who benefits most of religious and ethnic civil wars in Arab countries? Israelis have more or less clearly expressed that “plan”. Only surrounded with theocracies can Israel keep up its own apartheid theocracy. Not among democratic and relative secular led Arab countries.

The same sick ideology that the Arab and Muslim governments promote and glorify.

And what is that ideology those Arab and Muslim governments promote? Most terrorists as we know come from Saudi Arabia, which is under US “control”. Is that sick ideology something different than the “Jewish” governments in USA and Israel promote? If we count the started wars and terrorist acts the “Jewish” side wins clearly.

Akbar if I would be Zionist as you (which I am not) I would not “speak” anything about sick ideologies. Zionism is not a very healthy ideology.

Sorry to hear about the loss of life.

If the explosion was indeed premature, the result of an accident, then there are other explanations possible, that perhaps would be less popular with the Syrian folks here. Namely, perhaps this truck was addressed to somebody in Lebanon but didn’t make it to its final destination. The fact that the location was not immediately closed to the media hints that this is not the case, but while we’re busy with wild speculations let’s put this explanation on the table as well.

Offended said:

Terrorism is not a trademark of arabs or muslims.

I beg to differ. Terrorism is PROMOTED by Arab and Muslim governments across the Middle East and SUPPORTED by large portions of the Arab and Muslim people. Who are you fooling?

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5g7cMSHFVO7c995EtcchIPhgw7_ZA

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080927/ap_on_re_eu/eu_britain_terrorism_arrests;_ylt=AtxKDtZP_iQ23m3.0Kqi3VFw24cA

http://www.memritv.org/clip/en/1860.htm

So when the “Frankenstein” the Arab and Muslim world have created suddenly bites the hand that feeds them, I can’t say I get very surprised.

It brings me no pleasure to remind the forum of this.

Alex,

If i knew of information about a planned murder and did not share it to stop it , then I would be accessory to murder , so would have been Bandar.and he is.

I can’t help but ponder, if this is the work of KSA with the quarterbacking of Bandar. I remember a post back some time ogo about Bandar conducting special ops. Does anybody remember that?

I do remember a post about the clandestine ops of Megren and Bandar (and the possible rivalrly between the two) a while ago.

I wonder where is T_DESCO?

Akbar,
the lesson in human decency that you fail to learn is that regardless of your disagreement with the MO of arab regimes; you should at least show sympathy toward the ‘people’ who are more or less not part of the game (for the lack of a better expression).

An Israeli minister denied his country was behind the Damascus attack. He said Israel is engaged in peace talks with Syria and indirectly blamed Iran because it opposes Syria’s talks with Israel.

Did anyone hear anything from Saudi Arabia condemning the terrorist act?… It seems every other country condemned it.

you should at least show sympathy toward the ‘people’ who are more or less not part of the game

Offended,

Are you prepared to do the same if civilian Jewish Israelis fall victim to a “terrorist” attack?

Seeking,
I wouldn’t have said ‘at least’ if that was not what I would at least expect from myself as well.

It seems very tempting to gloat though.

I didn’t see offended, me or anybody I know from this site wrote any happy or apathy comments on the Israelis websites? Did you “Seeking the truth”? Don’t you see that in your comment you miss the smallest level of considerate toward the people here?
Just for the record, the 17 innocent Syrians killed in the blast were from all religions background and they are human who didn’t do harm to you or your people. If you don’t want to show any sympathy toward any of them it’s your choice but don’t come to our house and dance.

Alex,
You are right, many people in Syria are very angry that the KSA! didn’t send any sympathy letter yet, two days after the attack..what a shame.

Jad if tomorrow for one reason or other, Maher and Bashar decide to bomb Damascus and kill 10 000 syrian civilians ,what would be your position ?Is that not likely scenario ?
I dont believe in the honesty of those who had not been hurt by the past massacres of the regime against innocent civilians in all syrian cities and i hope that you are not one of them.

JAD,

See my comment no. 20 above, and notice the words: this criminal act!

I don’t understand your point Karim or what do you want to say in your vague statement. If you have nothing to write,then don’t.
You always try to show one part of your brothers story which everybody already know the other part of their bloddy history till today, and that they killed too many innocent Syrians just to get to power and make Syria an OUMMA like Afghanistan, and when the government, the regime, the authorities or whatever you want to call them, shut them up with the only language they understand they play the human rights card.
I was there when your brothers bomb Alazbakiya and I was there when they blow the bus stations and buses..and I’m here now when Sunday’s explosion happen, and because of people who are so blind with the wrong meaning of religion, all that happened so don’t try to defend who ever did this by blaming the regime without any evidence.
For now I’ll wait to see who did it and then I state what I think.

Jad ,i knew in advance the kind of answer you would give us.
But even if what you said is true and it’s not of course ,al azbakiya ,there is no prove that it was the Ikhwan ,and even if it was them,there is no excuse to kill 10 000’s of innocent civilians in Hama in few days.
But i know people like you were happy when this happened ,so avoid us this kind of silly responses.
People like you hates Syrian muslims.And this is why you looked for a silly excuse to defend the regime crimes against the syrian people(and not the brotherhood)but i know for you brotherhood is synonym of Muslim,even the Baathi muslim or the atheists of muslim background,this is why you said “my brothers” did azbakiya bomb attack.
I’m sure that if Bashar and Maher kill 10 000 damascene muslims ,it will not have an impact on your mind and instead of this you will search for bad excuses as usual with people who have a minority sectarian complex.

Karim ,

Don’t act silly please ,

Nobody is happy to what happened in Hama , but what happened happened , people can talk about the killing that the MB did in the late seventies , they killed university teachers with no other crime but their religion,

Some people feel that what happened in Hama saved Syria from an Algerian type civil war .

Syrians just to get to power and make Syria an OUMMA like Afghanistan

This sentence say a lot on your hatred towards the Muslims of Syria and Jad,Oumma means union of several countries ,what you thought for is called an emirat.

Karim, your comments are way lower than I even consider replying.
Piece of advise, you need to grow up kid, instead of writing your meaningless statement, It will take you time to be smart and open minded, but keep trying.

Norman no one gave a permission to Asad and his brother to order his men to rape syrian girls and to kill left and right ,and when such things happen and it happened you know ,the answer is normal and any people(and animals) in the world would have reacted if subjected to such state terror

History tell you that such kind of behavior was unknown in Syria prior to Asad regime and the Brotherhood existed since Syria’s independence and were part of several governments.
And i believe that this hatred in the mind of some young christian syrians towards the muslims is one of the many bad influences of the syrian regime on the syrian population.In reality they are the first victims of this regime,it’s not the muslims who oblige them to emigrate in search of a honorable life.Their fathers and our fathers were not obliged to leave this rich country and they were like brothers.Who changed Syria to worse ?

Are you done????
I am not you, Karim, who hate and show proudly my hatred toward other religions, it is not me nor most of the Christian Syrians young and old.
I’m seriously laughing at your statement (And i believe that this hatred in the mind of some young christian syrians towards the muslims ) do you know the percentage of those?!?! ( search for a honorable life) are you high on something man?
I’ll stop here since I don’t have time to waste on arguing with somebody as smart and as open-minded as you are.

Karim,

Can you please stop this talk , Christians some or many are not against Muslims or Islam we prefer Syrian Muslims to western Christians while you prefer Muslim Turks or even Indonesians to Syrian and Arab Christians , and that is sad ,

Can we now move to how we can make Syria better for all Syrians.

Norman ,for me it has nothing to do with religious or philosophical belonging ,so i can say that i prefer an israeli gentleman to any muslim with bad behavior.

Karim,

Say it , it could be hard for you , you prefer Christian Arab Syrian than a bad Muslim , Just say it .you and we will feel better.

LOL Norman there is no need to say it ,it’s obvious.I have rarely met syrian muslims who prefer a bad muslims to good christians or other if it’s the case they are victims of the same kind of complex that the christians i criticized above.

Karim,

Until you say it you can be trusted as real Syrian Arab , may be Muslim Syrian but not Syrian Arab.

Norman,
Arab totalitarian regimes are those who homogenized our countries.I’m a pan Arabist and also pan Islamist,not for religious theocratic states but for a powerful and pluri religious islamic world so were the Ummayad,Abbassid and Ottoman empires and a Syria without a significant christian community is a Syria that has lost its essence ,christian heritage is part of myself so it’s normal that I feel myself closer to a Syrian ,Palestinian or Lebanese christians than Saudi,Egyptian or Turkish muslims.

Queen Zenobia wants to put her two cents in and offer her own perspective.

A small point first: I don’t believe in the original sin kind of reasoning , and that you can blame the son for the sins of the father. Therefore, until the son orchestrates the murder of thousands of people, we cannot hold him responsible for the sin of brutality of the elder father Assad.

Meanwhile, to the current shocker incident:

I say, Welcome to Al Qaeda in Syria.

When the Israeli Intelligence or the Syrian Intelligence wants to kill someone, they don’t drive large trucks of explosives around and fuck up the mission. No, they go assassinate the particular person or persons. So this is one reason these hypotheses are rather unlikely.

Whereas, the MO of the al qaeda types is the explosion and the suicide bomb. They love this, very dramatic and big.

I believe that there are great undercurrents existing and continuously arising in various places, and manifesting…afghanistan, Pakistan, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, now Syria.
What is the commonality?

The message: do not make peace with the Americans. Do not make peace with the Israelis. and do not think that the Shia will be permitted to rule the day, either in Iraq or in Lebanon.

We will kill the politicians of March 14 who are patsies of the Americans, and even attack the Lebanese army if it gets in our way or bends down to Hezbollah too much and especially when it has tried to destroyed our encampments and our strongholds. One of the army’s generals had to pay the price. Do not think you can take over Tripoli certainly. This is also our territory.
We have killed a revered leader of Hezbollah to show the reach of our power. We can kill even an Syrian Intelligence agent or an associate of the Syrian regime, especially if he has privileged information that he may be forced to reveal to the agents of the West. We can set off a bomb in Damascus when necessary; perhaps we missed our real target this last time, but it was somewhere in that midst and the message is there: lest the regime miss it – don’t go too far with your dance with France and your peace overtures to Israel. It will not be tolerated.

We may have many names and be as elusive and indestructible as as a spider’s web that is spun and reformed as fast as you can pull it apart. But soon you will call us Al Qaeda in Syria.